What's Up With the NPC Codex?

[Palanan]

I saw this in the bookstore a couple of weeks ago, convinced myself I could really use this as a DM, and was just about to order it from Amazon when I noticed they'd suddenly pulled it. "Item Under Review" is what the Amazon page (http://www.amazon.com/Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-NPC-Codex/dp/1601254679/) says, which isn't something I see very often.

Meanwhile, in Paizolândia, there's a recent thread devoted to a rising tide of errors people are finding in the stat blocks. Since the book is essentially all stat blocks, this makes me wonder. Has Amazon pulled the title owing to reader complaints? Or is there something else afoot?

[Urpriest]

Considering that most NPC statblocks in first party content are riddled with errors, I doubt that's why it's being pulled. More likely the creator is guilty of some manner of foul play.

[Palanan]

Well, I just called Amazon's customer service, now located in yet another small country many thousands of miles away. The phone connection was terrible and I had a hard time understanding the CSR, so all I could gather is that customers had been complaining about "defects" in the book, and a "special team" was investigating what the defects were.

Unfortunately she couldn't tell me anything more, and of course couldn't give me any more information about this "special team." She did helpfully tell me that they hadn't received any complaints from the third-party sellers, so by definition the copies they were selling must be okay.....:smallannoyed:

Next I called Paizo's customer service. The fellow was friendly and professional, but he hadn't realized the book had been pulled from Amazon ("Hmm, lemme check that out really quickly...") and had no idea what was going on.

I managed to get a vague promise that they would sort of check into it, at some point, but I had the impression they weren't expecting to learn much themselves. Frustrating all around.
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[Sajiri]

I just bought that book for my husband for christmas, and I didn't notice anything wrong with it, then again I didnt read through it thoroughly and he hasnt complained about it. I'd go through it again and look closer, but I have no idea where he put it...probably took it to work with him

[Blisstake]

The errors in the book are usually minor, ranging from nearly inconsequential (skill points off by 1) to getting the rules wrong (tactics says using Spring Attack + Vital Strike). As for the book itself, I haven't noticed anything wrong with it. The binding is fine, the layout is fine, the art is phenomenal, and I don't have any problems with the typesetting. Maybe something happened at an Amazon warehouse? The book I got was ordered via Paizo's website.

[Palanan]

Well, as of this morning the NPC Codex is back up on Amazon. Probably a little too fast for Paizo to have done anything, so maybe it really was something with the packaging.


Originally Posted by Blisstake
The errors in the book are usually minor, ranging from nearly inconsequential (skill points off by 1) to getting the rules wrong....

Thanks for the perspective, that's very helpful for me. Knowing the errors are fairly trivial makes a difference. There's one fellow on the Paizo boards who's posting corrected statblocks as he goes through the book (much to the annoyance of the developers), so that'll be my errata for now.

Thanks again for the feedback on the book, I appreciate it.


Originally Posted by Sajiri
I just bought that book for my husband....

Your husband is a very lucky guy.

:smalltongue:
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