Creative Director
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Not sure if this has been answered or not before:
Magus Arcana: Wand Wielder
Could you activate the wand and channel the charge through your weapon?
The arcana says that with spell combat you can replace casting a spell with activating a wand and spellstrike allows you to channel a touch spell through your weapon.
That's a good question for the rules side FAQ.
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Creative Director
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For the first time ever today I have heard the word Vanican magic and Vanican spellcasting and have no idea what it means. So, what does that word Vanican mean?
What is your opinion on D&D 5th edition? I am not asking for a professional opinion, just as a gamer and NOT in comparison to pathfinder. Just as a separate game on its own merits. If you already answered this, sorry but your thread is massive and I may have missed it.
Can you think of any way to get a munchkin player in a roleplay group to stop being a munchkin without asking them to leave? We all like this guy but he keeps pushing around the players about how we build characters wrong and our personal flavour doesn't matter. We have told him to stop that but he wont listen; but outside the game he is a great guy and we do want him to play.
I am making a Thief character in pathfinder and I was wondering if there is a god of thieves or if it is ok in Golarian for someone to not attach themselves to any of the gods at all. I mean, not like they don't believe they exist since there is absolute proof that they do in that world but not exactly devoted to anyone really.
I am bad at writing adventures so aside from Horror on the Orient Express, what Call of Cthulhu RPG adventures would you recommend? Like I said, I am bad at writing them up but I am really good at adapting adventures and changing them heavily to something totally different; but I tend to need a starting point.
Did I use the semicolon correctly in this post? I am trying to use it correctly because I actually was never taught the use of it back in school. My teacher at the time was big into comma usage.
Oh and what is your opinion on the Oxford comma? Is it actually considered incorrect at all?
Vancian comes from the stories of Jack Vance, where wizards had to study and memorize spells. It's become the word folks use to indicate the D&D and now Pathfinder method of how a spellcaster can't cast spells all day long and has a list of what spells are available in a given day, as opposed to something that say, uses a mana system or a spell point system.
I've looked through the Player's Handbook for D&D and I quite like what I see. Particularly from a restoring nostalgia and classic lore to the game—the fact that they have Greyhawk stuff in the PHB is huge to me. Haven't had a chance to actually play a game yet, alas... Gen Con and now the aftermath of Gen Con on our schedule hasn't given me much free time.
Ask them to build a different character, or give them less resources to build a character than other players. But frankly, it sounds like the actual problem with that player is not their character but their attitude; if they won't play nicer and respect the other players and GM's choices, asking the player to leave the game might be the only option. Outside the game doesn't matter at all for the context of the game itself.
Thieves would choose deities close to their alignment. Norgorber is the classic choice, but he's evil. For good thieves... Desna and Cayden Cailean or even Calistria would be good choices. It's absolutely fine for a character to not worship a deity if they don't have powers specifically granted by deities.
Beyond the Mountains of Madness is my favorite CoC adventure. Masks of Nyarlathotep is great too. And I just picked up Eternal Lies... it looks great so far—it won the gold ennie this year for adventure. It's for Trail of Cthulhu, but the adventure itself looks easy enough to adapt to CoC.
You wanted a comma instead of a semicolon in this post.
The Oxford comma is the only right comma choice. ;-)
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Creative Director
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No... but the needs of an expanding settlement DO generally involve things that many druids would tend see as encroachment. The whole of druidic tropes after all are drawn from tribal societies that were pushed out by the kind of societies that would produce clerics.
And it's generally just the chaotic neutral or the neutral evil druids who would destroy those settlements.
Neutral good and lawful neutral ones would work with the settlement to achieve a peaceful solution. Neutral ones could go either way, but might instead just retreat deeper into the wilds to find new homes OR find a way to live in the new society in the same way wildlife in the real world works.
Theres one question that I've been mulling over for a couple days now. I've been thinking about the position of Asmodeus in the whole dynamic of good vs evil. Whats mostly been in the back of my mind are the Hellknights, a Lawful Evil organization.
The Hellknights, who model themselves after the armies of the nine hells are one of the most effective (if brutal) police forces in the inner sea region, they throw down no matter the threat but still apply the law evenly to the mortal races no matter their alignment. Which is more than can be said for a number of paladins I've played with who use Detect Evil as a writ of execution.
How does Asmodeus see himself in the grand scheme of things? Is he really the prince of lies trying to claim all the realms for himself? Is he the Final Judge and Jury, holding the threat of his Devil Hordes above the heads of the other gods should they decide to cross the line? Or is he something else entirely?
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Creative Director
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Theres one question that I've been mulling over for a couple days now. I've been thinking about the position of Asmodeus in the whole dynamic of good vs evil. Whats mostly been in the back of my mind are the Hellknights, a Lawful Evil organization.
The Hellknights, who model themselves after the armies of the nine hells are one of the most effective (if brutal) police forces in the inner sea region, they throw down no matter the threat but still apply the law evenly to the mortal races no matter their alignment. Which is more than can be said for a number of paladins I've played with who use Detect Evil as a writ of execution.
How does Asmodeus see himself in the grand scheme of things? Is he really the prince of lies trying to claim all the realms for himself? Is he the Final Judge and Jury, holding the threat of his Devil Hordes above the heads of the other gods should they decide to cross the line? Or is he something else entirely?
Asmodeus sees himself as the hero of the story of reality.
He's not right, of course, but he doesn't see it that way.
Well... if you're the GM, you get to make those decisions. I wouldn't allow Large PCs or part-giant PCs in any game I...I suppose that makes sense. I always thought them more a as "monster" . But these creatures look mostly human anyway just unusually tall with a few distinguishing features. And adventurers by definition are different from the norm.Also do you think I should produce more giantkin varieties? I didn't want to do it with the huge + giant varieties as their as they are too powerful. Is there any Golarion specific giants that could be good candidates to have giantkin offspring? Or any Giants appropriate to that region that could be giantkin material?There's been plenty of adventures where humans are the primary enemy, and it's still okay to play humans. By that reasoning, not all giants or giantkin would need to be allied with all monster giants. Just make the giantkin PC a good alignment and that should solve the problem right there.James, I am really looking forward to the Giantslayer AP. In fact I have created my own race of monsters for the AP I hope to insert into encounters there. But here is where we get into the tricky situation. I created a 10(RP) NPC humanoid npc race called the giantkin (inspired by ogrekin). I split the Giantkin into 4 distinct types Tethyn (Ice giant kin), Gorn (Hill giant Kin), Braunn (Fire Giant Kin), Kolan (Stone Giant Kin). Giant kin are tribal generally loosely allied with giant tribes often a meritocracy led by a half giant. Giant kin are minimum 3 quarters Human (except for the Braunn who look like they come from dwarves) and a quarter giant blood.
The problem came from the fact a friend reviewed these NPCs creations and wants to play one during the Giantslayer AP. And I am unsure if that would be appropriate where it has been stated the giants are the enemy. Is there a way you can think where I can get solve this situation without saying outright NO?
O Giant Kin are still medium humanoids. They just range between 6'5" to 7'5". They're freakishly tall but not that tall.
'People of the Stars' now in hand, I find little RP material or fluff in the book for the four races. Three of my potential players are interested in them (An Crit/Ftr Android, a Kasatha Ranger and a male Lashunta Barbarian). All three are now pestering me for RP material, society, religion, communities. All three have been bombarding me with crappy feats, alternate traits and the occasional rough gem.
This is what I get for promising a Spelljammer game...
Oops! Great stuff in there otherwise, love the solar system, btw.
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Creative Director
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'People of the Stars' now in hand, I find little RP material or fluff in the book for the four races. Three of my potential players are interested in them (An Crit/Ftr Android, a Kasatha Ranger and a male Lashunta Barbarian). All three are now pestering me for RP material, society, religion, communities. All three have been bombarding me with crappy feats, alternate traits and the occasional rough gem.
This is what I get for promising a Spelljammer game...
Oops! Great stuff in there otherwise, love the solar system, btw.
More information on androids is in Pathfinder #85.
We've got some more info about kasathas spread out throughout the entire Iron Gods AP—they're not really intended to be player characters in that AP though, and as such their information is spread out in a way that works best for the adventure.
Lashuntas have some more information in Distant Worlds and the Inner Sea World Guide.
There's just not a lot of info yet about kasathas or lashuntas as it works out, so feel free to do what you will to round them out!
Well, I'm already getting the AP, so I'll be getting that info ASAP. As for Distant Worlds and the Inner Sea World Guide, bought both and enjoyed the read. Or reads.
Neutral ones could go either way, but might instead just retreat deeper into the wilds to find new homes OR find a way to live in the new society in the same way wildlife in the real world works.Unfortunately the real world pattern is generally extinction either at the hands of mankind's cats and dogs, or habitat eradication from farming or lumbering, so I'm not sure which parallel results in a scenario where a druid can accomodate themselves and their charges, no matter how good aligned they are. It's only recently that we've seen deliberate action to reserve wildlife areas and that generally means keeping human settlement away from them.
I'm not intending on making this a debate with you, Just pointing out that there really isn't a history of humans accommodating themselves with nature. And it's not just technology to blame, the spread of the Sahara is believed to be due largely to actions of nomadic overgrazing.
I like to think of some druids that sit back in their groves and chuckle darkly to themselves because they uphold the philosophy of this picture.
The Green Faith Acolyte Prestige Class requires one to be a follower of the Green Faith. If you have a Druid that follows the ideals of the Green Faith but also worships a deity (an example would be a Druid that heeds the teachings of the Green Faith and worships Shyka the Many), would that character still qualify for the Prestige Class or should the deity be dropped from the statblock? It never seemed very clear to me how philosophies and deity worship interact on Golarion lore- and game-wise, so I figured I should ask this to dispel the confusion.
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Creative Director
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Have you seen the trailer for the The Mill at Calder's End?
oooh... neat! I had not seen this. Thanks for the link!
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Creative Director
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Neutral ones could go either way, but might instead just retreat deeper into the wilds to find new homes OR find a way to live in the new society in the same way wildlife in the real world works.Unfortunately the real world pattern is generally extinction either at the hands of mankind's cats and dogs, or habitat eradication from farming or lumbering, so I'm not sure which parallel results in a scenario where a druid can accomodate themselves and their charges, no matter how good aligned they are. It's only recently that we've seen deliberate action to reserve wildlife areas and that generally means keeping human settlement away from them.
I'm not intending on making this a debate with you, Just pointing out that there really isn't a history of humans accommodating themselves with nature. And it's not just technology to blame, the spread of the Sahara is believed to be due largely to actions of nomadic overgrazing.
It's a tough call for the druid, that's for sure. From situations like these, though, some cool roleplaying opportunities or adventure plots arise. Which is the whole point. Pick the solution that makes for the type of story you want to tell. I'm not gonna sit here and say which ones are the RIGHT choices because the right choice is the one that's right for your particular story, which might be the wrong choice for the next similar story you want to tell.
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Creative Director
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The Green Faith Acolyte Prestige Class requires one to be a follower of the Green Faith. If you have a Druid that follows the ideals of the Green Faith but also worships a deity (an example would be a Druid that heeds the teachings of the Green Faith and worships Shyka the Many), would that character still qualify for the Prestige Class or should the deity be dropped from the statblock? It never seemed very clear to me how philosophies and deity worship interact on Golarion lore- and game-wise, so I figured I should ask this to dispel the confusion.
Nope. You'd need to track down a different prestige class.
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Creative Director
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Looking at the start of Jade Regent, since you wrote Brinewall Legacy I'd like to get your opinion on a scenario that would make a (slight) adjustment to the function of the investiture of the PCs as Amatatsu scions. It's if one of the players doesn't want to be an Amatatsu scion, but was instead particularly interested in a different noble family (e.g. Shojinawa for magic or Teikoku for combat), though the adventure starts in Varisia (with the Harrow and so on).
Could a draw of the Empty Throne card from the Deck of Many Things (character inherits a noble title), prior to campaign start, work within the story/scenario as something like the release of the Amatatsu seal "remotely activating" one of the other seals locked away in Minkai? So that PC instead receives the right to rule (i.e. the "noble title") as a scion of a different family through magic/miracle/artifact-magic creating a one-off event. Ameiko still has the blood tie, so she'd still have primacy as the Amatatsu heir, but it varies the families and scions slightly within the party.
The end of the campaign already gives the possibility of using the other seals to invest new scions with the right to rule. This would just bring it into play earlier and focus it on one of the PCs. Of course, they'd be without the benefits that the Amatatsu seal provides to its scions.
Anyway, does this work within the context of the campaign? It keeps the PC in question still focused on going to Minkai even if he isn't an Amatatsu scion, but is there anything in particular you think would cause problems?
Feel free to adjust the adventure's setup to work with your players' choices... but at the same time, if a player wants to opt out of a campaign plot line... that should be fine too. Just give that player a heads up as spoiler-free as possible that their choice may have unforeseen benefits and disadvantages down the line. As long as the PC still feels invested in the overall plot and wants to keep going on the AP though it's all fine.
Questions about the Occult Adventures?
1)Will it have a reprint of the insanity rules? How about additional rules for insanity?
2)Will it have anything Lovecraft/Mythos related?
3)Have the names and concepts of the new classes been finalized?
4)Will there be any new rules/content for hauntings or possession?
5)Are all the classes psychic based/themed?
James you walk into a bar and see Treerazor, Cthulhu, and a Tzitzimitl playing poker with Jason Bulmahn, What do you do?Apologize to Treerazer for the typo in his name. Then wonder why the bar was built so huge in the first place!
Geez, Jason isn't that big.
Care to share the story about the purple worm encounter from the Mummy's Mask photo on Facebook? I'm really curious to hear about how a party of 2nd level PCs comes to encounter such a beastie.
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Creative Director
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Questions about the Occult Adventures?
1)Will it have a reprint of the insanity rules? How about additional rules for insanity?
2)Will it have anything Lovecraft/Mythos related?
3)Have the names and concepts of the new classes been finalized?
4)Will there be any new rules/content for hauntings or possession?
5)Are all the classes psychic based/themed?
1) Unlikely.
2) Unlikely.
3) Yes.
4) Dunno, but that would certainly make sense.
5) I'm not sure, but I think so.
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Creative Director
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Care to share the story about the purple worm encounter from the Mummy's Mask photo on Facebook? I'm really curious to hear about how a party of 2nd level PCs comes to encounter such a beastie.
It was, in fact, just a Huge whiptail centipede, and our resident desert druid used vermin empathy to scare it off without a fight!
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Creative Director
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Why is it that Clerics only get 1 new archetype in ACG? It seems like a lot of other classes got a bit more love.
Because that's all the room they had for clerics. Clerics aren't really all about archetypes anyway. They work better at getting specific flavor by picking a deity instead of picking an archetype.
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Will we lose a few archetypes now that we have all these awesome new classes and maybe one or two prestige classes?
It seems like a few are just really weak versions of other classes. Maybe you need to start slimming down the options.
Idea: Combine all the core books (CRB,APG,ARG,ACG,UC,UM) into one massive book, and if you want to get more insane, toss in the ultimate campain, the paths of prestige and pretty much every damn paizo book in existance into one massive book, then charge a decent price for it. Because megabook.
will there ever be a AP around fighting one of Pathfinder's signature "villian" i.e the tarrasque, rune lord (pride), treerazer, the whispering tyrant, nex, the whore queen/geb (in this case more likely to redeem to whore queen's souls)
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Creative Director
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Will we lose a few archetypes now that we have all these awesome new classes and maybe one or two prestige classes?
It seems like a few are just really weak versions of other classes. Maybe you need to start slimming down the options.
Idea: Combine all the core books (CRB,APG,ARG,ACG,UC,UM) into one massive book, and if you want to get more insane, toss in the ultimate campain, the paths of prestige and pretty much every damn paizo book in existance into one massive book, then charge a decent price for it. Because megabook.
The previously published archetypes aren't going anywhere.
Megabook is a great way to bankrupt us and our customers. Bad idea.
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Creative Director
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will there ever be a AP around fighting one of Pathfinder's signature "villian" i.e the tarrasque, rune lord (pride), treerazer, the whispering tyrant, nex, the whore queen/geb (in this case more likely to redeem to whore queen's souls)
Perhaps. We've already done APs where you fight signature villains like Karzoug, Illeosa, Deskari, and the queen of Irrisen, after all. Why stop there?
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Creative Director
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As you've taken a look at the 5e Player's Handbook, what opinion do you have on their lack of a Base Attack Bonus? I have a friend that claims because of this, 5e is a complete and utter failure.
Until I play the game for a while I won't have an opinion. And I suggest anyone who wants to have an opinion of their own give the game a try first before they issue proclamations.
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Why don't we just fight a giant ubergod made of all of golarions gods mashed together?
Megabook would be frikken awesome though, Imagine a book the size of a table that required twelve men to lift with every offical pathfinder thing inside it. EVERYTHING
Also, why not get rid of the now useless archetypes?
They really don't do much more than make the classes into a weaker version of an existing class.
Hi Mr. Jacobs
I am about to start a game with Earth connections and wanted to get a little advice. So the story for at least one character is that he was investigating some kidnapping cultists that worship a Golarion specific God and because of some ritual he got sucked into Golarion so.
What God from Golarion would have evil plans for other worlds, or should I go with a Great Old One?
Do the years on Golarion and on Earth sync or is time different on the two worlds?
How should I handle Languages? Weapon proficients? Skills? Seems like some one who grew up on Earth should have different things?
Thanks for reading it
Megabook would be a bazillion pages. It would have to be split into volumes, and then we're back where we are now. Problem solved!
What would be a good Golarion villain with particularly insane goals? (By 'insane goals' I mean less 'take over the world' and more 'blow up the moon'.)
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Creative Director
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Why don't we just fight a giant ubergod made of all of golarions gods mashed together?
Megabook would be frikken awesome though, Imagine a book the size of a table that required twelve men to lift with every offical pathfinder thing inside it. EVERYTHING
Also, why not get rid of the now useless archetypes?
They really don't do much more than make the classes into a weaker version of an existing class.
Because more options = better for the game. Remember, GMs need options for NPCs too, and having sub-optimal options helps to spread challenges around more.
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Creative Director
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Hi Mr. Jacobs
I am about to start a game with Earth connections and wanted to get a little advice. So the story for at least one character is that he was investigating some kidnapping cultists that worship a Golarion specific God and because of some ritual he got sucked into Golarion so.What God from Golarion would have evil plans for other worlds, or should I go with a Great Old One?
Do the years on Golarion and on Earth sync or is time different on the two worlds?
How should I handle Languages? Weapon proficients? Skills? Seems like some one who grew up on Earth should have different things?
Thanks for reading it
Check "Rasputin Must Die" out for how Golarion syncs up with Earth.
And as for deities... I'd go with a deity that's worshiped on both worlds. The Great Old Ones work, but so would Asmodeus or Lamashtu or some oft he archdevils or demon lords.
Hi Mr. Jacobs
I am about to start a game with Earth connections and wanted to get a little advice. So the story for at least one character is that he was investigating some kidnapping cultists that worship a Golarion specific God and because of some ritual he got sucked into Golarion so.What God from Golarion would have evil plans for other worlds, or should I go with a Great Old One?
Do the years on Golarion and on Earth sync or is time different on the two worlds?
How should I handle Languages? Weapon proficients? Skills? Seems like some one who grew up on Earth should have different things?
Thanks for reading it
Check "Rasputin Must Die" out for how Golarion syncs up with Earth.
And as for deities... I'd go with a deity that's worshiped on both worlds. The Great Old Ones work, but so would Asmodeus or Lamashtu or some oft he archdevils or demon lords.
And the Ancient Osirian gods.
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What would be a good Golarion villain with particularly insane goals? (By 'insane goals' I mean less 'take over the world' and more 'blow up the moon'.)Sounds like an evil Golarion villain, not a good one! :-P
ME!! MR. TORGUE! BLOWING UP THE MOON IS FOR GOD ****ED PANSIES! A REAL MAN WOULD SET FIRE.... TO THE SUN!!!
WHOOO!!!! AIR GUITAR SOLO - SQUIBBLYBAMBLYMEEDLEMEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
