Creative Director
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Dear James,
Do you have the fiendish Tyrannasaurus miniature from the old dnd line?
Were you aware that you can take PC sized mini and fix it in its mouth?
I have several. And I've stuffed PCs into the mouth many a time.
In fact, there's one on the shelf in the conference room here upstairs at Paizo, and it's one of the best things up there to fiddle/play with during a boring meeting.
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Creative Director
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Since as you've said, Varisia is basically the West Coast, where on Golarion does that put Minnesota?
Nowhere, as far as I know.
Just because one location happened to be partially inspired by a real-world region doesn't mean ALL real-world regions are represented in the game.
Dear James,
Do you have the fiendish Tyrannasaurus miniature from the old dnd line?
Were you aware that you can take PC sized mini and fix it in its mouth?I have several. And I've stuffed PCs into the mouth many a time.
In fact, there's one on the shelf in the conference room here upstairs at Paizo, and it's one of the best things up there to fiddle/play with during a boring meeting.
I am intrigued. What constitutes a boring meeting at the Paizo HQ? I assumed that it was all dice and dinosaurs all the time.
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Creative Director
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I am intrigued. What constitutes a boring meeting at the Paizo HQ? I assumed that it was all dice and dinosaurs all the time.Dear James,
Do you have the fiendish Tyrannasaurus miniature from the old dnd line?
Were you aware that you can take PC sized mini and fix it in its mouth?I have several. And I've stuffed PCs into the mouth many a time.
In fact, there's one on the shelf in the conference room here upstairs at Paizo, and it's one of the best things up there to fiddle/play with during a boring meeting.
Turns out, there's a lot more at Paizo than playing games. It's a job, and that includes sometimes boring meetings.
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Creative Director
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So I guess you'd rather we not necro any old sourcebooks?
As long as you're okay with me sometimes saying "That's wrong" or "That's outdated" or "we think that thing we made 5 years ago is kinda problematic and want it to go away," I don't have a problem with you doing that. There are a few SPECIFIC things that crept into print that we've since fixed and identified as errors, and it does annoy me when people still bring them up with the assumption that we NEVER make mistakes in what we let into print. So be wary of land mines like that, but if you just avoid talking about paladins of Asmodeus or anti-family Erastil stuff, you'll probably be fine.
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Christopher Lee passed today, and the world is lessened with him no longer in it. What was your favorite role that he portrayed on screen?Probably Lord Summerisle, from the Wicker Man.
RIP Christopher Lee! :(
Which begs the question - what did you think about The Wicker Man remake with Nick Cage? And what about The Wicker Tree?
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Creative Director
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Which begs the question - what did you think about The Wicker Man remake with Nick Cage? And what about The Wicker Tree?Christopher Lee passed today, and the world is lessened with him no longer in it. What was your favorite role that he portrayed on screen?Probably Lord Summerisle, from the Wicker Man.
RIP Christopher Lee! :(
I thought the remake was ridiculous and unneeded and unwatchable.
I watched all of the Wicker Tree and found it to be entirely and completely and surprisingly disappointing.
Neither even comes close to approaching a tiny fraction of the brilliance that is the original Wicker Man.
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Creative Director
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On the subject of the latest Witcher game:
** spoiler omitted **
Haven't yet met Triss in Witcher 3, but since she was fun in the previous two games... she's got familiarity advantage. (Turns out, convention season is a terrrrible time for a giant RPG I want to play lots of to come out... much less come out at the same time as a second one like Pillars of Eternity...)
Hi James
A few questions about the drow:
1. Why are they not more active in the Worldwound? The drow city of Far Parathra is beneath the Worldwound, but they don’t seem to play any role in what’s going on there – as demon worshippers, that seems odd to me.
2. Given the location of Zirnakaynin beneath Fangwood, do the drow (particularly House Udrinor – followers of Cyth-V’sug) have any involvement with the twisted dryad Arlantia and the blight she is spreading in the heart of that forest?
3. Do the drow have any involvement with Treerazer in the Tanglebriar – he would seem a natural ally in the drow’s war with the surface elves?
4. Apart from drow activity in Celwynvian in the Mierani Forest in northern Varisia, are there any other locations in Avistan, or (less likely I guess) Garund, where the drow are active on the surface? If not, why?
That is an excellent question for the Rules Forum and an FAQ.
Thanks James - I have posted it in rules Questions and tagged it as FAQ as you suggest, although it wasn't really intended as a rules question (I know we aren't supposed to use this forum for such things). My real question was to you as creative director, asking whether the change was intentional or just a by-product of the decision to make all eidolons specific outsider sub-types - ie did the team set out to give eidolons this extra power as part of the rebalancing or did they simply want eidolons to be specific sub-types to try to narrow the room for crazy builds and going down that route had the unintended consequence of giving eidolons the power to overcome opposing alignment DR? If that also falls under the heading if "inappropriate questions" for this forum, then apologies and please ignore me :o)
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In memoriam of the quintessential Hammer of Iconic Villains.
Sir Christopher Lee was fluent in English, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese and German. He was "moderately proficient" (and still conducted War sorties that put these languages to use) in Swedish, Finnish, Russian, Ukrainian, and Greek. He had a "conversational" comprehension in Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, Urdu and at least one African dialect. He had could read and understand Latin. He's even said to have perfectly intoned and articulated Tolkien's Elvish and the Black Speech of Mordor.
Baring a high Lingustics score, what is the minimum intelligence for that many languages comprehended in Pathfinder?
Also, it may not have been his favourite Movie, but were you aware that Christopher Lee did everything in his power to promote The Wicker Man, offering to pay the ticket price for critics to get them to review it, and touring the US in an effort to get people to go and see it?
I posted this yesterday and can not seem to find the post.
I posted this yesterday and can not seem to find the post.
Didn't you hear? Yesterday was cancelled. :-)
Why are cambions always born male?
If a cambion were to be redeemed, instead of embodying a sin, would he become connected to the virtue that opposes the sin?
Gluttony = Temperance
Pride = Humility
Envy = Charity
Sloth = Zeal
Lust = Love
Greed = Generosity
Wrath = Kindness
Are cambions fertile? If they bred, would they produce tieflings or some lesser form of cambion? Would such a child also be predisposed towards its father's sin?
What do you think about the Hyperion TV series that's in development?
http://www.slashfilm.com/hyperion-tv-series/
For me, it was:
"Hey, did you know they're developing a TV series based on Dan Simmons' Hyperion?"
[ascending slide whistle sound]
"It's gonna be on SyFy!"
[descending slide whistle sound]
They haven't announced a title change to "Shrikenado!" yet, so that's a good sign.
In memoriam of the quintessential Hammer of Iconic Villains.
Sir Christopher Lee was fluent in English, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese and German. He was "moderately proficient" (and still conducted War sorties that put these languages to use) in Swedish, Finnish, Russian, Ukrainian, and Greek. He had a "conversational" comprehension in Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, Urdu and at least one African dialect. He had could read and understand Latin. He's even said to have perfectly intoned and articulated Tolkien's Elvish and the Black Speech of Mordor.
Baring a high Lingustics score, what is the minimum intelligence for that many languages comprehended in Pathfinder?
Also, it may not have been his favourite Movie, but were you aware that Christopher Lee did everything in his power to promote The Wicker Man, offering to pay the ticket price for critics to get them to review it, and touring the US in an effort to get people to go and see it?
I posted this yesterday and can not seem to find the post.
I'd hazard a guess that Lee was an Expert with an Int of 14-15 and at least 3 ranks in Linguistics to get those 6 fluent languages. With that +8 or so Linguistics score, I'm sure he could be "conversational" in those other languages by making skill checks when needed.
James, in a game traveling across Ustalav, what would be the single most consistently useful Favored Terrain to pick?
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I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be rude but this is the thread to ask James Jacobs questions and for him to answer them, not for everyone else to answer them for him:-)
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Creative Director
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Hi James
A few questions about the drow:
1. Why are they not more active in the Worldwound? The drow city of Far Parathra is beneath the Worldwound, but they don’t seem to play any role in what’s going on there – as demon worshippers, that seems odd to me.
2. Given the location of Zirnakaynin beneath Fangwood, do the drow (particularly House Udrinor – followers of Cyth-V’sug) have any involvement with the twisted dryad Arlantia and the blight she is spreading in the heart of that forest?
3. Do the drow have any involvement with Treerazer in the Tanglebriar – he would seem a natural ally in the drow’s war with the surface elves?
4. Apart from drow activity in Celwynvian in the Mierani Forest in northern Varisia, are there any other locations in Avistan, or (less likely I guess) Garund, where the drow are active on the surface? If not, why?
1) Becasue the Worldwound is on the surface, and the drow really have no interest in the surface at all. It's uncomfortable for them, and they find the races who dwell there to be weak and beneath their notice. Furthermore, the two demons most heavily involved in the Worldwound, Deskari and Baphomet, are not demons the drow tend to worship anyway.
2) None whatsoever. Again... they're not particularly interested in surface world shenanigans. This is one of the ways we've deliberately diverged from the D&D version of drow.
3) None at all.
4) That activity is a special case that is the exception to the rule about drow not having much interest in surface stuff... but Celwynvian is a special case since that's sort of where they all originally came from. Furthermore... until you run Second Darkness at your game table... even THAT presence isn't intended to be super active; the fact that they get active there is part of the plot of Second Darkness revealing to the world of Golarion that the drow DO exist and aren't just myths.
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Creative Director
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Thanks James - I have posted it in rules Questions and tagged it as FAQ as you suggest, although it wasn't really intended as a rules question (I know we aren't supposed to use this forum for such things). My real question was to you as creative director, asking whether the change was intentional or just a by-product of the decision to make all eidolons specific outsider sub-types - ie did the team set out to give eidolons this extra power as part of the rebalancing or did they simply want eidolons to be specific sub-types to try to narrow the room for crazy builds and going down that route had the unintended consequence of giving eidolons the power to overcome opposing alignment DR? If that also falls under the heading if "inappropriate questions" for this forum, then apologies and please ignore me :o)
That is an excellent question for the Rules Forum and an FAQ.
The change was made so that summoner eidolons would have a logical and built-in place for the world. The previous version, where the player got to mix and match and create an entirely new creature for their eidolon always sat poorly with me, since the resulting monster was a nonesuch nonsense thing that had no gravity or connection to the world. By having summoners summon eidolons based on things that DO have a presence in the Great Beyond, they actually feel like they're playing in and are from Golarion, rather than visiting aliens from some other undesigned campaign setting.
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Creative Director
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In memoriam of the quintessential Hammer of Iconic Villains.
Sir Christopher Lee was fluent in English, Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese and German. He was "moderately proficient" (and still conducted War sorties that put these languages to use) in Swedish, Finnish, Russian, Ukrainian, and Greek. He had a "conversational" comprehension in Mandarin Chinese, Hindi, Urdu and at least one African dialect. He had could read and understand Latin. He's even said to have perfectly intoned and articulated Tolkien's Elvish and the Black Speech of Mordor.
Baring a high Lingustics score, what is the minimum intelligence for that many languages comprehended in Pathfinder?
Also, it may not have been his favourite Movie, but were you aware that Christopher Lee did everything in his power to promote The Wicker Man, offering to pay the ticket price for critics to get them to review it, and touring the US in an effort to get people to go and see it?
I posted this yesterday and can not seem to find the post.
Looks like you've listed 18 languages. That means he'd need an intelligence of like 36 to know them all. Obviously, this is another case of Pathfinder modeling game play rather than the real world.
And I was not aware that he helped push the movie's marketing. Just yet another example of how awesome he was and how devoted he was to his craft. The world is a lesser place without him.
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Creative Director
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Are there any fortresses on Golarion that are famed for having never fallen to an enemy army, or having impenetrable walls? Sort of like the reputations held by places like the city of Troy, Krak de Chevaliers, and the Citadel of Bam.
Absalom, the city itself, has never fallen. That's probably the most famous one in the Inner Sea region.
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Creative Director
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Why are cambions always born male?
If a cambion were to be redeemed, instead of embodying a sin, would he become connected to the virtue that opposes the sin?
Gluttony = Temperance
Pride = Humility
Envy = Charity
Sloth = Zeal
Lust = Love
Greed = Generosity
Wrath = KindnessAre cambions fertile? If they bred, would they produce tieflings or some lesser form of cambion? Would such a child also be predisposed towards its father's sin?
We've done a LOT with sins in our game, particularly with demons and Thassilon. One thing we've deliberately NOT done is directly used the classic virtues to oppose those sins. Thassilon has its own set of virtues, and there is no real opposite to the demonic themes, since each demon has its own sin and there are far more than seven demon types out there.
A redeemed cambion would not become connected to a new virtue. It would still embody that sin... but would embody either denial or moderation of that sin.
Cambions are fertile and if they breed with each other, they produce cambions. If they breed with mortals, they produce half fiends. They do not directly produce tieflings.
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Creative Director
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What do you think about the Hyperion TV series that's in development?
http://www.slashfilm.com/hyperion-tv-series/
For me, it was:
"Hey, did you know they're developing a TV series based on Dan Simmons' Hyperion?"
[ascending slide whistle sound]
"It's gonna be on SyFy!"
[descending slide whistle sound]
They haven't announced a title change to "Shrikenado!" yet, so that's a good sign.
Haven't really paid attention to it... but SyFy has done great shows in the past (Battlestar) and has said that they're trying to get back to that mode and away from the camp. I'm semi-optimistic about a Hyperion series.
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Creative Director
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James,
Monster Summoner's Handbook describes summoning a monster as it has classically been presented, i.e. summoning an existing creature from elsewhere, as opposed to how you have described it on these forums as more akin to creating a creature for the spells need. Is this most recent description of the spell a step away from how you have described it? Am I misreading it? A miscommunication between the authors and yourself?
Otherwise this is a great book, that one little bit threw me off for a bit however.
That's an unfortunate miscommunication between my vision for the game and those who wrote and developed the book.
We've done a LOT with sins in our game, particularly with demons and Thassilon. One thing we've deliberately NOT done is directly used the classic virtues to oppose those sins. Thassilon has its own set of virtues, and there is no real opposite to the demonic themes, since each demon has its own sin and there are far more than seven demon types out there.
A redeemed cambion would not become connected to a new virtue. It would still embody that sin... but would embody either denial or moderation of that sin.
Cambions are fertile and if they breed with each other, they produce cambions. If they breed with mortals, they produce half fiends. They do not directly produce tieflings.
Oooh, okay. Thank you, Mr. Jacobs!
One follow-up questions though, you mentioned that cambions can breed with each other? Their description says they are always born male. Does that mean the males can breed with other males, or are there female cambions as well?
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Creative Director
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One follow-up question though, you mentioned that cambions can breed with each other? Their description says they are always born male. Does that mean the males can breed with other males, or are there female cambions as well?
No, it means that in order for cambions to breed with each other, one of them needs to transition into female. This is possible via numerous in-game effects, and there likely also exists magic that allows men to become pregnant as well.
It does mean that new cambions born in this way are INCREDIBLY rare of course.
No, it means that in order for cambions to breed with each other, one of them needs to transition into female. This is possible via numerous in-game effects, and there likely also exists magic that allows men to become pregnant as well.
It does mean that new cambions born in this way are INCREDIBLY rare of course.
Ah, I see! I'd forgotten demons could change their genders when they wanted to! Thank you, that makes sense now. :)
One more small thing; if Thassailon doesn't use classic virtues to oppose sins, why do the seven points and abilities of the Sihedron from Shatter Star correspond to those virtues?
Thank you for indulging my questions!
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Are there any fortresses on Golarion that are famed for having never fallen to an enemy army, or having impenetrable walls? Sort of like the reputations held by places like the city of Troy, Krak de Chevaliers, and the Citadel of Bam.Absalom, the city itself, has never fallen. That's probably the most famous one in the Inner Sea region.
Thanks! The character I'm building will eventually take levels in Stalwart Defender, and I wanted him to have a nickname signifying how he's a freakin' wall on the battlefield, nothing getting past him. :)
And while I'm on the subject of character names: What sounds better for a stormy-tempered druid, Laurelshield or Highbough? A high bough would be up close to the sky, and the Celts believed mistletoe was created when oak trees were struck by lightning, making both plants sacred (which, incidentally, is why druids in D&D and Pathfinder can use mistletoe as a holy symbol for casting purposes), but the laurel tree apparently protected against lightning, and wearing its leaves (like in a crown or wreath) convinced the gods to throw their bolts elsewhere.
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Creative Director
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No, it means that in order for cambions to breed with each other, one of them needs to transition into female. This is possible via numerous in-game effects, and there likely also exists magic that allows men to become pregnant as well.
It does mean that new cambions born in this way are INCREDIBLY rare of course.
Ah, I see! I'd forgotten demons could change their genders when they wanted to! Thank you, that makes sense now. :)
One more small thing; if Thassailon doesn't use classic virtues to oppose sins, why do the seven points and abilities of the Sihedron from Shatter Star correspond to those virtues?
Thank you for indulging my questions!
Not all demons can change genders; in fact, very few can. That requires change shape. A cambion who wants to change gender has to follow the options most other races follow.
The virtues that correspond to Thassilon's seven sins are:
Charity
Temperance
Generosity
Love
Humility
Zeal
Kindness
Those are not the same as the classic virtues. And comparing that to your original post, I see those are the ones you were asking about, not the ones used more often in real-world literature and myth.
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Creative Director
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Are there any fortresses on Golarion that are famed for having never fallen to an enemy army, or having impenetrable walls? Sort of like the reputations held by places like the city of Troy, Krak de Chevaliers, and the Citadel of Bam.Absalom, the city itself, has never fallen. That's probably the most famous one in the Inner Sea region.Thanks! The character I'm building will eventually take levels in Stalwart Defender, and I wanted him to have a nickname signifying how he's a freakin' wall on the battlefield, nothing getting past him. :)
And while I'm on the subject of character names: What sounds better for a stormy-tempered druid, Laurelshield or Highbough? A high bough would be up close to the sky, and the Celts believed mistletoe was created when oak trees were struck by lightning, making both plants sacred (which, incidentally, is why druids in D&D and Pathfinder can use mistletoe as a holy symbol for casting purposes), but the laurel tree apparently protected against lightning, and wearing its leaves (like in a crown or wreath) convinced the gods to throw their bolts elsewhere.
Either name sounds fine.
Hi James
A few questions about the drow:
1. Why are they not more active in the Worldwound? The drow city of Far Parathra is beneath the Worldwound, but they don’t seem to play any role in what’s going on there – as demon worshippers, that seems odd to me.
2. Given the location of Zirnakaynin beneath Fangwood, do the drow (particularly House Udrinor – followers of Cyth-V’sug) have any involvement with the twisted dryad Arlantia and the blight she is spreading in the heart of that forest?
3. Do the drow have any involvement with Treerazer in the Tanglebriar – he would seem a natural ally in the drow’s war with the surface elves?
4. Apart from drow activity in Celwynvian in the Mierani Forest in northern Varisia, are there any other locations in Avistan, or (less likely I guess) Garund, where the drow are active on the surface? If not, why?
1) Becasue the Worldwound is on the surface, and the drow really have no interest in the surface at all. It's uncomfortable for them, and they find the races who dwell there to be weak and beneath their notice. Furthermore, the two demons most heavily involved in the Worldwound, Deskari and Baphomet, are not demons the drow tend to worship anyway.
2) None whatsoever. Again... they're not particularly interested in surface world shenanigans. This is one of the ways we've deliberately diverged from the D&D version of drow.
3) None at all.
4) That activity is a special case that is the exception to the rule about drow not having much interest in surface stuff... but Celwynvian is a special case since that's sort of where they all originally came from. Furthermore... until you run Second Darkness at your game table... even THAT presence isn't intended to be super active; the fact that they get active there is part of the plot of Second Darkness revealing to the world of Golarion that the drow DO exist and aren't just myths.
Wait...so if the drow have no interest in the surface world...does that not make them kinda of uninteresting as bad guys?
Contributor
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No, it means that in order for cambions to breed with each other, one of them needs to transition into female. This is possible via numerous in-game effects, and there likely also exists magic that allows men to become pregnant as well.
It does mean that new cambions born in this way are INCREDIBLY rare of course.
Ah, I see! I'd forgotten demons could change their genders when they wanted to! Thank you, that makes sense now. :)
One more small thing; if Thassailon doesn't use classic virtues to oppose sins, why do the seven points and abilities of the Sihedron from Shatter Star correspond to those virtues?
Thank you for indulging my questions!
Not all demons can change genders; in fact, very few can. That requires change shape. A cambion who wants to change gender has to follow the options most other races follow.
The virtues that correspond to Thassilon's seven sins are:
Charity
Temperance
Generosity
Love
Humility
Zeal
KindnessThose are not the same as the classic virtues. And comparing that to your original post, I see those are the ones you were asking about, not the ones used more often in real-world literature and myth.
Are the Virtues of Rule still a thing? Fertility, honest pride, rest, etc.
Thank you! ^_^
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Not all demons can change genders; in fact, very few can. That requires change shape. A cambion who wants to change gender has to follow the options most other races follow.
The virtues that correspond to Thassilon's seven sins are:
Charity
Temperance
Generosity
Love
Humility
Zeal
KindnessThose are not the same as the classic virtues. And comparing that to your original post, I see those are the ones you were asking about, not the ones used more often in real-world literature and myth.
Thank you for your answers, Mr. Jacobs! This is all really cool stuff to find out. :)
Adults who don't hold down the run button when playing side-scrolled Mario-type games...especially when you're playing multiplayer... - burn them, beat them, or water torture?
What would you suggest as a cheap, low level protection against greater scrying other than Horn of Fog?
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Creative Director
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Wait...so if the drow have no interest in the surface world...does that not make them kinda of uninteresting as bad guys?
Absolutely not. They're still FASCINATING as bad guys; they're demon worshipers, slavers, fleshwarpers, and all sorts of other great bad guy tropes. And there CAN still be plots where the drow DO go after the surface. Second Darkness is all about just such an exception. Read that to see.
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Creative Director
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Adults who don't hold down the run button when playing side-scrolled Mario-type games...especially when you're playing multiplayer... - burn them, beat them, or water torture?
Patience and education. Explain to them why running is a better option, and if they don't get it... be patient and adjust your play style to match or just find another player who DOES match your style.
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Contributor
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So, the change shape ability normally restricts succubi to taking humanoid forms. Can a succubus do this naturally? Or do they need an elixir/girdle/whatever?
Big fan of that art (and the decision to publish it), by the way.
Thank you! ^_^