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The Appendix of the GameMastery Guide and other books, there's a list of books, movies, and even songs that were used or can be used for inspiration by the Devs and DMs for adventures and other elements.

So what are your inspirations that you would, or already do, use to make Sci-Fi/Fantasy worlds and adventures, or would like the Paizo devs to take a look at as they work on Starfinder?

Literature
Stephen Cowley -- Terran Trade Authority series
Keith Laumer -- Bolos series
Sandy Mitchell -- Ciaphas Cain series
Fred Perry -- Gold Digger
Dynamite Comics -- Flash Gordon
Jim Butcher -- The Dresden Files

Television
Firefly
Exosquad
Aldnoah Zero
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's
Visionaries
The King of Braves Gao Gai Gar
Voltron: Leganday Defender
Space Knight Tekkaman Blade/Teknoman
Ultraman

Video Games
- Arc System Works
-- BlazBlue
-- Guilty Gear

- Blizzard Entertaiment
-- Starcraft
-- Overwatch

- Capcom
-- Devil May Cry
-- Forgotten Worlds
-- Mega Man
-- Monster Hunter
-- Street Fighter
-- Strider

- Irem
-- R-Type

- Konami
-- Castlevania
-- Gradius
-- Metal Gear
-- Twinbee

- Midway
-- Strike Force

- Monolith Soft
-- Xeno series (Xenosaga, Xenoblade Chronicles

- Namco Bandai
-- God(s) Eater (Burst)
-- Super Robot Wars(Endless Frontier, Lord of Elemental)

- Nintendo
-- Pokemon
-- Star Fox
-- Super Mario Galaxy

- SEGA
-- Phantasy Star/Online/Universe
-- Sakura Wars
-- Skies of Arcadia
-- Valkyria Chronicles
-- Virtual On

- SNK
-- The King of Fighters
-- Metal Slug

- Square Enix
-- Final Fantasy(VII, VIII, X, XII)
-- Kingdom Hearts
-- The World Ends Wtih You

- Sunsoft
-- Blaster Master

- Treasure
-- Guardian Heroes
-- Gunstar Heroes

They don't have to be Colossal or anything (but it would be nice to be able to fight Kaiju face-to-face. But for technology and even some lost magic/magitech, a few giant mecha would be awesome.

Imagine something like the Cybuster:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mh9aVO_cZI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9ey1pfOhNQ

A mech possessed by a powerful elemental spirit. As cool as it may be as a machine/artifact/treasure, it provides some awesome adventure hooks. If magic is lost an mysterious, finding out how the machine is powered is a great way to start an adventure. Or what if, instead of an elemental, it's an Archon, or a Prothean? What if it's an Emperyal Lord or Archdevil? Could it be freed? Is that the best course of action?

How bad could it be? Consider this roughly Emperyal-level being in a sci-fi game:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ5dkkSQO6Y

Note how her strongest attack involves her stepping out of her machine first.

My group is just about to wrap up Curse of the Crimson Throne, and the GM is saying he wants to do MM next. I was gonna do a Changeling this time around, and was hoping to do Ninja just because, but the group has tapped me to be the party's trapfinder.

I started looking for alternatives to just going straight-up Rogue, and came across the Archaeologist Bard Archetype. I worked out some preliminary work on it, and ended up becoming kind of attached to the concept before reading the MM player's handbook and seeing that I could just take a campaign trait to get the needed trap abilities.

So right now, my current idea is to take twelve levels of Bard, five of Ninja (present plan is to be Bard 4/Ninja 4 by eighth level to get Improved Uncanny Dodge, then finish Ninja and go back to Bard), and see if the campaign goes farther than that later.

For gear, I was thinking of a Nine-Ring Broadsword (and MWP) because I really like the weapon, Shurikens and magic for primary ranged attacks, and EWP/Ninja/Rogue Trick to get a pistol later for emergencies.

I'm also toying with the idea of taking the Eldritch Heritage feat chain to play up her heritage(plus, I like being a Mutant), but otherwise I have no definite idea what to do for feats.

As the title says, what have been some of the most notable or favorite moments where someone was killed, directly or indirectly, using a spell, weapon, or other effect that is normally supposed to be nonlethal?

I'm still kinda new to this, so I only have two: One I saw, and one I did.

The one I saw was in Shadowrun. We were fighting a group of Dwarven terrorists in an abandoned shopping mall. One of them was lying prone in a dry fountain, so our Shaman quietly put an invisible wall of force right over the top like a lid. Good thing too, as the dwarf's next action happened to be an attempt to toss a canister of Mustard gas in our direction. As you might have guessed, it didn't end well for him.

The one I did was in Wrath of the Righteous. An enemy Sorcerer was hiding levitated near the ceiling of a cavern. Out of my normal Basting spells, I blasted him straight up with Hydraulic Push. He slammed into the ceiling, which knocked him out. Gravity finished him off.

I'm working late, and this came to me.

Up until around Skull & Shackles, the Players' Guides for the Adventure Paths used to have a section on why or how peoples of various races were found in the area the AP was set in. I can guess that the reason it was dropped was because it often retreaded similar information every time.

IMO, the key problem with that was the fact that those sections only dealt with the Core races.

My suggestion, as a way to reintroduce and revitalize the concept is that, instead of redoing the same Core races over and over again, instead focus on prominent races in that area: which core races hold the most sway in that area, and particularly what "Featured" or Uncommon Races have sizable communities in the area. That way, even players who suffer from Special Snowflake Syndrome when it comes to races can still find one that fits the theme.

In my group, I find that one of my early characters (my first one, actually) is in need of an overhaul. Not too surprising, as I've learned a lot more about both making characters and where I wanted that character (a Halfling Sorceress/Dragon Disciple) to go.

I could just ask the DM to let me try it, but I remember there being an item in a book that could be used to change or alter a character's class. I remember the page it was on having a picture of Seoni as a warrior. I thought it was in the Game Masters' Guide, but I looked through that and couldn't find it.

So what book was it in?

As a continuation of Zippomcfry's Campside and Urban threads, things to have happen inside Inns, Taverns, Pubs, and other gathering areas we Adventurers love so much.

1: A petite Sorceress with a tall, muscular Fighter enter and start ordering a tremendous amount of food, which they proceed to devour with gusto.
(just had to get it out of the way!)

2: A ranger walks in carrying a large wriggling sack. He sets it on the bar and starts an argumentative discussion with the proprietor (among other things, dropping that sack on the bar during business hours). The proprietor pays the man and hands the sack to an employee, who carries it to the back room.

3: A figure in an all-concealing cloak enters the building. He is oddly shaped, and leaves a faint trail of silvery dust behind him.

4: A Halfling girl riding a large dog enters. She pays the bartender for an ale. She doesn't touch it, but the dog happily slurps it down

5: You ask the Bartender for the House Special. It tastes pretty good, but it's not until you're halfway through the mug that you realize the world has turned purple.

6: A Cleric, a Druid, and an Oracle enter.

So after hanging with a gaming group for just over a year, I've been tapped to run a game in about a week to fill in a blank spot in the schedule. I figured I'd run the LB modules as I'd figured I'd get called for doing this eventually, and was planning on doing them already.

Thing is, they've been playing since high school, and I only started when I joined them. So I figured a little asking around is in order.

The group is usually about 5-6 players as it is, so I know some buffing is already in order, and one of them promised they'd go easy on me, though since I already had to nix one dude's request to make his own fae race, I'm kinda leery on their idea of "easy".

In the eternal debate on how to make guys who rely mostly on their natural physical prowess somehow achieve parity with those who manipulate reality through the direct application of their will (which should tell you how I feel about that), I figure that it is better to give Martials better abilities and options rather than ruthlessly nerfing Mages (although making them a little squishier would definitely help them appreciate the value of a nice, well-armed meatshield).

One end of this is to make weapons more than just a Damage rating. Couldn't a Fighter's weapons be just as customizable as a Wizard's spellbook? In ways other than making them magic?

As a bonus, these can help out players who want to equip their character with some variation of the absurd and absurdly-cool weapons we often see in movies, comics, video games and anime.

First I wanna get out the way is that I'm hoping to make this a brainstorming thread. I definitely don't have all the answers to this problem, and the ones I do probably have issues of their own. Feedback and your own ideas are encouraged.

The first Idea I had was to add qualities to the weapon/armor. This is an extrapolation of the present use of things like Masterwork and Armor/Shield Spikes. You pay a certain amount/percentage of GP/SP extra to add some more abilities to an existing weapon or weapon type. Some examples would be:

Bladed: A Shield or Bludgeoning weapon with this gains the option to inflict Slashing damage.

Heavy: An oversized striking surface give this weapon a step up in damage die, but also inflicts a -2 penalty to hit.
(NOTE: Yes, this does reduce the penalty for using an oversized weapon. That's actually the point. The penalty is lessened because the gripping part of the weapon is still properly sized to the wielder.)

Serrated: A Slashing weapon with this quality inflicts Bleed damage after a critical hit.

Bulletproof: An armor or shield with this quality adds it's AC bonus to the wearer's Touch AC against firearms.

Hooked: This weapon offers a +1 bonus to CMB to trip, drag, reposition, or unhorse an opponent. This replaces the Trip quality.

Forked: This weapon offers a +1 bonus on disarming or sundering weapons.

Just a simple, hopefully fun thought/world-building exercise.

Barring the usual Fantasy World technological stasis, Where do you think the various peoples and nations of Golarion could end up roughly five hundred years from now (give or take a century)?

Have the rival city-states of Varisia grown into full-fledge kingdoms? Have they been unified into a single nascent empire? Was it though force, diplomacy, or necessity?

Has Cheliax tried to assert more control over it's old colonies in Varisia or Garund? Did they pacify the Shackles?

Did Narimithas and Molthune finally have that war that's been brewing? Who won?

In what form has Galt finally stabilized? Or did it tear itself apart and get conquered/annexed/absorbed by neighboring states?

Has Taldan made any gains in regaining former glory, status, or territories? How are things along the Quadiran border? Has it moved in either direction?

Has Andoran undergone any shifts in National and Foreign Policy? Perhaps it's gained land from Cheliax, Taldor or it's neighbors through war or "Peacekeeping" operations? Has it lost any? How are things in Darkmoon Vale?

Has technology enabled more regular trade from Minkai? Are both Avistani and Minkai colonies approaching each other through opposite sides of Arcadia? How do the locals feel about that?

Have the Dwarves made any headway towards growing their own kingdoms or reclaiming lost Sky Citadels? Have there been any wars or nation-building in the Darklands?

Has Space Travel become a thing yet? How are things in the rest of the solar system?

What about Nex and Geb? Maybe their patrons have surfaced again? Are they at war? Have any of their neighbors been drawn into it?

What about the Gods? Has Shelyn made any headway towards helping her brother? Is Iomedae starting to act all Tsundere around Cayden Cailean? Has Desna decided to get aggressive towards any of her old enemies? What effect is this having on their mortal followers?

Any answers? Further Questions? Other parts of the world you'd like to look at?

Just an idea I have: A series of smaller sourcebooks for fans of particular classes, much in the same way as the various "[Race]s of Golarion" books, but maybe a little bigger. Each one would go further in depth into each class, provide tips, and the like.

As an example, the first would likely be Ultimate Alchemist, as that comes first in Alphabetical Order.

After the usual introduction, a reprint of the basic information would be given. Followed by maybe a section on the history, development, treatment and roles of the Alchemist in Golarion. Following or alongside that would be a listing of all the archetypes (including new ones), what book they can be found in and a short summary of what makes them special (if you don't want a total reprint). The third section would be a listing of all their formulae (again, some new ones like maybe extracts based on debuffing/nerfing that could be used with the Infusion discovery), and various specialized equipment designed for Alchemists to use. Not just magic items, but more mundane things like variations of the Injection Spear that can draw fluids from a target (adding Bleed damage, for example, and allowing you to gather their blood/humours/etc...) or can be modified to spray their contents in a short 10/15-foot cone, that sprayer from Dungeoneer's Handbook, a heavy fluid gun with a hip- or back-pack reservoir (Flamethrowers ho! Forget that, Icethrowers ho!), a sling designed for hurling Bombs, and the like.

For more variety, new Archetypes, abilities, feats, or Formulas/Discoveries based on race can be added, like A Dwarven discovery that weakens stone (good for fighting golems or Elementals, but there's also the dreaded Dungeon Bypass).

Also maybe rules for adding their power to various Alchemical Tools and Weapons to make them more potent or allow whole new uses for them.

A big change I thought about is Multi-classing. To me, Multiclassing should be more than just dipping a level or two into a new pool for more abilities. Just as much as taking a single character class is a life choice for your character, taking a second should be just as important and defining. Whether as a series of traits, feats or abilities, or just roleplaying hints, these would be a few paragraphs (no more than half a page each IMO) about using the Alchemist class in conjunction with other classes in both concept and roleplaying. Perhaps an Alchemist/Monk, rather than just being a bomb-thrower who kicks people in the face when they get too close, is an aspiring Immortalist who uses Ki and meditation to refine extracts and mutagens within his own body as he seeks physical perfection. Or an Alchemist/Wizard who develops catalysts to increase the power of his spells/duplicate Metamagic effects.

Finally, there would be a few sample Alchemists. Damiel optional (after all, you may want to save him for NPC Codex 2).

That's about all I have off the top of my head. Suggestions, Ideas for other classes, etc...?

When starting a new campaign, do your groups ever get together and decide on common themes to design your characters by? Either to fit the campaign/setting or just because.

I mean stuff like a team of all Aasimars(Teiflings)/Celestial(Abyssal/Infernal)) Sorcerers/Eldritch Heritaged characters as the descendants of a single Celestial or Fiendish being, or a group of classmates from a magic school, or a party of Kellish/Shoanti Barbarians/Shamans/etc out to make their way in the world from their home village.

So yeah. Has anyone tried this? how well did it work out? Is it your preferred form of playing?

I've seen a thread or two with the search function, but I'm not sure of how the board feels about Necromancy in a non-game sense. So I decided to start fresh, which was fitting with the recent release of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate for Wii U and 3DS.

First, a brief summary:

I'm not going for a full conversion, per se. At least not at first. I'm going to stay mostly out of how to do a Hunter, at least until after I look into all the character classes first. I'm more concerned with the Monsters, Weapons, and Items/Technology (and how to fit them in Golarion or whatever world(s) you play).

I wouldn't mind doing the world as it's own setting, but Capcom doesn't give out a whole lot of maps and information about the world. I will have a few notes and suggestions on fitting the people, places, and creatures of the universe into your own games, however.

Speaking of which, a few glimpses into the world of Monster Hunter:

[2G(Freedom Unite) Intro

[Tri Intro

[3 Ultimate intro

[Tri Monster Size Comparisons -- Just so you know the variety of monsters in the game.

Also, due to me not doing the canon world, I'm also going to be doing some non-canon stuff (maybe the creatures in MH Orage?). An artbook I picked up a while back has some awesome stuff (like armor made out of spellbooks!) from when they originally envisioned the game as a more High-Fantasy world. It doesn't fit the MH world as it is now, but some of it would be perfect for Golarion.

Incedentally, I'll be happy to accept suggestions, constructive criticisms, and your own ideas and conversions for the thread.

For starters, here's my attempt at a Great Jaggi.

Great Jaggi CR 7
XP 3,200 xp
N Huge animal
Init +6; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +14
Defense
AC 22, touch 16, flat-footed 17 (+2 Dex, +3 natural)
hp 34 (4d8+16)
Fort +10, Ref +8, Will +4
Offense
Speed 60 ft.
Melee 2 talons +5 (1d10+2), bite +5 (1d8+2), foreclaws +0 (1d6+1)
Special Attacks pounce
Statistics
Str 23, Dex 17, Con 27, Int 2, Wis 16, Cha 18
Base Atk +5; CMB +7; CMD 19
Feats Improved Initiative, Run
Skills Acrobatics +10 (+22 jump), Perception +14,
Racial Modifiers +8 Acrobatics, +8 Perception,
Ecology
Environment: warm forests, deserts
Organization: solitary (with pack of Jaggis/Jaggia)
Treasure none

Special Abilities
Call: If there are less than two Jaggi with a Great Jaggi, the Great Jaggi, as a Swift Action, may call additonal members of his pack that are sleeping nearby, or out hunting. Two Jaggi will arrive 1D3 turns later.

Attack Call: Every four rounds, a Great Jaggi may make a howling call. All Jaggi and Jaggia in the area will attack a single creature of the DM's choice (usually the one the Great Jaggi is attacking, or the last one to attack him). The Jaggi/Jaggia will continue attacking the creature until attacked by another creature, at which point they will turn to attack their attacker.

The Great Jaggi is the Alpha male of a Jaggi pack (for Jaggis, add the Young Simple Template to the Dinosaur,Dienonychus entry in Bestiary 1 (p. 84). Jaggia use the entry straight up).