Nevermind, there is hardly anything "really alien" racewise in a world, were two of the main races are refugees from the First World.
Gnomes and what's the second? Elves are aliens from Castrovel, not fey-descended, in Golarion.
I am not so sure whether too many players' and GM's outside these board's regulars do actually agree with you. Or would even participate in a suryey, so numbers would invariably skewed towards those posting most frequently on the forum... And even if you have one player saying "guns would be cool", several others on those groups will renege on such a plan or playstyle. My brother is currently "re-running" Skulls and Shackles-- now with gunpowder weapons added in, and all but one of his six players loath the whole idea... It's not yet splitting the group's cohesion, but the whole "gun thing" is a constant irritating nudge.
So to make a few players happy, many others will shake their head in disgust -off planet, different planet or cross-setting extravaganza. The few gaming groups I know off, and my own had a quick once over on the general proceedings of Shattered Star and Reign of Winter, and only in one case was there even a partially positive reaction. While "dungeons" and "alien technology" can be fun for the more jaded of us cultivating the forus, playing in several groups, many players are not as jaded. And will quickly desert a group, if the fare is too exotic.
I will never understand people like this. My group's all about piling as much stuff in the kitchen sink as we can. The idea of someone saying "this thing is too weird for the game" is utterly bizarre to me. It's fantasy! It's supposed to be weird!
Apparently the wizard having clockwork constructs instead of regular old stone golems was too over the line?
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According to JJ, no Dominion of Black or countdown clocks. :(
In a page-and-a-half of posts, my interest in this AP went from "never heard of" to "must have" to "zero interest."
I hadn't realized how much I wanted a Dominion/Aucturn AP until it was teased in front of me and then taken away.
INITIATING CHAIN OF EXPECTED RESPONSE PROMPTS
"Rescue a princess from a dragon"
"Rescue a dragon from a princess"
"The princess is the dragon"
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Can we stop mocking those who don't like the stuff we like?
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INITIATING CHAIN OF EXPECTED RESPONSE PROMPTS
"Rescue a princess from a dragon"
"Rescue a dragon from a princess"
"The princess is the dragon"
"Be a princess who rescues dragons."
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A robot-princess...
"Be a princess who rescues dragons."INITIATING CHAIN OF EXPECTED RESPONSE PROMPTS
"Rescue a princess from a dragon"
"Rescue a dragon from a princess"
"The princess is the dragon"
This actually would be pretty cool, IMO.
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Am I the only one who finds that having a new crazy pyramid delve by Michael Kortes to be the coolest thing we know yet about this AP? "masks of the pharaohs" is probably one of the best stand alone adventures in D&D history, I ran it like 3 times and it always rocked (only two of the parties even made it to the pyramid, and they both succumbed to various traps and monsters way before the finish line - it's really deadly).
Oh, and also Mike Shel and Jim Groves, which is way cool. Plus, I get to know two new designers! Also, not like I ever read a Patt adventure that was bad :)
Sheesh, I'm getting seriously excited. The names of some of the earlier adventures are really awesome, too :)
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This actually would be pretty cool, IMO."Be a princess who rescues dragons."INITIATING CHAIN OF EXPECTED RESPONSE PROMPTS
"Rescue a princess from a dragon"
"Rescue a dragon from a princess"
"The princess is the dragon"
Because my daughter is 3, I immediately think: ah, yes. Dora the Explorer, 3rd level Ranger with monkey animal companion.
There are, of course, even medieval and early modern romances where the female lead rescues young men or women in distress (Silence, and Bradamante in Orlando Furioso, and Britomart in the Faerie Queen). But not rescuing dragons.
Personally I like the idea of a female heroine doing the rescuing, but that part is up to the players, usually.
The dragon who is a transformed woman is found, as I mentioned before, in the Bel Inconnu, and a variation occurs twice in Melusine. There are also all the daughters of Chinese dragons in that country's legends.
An Asian take on it with a Mulan-like lead, and a Sovereign Dragon besieged by her enemies, would be kinda cool.
Personally I like the idea of a female heroine doing the rescuing, but that part is up to the players, usually.
Of the three girls that play in my group, one of them never plays male characters, and if I'm playerside there's about an 80-90% chance my character is female. We're pretty much guaranteed to have at least one girl in the party, if not more.
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So, are there going to be traditional aliens with laser guns in this AP or Bestiary 4? I'd love to see Greys statted up.
Pretty much EVERYTHING that those aliens do, except for fly around in spaceships, is already in the game as derros. Who, as it turns out, have pretty much the same real-world genesis as the grays.
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I hope at least one adventure will have something about Nyarlathotep, tough I like classic Egyptian themes, cause if not in this adventure path then when. Weird Lovecraftian stuff should be rare so that it remains weird.I think I might skip over this. Was hoping for some stuff with Aucturn and Nyarlathotep. I'll see what AP is after this come GenCon.Same here - I was hoping for an appearance of the Black Pharaoh.
You might wanna check out...
I'd LOVE to some day do a full-on Lovecraftian AP, but that needs to be the main driver of that AP. Combining Lovecraft with Osirion would work, but it would turn it into a Lovecraftian AP, not a mummy AP.
Again... there will certainly be HINTS to things like Nyarlathotep and/or Aucturn/aliens in the Mummy's Mask, in the same way that there were HINTS to things like Leng in Rise of the Runelords. But it won't be a big overriding theme. The adventures are, after all, only just starting to be written, so we'll see what the authors come up with and what Rob adds/adjusts during development.
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I'm sure that PCs who survive the battering of the first five volumes will be worn out and not really wanting a challenge, especially any Lovercraftian horrors. Therefore, the concluding chapter of the AP will involve the party sitting down to tea with the Sky Pharaoh, explaining that Osirion already has a ruler, and everyone chuckling at all the fuss this misunderstanding has caused. E-mail addresses will be exchanged and the Sky Pharaoh will politely fly away.
...
I guess I should have spoilered that.
So just to be clear this ap doesn't use the mythic rules?
I can almost guarantee there will be no Mythic rules in this AP.
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Can we finally have that "heroes rescue a princess from a dragon in a proper medieval kingdom" AP?
Sorry, but the princess is in another castle. ;)
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So just to be clear this ap doesn't use the mythic rules?
We might use the mythic rules now and then in small ways in non-mythic APs. A monster here and there, perhaps, or maybe a magic item as a reward. But the AP is NOT being designed with the assumption that the PCs themselves are mythic.
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I'm sure that PCs who survive the battering of the first five volumes will be worn out and not really wanting a challenge, especially any Lovercraftian horrors. Therefore, the concluding chapter of the AP will involve the party sitting down to tea with the Sky Pharaoh, explaining that Osirion already has a ruler, and everyone chuckling at all the fuss this misunderstanding has caused. E-mail addresses will be exchanged and the Sky Pharaoh will politely fly away.
...
I guess I should have spoilered that.
Well... that's it then.
Hodge is dead.
LONG LIVE THE SHEL!
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Speaking of tea with mummy and dragons in human shape, this was one of my favorite books when I was a kid.
hmm, we had the slightly weird First World Fey Realm in "Kingmaker", two trips to outside planes with specific planar rules in "Legacy", a quick visit to hmmm, what-do-we-call Plateau of Leng in "Shattered Star" (less so in "Runelords"), some odd visits to off-beat worlds in "Reign of Winter" ( just extrapolating from reading over the stuff published for that path, I don't actually have the issues), one could guess that "Wrath of the Righteous" might takes the PCs to the Abyss.
What would actually be fun if several installemnts of an AP would transfer the players... say to the Red Planet. Or the Green One. John Carter of Mars
Nevermind Golarion has so many continents as yet unexplored and not even roughly charted - lots of weirdness to be placed there.
You'll notice that none of what you've posted, except the Reign of Winter adventures, are actual alien planets. Instead, they are other realms of existence, which in the history of DnD have always been more accepted than going to Mars or the moon. I have all of RoW up to the fifth one (sixth isn't out yet), and you go to two alien planets; Triaxus and Earth. While Earth is technically an alien planet to those of Golarion, it's still familiar enough to the players. Nothing against either adventure, as both are incredibly well written. Especially Rasputin Must Die. But all of those you suggested are different planes of existence which, for some reason I can't fathom, are much more accepted in D&D culture than visiting planets. And an "Another Planet" AP is different from "Planar Travelling" adventures. It's a different feel and theme that you really can't replace without disappointing fans. It'd be like replacing the demons of Wrath of the Righteous with aliens from a hell-like planet. It's a little odd to be crusading against aliens from Hellworld instead of actual fiends from the Abyss.
No, actually there hasn't been for about 18 months of APs (Star, Reign and Righteous - yes, no-one I know really wishes for the mythic rules... strange world.). Nevermind that several APs before that were/are of a more lacklustre quality and some needed much rework.
And yes, a weirdly alien cult might really have worked - nevermind that whole team harkening back to the great old days of Cthulhu and the old Egyptian campaigns from that era - Cairo Sourcebook etc...! But that does not have to include "other worlds", plane-hopping for the sake of it, or introducing 20th century weaponry.
I like the idea of "sands and ancient evil", especially since A.Scott, R.Pett and very-gobliny-Frasier are on board. Let's see how much strangeness they are goingt to wring from the desert.
Shattered Star was made to be the classic adventure, with elements of old-school dungeon delving and artifact searching. While it did have some great gonzo moments in it (Doomsday Door, Leng, and the final adventure come to mind), it still was made to have that old school feel of treasure hunting, exploration, and dungeon delving. And while Wrath of the Righteous will have Mythic Rules, that doesn't keep it from not being a classic adventure of good vs evil and crusaders fighting off a horde of fiends. Not to say that Shattered Star and Wrath of the Righteous are boring. Far from it, SS was an amazing adventure path that many of the grognards I know can't wait to play, with the final adventure being one of the most well-written adventures I've ever had the pleasure of reading. And WotR sounds like it'll be very fun and unique.
As for "lackluster" quality, the only ones I can really think of that fit that are Second Darkness, Serpent's Skull, and possibly Carrion Crown. But beyond those, most of the Adventure Paths I'm looking at have been very well-received. Rise of the Runelords is still widely popular, Curse of the Crimson Throne is widely regarded as the best adventure path, Kingmaker continues to sell well, etc etc. While yes, some of these adventures may require some tweaking here and there, overall, the Adventure Paths as a whole have been received well.
And for harkening back to Cthulhu, you'll notice I did say I wanted to see some more Nyarlathotep. Nyarlathotep is part of the Mythos, specifically fitting in with Egypt. And I never said there should be planet-hopping for the sake of it. If anything, Osirion and Aucturn go hand in hand with each other. Read up The Pactstone Pyramid and Entombed With The Pharaohs for little inklings here and there about the Aucturn Engine. Also, I don't know if you know this... but Cthulhu and Co. are aliens :)
I am not so sure whether too many players' and GM's outside these board's regulars do actually agree with you. Or would even participate in a suryey, so numbers would invariably skewed towards those posting most frequently on the forum... And even if you have one player saying "guns would be cool", several others on those groups will renege on such a plan or playstyle. My brother is currently "re-running" Skulls and Shackles-- now with gunpowder weapons added in, and all but one of his six players loath the whole idea... It's not yet splitting the group's cohesion, but the whole "gun thing" is a constant irritating nudge.
So to make a few players happy, many others will shake their head in disgust -off planet, different planet or cross-setting extravaganza. The few gaming groups I know off, and my own had a quick once over on the general proceedings of Shattered Star and Reign of Winter, and only in one case was there even a partially positive reaction. While "dungeons" and "alien technology" can be fun for the more jaded of us cultivating the forus, playing in several groups, many players are not as jaded. And will quickly desert a group, if the fare is too exotic.
Nevermind, there is hardly anything "really alien" racewise in a world, were two of the main races are refugees from the First World. Where Fox-spirits and frog-offspring are possible player races. Were the half-undead and reincarnated are probably choices for players.... Luckily, not too many things are hexamorphic, serpentine or tentacular yet^^If I would ask for something "exotic".... let's hit the Azlanti archipelagoe, where basically every island could be magic-morphed into something special, otherworldly and unique, Landscapes shifted and transformed by magic or the far-off reaches of southern Avistan (let's live among the Gripplis) or even some exploration of the Western continent. Jade Regent hid some nice ideas for the Northern Reaches of the World, why not do something more exotic someplace else ? Undersea campaign anyone ?
First off, good on your brother for having firearms in the pirate campaign. I felt that Skull and Shackles should have had it because it's a pirate game and crossbows and ballistas on ships don't exactly scream "Swashbuckling, Pirates of the Caribbean" to me. Although personally, as a GM, if no one liked firearms, I'd probably run a different campaign. But luckily, I have plenty of players that love trying new settings.
There definitely is a demand for more space stuff, considering Distant Worlds sold out faster than most other Campaign Settings. It came out in late February of 2012 and that post was in June. So in four months, it sold out of its printing run. And they had actually ordered more than normal. That's pretty impressive for a book that was most a primer. So no, we aren't alone in wanting some more planetary adventures. I can't tell you about all players, but I know the majority of the people I game with or chat with at the FLGS love non-standard game settings and would love to play in a John Carter of Mars game. But I can definitely say it's not just a few "jaded" players (that term made me chuckle) that want it. If anything, it's a group of players that want more than just the standard medieval European/Tolkien fantasy. And I can imagine that in the Age of the Internet, there are plenty of nerds like us online that voice their opinions about these things. Because that's what we're are good at ;)
And yes, in a world with reincarnation and undead and fox spirits, aliens shouldn't feel exotic. So why would anyone be against having aliens or guns? I mean, it's all exotic, right? So then there should be no issues with having aliens them :)
The reason, of course, is that there are different ideas on what is acceptable in certain themes. Firearms wouldn't make sense in a game about medieval crusaders fighter demons, but in a pirates game, it does. Kitsune and oni don't really fit in a game taking place in Arabia, but for a Far Eastern setting, it does. Aliens are a bit harder to fit in admittedly, but combining aspects of the Ancient Astronaut theories and pulp elements from Lovecraft and Burroughs, it could be done. Hell, one of the early, more medieval Final Fantasies took you to the Moon. Twice. So, I'd say it's far from impossible to make aliens acceptable in a setting as long as the story is well written and the adventure is fun.
I'm sure that PCs who survive the battering of the first five volumes will be worn out and not really wanting a challenge, especially any Lovercraftian horrors. Therefore, the concluding chapter of the AP will involve the party sitting down to tea with the Sky Pharaoh, explaining that Osirion already has a ruler, and everyone chuckling at all the fuss this misunderstanding has caused. E-mail addresses will be exchanged and the Sky Pharaoh will politely fly away.
...
I guess I should have spoilered that.
Could they, instead, be eating shawarma in the middle of the ruins of Sothis ;)
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"masks of the pharaohs" is probably one of the best stand alone adventures in D&D history,
Hm, I'm not getting the reference. Where is this adventure from?
"masks of the pharaohs" is probably one of the best stand alone adventures in D&D history,Hm, I'm not getting the reference. Where is this adventure from?
Lord Snow possibly means "Entombed with the Pharaohs" which was by Kortes and critically acclaimed.
Ah, thanks, Jim, that makes sense.
Entombed With The Pharaohs was such a great adventure. It actually spawned a whole campaign I'm running currently.
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First off, good on your brother for having firearms in the pirate campaign. I felt that Skull and Shackles should have had it because it's a pirate game and crossbows and ballistas on ships don't exactly scream "Swashbuckling, Pirates of the Caribbean" to me.
That sounds like Hollywood talking. Pirates have been a threat to sea travelers/merchants for as long as seafaring civilizations have been around . . . which was long before black powder weapons. Just saying.
However, I would very much like to say that I'm a huge fan of Lovecraftian elements in Paizo adventures/APs. I'd love to see a Lovecraftian AP, honestly! A lack of a Lovecraftian element in "Mummy's Mask" will not dissuade me from enjoying it thoroughly, however! ;)
Sadly, I don't like planet-hopping at all. I like Golarion! Huge fan of the place! Why do I want to go to other places when this one is so much fun! If Jon Carter is your thing, I suggest making a campaign on Mars.
That said, I'm also not overly keen on planar jaunts either. I like Golarion! Huge fan of the place! Why do I want to go to other places when this one is so much fun! If plane-hopping is your thing, I suggest making a campaign in Planescape.
Whoa . . . Near deja vu . . .
I'd really like to see Paizo do some serious further exploration of Azlant long before going off-world. Now that would be exciting! =D
But, I understand that different people appreciate different things! The above is merely this one's humble opinion on what I like and dislike.
First off, good on your brother for having firearms in the pirate campaign. I felt that Skull and Shackles should have had it because it's a pirate game and crossbows and ballistas on ships don't exactly scream "Swashbuckling, Pirates of the Caribbean" to me.That sounds like Hollywood talking. Pirates have been a threat to sea travelers/merchants for as long as seafaring civilizations have been around . . . which was long before black powder weapons. Just saying.
However, I would very much like to say that I'm a huge fan of Lovecraftian elements in Paizo adventures/APs. I'd love to see a Lovecraftian AP, honestly! A lack of a Lovecraftian element in "Mummy's Mask" will not dissuade me from enjoying it thoroughly, however! ;)
Sadly, I don't like planet-hopping at all. I like Golarion! Huge fan of the place! Why do I want to go to other places when this one is so much fun! If Jon Carter is your thing, I suggest making a campaign on Mars.
That said, I'm also not overly keen on planar jaunts either. I like Golarion! Huge fan of the place! Why do I want to go to other places when this one is so much fun! If plane-hopping is your thing, I suggest making a campaign in Planescape.
Whoa . . . Near deja vu . . .
I'd really like to see Paizo do some serious further exploration of Azlant long before going off-world. Now that would be exciting! =D
But, I understand that different people appreciate different things! The above is merely this one's humble opinion on what I like and dislike.
Saying "do it yourself" isn't exactly the best way to go about making modules. The whole point of making modules is to provide unique adventures in interesting locales. With that attitude, we'd never have APs like Jade Regent or Reign of Winter or Skull and Shackles, which try and push the envelope on what kind of settings and stories one can tell. So yes, I can do it myself and, in fact, am doing it myself. But I'd also like to see Paizo's take on it. Just like you can always do an Azlant adventure yourself, but probably want to see Paizo's take on it.
And as for piracy, while it's been around for centuries, when people think of pirates, they think of the Golden Age of Piracy and The Spanish Main. Look at Treasure Island, Robinson Crusoe, and On Stranger Tides, all of which are books and... not just Hollywood. There are some good examples of stories that don't focus on that (like Sinbad), but by and large, Skull and Shackles was essentially playing on the Spanish Main piracy themes of Calico Jack, Henry Morgan, and Black Bart, with some minor influences of Barbary corsairs and Wokou pirates.
When I think of pirates I think about cannon golems, giant sea monsters, talking parrots and hooks, not about guns really...
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Just felt like throwing my two bits into this here Osirion-Dominion arena.
I love Egyptian mythology, and thusly my favourite adventure that I've ever had the joy of playing is the 1st Ed Desert of Desolation series. And now it sounds like we're going to get the Paizo-polished take on mummies, sand, tombs, ancient puzzles, mysteries, and all sorts of crazy-yet-awesome things that I can't even begin to think of.
That's awesome.
Now, I've played Entombed with the Pharaohs, so I too am intrigued by the Aucturn Enigma and the whole Dominion angle and everything, but... there is so much incredible material that one can cover with regular old Osirion that it would be a shame to overwhelm it with the crazy Dominion stuff.
Say you have two desserts: jelly, and cake. You could make trifle with both of those things, but trifle is a very different dessert experience than an incredible cake. And in this case, I'm happy with a long-forgotten, hieroglyph-covered, Pyramid-toting cake.
Also, if every AP involved a third-act "we're not on Golarion anymore" the specialness would wear off after a while.
Plus there's a stellar cast of writers as usual and I'll buy anything with Jim Groves' name on it.
Your right we need to start an AP on another planet then go to Golarion;)
Your right we need to start an AP on another planet then go to Golarion;)
Genius. "Guess we're not on Verces anymore! Look at all this primitive technology..."
Personally I like the idea of a female heroine doing the rescuing, but that part is up to the players, usually.Of the three girls that play in my group, one of them never plays male characters, and if I'm playerside there's about an 80-90% chance my character is female. We're pretty much guaranteed to have at least one girl in the party, if not more.
Amusingly enough, in the Skype-run Runelords campaign I'm running, there's three girls, with one playing a male half-orc barbarian who's a Thassilonian Scholar (trait), while I'm running a female GMPC (primarily because the female sylphs look better than the male sylphs); it's a 2:3 guy-to-girl ratio in fact.
(Though the newest player is playing a noble sorceress with the Leadership trait and has two men-at-arms with her, along with a lady's maid who's also her bodyguard... so I suppose the ratio ends up being 4:4 even if two of the men aren't really intended to fight with the main group and are more RP elements than anything else.)
It's kind of funny actually; most of my campaigns have had a good mix of male and female players; comes from having married couples playing in the game usually, or boyfriend/girlfriend pairs.
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Your right we need to start an AP on another planet then go to Golarion;)Genius. "Guess we're not on Verces anymore! Look at all this primitive technology..."
I want Verces so bad.
Regarding planet hopping, personally I'd prefer to see an entire AP dedicated to it. Launching from Golarion perhaps, but I'd love to see visiting those other planets as the main thrust of such an AP. Heck, that adventure seed from Distant Worlds about the Vercite Aethership captain inviting adventurers to go on a voyage? Bam, that's an AP waiting to happen right there. :)
Regarding planet hopping, personally I'd prefer to see an entire AP dedicated to it. Launching from Golarion perhaps, but I'd love to see visiting those other planets as the main thrust of such an AP. Heck, that adventure seed from Distant Worlds about the Vercite Aethership captain inviting adventurers to go on a voyage? Bam, that's an AP waiting to happen right there. :)
The only flaw I can see with such a plan is this: all the APs are tied around a central plot, usually with some sort of emerging threat that the PCs have to stop/destroy/convince over tea to halt their badness. The stakes being either their little bit of Golarion, or Golarion as a whole.
RoW gets away with some modicum of planet-hopping by jumping between planets that are related to the plot thread. But all the other planets of Golarion's solar system have very different tropes and adventure hooks surrounding them.
Basically, the only way to do a solar-system-spanning AP is to raise the stakes. It can't just be The Shackles or Golarion you're bent on protecting, but the solar system as a whole. I can see two ways of doing this. Either the players are travelling between planets to protect them, or they're on the hunt of some greater danger and are trying to discover where it lurks/clean up the mess it has left behind.
For option A, Golarion's solar system is being assaulted by a foe so numerous and so superior that they are able to attack each planet at the same time. Then you could have an AP travelling between each in order to try and salvage/rescue/protect whatever you could.
For option B, it's a more personal hunt. Something ominous is going to happen, and it's up to the to the PCs to track down a powerful creature that has left clues on each planet as to either its whereabouts and/or the secrets on how to stop whatever solar-system wide cataclysm will occur.
Basically, A is Mass Effect 3, and B is Mass Effect 1.
I can't imagine Paizo doing anything like this though, as every AP thus far as been Golarion-focused. I suspect that if a non-Golarion (or 1/6th Golarion) AP does well, it's a sign that either:
A. Golarion isn't as important to the setting as first thought, or more likely-
B. People will buy any AP that Paizo puts out.
However, given that Paizo has seen their other planets are popular, and their new trend toward larger modules outside of the APs, it is quite likely we'll see modules set in these other planets. It wouldn't need to be a world-saving plotline. Just some story that has players going to or living on that other world.
Verces, Akiton, Castrovel, and Aucturn are good contenders for planets to visit. I could see Eox being very interesting to visit.
But, now we're getting fairly off topic about it. Probably should take it to another thread. :)
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Basically, the only way to do a solar-system-spanning AP is to raise the stakes. It can't just be The Shackles or Golarion you're bent on protecting, but the solar system as a whole. I can see two ways of doing this. Either the players are travelling between planets to protect them, or they're on the hunt of some greater danger and are trying to discover where it lurks/clean up the mess it has left behind.
For option A, Golarion's solar system is being assaulted by a foe so numerous and so superior that they are able to attack each planet at the same time. Then you could have an AP travelling between each in order to try and salvage/rescue/protect whatever you could.
For option B, it's a more personal hunt. Something ominous is going to happen, and it's up to the to the PCs to track down a powerful creature that has left clues on each planet as to either its whereabouts and/or the secrets on how to stop whatever solar-system wide cataclysm will occur.
Oh I'm already planning along those lines. :D Basically starts as B and gradually escalates into A in some places as the climax approaches.
I will never understand people like this. My group's all about piling as much stuff in the kitchen sink as we can. The idea of someone saying "this thing is too weird for the game" is utterly bizarre to me. It's fantasy! It's supposed to be weird!
"weird" is a very, very relative term. Actually useless asa descriptive. Very much linked to one's own perception... Same as for food, cultural norms or even.. s*x. I like to eat arabian style food, like fried Locusts. Weird enough ? Utterly normal to a friend of mine who introduced it to me.
Superheroic-mashups are anything but "weird" or... original to some, disgusting to others and the "bee's-knees" to a third group or just utterly boring to many. Jelly and cake - to take up the comparison. They may not mix.And some prefer a good, cohesive story to "weird xenomorphs and Fungi from Yuggoth enter the campaign at seventh level" or "the elves are ruled by an ancient UFO-cult and the Grey".
This often enough means : "Yes, orcs are mean and nasty" ....and not the UBAR-race for playing PC witch doctors.
To each his own - and there is a strong tendency hereabouts, on the forum, to consider "the weirder equaling superior roleplaying".
I feel some doubts that attitude reflects actual RL-roleplaying in many groups.
Having played for 30+ years and far too many campaigns and groups to recall, I _personally_ like crossovers and (some) mash-ups, Cthulhu meets fanatsy being a strong favourite, and I feel right at home with Pathfinder here. Lucky me.
Many of the players I know, having played for one-third of that time or less, or not less with a more limited enthusiasm (kids and all play into this), prefer their fantasy-food in the more classical vein : Orcs, Elves and all. They do not appreciate Dark Young of Shub-Niggurath shambling through the forest... I do know people who have reacted badly to the more energetic and pyromanic Golarion goblins... "that's not dumb goblins" (in their minds). Nevermind the Ogres - and I have seen people leaving the table in disgust in the Runelords path over the Ogre's antics.
And I daresay... quite a lot of people buy the APs and game supplements for a classic, well-crafted treat. The last two and forthcoming mythic AP are anything but classic, more low-key'ish fantasy. Why would anyone invest 18x 20,- Euros into those ? Or related products ? They settle very specific wishes, or takes on stretching the fantasy envelope.
So, should Pathfinder turn into an avant-garde "Ancient alien cults rule Osirion through huge conspiracies" type of game, or try to take some steps on both sides of that divide and secure its customers? Unlike the Runelords APs or "Reign of Winter" ?
Nevermind the whole crypto-alien stuff is decidedly "unweird" and just a spin-off from mainstream SyFy TV. Not a fantasy turn-on
YMMV.
@otraude "classic roleplaying to... help me.. to my mind is - and everyone's mielage will vary on this - the original "Desert of Desolation", the UK series of TSR-adventures or even Dragonlance. Or "Dark Sun"... "Savage Tides" was a classic - or its longterm DnD predecessor.
Not "Expedition to the Barrier Peaks" or "White Plume Mountain". Nevermind "Tomb of Horrors". Or "Rappan Athuk". Dungeons were never classic or stylish - they were just easy to write and produce (and deeply unoriginal).
And different worlds planets : yes, I would appreciate if an AP actually dwelt/lasted on a different planet for some time (several installments) to actually make the players live in said strange environments, not do a quick "7-days-to-Europe" trip than scuttle back to their haunts. Arrange, adapt, survive. Because now the chars live in an unaccustomed habitat.
But one could equally well do that with a transformed Australia-type continent or simply going deeply into Southern-African, South-American or deep Asian-mysticism stuff. Say, a mountaniouns campaign focused around the mythical race of the Yeti and their "protect the Gates" attitude.. or coping with the vagaries of swamps and jungles, or even seasons in some swampland/delta. Deserts are tried and true for that, but how about a conflict with hobgoblin tribes on somemthing like a south american Pampa ?
No need for world hopping. Different continent, different gods/pantheon, possibly some shifts in magic and actually fleshing out Golarion.
@different races. Gnomes are feyish and undeniably First World offspring, Elves are from a different, very fey-aligned (similar) plane and/or world (so says their Guide), which they even retreat to. Well officially they are only fey-akin, but... ok, they are not officially "first worlders", but just in the "poser"-mode ^^