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![Blackfire Adept](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/PZO9249-Blackfire_90.jpeg)
Hi everyone!
I really can't wait to play the final version of the game at Gencon in August. For now, though, I'm still running playtests with a few people, and I got to thinking about what will likely be the NEXT character expansion, the iconics from the Advanced Player's Guide. Here's what I'm thinking as far as how I'd like to see them work:
Alain (Cavalier) - He will have an ally called "Donohan, Bonded Mount" that would go in his deck right from the start. Donohan would allow him to add an extra Strength dice to any attacks with two-handed melee weapons (signifying a mounted charge) and then be recharged into Alain's deck. Alain would also get some type of ability that would let him flip through the location deck until he hits an enemy, then shuffle the remaining cards back in (this represents his Challenge ability, making an enemy attack him instead of others).
Feiya (Witch) - She would have the ability to discard a card to give any ally a re-roll of his/her attack dice. She would obviously have no armor proficiency. She could also have an ally called "Daji, Familiar" that would let her show cards from her deck until she found a spell card, then reshuffle the non-spell cards she showed, then recharge Daji.
Lirianne (Gunslinger) - Obviously she'd have gun weapons that would be added to her own deck and the available treasures. A grit ability to find a gun might work for her.
Imrijka (Inquisitor) - This one's tougher for me as far as ideas... anyone else?
Seltyiel (Magus) - Obviously he'd use Arcane spells but be able to use armor also. Maybe he could discard a card from his hand to add his Strength dice to spell damage (as if using Spellstrike).
Alhazara (Oracle) - She's supposed to be all about fire, but Seoni already has a fire spell she can toss out at will. Not sure here, suggestions?
Balazar (Summoner) - This one could be sort of like Lini the Druid in that he'd focus on Ally cards, including his eidolon, Padrig. Padrig would be more powerful than other Ally cards, and would be recharged after use.
What do you guys think of these ideas? Of course we could include the Ninja and Samurai too, but they're really just archetypes of Rogue and Cavalier, so they might be too much.
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![Blackfire Adept](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/PZO9249-Blackfire_90.jpeg)
I think Damiel the alchemist is sad that you skipped him!
Heh, good call! I can imagine him focusing completely on items (potions) with ways to enhance their effects, and have an ability that would be analagous to bombs, so discard a card for a ranged fire attack. That would be pretty similar to Seoni, though... hmm... perhaps it's force damage instead, and you could have power feats to make the bombs deal fire or acid damage?
Another possible ability for him would be something mutagen-y. Maybe discard a card to either recharge 2 points of damage from an attack (analagous to natural armor, could be upgraded with power feats) or get a +2 to Dexterity-based combat checks.
OOH! He could also have a power feat that would give him an Arcane d6 and card feats to give him spells, to represent his arcane knowledge growing over time. :)
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hustonj |
I still stand behind a recommendation I made during the playtest:
Future sets could include a new character or two tailored specifically to that AP.
In some cases, that's easy. Jade Regent gets the iconic Ninja and Samurai, for instance.
In others, it allows for characters with very different builds. Different base attributes, skills, piety, gear amounts, allies, etc. An urban ranger with lots of friends could be vastly different in play, for example.
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![Blackfire Adept](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/PZO9249-Blackfire_90.jpeg)
I still stand behind a recommendation I made during the playtest:
Future sets could include a new character or two tailored specifically to that AP.
In some cases, that's easy. Jade Regent gets the iconic Ninja and Samurai, for instance.
In others, it allows for characters with very different builds. Different base attributes, skills, piety, gear amounts, allies, etc. An urban ranger with lots of friends could be vastly different in play, for example.
That definitely makes sense. I would think they'd want to stick with the Iconic characters until they get through all of them, though.
I've actually gotten the chance to read the full rulebook, and they have taken a LOT of our suggestions during the playtest to heart, so I wouldn't be surprised if yours is one of them.
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![Vic Wertz](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/private/vic_abadar_avatar.jpg)
I still stand behind a recommendation I made during the playtest:
Future sets could include a new character or two tailored specifically to that AP.
In some cases, that's easy. Jade Regent gets the iconic Ninja and Samurai, for instance.
In others, it allows for characters with very different builds. Different base attributes, skills, piety, gear amounts, allies, etc. An urban ranger with lots of friends could be vastly different in play, for example.
1: The next AP for the card game, should we do one, will very likely include classes in its Base Set Box that are different from those in Rise of the Runelords.
2: We've given the same iconics multiple stat blocks in the RPG, and I expect that Valeros in the next PACG AP will not be exactly the same as Valeros in Rise of the Runelords.
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Mechalibur |
![Tsadok Goldtooth](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/PZO9057-Goldtooth_90.jpeg)
I noticed when looking at the suggested character decks that what makes a lot of characters unique is that they're completely missing certain card types that are common in other character decks. For example, Ezren doesn't have blessings and Seelah doesn't have items.
There don't seem to be any characters without any allies in their deck, though; if any new character designs come out, I think it would make the most sense for Seltyiel not to have any :P
(Or are allies more necesary than blessings/items? I wasn't in the playtest)
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![Vic Wertz](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/private/vic_abadar_avatar.jpg)
I'm very much hoping that the powers, skills, and character progression/decisions make for noticeable difference in addition to the distribution of cards each character has.
No doubt about that! I think people will be really happy about how different each class is, and even how different *your* Valeros is from *my* Valeros after a couple of adventures.
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![Blackfire Adept](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/PZO9249-Blackfire_90.jpeg)
I noticed when looking at the suggested character decks that what makes a lot of characters unique is that they're completely missing certain card types that are common in other character decks. For example, Ezren doesn't have blessings and Seelah doesn't have items.
There don't seem to be any characters without any allies in their deck, though; if any new character designs come out, I think it would make the most sense for Seltyiel not to have any :P
(Or are allies more necesary than blessings/items? I wasn't in the playtest)
In many cases, if you have no allies you'll need to have a lot of blessings to be able to explore multiple times per turn, or vice versa. Allies and blessings are THE ways to get multiple explorations, so I would hope never to see a character who had very few of both of those.
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![Vic Wertz](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/private/vic_abadar_avatar.jpg)
Yeah, most allies and most blessings usually let you explore again, but they also do other things, and different character types benefit differently from them. For example, Lini the druid really likes having Animal allies, while Sajan the monk likes blessings that enhance combat. At higher levels, many characters really like blessings of particular gods, or blessings that boost specific stats.
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Mechalibur |
![Tsadok Goldtooth](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/PZO9057-Goldtooth_90.jpeg)
Mechalibur wrote:In many cases, if you have no allies you'll need to have a lot of blessings to be able to explore multiple times per turn, or vice versa. Allies and blessings are THE ways to get multiple explorations, so I would hope never to see a character who had very few of both of those.I noticed when looking at the suggested character decks that what makes a lot of characters unique is that they're completely missing certain card types that are common in other character decks. For example, Ezren doesn't have blessings and Seelah doesn't have items.
There don't seem to be any characters without any allies in their deck, though; if any new character designs come out, I think it would make the most sense for Seltyiel not to have any :P
(Or are allies more necesary than blessings/items? I wasn't in the playtest)
Maybe it could be offset by having a character ability that allows for extra exploration? Ezren doesn't have any blessings, but he gets another exploration whenever he aquires a spell, right?
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![Vic Wertz](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/private/vic_abadar_avatar.jpg)
Maybe it could be offset by having a character ability that allows for extra exploration? Ezren doesn't have any blessings, but he gets another exploration whenever he aquires a spell, right?
Yeah—there are basically three ways to accomplish the goal of making sure characters have access to multiple explorations per turn: Give them lots of blessings, give them lots of allies, or give them a special power. Ezren has a power, and he also has more allies than most characters.
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glenn3e |
![Rakshasa Maharajah](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/PZO9529-Cover.jpg)
Our intent is that all characters from any base set will be compatible with any other base set. There may be some choices you make in one set that might not pay off in others (i.e., Kyra won't be as good if a set doesn't contain any Undead monsters), but they'll all work.
Nice!
So my guess is the next set after the APs are complete is a standalone new base set for the "Curse of the Crimson Throne" AP with some of the newer Iconic Characters (Looking at the RPG section). Then maybe another character pack for the remainder of the iconic characters?
Edited.
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![Thevanan Quain](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/21ThevananQuain.jpg)
For those folks who are not familiar with the RPG stuff, or the various iconics, there are currently 10 iconic characters not used in the PACG.
They've all been mentioned in the thread, but to concentrate them in one post, they are:
Damiel - Alchemist
Alain - Cavalier
Imrijka - Inquisitor
Alhazara - Oracle
Balazar - Summoner
Feiya - Witch
Seltyiel - Magus (originally the multi-class Iconic, then the Eldritch Knight, before becoming Magus)
Lirianne - Gunslinger
Reiko - Ninja
Hayato - Samurai
I expect some of them will turn up in the next release.
However, I also wonder if there may be some other characters show up. The major Pathfinder RPG release for next August (possibly when a new PACG set might start) is the Advanced Class Guide, which will introduce 10 new classes to the RPG. And possibly 10 new iconic characters.
And I've noticed that Paizo is very good at cross-promotion :)
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![Purple Worm](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/purpleworm.gif)
I hope they don't feel restricted to doing the APs in order. At two RPG APs per year, and one card game AP per year, they will never catch up. So I hope instead they select APs that look like they will convert well to the card game and be fun and interesting.
Or they could *gasp* create an entirely new card AP. That would be a lot more labor intensive than converting an existing plotline, so I think it's less likely.
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Nathaniel Gousset |
So no character will ever get played more than 1 AP... Make sense in a way considering the level progression.
But I think base set wont be mixable or you would encounter the Arkham Horror dilluting effect on expansion.1 AP + 1 Base set, not more.
I think also there wont be enough variety to provide for another base set of cards without the change being purely cosmetics (renamed, new pics, but same mechanism on weapons, armons and spells...).
I'd rather see another AP and another intro campaign + characters pack. No need for a full base set.
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![Purple Worm](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/purpleworm.gif)
So no character will ever get played more than 1 AP... Make sense in a way considering the level progression.
But I think base set wont be mixable or you would encounter the Arkham Horror dilluting effect on expansion.1 AP + 1 Base set, not more.
I think also there wont be enough variety to provide for another base set of cards without the change being purely cosmetics (renamed, new pics, but same mechanism on weapons, armons and spells...).
I'd rather see another AP and another intro campaign + characters pack. No need for a full base set.
The problem here is that the base set is very weighted towards Sandpoint as an origin. The intro adventure, the allies, even a lot of the enemies and equipment go with Sandpoint and Varisia. If they, for example, chose to do something like Legacy of Fire much of the current base set wouldn't make much sense.
Though if you're not meant to continue playing a character after the AP why does it have a reward for finishing? I wonder about that. Maybe just for advanced fan scenarios.
I do fear for my poor encumbrance at picking up a new base set every year at Gen Con...
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![Purple Worm](http://cdn.paizo.com/image/avatar/purpleworm.gif)
ryric wrote:Subscribe and get it mailed to you.
I do fear for my poor encumbrance at picking up a new base set every year at Gen Con...
I do have a subsciption. I always do my subs as pickup at Gen Con. I like getting my stuff at the con so I have it to use with my friends while there.
I do appreciate having early exhibit hall access due to Trade Day, though. Lets me skip the truly terrible lines. Generally I tend to have like 25-30 pounds of stuff I'm toting around by the time 10AM rolls around.
Back to OT, I ponder what the other iconics favored card type will be:
Witch, oracle: spells
Alchemist: item
Summoner: ally
Gunslinger: weapon
Cavalier: weapon or armor
Inquisitor, magus: weapon or spell
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Nathaniel Gousset |
Nathaniel Gousset wrote:Shouldn't Cavalier favored card be Allies : Horse ?I was actually thinking the same thing. He should definitely get a horse ally and start with allies as his favored card type, much like Lini's animal allies.
He should even be like Lem and with only 1 ally in his deck: his faithfull horse. The rest being armor, weapons and blessing. And perhaps 1 or 2 items.
A Cavalier could be :
Ally 1
Weapon 4
Armor 3
Blessing 5
Items 2
As a remembering from back in the times when Cavaliers were Paladins.
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Nathaniel Gousset |
Hum, as a Gamemaster, believe me there is nothing that I like more than having them separated :)
And that is the tricky part of being a Cavalier, there is a lot of instance where you have to do without your horse.
Horse Power :
Reveal to move to a new location with the outdoor trait.
Discard to explore one more.
Cavalier power :
You can recharge an ally with the horse trait rather than discard it.
You can add 1D6 to a combat check by revealing an ally with the horse trait.
You can discard a card to put back to your hand an ally with the horse trait from your discard pile.