RPG Superstar 2014 Top 4
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I am suddenly imagining a titan-like creature composed of nothing but writhing masses of serpentine Imperial dragons. Much in the way that a "worm that walks" is made of worms, this monolithic entity is made of coils upon coils of wyrms each roaring and clawing in some singular horror...
Most Oration is conveyed through Body Language.I think oratory is auditory too. Maybe Jason got confused? It's an easy enough fix to house rule if ya want.JJ, for Bards, why is Oratory a Visual Performance, usable for Distraction- rather than a Audible, usable for Countersong?
Isn't Oratory much more auditory?
This is a not-true thing.
To test, try persuading a large group of people to do something without making a sound.
Then compare with this linky.
Body-language is the icing on the cake, not the cake.
So, a question, James: what is your favourite speech (fictional or real)?
Most Oration is conveyed by body language, or the lack there-of, in that the body language helps the words be remembered by the people.
So in reality the Body Language(or lack of) is the Cake with the Words being the icing. That is the Words are the Icing flavor and design that gets you to buy the cake while the Body Language is the Cake that makes you remember the cake.
Think of the speeches given by Patton. His lack of body language conveyed his seriousness and that made the soldiers remember what he was saying.
Where as Hitler's Exaggerated Motions made the Viewers get riled up and encouraged.
Hi mr Jacobs:
1. When will came the Bestiary 3 Pawns for sale?
2. there will be Carrion Crown Pawns (yes/no/why/when)?
3. why the pawns for AP dont shows up at the same time that the adventure start showing up?1) Not sure.
2) Can't say.
3) Because we don't have all the art for a pawn set when the first adventure comes out... we can't release a pawn set until we have all the art for an AP, and that happens at the end, not the beginning.
Thanks!!
Im so happy with the pawns (and i guess youre so happy with the success with the pawns too)I also know that you can´t do all of our request for you, and sometimes we seems very excesive with, but realy, thanks for all your job (im still waiting for a Kavapesta map), but besides my almost-always complain about the flaws, i also love evrything i have buyed from you guys!!
Question:
Can you spoiler if you are making new base classes, a hint or something?
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Sure, as long as you promise not to use my replies as crowbars to leverage out advantages for your character from your GM! ;-)Could I ask you your opinion on some specific cases, though?
Richard
My role, funnily enough, is module-writer rather than player or even GM.
If I'm going to include something which can polymorph then I need to decide on an interpretation of this rule which most players and GMs would be happy to accept as reasonable.
Sisyphus this is your stone, enjoy it :-)
Trying to write a interpretation tot eh rules that make msot player and GM happy is a Sisyphean task.
So I'll start with the very specific case of a vampire which turns into a bat.According to the rules, this works like beast shape II, which doesn't include blindsense.
So if a vampire loses darkvision when it changes shape into a dire bat then, as far as I can see, it's not going to be able to see very well at night.
Which means that old vampire up in his castle isn't going to be making very many night-time sorties in the local woods because he'll keep bumping into all the trees.
Would you agree with that?
Richard
Well, Beast shape II don't give darkvision but the bat form sustain darkvision, the vampire has darkvision, so it could be argued that while turning into a bat with Beast shape II don't give you darkvision if you don't have it, it don't remove it if you have it as your new form sustain darkvision.
As a general rule I would say that if your original form as a ability and the final form has the same ability you maintain it even if the polymorph spell you used don't give that ability.What do you think, James, it is a reasonable explanation or it create more problem that it resolve.
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Honestly, my preference from a module writer stand is to go with the interpretation that makes for the best story.
Although I'd like to, I think that the expectation of the Pathfinder community is that GMs stick to the rules and, since module writers provide material for GMs, it is incumbent upon module writers to do the same.
IMVHO of course.
Diego: I don't know what you mean by "sustain" darkvision. I don't think dire bats have darkvision at all.
Richard
Yeah, WtW = Worm that Walks.
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Honestly, my preference from a module writer stand is to go with the interpretation that makes for the best story.Although I'd like to, I think that the expectation of the Pathfinder community is that GMs stick to the rules and, since module writers provide material for GMs, it is incumbent upon module writers to do the same.
IMVHO of course.
Diego: I don't know what you mean by "sustain" darkvision. I don't think dire bats have darkvision at all.
Richard
Blindsense as a bat and low-light vision as an animal, not darkvision, you are right.
On the other hand the spell give low-light, so he would be capable to navigate with ambient light, at least outside.
1) Are any of the iconics married?
2) Do any of them have children?
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I am suddenly imagining a titan-like creature composed of nothing but writhing masses of serpentine Imperial dragons. Much in the way that a "worm that walks" is made of worms, this monolithic entity is made of coils upon coils of wyrms each roaring and clawing in some singular horror...
...
Someone. Anyone. Make this. NOW.
EDIT: What would you recommend for boss-rush type modules? I was thinking of five rushes, each with seven battles. One rush each for 1st-level characters, 5th-level, 7th, 12th, and 20th. That last one would obviously be topped off by the tarrasque, but what do you think would work well for the lower ones? I kind of think the Lv5 rush would end with an aboleth, but I'm still thinking.
Hi James
Will the new "mummified" template in the upcoming Bestiary 4 be based on the Osirion Mummy template in the module "J1 - Entombed with the Pharoahs"?
Will there ever be a good aligned equivalent of the evil spell "Infernal Healing"? It seems odd to me that there is an evil spell usable by arcane spell casters to heal, but no good aligned equivalent.
Thanks
I am suddenly imagining a titan-like creature composed of nothing but writhing masses of serpentine Imperial dragons. Much in the way that a "worm that walks" is made of worms, this monolithic entity is made of coils upon coils of wyrms each roaring and clawing in some singular horror...
While this is off topic, Guild War 2 more or less did this - the Elder Dragon Zhaitan is a gigantic undead dragon composed piecemeal from smaller undead dragons.
It is pretty freaky looking. You'd probably stat it out as an undead kaiju demigod once the rules for that are out.
Now, to get back on topic, with questions for Mr. Jacobs...
1) Does samsaran society have a strong marriage tradition? On one hand, they're very lawful. On the other hand, a centuries long lifespan and always giving your kids up for adoption doesn't seem to lend itself to stable long-term marriage. And so I'm wondering.
2) Are there any kaiju sealed away in Heaven, Nirvana, Elysium, or Axis?
3) Are there plans for a CR 20 archon?
4) Have you run any games where a PC achieved godhood? If so, how'd it come about? Are there any in-universe shout-outs to such a PC?
Creative Director
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Thinking he means a Worm That Walks.Seriously though, has anyone considered making a WtW out of a dragon of any kind?WtW?
Oh! I guess that makes sense. And an excellent object lesson in why it's best to not speak Acronym and instead spell things out.
A dragon worm that walks would certainly be cool!
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Creative Director
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Curious, why is Pharasma's favored weapon a dagger?
Because we wanted to have a good spread of weapons throughout the favored weapon choices, and no one else had yet taken dagger. And since Pharasma herself isn't particularly associated with any one weapon during those early days of development... dagger worked fine for her.
In my homebrew, "Pharasma" was the same basic deity but she was named "Turthonir" and her favored weapon was the light mace. I think both of those changes (name AND weapon) improve the deity.
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Creative Director
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Well, Beast shape II don't give darkvision but the bat form sustain darkvision, the vampire has darkvision, so it could be argued that while turning into a bat with Beast shape II don't give you darkvision if you don't have it, it don't remove it if you have it as your new form sustain darkvision.
As a general rule I would say that if your original form as a ability and the final form has the same ability you maintain it even if the polymorph spell you used don't give that ability.What do you think, James, it is a reasonable explanation or it create more problem that it resolve.
Works for me.
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Creative Director
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EDIT: What would you recommend for boss-rush type modules? I was thinking of five rushes, each with seven battles. One rush each for 1st-level characters, 5th-level, 7th, 12th, and 20th. That last one would obviously be topped off by the tarrasque, but what do you think would work well for the lower ones? I kind of think the Lv5 rush would end with an aboleth, but I'm still thinking.
Not sure what you mean by "boss-rush." Is this lingo used in MMO raids?
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Creative Director
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Hi James
1) Will the new "mummified" template in the upcoming Bestiary 4 be based on the Osirion Mummy template in the module "J1 - Entombed with the Pharoahs"?
2) Will there ever be a good aligned equivalent of the evil spell "Infernal Healing"? It seems odd to me that there is an evil spell usable by arcane spell casters to heal, but no good aligned equivalent.
Thanks
1) No; it's its own thing.
2) No plans at this point, but we often intentionally do NOT build things to be balanced as regards alignment options. Good people find it easier to heal already, in any event; they don't need more help there.
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Creative Director
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1) Does samsaran society have a strong marriage tradition? On one hand, they're very lawful. On the other hand, a centuries long lifespan and always giving your kids up for adoption doesn't seem to lend itself to stable long-term marriage. And so I'm wondering.
2) Are there any kaiju sealed away in Heaven, Nirvana, Elysium, or Axis?
3) Are there plans for a CR 20 archon?
4) Have you run any games where a PC achieved godhood? If so, how'd it come about? Are there any in-universe shout-outs to such a PC?
1) Good question. One of many about the race that deserves more exploration. They likely do have a strong marriage tradition, but it's less about raising children and more about love and support of the spouse.
2) Probably not. They're mostly Material Plane things.
3) Some day, perhaps.
4) Yes. A PC helped stop Karzoug from using the power source within Baba Yaga's hut from becoming a god, and with Karzoug slain, that energy had to go somewhere and so that PC absorbed it and became the CN deity of magic and transformation. No in-world shout outs to this PC. In my homebrew, I had an evil deity of magic (Bolag) and a good deity of magic (Lydia), and this player had spent most of the campaign concerned and obsessed with the fact that there was no neutral deity of magic. In Pathfinder, there's only one deity of magic and since he's true neutral, he appeals to all nine alignments more or less equally.
EDIT: What would you recommend for boss-rush type modules? I was thinking of five rushes, each with seven battles. One rush each for 1st-level characters, 5th-level, 7th, 12th, and 20th. That last one would obviously be topped off by the tarrasque, but what do you think would work well for the lower ones? I kind of think the Lv5 rush would end with an aboleth, but I'm still thinking.Not sure what you mean by "boss-rush." Is this lingo used in MMO raids?
More commonly in Console RPGs, platformers, Metroidvanias, and shoot'em-ups.
It's usually an optional mode in the game OR a challenge as part of the game's final dungeon (or similarly end-game level), where the game's main boss monsters are battled all in a row, with either no rest points between or only occasional ones (every 3/5/10/whatever bosses). It's equal parts challenge of power (how high level do you have to be to beat all the game's most challenging enemies in a row) and skill (if you're good you can do it at lower levels or with less equipment/magic/items/etc.).
Yeah, what Orthos said. I've seen boss rushes in Kirby, Castlevania, Mario, and every Mega Man game has one right before the last stage.
In Kirby Super Star's Arena subgame, for instance, you have one life and limited healing to defeat every boss and midboss in the game (plus Kirby's Goomba counterpart, for some reason). If you die, you have to do the whole thing over again.
I can't spoiler that at all.
Can you spoiler if you are making new base classes, a hint or something?
i would take that answer as an spoiler itself!!
:3|
Creative Director
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EDIT: What would you recommend for boss-rush type modules? I was thinking of five rushes, each with seven battles. One rush each for 1st-level characters, 5th-level, 7th, 12th, and 20th. That last one would obviously be topped off by the tarrasque, but what do you think would work well for the lower ones? I kind of think the Lv5 rush would end with an aboleth, but I'm still thinking.Not sure what you mean by "boss-rush." Is this lingo used in MMO raids?More commonly in Console RPGs, platformers, Metroidvanias, and shoot'em-ups.
It's usually an optional mode in the game OR a challenge as part of the game's final dungeon (or similarly end-game level), where the game's main boss monsters are battled all in a row, with either no rest points between or only occasional ones (every 3/5/10/whatever bosses). It's equal parts challenge of power (how high level do you have to be to beat all the game's most challenging enemies in a row) and skill (if you're good you can do it at lower levels or with less equipment/magic/items/etc.).
Oh! Gotcha. That's not something that really fits in to the story-heavy construction of our adventures, and it's a method of play that I'm not sure I would find all that rewarding, since I much prefer longer-term games where I get to experience all of a character's progression as they become more powerful.
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Creative Director
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I can't spoiler that at all.
Can you spoiler if you are making new base classes, a hint or something?i would take that answer as an spoiler itself!!
:3
Of course, you could do that with any answer I provided for that question, including NOT answering the question.
1) Are any of the iconics married?
2) Do any of them have children?1) Depends on the story and the art.
2) Depends on the story and the art.
2) Doesn't Alain's backstory say he kinda gets into troubles for pregging too many women?
Does Weapon Finesse apply to thrown weapons?
I was wondering if you could clear up to me the various ethnicities of the human iconic characters.
I could figure out that Seoni is Varisian, Kyra is Keleshite, Seelah and Alahazra should be Garundi, Sajan is Vudrani, Valeros and Alain are Taldan, Amiri is Kellid and Hayato, Reiko and Feiya would most likely qualify for Tian-Min.
Only with Ezren I cauldn't tell. I didn't find his name particularly fitting with any of the naming conventions and being from Absalom is not exactly narrowing it down much.
Also interesting would be the human halves of Lirianne, Damiel, Seltiyel and Imrijka.
Really? Weird, I thought thrown weapons used Strength.
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Creative Director
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I was wondering if you could clear up to me the various ethnicities of the human iconic characters.
I could figure out that Seoni is Varisian, Kyra is Keleshite, Seelah and Alahazra should be Garundi, Sajan is Vudrani, Valeros and Alain are Taldan, Amiri is Kellid and Hayato, Reiko and Feiya would most likely qualify for Tian-Min.
Only with Ezren I cauldn't tell. I didn't find his name particularly fitting with any of the naming conventions and being from Absalom is not exactly narrowing it down much.
Also interesting would be the human halves of Lirianne, Damiel, Seltiyel and Imrijka.
Ezren is Taldan. Absalom is a true melting pot as far as names go.
Lirianne and Damiel likely had Taldan parents; Seltiyel definitely had a Chelaxian parent, and Imrijka probably had a Kellid parent.
Greetings James Jacobs
Fire Bombardier (Su or Ex)
At 1st level, when a fire bomber throws a bomb that deals fire damage, all creatures in the splash radius take an additional point of damage per die of fire damage dealt.
Does it damage the ''main target'' of the bombs has well?
Maybe if it said ''within the splash radius''then I wouldn't be asking.
THANK YOU.
In an Evil Dead (movie) scenario which monster from pathfinder would be best to use?
Shadow Demons? Or are there other monsters/undead/demons that would fit better?
Ustalav has some trench warfare stuff going on.Where in golarion would trench warfare take place? I'm guessing the Mana Wastes and/or Numeria.
It's not so much a gun and technology related question as it is that I just like the solemn brooding aesthetic of trenches and fighting in them.
I ended up looking this up, as I wasn't sure what you were referring to, and it intrigued me. Even though I own Rule of Fear, somehow I'd skimmed over The Furrows (a corrupted trench-ridden wasteland full of ghosts, zombies, and awesome).
What are some of your favourite locations in Golarion that you think go overlooked by players? (That is, described in a sourcebook but not yet heavily featured in an AP or module)
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Works for me.Well, Beast shape II don't give darkvision but the bat form sustain darkvision, the vampire has darkvision, so it could be argued that while turning into a bat with Beast shape II don't give you darkvision if you don't have it, it don't remove it if you have it as your new form sustain darkvision.
As a general rule I would say that if your original form as a ability and the final form has the same ability you maintain it even if the polymorph spell you used don't give that ability.What do you think, James, it is a reasonable explanation or it create more problem that it resolve.
Unfortunately dire bats don't have darkvision.
So do vampires lose their darkvision when they turn into dire bats and do they thus have to rely purely on their low-light vision?
Richard
I was wondering if you could clear up to me the various ethnicities of the human iconic characters.
I could figure out that Seoni is Varisian, Kyra is Keleshite, Seelah and Alahazra should be Garundi, Sajan is Vudrani, Valeros and Alain are Taldan, Amiri is Kellid and Hayato, Reiko and Feiya would most likely qualify for Tian-Min.
Only with Ezren I cauldn't tell. I didn't find his name particularly fitting with any of the naming conventions and being from Absalom is not exactly narrowing it down much.
Also interesting would be the human halves of Lirianne, Damiel, Seltiyel and Imrijka.Ezren is Taldan. Absalom is a true melting pot as far as names go.
Lirianne and Damiel likely had Taldan parents; Seltiyel definitely had a Chelaxian parent, and Imrijka probably had a Kellid parent.
I thought Damiel was a full Elf... No wonder Merisiel feels lonely. :(
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Creative Director
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I was wondering if you could clear up to me the various ethnicities of the human iconic characters.
I could figure out that Seoni is Varisian, Kyra is Keleshite, Seelah and Alahazra should be Garundi, Sajan is Vudrani, Valeros and Alain are Taldan, Amiri is Kellid and Hayato, Reiko and Feiya would most likely qualify for Tian-Min.
Only with Ezren I cauldn't tell. I didn't find his name particularly fitting with any of the naming conventions and being from Absalom is not exactly narrowing it down much.
Also interesting would be the human halves of Lirianne, Damiel, Seltiyel and Imrijka.Ezren is Taldan. Absalom is a true melting pot as far as names go.
Lirianne and Damiel likely had Taldan parents; Seltiyel definitely had a Chelaxian parent, and Imrijka probably had a Kellid parent.
I thought Damiel was a full Elf... No wonder Merisiel feels lonely. :(
oh; duh.
Yeah; Damiel is a full elf. I was tricked.
Well, I changed the relevant Tiefling druid from Asura-spawn to Qlippoth, and he focuses on natural weapons now, so it's irrelevant.
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Creative Director
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Greetings James Jacobs
Fire Bombardier (Su or Ex)
At 1st level, when a fire bomber throws a bomb that deals fire damage, all creatures in the splash radius take an additional point of damage per die of fire damage dealt.
Does it damage the ''main target'' of the bombs has well?
Maybe if it said ''within the splash radius''then I wouldn't be asking.
THANK YOU.
"Splash radius" is talking about "All creatures who take splash damage." The main target does not take splash damage, so this extra damage does not apply to the main target.
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Creative Director
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In an Evil Dead (movie) scenario which monster from pathfinder would be best to use?
Shadow Demons? Or are there other monsters/undead/demons that would fit better?
Probably vermlek demons. Shadow demons are an okay choice, but they don't possess dead bodies/act like zombies.
Frankly, if I were to do this, I'd make up a brand new demon that's like an invisible/incorporeal vermlek. Or just use fiendish juju zombies or something like that.
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Creative Director
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What are some of your favourite locations in Golarion that you think go overlooked by players? (That is, described in a sourcebook but not yet heavily featured in an AP or module)
The various islands in the Obari ocean that aren't Jalmeray.
Large parts of the Darklands.
The isles west of Rahadoum.
The non-red mantis parts of Mediogalti.
Isger.
Kintargo.
Vyre.
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Creative Director
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Works for me.Well, Beast shape II don't give darkvision but the bat form sustain darkvision, the vampire has darkvision, so it could be argued that while turning into a bat with Beast shape II don't give you darkvision if you don't have it, it don't remove it if you have it as your new form sustain darkvision.
As a general rule I would say that if your original form as a ability and the final form has the same ability you maintain it even if the polymorph spell you used don't give that ability.What do you think, James, it is a reasonable explanation or it create more problem that it resolve.
Unfortunately dire bats don't have darkvision.
So do vampires lose their darkvision when they turn into dire bats and do they thus have to rely purely on their low-light vision?
Richard
This is now officially a question that should go over to the rules forum for some FAQ.
Would it be possible to milk a venomous familiar/animal companion for poison? For instance, if you want to coat a weapon with, oh, I dunno, giant wasp venom.
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Creative Director
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Would it be possible to milk a venomous familiar/animal companion for poison? For instance, if you want to coat a weapon with, oh, I dunno, giant wasp venom.
Milking ANY animal for its poison isn't something the rules let you do, unless you use the Craft skill rules to make the poison. Which as we all know is a can of worms.
My house rule:
If you want to milk venom from an animal or harvest its poison from a freshly killed animal, make a skill check—Handle Animal for milking or Survival for harvesting. DC = 15 + the animal's CR. On a success, you extract one dose of poison. For each 5 points by which you exceed the target DC you get a 2nd dose. Regardless, you have the standard 5% chance of poisoning yourself unless you have poison use. Poison harvested in this manner remains viable for 24 hours before it spoils—making preserved poison that lasts longer requires Craft checks.
Scrap Bomb (Su): When the alchemist creates a bomb, he can choose to have it explode into shards of shrapnel that deal piercing damage. A creature that takes a direct hit from a scrap bomb takes 1 point of bleed damage per die of bomb damage unless it succeeds at a Reflex save.
Is it just a single bleed damage that I can do multiple times in a turn?
or does work with the normal rules of bleeding, which multiple hits wont stack the bleed damage in a single turn?
oh; duh.
Yeah; Damiel is a full elf. I was tricked.
Evil caster? Let's get the torches and pitchforks while we still can!
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I know paizo has a policy against having dragons mingling all wily nilly with humanoids in humanoid shape so that you can no longer tell whether every NPC is actually a dragon in disguise.
Are there any dragons taking human form in Dragons Unleashed?
Where would be a good place for a Tarrasque to sleep unnoticed on the inner sea continent?