- Something like the Witcher or Nathan Drake; an adventure game starring one of the iconics, Eando Kline or someone else?
- An update of Baldur's Gate style classic RPG, with gorgeous graphic and a dense, convoluted plot?
- A giant Golarion set MMORPG?
- A fantasy version of For Honor, with the iconics duking it out in some famous Golarion locations?
- Something else entirely?
Hi all, I’m building a character who is a warrior who has previously been seduced by, and made to serve for many years, a fey such as a dryad or nymph. He know carries a small wondrous item which provides some protection from future attacks of this nature. I could homebrew an item, but I wondered whether an item of this nature already existed in Pathfinder, or in 3rd edition D&D. Anyone have any ideas? Wealth-by-level isn’t an issue.
Saw The Last Jedi a couple of days ago. As a big Star Wars fan, my reaction to it was mixed. For me, it was certainly my least favourite of the most recent movies, and might require a rewatch and some further thought.
SPOILER:
Things I Didn’t Like
The Rebels OnThe Run/Armada in Flight plot-line.
A slow crawl through space isn’t quite the edge of your seat, adrenaline rush I’m used to in a Star Wars space battle. It seemed to make little logical sense – all the capital ships travel at exactly the same speed, for some reason the First Order don’t just send the fighters and bombers in, why don’t the First Order just call some extra ships to jump in and trap the fleet etc. Given the size of the galaxy, it felt odd to see the Resistance consisting of only a handful of ships compared to the substantial armada fielded during the Battle Of Endor. The “tracking through lightspeed” development didn’t feel very Star Wars – defining how Star Wars tech works always feels a little like a game of jenga.
I would have preferred a larger, longer running space battle involving larger fleets on both sides – a fighting retreat on the part of the Resistance. It would have been fun to have put Poe back in an X-wing and told his character arc with a few more dogfights rather him stuck on a starship. Fin and Rose’s expedition could have been about uncovering a traitor broadcasting the Resistance’s location rather than a convoluted means of overcoming First Order radar, which leads me to;
Casino Bight
As many agree, this felt like the flimsiest element of the film. I loved spending time with Fin and Rose, but the planet and plot seemed underdeveloped. In theory I loved the concept of seeing a hive of scum and villainy with money to burn, but Casino Bight didn’t seem to have much depth. Too many of its elements just seemed ported straight out of ‘real world casinos’ – not a lot of imagination there. We seemed to spend too much time there without anything really making an impression. Some better world-building and boiling down the excursion to Casino Bight to two or three really good scenes would have been a good improvement. Plus making that excursion actually matter.
Yoda
There were a couple of moments that felt too close to fan-service to me. “Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope” might have gone there were I not feeling so much love for the departed spirit of Carrie. But Yoda’s return annoyed me. I felt there could have been other ways to guide Luke back to his final act. A few disembodied lines drifting out of the Force I would have been fine with, but the scene we got felt too much like a desire to bring back the little green gnome because he’s so associated with Star Wars. Didn’t want to see him, though it wasn’t quite as irritating as watching him throw down with Count Dooku.
Things I Loved
Rey+Ren
I thought this arc was superbly done and superbly acted. It brought a new direction to the core of what makes Star Wars special – the lure of the Dark Side. The dismissal of Rey’s parentage made perfect sense to me, and creates a healthy democratisation of the Star Wars universe which opens up space for new stories to be told. The easy dispatching of Snoke was also excellent – Ren makes a much more compelling antagonist and the subversion of expectations was delicious. The following battle against Snoke’s bodyguards was a brilliant action scene – one of my favourites in the franchise. Really looking forward to how Rey+Ren plays out in Episode IX.
Old Man Luke
Luke’s story also really worked for me. His self-imposed exile chimed with my impressions of his character from the original trilogy – as a figure who struggles with the burden the Force has placed upon him, the dark weight of his lineage and the lack of support he had in trying to rebuild the Jedi. Shutting himself off from the Force helped answer many questions raised by The Force Awakens, and I liked how his return to the fray didn’t happen easily. The final Force projection twist left me uncertain – it was a good one, but I felt that Leia should have sensed he wasn’t really there and given us some subtle indication. Mark Hamill’s performance was commendable, it’s a shame we’ve not seen him on the silver screen much outside of Star Wars.
Porgs
Adorable!
Things I’m unsure about
Princess Mary Poppins
Again, the good will I feel towards Carrie Fisher helped me accept her Mary Poppins moment. But I wouldn’t have put it in if I were the director.
BB8 Maquina
I really loved BB8 in The Force Awakens but he risked being too clever and adaptable in this, just as R2-D2 could kind of do anything in the prequels. He was a little bit too good at taking out ranks of stormtroopers while piloting a walker.
Phasma
Great to see her have more to do in The Last Jedi but still want more. Seems fairly likely she didn’t survive her fate but if she reappears in Episode IX I’ll be happy.
Oh! Oh! Do you have a moment to talk about our Snake Lord Yig?
Yig is one of the Great Old Ones, but alongside Bokrug and Mhar, he is fairly non-malicious (you know, for a deity out of the Cthulhu Mythos). It is a deity of cycles, procreation and serpents, and tends to have some worshippers among nomads or hinterland dwellers. It is not likely to care too much for your ancestry or, ahem, peculiar look. Such mortal fancies are insignificant to Yig!
Yiggite cultists have a good chance to be noticed and protected, but must continue being devoted in kind - Yig is not a kind god, and lapsed worshippers or those who offend it are likely to be cursed with infertility, mutations, failing harvests, deadly snake attacks or various curses. Also, harming snakes is generally discouraged; harming serpentfolk - not so much. Apparently, some minor serpentfolk deity called Ydersius considers Yig a rival or enemy. This... could come into play. Yig's favored children are huge, strongly venomous serpents with a crescent on their heads. There is more about Yig in Bestiary 6, including a stat block of the Big Snake Daddy itself.
Also, seriously, how often do you get to play a worshipper of a Great Old One in Pathfinder and not be just another insane cultist?
Not that insanity is a problem or anything, of course. And yes, Yig is one of my favourite Pathfinder deities.
Any suggestions for an appropriate deity for a tiefling serpent shaman (druid archetype) who is to embark on the Serpent's Skull adventure path? I'd like her to be good, or at the very least neutral aligned. Poison and the jungle are significant themes.
I really enjoyed Iseph's story and the mystery behind who wants them dead. Even more so, I really enjoyed the high-level discussion of the nature of Android souls that followed. I had no desire up to this point to play an android... Now my head is full of stories that could make a lovely character background. Thank you!
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As a fifty year old, I spent most of my life wishing that the English language had a gender neutral pronoun for people. I did not like most of the invented pronouns, and the singular 'they' blew my mind everytime I heard it. My inner grammarian had such trouble with it. I slipped up all the time, for six months.
However, my world is full of non-binary people. Yours is likely too. And if these folks wish to be addressed with the singular 'they'... Who am I to object? So I used 'they' over and over, practicing it. Was it an adjustment for my fifty-year old brain? Yes. But I learned to do it, and so can all of you. Try it for a while, and the singular 'they' becomes a natural, fluid thing.
I'd like to advocate patience and understanding along both sides of the pronoun discussion. For those that are balking at a singular 'they', give it a chance. For those seeing others balk, give them a few months to catch up. It always takes a while to learn a new language, especially when it's one you think you already know.
Gender neutral pronouns are already a thing. Some prefer they.
Using "they" to refer to a generic or unknown person isn't too bad. Using "they" to refer to a specific individual was jarring. I kept wondering if androids had more than one consciousness, or something. I realize that "it" has connotations of non-personhood, but I think it would have worked better for me here.
I don't have a perfect solution, or even a better one.
I tend to agree. While I'm proud of Paizo's work in putting different identities front and centre, using 'they' is a little confusing, especially in a universe where hive minds are a thing.
From my understanding, the movie's funding comes from China. So rather than a Hollywood grab for the Chinese market, it's the Chinese market celebrating they're influential enough to place a Hollywood leading man in the centre of their movie.
Thanks for the suggestions folks. What about adventures? I know the old 'classic' adventures are nominally set in Greyhawk, but perhaps light on lore. Any latter-day adventures?
Also, I have an idea that Paizo developed Greyhawk a little more in their tenure overseeing Dragon magazine. Any stand-out articles?
When it comes to RPGs, the world-building and lore are always what engages and excites me. I’ve enjoyed exploring Golarion, and prior to that the Forgotten Realms.
I’m curious to learn more about Greyhawk as a campaign setting; to get a sense of Oerth as a place. I know that Greyhawk’s evolution as a campaign setting was not as straightforward as other ‘game-worlds’, largely because it was one of the first.
If I really wanted to get a taste for Greyhawk, what five books/modules/accessories would fans recommend?
I saw it a few days ago. Unfortunately, in Egypt 3D movies are only show in 3D, so like the The Force Awakens, I was forced to watch Rogue One in a poor colour palette. Like TFA, the movie was strong enough that I had a great time despite the murky visuals.
Here are some random thoughts (with spoilers), from the perspective of an avid Star Wars fan:
Spoiler:
I was really impressed with the bold decision to eliminate all the heroes. It made the final act particularly tense, as the realisation that everyone might die began to creep past the voice in your head shouting “that doesn’t happen in Star Wars!” Although I’m very anti sequels for sequels’ sake, at the end I was hoping Jyn and Andor might pull through – I would quite like to have seen a Rogue Two.
Mind you, if a sequel is made, it could be quite interesting to have numbered Rogues, each with completely different casts and stand-alone missions.
I enjoyed Peter Cushing’s resurrection. Unlike other posters I thought the voice acting for Tarkin was very good. The CGI didn’t bother me at all, but that might have been more to do with the s~$% 3D. Leia at the end did look a little crude, and I think I would have found that scene stronger if they had never showed her face.
I found the ‘fan service’ moments well-judged and unobtrusive, and the reappearance of Red Squadron pilots put a massive smile on my face.
I also enjoyed Jyn’s team, and it was a shame we didn’t get to spend more time with them. Still, I don’t know how they would have time to have developed the characters without slowing the pace of the movie down. K20’s last stand was great – the rather ignominious deaths of Bodhi and Baze a little less so, although in keeping with the war movie theme. It didn’t occur to me that Chirrut and Baze might be gay, although romantic subplots weren’t really Rogue One’s thing. Although I can’t deny the romantic appeal of sitting on a beach and staring into someone’s eyes as the Death Star vaporises the ocean behind you.
Vader was great, and his ‘carnage in the corridor’ scene was unexpected but utterly perfect.
The music was a little bit of a weak link, but not massively so.
I thought Forest Whittaker did a great job as Saw Guerrera, and the film’s development of the Clone Wars character was interesting and apt. Once again, I wished we’d had more opportunity to spend time with his character, although he went out like a badass, with only a little flinch.
Given the overuse of the superweapon trope in Star Wars (Starkiller Base was the only thing that made me groan in TFA), I really enjoyed seeing the Death Star at work and the sense of dread it evoked. Being planetside for a blast of the superlaser on Jedha was really cool.
Director Krennic was great, and I think the moments were things were unravelling for him made a nice counterpoint to the absolute confidence of Vader and Tarkin.
And incidentally Pan – I loved the score to Prince of Thieves!
My revised ranking of the Star Wars canon would be:
1) Empire Strikes Back
2) A New Hope
3) Return of the Jedi
4) The Force Awakens
5) Rogue One
6) Revenge of the Sith
7) The Phantom Menace
8) Attack of the Clones
I compose songs on the guitar and record them with some friends who play various other instruments. I've recorded a couple of EPs which can be heard here.
It's folky stuff, mainly fingerpicked guitar but I like to get a bit of a groove on.
I hope we get lots and lots of starships. One of the frustrations I've had with space-based RPGs is the relative shortage of different ships. I'd love to something akin to Bestiary line; semi-annual sourcebooks just packed with all kinds of spaceships for your PCs to fly or fight against.
I'd rather like to explore the Pathfinder comics, but as a comics noob I'm not sure how this should be done. I want digital formats rather than something physical - pdf like the other Pathfinder products would be super, but I can't seem to find this in the store. Ideally I want to start with the 'hardcover' compilation of Dark Waters Rising.
I'm building an NPC evil human wizard who'll be serving as a spy for your typical 'evil cult taking over the kingdom'. His main focus is building a ring of informants to report to him and obtaining new magic (be it spells or items) from his enemies. He's 7th level and doesn't have a familiar.
Any suggestions as to suitable feats or spells - either mechanical or flavourful.
1) Anything by Robin Hobb - I would start with Assassin’s Apprentice. Hobb has a knack for writing characters in a way that brings them and their emotional world to life like no other author I know, and she makes you care deeply about the stories she tells. If you want a strongly emotional read, turn to her.
"And the weather has taken a turn. Instead of snowfall, we are in for a storm tomorrow."
Before he leaves, he throws in his two cents.
“Would that suit us or the ogres better? The foul weather might conceal our approach, but it feels a bit of a grim omen considering Riley’s reports of the Fort.”
Granted it's not a flat out declaration not to attack in the storm, but I did raise some doubts three days ago :-) :-p
To be honest I don't really mind what we do. Better weather would be safer and more sensible, but I kind of dig the cinematics of attacking to the backdrop of a gathering storm and I also appreciate the effort our beloved DM has put in.
... from two seemingly harmless botched saves, and you've actually been playing a parasitic organism that infects a host, copies their brain, takes over the body, wipes the brain and then pretends to be you?
This may happen in one of my next few games, he's a pretty good sport and a solid roleplayer, but it seems a bit dickish to me. Especially since it would likely involve betraying the party.
As a player I think I'd be surprised but really enjoy it, especially if I had the chance to roleplay my descent into insane fungal treachery.
James Conder
RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
,
Star Voter Season 6 aka Transylvanian Tadpole
I enjoyed this. It read very well. I was initially hesitant at the 'monster wearing someone's skin' trope, which gets used a lot in Pathfinder, but the Faceweaver had enough personality to stand out. There's a lovely Frankenstein vibe to the encounter. I like the possibilities for redemption, and how the ghouls' are exploiting and encouraging Relos.
Here's my submission, although I do realise Solan is treading too close to the roles filled by existing players. I'll put him forward nonetheless and see what you make of him . . .
Solan Calezaru
Male human (Varisian) rogue (sniper) 5
N Medium humanoid (human)
Init +4 Senses: perception +10
=========================================================
AC 17, flat-footed 17, touch 14 (+4 Dex, +3 armour)
Hp 33 (5d8+5)
Fort +2 Ref +8 Will +3
Defensive abilities: evasion, uncanny dodge
=========================================================
Speed 30-ft.
Melee: +5 heavy mace (1d8+2 20x2)
Melee: +6 cestus+1 (1d4+3 19-20x2)
Melee: +5 dagger (1d4+3 19-20x2)
Ranged: +8 seeking shortbow+1 (1d6+1 20x3)
Ranged: +7 dagger (1d4+3 19-20x2)
Special attacks: sneak attack +3d6, accuracy, deadly range 10-ft, sniper’s eye
=========================================================
Str 14 Dex 18 Con 12 Int 10 Wis 14 Cha 10
Base Attack +3 CMB[/b] +5 CMD[/b] 16
Feats: Extra Rogue Talent, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot
Rogue Talents: Bleeding Attack, Camouflage, Sniper’s Eye,
Skills: 8 (rogue) + 1 (favoured class)
Acrobatics +11 (4 ranks + class skill + 4 Dex)
Bluff +5 (2 ranks + class skill)
Climb +8 (3 ranks + class skill + 2 Str)
Craft (arrows) +4 (1 rank + class skill)
Diplomacy +5 (2 ranks + class skill)
Disable Device +9 (2 ranks + class skill + 4 Dex)
Disguise +4 (1 rank + class skill)
Escape Artist +8 (1 rank + class skill + 4 Dex)
Intimidate +6 (3 ranks + class skill)
Knowledge (local) +4 (1 rank + class skill)
Perception +10 (5 ranks + class skill + 2 Wis)
Sense Motive +8 (3 ranks + class skill + 2 Wis)
Sleight of Hand +9 (2 ranks + class skill + 4 Dex)
Stealth +12 (5 ranks + class skill + 4 Dex)
Survival +7 (5 ranks + 2 Wis)
Swim +10 (4 ranks + class skill + 2 Str + 1 trait)
Use Magic Device +4 (1 rank + class skill)
Traits: Brigand, River Rat
Favoured Class: Rogue (+1 skill point)
Languages: Common
Equipment:seeking shortbow+1, cestus+1, ioun torch, potion of darkvision, heavy mace, dagger, 20 arrows, studded leather armour, thieves’ tools, backpack, five tindertwigs, five smokesticks, five days of trail rations, sack, flint & steel, traveller’s outfit, kapenia
Treasure: 10 gold pieces, 4 silver pieces
Background:
Five years ago, the fourteen year old Solan Calezaru crept off his parent’s river barge at Artume with intentions of petty theft, wenching and general havoc. By morning he found himself in the stocks doing his best to weather a storm of rotten vegetables and worse. By afternoon he had been set free, but he returned to the River Sellen to find the gaily painted barge of the Calezarus gone.
Left to fend for himself, it took only a week for Solan to grow tired of running from the rough-handed templars of Artume and head out into the woods. He did his best to live off the land, hunting birds, squirrels and the occasional deer with a stolen bow, but quickly got hungry and (although he wouldn’t admit it to himself) lonely. One evening he stumbled across the camp of the Sixhoot Gang, a dangerous band of outlaws led by the grizzled old ranger Mendocian and decided a life of brigandry would serve him just fine.
The Sixhoot Gang were always happy to welcome new blood into their ranks – new blood being much easier to waste. However, Solan showed himself to be a tough and dirty little fighter, with an instinct for slipping unharmed through the vicious, claustrophobic politics of the bandit gang. Mendocian tutored him in archery, and Solan aptly demonstrated his newfound skill by putting an arrow between Mendocian’s shoulder blades from over a hundred yards away whilst the gang a tinker’s wagon on the road to Gralton.
None in the Sixhoot Gang felt a moment’s remorse for their tyrannical leader, but to Solan’s frustration, neither were they willing to appoint Mendocian’s killer as his successor. Sensing the power struggle was about to get bloody and ruthless, Solan cut his losses, crammed as much of the gang’s loot into his backpack as would fit, and headed north towards Rostland.
Appearance & Personality:
Solan is a tall, wiry Varisian with thick, curly black hair and dusky skin. He has a weasely face, and his dark eyes gleam beneath thick frowning eyebrows that greet each other over the bridge of his crooked nose. He walks with a cocksure swagger (though he knows when to skulk when it’s good for him) that belies his overconfidence in himself. He’s an ambitious man, but he’s learning that allies can get him places he can’t reach on his own. Whether these allies should trust him for longer than it takes to put an arrow to a string and draw it back is another matter.
Base money for your level and I will provide 1 magic item for your character (will work with player to get them something good..lol)
Hi Daniel, does this mean we can spend our 10,500 gp as per normal and get an extra magical item from the DM, or that we should spend the gold on non-magical stuff only, and get one magic item from the DM?
Hi Daniel - is there any point in me resubmitting my Varisian rogue sniper at 5th level? He was proposed in the original recruitment, on the first page. I do note though, with two archer types already in the party a third might be pushing things too far into Merry Men territory.
