Whats the status on the Pathfinder quests open call ? Is it still valid ? Or is it on hold ?
(I had to ask that here as after a week theres no answer on the other forum, despite the question being asked - and the faq is clearly out of date !)
Hi James, I have a somewhat macabre question for you.
In Towns of the Inner Sea there is an NPC cleric who, annually, climbs to the peak of a clifftop gallows to resurrect the corpse of a criminal responsible for causing great harm to the cleric's family who was hung to death as his execution. The intention is that the cleric watches him hang by the neck and die each time.
Now, assuming that the man who was hung at the gallows does not willingly desire to be repeatedly hung to death every year, how does this reconcile with the core rulebook's text stating that when a character is raised from the dead they know the alignment and religion of the person trying to bring them back?
Does that mechanic work differently in Golarion's setting? Is the situation in Pezzack based off an incorrect understanding of resurrection magic? Or, more gruesomely, is the victim in Pezzack always willing?
Thanks!
That mechanic works the same in Golarion... although I'm having trouble finding that bit of information's location in the core rulebook. I knew about it from reading it before though, but the fact that it's hidden somewhat suggests to me that the writer and developer and editor of that section in Towns of the Inner Sea did not realize this was the case.
A dead body gets to decide if it wants to be resurrected, and I can certainly see a criminal being tricked once or twice by someone who just wants to raise him to kill him again... but eventually that spirit would get wise to the deception and stop coming back. And the person doing this had best hope Pharasma's priesthood doesn't catch wind of these shenanigans!
In other words... the situation exists most likely due to author/developer/editor error, but that doesn't mean it can't sill exist. If we were to do more about that situation in print, we'd need to explain it more and perhaps invent some new spells/feats/abilities/artifacts to justify why this cleric can break rules regarding resurrection... and I'm not sure I...
I'm with you guys on how Resurrection works, is it possible that clause is just understood by 3.5 players and never made it into PF in print?
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Whats the status on the Pathfinder quests open call ? Is it still valid ? Or is it on hold ?
(I had to ask that here as after a week theres no answer on the other forum, despite the question being asked - and the faq is clearly out of date !)
I'm not involved in that at all, so I can't really provide an answer. I suspect that, with us working hard on Gen Con releases at this point on fore a few months, though, that it's on hold. At least for the time being.
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Thanks a bunch, James. We're definitely on the same page regarding the resurrection thing. I appreciate the really quick answer.
[tangent]
Along the lines of someone being cursed to *have* to attempt to save vs. beneficial spells (such as healing), perhaps said criminal was cursed in such a way that he would always accept a resurrection spell (or always forget the terrible results, which wouldn't be out of line with the notion that some petitioners totally forget their previous lives...). So it would be something very specific to this one circumstance and not something anyone could do, so that one could eat the cake, and yet still have the cake.[/tangent]
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Hey James!
Does Galorion have birth control, either through alchemy, magic, or medicine? I was reading the race guide, and it seemed that a lot of mixed race individuals are despised, and some breeds are outright killed when born (thinking of half-drow, in the half-elf section). So are these children typically birth control babies? Or are they unwanted byproducts their parents' relationships? Are they typically raised by their parents or by orphanages?
If there is no birth control, I guess inter-racial relationships would be somewhat discouraged by society as a whole then, right?
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Hey James!
Does Galorion have birth control, either through alchemy, magic, or medicine? I was reading the race guide, and it seemed that a lot of mixed race individuals are despised, and some breeds are outright killed when born (thinking of half-drow, in the half-elf section). So are these children typically birth control babies? Or are they unwanted byproducts their parents' relationships? Are they typically raised by their parents or by orphanages?
If there is no birth control, I guess inter-racial relationships would be somewhat discouraged by society as a whole then, right?
Absolutely. In the very first Pathfinder, there's a character in the town of Sandpoint who uses extract of pinberries as a contraceptive. There's certainly other things out there, such as spells to diminish or enhance fertility.
But that all starts to tread into an area of culture and society that a lot of folks tend to get unreasonable and over-reactionary about—and so we tend to shy away from dwelling on things like birth control too much in our products and instead focus on things that help you fight monsters.
James,
1)Do all blackfire adepts think like the ones showcased in the WotR adventura path, working towards similar causes?
2)Do they have a centralized leadership? Or are they organized in a more autonomous fashion?
3)Is it possible for individual blackfire adepts to adopt a less radical cause? Perhaps a scholar that doesn't want to drag the whole material plane towards the Abyss? How unique would that individual be in the context of the organization as a whole?
4)I've noticed that their description in the Inner Sea World Guide, mentions that once they were part of the ruling class in the nation of Nex. Do they have any relationship with the arclords?
Thank you!
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FrodoOf9Fingers,
Adventurer's Armory has a few points of information on that topic. For men, they can take a dose of Bachelor Snuff (1gp/dose), a golden powder that is inhaled through the nose. This generally makes them sterile for 1-3 days. For women, there is Night Tea (1sp/dose) which must be taken daily and in high dosage can even end pregnancy. Should be noted that these items are considered blackmarket in most places so legality can be a bit of a problem.
That's about the gist of what has been said on the subject which is probably for the best.
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James,
1)Do all blackfire adepts think like the ones showcased in the WotR adventura path, working towards similar causes?
2)Do they have a centralized leadership? Or are they organized in a more autonomous fashion?
3)Is it possible for individual blackfire adepts to adopt a less radical cause? Perhaps a scholar that doesn't want to drag the whole material plane towards the Abyss? How unique would that individual be in the context of the organization as a whole?
4)I've noticed that their description in the Inner Sea World Guide, mentions that once they were part of the ruling class in the nation of Nex. Do they have any relationship with the arclords?
Thank you!
1) Pretty much, yes.
2) Nope; they've got several powerful members who each serve as the leader for a region, though. Each of these regions is pretty self-organized.
3) It's absolutely possible, and in fact all the blackfire adepts who exist beyond the Worldwound/Mendev region do exactly this. The Worldwound/Mendev blackfire adepts are pretty much the only ones involved in that type of goal.
4) There are certainly blackfire adepts active in Nex, but we've not yet said much about that particular sub-group of them.
I'm not sure on the relationship between tieflings and Cheliax, other than there are a fair few of them there. What's the general outlook on them? Are they revered? Hated? Feared? How do the different social classes react to them?
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I'm not sure on the relationship between tieflings and Cheliax, other than there are a fair few of them there. What's the general outlook on them? Are they revered? Hated? Feared? How do the different social classes react to them?
Tieflings are generally though of as shameful and regrettable proof of the failings of humanity to avoid being seduced by devils. Cheliax sees itself as being better than devils; devils are to them but tools, and tieflings are proof that some folks think of them as more than that. Tieflings in Cheliax are a marginalized and looked-down upon element of society, and it's very difficult for one to be anything other than a vagabond or criminal or other lowlife as a result.
Hey, James Jacobs. I'm playing a cleric 3/wizard 3/mystic theurge 3, and I've run into a little problem with the Cleric portion.
My character is a cleric of Nethys, whose only domain is Magic.
I'm also supposed to take a domain for my alignment... which is Neutral (Nethys' alignment is TN)
There is no domain for Neutral, so my domains are Magic and _______.
What should I do about this?
Hey James, hope you're doing well! Questions about and inspired by Demons Revisited:
1) The half-babau has Str +4, Dex +2, Con +4, Int +2, Wis +2, Cha +2. This makes it the weakest in terms of stat bonuses, even weaker than a normal half-fiend. Was this intentional to reflect the babau's lower CR or is one of the +2s supposed to be a +4? If so, which one?
2) If you would be so kind, could you rate the following race/template/class combinations in terms of thematic cohesiveness from 1-10?
2a) Human half-babau rogue
2b) Human half-babau ninja
2c) Human half-babau ranger (spell-less)
2d) Nagaji half-marilith oracle of bones
2e) Human half-marilith oracle of bones
2f) Lamia half-marilith oracle of bones
2g) Slag giant half-balor fighter
2h) Fire giant half-balor fighter
2i) Human half-balor fighter
Thanks James! You're awesome :) Also Demons Revisited is one of my favorite gaming books ever.
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I'm not sure on the relationship between tieflings and Cheliax, other than there are a fair few of them there. What's the general outlook on them? Are they revered? Hated? Feared? How do the different social classes react to them?Tieflings are generally though of as shameful and regrettable proof of the failings of humanity to avoid being seduced by devils. Cheliax sees itself as being better than devils; devils are to them but tools, and tieflings are proof that some folks think of them as more than that. Tieflings in Cheliax are a marginalized and looked-down upon element of society, and it's very difficult for one to be anything other than a vagabond or criminal or other lowlife as a result.
Or as a slave.
What, in your mind, would be the best way to incorporate amnesia into one of the APs? Which would it work best in, for example? Would amnesia be a viable way for a more experienced character to be "de-levelled" and thus start at first level when their backstory might have elements that suggested they had more experience or power prior to the start?
Nope. But that improper apostrophe comes close! ;-P
What about when Ninja's are cutting onions?
Haha! And this is why you're not chaotic good. And that's great.
Hey, James Jacobs. I'm playing a cleric 3/wizard 3/mystic theurge 3, and I've run into a little problem with the Cleric portion.
My character is a cleric of Nethys, whose only domain is Magic.
I'm also supposed to take a domain for my alignment... which is Neutral (Nethys' alignment is TN)
There is no domain for Neutral, so my domains are Magic and _______.What should I do about this?
Where did you get the idea that you're supposed to/have to take an alignment domain?
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In your opinion.
If you have the greater trip feat and you attack a prone creature with a trip attack and the numbers you roll say you succeded on said trip attack, do you trigger the greater trip AoO feature for a successful trip attack even if the creature is already prone?
Thanks for your opinion.
Figure I'll ask a question or two...
What is your favorite AP?
(Though we have hints of OA from Ultimate Magic and Ultimate Combat), Will we ever see an OA Pathfinder?
(Only ask because I love OA).
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Creative Director
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Hey, James Jacobs. I'm playing a cleric 3/wizard 3/mystic theurge 3, and I've run into a little problem with the Cleric portion.
My character is a cleric of Nethys, whose only domain is Magic.
I'm also supposed to take a domain for my alignment... which is Neutral (Nethys' alignment is TN)
There is no domain for Neutral, so my domains are Magic and _______.What should I do about this?
Nethys's only area of concern/portfolio is magic. For the domains he grants, look onto the next column to the right on the table; Nethys grants access to the domains of Destruction, Knowledge, Magic, Protection, and Rune. As a true neutral deity, he doesn't grant access to ANY alignment domains. Clerics don't HAVE to take alignment domains. They're just one more option.
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Hey James, hope you're doing well! Questions about and inspired by Demons Revisited:
1) The half-babau has Str +4, Dex +2, Con +4, Int +2, Wis +2, Cha +2. This makes it the weakest in terms of stat bonuses, even weaker than a normal half-fiend. Was this intentional to reflect the babau's lower CR or is one of the +2s supposed to be a +4? If so, which one?
2) If you would be so kind, could you rate the following race/template/class combinations in terms of thematic cohesiveness from 1-10?
2a) Human half-babau rogue
2b) Human half-babau ninja
2c) Human half-babau ranger (spell-less)2d) Nagaji half-marilith oracle of bones
2e) Human half-marilith oracle of bones
2f) Lamia half-marilith oracle of bones2g) Slag giant half-balor fighter
2h) Fire giant half-balor fighter
2i) Human half-balor fighterThanks James! You're awesome :) Also Demons Revisited is one of my favorite gaming books ever.
1) Not all half-demons are meant to be equally powerful. The fact that the babau's stat mods are two points lower than the normal half-fiend is one example; it's intentional.
2) All of them are fine and sound cool, but only if you back them up with a cool story, which is the same deal for anything more or less.
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What, in your mind, would be the best way to incorporate amnesia into one of the APs? Which would it work best in, for example? Would amnesia be a viable way for a more experienced character to be "de-levelled" and thus start at first level when their backstory might have elements that suggested they had more experience or power prior to the start?
That's a very good question.
Ask me again in a year or two. ;-)
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Do all such characters become targets for Pharasma's (or whoever's Inevitables) that target those who disrupt the life death cycle, such as the one who casually reminds Selim in "Dark Heretic" that he's also on the list to be hunted, but hasn't made it to the top yet? Does a single drink of the Sun Orchid elixir put you on that list?, Three of them for a Human?
1) If it prevents the character from dying of old age, then they're immortal, yes, and can no longer gain the effects of profane ascension.
2) Correct. Also, if a several thousand year old immortal suddenly had their immortality taken away... they might just crumble to dust in an instant!
3) Yes.
4) Once something is immortal (which is defined in the game as "doesn't die of old age," at least in my definition), it's no longer part of the standard soulstream. If something can live forever, its soul steps out of...
Th\Hey have the potential to become targets, but it's not automatic. The Multiverse is a HUGE place, after all, and there's almost always other things that need doing before dealing with one troublemaker gets onto the list. Usually.
What does it take? It varies considerably, which allows us to tell different kinds of stories.
Where would you put the Leaden Cathedral (former headquarters of the Order of the Godclaw) in Mendev?
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That's the problem, it can't work the same way, because an Outsider's soul isn't separate from the body, it's one piece as it were. It would seem to me that that would prevent the Outsider from being a valid target and someone else, (possibly an ally in battle with the Outsider) might be targeted by mistake since the life force in the magic jar has no senses other than the perception of life forces outside it.Yes. Works just the same.OK, but for further clarification: Does that mean the outsider's "soul" goes into the jar? We weren't exactly sure how that would work, since outsiders do not have a separate body and soul.It works normally.How does magic jar work against outsiders?
Since they don't have a separate soul, what happens?
Then think of it this way; the spell extracts the soul essence from the outsider's body, in the (metaphorically) same way a meat dehydrator pulls water out of a piece of meat. Only it does it much faster and without changing the physical nature of the body (since unlike water, soul energy doesn't have mass or weight or volume). Once that energy's out, a new soul can pop in and magic jar the outsider.
If that still doesn't work for you, then you absolutely should house rule magic jar and all similar effects to say that outsiders can't be affected by possession effects... but that's a slippery slope, especially considering that possession is one of the most iconic things many outsiders do.
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In your opinion.
If you have the greater trip feat and you attack a prone creature with a trip attack and the numbers you roll say you succeded on said trip attack, do you trigger the greater trip AoO feature for a successful trip attack even if the creature is already prone?
Thanks for your opinion.
If something is prone, it can't be tripped, because it's already prone. For the same reason, things that don't have legs can't be tripped, and things that are not walking on the ground (because they're swimming or flying or whatever) can't be tripped either.
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Figure I'll ask a question or two...
What is your favorite AP?
(Though we have hints of OA from Ultimate Magic and Ultimate Combat), Will we ever see an OA Pathfinder?
(Only ask because I love OA).
I like all the APs the same.
The rules themselves are world-neutral, and a book like Oriental Adventures can't exist in that way. You'll need to look to our campaign setting for that type of material, such as the Jade Regent Adventure Path or the Dragon Empires Gazetteer or the Ruby Phoenix Tournament module.
Where did you get the idea that you're supposed to/have to take an alignment domain?Hey, James Jacobs. I'm playing a cleric 3/wizard 3/mystic theurge 3, and I've run into a little problem with the Cleric portion.
My character is a cleric of Nethys, whose only domain is Magic.
I'm also supposed to take a domain for my alignment... which is Neutral (Nethys' alignment is TN)
There is no domain for Neutral, so my domains are Magic and _______.What should I do about this?
Because my deity only has one domain, so the only other domain I can take is an alignment domain.
And, ah, ok, thanks James.
Figure I'll ask a question or two...
What is your favorite AP?
(Though we have hints of OA from Ultimate Magic and Ultimate Combat), Will we ever see an OA Pathfinder?
(Only ask because I love OA).
I like all the APs the same.
The rules themselves are world-neutral, and a book like Oriental Adventures can't exist in that way. You'll need to look to our campaign setting for that type of material, such as the Jade Regent Adventure Path or the Dragon Empires Gazetteer or the Ruby Phoenix Tournament module.
Thanks, got them all already. Just want more love for Tian Xia
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RPG Superstar 2014 Top 4
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What, in your mind, would be the best way to incorporate amnesia into one of the APs? Which would it work best in, for example? Would amnesia be a viable way for a more experienced character to be "de-levelled" and thus start at first level when their backstory might have elements that suggested they had more experience or power prior to the start?That's a very good question.
Ask me again in a year or two. ;-)
:O
JAAAACOOOOOOOOOOOOOBS!!
James do Tengus have live birth or do they lay eggs?
If something is prone, it can't be tripped, because it's already prone. For the same reason, things that don't have legs can't be tripped, and things that are not walking on the ground (because they're swimming or flying or whatever) can't be tripped either.In your opinion.
If you have the greater trip feat and you attack a prone creature with a trip attack and the numbers you roll say you succeded on said trip attack, do you trigger the greater trip AoO feature for a successful trip attack even if the creature is already prone?
Thanks for your opinion.
How would you handle trying to trip someone riding a mount? Is it even possible to trip them out of a saddle?
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How would you handle trying to trip someone riding a mount? Is it even possible to trip them out of a saddle?If something is prone, it can't be tripped, because it's already prone. For the same reason, things that don't have legs can't be tripped, and things that are not walking on the ground (because they're swimming or flying or whatever) can't be tripped either.In your opinion.
If you have the greater trip feat and you attack a prone creature with a trip attack and the numbers you roll say you succeded on said trip attack, do you trigger the greater trip AoO feature for a successful trip attack even if the creature is already prone?
Thanks for your opinion.
You can trip the mount, but not the person riding the mount. Knocking someone off a mount isn't a trip attack at all. When you're riding a mount and take any damage, you make a DC 5 Ride check to stay in the saddle. If you want to increase your chances of knocking someone off a mount, though, you need to use bull rush to physically move them off the mount.
Where did you get the idea that you're supposed to/have to take an alignment domain?Hey, James Jacobs. I'm playing a cleric 3/wizard 3/mystic theurge 3, and I've run into a little problem with the Cleric portion.
My character is a cleric of Nethys, whose only domain is Magic.
I'm also supposed to take a domain for my alignment... which is Neutral (Nethys' alignment is TN)
There is no domain for Neutral, so my domains are Magic and _______.What should I do about this?
Because my deity only has one domain, so the only other domain I can take is an alignment domain.
And, ah, ok, thanks James.
Ah, yeah. The difference between Portfolio and Domains threw me for a while too.
Why is my favorite type of character I.E sneaky types all female?
I'm hoping for a male Slayer. *crosses fingers*
Hmmm it would seem my villainous plot to get J.J to reveal the Slayer iconic has failed...
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James I'm under the impression that the pathfinder modules line will be discontinued. Is that assumption correct?
Nope. As a matter of fact, the largest module we've EVER published is coming out in a few months in the module line, and the RPG Superstar adventure just entered its voting today.
The modules line has grown in sized but diminished in release frequency, but we're printing more pages of modules now than we have in a long time.
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James, I was stalking you guys' base on Google Maps (sorry for being creepy!) and I got curious. What's that huge building right east of you, in the middle of that wasteland looking area? It looks like some sort of mining area, what is it, a gravel factory or something?
Do you guys ever sneak over the fence at midnight to LARP Fallout there? :D
Oh, and how much of a part of that entire 7120 building is you guys?
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The rules themselves are world-neutral, and a book like Oriental Adventures can't exist in that way. You'll need to look to our campaign setting for that type of material
Do you have time to clarify what you mean here? The original TSR Oriental Adventures (and Arabian Adventures for that matter) were designed exactly to be setting-neutral, while all the setting fluff were put into the Kara-Tur and Land of Fate boxed sets respectively. OA + AA were the world-neutral rules crunch, while K-T and LoF were the world-specific fluff. So, in that respect, would a world-neutral rules crunch Pathfinder OA, or AA, be theoretically possible?
Having said that, I understand that a lot of things from such a potential volume (like Samurai and Ninja, for example) have already been covered, which would make such a book somewhat redundant.
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James, I was stalking you guys' base on Google Maps (sorry for being creepy!) and I got curious. What's that huge building right east of you, in the middle of that wasteland looking area? It looks like some sort of mining area, what is it, a gravel factory or something?
Do you guys ever sneak over the fence at midnight to LARP Fallout there? :D
Oh, and how much of a part of that entire 7120 building is you guys?
The big building is a brand-new Fed Ex distribution hub. There was a lot of construction and landscaping going on there recently in preparation for it.
James and Wes and Adam have climbed up the hill to look around there a few years back and have... stories.
Counting Goblinworks, we're about 75% of the building I'd guess. Probably a little more.
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The rules themselves are world-neutral, and a book like Oriental Adventures can't exist in that way. You'll need to look to our campaign setting for that type of materialDo you have time to clarify what you mean here? The original TSR Oriental Adventures (and Arabian Adventures for that matter) were designed exactly to be setting-neutral, while all the setting fluff were put into the Kara-Tur and Land of Fate boxed sets respectively. OA + AA were the world-neutral rules crunch, while K-T and LoF were the world-specific fluff. So, in that respect, would a world-neutral rules crunch Pathfinder OA, or AA, be theoretically possible?
Having said that, I understand that a lot of things from such a potential volume (like Samurai and Ninja, for example) have already been covered, which would make such a book somewhat redundant.
Actually, there was Kara Tur material in the original Oriental Adventures book. And the 3rd edtion one had a LOT more LotFR material in it. Furthermore, I think that content ENHANCED those books.
Also, the world-neutral content we'd put in a book like that's already spread out in books like Ultimate Combat, Ultimate Magic, Advanced Player's Guide, Advanced Race Guide, etc.
Also also... we're trying hard not to directly ape the books D&D released to support their rules.