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Thurston Hillman wrote:
Stepping in here just to explain where the Starfinder team is at on this. Note, this applies to STARFINDER and not for anything related to the Pathfinder stuff.
Right now, and in our upcoming products, drow are drow and remain so as long as our products are under the OGL. Don't worry about some radical change suddenly appearing in Starfinder Enhanced or Mechageddon!.
Going forward, the team has had some talks about drow and how we might handle them in a post-ORC published Starfinder world. I want to share some insight into this, in hopes of not adding fuel to the fire, but instead let you know how seriously we're taking this, and because I firmly believe we should be open about as much as we can be.
The biggest element that we've agreed on for this whole situation, is that we don't just be "disappearing" drow and having Apostae suddenly become a barren world or have it entirely populated by xulgaths. What we are leaning towards is likely a change to Apostae's primary residents that keeps the spirit of what they currently are in-line with what we have, but make them less directly pulled from OGL-isms. This means a redesign that would remove their existing name, and a lot of the old associations with certain elements that, quite honestly, we've barely had time to delve into with Starfinder beyond stuff like the write-ups in Pact Worlds and some appearances by drow in APs.
A good example of this, would be that instead of households, we might just shift Apostae's residents to being corporation-based, which works WAY better anyways for telling futuristic dystopian stories. Similarly, we'd already been planning on removing some of the matriarchal elements from this, and I suspect we'll just clear those out going forward.
TLDR: Yes, the team is actively aware of the likely need to change. We have plans and discussions have already happened. We're not at a point to lock anything in place, and really don't need to, because we have at least a year of OGL-content that we're still releasing for Starfinder....
Appreciate the honesty and straight-forwardness of this. I'm sad Drow are going extinct, but as someone pointed out, why not just replace them with the Svartalfar that you already have? Perhaps you could even introduce a split, with the Svartalfar staying focused on the arcane, while a splinter group could be the Dokkalfar, focusing on corporations, tech, etc.
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Hmm, I need to re-evaluate the timeline, then. I didn't see the reference to 1 AT for the Azlanti Star Empire, so more research is required.
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Empire of the Aeon Throne. Escape from the Prison Moon, if I'm not mistaken.
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I know the start date of the Gap is unknown. This is for determining an "estimated" timeline using clues through the lore. And I'm assuming that the Gap probably started with Golarion's space age (a date I picked to coincide with Star Trek's first contact, for grins and giggles), as I'd wage one of the main reasons why the Gap was made for Starfinder Lore was to side-skirt the issue of when Golarion started becoming advanced enough in tech to explore space in non-magical means, and how the whole known universe came to be, without having to do a lot of historical explanations.
As for the PG being measured from the start of the Gap instead of the end, the rationale for that was the mention of the Ixomander dynasty and Aeon Throne being founded in 1460 PG notes this was also uncertain because it was during the Gap. Now listing that as taking place 1460 years before the Gap would be better, but if it were pre-Gap, it wouldn't state that this part of history was lost to the Gap, something that wouldn't happen for over a thousand years from that date. Right?
I know the Gap caused all kinds of wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey stuff, but that doesn't make sense. Plus, supposedly, the current dynasty ruling the Azlanti Star Empire has been in power for roughly two millennia. Thus, 318 AG, minus these two millennia, would put it about 1460 PG +/-.
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So, I got bored one day, and combed through lots of different references and came up with the following suggested timeline of stuff related to the Gap. See what you think and offer up any suggestions.
Azlanti Time (AT) is used to denote years from the founding of the Azlanti Empire on Golarion.
Absalom Reckoning (AR) is used to denote years on Golarion before the gap.
Pre-Gap (PG) is used to denote years of Pact Standard Time prior to the known end of the Gap in the Pact Worlds system, about 323 years ago.
After Gap (AG) is used to denote years of Pact Standard Time that have passed since the known end of the Gap in the Pact Worlds system, about 323 years ago.
-6820 AR / 9615 BC Earth / 0 AT / -10218 PG / -13678 AG
The Azlanti Empire is founded
-6632 AR / 9427 BC Earth / 188 AT / -10030 PG / -13490 AG
Eox fired their experimental planetary destroyer weapon on Daimar and Iovo (known as the twins. The weapon successfully shattered thet wins and it got turned into the asteroid belt now called The Disapora, but the weapon also completely destroyed Eox's atmopsphere and killed off much of its population. Eoxian used necromancy to survive, and today Eox is dominated by the undead and ruled by powerful Necrovites.
-6530 AR / 9325 BC Earth / 290 AT / -9928 PG / -13388 AG
Founding of the Thassalion Empire.
-5968 AR / 8763 BC Earth / 852 AT / -9366 PG / -12826 AG
The imperator drafted a formal charter to provide resources for space exploration programs, split between the Scientific Exploration and Expansion Bureau and the Aeon Exploitation Office, which explored technological and magical approaches, respectively. Both managed to send unmanned craft to suborbital space, but all were destroyed upon re-entry.
-5293 AR / 8088 BC Earth / 1527 AT / -8691 PG / -12151 AG Earthfall
A giant meteorite, now referred to as the Starstone, is called down from the heavens by alghollthus and destroys the continent of Azlant. The event becomes known as Earthfall, reshapes the surface of Golarion, creates the Inner Sea, and plunges the world into the Age of Darkness. The great empires of Azlant and Thassilon are destroyed by Earthfall. Worship of Lissala was wiped out on Golarion.
Almost the entire staff of Amaznen Research Station in orbit around Eostrillon was killed in an explosion resulting from an experiment with aeon stone-laced gears. By replicating the incident, ISA scientists invented the onos drive, rendering space travel quick, reliable, safe and routine; this is considered to be the end of the early Azlanti space age.7 In the subsequent millennia, the onos drive was key to the Azlanti's conquest of all worlds in the Aristia system, but was still too slow for interstellar travel. Their scientists tried to develop starships and engines that could traverse to other solar systems, but no experiment succeeded, the other stars remained out of reach and the Star Empire confined to a single star.
4606 AR / 1811 AD Earth / 11426 AT / 1208 PG / -2252 AG
Death of Aroden.
4858 AR / 2063 AD Earth / 11678 AT / 1460 PG / -2000 AG
The Aeon Throne was created by Ixomander I, founder of the current Ixomander dynasty, when he became Star Imperator. The empire's supreme leader is called the Star Imperator, a role filled for the last two millennia by the Ixomander dynasty. This part of history is lost to the Gap and cannot be confirmed by historical records.
Space exploration begins?
Gap begins? Lasts approximately two thousand years.
6858 AR / 4063 AD Earth / 13678 AT / 3460 PG / 0 AG
The Gap ends. All dates are counted from this year forward. Ixomander dynasty now two millennia old.
Notes: I choose the year 2063 AD 'cause of Star Trek. Had to pick some date for this to make sense. Also, I'm just assuming a flat 2,000 years for the Ixomander dynasty, since it lasted two millennia.
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BigNorseWolf wrote:
Xenodruid mystic. Every time he dies he comes back a little different. Spells are also the only way you're going to capture anything near his grab bag of powers.
Well, the cacoon ability fits, and spell work yes, but the rest of the xenodruid doesn't feel like it fits too well.
I do agree a spellcaster would be ideal. So Mystic or Witchwarper would be my first choice, though I could see a Vanguard (perhaps energy focused), or Solarion (one of his things is all about cosmic balance, and he can summon a staff from nowhere).
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I've always been a fan of Adam Warlock, and Thanos. So, while I know it would be rather impossible to build Warlock in Starfinder, outside of some type of custom monster/npc, I am curious what race and class do you think would fit his themes the best?
My initial thought would be an Android Witchwarper. Theme or archetype, I'm not so sure.
I'm also curious what abilities, feats, etc, could, on some level, replicate his "outside the loop of destinies", and his resistance to time and reality manipulation.
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Well to quote from the store owner "It probably means we won't carry Pathfinder into the future. It's a trend over the last year."
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As I understand it, if you subscribe to one of the RPG lines, you get a free PDF each time you get a new book, correct?
This is great and all, but I do believe we should support our local gaming stores if possible. However, because of this subscription, there is more incentive to buy from Paizo and less to buy from your LFGS. As I was told recently, this is one of the reasons why Paizo products are dying out in stores, because they can't match the free PDF offer. Combined with the steep discounts that Amazon offers, I can see how a gaming store would be hesitant to stock Paizo RPGs.
There has to be something Paizo and the LFGS can do to help with this? Perhaps the gaming store could be provided with several PDF codes that they could give out to people that purchase a book, and the person then would go online and redeem said code and get the free PDF?
I just find it sad that my local store is stocking less and less Paizo because of this.
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Are there any plans to create a galaxy map for the Starfinder setting?
And just how much of the galaxy is explored/known?
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I know generally that good is good and evil is bad, but how good could a Lawful Evil character be? Could an LE character fight on the side of good, but be the type that doesn't know mercy, pull punches, and generally does whatever it takes to get the job done, for the greater good? Especially if it served his purposes, perhaps allowing him to advance in a society, gaining power and security.
And if it were possible for such a character to exist, where would they go when they died? Would their soul be damned because of the extreme lengths they took to do good, or would they be allowed into a good or even neutral aligned afterlife?
Finally, if such a character couldn't exist (cause good is good and evil is bad), then what other alignments could fulfill these criteria, of being a cold, merciless, ends justify the means, for the greater good type character?
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Thanks for the replies, a lot of it I already knew, but the player in question didn't understand, being a newbie to the game.
As for races, I did say in the beginning that any race beyond the Core would be allowed if the player requested it and gave a good backstory for it. Mainly, the player that choose the Aasimar wanted it for more flavor reasons then power.
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So I was DM'ing a game, in which one of the players had an Aasimar while the rest were humans and a half-orc. Well, one player, new to the game, but a long time GURPS player, saw how Aasimar was a 15 RP race while her human was only a 9 RP race, and to her GURPS mindset, this meant that the Aasimar was woefully overpowered and I had to be playing favoritism.
So my question is, how do I explain to her that the Aasimar isn't OP in this setting and that the difference between a 15 RP race and a 9 RP race isn't that big of a deal? Especially after a couple levels.
Or should I use the Race Builder and give the Aasimar a -2 penalty to one of their stats (say Con) and change their skill bonus from +2 to Diplomacy and Perception, to +1 to Diplomacy and Perception, thus making them an 11 RP race.
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Personally I'm interested in the elven deities. I'm a big fan of the Lawful Good knights and nobility style elves (like the Sun Elves from Forgotten Realms) and Golarion is sadly lacking in this area. Perhaps there will be such a deity for the elves in this book. Otherwise I'm tempted to house rule in my campaign that either Iomedae or Shizuru is said Lawful Good elven deity.
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I've been working on 'converting' the Prestige Class Gray Guard to a paladin Archetype for Pathfinder. If you could review it and comment on it's balance and any suggestions you may have would be appreciated.
Spoiler:
Gray Guard
The typical image of a paladin is a proud knight of noble bearing, resplendent in armor bright as sunlight and bearing a sword shining with the purity of his cause. This archetype, upheld by both idealistic knights and their enemies, has killed countless honorable warriors.
Taking a cue from the enemies of their faith, many good-aligned religions have established secretive orders of the most dedicated and hardened soldiers. These Gray Guards are less restrained by their knightly vows, doing what must be done, no matter how unpleasant, to protect the innocent and helpless from those who would do them harm.
Only the most realistic and hardened holy warriors join a church's order of Gray Guards, knowing that evil runs rampant in the world, always has, and will not be expunged merely by good example. They join out of necessity, not out of resentment for the code of conduct; those who chafe at their responsibilities are unfit to be paladins, let alone Gray Guards.
Gray Guards feel, more than anything, that it is literally their god-sworn mission to vanquish those whose actions and goals oppose their deity's, either directly or indirectly. Enemies of the unholy, Gray Guards feel that the best way to protect the faithful is to ensure that their enemies are either destroyed or routed completely, and they focus their training as such, preferring exceptionally deadly prayers over those that may heal or otherwise defend.
To become the deadliest holy soldiers possible, Gray Guards put their prime focus on training their physical strength, though like all paladins they consider willpower and strength of personality to be vital components towards serving their god faithfully. Most prefer large, two-handed weapons, with which they can cause the most possible damage to infidels.
Gray Guards most commonly follow deities concerned with justice, such as Iomedae, Sarenrae, and Torag.
Outlook
The Gray Guard has seen the terrible realities of the world: orphaned children starving in gutters while the rich and powerful feast on the other side of a wall, tyrants abusing the law to expand their own power, and the supposedly devout using and abusing those they see as at best, beneath their notice, and at worst, heretics. The worst evil acts outwardly good and righteous, using honeyed words to seduce the unsuspecting masses.
The code of a paladin can only go so far, because it forces them to act in the open, placing them at a disadvantage that can get them killed, and an inflexible code often not only allows evil to remain, but aids its spread. The Gray Guard has earned the right and freedom to do whatever it takes to take out the trash, even if it means committing a lesser evil to uphold the greater good.
Though he works toward the same goals as other members of his faith, he may find himself ostracized by his fellows. At best, he flirts with corruption, and at worst, embraces it. Traditional paladins may see him as weak, for he has not (in their view) the courage to fight for justice with honor.
The Gray Guard is not proud of what he does, but rather sees it as a necessity forced upon him by the realities of the world. The freedom is not a boon but a loss, a tarnish of darkness on a once-pure soul. He resolves to do what is necessary, to do battle as valiantly as the greatest paladin, but as brutally as the vilest blackguard.
Combat
The Gray Guard prefers to do battle as a paladin on the field of honor, judging an opponent by his actions. But if the only chance or choice he has is to assassinate an evil priest is by knifing him in an alley, he does it without qualms.
Mercy is also mutable. Ideally, he would take his foes prisoner, bringing a slaver operating in the slums before a court of justice. But if there is no choice but to kill him, such as if he is escaping arrest, or has been acquitted on a technicality, he willingly commits the murder, for some foes simply cannot be allowed to live and rise again. A moment's prayer for both his own soul and his victim's, followed by a quick death, end the lives of many of a Gray Guard's enemies.
Quotes “Does your stout armor give you peace of mind? Does your holy sword help you sleep at night? Mine do not.”
- Ambros Brasmere, Gray Guard
“Do whatever it takes to get the job done, and worry about the moral questions later.”
- Anonymous, Gray Guard
“How’re we supposed to see the pally comin’ when ’e wears armor blacker than ours?”
- Griv “Goblin Father” Chos, unfortunate cultist guard
Class Features
The Gray Guard has the following class features.
Class skills: A Gray Guard loses Diplomacy and gains Intimidation.
Spells: Add the following spells at 1st - wrath; 2nd - confess; 3rd - blessing of fervor; 4th - order's wrath.
Devastating Strike (Su): You can make a mighty blow against any creature you believe is acting in an evil manner, even if the target isn't evil. As a swift action, you can imbue your weapons with a fraction of your deity's power. For 1 round, your weapons deal +1 damage and are treated as magic for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. For every five class levels you possess, this bonus increases by +1, to a maximum of +5 at 20th level.
Sacrament of Trust: Upon reaching 3rd level, you take a vow of allegiance to your faith beyond that of any ordinary paladin. This vow grants you a measure of freedom to act on your cause’s behalf without fear of retribution should your duties require you to break your code of conduct. Dishonorable acts still cause you to lose both Gray Guard and paladin class features until you atone, but this infraction is considered much less severe than it would be for a paladin.
By meditating for one hour per level of paladin, you can atone for deeds that you willingly commit in the name of your faith, but that break your code of conduct. This reprieve applies only to acts intended to further the cause of righteousness and the Gray Guard’s faith. This ability replaces Mercy.
Justice Blade (Su): When you attain 4th level, your deity shows its approval of your grim work, allowing you can make a mighty blow against any creature you believe is acting in an evil manner, even if the target isn’t evil. From this point on, you can channel your lay on hands ability through your weapon, igniting it with a holy flame that sheds light as a torch, increases the weapon's enhancement bonus by +1, and deals +1d6 damage (as the divine power from flame strike) to creatures struck by the weapon. Using this ability requires a swift action and does not provoke attacks of opportunity.
This flame lasts for 1 round for every d6 of healing lay on hands normally provides. When charged, the weapon is encased in a flame that is a ghostly blue and the weapon counts as a good and silver weapon for the purpose of bypassing damage reduction. Only melee weapons can thus be charged. For a second charge of your lay on hands ability, your weapon will also cause creatures to become dazzled for 1 minute; creatures with light-blindness or light-sensitivity are blinded instead of dazzled.
A non-evil, non-chaotic creature is allowed a Will save (DC 10 + your paladin level + your Charisma modifier) to halve the amount of damage dealt and negate any dazzled effects. If the Gray Guard uses this ability on a creature that is not actually acting in an evil way (as determined by the GM), making use of this ability is considered an evil act. This ability replaces Channel Positive Energy.
Divine Bond (Su): Starting 5th level, a Gray Guard must form a bond with his weapon. He loses the ability to add the properties Defending and Merciful. This ability otherwise functions as the paladin ability of the same name.
Stern Gaze (Ex): By 6th level, Gray Guards are skilled at sensing deception and intimidating their foes. You receive a morale bonus on all Intimidate and Sense Motive checks equal to half your paladin level (round down).
Unbound Justice (Ex): At 9th level, unrestricted by your code of honor, you can employ unorthodox methods that are all the more effective because they’re unexpected. Add half your paladin level (round down) as a competence bonus on Bluff, Disguise, and Stealth skill checks.
Sacrament of the True Faith: At 11th level, you gain your order’s full confidence. You are granted the freedom to act on behalf of your faith as you deem necessary. Thus, you never risk losing your class abilities in the pursuit of a just cause and never need to atone for violating your code of conduct.
This trust does not grant you the freedom to act as violently or immorally as you wish, however. Release from your code of conduct depends on your acting as an exemplar of your order’s ideals. If you violate this trust by habitually acting in an immoral or corrupt manner, the leaders or deity of your faith might revoke their blessing and banish you from the ranks of the faithful. This ability replaces Aura of Justice.
Code of Conduct
As a Gray Guard, you are held to the same code of conduct as a paladin. You must be of lawful good alignment and must never willingly commit an evil act. You must also pledge to respect legitimate authority, act with honor (not lying, cheating, using poison, and the like), aid the needy, and punish those who harm the innocent. In addition, you must never let lesser evils distract you from your pursuit of just vengeance.
If you contravene your code of conduct, you must atone for the transgression or lose all class abilities as a normal paladin. As you advance in level, this code becomes more flexible. However, its tenets still apply: You can never break your code without good reason.
Ex-Gray Guards
Though a Gray Guard's code is looser than a paladin's, the code does not grant a Gray Guard carte blanche to do whatever he pleases. He must respect legitimate authority and act with honor and good intent. He must help the needy, may not use poisons, and must punish those who harm the innocent. The central tenet is this: a Gray Guard may not break the code without good reason.
As previously stated, the power to access one's innate divinity is a privilege, not a right, and unforgivably evil acts (despoiling a temple of his faith, slaying innocents, etc.) will cost you your abilities. Also not permitted are actions counter to the tenets of your faith, and habitual violation of the code. If at any time your deity or a jury of your faith's leaders finds you guilty of neglecting your responsibilities and abusing your power, you will be expelled from the order, permanently costing you all paladin powers. Not even an atonement spell can restore them once lost in this manner.
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So in my campaign, I've "converted" the 3rd edition Prestige Class Gray Guard into an archetype for the Paladin in Pathfinder. For those that don't know, Gray Guards are paladins that have an 'Ends justify the Means' philosophy and are able to break their code for the greater good. They tend to be a very dark, gritty paladin that aren't exactly liked by their more standard paladin brethren.
Quote:
The typical image of a paladin is a proud knight of noble bearing, resplendent in armor bright as sunlight and bearing a sword shining with the purity of his cause. This archetype, upheld by both idealistic knights and their enemies, has killed countless honorable warriors.
Taking a cue from the enemies of their faith, many good-aligned religions have established secretive orders of the most dedicated and hardened soldiers. These gray guards are less restrained by their knightly vows, doing what must be done, no matter how unpleasant.
Well I would like to have this character of mine, the Gray Guard Paladin, become a Hellknight of the Godclaw. My question is, would such a figure as the Gray Guard fit with the Hellknights? They're still Lawful Good paladins. Also, would the Godclaw be a good fit or would one of the other Orders be better? And what deity would you suggest? I've been thinking of Iomedae, but I've also been pondering Ragathiel.
