Pathfinder Player Companion: Varisia, Birthplace of Legends (PFRPG)

Pixellated art is never intentional! I've notified the tech team--should have that fixed for you soon. Thanks for letting us know!

Noted!

Next time I'll harass you right away :)

I'm more astonished at someone admitting they don't actually own the product in a review for it.

I'm a little late to the party, but in my opinion you shouldn't even be able to submit reviews for products until the release date...

I picked up like three or four of these at the Paizo booth for my group.

It's been a while since we got new art for Shoanti characters, and both of the examples in this book are awesome. When I had to provide Lorraine Schleter over in Artist's Alley a reference for a sketch of my Shoanti PC, I just opened the copy F. Wesley Schneider signed. She concurred on the awesome. If there's a "PC Pawns" collection coming beyond the NPC Codex Box, I really hope these two characters make it in.

Pixellated art is never intentional! I've notified the tech team--should have that fixed for you soon. Thanks for letting us know!

You're welcome James, and thanks for the response.

Since I've got your attention on this matter, I found another one in this month's batch of subscription goodies: the loot-losing chap climbing the cliff face on page 385 of Ultimate Equipment. Not only is the pic fuzzy, but the jpeg artifacts around his spear tips are atrocious (like the cover of the old Campaign Setting hardcover atrocious). Again, he's perfectly pristine in the book but borked in the PDF.

You're welcome James, and thanks for the response.

Since I've got your attention on this matter, I found another one in this month's batch of subscription goodies: the loot-losing chap climbing the cliff face on page 385 of Ultimate Equipment. Not only is the pic fuzzy, but the jpeg artifacts around his spear tips are atrocious (like the cover of the old Campaign Setting hardcover atrocious). Again, he's perfectly pristine in the book but borked in the PDF.

I've got a few PDF items to wrap up this week. I'll take a look at this as well.

It's been a while since we got new art for Shoanti characters, and both of the examples in this book are awesome.

Have they moved away from the NA wannabee theme ?

Mikaze wrote:

It's been a while since we got new art for Shoanti characters, and both of the examples in this book are awesome.

Have they moved away from the NA wannabee theme ?

I sure hope so.

I wouldn't call the Shoanti Native American "wannabes"(nor would I classify that as a negative), but they've always been a bit evocative of some Native American cultures while also being equal parts their own thing. For many people I know on- and off-line, they're often shorthand described as "the Monster Hunter culture", which has actually sold a number of folks on them.

The new artwork holds true to that. Dark-skinned tattooed badass men and women with bald heads(because it can be grabbed in a fight and their homeland is often on fire) who wear what they kill.

An extra cool detail is that the core totems of each clan each have a picture in the inner front cover, just under the Quah territories map.

Hey I just bought and downloaded this.

Is the picture on page 31 of the Grey Maiden supposed to be super pixellated?

(Newest version of Adobe on a PC laptop)

It's not. They've put men on it. Top men.

It's not. They've put men on it. Top men.

Strictly given who they've put on the task it's female robots. Top female robots...

But that'd mess up the quote! Waaah! ;)

Page 31 has been corrected and if you redownload, you should be able to see the Grey Maiden properly. :)

just got the PDF and I am loving the new layout. But a quick question, would a divination specialized wizard also work well with the Varisian Fortune-Teller role. I have a guy in my group who wants to do that for our CotCT campaign. (Even though the preferred gender is female, he is going to be a male fortune teller.)

just got the PDF and I am loving the new layout. But a quick question, would a divination specialized wizard also work well with the Varisian Fortune-Teller role. I have a guy in my group who wants to do that for our CotCT campaign. (Even though the preferred gender is female, he is going to be a male fortune teller.)

Definitely! Roles are merely suggestions, and your imagination is the only limit to how you reconfigure these suggestions to suit your own games. While most Varisian fortune-tellers are spontaneous casters or casters somehow tied to mysterious powers, you could easily swing a divination-focused wizard into this role as well.

Got my copy the other day - I really like the format and overall information.

However, there's one thing I was, frankly, expecting to see in a book about Varisia that isn't in there: A list of the legendary monsters that supposedly inhabit the land. Whether they are real or not, the folk of Varisia have many tales of the strange, wondrous, and frightening monsters that stalk their homeland: Black Magga, Old Murdermaw, the Sandpoint Devil… I know there are many more than these!

Got my copy the other day - I really like the format and overall information.

However, there's one thing I was, frankly, expecting to see in a book about Varisia that isn't in there: A list of the legendary monsters that supposedly inhabit the land. Whether they are real or not, the folk of Varisia have many tales of the strange, wondrous, and frightening monsters that stalk their homeland: Black Magga, Old Murdermaw, the Sandpoint Devil… I know there are many more than these!

Handily, you might recognize images of a couple legendary Varisian baddies on the center-spread map in this book. ;)

Any word on the new archetypes?

There are only Two archetypes,
one for Bard, and one for Magus

Got mine in the mail today. Excellent product! I really like the new format :)

Before this I liked Varisia. But Birthplace of Legends has made me fall in love with it, most specifically the gorgeous, characterful map in the center.

This new format is an order of magnitude above the old. Cheers for the effort, and looking forward to each month's offering.

Please forgive me, if this was adressed already...

Is there ANY CHANCE that we get that beautiful map as a separate product. I would love to have that map of Varisia at least as big as a postermap from a map-folio.
And it would be just awesome to get more maps of that style. They are superb for use in-game!

I think it's been at the very least hinted at that the map will be part of the Shattered Star map folio.

Got my copy the other day - I really like the format and overall information.

However, there's one thing I was, frankly, expecting to see in a book about Varisia that isn't in there: A list of the legendary monsters that supposedly inhabit the land. Whether they are real or not, the folk of Varisia have many tales of the strange, wondrous, and frightening monsters that stalk their homeland: Black Magga, Old Murdermaw, the Sandpoint Devil… I know there are many more than these!

You forgot the Melfesh Monster! ;)

Love the illustrations and content but I have to admit I hate the new format.

It looks to me to look more "remedial". It uses a block entry type of layout which I really dislike. The type seems larger and less "book" and more "game".

So congrats and smiles :) on two well crafted counts but :( totally on the format.

I really love the format of this book.

Also I think this is my favorite non Wayne Reynolds cover art yet, it's so colourful. Props to Michal Ivan.

I'll add my voice to those that like this book and the new format. Just got it in the mail yesterday and poured over it. Very nice job overall.

I want to add my thanks to the mix as well. I really like the format and the content is all useful and evocative =}

Okay. This isn't a review, it's just my two cents on the new format now that I've read the entire book.

First, as an overall impression, this book stands head and shoulders above pretty much any previous Player Companion book I can think of. From the improved title page to the increased use of cross-references, everything is improved.

Some notable elements:

* The whole concept of roles is outstanding. Rather than even more new archetypes or prestige classes, now we have examples of typical use of existing rule material. Sure there was some new rule material, but only in support of the existing flavor material and to round out the existing material.

* I like that the standard boilerplate that was getting so old is gone. I don't know how many more times I could stand seeing what felt like the same text repeated in a slightly different way in a different book.

* Having a couple of pages at the beginning, a kind of "why do I care about this book" is also great.

Now, some ways to improve:

The Magic Academy section was weird. I would have expected it to reference Inner Sea Magic, but it didn't and of the five academies listed, only one (Academae) was in Inner Sea Magic and it didn't even call out "See Inner Sea Magic for more info."

Plus, it's disappointing that the others (besides Acadamae) did not get full organization treatment with requirements, awards, etc. Heck, perhaps they are expanded on elsewhere, but without a reference I wouldn't know where to look besides ISM. Note that without three pages about adventure paths (see below) there might have been more space to spare for the academies.

The rules section was odd; I don't think it did a good enough job of identifying feats vs. archetypes, etc. Granted, there was only four, but if it's going to say "Kapenia Dancer (Magus Archetype)" it should also say "Deadly Dealer [general feat]" or especially"Thunder And Fang [combat feat]" so you don't have to read all the text to find out it's a combat feat as part of the Special section.

Finally, I think a bit too much space (3 pages of a 32-page book is over 10% of the book) was spent on the Adventure Path material. Oddly, I found it to rather break my suspension of belief, as odd as it sounds - the rest of the book reads like a gazetteer of a real place, with statistical information, and then there's a sort of smack in the face at the end with 3 pages about the Adventure Paths. Having a single page that points out the adventure paths (and modules!) set in Varisia would be great, but this didn't seem to fit the model.

Now, don't get me wrong. This could very well be my favorite Player Companion that's been published; I'll have to quickly skim over them tonight and see, but I just wanted to point out a few areas that (in my opinion, of course) could be made even better.

Anyways, great job, and I'm looking forward to more books in the same vein!

Okay. This isn't a review, it's just my two cents on the new format now that I've read the entire book.

That was interesting and informative, I think that it wouldn't take much editing to turn it into a review.

gbonehead wrote:

Okay. This isn't a review, it's just my two cents on the new format now that I've read the entire book.

That was interesting and informative, I think that it wouldn't take much editing to turn it into a review.

Could be. My comments were mainly for the Paizo folks, however; I don't like doing reviews because I tend to be very, very picky and my reviews wouldn't do products justice.

I bought the pdf today, and read some of it.

I think the new format is very good, and a noticeable improvement over the old format.

I love the old style map found in there. That's exactly the type of map I would show to my players, as a DM, even before I give them access to the regional maps in the Inner Sea Campaign Setting.

First impression in an imaginary shared world is very important and lasting, and this kind of "faux medieval" map sets the tone in a most convincing and charming manner. I would love to see maps with this kind of treatment in other supplements !

I welcome the addition of roles. Now, this book really feels like a players' book because of those roles.
New (and old) players can be a bit overwhelmed with the wealth of options offered by a Pathfinder class ; or, on the contrary, those classes may feel a little "bland" - they're really not, but they can seem to lack a clear focus, something to make them feel more real.

In this regard, "Shoanti Outrider" is much more evocative than "a fighter who happens to be Shoanti", and a "Varisian Bravo" is more evocative than "a fighter or rogue who happens to be a Varisian".

Roles are great ! Paizo entity: give us more roles and advice on how to create our characters in Golarion, please ! And bravo to paizonian creators for this new way to present characters !

The listing of distances between towns served to impress upon me the vastness of Varisia. I mean, I knew this land was huge, but this listing really helped me picture it.

I fervently hope this kind of info will be included in future supplements. It must be :^D !

As a DM I love to travel with my players accross the land, so to speak, and anything which increases this sentiment of immersion - maps and clear distances in this case - is gold to me.

Regarding the central spread view of Korvosa in the book... I have wanted to see a view like that - a volumic (volumetric ?) view - since I opened the guide to Korvosa book !

Yeah, I can say to my players : "Old ruins in Varisia are really huge, and Korvosa is littered with them. Imagine this black mastaba, etc." But it's much more impactful, I think, if I can also show them this spread view "with volume".

Show me views like that of every grand city in Golarion, so I can show them to my players, and I will be an happy DM.

To sum it up: I was greatly impressed by the quality and innovation displayed in this player companion; I hope that Paizonian creators will continue in that vein, so that I can buy and enjoy this kind of work.

I like the cover, too !

Is the hide armor from here a replacement for the core hide armor?

Is the hide armor from here a replacement for the core hide armor?

Nope; one is hide armor (CRB) and the other is a hide shirt (Varisia). Different items with different stats.

Ah! ok. I only heard about it in passing, and apparently they mixed up the armor/shirt.

The Hide Shirt was originally introduced in the Rise of the Runelords Player's Guide, and was sort of a light armor option to hide armor. It was more equivalent of a chain shirt.

The PFRPG version is introduced in this player's companion. It is closer to studded leather in equivalency, but also has a special ability that allows you to make a Strength check to remove it quickly, but it then gains the broken condition.

All in all, I am much happier with the new version.

Can someone clear up a matter for me...

In western Varisia, according to the map, the is a settlement known as the Spire of Leniriss yet according to Pathfinderwiki it is referred to as the Spire of Lemriss.

Which is correct?

I was just looking at that today (looking up cool landmarks to describe for my Jade Regent game which leaves Sandpoint today).

"Leniriss" is a typo that slipped through editing; "Lemriss" is correct.

"Leniriss" is a typo that slipped through editing; "Lemriss" is correct.

Thank you Patrick for your awesomeness!!

Just to speak to the power of imagery in terms of bringing the setting and the people in it to life:

I just found out tonight that one of our newish players coming on board for Shattered Star traced her Lyrune-Quah witch character concept all the way to the picture of that Shoanti Stormcaller and asking the owner of the book, "Whoa, what is that?" IIRC, it's also going to double as her character portrait.

Keep 'em coming! :)

Has there been a correction/clarification for the Kapenia Dancer archetype? As written the armour proficiencies are a bit mental.

Here suggests there has been some sort of errata but does not say what or where it can be found.

Is there some way to make both of the center map pages display in the pdf? I tried the two-page view in Acrobat and it breaks them so that half of the map is on consecutive pairs. Barring that, could a refresh to the file add just the map as one unified file, like was done for People of the {Sands, River, Stars} and Bastards of Golarion?

Apologies in advance if this was covered on pages 2-4 of this thread. From checking the post dates that seemed unlikely and I thought it would be easier to just ask.

Six months after the previous request, I thought I'd bump the post. Not much time left before The Curse of the Crimson Throne hardcover! I think the parchment style map looks better than the one in the inside cover of the original player's guide.

Also, this does not seem to be in the earlier pages of the thread.

From James Jacobs in the Curse of the Crimson Throne hardcover thread, the answer appears to be sadly no. Which was a little disappointing, considering that the Mummy's Mask map folio / People of the Sand both have the Osirion map.

Sorry for the necro, but I don't know where else to put this.

In the course of searching for information about the Shoanti (I'm in the process of finally rebuilding my Shoanti Outrider for second edition) I found on page 6 of this book a reference to a page of examples of Shoanti tattoos "on the inside back cover". Nope. Inside back cover has something else. Are there examples of Shoanti tattoos somewhere else that I can grab? I'm particularly interested in the tattoos used by the Shriikirri Quah for "horse" and "wind".

My guess is they're referencing the inside *front* cover, which has a written description of the types of tattoos that each quah favours. (For a Shoanti character, you also might find helpful AP # 10, which has a full overview of the Shoanti and a few paragraphs on tattoos in particular on p. 73. Note that these are only written descriptions though--I'm not sure if there are visual representations anywhere.)

I don't remember the exact wording right now, but it seemed to me they were talking about pictures of the tattoos. And I did find that article in AP#10, but thanks. :-)