Are Quinn and Codwin I of Mwangi descent? Or are they Garundi?
1)Who/What are your top 3 of the...
A)Eldest?
B)Kaiju?
C)Linnorms?
D)Empyreal Lords?
E)Robots?
2)What comic books movies have you seen this year?
3)Do you plan to see Dr. Strange?
4)Do you plan on seeing Wonder Woman?
5)What are top 10 favorite non-horror movies?
6)Have you seen Coraline, ParaNorman, and/or Kubo and the Two Strings?
7)Do you have a favorite story from Edger Alan Poe?
Creative Director
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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?
1) They did not seriously cripple Deskari's plan at all. In fact, the hate and paranoia and fear his witch-hunts spread BOLSTERED the demonic plan, which in the end fosters more sin in humans and ends up generating more demons in the long run. He may have had the right idea (to hunt down demon worshipers) but the way he went aobut it was playing right into Deskari's plans.
2) He's a devout lawful neutral worshiper who sinned HARD in his over-zealous pursuit of witches, and died before he could repent or redeem himself. He probably went to Hell, even though he wasn't evil in the end. Not to become a devil, Oh no, but to be tormented.
3) They could, but the demons know how to break them easy now, so it'd be a fantastic waste of time and resources to rebuild the wardstones. But hopefully, once Wrath is done, they won't really NEED them that much anymore since the PCs, in theory, closed the Worldwound.
4) Because the other nations you mention are not really interested in helping out the elves and risking their lives against a powerful foe who hasn't to date threatened them. Because Druma is more concerned about making itself money, and the Five Kings Mountains are content that their underground realm is safe from demons and maybe think that the elves brought the demons on themselves and are stubborn about helping out, and Galt is too torn up from the inside to notice much of anything going on beyond their borders. And who says Treerazer couldn't withstand a full attack from all four nations? He's a LOT more powerful than any one creature in all those nations, and has a lot of resources to fight back with. It'd be like hitting a hornet's nest when the hornets aren't stirred up. You'd just attract his attention and then find yourself being stung to death. (Of course, the REAL reason is that we haven't yet decided to do an Adventure Path or something else about Treerazer yet—he's intended to be a big bad foe for PCs to face, not a bad guy to be fought off-screen in flavor text in a gazetteer.)
5) He does not. He harries and snipes against Kyonin NOT because it's the weakest, but because it's the closest and he wants to reclaim it as his own and because he hates the elves more than anyone else. In fact, Druma and Galt are both weaker than Kyonin on a national scale in that regard.
6) Kyonin has embassies in some regions, yes. They aren't isolationists, nor are dwarves. That's a trope that D&D embraced in part due to Tolkien, and it's not something I want Golarion to do. Although many of our authors in the early days had a hard time getting that into their heads and we had worse quality control back then, so some unfortunate isolationist themes DID creep into print. Working on reversing them, but it's hard to do given our policy of not reprinting (and thus not errataing) books unless they're hardcover rulebooks. Kinda the best I can do here is to individually explain to anyone who asks me what's going on.
7) Nope; he remains a drow.
8) No. That was sort of a one-time thing. Furthermore, it was the fact that the elves who went into the Darklands were bitter and cruel at heart and let evil take over that they transformed into drow. If an elf isn't chaotic evil, there's no chance of transforming into a drow, and even then the elf has to worship a chaotic evil deity for a chance of the transformation, and even then, these days, it's unlikely to happen. When it does, it's a significant enough major event that it requires an Adventure Path to quantify.
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Creative Director
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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?
Absolutely. "Prophecy" immediately comes to mind. Using the words "flank" or "dominate" as adjectives to describe furniture in encounter read-aloud text (aka: Two chairs flank a large table that dominates the room). The phrase "living rock." Inappropriate use of the word "decimate." The phrase "torn asunder." There's plenty more, of course; how can there not be after spending nearly 15 years writing and developing and editing fantasy RPGs?
Yes. Not gonna call them out though.
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Creative Director
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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?
Anything is possible, but I'd say that it's more likely for a full demon lord to redeem than a nascent one, since the full demon lord is older and has had more time to make that significant decision, whereas a nascent demon lord is still, in some ways, a "child" in its demonic development, and as a child, isn't capable of thoughts as complex as an "adult."
We've had truly evil beings in Golarion have that moment plenty of times. See Wrath of the Righteous for the biggest example.
An evil outsider can redeem themselves, but it's orders of magnitude more difficult without help. And they don't need good outsiders as help either. Any good creature could do the job, potentially.
I have no preference on tales of creatures being redeemed or redeeming themselves; both are fine, provided they're written well.
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Creative Director
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James,
I'm looking for a map of a manor to use as a base of operations for the PCs. Does any come to your mind?
The first one that comes to mind is the first one I mapped out for Pathifnder: the haunted house in "The Skinsaw Murders."
A bigger one would be the one I mapped out in Council of Thieves for Rich Pett's adventure.
There's lots more.
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Creative Director
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1)Who/What are your top 3 of the...
A)Eldest?
B)Kaiju?
C)Linnorms?
D)Empyreal Lords?
E)Robots?2)What comic books movies have you seen this year?
3)Do you plan to see Dr. Strange?
4)Do you plan on seeing Wonder Woman?
5)What are top 10 favorite non-horror movies?
6)Have you seen Coraline, ParaNorman, and/or Kubo and the Two Strings?
7)Do you have a favorite story from Edger Alan Poe?
1a) Green Mother and Ragadahn; others are all about equal
1b) Mogaru, Bezravnus, and Agyara, unless you're including ALL Kaiju, in which case my answer changes to Godzilla, Biolante, and Gigan.1c) No favorites; like them all about the same.
1d) Ashava, Black Butterfly, and Pulura (assuming you aren't including deities who ascended to the role from empyreal lords, in which case replace Pulura with Sarenrae)
1e) No favorites.
2) Civil War, Deadpool, X-Men Apocalypse, Luke Cage
3) Yes
4) No, but of ALL the DC movies, this one has the best potential to get me to go see it (I'm not a big fan of the DC movies and universe, other than Nolan's Batman movies).
5) Hmmm... let's see... in no particular order, and likely forgetting one or two:
- 1: Seven Samurai
- 2: The 7th Voyage of Sinbad
- 3: Lord of the Rings Trilogy
- 4: Jurassic Park
- 5: King Kong (1933)
- 6: Big Trouble in Little China
- 7: Lilo & Stitch
- 8: Godzilla, Mothera, & King Ghidorah Giant Monsters All-Out Attack
- 9: Mad Max: Fury Road
- 10: Valley of Gwangii
(I count the original Godzilla as a horror movie, just so you know, otherwise it'd be on the list)
6) I've seen Coraline but not the others.
7) Yes: The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket
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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?
Absolutely. "Prophecy" immediately comes to mind. Using the words "flank" or "dominate" as adjectives to describe furniture in encounter read-aloud text (aka: Two chairs flank a large table that dominates the room). The phrase "living rock." Inappropriate use of the word "decimate." The phrase "torn asunder." There's plenty more, of course; how can there not be after spending nearly 15 years writing and developing and editing fantasy RPGs?
Yes. Not gonna call them out though.
I don't think I ever seen the phrase "living rock" used before.
What is it used for?
How do you explain what you do professionally to people who have no idea what an RPG is?
EDIT: Presuming you ever find yourself in that situation, I guess...which come to think of it is probably unlikely. So, if necessary, please amend it to how would you...
How do you explain what you do professionally to people who have no idea what an RPG is?
EDIT: Presuming you ever find yourself in that situation, I guess...which come to think of it is probably unlikely. So, if necessary, please amend it to how would you...
Depending on what you actually do you tell them that you are either a professional writer or professional game designer. And that you get paid to do what you do.
That last sentence will justify almost anything.
1. The Emerald Spire's power was so potent that even in the Axis its power could be felt. Then were aboleths aware of the spire? If its power was so powerful, then surely aboleths could feel it too, right? Or maybe the power of the spire is mostly about the planar rifts, and becuase aboleths were already in the same plane(the material plane) with the spire, they didn't feel it and thus don't know its presence at all even to this day?
2. I thought you are the one that knows about the Emerald Spire the most since you are the creative director and you wrote the last level of the dungeon, which is the most important part of a dungeon. Well, then would Erik Mona be the more appropriate person to ask about the spire more? I'm really sad that he doesn't have Ask Erik Mona ALL your Questions Here! thread.
3. If Hulrun somehow survived the attack on Kenabres by fleeing or hiding, what would he think after the heroes saved the city? Would he finally realize his wrongdoings and start the journey of redemption? Or would he think that all these disasters happened because there were still many demon-worshipers hidden among the citizens of Kenabres and thus he will be more convinced that his witch hunts were very righteous after all and decide to hunt more witches?
4. What did Terendelev think about Hulrun? Did she despise his witch hunts? Then why didn't she stop him?
5. Did Terendelev have any class levels?
6. I read many soucebooks but I couldn't find a proper answer. You said Treerazer attacks elves because he hates them. Is there a particular reason he hates elves particularly?
7. Treerazer is an English word. It's a nickname made by elves, and not his original name, right? What is his original name?
8. Then if the elves who fled to the Darklands didn't become evil and remained good, they wouldn't have become drows, right?
9. Why didn't they leave for Sovyrian anyway? Is that because they were evil in the first place? Likewise, some dwarves refused the Quest for Sky and became duergars. They remained behind because they were evil?
10. You said that one must worship a chaotic evil god to become a drow. Then how could Allevrah become a drow? She may be chaoic evil, but at the time of transformation, she didn't worship Abraxas yet, right? So even though she was evil beyond redemption, she couldn't become a drow because she didn't worship a chaotic evil god.
11. Was Allevrah chaotic good before her transformation?
12. Can I assume that there is no elf who worships chaotic evil gods like demon lords because those who did transformed into drows instantly?
13. You said several times that you think Mengkare is evil, while James Sutter, the creator of Hermea, thinks Mengkare is good. Does that mean, if Paizo ever publish an adventure path centered around Hermea, under Sutter's supervision Mengkare would be a benevolent supporter of the PCs, but if it's under your supervision, Mengkare would be a tyrant who will be the final boss of the adventure path?
14. The sidebar in page 4 of Andoran, Spirit of Liberty said that in 4691 AR one of Taldor's duke invaded Andoran but got defeated, and the Eagle Knights gained more importance. Rumors spread that they engineered the whole thing to gain more power. But Andoran, Birthplace of Freedom didn't mention the incident. Did Paizo change its mind and deleted the war entirely?
15. Dimension door spell prevents me from taking actions after casting the spell. Is this restriction applied to the abilities that function as dimension door(for example, a monk's abundance step, a shadow dancer's shadow jump)?
16. I think dimension door's this restriction is so lame, weird and unnecessary. Do you think letting every character act even after casting dimension door breaks the game balance so much that shouldn't be allowed? I really want to use dimension door -> quickened fireball combo, and it doesn't look that powerful anyway.
17. If I cast dimension door as a swift action using quicken spell, can I take a standard action and a move action after casting the quickened dimension door?
18. The casting time of summon monster is one round. I can't find out why. Even a 20th level wizard can only summon one CR 9 creature with summon monster 9, which is hardly useful against enemies with appropriate CR(like 20 or higher). I mean, even those super powerful 20th level casters cannot summon really effective and useful creatures with summon monster spells. Then why bother making its casting time 1 round? I think if its casting time is changed into 1 standard action, there will be no problem and everyone will be happy. What do you think?
19. How about making a feat that lets casters cast summon monster and similar spells as a standard action? Do you think it's too powerful as a feat?
20. Greater create demiplane spell can add the portal feature to the demiplane. Does that mean if I don't add this feature or if I cast lesser or normal create demiplane, there will be no portal at all? The reason I ask this question is that, if there is a portal into my demiplane, that means anybody can get in there. I plan to put my treasures and clone bodies in my demiplane, but if there's a slight possibility that some random commoners can get in there and steal my treasures and destroy my clone bodies, I can't sleep peacefully any longer. So I ask you, if I don't add the portal feature by casting greater create demiplane, there will be no portal and thus random commoner cannot get in there?
21. Then how can I get in there? Should I cast plane shift or gate to get into my own demiplane?
22. When I cast create demiplane spell, after casting am I automaticallly teleported into that newly created demiplane? Or should I cast plane shift or gate to get in there in the first place?
23. I can't sleep peacefully if there's a slight possibility that a random high level mage uses gate to trespass my demiplane and steal all my treasures and destroy my clone bodies. So I ask you, if there's a mage who knows that I have my personal demiplane which hoards my treasures but has never been there, unless I foolishly trusted him and took him into my demiplane, he can never, ever get into my demiplane, even if he casts gate or other similar spells, because he has never visited there and thus not very familiar to it. Am I correct?
24. Which brings me a similar question. If there is a mage who just learned plane shift or gate spell, but has never visited other plane other than the Material Plane, and doesn't know well about other planes because he didn't like to study about the planes or because he's a sorcerer and thus didn't have to study at all and thus has little knowledge about other planes entirely. Can this guy visit other planes using plane shift or gate?
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Creative Director
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| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
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?
Absolutely. "Prophecy" immediately comes to mind. Using the words "flank" or "dominate" as adjectives to describe furniture in encounter read-aloud text (aka: Two chairs flank a large table that dominates the room). The phrase "living rock." Inappropriate use of the word "decimate." The phrase "torn asunder." There's plenty more, of course; how can there not be after spending nearly 15 years writing and developing and editing fantasy RPGs?
Yes. Not gonna call them out though.
I don't think I ever seen the phrase "living rock" used before.
What is it used for?
Generally as a poetic description of rock that hasn't yet been cut out by digging/mining.
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Creative Director
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| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
How do you explain what you do professionally to people who have no idea what an RPG is?
EDIT: Presuming you ever find yourself in that situation, I guess...which come to think of it is probably unlikely. So, if necessary, please amend it to how would you...
Actually, this is still a thing—there's plenty of folks out there who don't understand what an RPG is or are stuck in the mid 80s 'Oh that devil game?' mentality.
The easiest way to explain it is to say that I work on writing and editing games and books. If they press for more info, I explain it's a tabletop RPG, and if that draws blank stares I'll say "It's like Warcraft" or some other videogame but played out at a table with pen and paper. Depending on their interest I'll go into more detail.
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Creative Director
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How do you explain what you do professionally to people who have no idea what an RPG is?
EDIT: Presuming you ever find yourself in that situation, I guess...which come to think of it is probably unlikely. So, if necessary, please amend it to how would you...
Depending on what you actually do you tell them that you are either a professional writer or professional game designer. And that you get paid to do what you do.
That last sentence will justify almost anything.
Let me answer the questions, please, to avoid cluttering the thread. Thanks.
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Creative Director
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1. The Emerald Spire's power was so potent that even in the Axis its power could be felt. Then were aboleths aware of the spire? If its power was so powerful, then surely aboleths could feel it too, right? Or maybe the power of the spire is mostly about the planar rifts, and becuase aboleths were already in the same plane(the material plane) with the spire, they didn't feel it and thus don't know its presence at all even to this day?
2. I thought you are the one that knows about the Emerald Spire the most since you are the creative director and you wrote the last level of the dungeon, which is the most important part of a dungeon. Well, then would Erik Mona be the more appropriate person to ask about the spire more? I'm really sad that he doesn't have Ask Erik Mona ALL your Questions Here! thread.
3. If Hulrun somehow survived the attack on Kenabres by fleeing or hiding, what would he think after the heroes saved the city? Would he finally realize his wrongdoings and start the journey of redemption? Or would he think that all these disasters happened because there were still many demon-worshipers hidden among the citizens of Kenabres and thus he will be more convinced that his witch hunts were very righteous after all and decide to hunt more witches?
4. What did Terendelev think about Hulrun? Did she despise his witch hunts? Then why didn't she stop him?
5. Did Terendelev have any class levels?
6. I read many soucebooks but I couldn't find a proper answer. You said Treerazer attacks elves because he hates them. Is there a particular reason he hates elves particularly?
7. Treerazer is an English word. It's a nickname made by elves, and not his original name, right? What is his original name?
1) The aboleths were not aware, and if they were, they likely wouldn't care. It's so localized and landlocked that it's of little interest to them. That said, Axis has VASTLY more power to observe than the aboleths.
2) I am the creative director, yes, but some products, like Emerald Spire, largely happen outside of my direct purview or interaction. We publish FAR MORE material than a single person can "creative direct," so instead I help to make sure all the rest of the talented folks we employ know what directions to take the things that they work on. Erik is among the busiest of all of us, with so much business travel on top of doing all the publishing stuff, and as such he doesn't have much time to answer questions here. For better or worse, the best chance to ask him questions is at a convention.
3) That would depend on how the heroes dealt with him. His story is one that I like to think is something that PCs can have an impact on, but if they don't interact with him, he's just not strong-willed enough to save himself from his own hatred and stubbornness.
4) She didn't approve once she figured out what was going on, but even then, her focus was not on individuals but wider stuff like protecting the city.
5) No.
6) Because he does. Because they took what he felt was his—regions of Kyonin. Because he's jealous of them. Because they're pests in his world. Because elves represent a purity of the woodlands (goodness) and he's a demon obsessed with corruption of the woodlands.
7) It's his name, not a nickname. Other nascent demon lords have names like this (such as Nightripper), and may or may not, in time, swap out that name for something else. They might not wish to reveal their true name because that grants too much power to enemies, or they might have abandoned their original name because it's associated with them in a weaker incarnation. For the time being, though, Treerazer is his real name.
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Creative Director
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8. Then if the elves who fled to the Darklands didn't become evil and remained good, they wouldn't have become drows, right?
9. Why didn't they leave for Sovyrian anyway? Is that because they were evil in the first place? Likewise, some dwarves refused the Quest for Sky and became duergars. They remained behind because they were evil?
10. You said that one must worship a chaotic evil god to become a drow. Then how could Allevrah become a drow? She may be chaoic evil, but at the time of transformation, she didn't worship Abraxas yet, right? So even though she was evil beyond redemption, she couldn't become a drow because she didn't worship a chaotic evil god.
11. Was Allevrah chaotic good before her transformation?
12. Can I assume that there is no elf who worships chaotic evil gods like demon lords because those who did transformed into drows instantly?
13. You said several times that you think Mengkare is evil, while James Sutter, the creator of Hermea, thinks Mengkare is good. Does that mean, if Paizo ever publish an adventure path centered around Hermea, under Sutter's supervision Mengkare would be a benevolent supporter of the PCs, but if it's under your supervision, Mengkare would be a tyrant who will be the final boss of the adventure path?
14. The sidebar in page 4 of Andoran, Spirit of Liberty said that in 4691 AR one of Taldor's duke invaded Andoran but got defeated, and the Eagle Knights gained more importance. Rumors spread that they engineered the whole thing to gain more power. But Andoran, Birthplace of Freedom didn't mention the incident. Did Paizo change its mind and deleted the war entirely?
8) Correct. And some did indeed stay elves and stay good. But they're either long-since dead, or have resurfaced in Tian Xia.
9) Because they felt Golarion was their home. Same reason you see some folks refuse to abandon their home as a hurricane or volcano or other natural disaster looms in the region. As for the duergar, we're a little less clear there, but I think that the duergar existed before the Quest for Sky as dwarves who were twisted and transformed by Droskar, and when the dwarves abandoned their deep cities for the Quest for Sky, the duergar moved in.
10) She did worship Abraxas at the time of her transformation. Her conversion to his worship may indeed have been the final straw to trigger the change, so the time between her worshiping Abraxas and becomign a drow may have been short, but the worship came first. If there's any text in Second Darkness that says otherwise, that text is incorrect.
11) Unrevealed, but probably chaotic neutral, as she'd been on a downward to evil slope for a while.
12) There are PLENTY of elves who worship chaotic evil deities and demons and don't transform. That's just one of many conditions that needs to be met for the transformation; the rest are largely undefined but so rare that the transformation is super super super rare; it only happens when the story you want to tell requires it.
13) It means that Sutter and I and some of the other stakeholders in the company would have to have a few meetings to come to a consensus before we went forward with a Hermea storyline, and if it looked like we couldn't and folks were gonna quit or do something equally over the top if they didn't get their way, then we'd not do a Hermea storyline in the first place. Personally, I think that it's INCREDIBLY irresponsible and dangerous and troubling to call a creature that's basically engaged in eugenics and treats humans as lab rats "good" aligned.
14) Nope, it just means that we didn't have room to talk about that in the new book is all, and decided to focus in other directions.
7) It's his name, not a nickname. Other nascent demon lords have names like this (such as Nightripper), and may or may not, in time, swap out that name for something else. They might not wish to reveal their true name because that grants too much power to enemies, or they might have abandoned their original name because it's associated with them in a weaker incarnation. For the time being, though, Treerazer is his real name.
I presume that like Strygalldr said to Corwin when he gave him his name in "Guns of Avalon", that trying to conjure with Treerazer's name would not be a good idea for a would-be power mad wizard?
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Creative Director
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15. Dimension door spell prevents me from taking actions after casting the spell. Is this restriction applied to the abilities that function as dimension door(for example, a monk's abundance step, a shadow dancer's shadow jump)?
16. I think dimension door's this restriction is so lame, weird and unnecessary. Do you think letting every character act even after casting dimension door breaks the game balance so much that shouldn't be allowed? I really want to use dimension door -> quickened fireball combo, and it doesn't look that powerful anyway.
17. If I cast dimension door as a swift action using quicken spell, can I take a standard action and a move action after casting the quickened dimension door?
18. The casting time of summon monster is one round. I can't find out why. Even a 20th level wizard can only summon one CR 9 creature with summon monster 9, which is hardly useful against enemies with appropriate CR(like 20 or higher). I mean, even those super powerful 20th level casters cannot summon really effective and useful creatures with summon monster spells. Then why bother making its casting time 1 round? I think if its casting time is changed into 1 standard action, there will be no problem and everyone will be happy. What do you think?
19. How about making a feat that lets casters cast summon monster and similar spells as a standard action? Do you think it's too powerful as a feat?
15) Yes.
16) Change it in your game if you don't like it. We're not gonna change it because you think it's "lame." Part of why that restriction is in the spell is because being able to teleport is VERY powerful, and this helps to make the higher level teleport spell (which has its own disadvantages) remain a better option than dimension door.
17) No.
18) It's because that's the way the summon monster spells were designed. Again, change it in your game if you don't like it.
19) Check out the summoner. It gets that ability, I believe. Frankly, the throttling of summoned monsters is GOOD for the game, because the more monsters your PC spams onto the battlefield, the slower the game goes.
What is the next adventure Path or homebrew campaign you are going to play and what character are you going to make?
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Creative Director
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20. Greater create demiplane spell can add the portal feature to the demiplane. Does that mean if I don't add this feature or if I cast lesser or normal create demiplane, there will be no portal at all? The reason I ask this question is that, if there is a portal into my demiplane, that means anybody can get in there. I plan to put my treasures and clone bodies in my demiplane, but if there's a slight possibility that some random commoners can get in there and steal my treasures and destroy my clone bodies, I can't sleep peacefully any longer. So I ask you, if I don't add the portal feature by casting greater create demiplane, there will be no portal and thus random commoner cannot get in there?
21. Then how can I get in there? Should I cast plane shift or gate to get into my own demiplane?
22. When I cast create demiplane spell, after casting am I automaticallly teleported into that newly created demiplane? Or should I cast plane shift or gate to get in there in the first place?
23. I can't sleep peacefully if there's a slight possibility that a random high level mage uses gate to trespass my demiplane and steal all my treasures and destroy my clone bodies. So I ask you, if there's a mage who knows that I have my personal demiplane which hoards my treasures but has never been there, unless I foolishly trusted him and took him into my demiplane, he can never, ever get into my demiplane, even if he casts gate or other similar spells, because he has never visited there and thus not very familiar to it. Am I correct?
24. Which brings me a similar question. If there is a mage who just learned plane shift or gate spell, but has never visited other plane other than the Material Plane, and doesn't know well about other planes because he didn't like to study about the planes or because he's a sorcerer and thus didn't have to study at all and thus has little knowledge about other planes entirely. Can this guy visit other planes using plane shift or gate?
20) This has drifted into a raw rules question and should be asked on the rules boards for the design team to weigh in on.
21) See #20 above.
22) See #20 above.
23) Sounds like you've got bigger problems than defense if the mere possibility of a random high level mage popping into your lair is enough to keep you from sleeping peacefully. Maybe you need to find a GM who isn't antagonistic and doesn't take every single advantage of a PC's weakness to throw danger at them?
24) He can. He just won't know what he's getting into and will likely find himself in over his head immediately.
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Generally as a poetic description of rock that hasn't yet been cut out by digging/mining.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?
Absolutely. "Prophecy" immediately comes to mind. Using the words "flank" or "dominate" as adjectives to describe furniture in encounter read-aloud text (aka: Two chairs flank a large table that dominates the room). The phrase "living rock." Inappropriate use of the word "decimate." The phrase "torn asunder." There's plenty more, of course; how can there not be after spending nearly 15 years writing and developing and editing fantasy RPGs?
Yes. Not gonna call them out though.
I don't think I ever seen the phrase "living rock" used before.
What is it used for?
Ah, interesting. Thankies.
Personally, I think that it's INCREDIBLY irresponsible and dangerous and troubling to call a creature that's basically engaged in eugenics and treats humans as lab rats "good" aligned.
Do you think that humans who choose their spouse based on looks and intelligence aren't good people?
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What is the next adventure Path or homebrew campaign you are going to play and what character are you going to make?
No new campaigns are in my future as far as I know. If we have a TPK in one of the ones I"m currently playing in, we'll start a new one up, I guess, but until that surprising event happens there's been no real thought put into it on my side.
That said, my next PC will probably be a druid. Druids were one of my favorite classes in D&D but I haven't yet played one in Pathfinder.
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Do you think that humans who choose their spouse based on looks and intelligence aren't good people?Personally, I think that it's INCREDIBLY irresponsible and dangerous and troubling to call a creature that's basically engaged in eugenics and treats humans as lab rats "good" aligned.
That's an entirely different thing from having a dictator manipulate a society and pair up people according to his whims, and who "gets rid" of undesirables, be they visitors or children born to couples or whatever. ENTIRELY different. And someone who doesn't understand the difference between a couple falling in love on their own and a dictator forcing two people to have sex has some issues they need to work out before I'm interested in talking more with them.
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7) It's his name, not a nickname. Other nascent demon lords have names like this (such as Nightripper), and may or may not, in time, swap out that name for something else. They might not wish to reveal their true name because that grants too much power to enemies, or they might have abandoned their original name because it's associated with them in a weaker incarnation. For the time being, though, Treerazer is his real name.I presume that like Strygalldr said to Corwin when he gave him his name in "Guns of Avalon", that trying to conjure with Treerazer's name would not be a good idea for a would-be power mad wizard?
Conjuring a nascent demon lord is never a good idea. I've not read/seen/watched/whateverd "Guns of Avalon" so I'm not sure who you're talking about there though.
Conjuring a nascent demon lord is never a good idea. I've not read/seen/watched/whateverd "Guns of Avalon" so I'm not sure who you're talking about there though.7) It's his name, not a nickname. Other nascent demon lords have names like this (such as Nightripper), and may or may not, in time, swap out that name for something else. They might not wish to reveal their true name because that grants too much power to enemies, or they might have abandoned their original name because it's associated with them in a weaker incarnation. For the time being, though, Treerazer is his real name.I presume that like Strygalldr said to Corwin when he gave him his name in "Guns of Avalon", that trying to conjure with Treerazer's name would not be a good idea for a would-be power mad wizard?
It's Book 2 of Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber quintology.
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It's Book 2 of Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber quintology.Conjuring a nascent demon lord is never a good idea. I've not read/seen/watched/whateverd "Guns of Avalon" so I'm not sure who you're talking about there though.7) It's his name, not a nickname. Other nascent demon lords have names like this (such as Nightripper), and may or may not, in time, swap out that name for something else. They might not wish to reveal their true name because that grants too much power to enemies, or they might have abandoned their original name because it's associated with them in a weaker incarnation. For the time being, though, Treerazer is his real name.I presume that like Strygalldr said to Corwin when he gave him his name in "Guns of Avalon", that trying to conjure with Treerazer's name would not be a good idea for a would-be power mad wizard?
That explains it; never read it.
Then who corrupted Dou-Bral?
Or is the better question.. What?
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Where do you think the next Elder Scrolls game will be and why?
For me, I am hoping Elsweyr. Valenwood seems out as so much of it is featured in ESO. Black Marsh is getting more love their as well, leaving the home of the Khajiit with little.
I"m hoping Summerset Isle, since it's elf-land, and it's where my character in the very first Elder Scrolls game, Arena, was from, so I've some nostalgia for the isle. I don't really count much of ESO as part of the single player game canon.
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I"m hoping Summerset Isle, since it's elf-land, and it's where my character in the very first Elder Scrolls game, Arena, was from, so I've some nostalgia for the isle. I don't really count much of ESO as part of the single player game canon.Where do you think the next Elder Scrolls game will be and why?
For me, I am hoping Elsweyr. Valenwood seems out as so much of it is featured in ESO. Black Marsh is getting more love their as well, leaving the home of the Khajiit with little.
It actually is part of the lore. All of it comes from the main Bethesda for go-ahead on anything. So ESO is right there in canon.
The only problem with Summerset is that the lore says NO to that. Outside of Altmer, you'd rarely see any outsider there.
That's an entirely different thing from having a dictator manipulate a society and pair up people according to his whims, and who "gets rid" of undesirables, be they visitors or children born to couples or whatever. ENTIRELY different. And someone who doesn't understand the difference between a couple falling in love on their own and a dictator forcing two people to have sex has some issues they need to work out before I'm interested in talking more with them.Do you think that humans who choose their spouse based on looks and intelligence aren't good people?Personally, I think that it's INCREDIBLY irresponsible and dangerous and troubling to call a creature that's basically engaged in eugenics and treats humans as lab rats "good" aligned.
The only relevant part of the Inner Sea World Guide with respect to Hermean mating/breeding states:
Mating and partnering among citizens is encouraged, but the courtship process is long and frequently guided by government officials in charge of helping to naturally breed beneficial traits.
There's certainly plenty in there about Mengkare getting rid of undesirables, but nothing about forcing marriages. "Guided" isn't forced, "frequently" isn't always, and "government officials in charge" isn't Mengkare in this instance. Is there some additional published source that fleshed this out more in line with your views?
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I"m hoping Summerset Isle, since it's elf-land, and it's where my character in the very first Elder Scrolls game, Arena, was from, so I've some nostalgia for the isle. I don't really count much of ESO as part of the single player game canon.Where do you think the next Elder Scrolls game will be and why?
For me, I am hoping Elsweyr. Valenwood seems out as so much of it is featured in ESO. Black Marsh is getting more love their as well, leaving the home of the Khajiit with little.
It actually is part of the lore. All of it comes from the main Bethesda for go-ahead on anything. So ESO is right there in canon.
The only problem with Summerset is that the lore says NO to that. Outside of Altmer, you'd rarely see any outsider there.
Meh.
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That's an entirely different thing from having a dictator manipulate a society and pair up people according to his whims, and who "gets rid" of undesirables, be they visitors or children born to couples or whatever. ENTIRELY different. And someone who doesn't understand the difference between a couple falling in love on their own and a dictator forcing two people to have sex has some issues they need to work out before I'm interested in talking more with them.Do you think that humans who choose their spouse based on looks and intelligence aren't good people?Personally, I think that it's INCREDIBLY irresponsible and dangerous and troubling to call a creature that's basically engaged in eugenics and treats humans as lab rats "good" aligned.
The only relevant part of the Inner Sea World Guide with respect to Hermean mating/breeding states:
Mating and partnering among citizens is encouraged, but the courtship process is long and frequently guided by government officials in charge of helping to naturally breed beneficial traits.There's certainly plenty in there about Mengkare getting rid of undesirables, but nothing about forcing marriages. "Guided" isn't forced, "frequently" isn't always, and "government officials in charge" isn't Mengkare in this instance. Is there some additional published source that fleshed this out more in line with your views?
That's because when I was developing those words for the Inner Sea World Guide I tried to couch the words with something to try to downplay implications that existed in previous products, but it's still a pretty spooky/creepy setup.
Frankly, to me, an evil gold dragon who hides behind a supposedly "good" program but that is, when you expose the truth, all evil and corrupt is more interesting as an adventure hook than the alternate. Actual paradise-on-earth regions are boring for stories, since there's no conflict.
That said, I'm also not a fan of pedantry and reading into every single word for literalisim. It tires me out and annoys me.
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This Mengkare thing reminds me of a short story in some elf-themed novel I read back in the day, where the elves were being led by some kind of gold dragon king. Dragons being dragons, whether good or not, in that story the gold dragon simply appeared as a fair but brutish tyrant, although I'm wondering if some of that was the author trying to illustrate the differences between a LG ruler and a pack of CG followers...
It seems to me that any civilized humanoid group, especially elves IMO, would not really do well under a dragon king, be it a good dragon or not. The evil ones see humanoids as food or at best tools, so do you think the good ones would see humanoids as loved pets at best, and hopeless causes at worst?
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It seems to me that any civilized humanoid group, especially elves IMO, would not really do well under a dragon king, be it a good dragon or not. The evil ones see humanoids as food or at best tools, so do you think the good ones would see humanoids as loved pets at best, and hopeless causes at worst?
In Pathfinder, dragons are really set up as dragons, not humans with wings and scales. Our most significant dragon who masquerades as a human, Kazavon, was a horrific monster of a menace and a madman and a terror. Dragons and humanity don't mix well—they're not all that compatible mentally and physically and emotionally in Golarion. This is by intent, since we want to do our own thing and not just ape themes from Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, and so many other D&D or fantasy campaigns.
I think good aligned dragons CAN see humans as friends and allies, but they don't see human NATIONS as friends or allies.
Re: Hermea.
Putting the massive ethical questions his methods raise aside, from a cold-blooded, scientific standpoint... What the heck is Mengkare trying to prove with his "perfect" society that functions on the rigorously controlled island that he personally oversees but which has not been duplicated in any larger or less controlled context? (He'd NEVER get published!)
Moving on-
Phantasm II is my least favorite installment of the series- so, Mighty T-Rex, as someone who likes it a great deal: What is it about the flick that sells you on it? (Not expecting any minds to get changed here, I'm just curious)