Creative Director
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
How much "uniqueness" can a character have before you'd decide they're "Mary Sues" that wouldn't fit in the campaign. I'm always concerned when I create a character that I won't be accepted because, even if it's only a first level character, the character's too much of a speshul widdle snowfwake that seems unrealistic for the setting, or is like a Drizzt clone or something?
Everyone has a different threshold for that kind of thing.
And if a PC isn't a special snowflake... as far as I'm concerned, the player's doing it wrong! ;-)
AKA: You're SUPPOSED to like your character!
|
Well, yeah, but there's still the threshold for entry to consider. Joining Play-by-Posts feels like auditioning for a lead role in a musical. It's not just about how great you can act sing or dance, but how well you can harmonize with the other leads and not overshadow them. And you're competing with dozens of others for a very limited set of roles. Know what I mean?
I just worry that if the character's TOO special, potential GMs won't pick me to be in their games.
What's your opinion on the goliath player race, in terms of concept more so than mechanics?Not a fan.
Any particular reason(s)?
|
Creative Director
|
So where's this Ben Wootten beauty from?
An upcoming unpublished but soon to BE published product.
|
So where's this Ben Wootten beauty from?An upcoming unpublished but soon to BE published product.
Would it be Monster Codex or Gnolls of Golarion?
|
Creative Director
|
Would it be Monster Codex or Gnolls of Golarion?So where's this Ben Wootten beauty from?An upcoming unpublished but soon to BE published product.
Since said artwork didn't appear on our site with the source revealed, I'm not going to say. Have patience. You'll see it soon enough.
|
|
Since said artwork didn't appear on our site with the source revealed, I'm not going to say. Have patience. You'll see it soon enough.Would it be Monster Codex or Gnolls of Golarion?So where's this Ben Wootten beauty from?An upcoming unpublished but soon to BE published product.
Soon... Gnolly Gnolly Gnoll.
Are there any robot vacuum cleaners in Numeria?
Are there any robot vacuum cleaners in Numeria?
The Doomba?
|
Creative Director
|
How do spells that heal injuries or treat disease interact with cancer? I'm under the impression that Golarion's medical technology is still pre-germ-theory, so how do they deal with things like that?
Cancer is a disease, so magic that cures disease fixes cancer. Magic that heals injuries has no effect on cancer.
|
|
How do spells that heal injuries or treat disease interact with cancer? I'm under the impression that Golarion's medical technology is still pre-germ-theory, so how do they deal with things like that?Cancer is a disease, so magic that cures disease fixes cancer. Magic that heals injuries has no effect on cancer.
Can cancer be identified as such by skilled clerics and medical practitioners?
And on an unrelated note, does the name "Askaan" sound more Kellid or Shoanti to you? Or Mwangi, I dunno. Can't figure out what human ethnicity this name fits best with.
|
Creative Director
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
How do spells that heal injuries or treat disease interact with cancer? I'm under the impression that Golarion's medical technology is still pre-germ-theory, so how do they deal with things like that?Cancer is a disease, so magic that cures disease fixes cancer. Magic that heals injuries has no effect on cancer.Can cancer be identified as such by skilled clerics and medical practitioners?
And on an unrelated note, does the name "Askaan" sound more Kellid or Shoanti to you? Or Mwangi, I dunno. Can't figure out what human ethnicity this name fits best with.
Yes, just as any other disease. We've not yet statted up cancer yet though as far as I know.
Askaan sounds more Kellid to me... but I can't think of it without thinking of "Ass Can." Call it the editor's curse of having to have a filthier mind than all of your writers...
|
Creative Director
|
How do spells that heal injuries or treat disease interact with cancer? I'm under the impression that Golarion's medical technology is still pre-germ-theory, so how do they deal with things like that?Cancer is a disease, so magic that cures disease fixes cancer.Since cancer is out-of-control cell division, wouldn't some sorts of healing (regeneration, fast healing etc.) be able to make it worse? I can't imagine rapid abnormal cell division and growth interacting well with magic that regenerates lost tissue, because regenerating that tissue would have to require some sort of cell division/creation (or just cloning the cells with magic, but that's not good either because the cells cloned would be just as susceptible as non-cloned ones, assuming the spell didn't clone cancer cells as well).
If a cure disease spell can get rid of it, would it get rid of it for good? Or, like in real life, is it perfectly capable of coming back months or years afterward?
I suppose the question is in part "what is healing magic exactly"? Does it speed up/accelerate the body's own natural healing processes by giving it an energy boost of sorts, is it directly turning "magical energy" into the new skin, flesh, bones and so on (and what genetic map is it using to create the new tissue?), or something else?
Remove disease would indeed get rid of it... but you can absolutely develop it again. Remove disease only cures the sickness, it doesn't change the conditions that allow the sickness to happen in the first place.
I've always viewed healing magic as superfast regeneration.
|
|
How do spells that heal injuries or treat disease interact with cancer? I'm under the impression that Golarion's medical technology is still pre-germ-theory, so how do they deal with things like that?Cancer is a disease, so magic that cures disease fixes cancer. Magic that heals injuries has no effect on cancer.Can cancer be identified as such by skilled clerics and medical practitioners?
And on an unrelated note, does the name "Askaan" sound more Kellid or Shoanti to you? Or Mwangi, I dunno. Can't figure out what human ethnicity this name fits best with.
Yes, just as any other disease. We've not yet statted up cancer yet though as far as I know.
Askaan sounds more Kellid to me... but I can't think of it without thinking of "Ass Can." Call it the editor's curse of having to have a filthier mind than all of your writers...
Gah, now I can't stop thinking about it too! Thanks, James! :P
Is there anything you'd say is 2SPOOKY4U?
Askaan sounds more Kellid to me... but I can't think of it without thinking of "Ass Can." Call it the editor's curse of having to have a filthier mind than all of your writers...
Reminds me of an old SNL skit about two parents trying to decide what to name their baby. They reject a dozen names because other kids will make fun of them for it. The punchline: their surname is "ahz-WHEE-pay", spelled A-S-S-W-I-P-E.
Have you ever create a name you later regretted you let get into print? If so, care to share?
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
3) The size of the book. It should be a lot bigger than the last one.
That's what I said the first time around! :D
Would be totally cool to eventually see an expanded look at the planes, building off of the material that has been added in since then, and incorporating some of the adjustments/soft retcons to that earliest material.
|
|
3) The size of the book. It should be a lot bigger than the last one.
That's what I said the first time around! :D
Would be totally cool to eventually see an expanded look at the planes, building off of the material that has been added in since then, and incorporating some of the adjustments/soft retcons to that earliest material.
Followed by the Daemon book, yes?
Hi James,
Was just thinking about Dragon Empires and high level foes in general. Roughly how many Void Yai Oni (including Voidlords) would you say there are operating in Golarion?
Is it closer to dozens or hundreds?
prototype00
|
Creative Director
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Heya, James. Can you settle a disagreement between my GM and I? He says that gunslingers can't load for free multiple times in a round with the Lightning Reload deed and Rapid Reload/alchemical cartridges, and I say they can. Who is correct?
Also, can you sort out the issue with kobolds with the alternate racial trait Gliding Wings and the kobold feat Draconic Glide (thread here), please?
Thanks!
Sure! Your GM is right! He/she gets to decide how many times is too many times for a free action.
And no... not gonna wade into that thread to set a precedent as being the guy who tries to solve rules conflicts. This thread here is a big enough consumer of my messageboard time on its own. ;-)
Flag it for a FAQ and it'll get handled in due time.
Isn't the whole point of a free action that you can perform multiple free actions in a round? If you couldn't, wouldn't it be called a swift action?
I mean, of course, the GM is the final arbiter, and maybe I'm wrong, but lets make sure the guy has the right rules info to make a decision on...
The point of a free action is that the time it takes to perform is relatively insignificant... but it DOES still take time to drop a sword or shout a warning or do any of the other numerous actions.
If, for example, you do a 1-minute long real world soliiquy to the bad guys on your turn in combat... the GM is justified in pointing out that talking for 1 minute is not a free action because it takes longer than a combat round to finish.
It's kind of a catch-all category, and it doesn't benefit from overcomplication. The GM should be free to make rulings as he/she sees fit.
|
Creative Director
|
Hello,
I apologize if this has been answered before, it's a very long thread to read through.
Can a level 2 Magus, as a full-round action, use Spell Combat and Spellstrike together to effectively make 2 attacks with his main-hand weapon as well as cast a touch spell? That seems to be supported by the text for spell combat and spellstrike in Ultimate Magic, but I've gotten some pushback from my local GMs saying that I can't attack with my mainhand weapon twice in a full action until BAB +6.
Thanks for your time.
Your GM is right.
well there at some point be APs that are set entirely in the distant past or far future of Golarion?
|
Creative Director
|
You've never heard of the saying that everytime someone goes overboard with science in a fantasy discussion, somewhere a catgirl dies?
How many catgirls do you think were killed by this line of questioning?Uhhh... zero?
I'm not sure what the discussion had to do with catgirls at all until you brought it up, in fact...
I have not. Those poor catgirls!
|
Creative Director
|
Your GM is right.Hello,
I apologize if this has been answered before, it's a very long thread to read through.
Can a level 2 Magus, as a full-round action, use Spell Combat and Spellstrike together to effectively make 2 attacks with his main-hand weapon as well as cast a touch spell? That seems to be supported by the text for spell combat and spellstrike in Ultimate Magic, but I've gotten some pushback from my local GMs saying that I can't attack with my mainhand weapon twice in a full action until BAB +6.
Thanks for your time.
The question is misphrased. You can attack twice with your main weapon if you are casting a touch attack spell such as shocking grasp, because the spell itself gives you a free attack which spellstrike allows you to do through the sword. You must succeed in the concentration check for the spell, as if it does not go off, you don't get that second physical attack.
What you can't do is attack twice with the sword and then do a melee touch with the spell.
In any event, if you're not willing to go with "The GM is right," you should ask rules questions like these in the rules forums or in the appropriate book's feedback thread, so that they can get tagged with an FAQ as appropriate.
Is there a (reasonable) chance that Paizo will be writing adventures for D&D 5th edition if it turns out to be popular or is this unlikely to happen for a variety of reasons ?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
James, I've formulated a theory, that as the writer of Herald of the Ivory Labyrinth you may be able to confirm or deny.
My idea is that the Templars of the Ivory Labyrinth are a reference to Satanism, particularly as imagined by religious fundamentalists and pop culture stereotypes. My evidence is as follows...
*The Templars worship Baphomet, who was used as a symbol by Anton LaVey. Baphomet's holy symbol in PF and the Church of Satan's symbol are the same.
*The way they're described in the Baphomet article seems kind of like stock satanic cultists: they meet in secret, use code-words, and enjoy feasts, orgies, and human sacrifice.
*They're infiltrating Mendevian society, corroding the morals of the crusaders and spreading corruption throughout their ranks. Kind of like how christian fundamentalists like Pat Robertson believe in some kind of nebulous satanic conspiracy that's destroying America.
*D&d was ensnared in the whole "Satanic Panic" in the 80's, so it would be kind of ironic or subversive to include a group of villains who are basically satanists in a Pathfinder game.
|
Creative Director
|
Is there a (reasonable) chance that Paizo will be writing adventures for D&D 5th edition if it turns out to be popular or is this unlikely to happen for a variety of reasons ?
Nope. We've got our own very popular game right now, and we'll be focusing on supporting it. Regardless of how popular 5th turns out. I hope it IS popular, since that helps to strengthen the overall presence of the industry.
|
Creative Director
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
James, I've formulated a theory, that as the writer of Herald of the Ivory Labyrinth you may be able to confirm or deny.
My idea is that the Templars of the Ivory Labyrinth are a reference to Satanism, particularly as imagined by religious fundamentalists and pop culture stereotypes. My evidence is as follows...
*The Templars worship Baphomet, who was used as a symbol by Anton LaVey. Baphomet's holy symbol in PF and the Church of Satan's symbol are the same.
*The way they're described in the Baphomet article seems kind of like stock satanic cultists: they meet in secret, use code-words, and enjoy feasts, orgies, and human sacrifice.
*They're infiltrating Mendevian society, corroding the morals of the crusaders and spreading corruption throughout their ranks. Kind of like how christian fundamentalists like Pat Robertson believe in some kind of nebulous satanic conspiracy that's destroying America.
*D&d was ensnared in the whole "Satanic Panic" in the 80's, so it would be kind of ironic or subversive to include a group of villains who are basically satanists in a Pathfinder game.
Well, first off, I'm just the developer of Herald of the Ivory Labyrnith. Wolfgang Baur is the writer of tha tone.
The reason you're seeing parallels there is because of the real-world mythology and history surrounding the real-world templars and Baphomet. Those parallels significantly influenced the work we did on Baphomet, because I find that history more interesting then him just being a minotaur god... and that's his role in D&D, so I kind of wanted to veer away from that role anyway to establish our own version of him.