Ed Healy's page

I was playing around with the gods list and noticed that none of them have influence over the domains of Creation and Scalykind, both OGL domains.

Creation: I think this is good. I'm sure each culture has its own creation myth, and some of them likely have deities with the Creation domain. I think it's good that "the 20" do not have a god of creation.

Scalykind: As with Droskar, I'm sure there are other deities that are outside "the 20" which service the religious needs of dragons and their ilk. As these are generally monstrous races, I understand why none of "the 20" have this domain.

Anyway, just analyzing the absence of these two domains "out loud."

I wish I could remember 'em!

Our family used to go to Crane Pond and Minerva Lake (Upstate New York), and my Dad would tell the best stories. One of them was about these kids at summer camp, and how they'd get eaten by trees if they were caught alone in the woods at night. The roots would wrap around their ankles and drag them down underground.

I never forgot that story, and when I got older I used it as inspiration for... well, for D&D monsters. I added a beak at the center of the roots and made these "trees" into kraken-like plants. So far, these bad boys have claimed three PCs. Lovely.

Dream first appeared in Complete Divine. Tyranny is from Complete Warrior.

According to d20srd.org, neither are OGL. However, I'm not sure if that list is complete.

Man, I missed it! Damn other side of the world!

Excuses, excuses!

On Thursday, June 14th, James Jacobs (Pathfinder Editor-in-Chief) was the special guest on the #greytalk IRC channel. He was joined by Christopher West (Cartographer) and Stephen S. Greer (Sins of the Saviors). Special thanks to Rick Miller for hosting the chat.

Below is a summary of discussions that relate to Paizo's new product lines.

- - - - -

Very early in the evening, there was a lengthy discussion about the maturity level of Pathfinder content. James had the following to say:

"Pathfinder'll be about the same as Dungeon/Savage Tide when it comes to content. It'll get grim and edgy now and then, but it won't be going into the Hard-R rated zone. For Savage Tide... it kind of just developed into the 'soft porn' genre. Originally, for example, Malcanthet had no role in the campaign. She kind of wormed her way in throguh the author's work, and, well, where Malcanthet goes, the naughty goes. Savage Tide certainly did get sexed up, though. It's kind of unavoidable when you want to go for a swashbuckling type genre."

"The first Pathfinder adventure path is certainly going to have less of that in there."

"From what we hear from our readers via the messageboards and email and all that... grittier adventures are constantly the most popular ones. The Styes, for example, is hands-down the most popular location we've done in Dungeon over the last 45 or so issues."

Greer added "Pathfinder will probably be more to you're liking if STAP didn't do it for you. From what I've read so far. But it stil has the violence and themes most adventures have. What's exciting about Pathfinder is that it really feels like the old D&D I grew up on. The feeling I got when I first opened up my Greyhawk boxed set is how I feel about what I've read so far of the Pathfinder manuscripts."

OGL Content
If your looking to expand your gaming library with some good OGL sources, consider these: Tome of Horrors I and The Book of Fiends (which are used in Pathfinder #1), and the Advanced Beastiary (which is used a few issues later).

James said "The OGL is like opening the door to a big building filled with cool toys only to see that there's a whole city of buildings out there to play in. Necromancer's Handbook is cool. I also like the Avatar's handbook and the Witch book. And the Drow book."

GORTH?
Paizo has finally settled on a name for their new campaign setting, but James was not ready to announce it yet.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
There is still no solid word on them. Said James: "Unknowns shopping their work at Paizo is a topic that we've been focusing on a lot lately... it's imporant that there be something out there for the new writer. We haven't figured it out all the way yet... but I really REALLY hope to have news by GenCon at least."

SANDPOINT DEVIL
If you enjoyed reading about Paizo's version of a cryptozoology classic, thank Wes Schneider.

WAR
Paizo has been work with Wayne Reynolds on some art-related products. James wouldn't comment on what they have in mind, but if you're interested in WAR prints, art books and the like, make your voice heard on the forums.

OGRES
Wayne is retooling the look of the ogre for the cover of Pathfinder #3. The art order included references to The Hills Have Eyes, with instructions to "Make then bigger." James said "Pathfinder ogres are pretty wretched folk."

UNDEAD AND ABERRATIONS
It's clear the Pathfinder #2 features ghouls in some way. When asked how often the undead will appear, James said "There's a few in the first adventure, a LOT in the second adventure, and then a few from then on."

On aberrations, he said "In the first adventure, a new aberration (the sinspawn) plays a pretty strong role. They pop up here and there later on, especially in Wolfgang's adventure (which looks like it'll have a pretty strong Lovecraftian element, actually)."

FAVORED ENEMIES
If you're thinking of playing a Ranger, Dr Jacobs made some suggestions for favored enemy choices. "Giant. But that one won't help you till adventure 3." The best route for a ranger? Goblinoid or undead, then undead or giant, and then giant giant giant. Consider picking up dragon somewhere toward the end, but then return to giant. "Actaully, humanoid (human) is always a good choice too," James said.

ON GIANTS
With all the talk of giants, it was inevitable that some classic Greyhawk adventures would be mentioned. When asked how Pathfinder would compare, James said "Adventure #4 is very much a spiritual sequal to the 'Against the Giants' adventrues. With stone giants. Giants are pretty cool. We'll be introducing a new type of giant by the end too, but for the most part, you can expect Rise of the Runelords to dose up on ogres, stone giants, and probably cloud and hill giants."

NEW MONSTERS
Jame's favorite new monster from Pathfinder #2, it can be described as a "freaky undead locked in attic murdered girlfriend type thing."

James also mentioned the angel of Desna and the lamia matriarch, two more new monsters which haven't been "built" yet.

VARISIA AFTER RISE OF THE RUNELORDS
It's been said that Adventure Path 2 will be set in the Varisia region, but James stressed that it won't reuse any of the locations from Rise of the Runelords. The third Path will move beyond Varisia, into another region. "I've also got a crazy idea for what might be Adventure Path 6 or 8 or 13," James said. "(It) starts in Sandpoint and hinges on a character from the first adventure who ended up being WAY more interesting than I thoguht she would be."

Honestly, "the planes" are very far down on my list of priorities. Unless Paizo can pull of a project of "Planescape" coolness, I'd much rather see cool adventures set in the Material, with singular references to / development of planar sites.

"The Last Winter"

Is this a new flick? I did a search for the title and came up with a children/family movie and one about female snowboarders...

I don't know... Do you really want to work in a town that bans popcorn?

"City of Seattle could ban microwave popcorn" (King5.com)

Beginning August 1st, you will no longer be able to access the #pathfinder chat by using the old server (chat.psionics.net). Please make sure your IRC client is pointing to the new server (irc.otherworlders.org).

Jason Bulmahn (GameMastery) was joined by contributing author Nicolas Logue (Crown of the Kobold King) for this week's #pathfinder chat.

New Product Announcement: GameMastery Brand Shiv... for when you need that perfect, sticker... compatible with the worlds largest roleplaying game.

Production Update
W1 Conquest of Bloodsworn Vale went to press on Tuesday. Elements of Power went out last week. Also, the Rise of the Runelords Player's Guide and Hook Mountain Massacre are almost done. Keep watching the Paizo blog was sneak peaks into these products.

GameMastery 2008
Next year's schedule is coming together, and there should new out about it soon. Current plans include at least twelve new GameMastery modules, twelve Pathfinders, and a mountain of accessories. Jason also hinted about some other surprises, but wouldn't give any details.

Jame Jacobs on #greytalk
Rick Miller announced that James Jacobs (Pathfinder) will be the special guest on the #greytalk channel this Thursday night. He should be showing up after midnight (EST). For more information on how to access the #greytalk channel, visit Canonfire!

Cheliax
Jason rehashed some of the released details on the Chelaxians. "They are the remnants of a great empire that collapsed with the death of its patron deity... a mortal who ascended." They have been equated to historical Romans by some, and while Jason did not completely dispel that theory, he added "after their fall, they turned to devil worship to maintain their hold and power."

Dragon's Trove Contest
Jason said that week 1 of the contest went well, with over 100 responses. As a reminder, this weeks contest closes at noon on Thursday, so get your responses in!

Share!

It really depends on how you use Taint. Is it a substitution for alignment? If so, then all evil creatures become significantly weakened. You can mitigate this by assuming given stats already factor in the Taint penalties to CON and WIS, but it's not a realistic assumption.

Does Taint supplement alignment? No benefit to offset the penalties is less of an issue in this case. However, if you're looking to emulate a creeping evil that grabs hold of a person, body and soul, a lack of benefit does not fit.

For instance, the Shadowlands Taint is almost a sentient evil. It rots the victim, but also seduces them with greater power. Think of the Dark Side of the Force.

Without a benefit for surrendering to the Taint, all you get is a large negative energy field.

These OGL Taint rules are "less than perfect."

There's no benefit to being tainted, unless you take a Prestige Class. That's it.

"Contributor" is the tag I'm after.

But don't tell anyone.

Just found them: LINK.

AEG's Rokugan books had some great rules for the effects of the Shadowlands Taint. Heroes of Horror has WotC's version of said rules.

Neither of them are OGL.

Has anyone done an OGL Taint?

Google Earth SDK...lets you import your own maps for viewing in Google Earth.

I toyed with this last year, creating a 3D rotating Oerth. It wasn't that difficult, though I didn't trying to play with any of the options. You're right, though, once the new world's map is generally settled, it'd be cool to see it in 3D.

Really? Is that OGL content?

You'll have to ask Jason. It was his comment.

/me goes back to reading Freud.

This week's #Pathfinder chat saw the largest turn-out yet. Jason Bulmahn (GameMastery) and James the Jacobs (Pathfinder) were joined by Nicolas Logue (who according to Dr. Jacobs "talks enough for a man four times his size").

- - - - -

This week’s insane new GameMastery Product: GameMastery Brand Pressurized Cheese Product... great for drawing edible lines on your battlemat. Requests for GameMastery Brand Beer were rebuffed. "That would never make it out of our warehouse," said Jason.

- - - - -

Erik Mona, Paizo Publisher, is back from New York City, where he was attending a Book Expo. Unfortunately, he was unable to make the chat. This didn't keep us from talking about our favorite authors. We've been spending greater amounts of each chat talking about literature. Lovecraft, Howard and Leiber seem to be mentioned on a weekly basis, along with Burroughs, Bierce and Poe. If you have new questions about Planet Stories or want to discuss which writers top your list, please drop by next week, or post to the messageboards.

Recent blog posts have detailed various aspects of Paizo's new campaign setting. The June 5th entry discusses the company's design philosophy, and contains statements by the GameMastery and Pathfinder editorial staff. We've talked about the "development through adventure" module Paizo is using, both in the weekly chats and on the messageboards. During this week's chat, Dr. Jacobs said "By developing this world via adventures first, rather than sourcebooks, I think we'll be able to keep things from being too clogged with minutae." Nurse Nicolas added, "Adventures as a means of world creation is genius from a narrative perspective. Tell great stories. Don't build a world and then try to figure out some great stories you can retrofit into it."

Grafts
You can expect to see grafts, to some degree, in Paizo's new products. In fact, James let slip the fact that one of their new NPCs has a demon hand. "I'm still not sure if it's a graft or a creepy birth defect or what, though."

The issue isn't whether grafts will appear, but how and to what extent. James said "The thing about grafts is that they're a subset of rules not covered by the core rules. Every time we do stuff with them, we end up having to reprint a lot of rules and stuff. Each Pathfinder will be self-contained. If we introduce some sort of new rules or something in, say, 'The Skinsaw Murders' and then go on to use it in 'Hook Mountain Massacre,' (probably because Pett did it better and Logue needed the help) we'll reprint enough in 'Hook Mountain' that you can use it, but if you want details, we'll send you back to 'Skinskaw.'

If you have thoughts on the use of grafts, please post them on the messageboards.

Level Spread
Paizo has stated in the past that the Pathfinder series will not be strictly tied to adventures ranging from 1st- to 20th-level. The topic came up again in this weeks chat, and was addressed by James. "Pathfinder APs will be adhering less to the 1-20 maxim and more to the 'Let's tell the story the way it wants to be told, and let THAT determine what the levels are.' For example, if we were to run Shackled City in Pathfinder, I suspect it'd go to level 16 and stop at Foundations of Flame. If we were to do an epic AP, I suspect it would end up being a 'sequel' to a previous AP and start at, say, 17th level and go to whatever."

Party Size
The Shackled City Hardcover was geared toward parties of six characters. When asked if this would hold true for the Pathfinder products, James said "For the most part, all of the modules we'll be doing are going to assume four players, since that's more or less what the core rules are built around. But in my experience, it works pretty well with five or even six, for the most part." Jason added "The modules assume four, but if you drop the PC level by one, they work just fine for sex."

The Hook Mountain Massacre
According to Nick Logue, the author, there will be a large number of new monsters appearing in the third chapter of the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path. No details were given, but those interested in getting a feel for Nick's monster design need look no further than the slurk, which was topic of the May 3rd blog entry.

D0: Hollow's Last Hope
Free RPG Day is fast approaching. Set aside some time on June 23rd to visit your local gaming shop and pick up a copy of Paizo's first GameMastery module. Those who can't make it to a participating retailer will be happy to know that a PDF version of the module will be available shortly thereafter.

Hollow's Last Hope is ideal for introducing Paizo's new campaign setting to your players. Jason said that it would take between six and eight hours to run the entire thing. However, if you'd like something to run as a off-shot, using the pre-generated characters, he suggested using the second half of the adventure. "The last half... is just one small dungeon, making it ideal to run in just a few hours."

D1: Crown of the Kobold King
Paizo received the first proof copies of this adventure last week. According to Jason, they look "pretty sweet." Those interested in owning the actual proof need only sign over their soul to Paizo for a term no less than eternity.

When asked about the Truescales, Logue said: "They are sick little bastards, of that you can be sure. They are full of lies, like me. Mostly they are having some HARD freaking times right now, those poor Truescales. Things just haven't been going good for them. They are desperate, and more than a little crazy, and none too bright. Not a good combination."

Political Intrigue
Game Masters who wants a lot of mystery and backstabbing in their game need turn no further than the GameMastery modules line. "You might want to look at Gallery of Evil, by Steve Greer," said Logue. "It's pretty frickin cool." He also recommended E1: Carnival of Tears, which he co-authored with Tim Hitchcock.

Maps and Minis
People have been asking whether the new Paizo products will work will with miniatures. Specifically, people have been asking if the maps will be "mini friendly." In response, James said "We won't be listing suggested minis in Pathfinder, and probably won't be printing many minis-scale maps in it. But since it's using the d20 rules, it does play better with minis than without, in my experience."

As an aside, Paizo's Compleat Encounters line features adventures designed with miniature users in mind. What's more, the Encounters can be used with the new campaign setting. As you may recall, during the May 15th chat Jason listed a couple of the Encounters that have already found a home there.

Elements of Power
While talking about the latest GameMastery Item Card deck, James divulged two cards with direct ties to Paizo's new campaign setting: Tangletooth's Collar and Ripnugget's Dogslicer. The names are not final. Said James: "I'm still not sold completely on calling the goblin chieftain 'Ripnugget,' since maybe he needs a more gobliny name. Something like 'Gugmurt' or 'Drobnod' or something. But I do like the name 'Ripnugget'..."

Critical Hit Deck
Jason announced that Paizo has nearly sold out of their GameMastery Critical Hit decks. If you haven't gotten one yet, now is the time to act. Paizo will be reprinting the deck in the future.

Paizo Podcast
According to Jason, Paizo has started kicking around the idea of producing a podcast. The idea is still just that, an idea, so there aren't any specifics yet. Last week, the idea of podcasting Paizo's convention seminars was brought up by members of the chat. If you have any comments, make sure to sound off on the messageboards.

Art
Paizo won't be doing any full-page art in its new products. There will be an increase in half-page pieces, however, and James said there will probably be an average of one art piece per page. For Pathfinder, he said "We've been ordering something like 30 to 40 illos per chapter, if I remember right."

Many GMs have requested Paizo provide web-enhancements of the maps and art from each product. While James said he'd like to see that happen, to best way to obtain them would be in the PDFs. Pathfinder subscribers receive a free copy of each chapter's PDF, a $13 value. It didn't come up in the chat, but based on recent messageboard discussions, Paizo is looking into providing a GameMastery subscription option as well.

For artists looking to work with Paizo, there are a few names you need to remember. Sarah Robinson is the art director for Pathfinder, and Sean Glenn is the senior art director. James Davis is Paizo's new "art department resource management type guy" whose actual title James couldn't remember.

Submission Guidelines
Publishing two magazines, as well as ramping up the GameMastery and Pathfinder product lines, is sucking all the time and energy out of the Paizo offices at the moment. Don't expect to see new Guidelines Dragon and Dungeon have been laid to rest. James said "I definitely want to get those guidelines going ASAP, though, since it's easily the best way to find new talent. And finding new writers is important. I'd suspect that the actual process of writing for GameMastery won't be all that different than writing for Dragon or Dungeon though." Jason added "We are also looking into a number of ways to get new writers involved with our other products, like the modules."

Iconic Moonlighting
Wayne Reynolds is designing the first several of Paizo's new iconic characters. Rumor has it that one of them, Seoni, will be appearing in an upcoming issue of... THE REST OF THIS MESSAGE CENSORED BY PAIZO MANAGEMENT.

What's wrong with Tacoma? My favorite GM lives there. It's a wonderful place to live. Ok, maybe not, but...

I happen to live a little further south, in DuPont. It takes about 45 minutes to get to the SeaTac terminal, door to door. To Paizo's offices? That'd be a hike.

But then, when I lived in NJ I commuted 1-2 hours each way, every day, for seven years.

I'm not sure what's out to the east. Does anyone even live in central Washington?

What I would like to see is different favored classes for the different ethnicities.

I use something similar to this in my home campaign, though I don't list a half-dozen classes as "favored." It seems to be a contradiction. If the PCS used a similar system, I would approve. I'd mimic the 3e Oriental Adventures / Rokugan favored class rules. Each family of each clan in Rokugan has a favored class, and a bonus class skill.

If you don't mind a 30+ minutes commute, there are some places south of Seattle that are cheaper. Some people aren't up for long drives every day, though. Coming from working between Phili and NYC, I'm used to them - but they're not for everyone.

where else do you wait 10 hours for a 20 minute flight?

More like... wait 10 hours, get told to come back tomorrow, come back, wait 12 hours, sit on tarmac for 2 hours, get off plane, come back again the next day, then fly out.

Anyway, drop me an email in advance. I may or may not be around...

This thread is way beyond hi-jacked, so...

Mulban, where in Baghdad? Anywhere near BIAP? If you don't feel like saying "out loud," email me: ephealy(at)ephealy[dot]com.

England is just pathetically small...it's just an itty bitty country.

I don't think the country is itty bitty, just the inhabitants.

You run that irc chatgroup don't you? That's hot. I need to check that out. When is the pathfinder chat again? I'll definitely drop by and say hello.

The chat room is open all the time. The weekly chat is on Tuesday nights. It usually kicks off around 9:00 PM PST (midnight EST).

I don't really "run" the room. I did create it, and am the one who writes the chat summaries. I'm not a Paizo employee, though.

GO HERE: http://irc.otherworlders.org/chat/cf.php and put #pathfinder as the channel

If you're using a chat client, such as mIRC, you can access the #pathfinder channel as follows:

SERVER: chat.psionics.net
PORT: 6667
CHANNEL: #pathfinder

Ungoded, I'd heard a version that is similar. It went something like this:

We don't wanna go to war today,
But the lord of the lash says, "Nay, nay, nay!"
We're gonna fight all day, all day, all day.
Where there's a whip there is a way.

Lovely tune.

I'd love a job at Paizo...

I don't think you're alone.

If all goes well with the new products, Paizo will be hiring again some day. At least, that's what I keep telling myself. It keeps me from being bitter about my inability to apply for the current openings.

To give you a generalized not-completely-to-scale idea of distances (not sizes), if Varisia = Iceland then Absalom = Jerusalem. Roughly speaking, of course.

In other words, there is soooo much room in this new setting, you'll never run out of "unexplored" places to visit.

From what Bulmahn's said in the chats, the events of D0 and D1 don't take place near Varisia. I believe Falcon's Hollow and Darkmoon Vale are not in Varisia, but another part of the continent.

There must be a lot of tectonic plates connecting together in the one spot.

Nah, that's just where Erik dropped his spaghetti sauce. He's a messy eater...

...that's an almost ridiculous number of monsters (2568???).

...and we must use them all!!!

Aureus, you could always read the Monster Manual (page 49) entry on Derro for starters, as well.

BTW, WotC has a search engine for all their published monsters. CLICK HERE

"Legacies of the Suel Imperium," Dragon Magazine 241; November 1997.

The Seven Sins, they're obviously a major theme in the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path. It's likely they'll have some cultural impact on the cultures of Varisia.

But how far does this influence extend? Is the 'sin' element of the setting everywhere? Once one moves beyond Bloodsworn Vale, or into Belkzen, do they leave the 'sins' behind?

I feel really stupid right now. I failed to realize we were only talking about a map of Varisia. William's post smacked me across the face a bit...

My suggestions would still apply to a map of Varisia, but I don't think there would be as many people willing to buy a regional map. If I were Paizo, I might make one for RotRL and leave it at that... with not later updates.

Path II, which is also set in Varisia, would have a map of its own. I suppose one could consider such a map an "update."

Doesn't matter, though, as the talk is about who would buy what, right? If I had to choose between a regional map of Varisia and a world map, I'd go with the latter. I don't think one will be completed in the next couple years, though... so I'd be willing to throw a couple yen at a Varisian one.

I'm not good enough to put Texas over the map or anything, but based on the scale...

The distance from Magnimar to Whistledown is about the distance from Philadelphia, PA to Albany, NY. That means the Mushfens would be, roughly, the size of New Jersey.

My reason for suggesting a download is that Paizo could update / edit at their leisure and not have to worry about getting the new one to customers.

I suggest a two-part approach.

(1) Sell a version of the map through the store. Update the map every so often, perhaps every year or two. People who want this updated version will have to purchase a new one, but at least they have the means for acquiring a new one, should they so choose.

(2) Place a hi-res version on the website that is updated more often, perhaps every three - six months. Those who use this version could print out their own copies. You could make this service available for free to those who purchase a map under the first option, and charge a small fee to everyone else. I suggest charging, because it motivates Paizo to keep it up-to-date. If they're giving it away, the reality is that it won't be as high a priority.

Of course, if Paizo had a setting wiki service, which people paid to access, this second option could fall under that service.

Alright, first of all, there are two half-human races in the core races; half-orcs and half-elves. Let's use that as a starting point. I'd like to see a better justification for these half-races, and personally, I'd like to limit half-races that are not specifically created by some arcane or divine effect.

I don't want to hijack the thread, but this half-race discussion could be interesting. Perhaps you should start another thread on it.

Do you think your orc kingdom(s), built largely on slavery, would have been able to survive very long in the underdark? It's a very unforgiving place, where any weakness is quickly exploited.

The humans as cousins of orcs is funny. Might be fun to play with, though it would mean that humans were, in some way, inherently evil. I'm sure this would please some people, and offend some others, but it's an interesting take.

What motivates your orcs? As a species, are they fixated on anything?

Any thoughts on cultural additions that, while mostly fluff, would help make your orcs new and exciting to play with?

I can see two options that would agree with me:

(1) Your single sheet high quality "delivered in a tube" option.

(2) A hi-res version that can be downloaded from Paizo.com and taken to Kinkos where I can pay to have it printed myself.

Either one works.

once you have three hundred or so people believing that you're a god and worshipping you as such then you are a god, and gain divine rank 1.

I guess I _am_ a god. Huh. I knew something was different.

Lastly, on orcs...

I liked the orc tribes from 'Dead of Winter.' Lizard mounts and all.

Let's just say we like to be Compleatists.

Heh... I've been not-so-quietly bugging Jason to detail how the Encounters fit into the new world order. I'm hoping one of the upcoming blogs will try to do just that.

(hint hint, wink wink, nudge nudge)

I will say no more.

This would be nice. I don't know if it is doable, but it would be nice.

A Pathfinder book and a GameMastery module on my doorstep each month, with PDF downloads of each available on the release dates... I could live with that.

Am I the most anal retentive question asker or what?

One more...

April 29th blog: Mushfens.
May 30th blog: Mushfen <-- no 's'.

Comments?

May 10th blog: Chelliaxian <-- 'll'.
May 30th blog: Cheliax <-- 'l'.

Anyone care to comment on the correct spelling?

This week's chat was all over the board. Jason Bulmahn (Editor-in-Chief of Paizo's GameMastery line), answered questions on all sorts of topics.

- - - - -

Bulmahn quote of the week: "Seattle would be easy to storm by pirates."

- - - - -

Production Update
Nothing was sent to press this week, though W1 'Conquest of Bloodsworn Vale' should go out soon. "We are also hard at work on D2 Seven Swords of Sin," Jason said.

Copies of D0 'Hollows Last Hope' are going to be shipped soon, in support of Free RPG Day.

Path II
When asked to divulge something he wasn't supposed to, Jason replied "W1 has ties to the second adventure path set in our world."

GameMastery Modules
Paizo is solidifying the schedule for the first half of next year, and should be making announcements on the 2008 modules soon. "As for the mods," Jason said, "there should be a few Ds, at least one U, J, E, and W as well."

J1 'Entombed With the Pharaohs'
Given its proximity to Varisia, there are a few small links between this module and the Pathfinder material for Rise of the Runelords. However, Jason said those links would not be substantial.

There will, however, be some ties to real-world Egyptian mythology - with a Paizo twist, of course. There is a certain amount of cultural analogs Paizo is trying to invest into the new campaign setting. Osirion is just one example.

U1: 'Gallery of Evil'
Greer has submitted U1 to Paizo, and Jason was pretty excited about it. Art was recently ordered for the module.

Absalom, where 'Gallery' is set, is a major metropolis. Other powers have tried to take it over many times, leaving numerous siege castles in the area, but it has remained free. Jason said "It is also the seat for three major religions in our world... but I won't quite go into the 'why' of that yet."

Chelliax
In the May 10th blog, mention is made of "colonial Chelliaxian immigrants of the south." When asked about them, Jason quickly responded "Chellaxians are natives of Chelliax."

Unfortunately for him, that wasn't good enough for the #pathfinder crew, so he went on: "(Chelliax) is a rather large nation, that was once a vast empire. It has since slid into decline... and among other things, devil worship. (Varisia) was part of their expansion. (Chelliax) is a ways to the south, past a few other liberated states. It still exists, and it is still big, just not nearly as big as it used to be."

Bloodsworn Vale
Jason said that Bloodsworn was abandoned when Chelliax collapsed. "It was a vital trade route for the empire. When that need vanished, so did the necessity of the path, until now that is." As for which two kingdoms it seperates, one is Varisia. He would not divulge the other, only saying it is not Chelliax.

Abendigo and Balkzen and Brinewall
These locations were asked about, but Jason didn't have his "setting bible and maps" on hand. I guess we'll have to wait for more on them in the future. Kaer Maga, the site of the 'Seven Swords of Sin', has been detailed, though.

Orc and Half-Orcs

Are you looking to play half-orc PCs in Rise of the Runelords? Don't despair. Jason said that Varisia will have some orc populations, though not as many as other areas. "Half-orc can be readily played in any area of our world," he said, "as can any other core race... and maybe a few noncore too."

As with kobold and goblins, Paizo is planning on a fresh treatment of the orc. If you have ideas, now's the time to post them in the boards, as orcs haven't been touched much... yet.

Elves and Fey
Elves, fey... they've been discussed at length on the message boards. We talked about them a little during the chat - especially the prominent role they play in both W1 and E1. Jason said, "We are trying to find a good place for them that makes them a bit more engaging than the SRD fey that we have to work with. I am pretty pleased with the roseblood sprites - they are pretty nasty, have some fun new gear, and the ability to turn into a rosebush."

When asked about their relationship to mundane rosebushes, and how it would effect the floral industry, Jason informed the room that the reproductive cycle of the sprites is tied to the bushes. Their king awakens rose bushes to make more of his kin. You can imagine what that does to the price of roses.

Considering their general disposition and numerous abilities, roseblood sprites will probably be a monster-only race, not suited for Player Characters.

The discussion closed with a quip about 'bee familiars'...

Magic Systems
It was noted that Paizo has, so far, eluded to four different magic systems: Glyph and Rune Magic, stolen from the aboleths by the Runelords and presumably the ingredients that produced Sin Magic, and the Tattoo Magic used by Seoni's people. Jason felt that much of the difference between these systems is a matter of flavor, but left the door open for some mechanical underpinnings as well. He said that the modules will not get into the mechanics of these magic systems, as there isn't enough space in a 32-page module. He could not answer for the Pathfinder products, however.

Conventions
Jason was not sure whether Paizo has filled the volunteer slots yet. It was suggested that they try to record the Seminars that Paizo employees will be hosting / contributing to. At present, Jason is unsure whether they have to the hardware and manpower to accomplish such a task. Podcasts through Pulp Radio were suggested, but it appears access to these seminars is still up in the air. If you have any suggestions, or can help in this regard, please say so.

Living Pathfinder
Jason said, "As you may or may not know, Erik and I have a bit of experience in that department. We are keen to do something, but right now, I am honestly not sure what path that is going to take. Trust me though, we are thinking about it and looking into it. I am positive that if we do a "living" style campaign game, there will be openings for others to help out and contribute."

I have the first hour of the log from last night's #pathfinder chat with Jason Bulmahn. If anyone has the second half, please send it to ephealy(at)ephealy(dot)com.

I've got the summary of what I logged ready to go. I'm just waiting to add the rest, and I'll post the final version to the forums.

This has been brought up in other threads. Some people have asked Paizo to set aside a portion of their campaign setting for this purpose, but they haven't commented on the subject yet. I doubt you'll see an official word on the subject, as those APs are WotC property, but you'll likely see fan-created adaptations / conversion notes.

Just a guess.