Creative Director
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Is there any particular singer who'd be a good comparison for Shensen's singing voice? (At +21 Perform (Sing) she's probably technically better than any human currently on Earth, but not by an overwhelming margin.)Actually, in standard d20 a +21 is a fair bit beyond real world humans. Real world humans cap out at level 5 and with skill bonus of around 15. Add around +4 in bonuses from aid another and favorable circumstances and a real world human is lucky to roll a 39. Even if additional bonuses are somehow added, getting a 40 or above is world-changing result. A good example is the long jump, before 3.5 simplified it, your jump distance with running start was your check result -5, thus a 39 would be 34 feet, and the world record last I heard was 33 feet.
Of course that's standard d20, not to mention how Pathfinder had a bit of power creep over 3.x.
So, James, how closely does Pathfinder stick to that general rule of a check result of 40 being the absolute-once-a-generation-best-of-real-world-humanity-and-anything-beyond- is-supernatural levels of power?
And how is it explained when individuals in Golarion go past that point? Or is PC's supernatural/demigod power levels just hand-waved as "Heroes!?"
Please don't try answering other folks' questions—it clutters the thread and encourages others to turn what should be a question/answer thead into a discussion thread, and that's not the point here.
And please ask one question at a time per post.
That said—we don't have a "check result of 40" limit you mention. Technically, I guess you could calculate the highest bonus a 20th level expert could achieve if they put all their skills and feats into bolstering a skill and determine the maximum they could roll, and THAT would be the limit without adding any magic to the check, but that sort of thing doesn't really interest me to be honest. I'd rather let the "this song is supernaturally potent" be the province of flavor text and not have to justify that by making sure that only things that hit an arbitrarily high bonus can be quantified as "supernaturally potent."
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Hi JJ,
I wanted to know if anyone on Golarion ever wondered how Golarion was born.
We human beings have made scientific conjectures about how the Earth was formed by concluding with a certain hypothesis.
On Golarion instead?
Are there any theories about the birth of the planet?
Absolutely. And there are multiple ones—each religion has its own spin, as would most philosophies, nations, scholastic traditions, and more. Which one is right? The one your GM prefers.
There IS a "right one" that lurks behind the scenes, but at this point we've not published it. We HAVE published variants here and there that may or may not get kind of close to the truth, or maybe not.
I wasn't trying to answer his question, but his misestimation of skill sparked a question of my own, for which I mentioned details. I'm not sure if I'm phrasing it well (obviously not the first time), so I'm trying to say enough to be understood.
I wasn't saying 40 was a limit, but rather a transition point between what natural real world people can achieve and results beyond human limits. A lvl 20 with a focus on jumping can easily jump up to 50-60 feet easy, which is nearly twice what a real human can jump.
So to rephrase my core question, does this mean that you simply ignore what the numbers mean, ignore the fact that a lvl 20 expert is, according to the rules, objectively much better than Einstein, and just treat the numbers as pass/fail and subjective to mean whatever the gm wants, to the point of the gm setting a dc 60 jump check for a 20' gap?
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So to rephrase my core question, does this mean that you simply ignore what the numbers mean, ignore the fact that a lvl 20 expert is, according to the rules, objectively much better than Einstein, and just treat the numbers as pass/fail and subjective to mean whatever the gm wants, to the point of the gm setting a dc 60 jump check for a 20' gap?
I don't ignore the numbers. And in games I run or write, the "theoretical level 20 expert" wont' matter anyway, since I'm not a fan of NPC levels being higher than 10 and even then above 5 should be reserved for plot-specific characters.
The numbers can certainly suggest story ideas, but they aren't the story.
Hi JJ,
I wanted to know if anyone on Golarion ever wondered how Golarion was born.
We human beings have made scientific conjectures about how the Earth was formed by concluding with a certain hypothesis.
On Golarion instead?
Are there any theories about the birth of the planet?
Absolutely. And there are multiple ones—each religion has its own spin, as would most philosophies, nations, scholastic traditions, and more. Which one is right? The one your GM prefers.
There IS a "right one" that lurks behind the scenes, but at this point we've not published it. We HAVE published variants here and there that may or may not get kind of close to the truth, or maybe not.
Honestly, I think Rovagug is imprisoned inside Golarion.
So it is likely that the planet was created by Asmodeus and Sarenrae as its own prison.
In this case, it would be fun to think that all the adventures and the stories take place on the outer walls of the biggest prison ever.
Hi JJ,
I wanted to know if anyone on Golarion ever wondered how Golarion was born.
We human beings have made scientific conjectures about how the Earth was formed by concluding with a certain hypothesis.
On Golarion instead?
Are there any theories about the birth of the planet?
Absolutely. And there are multiple ones—each religion has its own spin, as would most philosophies, nations, scholastic traditions, and more. Which one is right? The one your GM prefers.
There IS a "right one" that lurks behind the scenes, but at this point we've not published it. We HAVE published variants here and there that may or may not get kind of close to the truth, or maybe not.
Do you know what manual I can find them in?
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Creative Director
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Hi JJ,
I wanted to know if anyone on Golarion ever wondered how Golarion was born.
We human beings have made scientific conjectures about how the Earth was formed by concluding with a certain hypothesis.
On Golarion instead?
Are there any theories about the birth of the planet?
Absolutely. And there are multiple ones—each religion has its own spin, as would most philosophies, nations, scholastic traditions, and more. Which one is right? The one your GM prefers.
There IS a "right one" that lurks behind the scenes, but at this point we've not published it. We HAVE published variants here and there that may or may not get kind of close to the truth, or maybe not.
Do you know what manual I can find them in?
Please keep your posts to this thread to questions for me.
Book of the Damned and Inner Sea Gods have some of these myths, but they're not really collected all in one place.
If you were to stat up Mary Poppins as a creature for Pathfinder, what direction would you go in building her?
For Return of the Runelords, will there be a write-up for any thematically-appropriate empyreal lords? Pleeeease?
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Creative Director
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Is there a reason there are tons of PFS scenarios in Absolum, but only one module (and a shorter one at that) and no APs set there? Just wondering if it's a case of "we haven't got to it yet" or there's some underlying reason.
We just haven't gotten around to it yet. We will some day.
Dear Mister James Jacobs,
If you had to choose which kind of Hell to live in, would you live in one where you had to clean up after dogs for eternity, or answer questions on messageboards with no clear moderator in sight?
(Also how would one stat such a Hell in Pathfinder IE which level?)
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Dear Mister James Jacobs,
If you had to choose which kind of Hell to live in, would you live in one where you had to clean up after dogs for eternity, or answer questions on messageboards with no clear moderator in sight?
(Also how would one stat such a Hell in Pathfinder IE which level?)
Answer questions, no doubt. Because if there's no moderator in sight, that means I get to get as nasty as the trolls without any fear of punishment. And at least that's got some unpredictability to it. Repetition is more hellish to me than constant varied agony.
And both sound like jobs in Dis.
Is there a reason there are tons of PFS scenarios in Absolum, but only one module (and a shorter one at that) and no APs set there? Just wondering if it's a case of "we haven't got to it yet" or there's some underlying reason.We just haven't gotten around to it yet. We will some day.
Was that not a deliberate strategy/choice?
I thought I remembered comments from you or Erik along the lines of “Absalom is predominantly a PFS playground” or similar.
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Creative Director
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Is there a reason there are tons of PFS scenarios in Absolum, but only one module (and a shorter one at that) and no APs set there? Just wondering if it's a case of "we haven't got to it yet" or there's some underlying reason.We just haven't gotten around to it yet. We will some day.Was that not a deliberate strategy/choice?
I thought I remembered comments from you or Erik along the lines of “Absalom is predominantly a PFS playground” or similar.
It's a combination of us wanting to do other stories elsewhere and wanting to do a BIG Absalom book that does the giant city justice and figuring out a way to do a map for a city that size that won't cause gamers to revolt while still looking pretty and usable at a scale that'll let us print it on one page.
AKA: It's a big feast, Absalom, and we want to do it right when we get around to doing something with an Adventure Path there.
For Return of the Runelords, will there be a write-up for any thematically-appropriate empyreal lords? Pleeeease?Just for one of them.
Ooooo...
The one best serving as a foil to Best Runelord? You know the one. ;)
Is there a reason there are tons of PFS scenarios in Absolum, but only one module (and a shorter one at that) and no APs set there? Just wondering if it's a case of "we haven't got to it yet" or there's some underlying reason.We just haven't gotten around to it yet. We will some day.Was that not a deliberate strategy/choice?
I thought I remembered comments from you or Erik along the lines of “Absalom is predominantly a PFS playground” or similar.
It's a combination of us wanting to do other stories elsewhere and wanting to do a BIG Absalom book that does the giant city justice and figuring out a way to do a map for a city that size that won't cause gamers to revolt while still looking pretty and usable at a scale that'll let us print it on one page.
AKA: It's a big feast, Absalom, and we want to do it right when we get around to doing something with an Adventure Path there.
Gotcha.
Can’t wait. :)
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For Return of the Runelords, will there be a write-up for any thematically-appropriate empyreal lords? Pleeeease?Just for one of them.Ooooo...
The one best serving as a foil to Best Runelord? You know the one. ;)
I don't.
It's my favorite Empyreal Lord, after Sarenrae: Ashava.
Dwarves.
If I recall, you're not the biggest fan of them. But, I have to say I like the Quest for Sky tweak on them in Golarion while maintaining all the essential dwarfiness that--many--players like.
Have you guys ever considered a dwarf-centric AP? Rooting through abandoned Sky Citadels or tracing some historical aspect of the Dwarves, etc?
If so, what held you back? If not, any particular reasons?
Thanks for your time!
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Any chance of getting the forum software to replace any usage of the word "fluff" with "flavour", or another preferable term?That doesn't educate people and get them to change their habits the way gently spreading the word does.Unfortunately, asking people politely to stop using the word in these parts just seems to cause certain individuals to dig their heels in. Not quite to the degree of claiming we're infringing on their rights, but determined to not see how their choice of language affects others.
* * *
Not sure how much of a board gamer you are, James, but what board games have you played this year?
If you haven't had chance to play any, what's your preferred style of board game?
I'd rather ask politely a million times than be a jerk about it.
Not a big board gamer and haven't played any this year. I prefer games like Zombicide and Cthulhu Wars and Kingdom Death.
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Creative Director
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Dwarves.
If I recall, you're not the biggest fan of them. But, I have to say I like the Quest for Sky tweak on them in Golarion while maintaining all the essential dwarfiness that--many--players like.
Have you guys ever considered a dwarf-centric AP? Rooting through abandoned Sky Citadels or tracing some historical aspect of the Dwarves, etc?
If so, what held you back? If not, any particular reasons?
Thanks for your time!
We've considered a LOT of Adventure Paths, including ones that are dwarf, elf, halfling, and gnome centric.
What held us back was that there were always other, better ideas we were more interested in.
In what order would you rate all of Paizo's APs (including from Dungeon), by personal favorites and not public ratings/sales?
Will we ever get an errata'd Second Darkness, if not, at least a Compiled Errata document? Even an unoffial document by you or a different designer?
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Have you seen the Baby Bestiaries by Metal Weave Games?
P.S. They are not mine nor am i trying to promote them in any way.
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Creative Director
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I appreciate this might not be one you want to answer - and if that's the case, that's fine - but what's your opinion on the Paladin in Pathfinder, and the amount of ruckus it seems to cause on the forums?
I think that the paladin is the most disruptive class in the game and for that reason it's my least favorite of the core classes.
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Creative Director
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In what order would you rate all of Paizo's APs (including from Dungeon), by personal favorites and not public ratings/sales?
That's kinda like asking "What order would you rate your children." And it's also a question I can't answer without saying which one is my least favorite, and there's no way for everyone who worked hard on that one to not feel insulted if I reveal that, so there's no way I can answer this question without causing drama. Sorry.
Hi James, I'm back with a question for you :P
In a group we discussed about desert and create water. So, just out of curiosity and aside the rules, I wonder how do you handle create water in desertic environment or similar ones? Do you use some hr, or do you just let flow? I think it's interesting from the point of view of golarion setting: I doubt that create water could ever reflourish a desert, but I'm really curious on what you think about it.
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Does the Inner Sea Region have the seasons the same time as America has its seasons?
Like does it snow in Winter when both planets are in December.
Yes. Although whether or not it snows depends on how far north you are and the geographical features around you.
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Creative Director
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Hi James, I'm back with a question for you :P
In a group we discussed about desert and create water. So, just out of curiosity and aside the rules, I wonder how do you handle create water in desertic environment or similar ones? Do you use some hr, or do you just let flow? I think it's interesting from the point of view of golarion setting: I doubt that create water could ever reflourish a desert, but I'm really curious on what you think about it.
I'd handle it by the fact that create water doesn't create nearly as much water as you think, first of all. Remember that the water disappears 1 day after if it's not consumed, so even if you DID get a billion clerics to cast create water all day long, it'd not make a permanent ocean.
But honestly? The better solution is to adjust create water so it's a 3rd level spell. Or maybe adjust its effect to "One glass of water per casting that vanishes if it's not consumed within 1 minute."
The point of the spell is to provide water to thirsty folks, not to flood nations.
And even then, having it be a cantrip is story-breaking, since the existence of this spell more or less makes survival adventures pointless, which frustrates me.
So yeah, my preference is, honestly, to cut it entirely from the game and let its job be handled by create food and water, which already exists as a 3rd level spell.
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Given your feelings on Girallions, have you ever thought about making a two-headed T-Rex with Rend in order to get revenge on them?
No need. In Pathfinder I made sure to develop girallions down so that they're doing damage as expected for a creature of their CR.
In what order would you rate all of Paizo's APs (including from Dungeon), by personal favorites and not public ratings/sales?That's kinda like asking "What order would you rate your children." And it's also a question I can't answer without saying which one is my least favorite, and there's no way for everyone who worked hard on that one to not feel insulted if I reveal that, so there's no way I can answer this question without causing drama. Sorry.
A very reasonable answer indeed James! You are correct about insulting the other team members.
So i have a group of video/computer RPG gamers that are only interested in killing, looting and an epic storyline with a variety of locations and monsters. They instantly lose interest the moment there is any roleplaying or "skill challenges".
So what are the top three APs with a reputation for being hack-'n'-slash?
P.S. Those in Dungeon are also up for consideration.
Many thanks!
~The Pale Knight
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Creative Director
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In what order would you rate all of Paizo's APs (including from Dungeon), by personal favorites and not public ratings/sales?That's kinda like asking "What order would you rate your children." And it's also a question I can't answer without saying which one is my least favorite, and there's no way for everyone who worked hard on that one to not feel insulted if I reveal that, so there's no way I can answer this question without causing drama. Sorry.A very reasonable answer indeed James! You are correct about insulting the other team members.
So i have a group of video/computer RPG gamers that are only interested in killing, looting and an epic storyline with a variety of locations and monsters. They instantly lose interest the moment there is any roleplaying or "skill challenges".
So what are the top three APs with a reputation for being hack-'n'-slash?P.S. Those in Dungeon are also up for consideration.
Many thanks!
~The Pale Knight
I guesssss...
Shattered Star
Shackled City
Giantslayer
Dear Mister Jacobs,
With regards to Krampus, does he always stay where it snows or is very cold, or could he appear in a place that's more Mediterranean(sp) temperature? IE could he show up in Absalom even though it rarely snows there.
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Dear Mister Jacobs,
With regards to Krampus, does he always stay where it snows or is very cold, or could he appear in a place that's more Mediterranean(sp) temperature? IE could he show up in Absalom even though it rarely snows there.
He could appear wherever you want, but keep in mind that using him outside of a Christmassy type setting would be weird, like having a red dragon in a swamp or a frost giant in a desert.
Hi James,
All of this snow-talk makes me wonder; does Sandpoint get any?
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Hi James,
All of this snow-talk makes me wonder; does Sandpoint get any?
It does, but only rarely, and when it does snow, it's typically only a few inches, if that, that rarely lasts for long. The big weather events in Sandpoint are strong windstorms and torrential rainstorms.