Crystal Frasier's page

Thank you for the reply! And yes, like I predicted the first thing my PCs said were "Were is the rest of the sword and what happens if we put it back together?"

Looking forward to a sequel or any other modules you write. Kepp up th good work.

Let them know with a decently easy Knowledge check (whichever seems most appropriate for knowing local myths of fables; local, history, and religion all work well) that the broken sword is just part of his myth and probably not in the Harrowed Realm. You can, however, use it as a lead-in for further adventures once they escape. Technically, any treasure they find the Harrowed Realm is fictional; bringing it out into the "real world" of Golarion might have weird effects, such as forcing the other half of the sword into existence or generating other mythical creatures tied to the odds and ends they bring back.

Here's the quick rundown: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dentistry#History

So... there's gonna be shadow-thingies in this, yes?

(Also, who is the cover by?)

Cover by Tyler Walpole

But you know what? Especially in the current political environment, the greatest thing any of us can do to advance equality is to simply live openly, and in doing so remind folks that non-straight people are all around them, all the time.

F!+& discretion. Thank you all for flying the flag.

Fair point, Sutter. And I'm certainly not ashamed. I'm a lesbian. Not quite a gold-star, but I still lean very heavily towards women. It's certainly made gaming interesting over the years, especially before moving to the liberal bastion that is Seattle.

The module assumes that after they rescue him, the PCs will ask Biyo Venna where they are and how they got there. Biyo's role in the universe is specifically to find a hero (or a team of heroes) to tell his tale of woe to. They have, after all, just been ejected from a gypsy wagon in a cloud of cards and been dropped into a twisty, curvy, fake-looking world and been jumped by a gang of crows dressed as clowns; questions should abound and Biyo is the first friendly face they encounter.

As for how to share that info: Have fun. Biyo is overly dramatic and hero-worshipping; he thinks the PCs are the protagonists and that they will save the day. He'll grovel, refer to them by mighty titles, and occassionally try to cram pointless exposition into the conversation.

If the PCs opt to not talk to Biyo, then they'll probably spend some time confused. Any of the conspirators will know about Sonnorae and her tokens (they created them, after all) and would be willing to explain (their version) of what happened with the PCs if made friendly. They all know that Zassrion ultimately controls the Harrowed Realm as well, that the Patchwork Lord likes to drag mortal into the dimension for nefarious experiments, and that the dragon is obsessed with escape. All the Conspirators also know that their tokens tug in the vague direction of Zassrion's mobile fortress, and suspect that more tokens equals more accurate directions

Besides Biyo and the Conspirators, few of the storykin are aware enough to understand the world. Mourning Choir knows the history of the Realm and will share it if asked, but she doesn't know much about recent events (such as Zassrion's escape plot). Marzalee's midwife, Molly, shares some of the Queen Mother's conspirator-inspired awareness thanks to their marriage, and could make a good secret ally quietly guiding the party from the shadows (Molly isn't happy with the realm's balance of power, and doesn't share her mate's single-minded artistic bent). And while he doesn't understand much about the PC's or the Realm's larger place in the cosmology, Algon the Ever-Seeking might opt to take on the PCs as "squires" upon meeting them (if he can be made friendly or helpful), and only betray them once they learn the basics of the realm.

You could also leave things more mysterious and just drop hints and clues and rely on the players to investigate and make knowledge checks whenever they find clues or encounter a new twist on the world. Knowledge (the planes) could reveal that the PCs have become trapped in an pocket dimension, and some magical experimentation would reveal that there's no conventional exit. Knowledge (history) or (nobility) could give some context to the name Sonnorae the first time they discover it scrawled on a doorway or gate or book cover. Knowledge (engineering) or (nature) may reveal that the world is a sort of construct; like an oversized, elaborate stage or puppet theater that is probably control from some center location. With Knowledge (arcana) they might deduce that invisible threads of magic crisscross the Realm, probably connecting various "anchors" (the tokens), and collecting those anchors in one place might reduce the clutter and make it easier to follow those invisible threads to more anchors.

Worst case scenario, you can have the PCs stumble across the peddler Everready Jacob, and add Sonnorae's personal journal to his stock (a bargain at only 50gp!), spelling out the Harrowed Realm's history and even more recent developments (curiously, the handwriting changes sharply at a certain point, becoming scratchy and erratic, starting with an entry describing her murder).

Crystal Frasier wrote:

Liz Courts wrote:

Regarding racial diversity in art, I think y'all should take a gander at the Prismatic Art Collection Kickstarter project.

The Prismatic Art Project isn't just awesome because it'll provide a big archive of freely-available stock art for gamers and publishers, but also because you can personally get art from me (including a Paizo-blog-style goblin of you) for a measly $50!

That's sold out *weep*

-Perry

Some of the custom orders have sold out, but we're staggering the various artists' offers. Mine haven't gone live just yet. Keep checking back, because they should be available in the next 24 hours. If they're popular enough, maybe I'll offer another round!

Regarding racial diversity in art, I think y'all should take a gander at the Prismatic Art Collection Kickstarter project.

The Prismatic Art Project isn't just awesome because it'll provide a big archive of freely-available stock art for gamers and publishers, but also because you can personally get art from me (including a Paizo-blog-style goblin of you) for a measly $50!

Venna doesn't actually know how to find the Striding Fortress, actually. There were some additional notes that were cut for space, but as The Survivor, Biyo only really understands how to get riled up about the tragedy he sees, escape to find help, and then get beaten up by other storykin. He does this every few months, gets killed, and eventually is reborn at the Manmolds whenever Marzalee gets around to it. He's never found his way back to the Fortress in all his years of existence, because he was never written that way. He was only ever a supporting character in the old fables who went off to find help, so he doesn't need to know the way back, and couldn't if he wanted to, not that he would ever understand why he'd go back.

Long story short: Biyo doesn't know how to return to the fortress because the entire concept of doing so is alien to his existence.

If you prefer not to run the storykin being quite so meta and esoteric, then he simply can't find his way back because the fortress moves constantly.

As a female GM with a largely-female table, I can say no. No that is not how it goes.

Andrew: I like fire...

Crystal: When you get right down to it, all out problems will be solved by the heat death of the universe

Andrew: Yes!

1) His description mentions his intent to recover the other half of his sword, but I don't see it listed in the dragon description. Where is the information on the complete Sword of Oaths?

2) Is it possible he could leave with the PCs for the real world as he plans?

Hmmm... that part about finding the other half of his sword wasn't in my original draft. The behind-the-scenes, totally non-canon explaination of Brambleson's sword is from an old Varisian fable about why rabbits are timid and never trusting what you hold most dear to someone else's care. Brambleson was once the only timid rabbit in Golarion, in a time when all other rabbits were soldiers of the gods, with their gnashing claws and powerful legs. But when a creature attacked that no rabbit's claws could pierce and whose voice filled their hearts with such terror that no creature could face it a second time. Brambleson (who had been too afraid to face the beast), schemed and convinced the other rabbits to loan him their courage, swearing to return it the moment after he faced down the beast. The rabbits forged his oaths into a sword the rabbit prince needed to slay the beast, so he couldn't abandon them.

But Brambleson decided he liked feeling brave, and so when it came to face the beast, rather than attack it's soft underbelly, he leaped up and swung at it's shell., shattering his sword and his oaths along with it. He has not bothered to return the rabbits' courage, and instead gallivants across the world having adventures.

So, the "other piece" of Brambleson's sword is actually a dozen or more broken pieces lost to the annals of story time. If you could find them and put the sword back together, the rabbit prince would be forced to return his ill-gotten bravado to Golarion's rabbits and once again become a sniveling coward (essentially a standard rabbit).

Brambleson's Broken Sword of Oaths was (in the original draft) just a medium-sized +2 short sword (it did not have the broken condition; broken is just part of the name). If it were reforged, it would probably become a +2 abberation-bane bastard sword.

As for escaping the Harrowed Realm, none of the storykin can leave. They're made from spider webs, morning dew, and earwax, and would collapse into nothing upon exiting (they could probably survive on the Dimension of Dreams as well). Brambleson is more heart than smarts, though, and doesn't realize that. Still, if any storykin had enough force of personality to hold itself together outside the Harrowed realm, it would be the rabbit prince.

The idea was that once the PCs are dropped into the Harrowed Realm, the Deck falls in with them. At that point, the GM gives the players a deck of harrow cards (for added realism, toss the deck up in the air and make them gather up the cards themselves, just like their characters are probably doing), or at least hard them a list. You can explain things to them or not at that time, depending on how much your group like immersion or problem-solving. If you don't, canny players might start to notice that the encounters look like events in the cards.

When the players want to play a card because they want to see what happens to they think they've guessed the right card, they hand the card to the GM (or cross it off the list), who then announces if there's an effect or not. If they guessed correctly, they get the appropriate bonus for the encounter. If they didn't, they simply lose that card (and the bonus it would provide to the appropriate encounter.

I'm glad you like the adventure. I hope that answered your question.

I could easily set another module or two in the Circus. That ringmaster is a shifty one, always looking for an angle...

I didn't know they were throwing in my Umbra Circus material there! Awesome!

I was really sad when that got cut from The Harrowing.

I actually do have some thoughts and notes for a followup, but I'm not sure it would ever see publication because it wouldn't stand alone very well.

The basic plot is the Rabbit Prince slips out along with the PCs, full of wanderlust as he is. The down side is, he's a walking, talking, bragging hole in reality; Everywhere he goes, bad things leak out of the dimension of dreams. And the longer he's out, the bigger the hole.

The PCs need to clean up the mess he leaves and find the Prince, and somehow force him back into the land of dreams.

To make matters worse, now that he's out in the real world, adventuring and bragging, more people remember his fable and are talking about him, which makes the little bastard much, much more powerful.

Ross, what part of "secret database" don't you understand?

That is actually an animated Vundrani statue. Whether it's a statue of an Asurendra or a Vudrani goddess is up to you, since the deities for Vudra haven't been finalized yet.

Paizo does not buy fanfiction or unsolicited manuscripts for a variety of legal and logistical reasons. We almost exclusively go with authors who have established themselves in other venues, such as RPG Superstar, Kobold Quarterly, other game companies, and various fiction magazines.

... and most of us also like feeling attractive as well, so we tend to like attractive pictures of examples of our own sex.

Well... there's some screwy syntax. Curse you, Friday!!!

Personally, I prefer my women in art to be both attractive AND somewhat realistic, although I'd be lying if I claimed to dislike "cheesecake."

And ultimately, there isn't anything wrong with cheesecake for any gender. People like looking at attractive members of whatever sex they're attracted to, and most of us also like feeling attractive as well, so we tend to like attractive pictures of examples of our own sex. The problems really come in when there's only ONE example or categorey being shown for a group of people. The occasional cheesecake girl in RPG art is fine (as is the shirtless scene from Thor). The problem arises when almost every picture is of a skinny chick with a little-girl face and enormous, orb-like breasts, wearing clothing obviously designed to showcase her sexuality.

As a woman, I feel bad looking at pictures like that over and over, because it feels like 1) the product isn't aimed at me, 2) the creators obviously have strange ideas of women, and 3) I feel kind of put out about the role I'm clearly supposed to fill in this product. I have to assume most guys don't get too much of a kick out of every girl being a sex-bomb, either.

In regards to the original article, I've actually been exactly when the writer's girlfriend is: Chased out of a comic book shop by neckbeards raging at you. In my case, it was because I dared mention that the latest issues of X-men (back in the 90's) made me a little queazy with all the giant breasts and panty shots and the massively irrational behavior from the female characters. After that, I got out of comics for a good six or seven years.

And continuing the positive examples of what we DO like to see, I have so foundmy Jade Regent character.

Well... that was derailing. But now that the unhinged fellow with the persecution complex has... escorted himself out....

Armor doesn't always have to be perfectly realistic for men or women, and honestly is a lot more fun if you can roll some fashion into it without worrying about realistic movement and protection. It's once the "armor" crosses the line into obvious accentuating the wearer for the male gaze that I have issues (and, I'd like to think, a lot of other women feel the same way).

I for one love this one. She's heavily armored and still looks sweet and feminine. I'm not thrilled that she looks so skinny, but I've seen enough wiry women to accept it.

Seoni is annoying because she was the first major iconic image to get thrown around for Pathfinder, and the outfit and look doesn't fit her character sheet.

sure, sure, sorceress = high charima = super hot chick that can't wear armor so we can put her sex clothing!!! But Seoni has high intelligence (for a sorceror), and is serious and quiet. The outfit doesn't fit her character at all...she's not even underhanded and manipulative enough to use it purely to manipulate and control men. What's the point of dressing like that.

At least the oracle has the excuse she's nearly blind. :D

Paizo's always invested in lots of art, and works hard to keep the quality up. And Seelah and the inquisitor are awesome. Seoni and the witch and the oracle are a bit over the top sometimes, but like I said, I can usually deal. Seoni bothers me the most because she's quite well endowed and has no visible means of support. Bouncing around adventuring would be very painful like that.

::winces::

Somebody give that woman a good underwire!!!

Actually, as an anthropologist, a feminist, and a member of the Paizo art staff, I'm happy you brought up some of these issues. They've been on my mind a lot lately, as well.

Seoni dresses provactively. There's no denying that. Part of that is the same reason you mentioned: Sorcerer = high charisma, and the easiest way to convey that in a single illustration is making someone attractive and confidant. That being said, being confidant and attractive doesn't mean also being stupid, and being intelligent (as Seoni is) doesn't mean being an introvert or not caring about appearances. In-game, Seoni was raised in a very visceral culture that encourages music and dance and physical fitness. Out-of-game, her outfit was design primarily to show off the Varisian tattoos.

While Seoni's look was designed by a guy (The incomparable Wayne Reynolds), everything is created with input and feedback from our female art director, and even me on rare occasion (I'm quite proud of getting to add some input into Reiko and Lirianne's designs).

In the end, what Seoni wears is revealing, but her design was released alongside Meresiel and Kyra, a woman who is fully clothed but tight, and a woman who is bundled up like there was a fire sale at the scarf-and-chainmail-emporium. All three are awesome examples of womanhood in their own ways. Since then, Paizo's female iconic have run the gamut from badass warriors who won't take your s!+~ (Seelah and Imrijka), to tough-and-hot adventurer chicks (like Lirrianne or Amiri), to eye-candy (Alhazra), to... other (Lini). Seoni's outfit on her own fits stereotypes of what women have been told they should be, but all our female iconics, taken as a group, provide an awesome cross-section of what it actually does mean to be a woman. To leave out women who like to look and feel hot would've bordered on slut-shaming.

As to the lack of support... yeah, that makes me wince, too. Thankfully, most of our other women are less endowed and better supported. Prestidigitation, perhaps?

Is there any connection between talk about midwives and Crystal's hand stuck in printer from Sara post on the previous page?

Well, I can't promise that "printer" wasn't a euphemism.

Crystal: All this talk of midwives has me wanting a frappuccino.

Ross: ...
Ross: I fail to see the connection

Crystal: You would.

Ross: Now I'm vaguely insulted and still don't see the connection.

Chris Lambertz: Embrace the AWEOSME, Ross. You don't have to understand it.

Ross: At this point, I'm just going to assume you wanted a frapaccino for no reason at all and just wanted to wedge that into the conversion somehow.

Crystal: What? No! The frappuccino is integral to the birthing process.

Chris Lambertz: Caffeine makes baby go ZOOM

Crystal: It's the only way to get the child up and out of bed for the first time.

Gary: Babies get up and out of bed? I may need to rethink our babyproofing efforts.

Lissa: Not without coffee.

Sara Marie wrote:

crystal: If you don't like vegemite, it's a sign of your pact with satan

Oh oracle, are there other signs?

Dislike of vinegar.

Sara Marie wrote:

crystal: My decision-making process for getting dressed this morning was: Am I wearing pants?

And the answer was?

Personal.

Liz Courts wrote:

Kelsey Arwen MacAilbert wrote:

Well, let's say I was a rogue and wanted to hide stolen goods. What skill do I use for that?

Sleight of Hand.

So, Sleight of Hand is used for hiding stuff anywhere, like in a bed or under a floor board, not just on one's person? I'm trying to figure out which skill to use to hide stuff in a building.

Sounds like a handy use for the Profession (smuggler) skill to me, as an alternative.

This isn't the worst player I've ever met, but probably the worst team player.

About a decade ago, we were in a homebrew campaign by my college roommate put together. It was a post-apocalyptic world, where sentient computers tried to wipe out mankind with super-advanced mecha. We played as agents of the corporation that developed human-piloted mecha and ended the war some ten years ago. The campaign focused on reestablishing contact with lost human settlements, hunting down remaining pockets of AIs, and building a new nation. The PCs included (among many awesome concepts) Joe, playing a gun-nut soldier, and myself, playing a scientist and daughter of our corporate CEO. Unbeknownst to my character, she was actually a gynoid duplicate of the original daughter, who died several years earlier.

On a mission to aid and diplomatically woo a technophobic city-state, we had to make due without most of our gear. The town council demanded we turn over everything more advanced than WW2-era diesel-tech, which they stored in city hall protected by a electromagnetic field that shut down anything run by computers. Being a diplomatic envoy (with power armor) we complied and had a really fun, noir-style adventure on the city streets with nothing but our wits and revolvers.

Joe became more and more frustrated without his advanced weapons and explosives, though, and he eagerly volunteered to retrieve all our things from city hall when we concluded our adventures and prepared to leave. I went along because Joe usually caused problems when left unsupervised, and it was already late enough that we expected the building to be closed and didn't want him breaking in.

My character walks through the front door, into the EM field, and immediately shuts down. From the outsider perspective, I had just passed out. The security guard rushed over, and immediately proclaims "Your friend! She's not breathing!"

Joe thinks about this for a minute, before declaring "I put the guard in a chokehold!"

The entire table was silent for a good thirty seconds.

The GM asks if he's sure, because Crystal's character is unconscious and apparently not breathing. And Joe responds "Yeah! I put him in a headlock until he passes out. Are my guns behind his desk?"

After discovering the guard did not have his weapons, Joe proceeded to leave my apparently-dead body next to the newly-unconscious guard as he searched the building (at 10pm, mind you), putting janitors and interns in choke holds, until he finally found all his gear stored in the basement. After destroying the EM generator and donning his power suit, he loaded up all our gear and my body, marched out the front door, and proudly informed us "I left my five kilos of semtex in the building. I detonate it as I leave."

The game comes to a complete halt. We'd just spent three sessions trying to get on the good side of this city-state, and this action just came completely out of nowhere."

The GM groans, grabs her forehead, and says "Joe... WHY did you destroy the building?"

And Joe's answer, which still lives in infamy: "I had to blow it up. I was LEAVNG it."

Time to get the bitter 'I beg to differ' post off my chest.

[I beg to differ]
Umm, no: I can report that entering items has only brought me disappointment and soul-corroding despair, remorselessly hammering away with a message that if I have any sense of decency I should go away and kill myself. That is what entering RPGSuperstar has done to me the three times I have made the stupid mistake of submitting my attempts at real items.
[/I beg to differ]

Edit:
All that admitted, I grant it probably makes sense for anyone with the time to try to enter at least once to find out just how much the experience sucks or exhilarates in their own context.

And I did discover last year that I could have a certain amount of fun standing on the sidelines cheering real contestants on and a certain alias is likely to show up again with the next contest... ;)

I'm sorry it's been a negative experience for you, Charles. For what its worth, rejection and criticism are big parts of any professional creative endeavor. I've had plenty of adventure proposals that I thought were great shot down, article rejected, and so many edits and tweaks and changes to my writing that has been published that I've lost count. This almost always makes for a much better final product, even if it hurts at the time.

Please don't let yourself get discouraged. Even if you don't win, pushing yourself to write and create and think critically about your own works and others' is a victory in itself.

Lissa: We could also do one that stops at 5 or 8 deep without too much trouble.

Crystal: Context!

The Mute Hag is supposed to have Telepathy; it looks like that one got overlooked. A big part of their modus operandi is to bargain with victims, corrupting and bribing people until they sacrifice whatever personal limits they have to gain power or prestige. Their telepathy manifests less as a "voice in your head" and more as simply "knowing" what she intends or wants.

As for spells, they cast spells normally. A mute hag's verbal components are not the same as a human wizard's, consisting of breathing patterns, glottal-stops, and jaw clacking. Her spellcasting can be disrupted just as easily with a silence spell or similar effect.

gary: mmmm..... McRib® latte....

>.>

<.<

...Two please

Cosmo: OMGpixiestixOMGpixiestixOMGpixiestixOMGpixiestixOMGpixiestixOMGpixiestixOMG pixiestixOMGpixiestixOMGpixiestixOMGpixiestixOMGpixiestixOMGpixiestixOMGpix iestixOMGpixiestixOMGpixiestixOMGpixiestixOMGpixiestix

Wait, wait, wait! I didn't know we could include background ponies in our top 6. I have to revise:

1. Derpy, because she's me as a pony, right down to the eyesight
2. Pinkie Pie, for the aforementioned cupcakes.
3. Rainbow Dash; you can't argue with 20%
4. Ms. Smartypants
5. Octavia, because I've got to respect any artist who can perform while balanced on only two legs
6. Zecora, because rhyming is awesome and stripes are flattering.

1. Pinkie Pie, because cupcakes
2. Rainbow Dash, because she makes me feel 20% cooler
3. Rarity, because having her towards the bottom of the list would be the Worst. Possible. Thing.
4. Applejack, because she won't allow you to muddle the issue with your fancy mathematics
5. Twilight Sparkle, for a variety of reason I have detailed in my four-page thesis, currently being expanded into a full report
6. Fluttershy, because... um... yes... okay... If that's alright.

She might make a picture of Richard castle attacking Hellboy with a script... Oh, right

They'll settle who has the chiniest chin once and for all as the fight for my amusement!

Wes, Sean, Liz: Why don't we sell these boxes?! I want my employee discount on a shelf full of characters.

Gary Teter wrote:

This is the art in question.

The question does remain, is it you or Ross who is on fire?

That's probably the mysterious "new girl" in the IT department. She's a redhead.

Gary: My cat's breath smells like cat food.

Sara: So does yours. Have some of this cinnamon gum.

Gary: It tastes like burning.

Waaaait! Gary never said that! You're just pulling random Simpsons quotes together as a replacement for being witty!

I can't remember where I read it, but I believe about three weeks ago Crystal posted that Paper Minis were on an indefinite hiatus for some reason or another. They still plan to make more, but other projects are keeping them too busy to roll out new ones for the foreseeable future.

If you are referring to this post, I only meant to imply I cannot start any paper mini projects beyond those I already have (including the Kingmaker series). There was an abnormally long hiatus in updates due to licensing problems, but updates to the existing sets and brand new sets are on the way.

Thank you!!

I am glad this was a one time only:-).. i really like the regular one a lot better!!

No worries, and I'm sorry if we scared you.

Hello Paizo Team,

I love your Products, yet I received Ultimate Magic (and also ordered Ultimate Combat).
Somehow it feels to me that the quality of paper you used on Ultimate Combat is far worse then I am used too from Core Rulebook, APG etc. Is this also the case for Ultimate Combat?

I really hope you will go back to the good paper quality!!

Markus

Good eye, Markus! It is a different paper, the paper isn't worse, just a different texture. Sometimes when you're dealing with printers overseas, they need to make last-minutes changes because of supply problems, and in the case of Ultimate Magic they ended up needing to use a different kind of paper.

The paper they did use is actually a heavier stock, and hence sturdier, but it isn't as heavily coated ("glossy") so it feels a bit rougher and it soaked up more of the ink during the printing process.

We'll hopefully be switching back to our familiar glossy, lighter stock from here on out. I know Ultimate Combat is on our usual stock.

Crystal: "First, we get to hire Hit-Monkey..."

Lissa: "This is why you don't do customer service."

Crystal: "Awwwwwww..."

Oh, and that means a) we miss the ENnies, b) we'll be short one person working the register tomorrow morning, and, most importantly, c) Sara loses her True Dungeon slot, which she has been looking forward to for months. Good show, crappy airline!

Poor Sara!

He's not the only one.

This portion was much larger in the original manuscript, but we had to cut it down to fit the page count. We also decided that individual GMs would be able to customize this encounter to their players' play style.

The basic gist is that the Ringmaster lets the PCs ask him three questions to try and catch him in a lie, and he'll always answer truthfully questions about the Harrowed realm, he'll always lie about himself, and if he doesn't know the answer to a question and can't pry it from a PC's mind with his Detect Thoughts, he simply makes up a reasonable and confidant-sounding lie.

Ultimately, he doesn't consider Sense Motive checks or spells like detect lies to be "proving" he's lied; after all, he only has the one wizard's claim that he's cast anything, and a sense motive check is just a glorified hunch.

Here are a few suggestions:
Logical Paradox: Players can use two of their questions to create a logical paradox to trap the Ringmaster on his third question, as he'll always give a definite answer, even if there are multiple correct answers. Think three-card monte or the old "Can god create a rock so heavy even he can't lift it" schtick.

Knowledge Skills: Since the ringmaster will always make up a lie about any subject he's uncertain about, PCs can simply use knowledge skills to pose questions they might be able to answer correctly but he can't. As the ringmaster can detect thoughts at will, though, it's better if a PC who doesn't know the answer asks the question, trusting a teammate to be able to answer it.

Trickery: The classic unsolvable riddle is simply "What have I got in my pocket," but between the Ringmaster's ability to detect thoughts and the vagueness of that specific question, it's unlikely to trap him (He can simply answer "lint", after all). Still, a PC with a high Will save or magical protection from mind reading may be able to stump him with simply questions like "Which hand is the marble in" or "How many coins am I carrying?" PCs can also use Sleight of Hand to change the answer to questions like this after the Ringmaster has responded.

I'd bet dollars to donuts that Crystal's father said something very similar about his daughter. I know I've said it about my kids.

I doubt my father's critiques of his own parenting would revolve around literacy.

Crystal: Sorry about that; Got distracted right after lunch.

Lissa: Is that a euphemism?

Crystal: Not to my knowledge...

I had her pegged as a pirate, but it turns out that she's a loose-cannon cop! Her backstory, especially the magical teleportation plot point, really highlights how varied Golarion is and how different the other regions must seem to each other.

Sole complaint in regards to the art: I can't really tell that she's half-Garundi at all. Quite the pale one, she is. Must have gotten it from her mother.

Nope! Old Man Dahmok is Keleshite, not Garundi. And her mother is a Kyonin elf.

Mark Moreland wrote:

I'm guessing the announcement will be that all Paizo employees get a month-long, all expenses paid trip to Tahiti and overtime rate for all days spent out of the office on such a sabbatical.

What?

Woo-hoo!

Seconded!