Evan Tarlton's page

When will the suscriptions be shipped？couldn’t wait to see！

Notices start on May 2nd, and the window officially opens on the 6th. However, there may be some delays due to the inventory. If they happen, it's because the staff has to fulfill the April backlog (if there is one) before they start on May's shipments.

Sanityfaerie wrote:

Perhaps they lean into the "parent or" meaning of guardian? We get a feat that gives us a minion small child?

Them: Pedro Pascal is not a class concept.

Me: Disagree.

The 10th Mythic Destiny: the Daddy.

In all connotations.

This was great! It doesn't develop Mahja's story much, but it does allow a lucky player to possibly...

We should know for sure by War of Immortals. Triumph of the Tusk at the latest.

When do you suppose Paizo will start posting blogs on the contents of this book? June?

Can’t wait to hear about the changes to the classes, new items, archetypes, spells, etc…

They're almost certainly going to do some kind of preview at PaizoCon, so I wouldn't expect much before then. Proper blogs should start in June.

I can see the Guardian having 12 hp per level. If they're going to soak up damage (and attract it) they will need the extra hp.

I love this. Zhiyu is a delightful protagonist, and I hope that we see more of him at some point. Thank you so much, Shao Han and Maichol!

Invictus Fatum wrote:

I'm really hoping this is what my player's and I hoped Extinction Curse was going to be. We are in book 6 of EC, and while fun, we started in hopes of it being a true Circus adventure, then we're disappointed partly into book 2 and on when the circus felt more like an afterthought.

Not to criticise as we are still having fun (book 5 was very entertaining as an AP book). That said, if this AP keeps the Opera front and center the whole way (with related adventuring of course) it may just be my groups dream AP.

The Opera plays a key role throughout, never fear! For GMs who want to know a bit more of what to expect before reading the synopsis for the three adventures in the first volume...

** spoiler omitted **

I appreciate this on multiple levels. Firstly is that it's new and experimental. A bold choice, and I like it. Secondly is that it's explicitly a sequel to a previous AP. We've had continuations of a story with different casts (the Runelord Saga), but never a proper sequel in the APs. Thirdly is that this will tie into the War of Immortals somehow. The death of a God is very operatic, so an opera setting the stage for what is to follow is perfectly appropriate (see what I did there?) Fourthly and finally is that this is a breather before everything goes to Hell. Or perhaps Abaddon. The Outer Rifts? Ah, you know what I mean. Most APs are high stakes for their level, so one that mostly isn't* makes for a refreshing change.

*-- if things go the way I think: the PCs will get roped into watching Gorum's death, but before that they'll just be trying to put on a show.

I am more interested in the reprecussions of his death than the how or why. The War of Immortals itself will be a majorly destabilizing event, it seems.

For the clergy of Gorum, there is the obvious disempowerment. Their god is dead. He is no longer a font of divine power. However, his death is different from that of Aroden, and true Gorumites are not self-pitying weakling cowards who wallow in resentment and cheated destiny! They would bathe in the Godsrain, take up Gorum's power and metal for themselves, and continue the fight. Gorum lived for the spirit of battle. He taught his followers to relish combat, to never mind the fallen, to live in that moment. Gorum's clergy will likely go from religious organization to an agnostic philosophy focused on self-idealization through trials of combat and war. Some might seek to reforge him, but that's likely to be an eternal struggle in its own right, another war to wage for the sake of the fight. Whether they succeed or not, it is as good a reason to battle as any.

As for the rest of the Inner Sea, I think the War of Immortals, if it spills onto the material, will have interesting results. If it is as huge as it portends to be, I bet the popularity of the Laws of Man from Rahadoum will start to rise as people have witnessed the death of not only a god, but a *very old* one who was there when Rovagug was sealed. That hits at the core of faith in a deity as an eternal cosmic constant. Beyond that, the suffering caused by divine parties in their scrambling for Gorum's portfolio, I bet, will lead to a lot of the conditions that led to Rahadoum's denouncement of religion. Clandestine 'enlightened mortalist' groups invested in reducing the influence of gods and their churches could start to rise up throughout the world... especially once mortals reap the bounty of a dead god's remains for themselves.

This leads to the consequence of the Godsrain itself. Mythic power will now become a resource for countries and their agents to fight over else they risk their rivals...

Now that I think about it, one of the hints for upcoming adventures referenced "ultimate power within the grasp of almost countless hands." Some of the bigger shards of Gorum's armour could maybe be used to pull a Starstone. Sturovenen the Dragoneagle will believe that one could be used to reopen the Worldwound, which is why he'll sacrifice himself to get it away (and possibly destroy it).

So this AP and Triumph of the Tusk will feature Gorums death?

Triumph sounds like it happens afterwards, and will focus a bit more on the upheavals in the orc pantheon. It's about to lose two gods and gain one. Verex will become a Spawn of Rovagug, and Mahja Firehair has to kill one to ascend. I could be wrong, though. There have been simultaneous APs before (Hell's Rebels/Hell's Vengeance). This AP seems like it will have the death.

Orcs and leshies are core, but we don't have any orc or leshy iconics. We also just got two humans. I suspect that at least one of the two will be either an orc or a leshy.

We know that the commander is female. The guardian's gender wasn't specified. My gut says that's not a coincidence, so the guardian will be outside the gender binary.

We've been told that a big war is coming. A few times now, in fact. It probably won't be against Tar-Baphon, so Andoran and Cheliax are probably going to have their throwdown. I'd expect one iconic on each side of the fight, with the Chelaxian motivated by duty to the nation rather than loyalty to House Thrune or Hell (though we've had evil iconics before...)

Also, Andoran and Cheliax appear increasingly likely to throw down at some point soon.

VerBeeker wrote:

Evan Tarlton wrote:

I'm thinking that there will be representation from the Pathfinder Society and the Knights of Lastwall, and possibly the Magaambya. The Firebrands and Hellknights wouldn't be too much of a surprise. For nations, Oprak and New Eurythnia are basically guaranteed, and I think that a surprise emissary from Highhelm might also show up. Said emissary might be carrying a most unusual message from a king long dead...

That would be from Dongun Hold more likely, wouldn't it?

It'd be nice to finally cash in the Donguni king's secret plan to make right with Belkzen.

Didn't she pass the letter along to Highhelm?

Evan Tarlton wrote:

Rivethun Emissary: Almost certainly an animist class archetype, maybe with spirits only it can take and with more/stricter edicts and anathemas.

Luis Loza has stated that Rivethun Emissary is a regular archetype, not a class archetype, in one of the Discord servers.

Noted. Thank you!

Avenger: I think you're on the money. A spirit damage attack instead of sneak attack, probably with a different triggering condition.

Battle Herald: "Divine Magus" is my guess, with font-like abilities in place of the magus' bonus spells.

Bloodrager: I think your first guess is correct. I'd add a diminished hit die, probably a d10.

Palatine Detective: Either an investigator that gets spirit damage instead of precision damage or one that gets a mandated divine casting multiclass.

Rivethun Emissary: Almost certainly an animist class archetype, maybe with spirits only it can take and with more/stricter edicts and anathemas.

Saedar wrote:

I've been kicking around the idea that ALL gods are former mortals of one stripe or another. Maybe combined of one or more mortal souls. It is only over time that they become more alien and detached.

This is baseless speculation for funsies.

Saranrae was an angel created by Ihys before she became a full-fledged goddess (at least according to the Book of the Damned excerpt from 1E), so according to that piece of lore, you're wrong at least about her.

Sarenrae starting as an angel was from Asmodeus. The Windsong Testaments have her as one of the first nine gods. https://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo6sgzu

Perpdepog wrote:

WWHsmackdown wrote:

I'm guessing it's a free archetype-like tack that gives 10 extra feats that you spend exclusively in you're mythic destiny

That would be the most intuitive and straightforward way to do it, for sure. That's where I'm leaning too, though I keep envisioning a progression of fewer feats, say five, that are each chunkier and grant more benefits for the tier you have. They might even grant bonuses to your core numbers, allowing you to punch above your weight class level-wise.

I'm assuming that last bit because the devs said these rules wuldn't bring you above 20th level, if I remember right. Giving you a way to pump your numbers while staying in the normal twenty level progression would mean that you could eventually take on 25+ threats, which feels suitably mythic. It's also just something I want. I want it very very much. I love reading those 25+ statblocks even when I know there's almost no chance of getting that high.

Edit: Oh, oopse. Quoted you before you were totally finished, sorry.

I hope we at least get a proper mythic statblock for Sorshen out of it. :p

I think that we'll get a bunch of statblocks when the time comes, and she's almost a given.

I'm thinking that there will be representation from the Pathfinder Society and the Knights of Lastwall, and possibly the Magaambya. The Firebrands and Hellknights wouldn't be too much of a surprise. For nations, Oprak and New Eurythnia are basically guaranteed, and I think that a surprise emissary from Highhelm might also show up. Said emissary might be carrying a most unusual message from a king long dead...

Guardians are heavily armored warriors who can Taunt? Well, I guess I'd better brush up on my outrageous French accent.

Let's Smurfing GO!

Veltharis wrote:

Just because a god isn't killed as a result of the War of Immortals doesn't mean they won't be affected by it in some way...

The foreshadowed disruption to the Prismatic Ray could very easily occur simply due to character development, rather than character termination.

Maybe Arshea joins them and the divine polycule gets both more queer and more awesome.

I was thinking Mahja Firehair. Though Arshea would be awesome, and nothing says that both can't join...

And now my watch has ended.

BookBird wrote:

A very cool prophecy to cap it off! I never quite settled on whether it was possible they'd be willing to kill Rovagug, but I suppose this settles that. But it's an interesting future this offers; he can be killed, he can be beaten. Even if doing so would be catastrophic for the Cage he inhabits.

A few of the gods haven't been mentioned at all in the prophecies thus far. Gozreh, Lamashtu and I think Calistria have so far been unmentioned. Though I don't think this has any bearing on anything. No mentions of Dark Tapestry stuff here either, which is what I was thinking based on the previous prophecy. Unless you count Rovagug himself as lovecraftian enough. Anyway, is it too insane of a theory that some of the non-core deities mentioned here might be in danger in War of Immortals? Apsu, Hanspur, Grandmother Spider, Hei Feng, Thamir. Though I seriously doubt they'd kill Hei Feng only a few months after the Tian Xia World Guide comes out, and even more so Grandmother Spider.

...And the prophecies end with my two favourite core 20 gods on the chopping block. John Paizo, I will pay you two whole dollarydoos if you kill literally anyone except Lamashtu. It can be all nine of the rest, I'm willing to do that. Now let's keep this hush-hush.

I was summoned, but am as yet unbribeable.

So you're saying there's a chance.

This is delightful! Thank you, Collette and Ilina!

And now my watch begins.

The design is very intriguing. One would think that a Primal Dragon would have a tree theme, but this is an Occult Dragon.

The god will officially bite it in the novel. If we're getting an AP out if this (and that is practically a given) then it makes no sense for it to happen at the same time as the novel. Therefore, the god's death will probably kick off the war.

(And now to figure out which god's death is most likely to start a war...)

This is really neat! Thanks so much, Danny and Luis!

I lean towards Shelyn. They said that the Erastil prophecy was supposed to be one of the Ray, but they pushed it back for a reason. Pairing the twins makes sense. We'll find out on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. local time.

The next prophecy concerns one of the Prismatic Ray. Let the speculation begin!

For what it's worth, I never really saw gluttony as being purely about food. There's nothing wrong with enjoying food. It's about excess and hedonism at the expense of others' basic needs. Urgathoa is absolutely a goddess of hedonism. The Dead don't need to eat, they just like to--and they sure don't need to eat people. And I'm positive there's other forms of selfish hedonism in her repertoire.

I think you're right. The Urgathoa prophecy called out the undead for eating and drinking so quickly that they barely tasted anything.

Hope my watch will end today, but so far not even authorized...

The office opened roughly 45 minutes ago local time from when I post this. It will be open for 9 hours. There is still hope!

I'd be shocked if it wasn't ORC. Three of the four main Remaster books are out and the APs going forward will be ORC. Also, I don't think it was pushed back so far just to make room for the Remaster books. I think some things had to be reworked.

First: Erin, thank you for another brilliant installment!

Second: I wonder when Yivali will realize why these are called "the Godsrain Prophecies."

Third: it's interesting that we technically didn't get a death with this one.

Fourth: we kind of got a two-fer, though. We saw what might happen to mortals if Shelyn died. That's appropriate for the twins. And the development had beforehand is evocative of Zon-Shelyn. Shelyn taking up aspects of her... technically not her brother, but at least he had some feeling for her.

Fifth: I think that the prophey's intent might be starting to work on Yivali. Assuming that she's right about the prophet hating divinity, then inspiring pity might also get the readers to see them as something less inspiring. That has implications for the prophet's identity, which might help us figure out who buys it.

Sixth: and we can officially ditch the alignment theory. It really is anybody's game now.

And now my watch has ended.

Some posters have floated an alignment theory: we'll get a prophecy for one god of each alignment, with either LG or N getting two. I know that alignment isn't a thing anymore, at least technically, but this has been in the planning stages since before the Remaster. Therefore, this would serve as a last nod to that system.

We have gotten two N deities (Pharasma and Nethys), one LE (Asmodeus), one CG (Cayden Cailean), one NE (Urgathoa), and one LG (Erastil). There are four spots left, and four alignments: NG, LN, CN, and CE. If the pattern holds, then we can expect prophecies for a combination of (Sarenrae/Shelyn), (Abadar/Irori), (Calistria/Gorum), and (Lamashtu/Rovagug). Also, if the theory is correct and the pattern holds, this means that Desna, Gozreh, Iomedae, Norgorber, Torag, and Zon-Kuthon are on the chopping block.

If these choices are correct...

Sarenrae/Shelyn: I lean Shelyn for prophecy and Sarenrae for chopping block. Watching the gods deal with the death of the only god that they all love (in their own ways) is juicy, and it would have a huge impact on Z-K. We were told that the Prismatic Ray prophecy would give us some hints, and I think that's what they involve.

Abadar/Irori: Irori for prophecy, Abadar for chopping block. Irori hasn't gotten a lot of coverage, so a (false?) prophecy of his death might be a good place to start. Besides, Souls at War gave a good list of reasons for Abadar to be on the block. I didn't even register the 1929 one.

Calistria/Gorum: This is the one I'm least certain about. I lean Gorum for prophecy, Calistria for chopping block. We could get something deeply cool out of a Gorum prophecy, and Calistria was instrumental in stopping a possible war already.

Lamashtu/Rovagug: Believe it or not, Rovagug for prophecy and Lamashtu for chopping block. I know how I'd write a prophecy of Rovagug's death and I'd love to see if something like that shows up in print. Also, Lamashtu was Nualia's patron deity. You know, the first AP issue's main villain. Killing her would have an impact, and there would be repercussions for Varisia.

Kittyburger wrote:

keftiu wrote:

Bluemagetim wrote:

My thought is more along the lines of something like calling an airship an airplane. Airplane takes me out of the fantasy where as airship keeps the fantasy vibes for me.

Why is a technology that was invented in the late 1800s more 'fantasy' than one invented in 1903? What does the distinction matter when this setting has irradiated cyborgs in one corner of it, too?

For me it's because airships, now, are "a more elegant [aircraft] for a more civilized age" while airplanes are the mildly inconvenient people-cans we stuff ourselves into for several hours to get to a business meeting.

Romanticism vs. familiarity and vaguely uncomfortable memories.

I'm forced to reckon with the fact that not everyone has flown on a blimp before. My childhood was weird!

That must have been fun! It's worth pointing out that planes weren't always like that. The differences in the classes weren't always so stark.

Still pending. My watch continues.

Same. Must remain strong!

Are these the remastered Golds?

Mana Wastes could be a pretty crazy battlefield. Wonder if there could be incursions through the Vault/Oprak.

Any other notable planar bleed places that could be neat?

Maybe Treerazor kicks the whole thing off as he finally completes his ascension and drags someone screaming into Tanglebriar.

We've gotten a hint that screams Treerazer.

I call these “Faire Princess Tiffany”s because Tiffany is a name that tends to sound modern—Audrey Hepburn and department stores and all that—but it’s actually just the English version of the name “Theophania”. My favorite Faire Princess Tiffany is the vending machine, which has been around since Ancient Rome.

In any event, Goka’s meant to be the most cosmopolitan and metropolitan location on the continent, and I love how Michelle (and Shao Han, the section author) have really made the advances and cultural crossovers front and center!

As to whether Alley Bashers is like Street Fighter, hmm… it seems to have lateral movement as a part of the strategy… so maybe more like Gokan magitech Tekken (Magitekken)?

Huh. I knew about a few Roman FPTs, but not that one. You learn something new every day!

ETA: They had apartments, food carts, and famous athletes would endorse products. Oh, and they also discovered steam power but couldn't figure out how to use it.

Evan Tarlton wrote:

What stands out about the Empyrean and Omen Dragons?

Empyrean- reaction to give itself resistance if hit with a crit. Breath is spirit damage, has holy trait.

Omen- reaction to give misfortune on attack roll. Attacks and breath weapon do mental damage.

Nice! Thank you.

What stands out about the Empyrean and Omen Dragons?

Huzzah! My thanks to all involved!

Firstly, this is absolutely delightful. Thank you so much, Michelle and Sandra!

Secondly, I now have this image of Mogaru fighting a bunch of G-Pop Stans. Spoiler alert: it doesn't look good for His Majesty.

That title, though.

Someone was inspired by Songbird, Scion, Saboteur. That is wonderful!

I wouldn’t congratulate anyone winding up at WotC.

Pro: better pay, higher profile company.

Con: being a new hire at a company whose job security is... lacking.

It was good to see some of those names again, and find out about how they've progressed since we last checked in on them. (Mawwiage!) I like how some plot threads were hinted at in the guide. And who was the trailer's VA?

And now my watch begins.

keftiu wrote:

Icoret wrote:

I know Paizo said that Arazni isn't replacing the portfolio of the dead god, but I did see the theory that it would be Lamashtu to die, so that Arazni can be the goddess of "monstrocities" instead, which I do think she'd be good for.

My current guess is now either Torag or Lamashtu. Given my track record, I expect them now to both be declared safe over the next two weeks.

Why go to the trouble of rewriting her Anathema for the Remaster if you're killing her right after?

Well, even if the theory is right Paizo still wouldn't be expecting everyone buying the core rule book to know or be aware of this in world event. Most people buying the game won't know about all of the supplemental projects, so the deities in the core rule book would still need to be playable as is even if one of them might be getting eliminated in an adventure later on.

Also, some tables might use the prophecies presented as their War of Immortals home scenarios, or else make up their own if they want to kill one of the nine deities saved for the stream (unless we get prophecies for them as well).

Saedar wrote:

rimestocke wrote:

I have a soft spot for Erastil so I'm glad he's safe! I really loved the bit about The Hunters and them coming across others like them who were similarly victimized by their deities getting eaten and giving them a sense of community.

But also cracking up at the image of Sarenrae and Zon-Kuthon forming a defense pact together. I'm trying to picture it and my brain just scrambles itself lol.

Call their pantheon the Solar Eclipse.

A total eclipse of the heart?

Every now and then it falls apart.

This is delightful! Thanks so much, Simone!