>>Ask *James Jacobs* ALL your Questions Here!<<


Off-Topic Discussions

13,201 to 13,250 of 83,732 << first < prev | 260 | 261 | 262 | 263 | 264 | 265 | 266 | 267 | 268 | 269 | 270 | next > last >>
Paizo Employee Creative Director

Kelsey Arwen MacAilbert wrote:
James, if one of the town guards is sexually harassing my paladin and I knock him unconscious, and then several others try to arrest me for assaulting a guard and I manage to knock all of them out in the resulting fight, did I violate the code of conduct by fighting against representatives of the law making a lawful arrest? I'm trying to figure out if the epic bar fight in which I took out five of the guys singlehandedly was a violation of the code of conduct.

Yes. A paladin should take the high road and ignore the sexual harassment. Reporting the guard to a superior should happen as soon as possible. Punching a guard out is a chaotic act. Probably not enough in and of itself to cause a paladin to fall from grace there and then, though... unless you've been punching out guards for a long time.

Bar fights are also kinda chaotic, as is starting them.


I forgot to mention that the guard grabbed me, and then I hit him, at which point all his buddies came at me. Does him grabbing me change anything?


You assaulted the representation of the very thing you wish to uphold.


Hey James I have a question for you.

when most people I'm sure when they enchant a weapon, its the weapon as a whole.

(Ie the entire long sword is a +1 weapon)

but say I enchant the longsword's various parts.

say the blade itself as a holy avenger

the cross gaurd like a scarab of protection

and t he pomel cap so that it grants freedom of movement.

and 4 saphires implemented in the blade

would all enchantments function properly??

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Kelsey Arwen MacAilbert wrote:
I forgot to mention that the guard grabbed me, and then I hit him, at which point all his buddies came at me. Does him grabbing me change anything?

Not really. It might if the guard was actually a legitimate threat to you, I guess... but most town guards are not legitimate threats to most PCs.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Steelfiredragon wrote:

Hey James I have a question for you.

when most people I'm sure when they enchant a weapon, its the weapon as a whole.

(Ie the entire long sword is a +1 weapon)

but say I enchant the longsword's various parts.

say the blade itself as a holy avenger

the cross gaurd like a scarab of protection

and t he pomel cap so that it grants freedom of movement.

and 4 saphires implemented in the blade

would all enchantments function properly??

That type of magic item could certainly be created... but it'd be INCREDIBLY expensive, especially since the non-weapon parts don't take up item slots. Combining items like that also helps to even further enhance the gold cost.

You could do it, but it'd cost hundreds and hundreds of thousands of gold pieces to do so.

Paizo Employee Director of Game Development

Despite being a demon lord, Dagon doesn’t seem to care about demons very much and most of the critters that seem to gravitate around him are mortal. I know he’s really active on the material plane, but what demons do you consider to be associated with Dagon? Would qlippoths of some flavor be a better extraplanar fit?


James Jacobs wrote:
Yeah, not sure what riled them all up. Weird.

Working hard to make that Untyped Christmas bonus

:-)


James Jacobs wrote:
Steelfiredragon wrote:

Hey James I have a question for you.

when most people I'm sure when they enchant a weapon, its the weapon as a whole.

(Ie the entire long sword is a +1 weapon)

but say I enchant the longsword's various parts.

say the blade itself as a holy avenger

the cross gaurd like a scarab of protection

and t he pomel cap so that it grants freedom of movement.

and 4 saphires implemented in the blade

would all enchantments function properly??

That type of magic item could certainly be created... but it'd be INCREDIBLY expensive, especially since the non-weapon parts don't take up item slots. Combining items like that also helps to even further enhance the gold cost.

You could do it, but it'd cost hundreds and hundreds of thousands of gold pieces to do so.

I figured that to create such an item I'd need the create magic arms and armor feat and create wonderous item feat.

I figured the weapon would be expensive and I also considered the proability that the weapon would have to be wielded to have a character get the effects of each enchantment....

I was curious as to if it would of been breaking or really bending the rules...

(expensive that it would have taken an organization to make..... that or a really rich noble)

anyway thanks for your reply

Liberty's Edge

James Jacobs wrote:
Aventhar wrote:
Why do you hate horses?

I don't hate horses at all.

I hate it when horse stat blocks take up more room than they need, though. In the 3rd edition Monster Manual, horse and horse-identical stat blocks took up two whole pages. That's room that could have been used for more interesting animals. That's a MUCH different thing than hating horses.

While on one hand I applaud your tendency to put more creatures in one bestiary, on the other I miss the old longer descriptions with non combat background information on the creatures. I very much like the kind of creatures descriptions we get in the AP.


Hey James, I got a question for you.

Who are the characters shown in the AoW campaign? So far the only one I've been able to learn anything about is Tyralandi (enjoyed reading her playtest btw) but who are the Tiefling, the Drow, and the other two humans I've seen with them (dude with the blue uniform carrying the tower shield and the guy that looks like Raistlin wielding swords)?

Also, since I've seen that you've created a new vestige, how would you go about making Vestige's for the following characters/demons/gods: Kyuss, Demogorgon, and Iuz?


Kraven_Redcloak wrote:

Hey James, I got a question for you.

Who are the characters shown in the AoW campaign? So far the only one I've been able to learn anything about is Tyralandi (enjoyed reading her playtest btw) but who are the Tiefling, the Drow, and the other two humans I've seen with them (dude with the blue uniform carrying the tower shield and the guy that looks like Raistlin wielding swords)?

I believe you are referring to the "Iconics" used throughout their run of Dungeon magazine. You can see all of them gathered for the big finale on the cover of the last issue. I do not believe they all ever got named/statted up aside from being recognizable visual hooks for the artwork. (Tyralindi being an exception, as James has a long history of getting his characters turned into art eventually! Shensen, i see you too!)

James will correct me if i misremember however!


Oh Gods, Gninjas in the thread! *Sets himself on fire and runs away screaming, leaving a slightly charred note behind*

"Dear James, if you could re-write a single moment in table-top history, what would it be?"


What is the best Spider Monster you ever come up with (your favorite spider yourself made up)

Are the Ahuitzotl, Nuckelavee and the Fungal Leshy transported to Bestiary 3? Those were 3 of my all-time favorite monsters from Paizo.

What about evil versions of: Unicorn (Black), Treant (Black Willow), Couatl (Some vain in-need-of-sacrifices dark-coloured version) and Dryad (Something spikey and thorny and maybe crazy with the mission of cuting invaders open to feed their blood to the trees)?

Dark Archive

James; are the witch's hex obvious or not? as in if a witch cast evil eye on someone, would that someone know 1) the witch is doing something supernatural 2) the effect they are suffering was caused by the witch doing that?


Can fighters expect to see more character creation options soon? Gods know they need them.


Sincubus wrote:

What about evil versions of: Unicorn (Black), Treant (Black Willow), Couatl (Some vain in-need-of-sacrifices dark-coloured version) and Dryad (Something spikey and thorny and maybe crazy with the mission of cuting invaders open to feed their blood to the trees)?

Seems like you could get those just by adding the Fiendish template onto the original creature. Okay, the Couatl's spell list would need adjustment, but still not enough difference to justify using up a page in the bestiary.


Do elves in Golarion ever go to war with each other? What about dwarves, gnomes, and halflings? If not, why? What makes them less prone to violent disagreement with each other than humans? If so, what causes do they go to war with each other over?


James, what treatment would you recommend for a gin-induced hangover?


Dear James Jacobs,

1) What are the top five reasons that you keep posting in this thread, answering all of our petty little questions? (like this one!)

2) What do the other Paizo employees think of your near ascension to meme-level status on this forum? (As we know, meme-ness is second only to godliness)

3) If Cosmo and Sarah Marie were to get into a fight, who would win?

4) How many IRL ranks do you have in Profession (Cartography) or Craft (Mapmaking)?

5) Let's say you have 99 problems; what isn't one of them?

6) How much would you say other fantasy games (both video and non) influence your creative thinking?

7) Lok'tar Ogar?

8) What region in the Inner Sea would be best to build your house in?

9) Will you post a haiku about Baba Yaga in the next 24 hours after my post? Please?!

10) Without looking, how much cash is in your wallet right now?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Adam Daigle wrote:
Despite being a demon lord, Dagon doesn’t seem to care about demons very much and most of the critters that seem to gravitate around him are mortal. I know he’s really active on the material plane, but what demons do you consider to be associated with Dagon? Would qlippoths of some flavor be a better extraplanar fit?

Hezrou would work well with Dagon, as would omox demons. Qlippoth would absolutely work for him as well.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Kraven_Redcloak wrote:

Hey James, I got a question for you.

Who are the characters shown in the AoW campaign? So far the only one I've been able to learn anything about is Tyralandi (enjoyed reading her playtest btw) but who are the Tiefling, the Drow, and the other two humans I've seen with them (dude with the blue uniform carrying the tower shield and the guy that looks like Raistlin wielding swords)?

Also, since I've seen that you've created a new vestige, how would you go about making Vestige's for the following characters/demons/gods: Kyuss, Demogorgon, and Iuz?

The iconic heroes we used in the Dungeon days never really ever got names and personalities at all. Tyralandi's prety much the only exception, since I was inspired by Wayne Reynold's design for her and decided to roll her up as my character for the Age of Worms game Erik ran.

I wouldn't make vestiges for Kyuss, Demogorgon, or Iuz until those deities were killed in a campaign I was running, first of all. And It's been years and years since I've looked in that book... my first step in making vestiges for them would be to dig the Tome of Magic back up and re-learn how those rules worked...


Rathendar wrote:
Kraven_Redcloak wrote:

Shensen, i see you too!)

I've been all over the place, in fact.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

HalfOrcHeavyMetal wrote:
"Dear James, if you could re-write a single moment in table-top history, what would it be?"

Hmmm... I'd be afraid of causing butterfly effects that would end up with me not working at Paizo, honestly. And having just finished the new Stephen King book... I'm pretty wary of causing butterfly effects.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Sincubus wrote:

What is the best Spider Monster you ever come up with (your favorite spider yourself made up)

Are the Ahuitzotl, Nuckelavee and the Fungal Leshy transported to Bestiary 3? Those were 3 of my all-time favorite monsters from Paizo.

What about evil versions of: Unicorn (Black), Treant (Black Willow), Couatl (Some vain in-need-of-sacrifices dark-coloured version) and Dryad (Something spikey and thorny and maybe crazy with the mission of cuting invaders open to feed their blood to the trees)?

Spider Monsters: Hmmm... I've actually been responsible for a large number of spider-like monsters over the past several years. So it's kinda hard to pick just one. Probably one of the new qlippoth from Bestiary 2?

You will be delighted 3 times over by Bestiary 3.

Evil versions of those four critters aren't in Bestiary 3 though.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

ulgulanoth wrote:
James; are the witch's hex obvious or not? as in if a witch cast evil eye on someone, would that someone know 1) the witch is doing something supernatural 2) the effect they are suffering was caused by the witch doing that?

I would say yes to both.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Kelsey Arwen MacAilbert wrote:
Can fighters expect to see more character creation options soon? Gods know they need them.

Depends on what you would call "soon," but yes. Mostly in the Player's Companion line.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Kelsey Arwen MacAilbert wrote:
Do elves in Golarion ever go to war with each other? What about dwarves, gnomes, and halflings? If not, why? What makes them less prone to violent disagreement with each other than humans? If so, what causes do they go to war with each other over?

Elves and drow do.

Duergar and dwarves do.

But as a general rule, no, because they're not widespread enough. Takes two nations to war, basically, and there's not a lot of elven, dwarven, gnome, or halfling nations out there to do that.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

1 person marked this as a favorite.
martinaj wrote:
James, what treatment would you recommend for a gin-induced hangover?

Having never had a hangover, I would say, "Uhhh... sleeping in?" and would then direct you to many of my co-workers, who as of an hour ago at the Paizo Holiday Party, were looking pretty good at building themselves up for a hangover tomorrow. Although wine-indued ones, not gin-induced ones.

It was a pretty good party, in other words.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Golden-Esque wrote:

Dear James Jacobs,

1) What are the top five reasons that you keep posting in this thread, answering all of our petty little questions? (like this one!)

2) What do the other Paizo employees think of your near ascension to meme-level status on this forum? (As we know, meme-ness is second only to godliness)

3) If Cosmo and Sarah Marie were to get into a fight, who would win?

4) How many IRL ranks do you have in Profession (Cartography) or Craft (Mapmaking)?

5) Let's say you have 99 problems; what isn't one of them?

6) How much would you say other fantasy games (both video and non) influence your creative thinking?

7) Lok'tar Ogar?

8) What region in the Inner Sea would be best to build your house in?

9) Will you post a haiku about Baba Yaga in the next 24 hours after my post? Please?!

10) Without looking, how much cash is in your wallet right now?

1) Loyalty and delight and stubbornness and honor and ego.

2) Dunno. Haven't asked them. They probably think I'm crazy and should get back to work (or as in the current case, here at 12:31 AM, go to sleep).

3) The internet.

4) Enough to have a cartography credit in the Beginner Box.

5) Ticks.

6) Significantly.

7) I play Alliance exclusive.

8) Sandpoint.

9) Yup.

10) None, because I used both twenty-dollar bills up at Wes's birthday dinner party on Friday.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

14 people marked this as a favorite.

For Golden-Esque:

Hark! A dancing hut!
Has it been one hundred years?
Get them mythic rules!


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

For Golden-Esque:

Hark! A dancing hut!
Has it been one hundred years?
Get them mythic rules!

Does that mean we should expect rules for mythic level play sometime around the year 2109?


What would be most useful to you at work?

A drink bottle that, on command, can produce unlimited quantities of your favourite beverage?

A mini-fridge that never runs out of snacks?

Doctor Octopus's harness?


Kavren Stark wrote:
Sincubus wrote:

What about evil versions of: Unicorn (Black), Treant (Black Willow), Couatl (Some vain in-need-of-sacrifices dark-coloured version) and Dryad (Something spikey and thorny and maybe crazy with the mission of cuting invaders open to feed their blood to the trees)?

Seems like you could get those just by adding the Fiendish template onto the original creature. Okay, the Couatl's spell list would need adjustment, but still not enough difference to justify using up a page in the bestiary.

Then why are there Orcs and Hobgoblins?

War HOrses and Heavy Horses?
10 kinds of spiders? 40 kinds of dragons?

Really what you say doesn't make sense.

I'm not a fan of templates myself.

Sovereign Court

Sincubus wrote:
Kavren Stark wrote:
Sincubus wrote:

What about evil versions of: Unicorn (Black), Treant (Black Willow), Couatl (Some vain in-need-of-sacrifices dark-coloured version) and Dryad (Something spikey and thorny and maybe crazy with the mission of cuting invaders open to feed their blood to the trees)?

Seems like you could get those just by adding the Fiendish template onto the original creature. Okay, the Couatl's spell list would need adjustment, but still not enough difference to justify using up a page in the bestiary.

Then why are there Orcs and Hobgoblins?

War HOrses and Heavy Horses?
10 kinds of spiders? 40 kinds of dragons?

Really what you say doesn't make sense.

I'm not a fan of templates myself.

I know I'm not James but...

What you've done there is compared apples with oranges, ended up holding pears and then complained about the bananas which you think should be mangoes to the kiwi grower who prefers coconuts.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
martinaj wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:

For Golden-Esque:

Hark! A dancing hut!
Has it been one hundred years?
Get them mythic rules!

Does that mean we should expect rules for mythic level play sometime around the year 2109?

Or does it mean Mythic Rules in 2013 (4713 AR), when Baba Yaga returns?:)


Justin Franklin wrote:
martinaj wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:

For Golden-Esque:

Hark! A dancing hut!
Has it been one hundred years?
Get them mythic rules!

Does that mean we should expect rules for mythic level play sometime around the year 2109?

Or does it mean Mythic Rules in 2013 (4713 AR), when Baba Yaga returns?:)

Or it might just be a haiku about Baba Yaga with no hidden meanings ....


James Jacobs wrote:
HalfOrcHeavyMetal wrote:
"Dear James, if you could re-write a single moment in table-top history, what would it be?"

Hmmm... I'd be afraid of causing butterfly effects that would end up with me not working at Paizo, honestly. And having just finished the new Stephen King book... I'm pretty wary of causing butterfly effects.

You think that's an escape? Hah!

If you could re-write a single moment in table-top history that happened after you became an employee of Paizo, what event would you rewrite?


Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
Golden-Esque wrote:
Justin Franklin wrote:
martinaj wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:

For Golden-Esque:

Hark! A dancing hut!
Has it been one hundred years?
Get them mythic rules!

Does that mean we should expect rules for mythic level play sometime around the year 2109?

Or does it mean Mythic Rules in 2013 (4713 AR), when Baba Yaga returns?:)

Or it might just be a haiku about Baba Yaga with no hidden meanings ....

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

Now...tell me about your mother.

Liberty's Edge RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16

In many different editions of D&D and Pathfinder I've found that PCs seem to like jumping on larger monsters and attempting to ride them or stay on their back either to avoid their attacks or keep a tactical position where they can attack the monster (especially useful against flying monsters.) I've always used different mechanics to simulate if a PC can keep their perch, ranging from ability checks, Climb, Ride or Arcrobatic/Balance skill checks, to Reflex saving throws.

What would you say is the best way to handle this situation in Pathfinder RPG? What types of modifiers would you apply for if the monster is actively trying to dislodge their unwanted rider, or if the PC had a weapon dug into the monster to create a handhold? Would the monster's speed or movement types affect the outcome?


James Jacobs wrote:
Kelsey Arwen MacAilbert wrote:
Do elves in Golarion ever go to war with each other? What about dwarves, gnomes, and halflings? If not, why? What makes them less prone to violent disagreement with each other than humans? If so, what causes do they go to war with each other over?

Elves and drow do.

Duergar and dwarves do.

But as a general rule, no, because they're not widespread enough. Takes two nations to war, basically, and there's not a lot of elven, dwarven, gnome, or halfling nations out there to do that.

Is there ever smaller scale infighting in their nations?

When does Bestiary 3 come out? I've heard December 28 and January 10 off of the Paizo blog and Amazon, respectively.


1 person marked this as a favorite.

Never trust Amazon.

Dark Archive

James is this tree in the running for best Christmas tree Ever?!


cynarion wrote:


Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

Sometimes, yes. But it's always a penis.


How would you go about converting Tomb of horrors and should I convert from 3.5 or 1st edition?


Would the GNinjas pound me into a gooey slurry if I started a 'Shipping' thread in the OT Discussion boards?


What do I need to consider that isn't in the Core Rulebook when adventuring underwater? I'm planning a campaign that takes place completely under the sea (the PCs are all merfolk, so they are adapted to this environment).


James Jacobs wrote:
Sincubus wrote:

What about evil versions of: Unicorn (Black), Treant (Black Willow), Couatl (Some vain in-need-of-sacrifices dark-coloured version) and Dryad (Something spikey and thorny and maybe crazy with the mission of cuting invaders open to feed their blood to the trees)?

Evil versions of those four critters aren't in Bestiary 3 though.

Thank You!!

Spoilered so as to not derail the thread.:
Why MUST there always be EVIL versions of usually GOOD monsters/races? Compared to the hordes of evil monsters in the bestiaries published that GMs can use, there are relatively few good ones. I really do think that evil versions of good "monsters" should be story/campaign specific (AP would be OK, too), i.e. if you want an evil unicorn or couatl or whatever, then make a cool/interesting tragic (or not) back-story, change inappropriate abilities for more appropriate ones, & then hit your players with it. It's far more memorable that way (as the players cannot know about it beforehand from looking at a bestiary...). It also wouldn't make the relatively fewer good-aligned "monsters" seem so trite because "Look! We have EVIL versions, too! But sorry NO good versions of usually evil monsters because, heck, we don't want to dumb down how EVIL they are!" (Of which the latter, non-italicised part, is fine by me, btw.) Aaargh!
<sigh>
Apologies for the rant... m(_ _)m <bow>
Note: This is just my opinion and not it is not directed at anyone specifically.

Oh, question!

Have you had a look at the Artesia RPG? If so, what are your thoughts/opinions on it? (I'm more interested on your thoughts regarding the setting/fluff, e.g. religion, history, etc., than on the game system [admittedly not for everyone] or product itself [good look, but organisation of content could be better...].)

Thank you.

-- C.

<Edit: Added a disclaimer in the spoiler. Not trying to start a fight here...>

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber
Kelsey Arwen MacAilbert wrote:
What do I need to consider that isn't in the Core Rulebook when adventuring underwater? I'm planning a campaign that takes place completely under the sea (the PCs are all merfolk, so they are adapted to this environment).

IANJ, but please see the following PDF: Cerulean Seas. It's almost exactly what you just described, already set up as a campaign setting.


Kvantum wrote:
Kelsey Arwen MacAilbert wrote:
What do I need to consider that isn't in the Core Rulebook when adventuring underwater? I'm planning a campaign that takes place completely under the sea (the PCs are all merfolk, so they are adapted to this environment).
IANJ, but please see the following PDF: Cerulean Seas. It's almost exactly what you just described, already set up as a campaign setting.

Aha! That was the other one i couldn't remember on the other thread!

13,201 to 13,250 of 83,732 << first < prev | 260 | 261 | 262 | 263 | 264 | 265 | 266 | 267 | 268 | 269 | 270 | next > last >>
Community / Forums / Gamer Life / Off-Topic Discussions / >>Ask *James Jacobs* ALL your Questions Here!<< All Messageboards