Creative Director
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Going off that, would a social/espionage focused Midnight Isles adventure dealing with the fallout of Nocticula's ascension be something that would interest you?
It would absolutely would interest me. Whether or not it'd interest anyone else is the thing that'd help get a plot like this into print.
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From your perspective as a GM, would you adjudicate a hurdy-gurdy to be a string instrument or a keyboard instrument for the purposes of things like the Virtuosic Performer feat?
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Creative Director
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From your perspective as a GM, would you adjudicate a hurdy-gurdy to be a string instrument or a keyboard instrument for the purposes of things like the Virtuosic Performer feat?
It's a keyboard instrument in this case, since it's the keyboard that's used to create melodies.
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Going off that, would a social/espionage focused Midnight Isles adventure dealing with the fallout of Nocticula's ascension be something that would interest you?It would absolutely would interest me. Whether or not it'd interest anyone else is the thing that'd help get a plot like this into print.
Adventures in Planar metropolises tend to be fun :3
Lilitu physically take after the Demon Lord they serve, is it a sudden change, a ritual, or do they just gradually morph into the new form on their own while in service?
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From your perspective as a GM, would you adjudicate a hurdy-gurdy to be a string instrument or a keyboard instrument for the purposes of things like the Virtuosic Performer feat?It's a keyboard instrument in this case, since it's the keyboard that's used to create melodies.
Thanks! Is it cliched to think that gnomes probably developed it in Golarion given its mechanical complexity? It seems like a common trope that gnome bards are the ones who play the "weird" instruments like this one, the bagpipes or the theramin.
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Creative Director
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Thanks! Is it cliched to think that gnomes probably developed it in Golarion given its mechanical complexity? It seems like a common trope that gnome bards are the ones who play the "weird" instruments like this one, the bagpipes or the theramin.From your perspective as a GM, would you adjudicate a hurdy-gurdy to be a string instrument or a keyboard instrument for the purposes of things like the Virtuosic Performer feat?It's a keyboard instrument in this case, since it's the keyboard that's used to create melodies.
It is cliched, yes. Gnomes aren't "tinkers" in Golarion either—that's more appropriate for gnomes in Dragonlance or Warcraft.
Halflings or humans would make more sense to me to be the inventors of this instrument on Golarion.
Greetings, mighty dire tyrannosaurus
I call upon thee, this time, out of curiosity over something that could be very trivial ...
or not ...
At page 6 of "Rule of fear" it's written how the traveling circus "Carnivale Cosmopolis" arrives at Ardis, at that point capital of Ustalav, and "never leaves" for at least 81 years (up to 4719). However, I've not found mention of this circus in the description of Ardis in the same book, nor in any other pathfinder product. Even a google research has not given any result, while in the forums of Paizo the name "Carnivale Cosmopolis" appears only once, inside the play by post of some fellow players.
Therefore, i ask: what is this "Carnivale Cosmopolis"? Will it ever be detailed? And what kind of horrid gothic related backstory will it carry?
On Vudrani Religion-
Vudra is mentioned as a place of "a thousand gods" by outsiders. What form does this take? Is it more like the "household gods" of Ancient Rome where we have a minor deity for every thing someone might be interested in? Or is this more like Panentheism/Theistic Dualism/Monistic Theism/etc. we see in various traditions in India, wherein we acknowledge the existence of things but also point out that they are aspects of a more fundamental and pervasive sense of the divine as is pretty much everything else?
Like how would one describe a Vudrani religious divine spellcaster- would they follow 1/1000 god of their choice and go with that, would you follow the entire pantheon, or pick a subset, or pick one god and have an understanding that all gods are aspects of that god? Or is the goal for Vudrani religion to have all of the above and more? Does the fact that we want it to be complex make it hard to spell it out in sourcebooks, or is this mostly because we haven't done much with Casmaron or Jalmeray?
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Greetings, O' Sagacious Jacobsaurus,
The arboreals in the PF2E Bestiary (pg. 25-24) all have access to a new language: Arboreal. Is this 1) an ancient precursor* to Sylvan something like Auld Wyrmish would be to current Draconic, b) the in-setting name for Druidic, or π) something else?
* Maybe like the unrushed Entish from The Two Towers movie?
And sorry for the second question, but do tengu in PF2E:
1) still speak Tengu as their racial language, and they still call it Tengu
b) still speak Tengu as their racial language, but they call it something else (like the Catfolk language is formally known as Amurrun)
π) neither of the above.
And sorry for the second question, but do tengu in PF2E:
1) still speak Tengu as their racial language, and they still call it Tengu
b) still speak Tengu as their racial language, but they call it something else (like the Catfolk language is formally known as Amurrun)
π) neither of the above.
My apologies. Tengu are already in the 2E Bestiary (apparently I crit-failed my Seek) and their entry answers my question.
Hi James,
Where is Gorum's divine realm located, now that his follower alignments no longer include Chaotic Good?
Edit: to clarify, Planar Adventures said it was on Elysium, but that feels like an odd fit now.
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Creative Director
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At page 6 of "Rule of fear" it's written how the traveling circus "Carnivale Cosmopolis" arrives at Ardis, at that point capital of Ustalav, and "never leaves" for at least 81 years (up to 4719). However, I've not found mention of this circus in the description of Ardis in the same book, nor in any other pathfinder product. Even a google research has not given any result, while in the forums of Paizo the name "Carnivale Cosmopolis" appears only once, inside the play by post of some fellow players.
Therefore, i ask: what is this "Carnivale Cosmopolis"? Will it ever be detailed? And what kind of horrid gothic related backstory will it carry?
It's mostly flavor at this point. We might do more with it some day, but have no plans now that I'm aware of.
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Creative Director
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On Vudrani Religion-
Vudra is mentioned as a place of "a thousand gods" by outsiders. What form does this take? Is it more like the "household gods" of Ancient Rome where we have a minor deity for every thing someone might be interested in? Or is this more like Panentheism/Theistic Dualism/Monistic Theism/etc. we see in various traditions in India, wherein we acknowledge the existence of things but also point out that they are aspects of a more fundamental and pervasive sense of the divine as is pretty much everything else?
Like how would one describe a Vudrani religious divine spellcaster- would they follow 1/1000 god of their choice and go with that, would you follow the entire pantheon, or pick a subset, or pick one god and have an understanding that all gods are aspects of that god? Or is the goal for Vudrani religion to have all of the above and more? Does the fact that we want it to be complex make it hard to spell it out in sourcebooks, or is this mostly because we haven't done much with Casmaron or Jalmeray?
It takes form of a thousand different deities. I suspect the actual number isn't EXACTLY 1,000 but it's close. It's a mix of a "core 20" for Vudra, and then another 980 of various power levels and theme. With so many of them, most of them are super obscure, and some might only be worshiped in a single village here and there.
A Vudrani cleric would still pick 1 deity.
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Creative Director
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Greetings, O' Sagacious Jacobsaurus,
The arboreals in the PF2E Bestiary (pg. 25-24) all have access to a new language: Arboreal. Is this 1) an ancient precursor* to Sylvan something like Auld Wyrmish would be to current Draconic, b) the in-setting name for Druidic, or π) something else?
* Maybe like the unrushed Entish from The Two Towers movie?
Sylvan is the ancient language of the two, with Arboreal being still ancient overall but younger. It's not an offshoot of Sylvan. Arboreal is a language made up of sounds like the wind in the tree canopies, the grinding of branches and trunks, the splitting of wood, and the burrowing of roots through the soil, all vocalized by mouths made of wood. As such, it'd be a language that humans etc. can learn and understand, but speaking it would be difficult; a human would never be able to sound fluent or as a native speaker without magic to transform their speaking apparatus.
There's no such thing as "Auld Wyrmish" in Pathfinder. Draconic is more or less the same all the way back—turns out when you live for thousands of years, your language lasts longer and changes less, I guess.
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Creative Director
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And sorry for the second question, but do tengu in PF2E:
1) still speak Tengu as their racial language, and they still call it Tengu
b) still speak Tengu as their racial language, but they call it something else (like the Catfolk language is formally known as Amurrun)
π) neither of the above.
See Bestiary, page 310. Short version: Tengu speak Tengu.
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Creative Director
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My apologies. Tengu are already in the 2E Bestiary (apparently I crit-failed my Seek) and their entry answers my question.And sorry for the second question, but do tengu in PF2E:
1) still speak Tengu as their racial language, and they still call it Tengu
b) still speak Tengu as their racial language, but they call it something else (like the Catfolk language is formally known as Amurrun)
π) neither of the above.
And I answered anyway, because when I answer questions here I do them in order as they come up and don't scan the entire thread's activity since the last time I wrote.
In a case like this, please take advantage of the chance to ask another question—there's no need to self-correct here because the question is still a question I can answer by citing the page reference AND replying to the question for other readers who are curious.
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Creative Director
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Hi James,
Where is Gorum's divine realm located, now that his follower alignments no longer include Chaotic Good?
Edit: to clarify, Planar Adventures said it was on Elysium, but that feels like an odd fit now.
That doesn't change. The edition didn't swap out flavor. Elysium is a chaotic good plane, but not everything there is chaotic or good—that's a D&D planar element we don't have in Pathfinder.
Gorum's realm is still on Elysium. And it IS an odd fit. That's intentional.
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Creative Director
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Are 2e Ratfolk going to get their Starfinder name Ysoki, or is that purely for Akiton Ratfolk and so Golarion Ratfolk might get a different moniker?
(sorry if I already asked this, I searched the thread to see if I had but couldn't any results)
That's their ancestral name regardless of what planet they're on now. It's in the Bestiary even. It makes no sense to rename them something else when the bulk of gamers out there who are familiar with them are familiar with them from Starfinder, after all.
It's a mix of a "core 20" for Vudra, and then another 980 of various power levels and theme. With so many of them, most of them are super obscure, and some might only be worshiped in a single village here and there.
Is there a metaphysical significance for how "20" keeps cropping up for the number of major deities for a given region/culture (Avistan has a core 20, Tian Xia has a different core 20, Starfinder has a core 20, etc.) or is it just that 20 is a nice number that lets you balance "representing a bunch of different concepts" and "page count obligations"? I'm guessing it's "we found this number works well, so we're going to keep using it" but I'm always on the lookout for deeper meaning.
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Creative Director
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It's a mix of a "core 20" for Vudra, and then another 980 of various power levels and theme. With so many of them, most of them are super obscure, and some might only be worshiped in a single village here and there.Is there a metaphysical significance for how "20" keeps cropping up for the number of major deities for a given region/culture (Avistan has a core 20, Tian Xia has a different core 20, Starfinder has a core 20, etc.) or is it just that 20 is a nice number that lets you balance "representing a bunch of different concepts" and "page count obligations"? I'm guessing it's "we found this number works well, so we're going to keep using it" but I'm always on the lookout for deeper meaning.
Nope, no metaphysical significance. It's a nod to the fact that the game uses a 20-sided die to resolve its mechanics, but also an arbitrary limit for us to follow organizationally when we present a region's pantheon. It also gives us enough room to have 2 deities of every alignment, with 2 slots left over for overflow. In fact, that was the original idea–18 core deities, with 2 for every alignment, but at that point 18 was close enough to 20 that we decided to up it to that number for the reasons listed above. Along with the fact that "20" is a strong, round number that doesn't itself invite many questions about why we chose that number, whereas if we'd gone with 18, I suspect folks would have been asking this question more often rather than once or twice a decade. ;-)
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That's their ancestral name regardless of what planet they're on now. It's in the Bestiary even. It makes no sense to rename them something else when the bulk of gamers out there who are familiar with them are familiar with them from Starfinder, after all.Are 2e Ratfolk going to get their Starfinder name Ysoki, or is that purely for Akiton Ratfolk and so Golarion Ratfolk might get a different moniker?
(sorry if I already asked this, I searched the thread to see if I had but couldn't any results)
Cool!
If Kobolds were to open up a restaurant what kind would it be?
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Creative Director
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If Kobolds were to open up a restaurant what kind would it be?
The kind that lures customers in and then captures them with cunning traps that imprison them so that the kobolds could use them for food. Tricking your dinner into paying you to be eaten by you is kind of an excellent plan all around for folks like kobolds.
With the tightening up of cleric alignments in PF2, will wingnut chaotic good clerics of Yog-Sothoth still be a possibility, or should my misguided syncretist types prepare to convert to the likes of Black Butterfly?
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Creative Director
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With the tightening up of cleric alignments in PF2, will wingnut chaotic good clerics of Yog-Sothoth still be a possibility, or should my misguided syncretist types prepare to convert to the likes of Black Butterfly?
No. Yog-Sothoth allows Chaotic Evil and Chaotic Neutral clerics only. Yog-Sothoth is a GREAT example of why we switch to this more curated system rather than the generalized 1st edition rule, which caused more problems world-lore wise than it was worth.
There are PLENTY of other deities that would work well with such a build—Black Butterfly is a great example.
Gorum's realm is still on Elysium. And it IS an odd fit. That's intentional.
Can you elaborate why you chose to put him in Elysium?
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Creative Director
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Gorum's realm is still on Elysium. And it IS an odd fit. That's intentional.Can you elaborate why you chose to put him in Elysium?
As mentioned on page 168 of Planar Adventures, Gorum's reason for settling in Elysium are mysterious. At this point, I'm keeping that a mystery, but it's something that we might explore at some point in the future. A few more hints are on page 169, where we talk about Clashing Shore, Gorum's planar realm, as a place where he and his followers can engage in perpetual battle. This realm exists on the border between the Maelstrom and Elysium, which gives it a constant built-in border conflict. I chose to put it here instead of on the border with the Abyss because the denizens of Elysium are more patient with "weirdos" living in their realm than demon lords are.
Dear James Jacobs,
Would you say that of the two Elemental Lords of Air, Hrrshurra has more in common with Calistra or not?
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Why do people who get turned into vampires seem to develop pointy ears in popular media? I know it probably started with Orlok, but it seems to be a thing with more "classic" vampires these days as well? Doe that happen on Golarion? Do peoples ears just spontaneously become pointy when they contract vampirism? And what happens to elf vampires?! Do their ears become SUPER POINTY?!
That's their ancestral name regardless of what planet they're on now. It's in the Bestiary even. It makes no sense to rename them something else when the bulk of gamers out there who are familiar with them are familiar with them from Starfinder, after all.Are 2e Ratfolk going to get their Starfinder name Ysoki, or is that purely for Akiton Ratfolk and so Golarion Ratfolk might get a different moniker?
(sorry if I already asked this, I searched the thread to see if I had but couldn't any results)
This prompts the following question: do all intelligent species in the Pathfinder/Starfinder universe have a common origin?
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Creative Director
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Why do people who get turned into vampires seem to develop pointy ears in popular media? I know it probably started with Orlok, but it seems to be a thing with more "classic" vampires these days as well? Doe that happen on Golarion? Do peoples ears just spontaneously become pointy when they contract vampirism? And what happens to elf vampires?! Do their ears become SUPER POINTY?!
The pointy ear thing is mostly a ghoul thing in Golarion. Vampires tend not to grow pointy ears overall, although we've generally given Nosferatu pointy ears to double-down on their rat/bat associations.
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Creative Director
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This prompts the following question: do all intelligent species in the Pathfinder/Starfinder universe have a common origin?
Unrevealed at this time... but it's likely a yes. Whether they were created by the gods or the aboleths or the Elder Things or evolution or whatever depends on who you ask though.
How many crashed spaceships are on Golarion? It’s up to three now, I think.
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Creative Director
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How many crashed spaceships are on Golarion? It’s up to three now, I think.
It's been many years since Iron Gods, and I haven't kept track. For things like this, we don't WANT to keep track. Once we say definitively how many crashed spaceships there are, that limits us to those stories. I'd rather keep that possibility open for more tales we've yet to tell.
But yes, there are at least three that come to mind for me. Probably more.
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Going off that, would a social/espionage focused Midnight Isles adventure dealing with the fallout of Nocticula's ascension be something that would interest you?It would absolutely would interest me. Whether or not it'd interest anyone else is the thing that'd help get a plot like this into print.
Which could also tie into my thoughts on "What happens to House Misraria?"
I was thinking that since Sabriune (Council of Thieves redux) "left before the rush" (no mention of anyone who came with, or didn't make it out), then my question is: Would this be the just the first few cracks in House Misraria that precede something momentous happening in the Shadowlands (Drow Central in particular); would it end up being somewhere between"This is the New House, same as the Old House", or a full-on Schism/Destruction (given that if for a few days the cleric spells stop being doled out before they switch, there could be a whole cavern full of surprises in store...)?
i.e. this all depends on percentages of:
- those "escapees" that go off to do their own Nocticula Redeemed shenanigans,
- those who get siphoned off to which new/old Demon Lord {or other similar entity}, and/or
- those adopted by a.n.other House angling for a handy bunch of new followers, and
- those who get backstabbed by either their own, or other opportunistic Houses...
I have another aesthetic Q about Drow, but I'll wait a bit so it's not clogging up the system
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Which could also tie into my thoughts on "What happens to House Misraria?"Going off that, would a social/espionage focused Midnight Isles adventure dealing with the fallout of Nocticula's ascension be something that would interest you?It would absolutely would interest me. Whether or not it'd interest anyone else is the thing that'd help get a plot like this into print.
Oooo, so is there a possibility of Nocticula's ascension leading to an AP involving House Misraria shifting to neutral/less-evil? Likely with the PCs having to intervene (for good or bad) when both surface elves and the rest of the non-Nocticula-aligned drow attempt to eradicate House Misraria? (And at the same time maybe tweak some of the things from Second Darkness that you feel need adjusting?)
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Creative Director
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I was thinking that since Sabriune (Council of Thieves redux) "left before the rush" (no mention of anyone who came with, or didn't make it out), then my question is: Would this be the just the first few cracks in House Misraria that precede something momentous happening in the Shadowlands (Drow Central in particular); would it end up being somewhere between"This is the New House, same as the Old House", or a full-on Schism/Destruction (given that if for a few days the cleric spells stop being doled out before they switch, there could be a whole cavern full of surprises in store...)?
Could be either—it's deliberately intended to provoke inspiration in the GM's mind rather than be something we spell out for the reader.
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Creative Director
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Oooo, so is there a possibility of Nocticula's ascension leading to an AP involving House Misraria shifting to neutral/less-evil? Likely with the PCs having to intervene (for good or bad) when both surface elves and the rest of the non-Nocticula-aligned drow attempt to irridicate House Misraria? (And at the same time maybe tweak some of the things from Second Darkness that you feel need adjusting?)Which could also tie into my thoughts on "What happens to House Misraria?"Going off that, would a social/espionage focused Midnight Isles adventure dealing with the fallout of Nocticula's ascension be something that would interest you?It would absolutely would interest me. Whether or not it'd interest anyone else is the thing that'd help get a plot like this into print.
It's possible, but that'd result in a civil war in the city or something like that. Not sure that's the route I'd be interested in going. I'd probably instead have the House drop in rank to a minor house and have one of the minor houses rise in power to replace it.
If I redid Second Darkness, it'd still be set in the same time, ten years or so before Nocticula's change, so that's kinda irrelevant from that angle.
...(And at the same time maybe tweak some of the things from Second Darkness that you feel need adjusting?)...If I redid Second Darkness, it'd still be set in the same time, ten years or so before Nocticula's change, so that's kinda irrelevant from that angle.
Would you be interested in a follow-up AP to Second Darkness, or an follow-up AP that revisits some of the same Second Darkness locales/peoples?
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Creative Director
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Would you be interested in a follow-up AP to Second Darkness, or an follow-up AP that revisits some of the same Second Darkness locales/peoples?...(And at the same time maybe tweak some of the things from Second Darkness that you feel need adjusting?)...If I redid Second Darkness, it'd still be set in the same time, ten years or so before Nocticula's change, so that's kinda irrelevant from that angle.
Not before redoing Second Darkness.
I'm certainly interested in doing another drow-themed adventure, or another Darklands themed adventure (or in either case Adventure Path), but they'd be new stories, not sequels.
