>>Ask *James Jacobs* ALL your Questions Here!<<


Off-Topic Discussions

12,051 to 12,100 of 83,732 << first < prev | 237 | 238 | 239 | 240 | 241 | 242 | 243 | 244 | 245 | 246 | 247 | next > last >>
Paizo Employee Creative Director

Karlgamer wrote:

Do you see anything wrong with making the quarterstaff finessable?

Maybe I could make a martial version that is finessable?

The fact that a quarterstaff is a two-handed simple double weapon means that making it finessable, while that might make sense considering how some quarterstaff fighting styles work, makes it TOO good.

MAYBE a version of the same weapon that's exotic would be fine... but there's not a lot of precedent for a 2-handed double weapon finessable weapon in Pathfinder...

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Evil Midnight Lurker wrote:

Since lantern archons were taken off the improved familiar list, archons are now the only outsider race (besides demodands, who don't count since they haven't been Pathfinderized at all yet) not to have an improved familiar option.

Will there be a familiarizable archon in Bestiary 3?

Bestiary 3 will fix that.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

ANebulousMistress wrote:

I just had a very weird thought about Carrion Crown. Since I only have one PC and all...

Can a werewolf be a vampire? If my PC becomes a werewolf could she also end up a vampire? A vampiric werewolf? A were-vampire? A wolf-pyre?

Also, red wine is gooooood.....

A werewolf can indeed gain the vampire template. That starts getting weirdly complicated though...

Paizo Employee Creative Director

W E Ray wrote:

Jacobs,

(And other experts in Golarion Lore)

Is Andoran culture/ history more linked with Cheliax, yes, than Taldor?

I see Andoran somewhat similar to the American Colonies breaking from England while hoping for French support -- Andoran breaking away from Cheliax hoping for Taldoran support. But still much more Chelaxian than Taldoran, yes?

The reason it's important to me is that I don't use the "common" language most gamers do and I've been struggling with what Andoran's language would be, Chelaxian or Taldoran. My gut tells me that culturally/ historically the Andoran language would be Chelaxian (albeit with a dialect), not Taldoran.

Thanks.

Andoren culture and history is more linked with old Cheliax than new Cheliax. But there's Taldan influence there as well.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Vinland Forever wrote:
Will there ever be a Pathfinder version of Savage Species? I will buy it. Guaranteed.

The closest we'll probably be getting to that is the upcoming Advanced Race Guide.

Pathfinder's simply not built to make playing any monster in the game as a PC a balanced option. Since the rules work the same way for all types of monsters, a GM can certainly just give players permission to, say, play minotaurs or blue dragons or whatever... but there's not really any way to make it fair and balanced across the board for different races in a truly mixed-race party. That's not the game we're publishing.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Twigs wrote:

Can we talk about firearms in Skull and Shackles? I know it's been touched on before, but I'm starting to think about what approach I'll take. How do you feel about their absence in this particular AP? What will the naval warfare be like in their absense? Exciting? Where do we stand on cannons?

If things look exciting enough without guns, I'll definately think of swinging that way.

On the other hand, I'm sure my (potential) players might have other expectations. If I have even one character with a firearm, I think I'll find myself making them more widespread. I'm planning on fiddling with the crafting rules and forcing my players to acquisition their own gunpowder, whether through the Chelish navy or heinous piracy.

Curious about the big scary dinosaur's insight.

Also how are you finding Skyrim? Got around to playing it yet? I found myself shelving my Nord and unabashedly playing a wood elf rouge with a penchant for things stabbity.

... what?

The role of firearms in the Skull & Shackles AP is very very very limited. World canon has established that, in the Shackles, only the Hurricane King has access to firearms and cannons. Naval warfare without them will be HEAVILY focused on boarding action as a result, although non-cannon siege weapons like ballistas and magic will still appear. The assumption is, though, that firearms will be playing a VERY small role in Skull & Shackles, and are unlikely to even appear at all until the last adventure.

Skyrim is really super awesome. Just hit 16th level with my Imperial archer/rogue type.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Aberzombie wrote:

James,

What do you think of the two Reaper Legendary Encounters pre-painted plastic dinosaur minis?

Dinosaurs make everything better.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

STR Ranger wrote:

James,

Can a magus use spellstrike to either:
Cast touch spell, then move, then attack to deliver the spell?

or

Cast a touch spell, then make the free attack to deliver the spell 2 handed?

Obviously none of these can be combined with Spell Combat, since it explicitly states spell combat is 1. A full attack and 2.Requires a free hand. But what about just closing to melee with a spellstrike?

No.

No.

At least, not in my games. But then, I've actually not read the magus entry yet, since I don't have any in my games, nor has one shown up in any adventures or books I'm developing or writing.


Since you mention boarding action does a ship count as ground for the purposes of the moonlight bridge revelation(apg) of the heavans oracle so would that work as a boarding ramp?


James Jacobs wrote:
The role of firearms in the Skull & Shackles AP is very very very limited. World canon has established that, in the Shackles, only the Hurricane King has access to firearms and cannons.

Snicker. Cannon canon or... canon cannon!

James, which do you prefer as the plural for cannon? What is the Paizo style? Why?


有沒有任何吸血鬼在中國?


How do you feel about these accusations? Here

I was going to comment against such comments, but I didn't want to start a fight and further derail the thread.


Monkeygod wrote:

How do you feel about these accusations? Here

I was going to comment against such comments, but I didn't want to start a fight and further derail the thread.

Oui. Pourquoi détestez-vous de bons orcs?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

doctor_wu wrote:
Since you mention boarding action does a ship count as ground for the purposes of the moonlight bridge revelation(apg) of the heavans oracle so would that work as a boarding ramp?

Perhaps... spells like these attaching to mobile objects get weird. We'll talk more about that in the Skull & Shackles player's guide or somewhere like that, in theory...

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Evil Lincoln wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
The role of firearms in the Skull & Shackles AP is very very very limited. World canon has established that, in the Shackles, only the Hurricane King has access to firearms and cannons.

Snicker. Cannon canon or... canon cannon!

James, which do you prefer as the plural for cannon? What is the Paizo style? Why?

I suspect the Paizo style is cannons. With an "S". Why? Because that's a regular plural, and that's one less exception to the rule the editors have to track.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Kelsey MacAilbert wrote:
有沒有任何吸血鬼在中國?

Ummmmm... Peaches?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Monkeygod wrote:

How do you feel about these accusations? Here

I was going to comment against such comments, but I didn't want to start a fight and further derail the thread.

As I said in that thread... half-orcs look like monsters, so a half-orc iconic is hard to use in an illustration. And hence we didn't want to use up a core base class with a half-orc.


James Jacobs wrote:
Kelsey MacAilbert wrote:
有沒有任何吸血鬼在中國?
Ummmmm... Peaches?

I lol'd.

The question was, are there vampires in Golarion's version of China?

Also, why do you dislike good aligned orcs? The orc sourcebook has zero support for them.


James Jacobs wrote:
Monkeygod wrote:

How do you feel about these accusations? Here

I was going to comment against such comments, but I didn't want to start a fight and further derail the thread.

As I said in that thread... half-orcs look like monsters, so a half-orc iconic is hard to use in an illustration. And hence we didn't want to use up a core base class with a half-orc.

The Inquisitor iconic doesn't strike me as particularly monstrous. When will she get a Meet The Iconics entry? I want to read all about her.


Parlez-vous français? Do you like the French? Have you ever been to France?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Kelsey MacAilbert wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Kelsey MacAilbert wrote:
有沒有任何吸血鬼在中國?
Ummmmm... Peaches?

I lol'd.

The question was, are there vampires in Golarion's version of China?

Also, why do you dislike good aligned orcs? The orc sourcebook has zero support for them.

Yay! I was right in my guess to report on Peaches the vampire!

On a more serious note... yes, there are vampires in Tian Xia. They'll have details in Bestiary 3.

As for why I dislike good-aligned orcs... mostly because I'm a fan of tradition in the game. Orcs have always been evil in the game, and switching that around makes them into something less orc. Many monsters lose their "cool" when they become good guys, in my opinion—one need look no further than Driz'zt and how the perception on drow has changed for an example of that.

Furthermore... World of Warcraft already has a LOT of work done on the scene of orcs being the not completely evil version... and as a result going back to evil orcs from THAT is refreshing as well.

But mostly? Orcs are evil in Golarion becasue they were evil in 1st edition AD&D (and Lord of the Rings, of course).

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Kelsey MacAilbert wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Monkeygod wrote:

How do you feel about these accusations? Here

I was going to comment against such comments, but I didn't want to start a fight and further derail the thread.

As I said in that thread... half-orcs look like monsters, so a half-orc iconic is hard to use in an illustration. And hence we didn't want to use up a core base class with a half-orc.
The Inquisitor iconic doesn't strike me as particularly monstrous. When will she get a Meet The Iconics entry? I want to read all about her.

Stand her next to any other iconic and presto... she looks monstrous. Green skin does that to a person.

We'll get to the last few meet the iconics soon.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Le Soldat Fidèle de Reine wrote:
Parlez-vous français? Do you like the French? Have you ever been to France?

I took French for 2 years in college... I wish I'd taken Spanish in retrospect, since that's what I took in High School and those two languages are similar but different enough that it was pretty confusing. That, and I would have had a lot more opportunities to speak Spanish... although I AM a big fan of the French horror movie movement of late.

Anyway... nope. Never been to France. In fact, discounting my trips to Gen Con for Paizo, I've never been off the West Coast—Washington and California, and I guess Oregon too since you have to go through it to get to one of the other two.


Mr T-Rex:

What are our chances of ever seeing a book focused on -or at least partially devoted to- more mundane activities such as farming, crafting (not necessarily of the magical type), trading, hunting, business-making in Golarion, exploring, cooking, and the like?

Stuff that helps enrich low-level games or stories that walk away for a bit from classic adventuring.


1)When a Druid spontanously cast a summon nature's ally spell they still have the 1 round casting time correct?

2)Were on Golarian are the colossal size giant vermin(scorpions, cemtipedes, cockroaches, etc.) most comonly found?

3)What is the strangest creature you have ever had to design? spell? magic item?

4)Have you seen "Date with an angel", "Almost an angel", or "the Heavenly kid"? if so did you like them?

5)Will we get another Beasrairy 3 preview this thursday?

6)If you had to replace(or wanted to) the half-orc as a one of the core races what race would you replace it with?

7)Is the concentration check DC to cast a cantrip defensively a 15?

8)So you still have to make a concentration check to cast a spell while grappled even if the spell has no somatic components? what if there are no components at all? Why is the DC so high to cast spell while grappled?

9)If you could be immune to one energy type in the real would wich would you choose: Acid, Cold, Electricity, Fire, or Sonic?

10)When you play as spellcasting characters do you take combat casting? if so is it sometimes or all the time?

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
James Jacobs wrote:
Furthermore... World of Warcraft already has a LOT of work done on the scene of orcs being the not completely evil version... and as a result going back to evil orcs from THAT is refreshing as well.

The Eberron setting went that way as well. In fact on Eberron, Orcs displace elves as being the most druidic focused race. (The elves are too busy worshipping their deathless ancestors)


LazarX wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Furthermore... World of Warcraft already has a LOT of work done on the scene of orcs being the not completely evil version... and as a result going back to evil orcs from THAT is refreshing as well.
The Eberron setting went that way as well. In fact on Eberron, Orcs displace elves as being the most druidic focused race. (The elves are too busy worshipping their deathless ancestors)

That's how I like my orcs: neutral with the ability to be good or evil, and perhaps a slight bent towards evil. I've never really liked them as always evil.

Scarab Sages

James Jacobs wrote:
Aberzombie wrote:

James,

What do you think of the two Reaper Legendary Encounters pre-painted plastic dinosaur minis?

Dinosaurs make everything better.

Do you own them yet? If yes, then how many?


James Jacobs wrote:
Kelsey MacAilbert wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Kelsey MacAilbert wrote:
有沒有任何吸血鬼在中國?
Ummmmm... Peaches?

I lol'd.

The question was, are there vampires in Golarion's version of China?

Also, why do you dislike good aligned orcs? The orc sourcebook has zero support for them.

Yay! I was right in my guess to report on Peaches the vampire!

On a more serious note... yes, there are vampires in Tian Xia. They'll have details in Bestiary 3.

As for why I dislike good-aligned orcs... mostly because I'm a fan of tradition in the game. Orcs have always been evil in the game, and switching that around makes them into something less orc. Many monsters lose their "cool" when they become good guys, in my opinion—one need look no further than Driz'zt and how the perception on drow has changed for an example of that.

Furthermore... World of Warcraft already has a LOT of work done on the scene of orcs being the not completely evil version... and as a result going back to evil orcs from THAT is refreshing as well.

But mostly? Orcs are evil in Golarion becasue they were evil in 1st edition AD&D (and Lord of the Rings, of course).

This brings up a few questions, starting with one about the Brimstone Haruspex.

1. The Inner Sea World Guide, IIRC, explicitly states that the Brimstone Haruspex is full of orc oracles of stone and flame. Despite this making sense due to the proximity to a volcano, I still think it would make sense for many of these to be of the ancestor mystery given the nature of their work at that location. Is it reasonable to assume the ISWG write-up of Belkzen preceded the Ultimate Magic release and that these (ancestor) oracles are present or were they deliberately left out?

2. The Orcs of Golarion book mentions that the traditional orc pantheon (the blood god, the dark mother, etc., etc.) are all chaotic evil and that worshippers of such gain access to a certain array of domains but that there may be any number of traditional (Gorrum, Lamashtu, Norgorber) gods who are actually fulfilling the prayer requests. So, for a half-orc that leaves Belkzen, is it unreasonable as a concept to have such a character be non-evil and (due to having society rub off) worshipping an orc pantheon god but have the aspect be fulfilled by a non-evil deity?

example:

A half-orc from a tribe that espoused the fire god. Feeling a calling, he fled Belkzen east toward the dawn. Away from the tribe, he became lawful neutral (or lawful good) and trained to become a monk of the four winds who most often used fire. Would it be too much of a stretch to say that he was worshipping the fire god as an aspect of Sarenrae? Then could he, despite being lawful neutral (or good?) qualify for a feat such as Fire God's blessing? (pre-requisite, orc or half-orc, worship the fire god)

I figure this would be a DM's personal call, but would you consider it unreasonable or too far of a stretch?

Note: My DM allowed Jericho, the half-orc described above, and he was pretty fun until the stupid erinyes in the second Carrion Crown module killed him in one round with her fire bow: hit, hit, crit (confirmed). He was 5th level with 33 of 42 hit points (9 damage) when she racked up 70 points of damage to him in one round. technically, we had enough XP to have leveled but it wouldn't have mattered for Jericho...

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Klaus van der Kroft wrote:

Mr T-Rex:

What are our chances of ever seeing a book focused on -or at least partially devoted to- more mundane activities such as farming, crafting (not necessarily of the magical type), trading, hunting, business-making in Golarion, exploring, cooking, and the like?

Stuff that helps enrich low-level games or stories that walk away for a bit from classic adventuring.

Chances are very, very low you'll see us do a book like that. The game's supposed to be about adventure, not mundane commonfolk drudgery. What's in the game already concerning things like this is enough to cover 99% of games.

The ONLY exception I can see would be if we did a low-level module or adventure where that type of element was important, in which case we would expand the rules as however they most make sense to support the adventure in question.


Do you prefer Eberron or Forgotten Realms?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

LazarX wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Furthermore... World of Warcraft already has a LOT of work done on the scene of orcs being the not completely evil version... and as a result going back to evil orcs from THAT is refreshing as well.
The Eberron setting went that way as well. In fact on Eberron, Orcs displace elves as being the most druidic focused race. (The elves are too busy worshipping their deathless ancestors)

And that's one of the five things that ensured I'd never be a big fan of the Eberron setting.


James Jacobs wrote:
LazarX wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Furthermore... World of Warcraft already has a LOT of work done on the scene of orcs being the not completely evil version... and as a result going back to evil orcs from THAT is refreshing as well.
The Eberron setting went that way as well. In fact on Eberron, Orcs displace elves as being the most druidic focused race. (The elves are too busy worshipping their deathless ancestors)
And that's one of the five things that ensured I'd never be a big fan of the Eberron setting.

Racist :).

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Aberzombie wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Aberzombie wrote:

James,

What do you think of the two Reaper Legendary Encounters pre-painted plastic dinosaur minis?

Dinosaurs make everything better.
Do you own them yet? If yes, then how many?

I don't own them yet.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Kelsey MacAilbert wrote:
Do you prefer Eberron or Forgotten Realms?

I prefer all incarnations of the Forgotten Realms, even the ones I don't like, to Eberron.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

When does the Hedge Witch archetype gain Spontaneous Healing and Emphatic Healing?

It isn't worded like most of the archetypes and until recently I though you got both of those abilities at 1st level in exchange for hexes you'd get at future levels. The opinion I've seen in several other threads was that since they replace your 4th and 8th level hexes, you get them at 4th and 8th level.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

The Thing from Beyond the Edge wrote:

1. The Inner Sea World Guide, IIRC, explicitly states that the Brimstone Haruspex is full of orc oracles of stone and flame. Despite this making sense due to the proximity to a volcano, I still think it would make sense for many of these to be of the ancestor mystery given the nature of their work at that location. Is it reasonable to assume the ISWG write-up of Belkzen preceded the Ultimate Magic release and that these (ancestor) oracles are present or were they deliberately left out?

2. The Orcs of Golarion book mentions that the traditional orc pantheon (the blood god, the dark mother, etc., etc.) are all chaotic evil and that worshippers of such gain access to a certain array of domains but that there may be any number of traditional (Gorrum, Lamashtu, Norgorber) gods who are actually fulfilling the prayer requests. So, for a half-orc that leaves Belkzen, is it unreasonable as a concept to have such a character be non-evil and (due to having society rub off) worshipping an orc pantheon god but have the aspect be fulfilled by a non-evil deity?

1) The writeup of the Brimstone Haruspex actually predates the entire Pathfinder RPG. It was first mentioned in Pathfinder #11, after all, in that volume's gazetteer of Belkzen. We didn't even HAVE oracles yet, let alone the Pathifnder RPG... but we still called those orcs oracles I believe. In any event... the oracles there are still mostly flame and stone oracles. Ancestor oracles exist in Belkzen, but those of the Brimstone Haruspex are generally not them.

2) A half-orc can be any alignment and can worship any deity, just like any of the core races in the core rulebook. Whether or not the locals at the next village your half-orc visits realize that as a possibility is unclear. That said... the personas worshiped by the orcs are chaotic and evil. If you're worshiping them and you're not doing so in a chaotic evil way, you're increasingly heretical and blasphemous. If you're a divine character, that could eventually have repercussions on your abilities, especially if you're a cleric.

So generally no. If your deity is listed as one alignment, that listing is there for a purpose. The gods don't trick worshipers by faking alignment.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Gjorbjond wrote:

When does the Hedge Witch archetype gain Spontaneous Healing and Emphatic Healing?

It isn't worded like most of the archetypes and until recently I though you got both of those abilities at 1st level in exchange for hexes you'd get at future levels. The opinion I've seen in several other threads was that since they replace your 4th and 8th level hexes, you get them at 4th and 8th level.

Spontaneous Healing: Gained at 4th level (replaces the hex for that level).

Empathic healing: Gained at 8th level (replaces the hex for that level).

Both of these say so right at the end of each paragraph describing the power on page 85. If an ability replaces an ability, you gain that ability when you replace the ability.

Dark Archive

James Jacobs wrote:
Evil Midnight Lurker wrote:

Why did Ydersius have such a strong presence on Golarion that half-killing him caused his favored species to collapse into savagery? Aroden was the god of humanity, and he's really most sincerely dead, and Golarion humans show no sign of regressing into Neanderthals or ape-men or whatever.

Gods have no stat block and cannot be killed by mortals -- and yet Ydersius was decapitated in combat with an Azlanti. If this was an avatar and not the true Ydersius, why is there no mention anywhere of a fully-divine Ydersius still present in the Outer Sphere, and why can he not properly answer his priests? If it was more than an avatar, how was he able to be half-killed like that?

Serpent's Skull, to the best of my recollection, not only doesn't answer this but barely even considers it a question. There's a half-dead god, his worshippers are trying to resurrect him, stop them now! The end.

...My best guess is that Ydersius manifested in a way that was so incredibly stupid that he's been an example to the other gods of How Not To Make An Avatar for over ten thousand years since. ^.^

...Ydersius was NOT killed when he was decapitated, and that even when he was decapitated he could still grant spells to his clerics, means that Savith didn't actually kill him. She just chopped off his head. Furthermore, Savith herself was among the greatest fighters of Azlant—she was herself a mythic character, well over 20th level. We were coy about revealing exactly how her fight with Ydersius went down, frankly, because we don't know HOW it worked yet, since the game currently doesn't support thing like, say, 36th level fighters (not that Savith was a 36th level fighter, necessarily). Ydersius was (and still is) a demigod, in any event. When Savith decapitated him, his godliness went into his skull and turned the skull into an artifact—an intelligent artifact powered by a god, essentially. Actual game rules as to HOW that happened, honestly, are not required.

James, how do you feel about a Mythic Level Critical Hit Deck with some spectacular story/fluff material tied to the mechanics effects on the cards ?

Edit: when the stars are right of course.


James Jacobs wrote:
Kelsey MacAilbert wrote:
Do you prefer Eberron or Forgotten Realms?
I prefer all incarnations of the Forgotten Realms, even the ones I don't like, to Eberron.

Ftt. Eberron is awesome. I love how it's completely different from most swords and sorcery. I also love it's orcs. I HATE always chaotic evil orcs. I like mine able to be good or evil, with neutral as the baseline and perhaps a slight evil bent.

Grand Lodge RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

James Jacobs wrote:
If an ability replaces an ability, you gain that ability when you replace the ability.

I love sentences like these. :)

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
James Jacobs wrote:
LazarX wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Furthermore... World of Warcraft already has a LOT of work done on the scene of orcs being the not completely evil version... and as a result going back to evil orcs from THAT is refreshing as well.
The Eberron setting went that way as well. In fact on Eberron, Orcs displace elves as being the most druidic focused race. (The elves are too busy worshipping their deathless ancestors)
And that's one of the five things that ensured I'd never be a big fan of the Eberron setting.

But an rpg setting with windships, trains, and noir buys a lot of leeway with me.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Dragon78 wrote:

1)When a Druid spontanously cast a summon nature's ally spell they still have the 1 round casting time correct?

2)Were on Golarian are the colossal size giant vermin(scorpions, cemtipedes, cockroaches, etc.) most comonly found?

3)What is the strangest creature you have ever had to design? spell? magic item?

4)Have you seen "Date with an angel", "Almost an angel", or "the Heavenly kid"? if so did you like them?

5)Will we get another Beasrairy 3 preview this thursday?

6)If you had to replace(or wanted to) the half-orc as a one of the core races what race would you replace it with?

7)Is the concentration check DC to cast a cantrip defensively a 15?

8)So you still have to make a concentration check to cast a spell while grappled even if the spell has no somatic components? what if there are no components at all? Why is the DC so high to cast spell while grappled?

9)If you could be immune to one energy type in the real would wich would you choose: Acid, Cold, Electricity, Fire, or Sonic?

10)When you play as spellcasting characters do you take combat casting? if so is it sometimes or all the time?

1) Correct.

2) Far from society. The deep wilderness. Except when you want to run an adventure based on a giant bug movie from the 50s, which I've done before.

3) Strangest creature: A non-evil aberration for Lords of Madness. Strangest spell or magic item: no idea. There's been so many!

4) No.

5) Maybe, but probably not.

6) I wouldn't replace the half-orc. It's one of the original core races from the game's early days. I'd be more likely to replace the dwarf, in which case I'd probably replace the dwarf with the tengu.

7) Yes.

8) Yes; in fact, the ONLY way you can cast a spell while grappled is if there's no somatic components. The DC is high because of balance issues—spellcasters can do a LOT in the game, so there needs to be disadvantages. Being messed with when you're casting the spell is a big one. In previous editions of the game, once you got to mid level, those concentration checks were laughably easy.

9) Fire, since that'd let me be a superhero the easiest.

10) I pretty much NEVER take combat casting when I play spellcasting characters. I much prefer the Acrobatics route to move around in combat to avoid getting into situations where I provoke Attacks of Opportunity when casting. And also, Combat Casting is a boring feat. There's always better feats to pick.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

baron arem heshvaun wrote:
James, how do you feel about a Mythic Level Critical Hit Deck with some spectacular story/fluff material tied to the mechanics effects on the cards ?

HA! That's funny. Might be TOO funny, though, since coming up with over 200 over-the-top critical hits would quickly drift into the too-ridiculous, I fear.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

2 people marked this as a favorite.
Kelsey MacAilbert wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Kelsey MacAilbert wrote:
Do you prefer Eberron or Forgotten Realms?
I prefer all incarnations of the Forgotten Realms, even the ones I don't like, to Eberron.
Ftt. Eberron is awesome. I love how it's completely different from most swords and sorcery. I also love it's orcs. I HATE always chaotic evil orcs. I like mine able to be good or evil, with neutral as the baseline and perhaps a slight evil bent.

That's one of the great things bout the RPG industry. There's a game for everyone.

In Golarion, orcs are chaotic evil worshipers of the god of destruction, though. You can certainly have good or lawful orcs in Golarion, but they'd be SUPER rare and if they show up in an adventure, that would have to be a big part of the adventure. Perhaps even the whole point of the adventure.

Monsters are better when they're monsters.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

LazarX wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
LazarX wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Furthermore... World of Warcraft already has a LOT of work done on the scene of orcs being the not completely evil version... and as a result going back to evil orcs from THAT is refreshing as well.
The Eberron setting went that way as well. In fact on Eberron, Orcs displace elves as being the most druidic focused race. (The elves are too busy worshipping their deathless ancestors)
And that's one of the five things that ensured I'd never be a big fan of the Eberron setting.
But an rpg setting with windships, trains, and noir buys a lot of leeway with me.

For me, if an RPG setting does that, it needs to start from the ground up with its own rules. Had Eberron been its own d20 game and NOT a D&D game, I would probably have felt better about it (but I still would have hated the "we need to rename dinosaurs since they have Latin names and there's no Latin in the setting, but we don't need to worry about any other names like "coyote" from other languages)... but since it was branded as a D&D game, that brings with it in my mind certain expectations.

Breaking pretty much all of those expectations is a sure way to annoy me.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
James Jacobs wrote:

Spontaneous Healing: Gained at 4th level (replaces the hex for that level).

Empathic healing: Gained at 8th level (replaces the hex for that level).

Both of these say so right at the end of each paragraph describing the power on page 85. If an ability replaces an ability, you gain that ability when you replace the ability.

Thanks. Most archetypes actually spell it out. That, plus the fact that there are a few where you get an ability at 5th that replaces a 13th level ability led me to believe that the "replace" statement didn't necessarily imply when the ability was suppose to be acquired. Usually abilities that don't specifically state when they're acquired are gained at 1st level.

Thanks again for clearing this up.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Gjorbjond wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:

Spontaneous Healing: Gained at 4th level (replaces the hex for that level).

Empathic healing: Gained at 8th level (replaces the hex for that level).

Both of these say so right at the end of each paragraph describing the power on page 85. If an ability replaces an ability, you gain that ability when you replace the ability.

Thanks. Most archetypes actually spell it out. That, plus the fact that there are a few where you get an ability at 5th that replaces a 13th level ability led me to believe that the "replace" statement didn't necessarily imply when the ability was suppose to be acquired. Usually abilities that don't specifically state when they're acquired are gained at 1st level.

Thanks again for clearing this up.

No prob!

(In any case... if an ability replaces an ability not of the same level... we DO spell it out. When we don't you can assume that the ability replaces its replacement at the replacement level of its replaced replacement that is being replaced by the replacement. Heh.)


Breaking expectations is what makes for great games, James. If everything is always like this and never like that, because like that would be different and break expectations, then everything is the same, and that's no fun.

Eh. We can disagree until the end of time on whether orcs should be mostly evil or primarily neutral (you seem to see orcs as monsters, while I do not) and whether Eberron is a great setting. At the end of the day, you'll run your games with all evil orcs and a vanilla setting, and I'll play Eberron with Pathfinder rules and make homebrew settings with primarily neutral orcs with good and evil orcs not unusual, and we shall both enjoy our games of Pathfinder and be happy, which is the whole point of Pathfinder in the first place.

Do you agree with this statement, James?


James Jacobs wrote:


6) I wouldn't replace the half-orc. It's one of the original core races from the game's early days. I'd be more likely to replace the dwarf, in which case I'd probably replace the dwarf with the tengu.

<Dies from a heart attack. A bearded heart attack>

1 to 50 of 83,732 << first < prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | next > last >>
Community / Forums / Gamer Life / Off-Topic Discussions / >>Ask *James Jacobs* ALL your Questions Here!<< All Messageboards