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Boring.What about Superman as depicted in the 90's animated series?By calling her Captain Marvel and portraying her the way Captain Marvel is portrayed. AKA: Give her a sort of cocky, self-assured attitude, ditch the entire concept of a secret identity, make her have interesting flaws that aren't based around made-up materials, and make her a woman. For starters.Dear James Jacobs,
If someone could get Superman right for you, how would you do it?
Huh, I thought they did a good job: some witty quips, enemies that didn't need kryptonite, and all while still being the big blue boy scout (who technically didn't even get his first merit badge). Anyhow, why is he boring?
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Huh, I thought they did a good job: some witty quips, enemies that didn't need kryptonite, and all while still being the big blue boy scout (who technically didn't even get his first merit badge). Anyhow, why is he boring?Boring.What about Superman as depicted in the 90's animated series?By calling her Captain Marvel and portraying her the way Captain Marvel is portrayed. AKA: Give her a sort of cocky, self-assured attitude, ditch the entire concept of a secret identity, make her have interesting flaws that aren't based around made-up materials, and make her a woman. For starters.Dear James Jacobs,
If someone could get Superman right for you, how would you do it?
Because he's boring to me. I'm not trying to prove to you that he's boring; I don't need to or want to do that.
Because I'm not all that interested in stories about infallible, invulnerable, do-gooder male heroes whose stories tend to be one-note without shades of gray or gritty elements to them. He's too simple.
And yes, I know that there are Superman stories that aren't this, but I'd still rather focus on stories I prefer rather than ones I generally do not.
Superhero stories are low on my "to read" lists anyway. I go see the movies because they're big events, but in most cases it's a fire-and-forget thing. I won't be around forever, and every moment I spend on Superman is a moment that, in theory, I'm not spending on darker forms of entertainment like horror or dark fantasy or the like.
I wonder if you would enjoy Larry Correia's Monster Hunters International series. You might not, but I'd recommend a look. First one's free. :-)
Question: If the Starstone crashed into the heart of Azlant (Heroes of Golarion page 3) how did it get to the eastern end of the Inner Sea where Aroden raised it up?
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I wonder if you would enjoy Larry Correia's Monster Hunters International series. You might not, but I'd recommend a look. First one's free. :-)
Question: If the Starstone crashed into the heart of Azlant (Heroes of Golarion page 3) how did it get to the eastern end of the Inner Sea where Aroden raised it up?
I've no idea if I'd enjoy the Monster Hunter series... but seeing as I've got a bookcase or two of unread books I've bought but haven't gotten to yet, I'm being pretty picky about new ones I add to the pile.
The Starstone was one of many impact events that, collectively, was Earthfall. LOTS of falling stars/meteors/whattever hit Golarion during Earthfall. It was more of a cosmic shotgun against the planet than a cosmic rifle. The chunks that hit Azlant and sunk it were different than the one that was the Starstone and crashed thousands of miles to the east of Azlant.
Dear James Jacobs,
I just saw the trailer for "The Head Hunter." Have you seen this movie yet? Do you think it makes for a good Pathfinder horror setup?
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Dear James Jacobs,
I just saw the trailer for "The Head Hunter." Have you seen this movie yet? Do you think it makes for a good Pathfinder horror setup?
Huh! Hadn't heard about this movie; looks very interesting! Probably not great for Pathfinder since it looks like it's a one on one thing. Maybe for a solo player and GM?
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With the Campaign Setting line transitioning into hardcovers, how likely will we be to get a hardcover Dragon Empires book? Or is it still too early to talk about this kinda stuff?
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With the Campaign Setting line transitioning into hardcovers, how likely will we be to get a hardcover Dragon Empires book? Or is it still too early to talk about this kinda stuff?
WAY too early. We've barely announced anything for the new game. Have patience.
Is the "well guarded stone road" between Roslar's Coffer and (I guess) Castle Everstand guarded by fixed installations at some interval, or regular patrols, or both?
Side note: I found out yesterday that Larry Correia and H.P. Lovecraft share a birthday. :-)
So, with Concordance of Rivals in the pipe...
Which category of Monitors do you most enjoy?
(Psychopomps 4 Lyfe here)
Hi James
With all of the talk of Superman, how interested are you in the upcoming film Brightburn? Since that seems to take the superman origin in a horror direction, and I know you love horror.
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Hi James
With all of the talk of Superman, how interested are you in the upcoming film Brightburn? Since that seems to take the superman origin in a horror direction, and I know you love horror.
I'm more interested in that take on the story than any other.
Hi James,
Is Abraxas connected to the Aeons at all in Golarion?
IRL, Abraxas and Aeons are connected with Gnostic lore.
That said.
Given he called his realm Pleroma, which is also the name of the strongest type of Aeon, and that he is supposed to be one of the oldest non-Qlippoth demon Lords, is he a fallen Pleroma Aeon? Or a fallen Aeon of some kind? Knowing the final incantation and his focus on knowledge seems like something a fallen Aeon would have, given their connection to the Akashic record.
Or is the connection only there because of IRL stuff, and we aren't supposed to think too hard about it?
What are the Cinderlands like in the winter? I’m not sure whether it’s Arizona badlands or Wyoming plains.
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Hi James,
Is Abraxas connected to the Aeons at all in Golarion?
IRL, Abraxas and Aeons are connected with Gnostic lore.
That said.
Given he called his realm Pleroma, which is also the name of the strongest type of Aeon, and that he is supposed to be one of the oldest non-Qlippoth demon Lords, is he a fallen Pleroma Aeon? Or a fallen Aeon of some kind? Knowing the final incantation and his focus on knowledge seems like something a fallen Aeon would have, given their connection to the Akashic record.
Or is the connection only there because of IRL stuff, and we aren't supposed to think too hard about it?
No connection, other than both being drawn from the same IRL mythology.
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Hi, JJ
I recently read "Classic Monsters Revisited" and "monster codex" for gnoll's research.
But there's something confused me.
In "Classic Monsters Revisited, p.12." It's said"Gnolls live in small, aggressive bands of raiders and hunters brought together and ruled by a large, powerful male"
In "Monster Codex, p.91." It's said"The gnoll pack is a multilayered structure based on competing for dominance, with one alpha—typically the largest and most powerful female gnoll—at its apex."
So, which one is correct? Gnoll typically ruled by the male or female?
Why there have two different answers? Just a mistake or the author is Volo(haha)?Thank you so much.
Those two books were written for different editions and many, many years apart.
The one's that correct in almost ALL cases like this where you see us present different information is the more recent publication, particularly in cases where the newer publication updates information from a prior edition of the game (remember, Classic Monsters was a pre-Pathfinder product). It is, essentially, flavor errata—what we wrote for Classic Monsters was an error.
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Who should I consider primarily responsible for the War for the Crown adventure path in general and City in the Lion's Eye in specific?
Crystal Fraiser outlined that Adventure Path and developed most of it. Ron Lundeen helped out and finished the development up after Crystal left the company to pursue other opportunities.
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I prefer using draws from a Harrow Deck when you spend a hero point; they always do the job (if not always in the way the PC anticipates), but the closer the card is to your character's alignment and best ability score and theme, the more amazing and awesome they get in their results.Dear James Jacobs,
Which do you think is better thematically for heroes to use in a game; Harrow Deck points or Hero Points?
Could you go into more detail on how to use the Harrow Deck in this manner, or point me to a resource that does so?
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Could you go into more detail on how to use the Harrow Deck in this manner, or point me to a resource that does so?I prefer using draws from a Harrow Deck when you spend a hero point; they always do the job (if not always in the way the PC anticipates), but the closer the card is to your character's alignment and best ability score and theme, the more amazing and awesome they get in their results.Dear James Jacobs,
Which do you think is better thematically for heroes to use in a game; Harrow Deck points or Hero Points?
There is no resource that does so per se, although you can see a variant of it in action in Curse of the Crimson Throne or Carrion Crown.
The way I do it is this:
I shuffle a Harrow deck, then let every player draw a card. The player can't look at the card. When the player wants to spend the card to influence fate, they say so and reveal the card.
Regardless of the card revealed, the net result is something that stays true to the spirit of the player's request, but it's the magnitude of the card reveal that influences how I play it out. The closer the card is to the PC's alignment and best ability score, the better.
For example...
Ostog's alignment is Chaotic Good, and his best ability score is Strength. His worst ability score is Intelligence.
Here's how I'd rule the results of the situation based on four potential card draws.
The Peacock: This card is a Neutral Dexterity card, and as such is pretty ambivalent in its thematic comparison to Ostog. As a result, it has a standard effect—Ostog takes no damage from the swallow whole when it's the crocodile's turn, and wakes back up so that he has one more chance to escape. At the very least, this buys the other PCs another round to rescue him. (I'd do the same for a Lawful Evil Strength card, or a Chaotic Good Intelligence Card, which cancels each other's Ostog-themed elements out).
The Rakshasa: This is a Lawful Evil Intelligence card, and as such it's about as opposite to Ostog as possible. I'd say that Ostog takes damage from the swallow whole normally, but I'll cap the damage at 1 less than what would kill him. Ostog can't do anything on his own to escape, but lives one extra round, so that the other players have that much longer to rescue him.
The Big Sky: This is a Chaotic Good Strength card, which is a full-on Ostog-flavored card. In this case, I'd have the demon crocodile get sick and puke up Ostog on its action; this would use up all of the crocodile's actions on its turn and would leave it sickened for a round or two. Ostog would heal up to 1 hit point. The worst thing for him is that he'd start his action next round prone.
The Owl: This is a Neutral Wisdom card, so kinda generic (like the Peacock, above) to Ostog's character stats... but earlier in the campaign this was a card he drew during a prior harrowing, and Erik incorporated that draw into his character's story in a very amusing way, taking on "The Owl of the North" as one of his new nicknames and explaining the card's influence as being something that helped him whenever Ostog did something the other players found to be particularly wise or well-reasoned. In this case, since the Owl is tied to Ostog's history through roleplay, I'd treat it as the Big Sky above, but also give Ostog a free attack against the crocodile as he got sicked up to represent the fact that the Owl of the North has his back.
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So do you know yet whether non AP modules will be considered to have happened for 2e? I'm especially curious about which game mastery modules are non canon and which are canon
I do know this, for the most part. It's not gonna be presented in a bulleted list or the like anywhere, though; these effects will be integrated elegantly into the flow of text in all 2nd edition products going forward.
A HUGE number of the GameMastery adventures are pretty minor in scope and their effects are pretty minor in how they affect world lore going forward, and as such those adventures will mostly be left uncommented upon unless we happen to touch especially on a plot thread—which we already did in Doomsday Dawn, for example, with its subtle ties to Dragon's Demand, or in Tyrant's Grasp, in how it builds upon something that took place both in Crown of the Kobold King and in Runeplague.
Hi James Jacobs,
Can I make a banner as the scarf part of a bladed scarf to wielding it?
Thank you!
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Does Dragonheir's Scion Arcane strike scale as he gain levels,even though arcane strike states for every five caster lvls the damage is increased by +1?Does dragonheir have a caster lvl?Thanks in advance.
I had no involvement in the writing or development of that option, so I have no opinion on it and no desire to get involved in what might be a more protracted internet argument over rules interpretations (a brief google search seemed to indicate to me that this option has got a lot of folks asking about it).
My advice? Ask your GM and work with them to get a solution that works best for your game, and if the option is causing too much frustration, pick a different option. There are a LOT of dragon-themed choices out there for Pathfinder 1st edition these days.
Alternately, ask the question on the product thread. It's not likely that you'll get an "official answer" from someone here anytime soon since folks are VERY busy getting 2nd edition products out to the printer (we've got GIANT deadlines for the books for the next several weeks), but feedback from other gamers will give you plenty of information to weigh and consider so that you can make the best decision for your table, working with your GM.
If you're asking for Pathfinder Society organized play questions... you need to either ask the PFS folks (not me), or pick a less complicated, less fraught character option, I guess.
Will the final chapter of Tyrant's Grasp be going into considerably more detail of the Test of the Starstone than what's currently been released? I think I recall someone somewhere mentioning their desire to correct some of the information in Mythic Realms (or some other splatbook).
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Will the final chapter of Tyrant's Grasp be going into considerably more detail of the Test of the Starstone than what's currently been released? I think I recall someone somewhere mentioning their desire to correct some of the information in Mythic Realms (or some other splatbook).
No. "Tyrant's Grasp" doesn't actually do anything with the Test of the Starstone at all. Our plans for detailing the Test lie beyond. We'll get there eventually, but not in Tyrant's Grasp.
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Who is Soralyon? We only know bits and pieces from the published works; his true form is evidently pure black marble, glimmering softly. He guards against those who would defile sacred monuments, and prevents people from discovering potent and evil magical secrets. He's also the patron deity of the Runeguard Prestige Class. Why? What does he have to do with Thassilon and the 7 Virtues of Rule? He protects against potent evil magical secrets, sure, but why the 7 Virtues of Rule? What's his relation to all that?
He's an empyreal lord. He has a fair amount of info on page 24 of Chronicle of the Righteous.
I wasn't involved in the creation of the runeguard prestige class, and so I have no insight really into how that class, Soralyon, and Thassilon mesh together. That the runeguard wasn't on my radar for any of my work on Magnimar (where Soralyon's worship is perhaps the strongest) or in any of the adventure paths I did points perhaps to a bit of parallel design, with folks taking the concepts in directions I hadn't intended or thought of. Doesn't make them wrong, of course, but it does mean that it's not something I've done much thought on.
That said, my preference is for the runeguard to be a relatively new devleopment, post "Rise of the Runelords", by a group of good aligned Soralyon worshipers who have sought a way to use their faith as a way to fight against the evils of Thassilon that continue to threaten Varisia. They base their mythos and lore on ancient legends, but are themselves relativley new, and their strictures weren't handed down to them from on high. They worship Soralyon, and he supports them and admires them and encourages them, but the runeguard is very much the result of "modern" humanoid ingenuity and faith rather than something else that's been around for hundreds of centuries.
On the topic of Empyreal Lords, what are worshippers of Black Butterfly generally like? And with how hidden and obscure Black Butterfly is even among the lesser known gods, how would one even find out about her to worship?
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On the topic of Empyreal Lords, what are worshippers of Black Butterfly generally like? And with how hidden and obscure Black Butterfly is even among the lesser known gods, how would one even find out about her to worship?
They're like more gothy versions of Desna worshipers. As for where you'd find out... that's either part of the adventure a GM has planned or simply something a player decides during character creation.
They're like more gothy versions of Desna worshipers.
I love this.
So... now that Ashava has gotten a full writeup, which Empyreal Lord do you most want to see get the full treatment?
Mr. James Jacobs,
You are familiar with ME's Legion character as I recall. If there were a PF aberrant version of the character (Instead of AI/Construct) what character class would you give him?
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Mr. James Jacobs,
You are familiar with ME's Legion character as I recall. If there were a PF aberrant version of the character (Instead of AI/Construct) what character class would you give him?
I'm not familiar with Legion as far as I know. The show (same character? I dunno) has been lingering in my watchlist on Amazon Prime for a few years though. I'll get to it some day.
In any event, I don't know what you're asking about so I dunno.
Mr. James Jacobs,
You are familiar with ME's Legion character as I recall. If there were a PF aberrant version of the character (Instead of AI/Construct) what character class would you give him?
I'm not familiar with Legion as far as I know. The show (same character? I dunno) has been lingering in my watchlist on Amazon Prime for a few years though. I'll get to it some day.
In any event, I don't know what you're asking about so I dunno.
My apologies. ME = Mass Effect.
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My apologies. ME = Mass Effect.Mr. James Jacobs,
You are familiar with ME's Legion character as I recall. If there were a PF aberrant version of the character (Instead of AI/Construct) what character class would you give him?
I'm not familiar with Legion as far as I know. The show (same character? I dunno) has been lingering in my watchlist on Amazon Prime for a few years though. I'll get to it some day.
In any event, I don't know what you're asking about so I dunno.
Oh! Thought you meant ME = Marvel Entertainment or the like.
I'd probably go with rogue, I guess.
Just an FYI: Legion isn't like the rest of the super hero shows, it has a darker tone, you'd probably like it.
I have a question regarding the end of Iron Gods since I just finished running that campaign.
Would this mean she classifies as an Empyreal Lord? If not, what should her title be other than just Demigod Casandalee?
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Just an FYI: Legion isn't like the rest of the super hero shows, it has a darker tone, you'd probably like it.
I know this already. It's been recommended to me by people I know and trust and who know my tastes, which is why it's on my watchlist anyway. But at this point, it's not on Prime, so if I do want to watch it, I'm either renting episodes or buying seasons, and that puts an extra speed-bump in front of the process which already has a lot of speed bumps in the form of me wanting to do other things with my free time as well.
Furthermore, for shows like this, I prefer either getting in from the very start, or otherwise waiting until they reach a point where I'm confident that the network or producer isn't going to yank the rug out from under them and not allow them to finish the series up in a satisfying manner. I'm still stinging from how HBO handled Carnivale, and wary about how other networks ended up handling quality shows like Hannibal (which at least had a satisfying conclusion) or The Exorcist (which I still haven't seen all of season 2 of because I'm worried it'll end on a cliffhanger that will never be resolved) or The Expanse (which thankfully got rescued). Shows like Channel Zero, American Horror Story, or The Terror, which are one-season anthology shows, are MUCH safer.
Anyway... I'll get to Legion eventually, unless I don't.
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I have a question regarding the end of Iron Gods since I just finished running that campaign.
Spoiler:The AI Casandalee rose to godhood and using the customisation rules given, they gave her the Neutral Good alignment. With some help of the party she got her divine realm to sit in Nirvana because of this, but I was wondering.
Would this mean she classifies as an Empyreal Lord? If not, what should her title be other than just Demigod Casandalee?
Nope.
Instead, she's in the same category as Brigh, Groetus, Ghlaunder, Milani, and Kurgess—an uncategorized group of divinities that serves as an expanded pantheon to the core 20.
Where her divine realm ends up is up to you. Nirvana makes sense, but I could also see her setting up shop in a remote corner of Axis where she tries to bring good to the machinery, or remaining on the Material Plane for a time, or even ending up in some sort of strange dimension or demiplane.
In fact, in Casandalee's case, you can look to how we handled her in Starfinder, where she became part of a tripartate divinity, and use some of that to help shape her future in your game.
As for her title, that'd be up to her, you, and potentially her player characters. Achaekek, for exmample, has the title "He Who Walks in Blood." He doesn't have a pantheon name that he belongs to though.