Matthew Morris RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8 |
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Definately Byzantium.
My Taldor
'Points of Light' really work here. You have the cities/nobles strongholds that are (fairly) clean and well maintained, but the farther you get from the strongholds the more dilapidated the civilization is. The main roads are still (mostly) well kept (The nobles travel on them after all) but roads to more rural areas are missing paving stones, overgrown etc. An impressive bridge might still have its ramparts, but the stonework has been replaced by logs or wooden slats as people carted off the worked stone for their hovels, etc etc. Likewise, people in rural areas are starting to return to 'the old ways'.
The Nobles aren't much better off. They're caught in their own webs of politics and one up-manship, making the problem worse both by not spending resources caring for their people and by using those resources on things that alienate themselves from the populace more. I mean Senator Echs could spend the gold to wipe out the bandits, but then his daughter's dress would be an entire year out of fashion. That can't be allowed to happen!
This even hampers the nobles who *are* trying to revive Taldor. Senator Why may pour the gold into keeping his domains clear, but that means he seems rural and backwards at court, always being a step behind fashions and gossip, and losing political power as a result. Who wants to back an out of date politican, who actually believes that Andoran might be a threat and not just a wayward colony having a tempertantrum? Look, Senator Zed just showed up with a carriage that drives itself!
On the borders, Taldor puts up a strong front but that front is made mostly of 3rd and 4th noble children and the Beardless hoping to make a name for themselves and become nobility. If a full on invasion hit, the army would be hampered by its inexperience, incompetence, and the nobles trying to pull their troops back to protect just their holdings. The nobles and soldiers who actually care about Taldor as a whole would be overwhelmed.
My Eutropia
Princess Eutropia really is the last best hope for a resurgant Taldor. She's an Aristocrat/Bard who's studied history and believes she can turn Taldor around. Her assumption of the throne will be the first step, along with promoting a sense of nationalism. If it triggers a civil war, she hopes to use a threat of a Kelish invasion to unite the nation again. Currently she's (through several layers of proxies) hiring adventurers to find and bring her various treasures and artifacts of ancient Taldor to help secure her reign. She's also developed an interest in the Starstone, believing if she (or an appropriate proxy) can pass the test of the Starstone and take on the role of 'god of humanity' she can then revive Taldor with divine might.
What this means for players:
Neil Mansell |
Some useful info can be found on the wiki site if you're interested:
Stavian III
Taldor
Fromper |
I play a depressed fighter that was coerced into the PFS. He cries every time he is sent to pick up a tea set. Life sucks for the Empire of Taldor. I use the accent of Eor the donkey from the Winney the Poo cartoon.
I love it! Eeyore was always my favorite Pooh character as a kid.
I just made a gnome sorcerer for Pathfinder Society that I'll be playing for the first time this coming weekend. I decided to go Taldor for his faction, just because we don't have many Taldane PCs in our local group, and they do seem to have some amusing faction missions ("I do this for Taldor!").
I'm planning to play the character as half crazed and extremely silly, even by gnome standards. I've already decided that to drive home his weirdness to my friends the first time I play him, during his first mission briefing, he's going to lick the Venture-Captain's desk and comment on its vintage as if he were critiquing fine wine.
I've decided that the reason he's loyal to Taldor is that he thinks all the silly nobles jockeying for position are hilarious, so he pretends to play along, just so they'll let him see more. All those silly Taldor nobles are like reality TV to him.
Kevin Andrew Murphy Contributor |
As I've described Taldor to my players, "Regency-Victorian-Edwardian Britain in its dreams of itself as it wanted to be thought." Everyone is either nobility or wannabe nobility, and even and especially the servants dream of being elevated to the nobility for service to the empire, marrying into it, or being discovered to be a lost heir.
AM HELLKNIGHT |
Taldor: heart of all that is good and orderly in the heritage of mankind. The origins of our civilization.
Cheliax is the successor to the glory of Taldor, and the modern Taldan nobility are a blight upon the beleaguered descendants of the world-conquering heroes of old. Their schemes and plots against one another lack true patriotism, and they are easily divided against each other over petty trivial things. That some yet scorn Cheliax for the state of its peasantry when compared to the contemptuous neglect Taldor's leadership shows their people is sad testimony to the moral disintegration of our world.
With discipline and mercilessness, Taldor could yet be a force to contend with. A pity so few modern Taldans have traveled from their homes to join the Orders.
Kevin Andrew Murphy Contributor |
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Taldor: heart of all that is good and orderly in the heritage of mankind. The origins of our civilization.
Cheliax is the successor to the glory of Taldor, and the modern Taldan nobility are a blight upon the beleaguered descendants of the world-conquering heroes of old. Their schemes and plots against one another lack true patriotism, and they are easily divided against each other over petty trivial things. That some yet scorn Cheliax for the state of its peasantry when compared to the contemptuous neglect Taldor's leadership shows their people is sad testimony to the moral disintegration of our world.
With discipline and mercilessness, Taldor could yet be a force to contend with. A pity so few modern Taldans have traveled from their homes to join the Orders.
Mercilessness? The Hellnights cannot hold a candle to the fashion police of Taldor.
The reason so few Taldans have joined the Orders is that no self-respecting son or daughter of Taldor would be caught dead in an outfit displaying so little style, elegance, or subtlety. Garishly spiked pauldrons and devil-horned helmets may strike terror into the hearts of unrefined, but to those of taste and breeding, they're nightmarish for an entirely different reason.
Please, by all means, go ahead with your little devil-wrought "empire" if it amuses you. It certainly amuses your betters, but they are generally too circumspect to mention it. No Taldan wishes to be perceived as gauche.
gustavo iglesias |
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They use Falcata and buckler style of fight. That might be similar to spanish "rodeleros" or "espadachines", which mean "buckler-man" or "swordman". The Falcata is a iberian spanish sword too (although not from the age of the rodeleros). They infantry fight in spears+longbows, which might be like the spanish tercios (who used rodeleros, pikemen and crossbows)
Taldor cavalry include elephants. That sounds byzantium. They do have strong heavy cavalry. That might sound as much of the european medieval age, but sound specially true for German Teuton orders or spanish Orden de Santiago. French chevaliers too. They have a very strong huge fleet, which happens to be predated by pirates and isn't really holding as much power as it should. That again sounds as Spanish Armada.
The "everybody is noble or thinks he is" is also a spanish thing. Spanish gentlemen, named Hidalgos (or "hijos de algo" sons of something) were, tecnically, noble, even if they didn't own a thing. Don Quijote is the very best example of a Hidalgo.
I'd do them like a mix of Byzantium and Spain, heavier on the Spain side.
Shizvestus |
Taldor is very British, and French, and Spanish, and Byzantium... But I look at Prince Stavian and damn he reminds me of those early tellings of Robin Hood- the sniveling, scheming Prince John.
They never really made the nations based on any one particular place. You can see allusions to Moorish Spain, France during the Revolution, France after the Revolution if the Royals won, Britain, America, Russia, Norse, and various other places... and yet they are not really these places but amalgams of these places in each place.
Wizjolnir |
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According to this blog entry :
http://paizo.com/paizo/blog/v5748dyo5la8f?Roots-Beginnings-Taldor
Taldor is "a mix between the cultural decadence of Amsterdam during the 16th and 17th centuries and the exceedingly complicated politics and government of the Byzantine Empire."
and
"16th and 17th century London also inspired the aristocratic culture of Taldor."
Link-Bot |
According to this blog entry:
Taldor is "a mix between the cultural decadence of Amsterdam during the 16th and 17th centuries and the exceedingly complicated politics and government of the Byzantine Empire."
and
"16th and 17th century London also inspired the aristocratic culture of Taldor."
> LINK ADDED
Christopher Rowe Contributor |
It's been my impression that Paizo doesn't go in for what some people will fondly or not-so-fondly remember as being called "Realms-shattering Events" with Golarion--the ongoing contretemps in Cheliax being, perhaps, a small regional exception. But if they ever were to do a big change in the Inner Sea region with modules or a whole AP, attendant Campaign Setting and even Player Companion support, and heck throw in some PFS scenarios in there to go along with the epic Pathfinder Tales trilogy to be written, of course, by yours truly, then I would plump for Taldor Resurgent. The princess overthrows primogeniture with the support of the people after the death of her father! The Lion Blades play a dangerous game navigating a middle path between the commoners and a resurgent nobility! The armed forces are split, with a new Grand Army retaking Galt while the navy gathers in Cassomir and Andoran and Absalom ally out of necessity against this new threat. And in the south, Qadira watches and waits.
Yakman |
I'm still holding out for a Taldan War of Succession AP.
A guy can dream....
meh.
I'd much rather have a cloak and dagger tale of covert operations between squabbling noble houses that escalates into an existential crisis with a facade of gentility and courtesy.
Yakman |
It's been my impression that Paizo doesn't go in for what some people will fondly or not-so-fondly remember as being called "Realms-shattering Events" with Golarion--the ongoing contretemps in Cheliax being, perhaps, a small regional exception. But if they ever were to do a big change in the Inner Sea region with modules or a whole AP, attendant Campaign Setting and even Player Companion support, and heck throw in some PFS scenarios in there to go along with the epic Pathfinder Tales trilogy to be written, of course, by yours truly, then I would plump for Taldor Resurgent. The princess overthrows primogeniture with the support of the people after the death of her father! The Lion Blades play a dangerous game navigating a middle path between the commoners and a resurgent nobility! The armed forces are split, with a new Grand Army retaking Galt while the navy gathers in Cassomir and Andoran and Absalom ally out of necessity against this new threat. And in the south, Qadira watches and waits.
well, look at the most recent APs.
I assume that Rebels will end (good guy win) with a small independent country next to Cheliax. Vengeance will end (bad guy win) with the status quo restored.
Giantslayer (good guy win) a Giant gets killed. his army which hadn't done anything goes home.
Iron Gods (good guy win) some robot god nobody knew about gets killed, and a new minor robot god gets born.
Mummy's Mask (good guy win) a mummy king who was floating in the sky gets killed.
There's nothing world changing about the victory of the PCs in any of these scenarios. However, the bad guy wins are pretty bad, going from genocidal mummy monster taking over country, to genocidal robot monster taking over country, to genocidal giant monster taking over continent, to ???
that being said, you could run a "Taldor-Resurgent" AP where the goal is to bring the country back to its footing, and nothing actually change to any real degree in the Inner Sea. Taldor getting its groove back is probably more linked to being able to tax its nobility than reconquering Avistan.
Christopher Rowe Contributor |
Yakman |
Y'know, I should probably own up to the fact that I can trace my interest in Taldor, initially anyway, to the fact that when I first started playing PFS the Taldor t-shirt was the only one available in my size.
delightful
Leg o' Lamb |
Leg o' Lamb wrote:I'm still holding out for a Taldan War of Succession AP.
A guy can dream....
meh.
I'd much rather have a cloak and dagger tale of covert operations between squabbling noble houses that escalates into an existential crisis with a facade of gentility and courtesy.
Nothing says the cloak and dagger aspect would be absent. The first two or three APs could be nothing but cloak and dagger between houses until war breaks out in book four or five.
Yakman |
Yakman wrote:Nothing says the cloak and dagger aspect would be absent. The first two or three APs could be nothing but cloak and dagger between houses until war breaks out in book four or five.Leg o' Lamb wrote:I'm still holding out for a Taldan War of Succession AP.
A guy can dream....
meh.
I'd much rather have a cloak and dagger tale of covert operations between squabbling noble houses that escalates into an existential crisis with a facade of gentility and courtesy.
I'd flip it, if anything.
The rebellion of Lord XXX is put down and concluded by the end of book 3. The rest is the spy stuff to bring down the real conspiracy.
Simeon |
I tend on the side of Spain because of the Rondolero Duelist. Though the Falcata doesn't match so much, the fencing style with the buckler is very Spanish... plus, "My name is Inigo Montoya..."
I agree, the whole bit where Taldor drove out Qadira and the faith of Saranrae is highly reminiscent of Spain driving Islam and the Muslim empire out of Spain.
Leg o' Lamb |
Leg o' Lamb wrote:Yakman wrote:Nothing says the cloak and dagger aspect would be absent. The first two or three APs could be nothing but cloak and dagger between houses until war breaks out in book four or five.Leg o' Lamb wrote:I'm still holding out for a Taldan War of Succession AP.
A guy can dream....
meh.
I'd much rather have a cloak and dagger tale of covert operations between squabbling noble houses that escalates into an existential crisis with a facade of gentility and courtesy.
I'd flip it, if anything.
The rebellion of Lord XXX is put down and concluded by the end of book 3. The rest is the spy stuff to bring down the real conspiracy.
That would work for me as well.
I'm likely biased due to my own thinking/brainstorming/delusional ideas about how a Taldor AP would play out. ;)
Mr. Bubbles |
I'm still holding out for a Taldan War of Succession AP.
A guy can dream....
Last I heard, a Taldor AP is dead in the water because JJ wants to turn it into yet another "plucky CG rebels fight the system" while another writer wants it to be about removing Dawnflower scum and restoring the glory of the Empire.
Neither side seems willing to budge, and so it shall remain.
Purple Dragon Knight |
that being said, you could run a "Taldor-Resurgent" AP where the goal is to bring the country back to its footing, and nothing actually change to any real degree in the Inner Sea. Taldor getting its groove back is probably more linked to being able to tax its nobility than reconquering Avistan.
I would love such an AP. There must be untold amounts of corrupted villains within the borders of Taldor, ancient things that thrive on the slow decent of Taldor towards apathy and folly. Perhaps even a thing or two from the pages of the occult. Taldor has amassed, literally, mountains of artifacts and relics from an age long gone, under its crumbling foundations, and some of these things are surely calling...
In a word, the corruption doesn't have to be entirely man-made. Which should provide a billion murderhobo-worthy plot ideas.
It would be interesting to see a story that parallels the cleansing by destroying evil things with the rise of hope and restoration of economic power for Taldor.
Purple Dragon Knight |
Leg o' Lamb wrote:I'm still holding out for a Taldan War of Succession AP.
A guy can dream....
Last I heard, a Taldor AP is dead in the water because JJ wants to turn it into yet another "plucky CG rebels fight the system" while another writer wants it to be about removing Dawnflower scum and restoring the glory of the Empire.
Neither side seems willing to budge, and so it shall remain.
neither of those ideas are really appealing to me; so I'll take a standstill over a third AP centered on rebels... as for "removing dawnflower scum" meh...
Mr. Bubbles |
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Purple Dragon Knight wrote:a third AP centered on rebelsIt would be a fourth...
Curse of the Crimson Throne
Council of Thieves
Hell's Rebels
[Placeholder Proposed Taldor Rebellion Path]
You could argue Jade Regent would make it a fifth, since the latter half of that AP was inciting rebellion in Minkai and installing CG Ameiko to the throne.
LordOfThreshold |
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My ideal Taldor AP;
A small civil war has broken out in Taldor incited by hardline Dawnflower Cult followers who have infiltrated Taldor's nobility and are pouring gold into their allies to destabilize Taldor.
First book, the players start out as young nobles, Lions, students of the Shadow School or former Ulfen Guard who, after helping stop an assassination attempt on the Emperor, catch his eye and become his new favorite past time, sending them on mostly pointless missions to regale and entertain him with their exploits.
Second book, the players begin to peel back the layers of Taldor's corruption and realize just how bad things are because of the Emperors inaction and the nobility's corruption. The Emperor already tires of the players and passes them on to his daughter as her personnel guard. Princess Eutropia enlists their aid to gather allies who would support her in a bid for the throne.
Third book, the players continue to support Eutropia when open war breaks out. Oppara is seized by violent riots, with the Dawnflower behind them and their catspaws among the nobility calling for the Emperors removal. Throw in some Gray Gardeners stirring things up from Galt, the players protect Eutropia from a Dawnflower assassin and they have one of two choices; save the Emperor again or let his assassination take place to conveniently remove him from power. Either way, Stavian is either gone or removed by his daughter and her allies from the throne and the new Empress takes control of Taldor.
Fourth book, now the Empresses' personal guard and troubleshooters, the players clean up the mess left by the riots, remove those nobles who assisted in the attacks and uncover the Dawnflower's involvement, all the while Qadira launches an attack on Taldor's eastern border, spurred on by the Dawnflower. The players quickly rally to defend Taldor and prevent an invasion.
Fifth book would be mostly missions for the Empress to build up military power and prevent Dawnflower sabotage from stalling a response to Qadira's invasion. Lots of mass combat, sieges and traditional warfare. Ends with a decisive military victory wherein Taldor reclaims most of the land taken by Qadira and humiliate the Padishah who immediately declares the Dawnflowers traitors.
Final book, the players strike at Qadira itself, convincing the church of Sarenrae to label the Dawnflower as heretics. Final battle has the players leading a Taldan army, the Empress at it's head, to lay siege to the Dawnflower fortress and the players taking out the cult's hierarchy and leaders.
Continuing the campaign could involve continuing conflict with Qadira, rebuilding Taldor as an Inner Sea power, gaining more allies such as Absolam and Osirion and discovering where the Dawnflower Heresy first began, possibly with extra-planar influence and the sudden and politically devastating arrival of a previously unknown son of Emperor Stavian intent on claiming the throne for his own.
Crystal Frasier Assistant Developer |
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Leg o' Lamb wrote:I'm still holding out for a Taldan War of Succession AP.
A guy can dream....
Last I heard, a Taldor AP is dead in the water because JJ wants to turn it into yet another "plucky CG rebels fight the system" while another writer wants it to be about removing Dawnflower scum and restoring the glory of the Empire.
Neither side seems willing to budge, and so it shall remain.
First I've heard of this theory, and I imagine it'll come as even more of a surprise to James.
Kalindlara Contributor |
Mr. Bubbles wrote:First I've heard of this theory, and I imagine it'll come as even more of a surprise to James.Leg o' Lamb wrote:I'm still holding out for a Taldan War of Succession AP.
A guy can dream....
Last I heard, a Taldor AP is dead in the water because JJ wants to turn it into yet another "plucky CG rebels fight the system" while another writer wants it to be about removing Dawnflower scum and restoring the glory of the Empire.
Neither side seems willing to budge, and so it shall remain.
I've heard a version of it... from what I heard, Mr. McCreary wants the "Restoration of the Taldan Empire" version, while Mr. Jacobs wants the Taldans to throw off the weight of the past and create a new future for themselves.
Just hearsay, though...
Mr. Bubbles |
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Crystal Frasier wrote:Mr. Bubbles wrote:First I've heard of this theory, and I imagine it'll come as even more of a surprise to James.Leg o' Lamb wrote:I'm still holding out for a Taldan War of Succession AP.
A guy can dream....
Last I heard, a Taldor AP is dead in the water because JJ wants to turn it into yet another "plucky CG rebels fight the system" while another writer wants it to be about removing Dawnflower scum and restoring the glory of the Empire.
Neither side seems willing to budge, and so it shall remain.
I've heard a version of it... from what I heard, Mr. McCreary wants the "Restoration of the Taldan Empire" version, while Mr. Jacobs wants the Taldans to throw off the weight of the past and create a new future for themselves.
Just hearsay, though...
Kalindlara Contributor |
Here's the post.
I thought I'd seen it from his own lips (so to speak).
Thank you! ^_^
Crystal Frasier Assistant Developer |
Cole Deschain |
I think "plucky CG rebels" comes from the notion that the entrenched order is hardly going to gracefully step aside- although I think it'd be kind of cool to take that proposed direction as actually having happened before the PCs even do anything- a peaceful revolution gracefully sweeps the old order into an honorable retirement, setting the stage for a, to quote Londo Mollari, "Renaissance of power." (Er....given how that worked out for Londo, maybe not the best example, BUT NEVER MIND!)
"Crushing Dawnflower scum" is a bit more out of left field... I mean, the Cult of the Dawnflower is hardly the only thing holding Taldor back from is former glory. They're a problem, not the problem.
Crystal Frasier Assistant Developer |
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Regardless, this isn't the reason we haven't done a Taldor AP. Why any given AP happens or doesn't happen is a complicated mix, and is never as simple and singular as petty philosophical disagreement. We're adults who can communicate and negotiate, and we can and have done APs that called for compromise in the past. Heck, pretty much every AP calls for some compromise and negotiation.