James, how would you make a utopian kingdom not be boring?
Mr. James Jacobs, how would you stat up The Mountain and the Viper? Would they be the same level, or do you have an opinion that it was mismatched?
And is there an actor you liked best for the Mountain? I kinda miss first season's, he had a much less stable appearance.
Winteriscoming.net got ahold of some info about casting calls for characters to be introduced in season 5, do you keep up on minor spoilers like that, or avoid spoilers all together?
As for deities not caring... that's true for a couple of deities, mostly the Outer Gods like Azathoth and Yog-Sothoth, but the VAST MAJORITY of deities actually DO care about their worshipers
Something has been making me wonder for awhile now....Why do clerics of Outer Gods have to be within two steps of their deity? I imagine that mostly chaotic evil people would be inclined to worship them because why not go for a nicer god but I have trouble imagining why Azathoth for instance would deny a cleric spells if he shifted to neutral evil or whatever.
As for deities not caring... that's true for a couple of deities, mostly the Outer Gods like Azathoth and Yog-Sothoth, but the VAST MAJORITY of deities actually DO care about their worshipersSomething has been making me wonder for awhile now....Why do clerics of Outer Gods have to be within two steps of their deity? I imagine that mostly chaotic evil people would be inclined to worship them because why not go for a nicer god but I have trouble imagining why Azathoth for instance would deny a cleric spells if he shifted to neutral evil or whatever.
If i have understood JJs philosophy on how clerics ( should in his opinion ) work in Golarion is that they are drawn to a deity due to philosophy, dogma, brain washing, promise of power etc. So for these outer gods to care enough to give you their powers you have to be more or less fully dedicated to their philosophy or they basically dont think you are worthy of their attention.
So a evil cleric dedicated to the progression of evil wouldnt "go to a nicer god" because "nice" in this sense would mean a weaker deity in this clerics opinion.
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But real world historical figures are what inspire me. I find fantasy novel characters feel very "generic" to base characters on. They all have the same trappings. The same robes, the same kinds of armor, the same kinds of weapons. Going off real world stuff looks and feels a lot more unique. What do I do?Hey, what Inner Sea nation's army would have soldiers that most closely resemble Rome's legions? You know, short sword and heavy wooden shield combo with a few javelins and lorica segmentata armor?
And on an unrelated note, what AP would you say deals most closely with themes related to time? Of things like inevitability and wanting to erase the past but being unable to do so? I was listening to this song and the chorus got me wondering:
"Forlorn faces running from the cold regret,
Empty spaces something that I can't forget.
All I wanted was to wish the past away,
but time's the cruelest ruler that we all obey."Ancient Taldor, I suppose. Especially when Taldor was a much larger nation. There's not a direct correlation, but you could fake it by being Taldan I suppose.
You seem to have a lot of questions about how to build real-world historical characters in Golarion, and that's just not something you're going to be able to find perfect answers to. We take inspiration from numerous real-world historical eras, but we deliberately change things around so that you can't really play a "perfect Roman" in Golarion and not be out of place. You'd need to play a game set in Rome for that.
We don't really do much of time themes, but I guess Second Darkness is the one that does so the most.
Maybe start reading Pathfinder Tales for inspiration?
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Sorry to butt in here, but WHERE IN SEATTLE is this hidden!? Must know!i personally think in a world as big as Golarion would have a space for the odd "Cleric-but-not" kindI believe that is what the oracle does in non-home-brew.
James, what is your favorite doughnut from Voodoo Doughnuts and have you ever been to the independent bookstore right near their Seattle location?
It's not in Seattle at all. It's in Portland and in Eugene. And I ended up not going 'cause I wanted to get home sooner anyway.
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Hi James, I was wondering if you could solve a little conundrum for me. There are two conflicting rules for Alter self.
One is the spell itself.
The other is listed under Polymorph under Transmutation in the magic section.
For clarification purposes, does Alter self if I want to say, turn into a lizard folk grant me +5 Natural Armor, the +2 for polymorphing into a medium creature, the swim speed, and the natural attacks?
Or does Alter self only grant me +2 Strength and a Swim speed? (As polymorph spells state, I would also technically gain the ability to breathe underwater while swimming, but Lizardfolk only have hold breath, so would I gain that instead? this is to the above as well)
EDIT/PS: I'm sorry if this was already asked. There are a LOT of posts in this thread, many about Alter self and I haven't found this particular question broached with clarity!
EDIT 2: I'm not asking you to pick one or the other. I'm more looking for the RIGHT answer, what was intended and should be gleaned from it. There are a lot of rules monkeys on these forums and at every gaming table.
If you're looking for the RIGHT answer, you should ask in the rules forums. If you're looking for MY answer (whether or not anyone thinks this is the RIGHT one is up to them... it's certainly the RIGHT one for me), then Alter Self only grants +2 Str and swim speeds, since it's only a 2nd level spell after all...
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Maybe your problem is in the lack of diversity in your fantasy reading. To me, the characters of Mercedes Lackey, Ursula LeGuin, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Tracy and Hickman all look and dress very different from each other. Try to ignore the illustrations of the front covers, that pool tends to be more narrow.
But real world historical figures are what inspire me. I find fantasy novel characters feel very "generic" to base characters on. They all have the same trappings. The same robes, the same kinds of armor, the same kinds of weapons. Going off real world stuff looks and feels a lot more unique. What do I do?I haven't read a proper fantasy novel in months! I've been too busy with Total War: Rome II and juggling three jobs and sleep.
Do elves sleep in Golarion? I heard a rumor that that was true.
Elves sleep in Pathfinder. It's not a rumor. It's a fact.
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James, how would you make a utopian kingdom not be boring?
I wouldn't make a utopian kingdom in the first place BECAUSE perfection is boring. Conflict is more interesting to story, and conflict doesn't exist in a utopian setting. If it does, then the setting isn't actually utopian.
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Mr. James Jacobs, how would you stat up The Mountain and the Viper? Would they be the same level, or do you have an opinion that it was mismatched?
And is there an actor you liked best for the Mountain? I kinda miss first season's, he had a much less stable appearance.
Winteriscoming.net got ahold of some info about casting calls for characters to be introduced in season 5, do you keep up on minor spoilers like that, or avoid spoilers all together?
The Mountain would be a barbarian, and the Viper would be a swashbuckler/assassin. They'd be the same level. And I liked the latest actor best.
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As for deities not caring... that's true for a couple of deities, mostly the Outer Gods like Azathoth and Yog-Sothoth, but the VAST MAJORITY of deities actually DO care about their worshipersSomething has been making me wonder for awhile now....Why do clerics of Outer Gods have to be within two steps of their deity? I imagine that mostly chaotic evil people would be inclined to worship them because why not go for a nicer god but I have trouble imagining why Azathoth for instance would deny a cleric spells if he shifted to neutral evil or whatever.
The vast majority of clerics of ANY deity are the same alignment as the god. Very few clerics take advantage, overall, of the "be within a step of the deity's alignment." You can't use the numerous examples of such clerics who are PCs as being a majority, since at any one time, there's only a couple of PC clerics in anyone game world, after all.
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As for deities not caring... that's true for a couple of deities, mostly the Outer Gods like Azathoth and Yog-Sothoth, but the VAST MAJORITY of deities actually DO care about their worshipersSomething has been making me wonder for awhile now....Why do clerics of Outer Gods have to be within two steps of their deity? I imagine that mostly chaotic evil people would be inclined to worship them because why not go for a nicer god but I have trouble imagining why Azathoth for instance would deny a cleric spells if he shifted to neutral evil or whatever.If i have understood JJs philosophy on how clerics ( should in his opinion ) work in Golarion is that they are drawn to a deity due to philosophy, dogma, brain washing, promise of power etc. So for these outer gods to care enough to give you their powers you have to be more or less fully dedicated to their philosophy or they basically dont think you are worthy of their attention.
So a evil cleric dedicated to the progression of evil wouldnt "go to a nicer god" because "nice" in this sense would mean a weaker deity in this clerics opinion.
Actually... in Golarion, it's more than my opinion. Or more to the point... I'm paid to make my opinions facts for Golarion. It's my job.
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James, how would you make a utopian kingdom not be boring?I wouldn't make a utopian kingdom in the first place BECAUSE perfection is boring. Conflict is more interesting to story, and conflict doesn't exist in a utopian setting. If it does, then the setting isn't actually utopian.
Might I suggest that outside forces are trying to end the 'utopian' aspect and that the Kingdom hires adventurers to help defend it's borders and stop outside negative forces? Think like of it like lots of Cold War spy missions and stuff.
Perhaps even the source of the utopia might come from a non-good source; look at the Firefly movie Serenity.
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James, have you had a chance to read all of the backstories for the new iconics?
If so, which of the backstories is your favorite?
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James, have you had a chance to read all of the backstories for the new iconics?If so, which of the backstories is your favorite?
Well... I read Jirelle's because I wrote it.
I've also read Quinn's but haven't had a chance to read any others since I've been on vacation. Normally though I'm part of the approval process and read them all.
I'm not gonna say which is my favorite, though, since I'm too close tot the subject. ;-)
Mr. James Jacobs,
If you had the opportunity to have your brain cells and/or neurons replaced one by one by nanobots effectively turning your consciousness into software would you do it? Whats your opinion of Transhumanism in general?
James, how would you make a utopian kingdom not be boring?I wouldn't make a utopian kingdom in the first place BECAUSE perfection is boring. Conflict is more interesting to story, and conflict doesn't exist in a utopian setting. If it does, then the setting isn't actually utopian.
1. Let me rephrase that; how would make a pleasant place to live not boring?
2. Beside the in-general example, how would you make an Arshean theocracy not boring?
Mister James Jacobs, If I may borrow one moment of your time.
How have you managed to answer, roughly 23,556 questions without completely losing your mind at how nonsensical and weird, and potentially meaningless the questions are?
also
How do you kill a rogue with 7 attacks per turn, (the 8th is a feint) and cannot miss you, has true-seeing, is resistant to all magics and hits for 13d6 points of sneak attack per turn and 13 points bleed per successful attack? (cumulative)
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James, how would you make a utopian kingdom not be boring?I wouldn't make a utopian kingdom in the first place BECAUSE perfection is boring. Conflict is more interesting to story, and conflict doesn't exist in a utopian setting. If it does, then the setting isn't actually utopian.1. Let me rephrase that; how would make a pleasant place to live not boring?
2. Beside the in-general example, how would you make an Arshean theocracy not boring?
1) A "pleasant place to live" and "not boring" are not necessarily required to be the same. And it depends on "not boring." Having access to entertainment and good company and beautiful scenery is how you make a pleasant place to live not boring.
2) By reading up on Arshea first (which I have not done) so I know where to start.
If by "not boring" you mean "Interesting to play roleplaying game campaigns in," then the answer is, "By making sure there are LOTS of adventure opportunities and conflicts available."
And if you're asking for me to design you an Arshea-themed campaign setting... sorry. I try to avoid doing free design work here on the boards! Would rather limit those energies to actual products, personal or otherwise.
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Mister James Jacobs, If I may borrow one moment of your time.
How have you managed to answer, roughly 23,556 questions without completely losing your mind at how nonsensical and weird, and potentially meaningless the questions are?
also
How do you kill a rogue with 7 attacks per turn, (the 8th is a feint) and cannot miss you, has true-seeing, is resistant to all magics and hits for 13d6 points of sneak attack per turn and 13 points bleed per successful attack? (cumulative)
By answering a few questions a day for many, many days.
By a combination of you rolling lucky and the rogue missing a lot. And then if you DO somehow manage to win, it's your internet-imperitive to jump online and talk about how rogues are underpowered! ;-P
Mister James Jacobs, If I may borrow one moment of your time.
How have you managed to answer, roughly 23,556 questions without completely losing your mind at how nonsensical and weird, and potentially meaningless the questions are?
also
How do you kill a rogue with 7 attacks per turn, (the 8th is a feint) and cannot miss you, has true-seeing, is resistant to all magics and hits for 13d6 points of sneak attack per turn and 13 points bleed per successful attack? (cumulative)
By answering a few questions a day for many, many days.
By a combination of you rolling lucky and the rogue missing a lot. And then if you DO somehow manage to win, it's your internet-imperitive to jump online and talk about how rogues are underpowered! ;-P
The rogue is mine.... I'm killing him off xD
I enjoy your answers. I'll drop by with another odd question in a while
What did you think of the battle for Castle Black last weekend? How did it compare to how you imagined it while reading?
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What did you think of the battle for Castle Black last weekend? How did it compare to how you imagined it while reading?
Haven't watched it yet. My parents don't have HBO, and their internet connection was too slow to watch on my tablet, and now I'm kinda waiting to see it with some friends here... so no spoilers!
Actually... in Golarion, it's more than my opinion. Or more to the point... I'm paid to make my opinions facts for Golarion. It's my job.
Bad choice of words on my part, sorry about that.
And now for some actual questions:
Do you have some suggestions on how a deity would reward their worshippers in gameplay terms that is not based on spells, similary would a deity reward adventures that solve a problem for him/her regardless if they actually worship him/her at all?
I know its entirely up to the DM, but do you have some ideas for such a reward system would be for the different deities beyond the "whatever the DM feels like" ?
Personally in the game i am DM for now i think of giving the party paladin a minor gift in form of a permament hitpoint for his services ( read as a "free retrained hitpoint" ) and his deity is Iomedae. Maybe some larger rewards like the feather tokens with her favored weapon, or what do you think?
Has there ever been anything you've written or published that, when you looked at it again afterwards, made you think something like: "what were we thinking when we came up with this?" (not necessarily in a bad way)
Your answer is good enough for me.
Why isn't there an "unlike" button?
You: If by "not boring" you mean "Interesting to play roleplaying game campaigns in," then the answer is, "By making sure there are LOTS of adventure opportunities and conflicts available."
Yeah, that’s what I meant. Also, by “pleasant place to live” I’m referring to a kingdom or country or such.
Me: How would you make an Arshean theocracy not boring?
You: By reading up on Arshea first (which I have not done) so I know where to start.
…
There’s not much to read yet. Besides p.7 of Chronicles of the Righteous there’s a paragraph in p.21 of Faiths of Purity, a sentence in the Inner Sea World Guide (p.234), and Blood of Angels mentioning that Arshea’s a common choice to worship among Varisian aasimar.
1. By the way, did you know you can do a text search of .pdfs on a Mac?
You: And if you're asking for me to design you an Arshea-themed campaign setting... sorry. I try to avoid doing free design work here on the boards!
Understandable, especially since I wasn’t asking you to do so. Though now that you mention it…
2. How would I got about making an adventure path myself?
3. What suggestions do you have for "By making sure there are LOTS of adventure opportunities and conflicts available?”
As for deities not caring... that's true for a couple of deities, mostly the Outer Gods like Azathoth and Yog-Sothoth, but the VAST MAJORITY of deities actually DO care about their worshipersSomething has been making me wonder for awhile now....Why do clerics of Outer Gods have to be within two steps of their deity? I imagine that mostly chaotic evil people would be inclined to worship them because why not go for a nicer god but I have trouble imagining why Azathoth for instance would deny a cleric spells if he shifted to neutral evil or whatever.If i have understood JJs philosophy on how clerics ( should in his opinion ) work in Golarion is that they are drawn to a deity due to philosophy, dogma, brain washing, promise of power etc. So for these outer gods to care enough to give you their powers you have to be more or less fully dedicated to their philosophy or they basically dont think you are worthy of their attention.
So a evil cleric dedicated to the progression of evil wouldnt "go to a nicer god" because "nice" in this sense would mean a weaker deity in this clerics opinion.
I agree in most cases but this particular God has no real philosphy to speak of it seems. He is called the blind idiot god and may not even be aware of his own existence. That is the source of my confusion as to why the within a step of deities alignment rule would apply in this case. :)
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And now for some actual questions:
Do you have some suggestions on how a deity would reward their worshippers in gameplay terms that is not based on spells, similary would a deity reward adventures that solve a problem for him/her regardless if they actually worship him/her at all?I know its entirely up to the DM, but do you have some ideas for such a reward system would be for the different deities beyond the "whatever the DM feels like" ?
Personally in the game i am DM for now i think of giving the party paladin a minor gift in form of a permament hitpoint for his services ( read as a "free retrained hitpoint" ) and his deity is Iomedae. Maybe some larger rewards like the feather tokens with her favored weapon, or what do you think?
A deity can pretty much reward worshipers any way they want. Some example rewards I've had the gods give out PCs in my games:
1) A permanent increase to an ability score or skill check or saving throw or attack roll or whatever.
2) A "get out of death free card" that basically allows the player to escape a death situation.
3) The ability to call upon a minion of the deity to aid them.
4) Increase the power of a favorite magic item permanently.
5) Grant a bonus feat or the ability to use a spell like ability (only once or at will or a limited number of times).
The key is to know what the player wants for their character. You know, and thus the deity would know. After playing with the player for several sessions, you should know what kind of bonuses or prizes or boons or whatever they would like.
Additional permanent hit points are a great way to go.
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Questions on a thread in another forum on the Paizo boards about the susceptibility (or otherwise) of outsiders to diseases: *link*
If they want answers from me, they can come here. That said, the div version of the succubus is all about STDs, so if you want to play with those tropes in your game, use asuras.
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What would be the typical "kit" for a Molthuni infantryman? Standard-issue weapons, armor, that kind of thing?
Depends on the class of the infantry person, but assuming warrior... it'd probably be similar to the standard "kit" an adventurer packs. Weapon, armor, food, bedroll, tools...
I'm not gonna provide a fully detailed list because that sounds like work for something that seems to me to be pretty minor and unnecessary until I were to publish or write an adventure that puts the PCs in the role of Molthuni soldiers, or puts them up against them. Maybe check out Fangwood Keep?
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You: If by "not boring" you mean "Interesting to play roleplaying game campaigns in," then the answer is, "By making sure there are LOTS of adventure opportunities and conflicts available."
Yeah, that’s what I meant. Also, by “pleasant place to live” I’m referring to a kingdom or country or such.
Me: How would you make an Arshean theocracy not boring?
You: By reading up on Arshea first (which I have not done) so I know where to start.
…
There’s not much to read yet. Besides p.7 of Chronicles of the Righteous there’s a paragraph in p.21 of Faiths of Purity, a sentence in the Inner Sea World Guide (p.234), and Blood of Angels mentioning that Arshea’s a common choice to worship among Varisian aasimar.
1. By the way, did you know you can do a text search of .pdfs on a Mac?
You: And if you're asking for me to design you an Arshea-themed campaign setting... sorry. I try to avoid doing free design work here on the boards!
Understandable, especially since I wasn’t asking you to do so. Though now that you mention it…
2. How would I got about making an adventure path myself?
3. What suggestions do you have for "By making sure there are LOTS of adventure opportunities and conflicts available?”
True, there's not much to read yet, and I've not read any of it yet, because I've not had the time nor the need to for anything I'm working on. AKA... you know more about Arshea than I do, believe it or not, so you're ahead of me right now. I can't tell you anything you don't already know, and if I made up something, it'd conflict with what we've said in print because I've not yet had a reason to read that section. AKA: there's NOT anything more to say about Arshea yet, and I'm not really interested in designing more canon for Ashea here. Because messageboards are a terrible place to do that.
1) Yes.
2) By first coming to peace with the fact that you can make up your own Arshea material and info, and if/when we publish more about Arshea, being willing to either abandon what you've done or ignoring what we've done.
3) Read our campaign setting books like Numeria, Lands of the Linnorm Kings, Isles of the Shackles, The Worldwound, etc. and studying how we lace all of the areas we detail in those books with numerous different plots and adventure hooks. AKA: Draw a map. Put a dozen or two locations on the map. Write 100 or 200 words about each location and try to make each one of those locations feature a unique and interesting adventure hook.
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James, sadly, another "Create Pit" spell question.
So the spell is a 10 x 10 open hole. Meaning it has enough space for 4 Small and Medium size creatures, or 1 Large creature.
So what happens when, say, two ogres fall in? Allies can move through each other's spaces, sure, but you cannot legally take combat actions in the same space now, can they?
To kick it up a notch, I've had a player drop 3 Medium foes down a pit. One other player, a Magus, decided to be daring and jumped down into the pit with them, taking up the last space and fighting them inside the pit. Problem is, if another character were to jump or fall in, then what happens?
We came upon another issue, this one quite comical. We had 4 enemies in a pit, taking up all 4 squares. The same player (the Magus), drank an "Enlarge Person" potion and...jumped in. Which means he landed on top of all 4 of the enemies.
We did not know what to do at this point. First, we had it where he took falling damage of course. Next, we figured the enemies would take damage as if an object fell on them. Considering his weight was now 1500+ lbs, that was some hefty damage. Now we had the problem of him being in the same 4 squares as the 4 Medium creatures. Legally, none of them can take any actions which is...well...completely unrealistic.
Are there any rules for situations like this?
Another prime example would be a 5-foot hallway and a character tried to use Acrobatics to tumble through 3 enemies...if he fails on the 3rd enemy's DC for Acrobatics to tumble then does he get "repelled" all the way back to his original square before he tumbled?
My number one suggestion? Bump all the create pit spells up by 1 spell level. They're just too good. By increasing the level, you make them a more limited resource and thus make it less of a no-brainer choice for players who span fights with the spell.
Beyond that, you'll need to take all the rules questions to the rules forums. Some rules topics are so volatile and so good at starting arguments that I really don't want to get involved in them... I really don't enjoy having folks use my words to fight wars, because I'd rather have the individual GMs decide on their own and have their players respect those rulings.
So yeah... please take these questions on to the rules forums for a FAQ.
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I agree in most cases but this particular God has no real philosphy to speak of it seems. He is called the blind idiot god and may not even be aware of his own existence. That is the source of my confusion as to why the within a step of deities alignment rule would apply in this case. :)As for deities not caring... that's true for a couple of deities, mostly the Outer Gods like Azathoth and Yog-Sothoth, but the VAST MAJORITY of deities actually DO care about their worshipersSomething has been making me wonder for awhile now....Why do clerics of Outer Gods have to be within two steps of their deity? I imagine that mostly chaotic evil people would be inclined to worship them because why not go for a nicer god but I have trouble imagining why Azathoth for instance would deny a cleric spells if he shifted to neutral evil or whatever.If i have understood JJs philosophy on how clerics ( should in his opinion ) work in Golarion is that they are drawn to a deity due to philosophy, dogma, brain washing, promise of power etc. So for these outer gods to care enough to give you their powers you have to be more or less fully dedicated to their philosophy or they basically dont think you are worthy of their attention.
So a evil cleric dedicated to the progression of evil wouldnt "go to a nicer god" because "nice" in this sense would mean a weaker deity in this clerics opinion.
Because the cleric's powers only work if the cleric is devout. It doesn't matter if the deity cares or even knows about the cleric. If the cleric isn't devout, the cleric doesn't get to do cleric things. And one big way the game measures if you're devout in this case is by alignment. If you're not the same alignment as your cleric, you're simply NOT as devout as you could or should be. If you're within 1 step, you're on the edge and are in danger of straying from the religion you purport to be a worshiper of, but you're still close enough that you can keep worshiping in your unusual, heretical ways without losing your cleric powers. If you go further from that alignment (2 steps or more), you're not properly worshiping that deity AT ALL and presto... no more cleric powers. It's a thing to do with the cleric, not the god, in other words.
Mr. James Jacobs,
Did my nanbot and transhumanism question get lost in the shuffle?
Because the cleric's powers only work if the cleric is devout. It doesn't matter if the deity cares or even knows about the cleric. If the cleric isn't devout, the cleric doesn't get to do cleric things. And one big way the game measures if you're devout in this case is by alignment. If you're not the same alignment as your cleric, you're simply NOT as devout as you could or should be. If you're within 1 step, you're on the edge and are in danger of straying from the religion you purport to be a worshiper of, but...
Alright see if i have understood the Worshipper/Deity relationship correctly:
To gain the powers of a deity a Cleric ( or any other divine caster ) the caster themselves have to actively uphold their relation to their deity and/or philosophies ( in the case of 1-step within the alignment ) and thus technically a cleric "draw" power from a deity more than it actually "receive".
On the case of Deity to worshipper: as we have established a deity in most cases actually care of their worshippers. In what term of "care" that might be is depending on the deity, but if a character worships a deity and does something within the goals of that deity its grounds for a divine reward. In a grander event a deity might even reward those within his/her philosophical alignment despite them not being a worshipper ( or in the case they want to "recruit" this character to their religion )
In mechanical terms:
Divine casters have to maintain their connection and they are the ones that have to be "active" in the relationship.
A Deity does whatever he/she feels like at the moment, but might take steps to make sure that a worshipper doesnt stray off their course or punish them in the case of something grave ( such as a paladin falling, or a Pharasma cleric raising the undead )
In the case of a cleric being within 1 step of their deity would presume that a deity allows the cleric to draw from its power as long as the cleric mostly follow some aspect of that deity ( In my example might be a True Neutral Cleric that cherish the undead and use necromancy, and Urgothoa wont mind too much as long as the unliving stomps around. )
This is a hell of a rant for ya JJ, but i hope that i have understood the majority of your intentions of the divine system. You dont need a extensive answer to this one, but i would love to have a nudge in the right direction.
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What would be the typical "kit" for a Molthuni infantryman? Standard-issue weapons, armor, that kind of thing?Depends on the class of the infantry person, but assuming warrior... it'd probably be similar to the standard "kit" an adventurer packs. Weapon, armor, food, bedroll, tools...
I'm not gonna provide a fully detailed list because that sounds like work for something that seems to me to be pretty minor and unnecessary until I were to publish or write an adventure that puts the PCs in the role of Molthuni soldiers, or puts them up against them. Maybe check out Fangwood Keep?
I was just wondering HOW they fought. Different places use different kinds of weapons and armor. I know this may be annoying, but to use the Romans and their Macedonian enemies as an example, the Roman legionnaire had a sword, shield and a few javelins, while the Macedonian phalanx used a long pike and shield. I just don't want to make a Molthuni character who uses the wrong weapons.
1) Were there any plans to have a Shizuru article in the Jade Regent AP? Shizuru feels important enough to the AP (especially now that my group's in Book 6!) that I'm sort of surprised that she didn't get an article.
2) Where do you recommend looking for materials/inspiration for Shizuru and her faith, beyond the snippets in the Dragon Empires Gazetteer, the Dragon Empires Primer, and Inner Sea Gods?
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Alright see if i have understood the Worshipper/Deity relationship correctly:
To gain the powers of a deity a Cleric ( or any other divine caster ) the caster themselves have to actively uphold their relation to their deity and/or philosophies ( in the case of 1-step within the alignment ) and thus technically a cleric "draw" power from a deity more than it actually "receive".
On the case of Deity to worshipper: as we have established a deity in most cases actually care of their worshippers. In what term of "care" that might be is depending on the deity, but if a character worships a deity and does something within the goals of that deity its grounds for a divine reward. In a grander event a deity might even reward those within his/her philosophical alignment despite them not being a worshipper ( or in the case they want to "recruit" this character to their religion )
In mechanical terms:
Divine casters have to maintain their connection and they are the ones that have to be "active" in the relationship.A Deity does whatever he/she feels like at the moment, but might take steps to make sure that a worshipper doesnt stray off their course or punish them in the case of something grave ( such as a paladin falling, or a Pharasma cleric raising the undead )
In the case of a cleric being within 1 step of their deity would presume that a deity allows the cleric to draw from its power as long as the cleric mostly follow some aspect of that deity ( In my example might be a True Neutral Cleric that cherish the undead and use necromancy, and Urgothoa wont mind too much as long as the unliving stomps around. )
This is a hell of a rant for ya JJ, but i hope that i have understood the majority of your intentions of the divine system. You dont need a extensive answer to this one, but i would love to have a nudge in the right direction.
Sounds like you'd rather play an oracle.
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Creative Director
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I was just wondering HOW they fought. Different places use different kinds of weapons and armor. I know this may be annoying, but to use the Romans and their Macedonian enemies as an example, the Roman legionnaire had a sword, shield and a few javelins, while the Macedonian phalanx used a long pike and shield. I just don't want to make a Molthuni character who uses the wrong weapons.What would be the typical "kit" for a Molthuni infantryman? Standard-issue weapons, armor, that kind of thing?Depends on the class of the infantry person, but assuming warrior... it'd probably be similar to the standard "kit" an adventurer packs. Weapon, armor, food, bedroll, tools...
I'm not gonna provide a fully detailed list because that sounds like work for something that seems to me to be pretty minor and unnecessary until I were to publish or write an adventure that puts the PCs in the role of Molthuni soldiers, or puts them up against them. Maybe check out Fangwood Keep?
I can't really answer that question. Molthune is one of those regions we've really done VERY little about, and you obviously know a lot more about history than I do, and I'd rather not stumble through a public design session in fleshing out a part of the Inner Sea here that, while interesting, isn't high on my to-do list.
A good bet for weapons is longsword and shield.
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Creative Director
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1) Were there any plans to have a Shizuru article in the Jade Regent AP? Shizuru feels important enough to the AP (especially now that my group's in Book 6!) that I'm sort of surprised that she didn't get an article.
2) Where do you recommend looking for materials/inspiration for Shizuru and her faith, beyond the snippets in the Dragon Empires Gazetteer, the Dragon Empires Primer, and Inner Sea Gods?
1) None at all, since we were still doing the core 20 deities. Furthermore, while we were writing and developing Jade Regent, Shizuru was ALSO being written and developed. The cross-product synergy we had with Jade Regent and Ultimate Combat, Ultimate Magic, Dragon Empries Primer, Dragon Empires Gazetteer, Bestiary 4, and some other books was already kinda overwhelming us, and as a result doing a bonus, 3rd deity article for a deity who barely existed in print at the time we had to assign the articles for that AP wasn't really an option.
2) That's about it. We've not done much with Shizuru yet. Nor do we have plans in the immediate future, so you should be safe for a few years if you want to build your own info about her without worrying about making the choice between your work and ours.
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I was just wondering HOW they fought. Different places use different kinds of weapons and armor. I know this may be annoying, but to use the Romans and their Macedonian enemies as an example, the Roman legionnaire had a sword, shield and a few javelins, while the Macedonian phalanx used a long pike and shield. I just don't want to make a Molthuni character who uses the wrong weapons.What would be the typical "kit" for a Molthuni infantryman? Standard-issue weapons, armor, that kind of thing?Depends on the class of the infantry person, but assuming warrior... it'd probably be similar to the standard "kit" an adventurer packs. Weapon, armor, food, bedroll, tools...
I'm not gonna provide a fully detailed list because that sounds like work for something that seems to me to be pretty minor and unnecessary until I were to publish or write an adventure that puts the PCs in the role of Molthuni soldiers, or puts them up against them. Maybe check out Fangwood Keep?
I can't really answer that question. Molthune is one of those regions we've really done VERY little about, and you obviously know a lot more about history than I do, and I'd rather not stumble through a public design session in fleshing out a part of the Inner Sea here that, while interesting, isn't high on my to-do list.
A good bet for weapons is longsword and shield.
Thanks for the tip!
Do people on Golarion actually refer to dungeons as "dungeons" or is that largely meta-nomenclature from the gaming culture?