Nice! Even if I wasn't planning on joining the Taldor faction in the Pathfinder Society, I'd still be really looking forward to this. Can't wait!

It's good that we throw the poor subjects of that scarred and bitter land the occasional bone. Small reminders of their long-past glory days should at least keep them placated.

I mean, if we don't use soft power to keep up their morale, we'd eventually need to invade and liberate the poor bastards before they killed themselves.

You know how it is.

I mean, if we don't use soft power to keep up their morale, we'd eventually need to invade and liberate the poor bastards before they killed themselves.

Off course what you peasants don't realise is that our natural superiority will eventually lead to our regaining our preeminent position on the world stage.

Oh and I would like to complain about our language being referred to as common

Ah, the squabbling of children. And the benevolent father watches with a smile, egging them on. As usual, age and experience trump youth and enthusiasm.

Oh and I would like to complain about our language being referred to as common

As an Oppara-trained world-class actor, I must say that this tome is long overdue. Taldor was once an empire not because of its military might, its powerful clergies, or other material trappings. No. It rose to lead the world because it was the center of the arts, the written word, and philosophy. When high culture meets the primitive, the primitive wants to learn and yearns for enlightenment.

Taldor crumbled because our leaders put their trusts in the hands of men led by greed, thirst for power, or military expansion. Instead of working hard at remaining the center of enlightened humanity, Taldor was overcome with sloth and relegated active involvement and control of the land to others under false pretenses of superior philosophy. One's fortune cannot be hoarded under lock and key, but must be put to active use in sponsoring other worthy ventures. To sit and wait and hope that existing assets will grow of their own accord is madness!

So, with every role I take and every script I choose, I take pride in my Taldor, and attempt to show its many, many glorious aspects. The people of Taldor need to be inspired into excellence once more, and cannot afford to accept the second prize anymore. Aroden came, showed us the way, and we now have it in us to replicate his great works, or nay: achieve new heights of glory by ourselves!

So, with every role I take and every script I choose, I take pride in my Taldor, and attempt to show its many, many glorious aspects. The people of Taldor need to be inspired into excellence once more, and cannot afford to accept the second prize anymore. Aroden came, showed us the way, and we now have it in us to replicate his great works, or nay: achieve new heights of glory by ourselves!

If those lesser nations could ignore their jealousy before, they'll find it much harder to scoff at our resurging glory now in full color.

*clap clap* Bring me my afternoon tea!

A question for the Paizo staff: does this Companion include details/info about the noble households or factions within taldorian nobility, and eventually the related rivalries-alliances-secrets?
Also, does it have some geographical infos about provinces/feudal domains other than the usual (excellent) section about cities and notable spots?

I'm currently putting the final details on the general plots of a short campaign of mine, which at high levels will be set in the royal court of Taldor (thanks, Dynasties & Demagogues!) and at low levels is set in the southern border with Qadira, so any "Pathfinder canon" data about it shall be highly useful.

If so, waiting for a couple of months for the Companion is really not a problem, as I still have a boatload of groundwork to cover up (thanks, Toolbox+Ultimate Toolbox!).
If not, it's time to be creative and jut down the details *evil_grin*.

Thanks!

If those lesser nations could ignore their jealousy before, they'll find it much harder to scoff at our resurging glory now in full color.

*clap clap* Bring me my afternoon tea!

Our time is coming... and woe to all who deny our rightful claim to greatness!

Very cool - this one looks really interesting!

Taldor crumbled because our leaders put their trusts in the hands of men led by greed, thirst for power, or military expansion.

noble households or factions within taldorian nobility,

I've updated the cover to match the finished product. If you see more gold than blue, clear your browser's image cache.

Great cover.

I've also updated the description.

Nice cover!

I... kinda liked the old cover better.

The old cover was a painting from Skeletons of Scarwall (PF#11).

I... kinda liked the old cover better.

We went all-out on the Taldan heraldry; notice that the two knights on the cover have different emblems. For the interior art, there are at least three different combinations of the heraldic emblems, indicating different noble families and such. They care about that sort of thing, and a knowledgeable person can look at another's heraldry and realize, "oh, you serve so-and-so, who is descended from the third son of king-blah-blah-blah; too bad most of that side of the family went mad, and they were left with nothing and have no real chance at ever gaining the throne...."

I SO want this!
Absolutely no doubt about it.

Not long now!

I normally wait for the hard copy to arrive before reading anything beyond the contents page, but I'm not sure I'll be able to restrain myself this time.

I have a question on a Religion trait...

Divine Warrior (Iomedae):
fluff removed for copyright sake
Your divine spells gain a +1 trait bonus to melee
weapon damage.

How does this work? Spells gaining a bonus to weapon dmg?

Um, isn't that obvious?

;)

First, take a pen and cross out the words "melee weapon" from that sentence.
Second, read the sentence again.
Third, wag a finger at Sean for stealing too much of Jason's beer and letting that happen.

While you squabble amongst yourselves we are finding ways to poke through your defences. Be weary of the stalker of the desert

While you squabble amongst yourselves we are finding ways to poke through your defences. Be weary of the stalker of the desert

Phoenix1990 wrote:

While you squabble amongst yourselves we are finding ways to poke through your defences. Be weary of the stalker of the desert

Go on and stalk the desert while we harvest this overripe fruit in Amsodeus' name!

It's typical of the young and naive Chelish to mistake a temporary wane in power for the apocalypse. It was after all, their gross overreaction to Aroden's death that allowed Asmodeus to sink his talons into that wayward colony in the first place.

Tharen the Damned wrote:

Phoenix1990 wrote:

While you squabble amongst yourselves we are finding ways to poke through your defences. Be weary of the stalker of the desert

Go on and stalk the desert while we harvest this overripe fruit in Amsodeus' name!

The fruit may be rotting, but that is a necessary step for the seeds of a new age of glory to take root!

It's typical of the young and naive Chelish to mistake a temporary wane in power for the apocalypse. It was after all, their gross overreaction to Aroden's death that allowed Asmodeus to sink his talons into that wayward colony in the first place.

Um, isn't that obvious?

;)

First, take a pen and cross out the words "melee weapon" from that sentence.
Second, read the sentence again.
Third, wag a finger at Sean for stealing too much of Jason's beer and letting that happen.

OMG!!!!!!! Christophe Swal must have done his Sarenrae holy symbol research on the Pathfinder Wiki....... O_o... Check Sarenraes holy symbol cape of the guy on the back cover!!! :D

Um...

Is the Lion Blade prestige written for 3.5 or for some version of Pathfinder I'm unaware of? Its skill block looks more 3rd edition than pathfinder.

Was this intended or just something that slipped by?

Um...

Is the Lion Blade prestige written for 3.5 or for some version of Pathfinder I'm unaware of? Its skill block looks more 3rd edition than pathfinder.

Was this intended or just something that slipped by?

It has been said the the final version of the rules will be closer to 3.5 than to the beta, so it shouldn't be very hard at all to convert.

Sighter wrote:

Um...

Is the Lion Blade prestige written for 3.5 or for some version of Pathfinder I'm unaware of? Its skill block looks more 3rd edition than pathfinder.

Was this intended or just something that slipped by?

Everything will be in 3.5 until the Pathfinder rules are released at GenCon in august.

It has been said the the final version of the rules will be closer to 3.5 than to the beta, so it shouldn't be very hard at all to convert.

Yes, its very easy to convert, considering that its just some skill things. I just figured it was better to ask and know, and knowing is half the battle you know.

Have the pdf and am really happy with this product on a skim through. Art is fantastic. Oppara looks incredible (and a map!!) and like the 1300s-1400s Byzantine feel (even with Northman guard no less)...

Thanks for this work.

Silly detail-obsessive question:
in the Companions related to one of the PFS factions (Osirion, Taldor and the upcoming Qadira, Cheliax and Andoran), why do some of the covers include the nation's coat of arms in the art while others don't?

Osirion doesn't (maybe because it was the 1st one)
Taldor does
If the covers are final, Qadira won't, Cheliax will and Andoran won't.

Any technical or practical reasons? Having the coats for the whole series seemed sleek and cool!

Silly detail-obsessive question:
in the Companions related to one of the PFS factions (Osirion, Taldor and the upcoming Qadira, Cheliax and Andoran), why do some of the covers include the nation's coat of arms in the art while others don't?

Osirion doesn't (maybe because it was the 1st one)
Taldor does
If the covers are final, Qadira won't, Cheliax will and Andoran won't.

Any technical or practical reasons? Having the coats for the whole series seemed sleek and cool!

This is going on my "want" list.

Silly detail-obsessive question:
in the Companions related to one of the PFS factions (Osirion, Taldor and the upcoming Qadira, Cheliax and Andoran), why do some of the covers include the nation's coat of arms in the art while others don't?

Osirion doesn't (maybe because it was the 1st one)
Taldor does
If the covers are final, Qadira won't, Cheliax will and Andoran won't.

I just checked, and the actual Qadira cover in the file we sent to the printer does have the country flag on it.

Ah, the squabbling of children. And the benevolent father watches with a smile, egging them on. As usual, age and experience trump youth and enthusiasm.

Ah Byzantium...a watchword for backstabbing, treachery and doing your equals and betters down. I love it...throw in some gratutitous religious persecution a seething underclass too disorganised to raise a revolt without outside prompting and a superiority complex worthy of Justinian himself and you have a powderkeg waiting to explode.

I still think its Golarions version of Aquilonia though.

I just got this the other day. It defintely has all sorts of possibilities, especially with the Lion Blade PrC. Plus, the idea of elephant cavalry is rather cool.

Phoenix1990 wrote:

While you squabble amongst yourselves we are finding ways to poke through your defences. Be weary of the stalker of the desert

Go on and stalk the desert while we harvest this overripe fruit in Amsodeus' name!

PS: the Taldor Companion was a very informative reading! I enjoy its strong medieval-european-flavoured background and the potential politics.

Andreas Skye wrote:

Silly detail-obsessive question:
in the Companions related to one of the PFS factions (Osirion, Taldor and the upcoming Qadira, Cheliax and Andoran), why do some of the covers include the nation's coat of arms in the art while others don't?

Osirion doesn't (maybe because it was the 1st one)
Taldor does
If the covers are final, Qadira won't, Cheliax will and Andoran won't.

Any technical or practical reasons? Having the coats for the whole series seemed sleek and cool!

Quadira is a far-flung satrapi of the Padishah Empire of Kelesh. Its coat of arms is as a child's scrawl before the awesome designs of the Empire!

BAH! If you want to talk about impressive heraldry, there's nothing on Golarion that compares to our majestic Empire's glorious, awe-inspiring, feared and immortal colors flying above a contingent of proud Chelaxian forces! Why, my eyes moisten at the mere thought of such a sight!

;-)