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I've got a question about Norgorber's permitted alignments. I'm considering creating an alchemist character that will then take a cleric dedication feat in service to Norgorber in his role as Blackfingers. But, I couldn't do that without making my character evil. Can you suggest an alternative deity so I could have a good or neutral alchemist/cleric of alchemy character? I was thinking Nethys, but that seemed off too, with 2E's strong division between magic and alchemy.
Thank you again--I've already read through Lost Omens World Guide and can't wait to see the rest of the changes for Golarion as the line progresses!
Nethys is a fine choice for a cleric/alchemist, but Cayden Cailean would be even better.
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Mr. James Jacobs,
Will there be fleshwarping rules for the new system in the near future? Possibly in the Age of Lost Omens book?
The fact that there are fleshwarps in the Bestiary would certainly suggest that, yes, but it's also a pretty gross/evil/sinister thing, so it's not likely to show up with player character rules anytime soon. Since there's a stronger divide between PC rules and NPC rules in 2nd edition, we don't really NEED rules for how fleshwarping works; we can cover them with flavor text if we want.
I thought Abadar, a lawful neutral god, has a very civil and decent relationship with Asmodeus. Yet Aroden, who is also a lawful neutral god, sees Asmodeus as a bitter enemy?
Enemies. They both wanted to control humanity, and both had egos and philosophies that made interactions between them impossible in any way other than hostility.Hi James,
How were relations between Aroden and Asmodeus?
(The Aroden article in A Song of Silver doesn't say.)
Given that answer -- Do we have any reason to believe that Asmodeus did not murder Aroden?
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I thought Abadar, a lawful neutral god, has a very civil and decent relationship with Asmodeus. Yet Aroden, who is also a lawful neutral god, sees Asmodeus as a bitter enemy?
Alignment does not hard-code your life choices, nor does it pre-determine who your friends and enemies are. If it did, we'd only need nine NPCs in the game, one for each alignment.
I remember that in Pathfinder Playtest Bestiary there was serpentfolk among the monsters. But in Second Edition Bestiary I cannot find serpentfolk. Am I missing something?
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Creative Director
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I remember that in Pathfinder Playtest Bestiary there was serpentfolk among the monsters. But in Second Edition Bestiary I cannot find serpentfolk. Am I missing something?
There are PLENTY of monsters in the Playtest Bestiary that didn't show up in the Bestiary, and plenty of monsters in the Bestiary that weren't in the Playtest Bestiary, nor did we ever say "Everything in the Playtest Bestiary will be in the Bestiary."
Killing an enemy and casting Speak with Dead to ask "Tell me everything you know about the plans of the final boss." or "Tell me everything you are hiding." seems like a good idea. I guess my main question is, can the corpse lie, or deliberately hide or omit something?
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Killing an enemy and casting Speak with Dead to ask "Tell me everything you know about the plans of the final boss." or "Tell me everything you are hiding." seems like a good idea. I guess my main question is, can the corpse lie, or deliberately hide or omit something?
The corpse in this case is more of a faulty, unreliable recorder/playback device, not an actual creature. Whether or not it recalls full details depends on the GM's whim, but it can't make actual decisions to withhold or fabricate information. In the end it's up to the GM what it tells but the GM shouldn't abuse this power so the spell becomes useless.
The fact that there are fleshwarps in the Bestiary would certainly suggest that, yes, but it's also a pretty gross/evil/sinister thing, so it's not likely to show up with player character rules anytime soon. Since there's a stronger divide between PC rules and NPC rules in 2nd edition, we don't really NEED rules for how fleshwarping works; we can cover them with flavor text if we want.Mr. James Jacobs,
Will there be fleshwarping rules for the new system in the near future? Possibly in the Age of Lost Omens book?
Shucks. I ask because I thought to try an recreate my good aligned Fleshwarper who used the Fleshwarper prestige class from Lords of Madess along with the fleshwarping rules from Innersea Magic.
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Shucks. I ask because I thought to try an recreate my good aligned Fleshwarper who used the Fleshwarper prestige class from Lords of Madess along with the fleshwarping rules from Innersea Magic.The fact that there are fleshwarps in the Bestiary would certainly suggest that, yes, but it's also a pretty gross/evil/sinister thing, so it's not likely to show up with player character rules anytime soon. Since there's a stronger divide between PC rules and NPC rules in 2nd edition, we don't really NEED rules for how fleshwarping works; we can cover them with flavor text if we want.Mr. James Jacobs,
Will there be fleshwarping rules for the new system in the near future? Possibly in the Age of Lost Omens book?
Talk to your GM. We can't build on the Lords of Madness stuff (even though I was the one who wrote that for that book) since it's owned by WotC, so even if we DID bring in PC fleshwarping rules, you and your GM would have to work that specific synthesis out for your table.
That said, the flavor and world lore for fleshwarping we've printed in 1st edition books will not change. It will just take us some time before we get to the point where we can explore fleshwarping as a PC option.
Dear James Jacobs,
While I'm aware the flavor text from 1st edition for Book of the Damned isn't invalided, I am curious if the mechanics (specifically about it corrupting an individual and thus opening up Corruptions from Horror Adventures) would still be a viable thing to do in a game?
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Dear James Jacobs,
While I'm aware the flavor text from 1st edition for Book of the Damned isn't invalided, I am curious if the mechanics (specifically about it corrupting an individual and thus opening up Corruptions from Horror Adventures) would still be a viable thing to do in a game?
I think so, yeah. Anything we had mechanics for in 1st edition could have mechanics in 2nd edition.
In Midwives to Death, there is an article about an aasimar called Thalestris Mytilinos. She grew up as the adopted daughter of a minor Taldan noble. It is mentioned that she was raised along with her three foster siblings. Are these three foster siblings the true, real, biological children of the Mytilinos family?
Out of all the things you've contributed to Pathfinder..be it lore, mechanics, or anything else...which is your personal favorite?
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In Midwives to Death, there is an article about an aasimar called Thalestris Mytilinos. She grew up as the adopted daughter of a minor Taldan noble. It is mentioned that she was raised along with her three foster siblings. Are these three foster siblings the true, real, biological children of the Mytilinos family?
Thalestris was Rob McCreary's character that he played in my office campaign for a few years, so he's the expert on that character's sisters. What's appeared in that article in print is currently all we've ever said in print about her, but you should absolutely ask Rob for more details.
As far as I can tell, using magic without components is impossible in 2e. Innate spells (which seem to be 2e's version of spell-like abilities) aren't described as having no components. Silent Spell still exists in 2e, but it doesn't work on spells that only have verbal components and I haven't seen a 2e version of Still Spell anywhere. It looks to me like it just isn't possible to use magic without components of some sort in 2e (counting substituted components like a bard playing an instrument, unlike 1e where it was possible in theory with all the right feats.
Is this true, and if so was it a purposeful design choice for 2e?
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As far as I can tell, using magic without components is impossible in 2e. Innate spells (which seem to be 2e's version of spell-like abilities) aren't described as having no components. Silent Spell still exists in 2e, but it doesn't work on spells that only have verbal components and I haven't seen a 2e version of Still Spell anywhere. It looks to me like it just isn't possible to use magic without components of some sort in 2e (counting substituted components like a bard playing an instrument, unlike 1e where it was possible in theory with all the right feats.
Is this true, and if so was it a purposeful design choice for 2e?
A creature who has innate spells shouldn't have to carry around a bag of material components... but this wouldn't reduce the number of actions needed to cast a spell. I'd say just replace the material component in this case with a second somatic component.
(AKA: the optics of forcing nagas to carry pouches of spell components is goofy.)
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Since Enchantment is a school of magic, what is the general term for “person who makes magic items”.
There isn't really, nor was there ever. You can call them artisans or crafters or tinkers... or just call them wizards or bards or clerics or druids.
Are the evil-looking people on page 185 of Second Edition Core Rulebook vampires or some innocent nobles targetted by Merisiel?
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Are the evil-looking people on page 185 of Second Edition Core Rulebook vampires or some innocent nobles targetted by Merisiel?
The fact that they have glowing red eyes makes me say that whoever they are... they're not innocent. The fact that the symbol of Ustalav hangs on the banner behind the central figre pretty much locks in for me that they're vampires. Or at least some sort of horror trope doing horror things.
The magic sense feat that a sorcerer can gain at 12th level allows him to sense the presence of magic auras as though he is always using a 1st-level detect magic spell. When he seeks, he gain the benefit of a 3rd-level detect magic spell. But while the detect magic spell can be heightened to 4th level, in the description of magic sense the heightening to 4th level isn't mentioned. Is it an error that should be corrected?
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The magic sense feat that a sorcerer can gain at 12th level allows him to sense the presence of magic auras as though he is always using a 1st-level detect magic spell. When he seeks, he gain the benefit of a 3rd-level detect magic spell. But while the detect magic spell can be heightened to 4th level, in the description of magic sense the heightening to 4th level isn't mentioned. Is it an error that should be corrected?
Might be. This isn't the place for me to collect errata. Post questions about possible errata for the Core Rulebook in the Core Rulebook thread.
There is a map of the Inner Sea region on page 7 of Inner Sea World Guide. There is a map of Golarion on page 418 of Second Edition Core Rulebook. Are they drawn on Mercator's projection?
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One issue I am seeing with the updated setting, How would you suggest dealing with the characters from the group's previous campaigns?
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One issue I am seeing with the updated setting, How would you suggest dealing with the characters from the group's previous campaigns?
If they're previous campaigns, these PCs should be retired, right? In which case they shoudl be handled not with rules but story and flavor text.
If you're talking about transitioning active PCs from 1st edition to 2nd edition... I'd do one of the following:
1) Not do it and play out the rest of that campaign using 1st edition.
2) Let the players remake their characters from the ground up using the currently available rules.
3) Start a new campaign with new characters.
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One issue I am seeing with the updated setting, How would you suggest dealing with the characters from the group's previous campaigns?If they're previous campaigns, these PCs should be retired, right? In which case they should be handled not with rules but story and flavor text.
This is what I had meant. How do "justify" their not taking any more actions in the campaign?
Characters of such power would continue to have a big impact on the world, even if they are not actively adventuring anymore.
A good example of what I mean is the NPC Shorshen. Other nations would be reluctant to mess with New Thassilon because as a Lvl 20 Mythic Wizard, she effectively has nuclear weapons at her disposal.
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One issue I am seeing with the updated setting, How would you suggest dealing with the characters from the group's previous campaigns?If they're previous campaigns, these PCs should be retired, right? In which case they should be handled not with rules but story and flavor text.This is what I had meant. How do "justify" their not taking any more actions in the campaign?
Characters of such power would continue to have a big impact on the world, even if they are not actively adventuring anymore.
A good example of what I mean is the NPC Shorshen. Other nations would be reluctant to mess with New Thassilon because as a Lvl 20 Mythic Wizard, she effectively has nuclear weapons at her disposal.
If it's that huge of a disconnect for you to assume that the powerful PCs of prior Adventure Paths aren't having a big impact on the ones to come, think of every Adventure Path taking place in a parallel dimension, maybe?
It seems my question was somehow overlooked. So I ask it again. There is a map of the Inner Sea region on page 7 of Inner Sea World Guide. There is a map of Golarion on page 418 of Second Edition Core Rulebook. Are they drawn on Mercator's projection?
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It seems my question was somehow overlooked. So I ask it again. There is a map of the Inner Sea region on page 7 of Inner Sea World Guide. There is a map of Golarion on page 418 of Second Edition Core Rulebook. Are they drawn on Mercator's projection?
The map on page 7 of the Inner Sea World Guide was not, but it's a small enough portion of the world overall that it's not that distorted anyway.
The map on page 428 of the planet is SORT of a mercator projection, but it's clipped at the top and the bottom—not all of the north and south pole are shown on the map.
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The map on page 428 of the planet is SORT of a mercator projection, but it's clipped at the top and the bottom—not all of the north and south pole are shown on the map.
Just for the record, so is Mercator, usually around 80-85 degrees.
Is there anything interesting enough at Golarion's north and south poles to warrant someday seeing these latitudes represented with a pair of stereographic projections (or some other projection that's good at showing poles)?
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The map on page 428 of the planet is SORT of a mercator projection, but it's clipped at the top and the bottom—not all of the north and south pole are shown on the map.Just for the record, so is Mercator, usually around 80-85 degrees.
Is there anything interesting enough at Golarion's north and south poles to warrant someday seeing these latitudes represented with a pair of stereographic projections (or some other projection that's good at showing poles)?
Absolutely. And we already did this back in Jade Regent, in Pathfinder Adventure Path #51, where we had an adventure that crossed the Crown of the World.
Human races are listed on page 430 of Second Edition Core Rulebook. But I couldn't find Azlanti there. Can I no longer make an Azlanti PC?
Hi James,
Pharasma sees tomb-robbing as anathema, but tomb-robbing is a relatively common feature in adventures (The Mummy's Mask in particular comes to mind). Is there any sort of extenuating circumstances to the anathema that might facilitate the plot-mandated looting of long-lost tombs amongst devout Pharasmin adventurers?
Out of all the things you've contributed to Pathfinder..be it lore, mechanics, or anything else...which is your personal favorite?Sandpoint.
Follow up question: Why Sandpoint?
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Is there anything interesting enough at Golarion's north and south poles to warrant someday seeing these latitudes represented with a pair of stereographic projections (or some other projection that's good at showing poles)?
Speaking of... did you see the first season of The Terror on AMC (based on Dan Simmons's 2007 novel) about Captain Sir John Franklin's lost expedition to the Arctic in 1845–1848? If so, what did you think of it?
If you haven't seen it, it'd recommend it.
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Human races are listed on page 430 of Second Edition Core Rulebook. But I couldn't find Azlanti there. Can I no longer make an Azlanti PC?
Azlanti PCs were ALWAYS in the category of "This ancestry is now essentially extinct, and as they no longer exist as a modern society, their presence in the game is presented as more of a historical note than a player option—if you want to play an Azlanti, talk to your GM."
We'll have more to say later, but under the new game paradigm, I suspect if and when we present Azlanti as an ancestry, it'll be a rare ancestry, and thus one that must be GM approved or is unlocked via a specific adventure.
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Hi James,
Pharasma sees tomb-robbing as anathema, but tomb-robbing is a relatively common feature in adventures (The Mummy's Mask in particular comes to mind). Is there any sort of extenuating circumstances to the anathema that might facilitate the plot-mandated looting of long-lost tombs amongst devout Pharasmin adventurers?
Mummy's Mask gives a perfect example of extenuating circumstances. But also, if a tomb is infested with undead, then you're not looting the dead... you're in theory being rewarded for your work in defeating undead.
If you have a plot-mandated looting of long-lost tombs adventure, then you should talk to any Pharasmin PCs in your group about what the best solution would be—and that soultion could well be "Don't claim any loot from the tombs, make sure the other PCs behave honorably, and in the end Pharasma will give you a boon."
Or maybe don't run a tomb-robbery adventure for a group with a Pharasmin, in the same way you shouldn't run a heist adventure against a bank with a paladin, or a "defeat the Asmodeus cult" with a devil worshiper. Not all adventures are appropriate for every type of PC. We try to spell out the good/bad choices in our Adventure Path player's guide to help players and GMs alike avoid characters who aren't good fits.
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Follow up question: Why Sandpoint?Out of all the things you've contributed to Pathfinder..be it lore, mechanics, or anything else...which is your personal favorite?Sandpoint.
Because it's the part of Golarion that I put the most work into creating content FOR Golarion, rather than pulling in content from my homebrew. Because it's the part of the world that I've retained near complete creative control over. Because I ran an entire campaign set there and built up a lot of fondness for it. Because it sort of represents the idealized place I'd like to live.
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Is there anything interesting enough at Golarion's north and south poles to warrant someday seeing these latitudes represented with a pair of stereographic projections (or some other projection that's good at showing poles)?Speaking of... did you see the first season of The Terror on AMC (based on Dan Simmons's 2007 novel) about Captain Sir John Franklin's lost expedition to the Arctic in 1845–1848? If so, what did you think of it?
If you haven't seen it, it'd recommend it.
That show's one of the best things ever, and the novel it's based on is brilliant. One of my favorite TV shows. I'm very much enjoying season 2 as well.
Dear James Jacobs,
I am a little...confuzzled by something I read in the Lost Omens guide; specifically what happened to the previous Lord Mayor?
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Dear James Jacobs,
I am a little...confuzzled by something I read in the Lost Omens guide; specifically what happened to the previous Lord Mayor?
Assuming you're talking about the Lord Mayor of Magnimar (there are multiple lord mayors in the setting), then he got replaced. We haven't yet revealed why, since we haven't had a chance yet to talk in that much detail about Magnimar, and I'm not sure WHEN we'll get a chance to talk in great detail about Varisia in 2nd edition since there's a really strong push to explore other areas of the world, particularly Starstone Isle and Absalom.
I wrote the Saga Lands section for that book, and made the decision to replace Grobby as Lord Mayor because time has passed and it's illogical for a person in an elected position that's not a lifetime position to be the same person all the time. I suspect what happened to him is that he simply lost the latest election. I kinda think he's probably dead as well, or if not dead, kinda faded into obscurity. Haven't decided for certain what his fate is yet, though, since there's not yet been a chance to go into that level of detail for Varisia in 2nd edition yet.