Dean HS Jones's page

Hiya CS!

I'm afraid I cannot download the single file version of this book (one file per chapter works OK)

Seeing an "Access denied" XML error

Dean HS Jones wrote:

wyrmhaven wrote:

I am so sorry to hear this for all of the Paizo creators / creatives. I will hope for the best for all of the workers.

This is a good thing for them, not a bad one.

Hoping it with you, and as long as we buyers are willing to chip in, we should be ok.

I deleted my reply after posting because I wasn’t completely sure I was replying to the sentiment I thought I was but yeah, this should not impact us consumers and isn’t likely to cause any prices to get jacked up; I speak as someone who was a union member at a publishing company for many years.

Except you John, I know to give yers to Thursty.

Little known fact: the nickname is not actually short for Thurston.

Time to fill my basket!

I'm a little disappointed that the new shifter feats ALL require Wild Shape class feature, since some of the archetypes trade away that class feature, and thematically being able to add fire damage to a Fiendflesh's claws or Acid to an Oozemorph's morphic weapons would be cool, but I appreciate that those are pretty strong archetypes already as they stand.

Personally I like the archetype style where it's "This class, but with a bit of this other class".

The best example is probably "...with a bit of rogue"; multiple classes that would let you pick up a reduced sneak attack progression as an Inquisitor, or Warpriest or Gunslinger, or whatever.

The 2nd multiclass system kinda does this, but a single sneak attack dice is rather disappointing.

Jason Bulmahn wrote:

Just to clarify a bit...

Every ancestry has 4 heritages to choose from in this implementation of the rules. Half-elf and Half-orc are two of the human ones.

Ah that's great to hear as far as the other races go i was a bit worried some might be left with just one.

Kinda have mixed feelings about the half elf and half orc counting as two of the humans 4 but we'll see what the others are soon. :)

Half-X really needs to be divorced entirely from humans-only imo. If someone wants to play a half-drow/elf or a deathtouched dwarf or infernal Gnome there really needs to be a more elegant and flexible solution to this, and not setting the groundwork up front means either it never happens, as in PF1, or you end up with an ugly bolt-on Frankenstein mechanic later.

You know what, just disregard. I should haven seen the tax think coming myself, I’m just venting a bit

Hi CS!

I figured you guys would appreciate some feedback on the Amazon fulfilment portion of the Playtest sales.

You already know about Amazons delay in dispatching orders in a timely fashion for items to arrive on the release date so I’m not going to address that, and as I grabbed my parcel on the way out the door I have no feedback yet on the quality of the product itself. Based on the packaging it seems to have arrived unharmed.

What I’m not impressed with is that despite the already exorbitant shipping fees I’ve been stuck with import taxes. It’s not a lot and I had the cash on me to pay at delivery, but it was not something I remember being advised of in advance (I could be wrong) and I felt a little embarrassed that my consierge paid the fee for me.

Based on my own experience with shipping merch online I usually expect to see a tax warning and that it’s on me to pay import tax, so maybe because it was a third party fulfilment this was overlooked by me or or omitted, I don’t know. It was a bit of a nasty surprise is all.

I don’t blame you guys and I’m not seeking a refund but I probably won’t get your next product that is Amazon-fulfilled.

The way it was explained to me:

Arcane = Nuts and bolts magic. Types: Mental/Material
Divine = Faith-based magic. Types: Spiritual/Vital
Nature = magic springing from life. Types: Material/Vital
Occult = things man was not meant to know. Types: Mental/Spiritual.

So:
Wizards = Technicians of magic.
Clerics = Save you body & Soul.
Druids = Draw power from the world around.
Bards = Getting into things they really shouldn't, Cthulu is waiting right around that corner.

Mark Seifter gave a really good and expansive introduction to this philosophy on Know Direction and the bard makes TOTAL sense as an Occult caster.

Recommend removing the fluff text first sentence 'about the size of a coin'.

1. Inconsistent with the text style for Shrink

2. Potentially confusing if later equipment is added that can hold size neg items but might reasonably be expected to be too small to hold a coin eg the classic "Hide a shrunk item inside a Poison Pill Ring", which I imagine when written will hold 1 item of size neg.

A skill feat to be androgynous, requiring that you be trained in Deception to use it.

I think this needs some rethinking before it goes to live for reasons I hope would be obvious.

I think we’ll need some multiclass feats of course, to support mystic theurges converting arcane to arcane to divine and vise versa, stuff like that, but yeah it makes a fair amount of sense.

Seeing future developments for the vigilante would be good

GM Andrew wrote:

WHOA WHOA. I can be a mystic theurge rather quickly? Like a Cleric of Nethys and then take Wizard Dedication? Awesome!!!!

I like.

Yes, mystic theurge, eldritch knight, and the like are super easy to do and you keep full progression! You could also make some kind of hierophant nature priest that's Druid/Cleric combo (double Wisdom dependency!)

Indeed; the example I spoke to Logan about at Paizocon UK was the Arcane Trickster, and this system allows for both the castery rogue and the roguey caster styles!

However, still unanswered is the question of prestige’s, like the Shadowdancer, but I assume the principle is the same

PossibleCabbage wrote:

Arikiel wrote:

I like it! I found it silly/annoying how Half-Orcs always got specced out like a "full race" while Orcs were treated like an after thought. Nothing against the Half-fans but as far as representation goes I always felt they should be a sub-entry or even just a footnote in the sections about their parent races.

I also like how it makes it clear that half-elves/orcs/etc. are a lot less common than full-blooded humans, elves, dwarves, etc. It always felt kind of odd how half-blooded people were in core next to other options which were vastly more numerous and widely distributed.

Like Golarion has enough half-orcs that you can plausibly play as one in any adventure path regardless of where it's set, but it's not like they were ever common.

Actually considering that the Giant Slayer campaign talked about nothing else except the amount of half-orcs in the area I feel like they were more predominant then other systems, almost like Paizo made it a common race.

To be fair, it's set either inside or on the boarder of Belkzen.

Seisho wrote:

Can't we just get the books now? Waiting starts to get really uncomfortable

In a post-scarcity communist utopia where it didn't matter how quickly people bought it and hype coordination was unneeded, things would just release when they were done.

We live in a society ruled by capitalist lizard people in which money is life and all of the nice paizo people have to psychologically manipulate us as much as they can for fear of going out of business and never being able to make games for us at all. In that context, they're relying on pent up hype and mass coordination to achieve their ideal result and make sure interest is at its maximum when things are released.

Blame the law of value.

Have met Erik Mona irl, can confirm he has 2 sets of eyelids, long scaled tail and extensive library of arcane secrets.

"Fallen one"

Something for the fallen Paladin, Priest, Monk and Druid.

NO preorders have shipped. The confirmation email some of you have received says "A package... is about to ship from Amazon Main Warehouse via Amazon Standard Delivery."

We are still in the process of charging cards so that we can deliver Amazon the data on the orders that were successfully charged. Amazon will then be shipping them with the target of delivering to most customers near the August 2 release date (which is when the PDF will be available).

And if you haven't received such an email yet, don't worry; they'll be going out for a while yet; at least into tomorrow, I should think. You can check for updates on that here.

Oh!

Thank you for the correction! :)

May I ask where you are located, on the globe? Europe? US?

Europe, estimated delivery 9-36 days

Got my shipping notice 7.5 hrs ago. Wheeee

An interview with Jason Buhlmann included mention of this wrt to Doomsday Dawn; the rules for which characters to use vary from chapter to chapter. Chapter 1 was 'Make a level 1 character'

Yeah, I agree with the early posters here; a lot of the PF1 archetypes are basically "Class X with a bit of class Y"

For example, Cult Leader is Warpriest with a bit of Rogue etc

So long as not the entire choice of class feats are burned using VMC style rules it makes sense to go that direction; for example rather than 'You get d6 sneak attack, can take multiple times', make it 'You get 1/3 or 1/4 your level sneak attack progression'

Hello Dean HS Jones,

I can confirm that the payment method on your preorder item is the same payment method that is currently set as your default for subscriptions. I have sent you a confirmation email showing the payment method I am seeing. If this is not correct, please email Customer.Service@paizo.com with the last 4 digits of the payment method you would like to be applied to this order. Thank you!

Thanks Sam, reply sent!

So long as there are a variety of weapons that cover all the bases and the full spread of weapon properties I'm willing to overlook minor historical inaccuracies

Hi CS!

I had to replace my credit card, and I've added my new card details to my account.

I currently have an order pending for the pre-order and I'm concerned if I monkey with the payment method associated with that order it'll affect my order.

Are you able to switch it for me, or will the sstem automatically try the new default method, or something else?

Thanks in advance! <3

I imagine that a str based monk is going to be capable of dealing a lot of damage a round, so there AC might fall behind a Dex based Monk, but that probably means there is not an easy path to dex based damage bonuses to your unarmed attacked, or else the Str monk really serves no viable build. Dex monk is probably going to be a strong defensive character and Str Monk is probably going to be a powerful striker. I am alright with that split. The access to spell points via a feat is interesting. That might be how they handle the ranger as well.

"They're not too different from normal fist strikes, but others differ more; for instance, heavy dragon tail attacks deal 1d10 bludgeoning damage and have the backswing trait instead of agile or finesse. "

Different builds use different style for damage and grant AC bonuses.

Rules question related to the Vulnerability system: does Ostog the Unslain take double damage from swords?

Let’s put it this way, can you do the silk rope acrobatics, you know those people that twist and twirl and fall using silk ropes, only to catch themselves and twist back up them majestically? No you or I personally can’t, but I bet you would classify that ability as legendary since it takes hard work and dedication to get the good.

You want an in game...

Expert. Master maybe.

“Falling from orbit” is something I’m seeing a lot as a demonstration of the absurdity of Legenday skills, but really it’s hyperbole.

You only need to survive 1500 ft. That’s the falling distance required to hit terminal velocity.

1500 ft.

The real world record for surviving a fall is over 33000 ft; the woman in question was badly injured, it’s true, but she didn’t have the benefit of Legendary acrobatics. Or, so far as I am aware, even Trained. Or class levels; she was basically a Commoner.

Also her plane exploded. Which probably hurt.

Real life is far weirder than we give it credit for. But sometimes it’s harsher too. In real life, most people, if they got into a fight with a bear, would likely die. No one seems to think of bears as an existential threat at 15 though.

Pathfinder characters are legendary heroic characters; I’m fine with what I’ve heard of legendary skills.

It would help if Paizo's setting had any non-'eastern' monasteries of prominence.

If, like, Ustalav had iconic monks who learn to purify their body to resist curses -- and they wore 'western'-style monk robes, that'd expand what monks can be. If Osirion had orders of desert ascetics who pray at temples to the old pantheon, hoping to recapture the light of civilization that has not truly been seen since before the Age of Darkness, that's evocative.

The last 'monk' I had in a game was a villainous holy monk (referred to as a Godhand) who was convinced he was doing the right thing by burning alive worshipers of evil gods, to purify them. The term 'ki' made no sense for him.

I think 'Focus' or even 'Energy' works better.

I feel like the Hungry Ghost from PF1 would have worked well as an Ustalav style; it’s a shame if took so long to come online and had problems taking thematically appropriate styles (iirc).

I want to see non-human monasteries as well; GURPS 3ed Martial Arts has some great examples of this kind of thing

Also there’s no “I Channel Positive Energy to harm undead” anymore from what I can tell. Now you just pick the target and it either heals them if living or harms them if undead (3 Action burst being an exception that doesn’t target).

There is certainly an opportunity for a truly trollish moment of gameplay.

Cleric: “I spend my 3 actions to Channel Positive Energy in a burst!”
*rolls 9d8 + 7 = 48*

DM: “As your friends are filled with the holy light of your diety, you see the Grim Reaper writhe back in pain!”

Cleric: “That means he’s undead!”

*back to Cleric’s turn*

“Alright, now I’ll cast the 1 action version of Heal, adding another 2 actions to it with Empower Spell* and then use my Metamagic Channeler Feat to add Maximize Spell* to it!
28d8 +7 = 231
*Player rolls nat 20*
“Alright, that’s 462 Damage!! How dead is it?”

DM: . . . *chooses to not count the Grim Reaper as undead*

Players: . . .

DM: . . . : )

(* indicates that the Metamagic Feat in question has not been confirmed to exist in PF2 and only is being used in this example for comedic purposes.)

BWAHAHAHA

I got my Starfinder core pretty close to the release date iirc, I think it was even a day or so before the street date because I got lucky on the shipping, but then I ordered mega early.

I'm planning on actually running from PDF though; never make plans based on single points of failure that are outside of your control if there's an alternative that has fewer dependencies.

Quandary wrote:

Nice catch with the "curiously healthy Undead" (CON score)

Interesting to see how Energy Drain works, simple penalty to everything seems simpler to apply now.
P1E was IMHO too lenient to casters, as aside from CL it didn't really affect their spells at all. (even Concentration)
Spells with Saves should probably be getting that penalty now, although who knows re: no-Save spells?

"A grim reaper can choose not to count as undead"
IMHO this is problematic, when does 'choosing' occur? Is metagaming knowledge of effect on Undead vs Not-Undead reasonable? Better is simply saying "Grim Reaper does not count as Undead for purposes of effects uniquely harmful to Undead". (Is Detect Undead affected?)

"+1 conditional to all vs. magic" Seems like heavy boilerplate, especially if multiple conditional modifiers are in play which isn't that unreasonable. "+1 vs. magic" (or "+1 conditional bonus vs. magic" if conditional is de jure bonus type ala enhancement) seems to do the job IMHO.

"Immunities Asleep" Asleep seems awkward, "Sleep" seems the appropriate term, not sure if this was just type-o?

"Choosing to count as undead" is reminiscent of some other stuff I've been curious about with how meta information is understood in and out of game. Figuring out what level you need to cast dispel magic at, for example, or learning the reactions enemy's have.

The reaper may he able to subconsciously use which ever creature type would be more beneficial against any given effect, but I can't quite tell how it works or how it will work for other similar cases.

What if the GM wants to have the Reaper detect as undead, until he doesn’t?

I like having the tools to be able to Broken Wing Style with monsters and then see the horror on the players faces as they realise they underestimated it.

The Banquet, recorded by Know Direction

Hmm wrote:

Oh. Let me go on the record that I also want Thievery renamed as something else. Legerdemain works, or even ‘Roguery’ or ‘Security’.

Hmm

I’m partial to Security (Elder Scrolls!).

And Skulduggery :3

Security feels like it should be the Starfinder name; Skulduggery I can get behind! (and from there sneak attack)

If the page is active, use it and place an order. The worst that can happen is the order cannot be processed and you’re not charged or they cannot supply you a book and you get a refund.

As someone who works in customer support (for another company) I have faith in Paizo CS to do their best to see you right.

Back on the topic of the thread, I favor ‘energy’. Works for spell like abilities, works for use/day martial abilities. And I’m perfectly fine with a single pool of energy for multiclass characters, it means anything can synergise with anything else a little better and it’s easier for players to realize character concepts

Dragon78 wrote:

That would be interesting, you could have a evil bard with animate dead, command/control undead, etc. a bard with earth themed spells, etc.

The NECRODANCER Lives on!

Port over some class features from the Dirge Bard, give it the Danse Macarbre masterpiece and add Threnodic Spell as a class feat and you're cooking with the methane released from a decomposing corpse!

Oh, you would hate my GMing style; outside of PFS my monsters rarely even follow stat blocks that closely

Ah yes, exploration mode! Yes, looking forward to getting more info on how this interacts with traps

We’ve not yet had a blogpost on traps, and I’m hoping PF2 makes them more relevant, but something came up that comes up a lot.

Which spells are considered traps for the purpose of Disable Device. Various Symbols in PF1 are; Alarm apparently is not, but often gets houseruled to be.

More clarity on this would be appreciated and being able to bypass a magical alarm seems in-keeping with the rogue class fantasy to me.

Also we’re at 69% :3

Rysky! This is main forums.

Excaliburproxy wrote:

QuidEst wrote:

Darksol the Painbringer wrote:

AnimatedPaper wrote:

Oh no. Now you've challenged them to find a way to make us fight over Barbarians.

Plot twist: Barbarians don't get rage anymore. They instead get "Fury".

A typo of an extra ‘r’ throws the boards into chaos.

As the flames continue to burn, Paizo decides to go with another sequel to Kill Doctor Lucky instead.

But seriously, I’m looking forward to the blog, and to Monday’s larger blog.

Listen: Iron Claw is a shockingly competent fantasy RPG even if you have to put on stupid costumes to cast magic.

Also something like a Skittermander Barbarian would be awesome... and cuddly... but also pretty deadly. Also no more discussion about needing an action to free a hand?

RAGING HELPFULNESS

I’m starting to think Paladins/Holy Champions should just get their own book

When in doubt, always name something Bob. Bob is everything.

Too long, we should shorten it to Kate.

Any chance of a Holomog-specific archetype that worships the Lady of Contracts at some point? ;)

Something I’ve not seen mentioned yet for clerics is variant channeling; something I think is a neat concept but that I’ve never seen anyone actually use in PF1, because Channel Energy is just too good to trade away.

Is it going to be a thing in PF2? Frankly, I’d consider just giving it as an option for all clerics to use instead of healing/damage without being locked I to always doing that, for any domains they have.

they are first and foremost a business not a charity looking to design and develop a game for us to enjoy.

Well...they ARE looking to design a game for us to enjoy. I mean, that's how you have a successful product. But I take your meaning :D

Basically if there's a place in the Inner Sea region that people have been begging us to cover from the beginning, you can expect it will get something significant within the first few years of the new edition.

Does this mean we might see your Nex book some day? :D

AmbassadoroftheDominion wrote:

... the suspense is killing me, and since I don't have a DeLorean, I can't put a flux capacitor in it and jump to June to buy a copy.

I would recommend against trying that. I have lost track of how many great Paizo products have been removed from the timestream because of accidental time travel paradoxes. ;)

I mean, it's cool that the Time Thief survived as a 3PP option thanks to Owen, but I miss being able to play one in PFS like in the original timeline.