Hi James,
I may have missed something in my reading, so forgive me if this is already answered elsewhere, but...
What is the relationship between the cult of the Whispering Way and worshipers of Urgathoa? Are all followers of the WW worshipers of Urgathoa? There seems to be a distinction between the two groups, so what are the differences that separate them?
PCs in my campaign have already foiled a scheme by a cult of Urgathoa. Since then, I've started to develop a thread involving the Whispering Way. Could it make sense to combine these two groups? I fear that the Urgathoa plot will just get dropped otherwise as I don't really see the need for two such similar groups.
Thanks in advance for your answers!
The Whispering Way and the faith of Urgathoa have a LOT of similarities, but they're as often competitors/enemies as they are allies.
Personally, I find it more interesting if the two don't really ally. This gives us a cool faith-based interpretation of an undead group and a cool arcane-based one, so that you can tell different stories.
What you do in your game, of course, is up to you.
Note: this is also backed up in much of what is published on Urgathoa. They may work together on occasion, but they often clash because the Whispering Way seeks to eradicate all life and turn it into undeath, where as many of the Urgathoans are against this as it inhibits many beings from satiating their desires.
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Note: this is also backed up in much of what is published on Urgathoa. They may work together on occasion, but they often clash because the Whispering Way seeks to eradicate all life and turn it into undeath, where as many of the Urgathoans are against this as it inhibits many beings from satiating their desires.
Turns out my advice on how things work in Golarion will match up with what's published more often than not.
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Hi James, can you give us a hint about the scourge of the god claw? Does the god claw rebel against the crown?
how does one obtain a para title in cheliax? I have a character that is a para-lictor in the order of the scourge. I think he would like a chelish noble title. he completed the council of thieves ap.
Note: this is also backed up in much of what is published on Urgathoa. They may work together on occasion, but they often clash because the Whispering Way seeks to eradicate all life and turn it into undeath, where as many of the Urgathoans are against this as it inhibits many beings from satiating their desires.Turns out my advice on how things work in Golarion will match up with what's published more often than not.
What!??!!? They actually let you have a say in what happens in Golarion?!?!?! [/sarcasm]
And thank you for the Iblydos city in Distant Shores and going to the Parched Lands in Strange Aeons. :D
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Hi James, can you give us a hint about the scourge of the god claw? Does the god claw rebel against the crown?
how does one obtain a para title in cheliax? I have a character that is a para-lictor in the order of the scourge. I think he would like a chelish noble title. he completed the council of thieves ap.
I could... but I won't; the order of the God Claw will have a lot more information soon as part of the next year of Cheliax-based Adventure Paths, so more info is coming soon and I don't wanna spoil it quite yet.
Likewise, more information about how you gain titles and how Cheliax's government works are currently being worked on and detailed, particularly for the upcoming Cheliax book and for the Hell's Vengeance adventure path, wherein you actually play agents of Thrune.
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And thank you for the Iblydos city in Distant Shores and going to the Parched Lands in Strange Aeons. :D
It's actually called the Parchlands, and that may well be the first time I've written that down in public, so I suppose you're forgiven for spelling it incorrectly as 2 words like that.
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And thank you for the Iblydos city in Distant Shores and going to the Parched Lands in Strange Aeons. :DIt's actually called the Parchlands, and that may well be the first time I've written that down in public, so I suppose you're forgiven for spelling it incorrectly as 2 words like that.
What's your relationship with autocorrect?
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What's your relationship with autocorrect?And thank you for the Iblydos city in Distant Shores and going to the Parched Lands in Strange Aeons. :DIt's actually called the Parchlands, and that may well be the first time I've written that down in public, so I suppose you're forgiven for spelling it incorrectly as 2 words like that.
It's handy. I approve of it, but only when it suggests. I don't like it to automatically change words I type, since I often type words like Cthulhu or pugwampi that most autocorrect programs don't get.
Hmm.
It got Cthulhu, but did flag pugwampi. Halfway there, I guess!
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James - several comments you made regarding bardic performances and masterpieces continue to be referenced in an ongoing discussion regarding how they interact, with some confusion. It seems obvious that you cannot perform two performances simultaneously without an archetype or some spell assistance. But:
is a persistent benefit/buff/spell effect from a Masterpiece (e.g. Triple Time) which is dependent upon completion of the Masterpiece Performance negated when beginning a standard Bardic Performance (e.g. Inspire Courage)?
Since my comments get referenced like this and seem to cause confusion, rules questions like this need to be asked in a centralized area where the design team can interact with them and where the questions can be tagged with the FAQ button and where everyone can see the answers.
That place is not this thread.
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When are we getting Faiths and Pantheons for Golarion? And can you make Erik stat up all the gods in it? ;)
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When are we getting Faiths and Pantheons for Golarion? And can you make Erik stat up all the gods in it? ;)
Never.
I'm absolutely uninterested and bored by stats for deities. That's the role that demigod stats, like the demon lord stuff I did for Wrath of the Righteous or the Bestiary, come in to play.
Not interested AT ALL in statting up things above demigod level.
Was the Starstone the only meteorite the aboleths brought down? It seems to me there would have had to have been more, and that most of them would have had to have landed on Azlant. Looking at the current rough map of the world, it looks to me like the Starstone would have been an outlier. Absalom seems too far from Azlant (or where Azlant apparently was) for it to have been the direct cause of the destruction and sinking of that land. Or am I missing something?
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Heya James, would like some feedback on some ideas I've been throwing around for my next campaign.
It's about teleport as a common means of travel. I read your post in another thread about teleport and it got me thinking about these ideas again. Any feedback would be welcome.
1) teleporting is limited to particular guilds. In order to use it you have to be registered and trained. It's possible to obtain teleport without this but then you run the risk of severe punishment by governments and guilds.
2) teleport circles in big cities act like teleport magnets. If you try porting into or close to these places, you end up in the teleport circle (I'm thinking large room or arena type place here) . This allows cities to monitor who enters or leaves the place, and makes it difficult for magical invasion. I'm also thinking of making it work for powerful summons too, controlling the level of danger or destruction capable from extra planar beings summoned directly into the city.
3) very long distance travel via teleport or similar means is disrupted by lye lines, or powerful element effects etc. I'm thinking this one works like faster than light travel in some sci if movies. You need a clear path to travel magically to your destination or the spell fails. You can get around this by plotting multiple jumps though.
I don't want the ability to teleport destroyed, I think its essential as an escape tool in many situations. I do however want to get a feeling of a world that's grown with this type of magic. Any thoughts? Other ideas maybe?
Cheers
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When are we getting Faiths and Pantheons for Golarion? And can you make Erik stat up all the gods in it? ;)We already did. It's called Inner Sea Gods.
James, which Golarion naming conventions do you think the name "Amhrad" would come from?
Dunno. It's a silly sounding name to me though. Sounds like "I'm Rad."
BUT, when it comes to naming NPCs, I generally just make something up. There's not a "secret document of naming conventions." The closest thing we have to that is what's printed in Inner Sea World Guide.
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In some nations Gorum is venerated above or at the same level as other gods, but I was wondering if there was a place in the Inner Sea Region of Golarion that would be considered a center of worship in some way, something with a large number of religious figures in one location. They don't necessarily make edicts that the people follow or anything, but they do have a noticeable and powerful presence among the population.
I was thinking Brevoy might be a good start, and so are the River Kingdoms. Belkzen is nice but it's too Orc-centric. Lastwall's devotion is greatly overshadowed by devotion to Iomedae. Numeria and the Mammoth Lords are too scattered I think. Mendev might also be a good place, but again it might suffer from the Lastwall syndrome.
Any ideas or thoughts on the matter?
Belkzen and the Realm of the Mammoth Lords are where he's most commonly worshiped, with Numeria probably being 3rd place.
He's a chaotic neutral god, and as such, highly lawful realms like Mendev are really not his style.
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Heya James, would like some feedback on some ideas I've been throwing around for my next campaign.
It's about teleport as a common means of travel. I read your post in another thread about teleport and it got me thinking about these ideas again. Any feedback would be welcome.
1) teleporting is limited to particular guilds. In order to use it you have to be registered and trained. It's possible to obtain teleport without this but then you run the risk of severe punishment by governments and guilds.
2) teleport circles in big cities act like teleport magnets. If you try porting into or close to these places, you end up in the teleport circle (I'm thinking large room or arena type place here) . This allows cities to monitor who enters or leaves the place, and makes it difficult for magical invasion. I'm also thinking of making it work for powerful summons too, controlling the level of danger or destruction capable from extra planar beings summoned directly into the city.
3) very long distance travel via teleport or similar means is disrupted by lye lines, or powerful element effects etc. I'm thinking this one works like faster than light travel in some sci if movies. You need a clear path to travel magically to your destination or the spell fails. You can get around this by plotting multiple jumps though.
I don't want the ability to teleport destroyed, I think its essential as an escape tool in many situations. I do however want to get a feeling of a world that's grown with this type of magic. Any thoughts? Other ideas maybe?
Cheers
I like option 1 first. Sounds kinda like The Witcher. Sets up some fun dynamics for the game. I like it.
My preference? Just having there not be a lot of high level spellcasters in the world who are interested in being teleport monkeys... but that said, teleportation is really handy in games when you want to just get to the story.
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Was the Starstone the only meteorite the aboleths brought down? It seems to me there would have had to have been more, and that most of them would have had to have landed on Azlant. Looking at the current rough map of the world, it looks to me like the Starstone would have been an outlier. Absalom seems too far from Azlant (or where Azlant apparently was) for it to have been the direct cause of the destruction and sinking of that land. Or am I missing something?
Check out Occult Realms; it has a lot more to say about it. The short version is that the aboleths called down a lot more than one rock. The Starstone was the largest eastern hit... but there were impact events from Avistan all the way to Arcadia.
The starstone itself was on the edge though, and was not an intended part of what the aboleths were up to.
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A HP Lovecraft style horror Anthology written by women from the perspective of female characters is this an idea that you find cool?
Or completely great?
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A HP Lovecraft style horror Anthology written by women from the perspective of female characters is this an idea that you find cool?
Or completely great?
Just bought that earlier today. It looks great!
(Also pledged to an even more deluxe similar book a while back on indigogo as well...)
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Thanks for the input James.
Yeah the idea of magic schools or guilds controlling certain areas of magic adds a bit more politics and potential for building character bonds to the world.
I'm also tossing around some ideas about high level summoning and wishes etc.
I really liked the wish economy article from the legacy of fire campaign. I'm thinking of extrapolating the concept of extra planar races watching for abuse of certain spells.
Summoning or binding genies will involve contracts with that race. Certain creatures getting forcibly summoned and held for long periods will bring guardians to visit and warn groups abusing the magic.
I guess the idea I'm looking at is ways to allow powerful magic to work, but have in game reasons not to have it overtaking the world, or giving unrestricted power to one group.
I know your campaign is likely not to follow that particular tenet, but would you have any ideas or pointers around this concept?
When are we getting Faiths and Pantheons for Golarion? And can you make Erik stat up all the gods in it? ;)Never.
I'm absolutely uninterested and bored by stats for deities. That's the role that demigod stats, like the demon lord stuff I did for Wrath of the Righteous or the Bestiary, come in to play.
Not interested AT ALL in statting up things above demigod level.
Hopefully you know I was joking at Erik's expense.:)
Was the aboleth bombardment a years-long event? Decades? Centuries?
Or was it more like days or hours, for all of those rocks to come down?
Just an interjection: According to 2nd Darkness, they could SEE the bombardment coming for a long time, if that is what you were referring to. And it was supposed to be one big explosion, but a goddess and the moon got in the way, and a god of magic killed himself, and messed things up for them.
I think the Starstone is the remains of the initial, core stone that was supposed to be the Extinction Event, imbued with the power of two gods.
==================
So, JJ, how long did it take you to recover from Gen Con this year? :)
==Aelryinth
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Hopefully you know I was joking at Erik's expense.:)When are we getting Faiths and Pantheons for Golarion? And can you make Erik stat up all the gods in it? ;)Never.
I'm absolutely uninterested and bored by stats for deities. That's the role that demigod stats, like the demon lord stuff I did for Wrath of the Righteous or the Bestiary, come in to play.
Not interested AT ALL in statting up things above demigod level.
I do, but I don't have a lot of patience for these kind of jokes, because the Internet is really good at quoting out of context, missing tongue-in-cheek comments, being blind to sarcasm, and so on. Had I replied any other way, there'd be threads talking about "PAIZO IS MAKING A STAT BOOK FOR GODS!" and I don't have the time to manage that.
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Thanks for the input James.
Yeah the idea of magic schools or guilds controlling certain areas of magic adds a bit more politics and potential for building character bonds to the world.
I'm also tossing around some ideas about high level summoning and wishes etc.
I really liked the wish economy article from the legacy of fire campaign. I'm thinking of extrapolating the concept of extra planar races watching for abuse of certain spells.
Summoning or binding genies will involve contracts with that race. Certain creatures getting forcibly summoned and held for long periods will bring guardians to visit and warn groups abusing the magic.
I guess the idea I'm looking at is ways to allow powerful magic to work, but have in game reasons not to have it overtaking the world, or giving unrestricted power to one group.
I know your campaign is likely not to follow that particular tenet, but would you have any ideas or pointers around this concept?
That sounds an awful lot like world design, which is something I'm paid to do as my day job, and as such I need to focus those energies on the stuff I"m paid to do, not design alternate worlds.
AKA: That's not a question I can answer without writing a book; sorry. It's a good question to take to the homebrew section of the boards for advice and brainstorm help though!
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So, JJ, how long did it take you to recover from Gen Con this year? :)==Aelryinth
I didn't get hit with the Con Crud at all, likely because I was in bed each day of the con by about 8:00 if I could, and because I was popping zinc/vitamin C lozenges all week long.
Mentally and work-flow related, I'm sill not recovered from Gen Con. I still have a gnawing sense of oncoming doom in the pit of my stomach that feels a little bit like the dread building up to Gen Con... which is probably my dread at the next one already manifesting. That said, chances are very good that I won't have to go to the next one... which is a relief that my mind hasn't yet accepted as truth. Hope so though, since each Gen Con tends to build up in my mind rather than dissipating, like mercury in a salmon...
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James, imagine a setting where a nation of elves was conquered and their lands devastated, their brightest and best executed or sold to slavery by a neighbouring warmongering human nation; what do you picture those elves doing after the conquest?
See Dragon Age. That's kinda what happened there.
Alternately, check out the Witcher games, particularly Witcher 3 for a possible solution.
AKA: I picture the elves getting pretty justifiably angry and outraged. And I"d like to run a game in that setting where all the players are elves and the slaver humans are the main bad guys.
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When are we getting Faiths and Pantheons for Golarion? And can you make Erik stat up all the gods in it? ;)We already did. It's called Inner Sea Gods.
James, which Golarion naming conventions do you think the name "Amhrad" would come from?
Dunno. It's a silly sounding name to me though. Sounds like "I'm Rad."
BUT, when it comes to naming NPCs, I generally just make something up. There's not a "secret document of naming conventions." The closest thing we have to that is what's printed in Inner Sea World Guide.
I see. Does it at least sound better than Athaloric?
Another question for your elfxpertise: where would the largest elven populations be outside Kyonin, the Mierani Forest, the Mordant Spire, The Mwangi Expanse and the shogunate of Jinin?
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James, imagine a setting where a nation of elves was conquered and their lands devastated, their brightest and best executed or sold to slavery by a neighbouring warmongering human nation; what do you picture those elves doing after the conquest?See Dragon Age. That's kinda what happened there.
Alternately, check out the Witcher games, particularly Witcher 3 for a possible solution.
AKA: I picture the elves getting pretty justifiably angry and outraged. And I"d like to run a game in that setting where all the players are elves and the slaver humans are the main bad guys.
There was a table top combat game out in the early 90s called Chronopia. In that setting the reverse was true. Humans were enslaved by elves, dwarves and black bloods (Ork, goblin and ogre kingdoms).
If you can find copies of those books, read through the history sections. How all of that panned out was both epic and brutal. A really cool setting for single race parties. It also gives some great ideas for what you're after.
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James what are the goals of the church of Asmodeus? Does the Inquisition have goals that are separate and above the goals of the rank and file of the clergy? Does Asmodeus have the Inquisition do special missions that he does not share with the rest of the church? Are Asmodian Inquisitors more out ward looking or inward looking?
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When are we getting Faiths and Pantheons for Golarion? And can you make Erik stat up all the gods in it? ;)We already did. It's called Inner Sea Gods.
James, which Golarion naming conventions do you think the name "Amhrad" would come from?
Dunno. It's a silly sounding name to me though. Sounds like "I'm Rad."
BUT, when it comes to naming NPCs, I generally just make something up. There's not a "secret document of naming conventions." The closest thing we have to that is what's printed in Inner Sea World Guide.
I see. Does it at least sound better than Athaloric?
Another question for your elfxpertise: where would the largest elven populations be outside Kyonin, the Mierani Forest, the Mordant Spire, The Mwangi Expanse and the shogunate of Jinin?
I like Athaloric better.
Ummmm... probably somewhere in the Crown of the World, the Arcadian Ocean, or Sekamina.
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James what are the goals of the church of Asmodeus? Does the Inquisition have goals that are separate and above the goals of the rank and file of the clergy? Does Asmodeus have the Inquisition do special missions that he does not share with the rest of the church? Are Asmodian Inquisitors more out ward looking or inward looking?
To serve Asmodeus is the church's goals. He doesn't share exact details of HIS goals with the church. The basic goals are to spread the faith and to encourage corruption so that Hell gains more souls, though. His inquisitors are kind of the police force of the church, more or less, but also sort of the "internal affairs" fore as well. They do secret missions, yes, but don't really favor "outward" over "inward" looking.
do the tian xia gods have any major following in the inner sea region if so where?
do the tian xia gods have any major following in the inner sea region if so where?We list the core 20 Tian Xia deities in Dragon Empires, and about a third of them do indeed have a major following in the Inner Sea. Deities like Desna and Abadar and Irori and several others.
well truthfully I meant ones like General Susumu Kofusachi and Shizuru for examples sorry for not being clear.
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well truthfully I meant ones like General Susumu Kofusachi and Shizuru for examples sorry for not being clear.do the tian xia gods have any major following in the inner sea region if so where?We list the core 20 Tian Xia deities in Dragon Empires, and about a third of them do indeed have a major following in the Inner Sea. Deities like Desna and Abadar and Irori and several others.
Ah. nope; those don't have major followings in the Inner Sea region.
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When are we getting Faiths and Pantheons for Golarion? And can you make Erik stat up all the gods in it? ;)We already did. It's called Inner Sea Gods.
James, which Golarion naming conventions do you think the name "Amhrad" would come from?
Dunno. It's a silly sounding name to me though. Sounds like "I'm Rad."
BUT, when it comes to naming NPCs, I generally just make something up. There's not a "secret document of naming conventions." The closest thing we have to that is what's printed in Inner Sea World Guide.
I see. Does it at least sound better than Athaloric?
Another question for your elfxpertise: where would the largest elven populations be outside Kyonin, the Mierani Forest, the Mordant Spire, The Mwangi Expanse and the shogunate of Jinin?
I like Athaloric better.
Ummmm... probably somewhere in the Crown of the World, the Arcadian Ocean, or Sekamina.
Okay, thanks!
Speaking of Sekamina, are there other major drow settlements besides Zirnakaynen or is it sort of like THE drow city, where virtually Golarion's entire drow population calls it home?
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Speaking of Sekamina, are there other major drow settlements besides Zirnakaynen or is it sort of like THE drow city, where virtually Golarion's entire drow population calls it home?
There are a LOT of major drow settlements. Zirnakaynen is the largest, but hardly the only one. We go into pretty great detail about them in Into the Darklands.
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And all the elves are about 3 feet tall and ride wolves?James, imagine a setting where a nation of elves was conquered and their lands devastated, their brightest and best executed or sold to slavery by a neighbouring warmongering human nation; what do you picture those elves doing after the conquest?See Dragon Age. That's kinda what happened there.
Alternately, check out the Witcher games, particularly Witcher 3 for a possible solution.
AKA: I picture the elves getting pretty justifiably angry and outraged. And I"d like to run a game in that setting where all the players are elves and the slaver humans are the main bad guys.
Yup!
James, do you have any history with ElfQuest?
Ever read the comics/ graphic novels? Ever play the roleplaying game? Ever hang out in Poughkeepsie, NY?