James,
Thanks for doing this thread. Sorry for all the people who continually post rules questions here. You're awesome.
Marvel recently revealed a storyline wherein Captain America is an agent of Hydra and has possibly been all along. I have a soft spot in my heart for shining beacons of goodness like Cap and Superman and paladins... and I know you do NOT.
What do you think of this move or moves like it (since I know it's probably your reaction to say, "I don't care because Captain America is boring.")?
I feel like virtually any story can be good if it's well told and has great characters, but part of me feels like the best case scenario is that this is a ploy on Marvel's part done for shock value and the worst case scenario is that they are discarding what is essential to the character (even though it will probably just be him going deep cover as Hydra or whatever).
Even if your response is just laconic apathy, thanks again for all the brilliant work you do. (And, as a personal trainer, let me also commend you for your amazing weight loss!)
James why are so may evil female NPC's depicted as bald tattoed and pierced? The only female baddie that I can think of who is not drawn that way is Queeen Abrogail the II. Could Pazio make more female baddies that don't look they just escaped from Nidal or is that just the Female baddie fashion in Golarion?
Ileosa, Allevrah, Baba Yaga, Elvanna, Nualia, and Inkskin Locke all have long hair, and that's just off the top of my head.
Creative Director
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James why are so may evil female NPC's depicted as bald tattoed and pierced? The only female baddie that I can think of who is not drawn that way is Queeen Abrogail the II. Could Pazio make more female baddies that don't look they just escaped from Nidal or is that just the Female baddie fashion in Golarion?
Way ahead of you. Just off the top of my head, and pulling from female NPCs throughout many adventure paths...
Allevrah Azrinae
Sorshen
Baba Yaga
Nualia
Xanesha
Depora Azrinae
Areelu Vorlesh
Cinnabar
Kayltanya
Chivane
Chamidy Drovenge
Nyrissa
Velriana Hypaxes
Kulgara
Ophelia
I could go on. In fact, I was having a hard time finding a "female baddie who was bald and tattooed and pierced" at all. So I'm pretty sure the problem you've identified is not actually a problem.
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Creative Director
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James why are so may evil female NPC's depicted as bald tattoed and pierced? The only female baddie that I can think of who is not drawn that way is Queeen Abrogail the II. Could Pazio make more female baddies that don't look they just escaped from Nidal or is that just the Female baddie fashion in Golarion?Ileosa, Allevrah, Baba Yaga, Elvanna, Nualia, and Inkskin Locke all have long hair, and that's just off the top of my head.
Exactly, which is part of what I just posted; I appreciate that people are into the thread, but please let's keep your posts to questions for me and let me do the answering.
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Creative Director
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James,
Thanks for doing this thread. Sorry for all the people who continually post rules questions here. You're awesome.Marvel recently revealed a storyline wherein Captain America is an agent of Hydra and has possibly been all along. I have a soft spot in my heart for shining beacons of goodness like Cap and Superman and paladins... and I know you do NOT.
What do you think of this move or moves like it (since I know it's probably your reaction to say, "I don't care because Captain America is boring.")?
I feel like virtually any story can be good if it's well told and has great characters, but part of me feels like the best case scenario is that this is a ploy on Marvel's part done for shock value and the worst case scenario is that they are discarding what is essential to the character (even though it will probably just be him going deep cover as Hydra or whatever).
Even if your response is just laconic apathy, thanks again for all the brilliant work you do. (And, as a personal trainer, let me also commend you for your amazing weight loss!)
I don't care because Captain America is boring.
Actually, that's not true. I think that it's a bad move for a lot of reasons that don't even TOUCH the fact that it's just blatantly out of character for Captain America.
And thanks for the compliment! Keeping the weight off is kinda harder than losing it in the first place I'm finding. :-P
James why are so may evil female NPC's depicted as bald tattoed and pierced? The only female baddie that I can think of who is not drawn that way is Queeen Abrogail the II. Could Pazio make more female baddies that don't look they just escaped from Nidal or is that just the Female baddie fashion in Golarion?Way ahead of you. Just off the top of my head, and pulling from female NPCs throughout many adventure paths...
Allevrah Azrinae
Sorshen
Baba Yaga
Nualia
Xanesha
Depora Azrinae
Areelu Vorlesh
Cinnabar
Kayltanya
Chivane
Chamidy Drovenge
Nyrissa
Velriana Hypaxes
Kulgara
OpheliaI could go on. In fact, I was having a hard time finding a "female baddie who was bald and tattooed and pierced" at all. So I'm pretty sure the problem you've identified is not actually a problem.
I THINK they were talking about the Kuthite girl from Hell's Vengeance.
What's your favorite piece of art from the Hell's Rebels AP?
James why are so may evil female NPC's depicted as bald tattoed and pierced? The only female baddie that I can think of who is not drawn that way is Queeen Abrogail the II. Could Pazio make more female baddies that don't look they just escaped from Nidal or is that just the Female baddie fashion in Golarion?Way ahead of you. Just off the top of my head, and pulling from female NPCs throughout many adventure paths...
Allevrah Azrinae
Sorshen
Baba Yaga
Nualia
Xanesha
Depora Azrinae
Areelu Vorlesh
Cinnabar
Kayltanya
Chivane
Chamidy Drovenge
Nyrissa
Velriana Hypaxes
Kulgara
OpheliaI could go on. In fact, I was having a hard time finding a "female baddie who was bald and tattooed and pierced" at all. So I'm pretty sure the problem you've identified is not actually a problem.
It's kind of an odd thing, cause one of the most well known Zon-kuthon followers is Laori Vaus, and yet, she doesn't have any piercings or tattoos minor is she bald. Thematically, it would fit her as a Kuthonite, and yet, she has none of them.
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...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.
Let's see, magical girl:
Transformation?Check.
Magical powers of some sort, often used without anyones support?
Nope. Supportive set.
Weapon, often unusual or oversized?
Nope.
In some cases an mascot of some sort, usually independent from group and linked just by common cause, or not even that, if magical, it's source of girl's powers?
Nope. We get archetype focused on boosting familiar, as if it was most, not least important part of Magical Girls.
Often set of fun powers, magic or not, different from girl to girl?
"This ability replaces vigilante specialization."
"This replaces the 4th-, 8th-, 10th-, 14th-, and 16th-level vigilante talents."
Nope.
What is your opinion on the concept of a Chaotic Evil deity or creature that thinks he's Lawful Neutral?
One of the gods in my own setting matches this description; he hates evil and sinners, and prioritizes hunting them... but at the same time, he genuinely enjoys making his quarry suffer. Beyond that, his methods (which include genocide, torture, and mind rape) earn him the ire of the setting's good deities.
And he sees the world in black and white; anyone who tries to stop him is another criminal, no better than his targets.
What would necromancer need to do in order to not lose his good aligment?
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Hey JJ, got a question for you that I hope you know, that was asked to my friends' thread, and we don't have an answer.
3 hours, 34 minutes ago
Rifts Guy wrote:
So I'm running this game in the Terwa Uplands on the Garundi continent. I'm trying to find information on the Mbe'ke dwarves and maybe a map or description of the Terwa Uplands but there doesn't seem to be a lot.
Does anybody have any suggestions? Currently I'm running the Mbe'ke dwarves like standard dwarves except they have been influenced by Mwangi cultures.
James, do you see yourself still working at Paizo 10 years from now? 20? Or do you have loftier goals (such as margaritas on a beach)?
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Creative Director
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It's kind of an odd thing, cause one of the most well known Zon-kuthon followers is Laori Vaus, and yet, she doesn't have any piercings or tattoos minor is she bald. Thematically, it would fit her as a Kuthonite, and yet, she has none of them.
In fact, she has both tattoos AND piercings. We just won't ever illustrate them.
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Creative Director
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If a player uses simulacrum to make a copy of a person, and then used polymorph any object on that simulacrum to be a real version of the simulacrum, does the simulacrum become a real boy and is able to age and grow?
You win the mad wizard award for the day.
Yes, the simulacrum becomes real and can age and grow, but such a change wouldn't be permanent. A simulacrum is the same size, is related, and has the same Intelligence as a real human, but it is not in the same kingdom or same class since it's an illusion effect, not a living creature. As such, its increase to duration factor is +6, and thus this would only last 2 days, at which point it reverts to simulacrum and any aging or self-improvement or whatever that it accomplished resets as well.
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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...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.Let's see, magical girl:
Transformation?
Check.
Magical powers of some sort, often used without anyones support?
Nope. Supportive set.
Weapon, often unusual or oversized?
Nope.
In some cases an mascot of some sort, usually independent from group and linked just by common cause, or not even that, if magical, it's source of girl's powers?
Nope. We get archetype focused on boosting familiar, as if it was most, not least important part of Magical Girls.
Often set of fun powers, magic or not, different from girl to girl?
"This ability replaces vigilante specialization."
"This replaces the 4th-, 8th-, 10th-, 14th-, and 16th-level vigilante talents."
Nope.
Not seeing a question here, and while I so appreciate the reply to my request for how we missed the point, you not only worded it awkwardly (you provide a list of things, but I'm not sure what you were asking—do you want a magical girl to have all the things you say "nope" to? It's unclear)... but also, and I should have added to my original reply, that it's best to send these concerns to the product thread in question. This thread is for me to answer questions—let's keep it to that.
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Creative Director
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Here is a silly question but genuine question for you. If The Joker were to die and his soul went to the Abyss, what kind of demon would he become?
The Joker is one of the most iconic, well known, and powerful of all superhero villains. It's arguable that he could well be THE most well-known superhero villain, in fact. He's at least in the top 5 of superhero villains. As such, since he's at the top of the top of a list of thousands, I'd say he'd be one of those exceptionally rare few who would retain his personality after death and transformation and would become a unique demon that remembered part (or perhaps all) of his previous life... since that not only retains his villainy but could well give him a whole new story arc.
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Creative Director
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What would necromancer need to do in order to not lose his good aligment?
Same thing anyone would need to do in order to not lose their good alignment—they should avoid performing evil acts. Since you ask in particular about necromancers, the MAIN thing the necromancer should avoid is the creation or control of undead. If the necromancer focuses instead on using those powers to combat undead, that works.
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Creative Director
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What is your opinion on the concept of a Chaotic Evil deity or creature that thinks he's Lawful Neutral?
One of the gods in my own setting matches this description; he hates evil and sinners, and prioritizes hunting them... but at the same time, he genuinely enjoys making his quarry suffer. Beyond that, his methods (which include genocide, torture, and mind rape) earn him the ire of the setting's good deities.
And he sees the world in black and white; anyone who tries to stop him is another criminal, no better than his targets.
A creature that is chaotic evil but thinks it's a different alignment is psychotic. As in, has the psychosis insanity; see page 251 of the Gamemastery Guide.
A god that you describe is, to me, 100% chaotic evil. Him thinking his actions are lawful or non-evil is a manifestation of madness.
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Creative Director
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Hey JJ, got a question for you that I hope you know, that was asked to my friends' thread, and we don't have an answer.
3 hours, 34 minutes ago
Rifts Guy wrote:
So I'm running this game in the Terwa Uplands on the Garundi continent. I'm trying to find information on the Mbe'ke dwarves and maybe a map or description of the Terwa Uplands but there doesn't seem to be a lot.
Does anybody have any suggestions? Currently I'm running the Mbe'ke dwarves like standard dwarves except they have been influenced by Mwangi cultures.
If it's not in "Heart of the Jungle," I'm pretty sure we haven't said much about this subject at all. Which means your friend has a lot of room to come up with his own stuff for the dwarves and map and all that.
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Creative Director
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James, do you see yourself still working at Paizo 10 years from now? 20? Or do you have loftier goals (such as margaritas on a beach)?
The day before a convention is not a great day to ask me this question, since my brain, the day before any convention I'm supposed to go to, is deep in the "If I quit Paizo, I don't have to go to the convention" mode. :-P
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Here is a silly question but genuine question for you. If The Joker were to die and his soul went to the Abyss, what kind of demon would he become?The Joker is one of the most iconic, well known, and powerful of all superhero villains. It's arguable that he could well be THE most well-known superhero villain, in fact. He's at least in the top 5 of superhero villains. As such, since he's at the top of the top of a list of thousands, I'd say he'd be one of those exceptionally rare few who would retain his personality after death and transformation and would become a unique demon that remembered part (or perhaps all) of his previous life... since that not only retains his villainy but could well give him a whole new story arc.
How powerful would you imagine him to be? Below CR 20, nascent demon lord, or demon lord?
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Creative Director
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How powerful would you imagine him to be? Below CR 20, nascent demon lord, or demon lord?Here is a silly question but genuine question for you. If The Joker were to die and his soul went to the Abyss, what kind of demon would he become?The Joker is one of the most iconic, well known, and powerful of all superhero villains. It's arguable that he could well be THE most well-known superhero villain, in fact. He's at least in the top 5 of superhero villains. As such, since he's at the top of the top of a list of thousands, I'd say he'd be one of those exceptionally rare few who would retain his personality after death and transformation and would become a unique demon that remembered part (or perhaps all) of his previous life... since that not only retains his villainy but could well give him a whole new story arc.
That'd depend 100% on the purpose for which I'd need him in a game I was running. All other things being equal, though, I guess CR 22–24 or thereabouts?
James, do you see yourself still working at Paizo 10 years from now? 20? Or do you have loftier goals (such as margaritas on a beach)?The day before a convention is not a great day to ask me this question, since my brain, the day before any convention I'm supposed to go to, is deep in the "If I quit Paizo, I don't have to go to the convention" mode. :-P
Fair enough =P
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I'm building a character who was adopted (specifically by Koya Mvashti from the Jade Regent campaign). Would it make sense for her to take Mvashti as her own surname, especially if she did not know her own parents and thus essentially views Koya as her true mother despite not being her blood? How does adoption work in Varisian society?
Not seeing a question here, and while I so appreciate the reply to my request for how we missed the point, you not only worded it awkwardly (you provide a list of things, but I'm not sure what you were asking—do you want a magical girl to have all the things you say "nope" to? It's unclear)... but also, and I should have added to my original reply, that it's best to send these concerns to the product thread in question. This thread is for me to answer questions—let's keep it to that.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...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.Spoiler:Let's see, magical girl: Transformation?
Check.
Magical powers of some sort, often used without anyones support?
Nope. Supportive set.
Weapon, often unusual or oversized?
Nope.
In some cases an mascot of some sort, usually independent from group and linked just by common cause, or not even that, if magical, it's source of girl's powers?
Nope. We get archetype focused on boosting familiar, as if it was most, not least important part of Magical Girls.
Often set of fun powers, magic or not, different from girl to girl?
"This ability replaces vigilante specialization."
"This replaces the 4th-, 8th-, 10th-, 14th-, and 16th-level vigilante talents."
Nope.
I do admit that the summoner spell list is an odd choice for magical girls. Considering that most magical girls are capable of things like this? The magus or sorcerer/wizard list would probably be more apropos, since both of those have access to damaging evocation spells.
I actually only know of ONE MG in the entire genre whose schtick is summoning, and that's Sakura, so unless the magical child archetype was specifically based on her and not the magical girl character archetype as a whole, it's not really a good fit.
Any thoughts, Mr. Jacobs?
Is the name of the Galtan revolutionary philosopher Hosetter a subtle reference to the American liberal philosopher Hofstadter, or is the similarity there just a coincidence? And if it is a reference, then does Darl Jubannich also have a real-world counterpart?
I'm building a character who was adopted (specifically by Koya Mvashti from the Jade Regent campaign). Would it make sense for her to take Mvashti as her own surname, especially if she did not know her own parents and thus essentially views Koya as her true mother despite not being her blood? How does adoption work in Varisian society?
If Tian Xia follows Asian conventions, isn't Koya the surname?
Hi James! I hope Paizocon is tolerable for you! I know you hate conventions so I'll just say that I hope this one has as little of what you hate and as much of what you don't hate as possible.
I'm building a character who was adopted (specifically by Koya Mvashti from the Jade Regent campaign). Would it make sense for her to take Mvashti as her own surname, especially if she did not know her own parents and thus essentially views Koya as her true mother despite not being her blood? How does adoption work in Varisian society?If Tian Xia follows Asian conventions, isn't Koya the surname?
Koya isn't Tian, she's Varisian.
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?
Maybe this is technically two questions, but do you mind if someone bumps a question that asked that seems to have been missed in the shuffle? (Judging from the timing, I think it literally went up while you were posting a reply to something else.)
Hi James,
Hope PaizoCon was less unpleasant for you than you expected it to be.
Some exciting news of things to come, though! Which of the announced projects are you contributing to? Did any of your "secret projects" get announced? And was anything announced that slipped under the radar thanks to Starfinder that you think we should be excited about?
Holy crap. So, I'm guessing that Starfinder was that mysterious secret project that you've been alluding to for quite some time?
Alright, I'm finished with Dragon Age: Inquisition, and I have a few questions about your personal experience with the game:
1. Did you recruit the mages or Templars. If you recruited the mages, did you conscript them or let them run free? (Free mages for me.)
2. Who were your two best buds in the game? (Varric and Dorian for me.)
3. If you romanced anybody, who did you romance? (Sera for me.)
4. When you judged people, were you generally merciful or ruthless? (An even mix for me, when people were genuinely trying to do good, I gave them an ironic punishment, when people were evil bastards I executed them.)
5. Which NPC did you like the most? (Probably Sera for me.)
6. Which NPC did you hate the most? (I hate Vivienne so much!)
7. Did you leave Hawke or Stroud behind? (I left Stroud behind, I couldn't do that to Varric.)
8. What personality did your Inquisitor have? (Snarky with diplomatic flavors for me, and she let a bit of her funny guise down whenever she talked with her friends and expressed how much she felt each loss and death.)
9. What about your Inquisitor's class and race?
10. Are you as excited as I am that the next Dragon Age will probably be set in Tevinter?
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And thanks for the compliment! Keeping the weight off is kinda harder than losing it in the first place I'm finding. :-P
Switching to diet soda (since Mt. Dew was at least 50% responsible for my weight and diabetes), and then to zero calorie Arizona tea (can't live without my caffeine!) has made all the difference for me.
Since losing weight, have you found that your thinking seems clearer? I have no idea if it's a silly notion in my head, but I feel like I've sort of woken up from a decade of sleepwalking, and everything is less fuzzy and distant than it was.
And, a totally different question, have you read Maplecroft, by Cherie Priest? It's not spoiling anything you won't see on the cover to say that it's a Lovecraftian story with Lizzie Borden as protagonist, which is all sorts of whacky, and totally works.
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In fact, [Laori Vaus] has both tattoos AND piercings. We just won't ever illustrate them.
I was going to ask why Paizo would ever pay anyone to illustrate Laori again at all, since as I recalled you said after the RotRL Anniversary edition came out that you probably wouldn't be doing revised hardcover editions of the other three OGL APs because of how much it disrupted the schedule for other product releases... but now I see on the front page that either I remembered wrong or you changed your minds, as the hardcover of CotCT will be hitting shelves in September -- YAY!
So instead I'll just ask this: do you realize that by saying that Laori has tattoos and piercings in places that won't ever be uncovered in an official illustration, you're waving catnip under the noses of the various fan artists who apply Rule 34 of the Internet to the Pathfinder iconics and major NPCs?
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Creative Director
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I'm building a character who was adopted (specifically by Koya Mvashti from the Jade Regent campaign). Would it make sense for her to take Mvashti as her own surname, especially if she did not know her own parents and thus essentially views Koya as her true mother despite not being her blood? How does adoption work in Varisian society?
It makes sense to take the Mvashti name, yes.
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Creative Director
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I do admit that the summoner spell list is an odd choice for magical girls. Considering that most magical girls are capable of things like this? The magus or sorcerer/wizard list would probably be more apropos, since both of those have access to damaging evocation spells.
I actually only know of ONE MG in the entire genre whose schtick is summoning, and that's Sakura, so unless the magical child archetype was specifically based on her and not the magical girl character archetype as a whole, it's not really a good fit.
Any thoughts, Mr. Jacobs?
None, other than that the best choice might just be to pick the spellcasting class that makes the most sense to the type of character you want to play and play a young character?
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Creative Director
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I'm building a character who was adopted (specifically by Koya Mvashti from the Jade Regent campaign). Would it make sense for her to take Mvashti as her own surname, especially if she did not know her own parents and thus essentially views Koya as her true mother despite not being her blood? How does adoption work in Varisian society?If Tian Xia follows Asian conventions, isn't Koya the surname?
Koya is Varisian.
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Creative Director
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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?Maybe this is technically two questions, but do you mind if someone bumps a question that asked that seems to have been missed in the shuffle? (Judging from the timing, I think it literally went up while you were posting a reply to something else.)
I don't mind if someone bumps a question, and often a question DOES pop up when I'm replying to something else. And if that reply kicks things over to a new page, that can result in a question being missed.
I do think I answered that one though. In any event, yes, there are any number of situations in which the Red Mantis Assassins would say no to a job OR would do one for free. They're not robots. They can make choices to cut prices or do things for free if they feel it's the right choice for them.
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Creative Director
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Hi James,
Hope PaizoCon was less unpleasant for you than you expected it to be.
Some exciting news of things to come, though! Which of the announced projects are you contributing to? Did any of your "secret projects" get announced? And was anything announced that slipped under the radar thanks to Starfinder that you think we should be excited about?
I wrote the outline for Strange Aeons, helped a bit with the brainstorming for Ironfang Invasion, and have really not much at all to do with Starfinder. The big secret project I've been working on (and will be for about 2 more weeks) is the Curse of the Crimson Throne Hardcover, which got announced a month ago at GAMA. In theory, I've a new secret project I'll get back to working on in a few months once I've helped get the Pathfinder Companion and Campaign Setting lines back on schedule, but we'll see... lots can change in even a few months. And no, that other secret project is still quite secret.
