Looks good. I'm interested, although some of the races have already been brought out for 3.5. Seem to be adding a lot.
Reminds me of a real moment of amusement, some player told me that in his games, the Tian were LE hobgoblins, or something like that. Let's just say the view of Oriental Feudalism/Despotism was not rosy.
I'll probably review this not long after I get it.
Does anyone already have the PDF?
Any information to spread? What about the new gods? The role of dragons? New factions? Is Nagajor as interesting as it sounds?
Any new information is much appreciated...!
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I'm still reading my copy, so these answers probably won't hit everything, but:
* What about the new gods?
Shizuru, Empress of Heaven- LG, Ancestors, Honor, The Sun, Swordplay
Tsukiyo, Prince of the Moon- LG, Jade, The Moon, Spirits
Qi Zhong, Master of Medicine- NG, Healing, Magic, Medicine
Kofusachi, The Laughing God- CG, Abundance, Discovery, Happiness, Prosperity
Daikatsu, Lady of Foxes- N, Agricluture, Craftsmanship, Kitsune, Rice
Nalinivati, The Serpent's Kiss- N, Fertility, Nagaji, Snakes, Sorcery
Yamatsumi, The Mountain Lord- N, Mountains, Volcanoes, Winter
Hei Feng, Duke of Thunder- CN, The Sea, Storms, Thunder, Wind
Sun Wukong, The Monkey King- CN, Drunkenness, Nature, Trickery
General Susumu, The Black Daimyo- LE, Archery, Horses, Personal Glory, War
Yaezhing, Minister of Blood- LE, Harsh Justice, Murder, Punishment
Fumeiyoshi, Lord of Envy- NE, Dishonor, Envy, Graves, Undead
Lao Shu Po, Old Rat Woman- NE, Night, Rats, Thieves
Lady Nanbyo, The Widow of Suffering- CE, Earthquakes, Fire, Plague, Suffering
(Notably, Abadar, Desna, Irori, Lamashtu, Pharasma, and Shelyn also have sections in the book and are also considered important deities in Tian Xia)
* New factions?
Gold League (LE)- An alliance of influential families that controls trade
Order of the Black Daimyo (LE)- Cruel samurai serving the aforementioned deity
Shattered Lotus (CN)- A secret society trying to rebuild Lung-Wa that is trying to destabilize the successor states to do this
Way of the Kirin (LG)- A military organization dedicated to supporting fair trade and eliminating corruption in governments
Wuai Ling (CE)- A human-supremacist group
Zo (CN)- A large pirate clan
Also mentioned are the following old factions:
Kusari-Gama (LN)- An order of warrior monks
Lantern Lode (N)- The Pathfinder Society faction
* The role of dragons?
Xa Hoi is run by Pham Duc Quan, a Great Wyrm Sovereign Dragon
* Is Nagajor as interesting as it sounds?
There's only a page of info on it (though there's also separate sections of info on the naga goddess and the nagaji), but yes.
What about the new gods? ...
<Followed by a listing of the pantheon.>
Thank you! Thank you!! Thank you!!!
Yeah, same with the Bestiary 3... (I did just receive my copy of the 3rd installment of the Jade Regent AP! And I should - hopefully - be getting the Daemon book just before Christmas!! Oh, joy!)
Note: All of these books (and more) I preordered (not through Paizo - need a credit card for that, & the banks/stores/people here aren't too enthusiastic about the use of them, so it's not really an option - unfortunately...) as soon as they became available to do so - like 6 or so months ago... <sigh>
Patience is supposed to be a virtue, I guess...
Apologies for the rant. m(_ _)m
Carry on! (with any & all info you're willing to divulge about the book! :D )
Please & thank you!
-- C.
Thanks for the info Lord Gadigan.
Okay, after reading how Samsarans don't give birth to samsarans, but to humans whom they later give up for adoption, I am left wondering how a samsaran is born. I see that "Upon death, such offspring sometimes reincarnate as samsaran children, if they lived their lives in keeping with harmony." However, if samsarans don't give birth to samsarans, who are these reincarnated samsarans born from? Humans?
So, Papa Paizo, where do Samsaran babies come from?
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There are several new philosophies detailed in the book:
Ichimeiyo- A warrior code that emphasizes honor.
Pao-Lung- Belief in the ability of mortals to reach perfection and in the divinity of emperors. It has some meritocratic aspects, some that revere ancestors, and some that reflect an aristocratic system.
Sangpotshi, The River of Life- A philosophy that believes in reincarnation that focuses on learning from previous lives.
Tamashigo- The belief that all things have spirits and these spirits shape destiny.
New subdomain: Moon
New languages: Hon-La, Hwan, Minatan, Minkaian, Senzar (language of the Kami), Nagaji, Samsaran
Each nation gets a page of information. There's a multi-page timeline. There's a section on the zodiac and one on society. There's information on each Tian ethnicity. There's sections on foreigners and nonhuman-races in Tian-Xia. There's a page for each of the 5 new races.
Is there anything in particular that you all are interested in hearing about?
A Question, the Samsarans Society write-up mentions this "Samsarans can give birth, yet they do not give birth to samsarans—instead, they birth human children.". So that makes me wonder how do Samsarans exist, are they the offspring of Human mothers than?
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Samsaren offspring that are humans can (if they lived harmonious enough lives) reincarnate as Samsarans upon death as opposed to going ot the Great Beyond. Samsarans themselves are in a reincarnation cycle that only ends if they achieve perfect harmony or fail utterly at it (going to the Great Beyond when one of the two is achieved). It doesn't say exactly who these reincarnated Samsarans are born to; I'm assuming to Humans.
Nagaji make me think of the scaled alien in that movie, "Starfighter", and of G'Kar's race, the Narn, from Babylon 5.
In my opinion, that is a good thing. G'Kar was one of my favorite TV characters of all time and the story of his path to redemption was told far better than that of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader.
I wasn't really interested in the Nagaji, but now I am strongly thinking of playing one in a home game.
What domain is the moon subdomain a subdomain of?
What are the racial modifiers of the 5 new races?
Anything you find very interesting?
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* What domain is the moon subdomain a subdomain of?
Darkness
* What are the racial modifiers of the 5 new races?
Kitsune- +2 Dex, +2 Char, -2 Str
Nagaji- +2 Str, +2 Cha, -2 Int
Samsarans- +2 Int, +2 Wis, -2 Con
Tengu- +2 Dex, +2 Wis, -2 Con
Wayang- +2 Dex, +2 Int, -2 Wis
* Anything you find very interesting?
There's a partially operative Shory city above Shaguang.
There are undead that have merged themselves with clockworks down in the Darklands.
I'm still reading. There's likely to be a lot more interesting stuff hiding in there.
The Moon subdomain grants Moonfire, which replaces the Eyes of Darkness power of the Darkness domain.
EDIT: Ninja'd
Anything you find very interesting?
I have waited months to be able to say that Yaezhing is my new favorite evil god. I love having an evil god of punishment, justice, trickery, and judgement. His inquisitors will lead the Minkai Inquisition! :)
Is the archdevil from Kobold Quarterly, Lau Kiritsu, mentioned in the book? (Is he even canon?)
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In my opinion, that is a good thing. G'Kar was one of my favorite TV characters of all time and the story of his path to redemption was told far better than that of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader.
Both Vader and G'kar hold special places in my geeky heart, but the personal interaction between Londo and G'kar was so many levels of win, especially
when you see the chance for the two of them having an honest friendship, and it all goes to crap in a handbag.
And now I will have the Narns = Nagaji correlation in my head, which isn't a terrible one to make. :D
After reading about the terra-cotta warriors of Lingshen, I find myself wanting stats for a PC construct race.
In my opinion, that is a good thing. G'Kar was one of my favorite TV characters of all time and the story of his path to redemption was told far better than that of Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader.Both Vader and G'kar hold special places in my geeky heart, but the personal interaction between Londo and G'kar was so many levels of win, especially
** spoiler omitted **
And now I will have the Narns = Nagaji correlation in my head, which isn't a terrible one to make. :D
In that case, I will spare you my comparisons between religious-caste Minbari and Samsarans. However, I have to say that I have a different view of the relationship between Londo and G'Kar than you do:
Anyway, to keep this post on topic, I love the Shaguang entry and the living, ancient, empire secret it reveals.
In that case, I will spare you my comparisons between religious-caste Minbari and Samsarans. However, I have to say that I have a different view of the relationship between Londo and G'Kar than you do:** spoiler omitted **
Anyway, to keep this post on topic, I love the Shaguang entry and the living, ancient, empire secret it reveals.
No, no, this is also a good comparison to make, and I definitely agree with you in the spoiler text, but it was a hard road to get to that point. :D
Back on topic, lots of good stuffs in this book. I thought of dozens of different game ideas flipping through it, I hope everybody else does too!
I'm not too thrilled about the rac info. being split across multiple books. inconvenient.
great read though
What specifically do you mean? Please note that Bestiary 3, which is in the Pathfinder RPG line, is meant to be very world-neutral and adaptable to a wide variety of campaign settings, while the Pathfinder Campaign Setting is linked directly to Golarion.
* What are the racial modifiers of the 5 new races?
Kitsune- +2 Dex, +2 Char, -2 Str
Nagaji- +2 Str, +2 Cha, -2 Int
Samsarans- +2 Int, +2 Wis, -2 Con
Tengu- +2 Dex, +2 Wis, -2 Con
Wayang- +2 Dex, +2 Int, -2 Wis
Would any of the new races be considered a "Powerful Race" (i.e., like the Asimar or Tiefling)?
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What specifically do you mean? Please note that Bestiary 3, which is in the Pathfinder RPG line, is meant to be very world-neutral and adaptable to a wide variety of campaign settings, while the Pathfinder Campaign Setting is linked directly to Golarion.I'm not too thrilled about the rac info. being split across multiple books. inconvenient.
great read though
I may be wrong, but maybe the kitsune racial feats being in the primer and not here in the gazetter
I'm not too thrilled about the rac info. being split across multiple books. inconvenient.
great read though
The Primer will have the base race stats as well, so you won't need to have both books when looking at racial options. Everything you need should be in the primer for that purpose.
I may be wrong, but maybe the kitsune racial feats being in the primer and not here in the gazetter
This.
This I find a tad bit tedious.
The book is awesome in every other way though.
Ah! Now I can see your frustration. I think the intent was that the Gazetteer is the "big picture" overlook for the GM, who would have less use for racial feats than a player might, which is the audience that the Primer is focused on. (Please note that this is just my observation.)
Ah! Now I can see your frustration. I think the intent was that the Gazetteer is the "big picture" overlook for the GM, who would have less use for racial feats than a player might, which is the audience that the Primer is focused on. (Please note that this is just my observation.)
Related to that is the fact the the Primer isn't out 'til next month. :(
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Ah! Now I can see your frustration. I think the intent was that the Gazetteer is the "big picture" overlook for the GM, who would have less use for racial feats than a player might, which is the audience that the Primer is focused on. (Please note that this is just my observation.)Related to that is the fact the the Primer isn't out 'til next month. :(
Which is pure evil on the part of Paizo... so naturally I approve. :)
Creative Director
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I may be wrong, but maybe the kitsune racial feats being in the primer and not here in the gazetter
This.
This I find a tad bit tedious.
The book is awesome in every other way though.
Unfortunately, that was a necessary evil; there was just no room for those feats. You CAN play a kitsune without the feats, of course... and all the rules info you need to play a kitsune gets reprinted in the primer, so we don't make you reference two books for kitsune characters if you want to take one of those feats.
Ah! Now I can see your frustration. I think the intent was that the Gazetteer is the "big picture" overlook for the GM, who would have less use for racial feats than a player might, which is the audience that the Primer is focused on. (Please note that this is just my observation.)Related to that is the fact the the Primer isn't out 'til next month. :(
Yeah, we wanted to release them both at the same time, but it didn't happen. ;_;
Unfortunately, that was a necessary evil; there was just no room for those feats. You CAN play a kitsune without the feats, of course... and all the rules info you need to play a kitsune gets reprinted in the primer, so we don't make you reference two books for kitsune characters if you want to take one of those feats.
I may be wrong, but maybe the kitsune racial feats being in the primer and not here in the gazetter
This.
This I find a tad bit tedious.
The book is awesome in every other way though.
Oh, I understand that these things happen. Besides I expect Kitsune (generic) to be one of the races in the Advance Race Guide coming up anyway. The irony here is that had all of the races had somthing like that I don't imagine I would have been annoyed at all.
Anything you find very interesting?
The Wayangs are a small race with no penalty to Strength. I don't know about anyone else, but I found that interesting.
Also, the Taldan colony of Amanandar is right in the middle of Tian, they even had to go halfway around the continent to get there!
Cool to see folks comments on this one now that it's out. Was a fun project. :D
First, thank´s for the information...!
What´s going on with Shaguang and the ancient empire? Shory?
And any Lovecraft influence in Wanshou?
And any information to spare about the Darklands?
Any info on the white hair witches?
The Wayangs are a small race with no penalty to Strength. I don't know about anyone else, but I found that interesting.
I have seen it before with the Bakemono race from "Heroes of the Jade Oath". But yeah, I think it is cool that Pathfinder now has a race like that.
First, thank´s for the information...!
You are welcome.
What´s going on with Shaguang and the ancient empire? Shory?
I will answer in a spoiler tag just in case there are Players who don't need to see this.
And any Lovecraft influence in Wanshou?
Not that I saw, but it is ruled by a Kraken.
And any information to spare about the Darklands?
A whole page is devoted to the Darklands. The Elven nation guards one of the entrances to Darklands, which is a cavern with a giant tree-like vein of mithral ore. Minkai's version of Mount Fuji is an entrance to the Darklands as well. My favorite thing about the Darklands in the Dragon Empires though is that there are clockwork undead that periodically raid Xa Hoi and Nagajor from the Clicking Caverns!
Any info on the white hair witches?
Unfortunately, no. However, there are still a few pages towards the back of the book that I haven't read yet.
Any info on the white hair witches?
These, and the other Player's Options, are in the Primer.
Does this book contain Kanji/chinese character of proper names?
Does this book contain Kanji/chinese character of proper names?
No, because China and Japan do not exist in Golarion.
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Creative Director
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No, because China and Japan do not exist in Golarion.Does this book contain Kanji/chinese character of proper names?
The book DOES have a disclamer in the introduction that goes into a bit more detail about that too... but Liz is right on the money in the short version.
The Dragon Empires are inspired by Asian culture and myth... but they are not Asia. We're taking the same route here as we do in the Inner Sea, which is why, for example, you don't see actual Egyptian hieroglyphics showing up in Osirion. Because Egypt is not part of Golarion.
Any info on the white hair witches?These, and the other Player's Options, are in the Primer.
okay - didn't know if they would have alittle fluff in this one and then racial write up in Primer
How is the art in the book??
So the art is good then.
So the art is good then.
Yes. :D
I would agree with Dark Mistress on the art, but my favorite pieces in this book are the Wayang, Void Yai Oni, Jorogumo, Dragon King Pham Duc Quan, Sun Wukong's Symbol, and of course the Wayne Reynolds cover.