Vasemir's page

Changes to anathemas are disapointing, even if minor. Make the game easier, sure, but also *make the game easier*, as in: waters down dogma, makes it less interesting, dieties more forgiving and plain. Neutering seems to be in line with this edition in general, though.

Is Paizo required to have an official public message on every global sociopolitical event that occurs? Do they need to make a statement about all the occurrences of malnutrition in the world? Do they need to have a public opinion on the treatment of women in Saudi Arabia? How about the treatment of the Uyghurs in China? They are a relatively small nitch-product book publisher who's priority is to run their businesses. No reasonable person should be expecting them to take a stance on anything/everything, especially something that has virtually zero to do with their market, or at least anymore than any number of hundreds of other issues.

If I/you/we want to make personal declarations in support of an event that is meaningful to me/you/us and share ways we can make similar support, that is excellent and should be applauded. However, its not our place to choose for other people (individually or collectively) which global issues they will choose to get involved in or even have a public-facing opinion on.

If Paizo had Uyghur Society community, then yes, I'd say it would be polite to show a little interest in that. Even if they don't have such community, it's nothing to be supported.

Of course they're not "required", no one will force them to do anything. I've asked about missing news, and as apparently there aren't any, It's the question of priorities and values, as Paizo clearly does have time and resources to support causes that are not related to the industry, but may be connected to their market.

I'm not choosing for anyone and I won't dwell on what I do to help, but the very least people could do is raising awareness in the West; if not for the political decisions being made, then because every penny counts.

Thank you, Raven, that says a lot, even though it's offtopic.

I've seen Paizo supporting many different causes, and sometimes I had difficult time understanding the "fuzz" behind them.
Now that yet another war has resumed, I cannot find any news regarding Paizo support for Ukrainian people.
I thought that maybe Paizo is recently inactive, but I see them posting on FB regularly every few hours. There are also companies that reacted swiftly, declaring both moral support and actual donations or at least some kind of promotion, auctions, declaring profit from the product going to the victims. It's also been several days already.

We know for sure it's not the case of "avoiding politics" when it comes to Paizo. So did I miss some news or is there something wrong with Paizo's priorities?

keftiu wrote:

I don’t want this, the devs don’t want to write this, and it wouldn’t be usable in Society play. I really don’t think this is gonna happen. As others have said, this sort of thing is why Infinite exists.

Yes, it definitely wouldn't be everybody's cup of tea, but I thought there'd be no harm in asking.

Amusingly (to me), the absence of much support for the idea suggests to me... how to put this...?
We've had a lot of people complaining about judging older historical periods by modern moral standards, and decrying the sanitization of the setting for a variety of claimed reasons. Since the only reason I can think of to portray evil is to overcome that evil, maybe I've stripped some of the ambiguity from my view of their claims.
(No surprise to most, I'm sure. Apologies, my persistent tinnitus keeps me from hearing higher pitches.)

There's also a possibility that you'll encounter mostly single-minded responses here due to open focus on bringing one small yet loud group of tabletop fans and driving away all the others.

Even though I agree that ability to explore heavier themes in official adventures/materials would be nice, encouraging and not only appropriate, but right, I do not expect to see anything of the sorts due to Paizo's focus elsewhere.

Expressing collective expectations and/or needs will perhaps bear some fruit in the future, but this forums are not the best way to do it.

I hope my post will reach you before getting deleted.

Thank you for acknowledging it despite the hostile atmosphere. I think it's not very well-established due to diffused dates across different countries and being secondary when it comes to showing affection to.

Remember guys that's it also Movember - month of awareness of prostate and testicular cancer (aside from men's mental health). So test yourselves or better yet - make some time and see a professional.

Relating to the first point - what are some positive men at Paizo's that deserve appreciation despite some others working for bad reputation?

Thankyou, FallenDabus, that's actually insightful.

"While things are rough now, we as a company are dedicated to improving and providing a safe space for all gamers—especially trans gamers—to play, create, and be part of a thriving community where they are not only welcomed but celebrated."

I may have encountered some language barrier in here as English is not my first language, nor do I live in US. Could someone elaborate on the context of this fragment, because it seems like all gamers should be welcome, but emphasis is being put on trans gamers as If they were special unlike i.e. female gamers, gamers from opressed ethnicities or poorer countries, gamers being discriminated because of their religiom (or lack of)? Thank you.

I don't usually follow this forum and after this conversation I'm pretty sure I won't be active either way. Levels of hateful tribalism and hipocrisy are astonishing.

Closing the forum "for the night" is everything BUT inclusive, considering that most of the world is in completely different time zones. Except for violence, it's hard to imagine more discriminatory action than making some people unable to discuss meaningful topic.

Voicing my feelings as I'm sure I'm not any "special case" and there are more people with similar impressions.

Just leaving a note that not everyone is so hateful and doubting about the "news", bah, not everyone even care about employees-per-room issue or whether or not it's okay to have a St. Germain poster.
Many of us - even though we of course wish for the employees to have a comfortable jobs and creative opportunities - don't care about identity politics; we just want fun, inspiring product. We're probably just not as vocal as US-based people with US-based issues.

I believe your numbers will speak for themselves as long as books are fine!

I feel some kind of bias against Face role in this guide.
I'm currently playing an Interrogation Investigator in Age of Ashes and I max out Cha along with the Int. Feints, Demoralize or Create a Distraction are great for a 3rd action or a substitute in case of "failed" Devising Strategem.

But yeah, I'm kinda making a shenanigan either way - Hellspawn Ratfolk Investigator (Interrogation) with Wizard and upcoming Hellknight Signifer dedications :D

Good to know, but could you please point the source? On wiki I only found this (don't own a book, but I've heard that lore didn't change much):

The leader of a Hellknight order is known as the lictor, while a leader whose training is more scholarly and less martial is known as a vicarius. Beneath him are an order's master or mistress of blades (field commanders) and paravicar (leader of the order's arcane/religious forces). Beneath them, paralictors (Hellknight officers), signifers (Hellknight spellcasters), rank and file Hellknights, and armigers (Hellknights in training) flesh out the ranks.[8]

I missed that part - thank you for pointing that out!

What exactly are you trying to achieve here? Just being a Hellknight in-universe?

I'd like to express my concept mechanically. I'll probably be some kind of a half-brother of one of the Orders right from the start, but I'd like to make that faceless visage of the law and a ratfolk behind it - censor, arbiter, philosopher. I believe Hellkngiht Signifer dedication feat (related to the mask they get during initiation) is probably the best way to do it, but I find those dedications... somewhat lacking. I know they are "knights", but Orders focused so much on social order and diabolical vibe should have place for, er... "signifers", social: judges, leaders, spies, negotiators or interrogators.

Perhaps there's a better way to keep a skill-monkish utility and concept of an intellectual and get that damn mask and VIP membership?

@masda_gib

I'm sorry, but how is that?

"Mystery Benefit

You are no stranger to the trappings of warfare. You are trained in medium and heavy armor. At 13th level, if you gain the light armor expertise class feature, you also gain expert proficiency in these armors."

"Oracle Dedication

Choose a mystery. (...)"

Why wouldn't it be constant?

I know it's for the Battle Oracle - that's why I would pick it while taking this dedication.

I think I've figured it out - Investigator with Oracle (Battle Mystery) dedication shall do the trick ;)

However if anyone has any ideas or tips - I'd be glad to read them.

Hey!

I'm having hard time planning a character for an Age of Ashes campaign.
Concept is Hellspawn Ratfolk, a faceless bastion of Law, investigator of humanoids' condition and a philosopher of society and order. Face role in the team with skills like Society, Diplomacy, Deception, Intimidation, Lore: Hellknight, Architecture, Legal.

So what I need is a way to obtain a Hellknight Signifer dedication with a Hellspawn Ratfolk Investigator.
If I'm correct, I'd have to:
- get Wizard Dedication with class feat first on 2/4/6 lvl to get that spellcasting class feature;
- get medium armor prof. on 2lvl with a general feat, then heavy armor prof on level 7;
- get Hellknigth Armiger dedication on level 8;

And only then I could get Signifer and his mask on level 10...

Is there a faster way to achieve that? Workaround for "spellcasting class feature" requirement or a way to make full use of a heavy armor (as Investigator gets only light and unarmed)?
I'm rather hesitant to pick Champion or Cleric dedications for heavy armor proficiency.

As I'd have to invest in heavy, I'm even willing to make a risky move with somewhat dumping Str and Dex in favor of Int and Cha (as I'd base on Devise Strategem either way).