Arita's page

My watch is over as well! Huzzah!

My watch began as well! Good luck to everyone, may your watch be short!

I've been meaning to get into Starfinder Society for a long, long time. This seems like the perfect time to do so :)

My thoughts as well. I hope to be there for Gencon and begin actively playing Society for both games!

Something I was thinking about, after getting both the NPC Core and Thirst for Blood on foundry is how nice the token rings are. They look great and you can apply them to other tokens with the Foundry settings -- which does remind me: Other (though I don't believe all) Paizo products in Foundry, be it from APs or stuff like the old Bestiary token pack or the PFS foundry module, each have their own unique token ring that's thematic to the campaign. I'm curious -- would it be possible to sell a token ring pack to use? It could offer a compilation of the ones released thus far (as paying full price just to use tokens from another product is a little silly), especially the ones that aren't compatible with the Dynamic Tokens and new ones (maybe themed after APs that don't have a foundry version)! Just a thought

NumberA wrote:

Any further update on the ETA?

The latest ETA is ... right now! Go get it!

Thanks for bearing with us through the delay, folks! Hopefully you'll find it was well worth the wait!

You guys should advertise it more! Have it in the find your path post or something! I only learned this came out because I was wondering if there was a new ETA and came to check! This is exciting

Really cool dungeons, very glad to see stuff like the sidebar describing where all the cultists are in the second floor of the dungeon. More things like this are super good - anything to maximize usability of the book!

I am a little disappointed that we haven't really gotten in to the megadungeon sense yet, they're just really big dungeon floors with no real connectivity. But they're really good ones.

That's something that struck me about this book -- for a Megadungeon in a big ancient prison, the first book isn't much of a megadungeon nor does it take place in the prison for the most part, just the town and a cave leading to the prison. I am sure the second book is gonna fix that and we're gonna have a juicy megadungeon, though

Huzzah! My watch has ended!

And now my watch has ended.

Wow, the warehouse is active a lot later than I thought it was!

Today's the day! Good luck everyone, may your watch be short!

The delay is sad but understandable. It must be a lot of work for everyone and I'd rather people pace themselves while delivering a good product versus crunching, I can wait a week

That being said, it's exciting to see it'll have art not in the book! Do you have a ballpark of how much art it comes with?

Yeah. Wait for the “Find Your Path” post today, it’ll have the link to the module most likely

Arita wrote:

I don't know if this is the right category for this post, but here goes:

Back one year ago, Paizo announced a partnership with Michael Ghelfi to make original scores for the APs

There was a mention that they'd be available here, which never happened. Though the Seven Dooms and Wardens OSTs did release on Michael's bandcamp.

At the same time, Ghelfi posted a youtube video announcing the partnership that in the comments of said video he announced that as part of this, they were working on a Rise of the Runelords OST. Exciting stuff!

But it's been a year, and while I actually haven't gotten a foundry module for APs after Wardens, the lack of OST releases tells me that Curtain Call and later doesn't have their own original music. Is anyone able to confirm?

Question is: If yes, why isn't there releases of these? And if not, well...what happened? This was a pretty exciting project

First of all, glad to hear you were excited to hear about this project! I am too, so I'm happy to be able to tell you that it is still in the works, although our original plan to release a soundtrack for every Adventure Path from late 2023 forward has hit a few snags that are forcing us to re-think the best way to approach it. Basically, two things happened:

1) We ran into some unfortunate and unforeseen technical limitations that prevented us from being able to sell the downloadable digital music files on our webstore as originally planned. There's hope that we can get these issues resolved at some point in the future, but in the meantime, the inability to sell albums on paizo.com makes it a lot harder for both us and Michael Ghelfi Studios to meet the sales numbers we need to justify continuous back-to-back production, especially at the pace we'd need to be doing it to match our current cadence of quarterly Adventure Path releases. (If you know any 18th-century Austrian noblemen...

Thank you for taking the time to answer, Andrew, I didn't see! I'm very happy to hear that this is happening still! Both soundtracks produced are excellent, I make sure to use them in my games as much as I can even outside of those APs. I am looking forward to whatever shape this project takes, even with a smaller scope or skipping some APs now and then

I don't know if this is the right category for this post, but here goes:

Back one year ago, Paizo announced a partnership with Michael Ghelfi to make original scores for the APs

There was a mention that they'd be available here, which never happened. Though the Seven Dooms and Wardens OSTs did release on Michael's bandcamp.

At the same time, Ghelfi posted a youtube video announcing the partnership that in the comments of said video he announced that as part of this, they were working on a Rise of the Runelords OST. Exciting stuff!

But it's been a year, and while I actually haven't gotten a foundry module for APs after Wardens, the lack of OST releases tells me that Curtain Call and later doesn't have their own original music. Is anyone able to confirm?

Question is: If yes, why isn't there releases of these? And if not, well...what happened? This was a pretty exciting project

These are, and I mean this with nothing but awe, SO cringe I love them so much

RIGHT?! Best worst cards lol I love them

Finally, a map for the beach episode! Definitely getting this one for lighthearted fun

Man, Yivali really deserves to be promoted

My watch has ended as well! Hope the others don't have to wait as long

Yeah. No luck either. Doing the same

"Last day" and I haven't shipped yet. Here's hoping.

Same position, in theory, guaranteed today, but it was mentioned that it could also fall off the shipping window. I hope we don't get THAT unlucky...

I'm feeling optimistic that multiclass is within reach.

It ACTUALLY happened, and by a hair too. That's crazy! Literally, every +1 mattered! Good job everyone!

I understand there's a lot of reasons why Paizo might not want to do this, and ultimately, I am only critical because I think things could be greatly improved -- you already got the equivalent of a bunch of Michelangelos making the Sistine Chapel when it comes to making the actual content of the books, I'm just of the opinion that the way they are delivered could be improved, be PDF subscriptions, changing how the PDF is delivered to the subscribers, etc. but I ultimately do understand if it really can't

Much like Driftbourne, I just can't keep justifying physical books. I'll keep supporting and getting every PDF (And I'm in agreement that this makes it easier to get books from game stores, I have hardly bought from them since starting my subscription)

Looking at the time, looks like I really got unlucky this time. On the bright side, it’s 50/50 at this point between the order shipping tomorrow and Friday, right?

ShinHakkaider wrote:

There were MANY times where I walked into my "local" gaming store (The Compleat Strategist in nYC) and saw that they had a book on the shelves and I was STILL waiting for mine to show up in my mailbox.

That sounds like your local game shop was breaking the street dates for merchandise they received. I’m assuming that Paizo has street dates for its books like any other publisher. That’s not really something to get upset with Paizo about.

Not this person but I'd easily believe it. Shipping is preeeeeetty slow, on average I get the physical books 1-1.5 weeks (one time, it was 2) after the street date, so local shops would already have it. I don't personally mind it because books end up being just shelf decoration, but if I wanted the physical book, going to the local store is more cost effective since you get to save up on the shipping fees (In fact, given that it feels really wasteful to be subscribed just to get the PDF early, I'm likely to stop subscribing, and just buy every PDF, and then choice buy books from my local shops if I really like a particular book for any reason)

Congrats to those whose watch ended. I shall join as a secondary caster in the ritual as well!

Also, there is no "When physical subscribers get the PDFs". Some people have had the War of Immortals one for days, if not over a week now, and I have not received mine yet. It's dependent on when yours get shipped, which as far as I can tell is the street date of the book -2d12 days, per person. Looks like I rolled low this time.

This is another thing that I personally really dislike and I don't believe it should be a thing -- I don't like the way the subscriptions are handled. Everyone should be charged at once in one specific day, and receive their PDF as part of that. Then, their orders will ship as they are able from the warehouse. I personally am not a fan at all of the "Am I seeing all the people online enjoy the product and discuss it while waiting who knows how long, or am I getting the product early?" game -- Hypothetically, if subscription early access worked this way, then people with a PDF subscription could get it at this moment too

Fingers crossed for tomorrow!

Can only hope!

Can you please finally give us PDF only subscriptions (other than for Society Scenarios)? For your international customers, the shipping fees are just insane. Also: I don't need any physical books anymore!

Depends how they do it. Subscription where they charge me to get the PDF when the book officially releases is basically nothing. I can click “purchase” myself

Now, what I would personally like to see, is a PDF subscription where you pay extra (either percentage extra or a flat amount per book type), and you in exchange get the PDF in early access when the physical subscribers do. I would swap to that in a heartbeat because I really only subscribe for early access — I just don’t read the books often anymore. Most of the time I’ve already read the whole thing cover to cover by the time the book arrives at my house (and I play online nowadays)!

Looking at the time, looks like I have been picked for the long watch. Have fun everyone who got it! Here’s hoping it’s on the earlier side of next week for the rest of us!

Been refreshing my digital content page every hour hoping to be one of the lucky ones to get it today. No go yet, but not giving up hope as I knowing Paizo is on PT (over here in ET biting my nails).

Been doing the same! And unfortunately I have the "Pact World Warriors" SFS scenario under my purchased items, so when I load that page, press control + F and search for "War" and find a result, my heart skips a beat EVERY TIME

Best of luck to everyone! Hope our watches are brief!

I have had the pleasure of already having read the book cover to cover during a vacation right as I got my PDF and I cannot recommend this enough to everyone. The passion, love and creativity in this book is overflowing and every single person involved did an incredible job. I think it just might steal the spot as my favorite Pathfinder book overall from Travel Guide

My watch has ended!!

I mean, seeing the solution with Hephaistos, I think it all depends on what the plans that Paizo have are. Maybe they'll make it really easy for fans developing tools for Paizo games in the future to get such a license -- with them simply needing to have an early version working and then contacting them through email

Like, sure, it's extra hoops, it's annoying, it's not ideal, I don't think anyone is denying any of that, and I'm sure everyone at Paizo feels this way, but this is probably the best outcome after extensive back and forth with lawyers

Of course, that's the case if they make it easy. If it's a situation where it's mostly easy for people grandfathered in, but people moving forward simply won't have any options, that's a problem, but I guess that only time can really tell (maybe it's something that they can talk about in the QnA?)

Looks like I'm in for the long watch! Congrats to those who got it in the first week!

Arita wrote:

Sheeesh, working late, eh, Mark?

Is midnight late?

I guess depends on the job! But I’d generally say midnight is a pretty late time to be working! But hey, it’s appreciated!

Sheeesh, working late, eh, Mark? Glad that the FAQ is coming up soon, should clear up where things stand for everyone, especially in regards to the fanmade tools— it does indeed sound like the decision is final, but that doesn’t sound surprising to me, I didn’t really expect that to change much, given everything. Also glad to hear that stuff like ancestry names for Starfinder are not considered to be out of limits

Are the delays reflecting in the shipping dates above?

I checked this post before the delay announcement and I can confirm it's not different at all, my guess is that they simply don't really know how much it's gonna be delayed by, but still expect it to be within the window

We begin our watch my friends! The last foray into Tian Xia is upon us! I've been so excited for the character guide!

Personally where you see “evokes setting” and “inspires creativity” I see “needless” and “hand-holding”. But I get it, we each come to RPGs looking for and requiring different things. I want a ruleset that is rigorous and allows me to express my creativity...

I mean…how does Pathfinder not allow for that? I don’t play in Golarion. I got my own world I made. I made regions and changed options to fit those regions as there was player interest for a specific thing. And I’ve turned down options because it doesn’t fit the world I’m making. And now I’m doing it all over again for SF2, with no Gap and no Drift (though I’ve of course made mysteries of my own and my own version of FTL). I…really don’t think it limits my creativity. I don’t convert whole books, just what my players specifically want

Though on the topic at hand, a solution I hope that comes from this, at bare minimum, is a collection of terms that are safe to use for OGL Starfinder for continual development without the CUP, assuming revoking it is something they can’t really change. Because I do agree this is a lot harder to do than with Pathfinder

But I also eagerly await their response, I’m very curious how they will handle it. For now, all we can do is wait

Arita wrote:

Just be patient, deadline isn't up yet. They'll have a proper statement before then. If they don't, you can get upset. If they do and they don't properly address it, you can also get upset. But until then, you're better off just waiting rather than spending your energy being angry. This forum has almost 400 messages, I think they understand the general opinion. I mean, obviously I'm not your parent, do whatever you want, but at this point it's just going in circles in an unhealthy manner IMO and it's best to wait

Well to be clear, the deadline for OGL products being published on Infinite hasn't passed yet, however, the changes to the CUP and rest of licenses were effective immediately. Paizo has said they are "working on a solution that is both sustainable for Paizo and supports the community [they] love", but until that statement we're in limbo.

Fair! That’s my bad for misunderstanding their statement! Still, the spirit remains that all you can do at this point is wait. I sincerely don’t think they’re going to make you guys wait longer than they ABSOLUTELY have to, but besides gencon, obviously you got stuff like lawyers to consult with first on what’s feasible, so it’s not going to be an immediate thing. Best case scenario, I imagine they’ll rescind this post and announce their goals more transparently but for an indeterminate future as they figure things out themselves

I just don’t think the endless cycle of negativity is helping anyone when right now waiting is all you can do, but again, you do you, I’m just a stranger

Just be patient, deadline isn't up yet. They'll have a proper statement before then. If they don't, you can get upset. If they do and they don't properly address it, you can also get upset. But until then, you're better off just waiting rather than spending your energy being angry. This forum has almost 400 messages, I think they understand the general opinion. I mean, obviously I'm not your parent, do whatever you want, but at this point it's just going in circles in an unhealthy manner IMO and it's best to wait

It's slightly annoying for me because I wanted to make use of the Gencon sale and pick this up among other things, but doesn't seem to be possible. I don't know if the code will still be available tomorrow either...

Where is it Paizo?! You cannot hide it from us forever!

Dude, that Prey for Death special cover is soooo beautiful!

Tracking shows delivery on Wednesday, so that's nice!

Okay so looking back, you got yours on the 23rd, so if I got mine on the 24th I'm most likely getting it exactly on Thursday! No early peeks for me, but that's fine! Still, it'd be nice if tracking worked so I didn't have to kinda guess about it...

I am still pending for the Starfinder Second Edition Playtest. I have noticed that everyone else seems to be Pathfinder. Any other Starfinder folks still in pending status?

Confirming for my Starfinder order as not pending!

(My Watch ended almost a week ago, I forgot to report it, for shame!)

Has anyone received their physical books yet? Tracking hasn't really worked for me for like...a while now (I assume that's just UPS being UPS) and I'm wondering my chances to get to eye SF2 before Thursday lol

TomatoFettuccini wrote:

Straight-up, if Paizo kills Hephaistos, Dyslexic, Pathbuilder, and the other builders, I'm pretty much going to quit playing SF and PF.

[...]

Just to note that this won't affect Pathbuilder AT ALL, cause it have not used the CUP for a long time, cause it asks for money to access some part of the program, thus was not CUP compliant. And thus, the proprietary stuff have been scrubbed off from the rules in there, and it ONLY use the OGL/ORC licenses (the creator doesn't have a special commercial license like Foundry).

(I'll be honest, the fact that so many people never realized that, makes me doubt that the lore stuff is THAT important to the fan-made rule tools. But eh... I'm not working on one so my opinion is probably only worth some grains of salt.)

Honestly, this *is* very important to note. I'm new to Pathfinder in second edition, and don't really know the minutia of different licenses and stuff, so I actually had no idea about the CUP at all before any of this. It really doesn't impact Pathbuilder in the slightest, it can be a little goofy sometimes, with things like "Specific City Lore" in an AP-specific background, if I recall, but by large, I would join my voice that it's not THAT important

emky wrote:

The reverse (that is updating the PF2 APs to PF1 rules)

Fixed that.

Even that wording feels wrong... I'd say "converting" instead, mostly because "downdating" isn't a word!

Nope, my order (SF2 and PC2) just says “pending” no word on anything backordered!

We shall hold on for the long watch friends! Just be patient and wait for the good news…