Creative Director
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Strange Idea: what about classes whose abilities are based on other types, monsters' abilities, etc...
Like, Based on True Dragons: D12, Full BaB, 3 good saves, 6 + Int modifier, good amount of class skills, Darkvision, low light Vision, scaling breath weapon, "Dual Typed" (count both as your usual type and as Dragon for spells, favorite enemy, etc.), + other things.
Good or Bad idea?
I'm not a fan of making monsters into PC classes. At all. Monsters should stay monsters.
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Creative Director
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Would you use the reefclaws as a stand-in for King's lobstrosities, perhaps with some templates added? Or would you design something from the ground up?
I'd probably design something from the ground up, especially since, and I could be wrong, but weren't the lobstrosities smaller than reefclaws?
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Creative Director
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Dear JJ
Have you watched any of the Evil Dead / Army of darkness movies and what do you think of them?
Of COURSE I've watched those movies! They're great! I've been a fan of that franchise for close to 30 years, ever since I first saw Evil Dead back in the mid 80s.
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Creative Director
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1)Does Shelyn dislike Iomedae?
2)does Iomedae dislike Shelyn?
3)Have Shelyn and Iomedae ever come into conflit with each other?
4)How do most empyreal lords interact with the good deities
5)Have Sarenrae and Iomedae ever come into conflit with each other?
1) No.
2) No.
3) Probably, but nothing significant.
4) It varies, but the closer their alignments, the more they get along.
5) Yes.
I don't play or use PFS adventures but I have read several of the first few seasons. I don't really see anything that should make Pathfinders all that hated. Can you tell me what scenarios in what seasons led to this?
You had previously mentioned that Shelia H from Shattered Star was disliked. I assume this is due to the adventures that caused Pathfinders to be disliked. Do you know which specifically?
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Have you seen "They Call Me Bruce"? I got to see it in one of these more off the wall theaters in the Village, and a personal appearance by the Man himself.Of COURSE I've watched those movies! They're great! I've been a fan of that franchise for close to 30 years, ever since I first saw Evil Dead back in the mid 80s.Dear JJ
Have you watched any of the Evil Dead / Army of darkness movies and what do you think of them?
I have. I've also read his autobiography, which is super entertaining.
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I don't play or use PFS adventures but I have read several of the first few seasons. I don't really see anything that should make Pathfinders all that hated. Can you tell me what scenarios in what seasons led to this?
You had previously mentioned that Shelia H from Shattered Star was disliked. I assume this is due to the adventures that caused Pathfinders to be disliked. Do you know which specifically?
I can't tell you—I am not that involved in the Pathfinder Society, but the fact that it doesn't read like there's a reason to hate them is certainly one of the things that confused me and makes me worry that it's something in the way many GMs do when running a game. I've always found Sheila Heidmarch to be a really interesting and compelling character, and the fact that she's got a bad rep from PFS baffles me.
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5)How so?1)Does Shelyn dislike Iomedae?
2)does Iomedae dislike Shelyn?
3)Have Shelyn and Iomedae ever come into conflit with each other?
4)How do most empyreal lords interact with the good deities
5)Have Sarenrae and Iomedae ever come into conflit with each other?
1) No.
2) No.
3) Probably, but nothing significant.
4) It varies, but the closer their alignments, the more they get along.
5) Yes.
Because Iomedae's a crusading "kill the bad guy" type who isn't really eager to bend the rules, and Sarenrae's all about redemption and making decisions on what's best for the overall good without worrying if it breaks rules.
AKA: Sarenrae is nicer and more friendly and more forgiving than Iomedae, and that causes conflicts in how the two of them sometimes decide to handle situations.
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OH! I did misread your question.
No... as written, you have to be of the archetype's class to take that archetype. A druid could not take a ranger archetype, or vice versa.
(This is why we sometimes duplicate archetypes for different classes—there's a fighter Dawnflower Dervish and a bard Dawnflower Dervish, for example, that do quite different things, but in-world theyre both part of the same outfit.)
Ah. Well, then. That would be an error on the druid archetypes then. Right now only a urban ranger can give up woodland stride to move through crowds yet a world walker druid still considers it rough terrain, and woodland stride is untouched.
But still, that's good to know. Unfortunate, but important information nonetheless.
Page 1,000 of your thread has come and gone. Any regrets?
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Would you use the reefclaws as a stand-in for King's lobstrosities, perhaps with some templates added? Or would you design something from the ground up?I'd probably design something from the ground up, especially since, and I could be wrong, but weren't the lobstrosities smaller than reefclaws?
They look like a cross between scorpions and giant lobsters measuring about four feet long, with sharp serrated beaks, and eyes on stalks.
That puts them either on the large side of Small, or the small end of Medium. They're either as large as reefclaws or larger.
How many levels of gunslinger has Roland Deschain acquired? All 20? Or did he multiclass? Is he mythic?
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More questions! I'm not annoying you, am I?
1) I know Ustalav is Wes' baby, but what's YOUR favorite part of that fog-shrouded land?
2) Where would the most prominent Osirionologists outside Osirion itself be?
3) If I wanted to pick out some good Varisian-sounding names, what real world language would be the best starting point? Hungarian? Italian? Polish?
4) Speaking of naming conventions, which Golarion linguistics would produce the names we might see in medieval literature like Gawain, Dinadan, Chantecleer, etc?
5) What would you say is the best way to accommodate a character who wants a snake tail instead of legs? Most of the snakey transformations I can find in the rules only offer shifting between completely snake and completely humanoid, such as the serpentine bloodline, druid's wild shape, etc.
1) Pretty much all of Versex.
2) Absalom or Katapesh.
3) Hungarian works. I generally go with a mix of East European or Romany names and then adjust them by a couple of letters.
4) I suppose Taldan/Common.
5) By using the race builder guide and making sure the player understands that they'll be missing out on a fair amount of magic treasure.
1 thru 4) Thanks!
5) I was referring more to a slowly developing transformation culminating in the character's legs becoming a snake tail, rather than simply starting with them. Sort of like the Naga Aspirant, but with hands.
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James, here to harvest your brain for a bit:
-Has Baba Yaga ever visited Androffa? Has she ever interacted with its inhabitants in any meaningful way?
-How does Baba Yaga view highly advanced technology (ie brain uploading, nanotech, interstellar travel)?
-It's mentioned in Witch Queen's Revenge that Baba Yaga is actually able to basically hang out with demon lords and archdevils since she's not quite a demigod, only an extremely powerful, mythic-infused witch. Has she ever communicated in a similar fashion with the Dominion of the Black?
1) Yes, but she was born long after Earthfall, and thus was born long after Divinity launched and crashed. The Androffa she visited is VERY different from the one that was capable of building a spaceship.
2) With amusement.
3) No.
Im gonna guess it exists in a state whereby it had a global cataclysm and exists in a pre-industrial state with super advanced tech remnants lying all around, and has remained like this for 9,000 years (ie eerily similar to Numeria or your own Unspeakable Futures...). Yeh don't gotta answer this, of course, but Im calling it now!
Although on the third question...is it because they're too alien for her to deal with, or are they just not worth the trouble in her eyes? Or is she perhaps unnerved by them? ...nah, can't be that :P
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Creative Director
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Would you use the reefclaws as a stand-in for King's lobstrosities, perhaps with some templates added? Or would you design something from the ground up?I'd probably design something from the ground up, especially since, and I could be wrong, but weren't the lobstrosities smaller than reefclaws?
They look like a cross between scorpions and giant lobsters measuring about four feet long, with sharp serrated beaks, and eyes on stalks.
That puts them either on the large side of Small, or the small end of Medium. They're either as large as reefclaws or larger.
How many levels of gunslinger has Roland Deschain acquired? All 20? Or did he multiclass? Is he mythic?
Then reefclaws work perfect.
Roland is definitely mythic.
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Creative Director
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1)Why is Iomedae mean and cruel to even good creatures?
2)Are all of Iomedae's servants just as cruel as she is?
1) She's not! She's stern, but she's not mean or cruel. That's a misunderstanding that got blown way out of proportion by a few folks after reading about how she reacts to people who disrespect or belittle her in the 5th Wrath of the Righteous book. Do not take misunderstandings as canon.
2) No. See #1 above.
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Creative Director
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Although on the third question...is it because they're too alien for her to deal with, or are they just not worth the trouble in her eyes? Or is she perhaps unnerved by them? ...nah, can't be that :P3) No.
-It's mentioned in Witch Queen's Revenge that Baba Yaga is actually able to basically hang out with demon lords and archdevils since she's not quite a demigod, only an extremely powerful, mythic-infused witch. Has she ever communicated in a similar fashion with the Dominion of the Black?
She can't have been everywhere or done everything, and some areas just don't hold much interest to her.
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Page 1,000 of your thread has come and gone. Any regrets?Just that some folks tend to use my answers for evil.
If there's one thing that will always hold true, its that people will always try to use genius for evil.
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Page 1,000 of your thread has come and gone. Any regrets?Just that some folks tend to use my answers for evil.Now I'm thinking you look like one of those two lab guys from "Better off Ted". Do you have a Ted on staff? If so, is he a figure of leadership?
Then again, I'm not sure that I want to know that Paizo is a division of Veridian Dynamics. A company so powerful that one of it's executives bought the country of Chad and renamed it after his son, Chad.
I haven't seen "Better Off Ted" so I can't say, since I'm not sure what a "Ted on staff" would be.
Of COURSE I've watched those movies! They're great! I've been a fan of that franchise for close to 30 years, ever since I first saw Evil Dead back in the mid 80s.Dear JJ
Have you watched any of the Evil Dead / Army of darkness movies and what do you think of them?
Which one did you like the best, and why?
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1) Mostly from the Mana Wastes (focusing on Alkenstar), but a few are from Numeria. PCs, of course, can come from anywhere, since they're outliers by nature.2) Groetus is inspired by Ghroth. Aucturn is not; at best Aucturn and Ghroth are both inspired by the same concepts in a bit of parallel development.
3) It focuses on the core races, but touches upon all the races that have a presence in the Inner Sea region. Trox, for example, are not part of that region, and are thus not mentioned. Many others are.
4) Because they forgot to include an RP cost, and because that RP cost already exists in a previous hardcover, and because the Bestiaries are meant primarily as GM tools and NOT as player character books.
5) Perhaps. I see kytons more as the agents in the Hellraiser movies though, and Silent Hill's foes as much more varied. Mostly as undead or aberrations, not outsiders.
6) Undead and aberrations, but when you describe them, describe them as if they were Silent Hill monsters.
7) Pathfinder #88 and Occult Mysteries.
8) Anything is possible with the GM's permission.
9) No. It serves a similar purpose, but is not itself a psychopomp. All psychopomps are true neutral. Shinigamis are lawful neutral.
10) Yes.
Ok thanks for the answers & advice :) Also, yeah, aware that bestiary are strictly gm material, I was just confused by that. Though 3 gave me one question about it:
3) Wait, trox aren't from Inner Sea? I wasn't aware of that since bestiary are setting free <_< Where ARE they from then?
Also, as side note, might as well ask since it popped in my mind afterwards, does there exists official paizo underwater adventure or plans for one? It'd be rather niche thing, but I'm kinda curious about that since I do have noticed there is enough material for gm to set up one
Thanks again :)
I just google the word stern and got synonyms severe,grim,unforgiving,unsympathetic,extreme,ruthless,unsparing,draconian
Are you saying she is all these things?
I'm not JJ, of course... But I'd say that while she can be those things at times, in Iomedae's case, the best definition of "stern" would be "strict".
James was Echidna a source of inspiration for Lamashtu?No... Lamashtu was the source of inspiration for Lamashtu.
So after a bit of research, I think Lamashtu maybe the inspiration for Echidna. Now to see who works for Typhon.
How are you today?^^
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Which one did you like the best, and why?Of COURSE I've watched those movies! They're great! I've been a fan of that franchise for close to 30 years, ever since I first saw Evil Dead back in the mid 80s.Dear JJ
Have you watched any of the Evil Dead / Army of darkness movies and what do you think of them?
Evil Dead 2, because of its humor, its camerawork, its direction, its energy, Bruce's acting, and the over the top gore, and because it's just Groovy.
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Creative Director
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1)Why is Iomedae mean and cruel to even good creatures?
2)Are all of Iomedae's servants just as cruel as she is?
1) She's not! She's stern, but she's not mean or cruel. That's a misunderstanding that got blown way out of proportion by a few folks after reading about how she reacts to people who disrespect or belittle her in the 5th Wrath of the Righteous book. Do not take misunderstandings as canon.
2) No. See #1 above.
I just google the word stern and got synonyms severe,grim,unforgiving,unsympathetic,extreme,ruthless,unsparing,draconian
Are you saying she is all these things?
No. I'm saying she's stern. Don't look at a word's synonyms for its definition. Look at its definition.
From dictionary.com, there are four definitions...
1. firm, strict, or uncompromising: stern discipline.
2. hard, harsh, or severe: a stern reprimand.
3. rigorous or austere; of an unpleasantly serious character: stern times.
4. grim or forbidding in aspect: a stern face.
In this case, it's the 1st definition. Iomedae is firm, strict, and uncompromising in her crusade and fight against evil. She expects her followers to be equally stern in their crusade against evil, PARTICULARLY against undead and fiends. In the case of the Worldwound, she's seen a hundred years of excellent and loyal and devoted followers take up her banner and give their lives in a number of grueling fights against demons, but she's also seen an increasing number of "low templars," people who use the crusade as an excuse to pillage and rob and murder and wreak havoc upon their fellow men and women, while at BEST giving lip service to Iomedae. Decades of that kind of behavior have soured her somewhat to the crusade, and she's started to wonder if the crusade has become increasingly its own worst enemy in the fight against the Worldwound. She's frustrated that many humans have taken her cause as an excuse to do evil or sow chaos, in other words, so in the 5th book of Wrath of the Righteous, she's eager to embrace and support the heroic PCs... but she's not stupid. She knows that "false heroes" exist, and has seen it only too many times in the crusade, so she gives the PCs a series of 3 questions for them to answer. As written, there is no one right answer, and as long as the PCs reply in ways that display their good intentions and honor and do not disrespect Iomedae, her faith, or make her feel like the PCs in question are merely tagging along for a chance to loot and pillage and plunder, she treats them with great respect and supports them and more.
In the case where a PC fails to do so, she punishes them. Some readers have focused only on this element, and assume that means that she's a torturer. She's not. She's just tired of people who say they're heroes while all they do is take advantage of the people that they're supposed to be protecting and helping.
It should be noted that EVEN IF she punishes thugs and disrespectful bandits or other bad apples among the PCs, she restores them to life "free of charge."
Now, I certainly could have developed the text more to make that more clear—I think I didn't make it obvious enough in "Herald of the Ivory Labyrinth" what she's up to, why she does what she does, and how actually difficult it is for a PC to "accidentally" get in trouble with her. After all... she's a goddess, and as the GM you know what the players are about even if they present themselves poorly or roll low, and Iomedae knows this as well.
FURTHERMORE, meeting Iomedae is intended to be a significant event in a mythic character's development, and therefore, there needed to be some element of mythic danger or grandeur in her meeting. It's become one of the more talked-about scenes in the Adventure Path, so in that regard I'd call it an unparalleled success.
In any case... I hope this clears things up.
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Creative Director
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3) Wait, trox aren't from Inner Sea? I wasn't aware of that since bestiary are setting free <_< Where ARE they from then?
Also, as side note, might as well ask since it popped in my mind afterwards, does there exists official paizo underwater adventure or plans for one? It'd be rather niche thing, but I'm kinda curious about that since I do have noticed there is enough material for gm to set up one
Thanks again :)
3) Trox were one of the 5 races the design team made up to show off what you can do with the race-building rules in the appendix of the Advacned Race Guide. Unfortunately, they built them in a vacuum, without really considering where the races would come from in-world. Had I realized that was going on before it was too late, I would have suggested they instead build things like androids, ghorans, and a few others that ARE in Golarion but hadn't yet been presented.
The result is five races that don't really have homes in our Campaign World, which is unfortunate. Over the course of the Iron Gods AP, I've come up with a pretty cool way to integrate the kasathas into the campaign setting, but the other four haven't had that treatment yet. The easy way to reply is to basically say that the trox and the others are from distant planets we've not yet mentioned. Some day we might. But it's not super high on my to do list. When the time's right to give the trox and the rest some attention... it'll happen.
Evil Dead 2, because of its humor, its camerawork, its direction, its energy, Bruce's acting, and the over the top gore, and because it's just Groovy.Which one did you like the best, and why?Of COURSE I've watched those movies! They're great! I've been a fan of that franchise for close to 30 years, ever since I first saw Evil Dead back in the mid 80s.Dear JJ
Have you watched any of the Evil Dead / Army of darkness movies and what do you think of them?
I have to agree, I loved some of the subtle jokes like;
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That description of Iomedae REALLY makes me like her even more than I already did as the default paladin deity. It's like she's Heaven's drill sergeant, and she's havin' NONE OF YOUR S#@& MAGGOT! XD
Seriously, I love that scene, as it gives Iomedae so much personality, especially when "paladin gods" can seem kind of bland.
Speaking of which...
1) I know that Erastil's another deity you've had to do a LOT of tweaks on since his early articles, mitigating the heavily socially-conservative attitude he was given. He always seemed to me to be the kind of deity who expects his followers to specifically REFUSE positions of power in favor of staying helpful at the local level. Is this an accurate impression, and if it isn't, what has changed? Basically, would Erastil be cool if, say, one of his paladins was made king of a rugged frontier kingdom if said king's reasons for doing so were the protection of his kingdom's people and emptying the region of bandits, monsters and other such threats?
2) Are morion helmets (the helmets largely associated with conquistadors) too anachronistic for Golarion?
3) Can people with common, English-sounding names like Thomas or William be found in Golarion? Or should I tweak the spellings of such names to avoid the Aerith and Bob effect?
4) Recent reading indicates there's more than one Star Monarch. I thought that there was only a single one that served as Desna's divine herald. Am I missing something here? Or does Desna have a race of beings as her heralds (which is all kinds of awesome, especially since Star Monarchs are so cute!)?
That description of Iomedae REALLY makes me like her even more than I already did as the default paladin deity. It's like she's Heaven's drill sergeant, and she's havin' NONE OF YOUR S#@& MAGGOT! XD
I always saw Iomedae as being more along the lines of M from the James Bond franchise...
A Mr. Morden would like to know "What do you want?"That changes at every second, but right now? I'll go with a chocolate chip cookie.
He'll be disappointed with your answer, which is good. Just ask Ambassador Mollari what happens if he likes your answer.
Huh, thats interesting info... I had no idea none of them were actually created to be fitting in golarion <_< Guess I'll have to wait if I want to make them be lore accurate in my campaign
Gotta applaud design team though, they are really unique races.
A Fey would be easy, it's from the First World, the rest might not be that easy.
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Creative Director
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1) I know that Erastil's another deity you've had to do a LOT of tweaks on since his early articles, mitigating the heavily socially-conservative attitude he was given. He always seemed to me to be the kind of deity who expects his followers to specifically REFUSE positions of power in favor of staying helpful at the local level. Is this an accurate impression, and if it isn't, what has changed? Basically, would Erastil be cool if, say, one of his paladins was made king of a rugged frontier kingdom if said king's reasons for doing so were the protection of his kingdom's people and emptying the region of bandits, monsters and other such threats?
2) Are morion helmets (the helmets largely associated with conquistadors) too anachronistic for Golarion?
3) Can people with common, English-sounding names like Thomas or William be found in Golarion? Or should I tweak the spellings of such names to avoid the Aerith and Bob effect?
4) Recent reading indicates there's more than one Star Monarch. I thought that there was only a single one that served as Desna's divine herald. Am I missing something here? Or does Desna have a race of beings as her heralds (which is all kinds of awesome, especially since Star Monarchs are so cute!)?
1) I've not had to do a LOT of tweaks to him at all. Just one. Again, it got blown out of proportion, but in that case it WAS an error that has since, in "Inner Sea Gods," been fixed. He wouldn't have a problem with a rugged frontier king wanting to fight monsters at all.
2) Nah, they're fine, but they're not really something you'll see a lot of anyway, simply because we don't have conquistador themes going on.
3) It's possible, yes, but not common.
4) There's always been more than one star monarch; it's a type of monster, just like red dragon or otyugh or ghoul or roc. They're Desna's primary material plane servitor race. The Night Monarch is the singular one that is Desna's Herald. Despite its similar name and similar appearance, the Night Monarch is not a star monarch, or vice versa. They're not even the same creature type.