Is that Belor Hemlock looking like an axe-wielding badass on page 10?
So much win!!!!
Is that Belor Hemlock looking like an axe-wielding badass on page 10?
That's Vale Temros, I think.
I'm at a loss to determine who the lady with the shocking great sword is, though!
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That's Vale Temros, I think.
I'm at a loss to determine who the lady with the shocking great sword is, though!
Yeah, I was wondering the same thing. The only think I could think of when I looked at her was that she looks like a member of the Forsworn.
On another note, has Lyrie been rewritten to be a good guy? Or is she getting more face time so the PCs don't auto-attack her when she is encountered? Or are her loyalties ambiguous?
I have to ask...
Spoilered just to be safe.
Creative Director
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I have to ask...
** spoiler omitted **
Spoilered just to be safe.
That's something we'll be hopefully fixing...
I just want to say finding this in print for cheap the first time around is the reason I took notice of Pathfinder in the first place.
I really wish these would be in print again.
Is that Belor Hemlock looking like an axe-wielding badass on page 10?That's Vale Temros, I think.
I'm at a loss to determine who the lady with the shocking great sword is, though!
I think she is a Warrior of Wrath if I remember correctly.
-Lisa
Dang! Literally one week too late for my MapTool campaign.
At least I'll get to roll out with the new version of Part 6!
Man, I can't wait to see this thing.
I have to ask...
** spoiler omitted **
Spoilered just to be safe.
That's something we'll be hopefully fixing...
** spoiler omitted **
The ads in the back are also rather spoilerful, some more than others.
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The ads in the back are also rather spoilerful, some more than others.I have to ask...
** spoiler omitted **
Spoilered just to be safe.
That's something we'll be hopefully fixing...
** spoiler omitted **
Set the scene in style for the Swallowtail Festival goblin raid or the brutal giant attack on Sandpoint...
"So, this lovely festival... I think I'm going to attend it fully armed, and with combat spells prepared."
Or:
The enemies and allies of the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path leap into battle on your tabletop in this all-new collection of prepainted plastic miniatures produced in cooperation with WizKids! This 65-figure set includes favorites like goblins and ogrekin as well as specific NPCs like Nualia and Karzoug!
"What was that idle passing reference to Nualia when we asked about the priest? I think I might just follow that one up." [puts down player's guide]
The combination of the spoilerific ads and the daft top-corner images of the anniversary book on each page (if you print it, that's the first thing you see when you turn the page... that's a marketing gimmick) plus the CS spoilers in the area text and the daft use of 'photos of minis as art' in the Free RPG Day module makes me concerned.
Over the past five years Paizo have been a company smart enough to realise that great art and awesome layout helps to sell their stuff. People are drawn to this product because of the intangibles... now it seems like a marketing 'genius' is sticking their nose into Sarah's work and forcing compromises that spoil the overall product.
The Player's Guides don't sell APs because they have adverts in them.
They sell APs because they're so intriguing and well-designed that we want more. They're a taster, not a free magazine that you shove ad spots in.
It's the same with the modules. Making Hollow's Last Hope a brilliant product which just happened to tie-in with a bunch of other modules is much more attractive and tempting to me as a consumer than the clumsy crowbarring of mini-figs into a module which caused the actual adventure to creak at the seams.
At least the APG pre-gens in Master of the Fallen Fortress were subtle.
Imagine how much more exciting it would have been if the last free RPG day adventure had seen a bunch of characters hunting down Jervais Stoot! That would have been buzz-generating advertising for RotRL but it wouldn't have felt tacky or clumsy and the art team would still have been able to do that brilliant Sarah Robinson thang!
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Imagine how much more exciting it would have been if the last free RPG day adventure had seen a bunch of characters hunting down Jervais Stoot! That would have been buzz-generating advertising for RotRL but it wouldn't have felt tacky or clumsy and the art team would still have been able to do that brilliant Sarah Robinson thang!
Actually, that is only one of the things they could have done:
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** spoiler omitted **That information is only a DC 20 on a Knowledge (history) check. Unusual, to be sure, but not exactly spoiler-y. Of 5 typical 1st-level wizards or bards, 1 or 2 of them probably know it. This is not a Great Campaign Secret(tm).
True. I debated whether or not to give the PG to my players as is or not. In the end, I decided to give them a modified PG that excised all references to "the city" or "the ancient empire". The only exception being that I left in the trait that allows Thassilonian as a bonus language.
I figured I want to reveal the info organically throughout the adventure, the less they know, no matter how insignificant, the better.
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Chief Technical Officer
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...the daft top-corner images of the anniversary book on each page (if you print it, that's the first thing you see when you turn the page... that's a marketing gimmick)
Those are there because the Player's Guide uses the same basic layout as the Anniversary Edition, where that's a very handy thumbnail that shows the original cover of the adventure for each chapter. It quickly—and very effectively—helps you find spot you're looking for in the book. (And the person who made that decision? Sarah.)
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...the daft top-corner images of the anniversary book on each page (if you print it, that's the first thing you see when you turn the page... that's a marketing gimmick)Those are there because the Player's Guide uses the same basic layout as the Anniversary Edition, where that's a very handy thumbnail that shows the original cover of the adventure for each chapter. It quickly—and very effectively—helps you find spot you're looking for in the book. (And the person who made that decision? Sarah.)
I appreciate the role it plays in the actual AP, so now it makes more sense.
It's still pretty ugly and needless though.
Generally, does Paizo regard the PG as the first 15-20 pages of an AP? Or as an add on? It is the start of the AP for me, and for my players it is the only bit they ever read.
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Creative Director
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Generally, does Paizo regard the PG as the first 15-20 pages of an AP? Or as an add on? It is the start of the AP for me, and for my players it is the only bit they ever read.
I consider a player's guide as an add-on. If it were to appear in print with the AP, I'd actually put it in an appendix in the back.
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Generally, does Paizo regard the PG as the first 15-20 pages of an AP? Or as an add on? It is the start of the AP for me, and for my players it is the only bit they ever read.I consider a player's guide as an add-on. If it were to appear in print with the AP, I'd actually put it in an appendix in the back.
The first one was brilliant. I hope that now you're folding them into Companion books we'll see a return to that kind of quality.
I hated it... I truly did. there is not much information for the actual players to use. There is almost half a page with some vague suggestions on what skills might be useful and another page with some truly awesome traits, and I liked the map of Sandpoint. Now as for the other 15 pages, in a 17 page product... I'm wondering if I got the wrong Player's Guide. There is nothing about the town that they will be spending time in, but there are 12 pages of blurbs on various parts of Varisia that they may or may not be seeing at some later point in the campaign. There is nothing to address the various roles that specific classes, races and alignments might fit into this campaign, which is something that has been available in every other AP Player's Guide till now, at least since the last one I read.
The product blurb reads as follows:
"The Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition Player’s Guide gives players all the spoiler-free information, inspiration, and new rules they’ll need to create characters prepared for the daring and adventure of the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path.
Within, players of this campaign will find everything they need to create character backgrounds tied to personalities and events vital to Pathfinder Adventure Path’s initial expedition into the exciting frontier of Varisia, along with new campaign-specific traits to give bold adventurers the edge they’ll need to take on the unpredictable dangers of that untamed land."
Load of bull-puckey... it has almost nothing the players can really use past the first few pages, and at that point reads like an encyclopedia or travel guide more than an actual tool to help integrate new characters into a flavorful and richly developed campaign.
I honestly feel this had to have slipped through the cracks. I was really disappointed.
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Schtuff
Yeah, there were a few things that I liked, as well as a number of things that I didn't like (lots of name dropping). I ended up writing my own that combined elements of this PG with elements of the original PG. I didn't put in the full-blown location-by-location description of Sandpoint, but I did give basic info on the city.