Contributor
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2) What exactly is the First World like?
*shrug*
All I know is that it used to be where the fey lived, there's a rift to the First World in the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, and that for some reason people who go there are turned into undead.
That's pretty much all we know right now as well. ;)
Is it a Negative Energy plane now or what?
I don't think so.
3) In the issue of Pathfinder detailing dragons, it states that the dragons have lived on many different planets throughout time. Is this the same for related monsters like the Tatzlwyrm and the Wyvern, or are they specific to Golarion? And if so, how did they come about?
I would guess those are all native to Golarion. How they came about is unclear at the moment.
2) What exactly is the First World like? All I know is that it used to be where the fey lived, there's a rift to the First World in the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, and that for some reason people who go there are turned into undead. Is it a Negative Energy plane now or what?
I loved the hints about the First World, it was the source of much discussion between my wife and I, when we got the setting book. We decided that it's probably a cross between Lovecraft's Dreamlands and The Dreaming from WW's Changeling: The Dreaming.
This comes from our interpretation of the bits about Gnomes and an undying love of the concept of the dreaming. It can't be a negative plane as it's spitting out all those giants and beasts of legend. The whole 'visitors change to undead' thing is probably something either a) caused by an evil thingy that lives there or near by, or b) a sort of flesh maddening Lovecraftian effect of the First World.
I'd love to hear more about it though, and the other planets too. Come on guys - tell me we're wrong, if only to get some more juicy bits out of you!
Peace,
tfad
Creative Director
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My take on these questions:
1) What do the golems produced at the Magnimar Golemworks do? Would it be common-place in Magnimar to see a golem helping construction workers or being used to load supplies on a ship? Does Magnimar export golems to other cities?
The golems produced here are not really used for public works; there certainly aren't golems walking around all over he place in the city. The constructs produced by the Golemworks are mostly created for export to other VERY rich patrons, for the most part. Magnimar itself can't really finance the subsidization of a bunch of golems as a labor force.
2) What exactly is the First World like? All I know is that it used to be where the fey lived, there's a rift to the First World in the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, and that for some reason people who go there are turned into undead. Is it a Negative Energy plane now or what?
We haven't done much at all about what the First World is like; for now, we're keeping it deliberately mysterious. Not everyone who goes there turns undead, though, and the First World is not the Negative Energy Plane (we have one of those already). The mystery of why the rift in the Lands of the Linnorm Kings does that will have to remain a mystery for now (unless you the GM want to give it a reason, which is kinda what all these little world tidbits are for!). That said... there's not really THAT much Lovecraft in the First World, since we've got him doing stuff in other parts of our setting (particularly the Darklands and outer space). The weird fiction of Arthur Machen is a good place to go for inspiration about First World themes, though, particularly "The White People."
3) In the issue of Pathfinder detailing dragons, it states that the dragons have lived on many different planets throughout time. Is this the same for related monsters like the Tatzlwyrm and the Wyvern, or are they specific to Golarion? And if so, how did they come about?
I suspect that mostly refers to the true dragons. That said, there are certainly wyverns and other creatures of the dragon type (like the tatzelwyrm) in other worlds.
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Question 1}
I dunno about the Pathfinder design but everyone needs to go back to the Dungeon adventure, "Practical Magic." The argument the N necromancer makes for why his skelitons and such should be the chimney sweepers, lantern-lighters, brick layers, etc. is quite good...
even if the adventure is only average.
-W. E. Ray
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Creative Director
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I'm probably misunderstanding you here, but will there be parts of the Pathfinder setting that will never have official answers, parts that will always be left for a DM to "fill in the blank"?
Not on purpose, but yes. We aren't consciously setting aside a portion of the Inner Sea region to "never develop," like was attempted with Sembia in Forgotten Realms back in the day, simply because we don't know what we'll be into or wanting to do with Golarion 2, 5, or 10 years from now. But that said... there's really no way for us to ever cover every nook and cranny of the world. Parts will be left undeveloped and unanswered. Unfortunately, at this point, there's no really reliable way to predict what those parts will be. In a few years, I suspect we'll have a better answer.
4) I may be mistaken, but I remember reading about a "Merfolk Consortium" somewhere. How prominent is the consortium? Do merfolk routinely trade and interact with the people of coastal cities like Magnimar and Korvosa?
The merfolk and the gillmen (who are basically aquatic humans descended from Azlants) do indeed take part in trade with the air-breathing world, but that trade is primarily an Absalom thing. There's not much going on with aquatic races and Varisia. There'll be more info about them in the upcoming Campaign Setting hardcover.
Hey, it's still me. I just wanted to try out an alias.
The merfolk and the gillmen (who are basically aquatic humans descended from Azlants) do indeed take part in trade with the air-breathing world, but that trade is primarily an Absalom thing. There's not much going on with aquatic races and Varisia. There'll be more info about them in the upcoming Campaign Setting hardcover.
Gillmen, eh...
The WoTC Stormwrack supplement contains an aquatic human race called the aventi. I could use some of the aventi's material for the gillmen.
Gillmen, eh...The WoTC Stormwrack supplement contains an aquatic human race called the aventi. I could use some of the aventi's material for the gillmen.
Hm . . . that sounds familiar . . . ;)
Okay, got a few new questions for the Paizonian Gods:
5) Easy one first: Thaumaturges are the corrupted followers of demon lords. I know that the class is demon-themed and from another product, but could followers of devils become some sort of lawful Thaumaturge variant?
6) The issue of Pathinder dealing with the final battle with Karzoug mentions a powerful being called Mhar. Will Mhar be expanded upon in the Campaign Setting hardcover? If not, could you drop a few tidbits of info concerning it?
7) Pathfinder #1 mentions several interesting-sounding monsters in the Thassilon article: the scarlet walkers, inverted giants, and the Oliphaunt of Jandelay. Will the scarlet walkers and/or inverted giants make an appearance in the Pathfinder Bestiary, or better yet, the PRPG monster book? Also, is there any info of the fluff variety on the Oliphaunt of Jandelay? Is the Oliphaunt of Jandelay the Tarrasque of Pathfinder?
(BTW, please let me know if I'm bugging you with all these questions!)
The WoTC Stormwrack supplement contains an aquatic human race called the aventi. I could use some of the aventi's material for the gillmen.Besides the Aventi, there is also the Aquatic subrace rules in UA and the Sea Kin in RoD.
The Advanced Bestiary also has an amphibious creature template that could serve.
The Thaumaturge is from Green Ronin's "Book of Fiends."
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Okay, got a few new questions for the Paizonian Gods:5) Easy one first: Thaumaturges are the corrupted followers of demon lords. I know that the class is demon-themed and from another product, but could followers of devils become some sort of lawful Thaumaturge variant?
6) The issue of Pathinder dealing with the final battle with Karzoug mentions a powerful being called Mhar. Will Mhar be expanded upon in the Campaign Setting hardcover? If not, could you drop a few tidbits of info concerning it?
7) Pathfinder #1 mentions several interesting-sounding monsters in the Thassilon article: the scarlet walkers, inverted giants, and the Oliphaunt of Jandelay. Will the scarlet walkers and/or inverted giants make an appearance in the Pathfinder Bestiary, or better yet, the PRPG monster book? Also, is there any info of the fluff variety on the Oliphaunt of Jandelay? Is the Oliphaunt of Jandelay the Tarrasque of Pathfinder?
(BTW, please let me know if I'm bugging you with all these questions!)
Spoiler for PF#10:
Hmmm, interesting. I wonder if they'll alter the class any, given that the Thaumaturge's corruptions are supposed to represent the Abyss's energies warping the Thaumaturge's body.
.... The golems produced here are not really used for public works; there certainly aren't golems walking around all over he place in the city. The constructs produced by the Golemworks are mostly created for export to other VERY rich patrons, for the most part. Magnimar itself can't really finance the subsidization of a bunch of golems as a labor force.
Very cool concept. I was going to go with minor golems (animated armor from MMII, Wood Golem from Tome of Horrors, etc.) but I just love the idea of the Golemworks shipping out un-animated or partially enchanted golems and golem-parts under guard to undisclosed customers.
The money for those expensive components does have to go somewhere and just one golem can probably make jobs for dozens (if not hundreds) of workers getting the stuff sorted and in order to be sold as a "ready to use" component set. Just the components for one Clay Golem (over 20000 gp) represents over 100 man*year of skilled craftmen's work.
I'll make sure that when my party gets to Magnimar, they cross a set of carts hauling the huge iron body-parts and lead-lined crates under heavy guard from the Golemworks to an unamed destination.
It makes it more like an industry, mutch more realistic, more special craftmen and less high magic.
Thanks for the insperation!
there's not really THAT much Lovecraft in the First World, since we've got him doing stuff in other parts of our setting (particularly the Darklands and outer space).
Emphasis mine
This really is the most exciting part of Golarion - I can't wait to find out more! I'm hoping that those gates the Elves built to other planets only work 'when the stars are right'. That'd be so frikkin' cool....
The weird fiction of Arthur Machen is a good place to go for inspiration about First World themes, though, particularly "The White People."
Am off to check this guy out right away!
Peace,
tfad
This really is the most exciting part of Golarion - I can't wait to find out more! I'm hoping that those gates the Elves built to other planets only work 'when the stars are right'. That'd be so frikkin' cool...
In the first pages of the Gazetteer, they mention that the Azlanti supposedly had such gates that could reach the other planets in the sky, particularly Akiton (the Red Planet) and Castrovel (the Green World).
Giddy. The fact that there is even the hint of exploring other worlds satisfies my inner sci-fi geek (and my Spelljammer nostalgia).
I, for one, welcome our new gaming overlords.
I, for one, welcome our new gaming overlords.
Well we really should've expected them round about now. What with the stars all being in alignment and all....
;P
Yeah, it was the gazetteer that got me all excited about this. More spacey bits please! And Spelljammer rocks. Love it. :D
Peace,
tfad
I, for one, welcome our new gaming overlords.
Linkified. ;)
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Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
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This may be the wrong place to ask but will we ever see a mape of the wolrd with all the continents?
Probably, but not for a few more years. We're going to focus on the Inner Sea region exclusively at least through 2008 and 2009. After that we'll probably do something for Tian Xia, but there is no product currently on the schedule or under serious consideration that will include a complete map of the world.
--Erik
The weird fiction of Arthur Machen is a good place to go for inspiration about First World themes, though, particularly "The White People."
Machen was awesome. Especially "The Great God Pan". His work is one of the best inspirations for malign fey that you could find.
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Creative Director
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5) Easy one first: Thaumaturges are the corrupted followers of demon lords. I know that the class is demon-themed and from another product, but could followers of devils become some sort of lawful Thaumaturge variant?
This one's a little easy to get confused on, but there's 2 similarly-named classes here. The thaumaturge is a base class that's a demon-worshiping priest. The thaumaturgist is an SRD prestige class that boosts your monster summoning powers.
6) The issue of Pathinder dealing with the final battle with Karzoug mentions a powerful being called Mhar. Will Mhar be expanded upon in the Campaign Setting hardcover? If not, could you drop a few tidbits of info concerning it?
I don't believe Mhar is mentioned in the Campaign Setting hardcover. He's basically a Great Old One, Lovecraft style; think of him as a mountain-sized earth elemental, I guess. What he is and where he's from is purposefully left vague as a place for GMs to expand on as they see fit... we are unlikely to ever do much more with him... but we might.
7) Pathfinder #1 mentions several interesting-sounding monsters in the Thassilon article: the scarlet walkers, inverted giants, and the Oliphaunt of Jandelay. Will the scarlet walkers and/or inverted giants make an appearance in the Pathfinder Bestiary, or better yet, the PRPG monster book? Also, is there any info of the fluff variety on the Oliphaunt of Jandelay? Is the Oliphaunt of Jandelay the Tarrasque of Pathfinder?
Some day, yes, we'll do stat blocks for the scarlet walkers, the inverted giants, and even the Oliphaunt of Jandelay. They aren't on schedule yet, but some day we will. There's a picture of the Oliphaunt's face in Pathfinder 5, but we haven't done much more with him yet. He's not the tarrasque of Pahtfinder, though... the tarrasque IS in Golarion. The Oliphaunt is more like Cthulhu or one of the Great Old Ones; a near deity-like alien entity.
I, for one, welcome our new gaming overlords.
Linkified. ;)
I'd buy that t-shirt!
I, for one, welcome our new gaming overlords.
A year later, I randomly stumbled across this post. So awesome.