James Thomsen 568's page

It was all us, on the creative team, moving the proverbial heavens and earth to get things into a safer place for Paizo to continue publishing RPGs and for Paizo's employees to keep their jobs in the face of a potential catastrophie that caught the entire industry off-guard.

I truly thank you for doing so. I am thankful that the creative team did not wait to act.

In your opinion how did the group do in the monumental task of moving Heaven and Earth? From the outside the amount of work you did was impressive to say the least. Do you think the group caught most if not all the snakes in the grass, or do we need to be a little more vigilant over the short term?

I think many people miss the mark when it comes to Cheliax. First Cheliax may be the largest imperial empire in the world. Sure Quadira may be bigger but that is speculation and on the other side of the world. Cheliax is the world power of the inner sea.

Second, Cheliax is the kingdom of men. Always has been. Cheliax was the chosen of the god of men, Aroden. It was KNOWN that Aroden would return to Golarion to usurer in the golden age of men and he would do it in the capital of Cheliax, Westcrown.

The death of Aroden shook the world but nowhere as much as Cheliax. By the time Aroden died Cheliax had converted ALL government functions over to the church of Aroden. Why do you need mortals in government when a god is going to do it. So when Aroden died the government collapsed and civil war broke out.

The civil war lasted 30 years. During which house Thrune made a pact with Asmodeous. This pushed Thrune to win the war. As a part of the pact Asmodeous became the state religion.

Hell Knights should be given an even more close look as they PREDATE the rule of Thrune and are not beholden to it; unless you count the Order of the Glyph, which most do not. To become a Hellknight one must kill a devil in single combat.

This I believe is the reason Tieflings are considered lesser than man. Add to this and the enslavement of any Halfling they can catch and you get a society that views all races less than man.

In my campaigns I envision Berlin 1936-1939. I believe this is the historical moment that inspired the look and feel of Cheliax. Especially the imagery of the banners of Thrune prominently displayed reminds me of images of Berlin 1936. I use this period as it is the time between the 1936 Berlin Olympic's and the Feb 20,1939 Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden, New York where over 20,000 Americans attended. Of course that all change when Germany invaded Poland Sept 1, 1939.

Cheliax is also the de-facto colonizer. That is until Andoran sank their navy. You can add all the colonial history to the Shackels and Vidrian. In this I view Cheliax as a composite of the British, Dutch and Spanish colonial efforts. For instance it is not hard to see similarity from the Aspis Consortium to the Dutch West India Company.

And yet another reason for the Chelaxian racism is that they believe they are the direct dissidents to real humans... the Azlanti. Taldor, and to a much greater stance Celiax both state they are the pure descendants of Arodin and the Azlanti. For this reason Cheliaxians tend to look down on all other human ethnicity as well.

Using Cheliax in this manner will give you a rich tapestry where you can tell compelling fantasy story's based off Ann Franks Diary, Schindler's List, The Jessie Owens Story, or the Underground railroad using the Bellflower network. So have you villain fly the black and crimson and let them know this baddy has the legal backing of a god.

Thank you James. I appreciate both of your answers. Monkey it is.

Off topic but the source of question. I understand, agree with and support the need for remastered and the ORC. That being said, was it rushed? Do you feel that you and you team had enough time to proof the products, or does the community need to be a bit more vigil so we can get a good Errata? This is not to imply anything negative toward Paizo, from the outside it appears to be a lot of changes and not on your timeline, but the lawyers.

What part of Pathfinder do you want to know more about?

And should this be a multiple-choice poll?

I would really like to see a comprehensive map or series of maps that shows the movement and connection between areas. Similar to the Traderouts map in Lost Omens Travel Guide but take it further. Where are all the schools of magic that the rich send there children. Where are the resort areas that have established routes to get the tourist in and out? Where are all the temples that have pilgrimages to them. What I am really looking for is a tool that would help me do one of two things.

1) A tool to help me immerse my players in the world of Golarion as they make large overland travel from one region to another. Like Traveling from Absalom to Brevoy, then Varisia, and finally Vidrian. How much of this is established and had dailly, weekly or monthly caravans of goods and services that the party can pay to be a passenger or work on to pay there passage? How much is pull out your machete and cut a trail?

2) What goods are "exotic" wherever my players are. The Trade Goods section of Lost Omens Travel Guide was a good start but is only 2 pages so doesn't cover much. It does not cover spices, silk, coffee, or tobacco for instance. The North Trek mentions the Qasirian spice markets, I assume silk comes from Tian Xia, but I have no idea where the best tobacco comes from. What is the most sought after leather for armor. What about fashion?

I am necroing this post as it was the only one I could find to address this. Lost Omens Gods ans magic 2E lists Abadar's sacred animal as Monkey. AI Google says it is not; stating that Nethy's Archives dose not list it as such. It suggested Lion. I am looking for an official answer as to if Monkey is cannon, has been errata-ed, or is in need of an errata.

It appears so. I think I let the show Lucifer influence my thinking here. I kind of liked the idea that it was beneath him and if he had to lie to win he didn't really win did he? I concede that Asmodeous would not let anything get in the way of subjugation.

Asmodeus can, and often does, lie. Whether or not he sees it as a lie is up to him to justify. He's smarter than most of us, after all. But no, he's not really called the "Prince of Lies" in Pathifnder. That bit that popped up in Prince of Wolves is an editorial oversight, I guess—should have been "Prince of Darkness" in those cases, which is and has long been his nickname in Pathfinder.

You snuck up on me! Thank you James. Not what I would have thought but I love the answer.

The question was never if his followers lie, of course they do especially the incompetent type that has to manipulate their way to the top.

The question is, does Asmodeus, The Prince of Darkness, the Dark Prince, the First, the Lord of Darkness and Law, Ruler of the 9, Ruler of Hell...... lie?

I don't know how to post images or I would. This is the best original 2d map I can find Original. I am using the long world map. With GIMP I converted the 2d flat map into a 16 slice 3d projection. Proof of concept works. Unfortunately The resolution is low and pixelates when blown up to globe sizes. Is there a decent resolution world map commercially available anywhere? I can not find any contact info for Rob McCaleb to see if I can purchases a print directly from the artist.

Just got a copy of Divine Mysteries. Again not a single mention of Asmodeous being the prince of lies. It states that Asmodeous will work with anyone as long as he feels they will uphold their side of the contract. His boon is to Diplomacy and his curse makes you follow the letter of the contract but not necessarily the spirit. Although Deception is still the divine skill the the most deceptive practice I saw is that all contracts are to favor the paying party. Just like any lawyer. It does state that particularly talented priests will add clauses that require both parties to tithe to the church or even forfeit their soul upon death. This really feels like corporate law to me.

Very well said. Even better when I noticed the video links.

For me, well, I still use the illustration by Trampier in the '77 'Monster Manual' for Asmodeus and as an NPC or deity in my games he's how I view him from decade to decade, regardless of any publishing company's version. And he can and will roll that Bluff check better than any.

Was that the black and white handsome devil with the goatee dressed in robes with a scepter?

Also, Gross wrote 'Prince of Wolves' when Paizo was still publishing 3.5 material. The Pathfinder game wasn't even at the Playtest phase yet. It's easy to see how Paizo was just putting stuff together and perhaps not finalizing everything.

I had not considered this. I got excited by unfortunately this is not the case. Pathfinder RPG hit the shelves Aug 2009. The book I am quoting full tile is "Pathfinder Tales Prince of Wolves" which was the first novel of the product line and debuted at GenCon 2010.

I believe his would put it under the OGL and Gross may have been using the AD&D 3.5 version of Asmodeous. A quick search shows that the Forgotten Realms 3.5 version calls him the lord of lies.

For me I think my Asmodeous does not lie on principle similar to the character Lucifer in the TV show of the same name but with far less daddy issues. ;)

I understand that Asmodeous's muse is a fantastical version of Satan, but is not Satan. Satan has the title "Prince of Lies". I could not find that title for Asmodeous. I believe that Asmodeous and his priests would detest lies. A lie reviled could undo a contract. Add to this that forgery is one of the greatest sins. I believe that they make contracts in their favor thru intellect and skill not deception. They would not be above manipulating someone into a desperate situation where they knowingly sign a bad contract, but again a lie could/would let them out of the contract.

The main source of my confusion is the novel Prince of wolfs by Dave Gross. He refers to Asmodeous as the prince of lies multiple times in it. Is this cannon or a mistake? This seams to me to be a fundamental question into the character of asmodeous and would really apreate it if one of the devs could chime in.

But, enough about Seoni's rack. :)

I actually lol'd rolling my eyes. Well done sir!!

I am trying to make a couple globes of Golarion for my players. I have finally figured out the software in Gimp to convert a flat map to a globe template. Where can I find the largest full map with the highest resolution available? I am hoping to make 12" diameter globes. I found this one but the resolution is far too low. https://robmccaleb.artstation.com/projects/XBl2Ry

If I am being honest I was hoping to find stargate style teleportation circles with Iris shields to close them. I would place this in a specialized building with a barrack of troops stationed there just in case.

I have come to another disturbing realization while researching this. Almost every single NPC wizard of 11th+ level is a litch, a ruler of their own country, or are in the service of a more powerful evil wizard. It appears that being an ambitious wizard rarely turns out well.

Further teleport is an uncommon spell needing a minimum of an 11th level caster. Which oddly is what some/most/all/??? venture captains are per the NPC codex. Does this not mean there would be reliable teleportation travel between all Pathfinder Lodges?

I am trying to get my head around long distance travel around Golarion. As I understand it the VAST majority of all travel is done on boats and ships. What I am hopping to create with this post is a list of alternate travel methods that should be available to players early, mid and late game. The list below is what I could find.

Teleportation circle: Would act like an airport. Although introduced in the Kingmaker CRPG as being able to be placed in any town the rules as written seams to make this not be the case as a settlement would need a settlement level of 17+ to cast teleportation circle. As far as I can tell there are only 4 such city's on Golarion. Those being Absolom, Absolom; Mechitar, Geb; Yled, Geb; and Quantium, Nex.

Airships: Said to be on the plane of air and maybe Akenstar, but can not fine a list of city's with air terminates.

Underdark: Specifically states that it can not be used to get around with the exception of a couple Dugar roads.

Aiudara Gates: I assume the main one from Golarion and Castrovel is open and used by the elves of Kyonin.

I would love to hear how GMs are getting their players around the globe.

I ask this as Arodin was immortal prior to becoming a god by raising the starstone. In fact he was over 5,200 years old when he became a god. Was Arodin immortal because he was the last of an immortal race?

I am late to PF2E as I am just now leaving PF1E. Remastered are the only 2E books I own. I would like to start this thread to help make this product more remastered.

1. Coral the conquer is believed to be a RED Dragon. What type of dragon is he now?

I am a late comer to 2E. I was in the middle of the Mummy's Mask AP and decided to wait to jump into 2e. I am having confusion as to which version of books I want to buy. As I understand there are up to three versions of 2E products available. Please correct any misconceptions I have.

2E............Original content released under the OGL

Remastered....New re-released content released under the ORC.

Special Edition...??? Is this remastered?

(Dark elves, AKA drow are no longer part of the setting as a result of our move away from OGL content with the remastered rules.)

Thank you for the reminder. Been Playing since D&D 1E. Going to take a minute to change some names in my head. Long live the ORC!! : )

Of those groups, any individual elf may be a Forlorn, which is not a distinct grouping of elves so much as a condition. Any elf which lives primarily among humans or similarly short-lived peoples are likely to become Forlorn as the slow tempo of their life is dramatically outpaced by all their friends and family, with few or no elven attachments to ground themselves with.

This makes more sense to me. Thank you

Thank you everyone for your reply's. What tales would you recommend that help you flesh out the world of Golarion? What I am looking for are books that help you visualize the interactions on common groups. For instance I expect at some point during Kingmaker for the party to encounter emissaries from Cheliax, Taldor, and Kelesh. I would like to be able to give a more colorful description of there differences. Curently I have Spanish inquisition worshiping devils, The last years of Rome, and Persian empire.

Am I missing something? With an exception for specific groups in specific areas like Snow Elves, Mordant Spire elves, Ayindilar "Dark Elves", Aquatic Eleves, ect; Are ALL elves either Aiudeen or Forlorn?

Either your ancestors fled Earthfall and recently, within the last 2,000 years, returned to Golarion....Aiudeen. Or your ancestors stayed and somehow survived among the shorter lived races....Forlorn.

I am in the prep phase of running this campaign. I heard The Crusader Road was inspired by this AP. Are there any other tales that would help flavor NPC's, Locations, Factions, or Encounters? I would like to steal inspiration to add character to some of the Brevoy houses. As I have not read any of the Tales Series, so any suggestions are appreciated.

Slight shift in topic. What gates ARE known and available to the public? Are there ANY gates that the party could travel to said town and pay the gatekeeper X amount of gold to travel from A to B?

Is there any other in world travel systems? I'm curious if there is a way to get form say Bevoy to Absalom quickly other than spells like teleport?

Thank you for making this more clear. Being a new player to 2E, I think I will learn the Remastered version as it is what will be going forward. That being said is there or will there be a document listing the name changes?

I apologize if this has been answered before, but I could not find it. I am just finishing a multi year run of 1E's Mummy's Mask and starting prep for my next campaign. I have not played 2E at all yet. Not knowing better I have purchased the Remastered Player and GM Core books with Kingmaker 2E. As it takes my group about 5 years to finish a AP, am I better off keeping the AP 2E or convert it to 2E Remastered? This appears to be a much bigger deal than 3.0 to 3.5 conversion was.

I am a bit confused as to which rule books this was written for. I am new to 2E as we just finished a 5 year 1E campaign. I have purchased 5 2E books so far.

1. Pathfinder Kingmaker Adventure Path Special Edition (Green Hardback)
2. Pathfinder Kingmaker Companion Guide Special Edition (Green Hardback)
3. Pathfinder GM Core Special Edition (Green Hardback)
4. Pathfinder Player Core Special Edition (Green Hardback)
5. Pathfinder Monster Core (Has not shipped yet...believe it is green hardback)

The page numbers in the AP do not seam to correspond with the rule books I bought. What am I missing? Second question is are there more than 1 version of the Gamemastery Guide? If so which was written for this AP?

This is also effecting belkin hold PDF. With winrar I was able to open the zip and found the PDF inside has a size of zero. It appears to be all pdf's?? I gave up after 15 files. belkin and all the giantslyer both single and one per chapter versions.

I followed the stuff on your FAQ and neither case was correct for my situation. I also tried two different zip apps. both say it is a bad header.

Had a TPK last night. :( So I tried to download Giantslayer to start researching a new campaign. I was finally able to download the player guide but all the modules state that the file is an invalid archive when i try to unzip. I downloaded all six three times to see if it was some kind of connection issue with no luck.

Due to work slowdowns and the inability of my players coming to an in home game for the foreseeable future I need to cancel my subscription. Do not send the pending order as I can not justify the $280 at this time. Thank you for you understanding. I have also tried calling and left an email.

Thank you for all the replies. In my version of Herolab which has most of the data sets there are 137 zero level wizard spells. Removing most data sets down to the core books reduce this to 38.I had not thought to look at individual spells for rarity as there were so many at first glance. So 35 is very close to where I was leaning of 38. Also lord Kailas note page 219 of the core rule book.

Space in the Spellbook: A spell takes up one page of the spellbook per spell level. Even a 0-level spell (cantrip) takes one page. A spellbook has 100 pages.

Again thank you all for the quick reply.

This topic was answered several years ago that wizards start with a spell book with all 0 level spells means all 0 level spells. Today I was trying to calculate the value of spell-books dropped by enemy wizards and found that this can no longer be the answer as there are now more than 100 zero level spells out there and therefore can not be in one book.Is there an official number of spells or is this to be house ruled?

This thread is not intended to criticize but question the status quo and ask, Is there a better way? As more of us are taking our PDF's and disseminating the information across multiple applications; Hero Lab, Realm Works, Map Tools, D20Pro, ect; I am finding it frustrating how difficult it is to get clean text out of the PDF's. I understand that the text is the way that it is, to have a certain look, and I REALLY appreciate the way my adventure path books are works of art. Is there a way for Paizo to have the product look the way they want, protect their Intellectual Property, and allow the clean cut and paste of text?

To give an example of what I am talking about here is excerpt I am working on from The Mummy's Mask, Empty Graves Pg 31. This text had to be copied in four sections due to the picture on the page. This is what you get out.

It is very time consuming to put this back into paragraph form, between the double spaces, missing spaces, enter after every line, and letter substitution. What have you found to make this task less tedious?

I wouldn't worry about it. You allowed a player to pull off something that was very exciting and cinematic and fun. That's the most important thing!

Absolutely

Thank you for the replies. I like the acrobatics check, I wish I had thought of it....now seams a no brainer, oh well.

I had an Awesome encounter in my last game that left me slack jawed shaking my head, but not sure how to rule on it. To set up the encounter I had a gauntlet the party had to get through consisting of a long hallway with several archers on a second floor balcony. The gunslinger who has shot on the run wished to charge into the room dropping prone and slide across the floor taking a shot at one of the archers as he slid by. I allowed it as it was GREAT roll-play and added all round excitement around the table, but what would be the RAW ruling? Is there any mechanic I am not aware of that would allow you to slide across on your backside as we see in countless movies?

To clarify I allowed him to make a double move and drop prone after 10' of movement and slide 15' to a place of cover in the middle of the hall...a column. Dropping prone gave him a bonus to AC vs ranged attacks.

I would defiantly buy Pathfinder content in Realmworks.

I do not believe there is one. Isn't an ostrich a standard mount available to a druid?

James Thomsen 568 wrote:

Mergy wrote:

Betsuni wrote:

I have a couple questions I would like to add:

1. Can a composite Longbow have its STR bonus as high as I like?
2. Can all of my ancestral weapons be made out of adamantine or whatever other material I desire?

I'm inclined to think "Yes".

TIA

--Betsuni

1. Yes

2. Nope. The weapon doesn't say it's made out of any special material, so we err on the side of caution and say it's not. On top of that, it's only considered masterwork at level 3, but all adamantine weapons are considered masterwork. Since there's no mention of special materials anywhere in the ability, we can infer that it's not something that you can do.

I am thinking 2. should be yes as well. You get masterwork at 3rd but don't get +1 till 7th. The only difference between a longsword, a alchemical longsword, and a cold iron longsword is the GP cost.

2 is definitely a no.

What rule are you using to justify your answer? RAW I see nothing that prevents summoning any simple or martial weapon. As I see it by RAW an adamantine longsword is a masterwork longsword.

Betsuni wrote:

I have a couple questions I would like to add:

1. Can a composite Longbow have its STR bonus as high as I like?
2. Can all of my ancestral weapons be made out of adamantine or whatever other material I desire?

I'm inclined to think "Yes".

TIA

--Betsuni

1. Yes

2. Nope. The weapon doesn't say it's made out of any special material, so we err on the side of caution and say it's not. On top of that, it's only considered masterwork at level 3, but all adamantine weapons are considered masterwork. Since there's no mention of special materials anywhere in the ability, we can infer that it's not something that you can do.

I am thinking 2. should be yes as well. You get masterwork at 3rd but don't get +1 till 7th. The only difference between a longsword, a alchemical longsword, and a cold iron longsword is the GP cost.

At third level you can summon a masterwork weapon. Is there anything that prevents you from summoning an alchemical silver longsword or adamantium battle axe? It doesn't say you can select special materials, but it does not say you can not either.

It's Master Blaster from Mad Max.

Are there any DMs that would be interested in Starting a PFS game at Rainy Day Games?

I am really liking this idea. I have never done anything like this and looking forward to how this turns out. How are we handling mundane/ non magical gear?

This will be my first Paizocon also. I am curious. How are we calculating HP? For both the monster HD and class levels?