Creative Director
|
| 5 people marked this as a favorite. |
So there seems to be a species of dragon that’s native to any plane or biome. What is it about dragons that makes them so prolific?
The fact that dragons are so popular that when they're included in a product means that product tends to sell better certainly helps...
...but from an in-world perspective, there's not a real reason, other than that you could say the same for any creature type. The fact that dragons tend to be one of the most tightly themed groups, as opposed to beasts or aberrations or humanoids or plants, doesn't mean that they're any less common than other creature types in every biome or plane. So it's not so much something about dragons that makes them prolific as much as it is something about dragons that makes them so specific.
After all, a dragon could have technically just been a beast, but since there's SO much mythos and lore and favoritism and legacy and nostalgia for the word dragon, they get to be special.
Good day.
Wow long could demons live?
Do they remain until killed, or do they too, have an expiration date?
|
Creative Director
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Good day.
Wow long could demons live?
Do they remain until killed, or do they too, have an expiration date?
Demons, along with pretty much all fiends and celestials and monitors and those types of creatures that populate the outer planes, are immortal. No expiration dates for any of them except those writ by violence, misadventure, or affliction.
I'm absolutely loving Malevolence and am looking forward to running it for my party but I am unclear about a few things.
|
Creative Director
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I'm absolutely loving Malevolence and am looking forward to running it for my party but I am unclear about a few things.
** spoiler omitted **
With the emephasis in Primal Magic in 2nd Edition, Why are Dragons and draconic association Arcane? is it more then a hold over? (A player of mine asked the question and I realised I could not give them an appropriate answer)
|
Creative Director
|
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
With the emephasis in Primal Magic in 2nd Edition, Why are Dragons and draconic association Arcane? is it more then a hold over? (A player of mine asked the question and I realised I could not give them an appropriate answer)
Primal magic isn't any more "emphasized" than any other tradition in 2nd edition.
Different dragons are associated with different magical traditions; the chromatic and metallic ones are associated with arcane magic.
The primal dragons in Bestiary 2 are associated with primal magic.
The imperial dragons in Bestiary 3 are on a case by case basis.
The esoteric dragons would be associated with occult magic, the outer dragons also likely a case by case basis like the imperials, and the planar dragons with divine magic.
|
Creative Director
|
Forest’s Blessing
Prerequisite(s): Wizard 5
Benefit: You cast any spells that appear on both the wizard and druid spell lists at +1 caster level and with +1 to the save DC. In addition, you may replace the material component of any arcane spell with gems of the same value.
A player asked if this would give him ability to learn and cast druid spells.
If that was a player in my game, I'd say no. A feat should never give you a core class ability like that. A feat like that works best if you're a wizard/druid, for example, but doesn't give you access to spell lists.
Hey James!
Following up on the primal dragon question, one of my players wants to be a Draconic sorcerer tied to a primal dragon. I was thinking the easiest way to do that would be to update the Draconic bloodline by mixing it with the Elemental bloodline (since it is primal).
Spell list: arcane to primal
Bloodline Skills: Arcana to Nature; keep Intimidation
Granted Spells: Keep existing Draconic spells that are on both primal and arcane lists; for Draconic bloodline spells not on primal list adopt the granted spells from the Elemental bloodline (letting the chosen energy type be the same as the primal dragon's breath weapon)
Bloodline Spells and Bloodline Magic: Stay the same
Does this seem fair/not gamebreaking?
Home game and I am GM, so I know I can allow anything. But, I try to remember that just because you can do something doesn't mean you should... And, if this qualifies as asking you to do design, my apologies in advance!
|
Creative Director
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Hey James!
Following up on the primal dragon question, one of my players wants to be a Draconic sorcerer tied to a primal dragon. I was thinking the easiest way to do that would be to update the Draconic bloodline by mixing it with the Elemental bloodline (since it is primal).
Spell list: arcane to primal
Bloodline Skills: Arcana to Nature; keep Intimidation
Granted Spells: Keep existing Draconic spells that are on both primal and arcane lists; for Draconic bloodline spells not on primal list adopt the granted spells from the Elemental bloodline (letting the chosen energy type be the same as the primal dragon's breath weapon)
Bloodline Spells and Bloodline Magic: Stay the sameDoes this seem fair/not gamebreaking?
Home game and I am GM, so I know I can allow anything. But, I try to remember that just because you can do something doesn't mean you should... And, if this qualifies as asking you to do design, my apologies in advance!
I avoid rendering judgments on homebrew stuff, other than to encourage folks to try out new things like this. My advice here is to try this out, but let your player know that you might need to change things if it's too good or not good enough. I also advise you to let the player do a free and full rebuild of their character if you decide that a change to a houserule is needed and that makes the character not viable for the player.
By doing this more and more, you'll get more used to building houserules, and even more importantly, will know what does and doesn't work for your table, so in time, you'll be able to introduce new rules easier.
** spoiler omitted **I'm absolutely loving Malevolence and am looking forward to running it for my party but I am unclear about a few things.
** spoiler omitted **
Follow up question
|
Creative Director
|
** spoiler omitted **I'm absolutely loving Malevolence and am looking forward to running it for my party but I am unclear about a few things.
** spoiler omitted **
Follow up question
** spoiler omitted **
|
Creative Director
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Has 2e gotten rid of mobats? Can't find mention of 2e skavelings being undead mobats
The word "mobat" is a D&D invention that basically stands in for "giant bat." I'm not sure why Gygax or whoever invented them called them mobats and not just "giant bats." In any event, we've shed that term since it's not one that we can use in our non-ogl products, and because "giant bat" is more approachable to a new reader.
|
Has 2e gotten rid of mobats? Can't find mention of 2e skavelings being undead mobatsThe word "mobat" is a D&D invention that basically stands in for "giant bat." I'm not sure why Gygax or whoever invented them called them mobats and not just "giant bats." In any event, we've shed that term since it's not one that we can use in our non-ogl products, and because "giant bat" is more approachable to a new reader.
Aren't mobats also evil aligned and intelligent or was that pathfinder invention?
|
Creative Director
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Aren't mobats also evil aligned and intelligent or was that pathfinder invention?Has 2e gotten rid of mobats? Can't find mention of 2e skavelings being undead mobatsThe word "mobat" is a D&D invention that basically stands in for "giant bat." I'm not sure why Gygax or whoever invented them called them mobats and not just "giant bats." In any event, we've shed that term since it's not one that we can use in our non-ogl products, and because "giant bat" is more approachable to a new reader.
I guess so. Still, they occupy the same basic encounter niche. I don't particularly miss them, myself.
With the emephasis in Primal Magic in 2nd Edition, Why are Dragons and draconic association Arcane? is it more then a hold over? (A player of mine asked the question and I realised I could not give them an appropriate answer)Primal magic isn't any more "emphasized" than any other tradition in 2nd edition.
Different dragons are associated with different magical traditions; the chromatic and metallic ones are associated with arcane magic.
The primal dragons in Bestiary 2 are associated with primal magic.
The imperial dragons in Bestiary 3 are on a case by case basis.
The esoteric dragons would be associated with occult magic, the outer dragons also likely a case by case basis like the imperials, and the planar dragons with divine magic.
Hi,
Does this means there are palns on releasing dragon eidolons corrsonding with each tradition?Humbly,
Yawar
|
Creative Director
|
With the emephasis in Primal Magic in 2nd Edition, Why are Dragons and draconic association Arcane? is it more then a hold over? (A player of mine asked the question and I realised I could not give them an appropriate answer)Primal magic isn't any more "emphasized" than any other tradition in 2nd edition.
Different dragons are associated with different magical traditions; the chromatic and metallic ones are associated with arcane magic.
The primal dragons in Bestiary 2 are associated with primal magic.
The imperial dragons in Bestiary 3 are on a case by case basis.
The esoteric dragons would be associated with occult magic, the outer dragons also likely a case by case basis like the imperials, and the planar dragons with divine magic.
Hi,
Does this means there are palns on releasing dragon eidolons corrsonding with each tradition?Humbly,
Yawar
Nope.
Might do that some day, but it doesn't mean we for sure will.
|
Do you have any samples of how GMs have adjucated ritual acquisition? I'm inclined to want hard mechanics.
Was there something more lengthy and crunchy that didn't make it into the Core rulebook, and was slated for a later release?
As it is, we have level and rarity, which helps. But it's a permanent boon. But we don't have a process to help GMs mechanically.
For example, if a party is determined to find a certain ritual, it could take many sessions of GM improvising to acquire, potentially pulling the group away from the AP.
I like the idea of being able to track down an NPC that knows a ritual you want to learn or have performed. Many skills could lead you to this person, requiring a check, or multiple checks, plus time.
Perhaps you get one chance to per character level with this NPC.
Critical success = learning the ritual; success = convincing the NPC to perform it; critical failure = no further chance in future character levels.
Have any GMs you know used such a system, and if so, could you describe it in detail?
|
Creative Director
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Do you have any samples of how GMs have adjucated ritual acquisition? I'm inclined to want hard mechanics.
Was there something more lengthy and crunchy that didn't make it into the Core rulebook, and was slated for a later release?
As it is, we have level and rarity, which helps. But it's a permanent boon. But we don't have a process to help GMs mechanically.
For example, if a party is determined to find a certain ritual, it could take many sessions of GM improvising to acquire, potentially pulling the group away from the AP.
I like the idea of being able to track down an NPC that knows a ritual you want to learn or have performed. Many skills could lead you to this person, requiring a check, or multiple checks, plus time.
Perhaps you get one chance to per character level with this NPC.
Critical success = learning the ritual; success = convincing the NPC to perform it; critical failure = no further chance in future character levels.
Have any GMs you know used such a system, and if so, could you describe it in detail?
Nope. Just what you see when we put rituals and discovering them into adventures.
This thread is the exact wrong place for me to do design work, in any event.
Sorry if this too obscure of a lore question, but are there any places on Golarion where the Eldest have common worship? Like, would the Green Mother or other Eldest revered in a place like the Verduran Forest, or Count Ranalc in Shadow Absalom/Beacon?
Again, sorry if this is obscure, but these guys really interested me in Gods and Magic.
|
Creative Director
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Sorry if this too obscure of a lore question, but are there any places on Golarion where the Eldest have common worship? Like, would the Green Mother or other Eldest revered in a place like the Verduran Forest, or Count Ranalc in Shadow Absalom/Beacon?
Again, sorry if this is obscure, but these guys really interested me in Gods and Magic.
Not really; they're pretty obscure deities who don't have a large collection of worshipers. Their worshipers are either fey, who live in remote wilderness areas, or small cults scattered all over the place. There's not a location yet that we've detailed where their worship approaches anything to the level of a core deity. One of the whole thematic points of the Eldest is that they're meant to be pretty mysterious and strange. It does create a weird sort of disconnect in that the interest we (be we creators of the content or readers of the content) have in them while the world at all doesn't have much interest in them, but that's kind of the point of intriguing mysteries. If they were commonplace they'd be mundane, not mysterious, and increasingly less compelling to think about.
|
Creative Director
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Hi James,
Yet more questions about fiends! Specifically, the more esoteric varieties.
An asura, a div, and a demon are all given a mortal hero (call them a 10th level fighter) to talk to, munch on, or do whatever they wish with. What does each one do with its new toy? Obviously this depends on the story and what the DM wants to do, not to mention the type of demon/asura/div (succubus is different than balor), but I just wanted a deeper look into the psychology of each of these fiendish species.
I haven't really put much thought into asuras or divs lately at all, so I'd have to go back to the Book of the Damned and re-read what we put there.
A demon would seek to destroy the mortal in the way that would work best to maximize devastation on that mortal's family and society. Simply killing a mortal isn't as attractive to a demon as would be using the mortal as a vector to ruin families, destroy relationships, and shatter the veneer of civilization.
What languages are commonly spoken in Ustalav?The Inner Sea World Guide has all that info; it's a 1st edition product but the vast majority of its contents are edition neutral and still useful.
For Ustalav: Common, Skald, and Varisian.
I've always been interested about some of those across many countries.
Common and Varisian are obvious. Is Skald a commonly spoken language in Ustalav because of traders? Coming across Belkzen and and down from the north? As opposed to their Numerian neighbours who are not often traded with, hence no Hallit? What reasons were languages chosen when there aren't large obvious communities of a given ethnicity in that nation/region.
Sorry for another obscure lore question, but what happens to the fetchlings who disappear during Lacrimosas on the Shadow Plane? I was thinking about playing a Brightsorrow fetchling described in the Ancestry Guide, so I was wanting to know. Do they go somewhere else, and do they have any memory of where they went?
|
Creative Director
|
What languages are commonly spoken in Ustalav?The Inner Sea World Guide has all that info; it's a 1st edition product but the vast majority of its contents are edition neutral and still useful.
For Ustalav: Common, Skald, and Varisian.
I've always been interested about some of those across many countries.
Common and Varisian are obvious. Is Skald a commonly spoken language in Ustalav because of traders? Coming across Belkzen and and down from the north? As opposed to their Numerian neighbours who are not often traded with, hence no Hallit? What reasons were languages chosen when there aren't large obvious communities of a given ethnicity in that nation/region.
Hmm, that might be a typo, the more I think of it, and that we meant Hallit.
|
Creative Director
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Sorry for another obscure lore question, but what happens to the fetchlings who disappear during Lacrimosas on the Shadow Plane? I was thinking about playing a Brightsorrow fetchling described in the Ancestry Guide, so I was wanting to know. Do they go somewhere else, and do they have any memory of where they went?
That question is certainly obscure, because I don't know what you're talking about. Feel free to use mysterious obscure things like this in your game to build new lore specifically FOR your game, choosing the thing that makes your game more fun.
That said, not knowing what Lacrimosas is, if the whole point of it as we presented it is that it's mysterious... then as a player, you shouldn't know what that mystery is anyway. It's sometimes difficult for us to present mysterious things in the game because once we tell the GM, they're no longer mysteries, but if we DON'T tell the GM, we're failing at our job to provide information.
Humans seem to have a lot of different languages. The non-human thinking species, on the other hand, all seem to have only one language per species (or ancestry, if you prefer). Why is that?
|
Creative Director
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Humans seem to have a lot of different languages. The non-human thinking species, on the other hand, all seem to have only one language per species (or ancestry, if you prefer). Why is that?
Because we intentionally set up humans as the baseline ancestry of the game, and because humans are real and we're all very diverse and we want the game to be for everyone and thus want everyone who plays the game to have a chance to see themselves in the game.
Hmm, that might be a typo, the more I think of it, and that we meant Hallit.What languages are commonly spoken in Ustalav?The Inner Sea World Guide has all that info; it's a 1st edition product but the vast majority of its contents are edition neutral and still useful.
For Ustalav: Common, Skald, and Varisian.
I've always been interested about some of those across many countries.
Common and Varisian are obvious. Is Skald a commonly spoken language in Ustalav because of traders? Coming across Belkzen and and down from the north? As opposed to their Numerian neighbours who are not often traded with, hence no Hallit? What reasons were languages chosen when there aren't large obvious communities of a given ethnicity in that nation/region.
Good to know, thanks for taking the time to answer.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Humans seem to have a lot of different languages. The non-human thinking species, on the other hand, all seem to have only one language per species (or ancestry, if you prefer). Why is that?Because we intentionally set up humans as the baseline ancestry of the game, and because humans are real and we're all very diverse and we want the game to be for everyone and thus want everyone who plays the game to have a chance to see themselves in the game.
I think you misunderstood my question. Let me rephrase: why only one language for all elves, or all dwarves, or whatever? Why wouldn't the languages of dwarves who've been living in the five kings mountains for millennia be different now from the language of dwarves who've been living in the Mwangi Expanse for the same very long time?
|
Creative Director
|
So have any apocalypse horses actually been slain over the ages, and not been immediately resurrected? I ask since in 1e they were pretty impossible to kill in the presence of the horsemen, but more than 300 ft. away, they could die just like any other outsider.
What happens if that occurs?
A new one comes along eventually, although we've not really talked about how that happens. I suspect the horseman who's missing their horse does stuff though.
|
Creative Director
|
I think you misunderstood my question. Let me rephrase: why only one language for all elves, or all dwarves, or whatever? Why wouldn't the languages of dwarves who've been living in the five kings mountains for millennia be different now from the language of dwarves who've been living in the Mwangi Expanse for the same very long time?
Because too many languages makes gameplay cluttered and frustrating and less fun. The number of human languages in the game already push things toward that direction but it was important for us to do so because that's part of showing human diveristy.
Feel free to add your own additional regional languages if you want, but I don't find that helps much in actual play of the game when you want to have the PCs roleplay with the NPCs.
Blood of Fiends (2012) seems to imply that on Jalmeray, tieflings are considered a pseudo-untouchable caste and are essentially forced in to menial labor. Should this still be considered to be canon for the region? I don't know how much you worked on that book or Jalmeray in general.
Do you think the Laws of Mortality will be more fleshed out in the future, or has it been or will it be intentionally left unwritten?
Might we see a Rahadoum focused book for 2e? Perhaps with rules for being a member of the Pure Legion?
I like how Rahadoum and the Laws of Mortality have been incorporated more in 2e right from the start, and I cannot wait to see more content related to the country.
|
Creative Director
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Blood of Fiends (2012) seems to imply that on Jalmeray, tieflings are considered a pseudo-untouchable caste and are essentially forced in to menial labor. Should this still be considered to be canon for the region? I don't know how much you worked on that book or Jalmeray in general.
That book's nearly a decade old, and we've moved away from trying to be too close to real-world caste systems like that. Tieflings are still considered to be evil generally in ALL parts of the world, even though they don't have to be (any more than aasimars have to be good) but the ancestry itself has deliberate built-in fantasy baggage.
So while we wouldn't call them untouchables to day, they'd remain outcasts. Not because we're trying to foster the same fraught awful real-world traditions, and not because of Jalmeray itself, but because they are a supernatural partly fiendish ancestry of which the vast majority are themselves evil. In the same way tieflings are generally feared and face superstition and the like all over the world.
|
Creative Director
|
Do you think the Laws of Mortality will be more fleshed out in the future, or has it been or will it be intentionally left unwritten?
Might we see a Rahadoum focused book for 2e? Perhaps with rules for being a member of the Pure Legion?
I like how Rahadoum and the Laws of Mortality have been incorporated more in 2e right from the start, and I cannot wait to see more content related to the country.
We'll see. I'm not interested myself in developing Rahadoum as anything other than a place to fight against, personally, but not everyone agrees. The most positive spin I can think to put on a potential Rahadoum adventure path would be one where the PCs can help faith exist there again. Every PC I play is a character of faith, so it's difficult for me to envision an adventure set in Rahadoum where the PCs I'd play wouldn't be put in jail or persecuted or executed. Ironically, I feel like Cheliax is a more welcoming place to the types of characters I generally want to play than is Rahadoum.
Maybe as the antagonist nation in an Adventure Path where the PCs play Red Mantis agents; that's pretty much the only venue in which I'd really be that interested in personally building a story set there.
If you want to do any sort of business-related thing for a t-shirt or mousepad and then sell those things for your own profit, you have to negotiate a license with us to do so. This sort of thing is what the community use policy is for, but a big part of that is that you Can Not Use It To Make Money.
Your use of the word "business" makes me think you're looking to generate an income stream using Paizo's intellectual property, though, which you aren't allowed to do without a license granted by us. You'd need to contact our licensing department, but fair warning... competition for licenses is extraordinary stiff.
No, no. I just want like Vistaprint to print me a mousepad or shirt for myself, not to sell anything. Last time I tried with a different copyrighted material, I had to get approval from the company first before the printing company was willing to do the work. I only tagged it as business because it wasn't lore or gameplay related.
As for the potential for Rahadoum, I'm really liking how successful the country is without any divine assistance and hope it remains that way. I could see a future where visitors and citizens could be worshippers, but with the government and any officials not endorsing or participating at all in the activity.
|
Creative Director
|
No, no. I just want like Vistaprint to print me a mousepad or shirt for myself, not to sell anything. Last time I tried with a different copyrighted material, I had to get approval from the company first before the printing company was willing to do the work. I only tagged it as business because it wasn't lore or gameplay related.
As long as it's for personal use, it should be fine... but I'm not a lawyer and I don't have the capacity to grant permissions like that myself, and if the printing company needs approval from the company first then I'd have to say that you might be out of luck there. Better to err on the safe side of the law.
Thanks! My mousepad just recently fell apart and I'd love to get one personalized.
Thanks for all your hard work!
|
Creative Director
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
What was the thought process behind making ogre mages into oni for Pathfinder? I'm really impressed with how something relatively simple (giant that casts spells) could be spun out into an entire race of fiends, and was curious about the motivation/design considerations that went into it.
That's what they've been from the start back in AD&D pretty much, but they never actually called them oni in those earlier days. Oni, of course, are from real world mythology.