Graeme Lewis's page

Meanwhile, the last few lines of a certain poem by one Edgar Allan Poe run through my head:

Out — out are the lights — out all!
And, over each quivering form,
The curtain, a funeral pall,
Comes down with the rush of a storm,
While the angels, all pallid and wan,
Uprising, unveiling, affirm
That the play is the tragedy, "Man,"
And its hero...

Oooh... Will we get rules for pyronite? Because I want rules for this fantasy dynamite (I'm assuming it's dynamite and not TNT). I want rules for this fantasy dynamite so bad.

You seem to think that this is something that is only plaguing Paizo? It's not. Books across multiple industries are getting delayed, because the supply chain is in shambles after 18 months of a pandemic and multiple long term disruptions of shipping channels.

Yeah, global pandemics and a weeklong blockage of one of the biggest trade arteries in the world are not things one's supply chain easily gets over, much like how you don't overcome treatment for a blockage in a major artery and the flu in just a couple days.

I wonder if the PDF is released at midnight local Paizo time or at open of business release day?

From what I recall, the PDF becomes available for public sale at midnight Pacific.

To be honest, a Galt campaign could go the opposite route. Rather than trying to overthrow the Grey Gardeners or the like, a Galt campaign could be about Revolutionaries who are in fact evil PCs who are seeking to further their own ambitions and doing so by becoming essential to the Gardeners. It doesn't need to be QUITE as evil as the Hell's Vengeance campaign (as in Neutral characters could actually be potentially possible in the campaign) but still go darker than most other APs have been.

One of the benefits of a campaign with Galt could be that rather than a plot with high stakes, this one is about furthering the PCs own power and ensuring the "stability" of the existing power structure in Galt. And there could even be geopolitical aspects (such as Taldor or Andoran being involved in the anti-Grey Gardener plots).

It looks like "Overthrow the Grey Gardeners" is going to be the point of the upcoming standalone adventure "Night of the Gray Death"; I think having a Galt AP based on rebuilding the nation after the decades of bloodshed, trying to shape its future from the ground up into one based on actual principle of justice, and possibly bringing about said justice by finally shattering the final blades would be a more likely plot.

Love how the English language is thrown out the door and "they" is used to refer to an individual....

So Shakespeare threw English out the door, eh?

Question for when people get their subscriber copies:

I know that the last volume of Age of Ashes had a few Rare Backgrounds for campaigns taking place after the AP that tied into the events of the AP. Are there backgrounds like those in this volume?

Heine Stick wrote:

The Gold Sovereign wrote:

As a three-part AP, I suppose this doesn't take the PC to 20 level. Yet, we are talking about a megadungeon...

I'm fairly certain the developers said levels 1-11 in the adventure path panel at PaizoCon Online., with Fist of the Phoenix being 11-20.

Where might we get access to this information?

The Twitch Stream. They mention the upcoming APs at the beginning of the second part.

Gorbacz wrote:

You might be a librarian, but I'm a lawyer and I can tell you that trade dress and page design are sue-worthy level of copyright protected as far as they constitute a significant original work, which Paizo's do.

Hmm, you may be right, nevertheless the offending material was removed.

Yeah, once the art & layout are added it would (in the opinion of this admittedly-not-a-lawyer) no longer fall under "Mere listings of ingredients or contents".

Wow. Aroden is good at not planning ahead or checking results of his actions xD

What colonizer is? XP

CorvusMask wrote:

Malefactor wrote:

Now, I don't mean to seem overly pessimistic regarding the leadership abilities of Princess Eutropia, but does seem that the villains got a point here. It stands to reason that, seeing as Taldor was founded slightly under 6 millenia ago, that there has been many so many rulers of the empire that the title of " Greatest Emperor(s) of Taldor" has some rather stiff competition. I am sure her qualities as a ruler are up to a high standard, but I don't know whether they are up to the "greatest-leader-in-the-six-thousand-year-long-history-of-one-of-the-greate st-empires-of-all-of-Golarion" standard, a criteria that her opposition meets by default.

Just my 2 CP, though.

Do note that even if they don't come back as undead abominations, the "greatest emperors" might have been sort of like irl great historical figures: Really horrible warmongers and otherwise not really good people who are respected just because they had notable achievements for their country

Maybe, but being a good person and being a good ruler often doesn't have much to do with each other.

As T'Chaka told his son, "It's hard for a good man to be King."

If you have a druid capable of 4th-level spells or a witch capable of 5th-level spells, you can abuse reincarnate by killing yourself once you hit venerable and having reincarnate cast on you for the low cost of 1000gp per reset (since reincarnate puts you in a random race young adult body). Otherwise there aren't many options outside of either mythic or very high-level class options (most of which are capstone ability options).

*sniff, sniff*
*breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out*
Seems fine to me.

Wrath of the Righteous: Jerks try to shut down the set of Extreme Home Remodeling: Abyss Edition and kill the star of the production.

Mummy's Mask: Rightful King returns to find a usurper on his throne, gets kicked around by a bunch of upstarts working for that usurper.

Reign of Winter: Woman seeks to retain throne. Group of know-nothings hired by her mother's goons to force her to abdicate. Mother is also missing.

Giantslayer: Man is punished for trying to unify his people using ancient artifact.

Iron Gods: Robot wants to make friends but does not know how to make friends. People show up to punch it for making friends the wrong way.

1044) There is no position in the hierarchy of Calistria's church known as "Dr. Feelgood".
1044a) The same goes for Dr. Love.
1045) Striptease is appropriate in bars and Calistrian temples, not in line at the bank of Abadar.

1028) "Let the werewolf win" is not an old Ustalavic proverb.
1029) "Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good crossbow at your side" is not an old Rahadoumi proverb.

My Great Aunt Elana Moonrunner had this bit of sage advice for arguing with a God.

"Don't".

See, m'grandpappy gave me a different piece of advice.

"If'n yer gonna argue with a god," he'd say, "become a god yerself, otherwise y'all ain't got a snowball's chance in Osirion o' winnin' that'n."

"I was in a church in Andoran once. Cathedral dedicated to Iomedae. They had the Eleven Deeds on the walls in stained glass. The first deed stuck out the most... I know she's supposed to have defeated Nakorshor'mond, but I swear the artist decided to make it look like the child of Asmodeus and Zon-Kuthon."

"So there's this guy I met, Iomedaean who's got an illustrated book. First Deed's illustrated in there, the monster looks like it's a massive beast, almost like someone took Ulunat and crossed it with a dragon."

"What was Nakorshor'mond? Hmm... Let me ask you this question in response. Which matters more: What it was, or what she did? Answer that question, and you will know what Nakorshor'mond was."

I have no name, that I can recall. I suspect it was taken from me. All I have is my mind, my... deductive capabilities. From this wig beside me, I suspect I must be involved in law. Not as an officer, but as a lawyer or judge. The book next to me is... filled with arcane formulae. ...No, arcane is the wrong word. Esoteric, perhaps. Mentions of weights, and measures, and fluids. The language is difficult, but... familiar, in a way. Almost as if it were mine.

I am wearing a robe. Black. No markings, nor badge of office. This will tell me nothing. In my other pocket... hmm. A note...? "Writ of Habeas Corpus"... That name looks familiar. And is this... a picture? Hmm... she looks frightened. Was I... trying to help her?

Basically, barrister-alchemist or barrister-investigator who was seeking to rescue someone kidnapped by Hasturian cultists

1020) Deskari is not "weak to RAID".
1021) Cyth-V'sug cannot be killed "if you just pour some Round-Up on him".

I can't really think how the practice of basically stealing the souls of almost everyone in their country has gone unpunished for so long.

"So long"? I'm sorry, a century is not "so long" to someone Pharasma's age. When they've been doing it for thousands of years, then we'll get back to you on something that's been going on for ages.

Besides, we've got bigger threats to the integrity of the River of Souls than some idiots trapped in some stupid knife that any idiot could figure out how to break. That bloody fallen Psychopomp and her damnable hidden corruptions...

Edit: Also, no problem responding point by point. I don't have the energy to do the same, but I don't mind that you do so. I do worry that I seem like I'm cherry picking and taking things out of context, and if it looks like I'm doing so, I apologize. I'm just trying to keep things clear.

Speaking as someone who's been reading this thread for a while, this is not how you come across. You come across as someone who's being respectful and responding to points within the argument, and you've said at least twice that you don't have the time/energy/etc. to be able to respond to TL the same way.

And by the way, I'm really liking reading your discussion. It's clear that while you may disagree on some points, you're not trying to attack one another; you're trying to understand each other, not being dismissive, not being antagonistic... There are people both on the internet and in real life who could take some pointers from your discussion here.

EDIT: Occasionally myself included. *looks sidelong at a couple posts of his in this thread, including deleted ones*

How many Kuthites does it take to screw in a wall sconce? Five; one to screw it in and four to flay themselves while he does it.

How many Calistrians does it take to screw in a wall sconce? Two, but they really have to squeeze.

How many Abadarans does it take to screw in a wall sconce? One. They are an efficient and humorless people, and the joke would be wasted on them.

That probably depends a LOT upon which Czar you have to deal with. Actually, it also depends a lot upon which Soviet leader you have to deal with. Given the tendency to overturn previous proclamations with the message that the new way is the way it has always been (Order of the Rack, anyone? -- have to question their true committment to Lawfulness), and the tendency to engage in rampant corruption even to the serious detriiment of the system, I'd say that the average was Neutral Evil, with only a subset of Czars and Soviet leaders being somewhat reliable at doing what you say above. Watch your back if you get into a deal like that above with the Czar or the Premier . . . .

The Order of the Rack is basically Orwell's Ministry of Truth. There is the version of what happened that is Sanctioned and Legal™, and then there is the chaotic, rebellious, perhaps even heretical slog that is what people consider to be "Actual History". They're just making sure that history books and published literature conform to "Historical Accuracy" and "Proper Thinking", which they have a very real and rigid set of guidelines for.

Oh man, Distant Worlds AP would be, like, top of my list. As well as an Ultimate Technology to supplement it (hint, hint). I mean, yeah, sure, tech guide could work, but... Ultimate Technology, you guys! Fly your Spaceship to Apostae and go diving into the VR of the long-deactivated main computer to get the world working again!

Question, what/who is the mythic idiot that Aelryinth mentioned?

The impression he gave me was that "Mythic Idiot" referred to "anyone who disagrees with me"; I may be wrong, but that was the vibe.

An order based on the less evil aspects of Asmodeus might focus on the actual legal system itself, serving as guards to justices, and jailors and investigators and lawyers/advocates and, when it goes that way, executioners. A heavy focus on enforcing contracts and finding 'bail-jumpers' or others attempting to evade justice, as well as other more picky legal matters, would fit well. They'd be as impartial as can be, and side against what they view as perversions or misuse of the legal system, such as punishments that precede trials, or attempts to 'game the system.' Others might not live up to that ideal, and be little more than jack-booted thugs, hiding behind the color of authority.

One thing that a Hellknight of the Order of the Gavel must remember is that the legal system, despite aiming for a higher ideal, is still very much a mortal system. Judges can be corrupted or bribed, jailors can "lose" paperwork freeing an innocent person, barristers can forge evidence. The legal system must be protected both from without... and from within.

1012) Norgorber is not "The God With No Name".
1013) Teleport is not an effective form of birth control.
1013a) Neither is dimension door.
1014) It's the Black Blood of Orv, not "Necromantic Super-Goop from Drowtown".

Graeme Lewis wrote:

Do you want to hunt kidnappers? Do you want to find missing people and rescue those who were victims of a slave trade hungry for fresh product? Then you might like The Order of the Torrent! Applications can be filed in Kintargo.

i thought they where kicked out of Kintargo?

Only once Barzilai Thrune takes command. Assuming he doesn't (i.e., assuming the Glorious Reclamation doesn't happen), they're still there. Well, their citadel is. Since they're on the road so much, there might not be too many leaders there at the moment.

EDIT: Hell, after Barzilai Thrune is kicked out of Kintargo they immediately get to come back, so... y'know.

The Order of the Scourge is basically the LAW. Arresting criminals, determining appropriate punishments, keeping an eye on the Thrunes in case they go too far and have to be put down...

Do you want to hunt kidnappers? Do you want to find missing people and rescue those who were victims of a slave trade hungry for fresh product? Then you might like The Order of the Torrent! Applications can be filed in Kintargo.

Interestingly, that adventure also has an LG ex-Cleric of an LG god who has done nothing wrong except for lose his faith, yet:

Quote:

The ex-Cleric knows his lack of faith has damned him to an afterlife of torment.

[...]

So does he think Erastil is going to get to torment him in some way? Or despite his good alignment and lack of evil deeds he will be shipped to Hell for torment, because there really is an implicit assumption of a modern Christian-esque afterlife? Or that even though he is not a dissident and had faith and passion in his life (it only being broken by horrible loss, not being a thing he lived a life without) he thinks he is going to be judged "failed" and forced into the Graveyard of Souls and that that is "torment" as opposed to "boredom" (which, frankly, is the eventual fate of most souls who don't get destroyed).

Or it could be that he would consider being so close to his former lord to be torment. It's basically a more benign form of the punishment of Tantalus... and Tantalus's punishment would torment anyone. You're always just close enough to see it, but too far away to get it. At least if he had gone to Hell, he could play the "out of sight, out of mind" card. Here... he's close. So close. But he can never reach it.

He has everything he could need, he has rewards for living a virtuous life... but the thing he wants most? That, he can never achieve.

Tell me that doesn't sound like torment.

The Vigilante has a path where they can be a full BAB.

And the Ranger is a full BAB which lots of skill points.

That said: a group of three small-sized races running Magical Child archetypes of the Vigilante with a human Alchemist. ;)

(If I repeat it enough times, it will be so thoroughly beaten into the ground, no one will dare run it. ^^)

No, you just need to save this group for the inevitable AP where you face off against the Gorilla King.

1008. No, you cannot become a Kuthite Priest by solving a puzzle box.
1008a. Depending on the puzzle box, you could become a kyton.
1009. It's The Chapel of Rent Flesh, not the Chapel of Rented Flesh.

Council of Thieves also mentions that the Order of the Scourge is all to eager to accept reasons to attack the Order of the Rack because they believe that the Rack goes too far too often for it to be reasonable.

The Hellknight Orders are less like separate branches of the US Armed Forces and more like the Armed Forces of different nations. They can work together, but they can also fight one another, and neither one breaks their lawful nature.

1005. I will not write Desna/Rovagug fanfiction and brand it as a new holy book of Lamashtu.
1005a. Yes, the Order of the Rack was right to burn it as unfit for sapient eyes.
1005b. They did not burn it because it was "too good for this sinful world".

3) Paladins don't admire Asmodeus. Hellknights do. Paladins despise him. He's the KING OF HELL. They don't forgive his Evil nature and Epic Sins as a minor quibble and irrelevant to his Lawfulness, unlike the HEllknights.

I'm fairly certain that the Hellknight Orders at least respect Asmodeus. And if there's one thing a smart paladin does regarding a clever enemy, it's respect them. For instance, a Paladin who's a part of the Fourth Crusade can despise Baphomet's infiltrators, and yet respect their tactics and their tenacity. If you don't respect them, if you just cast them off at all possible points as "deluded" or "misinformed" or "thralls to Hell" — then you're underestimating them. You're allowing them to play you like a fiddle.

That's something I've noticed about your posts, actually, Aelryinth. You seem to be dismissive of your opponents, almost talking down to them. A very disrespectful way of talking...

I'm just saying.

999. Stop calling Isger "The Least Likely Place To Rebel From Cheliax", we're totally our own country you jerks!

Neutral Outsiders who behave oddly compared to those of their kind.

I'm talking, of course, about Erratic Psychopomps.

Tacticslion wrote:

Just like alcohol or poisoning with mind-altering substances, yeah. It's pretty dark and sobering.

Well yeah, but there's usually some common personality trait and inhibition lowering drugs tend to just enhance those traits.

My paladin doesn't suddenly turn CE if she gets smashed at a tavern.

Also, alcohol. Sobering. hehe.

No, but under the influence of a mind-altering effect like a charm spell, a psychedelic drug, alcohol, w/e... I'm sure their behavior could be influenced along either of those axes (not both at once, but drifting more towards LN or NG depending on the paladin). Charm spells aren't a Helm of Opposite Alignment.

Really? Because I see it as him following a very steadfast code of honor and trusting authority until it's been proven to be in the wrong. Those are both really lawful ideals; while I'd agree that he's more Good than Lawful, one cannot be the epitome of an alignment. To me, Steve Rogers tries his damnedest to be Lawful Good, and since he knows what's expected of that kind of person, he's good at doing it. Does he slip up? I don't think anyone's arguing that he doesn't. But he tries, and trying is a big part of working to embody any alignment.

Not to mention the Good/Evil delineation between the two is more clear than the Law/Chaos line.

This is actually closest to my theory as to why there's more focus on G/E than L/C:

Western cultures can deal with the distinction between "Good" and "Evil" better than the distinction between "Law" and "Chaos". Us westerners tend to have a harder time with LvC because so much of our culture revolves around having "good" people defeating "evil", or becoming "evil", or more generally the interaction between the two. Think of it this way:

Which is easier for us to see, Archons vs. Devils or Devils vs. Demons? Most people in Western Culture would vote Archons vs. Devils; there's a clear divide between what is "good" and what is "evil".

Law vs. Chaos isn't an axis we're all that culturally equipped to deal with; we'd be more likely to see Robin Hood and Captain America as allies than enemies. (And yes, I consider Cap to be Lawful Good).

Apsu - Oregenus, silver dragon that wears spectacles.

I keep reading this as "Oregano".

...rrrrgh...

Grrgh...

GRAAAAARGH!

...mrph.

Milo v3 wrote:

Barachiel Shina wrote:

Ugh I hate reprints. I mean they are very rare in Pathfinder products, of that I am thankful of, but it still irks me to see them.

As a person who doesn't buy golarion books, I love reprints (especially in the bestiaries).

Online sites like d20pfsrd and Archives of Nethys already provide that, so really no need for reprints.

Well, unless you want to look stuff up offline.

James Jacobs wrote:

Letting the potentiality of disruptive players dictate how the game is designed is not the right way to design a game.

But... isn't not utilizing this design space doing exactly that?

Disruptive players WILL ALWAYS find a way to be disruptive.
They will find some way to justify their actions, no matter what the situation (I have one at my home game).
They don't need a special tool for it; they just need faulty logic and a stubborn personality.
Taking things away from everyone for the actions of a few harms EVERYONE.

That was JJ's whole point in that post. He outright stated earlier in this thread that he'd like to see Sakvroth be promoted more heavily.

And I'd like to add my support too.

My top 4, now that we've seen Iron Gods, would be the following (barring an Arcadia AP, since we'd need a Dragon Empires-style guide for that, probably, and JJ said that that's not likely to happen soon):

1. The Living God No More! Razmir has ruled his kingdom with an iron fist for a long time, but now he's made a significant stride toward true Godhead. Bring down the False God, and free Razmiran!

2. The Revolution Ends Here! In Galt, a small group has decided to take justice into their own hands, freeing the country from the mad bloodlust of its leadership. But will the blood-soaked Final Blades allow peace?

3. A Whole New World! A bedraggled traveler comes from a passageway to the Underdark with horrifying news: the drow have constructed an Elf-Gate, and intend to take over all of Castrovel. Kyonin seeks heroes willing to protect their ancient home!

4. War Is Coming! Chu Ye and Kaoling have allied for the purpose of subjugating all of Tian Xia. Under their combined might, even Lingshen is likely to fall. Traders from Goka seek adventurers looking to end the alliance and stop the vile army once and for all!

I just hope there is this:

In ancient times, the Nameless City was built and inhabited by an unnamed race of reptiles with a body shaped like a cross between a crocodile and a seal with a strange head common to neither, involving a protruding forehead, horns, lack of a nose and an alligator-like jaw. These beings moved by crawling; thus, the architecture of the city has very low ceilings and some places are too low for a human being to stand upright. Their city was originally coastal, but when the seas receded it was left in the depths of a desert. This resulted in the decline and eventual ruin of the city.

That way we can officially have a "Dungeon Crawl"

No, actually, their species needs to have been massive. The nameless species were a starfaring race, ever seeking new worlds. The only one of their kind pierced Golarion's crust and nearly opened itself to the black vaults of Orv. You have heard of the Gugs, perhaps. Chronicle 44 made mention of them. Well, child, not only are they real, but they have a Nameless City, built upon the back of a giant beast from beyond the stars. They shuffle it from place to place, and only one being has ever escaped it. It had no name 'til he gave it one: Dhen'jonn. And Dhen'jonn... crawls.

No paladin should tolerate such things. You're being an idiot pawn and signboard for Evil. It just boggles my mind that any paladin would even consider joining an order called 'Hellknights', let alone before you start getting into what many Hellknights and orders actually do!

What, like putting down dangerous cults, such as demon-worshippers or human-sacrificers (Pyre)? Keeping an eye on the Thrunes in case they need to be put down (Scourge)? Rescuing kidnap victims (Torrent)? Hunting fugitives (Chain)?

All of these things sound like something a Paladin would be proud to be a part of.