Creative Director
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It's not computer programing, so it doesn't need to read like code.
Couldn't agree more.
Do you think the 3e mentality of trying to outguess player "abuses" and including clauses that ban those abuses has helped? Or has it actually encouraged players to look harder for loopholes, and diminished the authority of the GM?
What top-level approaches would you like to see at the outset of a revised edition? (with a nod to the fact that you're not the sole arbiter of such things)
*and again, I'm not pushing for it to happen, this is just curiosity about the procedure.
Players have always looked for loopholes. The fact that 3rd edition has more rules to look for loopholes in, and that the internet gives these players a place to congregate makes it easier to do than it was in previous editions is all.
As for top-level approaches to a second edition of Pathifnder? Not really interested in going down that road yet. Ask me again in, oh, I don't know... six years?
Dear Mr. Jacobs,
many thank´s for the expansive answer!
Is platypi a valid pluralisation of platypus?Platapusses sounds kinda dirty, doesn't it?"Platypodes"?
If it were still a pseudo-Greek word, yeah.
Giant Platypuses? In Sarusan? They are definitely ancient. See this link (cool site, btw). Please?
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Creative Director
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What is the likelihood of Osirion, or a region of Osirion, getting a full 64 page book in the Campaign Setting line, like Guide to Darkmoon Vale, Dark Markets, etc?
It'd be more likely if we set an AP there, but none of the APs I've got planned out through 2014 are set there, so I would say the chances are relatively slim. Not impossible, though. The fact that the Osirion Player's Companion exists makes the need for a full-on 64 page version not as necessary... especially since that 32 page one was written and published before we had our "This is for PCs only" filters firmly in place.
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Creative Director
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It can also mean a football player playing for Tottenham Hotspur FC (managed by the fourth most despicable man in football if you ask me).It's a real word. According to dictionary.com, I would define it as: "an impetuous or reckless person; a hothead."I've been thumbing through the Guide to Absalom.
could you define the term "Hotspur" in context?
Not in Absalom, though.
It'd be more likely if we set an AP there, but none of the APs I've got planned out through 2014 are set there, so I would say the chances are relatively slim. Not impossible, though. The fact that the Osirion Player's Companion exists makes the need for a full-on 64 page version not as necessary... especially since that 32 page one was written and published before we had our "This is for PCs only" filters firmly in place.
Wait, you have the APs through 2014 planned out? Tellustellustellus!!!
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Creative Director
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I bought the Mouse Guard PDF a few days ago, and have read over half of the book (a first for me and RPG books, usually I dip, but I digress). One thing it does that I *like* is re-order everything, so that character creation comes *last*, and you only really need to read the first chapter, and pick up some pre-gens to play. The more you read, the more depth you can get from the game. I would seriously recommend that the people looking at the intro game, take a look at this (especially when it's a $15 PDF!)
Have you ever read (or played) the Mouse Guard RPG?
I've heard a LOT about Mouseguard; it's got some great reviews.
I'm NOT a fan of putting the rules at the back, though. RPGs are not RPNs (Role-Playing Novels), and I'm generally less interested in a new RPG that seems to be more interested in giving you a world first and methods to play characters in that world last. Which is why I'm particularly fond of how we do things with Golarion; the character building rules and all that are in their own book, which means the world book can be HEAVILY skewed toward the world stuff without making you feel like we're only reluctantly doing you a favor by letting you play characters of your own design in our world.
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Creative Director
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Just to make sure, did you mean the "Temple of elemental evil"? I know that game, but not tomb of elemental evil.
Yes; Temple of Elemental Evil. Turns out having 3+ decades of RPG titles in the head, combined with the constant push to come up with NEW ones that aren't copies of anything that comes before, can do weird things to memory at times...
Haha, I don't supose you gave Mr Erik a compliment today as well?
Nope; I'm not at work today (taking a day off to get some freelance done, but taking some time to procrastinate on these boards before I even start that), and Erik's on his way to Hawaii. (the Jerk. Damnit. Undid my compliment!)
Off the top of your head, what is the worst game you've ever played?
Starcraft. It removed my interest in an entire genre of games (RTS games) forever.
Are you a person who suffers more from very warm weather or very cold weather?
Nope. Although I do prefer cold weather, because you can always bundle up. With hot weather, there's a limit to how much you can take off and not die.
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Creative Director
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Is platypi a valid pluralisation of platypus?Platapusses sounds kinda dirty, doesn't it?"Platypodes"?If it were still a pseudo-Greek word, yeah.
Giant Platypuses? In Sarusan? They are definitely ancient. See this link (cool site, btw). Please?
Site Bookmarked!
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Creative Director
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Wait, you have the APs through 2014 planned out? Tellustellustellus!!!
It'd be more likely if we set an AP there, but none of the APs I've got planned out through 2014 are set there, so I would say the chances are relatively slim. Not impossible, though. The fact that the Osirion Player's Companion exists makes the need for a full-on 64 page version not as necessary... especially since that 32 page one was written and published before we had our "This is for PCs only" filters firmly in place.
I generally have AP plots worked out about 3 years in advance. Doesn't mean things don't change during those three years, with APs getting shuffled around or pushed back.
And no... I'm not gonna reveal anything about anything beyond Jade Regent yet. It does no one any good to distract from the more current APs.
Actually, another definition question, when you answered my question about super powers and said you wanted healing abilities, did you mean self healing i.e. regeneration like Wolverine or healing touch abilities like...someone with healing touch abilities (there's bound to be someone, but can't think of anyone).
Do you know anything about cars? If your car breaks down, can you repair it?
I've never really played Starcraft myself, what was it that was so bad about it?
Have you ever played Tropic?
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Creative Director
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Actually, another definition question, when you answered my question about super powers and said you wanted healing abilities, did you mean self healing i.e. regeneration like Wolverine or healing touch abilities like...someone with healing touch abilities (there's bound to be someone, but can't think of anyone).
I meant as many healing powers as I could get. The healing touch ability in particular, although that didn't work out all that well for the protagonist of F. Paul Wilson's cool novel, "The Touch" now that I think about it...
Do you know anything about cars? If your car breaks down, can you repair it?
I took auto shop in High School over two decades ago (woah!) but didn't actually own a car until one decade ago, so the amount of time between that knowledge being gained and me actually needing to use it was pretty vast. In other words, I can't repair cars.
I've never really played Starcraft myself, what was it that was so bad about it?
It had really neat graphics, and the majority of the human campaign was fun. But as I got further into the game, it became apparent that, despite the beauty of the game's graphics, you weren't supposed to enjoy those graphics. You were supposed to click click click click click and never stop clicking in order to build units and issue orders. Non-stop clicking. And after playing one level a dozen times in a row where no matter what I did, my previous 30 minutes or hour of work was negated by an enemy sneaking into my base and nuking it, I got frustrated enough to hate the game. I tried playing multiplayer a few times, but that compounded my complaints about the game by about a thousandfold. It's just not an enjoyable game to me since there's never any down-time to enjoy the scenery. And if it's always GO GO GO mode, then even the frantic race element becomes meaningless.
Have you ever played Tropic?
Nope.
So James which region of Golarion do you think will get the hardcover treatment next?
I actually KNOW what region will get hardcover treatment next.
Its statements like that that make me REALLY want to work at Paizo.
What is the likelihood of Osirion, or a region of Osirion, getting a full 64 page book in the Campaign Setting line, like Guide to Darkmoon Vale, Dark Markets, etc?It'd be more likely if we set an AP there, but none of the APs I've got planned out through 2014 are set there, so I would say the chances are relatively slim. Not impossible, though. The fact that the Osirion Player's Companion exists makes the need for a full-on 64 page version not as necessary... especially since that 32 page one was written and published before we had our "This is for PCs only" filters firmly in place.
What are the odds if an Osirion city getting into the next city book? Or another Osirion module?
Do you have an Eric Holmes story?
Who would win in a fight between these two: Hellknights or Space Marines?Hellknights. Because Space Marines are from a non-Paizo company.
I'm almost inclined to agree because while Space Marines have lots of armor and are tough SOBs, they're basic weaponry isn't all that impressive. Hellknights on the other hand would have the equivilent to Power Weapons and would make short work of the Space Marine in HtH.
Speaking of that non-Paizo company, which of their games are you even remotely interested in?
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Creative Director
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What are the odds if an Osirion city getting into the next city book? Or another Osirion module?What is the likelihood of Osirion, or a region of Osirion, getting a full 64 page book in the Campaign Setting line, like Guide to Darkmoon Vale, Dark Markets, etc?It'd be more likely if we set an AP there, but none of the APs I've got planned out through 2014 are set there, so I would say the chances are relatively slim. Not impossible, though. The fact that the Osirion Player's Companion exists makes the need for a full-on 64 page version not as necessary... especially since that 32 page one was written and published before we had our "This is for PCs only" filters firmly in place.
If you include the Pathfinder Society scnarios, chances are 100%.
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Creative Director
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Who would win in a fight between these two: Hellknights or Space Marines?Hellknights. Because Space Marines are from a non-Paizo company.I'm almost inclined to agree because while Space Marines have lots of armor and are tough SOBs, they're basic weaponry isn't all that impressive. Hellknights on the other hand would have the equivilent to Power Weapons and would make short work of the Space Marine in HtH.
Speaking of that non-Paizo company, which of their games are you even remotely interested in?
None, really. I'm not really into minis gaming unless it's part of an RPG. The RPG version of Warhammer that Fantasy Flight put out looks really cool, though!
Who would win in a fight between these two: Hellknights or Space Marines?Hellknights. Because Space Marines are from a non-Paizo company.I'm almost inclined to agree because while Space Marines have lots of armor and are tough SOBs, they're basic weaponry isn't all that impressive. Hellknights on the other hand would have the equivilent to Power Weapons and would make short work of the Space Marine in HtH.
Speaking of that non-Paizo company, which of their games are you even remotely interested in?
That made me lol. Average armament for a space marine - Belt-fed, Rocket Propelled, Explosive Machine Gun.
Average armament for Hellknight - Baddassery and something pointy.
Hellknights ARE way cooler though.
My question - How do you deal with stress? Aside from munching down on lesser beings.
Valentine’s Day is coming up, and speaking of those things, which is your favourite holiday?
If you were to give a bouquet to a lady, what sort of flowers would you choose?
If you were to design a cloak for a villain, or hero for that matter, how would it look?
A friend of mine is trying to get me to get into the Dragon Ball Anime serie(s?), have you see any of them? And if so can you recommend them?
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I've heard a LOT about Mouseguard; it's got some great reviews.
I'm NOT a fan of putting the rules at the back, though. RPGs are not RPNs (Role-Playing Novels), and I'm generally less interested in a new RPG that seems to be more interested in giving you a world first and methods to play characters in that world last. Which is why I'm particularly fond of how we do things with Golarion; the character building rules and all that are in their own book, which means the world book can be HEAVILY skewed toward the world stuff without making you feel like we're only reluctantly doing you a favor by letting you play characters of your own design in our world.
Ah, no, it isn't that the rules are in the back, just that, of the rules, the character building rules are last. So you get the, "this is how to play the game (use your own characters, or these handy pregens)" followed by "oh, you wanted rules to create characters, here you go". In between, with Mouse Guard in particular, yes, there's a lot of world stuff, but it was written to be a playable version of a world.
The other neat trick, is that as DM rules are presented, they are presented as part of a "how to create an adventure" guide. So the whole adventure building thing is very obvious, where with DND and Pathfinder, I've always found it be be more, "this is how you do combat, you can do other stuff if you think about it enough". It's a great different perspective.
Anyway enough evangelising, I try to save that for PFS ;)
Do you have an Eric Holmes story?I'm not sure what that means... so... maybe?
I guess i must have just read a little too far into it. At points it almost seems to read like a proper noun.I've been thumbing through the Guide to Absalom.
could you define the term "Hotspur" in context?It's a real word. According to dictionary.com, I would define it as: "an impetuous or reckless person; a hothead."
It can be and has been a proper noun -
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Hotspur is the name or nickname of:
Henry 'Hotspur' Percy (1364–1403), eldest son of the 1st Earl of Northumberland.
Who would win in a fight between these two: Hellknights or Space Marines?Hellknights. Because Space Marines are from a non-Paizo company.I'm almost inclined to agree because while Space Marines have lots of armor and are tough SOBs, they're basic weaponry isn't all that impressive. Hellknights on the other hand would have the equivilent to Power Weapons and would make short work of the Space Marine in HtH.
Speaking of that non-Paizo company, which of their games are you even remotely interested in?
That made me lol. Average armament for a space marine - Belt-fed, Rocket Propelled, Explosive Machine Gun.
Average armament for Hellknight - Baddassery and something pointy.
Hellknights ARE way cooler though.
My question - How do you deal with stress? Aside from munching down on lesser beings.
Yet surprisingly, the machine gun is not as effective as it could be. Besides if you were to make an equivelent character a Hellknight would be something like a Chaos Warrior from Warhammer Fantasy and therefore would have an armor save, a ward save, plus some magic items. The Space Marine has his bolter, his power armor and his belief in the Emperor. Hellknight's weapon would slice through power armor so, Hellknight wins.
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Creative Director
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That made me lol. Average armament for a space marine - Belt-fed, Rocket Propelled, Explosive Machine Gun.
Average armament for Hellknight - Baddassery and something pointy.
Hellknights ARE way cooler though.
My question - How do you deal with stress? Aside from munching down on lesser beings.
Average armament for a Hellknight also includes things like magic items. If you're going to pit each on equal footing, you have to allow the Hellknight access to things like powerful magic items. Since the two function with different settings... it's hard to say what would be "equal footing," but I'm pretty sure a horned devil bodyguard or a destruction spell or whatever could give machine guns a run for their money.
As for how I deal with stress? Normally I watch movies, play video games, read, sleep, or hang out with friends.
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Creative Director
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Valentine’s Day is coming up, and speaking of those things, which is your favourite holiday?
Halloween, because it has the best movie based on it, and because it generally comes with lots of fun horror movies and doesn't involve much ancillary stress.
If you were to give a bouquet to a lady, what sort of flowers would you choose?
Depends on the lady. If I didn't know her enough to make at least a good guess as to what kind or what color to buy her, I likely wouldn't be buying her flowers in the first place.
If you were to design a cloak for a villain, or hero for that matter, how would it look?
Ummm... it'd be black with a cool high collar, Dracula style. This is a contender for "most specialized and unusually specific question on the thread," by the way...
A friend of mine is trying to get me to get into the Dragon Ball Anime serie(s?), have you see any of them? And if so can you recommend them?
Haven't seen them at all, so I can't help you there.
Heya,
Not to wallop a dead horse or anything, but last night I had a conversation with one of my game groups and the subject of Jade Regent came up. The general consensus was that we'd all like to play it (myself included) but none of felt...well, I suppose the word is qualified to run it since none of us is an aficionado of Asian culture or Asian gaming. We all pretty much agreed that the GM of the AP would really need to have some serious chops in that area or it would come off very flat -- and none of us have the chops. Is this something you considered when planning the AP (I'm sure it is, that's a stupid question)? And will you be taking steps to make the AP accessible to groups like mine (which I freely admit may be a minority, since I think it's rare to gather six geeks in a room and have NONE of them be a fan of the Asian stuff)?
Thanks.
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Creative Director
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Heya,
Not to wallop a dead horse or anything, but last night I had a conversation with one of my game groups and the subject of Jade Regent came up. The general consensus was that we'd all like to play it (myself included) but none of felt...well, I suppose the word is qualified to run it since none of us is an aficionado of Asian culture or Asian gaming. We all pretty much agreed that the GM of the AP would really need to have some serious chops in that area or it would come off very flat -- and none of us have the chops. Is this something you considered when planning the AP (I'm sure it is, that's a stupid question)? And will you be taking steps to make the AP accessible to groups like mine (which I freely admit may be a minority, since I think it's rare to gather six geeks in a room and have NONE of them be a fan of the Asian stuff)?
Thanks.
Well... the whole point of an Adventure Path is to do the heavy lifting for you. The whole POINT of Jade Regent is to introduce Asian style themes gradually, where your characters are slowly making your way across the world, being introduced to things like honor and samurai and ninjas and oni and kami and all that all along the way. And ALONG the way there'll be plenty of NPCs for your players to learn from.
And we'll be supporting the AP not only with the normal supplementary stuff in each volume, but with other books as well. We're not yet ready to talk about those yet... but if you look at how we provided support for the Darklands for Second Darkness, for the jungles of Mwangi for Serpent's Skull, for genies and Middle Eastern style stuff for Legacy of Fire, and so on... that's a good idea as to how we'll be handling Jade Regent.
But we're still about half a year away.
If you're interested in seeing the kind of adventure and story and themes that'll be showing up in Jade Regent, watching a few of Kurosawa's movies (Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, and Hidden Fortress would be a good start) can "prime the pump" as it were. Other good movies to check out to prepare visually for Jade Regent would include "Spirited Away" and "Princess Mononoke."
In any case, what I'd really recommend if you're intimidated by Jade Regent is to wait until the entire AP is out before you start running it... by that point, you'll have six books of resource material to fall back on... and that's not even counting the other things we've got planned to support the AP.
James, I am pretty much finished with Lords of Chaos and let me say i absolutely loved it!! the concept of demons being physical manifestations of various mortal sins is a truly unique and very cool idea. Well done good sir, well done!!
that being said, a few questions:
1) what was your inspiration and creative thought process regarding the four new demons?? the Seraptis and the Vavakia are both really interesting and badass.
2) for the healing aspect of the Vavakia's breath weapon, does the amount healed include damage from the Wisdom drain, or just the base damage?
3) Is it ok if I call you my home boy, and claim that you and I go way back, even if that's not true? cuz since i've read this entire thread and follow it daily, I feel like we do go way back, LOL.
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Creative Director
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1) what was your inspiration and creative thought process regarding the four new demons?? the Seraptis and the Vavakia are both really interesting and badass.
2) for the healing aspect of the Vavakia's breath weapon, does the amount healed include damage from the Wisdom drain, or just the base damage?
3) Is it ok if I call you my home boy, and claim that you and I go way back, even if that's not true? cuz since i've read this entire thread and follow it daily, I feel like we do go way back, LOL.
1) Basically, I needed to fill holes in missing "sins." I also wanted to fill in missing CRs as well. And at the same time, make sure that some of the more unusual demon lords had demons that fit into their themes. Once I started thinking about how to solve those three problems with only four demons, the answers more or less fell right into place. As for the seraptis and the vavakia... they're both variants on demons from my homebrew campaign, altered a little here and there to fit the roles I just outlined.
2) Just the base damage.
3) Woah... well, I suppose so. Although I might have to give you a test at some unspecified point in the future to find out just how well you HAVE read this thread...
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If you're interested in seeing the kind of adventure and story and themes that'll be showing up in Jade Regent, watching a few of Kurosawa's movies (Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, and Hidden Fortress would be a good start) can "prime the...
While on the topic of Kurosawa, I was watching "Sanjuro" the other day and was thinking about what makes Kurosawa's samurai movies so effective. One of the things that I've noticed is that most people are definitely frightened for their lives in combat, where they engage in a nervous dance of dancing back and forth into the fray, unsure of themselves and unwilling to invest in the fight without strength in numbers.
You can see examples of this with the bandit gang in Seven Samurai, the confrontation between the two mercenary gangs in Yojimbo, and the siege of Hidetora's castle in Ran. This is in stark contrast to highly trained combatants (like the protagonist of Yojimbo, or the titular Seven Samurai), whose training provide them poise and courage.
Have you ever attempted to emulate this style in a roleplaying game? If so, how did it work out? If not, do you think it would be effective, and how would you institute it into Pathfinder?
Well... the whole point of an Adventure Path is to do the heavy lifting for you. The whole POINT of Jade Regent is to introduce Asian style themes gradually, where your characters are slowly making your way across the world, being introduced to things like honor and samurai and ninjas and oni and kami and all that all along the way. And ALONG the way there'll be plenty of NPCs for your players to learn from.And we'll be supporting the AP not only with the normal supplementary stuff in each volume, but with other books as well. We're not yet ready to talk about those yet... but if you look at how we provided support for the Darklands for Second Darkness, for the jungles of Mwangi for Serpent's Skull, for genies and Middle Eastern style stuff for Legacy of Fire, and so on... that's a good idea as to how we'll be handling Jade Regent.
But we're still about half a year away.
If you're interested in seeing the kind of adventure and story and themes that'll be showing up in Jade Regent, watching a few of Kurosawa's movies (Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, and Hidden Fortress would be a good start) can "prime the pump" as it were. Other good movies to check out to prepare visually for Jade Regent would include "Spirited Away" and "Princess Mononoke."
In any case, what I'd really recommend if you're intimidated by Jade Regent is to wait until the entire AP is out before you start running it... by that point, you'll have six books of resource material to fall back on... and that's not even counting the other things we've got planned to support the AP.
Thanks, James. I'm slowly talking myself into getting it, I think. The first part, the big Marco Polo-style voyage, just makes my heart flutter with anticipation, and I know you guys do such fantastic work that I'd be likely to love it if I felt confident enough to give it a whirl. Plus I want to support you guys with my money as much as my budget allows!
Haha, and how many different categories do you have, is there a "most memorable question" category as well? Assuming you have a few such categories, which one is your personal favourite?
I don't know how familiar with the Dark Heresy system you are, but which style of weapons do you think is the most impressive, Bolt, Plasma, Melta or las?
I don't suppose you know which of all horror movies made so far has been done with the biggest budget?
Which type of zombies do you prefer? The more typical "Romero" zombies or the modern more ambulatory zombie types you get in the remakes for example?
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Creative Director
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While on the topic of Kurosawa, I was watching "Sanjuro" the other day and was thinking about what makes Kurosawa's samurai movies so effective. One of the things that I've noticed is that most people are definitely frightened for their lives in combat, where they engage in a nervous dance of dancing back and forth into the fray, unsure of themselves and unwilling to invest in the fight without strength in numbers.
You can see examples of this with the bandit gang in Seven Samurai, the confrontation between the two mercenary gangs in Yojimbo, and the siege of Hidetora's castle in Ran. This is in stark contrast to highly trained combatants (like the protagonist of Yojimbo, or the titular Seven Samurai), whose training provide them poise and courage.
Have you ever attempted to emulate this style in a roleplaying game? If so, how did it work out? If not, do you think it would be effective, and how would you institute it into Pathfinder?
All the time. When the PCs are winning a battle, I often have the enemy start to panic or retreat. I also sometimes have NPCs do things that aren't 100% optimized, or effectively waste their turns being frightened or timid or mean or whatever. It helps keep the illusion that the game is more than a mere strategic combat simulator when the bad guys sometimes act realistic.
How we institute it in Pathfinder is via the Tactics section for our stat blocks. We don't use a Tactics section in our Bestiaries, since those monsters are presented outside of the context of a game world or an encounter, but in an adventure, we give monsters tactics that often include mistakes, poor tactical choices, and what happens when their morale breaks.
Have you ever thought of a cavalier variant that rides on dinosaurs?
Are there any spells to which mushrooms are a material component?
Haha, you are good at this.
Are your skills at answering questions based on skill, experience, intelligence, a combination of the above or something else entirely?
Any tips on how to deal with a neighbour that swipe your paper every morning?
If you were to become some type of classic movie monster, what would it be?
Have you ever played Shadowrun? I've been a gm of several campaigns, but never had a chance to play it, just wanted to get the opinion of a player
what do you is better for a villain to drink out of, a skull or a heart from a fallen foe?Skull. Hearts are gross.
King: Bring me wine in the skull of an enemy!
Squire: ::pours wine into skull goblet::King: Find me an enemy with no eyes!
Squire: Sire, they don't have skulls!
King: soo... thirsty...
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Creative Director
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Are your skills at answering questions based on skill, experience, intelligence, a combination of the above or something else entirely?
I just use a super-powerful computer made out of 99 mad scientist brains and a dark-matter battery, powered by the hungry memories of necromancers still waiting to be born. Those other things you mentioned help. As does a dash of imaginative creativity and easy access to the internet, where ALL answers live.
Any tips on how to deal with a neighbour that swipe your paper every morning?
Unsubscribe from the paper and get your news from the internet.
If you were to become some type of classic movie monster, what would it be?
The Invisible Man. He's got the most potential for mayhem.
Have you ever played Shadowrun? I've been a gm of several campaigns, but never had a chance to play it, just wanted to get the opinion of a player
I have, but the experience was not very pleasant; lots of player versus player crap and a GM who was more interested in giving his PC (which he ran as an NPC ally of our group) lots of loot and power than he was in running a fun game.