Said things!HEY!
At least ask a question of your own so that I don't feel like I'm spinning my wheels here! :-P
Nothing to do with ghosts but rather mythic rules.
Longevity
Longevity (Su): Upon taking this ability, you can no longer die from old age. If you have penalties to your physical ability scores due to aging, you no longer take those penalties. You still continue to age, and you gain all the benefits to your mental ability scores.
Immortal (Su): At 9th tier, if you are killed, you return to life 24 hours later, regardless of the condition of your body or the means by which you were killed. When you return to life, you aren't treated as if you had rested, and don't regain the use of abilities that recharge with rest until you next rest. This ability doesn't apply if you're killed by a coup de grace or critical hit performed by either a mythic creature (or creature of even greater power) or a non-mythic creature wielding a weapon capable of bypassing epic damage reduction. At 10th tier, you can be killed only by a coup de grace or critical hit made with an artifact.
Typically, I see immortal as referring to being able to live forever. In the above, it seems to be explicitly be referring to being killed as opposed to dying of old age.
1.Is that (apparent, at least to me) difference explicitly intended or does it grant longevity also?
2. The possibility of the overlap makes me wonder about the possible retraining of mythic abilities. Would you allow such? If yes, would you require a trainer? For all changes or just some?
Sorry if these have been asked previously.
(Reposting since it seems to have gotten skipped)
James,
Does each Iconic have a canon mythic path, or are some of them (the more martial ones especially) flexible?
Do you think a quest to send Agmazar the Star Titan to Eox (as originally intended) would be an interesting thing to base an adventure on?
Do you know if the Outer Dragons' described tendence to have their alignment vary more than most other kinds of dragons is mostly about good vs evil (All but the Void Dragon are neutral on that axis) or do they vary between law and chaos and neutrality as well (all but the void dragon and time dragon are described as either chaotic or neutral).
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Would you accept a *holiday headbonk* from a glittery snow leopard?
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Alushinyrra?2) When (hopefully this isn't an "if" question) we see another urban campaign, is it likely to be set in one of the more outlandish parts of Golarion, or in a city residing within the more familiar, tried-and-true fantasy tropes parts of Golarion (like Varisia, Cheliax, Andoran, Taldor and other European based location)?I've got a very specific urban campaign idea in mind that I'm not gonna reveal since it's gonna happen. But yes, we'll eventually do another urban AP.
Just did that in Midnight Isles.
So...no. My plans are for something else I'm not gonna reveal more about until the time is right in the future.
Fooie.
For a question, what other planar cities, besides Axis, are visitor friendly/neutral?
Investigation/Detective AP/module?
"Colorful" detectives/investigators agency? " Is that a vampire? What is that howling? Why is that little kid trying to eat me?"
Hey James. I have two questions that cropped up during our last session. We're playing Sword of Valor at the moment. Rest spoilered for obvious reasons.
The fight went a bit differently than the book as she got a heads up they were coming so she was pre-buffed and hadn't used her wall of force.
Two things happened that I could use your input on please:
1) Near the end of the fight they cornered her near one of the doors and used the wall of force as a means to escape. The summoner spent a mythic point to cast wall of ice past the force wall and trap her so she couldn't get out the door (basically an ice wall right in front of the doorway she was going to run out). I ruled he could do it, but can you normally cast a spell past a wall of force? I know magic missile and the like can't pass through it but wasn't sure on this.
2) Due to the above, she ended up trapped. Her wall of force has 4 rounds remaining when we finished. She has no way of getting out (she spent her dimension door scroll earlier when the paladin closed on her and both her dispel attempts failed to remove the wall of ice). She knows she is basically out of options. The party offered her a chance to redeem and join them...and her stat block doesn't give much information on this. Would she consider this in exchange to live? She knows her life is forfeit once it falls...but I also noted her soul is destined for Deskari anyway. Thoughts?
Really appreciate any insight or thoughts you might have. Thanks!
I know you might not like Christmas carols, but how do you feel about ones with HP Lovecraft lyrics? See David Morgan-Mar's songs: Here Comes Azathoth!, Non-Euclidean Christmas, Silent Night, Eldritch Night, It came upon a midnight clear, that colour out of space, Cthulhu is Coming to Town, 'Thulhu, the dread Great Old One, Hastur once, Hastur twice, Hastur thrice, Underwater Lair.
There is audio available for Cthulhu is Coming to Town here.
Creative Director
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Does the ethereal plane even exist in Pathfinder? I've seen scarcely any mention of it.Absolutely. Ghosts in Pathfinder do not have the weird connection to the Ethereal Plane that they did in previous editions; they can exist and appear anywhere in the Multiverse as a result. In fact, decoupling ghosts from the Ethereal was done PRECISELY for this purpose; to allow ghosts to exist anywhere.3) I think there's a key missing word from this question that makes it unanswerable.Whoops, don't know how I missed that. To include the missing word:
Do you think that a ghost could form on another plane? I think from what I recall that the ethereal plane overlaps the material plane and the plane of shadow, so if it was one of the elemental or outer planes, would a ghost even be able to manifest in the first place? And if it could, do you think having formed on or dwelling on another plane for extended periods of time would be likely to alter it?
Yup; it exists. There's not a lot going on there, but it's definitely part of the world.
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Creative Director
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Said things!HEY!
At least ask a question of your own so that I don't feel like I'm spinning my wheels here! :-P
Nothing to do with ghosts but rather mythic rules.
Longevity
Longevity (Su): Upon taking this ability, you can no longer die from old age. If you have penalties to your physical ability scores due to aging, you no longer take those penalties. You still continue to age, and you gain all the benefits to your mental ability scores.Immortal (Su): At 9th tier, if you are killed, you return to life 24 hours later, regardless of the condition of your body or the means by which you were killed. When you return to life, you aren't treated as if you had rested, and don't regain the use of abilities that recharge with rest until you next rest. This ability doesn't apply if you're killed by a coup de grace or critical hit performed by either a mythic creature (or creature of even greater power) or a non-mythic creature wielding a weapon capable of bypassing epic damage reduction. At 10th tier, you can be killed only by a coup de grace or critical hit made with an artifact.
Typically, I see immortal as referring to being able to live forever. In the above, it seems to be explicitly be referring to being killed as opposed to dying of old age.
1.Is that (apparent, at least to me) difference explicitly intended or does it grant longevity also?
2. The possibility of the overlap makes me wonder about the possible retraining of mythic abilities. Would you allow such? If yes, would you require a trainer? For all changes or just some?
Sorry if these have been asked previously.
1) "Immortal" doesn't have only one definition. Immortality doesn't always grant longevity.
2) I allow players to rebuild their characters whenever they want; I'd rather have players happy with their characters but do ask the players to minimize taking advantage of this generosity.
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Creative Director
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(Reposting since it seems to have gotten skipped)
James,
Does each Iconic have a canon mythic path, or are some of them (the more martial ones especially) flexible?
Do you think a quest to send Agmazar the Star Titan to Eox (as originally intended) would be an interesting thing to base an adventure on?
Do you know if the Outer Dragons' described tendence to have their alignment vary more than most other kinds of dragons is mostly about good vs evil (All but the Void Dragon are neutral on that axis) or do they vary between law and chaos and neutrality as well (all but the void dragon and time dragon are described as either chaotic or neutral).
Each iconic has an implied "canon mythic path" but I don't expect to ever expand upon that beyond how they were illustrated in Mythic Adventures.
Yes.
The outer dragon's alignments form a + on the alignment chart, I believe. We wanted more neutral dragons. But there's no hard and fast rule for dragon alignments.
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Creative Director
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Alushinyrra?2) When (hopefully this isn't an "if" question) we see another urban campaign, is it likely to be set in one of the more outlandish parts of Golarion, or in a city residing within the more familiar, tried-and-true fantasy tropes parts of Golarion (like Varisia, Cheliax, Andoran, Taldor and other European based location)?I've got a very specific urban campaign idea in mind that I'm not gonna reveal since it's gonna happen. But yes, we'll eventually do another urban AP.
Just did that in Midnight Isles.
So...no. My plans are for something else I'm not gonna reveal more about until the time is right in the future.
Fooie.
For a question, what other planar cities, besides Axis, are visitor friendly/neutral?
The majority of them are, otherwise the adventures we can set there are unnecessarily limited.
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Creative Director
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Investigation/Detective AP/module?
"Colorful" detectives/investigators agency? " Is that a vampire? What is that howling? Why is that little kid trying to eat me?"
Mystery adventures are the hardest to create, and an entire AP of them would be really tough... and on top of that... not sure how many folks would WANT one...
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The majority of them are, otherwise the adventures we can set there are unnecessarily limited.Alushinyrra?2) When (hopefully this isn't an "if" question) we see another urban campaign, is it likely to be set in one of the more outlandish parts of Golarion, or in a city residing within the more familiar, tried-and-true fantasy tropes parts of Golarion (like Varisia, Cheliax, Andoran, Taldor and other European based location)?I've got a very specific urban campaign idea in mind that I'm not gonna reveal since it's gonna happen. But yes, we'll eventually do another urban AP.
Just did that in Midnight Isles.
So...no. My plans are for something else I'm not gonna reveal more about until the time is right in the future.
Fooie.
For a question, what other planar cities, besides Axis, are visitor friendly/neutral?
Oh okay. Is their one in Abaddon somewhere?
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Mystery adventures are the hardest to create, and an entire AP of them would be really tough... and on top of that... not sure how many folks would WANT one...Investigation/Detective AP/module?
"Colorful" detectives/investigators agency? " Is that a vampire? What is that howling? Why is that little kid trying to eat me?"
I really liked Trial of the Beast :3
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Creative Director
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Ah, sorry, guess I was confused since it says in the Core Rulebook, "Strange creatures dwell in the Ethereal Plane, as well as ghosts and dreams, many of which can sometimes extend their influence into the real world in mysterious and terrifying ways." But I guess that was an old artifact of 3.5 that got missed when ethereal plane references were being excised from the ghost entry.
But anyways. That's not a question, so!
1) Do you think it would potentially be interesting if a ghost who died on a non-material plane might absorb some of the essence of its plane, altering its nature somewhat?
2) I know you've said if you could pick anywhere on Golarion to live, you would pick Sandpoint, but if it was instead anywhere in Garund, where would you pick to live?
3) What's the most recent really good book you've read?
Interesting; that's probably a case of D&D flavor creeping into the Core Rulebook and that should probably be adjusted some day.
1) Ghosts should be hand-crafted to be unique and individual. That's a good way to accomplish that.
2) Hmmmm... probably Port Peril. Although I'd have to up my tough guy qualities a lot.
3) The Abominable
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Creative Director
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Hey James. I have two questions that cropped up during our last session. We're playing Sword of Valor at the moment. Rest spoilered for obvious reasons.
Spoiler:The party has infiltrated the citadel and the dungeon. The last session we ended just as they were finishing the fight with the tiefling conjurer (my memory isn't 100% but I believe her name is close to Chorunissa).The fight went a bit differently than the book as she got a heads up they were coming so she was pre-buffed and hadn't used her wall of force.
Two things happened that I could use your input on please:
1) Near the end of the fight they cornered her near one of the doors and used the wall of force as a means to escape. The summoner spent a mythic point to cast wall of ice past the force wall and trap her so she couldn't get out the door (basically an ice wall right in front of the doorway she was going to run out). I ruled he could do it, but can you normally cast a spell past a wall of force? I know magic missile and the like can't pass through it but wasn't sure on this.2) Due to the above, she ended up trapped. Her wall of force has 4 rounds remaining when we finished. She has no way of getting out (she spent her dimension door scroll earlier when the paladin closed on her and both her dispel attempts failed to remove the wall of ice). She knows she is basically out of options. The party offered her a chance to redeem and join them...and her stat block doesn't give much information on this. Would she consider this in exchange to live? She knows her life is forfeit once it falls...but I also noted her soul is destined for Deskari anyway. Thoughts?
Really appreciate any insight or thoughts you might have. Thanks!
1) Normally wall of force blocks line of effect, yes.
2) If you want to let her get redeemed... go for it! We couldn't include redemption stuff for every NPC, but that's a theme that's strong throughout the AP. In order for her to accept the PCs' offer, though... they'd need to do something to prove to her they mean it and that it's not a trick. The PCs need to take the first step to establish trust. Rescuing her soul from Deskari is a cool sounding side quest!
Drat! I'll call it a one time fluke with the wall since he used mythic power to cast it, but also make it clear that it won't be working next time.
Thanks very much! We'll see if they can convince her then and I'll see how it plays out. Appreciate the help!
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Creative Director
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I know you might not like Christmas carols, but how do you feel about ones with HP Lovecraft lyrics? See David Morgan-Mar's songs: Here Comes Azathoth!, Non-Euclidean Christmas, Silent Night, Eldritch Night, It came upon a midnight clear, that colour out of space, Cthulhu is Coming to Town, 'Thulhu, the dread Great Old One, Hastur once, Hastur twice, Hastur thrice, Underwater Lair.
There is audio available for Cthulhu is Coming to Town here.
Eew. Gross.
I've got a very specific urban campaign idea in mind that I'm not gonna reveal since it's gonna happen. But yes, we'll eventually do another urban AP.Alushinyrra?
Just did that in Midnight Isles.
So...no. My plans are for something else I'm not gonna reveal more about until the time is right in the future.
R'Lyeh? ;^p
I've gotten myself in an odd conundrum when it comes to my writing.
Usually, I am very picky about the kind of stuff I like in the horror genre, and quick to dismiss the amount of works I do not like in said genre. However, I've never had any real interest in writing horror stories of my own, until now. The thing is, I dunno if it's just an urge to one-up the current horror writers that will pass away, or if I really do like it enough to wanna do my own thing with it.
What do you think I should make of this sudden wanting to write a horror story? I'm busy writing a different tale at the moment.
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Yet more Shoanti questions!
What weapons do the Shoanti favor, apart from the ones directly associated (earthbreakers, klars, Shoanti bolas, totem spears, etc.)? Generally how do the Shoanti manufacture their weaponry? Do they trade for metal, or rely on local materials? Or do they just buy the weapons themselves (it's been mentioned they have trade relations with Janderhoff, where forgin's the name of the game, after all)?
(Reposting since it seems to have gotten skipped)
James,
Does each Iconic have a canon mythic path, or are some of them (the more martial ones especially) flexible?
Do you think a quest to send Agmazar the Star Titan to Eox (as originally intended) would be an interesting thing to base an adventure on?
Do you know if the Outer Dragons' described tendence to have their alignment vary more than most other kinds of dragons is mostly about good vs evil (All but the Void Dragon are neutral on that axis) or do they vary between law and chaos and neutrality as well (all but the void dragon and time dragon are described as either chaotic or neutral).
Each iconic has an implied "canon mythic path" but I don't expect to ever expand upon that beyond how they were illustrated in Mythic Adventures.
Yes.
The outer dragon's alignments form a + on the alignment chart, I believe. We wanted more neutral dragons. But there's no hard and fast rule for dragon alignments.
If that was the intent, then either the Vortex Dragon or the Solar Dragon (both LN) would have to be NG instead. If that were the case, which would it be? Or did you just mean none of them have extreme alignments? I had thought the primal dragons formed a + except for the Umbral, but I was mistaken, since there are both chaotic good and chaotic evil apparently (Crystal Dragons don't really strike me as chaotic good, for some reason).
Would a Mythic tarrasque make a good final boss?
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1) Do you think it would potentially be interesting if a ghost who died on a non-material plane might absorb some of the essence of its plane, altering its nature somewhat?
[tangent]
Ooh, that's totally cool. If you go with the notion that a ghost might manifests a 'body' from the matter surrounding them (which isn't always the case, it could also be 'ectoplasm' or something), then a ghost forming in the elemental plane of earth or fire might have a body made out of rocky or fiery matter instead.And one forming in the Abyss might materialize a 'body' made of equal parts chaos and evil...
[/tangent]
As for questions for James;
As the year ends, any products (or just specific parts of products, or even just a particular image or bit of 'setting dressing' or evocative turn of phrase) you've worked on this past year that you are particularly happy with?
Is it possible for a CE character to play well with others?
For instance, a character who's less "I am going to murder everything you know and care about" and more someone who's a general a-hole to most of the people he meets.
I have a skinwalker alchemist who's not murderously insane, but simply unpredictable and a bit of a prick. He does have a savage streak, but he reserves that for people who REALLY get on his nerves. Mostly meaning anyone that touches him or his stuff.
Mystery adventures are the hardest to create, and an entire AP of them would be really tough... and on top of that... not sure how many folks would WANT one...Investigation/Detective AP/module?
"Colorful" detectives/investigators agency? " Is that a vampire? What is that howling? Why is that little kid trying to eat me?"
It can be action'y with rivals one has to beat to the punch (or just plain beat), environmental things that risk destroying proofs, etc...
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Creative Director
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I've gotten myself in an odd conundrum when it comes to my writing.
Usually, I am very picky about the kind of stuff I like in the horror genre, and quick to dismiss the amount of works I do not like in said genre. However, I've never had any real interest in writing horror stories of my own, until now. The thing is, I dunno if it's just an urge to one-up the current horror writers that will pass away, or if I really do like it enough to wanna do my own thing with it.
What do you think I should make of this sudden wanting to write a horror story? I'm busy writing a different tale at the moment.
If you're serious about writing, you should write what you're inspired to write when you're inspired, I say!
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Creative Director
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Yet more Shoanti questions!
What weapons do the Shoanti favor, apart from the ones directly associated (earthbreakers, klars, Shoanti bolas, totem spears, etc.)? Generally how do the Shoanti manufacture their weaponry? Do they trade for metal, or rely on local materials? Or do they just buy the weapons themselves (it's been mentioned they have trade relations with Janderhoff, where forgin's the name of the game, after all)?
Weapon favorites vary by tribe, and within tribe by class and role. Again... we did a whole article about them back in Pathfinder #10 and it's been years since I read it so I'm not sure off the top of my head what we have and haven't said yet.
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Creative Director
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I see you're quite in touch with your female elven side. :)Eew. Gross.I know you might not like Christmas carols, but how do you feel about ones with HP Lovecraft lyrics? See David Morgan-Mar's songs: Here Comes Azathoth!, Non-Euclidean Christmas, Silent Night, Eldritch Night, It came upon a midnight clear, that colour out of space, Cthulhu is Coming to Town, 'Thulhu, the dread Great Old One, Hastur once, Hastur twice, Hastur thrice, Underwater Lair.
There is audio available for Cthulhu is Coming to Town here.
Yay!
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Creative Director
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If that was the intent, then either the Vortex Dragon or the Solar Dragon (both LN) would have to be NG instead. If that were the case, which would it be? Or did you just mean none of them have extreme alignments? I had thought the primal dragons formed a + except for the Umbral, but I was mistaken, since there are both chaotic good and chaotic evil apparently (Crystal Dragons don't really strike me as chaotic good, for some reason).
More of a Wes question at this point really. I remember having a discussion with Wes about them and their alignments during the text ordering stage, but I wasn't heavily involved in their design or development.
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Creative Director
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As for questions for James;
As the year ends, any products (or just specific parts of products, or even just a particular image or bit of 'setting dressing' or evocative turn of phrase) you've worked on this past year that you are particularly happy with?
I'd say Demons Revisited is tied with Midnight Isles for my favorite thing I worked on in 2013.
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Creative Director
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Is it possible for a CE character to play well with others?
For instance, a character who's less "I am going to murder everything you know and care about" and more someone who's a general a-hole to most of the people he meets.
I have a skinwalker alchemist who's not murderously insane, but simply unpredictable and a bit of a prick. He does have a savage streak, but he reserves that for people who REALLY get on his nerves. Mostly meaning anyone that touches him or his stuff.
It's possible, but it requires a player who's INTERESTED in playing well with others. And most players who choose chaotic evil aren't interested in that. Not because their characters are chaotic evil... but because they wanted to play jerks in the outset.
And "anyone who touches him" includes the healer. Your alchemist might want to mellow out a bit if he's gonna be around.
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Creative Director
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Mystery adventures are the hardest to create, and an entire AP of them would be really tough... and on top of that... not sure how many folks would WANT one...Investigation/Detective AP/module?
"Colorful" detectives/investigators agency? " Is that a vampire? What is that howling? Why is that little kid trying to eat me?"
It can be action'y with rivals one has to beat to the punch (or just plain beat), environmental things that risk destroying proofs, etc...
Action has nothing to do with it. It's the fact that setting a trail of clues for the PCs to follow such that they aren't too obvious/easy or aren't too difficult, while making the prospective GM feel comfortable enough about how the adventure is set up to run it even though he might feel the clues are too obviously makes for exceptionally difficult encounter design. Especially if those clues are meant to stretch across entire books.
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Would you accept a *holiday headbonk* from a glittery snow leopard?That sounds painful...
What, your cat has never bumped you with his/her head and purred? You, sir, have missed out on one of life's greatest experiences!
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Weapon favorites vary by tribe, and within tribe by class and role. Again... we did a whole article about them back in Pathfinder #10 and it's been years since I read it so I'm not sure off the top of my head what we have and haven't said yet.Yet more Shoanti questions!
What weapons do the Shoanti favor, apart from the ones directly associated (earthbreakers, klars, Shoanti bolas, totem spears, etc.)? Generally how do the Shoanti manufacture their weaponry? Do they trade for metal, or rely on local materials? Or do they just buy the weapons themselves (it's been mentioned they have trade relations with Janderhoff, where forgin's the name of the game, after all)?
The only things I remember mentioned in the article was that the Moon Clan are the best archers of the Shoanti, and the Hawk Clan work well with animals.
Are werecrocodiles common in Osirion? It seems like it'd make sense.
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Merry Christmas....well it might not be there for you just yet.
Anyway a couple of Swashbuckler question...
What is your favorite Swashbuckler movie?
What is your favorite Swashbuckler novel?
Ever played 7th Sea?
If you're serious about writing, you should write what you're inspired to write when you're inspired, I say!I've gotten myself in an odd conundrum when it comes to my writing.
Usually, I am very picky about the kind of stuff I like in the horror genre, and quick to dismiss the amount of works I do not like in said genre. However, I've never had any real interest in writing horror stories of my own, until now. The thing is, I dunno if it's just an urge to one-up the current horror writers that will pass away, or if I really do like it enough to wanna do my own thing with it.
What do you think I should make of this sudden wanting to write a horror story? I'm busy writing a different tale at the moment.
...why would I not be serious about writing? I've been doing it for five years!*
* = Though I only decided that I should aspire to publish things like a year or two ago.
Monster/Horror/Circus based Classes/Characters?
So, Charisma. And by extension, all stats.
Do you see them as affecting EVERY aspect that is listed in the stat description, or just one, most, or somewhere in between?
Ex: By "RAW" (not really the right word but we'll roll with it), can you have a character who is very attractive, but abrasive, unpersuasive, very uncharismatic, and have that suffice for a low Cha character?
Likewise, can a character with high Dex also be a bit of a klutz, or a low Dex character have quick hands? Or a high Wis character be lacking in all common sense, but with great perceptive powers and so forth?
There seems to be some argument about this on a fairly regular basis, and while it doesn't really affect much, I'd like your input on the matter.
And apologies if this has been asked before. There are a LOT of posts in this thread. =p
I have another "Behind The Scenes" set of questions.
You announced the 2014 APs in July and August. Just curious as to:
1. The internal timeline of when ideas you are batting around get put on the table for real consideration and the process of whittling down those ideas.
2. The average number of scenarios you debate, and how the final "voting" is handled for the following year's APs.
3. Do the APs that didn't make it go back on the debate list for next year? Moved to other areas such as Module ideas?
4. Do some AP ideas end up being thrown out as "unworkable" for one reason or another?
5. If you can reveal any, AP ideas you have had to discard?