I have been noting a host of questions about Pathfinder (and the Rise of the Runelords), saving them up for one post. Sorry if some of the questions better fit the Rise of the Runelords messageboard, but I thought it best to throw them all in the same post.
1. Timeline. I'm one of those who doesn't feel comfortable with 16 year old characters running around at about 15th level. I know the adventure paths so far have spanned everything from a few months to a couple of years (which I think STAP may take). Any idea on how long it will take in-game to finish Rise of the Runelords? Or how feasible it is to take a couple of years downtime in-between some of the modules?
2. Language/regions. One thing that has irked me for some time is the fact that communication in the current D&D world is far too simple for the time period that D&D simulates. It's probably much easier in the Realms or somewhere else to communicate with someone half the world away than it is in the real world. While I'm not expecting you to just drop the Common language altogether, it would have been great if you had included the Regions rule from FR, or at least had languages that covered specific regions. As this world is being developed over time, I understand it can be a little difficult, though.
3. Am I right to understand that the recommended playable races will be the "regular" ones from the PHB? Same for classes?
4. Will the information about Sandpoint, Varisia, etc. that you post as blog entries be included in Pathfinder / Player's Guide? I was thinking of copy + paste them for my own reference if not.
I could swear I had more questions..
Creative Director
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1. Timeline. I'm one of those who doesn't feel comfortable with 16 year old characters running around at about 15th level. I know the adventure paths so far have spanned everything from a few months to a couple of years (which I think STAP may take). Any idea on how long it will take in-game to finish Rise of the Runelords? Or how feasible it is to take a couple of years downtime in-between some of the modules?
Savage Tide does indeed expect several months to pass, but you can certainly do the adventure in less than a year. Yet there's nothing really preventing you from, for example, saying that several years pass between "Bullywug Gambit" and "Sea Wyvern's Wake," for example, or between "City of Broken Idols" and "Serpents of Scuttlecove." The point is, that rather than force a specific style of play into the adventure, it's better to let each GM determine how the adventure's overall timeline is paced. Rise of the Runelords, like all Adventure Paths, has a pretty tight plotline, but the timing of that plotline is left to you to decide. The mounting peril could be something that needs tending to in a matter of months, or it could be something that takes years and years to unfold. It's up to you. The actual plot of Rise of the Runelords is set against an encroaching winter that basically plays out during autumn and winter, thoguh, so I'm guessing that the normal in-game time that passes will be six months. Coincidently the amount of time it takes to release the six parts of the campaign. But again... there's plenty of places you can extend that timeline out.
2. Language/regions. One thing that has irked me for some time is the fact that communication in the current D&D world is far too simple for the time period that D&D simulates. It's probably much easier in the Realms or somewhere else to communicate with someone half the world away than it is in the real world. While I'm not expecting you to just drop the Common language altogether, it would have been great if you had included the Regions rule from FR, or at least had languages that covered specific regions. As this world is being developed over time, I understand it can be a little difficult, though.
Common remains the primary language, but there are going to be regional languages as well. You can certainly drop the Common tongue from your game, but that doesn't work for most D&D play styles; it adds an awkward and intrusive layer of complexity to the game that isn't as fun as it might seem on paper. Having each nation have its own coinage system that requires moneychanging as you cross borders into other nations is another great exampel of Too Much Realism. D&D isn't REALLY trying to emulate the middle ages, remember. The presence of magic, for one, throws things out of wack. And there's a LOT of modern sensebility in D&D; take gender roles, for example, or the fact that many of the locations in our world will have rugs on the floor (despite the fact that this concept didn't become a worldwide phenomenon until relatively recently in the real world).
3. Am I right to understand that the recommended playable races will be the "regular" ones from the PHB? Same for classes?
Yes. Pathfinder Adventure Paths expect the PCs to be humans, elves, dwarves, gnomes, halflings, half-elves, or half-orcs, and expect them to have levels in the 11 base classes. That same assumption is applied to the vast majority of the NPCs in the game world. Will there be tieflings and lizardfolk and aasimar and kobold NPCs? Absolutely. Can there be PCs who use races and classes from all over? Yes. Use what works best for you in your game.
4. Will the information about Sandpoint, Varisia, etc. that you post as blog entries be included in Pathfinder / Player's Guide? I was thinking of copy + paste them for my own reference if not.
Some of this information will be in the Rise of the Runelords Player's Guide, but the majority of it is going into Pathfinder itself.