Creative Director
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Out of curiousity, is there going to be an alternate cover for this issue like there was last GenCon for Shadow in the Sky and the GenCon before for Burnt Offerings?
Yeah; the alternate cover tactic worked well for the first Pathfinder, but not as well for the third; it's not something we'll be continuing into the future.
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Creative Director
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I'm curious - will the Council of Thieves Adventure Path have a player's guide like the previous four? 'Cause I can't seem to find one listed on the website. Or is it that the Pathfinder Companion book, Cheliax: Empire of Devils, is going to be the equivalent? (I have found the player's guides *very* helpful for giving guidelines for what sort of characters are most appropriate or useful for the game, as well as hints or interesting flavor for the campaign.)
To add to Sean's answer...
There will be a Player's Guide for Council of Thieves. It's going to be a free PDF; there won't be a print version of it. We're not 100% sure WHERE it'll be on the website yet, but it will be available at about the time Gen Con rolls around.
EDIT: It'll be free, of course. :-)
To add to Sean's answer...
There will be a Player's Guide for Council of Thieves. It's going to be a free PDF; there won't be a print version of it. We're not 100% sure WHERE it'll be on the website yet, but it will be available at about the time Gen Con rolls around.
EDIT: It'll be free, of course. :-)
So.. will it cost anything?
How comprehensive a gazetteer of Westcrown will we be looking at between these various documents? My GM made most of the Guide to Korvosa required reading prior to the start of our CotCT campaign, and I must say that having a reference for the city and its people has HUGELY improved the experience.
To add to Sean's answer...
There will be a Player's Guide for Council of Thieves. It's going to be a free PDF; there won't be a print version of it. We're not 100% sure WHERE it'll be on the website yet, but it will be available at about the time Gen Con rolls around.
EDIT: It'll be free, of course. :-)
So.. will it cost anything?
Only your soul.
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Creative Director
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How comprehensive a gazetteer of Westcrown will we be looking at between these various documents? My GM made most of the Guide to Korvosa required reading prior to the start of our CotCT campaign, and I must say that having a reference for the city and its people has HUGELY improved the experience.
There's a 12-page article about Westcrown in PF 25.
Each of the 6 adventures is 40 to 50 pages of additional Westcrown content, including descriptions of key locations, NPCs, and stuff like that built into the adventure.
The Cheliax Pathfinder Companion will have 2 more pages on Westcrown (mostly player info) and lots more about Cheliax itself in the other 30 pages.
The free Player's Guide to Council of Thieves PDF will have more information about the campaign and Westcrown. There's also going to be a section that talks relatively extensively about the immediate surroundings of Westcrown.
Various other support articles in Pathfinder (such as the Tiefling article, the Hellknight Keeps article, etc.) will have more Westcrown info scattered inside.
In the end, there'll probably be less information overall about Westcrown than there was about Korvosa, but the information about Westcrown will be, overall, more applicable to the adventure path than a fair amount of Korvosa's guide was. Since Curse of the Crimson Throne and Guide to Korvosa were created at the same time but not by the same writers, there ended up being more elements in the Guide to Korvosa book that didn't support elements in the AP as much, as well as elements that went into great detail about elements that didn't figure at all into the AP. This is a good thing or a bad thing depending on how you look at it, I guess.
So, is that a new painting of Valeros on the cover? It certainly looks like him.
The large picture on the cover is a new character you meet in the adventure. He's not Valeros.
Would it be possible to add a "go to next adventure in this adventure path" button for the individual AP product pages? Just would make it much easier to cruise through all six rather than having to back out to the AP product list.
And if the button is already there and I'm missing it please go easy on me -- it's 3am. =)
Also the cover of this first release of the CoT AP is beige but the other five have a very dominant red coloring -- are they all going to look alike or will this one stick out? (Yeah, I'm OCD.)
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Director of Brand Strategy
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Also the cover of this first release of the CoT AP is beige but the other five have a very dominant red coloring -- are they all going to look alike or will this one stick out? (Yeah, I'm OCD.)
The exact color scheme of an AP is usually not present in the placeholder art. When the final covers come in for everything after 25, they'll match as well.
Speaking of which, do we have art for Sevenfold Trial, or any of the other September books yet?
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Chief Technical Officer
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Would it be possible to add a "go to next adventure in this adventure path" button for the individual AP product pages? Just would make it much easier to cruise through all six rather than having to back out to the AP product list.
And if the button is already there and I'm missing it please go easy on me -- it's 3am. =)
Not a bad idea...
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Chief Technical Officer
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Also the cover of this first release of the CoT AP is beige but the other five have a very dominant red coloring -- are they all going to look alike or will this one stick out? (Yeah, I'm OCD.)
This one is the finished cover; the rest are all mockups. The finished products will have this look.
I just downloaded my PDF and I had to pop over here and comment. Best Tiefling article ever! I mean, I really like David “Zeb” Cook's article in KQ6, but 100 alternative tiefling abilities is very cool.
Now I want more articles about planar heritage races!
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I just downloaded my PDF and I had to pop over here and comment. Best Tiefling article ever! I mean, I really like David “Zeb” Cook's article in KQ6, but 100 alternative tiefling abilities is very cool.
Now I want more articles about planar heritage races!
Just got mine too, and was looking to see who else did. I'm outta here!
Hi all. Just got this. Will read it with interest tonight.
Question, though, do AP subscribers not get the player's guide this time around? I don't see it in my downloads.
M
It won't be the Companion (no longer free), but a smaller Player's Guide, which I thought was going to be free. Not sure what the news on it is, though.
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Creative Director
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Hi all. Just got this. Will read it with interest tonight.
Question, though, do AP subscribers not get the player's guide this time around? I don't see it in my downloads.
M
The Player's Guide is a free PDF; there's no hardcopy version of it this time. It's also not done. It'll be available next week on the first day of Gen Con.
There we are! Never try to outrun a fiendish T-Rex.
The Player's Guide is a free PDF; there's no hardcopy version of it this time. It's also not done. It'll be available next week on the first day of Gen Con.Hi all. Just got this. Will read it with interest tonight.
Question, though, do AP subscribers not get the player's guide this time around? I don't see it in my downloads.
M
You are truly ... EVIL!
Thanks for the clarification. I missed that news. Sad about no printed copy but I totally understand...can't have been terribly cost-effective. PDF is fine with me. I've looked at the RotRL guide much more than my players ever have. :)
I'll just print a copy to have around if we ever get to this AP - you guys make more good stuff than we can ever get around to playing. Two years of publication and I've got 5 years of material (at least) to play through with my group!
M
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I skimmed it and read the Tiefling article. I liked the article a lot, the only thing is it wasn't clear on the random looks if you should roll once or more. Some of them in the book obviously had more than one at least one had as many as three.
On that note it would have been nice to see more of them with out the horns in the artwork to represent that they are varied more like the article says.
My only real complaint about the book... I wasn't a big fan of the style of the map of the city.
By the way, when will the Player's Guide be available?
-Skeld
Posted above:
The Player's Guide is a free PDF; there's no hardcopy version of it this time. It's also not done. It'll be available next week on the first day of Gen Con.Hi all. Just got this. Will read it with interest tonight.
Question, though, do AP subscribers not get the player's guide this time around? I don't see it in my downloads.
M
My only real complaint about the book... I wasn't a big fan of the style of the map of the city.
That jumped out at me too. I could maybe grow to like it though.
In general I sort of thought the design wasn't *quite* as nice as the previous APs. Something changed but I can't quite put my finger on what it was. Not complaining at all...it's lovely...just something I noticed. BTW, is the rest of the AP not going to look like the first volume or are those just old mock-ups on the product page? I actually like the darker cover of #2-#6 better.
M
I skimmed it and read the Tiefling article. I liked the article a lot, the only thing is it wasn't clear on the random looks if you should roll once or more. Some of them in the book obviously had more than one at least one had as many as three.
Now you are just being mean. ;)
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I skimmed it and read the Tiefling article. I liked the article a lot, the only thing is it wasn't clear on the random looks if you should roll once or more. Some of them in the book obviously had more than one at least one had as many as three.Now you are just being mean. ;)
Um yeah, and? You have noticed my name and avatar right? I think being mean is a requirement. :)
I skimmed it and read the Tiefling article. I liked the article a lot, the only thing is it wasn't clear on the random looks if you should roll once or more. Some of them in the book obviously had more than one at least one had as many as three.
Roll as often as you want, or pick traits that you like. The tieflings in the book weren't generated using the table.
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I skimmed it and read the Tiefling article. I liked the article a lot, the only thing is it wasn't clear on the random looks if you should roll once or more. Some of them in the book obviously had more than one at least one had as many as three.Roll as often as you want, or pick traits that you like. The tieflings in the book weren't generated using the table.
Yeah i figured, but thought I should mention it. Since I noticed it and it is not clear on that point.
Don't get me wrong I liked it a lot but as I said noticed it and thought I would mention it. A sentence or two saying that I think would have helped make it more clear.
This looks nice, but I do miss the stories on the inside covers.
There was only one thing that really confused me in the Tiefling abilities section. The ability where your Fiendish Sorcery ability treats your charisma as 3 points higher. Is this a new ability Tieflings are getting? Or is it in regards to say a Tiefling who is a sorcerer with the Infernal bloodline?
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There was only one thing that really confused me in the Tiefling abilities section. The ability where your Fiendish Sorcery ability treats your charisma as 3 points higher. Is this a new ability Tieflings are getting? Or is it in regards to say a Tiefling who is a sorcerer with the Infernal bloodline?
It would apply to bards as well I would imagine and any Sorc bloodline, though yeah it would only really make sense for a tiefling to have a bloodline that matched their heritage.
This AP has forced my hand: I have subscribed. Now send me the glorious goodies! :-)
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Chief Technical Officer
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I am so looking forward to this! That being said, Legacy of Fire has things like Paper minatures and 3-D Terrain (I give thanks to the respective companies) so will this follow suit or is this "putting the cart before the ox"? No problem if it's not! Just wondering.
I'm sure these things will eventually appear. When that happens is largely up to the respective publishers.
I posted the answer 15 posts above your question:
Thanks. Missed that the first time through.
M
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Ok I read through some of the book but mainly stopped at the Tiefling section. I thought it was a pretty great read except it was missing something that always bugged me about the core stuff to.
CAN the parent be something OTHER then a human on the mortal side? Can it be elven? Dwarf? Whatever?
If so does this affect their age and how long they live? How long DO they live anyway? Any longer then a human if it's a human as the mortal with the powerful blood of an immortal demon/devil (assuming they are immortal). What about if it's an elf (assuming it COULD be an elf).
I was hoping something like that would have been answered so that was the only let down of the article. Otherwise good stuff.
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Creative Director
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CAN the parent be something OTHER then a human on the mortal side? Can it be elven? Dwarf? Whatever?
If so does this affect their age and how long they live? How long DO they live anyway? Any longer then a human if it's a human as the mortal with the powerful blood of an immortal demon/devil (assuming they are immortal). What about if it's an elf (assuming it COULD be an elf).
I was hoping something like that would have been answered so that was the only let down of the article. Otherwise good stuff.
Nope; part of what being a tiefling is is that you had a human parent. There were several other variant planetouched races that had non-human parents detailed in, I believe, the Fiend Folio or maybe it was MM3 from WotC. But for a tiefling, you have to have a human parent. As for how long tieflnigs live—I'd say in the lack of anything to the contrary that their lifespan is about the same as a human.
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Nope; part of what being a tiefling is is that you had a human parent. There were several other variant planetouched races that had non-human parents detailed in, I believe, the Fiend Folio or maybe it was MM3 from WotC. But for a tiefling, you have to have a human parent. As for how long tieflnigs live—I'd say in the lack of anything to the contrary that their lifespan is about the same as a human.CAN the parent be something OTHER then a human on the mortal side? Can it be elven? Dwarf? Whatever?
If so does this affect their age and how long they live? How long DO they live anyway? Any longer then a human if it's a human as the mortal with the powerful blood of an immortal demon/devil (assuming they are immortal). What about if it's an elf (assuming it COULD be an elf).
I was hoping something like that would have been answered so that was the only let down of the article. Otherwise good stuff.
Ok thank you. And yes, they had feytouched in fiend folio as well as half feys (feytouched being my favorite touched race to date which i still use) but was really curious how the tiefling/aasimar thing would go down.
Now I know. And a big thank you for the age. That kind of thing sometimes matters in the campaigns we run based on how long things happen, etc etc.
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As for how long tieflnigs live—I'd say in the lack of anything to the contrary that their lifespan is about the same as a human.
2e Planewalker's Handbook gave ages for Tieflings and Aasimar, though they're not quite the same as 3e ages. (I'm including the human ages for an idea of how to base a conversion if you want it.)
Race_______Starting Age____Middle Aged____Old____Venerable___Max Age
Aasimar____16+1d6__________62________83_____125_____125+2d20
Human_____15+1d4__________45_________60_____90______90+2d20
Tiefling_____17+2d4__________50________67_____100_____100+d%
3e Humans are 15 +1d4/+1d6/+2d6, 35/53/70, Max +2d20
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Creative Director
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I skimmed it and read the Tiefling article. I liked the article a lot, the only thing is it wasn't clear on the random looks if you should roll once or more. Some of them in the book obviously had more than one at least one had as many as three.
As a general rule... role once. But if you want to roll more than once, there's no reason why you shouldn't. I can tell you one thing for sure: we're not going to be cross-referencing ALL of the tiefling art we get from here on out with this table. That's madness. The table should be an idea-starting point, not the LAW on tiefling looks. And since the tiefling appearance things are just flavor, you can go to town and roll a dozen times or more if you want. Won't hurt game balance at all, but it WILL make your character seem more like a weirdo to most commonfolk... ;-P
On that note it would have been nice to see more of them with out the horns in the artwork to represent that they are varied more like the article says.
I agree that would have been nice, but we're on a tight schedule... ESPECIALLY for books that release around Gen Con, and often we have to say "go with that art" when we might not otherwise, given infinite cash and infinite time to have the artists change things around. We will have a lot more tieflings illustrated over the course of the AP, though, and we're trying to make them all look different. Whether or not our artists play along... we'll see! :)
My only real complaint about the book... I wasn't a big fan of the style of the map of the city.
We're certainly trying a new style with the city map here. I kind of like it; it gets the idea of the city's shape across well but doesn't make it look like we're trying to show EVERY separate building on the map, which at a scale to do that, we would have had to print the map of Westcrown on a sleeping bag sized piece of paper. Also, the map itself looks like it's "in world" and thus, you can show it to the PCs and it'll feel more authentic.
I'd love to hear more about what folks think of the map!
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Creative Director
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This looks nice, but I do miss the stories on the inside covers.
We try to do something different with each AP's inside covers. The stories seemed to go over well... but that's also because there's a strong element of genies telling stories in that AP.
For Council of Thieves, since the whole AP takes place on the same map, it made more sense to put that map on one inside cover. And since there's a LOT of NPCs in the AP, and since the theater and acting and lies and all that are such a big part of the AP, it made sense to use the other cover to present each adventure's NPCs in this way.
We'll be doing something else for Kingmaker, of course. Not sure what yet...