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James Jacobs wrote:
DrDeth wrote:

Let us assume you could wave a magic wand, and POOF! Make a .35 class appear into PF and one of the current classes disappear, which would it be?

Myself, I liked Bequiler, the Dragon Shaman and the Factotum. Many of the others, such as Hexblade could likely be done as a Archetype (cool idea for a witch archetype, that last, no?)

I dont care much for the Summoner, and just because I dont care much for guns in a fantasy setting, the Gunslinger- altho the class is well done.

I would add the Binder (but with all new Golarion-specific vestiges) and take out the Summoner.

Ooh Binder- one of the best concepts with worst write ups that there ever was. Yes, I'd like to see that one done right. If you guys didn't cut&paste, you & your team could really do the Binder right!


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As someone who very much loved the 3.5 Binder even as written (seriously, what do you mean worst writeup?), I heartily recommend Pact Magic Unbound's Occultist. It does the concept justice.

I'll miss the Goetia-themed Vestiges (well no I won't, I'm homebrew converting them over ;) ) but the Spirits are well-made, the mechanics are solid, and the class is sound. Two thumbs way up.


Hey Jim, remember when you gave your opinions of Hypothetical Casting for the Iconics and you had Terrance Stamp for Ezren?

Well, I was actually thinking Charles Dance (Tywin Lannister from Game of Thrones) for Ezren personally. Thoughts?

Sovereign Court

In the Pathfinder world, is there a god for good Drow like Elistraee in FR?


I've got a blizzard going on in my town right now, and I've been driving in it for the last 4 1/2 hours (this makes my 5th blizzard I've driven in btw). So, with that in mine, have you ever driven in a blizzard? If so, how do you feel about it?

Contributor

Orthos wrote:

As someone who very much loved the 3.5 Binder even as written (seriously, what do you mean worst writeup?), I heartily recommend Pact Magic Unbound's Occultist. It does the concept justice.

I'll miss the Goetia-themed Vestiges (well no I won't, I'm homebrew converting them over ;) ) but the Spirits are well-made, the mechanics are solid, and the class is sound. Two thumbs way up.

And all that's before Volume Two comes out! ;D

/endspromotion

JJ, who was your favorite vestige in Tome of Magic?


When an acidic ooze, lets use Black Pudding as an example, attacks it does slam damage, then acid damage, then gets a grab based free grapple. Now, on that successful grapple, does it then do acid damage again this turn, or not until next turn if you don't break the grapple? I've always figured it did the damage along with the grapple, but last night our party got wiped by a black pudding because it pretty much killed us all in two rounds (one character died first round, two more 2nd round cause we split it with slashing). So, that made me wonder... were we running it wrong?

Liberty's Edge

Softcover questions are still okay right? Buccaneer archetype from Pirates of the Inner Sea gets this little gem of an ability:

Knock Out (Ex)

At 5th level, a buccaneer may focus his blows in an attempt to knock out an opponent. Once per day as a swift action, the buccaneer can choose one target to attempt to knock out. The buccaneer adds his Charisma bonus (if any) on his attack roll and adds his buccaneer level on any nonlethal damage rolls made against the target. The bonus lasts until the buccaneer deals nonlethal damage to his target or until the buccaneer chooses a new target to attempt to knock out. He can use this ability one additional time per day for every six levels he possesses beyond 5th, to a maximum of three times per day at 17th level.

This ability replaces lore master.

Is the "deals nonlethal damage to his target" a typo that should say 'lethal' or is it just a one shot?


Hello, James Jacobs.

I had a few questions about the Dusk Elf Racial Subtype in the Advanced Race Guide. It states, "Rather than being tied to the terrain around them, some elves are linked to the night itself. Though not tied to demon worship and evil as drow are, these elves are similarly attuned to the magical concepts of darkness and shadow. These elves have the arcane focus, darkvision, dreamspeaker, and silent hunter alternate racial traits."

If you were to place this subtype in Golarion...

1) What would you say are their origins (as in, what caused them to become dusk elves, and gain their new race traits)? I had considered elven communities that had become persecuted or nocturnal, ones that hailed from Nidal, or perhaps ones who come from long family lines of Desna worshipers.

2) How would they interact with the common player races, especially other surface elves? Would they likely be outcasts like the Forlorn, shunned due to their shadowy associations, or maybe seen as Desna-touched?

3) Where would you consider them most commonly found?

4) Based on the answers above, what would you say their general demeanor would be? Joyful and carefree, mysterious and secretive, somber and melancholy, or perhaps even resentful and vengeful?

Thank you for your thoughts! :) I've always had a love of nocturnal, moon and star worshiping elves. I miss Eilistraee of the Forgotten Realms quite a bit, so this is my way of trying to bring back a bit of that flavor without having to actually make good-aligned drow.


RtrnofdMax wrote:
In the Pathfinder world, is there a god for good Drow like Elistraee in FR?

I'm pretty sure good drow are a once-in-a-millennium thing on Golarion, so no god in particular would cater to them.

That said, if I were a good drow, I'd probably just worship Calistria, the "rightful" deity of the elves.


James, do you think it'll be possible to stat up Melkor from the Silmarillion with the eventual Mythic rules? Also, how's this sound for stating up Sauron: level 20 sorcerer / rank 10 archmage with 10 advanced outsider hit dice?


Cerberus Seven wrote:
James, do you think it'll be possible to stat up Melkor from the Silmarillion with the eventual Mythic rules? Also, how's this sound for stating up Sauron: level 20 sorcerer / rank 10 archmage with 10 advanced outsider hit dice?

You know, it was once pointed out that if you actually stop and look at what Sauron did, all you really need is a 12th level Cleric.

You should read this article, Calibrating Your Expectations, for some more information. The comments below the article are quite interesting.


Tels wrote:
Cerberus Seven wrote:
James, do you think it'll be possible to stat up Melkor from the Silmarillion with the eventual Mythic rules? Also, how's this sound for stating up Sauron: level 20 sorcerer / rank 10 archmage with 10 advanced outsider hit dice?

You know, it was once pointed out that if you actually stop and look at what Sauron did, all you really need is a 12th level Cleric.

You should read this article, Calibrating Your Expectations, for some more information. The comments below the article are quite interesting.

Thanks for that article, but I guess I needed to be more precise in which iteration of Sauron I was mentioning. While I understand the desire expressed in that blog to quantify the heroes of the novels, and a lot of their calls are probably correct, I have to strongly disagree on this matter when it comes to Sauron at his full power.

You'll notice I specifically mentioned the Silmarillion in my post, for VERY good reason. Sauron from the Lord of the Rings is a diminished shade of his former self that has had to take over 3000 years to exert any respectable amount of influence in the world again. To give you an idea of him in his heyday: in the Second Age, the Valar completely obliterated what was almost a small continent, Numenor, crushing and drowning it beneath the sea. Sauron was there and had his physical form obliterated, but he reformed himself on the mainland at the cost of only his shapeshifting powers. Sorry, but level 12 clerics simply don't do that. Nor do they create undead as powerful as the Nazgul via an artifact like the One Ring (which he made himself) or make a structure as powerful as Barad-dur stay assembled with willpower alone or corrupt the mind of the most powerful wizard on the planet via long range telepathy. No, this guy clearly had a wealth of power, knowledge, and skill that would put him at the upper tier of any respectable D&D worlds "Who's who?" list. PLUS, he was one of the more powerful and experienced of the Maiar, being a powerful and learned smith under Aule from the beginning. Add in the fact that he (I think) knew and was following Melkor since day one and you get the advanced celestial HD.

Now, as for why I'm stating Sauron as mythic, well, there's a number of reasons, like his near immortality but the most important is this: he was banished simply by severing a finger. If that doesn't scream "MYTHIC WEAKNESS!!!" in 12 mega-watt flashing neon lights, I don't know what does. =)

Liberty's Edge

Softcover questions are still okay right? Buccaneer archetype from Pirates of the Inner Sea gets this little gem of an ability:

Knock Out (Ex)

At 5th level, a buccaneer may focus his blows in an attempt to knock out an opponent. Once per day as a swift action, the buccaneer can choose one target to attempt to knock out. The buccaneer adds his Charisma bonus (if any) on his attack roll and adds his buccaneer level on any nonlethal damage rolls made against the target. The bonus lasts until the buccaneer deals nonlethal damage to his target or until the buccaneer chooses a new target to attempt to knock out. He can use this ability one additional time per day for every six levels he possesses beyond 5th, to a maximum of three times per day at 17th level.

This ability replaces lore master.

Is the "deals nonlethal damage to his target" a typo that should say 'lethal' or is it just a one shot?

Dark Archive

How would you suggest one to go about combining "Curse of the Crimson Throne" and "Second Darkness" into one game? Or is Mixing APs a bad idea?

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

If a creature opens a door and sees a Hypnotic Pattern, assuming the Hypnotic Pattern still has Hit Dice "left over" (perhaps it actually hasn't effected anyone yet) can the creature be affected by the spell, assuming it was cast several turns earlier? (Perhaps an Illusionist was keeping it up hoping to trap people by its effect once they entered in.)

Also, does Protection from Evil protect against Fascination effects like Enthrall and Hypnotic Pattern?


Just registered to ask a question on Spell Perfection and various feats.

Normally a Fireball does 1d6 damage per caster level up to a maximum of 10d6 damage. An Intensified Fireball can do up to 15d6 damage. If I have Spell Perfection (Fireball), would my Intensified Fireballs have a maximum damage of 15d6 or 20d6? That is, does Spell Perfection apply to the bonus applied by Intensified Spell?

Now, say that I've multiclassed and I'm a 5th level caster with Spell Specialization (Fireball) and Spell Perfection (Fireball). Would my Fireballs do 7d6 or 9d6 damage? That is, does Spell Perfection apply to the caster level bonus given by Spell Specialization?

Same example as last time, but with a Varisian Tattoo (Evocation) instead of Spell Specialization (Fireball). Would my Fireballs do 6d6 or 7d6 damage? That is, does Spell Perfection apply to the caster level bonus given by Varisian Tattoo?

Spell Perfection wrote:
Benefit: Pick one spell which you have the ability to cast. Whenever you cast that spell you may apply any one metamagic feat you have to that spell without affecting its level or casting time, as long as the total modified level of the spell does not use a spell slot above 9th level. In addition, if you have other feats which allow you to apply a set numerical bonus to any aspect of this spell (such as Spell Focus, Spell Penetration, Weapon Focus [ray], and so on), double the bonus granted by that feat when applied to this spell.
Intensified Spell wrote:
Benefit: An intensified spell increases the maximum number of damage dice by 5 levels. You must actually have sufficient caster levels to surpass the maximum in order to benefit from this feat. No other variables of the spell are affected, and spells that inflict damage that is not modified by caster level are not affected by this feat.
Spell Specialization wrote:
Benefit: Select one spell of a school for which you have taken the Spell Focus feat. Treat your caster level as being two higher for all level-variable effects of the spell.
Varisian Tattoo wrote:
Benefit: Select a school of magic (other than divination) in which you have Spell Focus—you cast spells from this school at +1 caster level. Additionally, you gain a single spell-like ability usable up to three times per day.


Orthos wrote:

As someone who very much loved the 3.5 Binder even as written (seriously, what do you mean worst writeup?), I heartily recommend Pact Magic Unbound's Occultist. It does the concept justice.

I'll miss the Goetia-themed Vestiges (well no I won't, I'm homebrew converting them over ;) ) but the Spirits are well-made, the mechanics are solid, and the class is sound. Two thumbs way up.

Sorry, I was mis-remembering. It was Truenamer which had a impossible mechanism with a cool idea. Mind you, Binder still was somewhat confusing and not well thought out- not to mention getting no support.

Contributor

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DrDeth wrote:
Orthos wrote:

As someone who very much loved the 3.5 Binder even as written (seriously, what do you mean worst writeup?), I heartily recommend Pact Magic Unbound's Occultist. It does the concept justice.

I'll miss the Goetia-themed Vestiges (well no I won't, I'm homebrew converting them over ;) ) but the Spirits are well-made, the mechanics are solid, and the class is sound. Two thumbs way up.

Sorry, I was mis-remembering. It was Truenamer which had a impossible mechanism with a cool idea. Mind you, Binder still was somewhat confusing and not well thought out- not to mention getting no support.

Next-to-no-support if you weren't core was a MAJOR theme of 3.5; its why the Pathfinder developers pushed hard to have their mechanics-heavy books finished early in Pathfinder lifetime (APG, UM, UCom).

Truenamer's mechanics is, and are, a mess without a doubt. The only successful build I've ever seen is a very cheesy one that utilizes the fiendbinder truenaming prestige class, where you eventually get an army of Balors and Pitfiends to do what you will with.

I actually disagree on the Pact Magic part, however. It was a fairly well-thought out system even then, though I don't get for the life of me why WotC choose to go with an eight-level model instead of the nine-level we use in Pact Magic Unbound; it really made checking for balance super easy when we designed the spirits. The binder got a little support outside of Tome of Magic, but never in a hardcover book; there were a couple of online articles on WotC's website that added things like psionic vestiges. If there's a lesson to be learned, its that of all its subsystems, the only one Wizards ever supported beyond the first book was Psionics.


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Any thoughts on how to role play making a deal with a (contract) devil? The way I've pictured it is that the devil interacts with them inside a splinter of their mind that he's shaped to look like a Law Office, complete with a large mahogany desk, shelves of legal texts, the devil's diploma framed on the wall, a legal secretary Eryine, a barbed devil intern that gets sent out for the Contract Devil's very specific coffee order, etc.

I've imagined that the contract is a single page written in Infernal and corresponds to hundreds of pages of text in common. My plan is to separate the PCs (have the players in a separate rooms) and offer each of the PCs power to shape their home nations for the better in exchange for "just one day of service".

The day of service would involve them fighting against demons alongside the forces of Hell.

However, in the contract is hidden a number of clauses. One of these will be under the heading of "Environmental Policy" and will require the PCs to collect all of their belongings before leaving the demiplane. Another contradictory clause, "Member Access Privileges", will state that only "Executive Members" will have full access to the plane and as "Junior Members" the PCs will not be allowed to go back to where they dropped an arrow or discarded a potion vial.

It's a one-shot campaign and I'm perfectly okay with having the PCs trapped in the Infernal Demiplane forever as an ending to the story.

Do you have any thoughts on how to play out the contract sequence? Should I have a legal document printed out or just rely on linguistics and diplomacy checks? Would a Contract Devil appear as a senior partner in a Law Firm when he's conducting negotiations?

Webstore Gninja Minion

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Per this post, James Jacobs will not be answering rules questions. Please post all rules questions to the appropriate forum.


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Liz Courts wrote:
Per this post, James Jacobs will not be answering rules questions. Please post all rules questions to the appropriate forum.

Darnit guys! You made Mom step in! Sheesh!

:P

Greg


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Also, is it wrong that I want to needlessly insert a Modron March into everything I run?

"You come to the throne room just in time to see the ritual come to an end as the dread necromancer, surrounded by his slain followers, drinks the foul contents of the Jar of Al Neb Shurub. At first you see a slight murmur, then his whole body begins to shake as ... A THOUSAND MILLION MODRONS MARCH THROUGH THE ROOM!"

(Thanks again for RotRL. Fortunately our GM for that campaign is a kinder, saner, more decent man than I and the campaign has been kept 100% Mordon free to this point.)

* No modrons were harmed in the making of this post.

Silver Crusade

... So Dark Souls 2 was announced and a trailer released, any currently forming thoughts? Joy? Fear? Anger? Have you finished the first one?

The trailer for your viewing pleasure/discomfort :

/b/news/archive/2012/12/07/get-ready-to-die-again-dark-souls-ii-revealed-at -vgas.aspx

:3

Sczarni RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32

James, I need a little advice on creating a Mordant Spire elf. What would be appropriate alternate racial traits from the ARG to take? I am pretty sure Spirit of the Waters is a shoo-in, but unsure if they would have Elemental Resistance for the cold.

Is there any chance of an Golarion version detailing alternate racial traits to be found therein? Or even just a blog posting racial subtypes like those found in the ARG?


Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber

So, James, an interesting question for you that one of my players in Runelords asked: what, if anything, do you think would happen if you added the Waters of Lamashtu to the minor runewell in the Catacombs of Wrath?

I would assume nothing, but the sadistic side of me has some fun ideas involving four-armed sinspawn.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

Do Sandles of Quick Reaction let you make a Full Attack in the Surprise Round?


Confirm / Deny: this thread need to be closed then remade with some rules.


Hey, James. I have a Golarion question for you, about the history of the Varisia chapter of the Pathfinder Society. Specifically-- how long has Heidmarch Manor been a Pathfinder chapter house? It's been mentioned that they're one of the newest chapter houses, but how long have they been open? A year? Five? Ten?

My Magnimar/Sandpoint game (modified Runelords AP) is set in 4707-8 AR.

Thanks!

Contributor

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So I'm not the best painter in the world, but when I decided I needed a kitsune model for an important NPC in a game I'm running, I bought a couple models and converted one. Because models are really hard to come by for humanoid races who aren't "classic races."

Anyway, what do you think of my conversion?


So I'm working on a plot-line for a future campaign using a BBEG Wizard that has secured alliances with creatures of the Elemental Plane of Earth to have plentiful access to rubies, so he can create a Simulacrum army of a captured Ghaele Azata.

Simulacrum states that the Simulacrums should have half their hit-die in abilities. This can work great for regular classed characters, but creatures like the Ghaele have many spell-like abilities. Now, I think that, as half hit-die, they should lose the 3/day and 1/day SPA and reduce their spell casting down to 3rd level spells and the appropriate loss of feats, skills etc.

Is there anything else I should reduce? Like some of the At-Will SPAs or anything? I already plan on reducing the attack, damage and AC down as appropriate for their CRs.


A hard question...

A vehicle on board of which aside from the driver are three people. One is staring at his/her hands all the time fiddling with his/her thumbs, never looking up. The second one is rocking back and forth almost constantly and doesn't react to being talked to. The third person is talking to somebody who is not there. All of them have been on this behaviour before getting on and after getting off the vehicle. Passengers like these are all common sights on this type of vehicle.

What kind of vehicle am I talking about, and what is going on with these three people?


Would the Shory people be considered Mwangi, Garundi, or a separate ethnic group?


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

The Cacodaemon's Soul Lock ability states it works on any sentient creature, does that apply outsiders as well?


Alexander Augunas wrote:

So I'm not the best painter in the world, but when I decided I needed a kitsune model for an important NPC in a game I'm running, I bought a couple models and converted one. Because models are really hard to come by for humanoid races who aren't "classic races."

Anyway, what do you think of my conversion?

Cool!


James, is it wrong to want to put up an iredescent spindle ioun stone, run into the middle of a group of enemies, and fling dust of sneezing and choking into the air like a self-guided chemical weapon? Is it wrong that when I found out about this combo, I laughed maniacally for a full 30 seconds? EDIT: thanks to Orthos for reminding that linking is a good thing


Cerberus Seven wrote:
iredescent spindle ioun stone

Linkified.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Luna_Silvertear wrote:

James,

I wish to make a cleric of Nethys with the Eldritch Heritage (Arcane) feat tree and pick up a bonded object, which will probably be his holy symbol or quarterstaff. How does the spell storage apply if used by a cleric (or any spell caster that picks this particular Eldritch Heritage), or was this ability ment only for arcane spell casters? Also, what about the new arcana ability? Would that apply to the Wizard/Sorcerer spell list? Would a spell from that list be added to the cleric's (or spell caster's) spell list?

In addition, the wording of the bonded object spell storage indicates any spell from your spellbook...does this apply only to wizards and magi (in the assumption that a sorcerer take the Arcane bloodline, they will be unable to use the spell storage ability due to lack of a spellbook)?

Eldritch Heritage (arcane) should apply only to arcane spells. And the benefits of a bonded object should apply only to spells from the actual class that gave you a bonded object. And if you use an arcane bond with a sorcerer, that merely lets you cast an additional spell you know; it's a much more versatile power when used by a wizard.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Freehold DM wrote:
James, I've been interested in the APG classes existing as either archetypes for other classes or as a group of feats(I'm a feat fanatic, I played in a friend's game where everyone got more feats and it resulted in a happier game for all, but I CANNOT deny the awesomeness of archtypes, which is everything I liked about alternate class abilities but lighter and faster). Which would work better, do you think?

I think the APG classes work better as classes, since they have fundamentally different rules that justify them being full classes.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

RtrnofdMax wrote:

An animal domain cleric gets an animal companion with an effective druid level of cleric level -3. Theologian allows you to treat your cleric level as 2 higher for level dependent effects of your domain powers in exchange for taking a single domain. Boon Companion treats your effective druid level for animal companions as 4 higher up to your character level maximum.

It seems to me like the spirit of theologian is to be able to exceed your cleric level for that domain. However, the wording may not work out when combining all of these abilities.

So for a 9th level cleric, would your animal companion be 9-3(Animal Companion)+3(Boon Companion)+2(Theologian)= 11, or would it be 9-3(Animal Companion)+2(Theologian)+1(Boon Companion)= 9?

For the price of a feat and one less domain, it doesn't seem game-breaking to have an animal companion 2 levels higher than your level. What do you think?

I'd say it'd be 11. It's also a pretty unexpected way to get a powerful animal companion, and as such it might be something that the rules team didn't anticipate when they built those options for a cleric, so it'd be worth taking that question over to the rules forums to FAQ it.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Voltron64 wrote:

Hey Jim, remember when you gave your opinions of Hypothetical Casting for the Iconics and you had Terrance Stamp for Ezren?

Well, I was actually thinking Charles Dance (Tywin Lannister from Game of Thrones) for Ezren personally. Thoughts?

I assume that question's for me... (I go by James, not Jim)...

But Charles Dance would be a good choice for Ezren, definitely.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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RtrnofdMax wrote:
In the Pathfinder world, is there a god for good Drow like Elistraee in FR?

Nope.

Despite the fact that Eilistraee is hands-down my favorite deity from Forgotten Realms.

But she's such an iconic Forgotten Realms deity, and good drow are such an iconic Forgotten Realms concept that we didn't want to step on the toes of that setting by having our own version of Eilistraee.

The best "Eilistraee replacement" in the game would probably be Desna. Or maybe even Sarenrae.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Tels wrote:
I've got a blizzard going on in my town right now, and I've been driving in it for the last 4 1/2 hours (this makes my 5th blizzard I've driven in btw). So, with that in mine, have you ever driven in a blizzard? If so, how do you feel about it?

I've never driven in an actual blizzard. I've certainly driven in treacherous snow, made all the more so by the fact that snow + Seattle's terrain + the relatively lack of infrastructure to deal with lots of snow = turning a 30 minute commute into a 5 hour commute. Driving in snow is super frightening and frustrating. I hate it.

Stay safe! Hope you got to your destination!

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Alexander Augunas wrote:
JJ, who was your favorite vestige in Tome of Magic?

Chupleclops! Since the author of that vestige based that one entirely on a crazy dream I had about Chupleclops. I kinda wish I'd kept the name for myself so as to use it in Pathfinder, but who could have foreseen the future back in that day?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

AbsolutGrndZer0 wrote:
When an acidic ooze, lets use Black Pudding as an example, attacks it does slam damage, then acid damage, then gets a grab based free grapple. Now, on that successful grapple, does it then do acid damage again this turn, or not until next turn if you don't break the grapple? I've always figured it did the damage along with the grapple, but last night our party got wiped by a black pudding because it pretty much killed us all in two rounds (one character died first round, two more 2nd round cause we split it with slashing). So, that made me wonder... were we running it wrong?

All that depends on the creature. In the specific case of a black pudding, when it successfully grabs you thanks to its grab ability, it does its constrict damage of 2d6+4 plus 2d6 acid. The next round, if it's continuing to grapple you, it only does the bonus acid damage if it constricts or if it simply makes another slam attack against you. It technically wouldn't get the bonus acid damage if it just made a grapple check to do damage—but it wouldn't ever choose that option because it has constrict, which is always a better option in a grapple case.

Black puddings are scary monsters; they have a hard time hitting for a CR 7 creature, but once they hit, they stack the damage on fast.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Holt wrote:

Softcover questions are still okay right? Buccaneer archetype from Pirates of the Inner Sea gets this little gem of an ability:

Knock Out (Ex)

At 5th level, a buccaneer may focus his blows in an attempt to knock out an opponent. Once per day as a swift action, the buccaneer can choose one target to attempt to knock out. The buccaneer adds his Charisma bonus (if any) on his attack roll and adds his buccaneer level on any nonlethal damage rolls made against the target. The bonus lasts until the buccaneer deals nonlethal damage to his target or until the buccaneer chooses a new target to attempt to knock out. He can use this ability one additional time per day for every six levels he possesses beyond 5th, to a maximum of three times per day at 17th level.

This ability replaces lore master.

Is the "deals nonlethal damage to his target" a typo that should say 'lethal' or is it just a one shot?

In the case of softcover books, there's a MUCH greater chance that I was involved in that book's design, development, and concepting/outlining. I still might refer questions about them to the rules forum though.

In this case, the whole point of the ability is to knock your enemy out. The idea is that you're smashing your target hard, but once you hit the target, that uses up one of your uses of the ability for the day. Once you activate this power, you gain a bonus to nonlethal damage, but that bonus ends once you strike a blow. If you do lethal damage to the target in the meantime, that's fine. You don't get bonuses to it though.

AKA: It's called "knock out" not "knock outs." :-P

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Filby Pott wrote:
RtrnofdMax wrote:
In the Pathfinder world, is there a god for good Drow like Elistraee in FR?

I'm pretty sure good drow are a once-in-a-millennium thing on Golarion, so no god in particular would cater to them.

That said, if I were a good drow, I'd probably just worship Calistria, the "rightful" deity of the elves.

Calistria, being chaotic neutral, isn't a good choice for a good drow, or a good anyone, to worship.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Varisian Wanderer wrote:

Hello, James Jacobs.

I had a few questions about the Dusk Elf Racial Subtype in the Advanced Race Guide. It states, "Rather than being tied to the terrain around them, some elves are linked to the night itself. Though not tied to demon worship and evil as drow are, these elves are similarly attuned to the magical concepts of darkness and shadow. These elves have the arcane focus, darkvision, dreamspeaker, and silent hunter alternate racial traits."

If you were to place this subtype in Golarion...

1) What would you say are their origins (as in, what caused them to become dusk elves, and gain their new race traits)? I had considered elven communities that had become persecuted or nocturnal, ones that hailed from Nidal, or perhaps ones who come from long family lines of Desna worshipers.

2) How would they interact with the common player races, especially other surface elves? Would they likely be outcasts like the Forlorn, shunned due to their shadowy associations, or maybe seen as Desna-touched?

3) Where would you consider them most commonly found?

4) Based on the answers above, what would you say their general demeanor would be? Joyful and carefree, mysterious and secretive, somber and melancholy, or perhaps even resentful and vengeful?

Thank you for your thoughts! :) I've always had a love of nocturnal, moon and star worshiping elves. I miss Eilistraee of the Forgotten Realms quite a bit, so this is my way of trying to bring back a bit of that flavor without having to actually make good-aligned drow.

1) Nidal makes the most sense.

2) Their association with Nidal would make them objects of distrust to most others, and they'd end up being shunned, probably even moreso than the forlorn.

3) Nidal.

4) They'd be Zon-Kuthon worshipers. Lawful evil usually, and sneaky, moody, grim, and scheming as a result. They would not be merely nocturnal moon/star worshipers. That's something for normal elves who worship Desna to do. Or perhaps a dusk elf who's had a change of heart (and who thus has likely been forced to flee his home).


Hi James,

1. Do the Tcho-Tcho from the Mythos exist in Golarion? Would they be a separate humanoid race, or just a race of people. Some of the stories featuring them sometimes make them out just as an ethnicity, and others make them out as something not really part of Homo sapiens.

Will we ever get stats for them if they do exist?

Also

2. is Tsathoggua or any of his servitors (Voormis, Spawn of Tsathoggua) part of Golarion?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Cerberus Seven wrote:
James, do you think it'll be possible to stat up Melkor from the Silmarillion with the eventual Mythic rules? Also, how's this sound for stating up Sauron: level 20 sorcerer / rank 10 archmage with 10 advanced outsider hit dice?

I've never read the Silmarillion, and have no plans to, so I'm not sure who Melkor is.

That said, I do know WHAT the Silmarillion is, and statting up Sauron, Gandalf, or similar beings of power is absolutely what the mythic rules are for.

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