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Paizo Employee Creative Director

Hjolmaer wrote:

So I've looked around the forums a bit along with another player in the game I'm playing in, and the question has come up yet again about the Mythic Vital Strike tree. To keep this simple: in the rules, does the phrase "weapon damage dice" mean:

2d4 = 2 dice or

2d4 = 1 "set" of dice?

In short, with greater mythic vital strike and a scythe, are you multiplying everything by 4 or 8?

Pick what you want. I'd go with the lower multiple, personally, but if you're really into Mythic = superhero, then go with the higher.

If you want an "official answer" you'll need to ask in the mythic rules thread so the design team might notice.


I'm really liking what I've seen of Bestiary 5 so far. The art in particular continues to floor me. With that said, here are some mostly unrelated questions.

1) Would you say aether elementals are less common than the other "main" elementals in their respective planes, or about the same? As far as I can recall they haven't been mentioned as common denizens of the ethereal plane before, whereas by all accounts fire elementals are everywhere in the plane of fire.

2) Are there procedures that exist for a mortal turning themselves into a devil, similar to the demon transformation rituals from book of the damned 2? Or is the devilbound creature template and other contract-granted stuff the local equivalent of that? What about for the celestial races, can someone become a half-celestial with enough devotion? And I imagine daemons wouldn't be very interested in granting that sort of thing.

3) What does negative energy damage look like (in the context of inflict spells, that new void kineticist, etc.)? Does it leave visible wounds or is it more of just a "draining the life force" thing?

4) Why is the Vilderavn so cool?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Alset wrote:

I'm really liking what I've seen of Bestiary 5 so far. The art in particular continues to floor me. With that said, here are some mostly unrelated questions.

1) Would you say aether elementals are less common than the other "main" elementals in their respective planes, or about the same? As far as I can recall they haven't been mentioned as common denizens of the ethereal plane before, whereas by all accounts fire elementals are everywhere in the plane of fire.

2) Are there procedures that exist for a mortal turning themselves into a devil, similar to the demon transformation rituals from book of the damned 2? Or is the devilbound creature template and other contract-granted stuff the local equivalent of that? What about for the celestial races, can someone become a half-celestial with enough devotion? And I imagine daemons wouldn't be very interested in granting that sort of thing.

3) What does negative energy damage look like (in the context of inflict spells, that new void kineticist, etc.)? Does it leave visible wounds or is it more of just a "draining the life force" thing?

4) Why is the Vilderavn so cool?

1) Yes. They're much less common. Which is part of the reason why you've never seen them even mentioned in Golarion products yet.

2) I suspect there are proceedures. The devilbound template may be one of them. There may be others for other races as well. Anything's possible!

3) I've always envisioned it as black electrified fire that ripples like water when it burns.

4) Cause.


How do oracle curses interact with prosthetics? There are several oracle curses that take the form of unhealable damage/deformities, such as burnt hands, clouded eyes, injured legs, etc. There are also now three systems for removing and replacing body parts: cybernetics, demonic implants, and the new undead grafts from Black Markets. What happens if a cursed body part is simply removed and replaced?

Do the cybernetics malfunction and grafts deform, or can you beat the curse this way? If you can beat it, do you also lose the side benefits from the curse? Or do you get hit with a different curse instead?


Do chocolate covered pretzels exist in Golarion? Is so, where?

If not, what place would you say is the most likely to develop such a treat? I've got a gnome bard that uses prestidigitation to make anything that tastes 'unpleasant' (such as conjured food or trail rations) taste like chocolate covered pretzels. I'd like to spin a little tale about how he came across them, but I'm not sure "where" exactly such a thing might originate.


James Jacobs wrote:
T.A.U. wrote:

a) Being them all divine minions of Pharasma, is there some kind of connection between Anubis and the Psychopomp Ushers?

b) Is there any chance of having few more details about the ushers? Particularly their own granted Domains?

a) In my headcanon which didn't QUITE get into print, Anubis is one of Pharasma's most powerful servitors, and is thus IS one of the Psychopomp Ushers. Up to you what you want to do with that info in your game.

b) Maybe some day, if we have the right product to do so.

Thank you for your answers!

About Anubis I was thinking he have been the most powerful of the Psychopomp Ushers, and has risen from their ranks to fully godhood (like Sarenrae was an Empyreal Lord, Lamashtu was a Demon Lord, and so on...)

Paizo Employee Creative Director

JaC381 wrote:

How do oracle curses interact with prosthetics? There are several oracle curses that take the form of unhealable damage/deformities, such as burnt hands, clouded eyes, injured legs, etc. There are also now three systems for removing and replacing body parts: cybernetics, demonic implants, and the new undead grafts from Black Markets. What happens if a cursed body part is simply removed and replaced?

Do the cybernetics malfunction and grafts deform, or can you beat the curse this way? If you can beat it, do you also lose the side benefits from the curse? Or do you get hit with a different curse instead?

Curses are supernatural, and they should be able to adjust and adapt to prosthetics. An oracle's curse isn't MEANT to be something that a character actively seeks to "cure" and I'd almost say that an oracle who does so might find that without her curse (or with her curse bypassed) she might just find that her curse is so linked to her mystery and spellcasting power that as long as her curse is no longer a curse... she loses her other class abilities too. Like a paladin going evil or a cleric who abandons her deity.

If a body part is removed and replaced, the new part is cursed too.

Cybernetics and grafts go the same way; the curse affects them as well.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Tels wrote:

Do chocolate covered pretzels exist in Golarion? Is so, where?

If not, what place would you say is the most likely to develop such a treat? I've got a gnome bard that uses prestidigitation to make anything that tastes 'unpleasant' (such as conjured food or trail rations) taste like chocolate covered pretzels. I'd like to spin a little tale about how he came across them, but I'm not sure "where" exactly such a thing might originate.

They don't exist, but as with all weird and "exotic" things like this, Absalom is probably the best place for something like this to develop, with Katapesh being a close second.


1. If you lived in Golarion, which deity do you think you would be most likely to worship and why?
2. What is your favorite type of pie and where would it be most likely found in Golarion?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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cannen144 wrote:

1. If you lived in Golarion, which deity do you think you would be most likely to worship and why?

2. What is your favorite type of pie and where would it be most likely found in Golarion?

1) Desna, because she's awesome and stands for a lot of stuff that I happen to agree with. Sarenrae would be a close second, though.

2) Pumpkin pie. It's found wherever Varisians are found, so Varisia and Ustalav for the most part. Why Varisians? 'Cause they're my favorites and thus would have the best taste in pie.


Silly question, do people dig up and burn coal in Golarion? Is mining in general influenced by the issue that if you go too deep you can break into a hostile underground world?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

David Neilson wrote:
Silly question, do people dig up and burn coal in Golarion? Is mining in general influenced by the issue that if you go too deep you can break into a hostile underground world?

Yup; coal is used as a fuel in Golarion.

Mining is also influenced by the fact that you can break into the Darklands, but the lure of money is usually enough to take the risk.

Silver Crusade

Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

I know there's never going to be a timeline advancement (which I agree with) but dang these people are getting mighty close to steam power if they burn coal.

If the Varisians are your favorite, (and thus get pumpkin pie) who gets your least favorite pie?

Silver Crusade

Alayern wrote:
I know there's never going to be a timeline advancement (which I agree with) but dang these people are getting mighty close to steam power if they burn coal.

You know, I've actually been working on a homebrew of Golarion with an advanced timeline :-P though figuring out how magic would affect things like steam (decanter of endless water + permanent heat metal could render coal entirely obsolete) has been difficult.

Do you have anything to weigh in with on this subject, James?


As the resident dinosaur expert, what material would you recommend as resources for a dinosaur filled jungle adventure? Running a Spelljammer game converted to Pathfinder and the players decided to land for repairs on, basically, "Jurrassic Park: The Planet".

Radiant Oath

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber

Deekin Scalesinger: annoying or adorable?


James Jacobs wrote:
Tels wrote:

Do chocolate covered pretzels exist in Golarion? Is so, where?

If not, what place would you say is the most likely to develop such a treat? I've got a gnome bard that uses prestidigitation to make anything that tastes 'unpleasant' (such as conjured food or trail rations) taste like chocolate covered pretzels. I'd like to spin a little tale about how he came across them, but I'm not sure "where" exactly such a thing might originate.

They don't exist, but as with all weird and "exotic" things like this, Absalom is probably the best place for something like this to develop, with Katapesh being a close second.

A helpful poster sent me a PM telling me chocolate covered pretzels originated in Germany nearly 500 years ago. What do you think the most "German" country is in Golarion?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Alayern wrote:
If the Varisians are your favorite, (and thus get pumpkin pie) who gets your least favorite pie?

Taldans.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Phylotus wrote:
Alayern wrote:
I know there's never going to be a timeline advancement (which I agree with) but dang these people are getting mighty close to steam power if they burn coal.

You know, I've actually been working on a homebrew of Golarion with an advanced timeline :-P though figuring out how magic would affect things like steam (decanter of endless water + permanent heat metal could render coal entirely obsolete) has been difficult.

Do you have anything to weigh in with on this subject, James?

Nope. Being Creative Director means when I weigh in on some subjects, folks can take my words with more weight than I intended.

Steampunk is cool, but it's not Golarion.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Tels wrote:
As the resident dinosaur expert, what material would you recommend as resources for a dinosaur filled jungle adventure? Running a Spelljammer game converted to Pathfinder and the players decided to land for repairs on, basically, "Jurrassic Park: The Planet".

The dinosaur sections for our Bestiaries, for starters. Augmented by things like Mokele-Mbembe from Serpent's Skull. And a book like Heart of the Jungle... or perhaps the older Isle of Dread adventure, either the original or the remakes we did in Dungeon Magazine.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Archpaladin Zousha wrote:
Deekin Scalesinger: annoying or adorable?

Heh... haven't thought about Deekin in many years. He was fun. But did indeed skirt the annoying line at times.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Tels wrote:
A helpful poster sent me a PM telling me chocolate covered pretzels originated in Germany nearly 500 years ago. What do you think the most "German" country is in Golarion?

There really isn't one that immediately comes to mind, but a lot of the nations and regions surrounding Lake Encarthan come close in some ways.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
James Jacobs wrote:
Steampunk is cool, but it's not Golarion.

Given all of the other tropes scattered accross the Inner Sea, why not?


Pathfinder LO Special Edition, Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, PF Special Edition Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Superscriber

What is the shard of Anubis, and why are people trying to take it away from Jenny?

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
James Jacobs wrote:
David Neilson wrote:
Silly question, do people dig up and burn coal in Golarion? Is mining in general influenced by the issue that if you go too deep you can break into a hostile underground world?

Yup; coal is used as a fuel in Golarion.

Mining is also influenced by the fact that you can break into the Darklands, but the lure of money is usually enough to take the risk.

If it's something that people dig up on the surface, wouldn't it be peat, the precursor to coal?


Hi James!

One of my players is going to create an Urban Druid (See Dragon Magazine #317, March 2004; or Dragon Compendium V1.)for play in our game set in Varisia.

Is there anything about the Urban Druid you'd add or change? Has anyone ever used one in your games?

Thanks for all the gaming goodness you have (and continue to) created.

:)


Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Got my PDF of Bestiary 5 yesterday, was wondering if the astomoi and orang-pendak are likely from Casmaron/Vudra on Golarion? Astomoi, given their origins, seem likely candidates for being from Vudra in particular, given the Greeks and Romans believed them to be a people that lived in India, and orang-pendak are not only Indonesian cryptozoology, but have listed as bonus languages vanara and vishkanya, both of which I believe you've said are likely candidates for living in Vudra (given their mythological origins).

Also, do you view them as being populous enough in Vudra to be considered a core race? Astomoi, humans, orang-pendaks, vanara, vishkanya...maybe samsarans? And perhaps an unrevealed race or two? Though it might still be up in the air, just pondering...


Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Lost Omens Subscriber
James Jacobs wrote:
Phylotus wrote:
Alayern wrote:
I know there's never going to be a timeline advancement (which I agree with) but dang these people are getting mighty close to steam power if they burn coal.

You know, I've actually been working on a homebrew of Golarion with an advanced timeline :-P though figuring out how magic would affect things like steam (decanter of endless water + permanent heat metal could render coal entirely obsolete) has been difficult.

Do you have anything to weigh in with on this subject, James?

Nope. Being Creative Director means when I weigh in on some subjects, folks can take my words with more weight than I intended.

Steampunk is cool, but it's not Golarion.

The amateur historian in me feels compelled to point out that humans mined coal thousands of years before the invention of steam power. Coal is useful as a compact fuel source. We just started mining a lot more of it when we started making trains.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Darrell Impey UK wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Steampunk is cool, but it's not Golarion.
Given all of the other tropes scattered accross the Inner Sea, why not?

Because not everything is appropriate for Golarion. There's a LOT in there, but not everything. What IS in there is built to interact, and one of the big draws for steampunk (to me at least) is that there are things like airships and trains, and those don't work well if they're stuck in only one area; they work best if they're all over the setting providing links and connections between distant points.

One of Golarion's design philosophies is that the more unusual an area is, the more "quarantined" it can be. The Mana Wastes and Numeria, for example, don't impact the rest of the region much, so if you don't like those elements in your fantasy, it's easy to ignore them. That's not something we'd be able to do with steampunk that incorporates long range travel, which it should.

But also, you can define something by what it isn't as much as what it is. Golarion not having a steampunk region is part of its definition.

And finally... when we built the setting, we had nearly 50 regions to play with, but that's MUCH less than "Everythign possible." When we chose what those region themes were, some got left out. Steampunk is one, but not all those that are left out are that outlandish. We also don't really have a solid Celtic themed area, for example, or an Arthurian Knight region, or ancient Greece or Mesoamerica. Some of those ARE in the world, but not in the Inner Sea Region and not yet well detailed.

AKA: Some day we might figure out where and how to fit in Steampunk (and celtic stuff and King Arthur stuff and so on), but not anytime soon, and not in the focus area of the Inner Sea Region.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Ed Reppert wrote:
What is the shard of Anubis, and why are people trying to take it away from Jenny?

Good question.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

LazarX wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
David Neilson wrote:
Silly question, do people dig up and burn coal in Golarion? Is mining in general influenced by the issue that if you go too deep you can break into a hostile underground world?

Yup; coal is used as a fuel in Golarion.

Mining is also influenced by the fact that you can break into the Darklands, but the lure of money is usually enough to take the risk.

If it's something that people dig up on the surface, wouldn't it be peat, the precursor to coal?

Nope. It's coal. There's also peat burning too, though.

Whenever folks ask questions like this, my first reaction is to go to Wikipedia and research the topic. For coal, it looks like we humans have been burning coal for THOUSANDS of years. Just burnign coal does not mean steam engines are "just around the corner."

But yeah... my general take is that if we humans have had something several thousand years, it sure as hell is a thing on Golarion.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

LurkingEye wrote:

Hi James!

One of my players is going to create an Urban Druid (See Dragon Magazine #317, March 2004; or Dragon Compendium V1.)for play in our game set in Varisia.

Is there anything about the Urban Druid you'd add or change? Has anyone ever used one in your games?

Thanks for all the gaming goodness you have (and continue to) created.

:)

whew... Been over a decade since I've had my head in the urban druid space, and I don't really remember all the things that it does. I doubt I'd do much change to it if I were to translate it to Pathfinder though, other than to sync it up better with how druids work today in the game as opposed to how they did in 3.5.

No one's ever used one in a game I've played or ran.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
James Jacobs wrote:
LazarX wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
David Neilson wrote:
Silly question, do people dig up and burn coal in Golarion? Is mining in general influenced by the issue that if you go too deep you can break into a hostile underground world?

Yup; coal is used as a fuel in Golarion.

Mining is also influenced by the fact that you can break into the Darklands, but the lure of money is usually enough to take the risk.

If it's something that people dig up on the surface, wouldn't it be peat, the precursor to coal?

Nope. It's coal. There's also peat burning too, though.

Whenever folks ask questions like this, my first reaction is to go to Wikipedia and research the topic. For coal, it looks like we humans have been burning coal for THOUSANDS of years. Just burnign coal does not mean steam engines are "just around the corner."

But yeah... my general take is that if we humans have had something several thousand years, it sure as hell is a thing on Golarion.

And it's also worth noting that the first steam engine was built by Hero in the time of the Ancient Greeks, but it was ridiculed as being good for nothing more than a toy that could do nothing that slaves couldn't do better and cheaper. Progress can be easily sidelined by cultural bias... or historical upheavals that bring down a culture before it's inventions can spread or progress.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Luthorne wrote:

Got my PDF of Bestiary 5 yesterday, was wondering if the astomoi and orang-pendak are likely from Casmaron/Vudra on Golarion? Astomoi, given their origins, seem likely candidates for being from Vudra in particular, given the Greeks and Romans believed them to be a people that lived in India, and orang-pendak are not only Indonesian cryptozoology, but have listed as bonus languages vanara and vishkanya, both of which I believe you've said are likely candidates for living in Vudra (given their mythological origins).

Also, do you view them as being populous enough in Vudra to be considered a core race? Astomoi, humans, orang-pendaks, vanara, vishkanya...maybe samsarans? And perhaps an unrevealed race or two? Though it might still be up in the air, just pondering...

The astomoi hasn't yet been placed in Golarion, and it might not be a part of it at all.

Orang-pendaks are most likely from Arcadia, or perhaps from Minata (if so, they're not a big part of that region). They're not Casmaron things.

Neither is populous enough to be a core race in Casmaron. Orang-pendaks MIGHT be a core race for Arcadia, but we'll see.

Right now, if I had to pick core races for Casmaron, they'd be human, genie-kin, viskhanya, vanara, and considering that genie-kin covers 5 variants... that might well be enough.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

deinol wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Phylotus wrote:
Alayern wrote:
I know there's never going to be a timeline advancement (which I agree with) but dang these people are getting mighty close to steam power if they burn coal.

You know, I've actually been working on a homebrew of Golarion with an advanced timeline :-P though figuring out how magic would affect things like steam (decanter of endless water + permanent heat metal could render coal entirely obsolete) has been difficult.

Do you have anything to weigh in with on this subject, James?

Nope. Being Creative Director means when I weigh in on some subjects, folks can take my words with more weight than I intended.

Steampunk is cool, but it's not Golarion.

The amateur historian in me feels compelled to point out that humans mined coal thousands of years before the invention of steam power. Coal is useful as a compact fuel source. We just started mining a lot more of it when we started making trains.

Which is pretty much why I said, "Yes, folks burn coal in Golarion."

Paizo Employee Creative Director

LazarX wrote:
And it's also worth noting that the first steam engine was built by Hero in the time of the Ancient Greeks, but it was ridiculed as being good for nothing more than a toy that could do nothing that slaves couldn't do better and cheaper. Progress can be easily sidelined by cultural bias... or historical upheavals that bring down a culture before it's inventions can spread or progress.

Furthermore, if your world has magic, there's a lot less reason to push technological advances. The presence of magic in a fantasy setting pretty much gives game designers and world designers carte blanche to do what they want. As long as it's internally consistent. And since Golarion's been around for a decade or so now, suddenly having steam engines and steampunk elements pop up would not be internally consistent.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

On a related segway, how many more genres are you planning to put into Golarion, region-limited, or not?

It seems sometimes that Golarion is turning into a version of "The Starlost"'s EarthShip Ark.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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LazarX wrote:

On a related segway, how many more genres are you planning to put into Golarion, region-limited, or not?

It seems sometimes that Golarion is turning into a version of "The Starlost"'s EarthShip Ark.

We don't have a target number. As we expand the setting, we expand it more organically than that. There's been a LOT of call on these boards for us to spread out all over, but in truth, we've been pretty hesitant and deliberate and slow to do that in print. Distant Shores is the first significant step in that direction, and we here at Paizo are eager to see how, on the long term, folks react to this type of expansion.

Silver Crusade Contributor

I like what you've been doing with the non-Inner Sea parts of Golarion. I'd like a slightly faster pace, but only a little. For example, we haven't seen a Dragon Empires-focused book since Jade Regent - we're overdue, in my opinion.

But... questions!

1) Would you do another demon-related AP right away (if you thought it wouldn't hurt sales or something)?

2) After demons and Lovecraftian horrors, what would you say is your favorite theme to build adventures around?

Thank you! ^_^

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Kalindlara wrote:

I like what you've been doing with the non-Inner Sea parts of Golarion. I'd like a slightly faster pace, but only a little. For example, we haven't seen a Dragon Empires-focused book since Jade Regent - we're overdue, in my opinion.

But... questions!

1) Would you do another demon-related AP right away (if you thought it wouldn't hurt sales or something)?

2) After demons and Lovecraftian horrors, what would you say is your favorite theme to build adventures around?

Thank you! ^_^

The lack of a Dragon Empire focused book has nothing to do with the speed of our releases, and a lot more to do with the unfortuante fact that sales of Dragon Empire related stuff aren't where they should be to encourage us to do another book that focuses only on Tian Xia. We've dipped toes here and there to do some things with Dragon Empires, but I wouldn't expect us to do another full book devoted to solely Dragon Empires (be it a sourcebook or adventure or whatever) anytime soon.

1) Probably not, but not due to sales. Sales of Adventure Paths are pretty solid, regardless of the theme. It's more a case of my own interest in demons—I quite enjoy them, but Wrath of the Righteous was like drinking from the firehose. I'm not thirsty for a while.

2) Memorable NPCs.

Sovereign Court

James,

Is the mesmerist a viable class to cross over into Razmiran Priest?


Here's one for ya James...

In your opinion, what's a Paladin?

Lemme clarify a bit...

In the golden days of yore Paladins were... Special... They weren't just a class they were chosen. I remember rolling 3d6 and getting that 17 in Charisma and feeling like I had won the lottery.

For me a Paladin is a shining beacon of hope that embodies the image of the White Knight. They are rare and are often met with hushed tones and a bit of reverence.

A lot of people treat Paladins as "just a class" and I was just wondering what is Golarion, and your, opinion on them.

Also:

Any hope for a Paladin sourcebook anytime soon? In the vein of the old: "Complete (insert here)'s Handbook"


Thanks James, I appreciate the quick reply. syncing it up to Pathfinder has already begun...

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Darius Darrenbar wrote:

James,

Is the mesmerist a viable class to cross over into Razmiran Priest?

Could be.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

HWalsh wrote:

Here's one for ya James...

In your opinion, what's a Paladin?

Lemme clarify a bit...

In the golden days of yore Paladins were... Special... They weren't just a class they were chosen. I remember rolling 3d6 and getting that 17 in Charisma and feeling like I had won the lottery.

For me a Paladin is a shining beacon of hope that embodies the image of the White Knight. They are rare and are often met with hushed tones and a bit of reverence.

A lot of people treat Paladins as "just a class" and I was just wondering what is Golarion, and your, opinion on them.

Also:

Any hope for a Paladin sourcebook anytime soon? In the vein of the old: "Complete (insert here)'s Handbook"

Paladins are still special. They have the most restrictions of any class in the game, and are among the most difficult to play or to incorporate into a party without causing disruption or party strife—more difficult, in my experience, than incorporating an evil PC.

We have no plans on doing a "Complete Class Sourcebook." Not only does this more or less sell to only a fraction of the audience (compared to something that offers material for multiple classes), if we start a "Complete Class Sourcebook" treadmill, with there being so many classses in the game, it'd be YEARS before we did them all. And that brings up two problems.

1) The last book in such a series will always be better than the first book, because by the time we get to the 30th or 40th or whatever in such a series, we will have learned a lot about what does and doesn't make a book like this work. As a result, the earlier books will feel less good and lacking compared to the later ones where we were able to incorporate all matter of refinements. Which weirdly means that the more popular classes would end up getting the worst books, since starting a line like this with the more popular classes would more or less be a no-brainer.

2) No matter WHAT order we'd publish these books in, it would be YEARS before we covered all the classes, and that means that some folks out there would have to wait YEARS to get anything to play with.

Doing books like Advanced Player's Guide, Advanced Class Guide, and all of the monthly offerings in the Player Companion line is a much better way to get info out there for folks, since it doesn't favor one class over another and gives everyone a reason to enjoy a book.


James Jacobs wrote:
HWalsh wrote:

Here's one for ya James...

In your opinion, what's a Paladin?

Lemme clarify a bit...

In the golden days of yore Paladins were... Special... They weren't just a class they were chosen. I remember rolling 3d6 and getting that 17 in Charisma and feeling like I had won the lottery.

For me a Paladin is a shining beacon of hope that embodies the image of the White Knight. They are rare and are often met with hushed tones and a bit of reverence.

A lot of people treat Paladins as "just a class" and I was just wondering what is Golarion, and your, opinion on them.

Also:

Any hope for a Paladin sourcebook anytime soon? In the vein of the old: "Complete (insert here)'s Handbook"

Paladins are still special. They have the most restrictions of any class in the game, and are among the most difficult to play or to incorporate into a party without causing disruption or party strife—more difficult, in my experience, than incorporating an evil PC.

We have no plans on doing a "Complete Class Sourcebook." Not only does this more or less sell to only a fraction of the audience (compared to something that offers material for multiple classes), if we start a "Complete Class Sourcebook" treadmill, with there being so many classses in the game, it'd be YEARS before we did them all. And that brings up two problems.

1) The last book in such a series will always be better than the first book, because by the time we get to the 30th or 40th or whatever in such a series, we will have learned a lot about what does and doesn't make a book like this work. As a result, the earlier books will feel less good and lacking compared to the later ones where we were able to incorporate all matter of refinements. Which weirdly means that the more popular classes would end up getting the worst books, since starting a line like this with the more popular classes would more or less be a no-brainer.

2) No matter WHAT order we'd publish these books in, it would be YEARS before we covered all the...

What about a line of books for character archetypes, like the Complete Scoundrel was? It wouldn't be aimed at any one class in particular, but for types of character personalities. Kind of like what you guys have done with the Dirty Tactics Toolbox, or even the Ultimate Intrigue book. I mean, obviously those books heavily favor certain types of characters, but any class can draw from them.


Different question this time. When calculating the treasure of a monster with class levels, do you calculate the treasure based off their monster treasure rating, using their total CR (such as a Minotaur Barbarian 5 would be CR 9, awarding 4,250 gp in a Medium XP game), or should you add their racial HD to their effective class level for NPC wealth by level, or should you mix the two, calculating the racial HD treasure separately from the NPC wealth?


Tels wrote:
What about a line of books for character archetypes, like the Complete Scoundrel was? It wouldn't be aimed at any one class in particular, but for types of character personalities. Kind of like what you guys have done with the Dirty Tactics Toolbox, or even the Ultimate Intrigue book. I mean, obviously those books heavily favor certain types of characters, but any class can draw from them.

Yeah, I guess this works better and I want to second it...

Ultimate Intrigue is obviously aimed at Rogues and the like.

Dirty Tactics is as well.

Maybe Ultimate Valor?

Honorable Tactics?

Sovereign Court

James,

What, in your opinion, would be the most compatible mythic path for a Medium?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Tels wrote:
What about a line of books for character archetypes, like the Complete Scoundrel was? It wouldn't be aimed at any one class in particular, but for types of character personalities. Kind of like what you guys have done with the Dirty Tactics Toolbox, or even the Ultimate Intrigue book. I mean, obviously those books heavily favor certain types of characters, but any class can draw from them.

I feel like we're already doing this with the Player Companion line. Sure, one companion is only 32 pages long... but at 12 a year, that's a LOT of new content.

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