Creative Director
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I see the Homosexuality in Golarian thread is over a thousand posts long now and apparently still going. Which leads me back to my old unanswered question: just who are the gay iconics? Did they ever get outed? If not, shouldn't somebody do so before they run out of air?
Nah; they're all fine. I more or less outed Merisiel as bisexual in the "Ask Merisiel thread," but beyond that we haven't really said one way or another. If we start doing fiction based on the iconics, THAT would be the appropriate time for that information to be revealed... and that could well be coming soon, depending on what direction the just-announced Pathfinder Comic goes.
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Creative Director
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Dear James Jacobs,
You mentioned earlier that the giant skunk was, more likely than not, accidentally left off the list of available animal companions. Is there some kind of formula that goes into generating those animal companion statistics so I could make it up myself, or will you be super nice and awesome and post it for me? :D
There is no formula. We just use established animal companion rules as starting points, then reverse engineer the animal's stats down to the bear essentials needed for an animal companion, then adjust them as needed for game balance.
For a skunk, you could just use the badger instead—just replace rage with musk and you're pretty much good to go.
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Creative Director
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Well then Mythic rules in 2013, yes, no, or you know I ain't answering that? :DI don't have to answer this question since it's not written in proper English. POW!!!So what will the next Book of the Damned going to be? :D
I've hidden the answer to that under a rock in a forest 84% of the way south on my yearly drive to visit Point Arena.
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Creative Director
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The way James describes himself as an ex-fisherman from Sandpoint, i really expected something more rugged, used to battle mountain lions and bigfoots in the forest.
1- If Point Arena is Sandpoint, which city is Seattle ? Magnimar ?
2- Varisia has any renomed dragons (beside the ones in Xin-Shalast) ?
1) There's elements of Seattle in Magnimar, Korvosa, Riddleport, and Sandpoint... but it isn't really "in" Golarion in the same way Point Arena is "in" Sandpoint.
2) There's a word in this question that I can't decipher.
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In the campaign that I have started this fall I have used a mixed system.
In a old Dungeon, the one with d20 Gamma World article there was a character generation system I like.
Roll 4d6, keep the highest 3 for each characteristic in order.
Then reroll one of the stats and decide if you want to keep the old result or the new one.
After that, if you want, you can swap 2 characteristics (for example exchange charisma with strength).
This system give you the odd fighter with very high intelligence or other "weird" combinations. it helps MAD classes.
The drawback is that sometime you can roll very badly (I had a guy roll the equivalent of a -7 point build!), so I added a corrective: you can always chose to take a 20 points build instead of what you rolled.The group is more powerful than a standard group (and that was a given from the start, with a 20 point build) and has some unusual character (half orc witch with 14 str, dex and con, she rolled very well).
I feel that having high "secondary" characteristics for your class is way less overpowering that maximizing the primary characteristic.
And sometime you have guys keeping a character with a bad characteristics because his/her other characteristics are good, but at least it will not always be the "wizard with bad strength" option.
What do you think?
I think it's overly complicated, honestly.
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There are the monsters from Bestiary 2 which I don't understand the CR from, most I would expect weaker or stronger than they are in the book.1) Why is the Nereid CR10 while the much more powerful Marid is only CR9?
2) Why is the Athach so high CR? I always thought they were weaker giants?
3) Why are the Parasaurolophus (cr4 for something that can't even defend itself) and Allosaurus (much weaker tyrannosaur version) so powerful? Aren't they much weaker dinosaurs?
4) Why is the Draugr only cr2
5) Why are the two horned rhino and the Glyptodon more powerful than the king of the megafauna the Megatherium?
6) Giant mosquito cr6?? while most giant vermin are around cr1!
7) Quicklings only cr3? Aren't they the fastest creatures out there?
8) Moby Dick/White Whale only Cr14? I would expect Cr20+ for such an legendary creature.
To begin with—assigning CR is not a science. It's as much art and opinion as it is math. We generally use Table 1–1 in the Bestiary as the baseline when assigning CR scores to monsters, but things can vary that. And sometimes, we miss things that make a monster tougher or easier than we thought... I like to think that happens rarely, but it does happen. Any two designers can honestly set a different CR for the same monster and they could justify their different choices—we have multiple developers look at the monsters we print as a result to help us come to a consensus.
1) The neried has more dangerous special attacks than the marid. more hit points, better AC, better defenses, better saves... all in all it's a tougher foe than the marid. (Dont' get distracted by the marid's 1 wish/year ability... that actually has relatively little impact on most fights, especially in a one-on-one fight.)
2) In 3.5, athachs were aberrations, not giants. They didn't become actual giants until we updated them to Pathfinder. And I've never thought of them as "weaker" giants but relatively dangerous ones... not sure where you're getting that from. As for where they sit on the "giant" scale... that's arbitrary, in large part. At CR 12, they made great foes to use in the 6th Kingmaker adventure, so that's one reason we put them at that level.
3) We only do a few dinosaurs per book, and I try to spread out the CR scores there so that we don't have dinosaurs "clumping" up on specific CR scores. Parasaurolophus can actually defend itself quite well—at CR 4, it does an average damage with its tail of 16 points, which according to Table 1–1 is at the HIGH end of how much damage a CR 4 creature should do. Furthermore, it's a Huge animal, and making it much more weak than other Huge animals in the game (like elephants) is weird. Allosaurus is more powerful because it does a lot more damage... and things like pounce and rake tend to make them a LOT better at doing more damage quickly.
4) Because its AC, hp, saves, attack, and damage average all fit in the CR 2 category on table 1–1.
5) If by calling the megatherium the "king" you're saying that it's your favorite megafauna... favorites are never a good enough reason to artificially enhance a monster's strengths. The arsinotherium does a LOT of damage, and the glyptodon's pretty heavilly armoroed, two things that the megatherium isn't quite as good at. Because when you look at those three, having two huge horns or being a giant shelled monster suggest exactly that over a big furry critter.
6) Again, we want to spread the CR scores around. Most vermin are actually NOT at CR 1... most in the first Bestiary were, sure, but you'll see there are vermin like the black scorpion that are quite high CR. By setting the mosquito at CR 6 we help keep the vermin monster type viable at higher level.
7) Speed doesn't really matter that much when setting a monster's CR. It's certainly a factor, but a very minor one compared to the raw hp, AC, damage, and saves and the like. Furthermore, once a monster's speed gets up above, say, 60 or 70... making it much higher really doesn't matter since it'll be able to navigate most encounters easily anyway. If most encounters take place in a 60 foot wide area, having a speed of 400 isn't really any more of an advantage than a speed of 200.
8) It's actually really difficult to get animals up really high CR, because at such high levels there area LOT of things PCs can do to take out monsters that are stupid and have no magical attacks or defenses. And in addition... you don't have to be CR 20+ to be legendary... that's entirely an artificial assumption based on the perception that "20" is best and anything less is forgettable.
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I think Tolkien is an incredible world designer, in other words, but a subpar storyteller. And the fact that he's so incredibly gifted at world design helps enormously in shoring up his shortfalls in the actual story-telling department.I am thrilled to see someone else express this opinion. Now I just need someone to admit that Lovecraft is the same way. Neat stories, but a galumphing, dragged out, maybe even boring writing style. Zhangar handed me the Conan novels after I'd read his Lovecraft collections. They are much more fun to read.
Have you read any of the old Conan novels?
If so, then what is your opinion of those James?
Also, as an experiment... What question would you like to be asked James?
And as a request... Answer the above question in a different post to see if the universe folds in on itself.
Thanks!
-Tundra
Heh... you won't get me to admit that. Lovecraft is hands down, no contest, my favorite writer. That said, since I understand that a lot of folks really DO love Tolkien's writing, I also understand that some folks don't love or like Lovecraft's writing. I'm absolutely not one of them. You'll need to look elsewhere for that.
I've read a LOT of Robert E. Howard's writing; he's a great writer. One of my favorites.
I want to be asked interesting questions that are presented as full sentences—what the questions are about after that? I don't care.
And finally, I don't want to help the universe fold in on itself—I'm still using it.
I've hidden the answer to that under a rock in a forest 84% of the way south on my yearly drive to visit Point Arena.Well then Mythic rules in 2013, yes, no, or you know I ain't answering that? :DI don't have to answer this question since it's not written in proper English. POW!!!So what will the next Book of the Damned going to be? :D
Well then I am heading to California!
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Creative Director
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1)If you crossblood the Dragon bloodline and the fire elemental(primal) your fire spells do +2 per dice damage, correct?
2)Do bloodline arcanas function for all classes or just the sorcerer's?
ex: fey bloodline +2DC for compulsion spells work for you if you were multiclassed with wizard and you cast sleep from your wizard class.3)Why don't Genies have DR/magic or any DR at all? I think they used to need +1 to hurt them in first edition.
4)What is the marrying age or age of consent in the innersea region? How do they treat single parents or teen mothers?
5)Is there any place on Golarion that Halflings live without Humans? A kingdom/land to call there own?
6)Any details on what Marriage cerimonies are like in the Innersea? Do the bride's father still pay for the cerimony?
7)Are there any cultures in the Innersea that use banishment as a form of punishment instead of jail and/or exicution?
1) They could. Your GM would know for sure.
2) Bloodline arcanas are for sorcerers only, in my opinion... although the FAQ (as reported earlier by helpers) apparently says otherwise.
3) Because they don't—a lot of monster types (genies, dragons, demons, rakshasas, etc.) have specific characteristics that they all share. Genies don't have DR. It's just the way it is.
4) The age of consent in the Inner Sea, like in the real world, varies from region to region. As does how single parents or teen mothers are treated. And since those elements very rarely have any impact on adventures, we don't bother figuring them out. If we do an adventure or a story where something like that DOES matter... that's the right time to figure it out.
5) Sure doesn't look like it.
6) Some of those details pop up now and then in the deity articles we do in Pathfinder APs... but again, it varies from region to region.
7) Yes. Again... varies from region to region.
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I think Tolkien is an incredible world designer, in other words, but a subpar storyteller. And the fact that he's so incredibly gifted at world design helps enormously in shoring up his shortfalls in the actual story-telling department.I am thrilled to see someone else express this opinion. Now I just need someone to admit that Lovecraft is the same way. Neat stories, but a galumphing, dragged out, maybe even boring writing style. Zhangar handed me the Conan novels after I'd read his Lovecraft collections. They are much more fun to read.
Have you read any of the old Conan novels?
If so, then what is your opinion of those James?
Also, as an experiment... What question would you like to be asked James?
And as a request... Answer the above question in a different post to see if the universe folds in on itself.
Thanks!
-Tundra
You called? :-)
I have read only translated versions of Lovecraft novels so I can be biased, but I have found the language decidedly repetitive in most of them. The best ones where some of the short stories.
I have liked much more the adaptions of his works to other media (comics mostly).
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You called? :-)
I have read only translated versions of Lovecraft novels so I can be biased, but I have found the language decidedly repetitive in most of them. The best ones where some of the short stories.
I have liked much more the adaptions of his works to other media (comics mostly).
I'd appreciate it if your anti-Lovecraft shenanigans could be redirected to a different thread. :-P
At the very least, if you MUST engage in such reprehensible activity, make it a question.
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The red redoubt of something or another from the Dungeons of Golarion has an item in there that's battery operated.
I am anxiously awaiting a Numeria book.
There's actually more than that one item that dips its toe into science fantasy—that entry in the book was actually a "testing ground" to see how folks would react to that type of content, and it seems that they've reacted quite well.
I've actually got an entire game built set in a Post-apocalyptic Earth (originally written using the 3.0 d20 rules, updated several times and now most recently to Pathfinder) that the sci-fi elements in Dungeons of Golarion were taken from, so I've actually got a fair amount of work done already on what could work for Numeria... but the time has to be right to delve in there for real.
Add me as a guy interested in it and in the book on the Gods of Golarion.
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...wrote a GINORMOUS post about Boar Style...
You don't need to copy/paste entire rules quotes into questions. Makes it VERY awkward and annoying to quote replies. It's just as easy for me to check the SRD or the books for the feats, as long as you either cite where they're from or at least use the correct spelling so I can search for them. At the very least, use spoilers to shorten posts when you feel the need to paste giant rules blocks.
In any event... a 2d6 bleed effect without a saving throw is, in my opinion, incredibly powerful. WAY too powerful to hand out at 3rd level... probably too powerful to hand out at 10th level, even.
I wouldn't allow these feats in games I ran as a result.
I'm not sure what the intent of these rules was—I wasn't really involved in that book's creation. I suspect that the implications just slipped by the design team. This topic should probably be brought up in an errata thread or something and then hit with the FAQ button. Keep in mind that hitting the FAQ button DOES alert us to the fact that folks have questions about something, even if we don't publicly post "receipts" to let folks know that we're looking into FAQ issues because those boards are cluttered enough as they stand.
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Creative Director
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Well then I am heading to California!I've hidden the answer to that under a rock in a forest 84% of the way south on my yearly drive to visit Point Arena.Well then Mythic rules in 2013, yes, no, or you know I ain't answering that? :DI don't have to answer this question since it's not written in proper English. POW!!!So what will the next Book of the Damned going to be? :D
Don't hurt the forest!
Dang. I knew I should have said something like I hid it in the South or the East Coast or the Midwest or Indianapolis... anywhere but the West Coast!
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Creative Director
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Add me as a guy interested in it and in the book on the Gods of Golarion.The red redoubt of something or another from the Dungeons of Golarion has an item in there that's battery operated.
I am anxiously awaiting a Numeria book.
There's actually more than that one item that dips its toe into science fantasy—that entry in the book was actually a "testing ground" to see how folks would react to that type of content, and it seems that they've reacted quite well.
I've actually got an entire game built set in a Post-apocalyptic Earth (originally written using the 3.0 d20 rules, updated several times and now most recently to Pathfinder) that the sci-fi elements in Dungeons of Golarion were taken from, so I've actually got a fair amount of work done already on what could work for Numeria... but the time has to be right to delve in there for real.
Still interested when I reveal a bit more and say that the earth is Post-Apocalyptic because of the fact that Lovecraft's Great Old Ones came back and ruined the world because the Stars Were Right?
(The game, called "Unspeakable Futures," is kind of a combination of Lovecraft, the Dark Tower, Fallout, Road Warrior, and Gamma World.)
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I have read only translated versions of Lovecraft novels so I can be biased, but I have found the language decidedly repetitive in most of them. The best ones where some of the short stories.
I'd appreciate it if your anti-Lovecraft shenanigans could be redirected to a different thread. :-P
At the very least, if you MUST engage in such reprehensible activity, make it a question.
So, I will make it a question.
The translated versions use constantly horrendous, incomprehensible and very few others adjectives. That limit exist in the original, English, version, or it is a limit of the translator?The few shot stories I liked had a much more poignant atmosphere than the novels.
How many D&D/Pathfinder campaign settings do you know of that give Native American culture a lot of treatment? That's one of the main things I'm doing in my homebrew campaign setting.There's a fair amount of Native American influence in the Shoanti of Golarion for one. Of course, there's other things going on with the Shoanti as well, so they're not really meant to be a precise Native American analogue... We've also got some inuit-based stuff going on at Golarion's north pole (particularly detailed in Pathfinder #51).
It's not a culture that a lot of game companies have done much with, alas. D&D's touched on it here and there over the editions/ages though.
In my campaign setting, the whole continent is a North America analogue instead of a Europe or Asia analogue. I did that specifically so that I could do a lot with Native American and Mesoamerican culture. There is a lot of European and Asian culture around do to colonialism, but all the old ruins and artifacts laying around are either Native American or Mesoamerican.
It's nice to know that my idea of touching on Native Americans heavily isn't something that's been done a lot. It'll be a fair amount of work, as Native American and Mesoamerican culture is as varied as European and Asian culture, but the result could be awesome.
Drop Bears are a lot more better than the most silly monster ever to enter a bestiary and that is by far the Grootslang.
1) It looks silly.
2) It has a dutch name, and thats probably the reason I find it a strange creature as Grootslang (english bigsnake) is in my own language and that sounds silly between all those english names.
And i'm sure Reynolds can do a pretty good job with his magic drawing fingers on the drop bear :p
Thanks for answering those CR-based questions! But I still remember one Megafauna-discovery channel episode in which they told me the Megatherium actually scared away large predators and Glyptodons, that's why I thought they were one of the most dangerous creatures from that time, their claws are also pretty nasty!
And I really like the new Quickling in D&D monster manual those are level 14, which I like as they are more dangerous than the minotaur while being such a small and fragile creature, I love small and fragile creatures that are really dangerous and high level, the quickling is both intelligent, fast and has nasty spell-like abilities so I thought they could have higher CR much like the Nereid. But intelligence does nothing for CR I suppose.
Anyway a new question; Which of these Adventure Path critters will NEVER appear in future bestiaries and in some cases why not?
Sandpoint Devil
Carrionstorm
Skull Ripper
Mother of Oblivion
Kuchrima
Sikari Swarm (red monkey swarm)
Bonestorm
Red Reaver
Danse Macabre
Swamp Barracuda
Ghonhatine Troglodyte
Emkrah
Dweomercat
Black Jinni
Ukobach
Vouivre
Stygira
Bog Strider
Hail Lily
Warsworn
Skrik Nettle
Eurypterid
Dimorphodon
Spear Urchin
Camulatz (the evil parrot)
Mokele-Mbembe
Springheel Jack
Skin Stealer
Vilkacis
Weaverworm
Gnoph-Keh
Phantom Armor
Nosoi
Giant Toe Biter
Giant Hellgrammite
Hala
Yamabushi Tengu
Gare Linnorm
Nogitsune
Selkie
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Creative Director
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I've hidden the answer to that under a rock in a forest 84% of the way south on my yearly drive to visit Point Arena.Well then Mythic rules in 2013, yes, no, or you know I ain't answering that? :DI don't have to answer this question since it's not written in proper English. POW!!!So what will the next Book of the Damned going to be? :D
Does this quote from F. Wesley Schneider indicate he found the rock: "So worry not! We know where gaps in Lovecraft coverage are and plans have already been laid to fill them. Unspeakable plans. 2012 plans."?
Nope.
James, is the city maps of Sothis, Almas and Augustana going to be made available to us in the near(2012) future? Do they even exist yet?
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Drop Bears are a lot more better than the most silly monster ever to enter a bestiary and that is by far the Grootslang.
1) It looks silly.
2) It has a dutch name, and thats probably the reason I find it a strange creature as Grootslang (english bigsnake) is in my own language and that sounds silly between all those english names.
I like grootslangs better than drop bears still.
Thanks for answering those CR-based questions! But I still remember one Megafauna-discovery channel episode in which they told me the Megatherium actually scared away large predators and Glyptodons, that's why I thought they were one of the most dangerous creatures from that time, their claws are also pretty nasty!
Just because a monster's a lower CR than another monster doesn't mean that the higher CR monster knows that, first of all. That goes for PCs as well. CR exists in this world, not in Golarion, and as such isn't a number that you can justifiably use in the context of the world (be it our world or Golarion or whatever) to resolve conflicts.
And I really like the new Quickling in D&D monster manual those are level 14, which I like as they are more dangerous than the minotaur while being such a small and fragile creature, I love small and fragile creatures that are really dangerous and high level, the quickling is both intelligent, fast and has nasty spell-like abilities so I thought they could have higher CR much like the Nereid. But intelligence does nothing for CR I suppose.
Intelligence does indeed do things for CR. The reason the 4th edition D&D Quickling is so high level is because they (WotC) decided to make it high lever, no other reason. In fact, that decision flies in the face of the monster's traditions throughout the earlier editions of the game, where its role is more akin to the role we went with in Pathfinder. So if anyone's presenting the quickling in an unusual and untraditional manner, it's 4th edition D&D.
Anyway a new question; Which of these Adventure Path critters will NEVER appear in future bestiaries and in some cases why not?
Some monsters won't appear in a hardcover bestiary because the monsters are so world-specific that stripping them of their Golarion flavor and elements would hamper/weaken the monster. This includes things like the Sandpoint Devil (which we updated to Pathfinder in the Inner Sea World Guide anyway) and the Mother of Oblivion.
Some monsters won't appear in a hardcover bestiary because we have other plans on how and where to update them (such as the carrionstorm and the skull ripper and the kuchrima).
Some monsters won't appear in a hardcover bestiary because they're so super-specialized for the encounters in which they were designed that taking them out of that encounter lessens them (such as the danse macabre).
Some monsters simply aren't monsters we feel are worth keeping around for whatever reason, either because we've got better/more interesting versions of that monster in print, or because the monster's just not worth keeping around (not gonna name names here... just won't reprint them).
A few monsters won't be reprinted in a Bestiary because we don't have the copyright permission to do that—these monsters aren't open content either (such as the deep crow, the coeurl, and the gnoph-keh).
And some monsters haven't been out long enough to be included in a Bestiary yet. For Bestiary 3, we initially "capped" things at Serpent's Skull. Those monsters from Serpent's Skull that DID get in did so because we needed last minute replacements or whatever. Things like the dimorphodon, the giant toe biter, and the yamabushi are likely to get into a future Bestiary, but they were still too new for Bestiary 3 to reprint.
And finally, there are a lot of monsters that we just haven't gotten around to updating yet because we didn't have room. Not only do Bestiaries have a limited number of pages on which we can print stats, we also have limited numbers of "slots" for each monster type, since we want each bestiary to have a pretty widespread range of monster types.
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James, is the city maps of Sothis, Almas and Augustana going to be made available to us in the near(2012) future? Do they even exist yet?
They don't exist yet.
And since city maps are far and away the hardest things for game designers to draw, there's not a good chance of these coming out anytime soon anyway. And the larger the city gets, the smaller the chance is that a game designer exists who can actually map that city accurately.
(A big part of the problem is that the focus of game design requirements are writing and math—artistic ability isn't something that commonly goes hand in hand with great writing and great math skills. When all three of those skills DO coincide in one game designer... that's awesome. They just don't often, probably because if you're a great artist you can make a LOT more money spending time on art than you ever could just writing... if you fill a page with art in a Pathfinder product, you basically get paid 12 times more than if you fill the page with words, on average. Of course... it takes a lot longer to fill a page of art than it does a page of words... but it's not 12 times as long...)
Thanks for the huge answer! Your the best!
I'm really curious at which monsters you think as: Some monsters simply aren't monsters we feel are worth keeping around for whatever reason, either because we've got better/more interesting versions of that monster in print, or because the monster's just not worth keeping around (not gonna name names here... just won't reprint them).
As those posted monsters are all my favorite missing ones :p Really hope that doesn't go for these fellows:
Sikari Swarm (Really scary creatures)
Black Jinni (really cool concept, like them more then Ghuls)
Ukobach (next to his sister Alraune from castlevania)
Vouivre (both the damsel in distress and the dragon, one of the more original monsters)
Bog Strider (otherwise another creature based on the bog strider insect, huge not the swarm of bogstriders which I don't really like)
Skrik Nettle (otherwise another land-based jellyfish)
Mokele-Mbembe (I really like that artwork and the anti-hippopotamus stuff)
Vilkacis (I like its ability to possess feral animals)
Hala (which probably is too new for bestiary 3 hopefully, as a storm summoning demon is cool)
I'm very curious at where the Skull Ripper will show up then! Can't wait!
Well then I am heading to California!I've hidden the answer to that under a rock in a forest 84% of the way south on my yearly drive to visit Point Arena.Well then Mythic rules in 2013, yes, no, or you know I ain't answering that? :DI don't have to answer this question since it's not written in proper English. POW!!!So what will the next Book of the Damned going to be? :D
Don't hurt the forest!
Dang. I knew I should have said something like I hid it in the South or the East Coast or the Midwest or Indianapolis... anywhere but the West Coast!
Would the slash and burn method destroy the answer? ;D
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I'm really curious at which monsters you think as: Some monsters simply aren't monsters we feel are worth keeping around for whatever reason, either because we've got better/more interesting versions of that monster in print, or because the monster's just not worth keeping around (not gonna name names here... just won't reprint them).
I can understand the curiosity.
But since what I'm really saying here is "Some of the monsters we've published are just plain bad or boring or no good," and since those monsters are in many cases designed by freelancers who I respect and wish to keep employing (any designer can mess up monsters... I've done plenty of them poorly in my time!)... I don't want to publicly say "Joe Freelancer really dropped the ball on this monster's design." So... sorry, but I'm not gonna say.
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I have translated some of Lovecraft's work. His language is overly archaic in certain ways, and if you translate it correctly to another language, such as Serbo-Croatian, you get a lot of dry and stuffy sentences. So, it is perhaps best to read Lovecraft in English.
James, can you wield a sword like the one that Thundarr the Barbarian has in your Unspeakable Futures game?
And finally, I don't want to help the universe fold in on itself—I'm still using it.
*Brawk Brawk* The universe folding in on itself would answer ALL the questions at once!
You called? :-)
I have read only translated versions of Lovecraft novels so I can be biased, but I have found the language decidedly repetitive in most of them. The best ones where some of the short stories.
Woot, someone else! I actually love one of Lovecraft's stories, the one about the cats of a town that vanish for a day. Didn't mean to get you all upset there James.
I'd appreciate it if your anti-Lovecraft shenanigans could be redirected to a different thread. :-P
At the very least, if you MUST engage in such reprehensible activity, make it a question.
I'm trying to come up with a reprehensable activity that I can phrase as a question. Ahhh, got it!
What's the worst thing one of your in game villians has done?
Also If you had to combine an elder horror and a potted plant what would you call it?
Thanks!
-Tundra
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Would the slash and burn method destroy the answer? ;DWell then I am heading to California!I've hidden the answer to that under a rock in a forest 84% of the way south on my yearly drive to visit Point Arena.Well then Mythic rules in 2013, yes, no, or you know I ain't answering that? :DI don't have to answer this question since it's not written in proper English. POW!!!So what will the next Book of the Damned going to be? :D
Don't hurt the forest!
Dang. I knew I should have said something like I hid it in the South or the East Coast or the Midwest or Indianapolis... anywhere but the West Coast!
Yup! It's written on flash paper with gasoline-based ink, after all.
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I have translated some of Lovecraft's work. His language is overly archaic in certain ways, and if you translate it correctly to another language, such as Serbo-Croatian, you get a lot of dry and stuffy sentences. So, it is perhaps best to read Lovecraft in English.
James, can you wield a sword like the one that Thundarr the Barbarian has in your Unspeakable Futures game?
Honestly... my theory is that it's best to read ALL authors in their original tongue.
And there are no Thundarr swords (yet) in Unspeakable Futures.
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Creative Director
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What's the worst thing one of your in game villians has done?
Also If you had to combine an elder horror and a potted plant what would you call it?
I've been reading Stephen King, Clive Barker, F. Paul Wilson, and countless other horror authors since about 1980. I'm a fan of gritty fantasy authors like George R. R. Martin. My favorite authors are all horror writers. My favorite movies are horror movies. As a result, the worst thing that one of my villains in game has done is actually pretty vile and ruinous... enough so that I can't really think of one specific thing, but most of them would probably be inappropriate to chat about in public on these boards, frankly. The most over the TOP thing I've had one of my villains do, I guess, would be to build an organic deity-slaying artifact siege engine hidden in an ancient prison plane deep within reality's time-shadow.
I'd need more than just that before giving it a name.
So, James...
Does immunity to fire allow a creature to walk through a star? Sure, they'll obviously be fine in the areas where it's just superheated gases (and, actually, planet sized fire elementals playing in the corona of a star is a kinda neat idea).
But what happens when a creature with fire immunity travels into the areas where nuclear fusion is happening? Does it make a difference if it's a fire elemental versus a more corporeal creature that has fire immunity?
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RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16
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So, James...
Does immunity to fire allow a creature to walk through a star? Sure, they'll obviously be fine in the areas where it's just superheated gases (and, actually, planet sized fire elementals playing in the corona of a star is a kinda neat idea).
But what happens when a creature with fire immunity travels into the areas where nuclear fusion is happening? Does it make a difference if it's a fire elemental versus a more corporeal creature that has fire immunity?
I think the intense gravity/pressure would be a problem as well.
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2- Varisia has any renomed dragons (beside the ones in Xin-Shalast) ?
1) There's elements of Seattle in Magnimar, Korvosa, Riddleport, and Sandpoint... but it isn't really "in" Golarion in the same way Point Arena is "in" Sandpoint.
2) There's a word in this question that I can't decipher.
Sorry, error in translation.
2- Varisia has any renowned dragons ? (Beside the ones that appear in Rise of the Runelords)
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Chief Technical Officer
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The most over the TOP thing I've had one of my villains do, I guess, would be to build an organic deity-slaying artifact siege engine hidden in an ancient prison plane deep within reality's time-shadow.
Itchy does that to Scratchy about every fifth episode. Only, you know, cat-slaying instead of deity-slaying.
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Creative Director
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So, James...
Does immunity to fire allow a creature to walk through a star? Sure, they'll obviously be fine in the areas where it's just superheated gases (and, actually, planet sized fire elementals playing in the corona of a star is a kinda neat idea).
But what happens when a creature with fire immunity travels into the areas where nuclear fusion is happening? Does it make a difference if it's a fire elemental versus a more corporeal creature that has fire immunity?
There's more going on inside a star than heat damage. Immunity to fire will help, but you'll also probably need immunity to electricity, immunity to staggering gravity and pressure, immunity to blindness, no need to breathe, immunity to high winds, and more. Stars are not healthy places to live.
And nuclear fusion is, I would say, something altogether different than mere fire, honestly. It'd be a brand new type of damage, perhaps. Or a combination of multiple types of damage.
All good questions to answer if and when we do a Numeria adventure path, perhaps...
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Creative Director
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What's the worst/most vile thing one of your PCs has ever done?
Hmmm... one of my characters once made a simulacrum of another player's character that died and kept that simulacrum around as a servant. That's pretty creepy.
Another character used remove disease to help abort a mutant baby. That was pretty creepy too.
My drow character in Sean's high-level drow game has done some sketchy stuff too, although those games tend to focus more on combat than roleplay. She does willingly have a succubus living in her head and pretty much does whatever the demon wants her to do. And might have some incest or necorphilia type stuff going on.
Another character had a creepy infection from the Far Realm in a place that I can't really talk about on these boards without getting in trouble.
And I'm pretty sure that Myrmyxicus, the halfling tiefling I played a decade ago in a Planescape game, launched a child out of a cannon at one point, although the memories of that particular event are somewhat hazy.
Stars are not healthy places to live.
You can't get in-depth insight like this just anywhere, folks. :-)
(Which is not a question.)
What is your opinion of Monte Cook's Collected Book of Experimental Might? I bought it, and I'm considering porting the 1-20 spell level system and fighter domains into my Pathfinder house rules.
How do you feel about the Bestiary 3's catfolk? Would you ever play one?
Not a question, but my copy of Bestiary 3 just shipped today, and is due to arrive Tuesday. Once it does, I will have all eight of the Pathfinder hardcover rulebooks!
You also forggot about radiation from the star as well.
I would like to see the Drop Bear and I still think it is much better then the Grootslang. But then again I can always find about 12 monsters from each Bestiary that I could trade for something I would like, still that is a ratio of success on you guys part.
Wait there is no chance that the Danse Macebre will not get into a hardcover bestiary. It was one of the few undead I actually like. I also like the Lamia-kin and would love to see them in a Beastiary(i was hoping #3) as well.
Sinubus I like the Vouivre, Skirk nettle, Mekele-mbembe, Ukobach Vilkasis, Hala, and Black Jinn as well. Also the Vouivre reminds me of a similiar creature from Castlevania syphony of the night.
1)So how do you guys decide how many of each creature type/subtype is in a Bestiary?
2)Do you guys vote for each monster you are going to use?
3)How do you decide who works on what or what CR you want something to be?
4)Do you pic wich artist is doing what?
5)If a monster doesn't make the cut for a book, what happens to it?
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Creative Director
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What is your opinion of Monte Cook's Collected Book of Experimental Might? I bought it, and I'm considering porting the 1-20 spell level system and fighter domains into my Pathfinder house rules.
How do you feel about the Bestiary 3's catfolk? Would you ever play one?
Not a question, but my copy of Bestiary 3 just shipped today, and is due to arrive Tuesday. Once it does, I will have all eight of the Pathfinder hardcover rulebooks!
I've actually not looked through the Book of Experimental Might at all. For the same reason I don't really use any content from Unearthed Arcana. What changes I wanted made to 3.5 were made by Pathfinder—Pathfinder IS the game I prefer to play and run. Not everyone gets to help shape an RPG into the game they want to play, but I got to. If I hadn't been able to do this, chances are great that some elements in Pathfinder would be different and I would have a lot more house rules and other 3rd party additions to my home game—in fact, I had just that for my homebrew world pre-Pathfinder.
I don't anymore.
As for the catfolk, I quite like them. I'd probably not play one (I much prefer playing humans or near-identical to humans, like elves or half-elves), but I might throw them into an adventure some day. And I've allowed a catfolk PC into one of the games I'm running.
Would you get offended if I asked if you were gay? The Homosexuality in Golarion thread got me wondering. I'm a lesbian tranny, so me asking you this question is in no way an accusation or condemnation, and I understand if you'd rather not answer.
Do you ever use the Amalgam template in Advanced Bestiary? My copy arrived in the mail today, and I like this template.
Question to Kelsey: What is a lesbian tranny? I'm a gay myself but I never ever heard of a Lesbian tranny? Sounds confusing :S :p
Question to James Jacobs: How long does it take to create an entire bestiary?
@ Dragon78, I see what you mean with the Vouivre, she looks like the Amphisbaena from Castlevania, but that amphisbaena has other names in different castlevania parts, so it could have another name in Symphony of the night tho... I never played that part only al other parts as I don't own a playstation.
EDIT: looked it up and in the Symphony of the night game the Vouivre-like creature is called DIPLOCEPHALUS, in other games they changed it into Amphisbaena.
A lesbian tranny is a transgendered individual (I'm a woman with a male body) who happens to be sexually attracted to women.