Mogloth's page

Paizo appeared to take a giant step forward a few weeks ago with the recognition of UPW. This blog post is nothing but them walking through the yard stepping on rakes and having the rakes smack them in the face.

Twice. TWICE. Twice you have the President of Paizo admit he was the main reason for terrible actions. And, yet, he retains his job. I believe we can all figure out why he still has his job.

And it comes across as shady AF to hear that Paizo may be deleting every post by Diego. Shady AF.

For the one giant step forward Paizo took, they managed to take about 15 steps back with this post.

Woo hoo! Good news indeed!

Everything for March here still looking good?

I have to say I like having 2/3 months worth of new releases and shipping threads at any one time in the CS forum.

So, the playtest is under way. I assume people are submitting survey answers when they have playtested something.

My question is this - will there be a 2nd version of rules to playtest? Or will we only ever have this one version before a final product?

One debate that is occurring across a few threads in this forum is should an Oracle's Curse be always on or tied to the uses of the Revelation spells?

I say put me down for the curse being always on. If it is tied to usage of Revelation spells it is too easy to opt out of a major part of the theme of the class. In PF1 curses were always on. They never increased or decreased in intensity.

I started thinking about why I liked my Oracle from 1st edition. I liked that I could create a healer that had more freedom in spell usage. Unlike a Cleric, I could cast whatever I wanted whenever I wanted assuming I had spell slots left. I was more limited than a Cleric yet I had more freedom. The curse was something that I used to help flesh out who my Oracle was. I went with the language curse because it was interesting to start speaking a language no one else in the party understood during combat.

In PF2 I still have the limited flexibility that I had in 1e. I'm good with that.

As it stands right now I can create a Life Oracle and take her to level 20 and never once get hit with a curse. At all. That doesn't seem right. Or thematically appropriate.

For the people that want curses tied to revelation spellcasting - why?

I may have been asleep at the keyboard by calling curses a major part of the Witch. Whoops. Time to use the Neuralizer on y'all.

Having said that, I like Oracle's Burden.

Good thing to think about. Also, curses are a major part of the Witch. And having something called a curse work in vastly different ways in different places would be potentially confusing.

Mummy's Mask could be good. The library research rules will be coming in the GMG.

Will there be a PDF of this product?

I was excited for this. Then I saw the price tag and choked on my coffee. I'll pass.

Armor class is, obviously, where you learn how to armor.

And Difficulty Class is where I learn to be difficult. Got it. :-)

Got my shipping email. My goodness I don't recall ever being this antsy about getting something. I feel like Gollum and the One Ring.

Still no shipment email. *sniff sniff*

Oh woe is me

*sits in prison cell*
*sings*

Nobody knows, the trouble I've seen.........

Now I'm starting to get nervous about my order. No shipment email yet. I know it's not late yet I'm just ready to get my hands on the stuff.

Cool. I know this is a massive shipment for Paizo.

Your work is appreciated.

A couple things:

1) right now I feel like Beetlejuice at the end of the movie where he's holding number 6432787665 and they're serving number 3

2) Diego, you can go ahead and slip me the PDF of the core book for 2nd edition. No one else will know. This is just between you and me.

EVERYONE!! Commence constantly refreshing you email inbox.

That came off more angry than I intended. I know Paizo CS people are great. But, glad to know it is a display error.

I second, third, fourth the idea of an official Paizo form fillable character sheet. That does all the adding for you.

Any chance of seeing updated artwork on the screen? Would love to see what I'm buying.

Since you never know what could happen - what would you like for me to do with the original package should it ever show up?

In this fan made picture, 30 degrees north would be the line Tropic of the Sphinx which runs through the Eye of Abendego. So, west along that line would be roughly where Ruins of Azlant takes place.

I'm still kinda stunned at the thought of a 22,000 word *outline*

And there was a runelord in

For me, I'd much rather see "campaign setting" stuff come out first. Because Starfinder will be so barren at first, the more locations and groups the better.

New planets, new empires.... Fill out the 'Verse.

I'm not so much concerned about classes at the start. I need more ideas for what all is out there.

You don't like coffee or tea? Are you even human?

More seriously, read any good books lately? I'm currently reading the Tarkin novel. And really looking forward to the Thrawn novel.

When you and your friends get together to game, what games do you all typically play?

Do you ever get to go to a convention as a fan? Also, do you ever get invites to be a Guest of Honor at a convention?

What are the top 3 superhero style movies that you are looking forward to this year? For me it's - Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Wonder Woman and Justice League.

Irregardless, I could care less.

*twitch*

*twitch*

I want a more progressive and liberal Democratic party.

I can't vote for her (I don't live in Boston), but I am following Brianna Wu. I think she can do well.

I'm digging Rome. The free monument and automatic roads is a pretty good deal. Also, I started using some mods. The vanilla game needs some more work. UI, AI, teching too fast etc.

I use 8 ages of pace
8 ages of war
AI+
And one that improves the yield on water tiles

Anyone else use mods? Or have a favorite civ?

This is my first time popping into this thread, so apologies if this has been asked.

What is the hardest part of writing to you? Coming up with the ideas or putting the ideas to the page?

And do you ever question the ideas you come up with?

You have any topping available to make your perfect hamburger, what do you put on it?

Woo hoo! Post #1776!

Something about being 1776 in a thread about US politics

Hey James, this is something I'm curious about.

Are you able to take us behind the scenes in describing how an AP gets developed? No need for minute details. Just the broad strokes. From the first time it gets mentioned in a meeting to sending out for art. I'm curious as to how/when things get developed.

In my group I am running Wrath for, there is a Marshal Paladin of Iomedae, a Hierophant Druid, an Archmage Wizard and a Champion Kensai Magus.

The Druid is more casty with a side of healing.

I gave them one of the NPCs after I changed him from a cleric into a life Oracle. I also made him mythic. I am the one building him and I actively do not give him offensive capabilities.

Make no mistake you will need to tweak things the further you get. As written, Wrath will not really provide any challenge book 4 and beyond.

My players are not min maxing really at all. And they can put down the encounters I create. But, with giving them a full time healer, I can go crazy from my side with what they encounter.

Thanatotic titans at level 13 tier 5.

Regardless of what your players choose, you will need to tweak the numbers on your side. The stickied thread of the Wrath statblock will come in VERY handy for you.

Go all out with mythic. Embrace the numbers and craziness.

Mr Jacobs,

I am looking at designing a Katana for a player in my Wrath game. I want to give it a name that is tied to Golarion somehow. Is there a famous Samurai in Golarion that I could use in the name of the weapon? Or something similar?

I'm not asking for stats or anything. Just a name.

Ruins of Azlant. Yessssss.

O Great and Wise T-Rex,

Does it make you smile getting a decent amount of questions lately regarding Wrath?

*reads James' post*
*light goes off over head*

I've got it. You, sir, are a scholar and a great T-Rex.

Now, to sit down and actually sketch out how events should unfold.

Thank you again.

That......... was a very detailed and fantastic response James. Thank you.

For people that have not played Wrath of the Righteous and want to avoid any kind of spoilers, DO NOT open the spoiler tab here. There are some pretty huge reveals there.

I'm new to this level of designing, or rather any level of designing. I am wanting to stay as true as possible to the world of Golarion.

As others have said, the straight up mechanics and numbers of Mythic are wildly skewed. Mythic would have been better served with a longer and more directed testing schedule.

But, having said that, there are things you can do as long as your players are willing to go along with it.

Wrath is my first time as a GM. So, I jumped in the deep end while barely knowing how to tread water.

My players are OK with the changes I have suggested. These are a few.

1) Don't be tied down to what the stat block says. Change anything and everything to suit the power level of your PCs.

2) I can spend any mythic points to counter most anything the PCs can do. Every one of my mythic creatures has the ability to "buy off" a crit from an attack.

3) Do not be afraid to "fudge" numbers.

4) Lots of hit points

5) Add even more hit points

6) Awesome Blow - The way this feat works in our group is, if the NPC is 2 sizes larger than the PC, then on a hit the PC is knocked back 10 feet and prone. No CMB/CMD check. It just happens.

7) I just recently figured out how I was going to handle the augmented mythic spells that can bypass immunities. I will spend one mythic point to negate the immunity bypassing, and will give the NPC resistance 20. If I spend a 2nd point my monster regains full immunity.

The main reason that my players are happy with my changes is that any mythic points I spend in defense becomes less I can throw at them.

8) Templates. Know them. Use them. Lots of them. Advanced, Invincible, Fiendish, Savage etc. Yes, it adds to the pregame work, but it'll help.

Looking to find anything that could be a challenge? Consider that player levels and mythic tiers are the same. Your players are level 18 tier 8? Start browsing the CR 25+. And add templates to any monster you choose there. Or drop lower in CR and increase the number that they face.

With some of the changes here, throwing 3 mythic balors at them is a challenge again.

My players are about to make the final push in book 4. They landed on the island and are waiting to head to and clear out the mining cave.

At level 13 tier 5 I threw a Thanatotic Titan at them.

9) Oh yeah, for your bigger mythic foes? If the stat block does not have Dual Initiative, then give it to them. Don't worry about the "rules" for building a monster. Give it to them. And any other mythic ability you want them to have. Your big mythic big bads NEED to go twice in a round.

But, if your players aren't willing to grant you any of these sorts of changes, then yeah, your best bet is to handwave the "minor" encounters and end Wrath as quickly as possible.

"Uh, that's it"?

;-)

So, based on the way that James has been trying to manage expectations about this secret project, which of us will be the first back here to say, "Uh, that's it?"

;-)

I have 2 responses to this thread.

1) We are some twisted individuals.

2) Nice try Skynet. You'll have to do better than this.

I bet someone gets amnesia. :-)

Wait. What?

So, we had a slight issue where backordered Beginner Boxes did not behave correctly and started combining with pending subscription orders. This effected a very small number of users and Customer Service is correcting those orders as soon as possible. The auth is running again and should be wrapping up Soon™.

I always get so confused about the various usages of Soon. (First used by a CM from LOTRO - Sapience)

Please keep in mind; the measurements below are highly accurate (as are their relationships to each other). However, the descriptions are for entertainment purposes only. Unless you win money, then you owe me 10%.

• NOW!

  Never gonna happen!

• At some point in the future (also; At some point)

  We’re in pure Nostradamus territory here. We have a magic 8 ball and even it said, “Ask again later”.

• In the future

  This isn’t going to happen during any variety of soon you care to use. In fact, it’s pretty far out there. Not as far as ‘at some point’, but we’re certainly not suggesting you book vacation time just yet. We’re probably talking about something that is possible within the current time line. Assuming, of course, the Mayans, Vikings, and 47 other random stone carvings were wrong and we’re still here after all that crazy ‘end of the world’ stuff.

• In the near future

  This is absolutely, positively, without question, a possibility. In fact, it might even be a real possibility. But as to when, we’ll have to get back to you on that one.

• Soon™

  No lie. It’s going to happen. It’s going to happen really freakin’, like, eventually. But it will happen!

• “Soon”

  It’s official! We have given consideration to a possible date and we now have several possibilities!

• Soon

  We’ve narrowed the date down to something within the calendar year!

• soon

  No really, we have a date now! It’s even penciled in on a calendar somewhere!

• MoreSoonerish

  We have a date, and we’re probably going to tell you what that date is…soon!

• Incredisoon

  OK! We’re done messin’ around. We have a date, we’ve found the calendar we wrote it on, and we are going to tell you. Like right freakin’ shortly! Seriously!

• Tomorrowish-esque™

  This is going to happen within the next 24 hours. Give or take some random number of hours which may or may not exceed an amount equal to the number of miles between the reader and the International Date Line divided by 163.97241. Unless the person is actually standing on the International Date Line at the time of reading, in which case the world will end in a cataclysmic divide by zero error and none of this will matter anyway. This is all barring any conflicts with ‘The Schedule’, of course.

• As soon as possible

  Time being the slippery thing it is, this has quite probably already happened. If not, it is very likely to happen while someone is typing up the message telling you when it will happen. Assuming, that it is in fact possible.

Modifiers, adjustments, and other fun stuff.
Capitalization

As a general rule, capitalization will tip you off as to a measurement’s place in time. Capital letters denote a longer period of time than lower case letters. This applies to all uses of capitalization when dealing with time. Thus Soon is longer than soon. Likewise, MoreSoonerish, Moresoonerish, and moresoonerish are all incremetally shorter periods from longest to shortest.

TM and its uses;

The notorious ™ has very specific meanings. It denotes a longer period of time than the word or phrase would otherwise represent without the addition of the ™.

“Quotes"

The use of quotes, like the use of TM and Capitalization has specific meaning. It is another measure of extending the noted period of time. Though it denotes a shorter extension than either ™ or Capitalization.

Combined notation

When you see a combination of modifiers (™, quotes, and capitalization) you must consider the impact of all modifiers on the base measurement. The more modifiers, the larger the expansion of time from the base measurement.

Addendum A: Spooky Stuff
It’s on schedule

This relates exclusively to a highly theoretical method of calculating time commonly referred to as, ‘The Schedule’. The Schedule is part of an emerging understanding of time called Quantum Sapience Time. Schedule Time has the amazing ability to exist, not exist, and potentially exist or not exist all at the same instant. It is only the act of observing The Schedule that forces it into a fixed state in which the normal rules of Sapience Time apply. This is commonly called “entanglement”. Entangling one’s self with The Schedule is a very risky proposition as it can lead to temporal disorientation. Especially as it does not require one to be in any physical proximity to The Schedule. Albert Einstein himself referred to this as “Spooky action at a distance.”

Addendum B: Backward Causality:
We told you so

Any attempt to look back upon or view the flow of Sapience Time from a future point will amplify and enhance the predictive and pre-deterministic nature of soon. The effect of this observance is to reveal the perfect accuracy of all predictions within the fabric of the Sapience Time Continuum. In short, the act of releasing content will cause the time line to become self-evident and clearly predictive of the exact moment in the future at which the release will happen when viewed from that future.

No sir? I didn't catch you playing with your minis [dolls] again.

GOOD!

*looks around warily*

What is FaWtL?

I have the team in office today, so right at the top of our priority list is figuring out how they are bypassing the filters. Bear with us while we modulate the shields.

Switch all power to front deflector shields.

Blackvial wrote:

Adam Daigle wrote:

(unless you hacked my desktop, of course).

don't tempt us

"12345?"

That's amazing. I've got the same combination on my luggage.

I'm ready for spawning.

Spawn more overlords.