Gen Con Oz 2009 - Announcements


Product Discussion

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Lantern Lodge

Gamemaster Guide - 320pg full-colour

Tips and tools to make GMs lives easier, eg a chapter of pre-built NPCs, lots of tables, easy-to-use stats, building towns/cities/campaigns etc - the fact that these are released around the time of Kingmaker is no co-incidence. No mass combat rules.

Bestiary 2 - next year

Monsters that didn't make it into Bestiary 1, lots of monsters from Pathfinder Adventure Paths and Modules, Tome of Horrors, 25% brand new never-before-seen monsters. Any monster that makes sense to be on a summoning table will find it's way onto a summoning table at the end of the book.

Advance Player's Guide - 320pg full-colour

New options to use with existing core classes, eg more bloodlines, rogue tricks, new domains, Anti-paladin going to be an alternate CE build. Templar will be an alternate build for Paladins of other alignments (not LG or CE) allowing deities of other alignments to have their holy warriors.

6 new base classes are not core classes. All 6 base classes will be open playtest like the beta. Messageboards will be set up for these.

Alchemist - primarily arcane-based. Think Dr Jekyll/Mr Hyde. Prepares brews/ointments/powders/redbulls in the morning, 3/4 bab, channeling spells/abilities into use-based-items. Primarily for himself, but also for others "here, drink this ..."

Cavalier - martial class. Horse skills are important, but can't take a horse with you on every adventure. Braggart of the battlefield. Kind of like a bard but more of a jerk. Helps boost the party, but generally only one person "get up there you sluggard". More skill-focused for a melee class, CHA will be important. (audience suggestion: perhaps like a martial bard?)

Summoner - (probably a temporary name) Arcane "pet" class (cf Druid is a Divine "pet" class). Where did Owlbears come from? Probably summoners. Summoner picks and chooses what abilities to add to the monster, or add abilities to existing monsters. Concept could be broad, eg a monster-building frankenstein, or a conjure monsters from another plane using raw abyssal soup.

SCOOP!

The witch! takes elements of both arcane and divine spell lists and merges them together. curse abilities. familiar has more important role with the witch.

(I'm still typing as Jason speaks ...)

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SCOOP!

The Inquisitor - a skill-focused divine spellcaster. cf Van-richten monster-hunter. Combat focused. As combat develops, the inquisitor learns more and more about the enemy they're fighting - the inquisitor benefits from longer fights. Limited spellcasting, comparable to a bard.

Lantern Lodge

Oracle - divine spellcaster.

Oracle of war, oracle of strength, oracle of knowledge Pinacle of their focus. Oracle to get revalations as they level. each revelation gives special abilities, eg oracle of fire might get fire resistance as one of their revellation. Oracles have curses with benefits, eg blind (can only see 30 feet) but may gain blindsight. Their focus will give bonus spells like a sorcerer to their spells known.

jason now handing out a sample oracle to audience!

Lantern Lodge

example of oracle curse - Speaks in Tongues - In times of stress, she speaks in tongues. Whenever in combat, she can only speak and understand Ignan. This does not interfere with spellcasting, She gains Ignan as a bonus language.

oracles must choose a curse at first level.

Lantern Lodge

Revelation - Fire breath - breaths a small cone of fire, but the damage can get rather high.

Revelation - Form of Flame (can't choose until 7th level) - transforms into a small fire elemental.

Focus - eg fireball one of the bonus spells on her spell list, Intimidate and Acrobatics added to skill list.

Shadow Lodge

Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

I kinda dig the witch. If it combines arcane and divine spell lists, does this make it an arcane or divine spellcaster?

Lantern Lodge

Rules for Haunts appearing in GameMastery Guide.

I have a Society session to get back to GMing now (and all day tomorrow) so may not be able to spend time answering questions, but will check back on this thread when I can.

The sample oracle handed out is a 7th level character sheet/statblock, is an initial draft and will go through open playtest. I'll try post it here as soon as time permits, but I'm GMing at GenConOz 9am-midnight, so it won't be immediately, someone else may beat me to the scoop.


DarkWhite wrote:
Cavalier - martial class. Horse skills are important, but can't take a horse with you on every adventure. Braggart of the battlefield. Kind of like a bard but more of a jerk. Helps boost the party, but generally only one person "get up there you sluggard". More skill-focused for a melee class, CHA will be important. (audience suggestion: perhaps like a martial bard?)

Minus the horse, the description sounds like a 3.5E Marshal(Miniatures Handbook) to me... and there will be many orders barked! Whatever they call it, I'll take it.

Thanks for the info DarkWhite!

Dark Archive

I'm liking what I'm seeing reported so far. Thanks again for keeping us informed! Hopefully others will chime in where needed if you're not available.

Liberty's Edge Contributor, RPG Superstar 2012

Good stuff! Thanks for sharing, DarkWhite!

Paizo Employee Director of Game Design

I thought I heard some messageboard posting going on during the seminar.

Btw, I will post up details myself later next week. Until then, folks will need to get there spoilers from the lucky ones who were in attendence.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer
Paizo Publishing

Scarab Sages

Jason Bulmahn wrote:

I thought I heard some messageboard posting going on during the seminar.

Btw, I will post up details myself later next week. Until then, folks will need to get there spoilers from the lucky ones who were in attendence.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer
Paizo Publishing

Dig the new avatar, Jason! You deserve it!

Sovereign Court

Daniel Moyer wrote:
DarkWhite wrote:
Cavalier - martial class. Horse skills are important, but can't take a horse with you on every adventure. Braggart of the battlefield. Kind of like a bard but more of a jerk. Helps boost the party, but generally only one person "get up there you sluggard". More skill-focused for a melee class, CHA will be important. (audience suggestion: perhaps like a martial bard?)

Minus the horse, the description sounds like a 3.5E Marshal(Miniatures Handbook) to me... and there will be many orders barked! Whatever they call it, I'll take it.

Thanks for the info DarkWhite!

Actually made me think of the Knight from PHB 2.


Good stuff. Thanks for taking the time to post. :-D


Very intrigued!


Well done, DarkWhite! Many thanks for the juicy tidbits.


New summon lists! Booyah!

Contributor

vagrant-poet wrote:
New summon lists! Booyah!

Yeah, James and I just finished populating and paginating this book last week and there's some really awesome stuff. A lot of stuff that feels very old school while at the same time being obviously new, even to fantasy RPGs in general. Expect some very cool surprises.

And as far "new" monsters, don't expect any gut-torn lava-lickers or jotojangos (totally made up stuff). Everything has a source, a reference, a history and a story to it.

As for the back matter, Bestiary I has a huge amount of content besides its more than 350 monsters, largely just to get all the rules for monsters into the game. Bestiary II will have a comparable amount, and likely more monsters, while expanding on #1's rules. Two of my big goals with this is to make this book NOT a monster ghetto. Just because a monster's in Bestiary II is no reason you cant use summon monster to summon it, create undead to create it, or animal companion rules to have it tag along. The list for the Improved Familiar feat should also see some massive growth in here.

But I've probably said too much - especially since the first one isn't even out! So far, I've got 4 big sheets with what's scheduled to be on every page and a lot of awesome authors banging away. But I've probably said too much already. We'll have more details and new awesome art as we get into November and early next year!

Dark Archive

F. Wesley Schneider wrote:


And as far "new" monsters, don't expect any gut-torn lava-lickers or jotojangos (totally made up stuff). Everything has a source, a reference, a history and a story to it.

So no cat people then?


F. Wesley Schneider wrote:
vagrant-poet wrote:
New summon lists! Booyah!

And as far "new" monsters, don't expect any gut-torn lava-lickers or jotojangos (totally made up stuff). Everything has a source, a reference, a history and a story to it.

Gut-Torn Lava-licker

“Failing the Pallid Princess my child can come at a terrible price, imagine the terrible screams of those stretched out over her sacred alter as they are disembowelled with wicked knives and hooks.”

The young acolyte looked up at the ancient priest his face contorted interest and fear.

"Then through rituals horrid and obscene her priests force the soul to remain in the body to experience the constant pain of the disembowelment. For those who have talked too much and given away secrets suffer more pain and horror. Not only are entrails torn from their bodies, their tongues are set a-flame so that the flesh is burnt away from their faces."

"It is said that the Gut Torn can use their intestines to entangle their foes and those with tongues of fire are able to lash their victims up to 10 feet away with unholy flame.”

And that my child is the origins of the colloquialisms “Spill your guts” and “a tongue lashing”.

CE Medium undead


Lazaro wrote:
I kinda dig the witch. If it combines arcane and divine spell lists, does this make it an arcane or divine spellcaster?

why does it have to be one or the other?


The Inquisitor and Witch sound very cool. I must say. I was kind of hoping for a runeblade type class and a noble/skill monkey/buffer type of class

but these are better


DarkWhite wrote:

Templar will be an alternate build for Paladins of other alignments (not LG or CE) allowing deities of other alignments to have their holy warriors.

I love Pathfinder. I really really do

any new races in this book


DarkWhite wrote:
Templar will be an alternate build for Paladins of other alignments (not LG or CE) allowing deities of other alignments to have their holy warriors.

YESSSSS!

I also like more details on the Summoner, which I predicted I'd like; the Witch could be very cool if implemented correctly; and the mechanics of the Oracle sound interesting, even if I'm not sold on the name of the class.


Dude, these sound freakin awesome.

All of the classes sounds flavorful, useful, and perhaps most important, fun.

Cant wait for the Gamemaster Guide.

And im really quite happy to hear that the monsters will be thought out in terms of history and place in the world.

Question: What are the chances that we will see old favs (at least favs of mine ;)) such as the Peryton and Jabberwocky down the line? Ive been clammoring for them for quite some time now...

Scarab Sages

Jason Bulmahn wrote:

I thought I heard some messageboard posting going on during the seminar.

Btw, I will post up details myself later next week. Until then, folks will need to get there spoilers from the lucky ones who were in attendence.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer
Paizo Publishing

Unless it is out there already, I will scan down in the next 24 hours and post a link if folks would like. I was one of the lucky ones. :)

I need to get home and get onto my desktop to scan.

Scarab Sages

DarkWhite wrote:

SCOOP!

The Inquisitor - a skill-focused divine spellcaster. cf Van-richten monster-hunter. Combat focused. As combat develops, the inquisitor learns more and more about the enemy they're fighting - the inquisitor benefits from longer fights. Limited spellcasting, comparable to a bard.

I got excited by this as the dark archivist from WotC Heroes of Horror sprung into my mind. I was hoping that it might be expanded and have similar effects like bard song or the PFRPG ranger's hunter bond (not animal companion).

I didn't get a chance to ask you earlier Jason as my other PFS players were insisting that we had a swift return to the game.

Silver Crusade

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
Starsunder wrote:

Dude, these sound freakin awesome.

All of the classes sounds flavorful, useful, and perhaps most important, fun.

Cant wait for the Gamemaster Guide.

And im really quite happy to hear that the monsters will be thought out in terms of history and place in the world.

Question: What are the chances that we will see old favs (at least favs of mine ;)) such as the Peryton and Jabberwocky down the line? Ive been clammoring for them for quite some time now...

Jabberwocky has already been confirmed for Beastiary II.


And Peryton is in LoF #1, so its a good possibility if you clamour loudly enough.


Please, please, please change the name of the Oracle. It doesn't even remotely fit the general connotations of that word. Oracles predict things. That's all they do. A diviniation specialist would work, but a "fire Oracle?" A "war Oracle?" It just does not sit well with my internal dictionary.


Disciple of Sakura wrote:
Please, please, please change the name of the Oracle. It doesn't even remotely fit the general connotations of that word. Oracles predict things. That's all they do. A diviniation specialist would work, but a "fire Oracle?" A "war Oracle?" It just does not sit well with my internal dictionary.

Just because the popular understanding of "Oracle" comes from the SOMETIMES prophetic Oracle of Delphi, does not mean that Prophecy is all they do.

Oracles were the voices of their gods. Divination was part of their duty On Occasion. Not all they did. Oracles dictated Sacrifices, proclaimed Holy Days, were petitioned to Heal the sick, approved Wars, maintained Histories, Etc. Etc. On and On.

Heck, If you wanna get right down to it... The term "Divination" actually comes from a Latin term meaning "to be inspired by god".

So yeah, "fire Oracle", "war Oracle", "Cleric of Cayden Cailean" -- all Divination Specialists. Heh.

I actually LOVE the name Oracle for the concept. Guess I'm in the Minority...

Brian

Lantern Lodge

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game

Advanced Player's Guide Sneak Peak - GenCon Australia 2009

Sample Oracle

This sample shows one of the first builds of the new oracle class. The relevant class abilities are summarised, but they do not include additional bonuses that Areanna would gain at higher levels. For example, at 9th level, Areanna's form of flames ability improves, allowing her to assume the form of a Medium fire elemental.

Areanna
Female human oracle 7
CG Medium humanoid
Init +6; Senses Perception -1

DEFENSE
AC 19, touch 14, flat-footed 16; (+5 armour, +1 deflection, +2 Dex, +1 dodge)
hp 49 (7d8+14)
Fort +4, Ref +5, Wil +5

OFFENSE
Spd 40 ft.
Melee +1 flaming shortspear +7 (1d6+2 plus 1d6 fire)
Ranged dagger +7 (1d4+1/19-20)
Special Attacks fire breath (2/day, 7d4 fire damage, DC17), form of flame (Small fire elemental)
Spells Known (CL 7th)
3rd (5/day) - cure serious wounds, dispel magic, fireball (DC17)
2nd (7/day) - aid, augury, resist energy, summon monster II
1st (7/day) - bless, cure light wounds, divine flavour, produce flame, remove fear, shield of faith
0 (At Will) - guidance, light, purify food and drink, read magic, resistance, stabilise, virtue
Focus fire

STATISTICS
Str 12, Dex 14, Con 13, Int 10, Wis 8, Cha 18
Base Atk +5; CMB +6; CMD 18
Feats Combat Casting, Dodge, Eschew Materials, Improved Initiative, Mobility, Nimble Moves, Toughness
Skills Acrobatics +12, Intimidate +14, Knowledge(religion) +10, Perform(dance) +14, Spellcraft +10
Languages Common, Ignan
SQ oracle's curse (speak in tongues), orisons, revelations (cinder dance, fire breath, form of flame)
Combat Gear elemental gem (fire), elixir of fire breath, wand of cure light wounds; Other Gear +1 flaming shortspear, daggers(4), +2 studded leather armour, cloak of resistance +1, ring of protection +1

SPECIAL ABILITIES
Cinder Dance (Ex): Areanna's base speed increases by 10 feet. At 5th level, she receives Nimble Moves as a bonus feat.
Fire Breath (Su): As a standard action, Areanna can unleash a cone of flame from her mouth. This functions as burning hands, except that the damage is capped at 10d4 (instead of 5d4). This ability uses her oracle level as her caster level. She can use this ability once per day, plus one additional time per day for every four oracle levels she possesses. The save DC versus this effect is equal to 10 + 1/2 her oracle level + her Charisma modifier.
Form of Flame (Su): As a standard action, Areanna can assume the form of a Small fire elemental, as elemental body I. She can use this ability once per day, but the duration is 1 hour/level.
Speak in Tongues: In times of stress, Areanna speaks in tongues. Whenever she is in combat, she can only speak and understand Ignan. This does not interfere with spellcasting, but it does apply to spells that are language dependent. She gains Ignan as a bonus language.


Interesting; that's Bard spell progression. Not sure how that fits thematically with them being the "mouth of god" for their individual domain, but I guess they had to give up something for the boatload of class abilities. I'm worried about the spell list, though; the bard's spell list is customized such that level 6 bard spells are roughly on the same power level as level 7 to 8 sorc/wiz spells. They can't really do that with the Oracle without making another custom spell list, and classes with custom spell lists suck because they don't get updated with new spells from new books.

EDIT: Actually as pointed out below, it might be a lack of casting stat.

Sovereign Court

DarkWhite wrote:

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game

Advanced Player's Guide Sneak Peak - GenCon Australia 2009

Sample Oracle

This sample shows one of the first builds of the new oracle class. The relevant class abilities are summarised, but they do not include additional bonuses that Areanna would gain at higher levels. For example, at 9th level, Areanna's form of flames ability improves, allowing her to assume the form of a Medium fire elemental.

Areanna
Female human oracle 7
CG Medium humanoid
Init +6; Senses Perception -1

DEFENSE
AC 19, touch 14, flat-footed 16; (+5 armour, +1 deflection, +2 Dex, +1 dodge)
hp 49 (7d8+14)
Fort +4, Ref +5, Wil +5

OFFENSE
Spd 40 ft.
Melee +1 flaming shortspear +7 (1d6+2 plus 1d6 fire)
Ranged dagger +7 (1d4+1/19-20)
Special Attacks fire breath (2/day, 7d4 fire damage, DC17), form of flame (Small fire elemental)
Spells Known (CL 7th)
3rd (5/day) - cure serious wounds, dispel magic, fireball (DC17)
2nd (7/day) - aid, augury, resist energy, summon monster II
1st (7/day) - bless, cure light wounds, divine flavour, produce flame, remove fear, shield of faith
0 (At Will) - guidance, light, purify food and drink, read magic, resistance, stabilise, virtue
Focus fire

STATISTICS
Str 12, Dex 14, Con 13, Int 10, Wis 8, Cha 8
Base Atk +5; CMB +6; CMD 18
Feats Combat Casting, Dodge, Eschew Materials, Improved Initiative, Mobility, Nimble Moves, Toughness
Skills Acrobatics +12, Intimidate +14, Knowledge(religion) +10, Perform(dance) +14, Spellcraft +10
Languages Common, Ignan
SQ oracle's curse (speak in tongues), orisons, revelations (cinder dance, fire breath, form of flame)
Combat Gear elemental gem (fire), elixir of fire breath, wnad of cure light wounds; Other Gear +1 flaming shortspear, daggers(4), +2 studded armour, cloak of...

Are those ability scores right? That looks like a 2 point build... And what's the ability associated with casting? (if those abilities are right it must be Dex or Con to be able to cast 3rd level spells.)

Lantern Lodge

Quote:
Are those ability scores right? That looks like a 2 point build... And what's the ability associated with casting? (if those abilities are right it must be Dex or Con to be able to cast 3rd level spells.)

Sorry, thanks for picking that up.

Edited: Cha 18

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Adventure, Rulebook Subscriber

Cha-based casting. Her fire breath DC is Cha-based, and her 3rd level spell DC is 17. -10-3=4 for the ability mod. The 8 Cha is a typo missing the 1.

Sovereign Court

Ah, that makes sense now, thanks.

I probably should have noticed the +14 intimidate and made the connection.


Brian Kovich wrote:
Disciple of Sakura wrote:
Please, please, please change the name of the Oracle. It doesn't even remotely fit the general connotations of that word. Oracles predict things. That's all they do. A diviniation specialist would work, but a "fire Oracle?" A "war Oracle?" It just does not sit well with my internal dictionary.

Just because the popular understanding of "Oracle" comes from the SOMETIMES prophetic Oracle of Delphi, does not mean that Prophecy is all they do.

Oracles were the voices of their gods. Divination was part of their duty On Occasion. Not all they did. Oracles dictated Sacrifices, proclaimed Holy Days, were petitioned to Heal the sick, approved Wars, maintained Histories, Etc. Etc. On and On.

Heck, If you wanna get right down to it... The term "Divination" actually comes from a Latin term meaning "to be inspired by god".

So yeah, "fire Oracle", "war Oracle", "Cleric of Cayden Cailean" -- all Divination Specialists. Heh.

I actually LOVE the name Oracle for the concept. Guess I'm in the Minority...

Brian

It would be interesting if all oracles have some divinination abilities


At first glance, it seems like this what the favored soul should have always been

Lantern Lodge

Jason's Conversion Seminar and The Future of Paizo Seminar were both very well received by GenConOz players. While I'm sure Jason has received much praise from the players he spoke to while staffing the Paizo booth at the other end of the convention hall, there were many conversations about the information and news delivered by his seminars at the gaming tables, and all the feedback I heard was extremely positive. Players were universally thrilled to have had the opportunity to meet and chat with Jason, have their core rulebooks personally autographed, and hear news from Paizo first-hand.

The Conversion Seminar focused on the changes between 3.5 and Pathfinder, mostly talking through the Conversion document. This was exciting news for many gamers attending GenConOz, as this was the first look for many at the Pathfinder core rulebook, as new supplies arrived just in time for sale at the convention. There was quite a buzz as players discovered additions, changes or upgrades to their favourite class or some other aspect of the game during actual Pathfinder Society session play.

The Future of Paizo Seminar discussed upcoming Paizo products, including:

- the Bestiary being released next month. Jason had a pre-release copy of the Bestiary which the audience were invited to look through at the end of the seminar, but as much as I was yearning to have a look myself, the seminar interrupted Pathfinder Society sessions we were currently playing, so GMs and players had to hurry back to our tables to resume our games.

- the Pathfinder RPG GM's screen, which will contain (among other things) the various conditions (stunned, dazed, etc) for quick reference during the game.

I had the opportunity to discuss many aspects of the game with Jason over the weekend, and while the frenzy of GMing 9am-midnight Pathfinder Society non-stop for four days has kind of numbed my brain, I do recall a couple of interesting scoops:

Drow will receive "player-friendly" stats in the Bestiary. Standard drow will miss out on some of the traditional drow special abilities, as these will only apply to "noble drow".

I discussed my speculation with Jason that in light of the half-orc's +2 to any one ability score, that the full-blood orc was due for some toning down for use as a PC. Eg, compare the ability score modifiers for the following:

Human : Half-Orc : Orc
Human : Half-Elf : Elf

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a look at the Bestiary to confirm my theory (Orc would have been the first page I'd flip to) but my discussion with Jason seemed to indicate this might be the case.

I'd also like to thank Jason for taking time out from his busy schedule and making the long trip Down Under. It has been a thrill for me to meet him personally, and I think his guest appearance and seminars have done much to raise the profile of Pathfinder at this event and hopefully throughout the region.


Orc Str +4, All mental -2. From John Wick's blog.

And no, the oracle does not have bard spell preogression, it has sorcerer spell progression.

It looks like the oracle gets her curse at first level, and one revelation at every even level, 2,4,6, etc.

Very in keeping with the PFRPG core classes design layout.

Also, her 'domain' is now officially called a focus? Yeah? Good!


Brian Kovich wrote:
Disciple of Sakura wrote:
Please, please, please change the name of the Oracle. It doesn't even remotely fit the general connotations of that word. Oracles predict things. That's all they do. A diviniation specialist would work, but a "fire Oracle?" A "war Oracle?" It just does not sit well with my internal dictionary.

Just because the popular understanding of "Oracle" comes from the SOMETIMES prophetic Oracle of Delphi, does not mean that Prophecy is all they do.

Oracles were the voices of their gods. Divination was part of their duty On Occasion. Not all they did. Oracles dictated Sacrifices, proclaimed Holy Days, were petitioned to Heal the sick, approved Wars, maintained Histories, Etc. Etc. On and On.

Heck, If you wanna get right down to it... The term "Divination" actually comes from a Latin term meaning "to be inspired by god".

So yeah, "fire Oracle", "war Oracle", "Cleric of Cayden Cailean" -- all Divination Specialists. Heh.

I actually LOVE the name Oracle for the concept. Guess I'm in the Minority...

Brian

I'm totally there with you! I love the name! And so, its seemed in another thread did James Jacobs, and according to him, the staff!

So :p!

Sovereign Court

My guess would be the revelations are gained on odd levels, since the sorcerer progression grants a new spell level one the even ones.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Starsunder wrote:
Question: What are the chances that we will see old favs (at least favs of mine ;)) such as the Peryton and Jabberwocky down the line? Ive been clammoring for them for quite some time now...

Chances are pretty good... especially since we already statted up the peryton in Pathfinder #25's Bestiary...

And chances of the name "oracle" changing are very slim. We're all quite happy with that name at Paizo.


James Jacobs wrote:
Starsunder wrote:
Question: What are the chances that we will see old favs (at least favs of mine ;)) such as the Peryton and Jabberwocky down the line? Ive been clammoring for them for quite some time now...

Chances are pretty good... especially since we already statted up the peryton in Pathfinder #25's Bestiary...

And chances of the name "oracle" changing are very slim. We're all quite happy with that name at Paizo.

That's ok, I hate it. :) I'll just change the name of the class for my campaigns. :)

Good to hear that some of the monsters will be getting information for playing. Not so sure if I like the idea of 'drow lite' though (or equivalent for other races). I never liked the 'Klingon vs Imperial Klingon' they used to explain the difference between Klingons from ST:TOS and ST:TNG. Oh well, will have to see what you guys came up with.


vagrant-poet wrote:
Orc Str +4, All mental -2. From John Wick's blog.

Sounds like no change, then. That's a shame. Goblins have substantially better modifiers than they used to (way too good, IMHO. Barring roleplaying restrictions, goblin rogues trump halfling rogues 6 ways from Sunday).

I'll probably house-rule in a +2 CON to orcs in my games. They should be sturdy as well as strong.


Calixymenthillian wrote:
My guess would be the revelations are gained on odd levels, since the sorcerer progression grants a new spell level one the even ones.

Then she'd have 4 (Lv1,3,5,7), she has 3 (hence my assumption of 2,4,6), and again, its more in keeping with rogue talents, barbarian rage powers, etc.

Though maybe it is odd and you get the curse instead at lv1, but I seriously doubt it, because then it would double up with feat acquisition, making every second level a big gain, and all the even levels less fun by comparison, which isnt something PFRPG is interested in.

RPG Superstar 2009 Top 16, 2012 Top 32

Disciple of Sakura wrote:
Please, please, please change the name of the Oracle. It doesn't even remotely fit the general connotations of that word. Oracles predict things. That's all they do. A diviniation specialist would work, but a "fire Oracle?" A "war Oracle?" It just does not sit well with my internal dictionary.

I also don't understand how fire shooting out of one's mouth qualifies as a revelation.

Disciple of Sakura wrote:
A "war Oracle?"

A "WARacle"?

EDIT:
And "animal oracles" are "BOARacles";
And "plant oracles" are "SPOREacles";
And "water oracles" are "SHOREacles".

I'll stop now, or else I'll end up doing this all afternoon.


From Merriam Webster Online:

Merriam Webster Online wrote:

barbarian--1 : of or relating to a land, culture, or people alien and usually believed to be inferior to another land, culture, or people
2 : lacking refinement, learning, or artistic or literary culture

So no rage bonus, or automatically being good at fighting . . . barbarian picked up a lot of connotations that aren't part of its actual definition, which is mainly someone that lives in a culture that "isn't as good as yours."

Merriam Webster Online wrote:


bard-- 1 a : a tribal poet-singer skilled in composing and reciting verses on heroes and their deeds b : a composer, singer, or declaimer of epic or heroic verse
2 : poet

So, no spellcasting, and the bard should probably have to be from one of those cultures not specifically called out but implied by the definition of barbarian.

Merriam Webster Online wrote:


cleric--a member of the clergy

Damn, there goes my arguments about heavy armor . . .

Merriam Webster Online wrote:


druid--one of an ancient Celtic priesthood appearing in Irish and Welsh sagas and Christian legends as magicians and wizards

Crap . . . druids should use arcane magic . . . or maybe there shouldn't be a difference between arcane and divine magic, at least according to the dictionary.

Merriam Webster Online wrote:


fighter--one that fights: as a (1) : warrior, soldier (2) : a pugnacious or game individual (3) : 1boxer 1 b : an airplane of high speed and maneuverability with armament designed to destroy enemy aircraft

Okay, so this one lines up pretty well with what they do . . . as long as you don't go by the last definition.

Merriam Webster Online wrote:


monk--a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery; also : friar

Hm . . . so, it could apply to D&D monks, but also to far more numerous orders of monks across the world that don't practice martial arts while in their monastery.

Merriam Webster Online wrote:


paladin--1 : a trusted military leader (as for a medieval prince)
2 : a leading champion of a cause

Again, the name picked up a lot of connotations from the legends of Charlemagne and the like, but by strict definition, no support for the LG only role, nor for even being a divine casting class.

Merriam Webster Online wrote:


ranger--1 a : the keeper of a British royal park or forest b : forest ranger
2 : one that ranges
3 a : one of a body of organized armed men who range over a region especially to enforce the law b : a soldier specially trained in close-range fighting and in raiding tactics

Wow, this one kind of nails it, except, no spellcasting . . . and maybe a bias towards not allowing chaotic rangers, which would be kind of odd since I've probably seen more chaotic rangers in my days than I have any others.

Merriam Webster Online wrote:


rogue--1 : vagrant, tramp
2 : a dishonest or worthless person : scoundrel
3 : a mischievous person : scamp
4 : a horse inclined to shirk or misbehave
5 : an individual exhibiting a chance and usually inferior biological variation

Hm, nothing about being a skill monkey, and it would imply that the rogue should have a code of conduct forcing him to be an unreliable jerk or lose his class abilities.

Merriam Webster Online wrote:


sorcery--1 : the use of power gained from the assistance or control of evil spirits especially for divining : necromancy
2 : magic

I had to go to "sorcery" for this one, since sorcerer came up with the ever helpful "one who practices sorcery," but also yielded "wizard." Which of course implies there should be no difference between the two classes.

Also interesting, the definition above seems to fit a necromancer or a 3.5 Warlock much better than the sorcerer as it appears in the game.

Merriam Webster Online wrote:

wizard-- 1 archaic : a wise man : sage

2 : one skilled in magic : sorcerer
3 : a very clever or skillful person <computer wizards>

Alright, so this one fits a little better, except it implies more skill points . . . ;)

And again, implies no difference between sorcerers and wizards, except a slightly more sinister connotation associated with sorcerers.

Merriam Webster Online wrote:

oracle--1 a : a person (as a priestess of ancient Greece) through whom a deity is believed to speak b : a shrine in which a deity reveals hidden knowledge or the divine purpose through such a person c : an answer or decision given by an oracle

2 a : a person giving wise or authoritative decisions or opinions b : an authoritative or wise expression or answer

So, while there is some connotation as to gaining answers to questions, the part about "speaking for a deity" or "hidden knowledge or divine purpose" sound pretty much perfect for the name of just about any divine class.

I guess what I'm getting at is that while I understand that some people may not like oracle as a name, it doesn't follow that its name "isn't right" by definition, because most of the classes are named much more by connotation and association than by strict definition, and by strict definition the oracle is probably a lot closer than some of the classes are.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

KnightErrantJR wrote:
I guess what I'm getting at is that while I understand that some people may not like oracle as a name, it doesn't follow that its name "isn't right" by definition, because most of the classes are named much more by connotation and association than by strict definition, and by strict definition the oracle is probably a lot closer than some of the classes are.

Well done. This post made my day. :-)

I'll now get back to polishing off the chapter about derros for "Classic Horrors Revisited."

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