Selk's page

Because the magic mechanics presented in the sourcebooks are metatextual, designed to facilitate encounter design, not to explain how magic fundamentally works. They aren't the big 'R' Rules and Rites of magic as they exist in the setting, the deeper mysteries, the techniques and philosophies that wizards actually teach each other. Most of that is handwaved as "learning the arcane arts", since D&D has a scatological treatment of magic.

What the system doesn't convey - but which is strongly implied in the setting - is that magic is dangerous, volatile, endlessly enigmatic and seemingly hungry to make fools of those who think they are its master. It's not a tool or an appliance, it's a beast that can be coddled and tricked, but is never truly tamed.

Wizards are taught to respect and fear it, and to treat the proliferation of its secrets as an exercise in catastrophe control. They select apprentices and accept students carefully, weighing their ambition and morals alongside their aptitude. Wizard academies exist to educate, but they also serve to monitor and control, to secret away dangerous spellbooks, to keep war mages loyal to the crown, to preserve an air of rarity, and to guide necromancers away from being the next Adventure Path villain. A free exchange of magical learning would start an arms race, a collapse of sovereignty – or just summon a world eater – that no sane, well-educated wizard wants.

What the Uber-Trapfinder needs is the Moriarity of trap making - some bygone inventor/genius who left clues among his inventions that lead to the location of his ultimate Rube Goldberg style trap. Only by successfully disarming an invention does it reveal its clue, otherwise it's destroyed in the triggering. His master trap is so large, and so complicated, that some parts of it must be triggered, and other parts disarmed, for the trapfinder to progress through it.

This idea might entirely sidetrack your campaign. So I suggest devising a trap that, by disarming it, it triggers the real trap further in the dungeon. The trapfinder successfully pulls out the right gear and bends back the needles of, say, a door trap, just to hear a heavy thud and an ominous scraping further down the tunnels. In short, don't let him see the entire device, just a piece of it, so he's unsure as to its true purpose and doesn't know if disarming it is actually the best option.

Tacticslion, you don't need anyone's permission to unload. Go ahead. I have ideas myself, but I'm out with friends right now - and a handful of drinks in - so my input won't amount to much.

D&D makes a mountain of assumptions w/o truly exploring the implications, Paizo included. Anything that might add depth, and a writer's consideration, is welcome. I'm sorry if that makes it sound like Paizo's writers aren't thorough, but their job is to design the 'rides'. It's us, the players, who give them cohesion and meaning.

Justice Ironbriar, With Queen Ileosa being a close second.

I think a lot of DMs recognize the wasted potential of Ironbriar as written in RotRL and have used him as a more nefarious and politically cunning opponent. I did, and he made for an awesome foil, constantly forcing the PCs to doubt their motives, their allies and the depths of the conspiracy in Magnimar.

He and Ileosa are the best kinds of villains, powerful and well connected in ways that make the PCs seem like dangerous vigilantes at best, degenerate murders at worst, if they treat them like hack n' slack enemies.

You are not alone. I consider clothing, and how it reflects morals, customs, and the passage of time, to be extremely important when running my campaigns. One of the key differences between an immersive fantasy movie and a cheesy one is the production design and costume treatment. It has to be cohesive, detailed, thoughtful and respectful of the material - otherwise it's just a cosplay in a 'Medievaltown' back lot. The type of movies they used to churn out in the 70's and 80's. As DM my job is communicate the former as a part of my descriptive lexicon. I try not to obsess about it at the table, as I doubt my players care about corsets and baldrics, but I drop a mention here and there that textures the experience.

I've picked at Paizo's art direction in past posts, specifically on the matter of costume design ("Hey look, 10,000 years have passed and Karzoug's still in fashion!"), but it's an unfair criticism. You can't curate historically considerate costumes in a fantasy setting while drawing from a wide pool of artists - and also keep a publishing schedule.

We, however, have a lot more room to obsess on the forums. It might be just you and I, Witchy, but I'd be happy to go into further detail on what treatments I've given the cultures of Golarion to make them more 'real'. For example, my players can spot the differences between Magnimaran, Korvosan, Westcrown and Egorian Chelaxians by a glance.

This is an interesting topic, because it takes an editorial knot - as mentioned by James Jacobs - and turns it into an opportunity to expand the setting's theological concepts beyond the limiting system of alignment. This paradox (thanks OP!) makes Serenrae more nuanced and real, like a god one could imagine in literature, more than most Golarian gods, who fit neatly into their binary slots. It's hard to reconcile but it's pretty cool.

A few reasons Serenrae might tolerate slavery:

1. The enslavement of some of her faithful is the karmic balance Serenrae must endure for her defeat of Rovagug. Such a beast can never be bested by force or will alone: Serenrae had to pay for his imprisonment. She and her most enlightened followers struggle with the burden of this cost. This is my favorite theory.

2. It's a test for her followers. Humanity must free itself of the evils of slavery, not the gods, not if humans are to a gain the enlightenment Serenrae wishes for them. She has made clear in her lessons and visitations what she expects, but she will not remove her blessing from followers who seem to be lost. She bides her time, waiting to see if they can find their way on their own. It's crucial to her that her followers find their own light.

3. There is a biblical reckoning coming , a point at which Serenrae will anoint her most devoted followers and use them to lead all the slaves out of the accursed lands. She will proclaim the time for redemption to be over, and she will lay waste. Some of her clerics have read the portents and know this time it soon.

Yup yup.

Just a note. I have no control over anything but my little bit which doesn't relate to anything that gets published. This is me participating as someone who really likes our stuff, but I think some better, more targeted criticism would likely find their way to others ears.

The OP specifically mentioned that his idea of male beauty was quite different from what has been presented so far. And others have spoken in various ways on that. I think it would be more productive to say something like, "I want to see men with larger shoulders" for example than just "I think we should have more beefcake." I don't want to diminish that point, but we've already got a thread dedica
ted to that thanks to Deadmanwalking. What specifically do you think we're missing for your personal gaze.

I'm typing this on my phone so forgive the goofs. The primary thing that's required isn't broader shoulders or a six pack. What's needed is a genuine, open, non smarmy smile. Something that communicates a receptive, fun, man that's not saddled with the subtext that he's sexually competing with the author or the artist. They tend to undermine men (making them jerks or ugly brutes) to reinforce the male, PC, nice guy angle. The male npcs can be handsome, decent people without being secetly suspicious.

Short version: depict a handsome young man who is morallyy good and doesn't have a secret shame or ulterior motive.

Hmmmm. In this regard, I'm genuinely interested to hear what specifically(instead of the less general more good looking men) you would like to see from gay men and straight women gamers who feel like we need more beefcake and how those two groups may differ and whether there might something that gay

women or straight men think we are missing in that regard as well?

Your art director should note, in the first sentence when describing a male character that they are attractive. When soliciting art from (mostly) straight male artists they probably default to attractive representations of females unless they're specifically instructed otherwise. With males they probably 'default' to a wider interpretation. Control that.

Scavion, you've framed your argument too neatly, attributing motivations that don't have parallels in the OP's original scenario. Your analogous man has a job that has specific, enforceable authority, racist motivations and desire to harm others. You practically put him in a storm trooper outfit before you itemized your points.

Foul wolf cries foul. Fooooowwl!

I don't consider this evil. It's just very slimy. It's petty corruption that probably does no harm to those involved, but it does damage civic trust, encourage gossip mongering and lays a strong foundation for future compromises that could germinate into true evil. The paladin is right to be concerned: he's got a Ferengi for a party-mate.

That said, morally gray situations like these make for some great roleplay, as long as the players focus their discussions in-game and don't press too hard on the DM to prove them objectively correct. What's more interesting than what the DM says out of game is how the NPCs react when one or two of them discover the enchantment.

I suppose we need a "Mr. Divinity Contest" to determine which male deity of the pathfinder setting gets the blue ribbon and cup :)

I can't see Asmodeous doing great in the talent competition, the judges just aren't going to be excited by the ability to make a contract

I'd split it. For the ideal of physical perfection it would be Abadar. His obsession with the platonic ideal could easily include himself, being the the ultimate specimen of a civilized man. The perfect landlord, husband and citizen.

For something more lustful, romantic and Dionysian, Cayden Cailean could be the unofficial god of cuckolding. It could be a common joke that a woman's, um, 'virtue' is her "little starstone".

The conversation about Golarion's technological development is really interesting (whether it's artificially retarded for sake of setting, or if magic has some profound, if subtle, anti-predictive effects). Something that should be added to this discussion, though, is the influence of predatory monsters and intelligent, evil races. Judging by the APs, the civilized, intellectually curious people of Golarion are constantly menaced by appetites that could destroy regions, if not entire civilizations. We should assume that not all plots and rampages are stopped by heroes - and that many villages, townships and countries succumb to the tides of an extraordinarily dangerous world.

Unlike the real world, where one tribe/kingdom could conquer the other but usually assimilate the people and adapt the technologies, there's no guarantee that the victors have any interest in technology or culture, and may actively wish to scour the land of any seed of (demi)-human endeavor.

Humanity (and the good demihumans) are by no means the apex predators of Golarion, and they do not possess the luxury of uninterrupted technological advancement. They may have been hunted, decimated and driven back many times, to such a degree that their dark ages last much longer than ours.

It's cultural. Modern Western concepts of femininity and masculinity are so ingrained that designing a male god of beauty and earnest love could spark a complicated discussion. There are many classic examples of such gods, but the Golarion setting has a very Western pop-culture fantasy sensibility: big demons, big boobs, big explosions and lots of spiky armor. Paizo's staff is refreshingly game when it comes to sexuality and gender politics, but I don't think their intent with Golarion was to reinvent the genre. And right now that genre is comfortable with goddesses (not gods) of love and beauty.

Put them in a position where others are relying on them to find their courage; i.e. a young boy and girl have been kidnapped, and time is of the essence.

This is a solid suggestion. The characters should feel a sense of obligation and purpose. If the NPCs expect them to be heroes then they'll probably start acting like it. Furthermore, let them experience first hand the cost of cowardice. Don't be afraid to have kidnap victims meet bad ends if the PCs falter, or the villagers massacred by the scary things that live in the forest.

Neither. Both.

This is a classical story seed, one which requires the princesses to seek the council of a High Priestess of Shelyn, who tells them that only a sacred viewing pool atop some far off mountain has the ability to divine peerless beauty.

There's a catch: the pool imprisons peerless beauties for eternity. The only way to escape is to destroy what it covets. Princesses who sacrifice their vanity escape to tell the tale. Princess who don't are never seen again. The High Priestess of Shelyn wears a veil, btw ;)

If they can spin me a good yarn about what their character has been doing 'off camera' to warrant the build, sure, I'll allow it. If I'm going to have some min-maxers in my game, they should damned well be entertaining ones.

From the last (closed) thread to this one, this discussion has become a rhetorical parade. Shadowsoul, please lay out your house rules for magic item availability, either here or in the House Rules boards. If I like them I'll use them. Some other people may do the same. If the rules are thoughful they may become widely accepted, maybe popular enough to be at the forefront some developer's thoughts when writing product. That's really all you can ask for from this thread.

Lay it out. I'm not fond of the current rules, I'm an active DM. I'm all ears (eyes?).

So, in a nutshell you're saying "communication wasn't as good in the old days." Got it.

Well, communication is even better now, so what's your point again?

What I took from LazarX's quote is that our improved communication is actually creating a false sense of dilemma. A lot of us (I'll include myself in this) are perhaps casting too wide of a net in our quest for consistency in rules. If we need 4000 people to agree with us on rules that are effectively used to adjudicate 6 players, then perhaps our desire for consensus is missing the point. It seems many people want to be proven right here so they can bring this news back to their table, when that matter is better settled at the table.

Lumiere Dawnbringer wrote:

all it takes to be a bandit is to kill something with the motive of looting it's valuables. even if that motive isn't the primary one.

That seems like a rather weak definition. By that rationale police and SWAT members are bandits too.

.
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Example:
There is a shootout with drug dealers. Afterwards, any and all drugs, weapons, money, and vehicles are confiscated.

Problem:
The fact that the police are stopping illegal activities, protecting the community, and cleaning up the mess (to ensure those drugs and weapons don't fall into criminal hands) is apparently unimportant under the definition quoted above.

IMO any definition of "bandit" that can draw no distinction between criminals and law-enforcement isn't a particularly useful definition. Ignoring the disservice to such public servants, the other issue is that such a definition actually impedes communication because it becomes too broad and murky of a term.

That anology doesn't work. Police officers are expected to return the drugs, arms and money to the state for evidence, redistribution or destruction. Police that keep and profit directly from the contraband they recover are cited as examples of corruption or organized criminals, which is just sophisticated banditry.

I just noticed this thread and thought, "Hey LGBT gamers. I'm the G in that!"

One of my regular gaming groups is all gay guys, early 30s to mid 40s (5 of us, sometimes 6). All of us are out and mostly chill. The usual system is Pathfinder. We smoke a little, we drink a little, we play the shit out of D&D. Thought it would be nice to let you know these types of gaming groups do exist (if any of you were wondering and/or feeling isolated. It happens).

I'm partnered, live in the Seattle area. Urban professional by day, brazen geek and dancing freak by night. Hi!

The first female dwarven PC to grace a game set in Golarion was beardless, but she had magnificent sideburns - braided and beaded. All the dwarven ladies from then on rock the 'burns.

Selk wrote:

These are just a few ideas. I'm generally impressed with the Golarion gods but it's difficult to buy them as a pantheon. A good pantheon should act like a hilariously dysfunctional family. For the most part the gods of Golarion are just mildly intolerant neighbors.

The thing is as has been pointed out they were not always in the same v. However over time as lesser gods have been forgotten or replaced these gods have more or less formed to become the modern pantheon. If ya look at the age of some of the nations it's easy to see how the gods spread and overrode the indigenous gods, with the more common regional gods getting spread and lumped with the core pantheon

True, but in the real world this sort of syncretism allows the gods to merge: Astarte, Isis, Aphrodite...smoosh smoosh smoosh. The confusion creates more stories and a richer tapestry. In Golarion gods have inviolable identities. They can inherit portfolios but never aspects or stories. Iomedea and Callistra will never merge in elvish lands, nor will Abadar and Torag be synonymous in Janderhoff.

So, since cultures can merge but gods can't, Golarion is kinda destined to be a land full of hundreds of house gods but no real pantheons.

Probable pantheons.

The Ascended Gods: Aroden (The Dead Father), Iomedae (The Herald), Cayden Cailean (The Fool), Norgorber (The Shadow). All chosen by the Starstone, all examplars of human chutzpah. Think of them as the gods of achievement and Azlant/Taldor ego; the 'can do' gods.

The Varisian Wild: Desna and Lamashtu. Enemy goddesses, but twined theologically. One represents the open road and the starry night, the other represents the dangers found upon and beneath them. The butterfly/cocoon motif of Desna and the cursed childbirth aspect of Lamashtu suggest a gamut of hopes and fears for Varisian mothers. Very matriarchal, very secretive.

The Golden Home: Abadar and Sheylyn. Wealth, beauty, civilization. It's the godly version of a patron/artist relationship, used as an epitome of refinement. After all, who made all those platonic items within The First Vault if not the finest artisans of Golarion? In this version they wouldn't have grand churches in the manner of the Ascended Gods, but would be idols in guildhalls, banks, salons, gardens and epicurean homes. A good Taldor family might publicly worship the Ascended Gods as symbols of valor and industriousness, while privately saving Abadar and Sheylyn for symbols of the good life.

The Dawnflower: Serenrae. Her own deal. Very monotheistic.

Death: Pharasma and Urgathoa. In Golarion the Grim Reaper is a woman. She appears in a dark robe and her face is veiled. When she appears you much watch her very closely, for in her visage will be clues how you will die. The blessed will see an old, careworn woman behind the veil. The unfortunate will see a young, beautiful face but will smell rot, or see her blackened feet or a bleeding wound. Some say death is one woman. Some say she is two.

***

These are just a few ideas. I'm generally impressed with the Golarion gods but it's difficult to buy them as a pantheon. A good pantheon should act like a hilariously dysfunctional family. For the most part the gods of Golarion are just mildly intolerant neighbors.

Title: Lem in a kaiser helmet.

I find the most successful paladin players tend to have real world shades of paladinhood. They're forthright, well liked and respected by the other players at the table, and are given latitude to interpret their character's ethical framework. They're often natural leaders, and their presence diminishes the contrarian streak that's second nature to a lot of gamers. If other characters are evil or opportunistic, their players are more crafty and less juvenile about it.

It's only when I have players who aren't exactly well liked or trusted playing paladins that the framework tips. The player is bereft of a natural charm, so they feel they have to browbeat to make a point, and it sets the game on a downward spiral of finger pointing.

It's a little cruel to say, but some people shouldn't play paladins.

Marc Chin wrote:

the Paizo forums are not the place to be debating the social question of alternative lifestyles.

Agreed. And neither are Paizo products the appropriate place to be debating the social question of alternative lifestyles. And yet, that's what we are getting.

I always find the 'alternative lifestyle' tag amusing. As a gay man and a gamer I can comfortably say that the latter is much more of a lifestyle adjustment than the former. My hobby informs my purchasing patterns, what I do with my free time, the people I consider friends, the movies I like, the books I read...yada yada. Some people like to imagine that my big gay life is bizarrely divergent from their straight one, but it's not nearly as salacious and fabulous as seen on TV (is anything, really?). If I were to wear an inverted triangle it would probably be a d4 (lord help me).

If you read these boards you're probably living an 'alternative lifestyle'.

In my own game I've inserted precedent for the tolerance of homosexuality. It's called 'Touched by Nethys'. Nethys' dual nature -and his wacky mask - inspired me to add the moon and gender to his portfolio. He's the hermaphrodite god of magic and the moon, and he's had lovers of both sexes, so the common people in Golarion are comfortable attributing homosexuality to him. Basically, being gay isn't any odder than being a sorcerer (which is still pretty odd).

There's nothing salacious about worshipping Nethys, magic is by far the core focus, but I'd say that some wizard orders attract gay men and women.

I don't think I'd explore this as a major facet of my game - waaaay too Mercedes Lackey for me - but I like that the god of magic is a mascot for those who might feel a little different.

I'm curious to see what the canon has to say about Nethys.

ps - It's totally Merisiel. And Ezren's bi ;)

In my previous World of Darkness game I opened every session with three vignettes, set to music (I used 'Nothing Else Matters' by Apocalyptica; it became a sort of theme song for the game). These were small scenes showing pieces of the NPC's lives that would normally be off camera. It was especially effective as a way to show the players the impact their PCs had on the world around them.

If I were to do the same for Sandpoint, I'd do it from the perspective of a bird looking through windows.

- Ven Vinder with his head in his hands, weeping, his wife in the corner, holding her face.
- The girls of the Pixie's Kitten holding a silent prayer to Sheylin before opening for business.
- Ameiko kneeling in the drawing room of the Kaijitsu estate, playing a solemn song on a koto.

It's a very metagame tool, but it's powerful. Players are rapt when done well.

Spoilerish.

After dealing with Lord Aldern Foxglove and his hackneyed house of horrors (I kid, I kid), my PCs returned to town to hash out exorcism (and arson) plans with Father Zantus. It’s more than his meager staff can manage, so the PCs have agreed to seek aid from the church of Pharasma in Magnimar. The Skinsaw clues point south too, so they’re happy to oblige.

Per routine, they also met with Mayor Deverin and Sheriff Hemlock (the PCs like to keep their actions transparent). Deverin explained that Foxglove’s sisters might live in Magnimar and worried that the PCs would be in hot water if the manor incident was framed as murder. So, with the aid of other Sandpoint nobles, she provided badges of favor: house guard cloak pins from each, even the Scarnetttis. It’s a more powerful signifier than militia badges since the nobles’ crests are recognized in Magnimar.

Anyway, about Shayliss. They met her on the road south, packed and ready to leave Sandpoint – with the PCs. The three female PCs (and players) dislike Shayliss on principle, and the two males consider her a minor nuisance or a guilty reminder, but her reasons are surprisingly compelling. She explained what it's like to live an adolescence book-ended by serial killers. 11 years old when Chopper stalked the streets, 17 when the Skinsaw Man found her sister. The underlying fear has kept most of the town’s young people on a tight leash. It’s stifling for a free spirit like Shayliss, and she fears if she doesn’t leave now she’ll just become another horror movie victim.

I hadn’t planned this - the encounter was on the fly - but the players have really embraced it. Shayliss has become a great spark, a reminder of why the PCs started adventuring and a symbol of what they’re trying to protect. She’s grown from a punchline into an interesting (if naïve) NPC. The PCs have even offered to help Shayliss get settled once they reach Magnimar.

Just throwing this out there, since people seem to enjoy reading about active campaigns, and it might give you ideas for your own Shayliss.

:)

I've been struggling with this myself, and I've posed a few questions which James Jacobs has been kind to address.

I've come up with what I think is an elegant solution. The Thassilonian rossetta stone is the spell focus tattoo. It's proof that some native Varisians have passed down a functional knowledge of written Thassilonian, enough to infuse it with rune magic. As magical writing it must be understood by the tattoo artist to function properly.

So, each Varisian tattoo artist of this tradition understands at least a portion of Thassilonian. If enough artists are consulted and enough tattoos examined (which would be a difficult undertaking for a rare tradition), then a lexicon can be assembled. Since Thassilonian is pictographic and complex, it would an incomplete lexicon, but a strong context.

I think of each tattoo as a poem espousing a particular virtue as practiced by the common man, since the Varisians are lyrical and were the serf class of Thassilon.

So… modern academic Thassilonian is based on a collection of tattoo poems and a few subsequent translations of the more accessible monuments.

This creates a host of unusual scenarios:
- Wizards seeking out sorcerers to translate the ‘ink’ that the sorcerers themselves probably can’t read.
- Varisian tattoo artists making vows never to divulge their family secrets to Chelaxian academics.
- Disturbing books of tattoo art, made of the original skin.

I plan to create a shortlist of poems my Thassilonian speaking player can reference for historical clues. One or two for each virtue.

In a D&D ghost story an actual ghost is expected, almost required. It might be more interesting to give it a new treatment: there is no ghost baby, but the terror and shock of thar birth has ruined the psyche of the midwives. They believe they are haunted, and they weave a frightening (false) ghost mythology for the characters.

Basically, scare the crap out of the players and draw them into a demented tale. Leave them hanging - like most good ghost stories.

Yeah, I suppose a booty call at a bell tower would get a little tiresome.

"Hello Mr. Terrifying Scarecrow, I'm here to see my beloved. Oh, hi there Mr. and Mrs. Faceless Stalker. How are the little stalkers? Good...good."

The Scarnettis have become antagonists in my game as well - and in another friend's game. I'm not sure what makes the family so provacative, but they inflame an emotional response, moreso than Nualia or Aldern Foxglove. I've had to flesh them out to keep up with the players' interests. This is what I've added:

Titus Scarnetti has a young wife, Bluminda, who is a graduate of the wizard academy in Magnimar (I forget the name). She's also five months pregnant. This is driving the players nuts, as they can't imagine harming her, but they believe she's Titus' secret strong-arm ("Being knocked up is better than Mage Armor, dammit!"). They also suspect she's behind Tsuto's suicide, as some strange pollen was found on the bars of his cell. The sorceress PC is convinced it's a component to an enchantment spell.

The Scarnetti's invited the PCs to dinner where they promised 3k gold if the PCs can convince Ameiko to sell them the glassworks. Serving the meal were some rather browbeaten halflings whose presence convinced one of the PCs that the Scarnetti's were evil incarnate.

Titus was late for the dinner (he was out riding), but this was the same night the Skinsaw man struck the sawmill, so naturally he's a suspect. Coincidently, one of the male characters had invited Shayliss Vinder to this dinner (as an apology and way to restore her reputation after the 'rat' incident). It was an intense scene when Mother Vinder practically broke down the door of the Scarnetti manor looking for her surviving daughter.

It was later the same game that the lights went out, irl, when I was screaming like a madman as Grayst, in the Sanitarium. The players were on edge for hours. It was awesome.

In the downtime between Burnt Offerings and Skinsaw I plan to have Volioker (sp?), Sandpoint's locksmith, pop the question to my party's dwarven beauty, a paladin from Janderhoff. They're second cousins, though she calls him Unlce Voli. She's been staying with him since her arrival on the Lost Coast. I've tweaked his background slightly: he's not an orphan, but he was a bit of pickpocket in his youth.

She's not fond of the idea of marriage but that's not going to stop Voli. Dwarven women are far too rare in Sandpoint for him to pass up the chance. He's going to cart his life savings to Magnimar to purchase a token worthy of her affection. He'll return just prior to the opening events in Skinsaw. I plan to juxtapose his earnest intentions with the Skinsaw Man's perverted pursuit of another party member.

What should it be? And how would a Janderhoff dwarf propose?

Five players in my game, most of them new to D&D but not rpgs in general. After two games we just finished the glassworks. So far no deaths but the elf rogue has been dropped to negatives three times. He's decided to multiclass into ranger.

NPCs, being mostly reasonable, will respond to threatening situations with a realistic fear of pain. PCs, being mostly unreasonable, do not fear pain and will engage situations in unrealistic, yet heroic, ways. Adventures would be pretty boring if they didn't.

Give an angry monkey a cleaver and most NPCs will run away from it, even if they have 20 hit points. It's a frikin' monkey! With a cleaver! PCs will engage it.

One of my players has a character who is a local: a cleric of Serenrae and the son of two Magnimar artists who have retired to Sandpoint. His father is a portraitist who occasionally does funerary cameos. He painted all the victims of the late unpleasantness, all from memory, but he found it most difficult to capture his Nualia's beauty. Kendra Deverin keeps the one of Casp on a chain under her tunic.

His father's workshop contains a stack of sketches of Nualia - enough to frame a flashback of the strange girl when they come across her sketch in Tsuto's journals.

____

A more generic way to do it is to make Nualia the inspiration for the idol sculpture of Shelyn at the new cathedral. She was the most beautiful girl in town and she "died" in the fire, so it would be a fitting tribute by a sentimental sculptor.

Each idol would be paraded on litters during the festival before they're placed inside the cathedral. When the PCs see her picture in Tsuto's journal they'll think "Waitaminute, that's Shelyn!?" and go running back to the cathedral for Nualia's backstory.