Creative Director
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Would you say it's true that there are certain kinds of stories Golarion simply isn't built to contain? I think of something like the Trojan War, certainly an epic tale, but one that would be difficult to reproduce on Golarion. The gods likely wouldn't be petty enough to goad mortals into a decade-long war that results in the flower of the lands' youth perishing, snuffing out one of the greatest cities in the world and ending an age of heroes, over a single woman being used as a bribe to the judge of a divine beauty contest, started because one goddess got angry that she wasn't invited to a wedding. Gods like Shelyn, Iomedae or Sarenrae would likely be the FIRST to say "something like this is wrong."
Would you say that playing a Greek tragedy in Golarion doesn't exactly work? A campaign where heroes soar to great heights and ultimately lose everything from their inherently flawed nature, the justice the gods provide is not good or noble, but merely an assertion of their power over mortals' lives and demands of their behavior, even though they themselves are egocentric beings that treat mortals as expendable pawns in their petty games of one-upmanship and revenge for everything from percieved slights (Athena's treatment of Arachne, Apollo and Artemis' cruel slaying of Niobe's children, etc.) to genuine grievances that can't actually be rectified (Hera's continual harassment of Zeus' lovers and children because she can't take justice from Zeus himself, and Poseidon's revenge against Odysseus for the blinding of Polyphemus)?
Absolutely. ANY world has stories that don't make sense in them. That said, a story about an epic war can ABSOLUTELY take place on Golarion, even if we don't have robust mass combat rules yet. And who says the gods aren't at times petty? Certainly, if something is wrong, the gods wouldn't necessarily intervene. For example, in Qadira, a large number of Sarenrae's worshipers are fundamentally getting it wrong and being far more warlike than she would prefer... she doesn't come down to fix them, because that's her faith's job to fix things. Those who don't learn the error of their ways soon enough once they die—there's a lot of warmongering Sarenites from Qadira who end up going to Hell or Abaddon or the Abyss...
The problem with stories about heroes who soar to great heights but then lose everything is that 99% of players would hate that. It's not a problem with the rules or the setting, but a problem with human nature, I fear.
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Creative Director
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James, what movie do you think is the...
1) Scariest?
2) Funniest?
3) Best Action?
4) Best Drama?
5) Best Sci-Fi?
6) Best Fantasy?
1) This changes now and then, but today? The scariest movie I've seen lately was Paranormal Activity—saw it during a free preview before the world at large knew anything about it, and it was VERY effective. Still is, frankly, despite the fact that it's been copied so much. Lake Mungo is a close second on the scary. Most disturbing and distressing I've seen in along time is Megan is Missing.
2) Borat.
3) Seven Samurai.
4) Schindler's List.
5) Alien.
6) Game of Thrones. If that's cheating because it's a show and not a movie, I'd pick Lord of the Rings. If that's cheating because it's a trilogy and not one movie, I'd pick Seventh Voyage of Sinbad.
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Creative Director
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James,
A void elementalist wizard (dragon empires primer), has to choose another elemental school as his forbidden school (air/water/fire/earth).
There are certain spells listed as belonging to all elemental schools, but not to the void school (e.g.resist energy, protection from energy, elemental body, summon monster, etc).
My question is:
How do I treat the spells belonging to the All elementalist school as a void wizard? Should I treat them like the universal spells from the standard wizard? or do I lose access to them when I choose my forbidden elemental school?
If a spell belongs to all elementalist schools, they count as void spells as well for void elementalists. Same as for any elementalist.
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Creative Director
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Mythic Adventures will feature rules for legendary weapons. Are these meant to be only for mythic characters or will there be the option to have these weapons as a non-mythic option?
A non-mythic character can use them to a certain extent, but they're really meant for mythic characters, since they require mythic path abilities to enhance and grow in power. Of course, a GM could fake that for a non mythic character.
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Creative Director
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Mr. James Jacobs,
What real language did the language Jatambe spoke or wrote his magic in sound like? Also, what real world language Atzlanti sound like?
Azlanti is a fantasy language, so it's not really possible to say what real-world one it sounded like. I've always kinda imagined it to sound something like a combination between Latin and Japanese, myself.
As for Jatembe, he used the same language to cast spells and write magic that everyone does in modern Golarion. Which sounds like nonsense words that probably have a singsong/chanty vibe to them.
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Creative Director
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James,
I understand that the best attempt at balance was made when picking the six mythic paths (and I'm very glad it's 6 rather than 4, like the "traditional 4 classes"), but do you think that will cover every type of character? Are there plans for more mythic paths for more unusual character types, or is 6 all there will be? If you introduce new base classes, like a swashbuckling combatant, psychic mage or a monk-like psychic partial caster, would new mythic paths be likely or necessary for them, or would the existing ones work?
Monks and Alchemists are probably the two base classes I'm most concerned about fitting in to the existing mythic paths. Do you think there are any that would work well for them?
And actually, is the expectation for mythic paths that they are mostly predictable by class, or that there are a few a given class could choose from, or that any class should be able to take almost any path?
The current game doesn't cover "every type of character" since that's an infinite variable. Mythic Adventures won't either, but assuming it's popular, we'll continue to provide more rules options for mythic characters in the future.
Monks and Alchemists fit fine into the final rules.
And new base classes should fit pretty well also.
By associating the 6 mythic paths with the 6 ability scores, we pretty much build in support for ANY new class we come up with in the future. And if there's new classes that need extra support... we can publish more as needed.
Mr. James Jacobs,
What real language did the language Jatambe spoke or wrote his magic in sound like? Also, what real world language Atzlanti sound like?
Azlanti is a fantasy language, so it's not really possible to say what real-world one it sounded like. I've always kinda imagined it to sound something like a combination between Latin and Japanese, myself.
As for Jatembe, he used the same language to cast spells and write magic that everyone does in modern Golarion. Which sounds like nonsense words that probably have a singsong/chanty vibe to them.
Latin and Japanese? Well that does sound tricksy doesn't it?
Would I be correct in thinking Jatambe's everyday speaking language sounded like one of the real world's African languages? If so which one would you think?
I ask all this because I am trying to a name a base class i'm working on and I am having trouble.
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Absolutely. ANY world has stories that don't make sense in them. That said, a story about an epic war can ABSOLUTELY take place on Golarion, even if we don't have robust mass combat rules yet. And who says the gods aren't at times petty? Certainly, if something is wrong, the gods wouldn't necessarily intervene. For example, in Qadira, a large number of Sarenrae's worshipers are fundamentally getting it wrong and being far more warlike than she would...Would you say it's true that there are certain kinds of stories Golarion simply isn't built to contain? I think of something like the Trojan War, certainly an epic tale, but one that would be difficult to reproduce on Golarion. The gods likely wouldn't be petty enough to goad mortals into a decade-long war that results in the flower of the lands' youth perishing, snuffing out one of the greatest cities in the world and ending an age of heroes, over a single woman being used as a bribe to the judge of a divine beauty contest, started because one goddess got angry that she wasn't invited to a wedding. Gods like Shelyn, Iomedae or Sarenrae would likely be the FIRST to say "something like this is wrong."
Would you say that playing a Greek tragedy in Golarion doesn't exactly work? A campaign where heroes soar to great heights and ultimately lose everything from their inherently flawed nature, the justice the gods provide is not good or noble, but merely an assertion of their power over mortals' lives and demands of their behavior, even though they themselves are egocentric beings that treat mortals as expendable pawns in their petty games of one-upmanship and revenge for everything from percieved slights (Athena's treatment of Arachne, Apollo and Artemis' cruel slaying of Niobe's children, etc.) to genuine grievances that can't actually be rectified (Hera's continual harassment of Zeus' lovers and children because she can't take justice from Zeus himself, and Poseidon's revenge against Odysseus for the blinding of Polyphemus)?
That's a very concise and reasonable answer. Thank you. Epic wars ARE a part of Pathfinder (hell, Wrath of the Righteous will be centering on one). When I say petty, I guess I just can't imagine some of Golarion's gods causing a decade-long war over the outcome of a beauty contest. I imagine most of them would automatically say "Shelyn wins" and gods like Iomedae, Sarenrae or Desna would be gracious losers (and it's not like any of the deities rely on physical beauty as a determinant of status among them, or any determinant of status for that matter, each has their own sphere of influence and there's no rank or hierarchy, official or unofficial). Now you've intrigued me...how can gods like Iomedae or Sarenrae be petty?
These warmongering Sarenites aren't actual spellcasting clerics, are they?
I gotta agree with you on the human nature bit. My GM once had three supremely powerful angels personally resurrect my paladin so he didn't have to lose a level from dying. He needed to hit 16th level in order to open the magic reliquary he had, and the way levelling worked in the campaign (you levelled up at the end of each session, so if you died and were rezzed by any spell that didn't remove the negative level, or you missed a session, you missed out), it was looking like he wouldn't open the reliquary before the campaign was over. The GM took pity on me and I just managed to open it before I had to leave the group (had to go home from school). It probably would have been super-dramatic for that paladin to fail in opening the relic, showing that sometimes even when the hopes and dreams of the world fall on your shoulders you can't rise to meet them due to your own limitations. But instead, the GM took pity on me and provided a deus-ex-machina to satisfy me. Sometimes drama must be sacrificed for fun, I guess, huh?
Do gold teeth exist in Golarion? And would dwarves be likely to wear them if they do?
Mythic Adventures will feature rules for legendary weapons. Are these meant to be only for mythic characters or will there be the option to have these weapons as a non-mythic option?A non-mythic character can use them to a certain extent, but they're really meant for mythic characters, since they require mythic path abilities to enhance and grow in power. Of course, a GM could fake that for a non mythic character.
Darn. I was hoping to have standard rules for this in PF ever since first reading about the Moldspeaker in LoF. Oh, well.
Mr. James Jacobs,
What real language did the language Jatambe spoke or wrote his magic in sound like? Also, what real world language Atzlanti sound like?
Azlanti is a fantasy language, so it's not really possible to say what real-world one it sounded like. I've always kinda imagined it to sound something like a combination between Latin and Japanese, myself.
As for Jatembe, he used the same language to cast spells and write magic that everyone does in modern Golarion. Which sounds like nonsense words that probably have a singsong/chanty vibe to them.
I was expecting "Azlanti sounds like the language of Atlantis". Too easy?
By associating the 6 mythic paths with the 6 ability scores, we pretty much build in support for ANY new class we come up with in the future. And if there's new classes that need extra support... we can publish more as needed.
Whoa!
Back up, Mr. Dinosaur! When did this change? In the pretest, the tiers could be summed up as things like, "Obvious route for Divine Spellcasters, Obvious route for Bards, etc."
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Creative Director
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Mr. James Jacobs,
What real language did the language Jatambe spoke or wrote his magic in sound like? Also, what real world language Atzlanti sound like?
Azlanti is a fantasy language, so it's not really possible to say what real-world one it sounded like. I've always kinda imagined it to sound something like a combination between Latin and Japanese, myself.
As for Jatembe, he used the same language to cast spells and write magic that everyone does in modern Golarion. Which sounds like nonsense words that probably have a singsong/chanty vibe to them.
Latin and Japanese? Well that does sound tricksy doesn't it?
Would I be correct in thinking Jatambe's everyday speaking language sounded like one of the real world's African languages? If so which one would you think?
I ask all this because I am trying to a name a base class i'm working on and I am having trouble.
It does sound tricksy... which is kinda the point. Further... I have no training in linguistics and really only speak English plus a smattering of French and Spanish, so I'm hardly the expert on what fantasy foreign languages sound like. If a mix of Latin & Japanese doesn't work for you... change it. It's unlikely to be something we'll decide on ever unless we do a Pathfinder movie that involves Azlant or something like that.
And yes... looking to African languages for Garrundi stuff is a good start.
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Creative Director
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That's a very concise and reasonable answer. Thank you. Epic wars ARE a part of Pathfinder (hell, Wrath of the Righteous will be centering on one). When I say petty, I guess I just can't imagine some of Golarion's gods causing a decade-long war over the outcome of a beauty contest. I imagine most of them would automatically say "Shelyn wins" and gods like Iomedae, Sarenrae or Desna would be gracious losers (and it's not like any of the deities rely on physical beauty as a determinant of status among them, or any determinant of status for that matter, each has their own sphere of influence and there's no rank or hierarchy, official or unofficial). Now you've intrigued me...how can gods like Iomedae or Sarenrae be petty?
These warmongering Sarenites aren't actual spellcasting clerics, are they?
I gotta agree with you on the human nature bit. My GM once had three supremely powerful angels personally resurrect my paladin so he didn't have to lose a level from dying. He needed to hit 16th level in order to open the magic reliquary he had, and the way levelling worked in the campaign (you levelled up at the end of each session, so if you died and were rezzed by any spell that didn't remove the negative level, or you missed a session, you missed out), it was looking like he wouldn't open the reliquary before the campaign was over. The GM took pity on me and I just managed to open it before I had to leave the group (had to go home from school). It probably would have been super-dramatic for that paladin to fail in opening the relic, showing that sometimes even when the hopes and dreams of the world fall on your shoulders you can't rise to meet them due to your own limitations. But instead, the GM took pity on me and provided a deus-ex-machina to satisfy me. Sometimes drama must be sacrificed for fun, I guess, huh?
Some gods have greater capacity for different faults than others, but ALL of them have faults.
Iomedae can be petty when it comes to not getting her way, for example. She's one of the youngest deities, her mentor died, and she's not had as much time to mature and thus might act petty when things go bad.
Sarenrae is much older and more experienced, and she's got a much more "zen" like attitude, but her capacity to allow for forgiveness and redemption is part of the reason she's allowed the schisim in her church to go on for so long—she hopes her faithful will fix itself and redeem itself, but in the meantime, the Qadiran warmongers are perpetuating hostilities and causing continued pain and suffering as a result.
Desna, to take a 3rd example, is an even OLDER god, but she tends to act on her emotions and often doesn't think through the repercussions of her actions. Her curiosity is what released the parasite god Ghlaunder into the world, and she nearly caused the demon lords of the Abyss to unite in a coordinated attack when she crusaded on her own into the Abyss to assassinate a demon lord that wronged her.
The warmongering Sarenites are clerics, yes. They cast spells and are following the teachings of her faith—except that they're pretty lax on the redemption/forgiveness part.
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Creative Director
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Do gold teeth exist in Golarion? And would dwarves be likely to wear them if they do?
Yes. We've had NPCs with gold teeth, in fact. One of whom was actually NAMED Goldtooth. Dwarves wouldn't mind gold teeth, I suspect, although the one named Goldtooth was, if I remember correctly, a half-orc.
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Creative Director
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A quick follow-up question on mythic items and non-mythic characters, if you're allowed to answer. Will the Mythic Adventures book include artifact-level items that become more powerful via applications of mythic power in similar fashion to other mythic items? Will the artifacts be even more rare/powerful/whatever as a result, since mythic is already "special" (and so artifacts and mythic together would be ultra-special)?
That's basically what the legendary items are—weapons that grow more powerful with you as you gain power and that eventually become artifacts.
But there remain artifacts that do things even beyond what mythic characters can create or do.
Mythic stretches/expands the rules. Artifacts still break them.
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Creative Director
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Darn. I was hoping to have standard rules for this in PF ever since first reading about the Moldspeaker in LoF. Oh, well.Mythic Adventures will feature rules for legendary weapons. Are these meant to be only for mythic characters or will there be the option to have these weapons as a non-mythic option?A non-mythic character can use them to a certain extent, but they're really meant for mythic characters, since they require mythic path abilities to enhance and grow in power. Of course, a GM could fake that for a non mythic character.
There's something very similar to the Moldspeaker in Wrath of the Righteous. But at this point, the bulk of these types of items are indeed things we've done in the context of a campaign and not so much things we've presented in a hardcover rulebook.
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Creative Director
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Mr. James Jacobs,
What real language did the language Jatambe spoke or wrote his magic in sound like? Also, what real world language Atzlanti sound like?
Azlanti is a fantasy language, so it's not really possible to say what real-world one it sounded like. I've always kinda imagined it to sound something like a combination between Latin and Japanese, myself.
As for Jatembe, he used the same language to cast spells and write magic that everyone does in modern Golarion. Which sounds like nonsense words that probably have a singsong/chanty vibe to them.
I was expecting "Azlanti sounds like the language of Atlantis". Too easy?
I've actually used that answer many times before, but I had a feeling that the person asking that question wasn't going to take that as a "real" answer.
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Creative Director
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By associating the 6 mythic paths with the 6 ability scores, we pretty much build in support for ANY new class we come up with in the future. And if there's new classes that need extra support... we can publish more as needed.Whoa!
Back up, Mr. Dinosaur! When did this change? In the pretest, the tiers could be summed up as things like, "Obvious route for Divine Spellcasters, Obvious route for Bards, etc."
This has ALWAYS been the case. There are certainly obvious routes for some classes... but the 6 paths were always modeled on the 6 ability scores. I really REALLY wish Jason had agreed to be more obvious about that in the playtest, since for me it took me from being doubtful that the six paths he chose were right to KNOWING they were right.
Also, keep in mind that what we showed in the playtest was a fraction of the final product. Each of the paths has had their abilities quite expanded, so that what may have been a "Path only really useful for wizards" in the playtest is now STILL useful for wizards, but also a good choice for anyone who wants to do archmagy stuff.
I've actually used that answer many times before, but I had a feeling that the person asking that question wasn't going to take that as a "real" answer.Mr. James Jacobs,
What real language did the language Jatambe spoke or wrote his magic in sound like? Also, what real world language Atzlanti sound like?
Azlanti is a fantasy language, so it's not really possible to say what real-world one it sounded like. I've always kinda imagined it to sound something like a combination between Latin and Japanese, myself.
As for Jatembe, he used the same language to cast spells and write magic that everyone does in modern Golarion. Which sounds like nonsense words that probably have a singsong/chanty vibe to them.
I was expecting "Azlanti sounds like the language of Atlantis". Too easy?
Really I would have been more like "Ha" *shakes head*
So, looking at an old chat-log I came across this:
James Jacobs: "Pharasma! She's actually got a HUGE pile of backstory from my campaign world that may or may not make the transition to Golarion. Enough to fuel at least one Adventure Path. So I'm saving her for later."
Is the bolded part still something that could happen?
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Creative Director
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So, looking at an old chat-log I came across this:
James Jacobs: "Pharasma! She's actually got a HUGE pile of backstory from my campaign world that may or may not make the transition to Golarion. Enough to fuel at least one Adventure Path. So I'm saving her for later."Is the bolded part still something that could happen?
Absolutely. Why couldn't it happen?
Doesn't mean it will, of course; I've got dozens of adventure paths I wanna do.
James,
As outsiders do not have a dual nature, what happens to their bodies if they cast Magic Jar or Marionette Possession. What happens if they have Magic Jar cast on them. And is this the same for outsiders with the native subtype?
-Michael Cullen
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Creative Director
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James,
As outsiders do not have a dual nature, what happens to their bodies if they cast Magic Jar or Marionette Possession. What happens if they have Magic Jar cast on them. And is this the same for outsiders with the native subtype?
-Michael Cullen
Although outsiders have no dual natured souls/bodies, this doesn't mean that they vanish if they do something like magic jar. The effects of such spells and effects work the same regardless of whether the caster's soul and body are separate or not.
Feel free to add in some weird side-effects though; maybe an outsider whose soul leaves to magic jar something suddenly becomes washed out in coloration, or maybe they shrink and wither and atrophy as if mummified.
Nice flavor. I will definitely use that. One more question for now. Can an attack of opportunity provoke an attack of opportunity? Or does this violate the one attack of opportunity per action rule?
James,
As outsiders do not have a dual nature, what happens to their bodies if they cast Magic Jar or Marionette Possession. What happens if they have Magic Jar cast on them. And is this the same for outsiders with the native subtype?
-Michael CullenAlthough outsiders have no dual natured souls/bodies, this doesn't mean that they vanish if they do something like magic jar. The effects of such spells and effects work the same regardless of whether the caster's soul and body are separate or not.
Feel free to add in some weird side-effects though; maybe an outsider whose soul leaves to magic jar something suddenly becomes washed out in coloration, or maybe they shrink and wither and atrophy as if mummified.
Going from this, how are shadow demons able to possess creatures with magic jar if they'd leave their body behind?
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Creative Director
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Going from this, how are shadow demons able to possess creatures with magic jar if they'd leave their body behind?James,
As outsiders do not have a dual nature, what happens to their bodies if they cast Magic Jar or Marionette Possession. What happens if they have Magic Jar cast on them. And is this the same for outsiders with the native subtype?
-Michael CullenAlthough outsiders have no dual natured souls/bodies, this doesn't mean that they vanish if they do something like magic jar. The effects of such spells and effects work the same regardless of whether the caster's soul and body are separate or not.
Feel free to add in some weird side-effects though; maybe an outsider whose soul leaves to magic jar something suddenly becomes washed out in coloration, or maybe they shrink and wither and atrophy as if mummified.
Shadow demons have no body to leave behind; when they possess a creature via magic jar, their whole body moves into the host and merges with it.
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Creative Director
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Nice flavor. I will definitely use that. One more question for now. Can an attack of opportunity provoke an attack of opportunity? Or does this violate the one attack of opportunity per action rule?
As far as I know, an attack of opportunity can indeed provoke... although since in most cases what you can do with an attack of opportunity doesn't provoke, it's not gonna come into play that often.
Nice flavor. I will definitely use that. One more question for now. Can an attack of opportunity provoke an attack of opportunity? Or does this violate the one attack of opportunity per action rule?As far as I know, an attack of opportunity can indeed provoke... although since in most cases what you can do with an attack of opportunity doesn't provoke, it's not gonna come into play that often.
Put two Come and Get Me Barbarians in a fight together. Death quickly follows.
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Creative Director
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Put two Come and Get Me Barbarians in a fight together. Death quickly follows.Nice flavor. I will definitely use that. One more question for now. Can an attack of opportunity provoke an attack of opportunity? Or does this violate the one attack of opportunity per action rule?As far as I know, an attack of opportunity can indeed provoke... although since in most cases what you can do with an attack of opportunity doesn't provoke, it's not gonna come into play that often.
Especially if they're fighting each other.
Do gold teeth exist in Golarion? And would dwarves be likely to wear them if they do?Yes. We've had NPCs with gold teeth, in fact. One of whom was actually NAMED Goldtooth. Dwarves wouldn't mind gold teeth, I suspect, although the one named Goldtooth was, if I remember correctly, a half-orc.
Thanks for the response!
(Somehow, I suspected that they would show up in Skulls & Shackles, if anywhere.)
Also, keep in mind that what we showed in the playtest was a fraction of the final product. Each of the paths has had their abilities quite expanded, so that what may have been a "Path only really useful for wizards" in the playtest is now STILL useful for wizards, but also a good choice for anyone who wants to do archmagy stuff.
If the concept is that the Intelligence Path HAS to be archmagey, then I'm still worried for the Tiers. Even in the Core Rules there are plenty of ways to make a character who uses her Intelligence in combat without being a spellcaster.
For example, I play a martial character who is completely Charisma focused and has no spellcasting ability. Is the "Charisma" path going to work for me, or am I going to find it undesirable because I'm not a Sorcerer / Oracle?
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So I was considering trying a Sorcerer/Oracle Mystic Theurge out... and realized that the combined spells ability is worded in a way that seems to hate a dual spontaneous caster. I was wondering if that ability, since written before there were any spontaneous divine casters (Oracle and Inquisitor), ever got errata or if that combination just does not get to use that ability at all.
Also, keep in mind that what we showed in the playtest was a fraction of the final product. Each of the paths has had their abilities quite expanded, so that what may have been a "Path only really useful for wizards" in the playtest is now STILL useful for wizards, but also a good choice for anyone who wants to do archmagy stuff.If the concept is that the Intelligence Path HAS to be archmagey, then I'm still worried for the Tiers. Even in the Core Rules there are plenty of ways to make a character who uses her Intelligence in combat without being a spellcaster.
For example, I play a martial character who is completely Charisma focused and has no spellcasting ability. Is the "Charisma" path going to work for me, or am I going to find it undesirable because I'm not a Sorcerer / Oracle?
Based off what we saw in the playtest, while there was some crossover with the ability scores, the paths were geared more towards certain roles.
There was a Dex/Skill path, Arcane path, Martial path, Divine path, Leader/Buffer path, and Tank/Pet path. While all of the Paths paid some homage to an ability score, it wasn't necessary to have a focus in that sore to take it.
The Arcane path, for instance, while influenced by Intelligence/Wizards, is a viable path for Bards, Wizards, Sorcerers, Magus' and Witches.
The Leader/Buffer Path, while influenced by Charisma, isn't just a Bard path, it can be used by anyone who bolsters their allies or uses Charisma. So that could be Rogues, Fighters, Paladins, Clerics, Oracles, Sorcerers etc.
There was a lot of crossover between the paths, because no one character has only 1 single purpose. Each character should have their strengths and weaknesses, but that means they can also fill different roles. Wizards aren't just control/debuff or nukers, they can also be knowledge, craft, leader, etc.
Also, unless they removed it, you could also Dual path. So a Fighter could take the Martial and Leader paths, choosing between the two abilities, dabbling in both. This lends better to some character over others, but that's the nature of the game.
I'm sure they kept the dual path for magi and bards and inquisitors and paladins, so that they can combine magic and martial together. I personally want to play a fighter going into archmage :)
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Creative Director
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Also, keep in mind that what we showed in the playtest was a fraction of the final product. Each of the paths has had their abilities quite expanded, so that what may have been a "Path only really useful for wizards" in the playtest is now STILL useful for wizards, but also a good choice for anyone who wants to do archmagy stuff.If the concept is that the Intelligence Path HAS to be archmagey, then I'm still worried for the Tiers. Even in the Core Rules there are plenty of ways to make a character who uses her Intelligence in combat without being a spellcaster.
For example, I play a martial character who is completely Charisma focused and has no spellcasting ability. Is the "Charisma" path going to work for me, or am I going to find it undesirable because I'm not a Sorcerer / Oracle?
The Archmage path works fine for non-intelligence using casters like bards and sorcerers. Note that while the paths are themed along the abiltiy scores, they do not require those ability scores in order to function well.
Likewise, a "Charisma" path is not "The Charisma spellcaster's path." It's the Marshal path, and it works great for characters who like to bolster allies or serve in leadership type positions, be they bards or paladins or cavaliers or whatever.
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Creative Director
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So I was considering trying a Sorcerer/Oracle Mystic Theurge out... and realized that the combined spells ability is worded in a way that seems to hate a dual spontaneous caster. I was wondering if that ability, since written before there were any spontaneous divine casters (Oracle and Inquisitor), ever got errata or if that combination just does not get to use that ability at all.
As far as I know it's not been given errata, but not every class is designed to be the perfect choice for every combination.
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That's a very concise and reasonable answer. Thank you. Epic wars ARE a part of Pathfinder (hell, Wrath of the Righteous will be centering on one). When I say petty, I guess I just can't imagine some of Golarion's gods causing a decade-long war over the outcome of a beauty contest. I imagine most of them would automatically say "Shelyn wins" and gods like Iomedae, Sarenrae or Desna would be gracious losers (and it's not like any of the deities rely on physical beauty as a determinant of status among them, or any determinant of status for that matter, each has their own sphere of influence and there's no rank or hierarchy, official or unofficial). Now you've intrigued me...how can gods like Iomedae or Sarenrae be petty?
These warmongering Sarenites aren't actual spellcasting clerics, are they?
I gotta agree with you on the human nature bit. My GM once had three supremely powerful angels personally resurrect my paladin so he didn't have to lose a level from dying. He needed to hit 16th level in order to open the magic reliquary he had, and the way levelling worked in the campaign (you levelled up at the end of each session, so if you died and were rezzed by any spell that didn't remove the negative level, or you missed a session, you missed out), it was looking like he wouldn't open the reliquary before the campaign was over. The GM took pity on me and I just managed to open it before I had to leave the group (had to go home from school). It probably would have been super-dramatic for that paladin to fail in opening the relic, showing that sometimes even when the hopes and dreams of the world fall on your shoulders you can't rise to meet them due to your own limitations. But instead, the GM took pity on me and provided a deus-ex-machina to satisfy me. Sometimes drama must be sacrificed for fun, I guess, huh?
Some gods have greater capacity for different faults than others, but ALL of them have faults.
Iomedae can be petty when it comes to not getting her way, for...
Wow. I never quite imagined the gods of good that way. MUST! MAKE! CHARACTERS! BASED! ON! THESE!!!! :D
Though I am a bit puzzled as to why Sarenrae would allow clerics that actively cause suffering through their warmongering to continue gaining spells. I always thought if a cleric stepped out of line like that, their deity would automatically revoke their powers, much like how a paladin falls. You'd think a few dozen clerics spontaneously having their gifts denied because of their behavior would cause her faithful to get the message.
Do gold teeth exist in Golarion? And would dwarves be likely to wear them if they do?Yes. We've had NPCs with gold teeth, in fact. One of whom was actually NAMED Goldtooth. Dwarves wouldn't mind gold teeth, I suspect, although the one named Goldtooth was, if I remember correctly, a half-orc.
I believe one of the NPC's in Haldren in Snows of Summer is a dwarf with a face full of gold teeth.
Is it possible for everyone at Paizo that participated in the Reaper KS to pool their minis together on a big table (or something) and take a picture of it?
If it is possible, will you guys do it?
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About the upcoming Osirion AP (still more than 6 months away, I know) - are we to expect it to actually be an "osirion" AP, or is it about a more focused theme? I'm asking because with Reign of Winter, for example, people seemed to expect a "Irrisen AP", and they got really disappointed that most of the focus wasn't on Irrisen or Queen Elvanna.
So is the AP about roaming Osirion and finsing adventure there, or about another thing completely (mummies, obviously) that just happens to be tied to osirion? as a reference point, I would consider "Shattered Star" to be a Varisia AP, while Curse of the Crimson Throne is not a Varisia AP, it's a Korvosa AP.
Another related question: will the AP feature a lot of travel, visiting many of the adventure locations in Osirion, or be more grounded?
As a more general question, do you think "country X AP" is a good way to design an AP? Carrion Crown is maybe the best example here. While it's considerd very good, the fact that it's a greedy, "grab-'em-all" story that aimed to showcase as much of Ustalav really hurt it. The most common complaint about the AP is that it feels disjointed - it's an Ustalav AP, while people seemed to want a "Whispering way" AP.
How much thought is given to the subject? Are Paizo more inclined to base APs on showcasing part of the Golarion world map, or about stories with countries as backdrops?
So, I've been asking myself this since I got the core rulebook years ago: What the heck is up with Seoni's knee (in Wayne Reynolds iconic representation of her on the Sorcerer class page)? Did she get a burned one time there and her skin lost her pigmentation?
As a more general question, do you think "country X AP" is a good way to design an AP? Carrion Crown is maybe the best example here. While it's considerd very good, the fact that it's a greedy, "grab-'em-all" story that aimed to showcase as much of Ustalav really hurt it. The most common complaint about the AP is that it feels disjointed - it's an Ustalav AP, while people seemed to want a "Whispering way" AP.
How much thought is given to the subject? Are Paizo more inclined to base APs on showcasing part of the Golarion world map, or about stories with countries as backdrops?
One of the things that I'm learning as I GM my homebrew for my players is that fixating on a single bad guy is a bad idea. You run two risks. The first risk is that despite repeated encounters with the villain, the villain's plans always come to fruition despite the best efforts of the PCs. Most players become disheartened by this and will lose the motivation to even chase your bad guy in the first place because they never score significant victories. The second risk is quite the opposite, that you run the risk of your villain's plans always failing and your players perceive him as a joke. In both scenarios, you've removed the threat from your villain because the players feel like they already know the outcome of your adventure.
To this end, having multiple villains with different, sometimes intersecting goals is key. Players need victories in order to motivate them to keep playing with you. This is why the Whispering Way is talked of in the Haunting of Harrowstone but never actually encountered.
