Creative Director
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You are against combining lance/spirited charge bonus damage with pounce, but what about Mounted Skirmisher (ZENLANCEPSEUDOPOUNCE?)? Mounted Skirmisher and multiple targets in a line?
Isn't disallowing RAGELANCEPOUNCE because you aren't making a charge action (you are on a charging mount) in the first place and can't trigger pounce in the first place a much nicer solution to it than saying it doesn't make sense?
Anything associated with RAGELANCEPOUNCE type attacks throw up a few hundreds pounds of red flags for me these days, frankly. The amount of damage it does is, frankly, so outlandish that it can't be anything other than rules abuse.
I'm not familiar with the Mounted Skirmisher, and this is the first time I've heard of "ZENLANCEPSEUDOPOUNCE."
Also, the fact that they're spelled in all-caps makes me hate them all the more.
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Hey, James!
I am now running CotCT, which is AWESOME. I am looking for advice about something that is very central to the expirience of the game for me.
In broad terms, CotCT is, 90% of the time, gritty and dark and full of shades of grey (Gah, ever since that silly book I cam barely think of this phrase and avoid the mental image os BDSM :( ), which sets a very serious tone.
However, when playing Pathfinder, I am surrounded by friends, and so humor and good natured laughter accompany the game, just because that's the way we are as a group.
Now, the problem here is a simple one: you can't very much sink into the brooding mood of CotCT when evrey thirty minutes or so a joke (even if it's an in play, related to the adventure joke) would send evreyone into fits of laughter.
Should I hold back on the humor and ask the players to do so as well? We are immerssed in the game, and we were talking about events from it for hours after the session itself ended, but I feel like I'm missing something by allowing the game to serve double duty as a more conventional social gathering.
I guess my question is, "just how much more immerssion can I get by making sure the players and myself are 100% 'serious'?"
thanks!
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Creative Director
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this is the first time I've heard of "ZENLANCEPSEUDOPOUNCE."
Because I just came up with it. I always assumed you coined "RAGELANCEPOUNCE", because all mentions of it are in reference to your statement on it.
Mounted Skirmisher is an APG feat. Normally requiring 14 ride ranks, but Sohei in its crappy writing* can get it as a Monk bonus feat (which have no requirements).
*In addition to the one listed, they also aren't stated to be able to use their AC bonus or flurry in light armor and devoted guardian lacks the typical "minimum 1" from similar abilities,
Nope. RAGELANCEPOUNCE has been bouncing around in certain barbarian-themed threads over in the rules section for what feels like years.
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Creative Director
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Hey, James!
I am now running CotCT, which is AWESOME. I am looking for advice about something that is very central to the expirience of the game for me.
In broad terms, CotCT is, 90% of the time, gritty and dark and full of shades of grey (Gah, ever since that silly book I cam barely think of this phrase and avoid the mental image os BDSM :( ), which sets a very serious tone.
However, when playing Pathfinder, I am surrounded by friends, and so humor and good natured laughter accompany the game, just because that's the way we are as a group.
Now, the problem here is a simple one: you can't very much sink into the brooding mood of CotCT when evrey thirty minutes or so a joke (even if it's an in play, related to the adventure joke) would send evreyone into fits of laughter.
Should I hold back on the humor and ask the players to do so as well? We are immerssed in the game, and we were talking about events from it for hours after the session itself ended, but I feel like I'm missing something by allowing the game to serve double duty as a more conventional social gathering.
I guess my question is, "just how much more immerssion can I get by making sure the players and myself are 100% 'serious'?"
thanks!
How many times have you or friends or just people in the audience laughed at a horror movie?
Laughter is used by lots of people as a defense mechanism or a release valve for horrific stuff. To me, that feels kinda inappropriate, but I see it happen a LOT in horror movie audiences.
Now, that same type of element can and often does show up in an RPG, especially since when you're doing an RPG with horror themes... it's not you watching someone else in danger... psychologically, it's actually YOU in danger. Which means that gritty, grisly horror in an RPG can be a lot more horrifying than in a book or movie.
If you're finding that your group isn't taking the game seriously enough to sit through a game and not crack jokes all the time, my suggestion would be to do one of two things:
1) Talk to the group and ask them to try to focus. Maybe keep iPhones and the like away from the table. Use mood lighting or spooky music in the background. Play the game in a different location. Maybe even try playing the session on a virtual tabletop. Break up the "sameness" of the game, in other words, by injecting some new element so that the players aren't as comfortable. You also might consider that if you only play once a month, this game session could well be the only time some of the players actually get a chance to hang out together and chat. Certainly, the more often you play, the less "catching up" the players need to do. So perhaps play more often? Or if that's not an option, maybe just fall back on the first suggestion—talk to the players and let them know your concerns. Maybe set the game session up so that every hour or every 2 hours or whatever you take a 10 minute break or something. Finally... you can lead by example. Don't crack jokes with the players. Try not to get distracted, and when you see the players getting distracted, remind them that they should be focused on the game. NOW: All that said... it IS a social gathering. And it should function in that way to a certain extent. It could be that the rest of the group doesn't mind the jokes.
2) If you've been playing with the same group for a long time... you're used to each other. I've got a group I've been playing RPGs with for more or less 14 years or so, and to a certain extent, that leads to a familiarity in which the players are comfortable being non-focused. Conversely, when I play games with larger groups of mixed players I've not played with that much, the jokeyness seems to be less. So... mix things up next time you run a campaign—have different players if you can. This is obviously not a great solution if you LIKE playing with your group ... but running a 2nd game with newer players who haven't had years to grow accustomed to you as a GM can help you enjoy that type of game, and can let you enjoy the other game with your older friends as well.
NOW... i9f your'e still talking about the game with fond memories after the session has ended, and if your players keep coming back for the game every session without fail... you're doing something right. And frankly, if you read an adventure and enjoy the spooky grim setup, and then when you run it and it's jokey and mirthful and you're all STILL having fun... that's fine. In fact, that's like you getting TWICE the entertainment from the adventure
Hi,
When a Witch replaces their familiar when they take Improved Familiar feat, is there anyway to keep some of the spells previously learnt besides finding another Witch to learn all your spells? Basically what I'm asking is there a grace period during the transition so the new familiar can learn from the old?
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Which of golarion's gods are most active in the darklands? (as opposed to the demonlords of the drow)
Are there any as-yet-unknown but major gods whose sphere of interest is predominantly restricted to the darklands?Rovagug is the most active down there. Next up would be Lamashtu, Gorum, Urgathoa, Zon-Kuthon, a couple of the archdevils (particularly Dispater and Mammon), and Sivanah.
There are some more deities worshiped for the most part only in the Darklands as well, but I wouldn't call them "major" deities.
Thanks. Would you have any suggestions as to a decent non-drow, Darklands race which might operate as a theocracy?
It's probably too early to have a firm decision on, but have you decided whether Wrath of the Righteous will have a lasting impact on the gameworld (with subsequent APs/Modules/Sourcebooks assuming its "successful" completion)? Or are you more leaning towards following the 'standalone' approach you've previously favored?
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Hey James,
Long time listener, first time caller (so to speak)!
I had a question about 3 feats that all appeared in Ultimate combat, and how they interact together (if at all).
Sap Master (Combat)
You knock the sense out of foes with a well-timed surprise attack.
Prerequisite: Sneak attack +3d6, Sap Adept.Benefit: Whenever you use a bludgeoning weapon to deal nonlethal sneak attack damage to a flat-footed opponent, roll your sneak attack dice twice, totaling the results as your nonlethal sneak attack damage for that attack.
Sap Adept (Combat)
You know just where to hit to knock the sense out of your foe.
Prerequisite: Sneak attack +1d6.Benefit: Whenever you use a bludgeoning weapon to deal nonlethal sneak attack damage, you gain a bonus on your damage roll equal to twice the number of sneak attack damage dice you rolled.
Knockout Artist
You can throw devastating knockout punches.
Prerequisite: Sneak attack class feature, Improved Unarmed Strike.
Benefit: When you use your unarmed strike to deal nonlethal damage and sneak attack damage to an opponent denied his Dexterity bonus to AC, you gain a +1 bonus on the damage roll per each sneak attack damage die you roll.
If we assume a level 12 Ninja (6d6 Sneak Attack) attacking with an Unarmed Strike and they meet all of the requirements is the damage output going to be;
Unarmed Strike +12d6 (Sap Master), +24 (Sap Adept), +12 (knockout artist)?
I realize that the damage is non-lethal and the feat/ninja trick investment is heavy and it's also very, very situational (at best)...
But it seems to me I may be making a mistake somewhere as that is quite a lot of damage... Even if we base Sap Adept & Kockout Artist off the base Sneak Attack dice (6d6) it's going to be;
Unarmed Strike +12d6 (Sap Master), +12 (Sap Adept), +6 (Knockout Artist).
Thank you in advance.
Cheers,
D
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Creative Director
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Hi,
When a Witch replaces their familiar when they take Improved Familiar feat, is there anyway to keep some of the spells previously learnt besides finding another Witch to learn all your spells? Basically what I'm asking is there a grace period during the transition so the new familiar can learn from the old?
I would say that part of the replacement ritual should transfer the spells over entirely when you get the new familiar. Because if there's ANY CLASS IN THE GAME who should want this feat... it's the witch. Making the feat witch-friendly is good.
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Creative Director
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Thanks. Would you have any suggestions as to a decent non-drow, Darklands race which might operate as a theocracy?Which of golarion's gods are most active in the darklands? (as opposed to the demonlords of the drow)
Are there any as-yet-unknown but major gods whose sphere of interest is predominantly restricted to the darklands?Rovagug is the most active down there. Next up would be Lamashtu, Gorum, Urgathoa, Zon-Kuthon, a couple of the archdevils (particularly Dispater and Mammon), and Sivanah.
There are some more deities worshiped for the most part only in the Darklands as well, but I wouldn't call them "major" deities.
Urdefhans.
Duergar.
Troglodytes.
Seugathi/Neothelids.
Serpentfolk.
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Creative Director
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You said earlier that none of the iconics have archetypes does that include Seoni? I thought she was a tattooed sorcerer.
She has tattoos... and we used a picture of her to illustrate that archetype... but we won't be statting her up as a tattooed sorcerer.
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Creative Director
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Hey James,
Long time listener, first time caller (so to speak)!
I had a question about 3 feats that all appeared in Ultimate combat, and how they interact together (if at all).
Sap Master (Combat)
You knock the sense out of foes with a well-timed surprise attack.
Prerequisite: Sneak attack +3d6, Sap Adept.Benefit: Whenever you use a bludgeoning weapon to deal nonlethal sneak attack damage to a flat-footed opponent, roll your sneak attack dice twice, totaling the results as your nonlethal sneak attack damage for that attack.
Sap Adept (Combat)
You know just where to hit to knock the sense out of your foe.
Prerequisite: Sneak attack +1d6.Benefit: Whenever you use a bludgeoning weapon to deal nonlethal sneak attack damage, you gain a bonus on your damage roll equal to twice the number of sneak attack damage dice you rolled.
Knockout Artist
You can throw devastating knockout punches.
Prerequisite: Sneak attack class feature, Improved Unarmed Strike.
Benefit: When you use your unarmed strike to deal nonlethal damage and sneak attack damage to an opponent denied his Dexterity bonus to AC, you gain a +1 bonus on the damage roll per each sneak attack damage die you roll.If we assume a level 12 Ninja (6d6 Sneak Attack) attacking with an Unarmed Strike and they meet all of the requirements is the damage output going to be;
Unarmed Strike +12d6 (Sap Master), +24 (Sap Adept), +12 (knockout artist)?
I realize that the damage is non-lethal and the feat/ninja trick investment is heavy and it's also very, very situational (at best)...
But it seems to me I may be making a mistake somewhere as that is quite a lot of damage... Even if we base Sap Adept & Kockout Artist off the base Sneak Attack dice (6d6) it's going to be;
Unarmed Strike +12d6 (Sap Master), +12 (Sap Adept), +6 (Knockout Artist).
IF you had a ninja 12 and those three feats... when you sneak attack with a nonlethal bludgeoning weapon, you would do so like this:
Roll your attack normally. Then add your sneak attack damage. Your sneak attack is a 6d6 attack, and therefore Sap Adept adds +12 damage (twice the total number of sneak attack dice). Your sneak attack damage is now 6d6+12.
Then Knockout Artist kicks in, granting you another +6 damage. You're now doing 6d6+18 damage on a sneak attack.
Sap Master only doubles the sneak attack dice—it doesn't double your level's total amount of sneak attack dice allowed for your level, and THAT is what Knockout Artist and Sap Adept look for.
Therefore, in the end, with all these things working together... you're doing sneak attack damage of 12d6+18. It IS a lot of damage, though. It's that Sap Master attack that really puts it over the top though.
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Creative Director
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It's probably too early to have a firm decision on, but have you decided whether Wrath of the Righteous will have a lasting impact on the gameworld (with subsequent APs/Modules/Sourcebooks assuming its "successful" completion)? Or are you more leaning towards following the 'standalone' approach you've previously favored?
ALL of our adventure paths are assumed to have a lasting impact on the game world. We just don't assume any of them have actually happened; the order in which the occur, or indeed if they occur at all, is left to each GM to decide.
So far, only the Shattered Star Adventure Path assumes any previous Adventure Paths have taken place... it assumes Rise of the Runelords, Curse of the Crimson Throne, and Second Darkness all happened and resolved with successful "player characters win" situations.
If we ever do a sequel to "Wrath of the Righteous," then we'll assume that however that one ends is what the world is like... but we have no plans on doing a sequel to "Wrath of the Righteous," so if you don't want those events to have taken place in your world, don't run the Adventure Path. We'll be assuming the same for everything else we print.
Cheers. "having a lasting impact" was a misleading phrase to use. Sorry about that.
I guess what I meant was in the case of a Mendev sourcebook (or crusades of golarion or some such player companion). Guide to korvosa was written as if CotCT was just about to happen and I wondered whether that would remain the approach (not that I'm necessarily anticipating those two hypothetical examples).
Thanks. Would you have any suggestions as to a decent non-drow, Darklands race which might operate as a theocracy?Urdefhans.
Duergar.
Troglodytes.
Seugathi/Neothelids.
Serpentfolk.
Awesome. Thanks again. :)
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Creative Director
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Cheers. "having a lasting impact" was a misleading phrase to use. Sorry about that.
I guess what I meant was in the case of a Mendev sourcebook (or crusades of golarion or some such player companion). Guide to korvosa was written as if CotCT was just about to happen and I wondered whether that would remain the approach (not that I'm necessarily anticipating those two hypothetical examples).
That's the approach we take to pretty much all of our books. The two exceptions so far have been Shattered Star and the Xin-Shalast chapter of Lost Cities of Golarion.
James, I got some questions about the halfling staff sling:
1) Does the halfling warslinger alternate racial trait apply to halfling staff slings as well or only to normal slings?
2) If it applys, can a magus (who needs to have a hand free) use spell combat in the same round in which he uses his staff sling and reloads it using a free action. Or does using the offhand for a free action (reloading the sling) stop it from being "free" for the whole turn.
My plan is to build a halfling myrmidarch magus with a staff sling who can use a full attack to cast a spell and make his full number of ranged attacks with his staff sling.
As the staff sling counts as a melee weapon and a ranged weapon at the same time the fact that you need to wield a melee weapon for spell combat would not matter. But the reload problem could kill this nice idea.
1) I don't see a problem with having that trait apply to staff slings.
2) That'd be up to your GM... but in my opinion, the magus is flavored best when the weapon is his primary melee attack and his spells are his primary ranged attack.
I'm just trying to make the myrmidarch work proper with his ranged spellstrike.
Something that will not work with a melee weapon being the primary weapon in my opinion.
Which one do you prefer, Space Godzilla or the burning Godzilla in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah?
1)Will there be any other types of Garuda or Peri in the future?
2)Is the list of fey for the Fey Revisited book I showed you the finalized list?
3)Will the Chronicles of the Righteous have any new types of Angles, Azatas, Agithions, etc.?
4)What are your top ten monsters unique to D@D?
5)When you watched "Coraline" did you fast forward through the one musical number did it not bother you as much?
6)Wich did you like better the 1950's version of "the Blob" or the 1980's version?
7)Do you have any favorite non-Godzilla kaiju movies?
8)Have you seen "Attack of the 50ft Woman", "Attack of the 50ft Woman" remake, or "Attack of the 50ft Cheerleader"?
9)What do you think about the Ghostbusters movies? Did you ever see the cartoon based on it?
10)Have you ever seen the japanese movies Zeiram 1 and 2 or the anime wich was much better?
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1) Are there any plans to introduce a "horde"* mechanic to work with the mythic rules, allowing much inferior monsters to present a challenge through sheer numbers? This kind of mechanic might come into play during Wrath of the Righteous, specifically a large battle or during the heroes' "visit" to the Worldwound or the Abyss (the cover of Blood of Angels springs to mind). I'm not sure this kind of mechanic works well in the context of Pathfinder RPG but it seems appropriate for events such as a zombie apocalypse or "A Paladin in Hell," if it can be done.
*) I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but in Warhammer 40,000 RPG: Deathwatch, the Horde mechanic represents, well, hordes of usually inferior opponents (cultists, lesser daemons or aliens, etc.) coming at the space marine heroes either with ranged or melee attacks. Normally a standard version of the oppponent wouldn't stand a chance against the space marine but the sheer number of opponents means that eventually someone's going to get a lucky hit.
2) Who, if any, among the Paizo staff championed Mendev and the Worldwound back when the campaign setting was shaped? Or is it one of those concepts that just had to be in a setting like Golarion?
3) I'm a fan of the concept of the angelic antagonist, meaning celestials who act in a way that clashes with the heroes for whatever reason, as long as it's something that's exceptionally rare and it's done in a way that makes sense for the story (a la good undead or drow). What's your opinion on the concept of antagonistic or outright villainous celestials? Have you ever used it as a GM?
4) When will Ostog die?
LazarX:
An improved familiar CAN be an animal familiar. Applying templates doesn't change it being an animal familiar.
Well, technically: being a familiar changes it from animal to magical beast but it still looks like an animal. A template doesn't fundamentally change the look either.
- Gauss
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Creative Director
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James, have you seen the Jurrasic Park Builder APP?
In that I'm playing it on my iPad... yup! Seen it! :-P
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Creative Director
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How would devils look upon mortal sacrifise of demon worshipers? Say a human diabolist sacrifising drow?
Not really all that different than any other sacrifice.
The "demons war against devils" trope isn't really a part of Pathfinder. That's the blood war and D&D. We consciously chose to NOT have a demons vs. devils element in Pathfinder specifically to set the game apart from D&D in one more way.
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Creative Director
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Me again, I know this will be FAQ'd as soon as you guys get around to doing that but there are far too many threads about this at the moment:
In short, can non-monks TWF using solely unarmed strikes? Many people who can't employ common sense seem to think not, but it seems silly that putting a pair of gauntlets on suddenly means you can get more attacks than fighting unarmed. In the corner of sensible people, we have the idea that two separate limbs are treated as separate weapons, crazy I know!
Also from my reading of both the 3.5 and PF CRB, it is a rule that unarmed strikes can be made using headbutts, kicks or punches regardless of class. Can you please confirm whether or not this is flavour or a genuine rule? It was in the unarmed strike entry of the 3.5 equipment chapter which to me makes it a rule, I'm guessing it is intended to be so again in Pathfinder.
Thanks a bunch, this will clear up so much one way or the other! :)
Yes. You can two weapon fight with gauntlets or unarmed strikes. Monks still do it better, and you'll take the normal amount of attack penalties for doing so. (Remember that non-monks making unarmed strikes generally provoke attacks of opportunity and don't do lethal damage...)
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I would say that part of the replacement ritual should transfer the spells over entirely when you get the new familiar. Because if there's ANY CLASS IN THE GAME who should want this feat... it's the witch. Making the feat witch-friendly is good.Hi,
When a Witch replaces their familiar when they take Improved Familiar feat, is there anyway to keep some of the spells previously learnt besides finding another Witch to learn all your spells? Basically what I'm asking is there a grace period during the transition so the new familiar can learn from the old?
I don't know. Aren't animal familiars the iconic companions for witches in literature? It strikes me that most of the outsider variety, particularly imps, quasits, are more the provenance of diabolist wizards than witches.
While it's obvious why a gamer would want an improved familiar, it's not so obvious why the character would seek one. I am however in full agreement that taking the feat should not involve the grief of total spellbook replacement. I usually just handwave the change and leave it to the player to flavor it how they choose.
Animal familiars are indeed the classic witch familiar, but the idea of a witch with a lyrakin or a quasit or a fey or a pseudodragon familiar is cool too. And any reason a player would want one (they're cuter, they're stronger, they're more exotic, whatever) is an equally valid reason for a witch to want them.
Dear James,
Can a sorcerer have both the wildblooded and crossblooded archetypes?
Specifically, the wildblooded archetype modifies the bloodline arcana, whist crossblooded archetype allows a sorcerer to have 2 bloodline arcanas. Do they both count as modifying the sorcerer's bloodline arcana and thus become mutually exclusive?
For your reference.
Which one do you prefer, Space Godzilla or the burning Godzilla in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah?Godzilla vs. Destroyah is better than Space Godzilla in every possible way.
Including the hilariously overwrought English dub of ""? My now-nine-year-old went through a phase as a toddler/preschooler where she loved Godzilla movies so I've seen a lot of them many times over, and I have to admit "Godzilla vs. Destroyah" is one of the best.* (Not sure I've seen Space Godzilla.)
Is there any way to discern a latent bloodline in a PC? Let's say, there's an infernal taint in the family, enough to perhaps produce an infernal-bloodline sorcerer every few generations; if you met the sorcerer's brother or father or son, would there be any way for an NPC to divine the presence of devil-blood in his ancestry?
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Creative Director
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1)Will there be any other types of Garuda or Peri in the future?
2)Is the list of fey for the Fey Revisited book I showed you the finalized list?
3)Will the Chronicles of the Righteous have any new types of Angles, Azatas, Agithions, etc.?
4)What are your top ten monsters unique to D@D?
5)When you watched "Coraline" did you fast forward through the one musical number did it not bother you as much?
6)Wich did you like better the 1950's version of "the Blob" or the 1980's version?
7)Do you have any favorite non-Godzilla kaiju movies?
8)Have you seen "Attack of the 50ft Woman", "Attack of the 50ft Woman" remake, or "Attack of the 50ft Cheerleader"?
9)What do you think about the Ghostbusters movies? Did you ever see the cartoon based on it?
10)Have you ever seen the japanese movies Zeiram 1 and 2 or the anime wich was much better?
1) Probably not. They're like axiomites or bebiliths, in that they're a race composed of one type, rather than multiple types.
2) Probably. The text hasn't been ordered yet, as far as I know, so there's still time for us to change our minds, I suppose... but that's unlikely since those 10 fey are the ones we want to see more info on.
3) Probably. It's the Empyreal Lord version of one of the Books of the Damned, after all... and each one of those books had new outsiders. (Incidentally... that's one of the primary reasons we're not doing one book for all four types of good outsider... because there's only one category of good outsider demigod—Empyreal Lords. NONE of these books precludes us ever doing more books about angels or demons or azatas or devils or whatever...)
4) In no particular order: beholder, mind flayer, grell, meenlock, Demogorgon, Malcanthet, Yeenoghu, Graz'zt, umber hulk, yuan-ti.
5) Nope. It didn't bother me. I have a MUCH higher tolerance for musical numbers in animated features. And if I hit a musical number that's annoying enough for me to fast forward, I'm 99% more likely to just turn the movie off and watch something less lame.
6) The 1980s version. Although the 1950s version has its charms, this is a great example of a monster that just works better with more modern special effects technology.
7) The late 90s' Gamera trilogy is really great. I have a soft spot in my heart for Gorgo. But my favorite non-Godzilla Kaiju movie is Cloverfield. Or perhaps The Host, although that monster's not really big enough really to count as a giant monster...
8) Nope, none of them.
9) I quite like the 1st one. I don't like the 2nd one. Not a fan of the cartoons.
10) Nope, haven't seen them.
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Creative Director
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LazarX:
An improved familiar CAN be an animal familiar. Applying templates doesn't change it being an animal familiar.
Well, technically: being a familiar changes it from animal to magical beast but it still looks like an animal. A template doesn't fundamentally change the look either.
- Gauss
Improved Familiar doesn't apply templates at all. It lets you get things like quasits and imps and elementals as famiilars.
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Creative Director
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Dear James,
Can a sorcerer have both the wildblooded and crossblooded archetypes?
Specifically, the wildblooded archetype modifies the bloodline arcana, whist crossblooded archetype allows a sorcerer to have 2 bloodline arcanas. Do they both count as modifying the sorcerer's bloodline arcana and thus become mutually exclusive?
For your reference.
Technically, I suppose you could. But that makes things way too complicated for my tastes. Like putting four templates on a monster, or multiclassing 4 times, or taking 4 prestige classes, or taking 4 archetypes.
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Creative Director
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Which one do you prefer, Space Godzilla or the burning Godzilla in Godzilla vs. Destoroyah?Godzilla vs. Destroyah is better than Space Godzilla in every possible way.Including the hilariously overwrought English dub of ""? My now-nine-year-old went through a phase as a toddler/preschooler where she loved Godzilla movies so I've seen a lot of them many times over, and I have to admit "Godzilla vs. Destroyah" is one of the best.* (Not sure I've seen Space Godzilla.)
** spoiler omitted **
Is there any way to discern a latent bloodline in a PC? Let's say, there's an infernal taint in the family, enough to perhaps produce an infernal-bloodline sorcerer every few generations; if you met the sorcerer's brother or father or son, would there be any way for an NPC to divine the presence of devil-blood in his ancestry?
I always try to base my actual opinions on Godzilla movies on the widescreen subtitled versions when possible. Dubbing ruins movies pretty much every time.
GMK and Final Wars are GREAT Godzilla movies. GMK is my favorite one, in fact, with the possible exception of the original back in the 50s.
There's not really a way to discern "latent bloodlines," because player preferecnes can change. Just because he might think that in 5 levels he wants to take the infernal bloodline when he multiclasses into sorcerer doesn't mean that after 5 levels he STILL wants that.
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Creative Director
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1) Are there any plans to introduce a "horde"* mechanic to work with the mythic rules, allowing much inferior monsters to present a challenge through sheer numbers? This kind of mechanic might come into play during Wrath of the Righteous, specifically a large battle or during the heroes' "visit" to the Worldwound or the Abyss (the cover of Blood of Angels springs to mind). I'm not sure this kind of mechanic works well in the context of Pathfinder RPG but it seems appropriate for events such as a zombie apocalypse or "A Paladin in Hell," if it can be done.
*) I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but in Warhammer 40,000 RPG: Deathwatch, the Horde mechanic represents, well, hordes of usually inferior opponents (cultists, lesser daemons or aliens, etc.) coming at the space marine heroes either with ranged or melee attacks. Normally a standard version of the oppponent wouldn't stand a chance against the space marine but the sheer number of opponents means that eventually someone's going to get a lucky hit.
2) Who, if any, among the Paizo staff championed Mendev and the Worldwound back when the campaign setting was shaped? Or is it one of those concepts that just had to be in a setting like Golarion?
3) I'm a fan of the concept of the angelic antagonist, meaning celestials who act in a way that clashes with the heroes for whatever reason, as long as it's something that's exceptionally rare and it's done in a way that makes sense for the story (a la good undead or drow). What's your opinion on the concept of antagonistic or outright villainous celestials? Have you ever used it as a GM?
4) When will Ostog die?
1) Maybe. I did something like that for D&D's Dungeon Master Guide II back in 3rd edition, after coming up with the mechanic originally for the Shackled City adventure path. Mobs were essentially swarms made up of lots of Small or larger creatures. It never quite worked the way I wanted it to. We'll seel.
*) Sounds pretty much the same as 4th edition's minion rules... a concept I actually quite like.
2) Mendev was included in the setting because we wanted an opposition to the Worldwound and because we wanted a place for a crusade to be occupying. It never really had a "champion" in the way I championed Mediogalti, Kyonin, and Varisia, or how Wes championed Ustalav, or how Jason championed Razmiran, or how Erik championed Nex.
3) I've used it before. It's tricky, because it can make the things that are supposed to be the icons of good in the game come off as jerks, and that's not good. As long as they're isolated one-shot incidents and not overarching themes... it's fine. Unless your group has no good guys, of course. One REALLY good way to make PCs fight good outsiders (and I've put these into Adventure Paths several times) is to have an evil wizard use conjuration magic to force good outsiders to do his/her bidding and attack the PCs.
4) When he does. It'll probably be on a Thursday though.
Improved Familiar doesn't apply templates at all. It lets you get things like quasits and imps and elementals as famiilars.LazarX:
An improved familiar CAN be an animal familiar. Applying templates doesn't change it being an animal familiar.
Well, technically: being a familiar changes it from animal to magical beast but it still looks like an animal. A template doesn't fundamentally change the look either.
- Gauss
It also gives you the option of "any creature from the normal familiar list with the Fiendish, Celestial, Entropic, or (can't remember the Lawful one) template added".
Also:
yuan-ti.
Makes me happy =)
James Jacobs:
Improved Familiar does apply templates to standard familiars as one of the types of familiars available. Specifically: those templates are Celestial and Fiendish.
On CRB p127 Improved Familiar gives a list of available familiars. The two with templates are:
Celestial hawk (superscript1 states: Or other celestial animal from the standard familiar list).
Fiendish viper (superscript2 states: Or other fiendish animal from the standard familiar list).
- Gauss
Edit: Ninja'd by Orthos
James,
In Golarion:
1.) What is the general opinion of people and authority figures in "civilized" or "urbanized" nations with regards to monstrous races? Does it cause a huge stir whenever an orcish or hobgoblin adventurer rolls into town? What about a minotaur or a tengu or a morlock?
2.) Are the Free Captains just a "fact of life," or do coastal navy fleets and powerful merchants actually seek to stop, slay, or capture them?
Daron Woodson
Abandoned Arts
Yes. You can two weapon fight with gauntlets or unarmed strikes. Monks still do it better, and you'll take the normal amount of attack penalties for doing so. (Remember that non-monks making unarmed strikes generally provoke attacks of opportunity and don't do lethal damage...)Me again, I know this will be FAQ'd as soon as you guys get around to doing that but there are far too many threads about this at the moment:
In short, can non-monks TWF using solely unarmed strikes? Many people who can't employ common sense seem to think not, but it seems silly that putting a pair of gauntlets on suddenly means you can get more attacks than fighting unarmed. In the corner of sensible people, we have the idea that two separate limbs are treated as separate weapons, crazy I know!
Also from my reading of both the 3.5 and PF CRB, it is a rule that unarmed strikes can be made using headbutts, kicks or punches regardless of class. Can you please confirm whether or not this is flavour or a genuine rule? It was in the unarmed strike entry of the 3.5 equipment chapter which to me makes it a rule, I'm guessing it is intended to be so again in Pathfinder.
Thanks a bunch, this will clear up so much one way or the other! :)
Maybe I'll clarify this a little.
Monks don't have an off-hand attack as per the Monk's Unarmed Strike class feature, "There is no such thing as an off-hand attack for a monk striking unarmed."
Two-Weapon Fighting specifically refers to making a primary and off-hand attack. Since an unarmed Monk has no off-hand attack, he can't according to many people, per RAW, use the Two-Weapon Fighting feats. Flurry of Blows is, of course, an exception to many things in the game.
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The problem, I think, comes from a little bit of over-clarification when writing up the Monk. Because Monks have no unarmed, they can't use Two-Weapon Fighting (this only really matters if the Monk takes an Archetype that loses Flurry or carries a heavy load or wears armor) which I doubt was the intent of the developers when writing the Monk.
This over clarification also comes into play with other things. Like, for instance, per RAW, Monks do not get an extra unarmed strike if they are Hasted.
Why? Because Haste specifically calls out gaining an extra attack when using manufactured or natural weapons. The Monk's Unarmed Strike counts as a manufactured or natural weapon for "the purpose of spells and effects that enhance or improve either manufactured weapons or natural weapons." Haste neither enhances or improves an unarmed strike, so Monks don't gain the extra attack. Kind of a dumb ruling, but it's there.
To avoid clutter, I'll spoiler my Unarmed Strike tangent.
Personally, I can't imagine any scenario where I would actually enforce the rules and prevent a Monk from getting an extra attack via Haste, even if I was running a PFS game. I know PFS games are supposed to be 'by the book' but I'm fairly certain I'd tell any venture captain to stuff it if he tried to enforce those rules as well.
It's an unfair ruling because of some over-clarified wordings in the descriptions of the rules. I also highly doubt it was the intent to specifically exclude unarmed strikes from benefiting from the extra Haste attack.
It occurs to me, that maybe I should go make an Unarmed Strike thread and FAQ it.
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James Jacobs:
Improved Familiar does apply templates to standard familiars as one of the types of familiars available. Specifically: those templates are Celestial and Fiendish.
On CRB p127 Improved Familiar gives a list of available familiars. The two with templates are:
Celestial hawk (superscript1 states: Or other celestial animal from the standard familiar list).
Fiendish viper (superscript2 states: Or other fiendish animal from the standard familiar list).- Gauss
Edit: Ninja'd by Orthos
Fair enough, but I'm talking about quasits.
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James,
In Golarion:
1.) What is the general opinion of people and authority figures in "civilized" or "urbanized" nations with regards to monstrous races? Does it cause a huge stir whenever an orcish or hobgoblin adventurer rolls into town? What about a minotaur or a tengu or a morlock?
2.) Are the Free Captains just a "fact of life," or do coastal navy fleets and powerful merchants actually seek to stop, slay, or capture them?
Daron Woodson
Abandoned Arts
1) Depends on the race and its reputation. Tengus, for example, don't have a reputation for being violent or evil, and as such in most regions of the Inner Sea they're regarded with curiosity but not hatred. Morlocks, on the other hand, are relatively unknown to most surface dwellers, and the morlock's tendency to swarm humans and kill and eat them end up with them being treated as monsters very quickly. More well-known evil humanoid races like hobgoblins or orcs that wander into most human civilizations will immediately be arrested if not attacked on sight, but the same goes for humans that wander into most orc or hobgoblin societies.
It does, of course, vary wildly by region. Katapesh, for example, allows the more monstrous humanoid races leave to wander the streets uncontested as long as they don't run amok. Tengus are well known in the Shackles and their presence won't cause heads to turn at all. And soon.
2) See the Skull & Shackles Adventure Path.
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IF you had a ninja 12 and those three feats... when you sneak attack with a nonlethal bludgeoning weapon, you would do so like this:Roll your attack normally. Then add your sneak attack damage. Your sneak attack is a 6d6 attack, and therefore Sap Adept adds +12 damage (twice the total number of sneak attack dice). Your sneak attack damage is now 6d6+12.
Then Knockout Artist kicks in, granting you another +6 damage. You're now doing 6d6+18 damage on a sneak attack.
Sap Master only doubles the sneak attack dice—it doesn't double your level's total amount of sneak attack dice allowed for your level, and THAT is what Knockout Artist and Sap Adept look for.
Therefore, in the end, with all these things working together... you're doing sneak attack damage of 12d6+18. It IS a lot of damage, though. It's that Sap Master attack that really puts it over the top though.
Thank you for clearing that up. Not only does your answer make sense to me, but it also lets me know where I went off the rails with my comprehension skills.
Cheers