YlothofMerab's page

Claxon wrote:

I'm going to go with a completely different route than I think what anyone else has suggested (unless I missed it).

Gorum, in the midst of this war of the gods is having the time of his existence. This is what he was made for! But something happens, something that makes him realize that fighting, that combat, isn't the answer and shouldn't be what he's doing. And then he unmakes himself because a deity focused on fighting who suddenly realizes that fighting isn't always the answer is a contradiction that simply unmakes his existence.

I think someone or something killing him in combat is honestly way too boring and expected a death for a god of war.

I really like this idea. Kind of like a Obi-Wan on the Death Star kind of situation. he chooses to allow himself to be killed for a greater purpose.

That might also explain the Godsrain phenomenon, by sublimating his essence into the material plane, he is empowering others to be able to fight on.

The main thing I'm interested in is what kind of Lost Omens material we'll get. A guide to the Outer Sphere? This is my easiest guess so far, but I would be glad to hear other options.

I would love to see more notes from Tabris. What I am doing in my homebrew (they're not on the forums) is that, now that prophecy is broken, Tabris suddenly has what he hasn't felt for millennia: hope. This reality will end, he's sure of that, but who will be the Survivor is up for grabs - and he's determined that it will be him.

Anyhow, a guide to the outer planes written by Tabris would be incredible.

Arazni becoming a god is very recent, when were these prophecies supposedly written?

What beautiful parity that the Pathfinder 2e playtest and the Starfinder 2e playtest concern the same cosmos shattering event! That is an awesome choice.

Awesome.

Something of an OGL Blue Dragon feel but with weird aspects I like.

New is good.

I'm using the multiple blue dragons that live in Thuvia as some big bads in my current game, so I'm glad we have a new version to utilize.

vyshan wrote:

keftiu wrote:

I worry that Urgathoa beefing it leaves Team Bad Guy a little empty in the Core 20. Asmodeus, Lamashtu, Norgorber, Zon-Kuthon, and an imprisoned Rovagug is kind of a thin rogue's gallery.

Losing a more 'heroic' deity feels more interesting.

I wonder if Rovagug would drop out of the 20 core gods. Not that he isn't a big deal in the setting he is, but he isn't really one that players should be worshiping and one that basically is outlawed for good reason everywhere. I could make a follower of Nogober, Urgathoa, Zon-Kuthon, Asmodeus, or even Lamashtu that could be played and part of a group. Might be tricky and difficult to work, but it is possible. Rovagug on the other hand I don't think can really be done.

and to me the core 20 should be deities that the players look at having as patrons.

if you are playing in an evil campaign, Rovagug sure sounds pretty awesome as a choice of deity.

He's also literally 'central' to the Golarion setting, being that Rovagug is trapped in the core of the planet.

I've always seen Rovagug being trapped in Golarion as the reason why it is so central in the cosmos. Why we have so many deities. Why the CARE about this planet and interact with it. Rovagug has the power to destroy the material plane and who knows what else. Anchoring him on Golarion elevates it to supreme importance, but that's the only reason it matters, galactically.

I think that the reason Pharasmin priests may be split in the lore is that so many dhampir give into their nature and become full fledged vampires, so why not destoy them when they are arguably less powerful? And the other group would say 1) They're living beings with free will and that's a genocidal attitude to take, and 2) Some of the best and most effective hunter of the undead, not to mention the most devout Pharasmins, are dhampir themselves.

Also, dhampir in 2e are considered a versatile heritage. I'm a full throated advocate for removing the term "race" from games unless it is socially relevant. Paizo no longer uses it so I think it's important to leave in the past.

Sounds fun!

I tend to think of Irrisen like western Russian and Iobaria like Siberia.

Lamashtu is a great evil deity because she's a mother, and a lot of her behavior can all be traced back to a mother's love. Once of the most compassionate and relatable impulses on earth.

JiCi wrote:

I'm surprised that the Inventor and Gunslinger weren't changed from Uncommon to Common by now.

If Golarion is entering an industrial revolution storywise, so be it, and those classes should be more common.".

Where was this stated? Golarion has always tended to keep its genres firmly divided by geography.

A lot of content recently has been discussing the proliferation of technology. The Enmity Cycle discussed how clockwork technology is becoming more prominent in Thuvia, Lamasara and Duwwor especially. Stasian coils have migrated from Irrisen to Ustalav. A Pathfinder Society adventure series involved transporting a beast gun from Arcadia. I agree that each area is designed to have its own flavor, but I think they've been making an effort to equalize some of the technology in the world, to push the setting forwards in time a little bit.

Recently I've decided to take the Pathfinder Society approach. Every 3 storylines/modules, we're going to level up. I know that the 2e system has made awarding and tracking XP very easy, but I use a blend of published modules and my own content, so for me it's easier to view things in this way, that way I don't have to worry if I add social encounters, skip challenges, adjust difficulty, etc.

But it's just idle fancy on my part, like the notion that Desna (Ia! Ia!) is a many limbed insectile Great Old One / Elder God that predates humanity (and only in recent aeons has taken on a 'pretty' form, for our comfort) and is the only one of her kind who has any fondness for mortals as anything other than an appetizer.

I also think the Desna's true form is eldritch in nature. I do think she was created in this universe from the seal, and isn't necessarily related to the Elder Gods even if they look like kin. Something about the vast, unknowable primordial nature of the current reality she set off to explore molded her form. It was only when coming back to structure and reason when she realized that she was monstrous.

Karneios wrote:

The theory for my group has been that norgorber has been four separate people either the whole time or at least when they were mortal, I wonder if this coming out and then causing a split into four distinct deities for the different aspects (and this knocking them into not strong enough to be core 20) would count as the death of a god

I do seriously find it amusing if Norgorber was the first full on *group of adventurers* that took on the Test of the Starstone like it was just another dungeon.

This is the reality for my game as well, they were 4 halflings from the Taldan empire, all different kinds of rogues, who came together to form a crew, or were brought together by a fixer. "Norgorber" was their code word/password. Maybe they were sent into the cathedral to steal the Starstone, maybe they wanted to take the trial, I've always held off solidifying that until I have players to solve the mystery.

I had been hoping the Asmodeus would be usurped in this scenario, and I love the idea of Xanderghul becoming his replacement!

fujisempai wrote:

another thing that is will be interesting to see. how will we players be involved?

Some number of you will be almost directly responsible for stuff hitting the fan, courtesy of the Narrative team's contributions to this event. Some of you already have been involved in the opening skirmishes of this event and may not have realized it, yet.

Oh my. Would this be in Pathfinder Society or the APs? Both perhaps??

I am still advocating for either a rulebook or a Lost Omens books for Pathfinder that establishes the status quo as far as Distant Worlds are concerned. We need a World(s) Guide, especially for new people coming into the setting from 1e, Starfinder, Spelljammer, etc. Also the revelation of the Azlanti Star Empire could have huge backward ramifications for the Lost Omens world.

Given Zon-Kuthon was one of Starfinder's big 20, I could see his last shred of his former self shining through to save his sister from a death worse than fate.

Oh wow, yeah that story should definitely be told within Starfinder, and it would be beautiful and heartbreaking to see!

I'm more worried about Sarenrae being the one who takes the hit, given that "preview" we get at the end of Stolen Fate where the PC's "watch the Sun die."

I know, that would be devastating. And honestly, if that was the decision, I don't know if I could support it. Any story told the right way can be believed, but stomached is a whole other matter.

I mean, so far saying Starfinder and Pathfinder shared a rule set is being very very generous.

Claxon, my friend, join the future with us!

https://paizo.com/starfinderplaytest

After listening to the amazing Paizo keynote for GenCon2023, it has been confirmed that we are going to see the death of one of our core deities in real time. So, of course, I cannot help but speculate!

The existence of core deities in Starfinder gives them what I would consider to be plot armor, but given the announcement of Starfinder 2e coming in 2025, it is entirely possible that Paizo could pull a retcon.

The current core 20 that are shared in both games are:
-Sarenrae
-Iomedae
-Desna
-Abadar
-Pharasma
-Zon-Kuthon
-Cayden Cailean
-Calistria
-Asmodeus
-Lamashtu

Which is a lot but not all. We also know that Torag is gone, but that implies that he left voluntarily, rather than being killed. Also Rovagug is MIA since Golarion, its prison, has disappeared. So who are left?
-Erastil
-Shelyn
-Iori
-Gozreh
-Nethys
-Gorum
-Norgorber
-Urgathoa

To me, Shelyn has a compelling arc. We know that she is close to purifying the glaive in the Lost Omens setting, and in the Starfinder universe she is "travelling" but that could be easily retconned out. How tragic would it be to come so close to redeeming her beloved brother only to be struck down in the end?

I would personally love to see an arch where Norgorber is exposed and dismantled. Perhaps his 4 forms are exposed 1 by 1, until there is nothing left of him but an empty black cloak.

Nethys would be fascinating, and if paired with a Golden Road themed adventure would be amazing. For millenia, Nethys has balanced his impulses for creation and destruction, what if both forces are unleashed and end up with his non-existence?

Urgathoa, as the queen of undeath, who won her power through sheer force of will and refusal to bend, what an end to such a villain to be forced to embrace oblivion in the end?

Who is your pick? What arch do you want to see play out at your table?

I feel like Golarion has a much lower population for 2 reasons:

1) The more people there are, the more towns there are. The more towns need names, and histories, and lore, and there is only so much creative muscle to make this happen.
2) It is almost impossible to live on the fringes of society because of all the...you know...monsters. That probably curbs the population down a bit.

I’m saying that Rahadoum needs a Casablanca.

I think that this is a great notion. I was thinking also like Hong Kong. We have multiple historical precedents for this kind of city, and I think it would be a great addition to the world lore.

Thanks for everything you do, team! And thanks for bringing back Paizo Live!

My order just shipped, I cannot wait to get my hands on this one!

I've thrown my vote in for a Distant Worlds supplement as well. It makes a lot of sense, especially now that Golarion World is being brought into Starfinder. As more and more groups get high level, you need higher level material for them to utilize. That means the other planes, other planets, and the darklands are going to need to be added to the game world. Which I think gets less niche each year that goes by. Certainly more plausible after the year of Tian Xia is over.

Honestly, with how big the Pathfinder world is, I understand not wanting to add in so much at once, but I wonder if more niche content like this is better suited to be distributed by Pathfinder Infinite or DriveThruRPG proper with PDF only or print on demand supplements, rather than a full print run.

Houses have traditionally always been small. Even up to the last hundred years, it was rare to see a house bigger than 2 bedrooms, and those bedrooms were small. Usually only one bathroom as well. Multi-story houses were usually reserved for those with servants, or farmhands employed around the farm.

I don't think there is currently anything official, but if it were me, I would say:

Poor home = probably 1 large room with a hearth. Maybe something hung from the ceiling to separate the children's sleeping area, if it's a multi-generational home
Comfortable home = 1 large room for the common areas (kitchen, eating, reading) and 1-2 separate bedrooms. Usually 1 for adults and 1 for kids.
Quality home = Many rooms. This would have a dining area separated from the kitchens, and a nice sitting/entertaining room. This home would probably have servant's quarters either on a higher floor. Would certainly have separate bedroom for the owners of the house, and enough bedrooms to separate girl and boy children.
Fine home = Reserved for the rich. This kind of home would be made for entertaining. Kitchens separated either in the basement or in a separate building, a nice drawing room, maybe a library. Bedrooms on the second floor and servants quarters on the third. This kind of home might have a nursery and/or a separate staircase for the servants. The house itself is probably more function than form, but well decorated.
Luxury home = This is what we would consider a historically fancy house. The kind of houses built by the ruling class to flaunt their wealth. This kind of house may be set up similarly to a fine home, but with carved railings, sculpted columns, and other architectural details that are highly adorned.

I know that you're looking for something for official than a GM ruling, but I feel that this has a lot of historical grounding.

Are Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man actually Novians?

While it's not a full look at the region, The Enmity Cycle will at least give us a look at Thuvia; that's pretty exciting.

I’ve already been planting the seeds for this, my players will be level 4 when this comes out. I couldn’t believe when they announced it, like it was perfect for my group, both in setting and in theme.

I love the idea of a Sarenite monastery in the desert, maybe as a base for some Dawnflower anchorites who patrol the desert.

I have a sandbox game going based in Merab, and I did have the players encounter the Desert's Howl briefly. They were appropriately freaked out. There is so much going on in that Thuvian desert, and you can't tell from the Inner Sea map just how big it is, but it is ENORMOUS.

This demonstrates the full weight of Cheliax's might. Sometimes they seem like just one nation among many, and then you get reminded that they have a hotline to Hell.

You would likely do a skill check vs any nearby creature's Perception DC. Just make it a skill challenge, allowing any of the skills mentioned above, and set the DC to whatever the highest DC in the area would be. Let them assist each other with creative solutions, like if party member 1 makes a distraction you can give party member 2 a circumstance bonus to slip the poison into the drink. I would also give circumstance bonuses if they were Disguised as a servant or something, as no one really pays attention to them.

Don't make it too difficult, and reward their creativity.

Great solution, thank you!

I've having a really hard time figuring out how to potentially adjudicate this. If a PC or NPC is around other people, and wants to add poison somehow to a food or drink item, how would that play out? This only skill action I can identify as being close is Thievery - Palm an Object. This is closest in spirit to "Sleight of Hand." This is the skill I would most closely associate with that a person covertly poisoning something would be using. You hands move too fast and obfuscate what they are trying to do well enough that most people wouldn't notice anything strange is happening. Essentially, close up magic.

Is there a rule I am missing, or is this it?

Brevoy gives me 18th century Russian vibes, honestly.

Y'all are talking like we didn't see a full 3 characters ascend to godhood over the course of the previous APs. They can do anything they want during the course of the metaplot, but only hardcode it for the next edition.

But to the OP, even if there is an AP that sees Ragathiel become a Prince of Hell or whatever, the APs are all in a state of limbo until things are hardcoded, so you don't have to change your Dhampir even if they do something huge like this.

Question for folks with more 1e savvy than me - are Rahadoum and Thuvia's alchemists ever portrayed on the "mad scientist" end of the spectrum? Alchemy's not a theme I ever got much excited for, but that changes with Fleshwarps in the mix.

The prestige class was focused on primarily healing. They could learn mummification and how to capture elementals, so you could definitely create a mad scientist who has gone too far.

https://aonprd.com/PrestigeClassesDisplay.aspx?ItemName=Thuvian%20Alchemist

Now that the player's guide is out, we know for certain how the gatewalker incident happens. Which makes me wonder...how is Kyonin affected??? I know that this isn't the focus of the AP itself, but if this is a planet-wide event, there's going to be a lot of fallout. How will the Kyonin elves investigate this issue?

For a while I didn't want to acknowledge New Thassilon into my game world, I felt like it added too many complications, but I've largely let that go now and the setting is pretty much 1:1.

Discussions in another thread reminded me of the issue of citizenship.

I'm running a game in Merab based on all the established lore, and have been coming up with a lot of this myself. Here's how I've been resolving it:

Only a section of the population is considered the citizens of Merab. They enjoy the benefits of the proceeds from the auction, and there is a lot of infrastructure to support citizens. Schooling is free, housing is largely subsidized, and the Temple of the Redeeming Sun provides healing services to citizens as well. Married couples get a nice bonus when they marry and for each child. Citizens get to vote, organized into Wards. Most are free to pursue their artistic endeavors, socialize, etc. There's still a class strata of sorts, but even "lower class" people are taken care of and they feel a sense of duty to contribute to keep the city going.

The next level of the populace is the Ramli (name is my invention). These are the people who aren't fully nomadic but don't live within the city walls. They work the farmlands along the cost between Merab and Aspenthar, in the mines, or work to guard the frontier. They don't have all the same rights as citizens but are extended the protection of the city in case of attack and can rely on them for certain resources in exchange for their work and commerce.

Next class is the desert nomads, other nationalities, and the refugees. This class works as a servant class to the citizens, involved with black and gray markets, or have the means to support themselves abroad. They have no voting power and they do not receive the kind of subsidies which citizens do. Merab is a different experience for them, and they have build communities within the city to care for themselves. There's also a growing community of refugees outside the city in the marshes that the local populace is growing increasingly agitated about.

Oh yeah, level 5-15 or even level 3-13 would be super fun! PC characters coming in with a couple levels under their belt allow for a storyline of "You were the big fish in a small pond, but now you're thrown into the ocean." It's a different feeling than "You're at the bottom of the food chain and you're brushing up again this huge mystery."

Ive seen a lot of people predict that the upcoming Rage of Elements is setting us up for a Tian Xia based adventure, which would be great, of course. My heart belongs to Golden Road, but I don't think that's on the horizon as soon. We haven't had an AP yet in 2e to really take us beyond the Inner Sea. Gatewalkers is brushing the fringes in the North, and Stolen Fate has the potential to go literally anywhere.

All knowledge of every mortal is stored with the Akashic Record (https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Akashic_Record) so theoretically it wouldn't matter how long a person is dead and if their quintessence is absorbed, because their experiences are contained in the record, ready to be recalled and reconstituted into the individual. That's how I interpret it, anyway. Like the library of human brains in Westworld.

The Mushfens immediately stuck out to me.

https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Mushfens

You can also make a compelling argument for the Lake of Mists and Veils, too:

https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Lake_of_Mists_and_Veils

River Kingdoms also fits the bill, and there's regions that are deliberately undeveloped by Paizo specifically for players to create backstory for.

The way I handle it, there's a lot of pamphlets, newspapers, broad sheets, etc floating around but not a lot of books. I do have a series of semi-mysterious romance novels that don't have names or a listed author, so fans of the books refer to them by the art on their covers, another kind of rarity for books of this time period.

In terms of cost, if a blank formula book is 1 gp, you can assume that 1 gp is the retail cost of binding a book. What's interesting, however, is that the basic crafter's book, which is full of formulae, is only 1 sp. I don't know if that's an oversight or not, honestly. I don't know how to justify it from a real-word standpoint.

Pivoting to the Travel Guide, it's written by in-universe authors who do a lot of other writing, both fiction and non-fiction, so I think it's safe to say that yes, Golarion has the equivalent of dime store novels and they're probably priced between 1 sp and 20 gp depending on the quantity of the print run, the quality of the book components, and the skill of the writer crafting the story.

So excited to see what new stories are spun in the following years!

As a lore fanatic, I really want to see more Archetypes carrying over from the world of Golarion, like Gray Gardener archetype was recently. Here's the list I can think of:

Tax Master (Inquisitor of Abadar)
Justicar (Paladin of Abadar)
Rondolero Duelist (Taldan swashbuckler)
Chellish opera singer (Chelaxian bard)
Dawnflower anchorite (Cleric of Sarenrae with ranger flavor)
Balanced Scale (Investigator of Abadar)
Sleepless Detective (Investigator with blood tracking abilities)
Harrower (Harrow-deck flavored wizard)

pixierose wrote:

I maybe be an odd Duck, but I loved the npcs in jade reagent as did my table. Having strong reoccurring npcs always make the story more personal. Caring for them, learning from them, sometimes outpacing them. I never got to finish it due to player issues, but the books we did got to were really fun.

I've never read Jade regent, and to be honest this NPC chatter is kind of selling me on it. Perhaps because of the Kingmaker Companion Guide, my tolerance for well-rounded NPCs with competing agendas is pretty high.

Well rounded NPC's can also help anchor players to the setting who don't have strong connections with the PC's. My partner insisted on playing a ysoki in our game even though I told him it would be isolating since everyone else in the party is human or elf, and I was right. So I brought in an NPC from his caravan days, she's not around a lot but it let him talk with someone he had a connection with. After that he told me he felt really plugged in and excited now to move forward.

I think it's important to remember that, at the end of the day, the story is not what we the GM's are telling. It's what the players are receiving. They're the storytellers in the end.

The wilds of Iobaria and north Casmaron. I love the idea of this cold, dark, plague-ridden wildernesses full of cyclopean ruins, adlet packs, creeping miasma, and silent pines.

Ooh, more details! I love details. It looks like we’re not get the rondolero duelist archetype, just the falcata, which is a shame. Maybe we’ll get something on Pathfinder Infinite same day.

Oooof, I have some...thoughts about railroads. Railroads in the US directly contributed to a lot of negatives, and anyone in the setting proposing a railroad network is a villain in waiting, even if they don't realize it yet.

I super support this being 100% online, but I wish it wasn't on a holiday weekend. Not only does the staff get to miss out on the holiday, but anyone who has Memorial Day plans now has to choose between that and the con. Especially since there's no travel involved, it could be any old weekend, right?