Creative Director
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Hey James if you, as a fan, bought some products from a gaming website and they overcharged you by 1000 dollars what would you do?
This actually happened to me last week and the CEO of the company sent me an autographed copy of a world map and a 1000 dollar check so I'm not to mad...
I would do the same thing, probably.
What aspects or components are necessary to make an encounter memorable, or at very least, stick out?
Based on your answer, what has been your favorite encounter to date, as a player or GM?
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Creative Director
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What aspects or components are necessary to make an encounter memorable, or at very least, stick out?
Based on your answer, what has been your favorite encounter to date, as a player or GM?
Close calls are always fun, as are final confrontations with long-term bad guys. Encounters where players make significant decisions that alter or change their character are cool too. You can plan for these to occur on one level, but lucky die rolls are just as important in generating memorable encounters as well.
I've been gaming for nearly 30 years, and as a result it's pretty hard for me to nail down a specific favorite encounter. I've actually been asked this question several times before (even in this thread), and I guess as good an answer as any is the encounter where I made a player fall backwards out of his chair in surprise and laughter due to an unexpected description of a sight he saw as he hurtled down a mine tunnel in an out-of-control mine cart.
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What aspects or components are necessary to make an encounter memorable, or at very least, stick out?
Based on your answer, what has been your favorite encounter to date, as a player or GM?
Close calls are always fun, as are final confrontations with long-term bad guys. Encounters where players make significant decisions that alter or change their character are cool too. You can plan for these to occur on one level, but lucky die rolls are just as important in generating memorable encounters as well.
I've been gaming for nearly 30 years, and as a result it's pretty hard for me to nail down a specific favorite encounter. I've actually been asked this question several times before (even in this thread), and I guess as good an answer as any is the encounter where I made a player fall backwards out of his chair in surprise and laughter due to an unexpected description of a sight he saw as he hurtled down a mine tunnel in an out-of-control mine cart.
Care to elaborate?
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Creative Director
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Care to elaborate?What aspects or components are necessary to make an encounter memorable, or at very least, stick out?
Based on your answer, what has been your favorite encounter to date, as a player or GM?
Close calls are always fun, as are final confrontations with long-term bad guys. Encounters where players make significant decisions that alter or change their character are cool too. You can plan for these to occur on one level, but lucky die rolls are just as important in generating memorable encounters as well.
I've been gaming for nearly 30 years, and as a result it's pretty hard for me to nail down a specific favorite encounter. I've actually been asked this question several times before (even in this thread), and I guess as good an answer as any is the encounter where I made a player fall backwards out of his chair in surprise and laughter due to an unexpected description of a sight he saw as he hurtled down a mine tunnel in an out-of-control mine cart.
It doesn't really translate too well, alas, out of context. The players were in a mine cart chase in Firestorm Peak, with duergar leaping from cart to cart attacking them, and as they passed a bunch of rooms, I rapid fire described the strange sights they saw. When I mentioned one room had two cats boxing each other, the culmination of the mayhem and the comedy and the stress of the whole scene made one of my friends lean back so violently with laughter that his chair gave up and tumbled him to the floor.
The encounter ended up with the mine carts exploding into a huge underdark marketplace with mayhem spreading through like a virus. At one point, one of the party fell through the roof of a stall that was selling... ahem... "drow marital aids," while in another part of the room, a derro who was selling exotic pets grabbed up two stirges and started dual-weapon fighting with them. It was, all in all, a pretty wild and crazy encounter.
I am going to be playing a fighter with the Dawnflower Dervish archtype(hence the previous questions about them) in a game where we start at 15th level.
Is there any chance you can "preview" Dervish Dance for me? I had to cancel my credit card due to a very stupid former friend and thus can't buy the Inner Sea World Guide for at least another week or two :(
Also, why does the Dawnflower Dervish replace all 4 Armor Training features, but doesn't replace Armor Mastery? While I understand none of the benefits limit or restrict wearing armor, gaining Armor Mastery without the benefits of Armor Training doesn't seem to make much sense.
James, have any of the games you've played in recent months included a player-run ninja from the Ultimate Combat playtest? If so, what are your thoughts on the balance of the class as it is?
I ask because this week, one of my players requested to retire his cleric and bring in a halfling ninja, and his ability to burn ki for nigh-unlimited greater invisibility has thus far verged on game-breaking. He's eating my beautiful neh-thalggu alive with sneak attack damage! =[
I rapid fire described the strange sights they saw. When I mentioned one room had two cats boxing each other...
wow! did you improv that??
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Creative Director
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I am going to be playing a fighter with the Dawnflower Dervish archtype(hence the previous questions about them) in a game where we start at 15th level.
Is there any chance you can "preview" Dervish Dance for me? I had to cancel my credit card due to a very stupid former friend and thus can't buy the Inner Sea World Guide for at least another week or two :(
Also, why does the Dawnflower Dervish replace all 4 Armor Training features, but doesn't replace Armor Mastery? While I understand none of the benefits limit or restrict wearing armor, gaining Armor Mastery without the benefits of Armor Training doesn't seem to make much sense.
Dervish Dance: Prerequisites of Dex 13, Weapon Finesse, Perform (dance) 2 ranks, proficient with scimitar; Use Dex mod instead of Str with scimitars for attack and damage, treat scimitar as piercing, can't use a shield and gain these benefits. Basically, you take this feat if you want to be a duelist and fight with a scimitar.
As for the second; armor mastery is still really pretty handy to a Dawnflower Dervish. And we didn't want to replace EVERYTHING, since she has to retain some stuff in order to still be a fighter.
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Creative Director
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James, have any of the games you've played in recent months included a player-run ninja from the Ultimate Combat playtest? If so, what are your thoughts on the balance of the class as it is?
I ask because this week, one of my players requested to retire his cleric and bring in a halfling ninja, and his ability to burn ki for nigh-unlimited greater invisibility has thus far verged on game-breaking. He's eating my beautiful neh-thalggu alive with sneak attack damage! =[
Hyrum playtested a ninja in Sean's high-level drow game last Tuesday. It seemed VERY good. He was blowing more stuff up with his throwing stars than the spellcasters. There's still some adjustments coming for the ninja, in other words, and unless your player is okay with the fact that he'll have to rebuild his character when the actual book comes out and that will invariably result in a less-powerful (but more balanced) character... I'd say tell him to wait.
Personally... I tend to NOT let my players use playtest classes in campaigns, unless the whole purpose of the campaign is to playtest.
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Creative Director
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May have asked this before but is there any chance of an Shifter style race ever appearing in any of the Pathfinder products?
I suppose there's a chance... but not a big one. Mostly because we're trying to stay away from introducing "copies" of concepts created by Wizards of the Coast that aren't also based on mythology. Shifters, their version of changelings, warforged, goliaths... a LOT of the stuff WotC created near the closing days of 3rd Edition (and almost all of the stuff for 4th edition) deliberately skews away from tradition and mythology because it's easier to claim product identity and intellectual property of something if you make it up whole-cloth on your own.
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Mostly because we're trying to stay away from introducing "copies" of concepts created by Wizards of the Coast that aren't also based on mythology.
Ah I may have explained myself poorly I was thinking more of the basic concept of Shifters rather than the race itself Ie either a race desended from Lycans or someone who has learned to controll it (Not sure about the first one but I think there are at least examples of the second in mythology)
Is there a movie, book, comic or other intellectual property out there that you feel ought to have its own RPG that doesn't currently have one? What mechanics would you use?
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Creative Director
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Is there a movie, book, comic or other intellectual property out there that you feel ought to have its own RPG that doesn't currently have one? What mechanics would you use?
After Sara Marie brought it up... "Fringe" needs an RPG. It should use Chaosium's BRP system so it can use all of the Call of Cthulhu stuff.
Hey James Jacobs!
Do you know why kids love the great taste of Cinnamon Toast Crunch?
The secret ingredient: COCAINEHey James Jacobs!
Do you know why kids love the great taste of Cinnamon Toast Crunch?
She don't lie, she don't lie, she don't lie...
Why doesn't cocaine lie?
duuh.....WIN ning.
duuh.....WIN ning.
Riiiight! How could I forget?
James,
Knowing that chickens are far-distant cousins of the T-Rex (seriously!), and that they are totally ignorant of the laws of gravity:
A -Would it be possible to raise these chickens upside-down on our ceilings?
B - Implying that T-Rex would have shown a similar aptitude (live and breed on caves' ceilings) in past times, would that had affected the space & time continuum?
C - Would Newton even had invented the laws of gravity if a T-Rex would have fallen on his head (instead of an apple)?
Journey or REO Speedwagon?Neither.
Thank you god.
RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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I am working on an adventure and was looking through the various PFRPG books. I have not been able to find any creature with a CMD bonus against Acrobatics checks to move through the creature's threatened space. How would you write it in a stat block?
I was thinking:
CMD 12 (16 vs Acrobatics)
Or just make it a defensive ability that spells out the effect?
What animals have you ever ridden? (pig rodeo inspired question)
Are there Magus-specific favored class bonuses in Ultimate Magic? At least humans would have one; and I suspect elves makes sense too.
Maybe:
- Human - Add one spell from the magus spell list to the magus’ spellbook. This spell must be at least one level below the highest spell level he can cast.
- Elf - Add +1/4 to the magus' arcane pool.
Dervish Dance: Prerequisites of Dex 13, Weapon Finesse, Perform (dance) 2 ranks, proficient with scimitar; Use Dex mod instead of Str with scimitars for attack and damage, treat scimitar as piercing, can't use a shield and gain these benefits. Basically, you take this feat if you want to be a duelist and fight with a scimitar.
As for the second; armor mastery is still really pretty handy to a Dawnflower Dervish. And we didn't want to replace EVERYTHING, since she has to retain some stuff in order to still be a fighter.
Thanks for the preview.
I don't understand why the scimitar is treated as piercing. This make it identical to the rapier. Why not just say rapier? As I understand, why most people want to use scimitars is because they do slashig damage. whouln't it be easier just saying rapier instead of scimitar or I'm I missing something?I think I will LOVE this class :-)
... I think I will LOVE the Inner Sea World Guide :D
I don't understand why the scimitar is treated as piercing. This make it identical to the rapier. Why not just say rapier? As I understand, why most people want to use scimitars is because they do slashig damage. whouln't it be easier just saying rapier instead of scimitar or I'm I missing something?
Because the feat is based on real-world premise. Dervishes and scimitars go hand-in-hand historically. And if you see an actual dervish dance the "piercing" bit makes sense. Its a flavorful feat as much as it is useful. A rapier just doesn't have the same panache - though keep your eyes open for future Zorro inspired rapier-based feats.
I don't understand why the scimitar is treated as piercing. This make it identical to the rapier. Why not just say rapier? As I understand, why most people want to use scimitars is because they do slashig damage. whouln't it be easier just saying rapier instead of scimitar or I'm I missing something?
As Lorekeeper said + it allows you to ustilize the PrC duelist which fit really well that historical concept he was talking.
stuff
I see, it's a feat. I thought it was a PrC. Thanx.
editoh my god. It's a feat. Rogues and dex bards just became great :-)
4) Subject of Elven sub-races...it seems to me with the Elven flavor of being more intune to their enviroment and physcaly changing over time to adaapt to it you guys explained why their would be elven sub races...are you guys going to explore that more?
If not sub-races, what about ethnicities, such as in the Inner Sea Guide? I realize that's setting specific, but suggested ethnicities based on various political settings/scenarios would be helpful to a campaign setting that develops over time, for instance. Knowing how race A would likely develop over a given period is something that's overlooked in terms of worldbuilding.
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Creative Director
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James,
Knowing that chickens are far-distant cousins of the T-Rex (seriously!), and that they are totally ignorant of the laws of gravity:
A -Would it be possible to raise these chickens upside-down on our ceilings?
B - Implying that T-Rex would have shown a similar aptitude (live and breed on caves' ceilings) in past times, would that had affected the space & time continuum?
C - Would Newton even had invented the laws of gravity if a T-Rex would have fallen on his head (instead of an apple)?
A: Chickens are really pretty stupid. I doubt they'd have the skill to do that upside-down trick.
B: T-rex is a LOT smarter than a chicken, and more handsome too.
C: Probably. Assuming Newton can take several tones of handsome dinosaur flesh to the noggin and survive.
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Creative Director
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I am working on an adventure and was looking through the various PFRPG books. I have not been able to find any creature with a CMD bonus against Acrobatics checks to move through the creature's threatened space. How would you write it in a stat block?
I was thinking:
CMD 12 (16 vs Acrobatics)Or just make it a defensive ability that spells out the effect?
What animals have you ever ridden? (pig rodeo inspired question)
If you want to make a creature that's particularly anti-Acrobatics, you need to make it a full-on defensive ability that spells out how it works. Just a plain bonus vs. Acrobatics isn't the way to go.
I've ridden a horse, and that's about it.
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Creative Director
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Are there Magus-specific favored class bonuses in Ultimate Magic? At least humans would have one; and I suspect elves makes sense too.
Maybe:
- Human - Add one spell from the magus spell list to the magus’ spellbook. This spell must be at least one level below the highest spell level he can cast.
- Elf - Add +1/4 to the magus' arcane pool.
I don't believe there's any race options in either Ultimate Magic OR Ultimate Combat.
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Creative Director
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I don't understand why the scimitar is treated as piercing. This make it identical to the rapier. Why not just say rapier? As I understand, why most people want to use scimitars is because they do slashig damage. whouln't it be easier just saying rapier instead of scimitar or I'm I missing something?
I think I will LOVE this class :-)
... I think I will LOVE the Inner Sea World Guide :D
It's partially a flavor thing–scimitars and rapiers look different, after all. Also, scimitars can't normally be treated as light weapons; that's the primary bonus the feat grants.
And as for the "treated as piercing," that basically just says that if you take duelist levels, you can use a scimitar to do your thing. The actual type of damage the weapon inflicts remains slashing damage; the feat just lets you use your duelist tricks with it (normally, duelist stuff only works for piercing weapons).
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Creative Director
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I could probably answer this question for myself if I had more of the books (or any of the APs), but-
Golarion elves may be aloof and kinda arrogant, but they're not going to be total b----es like Krynn's Silvanesti, are they? The Silvanesti always seemed N in regards to good and evil at best; with their racism they were worse than most of the races they looked down on. Being incredibly beautiful and graceful and living in a sparkly magical kingdom and hating goblinoids does not make one good. They were starting to make me hate elves.
** spoiler omitted **
...I've been wanting to rant about the Silvanesti for a while... sorry. It's just I think the elven race has too much potential to be ruined- again.
While some in-world characters might see elves in Golarion as arrogant... and while there are certainly some elves that ARE arrogant... we are indeed trying to not build our elves on the old D&D model. Might be something we need to remind our fiction writers about more often.
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Creative Director
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4) Subject of Elven sub-races...it seems to me with the Elven flavor of being more intune to their enviroment and physcaly changing over time to adaapt to it you guys explained why their would be elven sub races...are you guys going to explore that more?If not sub-races, what about ethnicities, such as in the Inner Sea Guide? I realize that's setting specific, but suggested ethnicities based on various political settings/scenarios would be helpful to a campaign setting that develops over time, for instance. Knowing how race A would likely develop over a given period is something that's overlooked in terms of worldbuilding.
We do have several elven ethnicities, actually, and some of those DO cross the line into sub race.
We've got standard elves, for example. The Mordant Spire elves are different, as are forlorn elves, the Ekujae elevs of the Mwangi, aquatic elves, snowcaster elves, and of course the drow.
There are variants out there, in other words.
Just had a brain fart.
Did mortal life on Golarion start from the vaults of the Creators, deep in the Underdark, or did the First World (Fae Realm) trigger it?
Or something else *looks at the many creatures out there with tentacles* When an Otherworldly Ancient Evil and a Planet love each other very much ..... MADNESS SHALL CONSUME YOU!
Or something else *looks at the many creatures out there with tentacles* When an Otherworldly Ancient Evil and a Planet love each other very much ..... MADNESS SHALL CONSUME YOU!
Hey! Now you're singing my song!
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Creative Director
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[elves are] a bit different due to their connection to First World-y thingsPathfinder elves don't really have any connection to the First World, IIRC. That's the gnomes' gig. Elves hail from Sovyrian.
A way to rephrase that for folks who don't know Golarion's proper nouns:
"Pathfinder elves don't really have any connection to the fey world. That's the gnomes' gig. Pathfinder elves hail from another world (probably!); they're essentially aliens."
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Creative Director
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Just had a brain fart.
Did mortal life on Golarion start from the vaults of the Creators, deep in the Underdark, or did the First World (Fae Realm) trigger it?
Or something else *looks at the many creatures out there with tentacles* When an Otherworldly Ancient Evil and a Planet love each other very much ..... MADNESS SHALL CONSUME YOU!
We haven't nailed down how mortal life on Golarion began. We've got plenty of various myths and legends, but we haven't said which one of them is right.
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Creative Director
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Where are the descriptions of/rules for the sub races (not including drow 'cause I have the Bestiary)? Do they have different racial modifiers? And when will we be seeing aquatic elves in a Bestiary, or other book in the hardcover line?
The page on elves in the Inner Sea World Guide talks a bit about these different elves, but most of them don't have stat differences.
Standard elves, forlorn elves, snowcaster elves, Mordant Spire elves, and the Ekujae all have the same racial traits and modifiers; they're different only in culture and society and outlook on life.
Drow are detailed in the Bestiary.
Aquatic elves are a bit different; they have the aquatic subtype, the amphibious special quality, a swim speed of 30 feet, and get slightly different free weapon proficiencies (I believe short sword, rapier, and trident). They're detailed in the Inner Sea World Guide. Apart from that, they have the same racial modifiers as elves. They have not yet been statted up in a Bestiary.
In my Rise of the Runelords game, the half-orc paladin of Sarenrae has developed an interest in Rynshinn Povalli. The Sandpoint article in Burnt Offerings states that "the lonely woman has politely eschewed all
possible suitors for reasons she has not shared."
Is there more explanation behind this, or is it meant to be filled in by the GM? How would she be likely to respond to a heroic (and charismatic) half-orc asking her to dinner.