Pathfinder Companion: Osirion, Land of Pharaohs (OGL)

The book looks very cool except...there's not map of Sothis. :(

Hopefully, this will be in another product (or maybe I missed it from a previous one? Is it in PfCampaign Guide?)

I read over the PDF last night, and I'm seriously happy with how it looks. I didn't think I'd get away with Lamashtu's Flower as written.

That said, if anyone has any questions for the first half of the book, I'll happily take 'em. And I'd love any comments, critique, or even criticism of the first half (which are the sections I wrote). I'm eager to see how the book is received, since it's my first major project, and the subject was a bit of a break from my normal playground of planar topics. Besides, comments and such will help me get better.

It looks like the pdf doesn't have the inside or outside back cover page.

It just ends with the "what's in the next Pathfinder Companion" page.

Gah!

We'll fix.

I would have liked to see traits ... especially some Osirion "regional" types of traits. Otherwise, it looked fine when I skimmed it over.

-Skeld

Will any of these Pathfinder Companions be available for purchase in either hardcover or softcover formats at local retailers?

I'm asking this because the information on this webpage seems abit confusing to me. Is the date on this webpage is referring to the availabilty at a local retailer? The webpage says that the pdf file will be available later in January.

I'm asking this because the information on this webpage seems abit confusing to me. Is the date on this webpage is referring to the availabilty at a local retailer? The webpage says that the pdf file will be available later in January.

If you're a subscriber, you get it early. The listed date for PDF availability is when it becomes available to non-subscribers, aka the street date. And it is in hardcopy format also.

-Skeld

I read over the PDF last night, and I'm seriously happy with how it looks. I didn't think I'd get away with Lamashtu's Flower as written.

That said, if anyone has any questions for the first half of the book, I'll happily take 'em. And I'd love any comments, critique, or even criticism of the first half (which are the sections I wrote). I'm eager to see how the book is received, since it's my first major project, and the subject was a bit of a break from my normal playground of planar topics. Besides, comments and such will help me get better.

I'd say much the same, but I wrote the second half. Likes, dislikes, rants, raves, bring em on.

Of course, if there's anything you didn't like I'll just blame it on Sean messing up my obviously inherently perfect-as-written writing with his mean, mean editorial editing!

I was disappointed not to see a map of Sothis to accompany it's brief gazetteer but I guess that'll show up in a future product. I'm also a big fan and proponent of traits, so I was disappointed to see them missing here, only three books in from their introduction. The only othergripe I can think of is the inclusion of another ruler in the Persona section. They're just too out-of-reach for most campaigns to ever get to. Instead, I'd love to see lower level NPCs with a larger fluff writeup instead of a huge statblock I'll likely never use.

Osirion's one of my favorite places in Golarion, so I'm excited to delve these pages more thoroughly this weekend, but what I've skimmed so far is awesome.

Grr, didn't get to DL it before I came to work. Oh well more reading later I guess

I am a little disappointed with some of the grammar on the first page.

1st paragraph, 1st sentence:
"A nation of prideful people who till the current century chafed under the yoke of foreign rule...." {should be until, not till}

3rd paragraph,

"...dying a slow death through complacency for most of a millenia..."
{millenia is plural, should be millenium}

Not normally an issue but just rubbed me the wrong way since it was on the very first page.

I read over the PDF last night, and I'm seriously happy with how it looks. I didn't think I'd get away with Lamashtu's Flower as written.

That said, if anyone has any questions for the first half of the book, I'll happily take 'em. And I'd love any comments, critique, or even criticism of the first half (which are the sections I wrote). I'm eager to see how the book is received, since it's my first major project, and the subject was a bit of a break from my normal playground of planar topics. Besides, comments and such will help me get better.

Maybe it's just me, but in some places it feels like you may have gone a little thesaurus crazy, mostly on the first couple of pages.

Other than that, I like what I have read so far!

I am a little disappointed with some of the grammar on the first page.

1st paragraph, 1st sentence:
"A nation of prideful people who till the current century chafed under the yoke of foreign rule...." {should be until, not till}

3rd paragraph,

"...dying a slow death through complacency for most of a millenia..."
{millenia is plural, should be millenium}

Not normally an issue but just rubbed me the wrong way since it was on the very first page.

If I am remembering the timeline present in the Gazetteer correctly, Osarion was founded in -3472 AR and was not conquered by Keleshite forces until 1532 AR.

I am a little disappointed with some of the grammar on the first page.

1st paragraph, 1st sentence:
"A nation of prideful people who till the current century chafed under the yoke of foreign rule...." {should be until, not till}

It's an older form, and perhaps less common in written form rather than spoken, but till and until have the same usage there.

As for going thesaurus crazy, well that's an issue I'm aware of. I've had my players tell me to use less "insane vocabulary" during games -their words- but I'm not going out of my way to use larger words, it's how I write normally. If I have a lot of complaints about it however, I'll start watching myself more closely.

If I am remembering the timeline present in the Gazetteer correctly, Osarion was founded in -3472 AR and was not conquered by Keleshite forces until 1532 AR.

That's true. The 1k years of decay mentioned there preceeded the Keleshite invasion in the 1500s, but there were also earlier periods of rise and downfall of Osirion's power and influence before that point.

I'm asking this because the information on this webpage seems abit confusing to me. Is the date on this webpage is referring to the availabilty at a local retailer? The webpage says that the pdf file will be available later in January.

All Pathfinder Companions are available in softcover editions at retail. The date mentioned for the PDF is also the on-sale date for retailers.

Of course, if there's anything you didn't like I'll just blame it on Sean messing up my obviously inherently perfect-as-written writing with his mean, mean editorial editing!

RAWR MEANNESS!!

The only othergripe I can think of is the inclusion of another ruler in the Persona section. They're just too out-of-reach for most campaigns to ever get to. Instead, I'd love to see lower level NPCs with a larger fluff writeup instead of a huge statblock I'll likely never use.

I agree with you, and it is my goal to not include them in future books--I'd rather see a stat block for a useable character than one for an all-but unkillable ruler. Unfortunately there is at least one book in the queue that's already been designed and has a ruler for the Persona, but I'm going to see what we can do about that.

I really liked the new PrC, but I wish it would have had the "forward design" that some of the other new PrCs had, i.e. having a d10 for hit dice if it has a full BaB progression.

Still, it was an interesting PrC to include, and it caught my attention.

I really liked the new PrC, but I wish it would have had the "forward design" that some of the other new PrCs had, i.e. having a d10 for hit dice if it has a full BaB progression.

Still, it was an interesting PrC to include, and it caught my attention.

Glad you liked it. I thought it was a neat and fun idea (and riffed on the name of an old comic book character) and something a little different and very... Osirion-y.

I would probably blame the hit die discrepancy on the "ships passing in the night" nature of freelance writing - at the time I was writing it this summer the Beta rules hadn't come out yet and that principle wasn't quite as hard-coded of an idea just yet. That might be something Paizo could include in a conversion guide from 3.5 to Pathfinder rules, but for right now we are still writing stuff for 3.5 (same with the Legacy of Fire AP22 adventure I turned over a few weeks ago - it's not til the next AP that things will be being designed for PF proper).

It's kind of a funny spot to be in - you know there are new things coming but you still gotta put out product in the meanwhile and hope that it is as compatible as it can be with what is to come, but it ain't gonna be perfect.

Yeah, I liked the name too . . . ;) Obscure comic book references never hurt.

So will Lamashtu's Flower play into the next AP or the Pathfinder modules at all? Please try and find a way to work it in, my players will love it. I also loved the Living Monolith PrC, one of my favorite obscure mutants of all time.

an awesome book! I love it, and my only complaint is that there is no map of Sothis which was a large part of why I wanted to order this. I am still pleased with the product over all though.

Two points:

I can't speak for Lamashtu's Flower or Shai-Nefer/Alashra being featured in the AP or a future module. Though I'd love to see them used, as it'd be really cool to see someone else incorporate them into an adventure, it's James and company's call if there's any future traction there.

Maps - I can promise that my next project will have maps. At least nine of them.

Started reading this over the holiday, it will be interesting to see what happens when you combine Osirion, Hamunaptra, and GURPS Egypt...

I enjoyed the Living Monolith prestige class as well. Expect it to play Havok on my players (if I ever get a non-Society group again)

Question though, is there anything to prevent a living monolith from going out and adventuring with a party? Or is this aimed more at NPCs.

Punny Matthew, very punny.

yoda8myhead wrote:

The only othergripe I can think of is the inclusion of another ruler in the Persona section. They're just too out-of-reach for most campaigns to ever get to. Instead, I'd love to see lower level NPCs with a larger fluff writeup instead of a huge statblock I'll likely never use.

I agree with you, and it is my goal to not include them in future books--I'd rather see a stat block for a useable character than one for an all-but unkillable ruler. Unfortunately there is at least one book in the queue that's already been designed and has a ruler for the Persona, but I'm going to see what we can do about that.

Actually, I found the stats of the pharoah to be pretty darn interesting, as a lot of his abilities/items were focused on RULING rather than just being a high-level badass. Just because PCs are unlikely to fight the guy doesn't mean they won't interact with him, and it's very helpful to have some mechanical pointers as to what preparations he has in the hamper - information that's rather uncommon in a lot of supplements, in my experience. In any event, I found the stats to be a lot more useful than "some random dude the PCs are likely to interact with in the market" or "yet another BBEG" that most DMs could build in their sleep.

Started reading this over the holiday, it will be interesting to see what happens when you combine Osirion, Hamunaptra, and GURPS Egypt...

I enjoyed the Living Monolith prestige class as well. Expect it to play Havok on my players (if I ever get a non-Society group again)

Play Havok? Well played, good sir. Well played. :)

Question though, is there anything to prevent a living monolith from going out and adventuring with a party? Or is this aimed more at NPCs.

I'd say there's no reason why a PC couldn't take the class. The requirements are not onerous, and with a mission statement as vague as "safeguard Osirion, its people, and its ancient treasures" you could pretty much do anything. While certainly you COULD stand around in an ancient tomb for centuries waiting for tomb robbers to show up, you could just as well travel the globe doing what adventurers do and rationalize it as being in Osirion's interest some way or another.

I certainly drew it up with the idea that PCs could and would play it.

Sean K Reynolds wrote:

yoda8myhead wrote:

The only othergripe I can think of is the inclusion of another ruler in the Persona section. They're just too out-of-reach for most campaigns to ever get to. Instead, I'd love to see lower level NPCs with a larger fluff writeup instead of a huge statblock I'll likely never use.

I agree with you, and it is my goal to not include them in future books--I'd rather see a stat block for a useable character than one for an all-but unkillable ruler. Unfortunately there is at least one book in the queue that's already been designed and has a ruler for the Persona, but I'm going to see what we can do about that.

Actually, I found the stats of the pharoah to be pretty darn interesting, as a lot of his abilities/items were focused on RULING rather than just being a high-level badass. Just because PCs are unlikely to fight the guy doesn't mean they won't interact with him, and it's very helpful to have some mechanical pointers as to what preparations he has in the hamper - information that's rather uncommon in a lot of supplements, in my experience. In any event, I found the stats to be a lot more useful than "some random dude the PCs are likely to interact with in the market" or "yet another BBEG" that most DMs could build in their sleep.

It's an interesting balancing act, because in D&D most of the time you do want your rulers to be, among other things, high-level badasses. But, you don't ONLY want them to be high-level badasses.

So I had some fun playing with ideas of what he would be and the kinds of things he would have on hand on a typical day. Some for combat, just in case, but others not. I had originally thought about giving him some kind of hardcore magic weapon/rod, but then I figured, "Look, he's the frickin pharaoh of Osirion, he's not getting his hands dirty in melee unless he has no other option; that's what guards and summoned monsters are for!" So he does have a weapon, but a touch attack weapon and he's not supposed to be a burly, physically imposing guy, but he could lay the hurt if it really came down to it...

Glad you enjoyed.

Actually, I found the stats of the pharoah to be pretty darn interesting, as a lot of his abilities/items were focused on RULING rather than just being a high-level badass. Just because PCs are unlikely to fight the guy doesn't mean they won't interact with him, and it's very helpful to have some mechanical pointers as to what preparations he has in the hamper

Sure, and that is the sort of thing you can describe in a paragraph or two, without needing his hit points, exact skill and feat allocations, and so on. I'm not knocking the utility of describing what a ruler can do, but rather the use of valuable print space on the ruler's melee attack bonus. ;)

Good to know Jason, good to know. And yes, the pun was intentional. It's nice when I get the joke. I've strayed away from the fighter types in the past, but this is a really cool prestige class.

And I understand the designer's difficulty of what to put in a small book. Since Osirion is an Egyptian analouge, it can quickly become what -not- to put in it.

Personally I'm trying to figure out the best way to make this into dungeons.

tribeof1 wrote:

Actually, I found the stats of the pharoah to be pretty darn interesting, as a lot of his abilities/items were focused on RULING rather than just being a high-level badass. Just because PCs are unlikely to fight the guy doesn't mean they won't interact with him, and it's very helpful to have some mechanical pointers as to what preparations he has in the hamper

Sure, and that is the sort of thing you can describe in a paragraph or two, without needing his hit points, exact skill and feat allocations, and so on. I'm not knocking the utility of describing what a ruler can do, but rather the use of valuable print space on the ruler's melee attack bonus. ;)

I don't really disagree here. While it's a fun exercise to make an NPC, for an NPC that you really aren't ever supposed to actually fight the combat stats end up being kind of irrelevant. If I were designing the product I don't think I'd have statted up the ruler in full.

But I wasn't. ;)

So you take the job and you do the job that you get and have fun with it, and it can still turn out pretty cool.

Lord Stewpndous wrote:

I am a little disappointed with some of the grammar on the first page.

1st paragraph, 1st sentence:
"A nation of prideful people who till the current century chafed under the yoke of foreign rule...." {should be until, not till}

It's an older form, and perhaps less common in written form rather than spoken, but till and until have the same usage there.

It was a bit of a head-spinner thought, especially when combined with a bit of agricultural imagery - what kind of plough do you use to till a whole century :D

I just started looking through this yesterday, and settled in for a good read. I was immediately thrown off by the typo in the first line of the first page. I hadn't seen this since the adventure "The Malady of Kings," although that product dropped off in quality while this one picks up. I had a general sense that it could use more tightened editing throughout. I was also dismayed at the lack of useful crunchy information--no traits, not many variants suggested. I think this will be more useful to me than Elves of Golarion, but Elves of Golarion was a better product in this line, I think.

Todd Stewart wrote:

Lord Stewpndous wrote:

I am a little disappointed with some of the grammar on the first page.

1st paragraph, 1st sentence:
"A nation of prideful people who till the current century chafed under the yoke of foreign rule...." {should be until, not till}

It's an older form, and perhaps less common in written form rather than spoken, but till and until have the same usage there.

It was a bit of a head-spinner thought, especially when combined with a bit of agricultural imagery - what kind of plough do you use to till a whole century :D

Ooh, I see my concern has been addressed. However, I don't think that technically-correct obscurity wins the day here; I'm plainly not the only one thrown off by this. I still think it should have read "until".

I am also disappointed that there's no traits (and we were rather given, on page one by a reply of Vic's, to expect them!). A real missed opportunity, given that I guess Osirion won't be revisted at the whole-nation level.

Also, why no traits in the Absolom books. Yeah, it's a Chronicles book, but really I am not sure why there can't be any traits in that, unless they're going to appear in a future Companion.

So, a bit fed up with the lack of traits in these two books, but most particularly in the Osirion book given what Vic had said on the first page of this thread:

Bagpuss wrote:

Are we going to get new traits in these books (and future race books, etc)?

You can expect to see new traits in most—probably even all—Pathfinder Companions.

I am also disappointed that there's no traits (and we were rather given, on page one by a reply of Vic's, to expect them!). A real missed opportunity, given that I guess Osirion won't be revisted at the whole-nation level.

Also, why no traits in the Absolom books. Yeah, it's a Chronicles book, but really I am not sure why there can't be any traits in that, unless they're going to appear in a future Companion.

So, a bit fed up with the lack of traits in these two books, but most particularly in the Osirion book given what Vic had said on the first page of this thread:

Vic Wertz wrote:

Bagpuss wrote:

Are we going to get new traits in these books (and future race books, etc)?

You can expect to see new traits in most—probably even all—Pathfinder Companions.

Sigh. I even double-checked that before I posted, and nobody told me there was already a planned exception. I'm with you—more traits!

I was very pleased when my copy of “Osirion: Land of the Pharaohs” came in the mail as I have been excited for this guy for a while.

There is a lot of new cool stuff in here to get the juices flowing:

Good stuff guys – please keep it coming.

I was very pleased when my copy of “Osirion: Land of the Pharaohs” came in the mail as I have been excited for this guy for a while.

There is a lot of new cool stuff in here to get the juices flowing:

** spoiler omitted **

Good stuff guys – please keep it coming.

I'm glad you liked it Michael. I was a blast to play in the sandbox you put all the ground work into in the campaign setting, modules, etc. :)

Michael Kortes wrote:

I was very pleased when my copy of “Osirion: Land of the Pharaohs” came in the mail as I have been excited for this guy for a while.

There is a lot of new cool stuff in here to get the juices flowing:

** spoiler omitted **

Good stuff guys – please keep it coming.

I'm glad you liked it Michael. I was a blast to play in the sandbox you put all the ground work into in the campaign setting, modules, etc. :)

** spoiler omitted **

If I had been writing some of your part, Todd, I might have thrown in a bit about the kind of glassy wasteland in Western Osirion.

But that was cuz I wanted to slip in a locale for my Superstar adventure proposal. Hey, it's Paizo property, so why not! I still say the "James Bond in Osirion" adventure concept rocks!

I want to thank everyone who worked on Osirion for keeping out the Stargate references. While I like sneaking them in my home games, it would have been somewhat Cliche.

I want to thank everyone who worked on Osirion for keeping out the Stargate references. While I like sneaking them in my home games, it would have been somewhat Cliche.

If you want to do something amusing, watch Stargate (the original movie, not the TV shows) and then watch Disney's Atlantis back to back. I'm not saying the movies are identical, but oh my goodness the similarities...

Sean K Reynolds wrote:

tribeof1 wrote:

Actually, I found the stats of the pharoah to be pretty darn interesting, as a lot of his abilities/items were focused on RULING rather than just being a high-level badass. Just because PCs are unlikely to fight the guy doesn't mean they won't interact with him, and it's very helpful to have some mechanical pointers as to what preparations he has in the hamper

Sure, and that is the sort of thing you can describe in a paragraph or two, without needing his hit points, exact skill and feat allocations, and so on. I'm not knocking the utility of describing what a ruler can do, but rather the use of valuable print space on the ruler's melee attack bonus. ;)

I don't really disagree here. While it's a fun exercise to make an NPC, for an NPC that you really aren't ever supposed to actually fight the combat stats end up being kind of irrelevant. If I were designing the product I don't think I'd have statted up the ruler in full.

But I wasn't. ;)

So you take the job and you do the job that you get and have fun with it, and it can still turn out pretty cool.

mmm

for example, in Ravenloft you are not going to confront the Darklords of the realms (mostly) still you got their stats, then you know what they can do andif you need to use them, you know what they can do even if just to present them to the players as a plot device.

the issue is yes, its to much space... mmm still i liked the details on his magic equipment, that is quite unique... andi did liked the elven queen ...

still some of that space couldhavebeen sued for Osirion traits :P

Sure, and that is the sort of thing you can describe in a paragraph or two, without needing his hit points, exact skill and feat allocations, and so on. I'm not knocking the utility of describing what a ruler can do, but rather the use of valuable print space on the ruler's melee attack bonus. ;)

Personally, I've always like combat blocks on important NPCs. Other than it being interesting to read right back since I first got into rpgs (in 1980!) I like to see the major players (and they needn't be high level, of course) and get an idea what they're good at, etc. So I'm sad that there'll only be one more book containing them...

The book looks very cool except...there's not map of Sothis. :(

BUMP! There's a repeat of the cover art on the back cover but no map of Sothis and yet the major areas of the city were covered. You added The Thing from the Fantastic Four but no city map? Epic Fail IMO! :(

--Ray.

This is my full review of Osirion, Land of the Pharaohs as the reviews only seem to allow 2000 characters and I have much more than that to say about it!

The Pathfinder Companion, Osirion, Land of the Pharaohs, attempts to describe the region of Osirion on the continent of Garund in 32 pages. Sadly, it is an incomplete work and my first disappointment from Paizo.

This companion product outlines many cities, towns and adventuring locations which are otherwise just places on a map. Described are the cities of An, Eto, Ipeq, Shiman-Sekh, Tumen, Torta, and Wati as well as The Footprints of Rovagug, The Glazen Sheet, The Hungry Sepulcher, The Labyrinth of Shiman-Sekh, Lamashtu's Flower, The Lost Fortress of Mekshir, the Monastery of Tar Kuata, the Pyramid of An-Hepsu XI, The River Sphinx, The Ruins of Tumen, The Seven Stelae, the Slave Trenches of Hakotep, The Sphinx Head, Valley of the Pyramids; all the above are given major headings in the work. This is an impressive list until it is compared to the locations that are not described but available on the map. Junira River, Lamasara, Ruins of Akhenaten, Ruins of el-Amara, Klarwa Fountain, Alamein Peninsula, Cliffs of Kusha-ta-Pahk, Stepped Tower of Djedefar, Coast of Graves, Hor-Aha, Xefon-Ra, Parched Dunes, Tar Kuata, Ruins of Kho, Kho-Rarme Pass, Pillars of the Sun, Mount Osiki, Pyramid of Doom, The Swells of Gozreh, Garden of Shepeska, Burning Cape, Underdunes, Mount Na-Ken, Temple of An-Alak, The Scorpion Coast, Salt Hills, The Temples of Pharaoh Ahn, Sand Haven, and Brazen Peaks are either ignored entirely or mentioned only in reference to another location. If it is important enough to put on the map then it is important enough to describe it in the text. A single short paragraph would have been sufficient to fill the need. It also bewilders the mind why there is so much artwork using so much valuable real estate that could have been used for text when the product is incomplete. The top 50% of page 2 is an illustration of pyramids; almost half of page 4 is a drawing of some guy with a clay tablet; and half of page 7 is a Lamashtu orgy scene. There are other illustrations on pages 8, 11, 13, 16, 19, 21, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30. All of them use between 25% to 50% of the available page space. The inside of the back cover is a reprint of the front cover art. This is not to say that all art should be removed, but to point out that the overuse of art does not make a complete product. If Paizo had reduced the amount of art by 50% they could have completely described all locations on the map.

On pages 16-21 is the description of the city of Sothis. I can't say anything good about it as Paizo didn't see fit to include a map of the city! There is an interesting location called The Black Dome. This is supposed to be a titanic dead scarab beetle that has somehow been turned into the largest building in the city. A map, or at least illustration, would have been appropriate for this location, but it is not supplied. Also described are Azghaad's Spire, the Council of Sun and Sky, The Crimson Canal, the Malhitu Bazaar, the Necropolis of the Faithful, The Palace of the Forthbringer, and the Temple of the Eternal Sun. All of these are interesting locations but are somewhat useless without a map of the city.

There is a prestige class called Living Monolith. I'm not a fan of prestige classes as a general rule so I am biased; however, this one has an uncanny resemblance to The Thing from the Fantastic Four!

Following along behind the Living Monolith is a section on the cults of Osirion. There are three cults (demi-gods?), Wdjet, Apep and Khepri, but there are scant details on the faiths with the exception of a short description. Three magic items are listed with one being associated with each cult.

Also included are new Osirion necromantic spells, several new feats, and a full description of Khemet III, the Ruby Prince. All of these seem to be fine additions to the Osirion Companion; however, the feats are less so than the spells and the Ruby Prince, as five out of eight of them seem to be generic in nature.

The final page is the standard Paizo “Coming Next!” previews of future products.
In the end, I think Osirion, Land of Pharaohs was rushed to the printer to meet a deadline. Eight or nine pages, give or take a few, were used on art that should have been used on text to describe the locations that were missed. Sothis is not mapped. This omission alone cost the product three stars. The Black Dome is not mapped or illustrated, leaving the reader to try to imagine how that could work. The prestige class consumed another two pages and may or may not be useful. Cosmetically, It's The Thing! The cults, spells, feats, and description of Khemet III are all useful.

There are some items missing from the product. Where's the timeline of Osirion? What exactly are Khamsin storms? What about other climate and weather? What about Osirion customs and dress? What about relationships between the classes of citizens (slave to pharaoh)?

Additionally, the entire product is printed on glossy paper. It would have been preferable to reserve glossy for the covers and use non-glossy paper for the interior pages. Paizo could have thereby increased the page count and included additional information in the product.

My suggestion is to save your money! In this economy this is ten dollars that should be better spent on some really good beer.

derek_cleric,

These 32-page Pathfinder Companions are meant to provide players and GMs with a useful variety of articles focused on a common theme... a bit like the occasional themed issues of Dragon magazine. It's more of a player's guide to the topic than a comprehensive sourcebook.

Sourcebooks would be released in the Pathfinder Chronicles line, where products have higher page counts (and correspondingly higher prices).

As for the artwork, part of the concept here is to help immerse the reader into the world, and presenting evocative artwork is an effective way to do that.

By the way, lowering the quality of the paper stock would not allow us to add more pages. The cost of the nicer paper stock is negligible. Also, since pages need to be added to books in units called signatures, the next step up from 32 pages would be 48 pages. There's no way lowering quality of the paper stock to even the cheapest available paper would allow us to expand the page count by 50%. We'd most likely have to charge $14.99 for a 48-page book.

Regarding the value proposition here, I'm confident that the Pathfinder Companion line provides one of the best values in the gaming industry today. If anybody else out there is professionally printing a high-quality, 32-page, full-color product and selling it for even the *same* price as a Pathfinder Companion, I would like to know about it. Most publishers charge more and still give you black-and-white interiors.

If it is important enough to put on the map then it is important enough to describe it in the text. A single short paragraph would have been sufficient to fill the need.

Thank you for the review, though I'm disappointed that you didn't enjoy it more. Good or bad, I really do appreciate the feedback.

As for locations on the map that aren't fully described in the text, there are two reasons for that:

1) I had a word limit that I had to come in under, and in the end I had to trim two sections (Pyramid of Doom / Pyramid of Dorem and another) in order to come in close to that limit.

2) I've always enjoyed when maps contain more locations than those fully fleshed out and detailed. They're like tiny individual plot nuggets to inspire DMs to add their own material alongside the other, majorly detailed locations also present. They're a second tier of locales left intentionally as blanks, or given small mentions in the text that tie them to other people or places. I've always enjoyed such things in other sourcebooks, be it for instance Ghoresh Chasm in the Gray Waste only mentioned in a few lines of text in TSR's Hellbound box set and never again, or other similar places. I gave DMs a ton of places with a ton of detail, and I also provided a second helping of other places with the invitation for them to put their own unique spin upon in their games.

derek_cleric,

Regarding the value proposition here, I'm confident that the Pathfinder Companion line provides one of the best values in the gaming industry today. If anybody else out there is professionally printing a high-quality, 32-page, full-color product and selling it for even the *same* price as a Pathfinder Companion, I would like to know about it. Most publishers charge more and still give you black-and-white interiors.

I think it is worth the money... but I would not recommend a new player to the book. I hope you finalise the format of the Companion series. Comparing the Elves of Golarion to this book you notice a fair bit of difference in content and feel.

I was expecting something a little different.

I hope you finalise the format of the Companion series. Comparing the Elves of Golarion to this book you notice a fair bit of difference in content and feel.

This is a young product line, and we are most certainly still figuring out what it needs to be. It's actually a bit painful for us, because it takes you months to see the course corrections after we decide to make them. For example, we've just this week been working on a plan to solve the semi-schizophrenic nature that has come from alternating between AP Player's Guides and more general products in the Companion line, but you won't see the results of that until August.

I was expecting something a little different.

What were you expecting?