1) When gaining the Mythic Tier in To Worlds Unknown, is the feat Morphic Nature a feat that should/could be given in addition to the normal feat given at 1st Tier?
No. We're very deliberately tagging the feat granted by the 1st mythic tier as Morphic Nature...not just because it serves a useful story reason within the AP...but it also helps control the power-creep inherent in the mythic rules. The PCs will gain lots of other benefits from their mythic ascension aside from the extra feat, so it's not a big loss to purposefully assign it the way we've done it. If you give them Morphic Nature in addition to another mythic feat, I think that won't serve you well, unless you're all-in on running a high-powered, superhero scale game. And that's not really the direction we're headed with the AP. We want a slow escalation of mythic abilities. Not rocket tag. And that's why we've laid down a fair amount of GM advice about the use of mythic rules.
2) Over the course of the adventure, how many Mythic Tiers will be given to the PCs?
I'm pretty locked in on just 4 mythic tiers at the moment. Originally, we thought about shooting for 6, because it opens up another grouping of mythic powers/abilities for the PCs to choose from. But, again, for the purposes of limiting the power-creep and making sure the granted mythic power "suite" supports rather than overwhelms the storyline of the AP, I'm thinking it's best to keep it at 4.
This doesn't mean, however, that GMs can't ramp it up higher, if they want. It all depends on what you're comfortable running at the table. And, of course, it would necessitate further adjustments (of varying complexity) to assure the challenge rating stays high enough to entertain everyone. Overall, however, we're putting forward the Legendary Planet AP as an attempt at demonstrate how to effectively and judiciously use the mythic ruleset to enhance the plot and the gameplay. So, it's more nuanced than full-bore.
Any updates on when The Scavanged Codex will be available?
It's in development now. I've gotten the entire adventure blocked out now. Stat-blocks are mostly settled upon (i.e., I had to shift a few things around from the original manuscript turnover to assure we'd meet page-count/word-count). And I'm now going through the written text to tighten things up and check for internal consistency with the rest of the Adventure Path. In addition, all of the backmatter material (i.e., bestiary, gazetteer, new tech items, fiction, etc.), with the exception of our bonus article on vehicles, has gone to the editor already. And, in the next few days, I'm expecting to pull together Part One of the adventure for our Legendary "special" gaming event at PaizoCon so I can get it into the hands of our volunteer GMs. After that, I'll go back to cranking on the remainder of the adventure so we can get it published. Hopefully, that happens well ahead of PaizoCon (i.e., later this month or early-May).
Also is there anyway for people that missed the kickstarter to get in on this?
I believe Jason's plan continues to be that every PDF of the AP adventures (and the eventual hardcover compilation) will also be sold through the Legendary Games webstore, Paizo's webstore, and so on. So, anyone who missed the Kickstarter, should still be able to pick up the final products. Kickstarter backers will be the first to receive them, though.
A very very very minor typo, and the only reason I found it was because I was searching the Chapter 0 pdf based on what the map said.
The map on page five (Holver's Ferry, Orphanage, Arvarenhode Manor) misspells Arvarenhode as Avarenhode (notice the first R is missing). This is in both the adventure and the map PDF.
Really not a big thing, in fact super tiny thing, but it just caught my eye as I was searching for where it was mentioned in the PDF and other than the map the "wrong" spelling is no where else.
-- david
edit: Or you could just say the Sheriff doesn't know how to spell.. ( lol )
RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4; Contributor; Publisher, Legendary Games
|
A very very very minor typo, and the only reason I found it was because I was searching the Chapter 0 pdf based on what the map said.
The map on page five (Holver's Ferry, Orphanage, Arvarenhode Manor) misspells Arvarenhode as Avarenhode (notice the first R is missing). This is in both the adventure and the map PDF.
Really not a big thing, in fact super tiny thing, but it just caught my eye as I was searching for where it was mentioned in the PDF and other than the map the "wrong" spelling is no where else.
-- david
edit: Or you could just say the Sheriff doesn't know how to spell.. ( lol )
I'll take "Semiliterate Sheriff" for $100 please!
The player's guide says the adventure assumes the PCs are from different planets, "To Worlds Unknown" says it assumes the PCs are from the same planet.
I'm having a hard time seeing how to allow the 4 new races and the traditional races if they all come from the smae planet, especially if I run "The Assimilation Strain" first.
Any suggestions? I haven't found anything in my reading so far to help with this.
The player's guide says the adventure assumes the PCs are from different planets, "To Worlds Unknown" says it assumes the PCs are from the same planet.
I'm having a hard time seeing how to allow the 4 new races and the traditional races if they all come from the smae planet, especially if I run "The Assimilation Strain" first.
Any suggestions? I haven't found anything in my reading so far to help with this.
I am running this as a PbP here on Paizo, starting with Assimilation Strain with five players.
What I am doing is 1) they are all from Golarion, and 2) when they start To Worlds Unknown one or two of them have the opportunity to change race. It will be a surprise to the character, but will be explained as their bodies did not make the transition well and their consciousness was stored in the new body.
Yea, cheesy I know but it would work without a very complicated situation. Or at best, just starting with To Worlds Unknown (which I don't want to do).
--david
I'm starting on Golarian as well, and I plan to make it a bit of a surprise when they get snatched up after "The assimilation strain". To that end, I don't necessarily want to let them start as the alien races. Maybe I'll ask if anyone wants to play the alien races, and if so their character from Assimilation dies between adventures and they pop out at the start of To Worlds.
...Out of curiosity, have you READ To Worlds Unknown, DM Papa.DRB?
Yes I have. Did I miss something that pertains to this discussion?
Very easily could have. I have been known to just read thru something and it doesn't register on my old retired brain.
-- david
...Out of curiosity, have you READ To Worlds Unknown, DM Papa.DRB?Yes I have. Did I miss something that pertains to this discussion?
Very easily could have. I have been known to just read thru something and it doesn't register on my old retired brain.
-- david
You don't need to be retired for that to happen :)
I... recommend reading the Campaign Background. Carefully. XD
I read it very carefully again just now, and understand what is written. I still do not quite get what you are saying/implying about the character "race" issue.
Ask my wife, I usually need to be hit upside the head with a clue by 4 as I find it difficult to read between the lines. 40 years as an engineer and programmer does that to a person.
If you could send me a PM (or just put it behind a spoiler in this thread), I would appreciate it.
-- david
I'd like to know too. I read it twice as well.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
If it helps...
At the same time, when putting together the Player's Guide for the AP, I wanted to recognize that some GMs (and players) might want to include The Assimilation Strain prequel adventure in their gaming experience. And, as such, we needed to consider whether or not the alien races would be available (i.e., we wanted them to be, so we included how to play one...and how to fit them into the same world as other PCs from the more common races). So, the Player's Guide has an assumption that PCs can be from different planets (in order to play one of the newer races and start with To Worlds Unknown), but that they could also start out on the same planet featured in The Assimilation Strain.
Later, when putting together To Worlds Unknown, we likewise wanted to honor the idea that PCs could all be from the same homeworld. But, they didn't all have to be, because we wanted to leave room in case players had decided to use one of the new alien races (i.e., the auttaine, chlorvians, tretharri, or zvarr). Most of it really depends on what campaign setting you're integrating The Assimilation Strain or To Worlds Unknown into. We left it more open-ended to make sure we maximized all the potential starting points and starting locations for the PCs.
That does help Neil. Thank you. Does anyone have suggestions for a mixed party, and using "The Assimilation Strain?"
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
To be perfectly honest, the auttaine, chlorvians and zvarr would all be pretty easy fits into Golarion without needing much updating. The proximity of the Worldwound to Numeria makes coming up with a background for the auttaine extremely easy to do, the chlorvians could be from any large forested or jungle area from the Mierani to the Mwangi, and the zvarr are basically dragon-people, so you can pretty much put them wherever you want.
The tretharri are a bit harder, because I don't know how you avoid linking them to Akiton and the Shobhad, but maybe there is a Mwangi enclave not far from the Doorway to the Red Star?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
There are multiple ways to introduce the alien PCs into the same homeworld as traditional PCs. Any of the following would work:
Amnesia: As suggested, you could have the aliens suffering some kind of temporary memory loss...whether as part of a normal affliction/illness or some kind of magical curse or technological treatment.
Stranded: As recent arrivers, they could have been stranded there through a freak accident while activating a gate or other technology on their own homeworld. Of course, you have to be careful if you go this route, because if these alien PCs already know a lot about the greater multiverse and interplanetary travel, it could give them more insight into the Adventure Path's backstory than you might want to reveal from the get-go. Of course, on the flip side, having them know more about the looming threat might give a greater catalyst for roleplay and getting more traditional PCs involved in the overall plot.
Abducted: Although there are abduction themes firmly laid into To Worlds Unknown and the start of the AP, there could have been a reverse abduction that brought alien PCs to the traditional PCs' homeworld.
Colonials: These alien PCs could have legitimately traveled to the traditional PCs' homeworld, part of exploration meant to establish their own colony there. Of course, the fate of that colony might be in jeopardy such that the alien PCs now represent the last of their kind and they'd very much like to return to their culture if they could.
Transmutation: Perhaps the alien PCs were once from the same species as the traditional PCs, but powerful transmutation magic warped them into what they are now...never realizing that their new forms are also the same seed stock the Ancients used to seed other worlds across the stars.
Reincarnation: In a similar fashion, reincarnation could have resulted in members of the native species on the PCs' homeworld returning to life as members of these alien species, never realizing there are more of their kind on other worlds.
Hybrids: Perhaps these alien PCs represent a hybrid race, a mingling of DNA from the species of the traditional PCs' homeworld and something else. The end result is something "in between" the two species, kind of in the same fashion as how half-elves and half-orcs are possible. The "alien" PCs may have never known their off-world parents and lack knowledge of their homeworld as a result.
Just a few ideas,
--Neil
Thanks a million Neil. Those are fantastic ideas!
|
RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4; Contributor; Publisher, Legendary Games
|
I'm actually running two separate groups through Legendary Planet right now. One group has all standard fantasy races (though one is an alienist summoner from the Gothic Campaign Compedium), while the other has two chlorvians. One was raised by gnomes and thinks she's just a tall, barky gnome. So her background is basically as an orphan who had never known anything other than the gnomes, though there are a few strange family stories about things that had clues about other worlds.
The other is more of the amnesia background.
Both of them get called "wood elves" by almost everybody (and so, for that matter, does the gnome) - a bit of a running gag on the fantasy world. Of course, now they're off into To Worlds Unknown, so the gag isn't needed any longer, but I'm sure it'll come up again at some point.
I have another question.
In "To Worlds Unknown" page 40 mentions a race called jaskirri. The stat block on page 41 mentions the Advanced Race Guide. Between that book, google, and the PFSRD, I can't find anything on that race. I feel like I'm missing something.
Jaskirri are essentially catfolk, but with a different name (and, presumably, culture). Take a look at their subtype.
I did see the subtype, and your answer makes sense. Thanks.
|
RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4; Contributor; Publisher, Legendary Games
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Kickstarter update ahoy, talking about planned release schedule and with art previews from To Kill a Star!
Kickstarter update ahoy, talking about planned release schedule and with art previews from To Kill a Star!
Thanks for the update, it's great to see a schedule that takes this the whole way through to completion... a monthly release schedule (moreorless) between now and the end of the year sounds great however, given the complexity of this beast, I certainly wouldn't be too concerned if it slipped a bit... having said that, I am very keen to get 'The Scavenged Codex' into my hands to help give myself (and my players) a little more context for 'To Worlds Unknown'.
- would it be possible to get a more detailed synopsis of the adventures after 'To Workds Unknown'? Obviously, we have a little bit of information from the Kickstarter campaign... and a bunch of art previews to give us some clues... but the 'detailed' synopsis that is normally in a Paizo AP Part One, is a useful GM tool!!! If such a thing doesn't exist and it would take too much time to produce (time that could be spent on AP development) / it's still under development / you'd rather keep it under wraps, then no worries...
- whilst spacecraft aren't going to appear - at least in a big way - in this AP (and I think that's a good call), is it feasible / not-gamebreaking that a character at the start of 'To World's Unknown' could previously have been a spacecraft pilot of some form? I think it should be okay but it would be awkward if a later adventure could be 'broken' by a character saying 'hey, I could fly that spaceship...'
- would it be possible to get a more detailed synopsis of the adventures after 'To Worlds Unknown'?
I'll see what I can do. At this point, I'm definitely more focused on getting The Scavenged Codex out the door, as well as making sure our Legendary "special" playtest at PaizoCon is successful. After that, I'll make sure I get something out for you...possibly as another update to the Kickstarter site.
- whilst spacecraft aren't going to appear - at least in a big way - in this AP (and I think that's a good call), is it feasible / not-gamebreaking that a character at the start of 'To World's Unknown' could previously have been a spacecraft pilot of some form? I think it should be okay but it would be awkward if a later adventure could be 'broken' by a character saying 'hey, I could fly that spaceship...'
There are really zero plans of introducing starships into the Legendary Worlds Campaign Setting. It's something I really want to avoid. It was an intentional design point on my part to only enable interplanetary travel via the gateways. That way, the focus remains on the Legendary "planets" rather than the often boring starship side of things. A lot of characters in other games involving star travel often don't have anything to do when they're aboard ship...and that includes starship combat situations (unless they're part of a boarding action). Other settings have gone the "starship" route. But I wanted to chart a different course with what we're doing with our sword-and-planet project (which I've had in mind for years now). As a result, it's much more in keeping with John Carter of Mars and the Barsoom series by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
Now, that said, it's always been the case that GMs are free to integrate this Adventure Path into their own campaign setting. So, if you're playing in Golarion, we already know that starships exist because of Numeria and the whole Iron Gods AP. As such, if you're using that as your backdrop (or your own homebrew setting with interplanetary travel), you can very much assume that starships are a part of your game and adapt the Legendary Planet AP accordingly. We just won't be including any starships in the adventures we're drawing up. So, you'd either have to introduce such things for yourself, or figure out a different way of drawing upon your starship pilot's background. For instance, there'll be other vehicles that are part of our campaign setting...and some of them are capable of flight (just not interstellar flight)...so such skills could still prove useful.
My two cents,
--Neil
Is the Scavenged Codex going to be available to the public ie non kickstarter backers in June?
With our current release schedule, it'll probably be July. Jason prefers to reward our Kickstarter backers by making sure they get the adventure at least a month ahead of the general public. And, right now, we're targeting the month of June for The Scavenged Codex.
I'll see what I can do. At this point, I'm definitely more focused on getting The Scavenged Codex out the door, as well as making sure our Legendary "special" playtest at PaizoCon is successful. After that, I'll make sure I get something out for you...possibly as another update to the Kickstarter site.
Cool, have a great PaizoCon...
Still targeting late-June for The Scavenged Codex to backers. That would mean late-July for non-backers.
Heard from Jason that the PDF is going out today (to backers, I believe). I don't know if he's reset the timeline for non-backers yet...or, if he intends to fast-track it into your hands, as well. But, the good news is that it's on its way now. He hopes to put a rush on printing it for GenCon, too. Everyone's waited long enough for it that I'm hopeful the backers won't mind us widening the distribution, but we'll see. One other bit of "good" news is that The Scavenged Codex came out longer than the typical adventure in the overall AP. It's got about 10-11 pages of additional content that I left in rather than cut.
Damn, it is Bingo night at the campground and my wife always wants me to go with her...
Hmmm... Bingo or wait for backer email, decisions, decisions.....
Well, it is too dang hot (86 degrees F even now) to have to sleep on the porch tonight, so I guess I go to Bingo.
-- david
Question.....
I know the soft cover books are available at Legendary Games, Paizo and RPGNow, but will my FLGS be able to order them?
(I have over $850 worth of credit at the store that I would like to spend!)
-- david
|
|
2 more questions
2. Big one...how did people handle the transition to "To Worlds Unknown"? Just a blatant "off camera" abduction?
I'm getting ready to run the final part of Assimilation Strain and I was thinking of adding a map to the location of a stargate which is located on the same planet where Assimilation Strain takes place. The map would be on a table in the in the final lab in the cellars and it leads to the base in "To Worlds Unknown" starts? When the characters get to the stargate a large force of klaven overwhelms them and they're taken prisoner. I was going to let them use the same PCs from Assimilation Strain.
I had told the PCs who were using races from the players Guide that their ancestors migrated to the planet Golorion many years ago and the stargate that brought their ancestors there malfunctioned.
Any thoughts would be appreciated...
For my two games, I flagged (in discussion threads / chat) when we were transitioning into 'To Worlds Unknown' but from an in-character perspective... I went with off-camera abduction - it ensures that, for a good part of the first section of book 1 proper, the group are discovering what has happened to them... I think that's a pretty interesting dynamic...
...and one that I think Paizo may also be exploring with the first book of Strange Aeons...
|
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
|
For my two games, I flagged (in discussion threads / chat) when we were transitioning into 'To Worlds Unknown' but from an in-character perspective... I went with off-camera abduction - it ensures that, for a good part of the first section of book 1 proper, the group are discovering what has happened to them... I think that's a pretty interesting dynamic...
...and one that I think Paizo may also be exploring with the first book of Strange Aeons...
I also went with off-camera abduction in both campaigns where I'm running this AP (my regular Friday game, plus my once a monthish Saturday game). It flowed naturally from things they had done in play, but the actual abduction happened as they slept and dreamed of strange things.
|
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
|
Question.....
I know the soft cover books are available at Legendary Games, Paizo and RPGNow, but will my FLGS be able to order them?
(I have over $850 worth of credit at the store that I would like to spend!)
-- david
We are more than happy to sell product to your FLGS. They can contact us directly at makeyourgamelegendary@gmail.com; our terms are very simple: Stores pay 50% of MSRP, and if they order over $250 domestic shipping is free.
Running Legendary Planet here on the boards and I have a couple of questions re: 'To Worlds Unknown' - I'm going to spoiler them so that any potential player doesn't stumble across something they oughtn't!!!
Official Responses:
Relating to one of the Creatures in the Bestiary:
The Tauslek Matriarch is statted up as a Mythic Creature yet I see no Mythic Surge values? And in the Tactics section of the Timed Event, it states that the Matriarch uses her Mythic Initiative to gain an additional action... am I missing something here? I don't see an ability or feat that would allow it to do that?
This appears to be a bit of errata we'll need to clean up before we print the hardback compilation. The tauslek matriarch should have mythic power (1/day, surge +1d6) under Special Attacks and dual initiative (which should make its Init +26/+6).
Relating to the Second / Third Part of the Adventure:
I am sure that when my group arrive at Zel-Argose they are going to want to go shopping for cool technological items... to what extent does the Legendary Worlds Campaign Setting assume that Zel-Argose has access to things like Laser Guns, etc? And how widely available would that technology be?
A lot of folks have mistaken Legendary Planet as a full bore sci-fi campaign akin to the types of technology that appears in Paizo's Iron Gods Adventure Path, but that's not the direction we've chosen to go. Firmly seated within the sword-and-planet genre, we're keeping our "technology" a bit more abstract. As such, there won't necessarily be "laser guns" per se, but there will be alien firearms that mimic the in-game effects of such weapons. Likewise, we're not introducing starships or hard sci-fi computers and cybertechnologies. But, we do have half-construct aliens, clockwork, and other alien magi-tech that'll allow us to explore similar story elements. If you've watched John Carter of Mars or read Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom-series, you'll have a better understanding of the types of alien technology we'll feature. And, while that means there may be certain items that get introduced, most of them will function on a level that's just as magical as they are technological.
So, I say all of that to support much of what Rednal shared earlier:
The Legendary Worlds Campaign Setting is primarily a "Sword and Planet" genre. As noted in the Player's Guide, though, the players can expect to encounter many different types of technology during the course of their travels... and Zel-Argose is a massive center of trade....technological items would be available there, so long as they're not reliant on any external systems - they're likely imported in limited quantities from tech worlds, not manufactured in the city or anything. As the GM, it's ultimately as available as you want it to be...relatively low-cost tech items (at or below the city's base value) are available, but anything above that should be treated like a magical item and either rolled for or special-ordered. Weapons, in particular, may be more tightly-controlled, and so perhaps have a percent markup on their price.
And, in general, any weapons or equipment you make available from the Technology Guide should be re-skinned in a way that makes them seem more alien and half-magical/half-technological rather than a hard sci-fi version of them.
Also relating to the Second / Third Part of the Adventure:
I notice in the stats for Zel-Argose that there are no Androids specifically identified in the 'Races Present'... are Androids a 'thing' in this Campaign Setting or is one of my players going to be truly unique?!?!?
Androids will likely make an appearance in a future chapter of the Legendary Planet AP, but for the moment (or, at least on Argosa), the half-construct auttaine fill that sci-fantasy niche for us. In addition, when (and if) we do introduce them, they'll have a plausible backstory that weaves them into the sword-and-planet genre rather than rely on hard sci-fi explanations for how they came to be. Sorry to be vague on this one. It's still something I'm exploring for the next couple of chapters that are currently in development. Ideally, I want to make sure that androids (as a playable species) make sense for where and how we use them. Their most likely appearance would be in Chapter 3, Dead Vault Descent.
Hope that helps,
--Neil
Thanks to Chemlak, Rednal and Legendary Planet's own Neil Spicer... exactly the answers I was looking for...
I got a doubt about the Auttaine race, and since my PDF is in another laptop not currently available I can't check it now:
How do the Auttaine half-construct nature interact with psychic magic users? In other words, are they enough Humanoid to have emotions and so provide emotional component to psychic spells?