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Straight up I don’t know anything about Pathfinder lore but if they have the Pathfinder equivalent to D&D Underdark or perhaps Hell then those could potentially be the exploration of a mysterious untamed land? I feel like there’s gotta be dozens of places in a fantasy universe.
That's a fair point. There are plenty of other locales where I suppose it can be done almost as well. Not sure if it would hold the same feel or appeal for some though. I can't speak for others, but when I think of adventuring in Hell, I don't think of it being an exotic unexplored place, I think of it as a grand quest by the righteous to slay devils and accomplish whatever the McGuffin got us there for (be it rescue someone, recover an artifact, stop an arch-fiend directly, or simply to escape again).
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If I wanted to attend a school, I'd attend the University of Lepidstadt in Ustalov.
To be fair, the Magaambya is a much different sort of school than the other big institutions we've seen on Golarion. Much more community-oriented and "get out there and do stuff" than a lecture hall, 101/201/301 kinda place.
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If I wanted to attend a school, I'd attend the University of Lepidstadt in Ustalov.To be fair, the Magaambya is a much different sort of school than the other big institutions we've seen on Golarion. Much more community-oriented and "get out there and do stuff" than a lecture hall, 101/201/301 kinda place.
Indeed! The artwork of the Magaambya alone (Character Guide 99 for one example) makes that pretty clear too.
It's a shame that PC anadi can't hand backsets of snacks to their fellow party members like the one in the image though... :(
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It is kind of true though, you could very much have "explore unknown land" story in planes due to scope of the planes and the fact even populated planes do have wilderness <_<
Though maybe it would fit more of starfinder? I mean hard to imagine "let's build city in hell!" campaign in pathfinder outside of dwarf fortress memes
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Sarusan is my go-to for unknown lands in the first place, IIRC it is deliberately kept vague to enable such stories and let GMs fill in a corner of the setting.
It is kind of true though, you could very much have "explore unknown land" story in planes due to scope of the planes and the fact even populated planes do have wilderness <_<
Though maybe it would fit more of starfinder? I mean hard to imagine "let's build city in hell!" campaign in pathfinder outside of dwarf fortress memes
I often use Xibalba for this, since it's notorious for seeming like part of the material plane and easy to accidentally get into.
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I don’t understand feeling like a genre is *used up* or otherwise somehow accounted for by another location on the map dealing with it. It’s not like a Taldan spy campaign would feel the same as a Vidrian one, anyway; “post-colonial revolutionary espionage in Fantasy Haiti” isn’t a pitch I ever would’ve landed on without this book - to say nothing of that fact that I’m cold on 90% of Avistani nations.
This is more options, not less, y’know?
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“post-colonial revolutionary espionage in Fantasy Haiti” isn’t a pitch I ever would’ve landed on without this book - to say nothing of that fact that I’m cold on 90% of Avistani nations.
What is on your 10% of Avistani nations you dig btw?
I guess Numeria might be there but otherwise I find it bit hard to guess
(I assume no Isger, I'd be shocked if Isger was anybody's favorite nation)
Isger is Tatooine, it's the imperial hinterland, where the dark danger of the empire is distant but ever present
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“post-colonial revolutionary espionage in Fantasy Haiti” isn’t a pitch I ever would’ve landed on without this book - to say nothing of that fact that I’m cold on 90% of Avistani nations.What is on your 10% of Avistani nations you dig btw?
I guess Numeria might be there but otherwise I find it bit hard to guess
(I assume no Isger, I'd be shocked if Isger was anybody's favorite nation)
Numeria is up there, though I’m admittedly struggling with plots for its post-Iron Gods iteration. I think Cheliax and Nidal are great baddies with a fascinating relationship, and the latter has some killer stuff (a nation that dates back to Earthfall!), Kuthite stuff runs square into my worst triggers. Sarkoris Scar is really compelling to me for its “diasporic people reclaim their destroyed homeland” theme, and I’m not opposed to Ustalav, though I couldn’t honestly name anything about it right now.
Otherwise, I’m pretty thoroughly uninterested; whatever years we get Lost Omens books for the Saga Lands and Shining Kingdoms are gonna be real lean for me.
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“post-colonial revolutionary espionage in Fantasy Haiti” isn’t a pitch I ever would’ve landed on without this book - to say nothing of that fact that I’m cold on 90% of Avistani nations.What is on your 10% of Avistani nations you dig btw?
I guess Numeria might be there but otherwise I find it bit hard to guess
(I assume no Isger, I'd be shocked if Isger was anybody's favorite nation)
Numeria is up there, though I’m admittedly struggling with plots for its post-Iron Gods iteration. I think Cheliax and Nidal are great baddies with a fascinating relationship, and the latter has some killer stuff (a nation that dates back to Earthfall!), Kuthite stuff runs square into my worst triggers. Sarkoris Scar is really compelling to me for its “diasporic people reclaim their destroyed homeland” theme, and I’m not opposed to Ustalav, though I couldn’t honestly name anything about it right now.
Otherwise, I’m pretty thoroughly uninterested; whatever years we get Lost Omens books for the Saga Lands and Shining Kingdoms are gonna be real lean for me.
To defense of of those two x'D 1) Druma is really great! 2) Kyonin really needs retcon since I love James Jacobs' idea of what elves are supposed to be like 3) Rivethun dwarves are pretty interesting 4) aww but I like they are finally doing something with galt
and to saga lands 5) Irrisen stuff and monsters being citizens is really cool 6) Varisia has plenty of great stuff, like lots of good shoanti stuff! 7) Thassilonian stuff has always been interesting to get insight on azlanti stuff 8) I still dig realm of mammoth lords and happy they finally do something with it(why I'm getting deja vu) 9) I actually like lot of linnorm king stuff, but granted, there is no finnish representation there xD Aka joking aside, I don't feel much of personal connection there and am mostly in it because I love linnorms and Fafnheir
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Kyonin definitely does need another pass, since I was flabbergasted at how much more interested I was with Golarion's elves after reading the "People of the Mwangi" chapter than I was beforehand.
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Kyonin definitely does need another pass, since I was flabbergasted at how much more interested I was with Golarion's elves after reading the "People of the Mwangi" chapter than I was beforehand.
That's because Kyonin is populated by coward elves.
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Kyonin definitely does need another pass, since I was flabbergasted at how much more interested I was with Golarion's elves after reading the "People of the Mwangi" chapter than I was beforehand.
I had a longer review of the book that the site ate where I explain that I’m neutral on elves and actively dislike dwarves, but the Mwangi takes on both I enjoyed enough to want to play characters from. It’s really solid stuff.
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Every location in this book was so richly described with so many adventure hooks bleeding from every letter I'm astounded you could think there aren't many. This really is just the coolest book I've ever held, and I am so excited for future region books.
I especially love the Hungry School - so short, so simple, but so interesting and just. It's cool!
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Every location in this book was so richly described with so many adventure hooks bleeding from every letter I'm astounded you could think there aren't many. This really is just the coolest book I've ever held, and I am so excited for future region books.
I especially love the Hungry School - so short, so simple, but so interesting and just. It's cool!
That was my take, as well. So many ideas for adventures.
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Kyonin definitely does need another pass, since I was flabbergasted at how much more interested I was with Golarion's elves after reading the "People of the Mwangi" chapter than I was beforehand.I had a longer review of the book that the site ate where I explain that I’m neutral on elves and actively dislike dwarves, but the Mwangi takes on both I enjoyed enough to want to play characters from. It’s really solid stuff.
Yeah site eating reviews really sucks :'D Its why I take copy paste of my every review paranoidly nowadays x'D (have had it happen twice or thrice before...)
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While very true, if I wanted spy drama, I'd go to Taldor and join the Lion Blades.Conversely I'm seeing many people excited about the Mwangi Expanse and Pathfinder in general BECAUSE of the sheer variety of stories this book supports and suggests.
Vidrian spy drama, and Nantambu magic-school, and unraveling the tangled skeins of Jaha's near past, and on, and on.
People being messy, complex, nuanced people is way more interesting to me, and creates way more, and more interesting stories, than "people I can murder".
You don't think the Lion Blades have significant interest in the evolving political scene of Vidrian? Does James Bond limit himself to England?
Kyonin definitely does need another pass, since I was flabbergasted at how much more interested I was with Golarion's elves after reading the "People of the Mwangi" chapter than I was beforehand.
Instead of a retcon, I want to see a story made out of it: An AP in which the PCs have to join the effort to reform Kyonin. Even though the Winter Council has officially fallen and the Lantern Bearers are officially reformed, Allevrah is still lurking around, and undoubtedly a lot of other J. Edgar Hoover types are still lurking around as well . . . .
But that's a topic for another thread.
Instead of a retcon, I want to see a story made out of it: An AP in which the PCs have to join the effort to reform Kyonin. Even though the Winter Council has officially fallen and the Lantern Bearers are officially reformed, Allevrah is still lurking around, and undoubtedly a lot of other J. Edgar Hoover types are still lurking around as well . . . .
J. Edgar Hoover types?
^Highly racist, secretive, and paranoid; thoroughly willing to run roughshod over the civil rights of others on blanket premises; and so powerful that leaders are afraid to kick them out of their positions because they can that which should never be done into the wind wherever they want because they can control the winds, and the leaders would rather have them controlling the winds (and doing that which should never be done into the wind) to blow out rather than in(*) . . . .
(*)Admittedly apocryphal, but has a good chance of being true.
Yes, J. Edgar Hoover reincarnated as an Enhanced Life Form would have been a perfect Winter Council boss.
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What othe updates and changes to said lore does the newly released The Mwangi Expanse have within its covers?
The Aspis Consortium's head of operations in Bloodcove is a Bounwat ex-Pathfinder turned evil named Malika Fenn.
Speaking of Pathfinders, Deron Melcarian escaped the city of Osibu in 4718 by jumping into the Nemesis Well, with ramifications for the Golden City.
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I appreciate how the new ancestries aren't treated as new additions to the world. The shisks and golomas have just been here and the other people of Mwangi knew; the first edition books were written by foreigners who probably thought they were demons. The golomas even have a long-held belief for why their different from the others and stay away. It really sells that the information is FROM the people of Mwangi and not just OF them.
There's also the hooks in place for adding more about the shisks in the rest of Garund and the golomas anywhere.
And then there's the Conrasu, who just exist. Where did they come from? "IDK, science experiment?" Why hasn't any other group mentioned you before? What are relations with other groups? I love these tree-wearing space-balls and I want to know more.
I also like the effort to say, "The boggards aren't that bad." Suggesting a boggard PC isn't too far-fetched. If you can befriend boggards, you're like family. Contrast that with the Charau-ka, who are still absolutely evil. If someone can point me to a page that has anything remotely positive to say about these demon-monkeys, I'd appreciate it.
In Age of Ashes
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The section on the Dwarf/Cloud Dragon city/society/group did more for me in interest about dwarves than anything else published about them for years.
Dragons, kobolds and dwarves living together. Tying dwarves to dragons and bringing in their similar interests to kobolds is fantastic. I've never been closer to not disliking dwarves.
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I appreciate how the new ancestries aren't treated as new additions to the world. The shisks and golomas have just been here and the other people of Mwangi knew; the first edition books were written by foreigners who probably thought they were demons. The golomas even have a long-held belief for why their different from the others and stay away. It really sells that the information is FROM the people of Mwangi and not just OF them.
There's also the hooks in place for adding more about the shisks in the rest of Garund and the golomas anywhere.
And then there's the Conrasu, who just exist. Where did they come from? "IDK, science experiment?" Why hasn't any other group mentioned you before? What are relations with other groups? I love these tree-wearing space-balls and I want to know more.
I also like the effort to say, "The boggards aren't that bad." Suggesting a boggard PC isn't too far-fetched. If you can befriend boggards, you're like family. Contrast that with the Charau-ka, who are still absolutely evil. If someone can point me to a page that has anything remotely positive to say about these demon-monkeys, I'd appreciate it.
In Age of Ashes
** spoiler omitted **
There was this sidebar
"Kibwe Refugees
Not every charau-ka follows Angazhan or intends to slaughter every creature they meet. When Usaro collapsed into bloody chaos, a sizable number of charau-ka fled east to the city of Kibwe where they were welcomed with surprisingly few qualms. Though these charau-ka are rarely altruistic, they are willing enough to cooperate with other ancestries out of self-interest."
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That is fully not what colonize means.
The nice thing about Starfinder is you can always find an uninhabited planet to colonize without getting anyone upset.
There's an article online asking if humans are an invasive species. One of the arguments against calling humans invasive species is:
"2) An invasive species has to be a non-native: Humans had colonized every continent but Antarctica by about 15,000 years ago. Sure, we've done some rearranging of populations since then and had an explosion in population size, but we're a native species."
from: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/are-humans-an-invasive-specie s-42999965/
So if you're referring to colonizing in the last 600 years "rearranging of populations" It's kind of recolonizing, which was done in a really messed up way.
I just like cats more than people, cats clean up after themselves.
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I just like cats more than people, cats clean up after themselves.
I don't know about that. I've never seen a cat put something back on a table.
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I just like cats more than people, cats clean up after themselves.I don't know about that. I've never seen a cat put something back on a table.
just wait until cats develop the thumb. But after this happening humanity is doomed because they don't need us anymore to open the food cans^^.
^They still need us to make the food cans, but on the other hand, once they get guns and whips, that becomes less of a problem . . . .