Gentleman Alligator's page

I still find the title of this one kind of weird, wishing they had gone with something like "Ultimate Factions" or "Faction Codex", but I can't help but love that pretty cover.

I love how imposing the Hellknight looks, towering over the other two. I adore how Reynolds managed to capture the insectile look of the Red Mantis, and I like how the Grey Maiden is placed before the others, making all three pop very nicely.

The cover is simple, but effective. Nice work indeed.

Please tell me this will somehow be recorded. I'd love to see this, but being broke and in Texas makes that difficult.

I find it funny that people are so fixated upon the fact that he's holding a Harrow deck and how that doesn't fit the flavor of the new class, but seem to not notice he also has a Quija Board and crystal ball as well, all objects popular media has associated with contacting the dead. The Harrow Deck is just another extension of that in my eyes.

The Occultist was easily my favorite class from the playtest and filled a need that I never knew I had. All the changes and revisions sound awesome and are just taking the stuff I liked about the class and making it cooler. I especially love the outsider contacts part. That sounds perfect for a specific concept I had for a Keleshite occultist who deals with alien, otherworldly forces man was not meant to comprehend (what can I say, I'm a Lovecraft fan).

I'm a little sad that we're getting another Bestiary instead of an NPC Codex 2, but I understand a lot of people wanted it so I'm fine with that. Maybe we'll get another NPC Codex later.

I'm somewhat torn on Ultimate Intrigue. The social system sounds pretty cool and I love more options for the skill-based classes. However, I'm not so sure about this new class. Vigilante sounds like something that could easily be done with an archetype, but that's just some initial thoughts. I might end up loving it when I check out the inevitable playtest.

Does anyone else have the Attack on Titan theme playing in their head each time they read anything about this AP?

I think it's more odd that people "know" Paizo intended for the ability to be used with light weapons. I'm not saying I know developers/designers intentions, but I bet they did not want Two-weapon Fighting to work with the feat.

I'm not saying I don't think dex to damage should work with twfing. I let it fly in my campaign. But I do think this feat was meant to be restricted to Einhander styles or just the main-hand of a two-weapon fighter.

I also realize this is just my opinion. Maybe they meant it to work with light weapons. I just don't think it's ridiculous to have differing opinions.

Well, they could have handled that by adding a simple line requiring you to hold the weapon in one hand and have the other empty, like Dervish Dance. It'd be another kick to the groin for TWF, but whatever.

Gentleman Alligator wrote:

James, you've probably already answered this question in a general sense, but I wanted to know about a specific corner case.

You, as well as other developers, have said we will probably not see any non core race iconics. Now, I can understand not using some of the weirder races, like the catfolk or the nagaji. However, I've never understood why the aasimar or tiefling would be off the table.

They've been apart of the game for years now, most people playing the game are very familiar with them, and they're very popular character choices. I don't see why the "core only" rule can be relaxed for them.

Thanks for your time, and I hope you have a good day :)

Because aasimars and tieflings aren't core races. Simple as that.

I quite adore aasimars and tieflings; don't get me wrong.

But they're not core races.

I was more asking why couldn't we make an exception for the aasimar and tiefling (especially the tiefling).

However, thinking about that, making an exception for them might open a can of worms where people use that as ammunition when asking why there isn't a dhampir or tengu iconic.

James, you've probably already answered this question in a general sense, but I wanted to know about a specific corner case.

You, as well as other developers, have said we will probably not see any non core race iconics. Now, I can understand not using some of the weirder races, like the catfolk or the nagaji. However, I've never understood why the aasimar or tiefling would be off the table.

They've been apart of the game for years now, most people playing the game are very familiar with them, and they're very popular character choices. I don't see why the "core only" rule can be relaxed for them.

Thanks for your time, and I hope you have a good day :)

I think the core devs have stated they wont use any non-core races for iconics.

I understand not wanting to use some of the weirder races, like catfolk or nagaji. However, I don't see why we can't have an aasimar or a tiefling iconic. They've been apart of the game for years, people are very familiar with them, and they're popular PC choices. I don't see why an exception can't be made for this corner case.

Also, I second the inclusion of an old lady iconic. Since we have Ezren, we need an elderly lady iconic to balance that scale a little.

I think we can all admit that Erik Mona is the king at writing Iconic Backstories. I really like Zadim's little tale, and I love the questions that cliffhanger creates. Personally, I favor either the idea that he didn't kill the paladin, or he did the deed, but only because the paladin wanted him to.

Cthulhudrew wrote:

Mark Moreland wrote:

Needless to say, Kess is not evil. None of the iconics we've introduced thus far from the ACG have been evil.

(emphasis mine)

In other words- MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!? :D

I suspect the Slayer may be evil.

The slayer makes the most sense. Maybe they'll go the assassin route.

She just happens to have a psychological need to fight and possibly kill, no biggie! At least she has positive channels for her needs in Golarian.

Again, I'm not seeing the psychological need to fight and possibly kill. I'm see her as someone who just enjoys the thrill of a fight. Heck, her story even talks about her learning honor and focus due to her life in the pits. She's definitely rebellious and free spirited, but I still wouldn't call her evil in the slightest. She's nowhere near Alain level's of obviously evil (He doesn't care about the people he hurts and acts nonchalant about it all. That screams Evil to me).

Blackvial wrote:

Rynjin wrote:

Mark Moreland wrote:

Insain Dragoon wrote:

She went to the pits in Daggermark? Wait a sec, don't the pits there fight to the death? So she was bored with life and went to the pits where she could fight to the death? She doesn't sound nice. Honestly if I were align her based on this story I'd call her Neutral Evil.

She went to one of the Inner Sea region's most notable arenas, in Tymon, which is associated with the region's premier gladiatorial college. While there might be fights to the death there, that's not a requirement or even something that would happen very often. The whole point there is to battle enough that you earn the title of Blooded, and thus become something of local nobility. It's not to kill whoever you happen to face in the ring.

Needless to say, Kess is not evil. None of the iconics we've introduced thus far from the ACG have been evil.

Are we sure? Oloch seems basically Chaotic Evil to me.

he's trying to reform so he can get back into the good graces of his mother

Agreed, he's like an Ex-con who wants to be a good, honest member of society, but old habits die hard.

Kess is one of those backstories that honestly makes her out to be almost evil if not evil. Not in one of those "I am trying to be a force of evil" but more of a "I just so happen to do evil things"

I think we might be reading different backstories, because I get a Neutral Good (or at least a Neutral with Good leanings) vibe from her, especially when you read the last paragraph.

"she tries to be positive and upbeat"
"Kess is competitive, though she encourages others in their own tasks."

Gentleman Alligator wrote:

I'd love to see how she'd interact with someone like Valeros or Alain (especially since they're both Taldan nobility).

Wait wait wait. Since when was Valeros nobility?! I thought he was a farmboy who left for adventure to dodge marriage!

The part in the parenthesis was talking about Alain and Kess, not Valeros. I could have made that a little clearer, my bad :)

I rather like Kess. Not my favorite of the new iconics (Jirelle or Quinn holds that honor), but she seems to be a fun character. I'd love to see how she'd interact with someone like Valeros or Alain (especially since they're both Taldan nobility).

Count me among those who were kind of "meh" about the Brawler class. However, after this, I'm actually kind of excited to get my hands on the class. I wonder if that's actually because the class is awesome, or Mark's ability to make something sound amazing.

I see what you did there Mr. Mona. Sneak your badass barbarian into the backstory of an iconic. Nice.

Anyway, Hakon sounds like a pretty cool dude. I especially love the picture. I'd love to have a pawn or mini of him so I could use him for a skald character I've had sitting in the back of my head for awhile.

I'm incredibly excited for Pathfinder Unchained. I actually want it more than any other book Paizo's published since the Advanced Player's Guide.

While it could possibly be a testing ground for 2.0, I get the feeling its more of a "Unearthed Arcana" for Pathfinder. At least, that's what I get from the description of it.

I'm really digging these new iconics so far. All of them seem like they'd be cool characters to play (especially Quinn, Jirelle, and Crowe). I cant wait to see the remaining six (I hope either the Arcanist is next. I really want to know if she's a dwarf or a halfling).

While I found the playtest version of the class really interesting mechanically (especially when using a pitborn tiefling with the abyssal bloodline), that name still gets me. The continual references to metal music within the blog fits since everything I look at the name, I think its a cheesy metal band from the late 80's. I really wish they could have found a less cheesy name, but I understand why they decided to keep it.

Getting back to the topic at hand, I think Oloch would be a fun character to play. That obvious struggle with his more brutal urges and trying to control them would be fun to roleplay and I'd love to see the character develop over the course of a campaign.

Since we now know who the Iconics for the Swashbuckler, the Investigator, and the Warpriest, I wonder who will be next. Something tells me it'll be one of the ones we're not expecting anything soon, like the Bloodrager.

yet another example of the mad brilliance of James L. Sutter!

my main question? when exactly will he get his own novel:)

Since he's an investigator, I'd love to see him run across Varian and Radovan.

Quinn definitely sounds like a cool character. I'd love to see him show up in the Pathfinder comic eventually.

As somebody that has a pet peeve for oversized weapons in fantasy artwork I note the weapon that's listed as 14 pounds that looks like it might be closer to 150.

The size of the warpriest's weapon annoys me as well. At least Amiri's oversized sword makes sense when you read her backstory. However, I like how Oloch looks besides that one nitpick.

Since the Swashbuckler is the first to get a Meet the Iconics article, I can guess we're probably going to get Oloch the Warpriest next or very soon. I figure the first four will be the Iconics that are featured in Risen from the Sands. However, that's just my guess.

Gentleman Alligator wrote:

James Jacobs wrote:

zergtitan wrote:

Actually does anybody know what her alignment and patron deity is?

Chaotic good.

Cayden Cailean.

I can already imagine Jirelle and Valeros being best friends, raising a toast to their shared patron god before going on wild and crazy adventures together.

how dare you

Bloodcrow 2015

Oh, I dare :)

I'd love to see Jirelle show up in the Pathfinder comic. I think she might be one of my new favorite Iconics (right up there with Valeros, Ezren, Kyra, and Merisiel).

zergtitan wrote:

Actually does anybody know what her alignment and patron deity is?

Chaotic good.

Cayden Cailean.

I can already imagine Jirelle and Valeros being best friends, raising a toast to their shared patron god before going on wild and crazy adventures together.

So..

I am a terrible person. I wrote a blog that is just too long to get posted up at this late hour. It will go up tomorrow morning. On the upside.. it will be glorious.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

Why must you tease us? #Shakes fist while thinking of Moby Dick quotes to say*

All seriousness thought, I'd rather have the post show up late then never show up at all.

Mikaze wrote:

New Iconics AND an Osirion-themed adventure?

GIGGITY

Gentleman Alligator wrote:

I hope the Arcanist is of Garundi descent.

While there's a lot of arcane historoy behind the Garundi(seriously, between Nethys, Nex, and Geb...), we have two Garundi iconics already. But we don't have any Mwangi ones. And they've got Old Mage Jatembe and the Magaambya just itching to be represented. :D

It is SO tempting to comment on this.

But I'm not.

In fact, I'm going to go make everyone swear a blood oath not to reveal these characters until this product hits and the Meet the Iconics start rolling out in May/June.

BLOOD OATH.

You're a cruel, cruel man Mr. Schneider.

Arcanist and slayer? That would fill the general warrior/healer/sneaky-type/arcane caster breakdown nicely...

I think the Arcanist is a pretty good guess. I would probably guess the Investigator might fill the final slot, but the slayer is possible as well.

I'm curious what race/ethnic group the final two iconics will be. I hope the Arcanist is of Garundi descent.

I enjoy reading other people's house rules. It tends to give me cool ideas for my own games. I'd love to be added to the mass mailing list so I could take a look at this.

Arcadia is easily the one continent on Golarion I'm most interested in learning more about. When Paizo finally does a book on it, I hope they go the Tian Xia route by creating nations that draw influence from Native American culture (as many people on this thread have already pointed out), but give them an interesting spin and add some fantastical elements as well. I'd actually be kind of disappointed if they didn't tap into those rich cultures & mythologies.

I'm going to echo others and say I'd love to see Book of Fiends, Book of the Righteous, and Hamunaptra updated for Pathfinder.

Kryzbyn wrote:

Bloodrager: Warlock.

i actually really agree with this, as stated in the barbarian class name thread, bloodrager evokes more of a gore brutality imagery rather than anything really magical, in addition warlock is an amazing name that is too good not to be used. plus i think its fairly close to how warlocks are generally seen; bulkier mages who can fight. A good match if you ask me.

I'm definitely apart of this camp. The name Warlock seems to gel with the concept of the class (much better than the Magus and it has that blood connection the 3.5 Warlock did). Also, like Kekkres says, the Warlock is a great name and sounds a lot better than Bloodrager.

Warlock.

I actually like the idea of calling it a Warlock. While it probably clashes with some people's concept of the Warlock, its an interesting fit and sounds better than Bloodrager.

sowhereaminow wrote:

If memory serves me, I believe the bloodrager name was suggested by a participant at the Gen con rules seminar, and immediately seized by the rules team. Blame him. :-)

Personally like the name. Very evocative.

Oh, yeah. I think you are right. I like the name too. I think it does what it says, which is the point of a name.

That doesn't mean its a good name though. For example, lets say the Wizard had the name "Magic Man" instead. It tells us what the class does, but its not a good name.

However, I will admit trying to find a replacement name is hard. You could go with Berserker, but that might cause people to confuse it with the Barbarian. Maybe Animist or Primalist.

Since I'm working on a Swashbuckler character for a game that will hopefully begin next week, I decided to take a closer look at the class and here are some of my thoughts (two I've mentioned earlier, but I'll add them here for completion)

1. The Swashbuckler should receive Weapon Finesse at 1st level as a bonus feat. When you have a martial class that puts a lot of its focus on Dexterity, its strange that you have to wait until 2nd level to gain the benefits of the feat.

2. The weapon restriction should be done away with. Maybe open it up to allow light and one handed piercing AND slashing weapons so characters can use the Aldori dueling sword and the falcata. It would also not make Dervish Dance a required feat.

3. Like others, I think the Swashbuckler should have another saving throw bonus. Personally, I would go for Will over Fortitude. Will seems to fit the class better and we could get rid of Bravery.

4. Speaking of Bravery, maybe it could be replaced with an ability called "Finesse Maneuvers". At 2nd level, the Swashbuckler would receive a plus 1 bonus to their CMD on disarm, steal, and sunder attempts. This bonus would increase by 1 for ever four levels beyond 2nd.

5. The whole "living creature with determinable anatomy" line from Precise Strike needs to be dropped. This is a relic from 3.5 that needs to disappear and fast.

6. The Swashbuckler Weapon Training ability should be similar to the Gunslinger's Gun Training ability, allowing you to add your Dexterity bonus to the damage roll of a light or one handed piercing and slashing weapon of your choice. They'd choose a new weapon every four levels thereafter.

While I think the Swashbuckler is a pretty cool class and is my favorite out of the ten, there are some problems keeping the class from reaching its full potential. Fix these problems, and it will be awesome.

I wish they'd just given him Weapon Finesse as a bonus feat instead of just the effects, since Weapon Finesse is a prereq for a LOT of things the Swashbuckler might want (Dervish Dance, Piranha Strike, Duelist PrC...)

I completely agree with RainyDayNinja on this one. It would make things a whole lot easier to just grant them the Weapon Finesse feat as a bonus feat instead of just the benefits of the feat.

Also, like others have pointed out, I feel like the class is forced into using only a handful of weapons, with the rapier being the most obvious one. Maybe they can open it up to light and one handed piercing AND slashing weapons.

I want it to be the 19th so badly. One of my players is playing a cleric of Gorum right now and I know he'll probably want to switch to a warpriest and give it a test run.

After thinking about it for awhile, here's what I'd really like to see...

Bloodrager: Either a male half-orc (since we don't have one and the class would be a nice fit for the race) or a female dwarf (mostly because I think a female dwarf casting spells while raging would be pretty bad-ass).

Hunter: I think I'd have to go with a male human (probably Kellid or Ulfen) or half-orc.

Shaman: Female Shoanti Human, and as mentioned before, they could use the Shoanti in Varisia: Birthplace of Legends & Faiths & Pantheons (which I think would look pretty cool in Wayne's style).

Slayer: Female Halfling.

Warpriest: Male or Female dwarf.

Swashbuckler: Male Human (probably Chelaxian, Taldan, or Varisian) or Female Elf.

I would really love to see the Shaman iconic be a Shoanti. Actually, I think I would be a little disappointed if it wasn't since the ethnic group and the class seem like a perfect fit.

While I'm still iffy about the Hunter and I kind of wish the Bloodrager and the Warpriest had better names (there is just something about those names that just don't sound right to me, but to each their own I suppose), the Shaman and Slayer sound pretty cool and I've been wanting a Swashbuckler for awhile now.

I really want to know what the other four classes are now. I hope one of them is a hybrid rogue/wizard that focuses on enchantment and illusion. Basically, something similar to the Beguiler class from 3.5. Basically, a magical con-man of sorts. Maybe call it a Mountebank.

Matrix Dragon wrote:

Hey James!

What is the most fun mythic character that you've played so far?

I actually haven't had a chance to play ANY mythic characters yet.

Here's a related question. If you were going to play a mythic character, which of the paths would you most likely choose to play and why?

Throughout my entire gaming career, I can only remember quiting a group twice for something other than school eating away my free time. The first was a group that one of my regular players invited me to. They were using the rules from the Beginner Box since three of the players (the GM included) were new to Pathfinder. Having not played in awhile, I thought it might be fun so I rolled up a dwarf barbarian (wanting to give the Beginner Box version a try) and showed up ready to have a good time.

Sadly, the game wasn't what I was expecting. The GM was one of those guys who'd never take anything seriously in the game and would make me roll for the most asinine things, like walking or going to the bathroom (the latter being forced on me, even though I never told him I was going to the bathroom in-game). Also, he would throw incredibly hard encounters at us if we decided to go off his rails or didn't listen to his DMPC, which was of course the leader of the group. I acted as politely as I could and when the game was over, I told my friend in secret I wasn't coming back because it wasn't the kind of game I was looking for. Thankfully he understood.

The second time was actually rather recently. One of my friends who is actually a pretty decent GM who I've played with a number of times was starting a new game and I decided to give it a go. While I enjoyed the game and my character, one of the players really rubbed me the wrong way. First, he got angry with me for talking about a piece of dialogue from Dredd 3D that happens within the first few scenes of the movie that really doesn't have an effect on the plot at all beyond setting up Dredd's personality, saying I was spoiling the movie for him. Second, he had never played Pathfinder before, so he had a very loose understanding of the rules. The player had asked if I could help him with the rules, which I was cool with. However, every time I tried to help him, he'd give me a bad look and act like I was talking down to him or be really condescending about it. Third, we were playing at his apartment since we couldn't find another place to play. He's a diabetic and told us not to drink or eat his food since it's the only stuff he could eat, which was find with me and I figured we'd order some pizza for ourselves like we normally did. However, he prevented us from doing so because he said it'd be too much of a temptation for himself. Finally, after the game, he approached me and brought up the supposed spoiler from before and told me if I ever did that again, I would not be allowed back in his house. Like the first story, I did my best to remain polite. A day afterwords, the GM texts me and pretty much attacks me for upsetting this guy. So, I decided to pull out of that game because I don't want to play with that guy. With all stuff I have to do at school and trying to find the job, I don't have as much free time as I like and I'd rather spend it with people who I enjoy being around than dicks.

She is more than capable, doesn't have much in the way of personality or personal flaws (apart from being a stoic bard without much emotion)

If that was your impression of Ameiko, I would like to know what you have read? She is far from being "stoic" and she has personal flaws (like being hot-headed and sometimes jumping into situations that are over her capabilities.)

I would love to see a novel set in Alkenstar and the surrounding Mana Wastes.

Also, I think it would be really interesting to have a story set on Castrovel or Akiton, giving us some of that good Sword & Planet fun.

My favorite Dungeon adventure path probably has to be Age of Worms. While Savage Tide is close, Age of Worms wins because it just had this dark, epic feel to it at times that I really liked. Also, what's a better ending to a long campaign than fighting a demigod?

My favorite Pathfinder adventure path is definitely Rise of the Runelords. It was the first adventure path that I ran (having ran the Dungeon adventure paths later) and its still the most fun I have with an adventure path I have had. It's just a great campaign that has something for almost anyone. Also, I just love the town of Sandpoint and all the flavor that it has.

While I'm usually the one GMing, I try and play a different kind of character each time I play. After saying that, I will say that I do have a preference for playing clerics. While I'm not religious in the slightest, I love religion in fantasy settings and love how different clerics can be just based on the deity they worship.

I also love bards, cavaliers, and monks.