PS I love Earth X and think the end bit with Galactus should be official Marvel stance. Did you ever pick it up?So Thor's a girl; your thoughts?About time!
AKA: I approve.
Little note though, this won't be some alternate universe Thor, or some temporary gender bend. As far as has been released that I've read, "Thor" will be a girl for some time (perhaps even permanently). It's unknown what will happen to the current Thor, only that he will be found 'unworthy of the power of Thor'.
James, are there any other superheroes you would like to see undergo a similar gender change?
If you had to do a gender change of a major character in Golarion, who would it be and why?
Who would you be the least willing to change? Why?
Hey James,
Did you guys use the pureblooded Azlanti template for statting out the Runelords that have appeared in print? Would it be spoilers to ask if you used the template for any other NPC in published material?
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It seems showing up on the Material Plane is actually pretty risky for a god.
And that right there is probably the best reason I've heard for the non-interference pact the gods have on Golarion. If you stay in your homes, then you can't be killed. Aroden's death means anyone can die. Golarion's a dangerous place right now - they'll probably give it a few millennia for everything to calm down before they start interfering again.
It seems showing up on the Material Plane is actually pretty risky for a god.
If that's the reason I'm fine with it. I'm just interested in hearing from the creative director (the lead storyteller) as to what that reasoning is.
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Would you compare them to Green Lanterns then?James, how do you roleplay a paladin's immunity to fear effects? Does it mean he feels no fear at all?That's exactly what it means. No fear at all. She understands the nature of a situation that causes fear, and will retreat from combat or a situation if it seems prudent, but not from fear.
No, because all I really know about the Green Lantern is that it was a pretty terrible movie with a lot of silly-looking aliens in tights.
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I get all that, but why?
Is there no in setting reason to explain why the gods don't show up in person anymore? I understand ruining the story for PCs, and thats a completely valid reason not to have the gods constantly showing up and taking care of business. But why don't they do so?
Is there no in setting reason at this time? Are there plans to ever cover that sort of information? Or is the only justification because it would be bad for the game from the perspective of players?
Because the game is about non-deity player characters, that's why.
You CAN NOT have deities popping in to save the day or otherwise be meddling and tinkering directly in a game without making the players of the game feel marginalized and useless. We don't want a game where the players don't feel like they're needed.
A game world where the gods DO get involved would HAVE to be a game where the players play the gods.
And there is an in-game reason why the gods don't do this. It's free will. That's important to the gods that the mortals have it, because without free will, you can't have faith, and without faith, you don't have worshipers, and without worshipers, you don't get souls coming to your realm to bolster your realm's size and strength. Furthermore, when one god intervenes, another steps in to counteract that, and then another, and it turns into an arms race that results in mutually assured destruction, or at the very least, total change.
Gods are, in a way, like nuclear bombs. Just as the real world has avoided nuking itself into oblivion (so far), the gods of Goalrion have avoided turning the world into ash and cinder while they bicker and fight over it.
And on top of that... the gods don't think the same as us. They move in mysterious ways.
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Who are some evil deities who are usually cheerful or friendly?(if there are any. The possibility I find intriguing at least.)1)why does Olheon look so mean?. she is always glaring in her art
2)why doesn't Iomedae ever smile?
1) Because she's not a happy deity.
2) Because she doesn't have a lot to smile about; she's not a friendly happy deity either. She's a hard case who is very serious and isn't here to be your friend.
Good does not mean Always Cheerful. In the same way Evil doesn't mean Always Angry.
Nocticula comes to mind. As does Asmodeus; he's usually trying to be nice. Or so he'd have you think.
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What's a good source for learning about the mathematics behind game design? Aside from college.
Talking to Stephen Radney-MacFarland or Jason Bulmahn or Jonathan Tweet or other game designers who've worked on mathmatics-based games. There's also plenty of books out there that talk about it. The first few pages of the 1st edition AD&D DMG had some good stuff. There's also been a LOT of interesting articles about it through the decades in Dragon magazine.
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PS I love Earth X and think the end bit with Galactus should be official Marvel stance. Did you ever pick it up?So Thor's a girl; your thoughts?About time!
AKA: I approve.
So what if it's kinda been done already. It needed to happen again.
And no... I actually don't read superhero comics much at all... despite having spent a summer working as a color guide prep for comic books.
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As a question about hindsight/retrospect, are there any secret societies of Golarion or similar things that you would have liked to see in Occult Mysteries, but which had to be left on the cutting room floor, for one reason or another?
Not really. Turns out, when you're one of the people who gets to decide what goes in a book and what doesn't, you get to cut the things you DON'T want to see in the book! :-)
That said... I guess I would have liked to see more stuff about the Old Cults, but that would have meant I would have had to write more and I didn't have time to do more than the 6 pages I did write... so the Old Cults stuff has to wait. Doesn't hurt that I already did a fair amount about them in Carrion Crown #4, though...
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James, are there any other superheroes you would like to see undergo a similar gender change?
If you had to do a gender change of a major character in Golarion, who would it be and why?
Who would you be the least willing to change? Why?
I'd not mind seeing pretty much ALL the superheroes do a gender change, and make a world where the vast majority of superheroes are women and the superheroes who are men were mostly regulated to sidkick or eye-candy or marginalized status.
As for Golarion? I'd probably pick Aroden to gender chagne, because he's one of the core elements of the setting.
I'd be least willing to change pretty much any of the women characters to men, since despite our pretty progressive steps toward gender equality, we're still not quite there yet.
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Hey James,
Did you guys use the pureblooded Azlanti template for statting out the Runelords that have appeared in print? Would it be spoilers to ask if you used the template for any other NPC in published material?
There is no "Pureblodded Azlanti template." There's an Azlanti ethnicity, but that's not a template. And yes, the runelords we've statted up in print were Azlanti. There's been other Azlanti who have appeared in the game as well now and then, and we haven't hidden the fact that they were Azlanti, nor have we done a "stealth Azlanti" without telling the GM about it.
Keeping secrets from the GM is generally not a good idea, unless the whole point is that the secret is a secret, in which case you keep it from EVERYONE and never build an adventure that's crippled or hampered due to that.
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It seems showing up on the Material Plane is actually pretty risky for a god.If that's the reason I'm fine with it. I'm just interested in hearing from the creative director (the lead storyteller) as to what that reasoning is.
Let's move the discussion to another thread, please, and keep this one to the questions.
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Ah! So it takes place under the Inner Sea. Well played!You can ask, but I won't give one.While I know that you don't wish to reveal anything about the Adventure path after Giantslayer until Gencon, may I ask for one clue?
will it take place north or south of the Inner Sea? (the stretch from the Arch of Aroden to Absolam as a guideline)
Not seeing a question mark there... so I'm not sure what this comment's trying to do here...
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Well thanks to Avatar, Desna as a boy is already covered :) He's one half of a pair of androgynous twins. (He is really that hard to tell from his sister, save when the latter is in a water bending raging tear.)
As for Golarion? I'd probably pick Aroden to gender chagne, because he's one of the core elements of the setting.
Huh.
That character didn't show up in the M Night movie, so it doesn't really count for Avatar canon.
Mwa ha hah.
No, because all I really know about the Green Lantern is that it was a pretty terrible movie with a lot of silly-looking aliens in tights.Would you compare them to Green Lanterns then?James, how do you roleplay a paladin's immunity to fear effects? Does it mean he feels no fear at all?That's exactly what it means. No fear at all. She understands the nature of a situation that causes fear, and will retreat from combat or a situation if it seems prudent, but not from fear.
Kinda sounds a bit like Barbarella...
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Hello James. I've got a question for you, specifically for Pathfinder Society.
Could someone take the amateur gunslinger feat and get the first level deed of an archetype of the gunslinger (such as the Mysterious Stranger's Focused Aim)?
I don't make rulings for Pathfinder Society. That's a question for Mike or John.
Hey James,
Did you guys use the pureblooded Azlanti template for statting out the Runelords that have appeared in print? Would it be spoilers to ask if you used the template for any other NPC in published material?
There is no "Pureblodded Azlanti template." There's an Azlanti ethnicity, but that's not a template. And yes, the runelords we've statted up in print were Azlanti. There's been other Azlanti who have appeared in the game as well now and then, and we haven't hidden the fact that they were Azlanti, nor have we done a "stealth Azlanti" without telling the GM about it.
Keeping secrets from the GM is generally not a good idea, unless the whole point is that the secret is a secret, in which case you keep it from EVERYONE and never build an adventure that's crippled or hampered due to that.
My assumption was that the Azlanti ethnicity found in the Inner Sea World Guide was comprised of humans who are the distant descendants of Azlant, or claim to have strong Azlanti blood, whether legitimate or not; while the "pureblooded Azlanti" described on that same page, ie giving a +2 to all stats, was a template of sorts. I'm confused now!
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I don't make rulings for Pathfinder Society. That's a question for Mike or John.Hello James. I've got a question for you, specifically for Pathfinder Society.
Could someone take the amateur gunslinger feat and get the first level deed of an archetype of the gunslinger (such as the Mysterious Stranger's Focused Aim)?
But as far as I know, they don't have any thread to ask them anything. :(
Regardless, thanks. Off to ask them things!
They do not. And in fact, I'm not sure HOW folks get rulings for things like this, to be frank.
My suggestion if you can't get a ruling would be to set that option aside for a home game and choose something less complicated for your PFS character.
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My assumption was that the Azlanti ethnicity found in the Inner Sea World Guide was comprised of humans who are the distant descendants of Azlant, or claim to have strong Azlanti blood, whether legitimate or not; while the "pureblooded Azlanti" described on that same page, ie giving a +2 to all stats, was a template of sorts. I'm confused now!
Nope; that +2 to all stats is not a template. Any more so than "Goblin" or "Drow Matron" or "Elf" is a template.
Someone claiming to be pureblooded Azlanti but who isn't is just one of the other ethnicities in the game with the standard human race features.
Someone who IS a pureblooded Azlanti is an NPC, frankly, and is likely a character who's been in stasis for 10,000 or so years or is undead or the like. It's not a really good choice for a PC, both because it's too powerful and because it doesn't make sense lore-wise.
My assumption was that the Azlanti ethnicity found in the Inner Sea World Guide was comprised of humans who are the distant descendants of Azlant, or claim to have strong Azlanti blood, whether legitimate or not; while the "pureblooded Azlanti" described on that same page, ie giving a +2 to all stats, was a template of sorts. I'm confused now!Nope; that +2 to all stats is not a template. Any more so than "Goblin" or "Drow Matron" or "Elf" is a template.
Someone claiming to be pureblooded Azlanti but who isn't is just one of the other ethnicities in the game with the standard human race features.
Ah, gotcha. Thanks for clarifying this.
Someone who IS a pureblooded Azlanti is an NPC, frankly, and is likely a character who's been in stasis for 10,000 or so years or is undead or the like. It's not a really good choice for a PC, both because it's too powerful and because it doesn't make sense lore-wise.
Unless, of course, you fall victim to a certain clever trap in Shattered Star...but hey, that very same page in the World Guide did say that "Golarion is nothing if not a magical place", so who the heck knows? I'd probably allow it as GM if the +2 to all stats was only a +1 and the player came up with a damn good backstory, but that's a different discussion entirely.
I suppose the real problem would be anyone really believing you if you say you're a 10,000 year old Azlanti. Sure your eyes might be really purple, and you're unusually insightful in Azlanti culture and history, but you're probably just a very bright scholar who has deluded himself. So I guess one more question before I buzz off; would there be any way, magical or otherwise, for someone to prove without question (or at least almost without question) that they're an ancient Azlanti?
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Unless, of course, you fall victim to a certain clever trap in Shattered Star...but hey, that very same page in the World Guide did say that "Golarion is nothing if not a magical place", so who the heck knows? I'd probably allow it as GM if the +2 to all stats was only a +1 and the player came up with a damn good backstory, but that's a different discussion entirely.
I suppose the real problem would be anyone really believing you if you say you're a 10,000 year old Azlanti. Sure your eyes might be really purple, and you're unusually insightful in Azlanti culture and history, but you're probably just a very bright scholar who has deluded himself. So I guess one more question before I buzz off; would there be any way, magical or otherwise, for someone to prove without question (or at least almost without question) that they're an ancient Azlanti?
That's a great example of how one might end up with that kind of race, in fact. A powerful and unusual reincarnation.
And if you were a 10,000 year old Azlanti but only first level? What have you been doing with your life? ;-P
James, are there any other superheroes you would like to see undergo a similar gender change?
If you had to do a gender change of a major character in Golarion, who would it be and why?
Who would you be the least willing to change? Why?
I'd not mind seeing pretty much ALL the superheroes do a gender change, and make a world where the vast majority of superheroes are women and the superheroes who are men were mostly regulated to sidkick or eye-candy or marginalized status.
As for Golarion? I'd probably pick Aroden to gender chagne, because he's one of the core elements of the setting.
I'd be least willing to change pretty much any of the women characters to men, since despite our pretty progressive steps toward gender equality, we're still not quite there yet.
This isn't really gender equality though. This is just reversing the marginalization. I don't really think that's a good way to go about equality, both in literature and in real-life. I feel it really undermines acting for equality. Like, I'd love to see more Hispanic characters and Trans characters in literature and RPG, but I wouldn't want to put the negative tropes and marginalized status onto Caucasian characters or Cis characters.
I guess I should follow this up with a question. When Arcadia comes to fruition, will we be able to see some ethnicities that are inspired by Latin American ethnicities?
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So you want to marginalize men and boys? Is that what gender equality is?James, are there any other superheroes you would like to see undergo a similar gender change?
If you had to do a gender change of a major character in Golarion, who would it be and why?
Who would you be the least willing to change? Why?
I'd not mind seeing pretty much ALL the superheroes do a gender change, and make a world where the vast majority of superheroes are women and the superheroes who are men were mostly regulated to sidkick or eye-candy or marginalized status.
As for Golarion? I'd probably pick Aroden to gender chagne, because he's one of the core elements of the setting.
I'd be least willing to change pretty much any of the women characters to men, since despite our pretty progressive steps toward gender equality, we're still not quite there yet.
Ohhhhhh no. Don't. That's NOT how it works at all. Feminism is not about marginalizing men and boys, regardless of what the male supremacy movement will tell you. I believed that too once. NEVER again. Gender equality is gender equality is gender equality. Paizo's policy as far as I've observed is that NO ONE is to be marginalized at all!
I hope to Iomedae you're joking here. This has been a sore subject for me ever since I made an ass of myself on these very forums back when I believed that stuff. I was so very, very wrong about everything.
James, did any pre-Worldwound Sarkorians include Iomedae in their local pantheons? Or is she regarded more as a "foreigner god" brought by the southern crusaders that's prejudiced against the Sarkorian way of life. Every time I look at this question I keep coming back to Iomedae as the best candidate (she IS the paladin goddess after all) but I struggle to figure out how a character could stay true to his Sarkorian heritage worshiping Iomedae when her crusaders in Mendev seem to regard the Sarkorians as demon-touched collaborators at worst and at best deluded fools who let the disaster happen right under their noses.
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...So you want to marginalize men and boys? Is that what gender equality is?James, are there any other superheroes you would like to see undergo a similar gender change?
If you had to do a gender change of a major character in Golarion, who would it be and why?
Who would you be the least willing to change? Why?
I'd not mind seeing pretty much ALL the superheroes do a gender change, and make a world where the vast majority of superheroes are women and the superheroes who are men were mostly regulated to sidkick or eye-candy or marginalized status.
As for Golarion? I'd probably pick Aroden to gender chagne, because he's one of the core elements of the setting.
I'd be least willing to change pretty much any of the women characters to men, since despite our pretty progressive steps toward gender equality, we're still not quite there yet.
Ohhhhhh no. Don't. That's NOT how it works at all. Feminism is not about marginalizing men and boys, regardless of what the male supremacy movement will tell you. I believed that too once. NEVER again. Gender equality is gender equality is gender equality. Paizo's policy as far as I've observed is that NO ONE is to be marginalized at all!
I hope to Iomedae you're joking here. This has been a sore subject for me ever since I made an ass of myself on these very forums back when I believed that stuff. I was so very, very wrong about everything.
James, did any pre-Worldwound Sarkorians include Iomedae in their local pantheons? Or is she regarded more as a "foreigner god" brought by the southern crusaders that's prejudiced against the Sarkorian way of life. Every time I look at this question I keep coming back to Iomedae as the best candidate (she IS the paladin goddess after all) but I struggle to figure out how a character could stay true to his Sarkorian heritage worshiping Iomedae when her crusaders in Mendev seem to regard the
Sorry. When words like gender equality and marginalization get tossed around, arguments and counterarguments about feminism aren't far behind, and as I said, it's something I still feel ashamed about after that stupid "Cultural Marxism" thread I started.
Oh, come on. That original post was high-class comedy.
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So you want to marginalize men and boys? Is that what gender equality is?James, are there any other superheroes you would like to see undergo a similar gender change?
If you had to do a gender change of a major character in Golarion, who would it be and why?
Who would you be the least willing to change? Why?
I'd not mind seeing pretty much ALL the superheroes do a gender change, and make a world where the vast majority of superheroes are women and the superheroes who are men were mostly regulated to sidkick or eye-candy or marginalized status.
As for Golarion? I'd probably pick Aroden to gender chagne, because he's one of the core elements of the setting.
I'd be least willing to change pretty much any of the women characters to men, since despite our pretty progressive steps toward gender equality, we're still not quite there yet.
Aiming for a 50/50 representation is not marginalizing men at all, neither is gender equality.
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I guess I should follow this up with a question. When Arcadia comes to fruition, will we be able to see some ethnicities that are inspired by Latin American ethnicities?
IF Arcadia comes to fruition, yes, you can expect some ethnicities inspired by Native Americans and Latin Americans and so on.
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James, did any pre-Worldwound Sarkorians include Iomedae in their local pantheons? Or is she regarded more as a "foreigner god" brought by the southern crusaders that's prejudiced against the Sarkorian way of life. Every time I look at this question I keep coming back to Iomedae as the best candidate (she IS the paladin goddess after all) but I struggle to figure out how a character could stay true to his Sarkorian heritage worshiping Iomedae when her crusaders in Mendev seem to regard the Sarkorians as demon-touched collaborators at worst and at best deluded fools who let the disaster happen right under their noses.
I suppose there'd be a few Iomedae worshipers in pre-Worldwound Sarkoris... but not a lot. She'd definitely be an outlander/foreign religion.
Aiming for a 50/50 representation is not marginalizing men at all, neither is gender equality.So you want to marginalize men and boys? Is that what gender equality is?James, are there any other superheroes you would like to see undergo a similar gender change?
If you had to do a gender change of a major character in Golarion, who would it be and why?
Who would you be the least willing to change? Why?
I'd not mind seeing pretty much ALL the superheroes do a gender change, and make a world where the vast majority of superheroes are women and the superheroes who are men were mostly regulated to sidkick or eye-candy or marginalized status.
As for Golarion? I'd probably pick Aroden to gender chagne, because he's one of the core elements of the setting.
I'd be least willing to change pretty much any of the women characters to men, since despite our pretty progressive steps toward gender equality, we're still not quite there yet.
That's true, but you kinda posted the opposite in your previous post. I definitely agree with you about equality and making compelling characters of all types.
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I did not say anything about Feminism. james said he would like to see all of the male superheroes be marginalized and to me that is not gender equality
That was intended to get people thinking about what it feels like to be marginalized, so that they don't unintentionally or unknowingly support a status quo that already does that same thing. If the idea of marginalizing male superheroes makes one uncomfortable, then in theory, they realize why gender equality (which is NOT the status quo yet, alas) is so important a goal to strive for.
That was intended to get people thinking about what it feels like to be marginalized, so that they don't unintentionally or unknowingly support a status quo that already does that same thing. If the idea of marginalizing male superheroes makes one uncomfortable, then in theory, they realize why gender equality (which is NOT the status quo yet, alas) is so important a goal to strive for.I did not say anything about Feminism. james said he would like to see all of the male superheroes be marginalized and to me that is not gender equality
That makes more sense. Ignore my last post then.
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Have you ever noticed that if your avatar and Odraude's avatar were to be put side by side, it looks like they're roaring at each other?
Have you ever noticed that if your avatar and Odraude's avatar were to be put side by side, it looks like they're roaring at each other?
My money is on the T-Rex.
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Have you ever noticed that if your avatar and Odraude's avatar were to be put side by side, it looks like they're roaring at each other?RARRRRGHH!
RARRRRGHH!
