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Dark Archive

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Best dish you tried in South Africa?

Creative Director, Starfinder Team

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Cubed wrote:

What provided the inspiration of The First World - Realm of the Fey? What was your involvement in Legacy of the First World?

P.S. I really like The First World - Realm of the Fey.

Well, I had created the First World waaaaaay back during the Kingmaker AP, and I think the biggest single point of inspiration was probably Neil Gaiman's Sandman comics. In many ways, the Eldest were inspired by his Endless (Death, Dream, etc.)—I really wanted fey entities that felt creepy and alien, rather than the old Titania/Oberon vibe. For more points of inspiration, Magdh was definitely inspired by the Morrigan from Celtic myth, and the Lanten King has a lot of Coyote from Native American myth, while Ng is a bit of an homage to Ningauble of the Seven Eyes/Sheelba of the Eyeless Face from the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories. And in my secret headcanon, there's a chance that the Lost Prince is actually the Sandman himself, fled from an alternate reality. :D

I didn't really have any involvement in Legacy of the First World—I wrote the Campaign Setting book well in advance, so the devs and writers of the companion had access to it, and then I got out of the way except to answer questions! I'm a firm believer in creating the best thing you can and then letting other people run with it.

Creative Director, Starfinder Team

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Stratagemini wrote:

Were you as upset as I was when you learned that there was no possibility of playable Grippli in Pathfinder: Kingmaker due to licensing and intellectual Property restrictions?

Because I was super bummed out.

I'm not terribly surprised they can't do grippli—and it's a pretty niche race anyway—but I feel your amphibious pain!

Creative Director, Starfinder Team

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Steve Geddes wrote:
What was your single best moment in South Africa?

Hard to say, but probably just getting to the convention and realizing how truly excited so many of the fans were. It was really amazing the outpouring of warmth from everyone there, and how well the con staff took care of me. Close runners-up were going down into some amazing caves with my friend and comics buddy Sean Izaakse, or road-tripping through Kruger with some awesome locals—seeing a hyena mother with its pups was great, but probably the most emotionally affecting moment was just stopping in the middle of the savannah, out of sight or sound of any other cars, and sticking my head out the window to feel how quiet and untouched the whole place was. It was really amazing to have that momentary glimpse of what it would have been like to be the first people in the region!

Creative Director, Starfinder Team

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ulgulanoth wrote:
Best dish you tried in South Africa?

I want to say koeksisters, but the honest truth is that I got addicted to their tomato sizzler flavor of Doritos, and the folk remedy of Med+Lemon in hot Stoney Brew was both delicious and worked wonders on my cold. :P


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When did you go to South Africa and why?


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James Sutter wrote:
Steve Geddes wrote:
What was your single best moment in South Africa?
Hard to say, but probably just getting to the convention and realizing how truly excited so many of the fans were. It was really amazing the outpouring of warmth from everyone there, and how well the con staff took care of me. Close runners-up were going down into some amazing caves with my friend and comics buddy Sean Izaakse, or road-tripping through Kruger with some awesome locals—seeing a hyena mother with its pups was great, but probably the most emotionally affecting moment was just stopping in the middle of the savannah, out of sight or sound of any other cars, and sticking my head out the window to feel how quiet and untouched the whole place was. It was really amazing to have that momentary glimpse of what it would have been like to be the first people in the region!

Was that the Maropeng caves?

Creative Director, Starfinder Team

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Steve Geddes wrote:
James Sutter wrote:
Steve Geddes wrote:
What was your single best moment in South Africa?
Hard to say, but probably just getting to the convention and realizing how truly excited so many of the fans were. It was really amazing the outpouring of warmth from everyone there, and how well the con staff took care of me. Close runners-up were going down into some amazing caves with my friend and comics buddy Sean Izaakse, or road-tripping through Kruger with some awesome locals—seeing a hyena mother with its pups was great, but probably the most emotionally affecting moment was just stopping in the middle of the savannah, out of sight or sound of any other cars, and sticking my head out the window to feel how quiet and untouched the whole place was. It was really amazing to have that momentary glimpse of what it would have been like to be the first people in the region!
Was that the Maropeng caves?

Yeah, actually! Cradle of Humankind FTW!

Creative Director, Starfinder Team

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Dragon78 wrote:
When did you go to South Africa and why?

Last week! I was down there for the ICON games and comics convention.

The Exchange

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James Sutter wrote:
And in my secret headcanon, there's a chance that the Lost Prince is actually the Sandman himself, fled from an alternate reality. :D

Hmm... don't actually need to... at the beginning of Sandman comics we see him being captured by a bunch of occultists... what was the timeline on that? 1922 Earth? (i.e. same timeline as Strange Aeons right?)

His body is stuck on Earth in that glass bubble for 50 or 70 years, but Lost Prince could be his lucid body in a dreamscape, and since he's got dominion on dreams, it wouldn't be far-fetched to have him form a permanent dreamscape due to his power... permanent dreamscapes sometimes overlap an existing plane, or are the 'dream' or 'nightmare' version on an existing plane, as we've seen in "House on Hook Street".

Since his personal power is greatly reduced due to his imprisonment on Earth, it would make sense to establish his dreamscape domain on a malleable and magical dimension like the First World.

Plus he's shielded from the gods, demon lords and archdevils there, and by extension, shielded from the occultists who imprisoned him (assuming they drew their power from some fiendish source...)

Creative Director, Starfinder Team

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Skivven Steelwhiskers wrote:
James Sutter wrote:
And in my secret headcanon, there's a chance that the Lost Prince is actually the Sandman himself, fled from an alternate reality. :D

Hmm... don't actually need to... at the beginning of Sandman comics we see him being captured by a bunch of occultists... what was the timeline on that? 1922 Earth? (i.e. same timeline as Strange Aeons right?)

His body is stuck on Earth in that glass bubble for 50 or 70 years, but Lost Prince could be his lucid body in a dreamscape, and since he's got dominion on dreams, it wouldn't be far-fetched to have him form a permanent dreamscape due to his power... permanent dreamscapes sometimes overlap an existing plane, or are the 'dream' or 'nightmare' version on an existing plane, as we've seen in "House on Hook Street".

Since his personal power is greatly reduced due to his imprisonment on Earth, it would make sense to establish his dreamscape domain on a malleable and magical dimension like the First World.

Plus he's shielded from the gods, demon lords and archdevils there, and by extension, shielded from the occultists who imprisoned him (assuming they drew their power from some fiendish source...)

I like the way you think.

Creative Director, Starfinder Team

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Also, just to be clear, the secret headcanon about the Lost Prince is in NO WAY OFFICIAL PAIZO CANON, just something I like to pretend to amuse myself. Please nobody sue us. :-*

Scarab Sages

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Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Kingmaker the computer game's getting funded tonight (with archetypes met and possibly Nok-Nok, the Goblin who would be a God!). Were you able to play any of it at Paizocon or through some sort of secret Paizo-related blood-pact?

If so, what was your favorite part?

The Exchange

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James Sutter wrote:
Also, just to be clear, the secret headcanon about the Lost Prince is in NO WAY OFFICIAL PAIZO CANON, just something I like to pretend to amuse myself. Please nobody sue us. :-*

Has Paizo reached out to Neil Gaiman yet? As a Pathfinder Deluxe Comics Subscriber I would love read a new series based on the pre-imprisonment Sandman's ventures into the First World... Rivani, Quinn, Balazar and Lini could make a decent party on this one... I have sooooo many ideas! :) :) :)


So, more Morpheus, less...

Spoiler:
Daniel

... I suppose?

The Exchange

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Tacticslion wrote:

So, more Morpheus, less...

** spoiler omitted **

... I suppose?

Considering I don't even recall ** spoiler omitted **, then ABSOLUTELY Morpheus! :)


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Fair! I am only vaguely aware, myself!

There would need to be chronological distortion pretty much no matter what we're discussing, I'm curious how James (or you) might justify his long-standing peerage in the first world!

(For the record, I heart this idea a great deal...)

The Exchange

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What do you mean? if it's set pre-imprisonment, during the 1920's i.e. Golarion current time, he's at full power and I'd assume he'd have established permanent and semi-permanent dreamscapes in pretty much every worlds, BUT the First World one would grant him indescribable power due to its malleability and the absence of (annoying? pesky?) gods. :)


Ah! It was my understanding that he didn't have access to presets pushed realms...

EDIT: that is, I misunderstood your suggestion, I think. It makes sense that "Forgotten Prince" could be many of his aliases, but rather it seemed to be you were discussing the time of his imprisonment as the beginning of his as TFP - especially in the context of being exiled and brooding aspect (which, to my understanding, has been true for a long time). That's my question about the timeline: if the lost/exiled aspect is new, there is no problem, but it was my impression that "The Forgotten Prince" referenced his exiled status, which, in turn, was true since ancient days. That's where I was getting held up!

Also: I've not completed Kingmaker, though I'm about to start the last module, so if anything clarifies what happens, there, I may be missing some context...

The Exchange

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I'm losing you there... my headcannon ramblings are made purely in the context of the Sandman comics. Especially the first few issues where they show him imprisoned, etc.

In fact you bring up something interesting: what was the actual date of imprisonment in Sandman?

The Exchange

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Google nuggets:

Sandman timeline:
Ancient History & Myths:

t = 0 : The Endless come to be. Destiny, because he sees all of recorded history, is first, followed by Death, which must come to all things. Dream is the next one born, because before creation there must come imagination. Destruction is fourth, then the twins Desire and Despair, and then the youngest, Delight.

"Aeons ago": A dream vortex causes all of the dreamers in a world to be swept into the same dream. The dream gains momentum and collapses in upon itself, causing irreparable harm to the Dreaming. It is Dream's duty to prevent this from happening again.

Long ago: Dream makes the Gates of Horn and Ivory, as well as his helm, from the corpses of three gods who wish to usurp his power.

At least 80 millennia before modern history: The first Despair dies or is killed, leaving no body. When the Endless come to claim the cerements, the decadent inhabitants of the first Necropolis have not done their job. The Necropolis' charter is revoked, and Litharge is founded, with a similar charter.

Date unknown--probably ancient: Delight becomes Delirium. Several people have suggested that Delight's transformation is a result of the death of Despair, but I can find no solid evidence of this fact.

At least 10 millenia before modern history: Nada rejects Dream's advances, for which he condemns her to Hell. The story of their brief courtship is told in A Doll's House, in the story "Tales in the Sand."

c. 700 B.C.: Orpheus marries Eurydice, but she dies at the wedding, chased by a lustful Aristaeus into a field where she is bitten by a serpent. Orpheus follows her into Hades and makes the Furies weep, but in the end fails to recover her. The Bacchae--also called Dionysians--tear Orpheus limb from limb and his still-living head is thrown into the river Hebrus. Shortly thereafter, Aristaeus dies and is transformed into a raven who serves Dream. At some point, Aristaeus is changed into a man, but "it didn't last."

1273: Marco Polo becomes lost in the desert, and meets Dream. By the strange time dilation properties of the desert he becomes lost in, he is rescued by a freshly-escaped Dream (c. 1988), and returned to his own time and place.

1389: Dream meets Robert "Hob" Gadling for the first time while he and Death overhear him at a pub stating that he has decided that he is simply not going to die. Dream and Death are amused by his assertion, and when Hob promises to meet him in the same pub 100 years hence, Dream agrees.

1489: Dream meets with Hob Gadling on schedule.

1589: While meeting with Sir Robert Gadlen, Dream also grants a wish of William Shakespeare's, that he might write as well as Kit Marlowe. This grant is given as a patronage, and the price is that Shakespeare write two plays for Dream.

June 23, 1593: William Shakespeare's theatre company performs A Midsummer Night's Dream for Dream and the Faerie Court, including Auberon, Titania, and Robin Goodfellow (the Puck). At the end of the evening, Puck decides not to return to Faerie.

1596: Hamnet Shakespeare dies, age 11.

April 23, 1616: William Shakespeare dies, age 52. His last play is the Tempest, commissioned by Dream.

1665: In the year of the Black Plague, Despair and Destruction discuss the nature of change.

1689: Dream meets with Hob Gadling on schedule, and renews the bargain, as usual.

c. 1700: Dream, with The Corinthian in tow, meets with Destruction in London, and discusses the inevitability of total destruction (and the human penchant for helping it along). Shortly thereafter, Destruction calls a family meeting and announces that he is quitting his job. Various known dates (such as the publication of Isaac Newton's "Opticks" and the first known dissection of an orangutan in England) fail to pin this down tighter than five or six years in either direction.

1741: "Mad Hettie" born (by her own claims).

1760: Lady Johanna Constantine is born.

1769: First sighting of "Mad Hettie" on Compton Street.

1789: Dream and Hob Gadling are ambushed (unsuccessfully) by Johanna Constantine.

June 28th, 1794: Dream proposes a business arrangement with Johanna Constantine at her manor in Wych Cross, England. By July 30th of that year, she is liberating the severed (but conscious) head of Orpheus from post-Revolution Paris. September 9th of the same year, Orpheus' head is enshrined at the Greek isle of Naxos.

1802: St. Hilarion's School for Boys founded.

1859: Lady Johanna Constantine dies. September of that year, Joshua Norton, in the grip of Despair, is "taken" by Dream as part of a challenge. Mr. Norton proclaims himself Emperor of the United States.

September, 1864: Joshua Norton meets with Samuel Clemens, a.k.a. "Mark Twain", and gives him the idea to write down "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County."

September, 1875: Joshua is tempted by Desire, in hir effort to win the challenge; Emperor Norton declines, and then consults his Chinese subject, Ah How, about whether his choice was legitimate. Desire vows to make Dream spill family blood.

10 January, 1880: Emperor Joshua Norton I dies in a rain storm; Dream wins the challenge posed to him by Desire, Despair, and Delirium. A total solar eclipse marks the day of his funeral.

1889: At the centennial meeting, Hob Gadling dares to suggest that Dream is lonely, and Dream storms off. Hob hollers after him that if Dream should return in 1989, it will be only because they are friends.

1899: "Jim" born in Sydney, Australia.

Our Dumb Century

1903: Rose Kincaid's paternal grandfather born.

1913: While travelling on the Sea Witch from Bombay to Liverpool, Jim, Hob, and an Indian gentleman later revealed to be immortal see a sea serpent. On a port stop in Aden, each confirms that none of them has told anyone ashore about what transpired, because each of them has a secret to keep.

September, 1914: The secrets are revealed at World's End.1

May 31, 1916: In the Battle of Jutland (WWI), Edmund Hathaway dies when his destroyer is sunk (one of eight destroyers lost that day).

June 6, 1916: Convinced that Roderick Burgess can imprison Death with his help (and thereby bring back his lost son), Dr. John Hathaway (curator of the British Museum) gives Mr. Burgess the Magdalene Grimoire.

June 10, 1916: In his attempt to summon and bind Death, Burgess unwittingly captures Dream. With Dream imprisoned, the Dreaming falls into disarray. Unity Kincaid falls into a deep sleep; Stefan Wasserman goes into a state of perpetual waking; other similar maladies strike worldwide.

So it appears he's captured from 1916 to 1988... this means the current (1922) Lost Prince in the First World could be Sandman's consciousness while his body is stuck on Earth. :)

Thus, you could have stories with a Golarion party set in the 1922 post-imprisonment days where they witness an increasingly sad Lost Prince, who is prone to all kinds of erratic behaviour as he sinks into despair. Yet, you could have flashbacks with Lini (the Druid iconic) showing her dealings with the happy, whimsical pre-1916 Lost Prince. The post 1916 interactions has her correctly worried about the Lost Prince, and as time moves forward, he lashes at her for her unabashed good mood, and she avoids perpetual imprisonment or other similar cruel fate at his hands by accepting to do a quest for him for some artifact... enter the rest of the party which she recruits. Psychic and Investigator are crucial here as they track an inter-dimensional mystery, perhaps with a hop or two to 1922 New York, and the Summoner iconic joins at some point (either on Earth stranded in an old-timey circus or in the First World where his own activities has seen him stranded there).

The Exchange

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headcanon ramblings:
"What is that Papa?" says the young boy as he chews messily through his candied apple.

"Ha! this is the circus Tommy! who knows what strange beast they have pulled from the darkest corners of the world!"

The chained eidolon briefly glances at the young boy with an unavoidable glint of intelligence in its eyes only surpassed by its anger. [zoom in on the kid's left eye as he gasps with fear]

"What the? oh nooo! Tommy! did you have to drop your treat on my shoe? don't be such a scaredy-cat! it's probably some ostrich they've dressed up!"

Down below the strong man yanks on the chain with both hands, muscles bulging under the strain, "Come you filthy beast! don't you stare at the crowd like that!"

The man bends over to clean the young boy's mess as the eidolon's anger fades into sadness. "Alright Tommy. Let's go to the next tent. I hear they have a long-bearded leprechaun on display there!"

Oh and somehow, maybe we need to work in the gunslinger iconic into this party, based on that article... :)


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I can't find it right now, but my understanding of the name, "The Lost Prince" is because he is, in fact, kind of "lost" - at least in the sense that he was exiled from another world.

From whatever article I read that one time, it seemed pretty fundamental to the character of TLP - it's a thing he broods about, a thing he is focused on, and ponders a way to get back from. And, more importantly, it seems he arrived as this exiled, unknown entity, so it's always been that way.

Thus, when you suggested, "Well, Dream's imprisonment happened in the ~1920s, and that's about where current Golarion canon holds equal timeline to earth" I thought, "Huh, that does make sense - if he was exiled, it could be his imprisonment, and sense he can't get back, it holds." Which seemed confirmed by Mr. Sutter as, "Hey! Cool angle!" or some-such.

Full acknowledgement that James Sutter has noted that, explicitly, it is in no way Paizo "true" canon, merely head-canon, i.e. a fan-pondering of cool stuff, because he likes other things. Hence, "confirm" as in, "that's a cool angle, and similar to the one I justify to myself." not "That's what Paizo says!" (because, of course, Paizo doesn't have that angle, at all; though I could go for some awesome official crossover, and would be willing to fork some of the limited dollars I own to that tune - just sayin' Vertigo).

But then I thought of the problem with that - if TFP was exiled, and the exile was Dream's imprisonment, than he'd only have been exiled for a few years, at most - in this case, by the time Reign of Winter had occurred, he would only have been imprisoned for two years, and by the time Kingmaker occurred (or rather, the relative date of the rough origin of that AP's start; obviously specific table dates vary) despite being an ancient creature with that ancient history of exile, he wouldn't have been imprisoned, yet.

That is what I was trying to get at.

I see where you're coming from now - "maybe he wasn't always like that!" but, by the same token, it was my (possibly mistaken?) impression that he was always supposed to have been, which makes me question time. I could easily have been wrong - I'd be happy to know! - but that's what I was getting at.

EDIT: Earthlink (not whatever company/product that is), also to clarify: I'm not trying to undermine or break the theory - I'm just trying to understand it.

Like, is there a canonical (or head-canonical) method by way of imprisonment-cum-time travel; or (as you seem to propose) "he's changed" (which didn't come to mind as a possibility, as I just kind of thought his mope-tastic mein was his forever-M.O. - at least, until 4793 AR!); or some other potential explanation.

Sorry for causing any problems - I just liked the idea and was really curious!

Also, related note: Eldest are made of Awesome, Mr. Sutter!

The Exchange

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For the purposes of a comics series, well... look at the timeline. Morpheus has been sad for a loooooooooooong time (sending his girlfriend to Hell is something he's always regretted and part of his character, and that happened at least 14,000 years ago).

The 1916 imprisonment could just be the beginning of a more angry stage, which would be temporary as he could be restored to his more brooding less angry self by the actions of the comics' heroes (which results in him coming to term with his imprisonment as his lucid body regains a suitable amount of power thanks to the thingamajigger the heroes recover for him on Earth or Golarion or First World or all of the above)

The Exchange

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Through Lini's flashbacks we somehow discover that his 1916 imprisonment is a big part of him not knowing who he is. The imprisonment results in a contraction in the dreamscape-sculpted First World domain of the Lost Prince, and much of what he knew is now forgotten, and due to his power as an Eldest upon his domain, history is reshaped around this new reality. If he was more powerful before the imprisonment: no one will ever know.

Only the emotions remain, as if they were frozen in amber at the end of a great cataclysm, so his inexplicable yet constant sadness cannot be appeased and he lacks the reasoning or memories to process that emotion.

The Exchange

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This reshaping of reality is also the cause of Lini's splitting headaches and occasional seizures, where she experiences visions of the Lost Prince (due to the reshaping of reality she has no real idea who he is, but her investigations brings her to the First World or at least brings her to contact the Lost Prince or his minions).

By the time she meets him down the road, she has a few memories due to the flashbacks, but her illness grows worse. Her dreams are also increasingly haunted and nightmarish. The Lost Prince senses a hidden part of his previous self within Lini, and is initially very curious and demanding of her time, wishing to keep her nearby for study, conversation, and to get a glimpse of this past he's forgotten.

After a violent seizure, which also hurts the Lost Prince and/or his castle a great deal, it is understood that the proximity between both of them makes things more dangerous for the both of them. Yet, there is a way, perhaps...

--> Insert the Lost Prince quest here to get Lini away from him *and* try to unlock that secret past of his; the quest can ultimately fail in the sense that the Lost Prince will not remember who he was exactly, but insert_blank_BBEG will be destroyed in the process, and the Lost Prince's anger will cease (so will Lini's headaches) i.e. status quo, which works since Morpheus is imprisoned on Earth the whole time anyway, just dreaming about this stuff in *one* far-flung corner of his mind... and yes, I fully think Morpheus capable of having more than one dream at once, lucid or not! :)

Creative Director, Starfinder Team

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Stratagemini wrote:

Kingmaker the computer game's getting funded tonight (with archetypes met and possibly Nok-Nok, the Goblin who would be a God!). Were you able to play any of it at Paizocon or through some sort of secret Paizo-related blood-pact?

If so, what was your favorite part?

I actually haven't, due to the unending torrent of Starfinder work. But a bunch of the Pathfinder team have and say it's amazing, so I'm really keen to get the chance!

Creative Director, Starfinder Team

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Skivven Steelwhiskers wrote:
Has Paizo reached out to Neil Gaiman yet? As a Pathfinder Deluxe Comics Subscriber I would love read a new series based on the pre-imprisonment Sandman's ventures into the First World... Rivani, Quinn, Balazar and Lini could make a decent party on this one... I have sooooo many ideas! :) :) :)

That would be amazing! But it would pretty much require me to find a magical lamp with a genie interested in granting wishes. And if that happens, I fear Neil doesn't *quite* crack my top 3. :P

Creative Director, Starfinder Team

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Tacticslion wrote:
Also, related note: Eldest are made of Awesome, Mr. Sutter!

Thank you! I feel like they've all taken on lives of their own, which makes writing about them really fun. :)

Silver Crusade

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James Sutter wrote:
Tacticslion wrote:
Also, related note: Eldest are made of Awesome, Mr. Sutter!
Thank you! I feel like they've all taken on lives of their own, which makes writing about them really fun. :)

*nods*

Ragadahn is still my favourite, even moreso with the reveals in the First World book.

Liberty's Edge

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How do you pronounce Aballon? Literally A BALL ON?

Creative Director, Starfinder Team

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Gark the Goblin wrote:
How do you pronounce Aballon? Literally A BALL ON?

AB-uh-lawn

Ab like stomach muscles, uh like you're unsure, lawn like you mow it. :)

Dark Archive

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James Sutter wrote:
Gark the Goblin wrote:
How do you pronounce Aballon? Literally A BALL ON?

AB-uh-lawn

Ab like stomach muscles, uh like you're unsure, lawn like you mow it. :)

So like Avalon, but with a 'b' instead of a 'v.' Cool, that's how I was pronouncing it. :)

Creative Director, Starfinder Team

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Set wrote:
James Sutter wrote:
Gark the Goblin wrote:
How do you pronounce Aballon? Literally A BALL ON?

AB-uh-lawn

Ab like stomach muscles, uh like you're unsure, lawn like you mow it. :)

So like Avalon, but with a 'b' instead of a 'v.' Cool, that's how I was pronouncing it. :)

That's an even better way of noting it!


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Had to.

Silver Crusade

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James Sutter wrote:
Set wrote:
James Sutter wrote:
Gark the Goblin wrote:
How do you pronounce Aballon? Literally A BALL ON?

AB-uh-lawn

Ab like stomach muscles, uh like you're unsure, lawn like you mow it. :)

So like Avalon, but with a 'b' instead of a 'v.' Cool, that's how I was pronouncing it. :)

That's an even better way of noting it!

Autocorrect keeps switching it to Abalone...

Liberty's Edge

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Rysky wrote:
James Sutter wrote:
Set wrote:
James Sutter wrote:
Gark the Goblin wrote:
How do you pronounce Aballon? Literally A BALL ON?

AB-uh-lawn

Ab like stomach muscles, uh like you're unsure, lawn like you mow it. :)

So like Avalon, but with a 'b' instead of a 'v.' Cool, that's how I was pronouncing it. :)

That's an even better way of noting it!
Autocorrect keeps switching it to Abalone...

Yeah, I've accidentally almost said abalone a few times. And then ingrained Spanish pronunciation certainly didn't make things simpler . . .

Thanks for the clarification James!


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Walks in confidently, puts briefcase on the table, adjusts tie slightly, puts boombox next to the briefcase, presses play and begins miming suggestions for future Starfinder products choreographed to Sixteen Candles.


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Hi James I just got my coppy of the starfinder CRB and it's amazing!! I love the the art and the changes to the rules I think are fantastic. I have one question though for npc characters. I saw the space goblin technomancer stat lock and he didn't have any stamina points listed. Do monsters and npcs not gain stamina points per their class like npcs do?
Hi hope gencon went well for you guys and I can't wait to see what else comes out in the future


I'm not a huge sci fi fan, more a gritty horror type. But I have been asked to run starfinder. And as you are creative director of starfinder I wanted to run my tweaks so far toward you. I wanted to make sure I haven't horribly mangled your creative child, and am trying to be respectful of the source.
So far I have made humans very economically classist (very much like they usually are in most of history and modern society). In my version the labourer class of folks are 6 1/2- 7 1/2 feet tall from long exposure to non planetary gravity. They tend tohave low bone density and bad lungs and have major trouble living on planets without implants. They live on average 45 years due to poor living conditions, nutrition, radiation and chemical exposure. Prosthetics and augmentations look very crude and are functional but with no finesse. Despite the fact there are definite medical and nutritional supplemental supplies to combat these conditions in humans over the generations the remain financially out of reach tot he laborer class. (Obviously taking great amounts of inspiration from gritty sci-fi like "The Expanse"). They also so speak a twisted form of common called Golls (heavily slanged term for golarion common). And they tend to be unfriendly to hostile to higher wealth classes. You can tell me to lay off if it is destroying your world James, let me know if this is ok?


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Hi James, one of the things that Pathfinder has done that I've really liked is splitting Kytons off as their own "species" of evil outsiders separate from devils.

Another thing I've noticed is that there are many more 'species' of fiends than celestials (proably because fiends generally make better enemies?)

Which leads me to the question of: has splitting Devas off from Angels to create a new race of celestials Ever been considered?


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I have no questions, I just wanted to thank you for all your hard work and creativity in ushering Starfinder out into the world.

Thank you.


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Hi James

Have you given any thought/made any public comments about the various ascended gods from the Pathfinder era?

Are Irori and Norgorber still around? Are there other Gods who passed the Test of the Starstone? Can you still complete the test now that it's powering Absalom Station?

Creative Director, Starfinder

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The Minis Maniac wrote:

I'm not a huge sci fi fan, more a gritty horror type. But I have been asked to run starfinder. And as you are creative director of starfinder I wanted to run my tweaks so far toward you. I wanted to make sure I haven't horribly mangled your creative child, and am trying to be respectful of the source.

So far I have made humans very economically classist (very much like they usually are in most of history and modern society). In my version the labourer class of folks are 6 1/2- 7 1/2 feet tall from long exposure to non planetary gravity. They tend tohave low bone density and bad lungs and have major trouble living on planets without implants. They live on average 45 years due to poor living conditions, nutrition, radiation and chemical exposure. Prosthetics and augmentations look very crude and are functional but with no finesse. Despite the fact there are definite medical and nutritional supplemental supplies to combat these conditions in humans over the generations the remain financially out of reach tot he laborer class. (Obviously taking great amounts of inspiration from gritty sci-fi like "The Expanse"). They also so speak a twisted form of common called Golls (heavily slanged term for golarion common). And they tend to be unfriendly to hostile to higher wealth classes. You can tell me to lay off if it is destroying your world James, let me know if this is ok?

Hey, that all sounds good to me! I love The Expanse, so taking Starfinder more that direction in your home game sounds great. :) But remember, it doesn't matter if I approve (though I do)—once you buy the book, everything in there is yours to change as dramatically as you want. I'm just giving you ingredients—you're the chef!

Creative Director, Starfinder

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Sayt wrote:


Which leads me to the question of: has splitting Devas off from Angels to create a new race of celestials Ever been considered?

Probably? But it's not something I think anybody's really seriously considering at the moment.


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Are the six arms of Absalom Station named anywhere? The gazetteer in the back of AP1 explicitly names one and then provides a list of neighbourhoods - they read to me as parts of other arms, but perhaps they are each an entire arm?

Creative Director, Starfinder

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captain yesterday wrote:

I have no questions, I just wanted to thank you for all your hard work and creativity in ushering Starfinder out into the world.

Thank you.

Thank YOU! It's all you folks on the messageboards that make this job possible, and I know just how lucky I am to actually get paid to write about this stuff. :)

Creative Director, Starfinder

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Steve Geddes wrote:

Hi James

Have you given any thought/made any public comments about the various ascended gods from the Pathfinder era?

Are Irori and Norgorber still around? Are there other Gods who passed the Test of the Starstone? Can you still complete the test now that it's powering Absalom Station?

Thought? Absolutely! Public statement? Not so much. But I can say that they're all pretty much still around—just because they're not part of the Core 20 doesn't mean they're not still alive and worshiped, they're just not *as* prominent comparatively once you factor in the preferences of all those non-Golarion-born races.

As for all the mysteries surrounding the Starstone—those will remain mysteries for now. But there are certainly still folks on Absalom Station who believe the Statstone could turn you into a god, if you got through its impermeable defenses...


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Cool. Thanks.

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