Creative Director
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The warforged were, in fact, my 2nd least-favorite part of Eberron (which is, itself, my least favorite official D&D setting).1: So what was your number-one least-favorite part of Eberron?
2: What would you say about a Brutal Pugilist who focuses on grapple and unarmed damage (especially featwise)? Possibly giving him a monk's robe.
3: Parchment or papyrus?
1) The way they renamed dinosaurs from things like "Tyrannosaurus" to "Swordtooth Titan." If you're not renaming other real-word words like "human" or "coyote" or "guisarme," for your game... why rename dinosaurs? It's not like nobody knows what your'e talking about when you say "A tyrannosaurus just attacked you!" but if you say "A swordtooth titan attacks you!" you have to follow that up with a description that will inevitably result in, "Oh... you mean a tyrannosaurus?"
2) Make sure he has a good name that'd be approved by the WWE!
3) Parchment.
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Creative Director
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Would their presence near the Gate in Kyonin (who's name escapes me), be sufficient for the transformation, or the presence of Treerazer nearby? Little has been published about the Elven Kingdom of Kyonin, so it's possible there is some unmentioned artifact that permeates the ground, and a combination of the artifact, gate(s) and Treerazer presence can enhance elves into "Nobles".
The Sovyrian Stone. Not as it currently stands in the world, no. If there were something in Kyonin that could create elf nobles, it would have. There is not. Again... you can change that in your version of Golarion if you wish... but my preference is that Drow are better than elves overall. That's what makes them excellent bad guys. Also, I'm not a fan of forcing symmetry between things that are similar. Just as we don't have an evil race analogous among the fiends to angels, I'm not a big fan of saying "Drow have nobles, so that means elves should have them." It dilutes the mystery and compelling nature of the drow race to do so.
Also, if the slumbering form of Rovagug is enough to interact with unborn drow to make them Nobles, could the nearby presence of the Starstone enhance people in Absalom? Considering the Starstone is powerful enough to raise a mortal to level of deific power that they become major gods on Golarion, I'd imagine it's mere presence would have some sort of effect over the nearby population and land.
Again... not as it currently stands. But changes you wish to make to your version of Golarion don't need to cleave to the official stance.
Would their presence near the Gate in Kyonin (who's name escapes me), be sufficient for the transformation, or the presence of Treerazer nearby? Little has been published about the Elven Kingdom of Kyonin, so it's possible there is some unmentioned artifact that permeates the ground, and a combination of the artifact, gate(s) and Treerazer presence can enhance elves into "Nobles".The Sovyrian Stone. Not as it currently stands in the world, no. If there were something in Kyonin that could create elf nobles, it would have. There is not. Again... you can change that in your version of Golarion if you wish... but my preference is that Drow are better than elves overall. That's what makes them excellent bad guys. Also, I'm not a fan of forcing symmetry between things that are similar. Just as we don't have an evil race analogous among the fiends to angels, I'm not a big fan of saying "Drow have nobles, so that means elves should have them." It dilutes the mystery and compelling nature of the drow race to do so.
Also, if the slumbering form of Rovagug is enough to interact with unborn drow to make them Nobles, could the nearby presence of the Starstone enhance people in Absalom? Considering the Starstone is powerful enough to raise a mortal to level of deific power that they become major gods on Golarion, I'd imagine it's mere presence would have some sort of effect over the nearby population and land.Again... not as it currently stands. But changes you wish to make to your version of Golarion don't need to cleave to the official stance.
I remember reading somewhere that Elves can change and become Drow, if they become Evil, or something like that, and Drow that become Good, are changed into Elves.
If this is true, what happens to a Drow Noble that changes into an Elf?
Already answered in this thread:
You can take 10 on knowledge checks, as with all checks. The bard lore master ability lets a bard take 10 at all times, even in the middle of combat.James, Can you take 10 on knowledge skill checks?
The take 10 rules in the skills section do not restrict it, but the lore master bardic class ability seems to suggest that you cannot normally take 10.
I am sorry if this has been answered before, but my search fu is not working. In general PFRPG, we can just rule however, but my question is important for the purposes of Pathfinder Society Organized Play and a designer's opinion would be appreciated to help end an ongoing and somewhat contentious discussion.
Yeah, was about to say, Bards pretty much own the Knowledge skills. Even a Wizard can't keep up with them after a certain point, at which their higher INT can no longer match the Bardic Knowledge bonus.Yeah. Plus once you factor in the bard's ability to take 10 when he otherwise could not, and to take 20 when he REALLY wants to know something, the bard is the clear winner vs the wizard.
I could see an argument for lore oracle, but tbh it seems like even if you select every knowledge-related revelation, you might barely keep pace with a bard. Even the capstone ability to take 20 on all knowledge checks all the time doesn't put them ahead, since the bard at that point can take 10 with a +10 bonus (the wish component of that ability is obviously amazing however). The only thing the oracle can really do that the bard cannot is retry a knowledge check, which admittedly is potentially very helpful.
Lore Oracle also have an "add 20 to a knowledge roll", and the abilities to use CHA instead of INT for knowledge rolls.
There is a wizard path for the one who seeks to be the master of knowledge. The Loremaster PrC.Who are the best knowledge users, if not bards?Eh... Don't get me wrong, the 1/2 level bonuses can certainly make a difference, but then if we're gonna argue like that, we might as well say that bards are the best users of the knowledge skills because of their 1/2 level bonus.
Bards are absolutely intended to be the best at knowledge skills. Wizards come in 2nd, but mostly only because they generally have a high Intelligence score. There's a disconnect out there among some folks who think that wizards should be the best at knowledge... but in fact their focus is being the most versatile with arcane magic.
Whereas a wizard can certainly be a brilliant person at one or two knowledge skills... it's the bard that is easiest to be brilliant at all of the knowledge skills.
Though doing so does sacrifice some of the wizard's arcane versatility.
Now, if only there was a Prestige Class that allowed bards to do the same!
Hey James Jacobs!
I have some questions about elves, demons and drow, if you don't mind. Probably some of my favorite subjects!
1.)Does Treerazer have any elves who worship him, despite (or maybe because!) of his hostility with Kyonin? Or do even evil elves tend to despise him?
2.)What kind of ambient music would you recommend for a campaign or adventure in the Darklands? Specifically, for drow cities such as Zirnakaynin? If you don't know of any specific ones, a general type would be fine!
3.)The Advanced Race Guide says that the feminine nobility of the drow often discourage males from becoming antipaladins, as they feel discomforted by the idea of a strong-willed male with autonomous instincts and a direct relationship with a demon lord. Does this hold true for other divine classes?
4.)As a follow up to the above, does that mean that male drow divine casters aren't possible, or just that they're rare, or viewed warily by the females, or something else entirely?
5.)Does Nocticula have any inquisitors in her faith? I've heard mention that inquisitors carry a slight lawful-tone, but I can't help but think they would make good fits for the paranoid society of the drow, or as slayers in her more general priesthood. Thoughts?
6.)If there are inquisitors, what inquisitions would you recommend for them? I could see Conversion, Heresy, Sin and Torture.
7.)Are drow followers of Nocticula likely to take the Demonic Apostle cleric archetype from the Advanced Race Guide, or are they more likely to stick to the standard cleric for the domain versatility? (Just for easy reference - The Demonic Apostle must select the Chaos, Evil or Demonic domain as their sole domain, their Channel Energy harms lawful or good creatures but bolsters chaotic evil allies, and they eventually gain a quasit familiar, whereas normal clerics may select the Charm/Lust or Darkness/Loss/Night for a bit more Nocticula flavor)
Thanks for any responses. :)
I'd also like to throw in that I'd love to see any articles similar to the Demonomicon ones from the Dragon magazines, such as the suggested Cults of the Damned in another thread. I was looking back over the Malcanthet one the other day, and the poem is pretty intense!
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Dear J. Jacobs-
What are the some of the more infamous prisons on Golarion?
I am gearing up to run a former Dwarven worshiper of Torag who is guilty of setting a Church of the Forge Father's on fire after his sisters death and is sent to prison. I am looking for one that perhaps uses arcane torture as he will be geared to be an Invulnerable Rager who specializes in attacking casters upon his release from incarceration, but a broad stroke answer to the question would be intriguing nevertheless. Thank you for your time.
With not being able to count a stat twice.
I am curious how that interacts with a Paladin/Oracle or Lore.
Example Paladin 3/ Oracle 3 and the Oracle has the mystery "side Step secret" which has him use his Charisma instead of dex for refelx saves.
Lets say the paladin has a dex of 12 and a charisma of 18.
What is his reflex save from stat mods.
The way I had read it before, he got +8 (Charisma from divine grace +4 and Charism INSTEAD of DEx from Side Step Secret +4.)
Now I can see it as +4 (divine grace but he can not add his charisma again) or +5 (Divine grace +4, but he can not add his charisma as base stat but instead still gets his dex). If the latter is the case the Mystery will actually make his save worse.
Divine grace grants an untyped bonus to all saving throws equal to the paladin's Charisma modifier—in this case, the ability specifically calls this bonus a bonus, and by leaving it untyped, the bonus from divine grace stacks with everything. It does not replace existing modifiers to saving throws gained from stats.
A paladin/oracle with that combination would indeed replace his Dex modifier with his Cha modifier for Reflex saves, and then when he gains divine grace, adds a bonus equal to his Cha modifier to all his saves.
It's not technically adding the ability score modifier twice, in any case.
Does this mean that the paladin's Divine Grace class feature technically stacks with the Bestow Grace spell?
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I've just been looking over my old Dungeon and Dragon magazine issues tonight on a whim, and found a bunch of fantastic coastal and aquatic adventures that I'd love to throw into Skull & Shackles.
Unfortunately a few of them are designed for low-levels and (Wormwood Mutiny Spoilers Ahoy!)
Do you have any recommendations on how someone might insert some of these adventures into the AP, or will my pirate PCs never know the terror that lies within The Box of Flumph, or the scarifying horrors of The Dead Man's Quest?
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Creative Director
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I remember reading somewhere that Elves can change and become Drow, if they become Evil, or something like that, and Drow that become Good, are changed into Elves.
If this is true, what happens to a Drow Noble that changes into an Elf?
That's actually a very rare one-way-street. An elf who does the right combination of performing evil acts AND has strong connections to a demon lord has a SLIGHT chance of spontaneously transforming into a drow. There's not a d% chance even it's so small... essentially, this transformation only happens when you as the GM want it to for the sake of the storyline. In five years of publishing Pathfinder stuff... we've had it happen only twice, and one of those transformations essentially triggered an adventure path.
Drow who become good are almost as rare. And when they do, they do not turn back into elves. The transformation is one-way. So there's no need to worry about what happens if a drow noble turns good. She stays a drow noble, but she's good aligned.
I remember reading somewhere that Elves can change and become Drow, if they become Evil, or something like that, and Drow that become Good, are changed into Elves.
If this is true, what happens to a Drow Noble that changes into an Elf?
That's actually a very rare one-way-street. An elf who does the right combination of performing evil acts AND has strong connections to a demon lord has a SLIGHT chance of spontaneously transforming into a drow. There's not a d% chance even it's so small... essentially, this transformation only happens when you as the GM want it to for the sake of the storyline. In five years of publishing Pathfinder stuff... we've had it happen only twice, and one of those transformations essentially triggered an adventure path.
Drow who become good are almost as rare. And when they do, they do not turn back into elves. The transformation is one-way. So there's no need to worry about what happens if a drow noble turns good. She stays a drow noble, but she's good aligned.
And running very fast?
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Creative Director
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It's been a while since I read any Eberron setting books, but I think the name-changes might've been to represent that the names weren't invented by intellectuals studying fossils, but nomadic halfling tribes who were working with the animals on a day-to-day basis.
Unless the DM ruled that the Halfing language was really Latin. :P
Barring the name changes though, did you like the idea of halfing tribes working with dinosaurs instead of conventional livestock? I mean a halfling Barbarian may not be much to look at (unless he also has levels in Ranger and is named Belkar) but a halfling barbarian riding a deinonycus and charging straight at you - now the proverbial's hit the fan!
That's pretty much the reason—"Dinosaurs shouldn't have latin names because no one in Eberron speaks latin." Which is a fundamentally flawed argument... in that case, why are there things with English names in the game? Or why don't all societies have different names? Why, indeed, do these nomadic-halflings call the dinosaurs words made out of English at all?
It's a poor decision that only raises more questions than it solves, while deliberately making the game harder to run or less enjoyable for fans of dinosaurs in the first place. And I know I'm not the only one who likes dinosaurs.
I do like the idea of halflings working with dinosaurs a lot. There's actually several cool ideas in Eberron... but pretty much all of them saddle a cool idea with something that sabotages it for me into something frustrating and disappointing.
It's like giving someone their favorite cake, but then telling them you made it "EVEN BETTER" by soaking it in salt water and now it's called a "Bitterbite soggymash." Just let me eat that cake without ruining it on a physical and linguistic level, please.
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Creative Director
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1.)Does Treerazer have any elves who worship him, despite (or maybe because!) of his hostility with Kyonin? Or do even evil elves tend to despise him?
2.)What kind of ambient music would you recommend for a campaign or adventure in the Darklands? Specifically, for drow cities such as Zirnakaynin? If you don't know of any specific ones, a general type would be fine!
3.)The Advanced Race Guide says that the feminine nobility of the drow often discourage males from becoming antipaladins, as they feel discomforted by the idea of a strong-willed male with autonomous instincts and a direct relationship with a demon lord. Does this hold true for other divine classes?
4.)As a follow up to the above, does that mean that male drow divine casters aren't possible, or just that they're rare, or viewed warily by the females, or something else entirely?
5.)Does Nocticula have any inquisitors in her faith? I've heard mention that inquisitors carry a slight lawful-tone, but I can't help but think they would make good fits for the paranoid society of the drow, or as slayers in her more general priesthood. Thoughts?
6.)If there are inquisitors, what inquisitions would you recommend for them? I could see Conversion, Heresy, Sin and Torture.
7.)Are drow followers of Nocticula likely to take the Demonic Apostle cleric archetype from the Advanced Race Guide, or are they more likely to stick to the standard cleric for the domain versatility? (Just for easy reference - The Demonic Apostle must select the Chaos, Evil or Demonic domain as their sole domain, their Channel Energy harms lawful or good creatures but bolsters chaotic evil allies, and they eventually gain a quasit familiar, whereas normal clerics may select the Charm/Lust or Darkness/Loss/Night for a bit more Nocticula flavor)
Thanks for any responses. :)
I'd also like to throw in that I'd love to see any articles similar to the Demonomicon ones from the Dragon magazines, such as the suggested Cults of the Damned in another thread. I was looking back over the Malcanthet one the other day, and the poem is pretty intense!
1) Yes, he has elven worshipers. They're mostly either hidden sleeper agents or mutant/plant-monster transformation victims/fiendish elves, or just flat-out evil cultist elves.
2) I generally prefer using movie soundtracks, and in such cases, try to pick movie soundtracks that evoke the feeling of the environment. For a Darklands game, soundtracks like Bernard Herman's score for the original "Journey to the Center of the Earth" is great, as is the soundtrack to "The Descent." But any movie that's dark and moody should do; the soundtrack to Alien and Aliens would work (Alien for ambiance, Aliens for combat). The soundtrack to "Conan the Barbarian" is always good for anything Pathfinder related, of course.
3) Female drow nobles feel discomforted by any strong-willed males, and when they pop up, those men are generally sacrificed or mentally reprogrammed to be more properly submissive. So I would say that that would hold true for ALL classes. Calling out antipaladins in particular is kind of weird, but since they'd have really high Charisma scores... that's partially it, I suppose.
4) Male drow divine casters are absolutely possible. They're very very rare in the typical matriarchal drow society, with some exceptions, but in other societies there's nothing really barring them from existing.
5) Yes, she does. Inquisitors on average are more lawful than not, but that hardly means they have to ALL be lawful. Most of Nocticula's worshipers are more likely to be clerics, rogues, bards, sorcerers, rangers, or antipaladins, though. Classes that work well as assassins or seducers, basically.
6) Conversion, Sin, and Torture sound goo. Heresy would work only for a worshiper of Nocticula who doesn't worship her as a goddess of lust and shadow and assassination.
7) I'm not familiar with that archetype from the Advanced Race Guide at all. That said... any class options that help a follower of Nocticula be a better seductress or a better assassin would be good choices, regardless of where those options come from. (Your brief description of the archetype sounds like it limits the cleric too much if they want to do something other than just be a blaster type—so it's probably not a great choice.) Frankly... the vast majority of drow demon-worshiping clerics are likely to take the demoniac prestige class from Lords of Chaos. That class was, after all, adapted from the drow demon worshiping class we published back in Pathfinder #16 or thereabouts.
I assume you've checked out Second Darkness and Book of the Damned II: Lords of Chaos, yeah? Those two (particularly parts 4 and 5 of Second Darkness) are the go-to places for drow and demons for now.
And thanks for the kind words on the Demonomicon articles. I do want to do more of those types of articles some day... and I'm particularly proud of the Malcanthet opening poem. If only because by using poetry and metaphor and symbols, I was able to get something that's pretty close to an X-rated poem into print in Dragon magazine. Mwa ha ha.
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Creative Director
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What are the some of the more infamous prisons on Golarion?
I am gearing up to run a former Dwarven worshiper of Torag who is guilty of setting a Church of the Forge Father's on fire after his sisters death and is sent to prison. I am looking for one that perhaps uses arcane torture as he will be geared to be an Invulnerable Rager who specializes in attacking casters upon his release from incarceration, but a broad stroke answer to the question would be intriguing nevertheless. Thank you for your time.
I'm not sure what the names are off the top of my head... but there are infamous prisons in Absalom (particularly in the Puddles there) and in Galt (in the Fogscar Mountains... it's talked about in Into the Darklands, as it connects to Nar-Voth and the guards/warden there have a creepy alliance with the derros there regarding prisoner use).
For a specific adventure where a dwarf is thrown into prison, I'd go ahead and throw him into a dungeon in the Five Kings Mountains though.
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Creative Director
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Does this mean that the paladin's Divine Grace class feature technically stacks with the Bestow Grace spell?
It's kinda unclear, alas. You could argue either way, but I would argue no. The flavor of that spell states that you bestow your divine grace on another target. You're a paladin. You already have that. You can't gain it again.
THAT SAID... if you had a paladin archetype that swapped out divine grace for something else... or if you were using a wand of divine grace as another class with Use Magic Device, you could certainly cast it on yourself and gain that benefit.
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Creative Director
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I've just been looking over my old Dungeon and Dragon magazine issues tonight on a whim, and found a bunch of fantastic coastal and aquatic adventures that I'd love to throw into Skull & Shackles.
Unfortunately a few of them are designed for low-levels and (Wormwood Mutiny Spoilers Ahoy!)** spoiler omitted **
Do you have any recommendations on how someone might insert some of these adventures into the AP, or will my pirate PCs never know the terror that lies within The Box of Flumph, or the scarifying horrors of The Dead Man's Quest?
You could always use one of those two adventures to start a Skull & Shackles campaign and have them be the adventures your PCs first meet on, and then once the adventures are over, they go to the tavern and... well... BANG. You know.
Adding adventures like this to an established AP works best if you switch down to the Slow XP Advancement track, of course.
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Creative Director
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And running very fast?I remember reading somewhere that Elves can change and become Drow, if they become Evil, or something like that, and Drow that become Good, are changed into Elves.
If this is true, what happens to a Drow Noble that changes into an Elf?
That's actually a very rare one-way-street. An elf who does the right combination of performing evil acts AND has strong connections to a demon lord has a SLIGHT chance of spontaneously transforming into a drow. There's not a d% chance even it's so small... essentially, this transformation only happens when you as the GM want it to for the sake of the storyline. In five years of publishing Pathfinder stuff... we've had it happen only twice, and one of those transformations essentially triggered an adventure path.
Drow who become good are almost as rare. And when they do, they do not turn back into elves. The transformation is one-way. So there's no need to worry about what happens if a drow noble turns good. She stays a drow noble, but she's good aligned.
heh... Well, I assume any good-aligned drow would indeed want to escape drow society. But I also assume that good-aligned drow would make that alignment switch NOT when they're surrounded by peer pressure and other good reasons to stay evil.
I read a house rule in another thread that requires armor check penalties to be added to Reflex saves. WhenI read that I thought 'Huh, that makes perfect sense.' Is that something that might have been considered by the Paizo team and shot down (in which case, why?), is it something you've never thought of before, or is it just another example of cut-and-paste from 3.5? I only ask because I like learning about game design and your perspectives on things like this.
The "Burrow" movement type doesn't seem to be defined anywhere in the Pathfinder rules (Flight gets a section in the Universal Monster Rules, as well as the Fly skill, Climb is explained in the Climb skill and Swim is likewise covered under the Swim skill, but I've checked about three different ways and can't find Burrow anywhere).
I assume this was an unintentional oversight as a result of removing Movement Modes from the Universal Monster Rules in the 3.5->Pathfinder conversion, probably for space-saving reasons.
In your learned and professional opinion, would it be reasonable to keep using the 3.5 definition (and would you tighten it up by defining a hardness that Burrowing can move through)?:
Burrow
A creature with a burrow speed can tunnel through dirt, but not through rock unless the descriptive text says otherwise. Creatures cannot charge or run while burrowing. Most burrowing creatures do not leave behind tunnels other creatures can use (either because the material they tunnel through fills in behind them or because they do not actually dislocate any material when burrowing); see the individual creature descriptions for details.
1)On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate the following movies, Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, Alien resurrection, Promethius, Predator, Predator 2, AvsP, AvsP 2?
2)What are the odds of seeing another dragon revisited book or a book that focuses on dragons?
3)When will we see Fey from other countries like Tian Xia, Arcadia, etc. or other planets like Castrovel, Akiton, etc.?
4)What are your top 5 favorite tv shows currently?
5)Have you seen any movies lately? If so what have you seen?
6)Do you have any interest in seeing the movie "Brave"? If you do and you have already seen it, did you like it? If you don't have interest, any particular reason?
7)What are your top 10 animated movies of all time?
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It's been a while since I read any Eberron setting books, but I think the name-changes might've been to represent that the names weren't invented by intellectuals studying fossils, but nomadic halfling tribes who were working with the animals on a day-to-day basis.
Unless the DM ruled that the Halfing language was really Latin. :P
Barring the name changes though, did you like the idea of halfing tribes working with dinosaurs instead of conventional livestock? I mean a halfling Barbarian may not be much to look at (unless he also has levels in Ranger and is named Belkar) but a halfling barbarian riding a deinonycus and charging straight at you - now the proverbial's hit the fan!
That's pretty much the reason—"Dinosaurs shouldn't have latin names because no one in Eberron speaks latin." Which is a fundamentally flawed argument... in that case, why are there things with English names in the game? Or why don't all societies have different names? Why, indeed, do these nomadic-halflings call the dinosaurs words made out of English at all?
It's a poor decision that only raises more questions than it solves, while deliberately making the game harder to run or less enjoyable for fans of dinosaurs in the first place. And I know I'm not the only one who likes dinosaurs.
I do like the idea of halflings working with dinosaurs a lot. There's actually several cool ideas in Eberron... but pretty much all of them saddle a cool idea with something that sabotages it for me into something frustrating and disappointing.
It's like giving someone their favorite cake, but then telling them you made it "EVEN BETTER" by soaking it in salt water and now it's called a "Bitterbite soggymash." Just let me eat that cake without ruining it on a physical and linguistic level, please.
I always thought of the other names as the common names that the uneducated and common folk used for these roving giant lizards while the actual scientific names were used by scholars and others in that field of study similar to how animals in real life have a given name and a scientific name, like the great white shark and it's scientific name Carcharodon carcharias or the demons & devils get in pathfinder like Bone Devils known as the Osyluths by diabolists. The problem with dinosaurs I think is that we are all introduced to them through paleontology or those who are very into the science which means that we would know and associate them with their scientific names while in some other world where they are a common occurrence long before science came along to name them. A good example of this could be the Moke Mokembe which is believed to be a large sauropod and was named by the locals, this could be say an apatosaurus that survived to the modern day but to the locals it will be known as the Moke Mokembe.
P.S. Sorry if the cryptid's name is off also odd note every time I type in Apatosaurus the spell check keeps wanting me to change it to Brontosaurus, I'll let that one sink in.
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So, quick question, We know Nethys is that white haired half black half flesh green eyed god in this picture: http://paizo.com/image/avatar/nethys_final.jpg
So, why is the picture of Nethys in The Lost Kingdons, an old dark skinned pharoah who looks nothing like the Nethys we know?
Does the godly package come with a really awesome face lift?
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Senior ManyTeethSharpBiting,
In Golarion, does the potential for arcane spell casting ability come soley from the requisite ability score and proper study, or does one also need some sort of magical attunement or proclivity?
Simplified, can anyone with the requisite intelligence score cast spells with proper study?
Thanks!
I know you tend not to like rules questions, but I thought I could at least get an opinion, if you don't know the actual RAI.
I am playing a Black-Blooded Oracle, so she's healed by negative energy and harmed by positive energy. When discussing Sanctuary and Hide from Undead's cancellation on an attack, I was told that as Inflict Light Wounds is an attack spell, I cannot heal myself without canceling the spell. He is further saying that if a cleric casts Inflict Light Wounds on me I must make a saving throw and FAIL or I don't get healed as Inflict is not harmless like Cure Light Wounds is (he's being "nice" and letting me not save when I cast it on myself.) Nothing is directly said in the entry of the oracle curse, it just says you are treated as undead in regards to positive and negative energy, and the undead entry doesn't say anything either. When I told him I was going to ask he said he's doing it that way no matter what you say, because it's a curse but I still want to know if this is how it's intended or if I am getting screwed more than the rules intend.
I am not James, but your GM is wrong. A spell is an attack based on its use. As an example cure light wounds is an attack versus undead.
With that aside
Special Spell EffectsMany special spell effects are handled according to the school of the spells in question. Certain other special spell features are found across spell schools.
Attacks: Some spell descriptions refer to attacking. All offensive combat actions, even those that don't damage opponents, are considered attacks. Attempts to channel energy count as attacks if it would harm any creatures in the area. All spells that opponents resist with saving throws, that deal damage, or that otherwise harm or hamper subjects are attacks. Spells that summon monsters or other allies are not attacks because the spells themselves don't harm anyone.
This use of the spell is not harming anyone.
If a cleric cast inflict wounds on you, then you don't have to make a save you can voluntarily fail.
Voluntarily Giving up a Saving Throw: A creature can voluntarily forego a saving throw and willingly accept a spell's result. Even a character with a special resistance to magic can suppress this quality.
You my friend are getting screwed by a random house ruling. He has no text to support what he is doing. There is nothing in the Black-Blooded entry that says you can no longer voluntarily give up saving throws.
What concerro said. A simple question for your GM: if you cast cure light wounds on an undead, would that be an attack or not? Either attacks are defined by whether they're harmful, or they're defined by whether they're negative energy, but he can't have it both ways.
What concerro said. A simple question for your GM: if you cast cure light wounds on an undead, would that be an attack or not? Either attacks are defined by whether they're harmful, or they're defined by whether they're negative energy, but he can't have it both ways.
He's not willing to discuss it right now (we are in the game right now in fact, reading this half way while it's not my turn) as it doesn't pertain to the immediate combat. Normally I wouldn't be asking this during the game, but as I am sure you can imagine, this is a serious issue to my character.
Ah. In that case, I would defer to the ruling for now, and wait until some later date to present your perspective. Rule #1: HAVE FUN. Corollary: ARGUMENTS AREN'T FUN.
What concerro said. A simple question for your GM: if you cast cure light wounds on an undead, would that be an attack or not? Either attacks are defined by whether they're harmful, or they're defined by whether they're negative energy, but he can't have it both ways.He's not willing to discuss it right now (we are in the game right now in fact, reading this half way while it's not my turn) as it doesn't pertain to the immediate combat. Normally I wouldn't be asking this during the game, but as I am sure you can imagine, this is a serious issue to my character.
You may need to get a little forceful and tell him he's unfairly penalizing your character, and threaten to leave because he's changing to the rules to gank a character, which is never a good excuse.
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If your character dies you won't have to deal with this random ruling. :)
Seriously though even if your character dies I would ask him about the cure light spell and show him my last post after the game is over. Actually you should ask anyway once the game is over.
House rules are ok, insta-house rules, not so much.
You may need to get a little forceful and tell him he's unfairly penalizing your character, and threaten to leave because he's changing to the rules to gank a character, which is never a good excuse.What concerro said. A simple question for your GM: if you cast cure light wounds on an undead, would that be an attack or not? Either attacks are defined by whether they're harmful, or they're defined by whether they're negative energy, but he can't have it both ways.He's not willing to discuss it right now (we are in the game right now in fact, reading this half way while it's not my turn) as it doesn't pertain to the immediate combat. Normally I wouldn't be asking this during the game, but as I am sure you can imagine, this is a serious issue to my character.
Well, he's saying "You have a curse, you don't get a benefit just because you have a curse." So, he's of the thinking that the way it works is the way he says, and that if he changes it he's giving me a benefit partially negating my curse.
As for leaving the game, that would pretty much kill the entire game as we are playing at my house and using my books (which in a way is a further annoyance as he said he wanted to GM so I'm letting him, but he doesn't own the books, they're mine so he's going off of 3.5 rules unless Pathfinder specifically contradicts them AND he agrees with the Pathfinder changes... This hasn't presented a problem until now.)
EDIT: So, we should stop discussing this on this thread, I'll make a new one for our discussion, then we can let James give his answer.
EDIT 2: Ok here is a link. Please go there to further discuss this and if you wish, repost your comments there for others.
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1) Where in Golarion would one find Good(alignment) Duergar?
2) What are Inquisitions should be available to those who worship Cixyron?
3) Is it possible to build/acquire a Tesla Coil in Golarion?
4) Are there rules for radiation poisoning?
5) Can one obtain Tungsten, Uranium, or Cadmium in Golarion, and at what cost?
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1) Where in Golarion would one find Good(alignment) Duergar?
2) What are Inquisitions should be available to those who worship Cixyron?
3) Is it possible to build/acquire a Tesla Coil in Golarion?4) Are there rules for radiation poisoning?
5) Can one obtain Tungsten, Uranium, or Cadmium in Golarion, and at what cost?
1.) i don't think they have one, the Duergar split with the Dwarves long before the quest with for the sky and have only had Droskar which, to be fair is the only god they feel they need (these are a people of toil).
2.) Wouldn't know but will check around later and see if i can find some.
3.) If you can it's probably in numeria, for my 2 cp i would say treat it statistically like a wand of lighting bolt with a set number of charges then describe it as the coil
4.) None that i know of but my assumption is to just bust out the disease chapter and use that as a base to construct something
5.) I would assume so with most of it being at the cost of either iron or mithril depending on the rarity and what you could craft out of it. Another good one will be to check out the skymetals as they have a few "magically radioactive" metals in the bunch that could be what you're
looking for.
Now are questions 2,3,4 and 5 related because if so I like where this is heading, Cixyron is one of the greatest Deacons to come out of book of the damned 3 and needs some more coverage.
Hi James - I presume that the half-fiend witch Areelu Vorlesh referred to in the Lost Kingdoms (great new product :o) by the way!) campaign setting page 45 and in the Inner Sea World Guide page 199 is the the same as the demon witch Vahedifar Ayeshalmoutey referred to in the old 3.5 Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting product on page 151? What lies behind the name change and the demotion from demon to half-fiend?
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Creative Director
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I read a house rule in another thread that requires armor check penalties to be added to Reflex saves. WhenI read that I thought 'Huh, that makes perfect sense.' Is that something that might have been considered by the Paizo team and shot down (in which case, why?), is it something you've never thought of before, or is it just another example of cut-and-paste from 3.5? I only ask because I like learning about game design and your perspectives on things like this.
If you add those armor check penalties to Reflex saves... then why don't you add them to initiative and ranged attacks as well?
Because it unnecessarily complicates combat and penalizes armored characters. Having armor check penalties impact skill use (which is generally NOT the focus of combat) helps to make the classes that are mostly about skills (who generally have limited or no armor proficiency) do better than those who wear armor. Furthermore, if you penalized Reflex (and initiative and ranged attacks) you make wearing armor increasingly nonatractive to the classes who should want to wear armor.
The main reason though, is that armor's supposed to protect you and work well in combat. Penalizing protection (Reflex saves) and combat ability (initiative and ranged attacks) is nonsensical from a game balance.
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Creative Director
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The "Burrow" movement type doesn't seem to be defined anywhere in the Pathfinder rules (Flight gets a section in the Universal Monster Rules, as well as the Fly skill, Climb is explained in the Climb skill and Swim is likewise covered under the Swim skill, but I've checked about three different ways and can't find Burrow anywhere).
I assume this was an unintentional oversight as a result of removing Movement Modes from the Universal Monster Rules in the 3.5->Pathfinder conversion, probably for space-saving reasons.
In your learned and professional opinion, would it be reasonable to keep using the 3.5 definition (and would you tighten it up by defining a hardness that Burrowing can move through)?:
Burrow
A creature with a burrow speed can tunnel through dirt, but not through rock unless the descriptive text says otherwise. Creatures cannot charge or run while burrowing. Most burrowing creatures do not leave behind tunnels other creatures can use (either because the material they tunnel through fills in behind them or because they do not actually dislocate any material when burrowing); see the individual creature descriptions for details.
Burrow is a pretty rare skill, and frankly it probably SHOULD have a skill associated with it. All the other movement rates do (if you assume Acrobatics is the land-based movement skill). But it's such a rare ability, and one that PCs VERY rarely get, that it'd be an annoying almost-never-used skill that clutters the character sheet.
I suspect that the fact that PCs rarely use Burrow is why it didn't get as well defined elsewhere as well.
Anyway, since the games are meant to be compatible, using the 3.5 rules for burrowing works fine.
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Creative Director
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1)On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate the following movies, Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, Alien resurrection, Promethius, Predator, Predator 2, AvsP, AvsP 2?
2)What are the odds of seeing another dragon revisited book or a book that focuses on dragons?
3)When will we see Fey from other countries like Tian Xia, Arcadia, etc. or other planets like Castrovel, Akiton, etc.?
4)What are your top 5 favorite tv shows currently?
5)Have you seen any movies lately? If so what have you seen?
6)Do you have any interest in seeing the movie "Brave"? If you do and you have already seen it, did you like it? If you don't have interest, any particular reason?
7)What are your top 10 animated movies of all time?
1) Alien = 10.
Aliens = 8.Alien 3 = 5.
Alien Resurrection = 3
Prometheus = 9
Predator = 8
Predator 2 = 4
Aliens Vs. Predator = 3
Aliens Vs. Predator 2 = 3
Predators (bonus movie!) = 6
2) Very good.
3) Many of the fey creatures we've already done have presences in those books. For actual fey specifically associated with other continents or planets, that needs to wait until we do a more in-depth book on those planets or continents. And sometimes, as in the case of Tian-Xia, said new location simply isn't going to be one where the Fey type is all that common (the role of Fey in Tian-Xia is mostly filled by kami, who are native outsiders).
4) Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead, Archer, and Mythbusters.
5) Last movie I saw in a theater was Prometheus. I've seen a few others via Netflix recently...
Underworld: Awakenings (this was fun but mindless, plus Kate Beckinsale is to swoon for)
The Wicker Tree (one of the worst movies I've ever ever seen)
The Man from Nowhere (excellent Korean revenge/action movie)
Crimson Rivers (great French serial killer movie)
Crimson Rivers 2 (mediocre sequel)
Antibodies (pretty good serial killer movie with a fun Silence of the Lambs theme, with a cop having to interview a captured killer to solve another crime)
A Lonely Place to Die (very good movie about hikers in remote Scotland who find a pipe sticking out of the ground in the middle of nowhere that leads to a kid who's been buried in an underground box)
The Tunnel (excellent found footage movie from Australia featuring a spooky morlock-like monster)
The Innkeepers (Excellent ghost movie)
Behind the Mask (really bad movie about a documentary crew following a crazy guy who wants to be the next big serial killer)
Also saw 5 movies at the Seattle International Film Festival. Listed in order from best to worst:
a) Thale (Norwegian movie about a huldra!)
b) V/H/S (American found footage anthology horror movie)
c) John Dies at the End (American crazy Lovecraftian/Gibson/wacky movie by the director of Phantasm)
d) Dragon (Donnie Yen kung fu!)
c) The Squad (Columbian war/horror movie, wasn't that good)
6) Yes. I'll be seeing it soon, I suspect. I'm on a staycation all week long, so it'll be seen sooner or later!
7) woah... Hmm. In order from best to tenth (things get hazy after the 3rd one...):
a) Lilo & Stitch
b) Spirited Away
c) Princess Mononoke
d) Fear[s] of the Dark
e) Fantasia
f) Wall-E
g) How to Train a Dragon
h) Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
i) The Iron Giant
j) Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
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Creative Director
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So, quick question, We know Nethys is that white haired half black half flesh green eyed god in this picture: http://paizo.com/image/avatar/nethys_final.jpg
So, why is the picture of Nethys in The Lost Kingdons, an old dark skinned pharoah who looks nothing like the Nethys we know?
Does the godly package come with a really awesome face lift?
Because that's before he became a god. His transformation into a god really changed his appearance a lot.
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Creative Director
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Senior ManyTeethSharpBiting,
In Golarion, does the potential for arcane spell casting ability come soley from the requisite ability score and proper study, or does one also need some sort of magical attunement or proclivity?
Simplified, can anyone with the requisite intelligence score cast spells with proper study?
Thanks!
Note that many of the arcane spellcasting classes in the game use Charisma, not Intelligence... so that right there should prove that you don't need Intelligence to use arcane magic.
The thing that REALLY decides who can cast arcane spells, though, is simply taking a class that lets you do so. You'll need a high Int or Cha (depending) to cast the spells at all though.