Contributor. Goblin Squad Member. RPG Superstar 9 Season Marathon Voter. Organized Play Member. 9,431 posts (11,403 including aliases). 6 reviews. No lists. No wishlists. 27 Organized Play characters. 29 aliases.
Also, as a general statement: you have no idea how difficult it is not to respond to even more of the questions in the thread. ^_^; I'm not at liberty to speak on everything—I'm just a writer, not the marketing manager for Paizo, and I don't want to spoil anything unrevealed—but there's so many more answers in the pages of this book!
I've been pretty interested in the draconic codex for a little while now, but this one has tempered some of that interest.
The vorpal dragon looks really cool, but I kinda dislike it being "vorpal," as if "vorpal" is some inherently-existent identity that can be impressed upon dragonkind in some way. It's not awful, but it's definitely off.
We actually went into this one with a lot of uncertainty on that very point. "Vorpal dragon" was originally a placeholder-until-something-better-comes-along name for "dragon associated with magical sharpness". I figured the latter concept needed something really good and mythic to hold it together, though, so I decided to lean fully into the vorpal lore.
When the very first vorpal sword sliced the head off the very first Jabberwock—itself something of a draconic entity—the sword and the dragonish blood interacted to create something new. Sort of a magical unstoppable-force-hits-immovable-object thing. And all vorpal dragons descend from that first one, carrying that legacy down the ages.
So... hopefully that helps temper that tempering. ^_^ (Vorpal dragons would approve.) That said, if you still don't care for it, one of my early draft alternatives was the "Razor Dragon", which might serve you just as well.
JiCi wrote:
Huh... if the Vorpal Dragon doesn't have a breath weapon, what's gonna be the alternative for any class feature and spell that usually grants one :O ?
Also, why isn't it a Primal Dragon from the Plane of Metal? That would work nicely.
As noted in the blog, the damage type is void, like the desiccate spell. (I thought it a bit of an odd type, tell you the truth, but precedent is precedent.) The area of effect for sorcerers and such will I think be a cone, but I'd have to look at the final text for that section to be sure.
As for primal-metal.... I actually spent a lot of time thinking about that myself. We have this fancy new Plane, after all. The end result came down to a couple things—one narrative, one mechanical—for my design approach.
Mechanically, some of the spells that the vorpal/sharpboi dragon is based on/reflective of/linked to are arcane and not primal, like blood vendetta and the absolute icon that is beheading buzz saw. Arcane also offers a lot more spells that inflict void and/or bleed damage. Primal still has some representation of both, though, so this is hardly conclusive. But...
Narratively, the vorpal is more arcane than primal. It originated from a weapon specifically calculated and crafted to kill a fae being, and even though fae blood partly created it, its inherent nature as a Taneslayer distances it from beings of the First World to this day. (Especially since, as Claxon suggested, the primal and the fae have a historicaly fraught relationship with metals.) And vorpal dragons today are arcane not only in tradition, but in nature; they are intellectually inclined, dedicated to what you might call a very precise philosophy of war, and generally prepared to think before they act.
...now, if you want to see what my take on a primal dragon with links to metal might look like, you'll want to keep an eye out for my other draconic contribution to this book. ^_^ I think it'll spark peoples' interest.
I love that them have a bit of whimsy to them. Decapitating you without it being fatal nor permanent, just to show off is silly and fun idea
It also plays an important design role. Vorpal dragons are defined by their beheading magic, so you want that intact at all tiers. But lower-level parties just can't easily cope with getting one-shot by crits. Hence: the Safety Razor. All the fun of separation anxiety, without quite as much consequence.
It also adds a lot of plot opportunities that "chop, dead" can't quite match. Getting killed (in PF) is boring. Having to carry your head around while you try to work out how to reattach it? That's many things, but boring probably isn't one.
Oh I have to play a vorpal dragonblooded character
I may myself be planning one. ^_^ Either wielding a scythe, or perhaps a monk with a kusarigama. "If you don't have your own molecule-sharp decapitating tail, store-bought is fine."
Also, I'm glad people are liking the vorpal dragon! I specifically went into this design with a mind towards how the biology—or absence thereof, in some cases—would function. If your neck is heavily armored and you're covered in blades, how do you eat? By sucking up blood and other vital fluids, like the classic arcane spell desiccate or its differently-named legacy counterpart. (And given how much crossover there is between "magical sharpness" and bleed effects, it was a perfect opportunity to tie them together.)
Dragons-as-magical-creatures really lets one do a lot of creative things... not just handwaving them with "oh it's magic", but actively exploring how a creature suffused with arcane or primal magic—especially one that was literally born from a primordial magical item, as the vorpal was—thinks, behaves, or functions biologically. And the book gave us plenty of room to explore these ideas! (On top of some very evocative game mechanics, of course.)
A VOPRAL DRAGON!? Oh god this is exciting to me as a GM, more so with what it does.
Not exciting to this PF1E GM who wishes Paizo still supported PF1e.
So many monsters I wish were ported back over. Sad how the years go by and I can’t use new things in PF1e cause 2E doesn’t work backwards that well.
Honestly? The hardest part of PF1 dragons is all the fussy little math involving twelve different age categories. Lot of work, little reward. (I'm certainly glad to see the back of it all.) But it means a lot of that work is transferable.
My advice would be to find an existing dragon category that looks like a rough physical match for the vorpal, then simply rip out all the specifics of breath weapon and special qualities and such, replacing it with roughly adjusted equivalents of the vorpal's special qualities (blood inhalation, vorpality, [DATA EXPUNGED], etc.) The GameMastery Guide or one of the Bestiaries should have the information you need on how many damage dice these abilities should deal; if not, just look at other dragons to get a feel. You'd be surprised how much of this is vibes-based.
Lack of official support can be tough, but it also gives you an opportunity to bring stuff to the table that your players won't find in any official sources. In short: don't be scared to experiment with the system! That's how I got started. ^_^
So you either wanted to play a frail Human for purely roleplaying reasons with no mechanical representation, which means you're not affected at all, you're good to go with telling everybody how sickly and tired you are every half an hour, or you were trying to minmax/shoot yourself in the foot, in which case I'm glad you can't.
Today I learned that these are the only three possible motivations I could have for doing something like this!
Thank you for this useful revelation. I can't believe I trusted my perception of my own motivations.
I'm also disappointed in the Voluntary Flaws change. One of the things I've often experienced, particularly in Organized Play, is an intense stigma against "making your character worse for no reason", with the implication that your character is ruining other people's fun. The old system neatly sidestepped that to an extent by offering a small, but still relevant, benefit.
Ah well. I look forward to having to rebuild half my characters to comply. :|
I'm only a few pages in, and I already love the book...
Knights of Lastwall:
Whoever decided to name the squires after Cassisian angels, deserves a packet of cookies, because now I am inadvertantly a Knight of Lastwall by virtue of my nickname. Thank you whomever did that bit
My developers—Eleanor Ferron and Luis Loza, who both deserve a ton of credit for the great ideas here!—asked me to provide a place for more "classical" squire-youths in the order. It seemed like an obvious step to name them after 'little angels', particularly with the easy and pleasant-sounding shortening. ^_^
keftiu wrote:
As a big fan of Planescape's idiosyncratic cant, bless whoever wrote the "Knightly slang" section.
I'm glad you like it! They asked me to come up with a bunch of slang terms the Knights might use, and I had a lot of fun with it. :D
(My philosophy of slang, particularly for combat groups, is that it should be quick, snappy, easily belted out under pressure. Hence a lot of one- or two-syllable words. The exceptions are stuff like curses or battle cries, like "wrath and woe".)
RiverMesa wrote:
A few times the book refers to a 'Flame', presumably as some kind of knightly unit, akin to the established Lights (the small individual squads) and Blazes (rarely-formed out of several Lights for special missions), but it's never elaborated upon. An editing slip-up, perhaps?
That's... probably my fault. ^_^; My initial draft had the Sentinels calling the squads "Lights" and the Reclaimers using "Flames", but somewhere that ended up being left behind. But here and there I probably messed it up or misremembered. (This was a lot of words, y'all!)
I had the pleasure of playtesting this scenario, and I can't say enough good things about it! Definitely keep your eyes on this one, because it is an absolute delight. ^_^
Also, since a few people have asked what I contributed to this particular tome... it was quite a bit! (Though still only a drop in the bucket compared to my fellow contributors' total work, of course!)
Spoiler:
It includes:
—The Introduction to the book proper, as well as the introductions for the Faiths, Notable Figures, Campaigns, and character Options sections.
—Life as a Knight of Lastwall, Crimson Reclaimers, and Shining Sentinels, plus the Dozen Roses part of the Other Groups section.
—The NPC entries for Beirivelle Starshine, Clarethe Iomedar, and Ileana Tessthake.
—The Deity entries for Falayna, Kazutal, Shelyn, and Suyuddha, as well as the entry for the Crimson Oath itself.
—The new feats for the knight reclaimant, knight vigilant, and Other Archetypes (bastion, medic, etc.)
It might not look like much here, but at over twenty thousand words, it was a ton of work! (My second largest, after only Planar Adventures.) I'm incredibly proud of how it all came out, though, and very excited to see it in peoples' hands. ^_^
My concern with burn as an externally applied mechanic is that it risks feeling "tacked on", rather than like an organic and well-integrated part of the class. Trying to glue it on without making it foundational... seems like it will only result in clumsiness.
On instinct, I think the best way to approach it might be as a sort of "kineticist's interface", the way alchemists choose a research field and oracles choose a mystery. This kineticist chooses burn, fueling their elemental power with their health and using Constitution. That kineticist chooses mysticism, using Focus Points to empower their attacks and using Wisdom. And who knows what other intriguing power sources could be devised?
This also avoids the archetype lockout that graystone mentioned upthread, which is a definite concern for a class with such a concentious core mechanic. Not being able to multiclass at all is a serious price. Of course, it does mean the class has two major choices instead of one, making it notably more complex. But I think that doesn't have to be a bad thing, especially as the system matures. (I had to have Mr. Seifter himself explain the PF1 version before I fully grasped its intricacies.)
I'm a wee bit late to the mention of it, but honestly, I'm just glad the armored skirt made it to print usefully. I wrote it with only the playtest rules to go on (these books have a pretty long lead time) and mostly aimed for "something that will let people have the pretty armored gown aesthetic while not being embarrassingly bad". I think it did well enough under the circumstances. ^_^
For those interested in the nitty-gritty of design choices, it also has a sort of special design intent. Let's say you get a really cool and unique armor you want to wear, like Mr. Sayre's Iomedae's Armor, but your stats don't quite match up; you don't have enough Dexterity for this chain shirt, or enough Strength for that platemail. The skirt, as a sort of proto-adjustment, lets you sort of massage those stats to fit your own.
(I also did the armor and shield adjustments for Grand Bazaar, and I think we're just scratching the surface of concepts there! Hopefully we get the chance to really dig into what those can offer.)
So I've been playing a PF1 kineticist in Reign of Winter for a while now (just hit 12th level), in addition to my original bona fides. I love the class in its 1e iteration. So what would I like to see come forward?
Thematically:
I love the feel of the class as a sort of wellspring/conduit for overwhelming power, not unlike the PF2 oracle. I am particularly fond of the feeling of pushing your limits, something most classes just didn't have. As a sorcerer, you either have spell slots left or you don't; there's no mechanic to squeeze out just one more spell, or to go all Tellah, convert your HP to MP, and unleash your ultimate power at great cost. Kineticist brought that feel and that flavor to the game.
Mechanically:
The go-all-day nature of the class is important, though it's less unique in a system with scaling cantrips. The gather power and infusion specialization elements of the original were integral to this, letting you feel like you were doing more than just a basic attack every round because you had to save your resources for the big fight; I'm not sure how the present system and its emphasis on limited resources will handle this, though. I'm also a huge fan of the burn mechanic, since it so perfectly supports the thematic elements mentioned above; so, speaking for myself, I'd like to see that element as a cornerstone of the class again.
The mix of utility and blasting is important too. My fire/water kineticist in RoW can not only blast with eruptions and ranged attacks, but can also heal via kinetic healer and even provide restoration effects via kinetic restoration and (the admittedly officially story-limited) purging flame. I'd really like to see that come forward in some way, though again, given the new edition's emphasis on limited resources, I'm not sure what form that'd take. (In this edition, perhaps something akin to the champion's Mercy feats would be appropriate?)
Anyway, just my random thoughts during my annual visit to the forums. ^_^
Chapter 2: Among the Knights
Chapter 3: Knights of Lastwall Options
Chapter 4: Knights of Lastwall Efforts
That's kind of boring though, so why not the headers for each of the sections, too!
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **
Oh hey, I recognize some of those chapter titles!
keftiu wrote:
New Marshal toys is an unexpected treat! If we can't get a full Warlord class, I'm very happy with this.
Trust me, I would go kill Tar-Baphon by myself for an actual honest-to-Artemis Warlord Class. Especially if I got to design it. ^_^ Until then, though, I hope what you find here will be to your liking!
So, as one of those freelancers who does all that writing...
I support this move unconditionally, both in support of my Black colleagues and in line with my own experiences and beliefs. And I'm really glad Mr. Mona went all-in on committing to this. Very quickly, too. It's a good sign that at least some folks at the top are actually listening now, and ready to take the necessary steps to improve.
As for the thing itself. You can still put the thing in your games, with the consent of your group. You can still read between the lines and choose to interpret parts of the setting as involving it, again, with that consent. But it's now opt-in, instead of opt-out, and that makes all the difference.
The thing about this is, for folks who aren't Black, it's all too easy to treat it as a toy, a rhetorical object. A sticker we can put on our villains to say "these are Bad People and you have to save their victims!" We say we're "taking it seriously" and "want to be able to confront real evils"... but at the end of the session, we laugh and chat and talk about what a great time we had fighting the Bad People. It is, as they say, Just A Game. And we don't think about the people for whom it's not Just A Game.
To speak to my own experiences... I am glad that transphobia is omitted from Golarion. And that's as someone who has, once or twice, thought about writing in Gender Oppressors for punching purposes. It'd be cathartic for me, and probably for some other trans folks (I think KC mentioned similar feelings upthread)... but it'd also catch others unpleasantly off-guard and ruin a perfectly good reading or gaming experience. With frequent occurrences, it might put them off the game entirely. And given the choice, I'd rather do the punching myself and spend my words writing something everyone can enjoy. Except bigots, who I hope will read my beautiful trans NPCs and weep delicious tears.
So if anyone's been wondering why I haven't been on the forums much in months... the stuff coming up in this thread is an excellent example of why. So long as bigotry and hate are permitted to flourish, whether blatantly and openly or in the guise of "just asking questions" and "devil's advocate", this place is simply unwelcoming to marginalized people and those who have empathy for them.
To those who fit that qualification and remain, I applaud your strength and wish you the very best of luck. I might peek in when I have the energy, but... I don't have a lot to say these days.
Reactions Reflexive Riposte Fiorré gains an additional reaction each round which she can use only for Opportune Riposte.
Opportune Riposte (modified by Impossible Riposte and Felicitous Riposte)
Trigger A foe within your reach critically fails a Strike against you, or a foe outside of your reach critically fails an attack roll against you.
Effect You take advantage of an opening from your enemy's fumbled attack. You either make a melee Strike against the triggering foe or attempt to Disarm it of the weapon it used for the Strike. When you make an Opportune Riposte, roll twice on the attack roll and take the better result. When you use Opportune Riposte with the secondary trigger against a ranged attack, your Strike deflects some of the triggering effect back toward its source. Compare the result of your attack roll to the AC of the triggering foe. On a hit, you deal the normal amount of damage for your Strike, but the damage type changes to that of the triggering attack. (For instance, if you used Opportune Riposte to deflect a ray of frost, your Strike would deal cold damage instead of its normal damage type.)
Charmed Life Trigger You attempt a saving throw, but you haven't rolled yet.
Effect When danger calls, you have a strange knack for coming out on top. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to the triggering save.
Sidestep Trigger The attack roll for a Strike targeting you fails or critically fails.
Effect You deftly step out of the way of an attack, letting the blow continue to the creature next to you. You redirect the attack to a creature of your choice that is adjacent to you and within the reach of the triggering attack. The attacker rerolls the Strike’s attack roll against the new target.
Passives Animal Senses
Fiorré has scent (imprecise, 30 feet) and low-light vision.
Cat Fall Effect [...] If you’re legendary in Acrobatics, you always land on your feet and don’t take damage, regardless of the distance of the fall.
Steady Balance Effect [...] You’re not flat-footed while attempting to Balance on narrow surfaces and uneven ground. [...]
Legendary Performer
Fiorré is particularly known as a sword dancer duelist.
Effect Your fame has spread throughout the lands. NPCs who succeed at a DC 10 Society check to Recall Knowledge have heard of you and usually have an attitude toward you one step better than normal, depending on your reputation and the NPC’s disposition. For instance, if you’re well-known for cruel and demanding behavior, creatures might be intimidated by you, rather than be friendly toward you. When you Earn Income with Performance, you attract higher-level audiences than your location would allow, as audiences flock to see you. For instance, rulers and angels might travel to your small tower in the woods to hear you perform. Typically, this increases the audiences available by 2 levels or more, determined by the GM.
cloak of feline rest Effect While wearing this cloak you can comfortably rest in any space, so long as it's not wet or particularly hazardous. While sleeping in this cloak you only take a –2 status penalty to auditory Perception checks, rather than a –4 status penalty.
choker of elocution Effect [...] Your excellent elocution reduces the DC of the flat check to perform an auditory action while deafened from 5 to 3.
shapespeak mask Effect While wearing this mask, you can speak even when polymorphed into an animal. The shapespeak mask does not otherwise remove any limitations, such as the inability to cast spells when transformed.
I've been quiet for a while, but I have to say: I stand in solidarity with all the wonderful people I've worked with at Paizo, and with all the people I've never had a chance to work with (yet!) who deserve rights and representation all the same.
I hope management recognizes the union swiftly, so that we can get back to making a world we can be proud of, secure in the knowledge that the people who make it happen are able to get by.
I'm still working on finalizing Fiorré's character sheet, but I'll definitely let you know when I've got things fully figured out, which will hopefully be soon. I think I did manage to bring things down to three reactions, at least...
That's good to know, Crystal, and a very good thought.
It's just... I'm used to Society players being very hostile about "players choosing to be worse for no benefit". And I don't really expect to be able to play such a character in Society without getting harassed over it, or being told to knock it off when it could make a difference. "Just get out of the chair and come heal me, your character's not really disabled."
Is that something I have official clearance to push back on?
Also, uh... really excited about all the disability representation in the art. Can we actually play a character who's wheelchair-bound, or missing a limb, or deaf or blind in Organized Play yet?
This isn't facetious or whatever, I'm actually asking.
Hm. Don't think there's anything else needs noting, but this is only my second SFS character, so...
I did update Rally's faction... she doesn't feel nearly as much like an Acquisitive as she did when I first conceived her. (If that sort of change can't be made midscenario like this, that's fine! I'm still learning the ropes here in SFS.)
Other'n that, all my data looks correct. Thanks again. ^_^
Sorry, I missed all of this discussion going on! I'll try to have Rally take a more exuberant, face-forward role... I'm just, as a person, very used to being shouted down for being "too pushy". So I kinda overcompensate. -_-;
Can we include an explanatory note telling the editor/reviewer where to find the canon upon which our submissions build, without that note counting towards the word count?
The comments feature in Word is an excellent way to do this, and such comments have never counted against wordcount in my time as a contributor. ^_^
Probably going to get some of these. (Putting it here mostly so I don't have to hang onto the tab for two months!) There's not much in the way of weapons or armor she'll be wanting, at least for level 1/level 2 Core items, and I do love armor upgrades.
Okay, took a break and worked on my resume and cover letters a little, then came back to this. Sorry about all that... it's been a really stressful few days.
Rally's sheet should be all done, though. If I missed anything, please let me know! ^_^
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