Creative Director
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JJ, in regards to clockworks:
What made them so appealing to Thassilon that they would refine development from their Azlanti cousins? From what I can infer from the mechanics, a clockwork and a golem both require the same craft construct feat to create. The clockwork is not cheaper to build when compared to similar golems. They are not stronger. They are not easier to build by any stretch.
What was their primary appeal? Modability?
The influence of Xin. The Thassilonian interest in Clockworks comes primarily from the nation's founder, who was fascinated by them and how they work.
Iiiinteresting. Clockwork chotchkies!
Mr. James Jacobs,
Would you allow an archaeologist bard to take sneak damage for rogues talents at a rate of 1d6 per one rogue talent? If no why not?
Also, if you were to remove a ranger or paladin's spell casting what amount of bonus feats would be an equal recompense?
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There's a certain amount of crossover in the Enemies of the Faith lists for Shelyn and Calistria.But Shelyn would also likely have some problems with those who reduce sexuality to a business transaction, wouldn't she?Probably not. Certainly not on a "SEND THE INQUISITORS" level of things.
If there was some slavery-type stuff going on though, with unwilling prostitution elements, she would. But then, so would Calistria.
So which gods and goddesses would be opposed to prostitution in general? Erastil, I'm sure; who else?
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Creative Director
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So which gods and goddesses would be opposed to prostitution in general? Erastil, I'm sure; who else?There's a certain amount of crossover in the Enemies of the Faith lists for Shelyn and Calistria.But Shelyn would also likely have some problems with those who reduce sexuality to a business transaction, wouldn't she?Probably not. Certainly not on a "SEND THE INQUISITORS" level of things.
If there was some slavery-type stuff going on though, with unwilling prostitution elements, she would. But then, so would Calistria.
Given we've got dozens and dozens of deities... I'm not gonna make a list like that here. But I would guess that on the whole, fewer would be opposed than not.
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Creative Director
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Mr. James Jacobs,
Would you allow an archaeologist bard to take sneak damage for rogues talents at a rate of 1d6 per one rogue talent? If no why not?
Also, if you were to remove a ranger or paladin's spell casting what amount of bonus feats would be an equal recompense?
Sneak attack isn't a rogue talent. So if a class allows you to take rogue talents, then you can't use that to gain sneak attack.
No single feat is enough to replace the loss of utility of spellcasting. We have a few options for paladins and rangers who don't use spells though as archetypes.
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Creative Director
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Mr. Jacobs, if firearm and the training to use thereof is most common in the Mana Wastes (where magic is virtually unusable), where would Spellslinger Wizards (Ultimate Combat) learn to use black powder and magic at the same time? Are there particular places on Golarion where this art is taught?
Spellslingers would most likely learn their craft in the Mana Wastes. Magic isn't "virtually unusable" there.
Can you direct me to the rules regarding Bribery? I noticed that some races provide discounts, but no rules as to how the process works in game?
Perhaps some sort to CR*Level*silver/gold pieces equations I missed somewhere?
Edit: Also, how do I get into the Beta for PFO?
M'lord T-Rex, do ever you ever worry that the number of questions asked on this thread will increase exponentially once PFO gains a significant market share?
How many core rulebooks have been sold to the best of your knowledge?
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Creative Director
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Can you direct me to the rules regarding Bribery? I noticed that some races provide discounts, but no rules as to how the process works in game?
Perhaps some sort to CR*Level*silver/gold pieces equations I missed somewhere?
Edit: Also, how do I get into the Beta for PFO?
There aren't really rules for bribery—it's basically a Diplomacy check.
As for the Beta for PFO... stay tuned. We'll have more to say about that later.
People have pointed out to me that now that Obama is in the Whitehouse again, the world may indeed end in December. I am just glad we are not on the path to the zombie apocalypse. Source.
Did I start the apocalypse, or prevent the zombie apocalypse with my vote?
Thanks!
I've been rereading distant worlds, and had a few questions:
1. Whats with the inconsistency with the number of legs the Lashunta mounts have? Is it just artistic license, or are there different breeds?
2. Will Kalo ever be available as a player race?
3. The Aballonian in the Bestiary chapter appears to have some sort of energy weapon, but it is not included in the stats. Again,just artistic license, or something else.
4. Are any of the creatures in this book present in Numeria?
5. But seriously, WHY NO KALO STATS?
As I see it the stonelord's (Dwarven Paladin Archetype) stone servant is worded somewhat unclear.
How would you handle it James:
Stone Servant (Su)
At 5th level, a stonelord may call a Small earth elemental to her side, as a paladin calls her mount. This earth elemental is Lawful Good in alignment and possesses the celestial template, and it increases in size as the stonelord gains levels, becoming Medium at 8th level, Large at 11th level, Huge at 14th level, Greater at 17th level, and Elder at 20th level.This ability replaces divine bond.
Most people seem to read it in a way that it is just the celestial small earth elemental without any further changes.
For me that seems a possible interpretation of what was written but having a fighting companion that has 13 hp at level 5 and that stays at 13 hp at level 7 seems too fragile to be intentional.
Some questions about the Arcane Mark, if you please.
- Can the "personal rune or mark" be changed by the caster at any point in their career, or are they stuck with whatever was picked when the spell was learned?
- What constitutes a "mark"? Could it be a picture, and if so: how complex?
- Is an Arcane Mark monochrome?
- Is its size fixed, other than by the "one square foot" limitation of the spell?
- Are they unique and if so: is there a way to connect a specific mark to a specific caster?
1. Did any of the runelords have a variant staff of the magi?
2. Does a staff of the magi use the wielder's ability score to set the save DC?
3. Do the summon monster spells include any outsiders from Bestiary 2 and 3?
4. Does shapechange include the monstrous physique, undead anatomy, and vermin form spells?
5. How come you never seem bothered by obsessive questions (like some of mine)?
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Creative Director
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Given Razmir's false symbol can be used for False Focus, what exactly is the limit on what you can use for False Focus?
Can UMD fool items that require a specific patron (most or all from Gods and Magic)? They don't appear to actually have power related to the god, as there are ones for false and dead deities.
You can use anything as a False Focus, but unless you use the symbol of something well-established and recognizable, you'll just look like a loon.
Use Magic Device can indeed fool items for a specific patron, in the same way you can fool alignment requirements. But take care doing the specific patron stunt if you happen to be religious yourself... that might at some point have repercussions!
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Creative Director
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People have pointed out to me that now that Obama is in the Whitehouse again, the world may indeed end in December. I am just glad we are not on the path to the zombie apocalypse. Source.
Did I start the apocalypse, or prevent the zombie apocalypse with my vote?
Thanks!
Let's keep real-world politics and religion out of this thread.
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Creative Director
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I've been rereading distant worlds, and had a few questions:
1. Whats with the inconsistency with the number of legs the Lashunta mounts have? Is it just artistic license, or are there different breeds?
2. Will Kalo ever be available as a player race?
3. The Aballonian in the Bestiary chapter appears to have some sort of energy weapon, but it is not included in the stats. Again,just artistic license, or something else.
4. Are any of the creatures in this book present in Numeria?
5. But seriously, WHY NO KALO STATS?
1) Just as humans on earth ride horses and donkeys and elephants and other various animals, so to do the lashuntas have different mounts. Their planet just happens to have a wider diversity of legs. AKA: There are different species of mounts.
2) Not anytime soon. Mostly because I don't know what they are off the top of my head, which tells me that they're relatively minor in the grand scheme of things Inner Sea related.
3) Something else. There ARE lasers and plasma weapons and more in the universe. We just haven't statted them up in print yet. We will some day.
4) Yes.
5) Because James decided to stat up the other monsters in the book he DID stat up. This is the first time I've heard anyone on the boards ask for Kalo stats... it's the first time I've heard anyone even MENTION them on the boards. So another reason is... maybe they're not popular enough. Take that as a challenge! :-)
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Creative Director
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As I see it the stonelord's (Dwarven Paladin Archetype) stone servant is worded somewhat unclear.
How would you handle it James:Stone Servant (Su)
At 5th level, a stonelord may call a Small earth elemental to her side, as a paladin calls her mount. This earth elemental is Lawful Good in alignment and possesses the celestial template, and it increases in size as the stonelord gains levels, becoming Medium at 8th level, Large at 11th level, Huge at 14th level, Greater at 17th level, and Elder at 20th level.This ability replaces divine bond.
Most people seem to read it in a way that it is just the celestial small earth elemental without any further changes.
For me that seems a possible interpretation of what was written but having a fighting companion that has 13 hp at level 5 and that stays at 13 hp at level 7 seems too fragile to be intentional.
It is intentional. Elementals at that lower level are indeed low hp, but they end up being pretty tough once the get up there in power. Had I developed the class, I probably would have upped the size category by one though...
James,
Are you at all interested in characters with mundane jobs and roleplaying those jobs, or are you more interested in the hero's quest? A gravy mix of both?
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Creative Director
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Some questions about the Arcane Mark, if you please.
- Can the "personal rune or mark" be changed by the caster at any point in their career, or are they stuck with whatever was picked when the spell was learned?
- What constitutes a "mark"? Could it be a picture, and if so: how complex?
- Is an Arcane Mark monochrome?
- Is its size fixed, other than by the "one square foot" limitation of the spell?
- Are they unique and if so: is there a way to connect a specific mark to a specific caster?
1) You can change your rune/mark whenever you want, but the more you do so, the less valuable it becomes as your personal rune and the more it becomes "the scribble of the month."
2) A mark is basically the fantasy version of a signature. It's a rune, essentially. It could easilly be as complex an ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic, for example.
3) Only if you want it to be.
4) The spell limitation is all that limits its size. Just as you can sign your name huge or tiny, there is no "official" size for your arcane mark.
5) They are not unique, although it's not very classy to knowingly copy someone else's mark, and in some cultures doing so would be considered akin to forgery of a signature.
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Creative Director
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1. Did any of the runelords have a variant staff of the magi?
2. Does a staff of the magi use the wielder's ability score to set the save DC?
3. Do the summon monster spells include any outsiders from Bestiary 2 and 3?
4. Does shapechange include the monstrous physique, undead anatomy, and vermin form spells?
5. How come you never seem bothered by obsessive questions (like some of mine)?
1) I wouldn't put it past them at all!
2) If the wielder's ability score would increase the save DC, yes. Works just like any other staff.
3) Nope. This is intentional, so as to prevent increasing option paralysis and the perception of a need to errata the Core Rulebook each time we publish a new bestiary. There are other spells and methods in supplementary books that allow the summoning of additional monsters.
4) Yes.
5) Lots of practice at being patient combined with the fact that I really do enjoy answering questions.
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Have you read This aricle? Paizo’s Jason Bulmahn explains how a D&D mod became Pathfinder (and why it succeeds)
I was wondering, what exactly is the Paizo policy behind articles like these? How do they come to Paizo? Do you just assign whoever is available to answer them or do you send out the most qualified guy for the interview (i.e. the guy who knows the most about the topic)?
Did this interview cause a stir of excitement around Paizo?
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Creative Director
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Some would argue that California counts as outside the US :)
5)Have you ever been outside of the US? If so were?5) Nope. And with the exception of going to Gen Con, I've never been out of California or Washington (or Oregon, since it's between those two).
Those people are just ignorant and jealous.
Or look at it this way. Had I not grown up in Point Arena, California, or had I not attended UC Davis, California, I would have ended up a very different person and would not be working at Paizo and this thread wouldn't exist.
So. Fans of this thread and Sandpoint and Pathfinder have a lot to thank California for! ;-P
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Creative Director
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James,
Are you at all interested in characters with mundane jobs and roleplaying those jobs, or are you more interested in the hero's quest? A gravy mix of both?
A mix.
As you'll see in the upcoming Ultimate Campaign. Or as you can already see in 3rd edition's "Dungeon Master's Guide 2," which I helped write.
While I'm not all that interested in roleplaying mundane bakers and innkeepers as PCs, I'm VERY interested in playing heroic/villainous/whatever PCs who in their downtime are bakers or innkeepers or run guilds or whatever.
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Creative Director
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Have you read This aricle? Paizo’s Jason Bulmahn explains how a D&D mod became Pathfinder (and why it succeeds)
I was wondering, what exactly is the Paizo policy behind articles like these? How do they come to Paizo? Do you just assign whoever is available to answer them or do you send out the most qualified guy for the interview (i.e. the guy who knows the most about the topic)?
Did this interview cause a stir of excitement around Paizo?
In most cases, people come to Paizo with these interview requests. It's not really something we spend a lot of time on trying to make happen.
The interview, in any event, hasn't caused much of a stir of anything here at Paizo. Probably because Jason's in Italy right now and isn't here to helpfully let all of us know he's a superstar this week! :-P
(Wanders off to read the interview, which he didn't know existed until reading Stratagemini's question a few seconds ago...)
I have a couple questions about Binding and Planar Binding:
1) could you cast Binding on a creature called via Planar Binding to get a longer duration?
2) Are good aligned outsiders easier to negotiate with, to do good aligned type things that is? Or would they still be a little on the grumpy side?
3) What's your favorite kind of being to conjure up?
I think you should do a paizo blog link to that interview/article with Jason, it's a good read.
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Creative Director
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I have a couple questions about Binding and Planar Binding:
1) could you cast Binding on a creature called via Planar Binding to get a longer duration?
2) Are good aligned outsiders easier to negotiate with, to do good aligned type things that is? Or would they still be a little on the grumpy side?
3) What's your favorite kind of being to conjure up?
1) Yes.
2) Planar binding is essentially slavery or bullying; the spell doesn't specifically prohibit you from using it to conjure creatures of an opposing alignment, but that's sort of the implication. ANY outsider will be annoyed and grumpy to be the subject of planar binding. Planar ally is the spell to use that calls a creature that's an ally, not something you're trying to force.
3) Depends on the situation... but succubi are always fun!
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Creative Director
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I think you should do a paizo blog link to that interview/article with Jason, it's a good read.
That's not something I do. We DID just hire a marketing person, so that might be something she'd be interested in. Or maybe Jason should let the rest of Paizo know when he does interviews so we can post links...
Inner Sea Bestiary was one of the "Numeria feelers" you mentioned ages ago, right?
Ok, my Dinosaurian friend. Let us take Paragon Surge. We use that feat to get Expanded Arcana. Does that really allow “a spontaneous caster to cast any arcane spell they are aware exists, spontaneously. Once they hit 6th level, the sorcerer has full access to every published arcane spell they are of sufficient level to cast, at a moments notice”.?
I have grave doubts about this. It’s using a spell to get a higher level spell.
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Creative Director
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Ok, my Dinosaurian friend. Let us take Paragon Surge. We use that feat to get Expanded Arcana. Does that really allow “a spontaneous caster to cast any arcane spell they are aware exists, spontaneously. Once they hit 6th level, the sorcerer has full access to every published arcane spell they are of sufficient level to cast, at a moments notice”.?
I have grave doubts about this. It’s using a spell to get a higher level spell.
Where's all that stuff from?
Where's all that stuff from?Ok, my Dinosaurian friend. Let us take Paragon Surge. We use that feat to get Expanded Arcana. Does that really allow “a spontaneous caster to cast any arcane spell they are aware exists, spontaneously. Once they hit 6th level, the sorcerer has full access to every published arcane spell they are of sufficient level to cast, at a moments notice”.?
I have grave doubts about this. It’s using a spell to get a higher level spell.
It's from the Advanced Race Guide. It's a racial spell for Half-Elves that basically turns them into the most powerful race for spontaneous casters.
You surge with ancestral power, temporarily embodying all the strengths of both elvenkind and humankind simultaneously, and transforming into a paragon of both races, something greater than elf or human alone. Unlike with most polymorph effects, your basic form does not change, so you keep all extraordinary and supernatural abilities of your half-elven form as well as all of your gear. For the duration of the spell, you receive a +2 enhancement bonus to Dexterity and Intelligence and are treated as if you possessed any one feat for which you meet the prerequisites, chosen when you cast this spell.
It allows you to gain the effects of any feat you meet the prerequisites for. Basically, a Half-Elf Sorcerer/Oracle/Bard can cast the spell and gain the feat Expanded Arcana to temporarily add to his spell list.
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Creative Director
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Using a spell to get a higher level spell is, in a word, lame.
This is a good example of two similar rules elements that might work fine on their own but when combined together are greater than the sum of their parts.
I think that saying the spell turns half-elves into "the most powerful race for spontaneous spellcasters" is a bit of hyperbole, but it's certainly a strong choice. And a GREAT example of why any spell or effect that grants a player a temporary feat of their choice is just too good—because each time we invent a new feat, that spell becomes more powerful and versatile. We changed how polymorph spells work SPECIFICALLY to combat that same kind of problem (only with the spell getting more powerful each time a new monster is invented), so I think that the spell paragon surge basically needs to be erattaed. I'll be sending Jason an email suggesting this right after I post this message, in fact.
In the meantime, I would suggest either banning paragon surge form your game, or instead picking a small list of "bonus feats" that you can choose from when you cast the spell. THAT is going to be my suggestion to Jason... that the spell should be revised as follows:
School transmutation (polymorph); Level alchemist 3, cleric 3, magus 4, paladin 4, sorcerer/wizard 3, witch 3
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S
Range personal (half-elf only)
Duration 1 minute/level
You surge with ancestral power, temporarily embodying all the strengths of both elvenkind and humankind simultaneously, and transforming into a paragon of both races, something greater than elf or human alone. Unlike with most polymorph effects, your basic form does not change, so you keep all extraordinary and supernatural abilities of your half-elven form as well as all of your gear.
For the duration of the spell, you receive a +2 enhancement bonus to Dexterity and Intelligence and are treated as if you possessed one of the following feats: Improved Initiative, Great Fortitude, Lightning Reflexes, Iron Will, or Toughness.
I could see the list of approved bonus feats expanding a little, perhaps, but not much.
Where's all that stuff from?Ok, my Dinosaurian friend. Let us take Paragon Surge. We use that feat to get Expanded Arcana. Does that really allow “a spontaneous caster to cast any arcane spell they are aware exists, spontaneously. Once they hit 6th level, the sorcerer has full access to every published arcane spell they are of sufficient level to cast, at a moments notice”.?
I have grave doubts about this. It’s using a spell to get a higher level spell.
Not DrDeth, but... it's a spell from the Advanced Race Guide, intended for half-elves. It gives them, basically, the good parts of elves and humans, making them paragons of halfelfhood. This includes the human bonus feat. The Expanded Arcana feat in turn gives an extra spell known. The exploit, then, is interpreting that casting the spell gives you whichever extra feat you feel like at the time, such as Expanded Arcana for whichever extra spell known you feel like having at the time. Meaning that, if this is assumed to work, a half-elf sorcerer can cast any spell they want, at any time, with no spells known limit. This makes the optimization crowds at the board claim that every sorcerer must now be a half-elf, that no-one in their right mind will now play a non half-elf sorcerer, and that every sorcerer consequently can cast any spell of a level they can cast at any time.
The exploit is spiritually a successor to the "Dark Chaos Feat Shuffle". For D&D 3.5, many "optimizers" now claim the Fiendish Codex I spells "Embrace the Dark Chaos" and "Shun the Dark Chaos" can be used in succession to swap a feat out for an Abyssal Heritor feat, then swap that out for a regular feat, different from the one they started with. Consequently, lots of "optimized builds" involve swapping out elven weapon proficiencies for feats, or getting temporary feats through the Heroics spell, then "DCFS"-ing them for new feats. Since the temporary feat then is already gone when Heroics end, it can't be lost, so these people will argue that you then keep the feat you shuffled in forever, even though the one you shuffled out was only temporary. So that every intelligent caster player "by RAW" has infinite numbers of feats. There are internet RPG fora where disputing these claims will be met with ridicule and endless dictionary-quoting "rules as written" pseudo-legalistics, reminiscient of what playing Pathfinder at Asmodeus' court must be like.
So to guess at the intent of DrDeth's question, is it correct to assume that this is not, in fact, how you would say these spells should be adjudicated?
EDIT: NINJA:d. :)
Are there any pathfinder creatures directly inspired by Slenderman?
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Creative Director
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The exploit is spiritually a successor to the "Dark Chaos Feat Shuffle". For D&D 3.5, many "optimizers" now claim the Fiendish Codex I spells "Embrace the Dark Chaos" and "Shun the Dark Chaos" can be used in succession to swap a feat out for an Abyssal Heritor feat, then swap that out for a regular feat, different from the one they started with. Consequently, lots of "optimized builds" involve swapping out elven weapon proficiencies for feats, or getting temporary feats through the Heroics spell, then "DCFS"-ing them for new feats. Since the temporary feat then is already gone when Heroics end, it can't be lost, so these people will argue that you then keep the feat you shuffled in forever, even though the one you shuffled out was only temporary. So that every intelligent caster player "by RAW" has infinite numbers of feats. There are internet RPG fora where disputing these claims will be met with ridicule and endless dictionary-quoting "rules as written" pseudo-legalistics, reminiscient of what playing Pathfinder at Asmodeus' court must be like.
Being the person who wrote those spells for Hordes of the Abyss, I feel compelled to defend them.
First of all, unlike paragon surge, embrace the dark chaos and shun the dark chaos are MUCH higher level than paragon surge. As an 8th level spell, I have much less of a concern that the spellcaster is doing something crazy powerful and versatile in that nature than a 3rd level spell that does a similar thing.
Furthermore, paragon surge has no material components. The two other spells both have SIGNIFICANT components in the form of XP costs. So each time you cast those spells, you pay experience points, which is a not-inconsiderable tax for casting the spells. (The flavor idea being that you're reworking your character's abilities by swapping out a part of your soul for new abilities infused into that hole left by the expenditure of the experience points.)
And on top of that, those spells are Chaotic—that means that they have alignment implications, further limiting their use. And on top of that, infusing yourself with raw Abyssal power isn't something that a lot of players are gonna want to do with their characters in the first place. AKA: There's some significant non-rules story/roleplay limitations on the spell.
I have a lot less concern for someone essentially rebuilding their character via two 8th level spells that cost XP than someone doing so with a 3rd level spell that costs nothing.
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Creative Director
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Are there any pathfinder creatures directly inspired by Slenderman?
Yes. The main one is coming up in Inner Sea Bestiary—the thin man. You can read more about these creatures RIGHT NOW by looking on page 157 of the Inner Sea World Guide and reading the entry for Nuat.
Are there any pathfinder creatures directly inspired by Slenderman?Yes. The main one is coming up in Inner Sea Bestiary—the thin man. You can read more about these creatures RIGHT NOW by looking on page 157 of the Inner Sea World Guide and reading the entry for Nuat.
Oh my god are you serious?
I--
I am so happy.
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Using a spell to get a higher level spell is, in a word, lame.
This is a good example of two similar rules elements that might work fine on their own but when combined together are greater than the sum of their parts.
I think that saying the spell turns half-elves into "the most powerful race for spontaneous spellcasters" is a bit of hyperbole, but it's certainly a strong choice. And a GREAT example of why any spell or effect that grants a player a temporary feat of their choice is just too good—because each time we invent a new feat, that spell becomes more powerful and versatile. We changed how polymorph spells work SPECIFICALLY to combat that same kind of problem (only with the spell getting more powerful each time a new monster is invented), so I think that the spell paragon surge basically needs to be erattaed. I'll be sending Jason an email suggesting this right after I post this message, in fact.
In the meantime, I would suggest either banning paragon surge form your game, or instead picking a small list of "bonus feats" that you can choose from when you cast the spell. THAT is going to be my suggestion to Jason... that the spell should be revised as follows:
** spoiler omitted **...
I'm glad you're letting Jason know about it. There was a little bit of a blow up about this spell when the ARG first came out, but I don't think anyone actually wanted it to get errated so no one created a thread about it.