Fridays & Functions: Interview with Frank Carr (Part 5)

Welcome to Fridays & Functions; a series of a posts that will always deal with what goes on behind the scenes, including design diaries, interviews, technical commentary, etc. First up is a 6 part interview with Frank Carr Author of Heroes of the Jade Oath you can find

Part 1 Here , Part 2 Here Part 3 Here Part 4 Here; Be on the look out for the Preorder Print and PDF bundle to be available soon at Paizo.com

41. How did you feel when you saw the layout for the first preview? What were you impressions of Corey Graham’s work?

I thought Corey did a great job with the layout, especially the fonts and that beautiful border; which by the way actually says, “Lands of the Jade Oath” in Chinese and is not just a literal translation, but it is a contxtually correct usage of the words for the title.

42. Quickling Pirate Ninjas?

Huh? Where?! They've been after me ever since that time when I almost didn't consider them for the indigenous race of Javasriya.

43. How do you feel about lands of the jade oath as a patronage project rather than a traditional model? Would you have preferred something else like the Ransom Model?

I think that the patronage project model may have been the only real way to do this project justice and get it done right for those who have been wanting to see this setting for so long. I don't think any other method would have allowed this setting to get done right.

44. What are your recommendations for making Lands of the Jade Oath relevant in a n existing campaign (AE game, 3.5 game and/or hybrid)?

If you don't already have an existing area for the orient to your campaign, then Jade Oath might be a good setting to consider if your players should decide to explore that region. Also, some of your players might want to come from this region even if you don't actively play in the setting; they can use the information from Jade Oath as part of their character background – maybe even having enemies from their past hunting them down. As far as game mechanics, you should consider using Arcana Evolved as that is the default Player's Handbook for the Jade Oath setting. It is designed to be used with the AD&D 3rd edition Player's Handbook as well. Hybrid campaigns might work the best, but using the setting with just AE is also just fine.

45. How did magic and the supernatural affect the cultural and ecological evolution of Lands of the Jade Oath?

Culturally, the wu lin societies that are already in place in a lot of Asian fiction was ideally the way to go. It was already there and established for powerful warriors and workers of magical deeds. I just extended it to be a useful type of institution throughout the setting. Ecologically, there are many magical locales such as the Ghostwall, City of Dragon's Sacrifice, Broken Pillar, mist-trees, the Islands of Mu, the Hidden City, the Valley of Jars, floating mountains, City with No Name, and other various mystical sites that can be explored and many even have a very real basis in the real-life equivalent nations in Asia, such as the Great Wall of China (Ghostwall) and the Valley of Jars (the Plain of Jars in Laos).

46. Could you talk about your favorite new race from Lands of the Jade Oath?

I don't know what to say; I like them all. It's like asking me to pick a favorite child. Well, looking at most of them, they are derivative of other fantasy races that we have seen at one time or another. Sanesaram are dwarves, yueren are elves, qahngol are half-orcs, and hushen are a subrace of litorians. So, I guess out of those that I think are not quite so derivative, that leaves the shenxue, mandragoran, and bakemono.

I like the shenxue a lot due to their inherent connection to nature and the spirit world. They are also very interesting from a design perspective as well and was perhaps the hardest and most time-intensive race to create for me. No two shenxue are alike and I think that is a great part of what appeals to me about them. I like that they can be connected to both another standard PC race and yet also be connected intrinsically with a natural part of the world or one of its elements.

Bakemono are like the mischievous little bastards you hate to like in certain movies. They are part goblin, part kappa, part Loki, part Yoda, part Oghra from the Dark Crystal, and part Gremlins with a good chunk of mythological bakemono attitude and stereotypical harridan thrown in for the women of the race. They are the evil muppets of the Jade Oath setting and I can't help but love them for their inherently mischievous nature. It's just too delicious a way to have fun to pass up when creating a character.

The Mandragorans are perhaps the oldest race on a purely creative level with me personally. I first created what would become the mandragorans back in 1994 as a mercantile race for my 2nd edition AD&D game. They were a fusion of a comic book I had seen of a character with a head-tail from Micronauts back in the 80's, Twi'leks from Star Wars (the Micronaut and Star Wars inspirations were for the initial ideas to incorporate head-tails on the race), Obsidimen from Earthdawn (for the idea of colorful “veins” running across their bodies), Pitt and Nautica characters from what was back then Image Comics (for the lack of a nose), and the attitude of a race from Talislanta called the Ispasians (who also had no nose). Eventually, they evolved to incorporate inspiration from Farscape ( Zaan, the blue plant lady, and Dargo, the guy with the bird-beak nose and the head-tails.), some more original ideas I had wherein I thought about giving them several aspects from Indian culture fused with ideas I had on Druid-like plant people. Then I gave a lot of thought to their physiology, which evolved to what it is now after talking with an artist how plant-like head-vines should look with a more irregular and asymmetrical design.

47. What is your favorite new class from Lands of the Jade Oath?

Man, that is a hard thing to say. I like them all. The kensai is pretty much the way I think a warrior dedicated to lifelong mastery of a single weapon should be. The kusa is my ideal and most flexible vision of the ninja. The demon hunter is built with subclasses to take advantage of the different ways one can specialize in fighting demons and other infernals, while being a tough combatant with a little magic at his disposal. The enlightened scholar is very flexible with a lot of different ways to interpret him.

Right now, if I had to pick one I guess it would be the enlightened scholar. I just love that, even more so than any other new class in the book, he covers an archetype that doesn't ever really get covered well in the rest of D&D or AE – the martial physican, the mad scientist, the adademic field scholar who doesn't know magic, the alchemist who doesn't work with spells, the peasant mage, the fang shih, the crazy inventor (and let's face it – ancient China had a lot of these between alchemists seeking immortality who consumed mercury, crushed dinosaur bones, and cinnabar and then there were guys like the one that strapped fireworks to a chair in order to achieve flight – that didn't end well), etc. This archetype is perfect for characters like that of Uncle from Jackie Chan Adventures, Fong Sai Yuk, Kang the Mad from Jade Empire, Johnny Depps version of Ichabod Krane from Sleepy Hollow, Q from James Bond, the Professor from Gilligans Island, and Fester from the Addams Family, etc.

48. How did your relationship with Rite Publishing start? How would you characterize it now?

It started at GenCon last year when I played in a sort of playtest game for A Witches Choice with Steve Russell and Bill Collins amongst others. We had some time prior to the game starting while Steve set up the game and we waited for other players to show up. Steve had questions about the progress of Jade Oath, so we talked about it. As we talked, Steve pitched the idea of me trying to get it published under the Patronage business model that Steve had recently come from a seminar on. Eventually the conversation led us down the path of Steve doing the publishing for us and I told Steve very early on that I wanted Bill Collins as my editor, which he agreed with me about for many reasons and now we are all making this great product with lots of other nice and talented folks. I think we all get along pretty good. If anyone ever rocks the boat it is usually my fault because I can be unreasonably demanding, tyrannical, and puritanical about my vision for the product. The guys at Rite Publishing are super understanding though and put up with my tirades quite well. ;)

49. What makes a good Oriental Rpg product?

I think a good oriental RPG product needs to not just be grounded in historical facts, but it should also emphasize the fantasy of a mythological Asia as well as incorporate some new and original ideas that are derived from the philosophies and mythologies of Asia. After all, the best western fantasy games have taken that path with regards to Western cultures and it seems to have worked out really well for them.

It should also be well rounded. By that, I mean that it should consider a lot of, if not all, of the major cultures of Asia. They are all so rich in culture and mythology that I think it is a shame to ignore any of them. A good oriental setting shouldn't have its most influential culture or kingdom exist in a vacuum. It should be surrounded by other kingdoms and cultures that it influences and is influenced by and these cultures should be reasonably well described for the setting as well as being considered when creating races, classes, equipment, etc.

50. What is your favorite Oriental Rpg product (besides yours)?

Well, it is hard for me to pick any single one, but I suppose I could say that I really like Cathay: Jewel of the East by AEG, Mystic China by Palladium Books, the Kara Tur box set by TSR, and Dragonfist by Chris Pramas and TSR.

Mondays & Magic: Weapon of Swashbuckling (by Steven D.. Russell)

Weapon of Swashbuckling

Price (item level): +1 (11th)

Body slot: -(held)
Caster level: 3rd
Aura: Moderate Necromancy (DC 17)
Activation: Use-activated
Weight:-

“Though this weapon appears more elegant and balanced than seems possible, it exudes a sense of “capability” that you cannot explain”

Lore:

Bardic Knowledge or Knowledge (arcana)
DC 17: Popular amongst the more tactically minded warriors of the Questor’s Society. A number of them have been lost by members of the society who did not return from challenges laid before their membership.

DC 22: Dame Desdemona Rathdon “the mage knight” first developed this item in Last Tower of Endhold, for her son a wild, reckless, but brilliant swashbuckling member of the Questor’s Society.

DC 32: Each member of the Shorehawks of the Shadowfey Sea, possesses a weapon bearing this enchantment a gift from the Circle of Heroes for protecting the harbor of the Evocative City.

Abilities:
You add your Dexterity modifier to your combat maneuver bonus.

Prerequisites: Craft Magic Arms and Armor, (cat’s grace)

Fridays & Functions: Interview with Frank Carr (Part 4)

Welcome to Fridays & Functions; a series of a posts that will always deal with what goes on behind the scenes, including design diaries, interviews, technical commentary, etc. First up is a 5 part interview with Frank Carr Author of Heroes of the Jade Oath you can find

Part 1 Here , Part 2 Here Part 3 Here Be on the look out for the Preorder Print and PDF bundle to be available soon at Paizo.com

Illustrations by Kurt Taylor and Claudia Burgos

31. What is your feeling about the Rituals of Choice Adventure Path? (Publisher’s shameless plug)
From what I experienced at GenCon, I think I would really like to get in on the ground floor of this adventure path. I think it is the first real adventure path from 1 thru 25 for Arcana Evolved (AE) and it was pretty fun with some interesting ideas on the day I played it.

32. What is (was) your home AE game like?

Well, we haven't played AE in a while, what with scheduling conflicts and a Ptolus game that we can barely get together to play. When we were playing it most recently, it was more like a series of short playtest sessions wherein I let the players have two characters apiece and we made two different teams that were trying to pass a special adventurer's exam to become magistrates. It involved gladiatorial combat (killing was discouraged) and a survival/race/mystery event to solve. I tried using some third party material that didn't work out well from the DM-making-it-fun perspective, but that is why we were playing this stuff. The players had plenty of fun with their characters though.

33. What is the AE product you want to buy?

I want an AE product like Ptolus, but since Ptolus has rules to adapt it to AE, I guess I already have it. I think I would like the next best thing that would be original and just for AE. It would be a setting/city/location book and an adventure (or maybe even an adventure path/campaign guide if you want to get real ambitious with it) combined with a race/class book with new and unique monsters, magic items, NPCs, prestige classes, feats, optional rules for the location. Oh, and to make it really unique, make all focused on a single race and their influence and maybe even a far reaching special organization of that race that is focused on something that could profoundly alter the setting through the course of the adventure. Monsters would be racial enemies and allies and magic items would be all about the race and classes focused on by the book. For example something like “Rising of the Plains Lords: Litorian Totem Warriors”, “The Creeping Forest Plague: Faen Greenbonds”, or “Dark Pact of the Verrik Godking: Verrik Witches”. The focus of these books would be on not only the named races and classes, but also on an event/adventure(s)/campaign arc and a location (broad and far reaching or just in a specific locale, though preferably the former) with monsters from the plains or the creeping forest or creatures that have been mutated by a verrik curse that has jumped species. The adventures would be things like, “Why are the litorians uprising?”, “What happened in that dark forest to cause it to start creeping about and maliciously killing any it encounters and why are the faen protecting it?”, or “Where did this curse come from and why is it affecting more than just the verrik now?”. For the litorians, the location wouldn't just be about the plains, but about their tribal and nomadic culture. I want these books and many others that I can think of in a similar vein.

34. Can you name for us a totem type, champion type and a witch type that would be cool but you have never seen from the fans?

Let's see... I would like to see a Star witch inspired by ancient star readers of the Heian dyanasty of Japan (and may very well make it soon myself). As for the totem warrior, I have written many of those I want that I haven't seen elsewhere yet. But, all that aside, I guess we haven't seen the boar yet or the crocodile for that matter; after all, the reptiles need more love, too. We wouldn't want to see crocodile tears for lack of including them, now would we? My group created the concept of the Cheetoes Champion. That would be fun to write up. But, you want me to be serious, I suppose, so if I had to choose one I haven't written or seen I would like to see a Champion of the Fey, I think. Something like that could be great for PCs or villains that protect the natural creatures, mystical items, and magic places of the faerie realms

35. What kind of player experience did you hope to create with your game? Did your goals change during the design process? Do you feel that you met them?

I wanted to create an experience where the player would find a really exotic world with adventures from the far east that both met some of his expectations (grounding him in something somewhat familiar yet not of his own culture), but at the same time blowing away many of his other expectations and preconceived notions and stereotypes with something more based in the cultures and stories of the far east that was also imaginative, original, and evocative. I also did not want to lose the original feel of Arcana Evolved. You might say that I just wanted to add a little ginger to it. I don't think that premise ever really changed, though a lot of my preconceived notions changed during the process of researching and writing the book. I'm not sure if I met those expectations, but I sure hope I did.

36. What does AE need more of?

I think AE needs more written about the concepts that were unique to it vs. other 3rd edition products and concepts such as truenames, oaths, ceremonies, magic totems, spirits, what exactly is the Green and the Dark, the akashic memory, what does it really mean to become a mojh, what exactly was the curse laid upon the Verrik and the circumstances surrounding it, where did the giants really come from, and what is a day in the life of a faen like.

37. What advice would you give to fans of AE?

Go and look for products that support AE and purchase them and then turn right around and critique them to make them better and encourage the publishers of those products to create more and better AE products. If you want a product about AE in space, let it be known and see if you can drum up support. Being vocal and supportive of what you want is the way to be heard and maybe even getting someone to write something you think you would like to see. Jade Oath wouldn't have happened if it weren't for folks who did just that and then kept on hitting me over the head with their opinions about my ideas and how they wanted to see me write them down in a serious product some day.

38. What do you think the future is for AE?

I think that AE has a dedicated and supportive community that will stick around for many more years. Those who weren't happy with 3rd edition, but also don't feel that all the changes made in 4th edition were too drastic will probably give AE a try if they haven't already. As long as there are publishers who will support AE I think there will be an audience for AE and it might even grow as word keeps getting out about what a great product Monte Cook has created and what Rite Publishing is doing.

39. Is there anything else the world should know about you?

Not really. There is a lot to know, but I am not comfortable being in the public spotlight. I guess I could tell you guys that I grew up spending my summers on a carnival for the first 11 years of my life and that I have been in the military my entire adult life. I am married to a woman from Asia and have two great boys. I like shows like Battlestar Galactica, Firefly, Farscape, Supernatural, 11th Hour, Babylon 5, Chuck, Heroes, Life, and Band of Brothers, though I have little time to watch any of them. I also like books, comics, and video games, but I seldom get to enjoy them (almost never in the case of video games). Online gaming absolutely annoys me so much that I will probably never ever do it. I prefer living in the country and have a phobia of crowds. And even though it terrifies me every time I do it, I enjoy jumping out of airplanes while in flight.

40. Is there anything else the world should know about AE?

Well, I think that word has already gotten out about what a great system it is. So, I don't really know what else to say about it. I guess people should know that it helps to facilitate fantasy settings where magic is more common and can affect the every day life of characters and NPCs from all walks of life. Rituals and ceremonies are more easily created and duplicated in this system than in any other D20 system I have ever seen, both for players and NPCs. It emphasizes fantasy archetypes and tropes seldom emphasized by other D20 systems, if at all. What other D20 system lets you play a giant, a spryte, an akashic, a runethane, or a witch right away at first level and then further emphasize your racial archetype with racial or evolved levels as you progress?

Wednesdays & Woes: Raise Dead by Mark Gedak

Welcome to Wednesdays & Woes our web series about Rpg Horror Elements this week Mark Gedak brings you something PCs take from granted that coming back from the dead has no consequence. Mark can help teach your players how wrong they are.

Illustration by Arthur Wang

One of the problems with running a horror-based campaign in the Pathfinder system or any standard OGL fantasy game is that too much of the magic and physics of the world is known. A wand of ice storm deals on average a set amount of damage, a fifth level wizard’s acid arrow will burn targets for two rounds. Horror occurs when the unexpected happens. For horror-based campaign to work there needs to be some uncertainty, some chance for things to go horribly wrong. Below you will find five alternate resolutions to the process of raising the dead.

Sometimes They Come Back...Wrong!

It is hard to deal with the death of a loved one, but it is harder still to have them returned to you transformed in unknowable ways. Being resurrected, raised from the dead or reincarnated is a common practice for heroes in many fantasy roleplaying games. What is overlooked in these games is that when you slip beyond the veil that separates life from death, death can affect you in unpredictable ways. Contact with oblivion can leave even the hardiest hero changed. Below are a few examples of what can happen to a person who has been brought back from the dead.

Aberrant to Green

Sometimes when a person is raised from the dead within a large city, their connection to the living world becomes strained. This antipathy to the natural world manifests in a number of ways. Any person found to be aberrant to green adds the following special abilities and qualities:

Animal Antipathy (Ex): You carry with you the taint of death. This aura unnerves animals who encounter you. Any animal that you come into contact with you has its attitude shifted one state toward the negative. An animal will never possess a helpful attitude toward you.

Severed Bond (Su): If you are a druid or ranger who possesses an animal companion, that bound is lost. The druid instead gains one of the following cleric domains: Air, Death, Earth, Fire, Water or Weather. The ranger instead gains the companion bound.

Druids of 9^th level or higher are aware of this condition and often warn their younger members of this risk. If a druid hopes to be raised from the dead, he will often counsel his travelling companions to only conduct the ceremony within the natural environment.

Filled with Rage

If a person dies a particularly violent death, the brutality of the attack that killed them may become imprinted on their soul. This causes the raised person to develop almost a secondary personality that causes them to lash out at others. Any person who is raised from the dead and filled with raised gains the following special abilities.

Berserk (Ex) When the character enters combat, there is a cumulative 1% chance each round that its rage breaks free and they go berserk. The uncontrolled character goes on a rampage, attacking the nearest living thing or smashing some object smaller than itself if no creature is within reach., then moving on to spread more destruction. A close friend can try to calm the character down, which requires a DC 19 Charisma check It takes one minute of inactivity for the percentage to reset to 0%.

Ferocity (Ex) The character can remain conscious and continue fighting even if its hit point total is below 0. The character is staggered and loses 1 hit point each round. A character with ferocity dies when its hit point total reaches a negative amount equal to its Constitution score.

From Beyond

When a raise dead spell is cast, the soul of the departed must be willing to return to the material plane and be reunited with its body. However, in the emptiness of the afterlife, strange beings swim about the ether hoping to consume a lost soul or steal their path back to the material world. If one of these strange creatures can subvert the spell energy to their own use, these alien creatures can be drawn back into the body instead of the original soul. Any person who becomes a shell for another gains the following special abilities.

Alien Mind (Ex) The character gains a +4 bonus to mind-affecting spells, spell-like abilities and powerful. Additionally, the character’s mind is hostile to divination magic and any divinations spells cast on the character also deal 1d6 points of damage to the caster.

Transformative Event (Ex) The character has been changed in unpredictable ways. You may immediately reassign feats, skills, class abilities or even class levels previously selected. Once changed this becomes your new form.

If a character becomes a shell for another, he truly has become a new person, with new goals and ambitions. This can allow them to rework their character into a completely different party role.

Touched by Evil

If the soul of the departed travels the ether too close to the negative material plane, the evil energy of that realm seeps into the newly departed and transforms them into their own evil twin. A person that has been touched by evil is changed in the following ways.

Alignment: The moral aspect of the character’s alignment shifts from good or neutral to evil.

Aura: Your character exhibits an aura of evil similar to that possessed by an evil cleric.

Smite Good (Ex): Once per day, the character can call out to the powers of darkness to aid him in his struggle against good. As a swift action, the character chooses one target within sight to smite. If this target is good, the character adds his Charisma bonus (if any) to his attack rolls and adds his character level to all damage rolls made against the target of his smite. If the target of smite good is an outsider with the good subtype, a good-aligned dragon, or a fey creature, the bonus to damage increases to 2 points of damage per level the character possesses. Regardless of the target, smite good attacks automatically bypass any DR the creature might possess.

In addition, while smite evil is in effect, the character gains a deflection bonus equal to his Charisma modifier (if any) to his AC against attacks made by the target of the smite. If the character targets a creature that is not good, the smite is wasted with no effect.

The smite good effect remains until the target of the smite is dead or the next time the character rests and regains his uses of this ability. At 4th level, and at every three levels thereafter, the character may smite good one additional time per day to a maximum of seven times per day at 19th level.

Warded from Salvation

It is only possible for a soul to be returned to his body within a specific period of time before they are taken by their deity toward their final reward or rest. If a person is raised at the limit of allowable time, his deity may take affront at the person’s choice to return to life instead of coming into their deity’s glory. Such persons become warded from salvation and are changed in the following ways.

Faithless (Su): The character cannot be granted spells by his original deity. Many faithless instead turn to the enemies of their previous gods for divine power.

Out of Sight (Su): The character is completely undetectable by magic means by anyone worshiping or working for the character’s previous faith.

Slow to Heal (Ex): The character regains only one-half the hit points from any curative magic.