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Ohhhh!!!! Me likes that cover! I wonder if the purple chick is single! ~thinks and shakes my head~ Man! I have to get a girlfriend!The pic is great, but she's built like a pre-teenage boy. She needs some meat on her bones.
Wait for the cover to Pathfinder #23 then.
Or even BETTER... wait for the cover to Pathfinder #26.
The pic is great, but she's built like a pre-teenage boy. She needs some meat on her bones.Not everybody can be a Seoni or Amiri. :P
I generally find that voluptuous women catch my eye, but sometimes, a slender woman is so breathtakingly beautiful, or spunkysexy that I can't help but be smitten. Examples: Natalie Portman(breathtaking), Joan Jett(both), Billie Piper(spunkysexy)
Hmm... I'm not sure the reviewer is above is completely unbiased ;)
Are you referring to the gentleman who reviewed the talents of Natalie Portman, Joan Jett, and Billie Piper (Yay, Dr Who!). Or the gentleman who casually referred to the fact that the current Adventure Path issue is always pictured at the top of the Top Sellers list?
Skeld
(Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Roleplaying Game, Campaign Setting, Companion, Modules, Battles Case Subscriber)
On first read through, this number looks pretty darn hot. And I have to admit, I got a kick out of the foreword...is that the last thing written? When did Jacobs write that? Poor guy needs a vacation away from all of us...say, locked up in a cabin on stilts in a frosty place working on a certain project demanded by rabid fans...
On first read through, this number looks pretty darn hot. And I have to admit, I got a kick out of the foreword...is that the last thing written? When did Jacobs write that? Poor guy needs a vacation away from all of us...say, locked up in a cabin on stilts in a frosty place working on a certain project demanded by rabid fans...
Yeah; the foreword is generally the last thing that gets written for a Pathfinder, so I can speak to what's actually in the contents of the volume as opposed to what I thought was gonna be in it. In the case of the foreword for this volume, though, I believe it might actually have been the first thing I wrote when the edit cycle for 22 began. The "Railroad" complaint is certainly a vocal-enough one (and, frankly, one that shouldn't be an issue anyway) that I wanted to talk about it ASAP.
Yeah; the foreword is generally the last thing that gets written for a Pathfinder, so I can speak to what's actually in the contents of the volume as opposed to what I thought was gonna be in it. In the case of the foreword for this volume, though, I believe it might actually have been the first thing I wrote when the edit cycle for 22 began. The "Railroad" complaint is certainly a vocal-enough one (and, frankly, one that shouldn't be an issue anyway) that I wanted to talk about it ASAP.
For what it's worth, I think you gave some great advice. And I can't agree more that if you're looking for an open ended game, you probably shouldn't be looking for an Adventure Path.
I don't have time to manage an open-ended game at this point in my life. I tend to get way too caught up in world-building, with the actual game as an afterthought. Since I started on Pathfinder we've played a lot more actual games, and my group is grateful!
One of clevernesses of Pathfinder books is that some parts of adventure are divided into other articles in the volume. Like, Random Encounter Table in the Bestiary, journey between the town and the main dungeon in “In the Shadow of Pale Mountain” article. Thus adventures themselves can use pages for more details, more plots, and more stories.
In this volume, even the foreword is bearing part of the adventure. It is most “useful” foreword I’ve ever seen(I do like "normal" forewords of Pathfinder too, and they often are very useful and suggestive in the end).
And for complaints about railroading, I would simply say “See this adventure”. Ironically, “The End of Eternity” has become the most non-railroading Pathfinder Adventure Path adventure ever published(of course, there are many useful suggestions in the adventure to lead GMs, not players), I think. And Kakishon is beautifully and tactfully created. Thank you, Mr. Nelson and Paizo staff.
*reads her copy of #22*
Holy crap...SPOOKY IS FREAKIN' AWESOME. :D
As is the rest of this installment. This AP just keeps getting better and better. :D
Edit: Coeurls! ZOMG! :D :D :D
My FLGS only recently delivered my copy of the *first* adventure... I'm seriously considering getting the subscriptions, but I have so far tried to raise the profile of Paizo's products here, because they're not stocking them in my FLGS (and I hope my orders and conversations with staff and other customers will eventually change that).
As people finally get their copies, I'd of course be interested to hear things you particularly liked or didn't, or any questions that come up. Hope you enjoy!
Loved: Golden ram, summoned galleys, spire-impaled Eater of Magic skeleton. Awesome, inspired stuff!
Wanted: More atmosphere like that, or even more outlandishly weird stuff, to really make the demi-plane unique. Question: Is there a "director's cut" version out there?
Minor dislike: Cover aside, the Purple Chick & Co. seem not to add a lot: "these magical beings can be friends or enemies depending on whether you attack them, so they aren't a lot different from the next group of magical beings." The party will want to escape regardless of their urgings, so they don't seem necessary to advance the story one way or another, if you see what I mean. Replacing them with "director's cut" stuff would have been a superior use of page count and made for a much more satisfying adventure, IMHO. Unless there's something really important about them that I'm missing?
Trivia: Ever see the Superfriends cartoon in which they end up in the genie's lamp? Skeletal pirates or a Waterfall of Lava would have rocked!
Overall: Can't wait to run this adventure!
As people finally get their copies, I'd of course be interested to hear things you particularly liked or didn't, or any questions that come up. Hope you enjoy!Loved: Golden ram, summoned galleys, spire-impaled Eater of Magic skeleton. Awesome, inspired stuff!
Glad you liked.
Wanted: More atmosphere like that, or even more outlandishly weird stuff, to really make the demi-plane unique. Question: Is there a "director's cut" version out there?
There was some more detailed weirdness of the islands (Ismaizade the Crystal Island, and Khosravi the Isle of Flint was itself a massive mutable battlefield island capable of changing its shape and climate every day to provide new challenges - basically an island-wide terraforming plus hallucinatory terrain plus roving constructs that repaired themselves each night), plus more terrain and wandering monster stuff, esp. related to the Serpent Isles and Khandelwal. A bit more on the Edge of the World part.
As for a director's cut, there is of course my original draft of the adventure. If you're deeply curious I could probably send you a copy.
Minor dislike: Cover aside, the Purple Chick & Co. seem not to add a lot: "these magical beings can be friends or enemies depending on whether you attack them, so they aren't a lot different from the next group of magical beings." The party will want to escape regardless of their urgings, so they don't seem necessary to advance the story one way or another, if you see what I mean. Replacing them with "director's cut" stuff would have been a superior use of page count and made for a much more satisfying adventure, IMHO. Unless there's something really important about them that I'm missing?
The adventure was set up explicitly to enable the PCs to choose any of several paths to "win" the adventure - that is, to escape from Kakishon. They could ally with the proteans, with Obherak, or with Dilix Mahad. It was intentionally done that way, combined with the fact that none of the adversaries in the adventure are actually EVIL or clearly even the "bad guys" here. Each side has valid points as to why they are right and the PCs should side with them, with bad consequences for their enemies, and each has inducements or rewards to offer the PCs in exchange for their help, not just getting out of Kakishon but also in terms of other favors they can grant now or later.
To me, the idea of solving the adventure's primary challenge (escape) in any of several ways was novel and an important part of the adventure's non-linear structure.
Trivia: Ever see the Superfriends cartoon in which they end up in the genie's lamp? Skeletal pirates or a Waterfall of Lava would have rocked!
Well, there are skeletal soldiers (courtesy of Venema) and a Waterfall of Lava inside of Artel's forge on Salenax, so you're pretty darn close.
I don't think I've actually seen that ep, and I thought I had seen pretty much all of the old-school Superfriends.
Overall: Can't wait to run this adventure!
Cool. Have fun. If you are really interested in the director's cut, let me know at tjadenjason (at) gmail (dot) com.
I don't think I've actually seen that ep, and I thought I had seen pretty much all of the old-school Superfriends.
Well, obviously you've seen the one where Batman has to solve the riddle of the sphinx. Because of that episode, I knew the answer before I was even half way done reading the riddle.
Edit: P.S. I should add that I loved the adventure! What I like best is that it is very very much NOT a dungeon crawl. But there are also many fine details in there as well. For example: The "sea turtle" coughing up the invitation on the beach. Good work, Jason!
I don't think I've actually seen that ep, and I thought I had seen pretty much all of the old-school Superfriends.Well, obviously you've seen the one where Batman has to solve the riddle of the sphinx. Because of that episode, I knew the answer before I was even half way done reading the riddle.
I was happy somebody caught that little shout-out. Yay childhood memories! :)
Edit: P.S. I should add that I loved the adventure! What I like best is that it is very very much NOT a dungeon crawl. But there are also many fine details in there as well. For example: The "sea turtle" coughing up the invitation on the beach. Good work, Jason!
Glad you enjoyed it.
