Creative Director
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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.
Not in a Bestiary. Bestiaries are for baseline/new monsters.
And those races you mention have racial HD, and as such they're not really all that appropriate for PCs in the first case.
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Creative Director
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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.
My favorite hip-hop band is probably the Gorillas.
My disinterest in musicals is essentially a combination of a dislike of most of the songs that appear in musicals combined with the fact that the way suddenly everyone breaks into choreographed song and dance in the middle of a story breaks my verisimilitude and ruins the storyline. If I'm into the story, having everyone suddenly singing and dancing and all that is too distracting and annoying. It's FAR less annoying when the movie is animated, but still not a favorite at all.
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.
Voting apathy is always a concern in any society that has voting as a part of it, but personally... I think that corruption and bureaucratic inefficiencies associated with the voting process are more damaging than mere apathy. It seems like here in the US at least that voting constantly lags decades behind the times as far as society and technology are concerned.
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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.
I should have clarified it's for a Play By Post, so really I'm just coming up with lyrics. Thanks for the advice!
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Creative Director
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Does Arcane Sight automatically see the magical auras of items and/or effects on someone using Hide in Plains Sight? Shadowdancer ability. I don't know where to ask this, never really 'used' this site before.
Example: Bead of Karma activated and the fly spell ongoing on the shadowdancer. Can a wizard using arcane sight see this person's items and spell effects magical auras?Assuming the perception check of the Arcane Sight user, does not beat the stealth of the Hide in Plain Sight user.
This is a repost. It didn't merit attention before. Hopefully, this time around. Great job answering posts. Great on voting in your state!
You'll know that auras are there but you still have to make a Perception check to see the guy with the auras. It's like suddenly smelling dog poop in the park but not being able to see where the smell is coming from. It's right there, you can sense it with one sense, but you need to look harder in order to pinpoint the exact locaiton.
In Iron Gods, will there be a deity of some sort that has a firearm (or lazer, plasma, lightsaber etc) as a favored weapon?You'll have to wait and see!
Well, I'm just curious because a Monk with a level of Cleric can take the feat Crusader's Flurry from Ultimate Combat. It allows a Monk to use their deities favored weapon as a Monk weapon. So if a deity were to have something like a musket as a favored weapon, a Monk could flurry with a musket if he takes a level of Cleric and that feat.
[Edit] Or lazer pistol, plasma rifle, lightsaber etc.
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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?You'll have to wait and see!Well, I'm just curious because a Monk with a level of Cleric can take the feat Crusader's Flurry from Ultimate Combat. It allows a Monk to use their deities favored weapon as a Monk weapon. So if a deity were to have something like a musket as a favored weapon, a Monk could flurry with a musket if he takes a level of Cleric and that feat.
[Edit] Or lazer pistol, plasma rifle, lightsaber etc.
No. Bad Canadian. Bad.
*bops with newspaper*
In Iron Gods, will there be a deity of some sort that has a firearm (or lazer, plasma, lightsaber etc) as a favored weapon?You'll have to wait and see!Well, I'm just curious because a Monk with a level of Cleric can take the feat Crusader's Flurry from Ultimate Combat. It allows a Monk to use their deities favored weapon as a Monk weapon. So if a deity were to have something like a musket as a favored weapon, a Monk could flurry with a musket if he takes a level of Cleric and that feat.
[Edit] Or lazer pistol, plasma rifle, lightsaber etc.
No. Bad Canadian. Bad.
*bops with newspaper*
*Good thing I'm Alaskan or I would have been bopped on the head by Little Bunny Foo Foo*
How well does Tracy Hickman get along with Paizo? I'm curious since he's the one who freaked out about Dragon #300, and Paizo today can't have enough mature content.
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It was just revealed in Herald of the Ivory Labyrinth that...
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Creative Director
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It was just revealed in Herald of the Ivory Labyrinth that...
** spoiler omitted **
As a general rule, heralds are supposed to be CR 15 unique monsters with 18 or fewer HD, because they fill a niche—they're top-tier creatures a cleric can conjure with planar ally.
They're not intended to be the most powerful of a god's minions, but now and then there are exceptions (such as this) and a deity temporarily grants the role to more powerful allies.
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It was just revealed in Herald of the Ivory Labyrinth that...
** spoiler omitted **
As a general rule, heralds are supposed to be CR 15 unique monsters with 18 or fewer HD, because they fill a niche—they're top-tier creatures a cleric can conjure with planar ally.
They're not intended to be the most powerful of a god's minions, but now and then there are exceptions (such as this) and a deity temporarily grants the role to more powerful allies.
Huh. Good point. I suppose a top tier mythic PC is more along the lines of a special agent the deity can ask for help. And besides, it opens the door for the PC to try for godhood themselves.
Have dragons ever attempted the Test of the Starstone? Or do they believe that godhood's not all that it's cracked up to be, that they are powerful enough already and don't want all the extra responsibilities that come with the job because...they're freakin' dragons?
If you select Dual Path (Mythic Feat) do you get both Mythic Capstones? For instance, if a Champion used Dual Path for Guardian, would he gain both Legendary Champion and True Defender?
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...
Thank you very much for these suggestions. they will come in handy. The players are in fact having a lot of fun. However, they are very overconfident.
And I guess I should have been more clear. They are easily thwarting pretty much every thing I throw at them. They are barely needing to use smite evil. I don't know if a few extra hit dice or same level monsters will be able to cut it as much as it should. The thing is, they are keeping track of experience and more monsters could make them over powered too soon. I will try the adding more hit dice path though. that might be able to help maybe not so with monsters but with enemies with class levels.
Just curious since I recently picked them up... have you played with the Cerulean Seas books from Alluria Publishing? Any thoughts on them and Aquatic themed adventures in general?
Hi James! A few small questions.
1. I've read that the Runelords of Envy were often the weakest of the runelords, was there ever a Runelord of Envy who could have come close to rivaling Sorshen or Xhanderghul? And was this weakness possibly because they spent too much time trying to undo their enemies achievements rather than bettering themselves?
2. I feel that Krune and Belimarius have the least information available about them, do you feel the same way, or do you feel that outside of Karzoug most of the runelords remain relatively mysterious?
3. Why is Belimarius your least favourite runelord? She, along with the magic of envy are my favourites closely followed by Xhanderghul.
4. Conjuration and ESPECIALLY transmutation are particularly huge schools of magic, while enchantment and abjuration are extremely small. Is any thought given to the size of each school when releasing new spells, or are spells simply thought up and placed into the appropriate school after the fact?
5. If I was to make custom abjuration spells to expand upon the school, could you provide any pointers as to what bounds I should work within, or ideas for more proactive spells? Rather than just a bunch more 1/round per level defensive buffs?
My disinterest in musicals is essentially a combination of a dislike of most of the songs that appear in musicals combined with the fact that the way suddenly everyone breaks into choreographed song and dance in the middle of a story breaks my verisimilitude and ruins the storyline. If I'm into the story, having everyone suddenly singing and dancing and all that is too distracting and annoying. It's FAR less annoying when the movie is animated, but still not a favorite at all.
Have you seen Tim Burtons's Sweeney Todd (which I don't think has any choreographed dancing)?
Did you watch House of Cards on Netflix? Season 2 just came out and I was reading an article about how it's started more millennials down the path of libertarianism and constitutionalism.
Contributor
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My frustration! James, I need your help, seeing as you were involved with WotR...
I have dramatically failed.
This is what I've got so far:
Str 14 [8+6(belt of physical perfection]
Dex 28 [16?+6(belt of physical perfection)+4(inherent bonus)+2(half-succubus template)]
Con 48 [28?+6(belt of physical perfection)+4(inherent bonus)+4(half-succubus template)+6(energumen)]
Int 38 [19?+6(headband of mental superiority)+4(inherent bonus)+2(half-succubus template)+4(profane pact)+3(ancient)]
Wis 21 [10+6(headband of mental superiority)+2(half-succubus template)+3(ancient)]
Cha 29 [12+6(headband of mental superiority)+8(half-succubus template)+3(ancient)]
As you can see, Constitution is my main problem. How did she get that (and/or Dex/Int) so high? The absolute lowest I can see for her is...a 30 point buy (and that's assuming she put all her leveling-up and mythic stat bonuses into Con). Which is not called out in her statblock. Help me reverse-engineer the architect of the Worldwound! Pretty please?
Did you watch House of Cards on Netflix? Season 2 just came out and I was reading an article about how it's started more millennials down the path of libertarianism and constitutionalism.
I just want to point out that Francis Underwood is a NE Aristocrat with high ranks in Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidate. He could probably use a smiting, actually.
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Well, must suck that neither one are made of Adamantine.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.
Blast this mineral and its change of names!
What connotations would eclipses have to devout Iomedaeans(Iomedeans? Iomedites?)?
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Creative Director
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Just curious... what is your prefered character generation method, that is if you a prefered method.4d6 drop the lowestThank you. One more long these lines.
Do you usually have an idea for a character or wait to see how the rolls go?
I pretty much always have an idea for the character before I touch a die.
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Creative Director
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Have dragons ever attempted the Test of the Starstone? Or do they believe that godhood's not all that it's cracked up to be, that they are powerful enough already and don't want all the extra responsibilities that come with the job because...they're freakin' dragons?
No dragons have attempted it yet.
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Creative Director
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Just curious since I recently picked them up... have you played with the Cerulean Seas books from Alluria Publishing? Any thoughts on them and Aquatic themed adventures in general?
Haven't seen them, but I love aquatic adventures (you'll note that many of the adventures I write have elements of oceans, boats, coastlines, and the like in them!)
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Creative Director
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Hi James! A few small questions.
1. I've read that the Runelords of Envy were often the weakest of the runelords, was there ever a Runelord of Envy who could have come close to rivaling Sorshen or Xhanderghul? And was this weakness possibly because they spent too much time trying to undo their enemies achievements rather than bettering themselves?
2. I feel that Krune and Belimarius have the least information available about them, do you feel the same way, or do you feel that outside of Karzoug most of the runelords remain relatively mysterious?
3. Why is Belimarius your least favourite runelord? She, along with the magic of envy are my favourites closely followed by Xhanderghul.
4. Conjuration and ESPECIALLY transmutation are particularly huge schools of magic, while enchantment and abjuration are extremely small. Is any thought given to the size of each school when releasing new spells, or are spells simply thought up and placed into the appropriate school after the fact?
5. If I was to make custom abjuration spells to expand upon the school, could you provide any pointers as to what bounds I should work within, or ideas for more proactive spells? Rather than just a bunch more 1/round per level defensive buffs?
1) Nope; their personalities tended to end up making them waste a lot of time that could have been spent on self-improvement instead on being jealous of other folks and obsessing over OTHER people's powers.
2) We've released a LOT of info on Krune via numerous PFS scenarios. Belimarius is indeed still pretty obscure for now. We'll reveal more about her and the others as the stories we tell make sense to do so.
3) Because abjuration is my least favorite school of magic, I suppose. It's got its uses for sure... I just find the spells to be kinda boring. I prefer spells that are active rather than passive/reactive, I guess.
4) Yes. Originally, necromancy was the smallest school, and it's been pretty well bolstered. It's important to build up the less well-represented schools... but doing so isn't really a prime directive for us.
5) Not really... I tend to try to avoid getting too deep into game design theory and advice and topics since it's a complex subject. I'd ask around on the boards though; there are countless creative and helpful folks here to bounce ideas off of and brainstorm with!
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Creative Director
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Have you seen Tim Burtons's Sweeney Todd (which I don't think has any choreographed dancing)?My disinterest in musicals is essentially a combination of a dislike of most of the songs that appear in musicals combined with the fact that the way suddenly everyone breaks into choreographed song and dance in the middle of a story breaks my verisimilitude and ruins the storyline. If I'm into the story, having everyone suddenly singing and dancing and all that is too distracting and annoying. It's FAR less annoying when the movie is animated, but still not a favorite at all.
Nope. It's a musical, and therefore I choose to spend the hours of the day I spend watching movies on other movies.
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Creative Director
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My frustration! James, I need your help, seeing as you were involved with WotR...
Spoiler:I had an idea for a minicampaign, where Areelu is the main character. It would chronicle her opening the Worldwound. Naturally, I tried to generate her stats at level 1.I have dramatically failed.
This is what I've got so far:
Str 14 [8+6(belt of physical perfection]
Dex 28 [16?+6(belt of physical perfection)+4(inherent bonus)+2(half-succubus template)]
Con 48 [28?+6(belt of physical perfection)+4(inherent bonus)+4(half-succubus template)+6(energumen)]
Int 38 [19?+6(headband of mental superiority)+4(inherent bonus)+2(half-succubus template)+4(profane pact)+3(ancient)]
Wis 21 [10+6(headband of mental superiority)+2(half-succubus template)+3(ancient)]
Cha 29 [12+6(headband of mental superiority)+8(half-succubus template)+3(ancient)]As you can see, Constitution is my main problem. How did she get that (and/or Dex/Int) so high? The absolute lowest I can see for her is...a 30 point buy (and that's assuming she put all her leveling-up and mythic stat bonuses into Con). Which is not called out in her statblock. Help me reverse-engineer the architect of the Worldwound! Pretty please?
I don't have my statblock work on her here at home, but don't forget she gains a +2 for starting out being human, and another bunch from gaining levels.
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Creative Director
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James, what happens with an Black Iron Axe (MA pg 158) if i struck with it 3 times an Legendsbane (MA pg 165) annoited with the blood of a slain 10th-rank mythic creature ?
Dunno. Don't have Mythic Adventures here at home, so I can't answer it right now. But my guess would be that it's got some special effects involved. Flashing lights and 'splosions, maybe?
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Creative Director
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You'll know that auras are there but you still have to make a Perception check to see the guy with the auras. It's like suddenly smelling dog poop in the park but not being able to see where the smell is coming from. It's right there, you can sense it with one sense, but you need to look harder in order to pinpoint the exact locaiton.Does Arcane Sight automatically see the magical auras of items and/or effects on someone using Hide in Plains Sight? Shadowdancer ability. I don't know where to ask this, never really 'used' this site before.
Example: Bead of Karma activated and the fly spell ongoing on the shadowdancer. Can a wizard using arcane sight see this person's items and spell effects magical auras?Assuming the perception check of the Arcane Sight user, does not beat the stealth of the Hide in Plain Sight user.
This is a repost. It didn't merit attention before. Hopefully, this time around. Great job answering posts. Great on voting in your state!
So, he will know the exact square I am in? Or no? Like, a bat knows the exact square I would be in with their blindsense but not "how" I am in that square? The dog poop thing, he wouldn't know what square I am in, just that the auras and myself are somewhere nearby. Is that right?
Their understanding is that, because he has arcane sight on, he knows the exact square I am in but still has a 50 percent miss chance vs me. Which I think is kind of overpowered for a 2nd level spell. But I needed some clarification and the Rules FAQ thread(I found it after asking you) isn't clear. People are wishy washy over what it does.
Yup; he'll see your auras and know your square, but still has the 50% miss chance. And arcane sight isn't a 2nd level spell... it's a 3rd level spell. See invisibility lets someone do better than that with a 2nd level spell. And faerie fire, at 1st level, can be even better if it's aimed right.
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.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.
I just thought that I would point out that this particular disagreement spawned from the Thunder and Fang debate, in which earlier James said that it should be an Eearthbreaker and a Klar. Those arguing that RAW you can wield two earth breakers without a Klar said that RAW what James said does not matter. I find it a bit disingenuous that they then come to JJ to prove their point that RAW they could go completely against the intent of the feat for PFS play, by getting a ruling from the very person that they said makes no difference when he made a comment on the actually feat back in 2011.
What do you think about an aasimar with a cuoatl heritage?
Mr. James Jacobs,
How would you defend Shelyn from those who would claim that she is Mary Sue or that she has no flaws or real character traits?
Going to the Rocky Horror Picture Show on Valentine's, I came up with some questions I'd like to ask you:
- Have you seen the RHPS? If so, did you like it?
Assuming you are familiar with the work:
- How would you stat up Dr Frank n'Furter on Golarion?
- How would you stat up Rocky, the muscle-bound creature Frank builds? Android? Sentient flesh golem? Something else?
On the topic of flesh golems:
- Could a creator actively strive to make one gain sentience like that one in Ustalav? If so, what would it take? Would it make sense for a Wish spell to accomplish it?
- Can clones, grown using that spell, be used to build flesh golems? Such as if someone wanted to recreate a living person as a flesh golem?
- If a wizard were to try to build lesser flesh golem-like constructs from single corpses, would treating those as animated objects work as a starting point?
On the topic of weird multiple versions of a person:
- If someone wanted to be able to exist as multiple copies at once (cf. Doctor Manhattan of Watchmen), can you think of an appropriate way to do this in Pathfinder? Self-simulacra linked with telepathic bonds? Or some mythic clone application that would allow splitting consciousness between several clone bodies?
Also:
- Besides Artokus Kirran and his assistants, are the Thuvian alchemists an organized group or just a tradition of learning passed on by individual practitioners?
- Is there rivalry between the alchemists of Thuvia and the fleshwarpers of Oenopion?
2) We've released a LOT of info on Krune via numerous PFS scenarios. Belimarius is indeed still pretty obscure for now. We'll reveal more about her and the others as the stories we tell make sense to do so.
Oh! I did not know this as I have not read many PFS scenarios, thanks for the direction! :)
Can Drow, Duergar, Svirfneblin, and other Darklands species live in the same city without ripping each other to shreds?
Also, why was the Underdark called Khyber in the earliest editions? I know about the Khyber pass in Afghanistan, but why would they name the Underdark after it?
Nope. It's a musical, and therefore I choose to spend the hours of the day I spend watching movies on other movies.Have you seen Tim Burtons's Sweeney Todd (which I don't think has any choreographed dancing)?My disinterest in musicals is essentially a combination of a dislike of most of the songs that appear in musicals combined with the fact that the way suddenly everyone breaks into choreographed song and dance in the middle of a story breaks my verisimilitude and ruins the storyline. If I'm into the story, having everyone suddenly singing and dancing and all that is too distracting and annoying. It's FAR less annoying when the movie is animated, but still not a favorite at all.
Sometimes, circumstances dictate :) I never planned on watching Les Miserables, but watching my daughter in the chorus of her school production was kind of compulsory :) And it was briliant (seriously - at least 2 soloists won scholarships to music colleges).
I like to keep an open mind.
What do you think about an aasimar with a cuoatl heritage?Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes!!!!!
It's something I've been working on in my Mesoamerican/Caribbean setting and I'm surprised that there wasn't already one in Blood of Angels.
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It's something I've been working on in my Mesoamerican/Caribbean setting and I'm surprised that there wasn't already one in Blood of Angels.What do you think about an aasimar with a cuoatl heritage?Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes!!!!!
IIRC there wasn't one there cause in Golarion Couatls reproduce asexully. Doesn't deter me from wanting some awesomey Couatlkin goodness :3