You think there should be a "Help Me Design My Character" thread for those kinds of questions (not specifically to be answered by you, of course, but for anyone to contribute to it)?Not a bad idea. In fact, I'd be shocked if there wasn't a thread like that already somewhere on these boards.
Isn't that the "Advice" board?
Hey James,
My home campaign revolves around the Inner Sea and Isle of Kortos mainly. (Sorry if this has been asked before or maybe covered in a product already out?) Any idea of the more frequent underwater sea life near the Isle?
Is there a larger population of one creature versus another and/or is the area warm enough to see certain water creatures like sharks, orcas, giant octopuss, sea drakes, grindylows, devilfish, aquatic elves, cecaelias, gillmen, locathahs, merfolk, sahuagin?
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Hey James,
My home campaign revolves around the Inner Sea and Isle of Kortos mainly. (Sorry if this has been asked before or maybe covered in a product already out?) Any idea of the more frequent underwater sea life near the Isle?Is there a larger population of one creature versus another and/or is the area warm enough to see certain water creatures like sharks, orcas, giant octopuss, sea drakes, grindylows, devilfish, aquatic elves, cecaelias, gillmen, locathahs, merfolk, sahuagin?
Have you checked out Cerulean Seas 3rd party supplements?
Sorry, not my thread. James' thread.
They're pretty much identical. Both have the same stats. The Golarion version has a different alignment, and it includes errata that's not yet in the Bestiary (such as the addition of immunity to ability drain). They're the same creature statwise pretty much.So will the Herald Tarrasque and the Tarrasque in the bestiary be different? In that the Herald will be weaker? If so, will this represent a sort of 'baby' Tarrasque or something?
Just seems odd to have two creatures named 'Tarrasque' with different stat blocks.
Does it have any updated defenses against siege weapons? Because I ran a tarrasque encounter a couple months ago; I found it terminally ill prepared for siege weapons.
For Dark Souls 2, are there any major changes from Dark Souls?
Does it have any updated defenses against siege weapons? Because I ran a tarrasque encounter a couple months ago; I found it terminally ill prepared for siege weapons.They're pretty much identical. Both have the same stats. The Golarion version has a different alignment, and it includes errata that's not yet in the Bestiary (such as the addition of immunity to ability drain). They're the same creature statwise pretty much.So will the Herald Tarrasque and the Tarrasque in the bestiary be different? In that the Herald will be weaker? If so, will this represent a sort of 'baby' Tarrasque or something?
Just seems odd to have two creatures named 'Tarrasque' with different stat blocks.
So, a Weapon of Mass Destruction vs Siege Weapons? That seems to be an intelligent way to fight Spawns of Rovagug...
Hey James,
My home campaign revolves around the Inner Sea and Isle of Kortos mainly. (Sorry if this has been asked before or maybe covered in a product already out?) Any idea of the more frequent underwater sea life near the Isle?Is there a larger population of one creature versus another and/or is the area warm enough to see certain water creatures like sharks, orcas, giant octopuss, sea drakes, grindylows, devilfish, aquatic elves, cecaelias, gillmen, locathahs, merfolk, sahuagin?
Have you checked out Cerulean Seas 3rd party supplements?
Sorry, not my thread. James' thread.
Yes! Love it, but was hoping for a more definitive or regional type answer, like its populated by a city of gillmen or intelligent jellyfish or even patrolled by a druid whale. :)
Does it have any updated defenses against siege weapons? Because I ran a tarrasque encounter a couple months ago; I found it terminally ill prepared for siege weapons.They're pretty much identical. Both have the same stats. The Golarion version has a different alignment, and it includes errata that's not yet in the Bestiary (such as the addition of immunity to ability drain). They're the same creature statwise pretty much.So will the Herald Tarrasque and the Tarrasque in the bestiary be different? In that the Herald will be weaker? If so, will this represent a sort of 'baby' Tarrasque or something?
Just seems odd to have two creatures named 'Tarrasque' with different stat blocks.
So, a Weapon of Mass Destruction vs Siege Weapons? That seems to be an intelligent way to fight Spawns of Rovagug...
Encounter was a one off after my last campaign ended at level 7. Four players, level twenty with standard wealth by level alotments for equipment.
One guy decided he was going to play a siege mage wizard archetype with leadership, and that his cohort would also be a siege mage. He invested the vast bulk of his 880k into siege weapons that he would have his followers operate. This inspired another player, playing a synthisist summoner, who didn't need armor or weapons, to invest his gold in air ships and more siege engines, as well as getting them enchanted, with the shocking property, if I recall correctly.
All and all, they were rolling in excess of a hundred d6 per round, each. Took them three rounds to kill the thing; it never got close enough to attack them, so the fighter, who had strength in excess of 50, was sorely disappointed.
Now, had this been an actual campaign, if nothing else they wouldn't have been able to invest all that money into the siege weapons, but still, was a more than a little absurd.
So, bringing this back to the initial question; if they're statistically identical, I'm going to assume that this strategy will work just as well on the new, golarion-specific tarrasque?
Creative Director
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I don't read Order of the Stick.Why not?
Would experiencing Curse of the Crimson Throne be enhanced with the upcoming Harrow book?
And what's your strategy for motivating yourself to do something for entertainment purposes that you actually are procrastinating over? For example, I'm trying to play through the Dragon Age games in preparation for Inquisition, but I'm finding myself spending what free-time I have checking these and other RPG forums and stuff for updates on questions I've posed or Play-by-Post games I'm in. It's at the point where playing Dragon Age, a leisure activity, feels more like a job or a chore, one that I keep putting off for weeks, months or even years at a time. How do I motivate myself to finish the damn game so I can move on to other ones?
Because the art style is not appealing to me, and the way the strip made fun of bards (not sure if this is still a thing) was not appealing to me.
The Harrow Handbook has a lot of fun new Harrow-related options, and since Curse of the Crimson Throne is so tied in to the Harrow deck... yes indeed it will enhance that campaign.
My strategy for doing something I'm procrastinating over in entertainment is one of the following:
1) Pick something I really REALLY want to do and make that my reward for finishing the entertainment I'm procrastinating about.
or
2) Cut my losses and time invested and just abandon the thing I obviously am not into. In your case, I'd just stop playing Dragon Age entirely. Come back to it later, perhaps, but if a game feels like a chore... it's not a game anymore.
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1) Would a Hobgoblin army that worships Moloch be more likely to a) surrender in the face of defeat or b) fight to the death?
2) I imagine that said army would view Hell as some kind of fiery valhalla where they're reborn into immortal devils, especially if their knowledge (planes) is low. Would that be correct?
3) When a castle full of hobgoblins recently fell in my campaign, I had a lot of them surrendering, alchemists pledging to work in human cities, worship good-aligned deities, et cetera. It was partially because human soldiers were revenge-killing them and they wanted to stay alive. How often do bad guy-species convert over to good (or at least neutrality) for the sole purpose of surviving?
4) And speaking of which, I've had some overzealous humans wanting to wipe out the hobgoblins. In Golarion, how common is it for people to want to go all Final Solution on goblins, ogres, gnolls, orcs, et cetera? Just to covere my ass here, I've portrayed it as an evil act and the PCs have tried very hard to convince the NPCs to change their tune.
5) I would also imagine that normal goblins would worship Moloch as well: he's within one step of NE and associated with fire. But what about bugbears? Would they have to be mercenaries?
6) Pharasma's portfoilo is of the dead, prophecy, the afterlife, water, killing undead, et cetera. Does being an NE cleric of Pharasma entail adhering to all those things while also being a prick, or is there more to it then that?
7) Would Pharasma's followers see dhampirs as abominations?
8) The party paladin took two AoO crits from greataxe-wielding enemies last session and was dismembered. My party wants to buy a scroll of ressurection, but I want to put them through hoops. Meaning, there's no divine spellcaster in society powerful enough to cast Resurrection and they need to go to some hideous 14th-level Worm That Walks oracle to do a favor for him to revive their paladin. What do you think? What's in the bestiary that can use Resurrection as a SLA?
1) Moloch is the demigod of fire, obedience, and war. His hobgoblins will be ALL ABOUT those things, and thus would absolutely be the type to fight to the death.
2) Sounds good to me!
3) Not often, otherwise they wouldn't have a reputation as being a bad-guy species.
4) Not that common for good nations. More common for Lawful non-good nations or evil nations.
5) Nope. Goblins worship their own pantheon or Lamashtu pretty much. A few outliers could well worship a devil or any other deity, but as a whole, a goblin tribe is MUCH more likely to worship a goblin deity, Lamashtu, or some sort of strange thing they just don't understand (like a weird goblin-head shaped patch of fungus on a stump, or the northern lights, or a weird howling down in a hole in the middle of their lair, all of which would result in no clerics in the tribe but possibly an oracle...).
6) A neutral evil cleric of Pharasma would still be anti-undead, but would also likely be about murder and ensuring that the living end their time sooner than later.
7) Some might. Others might see dhampirs as objects of pity. They're NOT undead, after all... just unfortunate.
8) Think about it. Is putting them through hoops to make things tougher to bring the player character back something that enhances the game? Or does it just come off to the players (particularly the paladin's player) as you being mean? Even if there was a divine caster who cast resurrection ON THE SPOT when it happened, character death as a player is still a traumatic and humiliating thing to have happen. It's already punishment, even if you just have to sit there quietly for the rest of the combat and not play the game because something you had no control over (the GM rolling 2 crits) suddenly said you can't play. I would strongly urge you to consider just having the PCs pay for the spell in the form of a scroll and then having a local cleric cast it for them. The GP hit to that purchase, combined with the paladin's player's already existing disappointment at the crits, is more than enough to keep death as something that the players want to avoid and don't consider trivial.
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alright, JJ... I have played quite a few different systems in my time as a gamer so I really have to know. Is the Swashbuckler class based on or influenced by 7th Seas (published by AEG)?
Nope. Only in that both our swashbuckler and a lot of the themes in ANY Pirate-themed game will draw from the same real-world stories and tales.
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James,
i) Gorum and Calistria are CN, but their realms are in Elysium... Does that mean that the soul of a CE Antipaladin might go to Elysium?
Perhaps... and when it does, it gets redeemed in some way. More likely, it'll go to the Abyss and get claimed by a demon lord or something.
AKA: Antipaladins of Gorum are actually VERY rare, and antipaladins of Calistria are even MORE rare.
Why does the minor goddess Naderi only have three domains?
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Creative Director
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1) The rules state that, "unless otherwise noted, polymorph spells cannot be used to change into specific individuals." That means that, for example, you wouldn't be able to use monstrous physique II, for example, to turn into Grendel, since he seems to be a unique monster, rather than a race?
2) Have you all decided where exactly Grendel is at in Golarion and what his origins are? And if not, where, off the cuff, would you place him as being?
3) Out of curiosity, what's your opinion on psionics as 3.5 handled it?
1) Correct.
2) Not yet. But I suspect he's in the Land of the Linnorm Kings.
3) Not a fan of the mechanics. Love most of the flavor, but not all. (The more the flavor is something retained from 1st or 2nd edition, the better the chance I love it.)
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Hi James
I have travelled extensively and have met and gotten to know people from a variety of different backgrounds and cultures. One thing I really like about Golarion is how you guys try to include everyone in a non-racist way. So, question: What are the inspirations for the Mauxi people? Ethiopian, or someone else? And what does it mean that they have ash-grey skin - I don't think I've ever come across someone with ash-grey skin?
Thanks
I haven't done much personal work on the Mauxi at all, but I'm not sure what their real-world inspirations were, if any. They have ash-gray skin because we try to inject a few obviously fantastic ethnicities into the setting now and then.
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In the City of Locusts book arueshalae travels to Desna's court so
is Desna's court like a noble court with counts and dukes and knights
and do most gods have organizations on outer planes like Desna's court
Most of the gods but not all have a "Court" but whether or not that is directly analogous to a throne-room or more of a metaphor varies.
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Hey James,
My home campaign revolves around the Inner Sea and Isle of Kortos mainly. (Sorry if this has been asked before or maybe covered in a product already out?) Any idea of the more frequent underwater sea life near the Isle?Is there a larger population of one creature versus another and/or is the area warm enough to see certain water creatures like sharks, orcas, giant octopuss, sea drakes, grindylows, devilfish, aquatic elves, cecaelias, gillmen, locathahs, merfolk, sahuagin?
Beyond, I believe, the 2nd Skull & Shackles volume... we haven't done much work on the undersea stuff in the world.
Near the Isle of Kortos, though, the most populous race are the gillmen. Sahuagin are probably second. There's certainly a LOT more there as well.
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Creative Director
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Does it have any updated defenses against siege weapons? Because I ran a tarrasque encounter a couple months ago; I found it terminally ill prepared for siege weapons.They're pretty much identical. Both have the same stats. The Golarion version has a different alignment, and it includes errata that's not yet in the Bestiary (such as the addition of immunity to ability drain). They're the same creature statwise pretty much.So will the Herald Tarrasque and the Tarrasque in the bestiary be different? In that the Herald will be weaker? If so, will this represent a sort of 'baby' Tarrasque or something?
Just seems odd to have two creatures named 'Tarrasque' with different stat blocks.
Nope.
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Creative Director
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For Dark Souls 2, are there any major changes from Dark Souls?
Yup; quite a lot. One big one is that you no longer have a humanity score. Another is that each time you die, your maximum hp decreases until you go human again (which resets it). And the world has a hub zone rather than one big world. And you can port between bonfires from the start of the game. And you can heal damage with your estus flask when you're a spirit. And you start the game with only 1 use of your flask per kindling. And enemies eventually stop respawning if you kill them enough. And more!
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Creative Director
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Encounter was a one off after my last campaign ended at level 7. Four players, level twenty with standard wealth by level alotments for equipment.
One guy decided he was going to play a siege mage wizard archetype with leadership, and that his cohort would also be a siege mage. He invested the vast bulk of his 880k into siege weapons that he would have his followers operate. This inspired another player, playing a synthisist summoner, who didn't need armor or weapons, to invest his gold in air ships and more siege engines, as well as getting them enchanted, with the shocking property, if I recall correctly.
All and all, they were rolling in excess of a hundred d6 per round, each. Took them three rounds to kill the thing; it never got close enough to attack them, so the fighter, who had strength in excess of 50, was sorely disappointed.
Now, had this been an actual campaign, if nothing else they wouldn't have been able to invest all that money into the siege weapons, but still, was a more than a little absurd.
So, bringing this back to the initial question; if they're statistically identical, I'm going to assume that this strategy will work just as well on the new, golarion-specific tarrasque?
I agree that it's pretty absurd, to the level that it's not something that really concerns me as a "weakness" the tarrasque has. Not like the pre-errata version being able to be slain by a CR 3 shadow.
Are there any changes to character creation? Or did the combat and spell casting stay the same?
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Creative Director
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Are there any changes to character creation? Or did the combat and spell casting stay the same?
There are some new ability scores and some of the older ones are gone (Resistance is gone, and a new one called Adaptability which is both Resistance and how fast you move is in, for example). Leveling up works pretty much the same. Spellcasting and combat FEEL the same but there's a LOT of minor tweaks, particularly in shoring up old exploits and the like.
It's a HELL of a lot of fun to play. I put well over a hundred hours into Dark Souls, and I'm loving Dark Souls II so far.
1) would a "Design a Class" contest be a good idea?
2) What is your opinion on the Young Characters rules in Ultimate Campaign?
3) How is life?
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Creative Director
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1) would a "Design a Class" contest be a good idea?
2) What is your opinion on the Young Characters rules in Ultimate Campaign?
3) How is life?
1) No. Class design is pretty much THE most complex, hardest thing we do here as far as RPG game design is concerned, and turning things into contests really complicates things. That's like tying dynamite to a nuclear bomb.
2) I helped Wes design the rules, and they allow for characters like Harry Potter or Arya Stark. AKA: I quite like them.
3) Super stressful and busy and exhausting, with a touch of depression.
3) How is life?3) Super stressful and busy and exhausting, with a touch of depression.
*opens door to zen garden and hands JJ tea*
"Great creators of wonders deserve to have an easy and cheerful mind."
*Shelyn leads a group of celestials in a small concert while a redeemed succubus serve JJ food and drink along with dancing.*
"Rest and enjoy yourself world maker. When you've had your rest you can return to continue creating more wonders for all to enjoy with renewed vigor."
*Casts time stop on Seattle to allow enough time for rest. And returns to the confines of the sanctuary to allow JJ time alone.*
3) How is life?3) Super stressful and busy and exhausting, with a touch of depression.*opens door to zen garden and hands JJ tea*
"Great creators of wonders deserve to have an easy and cheerful mind."
*Shelyn leads a group of celestials in a small concert while a redeemed succubus serve JJ food and drink along with dancing.*
"Rest and enjoy yourself world maker. When you've had your rest you can return to continue creating more wonders for all to enjoy with renewed vigor."
*Casts time stop on Seattle to allow enough time for rest. And returns to the confines of the sanctuary to allow JJ time alone.*
Now that you are relaxed can we get that Casmaron Campaign Setting book? ;)
Do the gods ever secretly take mortal form and go to the Material Plane just spend time with mortals or there worshipers?
(psst, yes...one calls himself James Jacob..shhh)
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Now that you are relaxed can we get that Casmaron Campaign Setting book? ;)3) How is life?3) Super stressful and busy and exhausting, with a touch of depression.*opens door to zen garden and hands JJ tea*
"Great creators of wonders deserve to have an easy and cheerful mind."
*Shelyn leads a group of celestials in a small concert while a redeemed succubus serve JJ food and drink along with dancing.*
"Rest and enjoy yourself world maker. When you've had your rest you can return to continue creating more wonders for all to enjoy with renewed vigor."
*Casts time stop on Seattle to allow enough time for rest. And returns to the confines of the sanctuary to allow JJ time alone.*
Alas, not work-related depression = all the time in the world won't really help at the moment.
*pats James*
Remember, Master T-Rex. No matter how bad things get, no one can stop time, so all things will eventually pass.
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What do the gods usually do when they visit mortals or there worshipers when secretly in mortal form for example what does Sarenrae and Erastil or Shelyn and Desna do?Do the gods ever secretly take mortal form and go to the Material Plane just spend time with mortals or there worshipers?Yes.
Varies. From god to god, from target to target, from purpose to purpose. The gods are fickle and varied. Look at all the world's mythologies for countless examples.
What's a good class to make a divine caster that's a polytheist? Cleric, oracle, etc.
Have you gotten a
1) printed copy of Inner Sea Gods yet?
2) pdf copy of Inner Sea Gods yet?
3) grimy, coffee stained, dog-eared beta-notes copy of Inner Sea Gods yet?
4) Is it awesome?
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Isn't that the "Advice" board?You think there should be a "Help Me Design My Character" thread for those kinds of questions (not specifically to be answered by you, of course, but for anyone to contribute to it)?Not a bad idea. In fact, I'd be shocked if there wasn't a thread like that already somewhere on these boards.
I always thought that was more "crunch" than "fluff." My questions regarding character design tend to be more "how can I best mesh this concept with Golarion's canon?" than "how do I build this concept mechanically?"
That friend I mentioned wants to play a ghost. I've mentioned several options to him like Oracles and Undead sorcerers, but he's not takin' the bait. Are ghost PCs too unbalancing at first level? How do I talk him out of it?
Have you gotten a chance to watch Almost Human yet? What did you think of it? I'm really hoping it receives a second season.
Have you gotten a chance to watch Almost Human yet? What did you think of it? I'm really hoping it receives a second season.
As an add-on, have you seen the Swedish originator "Being Human", which is supposed to be a top-notch intellectual drama, rather than a cop show?
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Have you gotten a
1) printed copy of Inner Sea Gods yet?
2) pdf copy of Inner Sea Gods yet?
3) grimy, coffee stained, dog-eared beta-notes copy of Inner Sea Gods yet?4) Is it awesome?
1) Yes.
2) Yes (I see those the day we send them to the printer; it's how I do final approvals of ALL books we publish.)
3) Nope!
4) Of course!
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That friend I mentioned wants to play a ghost. I've mentioned several options to him like Oracles and Undead sorcerers, but he's not takin' the bait. Are ghost PCs too unbalancing at first level? How do I talk him out of it?
Ghost PCs are unbalancing at any level. They're simply not appropriate for the game as designed. You can do it... but then you're playing an entirely different game.
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Have you gotten a chance to watch Almost Human yet? What did you think of it? I'm really hoping it receives a second season.
Not yet.
And when you ask about "Almost Human," I don't think of a series at all, but Almost Human the movie, which I keep forgetting to rent online but that I really wanna see.
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Have you gotten a chance to watch Almost Human yet? What did you think of it? I'm really hoping it receives a second season.As an add-on, have you seen the Swedish originator "Being Human", which is supposed to be a top-notch intellectual drama, rather than a cop show?
Didn't even know that existed. So... no to that either.
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That friend I mentioned wants to play a ghost. I've mentioned several options to him like Oracles and Undead sorcerers, but he's not takin' the bait. Are ghost PCs too unbalancing at first level? How do I talk him out of it?Ghost PCs are unbalancing at any level. They're simply not appropriate for the game as designed. You can do it... but then you're playing an entirely different game.
That's my opinion too. I'm doing everything I can to dissuade him from it, especially since it's Curse of the Crimson Throne, which already HAS a ghost who tags along with the PCs anyway!
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That's my opinion too. I'm doing everything I can to dissuade him from it, especially since it's Curse of the Crimson Throne, which already HAS a ghost who tags along with the PCs anyway!That friend I mentioned wants to play a ghost. I've mentioned several options to him like Oracles and Undead sorcerers, but he's not takin' the bait. Are ghost PCs too unbalancing at first level? How do I talk him out of it?Ghost PCs are unbalancing at any level. They're simply not appropriate for the game as designed. You can do it... but then you're playing an entirely different game.
Oh hell, if it's that campaign it's an even worse idea...