Paizo News Roundup

The golem marches on, my friends, which means it’s time for the latest PAIZO NEWS ROUNDUP! The fine folks in Redmond continue to show no sign of pulling their support for the Pathfinder we know and love, even as they ramp up production on teasers for Starfinder and Pathfinder 2nd Edition, so there’s plenty of Adventure Path, Player Companion, and Campaign Setting material to explore! Let’s get to it!

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The War for the Crown rages on! Stalwart adventurers seeking to keep Taldor from collapsing into anarchy and bloodshed are run ragged keeping Princess Eutropia safe from plots and peril! In the latest installment, City in the Lion’s Eye, our heroes square off against Princess Eutropia’s main rival - the ambitious and ruthless General Pythareus! Not only does he lead an army from Zimar, a fortress of a town in its own right and detailed in a gazeteer included in the Adventure path, but General Pythareus also commands the Lion Blades, the most feared spies of the Inner Sea! Can the adventurers hope to outmaneuver the conspiracies that are coming to a head? Can they prevent civil war from boiling into international war? Can they prevail against the evils that oppose them? FIND OUT NEXT TIME IN THE WAR FOR THE CROWN ADVENTURE PATH!

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Whew, that’s enough radio announcer voice for one paragraph. Now for something less pulpy - wait, what’s this? An entire Player Companion dedicated to unearthing ancient ruins and legendary powers?! That’s right folks, the newest Player Companion: Blood of the Ancients has all the long-lost prowess you could want. A new bloodline for sorcerers and bloodragers allows them to call forth warriors of ages past, and new archetypes are unearthed to tap into ancient Azlanti kineticism and Jistkan golemcraft. There are even new spells and types of magic for those brave enough to find them! PDF available May 30th, it seems, so no need to hold your breath too long.

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This old (well, who are we kidding, young) nose of mine has been sniffing into the winds of change for tabletop games, and it smells PLANAR ADVENTURES! While we won’t discuss anything outside of the Golem’s reach here, suffice to say it seems the industry as a whole is going extraplanar, and that’s just fine with me. As just another leaf on this wind shows, a new hardcover available June 27th goes deep into Pathfinder Planar Adventures! New archetypes, spells, feats, and magic items await PCs who jaunt across planes, as well as the demiplanes and denizens that await them (some even graciously!). Pathfinder’s 20 core deities are presented in far greater detail, and are given divine boons to bestow on those who earn their favor.

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What’s that? You want even MORE planar shenanigans? How about the newest Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Distant Realms! Launching alongside Planar Adventures, this book offers a much deeper dive into six of the most prominent planar cities, their history, and their movers and shakers! Take a stroll into the iron districts of Dis, home to the fiendish king Dispater and his terrible court. Abide in the Astral Plane on the ageless shores of Yulgamot. Dabble in dark dealings in the dust-ringed Shadow Absalom, lit by a source known only as the Glare. Find unexpected allies and mischievous benefactors Basrakal, and take care that your goals remain the same when you leave! All these delights and more will be yours!

Well, that about does it for the PAIZO NEWS ROUNDUP for this edition! Keep a weather eye out here for more from the Golem, and for updates on 2E when it arrives!

contributed by Ben Reece

 

[JEB]

They did make a statement months ago when the issue was first raised. What further statement is needed?

When did they make a statement specifically saying that they would update Folca the next time they did a print run for Book of the Damned?

Depends on the rules mistake. What action are you wanting them to make?

The action they should take is to either remove Folca, or edit it into a form that no longer evokes child sexual abuse. This would demonstrate that they took the complaints seriously and wish to make amends.

 

[Shasarak]

When did they make a statement specifically saying that they would update Folca the next time they did a print run for Book of the Damned?

It sounds like from Erik Monas comment further up thread that yes that is what their statement ment.

The action they should take is to either remove Folca, or edit it into a form that no longer evokes child sexual abuse. This would demonstrate that they took the complaints seriously and wish to make amends.

They are doing that so that is good news at least. You may have to edit your own copy in the meantime though so not all good news.

 

[D1Tremere]

When did they make a statement specifically saying that they would update Folca the next time they did a print run for Book of the Damned?



The action they should take is to either remove Folca, or edit it into a form that no longer evokes child sexual abuse. This would demonstrate that they took the complaints seriously and wish to make amends.

Seems fairly simple to me. It is a demon. If it is too demony for your game, don't use it. Problem solved.

 

[D1Tremere]

Will Planar Adventures reference Folca? They seem pretty attached to their child-abuse daemon, since it's still in the Book of the Damned.

That is an odd statement given that it has only a small bit of text buried deep into the book. You seem more attached than any one else.

 

[JEB]

It sounds like from Erik Monas comment further up thread that yes that is what their statement ment.

If Paizo intends to edit or remove Folca in both print and PDF the next time they do a print run for Book of the Damned, then they should specifically say so. Thus far their statements have been in vague or general terms and lacked such specifics.

 

[Zaister]

Erik Mona, Chief Creative Officer and publisher at Paizo did actually make an official statement on November 22, 2017, quoted below:

I was away at PAX Unplugged this weekend and into the first part of this week, so let me start off with an apology for not responding to this thread earlier.

As noted in the OP, I am already on the record as admitting that Folca's inclusion was in bad taste, that it was a mistake to publish it, and that I and everyone else at Paizo regret the text that made it into the final book. Please allow me to repeat that sentiment, originally offered on Twitter, here directly: It was a mistake to include these themes in one of our products. We should not have done it the first time in the original Book of the Damned Volume 3, and we should have used the opportunity of the compiled hardcover to adjust elements of the character to be something less divisive and dumb, or to cut it altogether.

We didn't do that, and frankly we deserve the criticism we've received on the issue.

We certainly don't intend to focus on Folca in the future, and will not be including him in future Pathfinder products. From this point forward, Folca is officially done in the world of Pathfinder, and he heads into the memory hole with other mistakes we've made.

We cannot change the printed books in which he already appears. In the event that we reprint the book, we will very likely cut him from the book entirely. Changing the files without changing the book itself is a significant departure from our normal errata policy, and brings with it a number of logistical challenges. We’re not interested in creating an allure for pirated copies of the uncensored version, and thus we will address Folca’s presence (or lack thereof) as part of our reprint strategy for the book.

We're also taking some internal editorial steps to make sure that material suggesting sexual violence against children gets nixed before we publish it. Yes, it is a very real "evil" in the world, but Pathfinder doesn't need to include every single reprehensible thing in the universe, and it doesn't need to include predatory sexual violence against children, especially with rules attached.

Many of you are probably thinking, "what's the problem? I can handle this in my game." Or maybe even "bad guys are supposed to be evil," and to you folks this statement probably seems like some kind of betrayal or act of cowardice. The fact of the matter is that this issue specifically crosses a line with a HUGE number of gamers, and we knew better than to cross it this time. After the recent furor, we know even better not to cross it in the future.

You're cool to do whatever you want in your games, but the public is right to hold us to a higher standard. Just because you think you can be responsible with this type of content does not mean that every GM can. Much more importantly, the primary concern here is less the GM and more the player who randomly encounters these themes unwittingly, and finds him or herself reliving terrible memories of trauma during what is supposed to be a game people play for fun.

Every so often, in an effort to fill in every blank, or provide rules for every eventuality, we can cross into a line of making a rule for something that probably shouldn't be in the game in the first place.

Folca is an example of just such an element, and he (and his kind) will not be welcome in Pathfinder products in the future.

--Erik Mona
Publisher
Paizo Inc.

However, with the recent announcement of Pathfinder Second Edition, it seems unlikely that Book of the Damned will ever see a reprint.

 

[JEB]

Erik Mona, Chief Creative Officer and publisher at Paizo did actually make an official statement on November 22, 2017, quoted below:

That was one of the statements I was referring to as lacking specifics. IF they reprint the book, they will PROBABLY cut Folca from the book. Mona says editing the PDF would be "a significant departure" from their "normal errata policy", but does not clearly indicate if an exception to said policy was being considered. He also makes an odd little statement about "creating an allure for pirated copies of the uncensored version", which is completely irrelevant to the situation.

The sad thing is, other than carefully avoiding promises, that statement is really great. It shows understanding of the problem, resolves not to make the same mistake again, and gives hope to those who expected some kind of resolution. Which makes the lack of concrete action in the subsequent six months all the more disappointing.

However, with the recent announcement of Pathfinder Second Edition, it seems unlikely that Book of the Damned will ever see a reprint.

This is true, but that's no excuse for keeping Folca in the PDF edition, which will likely remain available. The content should be removed.

 

[Zaister]

This is true, but that's no excuse for keeping Folca in the PDF edition, which will likely remain available. The content should be removed.

I agree, and it's possible that the new edition and the fact that a reprint is unlikely may actually expedite that.

The "normal errata policy" Erik mentioned is that the do not update a PDF with the errata they have collected until they actually reprint the book. I know it's a policy that is not obvious but I'm sure they have logistical reasons for this order of operations that we can't see because we're not partial to their production cycle.

However, knowing that they will not reprint the book might actually make it possible to update the PDF without having to wait for a reprint. At least I could imagine this was possible.

 

[Erik Mona]

The original message was a bit vague. Let me be more clear, if we reprint the book, Folca will for sure be removed. Given that we are in the process of printing every single Pathfinder hardcover rulebook to date into a paperback Pocket Edition, and that we intend to keep these Pocket Editions in print as long as people keep buying them even into the Second Edition era, it's actually VERY likely that we will reprint this book (albeit in paperback, rather than hardcover form), and in that likely event, we will make all of the necessary changes to tidy up the mess, in print and PDF.

 

[James Jacobs]

What Erik said.

But also, no, there's nothing about Folca in Planar Adventures, nor will there ever be anything about Folca in any other books we publish (or reprint) from here on out. (As a post-specific expansion of the last part of Erik's original post on the topic back in November.)