Creative Director
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Question Mister James Jacobs:
If you had to pick 5 album to listen to while going to Mars which would they be?
The Wall
Dark Side of the MoonA Passage in Time
Seven and the Ragged Tiger
And a Liszt album that included the Hungarian Rhapsodies and Mazzepa... which I would spend all my Mars free time trying to learn to play.
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I'm not sure if you're the person to ask about this, but in Adventure Path 100, in the Faith of Aroden section, there are two depictions of swords made of some sort of green translucent material. What is this mystery material that these swords are made of? And how feasible would it be for an adventurer to obtain one of these swords in the world?
Which good outsiders do you consider to be 'celestials'?Angels, azatas, agathions, manasaputras, and archons are celestials. Peri too. And garudas. There's certainly more I'm forgetting.
Couatls?
1: Would you agree that demons are CE with an emphasis on evil, while qlippoth are CE with an emphasis on chaos?
2: Do deities have true names?
3: Do fiends ever form friendships, either with mortals that please them or among their own kind?
How ya doin' James? Can I get a high five?
1) Why might a deity use a CR 1/10 avatar?
2) Who's Shimmy?
3) What Golarion holiday is similar to Halloween? How is it celebrated?
4) How much do the various fiendish races war with each other?
5) Other than slipping on a bar of soap, or getting eaten by a flumph, what is a one way Aroden didn't die?
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Another question: how serious are Aldori swordlords about their weapon of choice? Is it like Dragon Age's Qunari or the Nyueng Bao swordmasters in Glen Cook's Black Company series ("Your sword is a sacred extension of your soul/being and it is taboo to wield any other weapon and you may never use it for mundane cutting.") or more like real world samurai ("Your sword is a symbol of your honor and authority, and should be the only weapon you duel with, but you're still expected to be familiar with other weapons like polearms and archery, since not every battle is a duel.")?
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So my roommate and I had a thought about the evil alignments and how they could be represented by the villains of Luke Cage (assuming you've finished the series):
Specifically, our thought was that each of the three main antagonists can be taken as an example of a different variety of evil. Partially so I could use them as an example of the differences between them for explaining alignments to players.
Mariah Dillard is Lawful Evil. She wants to build a community where she's at the top, where her power comes from an establishment that she can exploit at will. She wants the influence and power that comes with being the head of a community, but despite some of her claims to the contrary she's more than eager to indulge in evil methods. She puts more than a little time and effort into trying to encourage her cousin to follow her path to 'legitimacy' rather than being just another crime boss. (You could also make a case that she starts the series as LN and follows a character arc to LE by the end of the season)
Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes is Neutral Evil. His primary motivation is personal wealth and power. He prefers his organization be an orderly one keeping with various criminal underworld traditions, but he's not terribly focused on imposing that order on others. And while he is a dedicated criminal with anger issues stemming from his upbringing, he doesn't revel in destruction and chaos. He'd rather have a self-serving peace than a war.
Willis "Diamondback" Stryker is Chaotic Evil. He operates through fear -- not simply intimidating people into doing what he wants like Cottonmouth, but making sure people are terrified of him. He has no qualms about hurting innocent bystanders and sees a terrified and ruined community as an ideal sandbox to play in. His motivations are driven by whim and petty revenge, and openly eschews well-considered plans. He'd rather have self-serving war than peace.
And while he's not strictly part of the explanation I've been crafting, for completion's sake:
Hernan "Shades" Alvarez is kind of a secondary antagonist, serving as a lieutenant to all three of the above at some point or another throughout the series, and if I had to fit him into the framework I'd peg him as Lawful Evil but more focused on the Evil than the Lawful. He wants power and wealth and prestige and does it through organizations and complex plans more as a means to an end. For Mariah, the organization propping her up is the goal whereas for Shades it's just a tool, if you get the distinction. Which makes their collaboration towards the end of the season a pretty good fit for the longer term.
Would you say that's a pretty fair assessment?
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James, question about troglodytes. Back in 3.5 they had the stench ability that could make you sickened. However, recently played an adventure with them in there, and thought there was a major typo when I couldn't find it. Looked in the bestiary and sure enough it had been removed. Do you know what this came to be? Do Golarion trogs just not have the stink glands, or are they just more hygienic and less cowardly?
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Creative Director
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Another quick question about awakened animals, how does the awaken spell affect the animals CR? Does it increase the animals CR by 1 because of the +2HD or does the creatures CR remain the same as the base creature?
By the rules as written, it doesn't affect CR at all. But logically, if the spell adjusts the animal's Table 1–1 stats up or down, you should absolutely adjust CR as appropriate. That really goes for ALL templates and template like things.
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Creative Director
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I'm not sure if you're the person to ask about this, but in Adventure Path 100, in the Faith of Aroden section, there are two depictions of swords made of some sort of green translucent material. What is this mystery material that these swords are made of? And how feasible would it be for an adventurer to obtain one of these swords in the world?
It's a mystery material, apparently. I didn't write or develop that article... it certainly COULD have stood to have game stats for that green stuff, but it doesn't, so at this point either they're just not available for adventurers, or you the GM get to make it up.
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Creative Director
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James, what would a lich resurrect if it was killed by a final blade?
No, but it would rejuvenate at its phylactery as per normal.
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Creative Director
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1: Would you agree that demons are CE with an emphasis on evil, while qlippoth are CE with an emphasis on chaos?
2: Do deities have true names?
3: Do fiends ever form friendships, either with mortals that please them or among their own kind?
1) They have pretty equal emphasis on chaos AND evil, just in different ways.
2) Probably not. They're too tough to bother with them.
3) Very rarely, when they manage to ascend out of being evil. Those that don't can PRETEND to have friends, but they're more like allies until the ally is no longer useful as an ally.
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Creative Director
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How ya doin' James? Can I get a high five?
1) Why might a deity use a CR 1/10 avatar?
2) Who's Shimmy?
3) What Golarion holiday is similar to Halloween? How is it celebrated?
4) How much do the various fiendish races war with each other?
5) Other than slipping on a bar of soap, or getting eaten by a flumph, what is a one way Aroden didn't die?
Doing meh. Nope, I don't do high fives.
1) Ask the storyteller who comes up with the reason. Maybe to test mortals? "Here's my avatar, don't kill it... oh you killed it! You failed the test of compassion. Here's my CR 30 avatar to show you how that feels."
2) My cat.
3) Night of the Pale. It's a lot less "fun" than Halloween though, since there are real monsters out there.
4) Not so much that it distracts them from doing their REAL job of tormenting and murdering and ruining mortals.
5) We don't talk about Aroden's death. That's kind of the whole point of the mystery.
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Creative Director
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Another question: how serious are Aldori swordlords about their weapon of choice? Is it like Dragon Age's Qunari or the Nyueng Bao swordmasters in Glen Cook's Black Company series ("Your sword is a sacred extension of your soul/being and it is taboo to wield any other weapon and you may never use it for mundane cutting.") or more like real world samurai ("Your sword is a symbol of your honor and authority, and should be the only weapon you duel with, but you're still expected to be familiar with other weapons like polearms and archery, since not every battle is a duel.")?
It's more like a samurai I guess. It's not something we've done a LOT of work on. But the upcoming Adventurer's Guide will cover that element, I suspect.
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Creative Director
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So my roommate and I had a thought about the evil alignments and how they could be represented by the villains of Luke Cage (assuming you've finished the series):
** spoiler omitted **...
I haven't finished the series yet, so thanks for using the spoiler button. (I didn't look inside it, so I can't answer your question.)
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Creative Director
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James, question about troglodytes. Back in 3.5 they had the stench ability that could make you sickened. However, recently played an adventure with them in there, and thought there was a major typo when I couldn't find it. Looked in the bestiary and sure enough it had been removed. Do you know what this came to be? Do Golarion trogs just not have the stink glands, or are they just more hygienic and less cowardly?
They have a stench ability listed in their aura line. That's where stench and all auras go, becuase at the top of the stat block, where you look for info you need at the immediate start of an encounter (like initiative and perception stuff) is where aura info goes, since an aura affects things from the very start of a combat.
What kinds of fiends are most prone to being stupid evil?
That is, when given a choice between an evil act that will detriment them or a good act that will benefit them, they'll (often suicidally) go for the evil act because "I'M EVIL DAMMIT."
I haven't finished the series yet, so thanks for using the spoiler button. (I didn't look inside it, so I can't answer your question.)So my roommate and I had a thought about the evil alignments and how they could be represented by the villains of Luke Cage (assuming you've finished the series):
** spoiler omitted **...
Fair enough. In the meantime, are you enjoying it, at least?
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James, question about troglodytes. Back in 3.5 they had the stench ability that could make you sickened. However, recently played an adventure with them in there, and thought there was a major typo when I couldn't find it. Looked in the bestiary and sure enough it had been removed. Do you know what this came to be? Do Golarion trogs just not have the stink glands, or are they just more hygienic and less cowardly?They have a stench ability listed in their aura line. That's where stench and all auras go, becuase at the top of the stat block, where you look for info you need at the immediate start of an encounter (like initiative and perception stuff) is where aura info goes, since an aura affects things from the very start of a combat.
I feel dumb now. I always thought it was a special attack, not an aura. Definitely handy information. Thanks.
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Question Mister James Jacobs:
If you had to pick 5 album to listen to while going to Mars which would they be?
The Wall
Dark Side of the Moon
A Passage in Time
Seven and the Ragged Tiger
And a Liszt album that included the Hungarian Rhapsodies and Mazzepa... which I would spend all my Mars free time trying to learn to play.
Ooh, Duran Duran! I prefer the album Rio to Seven and the Ragged Tiger, but still cool.
What's your favorite song by Duran Duran? I can't choose between The Chauffer, Save a Prayer and Come Undone.
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Creative Director
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What kinds of fiends are most prone to being stupid evil?
That is, when given a choice between an evil act that will detriment them or a good act that will benefit them, they'll (often suicidally) go for the evil act because "I'M EVIL DAMMIT."
All of them have this potential, depending on their mental stats.
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Creative Director
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Fair enough. In the meantime, are you enjoying it, at least?I haven't finished the series yet, so thanks for using the spoiler button. (I didn't look inside it, so I can't answer your question.)So my roommate and I had a thought about the evil alignments and how they could be represented by the villains of Luke Cage (assuming you've finished the series):
** spoiler omitted **...
Yes.
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Creative Director
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Question Mister James Jacobs:
If you had to pick 5 album to listen to while going to Mars which would they be?
The Wall
Dark Side of the Moon
A Passage in Time
Seven and the Ragged Tiger
And a Liszt album that included the Hungarian Rhapsodies and Mazzepa... which I would spend all my Mars free time trying to learn to play.Ooh, Duran Duran! I prefer the album Rio to Seven and the Ragged Tiger, but still cool.
What's your favorite song by Duran Duran? I can't choose between The Chauffer, Save a Prayer and Come Undone.
Union of the Snake.
How few non-evil fiends are there in existence? I'm willing to bet that the number of redeemed evil outsiders in Golarion's history isn't even in triple digits.
Matter of fact, I only know of two (three if you count Ragathiel): The Lost Ferryman (one of Hanspur's servants) and Arueshalae.
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Creative Director
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How few non-evil fiends are there in existence? I'm willing to bet that the number of redeemed evil outsiders in Golarion's history isn't even in triple digits.
Matter of fact, I only know of two (three if you count Ragathiel): The Lost Ferryman (one of Hanspur's servants) and Arueshalae.
Count up all the fiends we've put in adventures and sourcebooks. Then use that number and the number 2 (I don't count Ragathiel) to determine a ratio/percentage of how few non-evil fiends are out there.
It's not a lot.
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Creative Director
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Hey, James Jacobs!
This has frustrated my wizards and Living Monoliths for a while. How exactly does the Statue spell work? Can I still move while Statue-ified? Do my stats change to reflect my rock-hard abs other than just the hardness of 8? I don't need to breathe or eat, but can I if I want to? Do I still age? Could I walk around as a statue for the full duration and just effectively have hardness 8 for 1hr/CL? If I have more hit points as a higher level character than a simple stone statue would, wouldn't that make it even easier to break off my arms in Statue form than normal?
EDIT: Fixed my grammar
You can't move. You don't get different stats. You basically just are a statue, but can switch in and out of it with ease. It's a tricky spell to use tactically, and not the best choice in the normal combat, but it's a fun one to get creative with.
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Creative Director
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Another player asked if they age while under the effects of Meld Into Stone. Since a Living Monolith can cast it at-will at 6th level, and you are allowed to cast more spells on yourself while still under the effect of this spell, could you effectively continue casting Meld Into Stone to avoid having to leave the stone to recast? Could you then remain in the stone indefinitely? It doesn't say you need to breathe, because that would be silly, but do you still feel thirst or hunger then? Could you take a book with you and read for a few days while sitting in the stone?
You would eventually die of thirst or hunger if you stayed in there all the time. It's also dark in the stone, so no book.
1. Does Cayden Cailean have a lot of child or adolescent worshippers? Or does the tavern temples and alcohol consumption prevent them?
2. Do Caydenites believe in legal drink ages? If so, what's there for usual rule of thumb for deciding it?
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Creative Director
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1. Does Cayden Cailean have a lot of child or adolescent worshippers? Or does the tavern temples and alcohol consumption prevent them?
2. Do Caydenites believe in legal drink ages? If so, what's there for usual rule of thumb for deciding it?
1) Not a lot, but a fair bit.
2) Most don't, but at your table, go with what's comfortable and safe for your group.
Thanks for the quick answer James!
1. As I a proud Canadian, may I ask if there's anywhere in Golarion resembling Canada culturally? Besides Andoran, which is Fantasy America, I can't think of everything.
2. Are Taldans supposed to be an ethnic analogue for Spanish/Southern Europeans people? Or are they fantasy British. Are they both?
Count up all the fiends we've put in adventures and sourcebooks. Then use that number and the number 2 (I don't count Ragathiel) to determine a ratio/percentage of how few non-evil fiends are out there.How few non-evil fiends are there in existence? I'm willing to bet that the number of redeemed evil outsiders in Golarion's history isn't even in triple digits.
Matter of fact, I only know of two (three if you count Ragathiel): The Lost Ferryman (one of Hanspur's servants) and Arueshalae.
So if there are 5 published, 52% of fiends are non-evil?
James I have a Question.
Planar binding's spell description states that it can only target elementals or outsiders, yet the infernal bloodline grants said spell as a bloodline bonus with the added restrictions that it can only target devils and creatures with the fiendish template only.
The problem is, the fiendish template in Pathfinder doesn't transform the base creature into neither a outsider or elemental. How should I handle this? Ignore the part that allows me to summon creatures with the fiendish template?
Could I add said template to an elemental or outsider (e.g. fiendish earth elemental) ?
Are the offspring of a demon lord or archduke always half-fiends? Nephilims? Or because of the unique nature of said creatures they could be whatever (e.g. normal looking human)?
How few non-evil fiends are there in existence? I'm willing to bet that the number of redeemed evil outsiders in Golarion's history isn't even in triple digits.
Matter of fact, I only know of two (three if you count Ragathiel): The Lost Ferryman (one of Hanspur's servants) and Arueshalae.
Count up all the fiends we've put in adventures and sourcebooks. Then use that number and the number 2 (I don't count Ragathiel) to determine a ratio/percentage of how few non-evil fiends are out there.
It's not a lot.
Well, blast. I don't have all the sourcebooks and adventures.
I'm going to guess, from the two examples I've listed, that it's impossible for anything other than a deity to change the morals/ethics of an aligned outsider? I mean, Rovagug corrupted Korhal, Desna turned Arue's conscience back on, and Hanspur stole the Lost Ferryman from Charon.
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1) Are future APs going to refer to the Villain Codex? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I do not recall seeing the Monster Codex or NPC Codex or Inner Sea NPC Codex referenced in an AP (I *do* recall seeing the Gamemastery Guide npc section referenced very often though).
2) Since the Villain Codex focuses on organizations, will there be a blog post or other product linking those to Golarion i.e. the campaign setting? Since I subscribed to the AP line again with the #100 issue, I'm seeing less use of my Monster or NPC Codex as I no longer have to build my own campaign...
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Creative Director
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Thanks for the quick answer James!
1. As I a proud Canadian, may I ask if there's anywhere in Golarion resembling Canada culturally? Besides Andoran, which is Fantasy America, I can't think of everything.
2. Are Taldans supposed to be an ethnic analogue for Spanish/Southern Europeans people? Or are they fantasy British. Are they both?
1) Not intentionally, no.
2) Taldans are basically "fantasy British." The Varisians are the closest analogue to Spanish, but they've got a big dose of eastern European there as well.
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Creative Director
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So if there are 5 published, 52% of fiends are non-evil?Count up all the fiends we've put in adventures and sourcebooks. Then use that number and the number 2 (I don't count Ragathiel) to determine a ratio/percentage of how few non-evil fiends are out there.How few non-evil fiends are there in existence? I'm willing to bet that the number of redeemed evil outsiders in Golarion's history isn't even in triple digits.
Matter of fact, I only know of two (three if you count Ragathiel): The Lost Ferryman (one of Hanspur's servants) and Arueshalae.
Yes, but we've published a LOT more than 5 fiends, so this little question is kinda pointless.
Happy Halloween James! What are you doing to celebrate this spook-tacular holiday?
1) What is your favorite type of candy? Assuming you like candy. :P
2) Did any of your co-workers dress up today? If so who, and what were they dressed as?
3) What is your favorite part of Halloween?
4) Do you have any comments on Halloween that you need to share?
5) Any Halloween stories you'd like to share?
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Creative Director
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James I have a Question.
Planar binding's spell description states that it can only target elementals or outsiders, yet the infernal bloodline grants said spell as a bloodline bonus with the added restrictions that it can only target devils and creatures with the fiendish template only.
The problem is, the fiendish template in Pathfinder doesn't transform the base creature into neither a outsider or elemental. How should I handle this? Ignore the part that allows me to summon creatures with the fiendish template?
Could I add said template to an elemental or outsider (e.g. fiendish earth elemental) ?
That's not a problem at all. The infernal bloodline indicates an exception to the rules to how planar binding normally works is all. How far you want to go with adding the fiendish template is up to you and your GM, but at a minimum, that list should be limited to the fiendish creature options on the summon monster tables.
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Creative Director
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How few non-evil fiends are there in existence? I'm willing to bet that the number of redeemed evil outsiders in Golarion's history isn't even in triple digits.
Matter of fact, I only know of two (three if you count Ragathiel): The Lost Ferryman (one of Hanspur's servants) and Arueshalae.
Count up all the fiends we've put in adventures and sourcebooks. Then use that number and the number 2 (I don't count Ragathiel) to determine a ratio/percentage of how few non-evil fiends are out there.
It's not a lot.
Well, blast. I don't have all the sourcebooks and adventures.
I'm going to guess, from the two examples I've listed, that it's impossible for anything other than a deity to change the morals/ethics of an aligned outsider? I mean, Rovagug corrupted Korhal, Desna turned Arue's conscience back on, and Hanspur stole the Lost Ferryman from Charon.
Even if you DID have all of them, it would take you a LONG TIME to figure out that ratio and by the time you finished, we would have doubtless published more so your research would be immediately out of date. That's not the point I was trying to make though. I was trying to make the point that the number is VERY small, but the actual number is "However many the content creator, be it you as the GM of your game or me as Creative Director deciding what goes in print or anyone in between" is the correct number. It's not impossible for something other than a deity to change morals of an outsider. Anything can do it given the right situation (and the author/content creator's will to make it into a story).
Adding hard limits and hyperbole only limits creativity. If, for example, I said "There are only 10 such redeemed fiends in existence, then what happens when we "waste" those 10 on minor characters and then figure out a great world-shaking awesome idea for an 11th? It's ridiculous to limit creativity in this manner.
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Creative Director
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Are the offspring of a demon lord or archduke always half-fiends? Nephilims? Or because of the unique nature of said creatures they could be whatever (e.g. normal looking human)?
They are what the story wants them to be. Normally, I'd probably stat such creatures up as unique creatures, since the more "rules" put in place that say "what these offspring normally are" just stunts creativity down the road.
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Creative Director
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1) Are future APs going to refer to the Villain Codex? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I do not recall seeing the Monster Codex or NPC Codex or Inner Sea NPC Codex referenced in an AP (I *do* recall seeing the Gamemastery Guide npc section referenced very often though).
2) Since the Villain Codex focuses on organizations, will there be a blog post or other product linking those to Golarion i.e. the campaign setting? Since I subscribed to the AP line again with the #100 issue, I'm seeing less use of my Monster or NPC Codex as I no longer have to build my own campaign...
1) Not often. One of the problems we have with those books and using them in adventures is that since those books were designed to be world neutral by authors who aren't 100% tuned in to Golarion's needs and developed without regard to what Golarion and we adventure writers might need means that more often than not, stat blocks for those books are just not appropriate for Golarion or for adventures in particular. Gamemastery Guide NPCs do get used more often because they WERE designed with a mindset of "what would we need in Golarion to help with stats," in large part because I was involved with that book. Which was not the case for NPC Codex, Villain Codex, and Monster Codex. And Inner Sea NPC Codex would require us to reprint the stats in whole, since it's not in the PRD, so at that point it's more interesting to just custom build the right NPC for the adventure rather than use a stand-in.
2) I doubt it. Again, the Villain Codex wasn't built to feature Golarion villains, really. I'm hoping folks like what we do with Adventurer's Guide though, because the idea of doing a Villain Codex that actually features and build on Golarion lore rather than spending all of that creative energy building generic things that no one has any attachment to feels like a waste of time to me.
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Creative Director
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Happy Halloween James! What are you doing to celebrate this spook-tacular holiday?
1) What is your favorite type of candy? Assuming you like candy. :P
2) Did any of your co-workers dress up today? If so who, and what were they dressed as?
3) What is your favorite part of Halloween?
4) Do you have any comments on Halloween that you need to share?
5) Any Halloween stories you'd like to share?
Working, then going home to play a video game or watch a movie or some TV. It's likely to be horror-themed movie/TV, but that's normal for me, so Halloween in this case is kinda irrelevant.
1) Peanut butter cups.
2) Yes. There's devils and dragons and Wendy.
3) The fact that content creators and movies and TV networks put more horror themed entertainment out there than normal.
4) No.
5) No.