I'm getting ready to run a Legacy of Fire game (thanks to the killer Black Friday $5/book deal you guys had going on) and I had a few Katapeshi questions:
1) How do Catfolk fit into Katapeshi society? Something in the vein of the writeups for the races in the Player's Guides would be awesome, but any info would be helpful.
2) Is Katapeshi the right adjective?
3) Per question 1, How do Ninjas fit into Katapeshi society?
Can you tell I have a player looking to play a Catfolk Ninja? :P
James,
Are you planning more adventures around Rovagug? Do you envision becoming a god's or goddess' "avatar" in future Mythic AP's (aside from Wrath of the Righteous...although I don't know if that's the concept for that one).
|
Hey there James.
So, what's up with staff creation? Their construction formula derives the COST which is then MULTIPLIED BY 2 to get the PRICE.
Every other magic item's creation process results in the PRICE which is then DIVIDED BY 2 to derive the COST.
This results in the extraordinarily high values that are staff prices. A lot of us feel like WotC made a boo-boo in their PHB way back in the day with these, never corrected them, and they were grandfathered in for Pathfinder. Any light you can cast would be helpful.
Oh great dinosaur god of knowledge and chomping,
The boards have a fair bit of discussion on the ninja trick 'Forgotten Trick':
Forgotten Trick (Ex): A ninja with this ability can recall one trick taught to her by her ancient masters. When she uses this ability, she selects one ninja trick (not a master trick or rogue talent) that she does not know and can use that ninja trick for a number of rounds equal to her level. She must pay any ki costs associated with the trick as normal. Using this ability expends 2 ki point from her ki pool, plus the ki cost of the trick she chooses.
Just hoping for your take on the following questions:
1) What action is it to activate Forgotten Trick? I've seen and heard rationale for everything from free to standard.
2a) Should a ninja be allowed to have two separate uses of Forgotten Trick going at the same time?
2b) If so, should they be allowed to be of the same type (two combat feats, for instance)?
2c) If so, should we be able to use the first combat feat as a prerequisite for the second, third, etc one(s)? I've just been assuming no since that might be TOO powerful, even for blowing minimum 4 ki on it, and sparing my GM some unneeded grief.
3) If the ninja uses Forgotten Trick to activate an ability with a duration, like darkvision, does the darkvision last only the round/level or for a full hour?
Also, have you looked at any of the Supergenius stuff they did for the ninja? It's pretty neat!
All of this brings to mind another question I've been mulling over for a while: does it sound reasonable to allow a PC to swap a standard action for another swift action? Our 4e game we ran prior to Carrion Crown was interesting because you could essentially sack a standard or move for a minor (like a swift) action. Personally, I read the one swift action/round rule as when a standard and move OR a full-round action is taken in addition, but no one ever really seems to agree with me on it.
Lastly: dinosaurs with feathers. Good, bad, indifferent, or food?
Thanks!
Any light you can cast would be helpful.
Unfortunately for you, as a nascent demon lord James only has darkness as a spell-like ability.
|
So upon reading the monster ecologies book that just arrived in my mailbox I see that you were the one who wrote the kaotri for the D&D fiend folio to which, after I say thank you for an incredibly fun monster I've been aching to use more I have to ask. Do you have any plans to do a kaotri esque race for pathfinder anytime soon? I would love to have a pathfinder brand kaotri to bring to bear on my party.Kaotri plus Ethergaunts were some of my favorite "new" monsters that were released in 3.5 D&D.
Aren't those the masked monsters from fiend folio that live on the ethereal plane?
|
6) Will Ultimate Campaign be expanding on Kingmaker's hex-based system for establishing a kingdom or will it be establishing a new system entirely?
6) It's expanding on Kingmaker's system.
There will be a rewriting of the mass combat rules and especially of the cost of the units?
The Kingmaker system don't work so well for that.
Creative Director
|
Well I did use the errata'ed rules. Before, you could make a magic user or ranged character attack you in melee. I think the problem now, is that while a mage can attack you with a spell, they are still forced to do something. The whole forcing someone to do something is very 4E, and while I didn't hate it there since it was integral to the system, it's not very PF.
Sorry to nag, but you didn't really answer the original question. Say you were running a game and had a player that wanted to use it. How would you hope they used it so as to not piss you off.
Please re-ask the question. This thread is very very huge, and one of the ways I manage to keep up with it is that I don't spend a lot of time looking backwards. AKA: I have no idea from the above post what you're asking about now...
|
Creative Director
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Quick Question: Can a Cleric take the "Extra Channel" feat more than once, and gain the bonus from it multiple times?
Thanks!
That's up to the GM, but the assumption is that you can't. Feats you can take more than once are specifically called out in the feat text (see Weapon Specialization or Spell Focus as examples).
|
Creative Director
|
So as a religion nerd, I see a lot of different inspirations in Pharasma from many different gods/religions in history.
I was wondering what specific things/gods/stories inspired her creation for you guys?
Thanks!
For me, the single biggest inspirations for Pharasma (who had a different name in my homebrew but otherwise made the transition into Pathfinder fairly well) would be;
Death, from Neil Gaiman's Sandman comics.
Wee Jas, from Greyhawk.
Osiris
Charon
And a tiny drop of Kali
|
Creative Director
|
Why is there no description of the scimitar in the main book?
Is it because all that it is is a chunk of metal flattened and sharpened to be a one-handed martial slashing weapon with a crit range (18-20/x2)dealing medium size d6 damage and that weighs 4 pounds?
Is that all or is it an exception to the weapon finesse rules weapon like most people think it is or should be? OR do they have to get weapons finesse and dervish dancer to apply the dex to attack with it?
Because we didn't have room in the Core Rulebook to add descriptions for every weapon. Originally... in an "it almost went to the printer" incarnation of the rulebook, there were NO descriptions of individual weapons at all, and squeezing what descriptions we could into that chapter was tricky enough as it was.
The fact that "scimitar" fits into that perfect category of not being a baseline weapon but being well-known enough that it doesn't need a description, combined with the fact that we have a picture in the book, combined with the fact that you can learn all about scimitars by going online or reading a dictionary entry meant that we were comfortable leaving it off the list.
|
Creative Director
|
1. How does the harem of Sorshen in the days of Thassilon compare to that of the current Padishah Emperor of Kelesh?
2. How would Korvosa react to a wizard who could, ostensibly for the city's benefit, command giants?
3. You said that Sorshen might not to deal with devils. Does that imply she didn't get along with them in general?
4. What would Sorshen do with the Sable Company: disband, replace, or corrupt it?
5. Would Sorshen want to make the whole world forget Korvosa even existed, secreting all history and records into a memory hole, or would she not care as long as she can reestablish her nation and culture?
6. Do question influence your decisions or inspire you in any way?
7. If a monster has a spell-like ability that would otherwise cost gp (e.g., a solar's permanency), will it still cost gp?
8. On p.93 of Ultimate Equipment, the price of saffron is listed as both 1 gp and 15 gp per pound. Am I correct in thinking the lower price a typo?
9. How's Way of the Wicked going so far?
10. Are you familiar with the current generation of My Little Pony?
1) Sorshen's was bigger, better, more varied, more well-protected, and in every way just... more.
2) Depends if it was an evil wizard or a good one, but the gut reaction would be "Dude... are you crazy? A single giant can kill dozens if not hundreds of people! I am rightfully suspicious that you, a wizard capable of commanding giants and with no prior establishment of character or personality to our city, have ill plans for Korvosa."
3) Not at all.
4) Replace it.
5) Nope. She'd build on what Korvosa has built but bend it to her will and whim.
6) Yes.
7) No.
8) I have no idea.
9) So far, so good. No deaths, although Stephen's character is TERRIFYINGLY close. We're on room #5 or #6 of a 9 room gantlet, and he's currently rocking a Constitution score of 1...
10) Vaguely.
|
Creative Director
|
Do you have any tips on how to blend real world analogies with fantasy elements?
I've been trying to tinker and experiment with things in regards to my homebrew campaign setting.
Read lots of campaign setting and fantasy novels. By looking at what authors and game designers have done before, you'll build up your own list of what's cool and what's not.
|
Creative Director
|
You mentioned upthread a "god-slaying apocalypse cult allied with a race of vengeful exiled proto-angels" in your home campaign, which sounds completely awesome.
Would you mind expounding on them and that plot arc a bit?
Cheers!
Landon
Basically, when the gods created life, the first thing they created was a race known today as the Deacons. These were basically powerful outsiders with free will, and that ended up backfiring in a big way that resulted in an ancient apocalypse that forced the gods to sort of "reset" creation, but they didn't want to destroy their first race, so they locked the Deacons away into the Dead Lands (a realm akin to Golarion's Dead Vault, where Rovagug is imprisoned). Eons later, the Deacons manage to find a way to punch holes out of the Dead Vault using immense organic living one-shot siege engines capable of destroying the gods. They fired one to destroy the god of history and judgement and neutrality just to show the gods that they were on borrowed time, but the gods at this point couldn't do anything to directly intervene since they'd instituted rules after that first apocalypse to prevent them from tinkering in ways that caused the Deacon problem in the first place, and so it fell to the greatest heroes of the land to venture into the Dead Lands to stop the next salvo of godslaying blasts from being fired.
It was actually a LOT more complex than that, but that's the super streamlined version. It ended up, if I remember correctly, with the PCs finishing the campaign at 21st level.
|
Creative Director
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
so what If I am under the effects of illusion of calm and the guy across the room from me takes a readied action to attack me if I cast a spell. on my next turn I start casting a spell... does he get his readied action?
in other words I guess what i am trying to say is, Is it the intention that illusion of calm be a spell that is basically disconnected from its description? It does a few specific things and thats it, the spell effects is unrelated to the flavor?
I understand that spells dont always make logical sense... fireball does not burn everything in it range, cleave does not pop multiple mirror images etc. but for this spell there seems to be a huge disconnect.
I can avoid AoO from casting spells, throwing a weapon, or movement... but not drinking a potion?
I can avoid the AoO from the guy standing next to me but not the readied action of the guy 100 feet away?the description of a masking illusion makes it a bit confusing.
to be honest I am asking this as a GM. I know that I can rule the spell differently if I chose but if my view is too far off from the intent It may be unfair for, or cause debate with, the players. I am trying to figure out if I can reconcile the spell as intended or if I should make any house rules to bring it in line (like bumping it up to level 2 or changing the description to better fit what the spell actually does.
The spell does nothing to block readied actions. He gets his readied action.
Part of the problem is that the spell's description doesn't really match what the spell's effects do.
Furthermore, it does some of the things that invisibility does, but it's lower level, and so it can't do EVERYTHING invisibility does. It really shouldn't even do half of what invisibility does.
And if you're the GM and a spell is causing this much trouble... I really think you might want to consider either just making a stab at rewriting the spell for yourself to make it clear in your own game, or simply not allow it in your game.
|
Creative Director
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Now I want to throw a bag of holding into a river and destroy an ecosystem :)THXHi Jacobs:
I browsed the board with no luck. A Bag of Holding (regardless the type) is it hermetically sealed? Is it water proof? Meaning, if it falls underwater it will fill with it and explode? If so, is there a source for this rule?Thanks.
A closed bag of holding is hermetically sealed. If you open it underwater, it will fill with water but only until it's full; it won't explode.
There's no source for this rule. It's what I would file under a mix of GM Adjudication and Common Sense and personal preference.
Bags of holding have weight limits. Limits that wouldn't impact a river were water from the river diverted to fill the bag.
A bag of devouring, on the other hand... that could well be a different story...
|
Creative Director
|
So upon reading the monster ecologies book that just arrived in my mailbox I see that you were the one who wrote the kaotri for the D&D fiend folio to which, after I say thank you for an incredibly fun monster I've been aching to use more I have to ask. Do you have any plans to do a kaotri esque race for pathfinder anytime soon? I would love to have a pathfinder brand kaotri to bring to bear on my party.
No plans at this point to do a kaorti-style monster for Pathfinder. The closest that we have is probably mi-go.
|
Creative Director
|
I'm getting ready to run a Legacy of Fire game (thanks to the killer Black Friday $5/book deal you guys had going on) and I had a few Katapeshi questions:
1) How do Catfolk fit into Katapeshi society? Something in the vein of the writeups for the races in the Player's Guides would be awesome, but any info would be helpful.
2) Is Katapeshi the right adjective?
3) Per question 1, How do Ninjas fit into Katapeshi society?
Can you tell I have a player looking to play a Catfolk Ninja? :P
1) As curiosities. People know about them, but they're really rare, and would be the subject of racisim, obsession, curiosity, and knee-jerk reactions, but they wouldn't cause streets to clear in a panic if they show up.
2) Yes.
3) As outsiders who would have no social support structure and don't have their reputations to help back them up. They get to be pretty incognito, but are also really on their own.
A catfolk ninja mixes two very different traditions. Putting that character into Katapesh adds a third tradition to the mix. I hope you have an open-minded and permissive GM.
|
Creative Director
|
James,
Are you planning more adventures around Rovagug? Do you envision becoming a god's or goddess' "avatar" in future Mythic AP's (aside from Wrath of the Righteous...although I don't know if that's the concept for that one).
We've hardly exhausted the well of what Rovagug offers in the form of adventure hooks.
Becoming a deity's herald will be something that's covered in a product by the end of next year, but it probably will not be mentioned in Mythic Adventures. I'm hoping that Mythic Adventures DOES have rules for what happens when a mythic PC starts granting spells to his/her worshipers, though.
|
Creative Director
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Hey there James.
So, what's up with staff creation? Their construction formula derives the COST which is then MULTIPLIED BY 2 to get the PRICE.
Every other magic item's creation process results in the PRICE which is then DIVIDED BY 2 to derive the COST.
This results in the extraordinarily high values that are staff prices. A lot of us feel like WotC made a boo-boo in their PHB way back in the day with these, never corrected them, and they were grandfathered in for Pathfinder. Any light you can cast would be helpful.
We've already lowered staff prices for Pathfinder.
The problem is that Pathfinder and 3rd Edition D&D chose to tie a magic item's power to its price. And thus, in order to model something with the capability of creating powerful effects, such as allowing a spellcaster to cast high level spells before they should be able to as according to their experience level, that item needs to be balanced by making it super expensive.
Fixing the problem more or less would require divorcing gp costs from item power and using a different metric to set the item's value. Many video games, and (I believe) 4th edition D&D handled this by giving items minimum levels before you can use them, so that while a super powerful magic item might be relatively inexpensive, it's useless to most folks simply because they aren't high enough level to use it. Frankly... I think that system is preferable to Pathfinder's current system, but that kind of significant change isn't something we can do to this edition of the game.
In the meantime, there's no reason why you can't just throw a staff into the game for the PCs to find, or for an NPC to use against or for the PCs. It'll throw off the expected wealth rules, but if you pick the staff right... it can work. For example, giving the party a staff of life at low level can REALLY help to prevent unexpected character deaths from derailing a story-heavy campaign.
|
Creative Director
|
Oh great dinosaur god of knowledge and chomping,
The boards have a fair bit of discussion on the ninja trick 'Forgotten Trick':
Forgotten Trick (Ex): A ninja with this ability can recall one trick taught to her by her ancient masters. When she uses this ability, she selects one ninja trick (not a master trick or rogue talent) that she does not know and can use that ninja trick for a number of rounds equal to her level. She must pay any ki costs associated with the trick as normal. Using this ability expends 2 ki point from her ki pool, plus the ki cost of the trick she chooses.
Just hoping for your take on the following questions:
1) What action is it to activate Forgotten Trick? I've seen and heard rationale for everything from free to standard.
2a) Should a ninja be allowed to have two separate uses of Forgotten Trick going at the same time?
2b) If so, should they be allowed to be of the same type (two combat feats, for instance)?
2c) If so, should we be able to use the first combat feat as a prerequisite for the second, third, etc one(s)? I've just been assuming no since that might be TOO powerful, even for blowing minimum 4 ki on it, and sparing my GM some unneeded grief.
3) If the ninja uses Forgotten Trick to activate an ability with a duration, like darkvision, does the darkvision last only the round/level or for a full hour?Also, have you looked at any of the Supergenius stuff they did for the ninja? It's pretty neat!
All of this brings to mind another question I've been mulling over for a while: does it sound reasonable to allow a PC to swap a standard action for another swift action? Our 4e game we ran prior to Carrion Crown was interesting because you could essentially sack a standard or move for a minor (like a swift) action. Personally, I read the one swift action/round rule as when a standard and move OR a full-round action is taken in addition, but no one ever really seems to agree with me on it.
Lastly: dinosaurs with feathers. Good, bad, indifferent, or food?
1) Depends on the trick you select.
2a) Why not? It all uses a limited resource of ki points, so using more than one at a time just means you burn through your ki points faster. The only thing I would say would limit it is if the abilities you're using are normally limited.
2b) No. And in fact, I'd probably houserule that you can't do tricks that allow you to pick feats, because that's too complicated and leads to option paralysis that can clog gameplay.
2c) No. Just because you remember something for a brief moment doesn't mean you remember enough to qualify for something that feat requires.
3) It uses the shorter of any duration available among multiple choices.
You can make one swift action a round, regardless of what else you do in the round. Normally, an action that is a swift action isn't something you can do as a standard or move action—if it is, the option will say so.
And depends on the dinosaur.
|
Creative Director
|
6) Will Ultimate Campaign be expanding on Kingmaker's hex-based system for establishing a kingdom or will it be establishing a new system entirely?
6) It's expanding on Kingmaker's system.
There will be a rewriting of the mass combat rules and especially of the cost of the units?
The Kingmaker system don't work so well for that.
The mass combat rules in Ultimate Campaign are the same rules we did in Kingmaker. There's a few more options and more sample armies, but it is NOT a totally new system.
A full-on mass combat system can (and probably should) be its own game. What's in Ultimate Campaign is a more narrative option like we did in Kingmaker that lets you resolve mass combat in a relatively quick and simple way.
|
Creative Director
|
Aren't those the masked monsters from fiend folio that live on the ethereal plane?So upon reading the monster ecologies book that just arrived in my mailbox I see that you were the one who wrote the kaotri for the D&D fiend folio to which, after I say thank you for an incredibly fun monster I've been aching to use more I have to ask. Do you have any plans to do a kaotri esque race for pathfinder anytime soon? I would love to have a pathfinder brand kaotri to bring to bear on my party.Kaotri plus Ethergaunts were some of my favorite "new" monsters that were released in 3.5 D&D.
Ethergaunts (created by Erik Mona) are indeed the masked monsters from the Ethereal Plane.
A catfolk ninja mixes two very different traditions. Putting that character into Katapesh adds a third tradition to the mix. I hope you have an open-minded and permissive GM.
The GM is me, so I'd say so! I'm pretty much up for letting my players play whatever combo they want as long as they're having fun as we can usually put together a good backstory without too many complications. I'm actually a little surprised at Catfolk not being more common in Katapesh since they seem like they'd be a good fit for the region and mechanically they are perfect for the Ninja class.
1) Is there a region that Catfolk are somewhat more common in or native to?
2) I'm actually pretty curious about how a lot of the new races in the Advanced Race Guide fit into Golarion. Is there any chance of something like a "Misfits of Golarion" book that explores some of the non-core races' place in the setting in the way that the Elves/Halflings/Orcs/Etc of Golarion have done?
3) Is any of this information in print somewhere already that I haven't found? Pathfinder Wiki has no entry on Catfolk at all and the Race Guide doesn't really have anything setting specific that I recall.
Do the catfolk really call themselves "catfolk"?
James, I was wondering...
*On a scale of 1 to 10, a 1 being 'meh' while a 10 is incitement of genocidal rage, how does a mortal like the Whispering Tyrant achieving power enough to threaten gods infuriate Asmodeus?
*Scale of 1 to 10, similar magnitude but for joy, how much does seeing the upstart mortal-turned-god Aroden die please Asmodeus?
*Lastly, scale of 1 to 10 for disgust, how does Asmodeus look at the mortal act of sex?
|
Creative Director
|
A catfolk ninja mixes two very different traditions. Putting that character into Katapesh adds a third tradition to the mix. I hope you have an open-minded and permissive GM.The GM is me, so I'd say so! I'm pretty much up for letting my players play whatever combo they want as long as they're having fun as we can usually put together a good backstory without too many complications. I'm actually a little surprised at Catfolk not being more common in Katapesh since they seem like they'd be a good fit for the region and mechanically they are perfect for the Ninja class.
1) Is there a region that Catfolk are somewhat more common in or native to?
2) I'm actually pretty curious about how a lot of the new races in the Advanced Race Guide fit into Golarion. Is there any chance of something like a "Misfits of Golarion" book that explores some of the non-core races' place in the setting in the way that the Elves/Halflings/Orcs/Etc of Golarion have done?
3) Is any of this information in print somewhere already that I haven't found? Pathfinder Wiki has no entry on Catfolk at all and the Race Guide doesn't really have anything setting specific that I recall.
1) Southern Garund.
2) At this point, the new races in Advanced Race Guide do not fit into Golarion. There's not an established presence for them in the setting, and I really don't like simply adding in new PC races without having them already having an established role in the setting... or in the case of something like catfolk, an established role in the genre. The new races in Advanced Race Guide are brand new and as such don't really have ANY weight or heft to them in or out of Golarion. As such... I'm not seeing them having a role in the world. If I were to find places for them, it would be on parts of continents we haven't done much with yet, or perhaps on other planets in the Golarion solar system.
3) Not yet. We've not done much at all about catfolk, and probably won't be doing much about them in the near future. There IS a catfolk NPC in Pathfinder #63, but that's it for now.
|
Creative Director
|
James, I was wondering...
1 *On a scale of 1 to 10, a 1 being 'meh' while a 10 is incitement of genocidal rage, how does a mortal like the Whispering Tyrant achieving power enough to threaten gods infuriate Asmodeus?
2 *Scale of 1 to 10, similar magnitude but for joy, how much does seeing the upstart mortal-turned-god Aroden die please Asmodeus?
3 *Lastly, scale of 1 to 10 for disgust, how does Asmodeus look at the mortal act of sex?
1) 3; Asmodeus is pleased with the mayhem the Whispering Tyrant has wreaked upon the Inner Sea region.
2) Since Aroden's death gave Asmodeus Cheliax... I'd say probably an 8. MAYBE a 9.
3) Probably a 1. Sex and its temptation is a great way to trick and lure and baffle mortals.
James, I was wondering...
1 *On a scale of 1 to 10, a 1 being 'meh' while a 10 is incitement of genocidal rage, how does a mortal like the Whispering Tyrant achieving power enough to threaten gods infuriate Asmodeus?
2 *Scale of 1 to 10, similar magnitude but for joy, how much does seeing the upstart mortal-turned-god Aroden die please Asmodeus?
3 *Lastly, scale of 1 to 10 for disgust, how does Asmodeus look at the mortal act of sex?1) 3; Asmodeus is pleased with the mayhem the Whispering Tyrant has wreaked upon the Inner Sea region.
2) Since Aroden's death gave Asmodeus Cheliax... I'd say probably an 8. MAYBE a 9.
3) Probably a 1. Sex and its temptation is a great way to trick and lure and baffle mortals.
So, how come there aren't more seducer type devils then? Is the handmaiden devil even one that goes into this role? Or does Asmodeus just like letting the Abyss take over this function of corrupting mortals, trusting that it'll net him more petitioners faster than if demons weren't around at all?
|
Creative Director
|
So, how come there aren't more seducer type devils then? Is the handmaiden devil even one that goes into this role? Or does Asmodeus just like letting the Abyss take over this function of corrupting mortals, trusting that it'll net him more petitioners faster than if demons weren't around at all?James, I was wondering...
1 *On a scale of 1 to 10, a 1 being 'meh' while a 10 is incitement of genocidal rage, how does a mortal like the Whispering Tyrant achieving power enough to threaten gods infuriate Asmodeus?
2 *Scale of 1 to 10, similar magnitude but for joy, how much does seeing the upstart mortal-turned-god Aroden die please Asmodeus?
3 *Lastly, scale of 1 to 10 for disgust, how does Asmodeus look at the mortal act of sex?1) 3; Asmodeus is pleased with the mayhem the Whispering Tyrant has wreaked upon the Inner Sea region.
2) Since Aroden's death gave Asmodeus Cheliax... I'd say probably an 8. MAYBE a 9.
3) Probably a 1. Sex and its temptation is a great way to trick and lure and baffle mortals.
Because it's something that devils prefer to trick mortals into doing for them.
A demon gets in there and gets its "hands" dirty and corrupts/seduces the mortal itself.
A devil tricks a mortal into doing that for them.
So, how come there aren't more seducer type devils then? Is the handmaiden devil even one that goes into this role? Or does Asmodeus just like letting the Abyss take over this function of corrupting mortals, trusting that it'll net him more petitioners faster than if demons weren't around at all?James, I was wondering...
1 *On a scale of 1 to 10, a 1 being 'meh' while a 10 is incitement of genocidal rage, how does a mortal like the Whispering Tyrant achieving power enough to threaten gods infuriate Asmodeus?
2 *Scale of 1 to 10, similar magnitude but for joy, how much does seeing the upstart mortal-turned-god Aroden die please Asmodeus?
3 *Lastly, scale of 1 to 10 for disgust, how does Asmodeus look at the mortal act of sex?1) 3; Asmodeus is pleased with the mayhem the Whispering Tyrant has wreaked upon the Inner Sea region.
2) Since Aroden's death gave Asmodeus Cheliax... I'd say probably an 8. MAYBE a 9.
3) Probably a 1. Sex and its temptation is a great way to trick and lure and baffle mortals.
Because it's something that devils prefer to trick mortals into doing for them.
A demon gets in there and gets its "hands" dirty and corrupts/seduces the mortal itself.
A devil tricks a mortal into doing that for them.
Ah, mortal proxies and such. Unwilling and/or unknowing ones even, I gotcha.
Last question for the night: have you read any of the Song of Ice and Fire books? I know you're a fan of the show and was wondering if you have a favorite character. Also, you can't say Tyrion, he's too obviously awesome so it's cheating.
|
Creative Director
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Last question for the night: have you read any of the Song of Ice and Fire books? I know you're a fan of the show and was wondering if you have a favorite character. Also, you can't say Tyrion, he's too obviously awesome so it's cheating.
Yeah, I've read all of those books. They're actually my favorite fantasy novels, ever. If only for the fact that they're written for adults.
My favorite character is Arya Stark.
Do the catfolk really call themselves "catfolk"?
I always considered "catfolk" to be something of a derogatory term in my campaign world, personally.
Hi James,
If someone had a query about RPG Superstar entry eligibility, who would be the person to ask? And would they mind receiving a PM about it?
Cheers!
So as a religion nerd, I see a lot of different inspirations in Pharasma from many different gods/religions in history.
I was wondering what specific things/gods/stories inspired her creation for you guys?
Thanks!
For me, the single biggest inspirations for Pharasma (who had a different name in my homebrew but otherwise made the transition into Pathfinder fairly well) would be;
Death, from Neil Gaiman's Sandman comics.
Wee Jas, from Greyhawk.
Osiris
Charon
And a tiny drop of Kali
Ok, you baited me...which drop of Kali did you take?
Hello James,
I haven't seen this specifically referenced in FAQs or Errata anywhere, and the Bestiary description could be considered arguable:
Does a celestial template creature (ala summon monster or Celestial Servant), lets say a celestial Riding Dog, that uses its once a day Smite Evil ability do so as the Paladin's Smite Evil ability (bypass DR, deflection to AC, etc.), or do you only gain the +hit and +damage?
Special Attacks smite evil 1/day as a swift action (adds Cha bonus to attack rolls and damage bonus equal to HD against evil foes; smite persists until target is dead or the celestial creature rests).
The Half-Celestial Template was errated to function as Paladin Smite, but Celestial Simple Template was not. Do you know if this is oversight or intended?
Thank you.
1) Is there a region that Catfolk are somewhat more common in or native to?
In addition to Southern Garund, as Mr. Jacobs noted, the Dragon Empires Gazetteer also mentions that some catfolk live in the Valashmai Jungle of southern Tian Xia.
|
1. Why are planetars green bald giants? I'm not knocking it, as they've long been my favorite of main angel types partially because of their unique look, but I've always wondered about the "why" behind it...
2. After reading a particularly frustrating horror story elsewhere, have to ask this:
Garudas are not genocidal absolutists in their prejudice against nagas, right?
I've always assumed not, given that they're Good-aligned celestials and there's the possibility of variance in evil nagas, not to mention the presence of neutral and good nagas. But one unfortunate nagaji player apparently had a terrible time of it recently due to the opposite interpretation and there hasn't been anything to give any nuance to that aspect of garudas(though garuda-kin aasimar have gotten an anti-naga trait).
3. If not, how would you portray the prejudice garudas hold when they're dealing with good/neutral nagas?
4. Were Xin and Xanderghul related somehow, beyond the similar appearance and names that start with X?
|
Creative Director
|
Hi James,
If someone had a query about RPG Superstar entry eligibility, who would be the person to ask? And would they mind receiving a PM about it?
Cheers!
Sean's the local expert on RPG Superstar. I'm sure he wouldn't mind a PM, but he might not answer immediately if he's got other things keeping him busy...
|
Creative Director
|
Ok, you baited me...which drop of Kali did you take?So as a religion nerd, I see a lot of different inspirations in Pharasma from many different gods/religions in history.
I was wondering what specific things/gods/stories inspired her creation for you guys?
Thanks!
For me, the single biggest inspirations for Pharasma (who had a different name in my homebrew but otherwise made the transition into Pathfinder fairly well) would be;
Death, from Neil Gaiman's Sandman comics.
Wee Jas, from Greyhawk.
Osiris
Charon
And a tiny drop of Kali
Skin color—blue.
|
Creative Director
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Hello James,
I haven't seen this specifically referenced in FAQs or Errata anywhere, and the Bestiary description could be considered arguable:
Does a celestial template creature (ala summon monster or Celestial Servant), lets say a celestial Riding Dog, that uses its once a day Smite Evil ability do so as the Paladin's Smite Evil ability (bypass DR, deflection to AC, etc.), or do you only gain the +hit and +damage?
Special Attacks smite evil 1/day as a swift action (adds Cha bonus to attack rolls and damage bonus equal to HD against evil foes; smite persists until target is dead or the celestial creature rests).The Half-Celestial Template was errated to function as Paladin Smite, but Celestial Simple Template was not. Do you know if this is oversight or intended?
Thank you.
You only get what the celestial creature template says you get, which is ONLY the bonus to attack and damage. Paladin smite evil is a different ability... a much BETTER ability. Because the celestial creature template is less powerful and less potent than half-celestial.
|
Creative Director
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
1. Why are planetars green bald giants? I'm not knocking it, as they've long been my favorite of main angel types partially because of their unique look, but I've always wondered about the "why" behind it...
2. After reading a particularly frustrating horror story elsewhere, have to ask this:
Garudas are not genocidal absolutists in their prejudice against nagas, right?
I've always assumed not, given that they're Good-aligned celestials and there's the possibility of variance in evil nagas, not to mention the presence of neutral and good nagas. But one unfortunate nagaji player apparently had a terrible time of it recently due to the opposite interpretation and there hasn't been anything to give any nuance to that aspect of garudas(though garuda-kin aasimar have gotten an anti-naga trait).
3. If not, how would you portray the prejudice garudas hold when they're dealing with good/neutral nagas?
4. Were Xin and Xanderghul related somehow, beyond the similar appearance and names that start with X?
1) Because that's kind of how they've always been portrayed in the game.
2) Garudas are not. They're good aligned. Good aligned things are not genocidal.
3) A garuda would be impatient and standoffish and smug and arrogant toward a non-neutral naga.
4) They're not related. As you'll see in Pathfinder #66, they also don't really look all that alike... Xin is much older looking than Xanderghul.
Skin color—blue.Ok, you baited me...which drop of Kali did you take?So as a religion nerd, I see a lot of different inspirations in Pharasma from many different gods/religions in history.
I was wondering what specific things/gods/stories inspired her creation for you guys?
Thanks!
For me, the single biggest inspirations for Pharasma (who had a different name in my homebrew but otherwise made the transition into Pathfinder fairly well) would be;
Death, from Neil Gaiman's Sandman comics.
Wee Jas, from Greyhawk.
Osiris
Charon
And a tiny drop of Kali
Ha, gotcha. Thanks James!
Under Combat Maneuvers in the PRD:
Unless otherwise noted, performing a combat maneuver provokes an attack of opportunity from the target of the maneuver. If you are hit by the target, you take the damage normally and apply that amount as a penalty to the attack roll to perform the maneuver.
So a Combat Maneuver can be made more difficult by taking damage while making the attempt. Most Combat Maneuvers are instantaneous: you're either tripped or bullrushed or whatever or not. But what about Grapple? I believe it's the only Combat Maneuver that can be maintained from round to round. Do you think damage sustained by the grappler should make it more difficult for him to maintain the grapple in subsequent rounds? (I know that's not how the rules are written, but it does seem odd that peppering the grappler with arrows or stabbing him with a blade doesn't do a thing to give the grapplee a bonus to get free. Or is the idea that if the grappler is taking that much damage he ought to be incentivized to do something other than maintain the grapple on his turn?)
Contributor
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
1. Why are planetars green bald giants? I'm not knocking it, as they've long been my favorite of main angel types partially because of their unique look, but I've always wondered about the "why" behind it...
2. After reading a particularly frustrating horror story elsewhere, have to ask this:
Garudas are not genocidal absolutists in their prejudice against nagas, right?
I've always assumed not, given that they're Good-aligned celestials and there's the possibility of variance in evil nagas, not to mention the presence of neutral and good nagas. But one unfortunate nagaji player apparently had a terrible time of it recently due to the opposite interpretation and there hasn't been anything to give any nuance to that aspect of garudas(though garuda-kin aasimar have gotten an anti-naga trait).
3. If not, how would you portray the prejudice garudas hold when they're dealing with good/neutral nagas?
4. Were Xin and Xanderghul related somehow, beyond the similar appearance and names that start with X?
1) Because that's kind of how they've always been portrayed in the game.
2) Garudas are not. They're good aligned. Good aligned things are not genocidal.
3) A garuda would be impatient and standoffish and smug and arrogant toward a non-neutral naga.
4) They're not related. As you'll see in Pathfinder #66, they also don't really look all that alike... Xin is much older looking than Xanderghul.
I'm going to comment a little here...
Planetars are a type of Deva/Angel. The terminology of Deva as synonymous with Angel seems to be borrowed in D&D from theosophy, which was profoundly influenced by Blavatsky's interest in Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhism; and the representation of Devas as bald and green skinned seems to be adapted from a Westernized depiction of the Devas (Hindu Gods) in Buddhist (specifically Tantric or Tibetan) art.Garudas are raptor spirits; they eat and kill snakes (Nagas) because eagles and other raptors in India do.
Mythically, at least in Hindu and Buddhist stories, Garuda and his family were enslaved by the their cousins - the Nagas (snake spirits) and hence are angry at them for this injustice.
In the Mahasamaya Sutra, however, the Buddha makes peace between the Garudas and the Nagas, signifying the possibility of reconciliation between opposites and the end of eternal feuds.
According to another folk tale, Garuda forswore his killing of Nagas because he saw a Nagini mother try to protect her son from him, and their protests that they were cousins.
There may be some relationship buried in the mythos between the rivalry of Vishnu and Shiva as well, as Vishnu is associated with the Garudas and Shiva with the Nagas.
1) Is Golarion old enough for fossilization to have taken place?
2) Can a fossilized skeleton be animated via the Animate Dead spell?
3). What sort of changes might that cause from a standard skeleton, increased AC, DR, or HP ?
Would Sorshen want to make the whole world forget Korvosa even existed, secreting all history and records into a memory hole, or would she not care as long as she can reestablish her nation and culture?Nope. She'd build on what Korvosa has built but bend it to her will and whim.
1. What's Korvosa's law say about anyone who comes up from beneath the castle basement (i.e., the Grand Mastaba)?
2. What's the best influential position in Korvosa's government that a powerful newcomer can hope for?
3. What would Sorshen do with the top two floors of Castle Korvosa? Set up a wizard's lair? Rebuld her harem?
4. Would cleaning up Korvosa's tax code make more money for the city?
5. Will the rules in Ultimate Campaign have rules for ruling established kingdoms rather than ones that are player-built?
6. Where did you get the idea to make Korvosa such a small name, big ego of a city?
7. Given how inexpensive polymorph any object is, I'm guessing that fleshwarping in Eurythnia fleshwarping
8. You said Sorshen could change shape if she wanted to. Is it a personal ability or does she have amnion change her?
9. Has Sorshen ever birthed any children? Has she ever sired any?
10. What did Sorshen do with her harem just before Earthfall?