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Infernal contracts can pretty much be written to do anything, so yes, it can.What Devil would be best for selling one's soul to in exchange for power a la the Warlock? The Phistophilus (Contract Devil) can give you Wishes which is great but temporary. Can you use the Infernal Slave contract to gain magical power (not necessarily for a warlock)?Also interested in this answer; follow up question in spoiler box below; thanks!
** spoiler omitted **...
Thanks James. Without a contract (i.e. devil says I'll help you and I'll ask you something later) can there be a claim on the soul at the time of death? (i.e. argued / negotiated between outsiders in the courts of Pharasma)
In other words, does the entire machine that is Hell operate on a fine print that everyone of any level of intelligence (i.e. even those who are Int 3 or 4 and cannot read) instinctively know? and that they may pay anything offered by Hell or its reps with their soul, in whole or in parts?
Edit: I've always wondered if the old *mental nod* was enough for Hell, especially for mind reamers like memory devils, or if they all require something rigid and formal (as one would expect for Hell) like a contract or a signature/pawprint in blood. Thx!
In regards to the Riftwardens (the organization, not the PrC), are non-spellcasters allowed to join?The riftwardens are open to any non-evil character.
Cool, thank you!
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Infernal contracts can pretty much be written to do anything, so yes, it can.What Devil would be best for selling one's soul to in exchange for power a la the Warlock? The Phistophilus (Contract Devil) can give you Wishes which is great but temporary. Can you use the Infernal Slave contract to gain magical power (not necessarily for a warlock)?Also interested in this answer; follow up question in spoiler box below; thanks!
** spoiler omitted **...
Thanks James. Without a contract (i.e. devil says I'll help you and I'll ask you something later) can there be a claim on the soul at the time of death? (i.e. argued / negotiated between outsiders in the courts of Pharasma)
In other words, does the entire machine that is Hell operate on a fine print that everyone of any level of intelligence (i.e. even those who are Int 3 or 4 and cannot read) instinctively know? and that they may pay anything offered by Hell or its reps with their soul, in whole or in parts?
Edit: I've always wondered if the old *mental nod* was enough for Hell, especially for mind reamers like memory devils, or if they all require something rigid and formal (as one would expect for Hell) like a contract or a signature/pawprint in blood. Thx!
If there's no contract, there's no sale and no agreement. Whether or not any one person can get the upper hand over an infernal contract depends on their perseverance, intellect, skill, and luck—it's not something that "anyone" can get out of, otherwise Hell wouldn't be so notorious for doing contracts.
Is there any circumstance where someone will hire the Red Mantis, only to have the Red Mantis look over the target profile and say "No, no, this one's on us" or would they always insist on payment out of professionalism or some such?
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Does the team need some music while they work on Strange Aeons?
Also, excluding the Pathfinder Society, what's your favorite group or organization in the Inner Sea region?
The Pathfinder Society doesn't rank in my top 10 favorite groups, in fact.
My favorite is probably the Red Mantis. And since I implied that there are 9 others I like better than the Pathfinder Society, here they are...
Skinsaw Cult
Church of Desna
Church of Sarenrae
Technic League
Church of Nocticula
Whispering Way
Runelords
Hellknights
Gray Maidens
Those are just the first nine that come to mind. I could probably do another 30 or 40 (most of which would be faiths) before getting around to the Pathfinder Society, frankly.
It's 100% not hyperbole. I think that if someone thinks that us on Earth are the only intelligent things in the universe, that's 100% arrogant in the same way folks once thought the Earth was the center of it all and every celestial body rotated around us.My take is that there is ABSOLUTELY life out there. No question. To think otherwise is the height of arrogance.Was that hyperbole, or do you really think there's no possible alternate explanation for having doubt other than arrogance?
How ironic. Although I more meant people who have doubt rather than people who have formed a view there's nobody else (the contrary view to "there's definitely life out there" is not necessarily "there definitely isn't").
Maybe I misinterpreted what you meant by ABSOLUTELY.
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It's 100% not hyperbole. I think that if someone thinks that us on Earth are the only intelligent things in the universe, that's 100% arrogant in the same way folks once thought the Earth was the center of it all and every celestial body rotated around us.My take is that there is ABSOLUTELY life out there. No question. To think otherwise is the height of arrogance.Was that hyperbole, or do you really think there's no possible alternate explanation for having doubt other than arrogance?How ironic. Although I more meant people who have doubt rather than people who have formed a view there's nobody else (the contrary view to "there's definitely life out there" is not necessarily "there definitely isn't").
Maybe I misinterpreted what you meant by ABSOLUTELY.
I don't see any irony in that at all. To think Earth as the only life in the universe is arrogant for humans to think.
What I ment by "ABSOLUTELY" is that I fully 100% believe there is a 100% chance that there is life out there on another planet somewhere in the universe.
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Recently, tendrils of this foul seed have crept westward, with rumors of Usij existing in Qadira and even Katapesh.
Which would you hold to be more accurate, their existence in Garund since the times of ancient Osirion, or more recently?
RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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** spoiler omitted **
Which would you hold to be more accurate, their existence in Garund since the times of ancient Osirion, or more recently?
Could they have been forbidden and uprooted during a later pharoanic ruler or under the satrapy/sultanate and are now just returning?
What do ectoplasmic creatures look like in the Golarian setting? Is it like Slimer from Ghostbusters?
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** spoiler omitted **
Which would you hold to be more accurate, their existence in Garund since the times of ancient Osirion, or more recently?
Whatever one makes more sense for the story you want to tell. Personally, I'd go with what Legacy of Fire suggested. (I suspect that Lost Kingdoms just missed that tidbit and didn't get caught during development.)
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Could they have been forbidden and uprooted during a later pharoanic ruler or under the satrapy/sultanate and are now just returning?** spoiler omitted **
Which would you hold to be more accurate, their existence in Garund since the times of ancient Osirion, or more recently?
If you wish. But I'm 99% sure that Lost Kingdoms got it wrong.
Do the eyes of elves, half-elves, gnomes, and other races with low-light vision gleam with reflected light like those of cats?
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Razmir may think he's a big deal, but in truth he's a small fish. His little nation is nowhere NEAR large enough to threaten an actual deity, much less attract their attention. He's a tiny little problem that can be fixed by the faithful, and he'll die in a few years or decades anyway, since he's mortal.I have a follow-up question about Razmir in relation to this. Generally it would perhaps be assumed that gods are "immortal" (though the deaths of various gods throughout Golarion's history argues that while they might not necessarily die of old age, they can still be killed one way or another). With the release of Distant Shores and the expansion on places like Iblydos, with hero-gods capable of granting divine spells who explicitly can quite possibly grow old and die in the normal fashion, is the fact that Razmir still isn't "immune to aging" necessarily seen as a strike against him, depending on the person?
After all, if a hero-god of Iblydos can grow old and die (or be publicly and visibly killed in battle, or similar), nothing says that Razmir might not be able to do the same while still being some degree of god. And while the Starstone can accelerate somebody to full godhood, Mythic Realms does indicate that it may not do so for a particular user.
(I'm aware that in canon he isn't a god, but it seems that there are enough published variations and exceptions to the rule that Razmir's charade could be much more believable in-universe than it might have been earlier in the setting's publishing schedule.)
Being immortal doesn't mean you can't die.
The hero-gods of Iblydos are mythic characters, and that's something Razmer is unlikely to ever gain. It's not his destiny.
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You can also repurpose the minis and have your players suffer through a Smough and Ornstein fight :3James,
Dark Souls board game Kickstarter:
Have you seen/backed this? Interested?
I did indeed see it. I'm certainly interested, but then I stop and look at the mostly unopened box of Cthulhu Wars stuff, and the even LESS opened box of Bones minis, and consider that throwing big piles of cash at games I'll never even open the boxes to might not be the best way to spend my money. The game LOOKS really cool though. Hmmm.
Just a heads up, this is ending in less than 9 hours.
Sorry to annoy you with it, but I'm still kicking myself over missing a few Kickstarters by forgetting when exactly they finished, and I didn't want you to go through that.
My apologies if you weren't interested in backing it.
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You can also repurpose the minis and have your players suffer through a Smough and Ornstein fight :3James,
Dark Souls board game Kickstarter:
Have you seen/backed this? Interested?
I did indeed see it. I'm certainly interested, but then I stop and look at the mostly unopened box of Cthulhu Wars stuff, and the even LESS opened box of Bones minis, and consider that throwing big piles of cash at games I'll never even open the boxes to might not be the best way to spend my money. The game LOOKS really cool though. Hmmm.
Just a heads up, this is ending in less than 9 hours.
Sorry to annoy you with it, but I'm still kicking myself over missing a few Kickstarters by forgetting when exactly they finished, and I didn't want you to go through that.
My apologies if you weren't interested in backing it.
If it helps matters any I just found out the figurines do come preassembled.
Any thoughts on this season of Game of Thrones?
Hm... A continuation from my previous question (About Race Creation). I'm trying to make a race that is an Ooze, of course there isn't a base for it, but I'd still like to make one. (Not necessarily for PC use, but as a monster race) I was wondering what you would say the racial point buy would be for an Ooze. I've been thinking around thirty-forty, but I'd like a second opinion.
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Concerning the Shoanti. There are the seven tribes, is each and every one the single tribe or are smaller groups of any particular tribe that make up the whole tribe?
There seem to be a few missing words in your question... are you asking is EVERY Shoanti a member of one of the quahs? If so, then no. Most are, but not all are.
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You can also repurpose the minis and have your players suffer through a Smough and Ornstein fight :3James,
Dark Souls board game Kickstarter:
Have you seen/backed this? Interested?
I did indeed see it. I'm certainly interested, but then I stop and look at the mostly unopened box of Cthulhu Wars stuff, and the even LESS opened box of Bones minis, and consider that throwing big piles of cash at games I'll never even open the boxes to might not be the best way to spend my money. The game LOOKS really cool though. Hmmm.
Just a heads up, this is ending in less than 9 hours.
Sorry to annoy you with it, but I'm still kicking myself over missing a few Kickstarters by forgetting when exactly they finished, and I didn't want you to go through that.
My apologies if you weren't interested in backing it.
No worries. It does look cool, but the combination of too much clutter, not enough time to play all the games I own, and game designer salary worked against me throwing in on this one. I went deep in on Cthulhu Wars, for example, and I've only played the game once... and it was someone else's game. I haven't even really fully unpacked mine yet. Or those bones minis I got...
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Hm... A continuation from my previous question (About Race Creation). I'm trying to make a race that is an Ooze, of course there isn't a base for it, but I'd still like to make one. (Not necessarily for PC use, but as a monster race) I was wondering what you would say the racial point buy would be for an Ooze. I've been thinking around thirty-forty, but I'd like a second opinion.
You're kinda on your own. Oozes break pretty much EVERY assumption about what a PC is in a game like Pathfinder and a world like Golarion. You're very much starting from scratch on pretty much every single account.
For creating a monster race, it's best to just ignore the whole "balance for PC use" entirely, to be honest, ESPECIALLY in the case of an ooze with zero HD. Just build it like a monster and don't bother with race points and stuff like that. Race points do not matter at all if it's not gonna be for PCs, after all.
Has it been asked yet? Manual or automatic? Transmission that is.
This is a very long thread, I confess, I haven't read it all.
I like a manual transmission myself. More fun to drive.
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James, (1) what are your thoughts on daemons within Pathfinder and their uses in a horror campaign?
I am a little disappointed for a creature type devoted to devouring souls, that there are not more abilities centered around devouring souls. This would make them more terrible enemies in a horror game for PF since there are quite a few ways to avoid permanent death at higher levels.
(2) How exactly do daemons consume souls? Not many have abilities for doing so.
(3) What happens to souls devoured by daemons in regards to what happens to the soul energy? I assume the soul is completely consumed, but do any remnants of the soul return to the positive energy plane?
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Has it been asked yet? Manual or automatic? Transmission that is.
This is a very long thread, I confess, I haven't read it all.
I like a manual transmission myself. More fun to drive.
I drive an automatic. I can drive a manual, but prefer automatic. Less stress to drive. Plus, I live in Seattle and that means my chances of stopping on a hill are very high, and I don't need the stress of getting into gear before I roll back down the hill into the sound.
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James, (1) what are your thoughts on daemons within Pathfinder and their uses in a horror campaign?
I am a little disappointed for a creature type devoted to devouring souls, that there are not more abilities centered around devouring souls. This would make them more terrible enemies in a horror game for PF since there are quite a few ways to avoid permanent death at higher levels.
(2) How exactly do daemons consume souls? Not many have abilities for doing so.
(3) What happens to souls devoured by daemons in regards to what happens to the soul energy? I assume the soul is completely consumed, but do any remnants of the soul return to the positive energy plane?
1) My thoughts are that they're excellent for a horror campaign. They don't need more abilities centered around devouring souls, though (and plus, that as a game mechanic is really frustrating as a player since it's one of the few ways you can be forever dead, so we try to limit its appearances in the game). As a GM it's easy to lose sight of the fact that players DO fear monsters and the possibility of death, petrifaction, paralyzation, or anything else that makes the player sit out of play for even a short time. You as the GM get to play no matter what, but when a player's character is put out of action, even if it's temporary for only one fight, or even only one round in a fight, it's VERY frustrating and humiliating alike to have your agency in the game removed and be forced to sit at the table and quietly wait for the chance to return to play. If you're lucky, one of your fellow players won't mind having his character take a precious action on his round to try to get your character back in the game, but in most cases dead or other significant calamities end up with you having to wait for the combat to be over, or maybe even the whole session to be over, before you can look forward to playing again. ANY monster that removes player agency is going to be frightening, and that includes all monsters that can potentially kill a character. The best way to make a spooky horror campaign is not to constantly threaten your players with chances to not play the game (via soul eating or the like); that's just a good way to convince your players to leave your game. A much BETTER way to run a horror game is to focus instead on themes and descriptions and story and mood. And the idea of a race of fiends that eats souls (see my answer to #2 below for more on that) and personifies terrible ways to die is pretty strong for a horror-themed game.
2) Most daemons feed on petitioners—what souls turn into after they are judged and sent on to Abaddon. When a soul is in a body, it's not really all that available or appetizing to a daemon; they prefer the body to be dead and the soul to be a petitioner before "eating" it. As such, there's not really any game mechanics for it.
3) In the case of a petitioner being eaten, yes, the soul energy is gone. In the case of specific abilities like the cacodaemon's soul trap or the olethrodaemon's drain soul, the abilities themselves say what happens. As a general rule, it's not cool to have ANY power that permanently ruins a player's chance to recover and continue playing that character. Technically, utterly destroying a soul means you can't come back from the dead EVER, barring POSSIBLY divine intervention, but yeah... not fun.
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HI James, are the Pathfinder Novels considered cannon in the pathfinder universe? The Reason that I am asking in the new novel Hellknight [btw it is one of the best books in the entire line so far] In Hellknight their is a character Veleene Thrune who is depicted as a member of house Thrune, I was wondering if she was directly related to Queen Abrogail or if she is a member of cadet branch of House Thrune.
The reason that I am asking is that I am writing a character History for one of my characters who I would like to be in House Thrune. He is a Baron. I would like him to be a Thrune but direct relation to the Queen is not necessary could you give me an idea of whom he might be related too?
How closely are the Church of Asmodeus and the State related to one another? How close is the Inquisition to the church and the state?
My character is an Inquisitor of Asmodeus who is bound to Gorthoklek
He is also a Hellknight of the Scourge and he has just attained his first mythic tier. He is inquisitor 11 Hellknight 4 mythic 1.
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HI James, are the Pathfinder Novels considered cannon in the pathfinder universe? The Reason that I am asking in the new novel Hellknight [btw it is one of the best books in the entire line so far] In Hellknight their is a character Veleene Thrune who is depicted as a member of house Thrune, I was wondering if she was directly related to Queen Abrogail or if she is a member of cadet branch of House Thrune.
The reason that I am asking is that I am writing a character History for one of my characters who I would like to be in House Thrune. He is a Baron. I would like him to be a Thrune but direct relation to the Queen is not necessary could you give me an idea of whom he might be related too?
How closely are the Church of Asmodeus and the State related to one another? How close is the Inquisition to the church and the state?
My character is an Inquisitor of Asmodeus who is bound to Gorthoklek
He is also a Hellknight of the Scourge and he has just attained his first mythic tier. He is inquisitor 11 Hellknight 4 mythic 1.
They are indeed considered canon, but like our Adventure Paths and modules, the TIME that the events in the novels occur in is fluid. In effect, they don't take place until any one person reads them.
I haven't read Hellknight yet, but unless the book makes it clear one way or the other, Veleene Thrune''s relationship to the queen is left unclear on purpose. She's at least distantly related, since she's a Thrune.
How YOUR character's history works is left to you. You can even be the queen's sibling if your GM's okay with that. There's a lot of Thrunes mentioned in Hell's Rebels, Hell's Vengeance, and the newest Cheliax book—look through those, or pick one from a novel, and run with it... with your GM's permission, of course!
The church of Asmodeus and House Thrune are pretty closely related. Thrune rules Cheliax, but they do so becasue of the support of Asmodeus and his church. The church has a lot of power in Cheliax, but only because the government (Thrune) lets them have the power. It's a two-way symbiotic relationship. Both groups often rankle at the fact that they need the other to maintain their own power, and there are cases where there's in-fighting and bickering. The inquisition is a part of the church, not the government. There are cases where all three converge, such as in the case of Barzilai Thrune from Hell's Rebels.
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Nice, I'm currently at Mr. Spoiler who spams Arrow Rain, as well as the two Pontiff Hounds down beneath him. I hate those things.Speaking of Dark Souls, hoe much farther have you advanced past the Pontiff?Almost done; I'm currently exploring ** spoiler omitted **
As for the hounds...
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Nice, I'm currently at Mr. Spoiler who spams Arrow Rain, as well as the two Pontiff Hounds down beneath him. I hate those things.Speaking of Dark Souls, hoe much farther have you advanced past the Pontiff?Almost done; I'm currently exploring ** spoiler omitted **As for the hounds...
** spoiler omitted **
Hmm, Thankies.
I killed the bridge one with kukris so I have to agree with you. I just don't have the stats to cast any of the spells I have :( That and everything one shots me as well.
Tried the plunging strategy but I missed the first time and promptly got chomped XD
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Dear Mr. Jacobs,
What exactly is the Harrow? Is it a plane (the Harrow Bloodline mentions a Harrow Realm)? Is it something like the Speed Force? I'm going to be playing a Harrower, and the concept interests me, but I can't find much material on it. Are there any resources I could peruse for more information about it?
We've published a fair amount about Harrowing and Harrow Decks. There's an adventure called The Harrowing and the Crimson Throne Adventure Path, but the thing you'd want to check out instead as a player is the Harrow Handbook.
I'm not sure what the "Speed Force" is so I can't say if it's anything like that at all.
Speed force is what gives The Flash and other speedsters in the DC comics universe their powers. It's kind of the ultimate Deus Ex Machina as what exactly it is and can do has never, to my knowledge, been defined. It sounds to me like Harrow is definitely not like that?
What aspects of PaizoCon are you looking forward to and which are you dreading? Also, which is your preferred beverage? I feel I owe you one after all the hard work on the APs.
Hey James. I am avowed skeptic, but I find this has been somewhat limiting for my gamemastering and storytelling. So I enjoy collecting creepy urban legends and picking the brain of believers to get a better sense of how to tell the story. I need to get into different character mindsets in game. So as a believer in bigfoot do you mind if I pick your brain on some bigfoot views and stories? I promise to not be picky mean or derisive about it all. So feel free to ignore the following questions if you want
1) Bigfoot
a) Any cool urban legend or local stories from your childhood you can share? and if so please do.
2) Skunkape
a) In your view is it bigfoot or a bigfoot relative or regional variant like the difference between the black Rhino and the western black rhino.
3) Appalachian wildman
a) Is it bigfoot? Or is it again a bigfoot relative or regional difference. Keep in the mind the appalachian wildman is known to be very aggressive.
4) Sasquatch
a) Is it bigfoot? Sasquatch are reported mostly in northern Canada in the vast tracts of boreal forest very scarcely populated by anyone, They are known to wreck hunting cabins, and through large rocks at said cabins when people are there.
5) Yeti
a) Is it bigfoot? or a relative? Or is it just a regional variant? Yeti is mostly only reported in the hindu Kush and the around the himalayas.
6) Gigantopithicus Blacki
a) Is it the genetic precursor to bigfoot? Dying out 100, 000 years ago in what is now vietnam, China, and India, Blacki was over 9ft tall looked like a cross between a human and a orangutan, with darkish fur. Reported to be still alive by some rural natives of southern asia, and some saying it isn't blacki but something just as tall and more upright. Is it bigfoot of southern asia.
Keep in mind I am only interested in how you view and think about these things.
Wow, it has been a long time since I've been here.
Anyway, do fiends ever feel any sort of camaraderie with others of their kind? Like, a demon that values some other demon for reasons other than usefulness.
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Speed force is what gives The Flash and other speedsters in the DC comics universe their powers. It's kind of the ultimate Deus Ex Machina as what exactly it is and can do has never, to my knowledge, been defined. It sounds to me like Harrow is definitely not like that?
Ah; I'd never heard of it. In that case, no, "harrow" is nothing like speed force at all.
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Hi James,
Not necessarily on Golarion, for world building, what other weapons besides the scythe and perhaps the sickle would be considered appropriate for the god/godess of death and the underworld (not Undeath)?
What missile weapons for the same deity?
For Golarion, what missile weapons does Pharasma allow her clergy?
In Absalom, what is considered the greatest piece of art in the city? The analog of the Mona Lisa if you will.
What's appropriate for ANY deity, death deity or otherwise, depends 100% on the culture and traditions of that deity's religion. Some are classic combos; scythe with the death goddess being one of them, but longbow for the hunter god is another. Often it's fun to give a deity an unexpected weapon, such as a glavie for the goddess of love. Either method works, and gives you something to build a mythology upon for that deity.
Same goes for missile weapons.
Pharasma's favored weapon is the dagger, so that's the one her faith favors for ranged weapons. But she allows ANY weapon into her faith; she doesn't bar any of them from being used. Pretty much no deities do in Golarion as far as I can think of.
We haven't revealed much about the art scene in Golarion. We've mentioned plenty of paintings, but haven't yet decided on what are the greatest of them.