AlgaeNymph |
AlgaeNymph wrote:What's the nature of the ritual needed to awaken the Everdawn Pool? Meditation? Something else?
Also, is it something that needs to be discovered (such as in Truths of the Sihedron, CotCT p.375), or will a Spellcraft roll suffice?
Besides being the creator's CR-3, what are the other limitations of the Everdawn Pool's create life ability? What can't be created?
When not carrying out orders, what's the minions personality like?
Besides what's listed, what else can be done with the Everdawn Pool?
Unrevealed.
The information on the Everdawn Pool in the hardcover edition of Curse of the Crimson Throne is already a SIGNIFICANT amount more information than appeared in the original incarnation of the Adventure Path, and represents the bulk of my additional thoughts on the pool. I've not really put much more thought into it yet, but some day I shall probably do so... but I don't want to start second guessing future James here.
So what suggestions for a GM who has PCs that wanna use it?
James Jacobs Creative Director |
James Jacobs Creative Director |
4 people marked this as a favorite. |
James Jacobs wrote:So what suggestions for a GM who has PCs that wanna use it?AlgaeNymph wrote:What's the nature of the ritual needed to awaken the Everdawn Pool? Meditation? Something else?
Also, is it something that needs to be discovered (such as in Truths of the Sihedron, CotCT p.375), or will a Spellcraft roll suffice?
Besides being the creator's CR-3, what are the other limitations of the Everdawn Pool's create life ability? What can't be created?
When not carrying out orders, what's the minions personality like?
Besides what's listed, what else can be done with the Everdawn Pool?
Unrevealed.
The information on the Everdawn Pool in the hardcover edition of Curse of the Crimson Throne is already a SIGNIFICANT amount more information than appeared in the original incarnation of the Adventure Path, and represents the bulk of my additional thoughts on the pool. I've not really put much more thought into it yet, but some day I shall probably do so... but I don't want to start second guessing future James here.
I don't have suggestions; that's what I was trying to say. Feel free to take it in any direction you wish for your game; that's one of the great delights of being a GM.
I'm not in a position where I can idly offer ideas for things like that. I could just make something up off the top of my head, but then folks will take that as canon and the truth and I'll be stuck with it, and since I want to retain the in-world Everdawn Pool lore as is for the moment without giving up false expectations or the like, I can't really give you more information than what's in print at this point. I suggest you ask for other GM advice and ideas for now in the Crimson Throne board? There's plenty of brilliant folks there with all sorts of ideas who won't hardwire the community into thinking any one of them is the TRUTH (and then be disappointed if it ends up changing), which is not something I can do. Sorry.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
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Hello Mr. Jacobs,
What Pathfinder equivalent form/level of magic would it take to equal the curse laid upon The Prince, his servants, and his wintry property by the Enchantress in Beauty & The Beast?
I've actually never seen Beauty & the Beast... the animated version that came out a few decades ago or the more recent one that just came out yesterday. I'm familiar with the basic story, of course... and I wouldn't make that curse a spell. It'd be something akin to the cursed domains from Horror Adventures and a custom crafted curse, built in the same way I'd build a curse for any other thing, be it a monster or an item or an artifact or whatever. And the "level of magic" it would equal would be whatever was appropriate for the level of the adventure I was in theory creating for the story, be it a 1st level adventure, a 20th level one, or something in between.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |
In your opinion what do you think the mechanical effects should be for a combination of the use of the spell unnatural lust followed by the use of the spell vomit swarm.
Best left to the imagination and/or offline or on a different website with less strict regulations regarding adult content.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Hey James, do casters know that spells with good or evil descriptors are objectively good or evil? Or rather that the casting of them is?
That's pretty much the exact thing the "Good" or "Evil" or "Chaos" or "Lawful" tags in a spell mean. Casting them is inherently and objectively of that alignment type. There are rules in Horror Adventures, I believe, that give guidelines for how repeated castings of these spells can adjust your alignment, or your GM can feel free to have those adjustments occur as she sees fit.
AlgaeNymph |
Some mezlan (Pathfinder #66, p.90-91) questions for you:
1. A mezlan has sneak attack, but can attack more than once a round. Can they 1) sneak attack twice, 2) sneak attack once, then continue with regular attacks, or 3) just sneak attack or attack regularly?
2. When cast on a mezlan, what would true seeing reveal?
3. Since they’re oozes, can mezlans carry items inside their bodies?
4. Why can't mezlans fly, or even glide? Are they too heavy?
5. How much does one weigh?
James Jacobs Creative Director |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Some mezlan (Pathfinder #66, p.90-91) questions for you:
1. A mezlan has sneak attack, but can attack more than once a round. Can they 1) sneak attack twice, 2) sneak attack once, then continue with regular attacks, or 3) just sneak attack or attack regularly?
2. When cast on a mezlan, what would true seeing reveal?
3. Since they’re oozes, can mezlans carry items inside their bodies?
4. Why can't mezlans fly, or even glide? Are they too heavy?
5. How much does one weigh?
1. All creatures with sneak attack gain that damage to every attack, provided the conditions that allow sneak attack to happen don't change between attacks.
2. True form; that of a red human-shaped blobby thing, I guess. Maybe something akin to the art.
3. Unrevealed. Up to your GM.
4. Because they can't. It's arbitrary, I guess.
5. Unrevealed, but I'd say about the same as a human.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
James Jacobs Creative Director |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
What would you say the differences between "horror" and "thriller" are, as far as genres are concerned?
Horror looks to instill dread, whereas thrillers look to instill excitement. There's a LOT of crossover. Many horror movies are thrillers, and many thrillers are horror movies.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
Something I just thought of. Why did Nex try to conquer Absolam via conventional siegecraft when he could've just snuck in and cast mass charm monster and such on everyone?
Because mass charm monster is a very limited resource that is a terrible way to bring an entire nation under control. Each casting of mass charm monster only affects creatures in a 30 foot area, and even then, only the ones who fail their saves. And since it's an 8th level spell, there's not a lot of folks capable of casting it lots. And needless to say, there's a lot of 30 foot radius areas in Nex. Plus, charm is relatively easy to escape, unlike domination, in that it's really hard to make a charmed creature do something like, say, commit treason.
Spells like mass charm monster certainly had a role in the war, but that was it. Just part of the whole.
Deathunseen |
Dear james,
If am playing a mesmerist, and i hit someone with an attack, i can trigger painful stare (easy)
If i have the manifold stare feat:
You can trigger your painful stare one additional time per round.
Can i trigger it twice on one attack, since its a free action?
Your thoughts? Errata needed or ask your gm question?
James Jacobs Creative Director |
Dear james,
If am playing a mesmerist, and i hit someone with an attack, i can trigger painful stare (easy)
If i have the manifold stare feat:
You can trigger your painful stare one additional time per round.Can i trigger it twice on one attack, since its a free action?
Your thoughts? Errata needed or ask your gm question?
I have no idea. I haven't read the rules for the mesmerist yet, since I've not written/developed an adventure that features them, nor have I had one or played one in a game. But even if I did, my answer would be the same:
You need to post rules questions to the rules forum, so folks can FAQ the question and so the design team will actually see the question in the first place.
AlgaeNymph |
AlgaeNymph wrote:Something I just thought of. Why did Nex try to conquer Absolam via conventional siegecraft when he could've just snuck in and cast mass charm monster and such on everyone?Because mass charm monster is a very limited resource that is a terrible way to bring an entire nation under control. Each casting of mass charm monster only affects creatures in a 30 foot area, and even then, only the ones who fail their saves. And since it's an 8th level spell, there's not a lot of folks capable of casting it lots. And needless to say, there's a lot of 30 foot radius areas in Nex. Plus, charm is relatively easy to escape, unlike domination, in that it's really hard to make a charmed creature do something like, say, commit treason.
Spells like mass charm monster certainly had a role in the war, but that was it. Just part of the whole.
I should've been more specific, I meant Nex the wizard, not the nation.
Here's the thing: why formally declare war in the first place? Why not ask to meet with several people in power, cast the spells, and ask them to enact policies? Not "turn the nation over to me," but "enact these national policies." De facto rather than de jure rule.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
2 people marked this as a favorite. |
James Jacobs wrote:AlgaeNymph wrote:Something I just thought of. Why did Nex try to conquer Absolam via conventional siegecraft when he could've just snuck in and cast mass charm monster and such on everyone?Because mass charm monster is a very limited resource that is a terrible way to bring an entire nation under control. Each casting of mass charm monster only affects creatures in a 30 foot area, and even then, only the ones who fail their saves. And since it's an 8th level spell, there's not a lot of folks capable of casting it lots. And needless to say, there's a lot of 30 foot radius areas in Nex. Plus, charm is relatively easy to escape, unlike domination, in that it's really hard to make a charmed creature do something like, say, commit treason.
Spells like mass charm monster certainly had a role in the war, but that was it. Just part of the whole.
I should've been more specific, I meant Nex the wizard, not the nation.
Here's the thing: why formally declare war in the first place? Why not ask to meet with several people in power, cast the spells, and ask them to enact policies? Not "turn the nation over to me," but "enact these national policies." De facto rather than de jure rule.
Who said war made sense in the first place? In fact, wars happen because of all sorts of bad decisions. Golarion is no different from the real world in this case.
Brother Fen |
Hi James!
Thanks for continuing to provide answers to your thread.
I have a party going into Sevenarches with an elf soon and I would like them to run into a gorgas or two. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find any information about the gorgas except for a few mentions in the Guide to the River Kingdoms.
Is there any more information about the gorgas out there? If not, what sort of creatures are these? I can build one, but I don't want to fly completely blind if it can be avoided.
Thanks for your time.
Ral' Yareth |
James,
What is the best place to post rules question for the player companion line? Specifically for the rend body spell featured in the psychic anthology book. The author of the spell has posted in the product thread giving a couple of suggestions on how to handle it, but understandably he didn't want to pin down anything as you guys from paizo, might rule differently.
Thanks in advance!
Fluffy of the mega pets |
Mr. Dinosaur Sir,
I growed up not with people, but all the puppies and kitties, but the society people say that I can't take them all with me to go esploring. I want my puppy to grow weawy big when get stwong'r, and that means even less puppies I can chose. Will they let me bwring the one I think you call a mammoth or is he not special enough for me?
Thank you Mr. Dinosaur Sir,
Fluffy (the puppies names me (:)
Translation:
The Goliath Dfuid specifies Megafauna and dinosaurs. The Mammoth Rider prestige class makes that even more specific of a list. With the addituinal resources for PFS taking away some of those limited options it made me wonder if the Mammoth/Mastadon qualifies as a Megafauna as it was released before that distinction.
I found a post by you a while ago implying it should or at least you think it should, but can't find anything that makes it official. Is there something on it?
Luthorne |
1) Have you seen this dinosaur dice tower kickstarter? Is it something that interests you?
2) Do you have any dice you particularly like?
3) What are some of your favorite props to use at the gaming table?
James Jacobs Creative Director |
Hi James!
Thanks for continuing to provide answers to your thread.
I have a party going into Sevenarches with an elf soon and I would like them to run into a gorgas or two. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find any information about the gorgas except for a few mentions in the Guide to the River Kingdoms.
Is there any more information about the gorgas out there? If not, what sort of creatures are these? I can build one, but I don't want to fly completely blind if it can be avoided.
Thanks for your time.
The fact that I have no idea what you're talking about when you mention "gorgas" should be the first indication that there's not more info about them. If it's from Guide to the River Kingdoms, I suspect it was a monster that an author made up off the top of their head, and due to the fact of that book's "exquisite corpse" construction (each nation was written by a different author), a lot of the information in there is stranded in that book. So, feel free to develop the gorgas as you want for your game, I guess.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
Hi James.
I was wondering, in regards to the Green Faith, is the Grand Druid the highest rank one can achieve or is it the Archdruid? Finding some conflicting info.
Cheers.
Not sure off the top of my head. I prefer Grand Druid as the name, if all you're asking is "which name is correct?"
James Jacobs Creative Director |
James,
What is the best place to post rules question for the player companion line? Specifically for the rend body spell featured in the psychic anthology book. The author of the spell has posted in the product thread giving a couple of suggestions on how to handle it, but understandably he didn't want to pin down anything as you guys from paizo, might rule differently.
Thanks in advance!
Questions regarding specific products like this should be raised in the product line's forum. So... in the "Pathfinder Player Companion" forum.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
Mr. Dinosaur Sir,
I growed up not with people, but all the puppies and kitties, but the society people say that I can't take them all with me to go esploring. I want my puppy to grow weawy big when get stwong'r, and that means even less puppies I can chose. Will they let me bwring the one I think you call a mammoth or is he not special enough for me?
Thank you Mr. Dinosaur Sir,
Fluffy (the puppies names me (:)Translation:
The Goliath Dfuid specifies Megafauna and dinosaurs. The Mammoth Rider prestige class makes that even more specific of a list. With the addituinal resources for PFS taking away some of those limited options it made me wonder if the Mammoth/Mastadon qualifies as a Megafauna as it was released before that distinction.
I found a post by you a while ago implying it should or at least you think it should, but can't find anything that makes it official. Is there something on it?
You used the magic acronym "PFS" and that tells me you're asking about a Pathfinder Society organized play character.
My best advice for people who have issues with a character build in PFS is to abandon that concept and play a different, less complicated character and to save the more complicated one for a home game where the GM feels empowered enough to make rulings.
Going by the actual real-world definition of the words, both mammoths and mastodons are megafauna.
But if you want an actual in-PFS ruling, you need to ask in the PFS forums.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
1) Have you seen this dinosaur dice tower kickstarter? Is it something that interests you?
2) Do you have any dice you particularly like?
3) What are some of your favorite props to use at the gaming table?
1) I hadn't seen it. I don't use dice towers because they're noisy, take up too much space, and take up too much time to use.
2) Yes.
3) Sound effects and hand-crafted handouts (be they documents or objects).
AlgaeNymph |
AlgaeNymph wrote:Something else I've been thinking about (which influenced my last question): what would you do if you were a level 20 wizard in Golarion?Help folks, but also strongly consider retraining into a more interesting class like cleric or bard or druid or rogue.
How's wizard not as interesting? You'll have the coolest utility spells. (The other classes do have their advantages, though...)
James Jacobs Creative Director |
3 people marked this as a favorite. |
James Jacobs wrote:How's wizard not as interesting? You'll have the coolest utility spells. (The other classes do have their advantages, though...)AlgaeNymph wrote:Something else I've been thinking about (which influenced my last question): what would you do if you were a level 20 wizard in Golarion?Help folks, but also strongly consider retraining into a more interesting class like cleric or bard or druid or rogue.
I never said wizards weren't interesting.
Clerics and bards and druids and rogues are, to me, MORE interesting than wizards. Because of the flavor associated with those classes is stronger.
shadowkras |
I was reading about the Imentesh Protean, when the following passage came up:
Despite their sometimes loquacious and courtly manner, imenteshes’ entropic agenda is ever at the front of their minds, and this inherent madness is evident in the soft, telepathic susurrus that constantly surrounds them, threatening to warp the minds of the weak-willed.
So i thought "this is pretty cool, lets look at their sheet", only to see nothing about an aura or ability that messes with people's minds.
Intrigued, i researched the origin of the creature, and found it on Legacy of Fire 4 (which was 3.5), where they had the following description:
As this serpentine creature slithers forward, its body combining elements of snake, bird, and human, a visible shiver shudders through the fabric of reality. Its unblinking eyes reveal a patient and powerful intelligence, while from nowhere and everywhere at once resonates a susurrus of infectiously spreading whispers.(...)
However, their most marked trait is the subtle telepathic whisper that constantly surrounds them, reaching out to touch the minds of those they encounter, capable of confusing the weak-minded and even temporarily altering their alignments.
This is even cooler, but again, the 3.5 sheet had nothing about such ability.
What happened there? Is that a fluff that was discarded? Or an ability that was replaced by their warpwave ability?
Gulthor |
Psiphyre wrote:I really enjoyed the book. The audio book is great as well, although abridged, alas.I recently watched The Dinosaur Project: Although I'm not much of a fan of the 'found-footage' genre (in general), I really enjoyed the movie!
Thank you for the recommendation!
I've been rereading World War Z recently (together with some of my older students). I seem to recall that you have read the book, too. (I could be wrong about that - apologies for any assumptions on my part.)
Question: What were/are your thoughts on the book (as well as its companion book, The Zombie Survival Guide)?
Please and thank you.
--C.
PS: The book has got me in the mood to give Train to Busan a go sooner rather than later! ^^
James, you might be excited to know that they later released an unabridged version with additional voice cast audio recordings, including Nathan Fillion, Paul Sorvino, Rene Aberjenois, Martin Scorsese, and more (ignore the misleading "movie tie-in edition" title, this has no relation to the movie - this is simply the complete, unabridged audiobook).
It was well-worth re-upping my Audible account to pick up, even though I'd already used my free trial years earlier getting the first version: I was happy to give them some money for the full thing. It's absolutely fantastic.
CanisDirus Contributor |
James Jacobs Creative Director |
I was reading about the Imentesh Protean, when the following passage came up:
Quote:Despite their sometimes loquacious and courtly manner, imenteshes’ entropic agenda is ever at the front of their minds, and this inherent madness is evident in the soft, telepathic susurrus that constantly surrounds them, threatening to warp the minds of the weak-willed.So i thought "this is pretty cool, lets look at their sheet", only to see nothing about an aura or ability that messes with people's minds.
Intrigued, i researched the origin of the creature, and found it on Legacy of Fire 4 (which was 3.5), where they had the following description:
Quote:
As this serpentine creature slithers forward, its body combining elements of snake, bird, and human, a visible shiver shudders through the fabric of reality. Its unblinking eyes reveal a patient and powerful intelligence, while from nowhere and everywhere at once resonates a susurrus of infectiously spreading whispers.(...)
However, their most marked trait is the subtle telepathic whisper that constantly surrounds them, reaching out to touch the minds of those they encounter, capable of confusing the weak-minded and even temporarily altering their alignments.
This is even cooler, but again, the 3.5 sheet had nothing about such ability.
What happened there? Is that a fluff that was discarded? Or an ability that was replaced by their warpwave ability?
It was flavor (not fluff... that word's gross) that we had to cut because it was both too much to fit on a page and it was a case of flavor text not being properly supported by rules, which is a problem we had now and then a decade or so ago when we were using the 3.5 rules and still finding our feet, I guess. We probably should have toned down even further the implications that their telepathy has weird side effects before printing them in Bestiary 2.
Feel free to use the content from their first appearance back in Legacy of Fire though!
James Jacobs Creative Director |
James Jacobs wrote:Psiphyre wrote:I really enjoyed the book. The audio book is great as well, although abridged, alas.I recently watched The Dinosaur Project: Although I'm not much of a fan of the 'found-footage' genre (in general), I really enjoyed the movie!
Thank you for the recommendation!
I've been rereading World War Z recently (together with some of my older students). I seem to recall that you have read the book, too. (I could be wrong about that - apologies for any assumptions on my part.)
Question: What were/are your thoughts on the book (as well as its companion book, The Zombie Survival Guide)?
Please and thank you.
--C.
PS: The book has got me in the mood to give Train to Busan a go sooner rather than later! ^^
James, you might be excited to know that they later released an unabridged version with additional voice cast audio recordings, including Nathan Fillion, Paul Sorvino, Rene Aberjenois, Martin Scorsese, and more (ignore the misleading "movie tie-in edition" title, this has no relation to the movie - this is simply the complete, unabridged audiobook).
It was well-worth re-upping my Audible account to pick up, even though I'd already used my free trial years earlier getting the first version: I was happy to give them some money for the full thing. It's absolutely fantastic.
That's certainly cool to know, and having Martin Scorsese in there is very intriguing. Alas, with my work commute being about 1 minute long, I don't really have much time to listen to audio books these days.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
James, how much of a blasphemy would it be to Pharasma to steal or prevent a creature from having a life at all? Like wishing them to have never been born, for example?
Equally blasphemous as turning someone undead. It's gross and nasty and evil and disruptive to the flow of souls.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
James Jacobs Creative Director |
Arassuil |
Hi James.
I have a question for you. I apologize if this has been asked before, but I couldn't find a good enough answer. What would be a good way to handle a cleric who wants to switch deities? If the answer depends on specific deities, I have a Gnome Cleric of Desna who is having a bit of a crisis, and wants to switch to worshipping a nature-based deity, as he's giving in to his fey roots (so let's say Erastil, as he's a core Pathfinder deity).
I haven't been able to find anything Pathfinder related on the topic. Best I could find was an entry in one of my old D&D 3.5 books (Player's Handbook II).
Any guidelines that'll help out my GM would greatly be appreciated.
Thanks!
James Jacobs Creative Director |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Hi James.
I have a question for you. I apologize if this has been asked before, but I couldn't find a good enough answer. What would be a good way to handle a cleric who wants to switch deities? If the answer depends on specific deities, I have a Gnome Cleric of Desna who is having a bit of a crisis, and wants to switch to worshipping a nature-based deity, as he's giving in to his fey roots (so let's say Erastil, as he's a core Pathfinder deity).
I haven't been able to find anything Pathfinder related on the topic. Best I could find was an entry in one of my old D&D 3.5 books (Player's Handbook II).
Any guidelines that'll help out my GM would greatly be appreciated.
Thanks!
Check out the atonement spell.
In my game, if this happened, I'd first look to the cleric for in-game reasons for the change. There'd be a point where the cleric loses her powers, and in a perfect world, the cleric would welcome the loss of power as that would symbolize her loss of faith in that deity, but then she'd immediately need to start doing everything she could to bolster her faith in the new deity.
And in the end, an atonement cast on her from a worshiper of the new deity would be a good reward for doing a quest or whatever, at which point she'd pick her new domains and be back up and running.