Creative Director
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Hiya James,
Some of my players and I are considering trying some new systems in Golarion, such as 5.0 or utilizing the Spheres of Power magic system instead of vancian in Pathfinder.
We love the Golarion world setting, however, and I was wondering how heavily tied into the actual Pathfinder rules system Golarion is? In your opinion, will using a different system set in Golarion drastically change or have a negative effect on the setting as it's supposed to be?
I'm sure you'll say something like "Play as you wish in your own home game", but we're very avid of playing 'canon' Golarion, such as it is; IE Golarion as you and the team envision it.
Thanks for your input!
Golarion works for any game system. The game play will change, of course, but the setting stays the same.
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Been several years since I've had my head in that adventure, but there was indeed a reason. Not one I'm ready to go into in more detail quite yet, though.James, why was Avalexi the succubus trapped by Sorshen in the black basalt monument near the underground entrance to the Lady's Light? Was it to power some sort of magical device or spell? If so, what exactly?
Thanks!
Look at you being mysterious. :)
I'm thinking that this 7-sided black basalt monument with a lust rune on each side might work similarly to the 8 feet tall square black stone menhir found in Kaer Maga. If it is true and a fully powered basalt monument lead to another dimension, where could Sorshen might want it to lead? The Midnight Isles perhaps... ;)
I don't expect that you will reveal your secrets James but that's my theory.
In fact, it doesn't have anything to do with anything in Kaer Maga.
Dear James.
Out of game: What is your favorite dice set you own? (Color, maker, etc)
In-game: Step by step, how does the Battlemind Link spell actually function? I realize you may not have had any input on designing that particular spell. However our table is highly interested in utilizing it, but we each have different thoughts on how it works. How would you interpret it?
If you converted the characters from Frozen into Pathfinder what classes, alignments, and levels would they be?
If you could date any of the female iconics who would it be and why?
What would happen if someone were to bring back Aroden? I know it's impossible but say it was possible what would happen?
You've mentioned before that while male half-elves CAN grow beards, they're not good at it because elven genes.
If a such a half-elf worked really hard at it, could he cultivate a handsome mustache?
More importantly, HOW does one work hard at something entirely genetically determined that you have no physical influence over?
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Hi James.
What level are you in Fallout 4? What part of the game did you find to be more appealing than you would have first thought?
I just did a huge binge of Jessica Jones, all wrapped up now, have you began watching the series? What are your thoughts?
What can I watch now that I am done with such an amazing series?
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Creative Director
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Dear James.
Out of game: What is your favorite dice set you own? (Color, maker, etc)
In-game: Step by step, how does the Battlemind Link spell actually function? I realize you may not have had any input on designing that particular spell. However our table is highly interested in utilizing it, but we each have different thoughts on how it works. How would you interpret it?
I have a d20 made out of allosaurus bone. I don't use it though; it's kinda wobbly and expensive. My general go-to dice are a set of red/orange dice that I use mostly because I haven't lost any of them in the set. I've got lots of other dice in the bag too but most of them are missing a few. I switch things up now and then though.
I don't know what battlemind link is, in fact, so it goes beyond not designing the spell. My reccomendation for all these types of questions is to follow the following steps:
1) Let the GM work it out and abide by her/his ruling.
2) If that doesn't work, chat around with folks online to see if other groups have found a solution that works for your table.
3) If that won't do it, post a question to the rules forum so it can be FAQed and so that there's a chance the designers will see it.
The higher your number of question, the longer it's gonna take for you to get an answer, and putting of using an interesting spell in your game just because you're holding out that Jason MIGHT see the question and MIGHT answer it and MIGHT do so in a way that works for your table is, to me, kind of a shame. It's always better in my opinion to go with the GM's call.
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Creative Director
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If you converted the characters from Frozen into Pathfinder what classes, alignments, and levels would they be?
If you could date any of the female iconics who would it be and why?
What would happen if someone were to bring back Aroden? I know it's impossible but say it was possible what would happen?
Characters from Frozen, eh? Well, they're all college students, so I guess low-level experts. Of the type that might get killed by a fall or by a pack of crazed wolves. Great movie! It's also the only movie called "Frozen" that I've seen, so that's as much as I have to say on that topic.
Merisiel! Cause she's got the most fun personality, and she's an elf, and she'll stab anyone who bothers me!
Anything you want. It's not gonna happen in print, and as the creative director, I can't even publicly or idly talk about what "might happen" without folks taking it as indications that it "WILL happen," alas. It's very much something that, if you want it to work in your game, will need YOU to build things up. That said, I'm sure it's a world event that others have incorporated into their games, so posting it on a sort of thinktank/brainstorm thread somewhere here might (WILL) get you some great ideas.
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More importantly, HOW does one work hard at something entirely genetically determined that you have no physical influence over?You've mentioned before that while male half-elves CAN grow beards, they're not good at it because elven genes.
If a such a half-elf worked really hard at it, could he cultivate a handsome mustache?
I assume he's talking about patience and meticulous grooming and more patience.
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Creative Director
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Hi James.
What level are you in Fallout 4? What part of the game did you find to be more appealing than you would have first thought?
I just did a huge binge of Jessica Jones, all wrapped up now, have you began watching the series? What are your thoughts?
What can I watch now that I am done with such an amazing series?
I'm level 31. I'm finding the community management element to be a lot more appealing than I first thought, but also assumed I'd enjoy it from the start.
I watched the whole show. It's brilliant and excellent and may be the best Marvel thing yet.
Fargo and The Walking Dead and American Horror Story: Hotel are my favorite currently-running shows.
I have a d20 made out of allosaurus bone. I don't use it though; it's kinda wobbly and expensive. My general go-to dice are a set of red/orange dice that I use mostly because I haven't lost any of them in the set. I've got lots of other dice in the bag too but most of them are missing a few. I switch things up now and then though.Dear James.
Out of game: What is your favorite dice set you own? (Color, maker, etc)
In-game: Step by step, how does the Battlemind Link spell actually function? I realize you may not have had any input on designing that particular spell. However our table is highly interested in utilizing it, but we each have different thoughts on how it works. How would you interpret it?
Oh wow! That d20 reminds me of my two friends who recently got married. Their wedding rings are a composite of dinosaur bone and meteorite. I probably wouldn't swing with that d20 either. Haha
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Creative Director
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Ok; so if you could cast David Tennant as anybody you wished in a hypothetical Pathfinder TV series/ movie, who would you want him to play?
Since 100% of my David Tennant experience is via Jessica Jones, I"d probably cast him as Asmodeus or some other super-evil guy.
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I assume he's talking about patience and meticulous grooming and more patience.More importantly, HOW does one work hard at something entirely genetically determined that you have no physical influence over?You've mentioned before that while male half-elves CAN grow beards, they're not good at it because elven genes.
If a such a half-elf worked really hard at it, could he cultivate a handsome mustache?
I am indeed talking about patience and meticulous grooming and more patience (plus, making DAMN SURE to never get fireballed in the face!), in an "I really, REALLY want to distance myself from my elven heritage, and facial hair's a surefire way to do that" kinda way.
When the books mention the Spire Clan of the Shoanti as "unifiers" of their people, is it along the lines of "We want to unite the Quahs to form a single super-Quah" or "The Quahs are all different, so our responsibility is to remind all of them that we are all Shoanti?"
This has been on my mind for a looooooong time, but I've never asked.
I recall that in the original forward for the Hook Mountain Massacres,you said in the original writeup Hogarth and Jeppo Grawl were doing something when the PCs entered the kennels that you couldn't publish, and it had to be removed from the final draft of the adventure. Can you tell us here what was going on?
Mr. James Jacobs,
What creature type does the Dominion of the Black favor: Aberrations or Undead?
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So Mr. Jacobs I have a few questions that came up at our table.
Do Tengu lay eggs? Also do they feed their children like normal birds do If so would one adopted by halflings be able to use a turkey baster to simulate the effect.
Thank you in advance.
They do indeed lay eggs, but they don't feed their children bird style. At least, if they do, they keep it private and don't talk about it.
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Creative Director
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When the books mention the Spire Clan of the Shoanti as "unifiers" of their people, is it along the lines of "We want to unite the Quahs to form a single super-Quah" or "The Quahs are all different, so our responsibility is to remind all of them that we are all Shoanti?"
The second. Which some may take to mean the first.
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Creative Director
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This has been on my mind for a looooooong time, but I've never asked.
I recall that in the original forward for the Hook Mountain Massacres,you said in the original writeup Hogarth and Jeppo Grawl were doing something when the PCs entered the kennels that you couldn't publish, and it had to be removed from the final draft of the adventure. Can you tell us here what was going on?
Nope. Let your imagination run wild! ;-)
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Ok; so if you could cast David Tennant as anybody you wished in a hypothetical Pathfinder TV series/ movie, who would you want him to play?Since 100% of my David Tennant experience is via Jessica Jones, I"d probably cast him as Asmodeus or some other super-evil guy.
I would see him more as Titivilus.
James, if you were to dismally fall from grace in Pathfinder, which lower plane would your soul plummet to?
If pathfinder would ever re-start with new rules and all, and Bestiary 1 must be made new.
Would you still give us the D&D-full book we got in this (3.5) edition or would this Bestiary be full of creatures from mythology (that aren't in D&D) and Paizo-uniques from Bestiary 2,3,4 and 5?
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Creative Director
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If pathfinder would ever re-start with new rules and all, and Bestiary 1 must be made new.
Would you still give us the D&D-full book we got in this (3.5) edition or would this Bestiary be full of creatures from mythology (that aren't in D&D) and Paizo-uniques from Bestiary 2,3,4 and 5?
Every day that passes, I'm more proud of what we've done with the game ourselves and less compelled by things invented by TSR or WotC, but there are some elements of the game that would be very difficult to let go. That said, Golarion is in a VERY different place now than it was when we started, and the mix of monsters in a Bestiary would HAVE to be different as a result, since the Bestiary needs to support our game world as much as anything else.
1) - Lore states that a golem is animated through an enslaved elemental force. Did you once state in this topic that that bit of lore was a holdover from 3.5, and if you could rewrite it, you would? (And if you didn't say it before, or don't remember, would you rewrite it as such?) Since it seems that 'enslaving' any sort of intelligent force is hardly a neutral act, especially as it clearly doesn't enjoy the imprisonment with berserk chances and everything.
If you could rewrite it, what would be the new explanation, if you think you can share it?
2) - I recall you mentioned that most of the Monster Ecology Pathfinder Chronicles books don't sell too well. Outside of reception, which one was your favourite to work on? Which one did you think was the best finished product, if it's different from the above answer? (Not sure if you contributed to all of them or not.)
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Creative Director
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1) - Lore states that a golem is animated through an enslaved elemental force. Did you once state in this topic that that bit of lore was a holdover from 3.5, and if you could rewrite it, you would? (And if you didn't say it before, or don't remember, would you rewrite it as such?) Since it seems that 'enslaving' any sort of intelligent force is hardly a neutral act, especially as it clearly doesn't enjoy the imprisonment with berserk chances and everything.
If you could rewrite it, what would be the new explanation, if you think you can share it?
2) - I recall you mentioned that most of the Monster Ecology Pathfinder Chronicles books don't sell too well. Outside of reception, which one was your favourite to work on? Which one did you think was the best finished product, if it's different from the above answer? (Not sure if you contributed to all of them or not.)
1) Yes; the elemental force animating golems is in fact the way it's been in D&D from the start, more or less. And enslaving a soul DOES seem to me to be evil, but for whatever reason, that concept never really occurred to anyone before, it seems. The easiest way to handle this in a game where that question comes up is to remember that it's possible for some elementals to agree to serve as a power source for a golem. If I were to rewrite it, I'd move away from the enslave an elemental spirit entirely and have the animating force for a golem be a spark or dash or whatever of positive energy, so that in this way, golems are sort of the opposite of undead.
2) My favorite one was Demons Revisited, because I got to write the whole thing and had pretty much full creative freedom to rebuild and restructure the organization and contents to my heart's content.
I really liked Demons Revisited. Do you have any thoughts on adjusting the Half Succubus template to make a Half Incubus template? I figure swapping some Cha for Str might make sense, but from the bare bones SLAs for the Incubus I'm not sure what would be good adjustments for the template SLAs.
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Creative Director
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I really liked Demons Revisited. Do you have any thoughts on adjusting the Half Succubus template to make a Half Incubus template? I figure swapping some Cha for Str might make sense, but from the bare bones SLAs for the Incubus I'm not sure what would be good adjustments for the template SLAs.
I do have thoughts. I wouldn't adjust the half-succubus at all. I'd build a new half-demon template from scratch for a half-incubus.
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Some claim that this "cheapens" artifacts, since you can't do an AP without "tripping over one" so to speak. I personally think that's more a feature then a bug, since in the sort of ur-artifact story we get from Tolkien, Bilbo essentially tripped over the One Ring in a cave beneath the Misty Mountains, and there were 19 other Rings of Power besides that one plus a host of artifact swords and such, plus you've WRITTEN the APs to be potential Golarion-shattering events, so it makes sense that artifacts would become involved. What would be the best way to facilitate players who prefer "low-magic" or "gritty" sorts of stories? More interested in things like mercenary work, winning military campaigns through cunning tactics and brute steel or rising to the top of the local thieves' guild through thuggery, daring heists and politicking both in the halls of power and in filthy taverns? For whom a mere +1 sword is the only magic item they may ever see in their lives? I don't know if Golarion's right for these kinds of stories, as magic-saturated as it is (this is not to say that it's BAD, I freakin' LOVE the APs and would play them all if I could, my count's only at 3 right now).
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Creative Director
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Spoiler:I've noticed that virtually ALL Adventure Paths contain an artifact of some sort, whether it's essentially a plot device to facilitate the PCs' adventures (Jade Regent and Reign of Winter are probably some of the best examples), or they're very powerful loot that the PCs earn for vanquishing either the AP's "final boss" or that boss' second-in-command (often stripping them from the villain's still-warm corpse!). Shattered Star is an AP centered ENTIRELY around an artifact, its recovery, restoration and use in defeating a foe that restoration accidentally awakens. Is this intentional? Some claim that this "cheapens" artifacts, since you can't do an AP without "tripping over one" so to speak. I personally think that's more a feature then a bug, since in the sort of ur-artifact story we get from Tolkien, Bilbo essentially tripped over the One Ring in a cave beneath the Misty Mountains, and there were 19 other Rings of Power besides that one plus a host of artifact swords and such, plus you've WRITTEN the APs to be potential Golarion-shattering events, so it makes sense that artifacts would become involved. What would be the best way to facilitate players who prefer "low-magic" or "gritty" sorts of stories? More interested in things like mercenary work, winning military campaigns through cunning tactics and brute steel or rising to the top of the local thieves' guild through thuggery, daring heists and politicking both in the halls of power and in filthy taverns? For whom a mere +1 sword is the only magic item they may ever see in their lives? I don't know if Golarion's right for these kinds of stories, as magic-saturated as it is (this is not to say that it's BAD, I freakin' LOVE the APs and would play them all if I could, my count's only at 3 right now).
Furthermore, artifacts do things that magic items normally can't do. And since they exist outside of the whole "Use gold piece value to balance when and where a magic item appears in a campaign," you can include an artifact to accomplish ANY plot element you want without worrying about how doing something like including a high gp magic item in a low-level adventure might disrupt the entire campaign if the PCs decide to just sell the thing.
And artifacts are an incredible way to incorporate story elements and history into an adventure.
And perhaps MOST IMPORTANTLY... In a game where the standard magic items can be bought and sold at stores and/or created by anyone who takes the right feat, artifacts serve a very necessary purpose of being actual treasure that a party feels good about finding. You can't create an artifact. You can't buy it. And thus, it's something worth questing for. Something worth bragging about. Something to be proud of finding or recovering. If you fight a powerful dragon and manage to end its 200 year reign of terror, but then it's entire treasure horde is not only items you can just buy at a store or make yourself, or WORSE is just a bunch of magic items that the players will just sell to cash out and buy other items they'd prefer... that's incredibly unrewarding from a story viewpoint. An artifact in a dragon stash like that ensures that at least that ONE item is something the PCs can't just buy or make. It's at least ONE item that the PCs won't be able to just sell. And it's at least ONE item that the players can look back on as proof that their adventure was suitably epic.
I think that people who hold back on using artifacts in games are doing their games a great disservice as a result. Unless you're playing a game where the standard magic items ARE very rare, can't be crafted by PCs, and can't be bought in stores (in which case, mechanically speaking, standard items are artifacts in all but name), artifacts add the wonder and magic to the game. And the more you play the game, the more important having those elements in your game becomes.
Taking Lord of the Rings as an example... the one ring is but one artifact that plays a role in that story. There's the potent crystal balls, some swords, and arguably other things as well, all in what is essentially one Adventure Path. Had Tolken been producing something on the scale of the Lord of the Rings trilogy twice a year, I suspect that we'd see a fair amount of artifacts in those stories as well.
In any event, Golarion is not a low-magic setting. Artifacts exist in the setting for many reasons, but a big one is that they play the role of the actual "magic" items that move and shake the world, that adventurers quest for, and that make a difference. In a world or game that is low magic or no magic, then yes, the amount of artifacts in a typical AP would absolutely be overkill, but that's not Golarion.
The use of artifacts and the frequency in which they appear in our adventures is 100% and completely intentional.
(REMEMBER: In the 1st edition of the game, magic items were NOT balanced by gp values, and there really wasn't an easily quantified way for player characters to buy or create them. In that earlier version of the game, your magic item choices were pretty much ENTIRELY determined by what you found while adventuring, and in a game like that, artifacts showing up more often doesn't make sense. As a result, artifacts WERE more rare in 1st edition and 2nd edition D&D. Once 3rd edition D&D changed forever how magic items interact with player characters, the need for more commonly encountered artifacts as a method to recapture the wonder of finding something you can't buy or can't make increased significantly. The game has changed over the 30+ years it's been out, and gamers who want to play these newer versions of the games need to change their expectations as a result.)
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What an awesome answer. :)
"You can't create artifacts."
Fair enough, but they had to come from somewhere. So where do they come from?
"You can't create artifacts."
Fair enough, but they had to come from somewhere. So where do they come from?
Read as "PCs can't create artifacts". (Maybe they can if they reach 20th level.) Nor can anyone that they might be able to commission one from.
Deities can, so can Baba Yaga, creatures having suitable mythic powers, maybe by accident in bizarre circumstances...
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"You can't create artifacts."
Fair enough, but they had to come from somewhere. So where do they come from?
Wherever the GM wants them to come from. Some are created by mythic heroes. Some by gods. Some by accident. Some just self-manifest. Some are left over from previous realities or leaked in from other universes. Some created themselves. Some came into being from the remains of a powerful creature after it died. There IS no "one way" for an artifact to be created, becsause part of how such a powerful item comes into being is an inexorable and important part of its legend. When you design an artifact, the method of its creation (and destruction, while we're at it) needs to be custom built by the GM. Look at this as a chance to expand your game world with new legends and mythologies!
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"You can't create artifacts."
Fair enough, but they had to come from somewhere. So where do they come from?
Read as "PCs can't create artifacts". (Maybe they can if they reach 20th level.) Nor can anyone that they might be able to commission one from.
Deities can, so can Baba Yaga, creatures having suitable mythic powers, maybe by accident in bizarre circumstances...
Actually... a PC CAN create an artifact, just as a PC CAN kill a deity... provided the GM is okay with that and provided the event is a significant one in the campaign, or perhaps even a focus of the campaign. But in these cases, the "rules" for how it goes about are not something that are quantified and balanced like feats or spells or archetypes or whatever. Artifacts deserve personal attention. Their methods of creation should be part of the story you want to tell. And most of all, the steps needed to create one should be 100% the domain of the GM, so she can make it as easy or difficult or quick or lengthy as she wants.
A few questions on the evil iconics:
Are they full-fledged iconics or are they more 'soft' iconics?
Will we be seeing them as often as the current iconics or will they generally more be seen specific products when they fit a particular illustration.
Will they fight alongside the other iconics in the AP artwork down the line?
Ok, Mr. Jacobs, Sandpoint architecture question: What does the cathedral look like?
"Cathedral" conjures up tall walls, tower spires, lot of stained glass (Kaijitsu glass, of course), but the footprint looks more organic and less Gothic. Any thoughts? I've been trying to use standard cathedral 3D terrain elements to make it, and it just doesn't look right.
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A few questions on the evil iconics:
Are they full-fledged iconics or are they more 'soft' iconics?
Will we be seeing them as often as the current iconics or will they generally more be seen specific products when they fit a particular illustration.
Will they fight alongside the other iconics in the AP artwork down the line?
They're the "evil iconics for Hell's Vengeance." We haven't really decided if we'll be doing much more with them beyond these six volumes... at this point, no. They're certainly NOT class iconics, because we have those already.
For now, they exist pretty much only because of the way we illustrate Adventure Paths. We just didn't have enough evil characters to fill things out.
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Ok, Mr. Jacobs, Sandpoint architecture question: What does the cathedral look like?
"Cathedral" conjures up tall walls, tower spires, lot of stained glass (Kaijitsu glass, of course), but the footprint looks more organic and less Gothic. Any thoughts? I've been trying to use standard cathedral 3D terrain elements to make it, and it just doesn't look right.
The facade of the Sandpoint Cathedral is illustrated on page 11 of Rise of the Runelords. It's a stone building, tan/brown/ochre in color, with a fair amount of stained glass windows. If you look at the map of Sandpoint; the stone portion of the building is the gray section, while the wood roofs just to the north are the rebuilt/repaired after the fire portions that survived from the older structure.
It doesn't look like the typical idea of a European Cathedral because those buildings take the shape of the cross as a style element. That's not an appropriate element for this cathedral. Since it's got such strong Desna elements, it's shape takes a little bit of a butterfly shape when viewed from top down. It doesn't really have any towers on it, but it does have three domes and tall walls.
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What an awesome answer. :)
I agree! Thank you, James Jacobs! :D
And now for another question: How common are griffins in the Mindspin Mountains? Like, if a character adventuring in that part of Golarion wanted to persuade one to let him ride them, would they be able to find one? I know in Mythic Monsters Revisited it says they prefer mountain roosts, but am unsure how rare or common they might be to the specific area where Giantslayer takes place...
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What an awesome answer. :)I agree! Thank you, James Jacobs! :D
And now for another question: How common are griffins in the Mindspin Mountains? Like, if a character adventuring in that part of Golarion wanted to persuade one to let him ride them, would they be able to find one? I know in Mythic Monsters Revisited it says they prefer mountain roosts, but am unsure how rare or common they might be to the specific area where Giantslayer takes place...
Griffons are common enough, but hippogriffs are MUCH more common there; part of the reason why the Sable Company uses them is that they live right there in the mountains. But yeah... you can certainly find griffons in the Mindspins.
James, does Abrogail Thrune have any siblings? IF so what are their names.Nope.
What kind of parents call their kid 'Nope'?
Is that where the 'evil' part of their alignment really shines?|
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James, does Abrogail Thrune have any siblings? IF so what are their names.Nope.What kind of parents call their kid 'Nope'?
Is that where the 'evil' part of their alignment really shines?
Cute. You did, of course, misread the question. The "Nope" was in response to "Does she have any siblings?" She does not, so I didn't need to go into their names, since the "IF so" section let me off that hook.
