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Paizo Employee Creative Director

Albatoonoe wrote:

Are you familiar with Granfaloon from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night? It seems like such a bizarre monster that it would be right up your alley.

** spoiler omitted **

I've only played the first 2/3 of the 2nd Castlevania game, so... no. Not familiar with that one.


Do you have any thoughts on what would happen if someone offed Ahriman?

It strikes me that the Div are in a uniquely precarious position in having only one player on the quasi-deity+ playing field, so they could be disrupted in a way that other fiend races can't.


If a character was a student of moral philosophy (why is Good a good thing and Evil a bad thing, consequentialism vs deontology) are their any gods that would appeal to them? Or clergies that would welcome the analytical inspection of doctrine?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Davia D wrote:

Do you have any thoughts on what would happen if someone offed Ahriman?

It strikes me that the Div are in a uniquely precarious position in having only one player on the quasi-deity+ playing field, so they could be disrupted in a way that other fiend races can't.

Haven't thought about it, but the livelihood and continued existence of the div race does not hinge on the livelihood and continued existence of Ahriman. If he was slain, something or someone would replace him.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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DM Livgin wrote:
If a character was a student of moral philosophy (why is Good a good thing and Evil a bad thing, consequentialism vs deontology) are their any gods that would appeal to them? Or clergies that would welcome the analytical inspection of doctrine?

I don't think so, no. Part of faith and believing in a deity is accepting that good is good and evil is evil.

But especially NOT in a game like Pathfinder where good and evil and all that are quantifiable things you can measure and observe via things like detect magic.


James Jacobs wrote:
Davia D wrote:

Do you have any thoughts on what would happen if someone offed Ahriman?

It strikes me that the Div are in a uniquely precarious position in having only one player on the quasi-deity+ playing field, so they could be disrupted in a way that other fiend races can't.

Haven't thought about it, but the livelihood and continued existence of the div race does not hinge on the livelihood and continued existence of Ahriman. If he was slain, something or someone would replace him.

So, power struggle to figure out who gets the big chair kind of thing?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Davia D wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Davia D wrote:

Do you have any thoughts on what would happen if someone offed Ahriman?

It strikes me that the Div are in a uniquely precarious position in having only one player on the quasi-deity+ playing field, so they could be disrupted in a way that other fiend races can't.

Haven't thought about it, but the livelihood and continued existence of the div race does not hinge on the livelihood and continued existence of Ahriman. If he was slain, something or someone would replace him.
So, power struggle to figure out who gets the big chair kind of thing?

Whatever makes for the most interesting story. I'm not gonna set anything down in stone here (as much as I wish otherwise, my comments here are too often taken that way) when I haven't really done any research or thought into it.

For now, it's up to your GM.

Dark Archive

James, if Starfinder is popular enough do you think Paizo will do a (super)"Herofinder"?

Silver Crusade

Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

What have you found to be effective in encouraging roleplaying? Some go right into it, but many of the folks I play with want to, but have difficulty.


Just listened to the know direction 154 podcast interview. When can we expect the Ultimate Almanac: Golarion kickstarter?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

ulgulanoth wrote:
James, if Starfinder is popular enough do you think Paizo will do a (super)"Herofinder"?

Very very very very very unlikely.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Alayern wrote:
What have you found to be effective in encouraging roleplaying? Some go right into it, but many of the folks I play with want to, but have difficulty.

Practice. Patience. And trust.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

2 people marked this as a favorite.
DM Livgin wrote:
Just listened to the know direction 154 podcast interview. When can we expect the Ultimate Almanac: Golarion kickstarter?

Why would we complicate an already difficult to get to press book by involving the distractions and tricky-to-manage elements of Kickstarter? We already have the infrastructure and capacity and resources and personnel to produce a book like what I mentioned... so if Management decides to go ahead with it, we'll just put it on our schedule and do it. No need to overcomplicate it with kickstarter.

And we wouldn't use the word "Ultimate" for this prodcut anyway, since an alminac is traditionally NEVER the last one (and thus not "ultimate" anything) since it is updated often. Furthermore, the word "Ultimate" implies "World neutral rules heavy book" in the Paizo lexicon, and a product like I mentioned in that podcast has no rules (or very very very few rules) and is hyper-focused on Golarion content... pretty much the exact opposite of an "Ultimate" book.


James Jacobs wrote:
DM Livgin wrote:
Just listened to the know direction 154 podcast interview. When can we expect the Ultimate Almanac: Golarion kickstarter?

Why would we complicate an already difficult to get to press book by involving the distractions and tricky-to-manage elements of Kickstarter? We already have the infrastructure and capacity and resources and personnel to produce a book like what I mentioned... so if Management decides to go ahead with it, we'll just put it on our schedule and do it. No need to overcomplicate it with kickstarter.

And we wouldn't use the word "Ultimate" for this prodcut anyway, since an alminac is traditionally NEVER the last one (and thus not "ultimate" anything) since it is updated often. Furthermore, the word "Ultimate" implies "World neutral rules heavy book" in the Paizo lexicon, and a product like I mentioned in that podcast has no rules (or very very very few rules) and is hyper-focused on Golarion content... pretty much the exact opposite of an "Ultimate" book.

So you already have a robust plan in place to get this published? We are excited! ;)

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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DM Livgin wrote:
So you already have a robust plan in place to get this published? We are excited! ;)

That's not what I said at all.

There is no "robust plan" to get this book published. I've tried many times to get it on the schedule, but have not yet been successful due to the reasons I've mentioned in the podcast, and I'm not sure I've got the heart or energy or inspiration to do so again anytime soon, to tell the truth.


DM Livgin wrote:
Just listened to the know direction 154 podcast interview. When can we expect the Ultimate Almanac: Golarion kickstarter?

Any idea when in the interview that happens?

(Or James, are you able to recap what you said there with respect to a hypothetical "golarion almanac"?)

Grand Lodge

Hey James, how do you pronounce the Eldest Ng's name?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Jurassic Pratt wrote:
Hey James, how do you pronounce the Eldest Ng's name?

"Ing"

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Steve Geddes wrote:
DM Livgin wrote:
Just listened to the know direction 154 podcast interview. When can we expect the Ultimate Almanac: Golarion kickstarter?

Any idea when in the interview that happens?

(Or James, are you able to recap what you said there with respect to a hypothetical "golarion almanac"?)

I think it was toward the end of the interview.

To recap: I would love for us to produce a book in the Campaign Setting line that covers topics like trade, resources, local customs, ceremonies, folklore, weather, and stuff like that. Information that is INCREDIBLY useful when building other content, especially adventures and stories set in the world, or for coming up with histories for characters (be they PCs or NPCs) that would cover the Inner Sea Region. I tried once to do this book in the player companion line but there simply wasn't enough room, and I'm not sure 64 pages is enough room either. It's also a book I feel very passionate about and want to, if not write, then at least outline and develop but finding the time and inspiration and energy to write is tricky for me these days.


I am a little confused about the use of a certain term in the bestiaries: Special Quality.

What defines those? How are they different from special abilities? Is it simply a synonymn, or there are differences in design there?

If i am writing a custom bestiary statblock for homebrew creatures, how do i define what i should call a special quality or special ability?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

shadowkras wrote:

I am a little confused about the use of a certain term in the bestiaries: Special Quality.

What defines those? How are they different from special abilities? Is it simply a synonymn, or there are differences in design there?

If i am writing a custom bestiary statblock for homebrew creatures, how do i define what i should call a special quality or special ability?

As a general rule, something goes in the special quality line if it's not something that a monster uses to defend itself or to attack. They're usually things that don't have significant impact on combat. Think of "Special Quality" as a place to list monster powers and abilities that don't quite fit well anywhere else in the stats.

If you're writing your own bestiary for your homebrew, the right way to categorize any of these things is the way that makes the most sense to you, though. Make sure to read the detailed description of all the different parts of the monster stat block we print at the front of every Bestiary for more info on each line.


1. You said that elves are not expansionists in this page, but Guide to the River Kingdoms clearly said that they are very eager to reconquer Sevenarches no matter what(though the book also said that they don't wish to exterminate the humans who hold this territory unless they've exhausted all other options). What do you think about this? Maybe it was the work of another writer and it contradicts your opinion toward elves? In other words, if you wrote Sevenarches part of that book, would you said this land was once a part of Kyonin and the elves want to reclaim it very much?

2. Cordelon was once a staging facility for elves returning to Kyonin but now it is abandoned. Hymbria was established by elves from Kyonin as a base from which they will reclaim Sevenarches. And there is a ruined elven keep in the Stolen Lands. Were these lands all parts of Kyonin before the Earthfall?

3. It is mentioned that the Earthfall kicked off a thousand years of darkness. Humanity began to rebuild after a thousand years. What took them so long? I mean, one or two hundreds years would be okay, but a thousand years? I thought there were still many Azlanti around even after the Earthfall.

4. Page 7 of Vaults of Madness said that "Many of its seers and mystics feared some great calamity was coming, and the fact that certain prognosticators within Azlant would not respond to their queries led them to believe that something was brewing about which they were not being told.", "His attemtps to divine the nature of this gruesome fate were stymied again and again by the menacing silence coming from his superiors in Azlant and the lack of direct answers from his deity." I'm not sure. Does that mean Azlanti knew the Earthfall would happen but chose to say nothing about it?

5. Saventh-Yhi was far from the continent of Azlant. So, if Urschlar didn't make the midnight spores that made the people of the city go crazy after the Earthfall, would Saventh-Yhi have remained largely intact and the Azlanti civilization would have survived thanks to the city?

6. I want to place a secret vault under Saventh-Yhi that holds tens of thousands of sarcophagi in which ancient Azlanti are hibernating. And there are seven districts in Saventh-Yhi: military, mercantile, government, residential, artisan, farming, temple. Which disrict do you think is the most appropriate place to put this vault?


7. Do serpentfolk think the Earthfall was possible because the Azlanti were weak? In other words, do they think they would definitely have predicted and prevented the Earthfall if their empire didn't fall?

8. Why do serpentfolk have to resurrect their god anyway? Ydersius still can grant spells to his clerics, and the humans flourished even when there is no god of humanity(before and after the Age of Enthronement).

9. Do Paizo and you still want to talk about serpentfolk more? In other words, would there be more serpentfolk-themed adventure paths some day?

10. Serpentfolk are neutral evil, but their god is chaotic evil. What's the cause of this discrepancy? Maybe an author made a mistake and no one in Paizo discovered it before the publication? I personally think serpentfolk should be chaotic evil, becuase it's menitoned that they are very individualistic.

11. Was the serpentfolk empire ruled by a mortal serpentfolk emperor? Or there was no emperor, and Ydersius himself ruled the empire as a living god?

12. How big was the serpentfolk empire? Did it include Cheliax, Taldor, and the River Kingdoms? Did serpentfolk also expanded onto Brevoy and Iobaria?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Aenigma wrote:

1. You said that elves are not expansionists in this page, but Guide to the River Kingdoms clearly said that they are very eager to reconquer Sevenarches no matter what(though the book also said that they don't wish to exterminate the humans who hold this territory unless they've exhausted all other options). What do you think about this? Maybe it was the work of another writer and it contradicts your opinion toward elves? In other words, if you wrote Sevenarches part of that book, would you said this land was once a part of Kyonin and the elves want to reclaim it very much?

2. Cordelon was once a staging facility for elves returning to Kyonin but now it is abandoned. Hymbria was established by elves from Kyonin as a base from which they will reclaim Sevenarches. And there is a ruined elven keep in the Stolen Lands. Were these lands all parts of Kyonin before the Earthfall?

3. It is mentioned that the Earthfall kicked off a thousand years of darkness. Humanity began to rebuild after a thousand years. What took them so long? I mean, one or two hundreds years would be okay, but a thousand years? I thought there were still many Azlanti around even after the Earthfall.

4. Page 7 of Vaults of Madness said that "Many of its seers and mystics feared some great calamity was coming, and the fact that certain prognosticators within Azlant would not respond to their queries led them to believe that something was brewing about which they were not being told.", "His attemtps to divine the nature of this gruesome fate were stymied again and again by the menacing silence coming from his superiors in Azlant and the lack of direct answers from his deity." I'm not sure. Does that mean Azlanti knew the Earthfall would happen but chose to say nothing about it?

5. Saventh-Yhi was far from the continent of Azlant. So, if Urschlar didn't make the midnight spores that made the people of the city go crazy after the Earthfall, would Saventh-Yhi have remained largely intact and the Azlanti civilization would have survived thanks to the city?

6. I want to place a secret vault under Saventh-Yhi that holds tens of thousands of sarcophagi in which ancient Azlanti are hibernating. And there are seven districts in Saventh-Yhi: military, mercantile, government, residential, artisan, farming, temple. Which disrict do you think is the most appropriate place to put this vault?

1) The River Kingdoms are an eclectic group of non-conformists who break the rules of many societies and do their own thing. The actions of a relatively small group of elves in one relatively small corner of the River Kingdoms is not an indication that this his how elves all over the world act. I didn't write any of that book, in any event. It was written by a wide range of different authors who were mostly given free reign to build tiny little kingdoms of their preference; since the whole point of the River Kingdoms is that they are a rapidly-changing shifting group of outcasts and the like, it's a perfect place to build outlying and unusual small groups of this kind.

2) No. Kyonin has remained pretty stable in size through the many centuries.

3) The "thosuand years" is metaphorical, and speaks to a "dark age" of savagery and post-apocalyptic violence and despair. It took humanity that long to rebuild because that's how long it took, because the world of that age was hyper-dangerous with all sorts of threats.

4) Just as the runelords knew that some sort of end-of-the-world event was coming (but didn't share that information around), I'm sure there were some folks in Azlant who did the same, likely to try to avoid causing a panic or because they thought the event wouldn't happen or could be stopped. Think of it as how folks got all edgy and freaked out before Y2K or the 2012 "Mayan apocalypse" came about, if you will. There were doubtless some who knew but were discounted as paranoids, etc.

5) Maybe, maybe not. That's not the story we chose to tell, so if you go back and change time to have different events take place, it can be whatever you want it to be. I'm not interested in rebuilding different possible worlds based on changes in the past, though, as I think I've said before in this thread.

6) Up to you.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Aenigma wrote:

7. Do serpentfolk think the Earthfall was possible because the Azlanti were weak? In other words, do they think they would definitely have predicted and prevented the Earthfall if their empire didn't fall?

8. Why do serpentfolk have to resurrect their god anyway? Ydersius still can grant spells to his clerics, and the humans flourished even when there is no god of humanity(before and after the Age of Enthronement).

9. Do Paizo and you still want to talk about serpentfolk more? In other words, would there be more serpentfolk-themed adventure paths some day?

10. Serpentfolk are neutral evil, but their god is chaotic evil. What's the cause of this discrepancy? Maybe an author made a mistake and no one in Paizo discovered it before the publication? I personally think serpentfolk should be chaotic evil, becuase it's menitoned that they are very individualistic.

11. Was the serpentfolk empire ruled by a mortal serpentfolk emperor? Or there was no emperor, and Ydersius himself ruled the empire as a living god?

12. How big was the serpentfolk empire? Did it include Cheliax, Taldor, and the River Kingdoms? Did serpentfolk also expanded onto Brevoy and Iobaria?

7) No.

8) Because that's what the religion teaches them. Those serpentfolk who don't worship Ydersius have their own opinions, but those who do worship him want him back with his head in place.

9) Yes. They're an important part of the world.

10) Not all serpentfolk worship Ydersius. The author (me) did not "make a mistake." Ydersius is a force of evil and chaos, but you don't have to be chaotic evil to worship him. Most of the serpentfolk clerics of Ydersius are chaotic evil, yes, but most of the serpentfolk as a whole are NOT clerics of Ydersius.

11) Yes, but we've not said much on the subject as far as I know. And the empire lasted longer than one serpentfolk life, so over the course of time, the empire had many different rulers.

12) It was entirely underground, and pretty much encompassed the entire Sekimina portion of the Darklands under the Inner Sea region, and was in fact CALLED Sekamina (this is where the name came from, even though the time of the serpentfolk empire is long passed and there's not a lot of evidence remaining throughout Sekamina of the nation overall).


So I'm working on having a quarterstaff Nature Fang druid off of some of the advice I've seen in the forums here. I was wondering if I could get an opinion on 2 things.

1) Shillelagh: I understand that it can only be cast on a non-magical quarterstaff, but what are the thoughts on it being cast on a caster staff? Staff of the Woodlands is the best example I can think of. Is their ability to "function as a +2 quarterstaff" something that makes them then a magical weapon, or are they non-magical?

2) Greater Shillelagh: Will we ever see something like this? Shillelagh is a great spell, but I'm worried about trying to over come damage resistance types at higher points if I make this my focused weapon and fighting style. Will I simply have to bite the bullet later and get a more enchanted staff, or is there simply something I'm not seeting?

Thank you in advance for any assistance, sorry if I'm posting incorrectly, and as always, thanks for all the work you and the team do.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

SilvanOrion wrote:

So I'm working on having a quarterstaff Nature Fang druid off of some of the advice I've seen in the forums here. I was wondering if I could get an opinion on 2 things.

1) Shillelagh: I understand that it can only be cast on a non-magical quarterstaff, but what are the thoughts on it being cast on a caster staff? Staff of the Woodlands is the best example I can think of. Is their ability to "function as a +2 quarterstaff" something that makes them then a magical weapon, or are they non-magical?

2) Greater Shillelagh: Will we ever see something like this? Shillelagh is a great spell, but I'm worried about trying to over come damage resistance types at higher points if I make this my focused weapon and fighting style. Will I simply have to bite the bullet later and get a more enchanted staff, or is there simply something I'm not seeting?

Thank you in advance for any assistance, sorry if I'm posting incorrectly, and as always, thanks for all the work you and the team do.

1) Nope. Non magic staff only.

2) Probably not.


James Jacobs wrote:
Steve Geddes wrote:
DM Livgin wrote:
Just listened to the know direction 154 podcast interview. When can we expect the Ultimate Almanac: Golarion kickstarter?

Any idea when in the interview that happens?

(Or James, are you able to recap what you said there with respect to a hypothetical "golarion almanac"?)

I think it was toward the end of the interview.

To recap: I would love for us to produce a book in the Campaign Setting line that covers topics like trade, resources, local customs, ceremonies, folklore, weather, and stuff like that. Information that is INCREDIBLY useful when building other content, especially adventures and stories set in the world, or for coming up with histories for characters (be they PCs or NPCs) that would cover the Inner Sea Region. I tried once to do this book in the player companion line but there simply wasn't enough room, and I'm not sure 64 pages is enough room either. It's also a book I feel very passionate about and want to, if not write, then at least outline and develop but finding the time and inspiration and energy to write is tricky for me these days.

Thanks very much (both for the pointer on where to look and the explanation). Fingers crossed the creative inspiration,energy and business plans line up appropriately down the track.


1. I'm not sure. Then can I assume that Sevenarches was not a part of Kyonin before the Earthfall? Then why the elves want to reclaim it?

2. In page 77 of Armageddon Echo, there is an illustration of a serpentine creature that has six heads. What is this monster? It is strangely similar to yuan-ti anathema in Fiend Folio. Second Darkness was publihsed under 3.5 rules, right? Maybe when Paizo published this book, it thought that the snake city Eando visited was a yuan-ti city? And that monster was indeed a yuan-ti anathema?

3. At the end of his journal, it was implied that Eando blocked all tunnels to the serpentfolk city so that no one can go there and awaken serpentfolk. This city is sverenagati, right? Because Sverenagati and Ilmurea are the only remaining serpentfolk cities in the world. But it seems that all the serpentfolk in the city awakened according to Serpent's Skull, considering the fact that Vyr-Azul and his minions came from Sverenagati. Does that mean Eando failed to block the tunnels to the city?

4. Why do humans have to hide the existence of serpentfolk anyway? If they are really dangerous, shouldn't humans send as many adventurers as possible and kill the serpentfolk in their sleep?

5. At the time of Azlant, there were many serpentfolk around. But their number dwindled a lot. Even if they all awaken, they cannot pose a serious threat to humanity because they are so few now. So Eando's worry was just a paranoid, right?

6. In page 58 of Sanctum of the Serpent God, there is an illustration depicting serpentfolk attacking humans. Where is this place? I ask this because there is a very notable white building in the background. Is it the Starstone Cathedral in Absalom?


7. Why is Ydersius' home plane in the Maelstrom, and not in the Abyss? Does he dislike the Abyss?

8. Sometimes, a god lives in a plane that doesn't match his alignment. Calistria is chaotic neutral but she lives in the Elysium. Nethys is neutral but he lives in the Maelstrom. Ydersius is chaotic evil but he lives in the Maelstrom. Then which outsiders serve these gods? Do they use proteans, aeons, and demons that match their alignments? Or do they use azatas and proteans that live in their home plane?

9. Sanctum of the Serpent God said that Sydrixus, Ydersius' home plane, has been closed to both the god and his servants. Then where do his worshipers go after death? Do their souls go to the Darklands?

10. Savith died because of the venom of Ydersius. But couldn't a simple remove poison spell cure it?

11. How do evil races like orcs, goblins, drow, and serpentfolk view undead? In City of Seven Spears, there is an undead serpentfolk called Sozothala. He doesn't know there are living serpentfolk under the city. What would happen if he encounters those under the city or those degenerate serpentfolk in the city? Would they kill him because he is an undead? Would they befreind him because evil creatures like undead?

12. I want to use undead but the possibility that my PC might go to the hell frightens me. What if I worship a neutral god? Even though I create and use undead, if I worship a neutral god quite well, Pharasma would send me to the neutral plane, right? A necromancer worshiper of Pharasma would be a viable choice.


Will there be rouge-y and urban archetypes for the shifter? I wanna play Mystique.


Are half elves and half orcs able to take the Human Racial Heritage feat and then qualify for the archetypes/feats/etc. exclusive to a race of their choosing just like humans are?

I'm interested in making a half orc oracle that uses the Ancient Lorekeeper archetype. I'm wondering if this is possible using the Racial Heritage feat.

Radiant Oath

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

Was the Tenome in Bestiary 6 directly based on the Pale Man from Guillermo del Toro's masterpiece, Pan's Labyrinth, or was that just a coincidence from the artist's interpretation?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Aenigma wrote:

1. I'm not sure. Then can I assume that Sevenarches was not a part of Kyonin before the Earthfall? Then why the elves want to reclaim it?

2. In page 77 of Armageddon Echo, there is an illustration of a serpentine creature that has six heads. What is this monster? It is strangely similar to yuan-ti anathema in Fiend Folio. Second Darkness was publihsed under 3.5 rules, right? Maybe when Paizo published this book, it thought that the snake city Eando visited was a yuan-ti city? And that monster was indeed a yuan-ti anathema?

3. At the end of his journal, it was implied that Eando blocked all tunnels to the serpentfolk city so that no one can go there and awaken serpentfolk. This city is sverenagati, right? Because Sverenagati and Ilmurea are the only remaining serpentfolk cities in the world. But it seems that all the serpentfolk in the city awakened according to Serpent's Skull, considering the fact that Vyr-Azul and his minions came from Sverenagati. Does that mean Eando failed to block the tunnels to the city?

4. Why do humans have to hide the existence of serpentfolk anyway? If they are really dangerous, shouldn't humans send as many adventurers as possible and kill the serpentfolk in their sleep?

5. At the time of Azlant, there were many serpentfolk around. But their number dwindled a lot. Even if they all awaken, they cannot pose a serious threat to humanity because they are so few now. So Eando's worry was just a paranoid, right?

6. In page 58 of Sanctum of the Serpent God, there is an illustration depicting serpentfolk attacking humans. Where is this place? I ask this because there is a very notable white building in the background. Is it the Starstone Cathedral in Absalom?

1) Don't know. Haven't put any thought into expanding that and don't plan to.

2) It's just a snake monster, not a yuan-ti. We never planned to have yuan-ti in the game because that's not allowed by the OGL. We planned on those being serpentfolk from the very beginning.

3) Unrevealed.

4) Because it's scarier and more interesting this way.

5) Nope. One serpentfolk is worth a LOT of humans. One serpentfolk can do a lot of damage on its own. They're powerful.

6) It's not meant to be anywhere in particular. Just serpentfolk attacking humans.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Aenigma wrote:

7. Why is Ydersius' home plane in the Maelstrom, and not in the Abyss? Does he dislike the Abyss?

8. Sometimes, a god lives in a plane that doesn't match his alignment. Calistria is chaotic neutral but she lives in the Elysium. Nethys is neutral but he lives in the Maelstrom. Ydersius is chaotic evil but he lives in the Maelstrom. Then which outsiders serve these gods? Do they use proteans, aeons, and demons that match their alignments? Or do they use azatas and proteans that live in their home plane?

9. Sanctum of the Serpent God said that Sydrixus, Ydersius' home plane, has been closed to both the god and his servants. Then where do his worshipers go after death? Do their souls go to the Darklands?

10. Savith died because of the venom of Ydersius. But couldn't a simple remove poison spell cure it?

11. How do evil races like orcs, goblins, drow, and serpentfolk view undead? In City of Seven Spears, there is an undead serpentfolk called Sozothala. He doesn't know there are living serpentfolk under the city. What would happen if he encounters those under the city or those degenerate serpentfolk in the city? Would they kill him because he is an undead? Would they befreind him because evil creatures like undead?

12. I want to use undead but the possibility that my PC might go to the hell frightens me. What if I worship a neutral god? Even though I create and use undead, if I worship a neutral god quite well, Pharasma would send me to the neutral plane, right? A necromancer worshiper of Pharasma would be a viable choice.

7) Because that's where we decided he lives.

8) It varies.

9) Unrevealed.

10) Nope. A "simple neutralize poison" has no effect on Ydersius's venom.

11) It varies by race, region, and religion.

12) Talk to your GM if you are interested in adjusting this.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

AlgaeNymph wrote:
Will there be rouge-y and urban archetypes for the shifter? I wanna play Mystique.

Then play a druid who gets the Thousand Faces ability. Human forms aren't the shifter's thing.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Ferret0418 wrote:

Are half elves and half orcs able to take the Human Racial Heritage feat and then qualify for the archetypes/feats/etc. exclusive to a race of their choosing just like humans are?

I'm interested in making a half orc oracle that uses the Ancient Lorekeeper archetype. I'm wondering if this is possible using the Racial Heritage feat.

Talk to your GM then and work something out.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Archpaladin Zousha wrote:
Was the Tenome in Bestiary 6 directly based on the Pale Man from Guillermo del Toro's masterpiece, Pan's Labyrinth, or was that just a coincidence from the artist's interpretation?

It's from Japanese mythology.

I suspect Guillarmo del Toro knows this as well and was inspired by it too.


1. Page 42 of Into the Darklands said that Sverenagati was constructed by utilizing techniques stolen from Thassilonian architects. I thought serpentfolk precede Azlant and Thassilon. How can they steal from Thassilon which didn't even exist before the fall of the serpentfolk empire?

2. Ioun stones are called Azlanti stones. Can I assume that Azlanti invented ioun stones, and thus serpentfolk didn't invent them and didn't use them? And can the spellcasters nowadays make ioun stones?

3. Do elves, dwarves and serpentfolk grow old? I mean, I know they would die of old age, but when they became old, would they look like an old person? Would they have wrinkles and gray hair?

4. I have thought that the monster in the cover of Andoran, Birthplace of Freedom is an orc. But orcs have green skins, not blue. And orcs don't live in Andoran. Then what is that monster? A hobgoblin, maybe?

5. In some illustrations, the orcs are bald. But in other illustrations, they have hair. Which is correct? Maybe they are not naturally bald, but they tend to shave their hair off because they like to be bald?

6. There is no internet or television in Golarion. So even if the PCs did many extraordinary deeds, most people wouldn't know about them, right? So, if the PCs visit Korvosa, Chaliax or Sargava, the people who live there would not recognize the PCs as the famous heroes who defeated Karzoug, right? There is no internet, so even those who heard about PCs' deeds can't know what the PCs look like, right? I even doubt those ordinary people in other regions ever heard about the PCs' adventures at all.


7. According to page 67 of City of Locusts, the hasty assembling of an unkown weapon would reduce Starfall to a pile of ash and a mushroom-shaped cloud would billow high into the air. Radioactive dust would be spread far and wide. Is it an atomic bomb? I thought Androffans didn't use nuclear weapons because nuclear weapons are far outdated technology to them.

8. In page 62 of Raiders of the Fever Sea, it is mentioned that merfolk are the allies of aboleths. I thought merfolk are benevolent creatures like aquatic elves. Are they evil and sinister after all?

9. Do sorcerers, oracles, and psychic spellcasters have different genes? If an Earth scientist examine them, would he find out they are genetically different from normal humans?

10. A whip is a melee weapon but attacking with it provokes attacks of opportunity and I have to learn whip mastery feat to remove this disadvantage. It's so unfair. Maybe Paizo created this disparity because in real life a whip is actually very hard to use?

11. I'm not sure which weapon benefits from throw anything feat. So I ask you. If I throw a sickle or a scythe, would it be considered as an improvised weapon?

12. You said that you are not satisfied with the illustrations of the vault builders and the vault keepers. And there would be an article about them in Vault of the Onyx Citadel. Would you make sure Paizo include entirely new illustrations of xiomorns in the book?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Aenigma wrote:

1. Page 42 of Into the Darklands said that Sverenagati was constructed by utilizing techniques stolen from Thassilonian architects. I thought serpentfolk precede Azlant and Thassilon. How can they steal from Thassilon which didn't even exist before the fall of the serpentfolk empire?

2. Ioun stones are called Azlanti stones. Can I assume that Azlanti invented ioun stones, and thus serpentfolk didn't invent them and didn't use them? And can the spellcasters nowadays make ioun stones?

3. Do elves, dwarves and serpentfolk grow old? I mean, I know they would die of old age, but when they became old, would they look like an old person? Would they have wrinkles and gray hair?

4. I have thought that the monster in the cover of Andoran, Birthplace of Freedom is an orc. But orcs have green skins, not blue. And orcs don't live in Andoran. Then what is that monster? A hobgoblin, maybe?

5. In some illustrations, the orcs are bald. But in other illustrations, they have hair. Which is correct? Maybe they are not naturally bald, but they tend to shave their hair off because they like to be bald?

6. There is no internet or television in Golarion. So even if the PCs did many extraordinary deeds, most people wouldn't know about them, right? So, if the PCs visit Korvosa, Chaliax or Sargava, the people who live there would not recognize the PCs as the famous heroes who defeated Karzoug, right? There is no internet, so even those who heard about PCs' deeds can't know what the PCs look like, right? I even doubt those ordinary people in other regions ever heard about the PCs' adventures at all.

1) Serpentfolk predate Azlant and Thassilon, but also postdate Azlant and Thassilon. The construction of Sverenagati occurred after Thassilon's foundation.

2) You cannot assume that the Azlanti invented them. Spellcasters today can create them.

3) Elves no. Dwarves yes. Serpentfolk no.

4) It's probably a monster we illustrated before we had the looks for the monster in question locked down.

5) Both. Like humans, orcs can be bald or hairy.

6) Depends on what sort of method you use to track fame in your game, but believe it or not, people could be famous before the internet.


Which Adventure Path would you recommend for

A. A single PC

B. A pair of PCs?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Aenigma wrote:

7. According to page 67 of City of Locusts, the hasty assembling of an unkown weapon would reduce Starfall to a pile of ash and a mushroom-shaped cloud would billow high into the air. Radioactive dust would be spread far and wide. Is it an atomic bomb? I thought Androffans didn't use nuclear weapons because nuclear weapons are far outdated technology to them.

8. In page 62 of Raiders of the Fever Sea, it is mentioned that merfolk are the allies of aboleths. I thought merfolk are benevolent creatures like aquatic elves. Are they evil and sinister after all?

9. Do sorcerers, oracles, and psychic spellcasters have different genes? If an Earth scientist examine them, would he find out they are genetically different from normal humans?

10. A whip is a melee weapon but attacking with it provokes attacks of opportunity and I have to learn whip mastery feat to remove this disadvantage. It's so unfair. Maybe Paizo created this disparity because in real life a whip is actually very hard to use?

11. I'm not sure which weapon benefits from throw anything feat. So I ask you. If I throw a sickle or a scythe, would it be considered as an improvised weapon?

12. You said that you are not satisfied with the illustrations of the vault builders and the vault keepers. And there would be an article about them in Vault of the Onyx Citadel. Would you make sure Paizo include entirely new illustrations of xiomorns in the book?

7) It's any bomb big enough to produce a mushroom cloud. Could be a nuclear bomb. Could be an antimatter bomb. Could be an unobtanium bomb. Could be an extinction bomb. Could be just enough TNT. In any event, Androffa did have nuclear weapons, and they were not "outdated technology" to them.

8) Check the Bestiary. Merfolk are neutral, not benevolent.

9) Doesn't matter for Pathfinder.

10) The "Maybe Paizo" line of comments is kinda annoying. In any event, this is how whips worked from the very start of 3rd edition D&D, years before Paizo was founded.

11) I don't answer rules questions like this; ask in the rules forum.

12) Not me, no, since that's not my project.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

GM Mowque wrote:

Which Adventure Path would you recommend for

A. A single PC

B. A pair of PCs?

Any of them work fine but your GM will need to do some heavy lifting to adapt the way the rules work.


I plan on being the GM. Do you have any general advice and tips?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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GM Mowque wrote:
I plan on being the GM. Do you have any general advice and tips?

Know the rules.

Read the GameMaster's Guide.

Don't let players bully you, but do your best to earn their respect.

Don't let the game hang up on rules arguments.

Adopt the mindset of "I'm telling a story for my friends to help decide the plot to," NOT "I'm in a competition against the players to win."

Have fun.


James Jacobs wrote:
GM Mowque wrote:
I plan on being the GM. Do you have any general advice and tips?

Know the rules.

Read the GameMaster's Guide.

Don't let players bully you, but do your best to earn their respect.

Don't let the game hang up on rules arguments.

Adopt the mindset of "I'm telling a story for my friends to help decide the plot to," NOT "I'm in a competition against the players to win."

Have fun.

I meant on adapting an AP to a small or solo person. I've never run an AP before, always homebrew plots (set in Golarion).

I have been (PBP) GMing for years on this website and I can certainly attest to that (great) advice you just gave.


James, have you watched the new Mystery Science Theater 3000? Specifically either of the two Kaiju episodes, Reptilicus and Yongary?


What did you think of the first episode of the third season of Fargo.

Have you gotten to watch it yet.

What did you think of Ewan McGregor's performance. :-)

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Davia D wrote:
James, have you watched the new Mystery Science Theater 3000? Specifically either of the two Kaiju episodes, Reptilicus and Yongary?

Yes to all.

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