Anorak's page

Pulura be praised, the Watch O'Dark arrived, plundered the treasury, and left me a few books behind.

Don't forget to pick up the Infinity Deck and/or the Starfinder Novel, y'all!

Just goes to show no matter the image or sense of community Paizo projects, it’s all about extracting as much money as possible.

I don't disagree with you overall, but in this specific case, Paizo is a TTRPG biz which, since its inception, has been frustrating at best to stay afloat. What with all the headwinds from all the messes going on right now, it's a wonder that any TTRPG biz is still around to take our money. Of course, they need to monetize as much and as efficiently as possible.

The PG talks about "your GM might allow to 'worship' yourself if you're a cleric or champion" so you can even be "empowering" someone (yourself) during the AP too.

Yeeeeessss *Predacon Megatron Voice*

Y'all always knock it out of the park! I am soo here for this!

So where and when can we watch?

For example, we just posted a picture on our Facebook of the Clan Firecask miniatures and what an actual can of Battle Axe looks like!

Good to know! FB is bad about showcasing that kind of stuff on my feed

Excited to see some tasty lore tidbits being revealed!

On another note, when did Thurtson leave Paizo?? I didn't see the usual farewell blog. :(

Truly sad. Condonlnces to his family and friends. Never had a chance to read his books. Will put them on the list now.

The Allhollowtide Watch begins! Happy Halloween, y'all!

"Why did Ghol Gan fell?"

and

"Why Eye of Abendego exists?"

The Lore dumps, insight into cultures and magic shoptalk alone are worth picking up the novel.

Godsrain Novel has a lot of delicious War of Immortals lore sprinkled throughout. I highly suggest that non-readers get the book even if they don't enjoy the story.

Ope! Check the website, too - War of Immortals

Shipping with Usps can be slow. Even when I use Priority Mail, it still takes two days, despite being only five hours away from the warehouse. There are various reasons for this, but it’s the reality.

For me, the subscription has always been about supporting Paizo directly and receiving a PDF at no extra cost.

However, that may be changing. With the price increases on the books, it’s becoming less practical, especially when you can get the same book from Amazon at a significant discount and still buy the PDF separately for less than the subscription. Even more so you if add in shipping.

That's why I asked if there had been a drop in subscribers.

Is this being pushed from a drop in subscriptions due to an uptick in book prices and shipping fees?

My watch ended yesterday while I worked and then slept. Until next watch, fellow subscribers!

I am still in the queue for the first breakfast of Mythic, but a second helping is much appreciated! *Adds it to the buffet plate*

Back home for Winter, and now my watch begins anew!

Vanessa knocked it out of the park. Vanessa will be missed. Ah well C'est la vie.

I've been on the road and it's good to finally dig into this post. Looks like everyone had a blast and it's always cool to see one of the GCN crew in the wild!

Gary sounds like he was one of the greats. Rest well and condolences to his loved ones.

And by that metric, it's 100% okay to only play 1E Pathfinder, or only play 2E Pathfinder... or play both (like me).

I like both. I wish there were a way to move PF1e closer to PF2e and PF2e closer to PF1e if that makes any sense. I mean I know I can streamline the action economy (That's in Unchained correct?) Any other suggestions, James, if you're willing since you play/design both? I ask because my player group is a house divided!

Calliope5431:

Oh! Check out the Order of the Amber Die for completed AP's! They're only now wrapping up Abomination Vaults using only Gunslingers

Also, as I was flipping through I noticed the number 13 popping up a few times, including the title of one of the major sections. Then I realized that this is the 13th Starfinder AP. I see you, Starfinder team.

Beware

My vigilance ends in time for the weekend. See everyone at the next Watch!

I feel you, bro! I have seen so many changes. I enjoy PF1e because that is what I spent ten years playing (Even more if you add in 3.0/3.5 years). Will I ever enjoy PF2e as much? Probably not. I'm at a very different point in my life. But that doesn't mean I'll not play or have fun running it. In the end, it's whatever my friends want to play.

Anyway, the PF1e/3.X era is gone now. I doubt it'll ever come back except as RetroClones, and likely not from Paizo.

Long story short, no. and with the Remaster, for me at least, the clock has been reset. I best not see a new edition before 2033 LOL but I know business needs will determine that.

Is she in Minkai with Ameiko? Or elsewhere?

Huh, TIL moment, Seventh Seal. Thanks for that!

I know I, for one, am stoked to get this book in my hands so I can unleash Larry MacDougall/Gwelf on my players.

Do y'all have any tips on creating a stronger tie between Rusthenge and Sandpoint?

Anorak wrote:

This is the good stuff! Read slowly and enjoy! Thanks, Tan Shao Han

You're welcome!! I am glad you said to read slowly and enjoy. It is something I wanted to make the feeling of... Time very central to the story, of a single night as well as of countless years that have passed...

Best,
Shao Han

I understand that. Time weighs heavy on me these days. On the bright side, you led me to find Judge Dee on Netflix.

This is the good stuff! Read slowly and enjoy! Thanks, Tan Shao Han

Echoing others, thank you for your hard and beautifully creative work! This lifelong Redwall fan is looking forward to this book!

Thus, my watch ends for this month!

Here is to everyone getting thru this shipment quickly!

And all blame lays at Sarenraes' feet for the destruction of the world, for without Rovagug to hold the gods back, there will be divine war unending, mayahp.

And now to see if Gozreh will be the one to fall...

THANK YOU ERIN!!!

If Gozreh isn't marked safe tomorrow, then I'll go with the other's posters and say it will be Gozreh killed by Nhimbaloth to kick off the War of Immortals.

My stance has always been the god who dies will have the most narrative and thematic impact on the overall setting, which always has me coming back to either Rovagug, Abadar, Gozreh, or Sarenrae. Torag and Iomedae are too narrowly focused. Shelyn is too beloved, and her brother is safe.

Gorum is the wild card as his dying allows another to ascend, fitting for a War God. Plus as others have argued, Arazni makes for a great war goddess without taking over the War Domain.

That's my bet still. It will be one of these four: Roavagug, Abadar, Gozreh, Sarenrae or Gorum as the wild choice.

Now, this is the Cosmic Horror that I love James Jacobs for baking into the Goalrion setting and for Erin capturing it just right with this post. Bravo!!

Are we sure we all haven't met?

Hm.

Indeed. Also why is it that her holy symbol shows up especially in the temples of the Ascended Gods? She also wants to rebel against the gods and is in control of fate.

Curiouser and Curiouser.

Where does this last quote comes from ? It feels familiar but a few things don't seem to add up. Like the Seal having disappeared long ago and Golarion being less developed than Earth.

The Windsong Testaments Rage of Creation https://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo6sh26

Last paragraph:

Here is the verbatim: new alliance was born that day as Rovagug turned his attention toward three different worlds—Androffa, Golarion, Earth—and as his actions began devastations therein, the gods began the work that would end the Age of Creation. Wily Calistria distracted Rovagug from his feast, sparing the three worlds and focusing his gaze around the least of them—Golarion, a younger world than its two imperiled sisters. Torag and Gorum toiled together under Pharasma’s guidance within Golarion to craft the Dead Vault, a demiplane metaphysically nested within that could hold the Rough Beast. Abadar provided the perfect key and lock to hold the prison shut, a key so cunning in construction that only Asmodeus could turn it. Dou-Bral placed the Star Towers around Golarion and poised to strike when the time was right. And when the Dead Vault was complete, Calistria lured Rovagug into the trap. There, he was ambushed by Sarenrae and Desna, Apsu and Dahak, Erastil and Gozreh, and many more who would fall in battle to Rovagug’s jaws and be forgotten forever. But as Rovagug stepped fully into the trap, Sarenrae cut open the world and dealt Rovagug a crippling blow, sending the Rough Beast hurtling into the Dead Vault. Dou-Bral woke the Star Towers, and they lanced into the world, stitching Golarion shut and piercing Rovagug within, stunning the rough beast long enough for Asmodeus to turn the key in the lock.

And with that, the young world of Golarion became the Cage. The Age of Creation ended, and the Ages that Followed began. And as long as the Cage continues to spin, as long as the Rough Beast remains within, may those Ages never again falter and die.

Anorak wrote:

Aristophanes wrote:

Just out of curiosity, out of the current "20", who 'became' gods after Rovagug was caged?

Cayden, Iomedae, Norgorber, Irori, and Nethys, IIRC.

Urgathoa, too. Also I don't know if it was ever confirmed when exactly Lamashtu became a goddess relative to other events.

Urgathoa was ascended before the gods came together to cage Rovagug.

Or so I thought since she is the origin of disease as mentioned in her history.

Lamashtu was a demon lord so definitely after Rovagug was caged too.

Pharasma creates the River of Souls, which populates the Universe with mortal souls and life.

Rovagug invades the Universe on its first day of existence and devours seven worlds before being driven back by other deities to the Outer Rifts. Desna memorializes these worlds in the Sevenfold Cynosure.

The deities Calistria, Dou-Bral, Torag, Gorum, Dahak, and Apsu form.

Intelligent mortal life forms in the Universe. Ihys advocates for mortals to have free will, which starts a war with his brother Asmodeus that kills countless beings and ends in Ihys's death at Asmodeus's hands.

The Seal of creation disappears.

Ihys's death attracts Rovagug back to the Universe where he devours numerous worlds full of sentient beings, beginning with the world where Asmodeus killed Ihys.

Groetus first appears above the Boneyard.

The Bound Prince devolves into the First of the Apocalypse Riders after consuming the souls of those killed by Rovagug.

Achaekek suffers from insanity and devolves into a nearly mindless beast.

An alliance of deities led by Sarenrae battle Rovagug before his consumption of the planets Golarion, Androffa, and Earth. Unable to destroy the Rough Beast, they imprison him in the Dead Vault, a demiplane trap built by Torag and Gorum within Golarion, the least developed of those threatened worlds.

This marks the end of the Age of Creation.

Just out of curiosity, out of the current "20", who 'became' gods after Rovagug was caged?

Cayden, Iomedae, Norgorber, Irori, and Nethys, IIRC.

I honestly couldn't tell you, but the basic idea is that Asmodeus at some point winds up unlocking Rovagug's cage because he's even more scared of some other threat that's just showed up. Possibly one of the folks who's really into lore could tell you more.

That rings a bell. Ah ha! Concordance of Rivals (Thanks Reddit)

Hey James,

Just skimmed through Seven Dooms yesterday and wow, it really took me back to the Rise of the Runelords days. It's got that classic vibe that made adventuring along the Lost Coast so much fun back then. Thanks for sharing your campaign with us!

In this timeline where Desna dies, she is no longer around to protect Sarenrae from the Keepers of the Hollow Star.

So one day, the people of Golarion will wake up and there will be no Sun. It will have winked out. All that will remain will be the endless night of the Dark Tapestry.

I think these prophecies have hints as well as to what happens.

Stars are Winking out. If Desna is gone, who stops Sarenrae, the Sun of Golarion, literally, if not metaphorically, from suffering the same fate that was eating the other stars?

Again, this is another Sköll and Sól reference, which we also see in Stolen Fate. Excellent Fading Suns reference, too, even if unintentional.

The creature that eats gods in the previous blogs. Including the ones from 2021-2022. The Prismatic Ray is changing names as well as possibly members.

More and more, this points to something happening to Sarenrae.

My backup theory is that something will happen to Gozreh and set off cataclysmic devastation across Golarion, but I'm not sure why that would trigger a war.

Okay, suppose Sarenrae dies, and she is eaten, but everyone assumes Asmodeus is the culprit and goes to war against him. OR because Sarenrae is out of the picture, Asmodeus takes the opportunity to complete his takeover of Golarion. Is that even a thing that he wants to do?

Interesting! Reminds me of a blend of Spirited Way/Hungry Ghost Festival and Tết Trung Nguyên. As Harpy said, I can't wait to get these books!

Sarenrae's life hangs in doubt because of the prophecy in Stolen Fate, and I think that's juicy enough to justify keeping us in suspense.

I think Keftiu is right. On top of the lore in Stolen Fate and the imagery there, I also never realized how much she was used by Critical Role and thus connected to DnD.

It'll be interesting to see if she will be marked safe this week.

I won't pick a fight, because I feel like any argument is likely to veer wildly off-topic, but I'll just say that Wee Jas is one of my very favorite deities of all time and *starts picking a fight and has to redact the rest of this post*

Encountering a fellow Jasidan in the wild is always a plus!

Received mine yesterday as well (HC and PDF). A beautiful book and will definitely be running with Burnt Offerings as a prelude.

Anorak wrote:

The Raven Black wrote:

But it is still the death of Zon-Kuthon. As a concept, as an identity, the patron of Nidal is no more. And it is the death of Nidal too.

You just clicked something for me. Zon-Kuthon/Dou-Bral are representative/embodiment of Goya, Claudel, Schumann, and their ilk. Given how Dou-Bral returned here, I'm not even sure there ever was anything from the Dark Tapestry involved with his descent into madness. Perhaps visiting there triggered it but the madness was always there. There is no Dark Tapestry entity, there is only Dou-bral and his own tortured soul.

The story states that he did kick out "the usurper who’d lived beneath his skin" though.

Which to me relates to Dissociative identity disorder (DID) as does this He tries to flee back to his cell, to turn back into what he was, but Zon-Kuthon is memory now and only he remains.

Thus my watch ended and the books are glorious!

Thank you CS Team!! I appreciate all you do!

Are these experiences perhaps understandable, approachable, interesting to people outside the Chinese diaspora? This intersection of student...

100%! Thank you for the wonderful information and explanation, Shao Han!