#pathfinder talk

[talesfromaurea]

[Image ID: The front and back of an aged-looking book cover. The front features two dragons, one white and one black, forming a vertical infinity symbol and the title "Tales from Aurea". The back has the following summary: "It's the end of an era and the land of Calthia is descending into ruin... Amidst a backdrop of crumbling empires and dwindling magic, four unlikely companions come together with a shared goal: helping a mysterious young girl named Kaja stay hidden and find her way home. But when it comes to light that Kaja's elusive people are the only ones with the power to destroy the demonic forces dragging Calthia into darkness, suddenly all eyes-friend and foe-are turned their way." /.End ID]

We're back!!

After a long hiatus, I'm coming back with a new and improved draft of Tales from Aurea that you'll be able to read for free. Come join the Pathfinder party 🥳

Genres: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Supernatural

Themes: Coming of age; justice and revenge; duality and balance; facing fears; free will versus determinism; dealing with trauma, loss, and grief

Sources of inspiration: Slavic mythology, Pathfinder/DnD, The Elder Scrolls, the Zelda series

Features: Largely LGBTQ+ cast, focus on platonic relationships, found family, a fantasy setting based on ancient Rome and surrounding kingdoms

Content warnings: violence and blood (no gore), character death, discussion of topics including imperialism, genocide, and slavery

Where can I read?

Chapters will be serialized on Royal Road (link), with an excerpt and announcement shared here on tumblr! Haven't worked out what kind of schedule yet but you can follow on Royal Road and/or request to be on the tumblr tag list to keep up with news 😊

Where can I learn more about the characters, story, etc?

I think this "what to expect" tag provides a good overview. You can also check out my "pathfinder talk" tag here for everything I've posted including drawings, excerpts, and general rambles.

I read the last draft, should I read this from the beginning?

Yes! As well as writing improvements, this draft contains more character development and new details. I'm also planning on carrying this into future arcs that were never posted to tumblr before.

Ask to be added to the tag list and thank you for reading!

One time tag for a few folks who've shown interest in the past: @aroyalpaininthecass, @drippingmoon, @harps-for-days, @splashinkling, @ashen-crest, @star-soupp

[puppyeared]

@chipper-smol and @crow-cap watched me interact with every single object in Vaugarde for 2 hours straight

(honorable mention @payasita who couldnt make it this time but hopefully next time ^_^)

[tales-from-the-aether-ttrpg]

Something thats always bugged me about dnd and pathfinder’s gods is that… they are basically monotheism in polytheism wrapping AND there is no actual religion present. The lore is so obsessed with these beings as people with their extensive histories and active presence in the setting that they completely forgot to actually create religions surrounding them.

What does casual worship look like for any of these gods? Could you tell me? What does prayer actually look like? Is there specific times of the day in which you must pray for certain gods? Is there certain attire you must wear to show your faith? Are there certain foods you cannot eat? Are there certain foods that are elevated above the rest for your faith? What kind of offerings are expected everyday? Do they expect offerings everyday or on a certain day of the week? Do they expect physical offerings at all? Do they ask for sacrifices of material goods, animals, people? Why? Why do you worship this deity? How does that actually affect ur daily life? How is worship different for a cleric, paladin, priest, or casual believer? What kinds of swears, curses, exclamations, etc are associated with this religion? Are there certain activities that are banned within your religion? How strictly does the religion police its worshiper’s actions? What kind of philosophies do they preach or disavow?

These and many more are the elements that form real world religions and are absent in most fantasy “religions” including popular ttrpgs. I cant even call these faiths religions because they really arent. One god in these settings should have 20 different religions built around them that all disagree on how the god’s domain, history, and personality should be interpreted. Maybe 2 or 4 of them would be main stream but there should be more than just one monolithic faith surrounding a god. And stop calling it polytheism. Please for the love of everything. Polytheism is a type of religion that worships multiple gods at once. Faith in dnd and pathfinder is largely monotheistic because the players choose one god they like and ignore all the rest.

I am not trying to put the responsibility of creating all these religions on gms - im pointing out that the creators of these ttrpgs did all of us a huge disservice. Religion is such an expansive and fascinating and diverse concept in the real world that it infuriates me to see it reduced to choosing a god you like and thats it. And im agnostic irl!

I was talking to my cowriter about this for the lore in my ttrpg and it got me really rilled up XD Religion can be beautiful or terrible or a mixture of both. It can save people from the world’s darkness or bring out their own inner darkness. It deserves more than a cliff-notes table of deities to choose from and half baked lore about the gods without examining the actual faith they inspire in others :/

[zarvasace]

These are NOT good doodles but they were fun! The 1931 au design is new, as is the modern Shatterproof one, and it’s been for-freaking-ever since I drew the Half Fours. I love them.

[me-beef]

art dump of all the self-indulgent oc art I’ve been working on for the last month or so B)

all of these guys belong to a series I want to make a based off a pathfinder game my wife is running

now i know what you’re about to ask- don’t worry- there’s yuri

here’s my artfight attack i made for my wife @im-ashl of Fell and her character, Avis :)

[thatdammchickennugget]

being the one who crafts all the memes for the d&d group is hard work but someone's gotta do it

[iahfuyu]

Little red dress

[edains]

Ashley Williams's Andromeda Armory Remnant Reborn

[keplercryptids]

Paizo (the company behind Pathfinder) is collaborating with a bunch of TTRPG publishers to create a new open gaming license!

their site keeps crashing from all the traffic lol so here's the text of their statement:

For the last several weeks, as rumors of Wizards of the Coast’s new version of the Open Game License began circulating among publishers and on social media, gamers across the world have been asking what Paizo plans to do in light of concerns regarding Wizards of the Coast’s rumored plan to de-authorize the existing OGL 1.0(a). We have been awaiting further information, hoping that Wizards would realize that, for more than 20 years, the OGL has been a mutually beneficial license which should not–and cannot–be revoked. While we continue to await an answer from Wizards, we strongly feel that Paizo can no longer delay making our own feelings about the importance of Open Gaming a part of the public discussion.

We believe that any interpretation that the OGL 1.0 or 1.0(a) were intended to be revocable or able to be deauthorized is incorrect, and with good reason.

We were there.

Paizo owner Lisa Stevens and Paizo president Jim Butler were leaders on the Dungeons & Dragons team at Wizards at the time. Brian Lewis, co-founder of Azora Law, the intellectual property law firm that Paizo uses, was the attorney at Wizards who came up with the legal framework for the OGL itself. Paizo has also worked very closely on OGL-related issues with Ryan Dancey, the visionary who conceived the OGL in the first place.

Paizo does not believe that the OGL 1.0a can be “deauthorized,” ever. While we are prepared to argue that point in a court of law if need be, we don’t want to have to do that, and we know that many of our fellow publishers are not in a position to do so.

We have no interest whatsoever in Wizards’ new OGL. Instead, we have a plan that we believe will irrevocably and unquestionably keep alive the spirit of the Open Game License.

As Paizo has evolved, the parts of the OGL that we ourselves value have changed. When we needed to quickly bring out Pathfinder First Edition to continue publishing our popular monthly adventures back in 2008, using Wizards’ language was important and expeditious. But in our non-RPG products, including our Pathfinder Tales novels, the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, and others, we shifted our focus away from D&D tropes to lean harder into ideas from our own writers. By the time we went to work on Pathfinder Second Edition, Wizards of the Coast’s Open Game Content was significantly less important to us, and so our designers and developers wrote the new edition without using Wizards’ copyrighted expressions of any game mechanics. While we still published it under the OGL, the reason was no longer to allow Paizo to use Wizards’ expressions, but to allow other companies to use our expressions.

We believe, as we always have, that open gaming makes games better, improves profitability for all involved, and enriches the community of gamers who participate in this amazing hobby. And so we invite gamers from around the world to join us as we begin the next great chapter of open gaming with the release of a new open, perpetual, and irrevocable Open RPG Creative License (ORC).

The new Open RPG Creative License will be built system agnostic for independent game publishers under the legal guidance of Azora Law, an intellectual property law firm that represents Paizo and several other game publishers. Paizo will pay for this legal work. We invite game publishers worldwide to join us in support of this system-agnostic license that allows all games to provide their own unique open rules reference documents that open up their individual game systems to the world. To join the effort and provide feedback on the drafts of this license, please sign up by using this form.

In addition to Paizo, Kobold Press, Chaosium, Green Ronin, Legendary Games, Rogue Genius Games, and a growing list of publishers have already agreed to participate in the Open RPG Creative License, and in the coming days we hope and expect to add substantially to this group.

The ORC will not be owned by Paizo, nor will it be owned by any company who makes money publishing RPGs. Azora Law’s ownership of the process and stewardship should provide a safe harbor against any company being bought, sold, or changing management in the future and attempting to rescind rights or nullify sections of the license. Ultimately, we plan to find a nonprofit with a history of open source values to own this license (such as the Linux Foundation).

Of course, Paizo plans to continue publishing Pathfinder and Starfinder, even as we move away from the Open Gaming License. Since months’ worth of products are still at the printer, you’ll see the familiar OGL 1.0(a) in the back of our products for a while yet. While the Open RPG Creative License is being finalized, we’ll be printing Pathfinder and Starfinder products without any license, and we’ll add the finished license to those products when the new license is complete.

We hope that you will continue to support Paizo and other game publishers in this difficult time for the entire hobby. You can do your part by supporting the many companies that have provided content under the OGL. Support Pathfinder and Starfinder by visiting your local game store, subscribing to Pathfinder and Starfinder, or taking advantage of discount code OpenGaming during checkout for 25% off your purchase of the Core Rulebook, Core Rulebook Pocket Edition, or Pathfinder Beginner Box. Support Kobold Press, Green Ronin, Legendary Games, Roll for Combat, Rogue Genius Games, and other publishers working to preserve a prosperous future for Open Gaming that is both perpetual AND irrevocable.

We’ll be there at your side. You can count on us not to go back on our word.

Forever.

anyway as a personal note, i am in the process of switching to Pathfinder 2e as my main ttrpg system and am really liking it so far! and paizo as a company doesn't make my blood pressure go up the way wotc does.

please support non-d&d game publishers, right now and forever!

[sootchild]

A bit of vent art. That I can't post on my other socials cause I am followed by some (ex) party members and I don't want to make them feel bad. This is my blog so I can run my mouth as I want.

RIP El and Beth. I ended up quitting the Pathfinder: War for the Crown game due to some player drama, in that I can't stand Varris' player continuously ruining the vibes of sessions. Frankly I stopped drawing session moments because of his antics. Which is a real shame when there was some just golden moments.

I had been incredibly involved in the campaign: multiple RP threads, drawings, complex and intriguing personal story lines. I left off with El and Beth looking on how to break the Summoner/Eidolon bond. Trying to resurrect El's ghost daughter, we had just found a Shinigami to help detangle her soul from her living little sister's, Phephie (Spiritualist class thing). El figuring out she is polyamorous and in love with a party member, while being engaged to just the sweetest barbarian man. Helping her best friend figure out how to take down her Hag mother. Meanwhile looming in the background is the threat of her very controlling parents, looking to force her into strategic marriages.

There was a lot going on, WHILE, helping to put the Princess on the throne!! So I am going to miss it and miss the rest of the group.

I saw this trend with him all the way back towards the end of Call of Cthulhu: Masks of Nyarlathotep like 2.5 years ago, then it got worse during Pulp Cthulhu and then snowballed with the first book of War for the Crown. I was planning on being quiet and make it through the campaign before talking with the group about not wanting to game with him.

But two sessions ago he pulled some real Leroy Jenkins bullshit cause he was bored, because he rarely pays attention, gets confused, and then does something disruptive in character. Cause it is just so quirky! So I told the DM that I was finally getting fed up, and he said he'd talk to him within the two weeks before the next session. Well he didn't so this last session was my LAST session. Cause he did the exact same things that drive me fuck'n nuts.

The party doesn't want to give him the boot without giving him a chance to change his behaviours, which fair. I don't begrudge them that but I also don't have to endure him. So here I am typing this up as a way to mourn one of my most favourite gaming groups.

So now I guess I'll hyper fixate on a different or new OC. Sky's the limit!

I mean I still have my Monday game and in September the Delta Green stream game I am in will start back up. So like this is some tiny violin stuff.

[talesfromaurea]

Arc 2 of Tales from Aurea, Iron and Ice, is starting now! 🎉

Hi everyone, we're coming back from our break with the first chapter of Iron and Ice - Session 9, Winds from the Steppe - which can be read right now on Royal Road (link here) 🥳 Enjoy!

Chapter Summary: A few weeks after their encounter with the Irkallu and dragon Bhorovane the Red, the companions are approached by Ordo Draconis agent Dimitri Vasiliyev, who comes with an unusual job offer.

Taglist (ask to be +/-): @drippingmoon, @kainablue, @splashinkling, @space-writes, @aroyalpaininthecass, @thelaughingstag

Curious what this story is about? Check out the pinned post here

Chapter preview under the cut

Dimitri Vasiliyev walked the length of the underground corridor accompanied only by the hollow clicking of his boot heels on limestone. Though the occasional administrator hurried by with a stack of parchment or bag of scrolls, the Ordo Draconis headquarters was otherwise an unusually quiet, barren place. The resurgence of the Irkallu meant every agent was working overtime in the field and fewer and fewer were making it back home. Dimitri’s jaw tightened. Astinos, Ferial, Bandrigan, Lucretia; they and dozens of others had already been lost. Dimitri himself suspected he might be joining their ranks soon.

He was scheduled to leave for Datharia the next day, though he couldn’t for the life of him understand why. The Emperor was convinced that Gorzog Ironfang was the problem of the Snowskull Steppes, and not the Empire. Instead of allying with the ferix, who knew the Steppes and Ironfang well, the Emperor had chosen to leave Datharia naked and exposed. Dimitri could only imagine that his post would involve watching Ironfang’s armies approach Datharia from across the brown, bleak grasslands. 

And who among their neighbors could they rely upon? The city states of the former province, Ascalaria, were tied up in petty squabbles in the lead up to the winter moot where they’d allegedly elect a new High King; and the raiders of Bathissica were more likely to loot Aurelia’s corpse than ride to defend her. 

The southeastern natiuhan state of Culacalli may come to the Empire’s aid but, unless they sprouted wings and flew, there was no way they’d make it before Ironfang hacked his way through the Aurelian peninsula and to the island of Aurea itself. The way Dimitri saw it, an alliance with the ferix was their only chance to stop Ironfang in the Steppes. Once he reached Aurelia, Ironfang could barricade himself in an old Castrum, or even in Barsicum, and no one would be able to uproot him—not with the Irkallu bleeding the Empire from within by a thousand tiny cuts.

Dimitri took in a weighty breath. As it stood, if he was lucky he’d be killed defending the ramparts of Castrum Solis. Something nice and quick—an orc crossbow bolt, or maybe just dropping dead before anything particularly bad happened. He snickered at how darkly comforting the idea was.

[avalost]

Set course by the sound Through veil and divide For all who are lost Can always be found

[mformultiverse]

[c-rowlesdraws]

I saw one of your posts talking about how badly DnD handles gnolls (rightfully so). But i'd like to know your thoughts on the pathfinder 2nd edition gnoll lore? I love what they did there a lot.

I’ve answered a ton of questions about my opinions on various versions of gnoll lore since I drew that first Sweet Pea picture almost 2 years ago, yet I keep getting similar sorts of asks, and it’s nobody’s fault—tumblr blog search is so terrible that it’s really hard to find those old posts now.

I also want to emphasize again (because every time I answer one ttrpg-related ask I inevitably receive more) that I’m not any kind of ttrpg scholar and don’t tend to have strong opinions on lots of specific lore or mechanics, just because I still don’t know that much. I’ve also never actually played pathfinder (although I’ve been listening to the Outcast and Outclassed actual play podcast for a while), and all the dnd I’ve played has either been a 5e-based sci-fi game (Spaceships and Starwyrms) or a few one-shots in the vanilla 5e fantasy setting.

But I have read a bunch about the pathfinder 2e gnoll lore and I think it’s a wonderful reimagining of the race. I like how the writers took them from an always-evil bunch of monsters and built them up into a misunderstood people with a complex culture and spirituality. I love the 2e gnolls so much I’ve drawn fanart of one of them! If you find my Anchor Root (a gnoll character from an official 2e adventure) fanart by searching her name on my blog, you’ll probably be able to read even more of my thoughts on the lore in those posts, too.

[opashoo]

"Hey Ghenna, it's Panne! Is Jin there? Summon him, I wanna facetime!"

Imagining my fantasy characters in a modern setting. Ghenna's a summoner so that's gotta be interesting.

[acerunaway]

new OC for my friend's pathfinder 2e campaign. he has amnesia (classic) and has been stabbed in the gut at least once per session