oteta's page

Thank you, Thibdab! Looking for either 1e or 2e, please, folks!

Hello, and I hope everyone is well. Sometimes we need a change of pace, so what are the funniest Pathfinder Society adventures you’ve come across?

I’m particularly interested in stories where players can tweak the nose of illegitimate, authoritarian or violent opponents.

Your help as always would be greatly appreciated!

# Funniest wackiest zaniest adventure adventures funny wacky zany adventure

Thank you again, Roll. I hope your group enjoys the Sovereign Court!

Thank you for the reply, Roll4Initiative! Good information! That was a good idea to do a search. How did you do that?

An internet search for Pathfinder Influence System?

A search on the discussion lists for Influence system?

Your help would be greatly appreciated!

Hello All! My group thoroughly enjoyed the initial section of “War for the Crown” - “Crownfall”. Could you please recommend scenarios that use the Ultimate Intrigue Influence system?

Thank you!

Thank you for the reply, Jason S.! I'm happy to receive any additions to this discussion as I find it to be an extremely important topic.

At Gen Con Indy, my family and friends played another scenario with a potentially non-violent ending: "Dacilane Academy's Delightful Disaster".

As an added bonus, we really enjoyed the surprise (for us) refereeing by the scenario's author, Matt Morris!

Good evening, everyone. Here's another story for the list of adventures with a potential non-violent ending from our convention play:

PF2 #2-09: The Seven Secrets of Dacilane Academy (1-4)

Hope it's helpful!

To Whom It May Concern:

Good morning, and I hope you and yours are well. I'm writing because on 3 different devices and 3 different browsers I get signed out when I search for a thread. The devices are:

iPad and iPhone: Safari and Duck Duck Go.

PC laptop: Firefox.

The forum is working correctly on the PC laptop using Chrome.

Hope it's helpful.

Hi everyone! To help prepare my family for Gen Con online, can anyone by any chance add to the list of PFS scenarios I’ve collected below that have potentially non-violent solutions / endings?

The last addition looks like it was from around 2020. Please contribute if you can. Thank you!

Compilation of Suggestions and votes in order by Edition and #
Pathfinder Adventure Path: Kingmaker *2
Pathfinder Adventure Path: Hell's Rebels *2
Pathfinder Adventure Path: Skull & Shackles *4
Pathfinder Adventure Path: Strength of Thousands *2
Pathfinder Adventure Path #127: Crownfall (War for the Crown 1 of 6)
Pathfinder Adventure Path: Songbird, Scion, Saboteur (War for the Crown 2 of 6)
Pathfinder Bounty #4: Cat's Cradle
Pathfinder Chronicles: City of Strangers
PF1 #3-01: The Frostfur Captives
PF1 #4–11: The Disappeared *2
PF1 #4–19: The Night March of Kalkamedes
PF1 #5–11: Library of the Lion
PF1 #6–07: Valley of Veiled Flame
PF1 #6–18: From Under Ice
PF1 #7–03: The Bronze House Reprisal
PF1 #7–05: School of Spirits
PF1 #7–22: Bid for Alabastrine
PF1 #8-17: Refugees of the Weary Sky
PF1 #9-06: The Shores of Heaven
PF1 #9-14: Down the Verdant Path
PF1 #9-22: Grotto of the Deluged God
PF2 #1-01: The Absalom Initiation
PF2 #1-05: Trailblazers’ Bounty
PF2 #1-06: Lost on the Spirit Road
PF2 #1-07: Flooded King's Court
PF2 #1-08: Revolution on the Riverside *2
PF2 #1-10: Tarnbreaker's Trail *2
PF2 #1-12: "The Burden of Envy"
PF2 #1-15: The Blooming Catastrophe
PF2 #1-18: Lodge of the Living God *2
PF2 #1-23: The Star-Crossed Court
PF2 #2-02 Mountain of Sea and Sky

Hi everyone. I’ll throw in some kudos for “War for the Crown: Crownfall”. Our players enjoyed the intrigue-focused, 1st third of the adventure more than any other part and enjoyed the adventure overall.

Even more important for me is that the 2nd installment of the series, “Songbird, Scion, Saboteur”, has an interesting mechanic on how to conclude the story in a non-violent manner.

If people have information on non-violent options in Pathfinder Adventure Paths please provide your input on the thread I started here:

https://paizo.com/threads/rzs433p8?Pathfinder-Adventure-Paths-with-nonviole nt

Also, here’s a survey about Adventure Paths with lots of responses that also asks about role-playing:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder_RPG/comments/4ajsbf/adventure_path_surv ey_results/

Hope these thoughts are helpful!

Good morning, all. Thanks for the encouraging post, Carrauntoohill! I’ve confirmed Evan Tarlton’s point about the Crownfall path in that the second installment, “Songbird, Scion, Saboteur” by Crystal Frasier and Richard Pett has an interesting mechanic for a non-violent solution.

Have a good day, everyone!

Thank you, Richard!

PS: About “War for the Crown”, let me add that it is eerily timely and prescient.

Thanks for the replies keftiu and Errant Mercenary! I’m glad I revisited this post because we’re getting more excellent feedback. We’re currently playing “Strength of Thousands” (SOT) and I noticed and appreciate the effort by Paizo to diversify the role-playing experience.

I am embarrassed to admit that I missed a non-violent solution in SOT myself, so I am writing down a new procedure for interacting with non-player characters that comes from the technique called Non-Violent Communication. I’ll start conflict situations with the question or observation about the questions, “What are you feeling?” and “What are your needs?” This is a powerful tool from which I’m even seeing dividends in the rpg called life!

We are alternating this campaign with “War for the Crown”, which was recommended earlier in this thread, and I am happy to report that the players enjoyed the social intrigue first portion of “Crownfall” more than the combat sections afterward.

I think that a key element of this enjoyment is the Influence system set up in “Ultimate Intrigue”, simplified in “Crownfall” and improved, according to a family member, in the “Gamemastery Guide” 2e. Thank you, Paizo!

Thanks for the responses Ashbourne, Tangent101 and roguerouge!

Prescient, well-written and well-designed intrigue, but I must underscore the prescient!

Good evening...

Good everning, all. Sorry about the delay in responding. Paizo was apparently having some website issues.

Goblin Priest, thanks for the heads up. So far, so good, so let’s keep talking respectfully, folks!

Thread Necromancer, interesting observation, and thank you as well.

Definition: “Vitalism is the belief that "living organisms are fundamentally different from non-living entities because they contain some non-physical element or are governed by different principles than are inanimate things". (Wikipedia)

PS: Also, I think people are doing a great job discussing the issues with open minds and generous hearts.

Good morning all, and Happy New Year! Reksew, thanks for the reply. To answer your question, maybe we have done a couple of useful things to ensure that our conversation here is constructive.

First of all, we defined the term political to make it clear that’s not the sort of thing we are discussing here. We are discussing the inclusion of the social phenomenon of racism in Pathfinder adventures.

Second, we discussed strategies of how to address anyone who might want to violate forum rules.

Hope the clarification is helpful!

Anti-racist...

Good morning all. Hope everyone’s well. In reading “Crownfall” for our PFS group, I have noticed some subtle references to Taldorian racist and ati-racist factions in Part I.

Don’t know how to cover up spoilers on this device, so I’ll leave it at that for now. Hope it’s interesting, and Happy New Year!

Thanks for the feedback, Roonfizzle!

Thanks again for all the posts, everyone. Anyone who comes across our discussion please feel free to add to it. Peace, equality, and Happy Holidays!

Thanks Tim. Here’s some history of the Romani and the persecutions of them:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romani_people

Thanks for the replies, Michael and Tim! I’ve got them in the list!

From the “Council of Thieves” Player Guide (5):

Tieflings enjoy an unusual status in Cheliax, though perhaps “enjoy” is the wrong word. Chelish diabolists view tieflings as subordinate to humans. Tieflings are seen as lesser beings, born of human fallibility or devilish trickery. Noble houses hide tiefling heirs away, ashamed of their very existence, or reluctantly allow them some control over the family business (usually if there is no other reliable heir available).

Thanks for the reply, Artofregicide!

From the “Council of Thieves” Player Guide (4):
“Half-Elves
Westcrown has something of a reputation in Cheliax as being a place where society’s leftovers live, and as a result, half-elves often find themselves drawn to the city. Most arrive from other lands and settle in Westcrown for personal reasons, but enjoy the fact that little is made of their mixed heritage—tieflings take the brunt of the racism normally reserved for half-elves here. In fact, Tieflings with minor fiendish features sometimes attempt to pass themselves off as half-elves. Unfortunately for both races, this tactic is well known and often leads to innate mistrust of half-elves. Half-elves may even be required to prove they are what they appear to be before entering certain areas.”

Thanks for the replies, David and Particular! Here’s a description of Morlocks that may have connections with “The Serpent’s Skull”. Does this play out at all in the adventure?

“The ecology of the morlocks is similar to human ecology but has been debased by the millennia spent underground. Their regression was the result of several factors. First was inbreeding which was both forced by the dire situation and exacerbated by the ancient Azlanti's obsession with keeping their bloodlines pure.”
https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Morlock

Thank you!

Good afternoon, everyone. Melkiador, Artofregicide, thanks for the replies!

Artofregicide, what are Zimmerwalds?

In general, I note that there is a good amount of concern here about forum trolls. Here is the approach I use on social media to deal with trolls modified for this forum:

1) Start with an attitude that you:
a) Can be wrong.
b) Can agree to disagree.
2) Wait 24 hours between responses to debate points for reflection and space for others to respond.
3) Use logic and watch for logical errors.
4) Use and ask for evidence.
5) Ask people who make comments which violate forum rules to edit out such comments.
6) Report unedited rules violations after 24 hours.

Most importantly, enjoy the conversations. Hope it’s helpful!

Thanks for the feedback, Sysryke and Melkiador! Here’s something that I just came across which is more Pathfinder ancestry oriented:

“Despite this cosmopolitan veneer, Taldor remains a stubbornly old-fashioned, humanocentric empire with little regard for non-humans. Stigma toward part- humans such as half-orcs, half-elves, and geniekin is especially virulent, with some humans openly labeling such folk “mongrels” or worse. Half-elves descended from noble Taldans generally have the resources to live in comfort, but at the cost of lifelong reclusion. Halflings, gnomes, and half-orcs are considered suitable only for roles as servants.” (War for the Crown Player’s Guide)

thejeff, I see your point. Sorry, I misunderstood your previous post.

Hi again, thejeff. Please note that the full example says “Parody threads of political figures or current politically charged events”.

The only parody that came up around here is my 3 Stooges-influenced player character! S;-)

Again, we can focus on Pathfinder stories that discuss the social phenomenon of racism and possibly any connections to real-world racism that I and others could draw from when running those stories.

Thanks for another quick reply, Java Man! Java Man has confirmed that we should avoid politics. So:

Again, the definition of politics, "the art or science of government".

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/politics

"For the community's reference, here is a list of potential examples of threads we will no longer host:

Politically charged current events, such as elections or ballot initiatives
Parody threads of political figures or current politically charged events
Threads where the sole topic is a specific political figure, party, or agenda"

https://paizo.com/threads/rzs2uehv?Political-Threads-No-Longer-Hosted-on-Pa %20izocom

It looks good to me.

Thanks for the quick reply, Java Man! I agree that knowing your audience is important.

I see nothing in the Community Guidelines about discussing racism, thematic or real world, or even politics for that matter.

https://paizo.com/community/guidelines

I hope this clarification is helpful!

Thanks for the replies, thejeff and Java Man!

Melkiador, I thought your screen name looked familiar. I was using your guide to Slayers just last night! I finished building my ethnicity-bending, non-violence and 3 Stooges-influenced (believe it or not) 1e Rogue / Slayer up to 20th level today in part due to your help. Thank you!

Java Man, I hear your concerns about politics and the combustibility of the internet, or its propensity to flame. I think that this is not something that we should shy away from. Instead, I think the internet’s nature to divide is something that we need to engage with. We can agree to disagree, and I may be wrong.

thejeff, I hear your concerns about politics on the forum. Merriam-Webster defines politics as “the art or science of government”.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/politics
We have not touched upon that subject. We have instead talked about Pathfinder stories that discuss the social phenomenon of racism, and I brought up potential connections to real-world racism that I and others could draw from when running those stories.

Nevertheless, I want to make sure to do right here. I looked without success for a forum discussion or behavior policy and could not find one. The closest thing I could find is the Organized Play Code of Conduct, and I see no problems there.
https://paizo.com/organizedplay/policies

Does anyone happen to know how I can find the forum rules? Thank you!

Thanks for the replies, mardaddy, Melkiador and Artofregicide!

Melkiador and Artofregicide, "Hell's Rebels" is sounding better and better!

Mardaddy, as we discuss racism as a theme in Pathfinder, I think that we should agree to disagree from the start, and to be ready to acknowledge that we might be wrong. I think these basic attitudes will keep us open to a constructive conversation on an important topic.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this thread, rpgs are a powerful tool for exploring ideas and perspectives, and I want my players and especially my young players to explore important issues like rising racism in the U.S. I think one of the reasons that racism is increasing in the U.S., as we can see in the spike of racist hate crimes as documented by the Southern Poverty Law Center, is that we have not learned how to reconcile the well-researched advantages of diversity, democracy, and the new environment of the internet.

Just like I want my players to explore the idea of racism, I think that it would be good for us to be able to explore the idea here on this forum as well with respect and openness. Once again, I might be wrong, and we might disagree, and that’s ok.

Good afternoon, everyone. Melkiador, Mardaddy, thanks for the input! I’ll add your thoughts to the suggestions. Sounds like an interesting, potential metaphor for racism in the USA, for example, where so many African-Americans are of a mixed background due to abuses in the past and presently continue to suffer from housing discrimination.

Thanks again for all the posts, everyone. Anyone who comes across our discussion please feel free to add to it. Peace and equality!

Good evening, all. Java Man, PCScipio, Sysryke, thanks for the replies!

Sysryke, I suspect that people were referring to racism expressed in these different ways you mention.

That at least was what I was was doing when I mentioned Pathfinder Society scenario 1-07 Flooded King’s Court where there is race-based housing discrimination.

I guess we’d have to ask the participants to confirm.

Good afternoon, all. Sysryke, PFRPGrognard, Davor, thanks for the replies!

Sysryke, thanks for the definitions!

PFRPGrognard, effective example of the use of stereotyping in an adventure!

Davor, I agree with Sysryke that the debate about whether there is racism within Pathfinder is a topic that has been handled elsewhere. One can find some of those discussions by searching ‘racism’ in the forums.

Our topic is whether Paizo had published adventures which touched upon the topic of racism, and we have found several examples.

Here’s what I have so far:

Carrion Crown: xenophobia
Rise of the Runelords: Thassalon enslaving giants.
Ruins of Azlant: alien creatures which inspired racism of Azlant.
Hell’s Rebels: racism against Halflings.
Sodden Lands: implied.
Pathfinder Society scenario 1-07 Flooded King’s Court has the theme of housing discrimination
Curse of the Crimson Throne v Varisians or Shoanti

Are we missing anything?

DeathlessOne, MrCharisma, thanks for the replies! ‘Morning all!

DeathlessOne, thank you for sharing your personal thoughts and experiences on racism.

Also, you’re right I confused Hell’s Rebels with Hell’s Vengeance. I would probably lean to running the former.

Mr. Charisma, thank you for the Cthulu product suggestion. I also came across this product for D&D 5. Sadly, it seems to rip off Paizo’s ideas for 2e of background and heritage.

https://www.polygon.com/reviews/2020/7/9/21317614/dungeons-dragons-dnd-race -ancestry-and-culture-book

On a side note, I must say that I agree with the direction that Paizo went with 2nd edition by eliminating the term race in favor of background and heritage.

Speaking of Pathfinder 2e reminds me that the Society scenario 1-07 Flooded King’s Court has the theme of housing discrimination, and although I’m still not completely comfortable with the depiction of Goblins in the adventure, I like Paizo’s idea of bringing marginalized groups like Goblins into players’ societies.

Thanks for the replies, DeathlessOne, Sysryke, PFRPGrognard, and PCScipio!

DeathlessOne, the racial bonuses aspect of Pathfinder brings up the question of racism within the game, not the idea or theme of racism as expressed within a story or adventure. The former is something that has probably been discussed in another forum. I’d rather focus on the latter.
I also agree that, if handled well, forums are a great way to slow down the conversation and deal with sensitive topics like racism respectfully.

PFRPGrognard, DeathlessOne, I agree that symbols and allegories are powerful tools for dealing with this issue. At the same time, one of my groups is a Society game, so I feel that it might constrain artistic license and am looking for as many resources as possible.

PCScipio, DeathlessOne, good information on the role of Halflings in “Hell’s Rebels”. Writing that one down!

Thanks again, Scavion!

“Ruins of Azlant”: “Ruins of Azlant” touch on racism? I came across a reference that the Rune Lords drove out Xin because he was not Azlanti supremacist enough.

“Xin was exiled by the mystics who ruled the nation of Azlant for promoting the belief that the Azlanti could learn something from and should cooperate with the other races of Golarion.”

https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Thassilon

Rise of the Runelords: This reference above points to racism amongst the Runelords.

Scavion, thanks for the reply! I figured that "Rise of the Runelords" might touch on racism because of the connections with Thassalonia.

Azlant, Thassalon: Any stories that might bring up the Azlanti supremacy theme?

Thanks again!

Thank you for the replies TxSam88, VoodistMonk and DeathlessOne!

TxSam88: Carrion Crown might be a contender. I’ve written it down.

VoodistMonk: Thank you for the kind words about what we’re doing here. I agree you have to know your audience.

DeathlessOne, and VoodistMonk, we agree that some intellectual heft to our stories can go a long way. I also enjoy catching my players’ attention with political references regarding issues like this.

Neriathale, I can see the colonial references in Sargava.

Sargava, “The Serpent’s Skull”
Does anyone happen to know if this colonialism is expressed in any stories, like, for example, in “The Serpent’s Skull” adventure path, please?

Cheliax, “Hell’s Vengeance”
I’ve found a reference to halflings as being “are one of the most common races of slaves in the Inner Sea region, especially in Cheliax, where they are seen as less-than-people.[2]”
Are there any stories that happen to highlight this by any chance that you might be aware of, folks? Hell’s Vengeance?

Thank you!

Thanks for the replies, Matthew, Arto, Geraint, Sheepish and Neria! Role-playing is a powerful tool for people to explore ideas and perspectives, so I want my players, and particular my young players, to have an opportunity to pursue important topics in our stories as you are able to in Star Trek, for example.

Good morning, all, and thank you for the replies!

Matthew, either fantasy racism or Earth-style / skin color racism would be of interest.

Thanks again!

Good evening all. I hope you had a good and safe Thanksgiving. Are there Pathfinder adventures that discuss racism as a theme or story detail?

Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Good afternoon, all. Hope you’re well. Here’s a link to some non-Society, non-violence focused adventures I came across: Playground Adventures. I read “A Friend in Need” and found it refreshing and fun.

https://www.playgroundadventures.net/

Hope it’s interesting and helpful. Stay safe, folks.