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Kar-Marga and ...?
It seem I missed the second book.
Guide to Korvosa.
If I remember correctly, the very first in the Campaign Setting line (which was called the Chronicle line at the time).
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You've replied that the relationship between "having faith" and "perception" such that they fall into the common pot is that they are both based on Wisdom.
What I was asking is what is the model which led to them both being based on Wisdom in the first place.Sorry I wasn't more clear at first, I hope this clarifies. I'm familiar with pages 16-17, I've been trying to understand what led to categoring "ways of knowing" in this way to begin with.
To a certain extent, those choices weren't really made by us. They were made by the 3rd edition design team 10 years ago... the 2nd edition one 20 years ago, and the 1st edition one over 30 years ago, all the way back to the start.
You'd have to ask dozens of game designers all the way back to the point where some of them have passed away, alas, to get the full story.
For me, I've always just thought of Wisdom as how your mind interacts with outside influences (and thus how it protects the mind in the form of Will saves), and Charisma as how your mind presents yourself to those outside influences. In other words, Wisdom is defensive while Charisma is offensive.
But again, for more insight than I can give, you'd have to talk to folks like Monte Cook, Jonathan Tweet, Zeb Cook, and other designers who have come in to help define the game through the last nearly 40 years.
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So, I asked this in it's own post, but it seems nobody has answered, so I thought I'd ask you here...
Overall the Dervish Dancer (Bard Archetype in UC) looks great, but I have one question... If Leaf on the Wind requires a standard action to start and maintain, then does that mean one uses it and gets the benefits of All-Out Defense also? Because, with it costing one standard action, you'd have a move action left, so you would be unable to attack, correct?
Leaf on the wind takes a standard action to use, leaving you with one swift and one move action in the round. Fighting defensively and total defense both require standard actions, so you could NOT do those in the same round you use Leaf on the Wind.
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Nodens.
The boards search function seems to indicate this hasn't been mentioned on this thread before.
Since as of Wake of the Watcher a number of mythos entities have been statted as Golarion relevant godlike beings, how does Nodens fit into the world of Golarion?
Does Nodens also qualify as a godlike being, and if so what alignment, and what domains would he grant?Also, which episode of Carrion Crown were nightgaunts statted in, or have they not featured?
Nodens is not a creation of Lovecraft. Like Dagon, Lovecraft took Nodens from a real-world mythology—in this case, Celtic mythology.
We have picked up other mythological entities before for inclusion in Golarion, such as Asmodeus and Lamashtu and even the aforementioned Dagon, although it's worth noting that Lovecraft's and Golarion's Dagon (which are pretty similar) is VERY different than the real-world mythological Dagon.
These changes Lovecraft made to Dagon for his writing are, in my opinion, very in-line with most of his other writing.
Nodens, on the other hand, does NOT fit all that well into the mythos; he fits pretty well among the Gods of Earth in the Dreamlands, but that's a particular pantheon that we have not incorporated into Golarion.
All of which is my way of saying that Nodens plays no official role in Golarion, and is unlikely to anytime in the future. If he did, it would likely NOT be in the capacity of a direct Lovecraftian connection at all, but as a powerful outsider demigod. Dagon in Golarion, after all, is a demon lord–NOT a great old one. We'd use Nodens in a similar way in Golarion if we decided to someday include him, and we'd be MORE likely to do so if we added a Celtic-type region to the world. At this point, we don't really have an obvious Celtic area in Golarion, but that doesn't mean we never will.
In the meantime, Nodens, like Set and Kali and Pele and Thor and Zeus, remains a real-world deity who just doesn't really have much at all going on in the part of the universe we've taken to calling Golarion. Until that changes, I'm not comfortable setting down Nodens's status as a deity, his alignment, and his granted domains in print, even in the form of a messageboard post.
Nightgaunts, along with flying polyps, were originally scheduled to appear in volume #46 of Pathfidner AP ("Wake of the Watcher"). I wrote them up, we got in art for them, but we ended up needing to cut those two monsters from the bestiary for space reasons. They've been lingering on our servers here ever since, and not a month goes by without me pestering Wes to make room for them in that month's Pathfinder AP bestiary. So far (up to and including Pathfinder #53) we've not been able to make that room. I'm hoping to get them into print at some point during Jade Regent, but it might not be until Skull & Shackles. And it might not happen until I find them a home in one of the 64 page books we're doing in the meantime.
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will be able to move toward other types of hardcover rulebooks, at which point something like a mass combat book or a kingdom building book or a social grace bookNow that intrigues me. What would you foresee being covered in such a book?
The romance/rivalry relationship rules I designed for Jade Regent, for one.
But also rules for things like courtly love, business/guild building and growth, expansions to the Leadership feat, rules for building cults, rules for running towns and kingdoms perhaps, new social options for all classes, rules for running courtrooms, rules for how to throw parties and feasts, rules for how to perform plays, and so on.
We have things like this show up in our adventures QUITE regularly, and I'd love to be able to set all the rules down in one place for once and for all so that we wouldn't have to take space up in adventures detailing the rules themselves every time we decide to do an adventure set in a courthouse or play or feast.
Getting some of our more bloodthirsty combat-mongering designers and developers and managers here at Paizo to sign on to help produce such a book would, I suspect, be difficult. But MUCH easier if our customers were vocal in their demands/requests for such a book. I'd LOVE to do a book like this, though.
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Just saw this on another thread:
...We DO know that Nethys is a post-Earthfall deity, and that the god of magic back during the day of Azlant died DURING Earthfall (or just before it). Or at least, I know that. And now all of you do too!...Why 'the' god of magic?
Why not 'a' god of magic, or 'the Azlanti' god of magic?
Idle word choices written in messageboard posts should never be taken as immutable and 100% always accurate.
We already have multiple gods of magic spread across multiple pantheons.
When I mentioned "the" god of magic in that post, I was talking about "the primary god of magic in the pantheon of Azlanti deities, which comprises a collection of deities of which we have not yet set the total number or names in print or even decided upon them in the first place."
"Writing 'the god of magic' was quicker and simpler for my purposes in that particular post.
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Further to my immedately previous post, was it the 'Peacock Spirit' being referred to as the possible deity of magic who took the deific equivalent of a dirt-nap about the time of Earthfall?
It seems to me (from the Inner Sea Guide) that Lissala (still active) with her portfolio which includes runes would have coutned as a deity of magic, to at least some extent, and she apparently survived whatever was going on in deity circles round about Earthfall.
Finally (for now) is Lissala likely to feature to any extent in the forthcoming (rumoured) Thassilon related Adventure Path?
Nope.
The god of magic from the Azlanti pantheon who died at about the time of Earthfall was called Amaznen. From Pathfinder #39's sidebar on the gods of Saventh-Yhi...
Amaznen was the primary god of magic in Azlant, a deity whose name and worship were strictly forbidden in ancient Thassilon and who died during Earthfall.
So no, that deity and the Peacock Spirit were VERY MUCH different things.
Lissala is listed as a forgotten god and not a dead god in the Inner Sea World Guide very much so that in the future if we want we can have clerics of Lissala show up. Whether or not that means she'll have a role to play in The Shattered Star Adventure Path has not yet been revealed... and has not yet even been decided by me.
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Gah. No nightgaunts. (Well not until 'mythos monsters revisited', maybe...)
Hmm. I had thought Nodens had come up before somewhere before, and now I'm wondering if it was in a chat. If so, was some aspect of Erastil mentioned as a possible stand-in for the role?
No...
I've designed the nightgaunt for Pathfinder. It has art. It's been edited. It's just in limbo, waiting for the right time to see print. At this point, my best guess is that it'll show up in the bestiary for Jade Regent #5 or #6, but that's not a guarantee. It could show up in some other book before or after those two are in print.
Nodens, as far as I know, came up before when you asked similar questions about where he's at, and I answered in a similar way. :-)
He hasn't been mentioned in any publication of ours, as far as I know.
Erastil is not a good choice for his stand-in, though, since Erastil is lawful good and not really into the same thing that Nodens is into, despite the fact that they're both gods of the hunt. Nodens is a lot spookier than Erastil, for one, and a lot less misogynistic.
Erastil certainly doesn't have nightguants working for him, that's for damn sure! :)
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Dear Mr Awesome Creative Director James Jacobs,
When I am mounted on my mighty Griffen, and I have a nice lance, and I charge,
What is mutiplied?
IE
+6 str,
Power attack
1d8+9(1.5x str from two handed)+6(power attack) thats Base dmg
So Is the lance just the 1d8 mutiplied?
Or would it be 2d8+30?
Or would it be 1d8x2+30?
Your choices for a Fey revisited book are very close to my own except I would replace Satyr or Kelpie with the Nixie. Also I thought the revisited books had 12 monsters? or I must be thinking of the exeption to the rule.
Do you like sushi? if so what is your favorite?
What is the biggest thing you have ever caught fishing?
What is the most dangerous animal you have ever encountered?
From what I understand, Sandpoint is your baby, and even for a lazy first-time GM it was easy to bring to life. (Though I'm itching for a second chance at doing so.)
I'm running a Runelords game at the moment and we've just wrapped up the manor. I'd like to expand the investigation in Magnimar but I'm having all kinds of trouble bringing the city to life; and I can't wait until next June for the hardcover for new goodies...
Do you have any advice on portraying Magnimar? Has your own campaign expanded on it much? What have you done there? Any major NPCs I could use?
I'll take this to the Runelords forums eventually, but I've just discovered this thread and my jaw hit the floor... over 200 pages. Kudos, James. That's some real dedication.
Leaf on the wind takes a standard action to use, leaving you with one swift and one move action in the round. Fighting defensively and total defense both require standard actions, so you could NOT do those in the same round you use Leaf on the Wind.So, I asked this in it's own post, but it seems nobody has answered, so I thought I'd ask you here...
Overall the Dervish Dancer (Bard Archetype in UC) looks great, but I have one question... If Leaf on the Wind requires a standard action to start and maintain, then does that mean one uses it and gets the benefits of All-Out Defense also? Because, with it costing one standard action, you'd have a move action left, so you would be unable to attack, correct?
Alright, but I see that also answers the other question I had about it... you are unable to attack while using it which... makes me wonder... what's the point? Defense while running away?
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will be able to move toward other types of hardcover rulebooks, at which point something like a mass combat book or a kingdom building book or a social grace bookNow that intrigues me. What would you foresee being covered in such a book?The romance/rivalry relationship rules I designed for Jade Regent, for one.
But also rules for things like courtly love, business/guild building and growth, expansions to the Leadership feat, rules for building cults, rules for running towns and kingdoms perhaps, new social options for all classes, rules for running courtrooms, rules for how to throw parties and feasts, rules for how to perform plays, and so on.
We have things like this show up in our adventures QUITE regularly, and I'd love to be able to set all the rules down in one place for once and for all so that we wouldn't have to take space up in adventures detailing the rules themselves every time we decide to do an adventure set in a courthouse or play or feast.
Getting some of our more bloodthirsty combat-mongering designers and developers and managers here at Paizo to sign on to help produce such a book would, I suspect, be difficult. But MUCH easier if our customers were vocal in their demands/requests for such a book. I'd LOVE to do a book like this, though.
+1 support for all those products then.
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Dear Mr Awesome Creative Director James Jacobs,
When I am mounted on my mighty Griffen, and I have a nice lance, and I charge,
What is mutiplied?
IE
+6 str,
Power attack
1d8+9(1.5x str from two handed)+6(power attack) thats Base dmg
So Is the lance just the 1d8 mutiplied?
Or would it be 2d8+30?
Or would it be 1d8x2+30?
All of it is multiplied except for extra dice of damage you might get from sneak attack or energy damage from magic weapons.
Whether or not you roll the dice multiple times or just once and then multiply the result is up to you and your GM though.
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I respectfully but strongly disagree. The attributes are being used for a lot of things, now, that would have never occured to us when we were playing other versions over the decades.
And that's fine. The game morphs over the years. And I like your definition of charisma as how the self presents itself to the world. I'm just trying to understand what was intended (in the non-mechanical foundation - epistemology might be a good word) by the most recent game designers, because that question's answer isn't so obvious by looking at earlier versions.
Well then! I've given my response, but it just sounded from your response that you were looking for something more than that. But since you weren't... well and good!
+1 support for all those products then.will be able to move toward other types of hardcover rulebooks, at which point something like a mass combat book or a kingdom building book or a social grace bookNow that intrigues me. What would you foresee being covered in such a book?The romance/rivalry relationship rules I designed for Jade Regent, for one.
But also rules for things like courtly love, business/guild building and growth, expansions to the Leadership feat, rules for building cults, rules for running towns and kingdoms perhaps, new social options for all classes, rules for running courtrooms, rules for how to throw parties and feasts, rules for how to perform plays, and so on.
We have things like this show up in our adventures QUITE regularly, and I'd love to be able to set all the rules down in one place for once and for all so that we wouldn't have to take space up in adventures detailing the rules themselves every time we decide to do an adventure set in a courthouse or play or feast.
Getting some of our more bloodthirsty combat-mongering designers and developers and managers here at Paizo to sign on to help produce such a book would, I suspect, be difficult. But MUCH easier if our customers were vocal in their demands/requests for such a book. I'd LOVE to do a book like this, though.
A million times yes.
Though for the sake of preventing a big bloated mass of rules, I'd like some golarion specific fluff thrown in... Perhaps this could be part of the Chronicles or Companion lines instead?
Either way, I'd definately read this cover to cover.
Didn't see this covered before, so:
Pathfinder and Golarion elves don't seem to have the close mythological ties to certain key critters -- Cat Sidhe, Cù Sìth, giant eagles -- that they had in previous editions and (WotC/TSR) settings. Do they have any critters to which they feel a closer connection/association beyond Calistria's wasps?
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Your choices for a Fey revisited book are very close to my own except I would replace Satyr or Kelpie with the Nixie. Also I thought the revisited books had 12 monsters? or I must be thinking of the exeption to the rule.
Do you like sushi? if so what is your favorite?
What is the biggest thing you have ever caught fishing?
What is the most dangerous animal you have ever encountered?
I'd rather not replace the satyr since there's already a guy-fey shortage as it is. But the nixie's certainly a contender. In any event, every one of our revisited books have had 10 chapters, including the one about treasures.
I love sushi. Philly Rolls are my current favorite, although I recently had lobster sushi and that was quite good. I'd like to try abalone sushi some day... but that's expensive. I might need to wait until I go home to visit the parents where abalone is free and make it myself...
Biggest thing I've caught fishing on my own with a fishing pole was probably some sort of trout... been a long time since I've been pole fishing, but I hope to remedy that soon. Biggest thing I've caught with my dad on his boat was on commercial salmon fishing gear—I want to say that the largest salmon we caught was a 45 pound King Salmon, if I remember correctly. But the BIGGEST thing I caught was a 6 foot blue shark. That's actually a situation where you see the shark and just cut the line; the hook'll fall out of his jaw eventually and it's just not worth trying to salvage something like that from a mouth filled with shark teeth.
As for the most dangerous wild animal I've encountered, (not counting zoos of course) it'd probably be the aforementioned blue shark, although not the one I caught; one of the 10 footers or so that my dad and I saw periodically. I've seen plenty of jellyfish of various species as well, but I'm not sure if any of them were of the type that'd be more dangerous than a ten-foot blue shark. BIGGEST wild animal I've seen is a gray whale... I've seen blue whales spouting out at sea from the shore, but in that case you're just seeing the spout so it doesn't count. I suppose I should count myself lucky that a 10 foot blue shark's the danger limit, since I grew up in a region where mountain lions and great white sharks aren't unheard of (my friend saw a mountain lion sitting on the picnic table in front of my house once, but it was gone by the time I went to look... and they spot great white sharks relatively frequently off the coast of northern California, and folks get bitten or eaten now and then...).
Actually... I bet some of my grandfathers prize-winning bulls were pretty dangerous. Anything with horns wider than a door could be trouble!
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From what I understand, Sandpoint is your baby, and even for a lazy first-time GM it was easy to bring to life. (Though I'm itching for a second chance at doing so.)
I'm running a Runelords game at the moment and we've just wrapped up the manor. I'd like to expand the investigation in Magnimar but I'm having all kinds of trouble bringing the city to life; and I can't wait until next June for the hardcover for new goodies...
Do you have any advice on portraying Magnimar? Has your own campaign expanded on it much? What have you done there? Any major NPCs I could use?
I'll take this to the Runelords forums eventually, but I've just discovered this thread and my jaw hit the floor... over 200 pages. Kudos, James. That's some real dedication.
Yup; Sandpoint was all me. I based it heavilly on my home town of Point Arena—there's a lot of Point Arena in Sandpoint (including it's name... translated, Point Arena means "sand point"), such as the weird sign & mirror just outside of town, some of the road names like Schooner Gulch, the visit from wayward Japanese/Minkani travelers many years past, the weather, lots of the characters, the presence of a lighthouse... good times!
We're also doing a 64 page Guide to Magnimar next year, so by this time next year you'll have plenty of Magnimar goodies to work from. As for how to portray it before then... it's a big city that grew a bit too fast for its own britches. I actually haven't done much with Magnimar yet... I generally just portray it as Sandpoint but everything's BIGGER...
And yeah... here's hoping for 300 pages soon!
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Alright, but I see that also answers the other question I had about it... you are unable to attack while using it which... makes me wonder... what's the point? Defense while running away?Leaf on the wind takes a standard action to use, leaving you with one swift and one move action in the round. Fighting defensively and total defense both require standard actions, so you could NOT do those in the same round you use Leaf on the Wind.So, I asked this in it's own post, but it seems nobody has answered, so I thought I'd ask you here...
Overall the Dervish Dancer (Bard Archetype in UC) looks great, but I have one question... If Leaf on the Wind requires a standard action to start and maintain, then does that mean one uses it and gets the benefits of All-Out Defense also? Because, with it costing one standard action, you'd have a move action left, so you would be unable to attack, correct?
The point is that it's a better defense option than fighting defensively OR total defense. So any time you'd use one of those... you would use Leaf on the Wind instead. Maybe if you're facing a scary foe and you need to hold the line while a healer comes up to help, or while other wounded allies flee, or whatever.
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Didn't see this covered before, so:
Pathfinder and Golarion elves don't seem to have the close mythological ties to certain key critters -- Cat Sidhe, Cù Sìth, giant eagles -- that they had in previous editions and (WotC/TSR) settings. Do they have any critters to which they feel a closer connection/association beyond Calistria's wasps?
Not really. Gnomes are the super animal/nature race in Golarion. Elves like nature, but they're more about art and magic than they are about animals. They certainly enjoy animals, and depending on the region will keep different pets and companions and all that, though. Including things like elven cats or giant eagles or the like.
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But also rules for things like courtly love, business/guild building and growth, expansions to the Leadership feat, rules for building cults, rules for running towns and kingdoms perhaps, new social options for all classes, rules for running courtrooms, rules for how to throw parties and feasts, rules for how to perform plays, and so on.
First, I would be very interested in purchasing such a book.
Second, I also recognize that it would likely not sell as well as, say, Ultimate Combat. That said, I do believe part of Paizo's winning formula is your willingness to take risks and try new things. I noticed this back when you were a magazine publisher, and have continued to appreciate it with adventures like The Sixfold Trial and Kingmaker. I sincerely hope you consider to do so, as your upcoming hardcover releases seem fairly conservative (Advanced Races Guide and Ultimate Equipment in particular).
Third, in regards to such a proposed hardcover, if it does come to fruition there are specific things I would like to see:
A. Rules for building businesses, guilds, religions, and other organizations would be compatible with the faction and academy rules found in the Faction Guide, Inner Sea Magic, and elsewhere. These rules should also provide a measure for tracking the size and resources of not only one's own organization, but rival organizations as well. This way, both players and GMs will be able to track real progress made by faction missions.
B. Expanded rules for trade that can be integrated into the caravan system found in the Jade Regent Player's Guide, as well as whatever additional rules we see for ships in Skull & Shackles.
will be able to move toward other types of hardcover rulebooks, at which point something like a mass combat book or a kingdom building book or a social grace bookNow that intrigues me. What would you foresee being covered in such a book?The romance/rivalry relationship rules I designed for Jade Regent, for one.
But also rules for things like courtly love, business/guild building and growth, expansions to the Leadership feat, rules for building cults, rules for running towns and kingdoms perhaps, new social options for all classes, rules for running courtrooms, rules for how to throw parties and feasts, rules for how to perform plays, and so on.
We have things like this show up in our adventures QUITE regularly, and I'd love to be able to set all the rules down in one place for once and for all so that we wouldn't have to take space up in adventures detailing the rules themselves every time we decide to do an adventure set in a courthouse or play or feast.
Getting some of our more bloodthirsty combat-mongering designers and developers and managers here at Paizo to sign on to help produce such a book would, I suspect, be difficult. But MUCH easier if our customers were vocal in their demands/requests for such a book. I'd LOVE to do a book like this, though.
ohmygodohmygodohmygod. *faints*
Mark me down as a "yes please".
As an aside, my favourite ever book from the BECMI line was C. Played the heck out of those rules (kingdom building and mass combat ones).
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Speaking of Skull & Shackles, I've been excited about this AP since it was announced at PaizoCon. However, after getting a chance to peruse the vehicle rules in Ultimate Combat, I'm somewhat concerned with the regatta in Tempest Rising.
As currently designed, the rules for running vehicles places all of the decisions into the hands of the driver, with little else for the rest of the party to do. While this is fine under circumstances like ship-to-ship combat, where the rest of the PCs will likely be fighting tooth and nail against an enemy boarding party, it does seem like the centerpiece of this AP volume will be entirely up to the driver PC.
This has been an issue in RPGs as long as vehicular combat has existed, and often leads to the rest of the party being bored and alienated (I can certainly think of personal examples in both Spelljammer and the D20 Star Wars game).
Has this issue already been discussed and, if so, could you share your thoughts on how the rest of the party can stay engaged?
My money's on a modified version of the chase mechanics, where party members take different roles on the ship and are called upon to make a variety of skill and ability checks based on which roles they choose, but I'd love to hear your thoughts!
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Finally, on a totally unrelated note, I'd love to get your perspective on a rather sticky problem:
As a fan of Paizo and Pathfinder, I enjoy most of your company's output. Unfortunately, I am not always pleased with every design decision or enthused about every product announcement. I feel that, as a consumer, I should express my opinions (both positive and negative) to provide feedback and help shape the future of the line.
At the same time, though, I cannot help but notice the sometimes-vitriolic comments on these boards and would rather not contribute to the hostility. Thus, I sometimes find myself choosing not to say anything, even when I am disappointed by decisions made by authors, designers, or developers.
Where would you say that the happy medium lies, where customers can share their concerns and criticisms with the company without turning the boards into a seething pit of nerdrage?
Whatd'ya know it, here I am again.
I heard Ameiko was a former PC of yours, James. Could you tell us a little about that game? Inquiring minds are dying to know!
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will be able to move toward other types of hardcover rulebooks, at which point something like a mass combat book or a kingdom building book or a social grace book
Along that line, instead of Bestiary 4, I would like to chime in and pitch a "Challenges" book. Not sure what a good name would be, but instead of a bestiary of many creatures it would feature curses, diseases, haunts, poisons, traps, and-so-forth. Additionally, for example instead of short little blurbs of what the poison is and does, I imagine a more full body of text covering typical ways of acquisition, presence and application (though that really mostly makes sense in-setting, not setting-agnostic). Essentially a big book of "other" nasty things a GM can challenge his/her players with.
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Seeing the recurrent laments about the scry and fry tactics and about high level casters, have you ever considered doing an article about non magical means of protection against magic?
Or about low magic means of protection?
To cite some example coming from old dragon articles and other sources:
- lead sheeting block almost all detection spells.
It blocks scry? A sheet of lead crystal is sufficient to block detections and/or scrying attempts?
- gorgon blood mixed to the mortar of a wall would block astral passage, blocking teleportation.
- a ethereal creature can't pass through living things, so a ivy covered building is protected from them.
A list of similar effect could inspire module writers so that they would put them in the adventures and at the same time could be well received by players that feel that the spellcaster overshadow martial types.
It could even be possible to introduce special metals in game that help against magic if the drawbacks are serious enough to keep them balanced, something like:
Noqual is strangely resistant to magic (Pathfinder 14)
possible use A helm completely made of pure noqual would block magical emissions targeted to the brain, stopping all enchantment (compulsion or charm) against the person using it. That advantage come at a heavy price as the wearer of the helm is severed from the flow of magic and totally incapable to cast spell (either from his spellcasting abilities or magic items), use magic items that require command words or use spell like or supernatural powers. Furthermore he is totally incapable
to to direct the effects of spell affecting him (that mean that he can be the subject of a fly spell but he will be incapable to control his fly movement, making the spell nothing more than a expensive feather fall).
The negative effects last for 1 hour after removing the helmet as the brain need time to readjust to the flow of magic.
A spellcaster will be unable to recover his spells while protected by the helmet.
It will be impossible to enchant items while under the effect of the helmet.
As this is only possible suggestion I haven't really checked for game balance, but the drawbacks seem serious enough to make a similar item acceptable.
On a different note, I started running Jade Regent for some friends yesterday - and it is promising to be great campaign. I wanted to tell you about a little experiment that I did during the opening session that I thought turned out really well: I liked the "performance combat" section in Ultimate Combat a lot, and adopted it as follows during play:
Sandru Vhiski had a vocal run-in with his brother and several other Sczarni, just outside the Rustic Dragon. The PCs and several townsfolk all gathered in the course of the heated debate. Ultimately things became quite inflamed and a type of performance combat broke out where the PCs and a few Sczarni could have a go at each other to win over the overall crowd (a mixture of townsfolk and more Sczarni).
Neither side could risk actually injuring anybody without repercussions while in broad daylight, so both sides got to try feints, heating-up-the-audience, shoves and other maneuvers and-so-forth to trigger performance checks and then try to succeed at those to sway the onlookers.
I quite liked the results, and will definitely incorporate performance aspects to future encounters when I see good opportunities for it.
Oh, one question - there are a couple of special actions that PCs may do to trigger reactions and develop relationship score in The Brinewall Legacy. For example, "if is brought to Ameiko, then increase the relationship score by 1". Are these things just for the PC that actually performs the action, or does it extend to all PCs? I can see arguments for both cases; and different triggers described in the adventure lend themselves to either single or party benefit. I will certainly adjudicate them on a case-by-case basis; but in situations of ties I'd like to know what the intention is to act as a tie-breaker.
Thanks :)
I have also considered moving to Seattle. As a Vegas resident, I'm used to the world around me being devoid of life for the most part, as we're smack dab in the middle of a blazing desert.
So, I guess what I'm asking is: what's the bug factor in Seattle?
Not that bad at all. The biggest issue that comes to mind are the big spiders—we've got some doozies up here, including the horrifying hobo spider, whose bite can put a grown man in the hospital.
Not a lot of things like mosquitos or ants or other pesty bugs in my experience though. The bug factor is quite bearable, but I have a high tolerance for bugs. In that I'm a big fan of big spiders...
Holy crap! Those things are real? I thought that was just a joke in a Penny-Arcade Strip.
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Creative Director
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Speaking of Skull & Shackles, I've been excited about this AP since it was announced at PaizoCon. However, after getting a chance to peruse the vehicle rules in Ultimate Combat, I'm somewhat concerned with the regatta in Tempest Rising.
As currently designed, the rules for running vehicles places all of the decisions into the hands of the driver, with little else for the rest of the party to do. While this is fine under circumstances like ship-to-ship combat, where the rest of the PCs will likely be fighting tooth and nail against an enemy boarding party, it does seem like the centerpiece of this AP volume will be entirely up to the driver PC.
This has been an issue in RPGs as long as vehicular combat has existed, and often leads to the rest of the party being bored and alienated (I can certainly think of personal examples in both Spelljammer and the D20 Star Wars game).
Has this issue already been discussed and, if so, could you share your thoughts on how the rest of the party can stay engaged?
My money's on a modified version of the chase mechanics, where party members take different roles on the ship and are called upon to make a variety of skill and ability checks based on which roles they choose, but I'd love to hear your thoughts!
While you'll certainly be able to use the vehicle combat rules from Ultimate Comabat in Skull & Shackles if you want... they won't be the only option. There is a MUCH simpler set of rules for naval encounters in the Gamemastery Guide that you'll be able to use instead if you want, and we'll be presenting a sort of "middle-of-the-road" set of rules designed specifically for the AP as well. The regatta itself will have it's OWN rules, which at this point I'm guessing will be a cross between the chase rules and naval rules from Gamemastery Guide. Modifying and changing the rules so that the entire party can take part AND so that they're simple but entertaining enough to fit well into the flow of the adventures is the goal.
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Creative Director
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Hi James. I'm amazed at your dedication to answering almost all the questions in this thread. I have just one question for now.
Do you get paid per post? If not maybe something to bring up next time compensation is discussed.
Anyway, just felt the need to post in this thread. Keep up the good work.
HA! No, I don't really get paid by the post. Sort of. I do get my salary, though, and since maintaining a messageboard presence is part of all of our job descriptions at Paizo... I guess I do get paid to post here. Just not by the post.
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Creative Director
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Finally, on a totally unrelated note, I'd love to get your perspective on a rather sticky problem:
As a fan of Paizo and Pathfinder, I enjoy most of your company's output. Unfortunately, I am not always pleased with every design decision or enthused about every product announcement. I feel that, as a consumer, I should express my opinions (both positive and negative) to provide feedback and help shape the future of the line.
At the same time, though, I cannot help but notice the sometimes-vitriolic comments on these boards and would rather not contribute to the hostility. Thus, I sometimes find myself choosing not to say anything, even when I am disappointed by decisions made by authors, designers, or developers.
Where would you say that the happy medium lies, where customers can share their concerns and criticisms with the company without turning the boards into a seething pit of nerdrage?
Not every game or game supplement is a great option for every gamer. There are things we publish that, while I'm proud of them, will NEVER be used in a game I run (the Fumble cards, for example). They're just not things that I like to put into my game.
If you don't like something we publish... that's one of these things the boards are FOR. Let us know. Review the books. Just keep in mind that insults and poor behavior can sour us to your comments IMMEDIATELY, even when they're not aimed at us... it's just as disappointing to see someone tear one of our products apart in an insulting way as it is to see them praise our products by tearing someone else or some other company apart.
Post maturely and in a calm, reasonable manner, like your post did, and that can only help us make better games overall.
That said... it's also important to keep perspective. Not every gamer likes the same things. For example, I don't really like Star Wars, Mel Brooks, or The Princess Bride, but those are VERY popular among most gamers. Do I rail against those things and wish they'd never been created? No... because I understand that there are other things out there that have been created that I love. Sometimes, decisions made by designers are things that one person might find disappointing, but that isn't necessarily the case for everyone else, and THAT'S important to remember. And that said... we have thick skin here. That's more or less a requirement for working in this industry, so don't get too worried that you'll hurt our feelings by giving a book we do a bad review.
The world's big enough for everyone's opinion.
ANYway... as for the "happy medium" you mention... it lies here on these boards. Just post feedback without being insulting; say something like, "This book isn't for me, and it had too many errors, and I wish they'd done something more with dragons," and not "This book is lame, the editors were obviously asleep on the job, and it's one more example of why Paizo hates dragons."
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Creative Director
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Whatd'ya know it, here I am again.
I heard Ameiko was a former PC of yours, James. Could you tell us a little about that game? Inquiring minds are dying to know!
It was in a Planescape game that my friend ran, where he basically gave us permission to make a character from ANY setting. My first character was a Small tiefling; part quasit, mostly halfling, who was an evil cleric named Myrmyxicus. That name ended up being the name for a powerful aquatic demon I designed for WotC's Fiend Folio.
Myrmyxicus died, and he was replaced by his brother, a halfling paladin named Thistle Ambermead. He only lasted for two sessions though before HE died... slain by a demon.
HIS replacement was Lavinia Ameiko. Lavinia was a rogue spy from Kara-Tur, a female aasimar I believe. That was the first time I really played a rogue, and probably the genesis for my big fandom of the rogue class (it's my 3rd favorite class behind bard and cleric these days). She had a kobold samurai follower too, a little guy named Chupo. Chupo ended up gettting into print back in the Dungeon days in Richard Pett's "The Devil Box," when I needed a name for one of the kobolds in the adventure.
Lavinia Ameiko herself went on to survive the longest in that campaign, in any event; she got up to about 13th level when the campaign came to an end after half the group moved to Idaho. She's also part of my supersticious belief that female characters are "luckier," since this was the third replacement PC I'd rolled up that was super successful and lived long after a brief dalliance with short-lived unlucky male PCs.
In any event, I used Lavinia's first name for ANOTHER character, for one of the primary NPCs in the Savage Tide Adventure Path. When I got to Burnt Offerings, though, I decided to use her last name for Ameiko Kaijitsu, and Ameiko Kaijitsu is actually, personality-wise, very close to how I played Lavinia Ameiko herself in the Planescape game... even if she's human (and thus doesn't have blue hair and white eyes) and a bard (instead of a rogue).
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Creative Director
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I've given my response, but it just sounded from your response that you were looking for something more than that. But since you weren't... well and good!I am looking for something more than the response I've gotten so far. I'm trying to understand the conceptual framework the recent game designers were using wrt the character attributes (for example, what is the relationship between perception and having faith such that they'd be based on the same attribute). I'm just having trouble getting such an understanding.
I'm honestly not sure what else to say on the topic, though. It sounds like your confused, so my natural inclination is to simplify and give a few examples, not write an essay on the topic.
The relationship between having faith and perception, frankly, comes down to the fact that that's the way it worked in 3rd edition, and we chose to keep it that way. And because we only have 3 mental ability scores anyway; one for smarts, one for personalty, and one for everything else; since perception and faith don't really mesh with smarts or personality, it makes sense that it gets attached to that "everything else."
AND NO... I'm not saying that faith is what you get when you're stupid and have a terrible personality. I'm saying that faith is a different category, because you can have a super smart or very dumb faithful person, just as you can have a super friendly or super awkward/unfriendly one.
Also... if you want to look at it that way: Intelligence = science; Wisdom = faith; Charisma = society.
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Creative Director
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Seeing the recurrent laments about the scry and fry tactics and about high level casters, have you ever considered doing an article about non magical means of protection against magic?
Or about low magic means of protection?
There's nothing recent about laments about scry and fry. That's been part of the game forever. And rather than do articles about how to defeat scry and fry tactics, I'd rather publish adventures that do just that by example.
Frankly, if a group wants to scry and fry... the GM should let them. It's lame to design things that purposfully negate the toys you give the players. If scry and fry is really something you don't want to work in your game, then just say It Doesn't Work; say in order to teleport, you have to have physically been to the location or just remove scry from the game or something.
OR: Do what I do; design adventures where the PCs need to accomplish other goals along the way; if they teleport directly into the bad guy's lair without softening things up, the bad guy should be too tough to take on, and should be able to call all of his allies to his side. A failed scry and fry that ends in a TPK is a good way to teach players that just because you're high level doesn't mean you're invulnerable.
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Creative Director
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Oh, one question - there are a couple of special actions that PCs may do to trigger reactions and develop relationship score in The Brinewall Legacy. For example, "if is brought to Ameiko, then increase the relationship score by 1". Are these things just for the PC that actually performs the action, or does it extend to all PCs? I can see arguments for both cases; and different triggers described in the adventure lend themselves to either single or party benefit. I will certainly adjudicate them on a case-by-case basis; but in situations of ties I'd like to know what the intention is to act as a tie-breaker.
Thanks :)
Those things are meant to apply to any PC that presents the gift and is obviously part of it all.
If you bring back that spoiler for Ameiko on your own and secretly give it to her, then yes, you're the only one who gets the relationship score point. But if you and two other PCs all obviously worked to get that spoiler, and you are all there when it's given to Ameiko, then all three of you would get that relationship point. It's really a super-situational type thing that the GM needs to determine based on how the PCs act and all that, and so it was left vague for that exact reason.