Todd's Top Five

Tuesday, June 5, 2018

I'm Todd Stewart, that freelancer who habitually begs for planar content, aka that protean and daemon person who neither admits nor denies to actually being a glamorous neutral evil fiend.

A decade ago Paizo had me write Pathfinder Campaign Setting: The Great Beyond exploring Pathfinder's cosmology and fleshing out its outsiders as something unique as it branched off as its own game. Since then, the cosmology has evolved and expanded, with such really cool additions as psychopomps, divs, and sakhils, the Book of the Damned series, and other resources.


Illustration by Marius Bota

For most of the past decade I've pleaded to see a planar hardcover for Pathfinder, and the begging finally paid off! As one of Pathfinder RPG Planar Adventures' freelancers I can't wait to see it released for you folks who've been asking for this for just as long as I have. So what do you have to look forward to? Here's a list of some of my favorite things in Planar Adventures:

Illustration by Gabriela Marchioro

  1. The original Great Beyond was a solo project for me, but Planar Adventures let me collaborate with some seriously talented folks and get their awesome ideas into play. For me, it's like jumping out of bed, running downstairs, and feverishly opening up Christmas gifts, beyond excited at what you might find and having it all be a wonderful surprise.
  2. Galisemni, the City of the Celestial and the Damned, originally showed up as only a name on the map of the Maelstrom, but for years it was the primary setting of my home Pathfinder campaign, and I'm incredibly excited to finally detail it. May the Watching Seven grant you favor, may the Lethe Wall not covet your name unless fate holds that in store, and whatever you do, don't get into a drinking contest with Il'setsya Wyrmtouched (ganzi arcanist, itinerant drunkard, pesh-connoisseur, and my PC when I played in Rise of the Runelords). This is my favorite location that I've ever created in any RPG supplement ever, and I'm proud to add it into the game and see what you folks do with it!
  3. Shadow Absalom was another planar city originally from The Great Beyond and it and the Shadow Plane get additional detail herein. What plots does the great wyrm Argrinyxia, the Shifting Lady of Ebon Scales, spin? What mysteries lurk within the gloom for your PCs to find? Do you dare explore a landscape twisted by Zon-Kuthon's own dreams and nightmares?
  4. The Negative Energy Plane is one of the most criminally underused planes, but here it shines, darkly so. Avoid the plane's native sceaduinar, the so-called raptors of the void, and take shelter from the Void's horrific natural hazards from the macabre (relative) safety of Malikar's Keep. Plumb the hungry, lightless depths for such legendary locations as Fallen Duromak, a Material planet swallowed and lost, or the enigmatic, manifest horror of Eternity's Doorstep that hideously feeds upon the undead. Planar Adventures provides reasons to visit each plane, flavor to inspire, and a myriad of locations to send PCs.
  5. Really cool NPCs: Ssila'meshnik the Colorless Lord (protean lord of fate, freedom, and paradox); a deific information for The Speakers of the Depths; Inusalia the meladaemon alchemist and her cross-planar pesh emporium who harvests the souls of repeat clients to sate her own addiction; Jacarkas the Collector, harbinger thrall of Trelmarixian and lord of Abaddon's slave city of Awaiting-Consumption; and many more!

This book was a joy and a privilege to work on and soon it will be in your hands! Enjoy, have fun, and don't blame me if proteans eat your PCs.

Todd Stewart
Contributor

More Paizo Blog.
Tags: Gabriela Marchioro Marius Bota Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Planar Adventures
RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16

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The Great Beyond is among my top 3 books from the Campaign Setting line. I greatly look forward to this volume.

Silver Crusade

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Thanks Todd.

I'm greatly looking forward to this one. Probably more than any hardcover since the APG. It's several years overdue.

Is it going to be stat lite as it will be the last (non-playtest) hardcover until the PF2 Core Rulebook comes out?


1 person marked this as a favorite.

All of this sounds awesome, and congrats on getting your character into the setting.

@ Ajaxis - another blog has had art for archetypes or prestige classes that'll be in the book, and James Jacobs has advised that there'll be a number of monsters statted out in it.

I'd expect it to be set up like the Inner Sea World Guide - mostly setting content, but a decent chunk of rules content as well.


3 people marked this as a favorite.
“Original blog post” wrote:

{. . .}

Enjoy, have fun, and don't blame me if proteans eat your PCs.

(Suddenly wondering if this is what has been happening to my computers . . . .)


1 person marked this as a favorite.

It seems like my cousin Argrinyxia is still around in the shadow duplication of the city at the center of the world. I'm really anxious to read about all kinds of places and NPCs that give flavor to this book. It will certainly be among my top 5 books.

Shadow Lodge

4 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Ilsetsya!

Grand Lodge

6 people marked this as a favorite.
Lazaro wrote:
Ilsetsya!

Whatever it is, I didn't do it!


2 people marked this as a favorite.

I officially WUV Il'setsya Wyrmtouched! :D


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Protean Lord of fate and freedom, and all together of paradox as well. That's a good way to play with words, especially while previewing one of the most mysterious/alien beings in the setting.

Contributor

4 people marked this as a favorite.
The Gold Sovereign wrote:
Protean Lord of fate and freedom, and all together of paradox as well. That's a good way to play with words, especially while previewing one of the most mysterious/alien beings in the setting.

I've been wanting to get more into some of the protean divinities for a while now (both demigods and otherwise). Ssila'meshnik is the one protean lord who has shown up most prominently prior to now.


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Todd Stewart wrote:
The Gold Sovereign wrote:
Protean Lord of fate and freedom, and all together of paradox as well. That's a good way to play with words, especially while previewing one of the most mysterious/alien beings in the setting.
I've been wanting to get more into some of the protean divinities for a while now (both demigods and otherwise). Ssila'meshnik is the one protean lord who has shown up most prominently prior to now.

Well, he might be the protean lord we know the most, but what could we actually call a solid information while talking about a protean? He is still to mysterious to me... =P

Silver Crusade

2 people marked this as a favorite.
Il'setsya Wyrmtouched wrote:
Lazaro wrote:
Ilsetsya!
Whatever it is, I didn't do it!

We love you anyway :3

Also f@~% yeah! Todd!

Silver Crusade

4 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

How exciting, looking at all these flavourful locations and characters I want to run a Planar Scoundrels campaign. With players functioning as extraplanar smugglers, pirates and outlaws moving forbidden substances across planar borders and delivering them without being discovered.

For the right price perhaps they might smuggle a daemon into the boneyard, or larvae our of the abyss. Bring a sun spark into Shadow Absalom, or a definition of physical laws into Galisemni. Owe money to Inusalia, steal a treasure from under Argrynixia’s snout.

Now, how to get the players a fast planehopping ship?

Silver Crusade

2 people marked this as a favorite.
DM_aka_Dudemeister wrote:

How exciting, looking at all these flavourful locations and characters I want to run a Planar Scoundrels campaign. With players functioning as extraplanar smugglers, pirates and outlaws moving forbidden substances across planar borders and delivering them without being discovered.

For the right price perhaps they might smuggle a daemon into the boneyard, or larvae our of the abyss. Bring a sun spark into Shadow Absalom, or a definition of physical laws into Galisemni. Owe money to Inusalia, steal a treasure from under Argrynixia’s snout.

Now, how to get the players a fast planehopping ship?

I know an Ultraloth in Eberron who’d be happy to lend one.

Dark Archive

2 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

The bit of the Negative energy plan sound intriguing, as you said, doesn't get a lot of love beyond "it's there".

Looking forward to the proteans, too!

Sovereign Court

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My mythic planar game is just waiting for this book to come out! Good to see some love for the Plane of Shadow and the Negative energy plane, BOTH of which are going to be key locations for my Planar Champions to explore.

--Vrockticula


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Kytons, please? I'm not afraid to beg.

(They like it better that way.)


Interesting.


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Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Yay! This is super exciting!


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Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber

Awesome Todd! Cannot wait for the book!


Anything good about the good-aligned planes? I'm always wanting to see more material about that.

Scarab Sages

Sounds great! Definitely looking forward to this one.


AlgaeNymph wrote:
Anything good about the good-aligned planes? I'm always wanting to see more material about that.

What could (NOT) be good in the good-aligned planes?

Ok, I'm going now...


3 people marked this as a favorite.

IMO, the positive and negative energy planes have long been neglected. Though not quite without reason. Both are pretty casually dangerous. Still, I think both deserve some love. And look like they'll get some! Looking forward to this!


I agree, both the positive and negative energy planes have long been neglected. Also the dimension of time and dimension of dreams have very little info as well.

Liberty's Edge

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ME WANT !!!

Silver Crusade

3 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Will there be CE plant-based half-angel/half-demon empyreal lord of intercourse who is secretly a LG ironclad golden dragon of truth and sexual purity who lives in the Dimension of Dreamy Times BUT IS REALLY A LN PROTEAN SIX TIMES CURSED ORBYNEAM CHAOS EATER NAMED "BREATH-LIKE-A-MILLION-SCHMETTERLINGS" because that might tick all the boxes in one go?

Paizo Employee Franchise Manager

3 people marked this as a favorite.

Maaaaaaybe...

Paizo Employee Franchise Manager

5 people marked this as a favorite.

Such an NPC might also not be revealed to be such, and could be anyone in the book!

Grand Lodge

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Gorbacz wrote:
Will there be CE plant-based half-angel/half-demon empyreal lord of intercourse who is secretly a LG ironclad golden dragon of truth and sexual purity who lives in the Dimension of Dreamy Times BUT IS REALLY A LN PROTEAN SIX TIMES CURSED ORBYNEAM CHAOS EATER NAMED "BREATH-LIKE-A-MILLION-SCHMETTERLINGS" because that might tick all the boxes in one go?

Don't talk about Franklin that way! They're very sensitive about that whole LN alignment thing!

Also don't be surprised by how much weirdness you might find out there on the planes and even in this particular book. :D

Silver Crusade

8 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Hey I like how Paizo sneaks things up on you.

2009

Forums: Hey you guys listed a place called City of the Celestial and the Damned in The Great Beyond, will you expand anything about it?

Paizo: Awww, it's one of those blank spaces GMs can build on. Feel free to mess it up. *whistles innocently*

2017

Paizo: 'sup Todd, how's the jiggy?
Todd: Like the edge of yellow, screaming towards the hue of discombobulation.
Paizo: All right, remember that city?
Todd: *chirps*
Paizo: THE CITY?
Todd: *starts painting the grasshoppers with sound of absolution*
Paizo: Light it up.


2 people marked this as a favorite.

More Daemons and Abbadon, sweet delicious nothingness!


1 person marked this as a favorite.

By Shemeska the Marauder, yes!

Contributor

1 person marked this as a favorite.
necromental wrote:
By Shemeska the Marauder, yes!

Thirty years from now I figure I'll still be known more commonly by that NPC/pen name than my actual name. XD

Not that I mind. :)

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