Creative Director
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So, based on your feeling that the themes of what makes a darklord of Ravenloft should be present from the character's inception, do you feel Soth of Dragonlance was a poor choice to make into a darklord?
Regardless of that, I always felt that Soth was a poor choice because he felt like a square peg in a round hole, and because I'm not a HUGE fan of cross-campaign elements like that.
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Did you see that Phantasm V is releasing in October?
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Creative Director
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Did you see that Phantasm V is releasing in October?
I'll believe it when I am watching it. Phantasm V has been more or less complete for about 2 years now, IIRC, and it's had a LOT of false starts as far as releases go...
I certainly hope it does come out soon though!
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Regardless of that, I always felt that Soth was a poor choice because he felt like a square peg in a round hole, and because I'm not a HUGE fan of cross-campaign elements like that.
What makes a setting crossover work for you when it manages to pull it off?
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Did you see that Phantasm V is releasing in October?I'll believe it when I am watching it. Phantasm V has been more or less complete for about 2 years now, IIRC, and it's had a LOT of false starts as far as releases go...
I certainly hope it does come out soon though!
Here is a link to the EW article, just as an fyi.
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Creative Director
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Regardless of that, I always felt that Soth was a poor choice because he felt like a square peg in a round hole, and because I'm not a HUGE fan of cross-campaign elements like that.What makes a setting crossover work for you when it manages to pull it off?
When it was planned from the start, I guess. I can't think of any setting crossovers that I've really felt were excellent yet.
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What are your favorite Ravenloft novels. :-)
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When you watch horror movies do your roleplaying instincts kick in and force you to think of the best way to handle whatever terrifying monster the hero is up against? Ex. "Don't use a baseball bat against that zombie, grab the axe instead! It will bypass it's DR!"
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Creative Director
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When you watch horror movies do your roleplaying instincts kick in and force you to think of the best way to handle whatever terrifying monster the hero is up against? Ex. "Don't use a baseball bat against that zombie, grab the axe instead! It will bypass it's DR!"
Nope.
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I was thinking about playing an Awakened Velociraptor, and was curious what all the rules the DM used when you played as a awakened Deinonychus were, if you remember. For one, did you use its base stats + the Awaken bonuses, or did you translate into stat mods and point buy/roll for stats as normal?
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Creative Director
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Were the hive creatures you've introduced in Horror Adventures MEANT to look like the Xenomorph or was that just a happy coincidence?
I have no idea; I wasn't involved with their creation. I can't imagine that they AREN'T meant to be or aren't inspired by the alien, though.
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Creative Director
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I was thinking about playing an Awakened Velociraptor, and was curious what all the rules the DM used when you played as a awakened Deinonychus were, if you remember. For one, did you use its base stats + the Awaken bonuses, or did you translate into stat mods and point buy/roll for stats as normal?
That was a D&D game, so I used the rules in the at-the-time just-released Savage Species book to custom build a monster class progression for an awakened deinonychus. That book having just come out was one of the main inspirations for Mike to run the campaign, IIRC.
For Pathfinder, I'd instead make a custom race using the race-builder rules, using whatever point cost the GM wanted to use.
In neither case were/are the creature's base stats as a monster directly involved. They would be more of a guideline, similar to how when we build animal companion rules.
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Are there heretical Deep One Hybrids out there who turned against the worship of Dagon and Mother Hydra or are no longer Chaotic Evil?
I imagine that, naturally, it'd be hard and such a PC would likely be the only such Deep One Hybrid in the world, but is it possible?
Also, when the final transformation to a true Deep One happens, is it effectively the same person? Does their alignment automatically shift to Chaotic Evil as a consequence of reincarnating into a Deep One, or is that just because most Deep One Hybrids are Chaotic Evil to start with?
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When you watch horror movies do your roleplaying instincts kick in and force you to think of the best way to handle whatever terrifying monster the hero is up against? Ex. "Don't use a baseball bat against that zombie, grab the axe instead! It will bypass it's DR!"Nope.
Do you ever see someone going off on their own to investigate and want to shout "Noooo! First rule, don't split the party!"
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I suppose there's a chance... but not a big one. Not a big one at all.James,
You mentioned before that you wanted to do the Red Mantis Assassin companion book and I know that I am not the only person that would love to see a book dedicated to Golarion's greatest assassin cult. Is there a chance we could see this book within the next two years or so?
Many Grond tears were shed to bring us this information.
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Creative Director
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Are there heretical Deep One Hybrids out there who turned against the worship of Dagon and Mother Hydra or are no longer Chaotic Evil?
I imagine that, naturally, it'd be hard and such a PC would likely be the only such Deep One Hybrid in the world, but is it possible?
Also, when the final transformation to a true Deep One happens, is it effectively the same person? Does their alignment automatically shift to Chaotic Evil as a consequence of reincarnating into a Deep One, or is that just because most Deep One Hybrids are Chaotic Evil to start with?
Yes.
When the change comes, it's as much a spiritual and mental change as a physical one. Which would mean in most cases shifting to Chaotic Evil save for exceptional circumstances.
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Creative Director
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Do you ever see someone going off on their own to investigate and want to shout "Noooo! First rule, don't split the party!"When you watch horror movies do your roleplaying instincts kick in and force you to think of the best way to handle whatever terrifying monster the hero is up against? Ex. "Don't use a baseball bat against that zombie, grab the axe instead! It will bypass it's DR!"Nope.
Nope.
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Creative Director
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Hey James. I know we're getting 20 Great Old Ones and Elder Gods in the Edler Mythos article of In Search of Sanity, which is 10 more than have been detailed before. Are those 10 brand new, or have they been name-dropped before? Are the 10 newbies all Great Old Ones, or will we get a new Elder God or two? Can you tell us anything awesome about the article without spoiling stuff?
(Haven't been this pumped since the Dominion of the Black article.)
One is brand new, invented by me for the article. The others are either picked up from previous mentions before, but the bulk of those new ones are entities from writers like Clark Ashton Smith or Frank Belknap Long; authors whose creations we can use in Strange Aeons due to an arrangement with Chaosium, who controls the RPG rights for these creatures more or less. These characters will not be open content though.
And since the article comes out in about a week at Gen Con... you've waited this long. You'll make it to next week! :)
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Are there heretical Deep One Hybrids out there who turned against the worship of Dagon and Mother Hydra or are no longer Chaotic Evil?
I imagine that, naturally, it'd be hard and such a PC would likely be the only such Deep One Hybrid in the world, but is it possible?
Also, when the final transformation to a true Deep One happens, is it effectively the same person? Does their alignment automatically shift to Chaotic Evil as a consequence of reincarnating into a Deep One, or is that just because most Deep One Hybrids are Chaotic Evil to start with?
Yes.
When the change comes, it's as much a spiritual and mental change as a physical one. Which would mean in most cases shifting to Chaotic Evil save for exceptional circumstances.
That makes sense. If a hypothetical heretical Deep One Hybrid was dreading the change as they got older, would they have options to prevent it as the dreaded 60th birthday draws near? Would suicide even work, or would the change just happen as the Hybrid dies? If they worship a Good deity (say to the point where they could cast divine spells), would faith in that deity be enough to protect their soul?
Obviously a lot of the answers to these questions depend on who is GMing the game, but I'm curious as to your thoughts as Paizo's number one Lovecraft fan and as a GM. :)
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Creative Director
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Are there heretical Deep One Hybrids out there who turned against the worship of Dagon and Mother Hydra or are no longer Chaotic Evil?
I imagine that, naturally, it'd be hard and such a PC would likely be the only such Deep One Hybrid in the world, but is it possible?
Also, when the final transformation to a true Deep One happens, is it effectively the same person? Does their alignment automatically shift to Chaotic Evil as a consequence of reincarnating into a Deep One, or is that just because most Deep One Hybrids are Chaotic Evil to start with?
Yes.
When the change comes, it's as much a spiritual and mental change as a physical one. Which would mean in most cases shifting to Chaotic Evil save for exceptional circumstances.
That makes sense. If a hypothetical heretical Deep One Hybrid was dreading the change as they got older, would they have options to prevent it as the dreaded 60th birthday draws near? Would suicide even work, or would the change just happen as the Hybrid dies? If they worship a Good deity (say to the point where they could cast divine spells), would faith in that deity be enough to protect their soul?
Obviously a lot of the answers to these questions depend on who is GMing the game, but I'm curious as to your thoughts as Paizo's number one Lovecraft fan and as a GM. :)
Suicide would indeed work, as would reincarnation. Worshiping a good deity probably wouldn't stop the change, but could well be something that keeps the character from turning evil upon making the change.
This entire topic—what happens to a human hybrid who undergoes this change, is one of the most oft-repeated themes in Lovecraftian fiction... be it the story that started it all from Lovecraft himself with "The Shadow Over Innsmouth," or be it one of many many more stories written over the course of the next 90 years or so by various authors who explored this same territory, stories from many angles and themes, representing a wide range of actual skill in writing.
For me, it would depend on what kind of story you were going for as to whether or not the change would cause a change in alignment or not.
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I was thinking about playing an Awakened Velociraptor, and was curious what all the rules the DM used when you played as a awakened Deinonychus were, if you remember. For one, did you use its base stats + the Awaken bonuses, or did you translate into stat mods and point buy/roll for stats as normal?That was a D&D game, so I used the rules in the at-the-time just-released Savage Species book to custom build a monster class progression for an awakened deinonychus. That book having just come out was one of the main inspirations for Mike to run the campaign, IIRC.
For Pathfinder, I'd instead make a custom race using the race-builder rules, using whatever point cost the GM wanted to use.
In neither case were/are the creature's base stats as a monster directly involved. They would be more of a guideline, similar to how when we build animal companion rules.
Um, thanks for the suggestion. But the race builder does not have rules for Animals or Magical Beasts.
I am also a little confused as to why the bite option costs 1 rp for a 1d3 natural attack, or 2 rp for a 1d4 natural attack, which are both the wrong dice size for a bite attack. It can't be a balancing issue, because the Gore attack can also be used in addition to weapon attacks, and it is 1 rp for 1d6.
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Are there heretical Deep One Hybrids out there who turned against the worship of Dagon and Mother Hydra or are no longer Chaotic Evil?
I imagine that, naturally, it'd be hard and such a PC would likely be the only such Deep One Hybrid in the world, but is it possible?
Also, when the final transformation to a true Deep One happens, is it effectively the same person? Does their alignment automatically shift to Chaotic Evil as a consequence of reincarnating into a Deep One, or is that just because most Deep One Hybrids are Chaotic Evil to start with?
Yes.
When the change comes, it's as much a spiritual and mental change as a physical one. Which would mean in most cases shifting to Chaotic Evil save for exceptional circumstances.
That makes sense. If a hypothetical heretical Deep One Hybrid was dreading the change as they got older, would they have options to prevent it as the dreaded 60th birthday draws near? Would suicide even work, or would the change just happen as the Hybrid dies? If they worship a Good deity (say to the point where they could cast divine spells), would faith in that deity be enough to protect their soul?
Obviously a lot of the answers to these questions depend on who is GMing the game, but I'm curious as to your thoughts as Paizo's number one Lovecraft fan and as a GM. :)
Suicide would indeed work, as would reincarnation. Worshiping a good deity probably wouldn't stop the change, but could well be something that keeps the character from turning evil upon making the change.
This entire topic—what happens to a human hybrid who undergoes this change, is one of the most oft-repeated themes in Lovecraftian fiction... be it the story that started it all from Lovecraft himself with "The Shadow Over Innsmouth," or be it one of many many more stories written over the course of the next 90 years or so by various authors who explored this same territory, stories from...
I see! Thank you! :)
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1 are the all the magic items and monsters for old 3.5 Golorian/pathfinder still canon?
2 what is your favorite magic item?
3 what is your favorite planer bound creature?
4 do you ever get tired of answering our questions?
RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16
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Have you seen the World of Wearable Art exhibit at the EMP yet? It's fantastic, and some great art inspiration. Would be great to see these as reference pieces for some future Pathfinder art...
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If a Varisian were to pursue paladinhood, which deity would they gravitate towards most? Sarenrae? Abadar? Shelyn? Desna's their patron goddess, but she's not a big fan of paladins...
Also, do you think Curse of the Crimson Throne's plot and pacing works better if none of the PCs are Shoanti and thus the Shoanti and their ways are a mystery to them?
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Creative Director
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1 are the all the magic items and monsters for old 3.5 Golorian/pathfinder still canon?
2 what is your favorite magic item?
3 what is your favorite planer bound creature?
4 do you ever get tired of answering our questions?
1) Not all of them, no.
2) Rod of wonder.
3) I'm not sure what "planer bound" means... do you mean "something that's bound for the planes" or "something bound form the planes" or "specifically what's your favorite outsider to use planar binding on" or something else?
4) Nah.
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Creative Director
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Have you seen the World of Wearable Art exhibit at the EMP yet? It's fantastic, and some great art inspiration. Would be great to see these as reference pieces for some future Pathfinder art...
Have not see it.
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Creative Director
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If a Varisian were to pursue paladinhood, which deity would they gravitate towards most? Sarenrae? Abadar? Shelyn? Desna's their patron goddess, but she's not a big fan of paladins...
Also, do you think Curse of the Crimson Throne's plot and pacing works better if none of the PCs are Shoanti and thus the Shoanti and their ways are a mystery to them?
Over and above any other deity, the vast majority of ANY ethnicity would be to gravitate toward a lawful good deity for a paladin. In the case of a Varisian, it would depend significantly on where they're from, but I guess Erastil's the best choice. Desna isn't so much the "patron goddess" of Varisans in any event; not sure where that comes from. She's certainly popular among them, but we specifically tried to avoid setting up any of the human ethnicities as having a single "patron" deity.
It works different. Not better, not worse. The Hardcover does acknowledge the possibility of Shoanti PCs, and that can make some elements of the campaign slightly easier or slightly tougher, depending on how the Shoanti PC acts.
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1 are the all the magic items and monsters for old 3.5 Golorian/pathfinder still canon?
2 what is your favorite magic item?
3 what is your favorite planer bound creature?
4 do you ever get tired of answering our questions?1) Not all of them, no.
2) Rod of wonder.
3) I'm not sure what "planer bound" means... do you mean "something that's bound for the planes" or "something bound form the planes" or "specifically what's your favorite outsider to use planar binding on" or something else?
4) Nah.
1s the crepitus still canon?
3 yes sorry I had trouble phrasing that. So what is your favorite outsider that can be called through planer binding/ally|
Creative Director
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1 are the all the magic items and monsters for old 3.5 Golorian/pathfinder still canon?
2 what is your favorite magic item?
3 what is your favorite planer bound creature?
4 do you ever get tired of answering our questions?1) Not all of them, no.
2) Rod of wonder.
3) I'm not sure what "planer bound" means... do you mean "something that's bound for the planes" or "something bound form the planes" or "specifically what's your favorite outsider to use planar binding on" or something else?
4) Nah.
1s the crepitus still canon?
3 yes sorry I had trouble phrasing that. So what is your favorite outsider that can be called through planer binding/ally
Not really. It doesn't really fit into the hierarchy and themes we've built for devils in Golarion. If we were to update it to Pathfinder, its flavor would need some revision. At this point, though, it's not a creature we intend to move forward with. Feel free to use them in your games if you want, of course, just don't expect them to show up in print again anytime soon, if ever.
As for the favorite planar ally/binding subject, that would depend significantly on what it's being "used" for. As an NPC minion, no contest—succubus, since that results in a profane gift that helps bolster the NPC's stats without having to rely so much on going the belt/headband route. If on the other hand we were talking about me in real life being able to conjure up an outsider in this way, I'd prefer to go the planar ally route rather than the binding route, and would go with a lillend because they've got a good combination of support and recovery magic AND because I like music.
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1 are the all the magic items and monsters for old 3.5 Golorian/pathfinder still canon?
2 what is your favorite magic item?
3 what is your favorite planer bound creature?
4 do you ever get tired of answering our questions?1) Not all of them, no.
2) Rod of wonder.
3) I'm not sure what "planer bound" means... do you mean "something that's bound for the planes" or "something bound form the planes" or "specifically what's your favorite outsider to use planar binding on" or something else?
4) Nah.
1s the crepitus still canon?
3 yes sorry I had trouble phrasing that. So what is your favorite outsider that can be called through planer binding/allyNot really. It doesn't really fit into the hierarchy and themes we've built for devils in Golarion. If we were to update it to Pathfinder, its flavor would need some revision. At this point, though, it's not a creature we intend to move forward with. Feel free to use them in your games if you want, of course, just don't expect them to show up in print again anytime soon, if ever.
As for the favorite planar ally/binding subject, that would depend significantly on what it's being "used" for. As an NPC minion, no contest—succubus, since that results in a profane gift that helps bolster the NPC's stats without having to rely so much on going the belt/headband route. If on the other hand we were talking about me in real life being able to conjure up an outsider in this way, I'd prefer to go the planar ally route rather than the binding route, and would go with a lillend because they've got a good combination of support and recovery magic AND because I like music.
pfft sure profane gifts the reason people conjure a succubus whatever you say , no other reason at all nudge nudge wink wink.
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Desna isn't so much the "patron goddess" of Varisans in any event; not sure where that comes from. She's certainly popular among them, but we specifically tried to avoid setting up any of the human ethnicities as having a single "patron" deity.
I remember reading a story in an article or book somewhere that went something along the lines of "We Varisians used to be slaves to a terrible demon until Desna saved us and led us to freedom. Since that time we worship her above all other gods as our guide and savior." Does that sound familiar? It's either in an old article about Desna or possibly in the article about the Varisian people in one of the old Curse of the Crimson Throne books.
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Hi James, been reading Horror Adventures and really wanting to run a Body Horror campaign now.
Do you have a favorite monster with Body Horror themes?
On an unrelated note, anything you're really looking forward to, not necessarily gaming related?
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Are there any brothels in Golarion that make use of Sheets of Nymph Summoning, or similar?
I heard about this happening in a game, the PC made the item then used it to make money. Creepy but funny.
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Creative Director
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Desna isn't so much the "patron goddess" of Varisans in any event; not sure where that comes from. She's certainly popular among them, but we specifically tried to avoid setting up any of the human ethnicities as having a single "patron" deity.I remember reading a story in an article or book somewhere that went something along the lines of "We Varisians used to be slaves to a terrible demon until Desna saved us and led us to freedom. Since that time we worship her above all other gods as our guide and savior." Does that sound familiar? It's either in an old article about Desna or possibly in the article about the Varisian people in one of the old Curse of the Crimson Throne books.
That does sound familiar, but it's also an in-world quote from one person, so shouldn't be taken to be anything more than one person's likely narrow-visioned beliefs.
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Creative Director
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Hi James, been reading Horror Adventures and really wanting to run a Body Horror campaign now.
Do you have a favorite monster with Body Horror themes?
On an unrelated note, anything you're really looking forward to, not necessarily gaming related?
I do; the monster from "John Carpenter's The Thing." Close second is the xenomorph from Alien.
The thing I'm looking forward to the most at the moment is "Blair Witch."
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Creative Director
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Are there any brothels in Golarion that make use of Sheets of Nymph Summoning, or similar?
I heard about this happening in a game, the PC made the item then used it to make money. Creepy but funny.
First I've ever heard of "Sheets of Nymph Summoning." Sounds like something some GM made up for his homebrew game.
That said, there are brothels in Golarion, and there is magic in Golarion, so absolutely there are brothels that use magic in Golarion. That type of thing isn't something we cover in print though, due to the fact that sex gets people all weirded out here in the USA, so that element is left to each individual GM's style to add or not to their game as they see fit.
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Do you think minor variations on a certain "character concept" are tolerable for different campaigns, or do you feel like the player's essentially playing the same person over and over?
I think that variations on concepts are not only tolerable, but are in fact welcome and invaluable. That said, I also don't mind if someone essentially plays the same character in multiple campaigns either. What's fun for them is the important part, as long as what's fun for them doesn't make it less fun for the rest
What's your favorite part of Into the Darklands that Greg added. :-)Hmmm... a LOT of options to choose from there, and it's been about a decade since we worked on it so I'm not 100% sure what parts were his or mine now. I believe he did the majority of the work on Nar-Voth though, and of those regions, I think I like the Court of Ether the best, since it's new and not a thematic inheritance from D&D.
As I was about to ask you about this exact thing before noticing. You mentioned it...
So: the court of ether. Would you tell me everything? :D
(And if not, would you please share any tidbits you find interesting and/or direct me to the proper AMA thread?
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The fact that I can just retire to Alaska and not worry about the hassle of changing nations and all that means that I'm unlikely to actually retire to Canada. And in fact, I can see myself retiring to northern California a lot better. That's like MONTHS away though at least!If you ever retire in Canada, make sure you don't select the greater Toronto area, as it is neither wild nor cold... biggest shock I've ever had when I moved here (hottest place I know between May and September... the humidity from the Great Lakes makes it really unbearable)
Vancouver Island (Victoria) is nice year round but just mild rain in the winter i.e. no snow, and anywhere north of Quebec City has nice fresh summer nights that are too cold for some (and lots of snow in winter)
WAT.
ಠ_ಠ
Have you read Time Enough for Love?Nope. Never heard of it.
A glance at amazon.com tells me a little more, including that it's a Heinlein book, which explains why I've never heard of it. I've never read any of his books, and don't intend to anytime soon, if ever, since I've got more than enough books that I own TODAY that I probably couldn't finish reading them all before I died.
If I quit/get fired/become jobless and don't have to worry about income and can resist watching movies/playing video games/writing my own books enough, I'll of course read more novels and stories, but even then... chances are slim.
Okay. So this one implies the inference in the above to be a humorous aside. Yes?
('Cause I have no way of knowing how to react exatly if you're actually looking at retirement. You e done so much for this game... thank you, even and especially if you're not retiring, yet.)
((Incidentally, was this a reference either to Strange Aeons, Starfinder, or something else?))
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What class and what mythic path did Savith take, at least in your head. :-)
Or is that something you haven't really thought of. :-)
At any rate, enjoy your retirement. :-)
What class and what mythic path did Savith take, at least in your head. :-)
Or is that something you haven't really thought of. :-)
At any rate, enjoy your retirement. :-)
D-dang it, CY! James, did you know that CY ninja'd me on the very question I came to ask, but got caught up perusing your archives?
;P
:D