Mark Seifter ( Rogue Eidolon) replacing SKR at Paizo

[137beth]

There is a new announcement (http://paizo.com/paizo/blog/v5748dyo5lg7m?Welcome-Mark-Seifter) on SKR's replacement.

He has written a few optimization handbooks for pathfinder, including a cleric domain guide (https://docs.google.com/document/edit?id=1bGYV4nTaUQ7DZ0K-bLJsigtWujhQl9gJsW5tVOtmuuE&pli=1), a rogue guide (https://docs.google.com/document/edit?id=13sCICmxwkq5yxdXVQqRr-H-SYrwUww13UFsKDcGJyJ4&pli=1), and a fighter guide (https://docs.google.com/document/edit?id=15x4he4WAFYNsoeYgNG8KaEjPH2OvzF2dUjiy8BL1h 14&hl=en&pli=1) (all outdated, the rogue one just has core and APG, the other two are core-only).
I'm not entirely sure what to expect from him. On the up side, he is friendly in the community and he very clearly does not think flavor requires bad mechanics.

On the other hand, past posts he made do seem to indicate he believes in using core as a 'balance' point...which may well lead to more non-balance based around the already non-balanced stuff in core.
In this thread (http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2qdt9?SWASHBUCKLERoffensive-numbers-too-high#1), he was concerned about the offensive capabilities of the in-playtest swashbuckler class, based on comparisons to...a fighter. Although, the main concern was direct damage, which isn't really the fighter's main problem.


Either way, it isn't clear how much influence he will have. After SKR's public reversal of many long-held stances, it seems to me like Seifter's new role may include taking the blame for poor decisions made by other Paizo employees.

[Snowbluff]

I'm not sure how it will pan out, either. His handbooks might mean he's a productive member of the Paizo community. I guess I'll be cautiously optimistic about this.

[mephnick]

Sounds like he's not needlessly antagonistic like his predecessor, so that's a plus.

[Ssalarn]

He's also the author of one my favorite a archetypes, the Masquerade Reveler from Rite Publishing. It replaces standard Barbarian Rage with the ability to wear masques that are actually packets of eidolon evolutions. Very well done and very good. I have high hopes.

[NightbringerGGZ]

He's always been helpful on the Paizo forums and I know he's very active in PFS. I haven't seen anything from him as far as actual design work goes so I don't really have an opinion as to whether he'll be an asset or not. Let's see what he comes up with over the next year or two. It'll take awhile for him to have much impact.

[Spore]

Tbh I am not as thrilled (as both his class handbooks are quite odd). He praises TWF rogues as winning - where movement destroys big portions of the damage potential. His fighter handbook is solid but still feels like 2/3 theory. I don't know him as forum poster or his typical style. But I am just not convinced yet.

[Alleran]

Uncertain about this. Good on him for getting the job, though.

[avr]

I liked the masquerade reveler too. On the crane wing nerf though he was thoroughly on the side of the nerf due to his experience in PFS; I don't expect to like everything he produces.

[Ssalarn]

I liked the masquerade reveler too. On the crane wing nerf though he was thoroughly on the side of the nerf due to his experience in PFS; I don't expect to like everything he produces.

He's very much a conservative gamer and definitely part of the crowd that felt Crane Wing was too powerful... But he also created the class archetype that let me say "I'm going to play a skill-monkey Barbarian with some natural attack options.... and wings and water-breathing", sooooo.....

Expect him to be very "on board" with the same design trends as regards balance that we've been seeing from the Paizo team, but hopefully with some unique takes and directions on the materials. I expect materials that do things in a way that we haven't really seen from Paizo before, but I don't expect we'll be seeing any big changes in the general design dynamic as regards inter-class balance, spellcasting/martial disparity, etc.