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I know it was brought up at GenCon last year at which Erik replied, "Nothing we have announced yet"(paraphrased). I am wondering if indeed this book is to be released, what other details can we know about it? and What us Paizo fans want in the book?
Also, if it does come out, I hope it replaces the slot for Falls normally intended Bestiary.
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There should be stats for the sergeants, lieutenants and leaders of monster tribes, like orcs, goblins, etc. These guys are referenced in the organization line, but you have to build you're own stats for them. So they'd be a good thing to provide stats for.
Rival Guide, GameMastery Guide
I want...
stats, feats, equipment and basic tactics for standard and elite opponents/allies of various builds, levels and races (and archetypes).
oh.. with small combat cheat-sheets for each that can be printed out!
(yes, i want it to be combat focused. a book of generic social encounters wouldnt work).
ie:
WARRIORS:
Sword/board warrior
Polarm warrior
Reaver (twohander style)
Archer/crossbowman/hunter
Lancer/knight (knight typically classed/elite)
Pirate/swashbuckler
Dwarven axeman/hammerer
Elven archer
Orch raider
War1, War4 and War7 standard and elite arrays + elite array classed versions.
For higher levels there could/should be a gallery named of NPCs with backgrounds and motivations (and pictures), which I guess is a very good idea for product, but i'd be more interested in the 'book of instant opponents/allies' than the 'big bad book of climactic encounters'.
CASTERS:
clerics of [major golarion deities] (preferably with variants focusing on different aspects)
druid of [major golarion deities]
evoker/direct damage caster
abjurer/defensive caster
enchanter/controller caster
transmuter/buffer caster
...aaand i'd love to have cheat-sheets of typical spells too so i could print out and just cross off the sheet as they are cast.
Having instant-NPC with an actual build (and equipment and tactics to support that build) saves a lot of prep and helps make combats more tactically varied and interesting.
I would prefer some comment on generic tactics (or lack thereof) to be included as well. This is partly to help estimate challenge, partly to help run combats, and partly to help resolve bluff/taunt/outmaneuver situations. (ie a reaver is easily taunted out of a defensible position, an archer is not).
Rival Guide, GameMastery Guide
The first is Golarion specific, and while the second is a good start, it's still no reason not to do another NPC Gallery, especially if it's a whole book's worth!
Rival Guide, GameMastery Guide
You forgot the NPC Guide. :)
While the NPC Guide and the Rival Guide are, as noted by lordzack, Golarion-specific, the GameMastery Guide is not.
The GameMastery Guide and NPC Guide pre-date the APG and the plethora of Archetypes added to the system. What I would like to see is:
Applied Archetypes.. soms advice on using the Archetypes to convert GameMastery Guide or NPC Guide "stock" NPCs into other, more specialized, "stock" NPCs. For example, the "Brigands" in the GameMastery Guide become more unique when one has the Cad archetype and another does not.
With the new classes (6 in the APG, 1 in Ultimate Magic, 1 in Ultimate Combat) and Alternate classes (1 in the APG, 2 in Ultimate Combat), that's another 11 classes not represented in the NPC Guide or GameMastery Guide (I'm not certain about the Rival Guide without looking).
Why not have people submit builds and stuff? Use Google Docs to have it all in one place, and GMs can take what they need?
I think they need some kind of npc personality and motivation generating system.
Some kind of tables that say Otto the Guard loves horseracing and is partial to blondes. He owes money to bookies. And he needs an ale or two at noon to make it through the day.
Something like that.
The GameMastery Guide has tables like that, if I recall correctly.
Well, if people are looking for a wide selection of NPCs- stats, brief bios, personality, motivations, whatever- that's something that could easily be put together as a community, and GMs and players can use it as a resource. Then if Paizo comes out with a book full of NPCs, great, not there are even more to fill your games with. And if not, well, we've still got a bunch of community-created NPCs people can use. Won't have the awesome artwork, maybe, but you can't have everything.
I would love to see a full 'bestiary' of npcs. The Rival Guide and back of the GMG are great tools, but they could use a lot more, especially since the GMG only has classes from the Core Rulebook. I've recently had to make about 15 different npcs to give the army my players are going up against some unique flavor. At some point trying to adjust the two or three options in the GMG on the fly gets exasperating.
One big thing I want out of something like this is a bunch of pre-gen spell lists, especially for high level NPCs, as this is not something fun to do if you need a bunch of high level spellcasters (they can make good big bads, but they can be a pain to design well).
Moreover, I'd love some kind of new spell-list "Stat block" that showed in brief what at least the most useful spells in an NPC's spell list did (for example:
Fireball (CL 7): VSM; R: Long; A: 20 ft. r. spread. 7d6 fire damage, burns everything in AOE. ))
Regarding a community project, a long time ago, someone started a thread here for people to submit their PC-class NPCs. The idea was to post one concept, at a few different levels.
It was a good idea. I tried to contribute but I admit I ran out of steam quickly (I was still running my campaign at the time and wanting to put my character generation energy into that), and not many other people contributed, unfortunately, so it slipped away without much notice. People SAY they'd like a community project but... how many people are really willing to contribute?
And how much is one willing to put up with what will be an inevitable variance in quality, with little access to quality control? I do remember consulting some fan Websites in the past that had community built NPC sheets as well, and being invariably frustrated by the amount of material that was way too niche to be useful and/or used massive amounts of 3rd party content or splats I didn't use and/or were not built correctly.
Not meaning to look down on the idea of a community project but it would be a lot of work. I'd try to help if I can!
I'd love to see a pro book, whether by Paizo or a 3PP (as long as in either case the character builds were generally balanced and useful in a lot of contexts.)