Darwyn's page

My favorites are Dreamscarred, Jon Brazer, Legendary Games, Frog God, and Fire Mountain.

Okay, I'm in! Getting both the Kingdom Building and Far East plug ins was too good to pass up.

I can't stand all the cynical aspects of Golarion.

I hate how Paizo put a gold dragon in charge of a dystopia where humans are bred like cattle 'for the greater good'.

I hate how there's an entire knight's order devoted to Hell because they believe Hell's structure is 'idealized'. Tyranny is ideal? What?

I hate Paizo's obsession with Varisia.

I hate the Lovecraftian elements on Golarion.

For the record, I look forward to Mythic Psionics when you can get to it. I already have a stat block I've been working on mostly just using modified versions of stuff in Mythic Adventures.

Same here. Put me on the list of people who would love a Mythic Psionics book when/if you get to it.

Kcinlive wrote:

Looking forward to this. Sadly I missed out on the kickstarter. I'll have to pickup the book when it's done though.

So how soon before the Mystic Psionics rules come out? :]

-Kcinlive

/snort

I own the book... I've opened the book.

That's about as much work as I've done on Mythic ;)

You've heard it here, folks! Jeremy has officially started on Mythic Psionics! ;) j/k

Grayn,

Because happy married couples do not tend to last long in adventure fiction. One or the other needs to die so the surviving one can have 'motivation'. See prety much every comics couple ever in existence. Ever.

And pretty much everything written by Joss Whedon. It's like he has an allergy to happiness or something.

Darwyn wrote:

Lord Snow wrote:

Darwyn wrote:

Kittyburger wrote:

Gancanagh wrote:

How can that blonde "super models" wish for mindless World Peace when even on something so small as an online forum the people can't find peace together about something so small.

I thought this AP was about Demons, not about rights and LGBT's btw...

I did too, and I'm getting a little tired of people who aren't, fussing over two NPCs, with the explicit agenda of trying to back Paizo off of including LGBT characters in their adventures.

Not everyone is fussing over including LGBT characters - some of us are fussing over how these two characters' backgrounds are pretty poorly written, which comes off as forced, even if unintentionally so. They include so many uncommon traits it strains suspension of disbelief.

It's a transgendered woman. AND she's gay. AND her wife is a half-orc paladin. AND the paladin's parents are together out of love, not violence - which, Paizo has told us in Orcs of Golarion, never happens.

Out of hundreds (if not thousands...) of NPCs that appeared in APs (I'm including very minor NPCs in this count - like, those three nameless thugs the PCs take out in encounter area B7, etc.), the ONLY one that has both an unusual sexuality and gender and who loves a halfbreed orc/human is the one in this adventure. Yes, indeed, such characters are exceedingly rare. That is well represented in the numbers here. Also, there ARE gay, transgendered women in our world. The "wife is a half orc paladin" thing really doesn't have to do with the rest. It's not even that odd - half orcs are not in any way inherently evil and so can become paladins just like any humans.

I just have a feeling you and the others who share your opinion would never have had a problem if the NPC was different in a way that didn't have to do with her sexuality - for example, if instead of being a gay transgender, the NPC was a straight male with a REALLY weird class

...

Um, I'm actually aware of the fact being transgendered has little to nothing to do with sexuality. It's about gender. It's been scientifically proven women and men have different brain chemistry. I get that. Transgendered women were born with female brain chemistry, and vice versa.

A friend of mine who I work with is a lesbian. She's never told anyone she has this feeling that she should be siring children instead of baring them.

Look, please understand, I'm not trying to be hostile, and if I was in my previous posts, I apologize. I just think in this instance in an attempt to be more inclusive to transgendered people who are into D&D they went overboard with putting all these specific traits, which, by themselves, are uncommon, into a single couple. It comes off as strained.

Darwyn wrote:

Gancanagh wrote:

Darwyn wrote:

DM_aka_Dudemeister wrote:

Also if you've never met a transgendered person of a minority race and her lesbian wife then you should explain to them how they are unrealistic an breaking their disbelief.

That's just it. I haven't. I'm sure they exist. But the odds of finding a couple exactly like that are so small I'd have to be mind numbingly lucky to meet them.

And in fiction, when you come across characters like that, with that many specific traits, all wrapped up in a single couple, it feels forced and contrived.

Dear Darwyn, did you ever meet a Heterosexual Paladin or a Rock Troll? (people on drugs that think they are such creatures/heroes and people on halloween don't count of course)

If you ever did, please give me the exact location. Thank you.

And, again, somebody is missing the point.

You want a real world analogy? Okay, fair enough. I'm crippled. I have spina bifida. I was basically born with a broken spine, and I'm paralyzed from right below the knee down. I wear leg braces. Is it possible I'll fall in love with a blind half Chinese/half black woman and wind up with a child who is born with Achondroplasia? Absolutely it's possible. But I doubt it will happen.

Yeah, what next, black president of the U.S. who was born on Hawaii to parents of Kenyan origin and his second name is Hussein? Preposterous idea...

Yes, absolutely. Imagine that, an American president who was born in the U.S., which is a legal requirement, and is black because his parents are from Kenya, an African country, where the vast majority of people, are, in fact, black. What an unbelievable combination of events.

Darwyn wrote:

Kittyburger wrote:

Gancanagh wrote:

How can that blonde "super models" wish for mindless World Peace when even on something so small as an online forum the people can't find peace together about something so small.

I thought this AP was about Demons, not about rights and LGBT's btw...

I did too, and I'm getting a little tired of people who aren't, fussing over two NPCs, with the explicit agenda of trying to back Paizo off of including LGBT characters in their adventures.

Not everyone is fussing over including LGBT characters - some of us are fussing over how these two characters' backgrounds are pretty poorly written, which comes off as forced, even if unintentionally so. They include so many uncommon traits it strains suspension of disbelief.

It's a transgendered woman. AND she's gay. AND her wife is a half-orc paladin. AND the paladin's parents are together out of love, not violence - which, Paizo has told us in Orcs of Golarion, never happens.

Out of hundreds (if not thousands...) of NPCs that appeared in APs (I'm including very minor NPCs in this count - like, those three nameless thugs the PCs take out in encounter area B7, etc.), the ONLY one that has both an unusual sexuality and gender and who loves a halfbreed orc/human is the one in this adventure. Yes, indeed, such characters are exceedingly rare. That is well represented in the numbers here. Also, there ARE gay, transgendered women in our world. The "wife is a half orc paladin" thing really doesn't have to do with the rest. It's not even that odd - half orcs are not in any way inherently evil and so can become paladins just like any humans.

I just have a feeling you and the others who share your opinion would never have had a problem if the NPC was different in a way that didn't have to do with her sexuality - for example, if instead of being a gay transgender, the NPC was a straight male with a REALLY weird class combination and maybe a template or something. Like a...

Actually, no. I'd have a problem with a half dragon aasimar, because, again, that's such a contrived, rare combination it feels just as forced.

Darwyn wrote:

DM_aka_Dudemeister wrote:

Also if you've never met a transgendered person of a minority race and her lesbian wife then you should explain to them how they are unrealistic an breaking their disbelief.

That's just it. I haven't. I'm sure they exist. But the odds of finding a couple exactly like that are so small I'd have to be mind numbingly lucky to meet them.

And in fiction, when you come across characters like that, with that many specific traits, all wrapped up in a single couple, it feels forced and contrived.

Dear Darwyn, did you ever meet a Heterosexual Paladin or a Rock Troll? (people on drugs that think they are such creatures/heroes and people on halloween don't count of course)

If you ever did, please give me the exact location. Thank you.

And, again, somebody is missing the point.

You want a real world analogy? Okay, fair enough. I'm crippled. I have spina bifida. I was basically born with a broken spine, and I'm paralyzed from right below the knee down. I wear leg braces. Is it possible I'll fall in love with a blind half Chinese/half black woman and wind up with a child who is born with Achondroplasia? Absolutely it's possible. But I doubt it will happen.

Also if you've never met a transgendered person of a minority race and her lesbian wife then you should explain to them how they are unrealistic an breaking their disbelief.

That's just it. I haven't. I'm sure they exist. But the odds of finding a couple exactly like that are so small I'd have to be mind numbingly lucky to meet them.

And in fiction, when you come across characters like that, with that many specific traits, all wrapped up in a single couple, it feels forced and contrived.

I wanted to put my two cents in because, quite frankly, I kinda felt Irabeth and Anevia felt 'forced' but NOT in the way everyone else here has been discussing. Let me see if I can explain. Okay.

I think the problem I had was the scenario of Irabeth and Anevia as a couple was that the odds of having so many 'minorities' found in just two characters was bordering on unbelievable. Let me demonstrate.

Hey, here's a new NPC paladin for you!
Okay, cool!
She's a half-orc!
Nice! Switch it up a bit! I like it!
And she comes from a loving home where her human and orc parents actually love each other!
Oh, cool! Because you said that orcs are always insane chaotic evil monsters so that never hap-
And she's a lesbian!
And....she's....well, okay. Yeah, cool. Because in the past, no offense, alot of times the gay NPCs were kinda stereotypical, y'know? Like the queen in the Crimson Throne was gay and she was a nutjob, and that gay couple...the wizard husband was kinda stereotypical because he came off as over emotional and clingy and that's kinda insulting....
And her wife is a transgendered woman!
I.....wait, what? Come on now, this kinda getting a little out there...

I hope I'm getting my point across. I dunno. Maybe it's just me but it's just....how do I put this? I think it would've been better if Irabeth had been male. Because I think it would've been ....better odds? Yeah, of finding a couple where a transgendered woman was married to a man. Hell, even if it had been a human. Or if Irabeth had been a half orc that came from the more likely scenario where the union was violent rather than loving. It's just....finding so many relative 'rarities' in two people, I mean....the odds seem off.

Now please understand, I sure as heck am not complaining. I applaud Paizo for doing this. I myself am crippled. I have a birth defect called Spina Biffida and it's really nice seeing NPCs of different backgrounds getting a little love, because I can kinda relate.

Not in exactly the same way obviously, but I'm definitely in the minority.

So, anyway, sorry for the rambling. I hope I got what I was trying to say across.

I cannot WAIT to see what you come up with. After the awesomeness of Ultimate Psionics, it's pretty much guaranteed this is gonna be good.

And purchased! Ah, more sweet kingdom building goodness for Pathfinder! Woohoo!

Hey, I just wanted to ask you guys who bought the pdf so far. I bought it last week, and while I love the write ups for all the new monsters, it takes forever to go through the document because, for some reason, opening the file slows my computer to a crawl. Is anybody else experiencing this or could it just be my pdf reader?

I got my print copy on Friday. Couldn't be happier with it! I can't wait to see what comes in Ultimate War.

Hey Jason, I'm sorry to report this, but it looks like there's a problem with the tile file on Drivethru as well. It's only 6kb big, and I can't open it because the pdf viewer keeps telling me there are no pages in the file.

I just bought the pdf from DriveThruRPG. This book is EXACTLY what I always wanted with the kingdom building rules- espionage! That alone is worth the price of this book IMHO. This book is the PERFECT compliment to Book of the River Nations. Here's really hoping this goes PoD. If it does you'll have my money in half a heartbeat.

There is a strong parallel between the types of buildings you can construct with the kingdom-building rules (Chapter 4) and the types you can construct with the downtime rules (Chapter 2). So if you spend BP to create a tavern, you can look up the stats of a typical tavern in Chapter 2 to see what rooms that default tavern includes.

If you want to add specific rooms to it, you'd have to use the downtime to rules to add onto it, as the kingdom-building rules only address building complete buildings or converting a specific building into another specific building (such as a Temple into a Cathedral). So Ch4 would let you upgrade your Bar into a Tavern, and you could see what Ch2 says a typical Tavern has, and if you wanted to build something different onto your Bar (say, adding a shrine because you worship Cayden Cailean) you'd have to customize it with the Ch2 rules.

Okay, this book is now an official must have for me.

Pledged! Also went for the the Way of the Wicked Path add on. Can't wait for this!

It arrived!!! The first box! I'M HOLDING MY COPY OF RAPPAN ATHUK IN MY HANDS!!! HAHAHAHA!!!!!

Oh. Well, I also got my t-shirt, the GM screens, the side view poster, the decals, the pin, the little note book thingy for which is either for GMs or players and I can't remember right now, the hex grids, the minis and the cute little frog, which is cool and everything BUT I'M HOLDING RAPPAN ATHUK IN MY HANDS!!!!!!

::joygasm::

Got my shipping notice!! Box one will get here Friday...man. Tomorrow never seemed so far away.

::Tom Petty impression::

The waiting is the hardest part
Every day you get one more yard
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart
The waiting is the hardest part!

Note to self - when I get my copy of the limited edition do NOT put in on the same shelf as the Tome of Horrors Complete, Slumbering Tsar and Rappan Athuk.

Bravo, sir. Bravo. I'm looking forward to this book even more now.

Pledged! Over $1000!

Downloaded. Reading now. I love my headstone. :D

I just want to say - a HUGE thank you to everyone at FGG. Your hard work is very much appreciated.

Preordered.

+1

Darwyn wrote:

Well, since the $180,000 goal was met I went and upped my pledge to $500.00. I want that GM Journal, gosh darnit!

Just to make sure you know what the GM Journal is:

"It is basically a plain journal branded by us that the GMs can take notes in."

Eh, the point's moot now anyway. I just upped my pledge again for the subscription.

Well, since the $180,000 goal was met I went and upped my pledge to $500.00. I want that GM Journal, gosh darnit!

One thing I am really hoping is in this book. Well things I should say. I would like to see culture aspects to help bring them to life. Common forms of dress, any forms of address for nobles etc that is common to them(like in Russia you had a Czar instead of a king), common types of foods(since most cultures develop their own types of foods) just anything to help make that ethnic group/s come to life and stand apart. So when PC's go there it feels different and not just cause the people have funny names and or look a little different.

THIS. For the love of the Powers That Be, this.

I'll throw my vote in for 2 books as well. Although the whole 'for all the psionic stuff go here' argument has merit, from a player/GM standpoint it makes more sense to have the monster stats in a separate book.

Hey, in case anyone doesn't know- FGG just upped some of the pledge levels. The $325 level now gets your name on a tombstone! Plus, you know, four copies of the Player's Guide. I'm sure that's important, too. :P Congratulations, FGG. You just convinced me to up my pledge level.

I do not know where it would fit best but when I was running a Necroworld themed game I stuck it just above the Malgorian Mountains in Varisia. I stuck Tomb of Abysthor in the Fogscar Mountains and Rappan Athuk in the Sanos forest.

I substituted Reme for Magnimar and Fairhill for Sandpoint. I just added Bards Gate along the Yondabakari River.

HERE is a little conversation about that topic of gods from the Necromancer games forums.

Thanks! Much obliged!

....where should I put it? Opinions, please.

Also, is there anywhere I can look for conversions of FGG deities to Golarion deities?

Campaign guide is in the works--will be done in the winter I think. I think you all know the lead writer:)

::looks at bank account::

::breaks into tears::

New format for Pathfinder Player Companion: Happy

Yet another book concerning Varisia: Not so much

Horse-Chicken.

My main design goal when I came up with the expanded version was to maintain compatibility with Paizo's rules. If I end up doing a 2nd edition, there will be significant changes. Things on the drawing board include: country-to-country interactions, the influence of smaller organizations within a country, empires (where person A rules the empire and person B rules a country within the empire), and models of governments where people have much more influence. I could see skills having a much greater impact on these.

Right now, Profession (soldier) is the only skill that is used and that is limited to mass combat.

You need to put this book out. Like, right now. So I can buy it.

.................

I'll buy several copies!

.................

I'll PREORDER several copies!

Does that help the motivational process?

Sorry, things have been crazy work and life-wise lately. Family in the hospital.

I'm going to try and get this done during the day tomorrow, or at least get the bulk of it written up to copypaste over.

Again, sorry for the delay.

Oh, dude, if that's the case, then don't worry about it. I never meant to come off like you should drop everything and post an update. Especially if it's an emergency like family in the hospital. Apologies.

I don't want this thread to keep getting bumped but, seriously, Mikaze? Can you PLEASE post what happened next in your campaign? I really want to know!

It never ends with you guys, does it? First it was the Tome of Horrors Limited Edition. Then it was The Tome of Adventure Design. THEN it was Slumbering Tsar. And NOW a Kickstarter campaign for Rappan Athuk. I didn't want to pledge $250. I really didn't. But I had to. I can't get 'The World's Biggest Dungeon' without the bonus level. That's....that's what you were banking on the whole time, wasn't it?! That we gamers are obsessed completionists! Damn you, FGG. Damn you. Now take my money!

::cries quietly in the corner::

Cayden Cailean will always be my favorite deity in the pantheon simply because he has the greatest backstory I've ever read in all of fantasy.

A god who achieved divinity by accident because he got drunk....and he was so drunk at the time he can't even remember HOW he did it.

It doesn't get better than that.

I'd like to see Paizo rewrite the Stronghold Builder's Guidebook, personally.

I am NOT an addict. I just....own....every book Paizo's ever printed about the Pathfinder game....and Golarion....and...every issue of every adventure path....except Rise of the Runelords. I got into Pathfinder late, see. Why did I have to wait so long?! Why?! WHY?! ::giggle:: Oh, but that's okay. Ha ha. Just a few more months and I get my sweaty hands on the reprint of Rise of the Runelords! AHAHAHA! YES! UPDATED FOR PATHFINDER! THEN MY COLLECTION WILL BE COMPLETE!!!! AHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!!

.............

I'm not an addict.

I'm going to throw my two cents in. I'm not too keen on this. The whole history of the lich has been one of a spellcaster choosing to become one, finding out that to do so they have to create a phylactery, craft a potion, drink it, and then bam, if they make the throw, they die and resurrect as a lich.

As far as all the other examples of undead creating more of their kind against the will of the victim, sure, that's the way those undead have always 'reproduced'. There's no 'process' to that. The undead attack the victim, the victim dies, and they become undead. A lich doesn't create another lich just by killing somebody.

Having somebody become a lich because they were forced into it just...I dunno. It just doesn't fit with me. You're telling me some other wizard/cleric/sorcerer took the time to make a phylactery for Azrani, crafted the potion, and forced her to drink it? How? Poured it down her throat while holding her down?

::sigh::

I gotta say, the more fluff that comes out for Pathfinder Chronicles the less I'm liking the setting.

Hey James. Got a question for ya. In your opinion, which is the grander city- Absalom or Goka?

Does Paizo have any plans of publishing a Guide to Goka like it did with Guide to Absalom?

I just got my print copy in the mail today! I am loving the heck out of this book. My definite favs are the blackworm, the death hand and the memitim psychopomp. I can't wait until the player's companion and the gazetteer come out!

Darwyn was the name of the dolphin in seaQuest, a short lived scifi series that I freaking loved. Yes. I'm that old.

Shifty wrote:

I'd question if you were even 'good' to be honest.

LN at best. LE quite possible.

She believes in the cause of good. It's thieving, murdering, smuggling, slave trading corrupt guards that she is killing. Those two guards she killed and castrated brutally raped a woman, and then beat her into unconsciousness and left her for dead as punishment for reporting the crime, and got away with it due to being guards. They sorely deserved what happened to them, and I don't think what I did was non-good, just non-paladin.

"She believes in the cause of good" is irrelevant. The cause of Good does not condone doing horribly evil things to evil people. Your character is acting the exact same way as the people she's killing are. She's torturing people, for crying out loud. I'd say your PC is LE.