I had been buying some products I wasn't interested in (Example: Map Folios) and generally ignoring products I liked less (Example: Ultimate Wilderness) and maintaining the full subscription slate in the hopes that continually buying whatever books came out for Pathfinder 1E (providing a continuous, reliable revenue stream) would help prevent there ever being an edition change.
This obviously didn't work. I have no desire to follow an edition change.
I was looking through my various Starfinder products, and I noticed that I had the two scenarios after Cries from the Drift, but not Cries. It looks like it was in Order 4373621 for me; I got the other three scenarios from that order, which all say they were moved from order 4056627, but Cries seems to have had some sort of hiccup in the system. It looks like it may be the same problem that hit some other people, since looking at the comments thread for Cries shows at least one other person got the scenarios after it without getting it, so the same fix might work here?
I thought I'd check in on the status of this order's physical shipment. I got the PDFs for it a bit back, and I've now got the PDFs for order 3980278, which is the subscription order after it. Is Order 3951222 still en route, or should I have gotten it by now?
I decided to go through and list all the nations on Golarion. It turns out there are more than I expected. Going by the metrics I used here, I found 200 extant nations / nation-equivalent regions / city-states / independent cities / independent islands / sub-kingdoms and 51 lost kingdoms.
As a bit of explanation as to what is/isn't included:
* I divided things up by continent (and stuck several islands in with Azlant since they're in the same ocean) so that it'd give people a better idea of what was where if they were having trouble remembering what some of these place names were for.
* City-states are included in regions where there isn't a notable centralized government. The places either needed to be listed as 'city states', be described as a 'city', or have 'small city' or larger in their Town Statblock; I didn't include smaller villages and towns in these locations. I still included the nation-like regions that contain these city-states on the list.
* I included kingdoms-within-kingdoms in cases where the interior-kingdom had a clear national government and some manner of permanent settlements. This let some Fire Giant kingdoms that were otherwise within the boundaries of other nations on to the list.
* For the most part I did not include 'tribes', as nailing down all of the various tribal groups, particularly where Goblins and other demihumans are concerned, would be a mess. The Shoanti Tribes and Iobarian Centaurs are exceptions, as they have clear geographic areas under their control, detailed organizational structures, and exist in regions that contain city-states while possessing similar power to the city-states they are near.
* Ravounel is geopolitically weird. I included it due to the fuzzy national status it technically holds.
* Named islands that aren't claimed by any particular nation are included as their own entities.
* Sarusan isn't included due to lack of information.
* Nations that are hinted at but not at least provisionally-named aren't included. This nixes things like the catfolk nation that's down in Garund that we lack further information on for now.
* Due to the unique political structure in the Darklands, cities in Nar-Voth and Sekamina are listed (as they're pretty much all independent) unless they're specifically listed as belonging to another city. In Orv, vaults are used instead since they're a country-like geographic region-type. Geographic regions outside of Orv are not listed, as the Darklands aren't flat and would just produce a confusing mess of locations if they were.
* I only included stuff on Golarion. I strongly considered including nations on other planets, but I decided things would start getting weird once I tried adding nation-equivalent geopolitical regions on them. Given the different geographic structures on some of the other planets (and planes), I opted to keep this list Golarion-specific.
* Nations that exist on multiple continents just got noted on one of them so that vote-tracking didn't get funny.
* Lost Kingdoms are in their own sections.
Voting:
* I thought it might be fun (and possibly useful to see where community interest lies) for people to vote for their favorite nations.
* Everyone can vote for up to 10 extant nations and up to 3 lost kingdoms that they like the most / are the most interested in / want to see more of the most. Take the lists in the spoilers below and increment the numbers of the ones you're voting for. List which 10/3 you voted for too in case people post around the same time and overall counts get off.
* You can only give something a single point.
* Order of preferences doesn't matter.
* You don't have to spend all 10/3 votes, but I encourage people to.
* Don't feel obligated to vote for all the sub-kingdoms/city-states in a region if you like the region; vote for the region as a whole and only vote for the sub-regions/city-states if you have a particular like for them above-and-beyond the main region.
* I expect people's preferences to change over time, so I'm fine with people coming back and changing their votes. Just make sure you note in your post that you're altering your votes and make sure you take out your old votes.
* I'm sticking the lists under a couple spoiler tags because they're long.
Disclaimer:
While I tried to make a complete list using the above criteria, there's probably some places where I missed something or made a weird judgment call on whether or not something was an independent city-state.
Thanks goes out to the Pathfinder Wiki for being really useful when making this list. I still referenced my books for some parts, but a lot of the info is from there.
Extant Nations:
ARCADIA
0 Anchor's End (Colony of Cheliax)
0 Degasi
0 Elesomare (Colony of Andoran)
0 Three Craters (City-State)
0 Valenhall (Colony of Linnorm Kings)
TIAN XIA
Amanandar
Bachuan
Chu Ye
Dtang Ma
Goka
Hongal
Hwanggot
Jinin
Kaoling
Kwanlai
Lingshen
Minata
Minkai
Nagajor
Po Li
Quain
Shaguang
Shenmen
Shokuro
The Forest of Spirits
The Valashmai Jungle
The Wall of Heaven
Tianjing
Wanshou
Xa Hoi
Xidao
Zi Ha
ARCADIA (LOST KINGDOMS)
Canorus (Lost Colony of Cheliax)
In Hell's Rebels, Lucian Thrune has an iron-and-silver bracelet with opals depicting devils being eaten by 'bloated dolls'. This interests me, as I can't think of any appropriate existing creatures that fit the description/action pair, and various creatures/plot-hooks have been hinted at in art and treasure before their first direct appearances. Does anyone know of something existing that fits the description, or am I potentially on to something here with these being some new creature that haunts the depths of Hell?
A bit ago, I ordered and reviewed my favorite APs in a post responding to a question asking what the best APs were. In respone, I got asked to do similar quick-notes-style reviews for the rest. I decided to take up that request.
Bear in mind that I'm not trying to be entirely objective here and that I'm biased theme/style-wise towards some of the APs more than others. If you don't like the themes of an AP, you probably would be better off picking a different one even if it's one of my top-rated ones.
I also haven't 100% read/played all of everything. I've at least given a general read-through to all of the APs, but there are some that I'm much more familiar with than others. Over time, I fully expect my ratings to change some as I re-read/read-more-of/play more APs.
I have divided the APs into a few different category-tiers based on how much I liked them overall.
======================================
First, the excellent/best APs:
1. Curse of the Crimson Throne
Spoilers for this AP:
Pros:
+ It has what I consider the best overall Pathfinder adventure (Seven Days to the Grave).
+ It has the best dungeon-crawl module (Skeletons of Scarwall).
+ It has a strong introduction and a strong ending.
+ It has an interesting city as its primary focus.
+ It has the best NPCs (Laori being a particular star, but lots of them being awesome).
+ It has the very strong villain integration.
+ It pulls the 'retrieve a legendary weapon' plotline very well with Scarwall.
+ Havero!
Cons:
- Some of the portions surrounding the Arkona place and its dungeon were weaker than the rest of the Path.
- Requires updating from 3.5, which fortunately isn't that hard
2. Iron Gods
Spoilers for this AP:
Pros:
+ It has the strongest final module (The Divinity Drive).
+ It handles integrating technology with Pathfinder really well.
+ It has a strong duo of major villains in Hellion and Unity.
+ It has numerous solid areas.
+ It has the best representation of a wizard's tower that I've seen in a module (in The Smoking Tower); it includes tech, but it still feels like the best wizard's tower I've seen published for a game and has a properly different feel towards its tech than the more pure-technology segments.
+ The part where the players get to work towards choosing the details of a deity and assisting with her ascension is fairly awesome.
+ It (particularly in the first part) feels like an homage to Barrier Peaks in the right ways while avoiding just copying things from it.
+ It has the best attack-a-city-and-defeat-the-ruling-powers scenario I've seen in the attack on Starfall in City of Fallen Stars.
+ It has a strong introduction.
Cons:
- It has an issue at the end of Module 2 where heading to Module 5 seems like the most apt thing for a lot of parties to do and requires some GM tweaking to direct people more toward the Module 3/4 saga instead.
3. Kingmaker
Spoilers for this AP:
Pros:
+ The best sandbox AP, good exploration components and open format.
+ Introduces the kingdom system and lets players run a kingdom.
+ Extremely atmospheric final module (recently dethroned as the best by The Divinity Drive).
+ Probably the most successful implementation of alternate rule-systems as key to an Adventure Path.
Cons:
- The last module, while awesome, feels mildly disconnected from the rest (though it's easy to play up the hints toward it).
- There's some minor wonkiness in army combat and the nitty-gritty bits of Kingdom Building; I've found that my players and I enjoy both a lot regardless.
4. Reign of Winter
Spoilers for this AP:
Pros:
+ It takes a concept that I was initially very leery about (involving Earth in the setting) and handles it *excellently* in Rasputin Must Die.
+ It does a very good job on Triaxis too, handling the alien world and the introduction to some of its factions well. The Frozen Stars is very strong overall.
+ It handles atmosphere well in Irrisen.
+ The Hut is well-integrated throughout the path.
+ Planet hopping!
+ Baba Yaga!
Cons:
- While the beginning is good, the strongest parts of the path are Parts 4 and 5, meaning that the players don't get the full wow-factor early on
- While still a good module, Part 3 doesn't do as much with Iobaria as it could, instead remaining confined to a giant triple-dungeon-complex.
- I'm glad that The Frozen Stars had alt-options besides working for the Dragonfire Mandate, but the Drakelands side of things was overall weaker and suffered, I think, from not having enough space.
Note: Curse of the Crimson Throne and Iron Gods are the two overall most-solidly-executed ones with tons of excellent adventures and content in both. Kingmaker is also quite good, but makes it into the 'best' bracket mainly on the merit of the systems and alternate-AP-playstyle that it introduced. I admit to being a bit biased in favor of Reign of Winter due to personally really liking its themes/setting/main concepts; I still think it is a really solid AP, though.
======================================
Second, the good/very good APs:
5. Mummy's Mask
Spoilers for this AP:
Pros:
+ It captures the thematic feel of the Egyptian-themed nation well.
+ It uses undead well and has a strong undead-invasion-of-a-city module that doesn't descend into zombie-cliches or linger beyond its welcome.
+ It introduces the library statblock system and uses it well in an adventure, making research an active, exciting task across multiple locations with various obsticles.
+ The best AP of the bunch for running something in an oldschool style. It combines oldschool stylistic choices with modern adventure design and makes it work really well. It's notable in being the only AP to really expect PCs to be motivated to go out there and want to loot places for treasure, it utilizes hex-based wilderness adventure without the kingdom-building system, it has lots of dungeons with traps and undead that still manage to have their own unique quirks and feels, and the finale feels like an homage to Temple of Elemental Evil on some level with the elementally-themed sections of the pyramid.
+ It has the ability to be successfully broken up into three mini-APs (Modules 1&2, 3&4, and 5&6) that could be played individually without losing much while still maintaining proper integration across the path when played as a whole.
Cons:
- While all of the modules are strong, none are the super stand-outs that would be needed to raise it to the highest quality-tier.
6. Carrion Crown
Spoilers for this AP:
Pros:
+ Excellent gothic horror atmosphere.
+ The modules in the path are all individually strong.
+ The locations in the modules have a lot of personality, from the haunted Ravengro Asylum and novelly-laid-out Schloss Caromarc to the undead-filled cult base in Renchurch and death-storm-shrouded Gallowspire, the adventure's locations manage to stand out throughout the path.
+ The whole 'trial for Frankenstein's Monster' was a really novel angle for an adventure that got handled well.
+ This is probably the AP that my opinion has improved in regards to the most over time; when I stopped looking at it as a path with the same structure as the others and more of a collection of thematically-linked high-quality adventures that could be run together in a Path or alone, their positive qualities started to shine for me.
Cons:
- Very weak main-villain integration, probably the weakest of all the APs save Shattered Star, which isn't really designed to have one. Fortunately, it doesn't really hurt things as much here as it otherwise could since The Whispering Way as an organizational whole can essentially be portrayed as the villain, with Adrissant just happening to be the last one to be taken out. Alternatively, there's additional materials here on the forums for fixing the issue (I'm trying to avoid using stuff external to the published products too much in this review list though).
- No strong recurring ally NPCs.
7. Rise of the Runelords
Spoilers for this AP:
Pros:
+ The best AP at capturing the classic fantasy-adventure feel. (Cure of the Crimson Throne, Shattered Star, and Giantslayer all also do admirably here, as does Mummy's Mask to an extent.)
+ Bold in reinventing various classic creatures, most notably goblins and ogres.
+ Didn't shy away from pushing content boundaries some and going a bit 'darker' than later APs have been willing to.
+ Very atmospheric haunted house in the second part of the AP. Introduced the still-awesome Haunts.
+ Various notable/memorable NPCs (friend and foe) throughout the path.
Cons:
- Consistency between the modules in pace/tone/style is slightly off when compared to later APs.
- There are some areas, like the city of Xin Shalast, that are glossed-over more than would be ideal (Xin Shalast gets an entry in a future book that helps with this).
- Runeforge, while interesting, isn't quite as solid as some of the other parts of the Path.
8. Skull & Shackles
Spoilers for this AP:
Pros:
+ Thematically-strong with its nautical/pirate focus. A good AP to have around for a change-of-pace from standard adventuring.
+ The cyclope ruins and general area of The Shackles make for an interesting setting.
+ The PCs have a lot of freedom to roam around past the first part of the AP, making this a good AP for GMs who like adding/editing adventure material.
Cons:
- Getting a party of PCs through an intro module where they're pressed into serving an enemy pirate captain is a bit of a bear introduction-wise. It serves a purpose in establishing the guy as a notable opponent and handles what it does well, but it's still a bit of a rocky buy-in for some PC groups who want to sail the high seas and make names for themselves.
- After the epic battle against the Chelish armada, going after Bonefist and taking over the Shackles feels like a bit of an afterthought / not as strong of a climax. Getting to become Hurricane King is really cool, but it feels like the end of the Path would have had more 'oomph' if the PCs would have deposed the almost-cowardly Bonefist first and then fought the devil-magic-empowered Chelish fleet off and saved The Shackles as the Path's conclusion.
- Naval combat, like most alternate combat systems, is sorta wonky compared to normal fights. That said, it's still tighter than some of the alternate mechanical systems.
9. Second Darkness
Spoilers for this AP:
Pros:
+ Very strong first two modules (which can essentially be run as their own thing by people who don't want to run the entire Path).
+ The Land of Black Blood is a great adventure locale that adds the proper ambiance to the conclusion of the Path.
+ Adventure 4 was novel, with the infiltration of the drow city being handled well.
+ The elves-can-become-drow twist was inspired.
+ Darklands!
Cons:
- There's a thematic disconnect in the sort of adventurers the first two modules are for (career criminals operating a casino in a fairly-lawless city) and those the rest of the modules are for (heroic adventurers willing to help save the elves even if the elves are being ungrateful).
- The elves are asses. This is fairly universally true across major elven NPCs throughout the path. I credit the AP with being one of the top two causes of my players essentially-stopping playing elves (the other being the release of variant Tiefling stats in Council of Thieves; those became the new favorite race of my former elf-fans).
- Module 5 is pretty weak. It's the one module I was glad included a set piece so that I could take the PCs on a brief detour away from the main thing.
- Set pieces, excluding the interruption in book 5, were pretty weak.
10. Shattered Star
Spoilers for this AP:
Pros:
+ Several individually-strong dungeon crawls.
+ Thematically nifty finale in a risen sunken city with clockworks.
+ A strong artifact-hunt that provides a different-but-still-classically-inspired direction for an AP.
+ The callbacks to previous APs, such as the Gray Maidens, were positive inclusions.
+ The Leng and Qlippoth bits stick out in my mind as thematically interesting parts.
+ The Sorschen-themed dungeon was interesting, particularly the part where someone could get turned into a clone of her.
+ The non-evil Kuthite NPC was a notably positive inclusion.
Cons:
- It's a bunch of artifact-piece-hunt dungeon crawls. It does this well, but this setup cuts out some town-interaction and between-modules-villain/character/plot cohesion elements that can help make an AP really shine from the get-go.
- I have weaker general memories of this AP than a lot of others. I plan to read through it again sometime to re-evaluate it, but for now, that's acting as some level of signal that it wasn't as notable as some others.
11. Giantslayer
Spoilers for this AP:
Pros:
+ The mid-to-later modules get to some interesting locations with notable numbers of true giants that stand out theme-wise.
+ The volcanic fire giant military fortress is a particular winner; the place feels huge, but remains interesting throughout and really delivers on the 'fighting giants' theme.
+ Thematic callbacks to the classic Against the Giants modules.
Cons:
- Early installments and the conclusion fail to stand out as particularly notable in my mind in spite of there being a huge flying castle at the end.
- This is the AP that has had the least time to settle into my mind and I'm most likely to move it around on the list as I read it over more.
12. Wrath of the Righteous
Spoilers for this AP:
Pros:
+ Excellent duo of contrasting Abyssal adventures area-and-theme-wise. Nocticula makes a fairly strong appearance, and Baphomet's presence is felt well through his realm's design.
+ PCs manage to feel very powerful narratively and manage to actively accomplish world-changing events in a manner that feels generally fitting for the AP.
+ The path manages to present situations and opponents of a scale unreached by other APs.
Cons:
- The mechanics on this are wonked. It pretty much requires reworking on some level mechanics-wise to be enjoyably playable. Mythic PCs ended up being far stronger than the AP accounts for, and it feels like a lot of the stuff in the late-AP should go a full 5 CR points higher.
- The module, sadly, serves as both a testament to how mythic stuff can be cool thematically and how it needs some re-evaluating mechanically. It took my original eagerness for any epic content and tempered it towards being pleased when something mythic (like Furcas) shows up in a product where appropriate but not really clamoring for more mythic APs till a chance to re-evaluate mythic PC powers and their role in things happens.
- Iomedae's appearance, which could have been a high point, comes off as a low point. Instead of awe-inspiring, she comes off as suddenly-distrusting and overly fickle towards the thusfar-successful, already-mythic, already-allied-to-her-cause, already-successfully-back-from-the-Abyss PCs.
- Deskari is presented as too much of an afterthought in the last module. Areelu and the Storm King are both good enemies to have around, and closing the Worldwound is a major accomplishment, but with the scope of the AP and power of the PCs, fighting Deskari and defeating him really feels like it should have been the capstone to the path.
13. Jade Regent
Spoilers for this AP:
Pros:
+ Interesting once it finally gets over into Minkai. The dungeon with the former rulers down in it was particular interesting.
+ Well-integrated allied NPCs.
+ NPCs in general are pretty strong in this one.
+ Taken alone, and with the caravan rules stripped out, The Hungry Storm is actually a very interesting, thematically-unique, self-contained adventure.
Cons:
- The caravan rules are weak enough to actively detract from the adventures they appear in.
- The AP takes too long to get to Minkai; it focuses too much on being 'the travel AP' and not enough on its Japan-themed destination.
- There's a huge dungeon at a really awkward point in the path. The dungeon in Forest of Spirits just isn't strong enough to pull off its position in the path. It isn't an actively bad dungeon, it just shows up when the party is finally about to get to Minkai; it makes their introduction to the general surrounding area be a long dungeon-slog that further-delays their arrival instead of some more-interesting alternative that actually gets the PCs where they want to go.
14. Legacy of Fire
Spoilers for this AP:
Pros:
+ Approaches APs from a thematic angle (Arabian/genies) that gives it a unique place in the lineup.
+ An interesting villain-motivation angle with the romance and self-transformation.
+ Interesting use of revisiting old locations later in an AP.
+ Adds interesting information about Spawn of Rovagug and related things (like that egg-horror in Part 3). The Leng cameo in relation to that also helps.
+ Kakishon and its element anchors provide an interesting location. I generally would prefer major planes get some attention before demiplanes get a ton of screen-time (since it seems like the major planes are somewhat neglected despite being a core part of the setting), but Kakishon has an interesting set-up.
Cons:
- The AP funnels into progressively greater levels of railroadiness as it progresses. Railroad adventures aren't really an issue when done well (the APs aren't all designed to be like Kingmaker, and Reign of Winter, which is pretty on-a-set-path, is great), but the progressive funnel here keeps PCs from getting the most out of their power increases as the AP progresses.
- That the path includes planar elements is a plus. That it actually uses one of the otherwise-disued elemental planes is a plus. The Plane of Fire doesn't really get as much done with it as could be done, though, with the PCs being confined to a big dungeon for their duration there. Huge dungeons can be cool. The common issue between this one, the one in Jade Regent, and the one in the third part of Reign of Winter is that the PCs suddenly find themselves in a cool new location, but, instead of being able to absorb in the area and experience its atmosphere and themes, they get dumped into a big dungeon that does a weaker presentation of the area themes; huge dungeons seem to work better when they're in pre-established areas that PCs have already been around nation-or-plane-wise (Silver Mount) or where there isn't an obvious thematic loss incurred by their presence (Scarwall).
Note: Shattered Star and Giantslayer are the two on the list that I'm least-familiar with. Trust my evaluation of those the least.
======================================
Third, the mediocre APs:
15. Council of Thieves
Spoilers for this AP:
Pros:
+ I'm a fan of the devil-thematics of the path and Cheliax as a general place, ditto the plane of shadow.
+ Strong second module with a very thematic and unique experience in the play.
+ The pit-fiend-powered mansion and subsequent hellish meltdown are also interesting.
+ Delvehaven is a somewhat interesting location.
Cons:
- The Drovenges are in the 'thematically weakest main AP villains' boat alongside Adrissant. Unfortunately, their AP relies on them more than his does him and doesn't have a good fallback organization to make the thematic villain. Ilnarik would make a better villain, but he gets killed off before the last part and isn't written up to be the main opponent.
- The first module is weak and provides a poor lead into the rest of the Path. It also has an odd thematic skew that makes the Path seem like it'll be much more anti-Thrune than it actually it (and, in the process, prevents several character concepts that would be fine for the rest of the adventure path).
- The titular Council of Thieves is a disappointment that never really accomplishes much and feels almost ancillary to the plot.
- The path never reaches the same level of epic awesomeness in the finale that a lot of the others have; this is at least in part due to the locations of the finale being among some of the most thematically 'normal'.
- The worst art overall across the APs. There are some definite exceptions to this, but the art as a whole is atypically weak for a Paizo AP.
16. Serpent's Skull
Spoilers for this AP:
Pros:
+ Extremely strong first module that could fit well into Skull and Shackles.
+ Several interesting themes with the serpentfolk, their ancient empire, and their beheaded god.
+ Darklands!
Cons:
- Module 3, City of Seven Spears, is probably the weakest Pathfinder AP module out there. Sadly, it is the absolute thematic linchpin of the AP, and its failure drags the rest of the AP down. Adventure 2 builds up to it. Adventure 4 builds off of it. Adventures 5 and 6 take place in a manner that thematically links them back to adventure 4. All of them get brought down by part 3 as a result.
- The multiple faction choices were a very interesting idea that could have really helped the AP that got executed in a way that further hurt the AP. The factions really seemed like they'd come into play in Part 3, and Part 3's weakness again hurts here. Having said that, it is far from the only problem with them; the Pathfinder Society gets introduced as one of several faction options, and up through Part 3, it's fine for PCs associated with other factions to be staunchly opposed to them. After Part 3, though, Eando Kline and his associate show up, and the other factions feel like they got left behind in a 'less important' pile whereas the AP tilts toward thematically favoring the Pathfinders. I have no issue with Kline's appearing from in the fiction line, but he really seems like he shouldn't have shown up in something where parties could be expected to be anti-Pathfinder a decent majority of the time.
- Several of the fights in the later portions of the AP involve the PCs squaring off against notably-weaker foes. With a different context and setup from earlier modules, this could have been a great way to showcase PC power and progression. With the rockiness of the AP in earlier parts, though, it comes off as less-intentionally and more just generally-off-kilter.
- After part 1, barring Kline (who gets his characterization from earlier fiction), there aren't really a ton of notable/memorable NPCs.
- Areas that could have been interesting are instead combat slogs.
- The AP, for something that involves finding an ancient city and exploring it and the area beneath it, lacks a sense of wonder, awe, or discovery.
======================================
Theoretically, there'd be another category or two down here for bad/awful APs. Fortunately, there haven't been any of those. There have been weak individual modules, but all of the APs are at least decently good when taken as a whole.
I'm not including Hell's Rebels on here since I don't like rating APs that I haven't looked through the entirety of. Thus-far, it has been pretty excellent (beyond what I was initially expecting of it since I was initially a lot more excited for Hell's Vengeance) and I have high expectations for the rest of it. I'm not including the Dungeon APs because they aren't on Golarion, and I don't actually have them.
I invite others to provide similar lists if they want to.
I'm interested in speaking out in favor of some of my favorite mechanical subsystems in Pathfinder (discounting class features, which I think would deserve their own separate thing) and invite others to do the same. Here are the ones I'd most like to see more content for:
1. Haunts/Loci Spirits/Manifestations-
Haunts are a fantastic addition to the game. When they appeared, they felt like a piece that had been missing in from old D&D editions and ought to have been baked-in for as long as traps. They still feel this way to me. They're atmospheric, and I think Paizo has been doing a very good job of inserting them into adventures where appropriate. I'd like to continue seeing them. I think Loci Spirits and (particularly) Manifestations add even more flavor, and I'd like to see more of them as well (and I'm particularly glad that Manifestations have creation requirements; it adds flavor and usability to them).
2. Dynamic Alchemy-
The Dynamic Alchemy system was fantastic! It placed the Alchemy Manual as one of my favorite Player Companions. I'd really like to see more done with it, with additional ingredients and Dynamic Alchemy Formulas for the large piles of alchemical items and poisons that don't have them.
3. Ultimate Campaign Stronghold Building System-
My players and I like creating nifty strongholds/bases. More rooms / teams / structures for this system are appreciated, particularly exotic/weird ones.
4. Divine Obediences/Boons-
These were an excellent way to add character to various religions/deities. They now seem to be standard-practice, which is something I support. I'd like to keep seeing them for various deities, demigods, and quasi-deities.
5. Technological Items-
They were implemented really well, particularly in terms of how they work alongside magic items. I'd love to see more of them.
6. Library Stat Blocks-
The Library Stat Blocks were a great innovation in Mummy's Mask. I'd like to continue seeing them for future libraries.
7. Kingdom Building/Hex System-
Kingdom Building and the attendant hex-exploration system were a standout development in Kingmaker. I'd like to see another Adventure Path take advantage of them sometime.
8. Occult Rituals-
I think there's room for interesting expansion here. I like the idea behind special ritual spells with potent/unique effects. There's some mechanical weirdness happening with the success-odds, but I'd still like to see more rituals.
9. Factions-
I kind of liked the various faction-boons in the faction guide. Some of the actual point-gain systems (particularly the maintain-membership skill-rolls that scaled weirdly) had issues, but the backbone of giving characters in factions unique rewards is something I liked and would like to see for more groups.
10. Traits-
I feel obligated to add Traits in here. They're a great addition to Pathfinder like Haunts were. There's enough of them now that I don't hunger for more of them like I do with the other mechanics systems here, but I extend a general compliment to their presence as a thing in the game.
D20pfsrd is a site that I enjoy using to look up rules text quickly, rather than combing through my PDFs or physical sourcebooks.
As time progresses, I find myself using more pre-errata content. I think it would be actively helpful to have both pre-errata versions of rules and all errata'd versions of them on the site (with notes showing the version-order), so that the text for the old versions of things can be easily found.
Crane Wing is the obvious one that leaps to my mind, but with the recent rounds of errata, I'm getting concerned that the old versions of other stuff I use are going to start becoming similarly hard to find.
Would it be possible to add these old text-versions to the site and just generally keep the various iterations around?
I wanted to check on the general status of Order 3577002. I made it at the beginning of June and it was scheduled to ship out with one of my upcoming subscription shipments, but I've gotten subscription stuff since then and haven't seen the items from it yet. I'm not in a particular rush on them; I just wanted to make sure nothing had gone wrong with it.
The loss of the PDFs of the books is a deal-breaker here. I don't mind the price increase (given the book size increase), but the loss of the digital version is leading me to drop it. Thank you.
This product seems to have a vendor invoice (which actually does contain the product in question and a description of it) present instead of just its product description.
I see dragon-centric AP popping up as an Adventure Path request semi-frequently and it got me wondering about something. One thing I'd like to see done with dragons would be a dragonriders of Triaxis type-AP where the PCs are on Triaxis the entire time and are assisting the Skyfire Mandate (or one of the Drakelands nations, I suppose) against some major draconic threat from the Drakelands.
Would the people who specifically want a dragon-focused AP be cool with / like that idea, or are you all looking for something more classic-fantasy? This question is mostly directed at the people who have already been specifically looking for a 'dragons' AP, but I'm interested in hearing from anyone who has thoughts on the idea.
There are now two "Paizo Publishing, LLC: Pathfinder Tales: Novels" categories on my downloads page. One of them only contains the most recent novel, and the other contains all the older ones. This is about bottom-priority issue-wise, but it still seems like there should only be one, so I figure I should mention it.
Normally, when I purchase something that includes a PDF, a link that says '(In your downloads)' shows up below the 'add PDF' option for the product. For some reason, Slumbering Tsar Sage isn't doing that.
It does show the 'Note: You purchased this product' message in red on the page for the item.
It does show up in my downloads, and I've been able to download it just fine.
This isn't really an urgent issue / problem, it just seems sort of odd that the '(In Your Downloads)' message doesn't show up for it.
I noticed tonight that when I go to the preorder pages for Pathfinder Modules and Pathfinder Campaign Setting Products, it lists every product present as being 'in your downloads' (which they aren't, as they aren't even out yet). This isn't a huge issue for me, but it seemed like something I should bring up.
Shadows of Gallowspire is no longer displaying a price or an order button on the product page or the more general Carrion Crown page. The message board thread for the prodcut seems to have disappeared entirely.
I was expecting some changes to occur with the official levels of Hellknights once the Hellknight prestige class came out. What I was expecting, in general, was for the Hellknight NPCs to switch out a couple levels into the prestige class if fighter-type classes originally or gaining maybe a single level or two of it on top of their present levels if more of a caster type. The Hellknight Order of the Nail, however, got a rather massive makeover, and I’m wondering which version of it is official.
Lictor Severs “Boneclaw" DiVri was formerly a Level 13 Fighter with 2 Levels of Aristocrat. This made him Level 15 (close to 14 if you’re counting the levels in Aristocrat as being worth half a PC class level). He is now a Level 4 Fighter / Level 2 Rogue / Level 4 Hellknight. This makes him Level 10 and introduces Rogue levels to the guy with no explanation. This is a 4 or 5 level loss depending on how you look at it.
Paravicar Acillmar was formerly a Cleric of Asmodeus 3 / Wizard 3 / Mystic Theurge 2. He is now a Sorceror 7 / Hellknight 1. He didn’t lose any overall levels, but his build definitely changed. He also switched from Lawful Evil to Lawful Neutral.
Maidrayne Vox, the Mistress of Blades was formerly a Fighter 12. She is now a Fighter 3 / Ranger 3 / Hellknight 2. She lost 4 levels in this process. She is also now a centaur, having formerly been a human. Her alignment shifted from Lawful Evil to Lawful Good.
I’m honestly wondering what brought about the changes to the Order of the Nail level and build wise. In a more general context, I’m also wondering if Paizo is trying to bring the average level of NPCs down. Comparing more recent products (The Hellknight Article, Cities of Golarion, and to a lesser extent the article on Westcrown) to some earlier ones (the Guide to Korvosa in particular), it seems as though the average level of significant NPCs has dropped by around 5. This might just be my imagination and isn’t really a complaint (although I would rather have more higher-level NPCs present, given the level PCs tend to reach by the end of adventure path and my enjoyment of high-level play in general). I’m just trying to gague what direction you guys are heading in and what the official level distribution of Golarion is tending towards at the moment.
Last week I was shipped Children of the Void (which my group loves so far, I may comment further on that in the Second Darkness section some time). I thought that LB2:Treasure of Chimera Cove was supposed to ship at the same time, but it did not. Checking the "My Subscriptions" section, it says that the next module I'm supposed to be getting is Hungry Are the Dead, which, according to Vic Wertz over in the Gods and Magic discussion, ships tomorrow. Have I missed Treasure of Chimera Cove?
