Gnomes on the other hand can go quietly into the night... :):P
Shadow-gnomes?! That's BRILLIANT! :)
I think things like dwarves and elves can exist in a Egyptian flavored setting, but they have to be dealt with differently. I'm thinking of the elves of Aerenal in Eberron. Regardless of one's feelings of Eberron, they certainly gave the elves a different feel (kind of a strange Mesopotamian style).
In the end, what are elves besides skinny people with pointy ears and haughtiness who live longer than they're welcome, and what are dwarves besides short stocky individuals with beards and bad attitudes. Those can exist anywhere. ;)
It doesn't have to mean that dwarves are retroactively forced into a pseudo-egyptian mythology, but that the "real" dwarves in the game are free-willed creatures that can displace themselves just as any human can.The corollary to this, of course, is that the persian peris or the asian kappas or the lemurian serpentmen are just as free to travel and populate the world.
Cheers.
If you have ever been to the Middle East (I'm not talking Virginia, and assuming pseudo-Egypt has the same climate) you have to know that sporting your weight in body hair simply isn't an option.
Perhaps it's more like Afghanistan and the dwarves stay in the mountains all the time? Sounds boring that way, and the alternative is a sweating mass of beard and back hair that grumbles about how hot it is all the time and rides around on miniature camels. :)
...the elves of Aerenal in Eberron. Regardless of one's feelings of Eberron, they certainly gave the elves a different feel (kind of a strange Mesopotamian style).
I think those are the first elves I've liked, actually. :D
If you have ever been to the Middle East (I'm not talking Virginia, and assuming pseudo-Egypt has the same climate) you have to know that sporting your weight in body hair simply isn't an option.... :)
Nah, those dwarves have just developed the tradition of shaving. :D
Will there be any psionics supported?
- Neomorte
Psionics won't be banned in our world, but I wouldn't expect a great deal of support. The simple truth is that psionic fans form a small but vocal minority. Most D&D players are only neutral at best toward psionics, so it's not a system we're going to spend a lot of time or effort supporting. That said, we're not going to prevent psionic fans from including the system into their campaigns (i.e., we're not going to say "Psionics don't exist in our world. Nyeh!").
While I completely understand this from the perspective of appealing to the most possible people--after all, you are starting a brand new venture that you need to sell to we, the masses--on a personal level, it's too bad.
I think they finally got Psionics "right" in 3.5, and I've stopped using arcane magic users simply b/c I prefer psionic manifesters. That, and I'm suffering from spell overload. But that's ok. Nothing wrong w/ being a small but vocal minority. I can do the work myself to add manifesters into the setting; I realize that. Thanks for addressing the issue.
How about the functional equivalent of Dungeon's "Side Trek" (short) adventures? I haven't seen them for a while, but they were great for inserting on either the front- or back-end of longer adventures.
Will we see them in Pathfinder?
Maybe when you open up PF for submissions, short adventures like this would be a good way to gauge the quality of other submissions from not-yet established authors. Give you a taste of what they might do in a longer product (e.g., a GameMastery module).
Will there be hot looking demon wenches who want to drink hero blood?
|
Elves and dwarves in a viking culture are a given, but I don't remember reading about any elves or dwarves living in the Nile region.
It's all in how you do it. First, being fantasy cultures rather than cut and paste copies of real world cultures, there's a lot of room for deviation (never make your analogues too similar to the original), so as long as there's a way to make humans fit into a different culture (and, obviously, there is), there's a way to make nonhuman races fit as well. Besides, how similar are D&D elves and dwarves to their Scandinavian forebears outside of a passing resemblance? Just try to escape the baggage associated with the terms, and go nuts... there are a lot of ways to make these "European" races fit in non-European cultures.
Dwarves, stripped to their game mechanics, are a sturdy, lawful folk with an affinity to stone and metal. Give 'em a vague semblance to the Egyptian god Bes with shaved heads, and make them Imhotep-esque architects, builders, and poets that live in the hills and mountains that surround the river valley.
Elves could be a nomadic, desert people who are mostly active at night and are said to be the mortal descendants of godlike spirits. A deeply spiritual people, they tend towards animistic mysticism (and wizardry) over monolithic organized religious worship.
Halflings, OTOH, could be more like a sea-faring, mercantile culture like the Phonecians.....
Oh, you get the picture. "Elves and dwarves" aren't the problem, it's presenting them the same way everywhere that's problematic. Reduce them to their generic base, then fluff them back out as appropriate to the cultures they need to fit in with. Viola!
Besides, there really isn't a lot in the way of potential "player races" is most cultures--the culture expansion books (like OA) usually manufacture new races that have the "feel" of the culture they're going for or debase an existing creature to hell and back so as to to hardly be recognizable. Heck, even the "elves and dwarves" are sheer debasement of their Scandinavian counterparts.
See, here in lies the problem with online content. There's too damn much of it. I'm sure my question has been posted before this, and there's no way I'm going go through all these posts to find out what's been asked and what's not. I don't see how WotC thinks switching to online content is going to be a great idea. Paizo has done an incredible job of carrying on the tradition of Dragon and Dungeon magazines, and most online sites are a pain in the butt to navigate and find the exact article you're looking for.
OK, enough of the rant, especially since this is not exactly the forum for such. I'm still trying deal with the disappointment, as you can tell.
Anyway, I see that half of Pathfinder is going to be the adventure path, while the other half will be content dealing with gods, villians, magic, etc. Does this mean that the other half of the magazine will deal with npc's, classes, magic, god and such that pertain to the book's adventure path, or will it be new content that is unrelated?
Thanks for everything Paizo, you are greatly appreciate by your customers!
Contributor
|
Does this mean that the other half of the magazine will deal with npc's, classes, magic, god and such that pertain to the book's adventure path, or will it be new content that is unrelated?!
(Psst... half the book...) :) The second half will mostly pertain to the book's adventure, at least thematically.
Thanks for everything Paizo, you are greatly appreciate by your customers!
Thanks. :)
Elves and dwarves in a viking culture are a given, but I don't remember reading about any elves or dwarves living in the Nile region.It's all in how you do it... (SNIP)
Azzy, that was a great post! If you ever played Dark Sun for 2nd ed. D&D, you know of course that there are established ways to upend the "Tolkien", pseudo-Norse treatment of elves, dwarves & halflings. I really enjoyed your stripping down these races and putting them in a quasi-Earth like setting. We can do lots of interesting things if we put our minds & imaginations to it...
|
|
Azzy, that was a great post! If you ever played Dark Sun for 2nd ed. D&D, you know of course that there are established ways to upend the "Tolkien", pseudo-Norse treatment of elves, dwarves & halflings. I really enjoyed your stripping down these races and putting them in a quasi-Earth like setting. We can do lots of interesting things if we put our minds & imaginations to it...
Hey, thanks!
When I was creating my own campaign setting years back, I found that I had to completely rethink the nonhuman races (among many other things) as the setting owed more to the ancient world than it did to the medieval period. Since then, it's gotten a bit easier for me to throw out and replace the "generic European fantasy" baggage that D&D is bridled with (not to say that I don't enjoy that for for it is, but I like to mix things up).
|
For example will the dwarves and elves of Orision (your Egypt analog) be different (flavorwise, obviously) than those of Varisia?I'd like to mention that it really bugs me when European myths are dropped whole cloth into non-European fantasy worlds.
I love me some Al-Qadim, but it seems so out of place to have elves, dwarves and gnomes in my Arabian Adventures.
If your going to crib cultures from the real world, please take the time to create demi-human races inspired by those cultures. Elves and dwarves in a viking culture are a given, but I don't remember reading about any elves or dwarves living in the Nile region.
This is a tricky one for me. On the one hand, the game has elves and dwarves. On the other hand, if I had a free hand to do whatever I wanted (despite the sales implications), things like dwarves would be relegated entirely to the Nordic region and elves would be on the periphery. I probably wouldn't include halflings or gnomes at all, but again, that would be a poor choice insofar as sales are concerned.
I am not going out of my way to put dwarves in Osirion.
--Erik
I agree with this wholeheartedly...A fair compromise is to simply have the Dwarves of the Osirion region very reclusiveif you *must* have them. Ideally they are not native at all, but in keeping with the "race to catalogue ancient empires theme" perhaps even the dwarves are amazed at how humans of all creatures could build a mountain (pyramid)!
well, i dont know if this has been discused, i havent read all 200+ posts.
i was just reading the letters from dungeon issue 139, shooting blanks by john simcoe in particular. i liked the idea then, and i like it even more now for pathfinder. oh, mabey i should say what the letter suggested: a page or two devoted to blank forms. yep, forms. after spending nearly 22 years in the army, i am worthless without forms. i like them. i like using them. i like designing them. i have a great form for melee combat. well, john simcoe, i liked your idea then, i like it even more now.
|
RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32
|
I confess, I haven't read all 202 posts in this thread, nor scoured the other threads to find an answer.
I have mixed feelings about psionics...
Will psionics be a part of the Pathfinder world? More heavily supported than current WotC adventures/materials? Or will they remain somewhat of a fringe/alternate system?
Will there be a significant rework of the psionic rules?
|
Contributor
|
I confess, I haven't read all 202 posts in this thread, nor scoured the other threads to find an answer.
No worries. At least your question wasn't "how do I submit?" :D
Will psionics be a part of the Pathfinder world?
Yes, in the way that everything in the OGL will be a part of the Paizo world.
More heavily supported than current WotC adventures/materials?
No. Probably around the same level of support or even maybe a little less. Most people don't want it, so we're in no rush to provide it. Of course, that might be a self-fulfilling prophecy, but I don't know.
Or will they remain somewhat of a fringe/alternate system?
Fringers.
Will there be a significant rework of the psionic rules?
No. The rules we'll use for psionics are those presented in the OGL.
How about the functional equivalent of Dungeon's "Side Trek" (short) adventures? I haven't seen them for a while, but they were great for inserting on either the front- or back-end of longer adventures.
Will we see them in Pathfinder?
Maybe when you open up PF for submissions, short adventures like this would be a good way to gauge the quality of other submissions from not-yet established authors. Give you a taste of what they might do in a longer product (e.g., a GameMastery module).
I'm behind that idea. I think it would be really cool to come up with semi-annual anthologies of smaller adventures (that span only a level or so) that a DM could plug into their campaign if they decided to change parts of the published adventure or if the PCs go into unexpected directions.
You gotta point the open end of the long round part at the bad guy ...
I find your ideas intriguing and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
|
Contributor
|
I find your ideas intriguing and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
But of course, Sir. It's called Pathfinder and you can set up a month-to-month subscription at Paizo.com.
^_^
You gotta point the open end of the long round part at the bad guy ...I find your ideas intriguing and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
Homer Simpson?? If I recall correctly.
I wanna know more about firearms!!!You gotta point the open end of the long round part at the bad guy and gently squeeze the little curved lever inside the loop at the other end. After that, it takes care of itself.
What else would you like to know?
Don't listen to this loser wolfie. You look down the tube, so that when you press the little curved lever inside the loop you can see the pretty lights inside the tube.
Look REAL close!
|
Contributor
|
Don't listen to this loser wolfie. You look down the tube, so that when you press the little curved lever inside the loop you can see the pretty lights inside the tube.
Look REAL close!
Kruely... I highly recommend you throw away all of your Kurt Cobain School of Gun Safety brochures... they're... not exactly in accordance with NRA standards...
I hate sticky threads!
I'm interested in seeing how standard monsters will be reimagined, as has been done with the goblins. With most standard creatures I think everyone just makes do with the impression they get at first sight, and it might be interesting to see how staple creatures like orcs, ogres and even necromancers are defined in Pathfinder.
|
|
I'm new here, so forgive me if this is something that has been asked before and I've missed;
Will Pathfinder be exclusively D&D content, or will there be occasional articles relevant to other game systems?
Erik Mona was part of a group that created an intriguing setting for Mutants & Masterminds that could perhaps be updated and presented as part of the Gamemastery line, for instance.
|
Contributor
|
Will Pathfinder be exclusively D&D content, or will there be occasional articles relevant to other game systems?
Everything we put into Pathfinder will be compatible with the world's most popular fantasy roleplaying game. We might some day support other systems with other products, but not with Pathfinder.
Creative Director
|
I'm new here, so forgive me if this is something that has been asked before and I've missed;
Will Pathfinder be exclusively D&D content, or will there be occasional articles relevant to other game systems?
Erik Mona was part of a group that created an intriguing setting for Mutants & Masterminds that could perhaps be updated and presented as part of the Gamemastery line, for instance.
We won't be covering any genres but fantasy in Pathfinder, and won't be incorporating anything from other companies either, so no Freeport adventure path, no Eberron adventure path, no Midnight adventure path, etc. If we ever DO something like that, it'll be a different product from Pathfinder.
I like how your keeping pathfinder fantasy-centric. But I'd also like to throw my two cents in regarding products of other genre's:
I hope pathfinder is successful enough that you are able to make these other genre products we speak of.
that is all, care on . . .
I too think it would be cool to see you guys become the purveyors of fine OGL campaigns for all genres. My gaming group is fairly active across the medieval fantasy, science fiction, and modern conspiracy/horror spectrum of RPGs. So anything along that vein which introduced a Pathfinder-style adventure path would be VERY interesting to us.
--Neil
What part of Pathfinder do you want to know more about?
And should this be a multiple-choice poll?
The New World, Deities, and city/states.
Believe it or not, I would just like some original content and not the re-hashing of old ideas from when I first started playing in the eighties. I loved the old mods when they came out, but playing them again and again, even with new characters, gimme a new world, even some new themes. I love Eberron for that, best idea to come out of WotC since, well, since they happened to buy T$R. The new rules could have been given more thought before releasing, and re-releasing, and re-re-releasing (or did they only stay at 3.5, I stopped counting and buying the rulebooks, my back was getting too sore from the weight).
I will miss Dungeon and the odd Dragon I buy, loved the content and the 'toons, especially the ideas on better campaigning. I look forward to the Pathfinder books, and expect the same, or better, quality in each and every one.
Pathfinder is open-ended, and the flagship of our GameMastery line. We hope to produce 100 or more, in the years to come.
--Erik
And the crowd goes wild!
WAAAAAAH
|
|
I want to know all about the possibilities of trepanning! Tell us more about all the cool plusses Karzoug and Merisiel get for hacking out part of their skulls to relieve the unnatural pressures on their brains. Are the gems rquired, or could they get by with intimidating-looking divots in their foreheads?
How to submit.
It seems that the villians will employ some sort of "new" magic. I am most interested in how it will be different. Is it different mechanics or just new spells.
|
|
..."kitsune" simply means "fox" in Japanese... ...foxes (kitsune), raccon-dogs (tanuki) and sometimes cats (neko) are thought, in Japanese folklore, to be able to change shape to varying degrees. So it's better to think of them as animals (or animal-fey) that are natural shapechangers--any humanoid form is just one of many that these special animals are capable of assuming.
The only thing that flummoxes me is trying to reduce such an animal-shapechanger to a playable, ECL 0, PC race.
You could start by limiting them to one specific human form, which they assume every time, and having gender, permanent scars or injuries carry through all their forms.
This tallies with folklore, where (for example) a hero recognises the innkeeper has a bandaged hand, the morning after an attack, and catches an evil shapeshifter...
One of the reasons so many people think the changelings of Eberron are grossly overpowered, is their completely mutable form allows impersonation of absolutely anyone, making stealth missions far too easy for PCs, or bogging the game down in 'anti-doppleganger checks' if the PCs believe they are being watched.
Id like to know how each adventure path ties into the next...Or if it does at all.
Will each path be a seperate story on the other side of the campaign world....Or will events that take place in AP1 have an effect on the events that happen in AP2?
As a hypothetical example..The PCs have to open an old temple that has been sealed in AP1...And the PCs find some artifact and use it in AP2...and the PCs kill some demon lord in AP3....These events chain the awakening of some dead god in AP4.
Will they be linked in this way or be self contained?
|
Contributor
|
Id like to know how each adventure path ties into the next...Or if it does at all.
Will each path be a seperate story on the other side of the campaign world....Or will events that take place in AP1 have an effect on the events that happen in AP2?
As a hypothetical example..The PCs have to open an old temple that has been sealed in AP1...And the PCs find some artifact and use it in AP2...and the PCs kill some demon lord in AP3....These events chain the awakening of some dead god in AP4.
Will they be linked in this way or be self contained?
I think the current plan is to link the APs, but not to the extent in your hypothetical there. Most of the links will be geographical. For example, the first two APs take place in Varisia. Future APs will also be lumped together in geographical locations.
Some might get tied together more closely, of course, but I don't think that's the norm as we currently understand it.
Of course, this might all change in a year. @_@
Of course, this might all change in a year. @_@
Nine Months . . . you mena nine months . . .
Oh no . . . I just realized something. If my wife were to get pregnant right now, that would mean that our child and 4e would be born at the same time . . . .
Well, I guess she doesn't need to take her pills this month . . I ain't touching her.
|
Contributor
|
Nine Months . . . you mean nine months . . .
Oh no . . . I just realized something. If my wife were to get pregnant right now, that would mean that our child and 4e would be born at the same time . . . .
LoL!
Well, if you do have a kid right as fourth edition comes out you could name him...
Vier (German for "four")
Shin (Japanese for "four") (and "death")
Yon (the other Japanese word for "four" that isn't a homonym of "death")
Quatro, Quattre, etc. (the Romance languages)
Chitire (Russian; pronounced chee tier ee IIRC)
Fire (Norwegian; I guess it's probably pronounced fir eh or fear eh)