I Heart this thread, N'Wah. Awesome stuff. I have a few Burroughs books and Leigh Brackett on my to-read list. Go ahead ping Sutter and/or Mona for input. If they're not already reading this thread they sure will and love it.
PS have you seen the PFRPG Space Opera Kickstarter?
Check outthe Alexandrians d20: lack of sleep rules including rules for teleportation jet lag and the circadian effector spell btw.
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This one? I hadn't seen it 'til you mentioned it.
And I'm glad to hear the positive comments from all of you guys. I don't have much to go by for gauging interest (it's not like Paizo's passing out the number of views on specific threads; my DeviantART account built its viewership on my art, not my writing, so the PDF downloads are pathetically low; and pretty much nothing happens when I post up a link on Facebook), so the occasional "this is awesome" post lets me know there's at least 1d4 people reading this with some frequency.
I know that Wes Schneider has popped by from time to time, and he re-tweeted my post about the PDF going live. Liz knows about it because she's making sure I fulfill the Community Use rules so's they don't have to sue me. Tim Nightengale has informed me that some member or members of the staff are reading it, which could be the above people, or also include Sutter, or Erik, or maybe some weird guy on the warehouse team shirking off throwing APs into boxes.
At any rate, I was working on this stuff in my brain since, crap, Children of the Void came out (Paizo tells me I purchased it on September 18, 2008), revitalized by the release of Distant Worlds and finally put into word-things by Brian Darnell wanting a little side-trek for RotR. It was all amorphous ideas until that last one, but now they're breeding like Brethedans on Free Aphrodisiac-Gas Day.
It doesn't hurt that I can babble-type until my fingers wear down to nubs.
But I really do appreciate having people reading this stuff, commenting on it, and throwing ideas about what they want more of, less of, and none of. It keeps me typing.
So thank all of you.
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Brief aside to cover languages.
Also, while I'm here, let's change the laolao's skills to Acrobatics +5 (+13 to jump), Perception +5. It's worth a slightly lower Perception to get some more jumping going on.
Language on Akiton
Numerous languages can be overheard all across Akiton. The most common languages are discussed below.
Akitoni: The common tongue of Akiton, Akitoni is a mix of words from Draconic, Shobhad, and older human tongues. Smatterings of Azlanti words also exist in Akitoni, becoming more pronounced the closer one gets to the city-state of Arl; within Arl's holdings, Akitoni is completely replaced with Low Arl. Akiton natives don't refer to Akitoni by that name; rather, it is known as Tradespeak or the Mother Tongue. Being a combination of several different languages and dialects, Akitoni includes a wide variety of words, changing from harsh guttural sounds to lilting, almost musical tones depending on the words spoken and their origin.
Azlanti: A dead language by most people's reckoning, Azlanti is spoken only within the holdings of Arl, and even then, only among the priests and Blessed Scions (at least openly). Azlanti is considered a holy tongue within Arl, and learning, writing, or speaking it without permission is forbidden. That said, most of Arl's commonfolk know at least a handful of words, picked up from overhearing their priestly masters and used to help anticipate a priest's desires and intentions.
Draconic: The language of dragons is spoken on Akiton in an unusual dialect by the native behirs and lizardfolk. Draconic is an old tongue, however, and most of the differences between Akitoni draconic and the form spoken on Golarion are colloquialisms; speakers of either version can understand each other with only mild difficulty.
Edaian: A dialect of Akitoni spoken exclusively by tribes of the Edaio Rift, the sheer vertical distance between the rift floor and the surface keeps the language alive in a relatively intact form. Edaian can sound harsh to foreign ears, and it conveys mostly simple terms and ideas, though its savage oral epics contain their own beauty.
Hiver: Hiver is less a language unto itself than a kind of colloquial slang. Extant words from Akitoni, Draconic, Shobhad, Ysoki, and other languages are given new meanings and pronunciations, and entire words are formed whole-cloth to represent new concepts and ideas. Hiver is a popular language among thieves' guilds across Akiton, and functions as a kind of unofficial "thieves' cant."
Kaumi: The language of the tribes of the Bowl of Kaum, Kaumi borrows much of its vocabulary (and all of its written form) from Ysoki. An older written form utilizing pictographs exists, but most if not all of its meanings has been lost, leaving its thousands of words as curious decoration on old ruins.
Low Arl: The language of Arl's lower classes, Low Arl is made up of simplified Azlanti combined with a few borrowed words from Akitoni. It is used almost exclusively within Arl and it holdings, though some merchants find it useful to learn if they expect to trade with Arlian citizens.
Shavwhi: Shavwhi is a merging of human tribal tongues and the proto-Shobhad tongue, and is spoken exclusively around Akiton's northern Winterlands.
Shobhad: Descended from the nameless language that spawned the tongue of the Shobhad-neh and witchwyrds, the Shobhad language has become specialized to convey the things the Shobhad-neh care about most: combat, survival, legacy, and personal honor. Some ofAkiton's best treatises and manuals on personal and mass combat are written in Shobhad, and the language also contains some very creative and expressive insults.
Tech-Speak: An artificially constructed language, Tech-Speak is designed to convey mathematical, technical, scientific, and magical concepts. Its written form borrows heavily from Vercite, giving it an alien look to most Akitoni. Tech-Speak can be deciphered like magical writing with the Spellcraft check, and is indeed the most frequent form of magical writing for “civilized” spellcasters.
Thuna: A curious tongue, Thuna is the language of the southern Winterlands. Scholars have noted similarities to the language of the Elder Things whose ruined fortresses and cities still dot the southern polar region, making it a linguistic stepping-stone to understanding the language of those long-vanished alien masters.
Vashani: The dialect of the Vashau League takes the foundations of Akitoni and builds upon them, constructing a regional dialect of surprising verbosity. Many scholars enjoy Vashani for its breadth and depth, allowing complex ideas to be described accurately, a point of pride for the citizens of the Vashau League.
Vercite: The dominant language of Verces is not native to Akiton, though it is discussed here because several groups on Akiton find it useful to master. Anyone interested in Vercite technology finds learning the tongue of its creators essential to using and understanding such technology. Nearly all tech-priests learn the language at some point, and soldiers armed with Vercite weapons and vehicles invariably pick up at least a few words to understand what their weapons of war can do and how to do it.
Ysoki: A chittery and squeaky language, Ysoki is incredibly expressive, and its words frequently contain double and even triple meanings differed by pronunciation and inflection. The same sentence in Ysoki can be a great compliment or dire insult depending on how the sentence is spoken. Much os Ysoki's written form includes special punctuation to help the reader decipher the meaning of the written word, but even these can be misleading, as Ysoki is riddled with inference and innuendo.
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BTW, it should be noted that Soldier 94 gets Hiver as a free language, so mark your notes where appropriate.
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This isn't a complete list of every language spoken on Akiton. A lot of creatures with their own languages keep speaking those languages, even after multi-generational stays on Akiton.
Note that there is no equivalent to Undercommon on Akiton. The closest equivalent might be Mi-Go or Aklo, but there really isn't a vibrant exchange between societies in the Under. Unless you count murder to be an exchange.
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K, so I bought Universe Sandbox, thanks to the suggestions of the folks on this thread. Assuming I can get it to run (discussed in-depth in that thread), I'll be building Golarion's solar system at the nearest opportunity. If I do, I'll post screenshots swift as my compy can take 'em.
I'm one of the 1d4.
Good to see you are keeping up the awesome, Ashton. Very cool.
Why did you pick the Tactician archetype for Soldier 94?
PS yes that's the Kickstarter I meant. I love the visuals so far. The concept is of course a bit different from our pulp scifi& sorcery here. So far I pledged $1 to get the news, I'm currently on the fence if I want to pledge more or not. I'll have to read their preview PDF from RPGNow first.
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I went with tactician because its one of a handful of archetypes that trades out bravery. A construct doesn't need a bonus vs. fear, being immune to fear, so a +1 to initiative seemed a pretty fine trade-off.
Plus, I like the flavor that hinted at it being more of an officer in some long-dead tech-priest's army. Even with smart constructs, having a smarter construct able to tell the other constructs what to do in small-unit combat operations seems a pretty good idea.
I considered one of the ones like armor master or phalanx soldier, but I wanted to use its slam attacks instead of weapon and shield.
I'm keeping an eye on the project. I'll probably want to read the preview first, too.
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A thought on ammunition, now that I'm awake-ish.
I was considering how the metal cartridges are packaged and stored. I'm thinking most boxes of ammo are made of cheap, soft metals (tin, brass, bronze, and copper being most common) and simple boxes go for 5 silver. More elaborate boxes with intricate engraving, etching, and/or lacquer (for masterwork and magical ammunition) run 5 gold or more.
Metal cartridges for one-handed firearms (revolvers being most common) come in cases of 24 bullets (36 gp for the bullets; case thrown in for free), arranged in four rows of six. Metal cartridges for two-handed weapons come in cases of 12 (18 gp plus free case), arranged in three rows of four.
Being almost a currency unto themselves, single metal cartridges can be bought (and sold) for full value (1.5 gp each), and merchants often keep the empty cases to carry and transport "loosies". Firearms are mass-produced enough that, for advanced firearms, at least, common calibers are available, so folks carrying guns can be assured a bullet will work for their particular firearm. Early firearms are still basically individually-made pieces, though there's enough similarity in bullet sizes to allow ammunition to be exchanged freely enough, and gunpowder is gunpowder regardless of the gun.
Note that the full exchange rate for metal cartridges applies ONLY to metal cartridges; bullets, alchemical cartridges, and such are all bought and sold as normal. At GM discretion, large supplies of gunpowder might be considered a "trade good" and therefore sell for full value.
OPTIONAL RULE: Caliber
Y'know, there's simplicity for the game's sake, and then there's those little nagging hangups you just can't shake. And for me, "universal cartridges" is one of 'em. If it's the same for you, you can try out this optional rule.
Depending on how complex you want to make the bullet scrounging and shopping experience, you can divide metal cartridge types into broad categories (revolver cartridges only work in revolvers, for instance, but ANY revolver can use ANY revolver cartridge, for instance), or very, very specific ones (most Kexchitl-made revolvers are .41 caliber, but tech-priests prefer the lighter recoil of the .35, and Arl uses 8 x 20 mm, basing their cartridge width off archaic Azlanti measurements). The level of complexity also involves determining how common one kind of cartridge is over another, as well as how many kinds there are. I'll do a sample breakdown for both options below, but feel free to adjust to your game's needs.
1d6 --- Firearm Type
1-2 --- Revolver
3-4 --- Rifle (standard or pepperbox)
5-6 --- Shotgun (standard or double-barrel)
Revolver Calibers --- d%
Kexchitl .41 ---------- 01-35
Kexchitl .28 ---------- 36-60
.35 Tech -------------- 61-70
.22 Tech -------------- 71-75
8 x 20 mm Az -------- 76-90
6 x 15 mm Az -------- 91-100
Rifle Calibers ------- d%
Kexchitl .32 -------- 01-35
Kexchitl .25 -------- 36-60
.29 Longbarrel ---- 61-70
.21 Longbarrel ---- 71-75
7.5 x 26 mm Az --- 76-90
6.5 x 22 mm Az --- 91-100
Shotgun Gauges --- d%
11 ga. K -------------- 01-35
15 ga. K -------------- 36-60
13 ga. Lizarder ----- 61-70
17 ga. Lizarder ----- 71-75
12 ga. Az ------------- 76-90
16 ga. Az ------------- 91-100
NOTE: Smaller numbers between two similarly-named calibers indicate a caliber designed for Small firearms. The reverse is true for shotgun gauges, so the 13 gauge Lizarder is for Medium shotguns, and the 17 gauge Lizarder is for Small shotguns.
So if you're using the simple rules, when designing a cache of bullets or determining how many of what kind of bullet a vendor has in stock, just roll the d6 and you're done. For a more complex version, roll the d6 to see what table to use (or pick the appropriate table based off the weapons that are there) and roll to determine caliber.
This is about as exhaustive a bastardization as I want to do for this (a part of the casual gun enthusiast in me just died a little making up stupid calibers), but by all means, feel free to drag out all sorts of weird calibers as you see fit.
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"Git me a case o' K .41's, m' good man."
"Heh, sorry, pardner, we've plum run outta .41 just yesterday. Gittin' a re-stock next week, if yuh kin spare the wait..."
"Gul dern. Wull, I s'pose I'll take thet Kex longswerd off'n yer hands, then."
"A fine blade at twice the price! Fifteen of yer city's yellow-un's, or ten of whatever caliber yuh got 'bouts."
"Fifteen Spans of Maro it is. Oh, and 'pardner'?"
"Yuh?"
(STAB)
"I'm Chaotic Evil, a-hole."
NEXT WEEK ON AN ALL-NEW DEADDUNE.
IT'S NOT TV, IT'S HBO.
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Variant Weapon Proficiencies for Akitoni Druids
Akitoni druids are proficient with the following weapons: atlatl, club, dagger, dart, mere club, shortspear, sling, spear, taiaha, tepoztopilli, and terbutje. They are also proficient with all natural attacks (claw, bite, and so forth) of any form they assume with wild shape.
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I'm not saying we don't care about how we leave the place after we've picked the shafts clean. We made a deal with the locals, fair and square. They get the tech, we get the minerals, and a few decades after we take back off to Verces, the damned wind just buries the whole operation like we were never even here. But these Red Warden druids still come over in an uproar, claiming we're defiling their beloved Mother, waving their pointy scrimshaw and driving hordes of beasts at us, only to get blown to bits by plasma cannons. Good job protecting your Mother there. Idiots.
Look, we all know Akiton's a dying world anyway. The planet's patron goddess is as undead as an Eoxian bone-sage. Water's all frozen on the poles, or buried deep underground. Tectonic motion's all but stopped. Geo-mages on staff tell me the core's cooling. Even their big volcanic mountain spewed its last aeons ago. The natives just play at civilization, speaking of proud traditions and long-past glories while taking our cast-offs or stealing a few of our older weapons to continue their pointless little civil wars. It's best if someone else gets some use out of this ball of rock. And that someone might as well be Verces.
-Kadjennet, Vercite android mine foreman
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That's a great question, and one I've been tinkering with for a bit. There's a reason I made Akiton's former patron goddess into a dead god-thing now. Though with Aroden being canonical, I wondered how many dead gods were enough. Then I threw that concern in the trash, threw the trash into the paper shredder, and threw the paper shredder into the wood chipper.
Now I've got a destroyed paper shredder, a broken wood chipper, a lot of angry calls from Tate's Rents to dodge, and a pretty cool concept for a full-on, 1-20, possibly Mythic campaign.
I'll type something up in a smidge. I got some housework keeping me from just typing all day.
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This is all rambly notes, without much cohesion, so forgiveness please.
Fueha-Re was slain millennia ago, during the first war between Castrovel and Akiton. Legend says that she was betrayed by her own herald, the now-ascended Vesk Armillas, and left to face a very vengeful Calistria on her own. Calistria won that fight, barely, and Vesk Armillas attempted to kidnap her for his own, but was defeated and driven back to Akiton (bearing the scars of his defeat, notably his missing lower lip, which Calistria herself bit right off his face).
All of this is kept vague, timeline-wise, and may not even have occurred as the legends state. It might only be a legend to explain Akiton's definitive defeat during that war long past. But Akiton's been on the decline ever since.
The standard lessons taught by this legend are about hubris and the folly of over-reaching, but also about betrayal and trickery, the need to be prepared eternally for war, and the violence inherent in Akitoni life. It's one of the reasons that countries and empires don't really exist on Akiton: it's built into the average Akitoni psyche to distrust powerful central authority, to strive for freedom at all times, to never over-extend one's power and might, and to expect that, at any minute, someone will gladly toss you from your throne, usually into a pile of thirsty blades.
Thursty H? No, this isn't Canada. It's Akiton, baby.
The real gist of it all is that whether the two are connected or merely coincidental, Akiton IS cooling, and its people are building up for what mey end up being a full-on across-the-globe war. I'm not a scientician, so I don't know what a total halt of gelogical activity would do to the planet. But with it being so cold as-is, I don't see anything good coming from it, and it certainly makes a great physical manifestation of a planet-wise malaise, a kind of purposelessness that's been eating away at the souls of the native population.
Here's how I'd run things, were I to have the time and the PCs willing to become god-kings of Akiton the Red.
In the battle that cost her her life, Fueha-Re had her heart carved from her chest and taken as a trophy by Calistria (totally something she'd do). The still-beating necro-heart is more metaphysical than just plain physical, but does have a physical form in a massive blood-red gem secreted away somewhere on Castrovel and guarded by all sorts of nasty things. Calistria, for her part, doesn't too much care what happens to the stone; she got her revenge and laid low a fellow goddess, and the trophy is only a small part of her divine stash of goodies. In fact, I bet a part of her wants someone to steal it, so's she can avenge the theft by kicking in the teeth of some more Akitoni deities, notably Vesk Armillas, who no one likes but his deluded genocidal misogynistic followers.
Still, it'll take mighty heroes to steal it back.
At the outset, the AP would focus on the PCs becoming actual heroes of note. They'd probably start off as citizens of one of the city-states (dying Gent or upstart Rahmpasha would be ideal for this), becoming embroiled in a civil war. They'd ally with one faction against the other(s) for the first two volumes, leading their faction by the end of book 1 and culminating in their rise to power at the end of book 2. Somewhere along the way they'll get Mythic-ized, but I don't have the Mythic rules so I'm not sure the best way/time for that to happen.
Being the new heads of the government, and leading either a newly-revitalized Gent or a now-more-potent Rahmpasha, the attention of other city-states focuses on them with laser-like precision. Arl is especially itching to kill something, and this'd be a perfect chance to prove that they still got chops. Barbarian attacks are on the rise as well, and the PCs might end up leading armies or personally putting down those assaults. In addition, some scholar from Fu Le thinks the PCs might be the fabled new heroes destined to lead Akiton back to greatness. They must travel to Fu Le to meet this scholar, learn about their supposed destinies, and get cryptic clues about what they're supposed to achieve, the first of which is to "slay the iron sea-beast reborn, whose breath is fire and whose eyes are death". In book 4, the PCs play politics, gaining allies (or making enemies) while readying themselves for an invasion. Sure enough, Arl has come with armies at the ready. The book culminates when the PCs face off against the crew and the sheer might of the Invictus, Arl's massive sandship and certainly the kind of challenge Mythic heroes would love. Plus, it's an iron sea-beast reborn with breath of fire and eyes of death.
After sending Arl home with a super-severe spanking, book 5 is chock-full of Mythic tests and trials. It'll all be the fun, insane stuff that mythology is full of: slaying mighty beasts, doing impossible things, and all that good stuff. Eventually, they prove their might and are led to one of the ancient portals to Castrovel, where they instintively know their final test: re-steal the Ruby Heart of Fueha-Re and cast it into the crater of Mount Ka.
Book 6 is all about insane Castrovel battles. I don't know what-all I'd throw at Mythic PCs at this level, but Castrovel's got plenty of opportunities for weird stuff, including lots of plants, megafauna, and maybe some First World guardians (twin jabberwocks FTW). The PCs defeat Calistria's final guardian, abscond with the stone, and toss it into the caldera, which...
Ooh, so many ways to twist that. Lemme get back to you on it. Or make up your own.
Does a re-born Fueha-Re repay their efforts with betrayal, echoing a cycle that can only be broken with her permanent death? Does a spiritually revitalized Akiton flock to their banner just in time to face off against a Castrovelian invasion, led by a massively pumped-up epic Menotherian?
SO MUCH TO PLAY WITH OMG
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Be advised: a spiritually reawakened Akiton's still all about hitting each other in the face. It's just done with more gusto, like a planet-wide Valhalla. Post-revived Akiton will still be a place for adventurers to come, jump around like loonies, and fight shobhads. It'll still have frozen poles (undoing that's for another AP, and let's just say not every Akitoni wants that to happen, what with the flooding and the drowning and the magically-restored sea-beasts and the awakening Elder Things and the shoggoths and the return of the witchwyrds and the hippity-hop).
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If it weren't for the fact that it'd take me forever, make me zero dollars (can't get paid with the Community Use license, don't want to invest in making it all 3rd-party and generical), and drive me insane building an AP from scratch, I'd make this AP just for the fight with twin Mythic jabberwocks.
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I think I'll set it in Rahmpasha. It's close to Arl, and besides, it's been too nice for too long, dammit. 100 years of happy democracy. It's about time for some a-hole to take over and some soon-to-be Mythic PCs to kill him and become the city's new, unanimously-elected leaders.
Maybe the PCs can put Gent out of its misery in book 3. I think if they threw a rock hard enough, they could take it out. And Gent's the kinda place that'd pay some barbarian scum to attack a rival. The only downside is that it's a bit of a trip. You gotta travel east to Fu Le, then southeast at the Halls of Reason.
Actually, the PCs are going to Fu Le anyway... hmm.
Lessee, approximate level ranges...
Book 1
Levels 1-5
Book 2
Levels 5-9
Book 3
Levels 10-14 <-- they'll have access to teleport by then
Book 5
Levels 14-17
Book 6
Levels 17-20
So deal with bad barbarians, get summoned/t-ported by scholar to Fu Le, get attacked by Gent agents in Fu Le, go to Gent and put down their stupid tyranny, t-port back home.
Sounds good. Back in time to play politics while ten-thousand Arlians begin their march across the Dune Sea.
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I'd have to bump up the crew of the Invictus. Not an issue, mind you, just something that'd need to be done.
And making Tulonic Vurrask into a truly "Blessed" Scion (Mythic aasimar or half-celestial, descended from one of Azlant's gods or their divine servants) would be totes sweet.
EDIT: Dunno why I'm talking about this like Paizo's gonna ask me to help 'em flesh it out or something.
Ashton STOP Come send in drafts to Paizo STOP you are best at writing STOP make cool AP for release in 2015 STOP here's all the money STOP
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D'aww, screw it. Rahmpasha city stat block. I'm considering naming it the City on the Hill, because it's a city... on a hill. Also Reagan or something.
Technically, it's on a slope leading up to a plateau overlooking its meager holdings. But whatevs.
NOTE: I halved its total population, giving it room to grow under PC stewardship, and also making it seem like easier pickings for the larger city-states.
As always, all notes subject to change.
N large city
Corruption +2; Crime -5; Economy +3; Law +7; Lore +3; Society +5
Qualities Holy Site, Insular, Rumormongering Citizens, Strategic Location, Superstitious
Danger +10
DEMOGRAPHICS
Government Overlord (dictat plus military council)
Population 18,000 (12,600 Akitoni humans; 2,700 Ysoki; 1,800 lizardfolk; 360 shobhads; 540 other)
Notable NPCs
Gallitonius Vhem, Dictat and Lord-General of Rahmpasha (LE male Azlanti human fighter 9)
Elhan Zelgau, Arch-Mage of the Court (NE male Azlanti human sorcerer 9)
Rhosh, Commander of the Shobhad Guard (CN female shobhad barbarian 4)
Nivexhet, High Priestess of the Great Protector (NG female lizardfolk cleric of Khaeluum 5)
MARKETPLACE
Base Value 8,800 gp; Purchase Limit 50,000 gp; Spellcasting 7th
Minor Items 4d4; Medium Items 3d4; Major Items 2d4
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Yes, the Dictat and his second, the Arch-Mage, are both Azlanti. Like pureblood Azlanti. They're ex-pats from Arl's very tiny pureblood Azlanti population. If the campaign ever lifts off the ground, the PCs would face them (and maybe a few mooks) at the same time. I'd have to see Mythic to determine if that CR (11 for the two of 'em) is appropriate for 4th-5th-level, Mythic Tier 2 characters.
The elite Shobhad Guard would be a fun series of fights for Mythic (or even standard, non-Mythic) PCs. Kicking a shobhad across the room's GOTTA look cool.
Nivexhet (Niv-EX-het) is the PC's initial contact. Being a worshiper of Khaeluum, she's all about the common people. Because they sing and dance and screw. Because there's nothing else to do.
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PS- I randomly roll for gender on a special table of my own design (only two non-gender-binary results so far, and they're both in one of my Shattered Star PC's followers list... shh, no telling), so don't think I'm picking men for sole bad guy status.
That said, a 50/49 female/male ratio seems to come up dudes a LOT on my random rolls, save the aforementioned PC's followers list.
Then do it! Love the prose btw. You sure type fast enough.
On soldier 94 and Tactician again: I love the odd archetype usage and I would love Tactician in general if not for the loss of the first bonus feat.
And re the Kickstarter: maybe if they blast through their stretch goals and need a new one they can pay you for some quick worldbuilding ?
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That was something spur-of-the-moment, and I wanted to give some Vercite perspective. That android is hideously biased, and not every one of the Vercite Holdings has the same view. But I'd say most of 'em just want to get their minerals and get off-world so's they can see their families, friends, and stuff that isn't varying shades of red.
For Soldier 94, it was worth the loss of a feat for a bit of flavor. He's tough enough as-is without me having to go find another feat. :P
I don't think I'm "known" as a writer for them to go contact me. But if they did, I wouldn't say no. :P
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The Dictat of Rahmpasha might actually end up being a fighter 6/duelist 3, using a longsword with the Agile Blade feat that I'm still working on (basically, it allows you to use your Dex when fighting with one-handed slashing weapons that you have Weapon Focus in, and they count as piercing weapons for the purposes of stuff like the duelist class). The feat's basic idea is to help make light, agile fighters, which I can see being all over Akiton, a more viable build.
I haven't released all the info on it yet, though, because I don't want to make that "finesse your scimitar" feat absolutely worthless. I may have to limit Agile Blade to longswords only.
EDIT: 90% certain he'll have the free-hand fighter archetype, which combos nicely with duelist.
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OMG I FORGOT GALLITONIUS IS THE BOSS OF BOOK 2
He'll be getting a solid amount of level-bump, as well as the rest of his "staff". I'm aiming for the big book 2 fight to be Gallitonius and Elhan, with Rhosh as a mini-boss. Depending on where the PCs go "liberating" parts of the city, I see the final fight being either at the palace (rooftop FTW), or in the arena, if they hit the palace first (all-over-the-arena fight FTW).
Also, I'm considering adding some kind of "Off-Worlder Blessing" as part of the Mythic process, basically allowing the PCs to function as if they were Golarion natives for the purposes of, like, jumping and lifting and stuff. Then when they go to Castrovel, their jumping and lifting is "normal" for PCs instead of "you're at one-third speed, your projectiles are stupid, and your hat has caved in your skull."
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K, so I've got a high-level game to do Saturday (Ben's running me and a few folks through Witchwar Legacy, alias Winter-Winter Chicken Din-Ter, as a prequel for Reign of Winter), so I'll be taking a brief reprieve while I make a 17th-level dude. Ben wants us to end badly, so I can't use my pre-existing 17th-level PCs for fear of perma-dead.
It shouldn't take me too long unless I go spellcaster, and I'm still suffering caster burnout, so I doubt that'll be an issue.
Maybe I'll do my wand-using rogue. Ranged touch sneak attacks are mad awesome.
Anyhoo, talk amongst yourselves, and feel free to throw ideas into the pot. Grab some thoughts, grab some feelings, a little broth, and baby, you got a stew goin'.
I have returned from beyond the waste and have brought relics from the lost age. What do you think of mythic adventurers of Aktion? What causes the spark besides natures own little maddening 'gifts'?
Are there any other iconic robots? In my plans for Aktion I have Robots and Clockworks fighting each other with tech priest backing them.
Dot, list, whatever is needed to keep an eye on this great thread! :)
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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Something hit me last night in the shower.
Given how firearms are more common on Akiton than Golarion, Medium and heavier armor is going to be very much out of fashion. The loss of 10+' of movement might mean the difference between meleeing the big bad Shobodad and being 5+ feat away and eating a full round of touch attacks. Dodge, combat expertise, possibly greater versions of those feats (or items that grant those feats) will be en vogue.
On the other hand, Mithral (for the movement gain) and Adamantine (for damage reduction) are going to be much in demand, if incredibly rare.
I like Matthews rationale much better than bikini armour works as well as RAW armour.
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So many posts, and all while I was AFK! I'll tackle 'em as I go down the list.
1: Freedom Quantity! Long time no see!
In order to get a real solid answer about Mythic, I'd have to actually flip through the Mythic book, which I'll prolly be doing once Ben Bruck gets his contributor copies. A thought on my end is very much "blessings of the divine": Akiton's deities seem pretty well-suited to gifting select mortals a bit of divine spark to make them into champions for their assorted causes.
Iconic robots? Like as in, "here's a free-willed robot running around doing stuff"? Sure. There might be maybe a dozen of 'em on Akiton, working at all sorts of self-decided goals. One might be a machine-supremacist, "liberating" constructs for its army of machines to destroy the weak flesh, kinda like Eberron's Lord of Blades. One might actually have become a tech-priest in its own right, diligently perfecting new designs heedless of simple mortal concerns like food, sleep, and even time- being immortal has some serious benefits. One may have taken the oddest step of all and become an actual divine spellcaster, able to make the leap to faith where no construct has been able to before.
Clockworks vs. robots. Interesting. The funny thing is they're decently matched, as long as the clockworks have an occasional boss with an Int score that isn't a horizontal line. I see robots being top-notch tech for tech-priests, common fodder for Vercites, and weird, expensive curiosities for everyone else. Clockwork technology is probably very popular with the nobility and rich merchants, where non-intelligence and the control imposed by having to wind them are features, not bugs.
I bet a lot of folks get freaked out looking into those robot glass eyes, knowing something intelligent is looking back. Besides, the "machine + intelligence = OMG all fleshies must die" trope is so well-ingrained in the gaming/sci-fi/space opera genre that it'd be a shame to waste it.
So yeah, you could pit the clockworks and the robots against each other, at least the free-willed sentient ones. Most of both groups are currently owned by some person or organization, who'd really hate it if their purchased machines suddenly left work to go beat each other up Fight Club style. But "forceful deactivations" might be common when a robot or clockwork's old owner bites it, because everyone worries about When Machines Attack.
2: Mikaze, welcome back! At this rate, you'll have a couple new pages per week, as long as I'm internet-ed. Which will sadly not be forever. Lemme know your thoughts once you're done reading up. :D
3: Bellona, welcome to the show. Take the time to digest it (there's a lot here, and it kinda jumps around a LOT), and feel free to jump in at any time. :D
4: This is a good call. And while there is some evidence of canonical "chainmail bikini" in the form of "mostly nude" shobhads wearing nothing but loincloths and battle harnesses yet somehow also gaining all the benefits and penalties of hide armor, I'm probably aiming most combat builds to be light or no armor with a few exceptions in mithral breasplates here and there. And Akiton's got surprising mineral wealth (not that that will affect costs- it's still a pain in the butt to get out of the ground), plus a thin atmosphere less likely to burn up any skymetal-loaded asteroids before they hit the surface.
Oh. Oh god. There's nothing to stop the akatas. THERE'S NOTHING TO STOP THE AK-
5: Thanael, I believe we have concord on this. And there's a surprising amount of AC to be squeezed out of quite a few class builds, even before you go to the armor shop. Plus, I like the concept of the non-swift guys just going the "tough as nails" route and soaking damage like mofos. We'll call that playing the "Ostog the Unslain" card.
BTW, I'm going to be on the DMTools Chat tonight, probably at 8 pm Pacific/9 pm Mountain time. That's 4 am GMT, if it helps you look for your time zone. Not really reasonable for people out of the Western hemisphere, but I'll see if I can hold a more suitable chat at a later date for those folks.
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SERIOUSLY THERE'S NOTHING TO STOP THE AKATAS WE HAVE TO GET OFFWORLD NOW
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I SO was thinking of that. A baseline shobhad could tear through a lot of akatas, and they're immune to void death, so heading off to go collect some akata heads might make for a good challenge for a young shobhad looking to prove itself.
I'm assuming with Akiton's sparse population and large swathes of empty land, most akata meteorites go unfound until well after all the akatas starve to death or have been devoured by behirs, death worms, and other things far worse than an akata. Still, I could see a few outbreaks leading skymetal prospectors packing artificially-made salt water (glass jug of water with salt thrown in). Seeing bits of noqual cocoon means it's time to pull out the sodium juice. It's worth a few gp to keep the silent blue bitey-beasts at bay, especially when noqual's on the line. That stuff's worth good money.
That said, a mass of akata-filled meteorites landing in a city-state's holdings could make for an excellent adventure. Because you can't have enough adventures with noqual prospecting and terrified NPCs.
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As a robot note, while I usually prefer my robots to look like badass death machines, making native Akitoni designs look like stuff out of some pulp novel is obviously fitting (light bulb eyes, boxy forms, arms that look like those tubes on the backs of dryers, or maybe just a person wearing a skin-tight silver suit). Vercite robot designs will probably be more like an adamantine-clad murder skeleton.
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The tech-priest sale models are almost assuredly form over function (only folks who can afford robots are rich folks, and rich folks like fancy-looking things as a general rule). The in-house stuff is function over form, as are the Vercite models, I'd imagine. Nothing looks good standing next to a strip mine. Might as well be sure it does stuff.