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It depends on what you mean by "equivalent of BG3." Owlcat has a pair of long, in-depth, character-heavy computer RPGs with lots of replayability in Kingmaker and Wrath of the Righteous. However, they are top-down and not fully voiced. Overall, I don't think there's going to be another Baldur's Gate 3 for a long time. And I don't think Larian will be chasing licenses owned by other companies now that they have a blank check to do whatever they want.
I don't see why there has to be a push and pull between the two. PDFs don't have page count issues, and I'd gladly pay more for a larger book with 30% more monsters and 100% more descriptive text. PDFs might not need to worry about the cost of paper, but they still cost something to make. More content means more art, writing, editing, layout, and so on. That's not even getting into the sales analysis of what sells in large quantities vs what doesn't, which is not something I know.
There’s a point right at the beginning of the interview where his voice seems to change in a very subtle way, a bit deeper and clearer. At least it seemed that way to me. I thought it was a nice touch. I like that I couldn't tell whether he was "Clark" or "Superman" there. I dig whenever the character isn't defined by what costume he's wearing at the moment. My wife didn't think him yelling at Lois was a good look. I like Lois going in with guns blazing even if she loves the guy she's interviewing.
Huh. I guess they must have grabbed it while my 20th level characters were on vacation...
Maybe once they reboot the multiverse, we'll get a better version of the Hulk. Like Al Ewing's. :p :) I could really dig an Immortal Hulk series, but I wouldn't want it to be in the MCU for fear of it being forced into the typical superhero film plot structure.
To be honest, my problems with the movie are the same as my problems with the MCU in general: my favorite character is the Hulk, and all his classic stories get chopped apart and given to other heroes.
I'm optimistic based on the trailer and the fact that Liam Neeson should be pretty good at playing all the jokes straight.
I would take the XP away but not remove a level. Essentially, the character now has a starting deficit to make up before progressing toward the next level.
I really hope this gets funded. Ossian made good campaigns for Neverwinter Nights and got shafted by Atari at every turn. It would be nice to see what they can do when they aren't being undermined by a license holder.
This is probably my favorite piece of blog fiction so far.
The NPC roster in the Gamemastery Guide is great and gets a lot of use from me, but I'm happy to see additional options provided and, hopefully, NPCs that can provide higher-level challenges.
I use Pathfinder Society games all the time for my home game. They work out great, and some of them have really excellent and innovative encounters that particularly stand out.
I usually give out hero points with story XP awards or after severe or higher encounters. Works well to tie the rewards into the actual adventure rather than putting them on a timer.
Ossian did good work for the Neverwinter Nights games, but they got screwed hard by Atari. They did Darkness Over Daggerford for Neverwinter Nights, which was supposed to be released as a premium module but got canceled at the last minute and was released for free later (and finally made into DLC when Beamdog did Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition). They did Mysteries of Westgate for Neverwinter Nights 2, but Atari added some stupid DRM that gave you three installations, ever. Atari eventually took that restriction away, but by then the damage had been done, sales-wise. I remember really liking Mysteries of Westgate despite some pacing issues at the end. I really hope they have a solid platform for this game, because I expect the writing to be quite good.
Oh right, do Ulat-Kini not exist in post remaster anymore? I thought they did exist in the dwarf ap that featured the post remaster darklands lore article Sky King's Tomb introduced some remastered monster names, but was still OGL.
If I could request a spoiler, because my son asked today: did terror birds graduate to the Monster Core?
I'm impressed by how smooth it is to switch from remaster to legacy stuff. Very well done.
Oh, I'm looking forward to the developments in and around Aucturn...
That title, though.
Since all the 2nd edition material is still usable in the remaster, I don't really feel much of the effects of the OGL-to-ORC shift just yet. When 3rd edition comes out, and if it has significant changes from 2nd edition, then I'll start mourning owlbears and their friends.
I was thinking of introducing Starfinder to my players with the playtest and this adventure. Is that a bad idea? This seems pretty lore heavy and galaxy shaking. I would bet on this one being different. The system isn't new anymore, so I doubt there needs to be as much rigorous testing on its breaking points.
"Ripples across space time..." Could this make for a narrative excuse to rope in a Pathfinder PC to play alongside Starfinders? Asking for a me.
Baldur's Gate 3 is my current obsession. I haven't played another game that gives me an opportunity to do all the idiot things my players enjoy doing at the tabletop.
I'm pumped for this guy. The small amount of screentime he got in the anniversary special makes me feel like the Doctor is going new places (i.e., someone who has done a reasonable amount of self-care for a change). I think he's going to be a lot of fun.
The bonus skills from Intelligence never go beyond Trained. And the game assumes that all relevant skills will be boosted to Legendary if you want any modicum of success for them. Given that Trained to Legendary is a whopping 6 point differential, it's basically a Nat 20 fisher, which you already are doing anyway (in which case, why bother with the training if it doesn't change much). Even if the argument is "Well, you get access to more Trained skill activities," this still falls under the previous statement's problem, which is that in the higher levels, it falls off really fast, meaning having the capacity to do that skill activity is really, really worthless. By 10th level, Trained skills lose a lot of relevance, since the game is assuming you're running around with Master (or at the very least, Expert) skills. I don't think this logic holds water in a lot of games. The vast majority of games I've played stay in the single levels, maybe capping out in the early teens. And even if the game goes to 20th level, something that stays relevant for half that time is still pretty significant. I stumble on a lot of theorycrafting arguments because they so often look toward the end of that 1-20 scale. I really like that 2nd edition stays fun and balanced at high levels, but even so I don't think many games really reach that point.
The Player Core description for the druid feat (and, to a lesser extent, the ranger feat) reads that way to me, but I'm curious what others think.
I don't know how the rest of the adventure path shakes out, but my favorite 2e adventure path so far (still in Book 1) is Outlaws of Alkenstar. Its bank robbery opening plus subsequent run from the law is tons of fun, and the first book just keeps going with great flavor and fun encounters all throughout.
Chiming in again for skittermander. The number one thing about Starfinder 2e that has my players excited is the possibility of skittermander PCs in a Pathfinder setting.
Loved him in Highlander.That was Clancy Brown. Moll played the first villain in the TV series. Slan the Cat, because he likes to play with his victims.
I use the homebrew setting I've run for years, but I've assimilated a lot of Golarion into it.
My current plan is to finish my non-remastered campaigns, including Agents of Edgewatch, using the rules I've got now. In the case of Agents, I'd probably need to use the old Bestiaries anyway. We'll see how that plays out once the new shinies hit the shelves. But, aside from a few character sheet updates, I imagine that most of the adventure path will play the same regardless.
We actually have had at least one half-dragon in 2e so far. Nothing player-facing, but one showed up in Spoiler: Age of Ashes
Strong recommendation for Sky King's Tomb. Despite being entirely Darklands-based, it's got far more role-playing encounters than combats. There's also lots of adapting to different cultures, be it dwarven, fey, or hryngar. You do have to like the Victory Point systems from the Gamemastery Guide, though, as it gets extensive use.
A useful conceit of the setting material is that the Pathfinder Chronicles are an in-world series of records. Thus, stuff like the old portrayal of elves can be quietly adjusted with unwanted depictions being chalked up to errors by the chroniclers.
201 seems early to me. It's scheduled for spring 2024, and War of the Immortals is closer to the end of the year, I think.
I'd probably bump up the story awards. Each major task tends to have multiple phases. I don't have the book in front of me right now, but if you gave 80 XP per phase for a major task and 30 XP per minor task, that would probably get you to the target of one level up after three major tasks.
There's not an ecology article, but a large portion of the adventure takes place in a major hryngar city, and that city gets a detailed write-up.
You may want to keep your eye out for their next project, "Year of Legends," which sounds like it will be hitting Kickstarter soon.
Has anyone played this? Is there enough magic gear or do we need to use Automatic Bonus Progression?
End of Book One, all the PCs have a +1 striking weapon at level 5. I don't recall magic armor found in the adventure, but there's a bunch of gold and we haven't bought equipment yet. The barbarian did get a +1 striking weapon early and transferred the runes to her greataxe, which was great fun at levels 1 and 2. One book in, it seems like treasure is on par. Automatic bonus progression is a good way to go if you're worried about keeping pace, though, and I can't see a strong reason not to do it if that is a top concern.
We currently have a total of one sentence in a playtest document saying that we are getting some mythic rules. I'm excited for the possibilities, and I know that the Internet is the place where we overanalyze everything, but I have a hard time getting super worked up until we actually see...anything.
That seems to be a situation where you let common sense guide you to the intent of the rules.
I'm excited. I've been wanting mythic rules for a while, and I think they'll work very well in the sturdier 2e system.
Are those svirfneblin or are they the-new-name-for-duergar ? Those are drathnelar/deep gnomes. Hryngar = replacements for duergar. Drathnelar = replacements for svirfneblin. At least as far as I can tell so far.
My very first AD&D product was the 2nd edition Rogues' Gallery, and it made a huge impression on me. I've always been obsessed with reading NPC backstories, and I love it when an antagonist survives an adventure to either return another day or become an unlikely ally.
It's not done yet, but so far I think Sky King's Tomb fits the bill nicely. It's got a pretty strong theme... Spoilers about that theme:
Beyond just "dwarf/Darklands stuff," it leans heavily on the theme of making amends for sins of the past, and even highlights some NPCs who lean into that theme especially hard. At least early on, it also has a lot of options to let PCs showcase unique skills, with combat possible but not always necessary. One would think that being in the Darklands means that it's all dungeons, but it actually has a good amount of urban adventure in it. The only thing that I would point out in terms of prep for it is that the Gamemastery Guide is basically essential for the adventure path, as it makes a lot of use of the subsystems in that book.
Thank you for the insight. I agree that milestone leveling works well for Sky King's Tomb (so far, at least). I have much more to go through, but so far the encounters are incredibly fun and flavorful, so the composition of the early part of the campaign is much appreciated.
Sky King's Tomb does use milestone level advancement, following the recommendations presented in the overview at the beginning of each volume. In short, each chapter involves gaining one level. Thank you. Any idea if this is just because milestone leveling suits Sky King's Tomb best, or is this the preferred model for adventure paths going forward?
Thematically, I like clan daggers. Mechanically, they aren't worth a feat, so adding it to the ancestry works for me. If a player doesn't want theirs, they can either ditch it or start with some extra silver, in my opinion.
Yes, but Mantle of Gold's first chapter includes many challenges that aren't rated in the typical sense. Is chasing down fire ferrets low difficulty? Moderate difficulty? The adventure doesn't seem to weigh in, but the PCs are supposed to gain two levels by the end of Chapter One. Thus, I assume milestone leveling has become the assumed default.
I don't think Starfinder poses any shackles to continuity. Sarenrae could die but return sometime during the Gap, and nobody would know.
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