In a PaizoCon seminar, you and Wes were talking about Giants and the stereotypes that they were based on (Hill Giants - giant hillbillies, Stone Giants - giant cavemen, Rune Giants - giant samurais, etc). I think you mentioned that Jungle Giants were giant Amazons and Wes stated that was almost "actionable" but that no one got sued.
What was the legal/ethical problem with this?
Oh oh oh...sorry James, one more question:
Does cloak of the manta ray grant you a 'sting attack' count as a 'primary natural attack'? Also, are you able to use the 'sting attack' even when you are not submerged in salt water?
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Hey again James. I got 3 questions for ya:
1) Does the 'gore attack' that is gained from the Helm of the Mammoth Lord (in ultimate equipment) count as a primary natural attack (it doesn't explicitly say so, but I assume it does)?
2) Is the 'gore attack' gained from the Helm of the Mammoth Lord effected by the Amulet of Mighty Fists (again, I assume so, but I'm just checking)?
3) And finally, if I a character has a bite attack and a gore attack, is that character allowed to use both attacks during a full-round action (again, my assumption is yes because one uses the 'face' while the other uses 'the head'...and there also seem to be many creatures in the bestiary that can do this as well)?
Thanks again for the help :)
1) Yes.
2) Yes.
3) Yes.
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Oh oh oh...sorry James, one more question:
Does cloak of the manta ray grant you a 'sting attack' count as a 'primary natural attack'? Also, are you able to use the 'sting attack' even when you are not submerged in salt water?
The tail attack is a primary attack, but you can only use it when you're swimming.
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In a PaizoCon seminar, you and Wes were talking about Giants and the stereotypes that they were based on (Hill Giants - giant hillbillies, Stone Giants - giant cavemen, Rune Giants - giant samurais, etc). I think you mentioned that Jungle Giants were giant Amazons and Wes stated that was almost "actionable" but that no one got sued.
What was the legal/ethical problem with this?
The fact that Amazons are pretty sexist is what Wes was alluding to.
If a kyton (the standard one from the first Bestiary) wields a manufactured weapon, does it take a penalty on attacks with its chains? And if so, what feat (Multiattack, Multiweapon Fighting, etc.) should it take to reduce the penalty?
1. For creating a magic item, what's the price for raising the DC of the user's spells?
2. What are the appropriate save bonuses for a CR 24 being?
3. What era was Thassilon's body of scientific knowledge comparable to?
4. Since runelords had a means of recording home movies, did Thassilon have broadcast media?
5. What's your opinion of medieval European fantasy (specifically the renfaire, new-age settings) compared to heroic fantasy?
I'm…probably not wording it right but I've been struggling with phrasing and rephrasing this question and I just want to ask it.
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Hi James:
Summon Monster spell: Spell descrition states- "It appears where you designate and acts immediately, on your turn."
1) Do you need to have a perfect and exact line of sight when casting Summon Monster? Last session the caster was in a row boat and he casted the spell. He wanted to place the monster on the upper deck (40' higher) in a specific square when he had no line of sight to that square. Could this be done? I ruled it as you can place it in a random square where he wanted it. Also, since he is 40' below he does not see the actual deck floor. When casting in this situation, does the monster appears in the air or on the floor?
2) Is there a default sinking rate for medium size creatures w/ at least 16 pounds of weight?
THX
1) You have to have line of sight to the place the monster is appearing.
2) In water, I assume? Not that I'm aware of.
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If a kyton (the standard one from the first Bestiary) wields a manufactured weapon, does it take a penalty on attacks with its chains? And if so, what feat (Multiattack, Multiweapon Fighting, etc.) should it take to reduce the penalty?
A kyton's chains are treated somewhat like dancing weapons. If a kyton wields a weapon, it can't attack at all with its chains, really, since controlling its chains is a standard action.
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1. For creating a magic item, what's the price for raising the DC of the user's spells?
2. What are the appropriate save bonuses for a CR 24 being?
3. What era was Thassilon's body of scientific knowledge comparable to?
4. Since runelords had a means of recording home movies, did Thassilon have broadcast media?
5. What's your opinion of medieval European fantasy (specifically the renfaire, new-age settings) compared to heroic fantasy?
I'm…probably not wording it right but I've been struggling with phrasing and rephrasing this question and I just want to ask it.
1) An ad-hoc one that you and the GM (if you're a player) need to arrive at after comparing it to other similar items.
2) Book of the Damned II extends table 1-1, as does Bestiary II and Bestiary III, up to CR 25. For a CR 24 creature, its good save should be 25 and its bad one 20.
3) Atlantis. Kind of a cheat, I know, but Thassilon's knowledge of science is entangled with its knowledge of magic, and as such is equal to or greater than understanding of these subjects in modern Golarion.
4) No. The "recording of home movies" was not really done for entertainment, but for espionage and research and the like. It wasn't really widely available to the commonfolk.
5) If it's well written, I like it. I don't really believe one is more interesting than the other. My current favorites among fantasy, though, are the Game of Thrones books, the Dark Tower books, and of course Pathfinder.
Mr. James Jacobs,
What kind of quests or tasks would Inquisitors of Shelyn be involved typically?
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Mr. James Jacobs,
What kind of quests or tasks would Inquisitors of Shelyn be involved typically?
YOUR GARDEN IS INSUFFICIENTLY BEAUTIFUL! YOU SHALL ANSWER FOR THIS CRIME!
Kidding, of course.
Taking the term "Fashion Wars" to new heights?Mr. James Jacobs,
What kind of quests or tasks would Inquisitors of Shelyn be involved typically?
I think Simon is an Inquisitor of Shelyn.
Mr. James Jacobs,
What kind of quests or tasks would Inquisitors of Shelyn be involved typically?
Hardcore matchmaking?
You could be the priest from Romeo and Juliet.
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Was Asmodeus himself instrumental in the Thrune Ascendancy? Or was it the result of an alliance between House Thrune and lesser but still powerful devils (possibly even archdevils)? I realize the church of Asmodeus plays an important role in Cheliax but that could've happened regardless of their lord's actual involvement in the events leading to House Thrune's victory.
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do you think Blessing of Fervor is overpowered for a spell level that shares Divine Power, which is nice but not nearly as good in my opinion. I'm always hesitant to take things from sources that are not the core rulebook because its too easy for them to be more powerful so they don't seem like "whats the point for the money"I don't think it's overpowered at all. What makse you feel like it's overpowered?
I just realized that there is this part to the spell:
Each round for the duration of this spell, each of your allies can choose one of the following bonuses for that round at the beginning of its turn (their choice).
....
* Cast a single spell of 2nd level or lower as if it were an enlarged, extended, silent, or still spell.
A 4th level spell that will allow every one of your allies to apply a metamagic to each level 2 or less spell they cast, for 1 round/level.
Extending spells with a duration of 1 minute/level mean that they will probably last one more encounter. Spells with a duration of 10 minutes/level will get a large boost and spell with a duration of 1 hour level will probably last the whole day.
Enlarged? A big increase in power for the spells whose balance is based on their range.
The worst offenders when used with this spell are the spell in the lists of class with a shortened number of spell levels, like the paladin, ranger or summoner (double duration haste!), but in my spellcaster heavy party this spell men that at the cost of a 4th level spell they will be capable to extend or enlarge the spell of:
a witch
a oracle
a wizard
a summoner
and a ranger.
It mean that, if at the end of a fight there are rounds of this spell remaining they will be used to cast several extended spells for free.
Even the enlarge effect isn't a big problem as the effect generally will not outlast Blessing of Fervor, but the extend effect will outlast the spell by a big margin.
As the spell already give several good combat enhancement I fail to see how giving this added benefit is balanced.
A more mathematically charged duo of questions.
Is there a formula you and the other Paizo workers used in calculating what you should use for a large sized dice?
Why does a d8 turn into a 2d6 instead of a d10?
What era was Thassilon's body of scientific knowledge comparable to?Atlantis. Kind of a cheat, I know, but Thassilon's knowledge of science is entangled with its knowledge of magic, and as such is equal to or greater than understanding of these subjects in modern Golarion.
1. I meant how much does Thassilon know compared to us?
2. Did Thassilon get any use out of goblins?
3. How exactly did Thassilon get all those summoned monsters to fight with? Lots of wizards casting lots of planar binding?
4. What kind of music would be thematically appropriate for Pathfinder?
5. Could an air elemental push/pull a creature affected by air walk and improve its speed?
6. You mentioned each giant relates to a stereotype. Which one are cloud giants?
7. How exactly did runelords control taiga giants, who are immune to enchantment and illusion spells?
1)Can the feats, moonlight summons, starligh summons, and sunlight summons, be used in conbination or do you have to select only one at a time to use?
2)Can you reveal what the 5th 0HD race is in the Innersea Bestiary?
3)What monsters were used for the 3 new templates in the Innersea Bestiary?
4)Are there any movies you would like to see remade?
5)Wich of Lovecrafts stories would like most to see done as a movie?
6)So Ultimate Campaign will have updated/expanded rules on kingdom building but will the other optional rules in there be updated/expanded as well?
7)Have you ever expirenced anything strange like seen a ghost, unkown animal/monster sighting, psychic or paranormal phenomone, etc.?
8)Read any good books lately? good comic books?
9)What animated movies have you seen this year?
Is it common, rare, or unheard of for people in Golarion to worship multiple gods individually, or groups of gods? What sort of groupings might there be if any? For example, Sarenrae and Desna as Day and Night might be one. I'm not talking about clerics here, they need to dedicate themselves to one god to be close enough to get powers I assume, but other people.
Hey James, I got another small question: would a tiefling alchemist drinking an 'extract of enlarge person' be affected by it?
1)What do the sailors of Golarion call there version of Davy Jone's locker?
2)Is it safe to assume that Golarion has it's own version of the aura borialus?
3)What was the last video game you played?
4)Are there any of gods/goddesses who lost there virginity after they became a god/goddess?
5)Have you ever been outside of the US? If so were?
6)Can you speak any other languages?
7)What is the best plot twist you have ever seen in a movie?
JJ, I can't seem to find your previous answer on the subject and it's come up quite a bit latey, so I'll ask again and mark it for reference:
Are the mythic rules intended to replace Epic-levels? In functionality it seems as though they do, but there's been some contention about it in other threads as to whether or not there will also be post-20th level rules.
My recollection to the above question is that mythic tiers are the replacement for epic levels, but I don't trust my memory.
If I were to place the soul of a Slaad <any color> into a vessel like a war-forged automaton or similar construct, would it function properly and obey my commands?
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Mr. James Jacobs,
What kind of quests or tasks would Inquisitors of Shelyn be involved typically?
They'd follow up on rumors of censorship, oppression, and the destruction of art. Bookburners, censors, prudes, and anyone who would suppress artwork would quickly get on the inquisitor of Shelyn's blacklist.
Also, anyone who tries to destroy relationships, prevent lovers from being in love, suppress or hate crime against love, and the like would end up on Shelyn's blacklist. Her faith is not very tolerant about discrimination against sexual identity and preference—their inquisitors would likely go after those who try to banish gay marriage, for example.
Along with the typical foes of neutral good religions, like evil outsiders, undead, etc.
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Creative Director
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A more mathematically charged duo of questions.
Is there a formula you and the other Paizo workers used in calculating what you should use for a large sized dice?
Why does a d8 turn into a 2d6 instead of a d10?
Because the higher the die gets, the swingier things get. It's equally probable to roll max damage as it is minimum damage for a d10, but for 2d6, it's more likely to roll average damage. As damage dice get larger, it gets more important for game balance for rolls to skew more and more toward an average in the middle of the range rather than be evenly spread throughout the entire range.
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Creative Director
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What era was Thassilon's body of scientific knowledge comparable to?Atlantis. Kind of a cheat, I know, but Thassilon's knowledge of science is entangled with its knowledge of magic, and as such is equal to or greater than understanding of these subjects in modern Golarion.1. I meant how much does Thassilon know compared to us?
2. Did Thassilon get any use out of goblins?
3. How exactly did Thassilon get all those summoned monsters to fight with? Lots of wizards casting lots of planar binding?
4. What kind of music would be thematically appropriate for Pathfinder?
5. Could an air elemental push/pull a creature affected by air walk and improve its speed?
6. You mentioned each giant relates to a stereotype. Which one are cloud giants?
7. How exactly did runelords control taiga giants, who are immune to enchantment and illusion spells?
1) Much less. They don't have cars.
2) Nope.
3) That, and gate spells or simply opening portals to other realms.
4) Dramatic soundtracks from similar movies, TV shows, and video games. Any dark, gritty, dramatic fantasy will do—Conan, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, Assassin's Creed, etc.
5) No.
6) Ancient Greeks.
7) Bullying and intimidation and brainwashing and conditioning. Same way evil overlords do the same to their minions in this world.
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Is it common, rare, or unheard of for people in Golarion to worship multiple gods individually, or groups of gods? What sort of groupings might there be if any? For example, Sarenrae and Desna as Day and Night might be one. I'm not talking about clerics here, they need to dedicate themselves to one god to be close enough to get powers I assume, but other people.
Polytheism is closer to being common than uncommon.
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1)Can the feats, moonlight summons, starligh summons, and sunlight summons, be used in conbination or do you have to select only one at a time to use?
2)Can you reveal what the 5th 0HD race is in the Innersea Bestiary?
3)What monsters were used for the 3 new templates in the Innersea Bestiary?
4)Are there any movies you would like to see remade?
5)Wich of Lovecrafts stories would like most to see done as a movie?
6)So Ultimate Campaign will have updated/expanded rules on kingdom building but will the other optional rules in there be updated/expanded as well?
7)Have you ever expirenced anything strange like seen a ghost, unkown animal/monster sighting, psychic or paranormal phenomone, etc.?
8)Read any good books lately? good comic books?
9)What animated movies have you seen this year?
1) From a purely flavor standpoint... use one at a time.
2) I can... but I won't. Anticipation is important.
3) Gnoll, human, and satyr, I think. I could be mis-remembering.
4) Yes: the Quatermass movies.
5) At the Mountains of Madness. OR: If it's a CGI movie, Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath.
6) Yes.
7) I've seen things that I can't explain, but nothing that makes me suspect the supernatural or a cryptozoological answer in preference to something more mundane.
8) Just finished reading the Century's Best Horror, and "The Wind through the Keyhole," which was pretty good.
9) None.
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JJ, I can't seem to find your previous answer on the subject and it's come up quite a bit latey, so I'll ask again and mark it for reference:
Are the mythic rules intended to replace Epic-levels? In functionality it seems as though they do, but there's been some contention about it in other threads as to whether or not there will also be post-20th level rules.
My recollection to the above question is that mythic tiers are the replacement for epic levels, but I don't trust my memory.
Yes.
In 3.5, we'd use the Epic rules to support an adventure where the PCs fight a demon lord.
In Pathfinder, I hope to use Mythic Adventures to support an adventure where the PCs fight a demon lord.
The big difference is that you don't need to wait until 20th level to get Mythic Adventures off the shelf. You can use the rules at 1st level if you want.
They're meant to be our solution to "what rules do you use to write an adventure where the PCs do something super over-the-top like kill a demigod or make an artifact or whatever?" but they're NOT just that.
3)What monsters were used for the 3 new templates in the Innersea Bestiary?
3) Gnoll, human, and satyr, I think. I could be mis-remembering.
3) I'm not sure if s/he meant applied to or based on?
Dear James Jacobs,
Does the Feral Speech Witch Hex have any duration or limitations other than the type of animal you are speaking to or was it ever intended to have a duration or limitation?
Thanks,
Roshan
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Feral Speech (Su): This hex grants the witch the ability to speak with and understand the response of any animal as if using speak with animals, though each time she uses the hex, she must decide to communicate with either amphibians, birds, fish, mammals, or reptiles, and can only speak to and understand animals of that type. The witch can make herself understood as far as her voice carries. This hex does not predispose any animal so addressed toward the witch in any way. At 12th level, the witch can use this hex to communicate with vermin.
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1)What do the sailors of Golarion call there version of Davy Jone's locker?
2)Is it safe to assume that Golarion has it's own version of the aura borialus?
3)What was the last video game you played?
4)Are there any of gods/goddesses who lost there virginity after they became a god/goddess?
5)Have you ever been outside of the US? If so were?
6)Can you speak any other languages?
7)What is the best plot twist you have ever seen in a movie?
1) Dunno. Might be mentioned in Skull & Shackles, but I've not read the majority of those (with the exception of part 5, which I developed).
2) Yes.
3) Currently I'm playing Assassin's Creed III... but the LAST one I played was a game of Binding of Isaac just before bedtime last night.
4) Unknown, but probably.
5) Nope. And with the exception of going to Gen Con, I've never been out of California or Washington (or Oregon, since it's between those two).
6) 2 years of Spanish in high school, 2 years of French in college. Can't remember enough of either to speak the language—I still need subtitles when watching Spanish or French movies.
7) The chestburster from Alien. Or perhaps the truth behind the dog in The Thing. If you're talking more recently, though... last night's Walking Dead was pretty surprising, as was last night's Boardwalk Empire.
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Creative Director
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Dear James Jacobs,
Does the Feral Speech Witch Hex have any duration or limitations other than the type of animal you are speaking to or was it ever intended to have a duration or limitation?
Thanks,
Roshan---
Feral Speech (Su): This hex grants the witch the ability to speak with and understand the response of any animal as if using speak with animals, though each time she uses the hex, she must decide to communicate with either amphibians, birds, fish, mammals, or reptiles, and can only speak to and understand animals of that type. The witch can make herself understood as far as her voice carries. This hex does not predispose any animal so addressed toward the witch in any way. At 12th level, the witch can use this hex to communicate with vermin.
No limitation on duration.
If I were to place the soul of a Slaad <any color> into a vessel like a war-forged automaton or similar construct, would it function properly and obey my commands?Wouldn't work at all since slaadi aren't open content! HA!
HAH! Once more the forces of Order have foiled themselves! YEEESSSSS!
Hey James,
Just wondering, how common was it for members of the ancient races such as Azlanti and Serpentfolk to have Mythic power?
I'm assuming that exceptional people such as Savith were Mythic characters, but were there many others?
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I have realized that my previous post, here lack a question and sound more like a statement.
So the intended question was: do you feel that a spell that give already a good number of benefits is balanced in giving the possibility to use the Extend metamagic feat on first and second level spells for free?
My main problem is that the secondary effect of a round/level spell can extend (no pun intended) other spells for hours. I would consider it a decent power taken alone, it seem excessive when added to a good number of alternate benefits.
I am too strict?
Maybe my problem is that I think that getting metamagics effects for free* is one of the mains reasons why a lot of people feel that spellcaster are too powerful.
*at the cost some gp.
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Creative Director
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Hey James,
Just wondering, how common was it for members of the ancient races such as Azlanti and Serpentfolk to have Mythic power?I'm assuming that exceptional people such as Savith were Mythic characters, but were there many others?
Savith was certainly Mythic. Maybe one or two others in her city were as well.
In Thassilon, as a general rule, about 30% to 40% of the Runelords were Mythic at any one time.
So... more often than in modern Golarion, but not so much more that EVERYONE was mythic.
Is it common, rare, or unheard of for people in Golarion to worship multiple gods individually, or groups of gods? What sort of groupings might there be if any? For example, Sarenrae and Desna as Day and Night might be one. I'm not talking about clerics here, they need to dedicate themselves to one god to be close enough to get powers I assume, but other people.Polytheism is closer to being common than uncommon.
Are there any other formalized sets of gods like the Godclaw? Since that's kind of a unique combination of certain aspects of different gods that combine to something different overall. I know it's not exactly a religion though.
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Creative Director
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I have realized that my previous post, here lack a question and sound more like a statement.
So the intended question was: do you feel that a spell that give already a good number of benefits is balanced in giving the possibility to use the Extend metamagic feat on first and second level spells for free?
My main problem is that the secondary effect of a round/level spell can extend (no pun intended) other spells for hours. I would consider it a decent power taken alone, it seem excessive when added to a good number of alternate benefits.
I am too strict?
Maybe my problem is that I think that getting metamagics effects for free* is one of the mains reasons why a lot of people feel that spellcaster are too powerful.
*at the cost some gp.
If a spell is already pretty good, no, it's not balanced to let you extend it for free.
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Creative Director
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Are there any other formalized sets of gods like the Godclaw?Is it common, rare, or unheard of for people in Golarion to worship multiple gods individually, or groups of gods? What sort of groupings might there be if any? For example, Sarenrae and Desna as Day and Night might be one. I'm not talking about clerics here, they need to dedicate themselves to one god to be close enough to get powers I assume, but other people.Polytheism is closer to being common than uncommon.
Yes. Here and there. For example, there's a sect in the Mwangi who worships Desna and Gozreh as a pantheon. And lots of demonoligists worship groups of demon lords, and lots of diabolists worship all the arch devils.
Mr. James Jacobs,
What kind of quests or tasks would Inquisitors of Shelyn be involved typically?
They'd follow up on rumors of censorship, oppression, and the destruction of art. Bookburners, censors, prudes, and anyone who would suppress artwork would quickly get on the inquisitor of Shelyn's blacklist.
Also, anyone who tries to destroy relationships, prevent lovers from being in love, suppress or hate crime against love, and the like would end up on Shelyn's blacklist. Her faith is not very tolerant about discrimination against sexual identity and preference—their inquisitors would likely go after those who try to banish gay marriage, for example.
Along with the typical foes of neutral good religions, like evil outsiders, undead, etc.
Prudes? That seems more like a Calistrian target.