Timothy Ferdinand's page

Hi James

Will the new "mummified" template in the upcoming Bestiary 4 be based on the Osirion Mummy template in the module "J1 - Entombed with the Pharoahs"?

Will there ever be a good aligned equivalent of the evil spell "Infernal Healing"? It seems odd to me that there is an evil spell usable by arcane spell casters to heal, but no good aligned equivalent.

Thanks

Hi James
I have been an avid player and buyer of pathfinder products for a number of years, but I have to say that I am the most excited I have ever been about the product schedule in the coming months - mythic adventures is going to be a revolution, the wrath of the righteous AP has to be the most anticipated AP ever and chronicle of the righteous, the world wound, demons revisited, champions of purity and the demon hunters handbook together comprise the most comprehensive support package Paizo have ever produced for an AP. you guys rock. Thanks so much, I'm brimming!

Hi James, on your exchange regarding Nocticula and Ayavah, I've always been intrigued by the relationship between Nocticula and her "brother" Socothbenoth - would it be too far to assume that actually they are one and the same being? It would explain the whole Mharah incident and how she has managed to become so powerful and kill so many other demon lords - is this killing of demon lords all part of her seeking redemption. Also given the strong redemption themes in the Wrath of the Righteous adventure path coming in August and the fact that one part of that AP is set in the Midnight Isles, is it possible that Ayavah is about to be proved right? Or have I run far to far ahead of myself?

Hi James, does a paladin (or an anti-paladin for that matter) have to follow a specific deity (or deity or demon lord in the case of an anti-paladin) or can they simply follow the cause of law and good (or chaos and evil in the case of an anti-paladin)? Thanks

Hi James, can the "fey creature" template (Bestiary 3) be applied to a human? I assume it can, though I also assume its not intended for use by players, but rather for NPCs?

Hi James, I understand that the "Worldwound" campaign setting book is due out in June. Will it contain new monsters? If so, could I beg (if its not too late) that you convert more of the creatures in the excellent "Book of Fiends" by Green Ronin? Personal favourites would include:
Raptu
Spawn of Marbus
Orusula
Locust Demon
Jilaiya
Jahi
Inmai
Daeobelinus
Alrune
Any chance we might get all or some of those converted for Pathfinder? I also spotted that one of the parts of the next AP (Wrath of the Righteous) is set in the Midnight Isles - will we be getting some more information on Shamira (pretty please)?

Following on from the "summon monster/called monster" question, if an evil character killed a cassisian angel that had been called (for example as a familiar), could he then wear the helmet body of the dead cassisian as a helmet and if so would it have a similar (but lesser) effect as angelskin (as referred to in Ultimate Equipment)? I'm assuming the effect would be reduced by 50% as the Cassisian only has a "lesser protective aura" compared to the "protective aura" of other angels - so a cassisian helmet would reduce and evil wearer's HD by 5 for the purposes of detect evil spells and would give a 10% chance of avoiding smite evil, etc. Would be a pretty cool "trophy" for an evil character don't you think (at least until he ran into a full-blooded angel!).

Hi James, this is probably an old question, but I can't find an answer, so apologies: If you summon a monster using the Summon Monster series of spells and it is killed in battle, my understanding is that it is not really "killed", but simply returns to its own plane. So I assume that after a melee involving summoned monsters, there would be no bodies resulting from the death of such summoned monsters - am I correct? Assuming I am, does that mean that the summoned monsters are in some way "avatars" rather than the actual creature? I think I'm also right that the situation for creatures called using planar binding or planar ally spells is different and that if killed whilst on the material plane, such creatures are really "killed". Again, have I got this right? Is there a source somewhere that explains all this? Thanks.

Hi James, If a drow vampire of House Shraen had a child by a human female, the result would, I presume, be a half-drow dhampir. To stat such a "creature" would you stat it as a half-elf and then apply the dhampir template to the half-elf? I'm assuming you have to do this in two steps because otherwise a dhampir born of a human vampire would be identical to one born of a drow vampire - or is that the intention?

Timothy Ferdinand wrote:

Hi James - I wonder if you could illuminate me - there are plenty of references (in adventure paths, etc) to boggards, goblins and marsh giants living in the Mushfens, but do lizardfolk and bog striders also live there?

There are some lizardfolk living in the Mushfens. Not a LOT, but enough to justify them showing up in an adventure.

There are no bog striders there. Bog striders are pretty rare—they live only in the swamps and marshes of the River Kingdom region.

Thanks James, two further questions on the Mushfens, do Vodyanoi live there and do Sea Hags ever live in freshwater lakes/meres (of the type you might find in the Mushfens).

Hi James - I wonder if you could illuminate me - there are plenty of references (in adventure paths, etc) to boggards, goblins and marsh giants living in the Mushfens, but do lizardfolk and bog striders also live there?

Hi James - I think I am correct to say that the Mushfens in Varisia is in fact a swamp (ie a flooded forest). Assuming I'm right, would the Great Dismal Swamp in Virginia/Carolina be a good comparable? I need to try to give my players an idea of what it looks/feels like.

Hi James: My question relates to the Harrow Deck. As the Varisians were (long ago) slaves of the Thassilonian Empire, would it be correct to assume that the Harrow Deck has its origins in Thassilon and that the cards may have some deeper significance than simply in fortune telling? Just as the Tarot is now believed to have been a means to hide a heretical Christian message during a time of persecution in the middle ages, with the cards representing specific concepts. Was the Harrow Deck originally some way for the slave peoples who became the Varisians to hand down their beliefs or history in a hidden code to avoid persecution by their Thassilonian masters - or am I just being way to complicated?

Any chance we will see stats for Calistria's "vengeance demons" - I think one or more may have been called Velvet Wing?

I'm trying to come up with some names for drow npcs - I have looked at all the drow sources of which I'm aware, but can't find a system for generating drow names specific to pathfinder/golarion - do you have any suggestions? Is there a source I could use which would be suitable for a Golarion based campaign?

First up, just got my PDFs of RotRAE, Blood of Angels and Magnimar. Really great products Next off, apart from the brief reference in Book of the Damned, Lords of Chaos, is there any other information on the nascent demon lord Shamira? If so where should I be looking. If not, are there any plans to cover her in more detail? I know it's rumoured she is related to Sarenrae in some way, but she also seems similar (or at least her unholy symbol does!) to a Peri. Is she a fallen angel?

Question relates to the Balefire revelation for an Oracle of the Outer Rifts (Inner Sea Magic page 31). It states that a target of Balefire takes half damage if the target succeeds in a Reflex Save - how do you calculate the DC for that Reflex Save - I assume its based on the Oracle's level plus charisma modifier in some way?

Where would I find rules covering the construction costs for buildings, fortifications, etc and where would I find rules for the costs of running a small town?

Hi James - I presume that the half-fiend witch Areelu Vorlesh referred to in the Lost Kingdoms (great new product :o) by the way!) campaign setting page 45 and in the Inner Sea World Guide page 199 is the the same as the demon witch Vahedifar Ayeshalmoutey referred to in the old 3.5 Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting product on page 151? What lies behind the name change and the demotion from demon to half-fiend?

Hi James, this may be an old question, but why are tieflings with an abyssal heritage known as "pitborn" (see Blood of Fiends) when the term "pit" is a name usually associated with Hell (as in Pit Fiend and all the references in Book of the Damned: Princes of Darkness)?

haunted crypts, fane of the serpent fiend, dust of the darklands :o)

bard
summoner
oracle

Do any of the existing rule books contain details of the age ranges for non-core races (for example, do tieflings live longer than humans?). If not, with the new Advanced Race Guide contain this information?

It seems odd, but the way I read the demonhide revelation entry in the Inner Sea Magic guide, although this results in the flesh becoming as "tough as a demon's hide", it seems to grant an armour bonus, rather than a natural armour bonus. Have I understood correctly? If that is correct, then I assume it doesn't stack with armour worn?

It seems odd, but the way I read the demonhide revelation entry in the Inner Sea Magic guide, although this results in the flesh becoming as "tough as a demon's hide", it seems to grant an armour bonus, rather than a natural armour bonus. Have I understood correctly?

Osirion or Katapesh.....PLEEEAASE!

Half-fiends are not really all that appropriate as a player option. They're too strong. Too powerful. They're intended to be monsters. And in fact, Tieflings are very much intended to scratch the itch for players who want to play fiends or half fiends.

If we ever DO do something about half fiends... it'll be in the context of a GM book. Like one of the Books of the Damned.

I'm not a huge fan, in any event, of doing a half fiend specialized for every fiend. Not only because we publish fiends so often that any attempt we make to categorized that level of detail will be out of date in months, but also because not all fiends are or should be interested or are even capable of procreating.

I completely agree - half fiends are much better as "monsters" than as PCs, but my issue lies in the fact that as you point out, many fiends are unlikely or incapable of reproducing - the ones that are (succubus, incubus, etc) don't really seem to line up well with the half fiend template - would the child of a succubus really have the features of the half fiend template? I know that the Moonscar module is likely to cover half fiend succubi, so perhaps thats the way forward - deal with this issue as it arises in APs and Modules. Thanks anyway.

Hi James - I love Blood of Fiends, but was a tiny bit disappointed there was no expansion on half fiends. This is not a criticism, but I feel the template in Bestiary 1 is a bit of a one-size-fits-all. Are there any plans to expand the template to allow for different half fiends based on the fiendish parent - obviously you couldn't provide a template for every fiendish parent, but equally obviously some fiends seem far more likely to father half fiends than others - just as you have pitborn, etc for tieflings, do you have any plans to have variations for half fiend incubus, half fiend bearded devil, half fiend pariaka, etc. For example, the half fiend child of an incubus gets wings, but the half fiend child of a bearded devil does not. The +4/+2 bonuses on ability scores might line up with the fiendish parent's strong/week ability scores and the powers at each two levels could be varied to reflect those of the fiendish parent (for an incubus, 1-2HD: charm person, 3-4HD: detect thoughts, 5-6HD: suggestion, 7-8HD: crushing despair, etc). I think this would make for a much more interesting and variable series of half fiends, making them much less "predictable", whilst at the same time keeping to the "spirit" of the half fiend template in Bestiary 1. Any plans?

I have enforced a series of changes to the half fiend template in my campaign to reflect the fiendish parent. For example, the half fiend child of an incubus gets wings, but the half fiend child of a bearded devil does not. I have also ruled that the +4/+2 bonuses on ability scores must line up with the fiendish parent and that the powers at each two levels are changed to reflect those of the fiendish parent (for an incubus, 1-2HD: charm person, 3-4HD: detect thoughts, 5-6HD: suggestion, 7-8HD: crushing despair, etc. It has made for a much more interesting and variable series of half fiends, making them much less "predictable". whilstb at the same time keeping to the "spirit" of the half fiend template in Bestiary 1. It has also allowed players to play certain types of half fiend as PCs - though I've made some house rules to prevent such PCs becoming overpowered - I increased the experience points required to level up for half fiends to reflect the fact that they also have to learn to master their new powers. Further, I insisted all half fiend PCs start as 1st level NPC classes (warrior, aristocrat, etc).

Next time I'd love to see catfolk or drow.

on a separate note - are half fiends and half celestials going to be covered in the guide?

Torag: Well, Bob, you are in luck today. Here you go, have a mass inflict moderate wounds on me.

:)

Master Arminas

you beat me to it.....but you make my point on logic very well - the truth is that the confusion lies in the idea (inadvertently encouraged by the limits on the channel energy ability) that positive energy is good and negative energy is bad. This is of course not the case, rather it is the use you put positive or negative energy to, which is good or evil. A good cleric could cast mass inflict wounds to heal damage to an army of undead - in most cases that would be unlikely to be an act of "good" and presumably a GM would deal with such an act accordingly. So the reality is that good and evil clerics can use spells which channel positive and negative energy (provided the use them for the right purpose - or the GM will impose consequences) - its a pity (from a logic point of view) that the game designers didn't take the same approach with the channel energy ability and allow good and evil clerics access to both positive and negative energy - leaving the GM to adjudge whether they were using it in a manner fitting their alignment and imposing consequences if they misused it.

like I said, its good for the game that evil clerics can heal, but it is NOT logical that a good cleric can't (and he can't - that much is clear) channel negative energy to inflict wounds on his enemies using the channel energy ability, but he can channel negative energy through a spell to inflict wounds on his enemies. I don't see how anyone can argue that is a logical position. I suspect the problem is that in designing the cure spells, the game designers should have avoided the concept that they involved channeling positive energy and instead focused on them being some form of "transmutation" of the flesh or "conjuration" of new repaired flesh. Anyway, the important thing is that whatever the logic, evil clerics can cure - so thanks for the feedback.

Thanks for the quick replies - whilst I'm delighted from a game mechanics point of view that evil clerics seem (based on your views) to be able to cast heal spells, I remain confused by the logic - in the Cleric section of the core rule book it clearly states (under the explanation of "channel energy") that: "a good cleric (or one who worships a good deity) channels positive energy". The cure light wounds spell states "you channel positive energy that cures...." there seems a logical flaw if a cleric's spells and powers are derived from his/her deity and a good deity gives the ability to channel only positive energy, an evil deity giving the power to channel only negative energy - how can an evil deity suddenly give an evil cleric the positive energy channeling needed to cast cure light wounds. As I said, if the consensus is that this is possible, I think that is helpful from a game mechanics perspective as otherwise evil parties have a VERY severe disadvantage, but logically it doesn't seem to stack up - perhaps I'm being too pedantic :o)

....I'm relatively new to the game and my group has a question: cure spells specifically (description of cure light wounds in the Core Rule Book) state that they involve the use of positive energy. Evil clerics seem barred from the use of positive energy (is this correct? - certainly is for channeling powers), so does that mean that an evil cleric cannot cast cure light wounds, for example?

First off, Bestiary 3 is fantastic, thanks so much, all the monsters I was hoping to see! Next a question which may be dumb, in which case my apology: I think I am correct to assume that demons are effectively "immortal". As a "half fiend" is half demon crossed with some other race/species, what would the life expectancy of a half fiend be? For example, would a half fiend/half human (1) be immortal, (2) have a normal human life expectancy or (3) have some extended life expectancy? I note that a nephilim (half god/half human) lives for up to 600 years, so would a half fiend/half human live a similar lifespan? thanks

That is indeed something that has been asked before; the equator runs somewhat to the south of the area shown on the Inner Sea Region maps.

The closest we've been given to a world map so far is this (the proportions are a bit off, I seem to recall), which some crafty half-elf managed to liberate from the vaults of Cheliax.

That's really helpful, thanks. So someone standing in the brazen peaks (northern Katapesh) would see the sun to the south - right?

No doubt this question has been asked before, but where is the equator in Golarion? I can't see it on the maps of the inner sea region. the reason I ask is because I want to know whether the sun would be in the northern sky or the southern sky in Katapesh. thanks and apologies if this has been asked before or if I'm just missing something obvious.

It has been answered before, but the short answer is that we don't want to bloat the summon spells with too many options. That makes choosing monsters harder, for one (which slows down play), and not all monsters have powers that are balanced or fair for use. And we don't like setting the precedent that every time a new monster gets published, we have to essentially errata the summon spells.

Summon monster remains viable and useful and cool even if it DOESN'T get power/option creep from new monsters. The summon spells do have CR breakdowns similar to what you've noticed, but that doesn't mean that every creature of a certain CR is appropriate to be summoned, either from a game balance or a game flavor standpoint.

What you'll see us doing instead is inventing NEW spells that summon monsters from beyond the Bestiary now and then. "Rival Guide" has a couple that summon new devils, for example.

We also provide some slight customizations to the summon monster lists depending on the deity you worship—these customizations appear in the articles about the gods we print in every 2nd and 5th Adventure Path installment, and are available to any priest of that deity ("priest" being any worshiper of that deity... NOT just a cleric).

Thanks James, that makes complete sense to me. apologies for asking a question you've already answered.

First off, I absolutely love Ultimate Magic and the Rival Guide is a masterpiece. Thanks so much, I'm buzzing!!

A question on the Summon Monster spell - apologies if this has been asked before. As there are many new monsters since the Core Rule Book was published and as the Summon Monster spell is pretty important to the Summoner class, I am trying to update the list of monsters which can be summoned for each level of the spell. Would I be correct to assume that:

Summon monster I - summons CR1/2
Summon monster II - summons CR1
Summon monster III - summons CR2
Summon Monster IV - summons CR3 AND CR4
Summon Monster V - summons CR5 AND CR6

So for Summon Monster III, I could add Cacodaemon, Cythnigot, Doru (Div)?

For Summon Monster IV, I could add Gaav (lesser host devil), Yaenit, Vermlek, Accuser, Ukobach, Barghest and Howler?

Chances are very good that we'll get around to doing an official Pathfinder RPG incubus at some point in the future, and chances are very good that will end up being some sort of cross between the Green Ronin version and the Dragon #353 version.

Thanks, James, that is exactly what I needed to know. I'll work on that basis.

Hi James, I need rules for an incubus and I'm stumped - do I use the rules in Green Ronin's Book of Fiends, or the rules in Dragon Magazine No.353 or do I just use the succubus rules in PFRPG Bestiary I and change the gender to male? As the villain concerned is likely to be around in my game for some time, I'd hate to use the wrong rules and then have Paizo publish a different set in Bestiary III or IV which might rather throw things!! Thanks for a fantastic game by the way - hours of fun!!

running a campaign which includes a series of large skirmishes and I wondered if there were any rules published for Pathfinder to cover such large scale combat situations?

many thanks

in the table on page 59 of the Advanced Players Guide, there is a reference to an Eidolon gaining a bonus feat at 9th level. this is referred to as "Multiattack". now this question may have been asked before and/or I may simply be dumb, but I cannot find "Multiattack" amongst the feats in the Core Rulebook or in the Advanced Players Guide.

Can someone please tell me where to find details of this feat?