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Paizo Employee Creative Director

Kyonko wrote:
What your core inspiration for characters, campaigns, RP styles?

Pulp era writing by authors like H. P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, Fritz Leiber, and the like combined with Greyhawk and Game of Thrones.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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SCKnightHero1 wrote:
Why did you want Hell's Vengeance to focus on defeating the Glorious Reclamation instead of assisting them? Wouldn't this make Cheliax a better place or do you have something in store for House Thrune later on?

Because we wanted Hell's Vengeance to be a game where the PCs play bad guys, and thus fight against paladins and angels and the like. We did NOT want to throw the PCs against an established good-guy group, because we want the PCs in Hell's Vengeance to win, and that means that the good guy group they fight in the campaign needs to be "disposable" in a way something like the Eagle Knights are not.

And yes, if the PCs of Hell's Vengeance fail and the Glorious Reclamation wins, they DO make Cheliax a better place... for GOOD guys. They don't make it a better place for Thrune or worshipers of Asmodeus. And they'd fundamentally alter the nature of the entire nation of Cheliax, which isn't something we are ready to do.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Kyonko wrote:
Viewer discretion is advised. Please know what you're getting into with this anime before it shows up.

That's good advice for ANY anime, in my opinion.


Kyonko wrote:

Disclaimer about Sword Art Online... oh boy...

Written during the era of Everquest, this series was an attempt to predict how MMOs may to be played with less social players in mind (to put that backstory in a too long; didn't read).

The series contains content pertaining to death, rape, AIDS, torture, tentacles that bully a lolita character, and dialogue that repeats itself endlessly.

Viewer discretion is advised. Please know what you're getting into with this anime before it shows up.

Really? People can recommend something if they want to, a disclaimer isn't necessary.

Sword Art Online is a story about 10,000 users of a VR technology that has imprisoned them in the game world of Sword Art Online. The creator of the technology, and the game, is behind the imprisonment (all revealed in the first episode) and tells the players that if their character dies, or the NervGear (the VR system) is tampered with, then the NervGear will use microwaves to fry the wearers brain, killing them.

The only way for those trapped inside the game to escape, is to clear all 100 levels of the floating castle Aincrad. There is no magic system in the game (beyond consumables like hp potions, poison removal etc), and no revival items so every battle is potentially a death battle. The story revolves around the protagonist Kirito (real name Kirigaya Kazuto) who is 14 years old at the start of the series. Despite being set in a fantasy MMORPG, it focuses a lot more on character interactions than action scenes.

Radiant Oath

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

What do you do if you've got something you wanna post as a thread but can't figure out a snappy title to attract people to it?

RPG Superstar 2012 Top 16

Second Sword Art online. The light novels are more graphic then the anime, however, which concentrates much more on youthful love stories/harem side of the novels, then the harshness of a bloodless video game world where death is still final.

At its heart, SAO is a survival story. You take normal people, thrust them into an environment where constant battle is the only way to prosper truly, sit back and watch what happens.

Some people keep their morality, some do not. thematically, it's like playing a never-ending AP with 100 Chapters and no resurrection magic or spellcasters. While 'you can't log out of the game' certainly isn't unique, there's both good and bad moments in the anime.

I give it two thumbs up, and you should put the episodes in your queue for quick fixes. They are all available on you tube or anime sites...I always prefer mine in the original language with subtext as opposed to dubbed, however.

==Aelryinth


Aelryinth wrote:

Second Sword Art online. The light novels are more graphic then the anime, however, which concentrates much more on youthful love stories/harem side of the novels, then the harshness of a bloodless video game world where death is still final.

At its heart, SAO is a survival story. You take normal people, thrust them into an environment where constant battle is the only way to prosper truly, sit back and watch what happens.

Some people keep their morality, some do not. thematically, it's like playing a never-ending AP with 100 Chapters and no resurrection magic or spellcasters. While 'you can't log out of the game' certainly isn't unique, there's both good and bad moments in the anime.

I give it two thumbs up, and you should put the episodes in your queue for quick fixes. They are all available on you tube or anime sites...I always prefer mine in the original language with subtext as opposed to dubbed, however.

==Aelryinth

Also, all of Season 1, dubbed, is on Netflix.

Scarab Sages

Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, PF Special Edition, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
James Jacobs wrote:
M0bious wrote:

Hello James,

I know this topic is one of old now(ROTR AP), but here comes my question: How much lore should I provide my PCs once they find the library of the therassic monastery at Jorgenfist?

They would not be able to find the full Runelord appendix, except MAYBE for Karzoug. Remember, this library is not ALL Thassilon, but Shalast. The bulk of what can be learned is covered in the adventure itself, on pages 232–233.

So perhaps not the details from Dead Heart of Xin but is it safe to assume that some basic information about all the runelords would be present, given that the Library bonus applies to checks to identify the heads in the Sihedron Circle?

Second, I was considering breaking up the details available in the Library into pieces that they'd need to collect, and using the research system from Mummy's Mask. Similar to how Mummy's Mask sent you to different libraries, I was thinking of making different research tracks independently. I.e., Xin-Shalast, Runeforge, Karzoug, other Runelords, and Thassilonian history might each have their own complexity and knowledge points. Do you think the Library is a good or bad candidate for the research system?


James Jacobs wrote:
SCKnightHero1 wrote:

When y'all were designing Hell's Rebels, how did you come up with the big bad guy?

What's your opinion on Sword Art Online (anime, manga, light novel, as well as Sword Art Online Progressive)?

I decided on Barzillai Thrune as the main bad guy because I wanted a character who was equal parts Thrune (government) and worshiper of Asmodeus (church), then took a lot of inspiration for certain elements of his character from a lot of current events. Also... I'm really tired of a certain video game character look, and wanted to see one who fits into that appearance be cast not as a hero of a game but as the irredeemable villain.

Huh, that criticism of cliche went right over my head. Guess the burly stubbledude isn't exactly a friendly look to begin with.

What current events in particular inspired Barzillai?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Let's keep this thread to questions, folks. If you want to recommend something to me, do so but also ask questions... or even better, just PM or email me, keeping in mind that the further your recommendation is from horror, the less likely it is I'll get the motivation to check it out anytime soon...

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Archpaladin Zousha wrote:
What do you do if you've got something you wanna post as a thread but can't figure out a snappy title to attract people to it?

Just use a descriptive title that's not super long.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

TomParker wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
M0bious wrote:

Hello James,

I know this topic is one of old now(ROTR AP), but here comes my question: How much lore should I provide my PCs once they find the library of the therassic monastery at Jorgenfist?

They would not be able to find the full Runelord appendix, except MAYBE for Karzoug. Remember, this library is not ALL Thassilon, but Shalast. The bulk of what can be learned is covered in the adventure itself, on pages 232–233.

So perhaps not the details from Dead Heart of Xin but is it safe to assume that some basic information about all the runelords would be present, given that the Library bonus applies to checks to identify the heads in the Sihedron Circle?

Second, I was considering breaking up the details available in the Library into pieces that they'd need to collect, and using the research system from Mummy's Mask. Similar to how Mummy's Mask sent you to different libraries, I was thinking of making different research tracks independently. I.e., Xin-Shalast, Runeforge, Karzoug, other Runelords, and Thassilonian history might each have their own complexity and knowledge points. Do you think the Library is a good or bad candidate for the research system?

I would absolutely avoid Dead Heart of Xin details, for 2 reasons. First, it clutters the AP and runs a good chance of distracting your players from the story. Second, it spoils surprises and goals from another AP that some of your players might wanna play some day.

The library is a great place to use the research mechanic, but keep in mind it's not ALL THASSILON; mostly just Shalast. There may or may not be other libraries out there to find...

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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AlgaeNymph wrote:
What current events in particular inspired Barzillai?

No specific events directly inspired him, but my frustrations at the toxicity and misogyny fueled by Gamergate and a fair amount of the super-conservative/corporation/very rich element of the political scene in the states are, to me, not that far away from producing someone like Barzillai...


James Jacobs wrote:
Let's keep this thread to questions, folks. If you want to recommend something to me, do so but also ask questions... or even better, just PM or email me, keeping in mind that the further your recommendation is from horror, the less likely it is I'll get the motivation to check it out anytime soon...

What genres do you like which aren't horror?

What percentage of your "entertainment attention" would you say is occupied by horror?


1 person marked this as a favorite.

What was gamergate?

Edit: never mind. I asked Mr Google.

Scarab Sages

Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, PF Special Edition, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
James Jacobs wrote:

I would absolutely avoid Dead Heart of Xin details, for 2 reasons. First, it clutters the AP and runs a good chance of distracting your players from the story. Second, it spoils surprises and goals from another AP that some of your players might wanna play some day.

The library is a great place to use the research mechanic, but keep in mind it's not ALL THASSILON; mostly just Shalast. There may or may not be other libraries out there to find...

Thanks, that helps! And I agree on Dead Heart of Xin (although I haven't read the other AP in question and don't know exactly what would be spoiled). I'd probably restrict it to names and schools--just the info they can get with a knowledge check at the Sihedron Circle. And show them the face card for each, since I'm making detailed heads for the circle and it would be awesome if they could recognize them on their own.

Spoiler:
I probably won't get to read the Shattered Star AP before they get to the Library. Do names/sin & school/pictures spoil anything from there?


Helo James, this one's a weird one...

So Demiplanes... how do they work? I understand, a lot of the wording in the Create Demiplane spell is vague for a reason, to give a lot of freedom to the crafter. Still, I'd love your input on the matter.

For example, the 500gp plane fork that is needed to create the demiplane, is it the key to the demiplane? Can anyone planeshift onto the demiplane without it? Or plane shift, say, to the astral plane and then greater teleport into a demiplane? Can anyone just add to the demiplane?

These question's, as far as I know, have no good answer by the rules, so I'd love to hear how you'd rule them.

Thanks in advance.


*LOVED* the Technology Guide and the Iron Gods AP, but I have questions:

Technology Guide

1): The etymology of the word "Inssuit" eludes me. It's a jumpsuit originally created for what purpose?

2): Do you can enhance a Gravity Suit (an "ineffective armor" most of the time) with Craft Magic Arms and Armor?

3): A Colour out of Space is a "mobile radiance" NOT immune to electricity and electromagnetic radiation waves (i.e. sunlight). Do you can...
a): ...detect a Colour with a Radiation Detector?
b): ...use a Commset to start a two-way communication with a Colour?
c): ...damage a Colour with a EMP Pistol?

Iron Gods

4): In Numeria, there are androids working to impart souls in reprogrammed robots (NLoFS, p.43). Do robots and AIs (the one stuck here in particular) have the potential for spiritual growth (i.e. divine classes and souls)?

5): The Technic League compound in Starfall has a hangar but not even a single bike for casual city riding. No, really, where are the spiked cars and the orc bikers?

6): In the last chapter of the Iron Gods AP, you reveal the fate of Androffa, but what about Kasath? Are the local Kasathas driving cars and surfing the web, maybe?

Shadow Lodge

Is the similarity between the names Durvin Gest and Djavin Vrest more than coincidental, especially taking into account that the former disappeared and the latter seems to know a lot of hidden lore?


What inspired you to create characters like Merisiel and Shensen?

Will we meet any of the iconics as NPCs in future adventures?


Shensen is in Hell's Rebels.

Radiant Oath

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

When I asked about the narrative of Serpent's Skull (twice, as it turns out, I gotta double-check when I've asked the same question better so I don't bother you), you mentioned a major theme was about what hidden knowledge should be revealed and which secrets are too dangerous and should remain forgotten, a sentiment shared by Eando Kline in his short stories and in his later appearance in the AP itself. My question, then, is how Serpent's Skull PCs decide that. It seems to me that by the end of the AP, the cover on Saveth-Yi, Ydersius and the serpent folk is pretty much blown. How are the PCs supposed to keep the events of the climax secret, supposing they wanted to?


What adventure paths have you had the pleasure of playing from start to finish, if any?

Which adventure path was your favorite to work on?

Which adventure path was your favorite to play in?

What was your reaction when Lisa Stevens hired you at Paizo? Did you know that your life had forever changed that day(hopefully for the better, I mean come on you wouldn't have us bugging you all day every day if she had not)?


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

When Xin led his followers into exile from Azlant, the first city he founded was Xin-Bakrakhan, which later became the seat of the Runelords of Wrath. Was Xin-Bakrakhan First King Xin's capital, or did he have another? If another, where was it?

Is there a map of the borders of ancient Thassilon and its seven domains somewhere? I ask because I love maps, but I'm terrible at drawing.

First King Xin is said to have founded many orders of knights and wizards, and to have had a hand in founding some monastic orders as well. Do any of these survive to present day Golarion, and if so which ones?

More generally on the subject of "orders", what is the Golarion tradition here? Who founds these things? What kinds of orders are there? Off the top of my head there are knightly orders, monastic orders, cavalier orders (do these fall under the "knightly" umbrella?) How are orders related to classes, generally? I know that many are associated with Cavaliers, but what about the other classes? Is there a list of known orders somewhere? What about secret orders?

Bonus question: Who are the members of Golarion's equivalent of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen? :-)


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So, do I have this right:

Desna is a giant space butterfly that is something like an Elder God, who thinks humans are totally adorable?

Awweeesome.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Steve Geddes wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Let's keep this thread to questions, folks. If you want to recommend something to me, do so but also ask questions... or even better, just PM or email me, keeping in mind that the further your recommendation is from horror, the less likely it is I'll get the motivation to check it out anytime soon...

What genres do you like which aren't horror?

What percentage of your "entertainment attention" would you say is occupied by horror?

I'm into sci-fi and fantasy as well, but also enjoy ANYTHING that's well-written or produced.

Overall, I'd say 75% of my entertainment attention is occupied by horror (which includes bleak, dark, and grim stuff like, say, Fargo or Better Call Saul which aren't strictly horror but aren't all sunshine and roses).

Paizo Employee Creative Director

TomParker wrote:

Spoiler:
I probably won't get to read the Shattered Star AP before they get to the Library. Do names/sin & school/pictures spoil anything from there?

Spoiler:
Not really.
Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Keydan wrote:

Helo James, this one's a weird one...

So Demiplanes... how do they work? I understand, a lot of the wording in the Create Demiplane spell is vague for a reason, to give a lot of freedom to the crafter. Still, I'd love your input on the matter.

For example, the 500gp plane fork that is needed to create the demiplane, is it the key to the demiplane? Can anyone planeshift onto the demiplane without it? Or plane shift, say, to the astral plane and then greater teleport into a demiplane? Can anyone just add to the demiplane?

These question's, as far as I know, have no good answer by the rules, so I'd love to hear how you'd rule them.

Thanks in advance.

They don't always work the same way. One of the values of the demiplane concept is that they CAN do pretty much whatever the adventure writer wants them to do. The ones built by "create demiplane" are more restricted as to what they can do since they're created by mortal magic—these are the least outlandish and most standardized of the demiplanes out there. In order to create a truly crazy rule-bending/breaking/redefining demiplane, you have to be the GM.

The 500 gp tuning fork is indeed the key to it via plane shift. Whether or not anyone else can expand it or add to it is up to the GM.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Geezer wrote:

*LOVED* the Technology Guide and the Iron Gods AP, but I have questions:

Technology Guide

1): The etymology of the word "Inssuit" eludes me. It's a jumpsuit originally created for what purpose?

2): Do you can enhance a Gravity Suit (an "ineffective armor" most of the time) with Craft Magic Arms and Armor?

3): A Colour out of Space is a "mobile radiance" NOT immune to electricity and electromagnetic radiation waves (i.e. sunlight). Do you can...
a): ...detect a Colour with a Radiation Detector?
b): ...use a Commset to start a two-way communication with a Colour?
c): ...damage a Colour with a EMP Pistol?

Iron Gods

4): In Numeria, there are androids working to impart souls in reprogrammed robots (NLoFS, p.43). Do robots and AIs (the one stuck here in particular) have the potential for spiritual growth (i.e. divine classes and souls)?

5): The Technic League compound in Starfall has a hangar but not even a single bike for casual city riding. No, really, where are the spiked cars and the orc bikers?

6): In the last chapter of the Iron Gods AP, you reveal the fate of Androffa, but what about Kasath? Are the local Kasathas driving cars and surfing the web, maybe?

1) It's short for "insulation suit."

2) Yes.

3a) Yes.
3b) No.
3c) No more so than you can damage any other non-robot with an EMP pistol.

4) Very few do, and when they do, it's unique and unusual enough that it'd be a worthwhile adventure or campaign... like Iron Gods, which is specifically about this very topic.

5) There are none. Partially because that thematic doesn't fit well with the game (they're not futuristic enough to feel "magical"), and partially because the game's vehicle rules are not robust enough to handle them simply enough for me to want to include these elements in the world.

6) Kasath's current state is unrevealed. AKA: Up to the GM.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

CanisDirus wrote:
Is the similarity between the names Durvin Gest and Djavin Vrest more than coincidental, especially taking into account that the former disappeared and the latter seems to know a lot of hidden lore?

Coincidence, as far as I know.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

2 people marked this as a favorite.
SCKnightHero1 wrote:

What inspired you to create characters like Merisiel and Shensen?

Will we meet any of the iconics as NPCs in future adventures?

Wayne Reynolds' painting of Merisiel is what inspired me to build her character; she didn't really exist at all as anything until he painted her.

What inspired me to create Shensen was the legend and story behind Eilistraee from the Forgotten Realms.

While we have no plans to directly involve iconics (Shensen's not an iconic, remember) in any APs, we will have some "iconic adjacent" characters (even more so than Shensen) in adventures soon. Stay tuned!

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Archpaladin Zousha wrote:
When I asked about the narrative of Serpent's Skull (twice, as it turns out, I gotta double-check when I've asked the same question better so I don't bother you), you mentioned a major theme was about what hidden knowledge should be revealed and which secrets are too dangerous and should remain forgotten, a sentiment shared by Eando Kline in his short stories and in his later appearance in the AP itself. My question, then, is how Serpent's Skull PCs decide that. It seems to me that by the end of the AP, the cover on Saveth-Yi, Ydersius and the serpent folk is pretty much blown. How are the PCs supposed to keep the events of the climax secret, supposing they wanted to?

That's up to the PC. Deciding what info should be shared and should be hidden is the type of decision any one character makes based on their own goals, personality, and motives, and often HOW they decide helps to build their character out further. If the PCs want to keep the whole thing secret... it's pretty easy for them to do so as high level PCs, be it by killing everyone else who was involved, buying them off, diplomatically convincing them to stay quiet, using magic or skill to cover things up, and so on.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

1 person marked this as a favorite.
DM Mathpro wrote:

What adventure paths have you had the pleasure of playing from start to finish, if any?

Which adventure path was your favorite to work on?

Which adventure path was your favorite to play in?

What was your reaction when Lisa Stevens hired you at Paizo? Did you know that your life had forever changed that day(hopefully for the better, I mean come on you wouldn't have us bugging you all day every day if she had not)?

I ran Savage Tide from start to finish. I've started (but have not yet finished) Age of Worms, Skull & Shackles, Kingmaker, Mummy's Mask, and Way of the Wicked as a player.

Don't really have a favorite. That's kinda like asking a parent which of their children is their favorite.

Age of Worms was a blast, but my current favorite is probably Way of the Wicked because it lets me play a character type I don't normally play (EVIL!) and because it's not an AP I've read or developed or helped write.

Lisa actually didn't hire me; Johnny Wilson did. Back then, he was the publisher for Paizo. I'd actually applied to work on the magazines 3 times before then, and each time, lost the job to a friend who was more qualified. When one of Paizo's employees got hired at WotC as a designer (in another job interview that I came in 2nd on), Johnny called me up out of the blue and asked if I wanted to work at Paizo, essentially headhunting me out of WotC. His quote: "They took one of mine so I wanna take one of theirs," or something like that. I knew that day was a big change for me, especially since I'd spent the previous 5 years or so jockeying and interviewing for just such a position.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

3 people marked this as a favorite.
The Doomkitten wrote:

So, do I have this right:

Desna is a giant space butterfly that is something like an Elder God, who thinks humans are totally adorable?

Awweeesome.

Sort of, yeah. Although in Golarion's cosmology, technically, anything that's not a great old one or an outer god is an elder god, since in Lovecraft's writings, "Elder God" is generally something applied to things like Bast or Nodens or the like.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Ed Reppert wrote:

When Xin led his followers into exile from Azlant, the first city he founded was Xin-Bakrakhan, which later became the seat of the Runelords of Wrath. Was Xin-Bakrakhan First King Xin's capital, or did he have another? If another, where was it?

Is there a map of the borders of ancient Thassilon and its seven domains somewhere? I ask because I love maps, but I'm terrible at drawing.

First King Xin is said to have founded many orders of knights and wizards, and to have had a hand in founding some monastic orders as well. Do any of these survive to present day Golarion, and if so which ones?

More generally on the subject of "orders", what is the Golarion tradition here? Who founds these things? What kinds of orders are there? Off the top of my head there are knightly orders, monastic orders, cavalier orders (do these fall under the "knightly" umbrella?) How are orders related to classes, generally? I know that many are associated with Cavaliers, but what about the other classes? Is there a list of known orders somewhere? What about secret orders?

Bonus question: Who are the members of Golarion's equivalent of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen? :-)

Xin is the capital; as detailed in Shattered Star.

We did a sort-of map of Thassilon's borders on page 213 of the Inner Sea World Guide.

None currently are known to have survived to modern day.

Beyond the definition for the cavalier class, there's not really a single thing that you could quantify as an "order" on Golarion. There are countless groups of like-minded people in all sorts of organizations like you mention. Pretty much every other book, it seems, has details on these things. If there's a single word we use as an umbrella term for things like these, it's "faction."

As for the bonus question... not sure exactly, other than knowing for a fact that they're all women.

Radiant Oath

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Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber
James Jacobs wrote:
The Doomkitten wrote:

So, do I have this right:

Desna is a giant space butterfly that is something like an Elder God, who thinks humans are totally adorable?

Awweeesome.

Sort of, yeah. Although in Golarion's cosmology, technically, anything that's not a great old one or an outer god is an elder god, since in Lovecraft's writings, "Elder God" is generally something applied to things like Bast or Nodens or the like.

But she still thinks mortals are totally adorable, right?

And continuing the train of thought on Serpent's Skull, why IS Eando Kline so desperate to keep the serpentfolk a secret in the end anyhow? You'd think after a group of adventurers single-handedly decimated the priestly serpentfolk masterminds and trounced their god for good measure he'd reconsider his opinion of them being the apocalyptic threat he made them out to be in the end of the short stories.


James Jacobs wrote:
Keydan wrote:

Helo James, this one's a weird one...

So Demiplanes... how do they work? I understand, a lot of the wording in the Create Demiplane spell is vague for a reason, to give a lot of freedom to the crafter. Still, I'd love your input on the matter.

For example, the 500gp plane fork that is needed to create the demiplane, is it the key to the demiplane? Can anyone planeshift onto the demiplane without it? Or plane shift, say, to the astral plane and then greater teleport into a demiplane? Can anyone just add to the demiplane?

These question's, as far as I know, have no good answer by the rules, so I'd love to hear how you'd rule them.

Thanks in advance.

They don't always work the same way. One of the values of the demiplane concept is that they CAN do pretty much whatever the adventure writer wants them to do. The ones built by "create demiplane" are more restricted as to what they can do since they're created by mortal magic—these are the least outlandish and most standardized of the demiplanes out there. In order to create a truly crazy rule-bending/breaking/redefining demiplane, you have to be the GM.

The 500 gp tuning fork is indeed the key to it via plane shift. Whether or not anyone else can expand it or add to it is up to the GM.

I see. Thank you. Would you say if a demiplane is on an astral plane, can you teleport into it from the astral plane via teleportation spells?


What is the best question you've been asked on this thread so far?


So... the way I see it, there is a pretty major difference in income between adventurers and your common merchants or farmers. In fact, adventurers are closer to on-par with nobility as far as disposable income. Additionally, adventurers are significantly more capable of delving into dangerous regions with unique flora and fauna and tend to do so while on the payroll of nobility. During their adventures, it would seem likely that adventurers are practicing good survival skills and living off the land.

This is a long-winded preamble to a simple stupid question. After years of cooking and eating strange and/or dangerous creatures in their travels, have any bizarre creatures ended up as delicacies for nobility? Does dino meat taste good?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Archpaladin Zousha wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
The Doomkitten wrote:

So, do I have this right:

Desna is a giant space butterfly that is something like an Elder God, who thinks humans are totally adorable?

Awweeesome.

Sort of, yeah. Although in Golarion's cosmology, technically, anything that's not a great old one or an outer god is an elder god, since in Lovecraft's writings, "Elder God" is generally something applied to things like Bast or Nodens or the like.

But she still thinks mortals are totally adorable, right?

And continuing the train of thought on Serpent's Skull, why IS Eando Kline so desperate to keep the serpentfolk a secret in the end anyhow? You'd think after a group of adventurers single-handedly decimated the priestly serpentfolk masterminds and trounced their god for good measure he'd reconsider his opinion of them being the apocalyptic threat he made them out to be in the end of the short stories.

She thinks some mortals are adorable, sure. Others, not so much.

Eando is eager to keep them a secret because of reasons covered in the first 18 volumes of the AP.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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thegreenteagamer wrote:
What is the best question you've been asked on this thread so far?

You're aware of how enormous this thread is, and how long it's been going on? I have no idea, in other words. My favorite of the last few days was "Why does Shensen like dinosaurs and fear gorillas?"

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Keydan wrote:
I see. Thank you. Would you say if a demiplane is on an astral plane, can you teleport into it from the astral plane via teleportation spells?

Nope. Teleport spells don't allow movement between planes. Moving between the astral plane and a demiplane (regardless of "where" that demiplane is) is still moving between planes, and that requires gate or plane shift.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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DebugAMP wrote:

So... the way I see it, there is a pretty major difference in income between adventurers and your common merchants or farmers. In fact, adventurers are closer to on-par with nobility as far as disposable income. Additionally, adventurers are significantly more capable of delving into dangerous regions with unique flora and fauna and tend to do so while on the payroll of nobility. During their adventures, it would seem likely that adventurers are practicing good survival skills and living off the land.

This is a long-winded preamble to a simple stupid question. After years of cooking and eating strange and/or dangerous creatures in their travels, have any bizarre creatures ended up as delicacies for nobility? Does dino meat taste good?

Adventurers are closer to on-par with pirates, I'd say, not nobility.

Depends on how you feel about eating creatures smart enough to talk. I suspect reefclaw is delicious, though...


Suppose an Arshean who wants every doppleganger in Vyre to work for em (and ideally convert). How would e do that?


Two questions,
How does the absorbed into the afterlife plane thing like?
Are you just unconscious for the rest of forever or are you in a heaven like state where your with your family and such?

And is there any canonical limits to what magic can do? Could one make a spell where one grows bat wings gains the strength 10 men and pretty much becomes a stereotypical demon?


Do you think that, when you have a meticulously created NPC, who you have slaved over with back stories and handouts and real character agency within your campaign world, that after your players have sliced her in half, jumped up and down on the remains, and danced around the area with fine little jig (written by your local bard specifically for the occasion) it is okay to have a boss later on raise her from the dead? Or is this just too hockey/soap opera-y?


You played Kingmaker? Cool, that's one of my favorite AP's! I'm currently prepping to run it in the fantastic Thunderscape setting as my latest crack at it.

Here's my question: what character did you make for the Kingmaker campaign you played in?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

AlgaeNymph wrote:
Suppose an Arshean who wants every doppleganger in Vyre to work for em (and ideally convert). How would e do that?

By being high level and having lots of money or resources or controlling spells or so on. And honestly, an Arshean wouldn't really want to do that anyway, since Vyre is in a lot of ways the OPPOSITE of where a neutral good character would feel comfortable living.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Ereus wrote:

Two questions,

How does the absorbed into the afterlife plane thing like?
Are you just unconscious for the rest of forever or are you in a heaven like state where your with your family and such?

And is there any canonical limits to what magic can do? Could one make a spell where one grows bat wings gains the strength 10 men and pretty much becomes a stereotypical demon?

There seems to be words missing from your first question... but what happens to your soul in the afterlife varies WIDELY depending on your alignment and faith and where you end up. The last volume of Mummy's Mask has an entire article that talks about this subject.

There are canonical limits to what mortal magic can do, as stipulated by the spells that exist in the game. When a deity or other more-powerful-than-a-PC creature gets involved, there's no limit other than the imagination and desire of the world builder.

A spell where you grow bat wings and get strong and all that already exists in the form of various polymorph spells.

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