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Paizo Employee Creative Director

Cheapy wrote:

Is there a reason for the sahuagin's propensity to have beneficial random mutations? Has there been any research in golarion on that? Is there any concept of genes and mutation within the lore?

Are you familiar with the Pre-Socratic natural philosophers? If you are, are they represented anywhere in Golarion, or at least something similar, where philosophers discuss what the "base element" that the whole world is based off of?

The reason is unknown to non-sahuagin at this time.

I'm not familiar with the Pre-Socratic natural philosophers... but since there's room on Golarion for lasers, elves, gunpowder, Gorilla Kings, syringes, hats, and the Great Old Ones... there's room for Pre-Socratic anythings as well!

Liberty's Edge

James Jacobs wrote:
Lucent wrote:

James:

Will we be finding out any more about Razmir's past/the founding of Razmiran any time soon? I am fascinated by him as a character, and I feel that he does not have nearly enough material that I can find. Some burning questions I have are:

1: Is Razmir his real/original name? If so is it a surname?

2: Did he actually enter the starstone cathedral, fail the test, and successfully emerge? Or, did he simply tell people he went in, but there were no witnesses/it was all a Houdini-esque illusion?

3: How old is he?

4: Are there any contemporaries from his time as a "mortal" who would remember Razmir as the man he was before his rise to power that are still alive?

1) Probably his real name, but not 100% sure yet.

2) Nope; he never entered it.

3) Venerable. Close to death from old age.

4) Yup!

The death of Razmir sounds like an AP story potential


James Jacobs wrote:
Evil Lincoln wrote:
On the subject of bards, isn't it a little strange that you can't inspire competence with perform (oratory)?
Ummmm... why can't you? I'm seeing nothing that says you can't inspire competence with Perform (oratory).

Well, I was going by what you said here, and the fact that you can't use oratory for countersong, only distraction...

I mean, obviously the GM could just make the call, but I think it is very strange that they have to do so in this instance.


atomicb wrote:
Cori Marie wrote:
Lord Snow wrote:

Hey JJ,

about the bard: with all honesty, can you (or anyone you know) take the theme of this class seriously? That is, a bard performing mid-combat. That just sounds so absurd to me (never matter how cool the performance could be on it's own) that as a GM I disallowed the class in my games.

But many people seem to really like the bard, so maybe I'm missing something.

Would anyone enjoy seeing a movie where, during combat, while people and monsters are killing each other, someone starts to sing a dramatic representaion of the event? and that's supposed to make his companions more confidant or something? that will ruin the entire scene.

So how exactly does the bard's ability make sense to you in your games? don't you feel like you not only have to suspense your disbelief, but that the entire battle is less cool because someone is busy being a performer instead of fighting?

Not to mention, combat bards exist(ed) in the real world. What do you think a drumline would be?

Absolutely. There are so many great examples. But few of them are fighting while music-making, which is where the PF bard gets a bit puzzling (and basically unworkable for those with musical instruments in mind).

Perhaps bards are more like musical theater actors - not musicians per se, but possessing great musicality as but one part of a larger performative package. (That is, Neil Patrick Harris = bard. Jimmy Page = weird magus archetype or something.)

Armies going into battle inspired by drums, trumpets or even bagpipes. Inspiring speeches.

I just saw The Longest Day for the dozenesh time, and Lord Lovat with his personal Piper:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Millin

So yeah, right there during battle- inspiring performances.


Lucent wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:

Nope. The eidolon is a separate entity. If the summoner dies, the eidolon would live out the rest of its life wherever it came from... or maybe it would simply cease existing entirely. I actually kind of like that second option—the eidolon is a physical manifestation of the summoner's will in this case and without the summoner, the eidolon just doesn't exist.

I suspect that type of telepathy would make long-term romance impossible, frankly, because people aren't ready to know what other people REALLY think about them.

Trying to catch up on this thread while on my break at work, so I don't know if this has garnered a similar response or not yet, but it deserves one:

Imagine a scenario where a summoner and Eidolon fall into a romance, the Eidolon (being an outsider) does not age. But the summoner does, and eventually dies of old age (and therefore cannot be resurrected). The Eidolon *should* disappear, but (much like a ghost) the Eidolon is bound to the mortal world by powerful emotions and unfinished business as an Unfettered Eidolon (Bestiary 3) bent on an insane quest to bring their dead lover back from beyond.

Smells like a great adventure basis to me :)

I had a similar idea and it was only after I typed the previous message that it occurs to me that the telepathic connection between summoner and eidolon is not stated to have lie filter on it. So no complete honesty like I originally thought, though on the other hand; who know the summoner better than their eidolon?

Scarab Sages

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

So, I'm running a homebrew campaign and one of the fights is a mid air battle while freefalling off the side of a building (A prominent one in NYC) from a height of 1,250 feet while the PCs try and beat up their enemy and steal his wand of featherfall. I know there's a max damage scale that you can actually take from a fall of that distance, as well as a max amount of distance you can actually fall in the space of a single round, but I don't know what those figures are, which is important because it determines how fatal the fall is (probably completely) and how many rounds the party has before they go Splat.

I know that once feather fall is cast the targets revert to 60 feet per round (Which is about 20 rounds if they cast it first round of freefall) but what would be the total amount of rounds they'd be able to fall without feather fall before they went splat?

Silver Crusade

Pathfinder Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/If_you_were_to_jump_off_the_Empire_State_Building _how_long_would_it_take_to_hit_the_ground So about a round and a half...

Scarab Sages

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber
Cori Marie wrote:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/If_you_were_to_jump_off_the_Empire_State_Building _how_long_would_it_take_to_hit_the_ground So about a round and a half...

But that's in the real world. In Pathfinder terminal velocity is 200 feet per round (the 20d6 fall damage cap), and you seem to hit that as soon as you fall 200 feet.

The rules are abstractions, but they materially affect the outcome.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Evil Lincoln wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Evil Lincoln wrote:
On the subject of bards, isn't it a little strange that you can't inspire competence with perform (oratory)?
Ummmm... why can't you? I'm seeing nothing that says you can't inspire competence with Perform (oratory).

Well, I was going by what you said here, and the fact that you can't use oratory for countersong, only distraction...

I mean, obviously the GM could just make the call, but I think it is very strange that they have to do so in this instance.

Ah. That's me screwing up. Oratory is auditory.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Stratagemini wrote:
Cori Marie wrote:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/If_you_were_to_jump_off_the_Empire_State_Building _how_long_would_it_take_to_hit_the_ground So about a round and a half...

But that's in the real world. In Pathfinder terminal velocity is 200 feet per round (the 20d6 fall damage cap), and you seem to hit that as soon as you fall 200 feet.

The rules are abstractions, but they materially affect the outcome.

Maximum damage from a fall is not the same as terminal velocity. You fall in Pathfinder as fast as you do in the real world.


Coridan wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Lucent wrote:

James:

Will we be finding out any more about Razmir's past/the founding of Razmiran any time soon? I am fascinated by him as a character, and I feel that he does not have nearly enough material that I can find. Some burning questions I have are:

1: Is Razmir his real/original name? If so is it a surname?

2: Did he actually enter the starstone cathedral, fail the test, and successfully emerge? Or, did he simply tell people he went in, but there were no witnesses/it was all a Houdini-esque illusion?

3: How old is he?

4: Are there any contemporaries from his time as a "mortal" who would remember Razmir as the man he was before his rise to power that are still alive?

1) Probably his real name, but not 100% sure yet.

2) Nope; he never entered it.

3) Venerable. Close to death from old age.

4) Yup!

The death of Razmir sounds like an AP story potential

Razmir has such potential as both an antagonist and as I feel a sympathetic villain. I don't think he's as mustache-twirly as his cult makes him out to be and I'd love to see more about him (be it in fiction or game supplements)in the future. A Guide to Razmiran would be phenomenal!

Without much current information and due to directing some of my campaign towards his background, I've suggested him as a figure somewhat like the evil Queen from Snow White. Whereas instead of being obsessed with beauty he is obsessed with age and has devised a way to steal extremely small portions of youth from people (hours to days of additional life) at the cost of completely killing the "sacrifice."

He plays it off as a "final punishment" to dissenters, damning them to a final death by old age; never really revealing that he is trying to incrementally cheat death, and he is still losing the fight.

I'm not sure if this is close to how the official interpretation of him will be, but it suits my campaign needs for the time being until more fleshed out ideas are presented!

Shadow Lodge

does the stars subdomain only grant healing with the new spells the subdomain substituted in or does that work for all of them?

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

For the Luck Domain:

"Bit of Luck (Sp): You can touch a willing creature as a standard action, giving it a bit of luck. For the next round, any time the target rolls a d20, he may roll twice and take the more favorable result. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier."

If you touch yourself, does it apply to your next turn's actions, or does it only apply to this turn's actions (such as for Saves and Attacks of Opportunity). That is to say, if I use it on myself, do I get free rerolls next turn on all my attacks if I full attack?

Also, if one attempts to fire a Double-Barreled musket twice, "in one attack", does one roll twice, or roll once? It starts off sounding like you need to roll just once, but then it says "-4 to each shot", indicating that you should roll twice.

Regardless, a more important question is this. If one... uhh, side of a Double-Barreled musket misfires, does the whole gun malfunction, or just that side of the gun?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

doc the grey wrote:
does the stars subdomain only grant healing with the new spells the subdomain substituted in or does that work for all of them?

All spells in the subdomain, including the ones that aren't swapped out.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

zean wrote:

For the Luck Domain:

"Bit of Luck (Sp): You can touch a willing creature as a standard action, giving it a bit of luck. For the next round, any time the target rolls a d20, he may roll twice and take the more favorable result. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier."

If you touch yourself, does it apply to your next turn's actions, or does it only apply to this turn's actions (such as for Saves and Attacks of Opportunity). That is to say, if I use it on myself, do I get free rerolls next turn on all my attacks if I full attack?

Also, if one attempts to fire a Double-Barreled musket twice, "in one attack", does one roll twice, or roll once? It starts off sounding like you need to roll just once, but then it says "-4 to each shot", indicating that you should roll twice.

Regardless, a more important question is this. If one... uhh, side of a Double-Barreled musket misfires, does the whole gun malfunction, or just that side of the gun?

Bit of luck applies for the next round of actions, be it later in the same turn or the next turn... whenever the target takes their next action.

Double-Barreled muskets makes two attacks. Kinda like Rapid Shot. If the gun malfunctions, the whole thing malfunctions.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

So a person with a Double-Barreled Musket essentially makes double the attacks if they full attack? (If they have a BAB of +6/+1, they can essentially fire 4 times?)

I'm assuming they use Alchemical Cartridges and Rapid Reload (Double-Barreled Muskets) and the Musket Master's abilities to reload as a free action


James Jacobs wrote:
Stratagemini wrote:
Cori Marie wrote:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/If_you_were_to_jump_off_the_Empire_State_Building _how_long_would_it_take_to_hit_the_ground So about a round and a half...

But that's in the real world. In Pathfinder terminal velocity is 200 feet per round (the 20d6 fall damage cap), and you seem to hit that as soon as you fall 200 feet.

The rules are abstractions, but they materially affect the outcome.

Maximum damage from a fall is not the same as terminal velocity. You fall in Pathfinder as fast as you do in the real world.

Which is 550 ft in the first round and 1100 feet in every subsequent round IIRC, just in case anyone cares. We had to figure this out when our party once crashed an airship into a wall of force in battle.

Silver Crusade

James Jacobs wrote:
Mikaze wrote:

What demon lord would you suggest for an isolated, headhunting(of the "you kill it, you keep it in the afterlife" variety) splinter tribe of the Ekujae elves?

I was originally looking for an Arawn-like figure for them, with the explanation that they had a sort of hero-god that started their practice(and was apparently so blessed by his deeds that his skin became black as night to aid in his hunting(duhn duhn duuunh), but I was wondering if there are any figures already in place that could fit that role that Book of the Damned 2 may have skipped over(or that might actually be in the book that I overlooked....)

I was kind of leaning towards Gorum as an alternate...but this character's particular beliefs and practices may be a bit much even for that god, even if he goes after "worthy opponents" or "men who chose to be beasts" exclusively.

First off... there's ALWAYS more room for demon lords, so if you wanna make up a new one, that's cool.

Otherwise, a few demon lords that come to mind would include Nergal, Angazhan, or Zura.

Forgot to say thanks for the answer on this. Thanks!

Also, taking up the challenge to write up a new demon lord. :)

(though I'm still torn on whether this character is actually worshipping one or Gorum by another name!)


How do you get a freelancing gig with Paizo?


Looking at the rules for cover more closely, the Paizo PRD seems to contradict itself.  It says...

Cover wrote:
When making a melee attack against a target that isn't adjacent to you (such as with a reach weapon), use the rules for determining cover from ranged attacks.

...which would imply that if you have reach but the target is next to you, you would use the regular melee rules instead of reach rules. So, no matter what reach you have, if it is adjacent, you use the melee rule.

However, if you look at the picture below the description, the example with the rogue seems to contradict that, as the ogre "does not have cover" against the rogue although the rogue is adjacent to him.

What is your opinion of this? Thank you in advance!


James Jacobs wrote:
Ah. That's me screwing up. Oratory is auditory.

Is there a definitive list somewhere of which is which, or is it always up to the GM to adjudicate?

I have always used countersong and distraction as the guideline (and many other do) so the oratory thing does seem a little strange that you can talk someone through a hypnotic pattern but not a charm spell.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Haladir wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
And folks who champion "The book is better than the movie" should read Peter Benchley's "Jaws" to see a good case where the movie is better than the book.

Other examples I can think of from the top of my head include The Graduate, Blade Runner, and just about any Ian Flemming novel.

"The Fountainhead" is MUCH better as a movie than as a book.


Awhile ago you were talking about why you guys intentionally changed the summon spells to remove the granting of a language from the summoned critters. Well, removal of that bit from the simple templates.

Was it also intentional that if you are good, you don't get a choice of whether or not your summoned creature is Celestial or not? Same goes for Evil and fiendish critters too.


James Jacobs wrote:
Evil Lincoln wrote:
I know you said you enjoyed Miyazake films. Have you ever read the graphic novel of Nausicaa? The book is much better than the movie, as is often the case.

I have read the graphic novel.

And folks who champion "The book is better than the movie" should read Peter Benchley's "Jaws" to see a good case where the movie is better than the book.

(I'd rank the Lord of the Rings in the same category, honestly.)

Agreed on the second, but not the first. I actually think Benchley's novel is quite good, but fundamentally different from the film. The movie is an action/horror creature feature flick at heart, but the book really deals much more intimately with how seasonal beach towns functioned in the mid-late 20th century and how different individuals in small communities react to crises. The novel emphasizes character interaction to which the shark is an incidental, if crucial, catalyst.

Is it really necessary to have three movies' worth of The Hobbit in your opinion?


Do you have any involvement with the Pathfinder Society Organized Play people?

Only asking because of an issue. I asked a genuine question on a thread regarding Aasimar and Tieflings, and the thread just got locked, since the moderator apparently holds a grudge on me for a snarky comment I made earlier on the same thread. I'd also want to ask who I can file a complaint to, but I doubt there's any person like that around here so I'll just ask the next best thing instead.


James Jacobs wrote:
Evil Lincoln wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Evil Lincoln wrote:
On the subject of bards, isn't it a little strange that you can't inspire competence with perform (oratory)?
Ummmm... why can't you? I'm seeing nothing that says you can't inspire competence with Perform (oratory).

Well, I was going by what you said here, and the fact that you can't use oratory for countersong, only distraction...

I mean, obviously the GM could just make the call, but I think it is very strange that they have to do so in this instance.

Ah. That's me screwing up. Oratory is auditory.

Sorry if I read you wrong, but I think you were right then and wrong now.

Core rule book wrote:

Distraction (Su): At 1st level, a bard can use his performance
to counter magic effects that depend on sight. Each round
of the distraction, he makes a Perform (act, comedy, dance,
or oratory) skill check
. Any creature within 30 feet of the
bard (including the bard himself ) that is affected by an
illusion (pattern) or illusion (figment) magical attack may
use the bard’s Perform check result in place of its saving
throw if, after the saving throw is rolled, the Perform
skill check proves to be higher. If a creature within
range of the distraction is already under the effect of a
noninstantaneous illusion (pattern) or illusion (figment)
magical attack, it gains another saving throw against the
effect each round it sees the distraction, but it must use the
bard’s Perform skill check result for the save. Distraction
does not work on effects that don’t allow saves. Distraction
relies on visual components.

And on the topic of audible components

Core rule book wrote:


Countersong (Su): At 1st level, a bard learns to counter
magic effects that depend on sound (but not spells that
have verbal components). Each round of the countersong
he makes a Perform (keyboard, percussion, wind, string,
or sing) skill check
. Any creature within 30 feet of the bard
(including the bard himself ) that is affected by a sonic or
language-dependent magical attack may use the bard’s
Perform check result in place of its saving throw if, after
the saving throw is rolled, the Perform check result proves
to be higher. If a creature within range of the countersong
is already under the effect of a noninstantaneous sonic
or language-dependent magical attack, it gains another
saving throw against the effect each round it hears the
countersong, but it must use the bard’s Perform skill
check result for the save. Countersong does not work
on effects that don’t allow saves. Countersong relies on
audible components.

This seem to imply that:

Audible components = keyboard, percussion, wind, string, and sing
Visual components = act, comedy, dance and oratory

Obviously I could be wrong.

BTW, have Versatile Performance been 'fixed' yet? I seem to remember you saying that bards should be able to "cash out" any skill ranks he spent on skills that, later on, get "replaced" by a versatile performance.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

zean wrote:

So a person with a Double-Barreled Musket essentially makes double the attacks if they full attack? (If they have a BAB of +6/+1, they can essentially fire 4 times?)

I'm assuming they use Alchemical Cartridges and Rapid Reload (Double-Barreled Muskets) and the Musket Master's abilities to reload as a free action

I've a gunslinger character in my Thursday game, and she more or less dominates with the number of attacks. My gut feeling is to say that no, you wouldn't get that many attacks, because mixing a high BAB with touch attacks and all that can quickly get out of hand... but yeah, you could probably do so. Just be ready for your GM to ramp you back if it ends up being too much easy damage.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Lucent wrote:
How do you get a freelancing gig with Paizo?

There's only 2 places you can really break in to freelancing for Paizo directly; RPG Superstar (you don't need to win, just do well) or doing an encounter or scenario for the Pathfinder Society.

All our freelancers for our printed books are chosen and assigned by us from a relatively small pool of established freelancers.

If you make a name for yourself writing for other companies (like Open Design) or other products (like Wayfinder), then contact us with a list of your published credits and we'll see if we've got something to try you out on. Competition is pretty fierce, though.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Yiroep wrote:

Looking at the rules for cover more closely, the Paizo PRD seems to contradict itself.  It says...

Cover wrote:
When making a melee attack against a target that isn't adjacent to you (such as with a reach weapon), use the rules for determining cover from ranged attacks.

...which would imply that if you have reach but the target is next to you, you would use the regular melee rules instead of reach rules. So, no matter what reach you have, if it is adjacent, you use the melee rule.

However, if you look at the picture below the description, the example with the rogue seems to contradict that, as the ogre "does not have cover" against the rogue although the rogue is adjacent to him.

What is your opinion of this? Thank you in advance!

If a target is next to you, you don't need to use reach to hit them.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Evil Lincoln wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Ah. That's me screwing up. Oratory is auditory.

Is there a definitive list somewhere of which is which, or is it always up to the GM to adjudicate?

I have always used countersong and distraction as the guideline (and many other do) so the oratory thing does seem a little strange that you can talk someone through a hypnotic pattern but not a charm spell.

It's actually up to the player to decide whether his bardic performance is auditory or visual. The TYPE of performance, be it debate or song or belly dancing or card tricks or horn playing or jokes or insults is 100% flavor for most bardic performances since the performance isn't actually tied to a Perform check in most cases.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

7 people marked this as a favorite.
Power Word Unzip wrote:
Is it really necessary to have three movies' worth of The Hobbit in your opinion?

Yes. Assuming they're good. Which I assume they will be, having seen the Lord of the Rings movies.

I really don't get the anger and animosity people have toward the concept of getting THREE great fantasy movies when they could have only had one. It's like if someone who loves ice cream is told they can have ice cream three times a week instead of once only to get enraged that now they're allowed ice cream three times a day.

If the anger simply boils down to the fact that the original work is 1 book and that means it should be 1 movie... guess what? They're movies, not books. And Peter Jackson's firmly established himself as a master of storytelling (even if he has had a misstep with "Lovely Bones") which means that if he's figured a way out to do 3 movies out of "The Hobbit," then more power to him! And I'll thank him for it!

If the anger boils down to the fact that folks are grumpy that they'll have to pay for one movie more to see the whole story... I guess I could understand that if they were so destitute that they could only afford to see 2 movies over the course of 3 years... but if someone's that poor, they've got other things to be angry or worried about.

What it boils down to is that some internet folks just like complaining, even when what they should be doing is saying "thank you."

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Cheapy wrote:
Awhile ago you were talking about why you guys intentionally changed the summon spells to remove the granting of a language from the summoned critters. Well, removal of that bit from the simple templates.

Huh? Did summon spells at one point magically grant the spellcaster a new language to be able to speak to a summoned monster? I don't recall that.

Cheapy wrote:
Was it also intentional that if you are good, you don't get a choice of whether or not your summoned creature is Celestial or not? Same goes for Evil and fiendish critters too.

If you're a cleric, your deity won't grant you spells to summon oppositional aligned creatures. You can still do that if you're a wizard, though, for example, although if you do it too much, the GM is free to let you know your alignment has shifted. That's intentional. What's not intentional is the implication that if a summon spell says you can summon a "fiendish giant scorpion" that you shouldn't be able to summon a "celestial giant scorpion." Doing so would open up the lists nice and wide to all casters, in my opinion.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Icyshadow wrote:

Do you have any involvement with the Pathfinder Society Organized Play people?

Only asking because of an issue. I asked a genuine question on a thread regarding Aasimar and Tieflings, and the thread just got locked, since the moderator apparently holds a grudge on me for a snarky comment I made earlier on the same thread. I'd also want to ask who I can file a complaint to, but I doubt there's any person like that around here so I'll just ask the next best thing instead.

My involvement in Pathfinder Society org play is pretty much approving the plots of scenarios and approving/helping with the metaplot of each season.

If you have a complaint about an employee, regardless of where they're at, Customer Service is the place to go. In the mean time, don't waste this opportunity to learn from the experience—that being snarky can have repercussions, and that it's always better to NOT be snarky. We pretty much have only a person's posts to know them here, and snarky posts hurt your reputation pretty quickly as a result.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Zark wrote:

Audible components = keyboard, percussion, wind, string, and sing

Visual components = act, comedy, dance and oratory

Obviously I could be wrong.

BTW, have Versatile Performance been 'fixed' yet? I seem to remember you saying that bards should be able to "cash out" any skill ranks he spent on skills that, later on, get "replaced" by a versatile performance.

If someone in the real world can cite an example of oratory being visual (written word is more like a Craft check, not a Performance check), then I'd say that yeah, oratory can be visual. But it's still 99.999999% an audible performance.

THAT SAID... I think that oratory checks WOULD work to distract someone, so in this case, making a Perform (oratory) check to provide a distraction should work fine. As would any perform check. The only reason Distraction exists, by the way, is to "balance" the fact that visual performances can't help with Countersong, but I think that it did more damage (see this thread) than it was worth.

And I'm not so sure the design team thinks Versatile Performance is broken in the first place. They're not that keen on my solution to make it a more player-friendly ability, which is why you can't cash out skill ranks in the first place (I originally made that suggestion and observation to the team before the book was first sent to be published, after all...)

If it makes sense and you like it for your home game, use it there as a house rule.

RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 32

Hi, James!

Forgive the niche questions, but these have actually come up in-game for me, recently.

1.) If a creature is invisible, can it choose to close its eyes when confronted with a gaze attack, or does it see through its own invisible eyelids?

2.) If you write down on a piece of parchment or a chalkboard a false statement that you're trying to convince an NPC of (a written lie), do you need to make a Bluff check? What about if you're writing a letter? Does a reader get a Sense Motive? Can ones ability to lie be improved by writing their lies down (as opposed to speaking them)?

Daron Woodson
Abandoned Arts


James Jacobs wrote:
kagenotora wrote:

sorry for the confusion the wall of quote was so you wouldn't need to go dig for a month old post to refresh your memory.

the question is about your answer that i quoted and especially the one i re-quoted in bold. To be exact and direct you can resume it like this:

- knockout artist and sap adepts feats text refer to the number on SA damage dice rolled for their bonus.

- sap master modify the number of SA damage dice rolled.

- when asked about how master and sap adept/knockout artist interact you answered that sap adept and knockout artist give a bonus depending on the raw number of SA dice of the char.

the problem is that your answer:
1. - seem strange honestly.

2. - create a ripple of illogical interaction(sacrificed SA dice that still count toward sap adept and knockout artist and sap adept bonus, sniper goggle's bonus SA dices not counting toward sap adept and knockout artist and sap adept bonus being the first two that came to mind)

so in the end what's what? thanks your time as this created quite some drama around my table as one of the PCs is a ninja using this chain of feats.

1) The raw number of sneak attack dice can be modified by things. Once you sacrifice sneak attack dice, the "raw" number of sneak attack dice changes. THAT'S what things like Sap Master modify. You're overthinking things.

ok i was over-thinking things for this part.

the over question still remain unanswered but i'm starting to think i wasn't direct enough and you didn't realise there was an other question (the main one actually) so i'll try it bluntly hoping you don't find it rude of me to ask this:

in your answer to krodjin's question about sap adept and sap master you state that sap adept's bonus is calculated with the character's raw SA dice pool while the text of sap adept state that it use the number of dice rolled. why?

the question still is the same for knockout artist since the text is the same with the exception of a present or past tense for the roll verb.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

kagenotora wrote:

in your answer to krodjin's question about sap adept and sap master you state that sap adept's bonus is calculated with the character's raw SA dice pool while the text of sap adept state that it use the number of dice rolled. why?

the question still is the same for knockout artist since the text is the same with the exception of a present or past tense for the roll verb.

"Raw SA dice pool" does not appear in text, first of all. It's my way of saying "The amount of dice you rolled."


James Jacobs wrote:
kagenotora wrote:

in your answer to krodjin's question about sap adept and sap master you state that sap adept's bonus is calculated with the character's raw SA dice pool while the text of sap adept state that it use the number of dice rolled. why?

the question still is the same for knockout artist since the text is the same with the exception of a present or past tense for the roll verb.

"Raw SA dice pool" does not appear in text, first of all. It's my way of saying "The amount of dice you rolled."

ok then i'm really confused as to why sap master effect doesn't count for the sap adept bonus :/

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Abandoned Arts wrote:

1.) If a creature is invisible, can it choose to close its eyes when confronted with a gaze attack, or does it see through its own invisible eyelids?

2.) If you write down on a piece of parchment or a chalkboard a false statement that you're trying to convince an NPC of (a written lie), do you need to make a Bluff check? What about if you're writing a letter? Does a reader get a Sense Motive? Can ones ability to lie be improved by writing their lies down (as opposed to speaking them)?

1) Yes, because if you assume an invisible creature can see in the first place, they can close their eyes.

2) Yes, because the difficulty of composing a lie in print is offset by the difficulty of reading between the lines.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

kagenotora wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
kagenotora wrote:

in your answer to krodjin's question about sap adept and sap master you state that sap adept's bonus is calculated with the character's raw SA dice pool while the text of sap adept state that it use the number of dice rolled. why?

the question still is the same for knockout artist since the text is the same with the exception of a present or past tense for the roll verb.

"Raw SA dice pool" does not appear in text, first of all. It's my way of saying "The amount of dice you rolled."
ok then i'm really confused as to why sap master effect doesn't count for the sap adept bonus :/

I think the whole question has been overly conflated and confused, and we're both confused.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
James Jacobs wrote:
Huh? Did summon spells at one point magically grant the spellcaster a new language to be able to speak to a summoned monster? I don't recall that.

It has to do with the fact that under Pathfinder the celestial and fiendish templates applied to an animal do not grant the respective celestial and fiendish languages. There seems to be an impression that they did in 3.5.

So this meant that a wizard who took celestial, infernal, and abyssal could be covered for all the non-elemental summons as far as commanding them.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
LazarX wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Huh? Did summon spells at one point magically grant the spellcaster a new language to be able to speak to a summoned monster? I don't recall that.

It has to do with the fact that under Pathfinder the celestial and fiendish templates applied to an animal do not grant the respective celestial and fiendish languages. There seems to be an impression that they did in 3.5.

So this meant that a wizard who took celestial, infernal, and abyssal could be covered for all the non-elemental summons as far as commanding them.

I suspect that's because in 3.5 the Celestial template granted the creature an Intelligence score of "at least 3", which grants it a language, and it makes sense for that language to be Celestial, Infernal or Abyssal depending upon its plane of origin.


James Jacobs wrote:
kagenotora wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
kagenotora wrote:

in your answer to krodjin's question about sap adept and sap master you state that sap adept's bonus is calculated with the character's raw SA dice pool while the text of sap adept state that it use the number of dice rolled. why?

the question still is the same for knockout artist since the text is the same with the exception of a present or past tense for the roll verb.

"Raw SA dice pool" does not appear in text, first of all. It's my way of saying "The amount of dice you rolled."
ok then i'm really confused as to why sap master effect doesn't count for the sap adept bonus :/
I think the whole question has been overly conflated and confused, and we're both confused.

seem so.

the initial question was basically this i manage to take those 3 feats:Knockout Artist,Sap Adept (Combat),Sap Master (Combat). Let's assume i did so as soon as possible so i'm a level 5 rogue/ninja and have a Sneak attack 3d6.
so let's assume manage to sneak on someone and try to knock him out with a punch. as i read those feats i'd say i'll roll 1d3 +STR +6d6(SA) +18(Sap Adept (Combat)(12) + Knockout Artist(6) ), since i rolled 6 SA damage dices. Am i correct?

the 3 feats' text from the PRD:

Knockout Artist
You can throw devastating knockout punches.
Prerequisites: Sneak attack class feature, Improved Unarmed Strike.
Benefit: When you use your unarmed strike to deal nonlethal damage and sneak attack damage to an opponent denied his Dexterity bonus to AC, you gain a +1 bonus on the damage roll per each sneak attack damage die you roll.

Sap Adept (Combat)
You know just where to hit to knock the sense out of your foe.
Prerequisite: Sneak attack +1d6.
Benefit: Whenever you use a bludgeoning weapon to deal nonlethal sneak attack damage, you gain a bonus on your damage roll equal to twice the number of sneak attack damage dice you rolled.

Sap Master (Combat)
You knock the sense out of foes with a well-timed surprise attack.
Prerequisites: Sneak attack +3d6, Sap Adept.
Benefit: Whenever you use a bludgeoning weapon to deal nonlethal sneak attack damage to a flat-footed opponent, roll your sneak attack dice twice, totaling the results as your nonlethal sneak attack damage for that attack.


kagenotora wrote:

Friend, perhaps you can start another thread about this?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

LazarX wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Huh? Did summon spells at one point magically grant the spellcaster a new language to be able to speak to a summoned monster? I don't recall that.

It has to do with the fact that under Pathfinder the celestial and fiendish templates applied to an animal do not grant the respective celestial and fiendish languages. There seems to be an impression that they did in 3.5.

So this meant that a wizard who took celestial, infernal, and abyssal could be covered for all the non-elemental summons as far as commanding them.

Ah... gotcha. That is indeed intentional. Celestial and Fiendish animals are basically combat-only tools unless you have speak with animals. This is intentional so that it makes druids the better options for this kind of tactic.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

1 person marked this as a favorite.
kagenotora wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
kagenotora wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
kagenotora wrote:

in your answer to krodjin's question about sap adept and sap master you state that sap adept's bonus is calculated with the character's raw SA dice pool while the text of sap adept state that it use the number of dice rolled. why?

the question still is the same for knockout artist since the text is the same with the exception of a present or past tense for the roll verb.

"Raw SA dice pool" does not appear in text, first of all. It's my way of saying "The amount of dice you rolled."
ok then i'm really confused as to why sap master effect doesn't count for the sap adept bonus :/
I think the whole question has been overly conflated and confused, and we're both confused.

seem so.

the initial question was basically this i manage to take those 3 feats:Knockout Artist,Sap Adept (Combat),Sap Master (Combat). Let's assume i did so as soon as possible so i'm a level 5 rogue/ninja and have a Sneak attack 3d6.
so let's assume manage to sneak on someone and try to knock him out with a punch. as i read those feats i'd say i'll roll 1d3 +STR +6d6(SA) +18(Sap Adept (Combat)(12) + Knockout Artist(6) ), since i rolled 6 SA damage dices. Am i correct?

** spoiler omitted **...

Your character has 3d6 sneak attack dice.

Knockout Artist adds +1 damage/sneak attack die rolled.

Sap Adept adds +2 damage/sneak attack die rolled.

Sap Master lets you roll your sneak attack dice twice.

In the case you mention above, you have a character with 3d6 sneak attack. Which means that when he attacks with these feats and the circumstances are just right, he deals:

6d6+18 nonlethal sneak attack damage, added to whatever your base damage with the sap is.


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James Jacobs wrote:
Power Word Unzip wrote:
Is it really necessary to have three movies' worth of The Hobbit in your opinion?

Yes. Assuming they're good. Which I assume they will be, having seen the Lord of the Rings movies.

I really don't get the anger and animosity people have toward the concept of getting THREE great fantasy movies when they could have only had one. It's like if someone who loves ice cream is told they can have ice cream three times a week instead of once only to get enraged that now they're allowed ice cream three times a day.

No anger or animosity here, just a general concern that longer doesn't always equal better. I'd rather have one awesome ice cream sundae with the works than three separate servings of good plain ice cream.

I guess for me it's the fact that The Hobbit was by and large my introduction to fantasy literature, and I'd like for the movie to be digestible and accessible to young viewers so that I can show it to a son or daughter of my own someday in hopes of kindling a similar interest. I don't think the LotR film trilogy is concise enough even in the theatrical cut to be accessible to a young viewer (and, in all honestly, perhaps it shouldn't be). But it'd be nice if The Hobbit was.

EDIT: But I totally agree with this:

Quote:
What it boils down to is that some internet folks just like complaining, even when what they should be doing is saying "thank you."


James, when you have creative dry spells what do you do to refresh your creative self?


James Jacobs wrote:
If someone in the real world can cite an example of oratory being visual (written word is more like a Craft check, not a Performance check), then I'd say that yeah, oratory can be visual. But it's still 99.999999% an audible performance.

Historic Example.

Shadow Lodge

James Jacobs wrote:
doc the grey wrote:
Can a player treat or even figure out they are carrying a disease during the incubation/onset period or does that not occur until the symptoms/detriments actually occur?
Up to the GM, but as written, yes, you can treat a disease even if you don't know what the symptoms are. Think of this as pre-digagnostic care, such as ensuring the sick character is resting and getting plenty of water and other things that generally help most diseases run their course.

So a player can potentially be cured of the disease before they even start taking detriments from it?

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