Thank you for this, Paizo. I look forward to your continued progress and transparency. I understand you can't share every change for legal and HR-related reasons, but I appreciate you sharing what you can.
I am not trying to shove a peg into anything. I am trying to work out why anyone would want to "get rich" as a free trader in this game (basically the premise of the whole AP) when this is not really possible with the current system limitations. It's not really about getting rich. That's just a byproduct that comes with the story the AP is telling, particularly in book 4. It's about flying free, out from under anyone's thumb (see: firefly). Me and my group are having more fun with this AP than I've had in my 20+ years of GMing. And not one player (of which I have 5) has brought up any issues with money/treasure.
Love this! Really excited for this book and the APs that will be tying into it!
At least Erik took the accusations head on and came off as reasonable. Jeff, this response is unbecoming of the company. As others have noted, you'd have been better off saying nothing.
I am an 11 year subscriber. Like others, I am waiting to see Paizo's response before making a decision on my patronage. That said, there MUST be a response, and it needs to include meaningful change. I wish I could tell you what that looks like, but I am very prepared to direct my money elsewhere. I'd like to say thank you to all of the creatives, developers, editors, and customer service people for being shining examples of "rightness." I hope this situation brings about real change for you and your work environment.
And I'm with othersvin that I don't particularly trust Jessica. But the corroboration from Crystal is what gave me the big hollow feeling that I've had the last 24 hours.
Fire your widely, rightly, adored customer service manager during GenCon week, they kinda asked for this...
The developers of the AP can't just throw more and more money at the players because they're confined by the rules of the system and the expectations of Wealth by Level. Doing it this way, for better or worse, finds a method of maintaining game balance while still having elements of trade and keeping your ship flying. Jason Tondro is doing a great series of developer commentary over on YouTube and discusses this at length. The great thing about role-playing games is you're not confined to the rules of the system the way an official published adventure is. If you feel comfortable having your players start jumping beyond wealth by Level, it's a very easy adjustment to make.
I read this adventure and it immediately became the part of the AP I can't wait to get to. The fish out of water roleplay opportunities in this one are out of this world. I didn't even pay attention to the loot aspect, as I almost never do, because it's so easy to address. From what I've been reading, this AP is really dependent on having the right group/GM combo. I'm a GM who couldn't care less about combat, and loves roleplay and moral/ethical dilemmas. And I love Firefly. Everything about this whole AP speaks to my playing preferences and I'm having some of the most fun I've had GMing in my 20+ years doing it.
Is there an expected month for release? See three posts above yours for the most up to date, official information from the author of the adventure.
Jason already shot that one down during the Q&A. They will not be using naming conventions and product series in the way they did in 1e. Things will be named and built to suit the material/need. Also, Erik said Bestiary 3 will be the last Bestiary. Future adversary/monster material will be released in different formats.
Everything about this AP is what I've been wanting since the release of Starfinder. I am VERY excited!!!
This discussion has done nothing but reaffirm the need for Paizo to make the statement that they did.
Thank you, Paizo. I'll be subscribing to this AP both because I am interested in the story and to support both you and, through you, the NAACP.
Can you just make an AP that starts PC's at higher than 1st level? They've done this twice so far with Starfinder: Signal of Screams and the upcoming Devastation Ark.
I too noticed that map A is missing from both the printed and pdf, it would seem that this AP was made and put together in a rush. It's not missing. It's not intended to be a combat encounter. APs rarely, if ever, provide maps for encounters intended to be resolved through role-play.
I like the name. Same here.
Direct quote from Incident at Absalom Station:
"Although many sentient species find them disturbing, the elebrians are not considered “monsters,” at least in polite society. Eox is a full signatory to the Pact, and its undead inhabitants are equal citizens of the Pact Worlds." The setting is the setting. Personally, this is how I've always run Golarion, so I love all this added Eox lore. If it doesn't work for your table, just adjust for what works for your group.
It is taking the GenCon hardcover slot.They didn't announce a summer Pathfinder hardcover at PaizoCon. Dunno if they did at GenCon. Lisa Stevens addresses this topic in another thread. For convenience:
From Know Direction's Facebook: "Paizo 2017 and Beyond Panel Announcements. More details on already announced books:
Villain Codex
James Sutter will be working on a book all about the first world. Jessica Price will explore Qadira in her book. More "big" flip mats! Blood of Beasts - playing tengu, kitsune, etc. Mark Moreland leading. Wes will be working on the Vampire Hunter D Message from Mars Pathfinder supplement, ties into the new comics.
Eric Mona is writing Pathfinder Worldscape. Crossover of Pathfinder, Red Sonja, John Carter, Tarzan, Thunda, Phantoma.
Based on the advertising card for The Dark Eye Kickstarter that came with my Paizo subscription, and which contains both the Ulisses Spiele Logo AND the Paizo golem, I'd say that particular item is true. Ulisses Spiele does the German translation of Pathfinder. Everything (admittedly little) I've found seems to indicate that Paizo is returning the favor by helping them with the publication of the Dark Eye's English translation.
In fact, I view the fixing of flavor errors (such as what happened with Erastil) as improving the game as much (if not more) than simply fixing a broken rule.Furthermore... I'm also frustrated at the idea that these are "retcons" and not "errata." There's a weird disconnect RPG players have between a company fixing a rule that's broken ("Oh good, they fixed an error and now the game works better!") and fixing flavor that's broken ("What? They robbed content from my game!"). Indeed. I'm fascinated by the world content and love presenting the setting, as much as I can, in the fashion intended by the creators. Meanwhile, I pay zero attention to errata files and FAQs. If a rules question or issue comes up we just issue a ruling and move on. Nothing bogs down fun at the table more than rules discussions...
An evil adventure from Stephen Radney-MacFarland? So much death...
I don't think the ARG itself is not viable or anything, but the race builder system is really not a very good system for balancing races.So the main point of the ARG is just worthless then, and Paizo decided to drop it? So what are we supposed to do with these overpowered Races, then, like the Munavri? I love the ARG, and I've hardly ever even looked at the race builder chapter. I'd say opinions may vary on the "main point" of that book. As for "what to do with these overpowered races," it's left up to each individual table/GM/group as usual.
This sounds amazing. And it also makes clear the key reasons that Rob McCreary has been running the developer crew through Way of the Wicked for quite some time now...
Well said, samurai! Thanks for all that you've done, and that you continue to do, Paizo!
Hey Paizo, imma let yo finish, but I think that Kobold Press' Advanced Races Compendium is going to be the best Pathfinder race book of ALL TIME! I'm sure that's going to be a great book. But it's a rules heavy, setting neutral book (with some Midgard sidebars). I'm much more interested in a book about the races and their place in the Inner Sea.
Depending upon which group/game I'm playing with, I intend to implement the following items from Unchained strategically. They all look fun, but I think different systems will benefit different flavors of campaign and levels of experience. I happen to play with multiple groups that greatly vary in those regards. Classes
Skills and Options
Gameplay
Magic
And that's where I am at for now. I'm still working my way through a lot of the sections in this fantastic supplement. I've only scratched the surface of Chapter 4, and I haven't even looked at Chapter 5 yet.
Or they're just printing the monsters that they think are the coolest/most thematic for a given volume. Once another mythological/folklore entry matches up with those subjective guidelines, I'm sure you'll see more!
Everyone I play with (at least 3 different groups, ranging from 5 to 7 players and play experience from 1 to 30 years) builds their characters based on flavor and story as opposed to how much damage they can deal. Therefore, when Prestige Classes make sense to them, the players in my groups utilize them. It should also be noted, none of my groups have ever raised any question about entry requirements. The newest FAQ ruling falls in line with all of our base assumptions that we've been running with all along since 3rd Edition came out (i.e. nobody ever built a character based off of using SLA's to meet a prerequisite).
Yup. Everyone I play with (at least 3 different groups, ranging from 5 to 7 players and play experience from 1 to 30 years) builds their characters based on flavor and story as opposed to how much damage they can deal. Therefore, when Prestige Classes make sense to them, the players in my groups utilize them. It should also be noted, none of my groups have ever raised any question about entry requirements. The newest FAQ ruling falls in line with all of our base assumptions that we've been running with all along since 3rd Edition came out (i.e. nobody ever built a character based off of using SLA's to meet a prerequisite).
The necessary new magic items are still called out in their own sidebars, it's just that they now appear where they show up in the adventure. I actually prefer this new way of doing it. Less page flipping. Way to continue innovating and improving the format, Paizo!
This hit me pretty hard today. Out of nowhere, RWBY became an obsession of mine over the past year. The combination of story, humor, originality, visual spectacle, and general creativity just struck all the right chords with me. It served as a new focus and positive distraction at a point when I was having a really tough time. Naturally, I became a huge fan Monty by extension. Only 33, and now in a fleeting moment, again out of nowhere, he's passed on. Just one more reminder to appreciate everything we do have in the moment; to dwell on the positive rather than the negative; and to continuously embrace happiness as a state of being. Although it was sudden and unexpected, I hope Monty died happy. At the very least, he died a creative inspiration to hundreds of thousands of people.
Is Paizo still going to release a players guide for this one or are we required to buy the Giant Slayer's Handbook for the traits? There will be a free Player's Guide. They've been doing two-page spread previews in the associated Player Companions since Shattered Star.
The maps in Paizo adventures are not really compressed or shrunk. How they appear in the books is the size that the cartographer created them (and how Paizo commissioned them). In other words, what appears in print is about the highest resolution that the maps exist in.
Yup. Dying of the Light came out in 1977 when Martin was about 29. Obviously, his popularity didn't REALLY start to gain steam in popular culture until A Game of Thrones came out in 1996.
Reading all of the material released this far has me desperately wanting a Pathfinder Tales novel about the crew of the Divinity...
Feats: Skill Focus (Knowledge [engineering]), Technologist Skills: Disable Device 6 ranks, Knowledge (engineering)6 ranks, Spellcraft 6 ranks. Special: Ability to cast 3rd-level arcane spells.
There is no handedness...so none of the iconics are right handed either...I feel excluded ;( This is true. Paizo had said repeatedly that they don't attribute a handedness to any iconics because they do often have to flip art to make it fit the layouts. Therefore, it's not uncommon to see one picture of an iconic being portrayed as left-handed and that same iconic later being portrayed as right-handed. The art team needs that freedom. Also, I'm not sure that handedness is that comparable to the actual societal issues being addressed here (said another lefty). EDIT: reread and think the handedness thing was a joke. So feel free to ignore me!
I'm going to leave it as-is, because it doesn't impact gameplay at all.
Probably a lost cause, but an AP centered on roleplaying instead of constant fighting would really be appreciated. I'm not sure why I'm commenting as, to use your phrase, I'm sure it's a "lost cause." I've seen your interactions with James over the years, and my approach to the game, as well as my experiences with it, line up pretty much 100% with James'. I am an incredibly story-oriented GM. I HATE combat-centric plots and campaigns. Which isn't to say I hate combat (if I did, Pathfinder wouldn't be the game for me), but the story and roleplaying always has to come first, with the combats serving the story. With that said, I have never had any issues running Pathfinder APs. In fact, since I started running them rather than homebrew, I've had more fun gaming, and have had more memorable roleplaying experiences than ever before. As far as I'm concerned, Paizo gives the GM all the tools they need to make an AP as roleplay or combat heavy as they choose. I always choose the former, and have had nothing but positive experiences. Next, I'm gearing up to start running Iron Gods. I probably won't end up running Giantslayer, but I greatly look forward to reading and being inspired by it!
Now i feel worse about it! I was hoping they'd reign in the summoner with that method. Any time you give people the kind of options the summoner does they WILL find a way to abuse it.If it makes anyone feel better... I'm not going to be one of the authors on this book, nor am I going to be much involved with its outlining or its development.I'm think with regards to the summoner they might do what JJ suggested once, which is for the class of have a specific creature that levels up with you, much like an animal companionYeah, that's my biggest worry. I really hope they don't do this. Yeah, bums me out too. James' vision of the summoner is exactly in line with what I'd like. My first reaction on hearing about this book was the hope that James would be tapped to lead this particular design. As written, I'm one of those GMs who doesn't allow summoners at my table.
I run a group of 6 (4 of whom all have at least 10 years or more of gaming experience), and therefore have no choice but to modify things like encounters and treasure to make sure I'm challenging them and rewarding them appropriately. I always set out to run things "as-written" plotwise, but with the knowledge that my players will force me to adapt at a moment's notice, which I am more than fine with. They tend to do things... creatively... which keeps me on my toes. I really need to be familiar with the books, and be willing to improvise quite often, which ultimately leads to lots of unplanned personalization. I'm currently running them through Way of the Wicked, and due to one of my experienced player's background and actions in book 1, there is now a significant subplot that is carrying through that has absolutely nothing to do with the books themselves, but my group is equally riveted by it. The fact that they main campaign is still on track allows me to utilize my free prep time to add more and more substance and depth to things like that.
Response from the archetype's designer on the product discussion page: link
Finally managed to get ahold of the Ommegang Fire and Blood. Much tastier than you would expect from your typical trendy-TV-show-licensed beer. Ommegang was one of my favorite breweries long before they ever got the GoT license, and they continue to never disappointment me. As for what I've been drinking, the most recent notable was Sierra Nevada's Bigfoot barleywine. Really interesting take on the style, with huge hops. Almost smells and tastes like a perfect fusion of DIPA and barleywine.
Important thing to remember is that the modules are not designed specifically for PFS play. In fact, sanctioning them for PFS is a relatively recent development. I personally love the maps in this adventure, and hope that the maps in the module line continue to reflect the needs of the adventure versus the fact that modules have begun being sanctioned for PFS.
This is what I use.
How many players is it for? All of Paizo's adventures, with the exception of PFS scenarios, are written for the standard 4 players.
I guess I just don't understand how they "don't feel like a natural part of the story." They are NPCs with background write-ups just like any other NPC from volumes past. I draw just as much inspirational and useful information from these as I did from say, Goti Runecaster or Ameiko Kaijitsu in Jade Regent. These are people who have experienced interesting stuff, and are going to experience further interesting stuff with my PCs. All of that aside, I have never been this excited about starting up a new campaign. Wrath of the Righteous seems like it has the potential to be a truly unforgettable game! EDIT: Wow, a bunch of good posts happened in the time I was slowly composing mine! :-)
hmmm, i dont know, I think that their AP's might be a bad way to go with that. Its kind of how I feel about hte card game, great idea, but you will spoil the adventure if you do it. The audio books would do it even more so. I mean I guess some people buy APs just to read them, so they would be the target audience for this, but it just seems to me like something that would push people away from actually playing the APs as adventures because they spoiled it before they knew someone in their group was interested in running it. On the flip side, this could be a great new tool for GMs prepping to run these adventures, giving them additional storytelling inspiration.
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