The Shattered Star Player's Guide will show up before the release of the first volume in the Adventure Path. :)
Creative Director
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
So please don't shoot me if there is already a thread, but the search came up empty.
Two Questions:
1) Will the players guide hit before Gencon or during?
2) Any hints on if/what the new rule mechanic that might be featured in the players guide this time around?
There's not really any new rule mechanic. In fact, starting with Shattered Star, the players guides are going to be a lot more streamlined, mostly because that makes it less onerous on the staff to produce them and helps tremendously in the goal of keeping the Adventure Paths on schedule.
The Shattered Star Player's Guide will include the following:
Campaign traits
General advice on character building (such as good choices for favored enemies and the like)
An updated version of the Pathfinder Society faction from the Faction Guide.
An updated map of Heidmarch Manor in Magnimar.
And that, I believe, is it.
|
So please don't shoot me if there is already a thread, but the search came up empty.
Two Questions:
1) Will the players guide hit before Gencon or during?
2) Any hints on if/what the new rule mechanic that might be featured in the players guide this time around?
There's not really any new rule mechanic. In fact, starting with Shattered Star, the players guides are going to be a lot more streamlined, mostly because that makes it less onerous on the staff to produce them and helps tremendously in the goal of keeping the Adventure Paths on schedule.
The Shattered Star Player's Guide will include the following:
Campaign traits
General advice on character building (such as good choices for favored enemies and the like)
An updated version of the Pathfinder Society faction from the Faction Guide.
An updated map of Heidmarch Manor in Magnimar.And that, I believe, is it.
I'm cool with on time :)
Thanks for the note, so anytime this month it could show up in a random weekly blog post.
I do enjoy the subsystems where they are appropriate, a terror/horror system for CC would have been awesome. But on the other hand not every AP needs extra lairs of complexity to be awesome. It really is going to very a lot by group, I know our KM group gave up on the Kingdom Building aspect, or at least pushed it far to the back. For the lot of us day job desk jockies, it felt like game night was turning into a business meeting, and we had all had our fill of those during the 9-5.
The Shattered Star Player's Guide will include the following:
Campaign traits
General advice on character building (such as good choices for favored enemies and the like)
An updated version of the Pathfinder Society faction from the Faction Guide.
An updated map of Heidmarch Manor in Magnimar.And that, I believe, is it.
For what it's worth (almost zero), as a player I find the maps to be the least useful part of the AP Player's Guides; I'd be just as happy with a brief description of the starting city.
I'm sure there are players who love the maps, though.
|
Creative Director
|
The Shattered Star Player's Guide will include the following:
Campaign traits
General advice on character building (such as good choices for favored enemies and the like)
An updated version of the Pathfinder Society faction from the Faction Guide.
An updated map of Heidmarch Manor in Magnimar.And that, I believe, is it.
For what it's worth (almost zero), as a player I find the maps to be the least useful part of the AP Player's Guides; I'd be just as happy with a brief description of the starting city.
I'm sure there are players who love the maps, though.
Well, even though it says "Players' Guide" on the cover, the GM gets to use them too.
| 6 people marked this as a favorite. |
um...."I find the maps to be the least useful part of the AP Player's Guides"
(blasphemy)
extra lairs of complexity to be awesomeI'm guessing Schloss Caromarc counts as a lair of complexity.I'm DMing that soon, I'm not sure I follow
** spoiler omitted **
Think they are poking fun at you for saying "lair" instead of "layer".
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
|
Think they are poking fun at you for saying "lair" instead of "layer".extra lairs of complexity to be awesomeI'm guessing Schloss Caromarc counts as a lair of complexity.I'm DMing that soon, I'm not sure I follow
** spoiler omitted **
Usually I ignore casual spelling errors, but a 'lair of complexity' sounded too much like a really convoluted dungeon to me.
I loves me some maps. Always. If a picture says a thousand words, then surely a map...um...says a lot of words too.
|
I hope we still get a little bit of regional crunch (like in RotRL) to enhance the flavour.
Barbarian chew, klars, varisian idols... that sort of thing. Maybe local herbs and their minor effects, or new Magnimarian alchemical items, or something tied to the empyreal lords?
Also:
Class advice
Race advice
Places for characters to be from
Rough guide to the city (Magnimar book is for GMs and spoiler-tastic)
Quick guide to Pathfinders and why your PC might join.
I think class and race advice are the most crucial elements of the PG's.
It's the one way I can tell if the charcter idea I have is going to be a good fit for the AP.
Other than the Pathfinder Society faction mentioned earlier, will the various national and otherfactions active within PFS make appearances as well? Will the PCs select from these as within PFS, and will any of that be in the Players Guide?
But giving advice on good Favored Enemies is metaaaagaaaammmiinnnnngggg
|
Creative Director
|
| 9 people marked this as a favorite. |
Turns out playing the game is metagaming. That is, unless you have a setup where you actually transport yourself physically into the game and wipe all memories of the real world out of your mind while you're in the game, I guess.
Giving the players a good idea of what types of characters would be good and fun and usable choices in an Adventure Path is the primary purpose of a Player's Guide, and part of that is listing good choices for favored enemies. I don't see this as any more bad than watching a movie trailer.
|
Creative Director
|
Other than the Pathfinder Society faction mentioned earlier, will the various national and otherfactions active within PFS make appearances as well? Will the PCs select from these as within PFS, and will any of that be in the Players Guide?
Shattered Star assumes the PCs are part of the Pathfinder Society, and as such the player's guide presents the revised version of the Pathfinder Society faction from the Faction Guide for players to use.
It does NOT include elements from the Pathfinder Society Organized Play program. The ten factions that exist in that program are elements of that particular massive multiplayer campaign, not of other adventures, and certainly not of Shattered Star.
You could certainly use those factions in your Shattered Star game, or ANY adventure path for that matter, but the adventures and plot of Shattered Star do not have any links or themes specifically intended to support all ten of those options.
Shattered Star assumes the PCs are part of the Pathfinder Society, and as such the player's guide presents the revised version of the Pathfinder Society faction from the Faction Guide for players to use.
It does NOT include elements from the Pathfinder Society Organized Play program. The ten factions that exist in that program are elements of that particular massive multiplayer campaign, not of other adventures, and certainly not of Shattered Star.
You could certainly use those factions in your Shattered Star game, or ANY adventure path for that matter, but the adventures and plot of Shattered Star do not have any links or themes specifically intended to support all ten of those options.
That sounds like what I was hoping for. I was going to be running RotRL, but a couple of my players have been through it, and so I decided last night to run Shattered Star instead. My only reservation, really, was how the PFSOG factions would induce headaches in an AP. I'm rusty. Thanks for the reply!
All I know for sure is I still don't have the Players Guide downloaded to my computer and that makes me sad. :(
Yes! This hurts mah heart!
|
RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32
|
Shattered Star assumes the PCs are part of the Pathfinder Society, and as such the player's guide presents the revised version of the Pathfinder Society faction from the Faction Guide for players to use.
I wonder if this means there will be guidelines for awarding faction Fame in this AP like there were is Serpent's Skull.
|
Creative Director
|
This makes me sad. How important is the Society going to be to the AP? Is it just a hook to get the players involved or is it going to keep driving the action?
I'm not fond of the Society as a concept and would probably want to cut it out, but that depends on how much work it'll be.
If you want to cut the Society, you can. It's the framework on which the Adventure Path is built, but if you change Sheila Heidmarch from being a Pathfinder venture-captian into being a Magnimarian noble or a member of a thieves guild or a priest at a temple or any other thing... as long as she is in an organization that would like to see several ancient magical treasures sought out and recovered for the good and protection of Varisia, and as long as your players' characters are interested in going on dungeon crawls, you'll be fine.
|
Creative Director
|
Shattered Star assumes the PCs are part of the Pathfinder Society, and as such the player's guide presents the revised version of the Pathfinder Society faction from the Faction Guide for players to use.I wonder if this means there will be guidelines for awarding faction Fame in this AP like there were is Serpent's Skull.
Each adventure has a short paragraph in the Concluding the Adventure section that lists Fame and prestige point awards. Now and then, side quests during the adventure will give out more points and awards as well, although that won't be standardized.
has there been any mention if the Alara'hai will play any significant role in the AP ?
I'm working on a character that is a Bladebound Magus, and wanted her sword to turn out to be an Alara'hai....but I'm concerned it will cause problems.
|
Creative Director
|
has there been any mention if the Alara'hai will play any significant role in the AP ?
I'm working on a character that is a Bladebound Magus, and wanted her sword to turn out to be an Alara'hai....but I'm concerned it will cause problems.
No need to cross-post. We tend to be pretty good at answering questions here. :P
(But no... to repeat my answer from the other post... nope, no plans for them in this Adventure Path.)
Do we have new iconics for this AP? I like the art for the Varisian, lady wizard (Heidmarch?), and red-headed fighter.
has there been any mention if the Alara'hai will play any significant role in the AP ?
I'm working on a character that is a Bladebound Magus, and wanted her sword to turn out to be an Alara'hai....but I'm concerned it will cause problems.
No need to cross-post. We tend to be pretty good at answering questions here. :P
(But no... to repeat my answer from the other post... nope, no plans for them in this Adventure Path.)
EXCELLENT......OH this is going to be fun ;)
Thanks James
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
And they're all fully dressed, too!
Yeah, I mean it's not like there's anyplace else to see scantily-clad ladies on the internet. Whatever shall we do??!
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Yeah, I mean it's not like there's anyplace else to see scantily-clad ladies on the internet. Whatever shall we do??!
Hell last night I did a google search for a redhead medieval warrior woman and the things google showed me that had nothing to do with anything but the woman part... unless you perhaps consider the guy the lance... and half of them wasn't even redheads.
Well funny enough I recognized the red-headed warrior in armor from the PG. Not that specific person but what she represents.
|
Creative Director
|
Well funny enough I recognized the red-headed warrior in armor from the PG. Not that specific person but what she represents.
** spoiler omitted **
Well...
A certain amount of plot spoilers and advance knowledge can be a good thing, in other words, because it builds excitement.
That said... the role the Gray Maidens play in the adventure, and the way that this particular one may end up interacting with the PCs in... THAT part can certainly still be a surprise! As should the truth of what's going on in the adventure in the first place.
|
Well funny enough I recognized the red-headed warrior in armor from the PG. Not that specific person but what she represents.
** spoiler omitted **Well...
** spoiler omitted **
Downright giddy about whatever this entails.
Well funny enough I recognized the red-headed warrior in armor from the PG. Not that specific person but what she represents.
** spoiler omitted **
It would be very welcome if there was some actual interaction with the PCs, rather than just having them as foes to be butchered for XP.
I'm kinda hoping the AP has some role-playing elements with rivals, factions, etc to counterbalance the dungeon-heavy aspect of things.
|
Creative Director
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
** spoiler omitted **It would be very welcome if there was some actual interaction with the PCs, rather than just having them as foes to be butchered for XP.
I'm kinda hoping the AP has some role-playing elements with rivals, factions, etc to counterbalance the dungeon-heavy aspect of things.
That is and always has been something that the GM has final say over, honestly. Further complicated by the fact that there often seems to be people in a group who actively dislike the idea of "talking" to enemy NPCs, making it difficult for players who DO want to talk to them to get a chance to do that. Both of which are situations we can't control.
What we CAN do is devote more space in NPC writeups and adventures where some (not all, for sake of variety, after all) of the key NPC villians are more complex than mere combat encounters. So far, in every one of the Shattered Star adventures, there are "bad guy" NPCs that you can resolve with talking or diplomacy or roleplaying, and in many of those cases you can actually gain their aid, either in the short term or long term. In all cases, we're pretty obvious about the fact that if you talk to an NPC about things rathe than fight him or her, you get XP. In some cases, more XP than if you just fought them.
Whether or not I and my authors are successful in pulling this off remains to be seen, but I'm pretty pleased with how the first 60% of the Adventure Path handles this so far.
So far, in every one of the Shattered Star adventures, there are "bad guy" NPCs that you can resolve with talking or diplomacy or roleplaying, and in many of those cases you can actually gain their aid, either in the short term or long term. In all cases, we're pretty obvious about the fact that if you talk to an NPC about things rathe than fight him or her, you get XP. In some cases, more XP than if you just fought them.
This. This! So much this!
::dances stupidly::