To add to the Orcus trivia - Orcus is the "final boss" of the first set of modules for 4E, which start at 1st level with Keep on the Shadowfell (where a cultist of Orcus is the final foe) and ending at 30th level with Prince of Undeath (where the party must stop Orcus from attaining god-hood; I vaguely recall the module having rules for what happened if the party botched and he ascended mid-combat).
Wizards even did a short article on Orcus's history.
So yeah, 4E did a pretty decent amount with him.
And a couple questions:
Are you interested in Paizo putting out a cosmology hardcover? I.e., an updated and expanded Great Beyond.
Is there a staff member who's an advocate for archons? Archons just don't seem to get that much attention.
Which AP would you recommend for relatively new players who've played until fifth level through various modules but are now starting over at level one? We're saving Rise of the Runelords until September. Just need something for the summer.
They don't want anything too sandboxy but prefer roleplaying opportunities over combat.
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In your opinion, why do you think Orcus, out of all the dozens of demon lords that have been created for D&D over the years, was so prolific in his use in official products?
And while you guys at Paizo may have no interest in using him in a story capacity, would you ever consider statting him up in a Bestiary or Campaign Setting Book just so he could be used by a DM who might want to include him? If so, what CR do you imagine you'd give him?
I think that for much of TSR's time, PARTICULARLY during 2nd edition, they were too afraid of backlash to do much at all with demons.
Furthermore, in 1st and 2nd edition, they didn't actually have a lot of demon lords to play with. Maybe a dozen. There were a lot more names, but only about a dozen or so that actually had stats and storylines.
I remember being kind of confused when I picked up the 2nd Edition Monstrous Compendium in '89 to find that demons had been renamed "tenar'ri" and devils had been renamed "baatzu." But then I realized why.
D&D got caught up in the satanic ritual abuse moral panic of the mid '80s to early '90s. I think it caught TSR by surprise. The novel and movie Mazes and Monsters (the latter starring a very young Tom Hanks) about kids losing themselves into a fantasy world and committing suicide didn't help. (It also didn't help that, while the book claimed to be based on the true and tragic story of James Egbert, the connection to D&D that the book presents are simply not true.)
I remember TSR getting raked over the coals on mainstream TV (I think it was ABC's "20/20") for producing books that "mention the word 'demon' or 'devil' hundreds of times" and having "lurid" pictures of unholy creatures. (The examples they showed were from the first-edition Monster Manual.) This was shown as "proof" that the game was immoral and shouldn't be allowed near children. I also recall a piece of artwork from the Dieties and Demigods article on Lolth that shows a drow priestess sacrificing an elf on an altar. That clip was shown on TV as "instructions for human sacrifice in a game for kids." This underscored and confirmed the fears of many, and the Right ran with it.
There were public burnings of D&D books. Parents would refuse to buy the game for their kids, and in some cases, would confiscate and destroy their own kids' D&D book collections.
I think it's hard to overestimate, with 30 years of hindsight, how much the "Satanic panic" scare really pervaded American culture and caused real and lasting damage. In light of the social stigma, I think TSR made a very sound business decision to drop the words "demon" and "devil" from their Second Edition products. Of course, by the time the Monstous Compendium was published, the moral panic was starting to ebb. The words "devil" and "demon" crept back into TSR products in the mid-90s, before TSR was acquired by Wizards of the Coast.
Okay... some related questions...
1) Does Paizo still have to deal with any echos of the anti-D&D backlash?
2) Many Paizo products have content that push the "mature content" limits. (e.g. the descripton of the Skinsaw Man's victims, or the Graul Farm encounter area in Rise of the Runelords; Pretty much all of City of Locusts-- which I totally loved BTW.) How often do you come up with a cool idea that you realize can't be published because it's too dark or otherwise inappropriate?
3) Does Paizo have any contingency plans to deal with negative press in the mainstream media over the content of its products?
4) Flipping that, how do you see Paizo's role as a publisher to push the boundaries of acceptability as a means to benefit society? (e.g. increasing the diversity of characters in yout products.)
How would you classify the Daedric Princes? Would they be demons, devils or a mix? And would they be like Nascent Demon Lords, Demon Lords or Deities?
Good Morning, James!
Were you envolved in the design of the dawnflower dervish bard archetype?
I have a doubt concerning the last part of the battle dance ability, and I was wondering if you could give me some advice/insight (came up during the game I was dming last night)."When a dawnflower dervish uses the inspire courage, inspire greatness, or inspire heroics bardic performance types as battle dances, these performance types only provide benefit to the dervish himself. All other types of bardic performance work normally (affecting the bard and his allies, or the bard’s enemies, as appropriate)."
From the fragment above, it seems like the dervish could still use countersong, but reading the description of said bardic performance I've noticed it cannot be initiated with a perform(dance).
Would you allow a dawnflower dervish to perform a countersong? If yes would he use the perform (dance) to initiate the ability or another kind of perform (such as singing)as required by the original bard class?
As always, I am not really looking for an official errata, just for your advice on the matter (if that's ok).
Thanks in advance!.
I was indeed involved in the design of the Dawnflower dervish bard, in that I designed that archetype myself! :-)
She can absolutely still use countersong... she'd need to spend a few extra ranks in a audible Perform to do it well though. A bard not only can focus on multiple Perform skills... they're kind of expected to do so.
If a dervish o dawn bard uses countersong, suggestion or other bard performances that aren't restricted by battle dance, what kind of action is required of him to initiate said performance?
So I'm currently in the midst of running Wrath of the Righteous. My players are coming up on the end of Sword of Valor.
They've taken the keep and are just about to hit the basement area. Deliberately trying to be vague here. The problem I'm having is that they are a group of power-gamer's to begin with and the mythic abilities are amping it up a good deal. They often find exceedingly creative solutions to dealing with otherwise difficult problems, and I'm not sure if I should err on the side of how cool it is because they are mythic or stick with the rules. Some of these solutions include things the rules don't actually cover.
Because of their ability to deal with most encounters without much trouble I feel like I'm failing them when Wrath doesn't feel as epic as it should be.
I know Pathfinder isn't supposed to be a game of DM vs. the players but I'm finding it difficult to know where I should draw the line. How can I challenge my players?
Should smart enemies take extra precautions? Should I maximize hit points? Should I disregard the stat blocks on how the enemies fight entirely?
Any suggestions would be helpful.
How would one bring a character back to life who has been turned into a yellow musk zombie? Would a scroll of raise dead work if they killed the creeper first?
So I'm currently in the midst of running Wrath of the Righteous. My players are coming up on the end of Sword of Valor.
They've taken the keep and are just about to hit the basement area. Deliberately trying to be vague here. The problem I'm having is that they are a group of power-gamer's to begin with and the mythic abilities are amping it up a good deal. They often find exceedingly creative solutions to dealing with otherwise difficult problems, and I'm not sure if I should err on the side of how cool it is because they are mythic or stick with the rules. Some of these solutions include things the rules don't actually cover.
Because of their ability to deal with most encounters without much trouble I feel like I'm failing them when Wrath doesn't feel as epic as it should be.
I know Pathfinder isn't supposed to be a game of DM vs. the players but I'm finding it difficult to know where I should draw the line. How can I challenge my players?
Should smart enemies take extra precautions? Should I maximize hit points? Should I disregard the stat blocks on how the enemies fight entirely?Any suggestions would be helpful.
If they can handle a level 8 opponent I suggest
I'd suggest sending a necromancer at them, who has spell focus, greater spell focus and mythic spell focus on necromancy. Max his casting stat and give him the mythic severance spell. That should pose a bit of a challenge to them, especially if he can hide and curse a few of them.if they can handle a level 15 opponent make him a arcane sorc and give him spell perfection mythic severance and persistent spell
Creative Director
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So if Orcus' fat-ram-headed-bastard-with-a-stinger-tail appearance is not OGL, why is he described exactly that way in Lords of Chaos? Is his description not copyright unless you actually draw him? And if you did give him a CR, doesn't that mean he's going to get a write up at some point?
Personally, I think he's prominent because his status as Demon Prince of the Undead allows you to heavily integrate both demons and undead into the campaign.
Orcus's appearance and stats ARE OGL, actaully. Thanks to the fact that Wizards of the coast gave Necromancer games permission to put him and a few other Demon Lords (Pazuzu, Baphomet, Jubilex [although they mispelled his name which makes for weirdness], Fraz-urb'luu, and Kostchtchie) into the first Tome of Horrors, all of those demon lords are OGL in their classic D&D incarnations.
That's why we were able to present Orcus that way in Lords of Chaos (and the others as well).
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James,
I) What's your opinion on Andoran?
II) Can a evil character be truly charitable?
I) It's kind of vanilla. That's not a bad thing, of course, but I prefer other flavors as far as settings go. Vanilla itself as a flavor is awesome though.
II) Not at the same time said character is being truly evil, since being charitable is a good quality.
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1. How does it feel to have lived through the birth and establishment of a cryptid? (Chupacabra)
2. How would you feel about a module where the players play as young characters using the rules in Ultimate Campaign, eventually transitioning to either adults, full PC classes, or both?
3. What games other than Pathfinder and Call of Cthulhu are you currently playing?
4. If you're not playing any other games, which games have piqued your interest as of late?
5. Does your kitty get a valentine?
1) No different than normal, since cryptids get established all the time. That said, I quite like chupacabras.
2) That'd be a cool adventure, but it'd be weird aligning aging and leveling up.
3) I assume you're asking about tabletop RPGs. Currently, I'm not playing any others. There's talk now and then of some folks starting up a Dungeon Crawl Classics game, and now and then I play a Dread game but those are one-shots, and some day I'd like to run a Star Frontiers game.
4) I just got Zombicide. Not an RPG, but it looks fun!
5) Nope. That sounds kind of depressing, actually.
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Creative Director
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Dear J.Jacobs-
As you level up are you able to put ranks in Trained Only skills such as Disable Device, Linguistics, etc.if they should deviate from your class list? And if you can than that simply means you would not get the +3 bonus correct? Thanks for your help and this thread.
You can spend skill ranks on any skill you wish. Once you have a level or other thing that grants the skill as a class skill, you gain the +3 bonus and keep it forever, regardless of where future skill ranks you spend on that skill come from.
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Creative Director
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Hi James
I'm having a little chat with Ben Wootten on Deviantart about the Imperial Dragons he made for Bestiary 3 Box (which are more than awesome!), and when I asked if he had made some Primal Dragon artwork for Paizo in the past he answered that he didn't but would like to some day!
So my question is: Will we ever see a Brine, Cloud, Umbral, Crystal and Magma Dragon in Wootten style? :-p
I would love to see some Primal and Outer Dragons drawn in the style of Ben Wootten! So I hope you (or the person who goes about the art) consider it! :-D
I would love to see those done by Ben. He's one of my favorite artists.
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Priaise Rob. Does he look like this?
3) Yes. He is the Only Rob.
He does not. Ryan's the one who smokes a pipe. Rob just does cigarettes.
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Creative Director
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To add to the Orcus trivia - Orcus is the "final boss" of the first set of modules for 4E, which start at 1st level with Keep on the Shadowfell (where a cultist of Orcus is the final foe) and ending at 30th level with Prince of Undeath (where the party must stop Orcus from attaining god-hood; I vaguely recall the module having rules for what happened if the party botched and he ascended mid-combat).
Wizards even did a short article on Orcus's history.
So yeah, 4E did a pretty decent amount with him.
And a couple questions:
Are you interested in Paizo putting out a cosmology hardcover? I.e., an updated and expanded Great Beyond.
Is there a staff member who's an advocate for archons? Archons just don't seem to get that much attention.
I'm pretty sure that by the time 4th edition got to him, they decided to use Orcus as their bad guy mostly because he'd been used a little more often than others, and thus his "D&D Brand" was stronger.
I am interested in doing more Great Beyond stuff.
No real advocate for archons on the staff. Not, at least, to the point I've noticed.
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Creative Director
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Which AP would you recommend for relatively new players who've played until fifth level through various modules but are now starting over at level one? We're saving Rise of the Runelords until September. Just need something for the summer.
They don't want anything too sandboxy but prefer roleplaying opportunities over combat.
Carrion Crown, perhaps?
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Creative Director
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I think it's hard to overestimate, with 30 years of hindsight, how much the "Satanic panic" scare really pervaded American culture and caused real and lasting damage. In light of the social stigma, I think TSR made a very sound business decision to drop the words "demon" and "devil" from their Second Edition products. Of course, by the time the Monstous Compendium was published, the moral panic was starting to ebb. The words "devil" and "demon" crept back into TSR products in the mid-90s, before TSR was acquired by Wizards of the Coast.
Okay... some related questions...
1) Does Paizo still have to deal with any echos of the anti-D&D backlash?
2) Many Paizo products have content that push the "mature content" limits. (e.g. the descripton of the Skinsaw Man's victims, or the Graul Farm encounter area in Rise of the Runelords; Pretty much all of City of Locusts-- which I totally loved BTW.) How often do you come up with a cool idea that you realize can't be published because it's too dark or otherwise inappropriate?
3) Does Paizo have any contingency plans to deal with negative press in the mainstream media over the content of its products?
4) Flipping that, how do you see Paizo's role as a publisher to push the boundaries of acceptability as a means to benefit society? (e.g. increasing the diversity of characters in yout products.)
Considering 1st edition made more money than 2nd edition, and considering pandering to an audience already predisposed to hate your product and never buy it in the first place is the opposite of how you make money, I wouldn't call 2nd edition's treatment of demons and devils a sound business decision. More like a timid one. ;-)
1) Now and then, yes. Back when we were publishing the magazines, we got an apology letter from prison from the man who killed his family and blamed it on D&D, for example. And when we put a picture of Mephistopheles on a magazine cover we got one letter complaining about Satanism (from an up-until-then contributor to the magazines, if I remember correctly). We just put Baphomet, one of the more recognizable "Satanic images" on the cover of a new AP, so we'll see if that gets any reaction at all... but I think that we're distanced enough in brand and time that we won't.
2) Relatively often. My personal preference is for dark and mature entertainment, after all, and a lot of my ideas tend to skew in that direction and get toned down or disguised once they transition into products. Not always, though. There are, as you note, some quite mature elements in some of what we do. Most recently in the Wrath of the Righteous AP and other support books for it. We tend to try to keep our products on the hard side of PG-13, but do drift into R-rated territory now and then.
3) We've had to deal with negative press before—our contingency plans exist in the form of having an employee who does PR and marketing! :-)
4) The more popular Pathfinder gets, the more important it is for us to push boundaries, I believe. It becomes more important for us to lead by example on subjects like diversity, but also more important to keep track of the fact that even though Pathfinder is a game, the idea that "Games are for just for kids" is false. LOTS of kids play our games, and kids who get started early on RPGs are more likely to stick with them, so it's important to support that market, but it's also important to not forget that the bulk of your customers (in this case) are adults. And with the rising popularity of adult fantasy fiction like "Game of Thrones," that's a market that's eager to trade you money for things they like.
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How would you classify the Daedric Princes? Would they be demons, devils or a mix? And would they be like Nascent Demon Lords, Demon Lords or Deities?
I would classify them as a mix of deities and demigods. They're essentially a pantheon of gods. Some are more powerful than others, and they certainly aren't all the same alignment.
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So I'm currently in the midst of running Wrath of the Righteous. My players are coming up on the end of Sword of Valor.
They've taken the keep and are just about to hit the basement area. Deliberately trying to be vague here. The problem I'm having is that they are a group of power-gamer's to begin with and the mythic abilities are amping it up a good deal. They often find exceedingly creative solutions to dealing with otherwise difficult problems, and I'm not sure if I should err on the side of how cool it is because they are mythic or stick with the rules. Some of these solutions include things the rules don't actually cover.
Because of their ability to deal with most encounters without much trouble I feel like I'm failing them when Wrath doesn't feel as epic as it should be.
I know Pathfinder isn't supposed to be a game of DM vs. the players but I'm finding it difficult to know where I should draw the line. How can I challenge my players?
Should smart enemies take extra precautions? Should I maximize hit points? Should I disregard the stat blocks on how the enemies fight entirely?Any suggestions would be helpful.
First of all... are the players having fun? If they are, then you're doing something right.
Second of all... are the players having fun but are you increasingly NOT having fun? If so, then you DO need to adjust things—the game should be fun for everyone, not just the players.
One thing I often do when the players start doing better than I expected is simply to increase monster hit points so that they last a few extra rounds. It's not something the players notice, especially if you let the monsters still get killed off in what seems like an appropriate amount of time and resources spent.
Another thing you can do is simply add a few extra monsters into each fight, or simply have monsters from nearby encounter areas hear the battle and come join the fight.
Remember that the game is balanced/built with the assumption that the PCs are doing 5 or so encounters before they stop to rest and recuperate. If your party's fallen into the "1 encounter a day" rut (and the adventure isn't built for that... some are, but Wrath of the Righteous isn't for most of its length), then you should take steps to ensure that they DON'T just have 1 encounter a day. If they go into a castle and attack room 1 and then retreat to rest and recuperate, don't let the castle denizens just sit back and wait for the slaughter. They should send resources out to attack the PCs as they rest. Or barring that, the PCs should have more wandering monster encounters on their way back from the castle. Or barring that, have a timer start—something like "We just got word that if we don't defeat the castle's commander in 3 days, Aponavicius is gonna show up and wipe us out! We have to kill him before that so he doesn't finish the 3 day summoning ritual!" Even if you know that the timer's total bunk, the players don't. And that'll encourage them to push their limits and get more things done in a day... and in the end, the play experience of doing more encounters in a day is fundamentally more exciting and heroic anyway.
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Creative Director
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How would one bring a character back to life who has been turned into a yellow musk zombie? Would a scroll of raise dead work if they killed the creeper first?
** spoiler omitted **
Normally, before you can bring back someone who's undead, you'd need to kill the undead first. After that, you can resurrect them normally.
In this case though... it's not really a zombie—it's a plant.
As such, you can resurrect or true resurrect someone who's been turned into a yellow musk zombie and let the zombie still run amok.
In the case of raise dead, though... you actually need the body. So you'd have to kill that first and then use the body to raise it. Technically, I suppose, if you could restrain the body for the 1 minute casting time of raise dead and not let it disrupt the casting (since it requires touch), I'd say you could raise dead someone who is a yellow musk zombie as well, and that the spell cures the infestation in the same way it would cure disease or poison.
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Wolverine vs Cannon Golem, who would win?Depends who's writing the scene. If I were writing it, Wolverine would win, because he has the advantage of being a character and the cannon golem is just a mook. A POWERFUL mook, but just a mook.
Bet it wouldn't be easy, though. Wolverine's claws are made of Adamantium, not adamantite. Hercules club is made of adamantite.
With the Wrath of the Righteous release wrapping up, do you have a good idea of if you'll do another mythic AP? Is it more of a "it's a tool we have if it helps tells the story we want" or "really depends on popularity of the rules"?
Mr. Jacobs,
Two questions,
1. Should Greater Sniper Google's apply to melee sneak attacks?
2. Has Pazio considered picking up the rights and publishing some of the old D&D worlds. notably Dragonlance, Birthright and Planescape. I sure I am not alone in believing Pazio would treat these worlds with honor as they should be and come up with phenomenal material for them.
Mythic Birthright would kick-a$$.
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Creative Director
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With the Wrath of the Righteous release wrapping up, do you have a good idea of if you'll do another mythic AP? Is it more of a "it's a tool we have if it helps tells the story we want" or "really depends on popularity of the rules"?
While we'll certianly use the mythic rules now and then for NPCs, at this point we aren't planning to do another Mythic AP for players to become mythic anytime soon. We've already started work on this year's APs, and have next years selected and locked in, so the earliest we could do another mythic one would be in 2016.... IF we wanted such a thing.
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Creative Director
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James, do you think people still see pathfinder as "D&D 3.75"?
and what is your opinion on Cannabis legalization?
Some people certainly think of Pathfinder as D&D 3.75. Not much I can do to change that.
I think pot should be legalized. There IS something I can do to change that—I voted for it and helped make it legal here in Washington.
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Creative Director
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Mr. Jacobs,
Two questions,
1. Should Greater Sniper Google's apply to melee sneak attacks?
2. Has Pazio considered picking up the rights and publishing some of the old D&D worlds. notably Dragonlance, Birthright and Planescape. I sure I am not alone in believing Pazio would treat these worlds with honor as they should be and come up with phenomenal material for them.
Mythic Birthright would kick-a$$.
1) I don't know where you're getting the "Greater Sniper Goggles" from... but judging SOLELY from the name, the fact that the word "sniper" is in there tells me that it's not thematically appropriate for these things to help melee attacks at all. So... no.
2) Nope. We're more interested in Golarion, and less interested in hitching our fate to someone else's whims.
Bet it wouldn't be easy, though. Wolverine's claws are made of Adamantium, not adamantite. Hercules club is made of adamantite.Wolverine vs Cannon Golem, who would win?Depends who's writing the scene. If I were writing it, Wolverine would win, because he has the advantage of being a character and the cannon golem is just a mook. A POWERFUL mook, but just a mook.
Well, must suck that neither one are made of Adamantine.
Has there ever been a Linnorm King that was a Lycanthrope or a Skinwalker?
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James, I actually find myself in a role playing quandry I've never had before. I'm playing a Varisian Bard. Like a dummy, I chose Perform (Sing), so now I find myself in the position that I would really like to include snatches of songs that I'm singing, but obviously I'm not really in a position (real world work, yo) that I can just come up with dozens of them at the drop of a hat. How would you handle that?
Sniper Goggles, Greater
Aura moderate divination; CL 8th
Slot eye; Price 50,000 gp; Weight —
DESCRIPTION
These goggles feature stubby periscope-like lenses that expand and retract depending on the needs of the wearer.
These goggles function as sniper goggles, but the wearer gains the +2 circumstance bonus on each sneak attack when making a sneak attack at any range.
CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS
Craft Wondrous Item, true strike; Cost 25,000 gp.
Section 15: Copyright Notice - Advanced Player's Guide
Advanced Player's Guide. Copyright 2010, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Author: Jason Bulmahn.
Section 15: Copyright Notice
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Equipment (OGL) © 2012, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors: Dennis Baker, Jesse Benner, Benjamin Bruck, Ross Byers, Brian J. Cortijo, Ryan Costello, Mike Ferguson, Matt Goetz, Jim Groves, Tracy Hurley, Matt James, Jonathan H. Keith, Michael Kenway, Hal MacLean, Jason Nelson, Tork Shaw, Owen KC Stephens, Russ Taylor, and numerous RPG Superstar contributors
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Creative Director
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James, I actually find myself in a role playing quandry I've never had before. I'm playing a Varisian Bard. Like a dummy, I chose Perform (Sing), so now I find myself in the position that I would really like to include snatches of songs that I'm singing, but obviously I'm not really in a position (real world work, yo) that I can just come up with dozens of them at the drop of a hat. How would you handle that?
Actually... just as I don't actually act out my attacks when I play a fighter, nor do I work miracles when I'm a cleric, nor do I actually pick locks as a rogue... I don't actually sing or do performances as a bard as a general rule. I've seen folks do this before, and it's often a bit awkward, frankly, since it's pretty rare that the person doing the performance is anywhere NEAR as good as their character is supposed to be!
I do sometimes come up with rhymes or the like when playing a bard, but I don't really worry about doing that in combat when I use my magic or abilities.
If I DID want to do so, I'd head onto the internets and do some research and learn some old-tyme songs that were appropriate to the character.
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Creative Director
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Sniper Goggles, Greater
Aura moderate divination; CL 8th
Slot eye; Price 50,000 gp; Weight —DESCRIPTION
These goggles feature stubby periscope-like lenses that expand and retract depending on the needs of the wearer.
These goggles function as sniper goggles, but the wearer gains the +2 circumstance bonus on each sneak attack when making a sneak attack at any range.
CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS
Craft Wondrous Item, true strike; Cost 25,000 gp.
Section 15: Copyright Notice - Advanced Player's Guide
Advanced Player's Guide. Copyright 2010, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Author: Jason Bulmahn.
Section 15: Copyright Notice
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Equipment (OGL) © 2012, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors: Dennis Baker, Jesse Benner, Benjamin Bruck, Ross Byers, Brian J. Cortijo, Ryan Costello, Mike Ferguson, Matt Goetz, Jim Groves, Tracy Hurley, Matt James, Jonathan H. Keith, Michael Kenway, Hal MacLean, Jason Nelson, Tork Shaw, Owen KC Stephens, Russ Taylor, and numerous RPG Superstar contributors
A citation and page number reference would have worked just as well... ;-)
As written, they do indeed seem to grant that bonus to hit when making a sneak attack at ANY range... which would, by definition, include melee. I still think that the flavor of the item works better if they only work for ranged sneak attacks (including ones made in melee).
Hero Forge 3D printed minis got funded on Kick starter! Did you pledge? You have two more days if you want a mini in the first run.
Thank you Mr. Jacobs - I agree however I am going to let my player have the bonus in melee. I appreciate your helpfulness.
Not to be greedy with questions but if you can could you share your thoughts on Whizkids producing prepainted miniatures for D&D 5e? Where-as it is good profit for Whizkids, it places a direct market competitor of equal quality for Pathfinder Battles. (totally understand if you don't want to field this one)
thanks again
Hello Mr. Jacobs,
I was wondering what your thoughts on what takes precedence when deciding the RAW of a feat. The benefit section that lays out what the feat does, or the description part that follows the name of the feat? If the two come into conflict, which one should we follow? I ask to settle a dispute where the two are in conflict.
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In Iron Gods, will there be a deity of some sort that has a firearm (or lazer, plasma, lightsaber etc) as a favored weapon?
Hey James. I was wondering if there were any plans to include stat blocks for gnolls, lizardfolk, gargoyles, driders, ogres, and centaurs as PCs in the future bestiary books? I only ask because of all the races in the Advanced Race Guide, these races are the only ones that actually lack their own stat blocks explaining how to treat them as player characters.
4) My music preferences are actually quite widespread. I'm pretty much not into musicals/showtunes, country music, and most pop music. Dead Can Dance is my favorite band, I suppose.
I've been meaning to ask this for some time now, but I've continued to forget until now - what is it about musicals that turns you off?
You're obviously very inclusive and eclectic in regards to your many interests be it music, games, movies, etc and I noticed you don't have a dislike of things like R&B or hip-hop which sort of drives this fact home. Not liking Country and pop music, I get that, since you also happen to have "good" taste (as far as I'm concerned and from what I've gleaned over the years from this thread and your blog). But your disinterest in musicals eludes me.
I think pot should be legalized. There IS something I can do to change that—I voted for it and helped make it legal here in Washington.
Well said sir, and three thumbs up, both for doing so and for being open about it. You have my dirty-liberal-Canadian approval. Way to lead by example with the voting, which leads me to my next question:
Do you feel that voting apathy is still a growing concern or is there still hope for younger generations to realize that voting is important? Or perhaps the youngest have realized it and are already primed to be more pro-active once they finally get old enough to vote?
As a Canadian, though I'm normally fairly optimistic, this is one area where I wish I could be less cynical. But the trends up here keep proving time and time again that the incredibly easy-going culture we're so famous for in the north is sadly damaging our government to no end (Rob Ford being the most famous example but, sadly, not the worst). Do you feel there are similar trends/issues in Washington or back home in California? Or on a federal level?
Sorry for the heavy questions near the end, just feeling extra-philosophical this weekend. Also, not trying to rope you into discussing actual politics - more a sociological line of questioning.
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Creative Director
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Not to be greedy with questions but if you can could you share your thoughts on Whizkids producing prepainted miniatures for D&D 5e? Where-as it is good profit for Whizkids, it places a direct market competitor of equal quality for Pathfinder Battles. (totally understand if you don't want to field this one)
thanks again
They really know the business—WotC made a good choice partnering with them for their minis! I'm looking forward to seeing how they turn out!
As for competition? Competition is good!
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Creative Director
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Hello Mr. Jacobs,
I was wondering what your thoughts on what takes precedence when deciding the RAW of a feat. The benefit section that lays out what the feat does, or the description part that follows the name of the feat? If the two come into conflict, which one should we follow? I ask to settle a dispute where the two are in conflict.
The benefit section is what tells you how the feat works. The description/flavor text at the start of the feat is just that—flavor. If there's a conflict, that's something the rules team needs to know about, since there shouldn't be conflicts there at all since it's flavor text versus rules text.