Watcher's page

More stuff about the Gods.. We're starting the campaign this Saturday, and I have a lot of players asking about this. I've mined the messageboard threads and the blog for details, but questions still come up.

As Kissmedarkly pointed out, Iomedae has also come up as a god a player character cleric might want to worship. And hell, I've learned more about Iomedae in this very thread than I knew yesterday. A GM needs this kinda data to support starting cleric and paladin characters.

For that matter, I am looking forward to the comprehensive Desna expose in Chapter 2, and seeing other dieties explored in future releases.. but we really need a small paragraph on each god with some facts (are they even found in this region) and other tidbits. Particularly as one of the themes of Burnt Offerings seems to be an assault the religion of the people of Sandpoint by the old dark gods of the Thassalonian Empire (at work, pardon my mispellings if any).

After that, some basic comments about races would be good.. as Coridan pointed out, there is next to nothing.

Then some details about general descriptions as Elorebaen mentioned, but as a lesser priority to the two points mentioned above.

Please note- this isn't meant as a bash against the product! I'm pretty pleased with Chapter One, but if asked what would I like to see to tie me over until future releases? See above.

With apologies to those that want a larger font size, I vote for more content.

Agreed.. I wear glasses and it's no chore for me to read mine.

I am an old timer, back from the AD&D Hardback days.. When 3.X came out, I was tired of the game and stayed away from high fantasy for a decade. Even then, I was a little tired of the 'Complete Guide to' Market strategies that were being employed.

So what I am doing here? Pathfinders lured me back. I guess I just missed me some high fantasy. I picked up some used 3.5 books cheap, and here I am.

All this explanation is a disclaimer, because I don't have as much to fear from 4th Edition. No investment in materials, and no old campaign to convert.

What would I liked to see?

Well, starting Pathfinders I had lot of players wanting to be rogues.. Turns out many of them want the extra skill points, and that was their sole motivation. They wanted some relatively cool skills in order to make them feel something other than lame and inadequate at first level. It wasn't the fact that it was a starting character that is expected to grow, it was just a starting character that- to them- seemed incapable of doing much more than getting themselves dressed, and hitting something with a sword. Ultimately it segued into a discussion that they disliked classes. They wanted to economically build their own fantasy character rather than follow what seemed to be a limiting template.

Likewise, the arcanist classes.. Wizards and Sorcerors.. Lots of fun, but it takes a long investment before you get to the 'good stuff'

Thank you for all the replies! Much appreciated!

3.) A little harder question here- does Mr. Jacobs have any recommendations on the DC's for knowing information about ancient Thassilion? I read another thread where he said another GM was probably okay with what he had already revealed.. but since I haven't run it yet and I have the benefit of foresight, could he give me some insight on how much info he would dole out for certain DC checks

I seem to have lost the ability to edit this post. huh.

Anyway, I found an answer to this in another thread. Out of support for the effort to consolidate answers in one spot.. the thread is ** here **.

The thread is good, but here is the actual answer:

A PC can indeed speak Thassilonian, althoguh since very few living creatures alive today have ever heard it spoken aloud, it'll sound weird to a native speaker like Erylium.

As for how much to reveal to the PCs who make knowledge check type things... not much. In Burnt Offerings, in fact, I wouldn't reveal anything but what the adventure says to reveal. Simply describe the ancient Thassilonian stuff, confirm it's ancient, and say that there's really not much to know.

In Pathfinder 2, the PCs learn a bit more about the Sihedron Rune. It's a DC 30 Knowledge (arcana or history) check to recognize the Sihedron Rune as a symbol for ancient Thassilonian magic, and that's more or less the baseline to roll to learn anything about the ancient empire. Which means that until PCs are 4th level or so, it's gonna be nearly impossible for them to make the skill check anyway.

My player is using the 4 pre-generated characters, and they're doing fine.

In defense of my players.. One of them playtested 3.0 when it first came out. His big critique was that the modules (showing my age with that reference) were very misleading in what they were designed for.. In terms of minimum players required and what the necessary level was.

That is, they were designed with munchkins already in mind.

I skipped all of that.

This is the first 3.5 I have ever played. I herald from the days of hardback AD&D. I bought an inexpensive used Player's Handbook and got loaned some other 3.5 books. I am running Rise of the Runelords because after a decade or so, I sort of miss DnD. I'm also running this campaign based on testimonials that Paizo makes a good product.

Anyway, I think my players were scarred by those experiences, and I think they're used to a more adverserial GM. I'm a storyteller, and while I want to present a meaningful challenge, I don't expect to 'win' because I'm not competition with the players.

I think it will all be okay. :)

Q: How can we tell if they are Chelaxian, Varisian or Shoanti? What's the overall ethnic mix in the town, percentage-wise?

A: JJ: Most of Shoanti is Chelaxian. If someone's Varisian or Shoanti, we mention it. I'd hazard a guess that the ethnicity breaks down something like 65% Chelaxian, 30% Varisian, and 5% Shoanti, though

Stupid question.. but was this reply supposed to read, Most of Sandpoint is Chelaxian?

That would make sense to me, because I wondered if the Varisian's are a culture of nomadic, gypsy-like people, why do they have an established town with so many permanent citizens with businesses and farms..

First,

I'd like to thank those that have organized this thread, and those that have put up a summation recap. This is very handy.

A few questions of my own. (pardon spelling errors of names in advance, I am at work)

1.) The note that Tsuto leaves for his sister, that is written in elvish? That's my assumption, from the comment about "prying eyes" but I wanted to be sure. So Ameiko can read and write elvish if that is the case..? Edit: On the other hand, the family originates from another country from far away, albeit from a few generations back. Assuming it's elvish might be wrong. Yet the halfling assistant can read it... Maybe the exact question of what is meant by 'native language' is not so dumb after all

2.) I haven't had a chance to thoroughly read everything yet, but the 'Brotherhood' that Tsuto is raised by.. is that detailed somewhere?

3.) A little harder question here- does Mr. Jacobs have any recommendations on the DC's for knowing information about ancient Thassilion? I read another thread where he said another GM was probably okay with what he had already revealed.. but since I haven't run it yet and I have the benefit of foresight, could he give me some insight on how much info he would dole out for certain DC checks?

4.) One thing I'd like to see in future books, is more definitive data on where the ancient rulelords used to have their cities. There is discussion of that, but I'd like to sort of be able to pinpoint it a little more on the current map of Varisia. That isn't exactly a question, but I'd welcome any elaboration.

Thank you!

Thanks for all the comments!

I am Ki Ryn's future GM (from the original post), and I appreciate the feedback.

I was receptive to a hero point system when the players proposed it. Something with the same basic loose structure as described here.. you know, just some bad luck insurance to get through a few levels. Some players thought it might undermine the core integrity of the game, but I disagreed.

So I might revisit hero points if the first session looks problematic, but I tend to roll only average. We'll see how it goes. I don't intend to allow an arbitrary party wipe, I'm after a story not a tactical fantasy combat simulation.

As for SRD only.. I'm exploring house rules and varaints as they are proposed. The idea was simplicity, not necessarily tight control.