James Jacobs's page

Q: If I were to ask you the absolutely most brilliant question - more so than any question you've ever been asked on this thread - what *EXACTLY* would that question be?

Follow-up: And what would be the answer to that question?

This.

ISG says once the Worldwound is dealt with, Iomedae wants to send the crusaders after the devils of Infernal Cheliax. How will the Order of the Godclaw (and the other Hellknight orders) react to this?

Good question! They'd likely end up having a schism and losing their Iomedae members, or the Iomedae members would convert, or the entire organizaiton would go rogue and they'd lose the Asmodeus members, or something along those lines. They would not emerge unscathed in the end.

What is your most frustrating video game experience?

Geting to the very end and realizign you can't finish the game, either because of a bug that corrupted your saves (as happened to me in Arcanum) or because the end too hard/unplayable because of earlier choices you made in the game that unknowingly to you prevented you from being able to finish (as seen in King's Quest V or Dead Space).

James Jacobs wrote:

1) I suspect a qlippoth and demon actually talking to each other would be so rare, and would involve such unusual personalities on each side of the conversation that it'd be impossible to guess what they'd be saying to each other.

Daemon, not Demon. As in the denizens of Abbadon who want to kill everything. I don't expect a demon to be willing to let a qlippoth say five words before killing it, or vice versa.

oh. Well... kinda the same thing. Qlippoth don't play well with others.

Do you have any unofficial fluff on Obox-ob? I think he's a really cool Demon Prince but there doesn't seem to be much official fluff on him (FCI seems to be the most substantial...)

No fluff, because I hate that word. I do have a LOT of unpublished flavor for him though; he's been the primary bad-guy deity in my homebrew since 1984 or thereabouts, after all.

Not really interested in sharing that stuff though at this time...

James Jacobs wrote:

Archpaladin Zousha wrote:

Where is Ragathiel worship most prominent? Obviously one of the centers of his worship is in Magnimar, but where else is there? And here comes the inevitable: Was his faith in Sarkoris? Or did they favor more Chaotic Empyreal Lords, given that Pulura-worship was big there.

Which Empyreal Lords were most commonly venerated in Sarkoris anyway?

It's not really most prominent anywhere. Not to the extent that it's something someone would notice on a national scale, at least. There's certainly a village or small town or something out there somewhere in the Inner Sea region that has an unusually large number of Ragathiel worshipers, but until we need to invent that location for an adventure, I'm not sure where it would be. Maybe Galt or Andoran or Isger? Dunno.

Pulura was the empyreal lord most widely worshiped in Sarkoris. The others were not significantly worshiped enough to have one be mentioned more than the others... with the POSSIBLE exception of Cernunnos.

And to be honest...

Wes is the one who wrote the chapter on Sarkoris in Lost Kingdoms.

Wes is the one who outlined Chronicle of the Righteous.

Wes is the one who invented the term "Empyreal Lord" and made up a lot of them in the first place.

I think, perhaps, you're asking the wrong person these questions... ;-)

Alright, thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

What Lost Kingdoms WOULD be easier for you to answer questions about?

Although I didn't actually write any of the articles in that book, Thassilon would be the one I know the most about.

Where is Ragathiel worship most prominent? Obviously one of the centers of his worship is in Magnimar, but where else is there? And here comes the inevitable: Was his faith in Sarkoris? Or did they favor more Chaotic Empyreal Lords, given that Pulura-worship was big there.

Which Empyreal Lords were most commonly venerated in Sarkoris anyway?

It's not really most prominent anywhere. Not to the extent that it's something someone would notice on a national scale, at least. There's certainly a village or small town or something out there somewhere in the Inner Sea region that has an unusually large number of Ragathiel worshipers, but until we need to invent that location for an adventure, I'm not sure where it would be. Maybe Galt or Andoran or Isger? Dunno.

Pulura was the empyreal lord most widely worshiped in Sarkoris. The others were not significantly worshiped enough to have one be mentioned more than the others... with the POSSIBLE exception of Cernunnos.

And to be honest...

Wes is the one who wrote the chapter on Sarkoris in Lost Kingdoms.

Wes is the one who outlined Chronicle of the Righteous.

Wes is the one who invented the term "Empyreal Lord" and made up a lot of them in the first place.

I think, perhaps, you're asking the wrong person these questions... ;-)

Tirisfal wrote:

James,

Hope you're doing well today!

What is your favorite part of world building?

Do you feel that fijords add a nice baroque flavor to a continent?

I don't know about "baroque," but they absolutely make coastlines look more interesting.

James,

Hope you're doing well today!

What is your favorite part of world building?

Deity creation and all the stuff that trickles down from there.

James Jacobs wrote:

(although I like to think I could be EVERYONE'S friend, the internet's good at reminding me that's probably unlikely).

You can be MY friend, James!

And as friends, will you teach me the eldritch ritual that I need to leap forward through time to the exact moment when my subscriber copy of the Advanced Class Guide will be available for download?

Yup! All you had to do was ask. Alas... its a complex thing, that ritual. I can't really tell you here, but I can give you a link to it.

Clicky for the secrets of time and space!

James,

An inquisitor is proficient with the favored weapon of his deity. Ragathiel's favored weapon is a bastard sword. Does this mean that an inquisitor of Ragathiel is able to use a bastard sword in one hand (as if he had the exotic weapon proficiency)? Or is he only proficient with said weapon in two hands (as a martial weapon)?

Your thoughts?

That means exactly that, yes, an inquisitor of Ragathiel (and also a cleric of Ragathiel) effectivley gets Exotic Weapon Proficiency (bastard sword) as a bonus feat.

Okay. I'm flagging posts now for being in the wrong forum. Let's get back to questions, PLEAAAASE!! Oh! There's one!

James Jacobs wrote:

To a certain extent, the point of Mythic was to "break" the system and to allow mythic characters to do things that non-mythic characters cannot do. It does certainly change the game and how it's played... certainly more so than I'd anticipated with Wrath of the Righteous. But it sounds like there's plenty of folks who are enjoying how those changes work... so it's not a bad thing for everyone.

THAT SAID... an AP that has more roleplaying elements in it is something I've always wanted, and I always punch up the roleplay elements in APs I develop. I'm certainly intrigued in pushing it further... but as someone upthread mentioned... the game's core design is a combat simulator, and the further we drift from that, the further we drift into new areas that, like Mythic, will change the game and how it's played. Perhaps in ways you or I can't predict.

So... it's a tricky thing to do.

On the other hand, if it's done as more of an adventure design push, rather than a rules push, you don't have to drift the rest of the game.

If not an AP, maybe a module? Less risk, more room to explore?

Good to know you're thinking along those lines.

I'm VERY interested in exploring a more roleplay-heavy adventure. And I work most on the Adventure Paths, not the modules. Make of that what you will. ;-)

James Jacobs wrote:

More or less, yeah.

We've mentioned a concept of "divine laws" before that enumerate the ways the gods can and cannot interact with mortals, and what is to be done when they do, and that Rovagug breaking these laws is what started the war that ended with his imprisonment, but we'll not be showing those laws off in public. Because they're not actually written down here at Paizo. Because we're not gods and can't do them justice.

Would you categorize them in either broad strokes laws like the Ten Commandments or more like an Asmodean contract that has so many caveats that it takes a god to work with it without shooting themselves in the foot? Bit of both? Some Commandment main course with contract garnishing, maybe?

A better question might be if you guys have ever directly, seemingly contradicted yourselves with the gods so as to create some real head scratchers. Have you?

I wouldn't categorize them at all. The Ten Commandments were laws created for humanity. These are not... these are laws created for gods, and as such, are not things humanity could comprehend.

That might feel like a cop out, but I'm not interested in building a set of rules that we have to consult and weigh the balance of every time we build a new bit of world lore... which we'd kind of have to do, since building worlds is what gods are all about.

We've certainly contradicted ourselves. We've more or less implied that the gods do NOT intervene directly in mortal affairs, but they do it all the time. Be it Aroden coming down to defeat Deskari, Iomedae showing up in Wrath of the Righteous to talk to the PCs, or what happened at Earthfall.

Which is why I'm not interested in enumerating those "laws" or really even calling them "laws" at all in print.

I just wanted to thank you both for the work you did on Red Hand of Doom eight years ago. That is what got me interested in following James' work with Paizo. I'm glad to see you both on another project together (and apologize in advance if I missed a few that you've both been involved with in-between). I will be sure to pick up a copy of Emerald Spire!

Thanks again,
Randy Price

Thanks!

Working on "Red Hand of Doom" is one of my fondest memories of the things I've written for D&D, and trust me... between getting to write about demons and beholders and Saltmarsh and Kyuss and Greyhawk and Iggwilv and more... there's a LOT of fond memories out there!

I was delighted to get the chance to work with Rich again, and hope it's not gonna be as long until the next time! :-)

Joana wrote:

James did not just say he'd like to see all superheroes gender bent. He went on to say that he would like to see male superheroes marginalized.

That is not xavier's interpretation. It is what James typed.

I believe that his point was that the male heroes would be marginalized by becoming women, that assumptions would be made as to their lessened capabilities because of their change in gender.

The first commercial Star Trek set of anthologies, The New Voyages had a story in which the entire crew of the Enterprise is gender bent by an alien trap. (with the exception of Spock, who is given an extra Y chromosome.) The now female-bodied Kirk tries to macho his way out of a social situation in a bar when he discovers that going by male assumptions turns it into a disaster that he needs to be rescued from. In the conclusion of the story one of the women who had been altered decides to retain her male form, knowing that more opportunities in Star Fleet are open to her now. (this story was written years before TNG hit the screen with it's fait accompli assumptions)

No more, please. Please take this discussion to another thread, or if you feel the need to speak to me about it, PM me or email me. Let's leave this thread to questions for me, please. I don't wanna have to start flagging posts in here! :-)

James Jacobs wrote:

The fact that Razmiran is an evil nation is pretty much all the reason the Church of Sarenrae would take offense and have a beef with it.

But as we've seen, Zadim's masters in the Dawnflower Cult seem to be operating as much as or more from a political agenda than a religious one.

Correct. Which complicates matters, and is the type of flavor element that opens up all sorts of possible avenues of storyline. Interesting, yeah? ;-)

Does anyone actually USE an iconic for an AP? Are the AP's even play tested with a party of Iconics? It's pretty evident that a recent module that featured the Swashbuckler iconic certainly wasn't play tested with him.

That's missing the point entirely.

The iconics aren't about playtesting. They're about flavor building and artwork and story. You'll note we haven't included stats for iconics in an Adventure path for years and years. That's why.

They also serve as pre-gens for folks who want to play in PFS and don't have characters of their own.

So the question of who we'd illustrate a Sarenrae schism AP ENTIRELY matters, and is, in fact, a great question.

can someone worship a God and not agree with everything the God believes in or agree with there God on everything Like with Zadim And his goddess

Absolutely.

Note, however, that the slayer is not a divine spellcaster...

The fact that Razmiran is an evil nation is pretty much all the reason the Church of Sarenrae would take offense and have a beef with it.

Yeah... dude became a paladin AFTER the atrocity with the slain Sarenites.

Which is why it's a tough decision. Further complicated by the fact that he's a paladin of a Lawful Neutral deity... does that play into the situation at all?

Ha.

Great story, Erik!

James Jacobs wrote:

I think that it's a FASCINATING example of a religious schism, and one that has a lot of room for exploration... in fact, I'd like to do an entire AP some day focusing on it and why it came to be and where it's going. The fact that the initial introduction to the whole thing was kind of poorly thought out and awkwardly presented and confusing is what I object to... and now, what you're seeing in Zadim's background and in other places (such as the Taldor and Qadira entries in the Inner Sea World Guide) is myself, Erik, and others whom I trust and know can handle the complex subject with the skill needed to carry it through is a further exploration of the situation.

If this type of AP doesn't happen, I will be sad. though as you said people you should trust should write it, and if Zadim and Kyra aren't the Iconics for it.......Zadim will not be pleased. But I would look forward to such an AP, especially with player companions and campaign setting volumes to help flesh out the situation. :)

It'll happen. (I HOPE!!!) Probably not for a few years. I initially wanted to start Jade Regent with Pathfinder #19, and that one didn't start until #49. I've wanted to do something with Numeria and the Worldwound from the start, and those just came out this year and last year. So... a Sarenrae schism AP might well be 5 years away at this point. Or more.

And at that point, who knows how many iconics we'll have?

My understanding is you wanted to retcon the 'Taldor hates Sarenrae' bit in Golarion. How do you feel about the Iconic Slayer's backstory since it draws heavily on the very thing you wish to remove?

I think Erik hit the notes exactly perfect, and it's in this way, via fiction and material written by powerful, excellent writers who understand the complexities of the situation, that I want to move forward.

I don't want to retcon the "Taldor hates Sarenrae" thing at all. If I did, I would have removed it from the Inner Sea World Guide entirely and would not be talking about it still today.

I think that it's a FASCINATING example of a religious schism, and one that has a lot of room for exploration... in fact, I'd like to do an entire AP some day focusing on it and why it came to be and where it's going. The fact that the initial introduction to the whole thing was kind of poorly thought out and awkwardly presented and confusing is what I object to... and now, what you're seeing in Zadim's background and in other places (such as the Taldor and Qadira entries in the Inner Sea World Guide) is myself, Erik, and others whom I trust and know can handle the complex subject with the skill needed to carry it through is a further exploration of the situation.

Okay... let's get back to questions on the thread. It's been going on too long to get derailed.

I probably should have not answered the question at all, honestly, since there was no way for me to do so without folks getting riled up. That said... this is me answering. You ask, and I answer. Not Paizo. Not your GM. Not necessarily even your friend (although I like to think I could be EVERYONE'S friend, the internet's good at reminding me that's probably unlikely).

The fact that folks DO get riled up tells me that it's important to discuss, and that we've got a long way to go to make up for decades of unfair gender bias and the like....

But we already know that.

So.

Let's get back to questions and I'll get back to answers.

In the meantime... be nice to each other!

HUGS!

Now.

More questions!

a while ago you said that there are religious scientists are there any well known religious scientist that you know by name

I don't know any well-known scientists of any type, but I know plenty who aren't well-known and are religious.

James, I'm going to Gen Con for the first time this year. What should I plan on doing that isn't an event I find in the guide?

I'm the wrong one to ask. I've only ever gone to Gen Con as an employee of Paizo, and as such, my interaction with Gen Con is as a worker. It's not a vacation for me—it's a lot of hard work filled with seminars and booth duty and meetings and manual labor.

The things I generally do beyond that usually involve getting as much extra sleep as I can so I don't get con crud.

What are your thoughts on an Undead created by those killed by a Succubi's Energy Drain?

They absolutely exist.

In fact, having a specific kind of undead created by that specific kind of energy drain is an interesting idea for a new monster... although it would need to contain language like "some, but not all, of those drained to death by a succubus rise as free-willed undead..." because the succbuus doesn't have a create spawn ability, and building a monster that stealth-grants an existing monster new powers is bad design.

To a certain extent, the point of Mythic was to "break" the system and to allow mythic characters to do things that non-mythic characters cannot do. It does certainly change the game and how it's played... certainly more so than I'd anticipated with Wrath of the Righteous. But it sounds like there's plenty of folks who are enjoying how those changes work... so it's not a bad thing for everyone.

THAT SAID... an AP that has more roleplaying elements in it is something I've always wanted, and I always punch up the roleplay elements in APs I develop. I'm certainly intrigued in pushing it further... but as someone upthread mentioned... the game's core design is a combat simulator, and the further we drift from that, the further we drift into new areas that, like Mythic, will change the game and how it's played. Perhaps in ways you or I can't predict.

So... it's a tricky thing to do.

James how quickly would the word get out in Golarion if someone killed one of the big threats like Treerazer or Fafnheir?

Depends on the threat. Treerazer is in the middle of the region and is at active war with a nation; news his defeat would spread like wildfire. Fafnheir is off to the edge and isn't super active; his defeat would perhaps go unnoticed for a long time unless someone went out of their way to publicize it.

How exactly does a Succubi's Energy Drain play out? Does the person just feel weaker or is it something else? Basically what are the Visual, Physical, and Physiological effects and signs of being energy drained by a Succubus?

That depends on how comfortable you are with adult situations in your game.

At the very least, it causes the victim to grow weaker in all ways, physically and mentally and spiritually.

Visual and physical are the same, aren't they? The character would be shaky and feeble and slower moving and probably have eyes drained mostly or completely of color and might have livid physical marks on their body.

Psychologically, they'd be forgetful and depressed and self-loathing and kind of act addicted to the succubus.

In fact, various stages of drug abuse victims and withdrawal symptoms aren't a bad analogy.

Do Charon and Pharasma ever have meetings or play cards or chess?

No.

xavier c wrote:

I did not say anything about Feminism. james said he would like to see all of the male superheroes be marginalized and to me that is not gender equality

Interesting valuation. James said that he'd like to see all superheroes gender bent, and to you it meant margainalising the males by turning them into women. I guess in your eyes for the women, it'd be a tradeup.

And you'd be right. Female superheros have had it rough. they're typically hostage bait, or pitted against silly opponents until recently. hardly anyone sees them as anything other than objects of tititilation. In other words, hardly characters to be taken seriously.

The fact that this question comes up shows how far we have to go.

That last line sums it up.

James Jacobs wrote:

Sounds like Ultimate Equipment has an error or something. Weird. And kinda annoying.

In retrospect, I think they may have been attempting to standardize naming, since most of the time, it does seem to fall into light/heavy categories...light mace/heavy mace, light crossbow/heavy crossbow, light shield/heavy shield, light pick/heavy pick...though light hammer/warhammer doesn't completely fit, but in all fairness, heavy hammer sounds kind of dumb. Still annoying when you're used to using the list in Ultimate Equipment, yeah...

James Jacobs wrote:

3) I really can't recall, frankly, since I don't really remember the order in which I encountered them... do movies count? How about you-tube videos? Short stories and novels?

Well, I was particularly thinking non-professional work, so I would say You Tube videos would count, as would any you read on a forum or something along those lines...but if you can't recall, anything is fine.

1) Do you have any favorite graphic novels? Whether fantasy, horror, or even depicting regular everyday life?

2) In Inner Sea Gods, the orc deity of slavery, subjugation, and tyranny, Lanishra, is listed as having 'Chaos, Evil, Leadership, and Strength'. Considering that Leadership isn't a domain, but a subdomain of Nobility, should that be replaced with Nobility? And conversely, should one of his subdomains then be replaced with Leadership?

3) Also from Inner Sea Gods, I couldn't help but notice that the Urgathoan spell Plague Bearer is listed as being a 6th level antipaladin spell. Considering antipaladins only get four levels of spells, would you treat this as a 4th level spell for antipaladins, or just make it a spell antipaladins don't get access to?

That's not the way to go about standardizing anything. Sneaking changes like that into less-commonly referenced books is not a fix, it's an error.

I suppose searching for "Real ghost videos" on You-Tube would have done it... there are some remarkably frightening videos there.

1) Sandman and Watchmen are old favorites. Rat Queens and Saga are new favorites.

2) That's an error. It should be Chaos, Evil, Nobility, and Strength. No change to the subdomains.

3) I'd just cut it from the antipaladin list, frankly, since Urgathoa is neutral evil anyway and not the most commonly worshiped deity by chaotic evil paladins.

Mr. James Jacobs,

How would a CG demigoddess of Darkness, Endurance, and Retribution go over in Tien-Xia? Baring in mind she likes to protect those in darkness and make the darkness safe to rest in, emotional/spiritual endurance as well as physical, and just retribution not vengeance.

Depends entirely where her religion popped up. Tian Xia is bigger than 5 Inner Sea regions, after all... there's a lot of different stuff there.

James Jacobs wrote:

I've lost interest in the "who would win in a fight" questions, especially in cases where the NPCs have or will soon have stats.

Emphasis mine.

What mortal NPC on Golarion would be most likely to survive an encounter with Chun the Unavoidable?

The one who did and would and could.

1) If a Qlippoth and a Daemon were to get to talking about existence, what would they think of one another and their philosophies?

2) Is it at all possible for a humanoid to freak out a Kyton?

3) Does Iomedae play chess? If so, is she good at it?

1) I suspect a qlippoth and demon actually talking to each other would be so rare, and would involve such unusual personalities on each side of the conversation that it'd be impossible to guess what they'd be saying to each other.

2) Kytons are not immune to fear, and humanoids can cause fear effects with the right tools, so yes.

3) She likely does, and is likely quite good at it.

James Jacobs wrote:

I've lost interest in the "who would win in a fight" questions, especially in cases where the NPCs have or will soon have stats. Run mock combats! You tell me who won! :-)

But what about a drinking contest? And what would be the choice of alchohol they'd settle on, do you think? Do they have preferences, such as beer, wine, spirits, or a particular type of one of those?

Meh.

The NPC I like more is gonna win.

Graeme Lewis wrote:

Who would win in a fight, Kevoth-Kul or Khemet III? What if we made it a drinking contest?

I have the same question, except instead of Khemet III in the contest, what about Valeros?

On a different topic, I have a sort of artifact-related question. There are many different types of artifacts, obviously (weapons, armour, staves, wondrous items, amulets, and so on). Have you ever considered artifact spells? Presumably they'd have restrictions on how one could obtain and cast them (I think when Eberron did it, you couldn't re-memorise/cast them for a year after using it the first time).

I've lost interest in the "who would win in a fight" questions, especially in cases where the NPCs have or will soon have stats. Run mock combats! You tell me who won! :-)

Artifact spells are interesting. That's not something we've really considered at all. That said... they're kinda sketchy things to give out in a game where a lot of folks already maintain that spellcasters get everything and martial classes get ignored. Artifacts can be used by everyone, after all...

How do you get a friend who you know is being deceived to listen to you when he refuses to believe he's being decieved?

Patience and persistence and empathy and luck.

1) If Aroden is "all" dead, what's his purpose in the Setting? What is his "Legacy"?

2) Could you tell the folks you work with from me how awesome they are? ^_^

1) To set the theme of now, in this new age of lost omens, fate is what mortals make of it. And to symbolize the fact that while humanity is the prominent civilizaiton, their patron deity died and therefore they should be wary. It's a dangerous world.

2) I shall!

James Jacobs wrote:

2) Elvanna would kick Kevoth-Kul's ass. She's a LOT more powerful than him. ** spoiler omitted **

The spoiler intrigues me, but for now... I'm going to give each one a different opponent, and ask once more.

Who would win in a fight, Elvanna or Razimir? What if we made it a fistfight?

Who would win in a fight, Kevoth-Kul or Khemet III? What if we made it a drinking contest?

Elvanna would kick Razmir's ass easy. ESPECIALLY if it were a fist fight.

Kevoth-Kul probably would.

And frankly... one of the benefits of doing stats for these characters is that you can run mock battles between them to find out! ;-)

James Jacobs wrote:

1) In fact, there is a basic "flail" in the game. It's a martial one-handed melee weapon. The next step up would be the heavy flail. The dire flail is an exotic weapon. There is no such thing as a "light flail" in the game.

Huh? ...oh. I was looking in Ultimate Equipment, which is usually my go-to check for gear...not the Core Rulebook. Now that I look, I see that in the Core Rulebook, there is a flail, which for some reason is called a light flail in Ultimate Equipment. Presumably to slowly drive me insane. Sorry about that!

1) What are three of your favorite weapons to use in Pathfinder?

2) What are your favorite three deities who aren't the main 20 (but not demigods, either)?

3) What are the three spookiest stories/urban legends that you can recall most recently sending a chill down your spine?

Sounds like Ultimate Equipment has an error or something. Weird. And kinda annoying.

1) Rapier, scimitar, starknife.

2) Ghlaunder, Besmara, and Milani (although Yog-Sothoth and Shub-Niggurath and Nyarlathotep are fun too!)

3) I really can't recall, frankly, since I don't really remember the order in which I encountered them... do movies count? How about you-tube videos? Short stories and novels?

1) I was looking at a few sources, mostly Inner Sea Gods, and there are several deities whose favored weapon is noted simply as being 'flail' (Anubis, Arshea, Daikitsu, Hadregash, Kabiri, Osiris, Osolmyr, and Zaebos, specifically), while other deities have the heavy flail (Chavazvug, Geryon, Groetus, Lanishra, Ruapceras, and Shivaska) as their favored weapon, and even a couple have the dire flail (Bifrons and Imbrex) as their favored weapon. Since there is no basic 'flail' weapon, would you say this is an error, and it should be either the light flail or the heavy flail, or is a cleric of one of these deities supposed to gain proficiency with both the light and heavy flail, or, interpreting it even more loosely, the light flail, heavy flail, dire flail, and even the flailpole?

2) Similarly, the daemon harbinger Uaransaph is listed as having the 'repeating crossbow' as their favored weapon...and while there is a repeating hand crossbow, a repeating light crossbow, and a repeating heavy crossbow, it seems unclear if the intent was for just one of these (and if so, which one), or if all of them qualify?

3) Considerably of less importance, though still somewhat confusing, Asmodeus and Bolka both have the favored weapon 'mace', when there is only a light mace and a heavy mace, to my knowledge...since they are both simple weapons, it arguably isn't that important, but which would you say the devout follower should utilize? (I'm presuming the obscure 'flickmace' from Gnomes of Golarion doesn't qualify, anyways...because...well...Bolka is a -dwarven- deity...and Asmodeus...leaving aside his known conservatism, an Asmodean gnome is hard to envision).

1) In fact, there is a basic "flail" in the game. It's a martial one-handed melee weapon. The next step up would be the heavy flail. The dire flail is an exotic weapon. There is no such thing as a "light flail" in the game.

2) Uaransaph should grant proficiency with the light repeating crossbow.

3) In both those cases that should be the heavy mace.

How many of the same questions do you expect reddit to ask you next friday?

Not many. The audience at Reddit is very different than the audience here. I expect there to be a mix of some questions that are deep continuity, some that would be obvious to folks here, some that are trying to trick me into making rulings for their home games or PFS characters, and some that are outright antagonistic. Should be fun! :-D

We had an android PC just die in our campaign. This raised the question: Do you bring back an android the way you'd bring back any other living character, or can you simply "rebuild" the android by getting all the pieces together and casting Make Whole? (Or could it be both?)

I guess the simpler version of the question would be: Do PFRPG setting androids have souls?

Androids are brought back to life in exactly the same ways as you bring any PC race back to life. Breath of life if you're quick, raise dead or resurrection or reincarnation or true resurrection or miracle or wish if you're not as quick.

They're not constructs. Make whole doesn't affect them any differently than if you cast it on a human.

Androids have souls.

And it's delightful seeing folks misinterpreting and reading too much into specific words I posted already! Mwa ha ha!

In any case, again... we'll be announcing this one at Gen Con. Only a few weeks away!

Would WG7 have been more palatable to you if they had called it Castle of Comedy or something, rather than try to pass it off as Castle Greyhawk as Gary intended it?

A little, but not a lot... because I generally don't like self-mockery and anacronistic humor and puns in my RPGs.

It would have certainly helped fix the mean-spirited disrespect for Castle Greyhawk that it carried though.

What is the silliest monster you've ever run at the table?

What is the silliest monster you've created?

That'd probably be something from that terrible adventure WG7 that I ran a few times as a teenager before I realized how goofy and silly and disrespectful the adventure was.

As for the silliest I've created? According to Wes, it's the zeugalak.

Alleran wrote:

Not James, but:

Graeme Lewis wrote:

2) Who would win in a fight, Black Sovereign Kevoth-Kul of Numeria or Witch-Queen Elvanna of Irrisen? Not asking for a stats-based analysis (if I wanted that, I'd just wait 'til December and answer the question myself), but just based on your understanding of the characters, who would win?

Given that Kevoth-Kul is a 15th level Barbarian and Elvanna is a 20th level Witch / Winter Witch, I think there's definitely some deliberate intent showing with regards to the division of power between the two. By which I mean that Elvanna will walk all over him. I know you weren't asking for a purely stats-based answer, but level distribution alone puts Elvanna on top by a significant margin.

He's still within 5 levels, and he's got access to some stuff that she'd have no solid counters for (because tech weaponry).

Tech weapons are built on the same balancing factors as magic items. He's got the appropriate gear you'd expect a 15th level nation leader to have, and Elvanna has the gear you'd expect a 20th level nation leader to have. Access to technology doesn't make a difference, since a 50,000 gp magic item is equal in power (more or less) to a 50,000 gp technological item.

Do any electricity powered instruments, or thunderstone powered(like the Piston Maul) exist in Golarion?

I ask for my Cixyron-worshiping Numerion Bard.

No.*

*Maybe. If they do exist, they're hidden somewhere in a ruin in Numeria and no one's found them yet... or if they have, no one's shown them off yet.