If you were starting a new campaign today what class would you play?
What if you had to pick a class that you haven't yet played?
Creative Director
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James,are Hell Knights from the Order of the Crux Chaotic evil because they are undead or are they Lawful Evil? It has always been my understanding that all undead were chatoic and most were evil because of the nature of the animating energy an undeath itself.
Almost all undead are evil, but of those evil undead, there's no real weight between lawful evil, neutral evil, or chaotic evil—it's relatively equally spread out between those three alignments.
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Do Asmodean creatures (worshipping priests, outsiders, the Prince of Lies himself) ever use "Terms of Agreement" like we see in today's tech industry?
Especially clauses like "by continuing to _____ you agree to X, Y, and Z. We reserve the right to take away _____ at any time for any reason."
Given his suggested seniority in comparison to the universe, and his incalculable power, I'd wonder about him passing up an opportunity like that.
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Creative Director
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Is there any chance you can put this to bed once and for all?
"Alternate classes like the antipaladin, ninja, and samurai ARE essentially archetypes. They're just archetypes for which we went through and gave you the full level advancement chart for. And artwork too! So as long as they didn't give up a class feature that is a requirement for a feat or whatever... yup... they still can take that feat/trait/thing." -You
"- Alternate classes are really just expanded archtypes. The distinction is that for an alternate class, we represent all of the rules needed to run the class. It is similar to its base, but has a significant number of swaps. There are certainly some archtypes that could have received this treatment, but we chose to leave them as more abbreviated write ups.
- Alternate classes live in the same design niche as their base class. This is the most important part. Although the ninja and the rogue, for example, have a number of differences, they have a number of conceptual and rules niches in common. We did not want to have to invent another version of sneak attack, for example, when the current one works fine for both. Had we invented another, it would have been similar but undoubtedly different in power to sneak attack, which is a bad place to be." -Jason Bulmahn.
I appreciate the explanations you two have given, but the fact of the matter is, there's still a bit of confusion and disagreement. How do favoured class bonuses work for alternate classes?
Here is my specific situation, and I think a "yes you can" or "no you can't" will end this forever.
I am a kitsune ninja. Kitsune have a racial favoured class bonus for the rogue that grants them 1/6 of a rogue talent. As a ninja (which is an alternate class for the rogue), am I entitled to either 1/6 of a rogue talent or 1/6 of a ninja trick, under pathfinder society rules?
As I would said, I would love an in depth explaination of what went into this system and your justifications for this, but at the end, I would really...
A "yes you can" or "no you can't" from me won't end anything. I've already said what I have to say on the topic, as evidenced by you quoting me.
Your GM is the one who makes the call... if YOU are the GM, then you make the call. Take the information the world has provided you and make the choice that makes the most sense to you.
If I were the GM, I'd allow rogue favored class bonuses to work for the ninja. That's not the right or wrong answer for everyone. It's the right answer for my table, but you don't play at my table so it may or may not be the right answer for you.
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Creative Director
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Do Asmodean creatures (worshipping priests, outsiders, the Prince of Lies himself) ever use "Terms of Agreement" like we see in today's tech industry?
Especially clauses like "by continuing to _____ you agree to X, Y, and Z. We reserve the right to take away _____ at any time for any reason."
Given his suggested seniority in comparison to the universe, and his incalculable power, I'd wonder about him passing up an opportunity like that.
Of course they do.
Lord Tyrannosaur
I just (FINALLY) watched We are Still Here on netflix, which I think I recall you liking.
I have a question regarding the ending:
Why do you think the husband and wife were spared by the Dagmar family ghosts? Are they "taking over" the job of keeping the Gods fed? Was it something to do with the couple's son convincing or intervening? Something else entirely I missed?
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Of course they do.Do Asmodean creatures (worshipping priests, outsiders, the Prince of Lies himself) ever use "Terms of Agreement" like we see in today's tech industry?
Especially clauses like "by continuing to _____ you agree to X, Y, and Z. We reserve the right to take away _____ at any time for any reason."
Given his suggested seniority in comparison to the universe, and his incalculable power, I'd wonder about him passing up an opportunity like that.
How pervasive are they with that? Making a mortal sign a contract is one thing, but if "implied consent" is a concept in their legal systems, couldn't they bind whole territories or planes of existence with that? As in, "By continuing to live within our borders you agree to..." or "By continuing to consume our air you are obligated to ___"
Will there be any archetype, to any class, that would let players easily create Magical Girl kind of character? I mean, Magical Child Vigillante missed the point quite nicely, so...
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Creative Director
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Lord Tyrannosaur
I just (FINALLY) watched We are Still Here on netflix, which I think I recall you liking.
I have a question regarding the ending:
** spoiler omitted **
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Creative Director
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How pervasive are they with that? Making a mortal sign a contract is one thing, but if "implied consent" is a concept in their legal systems, couldn't they bind whole territories or planes of existence with that? As in, "By continuing to live within our borders you agree to..." or "By continuing to consume our air you are obligated to ___"Of course they do.Do Asmodean creatures (worshipping priests, outsiders, the Prince of Lies himself) ever use "Terms of Agreement" like we see in today's tech industry?
Especially clauses like "by continuing to _____ you agree to X, Y, and Z. We reserve the right to take away _____ at any time for any reason."
Given his suggested seniority in comparison to the universe, and his incalculable power, I'd wonder about him passing up an opportunity like that.
Every infernal contract is unique and different and customized to the devil's desires and needs and plans. It's as pervasive as it needs to be, but not something that every devil does every time, since that would lead to predictability and contract mastery for mortals. By varying the contracts each and every time, the devils stay ahead of the game.
AKA: There are no "rules" as to what a contract MUST contain, which allows anyone who wants to write a story or adventure featuring an infernal contract to do whatever they need and want to do to make that story work.
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Creative Director
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Will there be any archetype, to any class, that would let players easily create Magical Girl kind of character? I mean, Magical Child Vigillante missed the point quite nicely, so...
Folks seem to have taken to the archetype's concept pretty well, so I suspect some day we might explore more variants on that role in the future, but I don't think there's any plans to do so for the immediate future. If folks want to see more of content like this, let us know in the product threads!
And if you think something "missed the point" then tell us HOW we missed the point. If you don't tell us what you think we did wrong, we won't know what to look for to check for improvements. And it's always possible that what you consider us missing the point is in fact not us missing the point, but simply our plans for the game going in a direction other than your desires.
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Something that's been bothering me about elf-dwarf-relations: the books state that elves view other races, like dwarves, as "rash" due to their perception of time. But in other books it succinctly states that dwarves see elves as "flighty." Don't those essentially mean the same thing? It seems like the entire conversation between the two races is:
"You're impulsive and stinky, drunken brutes!"
"No, YOU'RE impulsive, and a bunch of poofs!"
I'm not quite sure how elves can be "flighty" if their perception of time causes them to wait centuries for problems to solve themselves instead of acting. What am I misunderstanding here?
A couple of questions only connected by a tiny thread...
1. How would you handle if a character wanted to create a room in a building with "static" conditions? Nothing so elaborate as a "stasis field" but more something to the effect of constant temperature and humidity like we would call "climate control" in our world. I'm mainly just trying to figure out a cost and construction requirements and whether or not it is in the realm of possibility. I figure something like a permanent "magnificent mansion" would do the trick but I am looking for something not so elaborate and much cheaper.
2. The automatic bonus progression from PF Unchained allows one to gain enhancement bonuses to intelligence as a replacement for headbands. However, the headbands of intellect have an associated bonus skill which I haven't seen any indications of the automatic progression granting. Was this intentional or an oversight? What is your opinion on granting bonus skills to characters when playing with these rules?
Note: I'm running Kingmaker with the potential to use its "sandbox" campaign development as a means to possibly let one or more of the players run a module or two in the middle to give myself a little play-time as I just finished running a Deathwatch campaign before starting this one. I figured that by creating a character with the automatic bonus progression rules instead of using the equipment guidelines for creating characters above first level and just allowing the other players and whoever is DMing at the time to divide the magic items found as loot would be a good way to keep the magic items in the party from getting out of hand.
...sorry for the run-on sentences
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Creative Director
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Something that's been bothering me about elf-dwarf-relations: the books state that elves view other races, like dwarves, as "rash" due to their perception of time. But in other books it succinctly states that dwarves see elves as "flighty." Don't those essentially mean the same thing? It seems like the entire conversation between the two races is:
"You're impulsive and stinky, drunken brutes!"
"No, YOU'RE impulsive, and a bunch of poofs!"
I'm not quite sure how elves can be "flighty" if their perception of time causes them to wait centuries for problems to solve themselves instead of acting. What am I misunderstanding here?
Flighty is not a synonym for rash.
Elves see most other races as rushing to get things done before they thing things through.
Dwarves see elves as being given to flights of fancy and mildly crazy.
Also, heads up: don't use "poof" in that context; it's pretty damn offensive.
Something that's been bothering me about elf-dwarf-relations: the books state that elves view other races, like dwarves, as "rash" due to their perception of time. But in other books it succinctly states that dwarves see elves as "flighty." Don't those essentially mean the same thing? It seems like the entire conversation between the two races is:
"You're impulsive and stinky, drunken brutes!"
"No, YOU'RE impulsive, and a bunch of poofs!"
I'm not quite sure how elves can be "flighty" if their perception of time causes them to wait centuries for problems to solve themselves instead of acting. What am I misunderstanding here?
Flighty is not a synonym for rash.
Elves see most other races as rushing to get things done before they thing things through.
Dwarves see elves as being given to flights of fancy and mildly crazy.
Also, heads up: don't use "poof" in that context; it's pretty damn offensive.
Do you like Arrested Development? If you do, do you know you just reminded me of a pretty funny joke from that show?
(That word was used to refer to a magazine about magicians, as in "poof, he just disappeared", but there was a horrible misunderstanding where people thought the character talking about the magazine was using it in the offensive context.)
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Creative Director
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A couple of questions only connected by a tiny thread...
1. How would you handle if a character wanted to create a room in a building with "static" conditions? Nothing so elaborate as a "stasis field" but more something to the effect of constant temperature and humidity like we would call "climate control" in our world. I'm mainly just trying to figure out a cost and construction requirements and whether or not it is in the realm of possibility. I figure something like a permanent "magnificent mansion" would do the trick but I am looking for something not so elaborate and much cheaper.
2. The automatic bonus progression from PF Unchained allows one to gain enhancement bonuses to intelligence as a replacement for headbands. However, the headbands of intellect have an associated bonus skill which I haven't seen any indications of the automatic progression granting. Was this intentional or an oversight? What is your opinion on granting bonus skills to characters when playing with these rules?
Note: I'm running Kingmaker with the potential to use its "sandbox" campaign development as a means to possibly let one or more of the players run a module or two in the middle to give myself a little play-time as I just finished running a Deathwatch campaign before starting this one. I figured that by creating a character with the automatic bonus progression rules instead of using the equipment guidelines for creating characters above first level and just allowing the other players and whoever is DMing at the time to divide the magic items found as loot would be a good way to keep the magic items in the party from getting out of hand.
...sorry for the run-on sentences
1) Sounds pretty similar to what gets created by a mage's magnificent mansion... but perhaps you can do the same thing sort of with a tiny hut spell. I'd check those two spells out to see if they'll serve as a starting point for you.
2) When a character gains an enhancement bonus in that way, I'd have them pick what skill ranks they gain and then that's locked in for that character. Bonus skill ranks from Intelligence increases should always be granted when the modifier increases to a new point, but this should never turn into a situation where someone can apply and reapply the same bonus (such as would happen by taking the headband off and on) and thus being able to customize those extra points to new skills each time.
Do you like Arrested Development?
I love Arrested Development.
What did you think of season four?
Are you excited for five...if they ever finally get to it?
I loved how tightly written season four was. Probably my favorite season.
What did you think of the second season of Fargo. :-)
I hear season three is going to take place a few years after season one. And yes season two is crazy! One of my favorite shows. :-)
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Something that's been bothering me about elf-dwarf-relations: the books state that elves view other races, like dwarves, as "rash" due to their perception of time. But in other books it succinctly states that dwarves see elves as "flighty." Don't those essentially mean the same thing? It seems like the entire conversation between the two races is:
"You're impulsive and stinky, drunken brutes!"
"No, YOU'RE impulsive, and a bunch of poofs!"
I'm not quite sure how elves can be "flighty" if their perception of time causes them to wait centuries for problems to solve themselves instead of acting. What am I misunderstanding here?
Flighty is not a synonym for rash.
Elves see most other races as rushing to get things done before they thing things through.
Dwarves see elves as being given to flights of fancy and mildly crazy.
Also, heads up: don't use "poof" in that context; it's pretty damn offensive.
I'm sorry.
Also "mildly crazy?" I thought the impression elves were supposed to give was "wise and serene," like Galadriel.
So, in the (marvellous) Occult Adventures book, there is a level 9 spell on the psychic list called Major Mindswap, which swaps your mind with that of another creature of your race.
Do you see this as the Pathfinder version of Asenath Waite/Thing on the Doorstep-type longevity through moving into new successive bodies when the previous ones grow old and frail?
Can it be used multiple times in succession, moving through a chain of several new bodies, or does the psychic need to return back to her original body each time before moving into a new one?
The spell does say that a Miracle or Wish can revert it, returning both minds to their original bodies, which seems like it makes for an interesting weakness for villains using this spell. If a psychic can transmigrate multiple times consecutively and the spell is thus reversed, would this just revert the last transmigration, or would it return her to her (perhaps long dead) most original body?
Thank you for your time and your great work. ^^
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Creative Director
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So, in the (marvellous) Occult Adventures book, there is a level 9 spell on the psychic list called Major Mindswap, which swaps your mind with that of another creature of your race.
Do you see this as the Pathfinder version of Asenath Waite/Thing on the Doorstep-type longevity through moving into new successive bodies when the previous ones grow old and frail?
Can it be used multiple times in succession, moving through a chain of several new bodies, or does the psychic need to return back to her original body each time before moving into a new one?
The spell does say that a Miracle or Wish can revert it, returning both minds to their original bodies, which seems like it makes for an interesting weakness for villains using this spell. If a psychic can transmigrate multiple times consecutively and the spell is thus reversed, would this just revert the last transmigration, or would it return her to her (perhaps long dead) most original body?
Thank you for your time and your great work. ^^
I would hope that it'd work for the Thing on the Doorstep type story. I wasn't involved in creating the book or that spell, so I can only hope that whoever DID write and develop it had that story in mind at the time. It's the design team you'll need to direct your questions.
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Creative Director
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Wail of the banshee inflicts 10 hp per caster level in all. It basically starts chewing through enemies, starting with the one closest to you, and then working its way out until it only does partial damage to the last victim. This does mean that the more folks who make their saving throw to halve the damage, the further the wail gets, which is weird.Wail of the banshee; does 10 pts of damage per caster level to 1 target/2 caster levels but those closest are effected first....
does that mean that the total is limited to say...200hp divided amongst the targets? or does it do 200/target and just effects those closest first?how do you account the remaining damage? the character dies when it drops to 0 hit points or when he drops to 0-Con? how does this work with regeneration?
Now that I read the spell again, I wonder if it instead inflicts that 10 points/level to EVERYONE who hears it. You should re-ask the question in the rules forum. But... when you do, just ask the question—don't preface it with "I asked James and he said this but now he said that" since that's clutter that will distract folks.
I've got a question for quasideities and demigods everywhere;
Let's say you've got a mythic character who has taken Divine Source. They've got followers and worshipers, but they're still mostly mortal and don't have a divine realm or extraplanar area for the souls of the faithful to go after death.
What happens to their worshipers once they've been Judged? Do they go to wherever their alignment would send them if they didn't worship a deity? Do they go to the closest aligned deity's realm? Do they have a timeshare in their deity's alignment's plane and relocate should the deity acquire a divine realm later?
Basically I want to know what happens to the soul of the dead Cleric of 9th level PC.
Now that I read the spell again, I wonder if it instead inflicts that 10 points/level to EVERYONE who hears it. You should re-ask the question in the rules forum. But... when you do, just ask the question—don't preface it with "I asked James and he said this but now he said that" since that's clutter that will distract folks.
Would it be helpful to point out that the Banshee creature wail ability references the spell and damages everyone in range for full damage if they fail the save?
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Creative Director
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I've got a question for quasideities and demigods everywhere;
Let's say you've got a mythic character who has taken Divine Source. They've got followers and worshipers, but they're still mostly mortal and don't have a divine realm or extraplanar area for the souls of the faithful to go after death.
What happens to their worshipers once they've been Judged? Do they go to wherever their alignment would send them if they didn't worship a deity? Do they go to the closest aligned deity's realm? Do they have a timeshare in their deity's alignment's plane and relocate should the deity acquire a divine realm later?
Basically I want to know what happens to the soul of the dead Cleric of 9th level PC.
If a quasi deity doesn't have a divine realm, their worshipers either go on to serve whatever deity the quasi deity serves, or if the quasi deity does not serve a deity or demigod or whatever with a divine realm, those souls go on to the alignment-appropriate realm and become either part of the realm's quintessence or "free range" petitioners whose fates are not set; what they become is up to them and fate and fortune.
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Creative Director
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Would it be helpful to point out that the Banshee creature wail ability references the spell and damages everyone in range for full damage if they fail the save?
Now that I read the spell again, I wonder if it instead inflicts that 10 points/level to EVERYONE who hears it. You should re-ask the question in the rules forum. But... when you do, just ask the question—don't preface it with "I asked James and he said this but now he said that" since that's clutter that will distract folks.
Sorta, but that doesn't change the fact that the spell itself was designed before the banshee existed in Pathfinder.
Alright, noted. Though now I'm curious about how one *gets* a divine realm. I assume that something like a Demon Lord's realm qualifies, so worshipers of Nocticula end up in The Midnight Isles, but what could a quasi-deity do to get a divine realm?
....and on a related note; What happens to the souls of heretical Nocticula worshipers? Let's assume they're particularly heretical and Chaotic *Good*
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Creative Director
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Alright, noted. Though now I'm curious about how one *gets* a divine realm. I assume that something like a Demon Lord's realm qualifies, so worshipers of Nocticula end up in The Midnight Isles, but what could a quasi-deity do to get a divine realm?
....and on a related note; What happens to the souls of heretical Nocticula worshipers? Let's assume they're particularly heretical and Chaotic *Good*
Gaining a divine realm is 100% in the category of being part of a custom story created by the GM for the character in question. I actually prefer that gaining a divine realm is one of the things that propels you from quasi deity to demigod, or vice-versa, that when you transition from quasi to demi one of the rewards is you gain a divine realm. However it works, there are no rules to cover it, since we don't have rules for PC demigods. What DOES happen when you shift from quasi deity to demigod is that you throw out your old stats and get brand new ones built by hand that make you a CR 26 to CR 30 unique creature, and are thus no longer a player character but an NPC demigod in the GM's control.
A demon lord's realm is EXACTLY what a divine realm is. There are no quasi-deity demon lords; they are all demigods.
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What happens if two gods have the same sacred animal/motif? How do mortals tell the difference between the two? For example, Erastil and the Empyreal Lord Cernunnos both have stags as their sacred animal, both use longbows as their favored weapon, and both have dominion over the hunt. What keeps people from seeing Cernunnos as anything but "Erastil-lite?" Or from viewing Felanya (a LG Empyreal Lord who uses the longsword and is all about honorable women warriors) as "Iomedae-lite?"
Makes sense, shame that it means it's (practically) impossible to play a literal demigod though (getting to CR 26 isn't all that difficult. Level 20/Mythic 10 and then any template covers that) but getting a divine realm and transforming into unique entity might cause problems for even the most lenient of GMs.
So, with that question wrapped up, I'll repeat my other question; What happens to the souls of heretical Nocticulan worshipers? (Or any heretical worshipers, really?) Do they go to the deity's realm, because they are honest worshipers, even if they don't happen to be orthodox ones? Wouldn't that be...punishing, for ones like Nocticulan Heretics?
Do they end up under the control of a deity of heresy? Or an alignment plane?
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getting to CR 26 isn't all that difficult. Level 20/Mythic 10 and then any template covers that
I think you would also have to relinquish control and turn the character into NPC, because CR is strictly for NPCs, not PCs. Am I right on that, James?
And in case that doesn't qualify as a question: Do you have a favorite AD&D novel from the TSR years?
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Creative Director
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What happens if two gods have the same sacred animal/motif? How do mortals tell the difference between the two? For example, Erastil and the Empyreal Lord Cernunnos both have stags as their sacred animal, both use longbows as their favored weapon, and both have dominion over the hunt. What keeps people from seeing Cernunnos as anything but "Erastil-lite?" Or from viewing Felanya (a LG Empyreal Lord who uses the longsword and is all about honorable women warriors) as "Iomedae-lite?"
Context matters. What keeps people from confusing two similar deities is learning about those faiths. If you're ignorant you may well confuse the two for the same thing, just as someone who's not a gamer might not understand the difference between Basic D&D and Advanced D&D, or someone who's new to science fiction might not know the differences between Original Star Trek and the Next Generation Star Trek.
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Makes sense, shame that it means it's (practically) impossible to play a literal demigod though (getting to CR 26 isn't all that difficult. Level 20/Mythic 10 and then any template covers that) but getting a divine realm and transforming into unique entity might cause problems for even the most lenient of GMs.
So, with that question wrapped up, I'll repeat my other question; What happens to the souls of heretical Nocticulan worshipers? (Or any heretical worshipers, really?) Do they go to the deity's realm, because they are honest worshipers, even if they don't happen to be orthodox ones? Wouldn't that be...punishing, for ones like Nocticulan Heretics?
Do they end up under the control of a deity of heresy? Or an alignment plane?
What happens to heretical Nocticulans can vary, but most of them probably end up being punished in the Abyss or perhaps lost to the Maelstrom or hunted on Abaddon. A few, though, who were particularly devout or focused in NOT being chaotic evil may well even end up adrift in Elysium. It really varies, but in most cases it's not a pleasant afterlife for them to look forward to. There's a certain element of being a martyr involved in any sort of heresy.
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Creative Director
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getting to CR 26 isn't all that difficult. Level 20/Mythic 10 and then any template covers thatI think you would also have to relinquish control and turn the character into NPC, because CR is strictly for NPCs, not PCs. Am I right on that, James?
And in case that doesn't qualify as a question: Do you have a favorite AD&D novel from the TSR years?
Correct. Unless you wanted to kit-bash up your own set of house rules for play at that level. It's not something we directly support.
My favorite AD&D novel from the TSR years is "The Crystal Shard."
Who did the stat block for Furcas in Hell Unleashed? In format and design philosophy it very closely matches your Demon Lord and other demigod stat blocks rather than the (inferior, IMO) Empyreal Lords in Bestiary 4 and Heaven Unleashed.
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Where in the Inner Sea region did the Rhomphaia emerge from? Which culture/nation would you most likely find it in (you know, similar to how falcatas and the rondelero style originated in Taldor, or how earth breakers and klars are associated with the Shoanti)?
I ask because the Inner Sea region doesn't really have an analogue to the Thracians the same way viking warriors do with the Lands of the Linnorm Kings or how Minkai, Shokuro, Jinin and the Forest of Spirits portray different aspects of Japanese history and culture.
Thanks for doing this, as it's extraordinarily helpful. I have a few questions about the Control Winds spell. Does this spell move with the caster, or is it immobile? My second, and more important, question is the spell lists Fortitude negates. Just what does fortitude negate? Does it only negate picking up/pushing enemies, or would it negate all the wind effects such as perception penalties, ranged attack penalties, fly penalties/etc?