Lord Fyre RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32 |
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THAT ALL SAID: regarding the new edition... the only advice I have is to ask them to try it out. If the thing they love most about Paizo stuff is the lore and the setting, that won't change at all; the new edition doesn't alter Golarion's history, and the adventures we're doing for the new edition would have worked perfectly well in 1st edition, and vice versa.
Does that mean we can pass on the updated setting book?
bananahell |
THAT ALL SAID: regarding the new edition... the only advice I have is to ask them to try it out. If the thing they love most about Paizo stuff is the lore and the setting, that won't change at all; the new edition doesn't alter Golarion's history, and the adventures we're doing for the new edition would have worked perfectly well in 1st edition, and vice versa.
Will this be as simple as direct conversion? For example, if an encounter in the Hook Mountain Massacre calls for 2 trolls and an Ogre Fighter 5, will that directly translate into 2E without having to adjust stats to match 2E's CR system?
Similarly, would an encounter in, say, Age of Ashes that calls for an Adult Red Dragon and 5 Kobold Sorcerers directly translate to an appropriate challenge for a party in 1E?
Lord Fyre RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32 |
James Jacobs Creative Director |
James Jacobs Creative Director |
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Why do some genderless/genderfluid (demi)gods use the pronoun 'it' (like Geryon, Azathoth or Mhar), and others use 'they' (like Arshea or all the new demigods in the Concordance of Rivals except the Monad), instead of all using the same pronoun?
Because there's a difference between genderfluid and genderless. And because everyone, even fictional characters, gets to choose their own pronouns.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
4 people marked this as a favorite. |
James Jacobs wrote:THAT ALL SAID: regarding the new edition... the only advice I have is to ask them to try it out. If the thing they love most about Paizo stuff is the lore and the setting, that won't change at all; the new edition doesn't alter Golarion's history, and the adventures we're doing for the new edition would have worked perfectly well in 1st edition, and vice versa.Does that mean we can pass on the updated setting book?
I hope not, because the more folks buy our books, the more job security I have and the more I'll be able to make more books for you to buy.
The updated setting book is no more required to run for the 2nd edition Adventure Paths, than the prior one was for 1st edition Adventure Paths. You can do it without, but you'll have a richer experience if you do.
The choice is yours. I'm not a fan of telling people what they must or must not buy.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
My question wasn't answered in The Fall of Plaguestone thread, so I'll ask it here: Has Paizo changed its policy of only showing hardcover cover art as canted, or is the second edition module line going to be all hardcovers?
I'm not aware of any such policy existing at all. Some are canted, some aren't. I guess the art department might know more...
James Jacobs Creative Director |
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*reads the blurb for Age of Ashes 6, Broken Promises*
How much did you have to bribe Sutter for this one? :3
Zero. Turns out that as the Creative Director I don't have to bribe anyone. ;-P
I do try to respect the creations and intentions of others who write for Pathfinder by working with them, but in the end one person needs to make the decision and in this kind of case that person is me. Erik and Vic and Lisa can always veto those choices, of course, and if I make a call and there's a lot of WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU MANIAC from other folks, including the original authors, I will and have changed my decision.
In this case, though, I've been having long discussions with Sutter over the past many years about doing something along these lines, and he's all into it. He's writing several of the support articles in Age of Ashes, after all!
James Jacobs Creative Director |
James Jacobs wrote:THAT ALL SAID: regarding the new edition... the only advice I have is to ask them to try it out. If the thing they love most about Paizo stuff is the lore and the setting, that won't change at all; the new edition doesn't alter Golarion's history, and the adventures we're doing for the new edition would have worked perfectly well in 1st edition, and vice versa.Will this be as simple as direct conversion? For example, if an encounter in the Hook Mountain Massacre calls for 2 trolls and an Ogre Fighter 5, will that directly translate into 2E without having to adjust stats to match 2E's CR system?
Similarly, would an encounter in, say, Age of Ashes that calls for an Adult Red Dragon and 5 Kobold Sorcerers directly translate to an appropriate challenge for a party in 1E?
I can't get into the details wihtout citing examples from the still-unreleased rules, so I can't really answer this question to the level of detail you're hoping at this time. AND once the rules are out, you'll be able to answer this for yourself, which is really all that anyone can do, since everyone will have their own opinions about what a "direct conversion" even means.
It won't be a simple drag-and-drop process though.
Taking "Temple of Elemental Evil" as an example... I ran that pretty much As Is for Pathfinder 1st edition, using the 1st edition AD&D rules. I didn't adjust encounter numbers or treasure at all. It ended up being a very fun play experience, even though the design philosophy of a 1st edition D&D adventure is VERY different than a Pathfinder one...
Same theory will apply here.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
Lord Fyre RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32 |
Lord Fyre wrote:Homebrewing questions: Is there an "optimal" number of Campaign Traits (er … Campaign Specific Backgrounds) to offer players for the start of a multi-adventure campaign?In 1st edition, it's 2 traits.
In 2nd edition, it's 1 background.
Rephrasing as I may not have been clear, what is the optimal number for a GM to create to offer they players?
David knott 242 |
HTD wrote:Why do some genderless/genderfluid (demi)gods use the pronoun 'it' (like Geryon, Azathoth or Mhar), and others use 'they' (like Arshea or all the new demigods in the Concordance of Rivals except the Monad), instead of all using the same pronoun?Because there's a difference between genderfluid and genderless. And because everyone, even fictional characters, gets to choose their own pronouns.
Does anyone choose to be referred to as "it"? The implication that an "it" is not a person would seem to make that unlikely.
Ed Reppert |
Ran across this little ditty again (it's from an early 1950s Alfred Bester novel, The Demolished Man, which won the first Hugo award in 1953):
"Tenser, said the Tensor.
Tension, apprehension, and dissension have begun."
Does it give you any ideas for a PF adventure? It's tickling the back of my mind, but nothing's gelled yet.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
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James Jacobs wrote:HTD wrote:Why do some genderless/genderfluid (demi)gods use the pronoun 'it' (like Geryon, Azathoth or Mhar), and others use 'they' (like Arshea or all the new demigods in the Concordance of Rivals except the Monad), instead of all using the same pronoun?Because there's a difference between genderfluid and genderless. And because everyone, even fictional characters, gets to choose their own pronouns.Does anyone choose to be referred to as "it"? The implication that an "it" is not a person would seem to make that unlikely.
If they want to, yes. I certainly have days when I feel like an it.
It's not our place to make those decisions for real people, nor our place to mock them for those decisions.
In our products, sometimes when we use "it" as a pronoun that's almost always because the "it" in question is simply not interested in choosing pronouns; that's the case for Azathoth and Mhar. But also, over the course of well over a decade and dozens and dozens of different editors and authors, things change. Language evolves.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Ran across this little ditty again (it's from an early 1950s Alfred Bester novel, The Demolished Man, which won the first Hugo award in 1953):
"Tenser, said the Tensor.
Tension, apprehension, and dissension have begun."Does it give you any ideas for a PF adventure? It's tickling the back of my mind, but nothing's gelled yet.
Not really. But that's the nature of where ideas come from—they hatch from the mass of all the information a brain takes in over the course of a lifetime.
Rysky |
Rysky wrote:*reads the blurb for Age of Ashes 6, Broken Promises*
How much did you have to bribe Sutter for this one? :3
Zero. Turns out that as the Creative Director I don't have to bribe anyone. ;-P
I do try to respect the creations and intentions of others who write for Pathfinder by working with them, but in the end one person needs to make the decision and in this kind of case that person is me. Erik and Vic and Lisa can always veto those choices, of course, and if I make a call and there's a lot of WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU MANIAC from other folks, including the original authors, I will and have changed my decision.
In this case, though, I've been having long discussions with Sutter over the past many years about doing something along these lines, and he's all into it. He's writing several of the support articles in Age of Ashes, after all!
Yay!
James Jacobs Creative Director |
AlgaeNymph |
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AlgaeNymph wrote:Don't know. Haven't read it and won't. I'm really not interested at this point in immersing myself in the morass of toxic fan over-reactions, especially this close to PaizoCon when I need to cultivate my positivity and focus on the positive elements of fandom.James Jacobs wrote:What do you think about Scientific American's take, then?Rysky wrote:** spoiler omitted **I'm not sure which GoT prediction I mentioned you're talking about. I had a LOT of them. A few came true, a few did not.
Overall I was quite pleased with the last season. My only two regrets is that it's over, and that toxic/entitled fan reactions on the internet have further damaged my faith in humanity.
As alluded to here, the story used to be one where the characters existed in a world beyond their personal dramas. Contrast that to shows where everything, including morality, is protagonist centered with no thought for external consequences.
But...that's not what I'm here for.
deep breath
I put this off to give you PaizoCon space, then because I wanted to address this as tactfully as possible. I decided to be simple and direct, and hope for the best. How does being highly critical of something make me toxic and entitled?
IsawaBrian |
I suppose this is probably several years out of date, but it's worth a shot. I know that much of this is up to me as the GM, but I'm trying to get a feel for what sort of society Mendev was pre-turning of the Age, and what sort of society Crusade Mendev has become.
In Wrath of the Righteous-era, as I understand it, because Mendev's civil society has more or less collapsed into a loose federation or even confederation, there's a lot of leeway for regional commanders, even those who are outright loyal to Galfrey. So when the PCs are acting out of Drezen in Demon's Heresy:
1) How much legal and paladin's code leeway would a Paladin of Iomedae PC-- and Irabeth, as regional governor/town commander-- have to deal with Ayavah's Cult of the Redeemer Queen?
2) If all of the participants are human, tiefling, or otherwise not actually demons, how would this interact with the Oath against Fiends?
2) Would Ayavah gaining a Cleric 1 level with the Redeemer Queen domains Artifice and Revelry, ie, powers that could be used to demonstrate good faith in the matter, potentially, be evidence of non-evil?
3) Would personal guarantees from Iomedae and Milani, delivered by Commune, high-ranking outsider-- potentially the Hand of the Inheritor, the matter is serious enough-- be considered sufficient evidence of non-evil on the part of the cultists?
4) How much would the honest fact (which would be included in a brief from Iomedae) that Nocticula is not redeemed but working on it change those?
I'm mostly trying to see just how hard and fast the actual laws of the Crusade and Mendev are on the matter. The PC paladin is an aasimar with an 'anyone can be good if they're given support and work very hard at it' attitude. But she's also extremely dedicated to the law of her goddess and her queen, and a roleplayer first and foremost. I know my world is going to depart increasingly from core Golarion (you should see what's up with Aroden) but I'm trying to start from the same basic principles first.
My original instinct was that the Mendevian Crusade and Mendev even prior to the death of Aroden hardly spared much legal language on the matter of demon worship; 'trafficking with dark powers be punishable by most severe chastisement, and death if they be not brought back to the light' for Mendev, and 'We are the forever enemy of the Abyss. Our weapons and our souls are forever pointed at the black heart of the Wound, and we will brook only the mercies of surrender and repentance for those who have become soiled in sin.' The character's player is concerned that there'd be a direct legal code that specifically bans worship of a demonic entity.
She developed a detente long ago with Aroden, but that... didn't really work. For a while, under Aroden, Milani was her sponsor, but the process was slow and full of pitfalls. Eventually, between the problems Nocticula had maintaining her position (and existence) put on her pathway to redemption, and Aroden's neglect and withdrawal put Milani in a place where she didn't feel safe continuing-- and Nocticula didn't blame her. It was put on hold; Nocticula's own attempts have been ongoing, prodded gently by her appreciation for the Redeemer Queen cultists' faith, perseverance, and artistic inspiration, but have been stymied for centuries.
Recently, though, Nocticula put out a few feelers. With Milani a deity now, and partnering with the Inheritor, Nocticula has been hoping this time the process might work. It has and hasn't. Iomedae has taken the process under her wing and her protection, but she and Nocticula butt heads along the way and it's caused further stumbling blocks. Milani has been extremely busy as well, and so has had to leave some of the philosophical work to Iomedae, which turned out to be almost a non-starter.
Nonetheless, Nocticula's made more progress in the last few decades than she has in the last few millennia. On top of that, recent PC activity has put matters in a place where things are sort of avalanche-snowballing towards redemption.
So this is big, serious crisis-time important for Iomedae, but yet-- what is the law on the ground to deal with?
James Jacobs Creative Director |
James Jacobs Creative Director |
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I put this off to give you PaizoCon space, then because I wanted to address this as tactfully as possible. I decided to be simple and direct, and hope for the best. How does being highly critical of something make me toxic and entitled?
It's been a bit since I may have made such a comment about you, and so I don't recall the specifics (and alas, I see SO MUCH entitlement/toxicity on the internet as a whole that it all sort of blends together, so it's impossible to recall specifics except in certain cases where someone is so over the top toxic/entitled that it burns into my brain, and you're nowhere NEAR close enough for that to be the case! :-) )
Being highly critical does not make someone toxic or entitled. The three things—critical, toxic, and entitled, are all separate things, and one does not cause the other to happen, and one is not required to make the other happen.
Someone can certainly be all three, as you see in the case of online petitions by people who, for example, create petitions to have writers fired from working on a property. This is the classic example of someone being critical (providing their feedback on a story), toxic (publicly calling for someone to be fired simply because of a difference of opinion), and entitled (mistaking their admiration for a story for ownership over the story).
In any event, I'm sorry if I offended or hurt you with some comment(s) I made earlier. I always welcome criticism, but it's important to keep accusations and demands out of the equation when giving criticism to someone, because that's what makes criticism toxic and entitled and ruins the whole goal of providing critical feedback because the person you're giving the criticism to will focus instead on it as a personal attack rather than constructive feedback.
One trick that I've found to help make criticism help more than hurt is to try to also find things that I like about something. For example, I might say "Jurassic Park had some pretty awful writing and some nonsensical character decisions, and the plotline was too close to the original to be as interesting as it could have been, but the effects were amazing, the acting was delightful, and it was great seeing a new batch of dinosaurs in the mix. Also, thank you for not toning down the menace and threat of the series; it felt dangerous, if within the scope of keeping it a PG-13 movie, and that's part of what makes dinosaurs so fun to me!"
James Jacobs Creative Director |
James Jacobs Creative Director |
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What's the distance between Korvosa and Bloodsworn Vale by road?
Dunno off the top of my head, but any one of us can crack open the map and measure it. ;-P
My own quick guess based on the map in Inner Sea World Guide on page 196 is about 125 miles. (Since we don't put roads on maps this gives you a lot of wiggle room to decide on your own game's distances. At least, until we DO start putting roads on the maps.)
Nightdrifter |
Nightdrifter wrote:What's the distance between Korvosa and Bloodsworn Vale by road?Dunno off the top of my head, but any one of us can crack open the map and measure it. ;-P
My own quick guess based on the map in Inner Sea World Guide on page 196 is about 125 miles. (Since we don't put roads on maps this gives you a lot of wiggle room to decide on your own game's distances. At least, until we DO start putting roads on the maps.)
When you put road distances in Varisia, Birthplace of Legends what was the rationale for picking those distances? Was it simply measure the distance as the crow dragon flies and pick a number slightly bigger for the road length to represent the twists and turns, adding a certain percentage based on terrain, or something more complex?
James Jacobs Creative Director |
James Jacobs wrote:When you put road distances in Varisia, Birthplace of Legends what was the rationale for picking those distances? Was it simply measure the distance as theNightdrifter wrote:What's the distance between Korvosa and Bloodsworn Vale by road?Dunno off the top of my head, but any one of us can crack open the map and measure it. ;-P
My own quick guess based on the map in Inner Sea World Guide on page 196 is about 125 miles. (Since we don't put roads on maps this gives you a lot of wiggle room to decide on your own game's distances. At least, until we DO start putting roads on the maps.)
crowdragon flies and pick a number slightly bigger for the road length to represent the twists and turns, adding a certain percentage based on terrain, or something more complex?
I can't say for sure since I wasn't a developer for that book.
When I do guesstimates of road distances, I generally use a string or wire bent to run along the general shape of the roadway as I see it, often using rivers and coastlines to suggest curves, and then measure that length to get a good close guess for the length.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
James Jacobs Creative Director |
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Dear James Jacobs,
With regards to changes coming in 2nd edition, will Ustalav and by extension, Virlych, still have the same measure of relevance for the Whispering Way as before?
Also do you think Flerkens are just Marvel's way of making Lovecraftian horror more interesting?
These are easy to answer quickly, but in the future please limit posts to one question per.
Ustalav and the Qhispering Way: Less; Ustalav will be shifting more toward it's "core strength" of being a well-rounded horror themed setting and less of the Whispering Tyrant warfare theme.
Marvel and Lovecraft: Flerkens are certainly inspired by Lovecraft, but I don't think that they make Lovecraft more interesting as much as capitalize on his themes to make something of a joke. If anything, they erode Lovecraft's legacy by making light of it in a semi-comedic element. Which, to me, makes it less interesting overall.
IsawaBrian |
IsawaBrian wrote:...asked too many questions at once and overloaded my brain...For my own time-management reasons and to help with the way this website quotes text, please condense and repost your questions so that they're one per post.
Well, that's my embarrassment meter through the roof. Shortly followed by the heat-to-skin ratio on my face. I'm sorry.
I've been trying to re-condense this all evening and it keeps inflating through clauses and conditions. Too much time spent personally playing a paladin of Abadar, probably. Uh, the closest thing I can think of that's at the core is-- how developed and specific are the legal codes of Mendev and the Crusade, especially in regards to cults?
I wish smite evil worked on hypotheticals. Or conditionals. They are eating my brain.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
James Jacobs wrote:IsawaBrian wrote:...asked too many questions at once and overloaded my brain...For my own time-management reasons and to help with the way this website quotes text, please condense and repost your questions so that they're one per post.Well, that's my embarrassment meter through the roof. Shortly followed by the heat-to-skin ratio on my face. I'm sorry.
I've been trying to re-condense this all evening and it keeps inflating through clauses and conditions. Too much time spent personally playing a paladin of Abadar, probably. Uh, the closest thing I can think of that's at the core is-- how developed and specific are the legal codes of Mendev and the Crusade, especially in regards to cults?
I wish smite evil worked on hypotheticals. Or conditionals. They are eating my brain.
No worries!
The legal codes of pretty much every location are pretty vague—providing full legal codes for every city, nation, and organization is something that's really kind of beyond the scope of our products to provide, and would only further complicate adjudications of this sort of thing, ironically, as it would require the GM to be an expert in dozens of different sets of laws.
Smite evil as a game mechanic is pretty simple. If the target is evil, the smite works. It's one of the handy elements of the alignment system to be able to allow things like this to function in-game.
Now as for the actual question—the legal codes for the Crusaders of Mendev against cults varies completely. Against a demon cult, it's pretty cut and dry: defeat them by any means necessary. Against other cults, not so much. My BEST advice here is to work with your GM to work out as much detail as you feel the game deserves, but try not to get stuck in the morass of what is and isn't acceptable in game.
Unless, of course, figuring out legal codes is fun for you and your GM, in which case go for it!
Cole Deschain |
So, I just saw what the fine folk at Paizo have in store for us in the final volume of Tyrant's Grasp...
Where would my gratitude for the mere IDEA of the vast collection of snippets of in-house lore be best presented?
James Jacobs Creative Director |
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So, I just saw what the fine folk at Paizo have in store for us in the final volume of Tyrant's Grasp...
Where would my gratitude for the mere IDEA of the vast collection of snippets of in-house lore be best presented?
I'm not sure what you're asking for. A big book of every idea we've ever had, published for all to see? No thanks. Not all of our ideas are that great, and I'd rather not let the lame ones see print.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
James Jacobs Creative Director |
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Is there any in depth information on the Midnight Isles?
Specifically, information about the demons Nocticula killed. I liked to know about the genders and cults of the demons. Were there any significant actions by these demons before their demise or are they just a list of names?
Part four of "Wrath of the Righteous," written by myself and Greg Vaughan, which is called "The Midnight Isles," is the best place to go for more information about them. There's not much more about the place beyond what's in that book.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
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Dear James Jacobs,
Do you think if people read more of Al Ewing's run of Immortal Hulk, they'd get a clearer understanding of body horror? Or is that something you just need to watch John Carptener's the Thing more so?
Body horror is an entire subgenre of horror that's beyond a single movie or story, and there are a LOT of options to immerse yourself in to get a clear understanding of the genre.
The list of horrific inspirations I created for Body Horror on page 252 of Horror Adventures is my best stab at a to-do list for this sub-genre of horror.
Evilink |
Dear James Jacobs,
What should be the duration of the spell Steal Breath? It's listed as 1 round, but it seems like it might have been intended to be otherwise.
From the text: "If, during the duration, the target moves out of range or line of effect to you, the spell immediately ends. This spell has no effect on creatures that do not need to breathe air."
I can see where it may have been intended as written, but it's always struck me as possible that it should last longer. As is, it doesn't strike me as a particularly useful spell compared to others of the same level.
James Jacobs Creative Director |
1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Dear James Jacobs,
What should be the duration of the spell Steal Breath? It's listed as 1 round, but it seems like it might have been intended to be otherwise.
From the text: "If, during the duration, the target moves out of range or line of effect to you, the spell immediately ends. This spell has no effect on creatures that do not need to breathe air."
I can see where it may have been intended as written, but it's always struck me as possible that it should last longer. As is, it doesn't strike me as a particularly useful spell compared to others of the same level.
If you can see what may have been intended as written, then resolve it that way. Rules should always support flavor, not the other way around.
As for actual ruling/errata, I don't answer those questions here; you need to as them in the proper thread for the product from which the question arose. At this point, it's unlikely you'll get an official ruling, since we're moving on to support 2nd edition, but feedback from other gamers and, potentially, someone in house here at Paizo should be able to help on that thread.
Lord Fyre RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32 |