Never say die... an invitation, of sorts.

It seems that I never learn. Despite numerous games I have started dying an untimely death, I am compelled to keep trying. I've been doing some work on my homebrew campaign world and I think that I'm just about ready for some playtesting. It will be a little while yet, as I'm still defining some background stuff and redoing the maps, but it's something to look forward to.

If anyone might be interested, it uses the Pathfinder 1E mechanics, adapted to my personal tastes. Some examples of things that are different:

1) I use the Vigor/Wound points option from Ultimate Combat, as well as the Massive Damage Threshold rules from the d20 SRD.
2) There are no paladins in Jenneria, being replaced by the Divine Champion class.
3) Rangers do not cast spells in Jenneria.
4) There are no alignments in Jenneria. Instead, each character establishes three loyalties. These can be to an individual, a country, or even an ideal.
5) There are no half-elves or half-orcs in Jenneria. Instead, there is the Mixed Heritage feat.
6) Jenneria is a low-magic setting. There are few magic shops that offer anything besides potions, scrolls, or the occasional wand. There are no magical sweatshops where wizards toil churning out +1 swords. If a magical item is created, it is done by someone for a specific reason. To better reflect this, I use the Scaling Magical Items rules and the Automatic Bonus Progression from Pathfinder Unchained.
7) The color of a dragon's scales does not determine its breath weapon. Dragons in Jenneria come in a wide array of colors, though there are no metallics, and a green dragon may breathe flame just as a white dragon may breathe acid. Would-be dragonslayers are advised to research their foe before engaging them.
8) Jenneria uses Hero Points from the Advanced Player's Guide.
9) There is no common tongue on Jenneria. Rather, each race or culture speaks its own individual language. There is a "trade tongue" that is used for trade and commerce, but the vocabulary is quite limited, and it is insufficient for day-to-day conversation.
10) Besides the core races, Jenneria allows for orcs, goblins, hobgoblins, kobolds, gearforged, lizardfolk, ifrtis, undines, sylphs, oreads, and catfolk (called felinians). Drow do not exist in Jenneria (however, Lloth (not a misspelling) does, as the Queen of Spiders, worshipped by depraved humans and other beings).
11) We use the Elephant in the Room feat tax rules.

There are some other things, but I have to keep a few surprises. Anyway, if this is something you might be interested in checking out, be sure to watch this forum for information regarding a start date.

I recall that we spoke about this homebrew world in our interview, so I'm glad to see you're bringing this passion project to light!

I wouldn't say I'm ready to join another game as of yet, but I'm here to lend my support as a fellow world maker! Your world of Jenneria certainly sounds fun for enjoyers of low fantasy.
It does seem enticing to join...

To you have a link to the interview? Im currious about the setting

I haven't rewatched to confirm that the topic is in here, but it should be this one

I am definitely intrigued. I wanted to try Pathfinder (any version) at some point, and several of your changes seem like sensible modifications (the elephant in the room, for instance; i'm familiar enough to understand it's good).

Do you have your homebrew in writing? I'd love to read it and perhaps join if you consider doing an adventure in the end.

As of right now, it's all scattered notes which I am trying to coalesce into something usable. While I have a world map, I'm focusing on a small area of the world for playtesting purposes, a country called Valenor. Valenor is a country in turmoil. About 15 years ago, the half-brother of the King of Valenor seceded in a pitched rebellion that resulted in the country becoming a divided territory. The new territory, Havrsombre, exists across the mountains that once divided Valenor. King Renault (King of Valenor) sees good in his brother and refuses to plunge the country into what would effectively be a civil war. He prefers to work through diplomatic channels to try to reach an equitable solution. Melgaunt, for his part, is only barely keeping control of his new country, as most of the people were Valoran and remain loyal to that sovereign. He keeps control through his armies and the efforts of his advisor (some say lover, others say the true power behind the throne), the witch Karina.

Interesting.

This does sound quite interesting. I've been wanting to try low magic and these changes to base Pf1 seem quite sensible.

Because some of you have requested more info:

ON LANGUAGE
On Language
Orks in Jenneria do not use pronouns and even particles are often omitted. Sentence structure is noun-verb. An ork would not say, "I am hungry," he would say, "Throg hungry." If the subject is clear, the noun might even be dropped; the above example could be shortened to simply, "Hungry." The noun is only considered necessary to indicate the subject when it is not clear what is being discussed. This structure is not due to a learning disability on the part of the orks (in fact, they are about as smart as a typical human) but is just the way their speech patterns have developed). Orkan has no written form, as all tradition is oral. The language is a corruption of the Jotun tongue.

Jotun (the language of the giants, and the basis for Stonespeech), on the other hand, does have a written form, though it is seldom used by ogres and a couple of the lesser giant races (they are simply too stupid to be literate). As mentioned, Stonespeech (the dwarven tongue) is an offshoot of Jotun, though a separate language unto itself. A person familiar with one can probably understand about 25% of what is being conveyed in the other. Both written forms are runic based, though Jotun has become more scripted over the years (as the greater giant races moved to parchment and other forms of messaging), where the dwarves have largely continued to use stone for conveying messages.

Human languages vary widely. There is no "common" tongue that everyone shares, but there is a unique language called Trade Tongue that is based on the language of Arcadia (from before the Exodus). Trade Tongue, as the name implies, is used primarily by merchants, and is suitable for conveying fairly complex ideas, though several important words are missing from it. Even so, it allows communication between people of different races and regions and there is usually at least one person in any given village or town that speaks it well enough to serve as a translator.

Halflings, being nomadic by nature, are unique in that they speak a mishmash of whatever local dialects abound. Natural linguists, they easily learn and incorporate words used by other races into their speech. In a forest populated primarily by elves, the bulk of their speech would be Olven, but one might also hear snippets of Orkan (from the orks of the nearby hills), Trade Tongue, and whatever human languages are spoken in nearby villages and towns. Hinspeak is truly a living language that changes often. Halflings have no written language of their own, and usually use the most oft-spoken language in the region for written missives.

Elves speak Olven, which has two distinct forms; High Olven (or "True" Olven) and Low Olven. This is because the elves themselves are a divided people. The two variants are very similar, differing primarily in accents and inflection, and a speaker of one can easily understand the speech of someone speaking the other (with the exception of a few words in Low Olven that were adapted from other languages). High Olven is nearly unchanging, having undergone little alteration over the centuries, where Low Olven is a living language, constantly changing to suit the needs of the speakers. The written forms are identical.

As strange as it may seem, the gnomes use a variant of Low Olven for their speech. This is because they are spirits of the woodlands. The origins of the gnomish race are shrouded in mystery, though some speculate that it involves both the elves and the dwarves. The elves refuse to speak of this, and the dwarves scoff at the idea that any self-respecting dwarf could have "relations" with an elf. The gnomes themselves don't give it much thought. Gnomish has a written form, a script that resembles the flowing Olven script.

That brings us to Draconic, the tongue of the Dragons. The dragons of Jenneria are eternal, with lifespans measured in thousands of years (if they even die at all, which has never been confirmed; no dragon has ever been found that has died of natural causes). Draconic is an ancient tongue, full of sibilants and hard consonants. The written form is used only by those who study magic and is a recent creation, based on Arcadian. Dragons do not use the written form and typically refuse to acknowledge its existence.

Finally, there is the hissing language of the saarkiss. Though easily understood by most humanoids, they never seem to be able to get the inflections and sounds just right, and it always comes out sounding as though they were speaking with a pronounced lisp. Saarkiss have similar problems speaking most other tongues (though Draconic comes easily to them). The saarkissan written language is iconic, using symbols representing 36 different sounds instead of individual letters.

This sounds very exciting. I love Pathfinder, and love games with deadly stakes. If possible I would be interested in joining the playtest. Hope it works out in any event