Creative Director
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I'd rather build an AP that allows for such timespans and encourages it, but can play out fine without using that element. Like we did with Kingmaker.That would be awesome. Do you think this could be done in a manner that rewards skill choices such as Craft and Profession? (without grossly exaggerating wealth as the reward, I mean, but in a way that is still significant? perhaps even in terms of the story itself?)
I do, but it'd require heavy leaning on Ultimate Campaign and Ultimate Intrigue and some new subsystems and maybe Pathfinder Unchained, since Craft and Profession are not intended to be "load bearing" rules elements in the core.
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Creative Director
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T-Rex of Creativity (which, incidentally, is the name of my next band)
How would you prefer we address you when writing these questions?
My main question is this: With something you create, what do you like hearing more? That someone ran what you created as written or that they used it to create something else?
My example is this - I am currently running Wrath of the Righteous. We just finished book 5. I ended up changing most everything in book 6 story wise. Got rid of encounters. Changed where some encounters happened. Added in elements from the Worldwound book. I went very big screen cinematic with the story.
Points A & B are still the same. But the journey in between has changed dramatically.
Love the story and epic feel of Wrath. Very intense.
I do enjoy learning that something I've created has inspired someone, but too often the person phrases it in a way like, "This element sucked and didn't make sense and was stupid, so I changed it to something else." As a result, I generally prefer to hear folks run something in the way I created the way I created it.
Creating adventures and content for Tabletop RPGs is kind of weird that way... unlike with pretty much any other entertainment product, you offer the consumer the "keys to the house" when you give them your creation, and often they choose not to live in the house you put years of work into making perfect and instead tear it down and build a new one in its place, keeping only the foundation and maybe a toilet fixture. It's both gratifying and depressing.
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Do androids dream of electric sheep?
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Creative Director
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Dear James.
Any news on the Pathfinder Modules front?
Is there a chance for an introductary module taking place in Tian-Xia in 2017?
Are you gonna see "Logan" at the cinema?
Best wishes!
No news.
I'd say the chances of an introductory module in Tian Xia showing up in 2017 is pretty much zero.
Maybe. Probably.
Speaking of Tian Xia, will we ever get an AP set in Minkai again?
Or a Dragon Empire Races book?
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Seers of the Drowned City query:
Will future modules deliberately incorporate "could serve as a direct sequel to____" where feasible, like Seers of the Drowned City can for Ire of the Storm?
I ask because I love it- less of a direct link than an AP, but very good for short campaigns.
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Creative Director
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Seers of the Drowned City query:
Will future modules deliberately incorporate "could serve as a direct sequel to____" where feasible, like Seers of the Drowned City can for Ire of the Storm?
I ask because I love it- less of a direct link than an AP, but very good for short campaigns.
Unlikely. I added that bit because of a sort of accidental parallel development that occurred between us deciding to do an adventure of a certain theme and then not long thereafter the winning RPG superstar adventure ended up doing some of the exact same things. So rather than do what looked like publishing two similar modules back to back, I decided to turn an accidental problem into a benefit by linking the two like that.
Had I been involved in the two adventures earlier, rather than coming in at the 11th hour to develop the 2nd adventure, and had I realized/known before then that they were so similar, I would have either changed one entirely, or I would have made them official paired adventures with a lot more ties between the two. Frankly, I would have done the former, since I'd rather have more variety in the module line at this point since we release them so sporadically and rarely.
Any advice on,
A) getting my setting out there and seen by many? (aside from writing a book, which is already in progress)
B) What should a setting book include/how should it be laid out?
C) Setting up a broad living campaign similar to pfs or living greyhawk (though with different parameters, such as making it a challange to actually survive till 10th lvl)?
Hi James, how are you doing? Any good plans for Christmas?
1) I've always been fascinated by the concept of a psionic/psychic elf, probably because I love the eldar from warhammer 40k. Now, I know that psychic magic is not that common in elven society, but where would they be more prone to appear? Castrovel or Kyonin?
2)Would the general elven population have any sort of distrust towards a psychicly gifted individual? Or would they respect the uniqueness of his abilities?
Oh yeah, I forgot there is official psionics in pf now.
How does psychic magic and more traditional magic interact in golarion?
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So uh, players have beaten fourth book and I think they do want more challenge than what I've been providing. So I'm looking into how to customize fifth book to be harder than it usually is and I figured out trying to use Lucrecia to my advantage since she is still alive. So I have a question about Runeforge:
Does Karzoug not know where it is located or how to enter it? Or did he just not bother telling Mokmurian? So if I wanted Lucrecia enter Runeforge, could she do it ahead of time or would she have to follow players secretly?
Do you think "Time will open the doors" are good arc words to build a campaign around? If you're not familiar with the term "arc words":
A word of phrase that follows the protagonists throughout the narrative, often with layers of hidden meaning and of great importance to the themes and/or plot of the narrative. Finding the real meaning behind the words or answering the question it poses often marks the climax.
A good example of arc words are, "What can change the nature of a man?" from Planescape: Torment, if you're familiar with the game.
I mainly ask because I've been starved for ideas lately, and I came across that as a lyric from Clockworks (a filk song about Dishonored 2), and it immediately took root in my brain and has stubbornly refused to move. It might give birth to an entirely new campaign, but it may be too flimsy, so I'm asking your opinion.
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Sounds interesting. How's this? At some unspecified point in the future, long dormant portals will reactivate, turning that part of your campaign world into an interplanar crossroads. And the players will have to deal with it. :)
Pssst! John, this be the Jacobsaur's thread, ask a question instead :3
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Creative Director
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Any advice on,
A) getting my setting out there and seen by many? (aside from writing a book, which is already in progress)
B) What should a setting book include/how should it be laid out?
C) Setting up a broad living campaign similar to pfs or living greyhawk (though with different parameters, such as making it a challange to actually survive till 10th lvl)?
A) Self publication is the way to go if you want to retain creative control. Otherwise, short stories and books are the best bet, since publishing an entire setting is pretty much one of the least popular things for established publishers to do—if they're gonna publish a setting, they're going to want to publish one they own or one that's based on an existing license.
B) A lot of hard work and long hours and money. I can't really go into the details here, because I don't have the time to offer courses on book creation in this thread... it's that complex.
C) See "B" above, but even more complicated.
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Hi James, how are you doing? Any good plans for Christmas?
1) I've always been fascinated by the concept of a psionic/psychic elf, probably because I love the eldar from warhammer 40k. Now, I know that psychic magic is not that common in elven society, but where would they be more prone to appear? Castrovel or Kyonin?
2)Would the general elven population have any sort of distrust towards a psychicly gifted individual? Or would they respect the uniqueness of his abilities?
Trying not to be sick. Gonna go visit my family for Christmas.
1) Castrovel.
2) No; they'd respect and be curious.
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Creative Director
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Oh yeah, I forgot there is official psionics in pf now.
How does psychic magic and more traditional magic interact in golarion?
There's not "official psionics" now, since you're bandying about the word "official." The official word for what you're talking about is psychc magic.
How does it interact on Golarion? The same way that other magic does, yet less often and generally more secretly.
Why weren't phantoms made as undead? Was there a mechanical or story reason to divorce these "souls" from undead? Would making them undead hinder anything?
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Creative Director
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So uh, players have beaten fourth book and I think they do want more challenge than what I've been providing. So I'm looking into how to customize fifth book to be harder than it usually is and I figured out trying to use Lucrecia to my advantage since she is still alive. So I have a question about Runeforge:
Does Karzoug not know where it is located or how to enter it? Or did he just not bother telling Mokmurian? So if I wanted Lucrecia enter Runeforge, could she do it ahead of time or would she have to follow players secretly?
I assume by fourth and fifth book you're talking about Runelords?
Well... first off, learn from the experience. Next time you run an Adventure Path, consider having your players build characters with a lower point buy and lowering the amount of treasure you hand out; explain to the players that they're very experienced and good at the game, so that means that playing on a harder mode (less treasure, lower stats) will help the challenge be better.
In the meantime, consider doubling every monster's hit point totals, and adding in more secondary foes, or having encounters trigger nearby encoutners so that the PCs have to deal with multiple encounters at once, or limiting the number of times per adventure the PCs can rest and recover.
There's a chance that you might be the only one having a problem; if the players are very much enjoying being overpowered and winning, then maybe no change is necessary. Remember, you are the only one that really knows how well the PCs are doing; from the player's viewpoint, they may think that the adventure's tough and they're just lucky or whatever. They don't know what's really going on behind the screen.
The runelords know where Runeforge is, but they didn't enter it on a mutual agreement; the point was that they wanted to establish a place where their agents could work without meddling. At this point, Karzoug can't enter it because he can't leave the Eye of Avarice, but after the adventure ends and if he survives, with no other active runelords, he will probably soon travel to Runeforge to tear it down and loot it. He didn't send Mokmurian there because Mokmurian had the more important job of building an army and siphoning greedy souls to the boss.
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Creative Director
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Do you think "Time will open the doors" are good arc words to build a campaign around? If you're not familiar with the term "arc words":
** spoiler omitted **
I mainly ask because I've been starved for ideas lately, and I came across that as a lyric from Clockworks (a filk song about Dishonored 2), and it immediately took root in my brain and has stubbornly refused to move. It might give birth to an entirely new campaign, but it may be too flimsy, so I'm asking your opinion.
It's fine, but not overly poetic or lyrical or catchy or poetic. Obviously it's had more resonance with you, so what I think doesn't matter. If something artistic inspires you, run with it! Don't abandon it because it doesn't inspire someone else.
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James, any ideas what the near future of Golarion will be like? I'm currently seeing something like World War I in the works, at least in terms of technological and societal evolution.
I have lots of ideas bout the near future of Golarion. It's one of the things in my job description that I have to know. Another part of my job is keeping secrets and not undermining anticipation or scooping our own release schedule by spilling those secrets publicly. :-P
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Creative Director
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Specifically, when will Pathfinder see bolt-action rifles and machineguns?
James, sorry about the earlier post. Sometimes, I have a tendency to free-associate.
Probably never. Old-timey guns are fun because they help build on the fantasy of the setting, and futuristic stuff is fun because areas like Numeria with super-science are fun as well, but modern stuff doesn't feel right in Golarion/Pathfinder.
There might be stuff like this in Starfinder. Not sure. I'm not really involved in putting that game together.
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Creative Director
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Why weren't phantoms made as undead? Was there a mechanical or story reason to divorce these "souls" from undead? Would making them undead hinder anything?
Because undead are evil; it's in their nature. Non-evil undead exist but are very very very rare exceptions.
If we made phantoms undead, then we would have had to have the spiritualist be an always evil class, and that's not something that we wanted to do to a base class since the focus of the game is on fighting evil, not being evil. Playing evil characters is not for everyone, and we do support that roll now and then (see books like Champions of Corruption or the Hell's Vengeance adventure path), but supporting that play style with a base class isn't something we want to do, really.
Dear Mr. Jacobs,
When reading the cracked Pale Green Prism (Ioun stone), it says that you gain a "+1 competence bonus on attack rolls or saving throws".
Does this mean you have to pick an effect, or that you gain +1 on attack rolls and saving throws?
If only one of the two will get the bonus, who chooses it, how he chooses it, and when can he change it?
I only found two items that have that "or" like that, and both are ioun stones that got the same text from 3.x books.
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Dear Mr. Jacobs,
When reading the ]url=http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/wondrous-items/wondrous-items/h-l/ ioun-stones/pale-green-prism-ioun-stone]cracked Pale Green Prism (Ioun stone)[\url], it says that you gain a "+1 competence bonus on attack rolls or saving throws".Does this mean you have to pick an effect, or that you gain +1 on attack rolls and saving throws?
If only one of the two will get the bonus, who chooses it, how he chooses it, and when can he change it?I only found two items that have that "or" like that, and both are ioun stones that got the same text from 3.x books.
That's what the word "or" is doing. Pick one or the other when the item is activated, I guess. Or ask your GM for the official-in-your-game rules.
When do we get a proper race writeup for caligni (with FCBs and stuff)? Me wants.
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Ah, why did Mokmurian try to find location of Runeforge then? I think background info said Karzoug told him to burn the place to ground so Mokmurian tried to find location of Xaliasa to get to Runeforge?
Or was that Anniversary Edition addition(with handout and stuff) to guide players that wasn't in original? .-. I remember someone saying on forum that Barl's note wasn't in original, so is this similar case?
I wouldn't say players are over powered, nobody really did bother being optimized. Its mostly that I've been using book tactics (since the enemy don't always know how they are going to act) and they break tactics rather often. Like, I'm really bad with dealing Wall of Thorns spell Druid has and it makes movement for enemies basically impossible and I'm always confused about how it works :'D So it maybe my inexperience at high level pathfinder sometimes. This is first time I've gotten chance to experience 10+ levels.
But yeah, thanks again for answers :D
Okay, zombies. Someone told me that zombies are animated by souls, but that doesn't make sense since zombies have no personality and from other spells and indications, such as speak with dead, ghosts, reincarnate/rez, etc, we can plainly see that personality and memory are ingrained in a soul, so it doesn't make sense that a creature animated by a soul would lack these things, not to mention being completely mindless.
What is the truth here, how can they have souls while lacking any of the few things that seem to be innate aspects of souls?
Also, is there any room for not-evil zombies or zombies of other types such as those in Dragon on a Pedastal (intelligent, normal moral spectrum, their looks depend on how much they are loved with more love = more alive looking)? Could there be a group that uses undead for menial labor or other tasks to which they are suited?
Also, why is healing not in the necromancy school? Just an artifact inherited from 3.x, or was there a reason for this?
When is the next rpg superstar?
Why weren't phantoms made as undead? Was there a mechanical or story reason to divorce these "souls" from undead? Would making them undead hinder anything?Because undead are evil; it's in their nature. Non-evil undead exist but are very very very rare exceptions.
If we made phantoms undead, then we would have had to have the spiritualist be an always evil class, and that's not something that we wanted to do to a base class since the focus of the game is on fighting evil, not being evil. Playing evil characters is not for everyone, and we do support that roll now and then (see books like Champions of Corruption or the Hell's Vengeance adventure path), but supporting that play style with a base class isn't something we want to do, really.
I notice you didn't mention the other choice which would be to remove the undead=evil paradigm, which a lot of posters have been asking for. Is there a good story reason for keeping that status quo?
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Dear James,
Are you going to see Rogue One?
Also, is RPG Superstar still a go in 2017? I saw some people talking that it might not happen, but that was a while ago and I was unsure if that still applies to 2017.
Do you like cabbage?
What's your least favorite sport?
In contrast, what's your favorite sport?
Do you like turtles?
Have you ever thought of attempting to redesign the d20?
What if there was literally a hundred-sided die?
How many books of 3.5e do you have?
Why can't Starfinder be out already? I'm so excited at this point that I feel like busting in on the playtesting, grabbing a seat, and begin to play with the playtesters, whether I'm welcomed or not.
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Creative Director
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Ah, why did Mokmurian try to find location of Runeforge then? I think background info said Karzoug told him to burn the place to ground so Mokmurian tried to find location of Xaliasa to get to Runeforge?
Or was that Anniversary Edition addition(with handout and stuff) to guide players that wasn't in original? .-. I remember someone saying on forum that Barl's note wasn't in original, so is this similar case?
I wouldn't say players are over powered, nobody really did bother being optimized. Its mostly that I've been using book tactics (since the enemy don't always know how they are going to act) and they break tactics rather often. Like, I'm really bad with dealing Wall of Thorns spell Druid has and it makes movement for enemies basically impossible and I'm always confused about how it works :'D So it maybe my inexperience at high level pathfinder sometimes. This is first time I've gotten chance to experience 10+ levels.
But yeah, thanks again for answers :D
Mokmurian was trying to ensure that no others would find Runeforge, not find the location itself.
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Creative Director
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James, you are far more knowledgeable than I in classic gaming stores. What ever happened to the old D&D Circle of Eight, if you happen to know. Do their legends permeate even into Pathfinder?
Is there a Sigil-like realm in Pathfinder? In that, a place where realities intersect and transport between them is possible?
I want to work on a character for Hell's Vengeance in the future. Could you pick a class/archetype and just put it out there? Whatever it is, I will try to make a work. I need a challenge and I can't decide on what to play for it. I just keep thinking Elder Mythos Cultist.
Settle a bet for me. Is Nyarlethotep the only outer one that has developed an actual personality and merely choose not to wipe out humanity or awaken great cthulhu, because it will end its fun in messing with humans? Does Yog Sothoth also have a sense of personality or is it more of a force of nature? I am talking CoC/Lovecraft, not Golarian by the way.
Where did my niece hide the wing of my reaper bones Cthulhu? Did you take it? I have been searching for it for a month.
The Circle of Eight is a Greyhawk thing, and as such is owned by Wizards of the Coast. They have no presence in Pathifnder or Golarion as a result.
The planar city of Axis can do a good job standing in for Sigil, but it's not exactly the same.
Elder Mythos is not a very good theme for Hell's Vengeance, really. Beyond that, I'm not really interested in getting into the "pick a class for me" scene since I don't want to set a precedent for folks asking me to make their characters.
All of the Great Old Ones and Outer Gods have personalities. Some are more expansive than others. Some are more human than others.
It probably fell into a crack between realities. It'll be back when the stars are right.
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Creative Director
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Okay, zombies. Someone told me that zombies are animated by souls, but that doesn't make sense since zombies have no personality and from other spells and indications, such as speak with dead, ghosts, reincarnate/rez, etc, we can plainly see that personality and memory are ingrained in a soul, so it doesn't make sense that a creature animated by a soul would lack these things, not to mention being completely mindless.
What is the truth here, how can they have souls while lacking any of the few things that seem to be innate aspects of souls?
Also, is there any room for not-evil zombies or zombies of other types such as those in Dragon on a Pedastal (intelligent, normal moral spectrum, their looks depend on how much they are loved with more love = more alive looking)? Could there be a group that uses undead for menial labor or other tasks to which they are suited?
Also, why is healing not in the necromancy school? Just an artifact inherited from 3.x, or was there a reason for this?
When is the next rpg superstar?
Zombies, in Pathfinder, are animated by negative energy that uses a tiny shard of a soul that lingers among the remains. There's not enough soul in there to give the zombie a personality or intellect, but enough that it's an evil act to use it to make a zombie.
Non-evil undead are very very rare in Pathfinder. Those aren't stories we'er all that interested in telling. Feel free to make changes in your home game, of course, but non-evil undead isn't something we have any plans or interests in pursuing in that way.
Healing was necromancy in earlier editions, but they changed it to conjuration in 3rd edition D&D. I suspect to round out the conjuration school and to divorce healing from undead themed spells, but I"m not sure—I wasn't part of that decision-making process. I think it was the wrong decision, and that healing should be necromancy, but in the interests of backwards compatibility we didn't make that change when we built Pathfinder.
RPG Superstar is on semi-permanet hiatus. It served its goal at the start, but did so less and less each year. It was too much work for what we were gaining from it. We might do something similar to it some day in the future but haven't really started thinking about that much at all yet.
Personally, for me? Going forward, I hope to make the module line into something that's more integrated into the world and has more focus, and those things don't mesh well with the freeform format of RPG superstar.
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I notice you didn't mention the other choice which would be to remove the undead=evil paradigm, which a lot of posters have been asking for. Is there a good story reason for keeping that status quo?
Yes, because undead are more interesting in enemy roles as evil foes.
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Dear James,
Are you going to see Rogue One?
Also, is RPG Superstar still a go in 2017? I saw some people talking that it might not happen, but that was a while ago and I was unsure if that still applies to 2017.
Do you like cabbage?
What's your least favorite sport?
In contrast, what's your favorite sport?
Do you like turtles?
Have you ever thought of attempting to redesign the d20?
What if there was literally a hundred-sided die?
How many books of 3.5e do you have?
Why can't Starfinder be out already? I'm so excited at this point that I feel like busting in on the playtesting, grabbing a seat, and begin to play with the playtesters, whether I'm welcomed or not.
Yes.
No.
Yes.
Don't really have a least favorite.
Don't really have a favorite.
Yes.
No.
There are.
Lots.
Because if we released it now, in its unfinished state, folks would mock and hate it and we'd torpedo its chances of success and all the work and blood and toil we've put into it so far would be wasted.