Pathfinder Faction Guide: The Firebrands
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.ค. 2024
- The Firebrands are a new faction to the Pathfinder universe introduced in second edition alongside some major lore updates. In this video we do a deep dive into this new faction and discuss the various major member cells that comprise this group.
▬ Contents of this video ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
0:00 - History of the Firebrands
10:56 - Meta-Discussion of Lore Changes
13:20 - Saltbreakers & the Silver Ravens
21:41 - Northern Avistan
33:30 - Southeastern Avistan
43:50 - Sothwestern Avistan
54:43 - Eastern Garund
1:02:01 - Western & Central Garund
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CREDITS
The large high-res map I use is not a Paizo official map, but the work of the incomparable Rob McCaleb ( www.artstation.com/robmccaleb ) used here with their gracious permission.
Content for this video came from "Lost Omens: Firebrands" and additional sources from across Paizo's various publications.
If you enjoyed this video, please support Paizo publishing by purchasing this product or others.
paizo.com/products/btq02dy5
#paizo #pathfinder #golarion #innersea #roleplaying #rpg #history #lore #d&d #firebrands #silverravens #saltbreakers #firesfinest
Hellknights would be a fantastic other entry, and I do agree that the Pathfinder Society is a huge topic to tackle - you'll probably want a combination of lore and real world history about the Pathfinder society as it relates to players
Yep, Hellknights and Aspis Consortium are both on the list. And of course the juggernaut that will be PFS.
I fully support the hellknights getting the spotlight next, they are the perfect foil to the firebrands that this video covered, and there is many misconceptions around the organization that a deep dive could shed light on.
@@andreasmuller4172 Between this reply and that reply I can confirm that my next vid will actually be on the Aspis Consortium, but Hellknights to closely follow!
@@TheMythKeeper I'll look forward to it.
Ooooooh i love the Aspis Consortium. Its like the east india company!@TheMythKeeper
As someone who has found it hard to keep up with every suppliment, I think something like 'magic of golarion,' going through the traditions of arcane magic, and geographic locations (bardic magic, rune magic, bloatmage magic, witches vs. wizards) would be an interesting overview video and would also help players coming from dnd.
This one is selfish bc I love playing monks, but a guide to monestaries and monestic traditions of golarion would be awesome as well.
Yeah I think this request is similar to another one I get a lot which is around the lore for the classes. I've been holding off on that for a while, as sometimes its hard to separate the crunch from the fluff if that makes any sense. Anyway, you're making a good case for it, so I'll probably just need to buckle down and start working on it at some point.
I second this idea.
Im also waiting for a dive into the different rare or unique metals/wood/crystal/stone used in crafting of both the magical and mundane
Oh and dinosaurs. j/k
@@MrTotalAhole You joke, but I am *totally* doing a video about dinosaurs.
@@TheMythKeeper So... Deep Tolguth?
A faction that is sooo much more complicated than one initially expects from reading the description on the Pathfinder Wiki. That is exactly the reason I love the Region Deep Dives, Faction Guides and Creature Features. The wealth of information you provide us with on the subject. Thank you again, and have a wonderful day.
Thanks so much for the kind words! I'm really pleased with how this first faction guide has been received and I'm psyched to get to some of the older more entrenched factions in the game world as well.
HECK YA! Metatextual lore changes! aaaaaaaawyeeeeeee!
Haha!
Faction Overviews are awesome! A great way to flesh out the world and give GMs some flavor for their NPCs, allies or otherwise.
Have you thought of covering perhaps Historic Battles of Golarion? I would love to see your take on this!
That's a great video concept. I will definitely add it to my list of new video concepts to consider.
Danged straight you’re the best place for Pathfinder setting and history lore!
I am very excited to see your faction guide take off.
Edit: Evolving the world instead of rewriting it is always the better move from a writing perspective. I am very happy that Paizo chose this route, while also not declawing the world.
Thanks sir! Totally agree on the lore updates.
I would love to see something on the Bellflower Network or the Prophets of Kalistrade. I've been trying to work more faction interactions into my own campaigns (running both WotR and Kingmaker-2nd time on both) and am super hyped about this series of videos. Rock on, dude.
I actually discuss the Bellflower Network in this video as its a related faction to the Firebrands. As for the Kalistocracy - I have a Druma region deep dive coming up fairly soon, and I'll be talking about them there.
Please continue with this serie about organizations, however is next is gonna be a joy to watch.
Thanks so much! The feedback so far seems good, so I definitely think we'll keep this going.
I have to say, I was disappointed when Paizo announced that they wouldn't be covering slavery as a topic anymore. I understand why, but I felt that Paizo always framed it in a morally wrong light.
However, I fully understand why they chose to do it. And I have to give them credit, they didn't just retcon it out. I was very relieved when I saw that the Chelaxian slaves weren't freed just signed into indentured servitude. Not in a "I'm glad these people are still slaves" but more in a "I'm glad they gave a reason as why there aren't anymore slaves". Once again, Paizo has impressed me.
Yeah I think one of the strengths of the setting (vs say Faerun) is that it has always hewed very close to the real world in terms of real politics and real struggles. I also don't mind the change though. For the most part the only place where slavery has been abolished that feels a little forced is Cheliax. For most other places, especially for example in Absalom, it sort of makes you wonder why they ever were written to have slavery from the beginning.
They also dont wanna be cancelled
@@TheMythKeeper @dominickfinch5693 (I wont delve too deep, because its a hot-button)
Ive always thought it as providing a good background for an anti-hero.
OPC- "Why do you hate the Chelish so much?"
PC- "I was...", "My family...", What I witnessed...", "Its horrendous to..." etc, etc, etc.
Or it could be a great 'road to redemption' arc. It also adds tarnish to societies that are maybe a little to 'golden', because nothing is ever as simple as black and white. Or maybe more fitting (for Pathfinder), "nothing is as simple as iron and gold". Personally I see it as a loss, but I too understand why.
Side note* I watched the series 'Vikings' long after my Pathfinder group stopped playing, but I really would have loved to loosely base a character off of Athelstan. Wow, just wow at that role-playing possibility. Not saying that opportunity is now gone forever. But because Paizo doesnt cover it 'officially' in PF anymore I feel its now kind of anathema.
Get ready for most of the big Fantasy RPGs to start canceling a lot of their core content, like orcs being rampaging and evil. D&D said that they are somehow a racial stereotype of black people. Shows what they think about black people. Also a lot of the stuff they claim is "problematic" is such a stretch and its just woke justice warriors at work. I hate using that phrase but its true. These people go out of their way to find content that offense 1 person and the jump on it. Its gross.
The Firebrands are a group I dislike in Pathfinder. They remind me too much of a weird fantasy of what modern people wish they had done 200 years ago to bring "justice" to the world. They seem like the kind of people who would be very conceited and believe they know what's right for everyone.
A great idea for a new series! I would love to learn more about the factions in the setting. One thing I would love to see would be an overview of the classes of the setting. Most people are familiar with classes like cleric and bard of D&D fame, but other Pathfinder unique classes like Oracle, Kineticist, and Swashbuckler would be really interesting to learn about, especially for newcomers to the game.
Noted!
@@TheMythKeeper Nice! Stuff like notable characters of certain classes throughout Pathfinder history, the unique abilities/strengths and weaknesses of each class, how individuals become each class etc would be really cool to learn about.
This new Factions series is a GREAT idea. These different groups have influenced the lore/history of Golarion in so many ways. I'd love to see a video about the Aspis Consortium.
That’s the one I’m planning on next!
I'd heard of the Firebrands, but never knew much about them. It's cool to see how many various guilds and groups there are all over the world, and how each have their own battles to fight, their own causes, but they all stand for liberation from oppression. I'm currently playing a Human (Changeling) Barbarian bounty hunter in an Outlaws of Alkenstar game. He worships / pays respect to Arazni, and I could see him having some affiliation with the Firebrands. We'll see what the GM thinks! He's been pulling other PCs backstory affiliations in, like one PC who has ties to Nexian Nobles, or another whose family was killed by an Alkenstari gang called the Clearwater Cleaners (who just had a tussle with in our last session).
That's a pretty cool idea 🙂
I think faction videos are a great idea. An understanding of factions really contributes to an understanding of how the world moves and reacts, meaning better immersion!
Awesome! Thank you for watching and for the feedback!
As a black guy in America. Slavery is a touchy subject for me. Appreciate what paizo has done
Hey thanks for commenting and sharing. Hopefully I treated this subject with right level of respect in this video. ♥
@@TheMythKeeper oh yeah. Absolutely did
@@RykerDavis123 You might enjoy my games. In addition to the European-style slavery, some races practice Native American slavery and Islamic Mameluk slavery.
Some goblins & orcs take captives in combat as slaves only to build up the numbers of their tribes. In those tribes, slavery is more akin to adoption. They don’t bother to even tie up captives, assuming any who escape would make poor members of the tribe. Any slaves who stay are treated like children of the tribe until they go through the rites of passage for the tribe. Among the tribes that practice this type of slavery, there is a demigod named Chainbreaker, who blesses those who free themselves and others from coercive slavery.
Among the Drow, there is one house that was beaten so soundly by another that it ceased to exist for a time. After its last remaining noble escaped from slavery, she began buying slaves whenever and wherever possible. The slaves of House Ithildae seldom remain slaves for long, because once a year, on the date of their liberation, every member of the house frees at least one slave, making them a member of the house. Every member of the house is a former slave or the child of a former slave. It’s becoming a common practice for parents to sell their children to others in the house to secure alliances and as a form of apprenticeship. Every soldier, every scholar, every laborer, every mage, every cleric and every ruler is a slave, a former slave or the child of a former slave. You can identify them by the bracers or collars with three silver links of chain that all free members of the house wear.
LET'S GOOOO. MY FAVORITE FACTION IN THE SETTING. I ACTUALLY GOT THEIR LOST OMENS BOOK.
Awesome! Thanks for letting me know, feedback like this is really useful for me.
@@TheMythKeeper if I were to say, going over other portions of the faction could also be fun. How to join, common faiths in the faction, etc.
@@SynderFGC You're absolutely right, this is an hour long video but there's still more to say here 🤣. The cause of freedom is vast, and I found myself wanting to capture all the various freedom-focused factions referenced in the Firebrands guidebook, so I lost some of the detail around membership and faiths. Membership is an easy one to explain in the comments though. Apparently one has only got to declare themselves a Firebrand, to be a Firebrand 😂
@@TheMythKeeper YUP! Granted, you still gotta earn your marks but simply declaring yourself one is good enough!
@@SynderFGC True! True!
Another absolute killer deep dive. My playgroups last 1e game I was running a fighter/rogue/ Rose Warden who had intended on making contact with the Firebrands.
Thank you for your hard work and dedication to the craft.
Nice! Sounds like a character that would definitely fit in the Firebrands. Thanks again for the kind words as well!
Yes! I’ve been wanting a faction series for a while now. There’s a lot more to them then what the wiki says and you always amaze me with your videos depth. Can’t wait for the whispering way and the pathfinder society.
Thanks! I will make sure to cover Whispering Way as well, that's a good call out.
This is such an interesting topic, and I very much appreciate the meta discussion you added about Paizo's decision to move away from slavery-by-default in Golarion.
Thanks! I can totally see in the comments that there are a few folks having a gut negative reaction, but I'm really appreciate that most comments have been overwhelmingly positive. I feel really lucky that I've got supportive viewers regardless of how they feel about the lore updates.
I started running pathfinder 2e for my (usually) Shadowrun 4e group and it's been one hell of a culture shock - one you've taken from what seemed an insurmountable problem to one I feel like I can actually handle. Learning this much about the setting this quickly was a scary thing, but you've made it completely accessible and even easy for me.
Thank you so, so much. I'm sure my group will appreciate it too once things really get rolling :D
Golarian is SO AWESOME and I'm so glad to have this kind of quality video on hand to help learn all this and keep it straight!
Hey comments like this give me life. Thanks so much for sharing, and I'm really glad I could provide a window into this awesome setting for you and your group.
I’ve loved all your videos so far, and factions is definitely something I want more information on. Pathfinder Society and Hellknight would be amazing topics.
Yep, those are clearly the two everyone wants me to do based on the comments! 🤣 Hellknights first... need to psyche myself up for another 2 hour vid when I do PFS...
Fun video. I like how diverse the Firebrands are as individuals and as sub-factions. I look forward to a video examining the Bellflower Network in depth or the Eagle Knights.
Yeah Eagle Knights are definitely on my short list
Thank you so much for addressing the meta-discussion and you're entirely reasonable take on it. 👍
Thank you!
@@TheMythKeeper I thought they had just retconned it out of existence. Was furious over it just because that's such enormously lazy writing. Gives me hope that they are willing to put in the effort to have it diminished properly in setting. Even if a bit rushed in the timeline.
@@multiplesingular294 I think a lot of the negative reactions to these updates are due to people having gut reactions and not playing close attention to the details. The changes are not as radical as people are making them out to be, and I suspect the same will be true in Remaster as well.
was curious about them as you mentioned them in your Nidal and Shackles Videos, Great work.
Thank you!
I need a half region deep dive, good video btw still love your stuff!
One more great episode
Thanks for the kind words as always ;-)
Grate work thank you for your hard work.
You're very welcome! And thanks for watching!
Thanks for the interesting video!
Thanks for watching
I thought the metatextual commentary about slavery were really well put. Thanks for addressing it.
Thanks so much! I really appreciate this comment
I was just thinking about the firebrands!! Exciting I wanted to put them into my campaign
I love the Vox sisters
@@OranjMoose Maidrayne Vox popped up in my Curse of the Crimson Throne adventure. I wish I had known at the time she had a sister that ran a rebel group in the south of Cheliax. It definitely gives the Hellknight sister another layer to work with. Also randomly, one of my players was shapeshifted into a centaur when she appeared and there was definitely a vibe there...
Your video on Taldor convinced me to start my campaign there almost a year ago. I feel like Absalom would be a great video topic, if a massive undertaking. My players have recently decided to go there, and it has been the most fun place to research so far. There are so many rabbitholes to find and dive into. The firebrands were one such rabbithole for me. I have definitely over-prepped Absalom, but now I plan on starting my next campaign in the city, regardless of how much my current players interact with.
I have been intentionally saving Absalom because it is SO dense I'm worried it will end up being even longer than my recent Shackles video. But I absolutely do plan on going there. I also have a special love for Taldor, and War for the Crown is easily one of my top 3 APs PF has ever put out.
on the topic of Geb and the firebrands, it became sort-of-canon in my campaign that there's a cell of them hanging around there somewhere around yled , mostly just trying to free people before they get fed to ghouls
this actually came out of me accidentally allowing a player to learn firebrand spells without realising they were restricted to firebrands
said character was a rare lawful good resident of Geb, so i was just like "yeah you're secretly an abolitionist by the way"
said character is also a ghoul
Honestly this just makes sense. Any nation with Geb's power structure is going to have those people that want to fix it. Even among vampires and ghouls there will be those that know there's probably a better way. The Quick-Dead Coalition does some of this. So do the cult of Arazni. But your player should probably know that the consequences of being discovered as an abolitionist in Geb are going to be severe, even by undead standard. There are a lot of very powerful blood lords who are pretty happy with the status quo.
oh yeah there was a definitely very more like real life esque rather than like a ttrpg murderhobo reaction to committing a major crime where they freed a bunch of slaves and the rest of the party where like "congratulations. now just how do you intend to not get us all punished for all eternity for this?"
cue hiding in a field for several hours spamming the mystic carriage ritual while hoping no one important came past the various empty wagons
there'll probably be further consequences of some sort I'll work into the plot later as well, but for now it at least seems to have gone okay
@@obamabiden Awesome! This sounds like an incredible campaign you're running here
I'd mostly credit it to the people who made the blood lords adventure path, but I've made some of my own additions to it over time, like introducing the main villain as a fairly friendly figure early
Yes...factions! Thank you.
More to come!
To me, this doesn't "de fang" pathfinder, it just makes sense. In a living history, there are always changes and uprisings. Not all succeed, and having countries or regions change to reflect revolutions or attempted ones is interesting!
I like this faction, since it mirrors real world revolutionaries/abolitionist movements. It's not one group, but a collection or smaller groups with their own concerns and ideas of how to fix them. Some are concerned with just their country or people, some are just in it for adventure, and some are concerned with the universal problems facing oppressed people everywhere.
Yeah its definitely a collective and not just a single faction. Some of these groups have been fighting their oppressors for a very, very long time. The Dreamtenders of Desna have almost certainly been reinvigorated by the success of other Firebrand groups across the inner sea for example.
For selfish reasons, other than PFS I would love to see a video on Knights of Lastwall (and the Whispering Way in general). But I appreciate every single one of your videos - if I don't use them in my current campagin, I will certainly use them in the next ones ;D
Definitely working on those! And thank you for the kind words & watching and commenting :-)
Definitely working on those! And thank you for the kind words & watching and commenting :-)
👏👏👏
Organization overviews are a great idea. I hope you cover the actual Pathfinders soon. The Firebrands are kinda "meh" for me.
I'll get there. As I said in the video, its a big one and I'll want to take my time with it.
I'd love to see a deep dive on Andoran since I feel like they didn't get much attention in the books compared to Cheliax or Taldor.
I have just written the script to my Andoran deep dive. Its still a ways out (just fair warning) but it will be epic (and long).
I wish someone had a version of this that I could send to my players, with a lot of the broader sweeps, but without some of the specific less public details like who the sapphire butterfly is.
Finding the right level of details on these videos is difficult. Ultimately I ended up building them as GM resources, so they tend to be pretty complete. FWIW, players do a good job of differentiating player knowledge and character knowledge, so often you can share these full videos without damaging immersion too much. Final thought on this - your own game is yours - you can literally have the Sapphire Butterfly _be someone else_ and then this video becomes a tool to surprise them.
Pathfinder needs an MMORPG
Absolutely. The more of these videos I make the more I'd like to see not just an adaptation of the APs (which Owlcat did absolutely great with) but a realization of the full scope of the Inner Sea. That's probably just a fantasy for now though 😅
Please do a comprehensive video on the Aspis Consortium. I know you've covered them alot in other videos but a sigular video on them would be awesome.
That will be my next faction guide, and yes collating all that info is proving super useful, even for me as a GM.
can you do one for the dragon empires (Tian Xia)? or are you waiting until the new books next year
I will, but as you've guessed - I want to wait until the new book comes out next year!
excellent video for a faction with a Lost Omens book. Will you also do Knights of Lastwall sir?
You bet. ;-)
Tnkx for the video, Hellknights next????
Aspis Consortium next, then Hellknights after that
Isn’t andoran and taldor southeastern avistan but the video tag says southwestern avistan?
Andoran and Taldor is southeast of course. I don't know what it is with me but on at least on a dozen occasions in my videos I have mixed up east and west for whatever reason. Watch out for it, this isn't the first time this has happened to me...
what is your preferred system? Pathfinder 1 or 2? also I bet having having this wealth of knowledge makes games ran by you overwhelmingly detailed.
I'm still playing a little more 1E than I am 2E. This is because I've been a player in a 2E game for a little while now but its irregularly played. I'm currently running War for the Crown for a new group which does meet regularly (1E) because its one of my favorite APs ever. I'm not strongly married to one system or another, but I do love the world regardless of the system, and I'm very keen to see what happens with Remaster.
Once again the CRPG differs greatly from the Wrath of the Righteous adventure path.
In the adventure path it is Jerribeth, not Minagho, that turns Staunton to evil. There is also no relationship between them.
I am unsure whether Staunton and Minagho met at any point in the adventure path as Staunton is killed as of the 2nd part and Minagho doesn't appear in the path until the 4th part. (although minagho is mentioned in the first part.)
Not much of a change in the grand scheme of things, I'm just in the middle of a run through the adventure path so stuff like this is at the front of my mind.
Thanks for pointing this out. I must admit I have not played through the AP and so my knowledge of it unfortunately comes from the video game. I think a few times now I've given slightly wrong canon as a result!
@@TheMythKeeper Only the second time I've noticed. and both are relatively minor overall.
Got to say i find the second edition stuff a bit saccharine for my tastes.
Your mileage may vary. Just know that you can keep the bits you like and discard what you don't.
Hell knights hell knights hell knights
🤣🤣🤣
27:02 min
So, the Fires Finest are basically what you do in Assassin's Creed about 70% of the game, minus the stealth stuff?
29:56 min
Who, or rather, _what_ is that? I thought there are no dragonpeople in pathfinder? Or is that just a very draconic looking Iruxi?
Yes basically, and that's a very-dragony Iruxi depicted there as part of the Jeske and Hantiz gladiatorial duo.
Silly thing to ask but, I noticed for Futhark only the pronouns of They/them/their were used. am i to asume they identify as non-binary gendered? if so interesting character concept. Non-binary orc former hellknight has got to carry some baggage.
if i remember the firebrands sourcebook gives pronouns for all the characters, and futhark is listed with they/them although i don't think this is explored in the relatively short section on them
@@obamabiden - Yes, Futhark is non-binary. Also I don't specify in the video but Rexus Victocora is trans-male (was born female but used magic to change sex). There is more and more of this in the game but I've not been making an effort to highlight all this inclusivity in my videos. I do try and use the right pronouns however.
Good policy. Thank you for clarifying.@@TheMythKeeper
I would have loved if you kept the 1st edition and 2nd editions lore separately.
I, for one, am interested in the 1st edition pathfinder mechanics & lore and don't care for 2nd edition.
And if you do separate them properly, write what edition is the video made for in the title for people to know what they are watching.
Thanks for the feedback. So far, because its a living world, all my lore has been written for date of publication. So right now it is 2023 in the real world, so my lore is current up to 4723 in the game world. I don't discuss mechanics in my game, so its agnostic as to whether I'm talking about Pathfinder for Savage Worlds, Pathfinder 1E, Pathfinder 2E or REMASTER and that's how I like it. If you want to get the 1e lore, just wind back the clock to 4708 - 4718 depending on the time period the 1E adventure that you're running takes place in. All of my region deep dives are really specific about which dates the events take place in.
Obviously its a little more complicated for retcons (like the introduction of the planes of Metal & Wood) but more often than not Pathfinder doesn't actually retcon much, they just evolve the setting or perform slight name changes on things.
Is this faction about girl power?
I know this is a joke, but I'll answer seriously as is my style. Few of the Firebrand cells seem to be particularly focused on women's issues (they are mostly focused on anti-slavery or wealth inequity). Something to note about the Pathfinder and D&D universes is that although slavery and other forms of oppression exist in this world, they've always been a little more egalitarian in terms of the roles that women have played. This is likely due to the existence of magic. It doesn't matter who is biggest and strongest if someone can blast you with a fireball, so even in the earliest Pathfinder cultures there were many women in ruling positions in the various societies of the world.
@@TheMythKeeper as I'm seeing in the real world. The road to Hell is paved with good intentions. I have never seen such tyranny as what is being done in the name of the "oppressed."
I'm glad they leave it up to the GM to run these people as freedom fighters, or if you're on the other side, The Big T. Im a world where moral concepts can walk the land it makes sense that such can wax and wane as drasticly as it does
I do think paizo just allowed themselves to be bullied by from what I've heard a very few people i suspect don't even have much interest in the hobby. while ya slavery is bad but its fictional in this case some people clearly ether can't tell the difference between fictional and reality or don't care like in fiction slavery can be used in multiple plot elements and no one is actually being harmed, the firebrands being a example. Plus like should we just rid of all dark things from fiction then? War and violence in general? Monsters? Tyrants and other evil people? Crime? Etc
But im definitely looking forward to hearing about the various organizations from Pathfinder and firebrands are certainly a interesting set of groups and people
"What if we did the First International, but somehow even more cringe (being dominated rather more thoroughly by Proudhonists and Bakuninists)?"
-Paizo
2e is worse than dnd 5e and is really just money making.
I convert everything to 1e....even planescape dnd 2e :}
Been going strong since release, why change a good thing?
sigh.......2e.......paizo walking the same path as wotc...
what on earth do you mean?