I do have work today. But I don't start work until 11:00 AM, so staying up till 2:00 AM is pretty normal for me.How can I suggest to the devs my own content in such a way that it might be printed in an official pathfinder book?You pretty much can't.
Unless we hire you to write for us.
*crys an needs a hug* i_i
also... Dont you have work tomarrow? Goto bed! XD
So let me get this straight.... Not only do you have one of the best jobs in the world, you also don't have to be to work until 11am? How unfair is that?
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James, I've been thinking of the level distribution in Pathfinder from a population perspective (meaning how large a percentage are a certain level).
This is the possible distribution I came up with:
L1-5: 80%
L6-10: 15%
L11-15: 4.5%
L16-20: 0.49%
L21+: 0.01%21+ would be anyone with sufficient mythic tiers to push them over the normal limit I suppose, if you aren't using epic level rules.
I did all the levels percentage individually in a spreadsheet, but it is too big to post in it's entirety. Also tried to turn it into a graph, but as it would be a very steep curve I had to use an algorithmic scale to make it less "messy", and I'm not a big fan of those.
Basically assuming there are 200 million people in the world (roughly what Earth had around 1AD), there would be 1 million people over level 15 on the planet. 0.5% might seem a bit high, but it is believed that around 1% of the population has a Ph.D (or some other form of doctorate, like a MD or JD) so maybe not.
What do you think of this level distribution? Do you agree with my estimates?
If that distreibution works for you, go for it! I specifically try to avoid nailing down things like this that might come back to bite me in the ass and fuel internet pedantry, frankly. If we continue publishing Adventure Paths for 30 years, after all, then we'll have 30 more years of high level adventures filled with high level foes that, eventually, would put the lie to anything like an official distribution chart.
And in the end... I just don't see the value of something like that, frankly. It just seems like a needless complication to the design of adventures of any level, but more so the higher level you get.
In theory, I suppose the CLOSET you could get to "official" numbers would be to read every product and adventure we have ever published and build your numbers off those findings... only to have them change every month.
So... again, if you like those spreads of percentages, go ahead and use them. I'm going to refrain replying to them so as to not create a false impression that there's anything like a hidden distribution chart we follow when determining levels for NPCs in Golarion. The closest you'll get from us for this would be the entry for "Power Levels" on page 253 of the Inner Sea World Guide.
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So, how would i go about politely letting Wes know that there's - whoa! Earthquake! BRB.
Okay, that wasn't a bad one. As I was saying, how do I politely let Wes know that there's a ROFLer of a misprint in Artifacts and Legends?
Woo! Earthquake.
If you find a misprint in a softcover book, the best place to note it is in that book's product thread, I guess. We rarely ever reprint these books, and as a result we don't have an official "errata/typo" program for them... especially since the rate at which we produce them would make such a program increasingly impossible with each passing month.
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What type of underwear do people on Golarion wear? ( sorry for the unusual question)
Depends entirely on the nation, the people, and their personality. Just like in the real world. Ask "What type of underwear do people on Earth wear?" and you'll get the same answer. And weird looks.
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So let me get this straight.... Not only do you have one of the best jobs in the world, you also don't have to be to work until 11am? How unfair is that?I do have work today. But I don't start work until 11:00 AM, so staying up till 2:00 AM is pretty normal for me.How can I suggest to the devs my own content in such a way that it might be printed in an official pathfinder book?You pretty much can't.
Unless we hire you to write for us.
*crys an needs a hug* i_i
also... Dont you have work tomarrow? Goto bed! XD
Well... I generally don't get home until about 7:30 or 8:00 PM, and often don't get days off at all when we're in crunch mode... so it balances out. Trust me.
Does Crunch mode involve more skeletons than zombies?
I was looking at distant words and a thought came to me...
What would it take to set up life support (breathable air) for a ship in space or perhaps a colony/worksite?
A pressure suit uses gust of wind and is good for 3 days. Including endure elements it costs a total of 4000 gp.
For 48000 gp, one could make a continuous use activated gust of wind magic item.
2 (spell level) x3 (caster level) x2000 (constant) x4 (spell has duration in rounds, one round)
That could make an item that just casts gust of wind at will indefinitely or, IMO, make an item that could continuously supply/refurbish air similar to the pressure suit.
spell description:
"This spell creates a severe blast of air (approximately 50 mph) that originates from you, affecting all creatures in its path."
How many medium creatures would you rule that as able to sustain if made into such an item (rather than merely continuously blasting out enormous quantities of air)?
Have any other ideas on how to make life support using the rules?
TIA
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I was looking at distant words and a thought came to me...
What would it take to set up life support (breathable air) for a ship in space or perhaps a colony/worksite?
A pressure suit uses gust of wind and is good for 3 days. Including endure elements it costs a total of 4000 gp.
For 48000 gp, one could make a continuous use activated gust of wind magic item.
2 (spell level) x3 (caster level) x2000 (constant) x4 (spell has duration in rounds, one round)That could make an item that just casts gust of wind at will indefinitely or, IMO, make an item that could continuously supply/refurbish air similar to the pressure suit.
spell description:
"This spell creates a severe blast of air (approximately 50 mph) that originates from you, affecting all creatures in its path."How many medium creatures would you rule that as able to sustain if made into such an item (rather than merely continuously blasting out enormous quantities of air)?
Have any other ideas on how to make life support using the rules?
TIA
There's a HUGE number of ways to do this, frankly. Use bottles of air. Portals to the elemental plane of air. Necklaces of adaption. Technology. The list goes on. If I were writing an adventure set in an area like this, the solution I would use would depend on the nature of the location and the adventure.
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There's a HUGE number of ways to do this, frankly. Use bottles of air. Portals to the elemental plane of air. Necklaces of adaption. Technology. The list goes on. If I were writing an adventure set in an area like this, the solution I would use would depend on the nature of the location and the adventure.I was looking at distant words and a thought came to me...
What would it take to set up life support (breathable air) for a ship in space or perhaps a colony/worksite?
A pressure suit uses gust of wind and is good for 3 days. Including endure elements it costs a total of 4000 gp.
For 48000 gp, one could make a continuous use activated gust of wind magic item.
2 (spell level) x3 (caster level) x2000 (constant) x4 (spell has duration in rounds, one round)That could make an item that just casts gust of wind at will indefinitely or, IMO, make an item that could continuously supply/refurbish air similar to the pressure suit.
spell description:
"This spell creates a severe blast of air (approximately 50 mph) that originates from you, affecting all creatures in its path."How many medium creatures would you rule that as able to sustain if made into such an item (rather than merely continuously blasting out enormous quantities of air)?
Have any other ideas on how to make life support using the rules?
TIA
So basically what best (and entertaining) way can this work, and then go horribly wrong?
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In theory, I suppose the CLOSET you could get to "official" numbers would be to read every product and adventure we have ever published and build your numbers off those findings... only to have them change every month.
There is another source of data points that might prove helpful beyond the ISWG and trying to brute-force the question from adventures. The community sizes in the Gamemastery Guide suggest that, for example, it takes a population of at least 25,000 to have reliable access to 8th level spells (and, by extension, 15th level casters). That doesn't tell you how easy it is to find, say, 15th level fighters, but it does suggest to me at least that 0.5% is probably too high, possibly by a couple orders of magnitude.
Thanks again, James.
My apologies for such an incredibly broad and open question
Rather than looking at it from an adventure writing perspective I was looking at it from the perspective of a player wanting to put a mining colony in the dispora and trying to determine what would be needed. :D
Basically, right now I am looking at it as using the continuous use item with gust of wind as basically a filter or supply for air. I was looking at magic rather than technology because I think I can reach my end goal within the framework of rules for magic.
Back to the drawing board.
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So basically what best (and entertaining) way can this work, and then go horribly wrong?
That's basically asking for adventure design, frankly. I can't really say what the "best and most entertaining" way would be without knowing the setup, the plot, the situation, the characters involved, and so on.
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In theory, I suppose the CLOSET you could get to "official" numbers would be to read every product and adventure we have ever published and build your numbers off those findings... only to have them change every month.There is another source of data points that might prove helpful beyond the ISWG and trying to brute-force the question from adventures. The community sizes in the Gamemastery Guide suggest that, for example, it takes a population of at least 25,000 to have reliable access to 8th level spells (and, by extension, 15th level casters). That doesn't tell you how easy it is to find, say, 15th level fighters, but it does suggest to me at least that 0.5% is probably too high, possibly by a couple orders of magnitude.
True... but those numbers weren't built with "numbers of high level spellcasters per population" in mind, but merely as a way to ensure that higher level spellcasting is generally available. Keep in mind, in other words, that once you get the ability to teleport or wind walk or numerous other fast travel spell options, you don't have to live in the city where you sell your magic.
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Well, the big thing is that the vast majority of people are going to be level 1-4, your 'elites' are going to be 5-8. The problem here is level 9, when you start being able to afford Raise Dead, and hang around with others who can cast it.
once you have access to that spell, your survivability, and the power you will rise to, increases dramatically. Before then, not so much.
So, you can almost lump 9+ into a category by itself, simply because the power to bring someone back from the dead (in the field) is really going to increase the number of post-9th people around.
That would really skew the distribution.
Then add on all the wizard/alchemists 20th that decided to become immortal, and that skews things further..
==Aelryinth
The ranges we use for Golarion & Pathfinder are a bit wider. We group things in bands of levels 1–5, 6–10, 11–15, and 16–20 for the four power levels.
Two questions:
A) Did you see that MTV is partnering to produce a Shannara based series?
B) Are you a fan of the author and/or the Shannara books?
Do you have any tricks you use as a DM to figure out who triggers/is threatened by traps that occur outside combat?
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Do you have any tricks you use as a DM to figure out who triggers/is threatened by traps that occur outside combat?
Sometimes I'll just assume it was whoever seemed to be most likely to trigger that kind of trap, but in a case where it could have been anyone in the party, I usually either:
1) Ask the players what their characters are doing and where they are, and then decide who makes the most sense as to who set the trap off then.
or 2) Just determine who set the trap off randomly.
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So basically what best (and entertaining) way can this work, and then go horribly wrong?That's basically asking for adventure design, frankly. I can't really say what the "best and most entertaining" way would be without knowing the setup, the plot, the situation, the characters involved, and so on.
Sorry, meant for that to be a reply rather than a question, should have put "is what your suggesting" before the ? :3
With the Golarion setting did you guys set out with the goal of creating real world analogs with the nations or is it something that just happened naturally?
How do you think you'd modify Rise of the Runelords to support 8 players? Other than splitting groups.
We might mention a few of the Tian Xia deities, but since they are by definition NOT Inner Sea Gods there won't be a lot. Probably nothing more or nothing new from Dragon Empires Gazetteer.
I know that there are reasons in the real world for the existence of multiple gods from culture to culture, and that there is sometimes "spillover" where two or more cultures intersect and borrow from one another (Rome and Greece being perhaps the most notable Western example).
While there is some of that in many fantasy worlds, such as Golarion (Shelyn stands out as one), but I've always kind of been curious as to the rationale for it in the minds of designers. In a world like our own, where there is little evidence of actual deific contact and interaction with the world (arguably), it is understandable that groups would create their own deities who may not necessarily be the same as other groups. But in most fantasy worlds, where evidence of such contacts are known to exist- both to us as players, but also to the people of the world, through clerical contacts, actual interaction, etc.- what would be the rationale for deities not having more of a global interest as a matter of course, and for the "spillover" effect of such deities appearing in more cultures on that scale, albeit with different names?
EDIT: I guess I'm looking more for your perspective specifically in the approach taken with Golarion, as opposed to just general speculation, as I'd imagine it varies not only between companies but probably between designers within them.
Does Crunch mode involve more skeletons than zombies?More things that cause great mental anguish and madness than mere physical threats.
Sounds like there's a good reason you're so great at coming up with Demons!
Have you read about the new Expansion for Warcraft, the Warlords of Draenor? I believe you said you liked the Horde best when they were the bad guys, while it's a different horde, there will be lots of evil Orcs to kill.
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How do you think you'd modify Rise of the Runelords to support 8 players? Other than splitting groups.
Splitting groups is frankly the best bet.
The other option would be to add a LOT more fights to each battle; don't increase individual monster CR, but consider giving everything maximum hit points and adding more combatants to each fight; how much more you'll need to experiment a bit. You'll also want to consider simply making ALL of the advneture sites twice as big, so that you can physically accomidate all the player characters and additional monsters. And don't allow summoners. Require druids and rangers to take the non companion options. No Leadership feat.
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We might mention a few of the Tian Xia deities, but since they are by definition NOT Inner Sea Gods there won't be a lot. Probably nothing more or nothing new from Dragon Empires Gazetteer.I know that there are reasons in the real world for the existence of multiple gods from culture to culture, and that there is sometimes "spillover" where two or more cultures intersect and borrow from one another (Rome and Greece being perhaps the most notable Western example).
While there is some of that in many fantasy worlds, such as Golarion (Shelyn stands out as one), but I've always kind of been curious as to the rationale for it in the minds of designers. In a world like our own, where there is little evidence of actual deific contact and interaction with the world (arguably), it is understandable that groups would create their own deities who may not necessarily be the same as other groups. But in most fantasy worlds, where evidence of such contacts are known to exist- both to us as players, but also to the people of the world, through clerical contacts, actual interaction, etc.- what would be the rationale for deities not having more of a global interest as a matter of course, and for the "spillover" effect of such deities appearing in more cultures on that scale, albeit with different names?
EDIT: I guess I'm looking more for your perspective specifically in the approach taken with Golarion, as opposed to just general speculation, as I'd imagine it varies not only between companies but probably between designers within them.
Spillover happens in the real world; that's enough of a reason to do the same in Golarion. But it also allows for some easy cultural "bridges" from one area to another, to help ease folks into a different region by giving them a few familiar faces along the way.
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Does Crunch mode involve more skeletons than zombies?More things that cause great mental anguish and madness than mere physical threats.Sounds like there's a good reason you're so great at coming up with Demons!
Have you read about the new Expansion for Warcraft, the Warlords of Draenor? I believe you said you liked the Horde best when they were the bad guys, while it's a different horde, there will be lots of evil Orcs to kill.
I've heard a little about it. I'm not really looking into it a lot yet though. Would prefer to be surprised to a certain extent by the content.
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Yes. More than one, in fact, depending on region and/or religion.Does it have a Christmas/Saturnalia-like festivity, though? (Midwinter, giving of gifts, big dinner with family and/or acquaintances).Does Golarion have a Santa Claus?Nope.
Does Golarion have any legends/myths similar to Sinterklaas/St. Nick (traditional versions, not the modern commercialized ones)? Edit: Oops, already answered (twice even).
What about a Krampus? Edit: ARRRRRRRRGH! Also already answered.
Could you be bribed to add a Mikaze-like Empyreal Lord of Generosity, Outcasts, and Acceptance? I've searched, and all three aspects appear to be unclaimed by the current Powers. Only semi-seriously, as I figure the answer is already No, but it wouldn't hurt to ask.
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Yes. More than one, in fact, depending on region and/or religion.Does it have a Christmas/Saturnalia-like festivity, though? (Midwinter, giving of gifts, big dinner with family and/or acquaintances).Does Golarion have a Santa Claus?Nope.Does Golarion have any legends/myths similar to Sinterklaas/St. Nick (traditional versions, not the modern commercialized ones)?
What about a Krampus?
Could you be bribed to add a Mikaze-like Empyreal Lord of Generosity, Outcasts, and Acceptance? I've searched, and all three aspects appear to be unclaimed by the current Powers. Only semi-seriously, as I figure the answer is already No, but it wouldn't hurt to ask.
Not really.
Not really.
And at this point, we've got a LOT of Empyreal Lords. I'm not eager to add more.
Spillover happens in the real world; that's enough of a reason to do the same in Golarion. But it also allows for some easy cultural "bridges" from one area to another, to help ease folks into a different region by giving them a few familiar faces along the way.
Sorry- my long winded analysis sort of obscured the question I think. I was actually curious why there wouldn't be/shouldn't be more of that sort of spillover- why you'd have these "pocket" geographic regions where there were a whole new set of gods with only a few crossovers, rather than having them be more globally interested (and as such, the same gods with different names).
Are there plans to develop a new campaign setting separate from Golarion?
Are there plans for an AP based on material from the Distant Worlds sourcebook?
Are there plans for when you turn into a T-rex & go rampaging through the offices?
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Spillover happens in the real world; that's enough of a reason to do the same in Golarion. But it also allows for some easy cultural "bridges" from one area to another, to help ease folks into a different region by giving them a few familiar faces along the way.Sorry- my long winded analysis sort of obscured the question I think. I was actually curious why there wouldn't be/shouldn't be more of that sort of spillover- why you'd have these "pocket" geographic regions where there were a whole new set of gods with only a few crossovers, rather than having them be more globally interested (and as such, the same gods with different names).
The more "spillover," the less room we have to detail new things. And when we're exploring a new region, the majority of it should be new. So the "spillover" gets kept to a minimum.
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1) Are there plans to develop a new campaign setting separate from Golarion?
2) Are there plans for an AP based on material from the Distant Worlds sourcebook?
3) Are there plans for when you turn into a T-rex & go rampaging through the offices?
1) No, because this fractures your customer base and, in the long run, causes you to make less money while forcing you to spend more money to support lines that are invariably interpreted by customers as being competing and incompatible lines. Multiple campaign settings is one of the reasons TSR went out of business—customers of Forgotten Realms wouldn't buy Planescape products, for example, due to a perception that they didn't need them or couldn't use them, but no one line was making enough money to support the company so once that genie was out of the bottle, it was an increasingly difficult one to wrangle. By focusing on one setting that has multiple themes within it, we avoid that and can focus all or energy on just one setting rather than juggling dozens.
2) Already done; Reign of Winter draws heavily on Distant Worlds in its 4th adventure. As for an entire AP that's a "planet hopping" campaign... we haven't made any announcements of such yet.
3) Not yet. Shhhh.
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After years of playing D&D and pathfinder, I am totally burned out on dungeon crawls to the point where I fell asleep during a session of Shattered Star. We have played all the adventure paths up to this. Are there going to be any not-dungeon crawl heavy APs coming? They're well written and all but there are only so many times I can spend an entire month (one game a week) or month and a half of game sessions searching a monster filled mansion, temple, cave system, etc...
Sounds like you might need to consider playing a different game for a while, honestly. Dungeons are a core part of Pathfinder, be they set underground or in derelict ships or old castles or whatever—the gameplay element of exploring a series of rooms with monsters and traps and tricks is not something we'll ever completely ignore in our adventures, because the game is BUILT for this type of play.
That said, Shattered Star is specifically intended to be a dungeon-heavy AP. It is, without a doubt, THE most dungeon-heavy AP we've ever published. By design, for a lot of reasons.
If you're looking for an AP with smaller dungeons/fewer dungeons, consider Curse of the Crimson Throne, Kingmaker, or Skull & Shackles. Note that there are STILL dungeons in those—in fact, each of them has one adventure that's a significant dungeon crawl.
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A brief query on the Great Old Ones in B4 (I suspect you were probably the one who wrote their statblocks, yes?). They say that they "count as" mythic rank 10 creatures in their Great Old One subtype, but that doesn't mean they actually have the mythic subtype or get a bunch of mythic abilities (which, if they do, seemingly aren't listed anywhere), does it? They only count as possessing it when dealing with characters, spells and effects that do different things to mythic and non-mythic targets?
I did indeed design the great old ones.
All of them, along with the demon lords and empyreal lords, are "mythic equivalent" creatures. They don't directly use the mythic rules for their powers (with the exception of some mythic spell-like abilities), but they absolutely count as mythic creatures for the purposes of resolving attacks from mythic characters.
They do not have the mythic subtype. Their stats, along with all the other stats in the book, are complete—you don't need to "finish" them by adding the benefits from the mythic subtype.
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The island of Jalmeray is in the Inner SeaIs the Vudra deity (Vineshvakhi) in the Inner Sea Gods HardcoverI have no idea, but if I had to guess... no. Because Vudra deities aren't Inner Sea deities.
Doesn't change a thing.
Gods from other parts of the world, and indeed gods from other worlds are worshiped in the Inner Sea region... but that doesn't make them "Inner Sea Gods."
AKA: The book is big, but not big enough to include everything.