Creative Director
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You have probably already asked this, and will likely be asked again but:
It is true that free actions can only be taken during your turn, right?
(Unless stated otherwise, such as speaking.)I have yet to see anything in a rulebook, FAQ, or post that definitively answers this question. I apologize in advance if there already is one that I missed.
I personally think that free actions can only be taken during your turn because it is MASSIVELY implied and doesn't make much sense otherwise, but others say differently and I would like a source to cite.
Free actions can only be taken on your turn. Only immediate actions can be taken outside of your turn.
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Creative Director
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Had a question about angels in the bestiary. Was wondering why there aren't the different choirs of angels that you see in Christianity. Things like seraphs, archangels, and cherub?
Because stating up things that directly come out of modern religions that have lots of active followers and worshipers is a slippery slope that we prefer to avoid.
Had a question about angels in the bestiary. Was wondering why there aren't the different choirs of angels that you see in Christianity. Things like seraphs, archangels, and cherub?Because stating up things that directly come out of modern religions that have lots of active followers and worshipers is a slippery slope that we prefer to avoid.
I had figured that, no worries.
Hey James, at what point does an illusion allow a saving throw? What counts as "interacting" with an illusion?
To clarify further, here's a few specific questions;
Illusory Wall - Does seeing the wall count as interacting with it and allow a save? Or does touching it? If you need to touch it to interact with it, wouldn't your hand pass through it and negate the need for a save? Or if you touched it would you get a save and, if you failed, not pass through it because your subconscious prevented you from trying to go through the wall?
Major Image - It's an upgrade from Silent Image, because it produces heat and sound etc, but doesn't that make it easier to interact with? Wouldn't feeling the heat and hearing the sound of the illusion be interacting and force a save that wouldn't apply to Silent Image? Or would a Silent Image that doesn't give off heat or sound force a save in proximity due to the lack of those things, while Major Image wouldn't because the illusion is more complete and fools those senses?
Prove it with a detailed citation, please, and I'll explain it then! :-)Hate to bring this back but I was just reading his articles in TTFB and Inner Sea Gods and they specifically call out Paladins. Does that refer to converts or is it an oversight?Would Nethys grant powers to Paladins or Anti-paladins?No.
The article in The Thousand Fangs Below is more or less the same as his entry in ISG, but here it is.
divine or arcane, academy-trained wizard or wild
shaman, all who call upon magical power are
welcome. Divine casters are valued, but must
be able to defend their positions with magical
knowledge or brute power. Even alchemists,
paladins, adepts, and rangers can become priests,
although advancement within the church is based on
magical ability and knowledge, which means that most
practitioners of simpler magic never ascend past the
church's lower ranks.
Mostly asking because my group figured out just how potent a Paladin can be with a high caster level Wand of Magic Missile and Litany of Righteousness.
(And because a champion of righteousness trying to steer a fractured and uncaring clergy down his path is pretty cool. Same with the opposite.)
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Creative Director
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Hey James, at what point does an illusion allow a saving throw? What counts as "interacting" with an illusion?
To clarify further, here's a few specific questions;
Illusory Wall - Does seeing the wall count as interacting with it and allow a save? Or does touching it? If you need to touch it to interact with it, wouldn't your hand pass through it and negate the need for a save? Or if you touched it would you get a save and, if you failed, not pass through it because your subconscious prevented you from trying to go through the wall?
Major Image - It's an upgrade from Silent Image, because it produces heat and sound etc, but doesn't that make it easier to interact with? Wouldn't feeling the heat and hearing the sound of the illusion be interacting and force a save that wouldn't apply to Silent Image? Or would a Silent Image that doesn't give off heat or sound force a save in proximity due to the lack of those things, while Major Image wouldn't because the illusion is more complete and fools those senses?
This seems like a great question for the rules boards and an FAQ click.
Contributor
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In Bastards of Golarion there are no half-elves subtypes with Vudrani as the human part. Are you saving them for the upcoming Inner Sea Guide to the Mystic Isle of Jalmeray?I'm not sure why folks put that into Bastards of Golarion... I probably wouldn't have been so hyperbolic about it had I seen that bit. I suspect that plays into the fact that elves aren't really a part of Indian mythology, though... not sure.
We'll see, though.
Yeah, the old Pathfinder Campaign Setting book (pre-ISWG) did describe psychic/psionic half-elves in Vudra.
But the vidyadharas of Jain/Hindu myth are a lot like high elves, though they do dwell on top of mountains. They function kind of like the Sidhe in Irish myth, with access to mysterious technology, magic, and are virtually immortal. They are also probably CG ("doers of good and devoted to joy" - can't think of better description of that alignment, actually), though they are pacifists in Jain stories.
What do you think, James, do they sound like a good elf race or a race unto themselves?
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Creative Director
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Prove it with a detailed citation, please, and I'll explain it then! :-)Hate to bring this back but I was just reading his articles in TTFB and Inner Sea Gods and they specifically call out Paladins. Does that refer to converts or is it an oversight?Would Nethys grant powers to Paladins or Anti-paladins?No.The article in The Thousand Fangs Below is more or less the same as his entry in ISH, but here it is.
** spoiler omitted **
Mostly asking because my group figured out just how potent a Paladin can be with a high caster level Wand of Magic Missile and Litany of Righteousness.(And because a champion of righteousness trying to steer a fractured and uncaring clergy down his path is pretty cool. Same with the opposite.)
Cool; thanks!
It's weird to me that a neutral deity would have paladins worshiping him, frankly. I wouldn't allow it in my game. It makes no sense, and there's nothing about Nethys or his church, in my opinion, that would appeal to or even attract a paladin.
Again... a paladin has to be Lawful Good. And if a paladin isn't devoutly following the teachings of her deity, then she's not being lawful, and that's gonna make the paladin lose her powers.
Very frustrating that Sean didn't realize that, and that it wasn't caught and corrected in development, especially considering the fact that we went through the exact same thing with Asmodeus earlier on.
It's an error, in other words. And I'm not sure how to prevent others like this from happening in the future, at this point, beyond me reading and proofing every deity article going forward... grrrr...
Prove it with a detailed citation, please, and I'll explain it then! :-)Hate to bring this back but I was just reading his articles in TTFB and Inner Sea Gods and they specifically call out Paladins. Does that refer to converts or is it an oversight?Would Nethys grant powers to Paladins or Anti-paladins?No.The article in The Thousand Fangs Below is more or less the same as his entry in ISH, but here it is.
** spoiler omitted **
Mostly asking because my group figured out just how potent a Paladin can be with a high caster level Wand of Magic Missile and Litany of Righteousness.(And because a champion of righteousness trying to steer a fractured and uncaring clergy down his path is pretty cool. Same with the opposite.)
Cool; thanks!
It's weird to me that a neutral deity would have paladins worshiping him, frankly. I wouldn't allow it in my game. It makes no sense, and there's nothing about Nethys or his church, in my opinion, that would appeal to or even attract a paladin.
Again... a paladin has to be Lawful Good. And if a paladin isn't devoutly following the teachings of her deity, then she's not being lawful, and that's gonna make the paladin lose her powers.
Very frustrating that Sean didn't realize that, and that it wasn't caught and corrected in development, especially considering the fact that we went through the exact same thing with Asmodeus earlier on.
It's an error, in other words. And I'm not sure how to prevent others like this from happening in the future, at this point, beyond me reading and proofing every deity article going forward... grrrr...
Maybe a Paladin dedicated to the responsible and benefical uses of Magic would become a priest of Nethys so as to help quell the irresponsible or evil uses magic can be used for. Kind of a 'Big Brother is Watching' sort of Paladin.
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Creative Director
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In Bastards of Golarion there are no half-elves subtypes with Vudrani as the human part. Are you saving them for the upcoming Inner Sea Guide to the Mystic Isle of Jalmeray?I'm not sure why folks put that into Bastards of Golarion... I probably wouldn't have been so hyperbolic about it had I seen that bit. I suspect that plays into the fact that elves aren't really a part of Indian mythology, though... not sure.
We'll see, though.
Yeah, the old Pathfinder Campaign Setting book (pre-ISWG) did describe psychic/psionic half-elves in Vudra.
But the vidyadharas of Jain/Hindu myth are a lot like high elves, though they do dwell on top of mountains. They function kind of like the Sidhe in Irish myth, with access to mysterious technology, magic, and are virtually immortal. They are also probably CG ("doers of good and devoted to joy" - can't think of better description of that alignment, actually), though they are pacifists in Jain stories.
What do you think, James, do they sound like a good elf race or a race unto themselves?
I think I don't want to think about it until some date in the unseen future when I'm actually being paid to think about it.
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Maybe a Paladin dedicated to the responsible and benefical uses of Magic would become a priest of Nethys so as to help quell the irresponsible or evil uses magic can be used for. Kind of a 'Big Brother is Watching' sort of Paladin.
In theory, a Paladin can worship anything or nothing, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the object of their reverence is the source of their Paladin powers, since Paladins don't strictly need to worship a god at all. Nethys allows both NG clerics and LN clerics, so he's not antithetical to principals of order or benevolent applications of magic, it's just not something he explicitly prefers to any other sort of magic. Just because he might allow a person with Paladin class levels to call herself a priest of Nethys, and hold rank in his church, doesn't mean *at all* that Nethys is the source of their Paladin abilities.
(Just as Nethys allowing an Adept, Druid, Oracle, Ranger, etc. to call themselves a priest of Nethys doesn't mean that he's necessarily the source of *their* divine spellcasting or class features, either.)
That would probably be the case with lots of Rangers. An elven Ranger might worship Calistria, or a dwarven one Torag, or a Halfling one Norgorber, and none of those gods are thematically likely to serve as some sort of 'divine power source' for Rangers (who, mechanically, aren't required to have any sort of named god as 'divine power source' in any event).
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Prove it with a detailed citation, please, and I'll explain it then! :-)Hate to bring this back but I was just reading his articles in TTFB and Inner Sea Gods and they specifically call out Paladins. Does that refer to converts or is it an oversight?Would Nethys grant powers to Paladins or Anti-paladins?No.The article in The Thousand Fangs Below is more or less the same as his entry in ISH, but here it is.
** spoiler omitted **
Mostly asking because my group figured out just how potent a Paladin can be with a high caster level Wand of Magic Missile and Litany of Righteousness.(And because a champion of righteousness trying to steer a fractured and uncaring clergy down his path is pretty cool. Same with the opposite.)
Cool; thanks!
It's weird to me that a neutral deity would have paladins worshiping him, frankly. I wouldn't allow it in my game. It makes no sense, and there's nothing about Nethys or his church, in my opinion, that would appeal to or even attract a paladin.
Again... a paladin has to be Lawful Good. And if a paladin isn't devoutly following the teachings of her deity, then she's not being lawful, and that's gonna make the paladin lose her powers.
Very frustrating that Sean didn't realize that, and that it wasn't caught and corrected in development, especially considering the fact that we went through the exact same thing with Asmodeus earlier on.
It's an error, in other words. And I'm not sure how to prevent others like this from happening in the future, at this point, beyond me reading and proofing every deity article going forward... grrrr...
You could fire him!... Oh wait...
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Creative Director
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Maybe a Paladin dedicated to the responsible and benefical uses of Magic would become a priest of Nethys so as to help quell the irresponsible or evil uses magic can be used for. Kind of a 'Big Brother is Watching' sort of Paladin.In theory, a Paladin can worship anything or nothing, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the object of their reverence is the source of their Paladin powers, since Paladins don't strictly need to worship a god at all. Nethys allows both NG clerics and LN clerics, so he's not antithetical to principals of order or benevolent applications of magic, it's just not something he explicitly prefers to any other sort of magic. Just because he might allow a person with Paladin class levels to call herself a priest of Nethys, and hold rank in his church, doesn't mean *at all* that Nethys is the source of their Paladin abilities.
(Just as Nethys allowing an Adept, Druid, Oracle, Ranger, etc. to call themselves a priest of Nethys doesn't mean that he's necessarily the source of *their* divine spellcasting or class features, either.)
That would probably be the case with lots of Rangers. An elven Ranger might worship Calistria, or a dwarven one Torag, or a Halfling one Norgorber, and none of those gods are thematically likely to serve as some sort of 'divine power source' for Rangers (who, mechanically, aren't required to have any sort of named god as 'divine power source' in any event).
As long as what a paladin is worshiping lets her stay lawful good, at least. And worshiping something that's not a lawful or good concept (or even better, a lawful good concept) or deity makes it pretty much impossible to worship that well without alignment changes or to worship it poorly without alignment changes.
In any event, let's keep this thread to questions. Not interested in an alignment argument here.
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Creative Director
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There are settings that have characters that are clearly good, clearly bad, and and those in between like your average modern comic book.
Then there are your Frank Miller books like Dark Knight, Sin City, and Watchman where the only colors on the spectrum are either shades of grey or pretty damm dark. or gameworlds like Shadowrun and Warhammer 40k where it's clear that no one is what we would call "good". More like a shade lighter than black.
Fair enough, but I'm still not seeing a rephrased question... :-/
James, with the amount of questions that you answer have you considered claiming the title of "Maister of Paizo" at all?No thanks.
What about "Paizo Meister"?
Although I suppose the words "Celestial Being" mean something quite different in your line of work. :)
Considering the reception of Reign of Winter, are you considering another "Interplanetary/Planar Road Trip" type AP?
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Creative Director
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James as a fan of swashbuckling, rogues and bards, what do you suggest I can do to spice up the backstory of a daredevil bard who's built to be effectively a swashbuckler/rogue?
My first stop would be Ultimate Campaign; there's lots of cool background elements there. Also, ask the GM what traits are available, and pick two of those that have cool background elements to work into your story. Then give your character a rank in a skill that you wouldn't expect her to have as a swashbuckler/rogue, like, say, Handle Animal, and say that the character used to be an apprentice lion tamer at the circus or something like that.
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Creative Director
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James, with the amount of questions that you answer have you considered claiming the title of "Maister of Paizo" at all?No thanks.What about "Paizo Meister"?
Although I suppose the words "Celestial Being" mean something quite different in your line of work. :)
Considering the reception of Reign of Winter, are you considering another "Interplanetary/Planar Road Trip" type AP?
I'm fine with my title as it is, believe it or not. ;-)
Considering the reception of Reign of Winter, we're doing Iron Gods. We'll see where things go from there. Although Reign of Winter kind of IS the road trip AP...
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Creative Director
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James, do you have summoners in any games you run and what are your thoughts on the class's playability/party friendliness/balance?
Had one early on in a game, and I didn't like how complicated the class was, how it tended to make the summoner's turn take way too long even at lower levels (and even with Rob playing it expertly to make the turns as fast as possible), didn't like how the eidolon didn't fit in to the world (it felt tacked on and had no weight to it). It's now the only class I don't allow at my table.
Sorry James but I think my question got lost in the shuffle last page James! Does bullfighting go on in golarion? If so where?
Also! Question from several pages back...you mentioned you have had evil parties. I have heard many people around the internet talking about how that rarely works. Any advice on how to have a successful game? My only real thought so far is have lots of things premade to bond the party together.
Can a creature that has been turned to stone from a Flesh to Stone spell be the target of an Animate Objects spell ?
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Creative Director
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Sorry James but I think my question got lost in the shuffle last page James! Does bullfighting go on in golarion? If so where?
Also! Question from several pages back...you mentioned you have had evil parties. I have heard many people around the internet talking about how that rarely works. Any advice on how to have a successful game? My only real thought so far is have lots of things premade to bond the party together.
I'm 99% sure I answered this... but here it is again.
Yes, bullfighting exists on Golarion. There's bullfights in Magnimar, for example. The tradition likely comes from Cheliax, or maybe Taldor.
For an evil party, you just need to remind the players that evil does NOT mean PVP. Player vs. player doesn't work in ANY game of ANY alignment mix, but it seems that players often seem to think that evil is their chance to break that rule... despite the fact that pretty much every adventure ever published gives several examples of how evil folks work together...
You don't need anything more than any other game to "bond the party together." You just need to remind the players that, regardless of the fact of their alignments being evil, the fundamental nature of the game being one focused on teamwork and social contracts of cooperation doesn't change.
There are other games that cater to and support a competitive player vs. player theme. Pathfinder CAN... but not at the same time it supports a long-running campaign.
So a creature turned to stone with Flesh to Stone counts as an object?
Would that mean a petrified creature would not be shunted out of a Sanctum (6th tier Archmage path ability) when the door is dismissed or moved?
Would animated objects get shunted out of a Sanctum?
Can a creature that has been turned to stone from a Flesh to Stone spell be the target of an Animate Objects spell ?
It's funny because I actually had this as the basis for a villain. Was pretty awesome.
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Can a creature that has been turned to stone from a Flesh to Stone spell be the target of an Animate Objects spell ?Yes.
Oh, man! I have a great idea for an encounter...
1. Bad Guy casts flesh to stone on a PC.
2. Bad Guy casts animate object on the now-petrified PC, and makes it attack the party!
My question is: How evil is that?
Sorry James but I think my question got lost in the shuffle last page James! Does bullfighting go on in golarion? If so where?
Also! Question from several pages back...you mentioned you have had evil parties. I have heard many people around the internet talking about how that rarely works. Any advice on how to have a successful game? My only real thought so far is have lots of things premade to bond the party together.
I'm 99% sure I answered this... but here it is again.
Yes, bullfighting exists on Golarion. There's bullfights in Magnimar, for example. The tradition likely comes from Cheliax, or maybe Taldor.
For an evil party, you just need to remind the players that evil does NOT mean PVP. Player vs. player doesn't work in ANY game of ANY alignment mix, but it seems that players often seem to think that evil is their chance to break that rule... despite the fact that pretty much every adventure ever published gives several examples of how evil folks work together...
You don't need anything more than any other game to "bond the party together." You just need to remind the players that, regardless of the fact of their alignments being evil, the fundamental nature of the game being one focused on teamwork and social contracts of cooperation doesn't change.
There are other games that cater to and support a competitive player vs. player theme. Pathfinder CAN... but not at the same time it supports a long-running campaign.
You are right you did answer. No idea how I missed it! I ctrl+f for bull! :\ Thanks for the answer though!
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Creative Director
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So a creature turned to stone with Flesh to Stone counts as an object?
Would that mean a petrified creature would not be shunted out of a Sanctum (6th tier Archmage path ability) when the door is dismissed or moved?
Would animated objects get shunted out of a Sanctum?
Yup, in the same way a person who is killed and becomes a corpse becomes an object.
If sanctum does indeed shunt creatures, it wouldn't shunt a petrified creature, but would shunt an animated object.
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Creative Director
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Can a creature that has been turned to stone from a Flesh to Stone spell be the target of an Animate Objects spell ?Yes.Oh, man! I have a great idea for an encounter...
1. Bad Guy casts flesh to stone on a PC.
2. Bad Guy casts animate object on the now-petrified PC, and makes it attack the party!
My question is: How evil is that?
Relatively evil*.
Not as evil as sanding the face of a petrified PC off. Not as evil as casting transmute rock to mud on the statue. Not as evil as casting baleful polymorph on a person to turn them into a spell component... (although I can't think of any Pathfinder spells that use living creatures in that way... earlier editions of identify required you to swallow a spider or a goldfish or something...)
*In a real-world mean-GM sort of evil. Not in a in-game Evil act that can have ramifications on your alignment.
hmm..
Flesh to Stone on character, then Shrink Item.
Could Shrink Item be made permanent ?
would it remain if the character is restored to normal then petrified again ?
Could a Simulacrum be repaired by petrifying it then repairing the stone form of it?
Was there any or what were the real world influences to Ilizmagorti? I get a very Big Brother feel there, like everyone knows that they're being watched but not who by.
So a creature turned to stone with Flesh to Stone counts as an object?
Would that mean a petrified creature would not be shunted out of a Sanctum (6th tier Archmage path ability) when the door is dismissed or moved?
Would animated objects get shunted out of a Sanctum?
Yup, in the same way a person who is killed and becomes a corpse becomes an object.
If sanctum does indeed shunt creatures, it wouldn't shunt a petrified creature, but would shunt an animated object.
Flesh to stone doesn't kill people though, they just become 'mindless and inert.'
Does this change your answer?
School transmutation; Level sorcerer/wizard 6
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M (lime, water, and earth)
Range medium (100 ft. + 10 ft./level)
Target one creature
Duration instantaneous
Saving Throw Fortitude negates; Spell Resistance yes
The subject, along with all its carried gear, turns into a mindless, inert statue. If the statue resulting from this spell is broken or damaged, the subject (if ever returned to its original state) has similar damage or deformities. The creature is not dead, but it does not seem to be alive either when viewed with spells such as deathwatch.
Only creatures made of flesh are affected by this spell.
Can a creature that has been turned to stone from a Flesh to Stone spell be the target of an Animate Objects spell ?Yes.Oh, man! I have a great idea for an encounter...
1. Bad Guy casts flesh to stone on a PC.
2. Bad Guy casts animate object on the now-petrified PC, and makes it attack the party!
My question is: How evil is that?
Having done just that, it's terribly evil :D
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Creative Director
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hmm..
Flesh to Stone on character, then Shrink Item.
Could Shrink Item be made permanent ?
would it remain if the character is restored to normal then petrified again ?
If the character is returned to flesh, she's no longer an object and is restored to full size...
BUT this is a great idea!
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Creative Director
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Was there any or what were the real world influences to Ilizmagorti? I get a very Big Brother feel there, like everyone knows that they're being watched but not who by.
It's inspiration is a combination of all the mystical legendary utopian cities of perfection, then given a super creepy truth behind it all. No real specific influence. It's mostly out of my head... I still kinda roll my eyes at how I wrote Russ a 3,000 word outline for that section, which was about a 4,000 word writing assignment. I shoulda just written it myself! Ha.
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Creative Director
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So a creature turned to stone with Flesh to Stone counts as an object?
Would that mean a petrified creature would not be shunted out of a Sanctum (6th tier Archmage path ability) when the door is dismissed or moved?
Would animated objects get shunted out of a Sanctum?
Yup, in the same way a person who is killed and becomes a corpse becomes an object.
If sanctum does indeed shunt creatures, it wouldn't shunt a petrified creature, but would shunt an animated object.
Flesh to stone doesn't kill people though, they just become 'mindless and inert.'
Does this change your answer?
Yup.
Changes all the answers. You can't shrink item a petrified person either.
So a petrified person could be the target of a Baleful Polymorph then ?
stone bunnies for the garden that are actually petrified people ?
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Creative Director
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So a petrified person could be the target of a Baleful Polymorph then ?
stone bunnies for the garden that are actually petrified people ?
See? This is where the rule of common sense should kick in. Frankly, assuming that a petrified person is an object is the easiest way to avoid enabling a lot of really weird silly situations that would arise otherwise.
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Are Numerian Kellids culturally distinct from Realm of the Mammoth Lord Kellids? Kellids were given an "ethnicity write-up" for lack of a better term in People of the North, but the Kellids described in Numeria, Land of Fallen Stars, Lost Empires of Golarion, and People of the River all feel very different.
It sometimes feels like Kellid is a catch-all category for "Any barbarians who aren't specifically the Shoanti or the Ulfen."