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what do you think of an elf who has spent his entire life in a library and has no clue that things like living in the wilderness and near death are still very much a thing?
Because thats my witch, he joined the society under that idea. Hes used to clean clothes, warm food prepared in a kitchen and a soft bed each night.
He has never even seen bloodshed before.
Lets see how long it takes for him to freak out.
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what do you think of an elf who has spent his entire life in a library and has no clue that things like living in the wilderness and near death are still very much a thing?
Because thats my witch, he joined the society under that idea. Hes used to clean clothes, warm food prepared in a kitchen and a soft bed each night.
He has never even seen bloodshed before.
Lets see how long it takes for him to freak out.
I worry less for the isolated and pampered witch than I do for his or her companions. :)
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I'm stuck with a character's personality design. Would you be willing to lend some insight?I don't see how I can provide a personality idea for your character better than you, but I can try (as long as it doesn't take too much time).
I'm trying to figure out some extra humanizing traits for a character. So far I've given him the following traits:
Stoic
Honorable
Generous
Wrathful
I'm looking to add a couple more that aren't positive or at least ambiguous and still maintain a LG alignment. As one of my friends has said, "Basically you've made Batman, and Batman's always been the least interesting character in Batman comics."
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One thing that I like to do to give characters more personality is to give them quirks instead of full-on personality features. For example, perhaps your wrathful/stoic/honorable/generous dude only eats a certain kind of cuisine (for health or preference or whatever). Maybe he speaks with a slight stutter when he's nervous (or when he's skirting the line of being dishonest). Maybe he's afraid of birds. Maybe he talks in his sleep. Maybe he clears his throat loudly without being aware that he does it. Maybe the guy really likes the color green and buys everything green, and when he can't get something in green, he repaints it. Go for the small details and build those up instead of piling on broad personality types.
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RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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Flumps are almost real.
Kinda reminds me of a metroid...
Adam, do you think metroids and flumphs are related?
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Flumps are almost real.Kinda reminds me of a metroid...
Adam, do you think metroids and flumphs are related?
Perhaps, but aren't metroids mean? I think there are enough weird floaty things out there that they don't all have to be related.
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Flumps are almost real.Needs more spikes. :)
That's why I put the almost in italics. ;)
What are your feelings about the non-human races reacting differently to common foodstuff? Like cheese being addictive for halflings to make a silly example, or orcs being intolerant/allergic to apples, for a less silly one.
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What are your feelings about the non-human races reacting differently to common foodstuff? Like cheese being addictive for halflings to make a silly example, or orcs being intolerant/allergic to apples, for a less silly one.
I like that kind of stuff. Having worked kitchens for the greatest part of my working life, I have a strong connection to food. Food says a lot about a culture, so including things like that really help spice things up and help things feel more real.
Did you make up those two examples or have we said as much in text somewhere?
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The halfling one is from the old (pre-Time of Troubles) Forgotten Realms comic Jeff Grubb worked on, although I think it utilised more e's in the word. The other one I made up.
I'd not have complained if about one feat or spell's worth of text per racial player companion had been given over to that sort of thing.
Adam! Are there stats for an Icthyocentaur somewhere that I am missing?
Adam! Are there stats for an Icthyocentaur somewhere that I am missing?Hmmm... Not that I can think of.
Well then I will get a freelancer on that! :D
I've read your entire thread! What do you think of that?
Also: I love Flumphs! And wish there was a Flumphs of Golarion! I know that (several years ago) you said you might have flumphed yourself out of flumph material in Misfit Monsters Redeemed, but do you think you might just have built up enough flumph-steam(-like-emissions) to do that book yet?!
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I've read your entire thread! What do you think of that?
Also: I love Flumphs! And wish there was a Flumphs of Golarion! I know that (several years ago) you said you might have flumphed yourself out of flumph material in Misfit Monsters Redeemed, but do you think you might just have built up enough flumph-steam(-like-emissions) to do that book yet?!
I think it's rad that you've read the whole thread! It makes me happy that folks are paying attention to and seeking information and opinions from some of the newer developers/creators here at Paizo. (No disrespect to the old school crew, of course.)
As for more flumph stuff, I kinda fell into the role of a flumph champion due to Tim Hitchcock. He wrote an adventure for Dungeon called "Box of FLumph" back in the day and later told me that he did it on a dare, because someone challenged him saying that there'd be no way that Dungeon would publish an adventure that dealt with flumphs. Maybe I was dumb or naive or not crude enough (somehow) to realize that they were essentially an old school fart joke (something that still bugs me to this day), so I was happy and eager to redeem them in Misfit Monsters Redeemed. I feel that it was a great success, but I also agree that they are still silly monsters, and fitting silly monsters into things can be really hard to pull off right. While I may not have any immediate ideas on how to best showcase them again any time soon, it's not out of the question. I don't think that they have enough momentum to fill out a whole book, however.
[side note] I've actually been considering changing my avatar to something else, something more serious that I've been really into for a much longer period of time, but I've yet to pull the trigger on that because I'm afraid it'll disappoint people. :)
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Celestial Emissaries of Golarion?
That does scatter the focus, but I don't know that we have enough similar creatures to fill out a book like that. I would hope that if we do another or bigger book about space that they'd have more stage time in that product. They'd probably get along with Brethedans pretty damn well.
Awesome to know! (And... I didn't get it either... >.>)
Flumphs are... rather super-awesome in my book. A low CR creature, from space, that's lawful good, who's entire purpose is facing things of far, far higher CR and stopping them from wreaking their nasty evil upon the innocent worlds?! HOLY COW! I love 'em!
(Between these things and the much-more-serious Lar, I've got lots of ideas and interests in incorporating them (and a certain lawful good King of mine in Kingmaker has big, big plans for making a kind of haven for both of these creatures to match the haven he's made for non-evil fey, kami, and mortals in his kingdom...)
I really feel there's a lot that could be left to explore and develop, but I, for one, certainly understand the limits with coming up with new content of that sort, and blending silly with serious!
[side note] I've actually been considering changing my avatar to something else, something more serious that I've been really into for a much longer period of time, but I've yet to pull the trigger on that because I'm afraid it'll disappoint people. :)
While I'll certainly miss your current avatar, I, for one, want you to be comfortable in your own avatar! So do it! Do it! ... if you want to/feel comfortable with doing so!
Thanks for all of your insights!
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Celestial Emissaries of Golarion?That does scatter the focus, but I don't know that we have enough similar creatures to fill out a book like that. I would hope that if we do another or bigger book about space that they'd have more stage time in that product. They'd probably get along with Brethedans pretty damn well.
Not all Celestial Emissaries are nice, Vespergaunts case in point :3
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Awesome to know! (And... I didn't get it either... >.>)
Flumphs are... rather super-awesome in my book. A low CR creature, from space, that's lawful good, who's entire purpose is facing things of far, far higher CR and stopping them from wreaking their nasty evil upon the innocent worlds?! HOLY COW! I love 'em!
(Between these things and the much-more-serious Lar, I've got lots of ideas and interests in incorporating them (and a certain lawful good King of mine in Kingmaker has big, big plans for making a kind of haven for both of these creatures to match the haven he's made for non-evil fey, kami, and mortals in his kingdom...)
I really feel there's a lot that could be left to explore and develop, but I, for one, certainly understand the limits with coming up with new content of that sort, and blending silly with serious!
[side note] I've actually been considering changing my avatar to something else, something more serious that I've been really into for a much longer period of time, but I've yet to pull the trigger on that because I'm afraid it'll disappoint people. :)While I'll certainly miss your current avatar, I, for one, want you to be comfortable in your own avatar! So do it! Do it! ... if you want to/feel comfortable with doing so!
Thanks for all of your insights!
Thanks for the interest!
I had some other ideas about them that I didn't get around to at the time, because I was afraid to push things too far at that point. While exploring the lawful good element, I thought it'd be interesting if flumphs were atheist/agnostic (for what that means in a fantasy RPG). They already straddle a weird spot of being one of the few good aberrations, but I think it'd be cool if their concern for other sentient live in the universe was a practical motivation instead of them serving a power that encouraged it. I think it'd be cool if these little loveable underdogs choose to dedicate their entire existence to helping other beings because witnessing suffering is terrible... who cares what the gods say.
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As the high emissary of flumphs in Golarian, can you get spell check to acknowledge flumph as an actual word? Every time I type it, it either comes out "flu mph" or "fluff"
I learned it by watching you!
I just add it to the dictionary and never see little squiggly red lines again!
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Hi Adam,
There are lots of rules for crafting goodies out of the squicky bits of dragons in the Dragonslayer's Handbook.
a) are there rules in there for crafting goodies out of dragon bones, claws, or teeth?
b) if not, why not? those bits sound like they would be really useful.
I didn't work on or outline that book, so I don't know the thoughts behind it. Since it's a Player Companion, I'd imagine that there wasn't information about using bones, teeth, and claws in crafting because of space. It's really tough to fit a bunch of varied information in those due to the format.
Also, we don't do too many monsters where their body parts are valuable. Doing that turns the monster into treasure, and in play it can slow down the campaign if a character stops to skin their kills and prepare special materials from the body every time.
We already have rules for bone as a material, but if you wanted to fancy it up a bit (since it's from a dragon) you could ignore the part about it having half the hardness and the fragile quality.
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Hi Adam,
I have a question regarding monster templates. I compared different templates to understand the logic behind their order of presentation.
In general, abilities in templates seem to follow the order in which they would appear in the monsters' stat blocks, but there are a few exceptions and inconsistencies. For example, auras can appear as aura (grave knight, mummified creature) or as special attack (lich, nightmare creature); spell-like abilities appear under special attacks (half-fiend) and as their own category of abilities (devilbound creature); Skills and Feats sometimes appear in reversed order. Does Paizo use a style template for monster templates ('template template') or are these done on a case-by-case basis?
Many thanks for your time!
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Hi Adam,
I have a question regarding monster templates. I compared different templates to understand the logic behind their order of presentation.
In general, abilities in templates seem to follow the order in which they would appear in the monsters' stat blocks, but there are a few exceptions and inconsistencies. For example, auras can appear as aura (grave knight, mummified creature) or as special attack (lich, nightmare creature); spell-like abilities appear under special attacks (half-fiend) and as their own category of abilities (devilbound creature); Skills and Feats sometimes appear in reversed order. Does Paizo use a style template for monster templates ('template template') or are these done on a case-by-case basis?Many thanks for your time!
Sadly this looks like a case of us just making little errors and being inconsistent. Templates should present the information in the order that it appears in the statblock. From looking at some of your examples, which are really interesting seeing the minor shifts between different books (and within them too), I can see why some of the calls were made. For example, in the half-celestial and half-fiend templates, it looks spell-like abilities were grouped in with special attacks in order to save space.
Hey Adam,
Just wondering if you got a patch for you on your keyboard yesterday?
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What do you do if you've got a character concept in mind, but are stuck between two possible class setups for it? I'm trying to create a character and can't decide whether to be a paladin/oracle or a druid/cavalier.
In those cases, I typically build them both and during the process one direction or another exposes itself as the better approach.
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Seeing as there are 2 Cheliaxian APs coming up, will we be seeing a full stat up for Queen Abrogail Thrune II any time soon? Maybe a little more on her backstory and personality?
I don't want to get into too many small details, and since James and Rob are in charge of running those two APs (the adventures at least) and I don't want to rob them of their thunder, I'll have to leave you with a possibly unsatisfying... maaayybee.
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Crystal Fraiser told me that the chapter on Segada in Distant Shores was your brilliant work (and I agree with her, it really IS brilliant!). As such I had a question or two for you regarding the City of Keys and Degasi as a whole.
My most pressing question is which indigenous cultures you looked to for inspiration for Segada's culture. I'm curious largely because your chapter got me excited to roleplay a Segadan character, and I wanted to know where I should direct my research efforts in order to depict their culture and the real world cultures they're based on accurately and respectfully.
Also, the chapter seems to indicate there are pre-existing halfling settlements in Arcadia before the colonists' arrival. Is this accurate? It makes sense given halflings' constant proximity to human society that some halfling survivors of Azlant's destruction might have moved west instead of east and wound up there to form friendships and alliances with the nations forming there, but I was wondering if that's what you intended or if it's just my imagination grabbing that text and running with it.
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Crystal Fraiser told me that the chapter on Segada in Distant Shores was your brilliant work (and I agree with her, it really IS brilliant!). As such I had a question or two for you regarding the City of Keys and Degasi as a whole.
Thanks for the kind words!
My most pressing question is which indigenous cultures you looked to for inspiration for Segada's culture. I'm curious largely because your chapter got me excited to roleplay a Segadan character, and I wanted to know where I should direct my research efforts in order to depict their culture and the real world cultures they're based on accurately and respectfully.
I'm not a huge fan of direct analogues when it comes to fantasy cultures and real world cultures. I think relying on direct analogues like that is overly simple and an easy way to misrepresent the cultures you're trying to emulate. So, the Mahwek aren't really based on any specific Native American culture. If anything I took some inspiration from the Iroquois in some elements of the naming conventions and linguistics I used. Most of the Segada chapter was me exploring what we've already said about that region and then using our setting's history to extrapolate a reasonable concept of what Arcadia would be like (granted, this view is through only one culture's eyes... there are more different people in Arcadia than just the Mahwek.)
Also, the chapter seems to indicate there are pre-existing halfling settlements in Arcadia before the colonists' arrival. Is this accurate? It makes sense given halflings' constant proximity to human society that some halfling survivors of Azlant's destruction might have moved west instead of east and wound up there to form friendships and alliances with the nations forming there, but I was wondering if that's what you intended or if it's just my imagination grabbing that text and running with it.
There are indeed halfling settlements that precede the arrival of Avistanis to Arcadia's shores. It's unclear at this time if halflings originated there or arrived there from Azlant.
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More questions about the Mahwek!
What kinds of weapons do they favor (you know, like with Varisians and starknives, Shoanti and earthbreakers, and Taldans with falcatas and scizores)?
What's their architecture like (the picture was kinda blurry, and kind of reminded me more of Elizabethan London than anything else)?
If a Segadan was to set sail for the Inner Sea, where would be the likeliest first port-of-call for them? Magnimar? Corentyn? Absalom?
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To be honest, I haven't devised any culturally specific weapon for them. Otherwise, they use swords (probably favoring short swords), spears, archery, knives, shields, clubs... pretty similar to a bunch of other peoples throughout the world. More details on how Mahwek conduct warfare might appear in the future, but I'm not comfortable creating canon in a messageboard post at the moment.
The architecture varies by region, but in Segada the homes are sturdy and built of stone and timber. A lot of the larger buildings have wide open areas and communal areas, and some have ways to open them up to the sky and fresh air, but then seal it up for bad weather.
Someone sailing from Segada to the Inner Sea would most likely end up in Kintargo or Corentyn first, mainly because that's where traffic from Anchor's End terminates more often than not.
