JosMartigan's page

Just saw this on yahoo and thought it was cool. The 10,000 year old skeleton found in Britain had DNA that able to be sequenced. The results are a person with bright blue eyes and very dark skin.

Here's a link:

Cheddar Man

Yes he's called Cheddar Man because of the region he was found in. He isn't a cheese-based superhero.

Since it's the Halloween season, I figured I'd delve into horror adventures and put together another entry in my "Slashers, Psychos, and Serial Killers" conversion section. With one caveat, though... this one is NOT meant for players. Let this one out of DM hands at your own peril.

Pinhead, The Prince of Agony

I have to admit I was skeptical about this but I really love your conversion. You've had well-thought out reasons for everything you've added. Starting with human makes a lot of sense since the character began as a human seduced by the Lament Configuration.

Great Job.

For ancient undead, you can always describe their common speech as being peppered with euphemisms, terms, and accents that seem outdated/archaic. You may even want to look up Shakespearean English for some words or phrases that might fit in the context of the creature's conversation but the players might not fully understand.

Of course, that depends on how theatrical you want to get with your DMing.

Goblins it is well-known are a scourge upon the land. They produce nothing of value and hunt the local wildlife into nonexistence. Additionally, they can't seem to resist the opportunity to harass or murder unsuspecting humans.

Physical Description: The typical goblin is roughly 4 feet tall and gangley. With their stooped posture and overly-long arms however, they seem much smaller than they actually are. Their heads are round and their hands and feet somewhat oversized. They have large, independently moveable, pointed ears that help to convey a wide range of emotions. Their mouths and eyes are large but they have small flat noses. They have skin the color of an angry bruise and milky yellowish eyes. Very few have any hair to speak of.
Clothing and ornamentation typically denote position of power or leadership with tribal leaders and shamans having the most coverings and baubles.

Society: Goblins are numerous, fecund and all but devoid of culture. In most cases the majority of a goblin tribe live in caves that open to the outside world usually in a remote area. They prefer to sleep in great heaps for warmth. The slightly more sophisticated leaders may have their own smaller cave-like rooms covered in animals skins. Goblins are rapacious hunters that prefer overwhelming numbers to organized strategies.

Relations:Goblins rarely get along with any neighbors they may have, including other goblin tribes. Competition is fierce, even with their own tribes. A clever but malicious nature asserts itself when the goblins encounter unsuspecting potential victims.
Goblins delight in tormenting and torturing creatures who are weaker or unprepared for their assault. Favored tactics when encountering a remote human pioneer's cabin include tossing a sack or two containing an enraged wild animal (such as a badger), a hornet's nest, or several poisonous snakes into he windows of the cabin and then falling upon the confused inhabitants as the exist the building in terror.
Others may begin a campaign of psychological torture on outlying farmsteads by mutilating livestock or pets in the dark of night for the humans to find in the morning.

Alignment and Religion: By far, goblins are chaotic and evil in the extreme, an occasional lawful evil leader will sometimes arise who can organize a tribe for a short time, but this is rare.

Adventures: Goblins who do not fit in are typically turned upon by their tribe. Very few live to an age where they can survive alone. Those that do are incapable of working with other races in a constructive manner.

Or half races could have their own classes but be able to mulriclass into a parents race class or a human general class. Sort of similar to 3.5 unearthed arcana paragon classes.

While I agree that other classes do this better with archetypes, imagine a game where the gm only allows elves to progress in the elf claas, dwarves in the dwarf class etc. There are no elven wizatds, druids, rangers, magi, etc.

In that sort of setting a racial class could be broken down into several paths that represent the different aspects/themes of the race. In elves you could have: magic, art, war, and forestry. Abilities are available with prerequisites so you can cherry pick based on how many paths,you have available (starting with one at 1st level and gaining more as you level)

In this setting only humans can choose any class available having ultimate flexibility and half races could mulriclass out of their racial parent's class with one or more general classes.

Whoa. I remember back when "dwarf" was a class the first time... Mein Gott in Himmel! The myth of eternal recurrence is true!!

The idea I'm going for was inspired by the 1st edition basic dwarf, elf, and halfling which were all classes before they were proper races. So yes you're right.

Other than that:

I realize people have a difficult time with stuff like this because they compare it to established classes and PF is so overstuffed, complicated, and escalated to power-levels out of control that most homebrew seems ridiculous.

My idea was to base them against things like the 3.5 fighter, wizard, bard, cleric, ranger, and rogue; therefore making them enticing options for players.

What I can't understand is the immediate unwillingness to give into the thought experiment and play with the idea on it's own merit. Why can't people just look at the overall concept and let's see (for fun) what kind of ideas we can put together?

Starting with the core races.

Dwarf
Themes to cover: Tradition, Crafting, Racial Hatred, Racial Weapons
Class Feature Ideas:
HD d10
Good Fort & Will Saves
Full BAB,
Skills that reflect crafting & tradition. Ranger favored enemy bonuses (goblinoids, giants)
Fighter-like weapon group bonuses with racial weapons
Fighter-like ease of movement in armor

Elf
Themes to cover: Nature, Arcane Magic, Art, Archery & Sword work
Class feature ideas
HD d8
Good Ref & Will saves
Medium BAB
Knowledge and outdoor skills
Fighter-like weapon bonuses with racial weapons
4 or 6 level spellcasting
Trackless step
Timeless body (as monk ability)

Starting with the core races.

Dwarf
Themes to cover: Tradition, Crafting, Racial Hatred, Racial Weapons
Class Feature Ideas:
HD d10
Good Fort & Will Saves
Full BAB,
Skills that reflect crafting & tradition. Ranger favored enemy bonuses (goblinoids, giants)
Fighter-like weapon group bonuses with racial weapons
Fighter-like ease of movement in armor

Elf
Themes to cover: Nature, Ar

Druids can use dragonhide armor (or ironwood) which means they can wear a breastplate when they can afford double base cost & double masterwork. Also if they're proficient they can use other weapons just fine - elves add some and if/when you get a cavalier level that expands to all martial weapons.

If you're willing to give up wild shape entirely then the nature fang archetype repays you very well for that. You get studied target more or less as a slayer, and you get a slayer talent each 2 levels from 4th level. You can use slayer talents (up to 3) on a ranger combat style which would hep with the feat demands of mounted combat. I'm not sure I'd dip more than one level into cavalier, favored terrain just isn't that good.

If I go 3pp riding elk I guess I can choose any druid or druid variant. If I go stag I have to choose wild rider just because of the size of the stag and the wild riders first ability allowing to ride it.

Also I'm not sure how PF rules it but if you were restricted by weapons due to ethos in 3rd ed, you cannot choose weapons outside of that list even their available from another class

Why not just go hunter? Granting your companion woodland stride too is pretty neat.

The only reason I'm avoiding hunter is I despise the animal affinity ability. I don't think a hunter should be able to pick any animal to gain a special ability, shouldn't mix them into some sort of unholy chimera, or be able to put other animal's abilities onto their animal companion.

I'm an old school player and it shows lol

So if I wanted an elven green knight who rides a stag or an elk, whats the best route?

Right now my thoughts are Druid (wild rider archetype, riding elk 3pp animal companion or stag companion)

Adding 2 levels of Cavalier (standard bearer) for the banner ability at first level, and getting the Order of the Green.

2 levels would give me the challenge ability and the favored terrain ability of the ranger gained through the order at 2nd level.

Limits are Druid armor and weapon choices which are not great but I'd probably go spear, scimitar, hide armor and wooden shield.

Spellcasting would be for buffs and utility needs mostly.
Wildshape would be for scouting and escape if needed, no combat shifting.

- Any ideas on feats?

- Any thoughts on a better way to accomplish this?

If you want to play up the alien setting idea, take a look at Dark Sun. That setting's creatures would be appropriate. There's at least one homebrew Dark Sun thread here. Just search it up.

Creatures that thrive in arid climates like reptiles, creatures that thrive at night to avoid the hot sun, creatures that live in mountainous regions or subterranean areas.

Behirs

Monstrous bats

Monstrous insects, snakes, and rodents

Earth and Air Elementals as summonable creatures

Fiends if those planes are accessible as summoned creatures in the areas dominated by Cheliax.

As poor as the race builder is, you might benefit from looking at 3.5's Savage Species as a starting place for making a playable Bugbear.
It's not any better than the race builder so it shouldn't be considered a good alternative without A LOT of scrutiny.

"In this world, humans' souls naturally exist outside of their bodies in the form of sentient "dæmons", talking animal spirits that constantly accompany, aid, and comfort their humans. Children's dæmons can freely and instantaneously change their appearance into that of any real or mythical creature; once people reach puberty, however, their dæmons settle into one permanent form."

I think a Hunter is the closest thing to a Golden Compass human and their daemon.

I'm thinking about altering the class to be more in line with that concept.
Anyone have any thoughts or ideas?

So it occurs to me that I can use some of what the Shaman has for spirits/spirit animals and pare away the extra stuff:

a moderate BAB

not sure about saves (maybe based on the type of companion: combat companions give a bonus Fort, stealthy give Reflex, scholarly give Will)

1d8 HD

Remove the wild/nature aspect. Animal Focus (from hunter) would be based just on the bonded animal type: movement based ability, lowlight vision, scent, blindsense, natural armor boost, maybe a bonus feat or a skill boost; all dependent upon the type of animal.

"In this world, humans' souls naturally exist outside of their bodies in the form of sentient "dæmons", talking animal spirits that constantly accompany, aid, and comfort their humans. Children's dæmons can freely and instantaneously change their appearance into that of any real or mythical creature; once people reach puberty, however, their dæmons settle into one permanent form."

I think a Hunter is the closest thing to a Golden Compass human and their daemon.

I'm thinking about altering the class to be more in line with that concept.
Anyone have any thoughts or ideas?

Just some thoughts:

Number 1:
I would say before you begin, decide which deities are most likely to have their faiths spread by followers (those with very basic core concepts such as love, protection, kindness/friendship, war/conflict, etc.) could easily be found in all three regions due to the nature of their portfolio and willingness of the faithful to spread the word.

Then figure out which ones are going to be truly exclusive to the culture in which they were created (concepts of honor, propriety, hospitality, community/racial/gender-focused, etc.). Ideas that wouldn't translate at all well across cultural boundaries.

These two steps will help pare down the deities needed to satisfy each region.

Number 2:
Will the islander gods follow the historical Hawaiian deities? Will the harsh region have an Egyptian, Semitic, or South East Asian feel?

Both of these areas if they follow certain real-world cultural concepts may have nature spirits instead of true gods (which amounts to druidism).

Kartan:
2 opposing legalistic gods (twins, siblings, lovers, etc.) one of LG & one of LE locked in a constant debate about the nature and application of law. they may work against each other by proxy through their followers.

1d100 = 5 Half-Elf with Kindred-Raised alternate racial trait
1d100 = 7 Gnome with Bond to the Land alternate racial trait
1d100 = 24 Ratfolk
1d100 = 60 Vegepygmy
1d100 = 84 Uldra

Novos-Ellaman

When the exiled half-elves spotted the lands that would be their home, they had no idea that others had once lived there. Landing in their weather-beaten air-ships, they found sophisticated ruins of a once thriving humanoid culture. On-foot and areal exploration uncovered a vast number of ruined cities almost fully reclaimed by nature.
Among those ruins and forests, the explorers encountered gnomes, ratfolk and tribes of savage but peaceful vegepygmies. The gnomes and ratfolk told of a great calamity orchestrated by the gnomes hated enemies: spriggans and goblins that lead to the destruction of the lands they new. Only by going into hiding had they survived. The vegepygmies were simply pleased that their lands were once again thriving as the forests crept back into once-cultivated lands.
Being who they were, the half-elves knew the best ways to ingratiate themselves among these unusual folk and soon the bonds of alliance were formed. They established colonies and soon found themselves face to face with Goblin, Spriggan, and Worg threats; plus a host of hungry plant-like creatures from the invading forests. A consolidated from of the 4 peoples allowed the half-elves to settle and lands were divided; the ratfolk keeping much of the lands beneath the ancient ruins and the others understanding a respect for nature must be maintained within their respective regions.
After almost a decade, the Half-elves (with their allies) were able to travel further north than ever; they found to their delight a cold-loving fey gnomish cousin-race calling themselves the Uldra. The Gnomes were quick to establish trade and cultural exchanges with this new friendly people.
Now exploration has turned to excavation; unearthing the knowledge of the old culture that occupied Novos-Ellaman. The Half-elves in a few generations have become a race unto their own; once exiled by their kin simply for their blood, they now are masters of their own fate.
The Gnomes and Ratfolk have found allies and are working to reestablish their own societies in this land made anew. The Vegepygmies have been able to find similar minded folk who respect their habitat allowing them to live as naturally as possible while gaining allies to defend their tribes against predation.
The once-isolated Uldra now live in a wider world with new sights to explore.

JosMartigan wrote:

Great job staying away from Tolkien-based races.

Is the cosmology appropriate for Aasimar and Tiefling characters? Or do you have your own take on how those races are created?

Planar shenanigans are a pretty big theme in Karden, since Sorcerer bloodlines are based on outsider interbreeding. As such you're most likely to find an Aasimar or Tiefling as a member of a Blooded family.

The good, evil, lawful and chaotic planes aren't quite what you'd find in the core assumption of the rules. I'll detail mortal understanding of those planes in a later update.

But put simply imagine the multiverse is a tower. The higher up the tower you go, the more lawful things become systems become more and more ordered until they reach stasis, the lower in the tower you go things become less and less ordered until they reach destruction.

The material Plane is on the middle floor of that tower. Precariously balanced between law and chaos. If the material Plane falls lower, systems such as Magic and physics become less predictable and yield more destructive results. If it rises up the tower these systems become more fixed but will lose innovation and become resistant to change.

At this point Karden mostly interacts with the floors closest to it analogous to celestial and fiendish realms.

However while this model of reality is quite popular in Karden, it is not the only paradigm, and the truth may be even stranger.

Fantastic analogy with a callback to Michael Moorcock in the law/chaos axis being prevalent in their thinking.

Great job staying away from Tolkien-based races.
Is the cosmology appropriate for Aasimar and Tiefling characters? Or do you have your own take on how those races are created?

My assumption was that Clerics, Oracles, Warpriests, Paladins, and Inquisitors are off-limits.

Shamans, Druids, and Witches are an interesting loophole since they all receive their powers from forces that are beyond the material plane. It can be argued that Druids and Shamans might not fit that description.

The variety of classes does confuse the matter. Do Shamans and Druids draw power from extra-planar sources that are just filtered through nature?

Is the Witch's healing patron a divine entity?

Alchemists are the closest to what I was thinking about. Looking for a more physically-based healer rather than healing offered by positive energy filtered through divine entities.

Basically Surgeon versus Magical Healer.

Just off the top of my head, Druids, Shamans, Hunters and Rangers seem to cast divine spells. (per www.d20pfsrd.com)

My assumption was that Clerics, Oracles, Warpriests, Paladins, and Inquisitors are off-limits.

Shamans, Druids, and Witches are an interesting loophole since they all receive their powers from forces that are beyond the material plane. It can be argued that Druids and Shamans might not fit that description.

The variety of classes does confuse the matter. Do Shamans and Druids draw power from extra-planar sources that are just filtered through nature?

Is the Witch's healing patron a divine entity?

Alchemists are the closest to what I was thinking about. Looking for a more physically-based healer rather than healing offered by positive energy filtered through divine entities.

Basically Surgeon versus Magical Healer.

If you had a world that was blocked from receiving divine gifts (and faith-based spellcasters didn't exist), is there a healer type class that would fill the void left by those classes?

Having been such a prolific reviewer of a wide variety of content, I can say I trust your recommendations.

It would be great to see more of this kind of thing: offering 2 or three supplement ideas that cover all kinds of different fantasy genres (sword/planet, gothic horror, steampunk, etc.)

Great post.

I should note that price is for the physical version. The PDF version is significantly less expensive (and not a bad price at all for more than nine hundred pages of pretty darn good content).

Oh OK, I'll go back and see about the pdf. Thanks

Some idea's on the temples and cults:

The temples are divided in several area's:
The center, the holy space. Only the High Priest and his direct subordinates are allowed here. This where the good loot is.
The great hall: for the official rites that anyone can watch.
The inner chambers: for iniated members and priest only. Here you have the secret rites that the outside doesn't know about.
The priestly living quarters: they have sleep somewhere.
Slave quarters and workspace: the temple earns it's money providing a service to the community and that is done here.

The cults are all mystery cults. It's members should have access to feats, items or spells that the players don't have and will only get by either joining the cult, or by stealing it's secrets.
It's true doctrine should only be known by the priests. Initiated have a greater understanding then the common man, but the fine details are only for the inner circle.

Everything you've mentioned is a great way to flesh out the faiths. thanks for putting that all together so I can make a good checklist. :)

I feel like you should take a look at The Blight, by Frog God Games. (Note that only the PDF is available right now. I don't think the hardcovers have actually been printed yet...) Having started to read it myself, it sounds pretty much dead-on for what you're looking for.

While I agree that the product is probably invaluable for what I'm attempting, the price tag of $160.00 makes it out of the question. Thanks for the offer though.

More Wall o' Text

City Overview so far. No stats in the community builder yet, just ideas:

Sprawled out against a part of the great River Danar (the river is 1800 miles long, 5 miles wide in most places), a truly ancient city built atop the urban corpses of former incarnations. In places layers of buried tunnels, caverns, & rooms extend for many meters. Closer to the docks, the more likely the layers are flooded or collapsed entirely.
The city proper is surrounded by clusters of smaller settlements from farming/fishing communities to places where ferries cross the expansive river.

Wards & Regions
The Nobles live apart from the masses behind thick walls & guarded by well-paid mercenaries. Nobles may be hosting guests who aren't otherwise living in the Foreign Quarter

The Docks lead directly into a poorly-enclosed Bazaar with both permanent & temporary shops. Night time on the docks is not the best time to go wandering around even in small groups.

The Bazaar is a flurry of activity most of the time, only quieting down late at night. It is a major thoroughfare for nefarious folk entering or leaving the city as it is not fully walled in & poorly guarded at night.

The Foreign Quarter is docks adjacent & organized into enclaves & neighborhoods according to race/culture. Some are visiting merchants & dignitaries, others are immigrants who have settled in the city.

The Necropolis is primarily reserved for nobility & wealthy merchants or other officials.

Known Temples & Cults
No specific area of the city features temples. Many spring up close to an associated quarter or region.

Sacred Harlot Religion: Organized & recognized by the leaders as official. Found in both the slums & Nobles Ward. An excellent source of information.

Cult of The River God: Considered official just to satisfy dock & river workers. Devotees appease the god more than worship it. River workers report seeing long, sinewy undulating coils break the surface of the water at a distance, but the whole creature has never been sighted.

Lord of The Underworld/Guardian of the Departed: Official & organized religion sees to funerary needs, consoles the grieving, & guards the Necropolis.

Agriculture God: Found mainly in surrounding farming communities. Depicted as an aurochs headed, burly, tanned man holding a sickle & flail.

OK cool. Great ideas all around. Thanks for the advice.

Inspired by expansive cities such as Waterdeep, The Free-City of Greyhawk, & Fritz Lieber's Lankhmar, I'm tentatively thinking of a city-based setting.

I'm not a terribly big fan of Tolkien races so right now Humans & Ratfolk are on my short-list of playables. Any that people would like to offer; I'm open to listening.

I AM however super interested in grim, sword & sorcery novels. My idea of a gigantic city is not all clean streets, parks & war wizards patrolling neighborhoods. More like narrow labyrinthine streets choked with masses of citizens animals. Wizards rarely see the light of day, priests appease fickle gods & roaming thugs prowl slums & alleys at night. Nobles live a part from the masses, guarded by hardened mercenaries.

Classes are a hard one for me as an old school player: I see Fighters & Rogues. Urban versions of barbarians & druids also seem to fit. Clerics seem like a no-brainer, but inquisitors, shamans, & warpriests - not so much.

I have a wild hair to add Mediums & Occultists because spirits would be abundant in a city-setting & implements would also be likely. Besides, thematically I like those classes a lot. Oracles, Brawlers, Slayers, also all fit.

Classes like Bards, Investigators, Swashbucklers, Gunslingers, Monks, Ninja, Skalds, Samurai, Cavaliers, Vigilantes all have a tech/social/cultural level either higher or too foreign than the gritty rough & tumble environment I'm interested in offering (i.e. Renaissance Europe, Ancient Japan, Old Norse, don't feel like sword & sorcery.). Theme is important to me but kitchen sink-style has never been something I've liked about published settings.

So I'm just opening this to the forum for the heck of it. Anyone who wants to toss out ideas are welcome. Sorry about the Wall o' Text

Oracle could by reflavored as Mystic or Cultists depending on the mystery allowed. A lot of the other ideas I've had have been taken by new classes (slayer instead if warrior, hunter instead of ranger). Mage is a possibility for wizard but might step on the toes of the magus. Scoundrel for rogue.

Lot's of Love/Hate for the Bulette. Not surprising, it's iconic.

And yes, a lot of different spelling (more authentic vs. anglicized being most common) issues for similar or essentially same creatures.
What I hadn't expected was the translations from English into other languages causing so much chaos. That's really interesting.

I absolutely love the concept and execution in game terms of the Bugbear. But I despise the name. It's comical and trite to me. It doesn't inspire the fear that the name is supposed to be derived from.

Does anyone else have creatures they love but the names just let them down or turn them off? What do you do about it?

The rules of Dhampir clearly state that the curse they suffer doesn't get passed along to their offspring. How can you have a bloodline for that?

It needs to be stealthy and proud and generally takes the law into its own hands. It must be able to see in the dark. Also lizard like

The class must be able to cast magic and be like a monk, it must also be stealthy and must be fast. It will generally be used assistance a all around kind of guy but also a thief who works for and with no one unless there is benifits

Go to Saurian 3PP Race..

If you're OK with ability drain, Shadows make for creepy enemies in low-lit corridors and chambers; play up the deep shadows in the corners and how they seem to undulate (a trick of the light or a dangerous undead stirring?)

I try not to let class descriptions dictate roleplaying. A character's reputation should be determined by their backstory, not their levels.

While there's merit to the "class is just a chassis" school of thought. I think OP is stating that his world has distinct delineations of class.

It stands to reason that a class such as paladin (ALL ARE LAWFUL GOOD) or monks (ALL ARE LAWFUL), would have a generalized reputation about them.

Groups like Evokers, Necromancers, Illusionists would all act in a similar manner if for no other reason than the flavor of magic they pursue and again generalizations about them would be commonplace.

In a world where no one identifies themselves by these group terms would obviously not have those generalizations heaped upon them.

Rut Row Raggy

If the character has already applied the aging modifiers to it's base ability scores, it stands to reason that those modifiers should not be applied again to the static modifiers you add or subtract in animal or hybrid form.

If the character is using completely different ability scores for hybrid or animal form, then the modifiers would be applied as normal.

South Park already did this. Terrorists attacked our imaginations. You can't beat that. You. JUST. CAN'T.

With an apple in his mouth, some thyme, oregano, a little parsley for garnish.

Preliminary question:
Are types and subtypes not a thing in your homebrew?

zainale wrote:

gasp! BLASPHEMER! There is no such thing as humans! There are only dire halflings.

Then I guess you can think of this as Template Races: Half-Dire-Halfings. In its pages you will find stats for Half-Dire-Halfling Halflings!*

*If one accepts the premise that Humans = Dire Halflings ;P

Add the Dire Creature 3pp template from www.d20pfsrd.com to a Halfling and it will trounce a human.

Even adding the Giant Simple Template to the Halfling yields a much better medium creature. Based on the Halfling ability mods, it nets a +2 Str, +2 Con, AND a +2 Cha. +2 natural armor to boot.

Any GM that would allow me to play a Dire Halfling (or Giant Halfling) in place of a Human would make me very happy LOL.

Destruction (Catastrophe)

Evil (Fear)

Glory or Nobility (Hubris)

Travel (Portal)

War (Blood)

Yes that's what the profession skill is for, and why it's so vague. Heal is also part of massage and that works well too.

I'm not going to ask WHY you need to have a definitive check for something like that.

The only real problem with Aboleths (to me, anyway) is they're only CR 7. If they're so fearsome and terrible, you'd think they'd be a bigger challenge, at least on the level of the Great Old Ones. To make them a challenge for higher level characters you have to add character levels to them. I found a pdf today that did just that for a dollar, so I bought it. It adds levels of the Dread class from Dreamscarred Press to it, making it CR 12 and a threat to moderately powerful characters. Much more interesting, IMHO.

Mind Blast

Humans are the dominant race/species of many, many rpg worlds. Most of them are 1 HD (1d4 hp in fact) creatures. How do we explain that?

JosMartigan wrote:

This seems pretty small and dumb in scope for an alien intelligence.

Well, being alien and strange doesn't necessarily mean they're all that smart.

Remember these are creatures that accidentally wiped out their own empire because they were kind of annoyed at humanity... and that's after a healthy dose of divine intervention. They might have very well rendered themselves extinct had their plan gone off without a hitch. They're kinda dumb like that sometimes.

It actually makes for an interesting dynamic. They're alien, inscrutable, and scheming on a level most people can't even comprehend but at the same time they're petty and often rash and incredibly narcissistic too.

I have to say that a juxtaposed set of values and mental traits does create an alien mindset. I supposed if their actions seem to be counter to their plots and schemes, humans (and demi-humans) might be scratching their head about how to deal with these creatures. Keeping the players and the characters off balance almost all of the time.

B.A. Ironskull wrote:

For the playing group, I agree that Common = players' shared language.

For the OP, I'd say that "Common" on Golarion would be some amalgamation of the Chelish/Taldan dialects, as these belong to two of the more current ancestries of Azlant. Sort of like how standard "Italian" is only a collection of common usage, and is actually a language that varies widely based on region and genealogy.

Assuming your multiverse is current on Golarion's history, of course; perhaps the ships' translator recognizes Azlant as "Common" on Golarion...

As a matter of fact, the common tongue is Taldene, and thanks to the wonderfully pulpy adventure, "Rasputin Must Die", as well as the fact that Cthulhu's physical location is somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, we can definitively say that Taldene is not English.

English would be its own regional language of humans in the Golarion universe.

Common is Atlantean you guys! Actually based on the link "Common is subjective based on the part of the world you live in. either Taldane or Tien

3.5 has a write up in the Realms about them. They mention that before men, the Aboleths ruled everything. Once other races popped up they took over and the Aboleths are jealous basically.
This seems pretty small and dumb in scope for an alien intelligence.

Take a look at Lords of Madness (which has a section on Aboleths) from 3.5 and Elder Evils from 3 or 3.5 for some ideas to add to your game.