Creative Director
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Hello James, I have a little question for you.
Black Book Editions, the editor that translates Pathfinder in french, has released recently a pocket version of the core rule book and the 1st bestiary.
It is great when you want to play away, but hélas, it only exists in french version. I'm the kind of player who prefer to use the original version to avoid any mistake in the interpretation of rules.
Does Paizo have plans for similar products ??
Have you seen the new show on SyFy Channel Zero: Candle Cove?
If so what did you think of it?
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Creative Director
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Given Alseta's position as both an opener AND closer of doors, would she make sense as the divine patroness of a PC Riftwarden?
I don't know much about her; she's not a deity I invented and not one I've ever done anything with. That said, Riftwardens are more about opposing the Blackfire Adepts than being all about opening and closing portals. If Alseta's good, though, she'd be a fun choice for a Riftwarden to worship.
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Why?
Because I don't. There might be some other things that some other folks are planning on doing with him, but I don't have anything planned at this point. Furthermore, I don't announce new projects or books here, and generally don't even tease upcoming content that much.
There are three big books I'm currently working on. One is Bestiary 6. The other two haven't yet been announced. None of them have any Erastil content of note.
Mr James Jacobs,
In your estimation how would a LN cleric of Zon-Kuthon act as compared to the typical LE cleric?
Gate can be use to call ANY extraplanar creatures, not just outsiders, right?
Granted, it's probably a little silly to use Gate to call wyrmling primal/esoteric dragons, lurkers in light, and nightgaunts, and EXTREMELY silly to use it to call tooth fairies (all of which are extraplanar non-outsiders).
Does prosthetic makeup exist in Golarion? Might seem anachronistic, I know, but I'm trying to understand how a human can pull off looking like a convincing orc, drow, catfolk, etc without magic.It does. The basics would be included in a disguise kit. How good you were at applying it depends on your Disguise skill.
Thanks for the expedient answer, Mr. Jacobs. If Disguise covers the application does it all the cover the creation of the effects and appliances as well, or does that require a specific Craft skill?
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Given Alseta's position as both an opener AND closer of doors, would she make sense as the divine patroness of a PC Riftwarden?I don't know much about her; she's not a deity I invented and not one I've ever done anything with. That said, Riftwardens are more about opposing the Blackfire Adepts than being all about opening and closing portals. If Alseta's good, though, she'd be a fun choice for a Riftwarden to worship.
She's LN, but Riftwardens don't HAVE to be good...just NOT evil. With her thing for doors and stuff, she'd be an interesting foil to Yog-Sothoth for a Strange Aeons PC! Thanks for the idea, James!
Were Lovecraft's works ever collected in a singular volume, or if I wanted to read his entire body of work would I have to purchase multiple books to get the whole thing (I know I'd have to get the books of other writers to get the WHOLE thing, like Robert Howard and August Derleth and stuff, but I was wondering if there's a single "Lovecraft Omnibus Edition" or something so I can read all HIS work at least in one fell swoop.)?
Does a wizard have to be able to hold Material components or do they just have to be on there person? say if a wizard was tied up can they cast spells with material components that are still on them but not within reach
What happens if a shrunk item is stored in a backpack and then Dispel Magic, Greater is cast in the vicinity of that backpack?
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Creative Director
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Gate can be use to call ANY extraplanar creatures, not just outsiders, right?
Granted, it's probably a little silly to use Gate to call wyrmling primal/esoteric dragons, lurkers in light, and nightgaunts, and EXTREMELY silly to use it to call tooth fairies (all of which are extraplanar non-outsiders).
Correct. You could call any extraplanar creatures. If you were one another plane, you could call a creature from the Material Plane even, since they're extraplanar on other planes. The only thing you CAN'T call with gate is something like one of the Tane, which never gain the extraplanar subtype.
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Im sorry, I wasn't trying to be mean. I appreciate a lot of the stuff you do. Heck the world and its lore is what got me into this game, that and the great artwork.
No worries, but thanks for the clarification. It's really difficult to tell when folks are joking or being serious on the internet, and I am pretty quick to assume toxicity when it comes to folks posting on the internet, particularly when the topic is something folks get passionate about, be it gaming or politics or religion or movies or whatever.
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Thanks for the expedient answer, Mr. Jacobs. If Disguise covers the application does it all the cover the creation of the effects and appliances as well, or does that require a specific Craft skill?Does prosthetic makeup exist in Golarion? Might seem anachronistic, I know, but I'm trying to understand how a human can pull off looking like a convincing orc, drow, catfolk, etc without magic.It does. The basics would be included in a disguise kit. How good you were at applying it depends on your Disguise skill.
You would use Craft to make a Disguise Kit, I guess, but you'd use Disguise to apply the appliances always.
Craft ONLY makes things. It doesn't use things.
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Given Alseta's position as both an opener AND closer of doors, would she make sense as the divine patroness of a PC Riftwarden?I don't know much about her; she's not a deity I invented and not one I've ever done anything with. That said, Riftwardens are more about opposing the Blackfire Adepts than being all about opening and closing portals. If Alseta's good, though, she'd be a fun choice for a Riftwarden to worship.She's LN, but Riftwardens don't HAVE to be good...just NOT evil. With her thing for doors and stuff, she'd be an interesting foil to Yog-Sothoth for a Strange Aeons PC! Thanks for the idea, James!
Were Lovecraft's works ever collected in a singular volume, or if I wanted to read his entire body of work would I have to purchase multiple books to get the whole thing (I know I'd have to get the books of other writers to get the WHOLE thing, like Robert Howard and August Derleth and stuff, but I was wondering if there's a single "Lovecraft Omnibus Edition" or something so I can read all HIS work at least in one fell swoop.)?
Hmm. Not really seeing her as a significant patron/deity for Riftwardens, but PCs are all about making non-expected choices.
Lovecraft's works have been collected into countless collections. His work is now in the public domian after all, which means there's all sorts of various collections out there. When you count his stories, poetry, and letters, there's no one book that collects all of it—no book could be that big. When it's just poetry or stories, though, there are some, yes. Check out Amazon.com for them all.
And as for all the Cthulhu Mythos stuff? Today? I doubt any one person COULD read it all. There's a lot of it out there. With more being produced every second.
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Does a wizard have to be able to hold Material components or do they just have to be on there person? say if a wizard was tied up can they cast spells with material components that are still on them but not within reach
What happens if a shrunk item is stored in a backpack and then Dispel Magic, Greater is cast in the vicinity of that backpack?
Any spellcaster who uses material components (not just wizards) needs to be able to hold and manipulate those components. That means that you need free hands, or limbs that approximate hands (such as dragon talons if you're a dragon, etc.). Creatures without them generally have Eschew Materials as a bonus feat (such as nagas). If a wizard is tied up, he can't use material components OR somatic components.
An object inside of another object has total cover, and thus generally can't be targeted by specific effects. But in a special case, if a magically shrunk item grew big inside of a bag, it would either rip the bag apart or fall out or whatever the GM wanted to happen.
I'm sorry if my many questions about the Emerald Spire bothered you. I was so fascinated to it, and I thought I must know as much as possible for one day I GMing this module. I really hope Paizo will publish more and more superdungeon modules. Thank you for your answers!
And more questions.
1. Did the Vault Builders come to Golarion, make the vaults, and then abandon Golarion after the imprisonment of Rovagug? And did they know the existence of the humanoid races like humans, elves, dwarves, orcs, and goblins? Or they didn't know because they dwelt in the Darklands only, never visted the surface?
2. What do the serpentfolks ride? It's hard to imagine them riding horses. Did they ride dinosaurs like Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus rex before the fall of their civilization?
3. The Sable Company in Korvosa is famous for its hippogriff riders. Do other nations like Taldor, Cheliax, Andoran and MAgnimar have this kind of flying cavalry?
4. What does the word sable mean? Does it mean a small carnivorous mammal that resembles a weasel? If so, why do the Sable Company named themselves like that? Wouldn't it be more appropriate if they named them themselves Hippogriff Company or something?
5. Why the soldiers of the Sable Company are called marines? Maybe their primary activity area is on the sea?
6. Book of the Damned Volume 1 said that there was a Seal in the past and all the gods came out from this Seal. Where is this Seal now? Maybe no one, even the gods, knows its whereabout?
7. What does the word seal mean? Does it mean something which will be visibly damaged if a covering is opened?
8. You said that although technically posssible, we should think that there's no non-evil blackfire adept because their primary ability is summoning evil outsiders. So by the same logic, should I assume that there's no non-good riftwarden? Can there be a neutral riftwarden?
9. Inner Sea World Guide said that, the wardsotnes exude a field similar to that of a forbiddance spell which deals damage to any demon within that area. Does that mean the wardstones only work against demons, not devils or qlippoth? And they don't prevent devils or qlippoth from teleporting?
10. The book also specifies that "Teleportation effects do not function in this zone at all." This sentence didn't say about demons. Does that mean this teleportation-block also affects other outsiders and mortals?
11. It seems that The Worldwound Incursion implies that Hulrun Shappok is a crazy witch hunter. But turns out there actually are many demon-worshipers in Kenabres after all. So Hulrun was proven right eventually?
12. Does he regret his witch hunts? Or he regrets nothing, and the attack on Kenabres in The Worldwound Incursion and the subsequent rampage caused by demon worshipers only convinced him that his witch hunts were right after all and he should have done it more so that this kind of disaster not to happen?
13. If Hulrun somehow survived and encountered Arueshalae, what would be his appropriate reaction? Disbelieving the succcubus and kill her outright, ignoring her protest entirely?
14. If Hulrun found out there are many mongrelmen under Kenabres, what would he do? Even though the mongrelmen claim to be good, he would consider them potential demon-worshipers and exterminate them immediately?
15. The Storm King used many ulkreths to devastate Kenabres. The book said that ulkreths are among the mightiest servants of the demon lord Xoveron, and also implied that only Xoveron can create ulkreths. Then why these ulkreths serve Deskari? Maybe Deskari borrowed them from Xoveron? Or maybe, though all ulkreths are created by Xoveron, there are a few ulkreths that serve other demon lords?
16. In Sword of Valor, the Crusader Queen said that the wards that protect the Sword of Valor against demons also hamper divination attempts, and so they don't know where it is exactly. And there's a spell called discern location, whose power is so potent that only the direct intervention of a deity can hamper it. So if I cast discern location, can I locate where the Sword of Valor is now exactly?
17. To which UTC do Paizo and your house belong? I ask this because I'm not sure when is the right time to post questions in this thread. In other words, what time, date, and day of the week is it now?
I know that you've used Bezilak, but have any of the other characters in Demons Revisited been used in your games?
Also, have you ever run an encounter with a Colossal creature? How do you run it?
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Creative Director
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1. Did the Vault Builders come to Golarion, make the vaults, and then abandon Golarion after the imprisonment of Rovagug? And did they know the existence of the humanoid races like humans, elves, dwarves, orcs, and goblins? Or they didn't know because they dwelt in the Darklands only, never visted the surface?
2. What do the serpentfolks ride? It's hard to imagine them riding horses. Did they ride dinosaurs like Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus rex before the fall of their civilization?
3. The Sable Company in Korvosa is famous for its hippogriff riders. Do other nations like Taldor, Cheliax, Andoran and MAgnimar have this kind of flying cavalry?
4. What does the word sable mean? Does it mean a small carnivorous mammal that resembles a weasel? If so, why do the Sable Company named themselves like that? Wouldn't it be more appropriate if they named them themselves Hippogriff Company or something?
5. Why the soldiers of the Sable Company are called marines? Maybe their primary activity area is on the sea?
1) Unclear/unrevealed, but I suspect it was before Rovagug was imprisoned. It was CERTAINLY well before humanoid races like humans and elves and the like were around.
2) They don't ride things at all, generally.
3) Not really; none come to mind.
4) It's a dark, not quite black color often associated with heraldry.
5) They weren't "marines" in my homebrew, nor were they called the "Sable Company." In my homebrew they were called the Sky Riders. I don't remember why Mike made the changes he did to them, but I let them through because I was trying to be generous with my ideas and let other authors run with some of their own ideas.
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6. Book of the Damned Volume 1 said that there was a Seal in the past and all the gods came out from this Seal. Where is this Seal now? Maybe no one, even the gods, knows its whereabout?
7. What does the word seal mean? Does it mean something which will be visibly damaged if a covering is opened?
8. You said that although technically posssible, we should think that there's no non-evil blackfire adept because their primary ability is summoning evil outsiders. So by the same logic, should I assume that there's no non-good riftwarden? Can there be a neutral riftwarden?
9. Inner Sea World Guide said that, the wardsotnes exude a field similar to that of a forbiddance spell which deals damage to any demon within that area. Does that mean the wardstones only work against demons, not devils or qlippoth? And they don't prevent devils or qlippoth from teleporting?
10. The book also specifies that "Teleportation effects do not function in this zone at all." This sentence didn't say about demons. Does that mean this teleportation-block also affects other outsiders and mortals?
6) Unrevealed. Furthermore, there might not BE such a thing as this "seal," since Asmodeus is not a reliable/trustworthy information source.
7) "Seal" in this case could refer to a sigil bearing an important entity's personal mark, or it could refer to a physical barrier meant to close something up. It's kind of intentionally vague, to help make it feel more mythological and mysterious.
8) It's technically possible but not common at all.
9) They work (or worked, if you run with the plot from Wrath of the Righteous, in which the wardstones are gone) only against demons, and don't really have to worry much about working against other things like devils or qlippoths becuase they're not in the region in a magnitude that makes it matter.
10) It blocks teleportation effects. That's a blanket statement.
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11. It seems that The Worldwound Incursion implies that Hulrun Shappok is a crazy witch hunter. But turns out there actually are many demon-worshipers in Kenabres after all. So Hulrun was proven right eventually?
12. Does he regret his witch hunts? Or he regrets nothing, and the attack on Kenabres in The Worldwound Incursion and the subsequent rampage caused by demon worshipers only convinced him that his witch hunts were right after all and he should have done it more so that this kind of disaster not to happen?
13. If Hulrun somehow survived and encountered Arueshalae, what would be his appropriate reaction? Disbelieving the succcubus and kill her outright, ignoring her protest entirely?
14. If Hulrun found out there are many mongrelmen under Kenabres, what would he do? Even though the mongrelmen claim to be good, he would consider them potential demon-worshipers and exterminate them immediately?
15. The Storm King used many ulkreths to devastate Kenabres. The book said that ulkreths are among the mightiest servants of the demon lord Xoveron, and also implied that only Xoveron can create ulkreths. Then why these ulkreths serve Deskari? Maybe Deskari borrowed them from Xoveron? Or maybe, though all ulkreths are created by Xoveron, there are a few ulkreths that serve other demon lords?
16. In Sword of Valor, the Crusader Queen said that the wards that protect the Sword of Valor against demons also hamper divination attempts, and so they don't know where it is exactly. And there's a spell called discern location, whose power is so potent that only the direct intervention of a deity can hamper it. So if I cast discern location, can I locate where the Sword of Valor is now exactly?
17. To which UTC do Paizo and your house belong? I ask this because I'm not sure when is the right time to post questions in this thread. In other words, what time, date, and day of the week is it now?
11) He was to a certain extent right, but the way he went about acting on his knowledge was wrong/evil, and although he was right, he ended up causing more damage than anything else. Which is kind of playing right into the demons' will.
12) He didn't survive the attack on Kenabres, and is likely being punihsed in the Abyss or Hell or somewhere now, so he got what he deserved.
13) He'd probably try to burn her as a demon and get more of what he deserved. He's not a very understanding guy, and isn't that capable of revising his stubborn ways. He's not intended to be a good guy.
14) It'd be in character for him to treat mongrelfolk as pests and send soldiers down there to wipe them out because they're ugly and thus must be demon worshipers.
15) Demons are often free to serve whoever they want. Ulkreths love devastating things. It's not so much that the "serve" Deskari as it is they jumped at a chance to do some wreckage. Demons are opportunistic in that way.
16) No, because the direct intervention of a deity (in this case, the influence of Deskari) prevents it.
17) Pacific time. Right now, as I post this, it's 3:34 in the afternoon on Sunday.
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Creative Director
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I know that you've used Bezilak, but have any of the other characters in Demons Revisited been used in your games?
Also, have you ever run an encounter with a Colossal creature? How do you run it?
Bezilak got invented in my game more or less at the spur of the moment when I needed a name and personality for a glabrezu demon the PCs were fighting, and when one of those PCs (played by Mark Moreland) kinda begged for his life and promised to serve the demon in return for a wish, that personality kinda created itself. His entry in Demons Revisited came after that. There may have been a few more demons mentioned in Demons Revisited that I've used in my games, but that was several years ago and I can't recall for sure now.
I have run many encounters with colossal creatures. I run them the same as any other encounter; on a battlemat with minis. I rarely worry too much that any of the minis I use for a battle are 100% accurate for the foes the PCs face, though, particularly in the case of larger creatures where minis aren't nearly as common.
Which aspect of your home setting changed the most in its transition into Golarion?
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James, what do you think a noble estate would cost in Egorian, Almas and Oppera.
Many thousand gold pieces. The weird thing, though, is that since the game ties magic items up with gold pieces as a way to quantify value, that means that PCs end up being SUPER rich when it comes to buying power for things like manors and castles and ships and the like, and gamers are quick to lose sight of this fact and assume that since their 10th level PC can afford multiple manors that it's illogical that the rest of the world doesn't live in one.
Further, it's a bit weird to think about how a single sword might be worth more than a castle.
Ultimate Campaign DOES have prices for all sorts of buildings, though; I'd suggest you'd check that out for more details. If you do want to include home owning and purchasing in your game, make sure your players are cool with it and aren't going to be weirded out by the pricing though.
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Out of all the Adventure Path villains Paizo's made, which one is the Jammie's in terms of behavior?I have no idea what you're asking in this question.That's because my phone's autocorrect decided to have some fun with us.
I meant to ask who the HAMMIEST Adventure Path villain is?
To me, calling a villain hammy is kind of an insult. It's disparaging to the villain, and thus disparaging to the person who wrote that villain, and as such, whether or not I think that any of our villains could be called hammy, I'm not gonna call them out on it because that's kind of the same as calling out the writer or developer of that villain as not being able to pull off a villain as a serious threat.
Which Adventure Path main villain has the most fun doing what they do? I've noticed that an often-discernible part of their being evil scumbags is a generally miserable outlook on life.
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To me, calling a villain hammy is kind of an insult. It's disparaging to the villain, and thus disparaging to the person who wrote that villain, and as such, whether or not I think that any of our villains could be called hammy, I'm not gonna call them out on it because that's kind of the same as calling out the writer or developer of that villain as not being able to pull off a villain as a serious threat.Out of all the Adventure Path villains Paizo's made, which one is the Jammie's in terms of behavior?I have no idea what you're asking in this question.That's because my phone's autocorrect decided to have some fun with us.
I meant to ask who the HAMMIEST Adventure Path villain is?
That's fair. I meant no disrespect. I personally find over-the-top scenery-chewing types to be a lot of fun, but I see your point.
If you could only pick five meals to eat for the rest of your life, what would they be?
1. Can I assume that, though many innocents were also killed, at least Hulrun's witch hunts killed many demon-worshipers and seriously crippled Deskari's plan?
2. You said Hulrun will go to the Abyss or Hell. But he's a devote worshiper of Iomedae, and lawful neutral. Pharasma has to send him to the Heaven or Axis, right?
3. The wardstones lost their power in The Worldwound Incursion. Given time, can the crusaders make new ones?
4. Why don't the elves attack Treerazer with other nations? Looks like the Tanglebriar is in the middle of Kyonyn, Druma, the Five Kings Mountains, and Galt. If the four countries attack simultaneously, even the nascent demon lord cannot withstand. So why don't they? Is it because asking for help would be regarded as a sign of weakness and thus the haughty elves don't want to be looked down?
5. Does Treerazer attack other countries too? Or he only attacks Kyonyn, because Kyonyn is the weakest among the four countries?
6. You said that Taldor, Cheliax, and Andoran have embassies in each other's capitals. What about Kyonyn? Do elves have embassies in nearby human nations? Or do they don't send ambassadors at all, and don't let human ambassadors make embassies in Iadara because they're isolationists? What about the Five Kings Mountains? Are dwarves isolationists too?
7. If a drow is redeemed and becomes good, will he become an elf?
8. The elves were corrupted by Rovagug and becmae drows. Does that mean, if some good elves in Kyonyn decide to colonize the Darklands and start making settlements there, will they be tainted by Rovagug and become drows too?
Are there any words you feel are over used in fantasy literature and role-playing games?
Is there any monster that has bestiary art work that was not what you imagined it as? Like did anything come back very different that the image in your mind?
Is it theoretically possible for a nascent demon lord to redeem themselves? One who retained memories of mortal life perhaps?
And can truly Evil beings in pathfinder have a "what have I done" moment and see the err of there ways?
Do you prefer tales of a person/creature being redeemed or redeeming themselves? And can a evil outsider in pathfinder redeem themselves without the external action of some other good outsider?