bananahell's page

I'm having difficulty seeing the difference between the two if they are meant to be different. If a 60' high Gundam and a 60' high powered armor stood next to each other, what's their distinction? What would make someone say "yeah, that Gundam is clearly a mech and the powered armor clearly isn't." Is it because some of us don't agree with their mechanics? Because their mechanics and what they are intended to model aren't always going to be the same or what you expect.

I suppose the difference is one is a suit of armor you wear, that respond perfectly to your movements, and the other is a vehicle with a cockpit that you pilot.

Close to a lack of understanding of what makes a mecha a mecha.

Plus many mecha properties out there have mechs that require more than one crew member (Pacific Rim for instance, which is namedropped in the CRB and was mentioned by Paizo on various occasions), which is not something you can really do with power armor as-is either.

Let's not forget the Megazord or Voltron either. Oh man! A mecha that can break into starfighters? That would be sweet.

I think one issue with mecha is that not all mechas flie at all or fly in space :P There are multiple different type of mecha series so WHICH one are they adapting?

Why not all?? :D I imagine they could adopt something akin to Upgrade Slots, where some can give the mecha flight capabilities and others tank treads or something.

bananahell wrote:

I hope you're not referring to the two or three suits of power armor that are size Huge because those are certainly not mecha. I'm talking giant robots you pilot that are hundreds of feet tall. Something like a cross between starships and power armor is what I would expect rules-wise.

Well that is something you should clarify, because "mecha" is a broad term that can mean anything from a humble suit of power armor to the giant robot maid that sucked the atmosphere of Druidia in Spaceballs.

"Mecha" isn't just the robo they trot out to fight Godzilla.

I disagree. Even the wiki articles says, "the term mecha may refer to both scientific ideas and science fiction genres that center on giant robots or machines (mechs) controlled by people."

Either way, mecha isn't power armor; Paizo has already made mention at past conventions that mecha are coming in the future. I just hope they're in this book.

bananahell wrote:

Please, for the love of Triune, tell me this book will finally include the rules for mecha.

...the rules for mecha already exist in the Power Armor section.

If you're talking about starship-type mecha, then you can just use the regular sharship rules for nearly all of it.

The only thing that I'd really want extra to make space mecha would be melee attacks, and I'm pretty sure this book is going to have ramming stuff that could be adapted.

I hope you're not referring to the two or three suits of power armor that are size Huge because those are certainly not mecha. I'm talking giant robots you pilot that are hundreds of feet tall. Something like a cross between starships and power armor is what I would expect rules-wise.

There's huge and gargantuan power armor if you need something like that.

Yeah, but that isn't until level 11+. The gargantuan power armor is a level 19 weapon, and can't fly in space like mecha a la Gundam Wing.

I think the Dogfights concept is a stepping stone to mecha, but I'm still disappointed that it doesn't seem to be included in this book. With no softcover splatbooks being produced by Paizo, I doubt we'll get anything close to this for another couple years--which sucks for a feature people have been asking about at conventions and on messageboards for the past two years.

Please, for the love of Triune, tell me this book will finally include the rules for mecha.

What was the reason behind the choice to make Goblins a Charisma Boosted ancestry? It seems strange to have such a reviled species only just a decade ago suddenly become charming. I've seen arguments for their love of singing, but they also love crafting things out of garbage, so Intelligence seems to be equally viable.

The whole POINT of Sorshen's redemption is that she does not WANT to conquer nations or cities...

Sorshen isn't stupid. She knows that the world is a different place, and her goal is to rule in harmony, not in disharmony. She chose the region she did to establish New Thassilon specifically because no heroes would be compelled to rise up and defend a land she's conquering, because the Kodar Mountains and Xin-Shalast and the neighboring lands are wilderness regions.

So Lost Kingdoms laid the grounds for a campaign involving the slow colonization of Xin-Shalast by various Varisian factions. Additionally, Rise of the Runelords has a Continuing the Campaign bit about the heroes continuing to "pacify" Xin-Shalast.

Assuming that these plot threads were followed and a decent community consisting of a few high-level post-Rise adventurers has begun to form in Xin-Shalast, how might Sorshen react to these people who already call Xin-Shalast home?

Obviously something like this is up to GM interpretation, but a little insight into how a redeemed Sorshen might go about negotiating with adventurers who aren't especially keen to handing over Xin-Shalast to another Runelord would be nice.

What made you decided to feature Hastur as the featured Great Old One in Strange Aeons instead of, say, Shub-Niggurath? Thrushmoor's history of Shub-Niggurath worship is pretty rich, and the Briarstone Witch herself was venerating him during the town's disappearance, I thought. I understand that you didn't do much beyond pen the outline, but I'm curious why you chose Hastur over others.

bananahell wrote:

On the topic of Nocticula: how might a CE cleric of Nocticula change to continue worshiping her, but without changing to CN alignment? As alignment goes, you can be within one step of your deity's and they will still grant you domains, right?

They wouldn't. They'd either have to change alignment or worship a different deity.

The "one step of your deity" rule is a 1st edition rule. It works different in 2nd edition.

If you want to stick with the 1st edition rule and allow CE Nocticula worshipers, you're kinda on your own into the land of homebrewing, but I wouldn't let it work in my game, since it erodes her themes. There's plenty of other succubus-like demigods out there to worship and be Chaotic Evil instead.

I'm a little confused because you've been saying to keep our questions to First Edition until 2E's launch, but you answered this First Edition question by referencing Second Edition's rules. Nocticula's redemption arc is something that has been built up in First Edition, so I was asking for something akin to First Edition's rules.

Allow me to rephrase: Suppose a CE cleric of Nocticula is completely devoted to Nocticula, and is willing to change their methods of worship to align with her new domains. Perhaps they identified most strongly with the Darkness aspect of the Demon Lord, and now that she has transitioned into a deity they've followed the transition by focusing on the Midnight aspect of her. The fact that many of their fellow cultists are now forsaking the former Demon Lord might even lend to said cleric leaning into the Outcast part of the portfolio. That said, they are still CE because one does not exactly change their penchant for the murder of innocents overnight.

What steps might this cleric take to continue to worship Nocticula without having to forsake their alignment immediately? Or would Nocticula be more patient with such a devoted cleric and give them time to adjust to a less murderous lifestyle?

In theme with the agoraphobia (assuming that would be a valid term for it), do you also eschew musical concerts?

With the Campaign Setting line transitioning into hardcovers, how likely will we be to get a hardcover Dragon Empires book? Or is it still too early to talk about this kinda stuff?

I was hoping for a musician type class. I wanna play el Mariachi or Johnny from Space Dandy. Maybe a DJ who can mindcontrol his victims into serving as minions.

I love the Biohacker and Witchwarper, and like the Vanguard's concept. I just kinda wish the Vanguard wasn't tied to mystical powers of entropy to fuel itself. It leans too heavy into "this class is powered by Chaos" for me. To be a Lawful Vanguard kinda goes against its theme.

I’m curious what you mean? Aren’t there shields already in Starfinder?

Yes, but they're more akin to forcefields. I'm talking more like tower shields from Borderlands or energy shields like the gungans in Star Wars.

How soon might we see shields in Starfinder?

Any idea what level this Adventure Path runs to? Stopping a demi-god should be a pretty high-level task.

Do the 7 schools of Thassilonian magic have colors associated with each of the sins? For example, I notice Alaznist has a lot of red, which plays into Wrath pretty easily, and Karzoug seemed to wear a lot of green.

Aenigma wrote:

I really like Pathfinder: Kingmaker. It is a great game. I really wish Owlcat Games would make more Pathfinder CRPG in the future. Did Paizo sell them the right to produce games based on every published adventure path? Or they are allowed to produce only this one, and if they want to make more games, they have to negotiate an agreement with Paizo again? I ask this because I really wish to see a CRPG(which means, not an online game) based on Thornkeep and the Emerald Spire!

There's certainly an opportunity for more games like Kingmaker in the future, but Emerald Spire is probably at the bottom of the list of adaptations I want to see happen to tell the truth. The Adventure Paths are MUCH riper territory to explore in this format.

Could you give a couple examples of Adventure Paths you feel would adapt quite well to a CRPG format?

I'm ecstatic to see that there's so many options! Now I know that we were told at Paizocon that there are not mechs in the book, but a Gargantuan power armor suit sounds like a step in that direction.