LOL @ The Talking Bagger for doing the same thing he always blames me for. And this is what I feared for most, give people what they want and they keep on asking for more, until the entire branche is changed and turned into something different.
Anyway I can't wait till the science-fiction horror is over again and the more traditional stuff returns to me.
I miss giving Paizo my money, this is the first period since Jade's Regent (since when I bought all the AP's) that I didn't bought a single Pathfinder product...
My money goes berserk for this awesome AP thought! Come on in January!! Hurry!
And neutral setting means probably a chance on mythological monsters in the Bestiary parts of this ap! Can't wait to find out which ones!
I hope these 6 months of giant-awesomness are gonna hurt you just as much as the Iron Gods six months hurt me! :-p
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
No, I'll have 6 fantastic, colourful beer mats/fly swatters which will double as books with cool pictures for my hypothetical kids :)
You have expensive tastes in beer mats. ;)
Not a big fan of this back-to-basics approach. I surely hope that there will be some twist to this adventure path. Really looking forward to Hell's Rebels though!
Not a big fan of this back-to-basics approach. I surely hope that there will be some twist to this adventure path. Really looking forward to Hell's Rebels though!
Why everything has to be Special all of a sudden?
Why everything has to contain Sci-fi and modern time traveling the entire time.
I'm sure there are more sci-fi D&D-like products than fantasy ones out there. Good luck with those, pathfinder will always be more about fantasy. At least I hope so, as if not i'll probably see them as D&D 2.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
If everything is special then nothing is special.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I don't recall saying that everything has to be special, but the story of the giants attacking the town has been told before. Multiple times. Paizo has proved that they can write great, original adventure paths without having to result to sci-fi or time travels. I would like to see them going further on that road.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
I think the main reason that a lot of Paizo fans like the crazy gonzo stuff more than the traditional (myself included) is that, well, I've got tons of traditional fantasy modules. There are just way more traditional modules in print for 3e, Pathfinder, and D&D in general than crazy stuff like Iron Gods. Frankly, there aren't more sci-fi D&D like products then fantasy ones, not by a long shot, and there's even less science-fantasy. While I, and I think most people, don't want everything to be as out there as Iron Gods, there's a definite demand for the crazy. Just look at how well Distant Worlds sold and is regarded, or the excitement for Iron Gods. I understand it's not for everyone, but that's not a bad thing.
On another note, the thing that disappoints me personally about Iron Gods is that it seems to be playing things very safe. Almost every AP has done something that sets it apart from other adventures. Jade Regent dealt with eastern mythology, Kingmaker was a sandbox, Wrath of the Righteous used mythic rules, etc. Even Shattered Star, which is almost entirely dungeons of various kinds, had the twist of being the first Paizo AP that dealt with previous AP's and their effect on canon. I'm just not seeing anything like that here. And maybe that's what Paizo is going for, I don't know. But this sort of story has been done so much (heck, Paizo themselves has told a very similar story, with Rise of the Runelords) that it just seems unnecessary to retell it without adding something.
But to be more positive, I am excited to see more of Belkzen, though I don't know how much of the AP takes place there. And despite my grievances, I'm sure Paizo will do some great stuff in this AP, per usual, but I just feel Paizo's efforts would be better spent on more unusual campaigns. But that's just me. And who knows? Maybe this will be the best AP ever and I do a total opinion 180. I certainly wouldn't mind that.
|
[... Snipped bit about why not so much classic, because I agree]
On another note, the thing that disappoints me personally about Iron Gods is that it seems to be playing things very safe. Almost every AP has done something that sets it apart from other adventures. Jade Regent dealt with eastern mythology, Kingmaker was a sandbox, Wrath of the Righteous used mythic rules, etc. Even Shattered Star, which is almost entirely dungeons of various kinds, had the twist of being the first Paizo AP that dealt with previous AP's and their effect on canon. I'm just not seeing anything like that here. And maybe that's what Paizo is going for, I don't know. But this sort of story has been done so much (heck, Paizo themselves has told a very similar story, with Rise of the Runelords) that it just seems unnecessary to retell it without adding something.
... [Not relevant to my reply]
Iron Gods does look like it will challenge the underlying politics of a part of the campaign setting more than any other AP except Wrath of the Righteous and Jade Regent. That kind of change is not too common. Council of Thieves had less conflict with Thrune, for instance.
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Not a big fan of this back-to-basics approach. I surely hope that there will be some twist to this adventure path. Really looking forward to Hell's Rebels though!
Just remember that if you wrote down a short description of Rise of the Runelords, it will also sound like a boring repetition of D&D tropes. However, that AP was fantastic, and Giantslater could be similar. Paizo are great with putting a new twist (sometimes a really twisted twist) on a classic.
I like variation in APs
While I admit to being less excited about Giantslayers than I was Iron Gods, I wouldn't want 4 scifi esq APs in a row.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
My problem with more "traditional" AP modules like this is that it feels like something I could put together in a few hours using the tables in a GM's guide. Warlord obtains [macguffin], rallies legions of [cannon fodder], attacks small village, heroes intervene, fight their way up the ranks, kill warlord.
Mummy's Mask had the hook of an exotic locale (Osirion!) and the promise of fighting a 10,000 year old ghost pharaoh in a flying pyramid. Going from that to fighting an evil Giant in a cloud castle feels (a) redundant and (b) like a step down.
I can understand that Iron Gods doesn't appeal to everyone, and I'm not totally against "traditional" modules (I'm looking forward to Hell's Rebels), but much like Wrath of the Righteous, this AP seems a bit too cookie-cutter to appeal to me or my players.
When is the cover/info getting updated/finalized?! Goblins are impatient don't you know?!
|
Why everything has to be Special all of a sudden?
Not sudden at all. It's been a very slow and gradual development from being a twelve year old to being tired of the same old thing over and over again. There was no particular "sudden" threshold where I decided that the same old traditional medieval fantasy adventure didn't cut it anymore.
Why everything has to contain Sci-fi and modern time traveling the entire time.
Doesn't. And indeed shouldn't. This isn't a D20 Modern game. There's plenty other ways to make things Special (i.e. not bog-standard) than sci-fi and time traveling. Planar campaign, evil campaign, non-combat focus campaign, kingdom building campaign, exotic culture campaign...there's plenty you can do even within the bounds of medieval fantasy in order to make it more Special.
I'm sure there are more sci-fi D&D-like products than fantasy ones out there. Good luck with those, pathfinder will always be more about fantasy. At least I hope so, as if not i'll probably see them as D&D 2.
There really aren't at all. Fantasy heart breakers are the thing most common third party or independent rpg product by a wide margin. If you're only counting products made by big companies you have a grand total of two metamorphosis alpha and d20 modern that qualify as "D&D like" and sci-fi. If you're really generous we'd also include Dark Heresy and Shadowrun.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I can understand that Iron Gods doesn't appeal to everyone, and I'm not totally against "traditional" modules (I'm looking forward to Hell's Rebels), but much like Wrath of the Righteous, this AP seems a bit too cookie-cutter to appeal to me or my players.
If Wrath didnt have the Mythic rules intertwined into it, and I could run a normal campaign using it as is, then it would be up there with Runelords, Curse, and Kingmaker on my list of all time favorites.
Cant wait for Giantslayer, and this is actually gonna be one of our players first AP he is going to buy and run, specifically because he loved the theme so much.
For all those who want something more off the beaten path: go and check out ENworld's ZEITGEIST adventure path (Act One collection available here). This is something very different, and even gets a raving review from Endzeitgeist.
If Wrath didnt have the Mythic rules intertwined into it, and I could run a normal campaign using it as is, then it would be up there with Runelords, Curse, and Kingmaker on my list of all time favorites.
Apparently one can run WotR without a mythic party (but the foes will still have some mythic "components").
|
Apparently one can run WotR without a mythic party (but the foes will still have some mythic "components").If Wrath didnt have the Mythic rules intertwined into it, and I could run a normal campaign using it as is, then it would be up there with Runelords, Curse, and Kingmaker on my list of all time favorites.
You can run WotR's first 5 books fairly easily with non-Mythic PCs. Book 6, though... Maybe gestalts instead of Mythic might handle it.
Really hoping this AP includes more Gigases. We've only seen the two so far, right?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
When we were all in kindergarten - give or take a year - our teachers and parents taught us to "never judge a book by its cover".
It never ceases to amaze and crack me up when DOZENS of adults and young adults on these boards jump to conclusions when the adventures HAVEN'T even been released yet! How do y'all know what's REALLY in store from a few paragraphs of descriptions?! Really?! Really?!
Paizo has consistently produced some of the best adventures of the last 35 years. People - R-E-L-A-X. Give it a chance before you make these ... quite frankly ... rash and hyper analyses.
Let's "role play" a bit. Pretend you're making a presentation for school or work. You start your presentation and after only thirty seconds, I stop you and make a snap decision on your efforts and effectiveness. Well that's what many of you do on here ... over and over again. Think McFly, think ...
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I can say that I am reactivating my subscription for this AP.
Also this comes out in 2 months, when are we going to get final cover art so we can covet it!!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I'll be resubscribing for this one... now I wish there was a high level super module involving Drow to follow it :D
I see what you did there...
Frush O Smuggil looks forward to this product
|
|
My problem with more "traditional" AP modules like this is that it feels like something I could put together in a few hours using the tables in a GM's guide. Warlord obtains [macguffin], rallies legions of [cannon fodder], attacks small village, heroes intervene, fight their way up the ranks, kill warlord.
The thing that Paizo does incredibly well has less to do with coming up with entirely original plot ideas (some APs do have great overall stories, but for many it's just a collection of some fantasy tropes). What they do incredibly is fill in the details. They create great variations on existing themes, put a twist of their own into D&D staples, and create a very rich, GM-inspiring environment with their adventures.
Remember that BURNT OFFERINGS is just a low level module where the PCs save a town from a goblin raid and and then go to the dungeon where the goblins are and kill them. That description sounds as plain and uninteresting as can be, but look what was done with it.
Now granted the outline of this AP is not the most thrilling, but I'm fairly confident that there's a good shot this AP is just so filled with awesome that it wouldn't matter.
Burnt Offerings, while fairly simple in its premise, was part of Rise of the Runelords, an AP with an interesting concept (what's a Runelord? A wizard-king from thousands of years ago who can feed on the sin of Greed to regain his power? Awesome!)
The issue here isn't the first volume of the adventure; it's that the AP's overall premise seems terribly dull. We've already had (several) modules and APs about stopping a warlord from taking over Western Avistan. We just finished an AP about fighting a dude in a flying fortress (Mummy's Mask). There's nothing original or interesting in the description of this AP, in my opinion. But hey, I'm happy to be proven wrong.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
I'm the exact opposite of a few people above: I subbed for iron gods but I'm gonna unsub for this one.
Don't mean I'm not gonna get it at some point in the future though :>
I am looking forward to this. I wish that it was already Feb. I have not been too impressed with Iron Gods but to each their own.
I must be interested. Or at least it feels like I'm checking for updated art, daily.
|
|
Is WAR doing the covers for this AP? I really like how he illustrates giants; you can somehow feel their size and menace instead of just seeing a "large" human.
The preview in the Giant Hunter book doesn't look like WAR. And he usually only illustrates the odd APs (Jade Regent, Shattered Star, Wrath of the Righteous, Iron Gods and probably Hell's Rebel).
Is anyone else coming to this page daily in the hopes of seeing the final product page/cover?
I'm not. But the final product cover is shown on the last page of the Giant Hunters Handbook. I suspect it hasn't been updated here yet because they may still be waiting on something for the page description...
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Is Paizo still going to release a players guide for this one or are we required to buy the Giant Slayer's Handbook for the traits?
There will be a free Player's Guide. They've been doing two-page spread previews in the associated Player Companions since Shattered Star.
This will be out in just over a month ... so where's the updated cover image and description?
|
|
This will be out in just over a month ... so where's the updated cover image and description?
Relax - it´s still 29 days till February 10th. ;-)
Fun aside i find it unfortunate that all the Giantslayer start products (Players Guide, Belkzen sourcebook and Daughters of Fury module) come out in the same month. No time to prepare this in advance... :-(