Creative Director
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Personally... it sounds like an archetype I wouldn't like. It sounds like you'd be better off playing a cleric than trying to play a wizard that gets all the cleric toys. I am not a fan at all of archetypes giving away class features of other classes. That's kinda lame.Does it matter if it's a limited use per day and expensive to do so when you do go to use it?
Nope. Still kinda annoying to me.
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Creative Director
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As a horror fan I love that you use modern horror movies/books for inspiration for some of the creature designs. It's been a while since I've given the bestiary a good looking through and off the top of my head I can't think of any creatures that match what I'm looking for. Is there a Freddy Kruger like creature that can invade dreams? Also is there something like Stephen King's It a creature that preys off a PC's fears?
The closest thing to something like this would be either the animate dream or the nightmare creature. Maybe the boogeyman.
As a horror fan I love that you use modern horror movies/books for inspiration for some of the creature designs. It's been a while since I've given the bestiary a good looking through and off the top of my head I can't think of any creatures that match what I'm looking for. Is there a Freddy Kruger like creature that can invade dreams? Also is there something like Stephen King's It a creature that preys off a PC's fears?The closest thing to something like this would be either the animate dream or the nightmare creature. Maybe the boogeyman.
I was trying to remember the write up for the boogeyman, I'll look him up and reread him later. I was also thinking about using bugbears for lower level encounters, I like the creep factor you guys have added to them.
I noticed you replied very quickly to an FAQ about orcs and morality etc, which was great. I suppose my question is, why do some FAQs on this board get solved swiftly (like the one I just mentioned) and without confusion, but some are issue left murky for a loooong time.
For example, we're still a bit lost on the "Does DD continue bloodrager bloodline powers like it does with sorcerer" issue, even though the ACG has been out for a while now. (I'm not asking you to answer that here, I'm just putting it up as an example)
From what I've read of your posts, flavor is your bag more than crunch, but I figured being intimate with the goings-on at the home base, you might know the answer to why there's a such a variation in response time. The orc morality post I mentioned that you responded to had 4 FAQ requests when last I checked, while the Bloodrager/DD one, for example, has had around 50. It seems...inconsistent.
I've been asked by management and the design team to not answer or weigh in on rules questions, since that causes more problems than it solves, apparently, when folks freak out if I have a different ruling than the design team would have ruled.
I answered that orcs and morality thread because it's a world question, not a rules question, and therefore I am the one to address that question.
I'm just more vocal and spend more time on the boards answering questions than the rules team, I guess. Might just be because I don't have as much of a social/family life as everyone on the design team.
Whether or not that's good or bad about me answering lots and fast when the design team does not... that's a question for Paizo's management to decide upon. I probably DO spend too much time on these boards, and the design team probably DOESN'T spend enough time on them... it's something we're constantly trying to adjust and fix. I can only directly address my own situation though, so I can't really say for sure why the rules FAQ system is so slow. Although sheer...
It might have more to do with Paizo's bureaucracy, than the design team having more of a social life. SKR, before he left, mentioned, repeatedly, that the design team wasn't allowed to weigh in on an issue in any official capacity unless the entire design team gathered together in a meeting for the sole purpose of going over rule FAQs and stuff. A major hurdle was the fact the design team was often so busy with new rulebooks or setting up for Con season, or setting up for RPG Superstar or some other thing that they very often didn't have any time or were unable to get everyone together.
This was particularly troublesome when the FAQ was for something with a really easy answer, like a hypothetical FAQ about whether or not Fireball actually does 1d12 damage per caster level instead of 1d6.
Now that you guys have hired Mark as a kind of 'official FAQ guy' to push the issue more, FAQs and answers have really increased a lot. Which is a good thing in my opinion.
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Have you ever incorporated bureaucratic elements into a game as a challenge for players to overcome? Have you ever had it used against you?
Do you think government leaders in a country like Cheliax would enjoy an overly detailed bureaucracy (kind of like in Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy, or that one episode from Futurama) especially as a means to prevent commoners or outsiders from enacting any sort of change they don't like in a legal fashion?
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Creative Director
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Have you ever incorporated bureaucratic elements into a game as a challenge for players to overcome? Have you ever had it used against you?
Do you think government leaders in a country like Cheliax would enjoy an overly detailed bureaucracy (kind of like in Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy, or that one episode from Futurama) especially as a means to prevent commoners or outsiders from enacting any sort of change they don't like in a legal fashion?
Yes; there are burreaucratic elements in Council of Thieves, for example. Some more in Kingmaker. There'll be more than a bit of it in Hell's Rebels.
In fact, Cheliax DOES enjoy an overly detailed bureaucracy. Taken to the natural extreme, I kinda feel like the only real endpoint for an overly detailed bureaucracy is lawful evil anyway.
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The Dominion of the Black article strongly hints that the Dominion is attempting to serve up all mortal life as a sacrifice to the Void.
The Qlippoth seek the annihilation of mortal life to stop the birth of new Demons and retake the Abyss. The Daemons seek the annihilation of mortal life due to general nihilism and in some cases prophecy about what comes after all mortals are gone. The Qlippoth and Daemons don't get along with each other, though, given the whole Daemons-are-responsible-for-Demons-replacing-Qlippoth thing.
Would the Dominion of the Black be likely to work with one or both of the Qlippoth or Daemons (though obviously not both at the same time/place) on some wide-scale life-annihilating plot, or would there be issues between those groups?
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Creative Director
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The Dominion of the Black article strongly hints that the Dominion is attempting to serve up all mortal life as a sacrifice to the Void.
The Qlippoth seek the annihilation of mortal life to stop the birth of new Demons and retake the Abyss. The Daemons seek the annihilation of mortal life due to general nihilism and in some cases prophecy about what comes after all mortals are gone. The Qlippoth and Daemons don't get along with each other, though, given the whole Daemons-are-responsible-for-Demons-replacing-Qlippoth thing.
Would the Dominion of the Black be likely to work with one or both of the Qlippoth or Daemons (though obviously not both at the same time/place) on some wide-scale life-annihilating plot, or would there be issues between those groups?
The Dominion of the Black, the Qlippoth, or the Daemons would all SEEM to work well together, particularly if a charismatic super-villain got them to all band together...
...but keep in mind that the creatures of the Dominion of the Black are not outsiders. They're aliens, but they're mortals as well—creatures with souls. When they die, they go on to the outer planes just like farmers and candlemakers do. As such, daemons are likely to prefer to view the dominion of the black as a food source, and qlippoth are likely to view them as part of the demon problem—while a Dominion soul wouldn't have served to start the process of creating demons, now that the Abyss knows how to do it, it can certainly use chaotic evil Dominion souls to make more demons.
AKA: No, they probably wouldn't work well together over the long term. Short term alliances are possible, but all three of these groups have been around longer than humanity and in that time, they've never banded together for a significant amount of time. They're unlikely to do so anytime soon.
Good evening James! It's been a while. Hope things at the office are going swimmingly for everyone!
1. Are the vaults of Orv beneath Tian Xia comparable in size to the vaults beneath Avistan and Garund?
2. Since most of the Tian pantheon was not involved with Rovagug, how do they view him now? Are they aware of him and the threat he presents at the least?
3. I just read the Dominion of the Black article in AP #88, and I was curious; how does the dominion view Void Yai? They are immensely powerful creatures that represent a facet of the darkness between the stars, so does the dominion hold any kind of special respect for them?
4. Do you think that if Tolkien had never written Giant Spiders into The Hobbit they would still be a staple foe of fantasy games?
5. The Nightmare mounts of the Four Horsemen are mythic, correct?
6. Did another writer or yourself come up with Trelmarixian's backstory?
7. Does it ever kind of blow you away that you are a big part of something that thousands of people enjoy?
Thanks for your time, and I wish you and your friends happy holidays all around!
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Creative Director
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Good evening James! It's been a while. Hope things at the office are going swimmingly for everyone!
1. Are the vaults of Orv beneath Tian Xia comparable in size to the vaults beneath Avistan and Garund?
2. Since most of the Tian pantheon was not involved with Rovagug, how do they view him now? Are they aware of him and the threat he presents at the least?
3. I just read the Dominion of the Black article in AP #88, and I was curious; how does the dominion view Void Yai? They are immensely powerful creatures that represent a facet of the darkness between the stars, so does the dominion hold any kind of special respect for them?
4. Do you think that if Tolkien had never written Giant Spiders into The Hobbit they would still be a staple foe of fantasy games?
5. The Nightmare mounts of the Four Horsemen are mythic, correct?
6. Did another writer or yourself come up with Trelmarixian's backstory?
7. Does it ever kind of blow you away that you are a big part of something that thousands of people enjoy?Thanks for your time, and I wish you and your friends happy holidays all around!
1) Yes.
2) For the most part they're not aware of him; they have other concerns to be worried about.
3) They don't have much interaction at all with void yai, and vice-versa. The space between the stars is plenty big for not everyone who lives there to know about each other. Overall, I'd say there's more powerful (both in number and CR) creatures in the Dominion than all the void yai put together though.
4) Yes. Absolutely. There's plenty of giant spiders in genre fiction that predates Tolkein. Clark Ashton Smith's Atlach-Nacha, for example, or the giant spider Conan fights in "Tower of the Elephant" are two good examples.
5) Unrevealed. Not necessarily. They could just be high CR.
6) That was Todd Stewart. I think Wes or Sutter developed it. Them, not me.
7) Yes. Pretty much on a daily basis.
Ok, in the recent strip of Rich Burlew's hilarious and epic comic series, "The Order of the Stick", an Evil character was the subject of a Protection from Evil spell. It manifested as an incredibly painful magical effect. Since the spell description does not state what would happen if the spell was cast on an Evil subject. Would the effect be similar to what happened in the OotS strip?No.
what would the effect be?
Super pleased to get a reply to both questions. Thought I'd get one, or the other, but now you've just encouraged me, dangit!
What's the deal with the abundance of, how shall I put this, unconventional, ill-suited for defense, yet totally fanservice armor on the females (and heck, some of the males) in so many of the characters published?
I was browsing through a few books the other day with my wife, and I kept stopping to point out bare midriffs, chests, and other vastly uncovered areas of the torso and other vital organs of adventurers. This wasn't totally armorless people, either; they seemed to be wearing piecemeal arm and leg coverings, and the like, just a big "stab-here" opening in the middle.
(I have no moral quandary with this, and am not a prude; I just think it's silly to coat your arms in steel and leave your lungs free-to-puncture)
Referring back to the genetics questions, I remember a D&D 3.0 rulebook (I think) that said there were no half-dwarves because the dwarven bloodline was always dominant - the children that survived were always dwarves. Of course, they also had a notoriously low birth rate in the same ruleset. It was just some of what makes the dwarves what they are, I guess.
Have the storms moved on? I knew it was a bad sign when the site didn't have the standard "unavailable" page the other day, but power outage actually never crossed my mind - we are pretty rural and our servers are well-protected against power outage unless the generators run out of diesel.
Hello James, couple random questions
1, Does Gorum have Anti Paladins, if so what are they like in comparison to the rest of his worshipers ?
2, Can a Worm that Walks become a Lich or vise versa.
2a, Would this creature use both templates or would it be a unique template or creature?
2b, Has this ever happened on golarion.
3, Are all Demon Lords Chaotic Evil, I'm surprised there are not any Neutral Evil ones going about, Jubilex seems like he would be for example.
4, On a similar note we've seen what happens when a demon becomes CN but would other demon's particularly care if one of there own became NE or even LE.
5, Is there a male equivalent to the Daughter of Urgathoa, a Male Cleric of Urgathoa died in my campaign and I wanted to bring him back.
6, Are there any Lycanthrope's that are made with a Vermin as the base animal such as a Giant Mantis or is such a creature impossible.
7, Can outsiders become undead, such as Zombie Bearded Devil or Vampire Succubuss.
8, Rovagug and Daemons seem like they have the same basic goal and personality, so how come one is CE and the other is NE?
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Creative Director
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what would the effect be?Ok, in the recent strip of Rich Burlew's hilarious and epic comic series, "The Order of the Stick", an Evil character was the subject of a Protection from Evil spell. It manifested as an incredibly painful magical effect. Since the spell description does not state what would happen if the spell was cast on an Evil subject. Would the effect be similar to what happened in the OotS strip?No.
Up to the GM, but it shouldn't have actual game effects. I wouldn't have it feel like anything. Which is, indeed, what the not having a description in the spell suggests.
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Creative Director
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Super pleased to get a reply to both questions. Thought I'd get one, or the other, but now you've just encouraged me, dangit!
What's the deal with the abundance of, how shall I put this, unconventional, ill-suited for defense, yet totally fanservice armor on the females (and heck, some of the males) in so many of the characters published?
I was browsing through a few books the other day with my wife, and I kept stopping to point out bare midriffs, chests, and other vastly uncovered areas of the torso and other vital organs of adventurers. This wasn't totally armorless people, either; they seemed to be wearing piecemeal arm and leg coverings, and the like, just a big "stab-here" opening in the middle.
(I have no moral quandary with this, and am not a prude; I just think it's silly to coat your arms in steel and leave your lungs free-to-puncture)
The deal is that there's a long but not proud tradition among fantasy artists to objectify women in skimpy armor. It's something we try to avoid with Paizo products. That said, sexy characters ARE important as well... we try to have as equal a distribution as possible among genders there, and try to make sure that the ones who ARE depicted as sexy aren't the types of characters who would rely on armor anyway.
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Creative Director
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Referring back to the genetics questions, I remember a D&D 3.0 rulebook (I think) that said there were no half-dwarves because the dwarven bloodline was always dominant - the children that survived were always dwarves. Of course, they also had a notoriously low birth rate in the same ruleset. It was just some of what makes the dwarves what they are, I guess.
Have the storms moved on? I knew it was a bad sign when the site didn't have the standard "unavailable" page the other day, but power outage actually never crossed my mind - we are pretty rural and our servers are well-protected against power outage unless the generators run out of diesel.
The storm has moved on indeed. It's pretty nice weather out there now.
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Creative Director
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Hello James, couple random questions
1, Does Gorum have Anti Paladins, if so what are they like in comparison to the rest of his worshipers ?
2, Can a Worm that Walks become a Lich or vise versa.
2a, Would this creature use both templates or would it be a unique template or creature?
2b, Has this ever happened on golarion.3, Are all Demon Lords Chaotic Evil, I'm surprised there are not any Neutral Evil ones going about, Jubilex seems like he would be for example.
4, On a similar note we've seen what happens when a demon becomes CN but would other demon's particularly care if one of there own became NE or even LE.
5, Is there a male equivalent to the Daughter of Urgathoa, a Male Cleric of Urgathoa died in my campaign and I wanted to bring him back.
6, Are there any Lycanthrope's that are made with a Vermin as the base animal such as a Giant Mantis or is such a creature impossible.
7, Can outsiders become undead, such as Zombie Bearded Devil or Vampire Succubuss.
8, Rovagug and Daemons seem like they have the same basic goal and personality, so how come one is CE and the other is NE?
1) He does, but not a lot. They're kinda heretics since he's not evil. They are MUCH more sadistic and cruel and more into torture in battle than his typical followers; they like the result of war on the body and mind much more than the war itself.
2) A worm that walks can become a lich, but not vice versa.
2a) I'd try building it with templates, but if that didn't work, then yes, it'd be a unique creature.
2b) We haven't published any yet, but I'm sure it's happened.
3) All demon lords are chaotic evil, yes. That's what defines them. It's pretty much the ONLY constant among them. If we built one that's neutral evil... it'd be a Horseman or other daemon-related thing.
4) They would. They'd kill it.
5) Not officially. But there's no reason why you couldn't make a son of Urgathoa in your game.
6) That would have to be a new template.
7) Yes. Nightshades are a great example of this.
8) Rovagug is a qlippoth, and those are Chaotic Evil. The daemons are mostly about consumption of the souls of the living; they don't really care about the physical body or world. Rovagug is about the destruction of all of that.
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James, this is not a rule question – it’s a creative question :-)
Sacred Summons, a feat from Ultimate Magic, says “…summon creatures whose alignment subtype or subtypes exactly match your aura…”. Looking at the breakdown the only possibilities (by aura) are:
- Lawful Good: 3 total (3rd - Lantern Archon, 4th - Hound Archon, 9th - Trumpet Archon)
- Neutral Good: 1 total (9th - Astral Deva)
- Chaotic Good: 3 total (5th - Bralani Azata, 6th - Lillend Azata, 9th - Ghaele Azata)
- Lawful Neutral: 0 total
- Neutral: 0 total
- Chaotic Neutral: 0 total
- Lawful Evil: 9 total (2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th – mostly devils)
- Neutral Evil: 1 total (5th - Salamander)
- Chaotic Evil: 9 total (3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th – mostly demons)
Questions from a CREATIVE PERSPECTIVE:
1) Why are only Good and Evil clerics effectively able to take this feat?
2) Why are non-Lawful/non-Chaotic (Neutral Good / Neutral Evil) clerics gimped compared to their Lawful/Chaotic counterparts?
3) Why is Evil favored so much more than Good?
4) Is this an overarching design philosophy of Good/Evil is better than Neutral, Law/Chaos is better than Neutral, and Evil is more powerful than Good? Or, is it just poor creative design?
5) Will specific rules ever get “fixed” from a creative perspective (i.e., roughly equal/balanced possibilities)? Or, will rules design always trump creative design (even when it doesn't make sense)?
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Are lashunta antennae attached to their foreheads, or to their temples? I've seen both depicted. Or does it depend on the individual?
Can lashunta move their antennae and brush things with them, like rust monsters? (Obviously, without the rust effect...)
Are lashunta antennae sensitive to pain? Can they wear human helmets that will press the antennae against their heads, or would that be like a kick to the groin?
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Mr. James Jacobs,
If the Qlippoth were making a serious bid to retake the Abyss and the rest of creation form there would the forces of good be willing to ally with the Demons or at least some of there servants do so?
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Creative Director
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James, this is not a rule question – it’s a creative question :-)
Sacred Summons, a feat from Ultimate Magic, says “…summon creatures whose alignment subtype or subtypes exactly match your aura…”. Looking at the breakdown the only possibilities (by aura) are:
- Lawful Good: 3 total (3rd - Lantern Archon, 4th - Hound Archon, 9th - Trumpet Archon)
- Neutral Good: 1 total (9th - Astral Deva)
- Chaotic Good: 3 total (5th - Bralani Azata, 6th - Lillend Azata, 9th - Ghaele Azata)
- Lawful Neutral: 0 total
- Neutral: 0 total
- Chaotic Neutral: 0 total
- Lawful Evil: 9 total (2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th – mostly devils)
- Neutral Evil: 1 total (5th - Salamander)
- Chaotic Evil: 9 total (3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th – mostly demons)
Questions from a CREATIVE PERSPECTIVE:
1) Why are only Good and Evil clerics effectively able to take this feat?
2) Why are non-Lawful/non-Chaotic (Neutral Good / Neutral Evil) clerics gimped compared to their Lawful/Chaotic counterparts?
3) Why is Evil favored so much more than Good?
4) Is this an overarching design philosophy of Good/Evil is better than Neutral, Law/Chaos is better than Neutral, and Evil is more powerful than Good? Or, is it just poor creative design?
5) Will specific rules ever get “fixed” from a creative perspective (i.e., roughly equal/balanced possibilities)? Or, will rules design always trump creative design (even when it doesn't make sense)?
I wasn't actually involved in any of Ultimate Magic's creation so I don't actually have any insights into things like the Sacred Summons feat. Wouldn't the varioius celestial/fiendish/etc. creatures count though to round out the summoning options?
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Creative Director
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Couple of questions about the interactions between Janni Style, Janni Rush, Pummeling Style and Pummeling Charge. Using Master of Many Styles to be in both styles at once, is it possible to charge an enemy, jump as part of the charge and make a Pummeling Style attack using Janni Rush on the damage dice from the unarmed attack that Pummeling Style makes?
For example, a 9th level Brawler 8/ MoMS 1 deals 1d10 with an unarmed strike and can make four attacks with a flurry. If they charge and perform the combo, they would deal (with all attacks hitting) 4d10+4d10(Janni Style)+(4xStr)+Other Damage Bonuses x4. If a critical hit, this damage would be 8d10+4d10(Janni Style)+(8xStr)+Other Damage Bonuses x8.
Is this correct?
Also does the attack granted by Pummeling Style count as an unarmed attack?
Dunno... that's a rules question. I've actually not done much at all with those feats, or even looked at them really. The question's better asked on the rules forum so it can be FAQed. Sorry!
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Creative Director
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Are lashunta antennae attached to their foreheads, or to their temples? I've seen both depicted. Or does it depend on the individual?
Can lashunta move their antennae and brush things with them, like rust monsters? (Obviously, without the rust effect...)
Are lashunta antennae sensitive to pain? Can they wear human helmets that will press the antennae against their heads, or would that be like a kick to the groin?
Yeah... their antennae have moved around. I can't remember off the top of my head what way we decided is right... but the upcoming art of a few of them in "The Divinity Drive" is what we decided.
They can move them yes, and brush things with them. They are VERY sensitive, but not kick to the groin level.
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...Sacred Summons, a feat from Ultimate Magic, says “…summon creatures whose alignment subtype or subtypes exactly match your aura…”.Wouldn't the varioius celestial/fiendish/etc. creatures count though to round out the summoning options?
Alas, apparently not. Celestial/fiendish doesn't grant an alignment subtype (subtype = null). If it worked that way it would apply to almost everything summoned (probably not RAI).
Q: Any chance the CREATIVE team will update the Summoning lists with creatures from the other Bestiaries? Cooler still, Tome of Horrors (Complete and Part 4)?
Are dragons intrinsically born with the ability to speak Draconic, or is it raised in? Given that they're born knowing how to fight, feed, etc., it's assumed their development is pretty rapid, but then those are all animalistic traits, and their sentience and the fact that language is pretty complicated, I don't know how to run with this.
I am thinking about having the PCs in a game I'm running get their hands on a silver dragon egg, and I'm wondering how to handle the initial interactions...
If it's not intrinsically known, how long would you say it takes a dragon to learn a language? I know humans take a while, but we're also not born knowing how to do stuff like kill smaller creatures than us.
I've always wanted to do a gunslinger/alchemist character, do you think the recent underground chemist archetype combined with the bomber and firearms training talents would be perfect in making a gunslinging, explosive tossing, adventurer?
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Creative Director
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...Sacred Summons, a feat from Ultimate Magic, says “…summon creatures whose alignment subtype or subtypes exactly match your aura…”.Wouldn't the varioius celestial/fiendish/etc. creatures count though to round out the summoning options?Alas, apparently not. Celestial/fiendish doesn't grant an alignment subtype (subtype = null). If it worked that way it would apply to almost everything summoned (probably not RAI).
Q: Any chance the CREATIVE team will update the Summoning lists with creatures from the other Bestiaries? Cooler still, Tome of Horrors (Complete and Part 4)?
Then it sounds to me like whoever designed that feat and whoever developed it messed it up, because the only way a feat like that would work in my opinion is to allow those celestial/fiendish options.
Updating the summon lists isn't something the "Creative" team gets to do. That's a core rule, and that's part of the design team, and I happen to agree that bloating those lists makes summoning both more powerful and more complicated and neither is good for the game. A better solution would be to allow Sacred Summons to work on fiendish/axiomatic/anarchic/celestial creatures.
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Creative Director
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Are dragons intrinsically born with the ability to speak Draconic, or is it raised in? Given that they're born knowing how to fight, feed, etc., it's assumed their development is pretty rapid, but then those are all animalistic traits, and their sentience and the fact that language is pretty complicated, I don't know how to run with this.
I am thinking about having the PCs in a game I'm running get their hands on a silver dragon egg, and I'm wondering how to handle the initial interactions...
If it's not intrinsically known, how long would you say it takes a dragon to learn a language? I know humans take a while, but we're also not born knowing how to do stuff like kill smaller creatures than us.
In pretty much all cases, all living creatures must learn their languages. If a creature isn't born into the society that gives it its language, then it learns the language of its adopted society.
In your case, the dragon would learn whatever language the PCs use the most, but wouldn't be able to speak immediately upon being born.
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Creative Director
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I've always wanted to do a gunslinger/alchemist character, do you think the recent underground chemist archetype combined with the bomber and firearms training talents would be perfect in making a gunslinging, explosive tossing, adventurer?
I don't know. I'm not familiar with those archetypes. Play it and find out! :-)
Then it sounds to me like whoever designed that feat and whoever developed it messed it up, because the only way a feat like that would work in my opinion is to allow those celestial/fiendish options.
Updating the summon lists isn't something the "Creative" team gets to do. That's a core rule, and that's part of the design team, and I happen to agree that bloating those lists makes summoning both more powerful and more complicated and neither is good for the game. A better solution would be to allow Sacred Summons to work on fiendish/axiomatic/anarchic/celestial creatures.
Do you like the way that the Development team has expanded upon those lists so far? Such as Summon Neutral Monster, which is a feat that adds a bunch of neutral monsters to your summon monster options if you meet the feat's prerequisite of being Neutral yourself?
A) How ingrained would you consider a true dragon's alignment to be? For instance, say I want to pit my players against an ancient brass dragon raised from birth by a lich. Would this parental bond have been confrontational at least early on due to inborn alignment tendencies? In short, is a dragon's alignment the result of nature or nurture?
B) I've noticed that you've at least once published a dragon that used magic items (Cadrilkasta from Shattered Star) without bumping her challenge rating. I'm all for doing stuff like that (all those awesome magic items in their hordes and yet using none? Right.) but I'm curious what your guidelines for encounter design is when doing something like this.
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Creative Director
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Do you like the way that the Development team has expanded upon those lists so far? Such as Summon Neutral Monster, which is a feat that adds a bunch of neutral monsters to your summon monster options if you meet the feat's prerequisite of being Neutral yourself?Then it sounds to me like whoever designed that feat and whoever developed it messed it up, because the only way a feat like that would work in my opinion is to allow those celestial/fiendish options.
Updating the summon lists isn't something the "Creative" team gets to do. That's a core rule, and that's part of the design team, and I happen to agree that bloating those lists makes summoning both more powerful and more complicated and neither is good for the game. A better solution would be to allow Sacred Summons to work on fiendish/axiomatic/anarchic/celestial creatures.
I do. In fact, I've helped expand the lists as well, via some of the spells I added to the Rival Guide and some other campaign setting books. New spells is the way to expand those options, not bloating the existing ones.
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Creative Director
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A) How ingrained would you consider a true dragon's alignment to be? For instance, say I want to pit my players against an ancient brass dragon raised from birth by a lich. Would this parental bond have been confrontational at least early on due to inborn alignment tendencies? In short, is a dragon's alignment the result of nature or nurture?
B) I've noticed that you've at least once published a dragon that used magic items (Cadrilkasta from Shattered Star) without bumping her challenge rating. I'm all for doing stuff like that (all those awesome magic items in their hordes and yet using none? Right.) but I'm curious what your guidelines for encounter design is when doing something like this.
A) As with ALL alignments, NONE are so ingrained that you can't change them to tell whatever story you want.
B) You don't adjust a monster's CR at all if it uses the treasure its due.
James,
Are Mars and Venus in Golarion's universe like the real Mars and Venus, or are they like Mars and Venus in pulp sci-fi novels?
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Mr. James Jacobs,
While all of demon kind would be interested in keeping the Qlippoth from rising again, which of the Demon Lords, in your estimation, would be most active in combating them?
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Any chance that Inner Sea Races, being a setting-non-neutral book, will finally provide an official rule that will allow for different races to pick a regional language as a starting language?
I mean right now, rules as written, an aasimar born and bred and lived all her life in Irrisen, cannot pick Hallit or Skald as starting languages unless she invests in Linguistics.
1) James, is there any chance that Paizo will produce less ink-intensive city grids? 'Cause I love your city grid/sheets, but man, even on fast quality black-and-white, they eat the ink like mad!
2) Also, I had Chinese last night! Are you jealous?
3) Also, also: my infant son is nearly two months old! My wife and I play "We're too exhausted by constant feeding and no sleep to get up and roll the dice, but go through adventures anyway Pathfinder." while holding him. Are we raising him right?
(Similarly, our three-year-old, only we add "... and while very distracted." to the other sentence when he's with us.)
4) Is sleep necessary for sanity?
(Note: the answer to this one is entirely irrelevant. I'm still not getting any.)
5) Am I a codfish?
EDIT: for clarity.
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Creative Director
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Mr. James Jacobs,
While all of demon kind would be interested in keeping the Qlippoth from rising again, which of the Demon Lords, in your estimation, would be most active in combating them?
None of the demon lords are really focused on fighting the qlippoth, actually. Which means most of them would be about the same amount of active against them. The ones who are more warlike, like Nurgal, would be more active simply because they like warfare, but there's not one who's particularly about going after them. Mostly because it's been eons, and the demons know that the qlippoth can never really amount to a significant force due to their smaller numbers.
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Creative Director
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| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Any chance that Inner Sea Races, being a setting-non-neutral book, will finally provide an official rule that will allow for different races to pick a regional language as a starting language?
I mean right now, rules as written, an aasimar born and bred and lived all her life in Irrisen, cannot pick Hallit or Skald as starting languages unless she invests in Linguistics.
There's a chance, I suppose... but that's not something they've thought about I believe. I'll run it by the team that's working on the book.
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Creative Director
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1) James, is there any chance that Paizo will produce less ink-intensive city grids? 'Cause I love your city grid/sheets, but man, even on fast quality black-and-white, they eat the ink like mad!
2) Also, I had Chinese last night! Are you jealous?
3) Also, also: my infant son is nearly two months old! My wife and I play "We're too exhausted by constant feeding and no sleep to get up and roll the dice, but go through adventures anyway Pathfinder." while holding him. Are we raising him right?
(Similarly, our three-year-old, only we add "... and while very distracted." to the other sentence when he's with us.)4) Is sleep necessary for sanity?
(Note: the answer to this one is entirely irrelevant. I'm still not getting any.)5) Am I a codfish?
EDIT: for clarity.
1) We've no plans to do so, sorry!
2) Depends what kind of food, but probably not.
3) Congrats! I'd say yes you are!
4) Yes, if your next question has anything to say about it.
5) Do you have spines? No? Probably not then.
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Does Golarion have it's own version of the Kama Sutra?Yes. I suspect that the church of Calistria has one in particular. And no... there are no plans for us to publish much about these books anytime soon.
Any chance the Calistrian church's text would be called The Book of Erotic Fantasies?
1) James, is there any chance that Paizo will produce less ink-intensive city grids? 'Cause I love your city grid/sheets, but man, even on fast quality black-and-white, they eat the ink like mad!
2) Also, I had Chinese last night! Are you jealous?
3) Also, also: my infant son is nearly two months old! My wife and I play "We're too exhausted by constant feeding and no sleep to get up and roll the dice, but go through adventures anyway Pathfinder." while holding him. Are we raising him right?
(Similarly, our three-year-old, only we add "... and while very distracted." to the other sentence when he's with us.)4) Is sleep necessary for sanity?
(Note: the answer to this one is entirely irrelevant. I'm still not getting any.)5) Am I a codfish?
EDIT: for clarity.
1) We've no plans to do so, sorry!
2) Depends what kind of food, but probably not.
3) Congrats! I'd say yes you are!
4) Yes, if your next question has anything to say about it.
5) Do you have spines? No? Probably not then.
1) Boo. Q.Q
2) Cool. It was "good food".3) Thanks! Yay!
4) Alas.
5) Hm... maybe I need a haircut, then...
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Creative Director
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| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Any chance the Calistrian church's text would be called The Book of Erotic Fantasies?Does Golarion have it's own version of the Kama Sutra?Yes. I suspect that the church of Calistria has one in particular. And no... there are no plans for us to publish much about these books anytime soon.
Nope.