Creative Director
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A guy managed to beat Blooborne using an Xbox 360 Rockband Guitar. I feel impotent as a gamer now, how about you?
Nah. Rockband is meh.
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Creative Director
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If you'd been able to use material from the 3.5 Tome of Magic (which I for one dearly love) in Pathfinder, how might you have altered/upped it for the Pathfinder system, and how might Pact Magic/Binders, Shadow Magic/Shadowcasters, and Truename Magic/Truenamers have shown up in the Golarion setting?
By rebuilding the classes entirely with more options that clove more closely to tradition rather than making stuff up out of the blue I guess. Not gonna go into exact design mechanics though. That's way too much work.
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Creative Director
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James, Why do humanoids get so few skill points per hit die? Is it because there are classes that offer so few, and it doesn't make sense for classes to be worse than racial hit dice? Is it because humanoids are intended mostly to advance by class, or as a way to encourage it? Or is it something else?
Because they're intended to get their skills from classes. And because if they got more than the minimum, it'd be weird and disconcerting for them to get fewer if they took specific class levels.
Mr. Jacobs, I am prepping up to do a campaign set on Androffa. Is there any way you could let me see some juicy bits out of that 50+ page word document of yours you mentioned in another thread?
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I recall Faiths of Balance saying that Pharasma's church is completely, no exceptions, anti-choice (at least for its members). Is that really the case? What if one of the usual Extra-Bad Things (rape, incest, danger to mother, child would be doomed to wretched existence) happen? What about an unusual Extra-Bad Thing (i.e. ritual rape to conceive a Daemon Messiah etc)? Does Pharasma Herself really feel the same way?
Tell me James if I am portraying Pharasma incorrectly in my home games. In my home games Pharasma is the goddess of the life cycle to most folks. She is the balance of the life cycle. She is just as much the goddess of Birth as of death. Certain cultures may emphasize one aspect over another but she isn't just a goddess of death.
Pathfinder doesn't have called shots. It has sneak attacks instead.A quick followup question to my sneak attack question.
One of the common arguments I hear agains sneak attack examples, such as shooting the head, or breaking skeletons spine " well that's a called shot" or "you should make called shots for that".
The way I see it, called shots and sneak attacks are two sides of the same coin called precision damage, one is exploring a weakness to the fullest when the opponent isn't paying due attention, and the other is hitting the exact designated spot for a predictable result. Its basing the kidneys or liver to do damage vs hitting right in the gut or on the chin to make a man dizzy.
I'd love to hear your take on this.
Er... apologies, sir, but, I think you may either be miscommunicating or misremembering?
Contributor
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Er... apologies, sir, but, I think you may either be miscommunicating or misremembering?
Hey! That's my job!
Mr. Jacobs: I saw Wes posting about the Mummy's Mask game he's in.
Are you in that campaign too?
What are you playing?
Thank you your answer... but I need more!
1) does any of the demon lords shown yet is a "demonic success story", aka a human soul that climbed the ladder all the way from larva to demon lord through sheer determination? If so, which one?
2) if Nocticula were to have a godling, how would she likely treat him/her exactly, especially in the context of the Wrath of the Righteous campaign? With indifference? As a tool?
3) which evil deity/demigod, in your opinion, would likely treat their godling somewhat... well, not abusively?
4) what is Lamashtu opinion on Deskari, considering he is the spawn of her greatest enemy?
5) could an entity like an empyreal lord, demon lord or archdevil gain an herald? (without stealing one, of course...) Would it be weaker than the herald of a true deity?
6) can a deity have multiple heralds?
7) can a thanatotic titan turn into a demon lord and eventually grant spells to worshipers?
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Creative Director
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Mr. Jacobs, I am prepping up to do a campaign set on Androffa. Is there any way you could let me see some juicy bits out of that 50+ page word document of yours you mentioned in another thread?
Androffa is my homebrew setting, and what parts of it I've not given to Paizo (or WotC) is content I'm currently keeping to myself. I've got a LOT more than 50 pages of it. Been building it up for about 30 years, after all. A fair amount of the info isn't even digital.
In any event... sorry, I'm not interested in sharing it at this time.
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Creative Director
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I recall Faiths of Balance saying that Pharasma's church is completely, no exceptions, anti-choice (at least for its members). Is that really the case? What if one of the usual Extra-Bad Things (rape, incest, danger to mother, child would be doomed to wretched existence) happen? What about an unusual Extra-Bad Thing (i.e. ritual rape to conceive a Daemon Messiah etc)? Does Pharasma Herself really feel the same way?
That's not true. That's a tiny bit of wording that got phrased unfortunately and we missed it in development. Pharasma doesn't really have a preference for pro or anti choice. Death happens, and she doesn't take sides.
If we reprint the book, we'll fix it.
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Creative Director
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Tell me James if I am portraying Pharasma incorrectly in my home games. In my home games Pharasma is the goddess of the life cycle to most folks. She is the balance of the life cycle. She is just as much the goddess of Birth as of death. Certain cultures may emphasize one aspect over another but she isn't just a goddess of death.
Yes. She's not just death. Without birth, after all, there could BE no death. And vice versa.
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Creative Director
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Pathfinder doesn't have called shots. It has sneak attacks instead.A quick followup question to my sneak attack question.
One of the common arguments I hear agains sneak attack examples, such as shooting the head, or breaking skeletons spine " well that's a called shot" or "you should make called shots for that".
The way I see it, called shots and sneak attacks are two sides of the same coin called precision damage, one is exploring a weakness to the fullest when the opponent isn't paying due attention, and the other is hitting the exact designated spot for a predictable result. Its basing the kidneys or liver to do damage vs hitting right in the gut or on the chin to make a man dizzy.
I'd love to hear your take on this.
Er... apologies, sir, but, I think you may either be miscommunicating or misremembering?
Optional rules are optional.
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Creative Director
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Er... apologies, sir, but, I think you may either be miscommunicating or misremembering?
Hey! That's my job!
Mr. Jacobs: I saw Wes posting about the Mummy's Mask game he's in.
Are you in that campaign too?
What are you playing?
I am indeed in that campaign. I'm playing Asenath Mercaddicus, a NG female elf fighter who is super religious and worships Sarenrae.
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Creative Director
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Was that the Dragon Magazine adventure?As a long time player and DM of D&D I have sadly only ever had one adventure that has struck pure fear into the hearts of every adventurer who has ever attempted it. Many of my friend since my college games have leveled up with a final "out in a blaze of glory" wish to attempt to defeat THAT place. I have also had players have their favorite and most courageous characters give up and run away grateful for their lives (while the player clutches their most precious character sheets to their chest with a definite sense of mortality). This singular adventure that struck universal and unequaled fear into my players for decades was the original Tomb of Horrors and I have never seen anything to equal its effect on players (the words palpable terror become manifest at the gaming table). I wonder if you have had a similar experience with this adventure or any other. Do you think such a thing will ever be duplicated?The tricky part is that Tomb of Horrors came out early, at the height of D&D's popularity, and at a time when there simply was no other high level adventure. So everyone who had a high level character played it. Repeating that notoriety at this point I think might be impossible.
For me, though... it was probably Baba Yaga's hut. I ran an adventure there in college with SUPER high level characters and the players were so terrified of Baba Yaga's reputation that they went through every room without touching a single thing. Turns out... that's a pretty safe way to progress through Baba Yaga's hut. I'm not sure it'd work as well in Tomb of Horrors... but maybe!
Yes.
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Creative Director
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Thank you your answer... but I need more!
1) does any of the demon lords shown yet is a "demonic success story", aka a human soul that climbed the ladder all the way from larva to demon lord through sheer determination? If so, which one?
2) if Nocticula were to have a godling, how would she likely treat him/her exactly, especially in the context of the Wrath of the Righteous campaign? With indifference? As a tool?
3) which evil deity/demigod, in your opinion, would likely treat their godling somewhat... well, not abusively?
4) what is Lamashtu opinion on Deskari, considering he is the spawn of her greatest enemy?
5) could an entity like an empyreal lord, demon lord or archdevil gain an herald? (without stealing one, of course...) Would it be weaker than the herald of a true deity?
6) can a deity have multiple heralds?
7) can a thanatotic titan turn into a demon lord and eventually grant spells to worshipers?
1) Yes. Many of them got that way. Kostchtchie is one example.
2) "Have a godling?" Not sure what that means. "Godling" isn't a game term.
3) By "godling" do you mean "Child birthed/sired by a god?" In that case... most evil deities would end up treating their children poorly. Not all, but most.
4) She's amused by him. The fact that he's Pazuzu's kid doesn't really bother her.
5) Yes, but not for an extended period of time. This actually happens in the 5th Wrath of the Righteous adventure, in fact.
6) Not at one time.
7) Anything is possible when it comes to where demon lords come from.
Are you using the Unchained stamina pool options for your fighter, JJ? I'd like to see the base build. Do you have the character sheet online?
==Aelryinth
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James, Why do humanoids get so few skill points per hit die? Is it because there are classes that offer so few, and it doesn't make sense for classes to be worse than racial hit dice? Is it because humanoids are intended mostly to advance by class, or as a way to encourage it? Or is it something else?Because they're intended to get their skills from classes. And because if they got more than the minimum, it'd be weird and disconcerting for them to get fewer if they took specific class levels.
I certainly know that pain as a GM giving class levels in Fighter or Sorcerer to an Outsider...
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James,
1. Would you allow an outsider (nonnative to the Material Plane) to make Knowledge (planes) checks to identify humanoids that are native to the Material Plane?
2. Likewise, could they use Knowledge (local) to identify outsiders native to their native plane?
3. Do you ever refine Knowledge (local) by region, such as Knowledge (local [Varisia]), Knowledge (local [Absolom]), Knowledge (local [Numeria]), etc., requiring separate investment of skill ranks for each region? Or is that something that is better handled by ad hoc bonuses and penalties for natives/nonnatives of the region?
Hello, Mr Jacobs,
Well, godling IS actually used in "mythic origins" to designate the child of a deity. So yes, if Nocticula were to have a child, hypothetically how would she treat him/her?
How do Kytons view devils, since they spent some time imprisoned in hell?
If you were to give an obedience and associated boons to Treerazer and Shamira, what would they be? I dunno, the idea of a demonic cultist with vaguely dinosaur-like powers sounds fabulous.
What are Mhar and Xhamen-Dor's CR and method of immortality (like how the other great ones of the bestiary 4 each have a method to cheat death)?
When a worshiper of Rovagug dies and joins him in its cage, are they all destroyed by their deity? Or does it recycle them into spawns?
Are the Qlippoth even aware Rovagug is one of them? Is it homicidal toward them as well?
Pathfinder doesn't have called shots. It has sneak attacks instead.A quick followup question to my sneak attack question.
One of the common arguments I hear agains sneak attack examples, such as shooting the head, or breaking skeletons spine " well that's a called shot" or "you should make called shots for that".
The way I see it, called shots and sneak attacks are two sides of the same coin called precision damage, one is exploring a weakness to the fullest when the opponent isn't paying due attention, and the other is hitting the exact designated spot for a predictable result. Its basing the kidneys or liver to do damage vs hitting right in the gut or on the chin to make a man dizzy.
I'd love to hear your take on this.
Wait, but what about This entry on paizo.com? I understand it's "optional rules" but, they do provide a more "mechanically sound" way of dealing precision damage?
Hello Mr. Jacobs,
I was wondering how you would approach this.
Concerning variant multiclassing, do the variant abilities scale with character level or class level?
Thank you very much for your input; as always your rulings increase the quality of my game.
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Creative Director
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I'm assuming for anything like this to happen it would require me to be in Washington, am I right?Can I play in a game with you someday?Anything's possible! ;-)
For starters. Coming to Paizocon and winning the lottery for one of the games I run there is the best way to get into a game I run.
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Creative Director
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Are you using the Unchained stamina pool options for your fighter, JJ? I'd like to see the base build. Do you have the character sheet online?
==Aelryinth
Nope. Not interested in the stamina pool stuff.
And nope; her stats aren't online. I kinda want to post them just to rile folks up, since she's a fighter who just spent her 4th level ability score to raise her Charisma by +1.
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Creative Director
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James,
1. Would you allow an outsider (nonnative to the Material Plane) to make Knowledge (planes) checks to identify humanoids that are native to the Material Plane?
2. Likewise, could they use Knowledge (local) to identify outsiders native to their native plane?
3. Do you ever refine Knowledge (local) by region, such as Knowledge (local [Varisia]), Knowledge (local [Absolom]), Knowledge (local [Numeria]), etc., requiring separate investment of skill ranks for each region? Or is that something that is better handled by ad hoc bonuses and penalties for natives/nonnatives of the region?
1) No.
2) No.
3) No.
archetype?
==Aelryinth
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Creative Director
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Hello, Mr Jacobs,
Well, godling IS actually used in "mythic origins" to designate the child of a deity. So yes, if Nocticula were to have a child, hypothetically how would she treat him/her?
How do Kytons view devils, since they spent some time imprisoned in hell?
If you were to give an obedience and associated boons to Treerazer and Shamira, what would they be? I dunno, the idea of a demonic cultist with vaguely dinosaur-like powers sounds fabulous.
What are Mhar and Xhamen-Dor's CR and method of immortality (like how the other great ones of the bestiary 4 each have a method to cheat death)?
When a worshiper of Rovagug dies and joins him in its cage, are they all destroyed by their deity? Or does it recycle them into spawns?
Are the Qlippoth even aware Rovagug is one of them? Is it homicidal toward them as well?
Ah; okay. Thanks for pointing that out. I don't actually have an encyclopedic knowledge of every book we publish as it turns out. If Nocticula had a child or sired a child... she'd probably treat her/him pretty well, and would likely have complex plans worked out for the kid from before the point where she started the process.
As competitors.
Not sure, but I try to avoid doing design work here in this thread, since that work vanishes into the size of the thread and I'd rather save that work for print products.
Unrevealed at this point. Some day I'll hopefully get the chance to sat them up.
Unrevealed as well, but most likely, petitioners of Rovagug become Larvae on the Abyss.
Some are, some are not.
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Creative Director
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Wait, but what about This entry on paizo.com? I understand it's "optional rules" but, they do provide a more "mechanically sound" way of dealing precision damage?Pathfinder doesn't have called shots. It has sneak attacks instead.A quick followup question to my sneak attack question.
One of the common arguments I hear agains sneak attack examples, such as shooting the head, or breaking skeletons spine " well that's a called shot" or "you should make called shots for that".
The way I see it, called shots and sneak attacks are two sides of the same coin called precision damage, one is exploring a weakness to the fullest when the opponent isn't paying due attention, and the other is hitting the exact designated spot for a predictable result. Its basing the kidneys or liver to do damage vs hitting right in the gut or on the chin to make a man dizzy.
I'd love to hear your take on this.
What about it? I have no idea now what you're trying to argue or convince me of.
I prefer sneak attacks, because they're simple. The "optional rules," to me, are too often "More complicated rules" for things the game already handles well enough for my tastes.
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Creative Director
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Hello Mr. Jacobs,
I was wondering how you would approach this.
Concerning variant multiclassing, do the variant abilities scale with character level or class level?
Thank you very much for your input; as always your rulings increase the quality of my game.
I haven't read one word of the variant multiclassing rules yet, so I don't really have an opinion yet on how those abilities scale.
One words are not good questions. I have no idea what you're asking here.archetype?
==Aelryinth
I was following up on my previous question and your reply. Are you using a fighter archetype for your new character?
==Aelryinth
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Creative Director
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One words are not good questions. I have no idea what you're asking here.archetype?
==Aelryinth
I was following up on my previous question and your reply. Are you using a fighter archetype for your new character?
==Aelryinth
OH! Nope. No archetype.
I boosted her Charisma from 12 to 13 in anticipation of taking Eldritch Heritage at 7th level. Need to take Skill Focus (Heal) at 5th level next.
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Creative Director
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DO IT, please. There's no better entertainment than watching dedicated CharOps choke in apoleptic fits. :)Are you using the Unchained stamina pool options for your fighter, JJ? I'd like to see the base build. Do you have the character sheet online?
==Aelryinth
Nope. Not interested in the stamina pool stuff.
And nope; her stats aren't online. I kinda want to post them just to rile folks up, since she's a fighter who just spent her 4th level ability score to raise her Charisma by +1.
I've got her stats on my iPad at home. In Hero Lab. I'll see if I can't get them out online here this evening.
One words are not good questions. I have no idea what you're asking here.archetype?
==Aelryinth
I was following up on my previous question and your reply. Are you using a fighter archetype for your new character?
==Aelryinth
OH! Nope. No archetype.
I boosted her Charisma from 12 to 13 in anticipation of taking Eldritch Heritage at 7th level. Need to take Skill Focus (Heal) at 5th level next.
You boosted the attribute to obtain the minimum prerequisite for what is potentially one of the better feats in the game. Optimist approved!
Due to your skill focus being heal, I can only assume your eldrich heritage will be celestial. Desire to frustrate optimists: achieved!
So I'm guessing you like the flavor of being holy blooded? or did you want a way to heal friends as a non-caster?
Do you ever use your corporate rank at Paizo to frustrate rules lawyers? Basically, you're at a table, you do something against the rules that you forgot about, lawyer jumps down your throat with, "you can't do that, it's a rule!" And you casually reply, "Creative Director. It isn't a rule if I say it's not."
I think I asked Lisa Stevens this (only, you know, using CEO instead) in a thread a couple years ago and she said she hadn't, but she probably would for a laugh.
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Creative Director
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If a WotR player wanted to take the Heirophant path but didn't want to worship a deity (say they wanna be a Green Faither) like the character trait tied to that path requires, what should they do?
Start worshiping a deity.
Or maybe sweet-talk their GM into waiving that requirement. Wouldn't work on me though. In which case... take Trickster instead and use the ability to pick up a path ability from another path to grab one Hierophant ability you really really want.
Does counterspelling, either with a readied action or using the mythic ability flexible counterspell, a foe break invisibility?
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If a WotR player wanted to take the Heirophant path but didn't want to worship a deity (say they wanna be a Green Faither) like the character trait tied to that path requires, what should they do?Start worshiping a deity.
Or maybe sweet-talk their GM into waiving that requirement. Wouldn't work on me though. In which case... take Trickster instead and use the ability to pick up a path ability from another path to grab one Hierophant ability you really really want.
Would a Druid even make a good Trickster?
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Creative Director
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Would a Druid even make a good Trickster?If a WotR player wanted to take the Heirophant path but didn't want to worship a deity (say they wanna be a Green Faither) like the character trait tied to that path requires, what should they do?Start worshiping a deity.
Or maybe sweet-talk their GM into waiving that requirement. Wouldn't work on me though. In which case... take Trickster instead and use the ability to pick up a path ability from another path to grab one Hierophant ability you really really want.
Shrug.
A trickster druid would absolutely be an INTERESTING character, which to me, trumps optimization.
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Contributor
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I hate to derail, but given what Zousha and I have discussed about his concept, I'd probably recommend the Guardian path (with a Dual Path for Hierophant as necessary). Also, Mr. Jacobs, you may wish to check out the Sorcerer variant multiclass option for your fighter. :)
A question, though.
How do you come up with names? I want to stay on point for Golarion's naming conventions (as my forum name might suggest) but I'm running out of names from Inner Sea World Guide's lists.
Thank you! :)