James Jacobs Creative Director |
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Thank you for Chicken Familiars. I've been begging them for a long time now. Totally awesome. I made lots of squeeing when I saw that.
Also is there anything too weird to be made into a Pathfinder monster? Like the Shrime (creature with an eyeball up its ass... and no face. All it does is moon people) or the Karakasa-Obake (Umbrella ghost).
Oh, there are plenty of things that are too weird to be made into monsters. What I count as too weird doesn't necessarily count as too weird for the next person. In fact, my "weird" acceptance is a LOT higher than my goofy acceptance. I'd not be surprised to see the karakasa-okabe in the game some day, but the drop bear or the hoop snake? Unlikely.
And the shrime wouldn't make it in not becasue it's weird, but because gamers and Americans are too freaked out about anything that starts doing things with the naughty bits, which kinda means that when we DO a monster associated with those (like the succubus or the kappa or the popobala) we'll edit those parts out. They still exist for anyone who wishes to research the real-world monster and include those elements in their games, but they're not appropriate for print in a Pathfinder product. And a monster with an eyeball up its ass? There's no way to "edit that out" without entirely and fundamentally changing the monster. So we wouldn't do it.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
When I saw Indominus, James, I thought of you.
Heh.
I'm just hoping the movie doesn't suck. I have a bad feeling it will.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
James Jacobs wrote:Rysky wrote:Creepy and kind of inscrutable, but disturbing.James Jacobs wrote:Rysky wrote:O.O
Yay, Congrats!
What ending did you get?
I got...
** spoiler omitted **
Sweet!
** spoiler omitted **
What did you think of that ending?
Yeah, but compared to the other endings of the Souls games a little bit satisfying.
Did you fight Ebrietas? On her at the moment.
I did. She was relatively easy (only died once), but then again I was about 95th level at that point.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
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Do you have any theories on what is actually going on in Bloodborne, plot-wise? Probably should put a spoiler tag on the response.
I do.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
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How many sessions do you usually have in your game between level ups? 2, 3, more? Do you use experience or just level up when the PCs meet some goal you've set?
Depends. Early on, when it's low level and not many XP are needed, its' usually 2 to 3 per session. Later it goes up to 4 to 5 or so. Worth noting my game sessions these days are usually after work sessions that are 3 to 4 hours.
I use experience points. I actually enjoy the calculation of the points and seeing them accumulate.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
What does Urgathoa think of Rakshashas?
She's pretty impartial to them. Wouldn't use them as minions though. They're too disrespectful of the divine and too obsessive with their own hierarchy to be of any interest or use to her, but she doesn't war against them. She's got more important things to do.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
James Jacobs Creative Director |
Out of all the countries in golarion, which one is most likely to have an australian sounding accent? For science of course. ;)
Maaaaybe Sargava?
Not gonna say Sarusan, since even though we've said before that's kinda our Australia analogue... nailing down the accent suggests there's humans there who know Common, and I'm not sure that's the case...
Hitdice |
Hazrond wrote:Out of all the countries in golarion, which one is most likely to have an australian sounding accent? For science of course. ;)Maaaaybe Sargava?
Not gonna say Sarusan, since even though we've said before that's kinda our Australia analogue... nailing down the accent suggests there's humans there who know Common, and I'm not sure that's the case...
Do you ever feel like level-based, skill-rank progression is a less than functional way to handle language comprehension? I know I do! (It's not a rules question exactly, but I will never forget the first time I read the Speak Language entry in the 3.0 PHB and wondered, "How is fluency a skill rather than a feat?")
James Jacobs Creative Director |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |
James Jacobs wrote:Do you ever feel like level-based, skill-rank progression is a less than functional way to handle language comprehension? I know I do! (It's not a rules question exactly, but I will never forget the first time I read the Speak Language entry in the 3.0 PHB and wondered, "How is fluency a skill rather than a feat?")Hazrond wrote:Out of all the countries in golarion, which one is most likely to have an australian sounding accent? For science of course. ;)Maaaaybe Sargava?
Not gonna say Sarusan, since even though we've said before that's kinda our Australia analogue... nailing down the accent suggests there's humans there who know Common, and I'm not sure that's the case...
Not for a game like Pathfinder, where language and communication is not the main point of the game.
For a game like Call of Cthulhu, where each language has a percentage-based progression, though, sure!
MMCJawa |
baron arem heshvaun wrote:When I saw Indominus, James, I thought of you.Heh.
I'm just hoping the movie doesn't suck. I have a bad feeling it will.
Hi James,
Speaking of Jurassic World, what is your opinion on the lack of no feathers on the dinosaurs (or hair on the pterosaurs, for that matter)? As a paleontologist who was part of the post Jurassic Park paleo student wave, I know a lot of people who are rather aggravated at that, and I can't help but feel the dinosaurs seem pretty boring in the next movie. compared to real life/other media.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
James Jacobs Creative Director |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
James Jacobs wrote:baron arem heshvaun wrote:When I saw Indominus, James, I thought of you.Heh.
I'm just hoping the movie doesn't suck. I have a bad feeling it will.
Hi James,
Speaking of Jurassic World, what is your opinion on the lack of no feathers on the dinosaurs (or hair on the pterosaurs, for that matter)? As a paleontologist who was part of the post Jurassic Park paleo student wave, I know a lot of people who are rather aggravated at that, and I can't help but feel the dinosaurs seem pretty boring in the next movie. compared to real life/other media.
I"m fine with it. In fact, I think that keeping the Jurassic World dinosaurs relatively featherless helps keep them on-model with the whole series, and that helps make it feel like it's still part of the evolving series.
xavier c |
1)Do Gods have more freedoms with there Alignment then mortals?
2)Is it harder for gods to change there Alignment then mortals?
3)What do you think of gods that have things in there areas of concern that are not usually associated with there Alignment? like a Lawful evil god of freedom.
4)What do you think of a Chaotic good god of obedience and Loyalty? what do think such a god would be like?
Kalindlara Contributor |
Is the "ramification" theorized in this post the way it works, re: attacking gods?
Thank you! :)
James Jacobs Creative Director |
James, does Golarian have Undercities?
DO any Kellid tribes have an affinity for thunder and lightning?
You'll need to define what "undercity" means. If you mean "Cities in the Darklands" then yes, lots. If you mean cities built over the ruins of older cities, then yes. If you mean something else entirely, I dunno.
I'm sure some Kellid tribes do have an affinity for thunder and lightning; there's countless tribes out there and we haven't detailed all of them. Nor will we.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
1)Do Gods have more freedoms with there Alignment then mortals?
2)Is it harder for gods to change there Alignment then mortals?
3)What do you think of gods that have things in there areas of concern that are not usually associated with there Alignment? like a Lawful evil god of freedom.
4)What do you think of a Chaotic good god of obedience and Loyalty? what do think such a god would be like?
1) They have less freedom. MUCH less freedom.
2) Yes. As in almost impossible. As in it's not yet happened in print for a god, but we've had PLENTY of examples of mortal NPCs changing alignment, be they obvious ones like Staunton Vhane the antipaladin in Wrath of the Righteous down to subtle ones like Father Tobyn from Sandpoint.
3) I think that's an excellent way to give a god or goddess a ton of unique and interesting flavor in the context of a single word, which is incredibly valuable if all you have to introduce the deity in question is a single line on a single table (as is the case of the Core Rulebook).
4) I think that idea doesn't make much sense at all.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
Is the "ramification" theorized in this post the way it works, re: attacking gods?
Thank you! :)
I"ve already started posting in that thread, but if you could summarize your question rather than asking me to read the entire thread, that'd be awesome.
LazarX |
xavier c wrote:1)Do Gods have more freedoms with there Alignment then mortals?
2)Is it harder for gods to change there Alignment then mortals?
3)What do you think of gods that have things in there areas of concern that are not usually associated with there Alignment? like a Lawful evil god of freedom.
4)What do you think of a Chaotic good god of obedience and Loyalty? what do think such a god would be like?
1) They have less freedom. MUCH less freedom.
2) Yes. As in almost impossible. As in it's not yet happened in print for a god, but we've had PLENTY of examples of mortal NPCs changing alignment, be they obvious ones like Staunton Vhane the antipaladin in Wrath of the Righteous down to subtle ones like Father Tobyn from Sandpoint.
Presumably however, I assume that's part of the change that happened to Shelyn's brother Dou Bral??, which if I'm not mistaken, remade him completely. Did his clerics also change, or were they stripped of their powers, and replaced?
Luthorne |
1) Given Erastil's focus on family, hearth, and home, is he married to anyone? Does he have any children?
2) Would you let a character make a grapple check or something similar to try and force a blindfold onto or a sack over the head of a medusa to disable her gaze?
3) Do you ever use updated monsters from 3.5 you're not allowed to officially release for Pathfinder in your home games, or do you prefer to just make up new monsters that might find themselves in official Pathfinder material?
James Jacobs Creative Director |
James Jacobs wrote:Presumably however, I assume that's part of the change that happened to Shelyn's brother Dou Bral??, which if I'm not mistaken, remade him completely. Did his clerics also change, or were they stripped of their powers, and replaced?xavier c wrote:1)Do Gods have more freedoms with there Alignment then mortals?
2)Is it harder for gods to change there Alignment then mortals?
3)What do you think of gods that have things in there areas of concern that are not usually associated with there Alignment? like a Lawful evil god of freedom.
4)What do you think of a Chaotic good god of obedience and Loyalty? what do think such a god would be like?
1) They have less freedom. MUCH less freedom.
2) Yes. As in almost impossible. As in it's not yet happened in print for a god, but we've had PLENTY of examples of mortal NPCs changing alignment, be they obvious ones like Staunton Vhane the antipaladin in Wrath of the Righteous down to subtle ones like Father Tobyn from Sandpoint.
That is indeed part of what happened there. It also happened many, many thousands of years ago. What probably happened to his clerics is similar to what happened to Aroden's clerics. Some moved on to worship another allied deity (likely Shelyn). Some went mad and insane. Some changed alignments and started worshiping him as Zon-Kuthon. In this particular case, I'd say that the VAST majority of his clerics went mad and insane. It was pretty cataclysmic.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
1) Given Erastil's focus on family, hearth, and home, is he married to anyone? Does he have any children?
2) Would you let a character make a grapple check or something similar to try and force a blindfold onto or a sack over the head of a medusa to disable her gaze?
3) Do you ever use updated monsters from 3.5 you're not allowed to officially release for Pathfinder in your home games, or do you prefer to just make up new monsters that might find themselves in official Pathfinder material?
1) He should be, but for whatever reason, we haven't said much at all about his family. Out of game, I suspect that's just an oversight. In game, it's because he keeps his family pretty out of the limelight. He's from my homebrew setting, but there, he's not a god of family at all—he's a god of farming, hunting, and trade.
2) That'd be something you'd have to first pin a foe to do. Once the foe is pinned, I'd let you make a grapple check to bag the head.
3) Yes. I had my group fight beholders now and then in my Thursday game, for example.
xavier c |
xavier c wrote:1)Do Gods have more freedoms with there Alignment then mortals?
2)Is it harder for gods to change there Alignment then mortals?
3)What do you think of gods that have things in there areas of concern that are not usually associated with there Alignment? like a Lawful evil god of freedom.
4)What do you think of a Chaotic good god of obedience and Loyalty? what do think such a god would be like?
1) They have less freedom. MUCH less freedom.
2) Yes. As in almost impossible. As in it's not yet happened in print for a god, but we've had PLENTY of examples of mortal NPCs changing alignment, be they obvious ones like Staunton Vhane the antipaladin in Wrath of the Righteous down to subtle ones like Father Tobyn from Sandpoint.
3) I think that's an excellent way to give a god or goddess a ton of unique and interesting flavor in the context of a single word, which is incredibly valuable if all you have to introduce the deity in question is a single line on a single table (as is the case of the Core Rulebook).
4) I think that idea doesn't make much sense at all.
1)What i mean by this question is can a god sometimes act in a manner that is different then would be usually allowed in there alignment?
2)So what if Iomedae were to act in Chaotic ways for a year would her alignment not change?
4)Why? do you think it is not possible?
James Jacobs Creative Director |
Why do clerics go insane when there god dies or change there Alignment?
Not all do, but many do. They go insane because it's a sudden and unexpected shift to their world view. It's like having your parent, lover, child, and best friend suddenly dying simultaneously, at the same time your life savings vanish, you get fired from your job, and lose your health insurance the same instant you contract a debilitating sickness. And it stays that way until you make deep and fundamental changes to your own life styles and personality and interests. As a result.... yeah. That kind of upheaval tends to ruin your life.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
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James Jacobs wrote:xavier c wrote:1)Do Gods have more freedoms with there Alignment then mortals?
2)Is it harder for gods to change there Alignment then mortals?
3)What do you think of gods that have things in there areas of concern that are not usually associated with there Alignment? like a Lawful evil god of freedom.
4)What do you think of a Chaotic good god of obedience and Loyalty? what do think such a god would be like?
1) They have less freedom. MUCH less freedom.
2) Yes. As in almost impossible. As in it's not yet happened in print for a god, but we've had PLENTY of examples of mortal NPCs changing alignment, be they obvious ones like Staunton Vhane the antipaladin in Wrath of the Righteous down to subtle ones like Father Tobyn from Sandpoint.
3) I think that's an excellent way to give a god or goddess a ton of unique and interesting flavor in the context of a single word, which is incredibly valuable if all you have to introduce the deity in question is a single line on a single table (as is the case of the Core Rulebook).
4) I think that idea doesn't make much sense at all.
1)What i mean by this question is can a god sometimes act in a manner that is different then would be usually allowed in there alignment?
2)So what if Iomedae were to act in Chaotic ways for a year would her alignment not change?
4)Why? do you think it is not possible?
1) They can, but they usually don't. And when they DO act out of alignment, reality tends to suffer or change. There are SIGNIFICANTLY more repercussions for this than a mortal doing the same. That's because they're gods. Furthermore, gods aren't generally plagued by self-doubt and all the other things that tend to result in mortals switching alignments. They're not us. They're gods. We can't understand them, and assuming they're saddled with the same limitations and narrow world views we have is just us projecting our own weakness onto them.
2) She wouldn't. If she did, and if her alignment did change, I suspect reality would suffer. Something like a sudden upsurge in betrayals and treachery throughout the worlds where she's worshiped combined with rebellions and unfair miscarrages of justice would run rampant through those worlds. Having a deity change alignment is an excellent thing to do to your campaign world if you want said world to go through a major time of upheaval and disaster and mayhem. The less important a deity is in the world, the less impact it would have. As one of the core deities, Iomedae changing alignment would be a SIGNIFICANT influence on the Inner Sea Region, one that might even end up shifting around just what deities were core deities in the first place.
4) I just think it's a nonsensical idea. It's possible, I guess, but only if you throw out what the alignments mean and just ignore them. At which point you're not playing the game I wanna be the creative director of or a GM for.
xavier c |
I asked you before how many outsider minions gods have and you said they have infinite outsider minions.Then i asked where do most of a god's outsider minions come from, you said mortal souls. Okay now that's out of the way I want to ask where does all of Iomedae's outsider minions come from? She is so young a goddess yet she has thousands(and perhaps millions) of Angels and Archon servants.
Archpaladin Zousha |
xavier c wrote:Why do clerics go insane when there god dies or change there Alignment?Not all do, but many do. They go insane because it's a sudden and unexpected shift to their world view. It's like having your parent, lover, child, and best friend suddenly dying simultaneously, at the same time your life savings vanish, you get fired from your job, and lose your health insurance the same instant you contract a debilitating sickness. And it stays that way until you make deep and fundamental changes to your own life styles and personality and interests. As a result.... yeah. That kind of upheaval tends to ruin your life.
Considering this, you think Iomedae's "adoption" of Aroden's faithful saved them from that fate? And a (relatively) smooth transition like that is the exception, rather than the norm for those whose god dies or dramatically changes?
James Jacobs Creative Director |
I asked you before how many outsider minions gods have and you said they have infinite outsider minions.Then i asked where do most of a god's outsider minions come from, you said mortal souls. Okay now that's out of the way I want to ask where does all of Iomedae's outsider minions come from? She is so young a goddess yet she has thousands(and perhaps millions) of Angels and Archon servants.
Effectively infinite is what I should have said.
Her outsider minions come from her worshipers. She's been worshiped for the longest on Golarion... but she's been around long enough that her worship has absolutely spread to other planets.
But she's not been around as long as, say, Desna. Desna has MUCH more outsiders serving1 her. But in both cases, the numbers are so astronomically huge that they lose meaning and it's just easier to assume the numbers are essentially infinite.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
James Jacobs wrote:Considering this, you think Iomedae's "adoption" of Aroden's faithful saved them from that fate? And a (relatively) smooth transition like that is the exception, rather than the norm for those whose god dies or dramatically changes?xavier c wrote:Why do clerics go insane when there god dies or change there Alignment?Not all do, but many do. They go insane because it's a sudden and unexpected shift to their world view. It's like having your parent, lover, child, and best friend suddenly dying simultaneously, at the same time your life savings vanish, you get fired from your job, and lose your health insurance the same instant you contract a debilitating sickness. And it stays that way until you make deep and fundamental changes to your own life styles and personality and interests. As a result.... yeah. That kind of upheaval tends to ruin your life.
That is, in fact, exactly why Aroden's worshipers mostly did not go insane or worse. The fact that Iomedae was there to "inherit" them saved them. It's an important enough thing that she's now known by that title—the Inheritor.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
Kalindlara Contributor |
Kalindlara wrote:I"ve already started posting in that thread, but if you could summarize your question rather than asking me to read the entire thread, that'd be awesome.Is the "ramification" theorized in this post the way it works, re: attacking gods?
Thank you! :)
Sorry - I thought the specific question I had was limited to the linked post. I just realized that I only know that because I've read the thread. :)
In the trial of Iomedae, it says that attacking Iomedae is a chaotic and evil act with potentially immediate alignment consequences. One of the other posters wondered whether the equivalent was true for other gods - would attacking Desna be a lawful and evil act? For Lamashtu, a lawful and good act (with hints of suicide)? What about the neutral, yet vital, Pharasma?
I was curious about your take on this. :)
James Jacobs Creative Director |
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James Jacobs wrote:Kalindlara wrote:I"ve already started posting in that thread, but if you could summarize your question rather than asking me to read the entire thread, that'd be awesome.Is the "ramification" theorized in this post the way it works, re: attacking gods?
Thank you! :)
Sorry - I thought the specific question I had was limited to the linked post. I just realized that I only know that because I've read the thread. :)
In the trial of Iomedae, it says that attacking Iomedae is a chaotic and evil act with potentially immediate alignment consequences. One of the other posters wondered whether the equivalent was true for other gods - would attacking Desna be a lawful and evil act? For Lamashtu, a lawful and good act (with hints of suicide)? What about the neutral, yet vital, Pharasma?
I was curious about your take on this. :)
No. Attacking a deity is generally always a chaotic act. Whether or not it's a good or neutral or evil one depends on the deity. Deities are the rightful rulers of creation, and opposing them by attacking them is rarely lawful. I suppose one could orchestrate events where it WOULD be lawful to do so, of course... but in the end, it's the situation, not the opposite of the target deity's alignment, that determines what sort of alignment repercussions such a foolish act might have.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
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1)What does Iomedae think of Agathions?
2)What does Torag think of Agathions?
3)What does Sarenrae think of Archons?
4)What does Shelyn think of Archons?
1) They're nice and helpful but a bit too care-free to be fully trusted with responsibility.
2) See #1 above.
3) They're nice and helpful but a bit too regimented and unwavering in their beliefs to be trusted to do what's best for the overall good.
4) See #3 above.
LazarX |
Kalindlara wrote:No. Attacking a deity is generally always a chaotic act. Whether or not it's a good or neutral or evil one depends on the deity. Deities are the rightful rulers of creation, and opposing them by attacking them is rarely lawful. I suppose one could orchestrate events where it WOULD be lawful to do so, of course... but in the end, it's the situation, not the opposite of the target deity's alignment, that determines what sort of alignment repercussions such a foolish act might have.James Jacobs wrote:Kalindlara wrote:I"ve already started posting in that thread, but if you could summarize your question rather than asking me to read the entire thread, that'd be awesome.Is the "ramification" theorized in this post the way it works, re: attacking gods?
Thank you! :)
Sorry - I thought the specific question I had was limited to the linked post. I just realized that I only know that because I've read the thread. :)
In the trial of Iomedae, it says that attacking Iomedae is a chaotic and evil act with potentially immediate alignment consequences. One of the other posters wondered whether the equivalent was true for other gods - would attacking Desna be a lawful and evil act? For Lamashtu, a lawful and good act (with hints of suicide)? What about the neutral, yet vital, Pharasma?
I was curious about your take on this. :)
So you're saying that all deities in a sense, are kind of neccessary, in the same way Reed Richards defended his saving the life of Galactus, when every intersteller civilization in the Three Galaxies put him on trial for doing just that?
James Jacobs Creative Director |
James Jacobs wrote:Are you going to reveal it in that "romance of the inner sea book" that you are working on? :-)xavier c wrote:Are the members of Erastil's family gods?Unrevealed.
No. For two reasons.
1) A "Romance of the Inner Sea" would focus on the Inner Sea, not the gods.
2) I'm not working on that book, and it's not something that's currently on the schedule. My interest in a book HELPS it get made, but it certainly doesn't GUARANTEE it'll be made, and it ABSOLUTELY doesn't mean I'll be at all involved in it. I don't get to say "I'll work on this but not on that." I get put on projects as management decrees, pretty much. I have influence over those choices, but very often the "right" choice for Paizo is not the one I would prefer.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
Excluding gods and demigods, do outsiders have social classes? like nobility and commoners. I know that Nocticula's realm the Midnight Isles has nobility and social classes among the outsiders. Is this common among the outer and Elemental planes?
Depends entirely on the outsider and where they live.
LazarX |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
James Jacobs wrote:Are you going to reveal it in that "romance of the inner sea book" that you are working on? :-)xavier c wrote:Are the members of Erastil's family gods?Unrevealed.
Is that part of Paizo's new Harlequin subscription line?
James Jacobs Creative Director |
We know there are modern civilizations(like ours) in the pathfinder universe, so i want to ask, Are there outsiders that wear modern clothing? is not like Angels have to wear loincloths all the time.
If they were to appear in a modern setting, perhaps. Not in a fantasy setting like Golarion though.