Paizo stopped using the Chronicles label a while ago. Now the label's just Pathfinder Campaign Setting. The Player Companions, Adventure Paths, Modules, and Pathfinder Tales are all Golarion, though.Any chance we'll get a volume of the Campaign Setting line that would be similar to an NPC Codex?If you like Golarion, make sure you pay attention to the Campaign Setting Products, all of which I believe are labeled Chronicles (IIRC setting based material) or Companion (IIRC player materials for use in Golarion-based play).
Anything simply under the category of "Pathfinder Roleplaying Game" will be setting neutral, so make sure you look at those other lines of books. (Pointing this out generally to the thread.)
Some of those books are old enough that they still have the old labels (the NPC Guide is still a Chronicles book), hence it is worth pointing them out.
You are right, however, that the newer books are just "Campaign Setting" which helps reduces confusion.
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The OGL content from the NPC Codex is now available on the Pathfinder Reference Document. More information about this update can be found in this post.
I skimmed the boards here to see if this has come up yet and I didn't find it, but it would appear that the Iconics all have a CR to match their class levels. Is this a mistake or are the Iconics special somehow?
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I skimmed the boards here to see if this has come up yet and I didn't find it, but it would appear that the Iconics all have a CR to match their class levels. Is this a mistake or are the Iconics special somehow?
The iconics have PC-level gear and use the 20-point buy, so their CR matches their class levels. They're intended mostly for use as PCs (pregens) rather than as NPCs.
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Re: latest review (Maveric28)
In today's episode of "I didn't read the product description of what I'm buying and I have a problem with that"...
That does seem to be the case here as a readthrough of the blurb on the back cover reveals that this book is a companion to the Core Rulebook and no additional source is mentioned.
The OGL content from the NPC Codex is now available on the Pathfinder Reference Document. More information about this update can be found in this post.
How much of the book's content is OGL?
Re: latest review (Maveric28)
In today's episode of "I didn't read the product description of what I'm buying and I have a problem with that"...
I have mixed feelings about that - I dont think one has the right to call it "incomplete" (since it has what it says it has). However, it seems reasonable to me to mark down a product's review based on the fact you think it could have been better - even if it makes no claim to include the things the reviewer thinks would be an improvement.
Hmm..where did that TOZ guy go?
However, it seems reasonable to me to mark down a product's review based on the fact you think it could have been better - even if it makes no claim to include the things the reviewer thinks would be an improvement.
I don't think it's reasonable at all, to be honest. Base your review on a book's actual contents (the stat blocks, the artwork, etc.). I would have understood it if the book hadn't made any mention of what material it references but it says so right on the back cover - the Core Rulebook. So review the book based on the quality of its actual content, not something that's never been promised by anyone in the first place.
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"The book would be better if it had six different builds for each class, race, and archetype combo, and conversions for GURPS and WOD as well. And it would be better if it included character generator software. Since it has none of these things, I'm giving it just 1 star."
Reasonable or unreasonable?
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If it has nothing to do with the content it should NOT be a review of said product. If it is reviewed with other content in mind that they (the reviewer) wanted to be included make is a nonsensical review and should be removed in my opinion.
So Sean.. Unreasonable
"The book would be better if it had six different builds for each class, race, and archetype combo, and conversions for GURPS and WOD as well. And it would be better if it included character generator software. Since it has none of these things, I'm giving it just 1 star."
Reasonable or unreasonable?
Unreasonable, obviously. In my view, the unreasonableness is quantitative not qualitative.
However, it seems reasonable to me to mark down a product's review based on the fact you think it could have been better - even if it makes no claim to include the things the reviewer thinks would be an improvement.I don't think it's reasonable at all, to be honest. Base your review on a book's actual contents (the stat blocks, the artwork, etc.). I would have understood it if the book hadn't made any mention of what material it references but it says so right on the back cover - the Core Rulebook. So review the book based on the quality of its actual content, not something that's never been promised by anyone in the first place.
Reviews are subjective things. I don't take every reviewer to be saying "does this book deliver what it promises?" but rather "is this a good example of this type of book?"
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Reviews are subjective things. I don't take every reviewer to be saying "does this book deliver what it promises?" but rather "is this a good example of this type of book?"
They certainly are. But, in my opinion, that subjectivity should be based on what's actually in the book, not what's not in the book (as long as it's made clear what's actually in the book, as is the case here). Again, in my opinion. Just as reviews are subjective, so too are our preferences when it comes to reviews. :)
"The book would be better if it had six different builds for each class, race, and archetype combo, and conversions for GURPS and WOD as well. And it would be better if it included character generator software. Since it has none of these things, I'm giving it just 1 star."
Reasonable or unreasonable?
"The book doesn't include a "--LAZER--" that was nowhere mentioned so I give it 1 star."
Yes unreasonable.
While there are occasional extremely small things that I am not thrilled with (like a couple of the halfling/gnome portraits), this is by far the most useful book I've bought from Paizo in at least a year. The NPCs are varied and interesting, easily used as generic NPCs or adapted and tweaked for more important NPCs. I love being able to grab a stat block on the fly, especially as the games I DM move further into the middle and high level ranges and NPC creation takes longer.
I also think, upon reading through the book, that I am happy with the book being core only. While I do love archetypes and some of the advanced classes are interesting I don't feel that this book is incomplete without them. For many of the stat blocks adding an archetype if wanted wouldn't be too much of a problem anyways, maybe just slightly more complicated than changing a feat or two out. I also liked the NPC classes section, especially the decision to only stat them up to level 10 and the part in the chapter's text about levels beyond 10 being the realm of legendary heroes and PC classes. Finally, the appendixes are excellent. I pretty much always use druid or ranger NPCs without companions when I have to make them on the fly, so having stat blocks for animal companions at a number of effective druid levels gives me another option to use quickly, and the encounter groups are great. In my Kingmaker game I like having groups of NPCs as potential random encounters (combat or otherwise) especially in civilized areas, and having groups that are tied to the already made stat blocks opens up even more options for such encounters.
All in all an excellent book in my opinion, and I'll be recommending it to anyone I know who runs Pathfinder.
Out of 20 different Wizards, 17 of them have Improved Initiative. Really...?
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Even better news.. Lone Wolf is starting to push out portfolio files for Herolab.Will this book ever end up in th PRD? I see d20pfsrd.com is already working on it :-)Yes.
What do they do when they find problems with the build?
I know that when I built portfolios for a couple of the pregens (level seven Kyra and Amiri) they each had some unused skill points.
Developer
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I just checked the 7th-level builds for both Kyra and Amiri and I'm not seeing any errors. Kyra has 21 skill points spent (2 per level from 7 levels of cleric and 1 per level for being a human) and Amiri has 35 skill points spent (4 per level from 7 levels of barbarian and 1 per level for being a human). Is it possible you didn't apply their armor check penalty when you built their stats and thus spent too few ranks to get them to match those published in the book?
I don't take every reviewer to be saying "does this book deliver what it promises?" but rather "is this a good example of this type of book?"
While you are entitled to your opinion, I have to disagree. I would expect the basis for a review to be just that: How well does the product deliver on what it says it will. How close to the advertising does the product come?
I could not care less if it "matches" up to other products of it's type, if it never claimed to be the same as others of its type. If a book contains what it said it would then the subjective part, for me, is how well they lived up to it. They said it would have core NPCs, does it? Then how well are they presented etc is where your subjective opinion comes into play.
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I just checked the 7th-level builds for both Kyra and Amiri and I'm not seeing any errors. Kyra has 21 skill points spent (2 per level from 7 levels of cleric and 1 per level for being a human) and Amiri has 35 skill points spent (4 per level from 7 levels of barbarian and 1 per level for being a human). Is it possible you didn't apply their armor check penalty when you built their stats and thus spent too few ranks to get them to match those published in the book?
It's possible - I built the characters under a certain amount of time pressure. I thought I'd made all the purchases and equipped everything before assigning the skill points, but I'll check again.
Thanks for taking a look at this, Mark!
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I just checked the 7th-level builds for both Kyra and Amiri and I'm not seeing any errors. Kyra has 21 skill points spent (2 per level from 7 levels of cleric and 1 per level for being a human) and Amiri has 35 skill points spent (4 per level from 7 levels of barbarian and 1 per level for being a human). Is it possible you didn't apply their armor check penalty when you built their stats and thus spent too few ranks to get them to match those published in the book?It's possible - I built the characters under a certain amount of time pressure. I thought I'd made all the purchases and equipped everything before assigning the skill points, but I'll check again.
Thanks for taking a look at this, Mark!
Update - I misremembered the details.
The problem was that the Hit Point calculation disagrees, not Skill Points. Hero Lab gives Amiri 12+2hp at first level, then an additional 7+2hp at every level. If you actually award 6.5+2hp at every level, and always spend the favored bonus on +1hp, you end up with numbers that match.
Should 3rd-party publishers expect NPC Codex to be added to the "List of Products which May Be Referenced" any time soon?
As in added to the PRD? It already has been.
No, I am asking if it will be added to the list of Paizo products which can be referred to in products sold by 3rd-party publishers. The list is over here, near the bottom of the page: http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/compatibility
The referenceable list is very similar to the list of books currently incorporated into the PRD, but not identical. For example, Ultimate Campaign is allowed to be referenced even though it isn't in the PRD yet, but that might only be because it hasn't been released yet at all.
As in added to the PRD? It already has been.No, I am asking if it will be added to the list of Paizo products which can be referred to in products sold by 3rd-party publishers. The list is over here, near the bottom of the page: http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/compatibility
The referenceable list is very similar to the list of books currently incorporated into the PRD, but not identical. For example, Ultimate Campaign is allowed to be referenced even though it isn't in the PRD yet, but that might only be because it hasn't been released yet at all.
We will be doing an update to the Exhibit B list of the Pathfinder Compatibility License shortly (though I don't have an exact date yet).
We will be doing an update to the Exhibit B list of the Pathfinder Compatibility License shortly (though I don't have an exact date yet).As in added to the PRD? It already has been.No, I am asking if it will be added to the list of Paizo products which can be referred to in products sold by 3rd-party publishers. The list is over here, near the bottom of the page: http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/compatibility
The referenceable list is very similar to the list of books currently incorporated into the PRD, but not identical. For example, Ultimate Campaign is allowed to be referenced even though it isn't in the PRD yet, but that might only be because it hasn't been released yet at all.
Thanks, Liz! I see that said update has happened, and it did happily add NPC Codex.
You don't have to be an elf or half-elf to be an arcane archer.
As there are 4 arcane archers in the book, and 1 is an elf, and 1 is a half-elf, elf-kin are neither the majority nor the minority. :)
The elven requirement was dropped somewhere around printing 3 of the CRB.
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To begin with i did not go through all the posts but is Paizo aware of all the typos in the npc codex?
I looked for some npc codex errata but found nothing
Most of those i came across are related to gear where the melee weapon does not match the description in the gear section.
For exmple Master of undead on p.56: in its melee profile it says +3 Scythe BUT in its gear section it is a +1 only?
Am i missing something?
other exemples i found are:
Shadow cleric P.59
priest of oblivion p.60
infernal champion p.95
axe lord p.124
....
and the list goes on and on!
An excellent product for cheap bastard gamers everywhere!
Okay, what I really meant to say was,
"An excellent product for the cheap bastard gamers that *are* everywhere!" :D
Well, and an excellent product for those who don't have much storage space, couldn't paint their way out of a wet paper bag, etc. ;)
Definitely a product that fills a niche/need.
I'm just curious as to why any Dragon Disciples or even sorcerer draconic bloodlines in this book are evil. I understand wanting an antagonist in your stories, but how about a good or neutral aligned Dragon Disciple guide for a prospective sorcerer? Just wondering :P
Who wrote the Caster PrC NPC's in this? Specifically the Sorceror-based ones?
They seem to be applying an inconsistent application of the rules, some progressing spells known 'as if gaining levels in the base class' irrespective of class feature (although one progressed 'bloodline spells' of the arcane bloodline but didn't grant the 'New Arcana' bonus spell known), some only advancing the 'base table' spells known and not other spells known like bloodline spells that are normally granted by gaining levels in the base class.
What gives?
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I'm just curious as to why any Dragon Disciples or even sorcerer draconic bloodlines in this book are evil. I understand wanting an antagonist in your stories, but how about a good or neutral aligned Dragon Disciple guide for a prospective sorcerer? Just wondering :P
From page 4:
Size, Type, and Alignment: This lists the character’s size, type, and alignment. The alignments listed for each character in this book represent what is normal for those characters, but you can change them to serve the needs of your campaign.From page 8, under Allies:
Remember that you can always change an NPC’s goals, personality, alignment, abilities, or gear to suit your campaign, and doing so is faster than creating a new NPC from scratch. It doesn’t take much to change the stat block for an evil mother of beasts (cleric 10) into a benign animal- or elemental-themed cleric who’ll help the PCs.
Because the primary use of this book is NPCs for the PCs to fight, the focus is on making suitable enemies for the PCs, and that usually means evil or (at best) neutral NPCs. It's easier on GM's to use an evil stat block as-is in the middle of combat, switching things to good-alignment choices on the fly (usually out of combat) if the NPC is needed as an ally, than to present the NPC as good and expect the GM to swap things to evil on the fly in combat.
In other words, minimizing the amount of in-combat switching the GM has to do is the goal, and with the main use of these NPCs as adversaries, that means stat them as antagonists.
I can't figure out how the Holy Archer (Paladin 6) speaks Orc.
I mean, they don't have an exceptional Intelligence or any ranks in Linguistics.
Question about art credits:
Would anyone happen to know the name of the artist who illustrated the "Death Priest" on p. 50?
Thanks!