Evil Midnight Lurker's page

You do!

Do what?

That Purdy illustration reminds me of the girl.

I recommend the font creations of Nate Piekos.

Gratzzors!!1! :)

Another to Groves. It was a tough choice between Dream Thieves and Ebon Destroyers, though.

I'm seeing something in a Timm/Dini animated series.

I'm a huge fan of Lovecraft's The Dream Quest Of Unknown Kadath.

I also think Paizo's decision to go direct to the source is far better than WotC's "Far Realm." The Far Realm is kind of a generic abberation source rather than being a place of true Lovecraftian horror. Eberron has a better sort of dimension than the Far Realm (or did they just make Xoriat = Far Realm in their 4e rendition of Eberron?).

Xoriat was indistinguishable from the Far Realm in 3.5e, as far as I could tell. They even used cut-and-paste text to describe both.

He Who Walks in Blood wrote:

Montalve, is the 2nd edition module that much better than the 3rd edition one?

Expedition is less into the mood and more into the hack if I am correct... as Wes mentions below... its simply a wonderful story... full of mood... giaks.. the full castle gives the creeps!!! its not a place I would like to be :P

so wonderful it is :D

...Giaks? Now that would be a short, yet amusing, crossover.

Strahd: "I am the ancient. I am the land. You cannot defeat..."

Lone Wolf: *raises Sommerswerd and annihilates Strahd without a word*

Check out both the Bestiary interior piece (I believe - sorry, don't have my copy right here) and (definitely) Cities of Golarion.

*looks at the Bestiary interior piece*

*looks at the Bestiary cover*

*looks at the Bestiary interior piece*

...I don't see how you expect us to believe those are the same species. Even in a fantasy game.

Of the two, I have to say the interior piece has a slightly saner jaw arrangement. Slightly.

Evil Midnight Lurker wrote:

It's liable to bite its own tongue off every time it closes its mouth...

Does that matter? I mean, even if you don't take the huge under bite you can see in other illos into account, it's tongue would just grow right back. :P

Hey, I did say that wouldn't be a big problem. :)

The underbite is the bigger problem for me -- why do these trolls even HAVE teeth? They can't bite anything BUT their tongues!

Made a ranting post about this in the wrong place. Cooled down overnight. Came back to look at the art from a fresh perspective.

Nope. Still the stupidest troll I have ever seen, and not in a good way.

That jaw! The teeth don't mesh ANYWHERE! It's liable to bite its own tongue off every time it closes its mouth (which is, of course, not a big problem for your average troll), assuming it CAN close its mouth, which I don't think it can (which is a somewhat bigger problem).

I was so, so happy that the early Pathfinder illustrations actually looked like classic trolls, and now this... ;.;

I'm moving this over to the Kingmaker forum alongside the official discussion thread for this blog.

Midnight Lurker, did you create this thread or did you click the 'Start a discussion' link on the blog post?

I just created a thread, the fancy stuff didn't occur to me. n.n;

I have to say... this made me sad. ;.;

The thing about the classic D&D troll, with its gangling hunchbacked build, carrot-nose, shock of hair... was that it was a classic.

I always hated the 3.0/3.5 husky trolls with those dangly noses that looked as though they were in constant danger of being self-cannibalized. The appearance of traditional trolls in early Pathfinder art was a breath of fresh air...

And now... these... things. Even more solid and husky than 3.X, with underbites so severe that I can't imagine them actually being able to eat except by maybe picking something up and manually jamming it down on their lower jaw teeth.

Sorry, but those are just not trolls to me.

Thanks, that one's been nagging at me for a while.

I'm wondering how their history and culture will have been shaped by their five thousand years of at least occasional contact with Avistan.

An Inner Sea question while we're on the subject: is Garund connected to Avistan at any point south of the revealed map, or are they completely separate continents?

Templates are specifically allowed by the rules. There is a cautionary note about them, but they are legal.

Yeah, and then everybody objects to the monster description because it "obviously has to be" a template, and that will make it "too complicated."

Which has so far not been true on either count.

Which is why I'm annoyed.

Splorudra, Rictus, Lantern Thrall, and Skintaker.

Haga would've been my fifth vote if there were such. Sorry David, maybe next round -- I suspect you'll make it in.

...from both the voters and the judges.

Seriously, people, just because something could be statted up as a template (a) doesn't mean it has to be, and (b) doesn't necessarily ruin it if it is.

I'm seeing this all over the place this year. Is there a memetic monster spreading through the forums? ^.^

I think people are putting too much weight on the idea that you have to stat out each mephit. You don't. At all.

Looks to me like the only difference between thralls is one power based on the type of mephit animating it. That's... let me see... what, eight possible varieties at max, each probably no more than one or two lines? (I can't recall just how many different elemental, paraelemental, and quasielemental planes had attached mephits at the moment, so I may be off here.)

I'd add one caveat: the potion retains its alcohol content. :)

Now - face the terror of the HAND-CRANKED RUNCIBLE GUN!

*spork spork spork spork spork*

Oh, and of course I would have to add that little Amazon nation somewhere. Amazons are cool.

The Amazons should be in Tian Xia. And have these really annoying laws, and live near bird people, and... Why are you all looking at me like that? ^.^

Garund needs a label. :)

Not sure about your placement of Azlant, I'd assumed it'd be closer to old Thassilon, but I can't recall if its location has been quantified.

The voyage from northern Avistan to Arcadia is a four-thousand-mile island hop, iirc, implying islands to hop.

Casmaron is consistently described as a "supercontinent," implying that it's plenty large even though Tian Xia isn't part of it. I keep thinking of it as Asia-sized at least. Maybe it reaches further south than real-world India?

If only there was a race called the Squam, so we could get away with calling their relics squamous...

Just carve some scales into it. And with a few bas-relief wrinkles, you can get away with rugose!

..."Xymolosely polydactile" would require a bit more thought, though. :)

The long blue line is where there may be an ocean separating Tian Xia and Casmaron. (Hopefully, I think that would be cool).

Mona confirmed that a few days ago. He also mentioned a Tian colony state on the east shores of Casmaron, which is why the Inner Sea cultures still think of Tian as "the east."

I'm not sure if Arcadia is the name for the south/meso-american Analogue aswell, so I didn't expand it to be so.

Come to think, I'm not sure if we know whether or not there is a "South Arcadia" area. I hope there is.

Demons, devils, daemons, and (we've been promised) demodands... The four D's are all very well, but it occured to me recently that there's one more iconic fiendish race that frequently goes unmentioned. Unfortunately, a quick perusal of the Book of Fiends and Tomes of Horrors suggests that this bunch may not be available for an official Pathfinder writeup.

I speak, of course, of those innumerable randomized mooks of the Lower Planes: the hordlings, last appearing in Dungeon #124. Are they banned due to not being SRD critters? If so, I'll take this over to the Conversions section and we can grow our own...

On the matter of corn and potatoes, note that the continents of Arcadia and Avistan have been in regular-ish contact for five thousand years, so there's been plenty of time for New World foods to be disseminated all around the globe.

The farthest reaches of Casmaron (east of Avistan) contain a sprawling Tian colony nation called Kaladay that trades with Vudra. From thence come much of the Tian artifacts sold in markets like Katapesh and Absalom, and the trading vessels of Tian Xia proper are more common in places like Kelesh and Vudra, hence the association of all things Tian as being of "eastern" origin.

Ah, an entirely sensible association. Thanks :)

However the exact opposite is true for birds! (Yes, this is evolutionary impossible, seeing as mammals supposedly should have evolved from birds)

Incorrect! Mammals and birds evolved from separate reptilian ancestors.

Here on Earth, the European-descended cultures think of China, Japan, and that general geographic area as "the East" or "the Orient," even if, for example, folks on the West Coast of North America might happen to be closer by heading west. It's a cultural quirk inherited from centuries of the land trade heading east across Eurasia.

But on Golarion? If you head east from Avistan, you cross into Casmaron... which is a central- and south-Asia analog, but not east. As far as I can tell from the various sources -- and this may be wrong -- you'll hit an ocean before you get to Tian Xia. The main land route from Avistan heads north over the Crown of the World.

Tian Xia has been referred to as "the east," but is that really how the average Avistanian (Avistanner?) would think of the continent? "The north" isn't very accurate at all, but I can't think of a better term...

Council of Thieves will stay in the city, by the way. Except for short excursions, you stay in Westcrown.

Oh, I know. And I'm not one of those who does the complaining. It just struck me as another possible solution, that would still allow the party to travel a lot.

Interesting idea. I'm not sure if you can have a mobile community (damn, we need to find a new name. This sounds like "mobile home". I imagine characters called Bobby-Joe making moonshine in their trailers) that would fit every level. A ship could work.

There's inspiration to be had in console RPGs -- Suikoden 4, for example, where the party winds up with a huge ship as their mobile base; or Breath of Fire 2, with the flying TownShip; or BoF 3 and 4, with an extradimensional faerie village that technically stays in one place but can be accessed from many points on the world map.

It's been a common complaint on the boards since Shackled City: Paizo builds us an amazing town to start in, people get attached to the setting, then the adventure leaves on a giant road trip.

What about an AP that starts on the road, and stays there? I don't know if a total lack of community would work or not... but maybe a mobile community?

Perhaps centered around a caravan, or some more fantastic traveling base (say a rebuilt chunk of a Shory flying city, or just a big ship)...

It would help this discussion out a lot if the dog-boosters would actually, y'know, pay attention to those pointing out the straight facts of 1st Edition instead of simply restating their erroneous stance over and over.

*clears throat*

DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS KOBOLDS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN REPTILES. ALWAYS.

Yes, they've got a yappy-dog vibe and a canine cast to their features (especially in 1st Ed), but they have SCALES AND HORNS and A COMPLETE LACK OF FUR. And they LAY EGGS.

Now, I like Suikoden as much as the next addict, but their kobolds are NOT D&D kobolds. 'Kay?

There's a very good reason we haven't done a Test of the Starstone adventure yet: We need to know rules for how gods work first.

And before we know how gods work, we need to know how epic rules work.

As a result, we're quite a ways away from doing anything "official" with the Test of the Starstone. I suspect that we WILL do something with it some day, but that day will not be soon.

Frankly, a PC Deity expansion to the game is a VERY logical next step after a PC Epic level expansion to the game.

And in closing, try to remember, everyone, that your way is NOT the only way to play the game. Recognizing that other folks play the game differently and accepting the fact that their games and your games can BOTH exist under the same ruleset is a good thing.

AKA: Don't be jerks.

Preach it, brother!

I miss the Immortals Set. Start your own cult, shape your own plane, engage in intrigues that would blow an Arisian's mind... ^.^

What is dead can never die!

An object at rest cannot be stopped!

Power-Hungry Grand Vizier. Wait, that's redundant. And probably already accounted for by an NPC. :)

I stand corrected. But if you already knew this, why did you ask??

...Because the information for which I asked is obviously not in that paragraph?

And here I thought Valeros and Seoni were dating.

I'm a Valeros/Seoni/Merisiel/Kyra shipper myself. ^.^

And just what do you need those numbers for? The priesthood makes a pretty good living off the loose change in the pockets....

For religious tax reform? ^.^ No, it was just a burst of curiosity... I could see there technically being thousands of folks who walk up there hoping to give it a try, only to say to themselves "That's a totally deep hole" and go get drunk. (Of course, that worked out well for Cayden Cailean. :) )

Evil Midnight Lurker wrote:

Just wondering: we're told that hundreds of people try the Test every year. But what fraction of that are those who fail or give up at the first hurdle, crossing the pit without using the bridges? How many people actually get into the Cathedral, and of those, how many come out mortal but alive and how many die or are never heard of again?

You either come out a deity, or you never come out.

Ahem.

Although hundreds enter the massive structure every year, and only four are known to have ever won the ultimate prize of divinity, a few brave explorers have escaped the cathedral with their lives—and sometimes vast treasures. Their descriptions make it clear that within the rock and walls of the cathedral, magic doesn’t always work properly, extra-dimensional movement is impossible, and the Cathedral itself regularly changes its configuration, challenges, and guardians.

Just wondering: we're told that hundreds of people try the Test every year. But what fraction of that are those who fail or give up at the first hurdle, crossing the pit without using the bridges? How many people actually get into the Cathedral, and of those, how many come out mortal but alive and how many die or are never heard of again?

My simulacrum has been busy.

Show me an avatar that looks more like the Evil Midnight Bomber what Bombs at Midnight than this one does and I'll be happy to switch. :P

come on, guys, where are the tropes? I added the Fan Service/Fan Disservice entries months ago, on my own.

You guys can't add something beyond correcting some petty details?

Check the edit history? I'm verging on a quarter of the page content. Our X Are X, all mine...

Evil Midnight Lurker wrote:

Well that's just weird.

Apparently "WotC" without the proper brackets to stop it being a link will break the page. o.o;

In MediaWiki, anytime you have unclosed tags, either the [[ ]] wikilink brackets or the {{ }} template brackets you'll get that result.

I know that. But WotC with NO brackets?

Well that's just weird.

Apparently "WotC" without the proper brackets to stop it being a link will break the page. o.o;

Evil Midnight Lurker wrote:

I reedited the opening to give a more accurate depiction of the situation and remove the hate. ...However, the entry now isn't showing up at all for me. x.x;

+1

You broke it!

I know the entry hasn't actually been deleted -- the full text still shows up under Edit Page.

Must figure out what went wrong...

I reedited the opening to give a more accurate depiction of the situation and remove the hate. ...However, the entry now isn't showing up at all for me. x.x;

I like Pathfinder and 4e. The page says I picked up Pathfinder due to my hatred of 4e. A lot of that page is a really one-sided (and angry) view of events that needs to be cleaned up.

Just for the record, I didn't create the page or write those bits. I'll see about redoing that though. ^.^

Wow, some of that historical info is really incorrect. The way it's written makes it sound like Paizo split off from WotC because of reaction to 4th edition, which is definitely not the case.

Yes, the way I remember it Paizo was split off to handle publishing Dragon and Dungeon. Is that the right version?