lavi's page

This thread makes me kind of sad; I'd love to play a Heavens Oracle, but hadn't even considered exploiting this "one trick" it has. I mean, sure, it's cool, but I was attracted to the idea of the Heavens Oracle because of things like, you know, hovering over the ground, being able to dispel lycanthropy with a touch, wearing a coat of stars, etc.

In other words... there is plenty to a class other than its most exploitable mechanical feature. I don't mean to hijack the thread with that sentiment, or provoke anyone, but it just amazes me that one could describe the Oracle, with any of the mysteries, as a one-trick pony. There's just so much cool stuff they get and can do!

Is the writing on Rahadoum's symbol supposed to represent any particular Golarion script?

cibet44, I understand what you're saying, but I feel like 1) these hi-res, super-detailed symbols might not be the same as symbols your average flag designer in Golarion would be capable of creating, but rather the ideals they'd have in mind while creating said designs; and 2) I'd have to imagine that even very low-level magic would have a substantial impact on the complexity of art possible in Golarion.

I've been working on homebrew mysteries of Time, Dimensions, Numbers, Harmony, and Discord for an upcoming Planescape game I'll be running.

What do Mendev and Lastwall think of each other?

Alahazra is definitely the new most attractive iconic.

Is there a Golarion analogue to the peoples of the ancient Levant (Canaanites, Israelites and Phoenicians)?

So, I've mostly played DnD/Pathfinder as far as tabletop gaming goes, but I've started to grow more interested in miniature wargaming. Without too much thought toward ruleset or professionalism (any games I'd be playing would most likely be casual and with friends, not in any convention context), what's the best way to cheaply begin to amass a large collection of miniatures suitable for wargaming? Any general advice about this kind of thing?

Just because I saw it mentioned, I'll have to say: Jigoku is probably the greatest Japanese Horror film ever. Yes, it's THAT good.

Also, James,

Do you like Poe? Any chance we'll see some allusions to Poe's works in Golarion in the same way there are many references to Lovecraft? Are there already, and I'm just missing them?

Could a Centaur be a Cavalier?

Any chance we'll be getting some Casmaron action after Tian-Xia?

Perfect - I want to start a Golarion game in January, and this will help tell the players everything they need to know before I can get my hands on a World Guide this February... :)

I've always thought of Iomedae as an ascended version of Joan d'Arc, so I like her looking youthful pre-ascension.

How do you feel about people equating Golarion cultures to IRL cultures? As in, Taldan = Byzantine, Ulfen = Norse, Kellid = Celt, Chelaxian = Roman, Mwangi = Bantu, Garundi = Egyptian, Vudrani = Indian, Tian = Chinese, Varisian = Romani, Keleshite = Persian, etc.

Not a native German speaker, so it might sound HORRIBLE to someone who grew up speaking German, but as an Anglophone I am rather partial to "Hexenmeister". :P

Wow. Political correctness gone mad. Now we actually have someone almost apologizing for making an adventure involving voodoo...

"We've kept away from this topic—one I've personally wanted to cover since back in the Dragon magazine days—for several reasons, the primary one being that vodou is a living religion practiced and respected in several parts of the world, and no one here knows enough about it to judge what might be offensive."

It's not "political correctness gone mad". He's simply indicating that the voodoo elements in the adventure are inspired almost entirely by the appearances of voodoo in pulp fiction. I don't think he's trying to avoid legal action or anything - I think he just wants to be clear that the voodoo appearing in Pathfinder will have as much to do with real-world religion as the Pathfinder monk has to do with real-world Buddhism. Because, you know, religion is a sensitive thing, a little bit of respect goes a long way.

Being bisexual, I find not being attracted to an entire sex an alien, and, subjectively, abnormal thing. But there you go.

I'm interested in playing - should I post a character summary here, or e-mail it to you, or... ?

You'd be looking for the bestiary in PF #14, Children of the Void. The Witchwyrd has stats there to supplement the "Into the Black" article in the same issue on Golarion's solar system.

I played a Dwarf Rogue/Abjurer/Arcane Trickster, who was really less of a trickster than he was a security expert. He never actually stole a single thing, and was in charge of the party's finances... not something a rogue usually gets to do! He retired as the head of a Dwarven banking dynasty.

Aside from the 20 or so mentioned in the Core Rulebook, there are at least (I may have missed a few) 9 more monster languages in the Bestiary:

Aboleth
Boggard
Cyclops
Dark Folk
Ettin (Giant/Goblin/Orc) Pidgin
Sphinx
Tengu
Treant
Vegepygmy

And this is assuming there are NO human ethnic/regional languages other than "common". So yeah - I've NEVER been in a situation where my players haven't had a language to learn.

EDIT: I also agree that in a world with spells like "Comprehend Languages" and "Tongues", Linguistics kinda has to be sped up to a degree, to make it relevant.

Also, note that the very same article states, in talking about Erastil's holy text, that "communities omit things irrelevant to their way of life or add fables emphasizing local events or traditions." Seems like a perfectly easy way to have sects of Erastil with differing opinions on the role of women, if you must change that.

Though an outsider might call Erastil's faith sexist, that doesn't mean his female followers would be bothered by the supposedly "sexist" elements of said faith. For an IRL example - many non-Muslims call Islam sexist. Does that mean that all female Muslims feel repressed and like "lesser" Muslims? Certainly not. It might not make sense to you as a person, but then again, that's what role-playing is for. Erastil is not Ehlonna. And if your players want a nature deity that is decidedly NOT sexist... well, Gozreh fits the bill perfectly, considering his/her fluid sex.

If I'm playing a Pathfinder Chronicles game, I'd look at the various human cultures as having VASTLY greater RP potential.

Also, now I'm torn between Rahadoum and Ustalav as the region I most want an AP around. And Irrisen. And Nidal. And Numeria. And...

I've been waiting for some Rahadoumi awesomeness, and Alahazra delivers it in spades.

For those complaining about the level limit on make whole, you do realize it doesn't have to be a PC that casts it, right? I know it's shocking to realize there are other people in the game world than the PCs, but there are. And a high level caster might, instead of cash, give the PCs a task to fulfill instead - oh look you've autogenerated your next adventure hook. Glass half full people.

+1

I can especially see a powerful metallic dragon offering his services in this way.

My 2cp:

Sundering shouldn't be used to punish player's for doing well in combat. It SHOULD be used for monsters like fiends, chromatic dragons, liches, etc., to establish that they are EVIL, MEAN, and BASTARDS. It shouldn't be overused, but it can really make PCs HATE a BBEG. And again, provide avenues for the PC to repair his weapon later if he really is heartbroken about the loss.

Brunettes ftw!

Though I actually prefer Space Amiri to Barbarian Amiri.

And if it were just any character to appear in random PF art, it'd be whoever this is: http://pathfinder.wikia.com/wiki/File:Heretic.jpg

lavi wrote:

Huh. For me it's not displaying that under the "Our Price: 19.99" section. It must be on my end, then.

I've fixed this.

Awesome! Really excited for this one.

Huh. For me it's not displaying that under the "Our Price: 19.99" section. It must be on my end, then.

When will the pdf be available?

I'd go with either Mites or Svirfneblin.

An awesome idea, but the Bard has a lot of special abilities that allow you to be a master of knowledge WITHOUT having to invest in myriad knowledge skills. Going into Loremaster or Pathfinder Chronicler later seems natural.

EDIT: Thinking about it more, I think going into Chronicler especially would be best for this kind of character, especially since you want him to have Perform (Oratory).

729. Cuts and scars slither across your body like snakes.
730. Newts, toads and other amphibians flock to you like flies to a light.
731. You constantly hear the faint whispers of extraplanar beings, and your eyes rarely stop darting around, looking for the whispers' source.
732. Your tears solidify into white or black stones soon after being shed.
733. Your mouth is upside down.
734. Your hairs are actually very thin tentacles. If cut, they bleed tree sap.
735. You never stop growing new sets of teeth, and consequently are frequently losing old teeth to make way for new teeth. Sometimes the appearance of your teeth changes with each new set.

Since when are Persians not considered white?

That Heretic is hotter than any iconic...

I've never done PbP before, but if there's any room for a game in the future, I'd love to join.

I feel like there's really no need to add a minion mechanic to the game. Things like Pugwampis can serve the same purpose, but are a lot more interesting.

+1 for John Zorn. I use Zorn all the time when I'm gming. :)

To be honest... I'd MUCH rather see more Core non-Epic stuff than Epic rules. One thing I love about Golarion is how there are very few super-high level NPCs. I generally prefer that the epic stuff is left to deities and planar rulers. 20th level seems like enough of a mortal cap to me.

Humm would you not need to note "godclaw" on there as the domains may not match the domains of some of the gods?

I imagine you'd still just write "Asmodeus", but you'd have access to the Godclaw domains instead of the standard domains of Asmodeus... perhaps?

Does this mean that we might see a World Guide: South Garund or something similar in the future?!?

I'd recommend one of the Tiefling variants in Bastards of Erebus. If you want something truly non-human, a Qlippoth-spawn Tiefling, I imagine, would be pretty successful in wreaking Lovecraftian havoc. They get a bonus to strength and wisdom, and a penalty to intelligence - sounds like a barbarian to me.

The only slave owners in my family history were Cherokee and Creek - it was a way for those tribes to acculturate to so-called "civilized" American society. Still, all of the slaves they had were black, and there are DEFINITELY still racial tensions between Oklahoma natives and black Americans. Just thought I'd add that in.

But more on topic - I feel like the enslavement of Halflings as a "slave race" is a lot more evil than what seems to be the equal-opportunity enslavement of humans.

lavi wrote:

James Jacobs wrote:

You still need to pick a deity in Golarion in order to be able to pick your domains. Even if you're a member of the order of, say, the Godclaw. Note that there's more than clerics in that order.

So, does that mean if I played a cleric of the Godclaw, I'd have to designate my deity as, for example, "Asmodeus (Godclaw)"?

You would designate your deity as "Asmodeus" and that's it.

Gotcha, thanks!

You still need to pick a deity in Golarion in order to be able to pick your domains. Even if you're a member of the order of, say, the Godclaw. Note that there's more than clerics in that order.

So, does that mean if I played a cleric of the Godclaw, I'd have to designate my deity as, for example, "Asmodeus (Godclaw)"?

Yeah, to be honest, I actually enjoy the ambiguousness as well - I should say, I more just wanted to make sure I wasn't off my rocker for thinking that, based on the description, Mengkare could theoretically go *ahem* both ways. ;)

It's very likely that my players in an upcoming Golarion game will have a run in with Mengkare on Hermea. Just to clarify... is it meant to be up to interpretation whether Mengkare's "Glorious Endeavor" is actually good-intentioned, or is Mengkare out-and-out a Big Bad Good Guy. The assumption would be that he, a Gold Dragon, would be Lawful Good, but Hermea is stated as being a Neutral nation. As I'm planning him right now, I'm essentially making him Jacob from LOST, but a dragon.

Being a Theology major, my favorite has always been Cleric. :) It's just a very versatile class - the feel of playing a Cleric completely changes depending on that Cleric's particular faith. As for classes unique to Pathfinder, the Oracle looks like a real winner. And as far as prestige classes go - the Hellknight is by FAR my favorite prestige class for as long as the mechanic of the prestige class has existed. And this is coming from a guy who normally avoids them like the plague.