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Paizo Employee Creative Director

Derek the Ferret wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Kelban Alenark wrote:
Besides synthesist summoner are there any other "broken" classes or combos you've had to ban at your games.

Summoners are pretty much it. Once Unchained is out, I'll be re-allowing them back into my games though, since the Unchained version is MUCH more in line with what I'd wanted for the class all along.

Still won't allow the synthesist, because it's just too complicated. Same reason I don't allow the numerology rules. And the vehicle rules aren't fun for me—I use a much more streamlined set of rules for vehicle stuff.

Unchained? What's that? I honestly have no idea.

Clicky here! Coming soon!


James Jacobs wrote:
Kelban Alenark wrote:
Besides synthesist summoner are there any other "broken" classes or combos you've had to ban at your games.
Summoners are pretty much it. Once Unchained is out, I'll be re-allowing them back into my games though, since the Unchained version is MUCH more in line with what I'd wanted for the class all along.

Ooh hints~

James Jacobs wrote:
LazarX wrote:

As I understand it, Geb killed himself, because he was so neurotic about Nex's disappearance.

Does this mean that when the Great Golarion Movie comes out that Geb should be played by Woody Allen or Christopher Wauken?

Nope.

Wasn't Geb dark-skinned?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

The Golux wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Kelban Alenark wrote:
Besides synthesist summoner are there any other "broken" classes or combos you've had to ban at your games.
Summoners are pretty much it. Once Unchained is out, I'll be re-allowing them back into my games though, since the Unchained version is MUCH more in line with what I'd wanted for the class all along.

Ooh hints~

James Jacobs wrote:
LazarX wrote:

As I understand it, Geb killed himself, because he was so neurotic about Nex's disappearance.

Does this mean that when the Great Golarion Movie comes out that Geb should be played by Woody Allen or Christopher Wauken?

Nope.
Wasn't Geb dark-skinned?

Yup. Hence my "nope" above.

Contributor

James!

The Know Direction crew is planning a massive PFS Emerald Spire game with a couple of special "rules":

1) Everyone has to GM at least two levels of the Emerald Spire. (We have seven people in all, and one person volunteered to do the first floor because he's done it already.)

2) Character creation has to happen in an absolute vacuum. No one is allowed to share their build.

The one thing we're lacking is an order. What would REALLY be helpful is if some third-party individual who was super awesome and creative and stuff would randomly roll some dice to give us a GMing order.

So ... would you help us out, Mr. Jacobs? ;-)

Spoiler:
The Players:
1) Ryan
2) Tina
3) Perram
4) Cathy
5) Anthony
6) Jeff
7) Alex

Jeff's GMing Floor 1.

Radiant Oath

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber
James Jacobs wrote:
Archpaladin Zousha wrote:
What's the hardest ethical decision you've ever had to make in a game as a player? What did you ultimately decide and why?

Spoilered, due to possible NFSW or trigger warning stuff...

** spoiler omitted **

Ooh...that's...that's hard all right. Wow. Your decision makes sense, though.

Have you encountered the Demands of the Qun quest in Dragon Age: Inquisition (Iron Bull's personal quest)?

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
James Jacobs wrote:
The Golux wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Kelban Alenark wrote:
Besides synthesist summoner are there any other "broken" classes or combos you've had to ban at your games.
Summoners are pretty much it. Once Unchained is out, I'll be re-allowing them back into my games though, since the Unchained version is MUCH more in line with what I'd wanted for the class all along.

Ooh hints~

James Jacobs wrote:
LazarX wrote:

As I understand it, Geb killed himself, because he was so neurotic about Nex's disappearance.

Does this mean that when the Great Golarion Movie comes out that Geb should be played by Woody Allen or Christopher Wauken?

Nope.
Wasn't Geb dark-skinned?
Yup. Hence my "nope" above.

If we can accept a dark skinned Nick Fury and Kingpin......

Scarab Sages

Pathfinder Maps Subscriber

Derek, it is Pathfinder Unchained. I believe it is a bit like Unearthed Arcana with optional rules. I understand they are redoing the Monk, Rogue, Summoner and after that I am not sure. I am looking forward to it at least for information and I might incorporate it in my game or at least parts of it.


Is Rovagug's epithet of "The Rough Beast" inspired by the poem, "The Second Coming"?


James Jacobs wrote:
Derek the Ferret wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Kelban Alenark wrote:
Besides synthesist summoner are there any other "broken" classes or combos you've had to ban at your games.

Summoners are pretty much it. Once Unchained is out, I'll be re-allowing them back into my games though, since the Unchained version is MUCH more in line with what I'd wanted for the class all along.

Still won't allow the synthesist, because it's just too complicated. Same reason I don't allow the numerology rules. And the vehicle rules aren't fun for me—I use a much more streamlined set of rules for vehicle stuff.

Unchained? What's that? I honestly have no idea.
Clicky here! Coming soon!

Thanks James. And, Oooo!!! Is the Monk getting buffed?!

RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32

James Jacobs wrote:
The Golux wrote:


James Jacobs wrote:
LazarX wrote:
Does this mean that when the Great Golarion Movie comes out that Geb should be played by Woody Allen or Christopher Walken?
Nope.
Wasn't Geb dark-skinned?
Yup. Hence my "nope" above.

Who would you cast as Geb?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Alexander Augunas wrote:

James!

The Know Direction crew is planning a massive PFS Emerald Spire game with a couple of special "rules":

1) Everyone has to GM at least two levels of the Emerald Spire. (We have seven people in all, and one person volunteered to do the first floor because he's done it already.)

2) Character creation has to happen in an absolute vacuum. No one is allowed to share their build.

The one thing we're lacking is an order. What would REALLY be helpful is if some third-party individual who was super awesome and creative and stuff would randomly roll some dice to give us a GMing order.

So ... would you help us out, Mr. Jacobs? ;-)

** spoiler omitted **

Here ya go:

Spoiler:
1) Jeff
2) Cathy
3) Perram
4) Ryan
5) Tina
6) Perram
7) Anthony
8) Alex

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Archpaladin Zousha wrote:
Have you encountered the Demands of the Qun quest in Dragon Age: Inquisition (Iron Bull's personal quest)?

I've finished the game, so yup, I finished that quest as well.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Troodos wrote:
Is Rovagug's epithet of "The Rough Beast" inspired by the poem, "The Second Coming"?

100% inspired by "The Second Coming," which is my all-time favorite poem.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Derek the Ferret wrote:


Thanks James. And, Oooo!!! Is the Monk getting buffed?!

You'll see in a few months once the book is out.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Ross Byers wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
The Golux wrote:


James Jacobs wrote:
LazarX wrote:
Does this mean that when the Great Golarion Movie comes out that Geb should be played by Woody Allen or Christopher Walken?
Nope.
Wasn't Geb dark-skinned?
Yup. Hence my "nope" above.
Who would you cast as Geb?

Jeffrey Wright


how soon until we get an AP where Razmir is the Big Bad?

Radiant Oath

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber
James Jacobs wrote:
Archpaladin Zousha wrote:
Have you encountered the Demands of the Qun quest in Dragon Age: Inquisition (Iron Bull's personal quest)?
I've finished the game, so yup, I finished that quest as well.

What did you decide in that quest?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Sewer Skewer wrote:
how soon until we get an AP where Razmir is the Big Bad?

Razmir is Jason Bulmahn's to play with, and until we get to a point where he's able to take a significant part in helping build an Adventure Path... there's likely not going to be a "Razmir is the big bad" in the Adventure Path line.

And since Jason's one of the busiest guys here... I wouldn't hold your breath for a Razmir AP.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Archpaladin Zousha wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Archpaladin Zousha wrote:
Have you encountered the Demands of the Qun quest in Dragon Age: Inquisition (Iron Bull's personal quest)?
I've finished the game, so yup, I finished that quest as well.
What did you decide in that quest?

Spoiler:
He saved his crew and abandoned the ship to destruction.

James Jacobs wrote:
Derek the Ferret wrote:


Thanks James. And, Oooo!!! Is the Monk getting buffed?!
You'll see in a few months once the book is out.

Do you know if Paizo is planning on releasing a playtest PDF for it?


Hello again James!

Spoilered so my players don't see this (you guys know who you are):
Would you allow Erylium's dagger (being tiny, cold iron and enchanted with the +1 & Returning properties) to be freely resized so a PC can use it? Or would it be something that would take time and resources to enlarge?


James Jacobs wrote:
Sewer Skewer wrote:
how soon until we get an AP where Razmir is the Big Bad?

Razmir is Jason Bulmahn's to play with, and until we get to a point where he's able to take a significant part in helping build an Adventure Path... there's likely not going to be a "Razmir is the big bad" in the Adventure Path line.

And since Jason's one of the busiest guys here... I wouldn't hold your breath for a Razmir AP.

Damn.He's my one of my favorite bad dudes ever. Do you have plans for a Hermea module or AP? that place is my favorite location in all of Golarion.

Contributor

James Jacobs wrote:
Alexander Augunas wrote:

James!

The Know Direction crew is planning a massive PFS Emerald Spire game with a couple of special "rules":

1) Everyone has to GM at least two levels of the Emerald Spire. (We have seven people in all, and one person volunteered to do the first floor because he's done it already.)

2) Character creation has to happen in an absolute vacuum. No one is allowed to share their build.

The one thing we're lacking is an order. What would REALLY be helpful is if some third-party individual who was super awesome and creative and stuff would randomly roll some dice to give us a GMing order.

So ... would you help us out, Mr. Jacobs? ;-)

** spoiler omitted **

Here ya go:

Spoiler:

1) Jeff
2) Cathy
3) Perram
4) Ryan
5) Tina
6) Perram
7) Anthony
8) Alex

There's only eight floors in the Emerald Spire? I thought there were 15.


James Jacobs wrote:
Ross Byers wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
The Golux wrote:


James Jacobs wrote:
LazarX wrote:
Does this mean that when the Great Golarion Movie comes out that Geb should be played by Woody Allen or Christopher Walken?
Nope.
Wasn't Geb dark-skinned?
Yup. Hence my "nope" above.
Who would you cast as Geb?
Jeffrey Wright

Who would you cast as nex?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Derek the Ferret wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Derek the Ferret wrote:


Thanks James. And, Oooo!!! Is the Monk getting buffed?!
You'll see in a few months once the book is out.
Do you know if Paizo is planning on releasing a playtest PDF for it?

No playtest.

Or, to be more accurate, all of the time folks have spent playing these classes over the lifetime of the Pathfinder RPG and posting feedback to us online WAS this book's playtest.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Dragoncat wrote:

Hello again James!

Spoiler:
Would you allow Erylium's dagger (being tiny, cold iron and enchanted with the +1 & Returning properties) to be freely resized so a PC can use it? Or would it be something that would take time and resources to enlarge?

It would take time and resources, yes.

Spoiler:
Polymorph any object is the best way at this point to swiftly resize a weapon. I'd also allow a ritual that siphons magic from one weapon into another for a small cost. The Giantslayer Adventure Path is going to have several options for folks who want to resize weapons as well, since so much of the magic weapons you'll be gaining in that AP will be from Large or larger foes.

In this particular case, a +1 returning dagger is a HUGE treasure for 2nd level players, and I intentionally made it Tiny to help make it a complicated one to boot. It's probably more appropriate a treasure for 4th or 5th level characters, so whatever ritual or shenanigan ends up being required to resize it... it should be something that at the very least takes most of Burnt Offerings to complete.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Sewer Skewer wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Sewer Skewer wrote:
how soon until we get an AP where Razmir is the Big Bad?

Razmir is Jason Bulmahn's to play with, and until we get to a point where he's able to take a significant part in helping build an Adventure Path... there's likely not going to be a "Razmir is the big bad" in the Adventure Path line.

And since Jason's one of the busiest guys here... I wouldn't hold your breath for a Razmir AP.

Damn.He's my one of my favorite bad dudes ever. Do you have plans for a Hermea module or AP? that place is my favorite location in all of Golarion.

First of all... I don't say yes or no to "Do you have plans" questions. Because regardless of how I reply, as Creative Director, there's no way for me TO reply to those questions without setting up a wave of speculation and false expectations that has a good chance to damage our business model.

That said... Hermea is an incredibly complex nut to crack, in that my personal feelings for what alignment the gold dragon who runs the place would have to be runs in opposition to the feelings of the person who invented Hermea (James Sutter).

On one hand, I want to respect the creator of the region and character's wishes... but on the other I have to make the right decision for the setting and game. In this case, the answer to those two questions is not the same, and that makes it not a very attractive thing to explore.

Essentially, by NOT doing a Hermea AP, and by NOT nailing down the dragon's alignment, I"m avoiding an awkward and uncomfortable and frustrating argument/conversation with James Sutter, I suppose.

That also said... James Sutter is about as busy a guy as Jason, and until that changes, I'm not interested in doing an AP that plays with his toys.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

xavier c wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Ross Byers wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
The Golux wrote:


James Jacobs wrote:
LazarX wrote:
Does this mean that when the Great Golarion Movie comes out that Geb should be played by Woody Allen or Christopher Walken?
Nope.
Wasn't Geb dark-skinned?
Yup. Hence my "nope" above.
Who would you cast as Geb?
Jeffrey Wright
Who would you cast as nex?

Sam Jackson.


Have you ever used any of the 'Class Guides' when designing characters to browse for options for those characters? I ask, because many of the guides compile all of the relevant feats, class abilities or items for a class into one place from a wide variety of sources. This makes it really easy to look for ideas to fill in 'blank' spots in a characters progression.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

6 people marked this as a favorite.
Tels wrote:
Have you ever used any of the 'Class Guides' when designing characters to browse for options for those characters? I ask, because many of the guides compile all of the relevant feats, class abilities or items for a class into one place from a wide variety of sources. This makes it really easy to look for ideas to fill in 'blank' spots in a characters progression.

Never.

I'm not interested in building characters that way, be they NPCs in adventures or my own characters.


2 people marked this as a favorite.

Hello again, James.

Hope you had a good Christmas, New Year, and birthday :)

A couple of questions, if I may...

1) If a mortal becomes a (non-native) outsider, for example via the means to turn into a demon... what will happen to his soul? Unless I am mistaken, Outsiders don't have one, while the mortal does (or at least, did)...

2) Regarding redeemable outsiders:

Spoiler:
Arueshalae lost her [evil] subtype upon ceasing to be evil, and gains the [good] subtype upon completing her alignment shift. Is this a special effect for this very succubus, or is this a rule for beings with an alignment subtype in general?

3) While we're there...

Spoiler:
Since a romance between Arueshalae and a character is very possible... what kind of child could result from this kid of union? A Half-Celestial? A Half-Succubus, with modified traits? Something else altogether?

4) A minor thing i noted about Orcs and Alignment...
Orcs pretty much default to to CE.
Which, of course, is an alignment the occasional orc druid cannot have.
Now, pretty much all orc druids I've seen in printed adventures, be it Paizo or third party, were NE, rather than CN.
Do you think that Orcs gravitate to 'evil' more strongly than towards 'chaotic'... or am I over-interpreting things, the 'NE' entry being primary due to the 'antagonists tend to be evil' trope?

Dark Archive

Hi James

Given that Mythic Adventures is out now, and has been for a while, is there any chance we will get a Nex (the person) centered AP any time soon, possibly with an appearance from the man himself?

Even if we don't, do you at the office have a clear idea of what Nex has been up to since he disappeared, or at least where he went when he disappeared? Or is that something you have to decide when you eventually feature him in some product in the future?

With regards to stats, what would you say his basic stats would be like? I'm guessing Neutral male human Wizard 20/Archmage 10. Also would he have "more" to his stats than just the usual build, along the lines of what Baba Yaga got, to pump up his CR?

Did Nex worship a deity or another entity?

Could you give a brief overview of what his personality was like?

Did Nex have any interaction with Old Mage Jatembe?

Finally, what would Nex think of Emperor Xin and the Runelords?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Midnight_Angel wrote:

Hello again, James.

Hope you had a good Christmas, New Year, and birthday :)

A couple of questions, if I may...

1) If a mortal becomes a (non-native) outsider, for example via the means to turn into a demon... what will happen to his soul? Unless I am mistaken, Outsiders don't have one, while the mortal does (or at least, did)...

2) Regarding redeemable outsiders:

Spoiler:
Arueshalae lost her [evil] subtype upon ceasing to be evil, and gains the [good] subtype upon completing her alignment shift. Is this a special effect for this very succubus, or is this a rule for beings with an alignment subtype in general?

3) While we're there...

Spoiler:
Since a romance between Arueshalae and a character is very possible... what kind of child could result from this kid of union? A Half-Celestial? A Half-Succubus, with modified traits? Something else altogether?

4) A minor thing i noted about Orcs and Alignment...
Orcs pretty much default to to CE.
Which, of course, is an alignment the occasional orc druid cannot have.
Now, pretty much all orc druids I've seen in printed adventures, be it Paizo or third party, were NE, rather than CN.
Do you think that Orcs gravitate to 'evil' more strongly than towards 'chaotic'... or am I over-interpreting things, the 'NE' entry being primary due to the 'antagonists tend to be evil' trope?

1) Once a mortal becomes an outsider, his body and soul merge into one UNLESS he's a native outsider, in which case his soul still stays seperate and functions normally. Once a mortal becomes a non-native outsider, his soul and body are fused. At that point, being an outsider, if he dies, he can't be brought back to life save by the most powerful of magic. When an outsider dies, its body/soul rot away and eventually turn into material called quintessence, which is the essential building block of matter on the outer planes (just as the four elements are the building blocks of the Material Plane). An outsider who dies not on an outer plane just rots away and that quintessence is essentially wasted/lost.

2) For redeemable outsiders...

Spoiler:
We very consciously made the choice NOT to present "redeemed" as a template. When we present a redeemed or fallen outsider, our intention is to build that character 100% by hand, in much the same way we'd build an entirely new monster. This is so we can make specific unique choices each time, not only to keep the redeemed/fallen outsider special, but to engineer the creature as needed for the story. In Arueshalae's case, that means losing the Evil subtype and gaining the Good one once she completes her rise. Whether or not other redeemed demons follow this route or something else is up to the creator of that plot element.

3) The child would be...

Spoiler:
A half-succubus (rules for which are in Demons Revisited), or if you don't have that book, just a half-fiend. Whether or not the child would be evil or not would depend on the circumstances of the kid's childhood and parenting and all sorts of other elements. I suspect that such a child would be caught in a supernatural/psychological tug of war between good and evil, spiritually, but whether or not that tug of war was imagined, real, or something in between would depend on the story the GM wants to tell. A child like this would be VERY special and unusual, in any event, and it would be a waste to NOT have significant story elements grow up around it.

4) Orc druids would either be chaotic neutral or neutral evil for the most part. That's hardly a special case. There are PLENTY of non-chaotic evil orcs out there... the fact that most orcs are chaotic evil because that's their society and most orcs aren't imaginative enough or ambitious enough or unusual enough to go against orc mindsets is the reason they're usually chaotic evil. Personally... I feel that orcs are more strongly defined by chaos than evil... but then again I've not been all that involved in any of the orc druids we've statted up. Preferences for orc druid alignments differ.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Atrocious wrote:

Hi James

Given that Mythic Adventures is out now, and has been for a while, is there any chance we will get a Nex (the person) centered AP any time soon, possibly with an appearance from the man himself?

Even if we don't, do you at the office have a clear idea of what Nex has been up to since he disappeared, or at least where he went when he disappeared? Or is that something you have to decide when you eventually feature him in some product in the future?

With regards to stats, what would you say his basic stats would be like? I'm guessing Neutral male human Wizard 20/Archmage 10. Also would he have "more" to his stats than just the usual build, along the lines of what Baba Yaga got, to pump up his CR?

Did Nex worship a deity or another entity?

Could you give a brief overview of what his personality was like?

Did Nex have any interaction with Old Mage Jatembe?

Finally, what would Nex think of Emperor Xin and the Runelords?

Mythic is not the main thing that was holding back a Nex themed AP. That would be the fact that Nex is Erik's pet NPC, and no one but him gets to write a "Nex AP," as per my mandate. But Erik is SUPER BUSY, and that means that a Nex AP is probably never going to happen. There are PLENTY of other AP plots out there, of course. Maybe some day Erik will have either the time to write a Nex AP or will decide that he's okay with someone else writing it... but at this point, a Nex AP isn't in the cards.

Also at this point, if I were to do a Nex AP, it would NOT be for mythic player characters. Nex himself is certainly mythic, but my experience building Wrath of the Righteous was frustrating enough that I've more or less come to the decision that mythic is better used on monsters and NPCs than it is on PCs.

Erik ABSOLUTELY knows what happened to Nex, and he's told me the whole story. He knew from the start, of course. Whether or not we reveal that mystery... only time can tell. It's certainly NOT something like "We'll never say how Aroden died" though.

Not ready to reveal his stats at this point. I doubt he worshiped a deity; I suspect he's an atheist.

No personality stuff yet either beyond what hints there are in the Nex entry in the Inner Sea World Guide.

I'm pretty sure Nex never met Old Mage Jatembe, but he certainly used Jatembe's discoveries as stepping stones for his own use.

He would probably regard Xin and the Runelords as competitors, and might even fear a few of them. He's a powerful wizard, but he's not a fool. Sorshen and/or Xhanderghul MIGHT be more powerful than Nex, after all.

Silver Crusade

James, wouldn't it be very difficult for someone to actually be an atheist on Golarion? It certainly seems like there is a considerable amount of evidence, if not downright proof, for the existence of deities on Golarion.

Edit: unless you are using "atheist" to mean "unaffiliated," in which case is there possibly a better word to use (such as "unaffiliated")?


The Fox wrote:

James, wouldn't it be very difficult for someone to actually be an atheist on Golarion? It certainly seems like there is a considerable amount of evidence, if not downright proof, for the existence of deities on Golarion.

Edit: unless you are using "atheist" to mean "unaffiliated," in which case is there possibly a better word to use (such as "unaffiliated")?

Ohh ohh ohh we need an "ask Triphoppenskip anything" thread, I have an answer for how this is handled in my campaigns but I know the great and mighty dinosaur creator doesn't like having his toes stepped on.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

The Fox wrote:

James, wouldn't it be very difficult for someone to actually be an atheist on Golarion? It certainly seems like there is a considerable amount of evidence, if not downright proof, for the existence of deities on Golarion.

Edit: unless you are using "atheist" to mean "unaffiliated," in which case is there possibly a better word to use (such as "unaffiliated")?

No more difficult than in this world. Ask any religious person you know if they think it'd be difficult to be an atheist.

That said, on Golarion, as detailed on page 236 of the Inner Sea World Guide, an atheist generally believes that the gods may be real but are not divine, and therefore not worthy of blind devotion and worship.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Triphoppenskip wrote:
The Fox wrote:

James, wouldn't it be very difficult for someone to actually be an atheist on Golarion? It certainly seems like there is a considerable amount of evidence, if not downright proof, for the existence of deities on Golarion.

Edit: unless you are using "atheist" to mean "unaffiliated," in which case is there possibly a better word to use (such as "unaffiliated")?

Ohh ohh ohh we need an "ask Triphoppenskip anything" thread, I have an answer for how this is handled in my campaigns but I know the great and mighty dinosaur creator doesn't like having his toes stepped on.

GRRRR!

Silver Crusade

James, do you and Wes read and edit the AP's for content? I am playing Mummy's Mask right now and both the cr level is way off and the risk reward ratio seem way off. Last night we fought 2 tough opponents an elder earth elemental and a el 12 monk got 3 potions of cure mod the control rod for the bronze mechanical thing we found later in front of the sightless sphinx less than 1000 gp and a non magic ring.
I liked the fight but we got no real gear that is valueable to us at our level.

We have not found any arms and armor more than +1 since 4th level we are now 10th level no stat booster items or anything usable by martial characters. this is a glaring issue in the AP. There has not even been a Cure mod or serious wand in the AP in the last 2 books. We are in the desert a decanter of endless water or a cloak of comfort might be a nice item to find. I sure would put items like those if i was designing a module or AP.

As a buyer of Pazio produts I do not understand why there is such a wide disparity in the quality of your products. The Galorian product line is top of the line your hard back line is great except for the editing issues
in the Advanced Class Guide [other than the editing the content is over the top Bloodrager's, Swashbucklers and hunters are great.] I have been underwhelmed by Mummy's mask and liked the west crown ap had a real good gm that added a lot to make it better.

TO improve your ap's toss out the 15 point buy for creation of NPC's and gear npc's at the same WPL as PC's of the same level.

I am looking forward to the Hero's of the Wild and Hell's Unleashed AP
I am looking forward to how rebellion is handled in a lawful evil society.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Lou Diamond wrote:

James, do you and Wes read and edit the AP's for content? I am playing Mummy's Mask right now and both the cr level is way off and the risk reward ratio seem way off. Last night we fought 2 tough opponents an elder earth elemental and a el 12 monk got 3 potions of cure mod the control rod for the bronze mechanical thing we found later in front of the sightless sphinx less than 1000 gp and a non magic ring.

I liked the fight but we got no real gear that is valueable to us at our level.

We have not found any arms and armor more than +1 since 4th level we are now 10th level no stat booster items or anything usable by martial characters. this is a glaring issue in the AP. There has not even been a Cure mod or serious wand in the AP in the last 2 books. We are in the desert a decanter of endless water or a cloak of comfort might be a nice item to find. I sure would put items like those if i was designing a module or AP.

As a buyer of Pazio produts I do not understand why there is such a wide disparity in the quality of your products. The Galorian product line is top of the line your hard back line is great except for the editing issues
in the Advanced Class Guide [other than the editing the content is over the top Bloodrager's, Swashbucklers and hunters are great.] I have been underwhelmed by Mummy's mask and liked the west crown ap had a real good gm that added a lot to make it better.

TO improve your ap's toss out the 15 point buy for creation of NPC's and gear npc's at the same WPL as PC's of the same level.

I am looking forward to the Hero's of the Wild and Hell's Unleashed AP
I am looking forward to how rebellion is handled in a lawful evil society.

I read and edit the Adventure Paths I develop and outline—these days, those are the APs that debut at Gen Con. Rob McCreary reads and edits the Adventure Paths he develops, and that includes Mummy's Mask. Beyond that, each AP volume gets several additional edit passes by our editorial team. Now and then, Wes will step in to do a pass if things get particularly backed up or overwhelming, but for the most part Wes isn't involved directly in the AP production these days.

That said... not every published adventure can ever be 100% correct for every group. Part of the GM's job is to know his/her players and know what works and what doesn't, and to adjust a published adventure to be more on the "works for the table" rather than not. Often, a GM isn't comfortable with the idea of adjusting an adventure for their table... and more often than many players realize, a GM actually (usually accidentally I hope) makes things worse by changing things.

As a general rule, stat-boosting items aren't things we'll hand out as treasure in a 1st Adventure Path; they're just too good and too expensive. The earliest you can typically start to see them show up is in the 2nd one, often as gear worn by NPCs, so if a party neglects to search and loot the dead, they'll have a good chance of missing out on them. Furthermore, we DO assume that in a game, players will have relatively unrestricted access to buying or crafting new items. Particularly in adventures that don't shy away from cities. If a GM prevents or disallows player characters from buying or creating items, he/she absolutely should make sure to seed in more of the standard items like stat boosters and the like.

In the meantime, I suggest chatting with your GM about your concerns. I don't know the dynamics of your group, including not knowing how many characters are in your party (If there's more than 4, that's the primary reason there that you might feel like you've got less treasure than normal, since we assume groups of 4 PCs). Your GM is in a MUCH better position to fix the situation than me.

Also: It's spelled "Golarion," not "Galorian." ;-)

Radiant Oath

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

Why are people so quick to assume the worst about various Golarion characters, like how Iomedae now seems to be considered Evil after the events of Herald of the Ivory Labyrinth, or followers of Ragathiel are serial killers (though I think I might have had a hand in that one, I asked Wes how to best accommodate Ragathiel's obedience requiring one to kill an evildoer every day, to which Patrick Renie gave a VERY satisfactory answer that SHOULD have nipped that misconception in the bud)?

It just seems like people rag on the setting's "good guys" as the worst evildoers of all.


3 people marked this as a favorite.
Archpaladin Zousha wrote:

Why are people so quick to assume the worst about various Golarion characters, like how Iomedae now seems to be considered Evil after the events of Herald of the Ivory Labyrinth, or followers of Ragathiel are serial killers (though I think I might have had a hand in that one, I asked Wes how to best accommodate Ragathiel's obedience requiring one to kill an evildoer every day, to which Patrick Renie gave a VERY satisfactory answer that SHOULD have nipped that misconception in the bud)?

It just seems like people rag on the setting's "good guys" as the worst evildoers of all.

"But the one thing they love more than a hero is to see a hero fail, fall, die trying. In spite of everything you've done for them, eventually they will hate you."

— Green Goblin

"You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain."

— Harvey Dent

"#43: The more beautiful and pure a thing is, the more satisfying it is to corrupt it."

— Rules of the Internet


Hey James,

Wanted to say I finally got The Divinity Drive. Haven't read all of it but I have immediately determined that it is my favorite part of the AP of my most favorite AP of all time. I'm so glad you finally managed to get your Numeria AP because hot damn is it lovely.

One thing I wanted to ask:

Spoiler:
It was said in Part 3 that Furkas Xoud's notes in a certain room are basically the illustrations at the front and back of each book. I noticed in Divinity Drive that a full sketch of the entire starship is there. Where would Xoud have discovered what the Divinity looks like? Should I show my players ALL of the illustrations? I'm tempted to.


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 for pointing me in the direction of the Shadow Under Sandpoint campaign journal! http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2jepq&page=1?The-Shadow-Under-Sandpoint

Reading it closely (20,000 words) and taking lots of notes gave me a pretty good picture of "The Pit".

No question, just thanks.


Should have added onto my top post but: what the heck are rift boots? Illaris Zeleshi in Choking Tower has a pair but I have had no luck at all in figuring out what exactly these boots do.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Archpaladin Zousha wrote:

Why are people so quick to assume the worst about various Golarion characters, like how Iomedae now seems to be considered Evil after the events of Herald of the Ivory Labyrinth, or followers of Ragathiel are serial killers (though I think I might have had a hand in that one, I asked Wes how to best accommodate Ragathiel's obedience requiring one to kill an evildoer every day, to which Patrick Renie gave a VERY satisfactory answer that SHOULD have nipped that misconception in the bud)?

It just seems like people rag on the setting's "good guys" as the worst evildoers of all.

My guess? The not-so-proud but long tradition of GMs (and adventures) tricking players by having NPCs the PCs thought were allies betray them. It only takes once to make a player suspect all NPCs, and a lot of GMs (and adventures) pull this stunt far more than once.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Neongelion wrote:

Hey James,

Wanted to say I finally got The Divinity Drive. Haven't read all of it but I have immediately determined that it is my favorite part of the AP of my most favorite AP of all time. I'm so glad you finally managed to get your Numeria AP because hot damn is it lovely.

One thing I wanted to ask:

Spoiler:
It was said in Part 3 that Furkas Xoud's notes in a certain room are basically the illustrations at the front and back of each book. I noticed in Divinity Drive that a full sketch of the entire starship is there. Where would Xoud have discovered what the Divinity looks like? Should I show my players ALL of the illustrations? I'm tempted to.

The illustrations referenced in part 3 pretty much speak to the illustrations that have appeared up to that point, in adventures 1, 2, and 3.

It's left to the GM to decide what ones overall are available for PCs to see on the walls, but the intention was that those in 4, 5, and 6 are not, since those images weren't available at the time part 3 was published.

That said... the idea behind those illustrations is that it was a wizard (Furkas) who copied illustrations onto parchment by hand while observing the original illustrations/schematics on a computer screen, and certainly there's every possibility that Furkas could have found illustrations of things like Divinity itself elsewhere and drew them.

Whether or not you want to reveal those to the PCs early or not is up to you as the GM.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Neongelion wrote:
Should have added onto my top post but: what the heck are rift boots? Illaris Zeleshi in Choking Tower has a pair but I have had no luck at all in figuring out what exactly these boots do.

They were cut from the adventure because they were simply too powerful and too expensive to include in the adventure, but a reference to them snuck through editing, unfortunately.

They were, more or less, boots that allowed teleportation. Not only too powerful and too expensive, but too likely to let the NPC escape and disrupt the plot.


JJ, I think I got a real humdinger of a question for ya now:

Given that deities can die, and near-but-not-quite divine creatures such as Great Old Ones, Archdevils, Empyreal Lords, Demon Lords, etc, can grant divine spells... what exactly is the defining characteristic or characteristics of a Pathfinder deity? (aside from the fact you won't stat them out)

I mean in-universe, what makes a deity a deity as opposed to a demigod or demon lord or empyreal lord or whatever other nigh-divine entity?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

thegreenteagamer wrote:

JJ, I think I got a real humdinger of a question for ya now:

Given that deities can die, and near-but-not-quite divine creatures such as Great Old Ones, Archdevils, Empyreal Lords, Demon Lords, etc, can grant divine spells... what exactly is the defining characteristic or characteristics of a Pathfinder deity? (aside from the fact you won't stat them out)

I mean in-universe, what makes a deity a deity as opposed to a demigod or demon lord or empyreal lord or whatever other nigh-divine entity?

Since we don't have rules for full-on deities, there aren't rules for what defines them.

Those who are deities are.

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