Introducing the Sky King’s Tomb Player’s Guide

Dwarves!

Wait what is a “Battle Master?”

Brothers of the mine rejoice!
Swing, swing, swing with me
Raise your pick and raise your voice!
Sing, sing, sing with me
Down and down into the deep
Who knows what we'll find beneath?
Diamonds, rubies, gold and more
Hidden in the mountain store

Born underground, suckled from a teat of stone
Raised in the dark, the safety of our mountain home
Skin made of iron, steel in our bones
To dig and dig makes us free
Come on brothers sing with me!

I am a dwarf and I'm digging a hole
Diggy diggy hole, diggy diggy hole
I am a dwarf and I'm digging a hole
Diggy diggy hole, digging a hole

Excited to play a historical reenactor!

This is a really great players guide, absolutely lovd the little paragraphs of context for the different recommended ancestries <3

Wait what is a “Battle Master?”

Nothing noteworthy. NPCs have had more descriptive pseudo-classes since the start of 2E; it doesn't mean they're adding a Battle Master class

Did anyone else catch what Ayindelar elves can do at will?

Heads up, there's a bit of accidentally problematic art in here that got carried over from the Highhelm book that I alerted the folks at Paizo to over on that book's product thread. Luis Loza has confirmed it was indeed an accident and will be corrected, but I figured since the same art's here on Page 8 of the guide it'd be prudent to alert again so it gets fixed here too.

Did anyone else catch what Ayindelar elves can do at will?

Good catch!! There’s two mentione of them here, their first in any product.

rainzax wrote:

Wait what is a “Battle Master?”

Nothing noteworthy. NPCs have had more descriptive pseudo-classes since the start of 2E; it doesn't mean they're adding a Battle Master class

I would not call the role of a high level NPC in the AP's starting city nothing noteworthy. But yes, it's a role. Not a class and not an archetype.

Come to think of it, I wonder how these quick descriptions will fare with the removal of alignment. I guess they will put a few descriptive adjectives. Which will eat more wordcount.

This is a really great players guide, absolutely lovd the little paragraphs of context for the different recommended ancestries <3

Yes. The descriptive text is really good. A bit sad that it seemed not completely aligned with the table. Less that in the Blood Lords' PG.

I feel making sure that both are 100% clear and consistent would help.

For example, I had a concept of a Baba Yaga Witch erudite in obscure lores but Witch seems not so great, ftom the table, and is not even mentioned in the text about lore-oriented classes when I feel it could fit even better than Wizard (which is mentioned). But there is zero explanation of why this Class is not such a good fit for this AP.

Also the table is missing the alignments column, even though they are in the text.

I wonder how they will describe the kind of characters that fit future APs and those that are not appropriate after Remastered gets rid of alignments.

Evan Tarlton wrote:

Did anyone else catch what Ayindelar elves can do at will?

Good catch!! There’s two mentione of them here, their first in any product.

IIRC, we're going to get a Darklands article in Sky King #3. It won't go into much detail about them, but some. I'm very interested in how they can apparently cast Darkness at will, given who else can do that.

Heads up, there's a bit of accidentally problematic art in here that got carried over from the Highhelm book that I alerted the folks at Paizo to over on that book's product thread. Luis Loza has confirmed it was indeed an accident and will be corrected, but I figured since the same art's here on Page 8 of the guide it'd be prudent to alert again so it gets fixed here too.

I think it's due cultural difference, for example in Italy the one without "wings" was used by far-right groups so this version generate less controversy in this country. As far as I know this formation was the last big one that used it as a symbol so a research would have also bring it up.

Always good to know what symbols they use for the reasons listed by Mark Moreland in the linked product thread.

silversarcasm wrote:

This is a really great players guide, absolutely lovd the little paragraphs of context for the different recommended ancestries <3

Yes. The descriptive text is really good. A bit sad that it seemed not completely aligned with the table. Less that in the Blood Lords' PG.

I feel making sure that both are 100% clear and consistent would help.

For example, I had a concept of a Baba Yaga Witch erudite in obscure lores but Witch seems not so great, ftom the table, and is not even mentioned in the text about lore-oriented classes when I feel it could fit even better than Wizard (which is mentioned). But there is zero explanation of why this Class is not such a good fit for this AP.

It think that's something we can work on in the future. This table was inspired by the one James included in the Kingmaker Player's Guide, and the format is still new enough and sufficiently qualitative that I relied more on intuition and my knowledge of major scenes in the Adventure Path, rather than a particular science.

As a peek behind the scenes, I wrote the ancestries, backgrounds, and Highhelm overview about 9 months ago to help the playtesters for 193. The class and skill sections came about 7 months later, which might have introduced a little dissonance.

I wonder how they will describe the kind of characters that fit future APs and those that are not appropriate after Remastered gets rid of alignments.

Remains to be seen! Certainly I've found myself using alignment shorthand in some outlines just as a way to start discussing a group's or NPC's morality, but that quickly shifts toward exploring the figure's motivations, values, and methods. Likely the next Player's Guide I write will explore not-alignment kinda like I did with classes and skills in Sky King's Tomb: talking about broad objectives and myriad ways the PCs can address them.

Yes. This PG (and the table) made me realize there was not really a strict methodology, but more the writer's best efforts.

Which is also why I put these notes. Not to criticize but to maybe help with the whole process of continuous improvement you all do on the Paizo side.

Brothers of the mine rejoice!

Swing, swing, swing with me
Raise your pick and raise your voice!
Sing, sing, sing with me
Down and down into the deep
Who knows what we'll find beneath?
Diamonds, rubies, gold and more
Hidden in the mountain store

Born underground, suckled from a teat of stone
Raised in the dark, the safety of our mountain home
Skin made of iron, steel in our bones
To dig and dig makes us free
Come on brothers sing with me!

I am a dwarf and I'm digging a hole
Diggy diggy hole, diggy diggy hole
I am a dwarf and I'm digging a hole
Diggy diggy hole, digging a hole

The old rhymes...they're on my mind...

The pic on pg 14, Sweeet.

Evan Tarlton wrote:

Did anyone else catch what Ayindelar elves can do at will?

Good catch!! There’s two mentione of them here, their first in any product.

And there was also a mention of driders, which surprised me. But then it's still an OGL product.

Yes. This PG (and the table) made me realize there was not really a strict methodology, but more the writer's best efforts.

Which is also why I put these notes. Not to criticize but to maybe help with the whole process of continuous improvement you all do on the Paizo side.

Sounds good, and I appreciate your keeping feedback constructive.

I appreciate the article about how to deal with darkness which helps to manage expectations and ensure players are prepared and brainstorming early.

I appreciate the article about how to deal with darkness which helps to manage expectations and ensure players are prepared and brainstorming early.

Agreed. It's been a little frustrating running Abomination Vaults and having the adventure written as though everyone has darkvision (especially in spots where 2e's no-range-cap darkvision would mean you can see multiple encounters at once)

The Raven Black wrote:

Yes. This PG (and the table) made me realize there was not really a strict methodology, but more the writer's best efforts.

Which is also why I put these notes. Not to criticize but to maybe help with the whole process of continuous improvement you all do on the Paizo side.

Sounds good, and I appreciate your keeping feedback constructive.

Thank you for your very kind words.

I agree with the above posters that the article about darkness brought great value. I found it inspiring and eye-opening, especially the parts about places other than the Darklands. In fact, it brings value to both GM and players beyond the AP itself.

One thing I would have skipped is the blocks of the dwarven deities. Because these are already accessible on AoN and a simple reference to the site would have cut on word count that could then be used for even more other PG goodness.

One thing I would have skipped is the blocks of the dwarven deities. Because these are already accessible on AoN and a simple reference to the site would have cut on word count that could then be used for even more other PG goodness.

Unlike the printed Adventure Paths, Player's Guides are digital products whose word counts aren't restricted by page count and page space. Instead, they have soft limits based on how much the team can reasonably write, edit, and lay out during the project window. Because a Player's Guide aims to make information as accessible as possible—don't want to force folks to jump across many sources—and the adventures reference these deities periodically, adding dwarven pantheon information made sense here.

The Raven Black wrote:

One thing I would have skipped is the blocks of the dwarven deities. Because these are already accessible on AoN and a simple reference to the site would have cut on word count that could then be used for even more other PG goodness.

Unlike the printed Adventure Paths, Player's Guides are digital products whose word counts aren't restricted by page count and page space. Instead, they have soft limits based on how much the team can reasonably write, edit, and lay out during the project window. Because a Player's Guide aims to make information as accessible as possible—don't want to force folks to jump across many sources—and the adventures reference these deities periodically, adding dwarven pantheon information made sense here.

Thank you for the clarification and for taking time to post here. And thank you for a really good Player's Guide.

Loving the format for recommending classes and skills/feats; the category headers rather than a blow by blow of each class.

I like this!

Question regarding the Campaign Backgrounds - would you say a dwarven Child of Notoriety would likely (or definitely) be 'clanless'?

The background description says:

"One or more of your ancestors committed a grave atrocity, and even though you’ve tried to live your own life, your family’s grim past looms over you like a relentless shadow. You might have traveled a thousand miles to escape the legends, learned how to ingratiate yourself to others, just tried to ignore the everyday accusing glances, or even accepted the notoriety just to be left alone. You didn’t commit the crime, yet it haunts you."

The relevant text from Lost Omens: Highhelem says:

"Dwarves who are involuntarily expelled have their clan daggers confiscated and the magic removed in a ceremony of banishment. This is a terrible, traumatic experience for both the exile and the family forced to publicly renounce their outcast kin."

and

"Though rare, clanless dwarves do exist. Dwarves born to exiles or other clanless dwarves don’t receive a clan dagger at the time of their birth, but could receive one later. A clanless dwarf can always petition any other clan for a stock dagger without any identifying insignia or gem, though clans typically refuse petitions from a banished dwarf. Clanless dwarves can attempt to join a clan through the typical means, such as marriage or by earning a place with its people."

Question regarding the Campaign Backgrounds - would you say a dwarven Child of Notoriety would likely (or definitely) be 'clanless'?

The background description says:

Quote:

"One or more of your ancestors committed a grave atrocity, and even though you’ve tried to live your own life, your family’s grim past looms over you like a relentless shadow. You might have traveled a thousand miles to escape the legends, learned how to ingratiate yourself to others, just tried to ignore the everyday accusing glances, or even accepted the notoriety just to be left alone. You didn’t commit the crime, yet it haunts you."

The relevant text from Lost Omens: Highhelem says:

Quote:

"Dwarves who are involuntarily expelled have their clan daggers confiscated and the magic removed in a ceremony of banishment. This is a terrible, traumatic experience for both the exile and the family forced to publicly renounce their outcast kin."

and

Quote:

"Though rare, clanless dwarves do exist. Dwarves born to exiles or other clanless dwarves don’t receive a clan dagger at the time of their birth, but could receive one later. A clanless dwarf can always petition any other clan for a stock dagger without any identifying insignia or gem, though clans typically refuse petitions from a banished dwarf. Clanless dwarves can attempt to join a clan through the typical means, such as marriage or by earning a place with its people."

Only if the player wants this for their PC.