Are demon lords basically the evil versions of the empyreal lords?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Unrelated question: How do possession-type spells (e.g. magic jar, possession, familiar melding etc) affect magic item usage & other spells?
Specifically:
1. If I'm wearing a headband of charisma, does the bonus from the headband transfer with my consciousness? If not, do I get the bonus if the possessed creature puts it on whilst I am in his head?2. If I have a familiar, will the familiar's hp change to half of max hp of the body I am in, or my original body? If it's the latter and I am wearing a belt of great constitution, will the increased hp that my original body gets from the belt still apply when calculating my familiar's hp whilst I am in a borrowed body?
3. If I cast shield other on my familiar before casting familiar melding (which basically lets me possess my familiar similar to magic jar), would half the damage I take whilst in my familiar's body transfer to my own original body?
Yes... although kind of the other way around. Empyreal lords are the good versions of demon lords, since demon lords have been a part of the game's tradition for nearly 40 years, while Empyreal lords are something we just added to the game's tradition in Pathfinder.
1) The bonus won't transfer until you put the headband on your new head.
2) The familiar's hp are not affected.
3) Probably, although the way you worded that question is kinda confusing (which is probably a side effect of it being a confusing situation).
Thanks JJ. Really helps to get an understanding of just how powerful the empyreal lords actually are (I had thought them a little lower on the power scale before).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
What I meant in question 3 was this situation:
1. I cast shield other on my familiar. I now take half of the damage it takes.
2. I cast familiar melding. My consciousness is now in the familiar's body.
If my familiar's body is hit for 8 points of damage, the familiar's body will take 4 damage and my caster's body will take 4 points of damage, and nevermind the fact that my soul is possessing my familiar (and bad news if both bodies are caught in the same fireball).
Have I got that right? =)
Hey James,
Do you like horror movie anthologies?
If so what are some of you favorites?
Creative Director
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
James who on the rules team should I write with an Idea that I have to correct what I see a poor game design in regards to armor and special materials. This idea I have is to correct a legacy issue from 3.x.
I think that materials like Mithril and adamantine should increase AC.
You wouldn't, honestly. We're pretty pleased and happy with how those materials work, and making a change like having them increase armor class would, at this point, cause ripple effects through nearly a decade of adventures and cause unneeded confusion and pointless argument. No thanks.
|
Creative Director
|
Are demon lords basically the evil versions of the empyreal lords?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Unrelated question: How do possession-type spells (e.g. magic jar, possession, familiar melding etc) affect magic item usage & other spells?
Specifically:
1. If I'm wearing a headband of charisma, does the bonus from the headband transfer with my consciousness? If not, do I get the bonus if the possessed creature puts it on whilst I am in his head?2. If I have a familiar, will the familiar's hp change to half of max hp of the body I am in, or my original body? If it's the latter and I am wearing a belt of great constitution, will the increased hp that my original body gets from the belt still apply when calculating my familiar's hp whilst I am in a borrowed body?
3. If I cast shield other on my familiar before casting familiar melding (which basically lets me possess my familiar similar to magic jar), would half the damage I take whilst in my familiar's body transfer to my own original body?
Yes... although kind of the other way around. Empyreal lords are the good versions of demon lords, since demon lords have been a part of the game's tradition for nearly 40 years, while Empyreal lords are something we just added to the game's tradition in Pathfinder.
1) The bonus won't transfer until you put the headband on your new head.
2) The familiar's hp are not affected.
3) Probably, although the way you worded that question is kinda confusing (which is probably a side effect of it being a confusing situation).
Thanks JJ. Really helps to get an understanding of just how powerful the empyreal lords actually are (I had thought them a little lower on the power scale before).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
What I meant in question 3 was this situation:
1. I cast shield other on my familiar. I now take half of the damage it takes.
2....
You're delving into a nitty-gritty level of rules clutter that is more appropriate to ask on the rules forum.
|
James, do the locals resent the adventures because the adventures can buy healing and other divine spell casting services that the locals cannot?
I know if I were an adventuring Paladin before I left to go out and right the wrongs of the world I would make sure all my neighbors and local folks were hearty and hale and not in need of attention from my god. I suppose that the lower level clerics and Paladins would look after them in my absence. This might sound a bit egocentric but Paladin IMO always feel that their god loves them more than any one else even if they do not voice it.
|
Creative Director
|
James, do the locals resent the adventures because the adventures can buy healing and other divine spell casting services that the locals cannot?
I know if I were an adventuring Paladin before I left to go out and right the wrongs of the world I would make sure all my neighbors and local folks were hearty and hale and not in need of attention from my god. I suppose that the lower level clerics and Paladins would look after them in my absence. This might sound a bit egocentric but Paladin IMO always feel that their god loves them more than any one else even if they do not voice it.
Depends entirely on the person. Some do. Some don't.
Before the Order of the Godclaw found it, where was Heart's Edge located?
|
Creative Director
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Before the Order of the Godclaw found it, where was Heart's Edge located?
I have no idea, but if that information DOES exist, it's found in one of the Hell's Vengeance installments. And if someone does find the info there, please do NOT post here. No spoilers. I'm playing that AP.
Have you ever read through the game Eclipse Phase? If so, what did you think of the setting and the rules?
Almighty dinosaur James a moment of your time. I am semi mashing pathfinder and the realms and was bringing over Helm, Mask, Tymora, Mystra, Shandukal and Bhaal which of the Pathfinder gods would compliment them. I know Pharasma and Calistra but cant decied on who else. Any suggestions.
Thanks
EtG
Hi James,
Did you create Avatarana Rakshasa from Occult Bestiary.
If yes, thank you. :-)
Do you have any favorite horror presenters particurlarly of a local stripe?
In New Jersey, for instance, we used to have Uncle Floyd, who originally operated out of UHF Channel 68, WBTB. Even had Patrick Troughton from the UK on his show once.
|
Creative Director
|
Have you ever read through the game Eclipse Phase? If so, what did you think of the setting and the rules?
I have not read it, but I'm familiar with it and have hung out with some of the folks who work on the game now and then at Gen Con in the past. I love the look of the books though!
|
Creative Director
|
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
Almighty dinosaur James a moment of your time. I am semi mashing pathfinder and the realms and was bringing over Helm, Mask, Tymora, Mystra, Shandukal and Bhaal which of the Pathfinder gods would compliment them. I know Pharasma and Calistra but cant decied on who else. Any suggestions.
Thanks
EtG
Eilistraee is the best Forgotten Realms deity. If you don't bring her over to Golarion, then there's no point at bringing over ANY Realms deities. :-P
Cool she is one of my favoured deities and will fill the more culture focused goddess, and mask will probably be more CN than NE.
|
What kind of weapon would be best used to mimic the Dragonslayer Swordspear (i.e. a weapon with a greatsword-sized blade fixed to a spear-like haft)? Or would this be one of those moments where the best solution would be "use the Weapon Master's Handbook's weapon creation rules to make your own and run it by your GM?"
Eilistraee is the best Forgotten Realms deity. If you don't bring her over to Golarion, then there's no point at bringing over ANY Realms deities. :-PAlmighty dinosaur James a moment of your time. I am semi mashing pathfinder and the realms and was bringing over Helm, Mask, Tymora, Mystra, Shandukal and Bhaal which of the Pathfinder gods would compliment them. I know Pharasma and Calistra but cant decied on who else. Any suggestions.
Thanks
EtG
Wouldn't most of the ex-Living City players argue for Mystra, who they dubed "The Lady of Certs", instead? In House cleaning when given the choice of one of three dieties to aid, she was chosen vastly over Tyr and Sune.
Hello James,
How do followers of gods in the Pathfinder setting reconcile their reverence for a single deity over the multitudes of other deities that exist? Ostensibly most devout folk in Golarion practice Henotheism (the belief in and worship of a single god while accepting the existence or possible existence of other deities) or Monolatrism (the belief in the existence of many gods but with the consistent worship of only one deity).
How does this work in practice? Would a typical cleric, devoted to their god, understand that a different cleric dedicated to a separate deity has found their place or calling in that faith? Would one view the other as misguided, placing their specific deity's teachings above all else, and viewing that deities' as the only 'true' path in life, making them the 'one true god'? Some time ago in the thread I recall you clarifying that someone as devout as a cleric would not pray to other gods, even among situations not directly under their deities' purview (the example given was, I believe, would a cleric of a different deity offer praise or prayer to Gozreh on a sea-crossing likely to be fraught with storms).
Obviously this would differ greatly among the various faiths, particularly between clergies which pay homage to gods of alignments on opposite ends of the spectrum. I imagine evil deities would encourage their status as the 'one true god', while good ones would be more open to have their clergy accept other good gods as perfectly acceptable figures of worship.
If I could give a specific example of what I'm asking, let's say Kyra and Seelah were travelling together in an adventuring party. Would Kyra view Seelah as misguided, and vice-versa for Seelah viewing Kyra? Would they be likely to proselytize their faith to each other, hoping for conversion? Would they consider each other's deity "real"? Ignoring the specific tenets of the faiths of Sarenrae and Iomedae and just going on the idea that they're both good deities, how might this sort of thing play out?
Again, I understand that things would differ greatly on a person to person basis, but I'd love to hear your take on the situation.
|
Creative Director
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
What kind of weapon would be best used to mimic the Dragonslayer Swordspear (i.e. a weapon with a greatsword-sized blade fixed to a spear-like haft)? Or would this be one of those moments where the best solution would be "use the Weapon Master's Handbook's weapon creation rules to make your own and run it by your GM?"
Glavie should work fine.
|
Creative Director
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Wouldn't most of the ex-Living City players argue for Mystra, who they dubed "The Lady of Certs", instead? In House cleaning when given the choice of one of three dieties to aid, she was chosen vastly over Tyr and Sune.Eilistraee is the best Forgotten Realms deity. If you don't bring her over to Golarion, then there's no point at bringing over ANY Realms deities. :-PAlmighty dinosaur James a moment of your time. I am semi mashing pathfinder and the realms and was bringing over Helm, Mask, Tymora, Mystra, Shandukal and Bhaal which of the Pathfinder gods would compliment them. I know Pharasma and Calistra but cant decied on who else. Any suggestions.
Thanks
EtG
Doesn't matter at all. They didn't ask an "ex-Living City player." They asked me, and I have never played Living City. So that's irrelevant to the discussion.
|
Creative Director
|
Hello James,
How do followers of gods in the Pathfinder setting reconcile their reverence for a single deity over the multitudes of other deities that exist? Ostensibly most devout folk in Golarion practice Henotheism (the belief in and worship of a single god while accepting the existence or possible existence of other deities) or Monolatrism (the belief in the existence of many gods but with the consistent worship of only one deity).
How does this work in practice? Would a typical cleric, devoted to their god, understand that a different cleric dedicated to a separate deity has found their place or calling in that faith? Would one view the other as misguided, placing their specific deity's teachings above all else, and viewing that deities' as the only 'true' path in life, making them the 'one true god'? Some time ago in the thread I recall you clarifying that someone as devout as a cleric would not pray to other gods, even among situations not directly under their deities' purview (the example given was, I believe, would a cleric of a different deity offer praise or prayer to Gozreh on a sea-crossing likely to be fraught with storms).
Obviously this would differ greatly among the various faiths, particularly between clergies which pay homage to gods of alignments on opposite ends of the spectrum. I imagine evil deities would encourage their status as the 'one true god', while good ones would be more open to have their clergy accept other good gods as perfectly acceptable figures of worship.
If I could give a specific example of what I'm asking, let's say Kyra and Seelah were travelling together in an adventuring party. Would Kyra view Seelah as misguided, and vice-versa for Seelah viewing Kyra? Would they be likely to proselytize their faith to each other, hoping for conversion? Would they consider each other's deity "real"? Ignoring the specific tenets of the faiths of Sarenrae and Iomedae and just going on the idea that they're both good deities, how might this sort of thing play out?...
The same way we do in this world, by having a "favorite" of anything, be it a favorite movie, a favorite food, a favorite author, a favorite politician, a favorite religion, or whatever.
It's possible for someone to have a favorite something and not automatically think that other people who don't share that opinion are wrong or misguided or the like.
|
Creative Director
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
how would you go about doing a half-nymph for a pc race?
as on top of an elf who got hit with it by an eldest?
I would use the race builder rules (if I got permission from my GM to build a race like this if I was the player), or I would ask the GM to build one for me. If I were the GM.
|
Creative Director
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Who's older: The Elder Gods, or the Eldest?
There are no Elder Gods in Pathfinder; that's a part of the extended Mythos we don't use.
If you meant to say "Outer Gods" (AKA folks like Azathoth, Nyarlathotep, Yog-Sothoth, etc.), then the Outer Gods are MUCH older than the Eldest.
|
Hello James,
Ready for the Holidays?
Not just on Golarion, but the game multiverse, of the 7 Archon Stewards of Heaven, who has the most to least number of Paladins, Holy Orders and Militant Crusading Knights?
Could you rank who is the most to least powerful, of Ragathiel, Sandalphon, Jegudiel, Andoletta, Uriel, Melak Taus, Salaphiel, in personal might as well as influence? Similar to the Runelords you have done before.
Is there a Solar that watches over Golarion's Sun?
James,
I've seen two stat blocks recently that I think you worked on featuring wizards using Defending daggers to boost their AC. (Someone towards the end of the new Curse of the Crimson Throne and Abdul Alharezed in Strange Aeons 3).
Did you know there's PDT FAQ stating that Defending weapon bonuses only work when the weapon is used to attack, so you can't hold it for passive defense bonuses while casting? I used to think Defending or Guardian daggers held by spellcasters were great investments once you had some money to spend on a weapon, but not after learning about this FAQ.
|
Creative Director
|
Hello James,
Ready for the Holidays?
Not just on Golarion, but the game multiverse, of the 7 Archon Stewards of Heaven, who has the most to least number of Paladins, Holy Orders and Militant Crusading Knights?
Could you rank who is the most to least powerful, of Ragathiel, Sandalphon, Jegudiel, Andoletta, Uriel, Melak Taus, Salaphiel, in personal might as well as influence? Similar to the Runelords you have done before.
Is there a Solar that watches over Golarion's Sun?
I am not ready yet.
Unrevealed, mostly because cases of "who has the most?" are pretty much pointless to nail down when you want to keep future options open.
I cannot. I could do this with the Runelords because I created them and have known in my head who was toughest from least to greatest from the start. In the case of Empyreal lords, no one person has that insight. Including me. I only recognize a few of the names you list, in fact; the others are gibberish to me so I'd have to look them up. And even then, I've not put any thought into their relative power levels.
Unrevealed, but if there were, he/she/it would be subordinate to Sarenrae in that regard.
|
Creative Director
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
James,
I've seen two stat blocks recently that I think you worked on featuring wizards using Defending daggers to boost their AC. (Someone towards the end of the new Curse of the Crimson Throne and Abdul Alharezed in Strange Aeons 3).
Did you know there's PDT FAQ stating that Defending weapon bonuses only work when the weapon is used to attack, so you can't hold it for passive defense bonuses while casting? I used to think Defending or Guardian daggers held by spellcasters were great investments once you had some money to spend on a weapon, but not after learning about this FAQ.
If I knew that, then obviously I wouldn't have listed their defending bonus in their stats now, would I? But know what? They're NPCs, and that boost to their Armor Class helps them be better threats for their CRs so that they can fill their role as expected. Building NPCs as fights is VERY tough because the rules for building characters like that do NOT interface well with the expectations for CR and power level you need out of combat encounters.
So if you want to be a rules stickler and say they don't get that bonus to their AC all the time, I'd suggest removing that quality entirely from the weapon and instead giving them an ad-hoc AC bonus of the same amount and explain it as destiny or luck or whatever hand-wavium reason works for you. Or maybe they just CAN use the defense bonus on their own because they know a trick that the PCs don't.
NPCs do not have to follow the rules for characters, in other words. My suggestion would be to ignore the FAQ ruling for those NPCs entirely.
Mr. James Jacobs,
Do grippli not last long in Galt?
1. Are the Gods physically tied (and vice versa)to the virtues, themes, and things they represent? For instance, if Sarenrae died would Golarion's Sun be somewhat weakened until someone replaced her? If so, did this kind of thing happen when Aroden died?
2. Kind of related to the first question, if a Chaotic Evil Goddess like Lamashtu stealing the domain of Beasts from Curchanus somehow made it so the relationship between man and animals was more distrustful, would a Good-aligned claiming the domain of Undeath from Urgathoa somehow make undeath somewhat less immediately Neutral Evil?
3. Is Desna the oldest of the main 20 gods? Is this one of those questions that you just can't answer at this point in time?
4. Is war defined as Chaotic Neutral in Pathfinder? Or does it just so happen that the God who claims to hold the domain of War happens to be Chaotic Neutral?
5. Please tell there's an entire planet of Caydenites where beer just comes out of public water foundations, where hangovers don't exist, and where economic policies are decided through games of beer pong. It's almost Christmas and official acknowledgement of this existing in Pathfinder would likely be the best present I'm going to get this year.
|
Creative Director
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
1. Are the Gods physically tied (and vice versa)to the virtues, themes, and things they represent? For instance, if Sarenrae died would Golarion's Sun be somewhat weakened until someone replaced her? If so, did this kind of thing happen when Aroden died?
2. Kind of related to the first question, if a Chaotic Evil Goddess like Lamashtu stealing the domain of Beasts from Curchanus somehow made it so the relationship between man and animals was more distrustful, would a Good-aligned claiming the domain of Undeath from Urgathoa somehow make undeath somewhat less immediately Neutral Evil?
3. Is Desna the oldest of the main 20 gods? Is this one of those questions that you just can't answer at this point in time?
4. Is war defined as Chaotic Neutral in Pathfinder? Or does it just so happen that the God who claims to hold the domain of War happens to be Chaotic Neutral?
5. Please tell there's an entire planet of Caydenites where beer just comes out of public water foundations, where hangovers don't exist, and where economic policies are decided through games of beer pong. It's almost Christmas and official acknowledgement of this existing in Pathfinder would likely be the best present I'm going to get this year.
1) Nope.
2) Nope.
3) Nope; she's not the oldest, but she's certainly quite old.
4) War is defined as a clash between two nations. It can involve any alignment; reasons for going to war vary with alignment, but war itself is not an alignment.
5) OK. Happy Holidays. There is indeed a beer planet out there.
5) OK. Happy Holidays. There is indeed a beer planet out there.
Hurrah! It's a Christmas miracle.
|
|
Do drow ever turn up in Okenko, whether as customers or as slaves for sale?
Have you taken a look at the new Paths of the Righteous Player Companion that you fine folks at Paizo just released yet? I had a question about including one of the prestige classes in it into an AP that was written before it was created.
1.I recently re-read the Occult Bestiary looking for information, I'm trying to run an Aboleth Campaign, and the page on Omnipaths, it calls Aboleths, Veiled masters, and Omnipaths 'Othagu'. In future printings of Bestiaries are these creatures going to have the Othagu Subtype?
2.what's your preference, Qlippoth or Protean?
3.Do the Great Old Ones get Heralds, or are they to be Considered Heralds of some greater calamity?
4.why don't Oozes get more love? they seem so lonely being the type with the least Species variants.
5.(I admit, this one is just for giggles) How is a Raven like a Writing desk?
6.Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
7.favorite Pulp Fiction Authors? (top 10?)
Are you familiar with the amalgam creature template?
If so, how do you think it would interact with mythic ranks?
|
Hey James,
Having recently played through Crypt of the Everflame for the first time (yeah, I know, my players and I are way behind the times), my group and I were introduced to the concept of nonlethal traps. Looking up trap design, I don't see how much making it nonlethal affects the CR. So my question is, how much does doing nonlethal damage drop the CR by? -1? -2?
Ok sort of rebuilding the Western Heartlands starting with beregost and I plan on using 20 gods with a mix of FR and Golarion gods. I have the following list Helm, Mask, Tymora, Mystra, Shandukal, Bhaal, Elistree, Oghma and Tempus for FR. Demeter from Dieties and demigods. I have chosen Pharasma, Calistra, Saranrae and Urgotha from Pathfinder which puts me at 14 any others that you think would fit nicely.
Thanks for the Opinions.
EtG.
|
Creative Director
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Do drow ever turn up in Okenko, whether as customers or as slaves for sale?
Have you taken a look at the new Paths of the Righteous Player Companion that you fine folks at Paizo just released yet? I had a question about including one of the prestige classes in it into an AP that was written before it was created.
Not really; they don't need to. They have a pretty excellent slave gathering mechanism already, and surface slaves are less useful for life underground, and they're not all that into coming up to the surface in the first place even to get slaves.
I have, in that Paths of the Righteous was my idea, I outlined it, I assigned it, and I developed the book.
|
Creative Director
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
1.I recently re-read the Occult Bestiary looking for information, I'm trying to run an Aboleth Campaign, and the page on Omnipaths, it calls Aboleths, Veiled masters, and Omnipaths 'Othagu'. In future printings of Bestiaries are these creatures going to have the Othagu Subtype?
2.what's your preference, Qlippoth or Protean?
3.Do the Great Old Ones get Heralds, or are they to be Considered Heralds of some greater calamity?
4.why don't Oozes get more love? they seem so lonely being the type with the least Species variants.
5.(I admit, this one is just for giggles) How is a Raven like a Writing desk?
6.Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
7.favorite Pulp Fiction Authors? (top 10?)
1) That is, unfortunately, a typo. We first revealed the overall racial name of the aboleths and their kind years before in "Occult Mysteries" back in 2014. The racial name is "alghollthu" and it's not a subtype.
2) Qlippoth, no contest.
3) They do not.
4) There's lots of ooze love in Bestiary 6. One of the reasons they don't get more love is that they're a pretty narrowly-defined type that doesn't have a lot of obvious creative room to explore. AKA: You need to be more creative and imaginative than usual to come up with a new ooze, and that's been something of a challenge before. One of my goals for Bestiary 6 was to face that head on, and come up with several new and interesting oozes. I'm pretty proud of what I came up with and how my freelancers designed them.
5) Edgar Allen Poe is famous for using both.
6) Yes.
7) Lovecraft is my favorite author of ANYTHING. If I were to list my top ten pulp authors, they would be:
H. P. Lovecraft
Clark Ashton Smith
Robert E. Howard
Robert Bloch
Frank Belknap Long
Ray Bradbury
Henry Kuttner
Fritz Leiber
C. L. Moore
Leigh Brackett
|
Creative Director
|
Are you familiar with the amalgam creature template?
If so, how do you think it would interact with mythic ranks?
I'm familiar with it. It's a cute idea, but frankly, I prefer to make an entirely new monster from scratch if I'm doing that much work adjusting things.
Mythic anything needs to be handled with care by a GM experienced with how the rules work.
|
Creative Director
|
Hey James,
Having recently played through Crypt of the Everflame for the first time (yeah, I know, my players and I are way behind the times), my group and I were introduced to the concept of nonlethal traps. Looking up trap design, I don't see how much making it nonlethal affects the CR. So my question is, how much does doing nonlethal damage drop the CR by? -1? -2?
If a trap does not harm or inconvenience the PCs in any way, then it shouldn't have a CR at all.
Otherwise, I wouldn't reduce CR at all.