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Going over my old textbooks of European Renaissance history, I was struck by the wild speculation of many of the maps of that era. Islands shown as peninsulas; shrunken continents; mythical bays; barbarian lands given lewd shapes. What was most striking was how cultural centrism warped the land to conform to a worldview. They said a lot about the people making them, and they were often beautiful and strange. In Golarion, in my own games, I've often just taken cartography for granted. The world in the mind's eye looked exactly like the maps in the campaign setting. Characters have a modern confidence in the shape of things, knowing that the coasts are accurately mapped and it's only some interiors (i.e. adventure maps) that are in question. It's very unmysterious, which is a shame in a game of high adventure. Is this a common treatment? Do most GMs act as though the PCs have an eagle's-eye view of the maps, or do they make it more mysterious? Has anyone made an in-game map of Golarion? Do the Chelaxians have different maps of the Inner Sea than Quadira? This is just a rumination, but I'm always curious how other GMs establish a sense of place and time.
Adonis, Eros, Apollo, Baldur, Dionysus, Enki… I’m curious if there are any male gods in Golarion who are associated with sexuality, beauty or even fertility. Not necessarily within their portfolio, but just by natural association. It’s common in the real world, but Golarion seems slanted toward a decidedly mainstream, western, division between feminine and masculine aspects. I'm not in possession of the main G&M sourcebook, but it wouldn't surprise me if the gods who would most logically encompass a good dose of sexuality (Erastil, Gozreh, Cayden maybe) are whitewashed in this regard. I’m not intent on turning this into a thread about objectification or homosexuality, but the recent discussions about Seoni Santa, Shelyn and Calistria has me interested. Which male gods are idealized men? Edit: Double posty funkiness going on. My apologies if this creates confusion.
The general D&D philosophy seems to be that raw power is the basis for effectiveness, and finesse is an option expressed in feats and add-ons. I propose this should be the same for Intimidate. In a sword and & sorcery world the threat of a strong fist should the most commonly understood form of intimidation. The inclusion of size modifiers suggests that strength is a factor, but it sidesteps the need for skill to be more primal. It’s the realm of the thug – and only feats should make it the realm of the courtier or the sly deceiver. Thanks!
The title pretty much says it all. Spellcraft in its current incarnation is terribly clunky and artificial. Spell identification, regardless of stationary effects or active casting, should just be Knowledge Arcane or Knowledge Religion checks. Arcane and Divine magic should be decidedly different in style and effect, and one skill should not cover identifying both. An element of concentration is implied within so many different skill checks that it's conceptually tied to character level, not caster level or Will save. Just make it a level check: think of it as a function of combat/stress comfort + spellcasting comfort.
Hi, nitpicky little Selk here, he of costume concerns and earnestly important fripperies. Just wanted to say I love the most recent picture of Absalom on the blog. It's warm, Byzantine and majestic - and actually looks like a city that could dominate the seas between Taldar and Osirion. Cool beans. ... A small question though. How are naval battles arranged with ships like that? They have the tacking for military maneuvers but no cannons. Are ships' wizards the alternative, or is naval warfare mainly a 'lash and board' affair in Golarion? Thanks!
As we delve into the second half of the AP I can't help but notice the giant enemies theme has a horrid downside: the melee characters are taking a severe beating. Many of these CR 8-10 creatures have to-hits of +17 through +20. The iconic fighter in this portion of the AP has an AC in the low 20s. Is it really the intention of the designers that the melee types are hit roughly 80% of the time? It's difficult to tell from the iconics, but does the AP assume a strong buff line from the casters?
Just a small suggestion for a very common item in most groups: Wand of Cure Light Wounds. An item so ubiquitous could do with a new treatment, perhaps a new 'container' all its own, something new Pathfinder could claim as an iconic item. Beta just seems like a good opportunity to recognize the popularity of certain magic items and make them emblematic of the game.
A big fan of Pathfinder here, but also an avowed nitpicker when it comes to the Golarion setting. It’s because I carebear. I’m concerned that much of the art and flavor text (in the APs and the Gazetteer) very poorly presents the passage of time. For a setting largely occupied with unearthing ancient civilizations and secrets, this is weird. Take for example this week’s blog about the rise of Absalom. That’s Aroden there, raising the island from the sea, wearing the same long silken robe that everyone seems to favor in Golarion, 10,000 years ago to the present. You’ll often find well preserved (non-magical) wood and cloth in Thassilon’s dungeons, weapons millennia apart made of the same materials and pitted statues dressed like the iconics. Homes, masonry, clothing, weapon design, hairstyles – there doesn’t seem to be a thought on the aesthetic divisions between dated, old, historical and ‘frikkin’ ancient’. It’s all just a fantasy hodgepodge: “you know it’s old because it has old writing on it, and you know it’s old and evil because it’s black and spiky.” This is a plea to consider some sort of palate when representing ancient Golarion. A hint box on designing ancient dungeons? Togas, bronze, weird domes…funny beards, something. (PS - Absalom has the same Tudor style streets as Magnimar, Riddleport and Korvosa? Isn't it hotter there, and far away?)
Positive energy heals the living and injures undead. It does not injure evil outsiders, most of whom are vulnerable to aligned weapons. So I assume that positive energy is not good aligned, even though it is (usually) provided by good aligned gods. Negative energy heals undead, and injures the living, including evil outsiders. Negative energy could conceivably be evil aligned, as evil gods might not be as discriminating about whom they hurt. Does this mean evil clerics are more effective vs. demons and devils than good clerics? How does this positive/negative energy aspect reason out when you consider the new smite mechanics? Is Positive/Negative energy actually just neutral "healthbar" energy? I must be missing something.
I’m curious how other DMs storytell reading and writing magic in their games, as the concept has always been a bit mystifying to me. Magical notation is described as simultaneously standardized and highly personalized. It’s one “language” for all wizards but with infinite permutations. Two wizards educated at the same school, under the same teacher, cannot read each other’s spellbook without Read Magic or deciphering with a Spellcraft check. - Is it actually a language? Can you communicate anything else with it beside how to cast a spell? Could wizards use a stripped down version to write mundane letters? - Is magical notation self encrypting? Perhaps it exaggerates the personal flourishes of the writer, so that if I write ‘Gotcha’ in magic script and my friend does the same, they look like two different symbols? - If magic writing is magically encrypted, how does a Spellcraft check decipher it? What basis would the reader use for decryption if every spellbook looked completely different? - Deciphering by Spellcraft indicates systematic decryption, but it doesn’t give bonuses for familiarity. The last spell you decipher in another wizard’s spellbook is as difficult as the first. - If I were to teach someone how to write and read magic, how would this be done if my own writing is indecipherable to them? - If one wizard were to take magical dictation for another wizard, who would be able to read the finished product? I’m not sure what magical writing actually is besides, “It’s magic writing, roll”. What is it in your games?
*SPOILERS* The characters in my campaign have successfully driven the Kreegs from Fort Rannick. None of the three rescued Black Arrows survived: Kaven was killed by Jakardos for his treachery, Vale fell in the battle and Jakardos disappeared in the Shimmerglens after leading two PCs on a side quest to reincarnate a friend. The mayor of Turtleback Ferry has presented the PCs with a writ of title, ennobling any who choose to sign. Only two of the party, both of Varisian, declined. Now they own a keep that seems superfluous. It and Turtleback Ferry are vassals of Magnimar, and it's (supposedly) strategically placed, but what does that mean for the characters? - Who was the lord of the keep previously? The leader of the Black Arrows? Was it held in a stewardship under the city of Magnimar? - Why did Magnimar forge an alliance with Turtleback Ferry in the first place? Were they afraid of ogres that were two weeks away by horseback? Did Turtleback Ferry join for protection? - Magnimar has no sovereign, so how are nobles granted peerage? Are all the existing Magnimar nobles just hereditary, from before the exodus from Korvosa? - Who was financing the fort? On a shoestring budget it would be around 400 gp a month to maintain. - Do they own the land around the keep? - Do they collect taxes from Turtleback Ferry? - Do they own Turtleback Ferry? I have no idea how this military fort ties into the political framework of Magnimar. Any groovy answers/guesses? I'm looking for ideas to make Rannick gel with the players.
It's been suggested by one of my players that strength modifiers affect armor penalties. Basically, a strength of 18 would remove 4 points of penalty on skill checks and allow a max dex AC modifier of +4. This must be a houserule somewhere, so I'm curious if anyone has used it and how well it balances in practice. Thanks!
The Beta rules have some conflicting information on grapple and spellcasting, depending on the chapter. I'm running Rise of the Runelords, with lots of giants and a blast happy sorceress, so this is a problem. I've looked at the other threads, but there's no clarity, just guesses. Page 400: A grappled character that attempts to cast
Page 155: The only spells you can cast while
- Can you cast spells requiring somatic components while grappled?
Hey there. Just curious if anyone has any alternate names for the months in Golarion. I know what they are in canon but, frankly, they're awkward. I'm having a difficult time explaining to my players why the good people of Golarion would blithely pay their respects with names like Lamashan, Rova and Kuthona. The matter came up when a player wanted to know the name of her character's birth month. "Uh, Lamashan" "As in Lamashtu? The pregnant jakal-head goddess of hose beasts?" "Yeah...I-" "That's sick. It's October, lots of babies are born in October. It's also the harvest." "I think it's named out of fearful deference, like 'Please don't hurt us Lamashtu'" "You fearfully defer to gods like Poseidon, not frikkin' Lamashtu. Baby eating Lamashtu. Might as well name a month Satan-vember. What are the other months?" "Well, the evilish months....Rova, Kuthona...maybe Neth" *player looks up those gods* "Ok, so the common people are twisted. Got it." "..." ---- She upset me, but I agree with her. I'm creating new month names for my game, but I'd like to see if anyone has some good suggestions first. Thanks!
Hey there. Just a quick question for people who have a more complete Golarion library than me: what named NPC Clerics in Varisia are 13+ level (can cast Resurrection)? Since it's a new setting for my group, I'm trying to play it as close to canon (keeping in mind NPC class spread by population in the 3.5 DMG). A PC has died in the effort to retake Fort Rannick and her compatriots are keen on finding the most accomplished (known) holy type in Varisia to bring her back. Thanks!
Howdy. Just out of fanboy curiosity, I'd love to see a list of prominent wizards and wizard schools in Golarion. Scholarly magic and academia are often the same in a fantasy setting, and they comprise a sort of umbrella culture, communicating and competing. It would be an interesting way to get a handle on magical society (and maybe Pathfinder Society *waggles eyebrows*). Anyone willing to give it a go?
Don't get my wrong, I love being a gamer, and I loved getting worked up over essentially trivial issues (4E vs 3.5 and Pathfinder), but to see the debate presented like this, I have to laugh at myself. And at the community.
Trade routes and export lists, a la the Forgotton Realms maps. I've found these immensely helpful for immersion and storytelling. Once you know who makes what, and where it's going, you get a lot of cultural insight. It really ties a world together. Not to mention it's a great boon to seafaring, warfare and caravan adventures. Just a suggestion.
Like many GMs I'm always poking around for visual references to fascinating landscapes, terrain and creatures. Sometimes I feel players can get lost in the minutiae (all the game mechanics navel gazing) and lose a sense for the grandeur of the setting. A good picture can put them back in the moment. Anyway, here's a great photograph of a rare phenomenon. Lightning volcano anyone? It happened in Chile a few weeks ago. If I can find a way to work it into RotRL, I'm totally going to :)
We're neck deep in Rise of the Runelords and my PCs are due for a some downtime. They're an unusually religious lot (even the rogue) and the players have had a lot of fun exploring the gray areas between Varisian culture and divine livin'. I'm making up stuff as I go, but I'm fond of the setting and would like to integrate anything you wish to reveal on future divine write-ups. I know it sounds fussy, but I don't want to put myself in a position where the future supplements are useless because I've diverged too much in my interpretation. I believe medieval settings are strongly informed and flavored by religion, and a good D&D game requires a grasp of the implications. Like running a good game in medieval Europe, one has to have an understanding of Christianity and the Catholic Church. So...anything you feel like sharing about Serenrae or Irori? Tools or info that might help the players portray their clerics? Thanks!
The paladin of Iomedae in my game has finally encountered other warriors of Iomedae by way of the church in Magnimar. She's a strange case, being a Janderhoff dwarf and having been called to service by a vision quest (giants and lamia, oh my!). Until last game she's been making it up as she goes, but now she has an opportunity to be part of a proper organization, a sisterhood of knightly service. I've made the Magnimar church into a girls orphanage and martial school, headed by a few clerics and paladins. There's a strong sacred virgin/Joan-of-Arc/Sapphic vibe to the whole deal. It's intriguing without being played for salacious laughs (for the most part). The church has promised an indoctrination ritual of 'first blood' after the dwarf vanquishes the lady of the shadow clock. I have a basic idea of what I want, but I'd like to pluck other GMs' (and the Paizo staff’s?) minds for ideas. What would make a good ritual for Iomedae's chosen? Something memorable.
I'm thrilled with the generally conscientious suggestions for class and power improvements, but I can’t help but notice the intense focus on combat as benchmark for balance. It’s as though the full measure of a character can only be judged by their ability to destroy, assist or heal. Don’t get me wrong, combat is certainly central to adventure, but so are the challenging dilemmas between combats, the ones that are often creatively solved with tools like… Familiars
I’m not saying anything new here, but I’d encourage people, before they post some awesome new mechanic, alternate specialist spells, or get rid of ‘weak’ features, to consider for a moment the non-combat arena. Thanks!
...so my players will allow me to submit them to the full agony of playtesting. We're an active group, deep into RotRL, and everyone's willing to give playtesting a good, opinionated go (they're certainly not a shy group), provided character conversions are simultaneous. What I guess I'm saying is, hurry up! Paizo Peeps Need No Sleep! ;) Group composition
Adventurers are soldiers of fortune, routinely encountering new and bizarre circumstances, constantly in peril. Perception should be an assumed skill for anyone who has leveled 'in the field'. Just roll it into the leveling experience, with some additional bonuses for certain races and classes. Also, when you remove Perception from the skill list, the remaining skills look a might more balanced against one another. Blarg!
Just a little compromise proposal, to add to the mix. Let me know what you think. Thanks! There is no such thing as cross class skills. Starting ‘Background Skills’ function at Level + Ability Mod + 3. Additional ‘Adventuring Skills’ (gained every even level) function at ½ Level + Ability Mod + 3. Adventuring skills can be upgraded to Background skills (full level adjustment) during campaign downtime with the DM’s permission. NPCs are assumed to have a converted 'Adventure to Background' skill at level 7 and 15. In addition to the numbers below, each class gets to choose an additional racial skill. Racial skill bonuses are removed from the race descriptions as aptitudes are expressed in this additional skill. An Intelligence modifier does not grant you extra skills. Barbarian 4
Racial skills
I ask because I can't wait to throw my group into the playtesting fires. We're a large, active group of veterans and newbies who are neck-deep in Rise of the Runelords and are very happy with Paizo's decision. If we can get sorcerer and multiclassing info by this weekend, we can start playtesting ASAP. I imagine the ratio of actual, long-term playtesting vs. theoretical testing is about 1 to 5, considering the rarity of table time among many of the posters here. I'm looking forward to it. Thanks Paizonites!
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. :)
After The Skinsaw Murders my players have comfortably worked out the basics of sin magic. It's inevitable at this point in the adventure path: wrathful souls, greedy souls and a seven pointed star? Aha! There must be five more types of souls, natch. It was a quick deductive scene between the dilettante ranger and the busybody sorceress. I'm curious though, as a metagaming concern, from where do the modern residents of Varisia gain a concept of the seven deadly sins? How would they know what the missing sins were? The concept's popularity due to the Catholic Church (and Catholic writers), but in Golarion who carries the torch of this philosophy? How was it passed down? Is it metagaming to assume the concept is as familiar in Golarion as it is in the real world? Is it more common among native Varisians? Shoanti? Academia? Additionally, one of the PCs knows Thassilonian (it was an available language in the Player's Guide, which I regret). Wouldn't the story of Thassilon effectively be played out in their language? It's pictographic and their magical/political philosophy is anchored in writing. How do you keep Thassilon cryptic for someone who speaks Thassilonian? I’m curious because it’s crucial to the flow of the mystery yet it seems so inherently meta. How do you explain it in your own campaigns? Thanks!
The players in my game like their knowledge rolls, on Thassilonian history, the gods, infernal creatures, esoteric languages, necromancy, heraldry...etc. It's a good thing, the natural inclination of a thoroughbred gaming geek, but their checks have me constantly making up book titles and red herrings before dolling out nuggets of useful information. In an early Renaissance setting books are rare and academia is cloistered. As a GM I feel like I should stop pulling throw-away book titles out of my ass and take some time to create a syllabus for the academic spheres of Varisia. Something that the players can sink their teeth into as a roleplaying tool. I'd like to break it down by Knowledge skills, with two to four recognized authorities on each subject, the names of their works and the rarity of those works. For example. Knowledge: Heraldry/Nobility
Knowledge: Religion
Stuff like that. I thought it might be fun to make this an idle group effort, for all GMs who have research obsessed players and to add extra detail and plot hooks. Toss out any ideas you have :)
I'm rereading one of my favorite books, Baltasar and Blimunda, and its detail of Catholic religious observance (and saturation) in 18th century Portugal has me curious about the faiths of Golarion, Varisia in particular. In the APs descriptive focus is aimed squarely at signature temples, notable clerics, nefarious cults and the other coat-hooks of high fantasy. While this is understandable, I'd love to see a treatment on the common religious man. Some flesh added to the bones of Varisia's culture, as it were. - Do most homes have altars?
Stuff like that. Just curious if Paizo has tossed around ideas, or if you've seen some good ones pop up in your campaigns.
Having returned to D&D 3.5 after a long hiatus in the World of Darkness and Mutants and Masterminds, I'm trying to add a degree of in-game elegance to the wonky magic system. Mechanically it works fine, but thematically it's difficult to defend, especially to new players. The sorceress and bard in my group had a little giggle fest at the idea of permanently spent magic items, piled high like bejeweled kindling. It's old hat. The characters in my RotRL campaign are currently 4th level so, if I'm going to introduce a new system, I need to do it soon, before they become used to the old ways. I'm stopping short of using a spell point system, but I would like some advice on balanced ways to introduce a recharging system for magic items; something that makes sense from a "magic and mana as an ephemeral yet tamable energy source" perspective, or maybe just a new system for charged items altogether. I've thought about just making wands, rods and staves conduits that allow improved spontaneous casting of a single spell (or in the case of staves, multiple spells) and improved school casting. Fore example: Wand of Magic Missles: Allows the user to cast Magic Missle spontaneously at +2 caster level. Uses one first level arcane spell. Adds +1 to caster level of all Invocation spells (not cumulative with +2 for Magic Missle). A possible drawback could be a dependency system, where the caster has a penalty when denied use of the item. I'm not sure yet how to integrate Use Magical Device or the ubiquitous (and lame, imho) dependancy on wands of cure light wounds. Any suggestions?
As a GM the easiest way for me to track multiple NPCs, and to make them memorable, is to cast actors in their roles. I don't know how common this practice is but it makes voice and mannerism consistency a breeze. I never let players in on this trick, as it tends to ruin immersion, "Quick, cut off Glen Close's head!" I won't bore you with my RotRL cast list, but I'm looking for some help with Karzoug. I'm not a fan of the typical archvillain choices (Two parts James Earl Jones, one part Jeremy Irons, add a little Alan Rickman for flavor) - I'd like someone menacing yet unusual, unexpected. Any ideas?
This is a minor critique of a series I generally enjoy and am actively DMing. The ancient empire of Thassilon is over 10,000 years old but there hasn't been much focus in art direction or flavor text to make it seem so. Its mysterious pedigree rests upon its ruins, latin-esque language and 'sin' philosophy, but culturally and technologically it could exist in modern Golarion without an anachronistic hitch (the iconics and the Runelords apparently shop at the same stores). Yeah, this is partly due to the fantasy genre - where technological development marches to a dead drummer - but I still think there could be more emphasis placed on the differences between the ancient Thassilonian civilization and current Varisia. The passage of time needs to be expressed more acutely in the details: the culture, building materials, clothing, art, the rot...the sheer alienness of a people so ancient. My players are enjoying the ride, but if I told them Thassilon fell 200 years ago and not 10,000, I don't think they'd bat an eye. So, with my little whine, are there any things that you have done in your campaign to add a sense of scope? How do you help your players differentiate an old civilization from an ancient civilization?
Spoilers! Spoilers! Last game, after some butt numbing research at the House of Blue Stones (“What the hell is a Malfeshnekor?”), my players finally made their way to Thistletop. They dispatched the tethered goblin dogs, Gogmurt and the refugees in the thistle, but the whole affair made a lot of noise. Barking dogs and a wand of produce flame will do that. I was just about to raise the fort alarm, but what my players did next had me back-peddling to avoid a tpk: three of them crossed the bridge at the same time. The sorceress managed to leap to the cliff and the rogue was almost to the island, but the poor cleric swung from the middle span of rope, heavy as a lead buffalo. Despite the rogue’s impressive Cirque Du Soleil efforts, the cleric took a dive into the drink. He survived, with one hit point to spare, but sunk like a stone as the player debated the cons of death vs. losing his ancestral armor. He chose wisely (after some kicks from his wife under the table) and managed an amazing role to break the surface and scale the rope provided by a very surprised rogue. It was a dramatic scene: everyone needed a smoke. This left the men (the rogue and cleric) on the island, and the ladies (sorceress, bard and paladin) in the thistle, joking that they should ditch the men-folk. The guys convinced them to shimmy over to the island, where the entire party took refuge in the thick bushes along the east wall. This escapade should have raised alarms and left the characters riddled with arrows, but I didn’t have the heart. They’re a new group and really enjoying themselves. A tpk at third level isn’t what I want them to remember about RotRL. I decided the goblins were at prayer with Nualia. It was evening – why not. But when the goblins return to their posts and see the bridge out, all hell will break loose. The PCs are likely facing a combat on the fort’s exterior, with goblins (and possibly Ripnugget) trying to push them into the sea. I’m looking for suggestions for creative, interesting ways to manage such a combat that won’t send the characters falling to their doom with one or two bad rolls. Ideas?
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?
This is probably going too in-depth, but my players have begun to argue over the lawfulness of certain activities in Chelaxian settled territoties. Most of their characters are good, and one is Lawful Neutral. Like most D&D groups we usually assume a goofy, 'feudalism meets the American legal system' framework, with a judge (or jury) and legal representatives. Beyond that it's fuzzy. I have some questions about the Chelaxian legal model that I'm hoping James Jacobs might be able to address - for flavor's sake. - What's the standard setup for a court? Professional judges? Citizen judges? Professional lawyers? How many?
I'm only this curious because I really like the setting :)
One of the PCs in my RotRL game, a sorceress, chose a little green viper as a familiar. She's devoted to the relationship, so much that she eschews the stronger alternate sorcerer builds and has put her character in peril (for the added drama). She stole the snake from an exotic animal merchant and slavelord in Riddleport, who now wants her head. Since this little thing is obviously not your standard throwaway familiar, I'd like to make it something more. Possibly using the familiar/cohort feats from the Draconomicon. In it's currect state it would a rare sort of premature wyrmling, but I'm not sure what kind. The Lung (Oriental) dragons look promising, but maybe Golarion has something exotic that might fit the bill? Suggestions?
I'm curious how much downtime has been estimated for the full run of Rise of the Runelords. My players created characters with the suggested starting age range in the PHB - so most of them are teenagers. If they're still teenagers at 16th level, figthing runelords on the back of dragons, banishing demons and what not, I'll find it all a little too...Buffy. How many years did Paizo estimate would pass between RotRL 1 and the final chapter?
Sandpoint is supposed to endear the PCs to its plight -possibly throughout the entire campaign- but some of the DMs don't seem to be as in love with the town as the flavor text wants them to be. I get the feeling PCs should be willing to die for this place, this beloved golden "home town". The hero worship after the goblin raid is a nice start, but perhaps there needs to be something deeper, more binding. So, let this be a forum for brainstorming ways to make the PCs (and the players) fond of Sandpoint. Any ideas? |
