How long until we can start expecting teasers about the support articles for Wrath of the Righteous?
Creative Director
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Hey there Mr J,
Have you spotted the raging inferno that is the Full attack - Manyshot debate? It's crying out for someone to definitively settle it :)
You know the one: "I can declare full attack, Manyshot, then cancel my full attack and move."
If you can't definitively answer it, I would ask: how do you play it?
Cheers,
Hewy
I've seen the discussion. My take—Manyshot locks you in to a Full attack when you use the attack, because in order to use Manyshot you have to make a Full attack. If you don't make a full attack... you can't use Manyshot. It's that simple.
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In any event, it's not so much that I think you in particular is manipulative... but there IS a strong sense of that kind of manipulation among the super detailed rules questions that get so deep into the crunch of the rules that they start asking questions like "is the cost of the vial part of the cost of a potion." That's the first time in 30+ years I've heard that question, and as such it made me think more about the implications of the answer. So in that regard, it's GOOD to ask unusual questions like that. But the rules themselves are complicated and unnecessarily wordy as it stands... I hate the idea of, for example, adding a line of text like "This price does not include the 1 gp price of the vial the potion is contained in," to a potion. Bleh.
This whole potion/containers chain of thoughts probably started in Ravingdork mind when I pointed out that potions have a weight in another thread some month ago.
A typical potion or oil consists of 1 ounce of liquid held in a ceramic or glass vial fitted with a tight stopper.
To RD: the problem with mixing potions, even the same kind of potions, in a container, is that you never drink a whole potion, you drink a bit from several different potions.
The "fountain that work as a potion of CLW" is something that is crafted that way to create a CLW effect when you ddrink the water, not an item that generate unlimited potions. Generally the waters generated by those kind of items lose their powers 1 round after you have removed them from the fountain, so they don't follow the potions rules at all.
I've seen the discussion. My take—Manyshot locks you in to a Full attack when you use the attack, because in order to use Manyshot you have to make a Full attack. If you don't make a full attack... you can't use Manyshot. It's that simple.Hey there Mr J,
Have you spotted the raging inferno that is the Full attack - Manyshot debate? It's crying out for someone to definitively settle it :)
You know the one: "I can declare full attack, Manyshot, then cancel my full attack and move."
If you can't definitively answer it, I would ask: how do you play it?
Cheers,
Hewy
Coolio.
This special ability can only be placed on melee weapons. A
menacing weapon helps allies deal with flanked foes. When
the wielder is adjacent to a creature that is being flanked by
an ally, the flanking bonus on attack rolls for all flanking allies
increases by +2. This ability works even if the wielder is not
one of the characters flanking the creature.
This special ability can only be added to a melee weapon. A
courageous weapon fortifies the wielder’s courage and morale
in battle. The wielder gains a morale bonus on saving throws
against fear equal to the weapon’s enhancement bonus. In
addition, any morale bonus the wielder gains from any other
source is increased by half the weapon’s enhancement bonus
(minimum 1).
What counts as 'wielding' for these weapon properties? Do I need to be threatening squares with the weapon, actually attacking with the weapon or just holding the weapon?
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Creative Director
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** spoiler omitted **
** spoiler omitted **
What counts as 'wielding' for these weapon properties? Do I need to be threatening squares with the weapon, actually attacking with the weapon or just holding the weapon?
Wielding means you have the weapon ready to use; you need to be able to attack and threaten with it. Just holding the weapon doesn't count.
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Are there any plans to add more replace options for the half-elf multitalented racial trait?No plans that I know of.
Drat, well I'll say it here that this was one of the few things I was really disappointed to not see with the release of Advanced Races as with most of the groups I run there is no interest in half-elves because of the ability and how it really doesn't help players looking to run anything other then a multiclassing character and we really don't have a lot of options of similar category in the advanced races race builder for replacing it with.
Do you have anything you use to replace it with in your home games that is a bit less focused on multiclassing and more general?
Will there EVER be an unedited version of Hook Mountain Massacre? ! Most likely the answers no but couldn't hurt to ask.
Also,Mr Jacobs T-Rex Face,what would do in a Quag Keep situation?
What's your top 10 favorite shows from childhood?
1) Ever had the fantasy (not necessarily sexual) of having someone say: "I'm sorry master James, please punish me." ?
2) Weight aside, do you have any problem from sitting a lot?
3) Rogue vs Ninja?
4) Which fantasy/sci-fi animal(s) would you like to have as a pet?
yeah... It's REALLY EASY for a good guy to come of as a self-righteous jerk, and that's too bad.
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.
Been there, seen that. Even as an evil party, the celestial came off more as a self-righteous jerk than anything else. Well, one of them did. Another came off as "I don't especially like you, but you're about the only other beings taking this particular threat to the world seriously, so let's work together on this and then never speak again."
Interestingly, as this is a follow-up campaign to a good campaign... both celestials appeared in that one too. And the attitudes were similar (except the second celestial did like us); the first one was still a jerk. And in neither case was there really any conflict beyond a couple of arguments.
Interestingly, I was speaking to the DM in question about that NPC, and I'm not sure if it's my recollection or his delivery of the character that's off. Not in the general sense, but in the specific. He insists the character is a jerk whose attitude is "you wouldn't understand because you don't have all the information I do, and it's not worth bothering to explain it all, just do what I say". I have the impression that it's more of "I'm a celestial, I'm inherently good, I'm right, you're just mortals and are inferior, just do what I say."
In the latest session last night, we ended up talking to her, and she was much more of the former... but that's just a couple of days after a discussion of her personality and how she's perceived.
If I spot this potential other thread, I'll drop in on it.
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Do you watch Big Bang Theory? If so, do you like it? Who's your favorite character?I'd not watched it ever until a few days ago, in fact, when I watched an episode. I then repeated that experiment by starting to watch a second one. And my reaction is intense dislike. The show borders on offensive to me, in fact, but the poor acting and the laugh track serve to dull that reaction down to the aforementioned intense dislike.
It is Not For Me.
Huh .... scratches head ...
I tend to agree with Mr. Jacobs on pretty much everything I see him post ... but I think the Big Bang Theory is funny as hell. I certainly don'y find it offensive! Different strokes and all that, I guess :)
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So! Now that we (are going to) have Mythic... Will we Finally Get The Kaijuu that we always wanted but never knew we wanted until you announced Bestiary 3 and then we didn't get the kaiju which made us sad?
Because I really want to be able to make Kaijuu for a campaign that I wanted to run based, loosely on a merger of Power Rangers and Golarion.
The Mythic rules seem like they might be the perfect solution to issues I didn't realize I had with that camapign, like why are empowered characters different from Normal characters in this campaign. And I have the Rules for Giant Vehicles in the form of Ultimate Combat's Vehigle Section. But I still need Kaijuu!
Please tell me we'll at least get Kaiju eventually?
We mentioned kaiju in Dragon Empires. Specifically, they live in Valashmai. So yes, eventually, we'll do kaiju. And the Mythic Rules make statting up kaiju a LOT easier.
When we DO stat them up... it won't be a template. They'll be handled as a type of monster, with each kaiju being a unique creature, similar to how we're handling the Spawn of Rovagug.
I'd LOVE to have a "fighting creatures larger than Colossal" section in the Mythic Adventures book... but that's probably not going to be something I can convince the design team of the value of, alas... We'll see.
How about getting a 64 page campaign setting book with the rules and a bunch of stat blocks and back story on various kaiju to come out shortly after the mythic rules book itself? Would make a good support book.
James, what was the design decision behind Cleric Domain Powers? Why do they only grant abilities up to 6th or 8th level? Why don't they scale with level?
Mr. James Jacob,
Does the evolution surge spell work on creatures other than eidolons if they have eidolon evolutions? Ex. Summoner with the aspect ability, or an evolved familiar. Would the spell link allow for this?
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Nah... "They just ARE" feels kinda lazy to me. Histories behind mythic characters is a large part of what makes them actually mythical. Saying they just happen to be tough and not bothering to explain how or why is unsatisfying to me.
I misspoke when I wrote that. My intention is that mythic figures when it comes to describing them, or justifying their existence, do not or should not be bound 100 percent by the rules that bind player characters. Part of what makes them mythic is that they do things that the player characters should consider epic, even impossible.
When the Frost Giants test Thor, in one of them they challenge him to empty a drinking mug, he fails but they gasp because he actually managed to lower the level of the mug by a little bit. They then explain that they had bound the drinking mug to the endless sea and the fact he managed even that, awed and appalled them.
You don't write rules for things like that... at some level, they just are.
If mythic is defined as something a PC can never do, though, that also excludes by definition playing mythic PCs. This is probably an area where different people prefer different approaches. I know I am not the only one who want PCs to be able to, in theory, accomplish anything that NPCs could, even if that won't actually ever happen in the campaign in question. For others, the rules being different, not just in practice but in theory, might enrich the experience, I guess... in any case, looking forward to how James & co approach these issues in the playtests. : )
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Creative Director
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Are there any plans to add more replace options for the half-elf multitalented racial trait?No plans that I know of.Drat, well I'll say it here that this was one of the few things I was really disappointed to not see with the release of Advanced Races as with most of the groups I run there is no interest in half-elves because of the ability and how it really doesn't help players looking to run anything other then a multiclassing character and we really don't have a lot of options of similar category in the advanced races race builder for replacing it with.
Do you have anything you use to replace it with in your home games that is a bit less focused on multiclassing and more general?
If you don't like that... it's easy enough to adjust things in your home game so that other alternate racial traits swap out for that ability. I'm not sure why the design team seems so hesitant to swap that one out, frankly.
In my games, I usually suggest folks play elves or humans if they want to change the half elf so much...
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Creative Director
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Will there EVER be an unedited version of Hook Mountain Massacre? ! Most likely the answers no but couldn't hurt to ask.
Also,Mr Jacobs T-Rex Face,what would do in a Quag Keep situation?
Nope. No such thing exists anymore—because the vast majority of what I edited out of Hook Mountain had to do with the Paradise pleasure barge, and I gave that back to Nick so that he could rework it slightly to include it in his next adventure, Edge of Anarchy. The "unedited" parts that remain on the cutting room floor after that significant section were mostly a combination of elements that were just too over the top, or that were just bad ideas.
Now that we've republished Hook Mountain Massacre as part of the anniversary edition of the Adventure Path, chances of a third Hook Mountain revision happening are close to zero.
As for Quag Keep... what situation is that? Someone famous wanting to publish a novel set in Golarion? Someone publishing a novel set in Golarion based on their home game? Someone publishing a novel set in Golarion under a different publisher? Need more details.
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Creative Director
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What's your top 10 favorite shows from childhood?
Hmmm... I'm probably gonna forget a few, but the top 10 shows I loved watching as a kid that come to my mind first are (in the order they come to mind):
1: Creature Features
2: Star Trek (original season)
3: Gilligan's Island
4: D&D Cartoon
5: Godzilla Cartoon
6: Captain Cosmic
7: Space 1999
8: Knight Rider
9: The A-Team
10: MASH
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Creative Director
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I just noticed that we've passed this thread's second Birthday!
When you started, did you think it would run that long?
I actually didn't start the thread. It's cool to see it still going though. I've said before... I'm not gonna be the one to kill the thread. As long as folks keep asking, I'll keep answering.
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Creative Director
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If I have used Vermin Shape to become a Giant Leech, Giant Rot Grub, Giant Sea Anemone, or other headless, limbless creature, do I lose the ability to make unarmed strikes?
That's a GM call. I'd say yes, though. Being head-butted by a giant leech doesn't sound all that painful. Also... if you're turning into something that can drain blood or burrow through flesh... you probably aren't doing so because you want to maximize your unarmed strike damage... there are better choices for that option.
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Creative Director
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What role does the water domain play in Pharasma's doctrine?
Water's been associated with birth and death (two of Pharasma's other areas of concern) since the start.
For death, there's legends of the river Styx, of vikings sending their dead out onto the ocean, and the fact that water will kill you if you breathe it.
For birth, there's the fact that some cultures give birth in water, but more to the point... what's one of the first big signs that the birthing process is starting? A woman's "water" breaks—the water in this case being the amniotic fluid that the unborn baby "swims" in during the pregnancy.
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Creative Director
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1) Ever had the fantasy (not necessarily sexual) of having someone say: "I'm sorry master James, please punish me." ?
2) Weight aside, do you have any problem from sitting a lot?
3) Rogue vs Ninja?
4) Which fantasy/sci-fi animal(s) would you like to have as a pet?
1) HA. Maybe.
2) Not really. Not yet, at least.
3) Rogue.
4) A shocker lizard or a pseudodragon. Or maybe a carbuncle.
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Creative Director
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How about getting a 64 page campaign setting book with the rules and a bunch of stat blocks and back story on various kaiju to come out shortly after the mythic rules book itself? Would make a good support book.
Rules for fighting larger than Colossal monsters DESERVE to be in a rulebook, in my opinion. They're hardly a "Golarion only" set of rules. I'd much rather have those rules in a hardcover rulebook where the design team can give them a LOT more attention and where they can live without taking up room in a 64 page book, which will then let any 64 page book focus on the flavor that develops from those rules rather than "wasting" pages on building up a new system from scratch.
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If I have used Vermin Shape to become a Giant Leech, Giant Rot Grub, Giant Sea Anemone, or other headless, limbless creature, do I lose the ability to make unarmed strikes?That's a GM call. I'd say yes, though. Being head-butted by a giant leech doesn't sound all that painful. Also... if you're turning into something that can drain blood or burrow through flesh... you probably aren't doing so because you want to maximize your unarmed strike damage... there are better choices for that option.
Well, true, but the heart of it is: Do I need limbs to make unarmed strikes?
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Creative Director
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James, what was the design decision behind Cleric Domain Powers? Why do they only grant abilities up to 6th or 8th level? Why don't they scale with level?
There are a LOT of domains. By limiting the powers to only 2 per domain, we prevented the longest class section in the book from blowing out to even more pages. The average domain ability has about four lines of text, and there are 33 domains. Adding one power to each domain would have therfore added about 132 lines of text to the chapter... which works out to just under a page and a half more content—and that assumes at a rate of only 4 lines per power. I suspect higher level domain powers would skew toward higher line counts.
So basically: they only give out 2 powers because we didn't have room to do 3 powers.
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Creative Director
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Mr. James Jacob,
Does the evolution surge spell work on creatures other than eidolons if they have eidolon evolutions? Ex. Summoner with the aspect ability, or an evolved familiar. Would the spell link allow for this?
That's up to your GM, but I would say no... it's not enough for something to have evolutions. In order to benefit from the spell, a creature has to be BUILT from evolutions; the creature needs evolution points as a fundamental part of its underlying rules. Therefore: it only works on eidolons.
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Creative Director
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there's a sort of trope that when you meet a big bad evil guy, he is smoking a cigar, or petting a fluffy white cat, or sipping wine. He has some sort of villainous prop that is. Karzoug doesn't seem to have one in Spires of Xin-Shalast, what would you recommend as a villanous prop give him?
Those types of tropes you mention make me think of James Bond villains. I wouldn't do that for Karzoug. He's got plenty of villainous props already, in any event—an evil scary big book, a flaming weapon, gems embedded in his flesh, scary clawed hands, a faux-pentagram type symbol, etc.
there's a sort of trope that when you meet a big bad evil guy, he is smoking a cigar, or petting a fluffy white cat, or sipping wine. He has some sort of villainous prop that is. Karzoug doesn't seem to have one in Spires of Xin-Shalast, what would you recommend as a villanous prop give him?Those types of tropes you mention make me think of James Bond villains. I wouldn't do that for Karzoug. He's got plenty of villainous props already, in any event—an evil scary big book, a flaming weapon, gems embedded in his flesh, scary clawed hands, a faux-pentagram type symbol, etc.
Saber-tooth tiger Polymorphed into a cute little kitten?
there's a sort of trope that when you meet a big bad evil guy, he is smoking a cigar, or petting a fluffy white cat, or sipping wine. He has some sort of villainous prop that is. Karzoug doesn't seem to have one in Spires of Xin-Shalast, what would you recommend as a villanous prop give him?Those types of tropes you mention make me think of James Bond villains. I wouldn't do that for Karzoug. He's got plenty of villainous props already, in any event—an evil scary big book, a flaming weapon, gems embedded in his flesh, scary clawed hands, a faux-pentagram type symbol, etc.
A blue dragon curled behind his fancy throne (according to the cover of the Gamemastery Guide, at least).
So I have been reading the threads and I was wondering about the official ruling on this question.
Deflect/Snatch Arrows feat vs. Alchemist bombs. Does it work or will Dizzy Devil eat it?
(50 xp for understanding the Dizzy Devil reference lol)
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1: Are spells listed as "Cleric X, Sorcerer/Wizard Y (God Z)" specifically restricted to only worshipers of "God Z" in my example here?
2: Can non-deity, domain-only, worshipers utilize those spells?
3: Is there a printed source that I missed which designates this and can be used as reference, or shall I simply cite your reply?
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Creative Director
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So I have been reading the threads and I was wondering about the official ruling on this question.
Deflect/Snatch Arrows feat vs. Alchemist bombs. Does it work or will Dizzy Devil eat it?
(50 xp for understanding the Dizzy Devil reference lol)
Deflect/Snatch Arrows should work against alchemist bombs. As should a giant's ability to catch rocks/incoming thrown weapons.
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Creative Director
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1: Are spells listed as "Cleric X, Sorcerer/Wizard Y (God Z)" specifically restricted to only worshipers of "God Z" in my example here?
2: Can non-deity, domain-only, worshipers utilize those spells?
3: Is there a printed source that I missed which designates this and can be used as reference, or shall I simply cite your reply?
1) Yes.
2) If the spell appears on their list, and if they worship the deity, yes.
3) Gods & Magic. I can't think of any other source we may have printed spells specific to a deity.
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How about getting a 64 page campaign setting book with the rules and a bunch of stat blocks and back story on various kaiju to come out shortly after the mythic rules book itself? Would make a good support book.Rules for fighting larger than Colossal monsters DESERVE to be in a rulebook, in my opinion. They're hardly a "Golarion only" set of rules. I'd much rather have those rules in a hardcover rulebook where the design team can give them a LOT more attention and where they can live without taking up room in a 64 page book, which will then let any 64 page book focus on the flavor that develops from those rules rather than "wasting" pages on building up a new system from scratch.
I don't disagree, but if you can't get the design team to put it in the Mythic book, I'll take it where I can get it!
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1: Are spells listed as "Cleric X, Sorcerer/Wizard Y (God Z)" specifically restricted to only worshipers of "God Z" in my example here?
2: Can non-deity, domain-only, worshipers utilize those spells?
3: Is there a printed source that I missed which designates this and can be used as reference, or shall I simply cite your reply?1) Yes.
2) If the spell appears on their list, and if they worship the deity, yes.
3) Gods & Magic. I can't think of any other source we may have printed spells specific to a deity.
For #2, I must apologize for the lack of clarity in my question. What I was referring to was a character who doesn't worship any specific deity but chooses domains (as a cleric, for example) as their focus for worship instead. Would it be feasible for those characters to gain aid from various deities in this manner?
Mr. James Jacobs,
Does casting enlarge person on a huge creature make it gargantuan?
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Creative Director
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For #2, I must apologize for the lack of clarity in my question. What I was referring to was a character who doesn't worship any specific deity but chooses domains (as a cleric, for example) as their focus for worship instead. Would it be feasible for those characters to gain aid from various deities in this manner?1: Are spells listed as "Cleric X, Sorcerer/Wizard Y (God Z)" specifically restricted to only worshipers of "God Z" in my example here?
2: Can non-deity, domain-only, worshipers utilize those spells?
3: Is there a printed source that I missed which designates this and can be used as reference, or shall I simply cite your reply?1) Yes.
2) If the spell appears on their list, and if they worship the deity, yes.
3) Gods & Magic. I can't think of any other source we may have printed spells specific to a deity.
Nope. Being able to cast spells specifically granted by specific deities is a bonus of worshiping that deity. A person who doesn't worship that deity (including a person who doesn't worship ANY deity) can't cast those spells. At least, not without resorting to Use Magic Device and casting them from scrolls.
A blue dragon curled behind his fancy throne (according to the cover of the Gamemastery Guide, at least).there's a sort of trope that when you meet a big bad evil guy, he is smoking a cigar, or petting a fluffy white cat, or sipping wine. He has some sort of villainous prop that is. Karzoug doesn't seem to have one in Spires of Xin-Shalast, what would you recommend as a villanous prop give him?Those types of tropes you mention make me think of James Bond villains. I wouldn't do that for Karzoug. He's got plenty of villainous props already, in any event—an evil scary big book, a flaming weapon, gems embedded in his flesh, scary clawed hands, a faux-pentagram type symbol, etc.
Speaking of, we have arts galore of Karzoug looking sexy-evil, he's even got the cover of the GMG. Are any of the other Runelords going to get similar treatment? Will we get to see more art of the other Runelords?
Yes.Mr. James Jacobs,
Does casting enlarge person on a huge creature make it gargantuan?
And then just treat it like the normal spell affects I assume?
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Creative Director
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Speaking of, we have arts galore of Karzoug looking sexy-evil, he's even got the cover of the GMG. Are any of the other Runelords going to get similar treatment? Will we get to see more art of the other Runelords?A blue dragon curled behind his fancy throne (according to the cover of the Gamemastery Guide, at least).there's a sort of trope that when you meet a big bad evil guy, he is smoking a cigar, or petting a fluffy white cat, or sipping wine. He has some sort of villainous prop that is. Karzoug doesn't seem to have one in Spires of Xin-Shalast, what would you recommend as a villanous prop give him?Those types of tropes you mention make me think of James Bond villains. I wouldn't do that for Karzoug. He's got plenty of villainous props already, in any event—an evil scary big book, a flaming weapon, gems embedded in his flesh, scary clawed hands, a faux-pentagram type symbol, etc.
There's art for the other six coming soon. We've actually illustrated Alaznist and Sorshen before as well... but more illustrations will be appearing throughout Shattered Star.