Creative Director
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1) Perhaps obvious question. If Mhar shows up in my game and I have to put together a stat block, do you think the Bestiary 4 Old One stat blocks will serve as a good inspiration for putting his together? Or are they all so unique that you can't base one on another?
They should. All great old ones have shared traits and similarities, in the same way demon lords or angels or true dragons do.
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Mr. Jacobs,
Hi.
Secret Page spell.Can you use UMD (activate blindly) to determine the secret word?
I understand you can do it with a wand, scroll or other items that were created with a magic Item Creation Feat (ICF). But, if someone casted the spell on a simple love letter (for example) or on an item not created with ICF, would it be considered a magic item and UMD can be used.
I searched the message boards and Rules forum with no luck.
A secret page isn't technically a magic item—it's a spell effect. So I would say no.
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Ah, I always thought that since the body and the soul were one for outsiders, that if they got killed that was it for them unless someone used powerful magic to bring them back, unlike other creatures. Except native outsiders who are slightly funky for some reason.
And hippies, maybe...but hippies that smite evil! When evil presents itself for smiting.
1) How many people would recognize a drow for what it was, anyways? I seem to recall that elves try to do their best to keep the existence of drow hidden because they find them embarrassing?
2) Do elves have their biggest presence (on Golarion) in the Inner Sea, or are they in relatively similar numbers in most places as a core race?
3) Which are more numerous on Golarion, elves or gnomes? I know both are immigrants and to my knowledge there are still plenty back on where they originally came from, so I was wondering.
1) Depends. In Golarion, drow are regarded as myths and legends by the majority of surface folk, and one showing up on the surface would likely be regarded in the same way folks here on Earth would react to seeing Bigfoot or an alien. Shock, fear, surprise, curiosity, panic, and more. The Second Darkness Adventure Path is, among other things, the series of events that is intended to set up the reveal that drow are real in Golarion—once you assume the events of that AP take place, then the fact that drow are real spreads quickly.
2) Elves are most commonly found in Kyonin, but they show up in pretty much every region in the Inner Sea with enough frequency that they're not all that unusual to see anywhere.
3) Elves are more numerous than gnomes.
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I know, I know I'm kind of cherry-picking. The reason I ask is because I'm looking for a place for a mercenary kind of chraracter, a man that you can smell the alcohol, failed aspirations and spite emanating from, that doesn't necessarily come from one of the obvious places like Riddleport or the River Kingdoms.
Tell me more about Vyre, please. :)
There's something to be said for "the obvious places," frankly. They're obvious for a reason, and if you want others to react to your character less on a "Ooh, I don't know about the place you're from, tell me more!" and more of a "Oh, you're from there! Gotcha," then picking an obvious place is actually a good idea.
Sounds like Port Peril's the best choice for you.
And while I have a LOT to say about Vyre, I don't want to get into that rabbit hole yet—it's one of my pet cities that I've adopted, along with Kintargo, and I have eventual plans for both.
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1) Perhaps obvious question. If Mhar shows up in my game and I have to put together a stat block, do you think the Bestiary 4 Old One stat blocks will serve as a good inspiration for putting his together? Or are they all so unique that you can't base one on another?Unless your PC's are mythic godslayers, beings like Mhar are essentially GM Fiat encounters, which really don't need statting up at all.
I disagree.
Beings like Mhar are demigods, and are in the CR 26–CR 30 range, and thus CAN be represented by stats. They're not GM fiat encounters at all. You have rules to determine how swiftly they can cause a TPK.
Once you go beyond demigod level (which is where the Great Old Ones are at) and get into true deity level (where outer gods like Nyarlathotep and Yog-Sothoth are)... THEN you're basically in GM fiat territory.
But for the demigod level characters? I know I'm not the only one who enjoys writing and reading powerful stat blocks for things like that.
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& Would a mythic tiered Nymph be any trouble in a worldwound campaign just to keep players on their toes defense wise?
I'm not sure I understand the question...
Sarkoris had a LOT of fey in its day, and there are absolutely corrupted fey living there today. There's even a few places where non-corrupted fey manage to live on and fight the good fight. Those who do would invariably be powerful.
I ment as a misdirection & possible for example if players thought nymph was a succubus or something along that sorta route to add more difficulty if encounter goes south.
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If the APL of the party is 4 characters in the 7-11 range, it's hard to imagine a CR 26-30 encounter going any way other than what the CR 26-30 being wants it to go. You can certainly drag it out for the poor schmucks, but isn't such an encounter fairly foreordained in it's outcome?
Not to violate James's only questions policy, but since this was my question, the party would face Mhar as per the consequences laid out in the "continuing your campaign" section of Runelords. They would be five level 17-18 PCs with high ability scores, a wizard cohort, multiple artifacts, and access to several powerful NPC allies if needed. I would have the destruction of Karzoug's runewell serve as the start of their mythic power, giving them a tier or two to face Mhar. James' answers were both helpful and appropriate. Mhar is a suitable threat for those PCs post-Karzoug. And of course, despite me making it a bit harder to avoid than the adventure assumes, it's still possible they will prevent Mhar from awakening.
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I ment as a misdirection & possible for example if players thought nymph was a succubus or something along that sorta route to add more difficulty if encounter goes south.
Well... nymphs aren't super great at pretending to be other creatures, and although they're beautiful creatures like succubi, they do look really different. This would probably be a tough thing to pull off, but you could build an encounter to do so if the nymph had the right combination of templates or class levels or magic items, I guess...
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If the APL of the party is 4 characters in the 7-11 range, it's hard to imagine a CR 26-30 encounter going any way other than what the CR 26-30 being wants it to go. You can certainly drag it out for the poor schmucks, but isn't such an encounter fairly foreordained in it's outcome?1) Perhaps obvious question. If Mhar shows up in my game and I have to put together a stat block, do you think the Bestiary 4 Old One stat blocks will serve as a good inspiration for putting his together? Or are they all so unique that you can't base one on another?Unless your PC's are mythic godslayers, beings like Mhar are essentially GM Fiat encounters, which really don't need statting up at all.I disagree.
Beings like Mhar are demigods, and are in the CR 26–CR 30 range, and thus CAN be represented by stats. They're not GM fiat encounters at all. You have rules to determine how swiftly they can cause a TPK.
It's very very very very likely to go bad for the PCs, but there's still the tiniest chance it won't. That's not the point, though... the point is that it's not GM Fiat. No more so than using a CR 17 encounter against a level 7 to 11 party.
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The Second Darkness Adventure Path is, among other things, the series of events that is intended to set up the reveal that drow are real in Golarion—once you assume the events of that AP take place, then the fact that drow are real spreads quickly.Does Golarion's present canon include the Pathfinder Society blowing the covers off of the Elves' dirty little secret? And if so, are we seeing reprisals from Kyonin in the future?
I'm not sure what event you're referring to with the Pathfinder Society revealing this secret. Is it something from the PFS organized play program? If so... that campaign more or less does assume that once an AP is published, those events are semi-dovetailed into the world's canon in the background, in the least intrusive way possible.
Since this is the easiest way to handle the fact that once WE publish an adventure, it's almost impossible to keep the events of that adventure "secret" from the thousands of players who play and run Pathfinder Society events anyway.
The present canon in Golarion as it stands in the Inner Sea World guide assumes NONE of the adventure paths have yet been played, and that the Pathfinder Society organized play campaign itself has not yet started. It's a baseline for ALL campaigns, be they published ones, organized play ones, or home games.
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If the APL of the party is 4 characters in the 7-11 range, it's hard to imagine a CR 26-30 encounter going any way other than what the CR 26-30 being wants it to go. You can certainly drag it out for the poor schmucks, but isn't such an encounter fairly foreordained in it's outcome?Not to violate James's only questions policy, but since this was my question, the party would face Mhar as per the consequences laid out in the "continuing your campaign" section of Runelords. They would be five level 17-18 PCs with high ability scores, a wizard cohort, multiple artifacts, and access to several powerful NPC allies if needed. I would have the destruction of Karzoug's runewell serve as the start of their mythic power, giving them a tier or two to face Mhar. James' answers were both helpful and appropriate. Mhar is a suitable threat for those PCs post-Karzoug. And of course, despite me making it a bit harder to avoid than the adventure assumes, it's still possible they will prevent Mhar from awakening.
And in fact, after defeating Karzoug, I wouldn't be surprised to see those PCs being close to 19th level.
Having them become mythic as a result of destroying the Runewell is perfect, in fact. And I wouldn't make them face Mhar immediately. I'd make the battle against Mhar be the climax of a brand new adventure that would, over the course of its length, level the PCs up to 20th and give them a few more mythic tiers to boot BEFORE they confront the Great Old One.
At which point, if you have a 20th level tier 6 or so party... that's about perfect for a fight against a CR 26 or CR 27 foe as a "boss battle."
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Which type of fey do you use in your games more often whimsical or darker themed? :o
Darkly whimsical?
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If you're looking for a city where most of the folks are bad guys... I'm not sure. There's plenty of examples, between Quantium and Port Peril and Ilizamagorti and various Chelaxian cities and more that are all similar sizes with similar bad guy themes.
How's Quantium villain-themed?
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If you're looking for a city where most of the folks are bad guys... I'm not sure. There's plenty of examples, between Quantium and Port Peril and Ilizamagorti and various Chelaxian cities and more that are all similar sizes with similar bad guy themes.How's Quantium villain-themed?
oops... It's not. I mixed my Geb up with my Nex. I meant to say Mechitar, not Quantium.
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More specifically, I meant elves in the Inner Sea Region as compared to the rest of Golarion (like the way ratfolk might be outside of Tian Xia but in nowhere the same numbers they are in that area), or if they've got a fairly consistent population density like humans do outside of Kyonin, if nowhere near as high as one.
1) Are there more dwarves than elves on Golarion, out of curiosity? Or more elves than dwarves? Or similar numbers?
2) If you could have any magical beast from Pathfinder as a pet that would obey your commands and generally not eat you, which would you pick?
3) Who do you think would win in a fight between a half-fiend tyrannosaurus and a vampire bone devil, who may or may not be representations of you and Wes?
1) I'd say about the same.
2) Taking the phrase "magical beast" as meaning I can only pick a pet of the Magical Beast type (and not, say, a succubus), I'd pick the Tarrasque.
3) I'd stat both up then run the combat to find out, but I'd be rooting for the half-fiend T-rex the whole time.
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This is a kind of relative question, but in your opinion, which wretched hive of scum and villainy on Golarion is the most wretched, scummy and villainous?If you're asking what's the most evil city, I'd say probably Iz.
If you're asking what's the city that has the most ridiculous mix of strange and wacky and goofy and silly and weird citizens who all rub shoulders together all the time and don't seem to be phased by the fact that their neighbors are all weird races, I'd probably say Kaer Maga.
So what you're saying is Obi-Wan's not just a liar. He's a compulsive liar?
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Have you designed any classes? Other then the alchemist. Any for 3.5 3pp or homebrew?
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Creative Director
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Have you designed any classes? Other then the alchemist. Any for 3.5 3pp or homebrew?
I designed the first iteration of the gunslinger. I've designed LOTS of classes for 3rd edition, including many for Dragon magazine like the urban druid or the 8 variant paladins around issue #310 and #312.
I've designed several classes for Unspeakable Futures, my post-apocalyptic game, as well. This is where the first version of the gunslinger came from. Other classes in this (still unpublished) game include the mystic, the esper, the cabalist, the survivalist, the scavenger, the sniper, the wastrel, and the mercenary.
And I've designed plenty for my homebrew game, way back into 1st edition, including things like the astrologer, the occultist, the jester, and others I've forgotten over time.
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And I've designed plenty for my homebrew game, way back into 1st edition, including things like the astrologer, the occultist, the jester, and others I've forgotten over time.
The astrologer and occultist sound intriguing!
Is there any plan (even if just 'wouldn't it be cool if someday...') for a Soac Brotherhood (or other) astrology / astronomy themed archetype, feat chain or prestige class for Golarion?
Or perhaps an option (or options) based on numerology or sacred geometry or otherwise math-y flavor?
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A quick question and thank you. On the advice of your blog I tracked down a copy of Algernon Blackwood's The Willows and it was fantastic. So good in fact I'm dusting off my Dark Matter books and running a game because of the story. Before I get cracking though are their any other stories that you know about that are in the same vein as that one that I should check out beforehand?
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And I've designed plenty for my homebrew game, way back into 1st edition, including things like the astrologer, the occultist, the jester, and others I've forgotten over time.The astrologer and occultist sound intriguing!
Is there any plan (even if just 'wouldn't it be cool if someday...') for a Soac Brotherhood (or other) astrology / astronomy themed archetype, feat chain or prestige class for Golarion?
Or perhaps an option (or options) based on numerology or sacred geometry or otherwise math-y flavor?
They were both 1st edition classes—I never updated them really to later editions.
The astrologer was all about divination magic and space travel and the like, if I remember correctly.
The occultist was a strongly Lovecraft-flavored spellcaster. And now that I think of it, I guess Unspeakable Futures' cabalist is the Pathfinder version of it.
We don't have plans for much with the Saoc Brotherhood in the form of classes or archetypes, especially since they're a mostly extinct group these days anyway. As for similar topics... hopefully some day!
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A quick question and thank you. On the advice of your blog I tracked down a copy of Algernon Blackwood's The Willows and it was fantastic. So good in fact I'm dusting off my Dark Matter books and running a game because of the story. Before I get cracking though are their any other stories that you know about that are in the same vein as that one that I should check out beforehand?
Excellent! Always good to hear folks discovering and enjoying Blackwood!
You could always read more of Blackwood's stories, of course, but "The Willows" is the best one, as far as I'm concerned.
That said... there are two modern writers whose writings are close to Blackood's themes:
Ramsey Campbell: Particulalry his novels "The Darkest Part of the Woods," "Midnight Sun," and "The Hungry Moon," as well as a LOT of his short fiction.
T.E.D. Klein: "The Ceremonies" and "Dark Gods" are both super brilliant and creepy.
Do you think Lorthact should have the Native subtype? It seems... well odd that he could be so easily destroyed without it. If one were to cast Banishment on him (and he failed his Will save), it's highly likely the caster could pierce his SR. A moderately built, high level caster could reliably pierce his SR, and if he fails the save, then he's banished to hell.
Granted, it's unlikely for him to fail the save, but it still seems pretty easy to banish him. If he gets banished, he's basically screwed as he has no method of crossing dimensions at all, so he'd be trapped in Hell, and now vulnerable as someone would probably notice his arrival, and Eiseth would probably find out shortly afterward.
But if he had the Native subtype, he couldn't be Banished (like Treerazer). Do you think this was possibly a minor oversight?
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I know, I know I'm kind of cherry-picking. The reason I ask is because I'm looking for a place for a mercenary kind of chraracter, a man that you can smell the alcohol, failed aspirations and spite emanating from, that doesn't necessarily come from one of the obvious places like Riddleport or the River Kingdoms.
Tell me more about Vyre, please. :)
There's something to be said for "the obvious places," frankly. They're obvious for a reason, and if you want others to react to your character less on a "Ooh, I don't know about the place you're from, tell me more!" and more of a "Oh, you're from there! Gotcha," then picking an obvious place is actually a good idea.
Sounds like Port Peril's the best choice for you.
And while I have a LOT to say about Vyre, I don't want to get into that rabbit hole yet—it's one of my pet cities that I've adopted, along with Kintargo, and I have eventual plans for both.
That is so cool! Can't wait to see what you do with both. The little bits you guys have written about Kintargo already intrigue me, and I will research Port Peril poste haste.
James sir, sorry if this a repeat, I had trouble finding it via search:
I have a friend who wants to track down some Cthulhu published adventures, for any system, what are some of your favorites?
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The occultist was a strongly Lovecraft-flavored spellcaster. And now that I think of it, I guess Unspeakable Futures' cabalist is the Pathfinder version of it.
We don't have plans for much with the Saoc Brotherhood in the form of classes or archetypes, especially since they're a mostly extinct group these days anyway. As for similar topics... hopefully some day!
Thanks! The Cabalist sounds pretty cool, although I guess it would seem less cool if you blow some Mythos check upon seeing what you shouldn't have seen and end up clawing your own eyes out... :)
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Do you think Lorthact should have the Native subtype? It seems... well odd that he could be so easily destroyed without it. If one were to cast Banishment on him (and he failed his Will save), it's highly likely the caster could pierce his SR. A moderately built, high level caster could reliably pierce his SR, and if he fails the save, then he's banished to hell.
Granted, it's unlikely for him to fail the save, but it still seems pretty easy to banish him. If he gets banished, he's basically screwed as he has no method of crossing dimensions at all, so he'd be trapped in Hell, and now vulnerable as someone would probably notice his arrival, and Eiseth would probably find out shortly afterward.
But if he had the Native subtype, he couldn't be Banished (like Treerazer). Do you think this was possibly a minor oversight?
He should probably have the native subtype, yeah, since he's exiled here. Unless he volunteered for his exile... in which case he shouldn't have the native subtype because in that case he's just hiding out. I haven't looked at his backstory for a long time so I'd have to re-read to figure it out. (I didn't develop or write his stats for Inner Sea World Guide, and it's certainly likely that whoever did didn't catch that element I put into Treerazer, I suppose...)
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James sir, sorry if this a repeat, I had trouble finding it via search:
I have a friend who wants to track down some Cthulhu published adventures, for any system, what are some of your favorites?
For Call of Cthulhu, I assume?
"Beyond the Mountains of Madness" is the best CoC adventure. "Masks of Nyarlathotep" is the second best one, probably. I'm also kinda fond of "At Your Door," for its inclusion of TED Klein stuff, but there are some folks who don't like it.
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1. Is Monad (the Condition of All, Aeons) functionally a god?
2. Many CR 20 outsiders (pit fiend, balors, olethrodaemons) can be given extra abilities along with extra HD, to represent elite-ness in their plane...
is there something similar for Aeons?
3. How will you cope with the loss of your favorite fiends after the Four Horsemen and the olethrodaemons destroy the Abyss? :)
1) It's a demigod. On par with demon lords and the like.
2) Not officially.
3) Don't need to worry. Because the Horsemen don't have it in them to destroy the Abyss. They are not powerful enough to do so.
He should probably have the native subtype, yeah, since he's exiled here. Unless he volunteered for his exile... in which case he shouldn't have the native subtype because in that case he's just hiding out. I haven't looked at his backstory for a long time so I'd have to re-read to figure it out. (I didn't develop or write his stats for Inner Sea World Guide, and it's certainly likely that whoever did didn't catch that element I put into Treerazer, I suppose...)Do you think Lorthact should have the Native subtype? It seems... well odd that he could be so easily destroyed without it. If one were to cast Banishment on him (and he failed his Will save), it's highly likely the caster could pierce his SR. A moderately built, high level caster could reliably pierce his SR, and if he fails the save, then he's banished to hell.
Granted, it's unlikely for him to fail the save, but it still seems pretty easy to banish him. If he gets banished, he's basically screwed as he has no method of crossing dimensions at all, so he'd be trapped in Hell, and now vulnerable as someone would probably notice his arrival, and Eiseth would probably find out shortly afterward.
But if he had the Native subtype, he couldn't be Banished (like Treerazer). Do you think this was possibly a minor oversight?
Definitely wasn't voluntary. Eiseth, the Whore Queen, chased him out of Hell, and onto the Material Plane because she believes he was going to betray her. She's spent centuries hunting him down, and the implication is that if she gets word he's still alive (he faked his death), and where he is, she's going to unleash her wrath on him.
Do any of the major deities of Golarion have a celibate priesthood?
Hello, I have a question regarding Spiritual Weapon and an Oracle.
As written, the spell's hit modifier is dependent upon the caster's Wisdom modifier; however, this isn't very effective in terms of an Oracle who uses Charisma. My question about this is why would an Oracle with the Ancestor mystery receive this spell at 4th level if in terms of modifiers to hit it wouldn't be very effective?
I am also wondering if it would be fair to ask my GM to house rule the spell to use my charisma modifier as opposed to wisdom?
Thank you for your time.
Hello, I have a question regarding Spiritual Weapon and an Oracle.
As written, the spell's hit modifier is dependent upon the caster's Wisdom modifier; however, this isn't very effective in terms of an Oracle who uses Charisma. My question about this is why would an Oracle with the Ancestor mystery receive this spell at 4th level if in terms of modifiers to hit it wouldn't be very effective?I am also wondering if it would be fair to ask my GM to house rule the spell to use my charisma modifier as opposed to wisdom?
Thank you for your time.
IANJ, but the answer to this question is in the FAQ.
James, how come violating a monk vow is so punishing for the class? I mean, I'd expect that they'd lose the extra Ki points from the vow, but this somehow also drains all their Ki to 0 and prevents them from regaining it at all? That's really harsh, especially considering it might be for a vow like Fasting or Silence that, at max, only gives you 3 extra points of Ki by late game. And why is an Atonement spell alone not enough? Why do they have to atone, THEN wait an entire extra month? That's potentially a LOT of adventuring time during which they're missing out on this feature. I dunno, I'm probably wrong, but it seem that monks already have some problems with everything cool they do requiring Ki, sometimes 2 or 3 points of it at a time. For them to lose it all the instant they take single, minor step out of bounds just seems, well, mean.
How do you pronounce "ghaele?"
This question is the result of our table pronouncing it like 4 different ways last night =P
I'm running the Age of Worms and Rise of the Runelords campaigns right now. Thank you for those awesome APs.
I thought you might appreciate these. They are some minis I sculpted for my Age of Worms game.
James, how come violating a monk vow is so punishing for the class? I mean, I'd expect that they'd lose the extra Ki points from the vow, but this somehow also drains all their Ki to 0 and prevents them from regaining it at all? That's really harsh, especially considering it might be for a vow like Fasting or Silence that, at max, only gives you 3 extra points of Ki by late game. And why is an Atonement spell alone not enough? Why do they have to atone, THEN wait an entire extra month? That's potentially a LOT of adventuring time during which they're missing out on this feature. I dunno, I'm probably wrong, but it seem that monks already have some problems with everything cool they do requiring Ki, sometimes 2 or 3 points of it at a time. For them to lose it all the instant they take single, minor step out of bounds just seems, well, mean.
Hey, paladins have it much worse off. Monks keep their flurry and any non-ki powers; I'd hardly say that "everything cool" requires ki. Also, the month-long probation is only for the vow's bonus ki, not the entire ki pool. I'd hardly call it undue punishment.
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Definitely wasn't voluntary. Eiseth, the Whore Queen, chased him out of Hell, and onto the Material Plane because she believes he was going to betray her. She's spent centuries hunting him down, and the implication is that if she gets word he's still alive (he faked his death), and where he is, she's going to unleash her wrath on him.
That STILL might be voluntary.
Treerazer was not "chased" out of the Abyss. He was forcibly exiled. It could be in Lorthact's case that in fleeing Eiseth he sought out a Material Plane world to hide out on purpose, hoping that'd be one of the last places she looked for him, in which case he would still be a non-native outsider and, in fact, would probably be VERY concerned about being banished back to Hell, which would go a long way toward explaining why he's in such deep cover.
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Hello James.
Are you a Pool of Radiance or Curse of the Azure Bonds kind of guy?
Or a Wastelander?
Thanks!
Curse of the Azure Bonds was the first computer game I ever bought. In fact, I bought it 2 months BEFORE I owned a computer. That was an agonizing 2 months to wait to play the game!
Love those Gold Box games.
I love Fallout even more. I never played the original Wasteland, but I've pre-orderd Wasteland 2 and am eagerly anticipating it.
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Do any of the major deities of Golarion have a celibate priesthood?
I would suspect so. Off the top of my head, the ones that'd be most likely to have celibate sects (ha!) would be Irori, Asmodeus, and maybe a few other lawful deities or demigods. I'm not sure off the top of my head if we've mentioned any in particular in the articles Sean's written for the deities though.
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Hello, I have a question regarding Spiritual Weapon and an Oracle.
As written, the spell's hit modifier is dependent upon the caster's Wisdom modifier; however, this isn't very effective in terms of an Oracle who uses Charisma. My question about this is why would an Oracle with the Ancestor mystery receive this spell at 4th level if in terms of modifiers to hit it wouldn't be very effective?I am also wondering if it would be fair to ask my GM to house rule the spell to use my charisma modifier as opposed to wisdom?
Thank you for your time.
The spell is very much one that works better for clerics. Not only does it use the cleric's favorite ability score, but the spell's flavor is VERY tied to the deity you worship, which is not something oracles have to do.
Simply put... spiritual weapon isn't a good choice for oracles to cast. But they can still cast it... it's a low-level ranged attack spell (and one that does force damage at that), and those are pretty rare for divine spellcasters, so even if it's not gonna work as well as if a cleric casts it... it's better than nothing when you're facing enemies at range or facing ghosts or the like.