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I've made similar threads for other Meta-Regions before, but realized I haven't yet got to my favorite corner of Avistan: The Broken Lands! Such a book is still purely a hypothetical (and we're due plenty of Impossible Lands goodness later in this year), but it doesn't hurt to put our hopes, wishes, and concerns out there.
While Varisia gets the lion's share of the nostalgia, I'm of the opinion that the Broken Lands carried the banner for what makes Golarion unique, with some of the most iconic APs in First Edition; there's a reason both APs that've been adapted into videogames are from the region, and while Iron Gods is divisive, it certainly stands out from the pack. What we /haven't/ seen a lot of is follow-up, how things have shaken out in response to the dramatic changes those events caused. The River Kingdoms will remain what they are forever, I imagine, but a slowly-reclaimed Sakoris Scar, a peacetime Mendev, and a free Numeria are still settings we haven't truly gotten to see, and I'm eager for all of them.
Equally interesting are the parts of the Broken Lands we never much got to in 1e. 2e has been foreshadowing Brevoy's imminent split into Issia and Rostland in multiple books, alongside some potential draconic revelations and strife in the region; there's room for courtly intrigues, gritty war, and heroic battle with fire-breathing foes aplenty, and there's always an appetite for that. Razmir is a wholly Golarion bad guy, with Razmiran full of jerks well worth adventurers picking fights with - and that's before the chance the old man actually does find some divinity for himself.
Sarkorian god-callers and android priestesses, scarred ex-crusaders and grizzled Swordlords, masked cultists and would-be kings... there's a lot to love. Tell me what you wanna see!
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Oh my god, that typo in the title is going to haunt me.
I don't suppose the mods can fix it?
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So the location-based setting sourcebooks all have a tradition of introducing at least one new ancestry (azarketi in Absalom, and poppets in Grand Bazaar by technicality; anadi, grippli, gnolls, conrasus, shisks and golomas in Mwangi Expanse; who-knows-what in Impossible Lands), and I'd expect such a book to follow as well.
Now, there are two obvious candidates for inclusion here - the alien lashuntas that the crash-landed Divinity scooped up from Castrovel and brought along in cryo-sleep, and the more enigmatic but likely similarly transported kasathas, both elevated in popularity by way of Pathfinder's science-fantasy cousin game.
The former even have some NPCs in 2e (Lady Altouna in Numeria, Princess Misovyel's undead lashunta servants in Knights of Lastwall) and would tie in nicely with the psychic class coming in Dark Archive, though the latter are a design challenge with their four arms, but it's one that I hope Paizo would be willing to tackle - they figured out Tiny and flying PCs, after all!
Beyond that, a deep dive on the culture of the dispersed Sarkorian people would be a delight - their broad-strokes premise is great and I bet that some Paizo folks would also like to focus on them, but right now they're a little light on specific cultural customs and player options. (Give us more on god calling! And on things that are not god-calling, or that involve cleansing the demonic taint of the Scar! What are some cultural bits that were lost with the Worldwound's opening, and what is firmly kept onto and cherished? I wanna know!)
Also: a trove of Numerian technology in both items and robotic creatures would be ideal - it's non-trivial design work, but would be a great selling point for the book for those who love a dash of sci-fi weirdness in their fantasy (like I do).
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I very much like Numeria, and surprising even myself am intrigued by Brevoy, which I feel has been severely underused. I would love to see JJ be able to do Iron Gods 2, and really this whole area seems tailor made for cool aps.
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Beyond that, a deep dive on the culture of the dispersed Sarkorian people would be a delight - their broad-strokes premise is great and I bet that some Paizo folks would also like to focus on them, but right now they're a little light on specific cultural customs and player options. (Give us more on god calling! And on things that are not god-calling, or that involve cleansing the demonic taint of the Scar! What are some cultural bits that were lost with the Worldwound's opening, and what is firmly kept onto and cherished? I wanna know!)
Agreed. I'd also be intrigued to learn more about pre-crusade Mendevian culture, and the way those two groups relate to each other and to the (remaining) crusaders and their descendants...basically, the social impacts of the Worldwound and its closing, in addition to the more tangible ones.
I would love to see JJ be able to do Iron Gods 2
The Electric Bugaloo.
Just kidding, I'd love to see Return of the Iron Gods. With the PCs from Iron Gods as villains.| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I would love to see JJ be able to do Iron Gods 2The Electric Bugaloo.
Just kidding, I'd love to see Return of the Iron Gods. With the PCs from Iron Gods as villains.
I think the plot for Iron Gods 2 all but has to be “the Dominion is invading the fragile Numeria the first PCs helped build.”
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Dominion Alien Invasion AP is my dream ya :'D
Anyway, I do wish River Kingdoms outside of stolen lands get fleshed out since uh... Main source of river kingdoms is the super early pathfinder style lore book that contains such things as extremely xenophobic elven colonies :'D
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Dominion Alien Invasion AP is my dream ya :'D
Anyway, I do wish River Kingdoms outside of stolen lands get fleshed out since uh... Main source of river kingdoms is the super early pathfinder style lore book that contains such things as extremely xenophobic elven colonies :'D
I hope that doesn't get retconned. The longer the aiudeen stay imperialists the longer they can be dismissed out of hand.
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Not sure whether I'd prefer to see the demons treated as ongoing colonizers to be eradicated or stranded castoffs who need to somehow form or be integrated into a society. One or the other.
They’re the remnants of an invasion force focused almost entirely on causing suffering and blighting the land. It’s pretty straightforward.
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Iron gods 2 full of tech and lovecraftian horror mashed together sounds like a high fantasy delta green AP and I'm all about it
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Not sure whether I'd prefer to see the demons treated as ongoing colonizers to be eradicated or stranded castoffs who need to somehow form or be integrated into a society. One or the other.They’re the remnants of an invasion force focused almost entirely on causing suffering and blighting the land. It’s pretty straightforward.
Not so straightforward. They are no longer backed by and haven't built a state power. At the moment, they are simply a stateless people.
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Are demons, in that they are literally constructed out of the elemental essences of "chaos" and "evil" even capable of forming "state power"?
It seems like normally "demon politics" works like "individually every being ruthlessly exercises their power over everything within their power to do so."
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Not so straightforward. They are no longer backed by and haven't built a state power. At the moment, they are simply a stateless people.Not sure whether I'd prefer to see the demons treated as ongoing colonizers to be eradicated or stranded castoffs who need to somehow form or be integrated into a society. One or the other.They’re the remnants of an invasion force focused almost entirely on causing suffering and blighting the land. It’s pretty straightforward.
They’re “simply” incarnate beings of Chaos and Evil, whose presence defiles the land and whose practices are explicitly about harm. There’s really no need to try and play Devil’s Advocate for them when every text on the region in 2e has presented them uniformly as a blight.
Nocticula is a rarity, as is Arue from WotR. The overwhelming majority of fiends in the region came through to enact the orders of terrible Demon Lords.
You want a sympathetic people in the region struggling to fine a place for themselves now, that’s the Sarkorians themselves.
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Nocticula is a rarity, as is Arue from WotR.
Arushelae's redemption required literal divine intervention (from Desna) and Nocticula was working on this for of ten thousands (or hundreds of thousands) years right? Like Noctiucla was the first succubus and the first being to kill a Demon Lord (which gave her bigger ideas which snowballed from there.)
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Back to the actual topic: I’d love to see more tools for tables to tell stories about purifying the land and the Reclaimer cause, hand in hand with a deep enough dive on Sarkorian culture.
I know PFS has dabbled with this in their ongoing Farhaven Clan storyline, but I hope non-Society folks can contribute, too!
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So the location-based setting sourcebooks all have a tradition of introducing at least one new ancestry (azarketi in Absalom, and poppets in Grand Bazaar by technicality; anadi, grippli, gnolls, conrasus, shisks and golomas in Mwangi Expanse; who-knows-what in Impossible Lands), and I'd expect such a book to follow as well.
Now, there are two obvious candidates for inclusion here - the alien lashuntas that the crash-landed Divinity scooped up from Castrovel and brought along in cryo-sleep, and the more enigmatic but likely similarly transported kasathas, both elevated in popularity by way of Pathfinder's science-fantasy cousin game.
The former even have some NPCs in 2e (Lady Altouna in Numeria, Princess Misovyel's undead lashunta servants in Knights of Lastwall) and would tie in nicely with the psychic class coming in Dark Archive, though the latter are a design challenge with their four arms, but it's one that I hope Paizo would be willing to tackle - they figured out Tiny and flying PCs, after all!
I would go absolutely feral if we got Lashunta in this book - or any other, if I’m being honest.
Relatedly: much is made of the secret alien population of Numeria (hunted by the Technic League when they were in power, aided on the sly by Lady Altouna’s network of agents), but we haven’t actually seen all that much of them in the region. Is there a Kasatha clan hiding out somewhere? Is there an “alien district” in Hajoth Hakados? Anything that puts our neighbors from space in roles other than big bags of XP to be shot at would be very welcome. All of this extends to Androids as well; the glimpses of their culture in the Ancestry Guide were a delight, but I want more!
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I'm actually running a homebrew adventure in Sarkoris where the PC's are all new members of the Reclaimers, the loose alliance of Mendevian crusaders, Kellid tribespeople "coming home", and Green Faith druids trying to resettle Sarkoris. Naturally, these three groups have different ideas of what "resettling Sarkoris" means that don't always overlap (beyond slaying any demons left behind).
The Mendevian crusaders conflicted. On one hand, the Worldwound is closed and many want to just go home to pick up the lives they had assumed were over. On the other hand, leaving behind a broken land would be irresponsible and if the demons come back the crusaders will need to be ready. The war is over, but the work continues.
The Kellid people driven from their homes by the demon hordes endured. They fought and have now won the war, so their homeland can now be restored! The Sarkorian tribes can return to their ancestral homes to live as they once did. Then again, a unified Kellid nation would also be a great way to help keep demons at bay as well defend against any neighbors with imperialist and racist motivations.
The druids of the Green Faith also have goals in Sarkoris. The Abyss-blighted land was warped and corrupted in horrible ways. Healing the land and serving as stewards of the realm to ensure the ecosystem returns to its rightful state. The work of clearing this corruption will take many long seasons, so others had best recognize the druids' work as necessary and their decisions as wise (i.e. stay out of the way before you all make it worse).
These three groups were allies during the crusades, but now that the Worldwound has closed, how long will that last? What will the PC's do? What horrors still remain in the wake of the demon hordes?
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On the note of demon cast-offs...
I definitely want to see more Sarkorian stuff, especially going into detail about the unique nuances of God Calling. In 1e it was clearly established that God Callers were capital S Summoners and any gods they called were their eidolons; no real divinity apart from the status they held with the clan that worshipped them. 2e has changed things, since before Summoners were introduced in Secrets of Magic, three of the Sarkorian deities associated with God Calling, the Stag Mother of the Forest of Stones, Algenweis and Sturovenen, all got upgrade to true divinity, complete with alignments, domains, favored weapons, edicts and anathemas! I'd love to know more, especially since my original Wrath of the Righteous character concept that I wanted to play in it had started out as "a Sarkorian Paladin."
In all honesty, I suspect part of the reasoning for this shift was to give the Sarkorians more agency and to fix the kind of colonialist undertones. The way God Calling and Sarkoris kind of got described in 1e felt like it was saying "the Sarkorians were a primitive, backwards people who would worship nearly anything, so it was easy for the demons to trick them into opening the Worldwound, and then their fake eidolon gods lacked the power to protect them once the invasion started, which is why Aroden had to intervene the first time Deskari showed up, and then we civilized crusaders who worship ACTUAL gods had to come up here and clean up their mess." Which is a real gross way to describe the displaced indigenous people of a place, so it's good it's being fixed.
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The Sarkorians themselves also generally from a somewhat generic "barbarian" presentation (a problem all Kellids had, really) to one based on Pacific Northwest Native Americans (since a few folks at Paizo are of such heritage) - which is not only great from a visual standpoint, it's ripe for some excellent and sincere cultural inspiration, especially if the way the Kellids were presented in Quest for the Frozen Flame is any indication.
Honestly, I want to hear about their cuisine, as that's always a very fun roleplay vector and cultural aspect that doesn't immediately have to do with a culture's main shtick. (Though there's nonetheless plenty of room for it to be informed by it - surely some traditional recipes or important foodstuffs have been lost to time since the Worldwound opened up.)
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Kellids were pretty obviously Cimmerians, up to Crom/Gorum being a Kellid deity.
I hope this has not completely disappeared.
I had some hope Celtic culture could have a place among the Kellids and in Sarkoris. TBT, I see no Celtic culture in Golarion, which, as a Breton myself, makes me a little sad.
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I had some hope Celtic culture could have a place among the Kellids and in Sarkoris. TBT, I see no Celtic culture in Golarion, which, as a Breton myself, makes me a little sad.
That WAS the intent with Sarkoris originally, at least according to F. Wesley Schneider on this Tumblr post from a few years back. I know *I* took that ball and ran with it, as I'm a Minnesotan of Irish descent and I've loved Celtic stuff since I first knew who the Celts were!
That being said, I'm glad there's NEW Sarkorian stuff too to make them more their own unique people, rather than a thinly-veiled transplant of a real-world culture, like how the Shoanti were coded very much like Indigenous peoples but have evolved to have their own unique look and feel since then.
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What approach, if any, do folks want for the River Kingdoms? I can imagine them keeping the Kingmaker kingdom vague, but it warps the whole region, so they may have to commit to a canon one someday. Wasn’t there a “default” kingdom presented, for those uninterested in management?
EDIT: The “Kingdom in the Background” sidebars give us Narland, with the capital of Shrikewall.
The vague Kingdom is running Pitax, has forged alliances from the Numerian border into the old cyclops kingdoms to the east. It's presence would probably stop Brevoy from splitting and it's control over a fair chuck of the Sellen would affect trade to the south. It's a big impact for a vague kingdom.
But maybe the default approach is that Kingmaker failed? A blank slate of a wilderness left after the settlements of the region now exist in a bubble? Maybe there is a crazy NPC running convinced he's the rightful King of the Kellids, and an even madder spellcaster with an evil cyclops orb for an eye?
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I think it helps to remember that besides Pitax and Stolen Lands (wilderness frontier where kingmaker kingdom is located), River Kingdom includes:
Artume (small kingdom where they decided to have few scenarios in in 2e PFS)
Cordellon (colony abandoned by elves, but now populated by humans)
Daggermark (that place famous for poisoners)
Gralton (ex-Galtan exilees)
Heibarr(Gyronna worshippers basically manipulated this place to destroy itself and only ruins remain)
Hymbria (xenophobic elven imperialists)
Lambreth(trio of city states joined together in alliance and ruled by a dictator)
Liberthane (place founded by idealists Galtans :P)
Loric Fells (troll swamp region)
Mivon (Aldori duelist exiles. Yeah lot of river kingdoms are "little x")
Mosswater (another ruined settlement, this one was ruined by merrow)
Nystra (ruined settlement, this time by plot of druid versus cruel silk merchants)
Outsea(yep there is underwater settlement in a river x'D)
Protectorate of Black Marquis (everybody expects river pirate kingdom!)
Riverton (Hanspur community)
Scrawny Crossing (abandoned hamlet)
Sevenarches (DRUIDS)
Touvette (small military dictatorship under martial law. Yeah army took control of it from previous ruler :p)
Tymon (the gladiator place)
Uringen (that town where half of it fades out of golarion into another reality at times)
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Scattered among the forests and marshes of the Sellen River basin are the River Kingdoms: a loose confederation of tiny, independent states, the largest of them holding only a few thousand souls. Hundreds of such kingdoms have risen and fallen over the centuries, for treachery and chaos are rife in this region, and few River Kingdoms outlive their founders. Within just the past few years, for instance, the kingdom of Pitax fell after an overambitious attempt to extend its borders, while a new kingdom arose out of the former Stolen Lands bordering Brevoy.
Emphasis mine, but it shows that LOWG assumes that Kingmaker was successful, and I believe Paizo devs have stated at the time that they deliberately left it vague like this.
Then again, various subtle changes took place between the Mwangi Expanse's presentation in the World Guide and in the dedicated book, and no doubt the similar will happen to the Impossible Lands and to any other future metaregion.Curiously, while looking at this section, I also noticed this sidebar - more stuff like this would be extremely sweet.
HUZURISThe tribes of old Sarkoris were famed for their mystical witch-wardens, their painted warriors, and the idols they called huzuris. Each huzuri began with the bleached skull of an animal significant to that tribe, either because it represented their totem spirit or because that individual beast shaped the tribe’s history. A fall-fattened bear who appeared before hunters on the brink of starvation and a loyal war dog who saved a clan chief in battle might equally become honored huzuris after death. Once consecrated by the tribe’s oldest witch, the huzuri became integral to the tribe’s ancestor-based magic, and was often believed to be the repository in which the spirit of the tribe itself lived. Each successive witch and chief, upon attaining that title, pressed a fingertip soaked in their own blood to the bare skull. That crimson fingerprint stored its maker’s memories, and so the collective history of the tribe was recorded in spirit-magic, blood, and bone. If a tribe’s huzuri was ever lost or destroyed, the ancient Sarkorians believed that the tribe’s soul was lost as well.
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Oh my god, that typo in the title is going to haunt me.
I don't suppose the mods can fix it?
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I did want to bring this thread back with the reveal that book one of next year’s first AP takes place in Sevenarches, at least in part. The three volume campaigns don’t tend to tie into the year’s Lost Omens release, but it does get us back into the Broken Lands!
I also did want to ask: the Aldori were made out to be pretty iconic, but I haven’t heard many people cheerleading for content relating to them. Are there any diehard sword lord fans?
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I'm not a diehard fan, but I do think that Sirian Aldori is cool, and I've been increasingly intrigued by Brevoy ever since I red the Choral section of Legends. Would definitely be interested in a duelist vs dragon showdown.
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I’m more interested in Brevoy than the Aldori.
The Aldori have this appearance of “trying too hard” to be an aesthetic and scene and nothing lore or mechanical wise I’ve seen of them have dissuaded me, they’re just that clique over there, over there happening to be Brevoy.
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I did want to bring this thread back with the reveal that book one of next year’s first AP takes place in Sevenarches, at least in part. The three volume campaigns don’t tend to tie into the year’s Lost Omens release, but it does get us back into the Broken Lands!
I also did want to ask: the Aldori were made out to be pretty iconic, but I haven’t heard many people cheerleading for content relating to them. Are there any diehard sword lord fans?
I suppose I COULD say that I am? I feel like they require a bit of buy-in, though: either as part of Kingmaker (the whole plot gets kicked off as a gambit by them to astroturf allies in preparation for seceding from Brevoy, and the PC game goes into more detail with it, with your choice of advisors and decisions either pushing the situation into full-on civil war or cooling things back into annoyed tensions with a truce), or by taking the information presented in 1e's Adventurer's Guide and putting them center-stage in the campaign, focusing on both their revolutionary ambitions and the interpersonal drama between the various cliques of Swordlords competing to either maintain Sirian's traditions or cast them aside.
Complicating matters is that there's also the River Kingdom of Mivon, who consider themselves the true inheritors of the Swordlords (because they didn't capitulate to Chorral the Conqueror the way the mainstream Swordlords did, which those Swordlords would counter by saying Mivon's founders were cowards who dishonored the Swordpact), though in practice they're largely a mafia-esque hierarchy with Swordlord trappings. I feel like a Swordlord-focused campaign would have to take them into account, especially since after the events of Kingmaker the player-made Kingdom is bordered by Mivon on the south (this is significant for me, at least, since my Kingmaker PC was a multiclassed Paladin/Swordlord).
And then there's the fact that 2e's focus in Brevoy seems to have shifted more towards the confirmation that Chorral the Conquerer was indeed a red dragon and he's apparently about to return. Plus, all the noble houses in Brevoy that can have all that juicy, ASoIaF-style drama are Issian, whom the Swordlords are opposed to by default.
So...yeah, you could say I've thought a lot about this. Kingmaker WAS the first AP I ever really read through and got invested in.
Can we sneak Galt into the Broken Lands? It's much more Broken than it is Shining.
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Can we sneak Galt into the Broken Lands? It's much more Broken than it is Shining.
I think it's part of the Shining Kingdoms because it loses a lot when not juxtaposed with Taldor and Andoran. Night of the Grey Death has offered Galt a path out of being "French Revolution Land," but I think there's still some important thematic cohesion to come from it having an old empire and a more-successful revolutionary state to butt up against.
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Galt is fittingly on the border of the two meta-regions, and does also participate in some similar thematic territory as Numeria and Mendev (and Sarkoris) in terms of "where do we go from here" now that things have calmed down somewhat. I wonder if you could sneak it into both hypothetical books.
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So the location-based setting sourcebooks all have a tradition of introducing at least one new ancestry (azarketi in Absalom, and poppets in Grand Bazaar by technicality; anadi, grippli, gnolls, conrasus, shisks and golomas in Mwangi Expanse; who-knows-what in Impossible Lands), and I'd expect such a book to follow as well.
Now, there are two obvious candidates for inclusion here - the alien lashuntas that the crash-landed Divinity scooped up from Castrovel and brought along in cryo-sleep, and the more enigmatic but likely similarly transported kasathas, both elevated in popularity by way of Pathfinder's science-fantasy cousin game.
On top of these two, the river kingdoms would be the perfect place if they ever want to introduce boggard as playable ancestry, as they are very commonplace here. I want to hope for bog striders too, but them not being fully humanoid, as well as being very bound to a specific type of terrain make it very unlikely unfortunately.
Likewise, mendev/sarkoris/the remain of the worldwound could lead them to introduce mongrels as a flexible heritage, altho fleshwarp may already fit that slot.
Honestly tho, the thing I'm the most curious about for a broken land book is the river kingdom. I know that pretty much everyone that played the kingmaker created a very different kingdom, so they have to not elaborate on it much, but some part like pitax or the fae presence had too much importance to simply be glossed over, and I want to see what they decide to do with it. Also, I like swamp, and for me the river kingdoms are the perfect setting to adventure into.
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I'm not especially interested in the Swordlords as an organization, though Zousha's post above mine is changing my opinion on that front somewhat.
I mostly want to see a Swordlord archetype make its way into 2E akin to how Hellknight Armigers dovetail into Hellknights or Signifers. Give them some truly bonkers high-level feats that show just how action movie anime wam bam they can be when you put an Alduri dueling sword in their hands.
Aw, thank you!
To elaborate on some of the prior points, though, I see the Aldori story as one of identity as much as politics: are they a covenant dedicated to preserving Rostland and Sirian's traditions and legacies, or just a really good dueling school who should prove it by having everyone dueling as often as possible? In the debate between Restov and Mivon's Swordlords over which are the true Swordlords, which was the greater dishonor: Restov's surrender or Mivon's retreat?
Part of it is that, like I said, the writing on the Swordlords tends to either focus specifically on their external politics (Kingmaker and the stuff about Mivon) or their internal ones (which is most of what their Adventurer's Guide chapter focuses on), complete with different sets of NPCs for each set of conflicts: Jamandi Aldori (that's her in the Broken Lands chapter of the World Guide as the representative for the Aldori Duelist archetype) for the politics and Garen Aldori vs. Tiedlara for the internal strife. Like, while Garen and Tiedlara argue about how the Swordlords should comport themselves (though in reality it's more that Tiedlara is just trolling Garen, as she doesn't seem to have much interest in the Swordlords as an organization as much as she does cultivating and shaping the perfect rivalry with him specifically), gearing up to settle it in a single, epic, anime-style duel, Jamandi's over here on the sidelines trying to move their actual political agenda forward (how successful she is depends on how you play Kingmaker, naturally).
Something else I'm intrigued by is that there's some folks who use the Aldori dueling sword WITHOUT joining the school, such as House Khavortorov mentioned in Knights of the Inner Sea. That's interesting in and of itself because House Khavortorov is ostensibly Issian, since if they joined the Swordpact proper they'd have to stop using their family name and become Aldoris instead. And they're trying to define themselves and find prominence among Brevoy's other noble houses, since they were a vassal house to the Rogarvias but owe no such loyalty to the Surtovas. And then there's the fact that the Surtovas have agents who've infiltrated the Swordlords called Dragonscale Loyalists who are working to steal the Swordpact's secret techniques while undermining their political project, and this is all happening with the looming shadow of Chorral's impending return rising in the background...
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I'm not especially interested in the Swordlords as an organization, though Zousha's post above mine is changing my opinion on that front somewhat.
I mostly want to see a Swordlord archetype make its way into 2E akin to how Hellknight Armigers dovetail into Hellknights or Signifers. Give them some truly bonkers high-level feats that show just how action movie anime wam bam they can be when you put an Alduri dueling sword in their hands.
Aw, thank you!
To elaborate on some of the prior points, though, I see the Aldori story as one of identity as much as politics: are they a covenant dedicated to preserving Rostland and Sirian's traditions and legacies, or just a really good dueling school who should prove it by having everyone dueling as often as possible? In the debate between Restov and Mivon's Swordlords over which are the true Swordlords, which was the greater dishonor: Restov's surrender or Mivon's retreat?
Part of it is that, like I said, the writing on the Swordlords tends to either focus specifically on their external politics (Kingmaker and the stuff about Mivon) or their internal ones (which is most of what their Adventurer's Guide chapter focuses on), complete with different sets of NPCs for each set of conflicts: Jamandi Aldori (that's her in the Broken Lands chapter of the World Guide as the representative for the Aldori Duelist archetype) for the politics and Garen Aldori vs. Tiedlara for the internal strife. Like, while Garen and Tiedlara argue about how the Swordlords should comport themselves (though in reality it's more that Tiedlara is just trolling Garen, as she doesn't seem to have much interest in the Swordlords as an organization as much as she does cultivating and shaping the perfect rivalry with him specifically), gearing up to settle it in a single, epic, anime-style duel, Jamandi's over here on the sidelines trying to move their actual political agenda forward (how successful she is depends on how you play Kingmaker,...
I concur that you managed to make me curious about the whole Aldori organization when I had utterly zero interest in them before. I mean reading "Aldori" was enough to make me skip a whole text.
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Yeah, your enthusiasm is infectious, and serves to add significantly more interest in a region I hadn't previously cared for at all. Everywhere on Golarion would be lucky to have a cheerleader like you.
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I love to go back and take a deeper look at all the 1E Prestige Classes and Archetypes seeing what lore there is to be found. I figured it wouldn't hurt to share what I have so far. There is a few areas I haven't finished but I have taken a break from the Broken Lands temporarily.
Archetype/Prestige: Aldori Defender
Institution: Aldori Academy, Aldori Swordpact
Organization: Aldori Defenders are students of the Aldori Academy that spend part of their career as students. While in an academic setting students are highly organized, after graduation Aldori Defenders are moderately organized under the tenets of the Aldori Swordpact.
Location: Restov, Brevoy
Note: Those known as Aldori Defenders are Aldori Duelists who have modified the techniques of their training to emphasize defense. Not as widely practiced as the traditional Aldori Dueling style, the Aldori Defending style is still recognized and respected style within the Aldori Dueling arts.
Archetype/Prestige: Aldori Swordlord
Institution: Aldori Academy, Aldori Swordpact
Organization: Highly Organized, the Swordlords are the keepers of the Swordpact and Administrators of the Aldori Academy. However, we do not currently know what the internal rank and structure looks like.
Location: Restov, Brevoy
Note: Aldori Swordlords are the true masters of the Aldori Dueling arts and are the keepers of the Swordpact. Aldori Swordlords are the Administrators and Instructors of the Aldori Academy. It is also not uncommon for Swordlords not working directly for the school to receive sanctioning to open a smaller private school. When a Swordlord is running a private Aldori Dueling School, they are still expected to file the appropriate documentation and records with the Aldori Academy.
[See Also: Aldori Dueling Sword, Aldori Artistry, Aldori Dueling Disciple, Aldori Dueling Mastery, Aldori Style, Aldori Style Aegis, Aldori Style Conquest, Duelist of the Roaring Falls, Duelist of the Shrouded Lake, Falling Water Gambit, Garen’s Disciple, Redistributed Might, Serren’s Masterstroke, Aldori Dueling Armor, Rostland Edge, Swordlord’s Cloak, Aldori Swordlord (NPC), Aldori Alacrity, Contest of Skill, Deivon’s Perry, Tactical Adaptation, Aldori Caution, Dueling Cloak Adept, Mivoni Duelist, Swordlord’s Page]
Note: In 2E we are introduced to the Aldori Duelist (Archetype). The 2E Aldori Duelist and 1E Aldori Defender appear to primarily be students or graduates of the Aldori Academy or someone who received official training from an Aldori Swordlord in a smaller private school. We have not yet seen 2E rules for Aldori Swordlords which have previously held the requirements of; being invited into the ranks of the Swordlords, reaffirming the Aldori Swordpact, adding the Aldori moniker to one’s name, demonstrating one’s skill by winning a duel under the observation of a current Swordlord, and presumably taking on the official duties of a Swordlord (what those duties may entail are unclear).
Archetype/Prestige: Rostland Bravo
Institution: Small Dueling Schools or Independently trained
Organization: Loosely organized or unorganized, other than sharing a love for their nation, a love of the dueling arts, and seeing themselves in competition with the Aldori Duelists, Bravos have little other organizing structre.
Location: Rostland, Brevoy
Note: Unlike the Swordlords, the Rostland Bravos are a very loose organization that does not follow the strict training of the Aldori dueling techniques. Bravos tend to have a strong love of their nation, and their techniques are inspired by their nation’s connection to dragons. The Bravos and Swordlords are rivals and while both groups tend to look down on or disparage the other, the rivalry does not appear to be hostile. It is not unusual for Bravos to eventually seek out official Aldori Duelist training.
Archetype/Prestige: Dragonscale Loyalist
Institution: Dragonscale Throne
Organization: Highly organized, Dragonscale Loyalists directly serve the Throne of Brevoy acting as special agents and secret police.
Location: Brevoy
Note: Dragonscale Loyalists serve the Throne of Brevoy with a current focus on identifying traitors and dissenters among the Noble and wealthy classes. The current lack of political security within Brevoy has turned the focus of Dragonscale Loyalists internally in an effort to prevent the nation from erupting into civil war.
Archetype/Prestige: Mind Sword
Institution: Unknown
Religion: Any non-demon worshipping religion
Organization: Unclear, no information is provided regarding if there is an organization that developed, teaches, and trains individuals in this tradition.
Location: Mendev
Note: A Mind Sword uses a unique blending of psychic and divine abilities. This tradition was developed to combat the Demons of the World Wound. Since its development, those utilizing the techniques of the Mind Sword has spread to other places where demon infestations are common, such as in Kyonin.
Archetype/Prestige: Phantom Blade
Institution: None
Organization: None
Location: Mendev
Note: These warriors wield ectoplasmic blades formed from the phantoms of their fallen comrades. The bearer of a phantom blade has been bestowed with a great honor, but one born from great tragedy. While the horrors of the World Wound has given rise to a number of bearers of phantom blades it appears as if Phantom Blades are not necessarily unique to the World Wound. Typically when the victims of a mass casualty select someone to wild a phantom blade, they select a survivor from that casualty, although this isn’t always the case. This has led to a more prominent number of Phantom Blades appearing near the Worldwound.
Archetype/Prestige: Mendevian Priest
Institution: Mendevian Crusaders, Churches with an interest in battle tactics and war Religion: Iomedae, Gorum, faiths that value combat expertise
Organization: Moderately to highly organized. Mendevian Priests are organized within the structure of the Mendevian Crusade and by the Church to which the Priest belongs.
Location: Mendev
Note: The Mendevian Priests can come from any number of religions, however, those religions share a common thread of valuing combat expertise on the battlefield. Many of these religion send representatives to serve in the Mendevian Crusade. As part of the Crusade they put their knowledge of war and combat to good use. Be it as tacticians, strategists, or combatants, these Priests know how to use their knowledge to unify efforts on the battlefield.
Archetype/Prestige: Faithful Wanderer
Institution: Mendevian Crusaders, Churches opposed to Demons
Religion: Faiths opposed to demons and the abyss.
Organization: Faithful Wanderers range from loosely to highly organized, depending on the tenets of their religion and affiliated church.
Location: Mendev, et al
Note: Careful and cautious when in lands filled with demons or tainted by the Abyss, Faithful Wanderers recognize that bold and brazen tactics in dangerous lands can lead to short careers. Often utilized as infiltrators and intelligence gathers Faithful Wanderers can move in and out of places where expressions of their religions would otherwise make them targets.
Archetype/Prestige: Proclaimer
Institution: Mendevian Crusaders, Churches opposed to Demons
Religion: Faiths opposed to demons and the abyss.
Organization: Proclaimers range from loosely to highly organized, depending on the tenets of their religion and affiliated church.
Location: Mendev, et al
Note: Proclaimers serve as the spearheads of tactical forces, leading advancements against Abyssal hordes. Devout in their faith, their religious fervor occasionally leads them to take extreme actions. These actions usually involve the Proclaimer rushing off to confrontations without waiting for appropriate tactical support. While many Proclaimers end up as martyrs on the battlefield, some live on to become legends in their faith.
Archetype/Prestige: Low Templar
Institution: Mendevian Crusade
Religion: Any, Unaffiliated, or None
Organization: Unorganized to loosely organized, those who are identify as Low Templars, despite being Crusaders, are loosely organized at best. They are quick to switch allegiances making their position within an organization tenuous at best.
Location: Mendev
Note: The reasons that leads someone to become a Low Templar vary, however, it typically starts with having a personal agenda that doesn’t quite match up with the goals of the Mendevian Crusade. Glory, wealth, revenge, or trauma are only some of the reasons a person might lose interest in the righteous aspects of the Mendevian Crusade and start moving towards the path of the Low Templar. While Low Templars may find company in each other, sharing their disillusionment with the Crusade, there has been little effort to consolidate into a unified group. With the closing of the Worldwound and the efforts of the Crusade diminishing, should a group of Low Templars start to organize and promote their own causes, this could be a serious problem for Mendev and Sarkoris as both remain politically fragile nations.
Archetype/Prestige: Elysiokineticist
Institution: None
Organization: None
Location: Any – Especially the Worldwound
Note: Elysiokineticists reverberate with the power of the plane of Elysium. While not an organized group, the Elysiokineticists similarly share an occult connection to Elysium. As a result, many Elysiokineticist are opposed to the evil and the influences of the plane of the Abyss. This has drawn many Elysiokineticist to combat the spreading of the Worldwound. With the closing of the Worldwound, fewer Elysiokineticists are likely to travel to Mendev to join the Crusade.
[Concerning Mendevian Crusade, See Also: Uprooter Scout, Teleport Sense, The Demonscope, Wardstone, Wayward Crusader (NPC), Child of the Crusades, Cynic, Demon Slayer, Demon Smiter, St. Clydwell’s Ward)
Archetype/Prestige: God Caller
Institution: Individual faith communities of varying sizes, or singular practitioners of Divine Summoning.
Religion: God Callers
Organization: The faith of God Calling has numerous expressions and can range from highly organized to independent practitioners.
Location: Sarkoris
Note: God Calling is a religion that is common in Sarkoris. With the closing of the World Wound the religious practice of God Calling is seeing a revival in Sarkoris as those populations that fled their nation start to return. God Callers use Divine Summoning to call upon a minor deific being that aids the Summoner. Some of the minor deific beings go on to be recognized and worshiped within a community.
Archetype/Prestige: Blood Summoner
Institution: Individual faith communities of varying sizes, or singular practitioners of Divine Summoning.
Religion: God Callers
Organization: The faith of God Calling has numerous expressions and can range from highly organized to independent practitioners.
Location: Sarkoris
Note: The Blood Summoners (or Blood Callers) are a subsect of the God Calling religion that focuses specifically on Calling an Eidolon of blood and violence. Blood Summoners have been influenced by the violence and atrocities of the World Wound and tend to be cruel and malevolent.
Archetype/Prestige: Totem Spiritualist
Institution Individual communities of varying sizes, or singular practitioners of Primal Summoning.
Religion: Totemists
Organization: Primal Summoning has numerous expressions and can range from highly organized to independent practitioners.
Location: Sarkoris, et al
Note: Totem Spiritualists use Primal Summoning to call primal aspects of the natural world. This results in phantom like Eidolons that appear as a mix of animals and various aspects of Nature. Totem Spiritualists are sometimes mistaken for God Callers because of similarities in how they practice and express their faiths.
[Concerning Sarkoris God Callers See Also: God Caller (NPC), Ancient Tradition (Sarkoris), Demonbane Summoner, Demon-Proof Mind]
Archetype/Prestige: Stargazer
Institution: Church of Pulura
Religion: Pulura
Organization: Pulura’s faith is mostly organized around Mystery Cults of varying sizes.
Location: Sarkoris, et al
Note: The worship of Pulura was common in Sarkoris prior to the opening of the Worldwound. Those practitioners of Pulura’s faith that survived the demonic invasion of Sarkoris persevered and began integrating methods for combating demons into their faith. Modern Stargazers that continue to fight for the lands of Sarkoris practice a mix of traditional Paluran stargazing and anti-demon magic.
[See Also: Barding of Pleated Light, Pulura (Mystery Cultist Boon)]
Archetype/Prestige: Arrowsong Minstrel
Institution:
Organization: Arrowsong Minstrels
Location: Hymbria, River Kingdoms
Note: The Arrowsong Minstrels have a unique tradition of blending Eldritch Archery with music and poety. By using song and verse they sing spells into their arrows with deadly effect. Those known as Arrowsong Minstrels follow the teachings of the wizard, archer, and poet Clairian Arrowsong. Arrowsong’s spellbook “Arrowsong’s Sorrow” and her masterpiece “Arrowsong’s Lament” are both important works used to inform and guide the teaching of Arrowsong Minstrels. Although the early life of Clairian Arrowsong is known, the time in her life where she pinned her masterpiece and established the Arrowsong Minstrels has yet to be chronicled.
[See Also: Arrowsong Minstrel, Arrowsong’s Spellbook, Arrowsong’s Lament, Tournament Champion (NPC Clairian Arrowsong)]
Archetype/Prestige: Daggermark Poisoner
Institution: Daggermark Poisoners’ Guild
Organization: Moderately organized, the Daggermark Poisoners’ Guild has an established leadership, however, standard Guild members have minimal requirements.
Location: Daggermark, River Kingdoms
Note: A Daggermark Poisoner is an official member of the Daggermark Poisoners’ Guild. Daggermark Poisoner’s follow a doctrine known as “The Vessel Between.” This doctrine sees both poison and poisoner as companions on a journey. By working together poison and poisoner move those in the realm of the living to the realm of the dead. Of the poisons used by Daggermark Poisoner’s none is more respected as a companion then the poison that shares the name of their doctrine. Although unconfirmed it is suspected that Ambras Imre, founder of the Daggermark Poisoners’ Guild, both established the doctrine of “The Vessel Between” and created the poison called The Vessel Between.
[See Also: Vessel Between (Poison), Ambras Imre (Spirit), Daggermark Lore, Daggermark Poisoner, Daggermark’s Exchange, The Vessel Between (Trait)]
Archetype/Prestige: Veneficus Witch
Institution: Daggermark Poisoners’ Guild, Church of Gyronna, Independent, et al
Organization: Loosely organized to unorganized, Veneficus Witches generally do not appear to organize, although those that join an established institution may be more likely to collaborate.
Location: River Kingdoms, et al
Note: Common in the River Kingdoms, Veneficus Witches are a frequently members of the Daggermark Poisoner’s Guild, worshipers of Gyronna, or both. The Patrons of Veneficus Witches tend to have a special interest in poisons, their creation, and application.
Archetype/Prestige: Pitax: Academy of Grand Arts
Institution: Academy of Grand Arts
Organization: Moderately organized art school, the hostile environment for both students and instructors limits collaboration within the school.
Location: Pitax, River Kingdoms
Note: The Academy of Grand Arts was established to pander to the ego of Castruccio Irovetti, founder of the Kingdom of Pitax. The leadership of the Academy attempts to impose a curriculum and training, but their motive tends to be keeping Irovetti pleased and not advancement of the arts. This has led to a hostile environment within the school where students and staff insult, degrade, or outright sabotage each other’s works. With the fall of Pitax it has yet to be seen if the Academy of Grand Arts will survive the loss nation and its ruler.
[See Also: Player’s Prize, Pitaxian Improvisation]
Archetype/Prestige: Hag-Riven
Institution: None
Organization: Unorganized
Location: Any – Not specific to the River Kingdoms
Note: A Hag-Riven is most likely to occur as a result of a failed or interrupted transformation of a Changeling into a Hag. However, transformation into a hag can also be imposed onto those with Hag blood such as sorcerers or by a dangerous ritual, failure in these transformations can also result in a Hag-Riven. Fortunately the ritual used to transform someone into a hag appears to not be widely known.
Note: The Ancestry Archetypes for the Changeling and Leshy below are not restricted to the River Kingdoms but are included here because of the prevalence of Hag Covens and Druid Circles within the River Kingdoms.
Archetype/Prestige: Dreamweaver
Institution: None
Organization: Unorganized
Ancestry: Changeling
Location: Any – Not specific to the River Kingdoms
Note: This Archetype is based on an Ancestry and may possibly be interpreted as Ancestry Feats in 2E.
Archetype/Prestige: Verdivant
Institution: None
Organization: Unorganized
Ancestry: Leshy
Location: Any – Not specific to the River Kingdoms
Note: This Archetype is based on an Ancestry and may possibly be interpreted as Ancestry Feats in 2E.
Archetype/Prestige: Herbalist
Institution: None
Organization: Unorganized
Ancestry: Leshy
Location: Any – Not specific to the River Kingdoms
Note: This Archetype is based on an Ancestry and may possibly be interpreted as Ancestry Feats in 2E.
Archetype/Prestige: Plant Speaker
Institution: None
Organization: Unorganized
Ancestry: Leshy
Location: Any – Not specific to the River Kingdoms
Note: This Archetype is based on an Ancestry and may possibly be interpreted as Ancestry Feats in 2E.
Archetype/Prestige: Leshykineticist
Institution: None
Organization: Unorganized
Ancestry: Leshy
Location: Any – Not specific to the River Kingdoms
Note: This Archetype is based on an Ancestry and may possibly be interpreted as Ancestry Feats in 2E.
Archetype/Prestige: Razmiran Priest (2 Versions – 1 Prestige Class, 1 Archetype)
Institution: Monotheocracy of Razmir
Religion: Church of Razmir
Organization: Highly organized by rank structure of the Church
Location: Razmiran
Note: The Razmiran Priests are often proselytizers and demonstrate the power of the Living God to his people and future converts. These Priests are often tasked to impose order within Razmiran ensuring compliance of the faithful. Also, frequently found outside of Razmiran, Priests spread the faith and carry the word of Razmir throughout the Inner Sea.
Archetype/Prestige: Mask of the Living God
Institution: Monotheocracy of Razmir
Religion: Church of Razmir
Organization: Highly organized by rank structure of the Church
Location: Razmiran
Note: In contrast to Razmiran Priests, Masks of the Living God are enforcer assassins, permanently silencing those that become troublesome for the faith. Masks of the Living God tend to be high ranking members of the clergy, with the highest ranking members directly serving Razmir himself.
[Concerning the Chruch of Razmir, See Also: Tears of Razmir, Truefaith Vestments, Holy Masks of the Living God, Mask Golem, Razmiran Priest (NPC), Acolyte of Razmir, Divine Deceiver, Soldier of Faith, Strength of Submission, Palm Potion)
Archetype/Prestige: Numerian Liberator
Organization: Numerian Liberators
Location: Numeria
Archetype/Prestige: Galvanic Saboteur
Organization: None
Location: Numeria
Note: The Galvanic Saboteur fits thematically with the Numerian Liberators as both or focused on defeating the Technic League and destroying the advanced technologies plaguing Numeria.
Note: Numerian Liberators are opposed to both the Technic League and to Technology. With the Technic League disbanded this group presumably continues to liberate Numeria from the ravages of technology. Ideologically they are at odds with the Savage Technologists, otherwise, little is known of this group.
Archetype/Prestige: Technomancer
Organization: Technic League
Location: Numeria
Note: With the Technic League disbanded, there is a chance that Technomancy may become more widely taught without the gate keeping of the Technic League.
Archetype/Prestige: Scavenger
Organization: None
Location: Any, especially Numeria
Note: Scavengers are particularly common among the Ysoki of Numeria.
Archetype/Prestige: Numerian Scavenger
Organization: None
Location: Numeria
Archetype/Prestige: Cyber-Soldier
Organization: None
Location: Numeria
Archetype/Prestige: Savage Technologist
Organization: Savage Technologists
Location: Numeria
Note: Savage Technologists are native Kellids that have embraced Technology, yet are opposed to the Technic League. Savage Technologists are in direct odds with the Numerian Liberators.
Archetype/Prestige: Techslinger
Organization: None
Location: Not identified, but fits thematically with Numeria.
Note: The Technomancer, Scavenger, Numerian Scavenger, Cyber-Soldier, Savage Technologist, And Techslinger all share a similar theme of embracing and using technology.
Archetype/Prestige: Pureblade
Organization: Pureblades
Location: Numeria – Later other parts of Golarion, especially the Mana Wastes.
Note: Although little information is provided, the Pureblades are a group that originated in Numeria with a focus on eliminating aberrations, mutants, and other unnatural creatures that arise from exposure to the technological wreckage strewn across that land. The Pureblades have since branched out to other lands like the Mana Wastes, where mutants and other abominations are frequently found.
Archetype/Prestige: Bow Nomad
Organization: None
Ancestry Kasatha
Location: Numeria
Note: This Archetype is based on an Ancestry and may possibly be interpreted as Ancestry Feats in 2E.
Archetype/Prestige: Gulch Gunner
Organization: None
Ancestry Ysoki (Ratfolk)
Location: Any – Not specific to Numeria, the Ysoki that practice the art of Gulch Gunning can be found in any Ysoki community.
Note: This Archetype is based on an Ancestry and may possibly be interpreted as Ancestry Feats in 2E.
Archetype/Prestige: Plague Bringer
Organization: None
Ancestry Ysoki (Ratfolk)
Location: Any – Not specific to Numeria, the Ysoki that practice the tradition of Plague Bringing can be found in any Ysoki community.
Note: This Archetype is based on an Ancestry and may possibly be interpreted as Ancestry Feats in 2E.
Note: The Ancestry Archetypes for the Ysoki and Kasatha above are not restricted to Numeria but are included here because Kasatha are rarely found outside of Numeria, and Ysoki are prevalent within Numeria.
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I love to go back and take a deeper look at all the 1E Prestige Classes and Archetypes seeing what lore there is to be found. I figured it wouldn't hurt to share what I have so far. There is a few areas I haven't finished but I have taken a break from the Broken Lands temporarily.
** spoiler omitted **...
I always appreciate these writeups you do! One interesting note with Daggermark is that they’re known to employ Vishkanya, an Ancestry we’ll be seeing in the upcoming Impossible Lands book.
Speaking of the River Kingdoms, Outsea might make a nice excuse for some more aquatic Ancestries to become playable; I think it’s one of the only places in the setting with friendly Sahuagin.
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While not precisely about the hypothetical LO book: if we saw the inevitable Brevoy civil war in an AP, would you want it as a 1-10, an 11-20, or a full 1-10?