Taldor is a bit late (a victim of the snowpocalypse and Chinese New Year), but should be chugging along now, and I expect we'll be talking about it in the blog very soon.
I'm very much looking forward to this. Something to remind me of the fallen glory of GH's Great Kingdom. Or Nyrond, for that matter.
I included small additional blurbs on the colleges and the Princess. It's not a lot, but there's certainly some interesting plot hooks buried in there. :-)
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Taldor is a bit late (a victim of the snowpocalypse and Chinese New Year), but should be chugging along now, and I expect we'll be talking about it in the blog very soon.
Sean, take your time... I want this book to be like a finely aged wine. The longer you take with it before we get to pop the cover, the better... :)
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I saw the cover for it today and it looks SWEET!
-Lisa
Talking about cover... :)
Lisa, could a sneak peak at the cover be in the realm of possible forum leakage? :P :) :)
You might find this interesting, if you've not already seen it: Snagged from the Vault: Taldor, Echoes of Glory
today's blog tells about where they got ideas for taldor, that being said, I myself can not wait to get this one.
This sounds very cool! I love the picture of Emperor Stavian III in the blog. He reminds me of Prince John from Disney's Robin Hood!
I was wondering why he looked familiar!
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sigh... waiting for this book is just too hard. The blog entry floors me... I just can't believe how much research has gone into the making of Taldor. I think Taldor will become the cornerstone "country" of the Pathfinder setting... this is where it all started, and I see that Paizo understands that getting Taldor "right" will have a positive snowball effect on all future country companions in the future!
Hurray for Paizo!
PS: a little surprised that Amsterdam was the inspiration... I would have thought a little 16th to 18th-century France would have been à propos... :)
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Just downloaded and skimmed through the pdf. My quick first impression: I really like the looks of this companion, it has history, current information, a city, a prestige class, traits, feats etc.. and everything fits together nicely to support a taldoran theme.
Especially like: taldor horse and taldor phalanx (nod to greece and rome), bearded vs unbearded (nod to russia), and the gnome run druid monitored logging program - good contrast to the Andoran logging struggle.
Thanks, Robert! Bearded vs unbearded is actually a nod to the Byzantine Empire where those classes actually existed. :-)
I was unfamiliar with the boyars until just now. Thanks for the lesson! :-)
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http://www.kaboodle.com/reviews/cadwallon-rpg-reversible-gaming-tiles--the- upper-city-1-set-c
If you can find these tiles available anywhere, I think they are perfect for Oppara. Paizo used to sell them, but I gather they have gone out of print.
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I'm a little disappointed with Oppara.
Do all of Galorian's cities contain tightly packed slums with houses built on rooftops? Do they all have pseudo-Roman coliseums?
It just felt like large parts lacked individual character - Opera is so Chelaxian, surely the Opparans would look down on the taste for 'grand-guignol' and invest in classical music conservatoire instead? (not a specific gripe, more an example of the small things that could have made Oppara stand out that never manifested).
This was largely 'random standard Galorian city' with a few bells and whistles. I want a truly unique location for my Opparan character.
No, though the heraldry are all variations of the crown-and-lion flag of Taldor.
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I see. It's just that I was trying to identify the parties on the cover's big battle, as well as other symbols sprinkled throughout the book. If they were just artistic liberties, I'm cool with that; I was just wondering if there was a deeper meaning to them or if they represented actual nations/provinces, etc. (and if so, if I could be pointed to a specific text section describing these factions)
Cheers!
They represent various lords and such, who rule over different provinces, have various royal, noble, or semi-royal lineages, which of course reflect family ties and royalties. The choice to do different variations on the crown-and-lion was deliberate, but we deliberately didn't include a long boring list of nobles and noble families (and at this point it would be a LONG list) in a Companion product.
Porthmos means "river" in ancient greek and the mighty comes from the Mighty Bosporous. :-)
The product mentions "frontier prisons" on the eastern border. Are any of these locations shown on the region map included on the inside front cover?
No, but there is a frontier prison featured in Pathfinder Society scenario #12: Stay of Execution that's located just outside of the Sardis Township. Most of these frontier prisons are near other cities on the eastern frontier, though it's entirely possible for there to be hidden, remote, or just plain secret prisons as well.
BTW we just got the book in the office today (thanks, Jeff), and it looks GREAT!
I don't like Taldor. The country. The Companion.... I say a solid "meh"
I didn't get the "knights in shiny armour" vibe at all. It may have been that way thousands of years ago, but nowadays, it feels more like arrogant, small-mindet social backstabbers. The virtual slavery makes it worse.
Well, I love to hate lawful countries like that (this feels LN, i.e. worse than LE, because those at least never pretend not to be bastards).
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I have not read it yet, so I will reserve any comment on it until after it has been read thoroughly. Some companions can give you a good vibe just by looking at them; others require in-depth analysis. I suspect Taldor is one of the latter, as the art was not as great as some other companions, but the content has been researched thoroughly I hear.
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Well, I have been pouring over Taldor now for a bit.
I love the art, and finally found where they talk about "civil wars" that reflect the two pictures of Taldoran soldiers fighting each other (p10).
Missed all these references to Frontier Prisons... that sounds like something I'd like to know more about.
As a Player friendly document I give it 5 of 5 stars.
The GM in me hopes there will be a bigger book someday.
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Same here. I'd love to see a Gamemastery module with some political intrigue, such as a Taldan lord (one of the "bearded") allied with some of the fey pirates preying on river traffic, or a foreign "cult" sponsoring revolution (or trying to set up a war between Taldor and Andor or Quadira), in service to a far darker motive.
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There are several things I'd like to see...
I'd love to see two noble houses fight, knights and soldiers on the battlefield. The druids picking a side, the dwarves picking the other side, and Andoran supporting an Unbearded making a bid for power over the remains of the noble fight. The PCs caught in a three way pinch and make their own way and determine who wins, maybe the PCs take over...
so much intrigue and room for just about anything you can imagine!
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There are several things I'd like to see...
I'd love to see two noble houses fight, knights and soldiers on the battlefield. The druids picking a side, the dwarves picking the other side, and Andoran supporting an Unbearded making a bid for power over the remains of the noble fight. The PCs caught in a three way pinch and make their own way and determine who wins, maybe the PCs take over...
so much intrigue and room for just about anything you can imagine!
I'd like to see you change that little crown that's next to your name. That's not the faction you've been supporting lately... ;P
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Sorry for the temporary threadjack--the Taldor Companion is awesome, and I enjoyed it completely. I started writing a novel based in Taldor, just because I liked this sourcebook so much! It (my novel) will probably never see print, but at least I can read and enjoy it.
^
Sounds good to me. Heck, I wouldn't mind reading it.|
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Sorry for the temporary threadjack--the Taldor Companion is awesome, and I enjoyed it completely. I started writing a novel based in Taldor, just because I liked this sourcebook so much! It (my novel) will probably never see print, but at least I can read and enjoy it.
Really?? Drop me a copy! I'd love to read it.
And yeah well, the whole faction being supported and deity I follow are one heck of a weird combination anyway!
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Joshua,
How is Iomedae viewed in Taldor? Does she have any sort of following? Is her Chelaxian heritage a stigma? Is she seen as competitive with Aroden and perhaps viewed with less enthuusiasm than one might think?
I am trying to place her in my Mendevian crusade campaign. One of my players wants to be from Taldor and a worshipper of Iomedae. We're trying to build his paladin in line with canon and were wondering what the role of Iomedae was in Taldor.
Also, how much does Taldor contribute to The Crusades in Mendev?
Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
Tad Kilgore
Joshua,
How is Iomedae viewed in Taldor? Does she have any sort of following? Is her Chelaxian heritage a stigma? Is she seen as competitive with Aroden and perhaps viewed with less enthuusiasm than one might think?
I am trying to place her in my Mendevian crusade campaign. One of my players wants to be from Taldor and a worshipper of Iomedae. We're trying to build his paladin in line with canon and were wondering what the role of Iomedae was in Taldor.
Also, how much does Taldor contribute to The Crusades in Mendev?
Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
Tad Kilgore
Hey Tad,
Iomedae is viewed as just another god in Taldor. She's not important to the Empire and worship of her is rare inside Taldor's borders. Taldor's crusading days ended with the Even-Tongued Conquest, and the Empire spends most of its time boarding, taxing, and searching vessels headed to and from the Mendev crusades via the Sellen River rather than fighting that battle. Taldor is responsible for another hot spot of crusading, though: the Shining Crusade against the Whispering Tyrant.
All of that said, there's no reason your player can't be a Taldan worshipper of Iomedae. Maybe he's from a secret line of crusaders who worship her still (as a replacement for Aroden) and long for the days of Ancient Taldor and her noble crusades. Maybe he's the son of nobility who rails against the fact that Taldor ignores the obvious dangers of the Worldwound. There are still plenty of options for an Iomedae-worshiper in Taldor, even if the Empire doesn't spend a lot of time venerating her.
