Absolam is a city that has been under numerous sieges. In fact, the Absolam harbor is treacherous to navigate because of all the destroyed ships. I'm fairly certain you can explore the land surrounding the city and discover tons of old siege weapons, towers, etc. laying around. In fact, this module is set up to explore one of said siege towers and is for first level characters.
I'm not sure where that little throwaway line showed up, honestly. It's a really neat and interesting concept, which means I suspect it came from James Sutter, which means it's probably mentioned in his article on the First World in Pathfinder #36... but that's only a guess.Where can I read about this? Gnomes of Golarion?That's still in the game. Whether or not it's true or not, we have not yet said."It's darkly hinted by the developers that the story of the disaster may be a fabrication, and gnomes are really humanoid interface devices through which vastly more powerful beings can study the material world."
Is this still in the game or has that been ret-conned out?
I was the one who added that to the TV Tropes page, based on a dev's forum post from way back in the first or second year of Pathfinder. Unfortunately I have never since been able to find that post in the archives. >.<
It is pretty nifty -- I'd imagine that if it's true, the Bleaching would be a form of punishment for not observing enough interesting things...
I have always had a problem with the flat footed if you have not acted rule. it seems to make no sense in most actual situations.
As the rule is now if two enemies standing 60 feet apart with weapons drawn, totally aware of each other and expecting combat roll initiative the winner can charge 60 feet and hit his opponent in the face as the opponent stands there flat footed unprepared for the attack.
This is of course an extreme case but most combat that consists of "roll initiative > attack" situations are not truly surprise situations.
I disagree with this game rule because I think that any violence prone people would have a natural instinctive sense to block, evade or otherwise not get hit and would thus not be flat footed except in the case of a true surprise round. I personally house rule that the flat footed rule only applies on surprise rounds. Since the biggest support for this rule boils down to "rogues need the help" I have basically given sneak attack classes the special ability to treat any opponent that has not acted during he first round of combat as flat footed. but that is a special rule for them not the base line rule for all creatures.
As I said, the rules are pretty clear and have been defended often. I am content with my house rule and am not arguing the point here. I am asking this question because I want to know why this rule is such a holy grail. Why is this considered so important to game mechanics. Have I missed something in the intent that makes my house rule detrimental to play?
if it is NOT critical to game play has paizo ever considered changing the rule?
Hi James, this may be an old question, but why are tieflings with an abyssal heritage known as "pitborn" (see Blood of Fiends) when the term "pit" is a name usually associated with Hell (as in Pit Fiend and all the references in Book of the Damned: Princes of Darkness)?
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American public goes ballistic if:
1. Nipples are exposed
2. Children are in dangerAnything else is generally fine with an average Yankee - ultraviolence, disembowelment, genocide, homicide, suicide, more ultraviolence. But the moment you expose boobies or hint that little Sue might get a load of spiked tentacles in all the wrong places, John and Jane hit the panic button and send "please stop this or we'll notify our local religious right organization" emails.
Not quite true.
There are plenty of other things that gets the American public to go ballistic.
In Burnt Offerings, for example, two elements in Sandpoint got some folks worked up...
2) That there's a good-aligned herbalist who, among other things, helps women end unwanted pregnancies if they don't follow her advice to carry the child to term and put it up for adoption.
Both of those things touched upon some hot-button politics type issues that get folks worked up. I knew that they would, which is both why I put them into the adventure in the first place (because it makes Golarion feel "fake" to me if we avoid hot-button topics), but also why I didn't over-hype them (they're pretty minor characters in the background of the town of Sandpoint). Still... even being minor characters, they both generated a lot of "lively discussion" on the boards.
We'll continue to expose nipples, put kids in danger, and have good aligned homosexuals and pro-choice NPCs and their like in the game now and then... but we generally don't do so too often because in the end we want the game itself to be what folks are talking about, not one minor single little element of it.
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To continue our discussion, pain points is the martial artist's ability (UC monk archetype).
So, the ability applies only to humanoid or at all?The ki focus weapons channel the wielder's ki, but martial artist has not the ki. He still has quivering palm and stunning fist. The ki weapon focus said:
The magic weapon serves as a channel for the wielder's ki, allowing her to use her special ki attacks through the weapon as if they were unarmed attacks. These attacks include the monk's ki strike, quivering palm, and the Stunning Fist feat (including any condition that the monk can apply using this feat).The ki is in every living creature, infact the hungry ghost monk steal the ki by other creatures.
So, can a martial artist have a focus ki weapon only for use quivering palm and stunning fist, even if he can not use the ki?
Ah. Okay.
Looking at the martial artist's pain points ability... and after chatting with Jason... we're in agreement that the word "humanoid" in the Pain Points entry is not a game term. It's merely a way of saying "your knowledge of how intestines and nerves and hearts and lungs and spleens and other elements of anatomy," but unfortunately using a game term that has specific rules connotations.
So... yes. Pain Points works on anything that can be critically hit or can be affected by stunning fist or quivering palm. We'll clear that language up in the next printing, whenever that happens...
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I'm designing a campaign set in a city suffering under a prolonged siege. The siege is really just a backdrop, more to give a sense of "urban claustrophobia" than a major plot point.
Any idea where I could set this? Either in the Inner Sea or elsewhere?
Thanks.
Any walled city should work fine.
I would suggest picking a city that's relatively small—one the size of Absalom or Sothis or Westcrown is so huge that you could do an entire campaign there without there being a siege and never really notice the difference.
If you want it to actually feel like the city's got some claustrophobia during the siege, I'd aim at a smaller city between 15,000 and 30,000 people... and I would pick a city that's already got lots of stuff written about it. For this, both Magnimar and Korvosa make good choices. As do most of the cities detailed in "Cities of Golarion." And Pitax, from Pathfinder #35, is actually a city that the PCs get to put under siege, although that element is pretty minor in the overall adventure theme.
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Absolam is a city that has been under numerous sieges. In fact, the Absolam harbor is treacherous to navigate because of all the destroyed ships. I'm fairly certain you can explore the land surrounding the city and discover tons of old siege weapons, towers, etc. laying around. In fact, this module is set up to explore one of said siege towers and is for first level characters.
And as I mentioned in the last post... that helps to sort of make Absalom the worst choice for the "city under siege" campaign. Not only is Absalom HUGE (and thus big enough that a siege would have to be world-shakingly enormous in order to really matter), but it's never lost to a siege. Unless the whole point of the campaign is "OMG THE CITY LOST TO A SIEGE FINALLY!" (which is specifically NOT what was requested...it's kind of the opposite in fact), then Absalom's not a good choice.
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I was the one who added that to the TV Tropes page, based on a dev's forum post from way back in the first or second year of Pathfinder. Unfortunately I have never since been able to find that post in the archives. >.<
It is pretty nifty -- I'd imagine that if it's true, the Bleaching would be a form of punishment for not observing enough interesting things...
Interesting. It DOES sound like a sort of off-the-cuff comment one of us might make in a messageboard post or in a chat room or somewhere else where words appear and then are lost within a day or less.
And it's also an interesting object lesson to all of us at Paizo (or to anyone in a similar position) that you should watch what you say in public, because you never know what'll stick and take on a life of it's own.
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Hi James, this may be an old question, but why are tieflings with an abyssal heritage known as "pitborn" (see Blood of Fiends) when the term "pit" is a name usually associated with Hell (as in Pit Fiend and all the references in Book of the Damned: Princes of Darkness)?
The Abyss itself is also known as the Outer Rifts. The Abyss is an actual PHYSICAL hole in the ground of the outer planes... a literal pit in the outer planes. So is Hell, to a certain extent... but the Abyss goes much deeper than Hell even can imagine.
So the Abyss is an eternal rift, and endless pit. And thus, demon tieflings are sometimes known as Pitborn. I suppose "Riftborn" would be a more accurate term, but Pitborn sounds better (mostly because the word "pit" has long been used as a poetic analogy for the evil underworld).
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I have always had a problem with the flat footed if you have not acted rule. it seems to make no sense in most actual situations.
As the rule is now if two enemies standing 60 feet apart with weapons drawn, totally aware of each other and expecting combat roll initiative the winner can charge 60 feet and hit his opponent in the face as the opponent stands there flat footed unprepared for the attack.
This is of course an extreme case but most combat that consists of "roll initiative > attack" situations are not truly surprise situations.
I disagree with this game rule because I think that any violence prone people would have a natural instinctive sense to block, evade or otherwise not get hit and would thus not be flat footed except in the case of a true surprise round. I personally house rule that the flat footed rule only applies on surprise rounds. Since the biggest support for this rule boils down to "rogues need the help" I have basically given sneak attack classes the special ability to treat any opponent that has not acted during he first round of combat as flat footed. but that is a special rule for them not the base line rule for all creatures.
As I said, the rules are pretty clear and have been defended often. I am content with my house rule and am not arguing the point here. I am asking this question because I want to know why this rule is such a holy grail. Why is this considered so important to game mechanics. Have I missed something in the intent that makes my house rule detrimental to play?
if it is NOT critical to game play has paizo ever considered changing the rule?
The point of being flat-footed until you actually act in the first round is intended to model something you see all the time in duels—be they samurai duels or quickdraw old-west duels or whatever. In those duels, whoever goes first has an advantage over whoever doesn't, and that's all this "flat-footed until you move in the first round" is modeling.
Surprising someone significantly extends that period of being unable to react, and is its own mechanic.
If you remove this rule from the game, keep in mind that you're hurting the rogue class and greatly devaluing characters who have high initiative checks. That has some pretty significant repercussions on a lot of character builds.
Frankly, the "natural instinctive sense to block, evade, or otherwise not get hit" is already in the game in the form of Initiative checks (and certain class abilities like uncanny dodge). So, if you want a character who's really good a that natural instinctive sense, give them a really good initiative check.
As an aside... I don't think "rogues need help." Rogues are fine. I've played them, I've seen them played, and they hold their own in combat... PROVIDED that the person who plays them plays them as rogues and not as fighters. A rogue should NEVER simply stand in one place in combat. He should be moving around all the time, working with his allies, and using various tactics (and class abilities) to ensure he keeps getting those sneak attacks. It's a pretty hard class to play, and some GMs (either knowingly or not) introduce things or have play styles that make this method of play even harder, but in the end, if you judge a rogue's "success" by trying to judge him as a fighter or barbarian... well, you're not understanding the rogue class's point.
Diseases, poisons, spells, and other abilities can all deal damage directly to your ability scores. This damage does not actually reduce an ability, but it does apply a penalty to the skills and statistics that are based on that ability.
For every 2 points of damage you take to a single ability, apply a –1 penalty to skills and statistics listed with the relevant ability.
Do hit points count as a statistic for this purpose?
we're in agreement that the word "humanoid" in the Pain Points entry is not a game term.So, the entryThe magic weapon serves as a channel for the wielder's ki, allowing her to use her special ki attacks through the weapon as if they were unarmed attacks.is not a game term. Therefore, a martial artist, even if can't use the ki, he can use a ki weapon for stunning fist and quivering palm, maybe if that weapon was enchanted with the ki focus ability by a martial artist. The same for a warrior or any PC that can't use the ki but can use stunning fist. Right?
He was not saying "humanoid" is not a game term. He was saying in the context it was used, it was not referring to the game term humanoid, but our real life use of it.
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Have you ever been or are you now the Usenet Oracle? (Link provided for those young'uns new to the term.)
Ha.
That would be , obviously.
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Do hit points count as a statistic for this purpose?Diseases, poisons, spells, and other abilities can all deal damage directly to your ability scores. This damage does not actually reduce an ability, but it does apply a penalty to the skills and statistics that are based on that ability.
For every 2 points of damage you take to a single ability, apply a –1 penalty to skills and statistics listed with the relevant ability.
Nope. Abilities means precisely that—one of the six ability scores.
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He was not saying "humanoid" is not a game term. He was saying in the context it was used, it was not referring to the game term humanoid, but our real life use of it.we're in agreement that the word "humanoid" in the Pain Points entry is not a game term.So, the entryThe magic weapon serves as a channel for the wielder's ki, allowing her to use her special ki attacks through the weapon as if they were unarmed attacks.is not a game term. Therefore, a martial artist, even if can't use the ki, he can use a ki weapon for stunning fist and quivering palm, maybe if that weapon was enchanted with the ki focus ability by a martial artist. The same for a warrior or any PC that can't use the ki but can use stunning fist. Right?
But the reason he was confused is because the word "humanoid" actually means a specific slice of monsters in the game. It's confusing.
For the same reason, we don't call a generic arcane spellcaster a wizard, since he could be a witch or a bard or a sorcerer or whatever. And we don't call tough guys in the army "warriors" because they might be fighters or rogues or rangers.
Ki attacks are a class feature though, and not a real world term, and not something anyone can do. As an example stunning fist is not a ki attack. It is just a feat. Quivering palm does not use ki either.
Yeah. To conclude even if i haven't a ki pool, i can still use my stunning fist when i wield a ki focus weapon.
I just read the entire ability. I see what you are saying now. :)
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So there's a New Feat in the Aasimar section of the ARG called Celestial Servant. it allows you to grant the celestial template to and animal companion, familiar or mount.
How does that interact with Improved Familiar when:
a. you summon a familiar who is a normal animal (lets say a monkey) enhanced by a template such as Entropic or infernal? Do you get a Celestial/Entropic Monkey?
b. You summon a new improved familiar (such as an imp)? Do you get a Celestial Imp?
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So there's a New Feat in the Aasimar section of the ARG called Celestial Servant. it allows you to grant the celestial template to and animal companion, familiar or mount.
How does that interact with Improved Familiar when:
a. you summon a familiar who is a normal animal (lets say a monkey) enhanced by a template such as Entropic or infernal? Do you get a Celestial/Entropic Monkey?
b. You summon a new improved familiar (such as an imp)? Do you get a Celestial Imp?
Technically, yes, it would grant the Celestial template to your entropic animal or your imp... but in practice, alignment considerations would make such an event unlikely at best. Celestial Servant is primarily aimed at enhancing "normal" companions/familiars/mounts, so a GM could well simply say you can't use this ability on something that's already got conflicting "flavors" on it.
For the same reason, while you can pour maple syrup on a chocolate cake... and while doing so DOES make the whole thing sweeter... it's not necessarily a good idea and you probably shouldn't do it because it ruins both things for a lot of folks.
American public goes ballistic if:
1. Nipples are exposed
2. Children are in dangerAnything else is generally fine with an average Yankee - ultraviolence, disembowelment, genocide, homicide, suicide, more ultraviolence. But the moment you expose boobies or hint that little Sue might get a load of spiked tentacles in all the wrong places, John and Jane hit the panic button and send "please stop this or we'll notify our local religious right organization" emails.
Not quite true.
There are plenty of other things that gets the American public to go ballistic.
In Burnt Offerings, for example, two elements in Sandpoint got some folks worked up...
** spoiler omitted **
We'll continue to expose nipples, put kids in danger, and have good aligned homosexuals and pro-choice NPCs and their like in the game now and then... but we generally don't do so too often because in the end we want the game itself to be what folks are talking about, not one minor single little element of it.
Make said children Avatars of the Elder Gods/Great Old Ones and/or Anthropomorphic Personifications?
Could give something like:
Little kid: *get stepped on by a dragon* "Hmm, excuse me, mister dragon, could you watch where you are going?"
... or just kill the dragon.
So there's a New Feat in the Aasimar section of the ARG called Celestial Servant. it allows you to grant the celestial template to and animal companion, familiar or mount.
How does that interact with Improved Familiar when:
a. you summon a familiar who is a normal animal (lets say a monkey) enhanced by a template such as Entropic or infernal? Do you get a Celestial/Entropic Monkey?
b. You summon a new improved familiar (such as an imp)? Do you get a Celestial Imp?Technically, yes, it would grant the Celestial template to your entropic animal or your imp... but in practice, alignment considerations would make such an event unlikely at best. Celestial Servant is primarily aimed at enhancing "normal" companions/familiars/mounts, so a GM could well simply say you can't use this ability on something that's already got conflicting "flavors" on it.
For the same reason, while you can pour maple syrup on a chocolate cake... and while doing so DOES make the whole thing sweeter... it's not necessarily a good idea and you probably shouldn't do it because it ruins both things for a lot of folks.
Is there any reason that you could not have a creature that is both Entropic and Celestial? Chaos and Good aren't in conflict.
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It is pretty nifty -- I'd imagine that if it's true, the Bleaching would be a form of punishment for not observing enough interesting things...Interesting. It DOES sound like a sort of off-the-cuff comment one of us might make in a messageboard post or in a chat room or somewhere else where words appear and then are lost within a day or less.
Are there any plans to expand a bit on the whole biomechanical obeservation devices thing, in the form of hinting in some of the game material? Because honestly it makes gnomes (already a fairly interesting and tragic race) even more fascinating. I'm not asking you to tell us the truth, that's the sort of information that seems like it would not be fun to actually know the truth. But some rumors or hints in game material would probably be pretty fun to see and get players thinking.
James I just ordered "The Slumbering Tsar" compilation from FGG. I was wondering where on Golarion you would [place the city of Tsar? I was thinking possibly just east of Qadira in the desert and wastes of Casmaron somewhere.
Hi James, I have a couple questions question about movement modifiers.
If a creature does not have a land speed, what happens if that creature gets a bonus to its land speed? The example that came up in tonight's game was a fast zombie giant squid. A fast zombie grants +10 to land speed, but a giant squid does not have a land speed - its speed is swim 60 ft., jet 260 ft.
Would a fast zombie giant squid get:
A) A land speed of 10 ft. (effectively, its lack of land speed is a land speed of 0 ft., so it gets increased to 10)
B) +10 to its swim speed (basically, applying the bonus to the creature's "primary" mode of movement)
C) No benefit from the land speed bonus
Also, if a creature does not have a land speed, if something is based on its land speed, what do you use? For example, the half-fiend template grants a fly speed of twice the base creature's land speed. What is the fly speed of a half-fiend giant squid?
Giant squid is on pg. 259 of Bestiary 1
Zombie template is on pg. 289-290 of Bestiary 1, with the fast zombie specifics on pg. 290
Half-fiend template is on pg. 171 of Bestiary 1
Trivial Pursuit: Pathfinder Edition.
Will it hit stores soon?
So, I asked this question sort of already I think, but I wanted to ask it again in a different way. If someone was raised in Cheliax to worship Asmodeus and such, and they are Lawful Neutral, do you think it's still fitting for them to actually worship Asmodeus, just follow his tenets of Law and Power, without actually being EVIL about it?
Also, on a related note... Is that legal in Pathfinder Society play? Like a Lawful Neutral cleric of Asmodeus wouldn't necessarily have to be an evil person, or are evil deities not allowed either?
OH and another question not related... Infernal Healing has a material component of a drop of devil's blood or a "dose" of unholy water. Is this commonly available since it's such a small amount, or if not then what price? Also, would Eschew Materials negate it?
Oh and while I am thinking about it, I'm not sure who to tell about this... In the Ultimate Magic PDF the bookmark for the Magus Archetypes page is missing, as every other class has a bookmark. :P Who should I email about this for possible fixing in the next update, or can you relay the message? :)
Oh and while I am thinking about it, I'm not sure who to tell about this... In the Ultimate Magic PDF the bookmark for the Magus Archetypes page is missing, as every other class has a bookmark. :P Who should I email about this for possible fixing in the next update, or can you relay the message? :)
Please post this, and future things like it, in the Paizo Products forum. That's the best place to point it out.
Oh and while I am thinking about it, I'm not sure who to tell about this... In the Ultimate Magic PDF the bookmark for the Magus Archetypes page is missing, as every other class has a bookmark. :P Who should I email about this for possible fixing in the next update, or can you relay the message? :)Please post this, and future things like it, in the Paizo Products forum. That's the best place to point it out.
AH cool thanks yeah I wasn't sure I looked on the page of the book itself, but that just says errors in the PAGE for the book...
In Golarion:
1) What causes an animal to become dire? (breed, evolved, created)
"Dire" is basically another term for "megafauna," so its actually the opposite of one of your suggestions; they're unevolved monsters, Land of the Lost style.
So, I asked this question sort of already I think, but I wanted to ask it again in a different way. If someone was raised in Cheliax to worship Asmodeus and such, and they are Lawful Neutral, do you think it's still fitting for them to actually worship Asmodeus, just follow his tenets of Law and Power, without actually being EVIL about it?
Also, on a related note... Is that legal in Pathfinder Society play? Like a Lawful Neutral cleric of Asmodeus wouldn't necessarily have to be an evil person, or are evil deities not allowed either?
OH and another question not related... Infernal Healing has a material component of a drop of devil's blood or a "dose" of unholy water. Is this commonly available since it's such a small amount, or if not then what price? Also, would Eschew Materials negate it?
From what I understand, PFS allows for characters that worship an Evil deity if the player alignment is Neutral on the G/E scale.
Yes and yes re: the material component. If a cost is not listed, it's assumed to be easily obtained at negligible cost.
"Dire" is basically another term for "megafauna," so its actually the opposite of one of your suggestions; they're unevolved monsters, Land of the Lost style.In Golarion:
1) What causes an animal to become dire? (breed, evolved, created)
With the Dire wolf being the actual name of an species that lived in the Americas during the Pleistocene period.
Question for James: Considering your habit of using animals from this period in place of the "dire" varieties, would that make Homo Erectus Dire Humans?
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Nope. Abilities means precisely that—one of the six ability scores.Do hit points count as a statistic for this purpose?Diseases, poisons, spells, and other abilities can all deal damage directly to your ability scores. This damage does not actually reduce an ability, but it does apply a penalty to the skills and statistics that are based on that ability.
For every 2 points of damage you take to a single ability, apply a –1 penalty to skills and statistics listed with the relevant ability.
I think he is asking if losing 2 points from the constitution ability score will apply a -1 hp/level penalty to the character maximum and current HP.
And if he is not asking that, I am asking that ;-)
Dear JJ, a few questions if I may:
1. Are the wildblooded bloodlines bloodlines in their own right? Would you be able to select wildblooded bloodlines with the Eldritch Heritage feats and would a wildblooded sorcerer be able to utilise a Robe of Arcane Heritage?
2. If you could go back in time with the experience and knowledge you have today, would you have done the sorcerer bloodlines the way oracle mysteries are done? Would this affect how sorcerers are done in a hypothetical Pathfinder 2.0?
3. What is a T-rex's primary source of dietary fibre?
4. What's wrong with a Chaotic Good Celestial/Entropic Monkey? XD
Why the disconnect between the list of Ranger's Favored Terrains and the rules for the Environment?
Color me curious. What's the disconnect?