Why are scarabs revered in Osirion?
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Hey James! Could you tell me more about Aeromancy (Shory). I am very curious about the magic involved to allow the manipulation of Sky Cities like the Shory accomplished. Any products you can point me in the right direction and would we see anything in the future with Aeromancy and Sky Cities?
One other thing, after looking in books about the Planes I cannot find where Gozreh resides. I figured in one of the elemental planes (Air or Water), but after reading some past Pathfinder 3.5 stuff It never mentions where Gozreh resides. Thank you!
Does anything live in the Positive Energy Plane besides the jyoti?
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So I just finished reading "The Tomb" (first book in the repairman jack series), which you mentioned in your blog in a way the intrigued me, so I checked it out.
The book was a fun read - the writing was maybe a bit lacking and I would have liked a faster pacing, but still a fine book. I loved how it started with no supernatural elements at all and then gradually introduced them in.
Are the next books in the series also good? or do the stories patter out after a while? I'm trying to decide if I want to commit to the series or just allow the ending of the first book be it for me, because it ties nearly all of the loose ends rather nicely, I think.
Thanks for your advice, your recommendation of the book, and for this super special mega awesome thread!
Creative Director
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Has the reception of Raputin Must Die! lived up to your expectations/relieved any worries? :)
It's vastly exceeded my worries, in fact. It's a HUGE relief that folks seem to, by and large, be as open to and excited by the adventure as I'd hoped, especially since this adventure was the most interesting sounding part of the whole thing.
And as a result, I can say without a doubt that the acclaim and good reaction that "Rasputin Must Die!" has received has given me a LOT of support in future outlandish and unconventional adventure plots I've been considering.
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Creative Director
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Well, that intrigues me. What format would this discussion be best suited for? Hardcover, campaign setting, or what? The Deities are one of my favorite parts of Pathfinder.How is Cayden Cailean's relationship with other gods? Also, how do the other gods feel about him deifying his best friend and dog?It varies. A discussion of how all the gods interact is something beyond the scope of a simple blog post... but I can say this. His relationship with Calistria is... complicated.
Any product where we talk about the deities or faiths of Golarion, frankly. Sean's deity articles in Pathfinder cover this somewhat, but there's certainly more to say.
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Creative Director
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... but I've managed to acquire a taste for asparagus and broccoli and cauliflower and cabbage, so that works out okay.Well, you can keep your cauliflower, but the rest... welcome to the club that likes these veggies!
How long are you on the diet for, or is it an "until you get down to weight X" thing?
It's until I hit my target weight, at which point I switch over to weight maintenance instead of weight loss. I'm expecting that I'll be making that switch by the end of the year.
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Creative Director
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Hey James! Could you tell me more about Aeromancy (Shory). I am very curious about the magic involved to allow the manipulation of Sky Cities like the Shory accomplished. Any products you can point me in the right direction and would we see anything in the future with Aeromancy and Sky Cities?
One other thing, after looking in books about the Planes I cannot find where Gozreh resides. I figured in one of the elemental planes (Air or Water), but after reading some past Pathfinder 3.5 stuff It never mentions where Gozreh resides. Thank you!
There'll be some more info about Shory and their flying cities in the upcoming Mythic Realms book and beyond.
Currently, though... the places we talk the most about the Shory would be the old adventure "Crucible of Chaos" (which was written at a time where we were experimenting with doing modules set in a world-neutral setting rather than placing them specifically on Golarion, so there's a little bit of weird awkwardness here and there) and in Dragon Empires Gazetteer.
Gozreh's realm is not something we've done much with, since Gozreh is so closely tied to nature he/she spends most of his/her time infused into ALL planes and as such his/her home is nowhere and everywhere.
And as a result, I can say without a doubt that the acclaim and good reaction that "Rasputin Must Die!" has received has given me a LOT of support in future outlandish and unconventional adventure plots I've been considering.
Can I just say "hip hip huzzah!"?
Here's hoping they're all done so well!
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Creative Director
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So I just finished reading "The Tomb" (first book in the repairman jack series), which you mentioned in your blog in a way the intrigued me, so I checked it out.
The book was a fun read - the writing was maybe a bit lacking and I would have liked a faster pacing, but still a fine book. I loved how it started with no supernatural elements at all and then gradually introduced them in.
Are the next books in the series also good? or do the stories patter out after a while? I'm trying to decide if I want to commit to the series or just allow the ending of the first book be it for me, because it ties nearly all of the loose ends rather nicely, I think.
Thanks for your advice, your recommendation of the book, and for this super special mega awesome thread!
F. Paul Wilson is one of my favorite authors. His best two books are "The Keep" and "Nightworld," which more or less start and end the Adversary Cycle, of which "The Tomb" is a part of, as are all the Repairman Jack books, all of which are part of his "Secret History of the World." As you can see from the link... there's a LOT of books in this secret history. Some of them are great, some merely good, but I've enjoyed ALL of them.
They all have similar construction, for the most part, with the supernatural elements entering the story subtly and stealthily at first, but the closer you get to the end of the cycle, the more blatant and obvious the supernaturalism becomes.
And the more you read, the more the stories pick up. Nightworld is an EXCELLENT climax to the whole thing, and is, as I've mentioned above, one of my favorite books ever. It was one of many books that influenced and inspired me to do Unspeakable Futures, in fact.
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Creative Director
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Do so many human men on Golarion shave because their women like the smooth cheeks of elves?Are elves just jealous of other races' ability to grow facial hair?No. But I suspect there's plenty of folks who are jealous of all the times elves save not having to shave.
Depends on the region. Some human men do. Some human men do because their men like smooth cheeks of elves. Some human men do for countless other social reasons. Some do NOT shave for social reasons, of course, such as in Taldor, where beards are status symbols.
Will there ever be a book about the Planes?
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Creative Director
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Will there ever be a book about the Planes?
There already is.
If you're asking if we're ever going to update/expand upon "The Great Beyond," then perhaps! There's certainly multiple books worth of information still to be said on the topic that would justify an expansion or a number of expansions. Hang tight and we'll see what the future brings.
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Has the reception of Raputin Must Die! lived up to your expectations/relieved any worries? :)It's vastly exceeded my worries, in fact. It's a HUGE relief that folks seem to, by and large, be as open to and excited by the adventure as I'd hoped, especially since this adventure was the most interesting sounding part of the whole thing.
And as a result, I can say without a doubt that the acclaim and good reaction that "Rasputin Must Die!" has received has given me a LOT of support in future outlandish and unconventional adventure plots I've been considering.
Awesome. :)
When will the Being John Malkovich-inspired AP be announced?
;)
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Creative Director
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Has the reception of Raputin Must Die! lived up to your expectations/relieved any worries? :)It's vastly exceeded my worries, in fact. It's a HUGE relief that folks seem to, by and large, be as open to and excited by the adventure as I'd hoped, especially since this adventure was the most interesting sounding part of the whole thing.
And as a result, I can say without a doubt that the acclaim and good reaction that "Rasputin Must Die!" has received has given me a LOT of support in future outlandish and unconventional adventure plots I've been considering.
Awesome. :)
When will the Being John Malkovich-inspired AP be announced?
;)
HA!
I have a John Malkovich mask in my office, so that's closer than you might think.
James can you sunder a handy harversack used by an alchemist? this pretty much neutralizes the alchemist?
Would a daemon die if it didn't eat souls?
James does confusion discvoery affects the target with confusion by just hitting the target?(no saving throw) or does he have to roll a saving throw after I hit him with the confusion bomb?
Of the Core mechanics.... Do you feel/think that Sunder is extremely strong and exploitable? I mean almost any class can be turned into nothing but destroying their weapons, armor or any other useful item a player or an npc. A Cavalier would be nothing without a Lance destroyed, or a Barbarian without his Axe or a Fighter without his Greatsword etc etc. It seems a bit unfair and no fun to end a battle in such a way.
Are Cryptids like Blue Tiger and Kasai Rex ever stated up in a bestiary (AP or not) or are these out of the question?
James,
I've seen you reply "we're not ready to reveal that yet" or "that is coming soon." I know you may never reveal everything, but how much of what is official have you put out? 10%? 50%? 99%?
Thank You
Favorite module(s) from each edition of D&D? How about favorites for other game systems?
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Has the reception of Raputin Must Die! lived up to your expectations/relieved any worries? :)It's vastly exceeded my worries, in fact. It's a HUGE relief that folks seem to, by and large, be as open to and excited by the adventure as I'd hoped, especially since this adventure was the most interesting sounding part of the whole thing.
And as a result, I can say without a doubt that the acclaim and good reaction that "Rasputin Must Die!" has received has given me a LOT of support in future outlandish and unconventional adventure plots I've been considering.
Awesome. :)
When will the Being John Malkovich-inspired AP be announced?
;)
HA!
I have a John Malkovich mask in my office
why? o_o
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John Malkovich is actually from my hometown of Benton. He grew up with my brother. (as did Doug Collins).
As for a question..will we be seeing anytime in the next year an updated Non 3.5 version of Guide to Absalom? Loved all the info we were given in the old version I'd just like to see it updated to have more current events and learn more about certain areas of the city.
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Creative Director
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James does confusion discvoery affects the target with confusion by just hitting the target?(no saving throw) or does he have to roll a saving throw after I hit him with the confusion bomb?
A bomb like this has to damage you in order for it to affect you with the additional rider effect, and further, you can't be affected by the rider effect if you just take splash damage. As written, the confusion effect occurs automatically, no save, if you hit. Compare that to the normal spell confusion, which spellcasters gain 1 level earlier than an alchemist gains this bomb—the spell allows a save but doesn't require a successful attack and affects multiple targets.
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Creative Director
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Of the Core mechanics.... Do you feel/think that Sunder is extremely strong and exploitable? I mean almost any class can be turned into nothing but destroying their weapons, armor or any other useful item a player or an npc. A Cavalier would be nothing without a Lance destroyed, or a Barbarian without his Axe or a Fighter without his Greatsword etc etc. It seems a bit unfair and no fun to end a battle in such a way.
I don't think it's extremely strong or exploitable. It's frustrating and kinda a dick thing to do to players in every battle, and not a great option for most monsters and foes since it wastes a round when they could be damaging the PCs. Furthermore, sundering a foes' gear lessens the treasure haul.
And all that said, items are MUCH EASIER to fix in Pahtfinder. Make whole is only a 2nd level spell. If you're in a game where sunder happens a lot, you might want to have the party invest in a wand of make whole for the same reason that wands of cure whatever wounds are so handy.
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Creative Director
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James,
I've seen you reply "we're not ready to reveal that yet" or "that is coming soon." I know you may never reveal everything, but how much of what is official have you put out? 10%? 50%? 99%?
Thank You
Your question is kinda confusing. Are you asking "How much of what you've got planned has been publicly announced?" If that's the question, well, I've currently got the adventure paths out through the end of 2014 locked in and have a pretty good idea for what ones we'll be doing in 2015. We've got all the products through to Spring 2014 locked in, and have a pretty good idea about what we'll be doing through the end of 2014. And we know what hardcover releases we'll be doing in 2014.
We generally don't announce them until we send out solicitations, with Paizocon and Gen Con being places were we make big year announcements. For example, we'll be announcing the 1st 2014 AP at PaizoCon next week, and the second 2014 one at Gen Con.
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Creative Director
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Favorite module(s) from each edition of D&D? How about favorites for other game systems?
BECMI: Isle of Dread
1st Edition AD&D: Queen of the Spiders2nd Edition AD&D: Gates of Firestorm Peak
I wrote some adventures for 3rd edition, and edited/developed about 150 in the last 50 issues of Dungeon, and I haven't really looked much at 4th edition ones, so I'm abstaining from nominating my choices from here on out.
Call of Cthulhu: Beyond the Mountains of Madness
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Creative Director
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why? o_oHas the reception of Raputin Must Die! lived up to your expectations/relieved any worries? :)It's vastly exceeded my worries, in fact. It's a HUGE relief that folks seem to, by and large, be as open to and excited by the adventure as I'd hoped, especially since this adventure was the most interesting sounding part of the whole thing.
And as a result, I can say without a doubt that the acclaim and good reaction that "Rasputin Must Die!" has received has given me a LOT of support in future outlandish and unconventional adventure plots I've been considering.
Awesome. :)
When will the Being John Malkovich-inspired AP be announced?
;)
HA!
I have a John Malkovich mask in my office
A better question is, "Why don't YOU have one?"
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Creative Director
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John Malkovich is actually from my hometown of Benton. He grew up with my brother. (as did Doug Collins).
As for a question..will we be seeing anytime in the next year an updated Non 3.5 version of Guide to Absalom? Loved all the info we were given in the old version I'd just like to see it updated to have more current events and learn more about certain areas of the city.
Well... the current Absalom book doesn't have any rules content at all, so you can still use it for Pathfinder.
That said, it barely scratches the surface of Absalom, and some of the elements in there were put in print before we had a chance to really make some decisions about what is and isn't good for Golarion.
I would LOVE to do a big hardcover expansion about Absalom, but that takes time. Even if we started working on it RIGHT NOW, it would probably not be able to come out in 2014.
Some day. Not soon, though.
James can you sunder a handy harversack used by an alchemist? this pretty much neutralizes the alchemist?Only if your GM also lets you sunder a cleric's holy symbol or a wizard's spellbook.
Hmm what this suppose to mean? That normally only weapons or armors/shield can be sunder? So they GM must allow it to be able to sunder other item?
Of the Core mechanics.... Do you feel/think that Sunder is extremely strong and exploitable? I mean almost any class can be turned into nothing but destroying their weapons, armor or any other useful item a player or an npc. A Cavalier would be nothing without a Lance destroyed, or a Barbarian without his Axe or a Fighter without his Greatsword etc etc. It seems a bit unfair and no fun to end a battle in such a way.I don't think it's extremely strong or exploitable. It's frustrating and kinda a dick thing to do to players in every battle, and not a great option for most monsters and foes since it wastes a round when they could be damaging the PCs. Furthermore, sundering a foes' gear lessens the treasure haul.
And all that said, items are MUCH EASIER to fix in Pahtfinder. Make whole is only a 2nd level spell. If you're in a game where sunder happens a lot, you might want to have the party invest in a wand of make whole for the same reason that wands of cure whatever wounds are so handy.
I wish this were easier to avoid but since Adamantine exist.... and it negates 20 Hardness in which case makes virtually almost any item to be totally destroyed with a single Sunder attempt made by a strong character.
So players can exploit Sunder and defeat almost any enemy by destroying their weapons. I understand about the treasure haul reduction but as Make Whole says it can restore an item from 0 Hit point or less. So a Cleric or a Wizard can fully restore a destroyed item and the party dont loose any treasure.
Of the Core mechanics.... Do you feel/think that Sunder is extremely strong and exploitable? I mean almost any class can be turned into nothing but destroying their weapons, armor or any other useful item a player or an npc. A Cavalier would be nothing without a Lance destroyed, or a Barbarian without his Axe or a Fighter without his Greatsword etc etc. It seems a bit unfair and no fun to end a battle in such a way.I don't think it's extremely strong or exploitable. It's frustrating and kinda a dick thing to do to players in every battle, and not a great option for most monsters and foes since it wastes a round when they could be damaging the PCs. Furthermore, sundering a foes' gear lessens the treasure haul.
And all that said, items are MUCH EASIER to fix in Pahtfinder. Make whole is only a 2nd level spell. If you're in a game where sunder happens a lot, you might want to have the party invest in a wand of make whole for the same reason that wands of cure whatever wounds are so handy.
I wish this were easier to avoid but since Adamantine exist.... and it negates 20 Hardness in which case makes virtually almost any item to be totally destroyed with a single Sunder attempt made by a strong character.
So players can exploit Sunder and defeat almost any enemy by destroying their weapons. I understand about the treasure haul reduction but as Make Whole says it can restore an item from 0 Hit point or less. So a Cleric or a Wizard can fully restore a destroyed item and the party dont loose any treasure.
Magic Items? (If I remember correctly, Make Whole doesn't restore magical properties)
Of the Core mechanics.... Do you feel/think that Sunder is extremely strong and exploitable? I mean almost any class can be turned into nothing but destroying their weapons, armor or any other useful item a player or an npc. A Cavalier would be nothing without a Lance destroyed, or a Barbarian without his Axe or a Fighter without his Greatsword etc etc. It seems a bit unfair and no fun to end a battle in such a way.I don't think it's extremely strong or exploitable. It's frustrating and kinda a dick thing to do to players in every battle, and not a great option for most monsters and foes since it wastes a round when they could be damaging the PCs. Furthermore, sundering a foes' gear lessens the treasure haul.
And all that said, items are MUCH EASIER to fix in Pahtfinder. Make whole is only a 2nd level spell. If you're in a game where sunder happens a lot, you might want to have the party invest in a wand of make whole for the same reason that wands of cure whatever wounds are so handy.
I wish this were easier to avoid but since Adamantine exist.... and it negates 20 Hardness in which case makes virtually almost any item to be totally destroyed with a single Sunder attempt made by a strong character.
So players can exploit Sunder and defeat almost any enemy by destroying their weapons. I understand about the treasure haul reduction but as Make Whole says it can restore an item from 0 Hit point or less. So a Cleric or a Wizard can fully restore a destroyed item and the party dont loose any treasure.
Magic Items? (If I remember correctly, Make Whole doesn't restore magical properties)
Make Whole
Make whole can fix destroyed magic items (at 0 hit points or less), and restores the magic properties of the item if your caster level is at least twice that of the item. Items with charges (such as wands) and single-use items (such as potions and scrolls) cannot be repaired in this way. When make whole is used on a construct creature, the spell bypasses any immunity to magic as if the spell did not allow spell resistance.
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Creative Director
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Hmm what this suppose to mean? That normally only weapons or armors/shield can be sunder? So they GM must allow it to be able to sunder other item?James can you sunder a handy harversack used by an alchemist? this pretty much neutralizes the alchemist?Only if your GM also lets you sunder a cleric's holy symbol or a wizard's spellbook.
It means that sundering items that a character depends on for the bulk of their class options is kind of a lame move by a GM. It may make sense, but it's certainly not fun to have the bulk of your class powers "turned off" every fight because the enemies use the same tactics over and over.
Now, to get to this specific question... an alchemist does not rely on a handy haversack at all.
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Creative Director
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I wish this were easier to avoid but since Adamantine exist.... and it negates 20 Hardness in which case makes virtually almost any item to be totally destroyed with a single Sunder attempt made by a strong character.
So players can exploit Sunder and defeat almost any enemy by destroying their weapons. I understand about the treasure haul reduction but as Make Whole says it can restore an item from 0 Hit point or less. So a Cleric or a Wizard can fully restore a destroyed item and the party dont loose any treasure.
I'm not seeing a question there... just an implied complaint that a GM might be using sunder too often.
Sunder is one of those rules elements that, like poison or disease or ability score damage/drain, punishes PCs far more than it punishes NPCs and monsters, since the effects of these attacks carry over from encounter to encounter. It's not something that any GM should use all the time.
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Creative Director
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Magic Items? (If I remember correctly, Make Whole doesn't restore magical properties)
That's the way it was in D&D. Pathfinder's version of make whole can restore broken magic items to full functionality.
(As long as your caster level is high enough... and that limitation is too much, in my taste, and I omit that limitation entirely otherwise you'd never be able to fix things with a CL of 11 or higher...)
Magic Items? (If I remember correctly, Make Whole doesn't restore magical properties)
That's the way it was in D&D. Pathfinder's version of make whole can restore broken magic items to full functionality.
(As long as your caster level is high enough... and that limitation is too much, in my taste, and I omit that limitation entirely otherwise you'd never be able to fix things with a CL of 11 or higher...)
Perhaps the limitation is harsh but what about maybe be able to fix it by at least paying half the raw materials needed to create the item and hand it to a crafter in order to fix it?