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Heh sorry I thought he was just generally asking everyone the questions.


UndeadViking wrote:
Golden-Esque wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Golden-Esque wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
JustABill wrote:

By any chance can we get a clarification as to how the Heighten Spell feat interacts with other meta-magic feats?

For example, a wizard starts with a Charm Person spell, applies the Silent Spell(+1), and Still Spell(+1) feats to it. The wizard also heightens the spell, placing it in a 4th level spell slot.

Will this spell penetrate a Lesser Globe of Invulnerability? Is the save DC 14 + int mod, or 11 + int mod?

Yes. The spell's now a 4th level spell thanks to Heighten Spell, so it can penetrate a lesser globe and has a DC 14 + Int save. Those two effects are PRECISELY what Heightl's for.
I think the question is whether or not you have to apply heighten first when using a series of metamagic feats.
Yes, you do.

Well, wait. That completely goes against your previous answer.

You said something long the lines of

charm person + Still Spell = 2nd level spell (DC 11)
stilled charm person + Silent Spell = 3rd level spell (DC 11)
silent stilled charm person + Heightened into a 4th Level Spell Slot = 4th level spell (DC 14).

But how you are portraying it in your new response, you're basically saying that you have to do this:

charm person + Heighten Spell = 4th level spell (DC 14)
heightened charm person + Still Spell = 5th level spell (DC 14)
heightened stilled charm person + Silent Spell = 6th level spell (DC 14)

Doesn't it work like this:

Silent Spell raises the spell slot required by +1, but not effective spell level. So a silent charm person requires a level 2 slot to prepare/cast but counts as a level 1 spell and the spell DC is not raised.

Still Spell raises the spell slot required by +1, but not effective spell level. So a stilled and silented charm person requires a level 3 slot to prepare/cast but counts as a level 1 spell and the spell DC is not raised.

If you...

The Heighten Spell feat does not say "A Heightened Spell uses up a spell slot one higher that the spells actual level per spell level that the spell is effectively heightened".

It does say "The heightened spell is as difficult to prepare and cast as a spell of its effective level". To my mind, that means if its memorized and cast using 4th level spell slot, its effectively a 4th level spell.


JustABill wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Golden-Esque wrote:
Well, wait. That completely goes against your previous answer.

On purpose.

AKA: Pick the way you like and you'll be happier.

Well, I was kind of hoping for something semi-official. I know of course that works however the DM says it works, but...

Given all that, how does it work when you DM? How should it work in PF Society games?

Any chance you guys talking it over and putting something in a FAQ or perhaps even an errata. This debate seems to have been around since 3.0 and I can't seem to find anything definitive on it anywhere...

I don't want to debate rules on Jame's thread, but if you go back to the latest thread on the issue I might be able to provide more proof, along with the quote I already provided showing that heighten can not be added for free, and that it effects the effective level of the spell, but does not make the slot level used equivalent to the effective spell level.


If a Daivrat (from the Qadira book) becomes Evil in alignment (as would be the case for an undead Daivrat, among other things), would they lose their prestige class abilities? The requirements state that they are never evil as they need to deal on equal terms with genies, but there was also some discussion in a thread when the book came out that implied this was not a strict restriction. What would be your take on the matter (i.e. could there be an undead Daivrat villain)?

Scarab Sages

c873788 wrote:
When the zombie apocalypse strikes, where will you go to hide? Will you take your cat with you? How well prepared are you - do you have a zombie survival kit on hand?

waits patiently with notebook in hand for James to answer

Verdant Wheel

Sorry again. There some elements in American culture that become so commonplace on movies and tv shows that seems near unreal as fantasy elements to outsiders. I guess so ordinary things should be expected everyplace but they aren´t. Our high schools have completely different stereotypes (i guess we only share the preps and stoners), and i am ever curious if what we see in TV shows are really true.

a) Where was the weirdest place that you played RPG ? (Exemple: For me, was during a wedding of a friend, at the backseats of a church).
b) Why is that there is so few educational RPGs ? Historical RPGs for teaching history ? Gurps is famous because of this, but beyond him RPG is very underused.
c) Who are the most famous chromatic dragons of the inner sea of each color ?
d) And who are the most prestigious metallic dragons of each metal in the inner sea ?
e) If someone were to play on Golarion with old AD&D ruleset, who could be the actual Grand Druid of Golarion ? And the Inner Sea Great Druid ? (Remember Archdruid, Great Druid etc... ?)
f) Would fishing be handled with a profession roll or survival roll ? What are the Sandpoint hardest catch ?

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

Why don't dinosaurs have the reptile subtype?

Pechs are mentioned as being from the Plane of Earth in the 3.5 book Into the Darklands. Are Pechs still from the Plane of Earth? If not, are they now from the First World like the rest of the fey? Or are there other fey not from the First World? If so, which?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

JustABill wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Golden-Esque wrote:
Well, wait. That completely goes against your previous answer.

On purpose.

AKA: Pick the way you like and you'll be happier.

Well, I was kind of hoping for something semi-official. I know of course that works however the DM says it works, but...

Given all that, how does it work when you DM? How should it work in PF Society games?

Any chance you guys talking it over and putting something in a FAQ or perhaps even an errata. This debate seems to have been around since 3.0 and I can't seem to find anything definitive on it anywhere...

If anyone ever tried this in a game I run (to date no one has), I would have them apply Heighten Spell first and then all the other metamagic feats to it once the Heightened Spell's been set at its new level.

In order for there to be a chance for this to end up in the FAQ, though... folks need to post the question in the rules forums or in the PFS forums and then start clicking the FAQ button on the post.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

c873788 wrote:
When the zombie apocalypse strikes, where will you go to hide? Will you take your cat with you? How well prepared are you - do you have a zombie survival kit on hand?

Alaska (or somewhere the temperature will freeze the dead zombies solid so they're even easier to flee from).

Of COURSE I'll take Shimmy with me.

I'm poorly prepared for the event, though.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Analysis wrote:
If a Daivrat (from the Qadira book) becomes Evil in alignment (as would be the case for an undead Daivrat, among other things), would they lose their prestige class abilities? The requirements state that they are never evil as they need to deal on equal terms with genies, but there was also some discussion in a thread when the book came out that implied this was not a strict restriction. What would be your take on the matter (i.e. could there be an undead Daivrat villain)?

I like the idea of an evil or undead genie manipulator enough that I'd end up on the side of the fence that would probably say that you could have an evil Daivrat... although I'd probably be MORE on the side of just using other genie-binding rules elements entirely since I'm not a fan of the Daivrat.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Draco Bahamut wrote:

Sorry again. There some elements in American culture that become so commonplace on movies and tv shows that seems near unreal as fantasy elements to outsiders. I guess so ordinary things should be expected everyplace but they aren´t. Our high schools have completely different stereotypes (i guess we only share the preps and stoners), and i am ever curious if what we see in TV shows are really true.

a) Where was the weirdest place that you played RPG ? (Exemple: For me, was during a wedding of a friend, at the backseats of a church).
b) Why is that there is so few educational RPGs ? Historical RPGs for teaching history ? Gurps is famous because of this, but beyond him RPG is very underused.
c) Who are the most famous chromatic dragons of the inner sea of each color ?
d) And who are the most prestigious metallic dragons of each metal in the inner sea ?
e) If someone were to play on Golarion with old AD&D ruleset, who could be the actual Grand Druid of Golarion ? And the Inner Sea Great Druid ? (Remember Archdruid, Great Druid etc... ?)
f) Would fishing be handled with a profession roll or survival roll ? What are the Sandpoint hardest catch ?

No worries. We've got plenty of elements of Brazilian culture in our movies and TV shows that seem unreal as fantasy elements to us as well! :-P

a) On a river beach.

b) My take: ALL Tabletop RPGs are educational. They teach reading comprehension, team building, math, and more. And frankly, I think that D&D has done more to increase interest in European medieval history than most other things in the past quarter century.

c) We don't keep track of them. Dragons in Golarion aren't superstars... they're recluses and/or villains.

d) See "C" above.

e) Someone new we would have to invent for the world.

f) Both. You'd use Survival if you're just trying to feed yourself. You'd use Profession (fisher) if you're trying to make a living at it. As for the hardest fish to catch in Sandpoint... that'd probably be a monster of some sort, if by "hardest" you mean "most dangerous." I'd guess a vydrarch (a new monster coming soon in the Magnimar book).

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Thomas LeBlanc wrote:

Why don't dinosaurs have the reptile subtype?

Pechs are mentioned as being from the Plane of Earth in the 3.5 book Into the Darklands. Are Pechs still from the Plane of Earth? If not, are they now from the First World like the rest of the fey? Or are there other fey not from the First World? If so, which?

Because there's no such thing as a reptile subtype. The closest there is to that is a "reptilian" subtype, which is ONLY a subtype that applies to humanoids who have reptilian features, like lizardfolk or troglodytes.

Pechs in Golarion are from the plane of Earth. Fey come from all over... they don't only come from the First World. In addition, there are more creatures from the First World than just fey. The First World is NOT "the plane of the fey" by any stretch.


Call of Cthulhu RPG question here.

Well I am still trying to get a group together for Horror on the Orient Express, but they want Friday for Carrion Crown and Saturday for Jade Serpent Skull. Anyways, I was looking through the 5.6 ed handbook and I don't see anything about movement speed. The reason I am curious about this is because in one game, the party ended up in a fight with zombies. They kept backing up and shooting. Now, because the book did not have speeds for humans, I just decided that since the zombies have such a low dex, if the players kept moving then the zombies could never catch up. is there a listed speed for humans or did I make the right call there? The other thing is that the first book of HotOO has an instant kill section with the train where one person automatically dies just to start the side quest, so I re-wrote that bit because I always feel you should never have a situation where it is 100% not possible for a player to get out of it. What is your opinion on changing that bit?

I'm going to be running the pirate themed path when all the books are released and I am thinking about adding a little flavour to it, by putting in Nyarlethotep in a few of his many disguises. Just to throw a wrench into the party's plans to see if he can get them to cause some chaos. Total non-combat NPC though. Just to play mind tricks to see if he can derail them. For instance, lets say some town leader wants the party to get rid of some pirates that keep hitting their supply lines. The party goes, but the creeping chaos is in there near the end as some old bookkeeper. Just to mess with them, he tells them the mayor or whatever is the one that employed them to do all that, just to see if the party will act blindly and take down an innocent man, causing a power vaccuum in town. Opinion?


JMD031 wrote:

How many licks does it take to get the tootsie roll center of a tootsie pop?

3 is not the right answer.

There was a graduate student study at some university a few years ago, they came up with an average of about 350 licks. I can't remember the exact number, nor the university. But SCIENCE has answered this question.


James Jacobs wrote:
c873788 wrote:
When the zombie apocalypse strikes, where will you go to hide? Will you take your cat with you? How well prepared are you - do you have a zombie survival kit on hand?

Alaska (or somewhere the temperature will freeze the dead zombies solid so they're even easier to flee from).

Of COURSE I'll take Shimmy with me.

I'm poorly prepared for the event, though.

As a born, raised, and current resident of Alaska, I look forward to seeing you :P

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Aberzombie wrote:

James,

Is there an established rule as to how long doppelgangers live?

1-5 rounds after they encounter the average PC party.


Assuming there's a distortion in the space-time continuum and I am sucked through a tear in the fabric of reality to land in Golarion, where is the safest and most enterprising place in that world for a guy like me to start over?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Jaçinto wrote:

Call of Cthulhu RPG question here.

Well I am still trying to get a group together for Horror on the Orient Express, but they want Friday for Carrion Crown and Saturday for Jade Serpent Skull. Anyways, I was looking through the 5.6 ed handbook and I don't see anything about movement speed. The reason I am curious about this is because in one game, the party ended up in a fight with zombies. They kept backing up and shooting. Now, because the book did not have speeds for humans, I just decided that since the zombies have such a low dex, if the players kept moving then the zombies could never catch up. is there a listed speed for humans or did I make the right call there? The other thing is that the first book of HotOO has an instant kill section with the train where one person automatically dies just to start the side quest, so I re-wrote that bit because I always feel you should never have a situation where it is 100% not possible for a player to get out of it. What is your opinion on changing that bit?

I'm going to be running the pirate themed path when all the books are released and I am thinking about adding a little flavour to it, by putting in Nyarlethotep in a few of his many disguises. Just to throw a wrench into the party's plans to see if he can get them to cause some chaos. Total non-combat NPC though. Just to play mind tricks to see if he can derail them. For instance, lets say some town leader wants the party to get rid of some pirates that keep hitting their supply lines. The party goes, but the creeping chaos is in there near the end as some old bookkeeper. Just to mess with them, he tells them the mayor or whatever is the one that employed them to do all that, just to see if the party will act blindly and take down an innocent man, causing a power vaccuum in town. Opinion?

One of the things I love about Call of Cthulhu is that the rules aren't bloated with detail. That allows the Keeper to play with the rules with relative ease. That said... there ARE rules for movement; every creature has a Move rating—I believe for humans that rating is 8. You can use the resistance table to resolve chases pretty easily as a result by matching move rates between targets... It's probably best to do a 2 out 3 or a 3 out of 5 series rather than hinge it all on one roll though.

Auto deaths to start side quests are lame... unless the whole POINT of the side quest is that when someone dies, it opens up an optional adventure, in which case that's kind of neat.

Nyarlathotep is a strong, strong spice. He's not a good choice to put into a game unless you want the game to end up being about him. Using him in Skull & Shackles changes the fundamental nature of the campaign, which is supposed to be a swashbuckling adventure with scoundrel PCs. Nyarlathotep would work better, in my opinion, having a hand in a darker, more grim AP like Runelords or Carrion Crown or even the upcoming Shattered Star AP.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

c873788 wrote:
Assuming there's a distortion in the space-time continuum and I am sucked through a tear in the fabric of reality to land in Golarion, where is the safest and most enterprising place in that world for a guy like me to start over?

By the looks of your avatar... Geb.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
James Jacobs wrote:
c873788 wrote:
Assuming there's a distortion in the space-time continuum and I am sucked through a tear in the fabric of reality to land in Golarion, where is the safest and most enterprising place in that world for a guy like me to start over?
By the looks of your avatar... Geb.

So by your avatar, your choice would be Mwangi then? Is Mwangi an alliteration to the classic Cowboys and Dinosaurs movie, the Valley of Gwangi, Ray Harryhausen's last film?

Liberty's Edge

Does Golarion have anything in the Tian or the australia area like the the Ebu Gogo? Would they be stastically identical to Halflings?


do you know that the Ulfen live over here in Hessia, Germany?
First historic mentioning in year 775. Population 684
And that the video for one of Germany's most successful (and most terrible) Schlagermusik songs was filmed there? The Wildecker Herzbuben

Sczarni RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32

Where can I find more information on how and why the Rogarvians of Brevoy disappeared?

Also, could you tell me more about Noleski and Natala Surtova?

I am running a Kingmaker game, and while such information won't really affect my players, I want to have some more politics play going on from all the nations around them as their nation grows.

In the first part of Kingmaker you hint that Brevoy does fall into civil war, but I haven't found much about that in the later parts of Kingmaker. Was I mistaken, or was there supposed to be more going on behind the scenes that didn't make it into the AP?


The Rogarvians disappearance is, I think, meant to be one of those up-to-the-GM mysteries.


Does Ameiko Kaijitsu, in fact, have any flaws? I mean actual flaws, not "Oh, she's so spunky and headstrong, isn't it adorable?" I'm playing a female PC in Jade Regent and how perfect and wonderful she is at everything and how much everyone in town adores her is getting laid on really thick. It's like adventuring with a Disney Princess, and I'm about ready to jump ship and side with the Wicked Queen. :P

Paizo Employee Creative Director

LazarX wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
c873788 wrote:
Assuming there's a distortion in the space-time continuum and I am sucked through a tear in the fabric of reality to land in Golarion, where is the safest and most enterprising place in that world for a guy like me to start over?
By the looks of your avatar... Geb.
So by your avatar, your choice would be Mwangi then? Is Mwangi an alliteration to the classic Cowboys and Dinosaurs movie, the Valley of Gwangi, Ray Harryhausen's last film?

nope... My choice would be Sandpoint.

I do love "Valley of the Gwangi" quite a lot (in fact it's probably my favorite Harryhausen movie, just barely beating out "It Came from Beneath the Sea")... but it's hardly Harryhausen's last film. He did the effects for the original Clash of the Titans back in the 80s (his last visual effects credit, I believe), and had a cameo in "Burke & Hare" just a year or two ago...

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Coridan wrote:
Does Golarion have anything in the Tian or the australia area like the the Ebu Gogo? Would they be stastically identical to Halflings?

Not yet, but maybe some day—they'd not be identical to halflings though. They'd be different.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

aeglos wrote:

do you know that the Ulfen live over here in Hessia, Germany?

First historic mentioning in year 775. Population 684
And that the video for one of Germany's most successful (and most terrible) Schlagermusik songs was filmed there? The Wildecker Herzbuben

Ha! Cool.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

CalebTGordan wrote:

Where can I find more information on how and why the Rogarvians of Brevoy disappeared?

Also, could you tell me more about Noleski and Natala Surtova?

I am running a Kingmaker game, and while such information won't really affect my players, I want to have some more politics play going on from all the nations around them as their nation grows.

In the first part of Kingmaker you hint that Brevoy does fall into civil war, but I haven't found much about that in the later parts of Kingmaker. Was I mistaken, or was there supposed to be more going on behind the scenes that didn't make it into the AP?

The last Kingmaker volume talks a bit about stuff like that in the "Continuing the Campaign" article... but for the most part, additional details are left to the GM to expand upon.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Joana wrote:
Does Ameiko Kaijitsu, in fact, have any flaws? I mean actual flaws, not "Oh, she's so spunky and headstrong, isn't it adorable?" I'm playing a female PC in Jade Regent and how perfect and wonderful she is at everything and how much everyone in town adores her is getting laid on really thick. It's like adventuring with a Disney Princess, and I'm about ready to jump ship and side with the Wicked Queen. :P

She doesn't follow authority figures very well, and she tends to be a bit overconfident in her ability to get out of any situation, and sometimes has trouble managing her temper (especially in the face of certain injustices). She's certainly not "everyone's friend" in town—she's popular, yes, but more with adventurers and less with townsfolk... particularly her own family, with the Scarnettis, and with several of her competitors in the inn/tavern business.

It sounds like your GM is going a bit over the top with her, in any case.

She DOES have flaws... but they're detailed in the various adventures, and I'm not all that comfortable pointing them out since that could be considered spoilers.

THAT SAID! The "Jade Regent" AP does allow for rivalries to form between PCs and the NPCs, and in fact you can gain bonuses and rewards for if you foster a rivalry with an NPC, as surely as you can earn rewards for building romances or strong alliances with the NPCs. It's certainly possible that your GM is subtly encouraging your character to build up a rivalry with Ameiko.

Dark Archive

what is hobgoblin society like? what creatures other than other goblinoids do hobgoblins tend to ally with?


James Jacobs wrote:
Joana wrote:
Does Ameiko Kaijitsu, in fact, have any flaws? I mean actual flaws, not "Oh, she's so spunky and headstrong, isn't it adorable?" I'm playing a female PC in Jade Regent and how perfect and wonderful she is at everything and how much everyone in town adores her is getting laid on really thick. It's like adventuring with a Disney Princess, and I'm about ready to jump ship and side with the Wicked Queen. :P

She doesn't follow authority figures very well, and she tends to be a bit overconfident in her ability to get out of any situation, and sometimes has trouble managing her temper (especially in the face of certain injustices). She's certainly not "everyone's friend" in town—she's popular, yes, but more with adventurers and less with townsfolk... particularly her own family, with the Scarnettis, and with several of her competitors in the inn/tavern business.

It sounds like your GM is going a bit over the top with her, in any case.

She DOES have flaws... but they're detailed in the various adventures, and I'm not all that comfortable pointing them out since that could be considered spoilers.

THAT SAID! The "Jade Regent" AP does allow for rivalries to form between PCs and the NPCs, and in fact you can gain bonuses and rewards for if you foster a rivalry with an NPC, as surely as you can earn rewards for building romances or strong alliances with the NPCs. It's certainly possible that your GM is subtly encouraging your character to build up a rivalry with Ameiko.

To be fair, it's less the GM than the other PCs. Granted, one has the Ameiko's Best Friend trait and another has the Childhood Crush on Ameiko, but even among the rest of the players, her reputation so precedes her that everyone's like "Oh, Ameiko, you'll be our cook, won't you? Your food is ambrosia" and "Hm, we found some mysterious stuff in a chest we can't identify? Let's not take it to the sheriff or a sage or a temple or anything; we'll just take it to Ameiko, she knows everything." I actually don't mind the character the way the GM is playing her; I'm just tired of hearing all the other PCs talk about how great she is. It's starting to feel like running into Drizzt or Elminster in the Forgotten Realms.

And there's no question there, so...

I ran Black Fang's dungeon from the Beginner Box for my 9-year-old daughter the other evening, and she played the rogue with the Merisiel mini (except she calls her Iris). When the party all introduced themselves and said what they could do, she said, "I'm Iris, and I can do everything. I'm the leader, and I get all the treasure." When she overheard King Fatmouth and his goblins arguing, she sneaked into the room so she could, in her words, "stab, stab! Stab! STAB!" When Fatmouth asked who she was, her reply was, "I'm Iris, and I'm here to kill you all! Mwahahahaha!"

Exactly how concerned should I be, both for her and for society?


Joana wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Joana wrote:
Does Ameiko Kaijitsu, in fact, have any flaws? I mean actual flaws, not "Oh, she's so spunky and headstrong, isn't it adorable?" I'm playing a female PC in Jade Regent and how perfect and wonderful she is at everything and how much everyone in town adores her is getting laid on really thick. It's like adventuring with a Disney Princess, and I'm about ready to jump ship and side with the Wicked Queen. :P

She doesn't follow authority figures very well, and she tends to be a bit overconfident in her ability to get out of any situation, and sometimes has trouble managing her temper (especially in the face of certain injustices). She's certainly not "everyone's friend" in town—she's popular, yes, but more with adventurers and less with townsfolk... particularly her own family, with the Scarnettis, and with several of her competitors in the inn/tavern business.

It sounds like your GM is going a bit over the top with her, in any case.

She DOES have flaws... but they're detailed in the various adventures, and I'm not all that comfortable pointing them out since that could be considered spoilers.

THAT SAID! The "Jade Regent" AP does allow for rivalries to form between PCs and the NPCs, and in fact you can gain bonuses and rewards for if you foster a rivalry with an NPC, as surely as you can earn rewards for building romances or strong alliances with the NPCs. It's certainly possible that your GM is subtly encouraging your character to build up a rivalry with Ameiko.

To be fair, it's less the GM than the other PCs. Granted, one has the Ameiko's Best Friend trait and another has the Childhood Crush on Ameiko, but even among the rest of the players, her reputation so precedes her that everyone's like "Oh, Ameiko, you'll be our cook, won't you? Your food is ambrosia" and "Hm, we found some mysterious stuff in a chest we can't identify? Let's not take it to the sheriff or a sage or a temple or anything; we'll just take it to Ameiko, she knows everything." I actually don't mind the character the way the GM is playing her; I'm just tired of hearing all the other PCs talk about how great she is. It's starting to feel like running into Drizzt or Elminster in the Forgotten Realms.

One thing with Ameiko is that her "hard-to-get'ness" might turn people on or off depending how it is played, so does the arts of her.


Joana wrote:
To be fair, it's less the GM than the other PCs. Granted, one has the Ameiko's Best Friend trait and another has the Childhood Crush on Ameiko, but even among the rest of the players, her reputation so precedes her that everyone's like "Oh, Ameiko, you'll be our cook, won't you? Your food is ambrosia" and "Hm, we found some mysterious stuff in a chest we can't identify? Let's not take it to the sheriff or a sage or a temple or anything; we'll just take it to Ameiko, she knows...

That sounds like its more of a problem with your PCs, like you said. Talk to your GM about it; tell them that you think that Ameiko might need to do something in-character for her that pops their bubble a little bit. Something that says, "This is a real person, not a Disney Princess."

Whatever that is, don't have her get kidnapped ....


Here is an eclectic array of questions:

1. Who, or what, is Abendego?

2. Are the inhabitants of southern Garund (south of the Mwangi Expanse) mostly black people, white people, or both?

3. Has the highest mountain on Golarion ever been identified?

4. Is Nyarlathotep active on Golarion?

5. If I were a blind idiot flute-player, would Aucturn be a good place to look for employment?

6. Any plans for Ed Greenwood to ever write a Pathfinder novel?

7. A question that's probably getting more and more relevant the more gamers see of Tyrion Lannister: if you want to play a human character who's a dwarf, should there be any special adjustments other than changing size to "Small"?

8. If an NPC with Commoner levels begins to advance in a character class, should he retain his Commoner levels? I've never seen a multiclasses Commoner.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

ulgulanoth wrote:
what is hobgoblin society like? what creatures other than other goblinoids do hobgoblins tend to ally with?

Depends on which society. The two primary hobgoblin societies we've revealed in Golarion are those in the wilds of Isger and those who rule the nation of Kaoling in Tian Xia.

In both cases, they're very well-organized militaristic societies. The ones in Kaoling are more powerful and more numerous than those in Isger, who are still reeling from the losses they endured during the Goblinblood wars.

Hobgoblins often keep goblins as slaves, and often employ bugbears as skirmishers or specialists in the art of murder. They also ally with all manner of feral wild animals and monsters native to the region.


3 people marked this as a favorite.
Joana wrote:

I ran Black Fang's dungeon from the Beginner Box for my 9-year-old daughter the other evening, and she played the rogue with the Merisiel mini (except she calls her Iris). When the party all introduced themselves and said what they could do, she said, "I'm Iris, and I can do everything. I'm the leader, and I get all the treasure." When she overheard King Fatmouth and his goblins arguing, she sneaked into the room so she could, in her words, "stab, stab! Stab! STAB!" When Fatmouth asked who she was, her reply was, "I'm Iris, and I'm here to kill you all! Mwahahahaha!"

Exactly how concerned should I be, both for her and for society?

HA! Seems to me that she's doing it right! Well done!

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Andrew Crossett wrote:

Here is an eclectic array of questions:

1. Who, or what, is Abendego?

2. Are the inhabitants of southern Garund (south of the Mwangi Expanse) mostly black people, white people, or both?

3. Has the highest mountain on Golarion ever been identified?

4. Is Nyarlathotep active on Golarion?

5. If I were a blind idiot flute-player, would Aucturn be a good place to look for employment?

6. Any plans for Ed Greenwood to ever write a Pathfinder novel?

7. A question that's probably getting more and more relevant the more gamers see of Tyrion Lannister: if you want to play a human character who's a dwarf, should there be any special adjustments other than changing size to "Small"?

8. If an NPC with Commoner levels begins to advance in a character class, should he retain his Commoner levels? I've never seen a multiclasses Commoner.

1) The name of the region before the hurricane took over. More info is coming soon in "Lost Kingdoms."

2) The HUMAN inhabitants are mostly black. There's other things living down there though; including lizardfolk and catfolk and stranger stuff.

3) Yes. Mount Himcho ("Mother of the World") in the Wall of Heaven in Tian Xia. This mountain's height is 37,400 feet.

4) Yes.

5) No.

6) That's a James Sutter question.

7) No; just play a human character who is Small sized and go from there.

8) Technically... yes, he would. The Pathfinder rules are annoyingly vague on what levels someone has before they take their first level, alas—it's hard to imagine a wizard being a wizard when he's 2 years old. If that bugs you, I suggest that you just have characters "trade in" their commoner level for their first "real" level.

Dark Archive

1) What combinations of classes and/or archetypes would Golarion's iconic drow NPC be, and what level?

2) You have stated before that you don't like "living construct" subtype. How about "bio-mechanical construct"?

3) What do you think of Iron Heroes traits? Do you consider them overpowered?

3b) Would you allow a player to replace both of his traits with a trait that allows him to use other stat for spellcasting than that of his class? For instance, would you allow a Cleric to use Charisma for casting?

4) Did you watch Transormers as a child? If you did, do you consider Optimus a perfect example of LG alignment?

5) Are Abalonians PF replacement for Modrons? (If they are, I like them.)

5a) Hypothetically, if Abalonians discovered the existence of Modrons and Primus himself, would they worship him?

5b) There are humans on Abalon, but are there Abalonians on Golarion? Would it be strange for a PC to have an Abalonian henchmen via Leadership feat?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

nightflier wrote:

1) What combinations of classes and/or archetypes would Golarion's iconic drow NPC be, and what level?

2) You have stated before that you don't like "living construct" subtype. How about "bio-mechanical construct"?

3) What do you think of Iron Heroes traits? Do you consider them overpowered?

3b) Would you allow a player to replace both of his traits with a trait that allows him to use other stat for spellcasting than that of his class? For instance, would you allow a Cleric to use Charisma for casting?

4) Did you watch Transormers as a child? If you did, do you consider Optimus a perfect example of LG alignment?

5) Are Abalonians PF replacement for Modrons? (If they are, I like them.)

5a) Hypothetically, if Abalonians discovered the existence of Modrons and Primus himself, would they worship him?

5b) There are humans on Abalon, but are there Abalonians on Golarion? Would it be strange for a PC to have an Abalonian henchmen via Leadership feat?

1) Cleric of some demon lord. No archetype, no level, since iconics don't get those nailed down.

2) What I don't like about the "living construct" subtype is the specific rules mechanics. I don't mind the name. Until I see rules for a "bio-mechanical construct" it's nothing more than a name, and as such I have no real opinion other than that it sounds too sci-fi for my tastes for a fantasy RPG.

3) Dunno, never read them.

3a) No... I actually value the fact that spellcasters use specific different abilities. If someone in my game REALLY wants to play a charisma-based divine spellcaster... I point them at the paladin or the oracle.

4) No. My sister did though. I never really got into Transformers... I always saw them as "kid toys." Due in no small part to the fact that my little sister loved the show so much.

5) No.

5a) Depends on the GM's preference.

5b) We've not yet had any Abalonians on Golarion but that doesn't mean we never will. And yes, it would be strange.


1) If you could nab one monster that isn't in Pathfinder yet and add it to the game, what would it be?

2) What are your thoughts on D&D Next?

3) What's one video game that you looked at it and said, "I'll pass."

4) What does the mating call of a tyrannosaurus rex sound like?

5) Can an Ooma (Distant Worlds) travel between any two planets in the Solar System in 3d20 days? Given the sheer amount of distance that would be, how does an ooma achieve such a high velocity?

6) Same question as #5, except a tongue-in-cheek response (if #5's response was not already tongue-in-cheek).

7) What is the weirdest thing that Lisa Stevens has ever requested of you?

8) You once told me you enjoyed scented candles. Are there any in your home right now?

9) Did you have a childhood effigy? (Teddy bear, blanket, etc?)

10) The Boogeyman's entry in Bestiary III claims that all members of that fey type are male. What happens to the little girls that boogeymen claim? Do you think there would be a female equivalent (such as succubi / inccubi) or do little girls just get eaten?

11) Have you ever used a deck of Chase Cards at your table? If so, did you use them rules as written or heavily adapted?

12) Same question, but substitute Chase cards for Plot Twist cards.

13) What do you think the most useful Tabletop RPG app for the iPad would be?

14) What is your favorite piece of art to be published in a Paizo book? Can you link to it?

15) What is the silliest article of clothing you have ever worn? (I'm lame; mine is one of those little propeller hates you see kids wearing in cartoons.)

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Golden-Esque wrote:

1) If you could nab one monster that isn't in Pathfinder yet and add it to the game, what would it be?

2) What are your thoughts on D&D Next?

3) What's one video game that you looked at it and said, "I'll pass."

4) What does the mating call of a tyrannosaurus rex sound like?

5) Can an Ooma (Distant Worlds) travel between any two planets in the Solar System in 3d20 days? Given the sheer amount of distance that would be, how does an ooma achieve such a high velocity?

6) Same question as #5, except a tongue-in-cheek response (if #5's response was not already tongue-in-cheek).

7) What is the weirdest thing that Lisa Stevens has ever requested of you?

8) You once told me you enjoyed scented candles. Are there any in your home right now?

9) Did you have a childhood effigy? (Teddy bear, blanket, etc?)

10) The Boogeyman's entry in Bestiary III claims that all members of that fey type are male. What happens to the little girls that boogeymen claim? Do you think there would be a female equivalent (such as succubi / inccubi) or do little girls just get eaten?

11) Have you ever used a deck of Chase Cards at your table? If so, did you use them rules as written or heavily adapted?

12) Same question, but substitute Chase cards for Plot Twist cards.

13) What do you think the most useful Tabletop RPG app for the iPad would be?

14) What is your favorite piece of art to be published in a Paizo book? Can you link to it?

15) What is the silliest article of clothing you have ever worn? (I'm lame; mine is one of those little propeller hates you see kids wearing in cartoons.)

First off... try to keep the numbered questions to 10 or less, please... makes it easier on me to answer them if they're not SUPER long...

1) My answer for this would change every week... but today? Slender man.

2) Sounds ambitious.

3) Starcraft II

4) Sexy.

5) Magic.

6) Magick.

7) I don't wanna give her any ideas...

8) Vanilla.

9) Yes.

10) They get eaten alive. If they're lucky.

11) Yes. As written... turns out, since I wrote the chase rules, I got to write them the way I want them to work and don't have to adapt them much at all. :P

12) Yes. As a sort of "hero point" mechanic.

13) A virtual tabletop that syncs to everyone's iPad at the table and thus replaces the battle mat but also includes a character sheet and works over the internet.

14) Well... I liked the goblins on the cover of Pathfinder 1 and the first image of Merisiel from the cover of Pathfinder 3 to buy them... so those two would be awfully high on my list. I'm not sure I have a favorite, though.

15) Well... the frog-prince costume is probably up there...


Hi James, we've settled this internally already; but I thought I should ask here for input too. This is regarding Jade Regent (I'm in two games, one as GM, one as player - and I'm loving it!). Specifically the caravan rules are not clear whether a traveler is required to make use of traveler capacity on wagons.

The player's guide is clear that anybody with the caravan counts as a traveler (and that non-draft animals such as mounts and eidolons are included in that number too). But it isn't explicit about whether every traveler also is "on a wagon" so to speak. In this case there is a division with some claiming that travelers with independent traveling means (such as a mount) do not have to count against traveler capacity; whereas some think that the caravan is required to have traveler capacity for each traveler.


Dear Mr Dinosaur Man Face

We have not started Jade Regent yet but I was wondering, are there going to be random encounter rolls to see if we get robbed in the night or someone on the wagon train gets dysentary or cholera? Are we going to have to caulk the wagons to ford across the rivers? Yes I have been playing a lot of Oregon Trail again.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

LoreKeeper wrote:

Hi James, we've settled this internally already; but I thought I should ask here for input too. This is regarding Jade Regent (I'm in two games, one as GM, one as player - and I'm loving it!). Specifically the caravan rules are not clear whether a traveler is required to make use of traveler capacity on wagons.

The player's guide is clear that anybody with the caravan counts as a traveler (and that non-draft animals such as mounts and eidolons are included in that number too). But it isn't explicit about whether every traveler also is "on a wagon" so to speak. In this case there is a division with some claiming that travelers with independent traveling means (such as a mount) do not have to count against traveler capacity; whereas some think that the caravan is required to have traveler capacity for each traveler.

The limit of travelers is merely that—a limit of how many people a caravan supports. Where those travelers spend their time, be it on a wagon or not, is irrelevant to that number.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Jaçinto wrote:

Dear Mr Dinosaur Man Face

We have not started Jade Regent yet but I was wondering, are there going to be random encounter rolls to see if we get robbed in the night or someone on the wagon train gets dysentary or cholera? Are we going to have to caulk the wagons to ford across the rivers? Yes I have been playing a lot of Oregon Trail again.

That depends if your GM has been playing Oregon Trail, actually.

Silver Crusade

Spoilers for a five year old AP ahead, I guess?

I'm GMing Savage Tide, and the group just got the Sea Wyvern. (They still have to save Lavinia from the bullywugs, but that's all that's left in The Bullywug Gambit.) So I'm pretty pleased with how Skull and Shackles is coming out right now.

1) How reasonable is it to mashup Skull and Shackles and Savage Tide? I was hoping to at least steal some naval encounters to spice up the Sea Wyvern's Wake.

2) To give the players an excuse to get into trouble with the Sea Wyvern, I'm going to have Lavinia convince the Dawn Council to grant the Blue Nixie and the Sea Wyvern letters of marque so they can be privateers. Who would you say Sasserine considers an "enemy" for such letters? The Crimson Fleet, obviously... But the Scarlet Brotherhood? The Sea Princes? Anyone else?

3) In the original Dungeon issue, the Sea Wyvern can hold two ballistae or one light catapault. In the Skull and Shackles player's guide, the equivalent ship (a Sailing Ship, as best as I can figure) can have... up to 22 siege engines. Which would you recommend I use?

Thanks!

Paizo Employee Creative Director

LoFro The Pirate wrote:

Spoilers for a five year old AP ahead, I guess?

I'm GMing Savage Tide, and the group just got the Sea Wyvern. (They still have to save Lavinia from the bullywugs, but that's all that's left in The Bullywug Gambit.) So I'm pretty pleased with how Skull and Shackles is coming out right now.

1) How reasonable is it to mashup Skull and Shackles and Savage Tide? I was hoping to at least steal some naval encounters to spice up the Sea Wyvern's Wake.

2) To give the players an excuse to get into trouble with the Sea Wyvern, I'm going to have Lavinia convince the Dawn Council to grant the Blue Nixie and the Sea Wyvern letters of marque so they can be privateers. Who would you say Sasserine considers an "enemy" for such letters? The Crimson Fleet, obviously... But the Scarlet Brotherhood? The Sea Princes? Anyone else?

3) In the original Dungeon issue, the Sea Wyvern can hold two ballistae or one light catapault. In the Skull and Shackles player's guide, the equivalent ship (a Sailing Ship, as best as I can figure) can have... up to 22 siege engines. Which would you recommend I use?

Thanks!

1) Pretty reasonable. Both have tropical pirate themes.

2) Sasserine would certainly consider the Scarlet Brotherhood enemies... if that's not enough, then I suppose the Sea Princes could work as well... but I suspect that between the Crimson Fleet and the Scarlet Brotherhood... that'll be enough. And if you limit it to those two, you can do something fun like calling them Blood Letters or otherwise playing on the fact that both of those enemies use variations of red in their titles.


I have a couple of questions concerning the Tattooed Sorcerer Archetype. I know you aren't named as a author on that book, but I know you had something to do with it, because you said so in an earlier post.

Their level 7 ability to Create Spell Tattoo says they can create one with a touch as a standard action. Does that circumvent the construction requirements used by the feat: Inscribe Magical Tattoo? Or is the intent of the thing to allow them one at a time just because of their sheer awesomesauce?

On a fluff note: what would you say if someone wanted to re-skin the Tattooed Sorcerer to more of a Gem/Ioun stone Sorcerer instead? The idea being that the tattoos are a variant version of what the old Thassilonian Runelords used to do with Ioun Stones by implanting them in their bodies and the two schools of thought have a common ancestry. I will warn you though, I am about halfway through a Rise of the Runelords Campaign, and would appreciate a spoiler free answer to this question. If necessary, a simple thumbs up or down would be fine for me.


Dear James Jacobs,

I had a debate with a friend the other night over the OGL, and as the Creative Director you might have the answer. What, exactly, is considered to be Paizo's Intellectual Property for the purpose of determining what can and cannot be expanded upon by Third Party Publishers?

For example, we agreed that things like Deity Names and Nation names are probably off-key, but could a Third Party Publisher mention things like Golarion in their product? Is a concept such as the Dark Tapestry (which appears both in Ultimate Magic, a Hard Cover, and in multiple Campaign products) OGL? What about minor things, like the names of Demon Lords or the names of Golarion's Constellations?

EDIT: Can I have a cookie for being your 17,301st poster?

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