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Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Zachary W Anderson wrote:

Dear James Jacobs,

Fellow dinosaur fan here - went to Dinosaur National Monument for my birthday! Have you read or seen stuff a few years ago about changing understanding of juvenile dinosaurs? I feel like it's a mixed bag - getting a better picture of the family is great, but it simultaneously means fewer names in the family tree.

I hadn't seen that, but it makes sense. I'm fine with fewer names, to be honest.

RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16

James Jacobs wrote:
Blissful Lightning wrote:

Hi James,

Could you please share with us the design decisions that led to writing in the Age of Lost Omens's cessation of prophecy?

It's just that from my outsider's perspective, it seems like you inexplicably deprived yourselves of a potent thematic and narrative tool.

Prophecy is the most overused and most obnoxious and most unsatisfying of all the cliches the fantasy genre uses. We cut it from Pathfinder because we didn't want the cliche in the game, and we didn't want our writers to think we wanted it in the game, and we didn't want players to think it was part of the game.

Prophecy simply DOES NOT WORK when you have a collaborative story like a tabletop RPG. It works (but is cliched, as mentioned above) in a novel or movie or the like because the characters in that story have no agency. Their choices are made for them by the writer, who can make all those choices to make the prophecy come true.

In an RPG, a prophecy is the worst kind of railroad a GM can inflict. It's something that not only a GM can use to justify making things just happen for no reason other than to fulfill the prophecy, but it can subtly influence and pinch off player creativity in the choices they make for themselves.

We didn't deprive ourselves of a potent thematic and narrative tool. We saved ourselves from a tired old cliche and writing crutch and allowed all of your characters to make choices YOU want rather than choices the GM or the adventure writer forces you to make.

Has there ever been a fantasy story where a prophecy had a significant positive contribution to the narrative? The only one I can think of is...

Harry Potter:
The prophecy is more of a catalyst that kicked off the story rather than a clutch to make characters act in contrived ways. Or a Macguffin in the 5th book.

Though, Harry Potter's prophecy is also interesting in that it doesn't tell us how the story ends. In fact, it actually says that Harry might lose.

Dark Archive

Hello Mr. Jacobs. I have a bit of an oddball question that I'm going to put behind a spoiler just to be safe.

Spoiler:
Do Samsarans have functional genitals?

I ask because my group has a Samsaran PC who has developed a love interest, but we all vaguely had the impression Samsarans were born to other humanoids and did not directly reproduce amongst themselves.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Cyrad wrote:
Has there ever been a fantasy story where a prophecy had a significant positive contribution to the narrative? The only one I can think of is... ** spoiler omitted **

That's the thing... MOST Fantasy stories have them. Whether or not they play a positive contribution to the narrative depends on the skill of the author. There's prophecies in Lord of the Rings. There's propecies in Game of Thrones. They show up in almost every single story it seems.

A cliche is still a cliche even if it's handled well. More to the point, even if prophecy wasn't cliched, it'd still be a terrible thing to include in a product where agency on how the story develops is in the hands of several different people, none of whom are empowered to make the final call on how the prophecy can work out (the GM comes closest, but strong-arming a prophecy is a good way to drive off your players.).

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Creon Vizcarra wrote:

Hello Mr. Jacobs. I have a bit of an oddball question that I'm going to put behind a spoiler just to be safe.

** spoiler omitted **

I ask because my group has a Samsaran PC who has developed a love interest, but we all vaguely had the impression Samsarans were born to other humanoids and did not directly reproduce amongst themselves.

Of course they do. Samsarans can be born to samsarans.


I thought Samsarans had human children who could then reincarnate as Samsarans?

Samsarans having human children when Samsarans were fairly inhuman (clear blood, among other things) helps drive home just how weird they actually are. And now I know my next question.


Are human-born Samsarans physically distinctive from other Tien humans in any substantive way?

For example, Samsarans are on average taller than humans, and so that might carry on to their human offspring.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Zhangar wrote:

I thought Samsarans had human children who could then reincarnate as Samsarans?

Samsarans having human children when Samsarans were fairly inhuman (clear blood, among other things) helps drive home just how weird they actually are. And now I know my next question.

That's correct. But it's possible for one to give birth to a samsaran. In 99.999999% of cases they give birth to humans though.

Doesn't really change my answer to the original question though.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Zhangar wrote:

Are human-born Samsarans physically distinctive from other Tien humans in any substantive way?

For example, Samsarans are on average taller than humans, and so that might carry on to their human offspring.

Humans born to samsarans are humans, not samsarans. As such, they look and act and funciton as humans. They do not inherit any biological "genetics" from their parents, just spiritual "genetics" that will result in their reincarnation.


Hi,James.Is it ok to attack myself or ally with a Conductive weapon to channel sp/su ability?


Hi James, I tried to search here and there, but what do you think is my best chance to get a copy of the alpha and beta releases of pathfinder (crb and bestiary)? I'd like to check the difference in the development, so I'd like to get a copy of them.

And on a related note, how much confusing was, back in time, to keep in mind the "right version"? You developers had a ruleset from 3.5, then released an alpha, then a beta, then the 1st print... How did you manage to remember the right version of PF, event in the development. Even now, when I play, I sometimes mees up myself with some rule I remember from the old 3.5, I can only imagine how difficult it could had been.


Hi mr. James, sorry for the intrusion. I'm pretty new to pathfinder, and I tried to search around, but... well, that's confusing, and all the clues points toward you. I know it's a stupid question, but I don't know any other to ask. So, straight to the point: can the swarms be sneak attacked? I discussed the topic with a friend of mine, he's helping me to set up a little dungeon. Well, when it comes to a swarm, he said "Watch out, the rogue can't sneak attack the swarm, so better you give him some alchemist fire". In that moment I was with the swarm traits page open, and I said "Why he can't sneak attack? It says it's immune to flanking, ant to critical, but it says nothing about the sneak attack". So he read the page with me, and said that he remembered that the swarms cannot be sneak attacked. So, we did a search on the net, and all the searches points toward a post of you back in 2010 when you say that the swarms are immune to sneak attack (http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2ktke?Sneak-Attack-Info#4). So, as you're, as my friend said, one of the developers of Pathfinder, I need to ask: are the swarms immune only to flanking, and thus an hiding attacker could apply the sneak attack, or as you said in that post, are the swarms immune to sneak attacks? And if the latter, why nobody ever had printed an errata, or a FAQ to correct this error? I'm really confused about that.


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Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

James,

Just want to say *Thank you* for re-directing the rules questions and being an approachable person here on the forums. It's neat to get insight from an aspect of the business that normally doesn't get a lot of visibility.


NotGenius wrote:
Hi mr. James, sorry for the intrusion. I'm pretty new to pathfinder, and I tried to search around, but... well, that's confusing, and all the clues points toward you. I know it's a stupid question, but I don't know any other to ask. So, straight to the point: can the swarms be sneak attacked? I discussed the topic with a friend of mine, he's helping me to set up a little dungeon. Well, when it comes to a swarm, he said "Watch out, the rogue can't sneak attack the swarm, so better you give him some alchemist fire". In that moment I was with the swarm traits page open, and I said "Why he can't sneak attack? It says it's immune to flanking, ant to critical, but it says nothing about the sneak attack". So he read the page with me, and said that he remembered that the swarms cannot be sneak attacked. So, we did a search on the net, and all the searches points toward a post of you back in 2010 when you say that the swarms are immune to sneak attack (http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2ktke?Sneak-Attack-Info#4). So, as you're, as my friend said, one of the developers of Pathfinder, I need to ask: are the swarms immune only to flanking, and thus an hiding attacker could apply the sneak attack, or as you said in that post, are the swarms immune to sneak attacks? And if the latter, why nobody ever had printed an errata, or a FAQ to correct this error? I'm really confused about that.

I cannot edit, don't know why. Re-reading this post I realize that it seems I'm ranting or accusing you or the designer of the paizo. I really don't want to do nothing of that. I'm just really confused about my question, and I love your work, but... well, I just wonder of why, in the case, there's no errata or faq about such an argument. I see that you always answer kindly, even when you're busy with your work. I really appreciate it, and it's the reason why I take the freedom to ask to you. I hope you don't think that I want to accuse you or anyone of the paizo staff, because I really love the feeling of a sort of "direct contact" with you, and I love your work and how you did. I'm really sorry if I seemed rude in my post, it really wasn't my intention.

Dark Archive

Now I'm very confused. If most of the time Samsaran couples produce human babies, where do Samsaran babies usually come from?


Pathfinder Maps, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
Creon Vizcarra wrote:
Now I'm very confused. If most of the time Samsaran couples produce human babies, where do Samsaran babies usually come from?

From Bestiary 4:

"Each samsaran is born with the knowledge that it has lived before, and shall continue onward after death through the cycle of reincarnation. When a samsaran dies, its body fades from sight, and another samsaran child appears somewhere and matures at the normal rate. Samsarans can reproduce with humans and produce true human offspring."

Sovereign Court

Creon Vizcarra wrote:
Now I'm very confused. If most of the time Samsaran couples produce human babies, where do Samsaran babies usually come from?

I have heard stories about storks... on a related note, samsaran are often spotted around cabbage patches...

Paizo Employee Creative Director

nery123 wrote:
Hi,James.Is it ok to attack myself or ally with a Conductive weapon to channel sp/su ability?

Rules questions need to be asked in the rules forum so folks can hit the FAQ button and so the designers will see the question.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

David knott 242 wrote:
Creon Vizcarra wrote:
Now I'm very confused. If most of the time Samsaran couples produce human babies, where do Samsaran babies usually come from?

From Bestiary 4:

"Each samsaran is born with the knowledge that it has lived before, and shall continue onward after death through the cycle of reincarnation. When a samsaran dies, its body fades from sight, and another samsaran child appears somewhere and matures at the normal rate. Samsarans can reproduce with humans and produce true human offspring."

Please leave the answering to me, so that folks don't get confused and so the thread doesn't get cluttered.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Blackstorm wrote:

Hi James, I tried to search here and there, but what do you think is my best chance to get a copy of the alpha and beta releases of pathfinder (crb and bestiary)? I'd like to check the difference in the development, so I'd like to get a copy of them.

And on a related note, how much confusing was, back in time, to keep in mind the "right version"? You developers had a ruleset from 3.5, then released an alpha, then a beta, then the 1st print... How did you manage to remember the right version of PF, event in the development. Even now, when I play, I sometimes mees up myself with some rule I remember from the old 3.5, I can only imagine how difficult it could had been.

Unless you find a copy for sale on ebay, or find a friend or fellow gamer to share the info with you, your chances of getting a copy of those releases are pretty much zero.

It was tough going from 3.0 to 3.5 D&D, but even more difficult going from 3.5 to Pathfinder. The Council of Thieves Adventure Path has a few "warts" as a result of us not being super familiar with the new game, for example—the primary one being that you only got to about 14th level or so in that AP rather than 17th level, since we built the adventures with some incorrect assumptions.

Howe we manage to remember is by practicing, and by working at it pretty much every workday of the week for years and years and years.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

7 people marked this as a favorite.
Wei Ji the Learner wrote:


James,

Just want to say *Thank you* for re-directing the rules questions and being an approachable person here on the forums. It's neat to get insight from an aspect of the business that normally doesn't get a lot of visibility.

Thanks; no question here, but I appreciate the comment.

That said... I do wish that the culture of our messageboards was different, so that I could give my interpretations of how rules play out without a vocal minority of folks getting angry or frustrated or confused. And I wish even MORE that folks would go to their GM first rather than try to get answers from someone who has no real idea how their group's preferences align with the game...

Paizo Employee Creative Director

NotGenius wrote:
Hi mr. James, sorry for the intrusion. I'm pretty new to pathfinder, and I tried to search around, but... well, that's confusing, and all the clues points toward you. I know it's a stupid question, but I don't know any other to ask. So, straight to the point: can the swarms be sneak attacked? I discussed the topic with a friend of mine, he's helping me to set up a little dungeon. Well, when it comes to a swarm, he said "Watch out, the rogue can't sneak attack the swarm, so better you give him some alchemist fire". In that moment I was with the swarm traits page open, and I said "Why he can't sneak attack? It says it's immune to flanking, ant to critical, but it says nothing about the sneak attack". So he read the page with me, and said that he remembered that the swarms cannot be sneak attacked. So, we did a search on the net, and all the searches points toward a post of you back in 2010 when you say that the swarms are immune to sneak attack (http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2ktke?Sneak-Attack-Info#4). So, as you're, as my friend said, one of the developers of Pathfinder, I need to ask: are the swarms immune only to flanking, and thus an hiding attacker could apply the sneak attack, or as you said in that post, are the swarms immune to sneak attacks? And if the latter, why nobody ever had printed an errata, or a FAQ to correct this error? I'm really confused about that.

First of all, welcome to the game! Alas, as I've mentioned before (but since you're new I'll mention again)... Rules questions need to be asked in the rules forum so folks can hit the FAQ button and so the designers will see the question.

This does mean that for "official answers" to rules questions folks end up having to often wait a long time for an answer, and indeed might NEVER get an answer, but there's not much I can do about that. I've tried answering rules questions before and that confused folks online as to whether or not my answers were official and stepped on the toes of the design team and caused some unpleasant inter-office drama that I'm not interested in repeating.

If you can't wait for an official response, ask around for other gamers' opinions, I guess, and report those to your GM, and let your GM make the call.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

NotGenius wrote:
I cannot edit, don't know why. Re-reading this post I realize that it seems I'm ranting or accusing you or the designer of the paizo. I really don't want to do nothing of that. I'm just really confused about my question, and I love your work, but... well, I just wonder of why, in the case, there's no errata or faq about such an argument. I see that you always answer kindly, even when you're busy with your work. I really appreciate it, and it's the reason why I take the freedom to ask to you. I hope you don't think that I want to accuse you or anyone of the paizo staff, because I really love the feeling of a sort of...

No worries... you didn't come off as antagonistic at all. I understand your frustration at wanting a clarification, and to be honest, I think that the swiftest and most pleasant and simple way to solve your problem is to have your GM make the decision for your game and go from there.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

The Carpenter wrote:
Creon Vizcarra wrote:
Now I'm very confused. If most of the time Samsaran couples produce human babies, where do Samsaran babies usually come from?
I have heard stories about storks... on a related note, samsaran are often spotted around cabbage patches...

Please don't clutter the thread; keep your posts to questions for me.


Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

James,

Have any products ever surprised you with either their massive amount of success or their lackluster performance relative to other ones?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Wei Ji the Learner wrote:


James,

Have any products ever surprised you with either their massive amount of success or their lackluster performance relative to other ones?

Yup.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

What positive reception has most pleasantly surprised you in your Pathfinder work?


James Jacobs wrote:


It was tough going from 3.0 to 3.5 D&D, but even more difficult going from 3.5 to Pathfinder. The Council of Thieves Adventure Path has a few "warts" as a result of us not being super familiar with the new game, for example—the primary one being that you only got to about 14th level or so in that AP rather than 17th level, since we built the adventures with some incorrect assumptions.

Howe we manage to remember is by practicing, and by working at it pretty much every workday of the week for years and years and years.

I noted that the latest APs are really better than the first ones, so I think I can see where your work leaded. I had the fortune of follow the pf development almost from the first steps, thoug I never thought to get myself the alpha and beta release. I managed to recover a copy of both alpha and beta releases, and thes are really interesting. There are some changes here and there, that feel like some "fine attunement". In those years pf seems to get a precise direction, that I honestly like... since I play pf, I never felt the necessity of a multiclass or a prestige class, and I was a good builder, back in 3.5 times. And I love that. There's a lot single class options, and archetypes that are satisfying per se. And... well, good work.

No other questions for now, but, well, I just want let you know that, even if I seemed boring and harsh in the past post (I'm pretty sure you remember some of my recent out of place posts on this thread - and if you don't remember those post, please don't search for them, reading them now it seems I behave like moron), that was not my intention. I had the luck to meet Jason Bulmahn for the first release of pathfinder, and well, if I ever get the chance to meet you too, I really like to shake your hand and have you to sign my first copy ever of pathfinder crb (and maybe some other book, if you'll want). Stop, I wrote too much. Sorry for the time that this post will steal from your time :)


Hi James,

In general, where does Pharasma send a soul that worships a mortal demigod (e.g. one of Aelyosos' hero-gods) that resides in the material plane?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Cole Deschain wrote:
What positive reception has most pleasantly surprised you in your Pathfinder work?

Sandpoint.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Blissful Lightning wrote:

Hi James,

In general, where does Pharasma send a soul that worships a mortal demigod (e.g. one of Aelyosos' hero-gods) that resides in the material plane?

We've not done much detailing on Aelyosos yet. My preference is that those worshipers go on to the Outer Planes to serve the gods of the hero-gods, or simply to swell ranks of outsiders in an alignment-identical plane.


James Jacobs wrote:
Blissful Lightning wrote:

Hi James,

In general, where does Pharasma send a soul that worships a mortal demigod (e.g. one of Aelyosos' hero-gods) that resides in the material plane?

We've not done much detailing on Aelyosos yet. My preference is that those worshipers go on to the Outer Planes to serve the gods of the hero-gods, or simply to swell ranks of outsiders in an alignment-identical plane.

Speaking of, is it also your preference that mortal demigods don't get any of the outsider race subdomains?

Silver Crusade

Hello Mr. Directorsaur! I was curious, when writing up statblocks and other creations what is you're preferred method of writing/typing/saving them?


Wizardry!

1. Does that also exist among "savage" peoples in some primitive form?

2. Does all wizardry traditions have a single origin somewhere, or has it been discovered multiple times independently?

3. If the latter, have there been multiple independent discoveries of wizard magic even in the history of Golarion?

4. Are there cases where a deity or other patron teaches a supplicant wizard magic? Or would in those cases the supplicant more likely become a witch?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Blissful Lightning wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Blissful Lightning wrote:

Hi James,

In general, where does Pharasma send a soul that worships a mortal demigod (e.g. one of Aelyosos' hero-gods) that resides in the material plane?

We've not done much detailing on Aelyosos yet. My preference is that those worshipers go on to the Outer Planes to serve the gods of the hero-gods, or simply to swell ranks of outsiders in an alignment-identical plane.
Speaking of, is it also your preference that mortal demigods don't get any of the outsider race subdomains?

Not at all. If it makes sense, they should grant them. That said, I'm not a big fan of the outsider race subdomains, thematically.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Rysky wrote:
Hello Mr. Directorsaur! I was curious, when writing up statblocks and other creations what is you're preferred method of writing/typing/saving them?

Hero Lab for generating NPCs and creatures that are built 100% out of stuff we've already published. An in-house excell spreadsheet designed by Sean K Reynolds for stuff like new monsters.

Then drop them into Word and format them and write the flavor text.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Analysis wrote:

Wizardry!

1. Does that also exist among "savage" peoples in some primitive form?

2. Does all wizardry traditions have a single origin somewhere, or has it been discovered multiple times independently?

3. If the latter, have there been multiple independent discoveries of wizard magic even in the history of Golarion?

4. Are there cases where a deity or other patron teaches a supplicant wizard magic? Or would in those cases the supplicant more likely become a witch?

Please ask questions one per post—lists of questions get out of control and make it more difficult for me to stay on top of the thread.

I'll answer the 1st question; but if you want answers to the others you'll need to repost them one at a time.

1) Wizards require the social tradition of writing due to spellbooks, so if group can write (building books is irrelevant since there's other things to write on and with) they can have wizards.

THAT SAID, we prefer to avoid the term "savage" in print when talking about humanoid peoples these days.

Silver Crusade

James Jacobs wrote:
Rysky wrote:
Hello Mr. Directorsaur! I was curious, when writing up statblocks and other creations what is you're preferred method of writing/typing/saving them?

Hero Lab for generating NPCs and creatures that are built 100% out of stuff we've already published. An in-house excell spreadsheet designed by Sean K Reynolds for stuff like new monsters.

Then drop them into Word and format them and write the flavor text.

Neat! Thankies for the response ^w^


Thanks! And yes, "savage" is certainly problematic. I chose it over "primitive" but neither is good.

Then I'll ask: Has wizard magic been invented multiple times independently throughout the history of Golarion?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Analysis wrote:

T

Then I'll ask: Has wizard magic been invented multiple times independently throughout the history of Golarion?

Yes.


James Jacobs wrote:
Blackstorm wrote:

Hi James, I tried to search here and there, but what do you think is my best chance to get a copy of the alpha and beta releases of pathfinder (crb and bestiary)? I'd like to check the difference in the development, so I'd like to get a copy of them.

And on a related note, how much confusing was, back in time, to keep in mind the "right version"? You developers had a ruleset from 3.5, then released an alpha, then a beta, then the 1st print... How did you manage to remember the right version of PF, event in the development. Even now, when I play, I sometimes mees up myself with some rule I remember from the old 3.5, I can only imagine how difficult it could had been.

Unless you find a copy for sale on ebay, or find a friend or fellow gamer to share the info with you, your chances of getting a copy of those releases are pretty much zero.

It was tough going from 3.0 to 3.5 D&D, but even more difficult going from 3.5 to Pathfinder. The Council of Thieves Adventure Path has a few "warts" as a result of us not being super familiar with the new game, for example—the primary one being that you only got to about 14th level or so in that AP rather than 17th level, since we built the adventures with some incorrect assumptions.

Howe we manage to remember is by practicing, and by working at it pretty much every workday of the week for years and years and years.

What were some of those assumptions, if you don't mind me asking.

If you'd rather not answer I understand, just curious. :-)

Paizo Employee Creative Director

captain yesterday wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Blackstorm wrote:

Hi James, I tried to search here and there, but what do you think is my best chance to get a copy of the alpha and beta releases of pathfinder (crb and bestiary)? I'd like to check the difference in the development, so I'd like to get a copy of them.

And on a related note, how much confusing was, back in time, to keep in mind the "right version"? You developers had a ruleset from 3.5, then released an alpha, then a beta, then the 1st print... How did you manage to remember the right version of PF, event in the development. Even now, when I play, I sometimes mees up myself with some rule I remember from the old 3.5, I can only imagine how difficult it could had been.

Unless you find a copy for sale on ebay, or find a friend or fellow gamer to share the info with you, your chances of getting a copy of those releases are pretty much zero.

It was tough going from 3.0 to 3.5 D&D, but even more difficult going from 3.5 to Pathfinder. The Council of Thieves Adventure Path has a few "warts" as a result of us not being super familiar with the new game, for example—the primary one being that you only got to about 14th level or so in that AP rather than 17th level, since we built the adventures with some incorrect assumptions.

Howe we manage to remember is by practicing, and by working at it pretty much every workday of the week for years and years and years.

What were some of those assumptions, if you don't mind me asking.

If you'd rather not answer I understand, just curious. :-)

That the number of encounters it takes to level up in 3.5 was even close to the number it took to level up in Pathifnder's medium XP progression.

Silver Crusade

Rise of the Runelords introduced us to the Kuchrima Lamia-kin, who came up with them?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Rysky wrote:
Rise of the Runelords introduced us to the Kuchrima Lamia-kin, who came up with them?

Greg Vaughan.


A Vigilante has a LN alignment in her social identity, a NG alignment in his vigilante identity, and is a devout worshiper of Ng who does not seem to acknowledge worshipers and so is unlikely to intercede posthumously. What is is their most likely destination after death (other than reincarnation) and is this a tricky one for Pharasma?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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PossibleCabbage wrote:
A Vigilante has a LN alignment in her social identity, a NG alignment in his vigilante identity, and is a devout worshiper of Ng who does not seem to acknowledge worshipers and so is unlikely to intercede posthumously. What is is their most likely destination after death (other than reincarnation) and is this a tricky one for Pharasma?

Not tricky at all for Pharasma.

A devout worshiper of Ng is most likely to be sent on to the First World.


If somebody wants to alter fate based on future knowledge (precognition, time travel, etc.), how likely is it Pharasma'll intervene, and what will she do?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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AlgaeNymph wrote:
If somebody wants to alter fate based on future knowledge (precognition, time travel, etc.), how likely is it Pharasma'll intervene, and what will she do?

As likely as the GM wants it to be.

Keep in mind that Pharasma intervening is pretty much the very definition of deus ex machina, and players are unlikely to react positively to forced railroading like this from the GM, regardless of how much they might deserve it.

A better solution would be to let things play out as they stand, knowing as the GM (and thus as Pharasma) that the PC changing their fate was in fact their ACTUAL fate all along.


How bottomless is the 'bottomless pit' around the Cathedral of the Starstone?


James Jacobs wrote:
AlgaeNymph wrote:
If somebody wants to alter fate based on future knowledge (precognition, time travel, etc.), how likely is it Pharasma'll intervene, and what will she do?

As likely as the GM wants it to be.

Keep in mind that Pharasma intervening is pretty much the very definition of deus ex machina, and players are unlikely to react positively to forced railroading like this from the GM, regardless of how much they might deserve it.

A better solution would be to let things play out as they stand, knowing as the GM (and thus as Pharasma) that the PC changing their fate was in fact their ACTUAL fate all along.

Hm...

That raises another question: how are fate and free will compatible?

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