xavier c |
xavier c wrote:James Jacobs wrote:Do summoned monsters have a personality? Such as if i summon two Movanic devas. Do the Movanic devas each have there own personality?xavier c wrote:There are people on these fourms that are saying summoned monsters are real. Is this true or not?They're real but only for the duration of the effect that summons them. When that effect ends, and before the effect begins, they do not exist.
Calling spells, not summoning spells, are the ones who conjure actual unique specific creatures from elsewhere.
As a general rule, I'd say that no, summoned creatures wouldn't. The obvious exception would be the summoner's eidolon, which is a special case in that it stays active a LOT longer.
In the end, it's up to the GM if a summoned creature has a personality, but my preference would be to save that roleplay work for called creatures instead.
I see..so when interacting with summoned creatures such as trying to talk with a summoned angel or demon how does the creature usually respond?
Rysky |
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Neongelion wrote:G'evening James,
The most random thought occurred to me while reading Gilgamesh for a literature class: would it be ridiculous to assume that the Dominion of the Black is aware of Earth? What's stopping them from just taking over the planet? Since Golarion has deities with an active interest in it for various reasons, while Earth's deities can't directly interact with their followers because magic and the supernatural are all but gone on the world itself (my headcanon explanation without stepping on eggshells regarding real life religions).
It's not ridiculous at all to assume the Dominion of the Black isn't aware of Earth. What would stop them is time... the Dominion doesn't have access to faster than light travel, and that combined with their patience and strange way of looking at time (the dominion isn't rushed by it) means that they may be on their way... but they're not here yet!
Anyway... the version of Earth in Golarion canon is NOT the same as real-world Earth. There are plenty of things that real-world Earth can dredge up to defend itself from aliens.
Kennesty |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Hey Jacob, this has been a big source of argument in our group.
Skill Mastery reads she may take 10 even if stress and distractions would normally prevent her from doing so. Use Magic Devices reason for not taking being able to take 10 on UMD is not dependent on Stress or Distraction however because of the way the sentence is structured it can be interpreted two ways.
Can you take 10 on Use Magic Device with Skill Mastery?
Evan Tarlton |
Anyway... the version of Earth in Golarion canon is NOT the same as real-world Earth. There are plenty of things that real-world Earth can dredge up to defend itself from aliens.
Is one of them named Gojira, by any chance?
LazarX |
Anyway... the version of Earth in Golarion canon is NOT the same as real-world Earth. There are plenty of things that real-world Earth can dredge up to defend itself from aliens.
Not really. our rockets aren't capable of taking out anything at real range, we built them to use on each other.
Besides if they had the technology to reach us from the stars, it shouldn't be much of an issue for them to give the entire planet an EMP bath and send us all literally into the Stone Age. Then they'd just have to wait until the bulk of us starved to death.
J S 825 |
Hello James
A quick question about energy drain. Does the level dependent variables part of negatives levels affect access to feats, access to mysteries and other class features that are gained at a specific level? If I lose 8 negatives levels would I lose 4 feats, BAB drop from level 17 to level 9 thus losing 2 attacks per round as a full BAB class?
Analysis |
As so often these years, continually happy to see/read/play the great fruits of your work! :)
Questions:
- Oracles can do pantheon worship; does this make sense for witches? Or are their patrons always singular entities?
- Having seen "Maleficent" recently: can a spellcaster with a familiar temporarily polymorph that familiar into a humanoid? If so, would it be able to speak, and would it still display the familiar bond while so transformed?
Alayern |
Anyway... the version of Earth in Golarion canon is NOT the same as real-world Earth. There are plenty of things that real-world Earth can dredge up to defend itself from aliens.
Anyone else thinking Torchwood?
Adventure path spoiler:
James Jacobs Creative Director |
James Jacobs wrote:xavier c wrote:James Jacobs wrote:Do summoned monsters have a personality? Such as if i summon two Movanic devas. Do the Movanic devas each have there own personality?xavier c wrote:There are people on these fourms that are saying summoned monsters are real. Is this true or not?They're real but only for the duration of the effect that summons them. When that effect ends, and before the effect begins, they do not exist.
Calling spells, not summoning spells, are the ones who conjure actual unique specific creatures from elsewhere.
As a general rule, I'd say that no, summoned creatures wouldn't. The obvious exception would be the summoner's eidolon, which is a special case in that it stays active a LOT longer.
In the end, it's up to the GM if a summoned creature has a personality, but my preference would be to save that roleplay work for called creatures instead.
I see..so when interacting with summoned creatures such as trying to talk with a summoned angel or demon how does the creature usually respond?
That's up to the GM, but in most cases I'd say in a "YES MASTER, OF COURSE MASTER" sort of way. No real personality. Just complete loyalty without question. AKA: the summoned creature interacts with you in whatever way you want it to do so. They're able to make skill checks and the like as per normal... but they won't really have much to say unless your GM plays the game differently than I do.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
James Jacobs Creative Director |
Hey Jacob, this has been a big source of argument in our group.
Skill Mastery reads she may take 10 even if stress and distractions would normally prevent her from doing so. Use Magic Devices reason for not taking being able to take 10 on UMD is not dependent on Stress or Distraction however because of the way the sentence is structured it can be interpreted two ways.
Can you take 10 on Use Magic Device with Skill Mastery?
First of all... there's an "s" at the end of my last name.
You can't take 10 with Use Magic Device using Skill Mastery, since the reasons you can't normally take 10 with that skill aren't due to stress or distraction. You need a specific and unique ability to take 10 on Use Magic Device (such as one of the abilities possessed by 3.5's warlock class).
James Jacobs Creative Director |
James Jacobs wrote:Anyway... the version of Earth in Golarion canon is NOT the same as real-world Earth. There are plenty of things that real-world Earth can dredge up to defend itself from aliens.Is one of them named Gojira, by any chance?
Depends which version of the movie you prefer.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
James Jacobs wrote:
Anyway... the version of Earth in Golarion canon is NOT the same as real-world Earth. There are plenty of things that real-world Earth can dredge up to defend itself from aliens.Not really. our rockets aren't capable of taking out anything at real range, we built them to use on each other.
Besides if they had the technology to reach us from the stars, it shouldn't be much of an issue for them to give the entire planet an EMP bath and send us all literally into the Stone Age. Then they'd just have to wait until the bulk of us starved to death.
Let's hope they didn't notice us then, I guess.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Are there catfolk that look like
1)Tigers
2)Lions
3)Cheetahs
4)house cats
5)Jaguars
6)other big cats
I'd rather there not be. That's a trope that other games have done... I'd rather our catfolk have their own look rather than just being anthropomorphized versions of real-world cats... although some of the artwork we've published so far, alas, DOES support that take, unfortunately.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
Also if a Cleric attempts to heal a Barbarian that has superstition and is enraged, do they have to make a melee touch attack because he can't be the willing target of a spell? Are they able to imbibe a potion knowing that they are spells.
Good questions for the FAQ and the rules forums!
James Jacobs Creative Director |
Hello James
A quick question about energy drain. Does the level dependent variables part of negatives levels affect access to feats, access to mysteries and other class features that are gained at a specific level? If I lose 8 negatives levels would I lose 4 feats, BAB drop from level 17 to level 9 thus losing 2 attacks per round as a full BAB class?
Nope.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
As so often these years, continually happy to see/read/play the great fruits of your work! :)
Questions:
- Oracles can do pantheon worship; does this make sense for witches? Or are their patrons always singular entities?
- Having seen "Maleficent" recently: can a spellcaster with a familiar temporarily polymorph that familiar into a humanoid? If so, would it be able to speak, and would it still display the familiar bond while so transformed?
Pantheon worship can make sense for ANY character with the exceptions of clerics and warpriests. For non-divine spellcasters (like witches), any religious option is fine and doesn't impact class abilities at all, really. Remember, a witch's patron is not the witch's religion. In fact... their patrons aren't even necessarily singular entities. They're more like ideals. Kind of like your major in college, not like your professors in college. The word "patron" isn't the best choice for this concept, alas, but it's the one the design team went with.
Up to the GM, but I'd say yes.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
Duskblade |
Hey James, I got a quick question for you: does the shaman 'life link' hex function in the same way that the oracle 'Life Link' revelation does? For a quick refresher, here is what they do (and the bolded section is how they are different)...
SHAMAN:
Life Link (Su): The shaman creates a bond between herself and another creature within 30 feet. Each round at the start of the shaman’s turn, if the bonded creature’s hit points are reduced to –5 or fewer, it heals 5 hit points and the shaman takes 5 points of damage. The shaman can have one bond active per shaman level. The bond continues until the bonded creature dies, the shaman dies, the distance between her and the bonded creature exceeds 100 feet, or the shaman ends it as an immediate action. If the shaman has multiple bonds active, she can end as many as she wants with the same immediate action.
ORACLE:
Life Link (Su): As a standard action, you may create a bond between yourself and another creature. Each round at the start of your turn, if the bonded creature is wounded for 5 or more hit points below its maximum hit points, it heals 5 hit points and you take 5 hit points of damage. You may have one bond active per oracle level. This bond continues until the bonded creature dies, you die, the distance between you and the other creature exceeds medium range, or you end it as an immediate action (if you have multiple bonds active, you may end as many as you want as part of the same immediate action).
Now, my basic assumption is that both abilities are meant to trigger when an ally takes 5 or more damage, but the wording for the shaman hex is a little bit fuzzy, as it almost seems to suggest that it only triggers when an ally is already at -5 hit points. As always, any clarifaction would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again :)
James Jacobs Creative Director |
Hey James, I got a quick question for you: does the shaman 'life link' hex function in the same way that the oracle 'Life Link' revelation does? For a quick refresher, here is what they do (and the bolded section is how they are different)...
SHAMAN:
Life Link (Su): The shaman creates a bond between herself and another creature within 30 feet. Each round at the start of the shaman’s turn, if the bonded creature’s hit points are reduced to –5 or fewer, it heals 5 hit points and the shaman takes 5 points of damage. The shaman can have one bond active per shaman level. The bond continues until the bonded creature dies, the shaman dies, the distance between her and the bonded creature exceeds 100 feet, or the shaman ends it as an immediate action. If the shaman has multiple bonds active, she can end as many as she wants with the same immediate action.ORACLE:
Life Link (Su): As a standard action, you may create a bond between yourself and another creature. Each round at the start of your turn, if the bonded creature is wounded for 5 or more hit points below its maximum hit points, it heals 5 hit points and you take 5 hit points of damage. You may have one bond active per oracle level. This bond continues until the bonded creature dies, you die, the distance between you and the other creature exceeds medium range, or you end it as an immediate action (if you have multiple bonds active, you may end as many as you want as part of the same immediate action).Now, my basic assumption is that both abilities are meant to trigger when an ally takes 5 or more damage, but the wording for the shaman hex is a little bit fuzzy, as it almost seems to suggest that it only triggers when an ally is already at -5 hit points. As always, any clarifaction would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again :)
I cannot grant any clarification here. I've not even read the shaman yet, to be honest... haven't had the time.
In any event, this is a great example of the type of question that should be asked in the rules forum or in the ACG forum so that it can get tagged with an FAQ hit.
Lemmy |
1- How would you play a misguided villain that genuinely believes he's a good guy when a simple 1st level spell can tell him that he's objectively evil?
2- What about a Cleric that genuinely believes his deity is a good one, but not only emanates an aura of evil, but is also limited to channel negative energy?
3- If the in-game goal of the Paladin's code is making every Paladin be the best person he can be, why do the forces of Good (capital G) punish him for lying/using poison even when that's the best way to do good (e.g.: use sleep-inducing toxin to avoid unnecessary violence, or lying to protect the lives of innocents). Why is violence often justifiable, but lying never is?
James Jacobs Creative Director |
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1- How would you play a misguided villain that genuinely believes he's a good guy when a simple 1st level spell can tell him that he's objectively evil?
2- What about a Cleric that genuinely believes his deity is a good one, but not only emanates an aura of evil, but is also limited to channel negative energy?
3- If the in-game goal of the Paladin's code is making every Paladin be the best person he can be, why do the forces of Good (capital G) punish him for lying/using poison even when that's the best way to do good (e.g.: use sleep-inducing toxin to avoid unnecessary violence, or lying to protect the lives of innocents). Why is violence often justifiable, but lying never is?
1) First... re-read detect veil. It doesn't always automaticaly reveal everyone is evil. Second... if the guy's alignment is ACTAULLY evil and you want him to play this up... I'd give him the psychotic insanity from GameMastery Guide. I designed that madness specifically for this type of character.
2) That cleric would have to have such a low wisdom score to get snookered in that way that she wouldn't be able to cast spells. This is a better idea for an oracle with a very low Wisdom score.
3) Lying is absolutely justifiable. A paladin has to make the hard decisions all the time as to what is the lesser evil, and being able to do so and maintain law and good is really what being a paladin is all about. A paladin who didn't have to face these moral quandaries wouldn't really be working at being lawful good. If there's only one obvious right choice... it's not a choice, and therefore you can't really build a code around it.
It's worth noting that most paladins WOULD take a white lie over an act of greater violence, assuming that lie would not result in even greater violence down the road. In the unique case of a paladin who worships a god of truth, though, lying is a bigger sin than normal. It's not something you can say always pans out the same way... it's something that needs to be handled on a case by case basis. And even THEN, a white lie to save lives would not result in a god of truth removing a paladin's powers... especially if the paladin offered prayer up as an act of repentance or as a way to explain why she did what she did.
Lying is, in other words, can be just as justifiable as violence, or any other solution, depending ENTIRELY on the situation.
ALSO NOTE: A god frowning on an act is NOT the same as a god stripping a person of their powers.
Koor |
Lemmy |
3) Lying is absolutely justifiable. A paladin has to make the hard decisions all the time as to what is the lesser evil, and being able to do so and maintain law and good is really what being a paladin is all about. A paladin who didn't have to face these moral quandaries wouldn't really be working at being lawful good. If there's only one obvious right choice... it's not a choice, and therefore you can't really build a code around it.
It's worth noting that most paladins WOULD take a white lie over an act of greater violence, assuming that lie would not result in even greater violence down the road. In the unique case of a paladin who worships a god of truth, though, lying is a bigger sin than normal. It's not something you can say always pans out the same way... it's something that needs to be handled on a case by case basis. And even THEN, a white lie to save lives would not result in a god of truth removing a paladin's powers... especially if the paladin offered prayer up as an act of repentance or as a way to explain why she did what she did.
Lying is, in other words, can be just as justifiable as violence, or any other solution, depending ENTIRELY on the situation.
ALSO NOTE: A god frowning on an act is NOT the same as a god stripping a person of their powers.
That's actually very close to how I see it.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
James,
What are your thoughts on the Sandpoint Box set idea?
Erik said that he would love to do it, but couldn't do it without you.
I would LOVE to do something like this. It's also something I would love to do all on my own. Which means that timing its creation to match up with my already pretty busy schedule is tricky.
At this point, I've got my freelance time tied up through the next several months for products that'll be releasing in a year. Using that as a metric, a big Sandpoint book or box or whatever wouldn't be something I would expect to see this year or next at all.
Koor |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Koor wrote:James,
What are your thoughts on the Sandpoint Box set idea?
Erik said that he would love to do it, but couldn't do it without you.
I would LOVE to do something like this. It's also something I would love to do all on my own. Which means that timing its creation to match up with my already pretty busy schedule is tricky.
At this point, I've got my freelance time tied up through the next several months for products that'll be releasing in a year. Using that as a metric, a big Sandpoint book or box or whatever wouldn't be something I would expect to see this year or next at all.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
James Jacobs wrote:So you're telling me there's a chance..Koor wrote:James,
What are your thoughts on the Sandpoint Box set idea?
Erik said that he would love to do it, but couldn't do it without you.
I would LOVE to do something like this. It's also something I would love to do all on my own. Which means that timing its creation to match up with my already pretty busy schedule is tricky.
At this point, I've got my freelance time tied up through the next several months for products that'll be releasing in a year. Using that as a metric, a big Sandpoint book or box or whatever wouldn't be something I would expect to see this year or next at all.
There's much more than a chance. I've been hoping to do a big Sandpoint thing for a while... but getting it off the ground has been tricky for a lot of reasons.
theheadkase RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 32 |
James Jacobs Creative Director |
Hi James!
Do the deities need worshippers to keep/strengthen their power? Or are they deific simply in and of themselves? Does a mortal trying to convince others to worship one deity over another weaken it?
Nope. A deity's power is not associated with how many worshipers they have.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
what domains/subdomains would Boccob grant if he was converted over to pathfinder rules? what would his sacred animal be? what archetypes would be reccomended to characters who follow him? what spells would be associated with him? what magic items would be associated with him?
There's an old article about Boccob, I believe, in an older Dragon magazine that actually would answer most of these questions; the transition to Pathfinder wouldn't really change most of this.
Archetypes aren't good fits for clerics in my opinion, in any event.
theheadkase RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 32 |
Thanks James! In that case, we know that mortals can, albeit not reliably, become deities through things like the Test of the Starstone. Well, we at least know that's purportedly how Cayden did it. In any event, then is deityhood a thing that can be taken away? Is there something in the universe that begot the deities? Or were many of them "born" that way?
Archpaladin Zousha |
More questions from your favorite annoying stalker!
1) Is it possible for a non-lawful character to be "honorable?" To me, when someone acts "honorable," they're trying to stick to a code of behavior, whether for good or ill. What's honor like for a Neutral Good character? Chaotic Good?
2) You mentioned a "Rob" would be the best person to ask Reign of Winter questions to. Do you mean Rob McCreary? If so, where can I find him to ask these questions? If not, which Rob should I be asking?
3) Does the Rushlight Society outside Magnimar have any connection to the Rushlight Tournament held in Pitax in Kingmaker?
4) Having read Champions of Corruption, I'm curious as to whether a character can have an evil alignment and not really DO evil things for the purposes of cooperation with their group. Sort of like "I'd rather torture that captured lackey for information, but my allies would throw a hissy-fit about it, and since I'd rather stay alive in combat, I'll refrain," or "While it'd be easy to get the money we need to buy equipment for next week's dungeon crawl by conning the local rubes, we're gonna be in this town for a while, and if we get run out we won't even be able to buy the equipment we need in the first place?" At what point does a selfish character, or a character with a bad attitude, become truly evil, and not just an unsavory kind of neutral anti-hero?
5) Out of all the villains on Golarion, which one or ones do you or your characters find the most despicable? Not in the sense of the magnitude of their deeds or whatnot (if that were the case Rovagug always wins, full-stop), but in that what they did or do makes you angry, makes you want to stop them. Which villains "resonate" with you personally in the sense that even if their crimes are pitiful compared to the Whispering Tyrant or Areelu Vorlesh, they still make you feel like "F&@% THAT VILLAIN!"? To use me as an example, Ileosa Arabasti is relatively small potatoes compared to the Runelords, but her callous disregard for others, her drive being mainly to satisfy her own ego, etc. REALLY make me hate her. Karzoug, by contrast, is more powerful and wicked, but feels more remote, and doesn't stoke the same instincts in me. He feels more "final boss" like, in the sense that while he's been behind the things, his stuff doesn't feel as personal. Maybe that's just because Curse of the Crimson Throne is at its core Ileosa's story, charting her development from petty but insignificant queen to a mad tyrant and would-be-devil-bound-demigoddess to a corpse, but I dunno. *shrug*
Calex |
Hi James!
Are you backing SKR's Kickstarter? What do you think of his back-to-basics, reinventing-the-wheel approach?
equinoxmaster |
equinoxmaster wrote:Nope. Should I?have you read the the witch doctor comic????
YES!!!!!!
equinoxmaster |
equinoxmaster wrote:what domains/subdomains would Boccob grant if he was converted over to pathfinder rules? what would his sacred animal be? what archetypes would be reccomended to characters who follow him? what spells would be associated with him? what magic items would be associated with him?There's an old article about Boccob, I believe, in an older Dragon magazine that actually would answer most of these questions; the transition to Pathfinder wouldn't really change most of this.
Archetypes aren't good fits for clerics in my opinion, in any event.
I mean if he was in something like inner sea gods that used the setup inner sea gods did for explaining stuff about his followers and etc.