This may have been asked earlier, but I had no desire to wade through 394 pages of Q & A, but here goes: Are there any plans to officially branch the Pathfinder System into other genres / settings than Fantasy / Golarion (Post-Apocalypse, Space Opera, Western, Pulp Adventure, and Spy come to mind off the top of my head)? And, on a side note, are there any plans to further develop Numeria / the Mountain of Steel in the near future?
Thank You for your time Mr. Jacobs.
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I meant to ask this Friday, but then the derecho hit. That was... inconvenient.
I'm thinking of a samsaran wizard as my next PC, so, questions:
1) Do samsarans just sort of snap in existence? If I understood the Dragon Empires book and the Advanced Races Guide, samsarans are never born.
2) So a reincarnated samsarans just appears as a child in some spot?
3) Does anything govern or influence where reincarnated samsarans appear?
4) Do they tend to show up in samsaran households/clans?
5) Do they just show up in civilized areas?
6) Are young samsarans extremely unlikely to show up in places that don't already have a samsaran population?
7) What could cause a samsaran to reincarnate up in a locale that doesn't normally have them?
Now, samsarans are pretty long lived (dwarf life span it looked like), so it's pretty reasonable for a samsaran to have migrated to an unusual location.
8) Are there nations outside the usual suspects (Cheliax, Ustlav, Galt, Nidal, the Darklands, the Worldwound, etc.) that would be a bad place for a samsaran to migrate to/through? What would be causing problems?
Thanks!
1) Yup. They appear, as children (generally between the ages of 5 and 13 or thereabouts, but sometimes down to only a few days old), out of nothingness. Generally not in places where this spontaneous manifestation is noticed... but in the case of younger children, showing up in a basket on the porch of an orphanage or just showing up in morning role-call at a work house or temple or whatever works. It's more common to have this happen in areas where there's a lot of samsarans, since the presence of a large number of samsarans acts as a sort of spiritual "magnet" for this form of reincarnation. It's probably worth noting that this isn't NEARLY as common as human babies being born...
2) Yup.
3) The ebb and flow of spiritual life energies, and the presence of other samsarans which helps to draw that ebb and flow near them.
4) More often than not, yes.
5) Sometimes.
6) It's not impossible, but the fewer samsarans in a population, the less likely it is for one to manifest there.
7) A powerful disturbance to the flow of spiritual life energies (AKA: Anything that you need to do so from a story-building viewpoint... no game rules needed, really).
9) Any nation where a child on their own would be in danger would be a bad place for a samsaran to be "born."
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This may have been asked earlier, but I had no desire to wade through 394 pages of Q & A, but here goes: Are there any plans to officially branch the Pathfinder System into other genres / settings than Fantasy / Golarion (Post-Apocalypse, Space Opera, Western, Pulp Adventure, and Spy come to mind off the top of my head)? And, on a side note, are there any plans to further develop Numeria / the Mountain of Steel in the near future?
Thank You for your time Mr. Jacobs.
No plans to branch Pathfinder into other genres yet.
I would love to do some more stuff with Numeria in the future, but we haven't made any announcements regarding that yet.
Hello James, I have been working on a Master Feat table, containing all the feats from the Core Rulebook, Advanced Players Guide, Ultimate Magic and Ultimate Combat. This table will be tied to the PRD and I wanted to know if this will step on any toes if I made it into a PDF available for everyone on the boards? This was a musing of Sean K Reynolds on his facebook fanpage and I have been running with it since. I have almost have everything ready for the book I just need to convert my word file to a pdf and hyperlink everything. This would eventually lead to all the meat and potatoes from the books being added into separate books divided by content.
A first glimpse of my table is here in word before being made into a pdf Master Feat table
Any advice would be awesome
Hello James, I have been working on a Master Feat table, containing all the feats from the Core Rulebook, Advanced Players Guide, Ultimate Magic and Ultimate Combat. This table will be tied to the PRD and I wanted to know if this will step on any toes if I made it into a PDF available for everyone on the boards? This was a musing of Sean K Reynolds on his facebook fanpage and I have been running with it since. I have almost have everything ready for the book I just need to convert my word file to a pdf and hyperlink everything. This would eventually lead to all the meat and potatoes from the books being added into separate books divided by content.
A first glimpse of my table is here in word before being made into a pdf Master Feat table
Any advice would be awesome
Not to burst any bubbles... but the Pathfinder SRD already has what you describe. Also, something similar, here.
Have you ever read The Deed Of Paksennarion by Elizabeth Moon? IF so, did you like it?I've never read it.
You really should read it. Part of the story is about the trials of a fighter as she becomes a paladin and her sacrifices.
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Creative Director
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Hello James, I have been working on a Master Feat table, containing all the feats from the Core Rulebook, Advanced Players Guide, Ultimate Magic and Ultimate Combat. This table will be tied to the PRD and I wanted to know if this will step on any toes if I made it into a PDF available for everyone on the boards? This was a musing of Sean K Reynolds on his facebook fanpage and I have been running with it since. I have almost have everything ready for the book I just need to convert my word file to a pdf and hyperlink everything. This would eventually lead to all the meat and potatoes from the books being added into separate books divided by content.
A first glimpse of my table is here in word before being made into a pdf Master Feat table
Any advice would be awesome
As long as you follow the rules of the correct licenses (be it the OGL or the Community use license) you should be fine... as folks have mentioned, there's been a couple of these put up online already.
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You really should read it. Part of the story is about the trials of a fighter as she becomes a paladin and her sacrifices.Have you ever read The Deed Of Paksennarion by Elizabeth Moon? IF so, did you like it?I've never read it.
Noted...
...Although I also have a 5-foot-tall bookshelf sitting by my bed that's overflowing with books I've bought and haven't yet read.
That, and the fact that given a choice, I'll tend to prefer reading stuff in the horror genre before reading fantasy means that chances of me ever reading "The Deed of Paksennarion" are pretty slim.
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I was really hoping Koloran was going to be addressed as part of the Lost Kingdoms, and it was sort of addressed, but only peripherally. Is there anything planned that will include more information about Koloran? It sounds sort of like they were ended by gaining too much information about the Old Gods firsthand...
This may have been asked earlier, but I had no desire to wade through 394 pages of Q & A, but here goes: Are there any plans to officially branch the Pathfinder System into other genres / settings than Fantasy / Golarion (Post-Apocalypse, Space Opera, Western, Pulp Adventure, and Spy come to mind off the top of my head)? And, on a side note, are there any plans to further develop Numeria / the Mountain of Steel in the near future?
Thank You for your time Mr. Jacobs.
No plans to branch Pathfinder into other genres yet.
I would love to do some more stuff with Numeria in the future, but we haven't made any announcements regarding that yet.
James, am I reading between the lines too much?
Where do cheetahs live in Golarion?Norteastern Garund. Likely elsewhere on Garund as well.
Qadira and Jalmeray? It was the shahs of Persia who tamed cheetahs for the hunt...
So if a person who is dead then resurrected doesn't remember what happened while they were dead, but what about undead? From what I understand, non-intelligent undead like zombies and skeletons are just animated flesh, the mind isn't there (or is it? If you animate a body as a zombie, does that prevent Pharasma from judging them?), but what about intelligent undead like vampires and liches, and even ghosts? I ask because in a game I am running the PCs are trying resurrect a girl who currently is haunting them as a ghost, so when they do will she remember her time as a ghost, or just remember dying then wake up on the altar/bed/floor/whatever?
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I was really hoping Koloran was going to be addressed as part of the Lost Kingdoms, and it was sort of addressed, but only peripherally. Is there anything planned that will include more information about Koloran? It sounds sort of like they were ended by gaining too much information about the Old Gods firsthand...
We deliberately focused on lost kingdoms that were more significantly tied to the Inner Sea region for this book. We might do more about other kingdoms like Koloran in the future though.
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James, am I reading between the lines too much?This may have been asked earlier, but I had no desire to wade through 394 pages of Q & A, but here goes: Are there any plans to officially branch the Pathfinder System into other genres / settings than Fantasy / Golarion (Post-Apocalypse, Space Opera, Western, Pulp Adventure, and Spy come to mind off the top of my head)? And, on a side note, are there any plans to further develop Numeria / the Mountain of Steel in the near future?
Thank You for your time Mr. Jacobs.
No plans to branch Pathfinder into other genres yet.
I would love to do some more stuff with Numeria in the future, but we haven't made any announcements regarding that yet.
Maybe.
Maybe not.
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Creative Director
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So if a person who is dead then resurrected doesn't remember what happened while they were dead, but what about undead? From what I understand, non-intelligent undead like zombies and skeletons are just animated flesh, the mind isn't there (or is it? If you animate a body as a zombie, does that prevent Pharasma from judging them?), but what about intelligent undead like vampires and liches, and even ghosts? I ask because in a game I am running the PCs are trying resurrect a girl who currently is haunting them as a ghost, so when they do will she remember her time as a ghost, or just remember dying then wake up on the altar/bed/floor/whatever?
It's unlikely a soul would remember time spent as a mindless undead at all, but as something with a mind? Probably... if only in the form of nightmares.
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Greetings from Spain Mr. Jacobs
I am a bit confused about the Weird Words power from the Sound Striker (a bard archetype listed in the Ultimate Magic book).
According this supernatural ability description, it deals physical damage, that can be selected as bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage for each word. So you can deduce that Damage Reduction applies to that ability.
My question is, that damage is also treated as magical damage?
Or for example, a DR 5/magic works against that supernatural ability?I'd appreciate any clarification.
Thank you
Nope; it's not magical damage; DR 5/magic would prevent some of this damage. This ability does physical damage, and as such must abide by the rules for that type of damage.
So, it's well established that you... aren't a fan of the Summoner. I'm just curious what your favorite class introduced by pathfinder is (like magus or witch, etc.)?
James,
I am playing Jade Regent book 2 (frozen shadows) and have a question about Wodes the raven druid 5... well I guess a question about all druids of a non standard size.
when a druid wildshapes is the size of the animal they can change into based on the starting size of the druid or the static sizes set by the ability rules.
for example the rules say that at level 4/5 a druid can wild shape into a small/medium animal, then at level 6/7 a druid can wild shape into an animal from size tiny to large, and at 8+ from diminutive to huge.
meaning a storm giant druid 5 can only shape change into a medium sized animal and a grig druid must grow to a medium/small sized animal.
or is the level based rule a matter of size categories.
thus at level 4/5 the druid can change into an animal of the same size category, at level 6/7 the druid can change shape up to one size category larger or smaller, and at level 8+ its up to two categories larger or smaller.
meaning that Wodes (a tiny druid 5) can only change into a tiny creature like a cat or fox.
(note: I am planning on the wild-shape based on the original size interpretation. but I wanted to know what the intention was and also possibly get the wording of wild-shape clarified)
so... pathfinder has a race of rat people called ... ah... ratfolk.
but will pathfinder ever have Nezumi?
Nezumi are eastern ratfolk generally medium sized and more... human like than rat-folk, more like kitsune or cat-folk.
just wondering.
so... pathfinder has a race of rat people called ... ah... ratfolk.
but will pathfinder ever have Nezumi?
Nezumi are eastern ratfolk generally medium sized and more... human like than rat-folk, more like kitsune or cat-folk.
just wondering.
Nezumi are a creation of Legend of the Five Rings, not a reflection of any Asian legend. To the best of my knowledge.
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Creative Director
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James,
I am playing Jade Regent book 2 (frozen shadows) and have a question about Wodes the raven druid 5... well I guess a question about all druids of a non standard size.
when a druid wildshapes is the size of the animal they can change into based on the starting size of the druid or the static sizes set by the ability rules.
for example the rules say that at level 4/5 a druid can wild shape into a small/medium animal, then at level 6/7 a druid can wild shape into an animal from size tiny to large, and at 8+ from diminutive to huge.
meaning a storm giant druid 5 can only shape change into a medium sized animal and a grig druid must grow to a medium/small sized animal.
or is the level based rule a matter of size categories.
thus at level 4/5 the druid can change into an animal of the same size category, at level 6/7 the druid can change shape up to one size category larger or smaller, and at level 8+ its up to two categories larger or smaller.
meaning that Wodes (a tiny druid 5) can only change into a tiny creature like a cat or fox.
(note: I am planning on the wild-shape based on the original size interpretation. but I wanted to know what the intention was and also possibly get the wording of wild-shape clarified)
The size limitations on what animals a druid can wildshape into don't care how big the druid is in her true form. It's strictly limited by the class level of the druid.
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Creative Director
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so... pathfinder has a race of rat people called ... ah... ratfolk.
but will pathfinder ever have Nezumi?
Nezumi are eastern ratfolk generally medium sized and more... human like than rat-folk, more like kitsune or cat-folk.
just wondering.
The word "Nezumi" is merely the Japanese word for "rat."
The use of the word to apply to a race of ratfolk is something that Legend of the Five Rings did, and that's not open content. Feel free to call your ratfolk "Nezumi" in your games, of course, but that's not something we can print.
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any plans for a witch/alchemist prestigue class?
Nope.
When I make plans for a prestige class, 99.5423% of the time I come at it from a "this organization or religion could use a specialized class... how would a prestige class associated with it work?" I almost never come at it from a "What would be a good multiclass combo that could use a prestige class to make it even better?" angle... that's more the Rules Design team's way of doing things, and they're not all that fond of prestige classes...
If Paizo ever decides to create Mythic level rules, what kinds of adventures would you hope to see? I just saw Avengers not that long ago, so I'm kinda hoping it would be something like that.
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If Paizo ever decides to create Mythic level rules, what kinds of adventures would you hope to see? I just saw Avengers not that long ago, so I'm kinda hoping it would be something like that.
Comparing superheroes to epic level/mythic characters is a pretty good way to think of what an epic level/mythic character can do.
so... pathfinder has a race of rat people called ... ah... ratfolk.
but will pathfinder ever have Nezumi?
Nezumi are eastern ratfolk generally medium sized and more... human like than rat-folk, more like kitsune or cat-folk.
just wondering.
The word "Nezumi" is merely the Japanese word for "rat."
The use of the word to apply to a race of ratfolk is something that Legend of the Five Rings did, and that's not open content. Feel free to call your ratfolk "Nezumi" in your games, of course, but that's not something we can print.
Actually it goes beyond LotFR. Nezumi are established in Japanese lore (Rat yes but also as ratfolk) Magic the Gathering and many anime/manga and general Japanese legend use them. Its as open content as Thor is.
its cool if they wont be in pathfinder. i will still play ^_^
It's unlikely a soul would remember time spent as a mindless undead at all, but as something with a mind? Probably... if only in the form of nightmares.So if a person who is dead then resurrected doesn't remember what happened while they were dead, but what about undead? From what I understand, non-intelligent undead like zombies and skeletons are just animated flesh, the mind isn't there (or is it? If you animate a body as a zombie, does that prevent Pharasma from judging them?), but what about intelligent undead like vampires and liches, and even ghosts? I ask because in a game I am running the PCs are trying resurrect a girl who currently is haunting them as a ghost, so when they do will she remember her time as a ghost, or just remember dying then wake up on the altar/bed/floor/whatever?
Ha ok cool. An ex-ghost remembering only in nightmares would actually make for good story for the character because she's already so terrified of death (or rather, what happens after), if she remembers being dead only in her nightmares... that will make it that much harder to get her to trust in herself and Pharasma's judgement when her "true" time finally does come. Thanks :)
James, if you had to use one existing PF class to model the superhero Batman, which would it be?
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Actually it goes beyond LotFR. Nezumi are established in Japanese lore (Rat yes but also as ratfolk) Magic the Gathering and many anime/manga and general Japanese legend use them. Its as open content as Thor is.
its cool if they wont be in pathfinder. i will still play ^_^
Perhaps so... but given a choice between two equally legitimate choices, we'll generally pick the one that's less likely to attract the attention of Wizards of the Coast's legal department.
Perhaps so... but given a choice between two equally legitimate choices, we'll generally pick the one that's less likely to attract the attention of Wizards of the Coast's legal department.
Rofl, that sounds like a wise course of action. Have you guys ever had trouble with the WoC legal department? I imagine that the OGL has prevented much in the way of issues from happening.
Perhaps so... but given a choice between two equally legitimate choices, we'll generally pick the one that's less likely to attract the attention of Wizards of the Coast's legal department.Actually it goes beyond LotFR. Nezumi are established in Japanese lore (Rat yes but also as ratfolk) Magic the Gathering and many anime/manga and general Japanese legend use them. Its as open content as Thor is.
its cool if they wont be in pathfinder. i will still play ^_^
Because wouldn't some of those Hasbro lawyers just foam at the mouth at the mere chance to slap Paizo with a big-ass lawsuit? :-P
Because wouldn't some of those Hasbro lawyers just foam at the mouth at the mere chance to slap Paizo with a big-ass lawsuit? :-PPerhaps so... but given a choice between two equally legitimate choices, we'll generally pick the one that's less likely to attract the attention of Wizards of the Coast's legal department.Actually it goes beyond LotFR. Nezumi are established in Japanese lore (Rat yes but also as ratfolk) Magic the Gathering and many anime/manga and general Japanese legend use them. Its as open content as Thor is.
its cool if they wont be in pathfinder. i will still play ^_^
More WotC than Hasbro, but it is a possibility.
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Perhaps so... but given a choice between two equally legitimate choices, we'll generally pick the one that's less likely to attract the attention of Wizards of the Coast's legal department.Rofl, that sounds like a wise course of action. Have you guys ever had trouble with the WoC legal department? I imagine that the OGL has prevented much in the way of issues from happening.
We have not had trouble with the WotC legal department. I like to think that's partially because of good choices we've made along the way, such as calling our ratfolk ratfolk and not nezumi.
I know you didn't work on Advanced Race Guide but I was looking at the Catfolk's alternate racial traits and noticed that there are no abilities that replace the Cat's Luck racial trait. So I was wondering if you can think of a reason who ever worked on it left that one ability alone? Ironically it is the one ability I wouldn't mind getting rid of and was hoping for some options to replace it with.
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I know you didn't work on Advanced Race Guide but I was looking at the Catfolk's alternate racial traits and noticed that there are no abilities that replace the Cat's Luck racial trait. So I was wondering if you can think of a reason who ever worked on it left that one ability alone? Ironically it is the one ability I wouldn't mind getting rid of and was hoping for some options to replace it with.
Maybe whoever developed or wrote that section felt that Cat's Luck was too important and iconic for catfolk to swap it out.
Or maybe they just never thought of it.
The size limitations on what animals a druid can wildshape into don't care how big the druid is in her true form. It's strictly limited by the class level of the druid.James,
when a druid wildshapes is the size of the animal they can change into based on the starting size of the druid or the static sizes set by the ability rules.
(note: I am planning on the wild-shape based on the original size interpretation. but I wanted to know what the intention was and also possibly get the wording of wild-shape clarified)
fair enough... thems the rules...
however... it seems to me as if the wild shape, and infact all of the polymorph line of spells and abilities, imply that there is some kind of greater amount of energy or magic needed in order to change size, shape and type significantly. The further from the base creature the harder the spell.
the current rules are designed around the fact that all player races are small or medium. thus it makes sense that the rules are worded from that perspective.
at this point I have decided I will homerule that the spell takes into account the starting size of the caster so I am not asking you to settle a table argument.
But I am wondering if, from your perspective as a world designer, it would be reasonable to assume that it would be easier (and thus lower level) to change to a similar sized creature than a significantly larger or smaller or different creature? and if so do you think that IF piazo ever did a standard race larger or smaller than small/medium or if they ever did a story or AP built around larger or smaller creatures (and not just a single character here or there) would the rule be re-considered or changed or a parralell set of rules set up for those non-standard races making use of such spells and abilities like wild shape?
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When ghol gan sank into the ocean after the starstone fell was it a uniform sink with all of it breaking off and sinking down at the same rate or did is sort of tumble in unevenly as the world convulsed from the impact?
It was an uneven sinking. Much of it didn't sink at all, which is why there's still a lot of Ghol Gan ruins above sea level.
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fair enough... thems the rules...
however... it seems to me as if the wild shape, and infact all of the polymorph line of spells and abilities, imply that there is some kind of greater amount of energy or magic needed in order to change size, shape and type significantly. The further from the base creature the harder the spell.
the current rules are designed around the fact that all player races are small or medium. thus it makes sense that the rules are worded from that perspective.
at this point I have decided I will homerule that the spell takes into account the starting size of the caster so I am not asking you to settle a table argument.
But I am wondering if, from your perspective as a world designer, it would be reasonable to assume that it would be easier (and thus lower level) to change to a similar sized creature than a significantly larger or smaller or different creature? and if so do you think that IF piazo ever did a standard race larger or smaller than small/medium or if they ever did a story or AP built around larger or smaller creatures (and not just a single character here or there) would the rule be re-considered or changed or a parralell set of rules set up for those non-standard races making use of such spells and abilities like wild shape?
Well... one thing to keep in mind is that the core rules assume one thing if they assume anything—that the people taking class levels are Medium-sized humans.
The further you get from a human-sized creature with two arms, two legs, and a head, the more the rules get a bit weird. And the more that houserules need to be relied upon.
Doing a "standard race" of size larger than Medium or smaller than Small is very very unlikely, since the rules kinda start getting weird, but more to the point, fitting those characters into Golarion starts getting weird (and in some cases, physically impossible).
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When ghol gan sank into the ocean after the starstone fell was it a uniform sink with all of it breaking off and sinking down at the same rate or did is sort of tumble in unevenly as the world convulsed from the impact?It was an uneven sinking. Much of it didn't sink at all, which is why there's still a lot of Ghol Gan ruins above sea level.
I thought that those ruins didn't sink due to existing at a high altitude during their lifetime to begin with?