I love Pathfinder outsider races even if I don't completely dig the reduced planar wheel. What is your favorite of Paizo-made outsider races? I get why there are more fiends than celestials, but why not another lawful, chaotic or neutral race?
By the way, kudos to whoever thought about the Manasaputras... they rock HARD!
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I love Pathfinder outsider races even if I don't completely dig the reduced planar wheel. What is your favorite of Paizo-made outsider races? I get why there are more fiends than celestials, but why not another lawful, chaotic or neutral race?
By the way, kudos to whoever thought about the Manasaputras... they rock HARD!
Psychopomps.
There aren't more monitors because the game's legacy back through D&D never really supported those much either, so they're still catching up.
Is there any particular individual or organization on Golarion that's "the best" at divination?
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Is there any particular individual or organization on Golarion that's "the best" at divination?
Huh... I answered this earlier and it's not showing up, so I guess the forum ate the post.
In any event, there's not really one thing on Golarion that's the best at divination. The church of Pharasma is probably the most widespread organization associated with fate and the like, but part of the Lost Omens setting is that prophecy itself isn't a part of the setting. The fact that players are so unpredictable makes using prophecies in our game awkward and frustrating, and they're SO cliched in fantasy fiction anyway... I don't miss them at all.
Of course, prophecy is only one element of divination, but that said, there's not really a single person or organization we've pushed as being particularly noteworthy. Maybe Pharasma's church? She's the goddess of fate, after all. But yeah, it's a fantasy trope we have in the game but not one we often lean into as a story element.
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Hi James! what's the best place to get updates on the mega Kingmaker AP deluxe edition with all the add-ons?
The original crowdfunding page is where we've been dropping monthly updates.
We don't really have a place to do those updates at Paizo.com at this point.
If folks have questions about it, I can try to answer them here, though, but keep in mind that questions revolving around when it'll be released are above my pay grade. I believe the plan is to talk a bit more about the subject at Paizocon next month, but I'm not sure where or how, since the seminars I'm in are not about that topic at this point.
But all that said, if all goes according to plan, we'll have more to say about it in a month.
In the meantime, I'm done developing the nearly 1,200 pages of text that comprise the four main books in the project, and they're being laid out in preparation for copyfitting and more editing soon.
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Thank you for the update James. I've already cleared some room in my main Pathfinder bookshelf! really excited about it. Would you mind sharing one of the parts from this project you've felt excited about? (yes, I'm fishing for tiny nuggets of preview goodness here... lol)
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Thank you for the update James. I've already cleared some room in my main Pathfinder bookshelf! really excited about it. Would you mind sharing one of the parts from this project you've felt excited about? (yes, I'm fishing for tiny nuggets of preview goodness here... lol)
I'm not gonna copy/paste text or put artwork links, but five things off the top of the head that I'm excited about this whole thing are:
1: The 2nd edition incarnation of the Kingdom rules.
2: The (literally hundreds of pieces of) new art.
3: The new dungeon under Candlemere.
4: Transforming Nyrissa into a much more well-rounded and interesting character rather than just a boss fight.
5: Being done with it and getting to work on something new! ;-)
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Whoa! can you give us a bit more on that one? :)
3: The new dungeon under Candlemere.
This section's the largest "all new" addition to the whole storyline, and is not something we picked up from the Owlcat game. Spoilering more details below:
It doesn't have much of a direct link to the Nyrissa plotline, but if the PCs complete this chapter, they'll gain a notable advantage over the weird temporal/dimensional effects that await them in the House at the Edge of Time.
The adventure itself lives in a spot where it lets the PCs do some good old-fashioned dungeon delving at their leisure, in a point AFTER they've defeated Pitax but BEFORE they have to fight for their lives against the First World blooms, so that there's time built into the campaign for the players to enjoy being in charge of a stable kingdom that doesn't instantly go from one war into another.
The new levels were written by Ron Lundeen, and build off of the hints of Yog-Sothoth involvement mentioned in the original location description back when the Adventure Path was first published.
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Did Strange Aeon's continue the campaign article's suggestions with Yog-Sothoth and Candlemere provide any further inspiration? :D
Not that I know of. Ron, who wrote it, may have picked up on it. But I wasn't even aware that the Continuing the Campaign article picked up on that hint. I should go read up on it to make sure it doesn't clash... not that I have the time or energy to change it if it does, I guess.
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I don't think it will probably, because it doesn't state directly what is underneath the tower, premise of it is that a named investigator npc tried to do ritual to open portal at the tower and accidentally let bholes through portal to stolen lands and now you (pcs) should take care of that.
(I was mostly wondering if portal ritual dealio provided inspiration x'D)
I'm curious now that you mentioned it, do you know what is your next projects after Kingmaker is done?
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I don't think it will probably, because it doesn't state directly what is underneath the tower, premise of it is that a named investigator npc tried to do ritual to open portal at the tower and accidentally let bholes through portal to stolen lands and now you (pcs) should take care of that.
(I was mostly wondering if portal ritual dealio provided inspiration x'D)
I'm curious now that you mentioned it, do you know what is your next projects after Kingmaker is done?
Ah, I recall that bhole plot now. It doesn't currently have that plot thread at all—it went a different direction entirely.
I don't have a specific project after Kingmaker yet.
Thoughts on feathered dinosaurs?
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Not counting Jurassic Park what's been your favourite media depictions of T-Rexes?
Probably the one King Kong fights, or maybe Devil Dinosaur.
Although I do enjoy the snarky, vengeful, cranky Tyrannosaurus from the Land of the Lost movie as well.
And I appreciate the grisly gore factor of Carnosaur.
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I'm anger over sad about there isn't technology azata in pathfinder.
CorvusMask, this is for you, period.Yeaaaaah I'm bit confused by what you mean anyway? Ye are trying to homebrew a technology azata and offer it to paizo? Or ye are just sad there isn't technology azata in pathfinder?
Like, there aren't technology based outsiders in fantasy version of setting really. And azata in general are based on various aspect of freedom, so technology based azata seems bit random.
What do you think of this image? If he's not Azata, then what he is?
Summoned azatas are called from Elysium, and they appear to be humanoids with a mixture of elven and animalistic features.You say stereotype of Azata appears to be humanoids with a mixture of elven and animalistic features?
The mixing of technology and any sort of creature, azatas included, isn't something that's appropriate for a fantasy-based game like Pathfinder. The exception for us is Numeria, a region where technology and magic DO mix, but that's a Material Plane locaiton, not Elysium, where azatas are from. Furthermore, we don't currently have rules to support high tech elements in Pathfinder 2nd edition. The way advanced technology might interact with supernatural creatures like azatas or demons IS something I'm interested in exploring at some point, potentially as part of a sequel to Iron Gods, but again... we don't have the rules to do that story in 2nd Edition Pathfinder at this time.
In the meantime, Starfinder is the game we publish where we would explore a theme like azatas using advanced technology. In fact, we SPECIFICALLY created Starfinder to explore stories like this—how magic and technology might mingle. Telling those stories with Pathfinder would almost be like stealing stories from Starfinder.
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I saw in an email from Petersen Games the other day that Cthulhu Mythos for Pathfinder 2e is on its way. I'm pretty stoked...
Did you ever utilize his CM book for anything you personally ran or played during first edition? Or do you generally avoid using (or discussing) third party content for your own game?
... I don't want to back you into a question you shouldn't be answering.
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I saw in an email from Petersen Games the other day that Cthulhu Mythos for Pathfinder 2e is on its way. I'm pretty stoked...
Did you ever utilize his CM book for anything you personally ran or played during first edition? Or do you generally avoid using (or discussing) third party content for your own game?
... I don't want to back you into a question you shouldn't be answering.
I usually don't use third party content for my games... not because I don't want to but because I don't have as much time to deep dive into third party stuff. That said, since I wrote a huge chunk of the 1st edition Pathfinder Cthulhu Mythos book for Petersen Games, that doesn't feel like 3rd party stuff to me! :P
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I saw in an email from Petersen Games the other day that Cthulhu Mythos for Pathfinder 2e is on its way. I'm pretty stoked...
Did you ever utilize his CM book for anything you personally ran or played during first edition? Or do you generally avoid using (or discussing) third party content for your own game?
... I don't want to back you into a question you shouldn't be answering.
I usually don't use third party content for my games... not because I don't want to but because I don't have as much time to deep dive into third party stuff. That said, since I wrote a huge chunk of the 1st edition Pathfinder Cthulhu Mythos book for Petersen Games, that doesn't feel like 3rd party stuff to me! :P
I didn't know that! Very cool.
Though I assume your involvement with the 2e tome hasn't been nearly as extensive... Have you consulted on it at all this go round, or are they largely just updating work you did last time?
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I saw in an email from Petersen Games the other day that Cthulhu Mythos for Pathfinder 2e is on its way. I'm pretty stoked...
Did you ever utilize his CM book for anything you personally ran or played during first edition? Or do you generally avoid using (or discussing) third party content for your own game?
... I don't want to back you into a question you shouldn't be answering.
I usually don't use third party content for my games... not because I don't want to but because I don't have as much time to deep dive into third party stuff. That said, since I wrote a huge chunk of the 1st edition Pathfinder Cthulhu Mythos book for Petersen Games, that doesn't feel like 3rd party stuff to me! :P
I didn't know that! Very cool.
Though I assume your involvement with the 2e tome hasn't been nearly as extensive... Have you consulted on it at all this go round, or are they largely just updating work you did last time?
I'm not involved in the 2nd edition one at all, but I'm looking forward to seeing it!
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Hi, James! The Age of Ashes module "Tomorrow Must Burn" says...
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Did you ever play any of the Dino Crisis games?
I played the first one but quit at about the halfway point or maybe the 2/3 point after getting critically fed up and frustrated with the game play and the camera. To the extent that I didn't touch any Resident Evil style games again until a few years ago. I feel like those games were a bit ahead of their time in that they wanted to be full motion games like Dark Souls or first person viewpoints, but had to have static cameras and overly-frequent loading screens because technology simply couldn't yet match their vision.
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Hi, James! The Age of Ashes module "Tomorrow Must Burn" says...
** spoiler omitted **
Halleka is testing the waters, in other words. That's why he's a diplomat traveling to Ravounel to make some offers and gauge responses, and not an established ambassador. If he finds that Ravounel's government is accepting of having velstrac elements, then Nidal doesn't have to make a huge change to their policies and nature. If he finds out that they do, then there's potentially a problem brewing.
Which isn't the story we wanted to tell in "Age of Ashes," but it's absolutely a potential story we might want to tell in the future, and so started setting up some foreshadowing toward a possible "Fall of Nidal" Adventure Path, or conversely toward a possible "Expansion of Nidal" Adventure Path, or even an "Enemy of My Enemy Ravounel and Nidal vs. Cheliax" Adventure Path."
What your'e seeing is Nidal's initial reactions to a changed border, not a final plan, in other words. But also we wanted to introduce a bit of potentially awkward roleplay opportunity with NPCs and PCs as well, so that players know that NIdal is still on scene and maybe trying to be more friendly but maybe not. It's meant to be uncomfortable, in other words.
Thanks for all that! I really want to try to include this in my upcoming gaming session, but I can't make it make any sense of it...
Thanks so much. It is SO appreciated that you make yourself available in this way.
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Thanks for all that! I really want to try to include this in my upcoming gaming session, but I can't make it make any sense of it...
** spoiler omitted **
Thanks so much. It is SO appreciated that you make yourself available in this way.
Whether or not...
Certainly, Cheliax is a dangerous, looming threat to Ravounel. The Kintargo Contract gives them some protection, but the rulers and people of Ravounel are no fools—they know that at some point, Cheliax will find a way to squirm around those rules using a combination of legalese and pedantry, or alternately will simply get fed up and break the rules and invade and try to deal with potential repurcussions after, or something between the two.
As such, Ravounel is increasingly eager to find allies and help in maintaining their independence. And that might include swallowing a bitter pill that the aid of Zon-Kuthon and his nation and minions might be the difference between being conquered once more or maintaining their freedom.
The whole thing is set up to be a politics-based campaign hook, and works best if it's played out as an entire adventure or campaign with the PCs helping to make those decisions alongside of Ravounel.
If you feel like the inclusion of this character would be too distracting to your players and tempt them into playing a different campaign entirely where they help to broker diplomatic deals between nations against a common foe, and you're not really interested in drifting into that plot, and would prefer to stay focused on the adventure as written, my strong suggestion would be to cut Halleka from the adventure entirley and replace him with a more "generic" NPC guide. Or even better, just let the PCs make the journey to Kintargo on their own; this last one works fine if the PCs are already eager to track the slavers down.
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Hey James! Just started doing stuff with Extinction Curse, and was thrilled to see Zevgavizeb take center stage (I love demon lords too much). It sorta inspired some more questions about the other lords. In particular, what does a non-swamp/boggard cult of Gogunta-worshipers look like, and what would some good motivations for them be? Eccentric and wealthy amphibian-collectors? Philosophers that think frogs are the pinnacle of evolution?
I've always imagined Gogunta worshiping boggards as being the worst of the worst—boggards who aggressively raid their neighbors to gather victims to ritualisticly drown as sacrifices. Along with a lot of rituals designed for their leader to be transformed into a mobogo, at which point that monster lumbers off into the swamp and the next leader takes their place to continue the cycle.
The hardcover Book of the Damned gives all of the demon lords two pages of lore in this way, including obediences for each of them
How likely do you think a Nidal AP ever happening is? I was always surprised it never got one in 1e, and wondered if that was potentially for content reasons.
(It’s probably the #2 Avistani plot option for me after Iron Gods 2!)
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Can teleportation circle be put in location that moves? (like ship, golem, etc)
My players asked me this and I'm really stumped x'D Is there any example of it happening in Pathfinder? I would imagine that if it was possible, I'd imagine I've seen it somewhere
(though its use would be mostly in "moving escape circle" or "I have moving trap that teleports people to 10 foot ledge in volcano" I guess since its one way teleporter to specific location and you can't link circles with another circles so I don't really see why I couldn't allow it.)
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How likely do you think a Nidal AP ever happening is? I was always surprised it never got one in 1e, and wondered if that was potentially for content reasons.
(It’s probably the #2 Avistani plot option for me after Iron Gods 2!)
I've said it before—we've got well over 40 regions, and only (traditionally) do two Adventure Paths a year, which means even if we did one per path, it'd take over two decades to do an Adventure Path for each region in the Inner Sea region.
As a result, when we pick and choose where to set adventures, some of them don't get chosen.
I'd love to do an Adventure Path in Nidal, but that region's a bit extra tricky to pull off since it's difficult, if not impossible, to do an adventure path set there that's not R-Rated and potentially not a great choice for Pathfinder Society play or appropriate for all ages, so it's self-limiting in that way.
Doesn't mean we won't do one some day, but does mean that it's gotta be patient until we decide to spend three to six months in an area that will not be one everyone wants to play in.
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Can teleportation circle be put in location that moves? (like ship, golem, etc)
My players asked me this and I'm really stumped x'D Is there any example of it happening in Pathfinder? I would imagine that if it was possible, I'd imagine I've seen it somewhere
(though its use would be mostly in "moving escape circle" or "I have moving trap that teleports people to 10 foot ledge in volcano" I guess since its one way teleporter to specific location and you can't link circles with another circles so I don't really see why I couldn't allow it.)
We covered this topic in Skull & Shackles, if I recall correctly. I don't know EXACTLY what we did, but I think it built off of the fact that teleport brings you to a location, not a vehicle. Teleportation circles and portals and the like are different. They're also higher level, so I'm fine with them being mobile.
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Can teleportation circle be put in location that moves? (like ship, golem, etc)We covered this topic in Skull & Shackles, if I recall correctly. I don't know EXACTLY what we did,
Dimension Door, Greater Teleport, Teleport, Teleportation Circle: Because ships are constantly in motion, the caster of spells of the teleportation subschool must have line of sight to teleport onto a ship. Otherwise, a caster must scry upon a particular ship first, then immediately teleport to the scryed destination. Any delay in casting means the ship has moved from its scryed location and the spell fails.
James, from the same player's guide, we have the following:
Mirage Arcana: Ships are considered structures for the purposes of this spell.Q: can one use Mirage Arcana to 'disappear' the ship, like some Klingon cloaking device?
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James, from the same player's guide, we have the following:
Mirage Arcana: Ships are considered structures for the purposes of this spell.Q: can one use Mirage Arcana to 'disappear' the ship, like some Klingon cloaking device?
Mirage arcana specifically says that it can alter the appearance of structures. It can't vanish their appearance; that's a different spell effect entirely. The spell can let you make your ship look like any other vehicle (or structure, for that matter, but a house floating along the ocean waves would not be that believable), but you can't make it invisible.
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What do you envision someone would find at the location of Earth and Carcosa in the Shadow Plane?
Earth: Stranger Things' Upside Down. Or the alternate world where the Empty Man comes from. Or the mirror universe from "Mirrors." Etc.
Carcosa: Nothing. Not everything has an analogy in the shadow plane, and Carcosa has enough of its own flavor.
(Shadow Plane variants are MUCH more interesting when the place they are a variant of are already well-known and average and mundane. Carcosa is none of those things. Earth, on the other hand, DEFINES those things, and as such the Shadow Plane makes for a great primary source of adventure locations rather than just a one-off adventure.)
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I'm running a Strange Aeons campaign, so ** spoiler omitted **
Nope. That's a trope that got a lot of play in extraplanar adventures in 1st edition D&D, and I always felt that it made things less fun. It's frustrating to the player to climb the levels and then get rewarded for finally getting new spells by having to adventure in areas where those spells don't work.
They should work normally in that case.
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Are Fey souls any good to a Devil? I would think since they're not part of the system, a devil can't really do anything.
They're part of the system. They're just in a side cycle.
If souls are cars, and the river of souls is a highway, then whereas most souls drive from point A to point Z, fey who are part of the first world are driving in a circle that does an on ramp to the highway, but they take it right off the highway again. A fey soul can exit that system in various ways, essentially leaving the First World and joining the cycle. One of those ways is a devil getting ahold of it.
A fey who sells their soul via an infernal contract to a devil, for example, doesn't reincarnate on the First World if they die there. That's one way a fey soul can break free and, in this case, end up in hell.