So, I get why we don't see an angelic invasion to counter the Worldwound, but why isn't there a mass influx of inevitables trying to shut it down? This is exactly the kind of thing that Lhaksharuts are meant to combat, after all.
Not what I said.So we do have a precedent for the Chainmail Bikini! Thanks Sorshen!Sorshen's followers would have worn revealing outfits and would skew toward the handsome/beautiful end of things.Hi there,
Is there some kind of signature armour type/style that Sorshen would have kitted her minions out in? - Karzoug has gilded plate, Alaznist seems to have red etc
It's illusion, but that isn't forbidden to lust specialists, so Glamered armor would be possible for her to give her followers. Do you think it's likely she used that?
Do you think that non-Mythic feats should be able to augment Mythic Feats?
Specifically, the feat Spell Perfection from the APG allows you to double the benefits of feats that grant a set bonus to the spell you selected with the feat and lists Spell Penetration as an example. Mythic Spell Penetration allows you to add half your tier to overcome SR, and you can add your full tier if you have Greater Spell Penetration.
So would Spell Perfection simply double the +4 from Spell Pen. and Grtr Spell Pen. or would it also double the Tier bonus from Mythic Spell Penetration?
Would be kind of crazy that a caster could gain +28 to overcome SR with the spell they chose for Spell Perfection, but it would kind of fit the flavor of having mastered one spell completely.
Creative Director
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So, I get why we don't see an angelic invasion to counter the Worldwound, but why isn't there a mass influx of inevitables trying to shut it down? This is exactly the kind of thing that Lhaksharuts are meant to combat, after all.
That is somewhat covered in the last adventure in Wrath of the Righteous... but the short answer is "They tried, but got their orrerys kicked and haven't tried again." Which is reason #341 why it's a job for mythic PCs, not GM-controlled NPCs.
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It's illusion, but that isn't forbidden to lust specialists, so Glamered armor would be possible for her to give her followers. Do you think it's likely she used that?Not what I said.So we do have a precedent for the Chainmail Bikini! Thanks Sorshen!Sorshen's followers would have worn revealing outfits and would skew toward the handsome/beautiful end of things.Hi there,
Is there some kind of signature armour type/style that Sorshen would have kitted her minions out in? - Karzoug has gilded plate, Alaznist seems to have red etc
Maybe for a few, but overall... nope.
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Do you think that non-Mythic feats should be able to augment Mythic Feats?
Specifically, the feat Spell Perfection from the APG allows you to double the benefits of feats that grant a set bonus to the spell you selected with the feat and lists Spell Penetration as an example. Mythic Spell Penetration allows you to add half your tier to overcome SR, and you can add your full tier if you have Greater Spell Penetration.
So would Spell Perfection simply double the +4 from Spell Pen. and Grtr Spell Pen. or would it also double the Tier bonus from Mythic Spell Penetration?
Would be kind of crazy that a caster could gain +28 to overcome SR with the spell they chose for Spell Perfection, but it would kind of fit the flavor of having mastered one spell completely.
You'd need a "Mythic Spell Perfection" for that, I say.
So... to answer the question: Nope.
Will there be another AP with all female iconics, like what you did with Carrion Crown?
Will there be another AP with all female iconics, like what you did with Carrion Crown?I suspect some day we'll do that again. Probably before we do an all male iconic one.
If you were to do an all male iconic AP, which four iconics would you choose?
Will there be another AP with all female iconics, like what you did with Carrion Crown?I suspect some day we'll do that again. Probably before we do an all male iconic one.
Why would you do a all female iconic AP again before you do a all male iconic AP?
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Hi James,
When the wording of the feat Thunder & Fang was changed from how it appeared in the CotCT player's guide, to how it appears now in Varisia: Birthplace of Legends, one of the results is that now you can seemingly TWF with two Earthbreakers, albeit at a -4/-4 penalty.
You can use an earth breaker as though it were a one-handed weapon.
Was this intentional?
Hey, James!
I've been trying to reverse engineer the Stalker's Crossbow (pg. 61 of Pathfinder #76, The Midnight Isles), but am a bit stumped. So far I've got the mwk light crossbow cost, the +3 weapon bonus, and the seeking weapon special ability, which adds up to 32,335 gp (a +4 weapon bonus total). I had considered making the 1/day bane weapon special ability another +1 bonus, bringing my total above to 50,335 gp (a +5 weapon bonus total), but that only leaves 4,400 gp for the locate creature spell effect.
1) How would you figure up the cost of the 1/day locate creature spell effect?
2) How would you figure up the cost of the 1/day bane weapon special ability that only functions against a specific target?
Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
If you absolutely had to cast Samuel L. Jackson as the voice actor for one Pathfinder RPG Iconic, who would it be?Limiting myself to the current iconics... Harsk.
Ooooo, would he be better for the Half Orc Warpriest of Gorum that Buhlman announced? Or is there... Another one in mind?
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If you were to do an all male iconic AP, which four iconics would you choose?Will there be another AP with all female iconics, like what you did with Carrion Crown?I suspect some day we'll do that again. Probably before we do an all male iconic one.
The four that made the best thematic sense for the AP.
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Why would you do a all female iconic AP again before you do a all male iconic AP?Will there be another AP with all female iconics, like what you did with Carrion Crown?I suspect some day we'll do that again. Probably before we do an all male iconic one.
Because this industry and the fantasy genre is already male-character dominated enough.
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Hi James,
When the wording of the feat Thunder & Fang was changed from how it appeared in the CotCT player's guide, to how it appears now in Varisia: Birthplace of Legends, one of the results is that now you can seemingly TWF with two Earthbreakers, albeit at a -4/-4 penalty.
You can use an earth breaker as though it were a one-handed weapon.Was this intentional?
No. You can't two weapon fight with 2 earthbreakers. That was an unfortunate side effect of an attempt to standardize rules language.
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Hey, James!
I've been trying to reverse engineer the Stalker's Crossbow (pg. 61 of Pathfinder #76, The Midnight Isles), but am a bit stumped. So far I've got the mwk light crossbow cost, the +3 weapon bonus, and the seeking weapon special ability, which adds up to 32,335 gp (a +4 weapon bonus total). I had considered making the 1/day bane weapon special ability another +1 bonus, bringing my total above to 50,335 gp (a +5 weapon bonus total), but that only leaves 4,400 gp for the locate creature spell effect.
1) How would you figure up the cost of the 1/day locate creature spell effect?
2) How would you figure up the cost of the 1/day bane weapon special ability that only functions against a specific target?
Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
First of all... when you price out magic items, the tables and formulas and what not are where you start. Once you get that formula-derived price, the next step is to compare it to similar items if you can and adjust as necessary.
For the stalker's crossbow, I started with the price for a +3 seeking light crossbow (32,335 gp).
The next thing the item does is lets you cast locate creature once per day, but only on the last creature you damaged with the crossbow. Normally a 1/day locate creature at CL 14th is (4x14x2000)/5 = 22,400 gp, which brings the total cost of the weapon up to 54,735 gp.
The bane ability is much less powerful than a normal bane ability—it only works on one creature at a time, and only once per day on a creature you have to first hit with your weapon and then use your once a day locate creature on them. Since the weapon's locate creature effect is itself limited (you can't cast it on anyone), I basically rolled the one-person bane ability into the cost of the limited locate creature effect and called it good.
Finally, I took the final cost (54,735 gp) and compared it to similar weapons—would I rather have a 54,735 gp stalker's crossbow, or a 50,335 gp +3 seeking bane light crossbow? That seems to me to be a pretty tough choice, since the +3 seeking bane light crossbow has its bane ability hard coded into a specific monster type I might not encounter, and the stalker's crossbow lets me guarentee I'll get the bane once a day more or less AND lets me track creatures... that's not THAT much better though.
54,735 gp ended up feeling right enough for me.
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Ooooo, would he be better for the Half Orc Warpriest of Gorum that Buhlman announced? Or is there... Another one in mind?If you absolutely had to cast Samuel L. Jackson as the voice actor for one Pathfinder RPG Iconic, who would it be?Limiting myself to the current iconics... Harsk.
That one would be better voiced by Ron Perlman.
Is the T-rex your spirit animal?
So, I get why we don't see an angelic invasion to counter the Worldwound, but why isn't there a mass influx of inevitables trying to shut it down? This is exactly the kind of thing that Lhaksharuts are meant to combat, after all.That is somewhat covered in the last adventure in Wrath of the Righteous... but the short answer is "They tried, but got their orrerys kicked and haven't tried again." Which is reason #341 why it's a job for mythic PCs, not GM-controlled NPCs.
Ah, I haven't taken a look at City of Locust yet. I'm glad to know it's getting addressed.
Speaking of inevitables; any chance of a future Book of the Damned/Chronicles of the Righteous style book that deals with neutral outsiders; aeons, inevitables, proteans, and psychopomps? I for one would like to see some primals, ushers, and the others statted up, myself.
If you were to do an all male iconic AP, which four iconics would you choose?The four that made the best thematic sense for the AP.
And rightly so! Though I had a different intention for my question. I'll rephrase: if you had to make an adventuring party out of the male iconics, which four would you pick?
Oh! I got one. Who is your favorite Villian and why?Oooh... that's a tough one.
Hmmmm.
I guess I'd have to say Wilbur Whatley, since he's such a cool character and is obviously a villain and not just an impartial alien.
Ten kinda-random runners up off the top of my head (see how many you recognize):
Rasalom
Asenath Waite
Randal Flagg
Joffrey
Iggwilv
The Smoking Man
David Lo Pan
Ash
Tharizdun
Norman Bates
Ha! Knew all but the first! Hats off for the David Lo Pan pick.
James,
When you say Ash is one of your favorite villains—you mean the Bruce Campbell Evil Dead Ash?
If not, then which one?
Bonus Question: Tom Cullen apparently refers to Randall Flagg as Nyarlathotep in the complete and uncut version of The Stand. I read the unabridged version but that slipped past me. Did you know that?
Thoughts?
Oh that was a clever tease. :DIf you absolutely had to cast Samuel L. Jackson as the voice actor for one Pathfinder RPG Iconic, who would it be?Limiting myself to the current iconics... Harsk.
My guess is that male half-orc warpriest we've heard about!
James,
When you say Ash is one of your favorite villains—you mean the Bruce Campbell Evil Dead Ash?
If not, then which one?
Actually, he meant Ash the android from Alien.
Actually, he meant Ash the android from Alien.
DOH!
Of course. I have seen the classic film, but it has been many years. My wife is the big Alien fan in the family, but I enjoyed them.
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Creative Director
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So, I get why we don't see an angelic invasion to counter the Worldwound, but why isn't there a mass influx of inevitables trying to shut it down? This is exactly the kind of thing that Lhaksharuts are meant to combat, after all.That is somewhat covered in the last adventure in Wrath of the Righteous... but the short answer is "They tried, but got their orrerys kicked and haven't tried again." Which is reason #341 why it's a job for mythic PCs, not GM-controlled NPCs.Ah, I haven't taken a look at City of Locust yet. I'm glad to know it's getting addressed.
Speaking of inevitables; any chance of a future Book of the Damned/Chronicles of the Righteous style book that deals with neutral outsiders; aeons, inevitables, proteans, and psychopomps? I for one would like to see some primals, ushers, and the others statted up, myself.
Just to manage expectations... it's not a HUGE part of the book, but it does talk about the inevitables AND the aeons and how they're kinda outclassed by the Worldwound. If the Worldwound ends up lasting for a long time, they'll eventually come in force, but for now it's not something that really attracts them in mass numbers. They've got a whole Great Beyond to patrol, after all, and the Worldwound's HARDLY the only peril of its kind out there!
The problem with a "neutral" book of outsiders like you ask is that unlike the ones we've done so far... there's not a common thread that binds together the neturals. They're all SO different that a book about a bunch of them is a weak book... and multiple books about each of them are perhaps too specialized...
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And rightly so! Though I had a different intention for my question. I'll rephrase: if you had to make an adventuring party out of the male iconics, which four would you pick?If you were to do an all male iconic AP, which four iconics would you choose?The four that made the best thematic sense for the AP.
My favorites would probably be Valeros, Lem, Seltyiel, and Damiel, I suppose.
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Creative Director
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James,
When you say Ash is one of your favorite villains—you mean the Bruce Campbell Evil Dead Ash?
If not, then which one?
Bonus Question: Tom Cullen apparently refers to Randall Flagg as Nyarlathotep in the complete and uncut version of The Stand. I read the unabridged version but that slipped past me. Did you know that?
Thoughts?
Evil Dead Ash is a hero, not a villain!
I'm talking about Ash from Alien.
Bonus Answer: Yup, I did indeed know that. Stephen King throws Lovecraft easter eggs into his novels a lot (and at times, eschews the easter egg for full on Lovecraft stories, of course). I like to think that Randall Flagg is indeed Nyarlathotep. He certainly fits the personality!
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A query on the presence/absence of mythic individuals in the Inner Sea region/on Golarion. How many famous or well known NPC individuals had or have Guardian tiers? When I went through and did a tally on famous people and their mythic paths, including some you've mentioned in this thread. I also included the ones from Inner Sea Magic that have the "+" next to their names, since Mythic Origins states that the ones there with the "+" are mythic NPCs (or at least comparable).
Archmages: Jatembe, Areelu Vorlesh, Xanderghul, Baba Yaga, Xanthir Vang (famous enough?), Arazni
Champions: Aroden
Guardians:
Hierophants: Khortash Khain, Auzmezar (famous enough?)
Marshals: Arazni, Gnargorak
Tricksters: Sorshen
Ranks: Tar-Baphon
Unknown: Geb (Archmage?), Nex (Archmage?), Alaznist, Artokus Kirran, Lord Gyr, Jakalyn, any pre-ascended deities (e.g. Iomedae, Cayden, Irori)It seems lacking in the other paths as well, for that matter, but Guardian is the most noticeable. I included Arazni in the Archmage one because she has Dual Path. The Archmage path seems to be extraordinarily popular, far more than any other.
Now, there's Lokoa the Sky Master of Yjae (4 Guardian tiers), or Mpondo the Zenj tribe chieftain (2 Guardian tiers), but those two are very minor, and don't get statblock write-ups or anything to that effect. Mythic Origins describes cultural legends about mythic figures capable of withstanding arduous, impossible dangers, but no names are ever given. I even searched through the WotR stuff that I have, including the Worldwound book, and came up with nothing.
Could you give some indications on what mythic paths were taken by Geb, Nex, Artokus, Gyr and Jakalyn? And perhaps provide a few names for famous people with Guardian tiers?
We'll be talking about the martial mythic characters a bit in "Inner Sea Combat" in the same way we talked about spellcasters in "Inner Sea Magic." There might not be any... but that might seem weird.
I haven't really nailed down the paths for any of those who haven't yet been statted up... but my current thinking (which is subject to change) is...
Geb and Nex both likely have Archmage.
Artokus is probably a Trickster or maybe a Marshal. He MIGHT be an Archmage.
Gyr is either a Guardian or a Trickster.
Jakalyn is probably a Hierophant... although I've not yet looked lately at how that'd work with her classes... but it would cement her role as the high priestess.
What are your personal feelings on customized Summon Monster lists that differ from the standard list? (ie, Great Old Ones cultists having a list that lets them summon Seugathi and Intellect Devourers) Should access to alternates require giving up at least as many normal summoning options, even if thematically appropriate?
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What are your personal feelings on customized Summon Monster lists that differ from the standard list? (ie, Great Old Ones cultists having a list that lets them summon Seugathi and Intellect Devourers) Should access to alternates require giving up at least as many normal summoning options, even if thematically appropriate?
As long as it's a new spell, like "Summon Eldritch Monster I" or "Summon Darklands Denizen 1" or the like, I think it's a great idea.
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Bonus Answer: Yup, I did indeed know that. Stephen King throws Lovecraft easter eggs into his novels a lot (and at times, eschews the easter egg for full on Lovecraft stories, of course). I like to think that Randall Flagg is indeed Nyarlathotep. He certainly fits the personality!
Other than the short story "Jerusalem's Lot," what other full on Lovecraftian stories has Stephen King written?
That one would be better voiced by Ron Perlman.Ooooo, would he be better for the Half Orc Warpriest of Gorum that Buhlman announced? Or is there... Another one in mind?If you absolutely had to cast Samuel L. Jackson as the voice actor for one Pathfinder RPG Iconic, who would it be?Limiting myself to the current iconics... Harsk.
You're in charge of casting when the movie comes out, right? I like the way you think.
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Other than the short story "Jerusalem's Lot," what other full on Lovecraftian stories has Stephen King written?
Bonus Answer: Yup, I did indeed know that. Stephen King throws Lovecraft easter eggs into his novels a lot (and at times, eschews the easter egg for full on Lovecraft stories, of course). I like to think that Randall Flagg is indeed Nyarlathotep. He certainly fits the personality!
Two other short stories immediately come to mind:
Gramma (about a kid who's at home with his elderly grandmother who happens to be a cultist of Hastur)
Crouch End (about a couple who gets lost in a weird neighborhood that is under the influence of Lovecraftian elements)
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You're in charge of casting when the movie comes out, right? I like the way you think.That one would be better voiced by Ron Perlman.Ooooo, would he be better for the Half Orc Warpriest of Gorum that Buhlman announced? Or is there... Another one in mind?If you absolutely had to cast Samuel L. Jackson as the voice actor for one Pathfinder RPG Iconic, who would it be?Limiting myself to the current iconics... Harsk.
I suppose I'm okay with gaining imaginary new responsibilities since they have imaginary schedules and imaginary drains on my resources. :-P
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I have some questions about worms, demons, and demon worms. Some are a bit complicated, so I'll bold the actual question.
-1: Are all seugathi bound by the will of their neothelid parent? To put it another way, are any seugathi able to go "rogue" and ignore the directives they are born with?
-2: Assuming the answer to question 1 is "no," that means that Kortash Khain and his kingdom of Nemret Noktoria must have an alliance with at least 1 neothelid. 7% of Nemret Noktoria's 17,650 citizens are seugathi, and Khain has at least one (and likely many more) seugathi agents working for him directly. Are there any hints you're willing to share about the nature of this alliance?
-3: Are all neothelids worshipers of the Great Old Ones/Outer Gods? I ask specifically because of information presented in the second Shattered Star Adventure, "Curse of the Lady's Light," in which the PCs can stumble upon a fiendish seugathi. The background of that seugathi is that it originated in the Abyss - specifically Sekatar Seraktis. This tells me that at least one neothelid lives there. Assuming this is the case, would an Abyssal neothelid still worship the Old Gods? Also, was this an easter egg related to the neothelids living in Hollow Mountain's depths? (Alaznist had an alliance with Yamasoth, ruler of Sekatar Seraktis, so maybe he imported some of the neothelids).
-4: Do any neothelids worship/serve Yhidrothus, Demon Lord of worms?
Thanks!
1) Seugathi are able to go rogue, but not that often.
2) There are certainly neothelids in and involved with Nemret Noktoria. Doesn't mean they have an "alliance" with the city, though.
3) The vast majority of neothelids worship the Great Old Ones and Outer Gods, yes. But reality is a big place, and there are absolutely neothelids (and thus seugathi) on the outer planes. Those would be far more likely to worship demon lords or qlippoth lords.
4) That'd be the most appropriate demon lord for them to worship, yeah.
1. When I spend BP for diplomatic edicts, does each BP equal 4,000 gp of stuff or 2,000 gp? The difference between a 120K gp gift and a 240K one is important for determining flavor.
2. What parts of Golarion did Sean K. Reynolds make?
3. What sort of level 17+ creatures and challenges would be in-character for Brevoy? What about the River Kingdoms?
4. Do petitioners of Sarerae or Shelyn become animals like everyone else in Nirvana?
5. Where in Avistan are yithians most likely to congregate?
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1. When I spend BP for diplomatic edicts, does each BP equal 4,000 gp of stuff or 2,000 gp? The difference between a 120K gp gift and a 240K one is important for determining flavor.
2. What parts of Golarion did Sean K. Reynolds make?
3. What sort of level 17+ creatures and challenges would be in-character for Brevoy? What about the River Kingdoms?
4. Do petitioners of Sarerae or Shelyn become animals like everyone else in Nirvana?
5. Where in Avistan are yithians most likely to congregate?
1) Good question. I dunno; that's an expansion to the rules I initially wrote, but not one I wrote or developed. I'd go with the more expensive options, I guess.
2) Sean joined Paizo after the setting was created, and doesn't really have a "pet nation." He's been involved in fleshing out the deities from the very start though.
3) Not a lot. Brevoy isn't really meant to be a 17+ zone. Check out the last Kingmaker adventure's Beyond the Campaign article for some suggestions... dragons and powerful fey both come to mind.
4) Yes. Sarenrae's generally become doves, falcons, or lizards, while Shelyn's generally become songbirds, swans, wolves, dolphins, cats, or rabbits.
5) Nowhere. They're from Earth. Those yithians who appear on Golarion came here from Earth via dimensional travel, which means they could appear pretty much anywhere.
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I have a question that may have been covered already, but here goes;
way back in Dragon Magazine issue 329, Lamashtu is mentioned in (an article written by YOU)as knowing Pazuzu's secret name. Is this the same "Mother of Monstrous Birth" that exists in the Pathfinder setting? The issue says that it contains no Open Content, so does that make Lamashtu property of WoTC?
SMOF
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I have a question that may have been covered already, but here goes;
way back in Dragon Magazine issue 329, Lamashtu is mentioned in (an article written by YOU)as knowing Pazuzu's secret name. Is this the same "Mother of Monstrous Birth" that exists in the Pathfinder setting? The issue says that it contains no Open Content, so does that make Lamashtu property of WoTC?
SMOF
Lamashtu is in fact from real-world mythology. When I was researching the article for Pazuzu, I found out that the real-world Pazuzu mythology interacted quite a lot with Lamashtu's mythology. I always introduced a "new" demon lord in those Demonomicon articles, and Lamashtu was a great one to introduce because of her pre-existing real-world mythologies that dovetailed into Pazuzu's. Lamashtu is, therefore, no more WotC property than are dwarves, elves, dragons, or house cats.
When we were picking gods for Golarion, I knew that having the "boss demon" as one of our CE deities was a requirement, but we couldn't use Demogorgon. Picking Lamashtu as the deity to develop into our boss demon made a lot of sense, since it let us draw upon obscure real-world mythology AND obscure nostalgia from the game's earlier editions, but left us a lot of room to develop her into her own unique Golarion incarnation.
With regards to ninjas, will there ever be a feat similar to the Extra Rogue Talent feat that allows them to take an additional ninja trick?
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Thanks for the answer! I love your demon articles, and Pazuzu is a favorite to throw at players (well, his cult and so far an apect).
Why hasn't the Extra Smite feat made it into Pathfinder? Its a staple of my Paladin player's characters , but when I decreed Pathfinder only rules for the next campaign, we discovered it hadn't carried over. Any plans to bring it on board?