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Horror stories are most effective if they're crafted well, regardless of the plot and content. I can think of several horror movies that are overtly and blatantly supernatural or abnormally violent that are still VERY frightening, as well as several that are super subtle and grounded in reality. It really comes down to the craft and talent of those making it.
I don't see the original Halloween as being supernatural at all. One of many things that makes that one so frightening and effective is that it IS so realistic, with zero supernatural elements in it. The supernatural stuff crept in in the later sequels.
So yeah, Halloween is my number 1 example of a horror movie with no supernatural that is equally frightening. Others would include "Se7en," "Silence of the Lambs," "Cape Fear,"... basically any well-made murderer movie, I suppose.
Hm, perhaps I was unclear- it's not just the supernatural that I meant, I also meant things like "regular bad guy just kills people," because Se7en actually fits my rule quite well- even without the case which forms the bulk of the narrative, things in the lives of the characters were quite screwed up, which the villain would ultimately exploit. And again in Silence of the Lambs, Starling's interface with the sexism rampant in her chosen field of endeavor would make for a fraught story whether Buffalo Bill or Hannibal Lecter ever entered her life.
I picked on Halloween as an alternative, because without Michael Myers breaking loose and going home, things in Haddonfield actually seemed pretty nice without a lot of truly damaging secrets- until he shows up, it's just a little town with a barely-remembered tragedy in its backstory.
But to get off of my soapbox-
How're you doing these days? I imagine it's an exciting time around the Paizo office, so I hope everybody's remembering to breathe occasionally...
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How're you doing these days? I imagine it's an exciting time around the Paizo office, so I hope everybody's remembering to breathe occasionally...
Not great, these days, alas. Let's just say that I'm really really really really really looking forward to my vacation in a few weeks, I guess.
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James,
You mentioned that the cleric was the PF2 class you were most excited about. Can you explain why?
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I'm sorry to hear things aren't going great, hopefully your vacation goes well.
I was wondering how you like to go about messing with player characters and adding plot twists. I've always loved plot hooks that surprize players or recontextualize the character's background, but how do you bring in these surprizes and big changes while not accidentally ruining a players experience? The main issue I find is that these plot hooks are coolest when they are a big reveal and have large impact on the characters on a personal level, however this can really easily remove agency from the player or worse, alienate them from their own character. I'm just looking for some input so I can excite or freak out my players instead of anger them or make them disinterested.
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I'm sorry to hear things aren't going great, hopefully your vacation goes well.
I was wondering how you like to go about messing with player characters and adding plot twists. I've always loved plot hooks that surprize players or recontextualize the character's background, but how do you bring in these surprizes and big changes while not accidentally ruining a players experience? The main issue I find is that these plot hooks are coolest when they are a big reveal and have large impact on the characters on a personal level, however this can really easily remove agency from the player or worse, alienate them from their own character. I'm just looking for some input so I can excite or freak out my players instead of anger them or make them disinterested.
I like to go about it organically, customizing each of them as needed in-game to not only match up with the themes of the player character and their goals, but also customizing and perhaps even abandoning the personalized plot twist ENTIRELY if the player of the character isn't interested in that aspect of play. I prefer the plot hooks to be options that the player gets to choose to follow up, and in a best case scenario the player thinks that they're the one who started the plot twist up on their own. Forcing a player to follow a story that I make up for them is lame, since that's double-dipping on the fact that the adventures the party goes on are already stories I make up for them. It's best if the player plot twists are things that they, even if unknowingly, start or inspire through their own actions.
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How're you doing these days? I imagine it's an exciting time around the Paizo office, so I hope everybody's remembering to breathe occasionally...Not great, these days, alas. Let's just say that I'm really really really really really looking forward to my vacation in a few weeks, I guess.
*offers hugs*
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James,
How much of a direct impact will Return of the Runelords will have on Sandpoint? Will this be reflected in the new Sandpoint book?
Very little. There's one encounter that takes place in Sandpoint in Return of the Runelords, and it's not a fight.
The Sandpoint book presents the town as it exists in a nebulous time after Rise of the Runelords has finished but before Jade Regent starts. Nothing in there is impacted by or itself impacts anything in Return of the Runelords.
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Are we going to find out more juicy info on Norgorber in the next year or so through adventure path or other sources?
I love the Golarion lore and as a lover of Rogue/Assassin characters in particular, I am excited to learn about Norgorber's past.
I assume you've read through Hell's Rebels? There are quite a few big reveals there.
At some point I still would like to hopefully do that Red Mantis vs. Skinsaw Cult novel that's bouncing around in the back of my head, but the current state of the novel line makes that unlikely to happen anytime soon.
Yeah I have checked out the Hell's Rebels stuff, but I was wondering if his explicit backstory and Starstone Ascension story would ever be delved into. Like was he always the evil assassin type or was he once a loyal squire that got roped into a bad crowd?
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Yeah I have checked out the Hell's Rebels stuff, but I was wondering if his explicit backstory and Starstone Ascension story would ever be delved into. Like was he always the evil assassin type or was he once a loyal squire that got roped into a bad crowd?Are we going to find out more juicy info on Norgorber in the next year or so through adventure path or other sources?
I love the Golarion lore and as a lover of Rogue/Assassin characters in particular, I am excited to learn about Norgorber's past.
I assume you've read through Hell's Rebels? There are quite a few big reveals there.
At some point I still would like to hopefully do that Red Mantis vs. Skinsaw Cult novel that's bouncing around in the back of my head, but the current state of the novel line makes that unlikely to happen anytime soon.
No plans to do so at this point, but I do know that Norgorber is NOT a tragic figure. He was bad before he became a god, and used grisly and evil and cruel tactics to ensure that he passed the test. We've got plenty of tragic figures in the game. We need to retain some who are not tragic, not redeemable, and not good.
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James,
Please pardon if this question has come up before...
Have there ever been deities on Golarion that were written with one alignment and then after a while the deity in question just didn't seem to 'fit' the alignment they were given?
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James,Please pardon if this question has come up before...
Have there ever been deities on Golarion that were written with one alignment and then after a while the deity in question just didn't seem to 'fit' the alignment they were given?
Not really. There have been cases where an author or developer has misunderstood the deity and wrote/developed it in a way that wasn't the intent, though (either through misunderstanding or subordination or whatever). Which is different than us creating a deity and then later realizing, "Oh hey, what we created should have been for a different alignment."
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Not really. There have been cases where an author or developer has misunderstood the deity and wrote/developed it in a way that wasn't the intent, though (either through misunderstanding or subordination or whatever). Which is different than us creating a deity and then later realizing, "Oh hey, what we created should have been for a different alignment."
James,Please pardon if this question has come up before...
Have there ever been deities on Golarion that were written with one alignment and then after a while the deity in question just didn't seem to 'fit' the alignment they were given?
IS there any deities you want to retcon in the new edition?
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IS there any deities you want to retcon in the new edition?Not really. There have been cases where an author or developer has misunderstood the deity and wrote/developed it in a way that wasn't the intent, though (either through misunderstanding or subordination or whatever). Which is different than us creating a deity and then later realizing, "Oh hey, what we created should have been for a different alignment."
James,Please pardon if this question has come up before...
Have there ever been deities on Golarion that were written with one alignment and then after a while the deity in question just didn't seem to 'fit' the alignment they were given?
Nope. Already handled in 1st edition.
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Hi James,
Shelyn is generally described as a loving, peaceful, and understanding deity, but is there anything that makes her truly angry?
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Hi James,
Shelyn is generally described as a loving, peaceful, and understanding deity, but is there anything that makes her truly angry?
She can get truly angry, but it's not like she has One Thing that always does so. It'd take the perfect storm of various incidents and situations to get her angry, and what those things are would vary. It'd be more than would be required to make most other deities angry though.
So...we're saying Shelyn has a She-hulk side to her? ;)
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So...we're saying Shelyn has a She-hulk side to her? ;)
No. The exact opposite.
A "hulk" side of someone indicates that they trigger into anger pretty easy and get super powerful as a result.
Shelyn does NOT trigger into anger easily at all, and when she does, she doesn't get any more powerful. She's already powerful enough, as a full-on deity... she's just less likely to smite you because she's also very friendly and understanding and patient and forgiving.
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Actually, is there anything about Shelyn that you can share that you find is often overlooked or not discussed in the books? She seems like a lovely deity but she's always overshadowed by her brother. I feel like I've heard you say before that Zon Kuthon is not her defining characteristic so it would be great to hear what you think is under appreciated about her.
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Actually, is there anything about Shelyn that you can share that you find is often overlooked or not discussed in the books? She seems like a lovely deity but she's always overshadowed by her brother. I feel like I've heard you say before that Zon Kuthon is not her defining characteristic so it would be great to hear what you think is under appreciated about her.
I don't know that I agree that she's "always overshadowed" by her brother. Nor do I get the feeling that she's under-appreciated really. So I'm not sure how to answer your question.
There's a bit more information about her and her realm in the upcoming Planar Adventures book, so maybe that's a good place to check for more info? She's had worshipers show up quite often in adventures as well. Wrath of the Righteous comes to mind.
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always overshadowed by her brother.
"always overshadowed" by her brother.
Heh, I'm gonna remember that pun. :-D
Anyway; different question, similar general premise:
How do Arshea, Cayden, Desna, Milani, and other good deities of freedom generally view imprisoning agents of evil who are at your mercy as a way of sparing their lives?
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How do Arshea, Cayden, Desna, Milani, and other good deities of freedom generally view imprisoning agents of evil who are at your mercy as a way of sparing their lives?
Depends entirely on the situation. In some cases, it's gross and they won't. In others, imprisoning something is a fate worse than death and some of them can be pretty vindictive against evil who deserves it.
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Forgive me if someone already asked this, but in the most recent AP, a sixth Planar Dragon, the Edict Dragon, was added. This is really awesome but seems to be a major departure from what I'd previously understood was a hard and fast rule of five true dragons per category. Was this a change in design philosophy, was it planned all along or did I misinterpret this "rule" somehow when it was discussed in great detail around B6? Can we expect more Planar Dragons, or even the possibility of new additions to other dragon families, in the future?
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Forgive me if someone already asked this, but in the most recent AP, a sixth Planar Dragon, the Edict Dragon, was added. This is really awesome but seems to be a major departure from what I'd previously understood was a hard and fast rule of five true dragons per category. Was this a change in design philosophy, was it planned all along or did I misinterpret this "rule" somehow when it was discussed in great detail around B6? Can we expect more Planar Dragons, or even the possibility of new additions to other dragon families, in the future?
It is a departure. We had a miscommunication about the unwritten rule about five true dragons per category, and by the time I heard the dragon was going into print, it was too late to cut it or change it. (This was a theme that us old-timers at Paizo had in our minds, but with several of them having left Paizo and a bunch of new talented folks joining up, that information just never got conveyed to the others.)
So instead, we'll be doing a few more planar dragons, so that by the time we get to the end of 1st edition Pathfinder, we'll have 9 of them in all; the remaining ones will be showing up here and there in the Pathfinder Adventure Path Bestiaries.
Going forward in 2nd edition I suspect we'll be back to sticking to groups of 5 true dragons per category, but maybe not. We'll see.
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Will there likely be a new world/region setting book for Golarion or the Inner Sea region in the PF2.0?
We're not at the point where we're announcing products like that. But that said, Golarion's not gonna be changing all that much, so that the majority of the flavor/world content in the current Inner Sea World Guide is still applicable in 2nd edition. From there, we'll be going on to continue to expand the world, but how much of that is brand new and how much is reprinted/repurposed from 1st edition sources remains to be seen, and will rely in part on what customers want. Do you WANT a republished inner sea setting book? Would you prefer smaller "update" books and then a focus on other areas? Let us know! (not here though... please keep this thread to questions for me)
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Which nation on Golarion has the most highly-regarded cuisine?
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Are there any plans to cover the southern part of Garund in any novels/setting books/adventure paths that you can reveal?
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Will there likely be a new world/region setting book for Golarion or the Inner Sea region in the PF2.0?We're not at the point where we're announcing products like that. But that said, Golarion's not gonna be changing all that much, so that the majority of the flavor/world content in the current Inner Sea World Guide is still applicable in 2nd edition. From there, we'll be going on to continue to expand the world, but how much of that is brand new and how much is reprinted/repurposed from 1st edition sources remains to be seen, and will rely in part on what customers want. Do you WANT a republished inner sea setting book? Would you prefer smaller "update" books and then a focus on other areas? Let us know! (not here though... please keep this thread to questions for me)
Hey, James--
Hope you are well.
You had mentioned an interest in doing a Golarion 'Almanac'-type product that had particular focus on 'living in the world of Golarion' (possibly incl. such topics as trade, cuisine, cultural quirks & practices, etc.).
Perhaps, instead of publishing an updated setting book for Pathfinder 2nd ed., the 'Golarion almanac' could be an alternative which could include a "What has changed?" chapter/section/perspective?
Question:
Are you still interested in working on that Golarion 'Almanac' idea of yours, and could it be an alternative means of up dating the setting?
Thank you for your reply (& interacting with us).
I hope you have a great vacation (soon?).
--C.
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Which nation on Golarion has the most highly-regarded cuisine?
That's not something I can answer without knowing who you're assuming is doing the regarding. Taldans? Keleshites? Erutaki? Dragons? Ettercaps? Goblins?
Personally, the region that has the tastiest food in my opinion would be the Lost Coast of Varisia, but that's in part because I've had the strongest hand developing that stuff there and have been able to populate Sandpoint and Magnimar and the like with foodstuffs that sound delicious to me, personally.
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Are there any plans to cover the southern part of Garund in any novels/setting books/adventure paths that you can reveal?
None that I can reveal.
And keep in mind that this thread isn't the place for me to make reveals like that. It's fine to ask questions about products that have been announced or that are already out, of course, but I don't talk about things we haven't yet talked about here if I can help it.
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Question:
Are you still interested in working on that Golarion 'Almanac' idea of yours, and could it be an alternative means of up dating the setting?
Yes. An almanac type thing remains something I'd like to see us publish some day, but it's increasingly something that I doubt I'll be personally involved in writing. I don't think it'd be a good "alternative" method. It would be best if it was THE method of advancing the timeline and all that, because if it doesn't, then what's the point of involving the word "almanac" at all?
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Which nation on Golarion has the most highly-regarded cuisine?That's not something I can answer without knowing who you're assuming is doing the regarding. Taldans? Keleshites? Erutaki? Dragons? Ettercaps? Goblins?
A goblin view of cuisine would be hilarious*, but...
Let us say, for the sake of clarity:
Which nation on Golarion has the cuisine most highly regarded by those wishing to be seen as sophisticated in the courts of Avistan?
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Which nation on Golarion has the cuisine most highly regarded by those wishing to be seen as sophisticated in the courts of Avistan?
Not really a "nation" per se, but that'd be Absalom. It's the city at the center, after all, and the largest melting pot of cultures and societies in the region.
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Hi James,
I heard that one of the Tales books set in Cheliax mentions the proper names for Chellish currency, (like how Absalom has copper pennies and silver weights, not just copper and silver pieces). Unfortunately, I have been unable to locate the passage in question.
I was curious as to what the names for Chellish currency are (copper, silver, gold, and platinum if possible, please).
Thanks in advance for your time.
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Hi James,
I heard that one of the Tales books set in Cheliax mentions the proper names for Chellish currency, (like how Absalom has copper pennies and silver weights, not just copper and silver pieces). Unfortunately, I have been unable to locate the passage in question.
I was curious as to what the names for Chellish currency are (copper, silver, gold, and platinum if possible, please).
Thanks in advance for your time.
Page 253 of the Inner Sea World Guide lists coin names for five nations; Cheliax is one of them.
cp = pinch
sp = shield
gp = sail
pp = crown
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What CR do you envision Mhar, Orgesh, Yhidothrus, Zevgavizeb and Ragadahn to be?
Mhar and Orgesh are brand new created-for-Pathfinder Great Old Ones, and as such they don't have decades of legacy and seniority. As such, I see these two being at the low end, maybe CR 26 for each.
Yhidothrus and Zevgavizeb are mid-tier demon lords. I'd say Yhidothrus is higher CR. Probably CR 28, with Zevgavizeb being CR 27.
I've pretty much put zero thought into the Eldest CR scores, but if I had to choose, I'd put Ragadahn at the lower end, since he's much less complicated than the others. CR 26, I guess? He's basically just a big dragon, after all.