Eleanor Ferron's page

If giant Octopi have communities/villages and communicate with each other, should they have higher Intelligences?

Their listed behavior is based off the "octopus city" that scientists found in real life (article below). So the answer is probably yes, but it destroys all basic assumptions about animals in the current system.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/octopus-city-observed-180964936/

Any clue what that shiny metal orb crashed into the map is? Central-south, right before Valashmai really begins to fan out.

Pathfinder Society players know. ;)

(It's not metal.)

Can ghoran PC still be delicious? It's not a base trait. Maybe an heritage? :thinking:

All ghorans are still delicious, but we ultimately decided that was less of a mechanics thing and more of a flavor thing. Heh heh heh.

An animal plush will probably get more thematic mileage out of beastkin than the stuffed heritage.

I'm sure some people on this forum are old enough to still remember Calvin and Hobbes. Whether one is a stuffed toy or a ferocious tiger is all a matter of perspective.

You know, it never occurred to me to ask this, but I'm intensely curious: is the cover art supposed to represent a specific locale in the Expanse, or is it a more general "get the vibe of the Mwangi across" illustration not rooted in a specific city or nation?

It's Nantambu. You can see the Ten Magic Warriors depicted on the pillars. (One that gives me special joy is Shifting Frog, whose mask is a frog with a tadpole tail.)

Okay, so I have to ask: /where/ did Sweetbreath Gnolls come from? I can't think of any game lore or real mythology that could inspire it, and "pheromone breath" feels like such a wild deriction for a hyenafolk option.

There was a note in the gnoll turnover on this.

“A widely believed story says that if you meet a [striped] hyena it rises up on its hindlegs and puts its forelegs on your shoulders. Then it breathes into your face and so hypnotizes you. You then have to follow it into its den where it sucks out your brain. The spell can only be broken if somebody meets you while following the hyena, makes a cut in your skin and spills some drops of your blood.”

-Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan: Hyenas, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, 1998, pg. 96

Andrew Mullen wrote:

David knott 242 wrote:

Arachnofiend wrote:

Aaron Shanks wrote:

Lost Omens: The Mwangi Expanse Preview from How It's Played.

Okay somebody's gotta tell me more about the goloma because this is the most monstrous ancestry we've gotten yet and I am here for it

They have eight eyes, which they can use to Seek in two directions at once.

Eight big ones, then thousands of itty bitty ones in their hair!

For real?

Yes. Their "hair" is really more like scallop eye stalks, with little gelatinous eyes on the end of them. They wiggle around and squirm when they look at stuff. It's probably very moist and gross.

Any chance we see a blog post crediting the writers for their sections, the way LOAG had? I’m blown away and want to direct my praise appropriately!

Yes, but given the book doesn't actually come out until about two weeks from now, it will be a small wait.

Warning: Minis for the psstpsstmitl may not be cooperative.

Luis Loza wrote:

Raviiiii wrote:

Anadi? They seem a bit overdue by now....also I want them.

They're in the next book, Mwangi Expanse. The wait is almost over!

Anadi, Grippli, Gnoll, Shisk, Conrasu, and Goloma will be in the Mwangi Expanse. But, I'm dying just to even know what the Shisk, Conrasu, and Goloma look like! I have no clue.

I'm dying to show them! ;)

Author List: Laura-Shay Adams, Mariam Ahmad, Jahmal Brown, Misha Bushyager, Alexandria Bustion, Duan Byrd, John Compton, Gabriel Hicks, TK Johnson, Michelle Jones, Joshua Kim, Ron Lundeen, Stephanie Lundeen, Lu Pellazar, Mikhail Rekun, Nate Wright, Jabari Weathers, Hillary Moon Murphy, Naomi Fritts, Sasha Laranoa Harving, Kent Hamilton, Travis Lionel, and Sarah Davis.

On side note, seems like post campaign of corrupting Heart's Edge isn't canon, but it being in possession of Abrogail II post Hell's Vengeance sure is ;D

Look, these things take time.

Is there a deity of Humility on Golarion ?

No one's heard of them. They don't want to make a big fuss.

There could be if there is enough demand for more! Let us know how you feel about more gods and/or magic!

<whispers> Buy our book.

Intention.

James Jacobs wrote the entry for Nocticula, but I think I can explain some of the reasoning, or at least the reasoning for another god that had similar alignment questions (Apsu). The logic for them not sponsering redeemer champions involves specific clauses in each god's commands that don't mesh well with the concept.

Nocticula (Edict): "Punish those who take advantage of offered trust and shelter."

Apsu (Paladin Code): "Mercy is offered, but only once. Should I be betrayed in my moment of kindness, I will not stop until I have put my enemy down."

Now, you could argue that offering mercy once and then hunting someone to the ends of the earth technically doesn't violate the redeemer's code; certainly, the Cult of the Dawnflower made that argument. But then, they made Sarenrae so angry she doesn't even accept neutral followers anymore, so your milage may vary.

-Set is missing from the Osiriani deity list. Also, while I loathe Osirian, it is nice to see goddesses I pray to in a goofy game book.

Kinda weird how Ydersius isn't in the book nor is there serpentfolk in advanced race guide...*looks at the conspiracy board*

Those two were unfortunately cut at the very last minute. When the appendix in the back went over space in formatting, we had to start cutting gods, and I aimed for the ones least likely to be useful to players (or at least, ones easily replaced by any other god of doom, death, murder, and blood). Another one I was sad to cut was Areshkagal, who I consider our coolest-looking demon lord but who couldn't stand up to titans like Anghazan and Baphomet.

It may sound primitive and unscientific, but through the fairies, we could ask Desna to help.

In the paragraph below the Tempest Sun Mage picture:

Did you mean Prerequisite?

Because a Perquisite is "a benefit which one enjoys or is entitled to on account of one's job or position.", i.e. a perk.

It is not "something that is required as a prior condition for something else to happen or exist." (Which is a prerequisite, i.e. a requirement before one can enjoy the perks - as the case may be.)

It is called the Perquisite.

Why the Magaambya calls it the Perquisite and not the Prerequisite is, I'm sure, a matter of debate among initiates.

How is iruxi pronunced? Is that the singular or the plural or both? If one, what is the other?

Most people at the office seem to have gravitated toward " ir-rook-si," but depending on what sound you think the X represents, it could also be:

"Ir- rooshee"

"Ir - ruh- hee"

"Iru- zee"

"Iruch- ee"

“blog” wrote:

(Though if we follow the crocodile and shark metaphors too far, that might imply the existence of titanic lizardfolk that existed in prehistoric times. Eek!)

Do you want Godzillas? Because this is how you get Godzillas!

Ohhhh~ no!

There goes Kintargo!

Tsukiyo's rules will appear in Lost Omens: Gods and Magic. But what the heck, we can preview some of that now!

Divine Skill Occultism
Domains delirium, moon, repose, souls
Alternate Domains change
Cleric Spells 1st: soothe, 2nd: mirror image, 5th: hallucination
Edicts provide aid and counsel without judgment to those who seek help, help the dead find their rest, amplify or speak for the powerless and demonized
Anathema harm another out of envy, force aid on those who do not want it, inflict harmful mental effects on others as punishment
Favored Weapon spear

Some of those domains might look a little weird, but that's how I can get away with showing off product previews over 5 months early!

Also, MORTICS WERE ON THE TABLE!?!?!

Yes, but given we hadn't had a chance to see how they were received, it was eventually decided to hold off on them until we had a better idea of fan reaction. Which is to say, if you liked the mortics, let Erik Mona know.

This thread is just proving what I've said time and time again that Paizo has a lot more work to do than to pretend it's always been like this to get the community to accept monstrous races as anything more than a combat encounter.

It hasn't always been like this. Plenty of in-world people think Nirmathas made the wrong decision.

I fail to see how these things would make her more liberal. She was always royal, even if Alexi was supposed to be crowned after Nikolai's death. Actually ruling would not be such a great shock.

If anything, magic would make a wonderful tool to achieve vengeance on the Bolsheviki by proxy in Galt or Ravounel (the manifold distinctions between e.g., the Cadet regime in Ravounel and the Bolsheviki would, of course, be utterly lost on the young queen), or through aid to the regime in Cheliax.

Reclaim the Tsarina's traditional role as guarantor of reaction and gaoler of nations.

It states she's kinder than Baba Yaga and the Jadwiga, which mostly requires her not to eat an entire man for breakfast.

Waait a second . . . I know that gal! That's Linxia, the iconic Hellknight from Hell's Vengeance! You telling me she got demoted to Armiger?!

As an iconic, Linxia is doomed to be demoted, promoted, thrown through time, and leveled up to 20 before being level drained back to level 1 repeatedly.

I'm kinda confused how the artwork seems to confuse Automatons and Clockworks since those two things are really really really different things ._.;

The Automatons are attacking the duo. The Clockwork is coming to their aid.

She is a half-elf. Her name is Nketiah (pronounced something like nn-kesh-ah).

Arachnophobe Warning: There is a spider on page 99.

That is fricking (older) Lander Ledeba from Kingmaker CRPG, isn't it?! :D

As ninja'd by Mark, Lander's been canon for much longer than the Kingmaker cRPG; he was name-dropped in the Brevoy gazateer in the very first volume of the Kingmaker Adventure Path. However, instead of venturing into the Stolen Lands to annoy the new ruler, he canonically ventured into PFS to annoy the Pathfinder Society, and actually grew up into a rather well-mannered young man.

Pathfinder Society members might recognize her as a slightly less windswept Janira Gavix.

Or he rolled a 1 on Perception and noticed he had feet.

Tsukiyo, the Tian god of the moon, was murdered by his brother and then revived. How it worked and why he was different from other dead gods (perhaps he was only Mostly Dead?) has never been explored, but there's precedent in the established world of Golarion for a god coming back to life.

"Heard you’re still angry ‘bout how I’m portrayed in that one AP
You know I try but I handled things there maybe too bluntly
Asking you questions and blasting trumpets when I disagree
So I’m asking you for a shot at forgiveness

Yeah, is it too late now to say sorry?
I’m asking Sarenrae to absolve me
Oh, is it too late now to say sorry?
Yeah, I know that I let you down
Is it too late to say I'm sorry now?"

The figure on the cover is Saloc, who previously appeared in Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Distant Realms. They are holding the Concordance of Rivals.

Grandmother Spider's section will be clearly labeled in the table of contents to facilitate non-visual identification and excision by arachnophobes.

If you are fine with paper pawns, you may be interested in the paper pawns I drew for the adventure, including the mech and the pink tank.

There are three Tian Xia deities in this book.

As the author of the scenario, when I wrote the description, this was what I was thinking of.

That said, since the monster has different abilities every time, the different appearances from different GMs suits it well, I think.

If we strip morality out of the discussion for a moment, we can see that souls are usually sent to afterlife that aligns most with their actions and personal ethos. In other words, we can say that a soul gets sent to the Abyss because it was evil in life. BUT, we could also say the soul was sent to the Abyss because that's where all the souls who think murder is fun and cool go. The reason the Abyss sucks so much is not necessarily because it's a cosmic punishment for your actions, but because everyone running it thinks murder is fun and cool, and all of those things are more powerful than you are and enjoy making you suffer. Because they're evil.

So, you could argue that it's not just about hurting the person you kill (though that's certainly some of it), but also about the effect on your own soul.

As much as the scenario said they are a pop band I still imagine them more like Baby Metal

I'm a fan of BABYMETAL, really, so I wouldn't mind.

Ah, Wes...

Your rejection letter to me (for a position I was clearly unqualified for) included an invitation to work as a freelancer instead. It's honestly been a dream, and I'll never forget that kindness. I'm happy for you and your new opportunities, but I'll always feel a pang of sadness I never got to work my way up to being your co-worker at Paizo.

See you around, fellow Ravenloft fan.