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Except that you have an absolute nobody doing something and somehow getting power from being famous? That is literally the definition of putting the cart before the horse.

If a Rogue creates an area of darkness people don't say he stabbed the sun. If a caster creates an area of darkness people don't say he eclipsed the sun. Ahh, but if the nobody examplar does it, he did this amazing thing.

That is what is called "main character syndrome". It also sounds a lot like literal plot armor, plot weapon, and a potential segway into Gary Stu/Mary Sue.

The italicized is anti-Mary Sue character fuel on its own, being this "imposter hero." Aside from that, I don't understand what you mean by "doing absolutely nothing." They're adventurers adventuring. On their adventures, they perform deeds, which inspire legends, which in turn grow their own power. The deed is performed first, and the tales it inspired amplifiy their power to perform even greater deeds. (As I understand this thing)

Did the Rogue look like they were stabbing the sun? Like, by jumping into the air and thrusting their dagger towards it? If so, I'd argue they should get tavern tales like the Exemplars. It's all about the aesthetic. Rogues aren't usually the bombastic type, though.

So, I won't argue that a player seeing this class and wanting to make a Mary Sue out of it isn't a potential problem, even moreso than most other classes. That's why Exemplar is rare, and people more eloquent than me have debated this issue to death on either side already. If your point is that "this can be a problem for Exemplar," I concede. If your argument is: "this is an existential problem for Exemplar," then I think that view is pretty silly. Even many of the pop culture and mythological characters that inspired this class played second fiddle to another in their own stories. Narrative parity can be had, easily. Thor, a literal god with fame across the multiverse, never overshadowed Steve Rogers, a nobody injected with serum who fought in a war on a backwater planet and who will die from old age, if not felled with a tiny bullet first.

There is a difference between an adventurer's accord as perceived by the world they live in and their accord as perceived by their party. Celebrity does not equivocate to a narrative spotlight.

I think it may be how we look at the feats of strength that is wrong. I think it may be less "you're so incredibly powerful you perform feats greater than even superman" and more "you're a storybook hero so you're allowed to solve problems like a storybook character would". After all, Hercules shot the sun but no one thinks he would win a fight with superman.

If I can add to this, I think it might help to remember the lenses with which this class is supposed to be viewed (as I understand it) is that these feats and abilities are describing the legend surrounding the Exemplar – not their literal deed itself, which is often much more mundane than the tavern songs and campfire tales it inspires.

"They punched the sun" isn't describing what the Exemplar literally did – it's how the deed is described afterwards by the wide-eyed villager describing the scene to their children afterward. And unlike other adventurers, who probably have some form of this celebrity going on already, the Exemplar literally gains supernatural power as a consequence of their stories being told. That's their thing.

In some form of narrative connection to the themes of Animist, I see the sun-punching incident unfolding like this: the sun has an animistic presence in the world, existing not merely as natural phenomena, but also as a distinct spiritual thing, which can be found locally and in a more holistic sense in entities like Sarenrae. Punching the sun affects the sun's localized presence, without really affecting the whole itself. It plucked a strand of hair off the mountainous titan. And it looked like the sun went black, even though someone a five-minute walk away won't have the faintest inkling someone nearby is watching a solar eclipse unfurl over their heads. It's rad.

Haven't posted much lately, but want to say all this news lately is putting my creative life into overdrive. I'm so on board with everything Paizo's doing, between making the world of Golarion more wholly its own thing, distinct from D&D, and marrying Starfinder and Pathfinder into a fully compatible system. That last thing is, like, a seismic moment for Paizo in general. The system will be able to tell many more types of stories now, which I am counting on for things I've been cooking up for my own table.

I'd assume that the Mechanic, Technomancer, and possibly Nanocyte will be part of a Tech focused book.

I wonder if there's a possibility moving forward of Pathfinder and Starfinder essentially sharing select classes, perhaps publishing an alternate version of a class chassis with feats and features that more fit the fantasy of the game's setting. Pathfinder is really going to benefit from the Envoy chassis, I think, and would benefit even more from options geared more specifically toward a fantasy setting. Inventor, on the other hand, does so much of what Mechanic does and does it really well, but there are some features, like the custom rig or exocortex, that would probably work better baked-in to a tech-focused Starfinder class than as an optional feat. Having the classes exist simultaneously in both systems could effectively double player options for them right out of the gate, and we'd get to avoid Mechanic's "what even am I anymore" existential crisis entirely. Also mitigate bloat.

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.

Speaking for myself here, I really hope you don't do that. Part of what makes up Starfinder's DNA, I think, is that it is a science fiction world that emerged from a fantasy world. In that vein, seeing familiar tropes people are accustomed to seeing in fantasy transplanted into a science fiction setting – like feuding noble houses – is where Starfinder shines and feels more like its own thing. It's a world where fantasy conventions and traditions were violently confronted with an era of rapid change and evolution and starships, and adapted extremely clumsily to it all. The central banking system is run by the god of wealth, computers are powered by trapped elementals, hyperspace is an eldritch plane slowly consuming pieces of the material world, and on Apostae, nobody was told the rest of the galaxy was all done with all the "milords" and feudal politesse yesterday.

I think Apostae occupying this niche as a place where corporations have effectively overthrown the remnants of traditional government and form an effective plutocracy is very satisfying, as it fills a role no other Pact world has really hit yet, even Akiton (which is still, nominally at least, overseen by influential city-states). There's not terribly much distinction between that and the system of matriarchal noble houses currently in place, to be honest. At the same time, that setting as a concept has been pretty well explored across most science fiction universes. What made Starfinder's angle on that setting interesting was, to be a little crude – it made corporate dystopia sexy.

I don't just mean the place is run by pretty elves, although that doesn't hurt. Apostae is an important place in Starfinder because it's as fun to journey from as it is to journey to. The black leather and violet neon, the punk rock speeder gangs and heart pulsing music playing from tavern dives overlooking great chasms filled with nothing but pitch and more neon, the demonic rituals you can hear in hushed mantra behind every closed door (was that bartender a demon??), the sudden dagger in your back because you were staring at the dazzling lights too long instead of the assassin that prince probably sent to shank you after you looked at him the wrong way while crossing the street.

Apostae has a vibe, an aesthetic, a viral story, that is a fount of inspiration for both backstories and entire campaigns. This is corporatocracy in chaos. Any other sane person, evil-inclined, would arrange an infernal pact to bury their rivals under Hell's own lawyers and reign dark lord of the stock market – dystopia is a byproduct of success. In Apostae, dystopia itself is the dream, is the utopia. Drow double down on their chaotic and intrigue-ridden society to create something that is the very antithesis to corporate rule, in all but surface appearance. Drow don't summon demons because they want to edge out the competition – demons destroy everything they touch. They do it because upending the game board and watching everything burn is the game. Apostae delights in the consumption of sweet poison, in the conspicuous splash of red across the tapestry, and so we, too, delight in it. Aspis sanitizes its diabolical designs, Hell promises beautiful things, Eox speaks softly, signs pacts, and entertains – and on Apostae, those who are called by its succubi's song are captivated only because they know their demise will come swiftly, and their life leading up to that time will be filled with carnal and sensate delights. Apostae never tries to hide what it is. It is a world consumed by chaos at any given moment, that is only mistaken for order by outsiders who don't understand how masterfully Drow have adapted to perpetual chaos. These violent delights, and violent ends, are why it is so mystical and enchanting.

As a player, I also appreciate that Apostae's current culture gives players an "in" to play a character from a Game of Thronesian noble house, and explore that storytelling genre in a science fantasy setting. That's essential to Apostae, for me. If I may volunteer an alternative, I think it would be really interesting to see the Runelords and Nocticula's former domain in the Midnight Isles take a larger role in the Starfinder mythos, considering how much of the latter's aesthetic Apostae already shares, and the feuding, medieval intrigue themes of the former. Orcs getting a role in Starfinder that doesn't involve mostly being wage slaves for another culture would also be nice.

I love Golarion and haven't changed it terribly much, aside from little bits and pieces here and there to make the backstories my players make up fit better in the world (also some Shackles stuff). I try not to change too much because it's nice to have that synchronicity with the gradual world changes that occur on Paizo's release timetable. There is one big thing though that I've been cooking up in my way-too-scarce free time since last year. Just waiting for RollforCombat to come out with their new Eldamon book: but I finally decided what I want to do with Sarusan! Oh the times we will have.

Guess there's no avoiding starfinder 2e talk, no matter where you go, even if you put 'please don't talk about sf2e' in the very first post

I'm so sorry, Gaulin. I idly skimmed this thread and missed that request. If a mod sees this, please delete my previous post.

BRUTARIS AP!!! (or module is fine too...)

Also going to echo other requests for Starfinder 2e. Would be really, really nice for Starfinder and Pathfinder stuff to be cross-compatible. Would be an instant mega upgrade for both systems, and that’s even aside from what 2e's exquisite action economy could bring to Starfinder games. You could practically run a Pathfinder adventure with Starfinder characters, or vice versa. I'd be over the moon. Would also give Pathfinder-exclusive customers a reason to buy Starfinder books too. Lot of marketing potential there.

Mentioned it elsewhere, but still rooting for a medium-sized Giant/Jötunn ancestry. Maybe they were a lesser known branch of the giant family forgotten by the world until the advent of New Thassilon, whereupon they returned. Ancestry feats could be themed around empathetic abilities with large creatures, physical endurance and strength (like increased carry limit, ability to lift and throw very heavy things, or defensive perks in a specific type of elemental environment), maybe some daily abilities themed around precognition or enlarge, and runic manipulation. The "Living Rune" feat in the Runescarred archetype is a really flavorful thing, and it'd be cool to see some niche abilities inspired by that, like temporarily transferring a property rune to a mundane object or improvised weapon (or another person or creature), or having a 24-hour duration property rune you can daily expend on something. Property runes are a little limited at the moment though, so not sure how useful a utility ability like this would be (maybe Treasure Vault will change that).

The whole giant-blood archetypal character seems like such a massive gap in otherwise pretty robust player character options, especially with franchises like God of War or Critical Role or Marvel's Thor exploding in popularity that feature these concepts pretty prominently. It's a little weird Pathfinder, sandbox setting that it is, doesn’t really have an analogue to this concept yet. Hope we get something like it soon. Especially with all the recent 5e players coming in! Hello, nufriends!

There's also a Change.org petition taking off with about 4x as many signees as opendnd's petition right now – you can find that here.

Wish there was a way the two could link to each other.

This is relevant. Roll For Combat is hosting questions at 4:00 EST today. Bottom line is that fears of OGL 1.1 are probably overblown:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ6iTzeiNY8

Edit: time error

That's opposite the impression I got from Stephen's commentary. He seems genuinely concerned Wizards is going to attempt to use 1.1 to put competition out of business through bully tactics and injunctions halting publications of OGL 1.0 compliant material. In consideration of Stephen's experience with the industry and insider knowledge (some of which he seems unable to share), this seems very much a crossroads moment for ttrpg culture. Hope not, but looks like this is actually going down.

Either way, definitely the time to band together and rally around the OGL.

Though wouldn't it make more sense for Spanish elements in Varisia to be from or be related to the culture of Cheliax, which is right there, is the origin of many colonists in Varisia, and is vaguely based on southwestern Europe? Spanish isn't any more native to the real-world Americas than Portuguese, French, Dutch, or English, so seeing Spanish-based language outside of the areas adjacent to Chelish colonies there would be pretty odd*. Arcadia's firearm traditions also seem to be intentionally distinct from Alkenstar's/Dongun Hold's, which have largely been presented as a unique invention to my knowledge, so I'm not sure that implies a connection.

Very true. My mind jumped to Arcadia mostly because I haven't seen many Spanish linguistical conventions used in majority Taldan regions (which seems to represent numerous different European cultures), nor the aforementioned vaquero aesthetic. Taldan seems to be primary spoken language across Avistan (to the point that it's referred to as "Common"), whereas Europe in our world has more variation in spoken tongue. I'm not aware of very many Spanish lingustic motifs being represented in Avistani regions, and the vaquero aesthetic specifically seems more directly tied to Spanish-speaking cultures in the Americas than in Europe. Perhaps I've missed some material though. (I'm also a lot more familiar with Mexican culture than I am Spain's, so that's probably going to influence my ability to recognize such here – I seriously need to finally make that dream tour of Europe I've always dreamed of doing)

I also didn't mean to imply a connection between Donguni gunpowder traditions and Arcadian – my point was more something like: "Ancil Alkenstar had heard tales of Star Guns across the ocean, and saw many similarities between these Dwarven crafts and the fantastic stories he'd grown up with as a child. Thus recognizing their potential (and danger), Ancil was inspired and better prepared to negotiate with the Donguni for access to their gunsmithing traditions."

Super late to this, but I wonder if Ancil Alkenstar was perhaps Varisian? Wild West attire has previously been connected (as far as I've seen) to two distinct peoples in Golarion other than those in Alkenstar: residents of Arcadia's Deadshot Lands, and vaquero-inspired elements of Varisian culture (who were said by James Jacobs to be highly inspired by touchstones from Romani, Mexican, and Californian hippie culture). Varisians being the eternal wanderers they are, it would not surprise me to observe Spanish conventions appearing in their language - perhaps due to some distant connection between them and people in Arcadia (especially considering Golarion's primary analogues for Mexican peoples appear to originate from Arcadia — commonalities between them and Varisians may be more than coincidental).

In any case, the theory works neatly in my own head. If Ancil (or his family) originally migrated from northern Varisian lands (to Nex then) to Alkenstar, he would have brought with him a knowledge of Varisian and Taldan fashion (for Wild West and Victorian aesthetic, which would have been novel in Impossible Lands region and thus helpful for the purpose of giving the budding city-state a distinct identity amidst their neighbors), potentially some experience with Arcadian lore (enabling him to first recognize the value of gunpowder and firearms that would initially motivate an alliance with Donguni dwarves) and Arcadian linguistical conventions, along with an appreciation for the arts of science and magic through his own distant homeland's rich history in arcane and clockwork innovations, and his apparent skill in negotiating and leading people of a nomadic background, such as the Ustradi and Mana Wastes residents — all of these distinct elements, while not necessarily pointing directly toward someone of Varisian heritage, would certainly mesh very well with someone of that background.

Ha, thanks for the catch! I feel silly for skipping that one. I love elemental creatures, so the Bestiary stuff has the chance to be my favorite bunch of the monster family themed rulebook drops. Especially with wood and metal creatures! I'm fascinated to see how those play at the table.

Will this book have any rules-based elements for GMs? I'm seeing four main things in this book – kineticist, elemental-themed player options, the bestiary section, and the big gazetteer – and was curious whether there might be other material I should be looking forward to using at my table, as gamemaster. Not that the aforementioned isn't chock-full enough for a Pathfinder release. This storefront has psyched me out over this one! Get here quick, July!

I will say, I wish the Humans section was a little more meaty, especially when held up to how lovely the Mwangi Expanse book was in that regard; not having a clear overview of the Vudrani as a people, what traditional castes actually look like (so much is made of rebelling against or moving beyond them, but I don't know what they are!), is a shame. After the Vudra backmatter article set up the three Vudrani sub-ethnicities in the Banjeray, Dhavala, and Parbatkay, it felt strange not having them here - or some more overt explaining of what identities the mixed Jalmeray have instead...

Seconding the call for more Sunghari lore! They sound really cool. Nice, fertile storytelling soil they be when an adventure path graces Niswan's corner of the world! Or maybe Pathfinder Society? An Impossible Kingdoms book may be the most likely, considering these people have mostly lived in Vudra for the past while, only recently having returned in force to Jalmeray itself. Any which way, hope we haven't heard the last from these folk.

Happily, I think there's a lot of material exploring Vudran castes in 1e's Inner Sea Races. I remember there being four of them: warrior, expert, scholar, and religious. You might already be aware of it, but it’s a really fun book to read through, just in case!

Been reading Interstellar Species and Impossible Lands obsessively since I received them, and holy mackerel, Paizo, you done it again. Really enchanted with Jalmeray's writeup – the kite-flying season in Niswan and beautiful architectural and environmental renderings send my mind places my most special bottle of absinthe could only dream to. Thank you for this masterpiece of fantasy – Golarion becomes ever more real, beautiful, and expansive with each passing year.

This book is so amazing. I was hoping for deeper dives on Starfinder's major alien ancestries, but this closer look on the less front-and-center denizens of the galaxy is really fun! Especially happy to have more Astrazoan material. That art is gorgeous! So nice to have the Evolutionist in play as well, finally. Just one complaint: still no Brutaris rules! If not now, Paizo, when!?!

Absolutely beautiful stuff all around. I've only just started digging into this book, but I'm so elated with what I'm reading, I just had to make a visit real quick to rave on this one. Starfinder's getting better and better every book!

Placing my bets on either an upstart kingdom of fleshwarp mutants in Mana Wastes, or an undersea location near Jalmeray.

I'd like to see a little more modular options for games. Kingmaker did an amazing job introducing new subsystems into the game with kingdom management, wilderness-themed rules (like camping, cooking, and weather) and even mass combat rules (I wasn't sold on the concept before, but reading how it's executed, I'm pleasantly surprised to discover I really want to try it). Between Kingmaker and the Companion Guide, it feels like we got a soft rulebook expansion for the game. There's so much there. So more of that would be great. I'd love to see a book all about dungeons, with advice for making them (mechanically and narratively), dozens of premade chambers you can pick and connect to as you see fit, tables and hazards and options for different themes (like a dungeon built inside a massive tree, or in an abandoned mine), etc. I've been looking forever for a book entirely devoted to the making of dungeons, but they're just so rare; usually the dungeon-making options are a side feature (1e Gamemastery Guide had the best resources here, I've found). Paizo's made some of my favorite dungeons, so I'd love to wield more of that family's creative insights when I'm making my own dungeons. I positively can't get enough of the atmospheric mystique of these haunting locales (the old Zelda fan in me)!

Also, slightly related, would be nice to have more rules for player character home bases. Age of Ashes touched on this in Cult of Cinders, giving PCs the opportunity to refurbish an old Hellknight citadel and turn it into their personal headquarters, with options for fixing it up, improving it and adding new utilities, defenses, and attractions. More options for that side of the game, please. Like Kingmaker's kingdom management on a micro level.

Sailing would also be great, although I have no idea how far down the pipeline that'll be. Happily, Smoke & Sail on Pathfinder Infinite has been sufficing very, very nicely.

For character options, going to second Shaman, and also an Envoy/Herald/Emissary type class. Happily, Legendary Games put out some fun rules for both those things, so I'm pretty happy in the meantime. Some kind of Giantkin for an ancestry option would also be welcome (Minotaurs, Centaurs and Doppelgangers too!).

It's kind of nice, this feeling – so much of what I've wanted in Pathfinder is here already, and for many of my games, my only limitation these days is my own imagination as GM. It's really nice to see how the game's matured so much after only a few short years. I'm really satisfied with everything Pathfinder's done, and incredibly eager to see where it goes next. This is easily the best RPG I've ever had the joy of playing with. Thanks Paizo people!

This is fascinating! I'm curious what this means for the metaregion format Lost Omens releases have kept until now. It might be a "Shining Kingdoms" book would include Taldor, Galt, Andoran, and Druma, and we can expect a Kyonin book sometime in future to debut as a single. Would give Lost Omens more of a chance to deep dive on elves and dwarves specifically, and give Shining a little more centrality of focus.

Either way, psyched about this book. I've been wanting to learn more about Highhelm for a long time.

So, obviously I'm super thrilled we're going to be getting a galaxy map for Starfinder (like, super thrilled), but, guilty admission, possibly my most favorite thing announced just now for this book is playable Xulgaths. I've been playing a shapeshifting Astrazoan who switches between alternate identities, the most frequent of which being this undead xulgath named Father Eroboam. I've had so much fun with this character, and getting a little rules and lore guidance for them is going to be so nice! Never expected these little buddies to get the spotlight like this, or even make an appearance.

I seriously can't wait to get my hands on this book. Drift Crisis has been an absolute blast so far, and we're still on book one! Quality of Starfinder books lately feels like it's hitting renaissance! I only wish I was GMing so I could read the APs all the way through myself. Seriously, thanks for the awesome toys, Starfinder devs! You people are the best.

You’ve made this thread worth it already with Te•Chuo! Most of that is original, rather than canon info, right? The Kuru would be lucky to have you writing them! Desperately overdue for some nuance and depth, and you absolutely delivered.

Maddy’s disgust at her own heroism has me in stitches. This party comes together so well - I’ll definitely talk through their relationships a little more thoroughly going forward, I loved reading yours.

I’m glad you like! Pleased to not just be wallowing in self-indulgence.

Yeah, fun times! Most of it is indeed original.

Glad you enjoyed, and thanks so much for the kind compliment. Looking forward to reading more fun adventuring parties from everyone!

This is such a great idea for a thread, btw! Thanks Keftiu for setting this up! I adore Balnor Blessed, and all of these parties do such a good job capturing the storytelling flavor of their respective regions. I'm super tempted to try my hand at these characters in my home campaign if my party moves around to those regions. Beautiful stuff. Particularly enjoying the Monster Squad. I have such an affection for Hobgoblins.

Okay, so I had a little bit of time this afternoon and wanted to make a potential ally/rival crew to throw at my players for a small arc in our Skull & Shackles game, and this is what I came up with. Meet the Rebounders (of very little shame), and their many adventures across Golarion's High Seas!

The Rebounders (of very little shame) are defined mostly by their obsessive search for one thing or another — be it an elusive rival, a celestial gun, a legendary missing formula, or getting dream high — and their frustration with being something (or somewhere) they don't want to be. Nettle doesn't want to be a failure, Maddy doesn't want to be a hero, Kip doesn't want to be awake, and Te·chuo doesn't want to live in a world where the Blood Queen lives. They bond and clash over their obsessions, and find a strange kinship in each other that at once intrigues and repels them. Te·chuo's quest, of course, brings everyone together: in it Nettle sees a way to distinguish herself again (and potentially earn a worthy rival in the Blood Queen), Maddy sees a power that may be enough to kick her dependence on celestial weapons, and Kip sees a means to better understand their own nature, whose purpose yet eludes them.

Nettle and Maddy bond mostly through a shared rough experience forcing them to be something they are not, and by a mutual fear they are failing their destined purpose. Te·chuo helps guide Kip through their dreams back into the present (sometimes with a little help from his crab familiar Eek), and Kip likewise keeps an eye on Te·chuo through his sleep, suppressing Te·chuo's many nightmares (against his wishes). The two respect each other, but suspect there is more to the other than meets the eye. Kip suspects something is wrong with Nettle, and is frustrated by their inability to peer into her dreams, but is loyal because she gives them safe bedding; all the while, Nettle herself views Kip as an arcane anomaly to be studied. Maddy is annoyed with Te·chuo's do-good attitude, but is infatuated with his strength and resolve, and wants to see him become the dread pirate hunk she knows he can be, if he just learned to let himself go sometimes. For his part, Te·chuo sees in Maddy the same weakness plaguing many of his kin, and pities her, desiring to help, but also wary of her celestial ally. Te·chuo is the only one who has discerned Nettle's true nature, but hasn't revealed it to anyone, caught between conflicting emotions of repulsion with her undead nature, intrigue with her disciplined habits, and his plans to use her experienced mind for his own ends. Nettle, likewise, sees Te·chuo as a stick of dynamite ready to blow at any moment, but is interested in his mission and hopes to use it to get what she wants. Maddy and Kip get along best of all, being inveterate tricksters poorly understood by everyone around them. Kip helps Maddy explore her fantasies through lucid dreaming, while Maddy sticks up for Kip in the waking world, seeing in him something of a little sibling. Altogether, they've somehow managed to keep the Shameless Rebound in one piece, against all odds.

Hmm I guess since this isn't officially evil ap like hell's vengeance was, there aren't lot of if any straight up good aligned foes

Always curious to hear about new spells in the toolkit!

Any standouts? General theme?

Just want to sneak in here and thank Jenny Jarzabski for creating such a legendary encounter. I've wanted a direct interaction with Starfinder/Pathfinder's gods in an adventure for so long, and never thought it would happen. I'd been holding off on reading these books because I'm currently a player in a Drift Crisis campaign, but I couldn't help myself any longer and decided to just sneak a little peek. Beautiful stuff. No one tell my GM!

Giddy that this one is coming along so soon! Fingers crossed for a map that shows us the full extent of Holomog - and if we're really lucky, their neighbors.

There is indeed a map!

Really surprised Skull & Shackles hasn't shown up yet. Those would sell like hotcakes. Currently running a 2e conversion, but would super be nice to have the originals in hand. Here's hoping soon!

Keep up hope! Kineticist was originally a class who's very existence was in question in 2e's early lifecycle, but now it's here. I don't think the good folk at Paizo have the heart to keep Imrijka from rejoining her friends on 2e adventures for long!

Does it?

Oxford Languages wrote:

a person who settles a dispute or has ultimate authority in a matter.

Dictionary.com wrote:

1) a person empowered to decide matters at issue; judge; umpire.

2) a person who has the sole or absolute power of judging or determining.

Merriam-Webster wrote:

1: a person with power to decide a dispute.

2: a person or agency whose judgment or opinion is considered authoritative.

It feels fitting to me for a class whose signature ability was literally called "Judgment," which is a concept that exists well outside of law - an Arbiter of Desna is passing judgment when she kills a Nidalese torturer, but she's definitely not following any law other than her vision of justice.

It doesn't hurt that the Arbiter, of Halo fame, was literally a flexible holy warrior sent on secret missions.

Arbiter has definitely been one of my favorite names for the class, although that's also the name of a monster from Bestiary. I'm not sure if that's a problem, or not, but that's my only concern here. Otherwise, I really like Justicar/Justiciar. It's a name that sounds different on the tongue than any other class (we've already got two "In-" classes), and it's already a pretty embedded term in fantasy pop culture (Warhammer 40k, World of Warcraft, Mass Effect, Vampire: The Masquerade, etc) that will immediately evoke a good impression of what the class does, from the name alone. Which is a tricky thing to do when substituting for the word Inquisitor.

A little section of the Book of the Dead for GMs, which included advice for running ghost stories, and several pages of haunts, was one of my unsung favorite portions of Book of the Dead. I create almost as many scenarios as I adapt for my table, so I love having a wide variety of tools to pull from to create interesting architectural and environmental features and unique events tied to them. Haunts themselves are interesting partly because they are a place where the Ethereal Plane and Material Plane have overlapped a little, changing the way the latter looks, behaves and feels. I'd like for Rage of Elements to approach the planes in a similar fashion – treat this not only as a book that explores the planes themselves, but also explores how those planes interact with the material world, where most adventuring parties are going to be adventuring. I'd like to see new, interesting hazards with elements behaving in weird ways, modular tools for designing memorable elemental puzzles and trials in dungeon rooms, and advice for creating unique elemental environments (which should probably be different from strictly natural environments).

I'm a sucker for old RPG style element-themed dungeons and temples and levels and the like. So, much as I'm excited to explore the planes themselves again, I hope we get some GM-facing material for use on Golarion itself. We've visited the elemental planes twice already (in Planes of Power and Planar Adventures), and I think this would be a fun new way to approach the subject again, that hasn't been explored as much.

Catching up on threads today, and just noticed one of my favorite games ever got namedropped in this thread! Ah, Paper Mario. Such good times we had, or are having. Was just replaying that game a couple months ago. I will never in a million years retire my Gamecube.

Tian Xia's got really cool factions! Lots of ones listed in the Dragon Empire Gazetteer, actually. The Zo are like Free Captains with a little spookier reputation (primarily composed of exiles from Minata), Kusari-Gama are a secret society with dojos across Golarion perfecting the art of combat to prepare for some cryptic, apocalyptic war occurring sometime in the future, the Lantern Lodge is basically a Pathfinder Society (independent from it, although the two have a good relationship) devoted to preserving history, the Shattered Lotus wants to bring back Lung Wa, the Order of the Black Daimyo are a malevolent mercenary group devoted to the teachings of General Susumu, and the Way of Kirin was a powerful organization in Imperial Lung Wa that nearly collapsed with it, but is trying to rebuild itself, in the hopes of fostering equitable and prosperous trade between every nation, and counteracting harm done by corrupt states. There's also a weird human supremacist group devoted to eradicating monsterkind from the world, and subjugating any other non-humans.

I think the Way of Kirin is supposed to be in Dark Archive, actually. In any case, excited to learn more about these organizations.

I think you might be misunderstanding something. The universe of the Golarion setting is not a "world of the gods" any more than it is a "world of spirits" or a "world of mortals" or whatever someone might think off. Most of the gods are off in their corner of the universe doing their own things just as much as the mortal are in theirs doing the same thing. If you are calling the various elemental, alignment, and other miscellaneous planes "divine realms" you are using the wrong term.

The various planes are not "divine realms". Divine realms are effectively demiplanes and sections of other planes that specific gods either created or took for themselves. They are hardly relevant to most people or purposes.

As for the "theistic religions dominate the narrative", you literally listed a bunch of religions that are not "theistic" all of which have a decently large part of the game. Which btw God Callers are theistic they just worship eidolons...

I'm aware that there's a distinction between "divine realms" and the planes, and in retrospect my post does appear to have used those two things a little interchangeably, which was clumsy on my part. The planes are distinct from the machinations of the gods, but they are also distinct from the Material Plane – an utterly different reality – which makes things tricky sometimes when trying to adapt nontheistic philosophies which would otherwise benefit greatly from these planes, like the Ethereal Plane or Dimension of Dreams. Pathfinder's cosmology is, based on the way I've read it, a fairly tight narrative, which makes it great for running planar adventures. At the same time, it's restrictive in other ways. Take this section from Planar Adventures, emphasis mine:

The way this passage is packaged, different philosophical takes on death and spiritual existence seem like, at best, aberrant methods of conforming to Pharasma's divine order, and at worst, artificial products of passion and fervent belief that are real only insofar as their practicioner believes them to be real, and whithers the more that soul becomes detached from their former life in the Material Plane. Sangpotshi is a philosophy that "is separate from the faiths of the gods and the facets of multiversal morality," yet still must account for and reconcile with Pharasma's cosmological order in the section describing it in Gods & Magic.

This clearly isn't intended to be the complete picture, as there are aspects of Golarion's cosmological world that exist outside of Pharasma's divine order, like the Monad or Manasaputras. People don't have to be loyal to good-aligned divinities to be good in Golarion, reincarnation is a legitimized expression of the cycle of souls, and the very way Pharasma created the worlds is depicted in such a fashion that they nearly formed themselves, granting the cosmos natural agency in a fashion that was apparently antithetical to the way the previous reality she belonged to worked (Concordance of Rivals). There is clearly no (explicit) supreme divine order. But the way the Material Plane is sort of treated, best as I can understand it, as this vassal state of reality, a temporary processing location to divvy out souls between distinct planar interests, which kind of undermines narratives that see the natural world itself as the locus of cosmic order.

I'm not saying I want anything retconned about Pathfinder's cosmology. Just repackage it maybe. Example. Make this: "Yet for some, these beliefs are strong enough to temporarily divert their travels upon the River of Souls. Fixated on some aspect of life, such souls become temporarily stuck near the Material Plane. But time weighs upon all souls. As passions and ties to the Material World dull, most of these souls eventually slip away to join the River of Souls."

Into this: "Yet for many, their bonds within the Material Plane are strong enough to chart a different course through the River of Souls, the silver stream delivering them back to the Material Plane, to the place where they belong. In time, some of these souls seek out a final resting place in Pharasma's court."

Something like that. Something that treats the Material Plane (the Inner Sphere itself, really) as a distinct, independent order unto itself, and a final destination for many souls, like any aligned plane beyond. Again, it kind of arguably functionally works that way already, but it would be nice to present it as such, in a more obvious fashion.

As for Sarkorian God Callers – that's kind of tangential so I'm going to try to be brief here – I'm not sure God Callers are necessarily theistic? At least in the same way theism is usually practiced. Like, I got the impression most Sarkorian "gods" are categorized as such only in the capacity that Shinto kami are sometimes represented as "gods" by outsiders, while the term itself is a bit of a misnomer that misrepresent the fundamental nature of many of them. In the sample summoner we got in Secrets of Magic – "Your eidolon is a god born of the land's life force" – I doubt the intent here was that the player would literally summon a god to fight for them. Indeed, in the Player's Companion "Faiths and Philosophies, Sarkorian God Calling religion was actually described in the "Fallen & False Deities" section, written thusly:

The issue is complicated by the fact that there are, literally, Sarkorian gods in the conventional sense described in Gods & Magic. Yet this same book, when referring to these creatures in a broad sense, described them as "unusual and unique beings...typically referred to as gods by those who revere them." There doesn't seem to be an explicit answer to the question: "are the "gods" of Sarkorian God Calling technically gods the way Pathfinder traditionally categorizes them?" The compromise I've personally been using is that the term "god" itself is more of a misnomer in translation, representing a complex issue in Sarkorian faith. Some Sarkorian eidolons are indeed gods in the conventional sense, but not all. PC God Callers don't literally summon gods to fight for them.

Is there a “spirit world” in Pathfinder? Spirit Guides, Kami, and Hantu all seem to be from the Material Plane.

Maybe? This was actually one of the reasons I wanted Juju and the Wendo to make a return in some form to Pathfinder (obviously with a big facelift and appropriate writers). It seemed like it actually suggested something of a "spirit world" in a more conventional sense. From Serpent's Skull:

Maybe this is just another way of referring to the Ethereal Plane? In either case, it'd be nice if 2e did a little remodeling for that one, as well. Nothing major, but its status as a transitive plane makes it a bit more flexible, seeing how it overlaps and seems to exist parallel to the Material plane. It'd be cool if the Ethereal Plane's very categorization as a "plane" could be blurred a little, to grant it a stronger connection to the material world and nature itself. Fun as Pathfinder's gods and divine realms are, I don't like how theistic religions kind of dominate the narrative, with everything else feeling like it exists subserviently to a pantheon of gods' cosmic design. It'd be nice if the world were presented in such a way to make a stronger case for religions like Shamanism, the Green Faith, God Callers, Shoanti Animism, etc. Have them exist not as "other philosophies that exist under this world of gods," but as valid truths exposing different facets of cosmos's inner workings, as powerful and true in their own way as anything of divine origin.

Having the ontological nature of Golarion be a little more mysterious would, I think, be a good thing, that would open up the world up to more kinds of stories, like Firesoul, which was a book I very much enjoyed. Would also make Rahadoum's place in the world all the more interesting, and even some of the other deities, like Urgathoa or Gozreh – one who's very existence is a challenge to the gods' own cosmic design, and the other who seemingly exists as a manifestation of the natural world itself ("A timeless entity birthed from the first wind to stir the vast oceans...").

The pieces are all already there, I think, and it seems like there's already been some shifts in this direction. Maybe it was even intended to be like this all along, and the gods' rule being the ultimate authority in Golarion's cosmos is more a misconception than anything else. I'd just love to see them go all the way with elevating nontheistic philosophies to a place of validity and importance, especially with a Shaman class.

“Jatembe, this is not your river,” the spider whispered. “Your lot is to spiral down the silver flow and disappear.”

But even in the days after sky joined earth, Jatembe was already old and wise. He deduced the secret of souls. “But the river flows from me, and I flow in the river. How can I intrude on what I make, and on what has made me?”

The spider was surprised. She cocked her head, listening to someone secret, and nodded. “The Lady agrees. Seek your Understanding on her river.” When Jatembe looked down, his chest was no longer a wellspring, and he was already riding Bunta among the silver currents.

We're not irrelevant, we just don't care.

It's a great book mind you, but I could care less about secret messages or hidden symbols.

Speak for yourself! I fall hard for stuff like this. :p Alas, I don't have my pdf yet, and Reddit already has everything compiled in one place, so it's easier to talk about it there. Also, IRL has been crazy lately. But this entire ongoing mystery for the community is such a brilliant thing, tying Paizo's awesome community together to a lore-related event. Reminds me of the fun I had trying to decode all those online puzzles leading up to Nolan Batman movies. I love this so much, and hope more of the like is down the pipeline.

Dang, I missed this til now, quite curious to see what we get in this.

Any way we could get a listing of the areas in this please?

Thanks

Tom

I was just skipping back to this page to rave on this set and ask a question. Will answer this while I'm at it. This set is gorgeous, went a little more fantastical in general with the aesthetic. To Paizo: is there an arctic set or Wilderness expansion coming sometime soon? Both this set and Campsites have support for arctic locations, but we don't have any base tiles depicting that kind of biome yet. Snowy regions were conspicuously absent in Wilderness (though that box was already pretty jam-packed as it was). Have some Saga Lands locations I want to take the party that could use some arctic tiles.

The set includes several 3x3 tile villainous locates, which seem to interact with previous sets, and include:

An eee-vil castle with violet carpets, incense burners, side chambers, and an alter on an elevated area. Really fun look, reminded me of Hyrule Castle anytime Ganon's redecorated it. Looks like it can be easily expanded with the Fortress set.

A ritual site atop a hill in a dense, winding forest. Big horns sticking out of the ground around an artistic, stone monolith. Lots of bones and a bloody ritual bowl surround it.

A, like, actual dungeon. No, seriously. Jail cells and armory and place to sneak by bored guards playing cards and the like. Brilliant.

A subterranean serpentfolk lair with an ethereally emerald hue. A few side rooms and a great central hall, with a great, golden idol of a cobra leering atop a dais at the end of the room.

A bandit fort constructed with wooden pallisades, standing atop a rugged hill. A small path leads up to the gate. A few structures inside. Really want to play a siege scenario with this thing.

A graveyard with several mausoleums, borrowing Haunted Woodlands's general "everything is dead and various shades of brown" aesthetic.

A wizard's tower, polished marble aesthetic, surrounded by a colorful, briary orchard. The site is fenced in with a magical barrier, and has four stories total.

An arctic area with several leathery tents, kinda look like they'd belong in Realm of the Mammoth Lords.

I am so thrilled with this kickstarter. When I first got into ttrpg a few years ago, one of the first things I wanted to do was play Pokemon using 5e rules. I'd done a bit of online roleplaying as a kid on an old pokemon fan forum back in the day, which essentially introduced me to the hobby (back when Satanic panic was in full swing, oh the stories I could tell). In any case, while there are some cool homebrew systems out there, I'd never found anything that got me excited. Up until freaking Mark Seifter's mad genius came in to save the day.

I'm in love with the system described so far, minimizing GM workload and player bookkeeping by simplifying the Eldamon catching system and creating an entire sidegame for Eldamon battles. The Eldamon themselves look incredibly fantastical and cute/cool, oozing with personality, in a way that makes me feel Pokemon nostalgia all over again. Love that unique storytelling style: exploring a world filled with strange and magical beasts – any one of which you can befriend and partner up with – watching your pet grow and evolve alongside you, until they become so ethereally powerful you'd barely recognize them compared to their form when you started. The day my pdf comes in I plan to start up an Eldamon campaign with my group (hopefully about the time current pirate campaign ends). Thanks so much for making the dream happen, Mark! You're my hero.

I just noticed in Alchemy's Discord they are partnering with Paizo to bring out 2e content. Is there anything I've missed regarding this, or anything Paizo can talk about, at this time?

Alchemy's been a platform that I've been really excited about ever since it appeared. Atmosphere is everything for my home games, and I take great delight dressing up a room for the occasion: scented candles, drooping greenery, artsy tapestries, surround music and ambience, dynamic lighting, even a projector I use to push visuals onto the walls occasionally. Along with any relevant snacks/brews for reveling in the occasion.

So the chance to combine a couple more of these distinct elements has me positively giddy. Paizo produces my favorite art and scenery in the biz, and getting the chance to watch these worlds come to life in Alchemy's immersive, cinematic fashion is going send me soaring over the moon. Seriously, I will go all out on these things.

Thanks for making this happen, Paizo!

It is the Humble Bundle. Tough crowd. I think making $400 of material more accessible is something to love. Fans seem to agree. But I am confident the toughest crowd will like what we have planned in the months and years to come. Adventures Ahead.

My first thought when seeing that bundle was "Holy Iomedae, that is an incredible deal! And for charity, no less." Tian Xia or Arcadia announcements are always welcome, but I'm spiffing excited at the opportunity for Mwangi adventures to reach more and more people. Hopefully we'll get to return to the Magaambya before too long. Best of fortune to ya'll, and hope this thing is wildly successful in elevating people's lives. Mwangi Expanse/Strength of Thousands and its creators deserve a very long afterglow in social, masterpiece of a release that the whole shebang was. Great stuff as always!

I agree it's pretty bad for a month to pass before a customer hears a response, but let's also remember to keep focused and keep criticism pointed in the right direction. If Paizo's upped the wages of CS department, it stands to reason they might be working with a little less than they were before. New team is pretty inexperienced and trying to fill the shoes of veritable giants. It's also Gencon season. The work they've got on their plates...I don’t envy them for it. Hope ya'll are taking care of yourselves and getting enough sleep. Aaron Shanks is also a guy I can't rave on enough. His peerless enthusiasm puts a smile on my face any time of the day.

That said, I think criticisms directed at the Director of Community are pretty fair (at least with the information I'm working with). Tonya, you fired Sara Marie. I will never understand that decision (and frankly, I doubt I want to), but when you remove a person from their livelihood, you can't just leave their responsibilities also hanging in the air. As the Director of Community...this your turf. You wanted it. Get it done. Communication's a pretty crucial part of any successful business, especially when that very success is muchly owed to the business's reputation for community engagement in the first place.

I know I'm not telling you anything you haven't heard already, but please. People are depending on you, especially your fellows at Paizo. Learn from your mistakes. Show people you're working toward change and face these problems head on. This is your opportunity to grow.

With respect.

Honestly, it would be nice for those of us still waiting for July subs if they could just combine those with our August packages. Not eager to pay shipping twice for books moving out at basically the same time. Not sure how easy that would be on the technical side though.

I'd like to see support for Burn as well. The OG Kineticist's mechanical concept was really cool, and I'm eager to see it make a return, in whatever form it needs to (preferably with some optional build material for this class). There are stories I'd like to tell with it, that I've considered in the intervening time that's passed since earlier discussions. That said, really excited by the class I'm seeing here. Going to try to playtest it next session I GM. Looking forward to good times with this thing!

Do you think when our watch is over, the others will still remember us?

Not if we're given the honor of being the very last of the watch left standing.

Arise, arise, Page Refreshers of the Watch! Packing peanuts shall be shaken, cardboard shall be splintered, a box cutter-day, a Fri-day, ere the sun rises! Watch now, watch now! Watch for the 22nd, and the shipping cycle's ending!

Huzzah! Hopefully there will be many more Owlcat and Paizo collaborations in future. Owlcat's masterful at bringing the world of Pathfinder to life in meaningful, beautiful ways. Some special people in that studio.

I'd kind of like to see two starter towns: one inside the Successor States, and another one more remote from them, so your character can come from a place somewhat untouched by the big conflict. Minkai is probably the best candidate there, or maybe Xa Hoi or Hongal. In the former's case, having an actual Pallet Town simulacrum transplanted into Pathfinder's setting would be such a fun thing, especially with Seifter's Eldamon on the horizon.

Adding my disappointment regarding dropping the pawns lines. I really enjoy using these. Literally was putting a box of them in my cart when I noticed this blog post. Hope that they comeback or some other affordable cost-effective option appears later.

Going to express some additional hope pawns will come back someday. Also, in the meantime, really think Paizo should consider adding the Gamemastery Guide NPC Collection and Player Character Collection pawns to the list of stock they're maintaining. Those are also kind of important for new GMs, I think. I've gotten so much value out of those pawns at my table. Watching my players' eyes sparkle as flip through and decide which illustration best matches their character. Wouldn't want people to miss out on these jewels.

CS has given the warehouse team the thumbs up to begin shipping sub orders.

I'm confused. People were receiving pdfs yesterday — didn't subs already start shipping? Also, starting up a Starfinder Adventures subscription bumped Redshift Rally to my sidecart. Haven't received a reply to my email about it yet, which is no problem, but if I could get that book included in my package before it ships, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

Just so I am clear, if using 2e rules all you need is the AP and companion guide correct? The bestiaries are for 1e PF and 5e D and D.

Seems that way, based on everything I've read. 1e and 5e Bestiarys contain statblocks for companions, important NPCs, and special monsters those systems don't have statblocks for, making the adventure easier to convert. I don't think Companion Guide is necessary, although it seems like it adds a lot of flavor to the adventure, with deep NPC dives (w/ accompanying loyalty quests), expanded kingdom management rules, fun campfire and tavern side activities, rules for things like cooking and weather hazards, etc. Not essential, but when you run the adventure, it's really nice to have, seems like! I love running travel adventures myself, so seems like there's a lot in there for me to pillage for my own campaigns. Also interested to see how easy it would be to scale kingdom management rules down for something smaller, like running a crew or caravan.

If any devs in the know are looking at this, a few store pages for Companion Guide are only mentioning support for about 6-7 companions in this book. I know the crowdfunding stretch goals only unlocked side missions for a few companions, but will the rest of the Owlcat companions still be covered in any way? Octavia and Regongar were my favorite Kingmaker companions, and I was intrigued to see what a 2e Kineticist statblock looked like, in Kaessi's case. Jaethal's Inquisitor, too.

For those interested, just spotted a full slate of preorders on Gamenerdz, with a target release date of Oct 26, 2022.

The crowdfunding page at gameontabletop updated yesterday letting everyone know the prints were being delivered to Paizo's warehouse now. Exciting stuff! Wonder when the store page will go up. Eager to preorder this thing and read more about what's in the Companion Guide, specifically how much content in there will be useful for any campaign.

I was unfortunately unable to pick this up on free rpg day. Will this be available in print again?

Okay, I’ll give this a shot. This one’ll be weird. Full disclosure, I’m pretty relaxed on rules as a GM, being the most experienced tabletop gamer at my table (I only got seriously involved in tabletop after Starfinder, and only one of my players had played a ttrpg before I started with them). So I don’t have much of any experience actually creating content. So consider this all conceptual. Hope it’s a fun read anyhow. So here’s my idea.

The Spellbound

The basic thrust of this class is that you are a martial, monstrous character afflicted by a curse of some sort, that may make you a vicious predator, stalking your prey, or an unlikely guardian, bound to protect people by some strange terms in your enchantment. Your monstrous nature may be readily apparent, or only glimpsed at rare moments, but you carry your curse and remnants of your very lair with you, with your party. You walk in two worlds. The real one – and one transformed by your curse, ever encroaching upon the edge of your senses.

In combat, you fight in a manner not dissimilar to a haunt. The same magic that gave you your mysterious nature is tied to something concrete — like a lair, or an idol, or a foreboding prophecy — called a Source. You may find this Source a melancholy refuge infused with sentimental memories, or a relic of accursed magic you seek to destroy, or a very specific moment in time you are making pilgrimage to throughout your journey. Whatever it is, your spiritual connection to this Source is strong enough to warp the very landscape around you in subtle ways, where unwitting strangers may glimpse your true nature, and stumble down the rabbit hole. These strangers, called your Guests, you may regard as a welcome visitor into your home, or perhaps an unwelcome interloper. Regardless, while they are under the influence of your place of power — your Dominion — you exert tremendous power over their fate. But then, so do they, over yours. In your place of power, you are at your most vulnerable. Inside your own familiar home, even you can no longer hide from your own mortal weakness, and your hubris.

Inspirations for this class are characters like the Beast from Beauty and the Beast, Nie Lang from The Dragon Pearl, La Llorona, Inuyasha, Medusa, or Gollum. This character has partially lost their humanity, struggling against their monstrous transformation, and a fatal flaw or weakness that may have been the origin of this curse. It might be this monstrous adventurer's design to destroy the magic that grants them their power, or to master it, or even to let the curse finish its work on them and complete their monstrous transformation. They may use their power to serve as a benign guardian, watching over the most vulnerable in their company. Or they may use their power to become a terrifying predator, luring helpless victims into shadows to prey upon them at their most vulnerable. Whatever your intentions, this class is for all those players whose singular desire is that they just really, really want to play as a monster, instead of a boring ole humanoid. This class should functionally be pretty modular: about 2/3 martial and 1/3 support, with better than average mobility and some weird, supernatural utility elements. Narratively, it’s all about creating a personal mythology revolving around your curse, and your efforts to overcome or embrace it.

Encouraged class builds could include a monster that stalks and antagonizes/protects their guest from the shadows, a DPR-mauler that keeps their guest close while receiving the full benefits from their Dominion, or maybe even being this inspiring/antagonizing, ethereal presence that uses their feat budget to buy extra reactions that push checks in their party's favor — at the expense of abilities that further empower their Dominion. As for what Dominion is, that’s this class’s big battle mechanic.