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Has anyone made a handout version of the tricks? The art and the information on the inside covers are fantastic and I'd like to be able to hand these out to my players for the sake of planning and as they recruit new performers. It would be cool to have a template set up that I could fill out for my PCs as well, adding artwork and their checks.
For sure, I agree with the sentiment. There shouldn't be a shoehorned new non-evil goblin pantheon. I'm looking more for some insight on how these exceptional goblins reconcile their beliefs with their new lives. For example, a goblin can be motivated to join the Pathfinder Society, seek treasure and glory, even to help others and defeat menacing monsters. This doesn't mean that they stop believing in and even idolizing Zarongel for the gift of fire and wolf-riding. Hell, if it's a goblin that wants to be a knight, the first mount they're going to be drawn towards is a wolf or a goblin dog. It would be really cool to see some artwork of 'goblin-ized' deities who reach out to goblins, by the way. I liked the goblin iconics a lot. To compare to a real-world situation, people who break away from Mormonism or Christianity always have an interesting story and the catalyst for them to take such an action is a major part of their personality and world view from that point on. Even so, their past, before their break, continues to be a part of who they are in some way, shape, or form forever after. In a world like Golarion where it's pretty much common knowledge that the gods exist and are in control of your afterlife and immortal soul, it would take a strong program of outreach to convince creatures like goblins that there's an alternative to spending eternity in Basalfeyst.
I wanted to convey my disappointment in how I feel Goblins were neglected in Gods and Magic. I think that by not including information on Goblin deities and how they fit into the mindset of the "PC Goblin", an opportunity was missed. I have to admit, I wasn't on board with the decision to make Goblins a Core race during the playtest. I felt like it was pandering and using the success of the Free RPG Day modules to boost the new ruleset. Don't get me wrong: I love goblins. I've loved goblins since Rise of the Runelords #1's Foreword when James Jacobs declared "...the Ten Commandments of Goblining, if you will."
I wasn't the only one. Everyone went Pathfinder Goblin crazy after this. To me, it was a metaphor for the new world in which I'd be gaming for the next 13 years (Jeez, time flies). Here I saw something that once meant "easy bad guy" and forever onward, it meant "maniac who burns and eats everything." As time went on, Pathfinder continued to 're-brand' typical aspects of the game, and in so doing, re-invigorate the whole scene for me. Bugbears are stalking psychopaths, ogres are hillbilly murder/cannibals, even hobgoblins were given a strong cultural identity and a cause to get behind, and I was excited to see them get their own nation as Golarion moves ever onward, AP to AP. With Goblins becoming Core in 2e, though, I feel they've lost everything that makes them Goblin. I was on the fence when the Core was released, and Paizo did a great job fleshing out Goblins as an ancestry and the relevant heritages in the World Guide and Character Guide, but I was really hoping that they'd get some love in Gods & Magic in particular. In G&M there was an opportunity to flesh out that entire missing piece of the civilized Goblin's culture, and it was passed over. To me, and I'd imagine to goblins, religion is a major aspect of a culture. I can't imagine entire tribes like the Bumblebrashers forgetting about mighty Hadregash, ugly Zogmugot, nasty Venkelvore, or primal Zarongel. I can understand moving away from Lamashtu, but those four deities are where Goblins believe they come from. Even if a Goblin wanted to venture out and do good in the world, and even if the rare town can come to tolerate their presence, I think Goblins would still say small prayers to the four barghests, even if only out of fear for what the afterlife holds for them (and they have to know that they're going to see that afterlife really, really soon). I hope the world story moves in a direction that helps this make sense soon. My suggestion?
Spoiler:
Chief Zugmut + Starstone = Goblin hero-god of Drama, Forging Your Own Destiny, and maybe a god of stealing stuff who isn't also tied to lust or murder Thanks for reading my rant. I look forward to seeing how things continue to play out.
Alright Lore-brains, the beam is upon you. I'm setting up my campaign calendar, you know, like a well-rounded person, not at all like an over-immersed geek, and I'm going to have a focus on Were-Villains. I feel like it's important to jot down a lunar calendar. I decide to follow the 2020 Earth moon calendar (since my campaign starts Abadius 4720). In Golarion, the full moons are each named and known. Here's what 4720 portends:
Lamashan 31 being the Black Moon is already at 95% spooky levels, but what are the in-Golarion thoughts on years with 13 full moons? I propose we cancel all blogs until this is decided upon.
Bar Brawl:
Nah it's 240. The encounter is against "a dozen drunken farmers." The farmers are level -1, which is a 2 level difference from the party (Party is 1st, 1 - 2 = -1). Chart on pg. 508 shows that to be 20 xp per creature in the encounter.
If you're using Fantasy Grounds, it has the XP in there, and it's 240 as well. Here's what I got for Part One:
Part One XP:
I'm making a Kensai for an upcoming campaign and it got me thinking: how many archetypes would be designed differently today using lessons learned on balance, fun factor, and flavor over the years? How would you go about retooling some of the archetypes to make them more desirable or viable? In the case of the Kensai, I feel like diminished spellcasting is a huge flaw, and the canny defense feature is weak. But you still see these uneven trades in more recent archetypes, such as Jistkan Artificer. Both archetypes have a lot of story potential but you sacrifice for that and I don't feel like that should be the design intent. What do others think?
That's good feedback: Ambushes as hazards. The thing is, I don't want to go flipping through the rulebook right at the beginning of an encounter. I would like to see an easier transition from exploration into encounter without the PCs getting any kind of notice. It feels like it defeats the purpose of the secret rolls to tell them something is up. It takes the immersion right out of the situation, because as a player, you know what's coming, but as a character you're not so sure. I hope this is errata'd or at least clarified.
I'm still unclear on this myself. Here's the breakdown:
Does the GM make the Stealth check against the Perception DC of the heroes? Does the GM roll Stealth and secret Perception checks? Are these the initiative scores? If so, this is one Stealth check for multiple creatures since they use one roll for the entire group for initiative. Does the GM roll secret Perception checks against a DC of 10 + The goblins' stealth modifier? If some PCs are Sneaking instead of Searching, what happens then? Do the goblins roll Stealth and Perception, and if so, which is their initiative roll?
Hi Service Team,
Also, I see an order #5013982 on my order history but it is blank. Could you dispel my confusion regarding that? Thanks. James Hebert
I'm running Strange Aeons and we're starting Thrushmoor now. One of my players is an Oracle of Bones with the Haunted curse. Drawing inspiration from the poor guy whose journal is on the inside cover of book 1, her haunting isn't just grabby ghost hands, she's haunted by Carcosa. She constantly feels the call of the mysterious city, and it manifests before her eyes any time she enters a stressful situation or uses her mysteries. This was spooky for her in the first book, to see the world around her change on occasion, but I'm looking for ways to crank it up a bit. I want it to really feel like a curse, so I turn to you for advice. Any input would be welcome. Thanks.
When helping new players make their own character, the most intimidating aspect seems to be purchasing equipment. To ease the confusion of this, I figured I would inventory the pregens' equipment lists and make that available as a one-stop-shop for players that aren't quite ready for the meticulous art of gear-shopping. What's weird, though, is that none of the pregens spent 1000 credits. After breaking it all down, either my math is wrong, my understanding is wrong, or whoever shopped for the pregens was wrong. See for yourself and tell me where I went wrong. Envoy - 980 credits:
Mechanic - 741 credits:
Mystic - 1001 credits:
Operative - 694 credits:
Solarian - 1001 credits:
Soldier - 1011 credits:
Technomancer - 1427 credits:
Hi all,
Hi, I purchased my SF Core rulebook from my local game shop. The binding on my book is coming undone and the store owner doesn't know the process for replacing the book. Do you have any guidance? I read that the books have a higher than acceptable defect rate, so I'm sure there is a relatively painless process for replacement. Thank you. James Hebert
Hi all. I've been running a 5e SCAP campaign since January and I started a blog to recap the sessions and give a little advice along the way. It's found at https://imthescapman.tumblr.com/. Feedback is welcome.
I spent today reading this whole thread because I'm sleepy and refuse to do real work, but a thought occurred while going over the point in the conversation where the inclusion of Mythic Adventures and Ultimate Campaign rules became a necessity. The APs are marketed to include those rules and thus expand the possibilities of the game system. The Strategy Guide is supposed to be released soon, and hopefully, for the sake of new players, it'll include hints at building more robust characters so that the argument of 'your party is too optimized' goes away completely. Perhaps this is a good time to buff up AP design and make more tactically sound bad guys.
I know it's been a short ride, but it's time I stepped down as Venture Captain of the New Orleans area. I've been offered a job in Greensboro, North Carolina and I've accepted it. I'll be moving and won't be able to assist the people in New Orleans anymore. Good luck guys, I'm sure I'm leaving you in capable hands. All the best, James Hebert
Warhorn is set up for CONtraflow 2. If there are any questions, feel free to email me at nolaventurecap@gmail.com. Thanks!
October 5-7 CONtraflow 2 will be hosting Pathfinder Society events. For information, please see the event page here. A Warhorn site is in the works, just waiting for them to get back to me. I'm sorry if this is short notice for some folks, but I hope to see some new faces joining us for some gaming!
It is in Prairieville, right outside of Baton Rouge. I'm at work right now but when I get home I will post the address and phone number here for you. Last I checked, they didn't have a website up and running, but I'll look into that as well. If you don't mind, please email me so I can drop you a line when we put together game days out that way.
Hiya! Walter already covered the bases, but I wanted to say hello. Feel free to come by to either of the stores for a game, and if you have any questions or comments, email me at nolaventurecap@gmail.com or PM me here. Where are you out of? There's a new store in Baton Rouge that's going to be getting some game days off of the ground soon as well, Gamer's Paradise. I hope to see you soon! |
Pathfinder Society GM. 43 posts (594 including aliases). No reviews. No lists. No wishlists. 10 Organized Play characters. 7 aliases. 
