Torik's page

Thanks for the feedback, Nahara. It is much appreciated!

I’ll provide some additional details.

In Alendor, humans are among the first to embrace “gods of good” but the diverse faith systems of the demihumans are not just a rejection of dark overlords but also leading them to embrace goodness and virtue. The dwarves, for example, honor and venerate ancestors who have striven to make Alendor a better place to live for their clan. Elves are seeking to live in harmony with the world around them as opposed to mastering and ruling over it. Gnomes are seeking to use logic and reason to better their lot in life. Etc. Humans were just stubborn enough to need direct revelation to find their way into virtue. ;-)

What I’d like is a sense of religious diversity. I’ve never really cared for the “these are the acknowledged gods and all races have the exact same take on them” approach. I prefer more of a real world analog where different races and cultures have religions entirely different from others (more so than just different gods in the same pantheon).

Lots more could be said, of course: strict monotheistic minotaurs seeking to conquer all of Alendor in the name of their new god, a civil war among the elves, escalating tension between dwarves and humans, etc.

Thanks again for your feedback and I welcome any additional comments!

I grew up playing in the fantastic worlds created by TSR: Greyhawk, Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, Dark Sun, etc. As an adult I’ve dabbled in other words: Eberron, Golarion, and many others. However, now that I’ve been gaming for over 25 years I’m getting more persnickety in my old age and have decided to create my own homebrew world. I’d love your thoughts/feedback.

Before I begin, most of the settings I’ve played in and read about have a similar overall theme: good is the established norm among the civilized races but an ominous darkness looms on the horizon which the PCs must work to defeat (a la Tolkien). I want to reverse that scenario. Evil is the established norm but good is emerging promisingly on the horizon.

The campaign setting is called “Shattered Dawn” and the name of the world is Alendor. From the beginning of recorded history, Alendor has been ruled by infernal powers of darkness (I’m using AD&D 1E arch-devils and demon lords as “gods” though they are not called that in Alendor). The ongoing feud between law and chaos has gradually escalated and is playing itself out on the prime material plane especially in Alendor. The more intelligent races have chosen sides and have been embroiled in constant conflict for millennia. Sick of the tyranny and bloodshed, many of the mortal races are now turning against their dark overlords and opting for other forms of piety. Elves are becoming animistic. Dwarves are opting for ancestor veneration. Halflings are becoming spiritists. Gnomes are evolving in a rationalistic direction, etc.

Among the humans, however, entirely new religions are appearing. Beings of unspeakable power and goodness have begun revealing themselves to humanity. They have shown themselves to be champions of goodness and virtue: something entirely new to Alendor. What role will the PCs play? Cruel tyrants seeking to maintain an infernal stranglehold on the world? Defenders of newly discovered virtue? Or perhaps just opportunistic tomb raiders out for personal gain and glory? You decide but regardless of your path, Alendor awaits!

I’ll spare you all of the other details but I’d welcome any thoughts on the overall backdrop of Alendor.

Thanks!

Okay, I'm going to start up a group. Please ontact me if you're interested.

http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/community/gaming/connection/cODenverLo okingForPlayersForHomeGame&page=1#0

Hi guys,

I’m a veteran gamer of over 25 years (I’ve played games by TSR, Wizards of the Coast, Palladium, Chaosium, White Wolf, and others) but have been away from gaming for a few years. I’ve recently returned to the hobby and am finding Pathfinder to be the perfect fit. Because I’m new to the Denver area, I don’t yet have a gaming group. So…I’m testing the waters to see if there are any Pathfinder players in the Denver area interested in joining a new gaming group.

I’m happy to act as GM. It would be great if someone else could also GM occasionally so I could enjoy playing, but if not, that’s okay too. We could start by either running one of the Pathfinder Adventure Paths or I could cook up a campaign of my own; whichever the group decides we want to do. I’m kind of an old school gamer so while we will certainly enjoy the combat/tactics aspects of the game, there will also be an emphasis upon (and in-game rewards for) real role playing.

I was thinking we could meet on Saturday mornings/afternoons, maybe every other week (or whatever we decide). Unfortunately, my small apartment, a wife who doesn’t game, and an overly friendly dog who is all TOO interested in gaming make hosting the game impossible for me. I’ll supply the adventure if you can supply the place! So…any takers?

Shoot me an email if you’re interested.

Torik

I noticed that Paizo will be releasing an updated version of the Pathfinder Chronicles campaign setting completely compatible with the PFRPG. I’m wondering if Paizo will be doing the same for the other Golarion books released prior to the advent of the PFRPG. I want to buy all the Golarion materials, I just don’t want to buy them twice.

Heh, well you guys've made me feel less alone at least. I really am bummed over the loss of the "RP" side of playing RPGs...but maybe it's just a thing of the past, never to return no matter the system.

BUT, I'm still looking, I've spammed the local MeetUp & Yahoo Groups sites, so far no response, but IF I find something I'll post here or PM you. If you find something, drop a line...

Valmar,

Yes, please do!

I began experimenting with role playing games with the D&D “Red Box” back in 1984. Because my friends and I were all still pretty young we couldn’t really afford to purchase the TSR modules so we just made up adventures and took turns running each other through them. In retrospect, those early games were extremely bland. The DM would always start us out standing in front of a dungeon entrance (caves/underground ruins/hideouts/etc.) and we’d charge into the dark and go from room to room killing random monsters. More often than not, the monsters found in one room had nothing to do with the monsters in the next, and there was never any reason for what we were doing beyond getting treasure. We had lots of fun but we were just getting our feet wet with D&D and we played it more like a tabletop wargame than an RPG.

About a year later, we moved from D&D to AD&D. About that time we discovered some of the fantasy novels TSR had published. At just $4 each, we could easily afford those so we bought them, traded them, and read them over and over again. It was then that the world of real role playing opened up to us. We started coming up with backgrounds, goals, and objectives for our PCs. We started role playing our encounters with NPCs (as opposed to just saying “the innkeeper tells you where the entrance to the caves are. You go find it. You’re at the cave entrance. What do you do?”). We started role playing our stays in towns, our journeys from place to place, and just about everything else. Those games were so much fun. The goal became furthering the storyline as opposed to leveling up and getting treasure. That was fun too, but it took a back seat to enjoying and playing out the story (or, more accurately, combat/leveling became mechanics we used to actually further the storyline).

In my experience with Pathfinder so far, I’ve found the games to be much like those early “Red Box” games I played. Not that there is no role playing at all, but once you get to the main part of the game, it’s all about pushing your minis from room to room killing monsters and collecting treasure. Obviously, this is not the fault of Pathfinder (which encourages role playing everywhere). For me, the problem has been that the games I’ve played have been Pathfinder Society games, which don’t really lend themselves to the role playing experience. Not because of the modules themselves, which are fantastic, but because they’re usually played in a public place, with players you haven’t met before, etc. It makes everyone feel a bit inhibited and so they just focus on the dice and the minis. It’s been fun, but I really miss the role playing experience.

Please contact me if you want to start up a group!

Torik

Can anyone recommend good Pathfinder RPG podcasts? Ideally, I'd like something that discusses everything from game mechanics to upcoming releases, etc. I'd also like "actual play" podcasts if anyone knows of any.

The kind of game you're describing is exactly what I've been looking for. I've been away from RPG's since TSR went under but I played tons of OD&D, AD&D, and AD&D2E. I've recently returned to the hobby and I love the Pathfinder rules but have found most of the games I've participted in so far to be a board game with tiny bits of role playing peppered in here and there. If you want to get a group together, count me in (I live in Denver). I've been away from role playing for too long to jump back into DM/GMing right away but I'd love to play in a "RP heavy" campain.

Does anyone play Pathfinder without minis? Can it be played that way?

I’ve been away from RPGs since TSR went belly up and was purchased by Wizards of the Coast. I played more basic D&D, AD&D, and AD&D2E than you can shake a stick at but we very infrequently, if ever, used minis. I played my first game of Pathfinder last night but it seemed to be a very minis dependent game. So much so that it played out more like a board game with some role playing than a role playing game with some minis. It was still fun, just nothing like when I used to play (narrative combat, etc.). Any insights?