Creative Director
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Why does it feel like anytime I try to make a PC that I like it feels shoehorned when I put it into Golarion?
Perhaps because you're trying to do too much with the PC, or trying too hard to build off of ideas from other sources? It sounds like being in continuity, with WHATEVER setting or inspiration, is pretty important to you, so you might do better at creating Goalrion PCs in starting with Golarion content for inspiration rather than real-world history or other fantasy novels or the like?
Or barring that... come to peace with those feelings of shoehorning?
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James, if Queen Abrogail had all three parts of the glutouness tome and gave them to her patron. What do you think he would do with them? I think Varian might have toy give the Queen the first part of the tome to get back in her good graces. I'm just asking you this as a what if question not that it is going to happen.
I'm really liking the preview for the Vigilante class. It immediately made me think of
If there were ever to be a Collector's Edition (or updated version) of Curse of the Crimson Throne is there a chance his character would be modified to be a vigilante?
Is there any chance in the near or even distant future we will get Book of the Damned style supplements for the other outsider races? Specifically for psychopomps and/or proteans?
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Creative Director
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James, if Queen Abrogail had all three parts of the glutouness tome and gave them to her patron. What do you think he would do with them? I think Varian might have toy give the Queen the first part of the tome to get back in her good graces. I'm just asking you this as a what if question not that it is going to happen.
All sorts of things COULD happen, but if it were in a story I was telling, it'd involve all those plans going bad when Zutha gets involved.
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Creative Director
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I'm really liking the preview for the Vigilante class. It immediately made me think of ** spoiler omitted ** from Curse of the Crimson Throne.
If there were ever to be a Collector's Edition (or updated version) of Curse of the Crimson Throne is there a chance his character would be modified to be a vigilante?
Until I see the final class, I can't say.
That said, when I did the Runelords revision, I really did try my best NOT to change existing NPCs to different classes, because if it's not broke... don't fix it.
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Creative Director
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Is there any chance in the near or even distant future we will get Book of the Damned style supplements for the other outsider races? Specifically for psychopomps and/or proteans?
In the near future, as in the next few months? No. Since we've announced the next few months' products and no such book is on the list.
Beyond that, anything is possible... but one reason the Book of the Damned books got written is because Wes and I really wanted to write them, and that helps a LOT in getting a book like that on the schedule. Wes and I do both like psychopomps and proteans... but at this point, there's no plans for such a book to manifest.
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Creative Director
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Do people in Brevoy name kids Choral in honor of their founder, or is that sort of frowned upon given Choral's legacy as a brutal tyrant?
I doubt many people get named Choral.
And not just because in a fictional setting if you name two characters the same name people freak out way more than they should.
In real life, you can have a story involving 6 people named James. In a fictional story, that breaks verisimilitude and doesn't work.
So... don't expect any other Chorals to pop up anytime soon.
Which do you believe is more important rules consistency or story?
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Creative Director
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James what is your process for making NPCs?
The adventure decides what their role should be—be it dungeon guard or serial killer or suspicious ally or giddy murderer or whatever. That comes first. Their personality and appearance grows from there. Class and stats and all that come along near the end of the process, although a lot of the decisions as to what they are get made during the first part.
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Creative Director
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Are manes product identity? I'm looking for the demon counterpart of the lemure as a low-level demon adversary, but it seems like where most devils and demons got ported over to Pathfinder, the manes didn't?
Manes are from mythology. If we WERE To pick them up, though, we'd have to present them in a different format than as "lowest CR demons that turn to acid clouds when you kill them." And since I actually quite like that version of them, I've been very hesitant to "overwrite" them as official Pathfinder creatures.
For what it's worth, if I did port them over, they'd look pretty identical to what I did for them in 3.5's Hordes of the Abyss.
James, since the topic of NPC / PC creation has come up, how do you come up with names for your characters? I can conceive of, stat up, and write histories and personalities for a dozen characters in less time than it takes me to find a single name that I actually like for a character; especially if I'm trying to come up with one that's culturally appropriate for the character.
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Creative Director
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So your recommendation would be I just use that version when I want a low CR demon?
Sure!
Or just use stats for a tiefling and describe it more demonic. That's probably the best bet. Your players won't know they're fighting a tiefling if you describe it as an 'Orange skinned biped with goat horns, black eyes, a long curved knife, and a long thin tongue that dribs blue slobber" when they encounter it.
OR if you have time, make up a new monster!
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Creative Director
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James, since the topic of NPC / PC creation has come up, how do you come up with names for your characters? I can conceive of, stat up, and write histories and personalities for a dozen characters in less time than it takes me to find a single name that I actually like for a character; especially if I'm trying to come up with one that's culturally appropriate for the character.
All sorts of ways. Sometimes I use random name generators on the internet. Other times I take a word and spell it backwards and then shuffle a few words around. And other times I just make up the name whole-cloth, based on a lifetime spent reading fantasy books and RPGs. And sometimes, if I need a name that evokes a specific ethnicity, I'll look at real world names and then either use obscure ones or respell them a little different to make them look a little more exotic.
And often what I'll do is not just make up one name, but several dozen and write them all down in my notebook with little boxes to check off once I've used them. That way, when I'm working on an adventure, I don't have to stop when it comes time to name someone and agonize for hours or days. I'll just look through the list and pick the one that sounds good.
All that said, naming NPCs is one of the hardest parts, if not THE hardest part of creating an NPC. At least, for me. You want the name to be perfect, after all, but not one that if someone says it out loud they'll accidentally pronounce it to be something dumb or silly.
Finally, there are entire BOOKS of names out there as well. They're a great resource to have handy.
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This is another one of those "it's not normal, but then PCs aren't supposed to be normal" sort of things, isn't it?PCs aren't supposed to be normal, but I'm not sure what you're asking about. A PC named Choral? That's up to you, not me.
Yes. That was exactly what I was asking.
How the heck did krogan wind up on Thedas? (I know they're an Easter Egg, I just think puzzling out the in-universe implications would be funny.)
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Creative Director
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How the heck did krogan wind up on Thedas? (I know they're an Easter Egg, I just think puzzling out the in-universe implications would be funny.)
It's my understanding that there's implications that Dragon Age and Mass Effect take place in the same universe, only separated by thousands of years.
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Creative Director
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James,
Are you a fan of the Penny Dreadful series on Showtime?
Yes. I am. But...
Some day I hope to get caught up. I'm increasingly thinking that means that Wes is gonna get left behind.
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Creative Director
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James, I have a question are the lengenday games products written by Jason nelson who was the primary author of the mythic rules considered 3 party by Pazio?
They absolutely are 3rd party products. None of Legendary Games' products go through an approval process like our licensed products do; they're entirely 3rd party productions and are not "official" expansions to the Adventure Paths.
(And Jason was one of several authors for Mythic Adventures, but not the primary one—that would have been Jason Bulmahn.)
What is the stand of the gods toward psychic magic? I suppose Irori would be cool with it but, what about Nethys? others? Are any gods opposed to psychic magic?
Speaking of which, do any gods proibit certain multiclasses?
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Creative Director
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What is the stand of the gods toward psychic magic? I suppose Irori would be cool with it but, what about Nethys? others? Are any gods opposed to psychic magic?
Speaking of which, do any gods proibit certain multiclasses?
They are all pretty much cool with it. Nethys in particular, as the god of magic, endorses it.
While the gods themselves do not prohibit certain multiclass combos, the restrictions of alignments do. You can't be a cleric of Abadar/barbarian, for example.
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What do mermaid's tails taste of?I'd imagine they'd taste like guilt and sadness and regret.
So, McDonald's?
So.. what will you be doing on your leap second tomorrow at 11:59:60 pm?PORN!
So how is that different from every other seconds? ;)