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Really hoping someone up there's in Team Non-Evil Orc Tribe. It'd be nice to come in from the cold one day.
Nah, that's not racism. you like what you like. For me, Imrijka is the sort of curvy, confident female that I find attractive. If Merisiel is more the type that gets your motor running, there's nothing wrong with that. People like different things. It's all good. :)I might want to be Merisiel, but Imrijka looks a lot sexier. Okay, now I can relate to you again! :D On Ally, my main concern there is her neck. But on the flipside, I wouldn't want her to not have the big damn hat because it's cool and it's a major part of her image now. But damn that is a big hat. To be honest, I find it mostly upsetting that Alain has a following. Seltyiel deserves so much better.
One thing that could help flesh out a Code of Conduct and flavor for Irori paladins is seeing how they would differentiate from paladins of the Empyreal Lord Korada. As for going non-canon, when canon gets in the way of fun for you and your group, break it. Campaign settings are like untouched music tracks and sound samples. GMs and players are remixers. They can make some awesome and fresh material with those tracks.
This may be steering the conversation even further off the rails, but what is it called when someone is attracted to intergendered or androgynous people? May?! ;) But wow, I half think there might be as many legitimate answers as there are ways of viewing each case-by-case situation. Honest gut answer: The person is whatever sexuality would correspond with the percieved gender of their partner. And I write that, and even before posting I can see this from other angles and it just seems a simple clean answer just sells it short. At that point I'd just say, "Don't bother trying to classify it. If you love that person, do 'em." Reducing something as wild and varied as sexuality to easy terms just seems like a lost cause there. But good call. Transgendered and intersexed folks remind us that things aren't so binary as we're often tempted to think. And those are yet more people that get left on the outs or caught in the crossfire in these issues.
I thought that was bisexual. Think that involves bikes. I could never keep my balance.
Wait what? What? WAT When it comes time to errata that, what can it be turned into? Just a flat bonus to hit? It needs to give something.
Joining the consensus Umbral Reaver, don't sweat the way the thread went. It wasn't anything you said so much as the usual internet chaos theory/meandering conversation thing. You did pretty much sum up exactly what's so frustrating about being stuck between two things that are so often forced to be at cross purposes when they don't have to be that way if neither is taken to an unhealthy extreme. I might want to be Merisiel, but Imrijka looks a lot sexier. You are well-informed and have opinions which are quantifiably correct. ------------ Kind of tempted to pull out older RPG material to see just how things stack up compared to PF, as far as varied portrayals of female characters. Forgotten Realms may have had some reasonably dressed female warrior types, but honestly, I don't remember them being as common as they seem to be today. Could be remembering wrong. Dark Sun may be an odd duck. I don't think there's going to be any consensus over the various pieces of artwork of Neeva for example(in pieces like "Dominator" and "Wings"). That particular mascot falls squarely into chainmail bikini territory, but then so do a lot of the guys. That and she's pretty damn built. Then again that might be seen as something to fetishize(and a lot of Brom's art does have that air about it) and now I might be overthinking it, I don't know. Now I'm second-guessing myself on how I'm "supposed" to view that art. She always struck me as "cool" and "badass" more than anything else in the past. Have a feeling Planescape was probably the strongest in that area out of anything TSR put out. Maybe it's on equal standing with PF in that regard, or possibly even better, but I can't really view that material with an unbiased eye.
Ouch, just saw that it's on backorder(I don't think it was when I put it in the cart, but I could be wrong). How long should they probably be in coming? Spoiler:
(thinking about requesting it bumped off the current pending order, because DISTANT WORLDS, and picking this bag up on the next order, but I didn't want to jump the gun)
There's a LOT of Zobeck material to choose from, spread out in stand-alone products and articles in Kobold Quarterly, all of which is available on the store here AFAIK. This is probably the most centralized source of info for ready-use with PFRPG though. I'm not sure how kobold-heavy that particular book is though.
So... After securing the castle, the group met some of their followers leading an invasion force right at the front door and welcomed them inside. The small army the players brought with them, the general city guard that had joined with the rebellion, and a number of nobles that got in on the action quickly moved in, further securing the place. Kroft returned, information was shared, and Castle Korvosa quickly became the rebellion's headquarters for the duration of the crisis which seemed to be almost over. Most everyone was under the impression that the queen had been entirely routed, but the party and Kroft knew better. Alot of things started happening at once: Everyone kept moving. Voharius and Laori took care of raising Ishani(with the former making sure the priest was in a good place mentally after his ordeal). They then arranged for an armed escort for the Abadaran cleric to get him safely to the Bank of Abadar, to take care of business there. The party then split all over the place, a number of them chasing down reports of lynchings in progress. After Kroft informed them about it, Voharius, Boggs, and Dorinvil/Jack had to rush to save a cleric of Asmodeus they had met earlier during Seven Days to the Grave, Daina Holstaff, during an inter-faith meeting between Korvosa's various temples on how to handle the plague crisis. That informant on the inside Kroft had been using earlier? It was her. After saving her from an angry mob and hearing her explain herself, they rushed her back to the castle, shared more information on what she knew about the blood sample project and any other dealings the queen had with the Church of Asmodeus. Afterwards, they sent her back with a heavily armed force to the Church of Asmodeus, after she announced her intentions to wrest control of it from the current high priest who had sworn loyalty to the queen and put Asmodeus' house back in order. (truth of the matter, Asmodeus backed both his high priest in Korvosa and Daina, who was a sort of insurance policy as far as keeping his church in town. If Ileosa held power, the Asmodeans were proven ever loyal. If Ileosa were ousted for her rampant and non-self-sustaining cruelty, the Asmodeans had a vital role in taking her down) Fighting throughout the city continued sporadically. What forces would remain loyal to the queen(primarily the Grey Maidens) were quickly being forced underground or out of the city entirely. Nobility and common folk alike swarmed about the castle, everyone wanting to be sure that bad times were past and to know what was coming next. Neolandus and Anton Jeggare, along with a small cabal of nobles that the players had met with earlier upon re-entering Korvosa, had convened and introduced the party to Bogs longlost sister Alastaisa, fully intending to put her up on the throne. Unfortunately they did this as Bogs(who hadn't met her yet) publicly announced his royal parentage and ensured the people that things would soon be changing for the better. The long separated siblings were finally reunited later, with some severe awkwardness on the side as a number of nobles just had a monkeywrench thrown into their carefully laid plans. They knew Alastaisa would listen to their counsel, Bogs not so much. And the public and a number of nobles had already been taken with him. That didn't matter too much to the siblings at the time though, as they shared what little they knew of their parents and tried to make up for lost time. (Alastaisa was hinted at early in the game, and was kept in the background as another sort of insurance policy for Bog's player if he didn't want to shackle his character to the throne, with her being heavily trained in diplomacy and politics to actually be prepared for the role. As it turned out, he felt taking the throne would be the best way to do the most good for Korvosa.) Kroft has Sabina Merrin placed under arrest and kept secure in one of the upper chambers of the castle. Merrin complied silently with no resistance. The party wasn't really happy about this, but they understood. They were much less thrilled when Kroft informed them that the public, nobility, and courts would likely see her hanged along with many other of Ileosa's top brass, and that Bogs' place as king was far from certain and secure enough for him to stop that. She wasn't happy about that either, but that's the way it was. Bogs and most of the party pressed that any trial would have to wait until things had truly settled down. Dorinvil/Jack was later approached separately by Vencarlo and later Grau, who both subtly asked him to do what he could to ensure Sabina's safety and that if push came to shove, they would do what they had to to get her out of Korvosa alive. Dorinvil was tight with both of those guys, and promised that whatever happened, he had their backs. And the night went on. Everyone was wrapped up in their own matters and the troubles of the city, and Laori hadn't been heard from in a while since she locked herself in one of the upper rooms to study that book. Until she opened the door, palpable shadows leaking out of the darkened room as she poked her head out excitedly and called Voharius and Tarouk to come in. While everyone else and the followers had to ease worries from everyone else present over the scary spike woman in the castle, Vo and Tarouk went on in, both noting, the former with a bit of concern, that the room felt like she had been communing with her god. She seemed more than a little uncomfortable, and both of the PCs picked up on that, as she launched into an explanation of what she had learned from the book and Ileosa's notes in the margins: The queen had learned of the blood sacrifice used by Runelord Sorshen to attain eternal youth. It had taken the lives of an entire city to power it. And it had been performed at a site in the Mushfens called the Sunken Queen. Vo and Tarouk immediately caught on to how this was relevant to their current situation with all the blood samples. The entire table went "OH @#$%" actually. They immediately resolved that they had to take out the queen and stop this ASAP, and they needed to make every preparation they could that night. Laori promised to further research the location of the Sunken Queen to see if there was any clue that could get them there faster via Sarz' teleportation. Vo and Tarouk thanked her for her help and were about to rush to inform the rest of the party when Laori finally took the leap and used the gift the harrow deck had granted her: One question that had to be answered truthfully. She called out to Voharius, hesitated, and then asked him if he truly believed anyone could change for the better, even a god. That last bit threw Voharius a bit, but he told the truth as he saw it: Anything's possible. The two men rushed off, leaving Laori to her research. She had been researching a number of other subjects that had turned up in that Thassilonian text besides just blood rituals and ancient pyramids. She had found old mentions of Zon-kuthon's earliest days, and perspectives of Dou-Bral outside what she had always known. Those seeds of curiosity and doubt were stirring something fierce She also truly had been communing with her brethren. They had a way for her to prove her loyalty to the Brotherhood of Bones and her god, she was to carry out one final mission in Varisia: Recover the Fangs of Kazavon and bring them back to Nidal. So when Tarouk told her she was an honorable and true companion before leaving, she winced. Vo and Tarouk told the party, and after they had their expected reactions they elected to keep that knowledge to themselves, Bog's cohort Kirielle, and Cressida Kroft. Otherwise panic would spread like wildfire. Once the inner circle knew what was up, they made their plans. Everyone knew their roles. Kroft would stay in the city and keep things in relative order while the party would teleport as close to the Sunken Queen as possible, get in quickly, and take down the queen even if it killed them. Bogs had Kroft promise Alastaisa would be place on the throne if he didn't make it back. Jack was particularly grim. He knew his mother's blood had been taken. He rushed home immediately after; he had to see her that night. There was a public announcement that the heroes of Korvosa, as they were viewed by the city at large, would face Ileosa whereever she was hiding and would bring her to justice. That drew applause. Bogs also publicly announced his parentage before the entire city. That drew mixed results. Korvosa was still very "proper" about these things, and this was beginning to smack of someone taking the throne by force to some.(Bog's diplomacy roll for that bit didn't quite cut it). Ishani came to make the rebound, stepping out of the crowd and loudly proclaiming that the Church of Abadar had indeed confirmed his heritage. Guy had gotten to work fast once he was back among the living. That got the crowd firmly in the PC's court. At least the people of Korvosa could rest easier that night. Later, everyone tried to get what rest they could. Mostly though, people were unable to sleep. Tarouk and Tris'kah talked about their future plans for their clans, regardless of what tomorrow brought. Sarz spent time entertaining the followers that had been with them for most of the campaign. Voharius and Father Sellen, the elder priest as the temple of Sarenrae discussed matters involving the Grey Maidens and what needed to be done with them and the other victims of Ileosa's regime. Dorinvil spent that night with his family and the Varisian refugees his mother had taken in during his absence. Bogs went around, reassuring his followers and taking his sidekick Kirielle aside, promising the wide-eyed idealist paladin that whatever happened, they'd see this through together. He later spoke with his sister, awkwardly trying to boost her confidence just in case she did have to take his place on the throne. And finally he met up with Cressida Kroft on one of the castle walls, where they could get some time away from the crowd. Kroft was tired, ready for all of it to be over already. Both promised each other they'd do everything to see each other and their city come through this intact. It was then Bogs finally popped the question to the lady he had been smitten with since the second session of the campaign. He proposed. She stared in dumbfounded shock before shaking her head and saying "gods damn it, Bogs" as she had innumerable times before when he did something Bogsian, and accepted. Hollywood romantic moment.
Black shadows flowed together in the sky above them, dispersing and revealing a gigantic figure of cold iron. It looked essentially like a Grey Maiden-stylized golem, jangling with chains and flying with steel-bladed wings. Emblazoned upon its "forehead" was an emblem representing the Crown of Fangs. It said nothing. From where she was, Ileosa had been able to see almost all that the PCs had done. All that had transpired in her city. She saw them as no real threat. Her victory was imminent. But they had angered her with their impudence. She didn't want to kill them. She wanted to hurt them. The creature's torso opened up like an iron maiden, revealing shackles and tools of torture within. Those shackles shot forth, trailing spike chains behind them, and locked onto Cressida Kroft. It was pulling her inside. But Bogs had been playing with a Harrow Deck of Many Things. He was a bigger man than he was a day before, and he held onto Cressida tightly, refusing to let her be dragged off. It was a desperate wrestling match, with blows traded back and forth before Bogs finally managed to pull Cressida free(without tearing her arms out of their sockets) and the creature flew up and away. They were both relieved, Bogs quickly falling back into form and taunting the queen by proxy, when he saw the metallic angel change direction and immediately angle towards one of the castle towers. The one where Alastaisa was staying. The jokes stopped immediately and both he and Kroft ran full tilt around the castle walls, yelling for everyone in earshot to take action. The PCs were roused from their sleep, the followers and guards were already in motion, even Laori was tearing out of her chambers at full speed trailing shadows behind her, and the group finally made it to Alastasia's tower. They found her there, staring in horrified shock at the night sky along with a number of the group's closest followers, all of them wearing the same expression. The PCs were grateful to see her safe and sound, but they looked where the others were staring. Streaks of shadows rose into the air, already fading, and ending suddenly as if whatever left them simply vanished. Then the players realized that someone wasn't among them, someone that had been at their side constantly since they took her under their wing. Alastaisa stammered that "She tried to protect me...but it didn't go after me. It seemed to be after her...Kirielle."
Oh snap, kind of fell behind on that! Yep, we've been finished for a while now. I'll try to get it summed up ASAP! Love that the Shoanti have really caught on with people. Awesome dorf, Tels. :D Another idea for those looking to differentiate Jolistina from Laori: For Jol, check out the television series Archer, and play close attention to Cheryl Tunt. Mixing that with Harley Quinn is probably pretty close to the mark... (and man, I wish Faiths of Corruption had been out while we were still in Skeletons of Scarwall. Dat opening picture with the ZK-crew...)
Technicially that makes you eligible for sainthood. Someone needs to contact the Vatican.
Just a pool of options:
I wish I had seen this earlier, but I'd definitely be interested in more stories following this one, either as a one-shot or a longer story. Pretty partial to a longer format, or even a novel, since that would mean more background goodness for those of us interested in Nantambu. ;) Also, go Team Bonali!
Cultures and faiths other than Christianity have the concept of marriage. Some of those roll with the idea of same-sex marriage. Some Christian traditions roll with same-sex marriage. Those against it don't own the concept of marriage. No one should force those that don't want to perform such marriages to do them. But those that don't want to do them should not be blocking those that do.
I guess Imrijka doesn't count for some reason? Not until she gets a bio. >:( ;_;
I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest it is a combination of the name (which sounds gender neutral, even if it might not be), and your avatar, which looks very feminine. Again, it might not be, but only being able to see the face might help draw the wrong conclusion. That strikes me as a bit of stretch. Gotta be something else.
Heed this, y'all. Personally I've always been bugged by the notion that including exotic non-core races absolutely must result in a nonsensical setting. It honestly sells the imagination and creativity of their fellow gamers quite short.
The only example that leaps immediately to mind, and it's been a while, is Seelah in a dress from The Sixfold Trials. And maybe the dwarven lady from Seeker of Secrets. Can't recall exactly how practical her armor was, but I think I remember it leaning that way. That reminds me of every nasty Catch-22 too many people have been all too eager to throw at each other. I remember one of the earlier blowups over Pathfinder fanservice elsewhere had one rather opinionated fellow lecturing a lesbian gamer for reducing her own gender to sexual objects. Can't win for losing. It's kind of like the "butch" vs. "lipstick" lesbian thing(which shouldn't even be a thing). You have a character that some people would classify as "butch", for whatever reason, some of those people will tear it down for not being fanservicey enough for men, some will hate on it because it somehow implies all lesbians are "butch". You have a character people would call "lipstick lesbian" or "femme", and people will rag on it as catering primarily to dudes. And all the while other people are left wondering "What's wrong with someone being either? Or neither?" Can't help but think that a wider variety of range in portrayals of people of the same sexuality, along with a wider range of positive portrayals of different body types, cultures, ethnicities, dress styles, etc. could curb some of that. At the very least there'd be something for everyone. *rampant "airquotes" due to the belief that the use of those words and what they mean seem to depend primarily on the person using them, and that they're labels with a ton of baggage of their own. (wow, sorry, that was an accidental tangent. looking back, I think most of that grief comes from the comics and videogame scene)
I would have an issue (and I'm a player not a dm) with using breath of life or any similar spell on a brainless body, if having quieting needles shoved in you can prevent you from staying alive for very long after you've been raised, I imagine not having a brain wouldn't work so well either. However, this scenario hinges on getting the brain back in the body.
An additional question you might want to keep in mind is "What would make for some nice Golarion-specific Vestiges"? ;) Regarding Rahadoum, they might still get ragged on there if they're percieved as bending their knee to a non-mortal power, beholden to anything that might be considered a sort of god. Binders are a strange animal, and perception might wind up being a bigger factor in their treatment there than the truth. The feel of this class and how their magic works seems like it might fit in pretty naturally with Old Sarkoris, or what's left of it: Mendev and the Worldwound. Idea: Red Mantis binders are able to bind vestiges of the would-be gods that Achaekek himself has slain.
Do they puff away into convenient dust when destroyed or is the paladin, after destroying the undead, left with piles of desecrated body parts which every law of knightly behavior and moral decorum would demand that he then bury with whatever rites and rituals he might manage? First piece of equipment I bought with money for my paladin was a shovel. :) (Good barbarian does sky burials instead. Hey, it's how he wants his body to be treated.)
Breath of Life requires that the body be pretty much intact more so than a Raise Dead. What you're describing is essentially a decapitation. Breath of Life wouldn't be sufficient to the day to fix such a calamity.I am not sure on what you base your requirement for a mostly intact body. The way I read it, the RAW only cares about time elapsed (the 6 seconds = 1 round you mentioned) and hit point total after Breath of life. It's that exact reading that's at the core of this question really. Well-preserved body's been dead for a while, but the brain the soul is still tied to just died. Hence the unusual situation. As for timing: Putting the neh-thalggu into negatives can leave it still alive, but disabled and dying. Depending on how one describes the neh-thalggu, removing a brain might be as simple as someone punching through the brain sac and pulling it out or having someone cut it open and another character waiting to retrieve the brain as soon as it's exposed. At that point, the brain is actually killed, leaving a round of time to get breath of life in. Held-action character has the brain placed in their hands, and then runs over to the body, places it in and closes the "lid". Healer-type waiting over the body offers whatever additional move action may be needed, then breath of life. Basically, these theoretical adventurers have this planned out, and have had plenty of time to think about what they need to do and when while hunting the neh-thalggu that has their friend.
Makes sense to me, especially since the four-armed race I really need options for generally aren't noted for their martial prowess. :)
Personally? Good characters shouldn't be getting off on killing, even if it's evil beings that truly need to be put down. A guy smiling with relief now that a horrible threat to others has been taken out is one thing. A guy giving out brofists after slaying an assload of sapient beings is another entirely. Good doesn't relish in killing and destruction. Otherwise it and evil are nothing more than tags with no real meaning. If someone is spurning mercy, redemption, basic respect for life, and all of that in favor of self-righteous bloodlust, they're falling short of good. That doesn't mean Team Good can't be hotblooded as hell, or totally flippant in a fight. Team Good can enjoy fighting and defeating evil*. But the actual killing? Taking lives where redemption may have still had a chance, or even where it didn't, shouldn't be filling a good character's heart with joy. *Which doesn't always require killing, after all.
Like DigitalMage said, that's not what I'm seeing here. Attributing motives is bad form. Not liking a concept is no call to threadcrap.
Actually, considering some good to go with that bad(along with some worse)! Possibilities: Recovered victims get Aklo as a free language. Victims experienced two-way traffic with memories and thoughts while in the neh-thalggu's brain sacs. Bits and pieces of memories and information come and go, both those from the neh-thalggu itself and possibly the other victims that shared that horrific experience. They'll possibly remember what it felt like when the players attacked the neh-thalggu, the sensations of which probably flowed right through the brain network that gives it its power. I'd probably run with the mental ability damage as well, though with an upper limit on the severity, considering the daunting task the players went through to recover them!
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