Hi, James!
From another thread, by restricting it to Plant Shape only, was the Treesinger Druid meant to lose all additional movement speeds and senses normally granted by a Druid's Wild Shape or was that an accident?
(Beast Shape/Elemental Body grant them, Plant Shape doesn't)
Creative Director
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2) They could, but once the new one is finished, the old one stops being a phylactery and the new one replaces it.Then why didn't the lich in the adventure do just that, to avoid being held to ransom by the guys who stole it?
Because when I wrote that adventure a decade or so ago it was for a different game with different assumptions.
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Hi, James!
From another thread, by restricting it to Plant Shape only, was the Treesinger Druid meant to lose all additional movement speeds and senses normally granted by a Druid's Wild Shape or was that an accident?
(Beast Shape/Elemental Body grant them, Plant Shape doesn't)
Great question for the rules forum, since they built that thing and are more qualified to comment than I am.
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Sorry to repost but I think this one got eaten by the others.
A Drakaina's spawn mutations are factored into her CR, but what if the spawn aren't encountered with her? The idea I have right now is to have a Drakaina be the ruler of a nation populated almost entirely with her spawn. I didn't read anything in her entry suggesting that they have to stay close, and her Dimension Door seems to confirm this.
Sorry for the rule-ish question.
This is a legitimate use of the [astral projection] spell, assuming you start on another plane (since if you cast the spell on the Material Plane and come back to that plane, the spell ends and you return to your body).
I can't seem to find anywhere in the spell description where it says it ends once you return to your plane of origin. If anything, it is quite clear as to when it ends, and what you describe simply isn't there: The spell lasts until you desire to end it, or until it is terminated by some outside means, such as dispel magic cast upon either the physical body or the astral form, the breaking of the silver cord, or the destruction of your body back on the Material Plane (which kills you).
Have you ever fallen in love with a song after hearing just one line?
That just happened to me with "Jojo," the main theme of the newer Jojo's Bizarre Adventure anime.
SONO CHI NO SADAME! JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-JO!
Whats your favorite monster that you designed?
Whats your favorite monster that someone else designed?
How do you multiply with Roman Numerals?
Being a fan of the film Pacific Rim I had to find a way for mechs to work in the pathfinder world (tech->magic) so I designed this idea.
-needs pilot with mythic power to control/function
-mythic power channeled thru command winding key(artifact)used to activate and wind up the colossus.
-can take the form of a self-propelling ironclad ship
-weapons still being debated.
-primary program, defend territory from Kaiju attacks.
while I know that rules for robots will be made, I favor the idea of a magic based mechs.
Thoughts? Comments? Would you take this direction as well or would you do something else?
So I wanted to give a Mythic NPC that I'm designing for my home game two alchemist archetypes that don't stack (vivisectionist and clone master). Channeling characters like Baba Yaga and Old Man Jatembe (both of whom are Mythic and get a lot of spells and abilities they wouldn't normally have access to because they're Mythic), I thought that allowing my NPC to treade a Mythic Path Ability for the benefits of the Clone Master archetype would be appropriate. What are your thoughts?
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Recently read a book where a Sumerian Demon shows up on earth and is recognized by a mortal from his entry in the 1st edition monster manual. Mortal suggests that said demon contacts TSR about royalties (book was written in the 90's).
What would you do if a mythological figure mentioned in Paizo's work, like Asmodeus or Lamashtu or maybe someone politer like Erastil contacted Paizo about royalties for their use? What if they asked to paid in not currency but appropriate tribute?
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James, I've been playing Serpent's Skull with a few friends, and something's been bugging me, ethics-wise:
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Creative Director
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Sorry to repost but I think this one got eaten by the others.
A Drakaina's spawn mutations are factored into her CR, but what if the spawn aren't encountered with her? The idea I have right now is to have a Drakaina be the ruler of a nation populated almost entirely with her spawn. I didn't read anything in her entry suggesting that they have to stay close, and her Dimension Door seems to confirm this.
Sorry for the rule-ish question.
I thought I answered that.
Anyway... here's the answer again.
The mutations do not affect a spawn's CR at all. The fact that she gives her spawn mutations is part of HER CR instead.
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Creative Director
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This is a legitimate use of the [astral projection] spell, assuming you start on another plane (since if you cast the spell on the Material Plane and come back to that plane, the spell ends and you return to your body).I can't seem to find anywhere in the spell description where it says it ends once you return to your plane of origin. If anything, it is quite clear as to when it ends, and what you describe simply isn't there: The spell lasts until you desire to end it, or until it is terminated by some outside means, such as dispel magic cast upon either the physical body or the astral form, the breaking of the silver cord, or the destruction of your body back on the Material Plane (which kills you).
It's up to your GM to a certain extent. It's among the most powerful of the spells in the game, though, so it can certainly use some limitations.
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Whats your favorite monster that you designed?
Whats your favorite monster that someone else designed?
How do you multiply with Roman Numerals?
I've designed hundreds of monsters over the years... it's hard to pick just one as a favorite, but several likely nominees would be the ulitharid, Malcanthet (originally inspired by Rob Kuntz), kaorti, avolakia, rogue eidolon, seugathi, lilitu (either the 3.5 or the Pathfinder version), rune giant (with an assist here from Greg), fungus queen, Nightripper, Treerazer, the Iathavos, sinspawn, urdefhan, or the trailgaunt (which is upcoming in one of the Pathfinder comics).
Rather than do that same thing here, the top five first favorite monsters designed by someone else would be the mind flayer, the aboleth, the daughter of Urgathoa, the Sandpoint Devil, and Demogorgon.
By converting the numbers to arabic numbers, doing the math, then converting the number back to roman.
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Creative Director
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Being a fan of the film Pacific Rim I had to find a way for mechs to work in the pathfinder world (tech->magic) so I designed this idea.
** spoiler omitted **
while I know that rules for robots will be made, I favor the idea of a magic based mechs.
Thoughts? Comments? Would you take this direction as well or would you do something else?
Sorry, I try not to provide comments/feedback on design work here.
That said... I think that before mechs could work in Pathfinder, we need to design MUCH more robust and less complex vehicle rules and establish more tech rules. The game's currently not really the best for modeling vehicle/mounted combat, and a mech combines both.
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Creative Director
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So I wanted to give a Mythic NPC that I'm designing for my home game two alchemist archetypes that don't stack (vivisectionist and clone master). Channeling characters like Baba Yaga and Old Man Jatembe (both of whom are Mythic and get a lot of spells and abilities they wouldn't normally have access to because they're Mythic), I thought that allowing my NPC to treade a Mythic Path Ability for the benefits of the Clone Master archetype would be appropriate. What are your thoughts?
Do what you want to make an NPC do what you want. You're the GM. You can change the rules however you wish!
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Recently read a book where a Sumerian Demon shows up on earth and is recognized by a mortal from his entry in the 1st edition monster manual. Mortal suggests that said demon contacts TSR about royalties (book was written in the 90's).
What would you do if a mythological figure mentioned in Paizo's work, like Asmodeus or Lamashtu or maybe someone politer like Erastil contacted Paizo about royalties for their use? What if they asked to paid in not currency but appropriate tribute?
If Asmodeus or Lamashtu showed up, I'd be DELIGHTED to find out magic and the like was real and probably do whatever they wanted!
If someone like Erastil showed up, I'd be even MORE delighted, because if a god I invented myself became real... what would that make me?
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Creative Director
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| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
James, I've been playing Serpent's Skull with a few friends, and something's been bugging me, ethics-wise:
Spoiler:We raided a pterosaur's nest to claim a baby one for Sasha. While things went well and the NPC's happy with her new pet, I can't help but feel a pang of guilt for murdering the critter's parents and stealing it to please a fellow castaway. My character's expressed such feelings, briefly, but considering the care our group's druid took not to traumatize the little thing (we hid the corpses, gave it a snack and he spoke to it in dino-talk) it's probably not something that'll ping anyone's alignment. Still, as the forum's resident dino-expert, I'd like your frank opinion as to whether we're monsters for doing this to an innocent baby dinosaur...
It's okay. Sexy redheads can get me to do a lot of things I later regret as well.
I think you missed these questions:
Me: Why are the mental ability scores so low for Cernunnos and Videlis?
You: Because that's what the designer did. I didn't design them... in hindsight, I should have, since I designed ALL the other demigods in the book
1. So who was the designer? Speaking of which...
2. In the bestiary credits, what's the difference between being an author and member of the design team?
You: "Why would there be a limit [to settlements with stockyards]?"
Each settlement with a stockyard buffs all adjacent farmland, with each farm lowering Consumption by 3 instead of 2. Now imagine a lot of stockyard settlements in areas with a lot of farms...
Not that I'd mind.
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Creative Director
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I think you missed these questions:
Me: Why are the mental ability scores so low for Cernunnos and Videlis?
You: Because that's what the designer did. I didn't design them... in hindsight, I should have, since I designed ALL the other demigods in the book
1. So who was the designer? Speaking of which...
2. In the bestiary credits, what's the difference between being an author and member of the design team?
1) I'm not sure who designed all of them—I didn't assign the freelance.
2) The authors are the folks we hired as freelancers to actually write the contents of the book. In some cases, those authors were Paizo employees; in others they were not. The Design Team helped write some of these as well, but the Design Team itself (Sean and Stephen and Jason) are the ones who outline, develop, and shape ALL of the rulebooks. Sometimes, others here at Paizo step in to aid there—in this case, I did a development pass on the whole book as well, as did a few others. And at times during that development, we'll change or even completely re-write a monster if the author's attempt, for whatever reason, didn't work. It's a very collaborative process.
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Sorry to repost but I think this one got eaten by the others.
A Drakaina's spawn mutations are factored into her CR, but what if the spawn aren't encountered with her? The idea I have right now is to have a Drakaina be the ruler of a nation populated almost entirely with her spawn. I didn't read anything in her entry suggesting that they have to stay close, and her Dimension Door seems to confirm this.
Sorry for the rule-ish question.
I thought I answered that.
Anyway... here's the answer again.
The mutations do not affect a spawn's CR at all. The fact that she gives her spawn mutations is part of HER CR instead.
Oh Okies, my apologies. I misunderstood your first response.
If I have any more Drakaina related questions who best should I adress them to?
Recently read a book where a Sumerian Demon shows up on earth and is recognized by a mortal from his entry in the 1st edition monster manual. Mortal suggests that said demon contacts TSR about royalties (book was written in the 90's).
What would you do if a mythological figure mentioned in Paizo's work, like Asmodeus or Lamashtu or maybe someone politer like Erastil contacted Paizo about royalties for their use? What if they asked to paid in not currency but appropriate tribute?
If Asmodeus or Lamashtu showed up, I'd be DELIGHTED to find out magic and the like was real and probably do whatever they wanted!
If someone like Erastil showed up, I'd be even MORE delighted, because if a god I invented myself became real... what would that make me?
Psychically linked? What you thought was you making him up was really your link manifesting.
How do you multiply with Roman Numerals?
http://turner.faculty.swau.edu/mathematics/materialslibrary/roman/
At least, that's how the Romans did it.
Honestly, it's easier to convert to Arabic numbers, do the math, and convert back to Roman numerals. That's the power of Arabic numbers!
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Creative Director
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Sorry to repost but I think this one got eaten by the others.
A Drakaina's spawn mutations are factored into her CR, but what if the spawn aren't encountered with her? The idea I have right now is to have a Drakaina be the ruler of a nation populated almost entirely with her spawn. I didn't read anything in her entry suggesting that they have to stay close, and her Dimension Door seems to confirm this.
Sorry for the rule-ish question.
I thought I answered that.
Anyway... here's the answer again.
The mutations do not affect a spawn's CR at all. The fact that she gives her spawn mutations is part of HER CR instead.
Oh Okies, my apologies. I misunderstood your first response.
If I have any more Drakaina related questions who best should I adress them to?
Anyone. I can answer them too.
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Creative Director
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Just wondering but to demons in the worldwound leave behind bodies after they are killed? Or are they just banished back to the abyss?
Summoned demons vanish if they die. All other demons leave bodies behind. The vast majority of demons in the Worldwound are there for real.
(The idea that outsiders are only banished to their home plane when they are killed is pretty much a D&D thing that we didn't keep.)
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Anyone. I can answer them too.Sorry to repost but I think this one got eaten by the others.
A Drakaina's spawn mutations are factored into her CR, but what if the spawn aren't encountered with her? The idea I have right now is to have a Drakaina be the ruler of a nation populated almost entirely with her spawn. I didn't read anything in her entry suggesting that they have to stay close, and her Dimension Door seems to confirm this.
Sorry for the rule-ish question.
I thought I answered that.
Anyway... here's the answer again.
The mutations do not affect a spawn's CR at all. The fact that she gives her spawn mutations is part of HER CR instead.
Oh Okies, my apologies. I misunderstood your first response.
If I have any more Drakaina related questions who best should I adress them to?
Okies, guess your stuck with me :3
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Just wondering but to demons in the worldwound leave behind bodies after they are killed? Or are they just banished back to the abyss?Summoned demons vanish if they die. All other demons leave bodies behind. The vast majority of demons in the Worldwound are there for real.
(The idea that outsiders are only banished to their home plane when they are killed is pretty much a D&D thing that we didn't keep.)
If I may ask, why did you choose to abandon this mechanic?
James,
a)What kind of titles do elven nobles posses in Kyonin?
Are there princes, dukes, barons and etc (like in the greyhawk setting?) Or something else? Are those positions hereditary or elected?
b) What patron deities (or demigods) would you recommend for an aquatic elf PC?
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Creative Director
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Okies, guess your stuck with me :3Anyone. I can answer them too.Sorry to repost but I think this one got eaten by the others.
A Drakaina's spawn mutations are factored into her CR, but what if the spawn aren't encountered with her? The idea I have right now is to have a Drakaina be the ruler of a nation populated almost entirely with her spawn. I didn't read anything in her entry suggesting that they have to stay close, and her Dimension Door seems to confirm this.
Sorry for the rule-ish question.
I thought I answered that.
Anyway... here's the answer again.
The mutations do not affect a spawn's CR at all. The fact that she gives her spawn mutations is part of HER CR instead.
Oh Okies, my apologies. I misunderstood your first response.
If I have any more Drakaina related questions who best should I adress them to?
It's best to ask the questions here then, since that way everyone gets to see the answers.
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Creative Director
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If I may ask, why did you choose to abandon this mechanic?Just wondering but to demons in the worldwound leave behind bodies after they are killed? Or are they just banished back to the abyss?Summoned demons vanish if they die. All other demons leave bodies behind. The vast majority of demons in the Worldwound are there for real.
(The idea that outsiders are only banished to their home plane when they are killed is pretty much a D&D thing that we didn't keep.)
Several reasons. Here are three pretty compelling ones.
1) It's cool for there to be dead outsiders for bad guys and good guys to use as trophies, or for GMs and authors to use as "dressing" for a region.
2) To separate Pathfinder from D&D.
3 (THE BIG REASON): If outsiders vanished upon death, then their gear goes with them, and that makes fighting outsiders really unsatisfying. Monsters who have cool magic gear but that the PCs can't loot are not fun; this is why even 3rd edition abandoned the concept of drow weapons melting in sunlight.
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Creative Director
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James,
a)What kind of titles do elven nobles posses in Kyonin?
Are there princes, dukes, barons and etc (like in the greyhawk setting?) Or something else? Are those positions hereditary or elected?
b) What patron deities (or demigods) would you recommend for an aquatic elf PC?
a) There's a queen, so there's certainly princes and princesses. Down lower I'm not sure we've explored much more there.
b) Depends on the PC. There's not a specific "god of aquatic elves," and a ranger aquatic elf PC will be different than a rogue will be different than a bounty hunter will be different than a lunatic.
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It's best to ask the questions here then, since that way everyone gets to see the answers.Okies, guess your stuck with me :3Anyone. I can answer them too.Sorry to repost but I think this one got eaten by the others.
A Drakaina's spawn mutations are factored into her CR, but what if the spawn aren't encountered with her? The idea I have right now is to have a Drakaina be the ruler of a nation populated almost entirely with her spawn. I didn't read anything in her entry suggesting that they have to stay close, and her Dimension Door seems to confirm this.
Sorry for the rule-ish question.
I thought I answered that.
Anyway... here's the answer again.
The mutations do not affect a spawn's CR at all. The fact that she gives her spawn mutations is part of HER CR instead.
Oh Okies, my apologies. I misunderstood your first response.
If I have any more Drakaina related questions who best should I adress them to?
Okies reposting :3
Me: Sorry to keep questioning you about this but I'm still curious:
You say that a spawn's mutations are factored into the Drakaina's CR, okay. But I don't see how that still stands up if the Drakaina is never part of the encounter. Say for example a party of Level 1 characters encounter a group of Hobgoblins, each with a mutation.
Also the Birth Spawn ability says any creature of large or smaller size of her choice, does that mean there are no limits to what she can spawn? Or are things like outsiders off limits?
Your time and answers are much appreciated.
You: The Drakania should eventually be part of an adventure or campaign wherein the PCs encounter her spawn...
But look at it this way. The Advanced creature template increaes EVERY STAT by +4 and increases natural armor by +2... and for all that, only increases the monster's CR by +1.
The advantages granted via mutations to drakania spawn range widely in power, but for the most point do not come near to what the Advanced creature template grants, and therefore do not come near to a +1 boost to CR.
CR is a robust figure, and any one CR score can account for a wide range of creature abilities.
A single drakaina mutation simply isn't really enough to consistently increase a creature's CR as a result. Furthermore, simply giving a monster one new ability (which is what this does) doesn't really impact its AC and its saves and its hp and its damage and its save DCs and its attacks... and frankly, it's THOSE VALUES ALONE that CR cares about.
So... since the single mutation power granted a drakaina spawn is but a single power, and since they generally don't affect that creature's Table 1–1 values (the values that set CR)... the mutations don't affect CR.
Of course... keep in mind that when you build ANY CREATURE you should be willing to adjust its CR as needed to more accurately represent how it ends up being when you compare it to Table 1–1, regardless of what other rules say.
The birth spawn ability does indeed allow the drakaina to pick whatever she wants to birth. Of course, since you the GM are the one making that choice for her, you should absolutely limit those choices to what makes sense for you.
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Once again thankies for your time and answers :3
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If I may ask, why did you choose to abandon this mechanic?Just wondering but to demons in the worldwound leave behind bodies after they are killed? Or are they just banished back to the abyss?Summoned demons vanish if they die. All other demons leave bodies behind. The vast majority of demons in the Worldwound are there for real.
(The idea that outsiders are only banished to their home plane when they are killed is pretty much a D&D thing that we didn't keep.)
Several reasons. Here are three pretty compelling ones.
1) It's cool for there to be dead outsiders for bad guys and good guys to use as trophies, or for GMs and authors to use as "dressing" for a region.
2) To separate Pathfinder from D&D.
3 (THE BIG REASON): If outsiders vanished upon death, then their gear goes with them, and that makes fighting outsiders really unsatisfying. Monsters who have cool magic gear but that the PCs can't loot are not fun; this is why even 3rd edition abandoned the concept of drow weapons melting in sunlight.
Oh okay, I've just awalys liked that about outsiders cause it made them that much harder to permenantly kill and can make for great recurring allies/enemies.
As for disappearing me and my group have never ran it as a "get out of jail free" card for outsiders, their bodies get destroyed but they never take any loot with them and then after awhile their bodies reform on their home plan, naked and humiliated.
Not arguing with you, I just wanted to give my opinion on the subject. I might not always agree with everything you say but I still highly respect your reasons and advice, as a player, as a GM, as a Creative Director, and as a person. Many thankies for all that you do.
hey, a drakaina can do whatever she likes with me.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drakaina_(model)
==Aelryinth
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It's okay. Sexy redheads can get me to do a lot of things I later regret as well.James, I've been playing Serpent's Skull with a few friends, and something's been bugging me, ethics-wise:
** spoiler omitted **
Man, my character didn't even notice that. He's been kind of busy being Golarion's chew-toy. Though he kind of sucks at that, actually. He's only failed a few climb and swim checks that left him a little damp. Our cavalier got his skull crushed be a zombie. I gotta step up my game if I want my character to fail in more interesting ways...
Who do I pester with questions about the geology and ecology of Golarion?
Have you ever heard of Lox, from Native American mythology? Didn't think so.
Well, here's the tale of Glooscap and his People.
Glooscap is the Abenaki creator-god and first human. His evil twin brother Malsum/Malsumi was jealous of his creation abilities, and took a little bit of scrap to make his own servant. This is Lox, a shapechanging trickster that suffers from chronic backstabbing disorder. Glooscap and his People is the only story I've found that Lox appears in.
One: Do you think Lox would be a magical beast or an outsider? Two: Is it possible that he could ever be used in official Pathfinder material?
I got the Knights of the Inner Sea Companion, and loved reading through it. I espescially liked the sample knightly family lines for different countries.
Did/Do you ever find that when someone presents an idea in a book, it sounds much better than a similar idea you have yourself? Is this a side effect of reading much more experienced writers/RPers? Do you still experience this?
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Could you give the kaiju subtype to a humanoid? Specifically, to make Galactus?
Can Andriods become vampires or other forms of undead like other humanoids?Androids are humanoid for this exact reason. So that any effects that can affect humanoids can affect them as well. You can have vampire androids!
über cool !!!
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Who do I pester with questions about the geology and ecology of Golarion?
Me... but often times my answers will be variants of "We made Golarion the same size and shape and distance from the sun as Earth so that it's easy to come up with close approximations of things like that."
But yeah... feel free to ask those questions here!
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With the release of kaiju and now becoming a servant to King Mogaru, will there ever be a kaiju released class archetypes like a new bloodline for sorcerers (maybe call it the kaiju touched sorcerer), oracle mystery, or even cleric (they do mention that some treat kaiju like gods)?
While that's possible... it's VERY unlikely. If we DO do that... it's 99% likely it'll be in the context of a kaiju-related adventure with new rules intended for NPCs in the adventure, not PCs. NOTE: We do not have plans at this point for a kaiju-theemed adventure.