James Sutter's page

Thanks again for all the kind words, everybody! And rest assured, this book trades the whimsical tone of Spelljammer for a more serious science fantasy flavor, but should also give those spelljamming folks who like to go bouncing around between bizarre worlds plenty of material to work with. (Though if you want to play an honest-to-goodness SpellJammer game using our planets as settings, that's okay by me! Paizo's still got love for the space hippos.)

While you can never please all the people all of the time, I'm hoping that this book serves both sides of the SpellJammer debate equally well. :)

As much as we all enjoy getting together and warming our hands over a nice flame war, I'd like to request that people please play nice and attempt to leave real-world concerns like popular religions and the military out of it as much as possible. Those issues are best left to threads in the off-topic section (or better yet, somewhere else entirely, preferably in person where you can look the person you're debating with in the eye).

I think required alignments is an important discussion, but I suspect this will probably be the only warning, seeing as the thread's already been Godwined. :-P

Wooo alignment arguments!

I'll leave this thread alone, save to say that many alignment-related issues are contentious topics even among the Paizo staff. :D

I believe mine got snagged by the warehouse staff to fulfill orders, way back in the day. :P

Seekers of Secrets talks about the complex system of Pathfinder hand signals taught in the Grand Lodge, and it's mentioned a number of times in Dave Gross's novels. That said, that's a created code rather than a natural language.

As folks have said, any time you have a number of deaf, mute, or hard-of-hearing folks in the same place, you're going to develop a natural sign language. I think it's safe to assume that there are such communities all over the Inner Sea region, and that while they are undoubtedly regional rather than universal (as is true in our own world), they probably have a relatively easy time bridging the gap.

And thanks for pointing out the flail snails! :D

\\@...

What Planet, moon, etc. are the Dragon-kin from? and what do you mean bond with humaniods? like animal companions, cohorts, symbiots?

Triaxus. And as for the nature of the bond--I have to save SOME things for the book! :)

There's also Wayfinder magazine, which is always looking for good Pathfinder-based fiction.

Wayfinder is also a great option, and not just for fiction!

The similarities between the Eye of Abendego and Jupiter's Great Red Spot have been noted, and incorporated into Distant Worlds...

And I heartily encourage any adventure that ends with ".... IN SPAAAAACE!" :D

Considering the abuse we give it, I'm surprised that it's lasted this long.

That copier had it coming! It's not broken, it's lazy!

If you're interested in writing fan fiction set in the Pathfinder universe, I'd point you toward www.pathfinderchronicler.net--those folks have done a ton of great work, and run an annual fan fiction contest with some truly excellent prizes! If you want to get an audience for your fan fiction, that's the place to be.

But will Paizo ever buy fan fiction or incorporate it into canon? As folks above have mentioned, the answer is no. As many big-name authors will tell you, it's actually dangerous for copyright holders to even read fan-fiction, as it's always possible that someone will accuse them of stealing ideas and try to sue them. (The copyright holders inevitably win--do you really think R. A. Salvatore needs to steal ideas from folks on forums?--but even winning a legal battle is a huge pain in the butt.)

If you want to write for Pathfinder Tales, the thing to do is to write other places--sell your fiction anywhere you can. Once you've got a few sales under your belt--both to establish your talent and to prove you know the basics of the industry--email me some story samples and we can talk. But any fan fiction you write before then is pretty much guaranteed not to make it into canon--though as I mentioned, you can still find an audience for it!

Writing's a hard road, but it's doable! Good luck, everybody!

Thanks everybody! I like that we Paizo folks can share some of our weirder, non-game-related hobbies with the boards. :)

Hey James Sutter, what made the people at Paizo to decide to have any info about the other planets(AP#14) in the first place?

What else have you worked on for Paizo/Pathfinder?

Do you have a favorite planet? What is your favorite alien race that you can reveal?

Really, I think the main reasons we did a book about space is:

1) "What's the rest of the solar system like?" is a pretty basic question for a setting.

2) I really, REALLY wanted to do an aliens-on-other-planets book.

As for other things I've worked on, I've been on the Pathfinder design team since before their was a Pathfinder, but some of my favorite things I've written include my PF Tales novel Death's Heretic and the campaign setting book City of Strangers.

And as for which planets and aliens are my favorite... I'll never tell. It would make the other ones jealous. :)

In the meantime, if folks want more Salim, there's always the free prequel story, "Faithful Servants"!

Forgget my question above, I already got that one answered.

James Sutter, were did get/come up with the names of the planets?

Are we getting a preview for this product?

I'm sure there'll be some sort of preview, though that's not necessarily up to me.

As for the names of the planets--most of the proper names came out of my head, and I just liked the sound of them. The appellations, however--things like "Aballon the Horse" and "Apostae the Messenger," etc.--all have specific meanings that are explained in the book. :)

I hope it does well enough to warrent more products and more detailed content on this subject.

How many pages do each of the main planets get?

Most get 4 pages each.

I thought some of you might be interested in the video for my new hip-hop single, "Do Your F***ing Dishes." :)

Link

So James... be honest, are you working on a follow up featuring Salim? You can tell us... ;)

Yup. :)

We're working on getting some electronic versions of Planet Stories. As Pathfinder continues to explode (in the best possible way), we haven't been able to devote as much attention to PS as we'd like, but I know Erik in particular has some plans in that regard!

I know it is bad "netiquette" but I am going to do it anyway.

::Bump!::

I'm sure we'll get one made before too long! We've all just been running hard recently...

James Sutter wrote:

ThatEvilGuy wrote:

James Sutter wrote:

He doesn't waste any time, either. "The Ghosts of Broken Blades" starts out with a bang as we meet Roubris, a somewhat shady character with the apparently unique gift of speaking to souls trapped within the blades of fallen warriors. (Before you ask: yes, we know how that works in game terms, and no, we're not ready to reveal the answer—yet.)

Ssssoooooo.... are you guys almost ready to reveal the answer?

Nope. :) Revealing that one would require some very specific stars to align...

I'm hoping that's a cheeky reference to, say, Distant Worlds (stars, space... there's a connection! I KNOW IT! YOU WROTE THAT BOOK! YOU CANNOT DENY! FHTAGN!) and not that it's buried in an NDA for a product that's floating in limbo. :(

Sorry, but your latter statement is closer to the truth. :/

And just so I'm not being a *total* jerk... while I can't reveal exactly how Roubris's ability works, you can get pretty close in your home game by just saying it's a variant Speak with Dead spell that uses a dead person's weapon instead of the body as a focus.

James Sutter wrote:

He doesn't waste any time, either. "The Ghosts of Broken Blades" starts out with a bang as we meet Roubris, a somewhat shady character with the apparently unique gift of speaking to souls trapped within the blades of fallen warriors. (Before you ask: yes, we know how that works in game terms, and no, we're not ready to reveal the answer—yet.)

Ssssoooooo.... are you guys almost ready to reveal the answer?

Nope. :) Revealing that one would require some very specific stars to align...

I know that the John Carter of Mars inspired the planet of Akiton. Lets face it there is a lot of fiction based on mars.

What books, movies, etc. inspired you for Castrovel and the other planets?

There's actually just as much "green planet" pulp as "red planet"--these days we mainly think of John Carter of Mars, but back in the day folks wrote a lot about Venus as the jungle planet as well.

Both Akiton and Castrovel were heavily inspired by Planet Stories books, particularly the ones by Leigh Brackett, Michael Moorcock, C. L. Moore, Otis Adelbert Kline, and Robert E. Howard. (The Lashunta's physical description in particular owes a lot to Robert E. Howard's Almuric.)

James, have you read The Sky People and In the Courts of the Crimson Kings by S. M. Stirling? I would really suggest to check them out on Amazon, at least.

Nope! But those are awesome titles. :)

True, it is a gazetteer, so there would be a lot of world building info but that is ok for me. I like the sound of several of the worlds mention and I am very interested in them, Castrovel particularly but also Verces, Liavara, Bretheda, Apostae, Triaxus, Aucturn and some of the Moons.

Do the male Lashunta have antanae like the females?

James Sutter, did you create/develope the other planets?

Can you list the planets(other then Golarion) in order from most intersted/liked to least?

Male Lashunta indeed have antennae, though unlike the females, they're short, hairy, and ugly.

I did indeed create the other planets, at least for the most part! A few (Castrovel, Akiton, and Aucturn) already had names, but that was pretty much it. Erik Mona described some broad strokes for Castrovel and Akiton, the "green" and "red" planets, in keeping with pulp traditions, and a few other staffers offered tidbits here and there (for instance, Wes came up with the symbols for the various worlds), but ultimately folks let me run wild with the solar system stuff.

As for ranking them in order of preference--I respectfully refuse, at least for now, and leave it to all of you to rank them yourselves once the book comes out... :)

James Sutter wrote:

No to the races

Nuts. This seems to indicate that the lashunta aren't among the creatures with a stat block in the book (it's possible that they have enough racial Hit Dice that they're considered to be monsters and not a "(playable) race," but that seems unlikely).

Of course, given that they're psionic creatures, this was always the way things were leaning, but it still makes me a sad panda.

It's true, the Lashunta aren't statted up. That'll have to wait for another day...

Other then the six monsters are there any races who actually have stats in the book?

How many worlds are talked about in the book? I know there are 11 planets.

No to the races--there are relatively few stats in the book, just the bestiary mentioned above and some spells/magic items. For the most part, the book is taken up by gazetteer information on people and places, adventure hooks, information on traveling between planets, etc. There are some new rules for things like shifting gravity and whatnot, though--that's got a bit of crunch to it.

Oh yeah, and maps--lots and lots of maps.

For the number of worlds... you're looking at 20-30, depending on how you want to count. :)

I read the first story with these guys.

Who exactly was Galt at war with? Or was it an internal conflict.

Also in their shoes I would have already have gotten out of Galt as fast as my feet would take me.

Not much of a story that way though.

Oh and who is "Blackfingers?"

Galt's more or less at war with itself, these days--it's been in a perpetual French-Revolution-style upheaval for many years at this point.

And Blackfingers is another name for Norgorber, who among other things is the god of poison.

Mr Sutter, what kind of chronological details do you track?

I'm not sure I know exactly what you mean. Stories set in the past are consistent with their time period. Certainly character developments in an early story are reflected in later stories. But for the most part, the stories don't actually influence the campaign setting around them overmuch--the ones set in the past don't have huge impacts beyond the characters involved, and the ones set in "the present" are assumed to take place in the same nebulous present as the modules and adventure paths, which is to say that, except for direct sequels, no two products presume you've already read through/played through the other one. (So you might see some Easter eggs here and there, but, for instance, Prince of Wolves doesn't presume the events of the Carrion Crown Adventure Path have already taken place, and vice versa.) We try hard to make sure our books don't invalidate each other.

Does that answer the question?

Also, thanks everyone for putting together the comprehensive list that I didn't have time to. :)

Will this product get a teaser in the paizo blog?

Quite possibly!

Wow the ass kissing is on display in a grand scale here.

To be fair, "Ass kicking on display in a grand scale" is a pretty decent mission statement.

Thanks for filling in the details, everybody! I was clearly blanking when I responded before. :P

It's entirely possible that we'll put out a hardcover city book someday, though I doubt it would ever be the size of Ptolus. But for all the reasons Mort mentioned, it's not in the cards right at the moment. There's still a LOT of ground to cover on Golarion...

To be clear: just because we didn't mention the tanuki's comically large testicles in the Bestiary write-up doesn't mean he doesn't have them... we just glossed over that particular part. In Dave Gross's "Husks" Pathfinder Journal, tanuki's famous endowments are directly pointed out (though not illustrated).

Tanuki's comical genitalia are a central part of his mythology, and we still intend to reflect that in Golarion.

Brian Darnell wrote:

What is Paizo's mission statement?

I always thought that it was:

"To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women."

-Lisa

Lisa, come on, this is 2012.

"To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their significant others."

If this were a paperback, it'd probably be around 125 pages, not counting ads, title pages, etc.

Where does this story fit chronologically among the other tales of Count Varian Jeggare and Radovan?

Immediately after Prince of Wolves, and before Husks/Master of Devils.

How many monsters/creatures are there in this book?

Are there any playable races?

Anything that can be used as an animal companion or familiar?

Do we find out what familiar/known monsters exist on these other planets that live on Golarion?

If I recall correctly, there are 6 fully statted-up monsters, plus dozens more that are described but not statted up. There's also a discussion of familiar monsters from Golarion and their roles on other planets, as well as advice on easy ways to reskin familiar monsters for an interplanetary campaign. The statted-up monsters include one that wouldn't *quite* be an animal companion, but might interest you if you enjoy that sort of character. And while there aren't any playable race write-ups, many of the races described could easily be built using the rules in the forthcoming Advanced Race Guide!

*Ahem*

Okay, James, then:

"Did the Golarion biosystem come about "naturally" i.e. only with the non-sentient, non-living (not undead) forces of the universe crafting them, or did it come from something planted there (purposfully or otherwise) from currently living creatures?"

I only had a chance to skim the thread--these novels won't edit themselves!--but in short, the answer is both. Golarion is a product of both evolution and intelligent design. Different life comes from different places: some creatures are created by gods, others evolve naturally from much simpler organisms, others rise spontaneously through magic, and still others wandered to this world from other planes and planets. As for who was first--well, that's a matter of theology more than biology, but Princes of Darkness offers one account.

And Nickolas--I agree that I'm often disappointed when aliens or monsters are too humanoid. It's an issue I attempted to address in the introduction to Distant Worlds.

I am HIGHLY IN FAVOR of people asking questions about monstrous evolution and ecology. That's one of my favorite parts of any fantasy world!

Just wanted to check in and let everyone know that, despite Wes's understandable doubts, my toboggan and I did in fact survive sledpocalypse. High points included sledding through a stranger's hedge at 30 miles an hour while blowing a plastic trumpet (the "Horn of Warning"). Frankly, if your sledding excursion doesn't end with someone yelling "I'm in a tree! I'm IN a TREE!", you may want to reevaluate your lifestyle.

Fortunately, all our playing in the snow only resulted in one trip to the emergency room. (Don't worry, the docs say she'll be just fine in a few days.)

Now back to editing totally awesome new Pathfinder Tales novels...

Sorry it's taking so long to figure this out, folks--Paizo's been knocked down by snow, so most folks are working from home, but the issue hasn't been forgotten!

TheLoneCleric wrote:

I wonder how they are going to represent Castrovelian psionics.

I assume by mentioning that they have them, but without any details.

Exactly. There are a lot of things in this book--psionics, new races, etc.--that are mentioned or described without presenting all the rules and statistics. There are some new rules and new monsters, but really, this book is a gazetteer overview of the system. As folks have pointed out, there's just not enough room to do everything in a 64-page book! That said, I really tried to jam-pack this thing full of inspirational ideas for GMs to explore on their own, so hopefully everyone will feel like they got their money's worth. (I imagine folks will find the Advanced Race Guide quite useful in designing playable aliens....)

How many pages does each planet get?

Generally 4 pages.

Also, hoping the "space angels" mentioned way back(in the Second Darkness article on the solar system IIRC) are explored a bit.

Wish granted! :D

What Jacobs said. And also, it should be noted that unless you playtest with several different groups, playtesting doesn't always help. For instance, most of the people I game with are professional game designers, which means they're probably going to need more challenging than the average party. (And I know Jacobs plays with some folks who make my powergamer friends look like newbies...)

That's why we rely on developers to do the math and try to catch potential issues before they make it into print. But as with everything in life--be it editing, medical procedures, contraception, or walking down the street--nothing is guaranteed, and your mileage may vary.

FWIW, I'm picking up Death's Heretic because of the short story of yours that ran on Podcastle, which explains why cross-promotion is important. :)

Heh! And that one wasn't even Pathfinder-related! Wheels within wheels....

Thanks, Feegle! :D

In fact, I am planning on picking up Death's Heretic because of the fiction that was posted to the blog, and I would not have bought it otherwise.

Thank you, Shadowcat7! Both for picking up Death's Heretic, and for explaining in one sentence why web fiction in the blog is important. ;)

Yes, all of the ePubs we just released have been previously published (either in the AP or on this website)--this is just the first time these particular stories have been available in the ePub format.

Gorbacz, you just made my day. :D