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Hey James, I'm reading through the Reign of Winter adventure path as something I'm planning on running for my group in the future. Not that I expect battle to occur, but in the sixth book when Baba Yaga's stats are revealed, she has a special attack listed that is called Forceful Will. What is this? What's it do? Or was this a typo for something else by accident, like Force of Will since she's mythic? I can't seem to find the information for this anywhere. :(
Dunno. I didn't build her stats (that was Adam) or develop the campaign (that was Rob).
Have you seen the new Panos Cosmatos movie "Mandy"?
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Mr. Jacobs,
First: I was wondering if we will see a stat write up of all the unpublished Runelords during the height of their power, over the course of return of the Runelords?
Such as seeing Xanderghul in his full mythic glory, just to scope the actual power of these immense wizards.
Second: Same question, just for their unique pole-arms.
Thank you for taking your time.
Sincerely
- Shadeworld
Some will get full-power stats, some will not. And some but not all of their pole-arms are statted. There's simply not room to put stats for all of them in, though, but enough will have stats that folks will be able to use them as guides for the ones who aren't statted up.
Good day James, I had a quick question in regards to Curse of the Crimson Throne AP. I have read through the entire updated hardcover version and I am looking forward to running it for our gaming group in the near future. I had a question about the motivations in one part of the adventure that I am worried that I will not be able to answer well enough to satisfy my adventuring group (Most have been playing since AD&D was released).
In Skeletons of Scarwall the PC's work with agents of the brotherhood (followers of Zon-Kuthon) that want to help the PC's recover Serithtial to help prevent the return of Kazavon. Serithtial is essentially made by Iomedae as powerful weapon against followers of Zon-Kuthon (Holy & special magic special abilities against Zon-Kuthon followers).
Zon-Kuthon is the god of pain and darkness and he was so displeased with the traitor Kleestad for allowing Kazavon and some of his agents of Zon-kuthon to be slain by Mandraivus's band of heros that he curses him to an internity of pain and suffering in the depths of Scarwall. Why would he want his followers give a band of adventurers aid (most likely a good adventurering group) to find a weapon that is so powerful against all of his followers? I would think being the god of pain and suffering he would rather allow Queen Ileosa to spread pain and suffering throughout Korvosa and if Kazavon is re-awoken to unleash his horror throughout Golarian.
The only reference I see is on page 262 stating Kazavon was regarded as an unstable zealot whose death did more to help the church's position than his life. Giving the church's enemies a despicable monster to rally against is not a wise move for continued prosperity.
I feel that the reasoning is somewhat weak and I fear the seasoned players at my table will feel the sameway asking questions I will have a hardtime answering. Do you have any other thoughts or insight on Zon-Kuthon's reasonings for his actions?
I have thought of saying Kazavon was trying to become a god himself and wanted to unseat Zon-Kuthon as a good idea for Zon-Kuthon's position on the matter... but then his cursing of Kleestad makes no sense.
Thanks for making an awesome adventure path for us to play and I appreicate your time in answering our quesitons in the posts.
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Good day James, I had a quick question in regards to Curse of the Crimson Throne AP. I have read through the entire updated hardcover version and I am looking forward to running it for our gaming group in the near future. I had a question about the motivations in one part of the adventure that I am worried that I will not be able to answer well enough to satisfy my adventuring group (Most have been playing since AD&D was released).
** spoiler omitted **...
You know your players better than I do; if the reasoning for that plot element won't work for your group, it's kinda up to you to adjust things so that it WILL work for your group. Sorry I don't have much more insight into the question—I'd suggest reading up on Zon-Kuthon in Inner Sea Gods and in the Nidal book to perhaps learn more about his methods. Or if it works better for your group, instead set up the agents as enemies of the PCs who are stalking them through Scarwall rather than helping.
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Among the nations which haven't got their own Campaign Setting book yet, which ones are the most and least likely to get one?
One of the ones that we're doing next. Or perhaps one after that.
AKA: I can't answer this precisely without either spoiling what we've got planned before we want to announce it OR disappointing folks by setting false expectations. Sorry!
Year zero does not exist in the Anno Domini system. In this system, the year 1 BC is followed by AD 1. There is a year zero in Buddhist and Hindu calendars, though. Thus, I want to ask this question. Is there year zero in Absalom Reckoning and After Gap? Is the year -1 AR followed by 1 AR, or 0 AR? Is the year 1 PG followed by 1 AG, or 0 AG?
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Year zero does not exist in the Anno Domini system. In this system, the year 1 BC is followed by AD 1. There is a year zero in Buddhist and Hindu calendars, though. Thus, I want to ask this question. Is there year zero in Absalom Reckoning and After Gap? Is the year -1 AR followed by 1 AR, or 0 AR? Is the year 1 PG followed by 1 AG, or 0 AG?
There is no year zero, but that doesn't mean someone along the way didn't mess that up in some book.
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(Not sure if this is the right place for this kind of question or not.)
In the Playtest, what are the exact criteria that determine whether a 1E outsider has the humanoid/beast/fiend traits or not?
It's not, but I can say that we've not yet discussed the metrics and methods for monster creation, and aren't likely to do so for a while.
Hi James,
What is Pharasma's stance on infernal contracts, and other phenomena that deliver a dead soul to its afterlife without her judgment?
There is a dire rat NPC called Dagio the Great in Crownfall. How should I pronounce his name?
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Hi James,
What is Pharasma's stance on infernal contracts, and other phenomena that deliver a dead soul to its afterlife without her judgment?
She's neutral on them, since they involve the free will and choice of the soul's owner and, typically, an infernal contract only hardwires the soul's fate rather than corrupts it. It's when a soul gets turned undead or is imprisoned that things get dicey, and having a devil claim your soul is neither, really.
There is a dire rat NPC called Dagio the Great in Crownfall. How should I pronounce his name?I didn't develop or write or work on that one, but I'd pronounce it as:
DAG-ee-oh
Sorry for bothering you, but I'm still not sure. In English, <g> is pronounced as <j> before <i> or <e>. Is the <g> in Dagio pronounced as <g>, or as <j>?
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Sorry for bothering you, but I'm still not sure. In English, <g> is pronounced as <j> before <i> or <e>. Is the <g> in Dagio pronounced as <g>, or as <j>?There is a dire rat NPC called Dagio the Great in Crownfall. How should I pronounce his name?I didn't develop or write or work on that one, but I'd pronounce it as:
DAG-ee-oh
Then go with DAJ-ee-oh.
As long as you pronounce a nonsense-word name the same in your game whenever it happens, though, THAT'S the right way to say it, so don't get too concerned about the "correct" pronunciation of a word.
And that said, sounds like you're pretty familiar with how pronunciation rules work for the English language, so I'm not really sure why you need to ask me about it...
Well, Dagio is a proper noun, and not a normal English word. Thus I was not sure whether the English pronunciation rules are applied to it or not. Anyway, I have a new question. There are dinosaurs in Garund. Are there dinosaurs or dinosaur fossils in other continents?
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Well, Dagio is a proper noun, and not a normal English word. Thus I was not sure whether the English pronunciation rules are applied to it or not. Anyway, I have a new question. There are dinosaurs in Garund. Are there dinosaurs or dinosaur fossils in other continents?
Fair enough.
There are dinosaurs in all parts of Golarion. There are fossils in the world as well, since Golarion's been around long enough for bones to fossilize (and otherwise fossil golems wouldn't be a thing). Those bones can be whatever the story requires. Some are dinosaurs. Some are dragons. Some are monsters. Etc.
Why are there dinosaurs in Orv? Did they originate from Orv? Or during Earthfall, some dinosaurs fled to Orv?
What does it mean for a PC to "have access" to something?
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Why are there dinosaurs in Orv? Did they originate from Orv? Or during Earthfall, some dinosaurs fled to Orv?
Because I'm a fan of old pulp stories about dinosaurs living in the center of the earth. How they got there is irrelevant to the fact that dinosaurs in deep underground worlds is cool.
In page 2 of Doomsday Dawn, there is a massive black sphere with mouths, eyes and tentacles. I read the book but I'm still not sure. What is this monster? Is it the planet Aucturn? Or is it a Dominion starship? Or is it the planet-sized Great Old One that will come out from Aucturn?
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In page 2 of Doomsday Dawn, there is a massive black sphere with mouths, eyes and tentacles. I read the book but I'm still not sure. What is this monster? Is it the planet Aucturn? Or is it a Dominion starship? Or is it the planet-sized Great Old One that will come out from Aucturn?
That's an artistic representation of the end of the world depicting an interpretation of Aucturn after it wakes/hatches and prepares to consume Golarion.
It's as much meant to be symbolic as anything else—something to set the mood for the adventure's stakes.
What does it mean for a PC to "have access" to something?Just what it says, as according to the definitions of the words. It means they possess the ability to utilize something potentially. Why is that complicated?
Not complicated. Just that I got the sense somehow that some think it means "I can haz this for free whenever I want it," which IMO should not be the case. Obligatory question: that would be up to the GM, right?
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Not complicated. Just that I got the sense somehow that some think it means "I can haz this for free whenever I want it," which IMO should not be the case. Obligatory question: that would be up to the GM, right?What does it mean for a PC to "have access" to something?Just what it says, as according to the definitions of the words. It means they possess the ability to utilize something potentially. Why is that complicated?
It absolutely would be up to the GM, and it'd be up to the player to respect the fact that this is up to the GM.
Keleri Deverin, an aristocrat in Magnimar, received an invitation from her cousin Kendra, mayor of sandpoint, to attend that town's upcoming Swallowtail Festival. I'm not sure. Is this the exact festival that was invaded by the goblins in Burnt Offerings? Thus can I assume that Keleri Deverin was in Sandpoint during the first book of the adventure path?
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Keleri Deverin, an aristocrat in Magnimar, received an invitation from her cousin Kendra, mayor of sandpoint, to attend that town's upcoming Swallowtail Festival. I'm not sure. Is this the exact festival that was invaded by the goblins in Burnt Offerings? Thus can I assume that Keleri Deverin was in Sandpoint during the first book of the adventure path?
It is the exact same festival. You can assume Keleri was in Sandpoint during the adventure in Burnt Offerings, but as written, she doesn't really have much to do during the adventure and the PCs wouldn't have noticed her unless you want to change that when/if you run Rise of the Runelords in the future.
Between Keleri and Kendra, who is older and who is younger? Do they have a husband or children?
what is the first class you are going to play when Pathfinder: Kingmaker comes out?
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Between Keleri and Kendra, who is older and who is younger? Do they have a husband or children?
Keleri's younger. Neither have a spouse (be they husband or wife) or children (although at her estate in Sandpoint, Kendra's brother and sister in law and nieces and nephews live there).
Some NPCs in Doomsday Dawn were afflicted by powerful psychic assaults called mind quakes. Is it a mind-affecting effect? I'm not sure if there is immunity to mind-affecting effects in Second Edition, but still... In other words, if Doomsday Dawn was published under First Edition, would the powerful creatures who are immune to mind-affecting effects also be immune to mind quakes?
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Some NPCs in Doomsday Dawn were afflicted by powerful psychic assaults called mind quakes. Is it a mind-affecting effect? I'm not sure if there is immunity to mind-affecting effects in Second Edition, but still... In other words, if Doomsday Dawn was published under First Edition, would the powerful creatures who are immune to mind-affecting effects also be immune to mind quakes?
Mind quakes are indeed mind-affecting effects.
Great! Thanks a lot for your reply.We'll be updating the timeline to 4719 AR and that will include canonical "ends" for all the Adventure Paths, which will for the most part assume the PCs were successful since I do NOT want and am NOT comfortable hard-coding PC failures into the game's setting.
We haven't announced yet how we'll be getting this information out to the public, but rest assured, we will.
How things might differ in any one table's home games will vary wildly, but honestly that's no different than all the other changes to the setting GMs and players introduce.
It would be very cool if this also included material from the various Pathfinder Society scenarios and specials such as developments with the Hao Jin tapestry, the status of slavery in Absalom, etc.
How would you present Sanity and Madness in a high-level game?
I'm currently running Strange Aeons with the Sanity and Madness rules from Horror Adventures, but it seems by the last two chapters any divine caster will have access to spells that can reduce or eliminate the effects of madnesses.
Were these rules not meant for higher level characters? I'll admit that they were very effective in the first three chapters, so would it be best that the rules be shelved now that the characters are strong enough to overcome these challenges with relative ease?
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Does the 'no stats for deities' rule only apply to those with 5 domains?
Yes, in that only deities hand out 5 domains.
Those who hand out 4 domains are demigods, and those can be statted up (and are usually in the CR 26 to CR 30 range). Quasi-deities also can be statted up, and they can be any CR range (but are usually in the CR 21 to 25 range).
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How would you present Sanity and Madness in a high-level game?
I'm currently running Strange Aeons with the Sanity and Madness rules from Horror Adventures, but it seems by the last two chapters any divine caster will have access to spells that can reduce or eliminate the effects of madnesses.
Were these rules not meant for higher level characters? I'll admit that they were very effective in the first three chapters, so would it be best that the rules be shelved now that the characters are strong enough to overcome these challenges with relative ease?
By using the rules for sanity and madness I designed for the Gamemastery Guide and that were then expanded on in Horror Adventures... OR by using the rules for sanity and madness I designed for Sandy Petersen's Cthulhu Mythos book... whichever set of rules felt better to me at the time.
And that said, I'd only do that if ALL of the players at my table were okay with it. Mental illness isn't something everyone wants at their table.
And THAT said, just as higher level spellcasters can heal physical damage, they can heal mental damage. That's the whole point. Using sanity and madness in a Pathfinder game isn't meant to be one that the players have no agency over; it's meant to be an additional challenge to overcome, in the same way getting stabbed with a sword is. By the end of Strange Aeons, the PCs should absolutely feel heroic in many ways, including being able to defeat Sanity and Madness. That's the point. The game should still feel scary and intense to the players still as the dangers they and the world face have also become greater.
If you want to play a game where the player characters have to endure the effects of sanity loss without much hope of a quick fix, you're playing the wrong game: play Call of Cthulhu instead. (And again, make sure your players WANT to play a game like that.)
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Does Beyond Morality(Mythic Path Abilities) work against smite?(smite evil, smite good)
that is, smite has or has no effect against those who have beyond moralityMythic Adventures page 50:
Beyond Morality (Ex): You have no alignment. You can become a member of any class, even one with an alignment requirement, and can never lose your membership because of a change in alignment. If you violate the code of ethics of any of your classes, you might still lose access to certain features of such classes, subject to GM discretion. Attempts to detect your alignment don't return any results. If a class restricts you from casting spells with an alignment descriptor, you can cast such spells without restrictions or repercussions. If you're the target of a spell or effect that is based on alignment, you're treated as the most favourable alignment when determining the spell's effect on you. Any effects that alter alignment have no effect on you. If you lose this effect, you revert to your previous alignment.I can’t find an official answer among the FAQs
Rules questions should be asked in the rules forums... but that said, if you were playing in my game, you wouldn't get to pick this power because I think it's too disruptive to the underlying mechanics of the rules and the flavor of the world. It's as bad to me as a power that would let someone "ignore" saving throws or armor classes or specific types of attacks. It removes options from the game and trivializes the alignment system.
So... ask your GM if you need an answer ASAP, or ask on the rules forum if you want the designers to rule on it.
You asked me here, though, so my answer is: Don't use this ability in your game.
Dear James Jacobs,
As a developer of many fine adventure paths, would you say that incorporating more psychic magic into Reign of Winter would be a bad idea? Also what about psychic magic in say, Iron Gods?
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Dear James Jacobs,
As a developer of many fine adventure paths, would you say that incorporating more psychic magic into Reign of Winter would be a bad idea? Also what about psychic magic in say, Iron Gods?
Psychic magic COULD have played a key role in Iron Gods; psychic power is a great sci-fi trope. Alas, we didn't have the rules handy at the time to incorporate them into that adventure path. You need look no further than any number of science fiction stories to see psychic stuff in play though.
Reign of Winter works well with the occult side of things; the less "flashy" stuff. Pretty much anything but a kineticist would work well, thematically, in that Adventure Path, I think.
Are there any major NPCs that you stated up, but then later a new class was introduced that you felt would have been a much better fit had it been available at the time?