Oh really? There was no hardcover guide to the Inner Sea available for Rise of the Runelords. Does that mean it was premature as well? In other words, do you really need a detailed look at an entire continent, just to play three adventures in a single country (that will no doubt itself receive coverage from the Companion and/or Chronicle line) within that continent? Of course not.
I can see a difference between the two. (And yes, RotRL certainly was hurt a bit by the lack of info, AFAIC. #3... *shudder*)
You certainly won't be changing my disappointment.
I, for one, am hoping, praying, and drooling over the possibility of there being a hardcover for that continent out in the next year or so. I love the Inner Sea but I really want to see that treatment given to another chunk of the world and an oriental setting seems a nice touch.
Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
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Wow. That is the perfect weapon to use against me. I hurt, sir. I hurt.I pass it everyday to and from work. Did you know they have now started brewing their own beers?
Is that worth something to you, sir?
I remember when all they had was 3/2 beer.
And beautiful, beautiful Crazy Bowl, the greatest video game ever.
Hell, I remember when Space Invaders was the newest video game they had there.
After my family, that place is probably the thing I miss most about Minnesota.
And then probably Tom Thumb Mini Donuts at the State Fair.
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Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
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Speaking of a hardcover Tian Xia book, I guarantee that the absolute best way to make that happen is to pick up the Jade Regent adventures and the other various bits of support we've got planned, such as a few awesome things we haven't announced yet.
If that material sells well, the guy who decides what products we publish (me) will know there is a healthy market for this stuff, and will plan accordingly.
Otherwise... well, we've got a whole wide world to explore out there, including other continents, other planets, and other planes.
Even then, I'm fairly positive we'll eventually be doing a Tian Xia hardcover.
Just not this year.
Wow. That is the perfect weapon to use against me. I hurt, sir. I hurt.I pass it everyday to and from work. Did you know they have now started brewing their own beers?
Is that worth something to you, sir?
I remember when all they had was 3/2 beer.
And beautiful, beautiful Crazy Bowl, the greatest video game ever.
Hell, I remember when Space Invaders was the newest video game they had there.
After my family, that place is probably the thing I miss most about Minnesota.
And then probably Tom Thumb Mini Donuts at the State Fair.
I remember the first time I went in before they added the addition and they had some sort of duck hunting game. I think it was on the far wall in the bar area.
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Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
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Me too. I think it was some sort of light-based proto video game with a rifle attachment that fired light at a target, sort of like the shooting gallery at Valley Fair.
As I remember it, that game was on the wall opposite the bar, sort of near where the mounted jackalope head is now.
I think that was there back in the 70s too, but it was in a slightly different place.
I only have 2 interests in this adventure.
1. An indeph look at the Tian world and being a lover of eastern culture this would be very interesting.
2. A a lover of eastern mythology I'd love to see what creatures come out of this, like a Kitsune or a the undead creature which is a flying head with organs hanging from it, which it uses to choak it's victims. Saw it once in a 3.5 book for a "legend of the five rings" adventure and I know it's from mythology, but don't know the name. Would love to see creatures like that in there.
the undead creature which is a flying head with organs hanging from it, which it uses to choak it's victims. Saw it once in a 3.5 book for a "legend of the five rings" adventure and I know it's from mythology, but don't know the name. Would love to see creatures like that in there.
You may want to check out Prince of Wolves then.
This really has my interest. An adventure into Tian, great trekking and adventure. Time to get some more info on Tian, other than they drink tea. I agree with DM Aron. Let's see if a lot of work is put into this, Tian has long needed it (same with Kelesh, that gigantic empire).
Although having played a lot of spelunky, I'm not sure the princess is going to survive very long. Princesses are used to disarm traps, every spelunker knows that!
Princess dies. MISSION FAILED.
Also why does the adventure go north? Is there some reason to get frostbite and risk death every night? Wouldn't the quickest way be to follow the trade routes from Inner Sea to Kelesh, to Vudra, to Tian?
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This really has my interest. An adventure into Tian, great trekking and adventure. Time to get some more info on Tian, other than they drink tea. I agree with DM Aron. Let's see if a lot of work is put into this, Tian has long needed it (same with Kelesh, that gigantic empire).
Although having played a lot of spelunky, I'm not sure the princess is going to survive very long. Princesses are used to disarm traps, every spelunker knows that!
Princess dies. MISSION FAILED.
Also why does the adventure go north? Is there some reason to get frostbite and risk death every night? Wouldn't the quickest way be to follow the trade routes from Inner Sea to Kelesh, to Vudra, to Tian?
That route probably (just a rough guess) add 6 months - 1 year to the journey, plus probably brings you closer to the Pit of Gormuz than people are generally comfortable with.
Also with things like endure elements, frostbite isn't anywhere as much of a threat on Golarion as it is on Earth
Although having played a lot of spelunky, I'm not sure the princess is going to survive very long. Princesses are used to disarm traps, every spelunker knows that!
Princess dies. MISSION FAILED.
Well maybe the group should simply not consists of morons only...
Also why does the adventure go north? Is there some reason to get frostbite and risk death every night? Wouldn't the quickest way be to follow the trade routes from Inner Sea to Kelesh, to Vudra, to Tian?
The route over the Crown of the World is the established trade route from the Inner Sea region to Tian-Xia. This has been stated on various occasions by Paizo personnel.
Morons? It was a joke Zaister. You know, a joke about how dangerous it could be for an essential npc to tool around with a bunch of pcs, when pcs de-humanising npcs is often the norm in my experience as a dm watching the players. Read the posting rules, they are below when you are writing a reply.
As for the Crown of the World to Tian, isn't Tian east of Vudra and far west of Varisia/Sargava across the sea?
So one could presumedly sail to some of their port cities by going east looping around Kelesh and Vudra, or set off from the most western inner sea nations and go west off the standard map.
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Morons? It was a joke Zaister. You know, a joke about how dangerous it could be for an essential npc to tool around with a bunch of pcs, when pcs de-humanising npcs is often the norm in my experience as a dm watching the players. Read the posting rules, they are below when you are writing a reply.
As for the Crown of the World to Tian, isn't Tian east of Vudra and far west of Varisia/Sargava across the sea?
So one could presumedly sail to some of their port cities by going east looping around Kelesh and Vudra, or set off from the most western inner sea nations and go west off the standard map.
Well, the Silk Road was quite successful despite the fact that in theory you could sail around to China.
This really has my interest. An adventure into Tian, great trekking and adventure. Time to get some more info on Tian, other than they drink tea. I agree with DM Aron. Let's see if a lot of work is put into this, Tian has long needed it (same with Kelesh, that gigantic empire).
Although having played a lot of spelunky, I'm not sure the princess is going to survive very long. Princesses are used to disarm traps, every spelunker knows that!
Princess dies. MISSION FAILED.
Also why does the adventure go north? Is there some reason to get frostbite and risk death every night? Wouldn't the quickest way be to follow the trade routes from Inner Sea to Kelesh, to Vudra, to Tian?
That route probably (just a rough guess) add 6 months - 1 year to the journey, plus probably brings you closer to the Pit of Gormuz than people are generally comfortable with.
Also with things like endure elements, frostbite isn't anywhere as much of a threat on Golarion as it is on Earth
check frostburn or the DMs guide in 3.5. Endure elements will help but it shields you only from so much. Cold has different levels of severity. If its too severe, you still have to make those saves.
And going that far north, oh there will be saves.
Jeez, fort save versus the hot climate takes my veteran Sargavan party by surprise sometimes, wonder how the level ones will fare.
Touches npc bard.
He breaks.
Second! That's right. Save up those great forts.
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Second! That's right. Save up those great forts.
I'm pretty sure that there will be a section on handling frigid conditions (similar to Spires of Xin-Shalast where high-altitude low-temperature adventuring was covered). The merchant caravans that take that route must have developed some solid countermeasures over the centuries.
Anyone got any ideas for characters they'd like to play in this expedition adventure?
For me, an Ulfen axe throwing rogue or a Qadiran horseman far from home (mounted blade is a sweet feat).
I remember when all they had was 3/2 beer. And beautiful, beautiful Crazy Bowl, the greatest video game ever. Hell, I remember when Space Invaders was the newest video game they had there.
After my family, that place is probably the thing I miss most about Minnesota. And then probably Tom Thumb Mini Donuts at the State Fair.
4 craft beers plus the full array of taps. You'll have to stop by sometime. :)
Morons? It was a joke Zaister. You know, a joke about how dangerous it could be for an essential npc to tool around with a bunch of pcs, when pcs de-humanising npcs is often the norm in my experience as a dm watching the players. Read the posting rules, they are below when you are writing a reply.
I wasn't calling you a moron, I was calling a certain behavior moronic, i.e. intentionally sending an essential asset of an AP into dire peril. And constantly dehumanizing NPCs seems to me moronic behavior, too. If someone wants to play that way, fine, but I don't consider that style of play too compatible with Paizo APs. Whatever.
As for the Crown of the World to Tian, isn't Tian east of Vudra and far west of Varisia/Sargava across the sea?
So one could presumedly sail to some of their port cities by going east looping around Kelesh and Vudra, or set off from the most western inner sea nations and go west off the standard map.
If you go west you'll have to cross two oceans and a whole continent (Arcadia), and the east route also need to cross a two continents (Avistan and Casmaron) and an ocean described as dangerous. Taking the direct land route (the polar region is land, not like our Arctic) has been described as being a shorter and less dangerous journey.
And going that far north, oh there will be saves.
Jeez, fort save versus the hot climate takes my veteran Sargavan party by surprise sometimes, wonder how the level ones will fare.
Touches npc bard.
He breaks.
By the way, depending on time of year, you can travel through/around Earth's Antarctica with out having to expect temperatures below the lower threshold of endure elements, which is -50 °F (~ -45 °C). And we have no information at all about climate conditions on Golarion's Crown of the World. Considering crossing the Crown is an established trade route, and that most travelers won't have access to magic more powerful than that, is cans be assumed that the journey won't be much more impeded by cold climate that can reasonably be tolerated with a spell like endure elements.
And I'm not sure temperatures in Sargava rise a lot about 140 °F (60 °C).
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Creative Director
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And going that far north, oh there will be saves.
Jeez, fort save versus the hot climate takes my veteran Sargavan party by surprise sometimes, wonder how the level ones will fare.
Touches npc bard.
He breaks.
I explained this on another thread where you asked the same question...
Short answer: the overland route through the North Pole exists because the physical distance traveled is MUCH MUCH shorter than the nautical distance. The overland route is also much SAFER than the nautical route.
It'll all be explained in the adventure to #50, more or less.
I'm looking forward to the new adventures of Varian Jeggare and Radovan.
Will the adventure in this adventure path take place before or after Master of Devils? I apologize if this has been asked, and I was unable to locate the answer myself.
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Creative Director
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I'm looking forward to the new adventures of Varian Jeggare and Radovan.
Will the adventure in this adventure path take place before or after Master of Devils? I apologize if this has been asked, and I was unable to locate the answer myself.
The assumption is that "Jade Regent" and "Master of Devils" more or less happen at about the same time.
That said, the CLOSEST that events in Jade Regent come to where Master of Devils is set still leaves something like a 3,000 to 4,000 mile gap between the two. Tian Xia is about three to four times the size of the Inner Sea Region, and Jade Regent and Master of Devils kinda take place on opposite sides of that continent.
AKA: There's no crossover between the two.
x3, x4, that is a big empire. That's a lot of samurai and onigiri.
Wasn't the empire of Kelesh meant to be bigger than Tian Xia? Hey I'm all up for changes and new super-countries.
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Director of Brand Strategy
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x3, x4, that is a big empire. That's a lot of samurai and onigiri.
Wasn't the empire of Kelesh meant to be bigger than Tian Xia? Hey I'm all up for changes and new super-countries.
Tian Xia consists of dozens of countries. Just as Avistan is more than just a single empire. That said, many of those nations and regions will be much larger than any of the political entities in the Inner Sea region.
I just hope, and I'm not trying to be insulting here, that Asia is not copy-pasted. This has happened before in expansions upon the Asian cultures that exist on the periphery of the central adventuring area.
Fantasy world-building is informed by Earth history, Orientalism etc etc. A Chinese friend of mine read up on what is available on Tian Xia thus far, and as he put it, it seems a pastiche from Chinese history--the emphasis on the warring states, the tea, the complex writing system, the emperor and the succession disputes. And this guy really likes his Chinese history. So good luck Jacobs. Uniqueness is out there.
The blurbs on the adventure plan looks good and exciting.
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I'm looking forward to the new adventures of Varian Jeggare and Radovan.
Will the adventure in this adventure path take place before or after Master of Devils? I apologize if this has been asked, and I was unable to locate the answer myself.
The assumption is that "Jade Regent" and "Master of Devils" more or less happen at about the same time.
That said, the CLOSEST that events in Jade Regent come to where Master of Devils is set still leaves something like a 3,000 to 4,000 mile gap between the two. Tian Xia is about three to four times the size of the Inner Sea Region, and Jade Regent and Master of Devils kinda take place on opposite sides of that continent.
AKA: There's no crossover between the two.
I think what Wiptag was asking (and if not, what I'm asking!) is where does Dave's six part story in this path fit into Varian and Radovan's history
I think what Wiptag was asking (and if not, what I'm asking!) is where does Dave's six part story in this path fit into Varian and Radovan's historyI'm looking forward to the new adventures of Varian Jeggare and Radovan.
Will the adventure in this adventure path take place before or after Master of Devils? I apologize if this has been asked, and I was unable to locate the answer myself.
The assumption is that "Jade Regent" and "Master of Devils" more or less happen at about the same time.
That said, the CLOSEST that events in Jade Regent come to where Master of Devils is set still leaves something like a 3,000 to 4,000 mile gap between the two. Tian Xia is about three to four times the size of the Inner Sea Region, and Jade Regent and Master of Devils kinda take place on opposite sides of that continent.
AKA: There's no crossover between the two.
Yes, that's what I was asking. Sorry that I botched it up there, and thank you for clarifying my question. I was referring to the new Varian and Radovan story in this adventure path, not the actual adventures.
Both come out in July, so I was wondering in what order they are to be read. However, after thinking on it, I figure that 'Master of Devils' is to be read first, as it would be a long time before the entire Pathfinder's Journal story in this adventure path would be released.
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Contributor
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Both come out in July, so I was wondering in what order they are to be read. However, after thinking on it, I figure that 'Master of Devils' is to be read first, as it would be a long time before the entire Pathfinder's Journal story in this adventure path would be released.
"Husks," the Pathfinder Journal in Jade Regent, occurs before the events of Master of Devils. They are independent stories, however, and neither spoils the other. It doesn't matter at all which one you read first.
x3, x4, that is a big empire. That's a lot of samurai and onigiri.
Wasn't the empire of Kelesh meant to be bigger than Tian Xia? Hey I'm all up for changes and new super-countries.
Mmm, delicious onigiri!
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Creative Director
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x3, x4, that is a big empire. That's a lot of samurai and onigiri.
Wasn't the empire of Kelesh meant to be bigger than Tian Xia? Hey I'm all up for changes and new super-countries.
The empire of Kelesh is on the continent of Casmaron. The continent of Casmaron IS bigger than Tian Xia.
And remember, Tian Xia is all of Asia and then some. It's not just "fantasy Japan."
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Creative Director
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I just hope, and I'm not trying to be insulting here, that Asia is not copy-pasted. This has happened before in expansions upon the Asian cultures that exist on the periphery of the central adventuring area.
Fantasy world-building is informed by Earth history, Orientalism etc etc. A Chinese friend of mine read up on what is available on Tian Xia thus far, and as he put it, it seems a pastiche from Chinese history--the emphasis on the warring states, the tea, the complex writing system, the emperor and the succession disputes. And this guy really likes his Chinese history. So good luck Jacobs. Uniqueness is out there.
The blurbs on the adventure plan looks good and exciting.
We're bringing the same world design philosophy to Tian Xia that we did to the Inner Sea region.
Just as the Inner Sea region has areas clearly based on real-world Europe/North Africa (such as the Land of the Linnorm Kings and Osiron), Tian Xia will have areas clearly based on real-world Asia (such as Japan, China, Korea, etc.) But also, there are areas in the Inner Sea region that are not based on ANY real-world culture, really. Tian Xia will have those as well.
I just hope, and I'm not trying to be insulting here, that Asia is not copy-pasted. This has happened before in expansions upon the Asian cultures that exist on the periphery of the central adventuring area.
Fantasy world-building is informed by Earth history, Orientalism etc etc. A Chinese friend of mine read up on what is available on Tian Xia thus far, and as he put it, it seems a pastiche from Chinese history--the emphasis on the warring states, the tea, the complex writing system, the emperor and the succession disputes. And this guy really likes his Chinese history. So good luck Jacobs. Uniqueness is out there.
The blurbs on the adventure plan looks good and exciting.
We're bringing the same world design philosophy to Tian Xia that we did to the Inner Sea region.
Just as the Inner Sea region has areas clearly based on real-world Europe/North Africa (such as the Land of the Linnorm Kings and Osiron), Tian Xia will have areas clearly based on real-world Asia (such as Japan, China, Korea, etc.) But also, there are areas in the Inner Sea region that are not based on ANY real-world culture, really. Tian Xia will have those as well.
Good to hear back from you James. Where Golarion has most radically broken (Sargava, Mwangi expanse, Cheliax, Galt, Nex, Geb, River Kingdoms, the Greenbelt) from what I've seen before (Osirion, Katapesh, Ustalav, Druma, Kyonin) I have been most impressed. This can get a bit meta, but what interests me most is the geography, as it impacts on games and the world politics. If "China" is not close to "Japan", suddenly what Japan becomes changes. For an example, Andoran has some parallels to America, but America was never close to an ancient dutch-byzantine empire or an empire of devilry (the British empire doesn't count, ah ah ah!) So please, mess with the geography!
Pleased to hear Kelesh still wins out on size. Strangely though, now what is not the inner sea, really dwarfs the "central" region.
Chewbacca and the Ameiko romance. Yeaaaahhh :( my fighter/barb/berserker Stavrogin was going to go for that, but it was well awkward after certain incidents (and he had gone half-insane from Lamashtu influence and so many dead companions).
The long escort the princess quest has really got my interest. Real player involvement could add a real engaged depth to the story.
Someone mention onigiri? Don't forget the tofu, udon and sake.......mmmmmm
Kill a samurai in the street, eat some noodles...
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I hate to complain about someone being super-interested but I should point out to 3.5 loyalist that James Jacobs and co. have been answering questions about Jade Regent and Tian-XIa for years.
You can get the answers to all of your questions above from using the Wiki and searching the boards.
The stuff about reductive Orientalism has been discussed ad nauseum on these boards, as have my concerns about the uninitiated being confounded.
2. A a lover of eastern mythology I'd love to see what creatures come out of this, like a Kitsune or a the undead creature which is a flying head with organs hanging from it, which it uses to choak it's victims. Saw it once in a 3.5 book for a "legend of the five rings" adventure and I know it's from mythology, but don't know the name. Would love to see creatures like that in there.
That would be the Pennaggolan. At least, that is the name of that creature on a card in the L5R CCG.
Here i a link to a wiki page on the creature, incuding the art from the above mentioned CCG card:
Pennaggolan wiki page
Apparently the Pennaggolan is Malaysian in origin:
A vampire by any other name
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Creative Director
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Pleased to hear Kelesh still wins out on size. Strangely though, now what is not the inner sea, really dwarfs the "central" region.
Kelesh is not the same as Casmaron. Kelesh is a region IN Casmaron. And the continent of Casmaron is the largest on the planet. But Kelesh itself, while large, isn't nearly as large as Tian Xia overall.
Aaah, so Tian Xia is the big spot now.
http://pathfinder.wikia.com/wiki/Casmaron
Casmaron is Kelesh an Vudra further to the south east, got it. However "The size of this empire can not be overstated, with half-a-dozen satrapies the size of countries separating Qadira from the imperial heartland of Kelesh."
Six countries to get from Qadira to the heartland, and there is also the weakly controlled, but still nominally a part of the empire windswept wastes, and Tian Xia is larger? Vudra is pretty large and also described as vast, but if Casmaron is the largest continent, and it is somewhat divided into two powers, how can Tian Xia be so much larger than Kelesh? To be not "nearly as large" doesn't quite make much sense.
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Creative Director
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Golarion World Map
That map is also deliberately inaccurate; it basically shows the shapes of the various continents, but the oceans are much smaller than they actually are. And Casmaron (the large land mass in the middle) is quite a bit bigger.
But it does show how big Tian Xia is as well.
I've got a basic outline of the continents drawn on a beachball in my office actually. Some day when I'm happy with the outlines (I'm still tinkering) I might put it up on the blog...
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Sounds like a great summer product - Golarion Beach Ball Globe!
Yeah. Well the Crown of the world must connect to Tian Xia, or the caravan mission there can't work. We eagerly await the blog post. Casmaron and oceans are bigger, got it.
Wait, so this adventure spans through viking lands to the lands of samurai? Two out of my top five favorite historical warriors! I have only played one pathfinder adventure path (And even then, my DM skewed the story quite drastically to fit his own vision), but I may consider running this one. Sounds freakin epic and packed with intrigue.
When do we get to see the updated cover?
Late to mid July.