Voin_AFOL's page

1063: No, the Serpentfolk term for their barbarians raging not "throwing a hissy fit".

1064: Just b/c you put a wool cloak on the werewolf does not make them a "wolf in sheeps' clothing"

1065: No putting the kitsune on henhouse guard duty.

I would possible require the weapon (at its hottest point) to have to make a fortitude save if it inflicts damage (DC=damage done) to prevent from being damaged/broken condition ... Depending on the armor being penetrated.

As the situation reminds me of the forging process where the metal is beaten while red hot to shape it.

Which itself is a long, strenuous process, & not a few seconds of combat w/ magical heat effects.

Torches are on fire and still only deal 1 point of fire damage.

I'd say hot metal would, at most, do something like that.. but nothing more.

Torches are also not intended as weapons, & thus subject to the improvised weapons rules.

If you take a tempered sword and super heat it, it'll survive.

Now if you take a tempered sword, super heat it, and bang it against armor or some other hard surface...

You'll like warp your sword if not break it completely.

My 2cp.

Guys. You do not "bang your sword against armor or some other hard surface". Nobody (who uses swords) does that. That's a good way to turn your nice sword into an expensive crowbar, and yourself into a meat piniata.

Hammers & picks & sheit were used as anti-armor weapons (to crush the guy inside). Swords were not. Using a sword against a metal-armored opponent means (if you're trained), you're going for the un-armored bits (face, hands, legs, whatever is exposed), or the lighter-armored gaps (joints & such). Point is, you don't hack through a plate of metal w/ an arming sword, you go around it.

Darksmokepuncher wrote:

If you take a tempered sword and super heat it, it'll survive.

Now if you take a tempered sword, super heat it, and bang it against armor or some other hard surface...

You'll like warp your sword if not break it completely.

My 2cp.

So Heat Metal is a good way to sunder armor without actually using the sunder ability you say?

If you are going to make arguments against clever things, remember the repercussions that stem from those arguments.

This is true. If ppl's "counter" to player cleverness is "oh, it'll break your weapon (forget that nobody "hits swords against armor", see above), then it would equally make sense for enemies to have their swords sundered if they refused to drop them when this is cast on them

1053. The national anthem of Ustalav is not "Carrion, my wayward son".

McAllister wrote:

A 40 foot dragon is Gargantuan. A 40 foot starship is Tiny. A Gargantuan starship is about 10,000 feet. Why on Golarion would the Tiny starship be on the same scale as the second one and not the first one?

Because the scales are different. Starfinder did take into account a small bit of realism with their ships. They need to be big, heavily armored tanks to survive the rigors of outer space. You know, massive radiation pulses, extreme heat AND cold, a speck of space dust that hits your hull while you're going the speed of light, etc.

"It's different b/c it's different b/c the game designers didn't take the time to hammer out a properly interlocking system and now we have a bunch of people coming up with circular-reasoning apologia defending this half-baked half-arsery for some reason instead of allowing us to address the issue" :D

I'm actually getting really sick of seeing the "just solve it ad hoc" cop-out, b/c I shouldn't have to tell anyone by now that if we take that argument to its logical conclusion, the end result is "just write your own game system", and if we all do that, then why would we be here?

Yeah, I enjoy houseruling the crap out of my game-systems, but I think it's a fair assessment to say most of us are here on this forum b/c we generally like Paizo's products as systems of conflict-resolution for tabletop RPGs.

What exactly would be the harm in not half-arsing it and, oh, I dunno, providing, say, splash-damage radii & Reflex DCs for starship weapons?

Let's say the PCs wanna be wise-guys, take a shortcut, and try firing their shiny new lazor-phazor-mazor-tazor-cannonnator at the tower of the evil space wizard. Ok, say they penetrate the shields and just obliterate every living thing in a quarter-mile radius. Well done, now good luck scrapping any salvageable loot from the crater of irradiated dust you've created.

I mean yes, there's all sorts of reasons you as the GM could present to the PCs as to "why not use starship weaponry as a "press to win" button for every single encounter", and I think "incinerating anything worth looting" is gonna make even the most amoral parties think twice.

But again, why not have the rules to play around with for when it's... *fun!*? I see all these just... puritanical justifications for "separations of charater & starship scale, and ne'er' twain the two shall meet!" ... but then I think of that scene from Serenity with the warship locked onto the pulse-tracker.

Nobody's saying you have to use such rules if you don't want to, but why not have them in there for those of us that do want them? How will that hurt you in the slightest?

All the people saying "oh, you're not gonna hit comparatively itty-bitty characters w/ massive starship weapons" yeah, ok, you're not gonna hit little comparatively tiny snubfighters w/ massive broadside guns either (exactly what happened in the Death Star Run) - that's why we have size modifiers to attack rolls.

And I don't think anyone's suggesting that starship-on-character combat take place at starship-vs-starship speeds, heavens no. These aren't airplanes, they don't need to maintain a minimum speed to remain aloft. Hasn't anyone here ever watched the excellent Star Wars Rebels? Starship vs. character scale combat happens quite a bit - though usually not to lethal effect, it's more of "cover fire to escape" and the characters dodge the actual damage. Here's a scene where a TIE Fighter targets the main characters (a group roughly the size of your average adventuring party) and a character takes it out with a shoulder-mounted rocket-launcher.

Meanwhile in Stargate SG-1, we are shown that Death Gliders (the Goa'uld starfighters) can be taken down by, again, a shoulder-launched missile. Later, Teal'c takes to wielding a cannon from a downed Death Glider as a heavy weapon.

And then of course we have this magnificent scene from Galaxy vol.2 showing starship-on-character combat in all it's glory - why wouldn't I want scenes like that playing out at my game session?

1027. You Treant sapling companion don't know talkin' good like me and you, so his vocabulistics is limited to "I" and "am" and "Groot," exclusively in that order.

1011: The anthem of Darklands peoples is not "I come from a Land Down Under, where mushrooms grow and Drow plunder..."

In all of the movies and episodes of Star Trek (not counting Enterprise) , how many times did we see a bathroom, or even the sonic shower? You know the answer, and you should realize why...because at best, they are distractions from the storytelling.

And if you are limited to X amount of hours at a sitting, do you really want to spend that much time with the bathroom habits of each monster you encounter?

I hear that Myfarog is the game to go if you're looking for obsession on those kinds of details.

Well, that's the thing: ST is about diplomats, scientists, & explorers who maintain an air of dignity about them.

TTRPG adventurers won't hesitate to turn a privy into a tactical advantage (it's where even the toughest badass lets down their guard for obvious physical reasons). When the guard squats over a bucket & drops their pants to take care of business, they're a flat-footed target & can't move at more than 1/2 speed unless they take a move action to pull their pants back up. The GM just needs to hold up their end of the deal & send the guards on a potty break once in a while. If you're feeling particularly nasty, you can cast some sort of trap spell on the toilet itself to really catch your foes w/ their pants down.

In pit traps, on pointy sticks. Hope you don't get filth fever.

Careful if your group by some chance happens to include a 'Nam vet...

Punji stick

One thing I think would be important to remember is a difference b/w "standing army" and "how many levies a nation can muster in a short time" (say, if they go to war).

Throughout most of our world's history (up until fairly recently, actually - around the last industrial revolution), for most civilizations, having a large, standing army at the ready during peacetime was rare. It was uneconomical (most of those soldiers were farmers & artisans, so if they're standing around in armor, they're consuming resources & not producing stuff), and typically seen as an open declaration of immediate intent on aggressive action by one's neighbors. Typically the rulers would have a small, full-time guard, regular folk would be conscripted as the need arose, and go back to being turnip-farmers or cartwrights at the end of the conflict.

The few militaristic civilizations that did have large standing militaries (Sparta & Rome are notable examples - and both of their economies strongly depended on slaves) were the exceptions that proved the rule.

It stands to reason that if the world of Golarion is not constantly embroiled in global wars, and if it makes any sort of economic or geo-political sense, then they too, having mostly agrarian/feudal/pre-industrial societies, would follow suit.

In cultures that necessitate badassery like the Ulfen or the Kellid, there's an important distinction that should be made between "anyone is ready to fight at a moment's notice" (which is more or less true) and "a bunch of people are full-time warriors, and do nothing else" (which is neither true in the cultures they are based on, nor would make any sense in the setting).

The presence of dangerous monsters does little to challenge this precedent. You don't send an army of CR 1 warriors to take out a dragon (that's how you end up with a roasted ex-army), you send a small band of highly-skilled adventurers (essentially a commando raid instead of an invasion force).

In the meantime, for anyone looking to expand on the Kingdom rules, I'd highly recommend Legendary Games'
Ultimate Rulership, Ultimate Battle, & Ultimate War.

But my fellow Pathfinders bring up some good points.

Perhaps put in some class options that specifically interact w/ mass combat - Commanders, Spymasters, Battle-Priests, War-mages, that sort of thing.

But again, I'd want more of the focus to be on the nations & factions and their territorial holdings, defenses, & forces. The Eagle Knights of Andoran, the Dragon-prowed fleets of the Ulfen vikingrs, the Pure Legion of Rahadoum, etc.

How badass would it be to participate in a massive siege of Absalom (on either side)?

Okay, I just looked at the text of the resurrection spell in the d20pfsrd.

Components V, S, M (diamond worth 10,000 gp), DF

It just says "diamond", not "a diamond". Diamond is a substance, and can come in a big chunk, smaller pieces, powder, etc - it's all "diamond".

It's like if it asked for a material component that was "pie worth 10,000 gp" - is that one big pie, or a bunch of smaller ones?

mmmm... I wanna get rezzed to a 10,000 gp pie... :P

Where do "used up" diamonds...go?

What about opening up planar trade from the Elemental Plane of Earth? BOOM! Infinite minable resources!

How many GP worth of diamonds do I need to build a killer SPACE-LAZOR? :P

zainale wrote:

well good luck ever finding one of that size

Size isn't an issue.

if they want to do it in the field

Uhm... phrasing? O_o :P

Okay, seriously now:

Diamonds are objectively worthless in our world.

Prior to the 20th century, engagement rings were strictly luxury items, and they rarely contained diamonds. But in 1939, the De Beers diamond company changed all of that when it hired ad agency N.W. Ayer & Son. The industry had taken a nosedive in the 1870s, after massive diamond deposits were discovered in South Africa. But the ad agency came to the rescue by introducing the diamond engagement ring and quietly spreading the trend through fashion magazines. The rings didn't become de rigueur for marriage proposals until 1948, when the company launched the crafty "A Diamond is Forever" campaign. By sentimentalizing the gems, De Beers ensured that people wouldn't resell them, allowing the company to retain control of the market. In 1999, De Beers chairman Nicky Oppenheimer confessed, "Diamonds are intrinsically worthless, except for the deep psychological need they fill."

In addition to diamond engagement rings, De Beers also promoted surprise proposals. The company learned that when women were involved in the selection process, they picked cheaper rings. By encouraging surprise proposals, De Beers shifted the purchasing power to men, the less-cautious spenders.

Diamonds are not particularly rare in our world. Unfortunately what drives the price up to a ludicrous markup is that one diamond cartel (De Beers) has muscled its way into a monopoly, and sits on the supply, creating an artificial shortage by only allowing a small percentage to be sold each year (again for absolutely no reason other than to unethically increase their profits).

So knowing this, we must ask ourselves - is there equivalent anticompetitive dickery going on in Golarion (*cough* Aspis Consortium), and if so, how does these diamond robber-barons artificially manipulating prices affect the return of souls to the mortal plane?

Lemme start by saying that I heartily appreciate the new elements of gameplay strategy that Downtime & Kingdom-Building rules bring to the table, and I want to thank everyone involved in that (and the excellent "Kingmaker" AP that prototyped it) for all their time and effort.

What I'd like to propose is a "Worldbook" of sorts, that would go through the nations and factions of Golarion (or perhaps just the Inner Sea) and stat them out using Kingdom, Downtime, and Faction-prestige rules.

The introduction set forth in Kingmaker is wonderful, but to those of us aspiring to take our characters or parties on the path to rulership, we hunger for more. What happens if our Stolen Lands kingdom wants to carry out an invas- er, sorry, "intervention" in Galt? Or what if the GM decides Technic League of Numeria invades the Stolen Lands? What if an Alkenstar-Andoran Alliance (with PC heroes at the helm, of course) is at war with a Chelliax client state? How about a grand campaign of conquest all across the Inner Sea - the kind which has made Alexander, the Caesars, and the Khans (in)famous in our world's history?

Basically, what I would like (and would pay good money for) is a "Bestiary of Nations" (and factions), with each statblocks of each one's territorial holdings, troop strength, and wealth - just like a player's Kingdom or Downtime stats. When my players (or I as a player) go up against a rival Kingdom or guild, I want to know their stats, just like when taking down a monster.

To my knowledge, as of this post, there isn't a product out there like this already - but if I missed such a thing already being published (there are a lot of PF books to keep up with, I'd appreciate someone letting me know.

Don't hesitate to post replies if you'd like to throw your support behind such a project, &/or if there is something you'd like to see in such a book that I forgot to mention.

What I don't want to see is people wasting my time the weak, shoot-down "counter-argument" of: "oh, but you/your GM can just make something up for those nations" - well, if we follow that rabbit-hole to it's logical conclusion, I could just pull all the stats for monsters, magic, classes, heck, a whole game system of my own out of my rear, but then we wouldn't be playing Pathfinder anymore, would we? Such arguments bring nothing to the discussion and are only lazy attempts to shut it down.

Also, I (obviously) would love to hear from the good folks at Paizo themselves regarding their thoughts on this idea.

A small nitpick. Paladins have no incentive keep their wisdom nearly as high as their charisma. It's too hard to keep up 3-4 ability scores, do I don't think that most of them do do.

Okay, you're probably right there, but a Paladin's main shtick is still holy warrior, not nature warrior. Why should they get better Handle Animal than the Ranger who spends all their time in the wild around animals?

The skill uses Cha because it facilitates interactions with a creature.

Because charisma also represents your abstract likableness as a person...

Yes, to other sentient beings. Notice how the Diplomacy skill does not work on animals because they have an Int score of less than 3?

Alright, so say you wanted to keep the Cha mod around (your game, after all), why not make it variable? It would look like "Handle Animal (Cha/Wis)", and you pick your modifier at the start of the game (choice is permanent).

I've house-ruled some other variable-mod skills into my games, including Climb (Str/Dex) (representing a character who “clambers like a monkey”, rather than pulling themselves up by sheer muscle power), Heal (Wis/Int) (representing a character who is a “book-trained” physician, rather than having apprenticed to the village shaman or whatever) and Intimidate (Cha/Str) (not a perfect solution, but a workable one to make it so some prissy little bard isn't more intimidating than Krognar the Skull-Crusher w/o re-writing the whole thing).

For my upcoming online Kingmaker campaign, I made a whole
fan-wiki for Brevoy (the nation sponsoring the expedition), since official info on it was scarce. It covers everything from culture to laws to methods of warfare.

I started with what little canonical lore was available and extrapolated out from the larger Golarion setting (like the general egalitarianism, for instance), noted the part the doctrine of the major churches would play in laws and daily life, and took into account the likely influence of neighboring nations (i.e. how the River Freedoms would have influenced Brevoy's laws). Once I had exhausted official Golarion material, I looked at historical sources, including medieval law, Russian/Soviet history (since Brevoy is a fantasy counterpart to medieval Russia), and tried to apply what I knew about anthropology to determine how those factors would mix together to form a plausible fantasy society across various class strata (low, middle, upper and nobility). That said, I ultimately erred on the side of "creative licence narrative" over "documentary flowchart".

It was a very interesting thought-exercise. Our characters [i]live[i/] in these fantastic societies and realms, but often I feel like we know more about "the Dungeon" than we do about how a regular town or kingdom works on a daily basis.

Is serving in your kingdom's army an honor that young men compete for, or a grim meatgrinder, with mothers dreading the conscripting officers taking their sons away to die? If you steal a loaf of bread, what is the penalty - community service or getting your hand lopped off? Are the local prostitutes shunned wretches, or are they a publically-represented, organized guild having city hall by the _____?

And I feel that these "normal" details [i]are[i/] important, because if not, than what are the characters fighting for? If the adventurers descending into the monster's lair to slay it for devouring the townsfolk have no clue what those townsfolk regular lives are like, then... aren't the adventurers as aberrant as their foes?

How are we supposed to have cohesive, immersive games if everyone sits down at the table with wildly different ideas of how the universe they're adventuring in works?

Well, I think know the answer, and it's "laziness". I'm guessing some game designer back in the day figured "well, it's basically like Diplomacy for critters, so, hurrdur, let's make it like the other Cha skills". And then nobody bothered to fix it in the years hence (I know it's actually not "Diplomacy for animals", that's a common misconception).

My reason for contesting this is that I've worked with animals for years (not just household pets - everything from large livestock to poultry), and even won several champion-level awards for such, and the skill as mechanically represented in the game doesn't seem to match my IRL experience at all. Just like "swinging a sword", I'm guessing "raising/training an animal" is something that whatever designer originally made the skill had no first-hand experience in before taking a wild, stabbing guess in the dark and pulling an arbitrary rule out of their butt that in no way mirrors reality.

Now let's back up a sec and refresh what the ability scores we're discussing actually mean. Because while this is not a strictly simulation game, the numbers still have to represent something in the game-world. We're not shuffling numbers around for the sake of shuffling numbers around - this isn't "Accountants & Agony: the Board Game".

Wisdom describes a character's willpower, common sense, awareness, and intuition.

Charisma measures a character's personality, personal magnetism, ability to lead, and appearance.

Now in my own time spent working with animals, training them, etc., my "willpower, common sense, awareness, and intuition" were a lot more crucial to that process than my "personality, personal magnetism, ability to lead (people), and appearance."

Animals don't care how much social graces amongst sentient beings you have - they care if you're paying attention to their signals, which is something entirely different. Just earlier this evening, my cat started making noises like he was upset at something. I deduced from the context of the situation that he might have been too warm, so I put an ice-cube in his water-dish, and he happily lapped up the water. It was my taking notice of the surrounding factors and intuitively deciding on a course of action (Wisdom), not dazzling him with my magnificent oratory and subtle glibness (Charisma) that resolved the issue.

Keep in mind, Handle Animal is about a sentient being (human, elf, etc) working w/ an animal, not "showmanship", like a circus performer presenting in front of an audience (which would probably be better handled w/ a Perform skill).

How would this change (making the skill based off of Wisdom insead) play out back in the mechanics? Consider that the core "natury" classes (Barbarians, Druids, & Rangers) are archetypical loners often living far away from civilization, in the company of beasts, and they like it just fine, thank you very much. The casters have high Wis, since it's their casting attribute, and all 3 can probably afford to dump Cha, since it doesn't do much for them. So there's zero reason why characters whose whole shtick revolves around "protector of nature" should be penalized when dealing with the very animals whom they work with and protect every day. Instead they'll enjoy better Handle Animal modifiers.

Likewise, Fighters and Cavaliers, who are also likely to have higher Wis than Cha will be better able to handle warhorses and guard dogs. I'm not too worried about Paladins, since their Wis tends to be nearly as high as their Cha anyway, and now Pallys have an option to not be saddled w/ a mount.

Who are the stereotypically high-Cha core classes that I haven't mentioned? Bards, maybe Clerics, sometimes Rogues, and Sorcerers? Is there any particular thematic reason for them to be inherently good at Handle Animal, let alone better than nature/survival-themed classes? I think not.

This isn't a huge issue (like class balance disparity), just something that kinda bugged me for a while. And also because of that, the change would be simple, painless, and unintrusive to implement. Paizo's done a lot of great things for smoothing the rough edges of the 3.X system - I'm just pointing out one I think they missed.

p.s. - haven't started a thread for a while, hope I'm posting this in the right place.

971: No, everyone in Galt does not smoke thin cigarettes, carry baguettes, wear berets, or surrender at the drop of a hat.

972: My Galtan character is not le tired.

973: Not allowed to convince the Lumber Consortium to change their slogan to "Got Wood?"

964. The Paladin and the Antipaladin do not cause a cataclysmic, mutually-destructive explosion just by coming in physical contact with each other.

965. This goes double for Rule 34 of the above.

961. As much as it may inspire fits of immature giggling from all others present, the Aspis Consortium does not appreciate being referred to as "Ass Piss", despise how fitting it might be of their awful conduct.

915. Your Gunslinger's battle-cry shall not be "TRIGGER WARNING!"

When the pain comes, clench your muscles like this (Rolls a 12 on his Fort save and successfully demonstrates). I've successfully fought off illnesses like this before. Just believe in your inner strength and you will be fine.

"And that's how I made my first million gold pieces hosting the "Successful Help, Invaluable Tips: How to Not Poop Yourself to Death" seminar!

While you're here, check out my new book: "Basic Hygiene for Int 3: Or "How I learned to stop puking my guts out and started washing my hands after getting swallowed whole by a purple worm and cutting my way out"!" :D"

Okay, how would that work for Fortitude saves, though?

If your buddy got bit on the pecker by a rattlesnake, you suck out the poison? :P

(Don't actually do that IRL, you'll die.)

But seriously though, how would that conceivably work in-game for Fortitude saves.

Bob: "Hey guys, I got bad news - dysentery. I could really use a hand not pooping myself to death."

Aerith: "It's alright Bob, I can help you."

Bob: "You can? You've got a remove disease spell!?"

Aerith: "...no"

Bob: "Medicine? Healing Skill? An alchemical item? Profession (Herbalism)? Ability to summon an anti-poop monster?"

Aerith: "Not quite. But I can suffer through it with you, my friend."

Bob: "...how's that supposed to help me?"

Aerith: "Don't ask nosey questions, it just does. Now make room for me next to you in the outhouse."

884. Every time the cult of The Angry Hag is mentioned, you don't need to start singing "M-m-m-my Gyronna!"

A system with "independent" magic level, which can appeal everyone, is unknown to me, I don't even know if it is possible to create, probably a utopia.

I'd recommend taking a look at Mutants and Masterminds 2nd Edition (based off Green Ronin's earlier True20 system). It's a d20-based, universal system that's point-buy and effect-based. Everything you need to play (player info, skills, feats, powers, gear, pre-made PCs, GM info, monsters, NPCs, even a couple starting adventures) are all right in the core book.

You both build and advance your character with "Power Points" that are awarded at the end of every successful adventure (also making "horizontal advancement" possible, if that's something your group wants to do), and those Power Points can be spent on "intrinsic" abilities (what you are) or gear (what you have). Gear generally gets you more "mileage" out of your points because it can be stolen, but the person who put a bunch of points into "punching really hard" can be as competent as the person who put a bunch of points into "making this magic sword really awesome" and the person who spent points on "wizard powers".

You can play a fantasy game in M&M 2E, and you can even plop in monsters straight out of D&D 3.X/PF with very little adjustment (other than damage/toughness). In fact, that's what the book "Warriors and Warlocks" is all about, but it isn't necessary (most of the splatbooks actually are heavy with fluff about how to run/play a particular genre).

A common complaint I see is "You can't run D&D in M&M because M&M isn't all loot-happy like D&D".

Well, lemme ask you, what is treasure, in an FRPG like D&D or PF? What most fundamental purpose does it serve?

Treasure = power advancement.

Magic items are simply a measure of your power - how hard you smack things, how well you can take a punch when you get smacked back, what sort of crazy utility effects you can do, etc. That's why I was so happy to see "Automatic Bonus Progression" in the PF Unchained book, because it allowed us to... "unchain" PCs from the "Big 6" item expectations for their levels and save up those funds/slots for items that are actually interesting or even (gasp!) run a lower-magic game.

Anyway, in M&M, you don't explicitly get "treasure" at the end of an adventure, you get a Power Point.

Now whether you fluff that PP as going into "training" or "better gear", does it really matter? Either way, your character ends up more powerful than they were before.

882. Just because you can make a party consisting of a half-human-half...something else swashbuckler, a Numerian-cyborg slayer, a brawler, and an awakened raccoon gunslinger with a treant companion, doesn't mean that NPCs in the game world will get the joke when you call yourselves "The Guardians of Golarion" and challenge people to dance-offs.

Sorry, didn't know where else to put this.

So there used to be an article posted elsewhere on the internet with expanded uses for everyone's favorite cantrip, but lately, WotC has been pig-headedly purging everything that's not whatever new .5 version they're cranking out this week while disposing of last month's version, so most of those valuable old links to good articles like this are forever broken.

But fear not! I copy-pasted the relevant info at some point in the past before it got senselessly trashed into to the cyber-nether:

Here for your cantrip-casting pleasure:

Content Omitted

I do not disagree with anything you have said. I referred to the terror group as "Islamic State" because that is what they are currently called by most people, in the same way that the DPRK is more commonly referred to as North Korea. I do not recognize their legitimacy, anymore than I recognize the legitimacy of, say, the Confederate States of America as ever having been a legitimate sovereign entity.

The reason I use them as a point of comparison is because I think that like IS/ISIS/ISIL/Daesh, Razmir behaves in an almost identical manner. Razmir relies on mindless fanatics at the front lines carrying out the bloody business fighting or recruiting for their God, when in reality they are being manipulated by an oligarchy of cynical megalomaniacs willing to sacrifice any number of sincere devotees to maintain their position of power and glory. And like IS/Daesh, Razmir's true power does not lie in his actual physical power, but in a magnificently well-crafted and choreographed propaganda campaign that continues to draw in a steady stream of recruits.

Likewise, not in disagreement, but you can surely understand why I take the opportunity to educate people on why the naming convention is significant.

I see. And are Rahadoumi aware of this fate that awaits them? Are they consenting to it?

If you think the wounds from the Civil War healed quickly - or have healed yet, for that matter - you're missing something. Read up a bit on the "Lost Cause" or the Klan or the ubiquitous Stars and Bars. We really are still dealing with it. And with the consequences of the slavery that led to it.

That's why I said "in comparison to similar event in other countries". But the occasional remnant spark-up of racial violence is not the same as in other countries where the actual war just rages on and on and on.

And while we don't have wars raging on our streets and violent crime is definitely down, we are still the most gun happy people on the planet (or in the close running at least). We seem to feel the need to have them at all times, even though violence is down.

And? That's a person's right to make that choice - everyone has a right to defend themselves from violence. As long as they haven't wrongfully assaulted anyone, a gun owner has not done anything wrong.

And have you considered that maybe the endless sensational news coverage of how "Omgz, America's so violent, u guyz" has contributed to people not feeling safe walking down the street?

But no one can be truly "anti-gun" if they vote for "anti-gun" laws. If you, personally, don't care for firearms, that's fine. Just don't infringe on my right to own one and we'll get along great. If you don't like guns, don't buy one, if you don't like pot don't smoke it, if you don't like gay marriage, don't get one, etc. Live and let live, right?

But consider what happens when people vote in "anti-gun" legislation. They're deciding that their law-abiding neighbors (who have not shot anyone) should have their private property taken away by people from the government with guns. So you can't be "anti-gun" unless you're against guns for everybody. Otherwise a person voting that way is very "pro-gun", but only for the government.

And we all know the government is always 100% responsible and accountable with their gun use and never ever, pinkie-swear ever shoots anyone they're not supposed to, ever.
^ This message approved by the Ministry of Truth.

A government that can't trust citizens with guns should not be trusted with theirs. And as someone who is part ethnically Jewish, I will never support disarmament, for obvious reasons.

But lets not close our eyes to the flaws or pretend any criticism is claiming we're the worst either.

Not closing my eyes or white-washing. But when we blow issues out of proportion or create problems where none exist, that takes time and effort away from the real, bigger problems.

But yes, you're right - too much off-topic drifts. If anyone wants to discuss this other stuff further, feel free to send me a p.m. or link me to an off-topic thread.

Cheers! :)

---

And now back to the topic.

So what does happen to Rahadoumians... Rahadoumites ...Rahadoumlanders...Rahadoumericans...Rahadoumi? in the afterlife?

Anybody know?

Admittedly, I have not yet had the time to read all the massive amount of setting lore for Golarion, especially where cosmology is concerned.

Great character, love the concept and backstory...

2 questions:

1) Did she track down Carmen San Diego and keep her hat and trench-coat as trophies?

2) Why are her breasts scrunched up to her collarbone? That looks painful.

In Arazni's case that's more of a matter of a herald. (important thing to note, Arazni was never divine, at most more on the order of a mythic NPC.) vastly and fatally underestimating their opponent.

The thing is the world is the great cosmopolitical chess game the gods play with each other. If they blow up the board through excessive personal intervention, no one wins. As Jacobs said, Iomedae has interacted excessively in the matter of the Worldwound, and a price may be paid for that someday.

I did not know that (that she wasn't fully divine). But then again, Golarion has so many deities and demigods running around, it's almost like trying to keep track of Game of Thrones characters.

Islamic State

Can we please not call them that? The problem with that name (and any permutation thereof, like "ISIS" or "ISIL") is that it dignifies an atrocity-committing death cult by lending them religious and political legitimacy that they have absolutely no right to. It claims in that name to represent all Muslims in the world - something that the vast majority of Muslims never consented to and obviously have a problem with. The actions of that group would actially make them apostates and heretics according to the Qur'an.

Secondly, they are not a "state". That would mean being a real sovereign nation, and using real troops (lawful combatants) not terrorists, and so forth. They have not been diplomatically recognized by any nation in the world. Rather, they have declared war on the world. They are nothing but murderous, raping, slaving, rampaging thugs with delusions of grandeur. Let's not spread their vile propaganda for them.

Also, there are a lot of women and girls in the world named after the goddess Isis that would rather their name not go the way of "Adolf" and be forever associated with a gang of genocidal barbarians.

A better way to refer to this group is "Daesh" - this is a term derived from the Arabic acronym of what they call themselves, and it roughly translates to "oppressor" or "trod underfoot". Bonus points because this terrorist group hates being called "Daesh" (kinda like how the government of Democratic People's Republic of being obviously none of those things Korea hates being called "North Korea").

Let's not call the bad guys by the ostentatious titles they want, mkay?.

This isn't just a meaningless argument over semantics. The way we speak influences the way we think. And the way we think influences the way we vote. Do you want this festering boil of ultraviolent degenerates to ever be recognized as as a sovereign state like North Korea is? Do you want their representatives enjoying diplomatic immunity riding in a limo to the U.N. building in NYC? You want a Daesh consulate down the street from where you live? Everything they stand for seeks to eradicate the progress of the last several thousand years of human civilization. And so, like the Nazis before them, they need to be fought and eliminated, not appeased for some delusional dream of "peace in our time".

This isn't the typical "let's compare something we don't like to Nazis" cliche - for those of you that know your history, in this case, the analogy fits eerily well. Consider how tired everyone from the outside has become of the long, bloody "foreign wars" fought in that region - and how much disenfranchisement that has caused among the people living there. Then along comes a charismatic demagogue with an extremist ideology of expansion through conquest that rallies these disenfranchised masses by promising them strength and retribution against those that wronged them. This group gathers military momentum, accumulating materiel, claiming victories, and taking ground, and committing unthinkable acts of enslavement and genocide against "undesirable" groups, while the major foreign powers that arguably have the ability to do something about it pussyfoot around the issue and nurse their wounds from the last struggle, not wanting to risk committing themselves to another bleak war.

Sound familiar?

No need for dueling like civilizaed gentlemen -- a blaster works just fine. :-)

Too clumsy and random. I prefer a more elegant weapon for a more civilized age...

Actually, no need for dueling. The discussions of religion and politics aren't necessarily that much worse than, for instance, the Rogue Hate discussions . . . wait, maybe that IS religion . . . .

It donens't need to be religion or politics for people to get flame-warry about it. Even hobbies can be Serious Business.

But seriously, I'd have missed it if you couldn't post your experiences in the Soviet Union (which you don't have to be crazy to describe), even if it is substantially different from Rahadoum (different in style, yes, but after a point these differences get big enough to be important, like for instance, to anyone trying to combat the system).

Thank you. I agree.

And like I said (in part in the post that got deleted), I would even be on board with your intentions of overthrowing Rahadoum even if I think you are too optimistic about certain strategies, if we both got dumped into Golarion, even though I have self-acknowledged trouble responding properly to what you pointed out earlier about Golarion deities not working like Earth deities (which is a GOOD thing). That is, assuming that I could survive and remain free as a character of point buy in the range -3 to +6, with horrible optimization (probably get beat up by an average unoptimized Rogue

Assuming Golarion works on Pathfinder rules, we'd at least have the advantage of knowing how those rules work from a meta perspective.

if the Microbes Of Golarion(*) didn't get me first, before I could get enough time and experience to overcome the block against the divine carried over from Earth).

(*)Actually, interesting idea for a Pathfinder Campaign Setting supplement, although admittedly, being in my Earth profession a Modern Necromancer Life Science Researcher, I might be a bit biased about the...

Although... what's to say we're not the ones carrying something that's harmless to us, but lethal to the inhabitants of Golarion? Say, our trip there isn't sponsored by Urgathoa Express, is it?

We ARE a culture that holds violence as an accepted first solution for problem solving. And we're the most gun happy people on the planet

Oh really? Caught word of what's been happening in the Middle East or Africa or Mexico or South America or South-East Asia lately for a while now?

So let's cut the self-flagellating "Westerner guilt" delusions already. Today's America is pretty darn tame in comparison to places where actual wars of genocide rage on this very moment, where they drag people out of their houses and behead them in the streets.

The rate of all sorts of violent crime in the U.S. (murder, rape, etc) has actually been on a steady decline for a while now. The difference is with modern media and telecommunication you just hear more about the stuff that does happen.

The U.S.A. has has exactly 1 revolution in its history, and it was a resounding success that gave birth to a nation that has more-or-less increasingly made progress over the years.

We also had 1 major civil war (only one on a scale big enough to matter, anyway), and the cultural wounds from that healed remarkably quickly in comparison to similar event in other countries.

As a Representative Republic, we have elections. Now what is an election, in it's most basic form, but a regularly-scheduled, bloodless civil war where the party not currently in power has a chance to put their own person on the throne in office by ballot, rather than by bullet? It's even evident in the military terminology that the politicians ganked like "campaigning" or "filibuster".

I'm not saying this nation is perfect-shiny-Eagleland-of-Ultimate-flawlessness. I'm usually the first to criticize something here when I smell a foul.

But we're also not Omgz, like, the most horridable, violent people in the world, according to the authoritative treatise on this snarky bumper sticker I got at the place that sells Che t-shirts.

^ Stuff like that just resounds with ignorant self-indulgence, of people refusing to see things how they are, but rather how they want to see it. America is one of the most charitable nations in the world. Yes, we go to war, but we rebuild what we break - how many other countries can boast that? When natural disasters bury cities under rubble, it's Americans - civilian volunteers and military experts - that are among the first on the scene, saving lives and rebuilding infrastructure (the unvaccinated U.N. "peacekeepers" waltz in later to make things worse like the cholera outbreak they caused in Haiti).

Look, I don't wanna derail the thread topic, but as an immigrant to the States, as a naturalized American citizen, and a U.S Air Force veteran who served proudly and with honor, it really grinds my gears when people make these obnoxious blanket-statements about a nation that I believe in, the nation that I bled for.

And typically these kind of statements come from States-born Middle-Americans who have never seen first-hand how bad it can get elsewhere.

Pointing out problems in your country so that they can be fixed is part of what patriotism is all about, but these hollow cliches of "fashionable guilt" aren't helping anything.

---

And now back to the topic.

^If all real world politial and religious commentary is forbidden from the Campaign Setting forums, how are we supposed to compare worlds and world experiences?

Call me crazy, but I think it's possible for rational people to discuss religion and politics and keep it civil.

Up to a point.

And then we duel.

Like civilized gentlemen.

;P

But still, you can't prepare spells that violate the code

That's a good point in answer to another question of "why do clerics have access to spells that clearly violate their deity's shtick?". This way we don't need to make a bajillion spell lists for all the dieties, but depending on how anal the ice god wants to be, he can say "fire spells bad, you no cast them".

I would say that when you are preparing your spells in the morning, You are taking in the divine energy to produce the effects, and the spells themselves are in effect, your way of venting said energy.

The magic was inside you all along! Well, that also explains non-deity clerics.

You can use them for your whim, after all, Iomedae is a busy god, and does not have time individually assist you with guidance each time you need a +1 on your diplomacy, or your buddies too hit.

"Hello! And welcome to IomedaePrayer®! To continue in Common, chant "one" now!

On that off note. Otherwise, I would liken it to casting a beneficial spell on somebody, and it not going away when they decide that your usefulness to them is up, and go to kill you or do something that would violate your code. (maybe that fly spell you cast on them gave them the ability to set fire to that floating orphanage? who knows)

Well, those random beneficiaries probably have not sworn sacred oaths to you to uphold a specific code of conduct.

Heck, I'm not even sure the deities themselves hand out those spells. Don't they have minions to do the routine jobs of running the universe? Even if it's just morning prayers, answering ALL those pesky clerics in all the time zones of Gorlarion (does Golarion have time zones?) means hours after hours of answering the phone and dishing out Bless and Cure Light Wounds and Sanctuary and...

Holy Nine Hells, that's a lot of tedium - don't those gods and goddesses have anything better to do? Like posing on their celestial throne for another sculpture?

I bet those deities hire a few score of $9.00/hr. telemarketers to answer those calls.

[Insert joke about outsourcing to Vudra here...] ;P

Do the right thing because it's the right thing and not because some deity told them to.

Again though, the deities in Golarion function differntly from religion in our world. For one, they, and their alignment are objectively provable. A deity of good is going to lead their followers to do good because it's in their nature. Good isn't defined as "what one deity or another said goodness is" - the good deities are defined by being cosmic manifestations of the principle of goodness, therefore their ways, their teachings are naturally going to be good.

The Rhadoumi have never denied the existence of gods.

Yeah. We know. We thoroughly covered this point 5 or 6 pages ago.

I never said that it was a "Good" nation, but then again, if you eliminated all of the "non-good" nations from the planet, Golarion would be an empty globe.

So... the efforts of Andoran, Kyonin, Lastwall, Liberthane, Mendev, Nirmathas and others to not be wretched hives of scum and villainy count for nothing? [sarcasm] Yeah, let's everybody just abandon even trying to be better people or make the world a better place because those jerks over there are making money off selling innocent people like cattle.[/sarcasm]

Golarion is not quite so grimdark bleak as say... Ravenloft or Darksun. And where there's life there's hope.

When you are beset by deist agents trying to break in on all sides, you really can't be surprised that there's going to be blowback.

Okay, Norgorber I can understand. His followers murder people and he has a dumb-sounding name (there, I said it). Even Nethys, since he can be a real bastard if he wakes up on the wrong side of the bed. But Sarenrae?

... the church's emphasis on kindness, healing, joy, and redemption makes it popular across the continents, and shrines to the Dawnflower dot countrysides in most nations.

[sarcasm]Oh man. That is just bad. How do these religious kooks think up this stuff? Kindness? Healing? Joy? Redemption? We can't have that! That flies in the face of everything we believe it! The Laws of Man clearly state that we have to be irredeemable knobgoblins to each other and no fun allowed, ever. It's outrageous, this "divine healing" they dare to impose on us! Will no one think of the children!?!? Nope, just gimme my plague-famine beetles served by a slave and burn those goody-two shoes at the stake like they deserve![/sarcasm]

* Have you seen the Rahadoum artwork in the Inner Sea World Guide? It does not look like a fun place to live.

---

Just my 2 copper's worth on discrepancies between "lore" and "fiction", with "lore" being stuff in the RPG sourcebooks, and "fiction" being the novels, comics, etc - until I hear otherwise from the Paizo team (or someone who can quote me an official statement from the Paizo team), the Lore seems "more canonical" to me. The way I see it, the lore is more "general info" for everybody's campaign's while the fiction is more that particular writers' interpretation of the setting, not unlike when a specific person GMs a game. That's just my opinion.

---

Moral of the story: Too many anti-theists (in Rahadoum and IRL) whining about people "shoving religion down their throats" are missing the irony about how much they're shoving their own lack of belief down other people's throats.

My political philosophy is basically that people should be free to do their thing (whether that thing is how they worship or don't worship, how they love, how they express themselves, whether they choose to own guns or not, etc) as long as that thing doesn't infringe on the rights of others. Only when it's crossed that threshold into violating someone else's rights should it be considered a crime. Punishing people before they've even done anything wrong makes the government the evildoer in the situation. And a government that does not respect or trust the citizens does not deserve to be kept secure.

871. The National Anthem of Cheliax is not "Rock Me Asmodeus" no matter how much the Tiefling bard insists otherwise.

872. No amount of Linguistics checks will reveal hidden Satanic messages in Cheliaxian literature when read backwards. Obvious Satanic messages when read regularly, on the other hand...

873. The leader of the Eagle Knights is not Captain Andoran, or the "Star-Spangled Man with the Plan".

874. Nor does he have a theme song about throwing his mighty shield.

875. "Because we might get attacked by a monster that swallows people whole, and I want to not taste delicious so it spits me out" is not an excuse to abandon personal hygiene.

876. Selling travel packages to Galt as "Golarion's #1 Topless Vacation Destination" is in poor taste.

877. Richard Dawkins is not the head of state in Rahadoum. Not that he wouldn't try it given the chance.

878. Paladins (of various faiths) on Golarion are not necessarily sworn to celibacy, and would appreciate it if you give it a rest already about how they never get any. They'll have you know that Charisma score goes a long way...

879. No nation in Golarion has a form of government based on strange women lying on their backs in ponds handing out swords.

Be a rogue/cleric of Sarenrae. Take Channel Ray. Sneak up behind people and give a whole new meaning to the phrase "shoot sunshine up someone's arse".

So how many much of Avistan that has heard of this guys smells b.s. about the whole "living god" thing?

Pathfinder Chronicles Gazetteer, page 50 says:

"Razmir claims to have used the Starstone in Absalom to achieve divinity, but any who have visited the City at the Center of the World know this to be false. The truth is totally suppressed in his realm, with “spreaders of sedition” facing a host of harsh sentences, from exile to execution.

Razmiran’s neighbors view the expansion of its cult into their lands as a plague. The willing defection of several border communities to the banner of the Living God underscores the danger posed by Razmir, pushing his neighbors ever closer to taking up arms against him."

This is because the Starstone Cathedral has 4 bridges - 1 for every successful attempt at apotheosis. Razmir does not have one, because, contrary to his claims, he never passed the test, therefore, he obviously cannot be a god. The real gods of Golarion are objectively provable - they grant their followers spells and domain powers and guidance and a place for their souls to rest in the afterlife. Razmir grants his lackeys nothing more than any other powerful wizard-king (like Nex or Geb) could.

I assume the tales of the Starstone have been told throughout Avistan for some time, and even people who have never been to Absalom would have heard of the Cathedral.

It may be that the others in Golarion, regardless of what their main patron deity is could share a general view that it is blasphemy for mortal to self-aggrandize himself as a "god". It'd be an interesting opportunity for followers of otherwise diametrically-opposed faiths (Iomedae and Lamaashtu, for instance) to join forces to take him down, because his cult could be seen as a grave offense to all deities of Golarion.

So the whole "neighbors view the expansion of its cult into their lands as a plague" may be because of that, or it might be simply because any tyrannical, conquering warlord poking at your border is a pain in the ol' backside, regardless of what specific mad ravings of grandeur they ascribe to themselves. Or perhaps a combination?

So I wonder if Razmir's cult is viewed by most as Scientology is viewed in our world - where a lot of people know it's not even debatable as a "real" religion as the ancient, well-established ones are, but rather a get-rich quick scam made by a hack of a sci-fi author... but it's still a thorn in the side of society because of the awful things that cult does.

Just look at Thronestep! Razmir's cult is literally a pyramid scheme! :)

It can still be fun/relevant when done right. All sorts of quest hooks can be dangled w/ legal systems. Remember, just because you don't find use for a certain bit of background info, doesn't mean others don't.

"Hark, brave adventurers! I seek to reclaim ownership of my late uncle's estate, but his last will and testament rests with his body at the bottom of the haunted catacombs! Retrieve it for me, and you shall be most richly rewarded!"

Having a solid idea of what laws exist in the realm can also be a good GM tool to reign in players who decide to play "Chaotic A&&#*~#~" toward literally every single NPC they meet (which can get to be annoying at the game table), reminding them of the penalties for indiscriminately drawing weapons/spells on random civilians in town.

I should mention, as far as "registering", whether for adventuring or travel, it'll really depend on how much of a bureaucracy the nation has in place. Taldor and Cheliax, sure - they're sprawling empires. Frontier duchies, not so much.

It's also entirely reasonable to assume that the secular authorities have an "arrangement" with the churches and mages' guilds to "handle" spellcasters that break the law (since these organizations would have better resources for dealing with such transgressions).

Even in towns that let you openly carry weapons, there may reasonably be a law requiring them to be "peace-tied", unless you're a member of the guard or some other representative of official authority.

Likewise, upon entering someone's home as an invited guest, it is almost universally customary to "check your weapons at the door". This shows trust and respect - you neither plan on engaging in hostile behavior, nor do you expect to be attacked while under your host's protection (though that's not so much a law as a custom).

Adventurers with a "letter of Marque" from the local government would have authority to take deadly action against enemies of the state, operating as "privateers", killing and looting these enemies as they please.

With "writs of outlawry" anyone is free to take out those no longer under the protection of law, and in some states may have a civic duty to do so if they are able.

I think we need to bring this thread back from the dead...

I too had been wondering on the state of law, both internal and international in Golarion.

You can extrapolate some of it from the "government type" in the nation descriptions, but that doesn't give you much detail as to whether they work from a ruler's decree or from common law.

As far as internal law, you'd really have to go through the nations one-by-one, aside from general trends.

I actually did something like this specifically for the way I run Brevoy in my Kingmaker campaign (the link goes to my fan wiki for my game). I started with what little official material I had to go on (Brevoy is one of the less "fleshed-out" nations in the setting), looked at common trends of the larger world of Golarion, incorporated doctrine from the major churches of the nation, cultural influence from the neighboring River Kingdoms, some medieval common-law/loosely-feudal structure, and bits of Russian culture, since that's what Brevoy was based off of.

So let's give it a shot for Golarion...

How developed is property law?
Which nations actually treat people's property as private?
How is inheritance handled?
Is it the First Son always, or something more advanced?

This really depends on nation and social standing within that nation. The higher you are up on the social order, the more power you have to enforce your property rights.

From the looks of it, in places where the church of Abadar holds sway, you'd probably get your contracts and wills and stuff done through them and they'd enforce property law (Golarion doesn't have separation of church and state in most nations).

Rahadoum seems not to respect private property very much, what with their mass robbery of private merchant vessels for the sake of making a collectivized government-run merchant fleet. And considering they still have plagues, famines, and open slaver, apparently those profits aren't going to the people (big surprise).

I'd say the more "frontier-like" nations hold private property in much higher regard (particularly the River Kingdoms' "you have what you hold" law).

It seems from the various character backgrounds that 1st sons do get the lion's share of inheritance across a number of nations and cultures.

What about adventurers. How does the law treat them? Can private citizens walk around with weapons, or do they need to be registered? And by extension, do adventurers need to be registered?

Probably like mercenaries. Whether that means they're welcome as extra muscle or shunned as vagabond meddlers depends on the nation in question. More "tightly controlled" nations will probably not welcome the unpredictable elements that adventurers introduce into their societies, while those with ever-shifting landscapes of power will always have schemers looking to offer jobs to those with plausible deniability.

Open-carry laws, again, depend on the nation and how much of paranoid cowards the government is. Dictatorships obviously neither respect not trust their citizens, so outside the military, only the upper-crust nobility that brown-noses the rulers will carry weapons as a badge of station. On the other hand, frontier nations that are constantly under threat of attack may actually require every able-bodied citizen to be armed and train regularly in the militia, so that they may defend the land on a moment's notice.

As far as salvage (treasure) goes, it can be pretty much universally assumed that any local government is gonna want their cut in the form of taxes. Some (like Osirion) may have laws about "plundering cultural heritage", instead offering to buy from the tomb robbers "relic recoverers" any objects of historical value they may find, because in the words of Pathfinder Henry "Indiana" Jones Jr., "It belongs in a museum!"

Now for international relations. How are they handled? Are there embassies dotted around the various capital cities, and how common are they? How is extradition handled? Are there rules in place, or are such extraditions handled on an ad hoc basis?

That is a good question, and one that I was searching for an answer for when I found this thread.

It seems from the background text that several of the well-established nations have embassies with one another. Obviously, empires have embassies with their vassal states to keep an eye on things and issue orders and stuff.

Interestingly enough, the most well-detailed example of international law in Golarion I've founds so far is in the "bandit realms" of the River Kingdoms, with their agreed-upon River Freedoms and the Outlaw Council that the lords of the River Kingdoms are welcome to attend on neutral ground.

Considering how many character backstories have them "running away from the law in one country to make a new start elsewhere", I'd say there's probably little in the way of established extradition. Just don't show your face back where you originally went on the lam and you ought to be fine. Unless they send a bounty hunter or slayer after you.

I wonder if there's anything resembling maritime law in Golarion? You know - where the crews of ships are obligated to help each other in emergencies regardless of nationality, any harbor is open in a storm, coastal nations have the obligation to keep their waters free of pirates, and international waters can't be claimed as sovereign territory? (That's more or less the highlights of it). I ask because maritime law is one of the most ancient examples of international law in our own history with these basic tenets I mentioned being adhered to as far back as the dawn of sailing ships across the seas.

What about Laws and Customs of War? Does anyone know if there are any general trends on dealing with Prisoners of War? Or prohibitions on dishonorable tactics?

Today's China is not the "Red China" of the massacre-happy Mao regime. These days, China barely pays lip service to the name of "Communism" while having multitudes of millionaire CEOs building up corporations and making them rich through - wait for it - the glories of Marxism free enterprise.

It seems they learned from the mistakes of their Soviet neighbor's downfall that actually sticking to communism/socialism grinds your economy into stagnation because if everyone gets paid the same 2 Rubles at the Hammer & Sickle factory regardless of whether they're "Hero of People's Labor" or just sod off to the back room and drink vodka all day, 99%+ of your workforce is going to have no motivation to do anything.

Also if all the companies are owned by the same entity, (i.e. the government), then there's no competition and soon all your products start turning to crap. This also the exact same problem with monopolies, but greedy businessmen who think of themselves as "capitalists" and want to eliminate any competition tend to miss the irony.

What China today shows us is that "Communism" only works on a large scale if it isn't actually communism anymore. I'm not saying they're "Freedom-town USA" with bald eagles laying baseballs over purple mountain majesties, but they've actually made some significant progress since the horrors of Tienanmen Square.

...

I think an important point to [re?]state in this discussion is the difference between what things are and what they are called.

A story attributed to president Abraham Lincoln had someone ask him:
"How many legs would a dog have if you called the tail a leg?"
Allegedly, Honest Abe replied, "4 - calling the tail a leg does not make it one."

It's a matter of choice

For me it's a matter of time an opportunity cost. I'm sure it's a perfectly good book, but the time I spend reading it is time I'm not spending getting things ready for a game I'm GM-ing or actually running it. It's not out of "willful ignorance". If I have the time and opportunity some day, I may check it out. There are many of my favorite works I could recommend to you that I'm sure you do not have time to dive into at the drop of a hat (have you read Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales", for instance? Or "The Winds of Kulikov Field"?).

Vlad Teppes for instance was a monster to our modern eyes, but in the context of the times, he was simply a bit more ruthless than his peers.

I'm sure if you were one of the people he brutally slaughtered, you would say that with your dying gasp as you were being slowly impaled on a greased pole. ;P

It's so easy to dismiss monsters when their atrocities happen to other people. Well I grew up in a country run into the ground by all-too-human monsters. I saw the fear on the faces of my countrymen as neighbors disappeared in the middle of the night, as tanks drove down the streets of Moscow during the attempted coup.

What we must not forget is that regardless of era, nationality, or station, these are people doing unthinkable things to other people - man's inhumanity to man. "The death of one is a tragedy, the death of millions is a statistic" - the phenomenon of Dunbar's number makes it difficult for our limited human minds to wrap themselves around suffering on a grand scale.

Bu that doesn't mean we have to excuse the monsters that declare war on the very foundations of human decency. "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing."

One of the greatest lies that civilizations have been built upon, that rulers have wanted people to believe since the dawn of civilization, is that they are somehow, arbitrarily, by the status of their tile, more "noble" than mere common criminals, even when they commit the same crimes. This myth of "legitimacy" permeates the halls of power with its stench even to this day.

If one stops to think about this for even a moment, it makes no sense - those in power should be held to a higher standard, that they may lead by example, not be allowed to get away with anything. To whom much is given, much shall be asked from.

As the pirate captain said to Alexander the Great, "what I do with a single ship and small crew, you do with an army at your back and call it 'conquest'".

The pirate knew the only real difference between himself and the glorious emperor was the scale of violence they were able to bring to bear.