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You're welcome! And there is indeed: The novel Reign of Stars by Tim Pratt will release this August and tie into the Iron Gods Adventure Path. It's set in Numeria, and is a sequel to City of the Fallen Sky, starring the same alchemist and rogue characters. It's a lot of fun, and gives you a great look at the Technic League, the court of the Black Sovereign, and Numeria in general. Should be a great player-friendly resource for anyone in an Iron Gods game!Any chance of a novel tie-in with Iron Gods?
Thanks for answering questions!!
COOL! One of my favorites so far, but frankly, as editor you do an amazing job picking authors and subjects.
I loved the way the rogue character was written, and, in fact, City had me seeking out several non-Pathfinder novels by Mr. Pratt.
*Edited for clarity and to take out a sentiment that sounded too much like a backhanded negative unintentionally.*
You're welcome! And there is indeed: The novel Reign of Stars by Tim Pratt will release this August and tie into the Iron Gods Adventure Path. It's set in Numeria, and is a sequel to City of the Fallen Sky, starring the same alchemist and rogue characters. It's a lot of fun, and gives you a great look at the Technic League, the court of the Black Sovereign, and Numeria in general. Should be a great player-friendly resource for anyone in an Iron Gods game!Any chance of a novel tie-in with Iron Gods?
Thanks for answering questions!!
COOL! One of my favorites so far, but frankly, as editor you do an amazing job picking authors and subjects.
I loved the way the rogue character was written, and, in fact, City had me seeking out several non-Pathfinder novels by Mr. Pratt.
*Edited for clarity and to take out a sentiment that sounded too much like a backhanded negative unintentionally.*
Yay! Thanks, MeanDM! :D
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1) Does the average citizen of Cheliax hate House Thrune, or do they support it?
2) Will we see stats for the Eldest of the First World anytime soon?
1) Does the average citizen of Cheliax hate House Thrune, or do they support it?2) Will we see stats for the Eldest of the First World anytime soon?
Eldest details of the sort we give for the core 20 gods show up in Inner Sea Gods! But if you mean full, let's-get-in-a-fight stat blocks, I sincerely hope not and will endeavor to prevent--in my mind, saying "you must do X damage to kill this god" makes them inherently less godly. I'd rather leave that up to individual GMs if they want to go that route.
And while I'm only speaking my own opinion, I think the average person in Cheliax probably feels roughly the same about Thrune as we Americans do when our "rival" political party is in power. A sort of "yeah, well, whaddaya expect when the devil folks are in control?" But I'm betting it's more casual kvetching than outright sedition. It turns out, average (see also: poor) folks in a medieval society are usually too concerned with immediate problems like jobs/family/etc. to worry overmuch about which faction's running the government. And while the Thrune administration isn't *nice*, per se, it isn't really persecuting its own citizens that much.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss...
Hey, James-
Only recently started getting interested in Kaer Maga, and am trying to devour as much lore on the place as I can. (It reminds me a lot of one of my favorite cities from the Mystara campaign setting, Blackheart- albeit Kaer Maga has much more detail on it, while Blackheart has mostly only developed in my own mind and some writings I've done).
In any case, I was wondering if you've ever played Guild Wars? Areas of the Kaineng City in Cantha (GW: Factions) are how I envision the Warrens of Kaer Maga- slums sprawling on top of one another as high as the walls of the city itself, creating a maze of warrens. Or perhaps something like Kowloon, Hong Kong or Rocinha, Brazil.
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And while I'm only speaking my own opinion, I think the average person in Cheliax probably feels roughly the same about Thrune as we Americans do when our "rival" political party is in power. A sort of "yeah, well, whaddaya expect when the devil folks are in control?" But I'm betting it's more casual kvetching than outright sedition. It turns out, average (see also: poor) folks in a medieval society are usually too concerned with immediate problems like jobs/family/etc. to worry overmuch about which faction's running the government. And while the Thrune administration isn't *nice*, per se, it isn't really persecuting its own citizens that much.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss...
Along with some "Hey, could be worse! We could be in a civil war still, or we could have mob rule like those losers in Andoran and Galt!" I'd wager. It seems a big motivator for the average Chelaxian is a desperate desire for stability in a time where there essentially their entire worldview and their very identity was shattered. House Thrune gave them that, and they're pretty damned grateful. :P
What would be the best nation on Golarion to serve as a stand-in for Carthage? I'm guessing Thuvia since they're a nation of loosely-linked trade cities in a similar location, but they seem more...I don't know, Bedouin? I suppose the BEST example would be the Jistka Imperium or the Tekritanin League, but those lands are no longer there.
Also, have eyeglasses been invented, and if so, what class of people are able to afford them? Are they the purview of the rich, each pair individually crafted for specific owners, or are they mass-produced so at least middle-class artisans or tradesman can afford them if necessary?
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Eldest details of the sort we give for the core 20 gods show up in Inner Sea Gods! But if you mean full, let's-get-in-a-fight stat blocks, I sincerely hope not and will endeavor to prevent--in my mind, saying "you must do X damage to kill this god" makes them inherently less godly. I'd rather leave that up to individual GMs if they want to go that route.
Aren't the Eldest demigods on the same level as demon lords and we have gotten stats for several demon lords already?
Hey, James-
Only recently started getting interested in Kaer Maga, and am trying to devour as much lore on the place as I can. (It reminds me a lot of one of my favorite cities from the Mystara campaign setting, Blackheart- albeit Kaer Maga has much more detail on it, while Blackheart has mostly only developed in my own mind and some writings I've done).
In any case, I was wondering if you've ever played Guild Wars? Areas of the Kaineng City in Cantha (GW: Factions) are how I envision the Warrens of Kaer Maga- slums sprawling on top of one another as high as the walls of the city itself, creating a maze of warrens. Or perhaps something like Kowloon, Hong Kong or Rocinha, Brazil.
Hi Cthulhudrew!
I've never played Guild Wars, and I'd actually never heard of Kowloon until after I published City of Strangers, at which point I went "OH MY GOD IT'S KAER MAGA!" Favelas like Rocinha were definitely an inspiration, particularly for The Warren.
Even though it ended up being fairly different, pictures of Ait Benhaddou from National Geographic were one of the earliest seeds for the city in my mind. I imagine it as kind of a mash-up between there and the Pentagon. :)
Also, have eyeglasses been invented, and if so, what class of people are able to afford them? Are they the purview of the rich, each pair individually crafted for specific owners, or are they mass-produced so at least middle-class artisans or tradesman can afford them if necessary?
Eyeglasses are definitely around, but I don't think they're mass-produced. I imagine they're mostly for people with plenty of money to burn.
Aren't the Eldest demigods on the same level as demon lords and we have gotten stats for several demon lords already?
Eldest details of the sort we give for the core 20 gods show up in Inner Sea Gods! But if you mean full, let's-get-in-a-fight stat blocks, I sincerely hope not and will endeavor to prevent--in my mind, saying "you must do X damage to kill this god" makes them inherently less godly. I'd rather leave that up to individual GMs if they want to go that route.
Just because we've done a thing doesn't mean we all agree about it, or that we'll implement the policy universally. :) Jacobs loves statting up demon lords, and they're his babies, so those of us who aren't as keen on god/demigod stats didn't raise a fuss. The Eldest, however, are mostly *my* babies, and since there's no pressing need for those stat blocks, I can't see why we'd publish them. (I'm not saying we never will, just stating my opinion/prediction.)
Sometimes the easiest way to run a company with a bunch of creative types is just to focus on publishing material *everyone* is excited about, and leave contentious issues on the table. :D
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Sometimes the easiest way to run a company with a bunch of creative types is just to focus on publishing material *everyone* is excited about, and leave contentious issues on the table. :D
Like Mengkare's alignment?
;-)
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Have you seen any of these animated movies: Frozen, Wreck it Ralph, ParaNorman, Coraline, Hotel Transylvania, and/or Mr. Peabody and Sherman? If so what did you think?
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Sometimes the easiest way to run a company with a bunch of creative types is just to focus on publishing material *everyone* is excited about, and leave contentious issues on the table. :DLike Mengkare's alignment?
;-)
Someone's been paying attention. :)
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Have you seen any of these animated movies: Frozen, Wreck it Ralph, ParaNorman, Coraline, Hotel Transylvania, and/or Mr. Peabody and Sherman? If so what did you think?
I thought Coraline was pretty decent! I haven't seen any of the others, though. I definitely enjoy animated stuff in general, though. (I must have seen the original Toy Story twenty times.)
Do you have a top 10 favorites for animated films?
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Aren't the Eldest demigods on the same level as demon lords and we have gotten stats for several demon lords already?
Eldest details of the sort we give for the core 20 gods show up in Inner Sea Gods! But if you mean full, let's-get-in-a-fight stat blocks, I sincerely hope not and will endeavor to prevent--in my mind, saying "you must do X damage to kill this god" makes them inherently less godly. I'd rather leave that up to individual GMs if they want to go that route.
Just because we've done a thing doesn't mean we all agree about it, or that we'll implement the policy universally. :) Jacobs loves statting up demon lords, and they're his babies, so those of us who aren't as keen on god/demigod stats didn't raise a fuss. The Eldest, however, are mostly *my* babies, and since there's no pressing need for those stat blocks, I can't see why we'd publish them. (I'm not saying we never will, just stating my opinion/prediction.)
Sometimes the easiest way to run a company with a bunch of creative types is just to focus on publishing material *everyone* is excited about, and leave contentious issues on the table. :D
After reading
After reading ** spoiler omitted **
:D
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James, what would you say is 2SPOOKY4U?
Most scary movies, honestly. I'm terrible at them. Wes tried to show me The Ring many years ago, and I made it through about 10 minutes before shouting "OUT!" and making him switch to something else (might have been Deadwood).
I think the thing that scares me the most (in terms of irrational fears) is the idea of the old-school "gray" aliens peering in my windows at night.
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And now a question. It all comes back to Thassilon, doesn't it?
Nope! I actually think that while Thassilon's gotten a lot of play, it's just one element of our world, and I'm very excited to see things continue to grow and detail some of the other empires and important historical figures!
I just wanted to say I just finished Skinwalkers. Loved it! Great strong female characters!
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I'm published! I have my own published module and I want to do more. I'm finally in a position where I feel I have the time to take on more work, but I don't know how to get started. What do you recommend I do to catch the attention of Paizo or third-party publishers and get a chance to write more PFRPG material?
I just wanted to say I just finished Skinwalkers. Loved it! Great strong female characters!
Yay! Thank you!
Can I prevail upon you to post that note in a review? People place a lot of stock in those star ratings, and if nothing else, I know it would mean a lot to the author. :)
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I'm published! I have my own published module and I want to do more. I'm finally in a position where I feel I have the time to take on more work, but I don't know how to get started. What do you recommend I do to catch the attention of Paizo or third-party publishers and get a chance to write more PFRPG material?
I'd recommend tracking down the websites of some of the third-party publishers you like the most and then emailing them to see if they'd consider you for an assignment.The Pathfinder Society Open Call is also a good place to start, along with RPG Superstar.
Good luck, and congratulations!
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High Chancellor Sutter! I ask your indulgence of one question.
Does Shadow Absalom have a mirror twisted version of the Pathfinder Society within it's dark walls? And will we see some development thereof?
Come to think of it... that would give a new twist on the term... Shadow Lodge.
I have no idea, actually! If anybody has plans in that regard, it's probably Mark Moreland and John Compton, who are in many ways the creative heads of the in-world Pathfinder Society.
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I really like the flavor of the old oriental adventures from 1st edition. Does paizo have any thoughts on flushing out the east with Yakuza, wujen and the like, or would it be up to the dm to just find the archtypes that fit?
also do they plan on writing up more oriental monsters?
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Nope! I actually think that while Thassilon's gotten a lot of play, it's just one element of our world, and I'm very excited to see things continue to grow and detail some of the other empires and important historical figures!
And now a question. It all comes back to Thassilon, doesn't it?
I mean in the sense that it's responsible not just for Varisia, but also the Hold of Belkzen, Lastwall and Ustalav thanks to the Cenotaph granting Tar-Baphon the knowledge and power to become the scourge of Golarion.
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I really like the flavor of the old oriental adventures from 1st edition. Does paizo have any thoughts on flushing out the east with Yakuza, wujen and the like, or would it be up to the dm to just find the archtypes that fit?
Well, we have the Dragon Empires Gazetteer and the Jade Regent Adventure Path, which were really our love letter to that, and we certainly draw on a lot of eastern mythology for things like the Bestiaries. And as folks have mentioned, eastern fantasy certainly influences the rules with things like archetypes and classes.
Beyond that--we're not currently planning on devoting a bunch of time to Tian Xia when there's still so much of Golarion left to explore, but I suspect you'll see a bit here and there!
Just wanted to let you know I purchased The Redemption Engine.
And now I play the waiting game...
Yay! Thank you!
*scoots over to make room at the waiting table*
I mean in the sense that it's responsible not just for Varisia, but also the Hold of Belkzen, Lastwall and Ustalav thanks to the Cenotaph granting Tar-Baphon the knowledge and power to become the scourge of Golarion.Nope! I actually think that while Thassilon's gotten a lot of play, it's just one element of our world, and I'm very excited to see things continue to grow and detail some of the other empires and important historical figures!
And now a question. It all comes back to Thassilon, doesn't it?
Ah! Yeah, I see what you mean. In that sense, I suppose it is!
What are the chances on getting the stats for characters from the various novels?
There are several I would like to see.
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I think the thing that scares me the most (in terms of irrational fears) is the idea of the old-school "gray" aliens peering in my windows at night.
I saw an alien abduction fakeumentary (one of those what-ifs that stations like Discovery like to do) when I was eight years old in the 90s; absolutely terrified me of aliens. I thought nothing would ever scare me the way that alien abductions did ... until I started watching Marble Hornets.
You know that stereotypically Lovecraftian phenomena in which a narrator writes about cosmic horrors while being slowly devoured by that which he cannot understand? That was me with Slender Man. I was obsessed with finishing the series by day, praying for a happy ending but there is none. There were nights where I was literally unable to sleep without the lights on for fear that he was watching me. Just standing there, staring down at me while I was unaware with his faceless gaze. My own overactive imagination only served to fuel the horror that I was spiraling down into with no hope of return.
I got better, but man, that experience deadened me to the horror genre in general. Now I'm a scarred, soulless adult like everyone else! Yay!
Hello again, Other James. :)
1. What's your opinion of the empyreal lords?
2. How knowledgeable do you feel about them? I'm hoping you don't cop out with "That's a Wes question."
3. Which ones're your favorites?
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I think the thing that scares me the most (in terms of irrational fears) is the idea of the old-school "gray" aliens peering in my windows at night.I saw an alien abduction fakeumentary (one of those what-ifs that stations like Discovery like to do) when I was eight years old in the 90s; absolutely terrified me of aliens. I thought nothing would ever scare me the way that alien abductions did ... until I started watching Marble Hornets.
You know that stereotypically Lovecraftian phenomena in which a narrator writes about cosmic horrors while being slowly devoured by that which he cannot understand? That was me with Slender Man. I was obsessed with finishing the series by day, praying for a happy ending but there is none. There were nights where I was literally unable to sleep without the lights on for fear that he was watching me. Just standing there, staring down at me while I was unaware with his faceless gaze. My own overactive imagination only served to fuel the horror that I was spiraling down into with no hope of return.
I got better, but man, that experience deadened me to the horror genre in general. Now I'm a scarred, soulless adult like everyone else! Yay!
Oh man, Marble Hornets! I watched a few select episodes of that with Wes and was like "THIS IS SO COOL AND I'M NEVER ALLOWED TO WATCH THIS."
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If I recall correctly did not one of your authors hold a contest for statting the characters in his Jeggare series of novels and posted the results on the Paizo blog? Do you expect that your authors be able to "stat" their cast?What are the chances on getting the stats for characters from the various novels?
There are several I would like to see.
Dave did indeed run a contest to let fans stat up characters, which I think is a great way to do it. While I statted up Radovan in Kobold Quarterly years ago, and you can get short stat blocks in books like Inner Sea Combat and Inner Sea Magic, but while I absolutely expect my authors to know the basic stats of their characters, I'm generally against publishing official stats.
I've written up my reasons before, but they are:
1) Novel characters are always evolving, and stat blocks are static, a snapshot in time. Do you stat up the character at the beginning of the novel? The end? Two books in? Official stats make a character feel frozen to me, and I don't want my authors to feel restricted that way.
2) Publishing an official stat block is just asking people to nitpick. In my mind, there's zero value to publishing a stat block and then having someone say "Actually, in book two you have him climb up that wall, but you never gave him ranks in Climb, so he shouldn't have been able to do that." Too much technical information knocks certain types of readers out of the story.
3) I want to leave a certain amount of flexibility for future stories. If a sorcerer character knows five spells but only uses three of them in Book A, then I want to leave those empty slots well and truly open so that they can be whatever they need to be for Book B. It would be a shame to publish a stat block that fills in those spells known at random, then have the character be unable to cast a certain spell that we need for the plot of Book B.
In short, the answer is that I always lean toward creative freedom and intriguing mysteries. :)
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Hello again, Other James. :)
1. What's your opinion of the empyreal lords?
2. How knowledgeable do you feel about them? I'm hoping you don't cop out with "That's a Wes question."
3. Which ones're your favorites?
1. They're awesome! It's really important to us (particularly to Wes and I) that our good outsiders be just as weird and alien and interesting as our evil outsiders. Too many people think "good outsider" means "boring winged paladin," and I think we've challenged that well.
2) While I'm not completely ignorant, that IS a Wes question. :) Or maybe a Patrick question. If folks are good enough to defer to me on my areas of expertise, the least I can do is return the favor!
3) They're all pretty rad, but I'll go with Vildeis because I think it's awesome that she's super creepy, and because I love things that bend stereotypes about alignment. :)
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It's really important to us (particularly to Wes and I) that our good outsiders be just as weird and alien and interesting as our evil outsiders. Too many people think "good outsider" means "boring winged paladin," and I think we've challenged that well.
The empyreal lords are certainly not boring.
I’ve seen Vildeis get a lot of likes. My favorite’s Arshea; a non-shallow deity of physical beauty and sexuality, and genderfluid as a bonus! His picture on p.7 of Chronicles of the Righteous is easily one of Paizo’s best illustrations. Wish I know who the artist was…
Anyway, more questions.
1. How did you feel about the write-ups the empyreal lords got in Bestiary 4?
2. How do you feel of my critique of said write-ups?
3. What would Pharasma think about the Redemption Engine saving souls in Hell who were forced there, such as via human sacrifice?
4. Why would she condemn some to eternal damnation just because they violated a lawful religion’s taboo against suicide? She doesn’t have to send someone to Hell just to deny them Heaven…does she?
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Oh man, Marble Hornets! I watched a few select episodes of that with Wes and was like "THIS IS SO COOL AND I'M NEVER ALLOWED TO WATCH THIS."I think the thing that scares me the most (in terms of irrational fears) is the idea of the old-school "gray" aliens peering in my windows at night.I saw an alien abduction fakeumentary (one of those what-ifs that stations like Discovery like to do) when I was eight years old in the 90s; absolutely terrified me of aliens. I thought nothing would ever scare me the way that alien abductions did ... until I started watching Marble Hornets.
You know that stereotypically Lovecraftian phenomena in which a narrator writes about cosmic horrors while being slowly devoured by that which he cannot understand? That was me with Slender Man. I was obsessed with finishing the series by day, praying for a happy ending but there is none. There were nights where I was literally unable to sleep without the lights on for fear that he was watching me. Just standing there, staring down at me while I was unaware with his faceless gaze. My own overactive imagination only served to fuel the horror that I was spiraling down into with no hope of return.
I got better, but man, that experience deadened me to the horror genre in general. Now I'm a scarred, soulless adult like everyone else! Yay!
FWIW, I'm on almost exactly the same track as you James. My hyperactive imagination goes into overdrive when fear is concerned, and despite me likewise thinking that the Slender mythos(es) are interesting stuff and sometimes wanting to delve into them deeper, the fact that one night's worth of reading about them leads to a week's worth of less sleep makes it not worth it.
Sadly this applies to pretty much all horror, especially of the "alien phenomenon we do not/cannot understand" kind. Reading a couple of SCP Foundation links once cost me almost a month of nightmares. *shudder* I very much sympathize with "this is so cool and I can never experience more of it".
RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32
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When writing rules in English there isn't a gender neutral pronoun, making it difficult to be inclusive to both genders all of the time.
What does Paizo do to be gender inclusive, and do you feel you have been successful?
I noticed that classes and archetypes follow the gender of the iconic, but many other rules use 2nd person. Why is this and is there a reason behind why some class specific rules, like oracle mysteries, use 2nd person instead of 3rd?
Also, I recently have been bitten by the editing bug and am doing some freelance work for a small 3PP. Do you have any advice on how to be good at editing? Where should I go to find more work if I am ever interested in doing more?
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When writing rules in English there isn't a gender neutral pronoun, making it difficult to be inclusive to both genders all of the time.
What does Paizo do to be gender inclusive, and do you feel you have been successful?
I noticed that classes and archetypes follow the gender of the iconic, but many other rules use 2nd person. Why is this and is there a reason behind why some class specific rules, like oracle mysteries, use 2nd person instead of 3rd?
Also, I recently have been bitten by the editing bug and am doing some freelance work for a small 3PP. Do you have any advice on how to be good at editing? Where should I go to find more work if I am ever interested in doing more?
We *do* try to be gender inclusive! And while there are always ways to improve, I think we've been pretty successful so far. A lot of our efforts simply involve creating gender balance in our characters and ordering gender-balanced art (and pushing back when artists give us ridiculous chainmail bikinis, etc.). We also try to make sure that there's gender balance within character types as well (so it's not all male fighters and female witches, etc.) In terms of text and pronouns, defaulting to our gender-balanced iconics is pretty effective, or we just try to flop back and forth. Worst-case scenario, you can try to pluralize things or use "he and she," etc. (While I know that such things enforce a false sense of gender dichotomy, we haven't yet found a gender-neutral singular pronoun that doesn't rankle the majority of Grammar Gods, and as editors we feel we have to comply... for now.)
As for the second/third person switches--a lot of those are relics carried over from 3.5, or else based off of similar rules elements that were that way in 3.5. Wooo legacy grammar!
The best ways to get good at editing are:
a) Study it, via books, blogs, school, and just being around editors.
b) Edit! Volunteer to read slush or intern for publications and editors you respect! There's always more work than an editor has time for, and a willingness to do the gruntwork can get you in the door, or at least into the presence of the door.
Good luck!
Did'ja miss my last questions or are you still working on them?
I don't mean to be rude, I just saw you answer later questions first and wondered.
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james, how is the dog? Also, I will need to borrow a copy of deaths heretic, or the redemption engine, but.. I have no money. Do you accept homeade cheese pizzas and root beer floats? :P This is a joke, I am in no way asking for you to give me free stuffs. Oh, when are we going to get an adventure with an aasimar going to heaven to find his/her mother/father?
Hey James
So reading your interview on the blog, I didn't realize you invented most of the Eldest. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions concerning these?
1) What are the odds of getting a campaign setting book focused on the Eldest, ala Chronicles of the Righteous?
2) What are the odds of getting new Eldest?
3) Is there a specific reason why the Eldest vary so much in alignment, but non of them are Good? Any possibility of getting a Eldest with Good in it's alignment?
Did'ja miss my last questions or are you still working on them?
I don't mean to be rude, I just saw you answer later questions first and wondered.
I didn't miss it, but sometimes I skip questions that seem too big for me to answer at a given moment. :) (That's one of the reasons I often tell people to break up multiple questions into multiple posts, so that it's easy for me to keep track of what's been answered.)