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Ooh White, White Ooh White, WhiteOoh White, White (Ooh White Lines) Vision dreams of passion
Ticket to ride, white line highway
(Freeze! Rock! Freeze! Rock! Freeze! Rock! Freeze! Rock!)
(Ahhh) Higher, baby
Rang dang diggedy dang di-dang
. . . sorry, couldn't resist. I had visions of Grand Master Flash and Sean of the Dead in my head at the moment.
The Presidio. I sense somebody with over 10 ranks in Knowledge: Sean Connery. I thank that deserves a cookie. The thumb scene was my favorite in the whole movie.
I think that's wise to get a distraction going. If the players go to head him off at the pass and enter Foxglove Manor, it would be tricky to make sure enough events take place to allow for Pathfinder 2 where Aldern gets infected and becomes the Skinsaw Man. If you have Pathfinder #2, you can anticipate the course of events, have the PC's encounter the haunts, etc., but they'll be outmatched at 1st - 2nd level. Sure, they might manage to save Aldern's life, but I'd be tempted to unleash the second wave of Nualia's plan upon Sandpoint. If they have to deal with a more apropriate encounter first, Sandpoint gets a chance to survive. I think the idea of side treks are built into the AP (hence the added monsters in the beastiary sections, the hooks mentioned in the Sandpoint section, and notes regarding the hinterlands). I wouldn't stiff the PC's experience on XP they deserve. I think many almost TPK encounters could be made easier if the PC's actually are encouraged to wander off the rr tracks a bit. I personally intended this myself as a means of using recent Dungeon adventures to beef up my players' characters at certain points.
The AP made it quite clear that starting a fire is moot since all brush and wood is saturated with the cold, damp moisture of an area infested with frequent foggy conditions on the coast. I remember trying to start a fire with a stack of old magazines, and I couldn't do diddly quat with oil either. I had a means to keep the source of the fire burning, but I only managed to char the outside. If something has been treated to resist flames, I'd imagine it'd survive; 20 or not when it comes to aim. As far as distance and a natural 20, would that mean a PC could hit the moon if a natural 20 is rolled? What goes on behind the DM screen doesn't need to be binding. Might as well chuck the DM screen. As far as rolling with the punches, having gone ahead and declaring Thistletop burned to the ground, I'd imagine that they'd also kill Shadowmist and lose out on the reward and XP (they'd also kill Ameiko if she returned), and then they'd have to dig through the rubble to get to Naulia's gang, and or think the mission solved as her gang still manages to survive and plan stage two of their assault of Sandpoint.
I'm trying to understand the benefit of selecting the Arcane Focus Item feat in Dragon 358 page 86. It mentions that a wizard may spontaneously convert any spell per the metamagic guidelines 3 times per day. Cannot a wizard "spontaneously" select any viable spell for a metamagic feat anyway, as long as it meets the guidelines?
Since none of them will ever be met or have any association with the AP, voila, no descriptions needed. Huzzah! Seriously, though, route one would be to say they have the mother's long hair for this and the father's horns for that, etc. and just wing it. Route two would wait until PC's ask about their appearances, point behind the Players' heads and declare "what in the world can that be" and then switching goblets around so they won't guess where the iocane powder is.
Are they also going on the Adventure Path? If not, why not? Experience would dictate that you would at least pick up one or two skills if you continue to encounter them. I'm with FH on this one. I like the iconics, but If they're going to be included, make them grow with the adventure. Also, Merisiel can ask questions while licking her dagger or pricking her fingers and licking the blood. Or, she could brag about how flexible she is and how much she likes the smell of cheese.
If the gods did have a Vrolon quality to them, I think that would be cool. I also enjoy the electricity analogy which references that, and how certain aspects to the gods will be interpreted differently: elevated by some and downgraded by others. I can also see how this could lead to religious wars, two sides splitting hairs over the same god. Pipi Longstocking is exactly how I saw Desna. . . very dangerous but very useful for a DM to toy with annoying players. Revenge is a dish best served cold and with pig-tailed, freckled little girls, hee hee.
And I think that's fine too. But I've always had a problem with, for example, dwarves worshiping a human-appearing god. I think every race should imagine a god in their own image like in Eberrron, or at least as "multiracial", such as Ulaa in Greyhawk (bit dwarvish, bit gnomish) or Ehlonna (alternates human/elven).I can't tell you how much I appreciate the fact that you haven't gone the "racial deities" route. I've always found it to be truly annoying in a depersonalizing kind of way - people should worship gods that mean something to them spiritually, not merely who their race "tells" them to.That was our thinking. We're glad you approve. ^_^ I can see the perspective. I think for me, I've felt this depended on the cosmology to figure out: 1) who created the race in question; 2) what does the god look like. An old Greek line of philosophy concluded that people make gods in their own image, and that if horses had gods, they'd appear horse-like in form. Although this explains some pantheons, you've had other pantheons even in the real world where the image of gods didn't mirror the humans worshipping them. In Egypt, you have gods like Anubis. In Mesopotamia, you have gods like Pazuzu. In Hinduism, you have gods like Ganesha. Perhaps bipedal, or otherwise having humanoid elements, they also contain aspects of the non-human. So we know a little of what some of the Golarian gods look like, and we definately now know what Desna looks like, but what about the others? The gods represent certain values, and it feels like these values in Golarian consume more priority than their specific appearance.
My wife also first suspected werewolves and then vampires. She's very close to connecting the dots. From the haunt at the stairs she's wondering how minor ghouls can make a ghast, and that's so far the biggest loop. I'm giddy with all of the clues and twists. She's so close to the truth, and I'm having a great time being dreadful. Of course the tables will turn next AP, and my own detective skills will face the wheel.
I've been raised on bad DM'ing. It wasn't the names of the villains and other minor NPC's that still haunt my mind to this day. I still recall every single DM NPC who would always hit the villain,never got paralyized, managed to persuade the king where I could not, etc. It would be my characters facing the meat grinder, but the DM NPC would comb their hair and dazzle the crowds. When I came across that episode in DM of the Rings, it struck a chord. I, of course, know what a proper game should not do (and I'm aware of the actual plot behind L.o.t.R.). As far as the iconics, it wouldn't bother me. They could have half-Minotaur-Gnomes as icons, and I'd still find them sexy.
I too like the idea of one pantheon rather than individual racial ones. I also think it would be cool if there where slight differences between how different races and cultures perceived their deities. Kind of equivalent to the multiple branches of a single faith like christianity or islam. I think it could add a bit of realism and could make for some interesting plot hooks. I relish this idea as well. I liked that in the cd-ROM game, Heart of Winter, there's a cutscene when you go to parlay with the *Barbarians* that their chief spits out something to the effect of *You who call us Barbarians, but you are the ones butchering our people and taking our lands. You even take our gods away from us.* He refers to how they felt their god originated with their people and was later adopted by the Ten Towns folk who also began pronouncing the god's name differently. This is what I imagine might be going down in the lands near Korvosa as the Hell Knights try to subjugate nearby territories.
I can imagine not seeing the familiar. I figured it was something left out intentionally to give players some wriggle room to choose their own, and my player just went ahead and chose the thrush. Most of the familiars, actually present or not for a pregen, I'd imagine would be too tiny to really jump out in the background. Unless it were more like an animal companion and medium-sized, I wouldn't expect to see them depicted. Personally, when I look at the various artwork, the first thing on my keenful, scrutinizing gaze is *not* where's the familiar like some fast food commercial. My primary question will be if it's true what they say about a man with long ears or a woman with a short skirt, hee hee hee hee.
One of the aspects to the iconic party roles in D&D originate specifically from certain armor and weapon restrictions. By appearance alone, players can gauge with 70 - 98% accuracy what class an NPC is from the DM's description alone. From that, they can plan the most cliche of battle tactics: everyone aim for that robed figure that only weilds the staff and/or dagger first, etc. Not that this always works, but it can at least take away the mystery from a DM's cadre of encounters. When I was a player, playing a wizard, witch, or psionicist, I'd take great pains to carry around weapon and shield (at least at low levels) to keep enemies guessing so that my character wasn't the first primary target. Even if I used weapons I was skilled in only, I'd still never hit anyway, so it didn't matter if I took out a sword and waved it like my character knew what he was doing.
Actually what I relish is the assurance that there will be no such icons in Pathfinder such as Elminster and Drizzt, keeping the spotlight firmly fixed upon the PC's. Sure, there will be the muckety-mucks who need some rear-kicking, or rear-something, but you won't have to worry about Gandalf suddenly charging in with the horseriders as the sun rose to save Helm's Deep, and all the men shouting "Gandalf, Gandalf" when it was the three heroes doing 99% of the work during the night.
How can you go wrong with full-sized eye candy?? That's some mighty fine home cooking, right there! Too bad there can't also be full-body shots of the iconics in their Summer wear. I'd vote for evening wear and after-hours as well. Yum-yum, gimme-some! On a more serious note, pregens with a background help me out tremendously as DM to figure out what kind of typical adventuring blokes populate Varisia, and they've been critical in their use as pre-gen characters. Even though my vote is late, I hope it's noted among supporters nonetheless. One thing I enjoyed was comparing the background developed for Valeros in my game as opposed to Paizo. I had fun really emphasizing how unaware and dim-witted he was, and that it was the ladies that knew what was what. As they began making a name for themselves and the local lasses where flaunting their hooch in his face, he'd just get a blank stare and keep walking. It wasn't until the encounter with Shayless and the bodice dropped to the ground was he aware that women were swooning around him. I just imagined that thinking about romance made his brain hurt, but boy-oh-boy he won't go to bed without his two swords named "Misha" and "Sweet Kiss."
Combined with the suggestion of Paizo's staff, my own sense of ad hoc and generous gifts to let players revel in their accomplishments, and that several moments in thos AP were almost met with a TPK, I hand out XP after every game session regardless of where the party is. In Pathfinder #2, it's proving particularly dangerous, so I've been handing out xp after each and every haunt experienced. After the Foxglove manor is finished, I might return to waiting to until after the game session again, but everyone's talk of Mr. Logue's Pathfinder #3 making the adventure into an elaborate abertoire has me anticipating that I'll need to hand out experience after every room/ encounter again soon.
I agree with the sentiments of the thread. Having a world with gods and clerics that channel them, I envision gods that can't help BUT to constantly interfere: causing wars, naming curses and blessings, sowing their seed in the ladies and having their way with the boys, bringing mountains low and raising valleys high, throwing down plagues with a bat of their eyes, and in general not playing fair. If someone says they're better at doing something than a particular god, they actually get a visit and a challenge, coming to regret such bragging. My initial reaction is good regarding the Golarion Pantheon. It's smaller and feels more unified. By unified, I mean that it's not a hodgepodge of various actual historical mythologies thrown in the pot without actually connecting the dots (How would Osiris play chess with Odin? Is there an annual Lawful Good gods convention for a week of Soma in the Hindu plane, do they all don their togas when going to Mt. Olympus? Do they interact at all??). They seem to all have a place, interact with each other, and have formed an association with each other ranging from ally to foe. As the gods, etc. have become elaborated, I enjoy the elements in particular that come out of the old fertile crescent that have come to inspire the stories of H.P. Lovecraft and, hence, the Necronomicon. Asmodeus, Lamashtu, and Pazuzu being included delights me. In that vein, I wonder if the essential "big picure" of all of these gods mean that they are all essentally a part of everyday life: the calandar includes months named after evil gods; mothers fear the encroachment of Lamashtu's interference, but does that mean they actually invoke the aid of Pazuzu even though the mother is usually good but Pazuzu is also "evil?" Are all of the gods essentially given their due regardless of the alignment of people? If a god is neglected and offerings not given, how much of a reprisal do people need to worry about? For example, if a ruler forgets about Desna, will ruin come to the kingdom? If a mother doesn't invoke Pazuzu, will Lamashtu succeed in slaying her child? If the gods otherwise engage in a laissez faire attitude, where clerics are the only means of having a glimmer of awarness of their existence, I would imagine devotion and/or awe of such beings to be rather insignificant. Places of worship would be rare, and clerics found irkesome by most people as most try to ignore or placate them just to keep them sedated. I have seen evidence of those child-like questions and mythical stories mentioned, and I have savored every morsel. There's the creation story of the Lamia Matriarchs, there's the story of why animals no longer remain immediately friendly with humans, there's the story of star metal/ adamantite, and there's the story of how the ancient ruins must have been built by giants (although in this case, "were" built by/and or for giants). It is anguishing to have to wait for small bits here and there, but, I understand that it's the particular process the staff for Pathfinder is using to get the AP's out first and then flesh out the world first. A kind of generating interest first via en media res rather than putting out a tome first that feels stale and stuffy and nothing published to use that tome with. As long as halflings don't walk around shoeless with hairy feet, smoking longbottom leaf and not wanting to be bothered by "adventures," I'm confident that the staff will continue to dazzle and amaze with their take on traditional D&D elements.
That's awesome! I had a similar idea to possibly initiate the adventurers as the "Sentinels of Sandpoint," and I think this kind of above-and-beyond recognition should be a great idea to pump them heroes' egos very well.
I check the blog daily, and I sometimes check it many times throughout the same day since I've spotted such changes in the same day before. I enjoy the sneak peaks, the GenCon photos and video, and the background fluff and crunch about Golarian. For anything that involves updates, changes, information, crunch, fluff or anything else in the Pathfinder world that fleshes out the world but won't make it to the printer in a future product, I'd love for there to be some sort of consolidated, searchable location that such info might migrate to.
I know, I know, it is just petty whining over a couple of pictures. It's just they pictures like that continue uphold the delusion people seem to have about swords these days. QFT Well said,Fatespinner. I'm inclined to share this perspective. Even with bad art, I still treasure variety. As an artist myself, I enjoy diversity and making my art different from other artists: realism be damned. I'm curious though why now his sword has become an issue since his image has been around since before August. If you want to split hairs about realism, how about Seoni's wardrobe while outdoors in winter, or how Merisiel gets that jewel to stay in her forehead, or why magic abounds when no such thing exists, or any other countlessly absurd issues. I'm not aware Golarian existed in history, so that's a sham as well. Next thing you know, people will start to get skeptical about the size of Conan's codpiece. I say, you can't say for sure unless you've held it in your hands yourself.
One suggestion for the future would be to control the dice and not the other way around. One of the benefits of the DM screen is the option to fudge dice unless the group enjoys the brutality of a pull-no-punches game, which is fine as well. You can still put on a good poker face and make players go through the rack without killing them. Part of the atmosphere of the Glassworks were some more of the illogical battle tactics and insane, maniacal glee the goblins have during battle (like the very first encounter) until they reach the body count that suddenly puts awareness into them. They should be just tossing glass around and using hot pokers to almost minimal effect, and then their kid gloves come off while they seek the help of Tsuto. As far as introducing new PC's, I'd make the players do the work. As DM you have the right of veto, but you don't need to do more work than needed. As far as Ameiko, as the AP suggests, and as Goroxx mentioned, it should be a matter of your sensibilities. Do you think the players are motivated to save her, or are they dragging their heals about it? The party should not be punished by having you roll well and killing them off, which forces them to pause to lick their wounds, and recruit new members. If you deem they take a reasonably quick time to get going, then offer them a second chance at it. If they slow down and waste time at the Hagfish or Pixie's Kitten, then Ameiko has been sacrificed by the time they bother with Thistletop. Maybe another group of adventurers already beat them to it and earn the glory. It all depends.
That is amazing work. I'm particularly fond of Sherrif Hemlock. That's exactly how I pictured him. I had this old friend I roleplayed with, and I pictured he'd like like him (similar personalities and such). The Druid is also very striking for me. I'd enjoy seeing your work in upcoming issues myself.
Wow!! Erik, I'd believe you if you said the earth was flat. That's awesome news. I feel giddy. Edit: I think if Watcher's PC's are likewise keen on interacting in the adventure path with a sincere investment in ethical behavior, I would think my unanswered question would prove relevant: In Pathfinder #2 it mentions keeping a tally of PC's who act along the lines of specfic sins, but what if they behave in the opposite way -- behaving under certain "virtues" instead? Will there be an equivalent tally, or does nothing special ever happen to bother?
I have a feeling that Iesha will be screaming and yelling her head off en route to Aldern, and Aldern has the ability to command all of the other ghouls. I would imagine that he'd have time to gather all of them together in a smashing show. Aldern, with his jumping ability can hop about to maneuver just right, and I wouldn't put it past him to change his face to mirror Iesha's. Like the mirror, that effect alone will paralyze her with guilt and self-loathing, allowing the other beasties to render her flesh from her bones. Edit:
Sandpoint is Amazing perhaps can summarize the whole essence of detractors to Pathfinder, die hard supporters, and those in the middle. I, too, would describe myself as a complete convert. The only ongoing beef I have is that the Paizo staff dislike psionics and have mentioned that it won't be supported unless the demand persuades them otherwise. Since psionics has been the only element that has maintained my interest with D&D, it does burn in my craw since I doubt psionics will ever gather favor with the masses. With that in mind, I just choose to ignore it and simply put in psionics myself when and where I can. Pathfinder is simply too amazing for me to make an issue over it. As for sex and violence, I find this ironic since that's the primary crux for people to start roleplaying. In most roleplaying games, you're not creating schoolteachers and chartered accountants, you're creating fighters and rogues and wizards with an impressive arsenal of lethality. In my situation with the first two Pathfinders, this has been the first game where the story has been compelling and "real" enough that great pains have been taken at the expense of an almost TPK to spare the lives of goblins and of Tsuto. They feel for the suffering of Iesha, and they desperately want to be the great local heroes that Sandpoint has claimed them to be. They made a deal with Orik when he surrendered. These are all NPC's that are not 2-dimensional. Their background compels the PC's to sympathize and have only used lethal force when absolutely need to. When going through the haunted place of Foxglove Manor, my PC's refuse to take a damn thing because they feel that there are other living Foxglove relatives that have a right to the manor and all contents within. If this was the same ol' same ol',the PC's would kill, steal, loot, have sex with whatever walks, and ask names later (if they bothered). The only other minor element was that in the beginning, all characters were natives of Sandpoint, but since they didn't have Knowledge local, (I houseruled it later), they weren't privy to the local gossip and could have dealt with certain situations much differently. The only thing I gave them was that they were aware of Naulia who I figured was so famous that they "had" to know "something" about her. Only when scanning the threads was I aware that natives of Sandpoint automatically knew all rumors. Another was that Chelaxian is now common. Updates and errata like these can pose a challenge for those that can't find the time or have internet access to keep up to date with the latest changes. I do find, though, that this does add to the charm since the world is also, therefore, fluid. The Paizo staff are very keen on customer input and influence, and will hone in on interesting and popular ideas. The world feels new, fresh, and dynamic, and I adore how elements have been twisted through the Paizo mold. What Paizo is doing now is what it feels like WotC are trying to imitate. What I noticed with 3.5 was that fluff seemed to be superceded by crunch. Ecologies disappeared. Were beasties nocturnal or not? How did they reproduce? How did they interact with other creatures sharing the same habitat? Paizo has impressed me with their goblins alone, returning the importance of "flavor" to those that are interested to know more than just the crunch. If it's just crunch, than players become acutely aware that goblins are just the fodder, stock 1st level monsters and that they will vanish as soon as they raise a level to face the next level of stock CR-appropriate fodder. Hack, slash, hack, slash, ho hum. Paizo took great pains not only to flesh out the nature of goblins in general but to differentiate the goblin tribes from each other. Facing the Thistletop Goblins will be different than facing any of the other tribes. I expect the same with all of the other sentient monsters to come. I adore the history behind the lamia matriarch. Edit:
I just finished the entirety of the thread. I must say that a cold shower is in order (and a change of pants)!! Simply astounding. I appreciated all of the tedious, orc-breaking work that went into all of that. Thank you all for replying with links, etc. I am much indebted to Lilith and anyone reposting such chats in the past, present, and future. They go on way past my bedtime and I'd have no other means of participating. . . . and to think I was just curious about Pathfinder #3 but got so much more. My mind is numb with delight. I also have to say that I worry about JJ, Erik, and anyone else working such heavy duty shifts 6 days of the week AND still managing to chat at midnight. I adore Pathfinder, and I hope they take some well-deserved sleep and vacations soon so they can keep going.
I think watching Iesha knock out a few ghouls like flies would also impress upon the PC's just how mighty she is since they still need a few good rolls of the dice to bring them down. And then when they see Aldern take her down, they will be suitably impressed about then facing him. On a tangent I imagine that scene in the X-Men when you see the toughest of the tough characters surpass the other from Rogue to the Juggernaut to Gladiator (I forgot the order except that I believe Gladiator was last). (From when X-men was a Saturday morning event in the early 9's) My question then would be, assuming the party follows Iesha to confront Aldern, does he still revert personalities to begin his brief monolgue when reduced in hit points and/or when he sees the object of his obsession? Would he do this even when mid-battle with Iesha or only after he kills her (assuming he still survives to provide such an option at this point)? I'd assume he would.
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