The Sandpoint Devil (the first new monster from Paizo) is a great example of how new monsters should be presented, not just a bunch of stats and an ecology entry, but some mystery behind it! Reading it was like reading a good horror short story, or watching The Blair Witch.
I imagined a party of adventurers wandering through the forest. One of them catches movement in his peripheral and turns to look seeing, just for a moment, the Sandpoint Devil. He tries to tell the others, but for some reason no sound will escape his throat, until well after the devil has passed. Now he knows, his fate is sealed... with DOOOOOM!!!!!!
Seriously it looks awesome. I assume it will have the Fear ability.
Oh, and the last rumor: "One of Many: The Sandpoint devil is sometimes seen in the company of other local legends and spooks, most commonly a white stag, the ghost of a young girl, and a zombie with missing feet."
It sounds like a Zogonia strip. ;-)
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I lived in New Jersey growing up and heard lots of stories about the Jersey Devil. It sounds like a lot of the Sandpoint Devil's story was directly lifted from the legends of the Jersey Devil, such as being born to a witch(supposedly the 13th child in some stories), the creature liking to haunt the burnt-out ruins of his old home, and the witch's name sounds awefully familiar.
I like it! Good job, Paizo!
FH
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Oh and BTW, as a kid in Jersey, I would go to summercamp and we would have midnight "hikes" to try to find traces of the Jersey Devil. They camp I went to even had an area in the woods with a burnt down building foundation that had rusty iron cauldrons, strange glass bottles, mysterious footprints like none known by mankind.....all after hearing 3-4 different stories about the Beast.
Spooky!
FH
The Blair Witch project wasn't "a good horror" anything...
But I do like the Sandpoint Devil, gives PC's a local boogeyman to root out when they're not involved with a major plot arc. I see downtime side trek.
-- Vrock ness monster
Let's not turn this thread into a debate on the merits (or lack thereof) of The Blair Witch. My point was just that _that_ movie is based on the idea of a spooky local legend with all of the tropes of the genre, so the story of the Sandpoint Devil is similar in its presentation.
Oh, and the last rumor: "One of Many: The Sandpoint devil is sometimes seen in the company of other local legends and spooks, most commonly a white stag, the ghost of a young girl, and a zombie with missing feet."
Well yay! Glad you like it! I grew up in creepy-ass Maryland (CAM for short), which is little more than a giant swamp in many places, so you can totally see where a lot of these urban legends and North American monster myths come from... and understand why I have an abiding fear of going outside.
As for the "Facts," they're all legit! Inspired almost wholly from actual reports and tales of the Jersey Devil, only a few details were changed to make them fit around Sandpoint. Even the other "spooks" thing.
New Englanders are weird.
(And as for the Blair Witch... might as well be a travelogue.)
New Englanders are weird.
Quoted for truth. Here in suburban Connecticut, we have the Pumpkinheads. I don't remember the particulars, but they're a bunch of hicks that have interbred with pumpkins or something and they haunt the backwoods of Shelton, Ct after haunted hay rides or something.
So, yeah, it's a good thing you guys went with the Jersey Devil, because the even more provincial ghost stories are a little less compelling. You go up the coast and the creativity wanes a little.
Creative Director
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The Blair Witch project wasn't "a good horror" anything...
But I do like the Sandpoint Devil, gives PC's a local boogeyman to root out when they're not involved with a major plot arc. I see downtime side trek.
-- Vrock ness monster
LIES! Blair Witch Project was BRILLIANT!
Ahem.
Anyway, yes. You can expect to see more monsters inspired by cryptozoology and similar sources in Pathfinders to come. And, in fact, since the subject came up... there's a little bit of the Blair Witch coming up too...
So, yeah, it's a good thing you guys went with the Jersey Devil, because the even more provincial ghost stories are a little less compelling. You go up the coast and the creativity wanes a little.
Or down the coast. In Northern Virginia, we had a serial killer called the Bunnyman. (No known relationship to Echo.) Yes, he would kill kids while dressed up as a bunny, either at Halloween or Easter, depending on the story. We even could drive past his "abandoned" house.
Please skip this particular urban legend, Paizo.
RPG Superstar 2013 Top 4, RPG Superstar 2011 Top 16
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LIES! Blair Witch Project was BRILLIANT!The Blair Witch project wasn't "a good horror" anything...
But I do like the Sandpoint Devil, gives PC's a local boogeyman to root out when they're not involved with a major plot arc. I see downtime side trek.
-- Vrock ness monster
If by BRILLIANT you mean TRITE and BORING... The Sci-Fi channel's special was better than the movie itself! Worst movie I've seen since City of Lost Children. It's story had potential but fell flat in execution.
I don't see that in Pathfinders future (however suspect your film tastes might be, j/k).
-- Vrock footage on the cutting room floor!
*Waiting for El Chupacabra*
Over Spring Break, my friends and I went to Albequerque. The altitude of the house we stayed at really messed with our heads, seeing as we're all born and raised in the flatlands of Illinois. We didn't realize what would happen if we drank a couple bottles of wine...and then went hunting for chupacabras.
We didn't find any.
Back to the topic, I like the Sandpoint devil stories too! Very neat and urban legendy.
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Oh and BTW, as a kid in Jersey, I would go to summercamp and we would have midnight "hikes" to try to find traces of the Jersey Devil. They camp I went to even had an area in the woods with a burnt down building foundation that had rusty iron cauldrons, strange glass bottles, mysterious footprints like none known by mankind.....all after hearing 3-4 different stories about the Beast.
Spooky!FH
You're lucky you didn't find one, all I gotta say.
Well, we have lots of ghost stories in the great lakes area of Ontario, Canada, but not a lot of cryptozoological legends.
When I was a kid there was a forest with a creek across from my elementary school (it was mine, I tell ya), and the scuttlebutt in the second grade was that an insane homeless clown lived in the forest where he killed children.
Now it's a sub-division. :-( My childhood just keeps getting paved over.
NEway... What other sort of cryptozoological-type nasties might we encounter in Varisia?
When I lived in England (yay being a military brat! :P), on the base we lived at there is an old Cistercian monastery. The story goes, a nun had an affair with a monk and she was walled up alive as she watched her lover being beheaded.
She is said to appear on the 17th of the month, and often visited the nursery when the monastery became a manor home (she was pregnant when she died).
Her lover is said to wander the banks of the River Ouse (just in front of the priory) looking for his head.
Well, we have lots of ghost stories in the great lakes area of Ontario, Canada, but not a lot of cryptozoological legends.
The same holds true for Louisiana. The only Crypto I am aware of is the our own brand of Skunk Ape/Bigfoot called the Honey Island Swamp Monster, though there are a few Bigfoot sightings across Louisiana.
On the Otherhand, we have many supernatural tales and ghost stories, thanks to the mix of Cajun and Native Amerian legends, as well as the influx of tales from other cultures through New Orleans (one of the oldest port cities in the US).
The Roux-Ga-Roux, or Rougarou, is a local version of the Loup-garou (which in some stories combine elements of werewolf and vampire). A similar creature called the Rugaru seems to be a mix of the werewolf and wendigo stories.
We also have our share of headless ghosts too.
LIES! Blair Witch Project was BRILLIANT!
If by BRILLIANT you mean TRITE and BORING...
Now, now girls, neither of you are pretty.
AHEM!
Regardless of James' questionable—and my impeccable—tastes, along with monsters inspired by our varied readings, viewings, and psychoses, you're definitely going to get the background on who, when, where, and what inspired elements of Pathfinder. Having a lot of space for a forward in each volume, expect little bits that otherwise might have been left on the cutting room floor (or internet obscurity), as well as just other cool facts that don't really go anywhere else... like maybe characters from literature and film that inspired certain NPCs, an iTunes soundtrack for the adventure path, or pictures of James while he's sleeping taken from the tree outside his bedroom window. You know, whatever fits with the issue.
Worst movie I've seen since City of Lost Children.
Oh no you didn't just...
You can use .22's on a chupacabra okay, but on a jersey devil, you sorta need a deer rifle.
Why... do... you... know this? 0_0
Come to think of it, I think we have a loch ness type monster in Ontario. Loke Ogopogo I believe.
In northern Ontario (and pretty much all the northern climes of Canada) as well as in some parts of the northwestern US there is the Wendigo, a very cool native legend.
Is there a northern climate in Varisia? Might we see a Wendigo?
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Contributor
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Come to think of it, I think we have a loch ness type monster in Ontario. Loke Ogopogo I believe.
Actually, Ogopogo is from BC.
There used to be rumours of a similar creature in Lake Ontario near Kinston, cleverly named "Kingstie," although many sitings were proven hoaxes, and several others are extremely questionable. But some of the stories do predate European settlement, and there were reports from early explorers as well.
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Creative Director
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Come to think of it, I think we have a loch ness type monster in Ontario. Loke Ogopogo I believe.
In northern Ontario (and pretty much all the northern climes of Canada) as well as in some parts of the northwestern US there is the Wendigo, a very cool native legend.
Is there a northern climate in Varisia? Might we see a Wendigo?
There will indeed be a wendigo in Rise of the Runelords. The wendigo happens to be one of my favorite legends, actually... Just saw a realy cool movie about them called "The Last Winter" too. Good stuff.
RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32
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When I was a kid, I was fortunate enough to spend some of my summer vacations on Indian Reservations in Northern Minnesota. They had some fascinating tales/beliefs about Wendigo.
The one I remember clearest, and the Native Americans were truly terrified of it - was of a vengeful spirit in the lake. They swore that a Wendigo lived in the lake, in one particular section where there were some fierce rapids and a small waterfall. Many people over the years (decades...centuries) had been seriously hurt or even killed going over this particular section of the lake on canoes. The guides we would get on our fishing trips refused, outright, to go anywhere near the spot regardless of how much we offered them. Being even remotely close to the spot would truly spook the guide, and we could sometimes catch them offering up a quiet prayer under their breath. It was pretty hairy.
So yeah, big time fascination with Wendigo - couldn't be happier that they'll be included in Pathfinder.
"The Last Winter"
Is this a new flick? I did a search for the title and came up with a children/family movie and one about female snowboarders...
I did a search for the title and came up with a children/family movie and one about female snowboarders
and either one would be better then Frostbiter: The Wrath of Wendigo :oP
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Creative Director
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The Last Winter showed here at the Seattle International Film Festival a couple of weeks ago. I'm not sure it'll ever get a larger release or go direct to DVD or what. It's a really good movie, though, but it's not what I would call "action packed" or "mass market palatable." The first comment on the IMDB page I link to up there says it best: it's part arctic documentary, part "Alive," and part "Jurassic Park."
Its got Ron Pearlman in it... it has to be good ;)
So happy to hear that a Wendigo will be haranguing woodland haunts in Varisia. Now those of us from the great white North should start advocating for the Loup Garou and Ogopogo!
And I agree that the Sandpoint Devil is a great little teaser. Creepy histories and conflicting reports are the way great monsters grow. Keep listening to local lore and the old tales for inspiration!
And I agree that the Sandpoint Devil is a great little teaser. Creepy histories and conflicting reports are the way great monsters grow. Keep listening to local lore and the old tales for inspiration!
Oh, there's a bunyip in the first Pathfinder too... forgot about that little guy since he's from the Tome of Horrors.
So happy to hear that a Wendigo will be haranguing woodland haunts in Varisia. Now those of us from the great white North should start advocating for the Loup Garou and Ogopogo!
And I agree that the Sandpoint Devil is a great little teaser. Creepy histories and conflicting reports are the way great monsters grow. Keep listening to local lore and the old tales for inspiration!
I have to admit to being curious about the differences between the Loup Garou and the more common werewolf legends. I know the legends changed to become the Rougarou here in Louisiana (for one, dogs, pigs, cows, and even chickens take the place of the animal form since wolves are not that common in the bayou country).
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New Englanders are weird.Quoted for truth. Here in suburban Connecticut, we have the Pumpkinheads. I don't remember the particulars, but they're a bunch of hicks that have interbred with pumpkins or something and they haunt the backwoods of Shelton, Ct after haunted hay rides or something.
Don't forget about CT's Little Peoples Village - "Located in the woods, on the side of an abandoned road (possibly old Waterbury Road), is a village of sorts, a number of very complex and detailed small stone houses standing about three to five feet high built into the hill. Some of the buildings are A framed, others are more traditional, they have the appearance that they are gutted and "condemned", inside of the little houses are elaborate room structures, staircases; pathways lead up hills through the woods to them, tiny pathways. The area is overgrown. Built into the side of a rock is a "thrown" a life sized chair of sorts with several symbols around it- the legend is that if you sit on it you will die in 7 years- this is only legend though. Next to the village itself is the ruins of an old stone house with iron bars on the window... very negative energy comes from here. In the evening the road to the village is so loaded with negative energy that it is virtually impossible to travel it... it is soundless and still. Legend is that there was a man and women who lived there and she was crazy and thought she was the Queen of the little people. She made her husband build her a thrown and all the little houses. Then she killed her husband and herself or he killed her and himself." - yeah thats about as imaginative as people are here in CT - all the imagination went to Mark Twain I guess
As a kid growing up here in the desert (Las Vegas, NV), I used to go on boy scouts camp outs in nearby Mt. Charleston and Valley of Fire (the first was your typical forested mountain, the latter was a colorful cluster of rocky canyons and tors-very pretty). Anyway, our scout leaders used to tell the best Indian ghost stories ever when we would camp out at Valley of Fire. Stuff to keep you awake all night. I wish I could remember 'em!
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When I was a kid, I was fortunate enough to spend some of my summer vacations on Indian Reservations in Northern Minnesota. They had some fascinating tales/beliefs about Wendigo.
The one I remember clearest, and the Native Americans were truly terrified of it - was of a vengeful spirit in the lake. They swore that a Wendigo lived in the lake, in one particular section where there were some fierce rapids and a small waterfall. Many people over the years (decades...centuries) had been seriously hurt or even killed going over this particular section of the lake on canoes. The guides we would get on our fishing trips refused, outright, to go anywhere near the spot regardless of how much we offered them. Being even remotely close to the spot would truly spook the guide, and we could sometimes catch them offering up a quiet prayer under their breath. It was pretty hairy.
So yeah, big time fascination with Wendigo - couldn't be happier that they'll be included in Pathfinder.
What I like was the Kensington rune stone. ;)
I wish I could remember 'em!
Our family used to go to Crane Pond and Minerva Lake (Upstate New York), and my Dad would tell the best stories. One of them was about these kids at summer camp, and how they'd get eaten by trees if they were caught alone in the woods at night. The roots would wrap around their ankles and drag them down underground.
I never forgot that story, and when I got older I used it as inspiration for... well, for D&D monsters. I added a beak at the center of the roots and made these "trees" into kraken-like plants. So far, these bad boys have claimed three PCs. Lovely.
I need to find a better state. All I'm aware of is Jackalopes and Snipes in South Dakota. Yeah, sure, there's Ghost Stories, but nothing really cool.
However, there was a true story (made the paper) that some fisherman pulled in a pirana from a local lake (forgot which one). It was pretty descent size as well, I'm going to say about 12". I'm sure some extremely intelligent person dumped his pets in the lake. Being the most agressive, it was the top of the food chain.
Off to Google to see if I'm just sheltered...
Ogopogo/Nessie/Champ/Etc. fans get a little love later on as well.
Sweet! It's nice to know our little lake critter Champy gets some respect ;)
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I was actually hoping for more along the lines of the "Forest Fauna" on page 7 of Hollow's last hope. The Giant Moorsnake is a great touch as well as the Razorcrow. These are things I look for in a setting. In Kansas we have the legend of the Jayhawk and of the Jackelope. I'd like to see more along this line.
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Creative Director
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I was actually hoping for more along the lines of the "Forest Fauna" on page 7 of Hollow's last hope. The Giant Moorsnake is a great touch as well as the Razorcrow. These are things I look for in a setting. In Kansas we have the legend of the Jayhawk and of the Jackelope. I'd like to see more along this line.
I'm pretty sure you'll be seeing more indeed on this line; the Varisia version is appearing in the Player's Guide to Rise of the Runelords (and actually showed up already in the sample PDF we put up on our blog a few days ago).
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I'm pretty sure you'll be seeing more indeed on this line; the Varisia version is appearing in the Player's Guide to Rise of the Runelords (and actually showed up already in the sample PDF we put up on our blog a few days ago).
I noticed that you had some of this in Bloodswornvale as well, any chance we will be seeing an Ecologies of Varisia book in a year or so?
Contributor
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I noticed that you had some of this in Bloodswornvale as well, any chance we will be seeing an Ecologies of Varisia book in a year or so?
What's probably more likely is that we'll include these sorts of things in a future campaign setting book. When said book comes out is as-of-yet unknown.
