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Dark Archive

James what would a very wealthy merchant need to do in order to make a new town in Cheliax?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Secane wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:

1) She'd approve of it, and would hope that the pit fiend would be willing to forsake his/her evil ways to be with the solar. If the reverse were true, she'd likely let the solar go evil, but with the understanding that this is the solar's one out, and next time their paths cross... well... just don't let their paths cross.

2) Yes. Most outsiders can have children.

3) Yes, it's possible for a demon or devil or whatever to be fully redeemed. Which is exactly what happens in Wrath of the Righteous. It's not common, though. The more often it happens, the more it lessens the event.

1) So what changes would a redeemed demon/devil have in appearance? Fallen angels or their descendants seems to go black feather wings or bat winged, example Erinyes. What would a redeemed pit fiend look like? (Not asking for fix definitions, just what possible changes would fit a redeemed devil/outsider.) Would they look more human? Painted in white? Drapped in gold? Have all their scales become flower petals?

2) What would the child of an angel-devil/demon union be/look like?
The only example I got is Ragathiel, but his mom is a goddess and his dad was possibly an ex-angel-like-being.

3) How could I hint to my players that an outsider NPC (quest giver) may be unusual, like being an angel-devil hybrid, without the party just asking for a knowledge roll?

1) Redeemed outsiders/fallen outsiders are all unique. We toyed at one point with an idea for doing them as a template, but swiftly abandoned that for two reasons—it would imply that they're common enough to warrant a template (they're not) and it would limit creativity unless the template was dozens of pages long. These creatures should be entirely hand-crafted, with the situation of their rise or fall playing into any changes to their appearance... if any at all. ANYTHING is possible.

2) A hybrid between its parents. It'd essentially be a half-celestial or a half-fiend, so those templates give you some indications of what the child would look like.

3) By description. Describe the angel as having glowing red eyes, perhaps, or the devil as having a halo. But please do NOT neglect the Knowledge check. That's the whole point of the game. It's not your players encountering the creature, remember, but your players' characters, and to try to trick a player with something that his character would or could know is just as bad as penalizing a string-bean arms player of a barbarian by saying "You the player can't smash this door, so your Strength 30 barbarian can't either."

Paizo Employee Creative Director

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Myth Lord wrote:

James, please poor the Bestiary 5 (When it is coming out) full of Native American creatures! (like Haietlik, tsemaus, acheri, amhuluk, uktena, gaasyendietha, ahkiyyini, binaye-ahani, yeitso, djieien, hinqumemen, mahaha, mishibishiw, nalusa falaya) If there is one mythology-group that is kinda lacking in the bestiaries its Native Americans!

Can we expect some Native American creatures soon in AP's or other products?

What do you think about Native American mythology creatures?

You can expect Native American creatures to continue appearing now and then in our products. We've done plenty already, in fact, and will continue to do so. My personal favorite is the wendigo.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

xavier c wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
xavier c wrote:

In another thread you said

"as a chaotic neutral worshiper of a neutral evil deity... Damiel is likely setting himself up for a VERY unpleasant time in the afterlife. Here's hoping he either goes full neutral evil before he dies (and thus earns a good role in the Norgorberian afterlife) or changes religions (and thus escapes an unpleasant afterlife of punishment for being a poor worshiper of Norgorber)!"

So excluding the soul fusing with Shelyn's realm.

What role would a Lawful neutral worshiper of Shelyn have in the afterlife?

Probably a desolate, lonely one.

so they would live in the hinterlands/desolate areas of her realm?

So what type of outsider would they become?

They would probably live in desolate areas, yes, or might even be consigned to Hell or somewhere else unpleasant, depending on how wrong they lived their life (and living a life as a lawful neutral Shelynite IS pretty wrong).

They likely would NOT become bigger outsiders, ever. They'd stay petitioners until they died or were absorbed by the plane. Which in the case of being tormented in Hell... might be forever.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Gwendolyn O'Callan wrote:

Hello James! :)

I am just wondering two things that are becoming important in my campaign.

1. Can drow mothers (not matrons) feel something like motherly love? As in, they don't kill a neutral or good child just because it's their own child?

2. Are Nocticula and Socothbenoth somehow connected to Calistria? My player(who plays a half drow-half elf) just told me that he is suspicious of the pointy ears of the demon lords and that they both got the domain of lust.
I really don't believe so. But as the female drow/elf PC is a strong believer of Calistria but seemingly blessed by Nocitcula she is very confused now, hahaha!

Just want to hear your opinion. :)

Thank you for answering these questions from everyone all the time!

~Gwen

1) They can, yes. Most do not.

2) Up to you in your game. In canon, we've not put out any specific hints as to a relationship there... but they DO have a few superficial similarities, hmm? Very interesting!

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Guang wrote:

Two questions today:

Is the Storm Tyrant's flying cloud castle Skyborne Keep?

Has "the pit" in the Sandpoint hinterlands ever had a map, detailed description, or adventure done for it, official or otherwise? The one in which the Sandpoint devil lairs, with a ghoul temple, goblins, derro, gremlins, dark folk, and troglodytes? If not, is there any desire or plans to write it up eventually?

Nope, it's not Skyborne Keep. It's a different castle. I've never been satisfied with our several attempts to provide a full-on map of a cloud castle; they've either been too small, too plain, or just missing entirely. With the last Giantslayer adventure, I hope to rectify that and present a very robust and interesting flying castle map.

The Pit was the focus of a campaign I ran here in the office for folks. So yes indeed the region has maps and detailed descriptions; the campaign ran from 1st level to about 10th or level, with the Pit being the primary dungeon that the PCs explored the whole time. I would love at some point to publish it as an adventure, but getting the time to write it up is tricky, when I'm constantly being called upon to do other things for Paizo and Pathfinder. Maybe someday...

Paizo Employee Creative Director

The NPC wrote:

Mr. James Jacobs,

If one of the Orc demigods found one of their worshipers was receiving mythic power from a non aligned source would they take it personally and/or see the person as a threat? If so would they seek to destroy said person?

Depends on the god. Some would. Some would encourage the worshiper to build power so they'd gain a new ally. Some wouldn't care either way. It'd all depend on the kind of story you wanted to tell, which deity was being worshiped, and what sort of worshiper was going mythic.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

ulgulanoth wrote:
James what would a very wealthy merchant need to do in order to make a new town in Cheliax?

Support of House Thrune. Support of the Church of Cheliax. A lot of charisma and allies. A big pile of money and resources. The further off from Lawful Evil said merchant is, the more difficult/impossible the task becomes.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, LO Special Edition, PF Special Edition Subscriber

Heya. In the technology guide is it intended that craft cybernetics is necessary to install cybernetics? There is no mention of it outside of the feat.


Kobolds are bestest! Which Kobold is scary lizard man's favoritist?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

4d6 Kobolds wrote:
Kobolds are bestest! Which Kobold is scary lizard man's favoritist?

Kobolds who wear hoods are the best.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Belenus36 wrote:
Heya. In the technology guide is it intended that craft cybernetics is necessary to install cybernetics? There is no mention of it outside of the feat.

To install cybernetics you only need a Heal check.


James Jacobs wrote:
Gwendolyn O'Callan wrote:

Hello James! :)

I am just wondering two things that are becoming important in my campaign.

1. Can drow mothers (not matrons) feel something like motherly love? As in, they don't kill a neutral or good child just because it's their own child?

2. Are Nocticula and Socothbenoth somehow connected to Calistria? My player(who plays a half drow-half elf) just told me that he is suspicious of the pointy ears of the demon lords and that they both got the domain of lust.
I really don't believe so. But as the female drow/elf PC is a strong believer of Calistria but seemingly blessed by Nocitcula she is very confused now, hahaha!

Just want to hear your opinion. :)

Thank you for answering these questions from everyone all the time!

~Gwen

1) They can, yes. Most do not.

2) Up to you in your game. In canon, we've not put out any specific hints as to a relationship there... but they DO have a few superficial similarities, hmm? Very interesting!

Thank you for the answers!

1. That is what I was thinking, excellent!

2. Alright, just wanted to check if there is something canon I overlooked. I will definetly keep on confusing that poor PC on where her divine powers come from ;)

~Gwen

RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 32

Hi James!

Is there any sort of occurrence in Golarion where constructs have gained intelligence spontaneously?

Are there moral and ethical concerns about making constructs intelligent that are argued by scholars in Golarion?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

1 person marked this as a favorite.
theheadkase wrote:

Hi James!

Is there any sort of occurrence in Golarion where constructs have gained intelligence spontaneously?

Are there moral and ethical concerns about making constructs intelligent that are argued by scholars in Golarion?

Yes.

There are!

Silver Crusade

James Jacobs wrote:
theheadkase wrote:

Hi James!

Is there any sort of occurrence in Golarion where constructs have gained intelligence spontaneously?

Are there moral and ethical concerns about making constructs intelligent that are argued by scholars in Golarion?

Yes.

There are!

Hmm, I take from the ! that you are particularly interested in this line of questioning?


Hi James,

I received Rule of Fear for Christmas and was intrigued by Ruwido (the village in the Virlych region of Ustalav that is the home to outcasts and the monstrously deformed). Is Ruwido mentioned in any modules or APs? If not, are there any plans to do something with it?

Thanks for your insight.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Rysky wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
theheadkase wrote:

Hi James!

Is there any sort of occurrence in Golarion where constructs have gained intelligence spontaneously?

Are there moral and ethical concerns about making constructs intelligent that are argued by scholars in Golarion?

Yes.

There are!

Hmm, I take from the ! that you are particularly interested in this line of questioning?

I'm interested in the concept, but not really ready to speak publicly about it.

Dark Archive

Hi James, couple of questions...

Which TSR/WotC published adventure is your favorite?

Which Dungeon Magazine adventure is your favorite?

Which TSR/WotC published campaign setting is your favorite? Also, if WotC had let you (Paizo) own it when took back Dungeon, would you rather have used that one over building your own world for Pathfinder?

It bothers you when people ask you things that aren't really questions?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Bragol wrote:

Hi James,

I received Rule of Fear for Christmas and was intrigued by Ruwido (the village in the Virlych region of Ustalav that is the home to outcasts and the monstrously deformed). Is Ruwido mentioned in any modules or APs? If not, are there any plans to do something with it?

Thanks for your insight.

I don't think we've done much with it, no. I wasn't heavily involved with Rule of Fear or Carrion Crown beyond the 1st adventure though, so I can't say for sure. Wes and Rob would be better folks to ask for sure.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Atrocious wrote:

Hi James, couple of questions...

Which TSR/WotC published adventure is your favorite?

Which Dungeon Magazine adventure is your favorite?

Which TSR/WotC published campaign setting is your favorite? Also, if WotC had let you (Paizo) own it when took back Dungeon, would you rather have used that one over building your own world for Pathfinder?

It bothers you when people ask you things that aren't really questions?

Queen of the Spiders.

Enemy of my Enemy ties with Whispering Cairn.

Greyhawk. And no, I've pretty much done what I wanted to do with Greyhawk in Dungeon Magazine, Dungeon Master's Guide II, or Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk. Seeing significant portions of my homebrew setting get out into the public in the form of Golairon is MUCH more satisfying and exciting to me.

Yes.

Silver Crusade

James Jacobs wrote:
Rysky wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
theheadkase wrote:

Hi James!

Is there any sort of occurrence in Golarion where constructs have gained intelligence spontaneously?

Are there moral and ethical concerns about making constructs intelligent that are argued by scholars in Golarion?

Yes.

There are!

Hmm, I take from the ! that you are particularly interested in this line of questioning?
I'm interested in the concept, but not really ready to speak publicly about it.

Double hmm...

RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 32

James Jacobs wrote:
Rysky wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
theheadkase wrote:

Hi James!

Is there any sort of occurrence in Golarion where constructs have gained intelligence spontaneously?

Are there moral and ethical concerns about making constructs intelligent that are argued by scholars in Golarion?

Yes.

There are!

Hmm, I take from the ! that you are particularly interested in this line of questioning?
I'm interested in the concept, but not really ready to speak publicly about it.

Thanks for the answer James! It is a topic I am interested both in real life and in gaming.


James Jacobs wrote:


The Pit was the focus of a campaign I ran here in the office for folks. So yes indeed the region has maps and detailed descriptions; the campaign ran from 1st level to about 10th or level, with the Pit being the primary dungeon that the PCs explored the whole time. I would love at some point to publish it as an adventure, but getting the time to write it up is tricky, when I'm constantly being called upon to do other things for Paizo and Pathfinder. Maybe someday...

Wow! It exists! But it'll be forever till I get it. Feeling very conflicted right now. When did you run it? What was the starting level? Who put up/maintains the rope ladders? How deep does it go? Is there any way to see some of your maps/notes?

Radiant Oath

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber

Are there ways a person may take the Lore Warden archetype or Student of War prestige class without getting involved with the Pathfinders? The books these are in will give the impression that the training that produces these kinds of adventurers is almost exclusively a monopoly of the Society.

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

James, are there any domains you wish could be rewritten to fit in with the Golarion pantheon better? Like the death domain for Pharasma?

Did you ever consider making domains for the 7 virtues of rule/mortal sins? Or perhaps make the sins subdomains of the virtues?


James Jacobs wrote:
Analysis wrote:

Do you have any recommendations for what a Divine Obedience feat for Yog-Sothoth should be like? E.g. the rituals called for, the boons bestowed (or which major deities inspiration for said boons could be drawn from)?

Also, do you have any suggestions for Planar Ally options for Yog-Sothoth?

Happy New Year! :)

I kinda like the idea that the Great Old Ones and Outer Gods DON'T reward worshipers with boons, frankly.

And they likely wouldn't really have any one planar ally option either. They're very much Material Plane creatures. Which argues further for us to have new spells that are akin to planar ally but for non-extraplanar creatures...

Thanks, this makes sense! :)

1. Then what about them having Mortal Heralds (as per Mythic Origins)? Randolph Carter post Gate of the Silver Key seems a little like one, having pacted personally with Umr at Tawl (sp?), as does Keziah Mason hanging out with the Black Man. Would it be at least rarer than for more approachable deities?

2. When the Old Cults are referred to as "Old,what cultures does that hearken back to? Ancient Kellid of Ustalav? Or much older? I guess I wonder, which historical periods and geographic regions were Tapestry worship hotspots that present day cultists inherited from?

3. Can non-Mi-Go build their tech if taught or are their unique physiologies required?

4. For the new types of summoning/binding you suggest, any of chance of this for Occult Adventures?

Happy 2015! :)


James,

With all the new things that have been released since, do you ever feel it was premature to call the hardcovers focusing on magic and combat "Ultimate?"

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Guang wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:


The Pit was the focus of a campaign I ran here in the office for folks. So yes indeed the region has maps and detailed descriptions; the campaign ran from 1st level to about 10th or level, with the Pit being the primary dungeon that the PCs explored the whole time. I would love at some point to publish it as an adventure, but getting the time to write it up is tricky, when I'm constantly being called upon to do other things for Paizo and Pathfinder. Maybe someday...
Wow! It exists! But it'll be forever till I get it. Feeling very conflicted right now. When did you run it? What was the starting level? Who put up/maintains the rope ladders? How deep does it go? Is there any way to see some of your maps/notes?

I started running it several years ago... don't know exactly how many. The PCs all started at 1st level. Today, they're all 16th level and tier 1 characters who are most of the way through "Necropolis."

I also ran a much-shortened version of the Pit for a Paizocon Game 3 or 4 years ago.

At this point, I don't want to get too much into the details of the site, since I could indeed write for pages and pages about it, and this isn't the place to put that stuff out there. None of the maps or notes are public at this point, although there WAS a player journal of the game around these boards somewhere...

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Archpaladin Zousha wrote:
Are there ways a person may take the Lore Warden archetype or Student of War prestige class without getting involved with the Pathfinders? The books these are in will give the impression that the training that produces these kinds of adventurers is almost exclusively a monopoly of the Society.

Those are indeed Pathfinder prestige classes and archetypes. Prestige classes and archetypes are, in my opinion, enhanced by tying them to organizations or in-world things like this. That DOES put limitations on who can access them, but that, in my opinion, is a good thing, since it gives those things much more weight and gives the character who takes them a lot more personality and story.

Of course, your GM is free to waive those elements as he/she wishes.

But as written, you have to be a Pathfinder to get them, yes.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Thomas LeBlanc wrote:

James, are there any domains you wish could be rewritten to fit in with the Golarion pantheon better? Like the death domain for Pharasma?

Did you ever consider making domains for the 7 virtues of rule/mortal sins? Or perhaps make the sins subdomains of the virtues?

Yes, and in fact the Death domain HAS been rewritten for Golarion.

I also wish we had a full on Moon domain.

And I also wish the Law, Evil, Good, and Chaos domains weren't so dry and boring and repetitive.

Never considered making the sins/virtues into domains, for 2 reasons:
1) Backwards compatibility with 3.5 already had us pretty full of domains, and adding 14 more would have been WAY too much.
2) We'd already done plenty with sins and virtues.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Analysis wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Analysis wrote:

Do you have any recommendations for what a Divine Obedience feat for Yog-Sothoth should be like? E.g. the rituals called for, the boons bestowed (or which major deities inspiration for said boons could be drawn from)?

Also, do you have any suggestions for Planar Ally options for Yog-Sothoth?

Happy New Year! :)

I kinda like the idea that the Great Old Ones and Outer Gods DON'T reward worshipers with boons, frankly.

And they likely wouldn't really have any one planar ally option either. They're very much Material Plane creatures. Which argues further for us to have new spells that are akin to planar ally but for non-extraplanar creatures...

Thanks, this makes sense! :)

1. Then what about them having Mortal Heralds (as per Mythic Origins)? Randolph Carter post Gate of the Silver Key seems a little like one, having pacted personally with Umr at Tawl (sp?), as does Keziah Mason hanging out with the Black Man. Would it be at least rarer than for more approachable deities?

2. When the Old Cults are referred to as "Old,what cultures does that hearken back to? Ancient Kellid of Ustalav? Or much older? I guess I wonder, which historical periods and geographic regions were Tapestry worship hotspots that present day cultists inherited from?

3. Can non-Mi-Go build their tech if taught or are their unique physiologies required?

4. For the new types of summoning/binding you suggest, any of chance of this for Occult Adventures?

Happy 2015! :)

1) I wouldn't call Randolph Carter a Mortal Herald at all. And Keziah's Black Man IS Nyarlathotep, not a herald. They don't have heralds really at all, which further helps to make them more alien and set them apart more from the rest of divinity, which is a good thing.

2) Cultures that are old. It's deliberately vague, and deliberately doesn't nail down a year, because it varies and includes stuff from the Ancient Kellids of Ustalav all the way back to pre-human cultists in the Age of Serpents or before.

3) Not really. Allowing non-mi-go to build those things dilutes and normalizes their tech and makes it more mundane, and that's a shame. Someone COULD figure out how to build it, but it would and should cost a significant portion of that person's mind, sanity, and humanity to gain that skill.

4) We'll see.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

The Golux wrote:

James,

With all the new things that have been released since, do you ever feel it was premature to call the hardcovers focusing on magic and combat "Ultimate?"

Nope. It's not really "ultimate" as "final," but "ultimate" as in "largest," pretty much.

Silver Crusade

James, from where does the Fungus Queen's tentacle originate?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

The Fox wrote:
James, from where does the Fungus Queen's tentacle originate?

They're basically her legs. They dig and wind through the ground in which she grows, and can emerge from her base or extend out to attack via a sporepod.

RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16

Hey James,

Any particular reason there hasn't been any new web fiction on the website for a couple of months? Paizo used to be pretty regular about posting that stuff.

Or was the last one simply lead in for a book that hasn't come about, or something? (I don't know if the protagonist 'knight' was involved in a novel or not).

Also, wasn't the village of Ruwido in the first Count Jeggare book?

Lastly, FYI, the themes of risen devils is dealt with extensively in the Redemption Engine from Paizo. One of the primary contacts is a risen devil.

==Aelryinth

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Aelryinth wrote:

Hey James,

Any particular reason there hasn't been any new web fiction on the website for a couple of months? Paizo used to be pretty regular about posting that stuff.

Or was the last one simply lead in for a book that hasn't come about, or something? (I don't know if the protagonist 'knight' was involved in a novel or not).

Also, wasn't the village of Ruwido in the first Count Jeggare book?

Lastly, FYI, the themes of risen devils is dealt with extensively in the Redemption Engine from Paizo. One of the primary contacts is a risen devil.

==Aelryinth

There is indeed a particular reason—the addition of extra hardcover books and extra card games and extra novels and extra pathfinder scenarios pretty much meant that some things had to give.

I'm not sure about Ruwido, actually... I'm not super involved in the nitty-gritty of the fiction line; that's a James Sutter or Chris Carey question.

And yeah, I do know about the risen devils in Redemption Engine. Sutter and I had long talks about that while he was working on the novel.

Radiant Oath

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber
James Jacobs wrote:
Archpaladin Zousha wrote:
Are there ways a person may take the Lore Warden archetype or Student of War prestige class without getting involved with the Pathfinders? The books these are in will give the impression that the training that produces these kinds of adventurers is almost exclusively a monopoly of the Society.

Those are indeed Pathfinder prestige classes and archetypes. Prestige classes and archetypes are, in my opinion, enhanced by tying them to organizations or in-world things like this. That DOES put limitations on who can access them, but that, in my opinion, is a good thing, since it gives those things much more weight and gives the character who takes them a lot more personality and story.

Of course, your GM is free to waive those elements as he/she wishes.

But as written, you have to be a Pathfinder to get them, yes.

I agree, though that means the concept I had in mind won't quite work. Second Darkness doesn't really have a strong Pathfinder presence.

Speaking of which, if my math is right, Second Darkness' events take place chronologically AFTER Koriah Azmeren's big reveal of the drow in Volume 44 of the Pathfinder Chronicles and Kyonin's failed bribery attempt to cover it up, by at least a year (Volume 44 being released in 4707 AR, and Second Darkness beginning in 4708 AR, if the trend of APs beginning in the Golarion year that corresponds to their real-world publishing date holds true). How, as a GM, do you maintain the surprise and mystery surrounding the drow that's crucial to Second Darkness' plot if an exposé on their existence and culture has already been circulating for at least a year?

And also, would a half-elf have the same emotional and thematic connection a Forlorn full-blooded elf might have to Second Darkness' plot? Or would their humanness dilute that connection?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Archpaladin Zousha wrote:

I agree, though that means the concept I had in mind won't quite work. Second Darkness doesn't really have a strong Pathfinder presence.

Speaking of which, if my math is right, Second Darkness' events take place chronologically AFTER Koriah Azmeren's big reveal of the drow in Volume 44 of the Pathfinder Chronicles and Kyonin's failed bribery attempt to cover it up, by at least a year (Volume 44 being released in 4707 AR, and Second Darkness beginning in 4708 AR, if the trend of APs beginning in the Golarion year that corresponds to their real-world publishing date holds true). How, as a GM, do you maintain the surprise and mystery surrounding the drow that's crucial to Second Darkness' plot if an exposé on their existence and culture has already been circulating for at least a year?

And also, would a half-elf have the same emotional and thematic connection a Forlorn full-blooded elf might have to Second Darkness' plot? Or would their humanness dilute that connection?

Koriah's reveal is indeed something that, in world, happens before Second Darkness. Not LONG before, but before.

One thing that folks often miss is that in-world, the Pathfinder Chronicles are often not regarded as 100% factual. There have been exaggerations in them before, and even outright lies. Before Second Darkness, people HAVE heard about the drow, but only as spooky stories or fairy tales or the like, and Koriah's entries in Volume 44 were mostly taken in that regard—as fantasy, not non-fiction.

As detailed on page 59 of Shattered Star #4, the publication of her findings in the Darklands in Volume 44 were immediately embroiled in scandal because of its revelations regarding the drow. The Winter Council attempted to bribe the Pathfinder Society to suppress the volume, but even though the society refused the bribes and published the volume, the public largely interpreted her work as fanciful fiction and lies. Something that really annoyed Koriah at the time, and was one of the reasons she continued to explore the Darklands to try to find more information and proof.

Indeed, if I were to redo Second Darkness today, I'd have Koriah play a role in that campaign; she'd be an NPC the PCs could meet along the way while she's trying to research more proof about the drow.

Anyway, there's a little more information about all that in Pathfinder #64 for the GM who wants to handle that element. The fact that drow are a part of Golarion is no longer really a surprise to anyone though, frankly, but that's fine. That's not the surprise that players were expected to be shocked by in Second Darkness at all ... it's where the drow came from that was supposed to be the surprise.

A half-elf can certainly have a similar or same connection to the plot as a full elf, in any event.


Dear James

1) Since you set it straight that fey do have souls of a sort, I was wondering if a fey worships a being or god that is not one of the Eldest, are their souls sent to the Outer Planes upon death rather than the First World?

2) Exactly what happens to the souls of non fey worshipers of the Eldest? Are they sent to the First World and may eventually become fey?

3) How do outsiders and the gods view aberrations? Are they just considered mortals like humanoids and such, even the technically immortal ones such as the aboleths?

4) Aside from the xill and phase spiders, are there any other major powers or oddities in the Ethereal Plane?

5) Last question,exactly how would a CN cleric of Desna behave? Or a NE one of Pharasma? Desna seems so committed to goodness that I find it hard for her to accept a non-good worshiper. And while I know Pharasma is a pretty impartial person,I find a hard time imagining what an evil worshiper of her would act like.

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Re: Adding Koriah

Something for the PF#100 bonus material, perhaps?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Misroi wrote:

Re: Adding Koriah

Something for the PF#100 bonus material, perhaps?

Nope.

Koriah is already well represented in the AP line. The bonus material in #100 is for characters who've only been slightly mentioned or are brand new, and as such don't have significant roles (yet) in any AP.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

1 person marked this as a favorite.
KaiserBruno wrote:

Dear James

1) Since you set it straight that fey do have souls of a sort, I was wondering if a fey worships a being or god that is not one of the Eldest, are their souls sent to the Outer Planes upon death rather than the First World?

2) Exactly what happens to the souls of non fey worshipers of the Eldest? Are they sent to the First World and may eventually become fey?

3) How do outsiders and the gods view aberrations? Are they just considered mortals like humanoids and such, even the technically immortal ones such as the aboleths?

4) Aside from the xill and phase spiders, are there any other major powers or oddities in the Ethereal Plane?

5) Last question,exactly how would a CN cleric of Desna behave? Or a NE one of Pharasma? Desna seems so committed to goodness that I find it hard for her to accept a non-good worshiper. And while I know Pharasma is a pretty impartial person,I find a hard time imagining what an evil worshiper of her would act like.

1) Yup, they might at that.

2) Reincarnation into a new fey, usually.

3) As another form of life. Aberrations have souls just like anyone else.

4) Yes. Animate dreams come to mind. There are some ghosts there too. There's certainly more... particularly things to do with ectoplasm. We'll have more to say about that later in the year.

5) A chaotic neutral cleric of Desna or a neutral evil cleric of Pharasma, as with ALL off-alignment clerics of any deity, would be so rare and unusual that how they behave is not something that's really easy to say without designing the entire character. It's a little easier to talk about how a non-cleric off-alignment worshiper behaves. It's really up to the creator of the character. If I were to build a CN Desnan cleric (I wouldn't, but if I were), I'd have her focus more on Desna's role as a goddess of luck and dreams, and have her be something of a show-off and daredevil who's out to try to impress the world and thus eventually Desna herself with her own fortune and luck and outrageousness. And if I were to make a NE Pharasmin (I wouldn't, but if I were), it'd be someone who seeks to track down and kill those who deem themselves above death. A serial killer who stalks those who've been resurrected or have aided others in resurrecting folks, perhaps.


1)Are there any good Aberrations in the Dark Tapestry?

2)Do the souls of worshipers of Elemental Lords become genies when they die?

3)Did the good Elemental Lord of fire "Atreia, The Lambent Prince" have good Efreeti worshipers?

4)Both Wrath of the Righteous and Mummy's Mask had feminine looking male characters(in Wrath of the Righteous there was a male character that was mistaken for female until he said he was male).So i want to ask are feminine looking males common on Golarion?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

xavier c wrote:

1)Are there any good Aberrations in the Dark Tapestry?

2)Do the souls of worshipers of Elemental Lords become genies when they die?

3)Did the good Elemental Lord of fire "Atreia, The Lambent Prince" have good Efreeti worshipers?

4)Both Wrath of the Righteous and Mummy's Mask had feminine looking male characters(in Wrath of the Righteous there was a male character that was mistaken for female until he said he was male).So i want to ask are feminine looking males common on Golarion?

1) Probably not.

2) Many do, yes.

3) Probably not.

4) No more so than on Earth.


James Jacobs wrote:
xavier c wrote:

1)Are there any good Aberrations in the Dark Tapestry?

2)Do the souls of worshipers of Elemental Lords become genies when they die?

3)Did the good Elemental Lord of fire "Atreia, The Lambent Prince" have good Efreeti worshipers?

4)Both Wrath of the Righteous and Mummy's Mask had feminine looking male characters(in Wrath of the Righteous there was a male character that was mistaken for female until he said he was male).So i want to ask are feminine looking males common on Golarion?

1) Probably not.

2) Many do, yes.

3) Probably not.

4) No more so than on Earth.

3)Then what type of outsider servants did he have?

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

Happy birthday James!

Hope you had a great day. What was your last birthday wish?


1 person marked this as a favorite.
James Jacobs wrote:
Guang wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:


The Pit was the focus of a campaign I ran here in the office for folks. So yes indeed the region has maps and detailed descriptions; the campaign ran from 1st level to about 10th or level, with the Pit being the primary dungeon that the PCs explored the whole time. I would love at some point to publish it as an adventure, but getting the time to write it up is tricky, when I'm constantly being called upon to do other things for Paizo and Pathfinder. Maybe someday...
Wow! It exists! But it'll be forever till I get it. Feeling very conflicted right now. When did you run it? What was the starting level? Who put up/maintains the rope ladders? How deep does it go? Is there any way to see some of your maps/notes?

I started running it several years ago... don't know exactly how many. The PCs all started at 1st level. Today, they're all 16th level and tier 1 characters who are most of the way through "Necropolis."

I also ran a much-shortened version of the Pit for a Paizocon Game 3 or 4 years ago.

At this point, I don't want to get too much into the details of the site, since I could indeed write for pages and pages about it, and this isn't the place to put that stuff out there. None of the maps or notes are public at this point, although there WAS a player journal of the game around these boards somewhere...

Thank you so much! Gotta go find that player journal now.

Silver Crusade

Oh really? Happy belated Birthday!

Paizo Employee Creative Director

xavier c wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
xavier c wrote:

1)Are there any good Aberrations in the Dark Tapestry?

2)Do the souls of worshipers of Elemental Lords become genies when they die?

3)Did the good Elemental Lord of fire "Atreia, The Lambent Prince" have good Efreeti worshipers?

4)Both Wrath of the Righteous and Mummy's Mask had feminine looking male characters(in Wrath of the Righteous there was a male character that was mistaken for female until he said he was male).So i want to ask are feminine looking males common on Golarion?

1) Probably not.

2) Many do, yes.

3) Probably not.

4) No more so than on Earth.

3)Then what type of outsider servants did he have?

Unrevealed. Apart from a name and a gender, we really have developed nothing about him as far as I know, and have no plans to do so anytime soon. If ever.

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