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Hey James, I am running Iron Gods now, we are about halfway through Choking Tower at the moment. One of my favorite things about Iron Gods and the Technology Guide is the Timeworn Mechanic.
How do you feel about taking the idea and concept of Timeworn, using it in other campaigns like say a Rise of the Runelords game and then applying it to magic items?
For example, having the players find a Timeworn Holy Staff and following the same mechanics of having a "Glitch" of magic, it being non rechargeable as well as being only worth 10% of the cost?
Creative Director
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Hey James, I am running Iron Gods now, we are about halfway through Choking Tower at the moment. One of my favorite things about Iron Gods and the Technology Guide is the Timeworn Mechanic.
How do you feel about taking the idea and concept of Timeworn, using it in other campaigns like say a Rise of the Runelords game and then applying it to magic items?
For example, having the players find a Timeworn Holy Staff and following the same mechanics of having a "Glitch" of magic, it being non rechargeable as well as being only worth 10% of the cost?
The timeworn mechanic should function perfectly well for magic items, since tech items were constructed as if they were magic items. The rules should port over without any issues whatsoever. I think that applying it to magic is an interesting idea... but for the flavor of Golarion I would not; there's a LOT of ancient magic out there and if you apply it to one thing you should apply it to all things. The fact that magic doesn't become timeworn is, to me, an interesting and flavorful way in which magic and technology are different, and is an interesting way that magic retains an advantage over technology (which itself has its own advantages over magic).
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Creative Director
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Why did you design the Kinetesist to be so much fun (mainly the telekenetist.)
I mean foe throw + tall cliff or lava, or off a ship in to shark infested waters.
That's just one aspect of it.
I didn't design the kineticist at all. In fact, I actually haven't even had the chance to read ANY of the psychic classes. That's a question for the design team.
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Creative Director
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Is this talking about "summoned" creatures, or gated/bound creatures? Because I thought "summoned" creatures (as in, summon monster IX) only creates copies of the creature, and doesn't actually bring the real creature from another plane and the summoned creature is, more or less, completely under your control?
Whether or not in your game summon spells create "copies" of idealized creatures, duplicates of creatures from other planes, or actually summon those creatures, they all still behave the same way they would, and therefore a good creature that's summoned will try to do good, and an evil creature that's summoned will try to do evil. That's the ONLY reason why these spells would take on the alignments like they do, in my opinion.
Summoned creatures are not robots that exist only do what you want. If you want that, cast animate object. A summoned creature is under your control, but if it's intelligent and has an alignment it'll have a personality and it's own agenda.
Order an evil creature to kill a kitten and it'll probably cackle as it goes, and will likely try to draw out the dog's death or make sure it happens in a way that antagonizies or distresses the dog's owner.
Order a good creature to kill a kitten and it'll do so humanely and quickly and hopefully painlessly, probably while crying or calling you a monster.
1)This is interesting as I asked you before if Summoned creatures had a personality and you said no(or something like that). Am I getting something wrong or did you change your mind?
2)If a Summoner were to Summon a Succubus then order that they go chop firewood how would the Summoned Succubus react or what would it say, Would it even complain?
3)Also If a Summoner were to Summon a Lillend azata then order that they go chop firewood how would the Summoned Lillend azata react or what would it say, Would it even complain?
4)You know how some PCs Summon creatures(like a Hound archon) then order them to go trigger death traps(like exploding runes or spike traps) in dungeons. Now if the creature knows that there's a trap, how would it respond or what would it say to such an order knowing it is probably going to experience a painful death?
1) Not quite "changed my mind" as much as "thought about it from a different angle. There has to be a REASON summoning a demon is chaotic and evil (because the rules say it is), and the best, most flavorful reason I can think of is that the demon acts chaotic and evil and spreads chaos and evil in working for ANYONE, regardless of alignment. Even if you keep a tight reign on it... some chaos and evil will get out...
2) It would probably laugh at the summoner and mock him/her for not knowing how to use magic, then go chop wood and turn the whole thing into a sexual innuendo. Hopefully in a way that has the summoners neighbors sticking heads out windows to find out what's going on and perhaps be scandalized by what they see.
3) It would complan, but then shrug and chop wood and sing some cool song as she worked, knowing that the spell would end eventually.
4) It would respond with fear or sadness or excitement or curiosity or anger or resignation or all the other possible choices a creature whose personality isn't yet revealed could react. If you were the GM in this case, that's a GREAT chance for you to get in some improvised roleplay.
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Are dinosaurs found among the megafauna of the Realm of the Mammoth Lords, or are those exclusively mammal types like mammoths, ground sloths and dire wolves?
Would northern-dwelling folk be aware of what an archaeopteryx is like, or do those particular dinosaurs prefer warmer, more southerly climes?
Suppose someone summons a succubus (or succubi) for sex, can keep her for longer than a few minutes (conjurer 20, timeless demiplane, something else), and nobody else is around for her to hurt. What then?
Personally, I'd prefer an astral deva.
Oh, another question. Suppose a good-aligned caster summoned a good-aligned outsider for sex (and, as above, isn't restricted to a few minutes). How likely would the outsider consent?
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Creative Director
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Are dinosaurs found among the megafauna of the Realm of the Mammoth Lords, or are those exclusively mammal types like mammoths, ground sloths and dire wolves?
Would northern-dwelling folk be aware of what an archaeopteryx is like, or do those particular dinosaurs prefer warmer, more southerly climes?
They can be, but they're not all that common. They're mostly regulated to lost or narrow valleys, and have links to Deep Tolguth.
Northern-dwelling folk would likely not be aware of something like an archaeopteryx, but would recognize it as some sort of freaky toothbird.
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Creative Director
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Suppose someone summons a succubus (or succubi) for sex, can keep her for longer than a few minutes (conjurer 20, timeless demiplane, something else), and nobody else is around for her to hurt. What then?
Personally, I'd prefer an astral deva.
Oh, another question. Suppose a good-aligned caster summoned a good-aligned outsider for sex (and, as above, isn't restricted to a few minutes). How likely would the outsider consent?
What then? In time, that succubus would likely corrupt the summoner, or find a way to corrupt or destroy or ruin those the summoner cared for, or otherwise work chaos and evil into the world. That's what then.
Whether or not a good outsider would consent depends 100% on the situation, the outsider, the summoner, and so on.
As with all matters of "HOW DO WE HAVE SEX IN GAME?" it's best left to individual tables to address. Tabletop RPGs are still struggling with getting to a place where video games and movies and novels are today; where sex can be a topic without a freak out. Of course, that also means Tabletop RPGs have less examples of dealing with the topic poorly or tastelessly than do movies or TV or video games or books... so I guess there's that.
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Are dinosaurs found among the megafauna of the Realm of the Mammoth Lords, or are those exclusively mammal types like mammoths, ground sloths and dire wolves?
Would northern-dwelling folk be aware of what an archaeopteryx is like, or do those particular dinosaurs prefer warmer, more southerly climes?
They can be, but they're not all that common. They're mostly regulated to lost or narrow valleys, and have links to Deep Tolguth.
Northern-dwelling folk would likely not be aware of something like an archaeopteryx, but would recognize it as some sort of freaky toothbird.
Or perhaps...a Dragoneagle? ;)
Steampunk Adventure might fit for the Mana Wastes and Alkenstar.Not really... to me, steampunk implies, among other things, mass transit (airships, trains, etc.) and limiting something like that to one of the smallest regions in the Inner Sea would do it a disservice.
Homebrew settings. And Steampunk/Alkenstar are quite popular in Module and APs wishlists.
Suppose someone summons a succubus (or succubi) for sex, can keep her for longer than a few minutes (conjurer 20, timeless demiplane, something else), and nobody else is around for her to hurt. What then?What then? In time, that succubus would likely corrupt the summoner, or find a way to corrupt or destroy or ruin those the summoner cared for, or otherwise work chaos and evil into the world. That's what then.
Well, that can be the other reason for Summoning them.
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I've been rewatching the Apocalypse Trilogy, and thinking about how to implement some ideas from those films.
1) Where do you think the line is between homage and outright ripoff/retelling? How far down that road is appropriate, in your opinion?
2) How would you implement the Thing From Another World in Pathfinder, statistically? It's kind of a giveaway when the replaced "wizard" can't cast spells.
3) How would you handle a place like Hobb's End, as a GM?
4) Whose idea was it to put the Antichrist, aka the immortal ichor, into Pathfinder?
Thank you! ^_^
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I'm working on an article that involves an ancient Jistkan dybbuk. I have a question about this image from the upcoming Occult Adventures. (Very cool image, by the way!)
1) Do they appear like this when possessing normal people? What about when possessing objects?
2) If so, are there any other "possessors" that appear visibly as well?
3) If not, is the dybbuk only visible to the "audience"? Has he been revealed by an occult trick?
Thank you! ^_^
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Creative Director
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I know a succubus would be all for it but
1)How do you think a would a Summoned Lillend azata would react or what would it say to a summoner that was asking for sex?
2)How do you think a would a Summoned astral deva would react or what would it say to a summoner that was asking for sex?
3)How do you think a would a Summoned Hound archon would react or what would it say to a summoner that was asking for sex?
4)How do you think a would a Summoned Vulpinal Agathion would react or what would it say to a summoner that was asking for sex?
Ask your GM. I'm not here to give consent for every monster in the book.
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Creative Director
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Did you see the fallout 4 e3 video? if yes what were you most excited about or happy to see?
I did! The whole thing was pretty appealing to me... I am probably the most excited about being able to build your own home... but the part of the game that I am MOST looking forward to is the story, which they said more or less nothing about.
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Creative Director
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I've been rewatching the Apocalypse Trilogy, and thinking about how to implement some ideas from those films.
1) Where do you think the line is between homage and outright ripoff/retelling? How far down that road is appropriate, in your opinion?
2) How would you implement the Thing From Another World in Pathfinder, statistically? It's kind of a giveaway when the replaced "wizard" can't cast spells.
3) How would you handle a place like Hobb's End, as a GM?
4) Whose idea was it to put the Antichrist, aka the immortal ichor, into Pathfinder?
Thank you! ^_^
1) The line varies, depending on the skill of the creator, but once you stop honoring and stop improving the original, then you're increasingly doing your own thing and you shouldn't stand on the previous thing to bolster your increasingly non-associated product.
2) I'd replicate it via templates that spread via a disease like vector, so that when it gets you, you retain your abilities but gain lots of new monster stuff and no longer have your personality.
3) As an adventure location. There's some neat advice for some of the things in there in the upcoming Occult Adventures too.
4) Wes... although I'm the one who introduced him to Prince of Darkness, so it's partially my fault. ;-)
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Creative Director
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I'm working on an article that involves an ancient Jistkan dybbuk. I have a question about this image from the upcoming Occult Adventures. (Very cool image, by the way!)
1) Do they appear like this when possessing normal people? What about when possessing objects?
2) If so, are there any other "possessors" that appear visibly as well?
3) If not, is the dybbuk only visible to the "audience"? Has he been revealed by an occult trick?
Thank you! ^_^
1) They can appear in all sorts of shapes; the dybbuk in the 5th Iron Gods looks nothing like that.
2) There absolutely could be if you wish.
3) I suspect the dybbuk is only visible because that's the only way the art can tell us what's going on. There's plenty of spells already in the game, like detect undead or true seeing, that could let you see it.
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Creative Director
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Which demon lords have at least some partial alliance with Lamashtu?
Maybe partial non aggression pact would be more fitting.
Besides Pazuzu, which demon lords oppose Lamashtu at any instance possible even when it may cost them resources?
She's the boss demon, so ALL of the demon lords have at least SOME alliance. Even her enemies like Pazuzu. Currently, Pazuzu is certainly the most anti-Lamashtu of the demon lords. Others don't really come close, although I could see Nocticula, Mestama, maybe Shax, and certainly Kostchtchie working against her.
Are there any Div quasideities or demigods serving under Ahriman?
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Contributor
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They can appear in all sorts of shapes; the dybbuk in the 5th Iron Gods looks nothing like that.
I won't lie, the First Sovereign was a major inspiration for my golem-possessing Jistkan.
I loved the art, by the way. Do you ever handle art orders in any way, or is that 100% Wes's domain?
Thank you! ^_^
Noticed you avoided this...
Not really... to me, steampunk implies, among other things, mass transit (airships, trains, etc.) and limiting something like that to one of the smallest regions in the Inner Sea would do it a disservice.Steampunk Adventure might fit for the Mana Wastes and Alkenstar.Of those :
* Primitive/Prehistoric Adventures. (Stone Age and the like, maybe with Dinos)
* 'Antique' Adventures. (Antiquity, duh! ... "Time of Myths and Legends", Ancient: Greece, Rome, Egypt...)
* Steampunk Adventures.
* Future Adventures.
* Space Adventures.
* CyberPunk Adventures.
* Circus Adventures.
* Horror Adventures.
* Monstrous Adventures.
* Noble/Royal Adventures. (we still need rule for Nobility, Royalty and the like.)
* Sky World Adventures. (world in the sky, floating islands, airships, etc.)Which do you think would fit in Pathfinder (and maybe Golarion)? The names/idea are based on Mythic/Occult Adventure.
Primitive, "Antique," Horror, Noble/Royal; all of those would fit well in Golarion.
ALL of them could be done with Pathfinder.
You might be surprised there.
And it's a Big Universe, maybe on another Planet.
Steampunk/Alkenstar is quite popular on many Modules and APs wishlists, and RuleBook wishlists.
Doesn't fit in the Inner Sea / on Golarion, isn't the same as Doesn't fit in the rest of the Universe, or is it?
Blasting Boulder
The boulders you hurl explode upon impact, laying waste
to nearby creatures.
Prerequisites: Smoking Boulder, base attack bonus +13,
heat rock special attack.
Benefit: You can infuse rocks thrown as part of an
attack action with volatile fire energies, adding one of
the following effects to a thrown rock affected by your
Smoking Boulder feat.
Choking Smoke: All creatures in the affected 10-footradius
spread are nauseated for 1 round.
Concussive Blast: Creatures in a 10-foot-radius burst are
deafened and staggered for 1d4 rounds (Fortitude negates).
Incendiary Explosion: The creature struck by this rock takes
4d6 points of fire damage, other creatures within a 10-footradius
burst take 2d6 points of damage, and all affected
creatures catch on fire. A successful Reflex save halves the
fire damage taken and negates catching on fire.
What Stat do you use to set the DC?
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Creative Director
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They can appear in all sorts of shapes; the dybbuk in the 5th Iron Gods looks nothing like that.I won't lie, the First Sovereign was a major inspiration for my golem-possessing Jistkan.
I loved the art, by the way. Do you ever handle art orders in any way, or is that 100% Wes's domain?
Thank you! ^_^
Generally the art orders are written by the person who's the development lead on the project. I mostly do half of the APs these days as a result. Now that I think of it, I'm actually not sure who did the art order for Occult Adventures... usually that's split among the design team but Wes is increasingly the one doing those it seems.
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Creative Director
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Lazer X, you have it wrong. Cosmo is not demonic at all he has surpassed mere demon hood. Cosmo is the God of Misfortune. All Mortals bow down before your God and offer supplication lest you be beset with Misfortune.
All Hail Cosmo Lord of Misfortune.
Remember, this is a thread to ask questions. Please ask questions here, and that doesn't mean post a wall of text and append a question at the very end! Thanks.
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Creative Director
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Steampunk/Alkenstar is quite popular on many Modules and APs wishlists, and RuleBook wishlists.
Doesn't fit in the Inner Sea / on Golarion, isn't the same as Doesn't fit in the rest of the Universe, or is it?
Alkenstar isn't really full-on steampunk in my opinion. I really quite love steampunk, and one of the things that is most compelling is how it can influence a world, not just a single remote speck of a world.
Currently, steampunk doesn't really fit well with Golarion. I don't see that changing significantly anytime soon.
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Creative Director
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Blasting Boulder
The boulders you hurl explode upon impact, laying waste
to nearby creatures.
Prerequisites: Smoking Boulder, base attack bonus +13,
heat rock special attack.
Benefit: You can infuse rocks thrown as part of an
attack action with volatile fire energies, adding one of
the following effects to a thrown rock affected by your
Smoking Boulder feat.
Choking Smoke: All creatures in the affected 10-footradius
spread are nauseated for 1 round.
Concussive Blast: Creatures in a 10-foot-radius burst are
deafened and staggered for 1d4 rounds (Fortitude negates).
Incendiary Explosion: The creature struck by this rock takes
4d6 points of fire damage, other creatures within a 10-footradius
burst take 2d6 points of damage, and all affected
creatures catch on fire. A successful Reflex save halves the
fire damage taken and negates catching on fire.What Stat do you use to set the DC?
That's a raw, pure rules question, and as such it needs to be asked on the thread for the product in which it appeared, so that the rules team can and will notice and folks can tag it with an FAQ.
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Contributor
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Generally the art orders are written by the person who's the development lead on the project. I mostly do half of the APs these days as a result. Now that I think of it, I'm actually not sure who did the art order for Occult Adventures... usually that's split among the design team but Wes is increasingly the one doing those it seems.They can appear in all sorts of shapes; the dybbuk in the 5th Iron Gods looks nothing like that.I won't lie, the First Sovereign was a major inspiration for my golem-possessing Jistkan.
I loved the art, by the way. Do you ever handle art orders in any way, or is that 100% Wes's domain?
Thank you! ^_^
To clarify: I meant to ask who ordered the art for the First Sovereign.
Thank you! ^_^
Do bicycles exist in Golarion?
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Creative Director
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Are the PDF's of your products tested? While for the most part, they're pretty good, I've got a bit of a corner case, perhaps but does bug me.
One of the ways I prefer to read Paizo's PDFs is in two page mode on my 22 inch monitor.
I've noticed that it's hit or miss as to whether the spreads properly open up with page numbers on the outside as they should be.
I can't seem to do anything however with the ones that open with the page numbers at the spine, which makes the two page spread art practically unviewable. Latest example of this was Pathfinder Unchained!
Are the PDFs tested for two page viewing?
I have no idea. I do know that we do layouts and often editing in two-page view, but the creation of our PDFs is not something I'm directly involved with. This sounds like a better question for Liz, I guess?
Mr JJ, what are the things that cause your suspension of disbelief to suffer?
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She's the boss demon, so ALL of the demon lords have at least SOME alliance. Even her enemies like Pazuzu.Which demon lords have at least some partial alliance with Lamashtu?
Maybe partial non aggression pact would be more fitting.
Besides Pazuzu, which demon lords oppose Lamashtu at any instance possible even when it may cost them resources?
Whoa. That's rather surprising, giving Lamashtu theoretically nearly the same sway as Asmodeus. I realize they are both greater gods on Golarion, but I always assumed while there may be shifting alliances and deadly intrigue in the Nine Hells, there was outright endless give no quarter wars in the Abyss. I'll have to look at Lords of Chaos again.
That's really foreign idea for me.
In former iterations of the Abyss power politics the demon who dared to carry the mantle of "Prince of Demons" was always challenged outright, as I am sure you can attest to, after all you created a lot of later canon.
From 1st Edition and on, Demogorgon, Orcus and Graz'zt were locked in genocidal power struggle (there was some minor notes that Fraz-Urb’luu was taken out of this struggle after he lost his staff).
There were others in that rumble of a party as well. Yeenoghu and Baphomet were bitter rivals but the later was trapped by Orcus who had no alliance with the former (Throne of Bloodstone 1st Ed). Jubilex and Zuggtmoy fought over the same plane. You I believe made Dagon an "advisor" to Demogorgon. Iggwilv with all her plots. And Pazuzu laughing at all of them from the Abyssal skies above.
So in Golarion's Abyss, all the demon lords have some form of subservience and acquiescence to Lamashtu? Besides the fear of her coming for them of course.
On another note.
Where in Golarion would you find this James, and I assume it would be dedicated to Pharasma or would you pick another power? (It's also an interesting read and you need a quick break.)