Did you have anything to do with 3.5 Oriental Adventures? If so, how do you justify this?I had nothing to do with 3.5 Oriental Adventures, so I have no need to justify anything.
Good. I LOATHE OA. Who's idea was it to write a book about Asian-inspired campaigns and make in 90% Japanese? I bought OA looking forward to Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Southeast Asian, and Indian materiel. Not only that, but using the L5R campaign setting? If I wanted Rokugan, I'd go play L5R.
I hear Golarion doesn't fall into this trap with it's "Asia". Not that Golarion is my thing, but that makes me feel so much better about Paizo. I love your company.
Is there any plans for a similar ice and snow book for Golarion/Pathfinder (or is there one that I'm not aware of)?
I think a general terrain book would be cooler.
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Hay, James. Do you know of any resources for converting AD&D 2E materiel to 3E? There is a REALLY good AD&D 2E supplement that I want to convert to Pathfinder, but I never played AD&D 2E, so I've never seen the system. If I had a conversion guide I could convert it to 3E and then to Pathfinder. Do you know of one?
This page of the WoTC site has the conversion guide from 2nd ed. to 3.0.
I would suggest to use the sourcebook as an inspiration for the setting, plot and flavour and not to bother with converting the creature/characters stats.
There are so many difference between 2nd. ed,, 3.0, 3.5 and Pathfinder that redoing that part from scratch will probably require less work than converting the stuff.
To make an example, multiclassed character were way weaker than what a character made summing up their levels will be.
Good. I LOATHE OA. Who's idea was it to write a book about Asian-inspired campaigns and make in 90% Japanese? I bought OA looking forward to Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Southeast Asian, and Indian materiel. Not only that, but using the L5R campaign setting? If I wanted Rokugan, I'd go play L5R.
I hear Golarion doesn't fall into this trap with it's "Asia". Not that Golarion is my thing, but that makes me feel so much better about Paizo. I love your company.
It wasn't for the 3.0? Beside that it was the adoption of L5R to d20, a very bad idea. With all its limits Kara-Tur for the 2nd edition was better. A way broader number of cultures were depicted, with their roots in different Earth eastern cultures.
India was still absent as inspiration, something that Golarion has.
There is a REALLY good AD&D 2E supplement that I want to convert to Pathfinder
Out of curiosity Kelsey, what supplement were you alluding to?
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Did you have anything to do with 3.5 Oriental Adventures? If so, how do you justify this?I had nothing to do with 3.5 Oriental Adventures, so I have no need to justify anything.Good. I LOATHE OA. Who's idea was it to write a book about Asian-inspired campaigns and make in 90% Japanese? I bought OA looking forward to Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Southeast Asian, and Indian materiel. Not only that, but using the L5R campaign setting? If I wanted Rokugan, I'd go play L5R.
I hear Golarion doesn't fall into this trap with it's "Asia". Not that Golarion is my thing, but that makes me feel so much better about Paizo. I love your company.
I also thought the Third Edition Oriental Adventures left a LOT to be desired.
The First Edition (AD&D) Oriental Adventures book, however, was great! We played in a very cool Oriental Adventures campaign back in the day and had a blast.
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Note that healing itself is NOT necromancy... it's conjuration. So a good necromancer wouldn't be using healing spells anyway.
I think there are some White Necromancers who just might respectfully disagree with this statement :)
Using 3rd party content isn't fair! :-P
But in my favor, I said "GOOD" necromancer, not "WHITE" necromancer.
Well, OK then! :)
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Dear Mister Jacobs,
1- What do you think about the difference between the half-orc and the neanderthal mechanically ? Now that the half-orc is more closer to human in stats, will the Pathfinder´s Neanderthal have uniqueness ?
2- And a caveman would be a human ethnicity ? Or only a technological state ?
3- What about a AP where a radical group of druids were trying to devolve Golarion, making animals and plant become the respective primitive ancestors, humans into hominids and a dinossaur invasion ?
4- Have you played an arcade Prehistoric Isle in 1930 ?
There is a REALLY good AD&D 2E supplement that I want to convert to PathfinderOut of curiosity Kelsey, what supplement were you alluding to?
Never mind. It's 3.0. It's this. I thought it was 2E AD&D because one of the reviewers wrote good for AD&D in the review, and the description didn't say what version it was for.
Hey James,
Do you have a thing for harpies? I have noticed at least two lovelorn harpies in two adventure path books that you have done.
I know this isn't the answer you're looking for... but I can't help you. You have to decide on your own within the context of your own game when levels are gained and what the repercussions are—I don't run games with PCs who have racial HD and never have, really, so I have no real experience at running these kind of games and thus have no real experience on the matter.
I guess if this were my game, I'd just default to the option that's less appealing to the player, honestly, since it's a LOT easier to give a player character a boost in power later on if it becomes obvious that the character has too many disadvantages. Giving a character TOO much is a lot harder to fix, if only because taking perks away from a character makes the player sad.
Fair enough. :) I appreciate your opinion, and based on what you said, I think now it's perfectly fair in my example for a werewolf, at +1 to never lose that +1, or maybe another idea I just had is at level 19 he loses it (no free level though) so he can get his 20th level. Either way, thanks for your input. :)
Are you a fan of were-beasts?
Do you think the "bestow curse" spell could support turning someone into a were-swan, like in Swan Lake?
I noticed that in the Guide to Darkmoon Vale, the writer mentioned a new breed of werewolf that is immune to silver, but we never got stats. Are we ever going to see those?
Wow this is a huge thread. Question. Do you need a vacation and how do you stay sane? lol its cool that you answer all these questions.
Why is the spell Smite Abomination in Carrion Crown part 2 only a Cleric spell and not also an Inquisitor spell? It would seem to be very appropriate for the class to have access to it as well, or at least it would for Inquisitors of Pharasma.
Have you ever considered running a post apocalyptic Golarion campaign?
Might there ever be a post apocalyptic adventure path?
Creative Director
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Did you have anything to do with 3.5 Oriental Adventures? If so, how do you justify this?I had nothing to do with 3.5 Oriental Adventures, so I have no need to justify anything.Good. I LOATHE OA. Who's idea was it to write a book about Asian-inspired campaigns and make in 90% Japanese? I bought OA looking forward to Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Southeast Asian, and Indian materiel. Not only that, but using the L5R campaign setting? If I wanted Rokugan, I'd go play L5R.
I hear Golarion doesn't fall into this trap with it's "Asia". Not that Golarion is my thing, but that makes me feel so much better about Paizo. I love your company.
You'd have to talk to the folks at Wizards of the Coast to get more info on the 3rd edition "Oriental Adventures" book.
Tian Xia draws its inspiration from Japan, China, Korea, Tibet, Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and all the rest of Asia. We ARE pretty focused on the Japan stuff, though, since that's where Jade Regent takes place. But we've also got a module set in Goka (which is sort of our Hong Kong analog) coming soon.
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India was still absent as inspiration, something that Golarion has.
And just so folks don't get confused, India's pretty much absent from the Dragon Empires as well. There's a LITTLE bit of bleedover (mostly in the form of nagas) but not a lot. India's analog, Vudra, isn't on Tian Xia, and thus its details will have to wait.
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Creative Director
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Dear Mister Jacobs,
1- What do you think about the difference between the half-orc and the neanderthal mechanically ? Now that the half-orc is more closer to human in stats, will the Pathfinder´s Neanderthal have uniqueness ?
2- And a caveman would be a human ethnicity ? Or only a technological state ?
3- What about a AP where a radical group of druids were trying to devolve Golarion, making animals and plant become the respective primitive ancestors, humans into hominids and a dinossaur invasion ?
4- Have you played an arcade Prehistoric Isle in 1930 ?
1) Since half-orcs and neanderthals are different creatures, they need different stats. They're similar creatures in a lot of ways... but half-orcs are a lot more civilized overall.
2) "Caveman" would indeed be a human ethnicity. Like the Azlanti, one that might actually have different stat mods.
3) That plot's way too grand in scope even for an AP. Ramp it back to a single zone of a single nation and maybe...
4) Nope!
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Creative Director
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Are you a fan of were-beasts?
Do you think the "bestow curse" spell could support turning someone into a were-swan, like in Swan Lake?
I noticed that in the Guide to Darkmoon Vale, the writer mentioned a new breed of werewolf that is immune to silver, but we never got stats. Are we ever going to see those?
I really REALLY like lycanthropes as story elements, particularly in novels or movies. They're kind of troublesome in RPGs, alas, since they're shapechangers; they're cool, but they're complicated. Too complicated, even though we did do some simplificaiton of them in Pathfinder. But I still do like them enough to overlook the complication and use them in adventures now and then.
Bestow curse isn't something that's powerful enough to inflict lycanthorpy, I think... but a higher level version certainly could!
Werewolves who are immune to silver... bleh. It's cool that werewolves are hurt by silver, because, hey... THEY'RE WEREWOLVES! As far as I'm concerned, those rumors about silver-immune werewolves are just that—rumors. Probably spread by werewolves.
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Why is the spell Smite Abomination in Carrion Crown part 2 only a Cleric spell and not also an Inquisitor spell? It would seem to be very appropriate for the class to have access to it as well, or at least it would for Inquisitors of Pharasma.
Because not everything is for everyone, and we try not to clutter books with too much stuff from other books. If you think that spell would work well as an inquisitor spell... go ahead and change it in your game. We didn't make it an inquisitor spell because it doesn't have to be one, and by not making it one we make things a little less unnecessarily complex.
Clerics are, also, more widespread. And that means they get more toys than someone who's say, not so widespread.
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Have you ever considered running a post apocalyptic Golarion campaign?
Might there ever be a post apocalyptic adventure path?
The thing that's so cool about the post-apocalyptic genre is seeing the familiar world turned into something nightmarish and strange. Golarion isn't as familiar as Earth, and as such, any post-apocalyptic story set in a post-apocalyptic Golarion is inherently and fundamentally less interesting than one set in a future earth.
Also... we spent way too much time and energy on Golarion to put it through an apocalypse. The real world's got all the work done for it already so if we did do something with a post-apocalyptic theme... it'd be set on Earth.
ALTHOUGH: There are some areas in the Inner Sea region that kind of DO qualify as post-apocalyptic—the Sodden Lands and the Worldwound. We'll do something there someday.
Do you think a game set on Golarion during earthfall or right when Aroden died could have a post apocalyptic feel to it?
I'm very curious abut the design and production process Paizo goes through with regards to maps.
Could you maybe describe the steps? Specfically, I'm wondering how intensely you follow such things as natural geology when shaping Golarion, and on the other end, the actual artistic end of producing the map.
Thanks very much--the level of care is very evident in the product line here.
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Do you think a game set on Golarion during earthfall or right when Aroden died could have a post apocalyptic feel to it?
First off: that's not something we'll be doing ever since that's essentially a competing campaign setting to the one we're already spending all our time developing.
A game set just after Aroden's death wouldn't feel postapocalyptic at all. It's a big event, yeah, but if anything it'd feel like a wartime setting, not postapocalyptic.
A game set just after Earthfall though? That's ABSOLUTELY postapocalyptic. Which, by definition, means that the setting we're already talking about, Golarion in the year 4711 AR, is postapocalyptic already.
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I'm very curious abut the design and production process Paizo goes through with regards to maps.
Could you maybe describe the steps? Specfically, I'm wondering how intensely you follow such things as natural geology when shaping Golarion, and on the other end, the actual artistic end of producing the map.
Thanks very much--the level of care is very evident in the product line here.
We generally prefer our authors to design the maps they need for their project, but in many cases (either because WE'RE the authors, or because the author simply doesn't have any mapping skills at all) we do end up creating the initial drafts for a lot of the maps.
Whether a particular mapper follows things like real world geology when creating a map or not is up to the author—I do, for the most part, but I also try to put in a few tweaks and the like here and there—nothing so major as to be unrealistic though.
Once the map draft is done, it's sent off to a professional artist/cartographer to turn the draft into something we can publish. This is probably the MOST COMPLICATED part of producing a book, honestly, since the cartographer doesn't have any of the insight into the setting that the author has, and the author doesn't have any of the skills the cartographer has. It's our job to make sure that the end result is a beautiful map that presents all the information that it needs to present for the product in question, and making those two steps meet is difficult. Often, there's concessions one way or another that require adjustment.
Fans of our products will note that while we use dozens and dozens of different artists and writers on our books, we only use a very SMALL number of cartographers. That's because a cartographer who "gets it" and can produce beautiful maps that still match the author's vision are super hard to find.
Very interesting and enlightening. Thanks.
Follow-up question (that I forgot to ask initially)
How has Golarion grown since the first designs? Was it generally always laid out the way we see it now, or were there earlier, radically different iterations of the world?
There are quite a few different types of Lamia in Golarion. What area did they originate from? Also the write up for the Lamia Matriarch mentions ancient Siv, do we know what Siv is?
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Very interesting and enlightening. Thanks.
Follow-up question (that I forgot to ask initially)
How has Golarion grown since the first designs? Was it generally always laid out the way we see it now, or were there earlier, radically different iterations of the world?
There were quite a few "rough drafts" of the world. Somewhat infamously, Erik's very first draft of the region resulted in several giant pieces of graph paper that, when assembled, formed a "T" shaped map. Which doesn't make for a very easy-to-print shape....
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Creative Director
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There are quite a few different types of Lamia in Golarion. What area did they originate from? Also the write up for the Lamia Matriarch mentions ancient Siv, do we know what Siv is?
Nope. We haven't revealed much about ancient Siv yet. There's two possible genesises for lamias—they could have been created by Pharasma when she cursed one of her oracles, or they could have been created by Lamashtu. Chances are good that both genesis stories have elements of the truth in them.
Nope. We haven't revealed much about ancient Siv yet. There's two possible genesises for lamias—they could have been created by Pharasma when she cursed one of her oracles, or they could have been created by Lamashtu. Chances are good that both genesis stories have elements of the truth in them.There are quite a few different types of Lamia in Golarion. What area did they originate from? Also the write up for the Lamia Matriarch mentions ancient Siv, do we know what Siv is?
So Siv is a land? If so what continent?
Are you a fan of the supplement Libris Mortis? I love it.
What's your favorite undead? I like mummies. Libris Mortis mentions that they are the most likely undead to possess a good alignment, so now I want to play a good aligned mummy fighter.
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So Siv is a land? If so what continent?Nope. We haven't revealed much about ancient Siv yet. There's two possible genesises for lamias—they could have been created by Pharasma when she cursed one of her oracles, or they could have been created by Lamashtu. Chances are good that both genesis stories have elements of the truth in them.There are quite a few different types of Lamia in Golarion. What area did they originate from? Also the write up for the Lamia Matriarch mentions ancient Siv, do we know what Siv is?
Dunno. AKA: I have a few ideas, but they're not ready for public knowledge yet, and are likely to never be expanded upon anyway.
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Are you a fan of the supplement Libris Mortis? I love it.
What's your favorite undead? I like mummies. Libris Mortis mentions that they are the most likely undead to possess a good alignment, so now I want to play a good aligned mummy fighter.
I was lukewarm on Libris Mortis. Some really cool ideas in there, but also some stuff that simply didn't sit well with me. I don't remember what parts they were off the top of my head now, though...
My favorite undead is probably the lich. But maybe the ghost.
As for my take on good undead... I would probably never allow a good mummy into print. They're evil through and through in my book. In fact, of all the undead in Pathfinder, the ghost's the only one who can be good... and those are SUPER rare.
Are you a fan of the supplement Libris Mortis? I love it.
What's your favorite undead? I like mummies. Libris Mortis mentions that they are the most likely undead to possess a good alignment, so now I want to play a good aligned mummy fighter.
I was lukewarm on Libris Mortis. Some really cool ideas in there, but also some stuff that simply didn't sit well with me. I don't remember what parts they were off the top of my head now, though...
My favorite undead is probably the lich. But maybe the ghost.
As for my take on good undead... I would probably never allow a good mummy into print. They're evil through and through in my book. In fact, of all the undead in Pathfinder, the ghost's the only one who can be good... and those are SUPER rare.
What about a good aligned fighter and bodyguard of a dead pharaoh who volunteered to be mummified to guard the pharaoh's tomb for all time?
Libris Mortis also has rules for good lichs. Granted, those I'm lukewarm on.
Do you like superheroes? What's your favorite?
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What about a good aligned fighter and bodyguard of a dead pharaoh who volunteered to be mummified to guard the pharaoh's tomb for all time?
Libris Mortis also has rules for good lichs. Granted, those I'm lukewarm on.
Still evil. In Golarion, at least. Undead = evil, unless you're a ghost, or unless you're a really REALLY good writer who wows me with your craft and thus earns the right to be able to get away with a non-evil undead in your story or adventure.
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how many countries are in Tien Xia and what are they?
There are 28 regions in Tian Xia, but not all of them are countries—a few of them are true wildernesses.
As for what they are... we did a preview of them in the latest Kobold Quarterly. And since the book itself is ALMOST out... and since I don't want to post a wall of text... I'll fall back on the "Patience, it's close!" line.
Still evil. In Golarion, at least. Undead = evil, unless you're a ghost, or unless you're a really REALLY good writer who wows me with your craft and thus earns the right to be able to get away with a non-evil undead in your story or adventure.What about a good aligned fighter and bodyguard of a dead pharaoh who volunteered to be mummified to guard the pharaoh's tomb for all time?
Libris Mortis also has rules for good lichs. Granted, those I'm lukewarm on.
You're as old fashioned as my grandpa ^_^.
RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 8
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Still evil. In Golarion, at least. Undead = evil, unless you're a ghost, or unless you're a really REALLY good writer who wows me with your craft and thus earns the right to be able to get away with a non-evil undead in your story or adventure.
JJ: How would one go about wowing you with their writing prowess? Is there a form to submit? Or do you take portfolio submissions as well?
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RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 8
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I'm entertained by superheroes, but I much prefer horror comics over superhero comics. If I had to pick a favorite superhero, said superhero would probably be Batman, although Swamp Thing is cool too.
Are you reading the new 52 at all? Both Batman and Swamp Thing are amazing.
Werewolves who are immune to silver... bleh. It's cool that werewolves are hurt by silver, because, hey... THEY'RE WEREWOLVES! As far as I'm concerned, those rumors about silver-immune werewolves are just that—rumors. Probably spread by werewolves.
Heh, in old world of darkness I had as a villain a Shadow Lord that broke a lot of rules (nowhere near as many as WW's own Samuel Haight!). She was not really bothered by silver, but she was by gold instead. Long story short I met IRL a supposed Koldunic Sorcerer who told me alot and also showed me proof that he was burned by gold (maybe he was just highly allergic, but it looked more like a red burn than an allergic reaction), but told me he had an affinity with silver so I made her a Koldun, resistant to silver but burned by gold.
I've thought about remaking her in Pathfinder, and what you say makes me even more want to keep her "reversed" of sorts. The characters will be like "That's just werewolf propaganda there is no way a werewolf immune to silver." Talking to the rare good werewolves (including one related by blood (but raised apart from) my villain), they will all agree, Yeah, that's crap. Then, when they finally fight her at level 20... OMG she really is unaffected by silver! Course, at that time they'll have magic weapons, but still the shock value would be there story wise at least. Heh.
Pathfinder #51 is the closest we're likely to get anytime soon.So...a lot!
Great job-I'm particularly fond of the Knight of the Iron Glacier.
Is there any plans for a similar ice and snow book for Golarion/Pathfinder (or is there one that I'm not aware of)?
While not overly interested in Jade Regent I have been meaning to pick up Pathfinder #50 for the Shelyn article. This would be a second volume of the AP that I'd be purchasing. In for a penny...looks like I'm buying Jade Regent!
What is your favorite change or addition to D&D that Pathfinder made? I personally like archetypes the best. They are awesome. I love how they are prestige classy, but you don't have to meet prerequisites or wait until 7th level. I also love how they allow you to customize the classes to fit characters as well as possible.
Heh, in old world of darkness I had as a villain a Shadow Lord that broke a lot of rules (nowhere near as many as WW's own Samuel Haight!). She was not really bothered by silver, but she was by gold instead. Long story short I met IRL a supposed Koldunic Sorcerer who told me alot and also showed me proof that he was burned by gold (maybe he was just highly allergic, but it looked more like a red burn than an allergic reaction), but told me he had an affinity with silver so I made her a Koldun, resistant to silver but burned by gold.
Werewolves who are immune to silver... bleh. It's cool that werewolves are hurt by silver, because, hey... THEY'RE WEREWOLVES! As far as I'm concerned, those rumors about silver-immune werewolves are just that—rumors. Probably spread by werewolves.
Sometimes an allergic reaction to a metal does look like a burn. I'm allergic to silver and it looks like a red burn. Blisters if I let it go too long (~20 minutes). Have some scars, too.
What gives? I thought my DR was surpassed by holy crossbow bolts, not silver jewelry.
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JJ: How would one go about wowing you with their writing prowess? Is there a form to submit? Or do you take portfolio submissions as well?
Still evil. In Golarion, at least. Undead = evil, unless you're a ghost, or unless you're a really REALLY good writer who wows me with your craft and thus earns the right to be able to get away with a non-evil undead in your story or adventure.
Winning RPG superstar is one route. So is coming in 2nd or 3rd and then getting assigned a part of a book about a section of Golarion that's really close to my heart but that I didn't have the time to write and then you write it exactly or better as I would have written it myself.
Designing a book or product that I love is another—extra credit if you designed this many years ago and thus gave me years or decades to come to adore your writing.
It's not easy, in other words, and that helps to explain why there are so few good-aligned undead in Golarion.
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Are you reading the new 52 at all? Both Batman and Swamp Thing are amazing.
I'm entertained by superheroes, but I much prefer horror comics over superhero comics. If I had to pick a favorite superhero, said superhero would probably be Batman, although Swamp Thing is cool too.
I read the first issue of six or seven of them, borrowed from Erik, and quite liked them (Swamp Thing was in there, but the closest I got to Batman was Batwoman, which was great... Animal Man was probably my favorite)... but then never read any more. I suspect that I just don't have time to add comics to my entertainment schedule these days.