Andrew the Warwitch's page

Well, I hope nothing ever removes Ragathiel from being a good deity as I have two characters that are following him currently (My concept of Ghost Rider, a Champion of Justice that also uses a drake rifle....and a dhampir based on the 1e PFS arc where the vampire cult of Lissala comes into play).

Do any of the Sarkorian Clans have background stories?

I am hoping that we start getting more scenarios for PFS. There is so few new content being written for Society, I can't even remember the last time I actually got to play scenarios.

Andrew the Warwitch wrote:

Has there been any word about making Samurai and Ninja as sub-classes of existing classes or even as Archetypes?

Your samurai should work just fine as a Fighter or Champion with appropriate gear and, optionally, the Cavalier archetype.

Except in Society, Cavalier is almost a pointless archetype. It just dawned on me that a Ranger with a Champion Dedication could make a pretty good samurai. Thank you.

Has there been any word about making Samurai and Ninja as sub-classes of existing classes or even as Archetypes? So far, I have a fighter I tried to make a Samurai. However I haven't wanted to play him since I heard Tian Xia would be the next Lost Omens. Need to see if I need to remake him with current options or is there something new I should wait for.

I think there's no central list at present, you'll have to click through to a store page for a given AP volume to check. To my knowledge however all completed 2e APs, except for Agents of Edgewatch and Blood Lords, have been sanctioned.

So Quest for the Frozen Flame is actually sanctioned? We had a party from our group play that AP and said they never got anything sanctioning wise for competing it.

Is there a list of what APs and modules provide credit for Society use?

Not sure if this has been addressed already, but where can we find a list of what PF2 APs are sanctioned for Society credit?

Make that orgplayreportingerrors@paizo.com but yes :)

Thanks

If we have bought a AcP boon but decide not to use it, can the points be refunded?

So, I may have missed comments about this...but if you do away with alignments all together, won't that make many ripples? Such as, that means you can't have Holy weapons, worshippers' alignments which affect Champions, Clerics, spells like Divine Lance, etc?

As for the other features, I do see that some things can be streamlined or improved due to typos or ambiguous wording. I also agree, it is overly restrictive to say certain classes can't even have just simple weapons, after all, anyone can pick up a knife, club, etc and figure out how to use them. Plus, there is confusion (when you get into the "field") if somethings are allowed or not (like not everyone is up to speed about Orc being a legal ancestry).

One thing I did not see mentioned, which is desperately needed, is some kind of easily accessed source for the additional rules, feats, backgrounds, and additional information necessary to play Society. I would like to see a concise manual, well published site, etc produced for Society play. I know when explaining things to new players we have to say "here is the majority of the information, but then there is a site that is hard to find that specifically addresses Society play."

I would love to see in-depth background of Minkai and Shokuro.

Did the tracker crash again? I keep getting something about I can't connect because it is not a secure site.

Are there street Urchin gangs in the Inner Sea countries? Do the thieves guilds use them to recruit members as the Urchins age out of the street urchin gangs?

Well, I know there are plenty of street urchins growing up in the Nightstalls in Katapesh City.

I am curious...why a Witch for the one with the hammer? Isn't it basically just a magus?

One thing I noticed is that you said Iaijuitsu is nothing more than Quick Draw or Quick Sheath? It is an actual strike. You approach your foe, blade still sheathed, and then in a lighting fast movement draw your blade and strike (all in the same movement).

I have seen it go both ways actually. I have seen some APs and Scenarios where the casters are on fire. I have played the 1st book of Ruby Phoenix where the caster was basically made ineffective against foes in combat almost the entire book. Of course, I don't know if this was as much of the case of the caster almost always losing the DC game or if it was the GM thinking it was fun to shut down the caster as much as possible.

I will say for certain though, that others in our local groups who play casters more often than I do say they don't see much issue with running a caster. The biggest problem seems to be that there are not nearly as many items to benefit the caster as there are items to benefit a martial.

Themetricsystem wrote:

WWHsmackdown wrote:

Gourmets of Golarion! Famous cooks and the dishes that made them such

Unironically, if they hired a handful of real culinary artists to make a shorter Cookbook (with REAL recipes, ingredients, instructions, the whole 9 yards) utilizing foods that are comparable to those that would be found in the incredibly diverse setting from real Earth dishes that would be awesome. This whole idea is decidedly off-topic so I'll drop it but for a fun one-off, I think it would be neat.

That's where they could introduce a chef class, and no I'm not joking.

I think that would be an awesome cookbook to pick up.

It should be linked on the product page.

Product page?

So, I have gotten close to making the Hell Ranger from Marvel. I have a Skeleton Gunslinger with Spellshot and will eventually have him riding a skeleton horse. Is there a way that he can get a "Penance Stare" or for him and his horse to get flame auras?

The new book, Treasure Vault, has tons of new gear that would be of use to a Samurai character, including but nit limited to: gi, kusarigama, naginata, nodachi, O-yoroi, rope dart, and sansetsukon.

But how long will it take for the items in that book to be legal?

A lot of APs are sanctioned for Org Play, with the sanctioning documents found on the product pages of the AP. However, Agents of Edgewatch was not sanctioned, along with Blood Lords.

Where do we find the information about what is sanctioned and what is not?

1) I would love to see more Society content

2) More in-depth information of the people, Clans/Houses, allegiances, histories of Sarkoris and Brevoy.
and 3) Did I mention more Society content? lol

Keep up the good work. The 2 scenarios supposed to be released for this month seem like they will be interesting and I am definitely looking forward to when Treasure Vault is sanctioned.

Would also love to see more in-depth info about places and peoples like Minkai, Shokuro and the such. But also, to piggyback on above...I would love to see more information (and maybe adding them to the allowable dieties) on the gods and religions of Old Sarkoris.

At least from what I can glean on, House Branas does not appear to be canon.

That's too bad. Means I will have to find a new house then.

Kellids were pretty obviously Cimmerians, up to Crom/Gorum being a Kellid deity.

I hope this has not completely disappeared.

I had some hope Celtic culture could have a place among the Kellids and in Sarkoris. TBT, I see no Celtic culture in Golarion, which, as a Breton myself, makes me a little sad.

I know what you mean. I am Celtic (Scots-Irish) descent myself and would love to see more representation of such a robust culture. I would love to see the Celtic cultures represented more in Sarkoris, since you had the Druidic culture and the spiritual nature of them in the history of Sarkoris before the Worldwound.

Archpaladin Zousha wrote:

I know! Sarkoris has probably been my all-time favorite part of the lore, as it drew on a lot of Celtic inspiration and with Mendev acting as a Kellid land with kind of a colonising Taldan presence made it feel VERY much like Arthurian Britain, both things I'm an absolute SUCKER for, and I was a tad disappointed things started in 1e after Sarkoris' apocalypse, so when Wrath of the Righteous rolled around I was like "This is my chance! I can play a descendent of Sarkorian survivors in Mendev looking to rediscover his heritage and reclaim his ancestral home!"

So Arloric Dziergas-Highbough was born after a bunch of revisions, and I'm still playing him to this day! And I'm looking forward to revising him again for the PC version of the AP...

I've personally enjoyed the bits of PNW native cultures we've seen creep into the 2e Sarkorians, but you're totally right that the druidic focus of the 1e materials lends itself well to that post-Roman British feel that's so rarely done in fantasy!

I think it's silly that the notion of Sarkorian descendants living in Mendev never seems to have come up, with its pre-Worldwound past instead being vaguely Iobarian. You could get some interesting character tension there - what does it mean to be of Sarkorian heritage, when the Worldwound opened over a century ago and your family's been Iomedean for three generations? 2e has gestured some at Mendevian folks adopting Sarkorian traditions, but that bleed over happens both ways.

Part of Mendev's identity crisis is that it feels like a vaguely Taldan, classic crusader kingdom, but between how diverse the ranks of the Mendevian Crusades were and the fact that people lived in Mendev before the Worldwound, there should be more variety and texture there. The nation's current ruler is from Thuvia, and the local Pathfinder Society venture-captain is Garundi - those cultural influences should come through a little more.

EDIT: Arloric sounds great! What class is he?

I agree. Would love to see more of Sarkorian culture. I am of Scots-Irish Celtic decent myself and ever since I started in about Season 6 of 1e, I had been told to try Brevoy as Highlander culture. I would love to see more of it in Sarkoris and like you and others have said, maybe something to do with these noble Clans finally being able to start returning to re-establish themselves once more in their homeland.

RiverMesa wrote:

Beyond that, a deep dive on the culture of the dispersed Sarkorian people would be a delight - their broad-strokes premise is great and I bet that some Paizo folks would also like to focus on them, but right now they're a little light on specific cultural customs and player options. (Give us more on god calling! And on things that are not god-calling, or that involve cleansing the demonic taint of the Scar! What are some cultural bits that were lost with the Worldwound's opening, and what is firmly kept onto and cherished? I wanna know!)

Agreed. I'd also be intrigued to learn more about pre-crusade Mendevian culture, and the way those two groups relate to each other and to the (remaining) crusaders and their descendants...basically, the social impacts of the Worldwound and its closing, in addition to the more tangible ones.

I also find it interesting how for years, the 4th Crusade basically turned to "cleansing" Mendev itself. The way they went after the refugees from Sarkoris reminds me of the Medieval English made it basically illegal to be Scot in Scotland. Even going so far as to call bag pipes "a weapon of war" and made them illegal. Maybe can have something on the internal strife caused in Mendev by the 4th Crusade.

Andrew the Warwitch wrote:

Another question I have is regarding the Houses of Taldor. Are the four or five common ones the only one? Or are there other houses as well? For instance, years back I had found a 3PP source that provided in depth information for House Branas. Liked what I read so I made my Taldan Fighter / Beastmaster from House Branas so he could have a companion animal who is now a large lion from the Taldek Plains that he can actually ride into battle.

Not sure this is a complete list, but the wiki lists fourteen extant houses. Seven of those were introduced in a specific PFS scenario or module, and out of those seven only one was mentioned once again in a Campaign Setting book. So it seems you can introduce minor noble houses into the setting whereever it suits the needs of your campaign. One thing to keep in mind is that like minor noble houses in real world history, they would only control only a portion of one of the major noble house's lands.

I had found that 3PP referring to House Branas, it was actually interesting...which gave me the idea of a fighter with a large lion battle companion. I am curious if that house is a thing or there is one similar.

It has to do with the rules changes from 1e to 2e. Now that we have Arcane, Occult, Divine, and Primal fonts of magic, and Druids use primal magic, the setting lore runs into an issue. Should Rhahadoum be opposed to primal magic or not? They went with no. I assume that how this is explained in lore and rules books will get clearer and more refined with time.

Beyond that, I think there is an issue with the World Guide here, because I'm pretty sure oracles are still banned from the region despite not choosing to be able to tap into divine magic. And I think divine sorcerers would also be a problem.

My impression is that Rhahadoum has generated such a dislike and maybe even fear of anything that smacks of religion (never mind that the ruler has made himself basically a God-King) that they have outlawed anything divine. Anything Occult, Nature or Arcana is not divine so they allow it. I may be wrong, but that's what I observe.

1) I would love to see more Society content
2) More in-depth information of the people, Clans/Houses, allegiances, histories of Sarkoris and Brevoy.
and 3) Did I mention more Society content? lol

Keep up the good work. The 2 scenarios supposed to be released for this month seem like they will be interesting and I am definitely looking forward to when Treasure Vault is sanctioned.

Aren't belkzen orcs still mostly evil? (at least varisian goblins are still noted to be mostly evil)

Well, the Open Claw Tribe seems to be stepping away from their evil past as they are trying to make their Hold into a trade city. Mostly evil? I suppose you could say Orcs are mostly evil but a small number are trying to change that, like the Hobgoblins.

It has been so long since I have had to look this information up, but can someone tell me where I find out the sanctioning information for Crown of the Kobold King? I am starting that next week and I want to find any Player Handbook for it as well as the sanctioning information for it.

Thanks for your help in advance.

It doesn't have a subforum because it's a standalone Adventure, not a multi-volume Adventure Path. There's a few threads on Crown of the Kobold King in the Adventures subforum.

Thank you for the suggestion.

Is this for Pathfinder Second Edition?

Yes, 2e. But I think I have come up with what I was looking for.

I would imagine that if they are truly undead (ie Skeletons, Vampires, Liches, etc) that Stich Flesh can be used to "treat wounds" on undead, you can use Oil of Unlife (instead of Healing Potions) and then of course casting Harm on them. Other than that, I am not sure it is possible to heal actual undead creatures.

Having the Undead Trait means you're not a living creature, so nothing that requires you to target a living creature will work.

Every single Undead Archetype and Ancestry gives you the Undead trait.

Not everything you would consider "Undead." For instance, the Dhampir does not have the Undead Trait.

Two separate things, not an either/or situation.

1. Undead have negative healing and positive effects will not help them.

2. Undead have immunity to things with the Healing trait. This is in the Undead trait.

Once again though, if they are living creatures (ie Dhampir) they are not undead but only have Negative Healing.

I didn't see a specific subforum for this yet, but I plan on starting this for our local group next week. Any suggestions or tips before I do?

I decided to try a build concept of TheeBadLuckGamer. I am going with his idea for what he called the Dread Striker. Mine is a Hold-scarred Orc with the Belkzan Slayer background. I am saying that he was taken when he was 14 to Oppara to be a gladiator in the street fights down there, but was found by a Pathfinder team and invited to join the Society.

Inquisitor would be nice. i think I often forget to mention it because it's such a given and I like my more niche babies a bit more. Medium would be nice to see...we have grown fond of the concept after realizing somethings personal about ourselves.

I am quite fond of Luis's Coutal Lineage! Haven't gotten a chance to use it yet.

I second that! Trying to "piece-meal" build one in 2e can be very difficult.

I remember in their original write up Tieflings of rakshasa heritage it was said that humans frequently find them attractive and that they had a feral glamor.Now I could see that being the case with those whose rakshasa ancestors had the heads of tigers or other felines. Cat are widely regarded as beautiful

But what about those descended from rakshasas that had the heads of animals people people generally find unattractive like crocodiles or boars? Would they have the same kind if charisma?

Sure! Look at the Dandasuka for instance, which are all about charm and illusion. I have a Gnome-Tiefling Rogue with Captivator Dedication. She basically is a weak Dandasuka.

And about the drawing, again, soulforger solves a lot of issues with that....

However, a Soulforger is not PFS legal.

I have made a "samurai" for 2e. He is a fighter from Shokoru with a katana, wakizashi and naginata. He then has taken the Martial dedication. When it is finally made legal and he has enough encumbrance available, I am getting the O-Yori armor from The Treasure Vault.

SpaceDrake wrote:

Yeah, as much as I'm not (currently) a PFS player, so I have no skin in the game, that decision does feel a little... iffy.

Like I do also get it - PF1 went *hard* on the Belkzen orcs being unequivocal Bad Guys with no redeeming qualities (jeebus, the old Belkzen books and the uniformly CE orc pantheon - in 2015 no less) but I don't think it's a problem to let PF1 games evolve along with the rest of the line and hobby.

Most players understand that like a drow or other regularly evil race, a PC orc would either have the neutral or good alignment, and be the exception to their CE average. What I don't understand is how races keep being 'officially' revisited to 'reflect company value shifts'.

Like folks can't somehow tell the difference between reality and fiction.

There's no reason why orcs or goblins in general shouldn't remain evil if they are opened up as a PC race. The PCs from these races are those that are heroic and go against the mold cast by their ancestors. There is beauty and RP opportunity there.

Except in Society play, you can't have an evil character. They can have some evil tendencies, but can't actually be evil aligned.

First off, I apologize if this is in the wrong spot. I have a concept for the backstory of my Orc fighter and was wondering if anyone can help. I was thinking he is a Belkzen Slayer who gets hired on as an enforcer for a crime boss. I envision the Society sends a team to stop the boss, so they recommend my character to join the Society. So question is...is there a scenario that would fit this?

Andrew the Warwitch wrote:

So, I just checked mine and for some reason 80 of my Achievement Points have been put in Starfinder. I don't play that, so I should never have Startfinder points. What happened? And how would we use replay points in 2e?

Everybody got 80AcP in both PF2 and Starfinder awhile ago so you could buy something special for your first character.

Ok. Not like I will use it, but that's cool. I am sure I had much more than 4 in PFS though. lol

Technically I think you can always battle medicine or treat wounds on a negative healing PC. So long as that recipient isn't also undead. Like a Dhampir.

To the more relevant questions:

Natural Medicine doesn't allow you to use Nature for Battle Medicine, only for treat wounds.
Stitch Flesh is the same.

In either case, I don't think it's an unreasonable house rule, but that's what it would be: a house rule.

Dhampir specifically says they are living creatures that has negative healing. But they are not actually undead.

Then it's probably also worth saying that Battle Medicine doesn't specify that it only works on living creatures like TW does.

I get the impression that Treat Wounds refers to living creatures and that it takes 10 minutes out of combat. Whereas Battle Medicine allows you to Treat Wounds while in combat.

Question I have is, do you have to take Stitch Flesh to treat wounds on a Dhampir as they are actually living creatures?

So, I just checked mine and for some reason 80 of my Achievement Points have been put in Starfinder. I don't play that, so I should never have Startfinder points. What happened? And how would we use replay points in 2e?

Archpaladin Zousha wrote:

You're in the right neighborhood with eastern European kingdoms, given the very Slavic naming conventions of most of the NPCs we see there. TV Tropes in particular described it as a mashup of Westeros and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, but I don't know enough about eastern European culture and history to say definitively, apart from that Polish sabre fencing would actually be a likely inspiration for the Aldori Swordlords...

If you're looking for something more like Celtic Britain, you actually may want to look further west: Places like Ireland and ancient Scotland were cited as inspiration for Old Sarkoris, and the Sarkorians were a clan-based society, ruled by clanlieges and it's where the Green Faith was founded, the druids there being the only ones who could gainsay a clanliege. Mendev, being Sarkoris' closest neighbor and where most of its refugees ended up when the Worldwound opened, probably feels very similar, especially as they intermingled with incoming Crusaders from places like Taldor and Cheliax, almost creating a Romano-British or possibly proto-Norman culture...

Just some food for thought!

Really? Cool, I never heard Sarkoris was more Gael-Celt. I might have to look into that then.

(Hours later) You're right. The names sited in the brief PathfinderWiki do sound more Gaelic in nature, along with the prevalence of druids and such....thanks for the suggestion.