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Dark_Mistress
(Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Adventure Path, Campaign Setting, Companion, Modules Subscriber)
OMG! I must have this!!!
I am glad my RotRL campaign will last the whole year. When it's over I have so much stuff to choose from... LoF, CoT, Classic Horrors Revisited and much much more. Can't wait to read Paizo's take on thieves guild's as well...
I am so happy to take a ride on the D&D Paizo-Era!!!
I'm thinking that my wife will be ****** off at me once again... for investing too much money on Paizo goodness! (last time we had a conversation about it a month ago)
Seriously, Paizo is churning out too many products that I want -- I've ordered so much from Amazon (or bought them at my FLGS), and comparing to how little I invested in WoTC's 3.5 stuff, it seems Paizo folks are reading my mind about what I'd want to see published! :)
Guys, you totally *ROCK*!
Sannos meditate…
"I must wait until November"
"I must wait until November"
"I must wait until November"
Sannos scream in pain. I have edited this commits out because of content. Now back to Sannos …
"I must get a copy NOW"
"I must have a plan"
"1. Find out Paizo address in Seattle"
"2. MapQuest Paizo's address"
"3. Drive to Paizo"
I’ll let Heathy tell you, since most of it was his good ideas. We were trying to come up with a mechanic that would allow you to combat-dust a vampire Buffy style without turning a vampire fight into a one round insta-kill affair when the PC with the stake rolled moderately high. Don’t know if we’ve quite nailed it yet…
SageSTL
(Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Roleplaying Game, Campaign Setting, Companion, Modules Subscriber)
I eagerly await seeing if Paizo can actually do something new with Ghosts, Vampires, and Werewolves. I'm even dialing my expectations down to being satisfied if Paizo can do something that isn't completely played out with regards to Vampires.
The rest should be fun, though! I've liked what's been done with Ghouls so far - a nice mix of Lovecraft and Gygax.
I eagerly await seeing if Paizo can actually do something new with Ghosts, Vampires, and Werewolves. I'm even dialing my expectations down to being satisfied if Paizo can do something that isn't completely played out with regards to Vampires.
The rest should be fun, though! I've liked what's been done with Ghouls so far - a nice mix of Lovecraft and Gygax.
I'm not sure what you're looking for... ghosts and vampires and werewolves have a LOT of tradition behind them, and I'm 99% sure we'll be using tradition to focus our work on this book rather than trying to make new things for these creatures. It's the "Classic" line, after all, not the "Brand New" line.
I'm not sure what you're looking for... ghosts and vampires and werewolves have a LOT of tradition behind them, and I'm 99% sure we'll be using tradition to focus our work on this book rather than trying to make new things for these creatures. It's the "Classic" line, after all, not the "Brand New" line.I eagerly await seeing if Paizo can actually do something new with Ghosts, Vampires, and Werewolves. I'm even dialing my expectations down to being satisfied if Paizo can do something that isn't completely played out with regards to Vampires.
The rest should be fun, though! I've liked what's been done with Ghouls so far - a nice mix of Lovecraft and Gygax.
Hmm, vampires...
Specific alergies (white ash stake vs generic wood stake)
Vampire detection (In Russian myth, a virgin boy riding a white horse could not walk over a vampire's grave for example)
Dhampires!
I'm not sure what you're looking for... ghosts and vampires and werewolves have a LOT of tradition behind them, and I'm 99% sure we'll be using tradition to focus our work on this book
There's traditions like counting every mustard seed scattered on one's door step, and being bloated and ruddy, and then there's traditions like pale, sexy people having homoerotic adventures and seducing (seducing!) teenaged girls.
One of these is played out, and the other is merely old school. I'm all for old school.
As for the last bit - I've been focusing on the "Revisited", rather than the "Classic". Clearly, editorial hasn't. I'll keep it in mind when reading this fella. Which I am totally stoked about, just to be clear.
Ha! That's great, and I did not know that. Vampires before Stoker were wicked awesome. :)
Correction: vampires before Legosi were awesome. (and wicked).
Stoker's novel was impeccably researched in many ways. Surely, it spawned the romantic vampire trope, but it also spawned the film(s) Nosferatu.
I think there's a good way to reconcile the disparity between sexy vampires and undead monsters... there was a lot of sexuality in the folklore. But the seductive nature was always a veneer concealing a rotting abomination; none of this "twilight" nonsense.
The sexuality that vampires have in the folklore is not the enjoyable kind, which gives me hope because Paizo can tackle such issues. If they're brave enough to face topics such as...
Pathfinder #1
...then they can have dead husbands return to assault their wives, and other spooky but authentic vampire stories.
Oh sweet merciful Desna, Seoni AND hot female Vampires/Succubi/chicks with wings and a tail on the cover? Awesome stuff.
I opened this thread today at work in a grumpy mood, trying to clear my mind of a staff problem.
After seeing the cover my facial expression must have changed from grave to very dreamy :-)Seoni and equally scantily-dressed, hot Vampires/Succubi/chick with wings in a face-off. Ready to fight toe-to-toe, or not just toe-to-toe but also......
.....stops writing just before embarrassing himself and again gets a dreamy expression...
Uh oh. Wes is repeating himself.Yeah ... 'cos we got some ideas for you Wes, if not.Oh yeah? Do tell...
Nah, he's just milking us for ideas... or maybe he's fallen victim to a succubus, or something?
(My turn to repeat myself: Wes, I think Castle Odranto in Ustalav is a nice tribute to Walpole's gothic horror classic, and I'm glad you included it in there! :)
(My turn to repeat myself: Wes, I think Castle Odranto in Ustalav is a nice tribute to Walpole's gothic horror classic, and I'm glad you included it in there! :)
Nice catch! Ustalav is a gold mine/mine field of horror references, from classic literary references to modern horror film. I've got a ton written down, but I'm sure a few have already been lost to my own late night fuges.
As for expecting things both old and new, this "Classic X" book is going to be a bit different. It's one thing to write about the noble otyugh, with a history that goes back a whole 30 years, and quite another to tap into creatures of myth, some of which have oral histories stretching back far more than 300 years. If anything, I'm a traditionalist when it comes to my monsters - which is why you see so many "real world" monsters in Pathfinder's Bestiary. About half the monsters in here are creatures that have never been detailed to my satisfaction (what is gargoyle society like after all? Are ghosts all just wandering plot hooks?). That being said, I can assure that even the best read horror scholar doesn't know every angle of the hag, the mummy, or the vampire, so I'm sure we'll be able to give you something to cackle madly about in here, and maybe be slightly educational at the same time.
Hmm, vampires...
Specific alergies (white ash stake vs generic wood stake)
Vampire detection (In Russian myth, a virgin boy riding a white horse could not walk over a vampire's grave for example)
Dhampires!
Russian lore also had iron nail through the forehead instead of the stake through the heart thing. I used that once in a Ravenloft game. Surprise the heck out of my players when the Vampire pulled the stake out.
Ha! That's great, and I did not know that. Vampires before Stoker were wicked awesome. :)Correction: vampires before Legosi were awesome. (and wicked).
Stoker's novel was impeccably researched in many ways. Surely, it spawned the romantic vampire trope, but it also spawned the film(s) Nosferatu.
I think there's a good way to reconcile the disparity between sexy vampires and undead monsters... there was a lot of sexuality in the folklore. But the seductive nature was always a veneer concealing a rotting abomination; none of this "twilight" nonsense.
The sexuality that vampires have in the folklore is not the enjoyable kind, which gives me hope because Paizo can tackle such issues. If they're brave enough to face topics such as...
Pathfinder #1 ** spoiler omitted **
...then they can have dead husbands return to assault their wives, and other spooky but authentic vampire stories.
The thing is, Stoker researched a lot of Eastern vampire lore, but also integrated Irish Folklore too- The LenanShee (lit. Fairie Lover) would seduce young and talented men, slowly draining them of life force while they created their greatest works- a bit like a horrific muse. Like most fairies, it had the power to change appearance, both into beast and invisible. Or the Hungry Grass, a fairie curse where a home is surrounded by cursed fairie sod that causes that victims to starve and waste away, no matter how much they try and eat (protection granted, not surprisingly, by a hard boiled egg brought into the house from outside, well salted). Stoker also was born in the worst year of the Irish Famine (Black '47), so grew up in a country where the walking dead were still very much fresh in the memories of the nation.
Kvantum
(Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Roleplaying Game, Campaign Setting, Companion, Modules Subscriber)
I want this book already!
I'm a bit worried since I'm not sure if/when I'll ever switch from 3.5e OGL to PFRPG, so I'm hoping the creatures are still extremely mechanically compatible.
For monsters, what's to change? CMB is roughly equivalent to Grapple; Perception, Stealth, Acrobatics are the big three skill changes, and apparently the BAB - HD relationship is changing as for classes (according to Jason's first guest blog on dungeonaday.com) so just adjust by +/- 1 hp per HD for affected types...
Maybe a feat here or there, but otherwise, I really doubt there'll be significant changes, and even with what is affected, it's so minor in scope that is it even really necessary to rework a Pathfinder statblock to 3.5?
Questions!
1) Will the Derro chapter have at least a sidebar mentioning the Tero and the possibility of integrating them into one's game?
2) Will the Mummy chapter talk about how to use them in a world that doesn't have the very specific bodily resurrection concepts that led to "bandage" mummies in Egypt?
3) Will Kapoacinth have to share with the Gargoyles, or can I reasonably wait patiently for the possibility of an Aquatic Monsters revisited book?
4) Are we really cramming all three (four, if we count Night Hags) Hags into one chapter? Poor old biddies.
The thing is, Stoker researched a lot of Eastern vampire lore, but also integrated Irish Folklore too- The LenanShee (lit. Fairie Lover) would seduce young and talented men, slowly draining them of life force while they created their greatest works- a bit like a horrific muse. Like most fairies, it had the power to change appearance, both into beast and invisible.I'd say that the closest comparison to "sexy Dracula" in Faerie folklore would be the ganconer -- a handsome young man who seduces young women and then slowly consumes their lives and souls until they literally die for their love of him.
Or the Hungry Grass, a fairie curse where a home is surrounded by cursed fairie sod that causes that victims to starve and waste away, no matter how much they try and eat (protection granted, not surprisingly, by a hard boiled egg brought into the house from outside, well salted). Stoker also was born in the worst year of the Irish Famine (Black '47), so grew up in a country where the walking dead were still very much fresh in the memories of the nation.The Hungry Grass sounds like a good twist to pull on PCs used to obvious monsters -- "I don't get it! Why are we starving to death? There's nothing here but some grass!"
And I've read some Irish folktales of the walking dead that weren't scary, including one suposed eyewitness acount from the 1910's or so as told by a very old man (who'd been a very young boy then) who remembered his dead and buried grandfather attending a party with the family. He even sat in the revenant's lap!
I liked one response to a question from the interviewer: "Weren't you scared?'
"Of me own grandpappy?"
*Note* I'm not saying I believe that story actually happened, I'm just reporting it. But imagine PCs cutting down a 'vile undead', only to face a lynch mob for killing a local respected ancestor...
There's traditions like counting every mustard seed scattered on one's door step, and being bloated and ruddy, and then there's traditions like pale, sexy people having homoerotic adventures and seducing (seducing!) teenaged girls.
One of these is played out, and the other is merely old school. I'm all for old school.
As for the last bit - I've been focusing on the "Revisited", rather than the "Classic". Clearly, editorial hasn't. I'll keep it in mind when reading this fella. Which I am totally stoked about, just to be clear.
hey Carmilla is old school and... ah yes lesbian vampire I forgot that... but is even older than Dracula :P
but yes the homo erotic thing if i remember is modern fashion...
and yes I would liek to see something about Dhrampirs... they were the best hunters... they could take out their shirts and peer thrught them to find the Invisible Vampire
Speaking as an Eastern European - and from a nation that gave the name to vampires, Stoker did a terrible job with Dracula, and Hollywood even more so. For instance, original vampires did not have the pronounced fangs. Furthermore, not all wooden stakes are deadly to the vamps. Only blackthorn is. Etc.
1) Will the Derro chapter have at least a sidebar mentioning the Tero and the possibility of integrating them into one's game?
I'm writing this chapter, and it'll have a sidebar about where Derro come from that's likely to mention the Tero, but since the D&D/Pathfinder version of Derro is quite different from the Shaver version, the Tero don't really have a place in the game. Still... there'll be something about the Tero in that "Where do derros come from?" sidebar. Of course, you could just check out the similar sidebar in "Into the Darklands" to see Teros mentioned.
Anyway, since Teros are much more human-like, you could probably just use humans for them in a game and change their societies as necessary to make them work. And maybe give them darkvision.
2) Will the Mummy chapter talk about how to use them in a world that doesn't have the very specific bodily resurrection concepts that led to "bandage" mummies in Egypt?
Wes is writing about mummies, but since mummies can come from bogs or glaciers or other naturally occuring methods, I suspect he will indeed mention them. That said, the ancient religious factors that shroud Egyptian mummies is really what makes them not zombies or wights or something. We'll see...
3) Will Kapoacinth have to share with the Gargoyles, or can I reasonably wait patiently for the possibility of an Aquatic Monsters revisited book?
Wes is also writing the gargoyle chapter, and he'll probably be focusing on the mythological history of the creature as a creepy castle lurker. Kapoacinth aren't really scary or classic, so I doubt they'll get much room in the book.
4) Are we really cramming all three (four, if we count Night Hags) Hags into one chapter? Poor old biddies.
Yup. As with the chapter on the walking dead (zombies), we'll be looking at the monster not as a specific creature but as their niche. There are lots of hags, but they all fill the same basic role in horror and in D&D, so we can talk about all of them collectively with ease. Similar to how we talked about trolls in Classic Monsters (there being a LOT of different types of trolls, and all).