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Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Jhaeman wrote:
** spoiler omitted **

You could come up with a custom-built adventure to give the PCs a chance to undo that damage...

Or you could increase the power of his agents and minions by giving them the advanced creature template or increasing their numbers... but if your party failed at this first thing, that's only gonna make the rest of the adventure harder.

If you want to keep going, I'd just run the rest of the adventure as written but with the theme of "Now that the PCs failed at that, they've got a timer to finish the rest before the bad guy gets out." What that timer is is up to you.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Reksew_Trebla wrote:
Do you plan on ever making something like a “Versatile Familiar” feat, that would have Improved Familiar as a prerequisite, and let’s you pick a normal familiar with the templates available to the Versatile Summon Monster feat? I think it could add some nice flavor options to people who want a fiery fox, or an aqueous monkey, or something neat like that.

Personally? No, no plans.


Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber

What is your favorite Elder Mythos Character Option in Pathfinder? (Of like Archetypes, spells, and the likes)

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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TrinitysEnd wrote:
What is your favorite Elder Mythos Character Option in Pathfinder? (Of like Archetypes, spells, and the likes)

I guess I don't really have one. I prefer the Elder Mythos as GM tools and NPC stuff and story elements, not as things PCs can do.


What is your feeling on people asking you mundane questions instead of game theory and/or gaming in general?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Thomas Seitz wrote:
What is your feeling on people asking you mundane questions instead of game theory and/or gaming in general?

I enjoy having a wide range of questions, be they about gaming or not.


So asking you for, example, what's your favorite kind of cookie isn't a bad question? Or how do you feel about brownies?


James Jacobs wrote:
There's magical options, but no vinyl records. Clockwork stuff maybe?

Makes sense. :D

Would a "half-breed" native outsider (Like a half-celestial, half-fiend, Aasimar or Tiefling) born on the plane of its ancestry still be considered a native outsider? And if so, is it native to the Material Plane or is it technically "native" to the plane it was born on?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Thomas Seitz wrote:
So asking you for, example, what's your favorite kind of cookie isn't a bad question? Or how do you feel about brownies?

Favorite cookie's probably chocolate chip and its various variants, although I also like peanut butter themed cookies and snickerdoodles.

Brownies can be GREAT if they're done right, but they're usually not and therefore are disappointing in a "Why did I eat this when I could have had a better desert?" sort of way.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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IonutRO wrote:


Would a "half-breed" native outsider (Like a half-celestial, half-fiend, Aasimar or Tiefling) born on the plane of its ancestry still be considered a native outsider? And if so, is it native to the Material Plane or is it technically "native" to the plane it was born on?

First off, aasimars and tieflings aren't half breeds. They're their own race.

And yeah; where you're born doesn't make a difference. The native outsider is about more than being a Material Plane native. It also means your soul isn't a part of your body and you can thus be raise deadified.


Did you get to see The Shape of Water yet and if so, did you enjoy it?


No question, sir. I want to wish you a very Happy New Year.


Happy New Years!

I hope for many more great books from you guys and gals.

Any New Years resolutions?

Silver Crusade Contributor

Happy New Year, sir! ^_^

Silver Crusade

*wakes up*

Happy New Year, Directorsaur!

*offers hugs*

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Cuuniyevo wrote:
Did you get to see The Shape of Water yet and if so, did you enjoy it?

Yes and yes.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Selene Spires wrote:

Happy New Years!

I hope for many more great books from you guys and gals.

Any New Years resolutions?

Yup!


Firstly, Happy New Year, and I hope you had a good festive period.

I'm slowly working my way through this froghemoth of a thread - currently back in 2010 - and one question sprang to mind:

Which annoys you more - A, people who post repeatedly in a short timeframe, when they could have either drawn a list of questions up and posted it, or amended their initial post as new questions came to mind, ; or B, people who post a batch of questions in one post?


Firstly Happy New Year.

What are your top 5 favorite ancient civilizations of Golarion?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Dragon78 wrote:

Firstly Happy New Year.

What are your top 5 favorite ancient civilizations of Golarion?

Thassilon, Vaults of Orv, Sekamina (the original name of the Serpentfolk empire), Kyonin (it's older than Thassilon, and the fact that it's still around doesn't mean it's not ancient!), and the Aboleth Empire.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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dysartes wrote:

Firstly, Happy New Year, and I hope you had a good festive period.

I'm slowly working my way through this froghemoth of a thread - currently back in 2010 - and one question sprang to mind:

Which annoys you more - A, people who post repeatedly in a short timeframe, when they could have either drawn a list of questions up and posted it, or amended their initial post as new questions came to mind, ; or B, people who post a batch of questions in one post?

This thread has adjusted a LOT in the time it's been active, though, and lately for time management reasons, I prefer folks to ask one question per post.

So, I guess B? That said, I LOVE lots of questions... just please please post them individually.

Silver Crusade

Doing anything interesting with the rest of your week, Directorsaur?


What are your top five modern civilizations of Golarion?


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

With 2017 in the bin...

What were your favorite films that came out in 2017?


What movie soundtrack do you prefer to listen to?

Highlander 1986

or Flash Gordon 1980


Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber

Hi James, happy new year!
I'm running Curse of the Crimson Throne, currently in book 2, and my players have latched on to the mentions of...

Spoiler:
the Key Lock Killer. I read the intro to Horror Realms, which talks about pattern killers, which I believe you wrote. I found another brief mention of pattern killers in Book of the Damned under Shax' entry.

I want to increase Rolth's part in the adventure, and play up the idea of him being a pattern killer.

Is there any other material on pattern killers anywhere I can read up on? I imagine that what they're looking for in the pattern will remain a mystery, but any other information you can give would be incredibly interesting and useful.


Thank you!


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Excited to see a mention of Sekamina (which I guess is just named Ydersius now? I can't find a canon reference of what they called their empire, but pathfinderwiki suggests they just named it after their godking.)

We haven't gotten a lot of serpentfolk stuff since Serpent's Skull seven years ago. Anything on the docket? Despite Venomwall being mentioned in early Varisia stuff, I never saw it expanded anywhere unless I missed something, which is a shame because it sounded pretty cool.

Silver Crusade

Some character options like the Vigilante and some prestige classes allow for two alignments.

In the case that someone dies, and doesn't follow a deity. Where do they go? They have two alignments so what, does it pick the more dominant alignment that suits the character?


Who/what is your favorite Outer God? Great Old On?


Would it be a reasonable house rule to say that mithral weapons count as one category lighter for wielding? If so, how much should I raise the price per pound to make it still balanced, considering that any character could now duel wield greatswords, or wield a large greatsword two-handed, for instance?

The only reason I ask is because there is a logical dissonance between the armor counting as one weight category lighter and the weapons not counting as one category lighter, at least for me anyways, and this is bugging me a bit.


Have you seen the new Star Wars movie? If so what did you think?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Rysky wrote:
Doing anything interesting with the rest of your week, Directorsaur?

Dunno yet. Probably same old: work, read, video games, movies, basketball, food, sleep, repeat.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Dragon78 wrote:
What are your top five modern civilizations of Golarion?

Varisia, Kyonin, Mediogalti, Ustalav, and Minkai.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Cole Deschain wrote:

With 2017 in the bin...

What were your favorite films that came out in 2017?

Hmmmm.

It
Creep 2
Get Out
Mother!
Wonder Woman
The Shape of Water
Alien: Covenant
Life
Gerald's Game
Happy Death Day
It Comes At Night
Annabelle: Creation
Kong: Skull Island
Blade Runner 2049
Dunkirk
Logan
War for the Planet of the Apes

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Black Dougal wrote:

What movie soundtrack do you prefer to listen to?

Highlander 1986

or Flash Gordon 1980

I'm not really a fan of either.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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shadram wrote:

Hi James, happy new year!

I'm running Curse of the Crimson Throne, currently in book 2, and my players have latched on to the mentions of...
** spoiler omitted **
Thank you!

The "pattern killer" plot is one I've been putting hints and tidbits in for a while now. You've found all that are really in print (the Nightripper entry in Inner Sea Bestiary might be another place to look, and the Skinsaw Cult is "Pattern killer adjacent"). There IS some more pattern killer stuff I'm working on for something unannounced later in the year, but I can't talk about that yet.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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outlawpoet wrote:

Excited to see a mention of Sekamina (which I guess is just named Ydersius now? I can't find a canon reference of what they called their empire, but pathfinderwiki suggests they just named it after their godking.)

We haven't gotten a lot of serpentfolk stuff since Serpent's Skull seven years ago. Anything on the docket? Despite Venomwall being mentioned in early Varisia stuff, I never saw it expanded anywhere unless I missed something, which is a shame because it sounded pretty cool.

Pathfinderwiki is wrong there; I suspect that was someone making an educated guess as to the name of it. But yes, the serpentfolk empire was named Sekamina, and that empire is now gone but the name remains. It was never named after Ydersius.

Nothing much more on the announced product docket for serpentfolk. Serpent's Skull really did tell the primary story I wanted to tell about them that was foreshadowed in the first 18 parts of the Pathfinder Journal in the adventure path line. Viperwall hasn't really had much done with it yet at all. maybe some day...

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Laird IceCubez wrote:

Some character options like the Vigilante and some prestige classes allow for two alignments.

In the case that someone dies, and doesn't follow a deity. Where do they go? They have two alignments so what, does it pick the more dominant alignment that suits the character?

They go where they get judged by Pharasma, who's much better at untangling those things than you or I. ;-)

(But basically, they go on to the best place suited for what they accomplished throughout their life; they may have more than one alignment, but they only have one soul/personality, and that's REALLY what gets judged, not alignment.)

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Dragon78 wrote:
Who/what is your favorite Outer God? Great Old On?

Outer God is a tie between Nyarlathotep and Yog-Sothoth.

Great Old One is Hastur.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Reksew_Trebla wrote:

Would it be a reasonable house rule to say that mithral weapons count as one category lighter for wielding? If so, how much should I raise the price per pound to make it still balanced, considering that any character could now duel wield greatswords, or wield a large greatsword two-handed, for instance?

The only reason I ask is because there is a logical dissonance between the armor counting as one weight category lighter and the weapons not counting as one category lighter, at least for me anyways, and this is bugging me a bit.

Whether or not a house rule is reasonable depends on the house and the play style of the gamers in said house. I can't make that call for you. My only advice is to just try it out but with an open mind and let your players know that you're testing it out and if it ends up ruining the balance of your game and wrecking the play experience, you as the GM have the right and duty to roll back the change.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Dragon78 wrote:
Have you seen the new Star Wars movie? If so what did you think?

I have seen it.

The first 2 hours were pretty boring. Pretty, yes, but same old stuff from Star Wars that I've never really been all that fond/interested in. The last 30 minutes FINALLY started doing some new stuff that got me interested and intrigued. The overall LOOK of the movie was great.

Frankly, I'm much more interested in what happens to the Star Wars movies in the future once they're done with the series and start doing new stories that don't rely so heavily on the plot nostalgia. Rogue One is my favorite one so far, but even then it's a bit too dependent on the original for my tastes.

I wanna see Star Wars movies in different genres. I wanna see an R-rated Star Wars movie. I wanna see one directed by someone like Guillarmo del Toro or Martin Scorsese or David Cronenberg or Mike Flanagan or John Carpenter, without Disney interference. SORT of like what we're finally seeing in the Marvel movie universe, with movies like Deadpool, Logan, or the upcoming New Mutants taking the franchise into more adult or horror themed arenas.

I don't think that'll happen with Star Wars though, and really, if it does, those movies won't really be "Star Wars" movies anyway, so what's the point? There's plenty of other dark sci-fi movies coming out all the time to keep me entertained, and I appreciate the fact that the Star Wars movies as they currently exist are beloved by most everyone else. I'm fine with that.


What do you think is the most unexplored country in the Inner Sea so far in Pathfinder products? I was thinking it was Isger, because it's not very central/dramatic and hasn't had a major storyline but because of the Goblinblood Wars, it actually appears in quite a few books with little details here and there.

Druma or Razmiran maybe? They both have a really cool concept, but don't seem to have a lot of development since they were introduced.


James Jacobs wrote:
First off, aasimars and tieflings aren't half breeds. They're their own race.

I know, it's why I used inverted commas. I was just trying to avoid using the word planetouched, since it doesn't actually exist in Pathfinder.

Q: Can outsiders whose bodies and souls are separate be "native" to other planes and thus have the Extraplanar subtype when visiting the material plane?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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outlawpoet wrote:

What do you think is the most unexplored country in the Inner Sea so far in Pathfinder products? I was thinking it was Isger, because it's not very central/dramatic and hasn't had a major storyline but because of the Goblinblood Wars, it actually appears in quite a few books with little details here and there.

Druma or Razmiran maybe? They both have a really cool concept, but don't seem to have a lot of development since they were introduced.

Nex.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

IonutRO wrote:
Q: Can outsiders whose bodies and souls are separate be "native" to other planes and thus have the Extraplanar subtype when visiting the material plane?

If it's possible for humans to do that, then yes. AKA: Up to your GM, I suppose, but that's unlikely to be something we'd ever do in print. It's too confusing.

Shadow Lodge

Would you be able to explain, or point to a source that explains, native outsiders? How are they thematically differentiated from all of the other creatures that exist natively on the material plane (humanoids, magical beasts etc)?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Serum wrote:
Would you be able to explain, or point to a source that explains, native outsiders? How are they thematically differentiated from all of the other creatures that exist natively on the material plane (humanoids, magical beasts etc)?

The easiest location to look is page 312 of the bestiary, where the Native subtype is defined.

They are differentiated from all other creatures who exist natively on the Material Plane simply by being Outsiders who live on the Material Plane. That's more or less all there is to it.

Shadow Lodge

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James Jacobs wrote:
Serum wrote:
Would you be able to explain, or point to a source that explains, native outsiders? How are they thematically differentiated from all of the other creatures that exist natively on the material plane (humanoids, magical beasts etc)?

The easiest location to look is page 312 of the bestiary, where the Native subtype is defined.

They are differentiated from all other creatures who exist natively on the Material Plane simply by being Outsiders who live on the Material Plane. That's more or less all there is to it.

Let me try to clarify. From what I understand, outsiders are fundamentally dissociated from the Material Plane, and made up of the essence of, or at least strongly associated with, their plane, hence why their bodies are their souls. Native outsiders don't seem to follow any of these rules, except they have a "strong connection to the Material Plane", or are born from a mix between mortal and outsiders. I can see how the latter would become a mix of "native" and "outsider", and I can see how, for example, Azatas, being the exemplars of freedom and virtue, would be strongly associated with Elysium, but I'm not sure I understand how creatures could be as strongly associated with the Material Plane as a fire elemental is to the Plane of Fire.

Why are Rakshasas not instead considered (monstrous) humanoids, nor couatls or ammuts magical beasts? Garuda are native outsiders, while Naga are aberrations, despite both (mythically) being the descendants of sibling gods.

Could you explain this "connection to the Material Plane" that other Material Plane inhabitants do not possess?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Serum wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Serum wrote:
Would you be able to explain, or point to a source that explains, native outsiders? How are they thematically differentiated from all of the other creatures that exist natively on the material plane (humanoids, magical beasts etc)?

The easiest location to look is page 312 of the bestiary, where the Native subtype is defined.

They are differentiated from all other creatures who exist natively on the Material Plane simply by being Outsiders who live on the Material Plane. That's more or less all there is to it.

Let me try to clarify. From what I understand, outsiders are fundamentally dissociated from the Material Plane, and made up of the essence of, or at least strongly associated with, their plane, hence why their bodies are their souls. Native outsiders don't seem to follow any of these rules, except they have a "strong connection to the Material Plane", or are born from a mix between mortal and outsiders. I can see how the latter would become a mix of "native" and "outsider", and I can see how, for example, Azatas, being the exemplars of freedom and virtue, would be strongly associated with Elysium, but I'm not sure I understand how creatures could be as strongly associated with the Material Plane as a fire elemental is to the Plane of Fire.

Why are Rakshasas not instead considered (monstrous) humanoids, nor couatls or ammuts magical beasts? Garuda are native outsiders, while Naga are aberrations, despite both (mythically) being the descendants of sibling gods.

Could you explain this "connection to the Material Plane" that other Material Plane inhabitants do not possess?

I can, but it would require writing lots and creating content. We've done this already for Rakshasas (see the article in Pathfinder 9, or the Book of the Damned—the short version is that they're outsider spirits who believe theyr'e gods and manifest on the material plane to be worshiped as such and specifically disassociate themselves with the normal outsider creation cycle). For Garuda, we haven't explored that yet.

It's different for them all, in other words, and thus I cannot explain it in a way that covers them all.

Silver Crusade

Are there any planes that don't have outsiders?

Like are the Fey considered First World's Outsiders?

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