Agents of Edgewatch Update

thejeff wrote:

"Wandering adventurer" is not a necessity, especially at starting levels. In most APs, at least some characters could be locals.

Being a local and having roots doesn't mean that you can trace all your ancestors back to the original to the colonizers of the land. As a Peruvian this argument seems looks utterly bizarre.

You're right, in theory you could be descendants of people from the Exotic Orient that you're exploring, but it's still a "Journey to the East".

Re: Disney Princess APs

I mean, we already have an Ice Elemental Sorceress as a Disney Princess, as well as a pretty good archer, a sailor, a soldier...

And that’s without even dipping into the “Ah but technically Leia is a Princess!” pool.

Actually, I'm a state-positive leftist voluntary Canadian, and my disagreements with the ideals on which the US is founded are significant, though not relevant nor appropriate to this context; while this post of Ed Reppert's felt entirely positive in intent, I'd really rather not be associated with Ayn Rand even tangentially.

Seems to me the debate, if there is one, ought to be about the ideas, not who came up with them. I do agree this isn't the place to debate whether government should have more functions than the three I mentioned.

keftiu wrote:

The Jade Regent Player's Guide assumes all of the PCs are living in Varisia, a nation in Avistan, which is Golarion's Europe-equivalent. Can you absolutely play it with an Ekujae elf, Vudran ascetic, Razatlani jaguar-priestess, and a Tian-Sing pirate? Of course, but it's firmly assuming the players are from a place meant to be familiar to a Western reader and journeying to the exotic East.

Sorry, but is the AP assuming that or are you making the assumptions yourself? I just gave a brief reading of the Jade Regent Player's Guide and it doesn't asume anything about the PCs place of origin other than being established in the case of most campaign traits. The guide even gives suggestions for playing first generation immigrants from Tian-Xian in the case of players wanting to play a Samurai or Ninja. I would even go so far to asume that Sandpoint was design as port town to facilite a diversity of backgrounds for PCs.

Now in regards with the setting, Varisia, being European-lite, what wrong with that? There are other APs in another settings. Cultural osmosis is a thing and having to read to much extra material to understand the setting can be a blessing as a player (not all my plyers speaks English so I have to translate the material for them) and as GM. ** spoiler omitted **

Humbly,
Yawar

Yes, the Guide and AP assume you are living in Varisia, not starting the adventure in Minkai.

Yes, the Guide and AP assume you are living in Varisia, not starting the adventure in Minkai.

Given that Ameiko starts in Varisia, and the whole point of the AP is her return to Minkai, I don't see how starting the adventure in Minkai would make any sense. Unless of course you want an adventure about native Minkaians who see Ameiko return to claim the throne and take sides with her.

Rysky wrote:

Yes, the Guide and AP assume you are living in Varisia, not starting the adventure in Minkai.

Given that Ameiko starts in Varisia, and the whole point of the AP is her return to Minkai, I don't see how starting the adventure in Minkai would make any sense. Unless of course you want an adventure about native Minkaians who see Ameiko return to claim the throne and take sides with her.

Well, Ameiko herself is of a family of Minkaians who settled in that part of Varisia. Others who have done the same thing could get involved (hence somebody else's comment above effectively about the possibility of them being Minkaians and Sandpoint locals at the same time).

Rysky wrote:

Yes, the Guide and AP assume you are living in Varisia, not starting the adventure in Minkai.

Given that Ameiko starts in Varisia, and the whole point of the AP is her return to Minkai, I don't see how starting the adventure in Minkai would make any sense. Unless of course you want an adventure about native Minkaians who see Ameiko return to claim the throne and take sides with her.

I was responding to Yawar expressing doubt that the AP assumes you are living in Varisia when the AP starts.

Ed Reppert wrote:

Rysky wrote:

Yes, the Guide and AP assume you are living in Varisia, not starting the adventure in Minkai.

Given that Ameiko starts in Varisia, and the whole point of the AP is her return to Minkai, I don't see how starting the adventure in Minkai would make any sense. Unless of course you want an adventure about native Minkaians who see Ameiko return to claim the throne and take sides with her.

I was responding to Yawar expressing doubt that the AP assumes you are living in Varisia when the AP starts.

I think he was more responding to the idea that being from Varisia means you’re white.

Rysky wrote:

Ed Reppert wrote:

Rysky wrote:

Yes, the Guide and AP assume you are living in Varisia, not starting the adventure in Minkai.

Given that Ameiko starts in Varisia, and the whole point of the AP is her return to Minkai, I don't see how starting the adventure in Minkai would make any sense. Unless of course you want an adventure about native Minkaians who see Ameiko return to claim the throne and take sides with her.

I was responding to Yawar expressing doubt that the AP assumes you are living in Varisia when the AP starts.

I think he was more responding to the idea that being from Varisia means you’re white.

Yes - the dispute wasn’t about assuming you were living in Varisia but assuming you were from Varisia and the equivalent of “White European”. Any attempt to try and portray otherwise is misrepresenting the point that was being made. Hopefully not deliberately

People are consumed by their biases. I still remember being informed that Mummy’s Mask was definitively about being tomb robbing white people despite backgrounds that allow you to be from the country and even the starting town and a plot that actually benefits from you being locals far more so that outsiders

*

As to a Disney AP i do wonder where it would be best set. It seems ideal for a location hopping one. However the primary fairy tale lore used in the originals is based off of France/Germany/Scandinavia

Of course Disney stories have spread all over in inspiration including America , Polynesia , China etc

River kingdoms seems good because then you could introduce new mini kingdoms to support the general theme?

Yeah, Jade Regent is definitely 'Journey To The Exotic East' and thus has some orientalism going on, but I wouldn't describe it as inherently 'White Savior' (indeed, the 'canonical' group of Iconics in the art is Hayato, Sajan, Feiya, and Lini...two of the four are Tien, and only Lini is even coded as white).

And my understanding is that in Kingmaker the non-bandit people living in the area are more or less cool with you coming in and taking over...which makes a lot of sense, since given the culture of the River Kingdoms, if you respect the Six River Freedoms taking over an area is very much considered appropriate and normal. Indeed, as long as you respect those, you are, in many ways, joining the local culture rather than imposing one from the outside.

On an entirely separate note, a Disney Princess AP sounds great and, as I mentioned in another thread, I would play that in a heartbeat.

Yeah, Jade Regent is definitely 'Journey To The Exotic East' and thus has some orientalism going on, but I wouldn't describe it as inherently 'White Savior' (indeed, the 'canonical' group of Iconics in the art is Hayato, Sajan, Feiya, and Lini...two of the four are Tien, and only Lini is even coded as white).

I thought Lini was coded as Gnome?

I thought Lini was coded as Gnome?

No, she is a gnome. But, if talking about what she's coded as in terms of real world ethnicities, she can pass for white and is ethnically from the Europe-analogue.

Kevin Mack wrote:

I thought Lini was coded as Gnome?

No, she is a gnome. But, if talking about what she's coded as in terms of real world ethnicities, she can pass for white and is ethnically from the Europe-analogue.

I mean, "white" is kind of subjective term.

I've seen people claim that Spanish are white and Hispanic people aren't <_<

I mean, "white" is kind of subjective term.

I've seen people claim that Spanish are white and Hispanic people aren't <_<

Absolutely, but if we're talking about the 'White Savior' trope it becomes necessary to discuss 'whiteness' to at least the degree of noting whether a character could be considered white, which is all I was commenting on.

Thread locked while under review

Removed some posts and their replies.

Echoing and reinforcing what Sam stated earlier. It is not acceptable to debate the need for a statement that has already been made. It is not okay to question, belittle, argue or otherwise trod upon the lived experiences of the community members the blog post is addressing.

I do not want the time and emotional labor spent by members of the community to be lost solely due to quotation of a now removed post. If you would like to repost a comment that was removed due to quoting another removed post, please email community@paizo.com and we can send you the original text to repost sans quotations.

Thread is now unlocked. Please reserve the space in this thread for discussion on the above blog post.

Kevin Mack wrote:

I thought Lini was coded as Gnome?

No, she is a gnome. But, if talking about what she's coded as in terms of real world ethnicities, she can pass for white and is ethnically from the Europe-analogue.

Was more meaning that cant gnomes change there skin colour over time also Lini has always seems to have a more yellow/greenish tint.

For me society is the problem, not the Police. Their corruption and brutality is merely a symptom of our society's various failures.

As for Edgewatch, would have loved for something along the lines of Bosch or the Wire or Law and Order SVU but understand that wouldn't appeal to everyone.

As for the blog post, to me, disavowing it because it focuses on the City Guard is shocking. I'd hoped Paizo would take the leap and show how a properly ran Peace Officer who embodies Serve and Protect could happen. A chance to show how a Police Force focused on Justice and Serving the community would look like.

Jester David wrote:

So... the plsyer’s guide will allow you to remove the “watch” element and instead allow the players to be violent lawless vigilantes with no oversight or rules... and that’s better?

I appreciate the problematic issue of police brutality, excessive force, systematic racism, and militarization. The problems with a lack of accountability. And applaud Paizo for employing a sensitivity reader to make sure none of that is portrayed in their product.

That said... it’s odd that in the past the game has allowed to be a colonizing foreign conquered (Kingmaker), White saviour (Jade Regent), grave robber and cultural looter (most APs but especially Mummy’s Mask), literal pirate (Skull & Shackles), and even violent enforcers for a fascist state (Hell’s Vengeance). And the line is “cop”. That requires an apology and second guessing publication.

The game can do anything... except apparently imagine a world where police aren’t the bad guys.

I'm one of the louder voices for accountability here, but even I will say that there's been a distinct shift away from Pathfinder's earlier comfort with gross colonial stuff, given the significant changes in how the Mwangi Expanse has been handled in 2e. And Hell's Vengeance is a moot point here; it never said those people weren't Evil, whereas the whole snarl is Good-aligned police brutality.

I would hope Jade Regent wouldn't happen with modern Paizo.

Emphasis added to a point.

This reads as if the main problem is the idea of portraying a police adventure where the watch is Lawful Good. Which is being argued as being problematic.

Firstly, this is odd, as it really assumes police everywhere are inherently corrupt and violent. That all cops are as bad as American police officers. Because American cops exert excessive force and employ police brutality, fictional Absalom cops must do the same.
Secondly, it implies it would then be fine for them to do a police AP if the police were assumed to be Lawful Evil or Neutral Evil rather than Lawful Good. That a dirty cop AP would be A-okay but a good cop AP is problematic...

There's also some slight irony at work.
In virtually every other AP it's rather assumed the PCs will be murder-hobos: lawless semi-moral individuals capable of extreme violence and excessive force at the slightest provocation. And no one has any problems with that.
But in this AP the PCs will be members of the police force and expected to obey certain rules and regulations. Almost by definition, the PCs of this AP will be less violent than PCs in other campaigns.

Now, I acknowledge the inherent issue of police brutality being wholly unacceptable. And that the adventure should not condone PC members of the watch using excessive force. And the inherent problem of PCs behaving like PCs being triggering for anyone who has experiences harassment or profiling at the hands of police officers. Because no one should be traumatized or made uncomfortable while playing a tabletop game. No one. Period.
But it's more than a little odd that we'd all be completely fine with the PCs behaviour if they were part of a mercenary company or the Pathfinder Society. But the second they're part of a semi-anachronistic Victorian constabulary it crosses a line...

I feel like this has some relevance to the discussion.

For me society is the problem, not the Police. Their corruption and brutality is merely a symptom of our society's various failures.

As for Edgewatch, would have loved for something along the lines of Bosch or the Wire or Law and Order SVU but understand that wouldn't appeal to everyone.

As for the blog post, to me, disavowing it because it focuses on the City Guard is shocking. I'd hoped Paizo would take the leap and show how a properly ran Peace Officer who embodies Serve and Protect could happen. A chance to show how a Police Force focused on Justice and Serving the community would look like.

And again, Pathfinder is a game where the bulk of your abilities are combat-focused, so any police AP is either going to be one about violent police or one where the bulk of the mechanics don't get used.

Anorak wrote:

For me society is the problem, not the Police. Their corruption and brutality is merely a symptom of our society's various failures.

As for Edgewatch, would have loved for something along the lines of Bosch or the Wire or Law and Order SVU but understand that wouldn't appeal to everyone.

As for the blog post, to me, disavowing it because it focuses on the City Guard is shocking. I'd hoped Paizo would take the leap and show how a properly ran Peace Officer who embodies Serve and Protect could happen. A chance to show how a Police Force focused on Justice and Serving the community would look like.

And again, Pathfinder is a game where the bulk of your abilities are combat-focused, so any police AP is either going to be one about violent police or one where the bulk of the mechanics don't get used.

Perhaps but I've played many, many games and scenarios where not one bit of violence took place, using only social skills. Burden of Envy being one and had as much fun as I did when using my sword on a monster.

To say that the developers can't design an adventure to account for potential violence is not trusting the devs. And expecting a peace officer to never face a violent situation is not realistic. IRL and Fantasy. Take Jedi Peacekeepers. They are Mystic Cops. Acting in Defense rather than Attack. But even they would likely have to use their lightsaber from time to time. A City Guard person would be no different. Same for a Peace Keeper assigned to a community. Why? Because of Human nature.

Is that problematic given the current situation in the USA? Sure. Does that mean this AP shouldn't exist? No. Nor should it be cast away.

We are probably gonna fight fiends or monsters at some point of the campaign since I've never seen paizo do ap where only enemies are humanoids

I feel like this has some relevance to the discussion.

This can also show some light into people's perspectives.*As far as I understand, there is no centralized general or union for the police, so each state police is independent from the other and should be judge on its own merits and faults. However, I believe some people are looking outside their windows and looking at ugly or pretty picture and projecting to the whole country.

Putting all American police forces, or all police forces real or fictional, in the same bag its irrational and emotional. Akin to protesting your local police force for criminal behavior of foreign police department.

Humbly,
Yawar

*Please note that the info graphic takes into account all police killings, either justified or not.

PSD: I agree that romanticizing a cowboy cop attitude is distasteful say the least. Honestly, the only way those character could remain sympathetic for me is if they turn themselves in afterwards, but that's rarely the case.

Pathfinder is a game where the bulk of your abilities are combat-focused, so any police AP is either going to be one about violent police or one where the bulk of the mechanics don't get used.

Yes, so in a game where the vast majority of the rules (Out of game) are tailored towards resolving violent conflict, it should come as no surprise if this AP includes a lot of violence. Also, given that the campaign setting (in game) has an incredibly high amount of violence, especially when compared to our real-world analogy, it should come as no surprise if this AP includes a lot of violence. It’s really unfair at this point to judge the content of the AP until it is actually released and people can read for themselves how much violence is expected and how it is directed.

I absolutely hate Disney and for my daughter's sake I would never buy an AP where you're a "Disney Princess".

To be fair, given their popularity, your’s is a relatively minority opinion. It is likely that if written well, a Disney Princess themed AP would be well-received.

Its silly that APs about violent revolutionaries or pirates are ok but police apparently not (and no, pirates still exist in real life and they are not nice).
It shows how much influence the media has on the perception on what is acceptable and what is not. Pirates are cool even though they are violent criminals as are rebels. Police is not even when many/most of them do a good job and the role of the PCs will most likely be SWAT and not the guy pulling people over for broken lights on his car.

So what will happen in the future? Will all future APs contain advice how to make the PCs unaligned? And wouldn't this limit the APs?

I feel like this has some relevance to the discussion.

Absolutely.

If there were TV multiple series and franchise based on any human activity, it’d be romanticized, dramatized, and distorted.

To be fair, given their popularity, your’s is a relatively minority opinion. It is likely that if written well, a Disney Princess themed AP would be well-received.

So, we're trading racism for sexism.

Classy.

I absolutely hate Disney and for my daughter's sake I would never buy an AP where you're a "Disney Princess".

To be fair, I'm pretty sure the thought is something like "young royalty coming of age to fight/defend/free their kingdom", possibly with a helping of "entertaining playful sidekick companions", rather than something that carries all of the usual (and heavily gender-laden) Disney tropes.

captain yesterday wrote:

I absolutely hate Disney and for my daughter's sake I would never buy an AP where you're a "Disney Princess".

To be fair, I'm pretty sure the thought is something like "young royalty coming of age to fight/defend/free their kingdom", possibly with a helping of "entertaining playful sidekick companions", rather than something that carries all of the usual (and heavily gender-laden) Disney tropes.

That's almost as bad.

TriOmegaZero wrote:

I feel like this has some relevance to the discussion.

Absolutely.

TV gives skewed impressions of cops.
And doctors. As you could do a similar show on how medical dramas misrepresent the American hospital system. And lawyers. And the military. And high school. And family life. And running a business.

If there were TV multiple series and franchise based on any human activity, it’d be romanticized, dramatized, and distorted.

Not only on TV, also on social media which includes the flood of scandal videos about the police, only that it is skewed into the other direction.

TriOmegaZero wrote:

I feel like this has some relevance to the discussion.

Absolutely.

TV gives skewed impressions of cops.
And doctors. As you could do a similar show on how medical dramas misrepresent the American hospital system. And lawyers. And the military. And high school. And family life. And running a business.

If there were TV multiple series and franchise based on any human activity, it’d be romanticized, dramatized, and distorted.

But more intentionally and more dangerously. From that link: "Police not only consult on these shows, but they're also very aware that their portrayals impact public perception and they have a vested interest in making sure that portrayal is positive."

Which includes, mind you, the whole "need to break the rules (and some heads) to catch the bad guys". Which definitely affects the public willingness to accept police brutality.

Yes - the dispute wasn’t about assuming you were living in Varisia but assuming you were from Varisia and the equivalent of “White European”. Any attempt to try and portray otherwise is misrepresenting the point that was being made. Hopefully not deliberately.

Actually, the dispute started about the "Mighty Whity/ White Savior" trope, specially in Jade Regent. My point is that in Pathfinder and in Golarion it is a discredited trope, because while you can a play as white human you can play as pretty much anything else.

Then the conversation shifted to ¨Travel to the exotic Far East¨, which is a point I am trying hardest get. Yes, people go to the foreign strikingly, excitingly, or mysteriously different or unusual land of fantasy east Asia, but is not a disrespectful caricature or anything of the like, not that I am necessarily against it as it can be hilarious. Also, while I understand why some people may find the "normal travels to real country and there magic" off putting, as you might indirectly compare the inhabitants of the place to magical creatures and rarely depicts the culture accurately, in the case of the Jade Regent party travels from FANTASY version of European mythology to FANTASY version of eastern Asia. Again, I personally find it hilarious.

Humbly,
Yawar

Thank you for this post. I am all for inclusivity but have yet to see Native and Meso Anerican and Hispanic parts of Golarion developed other than saying they are on a other continent that wr really wont explore.

Thank you for this post. I am all for inclusivity but have yet to see Native and Meso Anerican and Hispanic parts of Golarion developed other than saying they are on a other continent that wr really wont explore.

Distant Shores and Tyrant’s Grasp #5 both detail different nations in Golarion’s America-equivalent. The latter is maybe my favorite bit of the setting ever published.

Thank you for this post. I am all for inclusivity but have yet to see Native and Meso Anerican and Hispanic parts of Golarion developed other than saying they are on a other continent that wr really wont explore.

Oh man, how the heck would that even work?

There's no good way to do that.
Even if you hired a small army of sensitivity readers and Native American tabletop designers to do the rules & adventure content, the adventure path itself would take one of three forms: Colonialist people from Avistan going west OR the the PCs being locals, which means the primarily white audience is playing "dress-up" in Mesoamerican culture OR the white heroes going west peacefully but solving all the local problems (like adventurers do) bringing in white saviour tropes.

Even if you did it absolutely perfect (the PCs are in a convoy of ships blown off course, land and explore this new land peacefully, accidentally cause problems that they have to solve) then you'd have to deal with the potential accusations that the adventure is trying to erase the past and absolve Europe of its colonial sins.
And you'd have to deal with the fact that, at the end of the day, Paizo, a white-owned company, would be using and appropriating mesoamerican culture to sell their products and make money.

*

I've often wondered if the non-Avistan continents might be better off being "gifted" to fan communities. Loosely detailed by Paizo and then left to fan sites to explore under the community use policy, or a special licence like the Articles of Nethys.

Acknowledged as regions Paizo can't use at this time, and left to fans from those cultures to expand, detail, and generally curate.

I'm bit confused by idea that you can only play people of your own countries?

I mean as if I would ever get chance to play finnish people in pathfinder :p

They have at least 2 Hispanic game designers. One who developed La Llorona for 1e

I absolutely hate Disney and for my daughter's sake I would never buy an AP where you're a "Disney Princess".

I was like that in my teens. I rejected the Disney paradigm. Basically hating them because they were popular, and were "sanitizing" faerie tales and legends.

I think I mellowed when I read Fables by Willingham, where he muses in one letter column about how the stories belonged to everyone and everyone could do their own take. That you didn't have to be bound to the letter of the original, and how remixing and adapting kept the stories alive.

captain yesterday wrote:

I absolutely hate Disney and for my daughter's sake I would never buy an AP where you're a "Disney Princess".

To be fair, I'm pretty sure the thought is something like "young royalty coming of age to fight/defend/free their kingdom", possibly with a helping of "entertaining playful sidekick companions", rather than something that carries all of the usual (and heavily gender-laden) Disney tropes.

A princess AP wouldn't be a bad idea. Women are half the population, and a AP really focused on princesses and stereotypical feminine tropes might appeal to them, some gay males, bronies, and the like. To say nothing of being more family friendly, allowing parents to more easily play with their kids without assuming brutal murder of every NPC.

I think the biggest problem is that that you don't want one PC being "the hero" and sole princess. A royal family might work better.

I'm bit confused by idea that you can only play people of your own countries?

I mean as if I would ever get chance to play finnish people in pathfinder :p

It's standard cultural appropriation rules. Other cultures are not the costumes of people from colonialist countries. (Read: majority cultures.)

It's like doing accents. Would you feel comfortable doing that accent in front of someone who actually has that accent? If you're engaging in minority tourism, would you feel comfortable playing that character if there was an actual person of colour at your table?

That's without getting into the idea of actually playing someone of a different ethnicity without coming across as doing what is an impression at best and a caricature at worst.
Even if it's done out of love it's tricky. You may adore Samuel L Jackson. But if your character is you doing a Sam Jackson impersonator it's slightly racist.

CorvusMask wrote:

I'm bit confused by idea that you can only play people of your own countries?

I mean as if I would ever get chance to play finnish people in pathfinder :p

It's standard cultural appropriation rules. Other cultures are not the costumes of people from colonialist countries. (Read: majority cultures.)

What that means though when your country become independent in 1917? :p

Anorak wrote:

For me society is the problem, not the Police. Their corruption and brutality is merely a symptom of our society's various failures.

As for Edgewatch, would have loved for something along the lines of Bosch or the Wire or Law and Order SVU but understand that wouldn't appeal to everyone.

As for the blog post, to me, disavowing it because it focuses on the City Guard is shocking. I'd hoped Paizo would take the leap and show how a properly ran Peace Officer who embodies Serve and Protect could happen. A chance to show how a Police Force focused on Justice and Serving the community would look like.

And again, Pathfinder is a game where the bulk of your abilities are combat-focused, so any police AP is either going to be one about violent police or one where the bulk of the mechanics don't get used.

Many combat abilities can already be non-lethal. And I expect AoE to open more possibilities for non-lethal or even peaceful resolution of conflict than other APs do. Which will be a welcome change.

keftiu wrote:

Anorak wrote:

For me society is the problem, not the Police. Their corruption and brutality is merely a symptom of our society's various failures.

As for Edgewatch, would have loved for something along the lines of Bosch or the Wire or Law and Order SVU but understand that wouldn't appeal to everyone.

As for the blog post, to me, disavowing it because it focuses on the City Guard is shocking. I'd hoped Paizo would take the leap and show how a properly ran Peace Officer who embodies Serve and Protect could happen. A chance to show how a Police Force focused on Justice and Serving the community would look like.

And again, Pathfinder is a game where the bulk of your abilities are combat-focused, so any police AP is either going to be one about violent police or one where the bulk of the mechanics don't get used.

Many combat abilities can already be non-lethal. And I expect AoE to open more possibilities for non-lethal or even peaceful resolution of conflict than other APs do. Which will be a welcome change.

But even "non-lethal" combat abilities have a nasty resonance when protests about people killed with "non-lethal" force are being met with "non-lethal" violence.

They have at least 2 Hispanic game designers. One who developed La Llorona for 1e

They also have the Tunche (Bestiary 4) and west Amazonian folklore is obscure in most circles.

Oh man, how the heck would that even work?

There's no good way to do that.
Even if you hired a small army of sensitivity readers and Native American tabletop designers to do the rules & adventure content, the adventure path itself would take one of three forms: Colonialist people from Avistan going west OR the the PCs being locals, which means the primarily white audience is playing "dress-up" in Mesoamerican culture OR the white heroes going west peacefully but solving all the local problems (like adventurers do) bringing in white saviour tropes.

Even if you did it absolutely perfect (the PCs are in a convoy of ships blown off course, land and explore this new land peacefully, accidentally cause problems that they have to solve) then you'd have to deal with the potential accusations that the adventure is trying to erase the past and absolve Europe of its colonial sins.
And you'd have to deal with the fact that, at the end of the day, Paizo, a white-owned company, would be using and appropriating mesoamerican culture to sell their products and make money.

How would it work indeed? Pre-colonial period, Aztec and Quechua empires were brutal one theory about how the Spaniards were able to topple the Quechua with so little people was because the subjects defected to the Spaniards so that would be nightmare to depict tactfully.

Humbly,
Yawar

Its silly that APs about violent revolutionaries or pirates are ok but police apparently not (and no, pirates still exist in real life and they are not nice).

It shows how much influence the media has on the perception on what is acceptable and what is not. Pirates are cool even though they are violent criminals as are rebels. Police is not even when many/most of them do a good job and the role of the PCs will most likely be SWAT and not the guy pulling people over for broken lights on his car.

So what will happen in the future? Will all future APs contain advice how to make the PCs unaligned? And wouldn't this limit the APs?

Way I see it, this is not about the cops. It is about the people who are victims of cops.

And when you realize that it is always the same people who have to endure suspicion, abuse of power and authority, violence, even death, at the hand of cops, then yes there is a wide-scale problem that needs to be addressed. And it is happening daily in our own countries.

Whereas we have no wide-scale problem concerning victims of pirates, or of violent revolutionaries.