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Here Be Dragons Games has launched a Kickstarter for Monte Cook's Diamond Throne setting for the Cypher system.

The Diamond Throne is the setting that first got me actually interested in gaming back in 2003, so of course I've already backed the kickstarter. I've not had any actual play experience with the Cypher system, but I own and have read some other materials for it, and my group has bandied about trying it for several years. While I have some concerns about whether the things I love about the AE rules and setting will be mechanically implemented in a more rules-light system, I have some hopes that it will turn out well. This may also be the tipping point which leads to my gaming group finally trying Cypher after years of putting it on the back burner. I'm looking forward to playtesting it when the materials become available.

There's been some hints that if this Kickstarter does well enough, they might consider doing versions for other systems (5e) down the line. If enough people express interest, maybe they might consider a PF version?

Anyone else interested in more Diamond Throne content?

Despite not making an appearance in Bestiary 1, Pathfinder products have specifically referenced the leonal, avoral and vulpinal agathions. I assume that these three at least will probably feature in Bestiary 2, but I wonder if this is meant to be an exclusive list, or if there are other types of agathion planned for inclusion in the Pathfinder rules?

While 3.5 had the cervidal, lupinal, equinal, ursinal and musteval, none of these creatures were made open content. This presents something of a problem for anyone trying to design new OGL agathions as replacements, especially since there is an obvious naming scheme at work. After all, what do you call a bear agathion but an ursinal? An ursal? Is that different enough to avoid legal issues? Would it be too confusing to call them vanara, since from what I can tell, the vanara of Hindu mythology could have either bear or monkey heads? Or are vanara just not really appropriate at neutral good outsiders thematically?

So I guess the question is...are there other kind of agathions we might expect to see from Paizo, and what kinds of animals would they resemble? My personal preference would be to see one for each of the animal themed buff spells (leonal= cat's grace, avoral= owl's wisdom and eagle's splendor, vulpinal= fox's cunning, ursal= bear's endurance, bovinal= bull's strength). I might suggest making the "bear" agathion a panda, but the scientific name for pandas, Ailuropoda means "cat foot", which could cause confusion. Not to mention the issues this might cause since Pathfinder books are printed in China, which has some strict policies on the depiction of pandas or panda-like creatures in the media, if I recall correctly.

So to my fellow gamers, what kind of agathions would you like to see, and what should they be called?

To the Paizo staff, if you have the time and inclination, what kinds of agathions can we expect?

So has anyone actually run this scenario? Did anyone actually like it?
Despite being out for six months, this adventure hasn't generated it's own discussion topic, and every review I have seen of it has been abysmal. Is it really that bad, or are the reviewers just expecting it to be more than it set out to be, a straight-up dungeon crawl that could be completed in four hours?

I don't know why it took so long for this to register with me, but I've recently noticed that there are a lot of bugs associated with the Golarion deities. Desna and Urgathoa outright use insects as their holy symbols, Calistria has a thing for wasps, Achaekek is a mantis, and Rovagug's associations with insects and arachnids are made quite explicit during Legacy of Fire.

I can think of various aesthetic and philosophical reasons for using insects as holy symbols, but I fear I am reading too much into it, and was curious if there was a complex explanation or simply that somone on the Paizo staff really likes bugs.

So I have to ask, is all this entomological idolatry an intentional design decision? Is there a particular Paizo employee pushing some insidious insectile agenda? Is this just a relic of James Jacobs' Baria setting being brought forward into Golarion? Inquiring minds (and mindless vermin alike) want to know!

Robert "Content To Wait For The Answer In Due Time" Ranting