Do you expect you might enjoy a book, set in a Lovecraftian setting, that focused more on interpersonal conflict than the actual horror elements?
Given the importance of character agency in Pathfinder, what is your opinion on Lovecraft's original "humans are irrelevant" motif, both as it applies to storytelling, and as it applies to Golarion-centric philosophy?
Lastly, what do you think about the few "benevolent" non-human forces in the Mythos? I haven't actually read much of the Mythos, but it seems like those "benevolent" entities would have their hands full combating the myriad horrors usually associated with the Mythos.
Not so much.
Humans are relevant to humans, and since Goalrion is humanocentric, humans are relevant.
The "benevloent" entities in the mythos aren't actually benevolent. They're merely impartial, and their interests don't coincidentally map to destroying earth or humanity. The further mythos stories diverge into "there's a race of good-guy opposition Great Old Ones out there fighting a "war in heaven" or whatever, the less interested I am in the story.
If I remember correctly all of those "good guy" elder types are not Core Lovecraft mythos but added by Derlyth and others?
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Hmmm... tough question. I think, probably, Azathoth, but mostly because he has no intellect at all and therefore can't really consciously choose to be terrible. He'll still destroy you and your planet if you get too close though.The "benevolent" entities in the mythos aren't actually benevolent.Oo, a fun one!
So, Yig is pretty much hands-down the least terrible mythos deity from a human perspective- who, in your opinion, is in second place?
Are you just counting what's in Pathfinder, or do you consider Nodens non-benevolent or non-canon?
Hello James
I hope you are well :-)
I have a few questions about RotR: Fortress of the Stone Giants:
** spoiler omitted **
Have a nice dayCheers
fortress of the stone giants:1) The runeslave cauldron requires a dead giant to turn it into a runeslave. It doesn't care how that giant died. As detailed in the description, "The method of killing the giant [for preparation for transformation] is incidental." Since the effect mimics a true resurrection, the giant's body can be mutilated in any way the sacrificer wishes without compromising the resulting runeslave.
2) Any creature with the giant subtype can be turned into a runeslave, but traditionally it was only used on true giants.3) I don't allow scry and fry tactics in my games, because I interpret the rules in a way that makes scry and fry simply not work. Teleport sends you to a location, while scry only lets you view a creature, NOT a location. Even though scry lets you see a TINY bit of area around the target, I don't feel that's NEARLY enough to inform teleportation. So, as far as I'm concerned, scry and fry doesn't work. That doesn't mean you can't have other methods of tracking down the PCs and learning their locations, either via other types of spells or good old-fashioned non-magic investigation. In any event, Mokmurian would ABSOLUTELY prepare for a third attack. I'd probably have him guess where the PCs will attack him next (if the previous two fights were in the same place, then that'd be the place) and set up an ambush, disguising a stone giant as Mokmurian and maybe setting traps and adding other foes and so on, while he himself then flees to Xin-Shalast to report to Karzoug. Turn him into a recurring villain, in other words.
A few follow up questions:
FotSG:1) So a Runeslave can be resurrected again and again. What would you say about a Runeslave that has 'burned out'? (runescars greater than HD causing death?)
If Mokmurian retreats from Jorgenfist and goes to Xin-Shalast:
2) What will the giant army do?
3) Will Karzoug get angry with Mokmurian same as if he tried to escape via teleport, and Karzoug takes over to taunt the PCs?
Thank you and have a nice weekend
Creative Director
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Lies. I'll pick on one. Dwarves are yucky.
AMAZING anyway. I thought of questions in the shower! where all the best thoughts happen.
1) has a god or demigod ever mated with a mortal in Golarion? is that ever possible? :O
2) Baba yaga, or as I prefer, babs, seems from what I can gather to be collecting a massive coven of her daughters and grand daughters ETC as she keeps taking them back to her dimension thingy wherever she is, given that many of these are 20th level witches and she herself is a mythic 10 20 witch who seems like one the most powerful none gods in existence I can't help but think she might have a plan in mind :P So my question is threefold.
.Do you guys know what she is planning?
.Do you guys ever plan to reveal this knowledge if you do?
.I assume you can't go into detail but I was wondering does she have one big mega spell in mind or just like having a mega cult in her back pocket? - no worries if you can't answer that one.3) Whats the most exciting encounter you've had playing pathfinder?
EDIT: 4) how do you say Hekatonkh... whatever those titans are called's names?
1) Absolutely. In fact, that's one of the ways a mortal can gain mythic power, to be the son or daughter of a god and a mortal.
2) See the Reign of Winter Adventure Path for all the information about Baba Yaga and her plans we've had to say and likely will ever have to say.
3) The one where the PCs encountered the Sandpoint Devil, probably, or barring that, the mid-campaign climax for Shadows Under Sandpoint perhaps.
4) It's a real-world word, so you can search online to find a pronunciation. I would post a link but I'm too lazy; it's after midnight after all, and it's easy enough for you to do a search at that end on Google.
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Hi James
im a bit confused about the antipaladins favored class bonuses.
Instead of receiving an additional skill rank or hit point whenever they gain a level in a favored class, some races have the option of choosing from a number of other bonuses, depending upon their favored classes. The following options are available to the listed race who have fighters as their favored class, and unless otherwise stated, the bonus applies each time you select the listed favored class reward.the only listed race under the class is the drowDrow: The antipaladin adds +1/4 to the number of cruelties he can inflict.does that mean that other than the drow all the other races use the fighter favored class options? or do the get the same thing as the drow but only the races who has the fighter as a favored class option? or are the drow the only race with an alternate favored class option at all?
So far, drow is the only race we've given an antipaladin option beyond a skill rank or hit point. If you're a drow antipaladin, you can choose +1 hp, +1 skill rank, or +1/4 cruelties each time you gain a level as antipaladin IF that's your favored class. If you're ANY other race, you only get to choose between the hit point or the skill rank if you're an antipalaidn favored class.
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If I remember correctly all of those "good guy" elder types are not Core Lovecraft mythos but added by Derlyth and others?Do you expect you might enjoy a book, set in a Lovecraftian setting, that focused more on interpersonal conflict than the actual horror elements?
Given the importance of character agency in Pathfinder, what is your opinion on Lovecraft's original "humans are irrelevant" motif, both as it applies to storytelling, and as it applies to Golarion-centric philosophy?
Lastly, what do you think about the few "benevolent" non-human forces in the Mythos? I haven't actually read much of the Mythos, but it seems like those "benevolent" entities would have their hands full combating the myriad horrors usually associated with the Mythos.
Not so much.
Humans are relevant to humans, and since Goalrion is humanocentric, humans are relevant.
The "benevloent" entities in the mythos aren't actually benevolent. They're merely impartial, and their interests don't coincidentally map to destroying earth or humanity. The further mythos stories diverge into "there's a race of good-guy opposition Great Old Ones out there fighting a "war in heaven" or whatever, the less interested I am in the story.
It's spelled "Derleth." But the "good guy" types were mostly added by Brian Lumley. Derleth's thing was to shoehorn the mythos into elemental roles (air/earth/fire/water) and to imply the existence of Elder Gods who fought the Great Old Ones and Outer Gods, but it was Lumley who really ran with that idea.
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Are you just counting what's in Pathfinder, or do you consider Nodens non-benevolent or non-canon?Hmmm... tough question. I think, probably, Azathoth, but mostly because he has no intellect at all and therefore can't really consciously choose to be terrible. He'll still destroy you and your planet if you get too close though.The "benevolent" entities in the mythos aren't actually benevolent.Oo, a fun one!
So, Yig is pretty much hands-down the least terrible mythos deity from a human perspective- who, in your opinion, is in second place?
I'm just counting what's in Pathfinder.
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A few follow up questions:
Spoiler:1) So a Runeslave can be resurrected again and again. What would you say about a Runeslave that has 'burned out'? (runescars greater than HD causing death?)If Mokmurian retreats from Jorgenfist and goes to Xin-Shalast:
2) What will the giant army do?
3) Will Karzoug get angry with Mokmurian same as if he tried to escape via teleport, and Karzoug takes over to taunt the PCs?
2) Be disbanded and retreat and thus allow the PCs to progress to the 5th adventure as per normal. They didn't kill Mokmurian but they did defeat him by forcing him to flee. The AP plays out the same; they just get to face him again later.
3) Up to you. He might forgive Mokmurian, but he also might do bad things to him so that the next time the PCs encounter him he's an undead or a runeslave or whatever else you want.
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** spoiler omitted **A few follow up questions:
** spoiler omitted **
1) If you runslave a dead runeslave, it doesn't stack with the previous template if that's what you're asking.
I was just wondering wether the Runeslave Cauldron can bring back dead runeslaves, that die from the runeslave curse/disease, effectively giving a limitless supply of slaves that can come back when they finally die?
I think a lich Mokmurian sounds pretty bad ass. Are there any other undead templates that Karzoug might inflict Mokmurian with?
Thank you for the quick reply
Cheers
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** spoiler omitted **A few follow up questions:
** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **
Thank you for the quick reply
Cheers
Lich isn't all that appropriate since that's something a wizard should WANT and should be intentional.
Juju zombie is what you're looking for I think.
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I'm kinda wondering, was "faith in humanity" more of a thing when it meant "faith in community" instead of "every person on planet"? I mean, do people nowadays actually have a "faith in humanity" they can lose? I always thought its something of a memetic phrase.
I mean, I never understood the idea of generalizing all of the humanity and then assuming something of them. Sure you can have faith in persons, but in collective mass of everyone? That never made sense to me.
Then again, I don't really get why people get proud if their national sport team wins... I mean, okay if I know them personally then its different thing, but I don't feel like I'm part of some huge mass where everyone's accomplishments or misdeeds are relevant to me just because I exist. If someone I don't know from my country does well, well good for them, I'm not better off because of them, I'm still loser with depression and without social life. I don't know, maybe I'm just weird...
BTW, do you think concept of "faith in humanity" would exist if we had had some other intelligent species we could communicate with that we could compare ourselves to? I'd imagine it would at least make it more clear what traits are specific for humans at least and what is for intelligent life in general I guess
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How many non-empowered/non-clerical worshipers of Urgathoa are neutral-aligned? How do the neutral evil clerics and worshipers of Urgathoa view the neutral ones?
What's the coolest "thing" about each of the Occult classes, in your opinion? Like, iconic, general concept, mechanic, class feature, etc.
Likewise, what is your least favorite "thing" about each of the Occult classes?
What is the most heartbreaking, to you at least, of the "iconic" corruptions? (The corruptions inflicted on the eleven core iconics in Horror Adventures.) And why?
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Hey, James Jacobs!
1) If Graz'zt had been included in Pathfinder, what three things do you suspect would be contained in his portfolio?
2) How do you think he and Nocticula would have gotten along?
Thank you again for answering questions in this thread, it's really awesome of you!
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BTW, do you think concept of "faith in humanity" would exist if we had had some other intelligent species we could communicate with that we could compare ourselves to? I'd imagine it would at least make it more clear what traits are specific for humans at least and what is for intelligent life in general I guess
The presence of another intelligent species that's different than humans would change our world view and self-awarenes and culture so much that it's kinda impossible to say HOW we'd react. It'd certainly upend pretty much every major religion, which history shows is not a great way to promote peace, alas...
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Could you expand on why you don't like dwarves? Is there a specific complaint you have about them or just personal taste?
All of the character elements that dwarves traditionally personify (hairy, loud, braggarts, heavy drinkers, warmongery, stubbornly traditional, male-dominated, nonmagical, more urban than nature themed, etc.) are characteristics that annoy or bore me in fictional characters. The only classic element of dwarf culture that DOES appeal to me is their strong themes of faith and religion, but that's hardly enough to salvage the rest, especially when most other races have strong themes of faith and religion. AND it surely didn't help that in the first 2 editions of D&D, dwarves were the race that had the narrowest amount of class option choices (a reflection of their themes of stubborn traditionalism and nonmagical nature).
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How many non-empowered/non-clerical worshipers of Urgathoa are neutral-aligned? How do the neutral evil clerics and worshipers of Urgathoa view the neutral ones?
What's the coolest "thing" about each of the Occult classes, in your opinion? Like, iconic, general concept, mechanic, class feature, etc.
Likewise, what is your least favorite "thing" about each of the Occult classes?
What is the most heartbreaking, to you at least, of the "iconic" corruptions? (The corruptions inflicted on the eleven core iconics in Horror Adventures.) And why?
Barely any. I'd say that most of Urgathoa's worshipers are neutral evil, with lawful evil and chaotic evil coming in tied for second place. I dobut we'll ever print a neutral worshiper of Urgathoa, and wouldn't mind NEVER doing so, and leaving that role to be served by the outlandish special-snowflake PC that might pop up here and there.
The coolest thing about all the occult classes is that they open up themes and allow stories that were more difficult to pull off than before. My interest in these themes is pretty much entirely inspired by Stephen King stories (many of his characters have psychic powers) or other sci-fi/horror stories that use elements of occultism and psychic power in them. The classes themselves I'm actually not all that familiar with—they're kind of too fiddly and complicated for my tastes to be honest.
My least favorite thing about the occult classes is their complexity.
Kyra as a vampire is the most heartbreaking, but Merisiel as a Hive corruption is a close second.
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James, once a devil is created does he/she age? Are Devils immortal?
My preference is that if outsiders like devils and demons and angels and all the rest AREN'T immortal that they live so long that for the purposes of game play they're essentially immortal. They're certainly not immune to magical aging effects, but on their own I don't think any one outsider would ever age naturally.
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Hey, James Jacobs!
1) If Graz'zt had been included in Pathfinder, what three things do you suspect would be contained in his portfolio?
2) How do you think he and Nocticula would have gotten along?
Thank you again for answering questions in this thread, it's really awesome of you!
1) If Graz'zt had been pulled into Pathfinder, his "three things" would be the same three things he's associated with in D&D because that's part of what makes him Graz'zt. Those things, taken from page 155 of Hordes of the Abyss, would be tyrants/despots (those are kinda the same thing), guile, and debauchery.
2) Poorly. She probably would have assassinated him before he had much of a chance to build up his fame in Golarion.
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Kyra as a vampire is the most heartbreaking, but Merisiel as a Hive corruption is a close second.
You know, I just kind of realized how evil Kyra becoming a vampire is. With Sarenrae being the sun and all of that. Really neat, but evil. Especially since I really like Kyra.
I am sure you've answered this before, but what is your favorite Iconic, and why? Second favorite?
1. Do aboleths hate divine casters(clerics, paladins, druids, rangers, inquisitors, and oracles) and mythic characters?
2. I thought the deific ability is appropriate for aboleths because aboleths are too proud to worship gods and think themselves as the true gods and thus want to be worshipped as gods. So giving them deific ability and thus let them mimic the gods would be a good idea. Am I misunderstanding their atheistic nature? In other words, do aboleths not want to be regarded and worshipped as gods, and thus not want to possess the deific ability to mimic the gods?
3. If an aboleth(including veiled masters and omnipaths) somehow experienced the moment of ascension and gained a mythic tier, or somehow it became a god(including demigod), what would be the proper reaction of the other aboleths? Would they regard this one as the epitome of their race and thus worship or at least pay homage to it? Or would they think this one is horrible heretic and a disgrace to their race and thus will do anything to kill this traitor?
4. I always wondered what the mythic power is. If aboleths hate mythic power so much, and given that all the demigods are considered 10th tier characters, can I assume that mythic power is a portion of a deity's power?
5. Anyway, under 3.5 rules, can high level wizards extract ancient secrets from aboleths via magic because their genetic memeory clearly contains the knowledge and secrets from eons ago? In other words, under the 3.5 rules, would the high level wizards consider this capturing-aboleths-and-extract-knowledge as a fascinating and viable method to do?
6. Maybe you decided to include high aboleths like the veiled masters and omnipaths because you already said what you wanted to say about the aboleths in Lords of Madness, and thus now you want to make a new aboleth-like cratures and make a new fascinating story about them?
7. Did the Earthfall somehow weakened the aboleth civilization? I think the deicidal meteorites would be very fatal to the undersea cities as well.
8. You said that Arodenite elves would be considered weird. So, logically, human worshippers of Calistria, Torag, Apsu and Dahak would be considered weird as well? I thought there is a sizable number of humans that worship these non-human deities.
9. To which age does Urgathoa belong? In other words, was Urgathoa an Azlanti before her death?
10. Now I know that humans don't pop like a turkey in the space. But there's still a question that lingers in my head. If a deep one is flung out of an airlock into outer space, would it receive the 3d6 decompression damage(Distant Worlds, page 54)? Or would it not receive it, because its deep dweller ability prevents it from receiving the damage from the difference in pressure?
11. You said that even Azlant and Thasillon didn't know the ancient war between the aboleths and the Vault Builders. Then, does that mean the current humanity don't know the existence of the Vault Builders entirely?
12. Even after the pcs conquered the Emerald Spire, humanity's knowledge about the Vault Builders won't expand significantly because there seems to be no osund materials describing the history of the Vault Builders in the spire? In other words, even after the adventure, the PCs will likely still not know what this dungeon truly is, and which race the last boss(Iluchtewhar) belonged to, unless he is a talkative type and tells every secret to the PCs?
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Kyra as a vampire is the most heartbreaking, but Merisiel as a Hive corruption is a close second.You know, I just kind of realized how evil Kyra becoming a vampire is. With Sarenrae being the sun and all of that. Really neat, but evil. Especially since I really like Kyra.
I am sure you've answered this before, but what is your favorite Iconic, and why? Second favorite?
Favorite iconic is Merisiel, because she's awesome and probably the closest of all our iconics to the type of character I enjoy playing the most.
Second favorite is Kyra, because clerics have long been one of my favorite classes, and I'm particularly proud of the deities I've helped create for Golarion, among which Sarenrae is one of my favorites.
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1. Do aboleths hate divine casters(clerics, paladins, druids, rangers, inquisitors, and oracles) and mythic characters?
2. I thought the deific ability is appropriate for aboleths because aboleths are too proud to worship gods and think themselves as the true gods and thus want to be worshipped as gods. So giving them deific ability and thus let them mimic the gods would be a good idea. Am I misunderstanding their atheistic nature? In other words, do aboleths not want to be regarded and worshipped as gods, and thus not want to possess the deific ability to mimic the gods?
3. If an aboleth(including veiled masters and omnipaths) somehow experienced the moment of ascension and gained a mythic tier, or somehow it became a god(including demigod), what would be the proper reaction of the other aboleths? Would they regard this one as the epitome of their race and thus worship or at least pay homage to it? Or would they think this one is horrible heretic and a disgrace to their race and thus will do anything to kill this traitor?
4. I always wondered what the mythic power is. If aboleths hate mythic power so much, and given that all the demigods are considered 10th tier characters, can I assume that mythic power is a portion of a deity's power?
5. Anyway, under 3.5 rules, can high level wizards extract ancient secrets from aboleths via magic because their genetic memeory clearly contains the knowledge and secrets from eons ago? In other words, under the 3.5 rules, would the high level wizards consider this capturing-aboleths-and-extract-knowledge as a fascinating and viable method to do?
6. Maybe you decided to include high aboleths like the veiled masters and omnipaths because you already said what you wanted to say about the aboleths in Lords of Madness, and thus now you want to make a new aboleth-like cratures and make a new fascinating story about them?
1) While it's technically possible for a divine spellcaster aboleth, I doubt it will ever happen. If it DOES happen, it'll be a rare enough incident to warrant being the primary focus of an entire Adventure Path, and I'd rather focus an aboleth-themed AP on what makes aboleths interesting rather than focus on a non-abolethy aboleth. AKA: Such an Adventure Path would have to happen AFTER a standard aboleth Adventure Path, and not right after, and therefore something like this is, at best, years in the future. Don't hold your breath. There can certainly be mythic aboleths.
2) Aboleths aren't so much athiests as they are incapable of understanding or experiencing faith. So yes, I suspect you're misunderstanding them. They wouldn't grant spells to worshipers for LOTS of reasons, but the two that come to mind over all others are 1) they lack the ability to have faith and thus can't support a faith-based organization and 2) they don't want those who serve them to worship anything in a faith-based notion—faith requires the free will to believe and serve, and aboleths do NOT want their minions to have free will. They want slaves, not worshipers.
3) They would probably pull out all the proverbial stops to destroy it.
4) Aboleths don't hate mythic power at all. They embrace it when they can. Mythic power can include divine power, but it also includes all other power. Mythic power is normal power but MORE so. Mythic power is "stuff that breaks the rules." It's superhero abilities. It's the fuel of artifacts. That all said, what a true deity does is even more powerful than mythic power. Mythic power still follows rules and can be statted up.
5) I've not really had my head space in 3.5 rules for almost a decade, so I'm hardly the expert on that system anymore. If you want wizards to be able to extract secrets from the minds of captured aboleths, that sounds like an interesting story element so go for it. I'm not gonna tell you what rules to use or design to make it happen.
6) Or maybe I just like the idea of monsters having different categories. When I created the ulitharid for D&D back in Dungeon Magazine #24, I was doing the same thing. Other game designers have done similar things—there are multiple types of grell in D&D, for example, as well as numerous types of demon or devil or dragon. On top of all that, Erik Mona is the one who actually came up with the veiled master idea. I liked the concept a LOT though, and I'm the one who invented their statistics for Inner Sea Bestiary. Had I the clout and ability to create new category of aboleth for D&D back in Lords of Madness, I probably would have done so, but I wasn't in that position. I was a freelancer writing to a spec, and Wizards of the Coast didn't want to go that route. What you see me doing in Pathifnder is in large part stuff that I want to do. That's the difference between my work as Creative Director for Pazio and freelance writer for D&D. It's the difference between being a hired gun/mercenary (freelance writer) who has to deliver on a job set in place by your boss, and being the boss (creative director).
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I've actually just noticed that each of the corruptions for the iconics is wonderfully tailored to make it terrifying. Sajan giving in to his basest urges as a ghoul, Merisiel losing her individuality, beauty becoming physically painful to Lem, Seelah becoming that which she fights... kudos to whoever made those decisions. Who should I congratulate?
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7. Did the Earthfall somehow weakened the aboleth civilization? I think the deicidal meteorites would be very fatal to the undersea cities as well.
8. You said that Arodenite elves would be considered weird. So, logically, human worshippers of Calistria, Torag, Apsu and Dahak would be considered weird as well? I thought there is a sizable number of humans that worship these non-human deities.
9. To which age does Urgathoa belong? In other words, was Urgathoa an Azlanti before her death?
10. Now I know that humans don't pop like a turkey in the space. But there's still a question that lingers in my head. If a deep one is flung out of an airlock into outer space, would it receive the 3d6 decompression damage(Distant Worlds, page 54)? Or would it not receive it, because its deep dweller ability prevents it from receiving the damage from the difference in pressure?
11. You said that even Azlant and Thasillon didn't know the ancient war between the aboleths and the Vault Builders. Then, does that mean the current humanity don't know the existence of the Vault Builders entirely?
12. Even after the pcs conquered the Emerald Spire, humanity's knowledge about the Vault Builders won't expand significantly because there seems to be no osund materials describing the history of the Vault Builders in the spire? In other words, even after the adventure, the PCs will likely still not know what this dungeon truly is, and which race the last boss(Iluchtewhar) belonged to, unless he is a talkative type and tells every secret to the PCs?
7) The aboleths CAUSED Earthfall. It didn't weaken their civilization. They more or less had control over where those meteors fell, and while some of those "meteors" brought elements to the world they didn't anticipate or intend, and the interference of certain gods caused the whole devastation to be less potent than they intended, they specifically targeted surface regions and not the oceans. There was certainly some collateral damage to their civilization, but not a significant amount.
8) Nope. That's false logic. Aroden is a god of humanity. Calistria is not a goddess of elves. Torag is not a god of dwarves. Humanoid worshipers of Apsu and Dahak ARE weird in the same way that non-human worshipers of Aroden are unusual, but there's nothing in Calistria's areas of concern that says "elves" and nothing in Torag's that says "dwarves."
9) Urgathoa was once a human mortal who rebelled against Pharasma and became the first undead creature, and in so doing became a goddess. That implies that she's from an ancient human culture. I doubt that culture was Azlant or even a human culture on Golarion. We haven't said in print exactly where she lived or what culture she was part of as a human, but it was VERY VERY old, and probably predates humanity on Golarion. But again... it's not yet revealed (and likely won't be).
10) Deep ones are immune to pressure damage from water, not outer space.
11) Nope. There were individuals in Thassilon and Azlant who knew or at least suspected the existence of the Vault Builders, but as a whole those nations didn't really know much about it.
12) Correct. As far as the vault builders/keepers are concerned, Emerald Spire's purpose is to intrigue and pose questions and put those elements in the heads of players as future mysteries, not to answer them. The focus of the Emerald Spire is its actual contents and individual levels, not a revelation about the nature of Orv or the Vault Builders.
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I've actually just noticed that each of the corruptions for the iconics is wonderfully tailored to make it terrifying. Sajan giving in to his basest urges as a ghoul, Merisiel losing her individuality, beauty becoming physically painful to Lem, Seelah becoming that which she fights... kudos to whoever made those decisions. Who should I congratulate?
I have no idea. I wasn't part of that book's creation really. Whoever wrote the art order is probably the one to congratulate, and that person changes from book to book. It was PROBABLY someone on the design team.
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Why do aboleths do what they do, anyway? What was the point of raising Azlant up in the first place?
Why do kids keep ant farms and torture ants with magnifying glasses? Because they can, Because it makes them feel powerful, Because they're sadistic, Because they're curious.
That, plus aboleths are aberrations and as I've said elsewhere that includes their methods of thought.
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In your opinion, does the haste spell (or effect) grant an enhancement to a character's base speed or their modified speed after armor/encumbrance penalties? A creature with 20 ft base speed in heavy armor has a modified speed of 15 ft. Haste would make that creature's speed 30 ft or 35 ft?
Before.
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Favorite iconic is Merisiel, because she's awesome and probably the closest of all our iconics to the type of character I enjoy playing the most.
Isn't she also your alter ego on the boards?
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Isn't she also your alter ego on the boards?
Favorite iconic is Merisiel, because she's awesome and probably the closest of all our iconics to the type of character I enjoy playing the most.
One of several.
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Creative Director
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Hi James,
Is there any chance of Paizo either reprinting (or re-releasing) out of print flip mats (such as Darklands or Deep Forest) for evergreen scenarios (even in the 'Flip Mat Classics' series)?
Thats' the whole point of the flip-mat classics line—to reprint popular and useful flip mats. I'm not the one who makes the decisions of which ones to reprint or not, nor do I particularly keep an eye on which ones we've done, which ones we've announced, and which ones we haven't announced but will be doing... but I suspect something like caves or woods will be hit soon if they haven't already.
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James, it seems my questions got caught between a few of your answers, and so you missed them. I'm reposting them, hope that's ok
1) what is Pharasma's views on resurrection, magically extending one's life, and searching for immortality? Does she view this as "stealing" from her, or in the grand scheme of things and the scale of time she operates, it simply doesn't matter?
2) Do you think some gods have some of their roles and portifolios underdeveloped/explored? For example, I find Sarenrae's role as a Sun Goddess is less clear and established as her aspects of Healing and Redemption
3) I'm not looking for a official ruling here, but rather your opinion: In your tables, how do you handle the favored weapon proficiency of a cleric that switches her patron god?
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Creative Director
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James, it seems my questions got caught between a few of your answers, and so you missed them. I'm reposting them, hope that's ok
1) what is Pharasma's views on resurrection, magically extending one's life, and searching for immortality? Does she view this as "stealing" from her, or in the grand scheme of things and the scale of time she operates, it simply doesn't matter?
2) Do you think some gods have some of their roles and portifolios underdeveloped/explored? For example, I find Sarenrae's role as a Sun Goddess is less clear and established as her aspects of Healing and Redemption
3) I'm not looking for a official ruling here, but rather your opinion: In your tables, how do you handle the favored weapon proficiency of a cleric that switches her patron god?
It is indeed ok!
1) She approves of resurrection, and knows that there's no such thing as true immortality—that eventually even long-lived creatures that do not age will die through misadventure or accident or violence or the like. They all stand before her in the end. Her faith isn't this patient or understanding, though, and some of their more zealous adherents might be a bit more intolerant of such goals.
2) In that we can't cover everything equally immediately, perhaps. But in time, we'll get to those. For example, there's more information about Sarenrae's role as a sun goddess in the upcoming Qadira book and the upcoming Paths of the Righteous Player's Companion.
3) The cleric loses the previous weapon proficiency and gains the new one. If the cleric had other feats that built off that proficiency, I'll generally allow the player to adjust those feats as well as part of her character's retraining to be a faithful servant of the new faith.
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Hi Jamnes
1: What happens to a demon lords abyssal realm when that demon lord dies for good? Does it just crumble way into the aether of the abyss?
2: if an abyssal realm did crumble away some how what would happen to the demons that inhabit that realm
3: what would happen to a person who was imprisoned by an imprisonment spell deep within that layer of the abyss?
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Creative Director
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Hi Jamnes
1: What happens to a demon lords abyssal realm when that demon lord dies for good? Does it just crumble way into the aether of the abyss?
2: if an abyssal realm did crumble away some how what would happen to the demons that inhabit that realm
3: what would happen to a person who was imprisoned by an imprisonment spell deep within that layer of the abyss?
1) Depends on the realm and how the demon lord died, but generally the realm just kinda goes "fallow" and if not claimed and reshaped by another demon lord will go wild and eventually fall into ruin.
2) They'd move on to other realms long before that happened, but "crumbling" isn't the norm so in most cases they'd just go all post-apocalyptic on the realm. Which to the human visitor wouldn't look all that different from before.
3) They're in a bad situation. In that they're imprisoned deep underground in the worst place to be underground.
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Who give a newly formed outsider their name?
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Creative Director
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Who give a newly formed outsider their name?
If someone creates the outsider and they care, they give the outsider their name, similar to a parent giving the outsider a name. Or the outsider names itself. Or in some cases the name appears in the outsider's mind. It can vary.
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How long does it take for a petitioner to be come an outsider? Archon spicificly
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Who makes a worse parent, a typical goblin or a typical drow?
EDIT: Allowing that both are fantastically awful, obviously.
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Favorite iconic is Merisiel, because she's awesome and probably the closest of all our iconics to the type of character I enjoy playing the most.
Second favorite is Kyra, because clerics have long been one of my favorite classes, and I'm particularly proud of the deities I've helped create for Golarion, among which Sarenrae is one of my favorites.
That makes me happy because those are my two favorite as well! (And also really happy about the two in the comics as well, though I need to get the other comics soon.)
Also, a question! Putting in spoiler just in case.
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Hi James, I'm running a Jade Regent campaign (and my players are having a TON of fun!) One of my newer players (joined during the Hungry Storm) is playing a Half-Orc Witch with the Time Patron. She doesn't know who exactly her patron is. I thought one of the Eldest would be good, in particular Shyka who has a vested interest in time.
However, before I reveal that, is there perhaps a powerful Kami or Oni patron I've overlooked who might tie into the Tian cultures more than Shyka?
Would First World figures be known to the Kami, or considered powerful Kami or Oni by such spirits?
She is happy to let me decide who the Patron for her is, and discovering who has been granting her magic is part of her story. I'd really like to tie into both her choice of a Time patron, and where the story is headed (Tian-Xia, Forest of Spirits and Minkai).