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Paizo Employee Creative Director

The Minis Maniac wrote:
Okay I just bought a glass display counter from a retail store that is shutting down to put my Pathfinder Battles minis in since I bought 2 cases of Heroes & Monsters and am getting 3 Cases of ROTRL. Does this make my Gaming room look more awesome? Or kinda silly?

Nope. And the more Pathfinder minis you buy, the more awesome your room and the minis case will look! Mwa ha ha.


Did you know that I'm wildly, almost freakishly enthusiastic about any new Darklands product you care to produce? I mean to the point where I'd lose sleep in anticipation and giggle like a schoolgirl when it came in the mail?

And in an unrelated question, what's Pharasma's favorite kind of cake?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

1 person marked this as a favorite.
blue_the_wolf wrote:

There are many examples of Fallen Good, Shadow Angels or Erinyes being the main examples. But there are no general examples of Risen Good as in a being that was once EVIL but has some how become redeemed or converted to good.

I know that any one can come up with a unique creature and make a story for them, but I am wondering why no such general creature exists.

No such general creature exists because a fallen angel type thing is rare already... but a risien fiend is INCREDIBLY rare. One of my philosophies about alignment is that it's easier to be evil than good, and easier to be chaotic than lawful. As such, it's easier to fall from grace than rise from corruption (good to evil) or fall from order or rise from entropy (law to chaos).

As such, if and when we do a risen fiend, that will be a unique NPC crafted specifically for a key role in an Adventure Path. It won't be a template.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

doc the grey wrote:
Do you think Arayam Bismut from the Adventurers Armory would have levels in the actual alchemist class if he was rewritten in our post APG world and if so do you feel like he would still fit his lore seeing as he was supposed to have no real magical talent and was working to find a scientific cure for the plague killing his family?

If he's supposed to have no real magical talent, he would not have any levels in a class that lets him throw firebombs, hulk out, and brew magical drinks faster than any other class.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Squeakmaan wrote:
I'm working on a couple characters for Skull & Shackles and I came across something perplexing about the Hurricane Savvy Trait from Pirates of the Inner Sea. It says it reduces the severity of a storm for purposes of captaining or steering s ship, but I can't seem to find any rules on the effect of storms on captaining or steering a ship. Is that hidden away somewhere I haven't looked?

There are certainly plenty of those checks in the adventures for Skull & Shackles, first of all. And if we haven't covered them anywhere else, it makes sense that they'd impact your checks as much as flying, since wind is just as influential on sails as it can be on wings.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

ulgulanoth wrote:
how do you feel on how the goblin works kickstarter has been going? and what are you thinking kickstarter might now mean for paizo?

It's awesome.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Coridan wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:

Bimonthly schedules kill subscriptions.

Any hope the module line can return to monthly?

Not much.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

2 people marked this as a favorite.
Gregg Helmberger wrote:

Did you know that I'm wildly, almost freakishly enthusiastic about any new Darklands product you care to produce? I mean to the point where I'd lose sleep in anticipation and giggle like a schoolgirl when it came in the mail?

And in an unrelated question, what's Pharasma's favorite kind of cake?

Woah... not sure if that makes me want to do more Darklands stuff or less...

And as for Pharasma? She's too serious for cake.


James Jacobs wrote:
blue_the_wolf wrote:

There are many examples of Fallen Good, Shadow Angels or Erinyes being the main examples. But there are no general examples of Risen Good as in a being that was once EVIL but has some how become redeemed or converted to good.

I know that any one can come up with a unique creature and make a story for them, but I am wondering why no such general creature exists.

No such general creature exists because a fallen angel type thing is rare already... but a risien fiend is INCREDIBLY rare. One of my philosophies about alignment is that it's easier to be evil than good, and easier to be chaotic than lawful. As such, it's easier to fall from grace than rise from corruption (good to evil) or fall from order or rise from entropy (law to chaos).

As such, if and when we do a risen fiend, that will be a unique NPC crafted specifically for a key role in an Adventure Path. It won't be a template.

..same thing I said. :)


James Jacobs wrote:

...

And as for Pharasma? She's too serious for cake.

even the most chocolately cake of all, the German Suicide Cake.

(note it does exist)


wraithstrike wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
blue_the_wolf wrote:
There are many examples of Fallen Good, Shadow Angels or Erinyes being the main examples. But there are no general examples of Risen Good as in a being that was once EVIL but has some how become redeemed or converted to good.

it's easier to fall from grace than rise from corruption (good to evil) or fall from order or rise from entropy (law to chaos).

As such, if and when we do a risen fiend, that will be a unique NPC crafted specifically for a key role in an Adventure Path. It won't be a template.

..same thing I said. :)

Yep. that seems to be the general consensus but then I start wondering...

is there supposed to be any sort of cosmic balance? I mean... aren't the sides supposed to be essentially equal? if so doesn't this create an in ballance in the long run?

also, do you think that says something about our physiological views?


I don't think cosmic balance means perfect equality or that beings can turn become good as easily as they can become evil. It might mean that on a cosmic level they should have about the same amount of power and influence in the universe, but that is about it.

Even assuming fantasy land was real I don't see an imbalance. Evil people kill themselves and each other. Good does not usually attack good. So while it is easier to fall into evil it is rare, and even if it was more common to become evil than it is evil is fighting those that are good, and itself.

As far as physiological views, real life is the same way. You can't make a drug addict stop doing drugs until he really wants to. He enjoys it. No I am not saying drug addicts are evil, but people are addicted to convenience,and being evil is very convenient in fantasy land, and the easy path is convenient in real life.
Real life example:I doubt I could get most of my friends to use Linux because it requires more work than windows. Windows makes things convenient. You click and it is done for the most part. Linux is free, and people love free stuff, but they will still pay for windows.

PS:I think we should take this back to the other thread so as to not clutter James's thread. :)


James Jacobs wrote:
Gregg Helmberger wrote:

Did you know that I'm wildly, almost freakishly enthusiastic about any new Darklands product you care to produce? I mean to the point where I'd lose sleep in anticipation and giggle like a schoolgirl when it came in the mail?

And in an unrelated question, what's Pharasma's favorite kind of cake?

Woah... not sure if that makes me want to do more Darklands stuff or less...

And as for Pharasma? She's too serious for cake.

Pie then?


wraithstrike wrote:


PS:I think we should take this back to the other thread so as to not clutter James's thread. :)

LOL. actually I was asking JJ those things. I included your comment to acknowlage that my thoughts are kind of the minority see you back in the other thread. ^_^


James Jacobs wrote:
too serious for cake

Favorited just because that would be an awesome band name.

Will the Thornkeep book be sold, even if in extremely limited quantities, beyond the ones that will be printed for Kickstarter sponsors?


James Jacobs wrote:
Belle Mythix wrote:


Double the size of the books, make 3 parts APs (each being the equivalent of two), release every other months?

Bimonthly schedules kill subscriptions.

Thicker pages?


James Jacobs wrote:
blue_the_wolf wrote:

There are many examples of Fallen Good, Shadow Angels or Erinyes being the main examples. But there are no general examples of Risen Good as in a being that was once EVIL but has some how become redeemed or converted to good.

I know that any one can come up with a unique creature and make a story for them, but I am wondering why no such general creature exists.

No such general creature exists because a fallen angel type thing is rare already... but a risien fiend is INCREDIBLY rare. One of my philosophies about alignment is that it's easier to be evil than good, and easier to be chaotic than lawful. As such, it's easier to fall from grace than rise from corruption (good to evil) or fall from order or rise from entropy (law to chaos).

As such, if and when we do a risen fiend, that will be a unique NPC crafted specifically for a key role in an Adventure Path. It won't be a template.

That reason works for Golarion, doesn't mean those rules/templates can't be included in setting neutral books.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

blue_the_wolf wrote:

is there supposed to be any sort of cosmic balance? I mean... aren't the sides supposed to be essentially equal? if so doesn't this create an in ballance in the long run?

also, do you think that says something about our physiological views?

Nope. There is intrinsically NOT a "Cosmic" or "Metacosmic" balance to the Great Beyond.

There's no evil analogy for angels.

There aren't any good aligned elemental lords.

There's no good analogy for qlippoth.

There are a fair amount of intentional "imbalances" in the way the Great Beyond works.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

wraithstrike wrote:
PS:I think we should take this back to the other thread so as to not clutter James's thread. :)

Yup. Keep this thread to the questions, not the long complex philosophical discussions.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Belle Mythix wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
blue_the_wolf wrote:

There are many examples of Fallen Good, Shadow Angels or Erinyes being the main examples. But there are no general examples of Risen Good as in a being that was once EVIL but has some how become redeemed or converted to good.

I know that any one can come up with a unique creature and make a story for them, but I am wondering why no such general creature exists.

No such general creature exists because a fallen angel type thing is rare already... but a risien fiend is INCREDIBLY rare. One of my philosophies about alignment is that it's easier to be evil than good, and easier to be chaotic than lawful. As such, it's easier to fall from grace than rise from corruption (good to evil) or fall from order or rise from entropy (law to chaos).

As such, if and when we do a risen fiend, that will be a unique NPC crafted specifically for a key role in an Adventure Path. It won't be a template.

That reason works for Golarion, doesn't mean those rules/templates can't be included in setting neutral books.

True... but while our rulebooks aren't "Golarion specific," the reverse is not true. Golarion SPECIFICALLY uses our rulebooks to model what's in it, and when we start putting things into the rulebooks that don't really have a place in Golarion, it causes confusion. And as such, I'd rather avoid deliberately including content in the rulebooks that we have no intention of ever supporting or exploring further in Golarion—we've done a few of those things already (Words of Power come to mind), and the result is, in my opinion, very unsatisfying.

Sovereign Court

I think that is the first time I have seen the word 'unsatisfying'; James, what's so wrong with 'dissatisfactory'?

[/pedant]

Also, with the announcement of Fangwood Keep, would it be possible to use Fangwood Keep as a sequel to Crypt of the Everflame?


Why not use Mask of the Living God then City of Golden Death for the sequel to Crypt of the Everflame? It's the other two books in the Price of Immortality series. I think they're fantastic additions to Crypt, and I've always followed it up with Conquest of Bloodsworn Vale.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
James Jacobs wrote:
1) The author doesn't know that fact about elves from 1st edition; that's a very obscure piece of old-timey lore. .

Not that obscure. I'm actually very sure it was in the actual spell text of 1st edition Raise Dead. The BOD article I referred to was more along the metaphysics of "why" the spell operated that way.

Scarab Sages

Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber

In the Golarion setting, what does spellcasting (arcane or divine) actually *look* like? We know it has verbal and somatic components (mostly), but outside of that I'm not aware of too much specificity on what that actually looks and sounds like.

I've tried more than once to roleplay how my character casts -spell X-, but mostly end up mumbling some gibberish and flailing my hands about like I'm trying to tickle an imaginary cat.

Any insight on how you see this actually playing out?


When it comes time to autograph your nearly 1400 copies of Thornkeep, will you sign your full name with a flourish, or will you invent a J-squiggly-S signature for the sake of avoiding carpal tunnel?


Any chance of getting a Blakros Museum flip Map or the like in the future?


2 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
James Jacobs wrote:
Jiggy wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
You can sunder as part of a full attack.
Wait, what? So then is it an editing error where Sunder says it must be made as part of an Attack Action (same term as in Vital Strike)?

Vital Strike is, apparently, the one that's poorly written. I don't know why the design team hasn't just put into that feat's description that it's a standard action to use it.

An attack action is still an attack action, whether or not you make it as part of a full attack or a standard attack (which Vital Strike SPECIFICALLY requires) or an attack of opportunity or whatever.

An attack action is merely you taking an action to attack.

OMG! I love you James!

I really, REALLY wish everyone else on the design team thought this as well.


Ravingdork wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Jiggy wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
You can sunder as part of a full attack.
Wait, what? So then is it an editing error where Sunder says it must be made as part of an Attack Action (same term as in Vital Strike)?

Vital Strike is, apparently, the one that's poorly written. I don't know why the design team hasn't just put into that feat's description that it's a standard action to use it.

An attack action is still an attack action, whether or not you make it as part of a full attack or a standard attack (which Vital Strike SPECIFICALLY requires) or an attack of opportunity or whatever.

An attack action is merely you taking an action to attack.

OMG! I love you James!

I really, REALLY wish everyone else on the design team thought this as well.

Oh god, I don't understand what just happened, but I'm afraid.


Did JJ just open up the can of worms allowing Vital Strike on full attacks, spring attacks and charges? Granted, JJ isn't "the rules guy" and isn't applicable for PFS, but JJ's rulings have always been 'good enough' in my book that I stand by them.


Tels wrote:
Did JJ just open up the can of worms allowing Vital Strike on full attacks, spring attacks and charges?

Quite the opposite.

He clarified that Vital Strike requires a Standard Action on its own - thus taking up an action that could otherwise be spent on a full attack, charge, etc. - while a Sunder is done as part of an Attack Action - IE as part of an attack roll, regardless of whether that roll is done on its own or as part of another action (full attack, AoO, etc.).


Pathfinder PF Special Edition Subscriber
Tels wrote:
Did JJ just open up the can of worms allowing Vital Strike on full attacks, spring attacks and charges? Granted, JJ isn't "the rules guy" and isn't applicable for PFS, but JJ's rulings have always been 'good enough' in my book that I stand by them.

I'm pretty sure he just said it takes a standard action to do it. So I'd say like spells, you only get one.


Oh good, didn't want to see a bunch of people trying to use that post as ammo for full-attack Vital Strikes.

Sovereign Court

Tels wrote:
Why not use Mask of the Living God then City of Golden Death for the sequel to Crypt of the Everflame? It's the other two books in the Price of Immortality series. I think they're fantastic additions to Crypt, and I've always followed it up with Conquest of Bloodsworn Vale.

Because Masks of the Living God has the worst golem ever in it, and I'm not such a fan on between modules teleportation/handwaving travel.

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

Hi James

Since the Torag article got cut/removed from AP #56, do you have any idea where it's going to shake out to be published yet?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

GeraintElberion wrote:

I think that is the first time I have seen the word 'unsatisfying'; James, what's so wrong with 'dissatisfactory'?

[/pedant]

Also, with the announcement of Fangwood Keep, would it be possible to use Fangwood Keep as a sequel to Crypt of the Everflame?

It's too unsatisfying to use the word dissatisfactory.

And Fangwood Keep is not being designed as a sequel to Crypt of the Everflame. It's a stand alone adventure. As such, it's as easy to use this one as a follow-up to Crypt of the Everflame as it is to use any adventure... but the themes and such in Crypt are not a part of Fangwood Keep.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Ulmaxes wrote:

In the Golarion setting, what does spellcasting (arcane or divine) actually *look* like? We know it has verbal and somatic components (mostly), but outside of that I'm not aware of too much specificity on what that actually looks and sounds like.

I've tried more than once to roleplay how my character casts -spell X-, but mostly end up mumbling some gibberish and flailing my hands about like I'm trying to tickle an imaginary cat.

Any insight on how you see this actually playing out?

I'd say you should check out the novels in the Pathfinder tales line—there's lots of spellcasters in those books.

Beyond that... what it looks and sounds like is up to you and/or the GM.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Keltoi wrote:
When it comes time to autograph your nearly 1400 copies of Thornkeep, will you sign your full name with a flourish, or will you invent a J-squiggly-S signature for the sake of avoiding carpal tunnel?

Ugh. That's a lot of signatures.

Legibility will quickly deteriorate.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

The Mad Badger wrote:
Any chance of getting a Blakros Museum flip Map or the like in the future?

Convince Lisa it's a good idea and there'll be a MUCH better chance! :-)

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Enlight_Bystand wrote:

Hi James

Since the Torag article got cut/removed from AP #56, do you have any idea where it's going to shake out to be published yet?

The Torag article got moved because there was an art mixup (in that art was never ordered for the article... oops!). It's scheduled to appear in Pathfinder #62.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

3 people marked this as a favorite.
Tels wrote:
Oh good, didn't want to see a bunch of people trying to use that post as ammo for full-attack Vital Strikes.

If they do, let me know and I'll post something like "Actually, you should make attack rolls by rolling 1d12 instead of 1d20" and that should fix it.

Silver Crusade

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

I'm so glad to see a 4 level dungeon featuring yourself, Jason Bulmahn, Eric Mona and Ed Greenwood as writers. Actually it's super-duper exciting to see Eric Mona write another adventure since he doesn't do that so often.

Erm, as for a question:

Can Sarenrae bake a pie so hot even she can not eat it?


James Jacobs wrote:
The Mad Badger wrote:
Any chance of getting a Blakros Museum flip Map or the like in the future?
Convince Lisa it's a good idea and there'll be a MUCH better chance! :-)

What is the best thing to bribe Lisa with then?

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
The Mad Badger wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
The Mad Badger wrote:
Any chance of getting a Blakros Museum flip Map or the like in the future?
Convince Lisa it's a good idea and there'll be a MUCH better chance! :-)
What is the best thing to bribe Lisa with then?

Rare Star Wars memorabilia seems to be a good bet...


Enlight_Bystand wrote:
The Mad Badger wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
The Mad Badger wrote:
Any chance of getting a Blakros Museum flip Map or the like in the future?
Convince Lisa it's a good idea and there'll be a MUCH better chance! :-)
What is the best thing to bribe Lisa with then?
Rare Star Wars memorabilia seems to be a good bet...

If you can find the Gun That Shot First, you'll probably get a lot of 'favors' in the future.


Could you imaging an Adventure Path based on Homer's Iliad?


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
harmor wrote:
Could you imaging an Adventure Path based on Homer's Iliad?

And set in Iblydos?


Where is Iblydos? I cannot find it on the Inner Sea map.


So, now that it is done, how do you think Jade Regent turned out? Did the story change much from what you had originally envisioned? Anything you would have done differently, or wished you could have added? And most, importantly...

Spoiler:
Assuming a CN PC didn't arrange an "accident" for her, what do you think Ameiko's first decree as Empress would be?


Odraude wrote:
Where is Iblydos? I cannot find it on the Inner Sea map.

You'll have to look at the world map (although the name's not printed there, either - so... look at the map and read the Beyond Golarion section of the World Guide).

Paizo Employee Creative Director

2 people marked this as a favorite.
DM_aka_Dudemeister wrote:


Can Sarenrae bake a pie so hot even she can not eat it?

Nope. She's got fire for hair. AKA she is immune to fire, including hot pie damage.

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