As I was finishing the Greys I had a moment of inspiration and decided to add the Profane Grey Goblin to the mix. I’d like to thank Game Master Kevin, for his invaluable assistance. Please check out his blog, he has quite a few very interesting creations of his own. Most of them are D&D 3.5 compatible, but the newest are Pathfinder.

Oops, went on a tangent there. Here is the Grey Goblin, a work of art if there ever was one.

Grey Goblin

Dingus Rancher.

This is so cool. You can learn so much from this. Like that the STALKER games do not map out the area faithfully at all. Which is fine. But I always assumed they were mostly accurate. For instance, Pripyat is actually Northwest of the CNPP, not directly south.

Oh well, accuracy must often take a back seat to the game design. Interesting to note that the Red Forest is a real place, south of Pripyat and West of the CNPP.

Good hunting, stalkers.

Who wants a WarCraft IV? I myself am tired of the MMO’s and would love another foray into Azeroth as a commander of armies, a leader of men (and orcs, and elves, etc.). What do you all think?

Take Our Poll

Although this is interesting, it has some fallacious thinking to it. Parts of it imply that the sharks are consciously deciding to interbreed in order to adapt to changing circumstances. This is entirely incorrect. Evolution is the result of a multitude of very simple facts culminating in a statistical pattern in which those that are more successful will push out those that are not.

There is no intent in Evolution. It is a blind process that is subject to random chance and does not always produce the most efficient solution. It only “selects” the most efficient solution amongst those available.

So! The fact that this hybrid species of black tip sharks breeds true and has a much larger range is not a decision of any kind, it is a semi-random occurrence which, because of the facts that culminate in Evolution, will most likely put this new species at a decided advantage over its two parent species.

Its been a dismaying weekend, with news surfacing that GSC Game World (developer of the STALKER franchise, one of my favorite games). However, I’ve uncovered some news that there might be a friendly stalker with a medkit in hand in the form of the Ukrainian government.

Interesting that they want to intervene, but Sergei Grigorovich (the CEO) would rather shutter the place then let that happen.

I’m not sure if it would be better for the franchise to go quietly into the night, or be yanked back into the light by the government. Either way could prove to be unsatisfying.

Here’s hoping that, should the government effort fail, the source code is released to the community. People like artistpavel have lots of practice making the STALKER games playable

Good hunting, stalkers.

I wanted to bring you all a new monster this week, but real life obligations have delayed that. In fact, its going to make my so far weekly posts a little more unreliable. Technically they Grey’s are ready, for D&D 3.5 anyway.

Which brings me to my announcement, from now on I will be doing all my content for the Pathfinder RPG!

Those of you who are sticking with 3.5 will have little work to do converting my stuff from Pathfinder to 3.5, its quite easy I assure you. Magic items don’t even need it!

Anyway, here is the fluff text for the Grey Goblins, a little teaser while I work on the conversion to Pathfinder.

These hybrid’s look similar to the typical goblin at first glance, but they’re skin coloring always has a hint of blue-grey and they are noticeably larger, usually the size of an average dwarf. On closer inspection an observer may notice an unusual amount of body hair and an animalistic quality to the Grey Goblin’s features. Like their Barghest forebears, the Grey Goblin’s eyes glow faintly orange when excited or agitated.

One in every thousand Goblins is a Grey Goblin, a manifestation of a mixing of Goblin and Barghest in the ancient past. Some say the first Grey Goblins were bred intentionaly to create a powerful army. Some say it was merely the passing whim of a lustful fiend. All agree that Grey Goblins’ inability to interbreed is a blessing from the gods, for if they bred true it would spell the end of the other races. Like Goblins, the Greys reach adulthood by their seventh year.

Their incredible physical and mental prowess always puts Grey Goblins at the head of their tribes. Those that are not killed at birth by fearful Bugbear or Hobgoblin masters often topple these inattentive, and brutal, leaders.

Because Grey Goblins are so rare, they have no society of their own.

Included after the item description is an optional rule for siphoning mana from the crystal and some feats for improving the process. One should think very hard about including these options, however. If not carefully managed they may disrupt game balance.

Mana Crystal 

Also, I made some minor changes to the Battlemaster document and wanted to point out that a Sample Battlemaster is included on the second page, which uses the Elite Array for initial stats. That document can be found here.

Also, head over to Game Master Kevin’s blog to see a review of the Pathfinder Beginner Box. You’ll find a link on the sidebar.