Some new questions, and some old ones from my backlog that had low priority.
1. Do you think the early authors made Sarenrae seem more militant than she is due to Islamophobia?
2. Is Arshea going to be in Bestiary 4?
3. Since soldiers in formation are well within 30' feet of each other, would spells like mass suggestion or weird work on armies?
4. Given that they can be destroyed and can't be replaced for a week, are bonded objects a bad idea for wizards? Also, what's the break DC for a quarterstaff?
5. Can mending fix a wizard's bonded object if it's destroyed (say, snapped in half)?
6. When a headband of vast intelligence and similar items grants ranks in a skill the wearer already possesses, where do the skill points go instead?
7. Regarding relationships in Jade Regent, most of the insults range from mean stupidity to outright bigotry. Would any player really role-play such behavior?
8. Would mending or make whole work on the sort of about-to-crumble or ripped-up books PCs are prone to find?
9. What can a do-gooder in Cheliax get away with before the law comes down?
10. How much do you know about Buddhism? Who's the person in Paizo to ask about it?
Creative Director
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What creatures and demons would you associate with Nurgal in terms of summoning? I'm working on a special summoning list for him in my home games and I'm wondering what you feel would fit besides Brimoraks and fiendish fire elementals.
According to page 22 of Lords of Chaos, his minions include desert-dwelling creatures, lions and leonine creatuers (such as chimeras and manticores), but any chaotic evil fire-related outsider would make sense as well, with the exception of salamanders, I guess.
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Creative Director
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Some new questions, and some old ones from my backlog that had low priority.
1. Do you think the early authors made Sarenrae seem more militant than she is due to Islamophobia?
2. Is Arshea going to be in Bestiary 4?
3. Since soldiers in formation are well within 30' feet of each other, would spells like mass suggestion or weird work on armies?
4. Given that they can be destroyed and can't be replaced for a week, are bonded objects a bad idea for wizards? Also, what's the break DC for a quarterstaff?
5. Can mending fix a wizard's bonded object if it's destroyed (say, snapped in half)?
6. When a headband of vast intelligence and similar items grants ranks in a skill the wearer already possesses, where do the skill points go instead?
7. Regarding relationships in Jade Regent, most of the insults range from mean stupidity to outright bigotry. Would any player really role-play such behavior?
8. Would mending or make whole work on the sort of about-to-crumble or ripped-up books PCs are prone to find?
9. What can a do-gooder in Cheliax get away with before the law comes down?
10. How much do you know about Buddhism? Who's the person in Paizo to ask about it?
1) Sarenrae's one of the deities from my homebrew world, and I tried to guide her development in the game, but for whatever reason, Josh Frost (I believe it was him) decided to make her religion more militant in Qadira and Taldor than I'd ever really envisioned it. I'm not sure why he did that, but I do wish I'd been able to supervise the development and design of the things he'd worked on more closely so as to prevent that misunderstanding of what she is from getting into print. The end result is not a disaster, and it makes for some interesting variation to her faith, I suppose, but as folks have seen here and elsewhere it can confuse people.
2) No.
3) Depends entirely on how the rules for armies work.
4) They're no more a bad idea than familiars, which can be killed. And a GM should resist the urge to single out bonded objects and familiars. Save that tactic for one or two really bad bad guys. A quarterstaff counts as a hafted weapon for the purposes of break DCs.
5) No. You need make whole for that.
6) In this case, the item's granted skill ranks are basically wasted. They don't "reassign."
7) Yes. Be it on purpose or out of ignorance/accident, yes.
8) That's up to the GM, as to whether or not he wants the PCs to gain the books' information and/or wants to reward the spellcaster who has make whole or mending handy.
9) As much as the GM wants to let them get away with for the purposes of the story. If he's running a rebellion-themed game and the conflict between PCs and the government is a big part of the story, then not much. If the GM wants to focus on a story that doesn't really involve the government's stance on good or chaotic acts, then quite a lot... although in that case, it begs the question, "Why set that particular game in Cheliax?"
10) Not much. My guess on the expert at Paizo would be Pierce Waters.
How does Lisa feel about John Willams returning to Star Wars?
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Regarding Jade Regent, does Ameiko...
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Creative Director
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How does Lisa feel about John Willams returning to Star Wars?
That's an excellent question... for Lisa!
If I had to guess, I would say she is delighted.
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Creative Director
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Regarding Jade Regent, does Ameiko...
** spoiler omitted **
I would say...
Is there going to be any information detailing the demographics of Golarion? Such how common characters of various levels are. What sort of class distribution? I realize that it would very much very by region but it would be nice to have demographic information of even specific regions.
I ask because I was just reading medieval warfare magic and it would be nice to have a discussion where all the numbers aren't just pulled out of thin air. Or at least the numbers pulled out of thin air are standardized.
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James, I have a few questions about Invisible Stalkers and how spells and such work on them.
1) Does Glitterdust work on them?
2) Faerie Fire?
3)Could you throw something like paint on them if you pin point the square they are in?
The AoW campaign I run are about to have the players discover some and after seeing how annoying they were to lvl 13 characters in the game I play in, I am somewhat concerned I will TPK the lvl 7 peeps who will find them.
Thanks!
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Creative Director
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Is there going to be any information detailing the demographics of Golarion? Such how common characters of various levels are. What sort of class distribution? I realize that it would very much very by region but it would be nice to have demographic information of even specific regions.
I ask because I was just reading medieval warfare magic and it would be nice to have a discussion where all the numbers aren't just pulled out of thin air. Or at least the numbers pulled out of thin air are standardized.
Yes. We're doing the demographics of Golarion in a tiny little one place at a time format by including demographics in adventures or other places where we detail cities and locations. This way we can decide on the information as best fits the need of a specific adventure. Spelling it out all in advance limits our storytelling options.
And keep in mind that Golarion is based in part on Medieval history, but also as much, if not more so, on the ancient world, the modern world, and dozens of eras in between. Simply comparing Golarion to real-world medieval numbers is as inaccurate as comparing them to modern numbers.
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Creative Director
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James, I have a few questions about Invisible Stalkers and how spells and such work on them.
1) Does Glitterdust work on them?
2) Faerie Fire?
3)Could you throw something like paint on them if you pin point the square they are in?
The AoW campaign I run are about to have the players discover some and after seeing how annoying they were to lvl 13 characters in the game I play in, I am somewhat concerned I will TPK the lvl 7 peeps who will find them.
Thanks!
1) Yes
2) Yes
3) Depends on the GM. I'd say no since once the paint's on them, its more or less a "held object" and thus becomes invisible.
As for your 7th level characters... this is one of the exact reason GMs are so important. Invisible stalkers have a very strong defense, and that defense is stronger against some parties of PCs, and indeed some PLAYERS, than it is others. If you know from the start that your players are often stymied by invisibility and you see invisible stalkers in an adventure then you know in advance you either have to reduce the number of invisible stalkers or just replace them.
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Dear James-
I understand that it has been some time since the Iconics of the AP's were stated up in the back of each AP. I do not read the AP's in case I am able to play in them but as I am looking through some of the Skull and Shackles AP's there seems to be Iconics throughout the entire line.
Are there no longer 4 consistent Iconics throughout the art and story of an AP arc?
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Creative Director
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Dear James-
I understand that it has been some time since the Iconics of the AP's were stated up in the back of each AP. I do not read the AP's in case I am able to play in them but as I am looking through some of the Skull and Shackles AP's there seems to be Iconics throughout the entire line.
Are there no longer 4 consistent Iconics throughout the art and story of an AP arc?
We still use the iconics as stand-ins for your PCs in the artwork we use to illustrate adventures. We generally pick 4 iconics for each Adventure Path, choosing ones whose role and appearance seem to make sense for the AP in question. For the pirate-themed Skull and Shackles AP, for example, Seelah the paladin would not make a good choice as one of the 4, but Merisiel the rogue surely does.
The iconics do not have any role whatsoever to play in the story of an AP, though. That's your characters' jobs!
James,
Call of the void, a spell from the dragon empires primer, mentions that an adjacent creature cannot cast spells with somatic components.
Due to the context of the spell (silence effect and etc), I am led to believe that the text should say verbal components.
What's your take on it?
Call the VoidSchool evocation; Level sorcerer/wizard 3, witch 3
CASTINGCasting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S
EFFECTRange personal
Target you
Duration 1 round/level (D)
Saving Throw Reflex for half; see text; Spell Resistance yes[This content was created by Paizo Publishing LLC for the Pathfinder rules but is not from the Pathfinder RPG product line.]
DESCRIPTIONThis spell surrounds you with an aura of nothingness that channels the mysterious energies of the Dark Tapestry.
Creatures adjacent to you when this spell is cast and at the start of your turn take 2d6 points of damage. In addition, creatures affected by your aura are fatigued, cannot breathe, and cannot speak or cast spells with somatic components. Creatures adjacent to you are allowed a Reflex save to halve the damage and negate the fatigue effect, but cannot breathe or speak regardless of whether their save is successful as long as they are adjacent to you.
Hi James,
I understand that the Lvl 1-15 format is preferred right now for the Adventure Paths, but I miss the nobody to titans striding the earth of The Rise of the Runelords, The Age of Worms or Savage Tide (1-20).
Are there any plans to have a Lvl 1-20 adventure path soon with a big bad final gatekeeper (like Treerazer)?
prototype00
I understand that the Lvl 1-15 format is preferred right now for the Adventure Paths, but I miss the nobody to titans striding the earth of The Rise of the Runelords, The Age of Worms or Savage Tide (1-20).
Runelords tops at level 16 or so...
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Hi James !
Got a quick question.
For the Spellslinger wizard archetype. Can he use any ranged touch attack spell with his Arcane Gun ? Or only rays ?
The ruling sentence says rays...but every thread I see that speaks of the Spellslinger infer any ranged touch attack, making a feat like Reach Spell a good option.
Which of those 2 applications is true ?
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Creative Director
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Hi James,
I understand that the Lvl 1-15 format is preferred right now for the Adventure Paths, but I miss the nobody to titans striding the earth of The Rise of the Runelords, The Age of Worms or Savage Tide (1-20).
Are there any plans to have a Lvl 1-20 adventure path soon with a big bad final gatekeeper (like Treerazer)?
prototype00
Runelords actually lets PCs hit 17th level, as does Shattered Star and a few others. Remember that the level you START the final adventure is never the level you END at.
That said, Wrath of the Righteous should be able to hit 20th level since the challenges PCs face (and thus the XP they earn) are higher than in a non-mythic game. The final boss of Wrath of the Righteous is going to be significantly tougher than Treerazer.
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Creative Director
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Hi James !
Got a quick question.
For the Spellslinger wizard archetype. Can he use any ranged touch attack spell with his Arcane Gun ? Or only rays ?
The ruling sentence says rays...but every thread I see that speaks of the Spellslinger infer any ranged touch attack, making a feat like Reach Spell a good option.
Which of those 2 applications is true ?
Dunno. I've not only not written or developed that archetype, but I've also never even read it. This is a better question, as a result, for the rules forums and a FAQ or two.
Hey James!
What is the most fun mythic character that you've played so far?
Hey James!
What is the most fun mythic character that you've played so far?
IANJ...but I would say all of his characters are mythic...I know all of my are. ;)
Hey James, now a question...
Which of the upcoming products not related to demons are you the most excited about? Which ones are you nervous about...as in you hope they will do good but are not sure how well they will do?
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Creative Director
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Which of the upcoming products not related to demons are you the most excited about? Which ones are you nervous about...as in you hope they will do good but are not sure how well they will do?
Mythic Adventures is the one I'm most nervous about, since if it flops, then the Adventure Path I've been working on for months and have been wanting to do for years and is the reason WHY Mythic Adventures was written will fail. I'm pretty sure folks will love Mythic Adventures, but an illogical and frightened part of me still worries.
As for the one I'm most excited about that's not related to demons at all? Hmmmmm... It's one we haven't yet announced, so I can't say.
How do Mythic Tiers work with the Wealth By Level guide? Does a level 2/Mythic Tier 1 character get the WBL of a 3rd level character?
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Creative Director
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How do Mythic Tiers work with the Wealth By Level guide? Does a level 2/Mythic Tier 1 character get the WBL of a 3rd level character?
Mythic tiers do not interact with the wealth by level at all. Only your actual character level determines where you land on the wealth by level. Therefore, by the rules, a 12th level character and a 12th level 10th tier character should have the same wealth.
That said... in the Wrath of the Righteous campaign, things are different. We're giving out a LOT of treasure in this adventure path, mostly because that's one way we're preparing the PCs for the significantly difficult encounters they'll be facing in the last half of the campaign.
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James, I understand if you don't want to answer this since it's about an upcoming product, but I'm terribly excited for Mythic Realms since I'll have stats for the Whispering Tyrant! I'm currently prepping a Carrion Crown game (which I was already prepping before this announcement) to which I'm now adding Mythic as well. Right now I'm thinking that saving Harrowstone will be the Mythic Ascension point for the characters, and am adding in Carrion Hill and the Legendary Games Adventure Path Plugins as well, but to properly prepare and make sure the characters will be able to take down the Tyrant when they get there I was hoping you could answer the following so I don't have to wait another month to do all my prep:
1) I don't need to know specifics right now, but what CR is Tar-Baphon?
2) I'm fairly certain I am going to have the lesser seals broken as well to make the end game more climatic, could you tell me where they are?
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Creative Director
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Have you seen Mark Rein-Hagen's (of Ars Magica and Vampire fame) TEDTalk on gaming? He covers various forms of gaming citing it as healthy development for children and adults. (He also makes the rather interesting statement that 70 percent of the population are gamers. (this includes non-RPGs).
What you may enjoy particularly is that the slide show ended with his young daughter clutching a Pathfinder Beginner Box.
I have not seen it, no. I do agree with him though.
And yay! Pathfinder inductee!
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Creative Director
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James, I understand if you don't want to answer this since it's about an upcoming product, but I'm terribly excited for Mythic Realms since I'll have stats for the Whispering Tyrant! I'm currently prepping a Carrion Crown game (which I was already prepping before this announcement) to which I'm now adding Mythic as well. Right now I'm thinking that saving Harrowstone will be the Mythic Ascension point for the characters, and am adding in Carrion Hill and the Legendary Games Adventure Path Plugins as well, but to properly prepare and make sure the characters will be able to take down the Tyrant when they get there I was hoping you could answer the following so I don't have to wait another month to do all my prep:
1) I don't need to know specifics right now, but what CR is Tar-Baphon?
2) I'm fairly certain I am going to have the lesser seals broken as well to make the end game more climatic, could you tell me where they are?
1) I don't recall, but I believe he's about CR 26–27 or thereabouts.
2) I don't believe we've yet revealed that information. Feel free to place those seals wherever works best for your game!
I actually haven't had a chance to play ANY mythic characters yet.Hey James!
What is the most fun mythic character that you've played so far?
Here's a related question. If you were going to play a mythic character, which of the paths would you most likely choose to play and why?
How do Mythic Tiers work with the Wealth By Level guide? Does a level 2/Mythic Tier 1 character get the WBL of a 3rd level character?Mythic tiers do not interact with the wealth by level at all. Only your actual character level determines where you land on the wealth by level. Therefore, by the rules, a 12th level character and a 12th level 10th tier character should have the same wealth.
That said... in the Wrath of the Righteous campaign, things are different. We're giving out a LOT of treasure in this adventure path, mostly because that's one way we're preparing the PCs for the significantly difficult encounters they'll be facing in the last half of the campaign.
Ok a follow up question. And mind you I usualy don't follow the WBL anyway but I am curious.
So what would the WBL for the Mythic tiers if you are using Mythic for Post twenty level play? A 20th character should not have the same wealth as a 20level/5MT character as they are adventuring to get those tiers above and beyond level 20.
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Creative Director
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Here's a related question. If you were going to play a mythic character, which of the paths would you most likely choose to play and why?I actually haven't had a chance to play ANY mythic characters yet.Hey James!
What is the most fun mythic character that you've played so far?
Probably Trickster, since lately I've enjoyed playing bards and rogues the most.
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Creative Director
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Ok a follow up question. And mind you I usualy don't follow the WBL anyway but I am curious.
So what would the WBL for the Mythic tiers if you are using Mythic for Post twenty level play? A 20th character should not have the same wealth as a 20level/5MT character as they are adventuring to get those tiers above and beyond level 20.
Alas... we don't support WBL beyond 20th level officially. There's a pattern to the math on how WBL is calculated, and Jason explained it to me once, but I forgot what it was. We DO list treasure values up to CR 30 in Mythic Adventures, so that might help decipher the WBL numbers... but still, a 20th level tier 10 character would have the same wealth as a 20th level character according to the base Mythic rules.
That may or may not sit well with folks, and if it doesn't, please feel free to hand out more treasure. That's what we're doing in Wrath of the Righteous, after all... although for different reasons.
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Creative Director
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It's my opinion that if the DM is ready for Mythic Play, he's ready to ditch the crutch that is the WBL table. At that point you should have the mastery of the game to equip players appropriately. Or configure the pc's without the mythic tiers calculated and then adjust as neeeded in play.
That said... it's my opinion that a good GM never doesn't need handy tables and advice to help his game be better than it might otherwise be on his own. I know that I really value things like the WBL tables for building balanced NPCs and as a starting point for PCs, even if I often end up not following WBL for PCs during the course of a campaign.
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Is the bonus granted by the creature special ability an untyped bonus?It is if we don't assign the bonus a type.
Sorry if that sounds flippant... but that's all I can really say in response since you're not citing a specific creature ability to reference.
Ohh crap sorry about that. I'm referring to the rage ability of the Dire Wolverine and the blood rage ability Dire badgers get.
It's my opinion that if the DM is ready for Mythic Play, he's ready to ditch the crutch that is the WBL table. At that point you should have the mastery of the game to equip players appropriately. Or configure the pc's without the mythic tiers calculated and then adjust as neeeded in play.That said... it's my opinion that a good GM never doesn't need handy tables and advice to help his game be better than it might otherwise be on his own. I know that I really value things like the WBL tables for building balanced NPCs and as a starting point for PCs, even if I often end up not following WBL for PCs during the course of a campaign.
I agree...I can figure the math...or as I always do just challenge the party that exists...not what the book says they should be. And hand out treasure accordingly.
My question was more just me being curtious about game design than anything else.
That being said not all GMs are created equaly. Some need the WBL as a guide...some even need to enforce it strictly keep the game with in their control.
Would Jason be a better person to ask?
Also on a slightly related topic...
One of the things people have asked for when the discussion of Epic play was discussed was a book to help run high(12 to 20 level) games. There does seem to people with that problem...is there any plans of such a book ( A Guide to High level Play) in the pipe...or even discussed?
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Creative Director
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Ohh crap sorry about that. I'm referring to the rage ability of the Dire Wolverine and the blood rage ability Dire badgers get.Is the bonus granted by the creature special ability an untyped bonus?It is if we don't assign the bonus a type.
Sorry if that sounds flippant... but that's all I can really say in response since you're not citing a specific creature ability to reference.
Yup; untyped.
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Creative Director
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I agree...I can figure the math...or as I always do just challenge the party that exists...not what the book says they should be. And hand out treasure accordingly.
My question was more just me being curtious about game design than anything else.
That being said not all GMs are created equaly. Some need the WBL as a guide...some even need to enforce it strictly keep the game with in their control.
Would Jason be a better person to ask?
Also on a slightly related topic...
One of the things people have asked for when the discussion of Epic play was discussed was a book to help run high(12 to 20 level) games. There does seem to people with that problem...is there any plans of such a book ( A Guide to High level Play) in the pipe...or even discussed?
I'm pretty much sure that Jason's response would be "Only your character level determines your WBL; mythic tier has no impact on WBL at all." So if you're going to run a post 20th-level game where characters level up by gaining tiers, then you'll either have to wing it or wait for the community to build the charts out if you don't want to do so... sorry!
I still would love to publish a "High Level Guidebook" or something like that, and have been trying to sell the design team and management on the idea for years... but so far, they've both been pretty uninterested, it seems, in the book. :(
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Creative Director
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Is Shamira at the point where she can grant spells to clerics/have Demoniacs/etc? Or is she not quite there yet? And if not, would an oracle still be able to have a sort of (semi)divine connection with her?
Yes. All nascent demon lords are at that point. Her domains and favored weapon and all that is listed on the inside back cover of Lords of Chaos.
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Creative Director
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Hi James. Some questions after browsing Chronicle of the Righteous and pondering demigods and other beings who grant divine spells.
1) Where it speaks about the Concordance, it mentions that Aroden's death shook the multiverse. Are you able to say if that was the particular manner of his death which did it, or was it something that would happen to any god who died? Ydersius, for example, if he was fully killed off.
2) Deities, by and large, have followers. Are there demigods or full gods out there who explicitly do not have any followers, for whatever reason? Such as refusing to accept them and "forging a path" with their divinity in completely different fashion to other deities (who have cults, churches, work through agents, provide spells, and so on). Their power isn't based on worship in Golarion, as I understand it, so it should be possible for them to simply not have any.
3) For example, back when Nethys was running around Ancient Osirion as (presumably) a demigod prior to his full ascension as a patron god, would he have already been venerated, or did that only come along later?
4) Lorthact can grant spells. How many people would you say he does this for, as an estimate? Does he do it at all? Can he actively choose to ignore that facet of his power/status?
5) Is it possible for somebody to ascend to godhood (demigod or full deity) without anybody knowing? Or is sudden awareness of a new god on the block kind of impossible to miss?
6) In a similar vein, is it possible for somebody to take the Test of the Starstone and pass while ensuring nobody realizes that you've passed? Invisibility when crossing the chasm, exiting the Cathedral at the dead of night so nobody sees you leave, that sort of thing. I mean, Norgorber was pretty stealthy about his ascension, but people do still know or quickly realized once he was a god. And Razmir built a cult around his claim of godhood when he hasn't passed.
1) I've got nothing more to say on that topic at this time.
2) Yes; deities who don't currently have followers are known as "forgotten deities." They might have worshipers eleswhere on other worlds, or they might be truly forgotten.
3) More details on that are likely coming soon as we head into the "Mummy's Mask" and other Osirion stuff at the end of the year/start of next year.
4) Not many. Probably not more than a few dozen or so; his cult is very small and highly localized at this point due to his exiled state. NOTE: I reserve the right to change that "Not many/dozens" answer if in the future I decide that there's a better story to tell about Lorthact.
5) Yes, it's possible.
6) It's possible, but unlikely. The thing is that once you're a deity, you should WANT to be worshiped. That's the whole point.
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With Mythic Adventures out, would it be possible to use the Mythic system to have an adventure path or a homebrew(ed) Golarion, where the end goal is to "balance the books" by killing the Evil Elemental Lords?
Would killing the Elemental Lords be even advisable from a Golarion lore perspective?
Or are they just way too powerful or world breaking to be killed?