Andric's page

Noticed how I said he was "Suppressed" and not killed or done away with. That doesn't mean Cthulhu isn't still playing an active role in shaping the world's destiny. There are a great many marshland lizardfolk who have fallen to his sway after he went into his first slumber. The reason why lizardfolk and serpantfolk are mostly resistant to him has more to do with their ties to the kaiju, who are kinda like simultaneously prototypes and gods to them. But the marshland lizardfolk don't have any kaiju in their region, and are close to the sea, so we're just getting to the emergence of the deep ones. Reh'leh exists as well, and it is empty, waiting to be filled. So you could say we haven't gotten to his civilization quite yet.

I also agree with you concerning the gods. We have a few lesser ones walking around, like a creepy, unsettling (and strangely benevolent) four armed avian god who dwells from civilization to civilization, teaching concepts that appear very similar to Erastil's faith, but for the most part, I do wanna stay away from the core pathfinder and D&D deities until we get to the end of the age we're in right now. In other words, the mythic age, when the gods decide "Hey, this is a cool world... Lets uh, set up base here and throw our own creations into the mix." (That's when the cyclopses, titans and centaurs come in.) But I'd rather make the setting strong enough to run as a campaign setting so we have more to build on in later cycles of the setting's history. Gotta add them rich answers which only raise more questions for the occult classes to play around with, you know?

Thanks for the Quippoth pointer. I'll look into them.

Nagas certainly are in the setting, but have no civilization as of yet. They likely will soon, considering they've started abducting serpentfolk to enslave (Who may end up as Nagaji or something). I kinda wanna push the serpentfolk out of the proto-asian area and into the proto-africa (Nomaria)

The next time we play will likely be tomorrow, and the races I have qued up from brainstorming so far are:

-Bog Striders
-Karkinoi (They existed before the Sahaugin, but haven't really started any civilizations yet.)
-Deep Ones (Perhaps as an offshoot of either skum, sahaugin, or marsh tribe lizardfolk)
-Locathah
-Yithians
-Flying Polyps
-Grippli
-Boggard
-Nagaji
-Stryx (A more Deinonychus-like version of them.)
-Ceratiodi
-Vodyanoi
-Real Dragons
-Dragonkin

And some contingency options in case one of the players decides to drop an early ice age on us, and mammals evolution ends up forced to accelerate:
-Sasquatch
-Tabaxi
-Rougarou
-Syrinx

I also kinda like the idea of adding Xill. But anyways, I'll keep you updated of what transpires tomorrow, and feel free to brainstorm your own settings. I like hearing your ideas and stories.

Yeah, I was looking at the tarrasque and felt it needed some mythic tiers if it was going to be serving that purpose.

Yeah, like zza ni said. Just today, I had a character nearly fall victim to a cursed ring. I knew out of character that it was cursed, due to process of elimination and the fact that I rolled low on my spellcraft, but when my character, down to half health after a boss fight finds a "Ring of regeneration", you could bet he was about to put it on. Thankfully, another character has spellcraft, and was able to identify it just before he did. I think one of the best deterrents to this sort of thing is not to keep all your eggs in a single basket, so to speak. Anyone can fail a check. That's why it's always nice to have multiple characters with sense motive, perception, and knowledge arcane/spellcraft. Especially when, like you said, you are playing in an evil campaign, with a guy who is trying to usurp the rest of the party.

Sounds like a fun guy to play with though. Try to keep him alive. If he keeps his friends on his toes, I can imagine what he's like with your enemies.

Very interesting stuff. Yes, I hadn't thought about the Yithians or Locathahs yet. Most of the demons are probably going to come in later, as the forms of magic that are being used are rather primitive druidic and shamanic abilities, so conjuration isn't used quite often enough to bring outsider attention to the realm yet. The surviving Aboleths don't really want that sort of attention either, after their empire was more or less wrecked over night, thanks to Cthulhu. But we're starting to get there, with Serpent Folk beginning to unravel the underlying power of the universal forces in reality. (AKA, Arcane.) They already ended up trapping the first Blight, and are starting to experiment with it. And the Xul'Gath in the northern tribe have been modified by the Elder Things to have latent psychic ability awakened. (So they're just starting to explore spirit magic.)

Also, after the Kaiju ganged up on Cthulhu, managing to suppress it into slumber, the world has started to reclaim a future away from the aberrations, but Yithians shouldn't be too hard to fit in there.

Any ideas on what I should do with the Tarrasque? I've been playing with ideas like it being a Kaiju that is captured and experimented on by some race in order to be used as a weapon against the usurping gods at a later phase in the world's history. Or even the reverse of that, with the Tarrasque being kinda a reset button that the gods press when they wanna populate the world with beings more in their image.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I have been in the campaign for a few weeks now, and have really enjoyed wrecking up witch plans. Even managed to perform a reverse engineered ancient elf gate activation ritual to shut down an Irrisini gate with the makeshift assistance of a gun slinger and a mesmerist.

I have been handling most of the melee combat just fine, with the ninja popping out of bushes, windows, and snow piles to bring down enemies just on the cusp of vision, and a gunslinger dusting up the remains. An then there's the Mesmerist... God, Kitsune mesmerists are terrifying in their own right, (He wiped an entire encounter with a pack of gremlins with murderous commands and paranoia spells, causing them to wipe each other out while the rest of us watched while consuming popcorn and drinking tea), but in conjunction with a ninja? Those two can split from the party and wipe out a dungeon floor's worth of guards using just a bottle of wine, a pair of disguises, and some sneaky sleight of hand sneak attacks + Memory erasing abilities.

Its an atypical chemistry, but I think the party has some interesting tactics to cover most of our bases with stealth and utility being the core strength of our party. ...Oh, and the gunslinger miraculously survived a solo encounter with a yeti by the skin of his teeth. We're a few encounters into book two by now, so we're only about level 4. Nadia has only needed to step into combat once or twice in all the sessions we've played in.

So far, I think occultist is a good choice for the campaign. Thematically, he sticks out like a sore thumb, being a spireborn half elf who uses azlanti artifacts as his implements, but it's very fun to keep our enemies guessing as to what the extent of his talents are.

Has anyone here ever run or played in a campaign set in a Triassic, Jurassic, or Cretaceous time period before? If so, what sorts of races did you have to work with? What sorts of enemies, challenges, and adventures did you experience?

I'm just poking around for ideas at the moment, as my brother, father, and I were designing a pathfinder world with the game, Dawn of Worlds, and we decided to play the game in several phases to add a lot more depth to the world. We started off with somewhat of a strange setting, when the world was just formed. The myconids ruled the early landmass, and were the only prevailing race until Aboleths and Elder-things entered the scene. The Elder Things jumpstarted Reptilian Evolution, making the Xul'Gath (Troglodytes), while other insectoid races began to appear like the Formians. The Aboleths ended up making amphibious slave races, like the Skum and Sahaugin, and we've hit that age where the aberrations have begun fading into obscurity.

By now, we have two races of lizard folk who worship Kaiju like Mogaru, another offshoot destined to evolve into Saurians who migrated to our version of Australia (The continents have just started to break apart at this phase), a Serpent-folk empire, a Formian empire in the "Totally not America", and two competing nations of Xul'gath. One of which elicited the help of the elder things before their demise to use the blood of one of the Kaiju to engineer proto-dragons. The Sahaugin took advantage of their newfound freedom and

We're a bit lost on what other races we could make fit well, but rather than ask for advice, I'd rather seek inspiration through listening to stories and vicariously seeing how a game would be run in this time period so that I can come back with some good ideas and stories to add.

So my current occultist character is a spireborn half elf who uses azlanti implements in his casting. Given the party make up, a mesmerist, a ninja, and a gunslinger, I kinda gear him to be a frontline combatant in battle, but out of combat, he's sorta designed to be a social roguelike character. So his skill points are spread rather thin to suggest a wide variety, as his background kinda suggests that he is trained to be dropped into far corners of the world, blend in, and "Reclaim" azlanti artifacts for the spire, which make it past their area of influence and end up in places like Absolum or Katapesh.

I'm tending towards transmutation and divination, but I also wanted abjuration as it helps him be more tanky. Obviously, the class is designed with a lot of useful features that make them useful for those around them as much as they can pull their own weight. So even a transmutation focused "Fighter" type of occultist may be able to move between party members and transmute their weapons to cold iron, assuming they have the focus for it. So utility is certainly one of the core strengths of the class, no matter how you spec them.

So I haven't run or played in this adventure path yet, and I'm dropping into the middle of the first book. And yet I had an idea for a character who may not fit in thematically, but hopefully may be useful in some aspects. But I would like to inquire your opinions on the viability of the occultist class from Occult Adventures in Reign of Winter. Would this make for a good fit for the adventure, or should I try something like an Ulfin Ranger (To compensate for the party's lack of survival skills) or a Changeling Magus (Witchblade archetype)?

Light spoilers are okay, since I already understand the places that this game may be taking me, as hinted by the player's guide, and the DM. I just wonder if its a good idea to bring an Occultist into a party of two Kitsune scammers (A Mesmerist and a Ninja), and a gunslinger for this adventure.

So what is the difference between FTPro and FT3?

Antagony wrote:

A REAL underdark expansion, including PC races and new monsters.

There was a hint of a possibility...

Because mindflayer merchants are the best kind!

Just looked at the suggested games. Darkfall has a very morrowind-ish feel to me, so I'd be interested in checking that one out. I keep hearing about how the leveling system of PFO is based on Eve's, so I guess I wouldn't mind checking that one out either. Mortal online... Hm, it hasn't exactly clicked with me yet.

This is a good idea actually. I've never actually dipped my feet into the water with this genre, so to speak.

Looking forward to it. I've been out of the loop for a few months now.

The escalation cycles excite me. Kinda makes me want to play a lone ranger type character who watches a specific hostile area for signs of trouble. Then once an escalation cycle begins, he will venture out to nearby settlements to warn them of the encroaching danger. Kinda like Shalelu with Sandpoint I guess.

I'm glad that progress continues to move forward and everything is coming together nicely.

The armor models were probably my favorite. You just don't see armor in a functional style like that these days in MMOs. I mean it actually feels like the armor has been in the world for a while, rather than just something that makes you look cool.

And of course: Dat ogre!

Thank you sir. Our doors shall remain open to your order.

Sadurian: Sure. Every town of a certain size needs their very own reclusive witch!

Zen: I'll probably eventually set up a website if I get a strong enough community here.

Virgil: Thank you. If in the Golden Flask needs sponsorship, I'd be happy to erect a tavern in the name of your order.

Well, it looks like I could pull Autumn Oak out of the conceptual stages now.

I've added your Guild to the Guild Recruitment & Helpful Links list. If you have a brief description you'd like to appear there to let people know about your guild while they're browsing that list, just PM me or post a clear request here.

Also, The Seventh Veil welcomes you to the community, and extends an offer of Diplomatic Outreach. (Note, this is not an offer for Alliance, just a way to open formal channels for private discussions.)

Good luck :)

Certainly. How about:

"A village founded upon the principles of the Desnan Faith. A home for the compassionate, the brave, the free, and the inspired."

Thanks for the connections. And worry not! Luck is all part of the Desnan Faith.

@Deianira: -High Five- I know what you mean. I keep seeing lawful charters everywhere.

@Bringslite: On no! Anything but THAT! But seriously, I kind of want to be out of everyone's way in the early stages of the settlement, so I'll see what I could do.

The following is more of an interest check and a conceptual outline than a direct idea. Feel free to drop criticism or ideas in as you see fit.

Autumn Oak Village: A settlement proposal.

RP Level: Medium/Heavy.
Alignment: Chaotic Good (Accepting of Neutral Good and Chaotic Neutral)
Patron Deity: Desna (And Milani under the surface)
Other openly embraced deities: Cayden Cailean, Sarenrae, Shelyn, Kurgess
Government: Either a Democracy, or a transparent Oligarchy.
Tax Rate: Negotiable each season based on the needs of the community.
Sponsored Companies: None so far.

Purview:
Autumn Oak Village is a home for the good hearted scoundrel, the aspiring artist, the gnomish illusionist, and the whimsical bard. This eccentric village tucked away in the fringes of the echo woods proudly holds the virtues of the Desnan Faith at its core. Its inhabitants are encouraged to pursue their life dreams and dabble in their passions. Thus aiming to create a vibrant and unique community. The pub will always be open, and wary travelers on the road will be warmly greeted with tolerance toward their personal views and religious practices... Until they bring harm to the community that is. Autumn Oak is a warm commercial community on the surface, but while its laws are simple and few, the village curiously forbids bounty hunting, thus making it an ideal territory for a noble hearted outlaw to escape to when he needs to lay low for a little while. Autumn Oak quietly endorses abolitionists, freedom fighters, revolutionaries, and banditry specifically targeting openly lawful evil nations. The latter helps supplement the village's funds in times of need. But secrets aside, banditry is not openly endorsed and the village traditionally aims to protect nearby travelers rather than ruin their day. Autumn Oak is meant to draw those who want to prosper and do good outside of the traditional laws and regulations other societies.

OOC:
Unlike a lot of RP settlements and Companies out there, Autumn Oak Village does not attempt to set a perpetually serious tone. This is not to say you can't still have those serious, tragic, or dark moments which stem from character development, but I wanted a place where people can inhabit every end of the RP spectrum including the comical and light hearted characters you may not find as often in a grim lawful mercenary company. While its asked that you at least be mature (At least out of character), this village could easily be a home for the more odd RP characters outside of the usual archetypes.

In any case, this is a very simplistic concept that I'm just shoveling out there in order to gauge interest and community opinion.

Yup. Thats part of what makes them so different from gnomes in other fantasy settings. Given that a huge part of their racial identity lies in the whole Bleaching affliction, and one of the major ways one can tell a gnome is "Young and healthy" lies in just how vibrant their skin, hair, and eye colors are, this extends beyond just being extra cosmetic resources. Gnomes actually NEED that stuff if this is to be set in the Golarion setting.

Yeah, I gotta say, the idea of having an account name attached to my character does really repulse me. But as you say, its not something we should specifically hold against people if we do get forced with the feature. I mean just like in the tabletop game, every character someone plays in PFO should be expected to play completely differently whether they roleplay or not. I mean never mind good and evil. Even if you have one character advocating chaos and the other law, one should still not judge the actions of one character to be supporting his other just because he is the same person playing them both.

But damn, that would really be annoying for roleplayers.

"Hey, aren't you the guy who was playing that gnome illusionist who conned me yesterday?"
"Uh..." >.<

I'm not sure if this has been brought up in a previous blog or even in this thread, as I skimmed through all of them. But I would like to make the following inquiries toward the chat system.

CHAT FUNCTIONALITY

Chat Bubbles:
Will chat bubbles be included in the game?

The absence of chat bubbles in past MMOs has made roleplaying difficult. Not impossible, but picture this. You are in a crowded inn, bustling with all sorts of RPers, yet you are only roleplaying with two of them in the corner. In my experience, with out the use of chat bubbles, it could be difficult to discern whether the two I am focusing on give a reply, as it could be lost in the flood of general chat spam and RP banter. With out chat bubbles, my eyes are more glued to the chat window than the environment around me, and I tend to miss replies that way.

Custom Emotes:
Will there be an emoting system in the game, and if so, will we be able to type custom emotes?

Another essential for RP functionality in my opinion. More so than chat bubbles.

Chat Ranges:

<> short range speech
Will basic chat speech extend only to those say 30 meters away from me, or will everyone in the whole damn hex hear the semi-embarrassing serenade of a bard singing to a pretty lass on the side of the road?

<> Wilderness "Local chat"
Finally my questions begin to branch outside of RP. Will there be a system in place to speak out to everyone in a certain range of hexes in wilderness territory?

<> Settlement Chat
Similarly, will there be a generalized chat system in place for a kingdom so that the citizens and allied travelers have a way to communicate with one another from one end of the outlying territory to the other?

I whole heartedly agree with Sadurian here. Even in the table top experience, I always give my characters surnames. And that helps the tabletop experience in that even if I use a common or popular name like Kai, Willhelm, Dave, or Tobias, my character's identity is backed up with something extra that gives him recognition over all the other "Daves" that my group has ever made. Dave Magnuson or Dave Doncaster are two completely different Daves.

I know what its like to be denied a name on a roleplaying server and have to resort to something that defies all cultural and racial naming conventions. For example, In world of warcraft, I played a human warrior. I cycled through all the names that I felt could fit with him, and instead was forced to settle with the name "Rikaul" which doesn't even sound human at all. All because I couldn't name him "Rick Redtide" or something. This of course had further consequences on his backstory as I felt forced to justify his unusual name through a backstory where he cast his old identity and stole his name from an Amani Troll or something.

Now Guild wars 2 allowed me to have a much cleaner character due to the name "Tobias Wren." Sure, there was at least another Tobias in the RP community, but thanks to the surname I had, I had a very different identity and thus reputation. And while I had my name, he was allowed to have his.

Well, here are some I would like to see at the moment.
1: Any of the nations from Tian Xia (This time starting there rather than doing a west meets east thing)
2: Nidal vs Cheliax.
3: Colony Building (In the Mwangi Expanse)
4: Kyonin
5: Lastwall

Thanks!

The search for the Queen of Witches finally ends when the Dancing Hut travels to Baba Yaga’s homeland of Russia on the planet Earth. The year is 1918, and the First World War rages throughout Europe. The heroes find themselves in the wilds of Siberia, where they must face Russian soldiers armed with 20th-century technology, infiltrate an ancient monastery and rescue Baba Yaga from her estranged son, Grigori Rasputin. Can the heroes kill the “Mad Monk,” who has already cheated death once before, and free Baba Yaga, or will they too fall before the horrors of modern war?

Da hell... Did I seriously just read what I thought I did? Did they seriously just... O.0

Also, "Oh yes, we did."

ERMAGERD YESH!!! This makes me a HAPPY FLUMPH!

While I know the cover is a mock-up, can the final cover PLEASE include Ulf Gormundr?! He is cool enough to be an iconic in my opinion!

^_____ This

I just don't get the sue vibe from her. The players didn't seem to either, so I guess I'm doing an alright job at portraying her. In fact, they think she's awesome.

I think its all in how you portray her. She, to me, is a woman who has been through a lot, and is trying to escape some memories by chasing down a fantastic dream that just fell into her lap.

Yeah, I ran We Be Goblins too before the actual adventure, and it really drew my players in. Roleplaying a goblin got the more introverted first time players of the group more comfortable with roleplaying in general, so it was a very good move on my part.

That cover... So awesome and colorful.

Finally got it in today. Well worth the wait. XD

Well, it doesn't exactly make me feel better. I don't think it has anything to do with living in central ohio, but I've come to expect that my packages (Once shipped) always take an extra week or two to reach my door than it would for anyone else. So I'm used to waiting, and therefor can easily bare with Paizo when they get hit by snowmagedden or whatever else the elements can throw at them.

But the fact that I got #52 before you is... unsettling. Hope it comes eventually, Jam.

Zen79 wrote:

I got it!!!

Gone reading...

Anyone else having trouble / delays with their shipment? I just checked my tracking # and it's scheduled to arrive on FEB 06, and it supposedly shipped on JAN 18. I live in northern california, so not sure why UPS hates me so.

Mine hasn't shipped yet. I haven't even got the PDF in my downloads yet.

Well, I should at least get the PDF of this while I wait for my subscribed AP to ship. That should hold me over.

I at least know I'll be awake by 3AM Eastern time.

in the thread for votes on new adventure paths, someone voted for an ap set in tian xia and someone else said not enough people would like it for paizo to do.

so i thought to myself "why not start a petition for it?", i didn't want to derail the other thread so here we are.
i would like to add my vote, i love the dragon empires gazeteer and with all the fascinating stories in asian mythology it would seem to be ripe for an adventure path.

Glad that inspired you. I knew others would be interested.

Anyways, I'm all for this. I'd be happy with it set anywhere in the continent, as they're all interesting. I suppose though that if they do a full Tian Xia AP, I would actually want it to be a few APs later from where we're at now. I'm equally excited for pirates as I am the fifth Jade Reagent book.

That creature in the background! Please tell me thats a Rokurokubi!

As for their basic stated intentions, I definitely think of it as a step in the right direction. I'm just going to withhold judgement until I see results. Personal biases are really useless at this point. Hopefully by the end though, 5th edition won't make me cringe every time I hear it.

1. a Tian Xia specific AP, not one that begins in the Golarian West analog then goes there but one that is immersive in the Asian analog culture.

Yes, I agree with this. While introducing western fantasy characters to Tian Xai was perhaps a necessary first step, and my players are loving it so far, they also want to play in a game that begins in an oriental setting rather than one that takes them there.

My PC's party is as following:

CG/Male/Chelexian/Cavalier (Order of the Cockatrice) - Family friend of Koya
CN/Male/Elf/Magus - Childhood crush on Shalelu
LN/Female/Taldan/Wizard - Koya's adoptive daughter
LG/Male/Tein/Monk - Ameiko's little brother
CN/Male/Tengu/Alchemist - Student survivalist of Shalelu

I just received word that it is okay for me to mention that I wrote the Kasai article for this. So, I can't wait for this to come out and get feedback from all you guys after you have had a chance to read it. I think folks will really enjoy what I wrote for the city. From what I was told, the Paizo staff that saw what I wrote liked it. Hopefully, everyone else will, too.

I look forward to the day when it will finally reach my door. Damn that extra month!

Andric wrote:

Evil Midnight Lurker wrote:

Try thinking of it as wuxia instead.

Or the fight scene from Sword of the Stranger. This is sort of what I picture when I see two high level characters going at it.

#

This is exactly what I've in mind for my game, simply because I feel it fits the rules more.

On a sidenote, I've been out of the anime loop (ironically from living in Asia) and missed hearing about this one, I need to see it!

One of the things I love about that movie is that I can show it to my D&D group to get them inspired about an asian setting, even if they aren't really interested in anime. Its definitely worth watching.

Try thinking of it as wuxia instead.

Or the fight scene from Sword of the Stranger. This is sort of what I picture when I see two high level characters going at it.

You know, I had put some thought into this as well, because quite frankly, my players scare me sometimes when they make moral choices.

If all else fails, conclude the adventure right there and wait for the Tide of Honor to come out, then augment it to reflect the PCs decisions.

Aeshuura wrote:

I came up with a plan to have more little minions around that "tie" them up while combat occurs, which allows them to help once in a while, but for the most part keeps them from being a strong presence in the combat

Thats about what we've always done when there were NPCs in a combat. Instead of the big bad guys and a couple of minions, place the BBG and 5-6 minions. Then just tell the players the NPCs are taking care of 4 of the minions and just let the combat play out as if they weren't there. If the combat is too easy for the PCs, you can always tell them Koya is in trouble, and add one of the minions to your main combat as the party takes care of it. If, on the other hand, they are having a very hard time, you can add Shalelu since she just finished her combat.

For the most part, however, you should not mix the NPCs into your combat, since you are taking game time from your PCs. The fight ends, both parties (PCs and NPCs) have won, and you can keep on with the adventure.

I really like this way. Up till now, I've just been doing the whole "Choose an NPC" thing, and the party takes the NPC they need for the situation.

dartnet wrote:

Will Samurai's be getting more orders?

Not really... There IS a new order called the "Order of the Black Daimyo" but it gets no new powers—it basically uses the normal samurai order but changes flavor text a little—these are lawful evil samurai who fight more for battle and sword glory than they do for anything else.

You may have just convinced me to make a rival for a certain cocky, self absorbed, chaotic good Taldan cavalier of the cockatrice that one of my players is playing in my Jade Regent game.

Well, I've had a few scary moments in my games. Plenty actually.

The first being when the entire party finds out what happens when a they all drop into unconsciousness in the presence of a Roper. Yeah, that DM was really good at finding out how to get in our heads as our limbs got severed one by one.

There was this other fun incident that I put in when I was DMing. Basically there was this kind old lady having one of the players test taste one of her pies while the rest of the party was out doing chores. The character was feeling sick, so he didn't go with them. So when he tastes the pie, I describe to him just how bland the pie tasted. And just as his character brings this up, the old lady chimes "Oh, silly me. I forgot the main ingredient!" Then I lean into the table and ask out of character "Whats your flat footed AC?" Now I dunno why the player didn't see it coming, but it sure terrified him, and for some reason the rest of the table as well. Wasn't even intended as a horror encounter, but seeing as how the party over reacted to it, I decided that instead of having this be a mundane stand alone encounter, I could easily lead this into a twisted fae encounter.

I guess its not in the monsters you use in your encounters, but the way you encounter them. I took the Vorka Encounter in We Be Goblins and really had fun with that. The players perceived that to be a horror encounter as well for some reason, and all I was doing was appealing to the psychology of their goblin characters.

Sold! (When I get money that is)

All that said, of course... if we (us at Paizo, the adventure authors, and the GMs) do our job right, the NPCs will win the hearts and loyalty of even the most self-centered PC, yeah? :-)

On that note, with my group, the answer is yes. They love the NPCs, and are very interested in learning more about them. I for one would like to see more of this socialization stuff supported in future APs, as it has helped to encourage good and even eager interaction and roleplaying so far. And I mean this between both the PC + PC interaction as well as the PC + NPC interaction. Its hard to think this is the same group I played with that kidnapped halfling drug dealers off the streets of Daggermark and stuck them in their packs just for kicks and giggles when the DM was trying to run a serious encounter.