Creative Director
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What do you think would be a scarier Mythic monster: A half-red dragon iathavos qlippoth, or a half-fiend (let's say mama's a qlip) great red wyrm?
I wouldn't really regard either of those as mythic. They're both things you can build without the mythic rules, and both things intended to be powerful core monsters.
Between the two, I'd say a half-fiend great red wyrm would be more powerful... a half- dragon Iathavos doesn't make sense to me due to the way the iathavos comes about, and due to the fact that I'm still not a big fan of the half-dragon template.
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Creative Director
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Dear James,
a few months ago you vented the oppinion, that: "dazed" should be something that undead are immune to.
How do you think about 'feint'? Since the terms of who is immune to it are so very close to the terms of who is immune to 'mind-affecting'.
Can one feint intelligent undead at your table?
Feinting isn't mind-affecting. It's baseline trickery and misdirection. Anything that has a stimulus-response ability, which includes mindless creatures, should be able to be feinted.
One can feint any creature at my table as a result.
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What's your thoughts on the Dance of Ruin spell from BoVD ?Can't remember it, so at this point? No thoughts at all.
It's kinda lame that it's named the same thing as the vrock ability, unless it was intentionally as a spell version of the vrock ability?
it was a spell version (2nd lvl), so to rephrase; what do you think of the spell version of the Vrock ability?
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Creative Director
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it was a spell version (2nd lvl), so to rephrase; what do you think of the spell version of the Vrock ability?What's your thoughts on the Dance of Ruin spell from BoVD ?Can't remember it, so at this point? No thoughts at all.
It's kinda lame that it's named the same thing as the vrock ability, unless it was intentionally as a spell version of the vrock ability?
Not a fan.
Not every monster power should be farmed out as a spell, in my opinion. It cheapens the monster.
If I may ask your perspective of some of the Mythic rules:
- There are a number of abilities relating to spell preparation. Preparing without a spellbook/familiar calls out witch specifically; preparing spells faster within open slots (e.g. rapid preparation, mythic spell mastery) does not. Am I right in thinking a mythic witch still cannot leave slots open for later preparation, and hence not benefit from those later abilities?
- Does it make sense for a mythic character to have a mythic monster as their cohort (bearing in mind the increase in CR when determining which creatures are allowed), or are all mythic beings so unique that one would never be found subservient to another in this regard?
I'm looking at the stats for the Red Wyrm Ravener... where did the 216 bonus hit points come from? It doesn't have Toughness, nor does it have a Charisma score upwards of 500.
The Redeemed Succubus has always intrigued me, and I wonder what she looks like. (the character with the associated trait is thinking about making their relationship a romantic one.) Do you think we will get to see a picture of her in the blog by any chance?I have zero control of what shows up in the Paizo blog. You should ask James Jacobs. :D
Just forwarding the suggestion. :D
Are there inquisitors devoted to every deity? If so, what would a Desnan inquisitor occupy his or her time doing (aside from adventuring)?
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Random questions away!
1) It is written that Zon-Kuthon was given the first undead Shadow as part of his deal with Abadar.
In a "What if" situation, what would happen if Zon-Kuthon accidentally asked for, and was given, the first unlimited-length compilation of Cute Internet Cat Videos instead? (And the means and wants to view say videos.)
How would Golarion be different from this mistake?
2) Many on the forums quote your replies on this and other threads to justify how certain spells/powers/feats/rules/etc work.
Are you happy over this attention? Or are you horrified? Or some other thoughts on this?
3) If a Pacific Rim-type Cat-4 Kaiju appear in Golarion. What CR level would such a creature be? And what are the chances the people of Golarion will be able to defeat it? (Or enslave/banish/redeem it?)
4) Is it possible for an event similar to the WorldWound, but linked to a good plane like Elysium to occur? And what would the effect be like on the material plane in such an event?
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Are there inquisitors devoted to every deity? If so, what would a Desnan inquisitor occupy his or her time doing (aside from adventuring)?
IANJJ, but I'd imagine that a lot of Desnan inquisitors would busy themselves in Nidal, where Desnans form the core of a resistance against the Umbral Court and its minions, as well as exploring the world (joining the Pathfinders'd be a great idea for such inquisitors), pwning cults of Lamashtu or Ghlaunder, or assisting groups like the Grey Corsairs in freeing slaves.
I don't know much about Nidal or the Umbral Court, so I can't speak on that. But, what I do know is that one of the defining features of the inquisitor class is that they get to bend the rules a bit, in regards to their religion. With Desna, though, there doesn't seem to be a very hard set of rules or limitations for her followers, nor do they seem to have much of a hierarchy. Without a central authority, it's hard for me to imagine an inquisitor's role within "the church". I suppose they'd be individually motivated? Eh, I don't know. Maybe James will have some answers.
To clarify on my previous question, the red wyrm ravener has 337 HP, but by all rights it should have only 116 (the average of 27d8, plus its Charisma bonus). It has 216 hit points that come out of nowhere, with no explanation for why they're there ANYWHERE in the stat block.
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Are there inquisitors devoted to every deity? If so, what would a Desnan inquisitor occupy his or her time doing (aside from adventuring)?
Protecting Varisians from persecution, eliminating threats to others who like a traveler's lifestyle (bandits and humanoids that prey on caravans and other travel routes), freeing slaves and driving off / killing slavers, pretty much anything that goes against her tenets of freedom to travel and stewardship of the Varisian population.
I'm sure there's more esoteric stuff, such as going on epic quests to hunt down and destroy night hags or whatever, who, with their associations with nightmares and traffic in souls, are about as un-Desna-friendly as one can get.
Hi James!
I have a couple of questions about Iron Gods..... Will my character be able to shoot someone with a laser gun?
Will you include a rule mechanic for figuring out strange tech?
One of my favorite experiences ever gaming was my first play through of Expedition to the Barrier Peaks. I lost an illusionist to accidentally getting separated via the elevator, and my replacement character burned down an inn with the laser gun in a mistaken discharge....
As a side note, I was really pleased with the artwork in Sword of Valor. The bug swarm demon eating the hand was particularly disturbing.
Thanks for all you do!
JJ mentioned that Desnan inquisitors are actively opposed to followers of Ghlaunder and the Old Cults.Are there inquisitors devoted to every deity? If so, what would a Desnan inquisitor occupy his or her time doing (aside from adventuring)?I'm sure there's more esoteric stuff, such as going on epic quests to hunt down and destroy night hags or whatever, who, with their associations with nightmares and traffic in souls, are about as un-Desna-friendly as one can get.
That does open up another question: are there Inquisitors of the Old Cults, e.g. of Hastur or Nyarlathotep or Azathoth or Shub-Niggurath, and if so, what do they spend their time doing? This seems like an appealing concept. :)
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Creative Director
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If I may ask your perspective of some of the Mythic rules:
- There are a number of abilities relating to spell preparation. Preparing without a spellbook/familiar calls out witch specifically; preparing spells faster within open slots (e.g. rapid preparation, mythic spell mastery) does not. Am I right in thinking a mythic witch still cannot leave slots open for later preparation, and hence not benefit from those later abilities?
- Does it make sense for a mythic character to have a mythic monster as their cohort (bearing in mind the increase in CR when determining which creatures are allowed), or are all mythic beings so unique that one would never be found subservient to another in this regard?
Correct. If it doesn't say you can do it, you can't.
I would tread carefully with mythic cohorts. I'd probably say that the PC at the very least would have to spend a mythic feat on Leadership to even get the chance to have a mythic cohort, and would have to undergo a certain number of adventures to get the cohort in the first place.
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Creative Director
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I'm looking at the stats for the Red Wyrm Ravener... where did the 216 bonus hit points come from? It doesn't have Toughness, nor does it have a Charisma score upwards of 500.
It does have a Charisma of 26, which is a bonus of +8. Since that means it gets 8 bonus hp per HD, and since it has 27 HD, 8 x 27 = 216.
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Creative Director
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Are there inquisitors devoted to every deity? If so, what would a Desnan inquisitor occupy his or her time doing (aside from adventuring)?
Every deity can (and likely does) have inquisitors worshiping it... but not every deity has an organized inquisition.
An inquisitor of Desna would likely be all about tracking down and exterminating the influence of the Old Cults, or perhaps fight against diabolism in Cheliax and elsewhere.
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Creative Director
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I don't know much about Nidal or the Umbral Court, so I can't speak on that. But, what I do know is that one of the defining features of the inquisitor class is that they get to bend the rules a bit, in regards to their religion. With Desna, though, there doesn't seem to be a very hard set of rules or limitations for her followers, nor do they seem to have much of a hierarchy. Without a central authority, it's hard for me to imagine an inquisitor's role within "the church". I suppose they'd be individually motivated? Eh, I don't know. Maybe James will have some answers.
Desna's faith absolutely has a crusade of sorts against Nidal, so yeah, her inquisitors would likely be there as well.
An inquisitor doesn't need a hierarchy to exist though. They can ABSOLUTELY be individually motivated.
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Creative Director
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Random questions away!
1) It is written that Zon-Kuthon was given the first undead Shadow as part of his deal with Abadar.
In a "What if" situation, what would happen if Zon-Kuthon accidentally asked for, and was given, the first unlimited-length compilation of Cute Internet Cat Videos instead? (And the means and wants to view say videos.)
How would Golarion be different from this mistake?2) Many on the forums quote your replies on this and other threads to justify how certain spells/powers/feats/rules/etc work.
Are you happy over this attention? Or are you horrified? Or some other thoughts on this?
3) If a Pacific Rim-type Cat-4 Kaiju appear in Golarion. What CR level would such a creature be? And what are the chances the people of Golarion will be able to defeat it? (Or enslave/banish/redeem it?)
4) Is it possible for an event similar to the WorldWound, but linked to a good plane like Elysium to occur? And what would the effect be like on the material plane in such an event?
1) It would have resulted in a darker, much softer world.
2) I'm glad to help folks figure out how best to use the rules in their games, but annoyed when I get the idea that players are trying to use my advice as a weapon against their GM.
3) The answers lie in Bestiary 4!
4) It's possible theoretically, but not in practice, since the good planes and their rulers wouldn't do this because it's not in their nature to absorb and destroy portions of the Material Plane.
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Creative Director
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-1: How would you represent the fungal/undead spawn of Xhamen-Dor? Via template, something like juju zombie? Also are said spawn contagious, which is to say can they also spread their god's "gift?"
-2: Are there any hints as to where Xhamen-Dor currently dwells? The meteor-born fungal infestation in the Valashmei Jungle seemed like a prime candidate, but there's no mention of undead there (only giant vegepygmies), so I pretty much ruled that place out.
1) They're new monsters I've not yet detailed. But someday I will!
2) Not yet... but stay tuned! (It's not Tian Xia, though...)
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Creative Director
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To clarify on my previous question, the red wyrm ravener has 337 HP, but by all rights it should have only 116 (the average of 27d8, plus its Charisma bonus). It has 216 hit points that come out of nowhere, with no explanation for why they're there ANYWHERE in the stat block.
You get the Charisma bonus to each hit die. So if you have 27 hit dice, you get the +8 (in this case) 27 times.
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Creative Director
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What is some of the weirdest structures in Golarion? Which ones would you walk upon and go...WHOA What the hell is that?
The Mordant Spire.
The Witchbole.
The Silver Mount.
The House of Oblivion.
The Spire of Nex.
The Cyphergate.
Threshold.
Baba Yaga's Hut.
The Hanging Palace of Nurvatchta.
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Creative Director
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Hi James!
I have a couple of questions about Iron Gods..... Will my character be able to shoot someone with a laser gun?
Will you include a rule mechanic for figuring out strange tech?
One of my favorite experiences ever gaming was my first play through of Expedition to the Barrier Peaks. I lost an illusionist to accidentally getting separated via the elevator, and my replacement character burned down an inn with the laser gun in a mistaken discharge....
As a side note, I was really pleased with the artwork in Sword of Valor. The bug swarm demon eating the hand was particularly disturbing.
Thanks for all you do!
Yes.
Yes.
Thanks!
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Creative Director
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That does open up another question: are there Inquisitors of the Old Cults, e.g. of Hastur or Nyarlathotep or Azathoth or Shub-Niggurath, and if so, what do they spend their time doing? This seems like an appealing concept. :)JJ mentioned that Desnan inquisitors are actively opposed to followers of Ghlaunder and the Old Cults.Are there inquisitors devoted to every deity? If so, what would a Desnan inquisitor occupy his or her time doing (aside from adventuring)?I'm sure there's more esoteric stuff, such as going on epic quests to hunt down and destroy night hags or whatever, who, with their associations with nightmares and traffic in souls, are about as un-Desna-friendly as one can get.
There could be. Not all of the Great Old Ones/Outer Gods have inquisitors, but some do. I bet Bokrug and Nyarlathotep do for sure. Hastur's more subtle than that though... his faithful are more like bards or rogues.
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Numeria Questions Time:
Besides the Technic League, what other existing factions in Golarion might have a rough handle on even the most rudimentary elements of technology. Should a Shield Marshal see a laser gun and think "GUN!", etc.
What is the climate like in Numeria? It's pretty far north, but not Irrsian cold. Would you consider it a Badlands? What speciality Druids do you think would do well in that landscape?
The Inner Sea guide mentions the League and Sorverign extort (tax) people heading north along it's western border towards the Worldwound. How do they relate with the various military orders and clergy that ply that way north?
Thank you!
To clarify on my previous question, the red wyrm ravener has 337 HP, but by all rights it should have only 116 (the average of 27d8, plus its Charisma bonus). It has 216 hit points that come out of nowhere, with no explanation for why they're there ANYWHERE in the stat block.
As James already said, it's CHA bonus per level adds up to 216. But looking at your math, you might also want to know that you're calculating it's base Hit Dice wrong as well. You've calculated 27d8 as 108 HP, but it's actually 121 HP. The average of 1d8 isn't 4 - it's 4.5. Same goes for all dice values.
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Creative Director
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Numeria Questions Time:
Besides the Technic League, what other existing factions in Golarion might have a rough handle on even the most rudimentary elements of technology. Should a Shield Marshal see a laser gun and think "GUN!", etc.
What is the climate like in Numeria? It's pretty far north, but not Irrsian cold. Would you consider it a Badlands? What speciality Druids do you think would do well in that landscape?
The Inner Sea guide mentions the League and Sorverign extort (tax) people heading north along it's western border towards the Worldwound. How do they relate with the various military orders and clergy that ply that way north?
Thank you!
Laser guns look somewhat similar to pistols or rifles, and if you have Firearms proficiency, you are proficient with laser guns, so if you recognize what a gun is, you'll recognize that a laser gun is similar... but beyond the basic "aim an pull the trigger" step, you'll be kinda clueless.
The climate is pretty similar to Montana's badlands. Maybe a little warmer overall. The types of druids that are common there would be forest druids and plains druids, for the most part, but rivers and badlands are there as well.
The charges and taxes they extract from the crusaders leaves relations with the crusaders VERY tense and thin... The crusaders have more to deal with than starting a war against Numeria, but that doesn't mean they like Numerians.
RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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James,
Do deities ever have "secondary" favored weapons? Not in a mechanical sense, just flavor-wise. For instance, a well-prepared warrior of Sarenrae should have a means of engaging evil that's out of range of a scimitar; so when he reaches for his backup ranged weapon, what is it? Is one option more common than others? Or is there no such correlation to deities, and more of a personal choice? Just curious.
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The charges and taxes they extract from the crusaders leaves relations with the crusaders VERY tense and thin... The crusaders have more to deal with than starting a war against Numeria, but that doesn't mean they like Numerians.
Excellent. Would sneaking in WITH the Crusaders be a good way to get into the country? Or is that route too watched?
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Creative Director
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I'm playing a good-aligned caster, and I've been wanting to get an azata lyrakien as an improved familiar in the future (my character's a musetouched aasimar, and I thought it would be a cool representation of his heritage). However, the practice of 'trading in' your familiar for a better version, especially since the transference of the bond reduces your intelligent familiar back to animal-level intelligence. Sure, it was only sapient because of that bond in the first place, but is it really something a good character would feel comfortable doing? What's your opinion on the subject? There's certainly good familiars on the improved familiar list, so presumably good characters sometimes do it...am I just overthinking the ethics of it, or should a good caster approach the notion of an improved familiar from a different angle?
Depends entirely on the character. You can certainly interpret it as "releasing an animal from magically enforced/compelled servitude" in the same way people do a catch and release type thing, where they take in an animal for a while and then release it back into the wild.
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Creative Director
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James,
Do deities ever have "secondary" favored weapons? Not in a mechanical sense, just flavor-wise. For instance, a well-prepared warrior of Sarenrae should have a means of engaging evil that's out of range of a scimitar; so when he reaches for his backup ranged weapon, what is it? Is one option more common than others? Or is there no such correlation to deities, and more of a personal choice? Just curious.
Absolutely. Lamashtu, for example, is often depicted with kukris even though her favored weapon is a falchion.
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Creative Director
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The charges and taxes they extract from the crusaders leaves relations with the crusaders VERY tense and thin... The crusaders have more to deal with than starting a war against Numeria, but that doesn't mean they like Numerians.Excellent. Would sneaking in WITH the Crusaders be a good way to get into the country? Or is that route too watched?
Sure! The borders of Numeria, though, are not super well patrolled.
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RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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Absolutely. Lamashtu, for example, is often depicted with kukris even though her favored weapon is a falchion.James,
Do deities ever have "secondary" favored weapons? Not in a mechanical sense, just flavor-wise. For instance, a well-prepared warrior of Sarenrae should have a means of engaging evil that's out of range of a scimitar; so when he reaches for his backup ranged weapon, what is it? Is one option more common than others? Or is there no such correlation to deities, and more of a personal choice? Just curious.
Neat! Any other examples to share?
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Creative Director
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Is it bad that I prefer the hyena headed version of Demogorgon from BoVD over his usual simian headed version ?Yes.Aww now I feel sad.
Is the reason you like the simian version because it's the original?
Pretty much.
But also because the original is very much a demon lord of primeval things—he's associated with dinosaurs and things with tentacles and the like, and his abyssal realm is a tropical jungle. The mandrill heads just fit those themes a LOT better. Furthermore... mandrill heads are a lot closer to being human heads, which gives Demogorgon a creepy "near-human" element to his otherwise entirely inhuman frame. FURTHERMORE... there's ALREADY a demon lord with hyena features—Yeenoghu has a hyena head. Demogorgon having mandrill heads helps to set him further apart from Yeenoghu.
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Creative Director
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Neat! Any other examples to share?Absolutely. Lamashtu, for example, is often depicted with kukris even though her favored weapon is a falchion.James,
Do deities ever have "secondary" favored weapons? Not in a mechanical sense, just flavor-wise. For instance, a well-prepared warrior of Sarenrae should have a means of engaging evil that's out of range of a scimitar; so when he reaches for his backup ranged weapon, what is it? Is one option more common than others? Or is there no such correlation to deities, and more of a personal choice? Just curious.
Rovagug doesn't use weapons at all, yet his favored weapon is a battleaxe.
Gorum's favored weapon is a great sword, but he's also the god of ALL weapons.
Shelyn's favored weapon isn't hers at all, but a weapon she took from her brother.