Chronopia Dwarfs and the Pathfinder GameMastery Guide

First, welcome to this blog's latest follower, imp522.  I hope I can justify your interest and continue to make this place an edifying and enjoyable blog venue.

On that note, some more miniatures off the worktable, in this case three dwarfs from the old Chronopia line that were rescued out of the "one quarter each" bin at my local gaming store.  So yes, we're talking about $.75 worth of miniatures.

I'll be incorporating these fellows into my Warhammer Dwarf army as ironbreakers or hammerers or maybe even a thane.  I painted them one on a quiet evening while my wife was out with friends and I had the house to myself.  It wasn't a fancy paint-job, but passable.

In other news, I picked up Paizo's Pathfinder GameMastery Guide, which is their "we told you that you didn't need a DMG if you bought the main rulebook, but buy this anyways."  The back cover reads "Tips and tricks for preparing and running a better game, suitable for beginning GM's and battle-hardened veterans."  I don't know if I'd describe my GMing experience over the past twenty years as a "battle" or not, but I usually decode statements like that as "this book will contain suggestions found in almost all rulebooks, including information that is usually very self-evident to all but the most alarmingly socially inept."

Sure enough, page 13, under the heading "Where to Play" is the suggestion "Easy access to snacks, beverages, and a bathroom" which seems to contradict my plan to host games on scenic overlooks in the badlands of South Dakota.  Unfortunately there's a lot of that, more than I had perhaps hoped there would be.  I had plumped down the $40 for the book at my local gaming store not just because I am an impulse buyer with a heightened sense of obligation to spend money when I use the easily accessible bathrooms at gaming stores, but because glancing through the books I did see information like how much scrolls costs for various spells and a pretty nice list of NPC's.  In short, the information WotC stuck into the Dungeon Master's Guide 2 of the 3.5 Edition of Dungeons and Dragons.

That's pretty much what the PGG is--the DMG2.  Stuff you could probably do without or cobble together on your own but if you're lazy or don't have a lot of prep-time and you've got money burning a hole in your pocket you might consider it.  But you'll have to ignore items like the Random Adventuring Party Name Generator (home of the "Contagious Snow Scorpion Puddings") and advice like how giving away too many magic items can cause problems for your campaign.  Short version: like most attacks in Pathfinder, it's hit or miss.

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