Summary for December 18th, 2007. Some abbreviations: JJ = James Jacobs, NL = Nick Logue.
Pathfinder: Rise of the Runelords
Watcher: "For a sneak peek, mention a new monster you haven't before from PF 5 or PF 6?"
JJ: "A new monster in PF5? How about... the Shemhazian demon? That guy's a menace."
Pathfinder: The Second Darkness
Charles Evans: "Any word yet on bat-riding drow for the next PF adventure Path??? :) It occured to me that possibly, they could be restricted to just a group of rangers or druids with animal companions/mounts."
JJ: "Currently still no bat riding drow, Charles. I'm still partial to them riding giant lizards."
Charles Evans: "Well at least better giant lizards than *spiders*."
Takasi: "It would be nice to see some type of lizard that emits a permanent darkness."
Grimcleaver thought he'd hate the giant geckos, but actually now really likes them.
JJ: "Giant Geckos are great. They were in the old red-box game back in the day when I first started playing; getting them back in the game was cool."
Grimcleaver: "Really? Wow. I had no idea they had that kind of pedigree."
Charles Evans: "The penchant for giant lizards wouldn't happen to have anything to do with the dinosaur avatar? If so, you could always have pteradactyl riding drow?"
JJ: "I heart dinosaurs, yes. Drow riding pteranodons or velociraptors = super awesome. But we'll probably not be going that route. The giant lizard thing is more a nod to what drow were riding back in Vault of the Drow and the like."
Mothman: "You know, drow riding raptors is not that different to drow riding lizards ... and dinosaurs are cooler. But perhaps too similar to Cold One riding Dark Elves from Warhammer."
Pathfinder AP the Fourth
Watcher: "James Jacobs, Where do you prdict the 4th AP will take place, since you've said it will not be in Varisa?"
JJ: "The fourth AP will take place outside of Varisia. I've 94% settled on which region that will be, but am not yet ready to reveal it."
Takasi: "Will AP #4 have villains that aren't uber secret?"
JJ: "I'm not sure what group of villains will be in AP4 yet. I've several nominees, but no winners yet. THAT SAID: The drow of AP3 will not be secret. Your players will know they'll be up against drow by the end of Adventure 1."
Adventure Development
Lori: "How detailed are your author outlines for PF? Pretty tight, or do you leave most of it up to each author?"
JJ: "I generally give each author about a page of notes and ideas and stuff for an adventure. That's pretty much it."
NL: "Then we f%&+ it up really bad Lori, and James puts us back on track."
JJ: "I leave a LOT to the author. Sometimes that backfires and I have to write or rewrite big sections. But mostly it works pretty good; writers generally do better developing their own ideas than developing lots of someone else's ideas, in my experience."
JJ: "I'm about 10,000 words into the development of Edge of Anarchy; the first Crimson Throne adventure. it's hopefully going to press in January. AND: I'll be starting to write 'Shadow in the Sky' (the first adventure for Second Darkness) by the end of the month."
Takasi: "Do you have any plans for modules where defeat doesn't mean death?"
JJ: "Sometimes Pathfinder Adventures will indeed use defeat as adventure elements. For the most part, though, having a pre-written adventure hinge on PC defeat is bad adventure design. The end of Sea Wyvern's Wake is a great example, where if the PCs aren't 'defeated,' the next adventure can't really happen. I generally prefer to avoid those situations in adventures."
Sean Mahoney: "How are you liking working on Pathfinder rather than Dungeon now that it has been a while?"
JJ: "It's a lot more liberating working on Pathfinder. We don't have to vet things by WotC and do approval meetings, which is a HUGE bonus in my book. But I do miss being able to play with classic D&D monsters as much. Like Malcanthet. I miss her. :("
Classic Monsters Revisited
Takasi: "Tell us more about the 'rearing cages?' Will we see wicked goblin children habits in the Monsters Revisited book?" [for goblins]
JJ: "There won't be much about goblin child-raising practices in CMR. A little, but not a lot. I only had about 4,500 words to write about goblins. That wordcount went by fast."
cappadocius: "It mostly involves poking with sticks and the throwing of rats at faces anyway, doesn't it?" [goblin child-rearing]
Iconics
Seelah, Paladin of Iomedae
JJ: "I'm pretty proud of Seelah's backstory; it's tied for favorite in my mind with Merisiel (who's still my favorite iconic)."
Mothman: "When you're writing the iconics' back stories, are you driven by the artwork, or do you have the story figured out already?"
JJ: "For the iconics' backstories, I basically open up the file and look at the cool Wayne art and then just write something that fits. Usually about 15 to 30 minutes before said backstory is scheduled to go live on the blog, actually..."
Mothman: "That impressive James. May I suggest you write a book of these character backstories... just a page per character with a character sketch from Wayne on each page? I know I would buy it!"
Critical Failure Deck
Kevin T: "How is Jason faring with the Fumbles Deck. Saw the rough draft at GenCon. But haven't heard anything more since."
JJ: "I believe the Fumble deck is done and off to print. I could be wrong there."
Mahoney: "I am torn on the crit fumble deck. On the one had the Critical Hit deck as a... well, critical hit with my group. On the other I am somewhat opposed to the idea of critical fumbles."
Pygon: "Agreed, it almost promoted self-abuse :) but it could make games interesting too."
E1: Carnival of Tears
Nick Logue joined us and gushed about how awesome it was to work with Tim Hitchcock, his co-author on this module, calling him "wildly creative and has amazing ideas."
Takasi: "How does that work? What was the 'divide and conquer' method?" [co-authoring]
NL: "It works different for every project, we usually try to carve up the project."
Takasi: "Did you do a lot of stuff face to face?"
NL: "I tackled the monsters for example and a lot of the NPCS, while Tim tackled most of the Carnival Events...and he created the Swinomancer."
Gavgoyle: "Tim 'Professor Crackpot' Hitchcock and Nick 'Deviant Boy' Logue together??? Can the world stand up to the dementia??"
Harrow Deck
Kevin T: "Any dirt on Harrow?"
Lilith: "Any sneaky peeks? Or do we have to bribe Jason to get in here? :D"
Rambling Scribe: "Yes. Does the Harrow deck include options for character gen?"
JJ: "What kind of dirt would you like about Harrow? It's basically the Varisian version of a tarot deck. The art is frickin' awesome; LOTS of weird and intriguing symbolism. The Harrow deck itself does not have character generation options in it, no. It's not a character generator. it's a plot complicator/driver."
Wyvern: "A plot complicator... hehe."
Kevin T: "I'm curious as how it will work in game, as well as out of game. Will it only be useful once in game, or can you use it in game at random places for role-playing aspect?"
JJ: "The Harrow deck will be used in a way to generate bonuses and penalties for certain scenes in each adventure, depending on the results of that adventure's 'reading.' There's also other things too, like a feat that lets you draw a card to influence your fate, etc. Harrow will be integrated in many different ways into the adventure; but since I'm only 1/4 the way into developing the first one... I don't have many examples yet."
Mahoney: "While the Harrow deck seems like a GREAT innovation, how playable will the idea be for those people who do not buy a deck?"
JJ: "For people who run Curse of the Crimson Throne without a Harrow deck... they can 'fake' it using a conversion chart that lets you substitute rolling dice on a chart or drawing cards from a tarot deck or a poker deck, probably. You won't get the art, and it won't be perfect (poker decks have 2 cards too few, and tarot decks 2 too many), but it should do the trick. And despite the integration... the Harrow elements in Curse of the Crimson Throne are actually pretty minor, overall. You could even probably cut them out entirely and the Adventure Path would work just as well."
Charles Evans: "Wasn't drawing cards part of 2nd edition Ravenloft games???"
Daigle: "Charles, it was mentioned on the blog that the Harrow deck was inspired by that."
JJ: "Yes; the first and original Ravenloft adventure had a GREAT card-drawing fortune-telling mechanic. That's very much the primary and major inspiration for the Harrow deck. Harrow decks are pretty cheap, overall. Personally... I think it's WELL worth the 12 bucks or whatever it'll end up costing just to get a really cool player handout for your campaign. No doubt, a Curse of the Crimson Throne campaign will be enhanced by a Harrow deck (unless everyone in your group hates Kyle's art, I guess)."
Takasi: "It's in my Chronicles sub, no?"
JJ: "Harrow is a kind of experiment in that regard. We always get requests from our readers and customers to add things like 'AP Item cards' and other premium additions. Harrow's a good opportunity for those who are looking for that kind of additional support to prove they mean it."
Takasi: "Now give me good online support, like, um, designer chats :P"
Rambling Scribe: "I'd love to write a character generator based on it, like the one I did for 3DA."
Monsters
Sebastian: "Is there any chance of having the GameMastery PDFs include the monsters in Pathfinder format? I've been building my own Pathfinder MM from the Pathfinder bestiaries, and wish I could include the Gamemastery monsters, but they are usually sprawled out over multiple pages."
JJ: "There's not enough room in a GameMastery module to do monsters in Pathfinder's format."
Sebastian: "I know, but I was hoping the pdf could include them in that format. Any chance of that?"
JJ: "We don't want our PDFs to be any different than our Print versions. We'll do web enhancements now and then, but those'll be totally separate from the actual products."
Creatures
Dragons
Mothman: "Obviously dragons are THE iconic monster of D&D: was there any intra-office conflict or controversy in the Paizo re-imagining of Dragons for PF?"
JJ: "Yeah... there actually was some conflict here in the editor pit about the dragons and their look. We actually had to kill some art and get some stuff redone and even then... ugh. It was kind of a grueling process."
Mothman: "I imagine! Personally I'm not 100% sold on the dragon images I've seen on the blog so far - but dragon 'looks' are always going to be pretty subjective."
Grimcleaver: "Yeah, redesigning the dragons. That had to be rough. I like the sneak peeks I've gotten to see though."
Takasi: "I have the Dragons of Golarion article, seems like the creation myth is very Babylonian, was that intentional?"
JJ: "Yes, the creation myth being babylonian was intentional. Dahak, after all, is from that era, or around there... just like Tiamat."
Drow
James MacKenzie: "How rare and mysterious are the Drow of Golarion? I've liked the settings that portrayed them as almost mythical, but some settings seem to have them turning up on every streetcorner."
JJ: "Our drow are pretty mysterious; AP3 is all about them getting riled up. But before AP3, there are no drow NPCs at all. The word isn't even mentioned, I don't think, until AP3. So, so far, pretty mysterious indeed."
Gnolls
Crimson Jester: "When will Gnolls be featured? Can we have Jackal-Headed Osirion Gnolls?"
JJ: "Gnolls, hmm. Probably not anytime soon in Pathfinder. NO! WAIT! They get a bit of love in PF5, in the Lamashtu article!"
Godzilla!
Takasi: "Does Golarion have a 'Godzilla' monster?"
JJ: "Yes. The tarrasque is one. But there are others."
Takasi: "I want an AP with a Kaiju monster. At 1st level."
JJ: "You'll get one eventually. Not at 1st level, though."
Takasi: "Then I can die happy :) Ok, 2nd level then."
Lilith: "Kaiju goodness!!!! RAWR!!"
Lilith stomps around!
JJ: "One encounter I've been toying with though (ran a variant in my home campaign) was to basically have an adventure based on the old 50's giant bug movies. Tarantula, in particular. An adventure where a CR 12 spider attacks a town, and you 4th level schmoes have to stop it. We've sort of kind of got Mothra type stats in PF5...In my campaign, it was in fact giant ants. Half dragon giant ants, actually, who got all freaky after eating the bones of a dead great wyrm red dragon and built a hive out of his skeleton and over time... POW! DRAGON ANTS. it was pretty fun. Tarantula's one of my favorite movies. That year, '54-'55 produced more of my favorite movies than any other; Tarantula, Godzilla, and Seven Samurai."
Reimaginings
Lilith: "What's the next re-imagining coming up - we've had goblins, giants, dragons, what's on the schedule?"
JJ: "I suppose the next re-imagining we'll have in Pathfinder is lamias; we do a LOT with them in Pathfinder 6. And in Pathfinder 11, we'll do a fair bit about orcs. Rakshasas in Pathfinder 9, also."
Takasi: "So Rakshasas are related to Vundra I'm guessing?"
JJ: "Rakshasas are indeed from Vudra."
Mahoney: "The lamias being reimaged will be nice... but since they have appeared already it kind of rewards those people who have yet to have ran RotRL yet (yeah me!)"
Sebastian: "Speaking of monster reimaginings, do you worry about tapping out the SRD monsters? You commented about dire rats being over done (and they very much were), but it seems like the SRD is a relatively small pool of monsters to choose from..."
JJ: "Nah. I don't worry about tapping out the SRD monsters. Especially since there's a lot of OGL monsters out there, and we're increasing that by at least 6 monsters each time we print a Pathfinder. Tome of Horrors and Book of Fiends alone have TONS of monsters for us to play with. And that's not even touching Advanced Bestiary...The orcs aren't really much in the way of villains in PF11, as much as they are background material and an excuse to talk about orcs in Golarion."
Sebastian: "Will you ever print a monster book and make that 'core' for Pathfinder?"
JJ: "It would seem like a monster book for Pathfinder would be a no brainer, yeah? No concrete plans to do one yet, though..."
Unique creatures
Absinth: "Can we expect to see more unique monsters like the sandpoint devil in PF?"
JJ: "There will be more unique monsters. Not often. BUT: We just decided to put a BIG one into Pathfinder 9. He'll probably be the highest CR monster in Pathfinder for a LONG time. And the heralds of the gods are all technically unique monsters too."
Absinth: "Cool! What's its CR?"
JJ: "Dunno yet. It'll be higher than 20, though. It won't be encountered in the adventure, that's for sure. But yeah, it's going to be the first 'Let's put an epic monster in the Bestiary and see what happens' monster in Pathfinder. It WILL be thematically tied to Pathfinder 9, though."
Fiction
Takasi: "James, I think Erik mentioned trying to get you to write some Golarion fiction some day, is that on the horizon yet?"
NL: "WANT TO READ JAMES PATHFINDER FICTION SOOOO BAD!"
Grimcleaver would like Pathfinder fiction.
Lilith: "Pathfinder fiction? Pathfinder graphic novel? :D"
Grimcleaver: "GRAPHIC NOVEL!"
Mothman: "Ooh - Pathfinder grpahic novel!"
NL: "Graphic Novels would rock."
Lilith: "Yeah, after reading about the bloat mages n' such in PF #3, I immediately saw it in my head. Soooo cool! :D"
Mahoney: "My only reservation to seeing James Jacobs authoring fiction is that I want him tied to keyboard crafting and editing more RPG content for me and fiction would take away from that. (After all I don't think we could ask him to cut out sleep any more than he likely already has.)"
NL: "Yeah, I think we need to drive James Jacobs even more crazy by ADDING more work to his insane schedule!"
Timitius: "My only reservation to seeing JJ authoring fiction is...he's got to eat and sleep sometime!"
JJ: "I very VERY much enjoy writing fiction. I've been writing since I could write, actually. I'd love to write some Pathfinder fiction, so if we DO decide to go that route and Erik trusts me with it... I'm all over that like stink on a monkey."
Takasi: "If you could write fiction, what area in Golarion would be your first pick?"
JJ: "My first area to write fiction in Golarion would probably be Varisia, actually. It's the place I know the best. Kyonin would be a close second, as would be the Sodden Lands or Osirion."
Charles Evans: "Any hope of Paizo taking fiction 'on spec' as Hasbro/WotC division is doing so? I'm guessing not, with the RPG Superstar contest occupying the publishing department's attention..."
JJ: "If we go into fiction for Golarion, we'll almost certainly be soliciting it all from writers for the start. If it takes off big time, who knows?"
Songs & Poems
Kevin T: "Who's the bard at Paizo that keeps writing all the poems and songs? I love that aspect, brings a nice Tolken feel to the world."
JJ: "I'm pretty much the one who writes most of the poems and songs, more or less. Rich Pett's written a few, though."
Gods
Lissala
Watcher: "I'm looking over Thassilonian history. Faith in Lissala seems to just peter out. Was it lack of faithful, or something akin to what has happened to Aroden? (i.e. a god no longer responding and presumed dead)"
JJ: "Lissala's faith petered out because only Thassilonians worshiped her. After the empire fell... there was just no one left really to worship her, and she pretty much just got forgotten. She didn't die as much as atrophied. I'm not sure really what happened to her. We might hear from her again sometime in the future, I suppose."
Holidays
Takasi: "What's an equivelent Christmas holiday in Magnimar/Sandpoint?"
JJ: "I have no idea about Christmas holidays in Magnimar. Sandpoint celebrates the Solstices and Equinoxes, mostly due to the relatively heavy Varisian population in town."
People
Diviners
Mahoney: "Can you tell us if the problems with seers and fortune tellers will play more of a role in the APs any time soon (as mentioned in your first Pathfinder editorial)?"
JJ: "Seers and fortune tellers are different than prophets and prophecies. You can still cast divination and tell a fortune in Golarion with ease. What doesn't work so well are those big 'IN THE FOURTH YEAR OF THE RED SUN, A BOY WITH A COW'S EYE WILL RISE TO BECOME THE KING OF THE DROWNED!' type proclamations. Those are the ones that are not working anymore."
Mahoney: "I see. Does that actually play an important role at some point or was it more a comment on your opinions of the roll of years in other games?"
JJ: "Broken prophecies don't really play a big role in any adventures we've done yet... apart from being a general world-flavor thing always in the background."
Mahoney: "Just wanted to know... I have a player whose favorite character concept is the diviner... including the prophecy thing... so I was just looking to see if it would conflict with much if I added it in for him to keep him happy."
JJ: "Diviner still works, but prophecies don't."
Places
Countries
Takasi: "I'm not as familiar with all the area in Golarion, like Kyonin or the Sodden Lands, in a sentence James Jacobs what are they like?"
JJ: "Kyonin is the elven nation; it's got demon problems. Sodden Lands are the ruined kingdoms destroyed by the Eye of Abendigo (the perpetual hurricane down south)."
Crimson Jester: "Are the Sodden Realms based off of any specific culture and if so which one?"
JJ: "The Sodden Realms are mostly made up. There's not MUCH made up about them yet, but they're pretty piratey. There's actually a city of mine down there called Illizmagorti, which I'd someday like to develop into Golarion's version of Scuttlecove."
Watcher: "How about an 'illuminated' country that denies gods and certain tenets of reality, and wields power from this state of consciousness?"
JJ: "I'm not sure we have an iluminated country... but we probably do. There's like 50 of them."
Mahoney: "Watcher, interesting. I suppose you can make that type of thing in an RPG, but I don't think a religious vew is enough to base a country on (though certainly significant). In a world where the presense of divinity is so pronounced I would think it would be more likely to see this type of things as small sects or something... but who knows... if anyone can do it well, my bet is the Paizo folks."
Sebastian: "I could be wrong, but I believe Paizo has mentioned that just such an atheist state does exist."
- Tian Xia -
Blazej: "Do you know what kind of civilized non-humanoid races will be in the Asian-inspired areas?"
JJ: "I don't know what kind of races, aside from human, will be in Tian Xia yet."
Locales
Lilith: "'Fantastic' locales?"
JJ: "Fantastic locales will be part of Golarion. They'll show up more often in GameMastery modules, where we can afford to get more experimental."
Maps
Lori: "How is the development of the Golarion map coming along?"
JJ: "The world map of Golarion is very close to being done."
Timitius: "Didn't you say something about showing off the maps at Oroboros tomorrow night?"
JJ: "Yup; We'll have a printout of the world map as it currently stands at the book signing tomorrow."
Regions
Crimson Jester: "Do you yet have a plan for a Golarion version of a Mythical India or non-Chinese/Japanese areas?"
JJ: "Our 'India' (Vudra) actually plays a pretty big role in Curse of the Crimson Throne."
Takasi: "Excellent, the Indus Valley is rarely considered despite being one of the oldest civilizations, and India may soon eclipse China as the most populous nation."
Lilith: "How about an African-themed area?"
JJ: "Well have several African themed areas. Osirion is the first we've done much with."
Charles Evans: "Is there any hope of leaving 'undeveloped' or large blank areas with 'here their be monsters' on the map of Golarion, so that DMs can insert whatever they want? (Both land and sea areas, if possible; think of the fun a Golarion equivalent of the bermuda triangle can be for DMs to adapt as thy wish!)"
JJ: "Beyond the edges of the map of the part of the world we're developing (the continents of Avistan and Garund), there'll be plenty of Blank Stuff. But on the map itself... not so much, I suspect. Although it'll probably take us years to get around to covering all of it, and some regions we'll likely NEVER cover, so those are as good as 'blank spots.'"
4th Edition
Kevin T: "Have you or anyone else you know take a look at Wizards Races & classes preview of 4E? If so what were your thoughts?"
JJ: "We actually just got a copy of Races & Classes in the office today; it was in regular 'passaround' throughout the pit. My thoughts: I like our look better. :)"
A musing by JJ: "My theory (and remember, I'm not in marketing): Keep your current customers. Gaining new customers = secondary to retaining the customers you already have. Otherwise you're backsliding."
Takasi: "It seems like Golarion is '4E ready', IMO, taller elves, demon traffickers (tieflings), fey gnomes. Despite not having the actual OGL, did Paizo know a little bit about the flavor changes in advance when making Golarion?"
JJ: "Perhaps. I honestly can't help but wonder how much of our work inspired the 4E design team. I suspect most of it is just parallel development, though. But yeah; taller elves, demon traffickers, and fey gnomes were all pretty much among the very first things we started doing with Golarion. We actually had no knowledge about the flavor changes in 4E before they showed up on EN world. I didn't, at least."
Takasi: "If tieflings are core, would it be reasonable to make an iconic tiefling from Cheliax? or would that be a stretch for some reason?"
JJ: "An iconic tiefling is definitely a possibility. We did as much for Dungeon, after all."
JJ: "I suspect we'd be able to figure out how to squeeze Thassilonian schools of magic into 4E. If we can't... I'd call that a failing of the 4E rules, really."
Corean's Disciple: "Do you really feel the need for a 4E? or would you be happy running with a 3.5?"
JJ: "Personally? I think 3.5 is close to unplayable after 15th level, and that skills are WAY too complicated, and that most of the books that have come out in the last few years have introduced some really gross power creep. I think that the time for a new edition is now, yeah. If only to get stat blocks back down to a paragraph sized at most and not multiple pages for really high-level stuff. I haven't seen the 4E rules yet at all; some of what I've heard 3rd hand sounds good, but a lot of the changes seem to be too drastic for my tastes. I'm gonna withhold my take on the rules until I see them, though. But 3.5 DOES need some help. That said: it works. I'd be happy writing for and playing it for years. I'm particularly not happy with the 3.5 wizard, for example. He's lame. No other class has to pay gold, XP, and time just to utilize their powers. Once your group goes above 15th level, the entire group has to either be cool with long fights, or otherwise cool with playing fast and lose with the rules. The second option is my preference. Every time i've seen a Wizard in a campaign, he gets left behind OR ends up being a stick in the mud. 'We can't finish the adventure now! I need two weeks to scribe a few new spells into my spellbook! Oh... can I borrow some money again to do that?'"
Age of Worms and Savage Tide Harcovers
JJ: "I doubt there'll be a hardcover AoW or STAP ever. Or if there is... it'll be some sort of nostalgia product released by who knows who in 2026."
Mahoney: "I was joking on the HC for AoW and STAP after seeing it asked about so much on the boards... but kudos to you for always answering politely and timely each and every time."
Games
Mahoney: "What would it take for a fellow Washingtonian to get in on a game with some of the Paizo folks? (other than pushy chat requests... got that one covered)"
JJ: "Knowing someone who works at Paizo is the best way to get in on one of our games. There's not really any other sneaky routes in, alas."
Sean Mahoney: "Have you guys play tested the later portions of the APs yet? How did you feel they went (obviously pathfinder will end earlier, but the old ones didn't)"
JJ: "We don't playtest the adventures here. That's the responsibility of each author."
Sean Mahoney: "Maybe Playtest was the wrong word rather than have you ever finished playing one? Have you killed Adimarchus or Kyuss or Demogorgon?"
JJ: "Nope. Erik Mona's running Age of Worms. He started that a few years ago to playtest 'The Whispering Cairn' with us. We just started Champion's Belt... so yeah... we dont' play fast enough. I'm nearing the end of City of Broken Idols in my Savage Tide game, and so far, it's going pretty good. I'm being kind of a draconian overlord when it comes to players taking too long on turns and idle side chatter, but it seems to go okay so far. I did get to inflict spontaneous CON damage on a player who interrupted me when I was roleplaying Quetzalcouatl though. That was sweet."
Sean Mahoney: "How does that work since you all as the players are obviously intimately familiar with the material?"
JJ: "Those of us who are familiar with the material just have to be good at separating player knowledge from character knowledge. THAT: And Erik is a super awesome DM who always changes things up so we never really know what's up next. As anyone who's read Tyralandi's journal can see."
Russ Taylor: "It's on the verge of making me scrub my Age of Worms campaign. Which I'll let players know when next we meet: you have 5 minutes to plan. Your DM cannot take hour-long planning sessions. He has a life. I did not schedule a game so I could listen to your min-max a combat approach for an hour FOR AN EL = APL FIGHT."
Fray: "Or plan... before we start the game."
JJ: "Now and then, an hour-long planning session can be fun. I had my PCs do one of them for the Ziggurat of Holashner in "Lightless Depths." But before every fight? No. If my players tried that before every fight... they'd get attacked by dinosaur wraiths or something like that right quick."
GenCon 2008
Takasi: "Will there be another 'Tourney' module for next year's GenCon, like the Seven Swords of Sin?"
JJ: "Yes, we'll have a delve module for next year's Gen Con."
Takasi: "4E? ;)"
JJ: "We haven't seen the 4E rules yet. Races and Classes is the closest we've gotten, and we only got that just today. So if we had to build the delve TODAY... it'd be 3.5. Fortunately, we don't have to do that TODAY. But that day is coming up... very, very soon..."
Non-fantasy APs
Mahoney: "Would Paizo ever consider non-fantasy adventures or APs like a SciFi or a post-apocalyptic setting?"
JJ: "I hope so. I've got a d20 post-apocalyptic 'What if Cthulhu won and now it's Road Warrior meets Lovecraft' game more or less all written up, after all! :) For now, though... we're focusing pretty much only on the fantasy stuff."
Play Time
Absinth: "Do you guys still have time to play? From what can be read on the boards it appears that you do work on the products 24/7..."
Charles Evans: "We know James doen't have time to play, owing to the shortage of Scrimm updates..."
Mothman: "That may be Erik Mona having no time to play."
JJ: "I haven't had time to play D&D really much at all since Gen Con, alas. I've been running Savage Tide every other Saturday, but generally have to cancel every 3rd game or so. I miss Tyralandi."
Praise
Artwork
Mothman: "I have been much happier with the art work in the Pathfinder series... I hadn't mentioned that previously and wanted you to know I am liking the evolution I am seeing."
JJ: "Yeah... turns out that giving artists more than a week to do art = they produce better art. ;)"
There was a lot of praise for the icky bloatmages and troll augurs.
The Realm of Paizo
Charles Evans: "Is Paizo (under CEO Lisa Stevens) run more as 1) philosopher realm, 2) a timarchy, 3) a oligarchy, 4) a democracy, 5) a tyranny? (To use the ancient greek classifications.)"
JJ: "Paizo (under Lisa) is part anarchy, part democracy. With a sprinkle of despotism and thunder from the mountain wrath of god stuff for spice. :)"
Charles Evans: "Can you reveal who is 'the [thunder from the] mountain/wrath of god' without being in breach of contract? :)"
JJ: "OH! Ha! That was just me goofing around. Lisa's actually VERY cool to work for. She's very approachable and a gamer to boot, so that's awesome."
Grimcleaver still can't get used to sabertoothed snotfrogs though.
Takasi: "I think James Jacobs is half dinosaur."
Timitius: "Isn't the mountain wrath of god actually Jason with a good head of steam built up behind him?"
JJ: "HA! Yeah... Jason IS made out of 30% steam and noise... :P"
Takasi: "Eye of Abendigo? Is there an Ear of Shadrak? Severed Hand of Meeshak? =D<"
Mahoney: "Abendigo... wasn't he one of the guys in the old testament who wouldn't burn when thrown into a fiery furnace?"
Timitius: "Yep. Shadrak, Meeshak, and Abendigo. So clever those heathens at Paizo."
Takasi: "I want a map that's huge. I want to put it on the wall. Golarion wallpaper, REAL wallpaper :P"
Summary for January 1st, 2008 (Happy New Year). Initially there wasn't going to be a chat, but we had a surprise visitor later - we missed you Jason!! Abbreviations: JB = Jason Bulmahn, NL = Nicolas Logue.
Pathfinder #3: Rise of the Runelords: Hook Mountain Massacre
NL: "I got all sorts of confused as to how long it was supposed to be...then I turned it in and James was like 'WHAF$&*!?'"
Pathfinder: Curse of the Crimson Throne
"Edge of Anarchy" is slated for February at this time.
Shipping
Pygon: "The only question I ever have about PF is will the next issue be on time :) any expectation for when they will ship Jason?"
JB: "We are working hard to get them back on schedule...but ultimately...I am only a helper on that particular line.. so I cannot say for sure."
Anticipation!
Crimson Jester: "What are you most wanting to see come out of the GameMastery/Pathfinder products in the next year Jason?"
JB: "Well.. I can't wait for the Fumble Deck to come back to us...And there is the PCCS...that should be a lot of fun. Other than that, we are still planning out late next year right now... so it is still a bit mutable..."
Critical Fumble Deck
Crimson Jester: "Are there supplemental rules that go along with the Fumble Deck to make healing those grevious wounds easier?"
JB: "There are a host of optional rules in this one to make the fumbles a bit easier to work with."
Gazetteer
Lilith: "When is the Gazetteer scheduled to come out Jason?"
JB: "As soon as we can get it pulled together.. it is quite a bit late right now."
Item Cards
Daigle: "I like that you guys were giving samples of item cards out, because it netted me some awesome dice."
JB: "Good deal.. we realized the boosters were great for that sort of promotion."
Captramses: "I love the GM Cards...Any chance for a Modern Set?"
JB: "It is not in our current plans..."
Modern & Sci-Fi Adventures
Lilith: "Modern or sci-fi adventures? *prays*"
JB: "Not right now..but we might in the future.. If we do, it will just be as a test to see how the market responds..."
Modules
For Younger Players
Takasi: "I was wondering for GameMastery would you guys consider a 'young readers' type module for beginner players? My son is 12 and I recommended he run TC1 or D0 with his friends. I think that would be an excellent item to fill a niche when 4E is released, the 'get your kid to play D&D' product."
JB: "Yeah.. I am trying to move us in a direction that is a bit more 'young player' friendly..."
Wyvern: "Young player friendly? Hmm... Just don't make it for the stupid."
JB: "Never.. I understand the difference between 'young friendly' and 'dumbed down.'"
Non-d20 System
Crimson Jester: "Would you ever consider doing a module or book for another game system?"
JB: "Not as of right now."
OGL
Takasi: "Any OGL stuff coming up in GameMastery modules? Any books I might be interested in?"
Crimson Jester: "What sort of OGL books do you plan to use in the future or do you give your creaters/writers free reign to use anything?"
JB: "I personally push our authors to come up with new material.. but there are some existing sources we still tend to use..."
Crimson Jester: "Such as?"
JB: "Advanced Bestiary, and the Necromancer [Games] Monster Books."
Crimson Jester: "Are you planning to use anything else such as advanced Players?"
JB: "I am not sure...not currently."
Darkmoon Vale
Takasi: "I would like more adventures in Darkmoon Vale."
JB: "Granted."
Jason Bulmahn bobs head like a genie...
Takasi: "In addition to the Lost Baron series, of course. And when will we see LB0 in the catalog?"
JB: "As the Free RPG Day mod, I am not sure when it will show up."
Drow
JB: [On the origin of the drow] "We've got a pretty cool idea that is coming together... but I do not think I want to spoil it yet...They do indeed like spiders...And demons, of course."
Crimson Jester: "are you going for the hollow world theory or the pockmarked underground?"
JB: "More the latter..."
cappadocius: "Drow live in FREAKING CAVES. YOU LOSE PIGMENT WHEN YOU STOP BEING EXPOSED TO SUNLIGHT."
JB: "This is of course true.. but we are dealing with a world where fireballs can be cast.. so we can clearly set aside some rules if we like."
Harrow Deck
JB: "Coming along.. I have seen most of the final art (if not all) and it is looking pretty sweet."
Lilith: "Character creation rules for Harrow Deck, like the Three Dragon Ante article in Dragon?"
JB: "Selinker and I designed the card game to go with it... I believe they are going to be working Harrow into the generation of The Curse of the Crimson Throne characters..."
Hellknights
Takasi: "Any hellknight prestige class plans?"
JB: "I know we have kicked around the idea.. but we do not have a place for it.. yet."
Music
Crimson Jester: "Music for Pathfinder settings? ALA Midnight syndicate?"
JB: "Not that I am currently aware of, not that we wouldn't be open to the idea..."
Planets
Takasi: "Red Planet, Green Planet?"
JB: "What about em?"
Takasi: "Common question, when will we hear about them?"
JB: "There will be some mention in the gaz.. but more will come later."
Spaceships?
Takasi: "I have a question, where is the 'spaceship' in Golarion? :)"
JB: "That would be Numeria...:)"
Takasi: "Cool, when will we see that?"
JB: "You will get your first look at it in the Gaz[etteer]..."
Takasi: "And will it involve crazy frog mutants?"
JB: "As much as I love that mod, probably not..."
Western Continent
Crimson Jester: "I am sure it is very far off but what discussion if any has been made about the western continent? the American analogy so to speak."
JB: "Well.. I am not 100% sure it will be that much of one.. but our discussions are very early..."
CJ: "I just don't want to see elven Indians."
JB: "Me neither."
Free RPG Day
Takasi: "How did free rpg day go last year?"
JB: "Very good... I felt like we had the best mod in the field."
Takasi: "Yes, you did. I wholeheartedly recommend it not only for a one shot but also for beginner DMs. I love wilderness adventures."
JB: "Thanks Takasi.. we worked hard to make it so."
Paizo Podcast
JB: "This is something we have discussed as well...and I hope that we can get going."
Daigle: "Does Paizo carry other companies products once they are out or do y'all have stuff in the store before it is available? By 'in the store' I mean on the site."
JB: "We work with the same distribution chain as everyone else..."
Takasi: "Has Paizo ever considered making a magazine like Kobold Quarterly and distributing it through their Dungeon/Dragon channels?"
JB: "That is not possible I am afraid..."
Takasi: "Oh well, one can dream."
JB: "Yeah... we looked at that as well, but the magazine industry does not work like that..."
Daigle: "Any word on Paizo involvment this coming year in the Iron DM event?"
JB: "Not yet..."
Daigle: "This year we need security from the burger-swiping hotel security. And a stage and smoke machines."
Lilith: "And a disco ball! Or not."
Daigle: "Sure. And fireworks. The big f&&#in' flames Motley Crue use on stage."
Grimcleaver: "What I don't understand is how Nick got into writing adventures without some kind of degree in thermodynamics and flood water-flow prediction. What's up with that?"
NL: "HA!"
Pygon: "That's ok, James obviosuly doesn't know what's necessary to run a glassworks. There's no huge lumberstock ANYWHERE to keep the furnaces going! (actually I have no idea either)"
Takasi: "Nick can I ask your professional adventure writing opinion on halflings?"
NL: "I like halflings! There's my very professional opinion."
On angry aquatic dinosaurs:
Blazej: "Does a church count as good (or other) aligned for bypassing DR? :)"
Daigle: "Any chance Paizo'll get all huge in the next year and y'all can hire on a husband wife chef team for catered lunches for the whole staff?"
Daigle is absolutely no help tonight.
Crimson Jester: "You just want a staff job. :D"
Daigle grins.
JB: "I certainly hope so."
Crimson Jester: "More Cthulhu would be nice."
JB: "That is James' department...my job is the sanity advisor.. :-)"
Lilith: "Jason's the sanity advisor? Oh dear..."
JB: "Yeah.. its not a good sign. And I happen to have all my marbles thank you...they are in a jar on the..... where did I put those..."
Thanks for the January 1st log Lilith!!!!!
Drow live in FREAKING CAVES. YOU LOSE PIGMENT WHEN YOU STOP BEING EXPOSED TO SUNLIGHT.
Too bad! :P
I want them black as sin, and with Day-Glo Make-up! Tentacle Rods and Biniki Armor! I want Erol Outus to smile down on them!
Thanks a lot Lilith for posting these delicouse summaries!
Summary for January 8th. Abbreviations: JJ = James Jacobs, NL = Nicolas Logue. Warning: Lots of spoilarz. :P
JJ: "There's warts in Pathfinder. Mostly becasue we don't have enough time to edit/develop it properly. It's a patient sent back home with a sponge still sewn inside him in some cases. We're just trying to make sure those sponges aren't life-threatening at this point...And at the same time save the NEXT patient who comes in. I just do the best I can on developing monsters/NPCs into encounters that'll be fun. After 5 years of doing this, I've gotten pretty good at it, but now and then there'll be thigns that slip through. In those cases, all I can do is shrug and say 'Maybe the next one will be better.'"
Pathfinder #2: Rise of the Runelords: The Skinsaw Murders
Takasi: "Comment more than a question, we just ran through Foxglove Manor last week and it felt a little...out of place, more like a Call of Cthulu game than D&D, just an FYI."
JJ: "If Foxglove felt more like Call of Cthulhu than D&D, I count that a win for Pathfinder, honestly. It's SUPPOSED to be a different experience than the standard type of D&D adventure, really. A campaign that sticks to the standard 'Kick in door, fight monster, take treasure, repeat,' is boring."
Takasi: "The party in Foxglove manor had no cleric to turn the haunts."
JJ: "You can turn undead to fight haunts, you can cast buff spells on haunted PCs, you can just run out of the room if you beat the haunt's initiative; those are three alternate ways to combat haunts. If your players aren't the type who enjoy exploring a haunted mansion... you should ABSOLUTELY truncate that part of the adventure. Same as if you have a group who prefers roleplay over hack-slash; truncate Thistletop, play up the Sandpoint stuff."
Pathfinder #4: Rise of the Runelords: Fortress of the Stone Giants
Giant Food Sources
Russ Taylor: "Where do the stone giants get their food in PF #4?"
JJ: "The stone giants get food from the groups who are out hunting, for the most part. The hunters come back, prepare food, pass it out among the tribes. There's not a centralized food storage area really, or a centralized eating hall."
Russ Taylor: "It seemed that they were in a bit of an improbable area to be able to feed all of their encampments :) But I was just making up a question :P"
Sir Wulf: "Historically, camps like that tended to strip the surrounding countryside bare. They would need to move out soon, or disease and food shortages would destroy them."
Lilith: "Usually leading to the need to expand further from the camp and find more resources."
Russ Taylor: "Yeah, Problem being, they have a bottleneck, so their foraging ground is effectively more distant. But I really am not of the 'we need latrines in every fort' school of adventure design."
Sir Wulf: "That's what chamber pots are for."
JJ: "Yeah... eventually the giants of Jorgenfist will indeed strip the surrounding area bare. Mokmurian's not into conservation though. If he launches his assault on Varisia before then, cool. If he doesnt and all his (tattood and ritualized) greedy giants die of starvation... that works for him too."
Hound of Tindalos
Charles Evans: "Hounds of Tindalos. What type of damage does the aura (gaze) deal? Does glitterdusting a hound with it failing its save knock the gaze off?"
JJ: "The gaze of a hound of tindalos does unspecified damage. Like a warlock's eldritch blast."
Charles Evans: "Right <evil DM grin> so no known resist/endure spells stop it/reduce it..."
JJ: "Glitterdusting (or otherwise blinding a creature with a gaze attack) keeps the monster from directing its gaze, but if that gaze can still affect creatures passively it still works."
Charles Evans: "Being an aura, I take it that the hound can not specifically attack a creature with it for extra damage each round?"
JJ: "It's not an aura; it's a gaze weapon. We put it on the aura line simply because it's something that can affect anyone in range, like an aura. But yeah, the hound can choose to not attack with its gaze."
Charles Evans: "I'm slightly confused? This seems to suggest to me that if it's just a gaze attack, if you're not looking at it, (blindfolded/it's invisible) then it's can't hurt you, or do I have the wrong version of Gaze rules?"
JJ: "Yeah, if you're not looking at it, it can't hurt you. But if you're not looking at it, you're flat-footed against it and can't do attacks of oportunities against it and you're all around in bad news land. And a creature can direct its gaze weapon even at someone who's actively avoiding the gaze on its turn. Gaze weapons are tricky. It'd be a good idea to read up on gaze weapons in the back of the Monster Manual before running a monster with those things. The gaze attack of the Hounds of Tindalos is something Wolf Baur came up with. It's pretty much new to them, and isn't really in evidence in the original Frank Belknap Long story, but it certainly fits in their themes. The hounds actually never make a direct appearance in the original story, in fact."
Pathfinder #5: Rise of the Runelords: Sins of the Saviors
JJ: "The Lamashtu article is great. It's gonna get us a 50 page thread too, becasue we have some crazy and creepy stuff going on in the art and article there."
Lilith: "IIRC, the Lamashtu article in PF #5 does not have a prestige class, but rather substitution levels?"
JJ: "The Lamashtu article doesn't have a prestige class, no. It's got a sort of variant ranger thingy. But Lamashtu is a fertility goddess. She has breasts. She's almost always preggers. Etc. And things like gnolls and minotaurs had to come from SOMEwhere."
Daigle: "Wasn't Lamashtu in Meso[potamian] myth a demon that screwed with childbirth?"
JJ: "Yes. In real life, Lamashtu was a demon from ancient times who was said to rip babies from the wombs of pregnant women, and who often had jackals hanging from her breasts as they sucked at her milk. She did not help childbirth. She hurt childbirth. People would invoke Pazuzu, her enemy (and the lesser evil) as protection against her influence in pregnancies and childbirth. We talk about Pazuzu a little bit in the Lamashtu article too. Quite a bit. In Golarion, he's a lot more like the real-world myth than in classic D&D. As popularized to a certain extent by 'The Exorcist.'"
Pathfinder: Curse of the Crimson Throne
JJ: "ALSO: I've seen Pathfinder's new font IN ACTION. The font we're switching to starting with Pathfinder 7. It's pretty nice. It's a little bit bigger, and uses the space between letters a LOT better, so that even though we're running it at a slightly larger size, we aren't really losing much at all in the way of content space over the font we have in Runelords. It's the same font we use in the GameMastery modules. Pathfinder will be running it at 8.5, whereas the GameMastery mods run it at 9, so it'll be a little smaller than what you see in a GameMastery mod. We'll be sticking with a 2 column layout for Pathfinder. And the page treatments are getting a facelift. They'll get a redesign with each new Adventure Path. Plus... the inside front covers are going to have a bit more detail and info. We'll be listing stuff like 'Korvosa's Hierarchy' and 'Korvosa's Enemies' in a family tree style layout."
#7: Edge of Anarchy
JJ: "NICK! Did you get a chance to read what I did to 'Edge of Anarchy?' I hope I didn't ruin it for you...I always worry about pissing off authors when they see what their adventures turn in to once they're through the WRINGER that is my development process."
NL: "Ha! You never emailed it to me!!! I await with baited breath, tons of tissues, and a stamp that says Allan Smythee!"
JJ: "What? I never emailed it?"
NL: "I never got it at least. The ether may have devoured it!!! BAD ETHER!"
JJ: "Hmm. That sounds like me. I'll mail it to ya tomorrow. And I'll check my sent folder to see WHO I mailed it to..."
NL: "AND...you have NOTHING to worry about. You always improve, even when you have to cut TONS. Thanks for the expert editing my man! I love you!"
JJ: "Nick, did you get my revised red mantis assassin I sent you earlier today?"
Lilith: "Red Mantis Assassin? Do tell..."
JJ: "In Pathfinder #9, there's an article about the Red Mantis, Golarion's most notorious group of assassins. They have stuff going on in Curse of the Crimson Throne. Nick's going to write the 'All About the Red Mantis' article for that one, but I wrote the prestige class."
NL: "This is true! About the Mantis...I need to finish that friggin article!!! I've got a few days yet....whew..."
Mothman: "Are these guys nice assassins or naughty assassins?"
JJ: "Very naughty. The Red Mantis are naughty on a Scarlet Brotherhood level."
NL: "Oh they are quite naughty indeed."
Lilith: "The Red Mantis Assassins are as naughty as they're paid to be."
Sir Wulf: "As long as they're reasonably naughty. I love villains that can make their vile schemes sound like the soul of sweet reason."
Mothman: "Why does Red Mantis sound familiar in regards to assassins ... or does the name just work?"
JJ: "Red Mantis is sort of supposed to evoke 'Red Menace' a little. But we've also maybe been mentioning the Red Mantis in a few other Pathfinders or GameMastery modules here and there."
NL: "Yeah, I've seen a lot of what Rich[ard Pett] and Mike Kortes wrote about the Mantis already int heir adventures and its AWESOME!"
JJ: "Nick: Knivesies made the cut, by the way."
NL: "Really!!! You wouldn't kid me now would you James? That would hurt!"
JJ: "Nick! NO! Knivesies is in!"
Mothman: "Remind us, who play's knivesies? Was that ogres?"
JJ: "Knivesies is a popular game among scoundrels, thieves, pirates, brigands, and thugs."
Pathfinder: The Second Darkness
Cover Art
Takasi: "Who is signed up to do the covers in Second Darkness?"
JJ: "Steve Prescot will be doing the covers for Second Darkness."
Underground Races
Lilith: "Any more info on underground races for Second Darkness?"
JJ: "No new news about underground races in Second Darkness. Although one of them WILL be appearing in Pathfinder 11's adventure. I am not ready to reveal any info about this race yet though."
Aquatic Adventures
Lilith: "Aquatic adventures in GameMastery or Pathfinder?"
JJ: "No aquatic adventures on schedule yet. Although sharks and scary water monsters DO appear in Pathfinder 7 and 8 and 9."
Classic Monsters Revisited
Lilith: "Status of Classic Monsters Revisited?"
JJ: "I just approved the sketches for the sections on lizardfolk, kobolds, orcs, and gnolls. They look AWESOME! And yes... our gnolls do officially now have hyena heads, not jackal heads."
Lilith: "I kinda like the idea of 'noble' gnolls with jackal heads."
Samwise: "What if the jackal headed gnolls and the hyena headed gnolls had a war?"
JJ: "There ARE Jackal-headed gnoll variant type demon thingys who serve Lamashtu, though. The art from the blog is not a gnoll, nope. That was me getting a little confused. AND: Us trying to tinker with gnoll look and getting a jackal headed thing that COULD have been a gnoll, but ended up being a type of demon made from corrupting gnolls to serve Lamashtu, or something like that."
Cover Color
Takasi: "If the Crimson Throne cover is going to be crimson, will Second Darkness be black?"
JJ: "Second Darkness, as of RIGHT NOW, will probably have a dark purple cover."
Mothman: "Out of interest, why not black? Doesnt work from a graphic design point of view?"
JJ: "Black's kind of boring and overused."
Crimson Jester: "Is the second adventure path going to be red books?"
JJ: "Yes, the covers for all of the Crimson Throne adventures will have red covers. They'll keep the iconic and half-page illo thing we're doing with Runelords, though. We only have finished covers up through Pathfinder 7. Anything beyond that is temporary, just so Diamond Comics can run SOMETHING in their catalog. Those mock-up covers actually really stress me out, though, because they don't accurately represent the AWESOME that will be. But... something has to be there, and I guess some art is better tha no art..."
Double Month?
Lilith: "Are we still looking at a double month for Pathfinder?"
JJ: "There will be a double month for pathfinder sometime. Not sure when. But I do know we're sending 2 Pathfinders to the printer this month, and we sent 2 to the printers last month. Math and Logic would seem to say that, sometime soon, we'll have a double month."
Fiction and/or Graphic Novel?
Lilith: "Any hope at all for Pathfinder fiction or a Pathfinder graphic novel?"
JJ: "A Pathfinder Graphic Novel would kick ass. I'd love to see one. I have hope for one!"
Lilith: "Eando Kline in graphic novel form. :D"
Kevin T: "Would love to see Eando Kline in a graphic or full blown novel written by James and Erik."
Shipping Status of #5, #6
Kevin T: "Any word on Pathfinder #5 and #6 from China?"
JJ: "Pathfinder 5, I believe, might be showing up at Paizo tomorrow. I've no news about 6, alas."
Mothman: "Back in the Dungeon and Dragon mag days, you guys used to have info on your web site as to when each issue was due to be shipped to subscribers and hit the news-stands. Any plans to provide the same info for Pathfinder?"
Translations
Lilith: "I know French was announced at one point."
Daigle: "And our German and Austrian brothers on here are itching for a translation too. (Though I think on of them is working on it himself.)"
Lilith: "Daigle: I know our German friends ache for Pathfinder goodness."
JJ: "French translations are in the works. No new news for other languages yet."
Harrow Deck (or should be titled "I don't like Kyle's art" :( )
Takasi: "Speaking of cards, with the Harrow Deck coming out (which I'm getting) I have to ask: why do you guys favor Kyle's art so much? I'm not a fan, and I know a few others who don't like that art either. It doesn't seem to fit a traditional tarot style deck."
JJ: "I like Kyle's art because I like his style. I like his creativity. I like how he's a D&D player and works cool D&D stuff into his art. But mostly, I just really like the style of his art. Clyde Caldwell? A lot of folk like HIS art style, but I don't. Same goes for Picasso. Hate it."
Takasi: "I was expecting something that looks more...I don't know, like a real tarot deck, or a deck that you might actually see in Golarion. Seems too cartoony to me."
Daigle: "Takasi, what is a real tarot deck these days?"
Takasi: "Something that would actually be drawn in Golarion."
JJ: "It's not a tarot deck. Tarot decks have as wide a range of art styles as do anything."
Takasi: "Would that art actually be in seen in Golarion?"
JJ: "Kyle's art style? Sure! Why not?"
Takasi: "Isn't it supposed to look like something you'd find in Golarion, to add verisimilitude to the game?"
JJ: "Takasi, no matter WHO we chose to do the art for Harrow... there would be people out there who didn't like the style. And most artists arn't as into D&D as Kyle, so we'd have to spend a LOT more energy micromanaging the look of the cards. If you don't like Kyle's art, don't buy the cards. Pathfinder 7 has alternate methdos of doing harrow readings. And the adventure still works if you cut them out entirely."
Russ: "Did Kyle do the cutesy art in Bloodsworn Vale?"
JJ: "Kyle did not do the art in the GameMastery stuff."
Takasi: "I know you guys like him personally, at least that's what I've heard."
JJ: "I like Kyle personally, yes. I'd still love his art if I'd never met him, though."
Charles Evans: "Kyle drew Downer, didn't he?"
JJ: "Yeah; Kyle did Downer. He also does all the illustrations that appear in the Foreword for Pathfinder (with the exception of the uncolored line art we had in PF1 and PF2)."
Karelzarath: "Who did the box art for the Harrow Deck?"
JJ: "Kyle did the box art for Harrow. The icon art in the GameMastery stuff was done by Drew Pocza. Believe it or not... a lot of our readers DO like Kyle's art. If everyone hated Kyle's art, we wouldn't use him. Simple as that."
Charles Evans tries to remember which artist drew the Paizo Christmas Card....
JJ: "Drew Pocza drew the art for the Paizo Christmas card. I wrote the poem."
Kevin T.: "Guy gets to much flack on the boards. If you don't like the bloke's style fine. But he gets attacked so bad on the boards as if he's suppose to change who he is because of other people."
JJ: "If Harrow takes off HUGE... might be cool to do alternate decks with different artists. That'd QUICKLY get very expensive though...We've posted some of the actual card art on the blog."
Lilith: "I'd like to see a woodcut style Harrow Deck."
JJ: "That'd be cool, Lilith."
Takasi: "I'm getting the cards, I guess I'll reserve judgement until I see them but I have a prejudice against Kyle's art."
JJ: "That's just something you'll have to live with, Takasi, if you want to use an official Harrow deck, then."
Lilith: "IMHO, tarot deck/harrow deck/any fortune telling device derives its 'power' from symbology and symbolism. A more realistic look isn't necessarily better. In fact, a clearer art style would be more effective."
JJ: "Yes, Lilith; the power IS in the symbolisim. Realistic stuff would look very wrong. I DO think that art in Kyle's style could and would appear In Game in Golarion. It's really not all that different a style than you see in ancient stained glass windows, or in illuminated texts."
Daigle: "Anyone have any Pathfinder questions or did this chat turn into an art appreciation class?"
Charles Evans: "Is there a danger of courting controversy with the Harrow cards from some quarters, such as Hook Mountain Massacre acquired in Rise of the Runelords, or do you anticipate that not being such a problem?"
JJ: "How would the Harrow cards draw controversy?"
Charles Evans: "The 'these games are all about worhsipping the devil' squad - Harrow = Tarot = Occult."
JJ: "I really couldn't care less about anyone who thinks Pathfinder/Harrow/Paizo games are 'devil's work.' I rank those types of fundamentalists in the came category as serial killers. People whose brains don't work like I think human brains should work, so I'd rather stay FAR AWAY from them."
Classes
Sorcerers
Takasi: "Is it true Chelaxians kill sorcerers? :)"
Lilith: "Tell us more about Witchcraft, Uncle James! :D"
JJ: "What kind of witchcraft we talking about now?"
Lilith: "The kind that's in Pathfinder. :D"
JJ: "Hmmmm... Not much witchcraft in Pathfinder yet. They DO burn sorcerers at the stake like witches in Ye Olden Times in Cheliax, though."
Wyvern: "Those Chelaxians, what a hoot they are."
Crimson Jester: "Um wait, isn't that counter contrary? Wouldn't sorcerers be thought the world of in Cheliax?"
JJ: "Nope. Wizards are the big shits in Cheliax. Sorcerers are Not To Be Trusted. Cheliax knows and understands devils are not to be trusted. They treat devils and Hell as a resource to be used. They harness hell for their own means. Asmodeus has a strong following in Cheliax; his faith is the offical church, but the rank and file citizens are a weird combination of 'devils are okay to be used but not to be trusted.' It's kind of complicated. I don't understand it all fully myself. But the basic idea in Cheliax is that 'Magic is powerful, and a wizard spends the time and effort to learn that power responsibly, but a sorcerer does not. Therefore, sorcerers are bad.' A wizard is the guy who builds the gun and trains with it and respects it and understands that using the gun is a big responsibility. A sorcerer is a punk kid who finds the gun and goes apeshit with it. That's basically the Cheliax way of looking at things."
Crimson Jester: "Ahh...so the wizard is a British marksman and the Sorcerer is an American gang member with full auto."
Crimson Jester: "Where do Sorcerers get thier 'powers' from in Golarion?"
JJ: "As for where sorcerers get their power in Golarion... multiple sources, but mostly from their bloodline. To go 'SCI FI' it's handed down in their genetic code. A sorcerer has someone in their lineage who's a dragon or a demon or a nymph or an angel or something very magical."
Races
Halflings
Oroboro: "So we know a bit about the humans, elves, and gnomes of Varisia - what about the halflings? Any meat I can give one of my players?"
JJ: "In Cheliax, halflings are favorites. As in, favorites as slaves. They're derisively called 'slips' and valued because they take up half the room and their optimism makes them less likely to try to escape."
Varisians
Oroboro: "So, with the predisposition towards sorcery among the Varisians, is there any tendency towards wizards for those born without the ability?"
JJ: "There's not really many Varisian wizards really, but there are a few. It's a type of magic that the traditional Varisians don't normally have the patience to follow. There are certainly Varisian wizards out there though... but not many."
Oroboro: "And as an addendum then, is there any *stigma* associated with not being born with the ability?"
JJ: "Nope; no stigma at all among Varisians if you're born without sorcererous ability."
Zodiac
Daigle: "Any Varisian zodiac planned?"
JJ: "There's certainly a chance of doing a Golarion zodiac and astrology stuff... but not any time soon. We're a little wary of that subject, since the Astrology issue of Dragon was pretty poorly recieved... I'm not sure that there's a big interest or demand for zodiac/astrology in D&D..."
Lilith: "Will there be a picture of Golarion cosmology someday James Jacobs, or do you want to leave that pretty loose for DMs/GMs to play with?"
JJ: "By cosmology, do you mean our version of the Great Wheel? Or the way the stars look in the sky? Both of those will someday be produced, in any case."
Lilith: "Both. And Awesome."
Wants
Lilith: "And I want an article on troll fortunetellers, btw."
4th Edition
OGL Conference Call
Wyvern: "Were you at the conference call James? With WotC?"
JJ: "We were all crammed into Erik's office during the conference call. As in, there were five of us there; me, Jason B., Josh Frost, Erik, and Lisa."
Takasi: "I think you mentioned last time that Lost Baron 0 might be available for Free RPG Day. Any chance that might be a 4E module? Or has the possibility been ruled out already?"
JJ: "The new, late-breaking news about the 4th edition stuff is going to change what's going on with the free RPG adventure and LB0. As in, we're considering dropping LB0 entirely, just doing a 2-part LB1 and LB2 thing, and doing something completely different for our free RPG day adventure. It's still being worked out, but needless to say, everything you've seen about LB0 through LB2 on our websites is subject to change at any moment. We aren't ready to reveal what we're doing exactly with it, free RPG day, and 4th edition yet."
Kevin T: "Does that mean WoTC has finally let you guys in on the whole 4e thing?"
JJ: "We still haven't seen the rules, Kevin, no. Currently, we're waiting for WotC to get us the NDA so that we can then see the OGL and THEN we can decide if we want to spend the $5,000.00 to get in early on 4th edition. I'm 97% positive we'll be involved in some way with free RPG day. Whatever we do with free RPG day, though, will likely need to be something we do fast and furious from writing to printing."
Takasi: "Just a suggestion, I really enjoyed the wilderness type adventures like Bloodsworn Vale and Hollow's Last Hope. Although Dungeon Crawls are fun, you guys offer very good encounter setups and backstories that would be more fun to run for a first 4E game at Free RPG Day."
JJ: "We couldn't do a 4E thing for Free RPG day. We can't release anything for 4E until August (if we go the early buy in) or January '09. IF we go 4E at all."
Takasi: "On the WotC page it does say they're going to allow publishing on Free RPG Day."
JJ: "Interesting."
Pygon: "If you decide to go 4e full tilt, will PF AP #3 [The Second Darkness] be 4e?"
JJ: "We don't know if we're going 4E yet or not. But Pathfinder will be the thing to watch; when/if that goes 4E, that's how you'll know we're 'Full Tilt into 4E.' But we don't have enough information now to know what we're doing for Second Darkness OR for free RPG."
Takasi: "Second Darkness too late?"
JJ: "It's not too late yet for Second Darkness to be 4th edition. Although it's getting VERY close. At this point, if we were to go 4th edition, I'd basically be working weekends until Gen Con, though."
Charles Evans: "Are Wizards of he Coast actually letting you see the rules without the $5000 up front, to then decide if you want to publish early or not, or is it 'take it or leave it' completely?"
Takasi: "The notice said they can view the rules first. How soon can you get the rules? Tomorrow? :)"
JJ: "They've said that we can expect the rules near the start of February... unless there's delays. So who knows? But each day we don't have them is a day we have to push back the "START WORKING ON SECOND DARKNESS" go code. We SHOULD have already started."
Kevin T: "How much thought have you guys given to taking a major step back from WoTC and creating your completly own rule system? Yes I do realize that in a sense this would make Pathfinder Chronicles non D&D."
JJ: "We've HAD to consider going a non-D&D route with Pathfinder. It's certainly an option, especially if the 4th edition OGL is too restrictive. Stepping away from D&D is almost assuredly a way to cut off a large portion of our audience and customers. D&D is the lion's share of the industry. If we go our own way... we might be successful... but chances are even better we'll not be AS successful. And that'd mean firing staff, producing less product, producing lower quality product, and all sorts of scary stuff we'd rather avoid."
Takasi: "What does James Jacobs think about...all 20's are crits...er...max damage?"
JJ: "I very VERY much like getting rid of a confirmation roll on crits. That confirmation roll is needless complexity. Adding a roll to the game slows it down, and it makes critical hits more often then not into false alarms and letdowns. Having a 20 auto crit is good. Reducing it to just maximum damage seems kind of boring and stale, though, but I'm okay with that since I'll end up using PAIZO BRAND CRITICAL HIT CARDS to keep the critical hits fun and exciting."
Russ: "The critical hit deck ain't gonna be 4.0 compliant :)"
JJ: "If that means we have to do a 4th edition crit hit deck... we'll do that. But the crit hit deck is pretty vague on exactly how you apply the rules. It's very VERY adaptable and open to house ruling."
Russ Taylor: "There's a 4th ed issue for ya, no sorcs."
JJ: "Yeah. I'm not too wild about having what is arguably the most iconic of our iconics, Seoni, turn into a corner case if we switch to 4th edition. Which means that she won't. Golarion will still have sorcerers in 4th edition, if we have to build the damn class on our own."
Russ Taylor: "There may not be a meaningful difference between a wizard and a sorc in 4th..."
JJ: "There will be a difference in Golarion, Russ. AND: If 4th edition turns out to be hardwired to prevent us from keeping Seoni a sorcerer, that's a failing of 4th edition. Every previous D&D edition allowed for infinite customization. If WotC invented a way to make customization impossible in D&D, then they don't have D&D anymore. They have a board game. If 4E won't let us make new classes... I'd have to cast my vote at Paizo as 'Nope - sticking with 3.5.' But! I certainly DO hope that 4E does accomodate the type of game we want to support with Pathfinder Chronicles. I suspect it will. I'm just worried that the SRD side of things won't give us the freedom we want."
Question for US time!
JJ: "SO... I have a question for everyone. Assuming we do eventually see the 4E rules, and assuming that we like what we see...What would everyone's reaction to a dual-stat format Pathfinder be? OR: To be more broad: What is everyone's opinion on dual-stat products? All ideas are being kicked around."
There was a lot of discussion on this topic, ranging from absolute "yes" to "no 4E" to "maybe." Most people were concerned that there would be no lost content because of the additional stat blocks.
JJ: "I'm not even sure a dual-stat appraoch to 3.5 and 4.0 is even possible..."
Lilith: "If dual-stat product isn't feasible, I'd want downloadable conversion guides."
Crimson Jester: "The dual stats books I remember having been done well were L5R with D20 splits."
JJ: "Found one! CREATURES OF ROKUGAN. Wait... I'm not sure this is dual stat after all. It's my only AEG book, though. Which tells me something. That when I was a customer, I didn't buy any of the dual stat ones... Hmm. Huh. This is a cool book."
Lilith: "You're just now noticing? :P"
JJ: "HA! No, I already knew that. I just haven't looked at this book for a long time. I've got thousands of game books here at home, after all..."
lwhalen: "I use the stat blocks printed out on seperate sheets. I'm not too concerned with them being inserted in the adventure. I'm not sure what the common use is. Why not two seperate books with stats one for 4e one for 3.5?"
Russ Taylor: "Printing costs. It costs more to do two different versions of the same book than one larger run. And production costs, for that matter."
lwhalen: "I mean one content book and two stat books."
Angelripper: "Maybe a lower quality (black and white non glossy) insert with 4e changes at the back."
Blazej: "I would assume the changes would require more than a insert."
Russ Taylor: "I'd certainly prefer a conversion supplement to in-line blocks, even if I were using the supplement instead of the printed. I always liked notes for using things in other game systems. Improved the potential utility."
Wyvern: "I rather not have the unused stat, I prefer more content. I'll probably do whatever Paizo does, so whatever you do it is my decision too. I don't see changing my source of adventures."
Lilith: "An appendix in the book?"
Mothman: "IF Pathfinder went 4E, I would appreciate either dual stat or 3.5 conversion notes."
Collaboration
Necromancer Games
Takasi: "Any possible collaboration with Necromancer games?"
JJ: "We'll be publishing Necromancer stuff. But we don't want to cross those streams. Necro stuff won't be set in Golarion, for example. Cross the streams as in mix the two brands together seamlessly. We'll certainly use Tome of Horrors Necro stuff in Pathfinder, but Tegel Manor won't be set in Golarion."
Takasi: "Just monsters, or classes maybe?"
JJ: "Monsters, classes, spells... it's all possible. It's a sticky subject, what Necro wants to do. It might not be POSSIBLE to do it with the 4.0 SRD. And WotC will ABSOLUTELY come out with new versions on their own,at which point we'd have to pick and choose which one to support in Pathfinder. It's going to get VERY complicated over the year to come, as a result. I'm not looking forward to that aspect of this whole mess at all."
Game Time
Mothman: "Are you currently running or playing in a Pathfinder (or Golarion) game yourself? (Assuming you have time to play anything.)"
JJ: "Nope. I'm not playing any games set in Golarion now. I have time to run my own Savage Tide campaign (set in my homebrew world, so that's 'KINDA' set in Golarion, I guess) like once a month. That's about it."
Takasi: "Is anyone in Paizo office still a big WoW fiend? Anyone looking forward to the new expansion?"
JJ: "Jeremy Walker and I are the biggest WoW fiends at Paizo right now, I suspect. I think some of the Warehouse/Customer Service guys play too; I know Cosmo does. Wes Schnieder plays now and then. Warcraft's pretty much become my default 'wind down from the day' game though. I usually play for 2 or so hours before I pass out each night. I'm VERY much looking forward to Wrath of the Lich King, though. Can Not Wait."
Sir Wulf: "James, I find that hard to believe. You sleep?"
JJ: "I do sleep. Sometimes up to 6 hours a day."
Takasi: "Anything cool in PF that might be somewhat inspired by WoW?"
JJ: "The elves flying giant owls in Red Hand of Doom were certainly inspired by Warcraft. If you want WoW in D&D, just buy D&D. There's a LOT in Warcraft that's taken from D&D. If D&D wants to take stuff from Warcraft, I say: ABOUT TIME!"
Organized Play
JJ: "No new news about Org Play, alas."
The Bull-man - MISSING!
JJ: "Jason's been working HARD on the Gazetteer. He and Erik are very close to being done with it, but it's taking them a LOT longer than they'd planned."
The Name's the Thing...
Kevin T: "Out of curiousity...do you know how Paizo got it's name or if it means anything? I know there is a band called Paizo..but i assume not from there."
JJ: "Paizo is Greek for 'I Play.'"
Russ: "As opposed to Hasbro, which is Russian for 'Breaker of Toys.'"
JJ: "Hasbro is actually a short version of 'Hassenfeld Brothers.'"
JJ: "I've gotta start working on getting 'Baron' in front of my name now. Baron Dr. Jacobs."
Daigle: "Is it true that Paizo will be doing a sci-fi AP called X-Terra?"
Charles Evans: "Has Lisa recharged her 'creating a gaming phenomenon every five years' ability yet? (See her profile, on the message boards.)"
JJ: "Next thing you know, Nick'll start talking about Donkey Punches or Texas Whirlim's or Montana Red Dogs or Fat Cowboys or Slippery Lizards."
Russ Taylor: "Are those D&D 4th ed powers?"
Russ [Taylor]'s rules of D&D Adventures: "The stinkier the latrine, the more likely a party will search it for lewt."
NL: "I can't wait until Paizo 4E kicks the crap out of WotC 4E. I'm already stocking up on popcorn."
Mothman: "Recent photographic evidence suggests you are a beard man; does this have anything to do with your legendary hatred for dwarves?"
JJ: "I'm a beard man because I'm lazy. If I can take the minutes spent shaving and instead use them to sleep or play Warcraft or watch movies... I do it. And I've only ever played ONE dwarf in my entire 25 years or so of D&D experience. I'm not a big dwarf fan, is what I'm saying."
NL: "James with Beard = Handsome Devil."
On the WoW lewts
JJ: "Sleep happens after Warcraft, of course. I need to get my daily PVP on, so I can get that fancy helm! You understand! :)"
Lilith: "I do. :)"
Pygon: "Good luck with the grindin' :)"
JJ: "If any of you play horde and end up getting shot dead by a hot night elf named Shensen... I apologize in advance."
Lilith: "I'd forgive your heathen Alliance ways."
JJ: "HA! At least we have chairs and shoes for everyone on our side!"
Lilith: "Fie! Who needs those James? :P FOR THE HORDE!"
JJ: "I guess that gives me more time to surf porn and pirate software."
heathansson (11/27/07): "Do the drow have a main big city such as Erelhei Cinlu?"
Takasi (12/04/07): "Monster animal companions? Will all of these monsters be put into a 'Monsters of Golarion' type product?"
Crimson Jester (12/04/07): "James - Is there ever going to be an informal list of good prestige classes that will work well with Pathfinder?" (JJ: "A list of prestige classes that fit Golarion's flavor, huh? Interesting idea. Never thought of that.")
Lilith (12/04/07): "Can you tell us about any other interesting geographical features of Golarion/Varisia/Osirion?"
Lilith (12/04/07): "Anything more fleshed out for The Second Darkness?"
Grimcleaver (12/11/07): "Is their [hellknights] formation a post god death thing? Sorry, so is the hellknight thing a result of the infernalism of Cheliax after their god died, or is it some other thing?"
Mothman (12/11/07): "Do Hellknights patrol Korvosa’s streets, keeping order or dispensing justice?"
Fake Healer (12/11/07): "We have an ancient clock counting down. We have Runelords that sleep, awaiting their chance to walk the world again, and we have a city encased in inpenetrable crystal sphere.....coincidence?"
Takasi (12/11/07): "Dryder from Germany had a question about European subscriptions or something, Lilith or anyone on earlier do you remember?"
Charles Evans (12/11/07): "If there are vampires all over the place in Crimson Throne, is Paizo going invent a whole load of stuff (spells/items) to make up for the non SRD anti-undead things which aren't available to Paizo?"
Russ Taylor (12/11/07): "Does anyone have any idea why it seems like so many more Pathfinder #2s were lost than any other issue?"
Takasi (12/18/07) (for Nick Logue):"Did Paizo tap you for any ideas for the Darkmoon Vale book?"
Corean's Disciple (12/18/07): [on Golarian regions] "Something with the Terra Australis feel?"
Crimson Jester (12/18/07): "Any Middle eastern realms...a la Arabian Nights?"
Charles Evans (1/8/07): "From the point of view of Paizo 'staying D & D', how long might it remain a viable option simply to stay 3.5, or do you not have the data yet for such crystal-ball gazing?"
Charles Evans (1/8/07): "Is there an official version of Runelord Alaznist due to feature anytime soon, or can I homebrew a version for posting purposes, please?"
Charles Evans (1/8/07): "As a fertility goddess, do creatures other than evil monster types pay homage to her [Lamashtu]?"
Oroboro (1/8/07): "So, Halfings are tasty in Cheliax, but what about in Varisia itself though? Any significant populations?"
Lilith (1/8/07): "Any sort of official Inquisition-style group in Cheliax?"
I am hoping to get Steve Greer, author of Pathfinder #5: Sins of the Saviors, for this week's (that's 1/15/08) chat - keep your fingers crossed! Once again, the chat room address is chat.dmtools.org - browser-based, no plug-ins required (though newer browsers are a good idea).
Thanks Lilith!
Creative Director
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Woah... lots of unanswered questions from this one. Which means my answers must be crypticly brief!
heathansson (11/27/07): "Do the drow have a main big city such as Erelhei Cinlu?"
Yes, they do.
Takasi (12/04/07): "Monster animal companions? Will all of these monsters be put into a 'Monsters of Golarion' type product?"
Perhaps.
Crimson Jester (12/04/07): "James - Is there ever going to be an informal list of good prestige classes that will work well with Pathfinder?" (JJ: "A list of prestige classes that fit Golarion's flavor, huh? Interesting idea. Never thought of that.")
There will probably never be an official list from Paizo, and certainly not until we decide on if we're sticking with 3.5 or going 4th edition.
Lilith (12/04/07): "Can you tell us about any other interesting geographical features of Golarion/Varisia/Osirion?"
Eventually, yes! :-)
Lilith (12/04/07): "Anything more fleshed out for The Second Darkness?"
Not yet.
Grimcleaver (12/11/07): "Is their [hellknights] formation a post god death thing? Sorry, so is the hellknight thing a result of the infernalism of Cheliax after their god died, or is it some other thing?"
The Hellknights came into power relatively recently, after Cheliax fell under the influence of the house of Thrune and the devil stuff. The oldest Hellknight order therefore can't be more than 100 years old, and is probably closer to 75 or 60 years old.
Mothman (12/11/07): "Do Hellknights patrol Korvosa’s streets, keeping order or dispensing justice?"
Sometimes. They're like the SWAT team. They get called in to help in dire times. At normal times, you might see one or two or three patrolling the streets now and then, though. They can arrest folk and generally turn criminals over to the Korvosan Guard for justice.
Fake Healer (12/11/07): "We have an ancient clock counting down. We have Runelords that sleep, awaiting their chance to walk the world again, and we have a city encased in inpenetrable crystal sphere.....coincidence?"
Maybe.
Takasi (12/11/07): "Dryder from Germany had a question about European subscriptions or something, Lilith or anyone on earlier do you remember?"
No new news yet.
Charles Evans (12/11/07): "If there are vampires all over the place in Crimson Throne, is Paizo going invent a whole load of stuff (spells/items) to make up for the non SRD anti-undead things which aren't available to Paizo?"
Vampires are not all over the place in Crimson Throne. They play a sizable role in Pathfinder #8, and not much beyond that yet as far as I know. Still... there'll probably be a few anti-undead spells and items popping up in the campaign here and there. The primary villains of Curse of the Crimson Throne, though, are humanoids.
Russ Taylor (12/11/07): "Does anyone have any idea why it seems like so many more Pathfinder #2s were lost than any other issue?"
I don't.
Takasi (12/18/07) (for Nick Logue):"Did Paizo tap you for any ideas for the Darkmoon Vale book?"
Yes. If only by virtue of the fact that he wrote two adventures set there.
Corean's Disciple (12/18/07): [on Golarian regions] "Something with the Terra Australis feel?"
We will have an Australia analogue on our planet. Not sure when or if we'll get to ever detail it too much, but I'd like to think we will some day.
Crimson Jester (12/18/07): "Any Middle eastern realms...a la Arabian Nights?"
Yes. This realm is called Qadira. The iconic cleric Kyra is from there.
Charles Evans (1/8/07): "From the point of view of Paizo 'staying D & D', how long might it remain a viable option simply to stay 3.5, or do you not have the data yet for such crystal-ball gazing?"
That's uncharted territory that largely depends on how awesome and successful 4th edition is. What I do know is that 3.5 works perfectly fine to model swords & sorcery RPGs, and I suspect folk will still be playing 3.5 even after 8th edition D&D is out, and beyond. Whether or not there will be enough folk to justify an entire company's support? Too early to tell.
Charles Evans (1/8/07): "Is there an official version of Runelord Alaznist due to feature anytime soon, or can I homebrew a version for posting purposes, please?"
There's a picture of Alaznist in Pathfinder #5. She won't have any stats written up this year, but the chance of her EVENTUALLY being statted up in Pathfinder is, I would guess, 99%.
Charles Evans (1/8/07): "As a fertility goddess, do creatures other than evil monster types pay homage to her [Lamashtu]?"
Not normally. Non-evil folk who want to worship a fertility deity worship Shelyn.
Oroboro (1/8/07): "So, Halfings are tasty in Cheliax, but what about in Varisia itself though? Any significant populations?"
A few of the villages have significant halfling populations, particularly along the Yondabakari River.
Lilith (1/8/07): "Any sort of official Inquisition-style group in Cheliax?"
I'm sure there are. Not sure who they are, though.
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Chief Technical Officer
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Summary for January 8th.
Mothman: "Back in the Dungeon and Dragon mag days, you guys used to have info on your web site as to when each issue was due to be shipped to subscribers and hit the news-stands. Any plans to provide the same info for Pathfinder?"
Yes, but... in the days of the magazines, the magazines shipped directly from the printer. We knew—as much as a year in advance—the exact date that they'd be shipping out.
Printing in China is awesome—we're getting a much better product at a much better price, and shipping it from Paizo allows us to do a lot of really nifty things like combining subscriptions, adding catalogs and such... but the only downside is that the product leaves the printer and gets on a boat and goes through customs and gets on a truck to be driven to our warehouse, and each one of these steps can take a day or two longer or shorter than it did last month.
What this means is that when the book ships from the printer, we know what *week* it should arrive. But we don't know the *date* until they call us to tell us the truck will be arriving the next day. (And even then, the truck took an extra day one time.)
We've begun the process of teaching our website about the concept of "fuzzy" dates, and you can expect to have more visibility into that next month (probably). But the bottom line is that we're just not ever going to be able to be as precise about these products as we were with the magazines, because we can't count a date as "firm" until it's equal to "tomorrow."
And even then, it takes us about three days to complete shipping for Pathfinder subscriptions.
And even then, it takes us about three days to complete shipping for Pathfinder subscriptions.
I still haven't gotten my PDF e-mail. :( Order 857111
(weeps)
Paizo why do you punish me?
your not alone matey
The wait for patjfinder is never fun. It always seems to result in me sitting twitchly in front of a computer with nothing better to do than stare at my inbox. Still you have my sympathy.
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And even then, it takes us about three days to complete shipping for Pathfinder subscriptions.
Because of this I REALLY appreciate getting access to the PDF before the print issue has shipped. I got my Pf5 PDF before the order even changed from pending to shipping. I've read the PDF from cover to cover already, and it still hasn't shipped, but that doesn't bother me because I have the PDF. Please keep this up!
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Director of Sales
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I've read the PDF from cover to cover already, and it still hasn't shipped, but that doesn't bother me because I have the PDF. Please keep this up!
Actually, it has shipped. The display is a bit wiggy right now, and we're shoring this up, but the reason you have access to your PDF is because it shipped.
JJ: "If any of you play horde and end up getting shot dead by a hot night elf named Shensen... I apologize in advance."
It's clear you favour PvP! Look at those lifetime honourable kills.
I look silly, now, logging out with my fishing pole equipped.
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Chief Technical Officer
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Russ Taylor (12/11/07): "Does anyone have any idea why it seems like so many more Pathfinder #2s were lost than any other issue?"
Russ, I'm assuming that your assumption is based on anecdotal evidence via messageboard postings on that particular volume, and on your own predisposition to notice such posts because your own issue wasn't arriving. The reality is that the percentage of subscriber copies that had to be reshipped was much lower for volume 2 than it was for volume 1. (Volume 3 was better still.) None of the the shipments have greater losses than we'd expect.
I can also assure you that there's no pattern to the ones that were lost—the copies we reshipped included US addresses as far spread as Alaska, California, Miami, and Connecticut. (The only thing the least bit odd about the distribution is that four of the lost copies were destined for Texas, but one of those was shipped by UPS, and the three that went via USPS left on three different days, so none of them would have been in the same container with any other.)
In short, there was no particular problem with shipping for Pathfinder 2.
*ow*
Bumped my toe...
Confirmed that Steve Greer, author of "Sins of the Saviors", the fifth part of Pathfinder: Rise of the Runelords, will be at the Pathfinder chat tonight (8pm Pacific time).
*ow*
Bumped my toe...Confirmed that Steve Greer, author of "Sins of the Saviors", the fifth part of Pathfinder: Rise of the Runelords, will be at the Pathfinder chat tonight (8pm Pacific time).
Lilith,
Should I *not* volunteer whether I am going to be there? I mean, it might improve the chances of other Paizo and Pathfinder notables actually coming.
Except Nick. Nick likes me.
In fact, when I have my TV show (Everyone Loves Watcher) I'm going to ask Nick and Mike McArtor to make guest appearances.
Summary for chat on January 15th. Abbreviations: JJ = James Jacobs, NL = Nick Logue, SG = Steve Greer. As always...SPOILARZ AHOY!
Pathfinder #5: Rise of the Runelords: Sins of the Saviors
Lilith: "Tell us about Freezemaw, Steve Greer - was that an original? Did it come out of your home campaign?"
SG: "Freezemaw... yes, original... er, as original as you can get with a white dragon straight outa the book. But, nah, nothing from my home game. I used a pretty cool white dragon encounter years ago in 1st edition and I think the Freezemaw section was channeling on that nostalgia."
Russ Taylor: "Freezemaw looks good. Not that many memorable whites out there."
Lilith: "Yeah, white dragon 'iconics' are few n' far between."
Lilith: "Favorite bad guy in #5?"
SG: "Ordikan, the mithral wizard. But, the shemhazian demon is a close second. In playtesting, I nearly killed the whole party with one of them."
Watcher: "Are there any sections you'd revise if you could? (time travel and all?) Or you think you'd leave it as it stands?"
SG: "All of it, Watcher. That is to say, you're never happy with the finished manuscript or printed copy. There's always something you realize you could have written better or differently. Within minutes of submission, I'm always saying DAMMIT! After reading the edited version, it gave me a lot of new ideas I would have run with. And I love that James added gaurds and wards into The Scribbler's lair. It's my favorite very seldom used spell."
Daigle: "In writing articles or adventures, is there a point in the middle (or near the end) where you just hate the piece? (*or is that just me?) Rather, is writing in a bubble bad sometimes?"
SG: "Yes. The one I'm writing right now is complete shit to me."
Daigle: "Awesome. Thanks."
Lilith: "What do you have in the works for Paizo besides Pathfinder #5? Any more GameMastery Modules?"
SG: "Just sent in the manuscript for The Demon Within last month, Liz. Now working on a new one that I'm not sure I can talk about yet."
SG: "For those of you that have read Pathfinder #5, did you think that the Festering Maze of Sloth was a cop out? The Festering Maze of Sloth was definitely in the works. There were occupants that I planned to include. I wanted to have every branch a playable dungeon. But, I couldn't fit it all in under the word cap. I had worked up this obese little imp riding around in a palanquin atop a mechanical spider. A lazy little bastard that used summon, mage hand, unseen servants, and planar allies to do every thing for him so he wouldn't have lift a finger."
Russ Taylor: "I like it. TK would be a good add. and floating disk. Maybe he levitates and gets towed by his familiar."
SG: "Everything man, The dude was set up to not have to do a damned thing other than twiddle his fingers and utter a couple words."
JJ: "I kinda feel that the Sloth Maze was a cop out. But it was the only solution. My eyes were bigger than my wordcount estimate on that adventure's outline, and you did an INCREDIBLE job making it all fit!"
SG: "Mine as well, James. I had a lot more ambition that I had room."
Pathfinder: Curse of the Crimson Throne
Charles Evans: "Will you be editing Curse of the Crimson Throne and Second Darkness Adventure Paths?"
NL: "He shall! Thank ye gods! In fact I just saw James' edit for Edge of Anarchy yesterday and it rocks out with its cock out, I must say!"
JJ: "I'll be editing every Pathfinder in the forseeable future. That includes Crimson Throne (which is already in process) and Second Darkness."
Takasi: "I'm also thinking of switching to CotCT when it comes out, do you know about when that will be? March or February?"
JJ: "If I had to guess, I'd say that Pathfinder 7 would be out in early March. MAYBE late February, but that's cutting it really close."
Takasi: "What cities will we visit in CotCT James Jacobs?"
JJ: "The only city in Curse of the Crimson Throne is Korvosa."
Takasi: "none of the other towns described in PF3? Korvosa holdings?"
JJ: "There MIGHT be a short stop at one of the outlying towns in Pathfinder 4, but there won't be a map of that town. Basically, it breaks down like this: Pathfinder 7-9=Korvosa, Pathfinder 10=Cinderlands, Pathfinder 11=Big Dungeony Castle in Belkzen, Pathfinder 12=Korvosa (and a little bit of the Mushfens)."
Takasi: "Cool, PF11, Belkzen and orcs, cool!"
Russ Taylor: "Good, I want to learn more about the cinderlands. I imagine great chasms beneath the ashen wastes, covered by a thin shell that looks like solid ground."
Grimcleaver: "Yeah, the Cinderlands are an awesome part of the world."
AP #4
Watcher: "You've mentioned that if you could (due to the pending 4 ED decision) you would have already started AP 3 with whatever system. Have you had any daydreams or ideas about AP 4?"
JJ: "I have ideas and daydreams about AP 4, AP 5, AP 6, AP 7, AP 8, and AP9, in fact."
Watcher: "I'll settle on your thoughts about 4. I'm a reasonable guy :)"
JJ: "I'm not ready to say anything at all about AP 4 yet, alas. Since I don't know which of the six or ten or whatever I've got planned WILL be AP4 yet."
Aquatic AP
JJ: "Water/aquatic based APs are in my mind, never fear."
Author Bonus Material
Kevin T: "Any possibility in the future to have a section where authors of adventure paths and gamemastery modules can give some extra input on their stuff that wasn't able to fit in. I know in Nic's Hook Mountain there was a part that was removed that would have made our game a whole lot easier and more enjoyable if we had known about it."
Lilith: "That would be a perfect web supplement."
Grimcleaver: "Would LOVE that!"
Pygon: "Yes bonus web supplements would be nice!"
JJ: "Ugh... web supplements make me cry."
Russ Taylor: "Web supplements bother me. Occasionally, you get a really good one, but they seem to start seeming almost like obligations, and a lot of them are phoned in."
JJ: "The messageboards are the best place for our authors to talk about stuff that got cut and couldn't fit in adventures, but honestly... I hope that in the future, our authors will be a bit more on-the-ball about writing adventures to word count rather than writing twice that amount. It's not like we tell our authors "This is your only chance; make sure all your good ideas are in this one!""
Kevin T: "Okay James I'll agree with you on that. Any possibility to create a new section for the authors so they can do that and make it easier for players / DMs to find this info. Of late it's almost like pulling teeth trying to find any info, as well if its in the forums it will disappear after time. Perhapse it'd be able to create a new tab where the info would be stored. I've no idea how hard this would be for you guys, if it is to hard sorry and just forgot what I said. You guys do a great job, and i know how busy and hard working you all are."
JJ: "Web supplements make me cry because we're already doing 60+ hour weeks just to get Pathfinder going. Adding a web supplement on top of that turns it into a 70 hour week, and when they're late, we get a LOT of indignant angry people yelling at us for not providing them. They're cool when they're out... they just don't magically appear. They aren't "easier" to produce. THe only place we save time on a web supplement is printing, and since we don't DO the printing... from our workload, there's no difference at all. So, unfortunately, in my mind, web supplements are little more than licenses to get yelled at. Doesn't stop me from doing them in Pathfinder now and then; there'll be one for Pathfinder 5, for example. And yes, it's already late."
Russ Taylor: "And it's not like you get paid again for them."
JJ: "Eventually, we hope to have stuff like fan resources and sites and stuff at paizo.com where it'll be easier for readers to connect with authors. That's WAY down the road, though, I'm afraid."
Lilith: "There is so much good stuff that ends up in the chats, but not an easy way for people to access it. PaizoWiki, James Jacobs?"
JJ: "A PaizoWiki would rock."
Cover Color & Art
Sebastian: "Whose idea was it to do the crimson covers for the second adventure path? Will all the products tied to the path be that color?"
Sebastian likes color coding, and wishes they'd kept that color coding thing going on through 3e with blue books for DMs, red books for monster manuals, brown books for players, etc
Grimcleaver: "Didn't even catch on that that was the color code. That's funny."
JJ: "The crimson covers were designed by our AWESOME art director, Sarah Robinson. She's got plans to do some sort of color coding for all the APs."
JJ: "Wayne [Reynold]'s last Pathfinder cover is #12. After that, we've got Steve Prescott doing them. He's awesome too. Never fear!"
Lilith: "Steve Prescott's website: http://www.rottface.com"
James Keegan: "Awesome news on the cover art. I like Steve Prescott much more than WAR."
Lilith: "His stuff has shown up in Eberron stuff."
Harleykitty: "Will WAR continue to design the iconics even though he's not doing the covers?"
JJ: "After Pathfinder 12, we won't have iconic adventurers on our covers anymore. We'll have our 12 by then, and the'll be the ones we stick with. Starting with 13, the "figure" element of the cover will be an NPC from that volume. Wayne, in the meantime, will be moving on to doing other work for us, I suspect."
Harleykitty: "Pathfinder #8 cover in yet? What's the scene for that?"
JJ: "We just got in the cover to Pathfinder 8 today. It's VAMPIRRIFC!"
Gazetteer
JJ: "The Publisher is hard at work finishing the Gazetteer, so it's unlikely he'll show up."
Iconics
Grimcleaver: "Oh another thank you. I've been loving your iconics. My PC group just went to Rannick and ran into all of them and have tagged along with them to Sandpoint. They really are a blast! Good work on all of them. They're a fun group of NPCs!"
Sebastian: "Will the art start to be all iconics in all pathfinder products? It seems like the gamemastery modules still have a lot of random non-iconic dudes."
JJ: "Yeah, the "heroes" in Pathfinder will generally be iconics. Now and then they'll be NPCs involved in that particular adventure, though."
Layout
As revealed in last week's chat (1/7/08), the font that's being used in Pathfinder #7 is the same one that is in the GameMastery Modules.
JJ: "But yeah... I hope the new font works better. I never had a problem reading the older font, though... my hatred of that font stems from other issues, the I's and Js, the no bold/italic option, and the ugly 1s being the main reasons."
Lilith: "Which is just...weird. (The no bold/italic)."
JJ: "It is. And frustrating."
Lilith: "I imagine there is some slowdown in the layout process because of that."
JJ: "Actualy... that plus the fact that Sarah is laying out the player's guide and the guide to Korvosa all at the same time is pretty crazy."
Lilith: "Yeesh. Hugs for Sarah!"
JJ: "Sarah's the REAL hero of Pathfinder. She basically came up with the layout of Pathfinder 1 in about a week."
theacemu: "Does paizo use XML workflow? Do you have to convert Word docs or do you provide your freelancers/writers with templates?"
JJ: "On the editor side... we get in documents from our authors and flow those words into Microsoft Word to style things up and do the development/inital edit pass. We then send thsoe words to Sarah, and she flows them into inDesign. We then use inCopy to enter edits and changes. and then Sarah turns them into PDFs to send to the printer."
Low Level Adventures
Atrocious: "Will there be any low combat adventures like "Diplomacy" from one of the last Dungeons?"
JJ: "Yes. There will be low combat adventures like Diplomacy. More to the point; there will be PARTS of a Pathfinder adventure that's low combat. Remember, we can fit 3 adventures the size of Diplomacy into 1 Pathfinder adventure..."
SG: "Low combat? Yeah, I'm working on something like that right now."
On Sin
Atrocious: "What made you decide on the sin theme for RotRL?"
JJ: "The seven deadly sins are a cool bit of mythology. We couldn't draw upon D&D nostalgia for Pathfinder, so I wanted to tap into SOMETHING similar. And at the same time, I wanted to use something from my homebrew world that I'd been working on, so as to save a lot of time on the concepting end of it. The seven deadly sins fit that bill."
Oriental/Modern Pathfinder
captramses: "So I know I have asked this question in past chats....but....what about a Oriental or Modern arc in Pathfinder :)"
JJ: "We'll never do a modern game in Pathfinder. Pathfinder is Golarion. Golarion is fantasy. Modern is not welcome there. HOWEVER: We will, eventually, do a Pathfinder AP that has lots of Asian inspiration and themes and elements."
Russ Taylor: "Any chance of include a new playable race in such a path?"
Lilith: "How about Modern adventures in GameMastery?"
JJ: "No modern adventures in GameMastery either. If we ever do a modern setting or adventure, it'd be a new line."
Osirion AP?
Lilith: "Osirion AP?"
Grimcleaver: "Lilith, TOTALLY! Totally an Osirion AP!"
Pathfinder Journal
Grimcleaver: "Will all the Pathfinder Journals always follow Eando, or will we see other folks get followed?"
JJ: "Pathfinder Journal will follow Eando until #18, at least. After that, we may well switch to a new guy or gal. Probably gal. Definately gal."
Grimcleaver: "A gal journal? That would RULE. You are awesome. It's true what they say about you."
Lilith: "Where's Eando headed next - I do like seeing him get in trouble. :D"
Sebastian: "Is it just me, or is Eando a very Star Wars-esque name? Every time I read it, I think of a star wars iconic."
JJ: "Eando is a Pulp Writer name. It draws upon the same sources as a lot of Star Wars inspiration, so that doesn't surprise me. The Pathfinder Journal isn't going anywhere. Eando won't be writing all of them though. He won't live forever."
Lilith still wants to see a Pathfinder Journal graphic novel.
Kevin T: "If he dies I demand that Paizo put a scene in an adventure path where the PCs find his grave."
JJ: "Doesn't mean his days are numbered... only that EVENTUALLY we'll switch to a new Pathfinder."
Player's Guides
Charles Evans: "Is there due to be a 'players guide' for Pathfinder #7-12 (Curse of the Crimson Throne) as there was for the Rise of the Runelords thread?"
Charles Evans: "Hooray! New Player guides for Curse of the Crimson Throne!"
JJ: "OH! Yeah. In fact, I have to do a final editing pass on the Curse of the Crimson Throne Player's Guide tomorrow, as a matter of fact. "
Psionics
Lilith: "Psionics? Any chance of seeing a focus on them, or at least a mention of them?"
JJ: "Eventually we will do something with psionics. Not sure when or where."
Recurring NPCs
Watcher: "If you have Ameiko appear in a future AP, have a side bar with thoughts about cameo's from PC from previous AP's. For example, I am likely to have the same players for the AP's, but with new characters. Or thoughts about continuity between AP for those GMs who do keep the same players?"
JJ: "Ameiko is in fact the STAR of a future Adventure Path in my head. And that adventure path will certainly take into account events of Runelords, Crimson Throne, and Second Darkness. It's a few years away though, at least."
Mothman: "Ameiko is the star of a future AP ... hmmm, I should post that to the thread where someone was contemplating killing her off in their game..."
Grimcleaver: "That's an interesting angle, so maybe Ameiko's adventures might show up as fiction someday. That could be cool."
JJ: "Yeah, Ameiko's my favorite character from Runelords. She'll be back for more, I guarantee it. If only so I can commission more artwork of her... not a fan of what we got the first time around, I'm not..."
Grimcleaver: "Really dig Ameiko too. And yeah, likewise I'd love to see another artist's take. Didn't hate her picture, but the Battletech guy isn't my number one favorite guy."
Lilith: "Did you see the version of Ameiko that Grant Gould did on the boards?"
Mothman: "Re Ameiko art - someone posted some good fan art of her somewhere on the boards..."
JJ: "Yeah, I liked that Ameiko art that got posted. Grant Gould's style doesn't really fit the Pathfinder style we've settled on, but it's still a great piece of work!"
Shipping
Kevin T: "James, We'll be seeing Pathfinder #6 next month...will we also be seeing #7 if it comes from China?"
JJ: "Pathfinder 6 might actually be showing up by the end of this month. It's impossible to say. And it looks like we'll be sending 7 off to the printer this week, so that means it'll be coming along around the end of February."
Thassilon AP?
Takasi: "Do people seem to like Thassilon, and would you ever consider an AP taking place 10,000 years in the past?"
Kevin T: "Wow...that'd be interesting Takasi, especially if it deals with time travel lol."
Takasi: "10,000 BC :)"
Russ Taylor: "I'd enjoy a time travel adventure. Done well, they're great fun."
Pygon: "Hmm, to be involved in Thassilon's downfall... intriguing."
JJ: "I think yeah, people do seem to be groovin' to Thassilon. An adventure or even an AP set in ancient Thassilon is not an impossibility at all."
Lilith: "Ancient Thassilon could be fun. That would rock, actually."
Charles Evans: "You could have a colony of Ancient Thassilon, maybe, that survived after the empire fell, and which has retained the culture, etc for the past few millenia!"
Madness Follows: "Charles, I asked that on the CotCT boards. The answer says yes!"
Translation Status
Lilith: "Translation status for our German friends?"
JJ: "HA! Alas... no news there. At least... none I've heard."
Charles Evans: "Christine Schneider in your RPG contest is German I think..."
Lilith: "I believe she is Charles Evans."
Russ Taylor: "Yeppers. And she's the one to beat."
Daigle: "She is indeed. And she has the awesome status of being a she."
Charles Evans: "I would think if you give her a job writing a module, she could maybe translate Pathfinder into german. Or you could just give her a job translating Pathfinder into German...."
JJ: "I would LOOOOOOOOOVE to get more female writers into Pathfinder. We've got Amber Scott on board in Pathfinder 7, so that's a good start."
Daigle: "Amber is in PF#7? Awesome!!!!!"
LilitH: "YAY! Amber in #7? Hooray!"
Upcoming Releases
Lilith: "What's next on the plate for Pathfinder besides the APs? Anything upcoming in the release schedule we don't know about?"
JJ: "For Pathfinder? Nothing crazy yet. More god articles from Sean, more gazeteers, stuff about demon lords and rakshasas, stuff about mega dungeons, stuff about assassins and barbarians. You know. The usual."
WANTED!
The Monanator!
Atrocious: "So when is Erik M going to break down and write an adventure?"
JJ: "I've told Erik all he has to do to write an adventure for Pathfinder is to tell me. He's a busy guy, though... it might be a while."
Charles Evans: "Who at Paizo is actually in charge over all (except Lisa) of Golarion?"
JJ: "Erik's the main boss of Golarion."
Classes
Warlocks
Takasi: "Any suggestions for a player background for a warlock, James Jacobs?"
JJ: "Two good places for warlock backgrounds: Have the character come from Cheliax, or have the character come from the frozen north where the demons live."
Takasi: "Like the Land of the Linnorn Kings? Can you tell us more about that place?"
JJ: "East of the Land of the Linnorm Kings there's a lot of demon stuff going on. I can't really say much more about that right now, alas. For Varisia, though, a warlock could actually be a variant type of sorcerer that erupts in Varisian blood, come to think of it.I suspect Chelaxians would view a warlock the same way they view sorcerers; with fear, anger, and mistrust. Probably more so. But a warlock would maybe have a place to hide if his powers were of an infernal bent; he could hide in a church of Asmodeous. Demon lineage warlocks would be hosed."
Creatures
Devilfish (from Pathfinder #7)
JJ: "The devilfish has ties to Dagon."
Dragons
Grimcleaver: "I gotta' say how much I love the dragon article. Not timely, or even a question, but I just had to say it. Especially the variant dragon types. Wow."
Russ Taylor: "The dragon article was fantastic."
Grimcleaver: "I love the sin dragons! I totally want to use them in my game!"
Russ Taylor: "Do we have stats for them already?"
Grimcleaver: "Well...except all I know is that they're sin dragons."
NL: "SIN DRAGONS!??!!??! What madness is this? Where are they from? How do I not know about them!!!!???"
Grimcleaver: "End of the dragon article. All sorts of dragons. I like the humor dragons too. Yuck!"
JJ: "No stats yet for sin dragons. At one point, we were tinkering with putting a sin dragon in Pathfinder, but we couldn't get our act together to do that."
Drow
Charles Evans: "How is the concept of giant bat riding/pteradactyl riding drow coming along?"
JJ: "Bat Drow are still in limbo, alas."
Giant Maggots (from Pathfinder #8)
JJ: "There will be stats for a giant maggot."
History
The First Darkness
Atrocious: "What was the first darkness (since you have a second...)"
JJ: "The first darkness was a time of darkness and despair after the fall of Azlant and Thassilon, after the aboleth called down the Starstone to smite the world. The "Second Darkness" of the adventure path may or may not be associated with that."
People
Baba Yaga
Takasi: "Are there any modules with Baba Yaga? I thought I read someone mention this, is there a Baba Yaga's hut in 3.5?"
JJ: "Baba Yaga is involved in the region east of the Land of the Linnorm Kings. You'll be hearing more about her role in Golarion in the Gazetteer. She's not in any more advenures yet, though."
Atrocious: "Is Baba Yaga a deity in Golarion like she is in Greyhawk (I seem to remember BY being a hero deity or demigod)?"
JJ: "Baba Yaga is not a deity. She's SUPER Powerful though."
Peacock Spirit
James Keegan: "Peacock spirit. I want to know more about that guy."
Grimcleaver: "Ignoring IP for the moment, possible connection between Peacock Spirit and Couatls?"
Lilith: "Couatls are in the SRD."
Grimcleaver: "NEAT!"
James Keegan: "Those WOTCers can't steal the Aztec's sky god."
JJ: "No connection between couatls and the peacock spirit. The Peacock SPirit is EEEEVIL. Couatls are not."
Lilith: "Corrupted Couatl."
Grimcleaver: "Really? Evil? Weird...Heh. There goes another plotline. Heh."
Places
JJ: "The world map is getting close to being done."
Atrocious: "So we get to see the world map in a blog post next week! Great, thanks James!"
Kevin T: "Does Paizo have any desire or interest in publishing an online world map of Golarion with pegs on the locations of GameMastery Modules and Pathfinder books for us to tell the distance from the two?"
JJ: "We might do something like that; an online map of Golarion with all the adventure sites pinned. Sounds neat!"
Grimcleaver: "That online Golarion map thing sounds awesome! Heck, I'd settle for little updates to that thumbnail world sketch from back when."
Bloodsworn Vale
Takasi: "Are there any references/connections to Bloodsworn Vale in Curse of the Crimson Throne?"
JJ: "There are no references/connections to Bloodsworn Vale in Curse of the Crimson Throne, apart from a single road leading out of Korvosa being named "Bloodsworn Road.""
Cinderlands
JJ: "There'll be a LOT of Cinderlands stuff in Pathfinder 10, and some in Pathfinder 7."
Isle of Dread/Lost World
Grimcleaver: "Is there an area of Golarion with a 'Lost-World'/'Isle of Dread' (dinosaur) feel to it?"
JJ: "Yes. There are at least two "Lost World" dinosaur regions in Golarion."
Non-Varisian Areas
Lilith: "Is there a particular non-Varisian area that you'd like to write about?"
JJ: "Yes. I'd love to write about stuff in a few nations that haven't really been talked about in public areas yet, like Katapesh (where Seelah became a paladin), the hold of the Mammoth Lords, Vudra (India), and Illizmagorti (a city I'd like to develop into Golarion's version of Scuttlecove). And the underdark. And Kyonin, where the elves live. and so on and so on..."
Kevin T: "Will all that be talked about in the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting book James?"
JJ: "Yeah; all that will be in the Gazetteer AND in the hardcover."
Real World Cultures
JJ: "We're also going to turn a few "real world" cultures on their ears a little from time to time. Like tying genies to Vudra (India), not just to Qadira (the Middle East)."
Charles Evans: "In The Arabian Nights many of the djinn have ended up in positions of service due to the prophet/king Solomon, son of David, if I recall correctly. Is there going to have been a great 'wise man' equivalent in Golarion who subdued them?"
JJ: "There's going to be a LOT of genie stuff in the future. I can pretty much guarentee that. I'm not ready to talk more about thsoe plans, but yeah. There will be someone who subdued genies and the genies who hate him for it."
RPG Superstar
Charles Evans: "Do you know if any of the countries submitted for round #2 of the RPG contest are being considered for inclusion in the official version of Golarion?"
JJ: "None of the countries for RPG superstar are going to be in Golarion, as far as I know."
Charles Evans: "Unless one ends up in the winning 'write a module' entry?"
JJ: "The module writing section of RPG superstar will need to comply with Golarion canon, I assume. Therefore, no new countries. We've got about 50 of them already as it is!"
Sandpoint "Death Cannon"
Grimcleaver: "So what can you tell me about the death cannon off Sandpoint?"
JJ: "I'm not sure what you mean about a death cannon, alas."
Charles Evans: "I think Grimcleaver was referring to 'The Old Light.'"
JJ: "OH! The Hellfire Flume? There's not much to say about it, apart from the fact that it worked like a normal lighthouse except that instead of light coming out of it, hellfire did. The thing about the Hellfire Flume ruins in Sandpoint is that they're really little more than a few rocks. No one knows what it was really used for, except local sage Brodert Quink and his theories are widely derided as crackpot. It's not till Pathfinder 4 that the PCs get a chance to prove him right."
Russ Taylor: "What did it do to the surrounding area when it was fired? Seems like there should be some fallout from living downwind of hellfire."
JJ: "In any event, the flume hasn't been fired for ages. It certainly WOULD cause some widespread havoc. We don't have Flume Rules yet."
Grimcleaver: "James Jacobs, More interested in look and flavor than rules. I can make rules."
JJ: "Fair enough. Just think of the Flume as a ginormous flamethrower with a range of a mile or two, and that sometimes spits out devils."
Lilith: "Yikes."
James Keegan: "Someone in Thassilon sat down and thought: I want to set those guys over there on fire, but I'm just TOO FAR AWAY."
Charles Evans: "I didn't see any mention of The Old light in Pathfinder #4 (Pathfinder goes up against the giants)."
Grimcleaver: "That's why the giants go after Sandpoint."
JJ: "The mention in PF 4 is subtle; but yeah, that's what Mokmurian's looking for. The PCs could, in theory, learn more about it by researching in the library."
Grimcleaver: "Cool. I can get behind that. And the standing stones?"
Charles Evans: "Thanks slightly confused there since it seems to cross over between 4 and 5 in references and how it emerges that it is useful...:)"
Sandpoint Stone Circle
Grimcleaver: "I guess mainly how does the big stone circle work, what does it do, and would people be able to tell it's got sin runes on it? Would the PCs knowing what the sin runes look like be able to tell anything from the "standing stones" in the cathedral."
JJ: "The standing stones in PF5 do have a sin motif."
Grimcleaver: "The ones in the Sandpoint Cathedral right?"
JJ: "OH! The standing stones in the Sandpoint cathedral are not sin associated at all. They're sacred to Desna."
Grimcleaver: "Says in Pathfinder #1 that the Desna thing's a lie, that they're really a focus for the superflamey weapon. That basically the Varisians invented the whole "pillars of Desna" thing to get away from the awfulness of their true purpose. The SITE of the standing stones is a focus; the stones there now were erected by worshipers of Desna as a warning to the generations to come, and over the thousands of years, the generations forgot that and they became just another sacred site to Desna. That whole element never really went anywhere in the campaign, alas."
Grimcleaver: "Oh...wow. That totally changes everything. I connected the seven stones with the whole sin wheel thing...I'd totally had them pegged as these creepy Thassilon resonator things--like the Anima Relics."
JJ: "The seven pointed star underlies everything in Thassilon. The ancient Desnans used that pattern as a warning; they assumed that people would never forget that a 7 pointed star = evil. They were wrong."
Grimcleaver: "As always your thoughts have sent me 180 degrees away from where I was. I love that you've got all the answers on this stuff. It's great being able to pick your brains. Mmm. Brains."
Unexplored
Kevin T: "James, didn't you guys say that there will be continents on Golarion that will not be explained and left vague?"
JJ: "There will be parts of Golarion that will be left vague, yes, but not because we're "saving" them. Simply because we CAN'T detail everything. There's not going to be a place like Sembia where we say for sure, "We'll never detail this area." though."
Kevin T: "Oh no. Was hoping that youd leave it vague so that we could explain past adventues as having taken part in that part of Golarion away from the Adventure Paths."
4th Edition OGL
Charles Evans: "Is there likely to be an 'expiry date' in the non-disclosure agreement, so that once 4th edition is released, you *will* be able to explain why you took any decisions that you did?"
JJ: "I haven't seen the NDA yet, so I'm not sure about any expiry dates for it. I do expect that we'll be able to explain why we made our choice (whatever that may be) though."
Charles Evans: "I saw a post on one of the threads that seemed to imply that due to the NDA, you might not be able to explain why you decide to switch/stay with the edition change. (I can't remember if it was Mike, Erik, or someone else senior.)"
NL: "Ha! Are you serious Charles? You must be...everytime I read something about the OGL I wince."
Rambling Scribe: "Vic said that they might not be able to explain right away why they are doing something."
JJ: "I haven't seen that. It might be possible. But honestly... it should be pretty obvious why or why not we end up choosing what we choose."
JJ: "I'm actually VERY dissapointed with the majority of what WotC decided to leave out of the PHB's classes and races. (I like gnomes too). A bard IS a buffer. And a diplomat. He isn't a combat guy. If I ever get to make a new bard, he won't be a combat guy. That job's already taken."
Daigle: "Gnomes just need to eliminate all the stupid stereotypes they have and go back to being what they have been in folklore."
Russ Taylor: "They probably ditched the bard for just that design reason - 4th E has no room for combat ineffectives."
Kevin T: "James, totally agree. Don't excpect a combat guy. But would like to see more abilities that deal with diplomacy other then just buffing by having to play musik or sing."
Pygon: "how does it feel to give up your personal creations like Obox-Ob, unable to develop them further due to IP? Would you instead just make another based off from other aspects of your own creation?"
JJ: "Obox-ob isn't a name I made up; I got the name from the 1st edition MM2. That said... it was ONLY a name. I did pretty much make up all the Obox-ob stuff. He's the main badguy god in my homebrew world, and I would have LOOOOVED to have had him be part of Golarion. I like what I've done with him in D&D, but I knew going in that it was work for hire. SO: Rovagug is also from my campaign world, and as it turns out, he'll be getting most of the Obox-ob attention in Golarion! I would have dearly loved to write a Demonomicon of Obox-ob. At this point, I just hope WotC either treats him well, or files him away and forgets him. I actually kept a LOT for mysellf. My campaign world has about 55 gods."
Campaign Journals
Charles Evans: "Do you ever (if you have the time) read Campaign Journals to find out what's happening in various games around the world?"
JJ: "I don't have the time to read Campaign Journals, alas. If I did... I'd instead use that time to get my OWN journal caught up! :)"
Collaboration
Charles Evans: "I've seen it written also on one of the threads that Paizo (in partnership with necromancer Games) is likely to pay $5K so that Necromancer games will be able to publish 4E material with Pazo early. Is there any possibility of some Paizo products contuing 3.5, whilst others may go 4E?"
JJ: "There's certainly a chance of us doing both 3.5 and 4.0 products. Unless there's a clause in the OGL that prohibits us from doing that, in which case I suspect we'll stick with 3.5. Or maybe not. It's hard to say."
Demonomicon
Charles Evans: "I think that you wrote a Demonomicon article for Dragon Online. How did you find the time for that if you're running a sixty hour week, or was it one that you'd been saving for a while?"
JJ: "I wrote a Demonomicon for Graz'zt that appeared online as part of Dragon 360, yup. I wrote that back in September, and it's part of the reason I'm behind now, I think. The Demonomicon was first mentioned in Lost Caverns (of Tsojcanth), but it's a blatant D&D Necronomicon rip-off. And I love it for that!"
Edition Burnout
Watcher: "Any thought or comments on Edition Burnout that seems to be creeping up on the boards? Not asking you about 4th Edition, but rather the effect it's had on the community? (or, if you think it's too sensitive, you can take a pass on it)"
JJ: "Edition Burnout is certainly sensitive. Personally... I'm not burnt out on 3.5. I know some people who are, though. And I can certainly understand WHY they're burnt out. It's part of the normal process of the industry, though."
Sebastian: "I think the burn out is over the controversy, not over 3.5...But I look forward to it."
Watcher: "Ah, I think you misunderstood.. I meant burnt out over waiting for 4th edition, and what the industry is going to do."
JJ: "I DO know that i'm sick of the controversy over 3.5 versus 4th. Its emotionally and creatively exhausting. I've mostly been ignoring any thread about the topic of late."
Russ Taylor: "Yes. At this point 4th ed will be what it will be, the books are in their final states give or take. I do think the best thing you can do if you are happy OR unhappy is take your gaming dollar to the company that suits your needs."
James Keegan: "Yeah, I long ago realized that I had absolutely nothing of value to add to any 4th edition discussion. Doesn't stop a lot of posters, but it stops me."
Rambling Scribe: "Every time I post on a 4E thread, no one responds. I like to think that means I'm being reasonable and unbiased."
JJ: "I've actually run the other way and started plundering 2nd edition's more eclectic settings like Dark Sun and Planescape instead of looking at that nonsense."
Fan Resource Area
JJ: "No news about a fan resource area."
Favorite Characters
SG: "What's your favorite character to play?"
JJ: "My favorite character to play is, hands down and by far, the bard. The druid and the cleric are close seconds and thirds."
SG: "If the WereCabbages invite you to an after hall hours game, will you actually show up this year at Gen Con?"
JJ: "An after hall hours game at Gen Con sounds cool... and hopefully I could make one... but Gen Con pretty much kicks me in the head and ruins me. No promises."
SG: "James, it ruins everyone. That's no excuse, lmao! ;)"
Freelancing
Lilith: "Does anybody have any non-Paizo projects out there? Or has Pathfinder/GMM consumed all?"
JJ: "Pathfinder's mostly consumend all. At least, for me."
Lilith: "It hungers. :) "
JJ: "Once I get out from under Pathfinder... I might try a hand at writing a GameMastery module. Or an article for Kobold; that'd be cool. That's a lie. Once I get out from under Pathfinder, I'm gonna take some 3 day weekends, get my home cleaned up and back in shape from being neglected, set up my Wii to play some Godzilla, and get me a lizard. THEN I'll think about writing again."
Games
Lilith: "Speakin' of...what kinda games you got goin' on in the office? I know there's Lisa's SCAP campaign...what else?"
JJ: "Currently, there aren't any games at the office. We're all way too busy."
Sebastian: "What's your favorite discontinued 2e setting (e.g., planescape, darksun, etc)?"
JJ: "My favorite discontinued 2E setting, if I were being Snarky, would be Greyhawk. If I weren't being snarky, it would probably be Al Qadim. MAYBE Dark Sun or Planescape."
Sebastian: "Did the various setting update issues of Dragon sell very well?"
JJ: "The Campaign Classics issues of Dragon were consistently best sellers. They did VERY VERY well. In fact, whenever we did anything with nostalgic value in either magazine... that issue did great."
Russ Taylor: "And yet WotC is running screaming from the history of the game."
JJ: "I'm not sure why WotC seems so hesitant to embrace the game's traditions and history. In my experience working on the magazines... that's where the easy money is. But then... I also suspect that WotC's fan base and Paizo's fan base aren't as huge crossovers as anyone thought."
Samwise: "Apparently there are two widely separate fan bases out there, wotc to paizo."
Sebastian: "But they were the same fanbase at one point. Do you think there is a relationship between purchasers of the magazines and that split?"
JJ: "I think there's still a lot of crossover between WotC customers and Paizo customers, but I think that it's a widening gulf."
Sebastian: "Actually . . .while without ranting, i think knowing that difference is critical."
Sebastian: "What's your favorite paizo issue of Dragon and Dungeon?"
JJ: "My favorite Paizo Dragon issue? Hmmm... that's a tough one. As for my favorite Dungeon issue? #112 [Maure Castle]. My favorite Paizo Dungeon cover is either #119 or #131. #139 and #124 and #122 are tied for close second to #112. Savage Tide kickoff, Age of Worms Kickoff, and The Styes. I don't know about my favorite Dragon, to be honest. If I had to pick my favorite article I wrote for it? Either "Not for the Living" or the Malcanthet Demonomicon."
Pathfinder in 5 Years
Kevin T: "In your opinion, and answer only if you feel you can, how do you see Pathfinder in 5 years. Still going strong, or discontinued?"
JJ: "In 5 years, I see Pathfinder still going strong. The first Pathfinder videogame will be about to come out, and the Runelords movie will be 3 months into primary filming."
Pygon: "PF PC game!? ooo... :excite: one can dream."
Lilith: "A good fantasy video game? Hooray! And a good fantasy movie...:excite:"
Harleykitty: "Anybody still play Neverwinter Nights? How about a Pathfinder module/adventure via NWN?"
JJ: "I'd love to see a NWN pathfinder adventure. Or NWN2 for that matter."
Kevin T: "Me too James...though sadly for some reason neither game likes my computer."
Play-by-Posts
Mothman: "At last count there were eleven people running Rise of the Rune Lords as play by post games on the Paizo boards - 6 of these games even seem to be going strong! What's your take on this, that so many people want to play/run this as a PbP?"
Kevin T: "James' take is that he's still going to have a job tomorrow because of that. :lol:"
JJ: "I love the fact that folk are running Runelords as a PBP. More!"
Lilith: "Does it amaze you at all the different actions that PCs take in the same adventure?"
JJ: "Nope; nothing PCs do amazes me anymore. :)"
Quality & Praise
Samwise: "I would prefer that Paizo do Pathfinder "right" and leave other stuff for when they can do it, than watch them try to do everything and fall short of too much. if that means no web supplements . . . better the books are good."
Watcher: "Pathfinder seems to capture traditional while being original.. which is a good strategy. You can develop a new product without re-inventing the wheel (pun unintentional, promise)."
Sebastian: "Thanks for answering questions James Jacobs. Keep up the great work. I love damn near everything you guys are producing and I look forward to my monthly shipments."
JJ: "YAY! Thanks, Sebastian!"
Staff Apearances
Charles Evans: "Any chance of persuading Lisa to appear on this channel more regularly to help you field questions, or does she have things which for her are higher priority to do?"
Lilith: "Tonight is her game night..."
JJ: "Lisa runs her D&D game on Tuesdays, I believe, so it's hard for her to make appearances."
Lilith: "Get some of the other staffers in here! :D"
JJ: "More staffers would ROCK."
Lilith: "NorWesCon?"
JJ: "No NorWesCon for me."
Stuper-Sekret Projects and Tyralandi Love
Lilith: "A while back, you had mentioned some super-secret, non-Pathfinder Paizo stuff - what 'tis, or can you not tell us yet?"
Charles Evans: "Does the super-secret stuff (non-Pathfinder) [...] include a Tyralandi update?"
JJ: "A Tyralandi update is IN THE WORKS... but I gotta get out from under Pathfinder first. That thing's a monster."
Lilith: "But, but...we miss Tyralandi so, James Jacobs!"
Watcher: "At the risk of sounding like somebody that didn't play DnD for a decade (briefly) what is Tyralandi? Something written in Dragon magazine, or a Gamemastery module?"
Russ Taylor: "Tyralandi is (1) an iconic (2) a PC based on the art for that iconic that was born dead (3) a gratuituous boobie shot in Savage Tide."
JJ: "Tyralandi's the character I play in the office Age of Worms campaign."
Russ Taylor: "Now we need to summon The Publisher! What summons the Publisher? Goblins eating little girls?"
Immortal Editor!
Grimcleaver: "I think you guys should totally publish two whole different Pathfinders every month! One for 3.5 and one for 4e!"
JJ: "That would kill me. And then there'd be NO Pathfinders."
Grimcleaver: "Well...yeah, okay dumb idea."
James Keegan: "Wait...editors can die?"
Russ: "Only in strange eons."
Lilith: "They can be resurrected."
NL: "Not James...James will NEVER DIE! NEVER! I've decided. I erased his name from the Book of the Universe. YOU HEAR ME, GOD?! MY EDITOR WILL NEVER DIE!! He is now 'out of time'; He is in Otherspace. Where nothing can touch him. He can slave away at Pathfinder 49 hours a day in Otherspace! It's f#~%ing awesome!"
SG: "James is a genius of an editor. He keeps making me look good :)"
NL: "Ha! It be true. James takes Logue garbage and turns it into Plutonium to power Doc's flying car!"
JJ: "Do I get to bring my as-yet unpurchased pet lizard with me into Otherspace?"
Madness Follows: "Yes. But only if you name him Godzilla."
NL: "And in Otherspace, he can edit Pathfinder for you! And his name changes to Eva! It's a magic place Otherspace be!"
James Keegan: "He does count as a person as far as transit costs, though; unless he's under the age of 6."
Madness Follows: "You can also name him REPTAR!!"
JJ: "I've not decided yet. A big contender is a water dragon, though."
On PF #5
Lilith: "For those of us that are waiting on pins and needles...what kind of goodies can we expect in PF #5?"
SG: "Hot, steamy piles of DEATH!"
Lilith: "I like your ideas and wish to subscribe to your newsletter. Go on with the steamy piles of death. :D"
Mothman: "Tell us more of steamy piles of death."
SG: "There are many varieties... all of them steamy and deathful. ;)"
On Advancing Creatures
James Keegan: "If you advance a giant maggot's HD far enough, does it become a giant fly?"
On Adventures
SG: "Folks, it's been fun, but I gotta clear out in a few minutes. If there's somethin you need to ask, better ask it now."
Russ Taylor: "We need more good adventures, get writing :)"
On Anthropophagy
Russ Taylor: "Is it true Jason Bulhman ate your intern?"
JJ: "If we ever got an intern, Jason would have to fight for him/her/it."
On the Dragonlance animated movie
JJ: "Jason Bulmahn bought the Dragonlance movie today. We watched some of it at work. It's TERRIBLE. From what little I saw of the DL movie... yeah. Terrible. The animation's on par with Saturday Morning Cartoons from 1982. The original D&D cartoon had better animation. Plus, the CGI stuff is horrendously intrusive and ugly as a mud fence."
Mothman: "Why oh why can't someone make a good dnd movie?!?"
JJ: "There are plenty of good films that could be D&D adventures. None of them bear the D&D logo, alas. Stuff from Lord of the Rings on down to Aguirre: The Wrath of God."
Samwise: "Because they keep trying to make a D&D movie instead of just making a fantasy movie."
Lilith does not want somebody f!+@ing up her childhood memories of Dragons of Autumn Twilight and refuses to watch the movie.
JJ: "I assume the story for the DL movie rocks... as long as they stuck close to the original novel, that is. As for acting? Bleh. Kind of embarassing to see one of my favorite actors (Keifer Sutherland) involved... :("
On Happy Things
SG: "Happiness is having your 2-year old whack you with a plastic sword when you're not looking and scream, "SNEAK ATTACK!""
On the Loss of Iconics
NL: "Tyralandi...now just another WotC whore."
JJ: "NICK! You take that BACK about Tyralandi!"
NL: "Age of Worms = WotC property now James...you can't play that character any more. Sorry. She's all theirs to do with whatever they please. And I mean WHATEVER They please."
JJ: "Age of Worms, sure, but not Erik's campaign! That's IMMUNE!"
NL: "Everything James...give it up. Your days as a transvirtual are over."
Fatespinner: "So WotC is turning Tyralandi into Jezebel? ;)"
NL: "Maybe so!"
Madness Follows: "Nic, just say it. WoTC's going to McLovin' Tyralandi in ways better left undescribed."
NL: "Ohmigods Madness Follows...I can't believe you said that about James beloved character. What the f~&! is wrong with you!"
Madness Follows: "Not a problem Nic. Jimmy J doesn't sign my paychecks."
JJ: "My days as a Transvirtual will live on, Nick. In Warcraft, at least. And certainly in the first office Golarion campaign that starts up, wherein I'll be playing Merisiel."
NL: "Damn! You'll always have Warcraft! I can't take that away from you!!! I feel so powerless! Warcraft is a lot like Paris."
James Keegan: "Yeah, if Paris is full of guys with neckbeards."
On Friendly Banter
NL: "The best thing about these chats is that James has to answer legitimate questions which leaves him open to all sorts of good-humored sniping. Go ahead James...the people want to know about Pathfinder! I'll be over here with Tyra-what's her name...making obesiances to WotC!"
On iPhones!
JJ: "My iPhone turned into a GPS today! BUT yeah... today's iPhone upgrade allows the Google Maps feature to work as a GPS. It triangulates your position using cell towers and wireless networks. it pinpointed me at Paizo within a few hundred yards. Awesome!"
On Love & Money
JJ: "RPG does not stand for Rich Paying Gig."
Lilith: "Doin' it for the love, James Jacobs?"
JJ: "Yeah - for the love! And for the flexible hours!"
On Setting Fiction
JJ: "Setting fiction isn't always cancer. For Dragonlance, RPG material was the cancer! HA! Not really. But still; Dragonlance is a great example of how setting fiction can really enhance a world."
On WoW & Chat
JJ: "Hmm... play WoW while chatting? Good idea!"
Paizo Runelords
Sir Wulf: "Eric's the final Runelord? What's his sin?"
Lilith: "...Pride? Maybe?"
Kevin T: "Being too kewl? Is that a sin?"
Charles Evans: "Fastidiousness."
JJ: "All seven of us equate to the seven deadly sins; all 6 editors + Erik, that is."
Lilith wants to know more!
JJ: "Erik's sin is the one where he never had a pet growing up and now as an adult doesn't understand the value of having a pet. That sin. Erik would not mix well with a pet. It would not end well for either."
Charles Evans: "Lisa = Wrath!!!"
Lilith: "So who are the Runelords of Paizo, and who do they equate to? I wanna know! :D"
JJ: "I can't say who the runelords of Paizo are! Aside from me, I guess. I'm probably Gluttony."
Lilith: "No spillin' the beans? Aww!"
Sir Wulf: "Good for you! That's so much more pleasant than some of those OTHER sins."
JJ: "Well... Lust can be pretty pleasant."
Russ Taylor: "So can pride. And sloth is lovely. And who doesn't enjoy a good wrathful flame? Envy, not so much. What's the sin of WoW?"
JJ: "The sin of WoW? Entertainment!"
Rambling Scribe: "Jeff Alvarez is the Runelord of firm handshakes."
Also, a big THANK YOU to JJ for "answering all those unanswered questions in the #pathfinder thread." Now here's some more:
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Atrocious: "Land of the Linnorm Kings - wasn't that Golarion' equivalent of viking age Norway?"
Lilith (for SG): "Favorite encounter in PF #5? Favorite new monstrosity in the bestiary?"
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A polite request: To add to this, please put away the hatorade when in the chat room - James and the rest of the Paizo staff are nice enough to take time out of their very busy schedule to stop and chat with us fans. Please refrain from both WotC and 4th Edition discussions, as neither of them have anything to do the weekly chat. (Don't make me use my +5 sword of topic changing. :D ) After the chat is over, please discuss freely, but no personal attacks. You are all adults, and I expect you to comport yourselves accordingly.
I'm not an adult... but then again, I'm not in the chats.
It's just a friendly reminder to behave, and there are some people that are over 18 that don't act like it, and there are those that are under 18 that act like they're ten years older.
"Favorite encounter in PF #5? Favorite new monstrosity in the bestiary?"
Sorry I missed that one, Lillith. I have a few favorites so that's difficult to pin down, but I'll go with one that tops the list. Favorite encounter has to be Arkhryst the white dragon. He's vindictive, petty, and patient enough to wait for the right time to kill off your PCs. He makes good use of some of the treasure in his lair as well, so he can stay in a fight. Basically, that encounter is everything I like about white dragons--the ones that never get any respect. I never actually got to playtest that encounter before turning in my finished draft. So, I kind of feel cheated.
Favorite monster in the bestiary is the Shemhazian demon. The original could shoot various rays from gem stone like eyes, so I kinda miss that aspect. However, the changes it underwent were worth dropping those abilities. I mean, they turned into a new demon type with an awesome back story to account for its creation. How cool is that? Folks, you don't get to create a whole lot of demons in this biz if you're me. Now, I have one under my belt. Yeah, the kind that eats other demons for breakfast and goes looking for seconds. Hell yeah!
Thanks Lilith.
Too busy to drop in but really interested in the stuff you guys talk about.
-KA
*flashes the chat signal*
Two and a half hours until chat time folks! See you there! I'll make a batch of cookies!
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Places
JJ: "The world map is getting close to being done."
Atrocious: "So we get to see the world map in a blog post next week! Great, thanks James!"
You know I was actually joking when I said that right? You didn't have to actually do it... (or maybe I should have asked for something bigger...). Regardless, I was VERY happy to actually see the map on todays blogpost!
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Creative Director
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You know I was actually joking when I said that right? You didn't have to actually do it... (or maybe I should have asked for something bigger...). Regardless, I was VERY happy to actually see the map on todays blogpost!Places
JJ: "The world map is getting close to being done."
Atrocious: "So we get to see the world map in a blog post next week! Great, thanks James!"
We probably jumped the gun a little on that map, alas... it's not the final version by any stretch of the word. There's a lot of tag errors and I believe the scale's wrong and so on... so don't take anything on that map as the final truth of Golarion.
As for those other two unanswered questions...
Atrocious: "Land of the Linnorm Kings - wasn't that Golarion' equivalent of viking age Norway?"
Sort of... but not really. It's one of our barbarian regions, and it does have some strong Norway themes to it, but there's a few other things about it that make it much more than a "Norway clone," just like how Osirion is more than just "Egypt."
Lilith (for SG): "Favorite encounter in PF #5? Favorite new monstrosity in the bestiary?"
My favorite encounter is probably a tie between the Scribbler and Delvahine—encounters that have some roleplay and backstory stuff going on in addition to some combat. My favorite new monster is the Shemhazian demon.
I see no reason not to use the map in the blog today in it's current form. It's "inaccuracies" are able to be explained away by stating the cartographer of this particular map was merely early in their apprenticeship . . . still learning the trade.
Of course any character that is a seasoned traveler will be able to know the differences, but it could be used as a good plot hook.
James Jacobs, you've hinted that you might be getting ready to start hinting at AP#4. Soon.
I remember the night you first hinted at AP#3, and it was a pretty fun chat.
Any chance of that happening tomorrow night at chat? And/or.. will you be in attendance and have a news leak for us?
Just curious, as an East Coaster needs to make a decision on whether to attend or not..
Anyone got the notes from the lastest of the chats? Its just the notes are great for those of us in difference time zones to keep up with whats going on. Don't get me wrong I am really appreciative of all the work already done by Lilith. I'm just hungry for more scraps of golarion goodness.
I do remember the answer to my question...
4th AP- James says he knows where it will be located, but nothing else, and was not prepared to reveal that information at that time.
(Editorial: and I have to say, I appreciate that answer. I'd rather hear that then not get an answer, or get a flat 'no.' An answer of, "I can't tell you at this time," makes more sense to me, because it says the person has thought about it.)
He commented that Erik and Co. have been working really hard on the Gazeteer, and that World Building is hard work.
We can expect to learn something about the mystery of the Elves (they left Golarion at one point, and then returned), in the Gazeteer.
As of the last chat date, no they hadn't seen the new rules. When if the deadline for the 3rd AP has passed, he wasn't definite, but implied that it should be.. but he wasn't 100% sure.
Sorry, that's all I can remember at the time.
Oh yeah.. Takasi's gamer personality type profile. 'Canon-Watcher'... yep.. trying to actually forget that!
Thanks Watcher. Any updates are much appreciated. It a shame I'd really like to particpate in one of the chats but due to time difference they end up at something like 5 in the morning where I am. At first I wasn't even certain if there was a 5 in the morning. I had only heard of it in legend but apparently it exists and is where these chats are located :) .
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Thanks Watcher. Any updates are much appreciated. It a shame I'd really like to particpate in one of the chats but due to time difference they end up at something like 5 in the morning where I am. At first I wasn't even certain if there was a 5 in the morning. I had only heard of it in legend but apparently it exists and is where these chats are located :) .
haha - that sounds like me until my laptop comes back from my girlfriend's house, the chat starts at 11PM EST, the fact that i have to get up at 6am means i rarly make it
Special thanks for Steve Greer (SG), who made a special appearance for the release of Pathfinder #5: Rise of the Runelords: Sins of the Saviors. Sadly, a lot of us hadn't gotten it yet due to some shipping delays. :( James Jacobs (JJ) had skivvied off to the theaters to watch Cloverfield, so arrived late.
Pathfinder #5: Rise of the Runelords: Sins of the Saviors
Ask a Shoanti: "Steve - what is your fav new monster for PF#5?"
SG: "Got to the be the Shemhazian demon. Hunts demons and eats em up. What more can you ask for?"
Russ Taylor: "I'm hoping to see another PF module from you, Steve, I thought Sins had a ton of good flavor."
SG: "Russ, thanks. Apparently the editing had too much problems to give it a fair shake with a lot of people."
Russ Taylor: "I didn't find the editing problems too jarring. They're not like some of the howlers I've seen."
Watcher: "Last chat, the comment was made about wishing writers didn't go over word count. Feel free not to answer this is you're uncomfortable with it.. but did you leave certain sections out, or did they get cut because of you being over word count? Again, take a pass if you need to.."
SG: "I believe I was a couple thousand words over my word count and I didn't really go the direction James was heading in some parts, so he had to do a LOT of work to get it back on track. It was really no one's fault, though. The outline gave me a lot of room to work inside, but my vision and James's vision weren't going the same direction."
Sir Wulf: "Was there anything about the RotRL AP that surprised you after you saw it?"
SG: "Surprises? No. I can't really think of any. The initial concept was a surprise because it was waaaaay different than anything else and kind of risky."
Pathfinder #5 Web Enhancement
SG: "I contributed to it, but didn't write it."
Rise of the Runelords: The Movie!
Name one part of Rise of the Runelords that you'd like to see on the big (or small) screen.
Pygon: "Mammy! :)"
Joseph: "The Goblin raid on Sandpoint."
daysoftheking: "Lucy Liu as Ameiko and Patrick Stewart as Karzoug."
Mothman: "mmmm Lucy Liu......"
Sir Wulf: "Danny Devito as Bruzthamus."
Mothman: "I think Pathfinder so far is quite cinematic."
Charles Evans: "I think 'Burnt offerings' would (as a whole module) probably on its own make the best film (terms of plot) of the ones that I have read so far."
Rise of the Runelords: Soundtrack?
Saracenus: "Speaking of soundtracks, James does anyone at Paizo have a soundtrack list for the first Pathfinder AP?"
JJ: "Nope; not yet. We were thinking of doing one in Pathfinder 6's editorial, but since we're on a 3-week cycle till we get caught up... that type of stuff gets kicked to the curb. Can't go wrong with the Conan soundtrack though. The theme from "Gremlins" is the no-brainer goblin soundtrack."
Fiction
Urza: "James, please tell us there's something new to hear about pathfinder fiction. We're all desperate for some pathfinder novels. ;)"
Lilith: "Or graphic novels."
Daigle sides with graphic novels.
Iconics
James Sutter named Lem, halfling bard.
Planets and Planes
Takasi: "Someone mentioned seeing a focus on focusing on other planets instead of other planes in Golarion, what would you guys rather see? Other planets definately sets it apart."
Lilith: "Planets is a swanky idea..."
Lilith wants to see Planets! :D
Joseph: "I dunno. Planes seems more natural than planets to me. To those who like planets more than planes: What is the appeal to you?"
Takasi: "I would only say planets because planes are usually tied to mythology and sometimes you just want another 'space' that's separate from the traditional world."
Pygon: "Some planets have rings around them. Planes don't have rings around them."
Lilith: "I always felt the planes were for the Gods and eternal beings - planets, even ones you're not from, seems much more DM-friendly."
Mothman: "I'd rather focus on Golarion for a long time to come .... THEN planets ... THEN planes. Planes have been done. I'm sure the Paizo boys will have some great ideas .... but they're done. Also, the planes are a bit tricky .... how similar or different do you make them from the Great Wheel (or whatever it is that 4E has)? In terms of compatability."
Joseph: "For me, planes always seemed easier. Especially from the view of spontaneously incorporating them. The idea of other planets as points of focus in fantasy seems...strange to me."
Takasi: "Science fantasy is uncommon."
Sir Wulf: "I would like to see alternate planets, just because I've seen too many planes that just didn't make much sense."
Mothman: "Joseph: But are the planes easier to incorporate? Do you use the Great Wheel, 4E planes, a new planar structure, what? If you use something different, do you alienate people that are setting Pathfinder in Greyhawk or FR, and using the Great Wheel or the FR planes?"
Joseph: "That's the trick, Mothman. I'm sure Paizo has great ideas for the planes, but which version do you use? It's why I don't envy them."
JJ: "The planes will be mentioned, I think, in the Gazetteer. CERTAINLY in the hardcover. And now and then in Pathfinder and the GameMastery modules. We aren't going to be doing anything HUGE with them anytime soon, though."
Lilith: "An interesting topic came up earlier, and perhaps you can comment. - why do people seem to like the idea of other Planets as opposed to Planes?"
JJ: "I think because other planets aren't as overdone as other planes, and because other planets are a Known Quantity and bring with them baseline assumptions, so we don't have to toss out everything we know about reality."
Saracenus: "It's Mona's fault, all those pulp novels he is foisting on us..."
Takasi: "I was saying that planes are traditionally tied to mythology, whereas planets can just be cool other places completely disconnected to homelands."
JJ: "That's an excellent observation, Takasi."
Lilith: "The familiar, but not quite of Planets?"
Russ Taylor: "I'm hoping the planets will give more variety than the planes do. The planes wind up boring, because they are basically (for example) universe-sized burning pits."
JJ: "Quite astute. Our other planets will be new places, but our outer planes are going to be HEAVILLY influenced by myth (be it classical myth, or more modern myth)."
Lilith: "Planes I always felt were the realm of Gods and eternal beings - not a place for mortals to tread lightly."
Sir Wulf: "Planes should have as much variety and strangeness as worlds do...I remember the first time that I saw a TSR presentation describing a plane in detail. I was blown away by how mundane and limited they made it. 'This plane is ALL like this...'"
Russ Taylor: "Yeah, but in practice, they are one cliche, stretched over 100,000 miles."
Lilith: "James Jacobs: Favorite 'Great Wheel' plane, and favorite Golarion plane?"
JJ: "Favorite Great Wheel Plane: The Abyss. Favorite Golarion plane: The Abyss. The Abyss isn't Wizard's IP. It's more or less generic. Yeah; can't call it Infinite Layers of the Abyss. We certainly CAN call it the Abyss, though. Just like we can use Hell, Hades, Heaven, etc."
Psionics
JJ: "We do have a place for psionics in Golarion, but at this point until we decide about what edition we're going with... it seems silly to do much with them yet."
Lilith: "Even if it's mentioned in passing, 'a place where the mind has mastered the physical realm' would be groovy. :D"
Russ is hoping we can keep the psi off-planet.
Lilith: "I think Golarion is big enough that you can have both magic and psionics on the same planet."
JJ: "Golarion is indeed big enough to accomidate psionics. There ARE psionics somewhere on the planet. I can pretty much guarentee you that."
Finding New Authors
Joseph: "Mr. Jacobs, do you have any updates on possibilities for untested freelancers who're interested in submitting material to Paizo, or is that on hold until after the 4th edition decision/Pathfinder stops making everyone work 60 hour weeks?"
JJ: "RPG Superstar's our current 'find new freelancers' program, actually. And the module contest before that, of course, that got us the writer for 'Flight of the Red Raven.' We don't have the time or resources anymore to have a Dragon/Dungeon style slush pile, though. And to be honest, we'll certainly be watching writers in other companies to look for new writers as well. In theory, the new Dragon & Dungeon online thingy should be a great place to get published, and if that gets going the way the print magazines were going, it'll be a GREAT place to find new talent."
Joseph: "Does that mean that opening the bestiary of Pathfinder to fan submissions is out entirely, or just in the forseeable future?"
JJ: "Opening the Bestiary is turning out to be relatively unlikely in the forseeable future, alas. Again; we don't have the resources to sift throguh mountains of monsters, and often the adventure authors and article writers fill up the bestiary pretty quick."
JJ: "Writing to word count is incredibly important. Going over word count makes frustrated and cranky editors."
Daigle: "Does coming up under word limit bug you, James?"
JJ: "Coming up under word count isn't nearly as heinous. I can always write to fill if it comes to it. And frankly, adventrues ALWAYS have something left out that needs putting in, so final word counts ALWAYS seem to be higher in the end. It's still a problem, writing less than your wordcount, though. Just not as common as overwriting. And not nearly as hard to fix."
OGL Content
JJ: "Any particular favorite OGL stuff out there I should be aware of?"
Plot and Poison (along with other Races of Renown books), the Midnight setting from Fantasy Flight Games, Book of Fiends, Book of Eldritch Might, Advanced Bestiary, Dreamscarred
Pathfinder Launch
Lilith: "Is there anything you'd like to change about the launch of Pathfinder? Things you'd do differently?"
JJ: "If I had all the power... I would have had three times the people working on Pathfinder than we did, and would have had them start working on it a few months early, and would have skipped Gen Con to avoid falling behind on it."
Sothal: "Many woulds in there JJ."
ephealy: "If you had all power... that's cute, James. The Free RPG Day --> GenCon launch worked out well, good timing."
Russ: "It came out pretty good."
Sothal: "True. I like the result."
JJ: "That's good to hear. These days it's hard for me to see anything but the warts on it."
Lilith: "Russ: I'm pretty sure he lost some SAN to that... We luff Pathfinder James!"
JJ: "Yay!"
Daigle: "Hells yeah!"
Joseph: "Pathfinder's the first big thing that broadened my gaming horizons. Every product has some flaws, but Paizo has consistently produced the best awesome to flaw ratio I've seen."
ephealy: "It's too bad the Pathfinder crew isn't as good as the GameMastery one. *ducks*"
Sothal: "Heck, GameMastery is a good addition!"
Thank you, Lilith!!
If adding planets won't be the sole means of including psionics in Golorian, then I can feel satisfied either way. The 4ed factor makes sense as far as timetables go when we might encounter psionic npc's.
Regardless of psionics, planets would be just as cool as planes since I enjoy lots of options as a DM and player.
JJ = James Jacobs. NL = Nicolas Logue.
Artwork
Lilith: "Will the interior art ever be attributed to their artists? None of them have tags to who did them."
JJ: "We talked about doing this a bit for Curse of the Crimson Throne (adding artist notes) but in the end we didn't have time to do it right, alas. It adds a not-insignificant level of editing and layout woes to the whole thing, and since PF7 is still on an accelerated schedule (this time thanks to Christmas/New Year)... we cut that corner. ALSO: We do a LOT of work with studios, and in some cases, a studio doesn't WANT the particular artist credited since it's supposed to be a Studio thing, not an individual thing."
Lilith: "Ceoptra's art style I like, but I don't know who did it! :("
JJ: "Ceoptra, I believe, was done by James Zhang and his studio, JZConcepts. Being a new artist is a toguh gig. You can't really pay the rent reliably. A studio's a way for new artists to work as an artist without having to worry about that. When we work with a stuido, like JZ Concepts or UDON, we send our art order to the studio and the boss assigns the art to the artists who work in his studio who he thinks will do the best job at that particular piece. He'll have artists working on all sorts of projects from all sorts of companies. And he acts as a quality control for all the art that comes out of it. An artist who excells can eventaully break away from his studio and become a self-employed artist, or even start his own studio. Andrew Hou, who does a LOT of Pathfinder's art and most of the covers for Planet Stories, is a great example. He started out as a founding member of Udon, I believe and worked there until he branched out on his own. I think that's how it played out for him, at least."
Mr Toad: "Do all the companies in the RPG industry subcontract their art work, or do any of them maintain their own studios?"
JJ: "Most RPG companies do indeed subcontract out their artwork. I believe that Privateer does not... I think they have some on-site artists, but they also use freelancers like Eva Widdermann. At one time, WotC had some on-site artists (Sam Wood, Todd Lockwood, etc.) but they're now 100% freelance, I believe. It's just a lot more cost-effective to have the art and the words you do done by freelancers. Andrew's a superster, that's for dang sure."
NL: "Hou is a God."
Lilith: "His Demogorgon was KILLER."
Lilith wants that as a poster.
JJ: "The demogorgon cover was indeed Dragon #357. It was originally just gonna be the opener to my Demogorgon article, but something fell through with the actual cover and they asked Andrew to "fancy it up" a little more for the cover. It and the piece inside are therefore a little different."
Pathfinder #6: RotRL #6: Spires of Xin-Shalast
Atrocious: "I've heard that the sword of sin for greed will be in PF6. Does PF6 take place before or after "Seven Swords of Sin"?"
JJ: "We leave it up to the GM as to whether PF6 takes place before or after Seven Swords, actually."
Atrocious: "Obviously the climax of RotRL is the final fight with Karzoug. Can you talk a bit about your design philosophy? Behind the character, the encounter and give some suggestions to help us DM's make the battle the incredible grand finale it deserves to be?"
JJ: "The thing with Karzog that was kind of a trouble was that he's stuck in a tiny room, and that the PCs end up facing him with little chance to interact with him. One of the big thigns I added to Greg's adventure, as a result, were the points in the Pinnacle where he could interact with PCs early via his projections. Also, I wanted him to be really tough (he's a runelord, after all), but with a few key disadvantages. That's where the domineering runeforged weapons kicked in. AND: I wanted to give the PCs some hints of what life was like in the empire's heydey. Greg did some GREAT stuff there with the Leng device."
Takasi: "I haven't read the adventure yet, but is CR 21 a little too high?"
JJ: "CR 21 is indeed somewhat high, but he's also just one guy. The PCs have the advantage of numbers and key weapons like the dominering weapons, and they can also pretty easilly time their attacks on him. He can't. The CR system is broken anyway. A CR 21 wizard encountered on his own is NOT as tough a fight as a CR 21 monster encountered on his own."
Pygon: "so he's a CR 21 by rules but not in practice"
JJ: "He's CR 21 as much as anything in the game is CR 21. That is, to say, he's really bad-ass. And I'm certain many groups will find him a pushover. Just as I'm certain many groups will TPK against him."
Atrocious: "How does Karzoug compare to the other runelords (less/more powerful than most)? Who was the most powerful of the runelords?"
JJ: "The general idea, I think, is that Karzoug is probably right in the middle of the runelord power curve. Xhanderghul (pride) and Sorshen (lust) are certainly more powerful than him, whereas Alaznist (wrath) is probably quite close in power. Krune (sloth) is the weakest."
Achievement Unlocked - AP Complete!
Joseph: "How's the atmosphere around the office now that AP1 is having the last book shipped out?"
JJ: "The atmosphere around the office is the same, pretty much. "Congratualtions! Now Work More!" :)"
Pathfinder #7: CotCT #1: Edge of Anarchy
Takasi: "James Jacobs, it looks like Edge of Anarchy starts at 1st and ends at 5th, that's a lot of ground to cover. in game time, how long does it take? and what is the approximate ratio of non-combat EL's to combat ones?"
JJ: "Edge actually starts at 1st and ends at 4th. If you do all the stuff in Burnt Offerings, you'll end up at 4th also. It's part of the problem with levels 1-3 being so rushed."
Takasi: "PF 8 says it's for 5th level though, James Jacobs, whereas PF 2 was for 4th..."
JJ: "Yup. As in, you do every single encounter in Burnt Offerings, you'll be pretty much done with 4th. It's actually not a lot of ground to cover at all. Again; 1st through 3rd levels RACE by. Too fast, I think. ANYway... Edge of Anarchy will probably take about the same amount of time to play through as Burnt Offerings. If you include the Guide to Korvosa and play up the roleplay stuff, though, it could easilly take one or two sessions more than that, though."
Takasi: "are there many non-combat ELs?"
JJ: "If I had to guess, I'd say that there's about a 60-40 split in Edge (combat to non-combat). Althoguh we try to set up most of the encounter areas so that they can be solved by stealth, combat, OR diplomacy. Depending on your party's kink. In game time, "Edge of Anarchy" takes a few weeks, although you can easilly rush it or stretch that out as you wish. The modular setup makes it really easy to adjust how long it takes."
Takasi: "that's very nice James Jacobs, I have a 'transfer' from another table who loves to roleplay and he's chomping at the bit for something that takes place in the same location for 10 levels. I love that there's a reoccuring, ominous villain throughout that AP, and someone asked about 'scry and fry' countermeasures, I'm guessing there will be something?"
JJ: "We've actually got two kind of experimental encoutners in Edge of Anarchy. One's a chase scene that's handled in a somewhat abstracted manner where you make various skill checks to gain ground on your quarry. Another's a sort of interactive 'cut scene' where a key encounter plays out, the PCs get to tell the GM what they want to do, and the GM describes the results with very little to no die rolls. Scry and fry is a pretty lame tactic, I think. One of the countermeasures we'll be doing is setting up a villian who, if you scry her and then just pop in without taking some prep work (aka the Prep Work of adventures 3, 4, and 5) you'll basically guarentee a TPK."
Takasi: "interesting, I look forward to trying it out, I like new things."
Sean Mahoney: "That sounds VERY interesting James... and if they are anywhere as well designed as Haunts, I think we are looking at some great scenes."
The Merovingian: "Neat! Anything experimental has been surprising my players in a good way. They make assumptions, and are always impressed with the new approaches (recent example "haunts as traps" ;) )"
JJ: "Yeah... introducing new sub-games/mini-games/new encounter types like Haunts are something I intend on doing fairly often in Pathfinder."
Takasi: "so I take it she [CotCT's BBEG] won't be one of those 'levels up with the PCs' type of villains :)"
JJ: "Crimson Throne's main bad guy is a complex character; she's pretty bad-ass right from the start. Sort of."
JJ: "The ogrekin in "Edge of Anarchy" is named Cabbagehead. He's not related to the Grauls at all."
Russ Taylor: "As in the character in Kids in the Hall?"
JJ: "HA! Nope. As in a monstrously deformed guy whose face is all bulges and wrinkles."
Pathfinder #8: CotCT #2: Seven Days to the Grave
The Last Rogue: "love that title"
JJ: "Yeah; our VP Jeff Alvarez came up with that title. He really bailed us out, too... all our ideas were LAAAAAME."
Mr Toad: "Second Darkness. Is there going to be a 'traditional' underdark element?"
JJ: "Yes. There will be lots of traditional underdark elements in Second Darkness. That's the whole point of setting adventures in vast cavern complexes, after all! :)"
Mr Toad: "Teleports messed up?"
JJ: "We arn't going to break teleport, I don't think, for the underdark. I'm not a big fan of the "Here's your new toys for being high level... now go on these adventures where your new toys don't work!" That's poor design."
Atrocious: "Have you decided on what AP you are going to go with after Second Darkness?"
JJ: "I have proto-plots for close to a dozen Adventure Paths in my head. We'll need to nail down AP4 by the end of next month, though..."
Hangman's Noose
Lilith: "Was the gutdragging lurcher in Hangman's Noose inspired by pennagalans? (I can never spell that right...)"
NL: "They weren't inspired by them actually, but yeah, now that you bring it up, that makes sense! Maybe it was subconcious!"
Adventure Path Design & Campaign Setting Hardcover
Takasi: "James Jacobs, there's been some talk on EN World and I tried to do a little on the boards on game style, GNS/GDS Forge stuff and 4e. I was hoping Paizo might be able to provide a more simulationist, old school campaign with Golarion, like through the campaign setting. it seems like the AP provides the tools to run a more narrative/gamist campaign. but the setting, what will it provide for good 'sandbox' play?"
JJ: "The APs are, by design, meant for a narrative campaign. A highly structured campaign that follows a story from start to end. That's my prefered method of running a campaign, by far, but it's absolutely not the only way to do so. The gazeteer, and later, the Hardcover, will absolutely allow for sandbox play. As does the non-adventure stuff we're doing on Varisia in Pathfinder. I really prefer to have recurring NPCs, plotlines, and stories come out of the games I play or run, which is why I prefer stuff like Adventure Paths."
Takasi: "cool, do you think it will provide some of that regardless of which edition or ruleset you use? what type of DM tools will we see in the hardcover? the LGG had a lot of good info in it, and it wasn't very dependent on the 3rd edition rules at all"
JJ: "The hardcover will provide the same type of information regardless of the edition we settle with. Personally, I think that the FRCS is one of the best campaign setting books out there. I'm also quite fond of the classic 1st edition Greyhawk boxed set. If I have my way, the Hardcover will hit all the same types of notes those two products did. In book form, of course... boxed sets are WAY to expensive. We'd have to charge like $300 for one. LGG was great, but it was dry. It NEEDED more rules. It's a game book, after all, not a history book. I assume the Hardcover [campaign setting book] will be mostly flavor, though. Not sure what the flavor to crunch ratio will be. I think the FRCS hits that ratio about right."
Takasi: "will it be full color?"
JJ: "Absolutely. Paizo won't be doing black and white products."
Takasi: "excellent"
Lilith: "The FRCS is very nice. And has an index...Will the Pathfinder Hardcover have an index? Please please please please please?"
JJ: "An Index would rock. No promises, though. Depends on if we can get our act together."
Mr Toad: "FRCS was badly editted as many realms products are... If you counted the population of beregost (adults, remember) adn divided by number of buildings, it came out as over a dozen adults per residence."
JJ: "I'm not refering to FRCS's editing when I say it's the best product of its kind, of course..."
Lilith: "Waterdeep could have been a great book...if it had an index."
Takasi: "will we get the campaign setting in pdf?"
JJ: "I'm pretty sure that we'll be doing PDFs of all our products. But as for populations vs cities... that's something that RPG designers mess up 90% of the time. I TRY to get things right in products I'm involved with, but since the map's final look is often out of my hands... even then it's really really REALLY tough. It's best to just ignore the problem, I think, for at-home D&Ding. Or to think of city maps as "approximations" and not satellite images. City maps are actually the HARDEST thing to do, in my experience. Most of the city maps that have appeared in Dungeon I ended up having to do the map turnover for, since authors seem to be eager to avoid that task... Grrrrrrrr"
Deities
Takasi: "when will we see more info on Abadar? I'm running a Bloodsworn Campaign game and a PC is playing a cleric of Abadar"
JJ: "Abadar gets a Sean Reynolds writeup in Pathfinder 8. His church plays a big role in Curse of the Crimson Throne, in fact. Particularly in #8's "Seven Days to the Grave." We're deep in the development/editing of it right now, in fact."
Takasi: "can you give me just a couple sentences about him? like, if he was in a remote area what would be his 'motivation'? increasing trade? what's a good planar ally for him? or what about 'build an urban area'? "
JJ: "A cleric of Abadar in a remote area would want to find an urban area. Think of them as "reverse druids." They don't have a lot of interest in nature and remote areas. We talk a bit about planar allies and such in the Abadar article, but I haven't read it yet so I can't really say much about it. Anything Lawful Neutral works good, though. Building an urban area is certainly something a priest of Abadar would want to do."
Takasi: "what role do they generally play? he covers law, but Iomaedae covers justice. what role do they have in trade?"
JJ: "Priests of Abadar are often lawyers, historians, and city guards. In trade, churches of Abadar often double as banks. The cathedral of Abadar in Korvosa is also the main bank of Korvosa."
Takasi: "excellent, so a priest might also be a banker?"
Lilith: "So inevitables aren't out of the question for Abadar's planar allies?"
JJ: "Inevitables are good for Abadar worshipers, but there's not much to choose from for low or mid level..."
Mothman: "inevitables sound like they may work"
Lilith: "Creature with a clockwork template?"
JJ: "Clockworks are also great things for Abadarians. As are golems. And yes, a priest of Abadar is quite often also a banker. One of their other names is "Vaultkeeper." Another fun thing about Abadarians; most of them are Lawful Neutral, so they're more about money and law than they are particularly about being charity workers or all-around nice guys."
Russ Taylor: "They sound a lot like Zilchans."
JJ: "Yup. Zilchus and Waukeen are in fact the main inspiration for Abadar back when I was coming up with my home-brew world's list of 50 some gods, in fact."
Takasi: "knowing that Abadar priests are anti-druid is interesting"
JJ: "Abadar priests aren't anti-druid, really. They're just to cities what druids are to wildlands, really. They don't have much interaction at all, but neither are they particularly antagonistic toward each other."
Takasi: "sorry, I meant they are an anti-druid"
Lilith: "Sounds like a perfect candidate for the Urban Druid class and Speaker of the City prestige class."
Creatures & Races
Hellbred from
Takasi: "What is your opinion of the hellbred from FC2, and do you have any suggestions for playing one in Varisia?"
JJ: "I haven't actually read much at all of FC2; haven't had the chance. That said... I think that the game already has tieflings... they don't really need ANOTHER variant. I think that "Hellbreed" are superfulous, as a result. But again... Haven't read much about them."
Dr Who?
Mr Toad: "Will there be any Dr. Who inspired monsters ever featuring in Golarion?"
JJ: "Until I can get Erik to write more stuff for Pathfinder... there won't be much in the way of on-purpose Dr. Who stuff in Pathfinder. But since Erik's writing the Gazetteer... who can say what he'll sneak into there?"
Half Orcs
Joseph: "Any big plans for half-orcs in the future?"
JJ: "Half orc plans? Not really any big plans. I don't like them that much, so they've got that against them...We'll have some stuff about orcs in Pathfinder #11, and there's going to be a recurring half-orc character showing up in the Pathfinder Journal, actually. And I'm the one who gets to introduce said half-orc in the journal I'm writing, so I guess I kind of lied about not havign half orc plans after all."
Haunts
Saracenus: "James is there a template for Haunts?"
JJ: "Nope; no template for haunts. You can pretty much build them the same way you build traps, though. Also for haunts... the equivalent HD = twice the CR."
Iconics
JJ: "Our iconic wizard is set. He's not a young, fresh-faced guy. That said... you'll see PLENTY of young wizard NPCs now and then."
Sean Mahoney: "That would make me very happy... even as a one shot NPC... there just isn't young, fresh faced male wizards out there... all the females are young... but the males are either all freaky or old... <sigh>"
Lilith: "Speaking of [lizards]...Will we ever see Seoni's familiar James Jacobs? And what other kind of familiars besides the standards will be Golarion flavored."
JJ: "Dragon? She's got a blue-tailed skink. Probably not. Actually, I take that back. SOME DAY I"ll make sure she gets her familiar illustrated."
Lilith: "Awesome!"
JJ: "Seoni's familar is named Dragon, which is in fact named after one of the cats we had as a kid."
Pathfinder Monster Collection
Mr Toad: "Will you refer to monsters printed in the appendices of earlier Pathfinders in later Pathfinders; for example will we see hounds of Tindalos again at some point in a later Pathfinder Adventure Path?"
JJ: "Yes. Anything that appears in the bestiary of Pathfinder is fair game for any Pathfinder that comest thereafter. The hound of tindalous does appear twice in Runelords, for example. And we've got an ogrekin in 'Edge of Anarchy.'"
Joseph: "Wait, any monster in a bestiary is fair game for future Pathfinders? ...so there's a chance to see a section in a Pathfinder adventure devoted to going after the Sandpoint devil? A small chance,but a chance?"
JJ: "Yes. THere's a chance a future Pathfinder adventure will have an encounter with the Sandpoint Devil."
Mothman: "Do YOU know what the origin of the Sandpoint Devil is?"
JJ: "I do."
Mothman: "Are you going to tell? ;-)"
JJ: "Nope; I'm not going to tell. THe origin of the Sandpoint Devil's more powerful if there ISN'T an official reasion, I think."
Mr Toad: "I'm interested. Does the reuse of these monsters mean you print 'see stat. block in Pathfinder #x', or reprint everything; as others have said a Pathfinder/Golarion Bestiary might be useful at some point."
JJ: "If we use a new monster from a previous Pathfinder, it'll have a full stat block."
Takasi: "I don't like paying for the same stat block twice, hopefully it's not identical."
JJ: "I don't like forcing a reader of Pathfinder #7 to pay 20 bucks just to run one encounter, though, so full stat blocks are the only option."
Takasi: "that's all well and good for the other reader James Jacobs, but it's at my expense."
The Merovingian: "Takasi, that pretty much ensures they can't, in good conscience, ever re-use a monster from one AP to the next."
Takasi: "also, while I'm whining, I want to point out I dislike PF tactical maps being put up on the blog"
JJ: "I dislike that too, Takasi. I'll see if I can keep that from happening too much. But the Blog is not 100% under my control... so..."
Takasi: "Excellent, thanks!"
JJ: "But you'll just have to cope with the 'repeated stat blocks.' If it's not in the SRD... it gets reprinted. No exceptions."
Takasi: "lame, you've referenced monsters in Dungeon and gave appropriate MM subs. for those without the books."
JJ: "That was a cop out in Dungeon. A necessity brought on usually at the very last second becasue we had to cut a stat block to make room, probably for an ad that came in 30 minutes before we shipped."
Takasi: "for those that paid for the books it was not a necessity"
JJ: "That said... the wandering monster situation, where we reference a non-core monster on a wandering monster list but don't provide stats... we'll do that now and then. sure. But if it's a monster in an encoutner... full stats."
Takasi: "can you at least template it? reprinting an ogrekin is lame"
JJ: "An ogrekin IS a template. So, of course it's a different stat block than the ones in Hook Mountain. The ones in Hook Mountain are WAY too high level for a starter adventure."
Takasi: "well James Jacobs, if I see 'Lucky and Maulgro' again, that's lame"
JJ: "You won't. They're probably dead."
Mr Toad: "Will there be a possibility of Paizo doing a deal with Wizards of the Coast at some point in the future to get Pathfinder monsters into the SRd, in return for some major consideration?"
JJ: "I'm not really interested in sharing the monsters from Pathfinder with WotC, to be honest. That said... they're all 100% open content anyway, so there's no need to get them into the SRD. They're already there."
Tieflings
Takasi: "what about tiefling backgrounds in Varisia, James Jacobs? (might be a popular choice in the future)"
JJ: "There are tieflings in Varisia. Absolutely. In Cheliax to the south, those of a devil bloodline are thought of as curriosities at best and slaves at worst; those of a demon bloodline are viewed as abominations. In Varisia, thoguh, tieflings are mostly thought of as untrustworthy freaks who are best avoided. There's a small amount of tieflings in Korvosa who serve the big wizardly school there as guards. But most of Varisia's tieflings are loners, hermits, or dwell in Riddleport. There'll CERTAINLY be some tiefling NPCs early in Second Darkness."
Yugolo--er, "Neutral Evil Fiends"
JJ: "I'm 100% sure we'll find a way to keep neutral evil fiends in Pathfinder, no matter WHAT system we end up using."
Mothman: "Any thoughts yet on your Neutral Evil fiends?"
JJ: "I very much like neutral evil fiends. I like all THREE varieties, in fact. Devils, Demons, AND Daemons. I like hordelings. Enough to have brought them back to 3rd edition in Dungeon #124! And I like demodands too. Enough to help create an adventure path about them! :)"
Design Influences
Atrocious: "World of Warcraft (with its ten million subscribers) has become a fairly substantial contributor to the RPG scene. Have you been influenced or inspired by this in any way when it came to developing Golarion?"
JJ: "Yes. I've been playing WoW since it released. It's thus always been in my mind, helping to shape anything I do in Golarion. Along with all the genre movies and books I read, of course, and all the RPG stuff I've read over the past 25 some years. A lot of what they're doing in WoW is really interesting, though. Both in its storyline and in its game play."
Lilith: "Besides HPL, what are some of your other inspirations?"
JJ: "HPL is a big inspiration for me, as are all of those he inspired (Clark Ashton Smith, R. E. Howard, Robert Bloch, Ramsey Campbell, Stephen King, Fritz Leiber). Raymond Feist is probably my favorite fantasy author. As far as movies go, pretty much anything directed by John Carpenter, Stephen Spielberg, Akira Kurosawa, Werner Herzog, Martin Scorsese, and Alfred Hitchcock are pretty solid sources of inspiration for me. The awesome thing about Kurosawa is that he's SO influential that people are still learnign from him today. His movies made in the 50s look like they were made yesterday, since they use the same type of artistry people still ape today. It's great! Stephen King's done some incredible stuff with his world. Most of what was tied into the Dark Tower books had tendrils leaking into everything else he's done. AND: His book "On Writing" is hands-down the BEST book on the art of writing ever. THe guy knows what he's doing."
History
The Merovingian: "My foolish players may seek to understand the untimely fall of the Thassalonian Empire. Has this been formally stated in the later PF's? If not, should these foolish players research in Runelord lairs, might they draw a connection between the Fall and the First Age of Darkness (and ultimately Aboleth aggression)?"
JJ: "We have not confirmed how and what caused Thassilon to collapse. We give three possibile reasons in Pathfinder 1, but leave the actual reason to the GM. Eventually we'll maybe get around to nailing down what exactly caused it to fall...there's CERTAINLY a link to Thassilon's end and Azlant's end, though. But since the fall of Thassilon occured after everyone in Thassilon stopped recording information... there's just not much out there to learn about it right now."
The Merovignian: "Thank you. It's an interesting thing to consider, should they engage ancient entities in discussion. Certainly the Runelords themselves know why. I will abide."
Atrocious: "I found it interesting to read that the Runelords all knew what was coming long before it happened and prepared for the fall of their empire. How did the runelords know Thassilon would fall, but not that they would not be revived right away? Were they partially (or completely) to blame for the empires fall themselves?"
JJ: "The runelords didn't know about the coming end THAT long in advance. Probably only a few years before. Whatever it was... there were signs for those who knew where to look! And there's also the likelihood that they self-created the fall of their empire by turning their resources into "Save us from the fall.""
Sean Mahoney: "Perhaps they would have been better off if they HAD considered divination an actual school... might of seen it coming."
The Merovingian: "Anyway, I think the cosmological event that precipitated the first Age Darkness was one of the leading reasons for the fall of the Empire. In my campaign, it will be so"
Lilith: "Is Azlant an Atlantis parallel?"
JJ: "Azlant is indeed a parallel to Atlantis. And Mu. And all other "sunken continent" stories."
Atrocious: "What about the lost continent/land of Thule?
JJ: "There's certainly bits of Thule lodged here and there in Golarion."
World Map
Atrocious: "Thanks for the world map. I was very surprised to see it actually come out the week I joked about it coming out here in the chat. So... what is the "world wound"?"
JJ: "I was actually surprised to see the world map get posted too! The "World Wound" is the big "Demons boiling into the Material Plane and the good guys can only just barely keep them in check" type region."
Osirion
Sir Wulf: "What would you like to emphasize in future Osirion scenarios?"
NL: "Osirion rocks...so does Mike Kortez!"
Russ Taylor: "I would love to see an Osirion AP!"
Sir Wulf: "Me too! Me too!"
JJ: "In future Osirion scenarios? I would love to see more Egyptian inspired stuff. Combined with cool trap dungeons and pyramids and desert stuff. For now, I think we'll leave Osirion to the GameMastery modules... I don't wanna step on their toes."
Sir Wulf: "I was intrigued by the Chelaxian connections..."
Fan Resource Area
Lilith: "I'm going to harass you again about this, but...fan resource area? :P Hosted wiki?"
JJ: "Hee... alas, no news about fan resources still. :("
Greyhawk Map Font
Saracenus: "Are the fonts used in the Dungeon Mag Greyhawk maps commercially available?"
JJ: "The fonts for the Dungeon Mag Greyhawk map is actually based on Darlene's calligraphy work. If I remember correctly, we paid to have it turned into a font. I'm not sure if we ever made it commercially available."
Saracenus: "I would purchase them if you made them available..."
4th Edition OGL/GSL
Sean Mahoney: "So out of curiousity has Paizo received the OGL at this point? Or could you tell us if you did?"
JJ: "We have not yet recieved the OGL yet. It's giving me ulcers in places I didn't know ulcers could be."
On anthropophagy
Lilith: "Have you eaten any interns yet because of the snow?"
JJ: "We DID have some snow... but we're out of interns. Haven't had to eat anyone all week!"
On crossovers
Saracenus highjacks a carriage in Grand Theft Wagon: Magnimar.
On eeeeeeeevil
Mothman: "How are the kids going to play 'diet evil' if theres no chaotic neutral?"
Daigle: "Diet evil....nice."
On shipping out the last part of Rise of the Runelords
Pygon: "James Jacobs, you've just finished shipping your first Pathfinder adventure path! What are you gonna do next!?"
James Jacobs: "Have a nervous breakdown and then continue working on AP2, I guess."
On sweat-flavored soda
JJ: "The Jones Soda event happened in December... it was less onerous this year. Although "Sweat" flavored soda was pretty nasty."
We were sad there were no pictures or videos. :(
On the awesome
Joseph: "Keep rocking, but not too much harder. I don't think my bookshelf can take the awesome."
Dagnabit. I forgot to put that in there, but yes, it's from January 29th. (Only two weeks behind now! Woo-hoo!)
Chat summary for February 5th, 2008. JJ = Doctor Baron James Jacobs, NL = Nick Logue.
In Development
Lilith: "Whatchoo workin' on right now?"
JJ: "A vanilla chai. BUT: At work? Pathfinder 8. Just about done doing the initial development/editing pass on "Seven Days to the Grave.""
Saracenus: "Who is writing PF8?"
JJ: "PF8's adventure is written by Paizo's Own F. Wesley Schneider."
The Last Rogue: "So what is the big time eater (project wise) at Paizo for you lately? Which issue are you 'on?'"
JJ: "The big time eater right now is Pathfinder 8."
Rise of the Runelords
JJ: "That diary drove me mad... I'm SURE there was some juicy stuff in there. In fact... Tsuto's diary in Burnt Offerings may have been somewhat inspired by that whole thing, now that I think about it."
Curse of the Crimson Throne
Takasi: "when will we see PF 7 and the guide to Korvosa?"
JJ: "PF7 and the guide to Korvosa should be showing up late February, I think. MAYBE early March."
Dworking: "I am excited about AP#2 though.. I actually love the idea of the Harrow Deck, and hope such innovations will continue. That's a good question, will there be Harrow Deck support for later AP's?"
JJ: "There may or may not be Harrow deck stuff in future APs. If the Harrow deck sells like mad, then probably so! If it only sells okay, or if it (shudder) tanks, then nope."
Lilith: "How is the new color scheme for CotCT working? I wants to see the shiny precious, I do..."
JJ: "We just got in our firstbound sample of "Edge of Anarchy," actually... and the Player's Guide and Harrow, in fact. They look great! Especially Harrow... turned out INCREDIBLE!"
NL: "ME WANTY EDGE OF ANARCHY!"
JJ: "You excited to see which ones of your Anarchy recurring NPCs get killed off by the end, Nick? (We just decided to put Sabina on the cover of #12, btw...)"
NL: "DAMN YOU JACOBS! You leave my NPCs alone!"
JJ: "Some of them will die, Nick."
NL: "NOOOOoooooooOOOOOOoooooOOOOOooooo!"
JJ: "Think of poor Mike! His whole CITY is going into the shitter!"
NL: "Ha! That's true! Korvosa...it's what's for dinner. All that work, just to watch the place go up in smoke! HA!"
Lilith: "Just after he got done makin' it too..."
NL: "I love a good fantasy city, and I dig on Sharn and Stormreach loads, but I gotta say Korvosa is the bomb."
JJ: "Mike keeps getting all freaked out and scared when I tell him what's gonna happen to this building and that NPC... but other times he just freaks out in a good way. Like when we show him pictures of XXXXX stabbing XXXXX with a XXXXX that XXXXX just tore out of her XXXXXX."
NL: "Ha! Best spoilers ever James!"
AP #3: The Second Darkness
Cover Art
Takasi: "when will we see our first half-naked drow cover James Jacobs?"
JJ: "There'll probably be a half-naked drow on the cover of PF13. Probably again on PF15 and maybe again on PF18."
Takasi: "I would make no complaints if you had one in the side of each page, like the Conan books :)"
JJ: "How about a naked drow down in the corner of the page, flip-book-style, doing a belly dance?"
Lilith: "Yay James! That would be cool! :D"
Mothman: "Lets make them half naked female drow"
Pygon: "bellydance flip corner would be cool, I haven't seen one of those in a long time"
JJ: "At least one of our half naked drow will be a guy."
Lilith: "Hawt. :squee:"
Mothman: "I read that as 'at least one half of our naked drow will be a guy.'"
Lilith: "Hermaphrodite drow?"
JJ: "There may indeed be hemaphrodite drow involved. Anything's possible."
Mad Geologist: "Can I just be quite clear - you're not putting the half-naked female and the half-naked male in the same flip-book set?"
Writers
Mothman: "Are writers lined up for AP3 yet? (or started?)"
JJ: "We've got writers lined up for the first 4 adventures in AP3. We should have had them start writing the first one about two months ago, too. I'm not gonna reveal the writers till we can reveal what system we're using."
Mechanics
JJ: "At this point, though, Second Darkness as 3.5 is growing to be a stronger possiblity each day."
Russ Taylor: "I would rather see a solid 3.5E than a rushed 4E."
Mad Geologist: "I imagine there will be a 'changeover' period whilst the market adjusts/adapts after 4th Edition comes out anyway, so a 3.5 Second Darkness ought to give you clearer information where you can go..."
JJ: "If we do [conversion notes], we'll do them the way we're doing the True20 and C&C conversion notes."
Adventure Path the Fourth
JJ: "I have decided what nation/region Adventure Path #4 will be taking place in, but that's pretty much ALL that's been decided about it so far."
Dworkin: "Can that info be leaked?"
JJ: "Leaking the info about where AP4 is set? Nope; not yet. It's nowhere NEAR being in leakable stage yet."
Big Bad Spellcasters
Lilith: "We've got the Runelords as bad ass spellcasters, any hope of seeing bad ass divine spellcasters?"
JJ: "Yes. There'll be a badass divine spellcaster in Second Darkness for SURE. Probably a few in Crimson Throne too."
Lilith: "Aweshum! :squee:"
Cover Art
Lilith: "Is there plans to do special alternate covers for part one of each AP?"
JJ: "We'll probably be doing an alternate cover for each Gen Con issue. There won't be an alternate cover for Pathfinder 7, though."
Adventure Design
Takasi: "Dungeon Crawls are for gamists. Urban Intrigue are for dramatists. Wilderness Adventures are for simulationists. You can break the mold, but each is setup well for those styles."
JJ: "I think that's actually a pretty good generalzation about the three classic adventrue sites. There's certainly crossover though."
Takasi: "Yes, and room to do a crawl in the streets, or intrigue in the wilderness or open ended dungeons."
Mad Geologist: "Do you bear anything like that (Takasi's classifications) in mind when editting Pathfinder/handing out assignments to writers?"
JJ: "Not when handing out assignments, no. But when I come up with an Adventure Path, I do try to make sure that there are elements in the campaign to appeal to all three types (and a few more, like puzzle-solvers and canon-watchers). Canon watchers: Fans who play/read RPG products mostly to learn more about the world. They aren't necessarily into or good at roleplaying. Wargamers are in there too... although they're probably a subset of simulationists. OH! And don't forget the clingers: Gamers who keep attending the game even though they've long since lost interest in the game, and continue to play mostly just because they have no or few other social outlets OR because they like to subject themselves to situations they despise. Those are my favorites."
Takasi: "I'm sure there are more than a few canon watchers on the boards."
Iconics
Blazej: "Will there be half-orc iconic sometime in the next year?"
JJ: "It's unlikely we'll have a half-orc on the cover of Pathfinder anytime soon. BUT: There'll be an important half-orc character showing up in the Pathfinder Journal in PF8; he'll be a recurring character for a while."
Rambling Scribe: "No half-orc iconics?"
JJ: "No half-orc iconics."
Mothman: "why no half orc? They don't sell covers?"
JJ: "Partially because I don't like half orcs. But mostly because we just don't have a good place to use him on a cover yet. Golarion is humanocentric... probably more so than FR, in fact."
Takasi: "here is the backstory for every half-orc character I have ever seen: Hulk Smash!"
Lilith: "Can I put in a request for a female half-orc iconic?"
JJ: "Your request is heard. In fact... I'd say there's a better chance of us doing a female half-orc than a male."
Lilith: "Awesome!"
Saracenus: "It has to be a female half-orc monk."
Lilith: "I'd be cool with that. Or a psionic class."
Saracenus: "So when is the Dragonborn iconic coming?"
Saracenus ducks.
JJ: "No dragonborn iconics on the schedule either."
Takasi: "You have to give us some tiefling love, though. It's in your contract."
JJ: "Tieflings are not a core race. Yet. We'll have a tiefling iconic before a half-orc, I suspect. But no tieflings on the schedule yet either."
JJ: "In fact, once we start up Pathfinder 13... we're going to start having characters from the adventure on the cover. 12 iconics is enough for us for now. Even if I were starting over now, I'd still use the first 12 Pathfinders to set up our iconic adventurers. They're FAR more important to the brand than NPCs. Iconics are great to establish brand idetinty, but also great to use for artists as reference, so we don't have to worry about them making a character that doesn't make sense given the rules."
Blazej: "When are going to see other characters in the adventure art? So far I don't recall seeing anyone, but Valeros or Seoni."
JJ: "We've got Merisiel showing up in the art as soon as Pathfinder 3, and Kyra in 4. In Pathfinder 6, we're switching over to the next for; Ezren, Harsk, Seelah, and Lem. Yeah. We couldn't start illustrating characters until Wayne designed them. He designed Seoni and Valeros early, so we had them to send to artists early. I suspect that Merisiel doesn't start showing up until Pathfinder 4, though, now that I think of it."
Mad Geologist: "I think she (Merisel) got a small picture at the back of Pathfinder #3, although I could be mistaken."
JJ: "Both Merisiel and Kyra got into the character sheet action starting with #3."
Translations
ollibolli: "Any news about the German translation front?"
JJ: "Alas...no news on the German front."
ollibolli: "Sigh."
J3: Crucible of Chaos
Mothman: "James, I know Gamemastery modules aren't really your thing - but dinosaurs ARE - can you shed any light on the species of dino featured in the Crucible of Chaos blog pic a few days ago? Triceratops or Chasmosaurus?"
JJ: "The dinosaur in that blog pic is a triceratops."
Takasi: "I think you mean a Three Horn Romperstomper, James Jacobs. stop infusing your esoteric Latin terminology on my fantasy :P"
JJ: "Grrrr... Or maybe a Spearface Chargeblaster Marauder?"
Takasi: "Ouchyface Groinsplitter"
Mothman: "Spikeface Meany Mauler"
JJ: "He [Wolfgang Baur] wrote that one with SURGICAL precision to get my attention; dinosaurs, Lovecraft stuff, flying monkeys..."
Sir Wulf: "Everyone likes flying Lovecraftian dinosaur monkeys."
Mad Geologist: "Byakhee??"
JJ: "Nope. Shoggoths. We put one on our blog. Tekili-li and all that."
Mad Geologist: "The flying dinosaur monkeys?"
JJ: "The flying monkeys and dinosaurs are seperate encounters."
Mad Geologist: "I thought in 'At the Mountains of Madness' they escape from the Shoggoths?"
JJ: "They do escape the shoggoth in AtMoM, sure... but only for a while."
Mad Geologist: "What CR are the Shoggoths? Do they have a VORPAL attack?"
Sir Wulf: "Just because something sucks your head off doesn't mean it's vorpal..."
JJ: "Shoggoths don't have a vorpal attack, alas."
Mad Geologist: "BUT THIS IS WOLFGANG!!! He gave the hounds of Tindalos' ripping gaze."
Sir Wulf: "They really need one. Pushovers, those shoggoths."
Mad Geologist: "Why didn't he give Shoggoths a vorpal attack? They rip heads off in the stories."
JJ: "The original tekili-li cries were actually from Poe's 'The Narrative of A. Gordon Pym' in which it's the word that frightened natives of a strange south pole tribe shriek; IIRC the word means white. Vorpal attacks cut off heads. Shoggoths rip off heads simply because they do so much damage. I believe the shoggoth is CR 15, in any case."
Mad Geologist: "Fire vulnerable?"
JJ: "I'm not sure. I looked over their stats once early on, but didn't look much closer. I can say this, though: That adventure'll probably be the first Game Mastery module I make time to read! :)"
Mad Geologist: "In the story, the Old Ones put them down with some sort of energy or fire weapons during the rebellion according to the wall carvings."
JJ: "Yup. That's probably not because they're vulnerable to that energy... but more likely they're INvulnerable to most other attacks."
Asian/Oriental Stuffs
JJ: "Asian stuff WILL be happening someday. In fact, as early as Pathfinder 9 we'll have a LOT of Asian stuff (Indian themed monsters and stuff)."
Creature Features
Aboleth
Dworkin: "And re-reading the Faceless Stalker write-up again, I just realized that the Aboleth have waged two unsuccessful past wars on the surface world. That's what I love about Pathfinder, you find something new every time you read it."
JJ: "Yeah... you can expect Aboleth easter eggs to pop up with some frequency in Pathfinder."
Bestiary
Mad Geologist: "Is there going to be a bestiary for the GM/PF monsters then?"
JJ: "Probably eventually there'll be a bestiary, yeah. None are on Ye Schedule yet."
The Last Rogue: "Regardless of any 4e decisions, likely to see a Monster compilation?"
JJ: "A monster compilation will probaly happen some day, yes."
Lilith: "Yay! Monsters! Rawr!"
Cthulhu! Ia! Ia!
Atrocious: "James, I love the introduction of Lovecraft's Cthulu mythos into Pathfinder. Will we be seeing more of that in Curse of the Crimson Throne or Second Darkness?"
JJ: "There will be a TINY bit of Lovecraft in Curse of the Crimson Throne if I let Greg Vaughan have his way. And if I do... there's a good chance of that bit turning into something a lot bigger in Second Darkness."
Atrocious: "Let Greg have his way!"
Lilith: "Go Greg Go!"
Saracenus: "So when do the tcho-tchos show up...we need some long pork in Pathfinder!"
JJ: "They maybe already showed up in PF6 in a weird sort of way...Depending on how you read between the lines, the denizens of Leng and the Tcho Tchos are the same folk. They're different according to the Chaosium game, though. But in Lovecraft's writings, I suspect he meant them to be the same. Pathfinder 6 has some big doses of cannibals."
Gazetteer
Atrocious: "Is the Gazetteer on schedule? I was kind of bummed out when it got bumped from January to March..."
JJ: "The Gazetteer is dreadfully behind schedule. Erik and Jason are working on it as fast as they can... but it turns out that creating a new world takes a lot of work."
Mad Geologist: "It takes a lot of work and you still have no interns!"
Dworkin: "I am sure it's tricky when they get so many varied requests for content too."
JJ: "Yup. We can barely manage the content we're hurling out into the world now as it is..."
Atrocious: "Do you think you can whip Bulmahn back on track? or will the Gazetteer be bumped back even further? How does this affect the Campaign Setting hardcover?"
Timitius: "Jacobs: So, you just go and tell Jason to stop slacking because you know damned well that he could've had it done last Tuesday!"
JJ: "I've been using that whip, never fear."
Planets
Takasi: "if you ever dip a little more into science fiction in Golarion, I suggest a Planet X and perhaps a book on building Planet X, it could be Golarion's Xen'drik."
Races
Elves and their secrets
Dworkin: "I'd like to see the mystery about elves revealed (they leave and come back), do we have to wait for the Campaign Book?"
JJ: "The Gazetteer has a fair amount about the elves and why they left and came back."
Dworkin: "Excellent I am pleased."
Human-centric?
Mothman: "I like that Golarion is so human-centric - but is that true for the whole planet or just the areas we've seen so far?"
JJ: "It's certainly true for the part of the planet we'll be focusing 95% of our attention on. I suspect it's true for the WHOLE planet. We've got other planets for the weird stuff."
Mothman: "True ... other planets ... so those dinosaur riding amazons on the green planet could be half orc amazons...."
4E OGL/SGL
Mad Geologist: "How much time is the OGL/SGL taking out of your schedule? (talking about it?)"
JJ: "Waiting for news/info about the 4th edition stuff is perhaps one of the most frustrating things I've ever experienced working in this industry, in fact."
Mothman: "I know it's dangerous to commit to these things, but in your opinion has the drop dead date to make AP3 4E passed?"
JJ: "The dropdead date to make AP3 4E will be passing VERY soon. Technically, it's already passed, actually."
Takasi: "Did you read Chris Pramas's post about the GSL?"
JJ: "Yeah, I did. I think he might be on to something, honestly."
Rambling Scribe: "I think that the $5000 entry fee will encourage companies that buy in to pump out as much stuff as they can in the first six months."
JJ: "[The schedule gets] More complicated in that we still haven't been given the 4th Edition rules to check out, and each day that goes on, things get further and further bottled up. And narrow our window for getting stuff out in time for Gen Con, if we choose to go the 4E route... or even if we don't since if we don't, we should have been moving on those plans too and we haven't been."
Timitius: "Like I said at Oroboros...I hope you guys can ease the pace up soon."
The Last Rogue: "Seriously you guys got soo much going on lately! I mean it is awesome for us, but seriously."
Lilith: "Yeah, we love the awesomeness, but remember to breathe man!"
The Last Rogue: "JJ, have you guys thought about hiring on another full-time developer?"
JJ: "I think about that every day, Last Rogue."
NL: "HIRE SOMEONE! You need a break my man. The work is trying to choke off your will to live!"
The Last Rogue: "I hear the Nick Logue chap is pretty good."
NL: "Bah! I'm a dabbler...a pretender to power. I have NOTHING. I don't have what it takes to work in the hallowed halls of PAIZO!"
JJ: "If we switch to 4E, of course... the possibility of a monster book also depends on whether or not the GSL will let us do something like that in the first place."
Contests
Takasi: "Here's another idea: do a contest to build a Golarion Neverwinter Nights 2 module."
JJ: "Contests. Those make my heart stop beating and my brain bleed. Erik's spent I don't know how many days with RPG superstar judging entries all night long, for example. Enough that he's lost a few levels. That said: I would LOVE to see a Golarion NWN/NWN 2 adventure."
NorWesCon
Saracenus: "Do you know if Erik is going to NorWesCon this year (or any of the other Paizo crew)"
JJ: "I don't know about NorWesCon. But I suspect few of us, if any, will be able to make it."
Saracenus: "Looks like Erik M is going to NorWesCon, he is on the panel list..."
JJ: "There ya go."
Mad Geologist: "Someone posted that on one of the threads something to the effect if, if they were Hasbro executives they would be wining & dining Paizo staff right now, and sending flowers to their mothers...So do you have to buy your own dinner a the moment? :D"
JJ: "I'm sure that Hasbro barely knows about Paizo, actually."
Rambling Scribe: "I bet most of Hasbro barely knows about WotC..."
On Moral Decency Codes and Certain Writers, and comparing companies to Kaiju
NL: "I'm gonna rape my way right through WotC's Code of Moral Decency or whatever they call it. I'm Godzilla and WotC's Decency Code is Japan!!! Paizo is Gamora!"
JJ: "WHAT!"
NL: "Or Ghidra maybe! Someone badass!"
Timitius: "Paizo is Gamera? A giant turtle?"
JJ: "Like Godzilla. He's bad ass. Gigan is pretty badass too, though."
Lilith: "Man, I go away for a few minutes to get some linkies and I come back to a JPop Sci Fi Orgy..."
On Ogres and Goblins
Saracenus: "Vic showed us the cover to the creature collection."
JJ: "HA! Yeah. That ogre is hosed."
Takasi: "hoody-hoo! nice pic"
Lilith: "Hoody hoo! Dat boy's got problems! little ankle biting goblins..."
JJ: "Only, when you let them climb that high on you, they're "all-over biting goblins"."
Takasi: "it's only because he's crapping out three goblins at the moment, then he'll eat them"
On Orcs and Swimsuits
Saracenus: "When do we get the 1/2 orc swim suit issue... "
JJ: "Pathfinder 3."
NL: "I missed half-orc swimsuit issues...don't you mean dragonborn swimsuit issues? Not even half as sexy if you ask me."
On Raging Barbarians
JJ: "If I ever play in a game in which Nick's playing a barbarian... I hope I remember to wear waterproof clothes."
On Typos
Saracenus: "How about Generic Eberron Dion # 5? Dino maybe."
JJ: "Is Eberron Dion related to Celene Dion?"
Takasi: "yes, but with more trains and robots."
JJ: "No trainbots? LAME."
Mothman: "Kill it! Kill it now!"
Dworkin: "before it gets to Vegas!"
Saracenus: "Only if it goes down with the Titanic and has a Las Vegas show"
Takasi: "the trains can transform into robots. trainforged. and then fly into outerspace."
Lilith: "Just so y'all know...there is a transforming construct template in Advanced Bestiary. Just so's you know."
JJ: "Yeah, I remember talking to Matt when he was working on the Transforming Construct template... it was giving him brain cancer and heart palpitations it was so complex."
JJ: "1.) What would you all think about a Pathfinder that went from level 1 to level 20? 2.) What about a pathfinder that went only from level 1 to 12?"
JJ: "(By 'Pathfinder' I mean a pathfinder adventure path in 6 parts)."
A lot of support for "2" was shown, but there were a couple of other thoughts.
Rambling Scribe: "I'd prefer 12 to 20."
Takasi: "I would think 'What about level 21-30?' I'd like a Pathfinder with 3 adventures in 1. A low level, a mid level and a high level."
JJ: "That concept was actually working real well for us, Takasi. We all know what that got us."
Lilith: "I'd like to see more "trilogies" in Gamemastery - I'm curious about the Last Baron stuff."
Timitius: "2. I use Jason's [Eberron] game as a great example of that pace."
Mad Geologist: "1) I think that you would need a lot more pages in at least some of the issues (although I would probably be happy, unlike Takasi, to see it 3.5). 2) If you could fit in a theme that developed over four issues, between levels 1-12, maybe. The players finishing with Fort Rannick in Hook Mountain, as local lords, could have made a bit more sense as a conclusion, if more tied to Sandpoint."
Mothman: "I like the idea of 2 - I wouldn't mind seeing 1, although high level adventures are generally less useful to me. There has been a bit of a call for APs that don't end with saving the world - an AP that wraps up at level 12 might be a good way to do that."
JJ: "Another question: Would you prefer a Pathfinder that has 10 less pages of adventure, and perhaps uses those ten regained pages to bulk out the two support articles, or perhaps presents a 10 page side adventrue that supports the main adventure but isn't part of it?"
Lilith: "Hmm...side adventure could be neat. Ideally, 'more more more more' of anything would be neat. But Player Support is keen."
NL: "Hmmmmm...That's a hard question James...I'd say yes! 50 page adventures are pretty devestating as is. I dig the idea of sides. Little 10 pagers with which we can go NUTS!"
JJ: "A 60 page adventure, alas, cannot happen on a monthly schedule."
Daigle: "I'd like Pathfinder to be a bit more useful to players, so I support supplements."
Timitius: "Side adventure would be cool."
Blazej: "I would have to see it before I know if I liked it or not."
Rambling Scribe: "I'd like either, but I think the side adventure would be my preference. Although more deities articles..."
Mothman: "I would like the side adventure a lot! Extra support material might be good too, but don't make it more monsters."
JJ: "We're pretty set at the number of monsters in Pathfinder now. 5-6 is about right."
Mad Geologist: "10 page side trek might be interesting...."
Lilith: "Side Trek would be cool."
Takasi: "No side treks for me, I don't need another side railroad."
Rambling Scribe; "I like side adventures because if nothing else I can plunder the stat blocks."
JJ: "As a sample for what I'm thinking about these side trek adventures. Take Pathfinder 3 as an example. In there, I would have cut out the whole Graul Family section and turned that into a self-contained adventure, and would have moved the Black Arrows caught there into an "on the road to the Fort" encounter."
JJ: "Do players actually buy enough products to support a monthly habit? My suspicion is that, since GMs spend more money on the game that a monthly product aimed at players would crash and burn."
Takasi: "I want Pathfinder to be for DMs, not players. Make separate books for players."
Mad Geologist: "Regarding ten pages: So far there has been a high standard of support articles (part of the novelty, maybe, and the being well written) but I think it would depend on what the articles were."
Rambling Scribe: "My brother and I were talking about this exact thing today. He'd rather have more articles."
JJ: "The support articles would remain the same. They'd each get 5 or so pages longer."
Takasi: "I want to see more articles on environs. For example, in Skinsaw, I was expecting a little more on the Hinderlands."
Daigle: "Look at the Complete * series. At least every player at my table has three of them."
JJ: "Sure, but that's 3 books. Would they buy 12? Alternately, we'd be able to do a 3rd support article, which could translate into being able to do more deity articles per year than we're doing now."
Takasi: "I've always said I hate seeing lots of details on one god thrown out piecemeal. I hated the articles on gods in Dragon and I don't like seeing them in Pathfinder. I want a book on gods, not one article every 3-4 months and my players sure don't like it when I have one article on Desna and none on anyone else. and I sure don't want to give them my Pathfinder books either."
JJ: "The core beliefs articles were pretty consistently the 2nd or 3rd most popular articles we ever did for Dragon, by the way. 1 and 2 were the monster ecologies and the Demonomicons."
Takasi: "Of course they were, because they served a niche of Greyhawk fans who got NOTHING from WotC and they were nostalgia pieces."
Daigle: "The deity pieces are so awesome, I can wait, though I don't want to."
Takasi: "I want more deity pieces...in a DEITY BOOK."
Mothman: "I want more deity pieces."
Rambling Scribe: "Truth be told, I'd rather see the core gods covered in a book, with minor gods covered in artiucles, and maybe articles exploring a core god in more depth or looking at a splinter sect worshipping that god."
Lilith: "A core Deities book, and the minor ones covered in Pathfinder? Save 'heretic cults' or minor regional deities etc for Pathfinder."
JJ: "A 'Gods of Golarion' book seems to me to be something like a no-brainer..."
Rambling Scribe: "Then I'd see some more Droskar sooner!"
Mad Geologist: "I like the idea of all the Golarion deities collected into one or two books, rather than dribbled out in Pathfinder. Reference purposes, a lot easier that way."
Lilith: "Sean K Reynolds. Stat."
JJ: "I'm not sure Sean can churn out these god articles at a faster pace than 4 per year, though..."
Lilith: "Ask! You never know. :D"
JJ: "I kind of do know, actually... :) But I'll probably ask anyway."
Daigle: "Or get him some help."
Takasi: "Hire someone else then, the quality is what should sell it not the name of the author."
Daigle: "Of course, fans would hate the non-Sean ones."
Takasi: "Fanboys would hate the non-Sean ones, and who really cares about them? :P"
JJ: "Since fanboys buy lots of our products... I care about them! :) Although I prefer to call them loyal customers."
Lilith: "While I love the clerical love for a Gods book, can we please include options for non-cleric followers of Golarion deities?"
JJ: "That's the plan, Lilith."
Lilith: "Awesometastic. Back rubs for you!"
JJ: "You'll note that the Lamashtu article is skewed toward rangers, for example."
Lilith: "I *did* notice that - that made me giddy!"
Rambling Scribe: "I'd love to see Paladin variants specific to each deity."
JJ: "The Abadar article will likely have some stuff for paladins and fighters in addition to clerics. Clerics will remain the focus, of course, but they're certainly not the only ones who worship deities."
Lilith: "Cool, I always felt that attitude was lost in some other Deity-focused books."
JJ: "I agree."
Mad Geologist: "Hmm. If you're covering not just clerics but non-clerical divine casters, and maybe non-divine followers (including prestige classes) you might only need to put four deities in a book each year."
JJ: "I'd want to do a single book, actually. The perfect book would have all 20 in there. Maybe or Maybe Not the same content we've done already in Pathfinder."
Lilith: "For completion's sake, I would say 'include' if you're covering the Major 20."
JJ: "If we 'include' then that means that books already over 200 pages long. Not sure we're really set up at Paizo to do too many books of that size anytime soon."
Takasi: "I'd prefer to see 'Gods of Varisia,' 'Gods of Cheliax,' 'Gods of Osirion,' etc"
Lilith: "I'd like to see a smaller monthly player-focused publication while we're at it James."
Mad Geologist: "I think Players like to see prestige classes."
Lilith: "I think we have enough..."
Mad Geologist: "Not GOLARION ones."
Lilith: "Do we really need them though?"
Daigle thinks we don't.
Mad Geologist: "So far I have seen the Desna Pr. Class, and that's it."
Lilith: "Player options, like traits and background stuff and what not would be nice."
Mad Geologist: "Traits could be another way to go. Sites, some sort of 'organisation' details, so players can get higher ranked and more respected... loved affiliation idea in Savage Tide, for example."
Lilith: "How about 'Regional' players' guides? 'Player's Guide to Osirion' etc? In addition to the AP Player's Guides? 'Player's Guide to Cheliax.' 'Player's Guide to Absalom.'"
JJ: "That's an option, sure."
Mad Geologist: "An option might be there to do a series that ran for four or five years at four or five deities in a book...It would be taking a page out of WotC, but they managed to be successful with much lower quality material."
JJ: "Perhaps... but that tactic didn't do much for Birthright. It actually helped kill Birthright. Birthright had TOO much stuff come out all at once. Players and DMs got overwhelmed and lost interest. It didn't help that the main boxed set was underpriced by like 100 bucks either."
Rambling Scribe: "I liked Birthright, but yeah, I felt swamped immediately!"
Mad Geologist: "I think the current 'pathfinder players guides would probably be sufficient in the 'regional' sense."
Lilith: "Except for Osirion...*shakes fist*"
JJ: "If players were to buy all of the regional player's guides, sure! Then you'd have somethign! But instead... you only get players buying one of them... usually the first one or two. Then they've got their characters for the next six months or the next year or even longer, and don't buy anything during that time. Which comes back to my theory that 'More stuff aimed at GMs = more money.' The BEST, of course, is a product that has stuff for both players and GMs."
Rambling Scribe: "And I know a few people are already concerned about how much Pathfinder Chronicles is currently slated for March."
Lilith: "Unofficially, I'd like to see someone take the existing PrCs and find a home for them in Golarion. That would be a fun thread to start."
Chat summary for February 12th. VW = Vic Wertz, JB = Jason Bulmahn (WE'VE MISSED YOU!!!!), JJ = James Jacobs, NL = Nick Logue, JS = James Sutter.
JJ: "I have a pretty big Tian Xia plotline for an Adventure Path in mind... it's still a way out, but EVENTUALLY it Will Happen."
JB: "Yeah.. it will be a race to see who sets an adventure there first..."
JJ: "Yes. Ameiko was born in Varisia, but her family is from Minkai in Tian Xia. She's a big part of that still-forming adventure path."
Mothman: "Are you the main ideas man for the over reaching plots for all the PAthfinder APs (so far)?"
JJ: "Yup; I'm the guy who has to come up with Pathfinder Adventure Path plots twice a year. When I do, I generally start sucking ideas out of other folk's heads, though. The original idea for Second Darkness was from Bulmahn, for example."
MetalMaiden: "Any chance one or some of the adventure paths will start at a level other than one?"
JJ: "Eventually, yes. We will start an Adventure Path at a level higher than 1. Not before Pathfinder 24 at the very least, though."
Rise of the Runelords
Fatespinner: "Is Tian Xia where Ameiko's from?"
JJ: "Yes. Ameiko was born in Varisia, but her family is from Minkai in Tian Xia. She's a big part of that still-forming adventure path."
Takasi: "How big of a part will Shalelu have in future APs?"
JJ: "Shalelu's not scheduled to return to any APs in the future. Although that said... now that I think of it... she might just show up in Pathfinder 13 or 14 or 15. How's that for flip-flopping?"
Takasi: "Shalelu is dead in our campaign. That's why I ask :)"
JJ: "You may have just tricked me into making you change an NPC name if you run Second Darkness, then! :)"
Takasi: "I'd think in Second Darkness, there should be a continuation of Shalelu's story, with her mother and Jakardos and the red dragon. (or maybe it was a green dragon...)"
JJ: "Exactly. There's a VERY good chance of one of the adventures touching on the town of Crying Leaf, where Shalelu's family is from, in Second Darkness."
JJ: "I would have LOVED to see a map for Turtleback Ferry. LOVED IT! (Narrows eyes, glares at Nick)"
NL: "Maps! We don't need no stinking maps!!!"
Nicolas Logue hides!
Takasi: "did you see the fan made map?"
JJ: "I did! The fan map was beautiful. I wish it'd been around at that time! But yeah... no map of Turtleback Ferry was absolutely my own biggest disapointment for Hook Mountain. I would have drawn one up myself... but I used all that time up drawing up maps for all the other locations in that adventure. (Narrows eyes even more at Nick) Getting maps from Nick works like this: 'Great adventure Nick! But you never sent me the maps!' (Nick panics, draws up 5 pages of scribbles that may or may not apply to the adventure, breaks a finger scanning them, I get the maps and then end up redrawing them anyway)"
NL: "That about sums it up!"
Mad Geologist: "I think nick would rather put in a thousand more words in the space used by one map. :D"
NL: "That's true. I'd rather write an extra 5,000 words than make a map. Though I'm trying to get better. We'll see if I succeed!"
JJ: "What If I wanted those words to be publishable, though?"
JJ: "Originally we were going to have a gazetter type article about castles in PF3... but that fell apart in a spectacular fashion (thanks, Gen Con!) and James Sutter and MIke had to step in and whip together the article we DID finally get. Which is a good article, don't get me wrong... but yeah."
Lilith: "Was Norah inspired by your commercial fishing ventures?"
JJ: " Norah was indeed inspired by my dad's story of how a hagfish ended up being caught in a sea urchin net or some such. I wasn't down there to see it do its thing, alas, but his description of it turning water into slime was pretty graphic."
Pathfinder #6: Spires of Xin-Shalast
Mad Geologist: "I've been looking at the number of questions on the GM reference thread that PF #6 has spawned so far, and I was wondering if the editting was somewhat rushed, or if co-ordination with the author was particularly difficult for some reason?"
JJ: "We've had rushed editing on Pathfinder since PF5, actauly. The holidays hit at the same time we added a whole new line of products (the gazetteers) and that's kind of thrown the Editing Pit into chaos."
Mad Geologist: "Does this mean that there may be similar levels of problems coming up with PF #7?"
JJ: "I certainly hope that there'll be less problems with PF7 and 8 than there were with 6... although a certain amount of the "problems" with PF 6 are simply by-products of it being a high-level adventure. D&D doesn't do high-level that efficiently. Too many variables. PF7 is low level again, so the problems inherent with high-level play won't be present at all."
heathansson: "Wow. The monsters in PF6 blew my freakin mind. The art was bwuddy bwilliant."
Lilith: "Rune Giants are WIN!"
Grimcleaver: "Yeah. Holy cow. I showed my players the lineup of monsters and they freaked out!"
Takasi: "I like how each PF Bestiary lineup got more crowded with each issue."
JJ: "We're changing the way the Bestiary looks a bit in Pathfinder 7; we'll be opening each with a half-page illustration featuring one of the monsters. NO more size lineups."
mr baron: "How many monsters are going to be in the bestiary?"
JJ: "The bestiary in PF 7 has 6 monsters."
mr baron: "is the standard going to stay 6 monsters per issue?"
JJ: "The standard for new monsters will probably vary between 5 and 6. Never less than 5. We're dropping the one-page format for new monsters that we used for the first monster in PF 1-6, though. All our monsters will be 2 pagers."
Atrocious: "Where did Mhar come from (creatively I mean), what purpose does he serve and will we see more of him?"
JJ: "Mhar was invented by Greg Vaughan. I expanded a fair amount of info about him as well. His purpose is to interject a bit of Cosmic Horror, Lovecraft style, into the adventure, and to foreshadow perhaps that there are things even worse than the Runelords connected to Thassilon."
Curse of the Crimson Throne
VW: "Everybody got their Crimson Throne Player's Guides downloaded yet?"
Lilith: "Yessir!"
Daigle does...fo sho!
mr baron: "76%. 4 mins to go."
ManPig: "Yes. Trying to read it right now. Dang work is slowing me down."
Ask a Shoanti: "Wha?!! Guide is out?!"
Ask a Shoanti draws klar of downloading.
ManPig: "Regarding the new Pathfinder Player's Guide, You had me from 'Not only couldn't I imagine living anywhere else-I simply wouldn't...' The cover art and the map are outstanding."
mr baron: "so when are you expecting #7 to hit the shelves?"
VW: "Shelves? Early March. Our warehouse should get it around Feb 27."
Mothman: "So James, unless I am mistaken (and I may well be), you are not writing an adventure for Crimson Throne. I believe this will be the first Paizo / Dungeon AP you have not written an adventure for – how do you feel about that?"
JJ: "I am not writing an adventure for Crimson Throne, nope. Although I'm developing all 6 adventures, which will doubtless include various amounts of rewriting now and then. But as for not having to actually WRITE one... relieved and maybe a little dissapointed, but mostly relieved. Being able to generate Crimson Throne's plot and being the guy who gets to change whatever I want is almost as good as writing one of the adventures, though! :)"
Takasi: "PF7 spans quite a bit in one adventure. 4 levels is a lot to do in....what is it, about 40 pages?"
JJ: "We did 4 levels in Pathfinder 1. No big deal. Those first few levels FLY by. Actually, add up all the XP awards in Burnt Offerings; you'll find that if you do EVERYTHING, you'll be pushing upwards toward 5th level. We don't suspect most players will go that far, though, and suspect also that some elements of Burnt Offerings will be put off for a bit. Also, 'Edge of Anarchy' is longer than Burnt Offerings; 'Edge' is over 50 pages long."
Takasi: "what other articles will we see in PF 7 and 8?"
JJ: "PF 7: Will have an article about the Harrow deck (and how to do Harrow readings without an official Harrow deck); will have an article all about Varisians. PF8: Will have an article about Abadar and an article about plagues and diseases."
Lilith: "Is the Varisians article the one by Amber Scott?"
JJ: "Yes, the Varisians article is by Amber. It's really REALLY good too."
Pygon: "Sorry if this has been asked already, but I browsed and didn't see it asked: is the font in the Crimson Throne player's guide the same one you'll be using in the AP?"
JJ: "The font in the Crimson Throne player's guide is indeed the one we'll be using in Pathfinder starting in #7 on."
Pygon: "Excellent, it is noticably larger!"
JJ: "It's actually run at a half-point smaller than the font we used in PF 1-6. The font in PF 1-6 is run at 9 points. In the CotCT player's guide and PF 7 on, the new font is at 8.5."
Takasi: "will we get a high res map of Korvosa?"
JJ: "Higher res than the one in the PDF we just released? Not sure."
Takasi: "Yes James Jacobs, like the one for Magnimar and Sandpoint, you released those as large jpg's IIRC."
JJ: "We can probably arrange for a higher resolution Korvosa map, sure."
Takasi: "cool, it would be very helpful for use in online tabletops"
JJ: "Might do a high-res map of Korvosa as a blog entry near the end of the month or thereabouts. Maybe one with no tags?"
JJ: "During Curse of the Crimson Throne, it'll break down like this: PF7: ecology article (Varisians), Harrow article (supplemented by the Guide to Korvosa's 64 pages, of course). PF8: Deity article, event article (how to run a plague in D&D). PF9: Ecology article (rakshasas) and Organization article (Red Mantis). PF10: Ecology article (Shoanti) and Gazetteer article (The Cinderlands). PF11: Deity article (Zon-Kuthon) and Gazetteer article (Hold of Belkzen). PF12: Magic Item article (new artifacts related to BBEG's backstory); Gazetteer article (what lies below Castle Korvosa). So for the first two adventure paths, each one has 3 gazetteer type articles. Crimson Throne would have had a LOT more gazetter articles if we didn't have the 64 page Guide to Korvosa, though."
Lori: "Does the Guide to Korvosa give more info about the people of the region? History & stuff?"
Mad Geologist: "Is this 64 page Guide to Korvosa a local gamestore product, or a download?"
JJ: "The Guide to Korvosa will give history and stuff, yes. The Guide to Korvosa is a PDF download AND a print product. Whatever works better for you. We're making both available."
JS: "I'll be in Pathfinder #11 with a gazetteer of Belkzen, our orc nation, and another Pathfinder Journal entry. Which, actually, I should be working on right now. So it goes. :P"
Lilith: "Sweet! Any spoilarz for Belkzen?"
JS: "Only that there's a lot more to an orc country than you might think... it stands to be just as juicy as the one I did for Varisia in PF3. I'm particularly excited about some of the environmental factors at work... flooding in plains does interesting things."
Lilith: "So, is this a diluvial plain, kinda like the Nile or the Mighty Mississippi? floods bring rich soil, etc?"
JS: "Nope! It's actually normally pretty arid, because of the mountain rain shadow, but then they get annual flooding that causes all sorts of craziness."
AP #3: The Second Darkness
3.5 or 4th?
mr baron: "the 3rd series.....4ed or 3.5?"
VW: "We haven't made that call yet. We're still holding out the barest glimmer of hope that we can get the rules soon..."
heathansson: "How long before y'all know if 2nd Darkness is gonna be a 4e product?"
JB: "We have not yet seen the GSL yet.. that is holding everything up."
Bat-riding drow?
Grimcleaver: "So no bat riding drow yet I take it? ;-)"
JJ: "No bat-riding drow yet. We DID get some more work done today on Second Darkness concepting... we aren't quite up to the big drow stuff, but there's a good chance there'll be a Demon Lord of Bats for them to worship..."
JJ: "Earlier today, Wes and I plotted out the likely cast of support articles for Second Darkness... let me see...PF 13: gazetteer, site, site. PF 14: gazetteer, deity, site. PF15: gazetteer, ecology, site. PF 16: gazetteer, ecology, site. PF17: gazetteer, deity, site. PF18: deity, gazetteer, site. So yeah. We've got a LOT of gazetteer stuff scheduled for Second Darkness. Plus a chance of even more support if the CRAZY PLANS work out."
Takasi: "wow, Second Darkness will have 6 gazetteer articles? Excellent!"
JJ: "As of right now, yeah. there are 6 gazetters on schedule for Second Darkness. But that's all subject to change. It's still VERY early in that process...OR: Very late, depending on how you look at it..."
Takasi: "Will there be an equivalent to the Korvosa guide for Second Darkness?"
JJ: "It's very possible, yes."
AP The Fourth
Atrocious: "Any closer to nailing down AP4? You've previously stated that you know where it is going to be set, care to lift the veil a bit on that?"
JJ: "No closer nailing down AP4. I know where it's set, but I'm pretty deep into the Kicking Of Of Second Darkness to Authors and then working on Crimson Throne when I get a chance mode. Not much time right now for AP4."
Minis
Grimcleaver: "Pathfinder minis?"
VW: "Crocodile says probably Mid-Feb now. i haven't heard whether this delays future waves or not."
Pathfinder Journal
Takasi: "Will the Pathfinder's Journal continue through AP 2?"
mr baron: "The PF journal rocks."
JJ: "The Pathfinder Journal will be continuing through Pathifnder 12 and beyond, yes. It's not going anywhere."
Daigle: "James, the Journal is staying...right?"
JJ: "The Journal is staying, yes."
Mothman: "Somewhere along the way we lose Eandro (is that his name) and get a female writer."
Daigle: "Or a rival!"
JJ: "Eventually... yes. I'd like to switch over to a new author for the Journal. But for now, Eando's scheduled at LEAST through to PF18."
JJ: "OH! James! You'll be happy to know that at least TWICE so far tonight I've promised that the Pathfinder Journal isn't going nowhere! :)"
JS: "Woot! Yeah, the PFJ is my baby. "
Translations
JJ: "No news about Translations either."
Modules
Fatespinner: "Are they all designed to provide enough XP to level a character (assuming they start at the level the module is designed for)? Or are some of them more or less XP heavy than others?"
JB: "They are generally designed to add one or two levels to your PCs... depending on the module."
Takasi: "I liked how Bloodsworn had some status quo encounters, and our table loved the freeform exploration, it was like a mini-campaign setting. Will the next two Wilderness adventures be like that, or will they simply be more event based adventures that happen to be set in the wilderness?"
JB: "Thanks.. that was my intent.. it was sort of a homage to Keep on the Borderlands really...They are a bit different from one another..."
Takasi: "I'd really like to see more areas like Bloodsworn, and maybe a supplement that has rules for starting new settlements, adding trade, changing the landscape."
JB: "I will keep that in mind.. I really wanted an adventure that allowed for those things.. I think it was a success... for the most part."
Takasi: "It was a great setup Jason, I sure loved it, and we only ended because (despite nearly a dozen options) the players just choose poorly, going into a full assault against those bugbears was a bad move."
Lilith: "Tian Xia anytime soon in GameMastery Modules?"
JB: "Not in the immediate future...Unfortunately."
Lilith: "But sometime in the future...?"
Lilith hopes so.
JB: "I hope so too."
Mothman: "I suppose it's more likely we'll see Tian Xia in Gamemastery before Pathfinder?"
JB: "I am not sure on that one... it all depends..."
Lilith: "Last Baron? Tell us more about the Trilogy, or is it still a trilogy?"
JB: "I think it may have dropped down to a pair of modules.. LB1: Tower of the Last Baron and LB2: Treasure of Chimera Cove."
Daigle: "Chimera Cove is a gorgeous name for a town!"
Lilith: "Was LB0 slated for Free RPG Day?"
JB: "It was.. but we have something a bit more enticing for that slot now..."
Lilith: "Enticing, eh? Sweet!"
Lilith: "What's the status on Flight of the Red Raven?"
Takasi: "Can you tell us more about Flight of the Red Raven? What makes it a wilderness adventure? Will it have a nice map like Bloodsworn Vale?"
JB: "Well.. most of it is set in a wilderness setting for starters. The module includes a lenghty journey through the Boarwood forest and into the Fog Peak Mountains...And yes.. it will have a nice map.. this I decree..."
Lilith: "So let it be written...so let it be done!"
Mothman: "When is Red Raven due out? And was that David guy any good in the end? ;-)"
JB: "It is due out in May I think.. and yes, David did a great job.. to my knowledge. I have not read it yet though.. Jeremy shepherds the modules most of the way these days."
Takasi: "is it a setup like Bloodsworn, where you're free to go and do what you want, or is it more like Here there be Monsters (i.e. one big railroad that happened to be outdoors)?"
JB: "A bit more like the later.. although I am not sure that railroad is a fair term...Wilderness adventures can easily take that route.. otherwise they lose focus a bit too much.. I was able to do that in Bloodsworn Vale due to the setup..."
Takasi: "how about 'focused narrative'? :) that seems to be a more PC term"
JB: "That works for me..."
Mothman: "I don't think it will be that much like Bloodsworn - as far as I recall the scenario centres on an overland chase - it will likely be fairly linear."
JB: "That is true.. but one of the reasons it won was its open ending... it should be a lot of fun"
Mothman: "I'm looking forward to it - I'm sure it will be fun (it beat my proposal, so it MUST be good) ;-P"
Atrocious: "Do you have any Lovecraft works lined up for Planet Stories?"
VW: "Erik's the man with that plan, but I haven't heard him mention Lovecraft. I'm guessing that everything he's written is still in print, and we're reviving out-of-print material."
Mothman: "We know that Golarion is at least partly based on your home-brew world – were there any other models for Golarion put forward during the initial brainstorming sessions? Did any of the other guys want to use their homebrew worlds? Or did elements from the others’ settings make it in?"
JJ: "As far as I know, I'm the only one who really has a big & developed homebrew world to pull stuff from in the Editorial Pit. That said... Erik and Jason certainly added a LOT of additional info to the world. More than I have, at this point."
JB: "Well.. I do have a pretty big homebrew.. but its mine I tells you.. mine..."
Mothman: "Did much of your input for Golarion come from your home game? Or was it mostly weaved new for this setting?"
JB: "I would say that about 25% of my material was a mutation from some of my home games over the years.. but the other 75% was created new to fit with the setting."
Creatures & Races
Mad Geologist: "Having finally had the opportunity to read PF #5, I was wndering if the drow are Lamashtu worshippers and/or creations by her? (Twisted elves; she likes twisting 'pretty' creatures)"
JJ: "There are probably drow out there who worship Lamashtu... but for the most part she's one of the demons they DON'T worship. Their gods are going to be demon lords, for the most part, though."
Atrocious: "If spiders aren't going to be the prevailing theme for drow, what is?"
Lilith: "Deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeemons."
Atrocious: "I'm more a devil person myself (I work for a large corporation, I can relate)"
JJ: "The prevailing theme for drow will be decadance. That, and demons."
Grimcleaver: "Am really curious to see what the Pathfinder hobgoblins are like. Wonders if they'll have any Pathfinder goblin in them. That would be weird."
JB: "There is an entire writeup on them in Classic Monsters Revisted..."
Takasi: "are there any Kung Fu Pandas in Golarion? :)"
JB: "One can only hope."
Lilith: "What (non-iconic) character would you play in a Golarion game? Erik has hinted that he may start up a campaign."
JJ: "When Erik starts up a campaign (or Jason, or whoever starts a Golarion game first), I'll be basing my character off of Merisiel. So: A rogue."
Mad Geologist: "what method of ability score generation does Erik require you to use?"
JJ: "Erik, I believe, prefers the 4d6, drop the lowest, arrange as you wish method."
JS: "I also recently finished Lizardfolk for Classic Monsters. I'm very excited about some of the stuff I did there... managed to get some science past the office taste filters (I think)."
Lilith: "Ah! So you're the one that likes science in your fantasy...;)"
JS: "Yup! I think the lizardfolk in the new book are both parthenogenic and have temperature-determined sexes. Woooooo science! Wooo! It's weirder than fantasy!"
Lilith: "That's awesome - I can't wait to see it."
Darkmoon Vale
Takasi: "Jason, are you working on the Darkmoon Vale guide?"
JB: "Nope... although I have had a number of chats with Mike about it."
Deities
Grimcleaver: "There was a mention that Iomedae was a mortal servant of Aroden, and was raised to godhood. Cool stuff."
Gazetteer
Atrocious: "How is the Gazetteer coming, still on schedule for March?"
JB: "I hope so.. but I have been off that project for a bit now."
Pathfinders
MetalMaiden: "Will we eventually get more information about the relationship between ioun stones and wayfinders?"
JB: "Yes.. oh yes."
Mad Geologist: "When will we see more on the Pathfinder society? Prestige classes, Organization affiliation points, special equipment??? Will there be a SPLATBOOK (if it is appropriate to apply such a vulgar term) on the Pathfinder organization?"
JJ: "There'll be more about the Pathfinders once we get the Gazetteer and the Hardcover out. Crunch will have to wait until we get the 4E rules and can decide what direction we're going. We don't want to spend a lot of resources on things we'll just have to change 3 months later because we're switching editions."
Mad Geologist: "That's easy to understand and fair enough."
Planes & Planets
Lilith: "Planes or planets? Any info on either?"
JB: "There is a bit on the planets in the Gaz.. but not a whole lot. I think you will see much more of that in a later book."
JJ: "We have some new info on the planes, yes... in particular the one involved with Neutral Evil fiends..."
Lilith: "AWESOME! Are they being referred to as daemons? :P"
JJ: "Yes. Neutral evil fiends are called daemons in our world. We can't use Yugoloth; that does indeed belong to WotC. Daemon, however, does not."
Lilith: "Awesome. I'm preparing to have Ultima flashbacks. :D"
Scuttlecove in Golarion
Mothman: "There has been talk about a Golarion version of Scuttlecove – how different or similar would the Golarion version be to the Dungeon version? What elements would you take to keep that essence, without making it the same?"
Takasi: "Riddleport?"
Mothman: "I believe its been said that Riddleport is NOT the 'Scuttlecove' of Golarion."
JJ: "The Golarion version of Scuttlecove is a city called Ilizmagorti. It's a bigger city than Scuttlecove. Riddleport is not the 'Scuttlecove' of Golarion; it's a MUCH nicer place. Riddleport's more like Lankhmar."
Mothman: "What elements of Scuttlecove will Ilizmagorti have to make it similar but (presumably) different? Pirates? Sex, drugs and demonlords? Tropical setting? Hungry monks?"
JJ: "Ilizmagorti has: tropical setting and lots of criminal elements. Drugs and sex and demon lords will be involved, but it won't be set up to be a Scandalcauser like Scuttlecove."
Lilith: "What do you think of the idea of turning some of the Planet Stories supplements into mini-campaign settings, like the Iron Lords of Jupiter setting from Polyhedron? (Not asking you to do it, but what you think of the idea.)"
4th Edition
Wyvern: "Do you know if Paizo finally got a copy of 4e (or a draft) to check it out?"
VW: "Not only have we not been given the rules yet, but we still haven't seen the license."
JJ: "The prospect of seeing a big chunk of our readers and customers drop away no matter what edition we choose is one of several things at work on me to generate my brain tumors and ulcers..."
JB: "James.. can I borrow some of those.. I will trade you a nervous breakdown..."
Chatroom Customer base?
Mad Geologist: "Do you ever worry that those of us who drop in here may not be representative of your whole customer base, or don't you have the space to worry about that as well?"
JJ: "Not really. This is just one more way for me to mine the customer's brain for feedback! :) The COOLEST way, I might add..."
EnWorld Polls
Daigle: "What do you think of the EnWorld poll results that have been posted lately?"
VW: "The best 3.5 products poll? Like I said in the thread, it's an honor to be in such fine company. But just being on that list might cause a few folks to take notice for the first time."
Lilith: "See Pathfinder. See Pathfinder art. See Pathfinder writing. Go Pathfinder Go!"
Fan Resource Area
JJ: "No Fan Resource area news. :("
Fantasy Projects
Lilith: "To steer this back to Pathfinder...what project do you *want* to see, but probably won't due to time and staffing constraints?"
JJ: "Hmmmm... A 300-page superadventure, I guess. Although that's kind of what Pathfinder is, so maybe not."
Lilith: "This can include computer games, movies, etc."
Rambling Scribe: "Osirion!"
Daigle: "Pathfinder Journal Graphic Novel!!!...set in Osirion!"
Lilith: "Osirion!"
JJ: "Actually... there are a few CRAZY ideas bumping around in my head that actually MIGHT happen, but I can't say much about them yet. So I can't really honestly answer your question."
Rambling Scribe: "Yes you can James! We won't tell anyone!"
JJ: "Osirion is pretty cool! I'm not so sure about the big beetle shell over Sothis, and I'm SURE I don't like the wand rifle, but I can live with that if there's mummies and pyramids and thugs who use sarcophagus lids as shields. Include movies, huh? WELL THEN: I'd love to see a Pathfinder movie or a video game."
Lilith: "If you could pick one game designer or author (living or dead) to work on an area of Pathfinder, who would it be, and why? I expect HPL is in there somewheres."
JJ: "Yeah. HPL. If only so I could pay him enough that he could eat and go to the doctor and then not die of intestinal cancer. And I suspect I'd go blue in the face trying to argue the racisim out of him...A game designer though... Probably Rob Kuntz. Or Rich Baker. Or Monte Cook. Or Jeff Grubb. Or Chris Perkins."
Lilith: "Interesting, on the 1/22 chat, Charles Evans asked if Uncle would ever write a Pathfinder Adventure."
JJ: "Rob's been sick for a while, alas. He seems to be getting better though, thank Wee Jas!"
Lilith: "Okay, now the tough part: Why these authors?"
JJ: "Lovecraft because he's my favorite of them all. I figure if I can read five huge books of a man's letters and be riveted by them, he's got something going on that's worth reading. As for the designers? Rob Kuntz: His RPG design and imagination is the closest to what I feel embodies my origianl love with D&D. Rich Baker: Because of all the WotC projects I've ever worked on, working with him on Red Hand of Doom was the most rewarding. He's a great guy, and a GREAT designer. Monte Cook: Because he's Monte! He's pretty much 98% good ideas, 2% inert gasses. Jeff Grubb: Manual of the Planes was one of the best 1st edition books. He's the designer I want to work with the most who I haven't worked with yet, too. Chris Perkins: Because he IS Dungeon magazine to me. And because his map turnovers are incredible. And because he's cool. Actually, I'd add Gygax to that list as well. Because, well... duh. And Stephen King too. Dark Tower as an RPG? That would rock."
Fiction & Graphic Novels
Lilith: "Sutter! We demand Pathfinder fiction and graphic novels...please?"
JS: "Workin' on makin' the former happen."
Lilith: "Reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally? :squee: If money were no object (or time or labor), would a graphic novel of Eando Kline's adventures be something that you'd like to do?"
JS: "As for Eando Kline in a graphic novel - oh, hell yes."
Lilith: "Keen! Artist of choice?"
JS: "I'm a big fan of graphic novels, particularly Gaiman and Alan Moore, all of their stuff. I'm not sure who I'd want, illustration-wise, but it's something of a moot point, as a graphic novel is so hideously expensive."
Lilith: "True...but it be awesometastic."
JS: "If somebody like Dark Horse or someone wanted to pick up the IP, I'd be on that in a second, but for now, it's just a vague dream. That said, Pathfinder fiction is definitely in the works. A long way out, but on all our minds on the Planet Stories side."
Lilith: "Tell us more! Mothman is most curious. Short stories? Novels? Collections? New characters? Old characters?"
JS: "If/when that happens, I'll probably take point on it, as the Pathfinder Journal is my baby, and that's *basically* a testing ground for PF fiction. I think we'd probably start out with a collection of some sort, rope in some quality authors to take a spin with some iconic characters, but if people were into it, a novel would be nice. I'd probably stay away from using Eando, just because he's so rooted in the journals, but there are many other characters in our world."
Lilith: "Any feelers as to who those authors might be? Established or unknowns?"
JJ: "Well, if it's short fiction... I really can't say for sure, but we've got ties to a lot of quality gaming tie-in authors, via Worlds of Their Own, which is coming out this year, and features folks like Salvatore and whatnot. So who knows? I know that I've been tentatively tapped for one, as I've got the most straight fiction experience, but I think Erik would want to get in on that as well. It's all very nebulous - we'd probably stay out-of-house for most of it, get some ringers, but in the long run... who knows? And for a novel, it would DEFINITELY be out of house. I think several of us would like to write a novel someday, but nobody's got the time... too much other stuff we have to work on."
Product Release Dates
Lori: "Sounds like PF7 is on the boat. Any ETA of other Paizo releases?"
VW: "Sure! The map folio is due in like a week. And then the next Module shortly after that. Then, right around the 27th, we get the big shipment: Pathfinder 7, the Player's Guide, Harrow, and the Guide to Korvosa. And not to forget Northwest of Earth for Planet Stories, which should be in around the same time as the Map Folio."
Lilith: "Woo-hoo! 27th looks to be full of awesome."
Lori: "I am really looking forward to the Guide Korvosa! Me loves some fluff for my setting!"
VW: "And, um... I *think* the Critical Failure deck and Adventure Gear 2 Item Cards are also supposed to be in before month's end. Oh, and Map Pack: Ruins is also midmonth."
Secret Projects?
Lilith: "Jason Bulmahn: Whatchoo workin' on?"
JB: "I am afraid I cannot say.. it is a secret."
Lilith: "For Paizo or a freelance project?"
JB: "Suffice to say it is consuming my every waking moment outside of work and eating... and this chat just now.. and an occassional blog post... so... anyway.. there are some exceptions.. but not many."
Lilith: "Can't wait to see it!"
JJ: "Bulmahn! You're getting too close! Change the subject! How about that local sports team?"
Mothman: "I note that sleeping is not on the list of exclusions..."
JB: "No.. I had a dream about it last night...It is starting to get pervasive..."
Lilith: "James Jacobs, So you're in on this too!"
Mothman: "Oh yeah, I love that ... local sports team ... with the ball ... and .... uniforms?"
JB: "Ah yes.. that local sports consortium.. I believe that my team might just have the gumption to best the team in your local area... in the sport of which we are discussing"
JJ: "I heard that they scored a point yesterday."
JB: "Indeed.... a number of them..."
Lilith is most curious now...
Mothman: "Surely you jest? My team is .... good ... at stuff"
JB: "Valued enough so that they might claim victory in their contest. :-)"
JJ: "Lost interest already. Sports suck."
Mothman: "And they have hot cheerleaders."
JJ: "WAIT! CHEERLEADERS! Interest returning."
Lilith: "Is the super-sekret project that you and Jason working on going to blow our minds away?"
JJ: "I can't spill any beans. I asked if I could, but was not given CODE GREEN ALPHA clearance, alas."
Lilith: "Who do we need to get CODE GREEN ALPHA clearance from? And what bribes do we need to send?"
JJ: "CODE GREEN ALPHA is something only Erik (and LIsa and Vic, by extension up the ladder) can hand out."
Subscriber Surprise?
Lilith: "So much awesomeness...so what was this subscriber surprise?"
Lori: "Do tell..."
mr baron: "Subscriber surprise?"
Blazej: "Gold Embossed Pathfinder for every suscriber."
Fatespinner: "A free house call from Seoni."
Lori: "Valeros does yardwork?"
Lilith: "Hawt. With his shirt off?"
VW: "And yes, we do have two new subscriber perks coming."
Lilith: "Perks? We like perks, we do."
mr baron: "well do tell"
Grimcleaver: "Really? Might subscribe soon."
Lori: "At least tell us one..."
Daigle: "Mmmm...perks."
Takasi: "Perks?"
Blazej: "Two... so it is Seoni?"
Lori: "Seoni and Valeros?"
VW: "I'm not quite sure when we'll make the announcement. Gary has to make sure we can actually do what we want first."
Grimcleaver: "So when are they coming online? I'd hate to sign up and then just barely not get them."
VW: "For one of them, you'll need to be a subscriber for Pathfinder 7-12. The other is an ongoing benefit for Pathfinder subscribers. Which, assuming Gary pulls off his magic, will begin to take effect once Pathfinder 7 ships....and that's all I'm going to say."
Lilith: "Awww! No spoilarz for us!"
Mothman: "If I were to subscribe to Pathfinder THIS WEEK, would I get the first Crimson Throne in my subscription?"
VW: "Mothman, you can always choose to start you sub with either the most recent volume of the next volume. So that means that, right now, you can choose to start with either 6 or 7. And you'll be able to choose to start with 7 right up until 8 ships."
Grimcleaver: "Okay so more or less a month then. Do you know offhand when the cuttoff will be? I'd hate to miss it."
VW: "One of them is a thing. One is an ongoing benefit."
Daigle is giddy about secret gifts!
Grimcleaver: "Sounds awesome. I'm looking forward to it."
VW: "The cutoff for the one is after PF 8 ships. We don't have a firm date, but I'd expect that to be the latter part of March. 'The cutoff for the one is after PF 8 ships' should really be 'you must subscribe before PF 8 ships.' Because you have to get 7 as a subscriber."
Grimcleaver: "James Jacobs, So hey, I hear subscribers to Crimson Throne will be getting a special sumtin-sumtin."
JJ: "Yup - that's the plan. Not sure what it is yet, though."
Lilith: "And can you spill the beans on the subscriber goodies that we're getting (soon, hopefully)?"
Rambling Scribe: "I'm still hoping for Pathfinder slipcases!"
Lilith: "That would be awesome...but judging by Jason Bulmahn's blog, there is writing afoot..."
JJ: "Slipcases, alas... I don't think those are going to happen. We can't figure out an affordable way to make them go. I'll keep pestering the powers that be now and then about them, though."
Mothman: "Hey Kruelaid - you made it past the net censors."
Kruelaid: "Lilith's chat does not engage in subversion of the great dictatorship of the people. So it's ok."
Lilith: "How little they know...;)"
VW: "Oh no - there's PLENTY of science to the US elections. You think those things rig themselves?"
JJ: "Getting maps out of Nick Logue is like pulling teeth. Out of a shark. Using two pieces of ham to extract the tooth instead of pliers. OH, and it's storming and you have a blindfold on."
JJ: "I still enjoy that we can map the 7 editors (including Erik) to the 7 sins, of course..."
JB: "Oh yes.. that is quite entertaining..."
JJ: "You're more like the Public Face we put out there to make it look like the rest of us are young and cool."
JS: "Yay! Figurehead status! Someday....Once that Erik Mona gets all old and decrepit, maybe."
JJ: "If I were feeling snarky, I would say that you're the pimple. But that's my job these days, alas. ;) Hopefully the role of COMPANY PIMPLE BEARER will shift to someone else soon."
JS: "Hey man... I'm totally the eyes."
JJ: "The eyes. I can see you being the eyes."
JS: "I catch all the things Captain Idea Man can't be bothered with. Like the dreaded ALTHOGUH. I keep the hidden ways closed against him, lest he slip into Pathfinder, and thence into the world."
JJ: "One of these days, I'm warning you. ALTHOGUH will break through and corrupt all that is numbered and holy."
JS: "ANYHOW. Uh, hi folks! I should probably say something other than inside jokes with Jacobs, huh? :D"
James Jacobs shrugs.
Lilith: "It's awfully damn funny so you're cool Sutter."
Daigle: "I think we were probably all entertained."
JS: "Yay! This is pretty much what the office is like. Constant banter interrupted by panicked spates of working."
JJ: "Except a lot quieter."
JS: "Yeah. Amount of work done is inversely proportional to number of people in the office, most days."
JJ: "It's true."
JJ: "How about: do you want to see 8 page short one-shot adventures in Pathfinder that are tangentally related to that volume's theme and primary adventure?"
Lilith: "Yes!"
RETH-Mog: "Yes."
Metal Maiden: "Heck yes!"
Mad Geologist: "James 'side trek' sort of things from the main theme. Yes please. Catacombs of Wrath was very much one of those it seemed to me. :D"
Takasi: "personally James Jacobs, I think those Side Treks would be better off in Organized Play. sell them as little PDFs."
JJ: "If we do something for Organized Play, it'll very likely be somewhat separate from Pathfinder. And will use different resources than what we use right now for Pathfinder."
Takasi: "if it's on Golarion, it can always be used in a PF campaign"
JJ: "To put in a side trek, I would shorten the primary adventure from about 52 pages down to 42 pages. The overall Adventrue Path itself would then span about 12 levels rather than 16."
Takasi: "Instead of putting in just another linear tacked on side quest, I'd rather see a fleshed out mini-setting supplement. like the Magnimar article. or something detailing the hinterlands or a district in a city or something. that would do so much more for players going off the rails than one single side trek. for example, in PF3 I would have rather seen a map of Turtleback Ferry and more details on the surrounding environs instead of some little adventure in the Sanos Forest. and I think others would too."
JJ: "We'll certainly continue doing gazetteer articles for Pathfinder, never fear."
Lori: "How about a 64(?) page book of side treks?"
Grimcleaver: "Would love a sidetrek book for Golarion. That would be awesome."
Takasi: "I'd rather see more maps and encounters for sandbox play than yet another linear one shot."
Lilith: "No matter what you do, we'll still be pulling an Oliver Twist...'Please suh, I'd like some more...'"
JJ: "Takasi: More sandbox play means you're probably more interested in the Pathfinder Chronicles line of products; the gazetteers and stuff, than Pathfinder, which is primarilly an adventrue product. There'll be sandbox stuff in Pathfinder now and then... but it'll always be second fiddle to THE RAILROAD! CHOO CHOOOOOOOOOO!"
Takasi: "I am looking forward to Pathfinder Chronicles, BUT I see a lot of potential for sandbox play already in Pathfinder. for example, the article on Magnimar. you won't get that type of material in the Chronicles products, you have to subscribe to PF. and years from now, after I've run through PF I'll be going back to Runelords to reuse that material but the adventures are really a one shot"
JJ: "Also... 20 years from now, when there's 40 PF adventures available... that starts looking like a sandbox."
Takasi: "that really depends on how you present the material. the more linear it is, and the more dependent each encounter is on the other, and the more event based each adventure is, the less reuse the PFs will get."
JJ: "ANYway... here's the reasoning behind my questions. Starting with Second Darkness... the main adventrue will be dropping from a 50 page (or thereabotus) adventure down to a 40 page (or thereabouts) adventure. Which means I have 10 more pages of stuff to put in the other half of Pathfinder. Side trek type stuff seemed like a natural fit, especially since that'll let us try out newer authors."
Takasi: "I would rather see a mini-adventure site. for example, the town of Crying Leaf. everyone can use an interesting elf town. it's not just 'notes on the setting', it's a sandbox and mini-setting by itself. or if you're in the underdark, a snirfneblin town and its surroundings with a Golarion spin."
Mad Geologist: "What do you find the most useful information in a background article on a town (besides the map)."
JJ: "We're already doing those types of articles in Pathfinder. You're saying you want more, though, yeah? Rather than a short adventrue that, say, presents a "Pirate Ship" or a "Demon Lair" that can be dropped in anywhere? Isn't that a valuable resource for sandbox play?"
Takasi: "instead of telling freelancers "Make a side trek through snirfneblin territory', can't you say 'Make a snirfneblin playground?'"
JJ: "Is there a difference? Either way you get a svirfneblin village with encounters and stats and adventure."
Takasi: "There is a difference James, if it's presented as 'Go hijack the pirate ship' or 'consecrate the Demon lair', but you ignore what's around the demon lair, or who the pirates are. this year's D&D Gameday is a good example, it presents a dwarven mine that's been taken over by a drow and duergar, and was advertised as a "Icewind Dale' adventure. it puts a lot of gamist detail into the dungeon area, but does nothing to present the area around the dungeon, or the backgrounds of the drow and duergar."
JJ: "In 8 pages... we wouldn't have room to bother with what's around that demon's lair, or where the pirates were coming from. It'd probably have 3 different adventure hooks, and then would present the site in question in detail so you can use it for one of those 3 hooks or one of your own."
Takasi: "Magnimar is a huge city and was presented in little more than 8 pages, if you didn't focus so much on detailing each room, trap, encounter and instead gave an overview I would be happier."
Mad Geologist: "Would you be looking more for wilderness side-treks, because by their nature they may be more likely to detail the background of a region?"
JJ: "Magnimar should have had at least TWICE the room it got."
Takasi: "yes, but it's a thousand times bigger than a demon lair. and even so, it gave me enough info to inspire a few adventures."
JJ: "So let's put it this way. Do you think that, for a product that presents an Adventure Path, the split between adventure and sandbox is about right as it is now in Pathfinder? Or do you think it needs more or less adventure?"
Lilith: "I would want a little more sandbox, but not at the expense of the adventure."
Fake Healer: "I like the split."
JJ: "Well... as I've said above... starting with Second Darkness, the split will pretty much become 40% Adventure Path, 60% support stuff."
Mad Geologist: "For higher level adventures because of the stat. blocks, the adventures start to lose out, being squashed into the same space. Or so I feel."
Mothman: "Reeeeaaally long adventures can get a little tedious, but I think the adventure to fluff ratio is probably about right - so a slightly shorter long adventure with a sidetrek would be about right - IMO"
JJ: "Really long adventures are simply not an option for a monthly product, is the thing."
JB: "James, just because it is slowly killing you is no reason to stop."
JJ: "It's true. That's the MAIN reason we're dropping down to 40 page adventures. There's just no time for me to develop a 50 page adventure once a month."
Fake Healer: "You guys do excellent quality stuff. 40/60, 50/50, 30/70, 60/40.....it don't matter to me as long as the quality is still there."
JJ: "I'm also VERY strongly considering making Second Darkness run from 1st level to 12th. And in so doing avoiding the high-level scene entirely."
Rambling Scribe: "To be honest James, over the long run, I'd be just as happy to see less adventure per month, and if neccessary, more issues per path. Or not going to the high levels is cool with me."
Russ Taylor: "I applaud avoiding high level for at least some APs. And maybe make an AP that doesn't start at 1st somewhere along the line."
Daigle is a fan of lower levels.
Fake Healer: "1-12 would be fine with me. It hits the whole "sweet spot" of D&D."
Pygon: "I'd expect that going up against demon-loving dark elves would call for higher levels, so I'd feel like SD would be cut short if it didn't spend a little time up there."
Takasi: "well James Jacobs, if you could have both the site locations like Magnimar/Sandpoint/(Turtleback) but also have space for Monster and Organization articles, that would be awesome. I don't think you have room for all of those right now, if you trimmed the adventures back you could."
JJ: "That's actually the goal, so cool!"
Mad Geologist: "Takasi: You mean to say that in Pf #4 for example, you might have liked to see an article detailing the Storval Plateau or Iron Peaks??"
Takasi: "yes Mad Geologist, a little more detail on the journey from Sandpoint to Jorgenfist would have been nice. more detail to help simulate the journey and give players that option"
Mad Geologist: "Hmm. That may have been useful to have, yes."
Takasi: "I guess that's what I'm looking for James Jacobs, more Gazetteer articles. specifically ones that complement the adventure and go into more detail than the setting books. if you could add one more of those types of articles, I'd be happier than another mini-module."
Lilith: "Speaking of Golem Madness...THE FANS DEMAND GOLEM T-SHIRTS! There are many who wish to proclaim their love for Paizo through apparel...:)"
:(
I wished I would have ebeen there for this one. This was the night I got the flu. Yuck.