I understand why Pharasma might not allow NE clerics, but why doesn't she allow CN clerics anymore?
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So, when you write adventures or monsters you're essentially a freelancer?What are some of the monsters that you're excited to bring over into 2e?
And a sub question (sorry, breaking your rules), are you contributing to Bestiary 2, which was just announced?Treerazer!
And while I wasn't hired to do any of the initial design for Bestiary 2, I am going to be developing every one of those monsters, so in a way I'm doing all of them! :P
Whether I personally write content for publication by Paizo on the clock and am paid as part of my salary, or I write content for publication by Paizo on my free time as a freelancer (I do both, as do many folks at Paizo), the end result is the same. We're writing for Paizo, and that content is the intellectual property of Paizo.
I can't go out and sell a book, say, that's "The Complete Desna Handbook" on my own, even though Desna was invented in 1989 for my homebrew setting and there's a LOT of content about her still that I've not yet made public.
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Loving 2nd edition so far and really looking forward to GMing my first session of it next week. One dilemma I'm facing is that it seems Hero Points are a mandatory part of the system this time around rather than an optional rule. If I were to remove Hero Points would that leave my players underpowered?
Hero points give agency to players; they let players control fate a bit more and help them to avoid bad luck in the form of unlucky die rolls or tactical errors or even just having the misfortune of rolling a low Initiative and getting critically hit in their bed by an assassin ambush or by getting grabbed by a monster and then rended to pulp (incidentally, two of Jason Bulmahn's favorite way to kill my PCs).
Allowing a player a resource to adjust fate and avoid these instant death situations by spending hero points not only makes the game more fun for players... but it makes the game more fun for GMs. Think it over. When a player character dies, that disrupts the entire flow of a game. Not only does that player have to sit out of the game while you figure out how to re-introduce a new character to the flow of the story in a way that makes sense, it also causes the rest of the party to generally have to drop everything, pause the adventure, and retreat to recover and regroup.
It's like having the internet crap out while you're streaming your favorite show. You can start watching again later, but it's still annoying to have to stop and wait.
I've used mechanics like hero points in my games for decades, and they've made my games much more fun. The fact that PCs have a resource they can use to stop sudden death situations doesn't make the game less fun or less perilous... after all, you have to manage the resources that are hero points too. They're not infinite.
My suggestion; play the game for several sessions WITH hero points, and pay attention to how your players enjoy them. Or even better, play the game as a PLAYER for several sessions with hero points. GMs have the agency to alter the flow and reality of the game at their whim, but players do not. It's a different sensation to play the game as a player and have that agency. It's better.
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what happens when an Alchemist uses double brew/alchemical alacrity?
do the extra 1-2 vials just drop to the ground, does he holds them all in his one hand, can he just use it in sort of like a "two-three action activity" to give them to someone else some to hold as he makes them/drink some of them as he makes them (adhering to the +1 action per drunk/given vial ofc)?
I've not yet delved deep into the alchemist rules (or much of the player creation rules at all, to be honest... haven't yet done much playing of the game as a player at all), but applying the rule of common sense I would say that the extra vials show up on whatever worksurface the alchemist is working at. If this is an ability that lets you brew alchemical stuff on the fly in the middle of combat, then I'd say that the extra ones end up stashed on your person in bags or something, but again... not familar enough with this specific option to say for sure.
The game is really trying to give agency back to the GMs though... so the GM should feel comfortable making this call in game as makes sense for their table without the players second guessing them. I hope.
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One problem I am seeing with the way the summon lists have been broken up, the Chelish Diabolist is no longer a valid concept.
These characters have, until now, been wizards. But wizards can no longer summon fiends.
Can you suggest a work-around?
Until we get around to producing new spells or options that allow wizards to summon fiends (which we will at some point, never fear), here's the best two work-arounds.
1) HOMEBREW SOLUTION: Allow summon fiend and summon celestial to be arcane spells in your game. Won't break a thing.
2) OFFICIAL IN-WORLD SOLUTION: Wizard NPCs who summon fiends are not PCs. You can just give them special abilities to be able to cast summon fiend or the like. A Chelish diabolist npc would have an ability like this:
Devil Summoner: The Chelish diabolist can prepare and cast summon fiend as an arcane spell, but only to summon devils.
3) COMBO! These wizards can rely on rituals like planar binding instead.
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I understand why Pharasma might not allow NE clerics, but why doesn't she allow CN clerics anymore?
Because she wants her worshipers to be more focused on the order of the life-death cycle, which is not a chaotic cycle. Life and death getting disrupted by unexpected effects, as best typified by the creation of undeath, is not a core Pharasmin thing.
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Will we be seeing some new classes and maybe some old iconics again in the coming years of 2e?
Yes. We've announced a few already, in fact, as of Gen Con.
We'll continue to do more as it makes sense, but I also hope we'll do some actual new stuff too.
Loving 2nd edition so far and really looking forward to GMing my first session of it next week. One dilemma I'm facing is that it seems Hero Points are a mandatory part of the system this time around rather than an optional rule. If I were to remove Hero Points would that leave my players underpowered?Hero points give agency to players; they let players control fate a bit more and help them to avoid bad luck in the form of unlucky die rolls or tactical errors or even just having the misfortune of rolling a low Initiative and getting critically hit in their bed by an assassin ambush or by getting grabbed by a monster and then rended to pulp (incidentally, two of Jason Bulmahn's favorite way to kill my PCs).
Allowing a player a resource to adjust fate and avoid these instant death situations by spending hero points not only makes the game more fun for players... but it makes the game more fun for GMs. Think it over. When a player character dies, that disrupts the entire flow of a game. Not only does that player have to sit out of the game while you figure out how to re-introduce a new character to the flow of the story in a way that makes sense, it also causes the rest of the party to generally have to drop everything, pause the adventure, and retreat to recover and regroup.
It's like having the internet crap out while you're streaming your favorite show. You can start watching again later, but it's still annoying to have to stop and wait.
I've used mechanics like hero points in my games for decades, and they've made my games much more fun. The fact that PCs have a resource they can use to stop sudden death situations doesn't make the game less fun or less perilous... after all, you have to manage the resources that are hero points too. They're not infinite.
My suggestion; play the game for several sessions WITH hero points, and pay attention to how your players enjoy them. Or even better, play the game as a PLAYER for several sessions with hero points. GMs have...
Ok, I'm going to run Fall of Plaguestone so it will be a good chance to give them a test before starting a homebrew campaign. On a related note, what's the reasoning for making them reset every session rather than letting them carry over as they did in 1st edition?
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what happens when an Alchemist uses double brew/alchemical alacrity?
do the extra 1-2 vials just drop to the ground, does he holds them all in his one hand, can he just use it in sort of like a "two-three action activity" to give them to someone else some to hold as he makes them/drink some of them as he makes them (adhering to the +1 action per drunk/given vial ofc)?
I've not yet delved deep into the alchemist rules (or much of the player creation rules at all, to be honest... haven't yet done much playing of the game as a player at all), but applying the rule of common sense I would say that the extra vials show up on whatever worksurface the alchemist is working at. If this is an ability that lets you brew alchemical stuff on the fly in the middle of combat, then I'd say that the extra ones end up stashed on your person in bags or something, but again... not familar enough with this specific option to say for sure.
The game is really trying to give agency back to the GMs though... so the GM should feel comfortable making this call in game as makes sense for their table without the players second guessing them. I hope.
ty for the answer, but accounting for those facts:
it is indeed a combat only option (base class ability, not a feat one) since the items spoil at the end of the round and it's one action to make all 2/3 of them (which requires only 1 free hand)how would you play it if you were the gm?
if they get "stashed" you wont have enough actions to draw and drink them before spoiling, if they get dropped and you/others need to pick them up, then it seems kinda pointless as an ability as well since you could use those extra actions to make them one by one either way.
this is a level 15 class ability, so i assume it's meant to be something powerful, but i can't figure a way to even make it work (i'll be the gm and looking for some logical gm call to make the ability feel as impactful as a level 15 ability should be)
i'm...
I'd pick the easiest one, play it for a bit to see if it felt right, and adjust as needed.
Please try to avoid wall-of-text questions. They're hard to answer quickly.
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Ok, I'm going to run Fall of Plaguestone so it will be a good chance to give them a test before starting a homebrew campaign. On a related note, what's the reasoning for making them reset every session rather than letting them carry over as they did in 1st edition?
And also try not to quote entire walls of discussion for questions, since the messageboard software truncates things and makes it that much more difficult to reply. It might not be a big deal when answering one or two questions a day, but when this thread gets ripping and I need to answer a dozen questions fast it slows me down.
Hero points resetting every sesssion helps to foster a culture of "I shouldn't horde these points, because any I don't spend just go away at the end of the session."
When they carry over, many players get too nervous about spending them and will let bad things happen instead of spending a point. If they reset every session, then players are more comfortable spending the points when they should.
My suggestion; play the game for several sessions WITH hero points, and pay attention to how your players enjoy them. Or even better, play the game as a PLAYER for several sessions with hero points. GMs have the agency to alter the flow and reality of the game at their whim, but players do not. It's a different sensation to play the game as a player and have that agency. It's better.
Do you have any hints for GMs who have never done it before on when to award hero points?
I've never played with them, and it feels awkward to me to say, "Oh, I like that thing you did, have a hero point, but that thing the next player did, not so much, no point for you."
(I might add that I've been a player in a game with a Hero-Point-like mechanic, and it was uncomfortable for me because I got so many of them. It felt unfair. I wasn't putting any more effort into the game than anyone else at the table; I'm just more comfortable roleplaying than some of them were.)
My suggestion; play the game for several sessions WITH hero points, and pay attention to how your players enjoy them. Or even better, play the game as a PLAYER for several sessions with hero points. GMs have the agency to alter the flow and reality of the game at their whim, but players do not. It's a different sensation to play the game as a player and have that agency. It's better.Do you have any hints for GMs who have never done it before on when to award hero points?
I've never played with them, and it feels awkward to me to say, "Oh, I like that thing you did, have a hero point, but that thing the next player did, not so much, no point for you."
(I might add that I've been a player in a game with a Hero-Point-like mechanic, and it was uncomfortable for me because I got so many of them. It felt unfair. I wasn't putting any more effort into the game than anyone else at the table; I'm just more comfortable roleplaying than some of them were.)
I games I have played with hero points my favorite method was having player nominate each other for hero points, with the GM being the final arbiter on weather to give them out. It really helps giving everyone a chance to shine since only another player can nominate you.
Let's say I'm looking for dopplegangers without magic. What tells would I be looking for?
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My suggestion; play the game for several sessions WITH hero points, and pay attention to how your players enjoy them. Or even better, play the game as a PLAYER for several sessions with hero points. GMs have the agency to alter the flow and reality of the game at their whim, but players do not. It's a different sensation to play the game as a player and have that agency. It's better.Do you have any hints for GMs who have never done it before on when to award hero points?
I've never played with them, and it feels awkward to me to say, "Oh, I like that thing you did, have a hero point, but that thing the next player did, not so much, no point for you."
(I might add that I've been a player in a game with a Hero-Point-like mechanic, and it was uncomfortable for me because I got so many of them. It felt unfair. I wasn't putting any more effort into the game than anyone else at the table; I'm just more comfortable roleplaying than some of them were.)
The rules go into detail about how to use hero points and when to give them out. They're an integrated part of the 2nd edition rules.
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I games I have played with hero points my favorite method was having player nominate each other for hero points, with the GM being the final arbiter on weather to give them out. It really helps giving everyone a chance to shine since only another player can nominate you.
Please avoid ongoing discussions and limit posts here to questions to me.
I have always thought that the Templars in Dragon Age series would be the perfect role model for my paladin character. They are noble protectors of the just that serve nothing but the greater good. Yes, they have killed many mages, but that was because mages tend to use blood magic, become evil, and harm innocent people. At worst, they can be considered as well-intentioned extremists. So, can I assume that, if the cause is just, paladins can willfully commit an evil act or violate the code of conduct and still be lawful good?
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Let's say I'm looking for dopplegangers without magic. What tells would I be looking for?
You'd be using Perception to notice little things, be they physical ticks or conversational oddities. Anything that makes you think that the person you're talking to isn't actually the person you're talking to. Pretty much any movie about a shapechanger, be it Mystique from X-men, the various incarnations of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, any sci-fi show where you have duplicates showing up from mirror universes or clone factories or whatever... all of those can give you inspiration when running a scene with a doppelganger. But just as the doppelganger can be anyone, so too can its tells be anything.
I picked up Midwives to Death at GenCon in order to get your Nocticula material. Thanks very much for this. It's very interesting, and your work on this has inspired me to create a new tiefling cleric (evangelist) PC who is a follower of the redeemed Nocticula. I have but one question right now. Would music and/or poetry be considered "art" in terms of her domain, obedience, etc? The language generally seems to imply more material art forms (painting, sculpture, and so on), but a word like "crafting" can be applied to the creation of music and poetry.
Hell's rebels offered two different "origin stories" for Guttuger.
In the back of the book it says "the owner used a magic scroll to awaken the dinosaur in hopes of making mint off of the 'singing reptile of the south'".
Which do you prefer?
(Bonus question if I'm allowed: did your "original" Shensen (the PC) also have him as her companion?)
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I picked up Midwives to Death at GenCon in order to get your Nocticula material. Thanks very much for this. It's very interesting, and your work on this has inspired me to create a new tiefling cleric (evangelist) PC who is a follower of the redeemed Nocticula. I have but one question right now. Would music and/or poetry be considered "art" in terms of her domain, obedience, etc? The language generally seems to imply more material art forms (painting, sculpture, and so on), but a word like "crafting" can be applied to the creation of music and poetry.
Yay! It's good to hear so many positive reactions to Nocticula. It was at times a somewhat difficult story to get into print products for various reasons.
Music and poetry is ABSOLUTELY considered art in terms of her faith. And Craffting is still the thing you'd use to create new songs or new poems or new stories. Performance covers the performance of the same, be it singing or spoken word or readings.
There's plenty of examples of great songwriters or novelists who can't sing or speak in public. But still... it couldn't hurt to study up in both skills if you wanna be a Nocticulan!
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Hell's rebels offered two different "origin stories" for Guttuger.
** spoiler omitted **
Which do you prefer?
(Bonus question if I'm allowed: did your "original" Shensen (the PC) also have him as her companion?)
Oops... the back of the book one is wrong. Shensen saved him.
My original Shensen PC was a worshiper of Eilistraee/bard/fighter/prestige class mess of different levels. Pretty un-optimized by the standards of PFS play, but CRAZY fun to play. But despite her messy tangle of abilities, she didn't actually have any capacity to befriend dinosaurs; she used Diplomacy and trickery (and when those failed, charm and simulacrum) to make friends.
Guttugger is a personal easter egg from my many years of playing World of Warcraft, where my first and favorite character was and remains Shensen, who DOES have a pet raptor named Guttugger.
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I have always thought that the Templars in Dragon Age series would be the perfect role model for my paladin character. They are noble protectors of the just that serve nothing but the greater good. Yes, they have killed many mages, but that was because mages tend to use blood magic, become evil, and harm innocent people. At worst, they can be considered as well-intentioned extremists. So, can I assume that, if the cause is just, paladins can willfully commit an evil act or violate the code of conduct and still be lawful good?
The templars of Dragon Age are a really cool, interesting, and compelling type of character, but they're NOT scions of good. They make pretty awful role models for paladins. They make better role models for Hellknights, frankly.
Paladins can willfully commit evil ands or violate their code of conduct; Paladins have free will, after all, and without free will a code of conduct is meaningless becuase you'd be forever bound to it. The fact that you have free will as a paladin but STILL adhere to your alignment and code is what makes you a paladin, but the oppurtunity to break those codes and alignments is always there.
If you do, you are no longer a paladin. You can't do evil or violate your code and expect to remain lawful good and/or a paladin. There are degrees of transgressions; tiny ones might not immediately cause your alignment to shift, but multiple ones absolutely will. How many does it take? Depends on your GM.
On a completely unrelated note to my prior question... :P
Flavour-wise, what would you say happens to somebody struck by Flesh to Stone and at a later point in time by Stone to Flesh?
Would they at first think they still were in the moment before being petrified (so maybe trying to continue to fight or finishing a sentence they started before, and probably be disoriented after realizing everything seems different), or have perceived time going on and maybe even seen and heard everything that happened around them? Or something different entirely?
I'm not asking for mechanics, just what you as GM would find generally more flavorful or "consistent with world lore" :)
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On a completely unrelated note to my prior question... :P
Flavour-wise, what would you say happens to somebody struck by Flesh to Stone and at a later point in time by Stone to Flesh?Would they at first think they still were in the moment before being petrified (so maybe trying to continue to fight or finishing a sentence they started before, and probably be disoriented after realizing everything seems different), or have perceived time going on and maybe even seen and heard everything that happened around them? Or something different entirely?
I'm not asking for mechanics, just what you as GM would find generally more flavorful or "consistent with world lore" :)
They'd come out of the petrification thinking no time had passed and would be confused and disoriented by what they perceive to be a jump in time. If a petrifaction element leaves the victim conscious of the passage of time, that's an exception and it would be called out in the text.
Given the long history of the region, are Goblins still "kill on sight" in the Sandpoint region (or most of Varisia for that matter)?
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Given the long history of the region, are Goblins still "kill on sight" in the Sandpoint region (or most of Varisia for that matter)?
The perception of goblins is evolving in Varisia, and if/when we do a big goblin-themed story set in the region (or even if we do ANY big goblin-themed story in the region) we'll explore this changing attitude. I've laid groundwork for this in the Sandpoint book.
A goblin PC will not be any more "kill on sight" than a half-orc in Nirmathas. They might be regarded with bigotry and hostility and suspicion, but a single goblin, particularly one who travels with a group of adventures and is obviously an adventurer themselves, would not be attacked on sight.
A group of a dozen or two dozen goblins running toward Sandpoint, or any town for that matter, might evoke a kill-on-sight response, perhaps, but that's not gonna be something a PC has to worry about in most games.
Goblins give players a chance to "play the monster" or "play the outsider" or "play the antihero" in much the same way half orcs did back in the day.
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Night elf, blood elf, or Other?
Guttugger is a personal easter egg from my many years of playing World of Warcraft, where my first and favorite character was and remains Shensen, who DOES have a pet raptor named Guttugger.
Night elf. That was the only elf choice at all when I started playing on day one—blood elves were still years away.
I am not familiar with Golarion and Pathfinder enough yet (I preordered 2e in May, it will hopefully come in 2-3 weeks. :-/). I watched every video and listened to every interview with you in them, but I still don't quite understand religions, the outer planes (especially the astral planes), aasimars, angels, devils, demons (daemons???) etc.
If my group would like to play mainly divine based characters {4 out of 5 worshiping Irori (one a paladin, one a monk, one a divine sorcerer, one a cleric) the fifth one would like to play as a Halfling Rogue}, how could I incorporate angels and the gods in general into our Age of Ashes campaign? (I thought maybe the main questgivers are members of their church and some church higher ups are aasimars, or even angels etc.)
Could you point me to something(s) on the wiki in the meantime, till my book finally arrives to understand this whole topic better, especially incorporating angels to our Age of Ashes campaign?
I don't understand the differences between general "Forgotten Realms" type "religion" and Golarion style "religion" and I have a feeling that they are quite different.
Thanks for your time and answer.
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I am not familiar with Golarion and Pathfinder enough yet (I preordered 2e in May, it will hopefully come in 2-3 weeks. :-/). I watched every video and listened to every interview with you in them, but I still don't quite understand religions, the outer planes (especially the astral planes), aasimars, angels, devils, demons (daemons???) etc.
If my group would like to play mainly divine based characters {4 out of 5 worshiping Irori (one a paladin, one a monk, one a divine sorcerer, one a cleric) the fifth one would like to play as a Halfling Rogue}, how could I incorporate angels and the gods in general into our Age of Ashes campaign? (I thought maybe the main questgivers are members of their church and some church higher ups are aasimars, or even angels etc.)
Could you point me to something(s) on the wiki in the meantime, till my book finally arrives to understand this whole topic better, especially incorporating angels to our Age of Ashes campaign?
I don't understand the differences between general "Forgotten Realms" type "religion" and Golarion style "religion" and I have a feeling that they are quite different.Thanks for your time and answer.
If you want to incorporate deities more than what's listed on pages 437–440 of the Core Rulebook, your best bet would be to get a copy of 1st edition's Inner Sea Gods. And if you want to deep dive into the planes, check out 1st edition's Planar Adventures. Both of these books are written for 1st edition rules, sure, but the vast bulk of these are lore information that is edition neutral and isn't changing flavors between editions.
As for comparing the very basics of religion between Forgotten Realms and Golarion... it's pretty much the same. A pantheon of deities, each with their own personalities, who are worshiped by their own churches. The exact deities are different, but the general idea is the same.
Age of Ashes doesn't have a strong angel theme to it, but if you want to know more about angels and their ilk check out 1st edition's Chronicle of the Righteous. Again, it's a 1st edition book, but there's a lot of edition-neutral flavor in there.
That all said, with this being the first foray into Golarion for you... I'd suggest NOT doing a huge deep dive into things like angels and the outer planes for this one. Those topics don't really have a strong built-in theme in Age of Ashes, which is mostly pretty rooted in Material Plane stuff.
If you're looking for wiki information... Try the front page for religion there. Note... that's like drinking from the proverbial firehose if you go too far in!
Dear James Jacobs,
While I know that Gigas will be be featured any more, will there still be mention of the titans from the previous edition in some fashion?
Or should I just expect not to see any demonands this go around?
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Dear James Jacobs,
While I know that Gigas will be be featured any more, will there still be mention of the titans from the previous edition in some fashion?
Or should I just expect not to see any demonands this go around?
Titans will remain a part of the setting, but hopefully in a better curated way, rather than having multiple different types of titans all doing the same basic thing.
Demodands will still be around as well, but don't expect them in a Bestiary anytime soon. They MIGHT show up before then in an adventure... but don't expect that to happen this year or next. We've got no plans for demodands anytime soon.
Gigas are an open question. If we do something with them, the edition change is a great chance to figure out how to present them in a way that doesn't prevent us from easily exploring them in the future... but again, that's not something on the immediate to-do list.
Violating the code of conduct would clearly be an evil act. But what if a paladin violates it for the greater good? In Dragon Age series, if a Circle appears to be lost to demons or blood magic, the Templars indiscriminately kill every mage within, including women and children, to protect innocent people from evil or crazy mages. Thus, even though a paladin commits an evil act or violates the code of conduct, if that was done for the greater good, he would still remain lawful good and thus not fall?
Another 2nd Edition Question, do Minions (Animal Companions, Familiars, Summons) have only two actions outside of combat or do they get the normal three. For example, would a horse animal companion be able to stride two or three times during a casual stroll?
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Violating the code of conduct would clearly be an evil act. But what if a paladin violates it for the greater good? In Dragon Age series, if a Circle appears to be lost to demons or blood magic, the Templars indiscriminately kill every mage within, including women and children, to protect innocent people from evil or crazy mages. Thus, even though a paladin commits an evil act or violates the code of conduct, if that was done for the greater good, he would still remain lawful good and thus not fall?
The whole point of a code of conduct is to push paladins into making choices that are lawful and good, not to give them a challenge to find exceptions to. The "greater good" doesn't matter here. A paladin may choose to take an evil act to stop a greater evil... he'll still fall from grace and if he did it out of the goodness of his heart he'll work to redeem himself... but there should ALWAYS be an option that doesn't force a paladin to do this. It may be a tougher option, and usually is, but GMs who set up paladins with "no win" situations where they're forced to break their code are bad GMs, in my opinion.
Again, the templars in Dragon Age would not be paladins in Pathfinder. They'd be lawful neutral Champions, perhaps, or maybe just fighters with an archetype.
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Another 2nd Edition Question, do Minions (Animal Companions, Familiars, Summons) have only two actions outside of combat or do they get the normal three. For example, would a horse animal companion be able to stride two or three times during a casual stroll?
They get two actions always when they're in Encounter mode. Outside of encounter mode, things don't do the 3 actions per round because time passes more quickly, and at this stage minions and NPCs and PCs all have the same timing as far as activities go.
A casual stroll, as you put it, is not an encounter mode thing. It's exploration or downtime, and as such the number of actions you get doesn't matter.
Then a paladin who places a much higher value on bringing evildoers to justice than on protecting innocent people is not a proper paladin and thus on the verge of falling? For example, let's say there are fifty seemingly innocent people but one or more of them are actually faceless stalkers sent by a veiled master. To protect the town, a Hellknight would gladly choose to kill all of the fifty people, but a paladin would not dare to do so even though it would put the town in danger?
You may know this.
Why the currency change in PF2?
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You may know this.
Why the currency change in PF2?
I don't know the exact reason, but I suspect its partially because gold should feel more like treasure and less like pocket change, partially because in the real world gold is super rare and shifting away from a gold piece standard makes for better verisimilitude, and partially because this gives the economy more room to expand and keeps copper and silver coins meaningful for longer.
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Then a paladin who places a much higher value on bringing evildoers to justice than on protecting innocent people is not a proper paladin and thus on the verge of falling? For example, let's say there are fifty seemingly innocent people but one or more of them are actually faceless stalkers sent by a veiled master. To protect the town, a Hellknight would gladly choose to kill all of the fifty people, but a paladin would not dare to do so even though it would put the town in danger?
I'm not interested in playing the "what if a paladin does this" pedantic game. It's something the GM needs to decide on in a case by case basis. I feel like I've made my point and explained things, and I'm no longer interested in serving as your "what if a paladin does..." judge. Let's move on to other questions.
Succubi have a very weird change to their mechanics: the ability to harm them psychically with rejection. Does this mean that asexual or homosexual characters just deal damage to them by existing near them?
Which characters come to your mind on the topic of great female role models in fiction? (I'd also be interested in the why, if you care to elaborate).
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Succubi have a very weird change to their mechanics: the ability to harm them psychically with rejection. Does this mean that asexual or homosexual characters just deal damage to them by existing near them?
No.
The mechanics by which this weakness comes into play are specifically detailed in the text, and mentions nothing about homosexuality, aesexualty, or anything else. It ONLY triggers when the specific situation in the text occurs. The sexuality of the succubus or the other person involved is entirely and completely irrelevant to how this works.
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Which characters come to your mind on the topic of great female role models in fiction? (I'd also be interested in the why, if you care to elaborate).
The first five who come to mind for me:
Robin from Stranger Things 3.
Ellen Ripley from Alien.
Uhura from Star Trek.
Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird.
Arya Stark from Game of Thrones.
Succubi have a very weird change to their mechanics: the ability to harm them psychically with rejection. Does this mean that asexual or homosexual characters just deal damage to them by existing near them?No.
The mechanics by which this weakness comes into play are specifically detailed in the text, and mentions nothing about homosexuality, aesexualty, or anything else. It ONLY triggers when the specific situation in the text occurs. The sexuality of the succubus or the other person involved is entirely and completely irrelevant to how this works.
Okay, I figured as much, but I was a little uncertain. Follow up question: do incubi have the same weakness?
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Were Nuckelavee at least mentioned during the creation of Bestiary 1 (second Edition)
Or were they a no-go from the start?
Also, are monsters like the Papinijuwari still a thing? Or are they erased from Golarion duh to respect to the cultures? They are among my favorite creatures in pathfinder, so I like to know if waiting for them is even a thing. Seeing Genies, Wendigo, Bunyip, and Golems still being around gives me hope though.
Do you already have a theme for Bestiary 2? Like Asian Myths, Lovecraft Mythos or something like that?
Why didn't Paizo change the D&D Chimera model?
Why didn't paizo renamed the Medusa into Gorgons? Are the D&D Gorgons still a thing or are they renamed Khalkotauroi or something else? Or erased entirely?
Please ask questions one per post in the future. I'll answer these rapid fire. One overall thing to note is that the Bestiary wasn't a 3,000 page book, so we couldn't include every monster we did in 1st edition. We had to make choices.
Nuckelavee was never on the list for Bestiary 1.
Pretty much all monsters we've done in 1st edition are still viable for eventual inclusion in 2nd edition, including monsters drawn from real-world mythology. We want to include a wide range of cultures and inspirations in the game, and when we do we want to do so respectfully. That may mean some monsters might change, but we're talking about MONSTERS in a lot of cases, and that means that regardless of their source they will often be about awfulness. Certainly, some monsters are born out of awful traditions like homophobia, misogyny, racism, and the like... and we'll do our best to tread carefully around these. We've got a few in this category already in Bestiary 1 and tried to present them respectfully in a way that doesn't come off as applauding or promoting something awful. As Roger Ebert said in his 4 star review of Dawn of the Dead, "A movie can be about depravity without being depraved." That's something I try to keep in mind when including particularly awful content in things I work on.
We've had the monster list for Bestiary 2 worked out for several months already. There is no "theme" other than "Another book full of the monsters that we need as baseline for the game we couldn't fit into the first book."
Are you asking "Why didn't we change the chimera into a lion headed monster with a goat head sticking out of its back and a dragon head on the tip of its tail?" If so, then we didn't do that because that monster design is kind of goofy, and because we prefer the three headed version.
Because medusas and gorgons are different creatures in the game, and have been for decades. They are inspired by myths, but aren't intended to be 100% accurate portrayals of myths... which can't happen anyway because myths aren't themselves particularly interested in internal consistency. Gorgons will be back eventually.