Just wanted to say I liked today's Blog entry on the Sable Company.
One thought that has been occuring to me in regard to the Korvosa material.. you guys are introducing really fascinating groups and organizations, like the Sable Company and the Order of the Nail.
Will there be material for GM's use as a Guide if players wish to join these outfits? Entrance requirements and the like?
(On the other hand, I do see the design challenge in that, in that such organizations don't always realistically allow the flexibility of schedule that adventurers require. You know, in order to scour the countryside, fighting villainy and taking villainy's stuff. So my expectations aren't that high, but this is an opening for you or the Editorial Team to surprise me.)
I am strongly suspecting that there might be a hellknight class with the Abadar write-up. Can you confirm or crush my dreams?
If CotCT doesn't necessarily support the characters following those careers, will the City guide have ideas for such adventures?
These are just some general questions for you to answer- and help fuel the excitement over these impending books.
Entrance requirements and the like?
Nepotism?
Merit? ... Whoa, that is so Top Gun; I can even hear the intro drum riff. Character bio? Yes, yes, here it comes: "X's father was in Sable Co. but was lost is action in Nex. X is motivated by a need to live up to the legends of his father's skill and daring. One of the instructors was his dad's wingman....Blah blah blah."
Just funnin' yah with a little bit o' cliche guys. Looks great!
Creative Director
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There are a LOT of organizations going on in Korvosa, and yes, a few of them will be ones that, during Curse of the Crimson Throne, you'll have a chance to interact very closely with or even join. The Korvosan Guard and the church of Abadar are probably the two most important friendly organizations in Curse of the Crimson Throne; the Sable Company plays a smaller role (mostly because their entrance requirements are so strict that only a very few types of characters... rangers, pretty much... could ever be part of the group, and therefore they make for a poor "let the entire party join" organizations).
The hellknights have nothing to do with Abadar, alas. There won't be a hellknight class writeup anytime soon; they have a small role to play in Curse of the Crimson Throne, but it's not big enough to warrant too much extra words at this time. We DO have some plans for hellknights eventually, though.
That all said, there's a fair bit of information about all these organizations in the Guide to Korvosa. And in the case of the Sable Company, there's an associated feat in the Player's Guide to Curse of the Crimson Throne.
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That all said, there's a fair bit of information about all these organizations in the Guide to Korvosa. And in the case of the Sable Company, there's an associated feat in the Player's Guide to Curse of the Crimson Throne.
And IIRC, that feat is also the only new rules bit that appears in Guide to Korvosa as well. Plus a stat block of a Sable Company marine and his hippogriff. I think. I could be misremembering, though...
Griffin riders rock...
Ok, but what about Hippogriff riders?
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Just wanted to say I liked today's Blog entry on the Sable Company.
Thanks. :)
One thought that has been occuring to me in regard to the Korvosa material.. you guys are introducing really fascinating groups and organizations, like the Sable Company and the Order of the Nail.
Will there be material for GM's use as a Guide if players wish to join these outfits? Entrance requirements and the like?
There are lots of hints on how to get into these organizations, but there are no game mechanic rules (no prestige classes or anything). We're experimenting with the guides in that we're limiting the amount of game mechanics stuff to just a few pages in the back. 60/64 pages of the guides are in-character and rules free, so you can use them with any edition of any game (but if you use Korvosa in a game of GURPS, please don't tell me).
(On the other hand, I do see the design challenge in that, in that such organizations don't always realistically allow the flexibility of schedule that adventurers require. You know, in order to scour the countryside, fighting villainy and taking villainy's stuff. So my expectations aren't that high, but this is an opening for you or the Editorial Team to surprise me.)
Yeah, most of the organizations presented in Guide to Korvosa are extremely city-centric. Please note, however, that I use the word "most" in there. I did introduce one organization that isn't localized to Korvosa, but is actually loyal to Cheliax (which, I feel compelled to point out, Korvosa is as well).
I am strongly suspecting that there might be a hellknight class with the Abadar write-up. Can you confirm or crush my dreams?
Crush! It's what I do.
If CotCT doesn't necessarily support the characters following those careers, will the City guide have ideas for such adventures?
I suspect that a PC who wishes to join the Korvosan Guard, Order of the Nail, or Sable Company will have plenty of opportunities to do the deeds necessary to remain in the CotCT adventure path. The guide has, IIRC, plenty of adventure hooks that can work well for PCs who belong to any of those organizations.
These are just some general questions for you to answer- and help fuel the excitement over these impending books.
I'm glad you're excited. I hope the book lives up to your expectations. :)
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In regards to the thread of the title, that also makes me very happy. ^_^
There are lots of hints on how to get into these organizations, but there are no game mechanic rules (no prestige classes or anything). We're experimenting with the guides in that we're limiting the amount of game mechanics stuff to just a few pages in the back. 60/64 pages of the guides are in-character and rules free, so you can use them with any edition of any game (but if you use Korvosa in a game of GURPS, please don't tell me).
No GURPS here. :)
Tell you what.. If you actually know someone who played in a real Nobilis campaign, as written by R.S.B. don't tell me. My only comfort in not being able to use the 2nd edition book for anything but a coffee table art book, is that no one else can either..
Seriously, the Rules Light Guides are probably really practical at this juncture. You, referring to Paizo, can't slow momentum in your release schedule. Expect me to be accepting / forgiving that the Guides will be mostly background.
Personally, I'm fairly AP dependent. Due to time and other obligations I'm one of the AP target demographics. I like the idea of an extra City Guide just to pump the AP up with a high degree of detail, that I couldn't otherwise ask for in the AP itself, not at it's current price point.
I find you if you captialize on all the fan ideas, art, resources, and Editorial Staff Q&A found on these boards- my players get the homebrew feel with the professional quality. And that's meant sincerely.
Yeah, most of the organizations presented in Guide to Korvosa are extremely city-centric. Please note, however, that I use the word "most" in there. I did introduce one organization that isn't localized to Korvosa, but is actually loyal to Cheliax (which, I feel compelled to point out, Korvosa is as well).
I don't subscribe to Gamemastery (though it's under future consideration.. I'm just in a deficient from Kobold Quarterly and Open Design expenses), but I did shell out for Pharoahs, and I was really impressed and intriqued by the Cheliax glimpes. I'm looking forward to more.
I suspect that a PC who wishes to join the Korvosan Guard, Order of the Nail, or Sable Company will have plenty of opportunities to do the deeds necessary to remain in the CotCT adventure path. The guide has, IIRC, plenty of adventure hooks that can work well for PCs who belong to any of those organizations.
Great! Couldn’t ask for more!
I don't get how a glorified butler gets command of a military organization. :P
Wait, I seem to recall a butler that ended up as the Chosen of the God of Thieves, so I guess I can see this too. Plus, you know, Benson ended up as Leiutenant Governer.
Sable Company Kicks ASS!
Mike is a genius!
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I'm kind of disappointed by the "rules light" approach, though I can well understand why it is done.
Nonetheless, I'm really looking forward to Guide to Korvosa, and I'm sure it will be chock-full of useful, detailed information.
I've written previously how I enjoyed Eando Kline's adventure journal in Pathfinder#2. It read very much as an adventure in which I could easily provide the missing stats myself and then run my players through.
If Pathfinder Chronicles are written in this manner, I might not find the missing stats too much of a bother, and it could encourage writing encounters tailored to my group, instead of running them straight out of the book, or dismissing them because they don't match the players level or other requirements.
If printing 3.5 stats is considered to be limiting products in light of 4E, maybe some 3.5 stats relevant to each product could be released as a web enhancement, and updated to 4E after it's release, similar to how True20 or RPGXplorer are supported?
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I'm kind of disappointed by the "rules light" approach, though I can well understand why it is done.
Out of curiosity, why so?
Nonetheless, I'm really looking forward to Guide to Korvosa, and I'm sure it will be chock-full of useful, detailed information.
I hope you find it to be! :)
If Pathfinder Chronicles are written in this manner, I might not find the missing stats too much of a bother, and it could encourage writing encounters tailored to my group, instead of running them straight out of the book, or dismissing them because they don't match the players level or other requirements.
That was my goal when writing the guide (and is also my goal with Darkmoon Vale).
If printing 3.5 stats is considered to be limiting products in light of 4E, maybe some 3.5 stats relevant to each product could be released as a web enhancement, and updated to 4E after it's release, similar to how True20 or RPGXplorer are supported?
Call the guides experiments. We're trying out rules-light supplements. The whole "will we switch or won't we?" question is only a part of why we're trying this. Another reason is, we wanted to try a product with almost no game mechanics in it. We're hoping that it appeals not only to players of the world's most popular roleplaying game, but also to players of any other fantasy game. As it is now, you can use the guides with any game system and you only lose about 3 pages of content in doing so. Also, we wanted to make something that players can read through. All but about 12 pages of the 64-page book are spoiler free and designed for players and GMs. So if you're the GM, and you plan on running a game in Korvosa, you could hand a copy of the guide to your players and say "you can read any of this except chapter 5 and the appendix."
We're experimenting with the guides in that we're limiting the amount of game mechanics stuff to just a few pages in the back. 60/64 pages of the guides are in-character and rules free, so you can use them with any edition of any game (but if you use Korvosa in a game of GURPS, please don't tell me).
I for one am very happy to find out that the guides are going to be rules light, I certainly hope they continue to be so. I'd rather have some fascinating details about the world rather than new rules for the setting.
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I'm kind of disappointed by the "rules light" approach, though I can well understand why it is done.Out of curiosity, why so?
I addressed this previously in the "What do you think of Pathfinder so far?" thread:
My players are experienced Living Arcanis players, and are used to quite deep character background and options. Initially, I found it extremely difficult to convince them into giving Pathfinder a go, when all that was available was the RotRL Players Guide. Where were the campaign specific racial options? What prestige classes could they aim for? What intrigues existed between different factions?
Eventually, I sold them by a) introducing Raptorans (winged Elves from Races of the Wild) for something unique; b) revealing the Desna article (PDF format is fantastic for this!); c) teasing that Gnomes are descended from the Fey (of which no further information has become available); d) begging them to trust me on the quality of the product.
Now that we have commenced playing Burnt Offerings, the players are universally glad they jumped on board - they're really getting into unravelling the various Sandpoint intrigues, and really getting into character.
What would really have helped was more player information on the various Shoanti tribes (players were interested, but avoided Shoanti, due to lack of information) and just what makes Golarion Gnomes so different?
I realise that the Pathfinder tree has to grow from a single acorn, and as a GM, I'm happy to see the Chronicles products on the horizon. But it has been difficult for players who's expectations have been spoiled by rich campaign-specific character options available in other settings.
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I'm kind of disappointed by the "rules light" approach, though I can well understand why it is done.Out of curiosity, why so?
The Desna and Lamashtu articles were excellent.
In exchange for a few points in Knowledge(Religion), I gave one of my players the Desna article. She enjoyed it so much, she is now a devout of Desna. One of the other players hasn't yet read the article, but aspires to become a follower of Desna, so the first player has become his mentor.
I'm thinking of applying the alternate class levels from the Lamashtu article to our Druid when a barghest replaces his wolf companion by devouring it.
One of the other players is a follower of Callistria. Unfortunately, very little is yet known of that deity beyond the scant information in the Players Guide.
And finally, our poor Gnome is still waiting to find out how fey Gnomes are different than the PHB Gnomes of other worlds? Some racial feats, alternate class levels, fey spells etc, would go a long way to making Golarion Gnomes interesting and unique.
Yes, much of this could be achieved using only the core rules and well-written background material. However, players enjoy character options, and crunch helps to re-inforce the background material. Otherwise we'd all be human commoners with richly detailed backgrounds.
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And finally, our poor Gnome is still waiting to find out how fey Gnomes are different than the PHB Gnomes of other worlds? Some racial feats, alternate class levels, fey spells etc, would go a long way to making Golarion Gnomes interesting and unique.
You could try using the "Fey Lineage" Feats from Complete Mage p.43 to highlight this fact. That's what I'm thinking of doing for my Gnomish Favoured Soul/Sorcerer/Spherewalker/Mystic Theurge of Desna in our Pathfinder game.
Sable Company Kicks ASS!
Bah! S-Club is nothing more than doe-eyed lackeys of the establishment that drove freedom from the lowlands.
No better than the Hellknights, I say. Take them off their birdies and I bet they cry like babies!
One day things will be made right, one day.
-Ask (who is chanelling a little Sklar-Quah this a.m.)
Sable Company Kicks ASS!Bah! S-Club is nothing more than doe-eyed lackeys of the establishment that drove freedom from the lowlands.
No better than the Hellknights, I say. Take them off their birdies and I bet they cry like babies!
One day things will be made right, one day.
-Ask (who is chanelling a little Sklar-Quah this a.m.)
So it shall be!!
There are lots of hints on how to get into these organizations, but there are no game mechanic rules (no prestige classes or anything). We're experimenting with the guides in that we're limiting the amount of game mechanics stuff to just a few pages in the back. 60/64 pages of the guides are in-character and rules free, so you can use them with any edition of any game (but if you use Korvosa in a game of GURPS, please don't tell me).
Good, because the organization rules from Comp. Adventurer and the Affiliation rules were just make-work for game designers, IMHO. In practice, they were too regimented for standard game utility.
What DMs want are organizational hooks to hang adventures / rewards on, and what players want are background / PC development opportunities. These come from the framework of the world created by the DM, not some arbitrary system.
Affiliation just makes something interesting and turns it into a bookkeeping operation.
As for prestige classes, the idea that tying group memberships to special abilities is not a bad one, per se. But in practice, I think, players are more attracted to broader archetypical prestige classes rather than organizational-specific ones. And of course, those prestige classes that confer the benefits of multi-classing without complicated combinations.
And if a DM _absolutely must_ have some sort of mechanism to confer rank or privileges within an organization, I think Reputation from Unearthed Arcana works well enough.
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Yes, much of this could be achieved using only the core rules and well-written background material. However, players enjoy character options, and crunch helps to re-inforce the background material. Otherwise we'd all be human commoners with richly detailed backgrounds.
I know players enjoy character options. We all do at Paizo. We're churning out high-quality material as fast as we can, mate. There are only so many hours in the day. :)
Good, because the organization rules from Comp. Adventurer and the Affiliation rules were just make-work for game designers, IMHO. In practice, they were too regimented for standard game utility.
Yeah, I thought they were almost good ideas that turned out to be too clunky. I don't want MORE accounting as a player or GM, I want less...
(Okay, that's not entirely true, but I understand that I'm not exactly normal in that regard.)
As for prestige classes, the idea that tying group memberships to special abilities is not a bad one, per se. But in practice, I think, players are more attracted to broader archetypical prestige classes rather than organizational-specific ones. And of course, those prestige classes that confer the benefits of multi-classing without complicated combinations.
Yeah, I will fight tooth and nail to keep Sable Company marines and Korvosan Guards from becoming prestige classes. Feats yes. Maybe even alternative class features. But not prestige classes. I hates them.
Sable Company Kicks ASS!Bah! S-Club is nothing more than doe-eyed lackeys of the establishment that drove freedom from the lowlands.
No better than the Hellknights, I say. Take them off their birdies and I bet they cry like babies!
One day things will be made right, one day.
-Ask (who is chanelling a little Sklar-Quah this a.m.)
You just keep tellin' yourself all that, savage. The Sable Company already kicked Shoanti butt and is ready to do it again.
Long live Korvosa!
Call the guides experiments. We're trying out rules-light supplements. The whole "will we switch or won't we?" question is only a part of why we're trying this. Another reason is, we wanted to try a product with almost no game mechanics in it. We're hoping that it appeals not only to players of the world's most popular roleplaying game, but also to players of any other fantasy game. As it is now, you can use the guides with any game system and you only lose about 3 pages of content in doing so. Also, we wanted to make something that players can read through. All but about 12 pages of the 64-page book are spoiler free and designed for players and GMs. So if you're the GM, and you plan on running a game in Korvosa, you could hand a copy of the guide to your players and say "you can read any of this except chapter 5 and the appendix."
I'm curious to see the guides. I must confess though, I actually like "crunch"--new classes, subsystems, whatever. Is this approach just an experiment for the "guides," or is it intended to stretch through all products? Could we potentially get a product of more "crunch"? (You could market it like peanut butter: there's "creamy" and there's "crunchy." So, I guess your guide is "creamy"? XD )
I hope to love the guides like this but hope I don't have to give up rules nearly entirely from the other products.
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I'm curious to see the guides. I must confess though, I actually like "crunch"--new classes, subsystems, whatever. Is this approach just an experiment for the "guides," or is it intended to stretch through all products? Could we potentially get a product of more "crunch"? (You could market it like peanut butter: there's "creamy" and there's "crunchy." So, I guess your guide is "creamy"? XD )
I hope to love the guides like this but hope I don't have to give up rules nearly entirely from the other products.
Just the guides, and to a lesser extent the gazetteer. We're in the business of game design, and one needs rules mechanics in designing for games.
Just the guides, and to a lesser extent the gazetteer. We're in the business of game design, and one needs rules mechanics in designing for games.
Music to my ears! :D
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Yeah, I will fight tooth and nail to keep Sable Company marines and Korvosan Guards from becoming prestige classes. Feats yes. Maybe even alternative class features. But not prestige classes. I hates them.
That's a little disappointing to hear since I like such prestige classes and think it makes the Korvosan Guard different then any old army soldier. Making the prestige the requirement for being in the Korvosan Guard would be a mistake, but there's no reason that a prestige class can't be the provider of benefits.
Feat requirements that make sense should also be applied too, like the Sable Company would want certain mounted feats.. but toughness shouldn't be a feat on the list because someone decides that the class should be available until level X so they delay you taking it by padding it with feats you don't want.
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That's a little disappointing to hear since I like such prestige classes and think it makes the Korvosan Guard different then any old army soldier. Making the prestige the requirement for being in the Korvosan Guard would be a mistake, but there's no reason that a prestige class can't be the provider of benefits.
Do we really need a prestige class for every job available to every person in a campaign setting? Where do we stop? Besides, the point of the Korvosan Guard is that they ARE "just" normal army soldiers. Only with a spiffy name. Sable Company marines are just rangers (elite because they use the elite array and are usually higher level) who can take a feat at 6th level that gives them hippogriff animal companions. *shrug* That's pretty much it.
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Do we really need a prestige class for every job available to every person in a campaign setting? Where do we stop?
You don't stop and if they got a cool job description they should have a prestige class, that be the point of prestige classes. Not every other Sable Company would have lots of levels, maybe 1, maybe 2 levels of it.. if any at all. But the elite members and the long experienced veterans would have full levels in it. Two me, prestige classes mostly should only be 5 levels of goodness anyway.
But here I was hoping for Korvosan Guard to be cool. It's unfortunate that they're just Stormtroopers... canon fodder for the heroes.
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That's a little disappointing to hear since I like such prestige classes and think it makes the Korvosan Guard different then any old army soldier. Making the prestige the requirement for being in the Korvosan Guard would be a mistake, but there's no reason that a prestige class can't be the provider of benefits.Do we really need a prestige class for every job available to every person in a campaign setting? Where do we stop? Besides, the point of the Korvosan Guard is that they ARE "just" normal army soldiers. Only with a spiffy name. Sable Company marines are just rangers (elite because they use the elite array and are usually higher level) who can take a feat at 6th level that gives them hippogriff animal companions. *shrug* That's pretty much it.
See, this is an approach I could come to adore.
I'm _sick_ of prestige classes. You can customize a character so much with *just* distinct equipment, backstory, etc.
You don't need a prestige class for every little role in the world.
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But here I was hoping for Korvosan Guard to be cool. It's unfortunate that they're just Stormtroopers... canon fodder for the heroes.
Respectfully, I disagree. They're only *just stormtroopers* if you portray them as *just stormtroopers.*
In a similar vein, the Paizo staff got some flack early on for their portrayal of the first batch of iconics - i.e. that they didn't have flashy new feats and weren't built to the most optimal/munchkin standards.
I like the way they took a very "basic" approach, used mainly core materials, and yet built highly distinguished and interesting characters.
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But here I was hoping for Korvosan Guard to be cool. It's unfortunate that they're just Stormtroopers... canon fodder for the heroes.
Okay, the other point we're just going to have disagree on here, but this point I cannot allow to pass.
Korvosan Guards are not stormtroopers and any PC who kills one does not deserve to be called a "hero" (PCs don't deserve that title usually anyway, but that's a different discussion). Korvosan Guard members are mostly lawful neutral (with LG tendencies). THEY are the good guys. PCs who kill them are not.
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One thing to keep in mind is that, at this point, we're not sure what rules we'll be using for Golarion this time next year. Until we decide if we're going to convert to 4th edition or stick with 3.5 (a decision we can't make until we get the 4E rules, which still hasn't happened), we don't really WANT to churn out dozens of prestige classes for hellknights, bloat mages, Korvosan guards, sin mages, speciality priests, and everything else, when we don't know if we'll even be using these rules ever again.
Once we figure out what we're doing and where we're going, that'll probably change. But we're not there yet, so if something doesn't actually play a HUGE role in an adventure, we'll be leaving them alone and stalling on whether an organization uses new base classes, feat trees, alternate class abilities, prestige classes, or whatever 4th edition uses in their place.
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But here I was hoping for Korvosan Guard to be cool. It's unfortunate that they're just Stormtroopers... canon fodder for the heroes.
To echo Mike's sentiment... we don't NEED to have prestige classes or crunch to make something cool. There's almost NO new goblin crunch, for example. And we've done an awful lot with the runelords by just organizing wizard specialties in a more rigid manner. Likewise the Korvosan Guard, Hellknights, and other organizations in Curse of the Crimson Throne.
And yeah... if your PCs are fighting the Korvosan Guard... they won't get very far in Curse of the Crimson Throne. That'd be like attacking citizens of Sandpoint or enslaving Turtleback Ferry. It can be done, sure... but it won't be part of the expected plotline.
Can you just get in drunken brawls with them? They might get some valuable tutelage that might save their soft hides. It'd be doing them a favor.
Those Sable Co. guys look wimpy to a Shoanti.
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One thing to keep in mind is that, at this point, we're not sure what rules we'll be using for Golarion this time next year. Until we decide if we're going to convert to 4th edition or stick with 3.5 (a decision we can't make until we get the 4E rules, which still hasn't happened), we don't really WANT to churn out dozens of prestige classes for hellknights, bloat mages, Korvosan guards, sin mages, speciality priests, and everything else, when we don't know if we'll even be using these rules ever again.
Once we figure out what we're doing and where we're going, that'll probably change. But we're not there yet, so if something doesn't actually play a HUGE role in an adventure, we'll be leaving them alone and stalling on whether an organization uses new base classes, feat trees, alternate class abilities, prestige classes, or whatever 4th edition uses in their place.
But in saying this, those of us that won't be changing over to 4e will still want all of these rules before you do change over. True you may never need to use the rules again, but that doesn't mean alot of your customers won't. At least if you make the rules now, you will have a Template to work on at a later date when you do go over to 4e.
The Pathfinder Chronicles Hardcover would be a really good place to do this, because when you do go to 4e you will redo the Campaign Setting Hardcover again anyway (well at least you should).Just my 2c worth
EDIT: Just as an aside. I like the fact that the Guide Books will be rules light. 70/30 is a good mix in this sense. There will (should) be some new rules to go with the area, but the majority of the work will be setting info and this is how a Guide Book should be.
The Campaign Setting on the other hand should be an even mix of Rules and setting info and this is where I would see things like new Races/Racial Variants, PrCs, New Feats, New Weapons and Equipment/Magical Items, etc...
EDIT EDIT:And Mike, as with all of your work I LOVE the idea of the Sable Company... now that is an Organisation that I can see me making a Character for, with the express path idea to joining them.
Do we really need a prestige class for every job available to every person in a campaign setting?
Now that depends...
If you mean "do we need to create a new Prestige Class for every job," then the answer is no.
On the other hand, a "toolbag" listing of published material that could suit that purpose wouldn't hurt... Example: Korvosan Guards could use the Tactical Soldier PrC from the miniatures Handbook. I don't mean reprinting it either, just listing useful suggestions that others might not be aware of.
Just a random, sleep deprived, thought.
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Example: Korvosan Guards could use the Tactical Soldier PrC from the miniatures Handbook. I don't mean reprinting it either, just listing useful suggestions that others might not be aware of.
Which unfortunately Paizo can't mention, as the Miniatures Handbook is WotC's intellectual property and not open content.
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But in saying this, those of us that won't be changing over to 4e will still want all of these rules before you do change over. True you may never need to use the rules again, but that doesn't mean alot of your customers won't.
Pretty much sums it up.
Having just started Burnt Offerings, we'll be playing Pathfinder 3.5 for at least the next couple of years. That's why 3.5 campaign support is important, particularly for campaign guides for locations within Varisia (RotRL, CotCT) or other published 3.5 adventure locations.
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I know players enjoy character options. We all do at Paizo. We're churning out high-quality material as fast as we can, mate. There are only so many hours in the day. :)
I'm not questioning the quality of material (it's top notch!) nor the rate at which material is being published (it was difficult at first, but as we're still playing Burnt Offerings, I feel products are being released at a much faster rate than our ability to play them - and when we get around to playing D0, D1 and CotCT, the Guides to Darkmoon Vale and Korvosa should already be available). I'm only questioning the availability of crunch.
And truthfully, I'm not wholly convinced that prestige classes are the answer either. Take Desna's Spherewalkers for example. Swarm form interested two of my players, but both decided it would be too difficult to attain the requirements with their current character classes (one is a wizard, the other a druid). Nonetheless, the article was very well received and has already had a significant impact on the characters and the campaign. So I guess that's one triumph for flavour over crunch.
I'm much more in favour of easily attained prestige classes that add a few levels of flavour, so perhaps alternate class levels are better suited to this task? Feats, spells, alternate animal companions, all help to make players feel their characters are "special" and help define what makes Golarion unique.
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I don't envy Paizo's situation - 3.5 vs 4E, you're damned if you do, and you're damned if you don't - it's pretty much a no-win situation.
I don't mean to harp on about it. I stated that I was disappointed by the "rules light" choice, and Mike asked "Why?", so I said why, because I think it's useful for Paizo to hear the experience of their customers, though others are welcome to express a different view.
At the end of the day, I will buy Guide to Korvosa and other Chronicles products because they provide excellent background and detail for the campaign, and because I know they'll be that good!
So have Paizo made the wrong choice with rules light? That's not for me to say - sales will be the judge of their success, and I suspect as with most of their products, they'll go through the roof!
Disappointed with rules light? Yes. Blown away by excellent product? Most definitely.
I don't envy Paizo's situation - 3.5 vs 4E, you're damned if you do, and you're damned if you don't - it's pretty much a no-win situation.
Very true.
It's interesting to me that this situation is artifically created by external forces. Not trying to WOTC rant, but that's an irrefutable truth.
I just wanted to thank the guys for an interesting thread. Good discussion about rules theory and future product development.
So it shall be!!
Ask slowly raises his klar in salute to Mitnal in acknowledgement of their clan's communal vow:
"So it shall be brother. . . So it shall be."
You just keep tellin' yourself all that, savage. The Sable Company already kicked Shoanti butt and is ready to do it again.
Long live Korvosa!
Do my ears deceive me, or is there a Korvosan actually showing some spine? All the better to snap in half I suppose.
Perhaps he has been slapping around a pseudodragon and now he thinks he is a man.
Anytime, anywhere. . . any edition.
-Ask