Rikaya Softclaw's page

I'm glad that Paizo is doing well and releasing lots of books; I love that there's so much lore being released to flesh out the setting and its peoples.

Thank you to all involved, and I look forward to your future releases!

I predict that we'll get the Fiend Keeper Archetype in the Mwangi Expanse book. Other than a Grippli-focused book (seems unlikely) it seems like that would be the best place to put the Archetype.

4 I admit to not being an expert, but what makes you think they don't have souls? Does it say that somewhere?

From the Ancestry Guide: "Leshy spirits are beings of pure vital essence without any of the otherworldly quintessence known as spiritual essence." Also, "Leshys value their lives, but they don’t hold the same fear of death that plagues other ancestries; they know that once their bodies fall, their spirits will return to the natural world." Also, "Leshys who lose their physical form incorporate the changes they experienced in life into their spirit. Even though a leshy’s spirit isn’t the same as the soul of many ancestries, resurrection magic can still restore it to their most recent body. Should the ritual fail, it’s usually because a leshy has shed too many of their memories and attachments, rather than due to Pharasma’s judgment."

1) Approximately when did Leshies start to be created on Golarion? During the Age of Serpents? After Earthfall?
2) What's Leshy anatomy like? Do they have bones? Joints? Organs? Do they breathe in carbon dioxide and move it to all of their cells with a circulatory system? If they're wounded, what do they bleed? How baffled would somebody who's only worked on mammals feel upon trying to heal a Leshy's wounds?
3) Where do Nature Spirits come from, and what do they do when they aren't incarnated as Leshies (or Green Men)?
4) Are deities in general disinclined to grant them power since they have no "soul" that will go to them after death? Are they unable to sign Infernal Contracts?
5) From Leshy Familiar flavour we know that Nature Spirits vary considerably in power. Is this fixed, or can a Nature Spirit that can only animate a Familiar body eventually grow to animate the most powerful Leshy bodies?
6) What are the Rituals like to incarnate Leshies? The costs one must pay are probably known, but is it notably difficult to actually manage this?
7) If you wanted to talk to a Leshy to custom-build them a body to suit them, how would you achieve this?
8) If a Leshy was targeted with a Reincarnate Ritual, would they only become a plant creature of some sort? Or could they become a soulless Human or other Ancestry and then go back to being a Nature Spirit upon death?

Thank you for your time and consideration!

IMO, while Battle Medicine isn't magical it is superhuman. It is an ability well-beyond what can be achieved in our world, and that's fine. I'd say that they're applying medicine that helps them draw in positive/negative energy to heal themselves with, or something along those lines; they were badly wounded, now they're notably less-wounded.

As for the one-day limitation for that particular medic/patient pairing: Each medic's medicine uses somewhat different ingredients, and using too much of the same type of medicine has negative health consequences that outweigh the positives, so they refuse to do so. (As for why a medic can only have a single type of medicine... one of the ingredients is their own superhuman energies, and these energies work with different ingredients better; they cannot prepare two different types effectively, nor can somebody else apply their medicines properly because the energy signatures conflict)

So, for roleplaying it.. medic applies a poultice, or has them drink some liquid, or they slap on a bandage... and then the wounds close up significantly. Not perfectly, even if they're brought to full hit points they're still notably damaged, but brought up to mostly-full functionality.

What I really don't like, and, can't understand at all, is why they decided to put so many choices only available by level 1.

Let's take a look at one of the most classic example, which is the human with tiefling heritage.

At lvl 1 the player is literally forced to choose between

- dark vision
- a lineage
- form of the fiend

Since they are all feats you can only choose during your character creation (lvl1).

So it's not possible to see a tiefling with a specific lineage but also dark vision, or some fiendish features.

But it's the same if you instead decide to to with fiendish features or even a lineage.

Ancestry feats are nice for what concerns progression, but there should be some rule to allow players to make characters with many lvl 1 feats ( probably removing the lvl 1 requirement could help, but I'd prefer something better).

I believe this is a case of "characters with all of those abilities at level one exist, but are outside the intended power level of the game so you cannot select them without GM permission" combined with "it makes negative sense to pick up such abilities after level 1; they should have been born with them".

So, similarly to playing a dragon, it's possible, but you need special permission due to it changing the expected power level.

Rysky wrote:

PossibleCabbage wrote:

If you wanted to do like a PG-13 Teddy Krueger thing, you would have the big bad be someone below the "I'm a demigod"

We actually have a Freddy Kreuger expy (though he is a demigod), The Nightripper.

"There he maintained the memories of his former life. His retention of his memories attracted Lamashtu's attention, and he was transformed from larva to a nascent demon lord."

What does "forget" mean?

If by forget they mean "erase, like a rotary hard drive" then there are literally zero consequences for signing that Asmodean contract.

No consequences to the signer beyond guilt for what they've unleashed upon others and people who find out treating them differently, but plenty of consequences to your spiritual child and to the multiverse in general.

The entire "erase personality and memories" deal of Pharasma's is part of why I think she's the worst person in the entire setting by a large margin.

As for what I'd want to see in an AP: A story where the accomplishments of the protagonists, while important, are just a small piece of the larger picture of the story being told in it. The protagonists are important, possibly even vital, to the success... but not even remotely close to sufficient, and there are plenty of other heroes both on-page and off who're contributing substantially.

Yes, the ideas and opinions are all appreciated. :) Thanks, everyone.

IMO, out-of-character strategizing is perfectly fine for a few reasons. One of them is that you're trying to roleplay characters who're generally a lot smarter, more experienced, and adept at teamwork than the players actually are. Unless they actually talk things out amongst each other their performance can drop way below what it should realistically be. Combine that with the players often having a lot less information than the characters do, such as body language of their companions, and it becomes even more important.

People who're making the game unfun for the others, though, are a completely separate issue and absolutely a big problem. I hope it's resolved well!

Does it make sense with in-universe logic for a leshy to be a sorcerer? If yes, what would be the source of their bloodline? Would it be from them being a nature spirit? An unusual circumstance from their body, such as it being from plant matter grown in the Abyss? An unusual circumstance from the ritualist who bound body and spirit together, such as them being a dragon?

Thank you for your time and consideration!