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Hello, I was wondering if you could look into order 7965213 for me. It is currently showing as on hold pending backordered items, but the only item that should be part of this shipment is AP #144 which does not otherwise list as on backorder.

It originally had AP #145 in there as well, but I canceled my subscription for the AP line after 144, so possibly it was 145 that was initially on backorder and is holding up the shipment?

Any advice on this would be appreciated. Thank you!

Hello-

I would like to cancel my AP subscription after Midwives to Death (#144) ships. I love Pathfinder and Paizo, but I am not ready to switch to 2nd edition at this time.

Thank you!

I keep scratching my head at the purpose of the Abyssal/Infernal Pact rituals from the playtest bestiary. I understand that these are present to detail how demons and devils in PF2E summon allies, and to illustrate how their summoning in 2E is different from 1E, but I don't quite understand why they are presented as rituals, rather than just as a special ability or even just as a textual description.

As they currently stand, they can only be used by NPCs ("must be demon/devil" respectively), which means that the mechanics involved- the critical success to critical failure spectrum- will never see use in-game. (Unless the GM feels like playing dice-rolling games by himself to throw some randomness into his own encounter building process for some reason.)

Am I missing something? Is there some reason the rituals might actually be useful in-game that I just can't conceive of?

Hello-

I would like to cancel my Starfinder subscription (only- I would like to continue to have my Pathfinder subscription). I will be playing as a player in the future (literally and figuratively, I guess) and so do not wish to be spoiled.

Thank you!

Dominate Person now requires not only an attack roll to hit before a Will save needs to be made, but it also has a visual effect of being a purple ray.

Any ideas on why these changes were implemented? Was Dominate Person being abused? The visual effect is a particularly blah change to me, as it really takes a lot of the subtlety of mind control away. :'(

I was looking through First Contact earlier tonight, and I noticed the entry for the Orocoran. The illustration of that creature looks remarkably similar to the Sinspawn, though mechanically they are not alike. I wonder if that is just a coincidence or if there is something going on there?

The 13th level Solarion's Onslaught ability notes that you get a lesser penalty to full attack "if you have the Flashing Strikes ability."

Given that Flashing Strikes is a 7th level Solarion ability, and not an ability that would be traded out by taking an archetype, is there any reason that I'm not seeing where every 13th level Solarion wouldn't already have Flashing Strikes?

At GenCon, I mean! I hope that the unanticipated early sell-out of Starfinder Core Rulebooks bodes well for the future of the game. I just picked up one at my FLGS and am hopeful for the opportunity to get involved in some gaming sessions there. Really excited for Starfinder, and looking forward to more to come! Congrats to everyone at Paizo!

So we know that, in the future represented by Starfinder, Golarion is missing. What about the Plane of Shadow version of Golarion? Is that missing as well, or is it still present?

I'm a huge fan of the Thunderbolts comic book from Marvel; classic Thunderbolts, that is, where the villains were posing as heroes in order to effect their larger, more nefarious plot to rule the world.

I have been wondering how it would work to run Hell's Rebels TBolts style. It seems to me like the best possible scenario of the APs (I'm not sure Hell's Vengeance would work quite as well in reverse, for instance, due to the way the plot plays out). I think it could provide some really interesting RP opportunities as the "heroes" try to maintain their cover amongst their allies, particularly as they level past 4th and now need to worry about magical alignment detection as well as more mundane means, and it might provide some interesting alternatives to combat with the villains of the piece- negotiating with some groups to stand down in return for making them a better deal when the "heroes" wind up on top, etc.

Has anyone else attempted something like this? Did it work out, were there problems indemic to the way the APs are structured that made it difficult?

I know the announcement is barely out of the gate, but I hope to hear what the planned scope of the system is meant to be. One of the things that often frustrates me about sci-fi in literature is when writers treat starfaring stories as if they were taking place on the scale of a single planet (or continent): the cultures and ecosystems of entire planets are uniform and homogeneous; events and travel happen nearly instantaneously, regardless of the vast distances involved; fleets of ships are somehow able to conquer entire planets just with some relatively confined bombardments from space; etc.

With an RPG, you've got to try to constrain your boundaries somewhat, to keep the narrative personal for your players. So I'm curious to know how that will work out for Starfinder. Will we see more narrowly focused APs involving relatively smaller areas of Golarion's galaxy, or will there be an attempt to try and paint with a broader brush in order to depict as wide a range of options out there, but at the expense of quite possibly giving each of the planetary systems short-shrift?

Wow. I don't buy or use miniatures any more, but I always enjoy these posts and seeing what's out there, and I have to say, this would be an amazing piece to have (or pieces, in this "case")!!

It almost seems a shame those stools are going to waste, though. Wonder if it would be possible to have minis that are in a seated position- that you could sit on top of the stools, or tables, or bar, or even other sorts of pieces (mounts)?

Ever since 3E, it seems that the ability to magically alter the forms of other creatures (aside from the caster) has been greatly reduced. I have never been entirely sure why this is. Fiction abounds with tales of sorcerous beings who transform others, from Circe to Madam Mim.

Yet, aside from baleful polymorph and using things like charm to make a willing recipient of polymorph other spells, there doesn't seem to be any real precedent to accomplish this in Pathfinder. Is it just too game imbalancing?

On that note, I've never really understood the game's resistance to using shapechanging magic to adopt a specific identity. This is something that goes back all the way to 1E. In 3E/Pathfinder, I suppose the rationale is that it invalidates the Disguise skill, but other than that, is there any real reason why magic shouldn't allow for the transformation into a specific visage?

Aren't all goblins up to no good?

So, I only just completed my Jade Regent AP and was reading through it recently. Therein, the point is made that the Oni are prevented from directly ruling Minkai due to proscriptions in the Laws of Golden Perfection, and thus in order to take over the nation they have to act through proxies (thus setting in motion the entire plot of Jade Regent).

So how is it that the oni openly rule in Chu Ye (and a voidlord is the shogun)? Is there something else going on that allows this? Some loophole in the Laws of Golden Perfection?

(Sounds like something Asmodeus would get involved in.)

I've been considering is having "Party Feats"; essentially like regular feats, but every time the party hits a level milestone, they can collectively choose a feat.

Ostensibly, these will be Teamwork Feats that just function for everyone in the party provided they meet the other requirements of placement, but in theory they could be other types of feats as well that grant party-wide boons (not necessarily all combat).

For one thing, it makes these feats more worthwhile and frees up feats for individual choice. It also gives the party reason to coordinate and position themselves better, perhaps even creating certain "group" fighting styles.

I'm not sure if that would be too unbalancing from a mechanics standpoint- possibly- but I like the idea of it. Has anyone else tried this?

Something I only just noticed (never paid any attention to Treants before), but the Treants animate trees special ability is denoted as being a spell-like ability, yet it only shows up in their Special Qualities section of the stat block, and not in a Spell-Like Abilities section of the stat block (nor does it have a CL listed). The mythic Treant has the same ability listed (in the same location). Should this be a Supernatural (Su) ability instead of a spell-like ability?

Is the cool bright orange button underneath the Pathfinder RPG logo in the left corner with the link to the Vigilante Playtest Open Now!

That's a really neat feature! Love it!

I haven't seen the end result of Unchained yet, and have only read the bits and pieces here on the boards, but I was wondering if anyone who has the book has compared it with the Spiritualist from the Occult Adventures playtest? Does the Spiritualist sort of resemble the changes that were made to the Summoner in Unchained?

So, I'm playing around with designing a tiny creature, and I thought about using the Swarming trait of Ratfolk fame for them because it seemed to fit the style of creature I'm creating.

To wit:

Swarming (1 or 2 RP): Prerequisite: Medium or smaller size; Benefit: Members of this race are used to living and fighting communally with other members of their race. Up to two members of this race can share the same square at the same time. If two members of this race that are occupying the same square attack the same foe, they are considered to be flanking that foe as if they were in two opposite squares. Special: If the race is Small or smaller, this trait costs 1 RP. If the race is Medium, it costs 2 RP.

However, I'm not sure it will actually do anything, at least as written. So questions for my more rules knowledgeable colleagues out there:

1) Tiny creatures can fit up to 4 members in one space. The Swarming rule doesn't really seem to have been written for creatures other than Medium or Small creatures. Should more creatures of smaller size with the Swarming trait be allowed in a square? Or does the added benefit of being able to flank with another member balance things out?

2) As Tiny (and smaller) creatures have no reach and must be in the same square as another creature to attack it, will this trait even be of any benefit to them at all? Should multiple smaller than Small foes be allowed to enter a square with another creature (see above)?

Since Lycanthropy is listed as a curse, can one inflict it upon someone else with a successful casting of the bestow curse spell, or (more likely) perhaps major curse?

Love it!

"Kill it! Burn it!"

"But... but... it's so cuuuuuute!?!?"

I'd love to see some kind of art/craft style of arcane spellcaster- sort of the visual artist counterpart to the performance artist Bard class. IE, painting magic, sculpting magic, etc.

There doesn't seem to be much of anything along those lines in the Paizo material I own, and while I'm not averse to homebrewing, I was just curious if there was anything out there that anyone else has done.

I'm not looking for an Artificer, per se (though I could theoretically see an Artificer as an archetype or something of the class). I noted earlier that there is a 3PP product The Artisan by Drop Dead Studios that I'm going to check out later.

Anything else? Here on the boards, released as a product, or homebrewed?

Okay, so we know this much:

The robots from Aballon are called Aballonians.
The cat-people from Triaxus are called Triaxians.
The people from Verces are called Vercites.
The people from Eox are (were) called Eoxians.
The creatures from Bretheda are called Brethedans.

What are the people of Golarion called by extraplanetary denizens? Golarionites? Golarites? Golarii? Golarionions?

Similarly:

There are no Castrovellians; there are Lashunta and Elves.
There are no Akitonians (that I know of); there are Shobhad, Humans, Ratfolk, and Lizardfolk.

Yet, do off-worlders refer to them by their planetary identity? Or by their individual race?

This question popped up when discussing the Brawler in another thread.

The Martial Flexibility description reads (in part):

The brawler can use this ability again before the duration expires in order to replace the previous combat feat with another choice.

There is confusion as to whether doing so still falls within the daily usage expenditure already spent, or whether it would count as another daily usage to do so. IE, being able to change your feat with an appropriate action (move, swift, immediate) as many times during that minute as you could, or being stuck with whatever choice you initially selected during that minute unless you spend another use.

I believe the wording (and some of the later description) indicate the former, but it is vague enough to possibly warrant a definitive answer.

Could you clarify? Thanks! :D

Hi there- I meant to put my order 3219285 in my sidecart, but I forgot to do it before authorizing the payment. Is it possible to move it there now?

Thanks, and I swear I'll never do it again! Honest! :D

An off-the wall suggestion I just made in the Iron Gods soundtrack thread just got me to thinking: What if the ship that crashed into Numeria so many millennia ago was actually from the sort of 60s sci-fi genre of film and television?

You know what I mean- think Star Trek: TOS, or Barbarella, or Lost In Space. Or even the Jetsons. Pastel clothing, miniskirts, phasers, robot servants.

Imagine how weird all of that looks to us now- and then try viewing it from the point of view of a pre-industrial age person. Throw in some space-age bachelor pad music- the kind that would play over warm, appeal to the sentiment commercials for dishwashers and things.

And then throw murderous robots at them.

(Robots in maid outfits.)

↙ (#｀∀´)Ψ

Using the archetype list given by Jason Bulmahn and comparing it with the Class previews, we know the following:

Archetypes by Class

Bloodrager
Bloodrider, Rageshaper, Untouchable Rager

Investigator
Mastermind, Sleuth, Spiritualist

Swashbuckler
Flying Blade, Mysterious Avenger, Picaroon

Warpriest
Divine Commander

Only 94 left unidentified! :D

These people are mentioned in the mummification article in Shifting Sands (Mummy's Mask part 3). I thought they sounded kind of interesting, but I don't seem to be able to find any relevant information about them in the wiki or any of my own sources. My library is hardly complete, however.

Does anyone know if anything has been mentioned about them before, outside of this article? I'll recheck some of my Runelords and Shattered Star volumes, as those seem like possible candidates.

Something that just occurred to me- is there any kind of official or unofficial name for our community?

Are we Paizonians? Paizons? Paizos? The Paizoo?

(I vote Paizanos, if there isn't one.)

Issue #3 of Threshold: The Mystara Magazine is now live at the Vaults of Pandius! Nearly 250 pages of information on the Sea of Dread! The issue so nice, we had to do it twice and split it into two issues! More to come in issue #4!

I'm looking at creating a class with a "Grit" like ability, which provides a small pool of points that would allow the class to use other abilities, and would be rechargeable through certain actions.

The class would be a support class, like the Bard, whose chief role is to provide buffs and a diplomatic "face" for the party, with a secondary role as martial backup. Basically, a Marshall or Leader sort of class.

I was trying to think of some non-combat mechanics that could be used as a recharge for the pool; ie, since it's not a front-line fighter, klling an opponent wouldn't be my first choice for recharge.

Offhand, I'm thinking something like perhaps demoralizing an enemy as a recharge mechanic, natural 20 on a Diplomacy check, etc. Something along those lines, but I know that skills are a different sort of beast than To Hit mechanics, so it might not scale quite as well.

Any suggestions? Not necessarily full fledged examples, but even just ideas for the sorts of things that might assist a leader in recharging this ability would be a great starting point.

Rereading some Numeria stuff today, and this line in the Inner Sea World Guide stuck out to me:

"... bathing the landscape in unknown energies that continue to cause weird mutations to this day."

I somehow missed that before, and had always assumed that the only sorts of "radioactive mutants" on Golarion were those in the magically-tainted Mana Wastes.

Any chance we'll see some more on radioactive Numerian mutants in Iron Gods? Pweeease?

(And some radioactive plague zombies, while we're at it.)

Issue number two of Threshold: The Mystara Magazine is available.

This issue, The Vaults of Pandius, is a tribute to the long running archive site for all things Mystaran, and dedicated to the Mystara fanbase. It can be found, appropriately enough, at the Vaults of Pandius.

Issue #3: Sea of Dread is already in progress, but anyone interested in contributing can still drop us a line, or submit something for our upcoming issue #4: Davania (submission guidelines are inside the magazine).

Hope you all enjoy!

Did the Notoriety rewards for the Vellexia encounter in Midnight Isles get switched around by mistake? Specifically:

I've only recently begun looking at the Bloodrager in the playtests, but it occurred to me that it would be interesting if they got bloodlines unique to themselves rather than sharing bloodlines with sorcerers. (Perhaps this is the reason one becomes a bloodrager rather than sorcerer?)

It's most likely not going to happen, for various reasons (multiclassing, late in the design phase, etc.), but I still thought it would be fun to brainstorm them.

The alterna-bloodlines I'm considering are these (along with their sorcerous "counterparts" - not all are really counterparts, per se, but the closest "equivalent" I could think of.)

Bloodrager - Sorcerer

Behemoth - Aberrant
Kyton - Abyssal
Titan - Arcane
Agathion - Celestial
Inevitable - Destined
Linnorm - Draconic
Elemental (alternate) - Elemental
Eldest/Tane - Fey
Qlippoth - Infernal
Nightshade - Undead

Speculated bloodline abilities:

A friend shared this with me on FB; apparently a real sign from a pet adoption place in Ontario from a few years ago:

http://www.joeydevilla.com/2009/10/26/slice-of-life-going-after-the-dungeon s-and-dragons-market/

I've been reading a bit about Count Ranalc while doing some research on the First World, and seeing the ties between him and Nex. I don't see a lot of discussion about Ranalc here on the forums, though, sadly. He seems like a real interesting personality, albeit one with little canon info on him so far.

One thing that I started to wonder: Ranalc disappeared around the time Nex besieged Absalom, but his followers still receive spells (so he's most likely not dead).

Nex disappeared from Golarion after his notorious battle with Geb, and has also not been heard of since. Other people that disappeared into the Refuge of Nex where he fled have not been heard from since.

Could Nex and Count Ranalc both be prisoners together in the Refuge?

For those fans of the Mystara setting, the contributors at the Piazza have just released the first issue of their fan magazine, Threshold.

Issue #1: Karameikos, can be downloaded free from the Vaults of Pandius via the front page.

180 whopping pages of articles, comics, and artwork!

(Direct link to the pdf here; warning, it is a large file- 25MB).

So, when generating an NPC wizard with Arcane Bond, would an enhanced arcane bonded item count against the NPCs Wealth By Level?

Considering that the arcane bond doesn't/won't work for anyone other than the NPC in question (ie, no loot for PCs), and Wealth By Level seems to be for the purposes of limiting PC wealth in the long run by not giving too much out at any one encounter (at least that seems to be RAI to me), I wouldn't think an enhanced arcane bonded item (for example, an arcane bonded ring of spell turning) would count towards the NPC's WBL.

What do the rest of you think?

I just received my order earlier this afternoon, and from what I can tell, it was supposed to contain the print edition of Thornkeep from the Kickstarter pledge (item PZOGWK0001), but my package had the flip-mat instead, which I think I was only supposed to get the pdf of at my pledge level.

Can I return the flip-mat and have the print edition of Thornkeep re-sent?

(EDIT: Both of the other items I ordered arrived fine.)

When statting up a character over the weekend (one of the LJN line of toys - Drex), I was trying to decide what sort of sword I should have him that might fit the sword the toy comes with. The problem is, nothing really quite fits the mold.

So I started to think, maybe it's a unique weapon? It looks almost like a falchion or large scimitar, but with an inner "hook" that could seem to function almost as a disarm or sundering tool. (Google Drex if you want to get an idea.)

That got me thinking- how cool would it be to be able to use the Crafting rules to create unique weapons (or armors, etc.), by coming up with costs and rules for adding special abilities to the weapons?

Just spitballing here, as I haven't given it too much thought (and I can see where it could certainly be abused without DM oversight).

Anyone else think about doing this? Have you done it? What do you think of the idea?

Those little ornaments are awesome! The goblins, cthulhu, and flumph are so cute. I'd totally buy those if they were in the store!

Am I the only one that thinks this is getting harder all the time? I don't mean necessarily in terms of competition, but in terms of coming up with something new and unique. I don't know how many times I came up with what I thought was a great idea, and started fleshing it out, only to eventually stumble across something in one or other of the various sourcebooks that was similar.

With all the new magic items constantly being put out, it seems harder and harder to find a niche that isn't filled, or avoid the SIAC syndrome.

Ugh. :(