Horgus Gwerm's page

Dear James Jacobs,

I have a couple of questions concerning spells and ranged weapons.

1) How do you measure range for a ranged weapon? Do you count grid intersections or do you count squares like you do when you move?

2) How do you measure (find out what squares are affected) line spells? When I looked at the example in the magic chapter, the third example of the line didn't make any sense because way too many squares were being affected.

Thanks!

The Golux wrote:

James,

This is kind of a mechanical question but it's a simple one and one that you have a lot of experience with as a builder of many monsters:

Do monsters get +1 to an ability score every 4 Hit Dice like PCs do, or is that one of the differences between Racial Hit Dice and Class Levels?

Unrelatedly, the Adept NPC class gets 0-level spells, but doesn't have a Cantrips/Orisons class feature. Does that mean their 0-level spells are expended when used? Or are they indeed at-will?

Monsters get a +1 to an ability score every 4 HD they gain over and above their racial HD, be those HD gained from class levels or just by advancing their HD. Unless the monster's growth rules follow specifically different rules, such as is the case for true dragons.

Yes, an adept doesn't get at will cantrips. They expend their cantrip uses like any other spell.

Wait, so does a creature get a +1 ability score only if he has 4 class levels, or any HD? So, for example, if you had a level 8 orc with only 4 levels in shaman (bringing in the class guide ;)), would he get +1 or +2 to one ability score?

Also, if you had to live in one city/town in the Inner Sea, what would it be? Mine would be Ilsurian because then I could DESTOY KORVOSA!

James Jacobs wrote:

I already have my excuse ready for why it's not here when we get to 2015, in fact!

Spoiler Alert: Adventure Path after Iron Gods is the Kaiju Adventure Path and in Book One Tian Xia is destroyed forever. Mendev, eat your heart out!

Why should Mendev eat it's heart out? And also, how do you know that Tian Xia is going to be destroyed forever? That seems a little bit too extreme for Paizo to do, given that people are still going to want to go Tian Xia.

I AM HORGUS GWERM, AND WHATEVER A GWERM SAYS, YOU OBEY!!!!

Dear James Jacobs,

When you have soft-cover from a person, can the attacker accidentally shoot the person in the way (giving the cover)?

Dear James Jacobs,

When are you (paizo) going to make the Cheliax vs. Andoran adventure path? You said in this video I watched on youtube that once paizo makes mass combat rules they'd start making the Cheliax vs. Andoran adventure path, and since we have Ultimate Campaign, are you going to start making the Cheliax vs. Andoran adventure path?

Horgus Gwerm wrote:

Dear James Jacobs,

When I looked at the "adding racial hit dice" section in the appendices of the Bestiary, I got confused by two things:

1) What are "racial hit dice"? What's the difference between a normal hit die and a racial hit die?

2) Can you summarize how to add hit dice to monsters? I didn't really get the part where you add additional hit POINTS (not hit dice) to the monster with the monster advancement table (table 2-1). So, for example, if the base creature had a CR of 3, and you made it CR 5, the CR 3 monster would have 10 hit points according to the table (which doesn't make sense since CR 3 creatures should have more hit points), and the CR 5 creature would have 15 (which also doesn't make sense), so then it said that a CR 5 creature would have 25 hit points PLUS the hit dice!?! I don't get the rules AT ALL, so can you please explain them to me?

(I really appreciate your answering of all my questions) :D!

1) Racial hit dice are all the hit dice a thing has when you take away all hit dice granted by class levels. Racial hit dice aren't tied to powers, where as class hit dice all come along with lots of other things are level-associated.

2) The main thing to remember is table 1–1. If your monsters more or less follow those guidelines... you really don't have to worry about the other ones, frankly. That said... creating monsters is one of the more complex things to do in the game, and that's not really something I can "summarize" that easily.

Do you just use table 1-1, or do you use table 2-1 too? I just don't get why you add hit points apart from the hit points gained by hit dice in that table. Can you explain why there's "hit point change" on that table if you can just add hit points with hit dice gained?

Hi everyone!

I'm SOOO confused by the "Adding Racial Hit Dice" section of the Bestiary.

It says:

"Determine how many Hit Points the base monster receives per Hit Die (see Table: Average Die Results for average results based on the die type). Using Table: Monster Advancement, add up all of the values in the Hit Point Change column for each increase using the Higher CR column. For example, if the base monster was CR 3 and the new monster is set to be CR 5, the total would be 25 hit points. Next, add additional Hit Dice to the monster to increase its hit points by the desired amount. Note that if the creature increases in size, its Constitution may also increase, as noted on Table: Size Changes, granting it additional hit points that might offset the need for additional Hit Dice (this also applies to any other Constitution increases)."

I don't get this AT ALL! Why does the creature get extra hit points (not from hit dice) from the "monster advancement" table?! I thought monsters just got hit points from hit dice and constitution modifiers. Why does a CR 5 creature get 25 hit points PLUS the hit points from his hit dice?

I would REALLY appreciate it if someone would explain all of the "Adding Racial Hit Dice" rules to me.

Thanks!

Dear James Jacobs,

When I looked at the "adding racial hit dice" section in the appendices of the Bestiary, I got confused by two things:

1) What are "racial hit dice"? What's the difference between a normal hit die and a racial hit die?

2) Can you summarize how to add hit dice to monsters? I didn't really get the part where you add additional hit POINTS (not hit dice) to the monster with the monster advancement table (table 2-1). So, for example, if the base creature had a CR of 3, and you made it CR 5, the CR 3 monster would have 10 hit points according to the table (which doesn't make sense since CR 3 creatures should have more hit points), and the CR 5 creature would have 15 (which also doesn't make sense), so then it said that a CR 5 creature would have 25 hit points PLUS the hit dice!?! I don't get the rules AT ALL, so can you please explain them to me?

(I really appreciate your answering of all my questions) :D!

Dear James Jacobs,

I really am sorry to bother you again but I have a game to run on friday and I need to get some rules straight:

1) How do you add class levels to monsters? For example, how would you make an orc shaman (druid) or gnoll slaver (ranger) or hill giant chieftan (barbarian)? There are no monster race templates to build on, so do you just make a whole new monster and just call it an orc, or are there rules for adding class levels on drow, gnolls, goblins,...ect?

2) What is a monster archetype? I saw it on pathfinderdb.com, but I don't see anything else on it in the Bestiary.

3) I know this is a completely random question, but in Giants Revisited, in the hill giant section, why does Urburg Armbreaker's greatclub do 2d8 damage? I thought greatclubs only did 1d8 damage and Urburg's greatclub is only a +2 Greatclub, but that wouldn't make it do 2d8 damage.

Dear James Jacobs,

Can you only get character traits at the beginning of a campaign? How do you get traits after level one without using the additional traits feat?

And sorry to bother you again, but what is telepathy? I saw it in the diabolic harbinger ability for the hellknight signifer, and I can't find the rules for it anywhere. Also, can you tell me which book I could find the rules for telepathy in?

Dear James Jacobs,

Can you only get character traits at the beginning of a campaign? How do you get traits after level one without using the additional traits feat?

Dear James Jacobs,

I have three questions about Chelish society and military:

1) I got my first level in Hellknight Signifer! I joined the Order of the Rack just because their favored weapon was longsword. All I know about the Order of the Rack is that they think that knowledge can be as harmful as violence and that they seek to eradicate it. I also know that they try to get rid of revolutionary idealisms in Westcrown and it's outskirts, but is there any more about the Order of the Rack that you can tell me?

2) Can you name some Chelish operas? The only one I know is "The Hellknights are Victorious" (or something like that), but are there any others that you know?

3) Can you (Paizo) PLEASE make some Chelish opera sheet music for violin and voice?! It would be SOOO cool to be able to play a Chelish opera on my violin and say that that's the music from the infernal nation of Cheliax!

Horgus Gwerm wrote:

Dear James Jacobs,

So I have four questions about magic items:

1) In the weapons section it says "If an item has both an enhancement bonus and a special ability, the higher of the two caster level requirements must be met." what does "the higher of the two caster level requirements must be met" mean?

2) How do you choose which mundane weapon to build upon with magical attributes? So, for example, let's say I rolled on the chart a +1 enhancement bonus and the flaming special ability, how do I know if it's a +1 flaming longsword or a +1 flaming battleaxe?

3) Do the prices from all the attributes of the weapon add up? Let's take the +1 flaming longsword for our example again, do I add 15 gp (from the longsword), 300 gp (from the masterwork quality), 2000 gp (from the +1 enhancement bonus), and 2000 gp (from the flaming special ability) to get a total of 4315 gp for a +1 flaming longsword?

4) When you get a caster level from the enhancement bonus and special ability, do you add the caster levels together, or take the highest one?

Thanks a ton!

1) Every magic item has a caster level requirement. For a weapon with an enhancement bonus and a special quality... it has two of those. A +1 weapon requires CL 3rd, for example, while a +5 weapon requires CL 15th. A flaming burst weapon requires CL 12th. So, if you make a +1 flaming burst weapon, the weapon requires CL 12th to craft, even though it's only a +1 weapon. And a +5 flaming burst weapon requires CL 15th, even though the flaming burst element normally only requires CL 12th.

2) You can either pick the type of weapon you want, or you can roll randomly. The GameMaster's Guide has several handy charts for rolling random weapons. Ultimate Equipment does too, I believe.

3) The prices for the physical weapon all add up, and the prices for the enhancement bonuses and enhancement bonus equivalent abilities like flaming all add their bonuses together to determine the final cost. Thus... your +1 flaming longsword...

Sorry to bother you again, but what's a caster level requirement, I don't see any rules in the core rule book regarding it. Do you have to be that level to be able to create that item, and also, could you tell me where all these rules are because in the magic item creation section it only talks about material costs, time, and spells you have to know to be able to make it, it doesn't say anything about caster level requirement.

Dear James Jacobs,

So I have four questions about magic items:

1) In the weapons section it says "If an item has both an enhancement bonus and a special ability, the higher of the two caster level requirements must be met." what does "the higher of the two caster level requirements must be met" mean?

2) How do you choose which mundane weapon to build upon with magical attributes? So, for example, let's say I rolled on the chart a +1 enhancement bonus and the flaming special ability, how do I know if it's a +1 flaming longsword or a +1 flaming battleaxe?

3) Do the prices from all the attributes of the weapon add up? Let's take the +1 flaming longsword for our example again, do I add 15 gp (from the longsword), 300 gp (from the masterwork quality), 2000 gp (from the +1 enhancement bonus), and 2000 gp (from the flaming special ability) to get a total of 4315 gp for a +1 flaming longsword?

4) When you get a caster level from the enhancement bonus and special ability, do you add the caster levels together, or take the highest one?

Thanks a ton!

Hey everyone,

So I have four questions about magic items:

1) In the weapons section it says "If an item has both an enhancement bonus and a special ability, the higher of the two caster level requirements must be met." what does "the higher of the two caster level requirements must be met" mean?

2) How do you choose which mundane weapon to build upon with magical attributes? So, for example, let's say I rolled on the chart a +1 enhancement bonus and the flaming special ability, how do I know if it's a +1 flaming longsword or a +1 flaming battleaxe?

3) Do the prices from all the attributes of the weapon add up? Let's take the +1 flaming longsword for our example again, do I add 15 gp (from the longsword), 300 gp (from the masterwork quality), 2000 gp (from the +1 enhancement bonus), and 2000 gp (from the flaming special ability) to get a total of 4315 gp for a +1 flaming longsword?

4) When you get a caster level from the enhancement bonus and special ability, do you add the caster levels together, or take the highest one?

Thanks a ton!

They level up separatly,

let's say that you have a level 6 druid, and you decided you had enough of the nature hippy people, you could gain a level in a prestige class (if you had the prerequisites), but if you gained a level in, let's say dragon disciple, you'd still be a level 6 druid.

Horgus Gwerm wrote:

2) When it says in the stealth description:

Creatures that fail to beat your Stealth check are not aware of you and treat you as if you had concealment.

What does that mean? You can stealth when you have concealment, but why do you have concealment when you stealth?

Xaratherus, has it right. I would point out that the actual errata for Stealth says you are treated as if you have Total Concealment. The PRD still only says Concealment, but the official CBR Errata says Total Concealment. It's a minor difference but important. Anyway it just means if they fail to beat your Stealth with Perception they can't see you.

Horgus Gwerm wrote:

how far can some one see in bright, normal, and dim light, I know you get concealment in dim light, but how far can you actually see?

This is incredibly situational. However, since I don't know of any place where it is spelled out, I would base it off the Perception skill. The DC to spot a creature standing out in the open is 0. That DC gets more difficult by +1 for every 10 feet something is from you. So I would say you can see as far away as you could spot a creature standing out in the open if you rolled a 20. Thus if your Perception ranks are 0 and you roll a 20 you could see up to 200 feet away in bright or normal light, as long as there are no other obstructions. If you have a 30 in Perception you could see something as far as 500 feet away.

Now, this isn't perfect by any means, but I think it would work well as a basic rule of thumb when dealing with open flat land. If you are on high ground or looking at something in the sky you can see movement and small shapes a lot further away. For instance I would say you can probably see a Dragon flying through the sky at about the same distance you would see an airplane flying, according to Google, between 220 and 300 miles. I think in those situations it's up to GM discretion.

Okay, so does that mean that you have what the book says as concealment, or is it just saying you have concealment as a way of saying people can't see you. And also, if you're in stealth and you have concealment, could people attack you with a 20% miss chance, and if not, why would they say you have concealment if no one can attack you, so do you just ignore the 20% miss chance when you're in stealth?

Hello everyone,

When I was looking at my character sheet I didn't really understand 2 things:

1) Under the Domain/Arcane School section, why are there 9 spaces with 9 boxes in them and lines that are too small to write in, because let's say I was a cleric with the war and honor domains, where would I put my domain spell slot spell and where would I put my domain powers, and again, what are the tiny lines and 9 boxes for?

2) Where do I put my list of spells for the day and where do I write what spells are in my wizard's spellbook. In the beginner box there was a list for the spells that you prepared for the day that you cross off and there was a wizard's spellbook section where you write what spells you have in your spellbook, but where is all of that in the normal character sheet (and also, where do you write what spells your sorcerer KNOWS)?

Horgus Gwerm wrote:

Hello everyone!

I have three questions about making stealth and perception checks:

1) When you stealth for the first time, how many times after that do you need to make the check until you jump out of your hiding place? So, for example, if I was hiding behind a corner (cover) and I was in dim light (concealment), and an enemy walked up behind the corner, would I have to make another stealth check?

2) When it says in the stealth description:

Creatures that fail to beat your Stealth check are not aware of you and treat you as if you had concealment.

What does that mean? You can stealth when you have concealment, but why do you have concealment when you stealth?

3) Can you stealth in the middle of combat?

1) If you're not moving, you just make your initial check and use that if someone comes by.

2) it's just clarifying that you have all the benefits of concealment if they aren't aware of you. They lose their Dex bonus to AC, etc.

3) Yes, if you can break line of sight via cover or concealment, subject to GM ruling. This doesn't make them forget where they lost sight of you, of course, so they may chase you down and find you.

1) If that someone comes by, and they already made a perception check before when they didn't have line of sight, but just to see if they could hear you, do they make a new perception check, since now they have a better chance of seeing you?

2) Do they gain the benefits of concealment or only you, and if you attack them do you get a surprise round?

3) When they do chase you down, can they make a new perception check every turn. This is actually a general question, can you make a perception check every turn if you know someone if there?

And finally, (I know this is a bit off topic) how far can some one see in bright, normal, and dim light, I know you get concealment in dim light, but how far can you actually see?

Hello everyone!

I have three questions about making stealth and perception checks:

1) When you stealth for the first time, how many times after that do you need to make the check until you jump out of your hiding place? So, for example, if I was hiding behind a corner (cover) and I was in dim light (concealment), and an enemy walked up behind the corner, would I have to make another stealth check?

2) When it says in the stealth description:

Creatures that fail to beat your Stealth check are not aware of you and treat you as if you had concealment.

What does that mean? You can stealth when you have concealment, but why do you have concealment when you stealth?

3) Can you stealth in the middle of combat?

When you multiclass spellcasters, do you get additional spells from having a high ability score from all of the classes? So, for example, let's say I have a cleric 1/druid 1/wizard 1, and I have a 16 wisdom and a 15 intelligence, do I get 2 wizard spells, 2 druid spells, and 2 cleric spells (plus the domain spell) for a total of 6 (7) 1st level spells?

Horgus Gwerm wrote:

So then what is the point of the minor, medium, and major items if you can only get items under the base value

You have a 75% chance to be able to buy ANY ITEM AT ALL if it's under the settlement's base value.

The settlement's minor, medium, and major items are specific individual items that are guaranteed for sale in the settlement until they're bought, at which point they're sold out of that item. The point of the three categories is to allow a better spread of items, with more of them being less powerful than more powerful.

So, if you have 2d4 minor items that are all specific items that you picked out from the book, could someone also buy an item not specifically picked out if you rolled a 1 -75?

Horgus Gwerm wrote:

Dear James Jacobs,

Sorry for asking so many questions, but I have two questions about settlements and multiclassing:

1) In a settlement's marketplace section, are the minor, medium, and major items all supposed to be worth more gp than the base value, and if so, if the base value is 12,000 gp and the minor items are 4d4, how am I supposed to find a minor item worth more than 12,000 gp? So, for example, let's say I had a large city with a base value of 9,000 gp, and 3d4 minor items, are the 3d4 minor items supposed to all be under the value of 9,000 gp, or are they all supposed to be above the value of 9,000 gp, and if so, how am I going to find a minor item worth more than 9,000 gp?

2.) When you multiclass a new class, do you get maximum hit points, just as if you had made a new character? When you multiclass spellcasters, do you get bonus spells from having a high ability score for both classes? So, for example, if I have a cleric 1/druid 1/wizard 1 and I have a 16 wisdom and 15 intelligence, do I get 6 1st level spells from all the classes together? (plus the domain spells)

Thanks for answering all my questions, I know it's probably annoying for you!

1) Nope; remember that there's only a 75% chance an item of equal or less than the settlement's base value is actually for sale. If that item is specifically listed in the item's items for sale, that rises to 100%. For items above the base value, the ONLY way you can find them for sale in any one city is if the GM deliberately places such an item for sale (either by picking it or choosing one randomly to fill the settlement's available item slots).

2) You only get max hit points at 1st level, not when you multiclass.

And nope! The whole point of this thread is to ask questions! :-)

So then what is the point of the minor, medium, and major items if you can only get items under the base value

Dear James Jacobs,
Sorry for asking so many questions, but I have two questions about settlements and multiclassing:

1) In a settlement's marketplace section, are the minor, medium, and major items all supposed to be worth more gp than the base value, and if so, if the base value is 12,000 gp and the minor items are 4d4, how am I supposed to find a minor item worth more than 12,000 gp? So, for example, let's say I had a large city with a base value of 9,000 gp, and 3d4 minor items, are the 3d4 minor items supposed to all be under the value of 9,000 gp, or are they all supposed to be above the value of 9,000 gp, and if so, how am I going to find a minor item worth more than 9,000 gp?

2.) When you multiclass a new class, do you get maximum hit points, just as if you had made a new character? When you multiclass spellcasters, do you get bonus spells from having a high ability score for both classes? So, for example, if I have a cleric 1/druid 1/wizard 1 and I have a 16 wisdom and 15 intelligence, do I get 6 1st level spells from all the classes together? (plus the domain spells)

Thanks for answering all my questions, I know it's probably annoying for you!

Dear James Jacobs,
I have three questions about adventures:

1. If you have a really big adventure area (complex of winding tunnels, huge forest, ect.), do you need to map out every single encounter? I ask this because I want to make an adventure in the forest, and you can't just map out a whole forest on just one flip-mat, so how do you do it? Do you just improvise every encounter after the first one so you only have to draw the first encounter (and if so, how would you do combat with no grid), or do you map out every encounter (and if so, wouldn't it be annoying for the players if you have to erase and draw a new map every encounter)? An example of this is in Wrath of the Righteous: the Worldwound Incursion, in the Kenabres underground, there are so many encounters that you can't just draw it out on one mat, first there's the dead spider, then there's the shrine, then the mongrelmen ect., so should I just improvise with everything after the spider so I don't have to pause the game to draw more encounters?

2. Once the PC's kill a monster in one room, can they move as fast as they want until they encounter another monster? So, for example, if the PC's kill the serpentfolk in the first room can they just take their pawns and jump automatically to the next doorway leading to the next room without even stepping in the rest of the room?

3. How would you make a wilderness adventure? In dungeons, the encounters are separated by rooms, so you can't see what's going to be in the next room, but in an empty field, how would you separate the encounters, once you kill the first monsters, you can see everything around you, so you can't just have another monster encounter right after that, because they would come and start fighting right away in the first encounter (unless of course, they were stealthing behind a rock, waiting for the PC's to finish fighting the first people).

1.
Here are the Ice Troll's Offense stats, and I have some questions about them:

Speed 30 ft.
Melee battleaxe +7 (2d6+4), bite +2 (1d6+2), claw +2 (1d4+2) or
bite +7 (1d6+4), 2 claws +7 (1d4+4)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks rend (2 claws, 1d6+6)

First of all, when it says "claw +2 (1d4+2) or bite +7 (1d6+4)", is that a full round action like the 2 claws +7 (just you can only use one of the attacks), or is it just two normal attacks (and if so, why isn't there a comma in between them). Secondly, what is rend? Does rend have a +7 or +2 attack bonus, and why does rend do so much more damage than all the other attacks, wouldn't the troll never use the bite +2 if he could use the bite +7, or the regular two claws if he could use rend?

2. This is a simple question: What is a readied action?

Horgus Gwerm wrote:

Bill McGrath wrote:

Horgus Gwerm wrote:

I just can't stand looking at that annihilator robot on the numeria picture in the inner sea world guide

You could just not look at it.

Hahaha! Good point!

You know, if you don't look at it, it will transform into a pink elephant that sits in your living room that no one talks about.

Would that make it acceptable again?

No! I will never accept Numerian scum!!!

Horgus Gwerm wrote:

I just can't stand looking at that annihilator robot on the numeria picture in the inner sea world guide

You could just not look at it.

Hahaha! Good point!

Thanks, I was looking all over the core rulebook for a rule, but couldn't find one

Jareth Elirae wrote:

Horgus Gwerm wrote:

Dear James Jacobs,

Why is Numerian technology in Golarion. I thought that Golarion was supposed to be a FANTASY setting, not a sci fi setting, so why are there robots in a world with elves and dwarves

I suspect the easiest answer to this question is that the precedent was set by the creator of the part game himself E. Gary Gygax in the classic S3 Expedition to the Barrier Peaks published around 1980 (so if you didn't play then... or worse yet weren't even born!) then you are rightfully confused, to those of us playing back then.... well we see no conflict. It has been done.... well.... before. As a side note Piers Anthony has an excellent book called Battle Circle showing how such cultures may interact.

Let's not forget that there is a precedence for this in various fantasy books. Like the alien in Robert E Howard's Tower of the Elephant.

It's always disheartening to see people have a very close-minded view on what fantasy is supposed to be. It's one of the reasons why I've gotten out of science fiction reading.

But I'm rambling now.

Maybe Dungeons and Dragons has some robots, but at least they have spears and swords, I just can't stand looking at that annihilator robot on the numeria picture in the inner sea world guide, it has lasers and machine guns and everything is sci fi, whereas the warforged in d&d have swords and spears

Hello everyone,
so I was making this adventure where a torch was right next to the corner of a wall, meaning it was on a wall, and right next to it I put a corner, and I have a question: does the light from the torch go into the room on the other side of the corner, or does the light from the torch only go where the torch has line of sight?

Thank for the help?

Dear James Jacobs,
Why is Numerian technology in Golarion. I thought that Golarion was supposed to be a FANTASY setting, not a sci fi setting, so why are there robots in a world with elves and dwarves