Creative Director
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Who are you favorite Hero and Heroine and why? A list of runner ups are also appreciated...
Hero: John Carpenter, because his movies have made me into the person I am today.
Heroine: Hypatia, because she was all-around awesome in an area and time that needed it.
3 Runner-Up Heroes: H. P. Lovecraft, Akira Kurosawa, Stephen King
3 Runner-Up Heroines: Jodie Foster, Ameila Earhart, Roz Savage
OR: If you're talking about fictional characters...
Hero: Roland the Gunslinger
Heroine: Arya Stark
3 Runner-Up Heroes: Batman, Jack Bauer, Repairman Jack
3 Runner-Up Heroines: Daenerys Targaryen, Ripley, Death (from Sandman)
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Creative Director
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so the cleric just puts the offering on a altar and it just disappears?and when a cleric makes a offering(gift) to there god does the god receive the offering(gift)? if so how does the god receive the offering(gift)?The god does receive it, but how it's received is unrevealed to us mortals.
Rarely, yes. Usually... no. The ritual demands various ways of sacrifice, be it slaughter or burning or simply prayer and devotion—it's not so much the physical thing the god's looking for as the metaphysical; the soul or the faith or the spiritual energy.
Hi James!
I just started my first Repairman Jack novel. I was skeptical at first, but it's growing on me. I am reading The Tomb (Rakoshi).
The questions:
1. Was this a good first novel to choose? The internet seemed to think so….
2. Which one should I read next?
As always, thanks.
Who are you favorite Hero and Heroine and why? A list of runner ups are also appreciated...Hero: John Carpenter, because his movies have made me into the person I am today.
Heroine: Hypatia, because she was all-around awesome in an area and time that needed it.
3 Runner-Up Heroes: H. P. Lovecraft, Akira Kurosawa, Stephen King
3 Runner-Up Heroines: Jodie Foster, Ameila Earhart, Roz Savage
OR: If you're talking about fictional characters...
Hero: Roland the Gunslinger
Heroine: Arya Stark
3 Runner-Up Heroes: Batman, Jack Bauer, Repairman Jack
3 Runner-Up Heroines: Daenerys Targaryen, Ripley, Death (from Sandman)
I appreciate the thoroughness! I didn't see the Real Life Hero(in)es coming! I'm pretty sure I have the first Dark Tower book around here somewhere, maybe I should actually read that...
The god does receive it, but how it's received is unrevealed to us mortals.
Could a corrupted cleric or some outside force be able to "corrupt" the offering, potentially weakening the deity for a time or having other side effects?
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Creative Director
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Howdy James! First off I'd like to thank you for answering my earlier questions (and everyone elses!) It's certainly appreciated and definitely cool.
Now for another question..
What exactly is your job at Paizo? Does being a Creative Director mean you write guidelines and projects that other writers flesh out? Do you sit in a handsome chair and think what would be cool for Golarion? Do you have a luxurious cat whom you pet while thinking what would be destructive for Golarion?
I do a little bit of everything when it comes to shepherding Golarion. I also approve all Golarion related content for licensed products, and help brainstorm and outline new products we publish, and do editing and developing and design assistance as needed.
I also am directly responsible for the Adventure Paths, particularly the one that launches in August. I come up with the overall story, outline it, assign authors, and develop/re-write those adventures as needed, and help do the same with the other one we do in the year.
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Creative Director
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I noticed that recently Amazon allows to write fan fiction of copyrighted material, and a fee is paid to the original copyright owner. "The vampire diaries" is an example. I believe it is called "Kindle worlds". Is there any chance we might see this happening for Pathfinder and/or Golarion? (Sorry for my bad English, I am not a native speaker!)
I suppose there's a chance, but it's not something that we're looking into at this point I believe.
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Creative Director
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James, I'm planning to run a game soon based on the assassination of an Elven king in Sovyrian, and I'm brainstorming things to include/deal with. PCs are all level 8, and NPCs are between level 6 and 12.
1. What tools could the assassins use to help ensure that the king can't be resurrected?
2. What ideas might the assassins come up with to frame the PCs (strangers from another planet, there for research) for the assassination? They would need to work against 10th-12th level security measures.
3. What could be some good ways for the PCs to find clues that connect the real assassins to the mastermind -- an ambitious nobleman -- while they evade capture by the authorities?
1) Red mantis tactics. Disintegrate or other whole body destruction. Coming back to assassinate the king multiple times. Since the NPCs are between levels 6 and 12, they can't cast resurrection, and as such death effects and bodily destruction of the remains would all do the trick.
2) Shapechange/illusion to look like the PCs and "get spotted" at the scene of the crime.
3) This is starting to sound like "Design my adventure for me," and I don't want to set a precedent for doing that since I don't have time. I would suggest watching a bunch of movies on the topic of framing and murder mysteries for inspiration.
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Creative Director
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Just FYI, per a relatively recent FAQ, you do get the bonus language when your intelligence improves. (Not listed in the form of a question as I thought the comment reads as less jerkish as a simple FYI.)You don't get retroactive languages when your Intelligence goes up after character creation.
Which does make intelligence-boosting items more complicated. Make of that what you will for your games, I guess.
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Creative Director
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Huh, the article on the First World in Sound of a Thousand Screams made it seem like the First World was between the Material Plane and the Shadow Plane...
** spoiler omitted **
Guess I misinterpreted.
1) Are there any songs or musical pieces you think encapsulates or at least evokes some of the spirit of particular planes?
2) What are some of the other RPGs besides Pathfinder that you play, and what do you think they're better oriented (or more specialized) in doing than Pathfinder?
3) The vampire template notes that in addition to humanoids, fey and monstrous humanoids are also candidates for vampirism. What do you think would be some of the more interesting fey to be have the vampire template applied to? Do you think a dryad vampire would still be bound to her tree, which would also become a twisted bloodsucking aberration of nature?
1) Nope. That's like asking "are there any particulalrly Earth-themed songs?" The spectrum of what you're asking for is beyond what I can really do here.
2) Call of Cthulhu does modern day stuff better than any game, Pathfinder included. It's simplicity also in some ways makes it more fun to play than Pathfinder. Dread is SUPER easy to pick up and brilliant in its core mechanic.
3) Vampires are pretty much ALWAYS interesting.
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Creative Director
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Hi James!
I just started my first Repairman Jack novel. I was skeptical at first, but it's growing on me. I am reading The Tomb (Rakoshi).
The questions:
1. Was this a good first novel to choose? The internet seemed to think so….
2. Which one should I read next?
As always, thanks.
1) That's the first one Wilson wrote, so yes, it's the correct one to start with.
2) Read the others in chronological order. I believe Legacies is next, but I could be wrong... there's lots of them out there, and each one of the books should have the list of what order the books take place in at the back.
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Creative Director
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How do fire salamanders and other outsiders that are native to the plane of fire survive? Won't they all die off from smoke inhalation?
Fortunately, elementals don't breathe, so they're safe, but everyone else is kinda' screwed...
Outsiders are capable of existing fine in their home planes. That's part of what being an outsider is all about. That said, the plane of fire isn't all smoke filled—it's magic, not science there. There's plenty of air to breathe.
If you've already answered this just ignore it.
What's your take on the situation when a follower of a mythic characters dies when that follower has chosen the character as their deity to received spells and the like?
Does that mythic character have any claim on the soul itself? If so, what sort of implications does this have, if any, on the mythic character as souls are often a currency of sorts for the outer planes? Where would they go?
To explore this scenario would you have to reveal aspects about the nature of souls as they're tied to deities that you're not ready to reveal?
I understand GMs always can do what they want in their own worlds but I'm always curious to see how your vision looks for such things.
The Outer Planes are innately magic places. Maybe Shelynites have a ritual that plane shift artwork to her domain. Maybe they are created by petitioner worshipers. Maybe they are magical duplicates of works created by mortals (similar to how Abadar has the 'perfect' version of everything in his vault.)
James, have you ever read Clive Barker's short story, "In the Hills, the Cities"? It's featured in the first volume of the Books of Blood.
If you have, what did you think of it?
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Do you envision it being like the Firelands in WOW?Outsiders are capable of existing fine in their home planes. That's part of what being an outsider is all about. That said, the plane of fire isn't all smoke filled—it's magic, not science there. There's plenty of air to breathe.How do fire salamanders and other outsiders that are native to the plane of fire survive? Won't they all die off from smoke inhalation?
Fortunately, elementals don't breathe, so they're safe, but everyone else is kinda' screwed...
Parts of it, sure.
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Creative Director
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If you've already answered this just ignore it.
What's your take on the situation when a follower of a mythic characters dies when that follower has chosen the character as their deity to received spells and the like?
Does that mythic character have any claim on the soul itself? If so, what sort of implications does this have, if any, on the mythic character as souls are often a currency of sorts for the outer planes? Where would they go?
To explore this scenario would you have to reveal aspects about the nature of souls as they're tied to deities that you're not ready to reveal?
I understand GMs always can do what they want in their own worlds but I'm always curious to see how your vision looks for such things.
If the mythic character doesn't have a planar realm, then the follower ends up going to the appropriately aligned outer plane to either join the realm of the mythic character's deity or to somewhere themed appropriate for that character, perhaps to "lie in wait" for a future date when that character DOES gain a planar realm.
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Creative Director
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James, have you ever read Clive Barker's short story, "In the Hills, the Cities"? It's featured in the first volume of the Books of Blood.
If you have, what did you think of it?
I've read pretty much ALL of Clive Barker's stories and novels—he's one of my favorite writers. In fact, I believe that one of the two Books of Blood volumes that my Grandmother gave me back when I was 12 or so to read (her quote—"Read this guy: He's better than Stephen King!").
"In the Hills, the Cities" is one of his most memorable stories though, that's for sure. It, "Rawhead Rex," "Midnight Meat Train," and "How Spoilers Bleed" are my favorites of his early short stories.
James, have you ever read Clive Barker's short story, "In the Hills, the Cities"? It's featured in the first volume of the Books of Blood.
If you have, what did you think of it?
I've read pretty much ALL of Clive Barker's stories and novels—he's one of my favorite writers. In fact, I believe that one of the two Books of Blood volumes that my Grandmother gave me back when I was 12 or so to read (her quote—"Read this guy: He's better than Stephen King!").
"In the Hills, the Cities" is one of his most memorable stories though, that's for sure. It, "Rawhead Rex," "Midnight Meat Train," and "How Spoilers Bleed" are my favorites of his early short stories.
I like your grandmother :)
If the mythic character doesn't have a planar realm, then the follower ends up going to the appropriately aligned outer plane to either join the realm of the mythic character's deity or to somewhere themed appropriate for that character, perhaps to "lie in wait" for a future date when that character DOES gain a planar realm.
Would the Create Demiplane spell series be enough to 'count' as a planar realm in such a case, assuming that the mythic character's demi-plane was permanent?
Hey JJ,
How did the development of Mythic Adventures come about? Was the product decided as a means to offer more epic adventures without delving into the awkwardness of levels above 20 and then things were extrapolated from there, or did you always have in mind the idea that there were some people in Golarion who were more gifted/impressive/powerful than others due to something other than just class levels, or what?
Basically, did the development of Mythic Adventures drive the lore, or did the lore drive some/all of the development?
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Creative Director
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If the mythic character doesn't have a planar realm, then the follower ends up going to the appropriately aligned outer plane to either join the realm of the mythic character's deity or to somewhere themed appropriate for that character, perhaps to "lie in wait" for a future date when that character DOES gain a planar realm.Would the Create Demiplane spell series be enough to 'count' as a planar realm in such a case, assuming that the mythic character's demi-plane was permanent?
Nope.
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Creative Director
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Hey JJ,
How did the development of Mythic Adventures come about? Was the product decided as a means to offer more epic adventures without delving into the awkwardness of levels above 20 and then things were extrapolated from there, or did you always have in mind the idea that there were some people in Golarion who were more gifted/impressive/powerful than others due to something other than just class levels, or what?
Basically, did the development of Mythic Adventures drive the lore, or did the lore drive some/all of the development?
The lore drove the creation of the book. We couldn't do a "Fight the demon lord/Worldwound" Adventure Path without figuring out what post-20th level play meant, if anything.
The actual rules design was more or less the design team coming up with solutions to that problem, with some cases having the lore require certain rules and in others the rules suggesting new lore.
Nope.If the mythic character doesn't have a planar realm, then the follower ends up going to the appropriately aligned outer plane to either join the realm of the mythic character's deity or to somewhere themed appropriate for that character, perhaps to "lie in wait" for a future date when that character DOES gain a planar realm.Would the Create Demiplane spell series be enough to 'count' as a planar realm in such a case, assuming that the mythic character's demi-plane was permanent?
Is that a matter of size or spiritual resonance?
Nope.If the mythic character doesn't have a planar realm, then the follower ends up going to the appropriately aligned outer plane to either join the realm of the mythic character's deity or to somewhere themed appropriate for that character, perhaps to "lie in wait" for a future date when that character DOES gain a planar realm.Would the Create Demiplane spell series be enough to 'count' as a planar realm in such a case, assuming that the mythic character's demi-plane was permanent?
What about a Mythic Create Demiplane?
(If such a thing existed)
Since it's established that most (if not all) deities have some sort of associated color scheme, but that dead/forgotten deities won't be included in Inner Sea Gods... what colors would have been most closely associated with Acavna, Amaznen, and Lissala?
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.
Hi James!
1) So Buhlman has announced a Half Orc Warpriest of Gorum?Where and when did that happen?
2) What are you most exciting about right now?
3) The Guardians of the Galaxy movie. Cool or not?
4) Who is the most fun person at Paizo?
5) Not a question, but I still think you are the coolest person at Paizo.
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.Hi James!
1) So Buhlman has announced a Half Orc Warpriest of Gorum?
Where and when did that happen?2) What are you most exciting about right now?
3) The Guardians of the Galaxy movie. Cool or not?
4) Who is the most fun person at Paizo?
5) Not a question, but I still think you are the coolest person at Paizo.
I keep hearing that the Warpriest was announced. Where was this?
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Creative Director
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Is that a matter of size or spiritual resonance?Nope.If the mythic character doesn't have a planar realm, then the follower ends up going to the appropriately aligned outer plane to either join the realm of the mythic character's deity or to somewhere themed appropriate for that character, perhaps to "lie in wait" for a future date when that character DOES gain a planar realm.Would the Create Demiplane spell series be enough to 'count' as a planar realm in such a case, assuming that the mythic character's demi-plane was permanent?
More on the spiritual side of things.
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Creative Director
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Nope.If the mythic character doesn't have a planar realm, then the follower ends up going to the appropriately aligned outer plane to either join the realm of the mythic character's deity or to somewhere themed appropriate for that character, perhaps to "lie in wait" for a future date when that character DOES gain a planar realm.Would the Create Demiplane spell series be enough to 'count' as a planar realm in such a case, assuming that the mythic character's demi-plane was permanent?What about a Mythic Create Demiplane?
(If such a thing existed)
That might do it. Maybe.
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Isn't mythic more like expanded level play as opposed to post 20th level play?
The lore drove the creation of the book. We couldn't do a "Fight the demon lord/Worldwound" Adventure Path without figuring out what post-20th level play meant, if anything.
Yes.
Doesn't change the fact that we still needed a "fight demon lords" solution, so it doesn't change the accuracy of my answer.
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Creative Director
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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.Hi James!
1) So Buhlman has announced a Half Orc Warpriest of Gorum?
Where and when did that happen?2) What are you most exciting about right now?
3) The Guardians of the Galaxy movie. Cool or not?
4) Who is the most fun person at Paizo?
5) Not a question, but I still think you are the coolest person at Paizo.
1) Not sure. Happened without anyone checking with me.
2) Probably a tie between the HP Lovecraft Film Festival and Godzilla and Dark Souls II.
3) Meh. Talking animals decrease my interest in a movie by an awful lot. I have no real knowledge about the characters; never really heard of them before now, haven't seen the trailer, etc. I'll probably see the movie but I'm not super interested in it at this point.
4) Patrick is the most entertaining. Whether or not that makes him the most fun, I can't say.
5) Woo!
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Same as for a monk or rogue, whatever that would be.James,
Question from a ninja player. How many ki points are ninjas allowed to spend a round for abilities? Is it like being a wizard where you can only cast one spell a round, so a ninja can only use one ninja trick a round? Or are you allowed to use multiple ninja tricks that take up different kinds of actions (swift, standard, etc).
I have no idea. I haven't found anything that gives specifics.
Will there ever be any application of Sign Language and/or Lip-Reading in Pathfinder? Even a small one?
