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When was it decided that the orc pantheon lives in the Maelstrom, instead of the Abyss or somewhere else?Probably when I was working on Planar Adventures, which was my first chance to actually talk about where the gods live—a topic that, for whatever reason, other designers/developers/writers kept glossing over. I wanted the orc deities to live in the Maelstrom in their own domain because that helps to support the fact that orcs aren't intrinsically chaotic evil, even if their deities mostly are, and because there's not much that really feels "demonic" to me about orcs, and because I didn't want the orc gods to be demons or demon-adjacent, and because we'd already talked a LOT about the layers of the Abyss and never mentioned anything about the orc deities.
Yes. Yes. YES.
Chaotic Neutral orcs FTW!!
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When was it decided that the orc pantheon lives in the Maelstrom, instead of the Abyss or somewhere else?Probably when I was working on Planar Adventures, which was my first chance to actually talk about where the gods live—a topic that, for whatever reason, other designers/developers/writers kept glossing over. I wanted the orc deities to live in the Maelstrom in their own domain because that helps to support the fact that orcs aren't intrinsically chaotic evil, even if their deities mostly are, and because there's not much that really feels "demonic" to me about orcs, and because I didn't want the orc gods to be demons or demon-adjacent, and because we'd already talked a LOT about the layers of the Abyss and never mentioned anything about the orc deities.Yes. Yes. YES.
Chaotic Neutral orcs FTW!!
I always saw the "mostly evil" races as evil not intrinsically, but because they're influenced by their gods and their culture has become entrenched. Hobgoblins are evil because they need to conquer to support their consumption of resources, orcs are destructive because they aren't intelligent enough to be very philosophical (and also because their gods love slaughter). Drow are evil because their culture has a victim complex concerning the surface elves, and because they found patronage in demon lords. Goblins are evil because literally everyone hates them for being scavenging little buggers.
I don't have a problem with intrinsically evil bad guys, but I feel like this sort of view is much more fun.
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I thought souls do not or can not escape from the River of Souls because they lose all their memories once they die, and thus those souls whose memories are intact would be able to escape easily without becoming a petitioner or losing class levels. Am I missing something?There is an artifact called the soul anchor which is a lasting corruption of the River of Souls that would allow those who died nearby to retain their mortal memories once they achieved the afterlife. Does that mean those who died near a soul anchor can escape from the River of Souls freely and thus escape Pharasma's judgement and thus would not become a petitioner?Nope. Not at all. The soul still moves on to the afterlife; the fact that it retains memories is irrelevant to that.
Souls lose their memories upon being transitioned out of being a soul and changing into a petitioner, outsider, or quintessence, or are recycled back into the system AFTER Pharasma judges them. Which occurs long after they leave the river of souls. Memories aren't lost when you die, otheriwse anyone who got resurrected wouldn't know who they were.
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Apart from Wrath of the Righteous, I can't think of any distinctly military-esque APs, and WotR has a lot of theme outside of that. There's been quite a few APs with a small-scale militia-type theme, but I'd really like to see a full-scale military AP. Has there been any real consideration to such a published campaign?
Kingmaker comes to mind. Parts of Hell's Vengeance come to mind. But overall, there's not a lot of these since the game is meant to play out small-scale stuff focusing on individuals. Pathfinder isn't a mass combat game, and in order to do a full-scale war Adventure Path we'd need robust rules that allow for mass combat in a way that still feels like Pathifnder... in a way that keeps the focus on characters and individuals as much as possible.
So, no. No "real consideration" yet, since we'd need to first get a mass combat rulebook out there to support it, and that never happened, and I doubt it ever will.
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My buddy got his copies and is was letting me look through them, so I’m curious what’s been your favourite art piece/art overhaul for a character or creature so far?
I'll answer 2nd edition questions starting August 1st. I get it that some folks have the books, but many more don't yet, and I'd rather not contribute to the jealousy and frustration that tends to create for people who randomly ended up at the back end of the shipping queue; sorry!
Furthermore, asking me to name favorites of anything we publish is fraught, because that, by definition, singles out everything else as "NOT my favorite" and people are too quick to assume that if something isn't your favorite, you hate it. AKA: It's too easy for my friends, coworkers, and freelancers to interpret me saying something from someone else is my favorite as "James hates my work."
I don't really have the luxury of being able to reveal favorites without potentially hurting feelings or, perhaps even worse, engendering a toxic environment with friends, coworkers, and freelancers. So even when the game DOES come out I'm going to refrain from answering questions like this; sorry.
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Pssst, ask a question quick so as to not clutter the thread :3
Question: Are you currently playing in any 2e games?
No. Haven't had time to play pretty much ANY game except for Starfinder about 3 hours per month for most of the year. Turns out, launching a new edition of the game takes a lot of your free time and energy away.
I WILL be starting a 2nd edition campaign here at hte office, though, on the 2nd Wednesday after Gen Con is over, one set in Ravounel where the players are all allies of the Firebrands. Hope it goes for more than one or two sessions...
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...didn't ask a question...
And this is why I prefer folks to ask questions and not start up conversations... it gets clutter in a thread that's already kinda tough to keep up with.
Please limit posts here to questions so I can answer them. If a topic comes up that you want to talk about, please start a new thread so that this one doesn't get too derailed. Thanks!
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I think you've said that you're not a big fan of superhero movies, unless I'm misremembering.
The newly announced Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is being touted as Marvel's first horror-themed film. Scott Derrickson is returning as director and was responsible for Sinister and The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Are you curious, or do you think it'll be too soft for horror enthusiasts?
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I think you've said that you're not a big fan of superhero movies, unless I'm misremembering.
The newly announced Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is being touted as Marvel's first horror-themed film. Scott Derrickson is returning as director and was responsible for Sinister and The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Are you curious, or do you think it'll be too soft for horror enthusiasts?
I'm not a fan of superhero movies. I enjoy them, but I don't go out of my way to see them, nor do I generally see them more than once.
I remain skeptical about Multiverse of Madness being an actual horror movie, but also curious. It's hardly the first time a horror movie director has directed a superhero movie, but given how studios have been treating other horror-themed superhero movies/shows (New Mutants and Swamp Thing for example)... I'm not gonna loose any sleep about it. I'll see it regardless, and if it's a spooky creepy effective horror movie it'll stand a great chance of being my favorite superhero moive, I guess.
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My buddy got his copies and is was letting me look through them, so I’m curious what’s been your favourite art piece/art overhaul for a character or creature so far?I'll answer 2nd edition questions starting August 1st. I get it that some folks have the books, but many more don't yet, and I'd rather not contribute to the jealousy and frustration that tends to create for people who randomly ended up at the back end of the shipping queue; sorry!
Furthermore, asking me to name favorites of anything we publish is fraught, because that, by definition, singles out everything else as "NOT my favorite" and people are too quick to assume that if something isn't your favorite, you hate it. AKA: It's too easy for my friends, coworkers, and freelancers to interpret me saying something from someone else is my favorite as "James hates my work."
I don't really have the luxury of being able to reveal favorites without potentially hurting feelings or, perhaps even worse, engendering a toxic environment with friends, coworkers, and freelancers. So even when the game DOES come out I'm going to refrain from answering questions like this; sorry.
Gotcha, my apologies.
What are you playing in Starfinder, an Envoy?
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What are you playing in Starfinder, an Envoy?
I vaguely mentioned her in the pride day blog post:
Zeru Zinzi, a lashunta icon who started out as envoy but multi-classed into operative. She's basically a vlogger/ghost hunter/graffiti artist who wants to be a sniper and is maybe a little undead-curious.
EDIT: Also, she wears a new t-shirt every day if she can. The best one so far is a picture of a zombie donkey that's saying "BRAAAAAYYYYYNNNNNNS!"
Dear James Jacobs,
If Erik Mona's Ostag the Unslain is now a king, what kind of NPC would you have played if you knew in the future you were going to include that in updating Pathfinder?
At first I thought alghollthus are extremely evil and Azlanti are innocent. But after reading Ruins of Azlant, my opinion changed. Alghollthus enhanced primitive humans, drawing them from their caves and nomadic lifestyle and setting them on the path to civilization and high culture. Azlanti were able to flourish and eventually form humanity's first great empire all thanks to alghollthus' generous and wise guidance. But what did they give in return? When Azlanti first realized the veiled masters really exist, instead of trying to establish diplomatic ties with alghollthus, they started creating doomsday weapons to exterminate alghollthus ruthlessly! Alghollthus had to call down Earthfall upon the upstart empire to save themselves. So can I assume that Earthfall was just an act of self-defense and Azlanti(especially those in the highest echelons) somewhat deserved it?
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Dear James Jacobs,
If Erik Mona's Ostag the Unslain is now a king, what kind of NPC would you have played if you knew in the future you were going to include that in updating Pathfinder?
Assuming you're actually asking about a PC turned into an NPC in the setting...
Shensen, who's also in print in Pathfinder (see Pathfinder 100), but also Ameiko Kaijitsu (see Pathfinder 1).
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Do you think that Svevenka's art in the hardcover Rise of the Runelords is too risqué nowadays?
That's a complicated question, the more I think on it. More to the point, I'd like to see more risque art of men in print as well. Equal representation! And THAT said, not making art risque when it's not needed and not part of the character.
Svevenka's not all about seduction; that's not her role in the adventure. As such, while the art is fine, if we'd done it today I would have pushed to have her look a bit more weird and alien, like what we did with Nyrissa in Kingmaker, and not just a naked elf. And then have her illustrated in a way that speaks to her role in the adventure.
That said, I think folks' weird hangup about nudity, be it male or female, while they're totally fine with violence, speaks to a fundamental monstrosity in human nature that I hope we one day get rid of.
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At first I thought alghollthus are extremely evil and Azlanti are innocent. But after reading Ruins of Azlant, my opinion changed. Alghollthus enhanced primitive humans, drawing them from their caves and nomadic lifestyle and setting them on the path to civilization and high culture. Azlanti were able to flourish and eventually form humanity's first great empire all thanks to alghollthus' generous and wise guidance. But what did they give in return? When Azlanti first realized the veiled masters really exist, instead of trying to establish diplomatic ties with alghollthus, they started creating doomsday weapons to exterminate alghollthus ruthlessly! Alghollthus had to call down Earthfall upon the upstart empire to save themselves. So can I assume that Earthfall was just an act of self-defense and Azlanti(especially those in the highest echelons) somewhat deserved it?
ALghollthus are extremely evil, that's not changed. Earthfall was not an act of self-defense.
So, got my 2ned edition books- who made the organizational decision for how creatures are grouped in the bestiary? It's nice to have shared thematic beasts grouped together under larger heading.
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That said, I think folks' weird hangup about nudity, be it male or female, while they're totally fine with violence, speaks to a fundamental monstrosity in human nature that I hope we one day get rid of.
That is more of a cultural thing though, at least over here nudity isn't considered big deal while blood means higher age ratings
So I wanted to ask how are future Ruby Phoenix Tournaments handled? I mean, I kinda doubt Paizo will make module for each one, but they are pretty big deal since Hao Jin had lot of magic stuff. Will they be reserved for PFS society stuff or just a passing mention in campaign books?
Androffa is your home campaign's world. Androffa is a world strangely similar to Golarion. So can I assume that there are alghollthus in Androffa nowadays as well?
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So, got my 2ned edition books- who made the organizational decision for how creatures are grouped in the bestiary? It's nice to have shared thematic beasts grouped together under larger heading.
Since not everyone has them, I'm not answering 2nd edition questions at all here, no matter how innocent or simple they might seem. Please hold off on 2nd edition questions until next Thursday. Thanks!
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So I wanted to ask how are future Ruby Phoenix Tournaments handled? I mean, I kinda doubt Paizo will make module for each one, but they are pretty big deal since Hao Jin had lot of magic stuff. Will they be reserved for PFS society stuff or just a passing mention in campaign books?
Why would you doubt this? They ARE a pretty big deal. And they will NOT be reserved for PFS. The last one was the whole point of a 32 page adventure. The next one? I hope it will be the whole point of something bigger than that. Wait and see.
Were/Are you involved at all in Starfinder?
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Androffa is your home campaign's world. Androffa is a world strangely similar to Golarion. So can I assume that there are alghollthus in Androffa nowadays as well?
To be clear...
Androffa is the name of my home campaign's planet ... 10,000+ years in its past. Today, the name's been shortened to simply "Droffa," and even then I never really called it that—I usually referred to it by the name of the primary continent all my games took place on, "Baria."
I haven't run a game set in Baria in over a decade though, and as such the last game I ran set there predated the invention of the word "algholthu" by more than 12 years. There's certainly aboleths and other aboleth-related monsters dwelling on and in and under Baria, absolutely—they've been one of my top favorite monsters ever since they were first introduced in the very early 1980s in the adventure "Dwellers of the Forbidden City." And there's been other aboleth-related creatures on Baria, both of my own design that never saw the light of day, and others that did see the light of day in books like Lords of Madness and a few others I wrote for D&D back in the day.
I doubt I'll ever run anything set in Baria again, to be honest, since Golarion's so much better supported today and I can just transpose things from Baria in as I need.
That also means I doubt we'll ever do anything else ever with Androffa in Pathifnder. It's a blank slate. Do with it as you wish.
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Were/Are you involved at all in Starfinder?
I was involved in the very early days helping to figure it out, and I've written a few monsters for some of the Alien Archives, and I did the original map turnover for Absalom Station, and I sometimes chat with Rob about creative director stuff... but otherwise, no. Not really.
So the alghollthu are fiercely atheistic in part because they recall a time before gods, and in part because they see deities as trespassers who compete with the alghollthu for resources. But we also know the first world was created by gods as a sort of dress rehearsal for the prime material plane, which the alghollthu are native to.
So are the alghollthu simply mistaken, in believing the gods weren't always there? Even if a god didn't say "let's make aboleths" the conditions leading to their genesis were set in motion by some extraplanar being, even it was just lightning striking some ooze at random. How is it they were caught off guard by their initial servant society finding religion? I can see the alghollthu having more than their share of hubris, but it seems like they should have been aware of divinity (and vice versa) for some time. Were the gods just uninterested in them since they don't die naturally and thus hardly ever traverse the river of souls?
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So the alghollthu are fiercely atheistic in part because they recall a time before gods, and in part because they see deities as trespassers who compete with the alghollthu for resources. But we also know the first world was created by gods as a sort of dress rehearsal for the prime material plane, which the alghollthu are native to.
So are the alghollthu simply mistaken, in believing the gods weren't always there? Even if a god didn't say "let's make aboleths" the conditions leading to their genesis were set in motion by some extraplanar being, even it was just lightning striking some ooze at random. How is it they were caught off guard by their initial servant society finding religion? I can see the alghollthu having more than their share of hubris, but it seems like they should have been aware of divinity (and vice versa) for some time. Were the gods just uninterested in them since they don't die naturally and thus hardly ever traverse the river of souls?
Once you go back that far in time things get hazy. It's possible that the original algholthu came from somewhere else entirely and might even predate the First World. It's more likely that their claim of predating the gods is more accurately represented as saying they predate the concept of faith.
THAT is the main thing. They're aberrations in flesh, but also in mind, and their brains simply don't work the same as humanoid brains. There's something fundamentally different and alien about their thinking that prevents them from having faith... that's part of what makes them aberrant.
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So I wanted to ask how are future Ruby Phoenix Tournaments handled? I mean, I kinda doubt Paizo will make module for each one, but they are pretty big deal since Hao Jin had lot of magic stuff. Will they be reserved for PFS society stuff or just a passing mention in campaign books?Why would you doubt this? They ARE a pretty big deal. And they will NOT be reserved for PFS. The last one was the whole point of a 32 page adventure. The next one? I hope it will be the whole point of something bigger than that. Wait and see.
I'm really glad to be wrong in this case :D
I think I made mistaken assumption of "Well, they had one tournament story, so they can't have multiple stories involving the same tournament right?". I do think idea of Ruby Phoenix modules continuing is cool because besides that original module could have benefited from current larger module format, there is real nice thing with recurring npcs and competitors and cameos between the modules especially since there is decent chance that most of competitors survive
Speaking of npcs, did you have any competitor from original Ruby Phoenix Tournament module that you especially remembered or liked? I recently run it for my group for party created for the module and we had fun with it
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Speaking of npcs, did you have any competitor from original Ruby Phoenix Tournament module that you especially remembered or liked? I recently run it for my group for party created for the module and we had fun with it
Nope. I didn't work on that adventure, nor have I read/played/run it, so I don't have a specific favorite NPC from it.
Alghollthus had manipulated sociopolitical events as a means to secretly control the world. Did they only control and dominate Azlant? Or did they also control and dominate other countries like Thassilon, Ghol-Gan, Koloran, Sekamina, or the pre-Earthfall Garundi civilization?
Are there perhaps two alghollthus on Golarion named Pinky and The Brain?
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Alghollthus had manipulated sociopolitical events as a means to secretly control the world. Did they only control and dominate Azlant? Or did they also control and dominate other countries like Thassilon, Ghol-Gan, Koloran, Sekamina, or the pre-Earthfall Garundi civilization?
They meddled a little bit but not much with Thassilon (see part 6 of Shattered Star for examples), but not so much with the others you mention. They're powerful, the alghollthus, but they aren't ALL powerful. They can't be everywhere and everywhen (nor should they since that'd get repetitive and boring).
Is the ice trade established in Avistan, or is that an untapped market for an enterprising PC?
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Is the ice trade established in Avistan, or is that an untapped market for an enterprising PC?
Not really. It's kinda easier for ice to be manipulated, generated, and kept via magic rather than more traditional methods.
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The Gray Corsairs of Andoran are infamous for raiding slavers. Then why didn't those slaver countries like Cheliax, Rahadoum, Katapesh, and Qadira do anything to stop this threat? I mean, once they found out Andoren Eagle Knights frequently raid their slaver ships, shouldn't they demand Andoran to stop this piracy at once unless it wishes to start an all-out war?
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Most fantasy settings have humans and other humanoids sharing 99% similar anatomy, despite the obvious differences in origins. I'm curious to hear how you differentiate the biological side of the core races.
Using humans and elves as an example, females of both species have very similar secondary sex characteristics, though admittedly male elves tend towards slimmer physiques. Apart from size, though, the only differences seem to be superficial; eyes, hair/skin colour and the like. The similarities are so large that the species can produce fertile offspring, despite elves actually being aliens.
I suppose my question is, in what fundamental ways do the physiologies/anatomies of the core races differ?
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The Gray Corsairs of Andoran are infamous for raiding slavers. Then why didn't those slaver countries like Cheliax, Rahadoum, Katapesh, and Qadira do anything to stop this threat? I mean, once they found out Andoren Eagle Knights frequently raid their slaver ships, shouldn't they demand Andoran to stop this piracy at once unless it wishes to start an all-out war?
Because they failed to do so.
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Most fantasy settings have humans and other humanoids sharing 99% similar anatomy, despite the obvious differences in origins. I'm curious to hear how you differentiate the biological side of the core races.
Using humans and elves as an example, females of both species have very similar secondary sex characteristics, though admittedly male elves tend towards slimmer physiques. Apart from size, though, the only differences seem to be superficial; eyes, hair/skin colour and the like. The similarities are so large that the species can produce fertile offspring, despite elves actually being aliens.
I suppose my question is, in what fundamental ways do the physiologies/anatomies of the core races differ?
They don't really differ.
The more exceptions you make at the assumed baseline, the more complicated it gets to write a game where you don't know the assumptions. It's better to assume that all of the core races have the same basic biology, so that the words you spend on a page can be devoted to more important things. By keeping the physical differences superficial, we don't have to include exception-based text.
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What's your take on d30s?
They're temporarially diverting curriosities that take too long to roll and aren't well-enough supported in games to justify that length needed to roll. And the fact that they don't fit into a base-10 scheme in the same way a d10 or a d20 do (both of which can be easily used to simulate ranges of 1 to 100, or in other words can be easily used to duplicate percentage based chances), they don't really have a generic use either. Plus they're so big. They do not deserve a spot in my primary dice bag. Maybe in the secondary dice bag that I invariably never use.
The Gray Corsairs of Andoran are infamous for raiding slavers. Then why didn't those slaver countries like Cheliax, Rahadoum, Katapesh, and Qadira do anything to stop this threat? I mean, once they found out Andoren Eagle Knights frequently raid their slaver ships, shouldn't they demand Andoran to stop this piracy at once unless it wishes to start an all-out war?Because they failed to do so.
Would that not become a huge meta-plot (effectively a World War)?
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Would that not become a huge meta-plot (effectively a World War)?The Gray Corsairs of Andoran are infamous for raiding slavers. Then why didn't those slaver countries like Cheliax, Rahadoum, Katapesh, and Qadira do anything to stop this threat? I mean, once they found out Andoren Eagle Knights frequently raid their slaver ships, shouldn't they demand Andoran to stop this piracy at once unless it wishes to start an all-out war?Because they failed to do so.
Maybe. Honestly, it sounds like a pretty interesting idea for an Adventure Path. Sometimes, we deliberately do NOT "waste" big plots like this on background events when they might be more fun to play out in a game.
That said, with "fight the slavers" being a big part of Age of Ashes, chances of us doing a Gray Corsair based AP anytime soon are slim.
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Why is the game called Pathfinder? I know that the main 'good guys' is the Pathfinder Society, but how did they come to call themselves that / why did you name them that?
Because it's about a world, in which there are multiple potential stories. Rather than us showing you which precise plot, or path, for you, the players to follow, we present options and an interactive element that allow you to find your own path through the stories we (or your GM) create for you to enjoy.
Once we came up with that name, the creation of a group of adventurers who band together into the Pathfinder Society was an "it just makes sense" side effect.
Would that not become a huge meta-plot (effectively a World War)?The Gray Corsairs of Andoran are infamous for raiding slavers. Then why didn't those slaver countries like Cheliax, Rahadoum, Katapesh, and Qadira do anything to stop this threat? I mean, once they found out Andoren Eagle Knights frequently raid their slaver ships, shouldn't they demand Andoran to stop this piracy at once unless it wishes to start an all-out war?Because they failed to do so.Maybe. Honestly, it sounds like a pretty interesting idea for an Adventure Path. Sometimes, we deliberately do NOT "waste" big plots like this on background events when they might be more fun to play out in a game.
That said, with "fight the slavers" being a big part of Age of Ashes, chances of us doing a Gray Corsair based AP anytime soon are slim.
I thought we were talking about "crush the commerce raiders"?
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I thought we were talking about "crush the commerce raiders"?On further reflection... I have no idea what you're asking about/talking about here.
There are two sides to every battle. Why assume that the PCs would be supporting the Andoran efforts? (Since both "Skull & Shackles" and "Hell Vengeance" are part of the Paizo catalog, APs have gone to dark places before.)
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There are two sides to every battle. Why assume that the PCs would be supporting the Andoran efforts? (Since both "Skull & Shackles" and "Hell Vengeance" are part of the Paizo catalog, APs have gone to dark places before.)I thought we were talking about "crush the commerce raiders"?On further reflection... I have no idea what you're asking about/talking about here.
Because as time goes on I grow less and less interested in an Adventure Path that glorifies slavery or presents it as a goal that we want the players to pursue in any way other than opposition.
Playing evil characters can be a fun way to explore the game, but there's a LOT of evil that isn't appropriate for us to explore in a mass-market venue, and should only be explored with a group of consenting adults who agree that the topic isn't going to make them feel uncomfortable.
If there was a way to produce something that allowed us to explore such a topic in a way that we were able to make it obvious or clear that Paizo isn't condoning slavery, maybe. But the fact that tabletop RPGs are both an interactive entertainment that relies on an uncontrolled factor in order to be realized (we can't control how every individual GM presents the game to their players) means that there are some topics that it's not responsible for us to explore. Interactive entertainment has to be more responsible in that venue than non-interactive entertainment.