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I'm not sure if those lists are PFS legal.
My response there is the same I give to most folks asking similar questions: The Pathfinder Society is an unusual campaign. It has some really great and cool facets, like the fact that it's essentially a Massively OFFLINE Multiplayer Roleplaying Game. But since it doesn't have "one GM as the Boss of the game," there's a lot of limitations on how players can play the game. Rules like "No item creation" or "no evil PCs" for example.
There are less obvious limitations too, the big one being that the more unusual and wacky and off-model and unexpected you get with your character design... such as by wanting to use variant and/or obscure rules for summoning monsters, the more likely you are to run into problems where the your desires for what kind of character you want to play are simply not options. The Pathifnder Society campaign works BEST when the players use only core rulebook elements for their characters, in my opinion. The more non-core elements you put in there, the more likely you are to stumble upon an unanticipate combination that is inappropriate to the power-level or theme of the campaign, and thus the more likely you are to build a character whose concept itsn't legal or fundamentally workable in that game.
If you want to build a character with unusual or obscure elements, in other words, you have to make peace with the fact that you might have to change things with your character.
NOW
As for the second part of your question: No, we won't be adding to the lists with things like proteans and the like. See "Book of the Damned" for an example of how we intend to make these new outsider races things you can summon. We aren't going to add them to the basic summon monster lists... we'll slowly but surely make NEW summon monster lists that allow you to summon them.
A full on reworking and balancing for all alignments in those lists is something that we're unlikely to attempt until we do a 2nd edition of Pathfinder... and that's still in the unknown future at this point.
part 1.) Drat guess I will have to go ask mike or mark about that
part 2.) The actual concept is pretty vanilla actually, CG cleric, Core weapons, about the only thing that's out there is the god choice. It's kind of the annoying part of it all that I lose access to basically half the list because I am neither Lawful or Evil when it comes to the iconic outsider creatures.
part 3.) That interests me I remember those popping up in the horsemen book but don't remember them in the other two botd's though most of those creatures are already represented. This I think is awesome though and can't wait to see more things in this vein. Now are we getting any of these in the new Chronicles of the righteous?
Now new stuff
Are we allowed to follow any gods as a cleric from pathfinder in pfs so long as they have their domains listed and are considered alive? basically can we gain our powers from some of the other gods listed in other books besides the pfc?
Also when we summon an animal with a template may we throw 2 outsider templates on them so long as they do not clash like say entropic and celestial or fiendish and the lawful one?
Finally will we be seeing more spells that allow us to call creatures from the dark tapestry or qilppoths like the summon "blank" spells from horsemen?
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Do you watch Big Bang Theory? If so, do you like it? Who's your favorite character?I'd not watched it ever until a few days ago, in fact, when I watched an episode. I then repeated that experiment by starting to watch a second one. And my reaction is intense dislike. The show borders on offensive to me, in fact, but the poor acting and the laugh track serve to dull that reaction down to the aforementioned intense dislike.
It is Not For Me.
Wow, I thought I was the only one who feels exactly like that about his show, especially the "borders onoffensive" part.
Wow, I thought I was the only one who feels exactly like that about his show, especially the "borders onoffensive" part.Do you watch Big Bang Theory? If so, do you like it? Who's your favorite character?I'd not watched it ever until a few days ago, in fact, when I watched an episode. I then repeated that experiment by starting to watch a second one. And my reaction is intense dislike. The show borders on offensive to me, in fact, but the poor acting and the laugh track serve to dull that reaction down to the aforementioned intense dislike.
It is Not For Me.
I let out a little cheer when I read that, and proceeded to share the information with my friends. We've all been irritated/mystified at the popularity of BBT for some time.
We figure it's funny if you AREN'T a nerd/geek/term of your choice but know one. Which would explain why my mom thinks it's hilarious. But if you're the same "group" that the show is attempting to portray....
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James, if my only "weapon" is a shield, I am threatening my enemies?
Edit:
after a bit of further cogitation I think I have found the answer:
Only if you have used the shield to attack in the last round.
If not you aren't using the shield as a weapon.
Related question:
if you are using a reach weapon and aren't adjacent to your enemy you count as a flanker?
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We figure it's funny if you AREN'T a nerd/geek/term of your choice but know one. Which would explain why my mom thinks it's hilarious. But if you're the same "group" that the show is attempting to portray....
Interesting. I wonder if it's edited differently here in the UK? As a nerdy guy with a geeky wife, both working in a space science lab with colleagues who could do cameos, I find the show pretty funny. Each to their own.
James : Have you ever had the chance to play with some medieval-era weaponry for real - swords, bows, crossbows etc? How about while mounted?
(No ulterior motive regards in-game weapon balance FWIW.)
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James,
It's so cool that the Dark Tower series is part of the inspiration for your Unspeakable Future project. The idea of an "apocalyptic" setting in which the world has simply moved on really lent a signature "feel" to Mid-World.
Question: You mentioned three Unspeakable Future classes that raised my eyebrow. Could you give us a one-or-two sentence description of the esper, the scavenger, and the wastrel classes?
Daron Woodson
Abandoned Arts
What body-slot would a magic tongue-stud take up?
Which Knowledge check would be appropriate to recognize a regional accent: local or geography?
what's the human ethnicity in Iblydos? Iblydosi, Iblydosan, or something entirely different
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Flumphs arose from a reader submission to the Fiend Folio column of White Dwarf magazine.(which btw, made the Fiend Folio, the only TSR hardback made from reader submissions.) The OOTS comic strip pretty much lampshades the role that they've always played, quick oneline humor bits. Flumphs are funny the first fifteen seconds, and then the joke goes flat. I could not see myself doing six straight modules dedicated to them. Floating Farting jokes wear quickly on my patience.
Call me conservative if you like, but I do believe that extreme creatures should have a relatively limited exposure. Flumphs might be more suitable for one of the Free RPG Day modules, something more on the short and sweet scale than an entire adventure path. They simply don't have the depth for anything longterm. It's really hard to imagine exploring the culture of low int floating gas bags whose only means of communication is passing gas.
I think one can argue that the point of an Adventure Path is to develop an idea into something more than just a short-and-sweet description. Developing depth in a myriad of topics is one of the many things that Adventure Paths are used for; as an example, Carrion Crown does a fabulous job of delving into the lore around Phrasma and several cults among other things.
I also think that one can argue that there was a time where all the Lovecraftian beasties would have been considered extreme; now they're basically a staple in what makes Pathfinder the game people know and love today. I like the idea that flumphs are something of the "black sheep" of the Family from Beyond the Stars, being the only ones that truly value the lives of other creatures.
I do agree, however, that a full Adventure Path devoted to them is too much for their first exposure and would personally prefer either a real module or the opening of an Adventure Path be dedicated to them. I could easily see an Aucturn Adventure Path beginning with the heroes assisting a community of flumphs, who use the trials as a way to determine if the PCs are up to the task of invading the Stranger.
That said, I think three posts is probably too many to sully JJ's question thread. If you want to continue this discussion, I have no problem moving into a different forum in a new thread.
Lovecraft and Lovecraftian things could also serve as inspirations for other things...
A "Devourer" might not care about lives/unlife, it just eat stuff (and people stupid enough to attack it). Said "Devourer" can be made creepier by, among other things, looking like a little kid whose current lunch is an Adamantine Golem.
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Which of golarion's gods are most active in the darklands? (as opposed to the demonlords of the drow)
Are there any as-yet-unknown but major gods whose sphere of interest is predominantly restricted to the darklands?
Rovagug is the most active down there. Next up would be Lamashtu, Gorum, Urgathoa, Zon-Kuthon, a couple of the archdevils (particularly Dispater and Mammon), and Sivanah.
There are some more deities worshiped for the most part only in the Darklands as well, but I wouldn't call them "major" deities.
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Technically you can put the anchoring special ability on any melee weapon or throne weapon, so if bodywraps of mighty strikes qualify, then yes, you can. But personally, I wouldn't allow it because it's weird... the idea of an anchoring weapon is that it functions sort of like an immovable rod—the weapon stays put and stuck in or lodged against its victim. With a monk, that would mean your fist or foot or whatever you just used on a foe would stick to him... which would mean that unless you lopped that part off... YOU would suffer the effects as well. Which is kinda silly. So, I would say that you can't put this special ability on anything that would enhance an unarmed strike or natural attack. You could certainly do a similar effect... but to me, that's just Stunning Fist by another name.Hey James, need to ask few a questions about a new item property in UE.
** spoiler omitted **
1. Can I put the property on a bodywrap of mighty strikes?
2. If I do and trigger the ability, does it achieve anything since the bodywrap only affects my unarmed strike for the duration of the attack(s).
3. If it does work, is is just the body part that I used for the unarmed strike that is immobilised, or is it my entire body?
4. Does the line "This enhancement can only be placed on a melee weapon which is usable with the Weapon Finesse feat." prevent the agile weapon property from being put on an amulet of mighty fists?
Still playing monks and loving it, despite what others say. =)
I actually thought of it as the monk using one hand to hold the wizard's arm whilst he punched the wizard's lights out with his other hand. With this property, he could 'lock' the hand that was holding the wizard's arm, so that neither of them would be going anywhere. Then unleash a flurry of blows in the wizard's face.
What I needed to know was whether the anchoring property would lock the entire monk instead of just the hand.
Also, question 4? =)
The anchoring property would hold the monk in place next to the target. Which is why it's a weird thing to put on it.
4) Yes. Especially if that helps folks get a little less bent out of shape about how monks aren't better than fighters.
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I think we've reached a saturation point on Player Options with Ultimate Combat, and then overdid it a bit with Advanced Race Guide. My preference going forward is to do new player options in smaller scale releases (such as in smaller books like our Pathifnder Campaign Setting or Player Companion lines), or to focus the new rules in new TYPES of games, like Mythic Adventures.About that, we will see more material about Factions in game outside PFS?
I liked a lot the faction guide and I am using some homemade rule derived from it for my Kingmaker campaign. Shifting most of the Swordlord rewards to prestige points so far has worked well. It is a interesting way to keep track of what the different organizations with which you interact think of you and how much political clout you have with them.
Every time my players interact positively with some organization I give out some PP with that group, whit the amount varying on the basis of what they have done and what is their relations with the group (the Marshal that is a devout follower of Erastil get more when they build a church of that god, the witch that is the Magister will get more when and if they found a magician guild and so on).
Something of that kind put in the Campaign guide would be very interesting (at least for me).
We'll be doing more about factions now and then outside PFS, but not much with the actual PFS factions themselves.
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Carrion Crown's Ectoplasmic Creature template removes int score, but they are described as having an independent drive: How does that work?
Additionally, I noticed outside of the templated undead, mindless undead are fairly rare, with only a handful existing.
Works the same way as it does with zombies and skeletons. And vermin, for that matter. The "independent drive" might be the same as "instincts for evil actions."
Mindless undead are pretty rare because we want to keep the theme that undead are almost always evil in Pathfinder, and without a mind, it's hard to be evil.
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As a side note, I personally think that the Fantasy RPG Community as a collective is very slow to come to admire ideas that stray over some unseen line, away from the Tolkien roots of the game. For example, fire arm rules or the response some had over the heavy Eastern theme of last year's products.Both share similar problems:
- for firearms we have a more precise idea of what they do so we tend to overestimate their killing power when compared to non firearm weapons and at the same time keeping them in line with how the rules work is hard (Muzzle loader that can fire up to 6 times in 6 seconds? Really?)
- oriental weapon, armor and classes have martial arts films that give great expectations about what a weapon can do. If the katana isn't better in any aspect than a occidental work the weapon design in the game is flawed. The ninja should be better than a rogue in any aspect and so on.
The result are thread like the monk one where people is disgusted because the monk isn't a front lien fighter capable to dish out as much DPS as a barbarian, plus avoiding most blow plus having a brace of extra powers with no drawbacks.
Japanese armor are made mostly in non-ferrous materials not because that make inherently better but because Japan suffer for a scarcity of iron deposits. A katana was a masterwork weapon because it was crafted that way, not because the design is inherently better than any other weapon design, and so on.
Meshing player expectations of what a firearm or a oriental weapon or class should be capable to do and game rules born around medieval, occidental weapons and armors work badly.
Games that are made around oriental weapons and classes for the start (for example, Legend of the Five Rings) work better when you want to use that kind of weapon and classes.This is my perception of why oriental themed rules and firearms aren't liked by some of the GM.
As a game designer what is yours, James?
I would add sailing ships to that list. I think the reason is that all three of those topics: Asian history, firearms, and sailing, happen to be VERY popular hobbies in and of themselves, and there's a significant crossover there with gaming. As such, when you get the type of personality that gets very passionate about hobbies having their two hobbies mix, they tend to get particularly demanding and nitpicky and hard to please. Throw in the deadly dual combo of some of these folks knowing more than the designers about their hobbies and some of these folks only THINKING they know more than the designers, then combine that with the fact that many of us as gamers have endured a lot of mockery and disdain for our passions and hobbies (and thus tend to be quick to react when any perceived errors show up in said game), and you have a perfect storm of nerd-rage fuel, unfortunately.
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Chances are 100%, I suspect.
Side Question: Nope, probably not. Fences in Golarion are made of wood and the like. My gut tells me that wire fences, chain link fences, barbed wire, razor wire, and the like are anachronistic.
Woohoo!!
On the fencing materials question, more generally would you say that Golarion is pre industrial revolution (1750)? It's a little tricky to pin down with the guns and printing presses that are mostly post revolution. Do you tend to go more for a feel of what seems like appropriate technology rather than an earth equivalent? Also, is there any official reason for technology stagnating at its current level as the available magic and intelligent NPCs would have almost certainly allowed the discovery of modern technology within the published timeframes of high levels of civilization. I do of course realise the game reasons for this.
You absolutely cannot say "Golarion's technology doesn't go past this date," since that varies not only by region, but by object. There are pianos and syringes in the world, for example.
When it comes to deciding whether something is "anachronistic" or not, I don't look up when the object or thing or whatever was invented (that comes later, if ever). It's pretty much 100% a gut check on my part whether or not the thing FEELS right or wrong in Golarion.
Technology hasn't stagnated as much as there's just no reason to push it further. Magic does most of what technology does in Golarion, after all. Why bother with the science of medicine when a 1st level cleric can cure wounds? Why try to push technological weaponry when a first level wizard can magic missile ANYTHING without rolling an attack roll?
And finally... while we do try to retain verisimilitude and believability... one reason it is the way it is is purely for the aesthetics of the game itself.
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Are we allowed to follow any gods as a cleric from pathfinder in pfs so long as they have their domains listed and are considered alive? basically can we gain our powers from some of the other gods listed in other books besides the pfc?
Also when we summon an animal with a template may we throw 2 outsider templates on them so long as they do not clash like say entropic and celestial or fiendish and the lawful one?
Finally will we be seeing more spells that allow us to call creatures from the dark tapestry or qilppoths like the summon "blank" spells from horsemen?
As far as I know in the Pathfinder Society (and my knowledge there is NOT what I would call expert... you know more about the campaign than I do, I'd wager), you can worship any deity who is listed in a Pathfinder supplement. If you want to be a cleric, you need to worship one who has domains associated with them. I suggest NOT worshiping an evil deity though, even though you technically can by playing a one-step removed cleric, because evil deities and their cults are VERY often used as bad guys, and it's awkward for, say, the cleric of Asmodeus to be hired to go wipe out the Asmodeus cult and loot their temple. And even if you aren't evil... everyone else in the party will assume you are once they find out you worship a devil or demon or whatever, and that's no good either. Worshiping an evil deity is best saved for home games.
Nope. Just one template.
Not as Pathfinder Society options.
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Wow, I thought I was the only one who feels exactly like that about his show, especially the "borders onoffensive" part.Do you watch Big Bang Theory? If so, do you like it? Who's your favorite character?I'd not watched it ever until a few days ago, in fact, when I watched an episode. I then repeated that experiment by starting to watch a second one. And my reaction is intense dislike. The show borders on offensive to me, in fact, but the poor acting and the laugh track serve to dull that reaction down to the aforementioned intense dislike.
It is Not For Me.
There's actually a sizable amount of Paizo staffers who are borderline offended... or just flat out offended... by the show. You're hardly the only one.
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James, if my only "weapon" is a shield, I am threatening my enemies?
Edit:
after a bit of further cogitation I think I have found the answer:
Only if you have used the shield to attack in the last round.
If not you aren't using the shield as a weapon.Related question:
if you are using a reach weapon and aren't adjacent to your enemy you count as a flanker?
If you choose to wield your shield as a weapon (and thus lose its benefits to your AC, barring feats and whatnot), then yes, you threaten your enemy.
If you're using a reach weapon, you can flank an enemy as long as you're opposed normally on the other side of the enemy by an ally. It's harder to flank with a reach weapon sometimes due to the length involved... it can easily get confusing.
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James : Have you ever had the chance to play with some medieval-era weaponry for real - swords, bows, crossbows etc? How about while mounted?
(No ulterior motive regards in-game weapon balance FWIW.)
I own a bow, but haven't shot it in a while (disadvantage of living in the city instead of the country). I've tried out now and then with other real-life weapons (the Dogslicer I own is capable of chopping melons in half and, if I wanted, could definitely be used for "home defense").
The only time I've ever ridden a horse was back in high school; I rode my sister's horse and the saddle wasn't tight and started slipping off to the side and I more or less fell off the horse and that was the end of my horse-riding days.
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James,
It's so cool that the Dark Tower series is part of the inspiration for your Unspeakable Future project. The idea of an "apocalyptic" setting in which the world has simply moved on really lent a signature "feel" to Mid-World.
Question: You mentioned three Unspeakable Future classes that raised my eyebrow. Could you give us a one-or-two sentence description of the esper, the scavenger, and the wastrel classes?
Daron Woodson
Abandoned Arts
Esper: There are three spellcasting classes in the game. The cabalist works off of Intelligence and focuses on mythos type spells, necromancy, and creepy magic. The mystic uses spells from the spirit of the world/Gaia and is more like a druid, she uses Wisdom. The Esper is the psychic character—he uses Charisma as his casting stat and his spells are mind-affecting, mind-controlling, pyrokenitic, telekinetic, and divination in theme.
Scavenger: This is a guy who scavenges stuff from the wasteland to build weapons and companions. He's a middle-BAB character like a rogue. He wears junk as armor, and builds an increasingly powerful cobbled-together home-made gun and maintains a robot companion similar to how a druid's animal companion works.
Wastrel: This is the Unspeakable Futures version of the rogue, only more aimed at combat and less at stealth/trap defeating. They're the bandits and thugs of the world—they're the ones who fight Mad Max, for example (whereas Mad Max himself is a Mercenary—the Unspeakable Futures version of the fighter). Wastrels get sneak attack and some other combat-related stunts like feign death and dirty fighting.
Thanks James!
Something I've been wondering about: you've mentioned more than once that you are reluctant or unlikely to introduce any additional base classes.
I, for one, find my borderline-OCD severely disturbed by the fact that Paizo has produced 19 base classes. You've got to want to round that up to 20! It's a nice round, number - and this is the d20 system we're talking about.
What kind of psionic power would I need to convince you to write exactly one more class? : P
Actually, my question ought to be: will you introduce a "psion" or "psionicist" base class when the time comes to tackle psionic rules? If not, how will you approach the design without a dedicated psionic class? A psionic "template" or psionic "archetypes?"
Daron Woodson
Abandoned Arts
What is this Unspeakable Futures I keep hearing mentioned every so often?It's a (currently still unpublished) game I've been working on for about 12 years.
SNIP
SOME day I'd love to try to get it published, but for now, you can see some of those rules peeking into Pathfinder here and there in the form of the robot rules (debuted in Dungeons of Golarion and further in the upcoming Inner Sea Bestiary) and in Ultimate Combat's gunslinger class (which is a heavily modified and more fantasy-based version of the class).
This has got Kickstarter written all over it. I mean if a setting like this based on Pathfinder rules developed by the Creative Director of the most popular table top RPG out there can't get funded, I'd be shocked. Although what is more likely the issue is that there isn't a Kickstarter for hours in the day...
2) I did not. In fact, I still don't really think of myself as an "RPG celebrity."
See above... plus you wrote the forward to the Tome of Horrors. I mean, that's pretty kick a@@.
I'll be pesky and personal: What threads on the Messageboards do you read?
I notice you posting on this thread, plus all the GM threads for all of the APs. That's already a whole host-o-threads to keep track of, and I'm sure you're on more.
So what makes a thread "readworthy"? Or is it really just the rules/GM/Ask James threads?
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Thanks James!
Something I've been wondering about: you've mentioned more than once that you are reluctant or unlikely to introduce any additional base classes.
I, for one, find my borderline-OCD severely disturbed by the fact that Paizo has produced 19 base classes. You've got to want to round that up to 20! It's a nice round, number - and this is the d20 system we're talking about.
What kind of psionic power would I need to convince you to write exactly one more class? : P
Actually, my question ought to be: will you introduce a "psion" or "psionicist" base class when the time comes to tackle psionic rules? If not, how will you approach the design without a dedicated psionic class? A psionic "template" or psionic "archetypes?"
Daron Woodson
Abandoned Arts
If we do a psychic magic book... I wouldn't be surprised to see us do several more base classes, actually. That's pretty much the only situationI envision us doing something like this—if we do a new rules "overlay" or addition or whatever, there'll need to be some classes to use those rules.
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What is this Unspeakable Futures I keep hearing mentioned every so often?It's a (currently still unpublished) game I've been working on for about 12 years.
SNIP
SOME day I'd love to try to get it published, but for now, you can see some of those rules peeking into Pathfinder here and there in the form of the robot rules (debuted in Dungeons of Golarion and further in the upcoming Inner Sea Bestiary) and in Ultimate Combat's gunslinger class (which is a heavily modified and more fantasy-based version of the class).
This has got Kickstarter written all over it. I mean if a setting like this based on Pathfinder rules developed by the Creative Director of the most popular table top RPG out there can't get funded, I'd be shocked. Although what is more likely the issue is that there isn't a Kickstarter for hours in the day...
Believe me... watching so many folks get so many cool projects off the ground with Kickstarter's help has REALLY tempted me to do a Kickstarter for Unspeakable Futures... but I haven't because as it turns out, I already have a full-time job here at Paizo. If I were to do a Kickstarter for Unspeakable Futures... that'd put me in a new position including designer, publisher, and depending on how much money it makes, art director and editor and developer and sales rep and so on for such a project. Making enough money on a kickstarter so that I can start hiring freelance editors and art directors and graphic designers would be nice, but the more money, the bigger the project and the more stretch goals I'd like to do.
In short... I don't have time to do this as a Kickstarter AND be Paizo's Creative Director at the same time. It's not a question of whether or not I'd get it funded (I'd probably ask for a baseline goal of $60,000 or $90,000), because I think that the desire for something like this is out there. It's entirely a question of doing it and then either getting fired from Paizo because I started spending too much time on the Kickstarter that I'm no longer able to do my job here, or on the flip side not being able to deliver the product I want and that the funders deserve in anything resembling an acceptable time frame.
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I'll be pesky and personal: What threads on the Messageboards do you read?
I notice you posting on this thread, plus all the GM threads for all of the APs. That's already a whole host-o-threads to keep track of, and I'm sure you're on more.
So what makes a thread "readworthy"? Or is it really just the rules/GM/Ask James threads?
As a general rule, I keep track of this thread, of the AP threads for the APs that I've worked on, of the general Pathfinder threads, and of the Campaign Setting threads that are on books I've worked on. I also skim the whole board once or twice a day to see if any recent threads have popped up that might need me to look at. I generally do NOT post or look in the rulebook threads, the off-topic threads, the customer service threads, the D&D threads, and the like. Just no time.
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But magic does not seem to have progressed as far as technology has on Earth. It hasn't evolved anywhere near to the magitek of Eberron which is the world I'd put on the closest equivalent to our own culture wise.
Now if you want to add that "magitek" itself isn't a measure of "old" and "civilized", I can go with that but as far as political structures go, most of Golarion seems to be a mix of feudal with scattered islands of places approaching the Age of Enlightenment. There doesn't seem to be a real equivalent of the Magna Carta in anyone's history.
I'm actually NOT a fan of taking magic that far, like they did in Eberron. That's not the type of fantasy world I'm interested in, because at that point... it really IS just "let's replace technology with magic." That's boring. If that were the case, I'd rather just do a setting where magic remains "magical" and have technology do what it does normally.
One of the handy things about a world like Golarion where technology is "stunted" and magic is not everywhere is that every argument you can make for why this is impossible can be countered by arguments for why it IS possible. Because magic is what we make of it.
I'd rather spend time making Golarion full of cool adventures and stories than wallow in the "why is the world like it is." Because it's like it is because that's what we want it to be.
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How keen are you on the idea of a mythic AP in Iblydos that draws on Jason and the Argonauts and trials of Heracles as inspiration?
Not quite as keen on the idea of a Mythic AP that draws upon things we've already established as mythic in Golarion... such as the Worldwound, or perhaps Thassilon, or maybe the Starstone.
You absolutely cannot say "Golarion's technology doesn't go past this date," since that varies not only by region, but by object. There are pianos and syringes in the world, for example.
When it comes to deciding whether something is "anachronistic" or not, I don't look up when the object or thing or whatever was invented (that comes later, if ever). It's pretty much 100% a gut check on my part whether or not the thing FEELS right or wrong in Golarion.
Technology hasn't stagnated as much as there's just no reason to push it further. Magic does most of what technology does in Golarion, after all. Why bother with the science of medicine when a 1st level cleric can cure wounds? Why try to push technological weaponry when a first level wizard can magic missile ANYTHING without rolling an attack roll?
And finally... while we do try to retain verisimilitude and believability... one reason it is the way it is is purely for the aesthetics of the game itself.
So, a non-magical Chemist/Alchemist/Healer/etc could work well in the Mana Waste (and/or with Razmir).
Slower than Magical Healing, but still quite faster than Natural Healing.
Am I too annoying with that?
What's the word for "from Irrisen"? (e.g. China is to Chinese as Irrisen is to...)
Do any of the Paizo staff play the iconics in their home games? Have you played Merisiel in a game?
I think we've been told the word something from Irrisen is "Irrisen."
(Not a fan of that one, but them's the breaks.)
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if you were to do a Test of the Starstone using Mythic rules, would that be done as a module? or an adventure path?
A module, an adventure path, or a megamodule. It could be done in any of those three categories—but if we did an adventure path it would need more than just "Take the Test of the Starstone." That would probably be the penultimate or last adventure in the six parts. And a module would probably have to be super-truncated. I think that some sort of "megamodule" is the best bet... but we don't really have a place to print things like that yet.
Fortunately, we've a year or so before the Mythic rules are done, which means we've got time to figure out how to do a Starstone adventure... and before that happens, time to figure out if we want to do one at all in the first place.
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Creative Director
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You absolutely cannot say "Golarion's technology doesn't go past this date," since that varies not only by region, but by object. There are pianos and syringes in the world, for example.
When it comes to deciding whether something is "anachronistic" or not, I don't look up when the object or thing or whatever was invented (that comes later, if ever). It's pretty much 100% a gut check on my part whether or not the thing FEELS right or wrong in Golarion.
Technology hasn't stagnated as much as there's just no reason to push it further. Magic does most of what technology does in Golarion, after all. Why bother with the science of medicine when a 1st level cleric can cure wounds? Why try to push technological weaponry when a first level wizard can magic missile ANYTHING without rolling an attack roll?
And finally... while we do try to retain verisimilitude and believability... one reason it is the way it is is purely for the aesthetics of the game itself.
So, a non-magical Chemist/Alchemist/Healer/etc could work well in the Mana Waste (and/or with Razmir).
Slower than Magical Healing, but still quite faster than Natural Healing.
Am I too annoying with that?
Magic actually works in the the Mana Waste, first off. And this isn't really a logical follow up of the technology question anyway.
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Creative Director
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What's the word for "from Irrisen"? (e.g. China is to Chinese as Irrisen is to...)
Do any of the Paizo staff play the iconics in their home games? Have you played Merisiel in a game?
I can't remember for sure... it's either "Irrisen" or "Irriseni." We actually had that discussion last week, but I didn't write down the results. Rob McCreary and the editors did, though.
As a general rule we don't play the iconics in home games. We HAVE played the iconics in in-house playtests though—that's what they're really for there. I've played Merisiel once, in a playtest of Jason's Crypt of the Everflame. It was a little frustrating since Jason has a weirdly unsettling obsession with monsters like skeletons who have damage reduction against piercing weapons...
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Creative Director
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I notice that you did not address my question of political development. Leaving the whole magic development aside, what about political development? While Golarion's history as been old there really doesn't seem to be that much political progression, most of the rulership is feudal, some of it theocratic, And there reasly doesn't seem to have been much progress from autocratic rule. There's not an equivalent of the pre-Empire Roman Republic, nor any nation that seems to have a principle of the rights of the common man.
So how advanced would you say Golarion really is, leaving aside magic and technology? On Earth, our progression has had any overt influence by supernatural beings or gods. Would you think that the actual presence of the divine has held back mankind's spiritual development? If so, the Rahadoumi might have a point.
We've got a pretty wide range of governments in the Inner Sea region alone. Lots of feudal stuff, but also a fair amount of democracy and theocracy and anarchy and other stuff as well. But again... the focus on political stuff is generally NOT what we focus on UNLESS politics are a part of the story we want to tell. At one point, early on, there was a LOT of history and the like in the setting, but we made the decision to edit that content back pretty ferociously in favor of focusing on the current day, where games are actually set.
Now... getting into whether or not the actual presence of the divine has held back spiritual development or advanced is sort of a hot button topic, and not one I really want to get into. Certainly there are arguments for and against in the Inner Sea region. But for example, the fact that Rahadoum comes off as more of a villainous nation argues for the fact that direct influence of the divine is a good thing.
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Are we allowed to follow any gods as a cleric from pathfinder in pfs so long as they have their domains listed and are considered alive? basically can we gain our powers from some of the other gods listed in other books besides the pfc?
Also when we summon an animal with a template may we throw 2 outsider templates on them so long as they do not clash like say entropic and celestial or fiendish and the lawful one?
Finally will we be seeing more spells that allow us to call creatures from the dark tapestry or qilppoths like the summon "blank" spells from horsemen?
As far as I know in the Pathfinder Society (and my knowledge there is NOT what I would call expert... you know more about the campaign than I do, I'd wager), you can worship any deity who is listed in a Pathfinder supplement. If you want to be a cleric, you need to worship one who has domains associated with them. I suggest NOT worshiping an evil deity though, even though you technically can by playing a one-step removed cleric, because evil deities and their cults are VERY often used as bad guys, and it's awkward for, say, the cleric of Asmodeus to be hired to go wipe out the Asmodeus cult and loot their temple. And even if you aren't evil... everyone else in the party will assume you are once they find out you worship a devil or demon or whatever, and that's no good either. Worshiping an evil deity is best saved for home games.
Nope. Just one template.
Not as Pathfinder Society options.
Sweet thanks for the quick answers on the last one though I was more wondering for my personal interest especially with some certain articles coming down the pipe for them in shattered star. With that being said will we be seeing any for them in general?
Now second question: Why do you dislike dwarves in particular, I know from what I've heard around Gencon's past that they are definitely not your favorite race and was interested to hear your reasons.
Finally Darklands stuff. What were the Darklands like pre-earthfall before drow and when dwarves were underground, was it all in all a "nicer" place then it was before? Did the Azlanti know they were down there, was their culture and society more advanced then it was now?
Finally finally in your games do you have any pockets of non gillmen azlanti's floating around golarion that survived through earthfall? If not how is it that none of the azlant survived earthfall but humanity managed to make its way on through even though they lacked the power, size, and magical apptitude of the azlanti culture?
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Creative Director
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Sweet thanks for the quick answers on the last one though I was more wondering for my personal interest especially with some certain articles coming down the pipe for them in shattered star. With that being said will we be seeing any for them in general?
Now second question: Why do you dislike dwarves in particular, I know from what I've heard around Gencon's past that they are definitely not your favorite race and was interested to hear your reasons.
Finally Darklands stuff. What were the Darklands like pre-earthfall before drow and when dwarves were underground, was it all in all a "nicer" place then it was before? Did the Azlanti know they were down there, was their culture and society more advanced then it was now?
Finally finally in your games do you have any pockets of non gillmen azlanti's floating around golarion that survived through earthfall? If not how is it that none of the azlant survived earthfall but humanity managed to make its way on through even though they lacked the power, size, and magical apptitude of the azlanti culture?
Shattered Star focuses more on the adventure and less on the Pathfinder Society. There's a little Pathfinder Society stuff, mostly in parts 1 and 6, but overall that element is pretty minor.
I don't like dwarves because they're loud and noisy and drink beer. Also because in earlier editions of the game, they couldn't be wizards... or really ANYTHING other than fighters or thieves or maybe clerics, and with really low level limits on top of that. Also because they are often associated with grease and oil and smoke and fire, rather than more natural outdoorsy stuff like elves and gnomes and halflings are. Also because they're TOO bound by traditions, and because the typical dwarf fan is a bit too eager to be proud of the fact that they like dwarves and think they're better. And so on.
Before the Drow, the darklands were a lot more wild and inhuman, with things like neothlelids and aboleths and seugathis and gugs and other weird monsters being more dominant forces in the area... but particularly, the serpentfolk ruled much of Sekamina in those early days. Azlant was at war for a long time with the Serpentfolk, and so while they knew about the Darklands, they didn't go there much since it was very much "enemy territory."
And you have two "finallys" there, but that's cool! And there are indeed a few Azlantis still out there, mostly in the form of things like Runelords or Runelord apprentices or other survivals that have been in stasis or are undead or the like. And as for how humanity recovered... in a way, the presence of the Azlanti culture was HINDERING humanity's rise. Azlant was the first significant human empire, but there were Kellids and Garundi and Mwangi and Varisians and Shoanti and Ulfen and ohters in the Inner Sea region at that time. Mostly living primitive lives. It wasn't until after Earthfall and the Age of Darkness that these ethnicities inherited the world and truly turned Golarion into a humanocentric realm. In a way... you can see Azlanti as a sort of bottleneck, culturally. They may have had an empire, but they were too self-absorbed to be truly great.