Creative Director
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Do you see pathfinder 1e and 2e as being the same playstyle?
Yes.
To the extent that my primary focus on working on the 2nd edition was to ensure that every story we told in 1st edition could be told in 2nd edition with minimal effort. AKA: From my position, the primary goal of the edition change was to preserve the playstyle while making it more fun and less complex to play.
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What are the key elements of that style? And do you think the mechanics really matter that?
They absolutely do matter. If, for example, we decided to go with a system like Call of Cthulhu, where your characters are intended to be fragile and never increase their hit points and gain power only in their skills and magic is super dangerous to use, then suddenly we wouldn't be able to tell stories about PCs gaining power and leveling up to fight tougher foes. Call of Cthulhu's system is BRILLIANT, but it doesn't work for a game about characters who grow more powerful as they play and are expected to survive to the end of a campaign. And Champions, which allows you to build ANY character you want using a point-based system without having classes, works well when everyone is essentially the same "class" (superhero) but not so well when it's important to the established traditions for characters and NPCs to fit into defined roles.
Also, I wanted to be able to pick up a 1st edition adventure and play it in 2nd edition without having to rewrite the entire adventure.
But most importantly, we in-house had to be able to transition editions as seamlessly as possible. If the new rules made too many changes to the lore side of things, that would have been VERY difficult to do so without a lot of complications.
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Creative Director
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That's not really what I meant by mechanics mattering, but whatever, I more interested in what you see as the key elements to the style? How would you describe the style of play you are going for (not the story nor setting)?
A style where the rules don't get in the way of the story, but instead help to tell the story, where a bunch of friends get together to have fun and take on new personas and at the end of the session have characters that have become more than they were than at the start of the session.
It's honestly VERY difficult for me to answer this question without bringing story or setting into it, because without story and setting, it's just math.
The 2e weapons-list left out some widespread cultural weapons ( i.e. the falcata, prominent in the Rondelero-Fightingstyle). Was this omission deliberate or an oversight?
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Creative Director
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The 2e weapons-list left out some widespread cultural weapons ( i.e. the falcata, prominent in the Rondelero-Fightingstyle). Was this omission deliberate or an oversight?
The laws of time and space limit us in how many words we can put on each page, and since there's more weapons than we can print in one book, we had to pick and choose. We'll get to others later as we print more.
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Creative Director
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Hmm, interesting.
What do you think Gygax meant as the difference between "playing the rules" vs "playing the game?"
I'd take "playing the rules" as being a rules-lawyer and being overly focused on hyper-optimizing their character's every choice, be it in-game or during creation or leveling up. "Playing the game" is just that... playing.
Hi James,
Do you think true names (aka, the idea that speaking or knowing a being's secret and "true" name grants power over it) are a thing in the Lost Omens setting?
Hey James, I’ve been browsing through the Inner Sea timeline between the 1E and 2E World Guides, and one segment of 2E’s timeline confused me. On pg 122’s timeline sidebar: “-318 AR The dwarves of Tar Taargadth establish Highhelm, the first Sky Citadel.”
Earlier on, on pg 38, “The orc warlord Belkzen conquers the Sky Citadel of Koldukar and renames it Urgir,” happens in -3708 AR.
Was there a misprint here? When were the first Sky Citadels (and Highhelm) built? Which citadel was the first to be built?
Hey James,
I've a couple of (mostly fey-related) questions, hope I won't tire you too much and nobody asked them (at least, recently). :)
1) Is it possible to have male nymphs in 2e, as well?
In Planes of Power you had Acsiso the Younger (N male oceanid alchemist) and in the comics there was Akony, the dryad.
2) Slightly connected to the one above, do you plan to come up with fey of CR 21-25, to fill the niche?
Built a draft of a nereid king (Salacus, the Foaming Pillar), with a focus on coral, sea and sexuality. Would be amazing if you could justify the concept in either or both ways.:)
3) As non-outsiders, could fey shift in alignment without repercussions, like change in stats?
4) Will there be new Pathfinder Tales novels soon? (Also, is it possible for existing ones to continue to be translated into German?)
+1: Love the occult tradition and can't wait to see the finalized witch class in Advanced Player's Guide (I'm living for the class). Hope witches will rub shoulders with fey like they did before.
Have a great Sunday!!
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It's been a while since I asked any Sorshen questions. Somebody has to do it. ; p
Nowadays, how is she as a tutor? What sorts of student would she be interested in? On a likely related note, how is she as a partner, both vocationally and romantic?
How would a pet Rust Monster cost? PF1/PF2, before feeding expenses.
Any fun trivia you can share about the Serpent's Skull AP? It's my favorite.
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Creative Director
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Hey James, I’ve been browsing through the Inner Sea timeline between the 1E and 2E World Guides, and one segment of 2E’s timeline confused me. On pg 122’s timeline sidebar: “-318 AR The dwarves of Tar Taargadth establish Highhelm, the first Sky Citadel.”
Earlier on, on pg 38, “The orc warlord Belkzen conquers the Sky Citadel of Koldukar and renames it Urgir,” happens in -3708 AR.
Was there a misprint here? When were the first Sky Citadels (and Highhelm) built? Which citadel was the first to be built?
My understanding was that the Sky Citadels were much older. I haven't done a lot of personal work on Sky Citadels, but I suspect that Highhelm might have been the LAST one... but I'm not sure."
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Creative Director
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Hey James,
I've a couple of (mostly fey-related) questions, hope I won't tire you too much and nobody asked them (at least, recently). :)
1) Is it possible to have male nymphs in 2e, as well?
In Planes of Power you had Acsiso the Younger (N male oceanid alchemist) and in the comics there was Akony, the dryad.
2) Slightly connected to the one above, do you plan to come up with fey of CR 21-25, to fill the niche?
Built a draft of a nereid king (Salacus, the Foaming Pillar), with a focus on coral, sea and sexuality. Would be amazing if you could justify the concept in either or both ways.:)
3) As non-outsiders, could fey shift in alignment without repercussions, like change in stats?
4) Will there be new Pathfinder Tales novels soon? (Also, is it possible for existing ones to continue to be translated into German?)
+1: Love the occult tradition and can't wait to see the finalized witch class in Advanced Player's Guide (I'm living for the class). Hope witches will rub shoulders with fey like they did before.
Have a great Sunday!!
Please do one question per post going forward, since long lists of questions can quickly get difficult to format and reply to.
1) Yes.2) Yes.
3) Yes.
4) No plans at this time.
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Creative Director
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It's been a while since I asked any Sorshen questions. Somebody has to do it. ; p
Nowadays, how is she as a tutor? What sorts of student would she be interested in? On a likely related note, how is she as a partner, both vocationally and romantic?
She doesn't tutor people, so it's a moot question. Nor is she particularly interested in forging any close relationships at the moment; she's more interested in learning about the new world she now finds herself ruling a part of.
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Creative Director
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Any fun trivia you can share about the Serpent's Skull AP? It's my favorite.
I put more than a few Easter eggs of real-world or literary inspirations into Smugglers Shiv, up to (but not including) the mystery of Oak Island, William Hope Hodgson's story "The Voice in the Night," and the Bay of Fundy.
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Creative Director
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How Feudal are the Hellknights? all of the orders are given land and granted the rights to be knightly orders by their respective kingdoms. Does this mean they have land and serf/peasants, who they tax and get fed by, as real world Knightly Orders did, and if not did they only make money from their doing law work?
Not at all. They're mercenary lawkeepers, not kings and queens. They're not officially part of a government.
How would a pet Rust Monster cost? PF1/PF2, before feeding expenses.I'd leave that to the GM. In my game I'd probably work to make it more trouble to the PCs than it's worth.
Even Druids and the like?
Hey James,
I've a couple of (mostly fey-related) questions, hope I won't tire you too much and nobody asked them (at least, recently). :)
1) Is it possible to have male nymphs in 2e, as well?
In Planes of Power you had Acsiso the Younger (N male oceanid alchemist) and in the comics there was Akony, the dryad.
2) Slightly connected to the one above, do you plan to come up with fey of CR 21-25, to fill the niche?
Built a draft of a nereid king (Salacus, the Foaming Pillar), with a focus on coral, sea and sexuality. Would be amazing if you could justify the concept in either or both ways.:)
3) As non-outsiders, could fey shift in alignment without repercussions, like change in stats?
4) Will there be new Pathfinder Tales novels soon? (Also, is it possible for existing ones to continue to be translated into German?)
+1: Love the occult tradition and can't wait to see the finalized witch class in Advanced Player's Guide (I'm living for the class). Hope witches will rub shoulders with fey like they did before.
Have a great Sunday!!
Please do one question per post going forward, since long lists of questions can quickly get difficult to format and reply to.
1) Yes.
2) Yes.
3) Yes.
4) No plans at this time.
Thanks a lot and sorry for piling them up!!
Do you plan to visit Minkai or the untapped lands/history of Tian Xia in the (near) future again, within the scopes of an Adventure Path?
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Creative Director
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Even Druids and the like?How would a pet Rust Monster cost? PF1/PF2, before feeding expenses.I'd leave that to the GM. In my game I'd probably work to make it more trouble to the PCs than it's worth.
For everyone. But remember, rust monsters aren't animals, so druids don't get any particular special codes to cash in for rust monster pets.
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Creative Director
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Do you plan to visit Minkai or the untapped lands/history of Tian Xia in the (near) future again, within the scopes of an Adventure Path?
Heh... Ask me again in a few days. In the meantime, in COMPLETELY UNRELATED NEWS... don't forget to hang out in Discord and on Twitch for Paizocon Online!
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Do you plan to visit Minkai or the untapped lands/history of Tian Xia in the (near) future again, within the scopes of an Adventure Path?Heh... Ask me again in a few days. In the meantime, in COMPLETELY UNRELATED NEWS... don't forget to hang out in Discord and on Twitch for Paizocon Online!
N....Nani? Nandayo!?!!!
Hale and hearty greetings to you,
I have what I hope isn't deemed too silly a question for you. I live in Wisconsin, where our seasons rapidly change in the blink of an eye. Only a couple weeks ago highs in the 40s, but now we're in the middle of unseasonably warm temperatures--it's 90 degrees out now with correspondingly high humidity.
I crossed my fingers and turned on the 20-year-old air conditioning system at home before the heat hit, and am thankful to say it's working fine. I had the stray thought to give thanks to the appropriate Golarion-based deity, and was thinking Brigh at first, because of its mechanical nature. In your opinion, is there a better choice?
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Creative Director
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Hale and hearty greetings to you,
I have what I hope isn't deemed too silly a question for you. I live in Wisconsin, where our seasons rapidly change in the blink of an eye. Only a couple weeks ago highs in the 40s, but now we're in the middle of unseasonably warm temperatures--it's 90 degrees out now with correspondingly high humidity.
I crossed my fingers and turned on the 20-year-old air conditioning system at home before the heat hit, and am thankful to say it's working fine. I had the stray thought to give thanks to the appropriate Golarion-based deity, and was thinking Brigh at first, because of its mechanical nature. In your opinion, is there a better choice?
Brigh is probably the best one to pray to, although Desna might be better, since she's the goddess of luck.
Do not pray to Rovagug to fix your air conditioners.
For everyone. But remember, rust monsters aren't animals, so druids don't get any particular special codes to cash in for rust monster pets.Even Druids and the like?How would a pet Rust Monster cost? PF1/PF2, before feeding expenses.I'd leave that to the GM. In my game I'd probably work to make it more trouble to the PCs than it's worth.
Evening the field against metal using opponants.
and/or a charactar, regardless of class, just want/need to create some chaos.
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There appear to be no end to the number of posts about Dueling weapons in this thread, but as the question I've got hasn't been touched on, I'll ask anyways!
The Dueling weapon property from the PFSG is as follows:
A dueling weapon bears magical enhancements that makes it particularly effective at performing certain combat maneuvers. When a dueling weapon is used to perform a combat maneuver that utilizes the weapon only (see below), it grants a luck bonus equal to twice its enhancement bonus on the CMB check made to carry out the maneuver. The dueling weapon also grants this same luck bonus to the wielder’s CMD score against these types of combat maneuvers. These combat maneuvers include disarm and trip maneuvers, but not bull rush, grapple, or overrun maneuvers. If you’re using the additional combat maneuvers in the Advanced Player’s Guide, this also includes any dirty trick maneuvers that utilize the weapon, as well as reposition combat maneuvers, but not drag or steal combat maneuvers. Note that this luck bonus stacks with the weapon’s enhancement bonus, which in and of itself adds to CMB checks normally.
It states that it adds 2x the enhancement bonus of the weapon as a luck bonus on CMB and CMD for weapon-only maneuvers, but then goes on to list the maneuvers to which it applies. So far so good, since weapons don't normally apply to overrun or grapple.
However, the drag portion comes into issue when you reference this post by Sean K Reynolds https://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo5lcom?Combat-Maneuvers-and-Weapon- Special-Features
Now here come my questions.
1) A trip weapon can be used to drag and reposition, and gains the enhancement bonuses to attack rolls on its CMB. Does a drag attempt with such a weapon also gain the benefits of the Dueling property for Drag attempts made by the wielder?
Then we get to the Greater Whip Mastery feat, with the following text:
Benefit: You are so quick with your whip that you never drop it due to a failed disarm or trip combat maneuver...
And no matter how often they're asked I'll have to keep kicking that proverbial can down the street... I avoid answering rules questions in this thread, particularly those that seem to have lots of internet drama/argument appended to them. Instead, my suggestion is to either post the question to the product's thread so you'll get lots of advice from other gamers, or to default to your GM's resolution (Which is the quickest and most official one you'll get for your game anyway!).
Whats the discord server James Jacobs that I seen in the Paizocon twitch stream that you are in all week to answer questions?
Wow the discord server is packed, that is a great turnout!
My question for you is if you are planning or if we will ever see an adventure written by you again?
Where are the Paizocon announcements posted??? I'm at work while this is all going on so missing out on the action.
That would be an elegant way of handling it, but still a potentially very disruptive thing to give a party access to. You'd have to rewrite/rebalance every single adventure that involves things like, say, locked doors.
Had a few seconds of "but doors aren't all made of metal", then had the "ah [redacted], the locks themselves". well, it was a crazy idea to start with.
Could still be something for NPCs. < killer DM/GM idea?
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Creative Director
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That would be an elegant way of handling it, but still a potentially very disruptive thing to give a party access to. You'd have to rewrite/rebalance every single adventure that involves things like, say, locked doors.
Had a few seconds of "but doors aren't all made of metal", then had the "ah [redacted], the locks themselves". well, it was a crazy idea to start with.
Could still be something for NPCs. < killer DM/GM idea?
Could be! Rust monsters work better as bad guys I think.
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I was about to ask why you'd rebalance so many things over the rust monster, but it really is a more broad question (not a rules question, rather a community response question).
3.x originally was intended for many encounters to be well out of the PC's level range, mostly lower level but would include occasional encounters up to 5 levels above the PCs, and still a clear RAW for a very broad range of difficulty levels. Then the community backlashed against this as being "wrong" for some reason. Any guess on why that might be, why do so many feel that encounters should be a narrower range?
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I was about to ask why you'd rebalance so many things over the rust monster, but it really is a more broad question (not a rules question, rather a community response question).
3.x originally was intended for many encounters to be well out of the PC's level range, mostly lower level but would include occasional encounters up to 5 levels above the PCs, and still a clear RAW for a very broad range of difficulty levels. Then the community backlashed against this as being "wrong" for some reason. Any guess on why that might be, why do so many feel that encounters should be a narrower range?
It's not just rust monsters. ALL monsters are built with the expectation that they'll be "on screen" for less than a minute, whereas PCs are built with the expectation that they'll be "on screen" the entire time.
As for the encounter range question... it's a perception of fun. Players don't like encounters where they get crushed and humiliated. GMs don't like encounters where the players run roughshod over their hard work and trivialize things. By keeping viable encounters in a 4 level span in either direction (as 2nd edition Pathfinder does) we are attempting to help prevent gamers from being frustrated and annoyed at the game. It's supposed to be fun, after all, not humiliating or boring.
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I was about to ask why you'd rebalance so many things over the rust monster, but it really is a more broad question (not a rules question, rather a community response question).
3.x originally was intended for many encounters to be well out of the PC's level range, mostly lower level but would include occasional encounters up to 5 levels above the PCs, and still a clear RAW for a very broad range of difficulty levels. Then the community backlashed against this as being "wrong" for some reason. Any guess on why that might be, why do so many feel that encounters should be a narrower range?
It's not just rust monsters. ALL monsters are built with the expectation that they'll be "on screen" for less than a minute, whereas PCs are built with the expectation that they'll be "on screen" the entire time.
As for the encounter range question... it's a perception of fun. Players don't like encounters where they get crushed and humiliated. GMs don't like encounters where the players run roughshod over their hard work and trivialize things. By keeping viable encounters in a 4 level span in either direction (as 2nd edition Pathfinder does) we are attempting to help prevent gamers from being frustrated and annoyed at the game. It's supposed to be fun, after all, not humiliating or boring.
That does not match my experience at all. Do you think that perhaps player experiences might cause them to eschew something and tell others how bad it is because they had bad experiences with it even though others might embrace it because they had good experiences? How would you get more players into something that they might avoid because "common wisdom" says it'll bad when you know it can be good and they could enjoy it if done right?