Bootravsky's page

Realizing that the playtest is still five months out, the Core Rulebook release 17 months out, I do have a suggest for supplements that follow from the core rulebook.

So, we know that the content will likely be similar to the Starfinder content, hopefully with a short gazeteer of Golarion, a few detailed locations. My suggestion is that, if there are any detailed locations, they should be targeted towards the core rules, so be very general in nature - obviously, Varisia would make sense.

But, the playtest discussion has stated that they don't intend to just regurgitate everything that has already been developed. My suggestion: bring the old classes, races, and subsystems back in in a manner integrated with the setting. Make a book called "Ultimate Adventures" and have (off the top of my head):
- Horror: with the Inquisitor class and Dhampir ancestry and haunts or genius loci or something, provide a gazzeteer of Ustalav and an organization description for the Whispering Way;
- Occult: with the Spiritualist and... some occult-ish ancestry, the Dreamlands of Leng and the Order of the Palatine eye;
- Technological: Technology rules, android ancestry, robot rules, Numeria gazetteer, Technic League, and the Red Redoubt;
- Magic: Arcanist, Geb or Nex,etc.
- Aquatic:
- First World:
- Kingdom:
- Eastern:
- Urban:
- Darklands:
- Planar:
Etc. Use that as an opportunity to bring forward subsystems that people like and revisit popular locations and organizations that fit the theme, with a few new places sprinkled in. Disparate rules sets spread out over literally dozens of products can be unified - remember how haunts were updated in both Horror AND occult adventures?, updated, ironed out, and made consistent with the new edition. And, by tying it in to the setting, you can see those rules as they apply to the world.

Due to... adulting (let's face it), my plan is to co-opt an ongoing homebrew, port it into Golarion using "the Dragon's Demand", then roll that into Iron Gods. Here's my plan:

Our campaign has historically been set in a witch-haunted town called Wikhaven, in a river-laden area at the edge of an orc and barbarian haunted plain. So, I'm basically porting that into the River Kingdoms, where it will take the place of Belhaim (from Dragon's Demand). Amongst the notes in the wizard's tower, the party will find notes from Khonnir Bane with references to similar creatures to those Aeteperyx is summoning from the Dark Tapestry alleged to being located in the Scar of the Spider. Amongst the Dragon's treasure will be numerous gew-gaws and mechanical stuff.

There will be notes from Khonnir Bane in Torch about the items, but, if that doesn't work, some (or most) of those items will be stolen by Technic League spies present at the auction earlier in the adventure (taking the place of Druuman priests). The party will chase them down or go directly to Khonnir Bane, at which point Fires of Creation begins. They'll be overclocked for the adventure, but I'm not concerned. I'll advance the adversaries, or just let them grind through.

Anyways, that will proceed into Lords of Rust. Most of that will stay the same, though I'm going to half-ass some rules for a Mad Max style race against the Ogre (whose name is escaping me). I know there will be goblins flung from one vehicle to another.

For the Choking Tower, the town of Iadenveigh will be a Kellid town that is anti-technology (why Nirmathi in the first place? never made sense). They do keep one active piece, though: a maintenance module on an articulated arm projecting from the earth. This has become their prison/watchtower for many generations.

In the Scar of the Spider, there will be lots of small and large changes: the environment is tainted by frond-like, waterborne algae that creates a mini-greenhouse effect. Within the swamp are halflings that long ago emigrated from Ustalav and learned to live with the alien lifeforms - effectively the Rhulisti from Dark Sun. Also, deep inside the ruins is a group of grell seeking to animate a deadly, laser-beam bearing vehicle to start taking over Golarion.

In the Palace of Fallen Stars, there will be a few details added: the land surrounding is blasted, ancient drainage ways destroyed with the creation of the First Blade's Path (actually the enormous gouge in the earth resulting from the Divinity's initial entry) and draining towards the East Sellen rather than the Lake of Ice and Veils. Rather than an imported water scheme, the slaves use Androffan tech to test the water in wells throughout the city, starting in the north and heading into the slave quarters, in order to verify that it hasn't been tainted by Numerian Fluids. In the depths of the dumps, there is a colony of derro that are in a pitched battle against ratfolk scavengers. And the barbarian justice system is evident everywhere: the Technic League alchemists are given rein to make "criminals" into technical monstrosities (i.e. golemoids from Thunderscape or Remade from New Crobuzon).

I also intend to insert the WArdens of the Reborn Forge, with some modifications into the adventure. Instead, the PCs will try to invade a Technic League research community that is trying to meld androids with gearsmen: Terminators. Trying to come up with those stats right now.

I appreciate any ideas you have about my ideas. I really hope I can get this to go off!

Call it the Advanced NPC Codex.
- Do the Alchemist, Cavalier, Summoner, Magus, etc. for 20 levels.
- Provide a page or 2 for each base and advanced class discussing particular archetypes and how their use changes feat selection. NPCs are generally non-optimized, but archetypes, as elaborate "templates" that alter the class, may make some standard feats completely unusable!
- Provide simple templates for any remaining APG and ACG to add onto monsters.

All great suggestions!

And, Mathmuse, I will check out your development of the management of the Technic League over in the Starfall Thread. Judging from Akradenn, I cannot wait to see where you go with the others.
My own intent was to have a few of the highest captains running the Mark 10 Gearsmen factory in the midst of an irradiated red zone: basically, mix Wardens of the Reborn Forge with Terminator (and mutants), with the Technic League making Androids that are utterly loyal to their creators... and likely Unity. I also intended to have Zernebeth sit on a board in the Sovereign's Watch with a few barbarians, where justice is dispensed by experimenting on criminals (a la the ReMade from Bas-Leg). Which may give good motivation for going after the Zon-Kuthites in the Technic Headquarters...

This campaign provides such a fantastic framework for GMs to modify and expand to their heart's content. Let's add in a Mad Max style vehicle combat in Lords of Rust; Iadenveigh has turned a maintenance module pod into a lookout tower (and isolation cell for technologist "criminals" - See Cugel the Clever); strange red algae coats dramatically increases the humidity in the Scar of the Spider, and provides an environment for a Grell colony to tinker away at a means of escape; a mad Technic League mage named Cynder Ohm has turned a climate controlled research module into the Doomsphere (like the Incredibles); a vicious alien Predator hunts down the strongest barbarians in the alleyways of Starfall; adversaries from Torch are turned into cyborgs by a Taldan bounty hunter named Pierce and his band of Reavers; etc.... and those can be mostly be inserted between the lines without truly adding to the setting, like making the Swords of Aaraamor similar to He-Man and facing down a Graveknight from the Worldwound, or or or..

To be honest, I'm a lazy GM. NPC Guide? Yes Please!

Unfortunately, the rules in the Tech Guide, while awesome, require some reskinning to make NPCs from other sources usable in Iron Gods. For instance, i would love to have a whole series of adversarial encounters with the Captains of Starfall (and their own minions - I see them as being very Zhentarim-esque). What would be exceptionally useful, is a shorthand way to port the NPCs from the guide into usable Tech classes. Obviously, in Iadenveigh and in the barbarian lands, not much would need to change. But in Scarwall or Starfall? However, it seems like it could be done fairly easily.

Did I mention: I don't have a good handle on all the rules yet. I try to learn as we go. Anyway, things like available feat trees don't just come to mind immediately, nor how they are used.

That being the case, for (let's say) skill, combat, and magic classes, what would be the necessary changes to equipment, feats, skills, and spells to make them usable as tech characters? It seems like each class has critical junctures at which a change to the character means greater changes down the line. Let's say, at the first level of the PFS Tiers?

Does that seem like something that anybody has tried?

One thing the Numeria, land of Fallen Stars, book failed to capitalize on was the volume of surrounding data and events that could be use to build up events within Numeria.

Let's see:

700-4606: Iobarian empire rules Mendev, settles Issia.
2009-2014: Taldor captures the River Kingdoms in Fifth Age of Exploration. [Taldorian influence throughout Numeria. Think border forts and ruins. It is possible there was some influence up through 4079, when the forces were recalled from "outlying provinces."]
3489: Plain of Ten Thousands Swords born in Felldales.
3569: Karamos becomes obsessed with Starmount.
3606: Karamoss enters Starmount.
3637: Karamoss attacks Absalom, forms the Red Redoubt.
3754-3827: Shining Crusade against the Whispering Tyrant. Lastwall formed. [orcs pushed into Numeria]
4031: First Black Sovereign, Amalokla.
4318: Ontar allows Gojan the Sharp to enter Silver Mount.
4433: Aroden drives the forces of Deskari out of Sarkoris, into the Lake of Mists and Veils. [Maybe the northern reaches have ancient, degraded temples to Aroden.]
4499: Choral the Conquerer captures Rostland.
4509-4512: Mulrach Zeer and his henchmen seek to enter Starmount.
4622: Mendevian Crusade begins.

So, what we can we do with this? here's a go:

Compress a few timeline elements.
Taldor takes over Numeria in 5th age of exploration, but only ever has a light rulership. To a great extent, they mostly stand watch over the eastern marches to ensure that Sirian Aldori's Rostland breakaway does not try to invade any other River Kingdoms. The western reaches remain somewhat free, under a succession of barbarian rulers loosely allied to the more settled Sarkorians, or attempted invasions from the Iobarian territory of Issia. To give building styles character: old OLD buildings in the north are long-house, or northern European stone; in the west, Scottish highlands style; and in the south, Roman border guard. The Brevik (Iobarian) influence can still be felt in Chesed, with its worship of Abadar.

Doors to the spaceships are all sealed shut, as if their contents are not meant to be revealed. Researchers examine the ruins, and poke around where they can, but only a few individuals ever have the capacity to understand how to operate Numerian Technology (Karamoss, for instance), so most of the space junk remains a novelty. Barbarians utterly avoid the space junk, as one early chieftan's attempts to harness dark energy led to an explosion and the irradation of a large area at the western end of the First Blades Path: Witchlight Vale.

Aroden's war against the Whispering Tyrant result in a mass of expatriot Hill Giants and Orcs settling in Sovereign's Reach and the Felldales. One group battles Queen Boliga Barsholm c-3900 at the battle of Grasyhot near Mendev and Sarkoris. [I moved this later in the timeline]
The church of Zon-Kuthon establishes itself, with priests wandering out of Ustalav into irradiated areas as an act of Masochistic worship throughout the Whispering Tyrant's reign.

In 4506, Sidrah Emeruss wakes up and enlists wizards, learning enough arcane knowledge to modify spells and create the Technic League. Within three years, she is murdered by Mulrach Zeer. Nonetheless, the ruins remain sealed.

All that changed in 4606, with the fall of Aroden. The Worldwound opened, Sarkoris fell, and, in Numeria, the spaceships' doors opened. Androids first opened their eyes upon a foreign sun. The Technic League's secrets slowly leak out, and the writings of Gojan the Sharp become popularised in Absalom and Taldor. The gold rush starts up, with the ancient, abandoned Taldorian border forts in the Sellen Hills to be reinhabited just long enough for the western tech to be stripped bare. Numeria is just past it's prime, but the Technic League is currently in full swing.

I like the idea of tying some of the events in this area to Aroden, especially seeing as how he had acted in surrounding areas. Also, i like making the history more recent. One could meet elves or dwarves that lived the gold rush heyday.

I was figuring reskinning the Bugbear as an alien for a few reasons. One is that I can probably upgrade something from the Monster Codex pretty easily. Also, Kasatha are already used pretty heavily throughout the AP, so I'm not that interested in using them more.
I do agree about the tech items you mentioned though.

So... random ideas I'm throwing out...

I have only two players, which makes any campaign difficult. I'm thinking each player runs a single NPC class also: if the main dies, that one gets upgraded. This will enable the players to fulfill more roles - magician, technologist, whatever.

The windswept plains of Numeria sing to me as being northern great plains - Alberta/Manitoba-esque. Bitter winters and hot summers.

Interspersed across the landscape are the dwellings of the stone giant servants of Thassilon: the breeding grounds for huge herds of primeval beasts, and verdant plains for growing massive amounts of crops. This way I can play with Thundarr-style ruined cities.

I hate the First Blade's Path. It isn't significant, little more than a ditch, and wouldn't be able to stop a group of wizards equipped with flight. here's an idea: the ship did three orbits around Golarion. The first, aimed at a great wide plain, left a massive gash in the earth, scattering major chunks of the starship. The second orbit was complete, but it was all bolloxed by the Dominion and on the third the starship landed at Starmount. This doesn't explain the source for the Dagger or Seven Tears rivers, though. I'm thinking the Dagger River will be generated by Cloven Pommel Lake - a crater created by the explosion from a collapsing miniature-black hole. Over time, this body has accumulated water that runs year round.

A major nuclear reactor was left at the head of the first furrow (the First Blade's Path), which resulted in Witchlight Vale. I'm thinking of porting Wardens of the Reborn Forge into this area, scaling the city down to fit a population about a tenth of the size (so, 50' roads become 5' alleys), and making the area isolated by nuclear fallout storms. This is the research lab for the Technic League.

Other influences:
A murderer stalks the streets of Starfall, killing the lead gladiators from the barbarian/robot arenas, murdering the most successful barbarian gang members, and slaughtering high-ranking warriors serving the Technic League. This PREDATOR uses a returning chakram, wrist-mounted razors, and a shoulder-mounted laser beam, and beheads his victims. Bugbear with slayer simple template (if there is one...)

A barbarian family with strange animal companions wanders the plains, destroying any tech users they come across. The Herculoids consist of a human family of four, a wyvern able to shoot lasers, a triceratops able to fire fire-missiles from its horn, and a friendly earth elemental named Igoo.

Thundarr the Barbarian: a barbarian with a tech sunsword, a human wizard, and a gnoll enslave outsiders that seek the tech, and deliver them to the Black Sovereign. They fit better as bad guys, I say.

In Starfall, I intend to have some Technic League members flying on sky-chariots.

Once the Technic League catches wind of the heroes, they send an advanced android - the TERMINATOR - after them. I think I'll have a rule where a reduction in excess of 75% of his hit points will turn him into a walking skeleton. d20PFSRD also has a Mighty template that will make it unstoppable.

After completion, I'm thinking of having a cult of locusts pop up in Aaramor. People start going mad. Deskari is on the move. I'm thinking mixing a Storm of Wings (Viriconium) with the Annihilation Wave.

And if they fail? Divinity tries to take over the world by nanite: the Phalanx Swarm.

Does it sound like I'm giddy. I'm totally giddy.

If anybody has any advice, goodies, recommendations for 3PP that would help, I'm open to suggestions. When I start developing my ideas, I'll post them here.