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Oh man, you pushed the pdf back a week to October 1! Why you do this to me? I want it and I want it on Wednesday!
If you'd subscribed, you could have had it already.
I'd never have thought Erum-Hel was a member of the race he is/was, but then again he was designed by Todd Stewart, so it kind of makes sense. >:D

Alleran |
Vhayjen wrote:Oh man, you pushed the pdf back a week to October 1! Why you do this to me? I want it and I want it on Wednesday!If you'd subscribed, you could have had it already.
I'd never have thought Erum-Hel was a member of the race he is/was, but then again he was designed by Todd Stewart, so it kind of makes sense. >:D
That race being?
Oh, any mythic stuff in the book? I'm kind of expecting Walkena to be mythic with Divine Source.

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Erum-Hel is Mythic as well. And they don't say for absolute certain what race he is, but the weapon kinda gives it away.

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The real question now is why was the street date pushed back by a week? Was the 24th (next Wednesday), now it's Oct 1. What changed?
That's an apparently permanent change now. With Bestiary 4 there were issues getting all of the subscription copies out (and thus their free PDFs) before the regular sale of PDFs started. The extra week is to make sure that subscribers always have first dibs.
As for the chapter art, remember, this is an Unleashed series book, not a Revisited. Unique individual creatures, rather than a generic picture of that type of undead mauling an Iconic.
And here's a spoiler creature/CR list, though I've omitted exact levels, HD, and Tiers.
Arantaros (CR 20 Blue Dragon Ravener)
Arnlaugr the Fearless (CR 14 Draugr Captain Ranger)
Erum-Hel (CR 23 Mythic Mohrg Assassin/Trickster)
Imaloka Ghalmont-Neverhome (CR 22 Banshee Bard)
Jolanera (CR 17 Advanced Nightwing)
Meyi Pahano (CR 13 Lich Diviner)
Mirik the Drowned (CR 3 Lacdeon Ghast Rogue)
Mother Comfort and Poor Eledia (CR 3 Allip/CR 4 Attic Whisperer)
Ordellia Whilwren (CR 10 Ghost Cleric of Desna)
Prince Kasiya (CR 12 Vampire Aristocrat/Sorcerer)
Razinia (CR 7 Ghul Sorcerer)
Rudrakavala (CR 15 Devourer Oracle)
Seldeg Bhedlis (CR 19 Graveknight Antipaladin of Arazni)
Walkena (CR 16 Mythic Mummy - well, technically Mummified Human Oracle/Hierophant, but close enough.)
Wight Mother of Isger (CR 19 Daughter of Urgathoa Cleric)

Liz Courts Webstore Gninja Minion |

DarkenedRurouni wrote:The real question now is why was the street date pushed back by a week? Was the 24th (next Wednesday), now it's Oct 1. What changed?That's an apparently permanent change now. With Bestiary 4 there were issues getting all of the subscription copies out (and thus their free PDFs) before the regular sale of PDFs started. The extra week is to make sure that subscribers always have first dibs.
Not exactly... I answered in the "Lords of Rust" thread, but basically, the PDF release date is tied to the retail release date, and we've had to make some adjustments regarding those date for this month (and upcoming months).

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How much of the information in this book is of a more general nature, a la the Revisited series? I guess most (all?) of the undead types were covered in Classic Horrors Revisited and Undead Revisited, so probably not much needed.
From my initial look over: Very little. There's some new magic items / diseases / haunts that could be used in a more generic sense, but this book is pretty much entirely about specific undead NPCs and about their lairs.

BigWeather |

BigWeather wrote:How much of the information in this book is of a more general nature, a la the Revisited series? I guess most (all?) of the undead types were covered in Classic Horrors Revisited and Undead Revisited, so probably not much needed.From my initial look over: Very little. There's some new magic items / diseases / haunts that could be used in a more generic sense, but this book is pretty much entirely about specific undead NPCs and about their lairs.
Thanks, I figured as much. I really enjoyed Dragons Unleashed and it was similar too, in that most of the material about dragons in general was in Dragons Revisited, so I'll likely pick this up too -- good to know what to expect.

Alleran |
From my initial look over: Very little. There's some new magic items / diseases / haunts that could be used in a more generic sense, but this book is pretty much entirely about specific undead NPCs and about their lairs.
What sort of new magic items? Things unique (artifacts?) to the NPCs who have them, or generic new stuff that PCs or other NPCs could possess?

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Glad to help out. If you liked Dragons Unleashed, this follows the format, so I'd bet you'd like it too!
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Regarding the items: There's a mix.
Meyi Pahano has a minor artifact called the Void Crystal. One of the items (Rixbrand) is tied to Arnlaugr the Fearless, but it notes that since his death, several duplicates of the weapon were made. Two items from Prince Kasiya's chapter (Hemnetep's Chariot and Shepsi-Ak's Funerary Mask) are specific to his minions, but they could theoretically be replicated / made by others.
The other items (Cauldron of Transmutation, Void Funnel, and Ghost Mirror) could show up essentially anywhere and aren't particularly tied to their specific owners.

Eric Hinkle |

DarkenedRurouni wrote:The real question now is why was the street date pushed back by a week? Was the 24th (next Wednesday), now it's Oct 1. What changed?That's an apparently permanent change now. With Bestiary 4 there were issues getting all of the subscription copies out (and thus their free PDFs) before the regular sale of PDFs started. The extra week is to make sure that subscribers always have first dibs.
As for the chapter art, remember, this is an Unleashed series book, not a Revisited. Unique individual creatures, rather than a generic picture of that type of undead mauling an Iconic.
And here's a spoiler creature/CR list, though I've omitted exact levels, HD, and Tiers.
** spoiler omitted **
That's a good list. I'm especially pleased to see some low-level villains in it. It's always good to get high level baddies, but a few more suited to facing and being (hopefully) defeated by beginning heroes are just as good. Especially if we get tips on what kind of schemes they can be involved in and what sort of resources for troublemaking even lesser villains can manage.

Generic Villain |
Erum-Hel is Mythic as well. And they don't say for absolute certain what race he is, but the weapon kinda gives it away.
Doesn't Erum-Hel dwell in Orv? He could have just picked it up while murdering the natives. Like how the 20th-level dwarven fighter in Rival Guide picked up the elven curve blade from a bested rival.

Generic Villain |
I can confirm that Erum Hel is currently in Orv (specifically the Midnight Mountains). I kinda like the idea that he might be an Urdefhan, though; it'd be nice to have a major non-human undead floating around as a key threat on Golarion.
Here's the only reason I think Erum-Hel isn't an Orvian native: in Iomedae's writeup in The Sixfold Trial, her sixth Act was to defeat Erum-Hel "...causing him to flee, crippled, to Orv." I figured if he was originally from there, it would read that she caused to to flee back to Orv. Orv being the grease-trap that collects some of the worst elements in all of Golarion, it made sense to me that he would lay low there.
Who knows. Whatever he used to be, cool character.

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Lord Gadigan wrote:I can confirm that Erum Hel is currently in Orv (specifically the Midnight Mountains). I kinda like the idea that he might be an Urdefhan, though; it'd be nice to have a major non-human undead floating around as a key threat on Golarion.Here's the only reason I think Erum-Hel isn't an Orvian native: in Iomedae's writeup in The Sixfold Trial, her sixth Act was to defeat Erum-Hel "...causing him to flee, crippled, to Orv." I figured if he was originally from there, it would read that she caused to to flee back to Orv. Orv being the grease-trap that collects some of the worst elements in all of Golarion, it made sense to me that he would lay low there.
Who knows. Whatever he used to be, cool character.
I could still see that as reading as him being from Orv. Most people don't know a lot about Orv or it's inhabitants and a lot of the witnesses (including potentially Iomedae at the time) might not have been able to properly identify what he was. Also I could explain how he managed to get all the way back down there and not been eaten alive.

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Ah, a good point. That is sort of odd phrasing to use if he was originally from there.
Huh, reading through the text of his section, rather than just doing my initial glance-over, it actually gives 'he was an Urdefhan' as one of the three rumored origins for him, with written descriptions of him often giving him physical traits similar to those of Urdefhans. The other two are that he was originally a creation of Zutha's (which would imply human, half-orc, and orc and the most geographically likely races if I'm recalling Zutha's domain's location properly) who was in stasis until the Whispering Tyrant entered The Cenotaph, and the third was that he was once a mortal servant of the Whispering Tyrant.
Agreed on the 'whatever he used to be, cool character' point.
Edit: Doc the Grey also brings up a good point. The wording might be that way since most of Iomedae's followers wouldn't be terribly familiar with Orv or his origins.

Generic Villain |
Thanks for the info LG. I still don't have this yet; hopefully Monday.
According to the Iomedae article, Erum-Hel was indeed one of the Whispering Tyrant's lackeys. Which makes sense, as every uber-lich needs a few uber-assassins. That doesn't rule out the other two rumors however. Hey may have served at the Battle of Three Sorrows (Shining Crusade vs. Tar-Baphon), but there's no indication that T-B created him.

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How many mythic tiers does Walkena have, for the purposes of how many spell levels his Divine Source ability can provide?

Evil Midnight Lurker |

Thanks for the info LG. I still don't have this yet; hopefully Monday.
According to the Iomedae article, Erum-Hel was indeed one of the Whispering Tyrant's lackeys. Which makes sense, as every uber-lich needs a few uber-assassins. That doesn't rule out the other two rumors however. Hey may have served at the Battle of Three Sorrows (Shining Crusade vs. Tar-Baphon), but there's no indication that T-B created him.
We can maybe put all of them together: an urdefhan who joined Tar-Baphon's army and then encountered part of the Gluttonous Tome which turned him into a super-mohrg!

Alleran |
Alleran wrote:How many mythic tiers does Walkena have, for the purposes of how many spell levels his Divine Source ability can provide?** spoiler omitted **
Very interesting.
I don't find it necessarily unusual, since mythic tiers aren't tied to levels by the rules (though you can do it in some of the guidelines to creating mythic adventures in MA), but that is a fairly large disparity. Is there any reason given in his write-up or flavour to account for it?
It would also give him 9th level spells available, in the form of spell-like abilities. What path abilities does he have?

Todd Stewart Contributor |

Thanks for the info LG. I still don't have this yet; hopefully Monday.
According to the Iomedae article, Erum-Hel was indeed one of the Whispering Tyrant's lackeys. Which makes sense, as every uber-lich needs a few uber-assassins. That doesn't rule out the other two rumors however. Hey may have served at the Battle of Three Sorrows (Shining Crusade vs. Tar-Baphon), but there's no indication that T-B created him.
It's intentionally ambiguous such that any of the three is possible, and even a combination of them, or none. Is one more likely given all the information? Yes, but there's enough fog of history that it's not absolutely certain.
:)

Rakshaka |

Is there a regional map on the inside cover like some of the other releases showing where everyone is located?
If so, are any of these in or around Ustalav? (Asking because I'm running Carrion Crown, and love incorporating historical juiciness that accompanies such horrors). I might have to get this one if so...

coyote6 |

Is there a regional map on the inside cover like some of the other releases showing where everyone is located?
If so, are any of these in or around Ustalav? (Asking because I'm running Carrion Crown, and love incorporating historical juiciness that accompanies such horrors). I might have to get this one if so...
Yes, there is a map. None of them appear to be in Ustalav.
Jolanera is on the Isle of Terror, in Lake Encarthan, and Imaloka Ghalmont-Neverhome is in the Worldwound. That's as close as any get.

Generic Villain |
The problem with Erum-Hel being an urdefhan: he speaks neither of their listed languages (Undercommon and Aklo). Of course, Meyi Pahano doesn't speak Osiriani when it's noted that the nation of Lirgen was an offshoot of Rahadoum, so the language thing could be chalked up to designer error. Still, if you take his stat black as-is, you'd have to explain that discrepancy. Or just give him 2 ranks in Linguistics.
On an unrelated note, did anyone notice that there's a drakainia (challenge rating 25/MR 10) chilling out somewhere beneath the Wight Mother's lair? She apparently approves of the Wight Mother's work...

Generic Villain |
So is there anything crunchy for us GMs? I always found it sad that monsters were lacking in feats. Are there any new monstrous feats in here? If not, when can we expect to find feats designed for monsters in the future? Maybe Monster Codex?
No new feats, and most of the "new" stuff (mostly diseases) is reprinted from previous books. The only genuinely new thing I found - other than the 15 undead themselves - is a 90,000 gp sword.

Generic Villain |
Is there any new information regarding Vudra in the Rudrakavala article?
It has a large desert with various desert-themed monsters, including "beast men" - which look to be harpies and gnolls. And in that desert is a village, and in that village is a metal pillar, and on that pillar is a devourer with several levels of oracle.
So no, not really.

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So, does the presence of a CG ghost in this book mean that the hard rule on undead in Pathfinder always being evil has been rescinded?
Officially, ghosts are the only ones that have various alignment.

Heine Stick |

I believe it was James Jacobs who once said that the "rule" is in place so that, when exceptions to the "rule" happen, either in official products or GMs' homebrew campaigns, the impact and significance is greater than if non-Evil undead was a common occurence.
Also, this isn't the first time we've had a non-Evil ghost...
There might be other examples, but that's the one that springs to mind for me.
EDIT: Or, you know, what DeciusNero said. :)

aardvarkyVARK |

My group has a homebrew setting that we rely heavily on APs and modules. I used Mother Comfort and Poor Eledia as a mini-dungeon between Crypt of the Everflame and Mask of the Living God (in our setting, water travel is highly dangerous, so it didn't make sense to travel by barge). The group wanted to setup a homebase while they were scouting Tamran and spying on the cult.
I LOVE these unleashed books (Dragons, Undead, Hell, Heaven) as a no-prep options when goes on sidequests. Temples/Dungeons of Golarion are also helpful, but less so because they aren't as fleshed out (often only having one level). But I had a thought - is this what the Unleashed line is used for? Or is it really intended to kickstart a GM's imagination?
Also, what is the status of this type of publication on the horizon? Are there plans to continue it, or do they exist under a different name? Does Society overlap with this? Would appreciate any info, or if someone could point me to an announcement or blog I'd really appreciate it.

YawarFiesta |

PFRPGrognard wrote:Cheers, thanks for the info. Shame really!These types of books are done. Paizo seems to be focusing on smaller hardcovers, individual modules and the adventure path books from now on.
I love them too! They are great for filling in side quests, as you stated.
Personally, I used the PFSRD for stat blocks and adapted old 3.5 modules or hooks. It's surprisingly easily once you start!
Also, most APs have some side quests, specially Kingmaker, that can be adapted with minimal to moderate effort.
Humbly,
Yawar