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It would have been nice to have put a maul into the Pathfinder Core Rulebook once we did that... but alas that opportunity slipped by. We got the earth breaker into Ultimate Equipment though, and it IS classified as a hammer.
Really? I picked up the Ultimate Equipment at GenCon this year, and I saw it in there, but I must have missed where it was labeled as a hammer. I mean, it says it's a hammer in the description, but I learned not to assume ;P
Well thanks! That just made my day!
EDIT: Just found the weapon categories at the VEEERY end of the weapons list in UE. *facepalm* Glad someone knows what they're doing. Thanks again!
Mythic Rules and a Worldwound AP and then to combine them into one... So happy right now. Are you excited to see what you can do with this combo?
Creative Director
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1) Is there a non-magical version of Alchemist? if no, will there ever be one.
2) Will there be a Class like Machinist/Mechanist/Engineer? Aside for the "Technologists" in Numeria, I know people toy with/study Clockwork stuff. This is one class that could have a "Mundane", Divine and Arcane (and maybe Psychic/Psionic) versions.
3) are there any Repair spells (like the Cure spells, but for objects/Constructs)? if no, any chance they show up?
4) Noble Class(es)? (hey, it/they could help make some NPCs better)
5) Airship?
1) A non-magical version of the alchemest would be an expert. Alchemy IS magic, that's the whole point. That's why it's not called chemistry.
2) We're actually pretty much done doing new base classes. We have no plans to do more in the future. That said... a robot building class WOULD be cool for a sci-fi game.
3) Mending and make whole.
4) Aristocrat.
5) Not in a mass scale, but they exist.
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Creative Director
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Mythic Rules and a Worldwound AP and then to combine them into one... So happy right now. Are you excited to see what you can do with this combo?
I've been waiting for the chance to do something with a demon lord doing stuff in Pathfinder for five years. SO... yes. I'm excited.
Another Mythic question for you James. Thanks for answering all these :D
So, it has already been stated that Gods will not have stats and players will not be able to directly fight them. What about avatars of a god? I don't believe exactly what an 'avatar' is in Pathfinder has been stated, but unless I'm mistaken it is possible for an avatar to only represent a portion of a god's power. So, would it be possible for the players to fight something like say... an 'Avatar of Urgathoa', and if so will there be rules and stats for these sorts of things in the Mythic rules?
At this point, Pathfinder has not included the concept of an "avatar of a god" in the game at all. The closest analogy we have would be the various heralds of the gods, who aren't avatars as much as they are, well, messengers and favored agents specifically designed with the exact right amount of Hit Dice so that they're things clerics can conjure just barely with greater planar ally.
In fact, the REASON we've been holding off on doing avatars and having that actually mean something in the game is that we've not yet answered the questions of what mythic rules mean.
I suspect that having "avatar" be a new category of monster that's about as powerful as a demigod would be pretty cool, and something that we could do.
Hmmm, I came up with this question because the term 'Avatar' has been used in at least one of Pathfinder's adventure paths, but I guess that was just a choice of word on the part of the author and not a 'technical' pathfinder term. Anyway, while I think it would be cool if this sort of thing could be included in the Mythic rules, I'm aware that you guys already have a ton of more important things to worry about in that book. I guess we'll just see what happens ;)
At this point, Pathfinder has not included the concept of an "avatar of a god" in the game at all. The closest analogy we have would be the various heralds of the gods, who aren't avatars as much as they are, well, messengers and favored agents specifically designed with the exact right amount of Hit Dice so that they're things clerics can conjure just barely with greater planar ally.
...but didn't Aroden stay physically on Golarion for several thousand years after becoming a god, doing things like fighting Tar-Baphon? Or do I have the sequence of events wrong?
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Creative Director
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At this point, Pathfinder has not included the concept of an "avatar of a god" in the game at all. The closest analogy we have would be the various heralds of the gods, who aren't avatars as much as they are, well, messengers and favored agents specifically designed with the exact right amount of Hit Dice so that they're things clerics can conjure just barely with greater planar ally....but didn't Aroden stay physically on Golarion for several thousand years after becoming a god, doing things like fighting Tar-Baphon? Or do I have the sequence of events wrong?
He was a demigod for some of that time.
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Creative Director
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Another Mythic question for you James. Thanks for answering all these :D
So, it has already been stated that Gods will not have stats and players will not be able to directly fight them. What about avatars of a god? I don't believe exactly what an 'avatar' is in Pathfinder has been stated, but unless I'm mistaken it is possible for an avatar to only represent a portion of a god's power. So, would it be possible for the players to fight something like say... an 'Avatar of Urgathoa', and if so will there be rules and stats for these sorts of things in the Mythic rules?
At this point, Pathfinder has not included the concept of an "avatar of a god" in the game at all. The closest analogy we have would be the various heralds of the gods, who aren't avatars as much as they are, well, messengers and favored agents specifically designed with the exact right amount of Hit Dice so that they're things clerics can conjure just barely with greater planar ally.
In fact, the REASON we've been holding off on doing avatars and having that actually mean something in the game is that we've not yet answered the questions of what mythic rules mean.
I suspect that having "avatar" be a new category of monster that's about as powerful as a demigod would be pretty cool, and something that we could do.
Hmmm, I came up with this question because the term 'Avatar' has been used in at least one of Pathfinder's adventure paths, but I guess that was just a choice of word on the part of the author and not a 'technical' pathfinder term. Anyway, while I think it would be cool if this sort of thing could be included in the Mythic rules, I'm aware that you guys already have a ton of more important things to worry about in that book. I guess we'll just see what happens ;)
** spoiler omitted **...
We HAVE used the term before... but not in the same way the word "Demon" or "Azata" means something specific.
That may change once we've got Mythic rules.
What limitations apply to wizard bonus feats?
Bonus Feats: At 5th, 10th, 15th, and 20th level, a wizard gains a bonus feat. At each such opportunity, he can choose a metamagic feat, an item creation feat, or Spell Mastery. The wizard must still meet all prerequisites for a bonus feat, including caster level minimums. These bonus feats are in addition to the feats that a character of any class gets from advancing levels. The wizard is not limited to the categories of item creation feats, metamagic feats, or Spell Mastery when choosing those feats.
As written, the first and latter part seem contraditory.
How is wizard bonus feats supposed to work?
A) Limited to metamagic, item creation or spell mastery as the first part suggests. The latter part only refers to the bit about normal feats the wizards gets.
B) No limits as the latter part suggests.
What limitations apply to wizard bonus feats?
Bonus Feats: At 5th, 10th, 15th, and 20th level, a wizard gains a bonus feat. At each such opportunity, he can choose a metamagic feat, an item creation feat, or Spell Mastery. The wizard must still meet all prerequisites for a bonus feat, including caster level minimums. These bonus feats are in addition to the feats that a character of any class gets from advancing levels. The wizard is not limited to the categories of item creation feats, metamagic feats, or Spell Mastery when choosing those feats.As written, the first and latter part seem contraditory.
How is wizard bonus feats supposed to work?
A) Limited to metamagic, item creation or spell mastery as the first part suggests. The latter part only refers to the bit about normal feats the wizards gets.
B) No limits as the latter part suggests.
That last sentence is in reference to the sentence before it. It should be read as:
Bonus Feats: At 5th, 10th, 15th, and 20th level, a wizard gains a bonus feat. At each such opportunity, he can choose a metamagic feat, an item creation feat, or Spell Mastery. The wizard must still meet all prerequisites for a bonus feat, including caster level minimums.
These bonus feats are in addition to the feats that a character of any class gets from advancing levels. The wizard is not limited to the categories of item creation feats, metamagic feats, or Spell Mastery when choosing those feats.
The bonus feats are limited to Metamagic, Spell MAstery or Item Creation.
Normal feats, ones gained at every odd level, have no such limit.
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What monstrous kind of jaws are your favorite?
A. Dislocating jaws for swallowing prey far larger than normal
B. Secondary sets of jaws inside a primary set, like xenomorphs and moray eels
C. Jaws in unnatural places and arrangements, like gugs or the Corinthian from Sandman
D. Jaws in places that seemingly serve no purpose(teeth on eyelids that gnash over their eyes)
E. Jaws unbound by bodies and biological logic
What, if any, monster's appearance in the history of the game was most unsettling to you? (aboleth eyes, etc.)
James, I have what may be an odd question.
Do untyped Natural Armor bonuses from different sources stack? Note: I am not asking about enhancement Natural Armor Bonuses. I know enhancement Natural Armor bonuses do not stack.
Example:
Polymorph grants an untyped Natural Armor bonus. Does this stack with a creature's natural armor bonus?
Example 2:
A Linnorm Sorcerer has two different abilities that provide a Natural Armor bonus. Both are untyped. Do they stack?
Bloodline Arcana: Whenever you cast a spell with an energy descriptor that matches your linnorm bloodline’s energy type, you gain a natural armor bonus equal to the spell’s level for 1d4 rounds.
Dragon Resistances (Ex): At 3rd level, you gain resist 5 against your energy type and a +1 natural armor bonus. At 9th level, your energy resistance increases to 10 and natural armor bonus increases to +2. At 15th level, your natural armor bonus increases to +4.
Until about 60minutes ago I thought Natural Armor bonuses were untyped or Enhancement. I thought the untyped stacked. Now I am not sure.
Thanks again for all of your help. :) Where do I send the bribes? :D
- Gauss
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What limitations apply to wizard bonus feats?
Bonus Feats: At 5th, 10th, 15th, and 20th level, a wizard gains a bonus feat. At each such opportunity, he can choose a metamagic feat, an item creation feat, or Spell Mastery. The wizard must still meet all prerequisites for a bonus feat, including caster level minimums. These bonus feats are in addition to the feats that a character of any class gets from advancing levels. The wizard is not limited to the categories of item creation feats, metamagic feats, or Spell Mastery when choosing those feats.As written, the first and latter part seem contraditory.
How is wizard bonus feats supposed to work?
A) Limited to metamagic, item creation or spell mastery as the first part suggests. The latter part only refers to the bit about normal feats the wizards gets.
B) No limits as the latter part suggests.
A. The last bit you bolded is talking about the feats the wizard gains normally as he gains odd-numbered levels.
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Creative Director
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What monstrous kind of jaws are your favorite?
A. Dislocating jaws for swallowing prey far larger than normal
B. Secondary sets of jaws inside a primary set, like xenomorphs and moray eels
C. Jaws in unnatural places and arrangements, like gugs or the Corinthian from Sandman
D. Jaws in places that seemingly serve no purpose(teeth on eyelids that gnash over their eyes)
E. Jaws unbound by bodies and biological logicWhat, if any, monster's appearance in the history of the game was most unsettling to you? (aboleth eyes, etc.)
C.
And hmmm... that last is a hard question, since "most unsettling" is something I'd give to a book or movie, both of which FAR more often go into the truly unsettling that most RPGs fear to tread.
That said, there's been a couple of truly unsettling monsters from Call of Cthulhu... but those that are unsettling tend to be creations of writers like Ramsey Campbell.
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James, I have what may be an odd question.
Do untyped Natural Armor bonuses from different sources stack? Note: I am not asking about enhancement Natural Armor Bonuses. I know enhancement Natural Armor bonuses do not stack.
Example:
Polymorph grants an untyped Natural Armor bonus. Does this stack with a creature's natural armor bonus?Example 2:
A Linnorm Sorcerer has two different abilities that provide a Natural Armor bonus. Both are untyped. Do they stack?Bloodline Arcana: Whenever you cast a spell with an energy descriptor that matches your linnorm bloodline’s energy type, you gain a natural armor bonus equal to the spell’s level for 1d4 rounds.Dragon Resistances (Ex): At 3rd level, you gain resist 5 against your energy type and a +1 natural armor bonus. At 9th level, your energy resistance increases to 10 and natural armor bonus increases to +2. At 15th level, your natural armor bonus increases to +4.Until about 60minutes ago I thought Natural Armor bonuses were untyped or Enhancement. I thought the untyped stacked. Now I am not sure.
Thanks again for all of your help. :) Where do I send the bribes? :D
- Gauss
Natural armor bonuses never stack. The only way you can increase a natural armor bonus is to put an enhancement bonus (as from barkskin) on it.
When you polymorph, you take a new form. You get the new form's natural armor bonus (or whatever variant of that bonus the spell grants), but you don't retain your old one since you're not in that form any more.
The linnorm sorcerer you mention gains the Dragon Resistances bonus to natural armor all the time, but the bloodline arcana one for only 1d4 rounds when activated. You apply the one that's larger, in any event.
James Jacobs,
I was afraid of that. Wow, that just...ok. Thankfully, for me it almost never comes up but it will really suck for certain builds. Also, I think it kinda violates the premise of Polymorph adding bonuses to whatever existed. *shrugs*
Honestly, I couldve sworn I'd seen NPCs with Natural armor increases from special abilities. Perhaps there is a wording that allows Natural Armor to stack? If so what is that wording?
- Gauss
Do witches benefit from the Spell Mastery feat?
What monstrous kind of jaws are your favorite?
A. Dislocating jaws for swallowing prey far larger than normal
B. Secondary sets of jaws inside a primary set, like xenomorphs and moray eels
C. Jaws in unnatural places and arrangements, like gugs or the Corinthian from Sandman
D. Jaws in places that seemingly serve no purpose(teeth on eyelids that gnash over their eyes)
E. Jaws unbound by bodies and biological logicWhat, if any, monster's appearance in the history of the game was most unsettling to you? (aboleth eyes, etc.)
C.
And hmmm... that last is a hard question, since "most unsettling" is something I'd give to a book or movie, both of which FAR more often go into the truly unsettling that most RPGs fear to tread.
That said, there's been a couple of truly unsettling monsters from Call of Cthulhu... but those that are unsettling tend to be creations of writers like Ramsey Campbell.
This obviously has a lot to do with how the GM plays them, but I have to say the most unsettling monsters tend to be some of the human (or humanlike) NPCs. Like Nualia, for instance.
...but didn't Aroden stay physically on Golarion for several thousand years after becoming a god, doing things like fighting Tar-Baphon? Or do I have the sequence of events wrong?He was a demigod for some of that time.
Now that is an intriguing little tidbit!
Have all the Starstone-ascended gods been started off at demi, or is that another one of those things that vary according to ineffably unknowable conditions?
If some wealthy guy were to offer to pay you to run a weekly game for him and his buddies, how much would he have to pay before you'd be willing to work him into your schedule? (No implication. Just a fun, random question.)
At this point, Pathfinder has not included the concept of an "avatar of a god" in the game at all. The closest analogy we have would be the various heralds of the gods, who aren't avatars as much as they are, well, messengers and favored agents specifically designed with the exact right amount of Hit Dice so that they're things clerics can conjure just barely with greater planar ally.
Is summoning divine heralds going to be emphasized with the Hierophant in the Mythic rules? Because that would be pretty sweet.
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Interesting stuff about the <working title>Demonblight Crusade</working title> adventure path
Thank you for your answers, sir. While I'm a sad Mendev fan to learn that the nation's role in the adventure path is limited to the first part of the adventure path (not counting cameos), I'm optimistic about the adventure path nonetheless. I do have a few followup questions about the adventure path and its supportive material:
1) We know that the Player Companion line will feature books on both crusaders and demon hunters. How likely is it that we'll see a regional book for Mendev (a la Varisia: Birthplace of Legends) for the Player Companion line? Even with its limited presence in the adventure path itself, Mendev seems like an obvious starting point for many characters.
2) For the Pathfinder Campaign Setting line, how likely is it that we'll see a book on Mendev/the Worldwound/the Crusades? What about a demons revisited book? Any other GM-friendly material you have in mind that'll work well for the adventure path?
3) As for the adventure path itself, you'll have finished covering the main deities of the setting by the time Demonblight Crusade is released, and you (or some other Paizo staffer) have mentioned that you'll be taking a more practical approach to deity writeups. Does this mean that we can expect to see deityesque articles on the demon lord(s) involved in the adventure path? Deskari springs to mind.
4) Any chance you could provide some insight into what kind of supportive articles we can expect in the adventure path installments? (knowing full well that nothing's set in stone at this point)
5) Which way will the adventure path generally lean in terms of sandbox/railroad?
6) Will it be a dungeon crawl heavy adventure path a la Shattered Star?
7) Are there any plans to produce a Mendev module for Pathfinder Modules in the near future? I realize that with an actual adventure path devoted to the crusades plus at least two Player Companion books (crusaders and demon hunters), you guys are already focusing a lot on that aspect of the setting, but I do recall that we got a module for Tian Xia while Jade Regent was going on (although of course Ruby Phoenix Tournament might be more closely tied to the recently wrapped up season 3 of Pathfinder Society Organized Play) in addition to Jade Regent and its supporting material.
Again, thank you very much for taking the time to even read the many questions we post in this thread. It is very much appreciated.
Dear James Jacobs,
Do gargoyles bleed? Or are they made of sentient rock? Or something else?
James Jacobs.
1. I found a quote from an old Dragon Magazine issue that seems to say that back in 3.5e D&D lore, Night Hags did have Changeling (not named such, but they appeared similar to their father's race, aside from black or blue hair) children which they later turned into Night Hags with an obscure ritual. Was this the basis for the Golarion Changelings, or was the old Changeling myth the main inspiration?
2. Does the fact that my theory of Night Hag Changelings existing in Golarion is false but holds true in other settings (in a way, at least) mean that I could just adapt the Greyhawk / Planescape version of Night Hag creation (which is nearly identical to the creation of Pathfinder/Golarion Changelings) over to Golarion, and thus actually play a Night Hag-spawn Changeling? (Also, are these Night Hag questions getting tiresome by now?)
3. Are there any plans for Dou-Bral or Zon-Kuthon in the near future? I'm especially curious about the former.
4. What's your opinion on Planescape as a setting?
5. Was the fact that Lamashtu is alive and well in Golarion an intentional alternate universe thing? Because back in the 3.5e stories, I recall that Pazuzu beat Lamashtu and struck her down to the depths of the Abyss, ascending to near-god status. He never succeeded in doing the same in Golarion, but it was only because of Curchanus' existence and subsequently, him getting killed by Lamashtu which led to her becoming a goddess too strong to be killed by him.
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James Jacobs,
I was afraid of that. Wow, that just...ok. Thankfully, for me it almost never comes up but it will really suck for certain builds. Also, I think it kinda violates the premise of Polymorph adding bonuses to whatever existed. *shrugs*
Honestly, I couldve sworn I'd seen NPCs with Natural armor increases from special abilities. Perhaps there is a wording that allows Natural Armor to stack? If so what is that wording?
- Gauss
That wording would say something like:
This bonus increases your current natural armor to a new level.
The reason we DON'T do that often, if ever, is that it lets PC armor classes get too high too quickly.
Polymorph spells already do a LOT for you. They're among the most versatile spells in the game. They give you new attacks, bolster ability scores, give you new options in combat, new modes of movement, work as disguises... the list goes on. They were WAY too good in 3.5, and it's arguable that they still might be a bit too good in Pathfinder due to how incredibly versatile they are.
Also... remember that the vast majority of player characters are core races. NONE of them have natural armor bonuses. So when a typical core race casts, say, form of the dragon I, they get a +4 natural armor bonus and that's quite good. For something like, say, a high level spirit naga sorcerer casting form of the dragon 1, her +9 natural armor bonus goes away and is replaced by a +4 bonus... but she gains bonuses to her Strength and Constitution, can fly, gains a breath weapon, resistance to an energy type, and triples her natural attacks. That's pretty good for a 6th level spell even WITH the natural armor decrease... and if the natural armor decrease in this case is something that you feel ruins the naga... then it shouldn't cast that spell in the first place. There are plenty of other spells.
But yeah... the game specifically doesn't allow easy and common AC stacking. There are certainly ways to game the system to get unintentionally high Armor Classes... but polymorph isn't one of those ways.
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...but didn't Aroden stay physically on Golarion for several thousand years after becoming a god, doing things like fighting Tar-Baphon? Or do I have the sequence of events wrong?He was a demigod for some of that time.Now that is an intriguing little tidbit!
Have all the Starstone-ascended gods been started off at demi, or is that another one of those things that vary according to ineffably unknowable conditions?
First off... Aroden didn't ascend to divinty by taking the test of the Starstone. I suspect he was a demigod BEFORE that, which is why he had the power to raise the Starstone and the Isle of Kortos in the first place.
As for what power you start out with as a newly ascended Starstone deity... I'm not ready to say for sure yet. Ask me again in a year when the Mythic rules are done for sure.
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At this point, Pathfinder has not included the concept of an "avatar of a god" in the game at all. The closest analogy we have would be the various heralds of the gods, who aren't avatars as much as they are, well, messengers and favored agents specifically designed with the exact right amount of Hit Dice so that they're things clerics can conjure just barely with greater planar ally.Is summoning divine heralds going to be emphasized with the Hierophant in the Mythic rules? Because that would be pretty sweet.
Probably not, for 2 reasons.
1) The divine heralds are world specific creatures, and thus Mythic Adventures won't talk about them.
2) That's something you can already do. The heralds are specifically designed to be things you can conjure with greater planar ally or greater planar binding—that's why they all have 18 Hit Dice. Herald conjuring is meant to be something that core clerics in Golarion can do. Mythic clerics should and could have something better than merely calling up mere heralds. They're only CR 15, after all!
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Creative Director
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If some wealthy guy were to offer to pay you to run a weekly game for him and his buddies, how much would he have to pay before you'd be willing to work him into your schedule? (No implication. Just a fun, random question.)
A weekly game would not only take significant time away from my freelance hours at this point, or it would force me to cancel a few games I'm currently running for my friends. So, at minimum, I'd probably charge the guy what a week's worth of freelance money would make me, but then I'd probably double that, at minimum, and then add an additional amount depending on other demands, such as "you must run the game at my house, which is a 4 hour drive from your home" or "you must let my obnoxious friends play as well" or the like.
All of which means I'd probably shoot for the moon and say something like "$2,000 a session."
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Creative Director
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Hi James, what's the Stephen Radney-Macfarland's account on this website?
If you're looking to contact him via email, check out our "Contact Us" page here at Paizo.com.
That goes for any Paizo employee, of course.
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Creative Director
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Dear James Jacobs,
Do gargoyles bleed? Or are they made of sentient rock? Or something else?
Gargoyles bleed. They're monstrous humanoids, after all. If they were intended to be made of sentient rock, they'd be outsiders with the earth and elemental subtypes. At the very least, they'd have immunity to bleed effects.
Yeah, that's what I thought. Thank you.
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Creative Director
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1) We know that the Player Companion line will feature books on both crusaders and demon hunters. How likely is it that we'll see a regional book for Mendev (a la Varisia: Birthplace of Legends) for the Player Companion line? Even with its limited presence in the adventure path itself, Mendev seems like an obvious starting point for many characters.
2) For the Pathfinder Campaign Setting line, how likely is it that we'll see a book on Mendev/the Worldwound/the Crusades? What about a demons revisited book? Any other GM-friendly material you have in mind that'll work well for the adventure path?
3) As for the adventure path itself, you'll have finished covering the main deities of the setting by the time Demonblight Crusade is released, and you (or some other Paizo staffer) have mentioned that you'll be taking a more practical approach to deity writeups. Does this mean that we can expect to see deityesque articles on the demon lord(s) involved in the adventure path? Deskari springs to mind.
4) Any chance you could provide some insight into what kind of supportive articles we can expect in the adventure path installments? (knowing full well that nothing's set in stone at this point)
5) Which way will the adventure path generally lean in terms of sandbox/railroad?
6) Will it be a dungeon crawl heavy adventure path a la Shattered Star?
7) Are there any plans to produce a Mendev module for Pathfinder Modules in the near future? I realize that with an actual adventure path devoted to the crusades plus at least two Player Companion books (crusaders and demon hunters), you guys are already focusing a lot on that aspect of the setting, but I do recall that we got a module for Tian Xia while Jade Regent was going on (although of course Ruby Phoenix Tournament might be more closely tied to the recently wrapped up season 3 of Pathfinder Society Organized Play) in addition to Jade Regent and its supporting material.
1) At this point we've not yet announced a Mendev book in that line. We might do one, but we haven't announced it yet.
2) Chances of us doing a book (or multiple books) to tie in to the Adventure Path in the Campaign Setting line at a point near the launch of that AP are 100%. We haven't announced all those plans yet though.
3) We'll be doing (at least) two deity articles during this adventure path. I've not finalized what two they'll be yet, but if one of them isn't Deskari, we'll have made a huge mistake.
4) At this point... no. I'm not that far along in the process, and it'll depend GREATLY on what stuff Mythic Adventures does for us, and what stuff it doesn't and thus requires us to do support articles for.
5) "Normal." Some of the adventures will be pretty sandboxy, but the storyline will be pretty tightly scripted overall.
6) Nope, it won't be as dungeon-crawl heavy as Shattered Star, but it WILL have dungeons.
7) We generally do NOT do adventures in the module line that take place in the same regions as a current Adventure Path for two reasons. A) We like using the module line to branch out and explore and examine locations and themes for adventures that are different than what we're doing in the Adventure Path. B) A module that heavily linked to the Adventure Path would need to be developed and designed and all that by the Adventure Path team in order to ensure it meshes right with the Adventure Path, which is something the Adventure Path team has no time for. The Ruby Phoenix Tournament adventure takes place on the opposite side of Tian Xia from where Jade Regent was happening, which means that (since Tian Xia is so much more massive than the Inner Sea region) that adventure was separated culturally and physically from the adventure path more so than most modules.
They're only CR 15, after all!
Unless... you go and apply a mythic template to them, right?
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Creative Director
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James Jacobs.
1. I found a quote from an old Dragon Magazine issue that seems to say that back in 3.5e D&D lore, Night Hags did have Changeling (not named such, but they appeared similar to their father's race, aside from black or blue hair) children which they later turned into Night Hags with an obscure ritual. Was this the basis for the Golarion Changelings, or was the old Changeling myth the main inspiration?
2. Does the fact that my theory of Night Hag Changelings existing in Golarion is false but holds true in other settings (in a way, at least) mean that I could just adapt the Greyhawk / Planescape version of Night Hag creation (which is nearly identical to the creation of Pathfinder/Golarion Changelings) over to Golarion, and thus actually play a Night Hag-spawn Changeling? (Also, are these Night Hag questions getting tiresome by now?)
3. Are there any plans for Dou-Bral or Zon-Kuthon in the near future? I'm especially curious about the former.
4. What's your opinion on Planescape as a setting?
5. Was the fact that Lamashtu is alive and well in Golarion an intentional alternate universe thing? Because back in the 3.5e stories, I recall that Pazuzu beat Lamashtu and struck her down to the depths of the Abyss, ascending to near-god status. He never succeeded in doing the same in Golarion, but it was only because of Curchanus' existence and subsequently, him getting killed by Lamashtu which led to her becoming a goddess too strong to be killed by him.
1) Changelings as offspring of hags wasn't really part of 3.5 at all. 3.5 used the word "changeling" for an entirely different creature—a doppleganger type race in Eberron. Since Wes Schneider did most of the work on 3.5's hag articles AND for Golarion's that's the main reason you might be seeing similarities.
2) Your theory is only false in the official Golarion in print. It can be true in your home game version of Golarion. Or any other game you run. That's what makes RPGs so much fun and so compelling... you get to tinker and change things how you want as the GM.
3) There's some Zon-Kuthon stuff in Pathfinder #64 (there's a heretical priest in there), and the recent novel "Nightglass" has lots of Zon-Kuthon stuff in it. There's other stuff too. We aren't planning on doing much with his ancient history though... we prefer to focus on the present in most of our products. Also... the more we reveal about his ancient history, the less compelling the mysterious parts get. Mysteries are good. I don't want to explain everything.
4) I love it. It has some flaws (don't like the cant unless it's spoken by professional actors, as in the Planescape videogame, and I'm kind of annoyed by some of the ways that powerful evil outsiders got periodically "squandered" on low level or even mid level adventures), but overall, it's one of my top 10 D&D settings. MAYBE in the top 5. Which is pretty good for a setting that I've purchased VERY FEW products for (I was a player in a Planescape game and the GM didn't want me knowing much about the setting, apparently... grrrrr).
5) Lamashtu is still alive in the 3.5 setting stuff. I specifically set her up as being a foil to Pazuzu because their religions were often in conflict in the real world myths from which they come. When we did Golarion, I wanted our big demon god to be a demon from mythology so we could cash in a bit of "nostalgia" for it, but I also wanted a demon that I (or anyone else) hadn't done much with in print. Lamashtu was the perfect choice. There's a bit of conflict between the D&D Lamashtu/Pazuzu thing and the Pathfinder Lamashtu/Pazuzu thing, because they're different games. Same gods, same inspiration... different game. If you accept one backstory for them, the other one doesn't exist. There are a LOT of similarities between the two, but when you're at home running your game, you should either choose one of the two to go with, or start kit-bashing a combination together in a way you see fit. For me, from where I'm standing, the current version of their relationship as presented in Lords of Chaos is the one that matters. (AKA: I no longer own the words I wrote about them in the Draconomicon in Dragon, since those words were work for hire for Wizards of the Coast, and as such can't reference or use or build upon them in print, so I'm not interested in doing the same NOT in print.)
James Jacobs,
I was afraid of that. Wow, that just...ok. Thankfully, for me it almost never comes up but it will really suck for certain builds. Also, I think it kinda violates the premise of Polymorph adding bonuses to whatever existed. *shrugs*
Honestly, I couldve sworn I'd seen NPCs with Natural armor increases from special abilities. Perhaps there is a wording that allows Natural Armor to stack? If so what is that wording?
- Gauss
That wording would say something like:
This bonus increases your current natural armor to a new level.
The reason we DON'T do that often, if ever, is that it lets PC armor classes get too high too quickly.
Polymorph spells already do a LOT for you. They're among the most versatile spells in the game. They give you new attacks, bolster ability scores, give you new options in combat, new modes of movement, work as disguises... the list goes on. They were WAY too good in 3.5, and it's arguable that they still might be a bit too good in Pathfinder due to how incredibly versatile they are.
Also... remember that the vast majority of player characters are core races. NONE of them have natural armor bonuses. So when a typical core race casts, say, form of the dragon I, they get a +4 natural armor bonus and that's quite good. For something like, say, a high level spirit naga sorcerer casting form of the dragon 1, her +9 natural armor bonus goes away and is replaced by a +4 bonus... but she gains bonuses to her Strength and Constitution, can fly, gains a breath weapon, resistance to an energy type, and triples her natural attacks. That's pretty good for a 6th level spell even WITH the natural armor decrease... and if the natural armor decrease in this case is something that you feel ruins the naga... then it shouldn't cast that spell in the first place. There are plenty of other spells.
But yeah... the game specifically doesn't allow easy and common AC stacking. There are certainly ways to game the system to get unintentionally high...
Dwarves and Half Orcs can get a +1 natural armor bonus through a feat called Ironhide. Unfortunately, it means if you are going to get a natural armor bonus from any other source, dont ever get Ironhide. Mechanically, I understand your point. Thematically, it doesn't make sense. Oh well. :)
Thanks for Answering.
- Gauss
Will the tarasque be "retconned" with new abilities once the mythic rules are done?
while retconning would be a bit silly, it would be all kinds of if tarasgue figurately the most mythic monster in the entire game including great wyrms wasn't literally mythic.
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Trivia: Did you know that in the novel and original Exorcist film by William Peter Blatty, that the evil spirit that first identifies itself as the Devil is actually named and identified by Father Merrin (played Max Von Sydow) as none other than Pazuzu himself? As a personal arch-foe he had battled many times, dating back to archaeological work he did in Northern Iraq.
I believe this tradition was maintained in the sequels and spin-offs.
I suspect you did know this, but I've always found it pretty neat. I think of it every time I see this particular Demon Lord's name.
Will the tarasque be "retconned" with new abilities once the mythic rules are done?
while retconning would be a bit silly, it would be all kinds of if tarasgue figurately the most mythic monster in the entire game including great wyrms wasn't literally mythic.
Or you could just give the Tarrasque mythic tears.
And create a mythic tarrasque.
*shudders*
Or you could just give the Tarrasque mythic
That would be a pretty badass spell component or otherwise awesome artifact. Good luck getting them though.
They're only CR 15, after all!Unless... you go and apply a mythic template to them, right?
Personally, I always felt that Heralds were a little weak for being, you know, Heralds of a god. I'm going to be pretty tempted to tack a few mythic levels onto the one that my players are going to be fighting near the end of their current AP.
I guess that heralds were set at CR 15 so they could be fought in an AP without being the final boss, but I think my players will be a little ahead of the power curve ;)
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-Is it required for anyone playing the Demonblight Crusade AP to use the Mythic rules?
-Will there be something like this (below) in the AP or will it be more like the PCs taking the fight to the demon's home turf? You mentioned Mendev will only appear in the 1st book so I was curious.
Link
-Will there by any new rules/articles about sieges or running castles?
Or you could just give the Tarrasque mythicThat would be a pretty badass spell component or otherwise awesome artifact. Good luck getting them though.
Sigh. Shouldn't have stayed up till 4am reading Tides of War. : /
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Creative Director
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Dwarves and Half Orcs can get a +1 natural armor bonus through a feat called Ironhide. Unfortunately, it means if you are going to get a natural armor bonus from any other source, dont ever get Ironhide. Mechanically, I understand your point. Thematically, it doesn't make sense. Oh well. :)
That isn't a core book feat though, which is my point.
And it's not a good feat to take if you're going to get natural armor from other sources at all. Thematically, it DOES make sense to me. If thick dwarven skin gives you a +1 natural armor and dragon scales give you a +2 natural armor... you don't have skin AND scales. You have one or the other.
In any case, the fact that a single character has a limited number of feats they can ever take in their career but that there's hundreds and hundreds of them out there to choose from means that if, for any one specific build, there are some feats that are bad choices... there's many more that are not.
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Will the tarasque be "retconned" with new abilities once the mythic rules are done?
while retconning would be a bit silly, it would be all kinds of if tarasgue figurately the most mythic monster in the entire game including great wyrms wasn't literally mythic.
No.
The tarrasque is designed and intended to be one of the toughest core monsters. While there will certainly be mythic templates and the like you can put on monsters to mythic them up... the tarrasque won't be getting something like this done to him. He's the "boss" monster of the core rules. Mythic will have different bosses.
That said, assuming we do our jobs right, fighting the tarrasque as a party of, say 15th level or 17th level (or whatever it works out to) mythic characters would be a cool fight. CR 25 monsters can STILL provide significant challenges to mythic characters. You just don't have to be as high level as non-mythic characters to challenge these monsters back.