What is your opinion about 3rd edition, compared to Ad&d 2nd edition? In many regards 3e was a completely new system, a good system but still a new system, even if all new concepts had been tested beforehand in Gamma World and the the Player's Option books.
...I feel like --on a larger scale -- the two significant changes are really proficiency and class feature acquisition/progression rates, ... And these two things are the main problem. The proficiency system completely changes the feel of the game. It removes the flexibility of the old skill system and leads to really weird effects.
And I fear that you are correct.
But they are still trying to do it... :( Good new editions were AD&D 2e and Pathfinder 1e, because both editions were not revolutionary but evolutionary. They only changed those things that simply did not work in AD&D and D&D v.3.5. I have played RPGs for a very long time and know many RPGs which still use the original rules through all their editions. Thy only changed those things which simply did not work correctly anymore. And I have also witnessed how revolutionary new rules destroyed an RPG. And I really fear that this will happen to Pathfinder if they continue to adhere to the false believe that a new edition must be completely different than its predecessor.
I think that the main problem with PF2 is that they want to change as much as possible. But sadly that's the wrong way. A good new edition simply removes all the mistakes and weak spots of the previous one but retains the overall feel of it. If this rules stay as they are, Pathfinder will loose a lot of players. It would really have been better if Starfinder had been used as basis for PF2 instead of creating a completely new set of rules with really no connection to the previous edition. What was so bad with the original skill system that it had to be replaced with a level-based one?
Pathfinder - Spiral of Bones has a Starfinder bonus story and in issue 2 a couple of skittermanders are named: Chub-Chub Flunt, Gurv-Gurv Ploss, Dobus-pin-Dovus and Vo. The older a Skittermander is the longer their name gets, because Vo is still very young
There are some players whose characters do this all the time. Including a (semi-)permanent buffs they can get...
After reading the whole thread I come to the conclusion that the main reason for some to hate Starfinder is that it is not Pathfinder but a compeltely new D20 based system.
In my opinion Starfinder is what Pathfinder 2.0 might be. It is streamlined and much more balanced that Pathfinder. And that might be the reason its critics compare it with D&D 4e and D&D 5e. Starfinder is pure science fantasy and it dis away with somethings from Pathfinder which were in my opinion more like a hindrance than a boon. Although some things were added which are unaccustomed for some players like two kinds of hit points (something which for example Star Wars D20 revised edition already had). Having two kinds of AC also needs getting used to, but is neceassary if armor is used to prevent being hit and to reduce the damage.
I do not see why undead being not evil is a problem. If you look into fantasy literature and other RPGs you will find enough instances of not evil undead like the oathbreakers in the Lord of the Rings or the city of Esmoda in the German RPG "Splittermond". Even the force spirits in Star Wars could be seen as some kind of undead. I do also not understand why NPCs must follow the same rules as PCs. Especially if they stay NPCs and do not become PCs later in the campaign. Other RPGs do the same. Sometimes you only have the basic stats and a short description of their abilities, which allows you adjust them to your party.
In most cases the PCs will never learn about the gender identity and sexuality of any NPC. In most cases you will never known if the woman you are talking to is trans- or cisgendered or if she is homo- or hetero- or even bisexual.
And that's a problem?!? I know about gay players who can only play straight male characters.I know about female players who can only play male characters. And I, being a straight man myself, have stopped playing male characters years ago and only play female characters.
In my opinion a setting with racial adversity between the player races is much worse.
I doubt that a non-gendered version of Captain Jack is possible, but that's a different story... ;) About Sulu: Who said that Demora is his adopted daughter? She could be the biological daughter of both him and his husband.
Ok I was thinking that what defines a normal axis would be Perpendicular to the sun which would define 0 degrees -|- = 0 degrees. so I was thinking -- would = 90 degrees so I apologize if I got that wrong. but you get the idea to be tidally lock, one pole would have to always face the sun because if it didn't then the livable belt would shifting all the time which would make it a normal day and night cycle on the planet which it doesn't have that, if it did wouldn't be defined as tidally locked.Ok I'm going to put my two cents in here: First of all the axial tilt of Verces would at least be close to 90 degrees off from earth's tilt in order to maintain a stable livable band like they describes Verces. Meaning the only way seasons would change in the livable belt is by proximity of the sun. If it had a tilt like earth the livable belt would move constantly and also would not define tidally locked because different sides will face the sun.
For my home game all I did was bring back the Drugar (the Dwarven version of the Drow) but I made them a male dominated version of the Drow because I felt the game needed a mirror of the same. ]Eh, I always felt that the "evil patriarchy" counterpart to the drows "evil matriarchy" was the orcs. I mean, if you look at the orc pantheon, only one of their 10 gods is a woman, and that's Dretha, who's pretty much the goddess of being "barefoot and pregnant" (or whatever you call the more barbaric orcish equivalent to that idea). Sure, she doesn't seem happy about it, but she still is. I doubt many drow men like being treated as second class either And if you think that this is not patriarchalic enough: In the German RPG "The Dark Eye" orcs do not recognize their female brethen as orcs but as animals bearing orcs...
I've got the idea of a crossover campaign in which a problem in the past on Golarion and in the present in ther pact worlds must be solved. It does not involve time travel but spiritual ancestors/decendants who are linked (and should be similiar). The outcome of one adventure affects the next one in the campaign, even if it takes place in the past.
There can still be an axial tilt, perhaps not a very great one, but it still can be. The effect would be greatest in the polar regions which will know hot bright summer days and cold dark winter nights. Those living in both equatorial regions will only notice minimal fluctuations in the sunlight intensity.
I've seen a documentary about Proxima b, the closest exo-planet. This is a super-earth in a very close orbit around a red dwarf which probably is tidal-locked with its sun. The documentary speculated, based on scientific caculations, that the complete night side would be covered with ice while the complete day side would be inhabitable with all known climate zones. There will be a sub-artic climate at the terimnator and an arid desert, similiar to the Sahara, in the region where the sun is always in zenit. (If Proxima b is tidal locked in a different ratio, then it would much more unhabitable.) Seasons on such a planet would depend on the orbital eccentricity and the axial tilt. The orbital eccentricity causes a change in the intensity of the solar radiation, resulting in higher temperatures in summer and lower temperatures in winter. The axial tilt changes the incidence angle of the solar radiation, which can ahve a much bigger influence on temperature than the orbital eccentricity, and causes a change of day and night in both polar regions.
If my research in this topic is correct a tidal locked planet can both have a tilted axis and an eccentric orbit. The moon has an axial tilt of 6.687° and a eccentricity of 0.0549 and is locked in a 1:1 rotation-orbit resonance. (Earth for example has an axial tilt 23.4392811° and an eccentricity of 0.0167086.)
159. Your new subdermal communicator can only connect you with the AbadarCorp Customer Service.
That's realy not areason to remove a not cursed serum from the game. Except perhaps you will keep this cursed item as major plot element... But even in this case you could keep the serum in the game. You just have to say that it does not work. And if I remember correctly wish spells got lost during the gap.In my old AD&D campaign we had three different version of this girdle. The first one was not cursed and you only changed your gender when wearing it. The secons one was a cursed version of the first one. You cannot remove it after putting it on. And the third one was the major one whose curse may perhaps be broken by a major wish. Yeah. Its not that it *doesn't* change your appearance, its that the change is no more intrinsically effective than wearing a hat and sunglasses. That's exactly what I meant. You will not look like one of your siblings but like an opposite gender version of yourself. You cannot use this serum to disguise yourself. You'll need the serum of appearance change for that (and enough ranks in Disguise).
The Serum leaves you with a "family resemblance" but that is all. A strong family resemblance. That means that you could be confused with your "sibling". Every one who were confused with their siblings by others, even if they believe that they do not look alike, know what I am talking about. In my opinion this means that a man taking the serum of sex shift will look like a female version of himself as if he had a twin sister. In my opnion this serum cannot disguise you or change non-gender specific features. It can only make your body (or parts of your body) more male or more female but nothing else.
68. Your new cybernetic arm like to grab. You cannot control it. If a woman is in reach it will grab her butt. 69. The former owner of your salvaged neural implant was clearly a bisexual nymphomaniac. Every night you have very explicit erotic dreams...
50. Your neural implant translates everything you say and her into Klingonese, a language no one, not even you, can understand.
What I really want to know is following: 1. Does both serums work on Androids? 2. Does the serums change the DNA? (Important for DNA based security systems) 3. Does the serum of sex shift allow partial transformations?
I've got following campaign idea for bringing an existing Pathfinder party into the world of Starfinder. I do not plan to use time travel or cyrogenic sleep etc. No, the whole thing should be much more mysterious. They simply awake in an abandoned but still working space station or spaceship with no recollection how they got there. And they know how to use this strange technology, even if they believe that they should know this. And they also discover that their abilities have changed or that they even lost their magic. Eventually they learn that they are clones of legendary heroes from pre-Gap Golarion. But who created them and why?
Although they are called serums they clearly are magical potions and not hormones and chemical compounds.
A character concept of mine is an icon themed envoy who changed appeareance and gender like others change their hair color and style, not to disguise themself but just for the fun of it. The most common use of the appearance serum a vain character would be to use it to remove scars and deformities.
You know that even with the combination of both serums you will still be recognizable as yourself. You need a successfull disguise check to alter your features so far that you become unrecognizable. So your character really needs disguise as a class skill with as many ranks as possible...
42. Your neural implant gives you the answer to the great question of life, the universe and everything. Sadly, it cannot tell you what the question was... ;)
The Drow Matron obviously casts Dominate Person on her own baby, if she hasn't already. :) I really doubt that it would work. To be dominated you need a certain level of setience a baby does not have yet. As for fertility, I'd think there'd be technology for using DNA from both parents. Hmm...haven't seen any, but haven't read everything either and it's not like much extrapolation has been done in Starfinder into social technology. They clearly haven't. Or, perhaps they have and decided that it is not really a problem... Who knows...?
30. Your new cybernetic limbs must be detached every twelve hours for four hours in order to recharge properly. 31. Your new cybernetic eyes come with a mature content filter.
The real horror of the serum of sex shift is the effect it has on societies that perceive one gender as superior. Your parents might give you the serum when you are a baby if you don't have the "correct" sex. Otherwise, you might be peer pressured or outcast. As already said by others, the person drinking it, must be able to make a choice and want to change. A baby is not able to make this choice, a child however is. There are cases of five, six years olds declaring themselves transgender. So you cannot force someone to drink this serum and expect the serum to work. The example of the drow matron giving her newborn the serum to get a baby girl instead of a baby boy will never work. But a young drow boy deciding to become a girl and drinking the serum to achieve this, will always work.I can imagine that in some societies both serums are prohibited. For different reasons. But as far as I know they are completely legal in the Pact Worlds, even if some uses might be illegal (using them to change your appearance so completely that you cannot be recognized). BTW, do they work on androids?
In my opinion the serum of appearance change is just a magical replacement for plastic surgery which does not allow you to take the appearance of others. Thus most people will use it for the same reasons people go to a plastic surgeon in real life: to remove scars, to fix their appearance, etc. I think that the serum of sex shift is only used in two cases. The most obvious case is as a cure for gender dysphoria, thus allowing a transgendered person to get the right body. The other case would be to allow homosexual couples to get children, although in this case the one take the serum will most likely suffer from gender dysphoria (and both from having awkward sex). It is unclear if the serum allows partial transformations (e.g. female appearance but male genitals) but it clearly does not allow some one to become a hermaphrodite or sexless. And it is also unclear if it also alters the DNA. That's my opinion to this topic.
Hi, with the knowledge of the length of the planetary of each planet it is very easy to calculate the average distances of each planet from the sun using Kepler's third law of planetary motion:
(1 AU is the average distance between Earth and our Sun.) Aballon: 0.393 AU
These numbers are the average distance for each planet from the sun. The real distance may varie over the course of a planetary year because of the orbital eccentricity (e.g. Our planet has an orbital eccentricity of 0.0167). And for most Pact Worlds the eccentricity of their orbits are unknown.
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