I wasn't really sure if this should go in GameMastery or in Pathfinder Chronicles. Well I figured what the heck and put it here. A quick search didn't reveal anything similar so I'm sorry if I just missed it.
Question: What kind of stuff that currently doesn't appear on Pathfinder/GMM/PC coming products do you want to see?
My ideas:
Just some thoughts.
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My suggestion are for Pathfinder Chronicles
I really like what WofC did for 3.0/3.5 Forgotten realms supplements. I think it would be great if Paizo could duplicate that. It does not have to be a 160 page hardcover, but that would be nice :). Softcovers at 64 or 96 pages are a good length. 48 pages or less feels skimpy.
Specifically:
1) Regional books with background (culture & climate stuff), player options (feats, skills, PrC's, other flavor stuff), region specific monsters, bad guys, sample encounters, mini adventures, more detailed regional maps..
2) Book of villians/evil organizations....'nuff said on that. You can not have good guys/heroes without bad guys. Expanded details on the more infamous bad guys, complete with lair, minions, sample encounters etc...
3) Ancient empires/history/myths/legends
4) Exapanded pathfinder journals/fluff novels
5) Monster books - Old monsters with Pathfinder flavor, a monster manual with the new monsters (for example, when the new monster number hits ~300, its time for a book)
6) Book of mini dungeons/famous (infamous) locations. Basically something similar to Mysteries of Moonsea.
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8
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'Tales from the Rusty Dragon'. I imagine that to get the half-priced room at the Rusty Dragon, you've got to tell your 'story of adventure' not just to Ameiko but to the whole place. I know a lot of people want to see novels coming out for the iconics or expanded from the pathfinder journal idea, but I would love to see a book of short stories written by various and sundry Paizomaniacs as told in the Rusty Dragon. :-)
The #1 Pathfinder Chonicles thing I would want is a Dieties and Demigods type book with some Manual of the Planes thrown in.
I know each religion is being covered one at a time in Pathfinder but this would be great.
The Gods and Planes can be covered in one book.
If they cant and there is extensive planes info I dont mind 2 seperate books :)
In depth geography information a la Kingdom of Kalamar atlas: detailed regional maps, climate, trade goods and routes, that kind of thing.
A collection of detailed hamlets, thorps, villages, small towns. Not role-playing detail but maps, lists of businesses, local industry, local government, guards, militia, religious buildings, fairs, markets, etc. I can add my own adventure hooks.
Similar stuff on a "national" level - economy, aristocracy, standing military, etc. Gary Gygax was great at this stuff...
Specifically:
1) Regional books with background (culture & climate stuff), player options (feats, skills, PrC's, other flavor stuff), region specific monsters, bad guys, sample encounters, mini adventures, more detailed regional maps..2) Book of villians/evil organizations....'nuff said on that. You can not have good guys/heroes without bad guys. Expanded details on the more infamous bad guys, complete with lair, minions, sample encounters etc...
These I agree with, but with some modifications:
1) Region books that are not ... Small Area books. Region books that focus on a single country or even a single city, while they can really flesh out a single small location, they can also be to limited in their focus. Recommended comparison books: Exalted's Compass of Terresterial Direction series. Each covers a large region (North, South, West, etc). These books have very broad appeal and sell well to the entire fanbase.
2) Book of Orginizations. Give players a reason to buy it as well. Making it villain/evil only, makes it a GMs supplement for the most part. And not categorizing an orginization as "good" or "evil" but instead an orginization that does some good things and some not so nice things makes for much better for plot hooks. Add in orginization specific PrCs/feats and people for players to look up to can add alot to flesh out a world.
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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If you are going to do a regional setting book, I would have a preference for something in the format of the Silver Marches FRCS accessory rather than the Mysteries of the Moonsea format. The former had 1,000 plot hooks with minimal detail plus a lot of regional information (plus a poster map!), while the latter was a loose series of mini-adventures.
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(snip)
2) Book of villians/evil organizations....'nuff said on that. You can not have good guys/heroes without bad guys. Expanded details on the more infamous bad guys, complete with lair, minions, sample encounters etc...These I agree with, but with some modifications:
(snip)
2) Book of Orginizations. Give players a reason to buy it as well. Making it villain/evil only, makes it a GMs supplement for the most part. And not categorizing an orginization as "good" or "evil" but instead an orginization that does some good things and some not so nice things makes for much better for plot hooks. Add in orginization specific PrCs/feats and people for players to look up to can add alot to flesh out a world.
Organizations book is the first thing I thought of. I lean to DMcCoy's position...a broad spectrum of organizations from around Golarian, not just evil groups.
The Golarian "Mars" analogue. With some rules for low/ 1/2 earth's gravity fraggin'.
If this is where PF's psionics end up, then I'm all for it. Though if it brought back that John Carter of Mars feeling I loved as a kid, that'd be ok too! Hey...see if that stuff is public domain yet! ;-)
The #1 Pathfinder Chonicles thing I would want is a Dieties and Demigods type book with some Manual of the Planes thrown in.
I know each religion is being covered one at a time in Pathfinder but this would be great.
The Gods and Planes can be covered in one book.
If they cant and there is extensive planes info I dont mind 2 seperate books :)
I whole heartedly second this.
Goblin Porn.
No, just kidding.
Goblin erotica.
Also, I want to see the Mars/Venus analogs. Either as supplements or as a whole new setting. I'm sure we'll have to wait quite some time on this, but that's ok.
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This is what I don't want, the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting.
Don't get me wrong, I love the book. It's beautiful. It made my Realms 3E. Did I mention it's beautiful and probably the finest book Wizards published?
But one thing went wrong for me, the Player's Guide to Forgotten Realms. When 3.5e hit, Wizards took all the crunch from the FRCS and put it in the Player's Guide, altering some of it just because they wanted to it, and reprinting other things from other 3.0 Realms books (like Races of Faerun.)
Now why was that bad? Well it's bad because I still need the FRCS. I still need Races. The Player's Guide added a third hardcover to my carrying needs with updated rules but brought none of the fluff.
Short version is. I don't mind carrying 3 books, I do mind carrying 3 books because book 1 and 2 were made useless game mechanics-wise by book 3. Don't take bits and pieces from a book and put it in another. Either reprint it all, or don't reprint it at all.
So in 3 years, when 4.5 or 4 Revised or 4 edition comes out, reprint your books in full, don't create patch books.
Side note, a monster collection is alright. I can use a monster manual without even playing a pathfinder game.
Yes. To paraphrase Mell Brooks; Pathfinder the Lunchbox! Pathfinder the Breakfast Cereal! The Pathfinder Wand of Burning Hands!
*Oooooooo...*
The kids love that one...
Seriously though. A monster book would be a big one for me, either the reimagined classics or wholy new ones. Although I'd prefer those two books be seperate. Make the classics' book be where you give descriptions of what's different about Golarion's beasties and maybe have a few stat blocks that use those new ideas.
I'm with the OP for what I'd like to see. Monsters are easily found (to me, at least), though admittedly finding GOOD monsters can be a bit more trying. I want to see new options for spells, new magic systems, and other player-related goodness. I know it's sometimes hard to do without power-creep or whatnot, but still something I like to read and mine for ideas.
I'm with the OP for what I'd like to see. Monsters are easily found (to me, at least), though admittedly finding GOOD monsters can be a bit more trying. I want to see new options for spells, new magic systems, and other player-related goodness. I know it's sometimes hard to do without power-creep or whatnot, but still something I like to read and mine for ideas.
I agree. I personally don't have a need for more and more monsters. One could tell an interesting story using only the monsters from the MM. I'd like to see more player options, spells, new base classes would be great, new PrCs would be good (the Spherewalker was very cool! How about a PrC for followers of Sarenrae?), class variants, alternate class features, feats, etc.
And I would second the idea of having a bunch of short side-trek adventures and mini-dungeons. I'd buy volume after volume of that sort of goodness.
And if we get more information on organizations, I wouldn't mind a few of them being really EVIL and a few of them being really GOOD. Shades of gray are fine and have a certain appeal, but sometimes I really want a conflict with very little moral ambiguity.
[Edit] Oh! And a POSTER MAP!
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The #1 Pathfinder Chonicles thing I would want is a Dieties and Demigods type book with some Manual of the Planes thrown in.
I know each religion is being covered one at a time in Pathfinder but this would be great.
The Gods and Planes can be covered in one book.
If they cant and there is extensive planes info I dont mind 2 seperate books :)
For me, a Pantheons book by itself does not get me excited about a book. My feeling is that this can be rolled up into the campaign setting book. Now if the Pantheons were added to Planes and something else (magic/spell guide, history, other mythos), that would be great. There has to be something else attached to get me to buy the book.
I am a big FR fan, but I never bought the FR Deities book, as I felt that everything I needed was in the campaign setting book.
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This is what I don't want, the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting.
Don't get me wrong, I love the book. It's beautiful. It made my Realms 3E. Did I mention it's beautiful and probably the finest book Wizards published?
But one thing went wrong for me, the Player's Guide to Forgotten Realms. When 3.5e hit, Wizards took all the crunch from the FRCS and put it in the Player's Guide, altering some of it just because they wanted to it, and reprinting other things from other 3.0 Realms books (like Races of Faerun.)
Now why was that bad? Well it's bad because I still need the FRCS. I still need Races. The Player's Guide added a third hardcover to my carrying needs with updated rules but brought none of the fluff.
Short version is. I don't mind carrying 3 books, I do mind carrying 3 books because book 1 and 2 were made useless game mechanics-wise by book 3. Don't take bits and pieces from a book and put it in another. Either reprint it all, or don't reprint it at all.
So in 3 years, when 4.5 or 4 Revised or 4 edition comes out, reprint your books in full, don't create patch books.
Side note, a monster collection is alright. I can use a monster manual without even playing a pathfinder game.
I think I am in agreement with you. I really liked the FRCS book, and if the Pathfinder CS looks like that, I will be really happy. However, when they came out with 3.5, I wish that Wizards had just republished the CS book with the new crunch and updated fluff. Flipping through multiple books to find the info you need and then checking it against errata is not efficient, especially during game play.
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I think I am in agreement with you. I really liked the FRCS book, and if the Pathfinder CS looks like that, I will be really happy. However, when they came out with 3.5, I wish that Wizards had just republished the CS book with the new crunch and updated fluff. Flipping through multiple books to find the info you need and then checking it against errata is not efficient, especially during game play.
WoTC's design philosophy was very much like the Winchester Mystery House (Wiki it). They just kept building and building never looking back. Pretty soon you had doors going to nowhere and staircases to nothing.
They never cared about a cohesive whole just getting the next book out the door.
Maps (because I love them) and more class options. I would stay away from PrCs because I think we already have a glut of them but more options for feats (regional, organizational, racial, class specific, etc.), skills (new application of skills, new interpretations of skills, and new skills), and class variants would be neat. Basically, more options for the base classes and races would be awesome.
I would like-
1.) Stuff on religions, gods, etc. I'm making due, but I always feel a hole in this department when running my game or even talking about the campaign setting with my group.
2.) More player options. Notice I didn't say PrC's. Paizo Editors and other posters have sold me on the idea that more PrC's aren't the answer, but Feats, Skills, Player Options to existing classes would be awesome. Again, my players scour books looking for something that feels like a good Pathfinder fit, I'd like to give them something kosher that isn't a PrC. Aaron also touched on this a few posts above mine.
After that it becomes tricky, because I think a lot of what I'd like will be coming in the Gazeteer and CS book
3.) Information on legendary places and legendary monsters and myths would be cool.
4.) Other planets. This is coming up way too often to be taken as a joke. People want to toy with psionics too, and this is a great way to introduce that stuff without necessarily contaminating the whole setting. GM's who don't like it can segment it off, while those who do can have it run rampant.
5.) Osirian, Cheliax, Absalom.. in approximately that order.
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I love all of the Pathfinder and GameMastery adventures so far. However, the GameMastery ones tend to be spotted all over the landscape with little connection between them. This is fine for now, as Pathfinder is keeping my players and I plenty busy. However, I would like to play some of the many GameMastery adventures that have been accumulating month-by-month.
The problem is that unless you roll up new characters for each session, you have to come up with some explanation of how the characters transported from adventure A to adventure B. As far as I can tell, Golarion doesn't have a Lightning Rail or series of StarGates. Maybe caravan, shipping and other routes will become apparent in upcoming Chronicles products, which will help. The Pathfinder association is one motivation for exploration missions from region to region, we need more examples like these to connect locations.
As time rolls on, this will likely become less of a problem, as some of these Points of Light will grow with further adventures and Chronicles support, as Darkmoon Vale seems to be.
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I've banged on in previous threads about more PC options and not having enough background or support for clerics other than Desna and Lamashtu who's articles have been printed in Pathfinder, so I'll echo Watcher and other's comments above.
I'm not anti-4E, because I haven't seen it yet. However, I do think rules-light is a cop-out. We're still playing 3.5, and will be at least until the conclusion of Second Darkness. By all means, make a business call on 3.5 vs 4E, but please don't neuter our products until you've made the announcement. Again, I've posted about this elsewhere, but I mention it again because I think it's relevant to this conversation.
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I have to agree with the call for more player options, but less reliance on prestige classes. Prestige classes are often too restrictive and difficult to attain, even for those who wish to aim for them. Prestige classes should be more broad in appeal, and easier to qualify for, otherwise, they take up too much printed space in comparison to the amount of use they'll see in-game.
I will note that I have never yet taken a prestige class - either I've never attained a high enough level to qualify for one, or when I have, I hadn't planned far enough in advance to have selected the required bab/skills/feats etc to qualify for the one I was interested in. So from that perspective, every prestige class ever written has just taken up printed space that could have been used for other character options.
I'd rather think of prestige classes as an extension of base classes. You take a base class for n levels, then branch into a prestige class if you're interested - it shouldn't be that difficult.
In this prestige class debate, what do people think of three- or five-level prestige classes? How many people have actually played a prestige class all the way to it's tenth level benefit?
Alternate class features, spells, animal companions etc, are generally much easier ways to customise a character.
Interesting new feats, while attractive, are often a difficult choice, as they compete for space, muscling out feats a character of your class/level would normally have taken.
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Definitely a 'Races' book.
And for the love of god make your own Catfolk race for Golarion.
Hell, just for James let's make an anthropomorphic velociraptor race; who needs Yuan-ti? =p
I believe Paizo have stated that they wish to retain a traditional feel with regards to Golarion races (eg, a human-centric world where dwarves, elves, gnomes, halflings, half-orcs can be found as minority races, and non-PHB races kept to a minimum).
Having said that, we're playing Rise of the Runelords with two Raptorans (Races of the Wild), a Tibbit (Dragon Compendium) and a Gnome. These races have blended well with the setting - Raptorans (winged elves) are favoured of Desna, and Tibbits (shapechanging cat/halfling) easily pass unnoticed in either form.
I love variant PC races, if they seem logical within the setting. I think Paizo could release a Races book, if the races were given a place in their setting. Variant PHB races or those that could pass easily as PHB races, would work well, and not seem out of place in the campaign - remaining hidden amongst the anonymity of large human cities, secluded in remote elven forests, fey ancestors of the gnomes, etc.
I have to cast my vote in for the Diety book. I don't a rats arse about the planes but th Big Bad Book of Dietys has to be a must.
How can Players play the myriad of priests that are out there if they don't know what they are, beyond their own DM's imaginings!!
That would then free up space in AP's to allow other groups to be profiled, such as merc units, Mage guilds, Assassins etc etc.
Just a thought......... NOW DO IT!!!
;)
I would like-
1.) Stuff on religions, gods, etc. I'm making due, but I always feel a hole in this department when running my game or even talking about the campaign setting with my group.
see i'm not alone!!!
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4.) Other planets. This is coming up way too often to be taken as a joke. People want to toy with psionics too, and this is a great way to introduce that stuff without necessarily contaminating the whole setting. GM's who don't like it can segment it off, while those who do can have it run rampant.
Paradigm Concepts recently released Arcanis: Psionics Unbound. It's basically a reprint of the Psionic Rules from the D20 SRD, but customised for their Arcanis setting. Eg psionic races not appearing in Arcanis are removed, additional base classes, revised feat/powers lists (eg many new, some deleted), completely replaced chapter of prestige classes, etc.
This is an excellent strategy for keeping the 3.5 psionic rules in print, alive and kicking, with additional fresh material, post 4E release. I could see Paizo doing something similar with psionic rules for their other planets campaign setting. Paizo are acclaimed for having re-invisioned classic SRD monsters, why not also re-invision SRD psionics?
I third the idea of side quests. I'd love to have a few more adventures to throw in there that are specific to Golarian but not necessarily part of the overall plot to fill out time when necessary.
I'd also like to see more props - more maps, more item cards, more of anything that is tangible and can be handed to a player.
A book on the Golarians religions would be nice. I'd love to see something in a similar format to GR's Book of the Righteous (which I think is the best gods/religion book ever).
(though, unlike others, I am happy to see Pathfinder specific PrCs).
I blame the glut of PrCs on WotC. Every complete book has 10,000 PrCs that are setting inspecific that never get used because they focus on a god, orginization, or other that you just don't have in your game.
So, IMO, PrCs that are specific to Pathfinder Chronicles, that builds on the setting are great ideas.
I will also put in a vote for a Player's Options book (though, unlike others, I am happy to see Pathfinder specific PrCs).
And just for the record, I'm not anti-prestige class, and I wouldn't want my comment to be taken as a vote against seeing them at all. This shouldn't be taken as a defensive remark, I just want to set the right tone for the opinion that I put forth.
A few months ago, I was clammouring for Prestige Classes too. I even started a thread on it I think. James Jacobs and Mike McArtor chimed in the group discussion (one of many) and they swayed me to reconsider the merits of using Prestige Classes as a 'catch-all' answer for players wanting campaign specific characters and customization options.
And they didn't come across as anti-prestige class either (though they're free to speak up and clarify). What I took from their posts was that the answer to character customization was not just to throw another prestige class at it, but that a Prestige Class was something that was really.. you know.. prestigous. Rare, special, hard to do, and something you didn't need a whole lot of to make a campaign seem special. It also kept balance issues in check.
Their suggestion was using feats, skills, and other options to customize.
But they never said more Prestige Classes were impossible or bad. And I've come to agree with them, I don't actually think a few more would hurt anything either.. But a valuable Player Resource would be customization options that didn't solely rely on PrC's.
Little things like Lashmatu's Mark feat, for example, adds a lot of style to Nualia. (I know my PC Cleric was jealous they didn't have a special feat!)
Another example, the Alternate Paladin options in Kobold Quarterly #2, specifically the Sword Bond, makes a tidy fit for a paladin of Iomedae.
There's ways to enhance without a PrC, and that's what I was getting at....
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I (and at least one of my players-my daughter) would love to see a book (or series of books) about the various Shaonti tribes, their histories and legends, cultural feats, fighting styles, maybe some "barbaric" alternate base or npc classes, etc.
Organizations and Cults of Golarion- the Red Mantis, Scarnetti, etc. would be a great addition to my DM library.
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I'm all for alternate levels, but I like prestige classes. Prestige classes are just the next evolution from AD&D's kits, and now they're going to become Paragon levels. I really don't see anything super special about them besides saying this is the style of fighter for this race.
Or does everyone believe an Elven Bladesinger is the same as a Dwarven Runic Warrior? Both are sword & sorcery type classes (well the dwarf is using an axe) but go about martial and arcane techniques in completely different ways.
As for feats, I don't believe feats are a way to distinguish one organization (or region's) warriors from another. Mainily because there are feat that every fighter is going to take and after 5th level fighters (in 3e anyway) either go one direction or another with their feat progression (unless they're going exotic in which case they're probably going to prestige and not remain a fighter.) None of the feats we've seen from the player guides really offer any extra flavor to the characters, they just offer a +1 that a character could completely go without since all of our characters already don't have them in non-Pathfinder games.
I will note that there are some feats out there that can "make" a character distinctive from everyone else... like Tomb-Tainted. Which reminds me, Tyralandi took a prestige classes didn't she? :)
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I (and at least one of my players-my daughter) would love to see a book (or series of books) about the various Shaonti tribes, their histories and legends, cultural feats, fighting styles, maybe some "barbaric" alternate base or npc classes, etc.
Organizations and Cults of Golarion- the Red Mantis, Scarnetti, etc. would be a great addition to my DM library.
All excellent ideas!
I vote for swimming against the tide, and releasing a book on Gnomes! That might attract disenfranchised Gnome players from 4E. Alien-thinking fey Gnomes, yeah!
I know Paizo have expressed keeping Golarion human-centric, and keeping to traditional PHB races, but we all love our variant races!
Some thoughts: how about detailing some distinctly Varisian PC races?
Who could resist Goblins as a PC race? Yeah, they'd be difficult to run in a regular civilised campaign, but some groups are already doing it - 'coz it's fun! Eberron has a goblin (ninja/assassin) available as one of it's Xen'drik fastplay character downloads. There will always be bullied goblins who flee their tribes looking for protection or a better way of life - what better than adventuring?
Lyrakien (Pathfinder#2 bestiary) or Lamias (a lesser version, perhaps) would make interesting (if rare) PC races.
Some players are going to want to play outside of the square, so how about giving them the tools to do so? They don't have to be promoted as "canon", but a book of "optional" races such as these might be interesting.
I'm sure as the Adventure Paths progress, other racial options will suggest themselves.