Titus Scarnetti has a wife but I cannot find any information about his children. He is clearly old enough to have several grown-up children. Does he have any?
Wich movie are more excited for, Godzilla King of Monsters or Godzilla vs King Kong?
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What are some of your favourite characters from Warcraft (if you have any)?Haven't played Warcraft in ages, so I'm pretty out of touch when it comes to current characters. My favorite from the original MMO was King Mosh though.*googles* Ooooo, I remember that sneaky jerk!
Question, what games are you playing now?
Fallout 76 is the game that's taking up most of my gaming time these days.
Red Dead Redemption 2 took a back seat to Fallout, in part because I like Fallout better overall and in part because I'm waiting for Rock Star to issue a patch to fix the annoying bug I got hit with in Red Dead Redemption 2.
Been playing 7 Days to Die on and off as well, along with Call of Cthulhu and Pathfinder: Kingmaker and Slay the Spire (the last being one of about 5 or 6 games I just bought from the latest Steam sale).
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I have a question about how you would handle this as a player. If your character was a vigilante in Curse of the Crimson Throne, and became the next Blackjack, what would you do about your old vigilante persona?
Talk to the GM about replacing the old persona with the new one. And if I were the GM, I'd let that happen at no cost to the player, and would even allow her to rebuild the PC as needed to fit the new persona. If she wanted, of course.
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Titus Scarnetti has a wife but I cannot find any information about his children. He is clearly old enough to have several grown-up children. Does he have any?
This info (and LOTS more about all of the named NPCs in Sandpoint) is detailed in the Sandpoint book. Scarnetti Manor is detailed on page 60 of that book, where it reveals that his wife is a woman named Delarah Scarnetti. They have 3 kids: Elisse, Charn, and Lianel. There's quite a bit more info about all of them in the book.
Played any new video games recently?
So how was Call of Cthulhu?
So what movies have you seen recently?
Given the flexibility of what Witch Patrons can be, would it make sense for Sorshen or Nocticula to be the mysterious force behind a Witch getting their familiar and arcane spells?
Among Elisse, Charn, and Lianel, who are male and who are female? Also, who are the oldest and who are the youngest? Are they young enough to have the young template, or did they reach adulthood(15 years old)?
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Given the flexibility of what Witch Patrons can be, would it make sense for Sorshen or Nocticula to be the mysterious force behind a Witch getting their familiar and arcane spells?
No. Witch patrons aren't things. They're ideas. They're fields of study. They aren't NPCs or gods or anything like that. A witch who wants to thematically align with Nocticula or Sorshen can take a patron like trickery or redemption or art or whatever (work with the GM to make up a new patron if needed), but the name of a person is never the same as a witch patron.
This is something I dearly hope we'll be able to fix when and if we do witches in 2nd edition—either adjust it so that their patrons ARE things (akin to how a cleric selects a deity), or pick a different word than "patron" that isn't so confusing if we really do want them to be focused on areas of study.
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Among Elisse, Charn, and Lianel, who are male and who are female? Also, who are the oldest and who are the youngest? Are they young enough to have the young template, or did they reach adulthood(15 years old)?
Elisse is a woman, and Charn and Lianel are men. Their exact ages are not listed, but they're all 1st level aristocrats. If I had to officially list their ages now, Elisse is the oldest at 17, Charn is 14, and Lianel is 10. I'd suggest not using a "young" template for any NPC like this, but to build them by hand.
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I’m going to (try to) make a vigilante for a game. Other than Curse of the Crimson Throne (because I already know too much) which Adventure Path would be best for one?
Hell's Rebels.
Or maybe War for the Crown, but I'm not as familiar with that one.
There are six goblins in the goblin sanctuary under Sandpoint. From which tribe did they come? Thistletop? Licktoads? Or others?
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There are six goblins in the goblin sanctuary under Sandpoint. From which tribe did they come? Thistletop? Licktoads? Or others?
Thistletop, for the most part, but there could be a Bircruncher or two or even an unassociated goblin in there as well.
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How do you feel about Scaling Magic Items? I think the Armageddon Plate would make a great base for an outfit for a vigilante. I also learned about the Crystal Tiara, which is amazing for an Ice King (a character from the cartoon Adventure Time who has ice powers granted to him by his magic crown) build.
If you mean "magic items that grow more powerful alongside the PC who carries them as the PC levels up," I like them.
If adventurers or the authority found out the goblins below Sandpoint and arrested them all, what kind of fate is waiting for them? Would they be submitted to trial and subsequently executed or exiled? Would the authority acknowledge their good heart and accept them as the new residents of Sandpoint?
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If adventurers or the authority found out the goblins below Sandpoint and arrested them all, what kind of fate is waiting for them? Would they be submitted to trial and subsequently executed or exiled? Would the authority acknowledge their good heart and accept them as the new residents of Sandpoint?
That'd depend on the story you wanted to tell. Personally, I'd want to tell the story where these goblins help the people of Sandpoint get over their fears and work to make the place more welcoming to goblins, particularly if there was a PC goblin involved in said story.
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If you were to combine 2 Adventure Paths, one after the other, same PCs, whether by buffing up all of the encounters of the second AP to fit post first AP for PCs, or by slowing the enemies’ progression in CR in the first AP, so the PCs only become half as strong level wise, and then doing the same with the second AP after buffing it to post first AP doesn’t matter.
Anyways, if you were to combine 2 APs, which ones would they be, and in what order?
Rise of the Runelords followed by Return of the Runelords.
What? Call of Cthulhu was disappointing? I thought you and other Mythos fans would be very excitedly playing that game by now. I didn't play that game and don't know much about it, but... is the Call of Cthulhu video game that bad?
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So how was Call of Cthulhu?Disappointing.*offers hugs*
Are you enjoying Fallout 76?
Very very much! I was worried about the always-online element and the experience being ruined by griefers or goofballs or chuckleheads, but I play with the voice chat turned off completely so I never hear anyone else's voice coming through the speakers and breaking the immersion as people eat nachos while they play or argue with their Mom about chores or get all toxic and gross or make stupid jokes. In my head-canon, there were 24 of us in Vault 76, and I'm the only one who kept my head on straight—the other 23 out there are interchangeable wanderers who are mostly harmless eccentrics, but it's up to ME to make a difference in the world.
I do miss there not being any NPCs to interact with in a meaningful way, and the fact that now and then I get disconnected and lose some progress due to a server interruption or the like is frustrating, and the fact that I can't really build multiple structures that are permanent in the landscape also is unfortunate, and the new VATS system is clunky but not as bad as it was to begin with once I've gotten used to it, but the gameplay of exploring the world, uncovering the hidden stories in a Dark Souls sort of way where you have to look and examine and interpret visual cues from the terrain, the leveling up system, the wide range of enemies, and all of the traditionally Fallout tropes are VERY enjoyable.
I can understand why so many folks are disappointed in the game, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't in turn disappointed by the toxic customer backlash the game's been hit with. Entitled gamers who react to a disappointing game by becoming toxic crusaders against the game, the company, or those who enjoy the game rather than just putting the game down and playing something they DO like and enjoy have become one of my least favorite parts about internet culture.
But again, by choosing to not watch youtube rants or read manifestos posted on Reddit or playing with voice chat turned off, I don't have to expose myself too much to them. Wish that went both ways, though.
That's my Fallout 76 advice, and my advice for life in general: You don't have to like everything, but don't be a jerk about it—if you don't enjoy a game or a movie or whatever, move on to play something you DO enjoy!*
*(Unless the reason you don't like the movie is because it's actively toxic or trying to be actively destructive to society or supporting hate speak—as in the case of propaganda type entertainment... in that case, rise up and resist! Fallout 76 is not trying to do this, though... it's just a different game than most Fallout fans wanted.)
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What? Call of Cthulhu was disappointing? I thought you and other Mythos fans would be very excitedly playing that game by now. I didn't play that game and don't know much about it, but... is the Call of Cthulhu video game that bad?
Yes, I'm talking about the Call of Cthulhu video game that just came out, NOT the tabletop RPG.
And also, don't be hyperbolic. I said I was disappointed by the game. That's not the same as saying "WORST GAME EVER!"
Spoilering a mini-review of the game to avoid walls of text...
Furthermore, at about 6 hours into the game, I've yet to actually encounter any Lovecraftian proper nouns. The game is set on a decaying port town that was once a thriving place that's fallen on hard times, but it's not Innsmouth. There's a strange high house on a cliff side overlooking the town below, but the town's not Kingsport. You start in a New England town that's not Arkham, but could be and should be. If you get the license to do something with an established world, you should use that world's stuff... not make lesser copies of it.
The graphics are fine, but they're about 4 years out of date and could have been a lot more immersive. Likewise, the character models are kinda stilted and the animations aren't great. The voice acting ranges from okay to cringy.
The actual game play is fun, but there's not much to it so far. Mostly just walking around and interacting with things to reveal a storyline that's slowly revealing the town's past and the nature of the suspicious suicide you're investigating. And the controls for opening containers are kinda frustrating. And I get the feeling like there's pretty much ZERO replay value in the game—there's not a lot of options to do things differently, since the skill system in the game is so marginal and lackluster. It'd be cool if the game could be played through as a stealth character or a diplomatic one or a combat one or whatever, but no such luck.
Still fun enough to play, yes. If only because I hope that there'll eventually be SOMETHING fully Lovecraft in the game to interact with rather than things just inspired by his writings.
It's also worth noting that the PRICE of the game is part of the problem. It was a $40 game... so not the price of a big budget game like Red Dead Redemption 2 or Skyrim, but definitely NOT the standard inidie game price of 10 to 20 bucks. At 40 bucks, and as an officially licensed from Chaosium game, I was expecting more. I might have a better feeling about the game when I finish it, of course... but even then, it would still have the problem of not starting on its strongest foot and not using its best features to grab a new player's attention—a problem a LOT of games do, even Red Dead Redemption 2.
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Why do all of Curse of the Crimson Throne’s campaign traits involve Gaedren Lamm? I would have thought maybe there’d be a trait about having been saved by Blackjack as a child, and thus now idolizing the hero, granting a bonus vs mind affecting effects, or maybe a trait about having a (now deceased) relative that was a member of the adventuring party known as the Blackbirds (the group Vencarlo and Jasan were in), and thus inheriting an item from that group, or a favor from (one of) the surviving members.
Because the point of the traits was to give the players a shared link. The PCs can be a HUGELY diverse group, but having them all share this need to get revenge/closure on something associated with Gaedren Lamm gives the party a built-in reason to come together and work together as a team at the start of the campaign, rather than just the feeble "We're all working together because these are the PCs we made for the game, nevermind the fact that there's no logical reason for a paladin and a barbarian and a hermit and a socialite to ever get together and cooperate in the first place" type thing.
But also because I wanted the traits to not telegraph too much about the plot of the campaign.
Keep in mind that these were the VERY FIRST traits we ever designed for Pathifnder. At that point, their main goal was to give the PCs a reason to come together in the first adventure, and to "bribe" players with small mechanical boons as a reward for coming up with some elements of a history and background for their character that the GM could use and that we as the adventure creators could build upon to craft a more personalized story to play in.
Over time, we've adjusted and developed how we do these traits, and customer feedback that folks aren't as worried about traits "spoiling" plot points from the campaign has opened things up for us to do more with them. Had we been doing Crimson Throne from scratch today, I would have absolutely had some traits that foreshadowed Blackjack, the involvement of the Red Mantis, or the fact that the queen is going to be the main villain.
In updating the adventure, I wanted to preserve as much of the original play experience as possible, in any event, and that meant keeping the traits as more personal, more focused things.
Hey James, I'm wondering if you have any recommendations on how to run dundeon crawls. There are a lot of opinions on how to reveal maps and whatnot, but what I'm actually trying to figure out is how to prevent a bunch of consecutive combat encouters from dragging.
Specifically, I'm starting to plan a Scarwall run (probably still have some months until we get there) and while I want to maintain the atmosphere, major encounters, and overall feeling of exploring a massive and dangerous location, I'm concerned it'll fall into monotony.
A standard encounter for my group lasts about an hour and our sessions are short at just 3 hours. Even if I hold an extra long session, I still worry that we'll get consecutive sessions of almost pure combat that'll kill the sense of pacing.
I know other groups love dungeon crawls, so it would be great to hear back from you.
Sorry for the longer question.
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Hey James, I'm wondering if you have any recommendations on how to run dundeon crawls. There are a lot of opinions on how to reveal maps and whatnot, but what I'm actually trying to figure out is how to prevent a bunch of consecutive combat encouters from dragging.
Specifically, I'm starting to plan a Scarwall run (probably still have some months until we get there) and while I want to maintain the atmosphere, major encounters, and overall feeling of exploring a massive and dangerous location, I'm concerned it'll fall into monotony.
A standard encounter for my group lasts about an hour and our sessions are short at just 3 hours. Even if I hold an extra long session, I still worry that we'll get consecutive sessions of almost pure combat that'll kill the sense of pacing.
I know other groups love dungeon crawls, so it would be great to hear back from you.
Sorry for the longer question.
Not every group is equally into the same game play elements. For one group, a dungeon the size of Scarwall is perfect, and it won't feel like a slog because they enjoy going room to room. For another, two rooms in a row is a slog because they'd rather do political intrigue or wilderness exploration or whatever. So the first step is knowing your players and their preferences.
In Scarwall in particular, check out the hardcover book version. For that version of the dungeon, I did my best to make sure that the numerous encounters were varied, with fights in some, phantasms in some, traps in some, etc. so that there's enough variation that the rooms don't get repetitive. I did my absolute best to ensure that the rooms are different in their goals so that it won't get monotonous. If what makes it monotonous for one group is the fact that they start viewing an entire adventure as a speed bump to getting to the story's conclusion, though... not sure I have much advice there. (For me, the journey to the end of a story is the most fun, since it's the journey you spend the most time on. Some gamers just want to finish the game and rush through... that's a play style that's kinda alien to me...)
Even then, I put in a page or two of "How to trim the dungeon" if a table isn't into big dungeons, so there's advice there as well.
One way I've handled big dungeons is to lump several room encounters into one dynamic encounter. Rather than force the party to explore five different rooms each of which has a few thematically themed monsters, once the fight starts the alarm goes up and the monsters come to respond and the fight moves from room to room all at once. This way, you only deal with the preamble to an encounter, the encounter itself, and the post-encounter loot collection once, rather than five separate times.
How did Smink and other five goblins end up under Sandpoint? Were they part of the Swallowtail raid but somehow failed to retreat, and found out the underground tunnel that leads to the sanctuary when desperately trying to hide? I'm quite shocked that even the good goblins didn't hesitate to participate in the raid.
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How did Smink and other five goblins end up under Sandpoint? Were they part of the Swallowtail raid but somehow failed to retreat, and found out the underground tunnel that leads to the sanctuary when desperately trying to hide? I'm quite shocked that even the good goblins didn't hesitate to participate in the raid.
Each of them had their own story of how they ended up there, but I've not done much thinking on those individual stories. It's likely that one of them, likely Smink, ended up being peer-pressured into the raid and used the chaos of battle to sneak away into hiding, and then she started contacting other goblins she knew wanted out of the evil lifestyle to get them to join her.
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https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Gier
Is this character's name correctly spelt Gier (according to Rule of Fear) or Geir (according to Shadows of Gallowspire and What Grows Within)?
Geir.
In cases like this, it's usually safe to assume the most recent publication is correct, or the most commonly used spelling is correct.
Although I suspect in THIS case, the original spelling was Gier—and it's a misspelling we've repeated enough that it's become the correct spelling.
Since there's two spellings and I'm the creative director, I'll go with Geir, since that means it's incorrect fewer times.
James, what did you think of the Suspiria remake? Personally, though I though I use to think the original un-remakeable, I loved it.
If a high level cleric of Achaekek cast Greater Planar Ally, what is likely to show up? The entry in Inner Sea Faiths really doesn't provide any guidance.
From the south, a wooden bridge governs entrance to Sandpoint, while from the north, a stone wall offers the town a bit of protection. Typically, no guard is stationed in the southern bridge. I'm not sure. Shouldn't there be another wall to the south? The town would fall very easily if goblins attack from the south instead from the north.
So, actual question. How much will Sandpoint have changed in-setting from Light of the Lost Coast by the time 2E comes around?Ameiko will have done her thing in Jade Regent, but other than that, the Sandpoint in that book is as it will be in 2nd edition.
Hm? I thought she wouldn't until after Return of the Runelords. Did that change?
Also, are delays in replies problematic for you? If so, I'll be more timely in the future.
Speaking of Video Games, heard about The Sinking City?
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From the south, a wooden bridge governs entrance to Sandpoint, while from the north, a stone wall offers the town a bit of protection. Typically, no guard is stationed in the southern bridge. I'm not sure. Shouldn't there be another wall to the south? The town would fall very easily if goblins attack from the south instead from the north.
Sandpoint isn't a town that's attacked enough for there to be guards posted at all times. The town guard does patrols, but generally they don't keep guard posted static at the approaches. The river to the south serves as the town's defense. And despite the fact that Burnt Offerings featured a goblin attack, that's not something that happens often to Sandpoint. In fact... it only happened once. It's not like they need to worry about those things all the time.