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G'day fellow PF enthusiasts and Paizonians! I am seeking a quick clarification on the RAW vs RAI on the Tallow Bombs introduced in Broken Tusk Moon. The text, according to AoN (alas, I do not own the book) is as follows.
Quote:
A mixture of rendered animal fat and acids designed to ignite the fat when exposed to air, a tallow bomb creates a splash of burning oil that adheres to skin, clothes, and hair. A tallow bomb deals the listed fire damage, persistent fire damage, and splash damage. On a critical hit, a living creature taking persistent fire damage from a tallow bomb is sickened 1 from the stench of burning fat and can't reduce its sickened value below 1 while the persistent fire damage lasts. Many types of tallow bombs grant an item bonus to attack rolls.
Quote:
Tallow Bomb (Lesser)
Item 1
Source Pathfinder #175: Broken Tusk Moon pg. 75
Price 3 gp
Bulk L
The bomb deals 1d4 persistent fire damage and 1 fire splash damage.
After some debate on the Pathfinder 2E Discord, I'm willing to agree that because Persistent Damage is a condition, it does not benefit from precision damage generated by–for example–a rogue's sneak attack. Because there is no "listed fire damage", the first actual damage type listed by the bomb is the "1 fire splash damage."
This seems like an oversight, where the RAI clearly intended there to be a "1 fire damage" at the start as is the case for an Acid Flask. RAW, we're looking at a rogue dealing 1d4 persistent fire damage and 3d6+1 fire splash with a lesser Tallow Bomb.
It would, of course, be ridiculous to allow precision damage to apply to a splash, but I figured I may as well post about it to clarify that this was a RAW/RAI issue and not a deliberate, if baffling, design choice.
The year is 21xx. Grass is a distant memory. Water, merely a series of blue smudges on the Flat. The air reeks of dry-erase.
It began innocently enough. Accessories to aid in playing games with friends. Back then, we could be close to each other. Now? Five feet apart. Always. To say humanity is on the verge of extinction would be a macabre joke. There are no verges anymore. Not since the Golem won.
Hey there folks, just wanted to let everyone know the PDF and JPG files don't include the card backing shown here on the product page. You can just drag and drop the card backing from this page, but I hope they include a higher quality version of it in the digital releases.
I am all for wholesome stories of heroes overcoming trauma, injury, and prejudice. I am also all for stories of heroes being heroes even if they're not assembled the same way as many others.
What I hesitate at is the first clause of the second sentence in the tenth paragraph.
"With nowhere to go and nothing but time on his hands,"
Like... ouch Michael Sayre, you already called out the salt in the wound from the seawater, this is egregious.
As should be expected after a decade of GMing, I received an unexpected question from one of my players last week that I could not solidly answer.
What is the market rate for your average egg laying hen?
Apparently this trivia is a thing with one of this player's friends, who scales RPG economies on the relative value of a chicken.
Back in the PF1 Ultimate Equipment days the answer would have been 1gp, but the restructuring of the economy to be backed by silver instead of gold means those prices are obsolete.
My gut says they'd be worth around 1 sp, but that silver goes much further than it used to. 1 sp gets you a whole Explorer's Outfit, but back in PF1 you'd need 100sp to get one!
Thoughts? Maybe they'll have some prices for stuff in Absalom, City of Lost Omens but I'd hoped to answer such a seemingly simple question before then.
I'm a fan of the "not a singular source" school of thought. I've got a breakdown here. I've spoilered it to save space.
Spoiler:
We swear with voices cold as death, (Pharasma)
While yet we stand, and yet draw breath, (Cayden Cailean, standing bravely in the face of the impossible looming undead hordes)
We shall not let the dead endure, (Torag)
Nor let them taint our lands verdure. (Erastil and/or Gozreh)
We shall not falter, shall not rout, (Iomedae, whose cloak turns crimson when going into battle)
But cut them down, and burn them out. (Asmodeus)
We swear on Vigil's shattered walls, (Ragathiel)
Our Crimson Oath, the Tyrant falls!
Now, certainly, Asmodeus seems like an unconventional inclusion for something like this. Here are my head-canon justifications.
1. Swearing an oath is a contract.
2. He doesn't want his brother, whom he himself cut down, to be brought back as an undead god. Who truly knows what the Whispering Tyrant would do if he attained his own divinity?
3. He was willing to collaborate with the other core 20s to imprison Rovagug, so there's precedent.
With this and the Flavormancers from the GCP Live show I hope we're building up to Combat Chef archetype/feats/themes/spells/full 20 level progression class.
I don't suppose there'll be rules in the CRB or LO World Guide for character creation via a Harrowing? It's terribly impractical but thematically delicious. :)
In support of the paladin using poison: Two arguments. One of Mercy, and one of Consent.
In the case of mercy, think of the person who dies a slow and painful death. A stomach wound in an antimagic zone (Mana Wastes), or of terminal illness in the cleric-starved Rahadoum. To let this person suffer, I think, would be against the Paladin's first tenant. While it says they cannot murder, it also says they cannot torture, and having a choice between:
"The wound is too grievous, I can give you this draught to take the pain away and ease you along. May we meet again on Heaven's glorious heights, dear friend."
And...
"I see you're in excruciating pain as you die, and I have this liquid that would take the pain away with the same end result, but I'mma let you suffer, cuz rules."
...seems to favor the first set-up. The actual poison itself is largely irrelevant, so long as it is painless and does as the paladin says it will, a la an ingestible painkiller in a massive dose. It could be said that this is murder but, given that torture and murder are considered equitable within the code, that question's for the gods.
In Golarion, the NG deity of the sun, benevolence, honesty, and mercy, Sarenrae, has a concept within her faith known as "The Final Mercy." Should an evil creature refuse to repent, and their continued existence would cause more harm to innocents, Sarenrae gives her worshippers, paladins and otherwise, to slay them. Particular to her faith is an overriding motive towards harm reduction, and mercy-killing an ailing innocent could reasonably fall under that.
In the case of consent, a paladin who knows he is going into hostile territory could coat his weapon with a numbing agent or paralytic to incapacitate without having to kill. When attacked, the paladin would warn any intelligent attacker, ideally before combat starts. The enemy has to mitigate the weapon anyway, so the paladin doesn't need to keep its presence secret–to wit, keeping it secret would be dishonorable. If the enemy chooses to fight the paladin anyway, they are acknowledging the risk and choosing to go forward anyway. I mean, who really reads the Terms and Conditions?
Eoxian society in general doesn't seem well suited for esoteric mysticism, but I don't see why you couldn't have an undead Solarian, at least without making an explicit cosmological judgement. So, there's probably at least a few oddballs who reject the Eoxian norm. I imagine they tend to follow an ethos along the lines of "Take into your hand the eternal cycle, and control it". Eoxian Solarians don't serve the stars, they command them, just as they refuse to serve the cycle of life and death.
I'd like to back this up with a silly linguistic quirk of the setting.
Back in Pathfinder's ancient history, there were a bunch of really bad folks called Runelords. They were all a bit melodramatic, and modeled their magic, ethos, personality, and surroundings to suit the theme of one of the Seven Mortal Sins. The Runelord of Pride was named Xanderghul.
Xander-ghul.
"-ghul" sounds like "Ghoul."
Clearly, Xanderghul was Eoxian, and this explains his immortality and his obnoxious self-obsession. The cataclysm that destroyed Eox's ecosystems was probably his fault too. In turn, his influence as a Bone Sage would instill a cultural more of inherent superiority.
Your mentioning of Devourer cultist Solarions got me thinking about each core 20 deity's ideas about solarions.
Abadar: Alignment, coordination, comprehensive thinking, and harmonic interactions are the best way to progress civilization out amongst the stars. Plus, there's a a significant amount of chaos out there that needs some methodical identification, categorization, and subsequent smiting.
Desna: Stars man, they're like, everywhere, and they're great, and we should go see them all!
Besmara: Mood swings like the waves of the oceans of a missing planet. Equal distribution of powers between Photon and Graviton. to be good whether manic or depressive.
Iomedae/Sarenrae: Praise the Sun.
Yaraesa: Approves of the rigorous meditations and introspection of the traditional Kasathan practice of Solarionism, but also appreciates the folk who want to feel the forces of the universe just because.
Hylax: Understanding the hows and whys of opposing viewpoints is imperative to diplomacy.
Weydan: Space is composed of both creation and destruction. There is something worth seeing in both.
Talavet: Prefers scholarly solarions, the philosopher side of "warrior-philosophers."
Eloritu: Eloritu's holy symbol is comprised of magical glyphs from multiple distinct cultures from throughout the Dark Tapestry. There are secrets past each star and in the center of every black hole.
Ibra: Literally the deific embodiment of stars and black holes.
Oras: Systems with different kinds of stars/orbits will create different conditions for evolution. Suddenly swapping them will be a neat experiment.
Triune: Quit hacking the universe! As if the Technomancers weren't enough of a headache.
Damoritosh: Crush your enemy, bring them low with the power of the gravitons, and vaporize their hope with the fury of a neutron star.
Zon-Kuthon: Doesn't care much for the brightness of the sun, but without it shadows would not be cast. Loves the burns it leaves. Forcing someone to obey you with a force-choke is always handy.
Lao Shu Po: Ascended to divinity by eating the corpse of a moon goddess. After that, not much connection.
Urgathoa: Snuff all the stars, collapse all the black holes.
The Devourer: Crush, burn, crush, burn burn BURN, crush.
Nyarlathotep: *Opens creepy trench coat* Hey, you wanna buy a Schwarzchild, Stellar, or Supermassive? No? How about Neutron, Red Dwarf, or Quasar?"
While the following idea works far better for an NPC than a PC, I'd like to take your (wonderful and super cool) epiphany one step further.
Given that there are sentient forces of active balancing in the universe and, that collective consciousnesses unconsciousnesses? exist in environments where none should be, who is to say that the will is the Solarion's at all?
What if the will is that of the universe itself?
Theoretically, it could happen. There are many instances of mortals, usually villains, becoming the manifestation of some natural/supernatural force. Ethereal undead are half-remembered souls bound to negative energy and a bit of ectoplasm. The Druids of Lost Golarion referred to "nature" as a reciprocative entity that empowered its defenders.
Granted, mortal minds are not so good with cosmological scales, they can only handle so much at any one time. (Thus, limiting it to whatever the character's charisma score could feasibly explain.) Example: An Aeon bestows the powers that balance the universe unto a mortal, but the mortal's will/identity is then wholly or partially subsumed into that greater conceptual structure.
It should be said, I love your idea way more than mine, but given that yours is so terribly perfect for PC's, I figured I should give the NPC's a fair shake.
My headcanon is that they can all read, but not-reading is the cool thing in their culture, so they all pretend they are less literate than the next guy. If someone gets caught reading or understanding text presented to them, it is a source of shame and public excommunication.
If you’re the GM, you can modify rules as you see fit, it says as much in the introductory chapter. If you aren’t the GM, talk to your GM about it.
Related: Starfinder doesn’t require critical rolls to be confirmed. Pathfinder’s CRB was far and away a modified DND 3.5, which was by another company. In order to maintain as much of the fan base as they could (as this was a scary new venture for Paizo way back then) they kept a lot of rules that they didn’t necessarily agree with/want, and perhaps this was a result of that. The only real reason I suspect that is because it was removed from Starfinder.
Not that ridiculous. Paladins not using Poison is a part of their code. Just because some poisons have alternate uses doesn't mean the Paladin is clear to use it. Hence the Animate Dead analogy.
By that logic, Paladins can lie and break city laws if it ends up saving lives, to which point I say "What's the point of a Paladin Code?" Why have a mechanic in the game that does nothing but make the game implement some false sense of duty that doesn't really need to be upheld?
All this tells me is that Paladins can run games amok because anyone who uses their code against their playstyle is doing badwrongfun.
Two distinctions need to be made here.
1. "Evil" isn't simply a moral viewpoint in Pathfinder, it is a tangible energy. It has physical qualities like light and matter. Animate Dead uses this energy in its casting, which is why it has the evil descriptor. Even using it for a Good purpose, you're still dealing with that energy. Comparing it to a plant, which is not composed of Evil energy, such as wolfsbane, is inaccurate in that the plant doesn't hold/harvest/interact with evil energy.
An earlier user mentioned the dosage idea. The given example was an apple, which contains trace amounts of cyanide and arsenic, but giving someone an apple isn't going to hurt them, and thus, the paladin wouldn't fall. The same could be said for wolfsbane. When dosed correctly–ask your local alchemist for proper dosage requirements!–wolfsbane will cure the lycanthropy without killing the afflicted.
2. The "not use poison" idea is grammatically a sub-clause of "act honorably." Which means, acting honorably is the actual tenet of the code. Not using poison is merely an example. More to the point, the only item of the code that is explicitly stated as being punishable by "falling" is willingly committing an evil act. The other stuff is labeled "Additionally," meaning, not necessarily punishable but part of the code anyway.
3. Medicine in the assumed technology level of Pathfinder (using Golarion as an example) would entirely be herbal. Poultices, potions, vapors–which we now know to be unhelpful, but was common practice in Earth's equivalent technological era–and as an additive in food, herbs were the only way to heal people before pharmaceuticals. Surgery was so dangerous before germ theory that it was essentially a death sentence. St. John's Wort helps with heart disease, but too much could cause a heart attack. Chamomile aids in sleep, but too much can cause a melatonin imbalance, leading to insomnia or hypersomnia. Aloe can heal the skin after a sunburn, but eating it can cause all kinds of digestive unpleasantness. Wolfsbane can cure lycanthropy, but too much could cause a heart attack, much like St. Johns Wort.
Lastly, I don't know if you're using Golarion or a homebrew world, but Torag's (LG god of dwarves) paladin code says:
Inner Sea Gods pg 150, sidebar wrote:
I am at all times truthful, honorable, and forthright, but my allefiance is to my people. I will do what is necessary to serve them, including misleading others if need be.
Which not only gives the paladin the ability to break the normal code so long as it serves the greater good, it gives the paladin the choice. The paladin could still be honest, but if it would endanger his people, he absolutely shouldn't be honest.
77) The ship was cursed by a space-leprechaun, and appears back in your pocket with the next sunrise. Coincidentally, you're running out of comfy space suits.
78) It has the returning property.
79) It has the unremovable stench from that one Seinfeld episode.
80) Upon anyone signing a contract for its sale, it immediately collapses into its component parts. Upon the contract's destruction, the ship spontaneously and reassembles to whatever state it was in before the contract.
81) Any time the PC's try to sell it they all experience a localized mini-Gap. Everyone forgets the attempted sale, and find themselves doing their regular thing a few hundred light years–still near space–from the place in which they tried to sell it.
As mentioned above, matching mechanics with real-world realism is a dangerous game to play. Any system, analyzed closely enough, breaks down.
That being said, here are a few in world potentials for getting around that pesky rule:
When a would-be druid is accepted for training, the materials to learn druidic are available, but only through aptitude in the druidic arts can they understand their significance and/or identify their existence. "Nature's power is through its myriad harmonies. Birds live in branches as beetles live in wood as badgers live amongst the roots. You must expand your perceptions of nature's many wonders if you are to learn its mysteries."
A patron fey/kami teaches the apprentice and, being a spirit of nature themselves, they are immune to losing nature-based magic. (Flies contrary to rules, but again, magic.)
The druid goes on a vision quest (a la Native American vision quests) and some force within that quest reveals the cipher for decoding druidic signs.
A strong psychic influence grants them the ability to see connections where they could not before. (Apophenia, but useful.)
(For reincarnated/samsaran/android druids) They knew it in a past life. Somehow it stuck with them.
They don't consciously understand it, but receive its information subconsciously and act accordingly. Just in the way that a wolf doesn't announce its intent to eat your face, by recognizing its presence, slavering fangs, and hostile body language, you get the idea.
PF assumes that anyone beyond four levels in an adventuring class is super rare, and their statistics for populations certainly agree with that. If someone with sorcery in their blood is one in 1000, then a 5th level sorcerer is one in 10,000.
In addition to the suppression effect mentioned by Matthew Downie, here are a few other considerations:
Megalomania: Power, and the acquisition of such, is not usually the driving force in any person's life. Usually, those who devote themselves to it end up on the receiving end of a bunch of PC weapons/spells. People adventure for a reason and, while certainly glory and wealth are often reasons, people have a threshold for how much of those things they want/need. Some do it as a once off to have a comfortable life, others want fabulous wealth (quite often dying in the process.) People who adventure solely for power, without exception, do so to be stronger than something else, which implies opposition. Opposition is notably fangy, magicky, and stabby in Golarion.
Knowledge: Character Generation is 100% pure metagaming. It has to be, since we have to use outside knowledge of the game mechanics to build the character. In-world, this knowledge either doesn't exist, or is so esoteric and high-level, it is inaccessible to any but the gods themselves. They don't know they're part of a game, and they certainly don't chose the stats they're born with. Do you know, with certainty, your stats? More likely, you know what you have been able to do, and what you've failed at. Baba Yaga is as powerful as she is because she has lived a thousand+ lifetimes and travelled every existence. That much data, in the hands of someone intelligent enough, would grant her knowledge suitable to ascend her (and J, Jacobs has said she could if she wanted to, but she doesn't, which implies she knows even more than she should.)
Resources: Much in the same way that most NPC's don't get past 4th level in an adventuring class, so too do they not get access to higher level resources. Money, crafting supplies, etc. You gotta spend money to make money, but if you never had the money in the first place, no dice.
The House of Cards: Tarik Blackhands was entirely correct. Fantasy requires us to suspend our disbelief, or it will collapse.
The chaotic nature of Fey-zers makes them perfect for combating the Borg.
As for the OP, I'd say they probably dabble in madness and zipping between stars. I can only imagine how many Lurkers in Light there are around VY Canis Majoris. *shudder*
Well it's already been mentioned that canonically Desna, Sarenrae, and Shelyn are lovers.
Where was this mentioned? A triad of that significance seems like something worth mentioning in Inner Sea Gods, however, one line in her section about relationships with other deities says:
Inner Sea Gods p145-146 wrote:
The Eternal Rose has loved many minor and major deities, but refuses to bind herself to any of them and has borne no children.
Furthermore, it mentions that Sarenrae believes her good-intentioned, but naive. Desna isn't actually mentioned at all.
Sorry Mr. Daigle, but acid tentacles and the metal ship most players require would not be a safe match. "Accidental spacewalking" is only funny the first or third time.
Dragons Undermining Magnanimous Braggadocios (D.U.M.B) is the elite team of dragons who rudely, but stealthily, interrupt altruistic heroes telling stories of their heroics to OLIVE, Orphans Living Vicariously Everyday.
I wish for someone to pay for a Pathfinder: Campaign Setting subscription, with me as the recipient, without wanting anything in return.
Here are a few suggestions as to why paper money hasn't become popular on Golarion:
Technology: The printing press is a complex machine, and only powerful/wealthy organizations/people possess them. Certainly, the church of the god of wealth would be able to afford them, but producing these machines would be difficult and resource heavy. Given how volatile the IS region is, I can see why they wouldn't want to make that kind of investment.
Geopolitics: Some countries would not allow their currency to be regulated by the Abadaran faith. Nirmathas, for example, considers Abadar to be Molthune's patron deity, and they would not trust Nirmathi money being in the same hands of a faith that encourages their enemy. Cheliax and Taldor would be too resistant to relinquishing that power (despite the fact that Absalom has them by the coin purses anyway.)
Faith: 1. Feasibly, there are LE and LG churches of Abadar out there, and they might squabble and skulldugger around the prospect that one's currency is worth more than the other, and suddenly exchange rates become a concept, and that subsequently becomes less efficient than the gold coins. 2. The Abadaran faith is known for its love of law, and a love of arguing it. The bureaucratic gridlock that would ensue during the moneymaking process would cripple both the church and the printing.
Destruction: Paper money is much more easily damaged and, in a wild rough-and-tumble world like Golarion, it's conceivable that the money would be destroyed faster than it could be printed. Paper bills work in our soft fleshy hands, but what about the clawed hands of a lizardfolk? Or the hard and rocky hands of an Oread? The slimy hands of grippli? Making them magically tough is a solution, but then you drive up the cost of production.
Magic: With access to extradimensional magic (from the humble Bag of Holding to a Magnificent Mansion) storing vast wealth becomes less of a problem. To wit, if someone has so much gold that they are having trouble storing it, they are almost certainly wealthy enough to spend some on a demiplane on which to store it. You know those quarter dispensing belts? Link one of those to the demiplane somehow and bam, there's as much of your fortune as you need, whenever, wherever.
Fraud: The spell fabricate would lead to devastatingly easy counterfeits. Yes, it takes a moderately powerful caster to use the spell but, after that, all they'd need is a bunch of paper and ink (super cheap) to make notes of any value. The spell requires "the original material, which costs the same amount as the raw materials required to craft the item to be created". It would take 1gp's worth of gold to make 1gp, because it is its own value. Ink and paper are coppers a piece, and making them into 100gp notes would be ludicrously profitable. Magic and unique inks could certainly counter these forgeries, but that would take time, money, and effort the church could not realistically afford all across the world.
Being awesome adventurers is great. It's just the bee's knees. That being said, some adventurers coming from other settings often bring knowledge with them that doesn't match up with Golarion-The existence of drow comes to mind-or lack knowledge that any socialized Golarion native would know. (One gold is enough for a day's food, a night's stay at a common inn, and a whole gallon of ale.) Players new to Golarion are fine and welcome but, for dedicated roleplayers unfamiliar with Golarion, not knowing about the setting can put a damper on things.
For "common knowledge" examples: in Inner Sea Races, there are sidebars talking about cultural cornerstones and outside prejudices/generalizations. Those are suggested as "common" opinions. In Rise of the Runelords there's a sidebar "Ten Fun Facts About Goblins."
I am of the opinion that collecting such information (along with other generalized bits of info) into a softcover would be a huge benefit to players looking to get into the setting. It could also serve as a book chock-full of adventure/roleplaying lures, whether or not the "common knowledge" is true or only as real as Razmir's divinity.
Setting the base assumptions for the world, especially from the commoner's perspective, would not only add cohesiveness to the shared world experience, but it would also remind players who're used to being the creme de la creme of champions just how special they are. Example: "Even an adventurer of modest skill can make more money in a week than your village will in a decade or more. They treat gold worse than you treat copper, the ingrates."
Obviously, most tables play Golarion in their own way. I'd never want to squash that wonderful creativity. Finding a balance between "suggesting" and "deciding" on how Golarion works is something Paizo has always done very well, and I have no doubt they'd be able to do this with equal grace.
"But Alayern!" said no one, ever. "Why not just read the Inner Sea World Guide? It's the go-to setting book and has all that stuff you're talking about. The book you want has been done before."
"True." I respond to nobody. "But here's why the softcover would still be marketable:
Softcovers are cheaper, reducing the Will Save DC against price barrier.
It can be formatted akin to the Beginner Box Materials; focused on ease of reading. The ISWG is gorgeous, but it's so jam-packed it can seem dense to some readers.
For players getting used to roleplaying, having some precooked ideas can be a good launching point. The ISWG has facts galore, but not much subjectivity, which roleplay is all about.
For tried and true Golarion vets, it can give them an array of, or help them generate their own, in-world slang and aphorisms to accentuate their style. Side note: Whoever worked on the aphorisms sections in Inner Sea Gods, thank you very very much, those were great.
For players starting into PFS, it could reduce confusion at the table, making games run smoother.
My personal life would be a wonderful 70%-30% mix between Shelyn-Arshea, and my work life would be Sarenrae all the way.
Art, music, love, intimacy, like others have mentioned these are the things that (in my opinion) make life worth living. Whenever I was not enjoying/creating these wonders I would be using any ability I had to help those who could not help themselves, and help those fallen to darkness to see the light again.
Knowing someone's struggles, and helping them through them, is something both Shelyn and Sarenrae support. Even if I couldn't be either of their cleric, I would be a champion for both of their causes.
I must admit, in the dark hours before sleep my mind would wander to poor Naderi, and the ever looming Groetus, but never for too long. I would remind myself of the love of Shelyn and the hope Sarenrae's light brings, and I would dream sweet Desnan dreams.
My personal life would be a wonderful 70%-30% mix between Shelyn-Arshea, and my work life would be Sarenrae all the way.
Art, music, love, intimacy, like others have mentioned these are the things that (in my opinion) make life worth living. Whenever I was not enjoying/creating these wonders I would be using any ability I had to help those who could not help themselves, and help those fallen to darkness to see the light again.
Knowing someone's struggles, and helping them through them, is something both Shelyn and Sarenrae support. Even if I couldn't be either of their cleric, I would be a champion for both of their causes.
I must admit, in the dark hours before sleep my mind would wander to poor Naderi, and the ever looming Groetus, but never for too long. I would remind myself of the love of Shelyn and the hope Sarenrae's light brings, and I would dream sweet Desnan dreams.
They use ~^*MAGIC*^~ to send all sentient life into an endless nightmare, so Nethys thinks they're a bunch of cool dudes. To be fair, people who fight against them also use ~^*MAGIC*^~, so it basically cancels out.
Besides that, I'm not sure anyone anywhere is okay with the Mythos. Maybe some Demon Lords?
.
This is a good question. Here are the ones that I know of:
1. Ustalav. Especially in Versex, Sinaria, Barstoi and Varno counties.
2. Numeria
3. Brevoy
4. Iobaria
5. The Padishah Empire
6. Thuvia or the Mwangi Expanse
7. Geb
8. Nidal
9. Isger
10. Qadira
11. Varisia
12. Realm of the Mammoth Lords
13. River Kingdoms
Most other civilized kingdoms would not accept the worship. However, there are always cults of the Old gods and goddesses around.
I must politely disagree with a couple of these. My arguments are entirely supposition, however, I've chosen the most pronounced examples where open worship of this kind wouldn't be tolerated. If you have evidence, I will be gladly contradicted, as I would much rather be correct.
5. The Padishah Empire of Kelesh has Sarenrae as not only its most popular but its official state sponsored deity. While her primary focus is redemption/healing, and her primary enemies are the qlippoth and Spawn of Rovagug, I can't imagine her clergy would allow Outer God or Great Old one cults in any sort of open environment.
6. Nidal, while certainly spooky and shadowy, is under the direct thrall of Zon-Kuthon. ZK would not tolerate open worship of anyone besides himself, and his clergy would violently eliminate any such heresy.
Plenty of deities/near deities wouldn't mind messing with the arena.
Milani would incite rebellion.
Cayden Cailean would give them the bravery (and/or foolhardiness) to fight for their freedom.
Desna could have given them dream-visions of how to escape.
Lamashtu could have summoned a beast to set them free and/or otherwise harm their captors in a way that provides an escape.
A lot of the chaotic or neutral near-deities (Empyreal Lords, Demon Lords, Protean Lords etc) could have their own reasons for setting them free/causing an event that they could use to escape.
Were you involved in encouraging the approval/development of the Holy Trinity of 2016? (Inner Sea Temples, Divine Anthology, Healer's Handbook)? I'd say it's a good year to be a divine caster.
Given that Earth has the "man on the moon" concept involving the dark spaces/craters resembling the outline of a man's face, does Golarion's moon have a skull-like visage? I'm thinking ala Groetus.
Seeing as so much of Avistan (and even some of Garund) has been influenced by Azlant, how much did that influence your impending/ongoing involvement with Ruins of Azlant?
As the creative director it would seem to make sense for you to have a special hand in the AP about the most influential civilization in the region's history.
James Jacobs remains the Creative Director for Pathfinder. James Sutter, previously Executive Editor, has ascended to the position of Creative Director for Starfinder. From what they said at the banquet, Paizo will have some people devoted to either project, and most will float between the two.
James S's reactions to prodding about a new Salim novel included "I'd really like to." and "I'm too busy at the moment." Included were humble chuckles about people wanting to read his next novel.
Starfinder will not be produced identically to PF. SF will be essentially only an AP line, at least for the foreseeable future, and all new information will be developed with each AP installment. PF will continue as normal, they mentioned no interruptions of service, and when asked for comment James Jacobs was wholly confident that SF and PF won't overshadow each other.
Imprisoned as a child by a wealthy Keleshite merchant seeking to hide the supernatural dalliance that had produced such an unusual child, Amir was raised in a world of darkness and claustrophobia. For ten long years he never left his father's basement. People would come and go to tend to him as needed, but he never saw anything past the dimly lit stairs beyond the door that held him there.
One visit from his father was the key to his liberation. "Sit in the dark child. Stop complaining. This is your lot in life." That was what his father said to him before ascending the stairs to the world of light.
Amir was angry. So very angry. His rage made him yell and scream. He stomped and he smashed, and he began to glow. His rage coalesced on his skin in flickering flames. It scared him, but did not hurt him. The next time the flames appeared, he smiled. He knew his ticket to freedom when he saw it.
He spent many months channeling his rage into the flame. He knew it was his only way out. T use his father's fear against him. Surely this was why he'd been trapped down here, to only have heard of the outside world through poorly disguised speech. He was going to see the world above. And he'd burn everything in his path to do it.
The next time his father visited Amir snapped his eyes open at him, locking their gazes. "What now brat?" Said his father.
"A bit hot down here, don't you think?" replied the child. His body exploded in crimson flame and the merchant balked. Amir used the chance to knock down his father, leap past him, and close the door. He ignored his father's pounding as he climbed the stairs he'd been longing to feel beneath his feet for so long.
He came out into a lavish townhouse staffed with exotic servants from around the world. "Get out. The Master of the House is indisposed. In his stead, I fire you all. Get out of my damn house!" The essence of his blood in full display was enough to send the servants scattering. Good. No collateral damage that way. Amir went to the fireplace and used his own flame to light it. He spread paper and cloth near the hearth. He made sure they caught, and simply left.
Since then Amir has trained his body to the pinnacle of fitness and uses his pyrotechnic abilities to free prisoners. He doesn't care why they're imprisoned. He despises any sort of incarceration and demolishes anything in the way of a person's freedom. He also has no appreciation for displays of wealth or excessive material possessions, seeing them as a metaphorical prison one builds for oneself.
"Burn it all. Walk past the ashes. Keep walking."
"Any fire that sets someone free is sacred."
Playing characters with disabilities is a very strong roleplaying choice. It sets up many possible motivations and conflicts that would do well to shape the character's future, so I can see why it has appeal.
That being said, PFS might not be the best outlet for such a character (unless they were the oracle you've already disbarred.) PFS depends on characters all sharing some basic competencies like speaking Common for example. Because of the organized play system requiring some necessary degree of time management, it might not be helpful to you (or those you are grouped with) if the progress of a given scenario needs to be slowed down to accommodate your character. This would be especially important during timed game slots like those at a convention, or during a special event your local play spaces might have.
Perhaps more directly hazardous to your potential deaf character would be traps or events dependent on sound. For instance, if your character is deaf, they might not hear the telltale click of a door locking behind them, or the eerie sound that provides a clue to everyone but your character. More common would be the bard's performance abilities which you would never be able to benefit from if they were sound based. (And most are.) it is certainly possible to use a language slot to learn to read lips, but that will only be useful when someone within your line of sight is speaking with their mouth visible.
I don't actually know if a deaf character is rules-legal or not, but even supposing it is, it might be better saved for a home game. That way the GM can anticipate how best to build encounters incorporating your character's specific existence, and you can take all the time you need to get the roleplay done right.
I second Rise of the Runelords. The AP was originally published under the 3.5 rules (with a few custom things thrown in) so it has obvious ties not only to the PF system's predecessor, but also many of the themes echo 3.5's mentality (though some of the books have dark topics not usually present in D&D, so make sure you read the adventures first.)
If this is for beginners though, you'll definitely want to check out the Pathfinder Beginner Box It has simplified character sheets that are easier to read (And look way less intimidating, they even have color coded guides) a bunch of pawns to represent the PCs and plenty of monsters, a premade adventure designed specifically to teach the players important game mechanics (that takes place in a dungeon and has the players defeat an evil dragon), and it takes place close to Varisia's town of Sandpoint, the most detailed town in the setting and the starting point for the Rise of the Runelords, Shattered Star, and Jade Regent APs. It is also regionally close to Riddleport and Korvosa, starting points for the Second Darkness and Curse of the Crimson Throne APs respectively.
Could we pretty please have a new version of The Great Beyond: The Guide to the Multiverse? I know there's an elemental planes book coming out, but I'd love an updated comprehensive book.
There's a *gasp* 3.5 era book called The Great Beyond, which covers many planes but you'll want to cross reference that with the ISWG for updates.
Books that contain planar info (despite it not being their focus) :
Faiths of Purity/Balance/Corruption
Occult Adventures
Inner Sea Gods
Most AP's and many Modules have planar info in them, the ones post-ISWG are safest for reference sake (as in, they are less likely to be contradicted elsewhere).
It bears mentioning that this thread is under the Pathfinder Campaign Setting forum. Future arguments should focus on ethical/moral positions within the setting. Discussion about real-world ethics and morals would fit better in a different forum.
On a related note, it is difficult to approach the objective morals/ethics present in the setting while we ourselves come from a subjective morals/ethics existence. The setting assumes that Good is Good no matter what, and anything that isn't Good is either Neutral, Lawful, Chaotic, or Evil.
Envall actually touched on something when mentioning the Positive and Negative energy planes. Good and Evil, Law and Chaos, are all detectable, quantifiable, and qualifiable energies within the setting. Outsiders are a single entity, they don't have a body and soul like mortals do. It would be more accurate to say they are the respective energies of their plane given form. Here is a metaphor for example: If water were Neutral, adding Heat (Good energy) turns the water into steam (which is the "good" form of water for the sake of the metaphor.) whereas cold (evil) turns the water to ice (the evil form for the sake of the metaphor.)
When mortals in the setting perform specific acts, their soul (again with the heat vs cold metaphor) becomes either hotter or colder. They are, by virtue of their actions, controlling the temperature of their soul. A soul that is mostly steam will ascend to the good aligned planes, whereas a a soul that is mostly ice will (the metaphor has some difficulty here, bear with me) turn into Ice-9 (ice that can't melt) and form massive super dense glaciers that sink into the evil planes.
We can think of Law-Chaos as the water's pH. A more basic (lawful) water will go to a lawfully aligned plane when it rises or sinks, and then a more acidic (chaos) water will go to one of the chaotic planes when it rises/sinks.
Pure Good would only be hostile to Evil mortals. If it's hostile towards mortal life, or any life for existing, then it's not Good.
Life, or rather to "not be dead" is not the endgame of this problem.
Pure Good is smothering. "Necessary Evil" is a fun term to use this time because mortals need Evil. Pure Good is fangless, it is the mind numbing utopia of still peace and stagnant action. When mortals are asked to give up their vices for the "Greater Good", the response is always rebellion. And they are right to rebel, Evil is necessary for mortal life.
Because Pure Good would ask us to forsake the raw impulses of the core sins to truly fit into the world Pure Good wants to create. Even Good Deities cannot truly fit into that world, because they are not (thank god because that makes it all more interesting) completely without flaws. Io loves to see loving, righterous kings, but having a ruler will always create, no matter how kind and just, some seeds of envy.
Extreme ideals are always hostile to mortal life.
Statements bolded are those I wish to rebut:
1. This is an opinion, for the sake of debate please focus on in-world evidence.
2. Elysium (the CG plane) would disagree. Gorum, Calistria, Desna, and Cayden Cailean all make their home there, and stagnation is something they all despise. The first two are CN, but the others are CG. Milani is a CG goddess of uprisings, though she lives in Axis.
3. Anuli, detailed in Distant Shores, has a Concordance with the Empyreal Lords (all Good aligned) but they face a stagnation issue. The planar powers didn't send evil forces to solve it, they sent Chaotic ones as displayed by the rise in chaos cults.
4. Good doesn't demand abstinence, just moderation. There are Good deities devoted to lust, battle, feasting, vanity, desire, wealth, and laziness.
5. The extreme ideal that Good is based off of is the sanctity of mortal life. They protect and encourage it, taking it only as an absolute last resort. The paladin codes of both Saerenrae and Shelyn say that peace is always plan A through Y. Archon generals will always favor the least deadly stratagems. Angel diplomats will always choose the benevolent compromise. Azata entertainers will always inspire and enchant kind folk, and try to sway those who have strayed to wickedness. If they choose not to do these things they are no longer good, and fall from grace.
Suppose I want to design a mansion as a dungeon. What would be a logical room setup What would be a fun one?
I'd start by looking at real-world mansion maps, and augment them with mansion maps you've seen built for RPGs. We've done a LOT of them in Pathfinder before... the one in the 2nd Council of Thieves adventure comes to mind.
As for what would be a fun one? Haunted mansions are the best mansions! And now the one in "The Skinsaw Murders" has come to mind.
When I GM'd that adventure I set up a map on Roll20 with light sources and line of sight and I had my player's fearing every corner and unopened door, it was great.
Spoiler:
The best part was when they got to Iesha and I had a bluetooth speaker set to play a screaming sound from behind where they were sitting.
How theatrical do you get when you GM? Music? Legerdemain? Props? Unique NPC voices?
I am completely thrilled to be attending Paizo Convention this year. It will be my first year having done so, and as the winner of the Pathfinder Chronicler Fiction Contest 2015, plus having a fiction article in Wayfinder #15, I have a vested interest in attending. It saddens me to feel the need to bring something like this up, but it must be considered.
It is of course important to note that Paizocon is not mentioned in those articles, but these problems are just as likely to exist at any given Con. To ensure the utter success of Paizocon for all of its attendees, I would like to confirm three things.
1. Could somebody from Paizo please clearly and explicitly post their official stance on inappropriate behavior for all to see?
2. Have any of you previous Paizocon attendees ever felt like you weren't 100% completely safe while at the convention? Feel free to reply in a private message to me if you don't want it public. If you have ever felt harassed, assaulted, attacked, raped, threatened, sexism, racism, homophobia, or negligence, this means you.
3. What practices have been in place (or will be this year) to prevent this sort of thing from happening? Who can victims talk to to have their concern addressed? How can they be assured they won't be punished for talking about it? Will there be security or trained personnel equipped to handle an incident where an attendee's safety is concerned?
Again I would like to reiterate if anyone wants to send me a private message detailing their experience they are welcome. It is important the truth be known so we can make the Con as welcoming and safe as can be.
I want to see more about the cultural structure of various Inner Sea countries. Expanded and additional holidays, how different churches handle things like birth, death, marriage, and major accomplishment, maybe sample "laws of the land" for a few places. I adored the sidebars in Inner Sea Races that showed how the different ethnicities/races saw themselves and each other, that was a small but powerful addition for any roleplayer.
Sorry to bring up a source of dread for you, but with Paizocon right around the corner I was wondering if there would be anything I can do to give you a morale bonus during the convention to make it easier on you.
Golarion doesn't exist in the same reality as the Earth we live on. Rather, it coexists with a "Pulp Earth" where the mythos is real, and probably a lot of other genre stuff.
Well, yeah. I suppose what I and my players are struggling with is whether or not Pulp-Earth is identical to ours (but with magic and whatnot. Which, according to RoW,exists but is sort of lost and secret on Earth), and if the answer is yes (as Brandon's foreward to Rasputin Must Die seems to indicate), then how does the fourth-wall breaking stuff like Paizo (or in-universe us, for that matter) work?
The answer to that is the same as the one that distinguishes fact from fiction. If we take for fact that Golarion is real (cause we all believe that, right?), then the fourth-wall is merely the boundary between non-fiction and fantasy. The fourth wall is the boundary between reality and outside observers, so if we aren't actually outside the universe in which Golarion exists, there is no fourth wall. We're simply writing non-fiction works about a world in a distant part of the galaxy.
At least I keep telling myself that.
Guys I think we found Durvin Gest. I think he's a Paizo employee.
