Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Qadira, Jewel of the East (PFRPG)

Jessica Price wrote:

Fourshadow wrote:

A very nice blog it is, too! Yet another reason to grab this book.

Not a subscriber to this line, so I wish it was on the shelf already...promised my sons I would take them to our local game shop tomorrow. This won't be there until next week...guess I will have to go again next week!

Any excuse to visit a friendly local game shop is good. :-)

And give a shout if you want suggestions for other things you could pick up on your trip this week.

This comes out tomorrow! Yippee! Cannot wait. Qadira itself did not interest me initially, but then the goodies inside--both Player applicable crunch and Geographic flavor--grabbed my attention.

BTW: picked up The First World Campaign setting last week at my FLGS. Intriguing.

I don't know who is specifically responsible for the Ashiftah Archetype....but WELL DONE.....very nice flavor ;)

I don't know who is specifically responsible for the Ashiftah Archetype....but WELL DONE.....very nice flavor ;)

Thanks! I designed the archetype, and then ran it by John and Owen to make sure it didn't break anything. :-)

nighttree wrote:

I don't know who is specifically responsible for the Ashiftah Archetype....but WELL DONE.....very nice flavor ;)

Thanks! I designed the archetype, and then ran it by John and Owen to make sure it didn't break anything. :-)

Oh it gonna break things.

Your enemies' morale.

Your enemies.

Jessica Price wrote:

nighttree wrote:

I don't know who is specifically responsible for the Ashiftah Archetype....but WELL DONE.....very nice flavor ;)

Thanks! I designed the archetype, and then ran it by John and Owen to make sure it didn't break anything. :-)

Oh it gonna break things.

Your enemies' morale.

Your enemies.

*sunny smile*

Bit of info on the Ashiftah, please? :3

Bit of info on the Ashiftah, please? :3

They are known as battle-witch in Taldane and usually wear a full body veil, which is their patron!

There is also one new Witch Hex in this book.

Bit of info on the Ashiftah, please? :3

So, you decided you were going to go up against Kelesh even though everyone told you it was a bad idea. So there's been a battle and both sides have backed off to catch their breath. Your forces are standing on the hot sand under the glaring sun, staring across the expanse at the Keleshite army, waiting for any sign they're going to make a move.

And then, out of nowhere, fog creeps over the dunes. At first you welcome it, thinking it means a bit of relief from this gods-bedamned heat and dryness. But as it slides around you, clammy and unsettling, you start to hear moans from the wounded around you. Moans that just--cut off, as if the person's breath had been stolen.

You look around wildly, wondering what could possibly be doing that, and think you catch a glimpse of a dark-robed figure in the fog. You shout, draw your sword, chase after it. It turns a veiled head toward you, and vanishes. A moment later, a fluttering scrap of fabric drifts through the air and settles onto your shoulder. The diffused light creeping through the fog hurts your eyes. The fog vanishes, and the sun blazes forth, and you realize you've gone blind.

:-)

That sounds amazing, to say the least! Thank you! ^_^

DeciusNero wrote:

Bit of info on the Ashiftah, please? :3

So, you decided you were going to go up against Kelesh even though everyone told you it was a bad idea. So there's been a battle and both sides have backed off to catch their breath. Your forces are standing on the hot sand under the glaring sun, staring across the expanse at the Keleshite army, waiting for any sign they're going to make a move.

And then, out of nowhere, fog creeps over the dunes. At first you welcome it, thinking it means a bit of relief from this gods-bedamned heat and dryness. But as it slides around you, clammy and unsettling, you start to hear moans from the wounded around you. Moans that just--cut off, as if the person's breath had been stolen.

You look around wildly, wondering what could possibly be doing that, and think you catch a glimpse of a dark-robed figure in the fog. You shout, draw your sword, chase after it. It turns a veiled head toward you, and vanishes. A moment later, a fluttering scrap of fabric drifts through the air and settles onto your shoulder. The diffused light creeping through the fog hurts your eyes. The fog vanishes, and the sun blazes forth, and you realize you've gone blind.

:-)

Such evocative work! Thanks again! Fun little read you just provided.

Called my FLGS yesterday afternoon and reserved this. Picked it up after work--AMAZING. My 3rd son flipped through it and, like me, loved the Solar Bloodline and Ashiftah Witch. I asked my oldest, when he was reading it, if he liked the new bloodline he replied "Haven't read it yet". When I asked if he like the new witch archetype I again got the response "Haven't read it yet--I am enjoying the geography so much I haven't got there yet, dad!"

Thank you! I'm so glad to hear you're enjoying it. Hope you get to use it in a game!

I have to admit I am disappointed in the quality of the map. No scale bar, the text is really crowded and hard to read, the placement of the cities/towns is sloppy (Merev is in the ocean, Demirah is in the middle of a river, Isa is also in a river and on the wrong side of the border for Maharev, and many many more) and borders don't line up with rivers and features. In general it seems like the artist's map layers got misaligned and it wasn't caught.

Not up to your usual standards. :(

In defense of Merev it is called out as a fortress port city on a island, and Isa is right on the line.

Demirah could also be an island city, I don't believe it's said one way or the other.

I have to admit I am disappointed in the quality of the map. No scale bar, the text is really crowded and hard to read, the placement of the cities/towns is sloppy (Merev is in the ocean, Demirah is in the middle of a river, Isa is also in a river and on the wrong side of the border for Maharev, and many many more) and borders don't line up with rivers and features. In general it seems like the artist's map layers got misaligned and it wasn't caught.

Not up to your usual standards. :(

Will pass on that feedback to the people who handle the maps.

In defense of Merev it is called out as a fortress port city on a island, and Isa is right on the line.

Demirah could also be an island city, I don't believe it's said one way or the other.

The island Merev is supposed to be on is to the left. There are a lot of other examples, though. Ihalar, Sukri, Jawafeeq, Hegar, Tekeh, Shileh...

Rysky wrote:

In defense of Merev it is called out as a fortress port city on a island, and Isa is right on the line.

Demirah could also be an island city, I don't believe it's said one way or the other.

The island Merev is supposed to be on is to the left. There are a lot of other examples, though. Ihalar, Sukri, Jawafeeq, Hegar, Tekeh, Shileh...

That's a island yes, but since it was talking about Merev as a fortress island I thought it was its own island, hidden by the dot.

I noticed the map issues too while fleshing out the Qadira navbox on PFWiki. Several settlements have diamond markers that other books use for landmarks or points of interest instead of circles, and vice versa. If I remember correctly, Katheer's marker was in a different region than the book text.

KaiserBruno wrote:

So is there anything in here on slavery? Or more specifically, how the Keleshites are able to worship a NG goddess while running one of the bigger slave trades on the continent without some sort of moral/cognitive dissonance?

Also reading through the comments and previews has gotten me very interested in this, which is saying something since Qadira was never one of my favorite regions.

There is. In short, traditional Keleshite slavery is basically indentured servitude with a 7-year limit, and is understood as owning 100% of a person's labor during that time, but not owning them. The farther you go from central Kelesh, however, the looser that definition gets, and Qadira's continual war with Taldor has generated a demand for soldiers that has been one of the major drivers of the slave trade.

Qadira's agreement with Kelesh gives the satrap almost complete power over what happens within Qadiran borders, and he hasn't been particularly interested in stopping it. The Cult of the Dawnflower also wants war with Taldor, so they're not particularly interested in stomping it out, and the mainline church is too busy trying to rein in the Cult to be able to focus on it.

Essentially, one side (the imperial family or that satrap) would have to break their agreement about the satrap's rule for the status quo to change. Either the satrap would have to do something that violates his side of it, which then would give the Emperor an excuse to declare it void and step in, or the Emperor would have to decide to break it.

Given the priority Keleshites place on contractual agreements, that's not likely to happen any time soon.

That makes for a good PC origin story in Reign of Winter.

If you want to have a character from Qadira, you could say they were enslaved and sent to fight Taldor, but that they deserted the battlefield and settled in Heldren.

I'm working on a review of this book and the map issue is my main criticism. There are definite inconsistencies between the text and the map. However, like Rysky, you can hand wave those away as close enough to get the job done.

Still would like to see a real nice map that corrects the small errors like the really pretty ones that can occasionally be found in an AP Map Folio. Perhaps an Adventure Path set primarily in Qadira/Kelesh is called for.

:)

So Jessica, because I'm smitten by the Ashiftah and want to develop a build. What Patron's/Hexes would you say are most thematically appropriate ?

Also is this an organized order/cult ?

So Jessica, because I'm smitten by the Ashiftah and want to develop a build. What Patron's/Hexes would you say are most thematically appropriate ?

Also is this an organized order/cult ?

Any patron, really, though I'd go with the more mysterious/cosmic/trickery ones, like trickery, time, storms, etc.

I'd do the Deathcall hex, and Misfortune, definitely.

It's not a cult--it's actually a military order, although given that we're talking about an empire with theocratic elements, there's definitely a religious angle to it.

nighttree wrote:

So Jessica, because I'm smitten by the Ashiftah and want to develop a build. What Patron's/Hexes would you say are most thematically appropriate ?

Also is this an organized order/cult ?

Any patron, really, though I'd go with the more mysterious/cosmic/trickery ones, like trickery, time, storms, etc.

I'd do the Deathcall hex, and Misfortune, definitely.

It's not a cult--it's actually a military order, although given that we're talking about an empire with theocratic elements, there's definitely a religious angle to it.

How old do you have to be before they let you join the Ashiftah School for Cruel Badassery?

nighttree wrote:

So Jessica, because I'm smitten by the Ashiftah and want to develop a build. What Patron's/Hexes would you say are most thematically appropriate ?

Also is this an organized order/cult ?

Any patron, really, though I'd go with the more mysterious/cosmic/trickery ones, like trickery, time, storms, etc.

I'd do the Deathcall hex, and Misfortune, definitely.

It's not a cult--it's actually a military order, although given that we're talking about an empire with theocratic elements, there's definitely a religious angle to it.

I would have to do the Aurora patron from PotR...just because! I like it!

EDIT: Had a thought; with the Rabisu--Would "Dumbshow of Gorroc" perhaps do more damage to it? It does have salt in the description:

Haven't read through all of it yet, but from what I've seen so far the book is great! The first thing I'm using is the patron system. My PCs are currently on the elemental plane of air, and the patron system seems like it would work great in a floating djinni city.

I'm working on a review of this book and the map issue is my main criticism. There are definite inconsistencies between the text and the map. However, like Rysky, you can hand wave those away as close enough to get the job done.

Still would like to see a real nice map that corrects the small errors like the really pretty ones that can occasionally be found in an AP Map Folio. Perhaps an Adventure Path set primarily in Qadira/Kelesh is called for.

:)

I would love both a map folio and an AP in Qadira/Kelesh. Hopefully someday!

Jessica Price wrote:

nighttree wrote:

So Jessica, because I'm smitten by the Ashiftah and want to develop a build. What Patron's/Hexes would you say are most thematically appropriate ?

Also is this an organized order/cult ?

Any patron, really, though I'd go with the more mysterious/cosmic/trickery ones, like trickery, time, storms, etc.

I'd do the Deathcall hex, and Misfortune, definitely.

It's not a cult--it's actually a military order, although given that we're talking about an empire with theocratic elements, there's definitely a religious angle to it.

How old do you have to be before they let you join the Ashiftah School for Cruel Badassery?

Kelesh's mandatory military service requirement starts at 18. :-)

Jessica Price wrote:

nighttree wrote:

So Jessica, because I'm smitten by the Ashiftah and want to develop a build. What Patron's/Hexes would you say are most thematically appropriate ?

Also is this an organized order/cult ?

Any patron, really, though I'd go with the more mysterious/cosmic/trickery ones, like trickery, time, storms, etc.

I'd do the Deathcall hex, and Misfortune, definitely.

It's not a cult--it's actually a military order, although given that we're talking about an empire with theocratic elements, there's definitely a religious angle to it.

I would have to do the Aurora patron from PotR...just because! I like it!

EDIT: Had a thought; with the Rabisu--Would "Dumbshow of Gorroc" perhaps do more damage to it? It does have salt in the description:
** spoiler omitted **

Sure -- anything with salt will do the trick.

Haven't read through all of it yet, but from what I've seen so far the book is great! The first thing I'm using is the patron system. My PCs are currently on the elemental plane of air, and the patron system seems like it would work great in a floating djinni city.

That'd be perfect. :-) There has been a lot of cultural exchange between the Keleshites and various genie civilizations.

Rysky wrote:

Jessica Price wrote:

nighttree wrote:

So Jessica, because I'm smitten by the Ashiftah and want to develop a build. What Patron's/Hexes would you say are most thematically appropriate ?

Also is this an organized order/cult ?

Any patron, really, though I'd go with the more mysterious/cosmic/trickery ones, like trickery, time, storms, etc.

I'd do the Deathcall hex, and Misfortune, definitely.

It's not a cult--it's actually a military order, although given that we're talking about an empire with theocratic elements, there's definitely a religious angle to it.

How old do you have to be before they let you join the Ashiftah School for Cruel Badassery?

Kelesh's mandatory military service requirement starts at 18. :-)

Sweeeeeetttttttttt.

Jessica Price wrote:

Rysky wrote:

Jessica Price wrote:

nighttree wrote:

So Jessica, because I'm smitten by the Ashiftah and want to develop a build. What Patron's/Hexes would you say are most thematically appropriate ?

Also is this an organized order/cult ?

Any patron, really, though I'd go with the more mysterious/cosmic/trickery ones, like trickery, time, storms, etc.

I'd do the Deathcall hex, and Misfortune, definitely.

It's not a cult--it's actually a military order, although given that we're talking about an empire with theocratic elements, there's definitely a religious angle to it.

How old do you have to be before they let you join the Ashiftah School for Cruel Badassery?

Kelesh's mandatory military service requirement starts at 18. :-)

Sweeeeeetttttttttt.

Also, I'll go and read over my copy again when I get the chance but is there any alternative to mandatory military service, such as public service instead?

Not in Qadira. :-)

"Military service" doesn't have to mean combat, however, especially in the rest of Kelesh.

*nods*

I forgot what country it was but it has either mandatory military service or you can work in a Hospital or as a firefighter.

Fourshadow wrote:

Jessica Price wrote:

nighttree wrote:

So Jessica, because I'm smitten by the Ashiftah and want to develop a build. What Patron's/Hexes would you say are most thematically appropriate ?

Also is this an organized order/cult ?

Any patron, really, though I'd go with the more mysterious/cosmic/trickery ones, like trickery, time, storms, etc.

I'd do the Deathcall hex, and Misfortune, definitely.

It's not a cult--it's actually a military order, although given that we're talking about an empire with theocratic elements, there's definitely a religious angle to it.

I would have to do the Aurora patron from PotR...just because! I like it!

EDIT: Had a thought; with the Rabisu--Would "Dumbshow of Gorroc" perhaps do more damage to it? It does have salt in the description:
** spoiler omitted **

Sure -- anything with salt will do the trick.

I'm going Space Patron....looks like it could be fun....

As an aside Jessica....this has been stuck in my head since reading the Ashifta....and it's all your fault :P

Dear Jessica,

I love this product. Will there be more information on the cults that appear in Quadira or is that more of a Kelesh book?

This is a great book with a lot interesting new tadbits about how Qadira and the greater empire Kelesh relates to Avistan, but was anyone else surprised that Nirmathas of all places apparently has a prejudice against Keleshites? Given just how far they are from Qadira and how removed they seem to be from any possible threats of Keleshite imperialism you'd think they'd be indifferent. Plus, the world book says something about them being pretty focused on someone's actions rather than their race or ethnic origins.

This is a great book with a lot interesting new tadbits about how Qadira and the greater empire Kelesh relates to Avistan, but was anyone else surprised that Nirmathas of all places apparently has a prejudice against Keleshites? Given just how far they are from Qadira and how removed they seem to be from any possible threats of Keleshite imperialism you'd think they'd be indifferent. Plus, the world book says something about them being pretty focused on someone's actions rather than their race or ethnic origins.

Nirmathas is super-suspicious of empires. If you're of Keleshite descent and you don't maintain ties with Kelesh, they're fine with you, in theory. But if you do, they're keeping an eye on you. Of course, people being what they are, that distinction isn't always foremost in people's minds when they're dealing with suspicion.

Another bit of map errata: The map of Qadira has a city named Sedaq, which apparently should be Sedeq.

Hatavit (in Tapur) is shown INSIDE the SOUTHERN Tapur Forest.

Both older maps show it clearly to be outside the NORTHERN Tapur Forest, the descriptive text on page 41 says: "Haavit, a lumber camp OUTSIDE the Northern Tapur Forest..."

Whoever did the map must have been asleep on the job...

The rest (Jessicas stuff) is really great, but the poor map quality made me give 4 stars in my review.

Whoever did the map must have been asleep on the job...

I'm willing to bet it's much more complicated than "I'll do this bit, you do the map". I suspect there are lots of moving parts, lots of interactions and back-and-forth between author, developer, cartographer, graphic designers, layout people...

Clearly something went wrong here and it's a shame. It's unlikely to have been someone taking insufficient care though - it's just that with the massive number of maps Paizo produce, there'll be an odd glitch.

Looking for a little clarity on why the map of Katheer in Qadira: Gateway to the East (PZO9406) and Qadira: Jewel of the East (PZO9299) are so different in layout.

Specifically, the absence of the Azure Canal and the semi-circle of the Port of Katheer in the earlier book. Additionally, why change the old city areas of the early book into "ruins"? I know the text in Jewel does mention that some of the ruins are still the old city. Opportunity to do more as a GM and rely less on Paizo for details, I suppose.

Does the book provide any more information on that one abandoned city in Qadira whose population were all turned into gnolls long ago? For that matter, is that old curse still around and capable of giving unwary PCs a hairy surprise?

Does the book provide any more information on that one abandoned city in Qadira whose population were all turned into gnolls long ago?

Pretty sure I saw a section on it, yeah.

For that matter, is that old curse still around and capable of giving unwary PCs a hairy surprise?

There's nothing that says it is... but there's nothing that says it's not. >:)

Looking for a little clarity on why the map of Katheer in Qadira: Gateway to the East (PZO9406) and Qadira: Jewel of the East (PZO9299) are so different in layout.

Not that this answers why, and with the caveat that maps of Golarion are usually considered flexible in canon and can change over time, here are a couple of lists of differences between the Gateway and Jewel maps:

For almost every marker shared in common between the maps, the markers in Jewel are 0-20 miles east and 0-30 miles north or south of their location in Gateway, but there's no common amount of drift between the maps. The only point in nearly the same location on both maps is Shadun.

For scale, I overlaid the Gateway map over the Jewel map and used the Gateway map's scale. For reference, that scale suggests that Zhonar and Zhobl are 30 miles apart.

At the risk of diverting this important discussion about the placement of...places, I'm hoping someone can give me a rough outline of the patron system, and whether they think it is any good...None of the reviews are very detailed on this aspect of the product...

So, as far as things extending further east on the map, the map itself extends further east than it did in the Player Companion.

As far as the misspellings, consider what's in the text correct as opposed to what's on the maps.

(Or write it off with the idea that vowels aren't terribly important. :-) )

Does the book provide any more information on that one abandoned city in Qadira whose population were all turned into gnolls long ago? For that matter, is that old curse still around and capable of giving unwary PCs a hairy surprise?

The city of Shadun (in the southern Zho Mountains)is detailed on page 52 and gets more than half of the page. It´s inhabitants are called Sa´tun. ;-)

At the risk of diverting this important discussion about the placement of...places, I'm hoping someone can give me a rough outline of the patron system, and whether they think it is any good...None of the reviews are very detailed on this aspect of the product...

The patronage system is explained on pages 20-23.

It´s a great way for the GM to give players quests.

I'm hoping someone can give me a rough outline of the patron system, and whether they think it is any good.

I think it’s terrific. I like it because it’s a nice mechanical way to distinguish between being in Kelesh and being in Avistan/Garund. As Marco says, without patronage you’re pretty much never going to get anything significant done in Kelesh (as opposed to more traditional fantasy where being heroes is good enough to get you in to see the king’s advisors).

Certainly for one of my players, having a mechanical gizmo to track is what makes stuff like that real to him. His eyes tend to glaze over when the king waxes lyrical about what great heroes the party are and how the kingdom is in their debt. Gaining some clout to spend with a royal patron is something he can write on his character sheet and engage with the plot in the way that means something to him.

Essentially you can have one or more patrons and that relationship can be with the group as a whole or with an individual PC. There are a variety of statistics:

• Category (like religious patron, an academic patron or a tribal patron) – the category affects what they can help you with and the ways you can help them
  
• Affiliation – contacts your patron has that you might be able to get access to
  
• Rank – how powerful your patron is within society
  
• Disposition – how much your patron likes you. Are you just a ‘hanger on’ or does your patron consider they owe you something?
  
• Clout – the ‘currency’ of patronage. You can earn clout with your patron by doing things for them and making them look good. You can spend it on goodies/access/etcetera and it’s a way to get introductions to new patrons of greater rank.

Whilst I like the fact it's Kelesh-flavored, I think it wouldn't take much to port the subsystem to any kind of setting where you wanted to model a complicated social structure with lots of interconnections and where favors and introductions are another form of currency.

Thanks Steve and Marco. And thanks Steve for the detail!

I was a bit disappointed by a straight border all the way on the right were the inner sea map ends. I always assumed Qadira and Taldor had some land in Casmaron.