Eric Hinkle's page

I can only imagine the reception a ranger who happens to be one of my custom races might receive. Imagine something akin to a lupin or the fantasy equivalent of Smokey the Bear the coming to town.

"It's a werewolf! Kill it before it eats our children!"

Though that would probably be a bit much. Or, of course, you could have the villagers kiss up to him in a somewhat scared way, in the hopes that he'll ask the "other werewolves" to leave them alone or the like.

Someone might ask/try to bribe the character into killing someone they have a grudge against. After all, aren't all of those 'monsters' fiendish murderers?

And of course you could always have someone make an ostentatious public show of befriending your lupin or whatever as a way to show their moral superiority to the rest of the town. Of course, should things turn sour they'll be the first ones leading the torch-wielding mob against you.

Maybe someone shows up, sneaking into the lupin's room and begging to be bitten by them. For whatever reason they want to become a werewolf. This can range from a fanboy to a would-be cannibalistic serial killer who gets very angry indeed when you refuse to 'share the blessing of the moon'.

But I figure that most people would simply not speak to the character directly, not look them in the face, and otherwise be obviously uncomfortable and ill at ease around them. It's one thing to dislike someone, another thing to get violent about it. Especially when said 'monster' is in the company of 4-5 heavily-armed strangers who look like they're ready to sack the town. It's not much different from how many a small town IRL would react to half a dozen guys showing up in full kevlar and with assault rifles, pistols, and bandoliers of grenades draped on their bodies. Especially if they were never seen in public without all that ironmongery. How would you react to that? With sneers and insults, or with fearful submission and a desire to get Very Far Away?

Given all the lethal mayhem that happens in the typical Pathfinder/fantasy RPG campaign, I am kind of surprised that it took this long for outsiders who serve as escorts/guides of the dead to show up.

These guys look like a good idea and I hope we see more on psychopomps in the future.

Yep, the mythology of the Inuit provides the tupilak (sometimes tupilaq), and the Pathfinder version of it in the Northlands book was one of the most popular monsters in the design and playtest of the book.

More on the myths at Wikipedia, with awesome real-world carved tupilak

Lilith, Mister Baur, thank you for the answer. I'll definitely be getting this one as soon as I can; I've been fascinated with Eskimo magic and legends ever since reading the aforementioned Anderson story and an old Manly Wade Wellman tale about angakoks and issintoks (Eskimo shamans and witches).

And the information at that link is truly creepy in spots.

This does sound like a good thread, though I'm hoping folks branch out more into races from the various Rite Publishing books, such as the Giants and Minotaurs, and the "beastfolk" books like Fursona or Remarkable Races: Anumus.

Taking a stab at some of these myself...

The Minotaurs from Rite's In The Company of Minotaurs are basically more settled and civilized versions of the normal Minotaurs, who they despise. Indeed, the in-character part of the PDF describes how "civilized" Minotaurs of the Labyrinth despise the savage demon-worshipping savages others of their race are. They're described as being rather Roman-esque in many ways, save that they live in an underground kingdom called the Ivory Labyrinth, close enough to surface dwellers to buy slaves from them. I had figured that between the Classical tone to them and the slaving, they were probably living beneath the mountains on the Isle of Absalom. That might also explain where that one albino minotaur came from who's listed in the Absalon guidebook.

The elementally-powered, size-changing Jotuns from In The Company of Giants are even easier. Just put them in the northlands. Who'd notice a jotun among the peoples of the Mammoth Lords or the Linnorm Kings? Both of those cultures tend to be in regular contact with giants as it is. Jotuns would fit right in.

Of course if you're ambitious one idea given in the Fursona book that can work with any new race it to make their introduction a point in the campaign or adventure. Basically, overnight everyone in some city or town gets turned into members of whatever new race you want to introduce. Depending on how much upheaval you want in your campaign, it can be a small town like Falcon Hollow or Sandpoint, a city like Magnimar, or a metropolis like Katapesh or Absalom (though I'd recommend against using the latter unless it'll be the point of an entire campaign).

And now that it's done, the trouble starts: How did this happen? Did someone cause it, and if so, then why? Will it happen again? Is it somehow "contagious"? Is there a cure, and if so, what if the affected people don't want it? How will neighboring rulers and peoples react? This can be the basis for an adventure or an entire campaign.

And it would be even better (read: more trouble for the heroes) if it turns out that the PCs are somehow responsible for it all.

So, good ideas, bad ideas, or what?

The tupilak remains my favorite. I must use it somewhere.

Dumb question, but is a tupilak a sort-of combination of a construct and undead, made out of the sewn-together pieces of animals? Because I can swear I remember something like that from a Poul Anderson heroic fantasy novel titled <i>The Merman's Children</i>.

My what big teeth you have ...

Daji (Feiya's familiar) makes quite the snarly little foxy, doesn't he?

For that matter he looks more the size of a coyote than a fox. I'm guessing that being a familiar makes animals a trifle larger than normal. That or Feiya cast a spell like animal growth on him.

Great art, great teaser for Ultimate Magic.

THIS is how religion books should be done. The material focuses less on the deities and more on those who follow it. Right on the money! This is what players/DMs need to make the religion come alive. Kudos.

The other faith books couldn't come quick enough for me!!

Yeah, taunt those of us who have to wait for it!

Seriously, everything I'm hearing about this book just makes me want it more. It sounds like it's an amazing addition to Golarion.

Thank you for the helpful answer, Mister Wertz.

I rather like Rite Publishing's PDFs, especially their ones covering monster PC races like Minotaurs and Giants. I'm aiming at getting their book on Monster Templates when I can.

I also have a lot of Super Genius PDFs from the Advanced Options, the complete set of similar PDFs from Open Design/Kobold Quarterly. The one covering new hexes for Witches is especially good.

As I'm a big Kingmaker fan the PDFs from Jon Brazer Enterprises for that AP are very atractive to me, and they are very well done too.

I've also got the "Fursona" book from Skortched Urf, which is very good IMHO but probably a 'your mileage may vary' tome to people who don't like anthropomorphic characters; and I'm going to be getting "The Noble Wild" in a few weeks.

That aside I'm pretty much Paizo/Pathfinder only.

Thanks for fixing it as quickly as you did, Paizo.

Information on the Land of the Linnorm Kings and Shelyn? I'm already looking forward to this book!

It will likely NOT have stats for Cthulhu, though—we don't have our epic rules worked out yet, and we'd need them to stat up something like a Great Old One.

How hard can it be to work up stats for Cthulhu?

"Cthulhu attacks!" "What happens?" "You go insane. Then Cthulhu eats you. The end."

That said, I am really looking forward to this book; you can never have too much cuddly Lovecraftian creepiness in my fantasy games. But that cover art -- what is that, Marlon Brando as a Deep One?

I like that cover art of werewolves chasing Seoni. Now I just have to hope for a picture of a bitten Seoni wolfing out. ;)

Oh and D.M., I like the reference to Titan A.E. "An intelligent guard? Who would have believed it?"

*sighs* Glad to see I'm not the only one having this problem. Just for the record, I was trying to buy a PDF with a prepaid Visa money card. I double-checked to make sure I had enough money on to buy what I was looking for and I do.

Here's hoping the problem gets settled soon.

Since the base Alchemist is Dr Jekyl, and vivisectionist is Dr Mureau, reanimator is probably Dr Frankenstein.

Him or Doctor Herbert West.

Out of curiosity, will this book explain the difference between the spectre and the wraith, and what leads to someone rising as one or the other sort of undead?

I'm surprised it toomthis long for a Barsoom RPG to show up. I'll definitely have to get this one!

By the way, just what is the page count for this book?

From what I read on the alchemist alt.. Sounds like what I thought master chemist would end up doing is actually getting rolled in to alchemist. In other words the ability to focus on the mutagen and a little bit of extracts instead of pretty much going bomberman.

Master chymist still doesn't seem to even be worthy of a PRC other than for people who just wanted to play a "smart" barbarian.

I see the Master Chymist as being for people who want to get their Jekyll and Hyde groove on. That or run a character who's basically the Incredible Hulk.

I really hope that "Anthropomorphic Animal" could somehow be used on PCs. That would be great for me :D As I'm sick of playing humans.

I'd like to see that too. Though if you can't wait and are willing to give it a shot, there are some ideas along those lines in Skortched Urf's book "Fursona", whch is available here on the site.

I'm surprised on a rather serious omission for the list of Witch archetypes, the one modeled on the Order of the Golden Dawn, the Masonic type witch, as opposed to more Diannic motifs.

Wouldn't the Order of the Golden Dawn be more of an archetype for wizards?

Vivisection is very important to understanding how biological processes work in the absences of MRIs and other non-invasive imaging devices! Stupid hippy liberal clerics calling it evil!

Maybe if we just use [INSERT NAME OF DISLIKED RACE] no one will care?

Wait, a new extract called Anthropomorphic Animal? For a vivisectionist?

Why hello there, Doctor Moreau! I didn't recognize you with that champagne bucket on your head. XD Heh-heh, the furries have invaded Golarion.

More seriously, the more I see of Ultimate Magic, the more I want to get a copy ASAP.

This is now available as a PDF? Cool, I may get a copy (used to have a dead tree version, but I lost it years ago). Though for my own money I think that the whole Ironclaw game and setting would go even better, especially if it got Pathfinder-ized.

I think there's two in Dungeon Denizens Revisited I think. One off Harsk trying to reach his axe as ...something I can't recall is giving his legs and feet a bad time, and one (bloodless) of a roper having its way with Sajan while Merisiel is resting on her rapier behind a rock.

Is it wrong of me to say that when I read "a roper having its way with Sajan" my first thought was "Golarion hentai"?

And that cover... ouch! Poor Amiri! But man is that Sinspawn going to look nasty when she puts her sword into him.

James Jacobs wrote:

This is also where I point out that even if you only ever read an RPG book and "all" it does is entertain you in the same way that reading a novel or comic or whatever entertains you, then the money you spent on it is hardly wasted. In my opinion... an RPG product doesn't need to actually be used in play to justify its purchase.

+1

There is no way I can ever use all the materials I have (though I'm trying my darndest), yet I always enjoy reading them.

+2

I enjoy reading a lot about "non-standard" races (the PDFs about giants, minotaurs, and the 'Fursona' one come to mind) and even coming up with characters for them that I know I'll never, ever get to use due to a severe dislike of such things among the few local gamers I've met.

And I've enjoyed virtually everything I've read about Golarion thus far, even if I've barely used it.

Is that Ulfen facing Valeros under the effect of an Enlarge Person spell? Because if not... then boy, they sure raise 'em big in the Land of the Linnorm Kings, don't they?

Seriously, do they breed with giants or the like?

Please Preview Witch Patrons! I NEED THEM!

I second any new information on witches and their patrons.

If that cover art we're being shown is what will be actually used for the book, then I do wonder just what exactly Seoni and Valeros has discovered to make such hardened veterans recoil in horror.

Seriously, though, great cover art.

I've always been big on "the Northern thing", so I am eagerly looking forward to more information on the Vikings of Avistan.

Pardon my asking but is this more or less going to be the "official" Pathfinder psionics book?

Eric Hinkle wrote:

And not to rain on anyone's parade, but can we see the write-ups for the iconic inquisitor, summoner, and witch sometime?

Yup, but this one had to be rushed out due to the upcoming auction. The others will be along in due time...

Thanks, and good on you & the company for what Paizo is doing here.

I do like the description of Hayato; he sounds like the kind of character who'd appear in a Kurosawa film and be played by Toshiro Mifune.

And not to rain on anyone's parade, but can we see the write-ups for the iconic inquisitor, summoner, and witch sometime?

How does it work for intelligent animals to gain class levels? Say... an intelligent lion taking a level in rogue?

I imagine there's tons of information on that in the book "The Noble Wild" which is available right here on Paizo.

And thanks, Mister Bulmahn, for this very helpful FAQ. Being rather fond of sentient beasts for a long time, I'll be getting some mileage out of this.

Cthulhu does indeed exist on Earth. He's still there. The fun part about all the forewords in Carrion Crown is that we, essentially, get to do thematic "movie posters" for that adventure's themes that don't necessarily equate to what's going on in the adventure.

And now I want Carrion Crown more than ever; for some reason I love the 'movie posters' idea!

That said... I did find a way to allow Cthulhu to influence things on Golarion in a way that doesn't break established canon that he's actually in R'lyeh on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean on Earth.

I'm guessing reaching through dreams and/or telepathy, as Cthulhu has used both in other stories.

I'm eagerly looking forward to this weekend, when I'll be able to get this PDF. I was wondering when it'd come out, and I'm very curious about what he's done with the Inquisitor & the 'feel' this will give the class.

Yes! This is exactly the sort of thing I want to see (and hopefully write) in modern heroic fantasy someday. We so need to see a scene like this in a Pathfinder novel.

Though given that a flyting is an exchange of insults, how does this line:

“The Mother of Monsters has blessed you
And nibbled your ear and caressed you.

constitute an insult? (What, doesn't every guy on Golarion want some sweet Lamashtu lovin'?) XD

Yay for the horrors from beyond the grave! And I'm guessing that Skull Boy on the left is a wraith?

I thought that if anything "killed" heroic fantasy/swords-and-sorcery back in the mid-80's or so, it was not D&D but simply the way the books became a glut on the market, with second and third rate writers all imitating "the last big seller" until it collapsed under its own weight?

Eric Hinkle wrote:

This will sound like a petty kvetch, I know, but why is Hok shown with a sword when I remember that he mainly used a giant club a la Hercules in the stories?

That quibble aside, yay for finally getting this book out! I've been looking forward to it so very much.

Perhaps you haven't yet read "Hok and the Gift of Heaven"? ;-) Granted the craftsmanship of the sword is a bit more advanced than I would have imagined, but then the cover illo is meant to be symbolic of Hok leading humanity's evolutionary charge, so I can see why the artist made that choice.

I really think this one was worth waiting for--hope you enjoy it and let us know what you thought of the book over here!

Thanks for the response, sorry I missed it and foolishly repeated the question elsewhere. And no, I never read "Hok and the Gift of Heaven", but I intend to soon enough!

The cover indeed looks awesome. If Paizo means to start reprinting more of the old Planet Stories material, I hope they get to a collection of Leigh Brackett's short fiction for PS; her work has been out of print for a shockingly long time.

Am I wrong, or does the cover art show Hok swinging a greatsword rather than the club he used in the stories I've actually been able to get hold of? I'm still buying this book either way, I just wat to be sure that these new glasses of mine aren't messing up my eyes that much.

And any chance of seeing a collection of Wellman's 'Kardios the Minstrel' stories from Paizo?

As for OTHER topics of interest...

GRAPPLERS!

Please, Paizo People, please give more feats and options for grapplers! Particularly one that allows a grappler to at least take a full-round action during a grapple or something along those lines.

I feel the grappling department is lacking. Like maybe grappling with more than one enemy (grabbing 2 heads and cracking them together is staple warrior bad-assery!)

Well...all in all...just more grapple options.

I'd like to see more with unarmed combat myself. And yet for some reason now I'm thinking about half-orc pro wrestlers in Golarion.

Whatever, the news about martial arts feat trees sounds like a great idea.

EDIT: And the Gunmage archetype sounds cool. Now I can make that Kurohime homage character. ;)

This one looks good. I'll have to pick it up when I get the chance.

This will sound like a petty kvetch, I know, but why is Hok shown with a sword when I remember that he mainly used a giant club a la Hercules in the stories?

That quibble aside, yay for finally getting this book out! I've been looking forward to it so very much.

I'd love to do Dwellers in the Mirage, btw. That's an excellent suggestion! :)

I'd love to see Planet Stories do this one myself, as "Dwellers" is easily my absolute favorite Merrit story, reading like a bizarre combination of Bob Howard and Lovecraft with enough twists to make it fresh.

Of course if we're talking Merritt, I'd like to see Planet Stories bring out some of his horror work too (like BURN, WITCH, BURN and CREEP, SHADOW, CREEP) or a reprint of his short story collection "The Fox Woman and Others".

Hm, aren't PC of all the standard PC races already "anthropomorphic characters", considering that the word anthropomorphic means "human-shaped"?

Here "anthropomorphic" is being used in the sense of "an animal with a human-like form, including a bipedal stance and full sentience".

Maybe we need a new word for "nonhuman animal-like humanoid"?

Just wanted to say that I like the new spell on page 90 -- but that name? "Trans-fur-mation Ritual"? Grooooan!

More seriously, though, it seems like a spell with fiendish potential in-game. It can be used to make a beast-person out of any "willing, unconscious, or helpless target" and is a 2nd level Druid/3rd level Sorceror/Wizard spell (though I'd make it also available to Witches from the APG too), which makes it rather easily available. It sounds like a nasty way to get rid of someone important who you don't want to or can't kill by turning them into a beast-person. After all, who's going to believe the anthropomorphic vixen or whatever when they tell you that they're really the lost countess, and can you help them get their old body back?

And while it doesn't say what spells can be used to "cure" the transformed, I'm guessing that something suitably high level like Brea Enchantment would work?

Tim Hitchcock wrote:

or perhaps celestials in a state of suffering, having under taken vows of bearing plagues or something.

YASE.

One of my all time favorite creatures an online acquaintance created was the clementar angel, or leper angels:

Angels wrapped with fine white bandages like a leper, with wings made of the same flowing material. They're beautiful by default, but they take on the scars and suffering of those they heal.

The only time they themselves are healed of their scars and disfigurments is when they are administered to by their patron deity during a short time of solace, or when they curse those who would inflict disease upon others. On the latter, it's only a permanent, disfiguring curse. The victim remains healthy, but is marked forever by their own deeds.

The angels' only attacks were that curse and hanging bandages that acted as merciful spiked chains(this was 3.5). They were pretty much exclusively medics.

What Mister Hitchcock and Mikaze said +1. Especially the bit with only sorta-fallen or noirish angels/celestials.

Yay for more of Count Varian Jeggare and Radovan! And in Tian Xia no less.

*prays Alain's a goner*

I'm hoping we see both him andd Selyiel get nailed...oh, who am I kidding? Seltyiel will be the one turning the Iconics into undead.

We definitely need the hentacle monster template!

Don't they already have all things hentai in the "Black Tokyo" books from (I think) Skortched Urf?

BTW, any idea on which new PC races will be introduced?