Jessica Price's page

Jessica Price wrote:

Rysky wrote:

Plausible Pseudonym wrote:

This NPC bio from the Al-Zabriti section is pretty odd:

Quote:

The chieftain of the Tiferi tribe, Jahin al-Vasti, is young to hold his position, and he is careful to appear coolheaded and considered. He took over from his mother when she suddenly went blind,

What tribal leader can't afford the services of a 5th level cleric? Unless her eyes suddenly fell out of her head this is a non-issue.

Does Cure Blindness/Deafness work on genetic blindness? She could also be cursed.

Yup.

Given that we've cited sudden blindness as a sign of Sarenrae's displeasure in most of her writeups, I'd say you should assume it's not natural or something that can be cured by a simple spell--especially given that in a culture where you get kicked out if you don't worship Sarenrae, the only clerics around are drawing their power from the being that caused the blindness.

But this is a brief adventure hook, so of course take it in whatever direction works best for whatever you're doing in your game.

Ooo I didn't know that about Sarenrae. Cool...

Strict wordcount means we can't always reprint context, unfortunately. :-)

Plausible Pseudonym wrote:

This NPC bio from the Al-Zabriti section is pretty odd:

Quote:

The chieftain of the Tiferi tribe, Jahin al-Vasti, is young to hold his position, and he is careful to appear coolheaded and considered. He took over from his mother when she suddenly went blind,

What tribal leader can't afford the services of a 5th level cleric? Unless her eyes suddenly fell out of her head this is a non-issue.

Does Cure Blindness/Deafness work on genetic blindness? She could also be cursed.

Yup.

Given that we've cited sudden blindness as a sign of Sarenrae's displeasure in most of her writeups, I'd say you should assume it's not natural or something that can be cured by a simple spell--especially given that in a culture where you get kicked out if you don't worship Sarenrae, the only clerics around are drawing their power from the being that caused the blindness.

But this is a brief adventure hook, so of course take it in whatever direction works best for whatever you're doing in your game.

I was quoting you with the "particular gender" line.

And nothing you said confers a mechanical advantage to being a particular/specific gender (e.g. there's no advantage to being male rather than female--just one in trying to disguise yourself as someone else of the same gender rather than a different gender).

Again, the advantage is in whether your disguise matches your gender, not in being a particular gender.

John Compton wrote:

Overlap Pete wrote:

Alchemaic wrote:

Thomas Seitz wrote:

Anyone think they could clarify a small section on Riventhun for me?

That alchemical mixture that's used (forgets the name), is that like a girdle of gender switching or merely something else? Like does it actually help the character change gender, or just look more like that gender?

The Aderos Salve and Mulibrous Tincture specify "secondary sex characteristics", which would refer to breasts, facial hair, Adam's apple, and general body type/shape. So it's not a girdle of gender switching which also changes out primary sexual characteristics, it's more of an appearance adjuster.

Does it provide bonuses to disguise to appear like a different gender? what is the mechanical point of the item?

In Pathfinder—as in practically all else—there are not mechanical advantages to gender. There is, however, the importance of gender affirmation and being able to have one's body reflect one's gender identity.

I'm confused by your statement that there is no mechanical advantage in Pathfinder based on gender. There is a -2 penalty for trying to disguise oneself as someone of a different gender so clearly there can be a mechanical advantage to being a particular gender.

I'm unclear as to how you get there logically.

There's no mechanical advantage to being a particular gender, just to trying to disguise yourself as being a different gender from your own.

For anyone who wants them (since I've had some people email me and ask for links), here are the slides from John Compton's and my Shaping and Using Fantasy Languages panel.

The Al-Zabriti are fantastic--I do own Qadira, Jewel of the East (and highly recommend it) from CS--so was surprised that such a newly revealed group was in here, but thoroughly enjoyed it. The spells are especially fun (Sun's Disdain? Nifty!)

Wouldn't have been complete without a spell that allows you to turn people into Seattlites.

Now while I do agree that if you post something in public message board, other posters have right to comment on our post whether they agree or disagree, but I have to say I don't think he has to "prove" you guys by linking you guys old posts he is talking about :P This ain't exactly a court or something

If he's going to single out an individual staffer and call them a liar, in public, then yes, he should be able to back up his claims.

The feminine equivalent of "mansplaining" is an individual being rude, not a widespread societal problem, so it doesn't have or need a special term.

It's sort of like how men can be victims of individual prejudice on account of their gender, but not victims of sexism (prejudice + institutional/societal power) or how white people can be victims of individual prejudice on account of their race, but not victims of racism (prejudice + institutional/societal power).

Takes a lot more than a sarlacc to spook a Qadiran horse.

Jess has dragged me kicking and screaming into some of the coolest experiences of my life. Thanks you so much for doing everything and never settling for good enough. I suspect you, me, and James' lunch routine will change very little in the weeks to come.

good bc we still need to try the Moroccan place

Mike Selinker wrote:

P.S. The way to tell Wes and Sutter apart is that Wes isn't the one riding naked through Fremont.

Wait, what?

It is known.

As a relatively new gamer I really want to extend my thanks to you. I know it was a team effort but your advocacy for queer inclusion has really made pathfinder a home for me and my friends. Thank you for making a difference in this guy's life and making my world just a little bit gayer. I look forward to seeing what you have in store for us!

Wes's work, insight, courage, and compassion have made the industry safer and more welcoming for a lot of people--including many of us on staff who wouldn't be here if he hadn't been a huge factor in making Paizo what it is.

As Mark says, those of us who remain will do our best to carry that legacy forward. :-)

Dammit, Wes. YOU SAID YOU WEREN'T GOING TO MAKE US CRY.

Jessica Price wrote:

Rysky wrote:

Jessica Price wrote:

and move on back to the actual topic of the thread: the Adventurer's Guide. Thanks!

Okies!

Did you get to put anything into the book?

I wrote the section on the Al-Zabriti. :-)

So -- What can you tell us about the prestige class(es) in the Al-Zabriti section?

Since this group has an elemental theme -- does it have anything that is good for an elemental sorcerer?

The prestige class is the asavir, which is good for mounted characters. It gives some elemental powers to her mount, and is good at both making her party members better and making life more difficult for groups of enemies.

There's a reprint of the Qadiran Horselord archetype, and as Fourshadow notes, there's the Sunrider Druid archetype.

(There's also a caparison--essentially a horse cloak, which you can enchant in the same way you can enchant cloaks.)

There's not a ton for elemental sorcerers--there are some spells that are sun/fire-focused, but given that I did some sorcerer stuff for Qadira, and this is focused on the Keleshite ethnicity that is famous for their riding skills, most of it focuses on riders and their mounts.

Jessica Price wrote:

Rysky wrote:

Jessica Price wrote:

and move on back to the actual topic of the thread: the Adventurer's Guide. Thanks!

Okies!

Did you get to put anything into the book?

I wrote the section on the Al-Zabriti. :-)

I love what you did with the Spices! Alchemical bonus for each one?! Fantastic!

I have very intense feels about food, and was happy to have a chance to make my love into mechanics. ;-)

Jessica Price wrote:

and move on back to the actual topic of the thread: the Adventurer's Guide. Thanks!

Okies!

Did you get to put anything into the book?

I wrote the section on the Al-Zabriti. :-)

Detailed discussion of the slur doesn't really belong in this thread. Please don't use it again on our boards, and move on back to the actual topic of the thread: the Adventurer's Guide. Thanks!

I'll feel very jipped if all it is is reprints.

Please don't use slurs here. I know you probably weren't aware that it's a slur, but here's more information on the word's origins, meaning, and how it's harmful. Thanks!

There's a (not made or endorsed by Paizo) Chrome extension called Paizo Campaign Tools that allows you to gray out or collapse posts by selected users.

Literally everything in Pathfinder and Starfinder is influenced by real-world history and/or politics. Heck, the entire of genre of science fiction exists to put society and culture under microscopes.

Why is it only ever a problem when we mention gender or sexuality?

This wasn't even especially deep. "Hey, these people have gendered biases, but they're the opposite of what we struggle with in our real world." Not sure why that's something that's "pushing an agenda."

^

I'm confused as to how creating a fictional species in which all the women were beautiful and all the men were ugly wasn't political? I'm confused as to how creating fictional societies in which all the positions of power are held by men and women can't inherit the throne wasn't political? How the predominance of straight relationships wasn't political? How having all the men in Falcon's Hollow be lumberjacks and all the women be sex workers wasn't political?

Spoiler alert: Literally every RPG product you've ever bought that had words or art in it was "[feeding] you real-world politics in [your] fantasy role-playing games" and "push[ing] someone's agenda."

Don't pretend that the politics you liked and agreed with and felt should continue to be the status quo weren't politics.

Perhaps the Western world needs this experience: One, two or three big countries retreating to the past, just to fail horribly.

I think the people who suffer and die when countries "retreat into the past" (I'm not in favor of using euphemisms for fascism, so let's call it what it is) would object to the idea that their deaths are some sort of necessary teaching experience for others.

Hello!

I'm making a character (a Keleshite Druid) and I decided to use the trait "Keleshite Princess". That got me to look around for the naming conventions for Keleshite Nobles. I found, in Qadira, Jewel of the East, that the naming convention for a noble goes as follows:

Members of the imperial family frequently bear a given name, followed by a form of their mother’s name, a name earned upon reaching adulthood, a name indicating which branch of the imperial family they’re from, and finally the family name al-Parishat.

So, it'd be something like this:
[Name] al-(of, belonging to)[Mother's Name] [Name earned upon reaching adulthood (a title? like goatslayer?)] [Name Indicating which branch of imperial family they belong to(like what?)] al-Parishat(of Nobility?)

Now I've made up a name for my princess:
Shahzadi al-Bahameena 'Abla Kalish al-Parishat

My question, which I hope you can help me with, is the "Name Indicating which branch of imperial family they belong to" I just put in "Kalish", which is the name of the current ruler of Kelesh, but I am unsure if this is correct. I tried looking around for full names of Keleshite nobility and came up blank, is there an example in a novel somewhere? Your help is much appreciated ^_^

The members of the Imperial Family are a bit different in their naming conventions from other Keleshites -- their second name is derived from their mother's name, but doesn't follow the normal al-[mom's name] pattern (it's a middle name, not a surname). Also keep in mind that people who knew them as kids probably use their first name, but friends they make as adults may use their third name (which functions sort of like a nickname).

Branches of the Imperial Family are something that got cut for space in the Qadira book, so since what's below isn't published, it's not canon. :-) I think the only trace of it remaining is a reference to a shahiyan named Safiya, who's a member of the Haxaemenid branch of the family. (The Imperial Family is giant, at this point, and different branches have held the throne at different points.)

The shahiyan (member of the Imperial Family) who holds the throne is the Emperor or Empress. Their spouse (who is almost always also a shahiyan if the person on the throne is male, since descent is matrilineal and if the Queen isn't a shahiyan, the Emperor's children won't be members of the family and won't be eligible to inherit) is titled a King or a Queen.

But (and remember, this isn't canon, since it got cut and I can't guarantee that it will get published, or that we won't go a different direction if we do publish more on Kelesh):

The Emperor's birth name is Irbanu Mirab Yaril Mitaneth al-Parishat.

The Queen's name is Shubat Rashanah Azbanu Hakhemaneth al-Parishat. She's childless, which is why the secession in Kelesh is making everyone nervous. The chosen heir still has to be ratified by a majority of the shahiyanam, so even if she had children, none of them would have a guarantee of inheriting the throne, but in most cases it would be a formality.

So, the current Emperor is a member of the Mitaneth branch (usually transliterated in Taldan as Mitaned). The Queen is a member of the Hakhemaneth (usually transliterated Haxaemenid because Taldane doesn't use the same alphabet, but purists translate it as above) branch, which held the throne prior to Kalish's ascension.

Those are the only two branches I've named so far.

The Empire's been around for over 7000 years, though, so there have likely been a LOT of different branches to the family over that time--feel free to make some up. :-)

It would be nice if this thread about the blog post didn't devolve, like threads about characters who aren't straight white men are wont to do, into an argument about whether representation is necessary.

I think it's fairly clear that the creative staff believes it is necessary, and that's not going to change. Allowing the thread to become solely about whether it's okay that Navasi's in a romantic relationship with a woman is, whether intentionally or not, ensuring that same-sex relationships continue to be treated as abnormal, and characters in them aren't allowed to be about anything but their sexuality.

So I suggest moving on and ignoring further attempts at such derailment.

MMCJawa wrote:

"Princess Eutropia is evil" would also be sort of lazy. We already have Ileosa and Abigail Thrune. We don't really need another "female monarch is totes evil"

Don't forget Elvanna and Irrisen.

I think Holomag and Qadira are the only non-Evil matriarchies Golarion has...

Qadira and Kelesh are not even explicitly matriarchal. :-)

They're matrilineal (you're a member of your mother's family/tribe/house, and you're a citizen if your mother's a citizen and not one if she's not), and because it's matrilineal, inheritance rights are (usually) through the maternal line, but there's nothing preventing men from holding leadership positions. (If you run the numbers, named leaders in Qadira should be fairly gender-balanced.)

Matrilineality can make a society lean matriarchal, but that's not a given.

It meets the criterion of being a survey, so I'm not sure what any of that matters.

My point was that not "all of the surveys for sexuality for the past 50 years" show the same thing.

Freehold DM wrote:

Cory Stafford 29 wrote:

Nepherti wrote:

A good friend of mine told me that 10% of the world is completely and utterly heterosexual. 10% is completely and utterly homosexual. The other 80% is bisexual to some degree, it's just a matter of whether or not you act on it. With this definition, men who engage in threesomes or foursomes or orgies could be considered bisexual, whereas several men I know would be considered heterosexual, since they can only ever really copulate with one or multiple women present.

All of the surveys for sexuality for the past 50 years have put the numbers at 96% heterosexual, 1-2% homosexual, and about 0.6% bisexual. Trans people don't really register on this, but I have seen about 0.3% of the population for them quoted several times. Even many gay rights activists that have used a 10-20% of the population being homosexual have admitted that those numbers were greatly exaggerated.

I work in this field. By the time the numbers get to you, they are badly out of date.

As out of date as that post Cory dug up to reply to?

Seriously, how fast are they changing?

Cory's statement about "all of the surveys" is inaccurate.

Jessica....are we likely to get future information on some of the god's mentioned in the "Faiths of Qadira" section (Shahar, Roidira,) or their followers (Nightseers, Dust Speakers, etc..) ???

If I get to write more about Kelesh. :-)

I was also wondering about the Ashiftah's veil in particular and if it had any particular stats (esp. regarding how durable it is) or if it followed any of the other rules for Familiars (bestowing Alertness, etc)?

It's a very nice version of a Battle Witch alright and made me think also of Sarak from Robin of Sherwood, the black-veiled "Saracen assassin".

It functions exactly like any other familiar except where specified otherwise.

Just got the book, really enjoyed it! Question however, does the channel energy feature from the solar bloodline count as the channel energy class feature for the purposes of feats, such as selective channeling?

Yes.

I've also noticed that single-author Pathfinder books often seem more inspired and cohesive than the ones that have a dozen freelancers, which can seem more "cookie-cutter" in approach. No offense intended to Paizo's fine crop of freelancers!

The fault there is absolutely not with our freelancers. We often have to divide books up to get them done in time, which means that different people are simultaneously writing different sections, which means that those sections aren't able to "talk" to each other in the way they can when they're written by a single person.

Actually, I'm now hoping that if we get a Vudra or Arcadia 64-pager, it's either done by Jessica, or someone with Jessica's level of enthusiasm/energy for the subject matter.

It's interesting how a single author changes things (although I'd worry about it leading to burnout!). Grabbing one off the shelf, Osirion has five authors, mostly the same format, and reads very different.

I am hoping we can do a Vudra book next year. I'm probably not the best person to write it, but I would very much like to facilitate an author with both passion and expertise in writing about it.

This book is a gateway drug. It made me buy Feast of Dust.

I'm afraid that if I read it again, it will make me spend more money...

*curtseys* My work here is done.

Hey, really love the flavor of the new horse companions for cavaliers and such!

I saw one quirk with the crunch:

Genie-Touched Horses of the Istaheq breed get Scion of Stone, which among other things states that they have 10 nat armor instead of the regular 8.

Distinctly different than the above, Genie-Touched Companions of the Istaheq breed have the stats of a regular horse companion, plus certain goodies including the Scion of Stone ability. The Scion of Stone language for "natural armor bonus of +10, instead of the typical +8" doesn't work so much for the Genie-Touched Companion (Istaheq) like it does for the Genie-Touched Horse (Istaheq). The easy GM fix is saying Scion of Stone increases the base nat armor bonus by +2; is that in line with how you intended it?

Yes, sorry for the lack of clarity.

If you can look at the modern age and not see evil, in the treatment of women, in the way race is used to mark people out for cruelty, in the treatment of immigrants right here, right now, you're not paying attention.

I don't condemn everything in world prior to the modern age as evil--there are plenty of things in older societies we could stand to learn from, and we're in a glass house. Which doesn't change that things like slavery are wrong, in any age.

Jessica Price wrote:

I wouldn't start out a game in Classical Greece by telling players that their characters were evil unless they objected to it, but I sure as hell wouldn't let them have a G in their alignment.

The "well, it was a different time" is a cop-out. Persia tried multiple times to abolish slavery, various Greek philosophers recognized that it was wrong (even if they didn't think it could be abolished immediately without society collapsing), etc. We didn't invent empathy in the 20th or 21st centuries.

Are you also saying you wouldn't allow a player to play a good character in Cheliax, Molthune, the lands of the Linnorm Kings, Qadira, Katapesh, the Mammoth Lords, Irrisen, or... oh hell, a large part of Golarion? Somehow I doubt the campaign was written to preclude characters from those nations from being Good. Imposing that kind of guilt by association seems like a dick move to me.

There are characters in every one of those societies who protest slavery. And there are things that get loosely called slavery (e.g. voluntary indentured servitude with a finite term of service) that aren't slavery in the sense of being the property of another person in some of those societies. (Chattel slavery is actually illegal in Qadira--which doesn't stop people from practicing it, but is not the same as having a society that monolithically accepts it.)

If you are part of a society that is built on slavery, and you do nothing to change that, it's not "guilt by association." You are profiting from it.

So no, in my games, if you are from those societies and you're fine with people enslaving and owning people who've had no say in the matter, you do not get a G in your alignment. I consider the "dick move" in that situation to be so lacking in basic empathy that you consider arguing that you should have one to be anything but insulting to everyone present.

Jessica Price wrote:

Voss wrote:

It also isn't at all an alignment question, just a matter of societal custom and tradition.

...

More a matter of historical norms clashing with modern alignment assumptions. I wouldn't start a game in a Classical Greek inspired setting by telling the players that their characters are all evil unless they play anti-slavery activists - whatever that would even mean in Classical Greece.

Similarly, slavery is widespread in Golarion, not just in the explicitly evil nations.

Partly why I'd prefer to leave it out entirely or restrict it to definite bad guy societies.

I wouldn't start out a game in Classical Greece by telling players that their characters were evil unless they objected to it, but I sure as hell wouldn't let them have a G in their alignment.

The "well, it was a different time" is a cop-out. Persia tried multiple times to abolish slavery, various Greek philosophers recognized that it was wrong (even if they didn't think it could be abolished immediately without society collapsing), etc. We didn't invent empathy in the 20th or 21st centuries.

It also isn't at all an alignment question, just a matter of societal custom and tradition.

...

So a questions on the Ashiftah.

The Protecting Veil: Does it take up a slot? Magic ones use a head slot.

No. You could wear a head item like a circlet over or under it.

Can it be enchanted [like the scarred witch's mask]?

No.

What do you do if it's destroyed/stolen? It replaces a familiar so I don't know if the normal familiar replacement works.

Use the normal replacement rules.

Ghostwalk: Does "after using a hex" mean activating? Using an activated/continuous one [like attacking with nails/hair or actively searching with Child-Scent]?

Treat it as activating.

Deliver Touch Spells: Does the veil have to be worn for this to work? For instance, could you "tear a strip from her veil" that's tucked into a belt?

Up to the GM. Flavor-wise, ashiftim are kind of defined by wearing their veils, but from a purely mechanical standpoint, that's up to the GM and player.

On a side note just to gripe... Why isn't searing light a [light] spell?

No idea. :-) Good question for a Design FAQ.

I'm really frustrated today. One of Cindy's friends shared a picture about how men shouldn't use the women's bathroom. She knows me personally. She knows several transgender people personally. I know this because we are all mutual friends. It sucks knowing that people who say they accept me secretly are disgusted by my existence.

I'm doing everything I can to not be an activist, but it gets harder every day.

I'm sorry that you have to deal with that from a friend.

Most activists I know became activists because of things that have happened to them. There comes a point, for a lot of people, past which the consequences for speaking up seem more bearable than continuing to be silent or passive.

(This isn't me telling you that you should be an activist, just that that feeling is natural and a lot of the people you know who are out and loud and vehement about their identities and their rights have felt that way. I think very few people start out wanting to be activists. :-) )

I saw somewhere else that Skorched Urf is apparently made up of Paizo staff. Is that true?

Most decidedly not.

Crystal Frasier wrote:

Hangover cures aside (protein and water), you can buy most of the books I recommended on Amazon. If you're worried about packages being intercepted by family, maybe look into getting a PO box.

Yeah...I am probably getting too paranoid...it is not like my parents have ever gone through my mail before.

I will order then online Thursday if I can not find them.

Speaking as someone who once read a lot of books she didn't want her parents knowing about while still living at home, PO Boxes are fairly affordable. You could also check into whether there are Amazon Lockers near you. No extra charge to have things delivered to a locker. :-)

KSF wrote:

Two big pieces of news at University of Wisconsin-Madison, where I teach and dissertate.

Transgender UW researcher denied coverage for gender confirmation surgery, complaint says

First, a cancer researcher has filed a complaint with the EEOC, with the help of the ACLU, to get the school to pay for the surgery she had last October. She's suing for the full cost of the surgery.

Really, really hope she wins this.

Huh. Things you don't expect to see while browsing a gaming forum: a story about yourself. Thanks for taking notice of me, KSF. If it makes you feel any better about the way things went down with ETF in January, the fight is far from over.

D'oh, it's the medical school? I'm a UW-Madison alum, and I'm happy to email or call and give them a piece of my mind as an alum, but I don't know if they'll care since it always seemed like the medical school was separate.

I don't believe that Feral was being a jerk. Some people upthread said that all animal sacrifice was evil (which seems erroneous for the very reason of the humane sacrificial practices that you mention here.) He (Feral) was merely pointing out death knelling kittens is not the only form animal sacrifice can take, and that labelling all such acts as evil is a bit presumptuous, as some other posters have.

The "don't be a jerk" wasn't for Feral. It was echoing the whole idea that if you try this at a PFS table, you're being a jerk, so don't do that.

Sacrificing living things has been a part of human culture since like... forever. It's a part of every major religion (that I'm aware of) including the Christian bible.

Death Knell is evil because it's explicitly named as such. Sacrificing a living creature for other purposes - say for a nature oracle's natural divination - is not necessarily.

Sacrificing living things has indeed been part of many major world religions*. Which doesn't mean that all animal sacrifice is automatically acceptable/normal/moral/non-evil in the fictional world we've created.

That said, even if we say that sacrificing animals isn't automatically evil, there's a difference between killing them and torturing them, and drowning cats isn't the most humane way to kill them.

*For the record, many of the religions that do/did practice animal sacrifice have regulations (shechita in Judaism, zabiha in Islam, jhatka in Hinduism, etc.) designed to ensure that the animal died as close to instantaneously as possible, and was not aware of what was coming, in an attempt to ensure that it didn't suffer.

So don't look to real-world religions to try to justify yourself here--both because this is a fantasy world and not the real world, and because most of those real-world religions would view subjecting even the animals they sacrifice(d) to that sort of slow, painful death as wrong.

Don't be a jerk.

I admire your courage, Selene, and am really happy for you. :-)