Chocolate Milkshake's page

Is it not true that a level 1 PC has more skills and abilities than most NPC's? more power? This may not be a question of natural capability as they chose to focus their efforts and strengths elsewhere.

Not sure if this is a reply to what I said, but if so, that's kind of what I was getting at. As it stands currently, low-level PCs of flying ancestries (sprites and strix mainly) have a more limited flight capability than NPCs of the same level, with it up to the players to explain the discrepancy. My suggestion was to make lore changes so that the level of flight a PC character has is the racial standard and adjust NPC templates to match.

In the case of strix, for example, you could say that their wings develop more slowly than the rest of their bodies, so a young adult strix only being able to fly in short bursts (i.e. level one flight feat) is completely normal because they've just become old enough to fly properly.

It's too late to do so for the canon setting, but I think a better approach would be to make flightlessness the rule rather than the exception. Being able to fly in short bursts is useful enough on its own, so if I were running a campaign I'd just say that the level 1 flight feat is the baseline and being able to stay airborne forever is the kind of thing that qualifies you to become a folk hero.

Regarding the whole "creating undead hastens the death of the universe" thing, maybe it's just me, but it doesn't seem like enough of a big deal to condemn necromancy as a whole. It's pretty much equivalent to creating entropy, which, if I'm remembering my physics classes correctly, is something literally everything is doing all the time. The fact that undead arise spontaneously and can be created means that ipso facto they're no more unnatural than, say, using magic to mess with gravity.

While slowly learning about all of the stuff in PF2, I had a thought: conrasu really feel like a Starfinder species. In SF1 they were mentioned as an important part of the Nebula Union, the civilization on the other side of the Jatembe's Jaunt Drift Lane, but that was never really explored.

In the same way that humans, ysoki, androids, etc., exist in both rules, but have different options in both, it'd be really cool to see conrasu get a full Starfinder species entry in this book!

I could get behind that. The new ancestries from the Mwangi Expanse book all felt extremely underutilized and it'd be nice for them to get some attention.

Chocolate Milkshake wrote:

I'm excited, but I also really hope some sort of shared ancestry feat system is on the books so that they don't get overshadowed by the core races.

I really agree - this would be a great way to add more "Starfinder" flavour to the game. At one point during the Playtest I thought it would be neat to see groupings of feats for Species with similar physiologies or characteristics, called, I dunno, "Phylum feats" or "Clade feats" or something. (Don't @ me biologists, I know that different species couldn't possibly share taxonomic categories; it's just an easy short-hand for "species must be similar to take these feats.) But like, a handful of feats for Flying species, or multi-armed species, or a handful of feats for Plant or (plant-like) species, or aquatic / amphibious species, etc etc, would be both flavourful, and distinguishing for Starfinder.

(also: please gib stellifera) (...or hanakan) ()

Yeah, that's pretty much what I had in mind. Either that or there could be a note somewhere saying "this ancestry also has access to this feat, this feat, and this feat," which I'm pretty sure they did with archetypes in PF at some point.

Also, as for what I'd like to see, probably ilthisarians, astriapi, witchwyrds, and ayy lmaos.

I'm excited, but I also really hope some sort of shared ancestry feat system is on the books so that they don't get overshadowed by the core races.

A little disappointed it's about the Hex and not actual tenno PCs we could play. Or just letting us run around in the origin system as normal starfinder PCs.

The announcement for this book must have completely slipped under my radar. I'm kind of surprised the Golden Road wasn't next, since I figured they wanted to start from the bottom of the map and work their way up.

Anyways, I'm a little disappointed there aren't any new ancestries, although it makes sense that there wouldn't be any.

*takes mic*

"Andoran political parties."

*drops mic*

*leaves*

God please no. Is it too much to ask to have a little escapism? Maybe I don't want to retreat to my little fictional world after facing the horrors only for there to be horrors in there, too.

I'm guessing the orc lady and the jotun guy are the iconic commander and guardian, respectively?

Currently imagining a blind vlaka PC who doesn't get the hype around their own light powers.

Shot in the dark, but Impossible... Kingdoms of Vudra? Who knows!

I'm coping so hard now.

It'd be a good opportunity for Paizo to announce a Deck of Apparitions after the book goes live.

Dragonchess Player wrote:

Slight clarification: Worshipers are not necessary for deities' existence or their "power" as a deity. However, worshipers provide deities influence to affect other mortals (without drawing the attention of other deities the way direct intervention or sending a herald/extra-planar emissary would).

After worshipers die (and are judged), their souls provide deities with petitioners and eventually quintessence that can be used to expand the deities' realms (or for other purposes).

It's the biggest racket going on anywhere. We are but lego bricks for their amusement.

Is this what they call rahadoumposting?

I swear there was some line in a setting book hinting at a previously unmentioned Orc population (Or maybe Dwarven, I don't remember) in Tian Xia. I'm guessing that it was an oversight or lack of communication.

Yaoguai Unfurling Brocade Magus that used to be a robe or some other garment belonging to a celestial or the subject of a fairy tale. Unfortunately, as much as I like the aesthetic, Magi don't sound very fun to me based on what people have said about them, so this idea probably won't see the light of day.

Hot-blooded Tanuki Investigator who really hates being seen as the little guy and uses illusions to expose corrupt politicians and the like.

Linvarran Guardian/Fighter/something who is a total westaboo and romanticizes Avistani knights and will probably have a mental breakdown once they meet a Hellknight and realize they're just cops. May or may not be a Starlight Sentinel.

And, lastly, a Quainese (or whatever the demonym is) Wizard who lost a family member or someone important in a fight between two Grandmasters and is now a huge proponent of Anti-Cultivator Legislation while studying magic to become powerful enough to actually hunt them down.

I'm sorry to the writers but the Starlight Sentinel is barely scratching my itch. They worked so hard to give us an inch and now I want a mile. I'm going to have to write my own third party book expanding on the existence of magical girls on Golarion.

Your milage may vary but I know for a fact being neurodivergent gives me superpowers. No allistic could tell you more about Five Nights at Freddy's than me and as far as I'm concerned that's a (really s&$#ty) superpower. I like my class of choice reflecting that. But additional anchors as feats (or even just generally anchors being feats) is something I am in support of.

Good for you if you like how they're trying to spin it, but I personally find Paizo gamifying neurodivergent traits to be pretty offensive. If I want to make a ND character, I'd rather do it my way.

I just made a thread complaining about how the playtest Witchwarper didn't lean into the "overt reality warping" fantasy I had in mind. I completely missed the fact that it's an occult class, but it actually makes perfect sense.

Both the 1e Witchwarper and Precog were pretty occult in terms of power source and flavor, so I can see why they tried to make the 2e Warper an occult caster. But the 1e Warper's spell list and abilities were definitely more primal or arcane in nature and they basically had to throw all of that out to make it fit with the established lore.

So I partially agree with you in that making the Witchwarper a primal or arcane class would definitely make it line up better with its 1e counterpart, which is more important than whatever they're trying to do with it. But also trying to force all the anchors into arcane or primal is a major stretch. The ideal solution IMO would be to give the class the arcane or primal spell lists but have it cast them as occult spells, although that could be confusing for lots of people.

Okay so first off I should probably say I'm not super into the crunchy side of things so I can't comment on whether the Witchwarper is viable in its current state or whether what I want out of the class is viable, but I read the rules for it in the playtest, it kind of just... doesn't really deliver on what I envisioned it to be.

It's a bit difficult to articulate, but when I read about the Quantum Field ability, the first thing that came to mind was using it to torment enemies with crowd control and environmental manipulation. Things like altering gravity, dishing out combat maneuvers, and preventing people from entering or exiting the field. Instead, it seems like most of the utility that comes out of deploying the field comes from the paradox bonus effect and enabling some reactions.

And, in general, most of the feats seem kind of... not very flavorful. The Mystic gets cool, thematic abilities like draining your own life force to fuel your HP distribution system while the Witchwarper's feats are kinda... the best way I can describe it is 'economical'. They seem to focus pretty heavily on not wasting actions or spell slots. Which is probably inherited from the Precog, but I still think makes for a pretty uninteresting feat when the same word count could be going to something like filling the Quantum Field with a high-pitched ringing noise or something.

Also, maybe this is just me, but the anchor half of the Witchwarper's chassis and related feats are kind of giving neurodivergent vibes and I've gotta say I'm not a huge fan.

EDIT: Read the little side note and apparently I was right about the neurodivergent themes. Please don't do this.

Misread Foretell Harm as Foretell Ham and I was like hell yeah free ham. But the actual feat isn't too bad either.

Anyways, I did like the flavor of curses also granting boons, but I've also never actually played an oracle so I can't say whether or not the feature was well-balanced.

I didn't really notice until I saw the banner in the pride announcement, but it seems a little strange that there's just one one male iconic to be not cis and/or straight out of nine. In fact, I didn't even know Quinn is gay/bi/ace/trans/something else until I saw the banner. I'm assuming it's just an oversight or something, but like, some more queer male iconics would be nice.

What if 3E releases and it also has flaws? Maybe they should just skip 3E and move straight to 4E. (jesting)

I've been slowly picking through the deities.

It's interesting that Hei Feng has this unique sanctification: "can choose unholy, can choose holy if you are a tengu." I found a few people losing their minds in an entertaining way over this on a Discord, but I like it.

It's certainly an interesting choice. My interpretation of a deity's divine sanctification options up until now was a representation of how the deity themselves views the war. So "can choose (un)holy" means the deity's goals align with the side they can sanctify but they aren't active participants in the war, while "must choose (un)holy" means they are participating and expect their followers to enlist on their side.

So Hei Feng's sanctification means that he doesn't agree with the holies but will support his favorite people supporting them, or it has something to do with a worshipper's perception of their deity and not just the deity's opinions themselves.

The Golux wrote:

Is the objection to the Munavri flavor based or mechanics based? I may be missing something offensive about them besides them being another group of Azlanti that didn't die off, but the mechanics were definitely an issue.

Mostly flavor, specifically relating to how it--like a lot of stuff in PF1 and early Starfinder--borrows from some objectively goofy yet unfortunately incredibly racist conspiracy theories (see: Hyperborea). Furthermore, having a "superior" form of human also goes against PF2's core design philosophies, both mechanically and politically.

I also just think it's a little icky that the only nice people in the Darklands are technologically advanced, magically enlightened humans whose beauty and paleness are explicitly called out. One of those things that's neutral within context of the fiction, but looks hella bad from a real-life lens, y'know?

Maybe a PF2 portrayal could pivot away from the unfortunate implications and add in some much-needed nuance, but I think it's cooler to focus on new, weird stuff rather than try to rehabilitate every inch of PF1's massive canon.

The Munavri never struck me as particularly racist, but it does seem pretty lame that the only good race in the Darklands are descendants of humanity. I don't see why we can't have eyeless horrors from the depths that battle tyrants and provide aid to those in need.

Just found out about Astomoi. I think they really cooked with that one and should bring the weird silhouette people back.

AFAIK they don't actually get divine magic from Lamashtu. They could just have a victim complex and interpret her edicts in a way that validates them.

I think it'd be neat if some sort of design contest could be held for iconics of upcoming classes. Not this time, since it sounds like the iconics have already been made, but maybe in the future.

So far the new classes look pretty video gamey, although I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing.

Hear me out: Fumeiyoshi/General Susumu as a bitter toxic yaoi villain couple who are really bad for each other but bond over their shared disgust of their siblings' healthy relationship.

Chocolate Milkshake wrote:

Also, this is hopefully enough to make the Battlezoo stans pipe down.

This feels a little unnecessary. It's quality work from ex-Paizo staff that the community likes - what's the problem?

It's the way people promoted it at every opportunity. I asked once how to make a draconic character and got like a dozen people saying to use Battlezoo Dragons even though I was very clear I didn't want to use homebrew. Also the people saying we don't need any official draconic options because it existed.

I am literally so pumped. We finally get dragons AND they're implemented in a way that makes 5e's Dragonborn look pathetic. I'm probably never gonna play anything else once the book drops (and once I find a table).

Also, this is hopefully enough to make the Battlezoo stans pipe down.

We need a fungus ancestry. Not 'plant with a fungus heritage' but an actual dedicated ancestry of fungi.

Chocolate Milkshake wrote:

If you listen closely, you can hear the champions renouncing their respective deities en masse now that following one is no longer required to apply for a heavy armor license.

Sentinel.

I'm never gonna live this one down.

If you listen closely, you can hear the champions renouncing their respective deities en masse now that following one is no longer required to apply for a heavy armor license.

I wonder what creature type Yaoguai are. I'm really hoping it's based on what they originally were (beast, plant/fungus, or elemental).

I'm hoping for the ancestries being introduced in the character guide to get some attention, partially so that they don't feel under-baked like the ones in the Mwangi Expanse book and partially so that I don't have to wait for the character guide to actually drop to find out what they are.

Also I'm kind of interested in the current situation of Yjae.

Me checking every day to make sure there wasn't a glitch in the matrix and the book is actually being released today

I would not hold very strong hope for an ancestry that would look too much like a WotC Dragonborn, but on the other hand the Wyvaran of southern Gardund look pretty cool and could as easily suffice--albeit I speculate not in the Player Core.

On the other hand, it is interesting to see how kobolds have gone from "naturally suited sorcerers" by virtue of their association with draconic bloodlines to by virtue of their association with the four traditions of magic.

PS, for speculating what ancestries and heritages are to be available in PC2, I believe it has been said there is a loose link between them and the classes chosen. Probably wouldn't find any 1:1 relationship, but for example, Leshies and Changelings had notably appeared in PC1 to be paired with Druid and Witch respectively. Kobolds almost certainly are paired with Sorcerer similarly.

The thing about Dragonborn is that they have a very specific official design and aren't just anthro dragons. There is actually a LOT of wiggle room for draconic racial options that won't step on WOTC's toes. Especially if it's a VH connected to dragons the way, say, geniekin are to elementals, which would allow for lots of mixing and matching of draconic features.

One of teh recent stream mentioned that they will de-emphasize the relations with dragons, and focus of a similar relation to the magical traditions that the dragons now have.
If I understood correctly, it means that instead of being "They are like Dragon X", it's more "some dragons are related to Divine Magic, and some kobolds are related to divine magic". The difference is subtle, but it's basically skipping the "middle-dragon"?

Interesting. I wonder whether they're making room for another ancestry that could be more directly related with dragons. Or perhaps a versatile heritage, one that might be coming in Player Core 2.

I love them. Would make for a great plushie

DON'T do this to me. I have too many plushies as is.

But anyways, I'm wondering whether the new dragons will still stick to the rule of five. My OCD hopes so, but the rational part of my brain wants to see what happens if they break away from it.

Here's an idea: Make it a bit of a Darklands melting pot. Xulgaths are already there, and hryngars (that's what they're called now, right?) would make a decent fit for a corporate hellscape planet.

Weird topic, I know, but the idea of a Golarion-themed amusement park has been living rent-free in my head since Ports of Call, and now I'm thinking about what a potential Tian Xia expansion to the park would look like since that book is arriving soon-ish. (Or maybe to a real-life Golarion World built after Pathfinder finally surpasses D&D in popularity)

Anyways, some ideas I've been thinking of, for fun:

• -Quain Land, for the martial arts flick appeal. Lots of performances and shows, based on things like the classic two schools vying for supremacy plot.
  
• -Xa Hoi Land, with lots of room for dragon-themed attractions. Maybe a roller coaster/thrill ride themed after each of the five types of imperial dragons, which I assume are safe from the transition to ORC.
  
• -Valashmai Land, because jungle-themed parks are basically mandatory. The stuff about kaiju in the recent stream has a lot of potential for attractions and rides.

Lamashtu is a great evil deity because she's a mother, and a lot of her behavior can all be traced back to a mother's love. Once of the most compassionate and relatable impulses on earth.

If I ever get around to running a campaign of my own I'm 100% portraying Lamashtu as a narcissistic mother.

This whole thread makes me think of this meme with LO: Tian Xia and Divine Mysteries.

I'm on the edge of my seat in anticipation for these books. The Wanshou art in particular is so atmospheric it almost makes me want to set it as my computer background. And while I'm a little upset we didn't get to see any of the remaining ancestries, what we did see in terms of character options is not bad. The tsukumogami heritage opens a lot of options and the familiar options came just in time to be used by the remastered witch.

baekho kinda looks like catboy michael jackson

I don't think Kyra or Seelah would have to be replaced if either of their patron deities got taken out. Updating their designs to reflect them finding another faith could be an option.

Also, NGL, as much as I like Arazni, I was kind of coping that they'd use the empty spot as an opportunity to add a gay man to the core pantheon.

If they're going all in on the witch flavor, I want a feat tree centered around doing things with a big ol' witch hat.

Each to their own, then. The Battlezoo dragons aren't what I personally want out of a draconic character.

Chocolate Milkshake wrote:

Not really. The Battlezoo stuff is way too sensationalist. Plus, the existence of a homebrew thing doesn't mean we can't have an official version of the thing.

...sensationalist?

I'm not saying you're wrong, but I honestly have no idea what that even means in this context. What do you mean when you say that thing?

Sorry, sensationalist wasn't the right word. It's more, I guess, on-the-nose? Surface-level? (Open to suggestions) Nearly all the feats are just things dragons can do. Whereas, if you look at the official ancestries, lots of them have feats grounded in things like their culture, their history, or the environment they grew up in.

SP3CT3R wrote:

keftiu wrote:

We all know that a bunch of draconic stuff is in Player Core 2, right?

…right?

And IIRC there's also a brand-new VH supposedly representing something the playerbase has wanted for a long time. The odds are pretty solid we're finally getting dragons.

That would be interesting, but I'm not going to hold out for it. Especially since BattleZoo has already hit the draconic options ball out of the park. :)

Not really. The Battlezoo stuff is way too sensationalist. Plus, the existence of a homebrew thing doesn't mean we can't have an official version of the thing.