Oh, Deer Lord's page

Good luck to everyone, well, except to Jim Butler. Learn how to talk to your community because you suck at it, leave it to people who actually know what they're doing next time.

I know this isn't the last Paizo decision I'll disagree with, and I'm fine with that. Just how things work. This also isn't as catastrophic as we're all making it out to be, and I very much include myself in that.

HOWEVER, they REALLY need to let Maya or someone write these announcements when it's a decision they know will potentially cause backlash. This is like the 4th time in roughly a year Jim Butler has poured fuel on a fire by being patronizing, talking like we're in a board meeting, and not explaining Paizo's decision well. -_-

Another deservedly unpopular decision met with patronizing corpo-speak that doesn't actually explain the reasoning for it. -_- Someone besides Jim should write these things... Also throwing the Archives under the bus just seems like you're being extra spiteful.

I understand the reasoning, but the amount of existing and new customers this will drive away cannot possibly be offset by the trickle of money this would bring in. You say that the main reason is legal fees, but I don't think you need to renew the contract all that often. The Archives were not designed to make you money, they were a labor of love that brought you several customers, myself included.

I've been unemployed for three years and I still buy as many PDFs as I can because I want Paizo to continue existing. There are several books coming out this year I am really looking forward to, but I may reconsider. This is a really bad decision that is shooting yourselves in the foot, and is burning further goodwill with the community.

If you guys did a Kickstarter or something, it wouldn't be a long-term source of income, but it might help you scrape through this horrible time, and I'm sure the community would rally around it. I'd throw in my last $10.

I love Paizo, but if you go down the DnDBeyond subscription fee route, which this feels like the beginning of, I will absolutely drop this hobby.

They have a new thread in which they are claiming they had the original idea for the Psychic class on Pathfinder Infinite, which Paizo stole to put in Dark Archive. At least that's as much of the message as I can work out.

somebody did that...

inspired so much since the pf2e "grand bazar", "Secrets of magic", the first "dark archive";
* Closes book, "This is good."
* LB, "it's the story".
* JB, "why don't you give him a million dollars"

no. that wasn't ever asked for. that is not what the author asked for.
money is not what PFI is about.
somethings are freely shared without conditions,
truth can be stranger than fiction,
did the author hear them?
what book was that?

Can they talk to the author? yes.
but please, use e-mail this time.

...

Considering that the word salad nature of your posts has gotten worse since this morning, it would probably be a good idea to take a few days off from the Internet until you feel more settled. But right now we have absolutely no idea what you're trying to say.

BotBrain wrote:

Hold on can you back up? What's your problem with the blog post?

I got zero problems. I like writing. do you like reading? you should try it!

You're posting several paragraphs a minute, which are all very disjointed. Most of your posts seem to be about how you hate Pathfinder despite being new since it's not realistic enough, and you could do a better job than Paizo.

Your posts genuinely read like you forgot a few medications this week, and if someone politely asks you to slow down and explain yourself, attacking them is not the way to go.

Yeah, flavor wise this would fit in perfectly as a Luminary subclass, but I'm not sure if it would work out mechanically.

Going off of the mega dungeon idea, in PF1e it mentioned that some ancient mimics can grow large enough to mimic whole structures. A truly ancient mimic mega dungeon in space! would be awesome, or even just exploring a living creature in general.
I forget what they're called, but in SF1e there was a starship sized creature that would park itself by a star, enter hibernation, and have a strong possibility of exploding unless you went inside it and stopped its heart. Something like that would be wonderful.

I know the mythic rules are not always enjoyed, but if they bring mythic rules into SF2e, I REALLY want to have an adventure about finding some way to deal with the First Ones. They're strong enough that I don't think even mythic characters could permanently stop them, but finding some way to limit them or seal them outside of the multiverse would be satisfying. Since the First Ones travel to different universes, this would be the PERFECT opportunity for characters to explore alternative universes. Maybe there's even a universe out there that still has its Golarion?

We now will have a theater kid class, and I absolutely love it and love the whole concept behind it.

It does REALLY make me want a similar class: someone who uses magic to alter reality by making art.
Very much the art attacker and art initiates life tropes. When you summon a creature or object, you draw it into existence. When you cast an offensive spell, you draw the spell into existence before firing it at your enemies. Damaging something is erasing it from existence. No idea what spellcasting tradition would fit best, maybe arcane?

In Pathfinder you could flavor it as having magical paints and start out with a paintbrush and pallet, in Starfinder it could be a magical drawing tablet and you start out with a tablet and stylus.

The subclasses could be themed around your preferred art style: realism, cartoony, abstract, etc.

I'm really bad at explaining things, so this probably doesn't make much sense. ^^'
Would anyone else be interested in this class? Please feel free to expand on my basic idea and refine it!

Yeah, a Fleshwarper archetype would be great.

One of the monsters I'd like to see brought into 2e is the Color out of Space.

I know that it's one of those things that works better the less we know about it, but I'd love more information about the Beyond Beyond, and this seems like a good book to include even some light information about it.

While I doubt this will come to pass, I would absolutely love to see an aberration themed book similar to the Book of the Dead one day.

Some personal wishes for it include:

* More aberration ancestries, heritages, and aberration themed backgrounds.
* An aberration eidolon.
* An aberration specific familiar.
* A bestiary chock full of wonderful, mind-melting horrors. Might be a great way to flesh out the Remastered Darklands a bit since there are lots of aberrations down there! Not all aberrations are evil either! Something similar to the Flumph would be delightful.
* Spells themed around summoning and controlling aberrations and occult knowledge. Maybe a tenth level spell to summon a tiny fragment of Azathoth to deal mindless devastation! Careful you're not in the way! XD
* Maybe have the Necronomicon in 2e?
* Possibly cursed magical items connected to aberrations and Outer Gods!
* Similar to the above, more information on the Great Old Ones and Outer Gods! Lovecraftian Cultist archetype! I know that creatures above level 25 won't happen in 2e, but I dream of having the statblocks we had for mighty beings like Cthulhu.

That's all I can think of for now.
If we get this pipe dream of mine, what would you want to see in it? Feel free to expand upon or refine any of my ideas above!

Tossing my vote for Shabti in as well. Personally I'd prefer a full ancestry, but I can definitely see the argument that thematically they'd make more sense as a heritage.

I think that most worlds have a Fresno. It's just that the nightcrawlers are better at hiding those other ones than they are at hiding ours. It's why you keep hearing about schools of phrenology in fantasy worlds; they're supposed to be schools of fresnology, but the mind-muddling power of Fresno makes them come out wrong, and then everyone starts touching skulls or whatever.

Oh, this made my day, thank you! XD

On the Starfinder side of things there are a lot of requests for Anacites, which I would love but don't see being possible. Anacites don't possess souls and therefore can't be resurrected. They could always go the SRO route and say that a rare few Anacites gain souls.

For both games more construct ancestries would be immensely appreciated.

Something else that would be fun is a cryptid-themed ancestry with feats similar to the Gap-touched heritage that make it hard for you to be noticed or remembered. Fresno nightcrawlers are FAR too niche to ever be a heritage for that ancestry, especially since Golarion doesn't HAVE a Fresno, but I can dream. XD This would probably work better as a rare archetype like ghost or zombie, or a Mythic Destiny though.

I'm aware they'd have to be SIGNIFICANTLY watered down to be playable a la Battlezoo, but I'd love to have a swarm ancestry. I'm aware that Battlezoo has an ancestry that is a swarm in a skinsuit, and I love them, but I'd also like something official closer to a Swarm Strider. I adore the concept of the Spathinae from Starfinder 1e, and keep hoping they'll come back for second edition.

I don't have a specific concept or request in mind, but I always adore aberration ancestries, and would always love more!

Genuinely hoping Dad Joke and Three Kobolds in a Trenchcoat become Society legal in some form, my group would LOVE those! XD

The PDF for Galactic Ancestries is there as of a few seconds ago, hopefully Hellfire Dispatches will soon follow!
To clarify, it's not on the main product page, but if I search for it it shows up.

There's no PDF for Galactic Ancestries or Hellfire Dispatches despite the blog post saying both are available as a PDF.

Really hoping this gets resolved soon!

Not sure if it's intended to connect the two settings, but there's a legend about the Worldforge from War of Immortals. It says that if Golarion is ever damaged enough, Torag will use the Worldforge to repair Golarion and everything on it, though the process will take millennia. It's very possible that that's why Torag is MIA, he's currently repairing whatever happened to Golarion

Oh, Deer Lord wrote:

Will Venture Captains have to purchase scenarios with gold now? There's a chance that could cripple my local Society.

No, the Venture Officer scenario grants are unaffected by the new rewards system.

Thanks for the clarification, that's a big worry of mine dealt with!

Oh, Deer Lord wrote:

Will Venture Captains have to purchase scenarios with gold now? There's a chance that could cripple my local Society.

This doesn't interact with the Venture Officer program as I understand it, so there's nothing to worry about in regards to your lodge and scenarios :)

Thanks

Will Venture Captains have to purchase scenarios with gold now? There's a chance that could cripple my local Society.

Not really a fan of these changes, but that's just me. I'm not a subscriber, so my vote doesn't really count.

Also please don't feed Musk's megalomaniacal hate machine, it goes against everything Paizo stands for.

Loved seeing feats woven throughout the story! This was very sweet. 10/10.

So happy to see the Technomancer is getting a re-write! The previews listed cover all of my major concerns, so that's a huge relief.

Book: War of Immortals pg. 79

Mythic Calling - Artisan

The final gained anathema states that you may not use a weapon or item you have not created yourself except to learn how to later craft it. This VASTLY limits gear options as no one character has the time & resources in game to craft every type of gear needed or wanted. "Item" is a highly broad and ambiguous term and can be interpreted to mean any type of gear.

Proposed solutions: remove this specific anathema or change "item" to a narrower term such as armor.

Well, only half the issues have been addressed, but it's better than nothing.
Was really hoping the action economy for overclocking with the ServoShell language would be addressed, as it's kind of unusuable as it's written. And Drones still have issues as well.
Still, thanks to the devs for listening to our concerns!

I've been loving most of the design choices for Starfinder 2e Society play and would like a lot of these changes to one day be brought over to Pathfinder society play, but am really disheartened by so low a level cap. I understand that a single high-tier combat can last HOURS, but level 10 feels too low. Even level 12 would be better without hopefully tipping into the time sink of level 15 combat. APs feel like a cheap substitute for higher than half level play; I would hope for a lot of high-tier APs to compensate. I know this makes things more difficult for the writers, but personally I'd rather have longer scenarios if it means a higher level cap.
Just my 2 cents. As I mentioned, most of the design choices seem very positive to me.

As others have pointed out, the action economy for ServoShell is a mess that makes the subclass unusable. It takes 3 actions to cast Summon Robot, so you can't overclock on the first round. If you sustain your summon and cast a two-action spell in order to overclock, you again can't overclock.
Some possible solutions are giving this subclass a tech familiar or reducing the action economy involved.

As others have pointed out in the Playtest forums, there are some errors in this that make portions of this Playtest unusable. Would really appreciate some developer feedback!

I agree with the calls for an ooze ancestry!
(Yes, I'm aware Battlezoo has one and I love it. I just like to be able to use things for society play one day.)

A hyper-specific wish that I don't expect to see come true: a snake ancestry. Basically humanoid, human-sized snakes with arms and tails instead of legs. A few different heritages that paint different types of snakes in broad strokes: desert, jungle, aquatic, venomous, etc. Feats that do things like let you climb a tree or constrict a foe you have grappled. There's a great homebrew version, but something official would be wonderful. :3

What about a collective people? like you are a living swarm. Instead of being made of specialized cells, you are made of specialized creatures of the same species. feat trees growing into either resistance and immunity to precision damage or self-heal and regeneration. Weakness of course to splash damage.

Would absolutely LOVE a swarm ancestry, with different heritages for if you're made of worms, leeches, bees, spiders, etc.

I know alignment now only exists as a broad concept, but most swarms that walk are unrepentantly evil, so it would take some creative implementation to create a "good" or "neutral" swarm ancestry lore-wise.

The Spathinae from Starfinder are a great example of that.

Heck, as someone very excited for Starfinder 2e, would be thrilled with a 2e version of the Spathinae I could port over!

I don't think there is enough material to warrant an entire book, but a book themed around games of the world with rules for playing some of the games and expansions like decks of cards would be fun.

There are two official pieces of art of Starfinder characters playing a holographic TTRPG, and I'd love my characters to be able to play one between adventures. Though that one probably works better for Starfinder than Pathfinder and is probably a little too Meta. ^^'

Yeah, Mythic rules are SUCH a letdown for how hyped up they were. Rewrite Fate is VERY nice at lower levels, and some of the highest-level feats are good, but most of it just feels really blah. Large parts of it don't even feel like they were properly playtested.

You aren't even properly Mythic until level 12, a tier most campaigns don't even reach! I was hoping for the crazy, game-breaking shenanigans from 1st edition, and instead I'm just slightly better at a few rolls a session until over halfway through the game. Mythic points don't replenish quickly enough to make a real difference it feels like, and I don't think they should replace Hero Points since they don't cover everything Hero Points did.

As someone who loves to play crafters, I am honestly very upset with the Artisan's Calling. It prevents you from using any equipment you haven't crafted yourself. No one character can craft everything they need! Some of the really cool options at high tiers like Mythic Runes and the Worldforge can only be accessed by PCs with Mythic Crafting, but the calling to get it is too prohibitive.

I think Callings should be done away with entirely, and you should be PROPERLY Mythic from the very beginning.

I am REALLY hoping that in a future release, Mythic rules will get a MASSIVE overhaul. They don't really seem worth it as-is.

I second the calls for an Aberration splatbook. Give me my Lovecraftian campaign!

I would also love a dragons book as previously mentioned. There are a decent number of dragon-themed character options, but can you ever REALLY have too many dragons? With Chromatic and Metallic dragons understandably having to be put on the chopping block, this would be a GREAT time to do second edition Planar Dragons.

Someone mentioned a second edition Book of the Damned, which would be interesting. I'd especially love Qlippoth character options.

A Deer can dream, but I'd like the Book of the Dead to be remastered one day. However, it works fine as is with minimal tweaking needed, so I'm not expecting it.

I would LOVE a splatbook about the Great Beyond. Other planes of existence were one of my greatest loves from my D&D days, and I still adore them. Paizo has also done a great job fleshing them out over the years and making them distinct from WotC's. Yes they almost never show up in a typical campaign, but the lore and art would be amazing!

I know this is the Pathfinder thread, but there are a few Starfinder 2e products I'd like one day as well. I would love another book of the Planes specifically for Starfinder. Give me my science fantasy Heaven and Outer Rifts, and show how the Planes have changed during and since the Gap!

I know there will be the Anachronistic Adventures section in the Starfinder 2e GM Core, but I'd like science fantasy subclasses for Pathfinder, and fantasy subclasses for Starfinder. The possibilities are endless!

When I saw that line about an "entire island" serving as a soul cage, my mind instantly thought, "Tar-Baphon's soul cage is the entire Isle of Dread." I'm glad others have had the same thought, it did almost seem worded to make you have that thought.
You'd expect Urgathoa to have hidden it in some impenetrable fortress in the Astral Plane, but the best place to hide something is in plain sight. Your typical high-level party could breach an Astral fortress, but it would almost be harder to destroy a 30-mile geographic feature with anything short of Wish.
Thanks for a fun and informative write-up!

Oh, Deer Lord wrote:

I could have sworn there was going to be a Playtest next month for Technomancer, Mechanic, and Starship rules. This blog makes it sound like the playtest is finished though, with no note of further playtesting. Did we all collectively hallucinate the second Playtest?

Excited for these new changes and absolutely love Chk-Chk's rizz in this picture!

The playtest for Technomancer and Mechanic is coming next year! We'll announce more details as we get closer!

Thanks for the prompt reply and for letting me know!

I could have sworn there was going to be a Playtest next month for Technomancer, Mechanic, and Starship rules. This blog makes it sound like the playtest is finished though, with no note of further playtesting. Did we all collectively hallucinate the second Playtest?

Excited for these new changes and absolutely love Chk-Chk's rizz in this picture!

The Oliphaunt’s art is not at the right scale. This beast is supposed to be "thousands of feets" high, so tall that the Spindelhorn has been built to make eye-contact with it.

This one is 5 to 10 times too small, I would say.

Might be art for the Incarnate spell that temporarily summons a "manifestation."

This looks very interesting! I like that rather than not knowing if your curse is a boon or a hindrance, you automatically pay a price but get power in exchange. That makes it a bit simpler, IMO. Excited to see the full class when it releases!

I would pay real monies to watch a sitcom of the emo goth oracle and the cool cat solarion bopping around space doing things.

Seconded!

I am in love with the iconics so far! I love Chk-Chk and Dae's friendship. I want to hug them and make sure they are safe. Looking forward to meeting the rest of them over the next few weeks! Adore that we have an emo barista in the lineup! Would love to read more of Chk-Chk's poems! Adore the fact that the first temple of Zon-Shelyn still functions as a coffee house, it seems appropriate somehow.

I just met Dae and I already love them!
Also so grateful for agender representation, thanks!

This seems really well done, I love that you went to the trouble of adding art! Really hoping this gets completed!

I am enjoying this fresh way to play the Envoy so far!

The good ole cliche of "DON'T YOU DARE DIE ON ME!" as an actual mechanic got a good laugh out of me, and it's also nothing to sneeze at!

I agree with the above calls that "asset" should perhaps be changed to "mark," if for no other reason than that I can forsee a lot of snickers over the use of the word "asset." Mark also seems to fit the flavor of the mechanic better.

I also thoroughly agree with the calls that like Rogues' rackets, perhaps each leadership style should have its own key attribute: Dex for From the Shadows, Hotshot and Guns Blazing; Int for Infosphere Director; Str for From the Front; Cha for In the Spotlight; and Wis for Through Desperate Times.

I'm looking forward to the next sneak peek of this, and it's going to be a long wait until August for me!

Thanks for looking at it. It hasn't been abandoned, but it is on the back burner for now. And with the remaster I've been busy updating my other home brew stuff.

Ah, thank you for the update!

I did a thing. I've always liked the Deities and Demigods book from 3ed DnD and even played a deity in a campaign which was fun. I've been thinking of possibly elevating a character in my current game I'm running in my world, so I've been working on updating the deity rules for PF2. Here is what I've been working on. It is still a work in progress, but I would love any feedback. Thanks.

Deities

I know six months is not much time, but this seems very interesting and well-done so far! Is it still in progress, or has it been abandoned?