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I can build a level 1 Thug that can do what a 15th level Rostland Bravo can do. It's not that I'm knocking the ability itself. It's a good ability, just not super good when your buddies are doing things like punching people across rooms, creating natural disasters, shuffling their allies around the field, temporarily raising the dead by the power of rock, and more. You, on the other hand, gain the ability to do something really cool...too late for it to be all that impressive, especially considering, as I said, a 1st level rogue with enforcer can do what you do, without having to full attack to do it. It'd be really awesome if it swapped out for something earlier. As is it's meh.what does the Rostland Bravo swashbuckler get?Not much. You drop the ability to use bucklers for dueling sword proficiency and gain a couple feats that you need to spend panache to us. At 11th you get a flurry like ability, and a few levels later you get...the Thug Rogue's level one ability.The Thug ability is just an enhancer on Intimidate, the Bravo gets to do it as part of their full attack, BIG difference.
Also, Feinting as a swift action, which I view as better for the Bravo than the standard Superior Feint since it takes a Standard Action to do so.
Except you can't, since Enforcer only works with nonlethal and is a Feat rather than a class ability.
Would it be cool to get it earlier? Yes, but you can say that for any class ability. It's a really awesome ability for a Swashbuckler so comparing it to a Bard temporarily raising the dead is a bit out there since if you wanted do that you wouldn't be playing a Swashbuckler, the abilities and classes are far too different.
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Ugh. Please don't tell me I have to rebuild my 14th level Lore Warden/Duelist. It just isn't worth the effort for a character that only gets to play once a year. He hasn't stolen the spotlight at any table he's played at. He's not ruining anybody else's fun.
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what does the Rostland Bravo swashbuckler get?Not much. You drop the ability to use bucklers for dueling sword proficiency and gain a couple feats that you need to spend panache to us. At 11th you get a flurry like ability, and a few levels later you get...the Thug Rogue's level one ability.
ooooohhhh... a aldori dueling sword swashbuckler...been waiting for something like that for awhile.
now i heard that's there's a new style line for dueling swords, what do they do? are they any good?
Anyone able to say what abilities the runesage archetype replaces?
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Anyone able to say what abilities the runesage archetype replaces?
Arcane Bond and Arcane School
Does the Cyphermage section do anything to help define "runemagic" any more than we have already seen, either specifically or through inference ?
Pretty Please :P
Anyone able to say what abilities the runesage archetype replaces?Arcane Bond and Arcane School
Are the runesage "specialist schools" anything like the Thassilonian sin magic schools?
The vigilante archetype changes the thematic of the vigilante identity from a voluntary costume swap to an involuntary debuff of sorts. It oozes flavor, and I love it.
Ohhh, is there anything else you can say about how that secret identity/"involuntary debuff" works? (While staying in the sneak preview realm of course.)
I'm playing a Grey Maiden in a campaign currently, and was planning on going Vigilante for a few levels, at next level, so I am really excited to get my hands on this.
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Basically whenever you get into a fight you have to make a Will save to avoid shifting into Gray Maiden mode (and unlike The Brute this is only a bad thing for your enemies), where you're very dispassionate.
The archetype reminds me a bit of Rorschach from The Watchmen.
Basically if you like Gray Maidens and/or are playing one you're gonna love this.
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If you think spoilers are bad then why is your previous paragraph full of spoilers?...
I really love the idea of this book but I'm bummed that such a cool campaign resource is full of spoilers.
Spoilers are bad by definition... Right? I'd go back and edit the post if I could, but really I don't see post nine million in a thread full of spoilers as qualifying.
Creative Director
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Spoilers are bad by definition... Right? I'd go back and edit the post if I could, but really I don't see post nine million in a thread full of spoilers as qualifying.If you think spoilers are bad then why is your previous paragraph full of spoilers?...
I really love the idea of this book but I'm bummed that such a cool campaign resource is full of spoilers.
From where I'm standing, spoilers are NOT bad by definition. A certain amount of spoilers helps to drive interest and intrigue those who've not yet been interested in something. It's the whole underlying purpose of "Next week" clips at the end of your favorite show or the trailers and previews for upcoming movies before the main feature.
Overdone, they can indeed ruin anticipation and surprises, but done just right they can inform you and tantalize you and tease you and, most importantly, let you know when something is of interest to you. I did my best in this book to keep those teasers and spoilers as light as possible without hampering the book's other goals. Whether or not I went too far or not far enough will vary depending on the reader, so the best I can do is try to hit the average.
Which does mean for some folks it'll go too far and ruin a game you haven't yet or are currently playing, and for that I apologize.
*doesn't mind spoilers for things he'll go see and get anyway*
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Obviously, this isn’t an in-depth review of this book given its release date. This is just my initial impression after skimming through it and reading several sections that caught my eye.
My Viewpoint: I run Pathfinder games that aren’t set in Golarion (I use Frog God Games’ awesome Lost Lands), so I’m used to lifting/scrubbing Golarion-specifics to use content in my Lost Lands campaigns. I frequently do this in with Pathfinder Companions as well as Campaign Setting material that I find useful.
I am not against Paizo removing the separation of rpg rules & Golarion-specific content. I’ve heard both James Jacobs & Eric Mona talk about in the Know Direction podcast how the division between RPG & campaign setting has become less distinct over the years and sometimes creates more trouble than it’s worth. I tend to agree.
First Impressions:
Per Paizo standards, this is a good book full of interesting content & organizations. Affiliation mechanics, archetypes, spells, feats, and items can all be easily modified from Golarion-specific to generic/other setting. However…
Despite the parallel James drew in the Know Direction podcast between Villain Codex and Adventurer’s Guide, I don’t think those are the books that should be compared. Yes, using Golarion organizations eliminates the need to create “generic” organizations. However, campaign-specific organizations and prestige classes in particular, are harder to re-skin than feats & archetypes. One of the advantages of archetypes is that it handles the generic/standard and allows the prestige class to be tailored more closely to the organization. All of these prestige classes succeed in this goal. But in doing, so they reinforce the division between campaign setting and rules rather than blur it.
Adventurer’s Guide should have been a Campaign Setting release. In viewing this book, I found myself drawing comparisons between two books: The Villain Codex and Inner Sea Gods.
The Villain Codex is full of content useful to players and GMs and requires no- or minimal- alteration for inclusion in any campaign. Similarly, while Inner Sea Gods is full of Golarion-specific deities, the religious themes are easily adapted or cherry-picked for inclusion in other settings.
Adventurer’s Guide IS a good book. But it’s a book that will probably get less use in my games than I anticipated. Villain Codex, on the other hand, was a book that far surpassed my expectations and saw immediate use in my campaigns. So, as the first “official” attempt to blur the lines of rules & setting, Adventurer’s Guide is a missed opportunity in my view.
Inner Sea Gods would have been a better entry for campaign-specific content into the RPG line. Most campaigns have gods that share aspects, portfolios, and other traits with the gods of the Golarion campaign, so despite appearing as campaign-specific as organizations, they are more portable.
Bottom line, Adventurer’s Guide, with its focus on campaign-specific organizations and prestige classes, is unlikely to convince those fighting against the inclusion of Golarion content in the RPG line, which is a shame.
The lorewarden I have right now is trying to become a Crimson Templar of Ragathiel, I am wondering if that is no longer a good way to get to that class with the changes. :(
Can anyone give some info on the Red Mantis alchemist archetype? I suspect it revolves around poisons. Looks like I'll have to rebuild my red mantis zealot warpriest, since they are now exclusively LE, maybe as an alchemist. I'd like to keep the whole red mantis theme going with him.
Your mutagen must be Dex-based. You get new discovery options, some of which comes with use restrictions (like no armor). Very small footprint, if I recall correctly.
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Finally got my PDF! Thoughts to come at some point.
Same here.
Nope. I gotta wait until May 31st...
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One thing I noticed about the Storm Dreamer Medium archetype is that it is the first Medium archetype by Paizo that does not modify the Spirit ability -- which suggests that it may potentially be combined with another Medium archetype. I will have to look this archetype over in more detail later to see if any such compatible archetype actually exists, unless of course somebody else beats me to it.
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If you are playing an aquatic race and use the mantis mode mutagen stuff, would that make you a mantis shrimp?
Only if you're small size. Otherwise you're a jumbo shrimp.
One thing I noticed about the Storm Dreamer Medium archetype is that it is the first Medium archetype by Paizo that does not modify the Spirit ability -- which suggests that it may potentially be combined with another Medium archetype. I will have to look this archetype over in more detail later to see if any such compatible archetype actually exists, unless of course somebody else beats me to it.
No such luck -- it appears that every existing Medium archetype replaces one or more of Spirit Surge, Haunt Channeler, Location Channel, or Connection Channel.
*doesn't mind spoilers for things he'll go see and get anyway*
Complete opposite I don't mind spoilers for things i'm never going to watch or read.
Would anyone mind giving information about the combat feats, please?
Reading the chapter on the Latern Bearers I remembered the recent Player Companion of Heroes of the Darklands and the Darklantern vigilante archetype. I know they were made around the same time so not much communication was done and the archetype seems to be set to prior to second darkness compared to the organization in this book.
Do any of the people at Paizo want to describe the Darklanterns role in this version of the organization or should I assume they play the role of informants, seekers of the redeemable, and smugglers of such individuals out of the Darklands?
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Reading the chapter on the Latern Bearers I remembered the recent Player Companion of Heroes of the Darklands and the Darklantern vigilante archetype. I know they were made around the same time so not much communication was done and the archetype seems to be set to prior to second darkness compared to the organization in this book.
Do any of the people at Paizo want to describe the Darklanterns role in this version of the organization or should I assume they play the role of informants, seekers of the redeemable, and smugglers of such individuals out of the Darklands?
I am not a Paizo employee. Obviously. But I wrote the Lantern Bearers section, so I might as well opine at length. It's basically what I do around here. ^_^
DISCLAIMER:
While its mechanical qualities are largely inoffensive, being mostly a change of racial traits, the darklantern's assumption of a chaotic evil alter-ego is at odds with the Lantern Bearers' newly-reinforced focus on purity and goodness. While the goals you describe are laudable, the Lantern Bearers would use less corrupt methods to accomplish them.
As such, my thought is that after the fall of the Winter Council, the darklanterns would be recalled by the Lantern Bearers and helped to purify their souls of the dark taint they had taken into themselves. (In mechanical terms, this would be represented by the retraining mechanics from Ultimate Campaign - either into normal vigilantes, or to another class entirely.) Having one or more darklanterns refuse to submit, either out of loyalty to the Council or because they had "gone native" among the drow, might make for an interesting story seed. Nevertheless, the Lantern Bearers would no longer stand for such tainted methods.
Alternatively, since the Winter Council created the darklanterns, the Lantern Bearers might be able to use documents and lore acquired during their fall to "purify" the darklantern transformation (allowing darklanterns to undergo the transformation without becoming chaotic evil). This might be accomplished with aid from surviving members of the Council - especially Perelir, whose goddess knows a thing or two about trickery and transformation.
Sad day, I was really looking forward to this one. Aside from the strategy guide, this is the only hardcover I have had to pass on.
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Rivethun spiritualist stuff:
Quick question. Does this book give any way for a Sorcerer to become a part of the Magaambya?
Quick question. Does this book give any way for a Sorcerer to become a part of the Magaambya?
If you mean qualify for the Magaambyan Arcanist prestige class, no.
The rules for affiliation are loose enough that a Sorcerer should have no trouble acquiring Magaambya affiliation.
May i ask what feats fall in the Red mantis section and roughly what they are about?
May i ask what feats fall in the Red mantis section and roughly what they are about?
That one is easy.
There are no feats in that section.
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So the Lantern bearers are less genocide-y in this? An earlier blog indicated that this was a depiction post-Second Darkness (an AP that involved a lantern bearer who was so murder-happy that, well...)
So... yes. ^_^
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So the Lantern bearers are less genocide-y in this? An earlier blog indicated that this was a depiction post-Second Darkness (an AP that involved a lantern bearer who was so murder-happy that, well...)
All of the organizations that are part of an AP, including the Lantern Bearers, are in a post-AP viewpoint, and taking to heart "lessons learned" during the AP plays a part. How well that fits any GM's campaign continuity depends on what happened, exactly, with that run-through. As I said before, these do make good resources for "Continuing the Campaign".
May i ask what feats fall in the Red mantis section and roughly what they are about?That one is easy.
There are no feats in that section.
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!
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Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!May i ask what feats fall in the Red mantis section and roughly what they are about?That one is easy.
There are no feats in that section.
This is going from highly anticipated.....to Meh pretty quickly based on the Cyphermage and RMA info I'm hearing....
I was mostly looking forward to those sections too, but ended up finding stuff I liked in other sections instead. Rivethun has some nice stuff in particular.
Glad to see some good positive reviews posted. Looking forward to getting my hardcopy!
Any noteworthy spells or feats?
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I really like the Grey Maiden feats (Initiate lets you select two from a bunch of different bonuses which is nice, and Unbreakable Fighters will love, moreso if they're already taking the Unbreakable Archetype), Diva Combat Style from the Silver Ravens sections looks fun too.
Like Doc Roc, I'm interested in any significant revisions or alluring additions to the Spells provided in this book.