Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Taldor, the First Empire (PFRPG)

I hope the slight Byzantine influences for Taldor (I am aware there are Spanish influences and other ones too) might influence just a little bit how the artwork looks. One thing I really enjoy with Pathfinder books is both the high quality artwork and the high level of detail and thought on creating the distinctive attire that is worn by the figures depicted; which is really noticeable. Byzantine armour and clothing is very unique in that it is a fusion of Medieval European, Imperial Roman and Middle Eastern influences. I think personally that to draw a little bit of inspiration from something like that would be so cool and more iconic, rather than your run-of-the-mill generic stereotypical medieval armour. And it kind of makes sense given Taldor's geographical placement in the world, positioned between the continents of Avistan and Casmaron, and it's historical influences (local, Azlanti, Keleshite) that ultimately formed together and developed what would become Taldan culture.

Also I wonder, will the map of this book extend a bit further East into Casmaron, to show Taldor's eastern border? Like the Qadira book did for it's namesake? I wonder too how given that this is a fairly large country what kind of communities of demihuman races are around. But yeah either way, can't wait to get my hands on this. :p

Do we have a picture of Princess Eutropia yet? One of my characters is thinking of making a statue of her.

It seems there's an simple (though distasteful) solution to the inheritance problems. Elixer of sex shift is only 2250. Drink one, get crowned, drink another to switch back. I don't see the princess of Taldor having a problem rounding up 4500gp.

At least it's better than starting a civil war.

Do we have a picture of Princess Eutropia yet? One of my characters is thinking of making a statue of her.

It seems there's an simple (though distasteful) solution to the inheritance problems. Elixer of sex shift is only 2250. Drink one, get crowned, drink another to switch back. I don't see the princess of Taldor having a problem rounding up 4500gp.

At least it's better than starting a civil war.

Ooooooooor, instead of doing something very likely not to work and would start unrest or even a war afterwards anyway, f&!% the patriarchy.

thistledown wrote:

Do we have a picture of Princess Eutropia yet? One of my characters is thinking of making a statue of her.

It seems there's an simple (though distasteful) solution to the inheritance problems. Elixer of sex shift is only 2250. Drink one, get crowned, drink another to switch back. I don't see the princess of Taldor having a problem rounding up 4500gp.

At least it's better than starting a civil war.

Ooooooooor, instead of doing something very likely not to work and would start unrest or even a war afterwards anyway, f@$@ the patriarchy.

But I want a transsexual prince(ss)!

Rysky wrote:

thistledown wrote:

Do we have a picture of Princess Eutropia yet? One of my characters is thinking of making a statue of her.

It seems there's an simple (though distasteful) solution to the inheritance problems. Elixer of sex shift is only 2250. Drink one, get crowned, drink another to switch back. I don't see the princess of Taldor having a problem rounding up 4500gp.

At least it's better than starting a civil war.

Ooooooooor, instead of doing something very likely not to work and would start unrest or even a war afterwards anyway, f@$@ the patriarchy.

But I want a transsexual prince(ss)!

Okay, first up to let you know the term transsexual has fallen out of favor do to a host of reasons, transgender is not only the preferred term but infinitely more accurate ^w^

Secondly the above plan wouldn't make them Trans essentially, she might suffer Body Dysphoria while in a potion induced male boy but just chugging Sex Shift potions doesn't make oneself Trans, Genderfluid maybe. This is also running on the assumption that she is a cisgender woman, and not a trans man to begin with.

Note this is all from the viewpoint of someone who is cisgender who could be misunderstanding so I could be hella wrong.

I'm trans, and I'll back up what Rysky said. Of course, I too could be outranked by someone higher up the chain of command with more experience than me, but that is my understanding of the general opinion of the trans community.

(Also, I'm here to chuckle at the genderfluid pun.)

I just now realized that :3

I Blame Katina XD

Delightful wrote:

Rysky wrote:

thistledown wrote:

Do we have a picture of Princess Eutropia yet? One of my characters is thinking of making a statue of her.

It seems there's an simple (though distasteful) solution to the inheritance problems. Elixer of sex shift is only 2250. Drink one, get crowned, drink another to switch back. I don't see the princess of Taldor having a problem rounding up 4500gp.

At least it's better than starting a civil war.

Ooooooooor, instead of doing something very likely not to work and would start unrest or even a war afterwards anyway, f@$@ the patriarchy.

But I want a transsexual prince(ss)!

Okay, first up to let you know the term transsexual has fallen out of favor do to a host of reasons, transgender is not only the preferred term but infinitely more accurate ^w^

Secondly the above plan wouldn't make them Trans essentially, she might suffer Body Dysphoria while in a potion induced male boy but just chugging Sex Shift potions doesn't make oneself Trans, Genderfluid maybe. This is also running on the assumption that she is a cisgender woman, and not a trans man to begin with.

Note this is all from the viewpoint of someone who is cisgender who could be misunderstanding so I could be hella wrong.

Yeah, that term makes a lot more sense. Thanks for the info.

Anyways, I want a transgender prince!!!

I really want her to be a Bloodrager now.

With the Destined Bloodline, of course.

Some of the more magically-knowledgable nobles who don't want her to inherit the empire are kind of nervous about that fact.

A little off topic, but i don´t see where else i would write this:

It seems that we won´t get a Campaign Setting in january 2018, as all other monthly products for that month have been updated yesterday... ;-(

Looks like Eutropa will be a factor in the next AP ^_^

Umm....

Am I dreaming or did I.....

*Confused*

I think I need to lie down...

Good topic for a setting book to tie into the AP.
For a PFS nation/faction, Talodor has been ignored

Hail to the Princess!

Will we get an gazeteer for Oppara? I am planning to write a campaign located there (city campaign with lots of political intrigue) and could need information about the city. Princess Eutropia would be the most probable sponsor for the party.

*edit* <checks the messageboard for the first time in months>

Oh, come the hell on! ^^ How is Paizo now doing the campaign I've been thinking about for years? Well, it seems it won't be Oppara-centric, but instead span the whole of Taldor.

Hrm. Now I need to wait and modify my planned campaign, I guess.

Mag,

We still might get a gazeteer for Oppara. I mean before it burns...

Mag,

We still might get a gazeteer for Oppara. I mean before it burns...

I'd take it. City gazeteers are a huge help for preparing homebrewn campaigns.

Will we get an gazeteer for Oppara? I am planning to write a campaign located there (city campaign with lots of political intrigue) and could need information about the city. Princess Eutropia would be the most probable sponsor for the party.

You're probably already aware of this, but just in case: Taldor, Echoes of Glory has a fairly decent section on Oppara. It's obviously older, but it's there.

*edit* <checks the messageboard for the first time in months>

Oh, come the hell on! ^^ How is Paizo now doing the campaign I've been thinking about for years? Well, it seems it won't be Oppara-centric, but instead span the whole of Taldor.

Hrm. Now I need to wait and modify my planned campaign, I guess.

I have exactly the same thing. I am about to start this month a new campaign with the exact same plot -- details are different of course, but it's like if I'd only waited a little longer! (Though I'm excited to do my own homebrew campaign for the first time in a long time and then I can run WftC on PBP.)

You're probably already aware of this, but just in case: Taldor, Echoes of Glory has a fairly decent section on Oppara. It's obviously older, but it's there.

Actually I wasn't. I'm sure the new AP will also include a gazeteer, but if not I'll have to get the old book, I guess.

Good luck and much fun in your homebrewn campaign. :)

*forgot about about Echoes having a gaz of Oppera*

So, it was just mentioned in the Taldor AP thread that the notion is to slide away from any particularly Byzantine empire themed elements to Taldor over portraying it as akin to France under the Sun King. Wondering now if that's going to be the case for the campaign setting book as well. That's kind of a bummer for my part if so. I really liked all the resonance with the later era of the Eastern Roman Empire.

So, it was just mentioned in the Taldor AP thread that the notion is to slide away from any particularly Byzantine empire themed elements to Taldor over portraying it as akin to France under the Sun King. Wondering now if that's going to be the case for the campaign setting book as well. That's kind of a bummer for my part if so. I really liked all the resonance with the later era of the Eastern Roman Empire.

The three primary influences for Taldor are the Byzantine Empire, the British Empire, and 18th century France. Both the AP and the campaign setting book will emphasize all three of these. I'm not really sure where the idea that we'd be excising the Byzantine elements from originated, but it was likely a misinterpretation of something we said; it certainly didn't come straight from any of us working on the AP or CS project.

Woot! The First Empire remains a hot mess!

I find that as awesome here as I did in that other thread, thanks for clearing that up Mark.

(Having made several stabs at putting something of a sandboxy Taldor campaign together, I look forward to December a fair bit)

I just hope we get a little information on the Taldan rondelero fighting style in this book.

A little off topic, but i don´t see where else i would write this:

It seems that we won´t get a Campaign Setting in january 2018, as all other monthly products for that month have been updated yesterday... ;-(

Technically the campaign setting product for January will be the map folio for Ruins of Azlant.

I'm most interested in a "9th grade civics guide to Taldor". Think of the rough picture of the US government you might get in high school civics, there are three branches (here's the two sentence explanation of what each does), there is a bicameral legislature (here's the quick version of how members of Congress are elected), there's a federal system (here's the one paragraph version of how authority gets divided), there's a constitution (here are some of the more important amendments), etc...

What are the prefectures? Not just what are their names, but what *are* they? Do they have separate laws? Do they have some sort of formal check on the Emperor? What's the relationship between imperial power and local power?

What is the office of the Grand Prince? Are there lesser princes? What rights does the Grand Prince have? Does he answer to a council of nobles or is he an absolute monarch? Some emperors were literally elected by nobles of the right rank.

What role do the churches play in society? What political factions are there in Taldor? What issues do they fight about? Taxes? War with Qadira? Changing cultural norms?

How does Taldan law get made?

Etc... Etc...

What I don't want are a bunch of feats for some sexy new Taldan fighting technique, new Taldor themed spells and archetypes, a hyper detailed write up one or two towns, and no idea of how their government and society works at the macro level.

I would like it if the book explained why the Grand Prince title can only be inherited by men yet the rest of Taldan culture doesn't allude to any other sexist traditions or laws. I mean, the Pathfinder wiki says there's been quite a lot of female generals and other Taldan women in high levels of authority so Eutropia getting screwed over seems odd, kind of like Erastil being sexist in the early AP's.

I would like it if the book explained why the Grand Prince title can only be inherited by men yet the rest of Taldan culture doesn't allude to any other sexist traditions or laws. I mean, the Pathfinder wiki says there's been quite a lot of female generals and other Taldan women in high levels of authority so Eutropia getting screwed over seems odd, kind of like Erastil being sexist in the early AP's.

That's not exactly unusual. Japan, an arguably progressive country, is a hereditary monarchy with women excluded from succession.

Delightful wrote:

I would like it if the book explained why the Grand Prince title can only be inherited by men yet the rest of Taldan culture doesn't allude to any other sexist traditions or laws. I mean, the Pathfinder wiki says there's been quite a lot of female generals and other Taldan women in high levels of authority so Eutropia getting screwed over seems odd, kind of like Erastil being sexist in the early AP's.

That's not exactly unusual. Japan, an arguably progressive country, is a hereditary monarchy with women excluded from succession.

That's true. I still just want an explanation why. Irrisen, Holomog and the Drow all have reasons why their matriarchal and explicitly mention that they are.

Delightful wrote:

I would like it if the book explained why the Grand Prince title can only be inherited by men yet the rest of Taldan culture doesn't allude to any other sexist traditions or laws. I mean, the Pathfinder wiki says there's been quite a lot of female generals and other Taldan women in high levels of authority so Eutropia getting screwed over seems odd, kind of like Erastil being sexist in the early AP's.

That's not exactly unusual. Japan, an arguably progressive country, is a hereditary monarchy with women excluded from succession.

same for the UK until a few years ago

same for the UK until a few years ago

Well, not exactly. See, for instance, the current monarch.

In Japan, Queen Elizabeth would not even have been in the line of succession, no matter how far down the list

Delightful wrote:

I would like it if the book explained why the Grand Prince title can only be inherited by men yet the rest of Taldan culture doesn't allude to any other sexist traditions or laws. I mean, the Pathfinder wiki says there's been quite a lot of female generals and other Taldan women in high levels of authority so Eutropia getting screwed over seems odd, kind of like Erastil being sexist in the early AP's.

That's not exactly unusual. Japan, an arguably progressive country, is a hereditary monarchy with women excluded from succession.

I've never seen anyone argue that Japan treats women equally and was frankly amazed to see it suggested they're arguably progressive here. And indeed, the 2016 Global Gender Gap Report, an annual exercise by the World Economic Forum, ranks Japan 111 out of 144 countries.

Gorbacz wrote:

Delightful wrote:

I would like it if the book explained why the Grand Prince title can only be inherited by men yet the rest of Taldan culture doesn't allude to any other sexist traditions or laws. I mean, the Pathfinder wiki says there's been quite a lot of female generals and other Taldan women in high levels of authority so Eutropia getting screwed over seems odd, kind of like Erastil being sexist in the early AP's.

That's not exactly unusual. Japan, an arguably progressive country, is a hereditary monarchy with women excluded from succession.

I've never seen anyone argue that Japan treats women equally and was frankly amazed to see it suggested they're arguably progressive here. And indeed, the 2016 Global Gender Gap Report, an annual exercise by the World Economic Forum, ranks Japan 111 out of 144 countries.

So, what was the paid maternity leave in the US of A again?

Plausible Pseudonym wrote:

Gorbacz wrote:

Delightful wrote:

I would like it if the book explained why the Grand Prince title can only be inherited by men yet the rest of Taldan culture doesn't allude to any other sexist traditions or laws. I mean, the Pathfinder wiki says there's been quite a lot of female generals and other Taldan women in high levels of authority so Eutropia getting screwed over seems odd, kind of like Erastil being sexist in the early AP's.

That's not exactly unusual. Japan, an arguably progressive country, is a hereditary monarchy with women excluded from succession.

I've never seen anyone argue that Japan treats women equally and was frankly amazed to see it suggested they're arguably progressive here. And indeed, the 2016 Global Gender Gap Report, an annual exercise by the World Economic Forum, ranks Japan 111 out of 144 countries.

So, what was the paid maternity leave in the US of A again?

The law provides fathers and mothers the same amount of time off. Equality!

And it compares favorably to our school girl tentacle porn and groping on the subway rates.

Gorbacz wrote:

Plausible Pseudonym wrote:

Gorbacz wrote:

Delightful wrote:

I would like it if the book explained why the Grand Prince title can only be inherited by men yet the rest of Taldan culture doesn't allude to any other sexist traditions or laws. I mean, the Pathfinder wiki says there's been quite a lot of female generals and other Taldan women in high levels of authority so Eutropia getting screwed over seems odd, kind of like Erastil being sexist in the early AP's.

That's not exactly unusual. Japan, an arguably progressive country, is a hereditary monarchy with women excluded from succession.

I've never seen anyone argue that Japan treats women equally and was frankly amazed to see it suggested they're arguably progressive here. And indeed, the 2016 Global Gender Gap Report, an annual exercise by the World Economic Forum, ranks Japan 111 out of 144 countries.

So, what was the paid maternity leave in the US of A again?

The law provides fathers and mothers the same amount of time off. Equality!

And it compares favorably to our school girl tentacle porn and groping on the subway rates.

I'm sure tentacle porn is responsible for the wage gap, too.

Plausible Pseudonym wrote:

Gorbacz wrote:

Plausible Pseudonym wrote:

I've never seen anyone argue that Japan treats women equally and was frankly amazed to see it suggested they're arguably progressive here. And indeed, the 2016 Global Gender Gap Report, an annual exercise by the World Economic Forum, ranks Japan 111 out of 144 countries.

So, what was the paid maternity leave in the US of A again?

The law provides fathers and mothers the same amount of time off. Equality!

And it compares favorably to our school girl tentacle porn and groping on the subway rates.

I'm sure tentacle porn is responsible for the wage gap, too.

I don't know, why do you think Japan has a larger wage gap than the US?

magnuskn wrote:

Plausible Pseudonym wrote:

Gorbacz wrote:

Plausible Pseudonym wrote:

I've never seen anyone argue that Japan treats women equally and was frankly amazed to see it suggested they're arguably progressive here. And indeed, the 2016 Global Gender Gap Report, an annual exercise by the World Economic Forum, ranks Japan 111 out of 144 countries.

So, what was the paid maternity leave in the US of A again?

The law provides fathers and mothers the same amount of time off. Equality!

And it compares favorably to our school girl tentacle porn and groping on the subway rates.

I'm sure tentacle porn is responsible for the wage gap, too.

I don't know, why do you think Japan has a larger wage gap than the US?

Clearly because of tentacle porn. It's the only explanation which makes any sense. Why else even mention it in relation to economical questions like the wage gap and maternity leave?

Ok folks. Let's take the real-world discussion elsewhere. This is a product page, and it should remain on topic.

How much info will this have about Taldor's golden age? I'd like to see a map of the empire in its greatest extent?
Also, will this have any info on any overseas colonies?

How much info will this have about Taldor's golden age? I'd like to see a map of the empire in its greatest extent?

Ooh, for a nation that is kind of stuck reliving it's glory days, that might be totally sensible. Maps on walls would never get around to being updated to note that Cheliax and Andoran, for example, are no longer parts of Taldor (or titles reflecting that the ruler is still ruler of Cheliax and Andoran, even if that hasn't been true for ages, just like the ruler of England used to be called the ruler of Canada and Australia, even if they really had no authority there).

ohhhhh, it would be nice to have a noble claiming they are a count or countess of somewhere right in the middle of Andoran.

Also, I hope we get a hierarchy of titles like the one in the Cheliax book.

Paladinosaur wrote:

How much info will this have about Taldor's golden age? I'd like to see a map of the empire in its greatest extent?

Ooh, for a nation that is kind of stuck reliving it's glory days, that might be totally sensible. Maps on walls would never get around to being updated to note that Cheliax and Andoran, for example, are no longer parts of Taldor (or titles reflecting that the ruler is still ruler of Cheliax and Andoran, even if that hasn't been true for ages, just like the ruler of England used to be called the ruler of Canada and Australia, even if they really had no authority there).

used to be? they still technically are - the queen is their head of state, that's why they've got a prime minister and not a president

Will this book have any monsters and/or NPC stats?

This book follows the familiar format of our other nation-focused Campaign Setting books.

Set wrote:

Paladinosaur wrote:

How much info will this have about Taldor's golden age? I'd like to see a map of the empire in its greatest extent?

Ooh, for a nation that is kind of stuck reliving it's glory days, that might be totally sensible. Maps on walls would never get around to being updated to note that Cheliax and Andoran, for example, are no longer parts of Taldor (or titles reflecting that the ruler is still ruler of Cheliax and Andoran, even if that hasn't been true for ages, just like the ruler of England used to be called the ruler of Canada and Australia, even if they really had no authority there).

used to be? they still technically are - the queen is their head of state, that's why they've got a prime minister and not a president

On April 17, 1982, Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau signed Canada's Proclamation of the Constitution Act, 1982.[3][4][5][6] The proclamation confirmed that Canada had formally assumed authority over its constitution, the final step to full sovereignty.[7][8][9]

Cool, thanks for the info Mr. Daigle:)

Updated with final cover image and description!

The updated cover only seems to show up when you click on the image.

Edit: Nevermind, fixed now.