Creative Director
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What are your thoughts on economics? That is to say, can prices for common items fluctuate from place to place (like a book of tindertwigs being 10+ gp in a tiny hamlet in the Land of the Linnorm kings or Mwangi Expanse vs being 2 sp in Magnimar or Korvosa)? What is the overall effect of magic on the economy? For example, I could see decanters of endless waters set to the salt water function pump out near-modern day levels of salt if properly utilized, thus having a major effect on the value of salt as a trade good.
They absolutely could fluctuate, but tracking those fluctuations is overly complicated and makes the game less fun. The only time I really could see getting into that sort of thing is if it's a significant part of a story I wanted to tell, otherwise it's a waste of time to spend that much thought on something that doesn't really add anything fun to the game.
What are your thoughts on economics? That is to say, can prices for common items fluctuate from place to place (like a book of tindertwigs being 10+ gp in a tiny hamlet in the Land of the Linnorm kings or Mwangi Expanse vs being 2 sp in Magnimar or Korvosa)? What is the overall effect of magic on the economy? For example, I could see decanters of endless waters set to the salt water function pump out near-modern day levels of salt if properly utilized, thus having a major effect on the value of salt as a trade good.They absolutely could fluctuate, but tracking those fluctuations is overly complicated and makes the game less fun. The only time I really could see getting into that sort of thing is if it's a significant part of a story I wanted to tell, otherwise it's a waste of time to spend that much thought on something that doesn't really add anything fun to the game.
I meant less "let's map out the economics of the world" and more "tindertwigs, journals and tents cost 20+ gp each in this twenty-man thorp in the Mwangi Expanse for obvious reasons, but only 30%-50% list price in Korvosa or this town in Taldor because of better facilities/resources." Would you consider this specific system to be balanced?
Hey over the last couple of pages, you've mentioned your job as creative director, and some things being technically part of it, while other things aren't-- I'm curious as to what that entails, I know you're the original creator of Golarion and work a lot to develop its lore and various storylines, but I'm wondering more about how you wind up intersecting with the actual products we have in our hands, since you're the creative director for the game.
Is it the sort of thing where you sort of determine/workshop with designers for how rules should broadly 'feel' to convey what they are in Golarion? Is it creating documents and such internally that the various teams (adventure design, rules design, freelancers, etc, though I know it wouldn't quite breakdown that way) use to keep the vision coherent? Is it the actual planning of the future products before they go to be created? All of the above?
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Creative Director
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Are demons superconductors?
To elaborate, does immunity or resistance to electricity damage indicate that the creature/object in question is a good conductor, a good resistor or something else?
Doesn't indicate that at all.
Also they're not universally immune to electricity anymore anyway, as of 2nd edition.
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Creative Director
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I meant less "let's map out the economics of the world" and more "tindertwigs, journals and tents cost 20+ gp each in this twenty-man thorp in the Mwangi Expanse for obvious reasons, but only 30%-50% list price in Korvosa or this town in Taldor because of better facilities/resources." Would you consider this specific system to be balanced?
Tracking that level of variance isn't fun to me. So no, I wouldn't think it's balanced, since it tips the scales away from streamlined and focused on the fun parts of the game toward unpleasant book-keeping.
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Creative Director
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Hey over the last couple of pages, you've mentioned your job as creative director, and some things being technically part of it, while other things aren't-- I'm curious as to what that entails, I know you're the original creator of Golarion and work a lot to develop its lore and various storylines, but I'm wondering more about how you wind up intersecting with the actual products we have in our hands, since you're the creative director for the game.
Is it the sort of thing where you sort of determine/workshop with designers for how rules should broadly 'feel' to convey what they are in Golarion? Is it creating documents and such internally that the various teams (adventure design, rules design, freelancers, etc, though I know it wouldn't quite breakdown that way) use to keep the vision coherent? Is it the actual planning of the future products before they go to be created? All of the above?
I'm not the original creator of Golarion... I'm one of them, but there's several folks who originally worked together to create Golarion, and it's STILL being created by others to this day.
But as for the creative director side, I'm one of the folks who has approval over a proposed book's outline and help to come up with the ideas in the first place. There's a good mix of planning future products along with working with developers and authors to adjust and change during the creation of the product.
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I meant less "let's map out the economics of the world" and more "tindertwigs, journals and tents cost 20+ gp each in this twenty-man thorp in the Mwangi Expanse for obvious reasons, but only 30%-50% list price in Korvosa or this town in Taldor because of better facilities/resources." Would you consider this specific system to be balanced?Tracking that level of variance isn't fun to me. So no, I wouldn't think it's balanced, since it tips the scales away from streamlined and focused on the fun parts of the game toward unpleasant book-keeping.
I think we misunderstand each other. I am saying that a GM should eyeball prices and give them a quick [x gp] increase or discount when it makes sense, so as to not make a PC give up half the money that was going into a wand into a new tent and a set of tindertwigs and cigars. Quite frankly, if you can comprehend PC generation (yes, even in 2e), this is 1000x easier. So with that clarified, do you think it is balanced now?
I'm digging deep for a character whose goal is to become an Aldori Swordlord.
As a GM, what would be the best resource for ways to enhance my game with rewards, snippets of information, and potentially helpful NPCs?
[I'm looking for publications, not just Pathfinder Wiki]
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Creative Director
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Are there plans to bring the Kineticist back in 2e, either as its own base-class, or as a sub-class/dedication on some other class? Or did that happen already and I just missed it? I really liked the flavor of the class, but the 1e mechanics never seemed to match up to how the class was supposed to feel.
Second question (or third, I guess): Have you ever been inspired by things you find on the forum, and brought them into the official lore/rules?
This thread isn't the right place for me to reveal the future, whether or not it's been something we've decided or even thought about. The kineticist hasn't been updated already tough, so you didn't miss anything.
As for the second question (and in future posts please keep questions to one per post; easier for me to manage the thread that way), yes, there's been things on the forum that have inspired me, both directly (as in cool ideas that made it into print) and indirectly (as in the way people act on the internet, this forum included, that spur ideas).
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Creative Director
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I think we misunderstand each other. I am saying that a GM should eyeball prices and give them a quick [x gp] increase or discount when it makes sense, so as to not make a PC give up half the money that was going into a wand into a new tent and a set of tindertwigs and cigars. Quite frankly, if you can comprehend PC generation (yes, even in 2e), this is 1000x easier. So with that clarified, do you think it is balanced now?
A GM can do whatever they want; they're the ones who are most comfortable with how much additional information they want to keep track of.
"Balance" is a phantom that doesn't mean anything if the game is fun for the players and the GM, and I think that the internet gaming culture puts way too much attention on it. If a game is fun, it's balanced. If a game is not fun, it's not balanced.
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Creative Director
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I'm digging deep for a character whose goal is to become an Aldori Swordlord.
As a GM, what would be the best resource for ways to enhance my game with rewards, snippets of information, and potentially helpful NPCs?
[I'm looking for publications, not just Pathfinder Wiki]
It's kinda scattered all over; we've never really done a one stop publication for them. I'd start at the Wiki and look at the books it cites as sources and go from there (which is, in all honesty, how folks shoudl treat ALL Wikis—as a starting point, not an end-point).
If you could only choose one book though... I suppose I'd go with the Adventurer's Guide.
When did the center span of the Arch of Aroden collapse?
What caused the center span of the Arch of Aroden to collapse?
Prior to Earthfall, Avistan and Garund were connected by a land bridge. Earthfall destroyed the land bridge, creating what is now the Hespereth Strait and allowing water from the Arcadian ocean to flow eastward and create the Inner Sea.
The east side of the Inner Sea is connected to the Obari Ocean between Osirian and Qadira. Was there a land bridge here also which was destroyed by Earthfall, or is there some other reason why, pre-Earthfall, the Obari Ocean didn't flow north and west and create the Inner Sea?
How shallow is the Inner Sea in general, and how shallow between Osirion and Qadira?
Did you feel as if some of the items from 1e were overpriced a la this article?: http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dd/20070302a
For one, I could not imagine buying a rod of metal and mineral detection when locate object arguably did its job better, nor buying a cowardly crouching cloak when the cloak of resistance existed. And why was the elixir of sex shift so expensive when arguably it should have been much lower since it didn't even give the normal transmutation disguise check bonus?
Also, do you sometimes wish that the Unchained rules had just been reprinted into the 5th printing or so of the CRB as RAW?
The nature of something like that ensures that no matter who you are, some items will feel overpriced while others will fee under-priced as far as RPG item prices go. And that'll change from campaign to campaign.
As for the Unchained rules, no. The whole point of those was to be experimental and give more options, not to replace core rules. When we wanted to update and address the rules and make them better, we did a new edition of the game instead.
So going by the rule that said "price items in accordance with their usefulness," in the Magic Item Creation section of the GMG, how would you price a loom that automatically spins and cards textiles (and does NOTHING ELSE, ie it can't animate or move and strangle/grapple people)?
Also, can a construct with enough ranks in Perform use a Lyre of Building? Would you allow for an item identical to the lyre of building in effect but reflavored to use a different skill like Knowledge Engineering?
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Creative Director
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Prior to Earthfall, Avistan and Garund were connected by a land bridge. Earthfall destroyed the land bridge, creating what is now the Hespereth Strait and allowing water from the Arcadian ocean to flow eastward and create the Inner Sea.
The east side of the Inner Sea is connected to the Obari Ocean between Osirian and Qadira. Was there a land bridge here also which was destroyed by Earthfall, or is there some other reason why, pre-Earthfall, the Obari Ocean didn't flow north and west and create the Inner Sea?
No land bridge there.
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Creative Director
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How shallow is the Inner Sea in general, and how shallow between Osirion and Qadira?
It's not SUPER deep, since there needs to be room between that seabed and the roof of the Darklands chambers below, but I've never put much thought into it other than what I've said about the positions of the 3 Darklands regions.
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Creative Director
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How fun would a dragon breathing positive/negative energy be?Not yet.Almost every major plane has a True Dragon tied to it, except the First World, Positive & Negative Planes.
Are there no true dragons native to these planes?
I believe we've got some undead dragons in the books that breathe negative energy; raveners, maybe? Wyrmwraiths?
A dragon that breathes positive energy seems kinda not that compelling to me.
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Creative Director
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So going by the rule that said "price items in accordance with their usefulness," in the Magic Item Creation section of the GMG, how would you price a loom that automatically spins and cards textiles (and does NOTHING ELSE, ie it can't animate or move and strangle/grapple people)?
I'd pick a level for said item and price it according to its level, and would pick a level that would place it somewhere along the level scale where it's out of reach for the bulk of common folk but not THAT far, since it's a pretty minor, mundane effect overall. I'd probably set it at 3rd level and price it accordingly. (Speaking in 2nd Edition terms, of course, with the fact that items map to levels makes it much easier to make snap-decisions like this...). For 1st edition, the best thing to do would be to just pick a price arbitrarily, I guess, but doing so in a way that pegs the price at something in-world that seems comparable.
Also, can a construct with enough ranks in Perform use a Lyre of Building? Would you allow for an item identical to the lyre of building in effect but reflavored to use a different skill like Knowledge Engineering?
The whole point of keying that off of Knowledge (engineering) is to make it a time-saving tool for crafters to use, rather than just magic that is self organizing. Also, in order for a construct (or anything) to have ranks in Perform, they need to have a mind in the first place in order to Perform. A mindless construct wouldn't be able to Perform, logically speaking, and common-sensically speaking.
So going by the rule that said "price items in accordance with their usefulness," in the Magic Item Creation section of the GMG, how would you price a loom that automatically spins and cards textiles (and does NOTHING ELSE, ie it can't animate or move and strangle/grapple people)?I'd pick a level for said item and price it according to its level, and would pick a level that would place it somewhere along the level scale where it's out of reach for the bulk of common folk but not THAT far, since it's a pretty minor, mundane effect overall. I'd probably set it at 3rd level and price it accordingly. (Speaking in 2nd Edition terms, of course, with the fact that items map to levels makes it much easier to make snap-decisions like this...). For 1st edition, the best thing to do would be to just pick a price arbitrarily, I guess, but doing so in a way that pegs the price at something in-world that seems comparable.
The whole point of keying that off of Knowledge (engineering) is to make it a time-saving tool for crafters to use, rather than just magic that is self organizing. Also, in order for a construct (or anything) to have ranks in Perform, they need to have a mind in the first place in order to Perform. A mindless construct wouldn't be able to Perform, logically speaking, and common-sensically speaking.Also, can a construct with enough ranks in Perform use a Lyre of Building? Would you allow for an item identical to the lyre of building in effect but reflavored to use a different skill like Knowledge Engineering?
For the first point... Yeah I can't see it over 3rd level. As for the 1e pricing... dollars do not translate well to gp. I'll just put it at about 100-200 gp b/c that's about as much it's worth.
On the second point: so a construct that can Perform COULD use it? Like, the user just needs to be able to do it, and there is not some kind of interference preventing a non-living creature from using it?
How fun would a dragon breathing positive/negative energy be?A dragon that breathes positive energy seems kinda not that compelling to me.
A dragon of life that breathes healing energy into its wounded allies and against the undead sounds like a fun ally for the party, or enemy if they decided to try dabbling in necromancy (akin to the psychopomps/Pharasma, maybe?).
What's your favorite type of dragon, from an aesthetic to mechanics to story perspective?
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Creative Director
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On the second point: so a construct that can Perform COULD use it? Like, the user just needs to be able to do it, and there is not some kind of interference preventing a non-living creature from using it?
Up to your GM. If I were your GM then no, a mindless construct couldn't do it; the lack of a mind causes a lack of the creativity required to do anything like that. And I wouldn't give a creature without a mind any ranks in an Intelligence-based skill. That's nonsensical.
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Creative Director
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How fun would a dragon breathing positive/negative energy be?A dragon that breathes positive energy seems kinda not that compelling to me.A dragon of life that breathes healing energy into its wounded allies and against the undead sounds like a fun ally for the party, or enemy if they decided to try dabbling in necromancy (akin to the psychopomps/Pharasma, maybe?).
What's your favorite type of dragon, from an aesthetic to mechanics to story perspective?
Dragons are more interesting to me when they're lone monsters, not helpers, to be honest, so no, a dragon that breathes healing energy into its wounded allies isn't that appealing to me.
As for a favorite type of dragon... Godzilla, if he counts.
If he doesn't, and you're looking for a more eurocentric classic take in the form of a fire-breathing flying dragon, then today that'd probably be Drogon from Game of Thrones; a bad-ass dragon who serves as a maybe not entirely trustworthy ally to an equally bad-ass queen.
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How would a True Dragon from the Positive Energy Plane be like? Personality-wise.
Perhaps the positive energy it breathes would be too overwhelming, like how the Positive Energy Plane is like.
Alien and difficult to understand/empathize with, I guess. Positive energy doesn't mean friendly, after all, and it's a weird place. I'd be tempted to set it up as a neutral dragon. Not good or evil or chaotic or lawful. Just neutral.
But I'm even more interested in there not being one.
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On the subject of dragons, it seems like Treerazer is pretty much your ideal villain. Dragon + demon + dinosaur seems to check a serious lot of your boxes, haha.
Do you feel there is more design space for dinosaur-infused dragons or demons or other creatures? I think I read in here that one of the reasons you love dinosaurs in the game is that you can port them directly from history into Golarion, which I agree is awesome.
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On the subject of dragons, it seems like Treerazer is pretty much your ideal villain. Dragon + demon + dinosaur seems to check a serious lot of your boxes, haha.
Do you feel there is more design space for dinosaur-infused dragons or demons or other creatures? I think I read in here that one of the reasons you love dinosaurs in the game is that you can port them directly from history into Golarion, which I agree is awesome.
Well, Yeah. I did invent Treerazer as a big bad for my homebrew game back in 1989 or thereabouts after all, so it's no surprise to me that he seems like an ideal villain!
I think there's more design space for demons than for dragons, and for dinosaurs the fossil record is VAST so there's lots of potential room there... but I'm not interested in making "new" dinosaurs, really. I've loved dinosaurs for far longer than I've known about RPGs though... I've been into them pretty much my whole life.
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On the subject of dragons, it seems like Treerazer is pretty much your ideal villain. Dragon + demon + dinosaur seems to check a serious lot of your boxes, haha.
Do you feel there is more design space for dinosaur-infused dragons or demons or other creatures? I think I read in here that one of the reasons you love dinosaurs in the game is that you can port them directly from history into Golarion, which I agree is awesome.
Well, Yeah. I did invent Treerazer as a big bad for my homebrew game back in 1989 or thereabouts after all, so it's no surprise to me that he seems like an ideal villain!
I think there's more design space for demons than for dragons, and for dinosaurs the fossil record is VAST so there's lots of potential room there... but I'm not interested in making "new" dinosaurs, really. I've loved dinosaurs for far longer than I've known about RPGs though... I've been into them pretty much my whole life.
What were some fun storylines you used that Treerazer in?
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What were some fun storylines you used that Treerazer in?
The biggest one was one where he used his walking fortress home to attack civilization before retreating to the depths of Tanglebriar, and the PCs had to dungeoncrawl the structure to confront him, his highpriestess Aleverah, and turn off the enormous walking fortress from the inside before it reached the nation's capital city.
Not sure how much you worked on/know the lore on Duskwalkers, but a pc had a pretty good question tonight: Duskwalkers are reincarnated souls. How much of their past lives do they remember or know, or are CAPABLE of learning?
And I am unclear on one thing: it says they are reincarnated from souls that sought to preserve the cycle of life and death, but also that a set number of them exist at any one time. Does that mean that the souls who are reincarnated are already Duskwalkers, or that if a Duskwalker dies, a NON-Duskwalker soul is reincarnated to fill the gap?
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Not sure how much you worked on/know the lore on Duskwalkers, but a pc had a pretty good question tonight: Duskwalkers are reincarnated souls. How much of their past lives do they remember or know, or are CAPABLE of learning?
And I am unclear on one thing: it says they are reincarnated from souls that sought to preserve the cycle of life and death, but also that a set number of them exist at any one time. Does that mean that the souls who are reincarnated are already Duskwalkers, or that if a Duskwalker dies, a NON-Duskwalker soul is reincarnated to fill the gap?
Not much, since the more you remember of a past life, the more that past life's experiences (and thus experience points) come into play. Since duskwalker characters start at 1st level, they can't logically have a head full of a LOT of past life memories.
And there's a set number, so whenever one dies, another replaces them, yes. There's no "queue" of potential souls lined up for it though.
*Is* there a fossil record on Golarion? If so, do people actually study it?
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What was current status on nascent demon lord Areelu Voresh btw? The ap's "what happens to each npc post ap epilogue" does say that is what happens to her unless pcs steal her soul or something, so I'm curious if that means she might return in 2e or is reserved for "Well good excuse for why heroes of crusade left Golarion and aren't around to help people there" sort of role?
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Creative Director
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What was current status on nascent demon lord Areelu Voresh btw? The ap's "what happens to each npc post ap epilogue" does say that is what happens to her unless pcs steal her soul or something, so I'm curious if that means she might return in 2e or is reserved for "Well good excuse for why heroes of crusade left Golarion and aren't around to help people there" sort of role?
I'm 99% sure she's just dead. Not much further planned for her.
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How will continuity from previous APs feature into the advancement of 2e? For example, Wrath of the Righteous left behind around 4 level 20+/Mythic 10 PCs. Iron Gods left behind a high level party laden down with tech and probably at least one character (*cough*wizard and/or technomancer*cough*) smart enough to replicate it and disseminate it (polytool even hints as much).
The hardest thing however is probably the Kingmaker kingdom. Depending on your players, this could either be a high-tech industrial kingdom or a Mad-Max style fiefdom of barbarian warlords. How do you fit that place into 2e without invalidating player decision by making it a Generic Medieval Kingdom or throwing the world off balance?