There are other reasons why you shouldn't hold your breath for a Taldor AP. First and foremost, because we're hesitant to mix the stomping grounds of the Pathfinder Society campaign with the AP that significantly....
Interesting to hear that confirmed. I had inferred some time ago that that was the case, when I opined in another thread that I thought an Absalom-centered AP unlikely due to Absalom's crucial importance in PSOP (control of Absalom is what the factions are contending over, after all).
Here's a question: will any of the AP's you're planning for the next few years develop Kelesh and/or Vudra the way that Jade Regent does for Minkai? I especially want to see Vudra; Indian mythology is really cool, and has never been used much in fantasy gaming as far as I know, and you've got to love the idea of rakshasas as the principle antagonists.
Does ,in your opinion, taking dexterity damage, or anything that in some way lowers your dexterity modifier, count as denying you a dexterity bonus to ac?
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Could you do the dinosaur diplodocus I have it primary weppon, its tail down it would deal 6d6+str dmg has reach out to 45ft. dmg and has the special quality stun. It does 6d6 because of imp. natural weppon (tail) I do not know its stats.
I statted up the diplodocus back in Dragon #318, along with stats for compsognathus, dimetrodon, giganotosaurus, helicoprion, liopleurodon, pacycephalosaurus, parasaurolophus, pteranodon, rhamphorhynchus, and stegosaurus. Most of those have since been statted up in Pathfinder here and there. We'll get around to statting up the diplodocus some day, I suspect.
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Interesting to hear that confirmed. I had inferred some time ago that that was the case, when I opined in another thread that I thought an Absalom-centered AP unlikely due to Absalom's crucial importance in PSOP (control of Absalom is what the factions are contending over, after all).
Here's a question: will any of the AP's you're planning for the next few years develop Kelesh and/or Vudra the way that Jade Regent does for Minkai? I especially want to see Vudra; Indian mythology is really cool, and has never been used much in fantasy gaming as far as I know, and you've got to love the idea of rakshasas as the principle antagonists.
Absalom is another case entirely, actually. Chances of us eventually doing an Absalom AP are VERY good.
Honestly, my personal interest in a region plays a HUGE role in whether or not we do an AP set in an area as well... and that's probably an even bigger reason why we're unlikely to do a Taldor based AP anytime soon, since there's MANY other regions I'd rather hit first before getting to Taldor. And high on that list of other regions is Absalom.
We just did an AP that went from Avistan through the Crown of the World and into Tian Xia. It, and the support materials we needed to generate to support it, was one of the hardest APs we've done to date, and I'm not eager to repeat that ordeal anytime soon by doing a similar one by abandoning half a decade's worth of support material to go somewhere other than the Inner Sea.
You CAN expect us to have other continents periodically influence adventures and APs though, just as there was a lot of Vudra influence in Pathfinder #9, or a lot of Iobaria influence in Pathfinder #33.
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Does ,in your opinion, taking dexterity damage, or anything that in some way lowers your dexterity modifier, count as denying you a dexterity bonus to ac?
Not at all. Having Dexterity damage lowers your AC, but does nothing to deny your bonus to your AC. Doesn't have anything to do with it, in fact.
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Absalom is another case entirely, actually. Chances of us eventually doing an Absalom AP are VERY good.
While an AP set in Absalom would be a great way to expand on that city in even more detail than it has been previously covered, as well as being able to explore a cornerstone of the Golarion setting that's almost mandatory to have an AP set in it, a few years of PFS play has left me feeling like that area, for now at least is already well covered.
Then again I realize thier are AP players that never play PFS as well as PFS players hungry for even more Absalom material, and looking for more things to do in the 'Pathfinder Society Playground'.
Heh, I just argued with myself. Carry on.
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Absalom is another case entirely, actually. Chances of us eventually doing an Absalom AP are VERY good.While an AP set in Absalom would be a great way to expand on that city in even more detail than it has been previously covered, as well as being able to explore a cornerstone of the Golarion setting that's almost mandatory to have an AP set in it, a few years of PFS play has left me feeling like that area, for now at least is already well covered.
Then again I realize thier are AP players that never play PFS as well as PFS players hungry for even more Absalom material, and looking for more things to do in the 'Pathfinder Society Playground'.
Heh, I just argued with myself. Carry on.
Funny... I feel like we've barely scratched the surface of what we COULD do with Absalom if we turned the full force of our creativity at it. For the supposed "city at the center of the world," it feels a lot less important to Golarion than Varisia, which makes sense since Varisia's the focus of so many APs.
Here's a thought that might be too big a change to the Inner Sea Region to do in the near term, but could be a fun way to liven things up, say, five years down the road. Would you ever consider ending the revolution in Galt with the rise of a Napoleon-like figure (a 20th-level Cavalier, let's say) who unifies that country, then turns to conquering its neighbors? An AP conceptually based on the Richard Sharpe novels, with the PCs playing a similar role to Sharpe and his Chosen Men (probably in service to Andoran) could be a heck of a lot of fun. Taking the Napoleonic wars as the pattern would mean that none of the big changes to the map of Avistan implied by the formation of an Empire of Greater Galt would be permanent -- after Waterloo, most of Europe's pre-Napoleonic borders and dynasties were restored, though of course it led to far-reaching changes in the decades to come. Such events could make for a very interesting year for the Pathfinder Society living campaign, as well.
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You might be sick of the Taldor chatter now but I'll chance a question:
I found the Taldor write-up intriguing and it sparked loads of adventure ideas: what is it about Taldor that you find so unappealing?
It's not that I find Taldor unappealing at all. It's that I find other locations more appealing than Taldor.
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Here's a thought that might be too big a change to the Inner Sea Region to do in the near term, but could be a fun way to liven things up, say, five years down the road. Would you ever consider ending the revolution in Galt with the rise of a Napoleon-like figure (a 20th-level Cavalier, let's say) who unifies that country, then turns to conquering its neighbors? An AP conceptually based on the Richard Sharpe novels, with the PCs playing a similar role to Sharpe and his Chosen Men (probably in service to Andoran) could be a heck of a lot of fun. Taking the Napoleonic wars as the pattern would mean that none of the big changes to the map of Avistan implied by the formation of an Empire of Greater Galt would be permanent -- after Waterloo, most of Europe's pre-Napoleonic borders and dynasties were restored, though of course it led to far-reaching changes in the decades to come. Such events could make for a very interesting year for the Pathfinder Society living campaign, as well.
Nope. One thing we don't want to do with the Inner Sea is "fix" or "destroy" any of the nations we've developed. If Galt's revolutions end, it's no longer a great place to set revolution stories, and thus Galt loses all of the things that make Galt what it is, and not just another generic fantasy realm.
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I have never made a module, how would you go about it oh great James Jacobs?I do agree you make wonderful games just I was hoping that I could one of the most infamous dungons made in pathfinderNothing stopping you from doing it on yourself--we can't, though.
That's a topic I could fill a several-hundred page book with advice on, honestly.
The short version, though—buy and read lots of published adventures, study how they're put together, and then write an adventure that follows that style.
There's a book called ultimate tome of adventure design that just came out Run, Just Rune. Might want to peruse it, although only if you're very serious. It's quite expensive.
Also, have a great grasp of the rules.
Oh right. I've been thinking of Runes a lot lately.
Funny... I feel like we've barely scratched the surface of what we COULD do with Absalom if we turned the full force of our creativity at it. For the supposed "city at the center of the world," it feels a lot less important to Golarion than Varisia, which makes sense since Varisia's the focus of so many APs.
This is my impression too. The Absalom sourcebook is one of few 'misses' for me from Paizo. I quite liked what was in it, but it just felt too sketchy for such an integral part of the setting.
Even if there was no AP in the offing, is there any chance of eventually seeing either an "Absalom 2" 64 page sourcebook or (better) an expanded hardcover?
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Funny... I feel like we've barely scratched the surface of what we COULD do with Absalom if we turned the full force of our creativity at it. For the supposed "city at the center of the world," it feels a lot less important to Golarion than Varisia, which makes sense since Varisia's the focus of so many APs.This is my impression too. The Absalom sourcebook is one of few 'misses' for me from Paizo. I quite liked what was in it, but it just felt too sketchy for such an integral part of the setting.
Even if there was no AP in the offing, is there any chance of eventually seeing either an "Absalom 2" 64 page sourcebook or (better) an expanded hardcover?
There's a very good chance of both an Absalom AP happening some day AND an expanded Absalom book happening some day. The city's too important to the campaign setting for something like this to never happen.
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James, a couple of questions about Samsarans:
Samsarans can give birth, yet they do not give birth to samsarans—instead, they birth human children. Typically, samsarans give up their children not long after birth to be raised in human society, where the children grow and live their lives normally. Upon death, such offspring sometimes reincarnate as samsaran children, if they lived their lives in keeping with harmony. While most samsarans who die also reincarnate as samsaran children, this is not always the case. When a samsaran has utterly failed at maintaining harmony in her current life, or when she has succeeded perfectly at it, her soul instead travels to the Great Beyond to receive its final, long-delayed reward or doom.
The samsaran child is born of a normal human? or he is formed from natural elements like the subject of a Renincarnation spell?
A samsaran can be the target of a normal Reincarnation spell or a Raise dead/Resurrection spell?
Reincarnate can be particularly troublesome as this race characteristic modifiers are 2 increases in mental stats and a decrease in a physical one, so returning in a different race body will generally be a boon for them. I would suggest a note or FAQ stating that they will always reincarnate as samsarans.
James, I love the homebrew steampunk campaign setting I'm working on with firearms as the tools of battle, and I imagine getting a lot of fun RPs out of it, but sometimes I just want some sword and sorcery. Generally I'd use homebrew, but I only want to devote effort to one homebrew setting. What I'm saying is that, to fulfill my medieval mood that comes now and then, I'm thinking I'll buy into Golarion, despite having sworn not to. I've been asking about it lately when I needed a backdrop and didn't want to homebrew, and in my Tomb of Horrors campaign I put the tomb under a pyramid in Osirion, and I'm thinking that using my homebrew for all my advanced gun, technology, and vehicle needs and deferring to Golarion for my medieval fantasy and sailing ship needs (I can even go Alkenstar if I want cannons and muskets) may be a good idea.
My question to you is whether there is a single Golarion book I can buy that'll give me all the information I need to play anywhere in Golarion. I already have a large chunk of my Christmas go buy what you want money earmarked for Bestiary 3 and Classic Monsters Revisited, so I can only buy one Golarion book. Which one should it be?
My question to you is whether there is a single Golarion book I can buy that'll give me all the information I need to play anywhere in Golarion. I already have a large chunk of my Christmas go buy what you want money earmarked for Bestiary 3 and Classic Monsters Revisited, so I can only buy one Golarion book. Which one should it be?
I'm not James, obviously, but I'll be extremely surprised if his answer to this is anything other than "The Inner Sea World Guide."
James, I was browsing Paizo's Pathfinder Campaign Setting section to see if the above suggested Inner Sea World Guide is the best pick for my Golarion purchase, and I found Undead Revisited. As you know, I love undead. It sounds a lot like Libris Mortis. Is it highly similar to Libris Mortis? If so, I'll try to scrape together the 20 bucks. What about Classic Horrors Revisited? How much vampire coverage does it have? Does it have werewolf coverage? If it has new vampires and werewolves, I may get it instead of Classic Monsters Revisited or try to scrape together another 20 dollars.
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James, a couple of questions about Samsarans:
Samsarans can give birth, yet they do not give birth to samsarans—instead, they birth human children. Typically, samsarans give up their children not long after birth to be raised in human society, where the children grow and live their lives normally. Upon death, such offspring sometimes reincarnate as samsaran children, if they lived their lives in keeping with harmony. While most samsarans who die also reincarnate as samsaran children, this is not always the case. When a samsaran has utterly failed at maintaining harmony in her current life, or when she has succeeded perfectly at it, her soul instead travels to the Great Beyond to receive its final, long-delayed reward or doom.The samsaran child is born of a normal human? or he is formed from natural elements like the subject of a Renincarnation spell?
A samsaran can be the target of a normal Reincarnation spell or a Raise dead/Resurrection spell?
Reincarnate can be particularly troublesome as this race characteristic modifiers are 2 increases in mental stats and a decrease in a physical one, so returning in a different race body will generally be a boon for them. I would suggest a note or FAQ stating that they will always reincarnate as samsarans.
Samsarans are never born. They only manifest when they reincarnate. And not just via the reincarnate spell. Most samsarans reincarnate "naturally" after a completely different creature (usually a human, most often another samsaran) dies. When they do so, they reincarnate as a young samsaran... perhaps as an infant, or a toddler, or a young child... always someone effectively younger than a teenager though.
A samsaran can indeed be affected normally by reincarnation, raise dead, resurrection, or other spells.
Since, if all goes normal in a samsaran's life, she won't be reincarnated, I don't think it's that big of a deal, frankly. There are ALWAYS going to be characters who get larger boosts from being reincarnated than others. The fact that the samsaran's stats are weighted on the mental side doesn't really make a huge difference in the long run, since by the time you're getting a reincarnation effect, that small amount of advantage is relatively insignificant. If you as a GM feel that it's a big deal, it's cool to say that a samsaran always reincarnates as a samsaran no matter what, which basically turns reincarnate into a raise dead spell for samsarans. Death and return from death are a rare enough occurrence in any healthy campaign overall that I don't see it as a big deal, honestly.
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My question to you is whether there is a single Golarion book I can buy that'll give me all the information I need to play anywhere in Golarion. I already have a large chunk of my Christmas go buy what you want money earmarked for Bestiary 3 and Classic Monsters Revisited, so I can only buy one Golarion book. Which one should it be?
Inner Sea World Guide. That's the core book for the setting, and it pretty much tells you all you need to know for the setting.
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James, I was browsing Paizo's Pathfinder Campaign Setting section to see if the above suggested Inner Sea World Guide is the best pick for my Golarion purchase, and I found Undead Revisited. As you know, I love undead. It sounds a lot like Libris Mortis. Is it highly similar to Libris Mortis? If so, I'll try to scrape together the 20 bucks. What about Classic Horrors Revisited? How much vampire coverage does it have? Does it have werewolf coverage? If it has new vampires and werewolves, I may get it instead of Classic Monsters Revisited or try to scrape together another 20 dollars.
Undead Revisited is NOT that similar to Libris Mortis. There's a lot less rules content in Undead Revisited; the focus of the revisited books is to provide lots of cool flavor for monsters and to augment them here and there with bits and pieces of rules crunch plus a sample stat block.
Classic Horrors has a six-page chapter on Vampires, and a six page chapter on Werewolves.
EDIT: Frankly, if you're strapped for cash, I would HEARTILY recommend not buying any revisited books right off the bat and instead just buy the Inner Sea World Guide. That book's more expensive, after all, and it'll give you a good idea if Golarion is or isn't right for you (and furthermore, whether Paizo's world design is right for you). If you end up not really liking the Inner Sea World Guide, chances are good that the same things that bother you there would bother you in ALL of our Golarion products, including the revisited books.
As much as I love having more folks play in Golarion... I don't want to "trick" people into diving completely into the setting before they find out if it's right for them in the first place. The Inner Sea World Guide is very much the introduction to Golarion, and it's the single best way to look into our campaign setting and get the strongest "big picture" of the world we're building.
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Agreed, death is rare enough that it is not a real problem (at least in my campaigns too).
To continue the samsarans question time, if they are reincarnated (thought the "normal" process, not the spell) as childes, how they survive?
There is a certain level of prejudice against them from the little I have read (just downloaded the PDF today, together with the bestiary and Mythic monsters), so normal human families will be leery to adopt them.
Existing samsaran search for their reincarnated brethren and adopt them?
Of they fend for themselves with the scant memories of their former lives as a guide?
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Agreed, death is rare enough that it is not a real problem (at least in my campaigns too).
To continue the samsarans question time, if they are reincarnated (thought the "normal" process, not the spell) as childes, how they survive?
There is a certain level of prejudice against them from the little I have read (just downloaded the PDF today, together with the bestiary and Mythic monsters), so normal human families will be leery to adopt them.
Existing samsaran search for their reincarnated brethren and adopt them?
Of they fend for themselves with the scant memories of their former lives as a guide?
Some samsarans who are reincarnated as children do NOT survive. They die, then they reincarnate again and get another chance. But when a samsaran reincarnates, they almost always do so in an area where other samsarans gather—despite the distance between where they die and where they end up. It's as if the presence of a samsaran population serves as a magnet for a reincarnating samsaran to appear.
There IS some prejudice against them—they're kinda strange, and their weird association with death weirds a lot of folks out.
Some samsarans do indeed search for and rescue wayward samsaran youths and children, but as mentioned above, they don't normally have to since a samsaran usually reincarnates near or in a samsaran society.
NOTE: Not all samsarans who die reincarnate. Eventually, they die for real.
Isn't Shensen the NPC drow bard/druid from Shackled City, that you rescue from the baboons that are going ape?
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Isn't Shensen the NPC drow bard/druid from Shackled City, that you rescue from the baboons that are going ape?
Yup; that's the first time I put Shensen into an RPG product.
The one that I put into Golarion in the NPC guide is actually a quite different character... she's a lot closer to the actual character I played in Jason Nelson's FR game for several years.
SQUEEEEE! The mailman brought the Bestiary 3 today. I'm in monster heaven.
What (except the Advanced race guide)has Paizo comming up for Pathfinder next year?Are you going to do some work with the existing ruleset,any changes maybe,or just expand on whats there already?Any playtests comming up?
Oh yeah, and what what was the "something big is comming" announcement all about?Have I missed something big?
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What (except the Advanced race guide)has Paizo comming up for Pathfinder next year?Are you going to do some work with the existing ruleset,any changes maybe,or just expand on whats there already?Any playtests comming up?
We've got releases planned for ALL of our rulebook lines. The paizo store is the best place to go to check out the latest releases. Since we generally release about 40+ titles a year, and since I can't off the top of my head remember which ones we've actually announced and which ones we have not, I'm not going to list what's coming here.
It sounds, though, like you're mostly interested in the rulebooks. In which case, yes, we'll continue releasing books in that line, but we do not have any public playtests coming up anytime soon.
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Does a pseudodragon have opposable thumbs? What about a faerie dragon?
And why isn't opposable in the message board's spellcheck dictionary?
Also, what question are you hoping someone will ask?
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Does a pseudodragon have opposable thumbs? What about a faerie dragon?
And why isn't opposable in the message board's spellcheck dictionary?
Also, what question are you hoping someone will ask?
Neither have opposable thumbs. Dragons don't have opposable thumbs at all for the most part.
The message board doesn't have a spellcheck dictionary... that functionality lies within your internet browser. Safari, for example (the one I'm currently using) has opposable in its dictionary.
As for what question I'm hoping someone will ask... not sure yet, but I'll know it when I see it.
How similar are Golarion dragons to 3.5 dragons? To clarify, I have 3.5 Draconimicon on my Christmas list, and I'm curious to know if the fluff of that book applies to Golarion.
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How similar are Golarion dragons to 3.5 dragons? To clarify, I have 3.5 Draconimicon on my Christmas list, and I'm curious to know if the fluff of that book applies to Golarion.
They're pretty similar. Golarion dragons in the Inner Sea region do a lot less of the "pretend to be human and live in human society in disguise" that you see in places like Dragonlance or Forgotten Realms... but otherwise they're more or less similar.
Chromatic dragons are ravenous monsters. Metallic dragons are mysterious loners.
Dear Mr. Jacobs,
Hawk the Slayer
or
The Sword and the Sorcerer?