Stratagemini |
Stratagemini wrote:Just got the book, reading the PDF... and I get to The Staff of Lost Ages. And then I remember that Rovagug is trapped in the middle of the planet... and there are a couple ancient empires that were magocracies (Thassilon for one). And there's the Serpentfolk empire at the dawn of recorded history... You've given me the Key (literally, due to the shape of the staff) to run a Chrono-trigger campaign in Golarion.Sweet
Will that be a PBP game or a RL game
It's just an idea right now. But if I did run it it'd probably be RL.
F. Wesley Schneider Contributor |
3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Just got the book, reading the PDF... and I get to The Staff of Lost Ages. And then I remember that Rovagug is trapped in the middle of the planet... and there are a couple ancient empires that were magocracies (Thassilon for one). And there's the Serpentfolk empire at the dawn of recorded history... You've given me the Key (literally, due to the shape of the staff) to run a Chrono-trigger campaign in Golarion.
As designers we run away from time travel because of the endless unpredictable rules snafus. As authors we run away from it because its cliche and has so many chances to be contrived or anti-climatic. As non-temporal physicists we run away from it because we know, deep down, that we're going to get it wrong.
I wanted to put the Staff of Ages in here as though it were the keys to the cherry red helicopter-bulldozer-mech primed, powered, and gassed up in the backyard.
They're right there. You do whatever you want with them.
But the consequences are aaaaaaaall yours. ;)
F. Wesley Schneider Contributor |
Song of extinction and apollyon's ring, can anyone give me an idea of what these two items do? I'm with a previous poster on what the song of extinction does and the latter one actually sounds like something perfect for my current campaign.
The Song of Extinction is a killer music box with a kyton composed song that bards can learn as a masterpiece to be equally killer.
The Apollyon Ring turns your consciousness into a virus... and more in a very dark prophet kind of way.
Eric Hinkle |
doc the grey wrote:Song of extinction and apollyon's ring, can anyone give me an idea of what these two items do? I'm with a previous poster on what the song of extinction does and the latter one actually sounds like something perfect for my current campaign.The Song of Extinction is a killer music box with a kyton composed song that bards can learn as a masterpiece to be equally killer.
The Apollyon Ring turns your consciousness into a virus... and more in a very dark prophet kind of way.
They both sound delightfully creepy. And I'm glad someone finally told me what the Song of Extinction is.
Lucent |
Just got the book, reading the PDF... and I get to The Staff of Lost Ages. And then I remember that Rovagug is trapped in the middle of the planet... and there are a couple ancient empires that were magocracies (Thassilon for one). And there's the Serpentfolk empire at the dawn of recorded history... You've given me the Key (literally, due to the shape of the staff) to run a Chrono-trigger campaign in Golarion.
Go with the Shory, as their flying sky-cities eventually crashed and they were forced (at least in Kho's case) to integrate with the "underdeveloped" populace (or died off).
Also that is an A++ fantastic adaptation idea.
You could even make the time-traveling airship by using the Scepter of Ages as some sort of eldritch power source/engine.
Alternately, you could combine the Castle of the Storm King artifact and the Scepter of Ages and make an effective TARDIS :>
doc the grey |
doc the grey wrote:Song of extinction and apollyon's ring, can anyone give me an idea of what these two items do? I'm with a previous poster on what the song of extinction does and the latter one actually sounds like something perfect for my current campaign.The Song of Extinction is a killer music box with a kyton composed song that bards can learn as a masterpiece to be equally killer.
The Apollyon Ring turns your consciousness into a virus... and more in a very dark prophet kind of way.
Dammit to the nine burning hells! *Goes and grabs wallet* Just take it schneider it's yours and paizo's in every other respect. Thought I would get lucky and their wouldn't be anything I really needed this one for right now but you've gotta release an item NAMED AFTER MY PARTIES CURRENT PRIMARY ANTAGONIST! Now I need to find a way to buy this, the vamps book, innersea bestiary, knights (saw that one earlier today it is most excellent), and the 2 freakin' shattered star ap's that give me groteus and lovecraft stuff.
doc the grey |
Stratagemini wrote:Just got the book, reading the PDF... and I get to The Staff of Lost Ages. And then I remember that Rovagug is trapped in the middle of the planet... and there are a couple ancient empires that were magocracies (Thassilon for one). And there's the Serpentfolk empire at the dawn of recorded history... You've given me the Key (literally, due to the shape of the staff) to run a Chrono-trigger campaign in Golarion.Go with the Shory, as their flying sky-cities eventually crashed and they were forced (at least in Kho's case) to integrate with the "underdeveloped" populace (or died off).
Also that is an A++ fantastic adaptation idea.
You could even make the time-traveling airship by using the Scepter of Ages as some sort of eldritch power source/engine.
Alternately, you could combine the Castle of the Storm King artifact and the Scepter of Ages and make an effective TARDIS :>
Actually I would go brazen egg and scepter of ages, the egg is already like a hair off from being a tardis as it is. By the way love that Egg, laughed soo hard when I got to see the egg that travels through space and planes and is "bigger on the inside".
Stratagemini |
Stratagemini wrote:Just got the book, reading the PDF... and I get to The Staff of Lost Ages. And then I remember that Rovagug is trapped in the middle of the planet... and there are a couple ancient empires that were magocracies (Thassilon for one). And there's the Serpentfolk empire at the dawn of recorded history... You've given me the Key (literally, due to the shape of the staff) to run a Chrono-trigger campaign in Golarion.Go with the Shory, as their flying sky-cities eventually crashed and they were forced (at least in Kho's case) to integrate with the "underdeveloped" populace (or died off).
Also that is an A++ fantastic adaptation idea.
You could even make the time-traveling airship by using the Scepter of Ages as some sort of eldritch power source/engine.
Alternately, you could combine the Castle of the Storm King artifact and the Scepter of Ages and make an effective TARDIS :>
For a Tardis, I'd think the best artifact would Be Baba Yaga's hut. the variable interior, bizarre driving mechanism, and essentially random teleportation and sudden change in layout of the inside of the hut all cry Tardis to me.
As designers we run away from time travel because of the endless unpredictable rules snafus. As authors we run away from it because its cliche and has so many chances to be contrived or anti-climatic. As non-temporal physicists we run away from it because we know, deep down, that we're going to get it wrong.
I wanted to put the Staff of Ages in here as though it were the keys to the cherry red helicopter-bulldozer-mech primed, powered, and gassed up in the backyard.
They're right there. You do whatever you want with them.
But the consequences are aaaaaaaall yours. ;)
Now the only question is where to Start the campaign, Maybe the River Kingdoms, or Korvosa. That said, Golarion is such a fleshed out setting that I feel you could (temporal mechanics aside) easily use something like the Staff of Ages. No matter what time your party rolls they're headed to an interesting time period with lots of fun enemies that a GM can make use of. Lost Cities of Golarion, The Lost Kingdoms, Dungeons of Golarion and the Serpent's Skull, Runelords, and Carrion Crown campaigns all contain significant chunks of the part, and that not even counting the Inner Sea World Guide. Golarion's littered with ancient empires and neglectful precursors. It's nice to have a tool to really make use of that.
F. Wesley Schneider Contributor |
Dammit to the nine burning hells! *Goes and grabs wallet* Just take it schneider it's yours and paizo's in every other respect. Thought I would get lucky and their wouldn't be anything I really needed this one for right now but you've gotta release an item NAMED AFTER MY PARTIES CURRENT PRIMARY ANTAGONIST! Now I need to find a way to buy this, the vamps book, innersea bestiary, knights (saw that one earlier today it is most excellent), and the 2 freakin' shattered star ap's that give me groteus and lovecraft stuff.
HEY! Hey, hey, hey, hey hey. Hey.
You're welcome.
(And since you mentioned one of those, we just signed off on Blood of the Night and People of the North, and yeah, those are awesome too. So yeeeeah, don't expect the road to get easier.) :)
doc the grey |
doc the grey wrote:Dammit to the nine burning hells! *Goes and grabs wallet* Just take it schneider it's yours and paizo's in every other respect. Thought I would get lucky and their wouldn't be anything I really needed this one for right now but you've gotta release an item NAMED AFTER MY PARTIES CURRENT PRIMARY ANTAGONIST! Now I need to find a way to buy this, the vamps book, innersea bestiary, knights (saw that one earlier today it is most excellent), and the 2 freakin' shattered star ap's that give me groteus and lovecraft stuff.HEY! Hey, hey, hey, hey hey. Hey.
You're welcome.
(And since you mentioned one of those, we just signed off on Blood of the Night and People of the North, and yeah, those are awesome too. So yeeeeah, don't expect the road to get easier.) :)
Crap... Well luckily people of the north is something my half-elven ice sorc player will need far more then I at the moment so with any luck he will get it and save me the trouble of having to figure out how to gain physical sustenance off of literature.
zergtitan |
Stratagemini wrote:Just got the book, reading the PDF... and I get to The Staff of Lost Ages. And then I remember that Rovagug is trapped in the middle of the planet... and there are a couple ancient empires that were magocracies (Thassilon for one). And there's the Serpentfolk empire at the dawn of recorded history... You've given me the Key (literally, due to the shape of the staff) to run a Chrono-trigger campaign in Golarion.As designers we run away from time travel because of the endless unpredictable rules snafus. As authors we run away from it because its cliche and has so many chances to be contrived or anti-climatic. As non-temporal physicists we run away from it because we know, deep down, that we're going to get it wrong.
I wanted to put the Staff of Ages in here as though it were the keys to the cherry red helicopter-bulldozer-mech primed, powered, and gassed up in the backyard.
They're right there. You do whatever you want with them.
But the consequences are aaaaaaaall yours. ;)
I actually created a human oracle of time who uses the Scepter of Ages in order to ensure time moves smoothly and in proper order.
aka. allowing adventurers to go in the past but making sure they don't try to alter time in a drastic manner such as stopping the even-tongued conquest before it starts, but allows them to take part in events such as helping seal away Tar-Baphon alongside General Arnisant.But while he's restricted on going back in time, he is more willing for people to go in the future, however they are not allowed to bring anything back with them except what they came with and their memories.
P.S. the Oracle dwells in a Giant clock tower beyond time & space and can only be reached when the time is right.
F. Wesley Schneider Contributor |
Crap... Well luckily people of the north is something my half-elven ice sorc player will need far more then I at the moment so with any luck he will get it and save me the trouble of having to figure out how to gain physical sustenance off of literature.
Getting off topic, but I hope he likes comprehensive lists of every spell will the ice subtype in the game. I'll have to go tease the folks over on the People of the North thread with that. ;)
F. Wesley Schneider Contributor |
Forgive me if this has been asked before, but The Invidian Eye (pg. 29) says that to destroy it, it has to be offered to 100 individuals who reject it, if someone accepts the Eye, does that reset the count and we have to start over, or is it 100 individuals in total?
Ooooh.
Personal Answer: Depends on how hardass a GM you wanta be. :)
More Reasoned Answer: I starts over. Otherwise it would just have to be rejected 100 times in its existence and when the PCs get it it might already be at 99 and then they only have to find one person to reject it. That's the super extreme example, but it feels more appropriately epic if you have to track down 100 people in a row with the gumption not to take it.
F. Wesley Schneider Contributor |
Mechalibur |
Um, so I'm probably looking into this too much, but on the Bottle of the Bound page, it says there are rumors it was sold of for "an emperor's ransom in red gemstones."
Don't the Denizens of Leng pay for everything using rubies? (AP #15)
Edit: Under the Seven Swords of Sin, it says that Krune was the Runelord of Gluttony. Shouldn't that be Zutha?
Atrocious |
Atrocious wrote:Forgive me if this has been asked before, but The Invidian Eye (pg. 29) says that to destroy it, it has to be offered to 100 individuals who reject it, if someone accepts the Eye, does that reset the count and we have to start over, or is it 100 individuals in total?Ooooh.
Personal Answer: Depends on how hardass a GM you wanta be. :)
More Reasoned Answer: I starts over. Otherwise it would just have to be rejected 100 times in its existence and when the PCs get it it might already be at 99 and then they only have to find one person to reject it. That's the super extreme example, but it feels more appropriately epic if you have to track down 100 people in a row with the gumption not to take it.
Yeah, I figured it would be 100 in a row. Guess you need to find a monastery filled with monks who have sworn a vow of poverty...
Tels |
F. Wesley Schneider wrote:Yeah, I figured it would be 100 in a row. Guess you need to find a monastery filled with monks who have sworn a vow of poverty...Atrocious wrote:Forgive me if this has been asked before, but The Invidian Eye (pg. 29) says that to destroy it, it has to be offered to 100 individuals who reject it, if someone accepts the Eye, does that reset the count and we have to start over, or is it 100 individuals in total?Ooooh.
Personal Answer: Depends on how hardass a GM you wanta be. :)
More Reasoned Answer: I starts over. Otherwise it would just have to be rejected 100 times in its existence and when the PCs get it it might already be at 99 and then they only have to find one person to reject it. That's the super extreme example, but it feels more appropriately epic if you have to track down 100 people in a row with the gumption not to take it.
Not really all that hard to destroy....
"Here's 10 gp, walk through that door, and reject the offer given to you. Collect an additional 10 gp on the way out. If you accept the offer, we will kill you."
Just gather a bunch of peasants and repeat the above to them. Artifact destroyed. They are free willed, and they know nothing of the Eye's powers, and they rejected it. Probably one of the easiest Artifacts to destroy, really.
Tels |
By the way, Mr. Schneider, I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed reading the Metagame Artifacts, I'm not sure if I'll ever use them, but I found them highly amusing.
But more to the point, I loved the Seven Swords entry. I read a post in James' thread saying the swords weren't actually going to be stated up, and I was very disappointed. Enough that I couldn't wait for it to hit the shelves up here in Alaska and had to buy it now. I'm glad James was incorrect on this.
I've been looking forward to this book since you commented in another thread. I really love what you did with the Seven Swords; many of the abilities you created I never would have thought of. My favorite has to be Shin-Tari, Sword of Sloth. I can't help but picture a guy mowing into mooks with that blade in an open field or a stadium, and just Dimension Dooring everyone he hits straight up into the air and waiting for them to plummet back down.
This is probably my favorite book from the Golarion setting I own. Great Job.
[Edit] A song comes to mind for Shin-Tari...
Body parts keep fallin' on my head
And just like the ground my clothes are stained red
I'm standing in a blood pit
Those body parts are fallin' on my head, they keep fallin'
So I did some talking with my mum
And I said I don't like how the washin's done
Clothes are looking rough
Those body parts are fallin' on my head, they keep fallin.....
Atrocious |
Atrocious wrote:F. Wesley Schneider wrote:Yeah, I figured it would be 100 in a row. Guess you need to find a monastery filled with monks who have sworn a vow of poverty...Atrocious wrote:Forgive me if this has been asked before, but The Invidian Eye (pg. 29) says that to destroy it, it has to be offered to 100 individuals who reject it, if someone accepts the Eye, does that reset the count and we have to start over, or is it 100 individuals in total?Ooooh.
Personal Answer: Depends on how hardass a GM you wanta be. :)
More Reasoned Answer: I starts over. Otherwise it would just have to be rejected 100 times in its existence and when the PCs get it it might already be at 99 and then they only have to find one person to reject it. That's the super extreme example, but it feels more appropriately epic if you have to track down 100 people in a row with the gumption not to take it.
Not really all that hard to destroy....
"Here's 10 gp, walk through that door, and reject the offer given to you. Collect an additional 10 gp on the way out. If you accept the offer, we will kill you."
Just gather a bunch of peasants and repeat the above to them. Artifact destroyed. They are free willed, and they know nothing of the Eye's powers, and they rejected it. Probably one of the easiest Artifacts to destroy, really.
"Take our money or we kill you", coercion does kind of conflict with the whole free will thing.
Stratagemini |
MMCJawa wrote:Not that I'm aware of (and certainly not on my part). Got a link?Ok...I got to ask:
Is the Song of Extinction a Penny Arcade reference?
I think he's talking about this Comic.
Tels |
Tels wrote:"Take our money or we kill you", coercion does kind of conflict with the whole free will thing.Atrocious wrote:F. Wesley Schneider wrote:Yeah, I figured it would be 100 in a row. Guess you need to find a monastery filled with monks who have sworn a vow of poverty...Atrocious wrote:Forgive me if this has been asked before, but The Invidian Eye (pg. 29) says that to destroy it, it has to be offered to 100 individuals who reject it, if someone accepts the Eye, does that reset the count and we have to start over, or is it 100 individuals in total?Ooooh.
Personal Answer: Depends on how hardass a GM you wanta be. :)
More Reasoned Answer: I starts over. Otherwise it would just have to be rejected 100 times in its existence and when the PCs get it it might already be at 99 and then they only have to find one person to reject it. That's the super extreme example, but it feels more appropriately epic if you have to track down 100 people in a row with the gumption not to take it.
Not really all that hard to destroy....
"Here's 10 gp, walk through that door, and reject the offer given to you. Collect an additional 10 gp on the way out. If you accept the offer, we will kill you."
Just gather a bunch of peasants and repeat the above to them. Artifact destroyed. They are free willed, and they know nothing of the Eye's powers, and they rejected it. Probably one of the easiest Artifacts to destroy, really.
It's not so much 'take our money or die' as it is 'I'm giving you money for a service, if you don't want to do it, fine, leave. But if you accept the offer inside, you will die." They can choose to take the money or not, they don't have to go inside. It's all their choice to proceed with it. Still they're free will, but free will doesn't mean you have to know all the facts.
If it had, instead, said something like free will and no coercion of any sort, that'd be different. As it is, there is nothing stopping you from paying people to reject the offer.
Enlight_Bystand |
Atrocious wrote:Tels wrote:"Take our money or we kill you", coercion does kind of conflict with the whole free will thing.Atrocious wrote:F. Wesley Schneider wrote:Yeah, I figured it would be 100 in a row. Guess you need to find a monastery filled with monks who have sworn a vow of poverty...Atrocious wrote:Forgive me if this has been asked before, but The Invidian Eye (pg. 29) says that to destroy it, it has to be offered to 100 individuals who reject it, if someone accepts the Eye, does that reset the count and we have to start over, or is it 100 individuals in total?Ooooh.
Personal Answer: Depends on how hardass a GM you wanta be. :)
More Reasoned Answer: I starts over. Otherwise it would just have to be rejected 100 times in its existence and when the PCs get it it might already be at 99 and then they only have to find one person to reject it. That's the super extreme example, but it feels more appropriately epic if you have to track down 100 people in a row with the gumption not to take it.
Not really all that hard to destroy....
"Here's 10 gp, walk through that door, and reject the offer given to you. Collect an additional 10 gp on the way out. If you accept the offer, we will kill you."
Just gather a bunch of peasants and repeat the above to them. Artifact destroyed. They are free willed, and they know nothing of the Eye's powers, and they rejected it. Probably one of the easiest Artifacts to destroy, really.
It's not so much 'take our money or die' as it is 'I'm giving you money for a service, if you don't want to do it, fine, leave. But if you accept the offer inside, you will die." They can choose to take the money or not, they don't have to go inside. It's all their choice to proceed with it. Still they're free will, but free will doesn't mean you have to know all the facts.
If it had, instead, said something like free will and no coercion of any sort, that'd be different. As it is, there is nothing...
I don't think there would be any reason to threaten them not to reject. Just saying 'we'll know if you reject it' should be sufficient.
F. Wesley Schneider Contributor |
dunebugg |
Hmm, the Seven sword of Sin are amazingly badass. My personal favorite is Wrath.
The only sword I'm a touch confused on its abilities is the Sword of Pride. It feels a little more like the powers revolved around high-level illusions that actual Pride. Why does it need to be spell storing? Why would somebody so prideful bother feinting?? They are so awesome in melee they shouldnt have ANY trouble striking their opponent.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
Um, so I'm probably looking into this too much, but on the Bottle of the Bound page, it says there are rumors it was sold of for "an emperor's ransom in red gemstones."
Don't the Denizens of Leng pay for everything using rubies? (AP #15)
Edit: Under the Seven Swords of Sin, it says that Krune was the Runelord of Gluttony. Shouldn't that be Zutha?
Yes, the denizens of Leng pay for things using rubies. That's one of many elements we picked up from Lovecraft.
And yeah, Zutha's the runelord of Gluttony. Krune is sloth.
Wiki Minister |
This is a lovely book: thank you. One of those that didn't at first sight look as though it was going to be particularly interesting - a list of powerful magic items unlikely to be used in many campaigns. In fact, it is crammed full of back story and Golarion usefulness as well as suggesting how to incorporate such power in a game.
I particularly like the little touches, for instance, the date associated with Saint Cuthbert's Mace, which I have referenced on the PathfinderWiki.
F. Wesley Schneider Editor-in-Chief |
This is a lovely book: thank you. One of those that didn't at first sight look as though it was going to be particularly interesting - a list of powerful magic items unlikely to be used in many campaigns. In fact, it is crammed full of back story and Golarion usefulness as well as suggesting how to incorporate such power in a game.
I particularly like the little touches, for instance, the date associated with Saint Cuthbert's Mace, which I have referenced on the PathfinderWiki.
Nice! Glad you're digging it man!
Godu |
So... I thought about this post and decided to do it here instead of in a review of the product.
I thought that the production standards of the product where fine.
However, I am annoyed that Paizo decided to write a book on Artifacts and fill it with reprints of what they have already published. I was looking forward to seeing some new and interesting items that I could use in unexplored places NOT items tied to specific Adventure Paths which I had already seen.
From my perspective this was a book of fluff... I already had the crunch and the settings the artifacts were used in. To be asked to pay for this as part of my support of the Campaign Setting and Paizo is... disheartening...
I also am not a fan of the Metagame Artifacts. These artifacts essentially replace GM-Player communication with... pink elephants. Why not just ask your GM to allow you to create a new character or reformat the one you're playing; why the need to introduce an artifact... And if a GM and a group cannot cover for a player when they cannot attend a game... Sigh!
Thank you!
Tels |
Godu, many of the artifacts in this book are new. For instance, 5 of the Seven Swords of Sins never had stats, and Asheia, the Sword of Lust, only had half the stats it has now.
Many items in this book are brand new, and to claim that you already had the stats is a lie. There are only a few of the Artifacts that are tied to an Adventure path, most of them can be used freely wherever you wish. Hell, any of them can be used wherever or whenever you wish as a GM. Just because an artifact is tied to an adventure path, doesn't mean it can only be found in said adventure path. As a GM, you can do whatever you want with anything you please.
Robert G. McCreary Developer |
What adventure path did the Scepter of Ages feature in? I was unaware it had been used before.
The Scepter of Ages has not appeared in any Adventure Path. Until Artifacts and Legends, only its name had been mentioned (along with a few more artifacts in the book), as one of the artifacts recovered by the legendary Pathfinder Durvin Gest from the "Chamber of Heaven" in Ninshabur.
Godu |
Tells (and others)
This book reprints material from previously published books. The new additions are VERY limited. I agree that I can use an artifact anywhere I want to but I want NEW artifacts not ones I can go back and find on my own.
Paizo essentially asked me to pay for material I already own and use. I would have welcomed a few pages of indexing for existing artifacts and stats for those that were lacking but unfortunately most of the material in the book is a reprint of what I have already seen.
My opinion is that this is a book that is put out for those who do not get the Adventure Paths (or want to get them) to flesh out the world for them. In that frame this is an excellent book.
But to ask those of us who are subscribers to accept material that we already have; that we have already used or plan on using; have already updated and/or created our own stats for is... not productive.
This is all that I am going to say on the matter.
Thank you.
gbonehead Owner - House of Books and Games LLC |
@Godu: I'm truly sorry you feel that way. I totally get your point, and you're absolutely right that it repeats material, but many people (myself among them) welcome expansions of the material such as this, and are glad they're published. In my mind, this is along the lines of a Revisited book for artifacts and the like.
Heck, I'm still hoping for a Spell Compendium and Rules Compendium-like books. I remember when WoTC came out with the Rules Compendium I was disgusted at them republishing the material ... but then I got it and it was awesome - all those bits previously scattered about were all collected in one place.