Pathfinder Player Companion: Magical Marketplace (PFRPG)

It feels like there is a tug-of-war going on between different developers in the Golarion setting. One group roots the setting in the standard fantasy pseudo-Medieval/Renaissance era, while the other pulls it towards the early Industrial/Revolutionary/Colonial era of the C18th-19th.
This does create some very jarring contrasts - like the rival images of Andoran Knights in the campaign book where one depicts C18th Revolutionary soldier and the other a C13th knight in full plate.
I think Paizo could do a much better job in skinning things to fit the setting, rather just dumping random elements in from far removed centuries of real world history.

Its not meant to be an historical simulation, of course, but when you use elements from historical periods that are really, really far apart in the same country then it becomes somewhat jarring. It makes the whole setting feel unstuck in time, and becomes hard to get into. Since you already have to suspend belief to allow for magic and fantasy monsters, not having a familiar era in time to ground it all in makes the whole construct feel very unstable. It really needs more stable anchors.

Bingo! Sweet baby Jesus, we have a winner!

I fail to understand how having a pith helmet breaks the immersion and ruins a setting where you can walk up to a 20ft tall mechascorpion armed with gatlings and plasma cannons, cast teleport on it and have it appear in the middle of a seedy not-Indonesian town and watch as it dukes it out with a kajiu pterodactyl while a team of catfolk wizards tries desperately to minimize civilian casualties and collateral damage by opening magical portals to Heaven in order to conjure some support from totally judeo-christian angels.

While perfectly possible for a Pc to set these things up but I do think it should be mentioned that this situation is not set up as the default the Robot guard scrorpion is in a seperate nation from said Kaiju which again is a seperate nation from the catfolk which is a seperate plane from said Judeo-christian angels. You dont generally get all these diffrent technology/race parts all in the one nation.

Like others before, i prefer inclusion over inclusion. Look at coutries like Japan where extreme technology and fashion walk side by side with millenial tradition and conventions. Brazil where benchmark industries of biotechnology exist not far of stone age natives.I like when not everything makes sense because that's just like the world where we live.

I've been hemming and hawing over whether to reply to this, but here goes.

I'm David Schwartz and I wrote the Explorer's Pith Helmet.

So why is Sargava developing 19th-century British colonial-style garb when it's parent nation, with greater resources, military might, and influence is stuck in an ealier Earth-era equivalent?

Here's my thinking: It's not unreasonable for a people who sunburn easily transplanted to a tropical environment to make hats out a readily available material. It's not rocket science, it's a hat made out of cork.

And, honestly, the fashion of the hat doesn't really affect the magic item's function, but...

Sure a pith hat is an article of clothing but the only reason for including it is b/c pulp-era movies had British soldiers wearing Pith helmets.

Bingo. For my own part, in works of fiction, I find symbolism often trumps historical accuracy. Most of the items at The Dirty Trap are for practical outdoorsmen. The pith helmet is for straitlaced colonials.

I've been hemming and hawing over whether to reply to this, but here goes.

I'm David Schwartz and I wrote the Explorer's Pith Helmet.

BPorter wrote:

So why is Sargava developing 19th-century British colonial-style garb when it's parent nation, with greater resources, military might, and influence is stuck in an ealier Earth-era equivalent?

Here's my thinking: It's not unreasonable for a people who sunburn easily transplanted to a tropical environment to make hats out a readily available material. It's not rocket science, it's a hat made out of cork.

And, honestly, the fashion of the hat doesn't really affect the magic item's function, but...

BPorter wrote:

Sure a pith hat is an article of clothing but the only reason for including it is b/c pulp-era movies had British soldiers wearing Pith helmets.

Bingo. For my own part, in works of fiction, I find symbolism often trumps historical accuracy. Most of the items at The Dirty Trap are for practical outdoorsmen. The pith helmet is for straitlaced colonials.

I really don't have an issue with the mechanical aspects of the magic item. I do with "symbolism trumps history". Again, for me, it goes back to feel and tone. As I said upthread, I get mining something for inspiration, but I expect it to get adapted to fit the setting. Otherwise, my "so railroads in Alkenstar (& only Alkenstar)" question fits.

It's like saying the Magnificent Seven should have had katana wielding samaurai in it because the source/symbolism had it in Seven Samaurai.

I do appreciate you weighing in, but it doesn't change my issues with the item's inclusion as depicted. However, I had larger issues with the clockwork bug and "anvil trick", but everyone seems to be focusing on the pith helmet.

Again, I like kitechen sink but I want internal consistency. For those arguing that Golarion should be a mish-mash, Disneyland, mixed in a blender, anything goes setting - I didn't realize we were playing Rifts all this time.

Speaking as someone who has studied Anthropology, Humanity is a symbolic race. In fact one of the major innovations in the human psyche is the development of the "myth making mind" where we placed aspects of the world into symbolic representations (zeus=sky).

Since mythology is a powerful example of fantasy in human history it is not unlikely that RPG's of a fantasy nature follow more symbolic forms of human culture then historical.

Also in a world where magic exists, many forms of technology are not as highly developed as others since magic is able to reproduce such things more easily, and some technology is enhanced more then others by magic. Such choices in technology are chosen by the creators when such a world is made. it just so happened that when Golarion was being made, already developed places like Varisia (by JJ) were placed on the map with other developers concepts (ex.Alkenstar), so nothing is going to be easy to understand in that manner as you would like. Golarion was made for a wide range of players in mind so every player can play as they wish in a place fit for them.

Golarian is not made to be internally consistent because it was created by almost all the staff behind Pathfinder and not a small team within.

P.S. Schwartz made the helmet so he was replying to that. and while you have bigger problems with other items, this one has been your most vocal.

And on the Rifts note, Yes this is rifts without alot of the open portals. Problem?

<snip of less relevant info/opinion>

Golarian is not made to be internally consistent because it was created by almost all the staff behind Pathfinder and not a small team within.

If Paizo truly has no concern for adhering to setting canon/style and doesn't provide any oversight or "setting Bible" guidance, then that's being lazy with the setting in which their bread and butter APs are set. I don't believe for a second that that is the case. Going back at least 5 years, I found a post by James Jacobs that specifically underscores it was always a concern. Also, things were much looser then as Golarion was still in its formative stages. There should be a clearer picture today, not a murkier one.

P.S. Schwartz made the helmet so he was replying to that. and while you have bigger problems with other items, this one has been your most vocal.

Nope. Just the one most responded to by other posters in this thread.

And on the Rifts note, Yes this is rifts without alot of the open portals. Problem?

The various products that I subscribe to do not paint any such picture. Nor have any of the multitude of posts by the developers and designers over the years. So yeah, if there's an internal memo floating around the halls of Paizo saying "Setting flavor & tone should model Rifts", then yeah, I have a problem with it.

Star Wars & Star Trek both feature ray guns, aliens, and spaceships, but I can immediately tell the difference between the two.

Dragon Age, the Witcher, Elder Scrolls, & Neverwinter Nights are all computer fantasy RPGs, but I can pick out the setting and style differences between each of them even though all of them have magic, knights, swords, & elves.

The Thief computer games are a blend of Medieval & clockwork tech. The Dishonored computer game is a full-on blend of 18th-century trappings with magic & steampunk. I can tell the difference. I love each of those games - because they've embraced the setting style and tone and are internally consistent.

And somehow Tolkein managed to draw heavy inspiration from World War I in developing the Lord of the Rings without feeling the need to have the symbols and trappings of WWI ported unchanged into Middle Earth.

This isn't about taking choices in adventuring playstyles away. This isn't about different cultural details. It's about internal consistency. If transporters showed up in Star Wars and lightsabers showed up in Star Trek it would feel out of place.

If you're cool with a literal patchwork RIFTS style world, cool. I want something more from the setting.

So it's pretty much a "I was happy with those lazor rabots confined to Numeria, and now it looks like they're going to spill over to my cherished realms of princesses and dragons fantasy" problem here?

So it's pretty much a "I was happy with those lazor rabots confined to Numeria, and now it looks like they're going to spill over to my cherished realms of princesses and dragons fantasy" problem here?

You keep wanting to go there in various threads whenever someone isn't for the "full speed towards gonzo fantasy" option, but in a word - no.

And Gorbacz, I'd have far less of an issue with a wide-range of influences showing up in a book for the RPG line. However, the Companion line is tied directly to the Golarion setting, thus the criticism.

I wouldn't think twice of a clockwork bug in the Iron Kingdoms setting or a magic pith helment in a Pathfinder version of the Thrilling Tales game.

So please, don't be offended when people remind you that your sentiments are the minority. As others have said, real-world history is filled with varying technology levels; take firearms. The Chinese developed firearms much earlier than the Western World did; the earliest I can find is the Hand Canon (you know, that weapon Mulan uses to stop the Mongolian army in the middle of Disney's Mulan), which was developed in the late 1200s; 1272 by my best GoogleFu. That was during the Dark Ages, the time period most Tolkien-esque settings model themselves after. Yet it was the Western World that would eventually mass-employ firearms as a militaristic weapon.

Sorry, but 1272 was in the High Middle Ages (c.1000-1300 AD). The term "Dark Ages" is usually taken to indicate the Early Middle Ages (c 500-1000 AD). The early European hand cannon was invented in the early 1300s. There is evidence of gunpowder / pyrotechnics 4-500 years earlier in China iirc.

If anything, Golarian's "kitchen sink strategy" is a thousand times more realistic than anything published in Forgotten Realms or Greyhawk for this exact reason. Societies develop their own aesthetics, militaristic strategies, and cultures. I personally don't GM in Golarion, but playing in it is a joy because of the...

Realistic? Not really. There is a historical / cultural chain of events from which things originate and without that it's just a prop saying "this is a different place". There was immense cultural and technological difference within just the European area in the time frame of the Middle Ages. Without touching other historical periods it isn't difficult to dredge up significant differences in dress, culture, society, warfare, government and technology. Without using anachronistic symbols. If you are going to use ideas it isn't difficult to blend them with what already exists; to use the idea without it being so readily identifiable as out of time / place.

I have my own setting so this doesn't really bother me. And, of course, people will shape Golarion as they wish for their own games. But there is a danger to it for Paizo. In keeping everything in one setting they have attempted to avoid the trap of multiple under supported settings that killed the sales of TSR back in the day. The problem is that as they produce more material for Golarion that people don't want in "their Golarion" they will see the same drop in sales for setting products. I think it was BPorter who said he would be fine with this type of material in RPG line books, and I see his point. Still, either way the more fringe the product, the lower the sales. Golarion and the APs have been good for Paizo and even though I tend to stick with the RPG line (and the occasional other item) I'd hate to see problems creeping in to their bottom line. I guess we'll see how it goes.

Even in the real world we have countries with advanced technology and countries with areas where the people still live like they did thousands of years ago with no knowledge, or enough knowledge (just stories) about the "outside" world.

In what way is a pith helmet 'advanced technology', exactly? Sure, they weren't worn in our Renaissance era. But I have trouble seeing how they'd be beyond capability, let alone how putting a pith helmet on somebody makes this guy look like a primitive.

Well, the Greeks had flame throwers and the Romans had steam engines, sooooo....

I will never understand arguments about fantasy settings needing to be "historically accrurate." Clockworks have been part of Golarion from the beginning & there are stats for dinosaurs.

Anywho, I've only glanced at the pdf so far, but I'm digging it. Can't wait to build an NPC or two with robot arms.

Well, the Greeks had flame throwers and the Romans had steam engines, sooooo....

The Byzantines had Greek Fire and projectors used aboard warships for it. They didn't have a backpack style flamethrower. The Greeks invented the steam engine. And the electric storage battery. They just never made effective use of them as more than curiosities. :)

I will never understand arguments about fantasy settings needing to be "historically accrurate." Clockworks have been part of Golarion from the beginning & there are stats for dinosaurs.

Anywho, I've only glanced at the pdf so far, but I'm digging it. Can't wait to build an NPC or two with robot arms.

It's not about "historical accuracy", for me anyway or, I suspect, others. It's about anachronistic elements plopped down without any reason besides a use of symbols to convey a feeling which could have been achieved in other ways.

Fine BPorter, We'll agree to disagree. okay? *puts forward hand*

Fine BPorter, We'll agree to disagree. okay? *puts forward hand*

Done.

Merry Christmas, all!

Nate Z wrote:

I will never understand arguments about fantasy settings needing to be "historically accrurate." Clockworks have been part of Golarion from the beginning & there are stats for dinosaurs.

Anywho, I've only glanced at the pdf so far, but I'm digging it. Can't wait to build an NPC or two with robot arms.

It's not about "historical accuracy", for me anyway or, I suspect, others. It's about anachronistic elements plopped down without any reason besides a use of symbols to convey a feeling which could have been achieved in other ways.

You, sir, are my hero.

Removed some personal sniping. Please revisit the messageboard rules.

I fail to understand how having a pith helmet breaks the immersion and ruins a setting where you can walk up to a 20ft tall mechascorpion armed with gatlings and plasma cannons, cast teleport on it and have it appear in the middle of a seedy not-Indonesian town and watch as it dukes it out with a kajiu pterodactyl while a team of catfolk wizards tries desperately to minimize civilian casualties and collateral damage by opening magical portals to Heaven in order to conjure some support from totally judeo-christian angels.

It's a one-size-fits-all pith helmet.

So it's pretty much a "I was happy with those lazor rabots confined to Numeria, and now it looks like they're going to spill over to my cherished realms of princesses and dragons fantasy" problem here?

Now just gimme that laser mounted to an allosuar companion and i'm ready to roll!

So is this supposed to help fight the magic wal mart syndrome?

It certainly won't. Moving pf in exactly the wrong direction.

Cpt_kirstov wrote:

So is this supposed to help fight the magic wal mart syndrome?

It certainly won't. Moving pf in exactly the wrong direction.

The point of the product is to take those generic "Magical Wal-Marts" and turn them into "Magical Mom and Pop Shops" with personality and flavor. I don't think anyone buying a book called Magical Marketplace was expecting a book that completely got rid of magic item shops. And if you were, I'm not sure what to tell you.

Besides the subtle ongoing steampunbk invasion, i have to say, the difference between a mind buttressing armor as +2 enhancement and sniping as a +2 weapon enhancement is just ridiculous.
What´s going on there? Immunitiy to charm and compulsion affects as a +2 enhancement? Who´s designing that? On the other hand, snaek attack at 45 feet, not stacking with anything else? +2 weapon enhancement? Not worth the price.

Lately it seems some designers cleary prefer special things (classes and races, besides Golarion being human-centric) and give a lot more power and attention to their personal babies.
That is a bad, bad thing in my eyes.

I fail to understand how having a pith helmet breaks the immersion and ruins a setting where you can walk up to a 20ft tall mechascorpion armed with gatlings and plasma cannons, cast teleport on it and have it appear in the middle of a seedy not-Indonesian town and watch as it dukes it out with a kajiu pterodactyl while a team of catfolk wizards tries desperately to minimize civilian casualties and collateral damage by opening magical portals to Heaven in order to conjure some support from totally judeo-christian angels.

This is almost as good as the "guns and sentient jello" rant. Into the "best posts ever" basket it goes.

Gorbacz wrote:

I fail to understand how having a pith helmet breaks the immersion and ruins a setting where you can walk up to a 20ft tall mechascorpion armed with gatlings and plasma cannons, cast teleport on it and have it appear in the middle of a seedy not-Indonesian town and watch as it dukes it out with a kajiu pterodactyl while a team of catfolk wizards tries desperately to minimize civilian casualties and collateral damage by opening magical portals to Heaven in order to conjure some support from totally judeo-christian angels.

This is almost as good as the "guns and sentient jello" rant. Into the "best posts ever" basket it goes.

Gorbaczs has a point there.

It´s testing out things, where more might come in the future.
So expressing that it´s not cool is absolutely fair.
Especially since it´s kind of out of place in the canon.
And neither in Numeria nor in Alkenstar someone has such a helmet most probably.

It´s more like there´s a victorian era colonial elephant hunter gunslinger around soon in PFS, which rightly brings people to the barricades. Also that´s a democratic process.

It's no skin off my nose, I don't play in Golarion.

I'm just amused by purist arguments since I love the "throw everything in" nature of my own homebrew world.

Orthos wrote:

Gorbacz wrote:

I fail to understand how having a pith helmet breaks the immersion and ruins a setting where you can walk up to a 20ft tall mechascorpion armed with gatlings and plasma cannons, cast teleport on it and have it appear in the middle of a seedy not-Indonesian town and watch as it dukes it out with a kajiu pterodactyl while a team of catfolk wizards tries desperately to minimize civilian casualties and collateral damage by opening magical portals to Heaven in order to conjure some support from totally judeo-christian angels.

This is almost as good as the "guns and sentient jello" rant. Into the "best posts ever" basket it goes.

Gorbaczs has a point there.

BUT colonial sargava is not a colony of victorian era england.
While Numeria and Alkenstar have a set place in the Golarion canon, along with some measures that keep that stuff there, Sargava is very close to the inner sea region and having someone with a plithe helmet and several other things running around there is definitively more than scratching on a certain line from the respective designers.

It´s testing out things, where more might come in the future.
So expressing that it´s not cool is absolutely fair.
Especially since it´s kind of out of place in the canon.
And neither in Numeria nor in Alkenstar someone has such a helmet most probably.

It´s more like there´s a victorian era colonial elephant hunter gunslinger around soon in PFS, which rightly brings people to the barricades. Also that´s a democratic process.

Paizo is a business. Business is not about democracy. Business is about capitalism. In capitalism, you vote with your money. If you feel that product X is part of a subtle invasion of yuck steampunk stuff upon the pristine pseudo-medieval landscape of dragons and princesses, don't buy the product.

"Barricades" understood as "vocal minorities clamoring" are not an indication of what the target group as a whole is after.

Example: back in the Dragon/Dungeon days there were people vocally asking for an Art of Dragon/Dungeon book. So, Paizo made that book. It got solid reviews and is a really nice book. And now it's sitting on their shelves discounted to a silly price of 4 USD, because apparently not many people bought it. Turns out, a vocal group of people saying "please, do an art book" was nowhere close to an indication of what the market as a whole was interested to put money out for.

Have you tried Hoard? Such a solid fantasy dragons and princesses game.

Mom and pop shops sounds vaguely amusing. Mom, pop and the golem sentinels to protect their phat loot from adventuring in their youth.

But expressing ones opinion is a democratic process.
That´s what i meant.

I´ll buy most Paizo books sooner or later and if it´s only to GM for PFS.
Still i can say i like or don´t like something.
And that´s far away from dragon and princess land.
Anyway one has to buy the product to see what´s in there exactly.

Also you are not a designer or somesuch and don´t need to cry anyone else down with sarcasm and other things. That´s called trolling.

Also that is the proclaimed voting process that Paizo asks for specifically <i.e. vote with your wallet>, to buy the products that you like and want more of so that they know what to do more of, and to not buy those that you do not like and if they do not sale than Paizo can avoid those sorts of products in the future. So not fully undemocratic.

Granted, for this to actually work, there would need to be a "I hate this, refund now" option, but it is what it is.

Perhaps a feat, or Discovery, to allow an Alchemist to craft magical items?

You know, like all those magic items that note they can be only created by Alchemist, even though they can't.

I discovered a GM with half a brain and my problem was solved.

Quick question, is Saline Purge right? Remove Curse has a caster level check in PF, when it didn't in 3.5. The item seems to be built assuming the 3.5 version, because an autosuccess remove curse is probably worth a few orders of magnitude more than 900 gp...

I mean, this item up against Baba Yaga's curses...this one would win. Which seems weird for a CL 5 item.

I'd like to reiterate this question...It seems problematic on a few levels.

I bought this.product because I approve of magic shops. I want to buy what I want instead of being left with nothing but GM loot drops that are often nothing but garbage. On the rare times it is not garbage, it is often more important for another PC, meaning I am once again left with nothing but garbage to choose from.

These shops were a disappointment in that each had a very limited selection, mostly garbage items. Not just the new items but also the already published items listed in each shops sidebar. I am sure some poeople love the theme of each shop and how the mom & pop specialty look provides an alternative from the often hated walmart of everything. I can actually applaude their effort in the theme vein. I am still disappointed in how useful these shops actually are in that they have almost nothing that is actually useful. I suspect that is mostly duea to the lack of good items published in the Pathfinder game. I loved the 3.5 book Magic Item Compendium for having many items that were competitively priced against the "big 6" items and the rules presented for alternative slots for ability enhancement items and suggesting that adding an item to a big 6 not increase the cost to 150% as the normal rules suggest for combining. Comparatively, Ultimate Equipment has next to nothing that is an actual competitive option. It was a major disappointment. When an item is not competitively priced, it often stops being an option at all.

I find it odd that of the very few options I thought were competitive enough to actually consider picking up, all but one of them are already banned in Society Play. Is this because they know they fowled up and cannot admit it? Is this because they want people to buy it off the self for good or what they consider broken items even though they know those items have no place in their official games? Are they careless anout the havoc they may create in home games that do not notice something about this is frowned upon even by the company themselves?

The "vote with your wallet" demand falls flat for a subscriber. As a subscriber, I have purchased the products before general availability. I don't get to see the content before I buy. I can only express my preferences after the fact... unless I cancel the subscriptions, which I think is less than desirable in Paizo's eyes. I am sure they would prefer for me to speak up and express my like or dislike well before I am alienated enough to cancel.

The "vote with your wallet" demand falls flat for a subscriber. As a subscriber, I have purchased the products before general availability. I don't get to see the content before I buy. I can only express my preferences after the fact... unless I cancel the subscriptions, which I think is less than desirable in Paizo's eyes. I am sure they would prefer for me to speak up and express my like or dislike well before I am alienated enough to cancel.

I agree, and personally think it is the worst module to work off of, but it is what it is. :)

A subscription only means that you are giving carte blanche to paizo do anything that she wants because you would buy it anyway.

A subscription only means that you are giving carte blanche to paizo do anything that she wants because you would buy it anyway.

No, that may be your reason, but it is not necessarily anyone else's.

I am saying "I mostly like what you did previously, and I like the discount and free PDF, so I will take the chance I will like it and buy it sight unseen."

If the value to me drops to the point where I would need to see it before I bought it, then I will drop the subscription.

Cheapy wrote:

Quick question, is Saline Purge right? Remove Curse has a caster level check in PF, when it didn't in 3.5. The item seems to be built assuming the 3.5 version, because an autosuccess remove curse is probably worth a few orders of magnitude more than 900 gp...

I mean, this item up against Baba Yaga's curses...this one would win. Which seems weird for a CL 5 item.

I'd like to reiterate this question...It seems problematic on a few levels.

I'm on the fence about this one as well, Remove Curse seems rather odd for an item that thematically is supposed to purge the body. If Remove Curse was actually Remove Disease, I'd have no problem with it.

A subscription only means that you are giving carte blanche to paizo do anything that she wants because you would buy it anyway.

He speaks the truth!

Cheapy wrote:

Cheapy wrote:

Quick question, is Saline Purge right? Remove Curse has a caster level check in PF, when it didn't in 3.5. The item seems to be built assuming the 3.5 version, because an autosuccess remove curse is probably worth a few orders of magnitude more than 900 gp...

I mean, this item up against Baba Yaga's curses...this one would win. Which seems weird for a CL 5 item.

I'd like to reiterate this question...It seems problematic on a few levels.

I'm on the fence about this one as well, Remove Curse seems rather odd for an item that thematically is supposed to purge the body. If Remove Curse was actually Remove Disease, I'd have no problem with it.

This item should call for a caster level check to remove curses and poisons. Change the text for the last sentence of saline purge to the following (bold emphasis mine):

"Whether or not this save is successful, the imbiber may make an immediate caster level check, using the saline purge's caster level as his own, to cure any poisons or curses affecting him as his body purges the ill effects."

Draco Bahamut wrote:

A subscription only means that you are giving carte blanche to paizo do anything that she wants because you would buy it anyway.

No, that may be your reason, but it is not necessarily anyone else's.

I am saying "I mostly like what you did previously, and I like the discount and free PDF, so I will take the chance I will like it and buy it sight unseen."

If the value to me drops to the point where I would need to see it before I bought it, then I will drop the subscription.

I wasn't talking about reasons, i was talking about what any company can understand by it if she only looks at the numbers. Anyone can revoke a carte blanche, but until then it still works as a carte blanche.

Whoo, thanks Patrick.

So, while the book overall is written very nicely, i have some questions regarding two items and their balance. Namely the mind-buttressing armor enhancement and the sniping weapon enhancement.
Mind-buttressing seems a littble bit too powerful for me and an excuse for a lot of players to drop their WIS scores and willsaves even further, because for a mere 9000-10000gp you can become totally immune to enchantment spells.
The sniping weapon enhancement on the other side is also +2, coming in for 18000-19000, let´s you make sneak attack at 45 feet, but doesn´t stack with anything, not even class features or feats it seems.
That seems very off to me.

Voting with my purse is not viable here, since i actually had to buy the book to really see those things. I hereby express my disappointment. While i can come to terms with something like a plithe-helmet coming out of Sargavia, eventually even beings with power-armor and gatling lasers from Numeria, i have to say that those items are something different.
Rogues don´t see big backup anyway and what is supported with that kind of armor enhancement is already very strong and gets one of it´s few weaknesses eliminated. Can´t see the balance there.

If you ask me, the weapon enhancement should be +1 and the armor enhancement +4.