Given that Hemothurges seem to me to be more a feature of Golarion, rather than an actual specific group or organization with combined overall goals or affiliations, I'm wondering how appropriate would it be for them to continue to feature in a 'Lesser Groups' section of the revised Campaign Setting? Would it be possible to give them a single page entry to themselves?
Charles Evans 25 wrote: Given that Hemothurges seem to me to be more a feature of Golarion, rather than an actual specific group or organization with combined overall goals or affiliations, I'm wondering how appropriate would it be for them to continue to feature in a 'Lesser Groups' section of the revised Campaign Setting? Would it be possible to give them a single page entry to themselves?
They're not big enough to be anything more than a Lesser Group when it comes to the big picture of the campaign setting, though. And the factions chapter in the current book is already pretty solid (although the Aspis Consortium will be getting their second page back); there's no real need to expand that chapter dramatically. (And with all of the nations expanding to 4 pages, and with all the crunch stuff we're adding in, there's no room to expand this chapter anyway...)
(getting a little out of sequence to look at the Time & Space pages)
P. 238 Arodus wrote: ...Last Sunday: Silverglazer Sunday (Andoran)... Rova wrote: ...First Sunday: Silverglazer Sunday (Andoran)... Does Andoran have two Silverglazer Sundays then? I cannot see any information on this event in a quick glance over of the Andoran entry in Chapter 2. In the absence of further information it seems to me that the balance of probability is that Silverglazer Sunday is the first sunday in Rova and that the preceding sunday at the end of Arodus is a Goblin Flea Market day in Andoran, as with the last sundays for each of the preceding three months.
P. 239 Neth wrote: ...23: Seven Veils... With a festival name like 'seven veils' I would expect it to be a festival specifically of the church of Sivanah, but no such link is indicated.
Triaxus, the Wanderer wrote: ...Triaxus's oribt sends it... 'oribt' should be 'orbit'?
As a general comment on the Time and Space pages, I cannot find the specifics given anywhere in the entry of precisely how many days each month has in the Absalom Reckoning. The implication seems to be that this Golarion calendar approximates to the most widely spread Earth calendar, except that the leap-day falls in the Golarion equivalent of August; BUT on page 238 'leap day' is given as the 31st of Arodus - it seems to me that if the Absalom reckoning calendar followed the Earth equivalent in other respects then leap day should be the 32nd Arodus, since Arodus already has 31 days normally.
I cannot find any mention of the length of the Golarion lunar month, either, nor indeed any statement of how many moons Golarion has. This information may be important for campaigns featuring lycanthropes and seems an odd omission.
Hmm... if there's info missing about the moon, that's unfortunate. FORTUNATELY the time is right to fix it!
Golarion has 1 moon, in any event. It's roughly the same size and distance from the world as our moon, and has the same lunar month. No one at Paizo is smart enough to figure out how things like tides change if this weren't the case.
P. 200 The World wrote: ...The current year is 4708 AR (Absalom Reckoning). As the calendar advances in the real world, time also marches forward in the world of Golarion. This book was published in the year 2008, with Golarion's corresponding year ending in the same digit... As a comment, it might be useful to give some serious thought to just how does progression of Golarion time equate to real world time? Saying 'it's the same' invites pressure to produce regular updates of the timeline producing an official version of in which order modules slot in, how long it takes them to play out, and how they are officially assumed to end in Golarion. I know with regard to the two-and-a-half Varisian adventure paths (the latter stages of Second Darkness plays out elsewhere, after all... :) ) there have already been questions occasionally on the boards about 'which officially happen before the others?' and that Paizo have been reluctant to clarify, because that may put some GMs under pressure to 'run them in order'.
With regard to the revision of the Campaign Setting, since it's going to be published in 2010, the section I quote (which says 2008) is going to need at least some adjustment.
Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
With Charles mentioning the Time & Space chapter: will we get a more complete calendar this time, i.e. how many days each month has for example? I really miss that information.
Zaister wrote: With Charles mentioning the Time & Space chapter: will we get a more complete calendar this time, i.e. how many days each month has for example? I really miss that information. Yup! Also: Descriptions of what each holiday actually IS!
Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
James Jacobs wrote: Zaister wrote: With Charles mentioning the Time & Space chapter: will we get a more complete calendar this time, i.e. how many days each month has for example? I really miss that information. Yup! Also: Descriptions of what each holiday actually IS! Cool!
Age of Darkness wrote: ...-5293 Earthfall. The Starstone tumbles to Golarion, creating the Inner Sea and kicking off a thousand years of darkness. Azlant and Thassilon destroyed. Elves depart Golarion... Age of Destiny wrote: ...-1281 Taldor founded by descendants of Lost Azlant and indigenous primitive humans... Question:
How did people of Azlant manage to retain their racial & cultural identity for close to 4,000 years? My point here is that the foundation of Taldor statement is like saying the first US states were founded by the descendants of Ancient Rome - only after an intervening period three or four times as long. Some of the people who founded the first US states may have been descended from ancient romans, but after Ancient Rome had fallen, their ancestors became part of a number of other nations and cultures.
It seems to me it might be reasonable for several generations after Azlant was destroyed for people descended from survivors to think of themselves as descendants of that nation, but at some point during the four thousand years after the destruction of their homeland (unless a great hero like Aroden protected a colony hidden away somewhere that outlasted Azlant but retained it's identity and heritage for a long time???) I would think the people themselves would stop thinking of themselves as 'descendants of Azlant' and start being Jistkans or subjects of the Linnorm Kings or whatever else.
Comment:
The -5293 entry lends itself to a reading that the Starstone was the entirety of the Earthfall event, which if I understand correctly from other sources was not the case - the Starstone was only a part of the Killer Meteorites of Doom Shower which fell short of the target. I'm not sure if the -5293 entry on the timeline can be rephrased easily though to avoid accidentally creating this impression.
By the way, when do the Lands of the Linnorm Kings start getting organised as such? I note that in -473 one of their leaders founds Valenhall, so I assume that the Lands of the Linnorm Kings are to some extent established and organised by this point, but I can find no mention of a date for their origins, and their territory does not appear to geographically correspond to that for any 'known' Lost Empires indicated on the map marked on Page 223.
P. 201
Age of Enthronement wrote: ...2089 Taldor's Sixth Army of Exploration loses Worldbreaker to the Gorilla King in disastrous Battle of Nagisa, within the jungles of the Mwangi Expanse... 'in disastrous Battle of Nagisa' should be 'in the disastrous Battle of Nagisa'?
Query:
Is the 'Gorilla King' intended to refer to the leader of the Spawn of Anghazan (see the Mwangi Expanse entry, page 104) of that era? If so, was his title just 'Gorilla King' back then? I note that the current title (again see the Mwangi Expanse entry) appears to be the 'Silverback King', not the 'Gorilla King'.
There have been multiple Gorilla Kings. They're created by a magical artifact called the totem of Angazhan that basically kills the person who touches it and then reincarnates them as a gorilla. The name "Silverback King" is a curious inclusion that likely resulted from a writer using the wrong word and an editor not catching it, in any event; it's synonymous with Gorilla King.
James Jacobs wrote: There have been multiple Gorilla Kings. They're created by a magical artifact called the totem of Angazhan that basically kills the person who touches it and then reincarnates them as a gorilla. The name "Silverback King" is a curious inclusion that likely resulted from a writer using the wrong word and an editor not catching it, in any event; it's synonymous with Gorilla King. A title affected by just the current one (or maybe given to just the current one by explorers); maybe because of unusual coloration this time?
Edit:
Maybe if the 'Gorilla King' is the general title (like 'president of the United States') the 'Silverback King' is a specific identifier/nickname (like 'George Washington' or 'Bill Clinton')?
Charles Evans 25 wrote: James Jacobs wrote: There have been multiple Gorilla Kings. They're created by a magical artifact called the totem of Angazhan that basically kills the person who touches it and then reincarnates them as a gorilla. The name "Silverback King" is a curious inclusion that likely resulted from a writer using the wrong word and an editor not catching it, in any event; it's synonymous with Gorilla King. A title affected by just the current one (or maybe given to just the current one by explorers); maybe because of unusual coloration this time?
Edit:
Maybe if the 'Gorilla King' is the general title (like 'president of the United States') the 'Silverback King' is a specific identifier/nickname (like 'George Washington' or 'Bill Clinton')?
I'll probably just change "Silverback King" to "Gorilla King," honestly, because it's less unnecessarily complicated. And I suspect it's what the original author intended in the first place but just got his words mixed up.
The founding of the kingdom of Druma appears to be undocumented. Given Druma's location, might it have originally been a protectorate of the dwarven lords of the Five Kings Mountains, which achieved independence at some point after the dwarves started feuding in 1571? The first mention on the timeline I can find of Druma is 2133, when Taldor establishes Isger to facilitate trade with Druma.
The rise of the prophets of Kalistrade in Druma, when they establish peace amongst the dwarves of the Five Kings Mountains with 'The Kerse Accord' in 2332 (page 72) is absent from the main timeline on page 202 by the way.
P. 57 Secret Signs wrote: ...You can communicate with your allies using a secret set of hand signs forged in the fierce political battles of Absalom...
...Also if you choose to aid another with a skill check, you grant a +4 bonus with a successful check, rather than the normal +2...
I'm not sure that I see the logic of being good at a set of hand signs being any assistance to allies who don't know them, or, for that matter for physical activities such as rock-climbing or swimming. (Especially if your hands are occupied with other things, such as clutching desperately onto a rock face.)
Would this aid another boost be better if this were a teamwork feat under the Advanced Player's handbook rules we saw in the playtest, and maybe applying to only a subset of the Charisma skills where secret communication which does not alert someone else who doesn't have the feat might be useful?
Hmm. Minor nitpick I missed mentioning back on page 2 of this thread, I think...
P. 84
Jalmeray wrote: ... and set anchor in the wave-ravaged harbor of Niswan. Hundreds of Vudrani rajahs embarked upon Jalmeray... 'embarked upon' usually implies setting off to do something or, in the case of ships, getting on them, not getting off them onto dry land.
Even if the rajahs are setting out on a quest to remove the Arclords, the fact that getting off ships is involved probably makes 'embarked upon' not the best choice of words here, and if the intention is simply to indicate that they were getting off their ships, 'disembarked onto' seems to me to be what should have been used... :)
Some reminders/references for things on the timeline which may need targetting for adjustment/elimination...
Alkenstar gun & bombard references:
P. 201 1903 AR (gunworks), 2009 AR & 2089 AR ('Worldbreaker' bombard)
P. 203 4450 AR ('Great Maw of Rovagug' bombard)
Other reference:
P. 202 3537 AR (Slohr tramples Arthfell Forest)
P. 202 Age of Enthronement wrote: ... 3574 Taldor launches the Shining Crusade against the Whispering Tyrant.
3801 The Shining Crusade secures a beachhead on the northern shore of Lake Encarthan, in Ustalav...
Is this actually correct? That they were fighting for well over forty years (assuming it took jut a few years to mobilise) before they established a beachhead? Why, given the mounting loss of lives, the spiralling material costs, and the crushing demoralisation of successive failed assaults didn't the populace of any countries involved in the attacks against the Whispering Tyrant overthrow their rulers, or at least force the abandonment of such a futile war?
If Taldor and any allies did actually take most of those 47 years mobilising and not fighting, then why didn't the Whispering Tyrant notice them planning to invade and make sure they couldn't land in the first place, or launch a pre-emptive strike even? Or, by hiring the Red Mantis to take care of a few crucial political leaders and military staff couldn't he have caused the crusade to fall apart before it started?
In fact why did the leaders of Taldor not simply hire the Red Mantis to take down the Whispering Tyrant, or was the Whispering Tyrant actually a legitimately crowned king?
There does not appear to be any mention on the timeline of when Lastwall seceded from Taldor. (No date is given in the Lastwall entry, but there is some indication it was round about the time that Cheliax declared itself independent, fragmenting the Taldan empire.)
There don't seem to be any dates on the timeline (or in chapter 2 for that matter) for the progression of Sarkoris' transformation into the area now known as the Worldwound.
As a matter of curiousity, does the demonic archmagess, Vahedifar Ayeshalmoutey, mentioned in the Worldwound entry back in chapter 2 aspire to potential Abyssal lord status? What happens to the Worldwound (and to Golarion in general for that matter) if Vahedifar or another powerful fiend becomes an Abyssal lord with the Worldwound as their turf? Does the whole of Golarion get sucked into the Abyss, just the Worldwound area (which might be pretty bad in and of itself) or nothing much (except maybe the Worldwound gets a lot more difficult to 'put straight' unless the new lord is killed off first)?
Further Alkenstar reference on the timeline:
P. 203 Timeline wrote: ... 4680 Alkenstar completes the Bridge of the Gods, one of the modern world's most impressive engineering wonders... First cast iron bridge in the west since the Earthfall?
Sarkoris seems to be surprisingly little referenced in the Campaign Setting, given the extensive area it once covered according to the map on page 223.
There is some mention of it in the Worldwound chapter, but given that the area it once covered (before the demons invaded and then the crusaders took it back) included where modern day Mendev is too, it seems unusual that there are no mentions of Sarkoris in the Mendev entry. Surely once the crusaders removed the demons from what was once the eastern part of Sarkoris, some of the exiles/wanderers displaced by the demons would have come back to their old homelands in what was now Mendev? What about possible tensions between the old orders of those who may have claimed lordship in Sarkoris and the new ones of the crusader kingdom?
Sarkoris seems to be oddly absent from the timeline too, not even a date for when the Worldwound first started to fester and spread across it being given.
APPENDIX D
The following seems to me to be a matter of some urgency:
Appendix D (page 252-253) contains some charts for random encounters for the 3.5 system and references monsters, occasionally from various modules or copies of Pathfinder, which were also designed for the 3.5 system.
It strikes me that not all the regular monsters listed in the charts in Appendix D may have made the first bestiary, and that it is certain that monsters from the modules will not have done so.
It also seems likely to me that some of the 3.5 monsters referenced in the charts, despite the backwards compatability of PFRPG will not run quite so smoothly in PFRPG without revision.
If they are to be retained, it seems to me that these charts will either need to be heavily revised, or should be supported by the forthcoming bestiary II.
Appendix B:
Assuming that they are meant to be there to complete the set of pronunciations for minor deities and demon lords, it seems to me likely that 'Abraxus - a BRAHK zuhs' (page 246) and 'Sivhana - siv AHN ah' (page 247) are incorrect spellings of Abraxas and Sivanah respectively. The pronunciations listed may be incorrect too if these represent changes to the names of these figures which occured during development and are not just typos.
'Erebus', the third layer of Hell appears to be missing from the pronunciation list too - the inclusion of this in a revised Campaign Setting seems doubly desirable in the context that Pathfinder #25 is titled 'Bastards of Erebus'.
Appendix B (cont.):
Also on the subject of appendix B, how to pronounce a lot of the national capitals of countries detailed in the setting seems to be information which is missing. I did briefly wonder if maybe pronunciation of capital cities could be included in the entry for the respective country, but that runs the risk of starting to fragment pronunciation information rather than having it all usefully collected in one place. Likewise removing pronunciation altogether from the Campaign Setting and making it a freely available web enhancement would reduce the accessibility of it to those whose primary resource *is* a print version of the book.
How to pronounce the following continents is information which is missing:
Arcadia
Casmaron
Sarusan
Information on how to pronounce the following geographical features which I feel are sufficiently important to the setting as to merit attention is missing:
(The Isle of) Kortos
(The Pit of) Gormuz
The Isle of Kortos is where Absalom is located, and as such a feature of some interest in the Inner Sea (and to Pathfinders) and the Pit of Gormuz is where the spawn of Rovagug sporadically emerge from to devastate the world. I have also seen the Pit of Gormuz used as a reference point, in the manner of '...xxx is the biggest/greatest/etc'est yyy west of the Pit of Gormuz'.
Finally, on a sort of related note, I noticed that the capital of Isger (Elidir) does have information on pronunciation given, whereas the confusingly similarly named capital of Saragava (Eleder) does not have information on pronunciation given.
I'm not quite sure if anything needs doing here, but I thought it worth raising the fact that you have two similarly named capital cities (one of a current Chelish province, the other of a former Chelish colony) in the setting and only one gets pronunciation attention.
Charles Evans 25 wrote: APPENDIX D
The following seems to me to be a matter of some urgency:
Appendix D (page 252-253) contains some charts for random encounters for the 3.5 system and references monsters, occasionally from various modules or copies of Pathfinder, which were also designed for the 3.5 system.
It strikes me that not all the regular monsters listed in the charts in Appendix D may have made the first bestiary, and that it is certain that monsters from the modules will not have done so.
It also seems likely to me that some of the 3.5 monsters referenced in the charts, despite the backwards compatability of PFRPG will not run quite so smoothly in PFRPG without revision.
If they are to be retained, it seems to me that these charts will either need to be heavily revised, or should be supported by the forthcoming bestiary II.
Appendix D is going away. There's wandering monster charts in the Bestiary now, so there's less of a need for these charts in the core setting. Problem solved! :)
Charles Evans 25 wrote: Appendix B:
Assuming that they are meant to be there to complete the set of pronunciations for minor deities and demon lords, it seems to me likely that 'Abraxus - a BRAHK zuhs' (page 246) and 'Sivhana - siv AHN ah' (page 247) are incorrect spellings of Abraxas and Sivanah respectively. The pronunciations listed may be incorrect too if these represent changes to the names of these figures which occured during development and are not just typos.
'Erebus', the third layer of Hell appears to be missing from the pronunciation list too - the inclusion of this in a revised Campaign Setting seems doubly desirable in the context that Pathfinder #25 is titled 'Bastards of Erebus'.
Appendix B is also going away. Sort of. We'll be incorporating word pronunciations into the main text when we deem it necessary, and might retain the whole pronunciation index online as a resource... but it's kind of wasted space that only ever came to be in the first place because we weren't that good at figuring out how many pages things needed to be and ended up with some extra room.
In fact... ALL of the appendixes are going away. They're all more or less unnecessary for the book, and that space is better used, in my opinion, providing more crunch for the world in the form of monsters, feats, spells, magic items, and artifacts.
Hmm. On the topic of spells, given that all the main Golarion deities now have spells for their domains in the PFRPG core rules, will we see some domains (and spells?) for minor deities instead?
On the topic of arcane spells, if the harrower prestige class is staying, then putting the harrow spell in the Campaign Setting would make sense to me, as it was slightly irksome that for a feature of a Campaign Setting prestige class you had to buy a gamemastery product you might not otherwise want or need in your game. (Especially so from a player perspective as harrow cards are more of a GM controlled/dictated usefulness tool anyway.)
Thassilonian magic (sin or virtue version) is something which would be interesting to see - although if you are putting spells in the Campaign Setting, please include significant toys for the non-casting classes, because advantage of sheer versatility does start to affect perceptions of balance between classes in the end...
If the pronunciation guide is being cut from the Campaign Setting, putting it online as a web resource would be preferable to it disappearing altogether, as I seem to recall there were several requests for this in the run up to the Campaign Setting.
Importantly, if it is online as a free download, it will be available to PFS GMs and players who really want to make sure they get pronunciations right as part of getting into roles. :)
Edit:
Hmm. I wonder if it could be extended, in online format, to cover regional accents? With time, that is, not immediately... ;)
P. 204
The Darklands wrote: ...witness the popularity of the bar room tales... 'bar room' could be reduced to 'barroom', as it is acceptable without the space according to MS Word and online dictionaries. (I know it's only one character saved, but still... ;) )
Nar-Voth wrote: ...degenerate dwarves who never left their homes and have descended into a violent society of killers and sadists... I have a feeling the insertion of an additional 'who' in front of 'have descended' would read better...
Sekamina wrote: ...Some sages suspect that the Mobhad Leigh in northern Varisia provides a direct link from the surface world to Sekamina, for example... The Mobhad Leigh features on the map in the Varisia entry, but no explanation is given in either the Varisia or the Darklands entries of just what it is.
P. 205
Sekamina wrote: ...At least one Sekaminan race lives in harmony with their environs. The more populous of these two are the svirfneblin - deep gnomes who find solace in the purity of the rocks around them... The entry goes from talking about 'at least one race' to suddenly talking about the 'more populous of these two' without any indication of what the svirfneblin are more populous than. I can only think something else was only partially edited out here.
Orv wrote: ...Some are said to be so huge that they are themselves inverted worlds, that the denizens walk and live along the inner surface of the vault in defiance of gravity, and that their skies are lit by a glowing orb of brilliance akin to the sun itself floating at the immense cavern's center... I think 'in which the denizens walk' might read better than the current 'that the denizens walk' which produces (for me) an uncomfortable sentence.
Also on the subject of The Darklands I'm going back and forth on if (on Page 204) 'The endless caves and twisting caverns' is good with caves/caverns used (pseudo-repetitively?) together like that, but this is definitely a very minor issue. :)
None of the domain spells seem to have transitioned into PFRPG, being replaced with other things on the domain lists. For the record, these 3.5 spells were: armor of darkness, blacklight, bolt of glory, bolts of bedevilment, crown of glory, genesis, hardening, (greater) status, surelife, touch of madness, and true creation.
Having marked their passing, I will now move on.
P. 208 – 213
PFRPG Update:
The following equipment is detailed in the PFRPG Core rulebook and so in theory could possibly be cut from the revised version of the Campaign Setting.
Blowgun (and darts)
Curved Blade, Elven (known as ‘Curve Blade, Elven’ in the Core Rulebook)
Starknife
Question:
Where an exotic weapon such as the Falcata (P. 208) is described as 'the traditional weapon' of a country, can characters with an affinity for or otherwise strong ties to that country treat it as if it were a martial weapon rather than an exotic weapon?
Although one possible problem here may be the player who claims that their Elven Ranger character spent their childhood touring Avistan and Garund spending a decade in each of a broad swathe of countries, and that therefore they ought to be allowed to use the 'special' weapons from half a dozen different races and cultures...
P. 210
Should 'Shoanti Bola' (weapon name) be 'Shoanti Bolas' or is it a singular weapon with only one ball?
P. 54 Pathfinder Chronicles, Campaign Setting, Absalom wrote: ...The Starstone itself rests in a massive cathedral perched atop a pillar of rock surrounded by a seemingly bottomless pit. Three bridges cross this expanse, one for each of the Ascendant's faithful. A fourth bridge, corresponding to Aroden and maintained by his aging clergy, crumbled when an earthquake rocked the city a decade ago and has not been repaired... P. 76Pathfinder Chronicles, Campaign Setting, Geb wrote: ...In 3890, Geb took as his Harlot Queen the former warrior-goddess Arazni, Herald of Aroden, who was slain by the Whispering Tyrant Tar-Baphon during the Shining Crusade. Geb stole her corpse from the Knights of Ozem in Lastwall, reanimated her as a lich, and enthroned her in Mechitar, where she has reigned alongside Geb for the last 8 centuries... P. 77Pathfinder Chronicles, Campaign Setting, Geb wrote: ...The ghost of the immortal necromancer Geb rules the undead dictatorship that bears his name. He rarely manifests before his people these days, trusting the governance of his kingdom to the debased lich Arazni, the Harlot Queen of Geb... P. 43-44Classic Horrors Revisited, Mummy wrote: ...The Harlot Queen: This creature is the only known mummy created from the remains of a goddess. In life she was Arazni, warrior-herald of Aroden, who ascended when she passed the test of the Starstone. The Whispering Tyrant killed her during the Shining Crusade, and though her allies the Knights of Ozem buried her with full honors, the necromancer-ghost Geb stole her remains and animated her as a mummy, believing her the only creature worthy to rule beside him... Help! First, Classic Horrors Revisited asserts that Arazni had taken the test of the Starstone (and isn't it usual Paizo practice to give 'test' in this context a capital letter for 'Test'?) when all the references which I can find in the Campaign Setting and Guide to Absalom indicate that Aroden, Norgorber, Cayden Cailean, and Iomedae are the only ones who have achieved divinity by this route (and the number of bridges in Ascendant Court to the Cathedral seems to back this up); second, Classic Horrors revisited asserts that Arazni was animated as a mummy, when again the Campaign Setting (and indeed the Arazni entry on P. 53 of Gods and Magic) seem to indicate that she was animated as a lich.
What's going on here, please? As far as I know the Campaign Setting is supposed to trump other products.
(I have copied and pasted this post from the Classic Horrors Revisited thread and will copy any official response to ensure it is on both threads.)
Oops... that's an error. She never took the test of the Starstone. Also, Arazni is a lich. Her entry in Classic Horrors is all messed up, unfortunately... or perhaps it's just Nexian propaganda.
Thanks for clarifying. :)
Thinking about the Knights of Ozem though did lead me to wonder if they are (in game terms) an order of Golarion-specific cavaliers, and if so, how much will a revised Campaign Setting touch on material from the APHB? Will there be variations on the Alchemist, Cavalier, Inquisitor, Oracle, Summoner and Witch specific to Golarion in the revised Campaign Setting, or would that be going to be getting too far from the assumption of basic (ie 'Core') rules only? I suppose there could be a sort of hat-tip towards the APHB with sidebar references which suggest equivalences and/or minor tweaks, rather than full-blown new orders of Cavalier for example.
Charles Evans 25 wrote: Thanks for clarifying. :)
Thinking about the Knights of Ozem though did lead me to wonder if they are (in game terms) an order of Golarion-specific cavaliers, and if so, how much will a revised Campaign Setting touch on material from the APHB? Will there be variations on the Alchemist, Cavalier, Inquisitor, Oracle, Summoner and Witch specific to Golarion in the revised Campaign Setting, or would that be going to be getting too far from the assumption of basic (ie 'Core') rules only? I suppose there could be a sort of hat-tip towards the APHB with sidebar references which suggest equivalences and/or minor tweaks, rather than full-blown new orders of Cavalier for example.
The revised book will certainly have a paragraph or so for each of the six base classes talking about their roles, in brief, in the world. And they'll be mentioned here and there in the text elsewhere... just like how witches are ALREADY mentioned in the Irrisen section, or cavaliers are talked about in Mendev. There won't be full-blown new player options for these classes (core 11 or base 6) in the hardcover book... but that might be a good thing to put into a Companion book some day.
As a further note, the 3.5 bonus to trip attacks granted by various weapons and the text about dropping the weapon to avoid being tripped seems to have been eliminated from the text of PFRPG weapons. The following weapons may well need their text reviewing on a case by case basis, since they mention trip attacks:
Flying Talon
Horsechopper
Ogre Hook
Osirian Khopesh
Bladed Scarf
Temple Sword
In addition, the text for weapons which interact other than normally with disarm attempts has been adjusted, on which basis the following weapons (in addition to the Flying Talon, already recommended above for review since it mentions trip, too) will likely require revision:
Bich'hwa (bonus to avoid being disarmed)
Pata (bonus to avoid being disarmed)
Urumi (bonus to disarm attempts)
P. 210 Equipment, Sun Orchid Elixir wrote: ...Not surprisingly, vanity-seekers go to nearly any length to acquire the elixir, resorting to bribery, extortion, and murder. To curtail such troubles, the use of the elixir is outlawed in Thuvia (except the formula's creator)... On Page 138 the Thuvia entry seems to indicate that taking the elixir is shunned in Thuvia for a mixture of religious and economic reasons, not 'to curtail such troubles'.
'except the formula's creator' should be 'except by the formula's creator'?
At the risk of rambling, I suspect that Sun Orchid Elixir isn't just in demand with vanity-seekers, but with a large number of others who for one reason or another would rather not have to face the afterlife because of the vagaries of old-age just quite yet, thank-you...
P. 211
Ammunition wrote: ...Smoke Bullet: These sling stones require only a touch attack to succeed. When they strike a target, they burst, releasing a cloud of noxious gas that requires the creature struck to attempt a DC 13 Fortitude save. If the save fails, the target is nauseated for 2 rounds. A smoke bullet costs 100 gp... Several queries/comments here.
Is 'Smoke Bullet' really an appropiate name? They seem to be more about producing a stinking cloud (tear gas?) effect than actual smoke. Having had the name as this for over a year and a half by now, it might be more bother than it's worth to change it for the revision though...
Do these items deal regular sling bullet damage in addition to their poison gas cloud nauseate target struck effect? Can a rogue sneak attack with them (useful as they only need touch attacks to hit!) for gratuitous quantities of sneak damage?
What sort of Craft check is required to make these? It seems to me that these items might go beyond usual weapon-making Craft skills, and maybe fall more under the purview of Craft [Alchemy].
Armor wrote: ...An armored kilt can be worn separately as light armor, or it can be added to other suits of light or medium armor. Adding an armored kilt increases a suit of armor's armor bonus by +1, but it adds 15 pounds to the armor, lowers the maximum Dex bonus by 1, and increases the armor's weight category (from light to medium and from medium to heavy)... Are these figures still correct for PFRPG?
(For that matter it might be an idea to run a ruler over whole 'armor' table on page 211 and check that these fit (in terms of AC, Max Dex bonus, cost, etc) with what you want them to ideally do in PFRPG. The Stoneplate, for example may need bumping up in Armor Bonus to reflect the improved ratings of some armour in the PFRPG game.)
P. 211-212
Armor wrote: ...The rose vines must be watered with at least 1 gallon of water each day or they whither and die... 'whither' should be 'wither'?
This and the Leaf Armor on page 211 also seem to me to be equipment which might have unusual crafting requirements, beyond the usual armour appropriate Craft skill.
P. 213
Optional Rules wrote: ...For more information on firearms and gunpowder, see Alkenstar in Chapter 2 and the Technology entry in this chapter on page 235... Beyond the fact that the Technology entry in the 3.5 print version refers to firearms on page 237, I assume this text will likely be inaccurate as to at least one entry (Alkenstar is scheduled to become part of the Mana Wastes region), chapters, and page references in the revised setting.
And best of luck with revising the firearms. Whatever you do (or don't do) with the table currently on page 212 I suspect that you're going to upset someone... :-?
James Jacobs:
Just to check, these posts are still occasionally helpful?
(tidying up Equipment minutia post):
It seems to me possible that in games where characters have access to a lab, they might have an interest in making marker dye (page 213) for their own uses, and so it could be useful to have a DC for the skill check to manufacture of it.
Conceivably it might also be useful to have information pertaining to the manufacture of perfume/cologne (and is this a specific profession, rather than a Craft [alchemy] check?), unguent of revivification (alchemy?), and necrotic talismans (whatever it takes to make a 'special variant' unholy symbol?).
Hmm. I'm on the fence if further information is necessary to cover the manufacture of Sun Orchid Elixir (a unique case, where individual GMs are probably creating adventures specifically featuring it if the question of PCs making it arises) or Tears of Razmir (in my opinion straying into morally grey area, but some home games may run this way) which have sidebars on page 210...
Heatstones (page 213) are indicated to be naturally occuring magical stones so I would assume it's more a case of finding them than making them. :)
PFRPG conversion:
The requirements for the prestige classes need revising. The Low Templar requires ranks in Knowledge (nobility and royalty), now Knowledge (nobility), the Red Mantis Assassin requires ranks in Hide and Move Silently, now combined into Stealth, and the Shackles Pirate (if retained) requires ranks in Use Rope which has disappeared altogether.
Given that the skill system has been simplified so that the maximum number of ranks in PFRPG a character can have is 3 lower than the equivalent class & level 3.5 character, some and/or all the skill requirements may require adjusting downwards (although with the disappearance of cross-class skills, it *is* easier for characters aspiring to some prestige classes to meet requirements which would otherwise have been quite fiddly to fulfill under 3.5 rules).
These posts are indeed still helpful. The book's still "in writing." I haven't officially started to enter changes and update things yet. That'll probably be starting in a week or two, though. Once it DOES start. I'll go ahead and lock this thread. I'll also try to give folks a few days' advance warning before I do so.
P. 214 Fauna, Aurochs wrote: ...and disregard family structure or mating history except during brief, seasonal mating periods dring the late spring... Minor style quibble:
Repetition of both 'mating' and 'during' in one sentence.
Fauna, Razorcrow wrote: ...razorcrows are notoriously covetous of fresh kills, and larger groups defend carcasses against even larger predators... 'larger groups' than what? Should this instead be 'large groups'?
The end of this piece is ambiguous. Is the intention to convey that large groups of razorcrows even defend carcasses against the biggest of predators or that razorcrows are predators and that they will fight off predators even bigger than they are?
Fauna, Razorcrow wrote: ...Despite this fearsome bravery, the crows rarely drift from carrion eating... Very Minor Quibble:
Is 'bravery' actually an appropriate word to apply to creatures simply fighting to defend a meal. Do they actually appreciate the risks, or are they just acting on instinct? (Very minor quibble, though.)
Fauna, Razorcrow wrote: ...except when on the edge of starvation, which itself is rare, as their habitats rarely preclude a lack of the dead... Minor style quibble:
It's rare because something rarely happens??? (This looks worse in the complete piece because it follows immediately on from my previous quoted segment about rarely drifting from carrion eating, for a sequence of 'rarely', 'rare', 'rarely' all used within a couple of score words.)
Fauna, Razorcrow wrote: ...Their feathers on the leading edges of their wings... 'Their feathers' should be 'The feathers' to avoid duplication of statement of possession (unless these are birds which don't just have their own feathers on their wings but ones they've acquired from other birds too???)
Fauna, Razorcrow wrote: ...and find a common use by fletchers... Is that 'a' necessary in 'find a common use'?
Not sure what happened to that Razorcrow piece... :(
James Jacobs wrote: These posts are indeed still helpful. The book's still "in writing." I haven't officially started to enter changes and update things yet. That'll probably be starting in a week or two, though. Once it DOES start. I'll go ahead and lock this thread. I'll also try to give folks a few days' advance warning before I do so. Ahh, you have this year's superstar contest final round to judge shortly... ;)
I'm making a push here to try and look over everything (or at least give it a cursory glance) before the thread closes.
P. 214 Fauna, Sargavan Boar wrote: ...this species of boar is adapted to living in the warm, wet environment of the jungle and the veldts along its fringes...
...Long adapated to the wet jungle environment of the Mwangi, the Screaming Jungle, and the tropical forests south of Desperation Bay...
What amounts to a partial repetition of the statement of adaptation has been made here.
Fauna, Sargavan Boar wrote: ...Easily able to hide among the underbrush... Comment:
According to my home dictionary 'underbrush' is a North American term. My own inclination is that 'hide in the underbrush' or 'hide within the underbrush' might make more sense to me (underbrush== undergrowth???), but I may have an incorrect impression of exactly what underbrush means/implies.
Fauna, Sargavan Boar wrote: ...The local Mwangi natives hold the boars to be watchers over the souls of men who died within the Screaming Jungle... Comment:
I have a feeling that in this case 'men who have died' reads better than 'men who died', but it might look better as it currently stands to a US English speaker. :-?
P. 214 Fauna, Sevencoat Serpent wrote: ...This mimicry of color and banding patterns gives the family of serpents a wide berth by many potential predators, although skilled hunters are often trained to know the difference... I find this passage a bit awkwardly phrased, and it could probably do with reworking.
As a further comment, since Sevencoat Serpent seems to be about a group of snakes, would it make more sense for this section to be headed 'Sevencoat Serpents' - using the plural instead of the singular? Although this might well require further rewriting of the body of the text for this section to work with the altered heading.
P. 215
Fauna, Slurk wrote: ...it yields a renewable source of rubbery but nutritious flesh... 'renewable'? This seems to me to be an unusual choice of word. However I may just be over-reading this one.
Fauna, Snowflake Moth wrote: ...Drawn to the lanterns and torches of humanoid settlements, these fist-sized moths glitter like living frosted glass. The light turns their bodies translucent as they draw ever closer, ultimately igniting them in brief, extremely bright, blue-white flashes.. Query:
It's actually too intense light which ignites these, not simply fire?
Fauna, Vudran Gharial wrote: ...Known as much for their markings - which resemble an archaic standard of the Vudran army - as for their unique pack structure... Do the markings actually resemble the archaic standard, or did they inspire the original design of the standard? (It occurs to me that the pack structure and a general reputation might indeed have actually inspired an army regiment to name themselves 'the gharials' perhaps, and/or to base their standard on common markings of these creaures.)
The Gharial also finishes (not quoted here) with details of how much a hide can fetch, and of the particularly tough hide armour which can bemade from it. it might be an idea to check this still fits in, with PFRPG rules.
|
Creative Director
