>>Ask *James Jacobs* ALL your Questions Here!<<


Off-Topic Discussions

40,251 to 40,300 of 83,732 << first < prev | 801 | 802 | 803 | 804 | 805 | 806 | 807 | 808 | 809 | 810 | 811 | next > last >>
Paizo Employee Creative Director

The NPC wrote:

Mr. James Jacobs,

Two unrelated questions:

Have you watched Babylon 5?

In your estimation would be a good way/plot device to summon Dou-Bral from the past or an alternate timeline?

I've seen most of season 1 of Babylon 5 and one or two episodes from other seasons. I gave it a good try, but in the end couldn't get into it.

I don't think summoning Dou-Bral from the past or an alternate timeline is a good idea at the onset, frankly, so I wouldn't do it.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

CFet wrote:

Hi James, best wishes for recovery!

Quick Q: The Sandman's Stealspell, was this ability intended to be a ranged or melle touch attack?

Huh? I'm not sure what you're talking about here...

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Alexander Augunas wrote:
My computer might be fried. I've always wanted an iMac, but they're pretty darn expensive. Do you think it is better to get a computer that is more affordable, but might break sooner or should I splurge for the iMac even though it will take me a while to pay it off?

For a long time, I used PCs, and they were always breaking in one way or another after a year or two.

Then I bought a Macbook, and not only was it a solid computer... it still works over half a decade later. The battery is dead, but that's an easy fix; the computer itself still works quite well.

The advantage here (and there are many others when you buy Mac) is that you're buying a computer that' built by experts on EVERY part of that computer, not one built by what is essentially a committee, or even worse, by the customer.

The result IS a more expensive computer, but not having to repair or replace it every year or two pays off within that year.

My current take on buying a computer is to buy the best one you can, since even the "affordable ones" are still not inexpensive, and when they break you're going to have to spend lots of money to replace or fix it.

If you'd rather not go Mac... I would suggest buying a Lenovo PC; I just got one of these last November and I'm quite pleased with it. Of course, 2 months isn't long enough to determine if it's good for long term.

My current desktop is an iMac, and I love it. It works great.

If you CAN afford it... it's a great purchase. The only disadvantage is that there's not as many game options for Mac... but that's changing now with more and more publishers doing Mac versions of games.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

2 people marked this as a favorite.
Kairos Dawnfury wrote:
Since the Era of Xbox One and PS4 is starting, off the top of your head, could you list like 5-10 Xbox 360 games you would recommend as must plays?

Here's my list of must-plays for Xbox 360:

Fallout 3
Fallout New Vegas
Mass Effect (all 3)
Skyrim
Dishonored
Portal 2
Red Dead Redemption
The Orange Box
Dragon Age
Dark Souls

Honorable Mention: Crysis 2


I was just curious, James, which classical and mythological sources and books have influenced you the most?

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
James Jacobs wrote:


If you CAN afford it... it's a great purchase. The only disadvantage is that there's not as many game options for Mac... but that's changing now with more and more publishers doing Mac versions of games.

Or you just use Boot Camp/Parallels to run your Mac as a true Windows machine when you want to game. Or try your luck with WINE/Crossover.

From what I see after an initial rise the number of Mac game publishers seems to be on the downswing again due to...

1. Apple's general neglect towards gaming outside of the IOS platforms which approaches outright hostility.

2. The mondern Mac's capability to run as a rather decent Windows machine when booted that way.

Even the games that are crossplatform like World of Warcraft or Diablo run better on the Windows side because of the driver situation on Mac OS.

The Mac is a great machine for everything BUT gaming. And Boot Camp proves it's not the hardware that's the issue but software.

Radiant Oath

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber
James Jacobs wrote:
Archpaladin Zousha wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Grating and deep, like the classic evil devil voice you hear in movies.
So...Tim Curry? XD

Nope. Think the demon voice from "The Exorcist."

OOH! Tony Todd is a good voice to think of as well.

Awww, but Tim Curry's awesome! :(

Are there humans (or members of any other race for that matter) that hold a grudge against the elves for retreating to Sovyrian during Earthfall and staying away for so long when they could have returned and uplifted Golarion, preventing the loss of art, science, philosophy and magical theory that came part and parcel with the Age of Darkness?

Where on Golarion would one most likely find tiny goth top hats in fashion?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

WitchyTangles wrote:
I was just curious, James, which classical and mythological sources and books have influenced you the most?

Not drawing upon anything earlier than a few hundred years old...

Beowulf, The Odyssey, Dante's Inferno, Shakespeare, Japanese mythology, all manner of European Mythology and early explorers, and the Bible all come to mind.

Although the VAST bulk of my literary influences come from the past 150 years or so, particularly the pulps and horror comics and horror stories from the 80s.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

LazarX wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:


If you CAN afford it... it's a great purchase. The only disadvantage is that there's not as many game options for Mac... but that's changing now with more and more publishers doing Mac versions of games.

Or you just use Boot Camp/Parallels to run your Mac as a true Windows machine when you want to game. Or try your luck with WINE/Crossover.

From what I see after an initial rise the number of Mac game publishers seems to be on the downswing again due to...

1. Apple's general neglect towards gaming outside of the IOS platforms which approaches outright hostility.

2. The mondern Mac's capability to run as a rather decent Windows machine when booted that way.

Even the games that are crossplatform like World of Warcraft or Diablo run better on the Windows side because of the driver situation on Mac OS.

The Mac is a great machine for everything BUT gaming. And Boot Camp proves it's not the hardware that's the issue but software.

I tried setting up Boot Camp and all that did was fry my hard drive and a lot of older writing that I didn't have backed up, alas. Sure, it was user error, but I've not bothered trying to use Boot Camp ever since, especially since part of what I don't like about PCs is the actual Windows OS. It's not as elegant as Mac's OS. I have a PC now as well as a Mac, and games crash more often on the PC for me.

My take: If you're a gamer, you'll have multiple gaming platforms. PC, Mac, Xbox, PS4, etc.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Archpaladin Zousha wrote:

Are there humans (or members of any other race for that matter) that hold a grudge against the elves for retreating to Sovyrian during Earthfall and staying away for so long when they could have returned and uplifted Golarion, preventing the loss of art, science, philosophy and magical theory that came part and parcel with the Age of Darkness?

Where on Golarion would one most likely find tiny goth top hats in fashion?

There might be, but for the most part, that whole event happened so long ago that most folks don't really have the capacity to even comprehend the fact that it actually happened. For example, not a lot of folks today care about what humanity was up to 4,000 years before the pyramids of Egypt were built.

As for "tiny goth top hats"? Probably nowhere. You'll need to houserule them into your game.

Grand Lodge

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
James Jacobs wrote:


There might be, but for the most part, that whole event happened so long ago that most folks don't really have the capacity to even comprehend the fact that it actually happened. For example, not a lot of folks today care about what humanity was up to 4,000 years before the pyramids of Egypt were built.

The second New Doctor Who episode: Scene is at a gathering party to watch the demolition of Earth after the funds run out to retard the Suns expansion 5 billion years in the future. The Hostess points out to something the TV audience could recognise as a Wurlitzer jukebox.

"This was a device that the ancients used to store music. It was called an IPOD."


Is there a specific setting you'd like the Elder Scrolls to tackle next?


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
zergtitan wrote:
Since there will be some outsiders stated in the upcoming gods book, I was wondering if we were going to get any on the echo of the lost divinity that serves pharasma?

Just reporting this in case it was missed.


Okay, so this is sort of a rules question, but I am asking for your opinion on this (and this paragraph is also a disclaimer to anyone who might try to use your answer to justify it to a GM that says no that I am not asking you for any official ruling)

Arcane Bloodline wrote:
Metamagic Adept (Ex): At 3rd level, you can apply any one metamagic feat you know to a spell you are about to cast without increasing the casting time. You must still expend a higher-level spell slot to cast this spell. You can use this ability once per day at 3rd level and one additional time per day for every four sorcerer levels you possess beyond 3rd, up to five times per day at 19th level. At 20th level, this ability is replaced by arcane apotheosis.

Emphasis mine, if you are doing Eldritch Heritage do you ignore that last line, or is this actually a situation where due to wording, when you hit 20th level (and have Greater Eldritch Heritage of course) you actually get Arcane Apotheosis?


What does the alignment of a nation mean? Does that mean that the vast majority of its populace is that alignment, or just the ruling body?

NOTHING CAN EDIT MY SPIRIT CAUSE IT'S INDESTRUCTIBLE: Two more things.

First, would you say that Kenshiro (from Fist of the North Star) is an excellent example of what a 20th-level monk should be capable of?

Second, a certain fiction pet peeve of mine is the concept of Always Chaotic Evil. It REALLY irks me when an entire species is just stamped as "evil" with no real justification. If every single one is the same, then they don't really have free will and can't truly be called "evil," can they?

Let's just take goblins. The idea that every single goblin on the face of Golarion is a baby-eating, demon-worshipping psychopath just grinds my gears. I know that they aren't, but the fact that the original intent is for them to be such just... ugh.

Always Chaotic Evil is one of my pet peeve tropes, partly because a) it doesn't make much sense, and b) despite the fact that I'm pretty cynical, I refuse to believe that an entire race is just "born evil, no exceptions allowed."


James Jacobs wrote:
Dragon78 wrote:
So what movies have you seen recently?

Last movie I saw in the theater was NOT the Hobbit... still haven't seen that one.

Yesterday I saw "Flight," "Olympus Has Fallen," and "Jack Reacher." A few days ago I saw "Devil's Pass." All were entertaining.

Have you read any of the Jack Reacher novels? They're a lot better than I expected them to be - fairly standard thrillers but with really solid and well-written plots, and he mixes up the formula in interesting ways every fews books. Very easy to read as well.

Hope you're recovering well, and happy new year!


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Bill McGrath wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Dragon78 wrote:
So what movies have you seen recently?

Last movie I saw in the theater was NOT the Hobbit... still haven't seen that one.

Yesterday I saw "Flight," "Olympus Has Fallen," and "Jack Reacher." A few days ago I saw "Devil's Pass." All were entertaining.

Have you read any of the Jack Reacher novels? They're a lot better than I expected them to be - fairly standard thrillers but with really solid and well-written plots, and he mixes up the formula in interesting ways every fews books. Very easy to read as well.

If you haven't, I second the idea. After the movie, I read the whole series. They were fun.

Dark Archive

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
James Jacobs wrote:
The NPC wrote:

Mr. James Jacobs,

Two unrelated questions:

Have you watched Babylon 5?

In your estimation would be a good way/plot device to summon Dou-Bral from the past or an alternate timeline?

I've seen most of season 1 of Babylon 5 and one or two episodes from other seasons. I gave it a good try, but in the end couldn't get into it.

I don't think summoning Dou-Bral from the past or an alternate timeline is a good idea at the onset, frankly, so I wouldn't do it.

Re: B5

Sorry to hear it wasn't your cup of tea, James. Season 1 really doesn't do the series justice, though. It's really slow at times and feels like an average season of Star Trek: The Next Generation save for a few episodes towards the end, but really, the story doesn't get interesting until season 2 through season 4. Once Mister Morden shows up, things get very interesting indeed.

Still, not all media is for everyone. I hear there are people that actually enjoy the third X-Men movie. Philistines.


Can holy symbols be built into other objects? For instance, topping a staff or scepter with one?

Shadow Lodge

James Jacobs wrote:
CFet wrote:

Hi James, best wishes for recovery!

Quick Q: The Sandman's Stealspell, was this ability intended to be a ranged or melle touch attack?

Huh? I'm not sure what you're talking about here...

My apologies, I meant this ability from the Bard Sandman Archetype:

Stealspell (Su): ...the bard can steal a prepared spell or a spell known from another creature with a touch attack as a standard action...

I assumed it would be a ranged touch, that would mesh with perhaps the notion of the bard coaxing the stored spell from their foe via song/dance/etc but the ability description itself doesn't actually specify melee or ranged.

Of course, I do understand if you wish to remain elusive on this one ;)

Cheers!


How would you, personally, adapt the various AP's (other than Righteous, obviously) for Mythic play?

For instance, in Curse of the Crimson Throne…:
Would you make the return of Kazavon a definite, making him the final boss rather than Ileosa?


Hey James, hope you're feeling better every day! Questions:

1) What did Azlanti swords look like typically?

2) What is the best source of information on the Azlanti and their culture outside of the ISWG?

Silver Crusade

James Jacobs wrote:
Tels wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Dragon78 wrote:
So what movies have you seen recently?

Last movie I saw in the theater was NOT the Hobbit... still haven't seen that one.

Yesterday I saw "Flight," "Olympus Has Fallen," and "Jack Reacher." A few days ago I saw "Devil's Pass." All were entertaining.

Have you seen White House Down? It's another movie about an attack on the White House that came out at the same time as Olympus Has Fallen (it's not on Netflix).

If so, how would you compare the two? Which did you like better? Why?

My family and I recently watched them back to back, and we were talking about the pros and cons of each movie and how they compared. Just curious about your thoughts on the two movies.

I haven't seen White House Down and probably won't, because it's a Roland Emerich movie, and I've been frustrated and annoyed and infuriated by his movies enough for one lifetime. Having not seen White House Down, I'd say that Olympus Has Fallen is better in every way. If only because it wasn't trying to be jokey and because it didn't put the president into the role of "Action Movie Hero" which Emerich does way too much.

... The smell like fish scene...

Silver Crusade

James Jacobs wrote:
Kairos Dawnfury wrote:
Since the Era of Xbox One and PS4 is starting, off the top of your head, could you list like 5-10 Xbox 360 games you would recommend as must plays?

Here's my list of must-plays for Xbox 360:

Fallout 3
Fallout New Vegas
Mass Effect (all 3)
Skyrim
Dishonored
Portal 2
Red Dead Redemption
The Orange Box
Dragon Age
Dark Souls

Honorable Mention: Crysis 2

Would Oblivion fall under an Honorable Mention?


Questions on a couple of magical staves:

1) If a character possesses a staff of the magi and tries to use it in melee combat as a kind of club, what sort of weapon should it be treated as? It isn't described as a quarterstaff and doesn't have any weapon enhancements listed.

2) The Staff of the Slain (one of the relics of Kazavon) has two personalities within it, the NG Kolwyddon and the LE Kazavon. The former is active during the day, and the latter is active during the night. What I'm curious about is what happens when the item is brought close to other relics of Kazavon. Artifacts and Legends says that Kazavon's intelligence begins to return and the items get smarter from aggregate, but what happens to Kolwyddon's personality when this happens? Is it overwhelmed by Kazavon, or could it survive within the slowly-reconstituting dragon's mind?

3) Since he's active during the day, does that mean the staff doesn't count as "enhanced" when near other relics during the day?

4) Can the LE personality dominate the wearer (such as in an Ego conflict) without the NG personality's consent?

4a) Assuming the above answer is Yes, if the LE personality of the staff of the slain were to attempt to successfully dominate its bearer, would the NG personality likely revoke that as soon as it regained dominance, and force it back to square one the next night? To what degree are the two personalities opposed?

4b) Could, in exceptional circumstances, the NG personality attempt to dominate the LE personality at nighttime, or vice versa? Or are they flatly restricted to day and night?

5) While the personality of Kazavon seems obvious (do Lawful Evil things, reunite artifacts), what might the personality of Kolwyddon want, besides restraining Kazavon's mind/ego? Does he want to be freed? Does he seek knowledge? His reasons beyond generic NG alignment aren't really elaborated on.

6) How might one go about redeeming or at least lessening the evil of the Kazavon personality in the staff? I ask because of all the relics, it may have the best chance since it already has a NG personality in it as well - could powerful enough magic even "blend" the two together into a neutral, unified purpose?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Kairos Dawnfury wrote:
Is there a specific setting you'd like the Elder Scrolls to tackle next?

Not really; every time they do an Elder Scrolls game, they improve vastly on the previous one, and each one has been great at the time they were released. They're doing SOMETHING right, in other words, and I'm on board for what they do next. Which is the MMO, as it turns out.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

zergtitan wrote:
zergtitan wrote:
Since there will be some outsiders stated in the upcoming gods book, I was wondering if we were going to get any on the echo of the lost divinity that serves pharasma?
Just reporting this in case it was missed.

Dunno. But I don't believe so.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

AbsolutGrndZer0 wrote:

Okay, so this is sort of a rules question, but I am asking for your opinion on this (and this paragraph is also a disclaimer to anyone who might try to use your answer to justify it to a GM that says no that I am not asking you for any official ruling)

Arcane Bloodline wrote:
Metamagic Adept (Ex): At 3rd level, you can apply any one metamagic feat you know to a spell you are about to cast without increasing the casting time. You must still expend a higher-level spell slot to cast this spell. You can use this ability once per day at 3rd level and one additional time per day for every four sorcerer levels you possess beyond 3rd, up to five times per day at 19th level. At 20th level, this ability is replaced by arcane apotheosis.
Emphasis mine, if you are doing Eldritch Heritage do you ignore that last line, or is this actually a situation where due to wording, when you hit 20th level (and have Greater Eldritch Heritage of course) you actually get Arcane Apotheosis?

That's weird. But since you need Metamagic Adept to get arcane apotheosis, if you don't have the ability to replace, I'd say you don't get arcane apotheosis.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Voyd211 wrote:

What does the alignment of a nation mean? Does that mean that the vast majority of its populace is that alignment, or just the ruling body?

NOTHING CAN EDIT MY SPIRIT CAUSE IT'S INDESTRUCTIBLE: Two more things.

First, would you say that Kenshiro (from Fist of the North Star) is an excellent example of what a 20th-level monk should be capable of?

Second, a certain fiction pet peeve of mine is the concept of Always Chaotic Evil. It REALLY irks me when an entire species is just stamped as "evil" with no real justification. If every single one is the same, then they don't really have free will and can't truly be called "evil," can they?

Let's just take goblins. The idea that every single goblin on the face of Golarion is a baby-eating, demon-worshipping psychopath just grinds my gears. I know that they aren't, but the fact that the original intent is for them to be such just... ugh.

Always Chaotic Evil is one of my pet peeve tropes, partly because a) it doesn't make much sense, and b) despite the fact that I'm pretty cynical, I refuse to believe that an entire race is just "born evil, no exceptions allowed."

A nation's alignment is a two-word summation of the typical attitude of that nation's citizens and philosophies. It doesn't mean everyone in the nation is that alignment, but most of them are, and their leaders most likely are.

I would say that Kenshiro is not a good example of what a 20th level monk can do. Monks are defensive classes, and Fist of the North Star is more about offensive fighting.

Goblins are neutral evil, not chaotic evil. But with the exception of outsiders, no, races aren't born into their alignment. But enough of them are that alignment that when we're talking about them as a whole, it's safe to say "they're neutral evil" or whatever.


I've been looking through some of my books, trying to find a potential plot ideas, and I thought about Ihys, and potentially having an epic quest where the party potentially allies with a cult of Ihys to recover the Ihystear in an attempt to revive the long-dead god. So I was wondering what Ihys' Domains would be, were he not dead, as my group likes to keep continuity between games, so if this ends up being a real thing, it could be relevant.

So, the obvious ones are Chaos and Good. Liberation seems like another good choice. Potentially rune and/or knowledge as another one, based on him being the first to discover symbols and speech. Based on those I'd probably also tack on the subdomains of Freedom, Language, possibly redemption, but What would you put as his domains (and possibly subdomains)?

Also, is he likely to ever be touched on more than is covered in the Book of Darkness? Because I feel like it's hard to get a good feel, just based on the material in that.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Bill McGrath wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Dragon78 wrote:
So what movies have you seen recently?

Last movie I saw in the theater was NOT the Hobbit... still haven't seen that one.

Yesterday I saw "Flight," "Olympus Has Fallen," and "Jack Reacher." A few days ago I saw "Devil's Pass." All were entertaining.

Have you read any of the Jack Reacher novels? They're a lot better than I expected them to be - fairly standard thrillers but with really solid and well-written plots, and he mixes up the formula in interesting ways every fews books. Very easy to read as well.

Hope you're recovering well, and happy new year!

Haven't read any of them. The movie was REALLY quite good. Mostly because Werner Herzog as a bad guy is sheer brilliant casting. He wasn't in the movie much, but wow. More please!

And I'm doing well on the road to recovery; thanks!

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Misroi wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
The NPC wrote:

Mr. James Jacobs,

Two unrelated questions:

Have you watched Babylon 5?

In your estimation would be a good way/plot device to summon Dou-Bral from the past or an alternate timeline?

I've seen most of season 1 of Babylon 5 and one or two episodes from other seasons. I gave it a good try, but in the end couldn't get into it.

I don't think summoning Dou-Bral from the past or an alternate timeline is a good idea at the onset, frankly, so I wouldn't do it.

Re: B5

Sorry to hear it wasn't your cup of tea, James. Season 1 really doesn't do the series justice, though. It's really slow at times and feels like an average season of Star Trek: The Next Generation save for a few episodes towards the end, but really, the story doesn't get interesting until season 2 through season 4. Once Mister Morden shows up, things get very interesting indeed.

Still, not all media is for everyone. I hear there are people that actually enjoy the third X-Men movie. Philistines.

Everyone tells me that season one doesn't do the series justice, and that it doesn't pick up until later... but that's a fundamental flaw that is enough, in my opinion, to give the series a pass. I've got PLENTY to watch in the meantime... I'm not hurting for entertainment options.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Voyd211 wrote:
Can holy symbols be built into other objects? For instance, topping a staff or scepter with one?

Yes.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

1 person marked this as a favorite.
CFet wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
CFet wrote:

Hi James, best wishes for recovery!

Quick Q: The Sandman's Stealspell, was this ability intended to be a ranged or melle touch attack?

Huh? I'm not sure what you're talking about here...

My apologies, I meant this ability from the Bard Sandman Archetype:

Stealspell (Su): ...the bard can steal a prepared spell or a spell known from another creature with a touch attack as a standard action...

I assumed it would be a ranged touch, that would mesh with perhaps the notion of the bard coaxing the stored spell from their foe via song/dance/etc but the ability description itself doesn't actually specify melee or ranged.

Of course, I do understand if you wish to remain elusive on this one ;)

Cheers!

OH! I was assuming you were talking about the sandman monster from Bestiary 2, and that doesn't have any spell stealing powers, and so then I thought you were talking about the comic book, which made even less sense.

It says "touch attack" not "ranged touch attack." Therefore it's a melee attack. Touch = touching something, and therefore unless the rules say specifically otherwise, a touch attack is a melee attack. When it's ranged, we say "ranged touch attack" or the like.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Voyd211 wrote:

How would you, personally, adapt the various AP's (other than Righteous, obviously) for Mythic play?

** spoiler omitted **

I wouldn't.

Mythic adventures work best when they're built from the ground up to be mythic, and the idea that one could simply "adapt" non-mythic adventures to be mythic adventures, to me, seems to make them feel less mythic.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Daethor wrote:

Hey James, hope you're feeling better every day! Questions:

1) What did Azlanti swords look like typically?

2) What is the best source of information on the Azlanti and their culture outside of the ISWG?

1) Relatively similar to modern swords, although I suspect they had more curves and barbs and the like. It's not something we've decided or designed yet though.

2) There isn't really one yet. Perhaps the Serpent's Skull Adventure Path or the Sun Temple colony entry of Lost Cities... but Azlant isn't something we've done a lot of writing about yet, on purpose.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Rysky wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Kairos Dawnfury wrote:
Since the Era of Xbox One and PS4 is starting, off the top of your head, could you list like 5-10 Xbox 360 games you would recommend as must plays?

Here's my list of must-plays for Xbox 360:

Fallout 3
Fallout New Vegas
Mass Effect (all 3)
Skyrim
Dishonored
Portal 2
Red Dead Redemption
The Orange Box
Dragon Age
Dark Souls

Honorable Mention: Crysis 2

Would Oblivion fall under an Honorable Mention?

Oblivion would probably kick Red Dead Redemption off the list. I played Oblivion on the PC, and so to me it was never an Xbox game.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Alleran wrote:

Questions on a couple of magical staves:

1) If a character possesses a staff of the magi and tries to use it in melee combat as a kind of club, what sort of weapon should it be treated as? It isn't described as a quarterstaff and doesn't have any weapon enhancements listed.

2) The Staff of the Slain (one of the relics of Kazavon) has two personalities within it, the NG Kolwyddon and the LE Kazavon. The former is active during the day, and the latter is active during the night. What I'm curious about is what happens when the item is brought close to other relics of Kazavon. Artifacts and Legends says that Kazavon's intelligence begins to return and the items get smarter from aggregate, but what happens to Kolwyddon's personality when this happens? Is it overwhelmed by Kazavon, or could it survive within the slowly-reconstituting dragon's mind?

3) Since he's active during the day, does that mean the staff doesn't count as "enhanced" when near other relics during the day?

4) Can the LE personality dominate the wearer (such as in an Ego conflict) without the NG personality's consent?

4a) Assuming the above answer is Yes, if the LE personality of the staff of the slain were to attempt to successfully dominate its bearer, would the NG personality likely revoke that as soon as it regained dominance, and force it back to square one the next night? To what degree are the two personalities opposed?

4b) Could, in exceptional circumstances, the NG personality attempt to dominate the LE personality at nighttime, or vice versa? Or are they flatly restricted to day and night?

5) While the personality of Kazavon seems obvious (do Lawful Evil things, reunite artifacts), what might the personality of Kolwyddon want, besides restraining Kazavon's mind/ego? Does he want to be freed? Does he seek knowledge? His reasons beyond generic NG alignment aren't really elaborated on.

6) How might one go about redeeming or at least lessening the evil of the Kazavon personality in the staff? I ask because of all the relics, it may have the best chance since it already has a NG personality in it as well - could powerful enough magic even "blend" the two together into a neutral, unified purpose?

1) All staves are treated as quarterstaves in combat. If they aren't listed as having weapon enhancemnets, they work as normal quarterstaves in combat. I'd probably say at the very least they work as masterwork weapons.

2) Kolwyddon's personality would be quickly overwhelmed and destroyed.

3) It still counts as being enhanced.

4) Yes.

4a) Yes, it might also try to take control as well.

5) At this point? Mostly to oppose Kazavon and perhaps see all the artifacts associated with him somehow destroyed.

6) By going on a full-length campaign designed to present such a redemption in the form of numerous quests. Might even require some mythic stuff.


Thanks for the answers. As a followup:

Alleran wrote:
4b) Could, in exceptional circumstances, the NG personality attempt to dominate the LE personality at nighttime, or vice versa? Or are they flatly restricted to day and night?

You might have missed this one, so I'll just repost it there. Also:

1) For several of the relics of Kazavon there are records of at least general locations (e.g. the Throne of Nalt is in the Shackles beneath Eel's Skull, the Crown of Fangs was beneath the Mastaba, the Bound Blade was in a tomb deep in the south before it was taken into the Darklands, and so on), but no record seems to exist for the Staff of the Slain after it was created in Taldor, so it could literally be anywhere right now. Was that intentional, or is there a general last known location for it as well?

2) As Kazavon's intellect grows stronger in the relics, they move up from empathy to speech and then telepathy. Does Kolwyddon's personality also benefit from these increases? Or is it stuck at the base level? You've said that during the day the Staff of the Slain would still benefit from the "enhanced" item effects, but also that his personality would be quickly overwhelmed and destroyed, so I'd just like clarification.

3) Would you say an immunity to mental control is enough to prevent the item's Ego from dominating? Or should it, in your opinion, be purely a Will save against the Ego regardless of things like immunity to mind-affecting effects or anything along those lines?

Scarab Sages

No question right now, but I wanted to chime in and wish you a good and speedy recovery!


Tholomyes wrote:

I've been looking through some of my books, trying to find a potential plot ideas, and I thought about Ihys, and potentially having an epic quest where the party potentially allies with a cult of Ihys to recover the Ihystear in an attempt to revive the long-dead god. So I was wondering what Ihys' Domains would be, were he not dead, as my group likes to keep continuity between games, so if this ends up being a real thing, it could be relevant.

So, the obvious ones are Chaos and Good. Liberation seems like another good choice. Potentially rune and/or knowledge as another one, based on him being the first to discover symbols and speech. Based on those I'd probably also tack on the subdomains of Freedom, Language, possibly redemption, but What would you put as his domains (and possibly subdomains)?

Also, is he likely to ever be touched on more than is covered in the Book of Darkness? Because I feel like it's hard to get a good feel, just based on the material in that.

This got sandwiched between two answer posts, so just so it doesn't get lost i'm bringing it down again.

Radiant Oath

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber

Have there ever been times in your life where you've felt truly, frighteningly alone?


When you need a miniature for your character, where do you go, or where have you in the past?

I'm starting a demon hunting sword and board ranger in Wrath of the Righteous and am somewhat picky when representing my characters...


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

Two entirely unrelated questions:

1) Is Deskari concerned, I hesitate to say worried, about one of his minions gaining enough Mythic Power to usurp him?

2) What're your opinions on statue of Baphomet intend for the Oklahoma state senate, as seen here http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/01/06/satanic-temple-unveils-7-foot-goat-he aded-baphomet-statue-for-oklahoma-capitol/? It's a good likeness I'd say.

Contributor

James Jacobs wrote:
Alexander Augunas wrote:
My computer might be fried. I've always wanted an iMac, but they're pretty darn expensive. Do you think it is better to get a computer that is more affordable, but might break sooner or should I splurge for the iMac even though it will take me a while to pay it off?

For a long time, I used PCs, and they were always breaking in one way or another after a year or two.

Then I bought a Macbook, and not only was it a solid computer... it still works over half a decade later. The battery is dead, but that's an easy fix; the computer itself still works quite well.

The advantage here (and there are many others when you buy Mac) is that you're buying a computer that' built by experts on EVERY part of that computer, not one built by what is essentially a committee, or even worse, by the customer.

The result IS a more expensive computer, but not having to repair or replace it every year or two pays off within that year.

My current take on buying a computer is to buy the best one you can, since even the "affordable ones" are still not inexpensive, and when they break you're going to have to spend lots of money to replace or fix it.

If you'd rather not go Mac... I would suggest buying a Lenovo PC; I just got one of these last November and I'm quite pleased with it. Of course, 2 months isn't long enough to determine if it's good for long term.

My current desktop is an iMac, and I love it. It works great.

If you CAN afford it... it's a great purchase. The only disadvantage is that there's not as many game options for Mac... but that's changing now with more and more publishers doing Mac versions of games.

I took the advice and got an iMac. I only really play WoW and Minecraft anymore and they are both supported.

Getting a machine that can endure is far more important to me. I was working on a product for Raging Swan Press when my PC died, and even though the data is salvageable (thank goodness!) I don't want to have that feeling of dread ever again. That's also why I splurged and bought one of those new Apple Time Capsules. ;)

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Alleran wrote:

Thanks for the answers. As a followup:

Alleran wrote:
4b) Could, in exceptional circumstances, the NG personality attempt to dominate the LE personality at nighttime, or vice versa? Or are they flatly restricted to day and night?

You might have missed this one, so I'll just repost it there. Also:

1) For several of the relics of Kazavon there are records of at least general locations (e.g. the Throne of Nalt is in the Shackles beneath Eel's Skull, the Crown of Fangs was beneath the Mastaba, the Bound Blade was in a tomb deep in the south before it was taken into the Darklands, and so on), but no record seems to exist for the Staff of the Slain after it was created in Taldor, so it could literally be anywhere right now. Was that intentional, or is there a general last known location for it as well?

2) As Kazavon's intellect grows stronger in the relics, they move up from empathy to speech and then telepathy. Does Kolwyddon's personality also benefit from these increases? Or is it stuck at the base level? You've said that during the day the Staff of the Slain would still benefit from the "enhanced" item effects, but also that his personality would be quickly overwhelmed and destroyed, so I'd just like clarification.

3) Would you say an immunity to mental control is enough to prevent the item's Ego from dominating? Or should it, in your opinion, be purely a Will save against the Ego regardless of things like immunity to mind-affecting effects or anything along those lines?

4b) It's pretty much restricted to day and night.

1) It could be anywhere, yes. That's intentional.

2) No; his personality does not increase in power; it's stuck at the base level.

3) Item control via Ego is essentially a possession effect, and thus the right-aligned protection from alignment spell will prevent it. Immunity to mind control will prevent being controlled by the weapon, but won't prevent it from doing whatever else it can to mess with its carrier.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

feytharn wrote:
No question right now, but I wanted to chime in and wish you a good and speedy recovery!

Thanks!

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Tholomyes wrote:
Tholomyes wrote:

I've been looking through some of my books, trying to find a potential plot ideas, and I thought about Ihys, and potentially having an epic quest where the party potentially allies with a cult of Ihys to recover the Ihystear in an attempt to revive the long-dead god. So I was wondering what Ihys' Domains would be, were he not dead, as my group likes to keep continuity between games, so if this ends up being a real thing, it could be relevant.

So, the obvious ones are Chaos and Good. Liberation seems like another good choice. Potentially rune and/or knowledge as another one, based on him being the first to discover symbols and speech. Based on those I'd probably also tack on the subdomains of Freedom, Language, possibly redemption, but What would you put as his domains (and possibly subdomains)?

Also, is he likely to ever be touched on more than is covered in the Book of Darkness? Because I feel like it's hard to get a good feel, just based on the material in that.

This got sandwiched between two answer posts, so just so it doesn't get lost i'm bringing it down again.

Ihys is one of the mysterious parts of our world that we'd rather keep mysterious at this point. We're not likely to say much more about Ihys, but if we do, it'd come from Wes Schneider, so he'd be a good one to ask for more info.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Archpaladin Zousha wrote:
Have there ever been times in your life where you've felt truly, frighteningly alone?

Yes.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Kairos Dawnfury wrote:

When you need a miniature for your character, where do you go, or where have you in the past?

I'm starting a demon hunting sword and board ranger in Wrath of the Righteous and am somewhat picky when representing my characters...

I usually go right to Reaper to look through their catalog of minis, but I also look through my own considerable collection of minis as well.

40,251 to 40,300 of 83,732 << first < prev | 801 | 802 | 803 | 804 | 805 | 806 | 807 | 808 | 809 | 810 | 811 | next > last >>
Community / Forums / Gamer Life / Off-Topic Discussions / >>Ask *James Jacobs* ALL your Questions Here!<< All Messageboards