Nope. A deity's power is not associated with how many worshipers they have.Hi James!
Do the deities need worshippers to keep/strengthen their power? Or are they deific simply in and of themselves? Does a mortal trying to convince others to worship one deity over another weaken it?
Don't they need worship to influence the material plane, though? I remember reading something like that somewhere...
What does make a deity grow more (or less) powerful? And why do deities covet influence over the material plane if having worshipers doesn't increase their power?
1)Is there any reason that after five years and we still do not have polymorph spells to change into fey, constructs, oozes, and non-elemental outsiders?
2)Is there any reason you guys don't do sequels(other the bestiaries) to your books?
3)Have you ever participated in any playtest for Pathfinder?
4)Wich Paizo staff will be participating in the Occult Adventures playtest?
5)Did you see the Carry remake? If so did you like it?
6)Have you read the book version of Carry? If so what differences are there with the book and the movies?
7)What movies, if any, have you seen lately? If you have seen some what did you think?
8)Did you see the season 2 premier of Agents of Shield? If so what did you think?
9)Are there any marvel/DC properties that you would like them to do a movie for?
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Thanks James! In that case, we know that mortals can, albeit not reliably, become deities through things like the Test of the Starstone. Well, we at least know that's purportedly how Cayden did it. In any event, then is deityhood a thing that can be taken away? Is there something in the universe that begot the deities? Or were many of them "born" that way?
Divinity can be lost, yes.
And yes, the first deities DID come from something. I know what it is, in fact. And no, I'm not gonna reveal that. Not yet.
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Mr. James Jacobs,
Do you know much about the Dragonlance setting and their deities?
Yup! I was quite into Dragonlance back in the day. It's been a long time since I've done much looking at it though... not counting watching the animated movie at a party Erik hosted a few weeks ago, but that barely counts as Dragonlance.
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More questions from your favorite annoying stalker!
1) Is it possible for a non-lawful character to be "honorable?" To me, when someone acts "honorable," they're trying to stick to a code of behavior, whether for good or ill. What's honor like for a Neutral Good character? Chaotic Good?
2) You mentioned a "Rob" would be the best person to ask Reign of Winter questions to. Do you mean Rob McCreary? If so, where can I find him to ask these questions? If not, which Rob should I be asking?
3) Does the Rushlight Society outside Magnimar have any connection to the Rushlight Tournament held in Pitax in Kingmaker?
4) Having read Champions of Corruption, I'm curious as to whether a character can have an evil alignment and not really DO evil things for the purposes of cooperation with their group. Sort of like "I'd rather torture that captured lackey for information, but my allies would throw a hissy-fit about it, and since I'd rather stay alive in combat, I'll refrain," or "While it'd be easy to get the money we need to buy equipment for next week's dungeon crawl by conning the local rubes, we're gonna be in this town for a while, and if we get run out we won't even be able to buy the equipment we need in the first place?" At what point does a selfish character, or a character with a bad attitude, become truly evil, and not just an unsavory kind of neutral anti-hero?
5) Out of all the villains on Golarion, which one or ones do you or your characters find the most despicable? Not in the sense of the magnitude of their deeds or whatnot (if that were the case Rovagug always wins, full-stop), but in that what they did or do makes you angry, makes you want to stop them. Which villains "resonate" with you personally in the sense that even if their crimes are pitiful compared to the Whispering Tyrant or Areelu Vorlesh, they still make you feel like "F&@% THAT VILLAIN!"? To use me as an example, Ileosa Arabasti is relatively small potatoes compared to the Runelords, but her callous disregard for others, her drive being mainly to satisfy her own ego, etc. REALLY make me hate her. Karzoug, by contrast, is more powerful and wicked, but feels more remote, and doesn't stoke the same instincts in me. He feels more "final boss" like, in the sense that while he's been behind the things, his stuff doesn't feel as personal. Maybe that's just because Curse of the Crimson Throne is at its core Ileosa's story, charting her development from petty but insignificant queen to a mad tyrant and would-be-devil-bound-demigoddess to a corpse, but I dunno. *shrug*
1) Yes. If they're honorable enough for long enough they'll drift toward lawful. I suspect most are more in line with "honor of conveniance" or "honor according to my own made-up code" which is not all that lawful at all.
2) I do mean Rob McCreary; he outlined and assigned and developed Reign of Winter. I've not even read any of them—I helped him outline it and gave him a fair amount of advice during the year or so he was working on it though. I believe he's got an ask me thread here somewhere, or you could start one if he doesn't.
3) No connection at all, other than the fact that I like the word "rushlight" and use it now and then.
4) Depends on the group. Some will be more tolerant than others.
5) Razmiran. Rahadoum's government. Asmodeus. It's kind of hard to consider villains I've created and worked on a lot as "despicable" though... I really kinda like them all!
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Hi James!
Are you backing SKR's Kickstarter? What do you think of his back-to-basics, reinventing-the-wheel approach?
I backed his previous kickstarter, but haven't thrown in y et for this one since I kind of resist backing kickstarters before a previous kickstarter by the same person has delivered the goods (or... the Goodys in that case... ha!).
I'll still probably kick in to support Sean's latest anyway cause he's a good guy and a close friend. Not so much because I'm eager for a back-to-basics game (I'm not really) but to support Sean.
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I mean if he was in something like inner sea gods that used the setup inner sea gods did for explaining stuff about his followers and etc.what domains/subdomains would Boccob grant if he was converted over to pathfinder rules? what would his sacred animal be? what archetypes would be reccomended to characters who follow him? what spells would be associated with him? what magic items would be associated with him?There's an old article about Boccob, I believe, in an older Dragon magazine that actually would answer most of these questions; the transition to Pathfinder wouldn't really change most of this.
Archetypes aren't good fits for clerics in my opinion, in any event.
Ah.
I'm actually not 100% comfortable building that information, honestly, even in the context of a mesageboard post. I'd rather avoid anything that starts to feel like intellectual property infringement and the like. Sorry!
(ALSO: I don't really have time to spend a few hours re-familiarizing myself with Boccob to answer the question to the level of detail that Inner Sea Gods went into...)
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And a question. If Shensen gog to hear some classic soul tunes (A Change is Gonna Come seems appropriate), how would she react?
I suspect she'd love the good ones—she's got good taste when it comes to music.
I'm not personally familiar with that song myself to say for sure for her.
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Nope. A deity's power is not associated with how many worshipers they have.Hi James!
Do the deities need worshippers to keep/strengthen their power? Or are they deific simply in and of themselves? Does a mortal trying to convince others to worship one deity over another weaken it?
Don't they need worship to influence the material plane, though? I remember reading something like that somewhere...
What does make a deity grow more (or less) powerful? And why do deities covet influence over the material plane if having worshipers doesn't increase their power?
Nope. They can influence any plane, Material Plane included, without worshipers. Worship really is what they need to build the strength of their church, though, and since that's actually the primary way they influence things in the Material Plane, that's sort of the right answer anyway.
What does govern a deity's waxing and waning power is not something we've revealed, nor are we likely to.
Not all deities covet influence on the Material Plane.
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Creative Director
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1)Is there any reason that after five years and we still do not have polymorph spells to change into fey, constructs, oozes, and non-elemental outsiders?
2)Is there any reason you guys don't do sequels(other the bestiaries) to your books?
3)Have you ever participated in any playtest for Pathfinder?
4)Wich Paizo staff will be participating in the Occult Adventures playtest?
5)Did you see the Carry remake? If so did you like it?
6)Have you read the book version of Carry? If so what differences are there with the book and the movies?
7)What movies, if any, have you seen lately? If you have seen some what did you think?
8)Did you see the season 2 premier of Agents of Shield? If so what did you think?
9)Are there any marvel/DC properties that you would like them to do a movie for?
1) The fact that we don't publish spells all that often, and the fact that when we DO publish spells, we try not to bloat the selection in any one book with too many spells that essentially do the same thing.
2) Sequels sell less, with the exception of Bestiaries, due to a long tradition of people expecting them, and due to the fact that monsters are always popular. Sequels to non-bestiaries also kinda bore a lot of us here, and we'd rather do new books that excite us.
3) Yes, but not publicly.
4) Dunno. I doubt I'll have time to do so myself.
5) Carry remake? Not sure ... OH! "CARRIE!" No... I didn't see it yet. It came out at a point where I was too busy to see movies. It's on my Netflix queue, along with like 500 other movies...
6) I have indeed read the book, but I read it a long time ago. The book is better paced and more interesting than the original movie, and has a better ending if I recall correctly.
7) I've only seen one movie since the last time you asked this (again, due to Iron Gods being a time sink)—"Devil's Due." It was allright... nothing special. I'm hoping to be able to see "A Walk Among the Tomstones" and "The Maze Runner" and "Tusk" soon... perhaps one at least this weekend...
8) Nope; didn't even know it was on. I hope my TiVo did though.
9) Sandman... but only if the DC people can learn how to make a good non-Batman movie. Beyond that... I'd LOVE to see a Black Widow movie. Or ANY movie that focuses on a super-heroine.
Any chance of an NPC Codex 2 in the next couple years?
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I mean if he was in something like inner sea gods that used the setup inner sea gods did for explaining stuff about his followers and etc.what domains/subdomains would Boccob grant if he was converted over to pathfinder rules? what would his sacred animal be? what archetypes would be reccomended to characters who follow him? what spells would be associated with him? what magic items would be associated with him?There's an old article about Boccob, I believe, in an older Dragon magazine that actually would answer most of these questions; the transition to Pathfinder wouldn't really change most of this.
Archetypes aren't good fits for clerics in my opinion, in any event.
Ah.
I'm actually not 100% comfortable building that information, honestly, even in the context of a mesageboard post. I'd rather avoid anything that starts to feel like intellectual property infringement and the like. Sorry!
(ALSO: I don't really have time to spend a few hours re-familiarizing myself with Boccob to answer the question to the level of detail that Inner Sea Gods went into...)
Can you at least tell me what subdomains and divine servants he would have using the pathfinder rules
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Can you at least tell me what subdomains and divine servants he would have using the pathfinder rulesI mean if he was in something like inner sea gods that used the setup inner sea gods did for explaining stuff about his followers and etc.what domains/subdomains would Boccob grant if he was converted over to pathfinder rules? what would his sacred animal be? what archetypes would be reccomended to characters who follow him? what spells would be associated with him? what magic items would be associated with him?There's an old article about Boccob, I believe, in an older Dragon magazine that actually would answer most of these questions; the transition to Pathfinder wouldn't really change most of this.
Archetypes aren't good fits for clerics in my opinion, in any event.
Ah.
I'm actually not 100% comfortable building that information, honestly, even in the context of a mesageboard post. I'd rather avoid anything that starts to feel like intellectual property infringement and the like. Sorry!
(ALSO: I don't really have time to spend a few hours re-familiarizing myself with Boccob to answer the question to the level of detail that Inner Sea Gods went into...)
No. For the exact reasons I just listed (and then bolded) above.
It's one thing when a random person lists a Pathfinder conversion of a copyrighted bit of intellectual property from Wizards of the Coast. It's another when Paizo's creative director does it. Not interested in
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Can you at least tell me what subdomains and divine servants he would have using the pathfinder rulesI mean if he was in something like inner sea gods that used the setup inner sea gods did for explaining stuff about his followers and etc.what domains/subdomains would Boccob grant if he was converted over to pathfinder rules? what would his sacred animal be? what archetypes would be reccomended to characters who follow him? what spells would be associated with him? what magic items would be associated with him?There's an old article about Boccob, I believe, in an older Dragon magazine that actually would answer most of these questions; the transition to Pathfinder wouldn't really change most of this.
Archetypes aren't good fits for clerics in my opinion, in any event.
Ah.
I'm actually not 100% comfortable building that information, honestly, even in the context of a mesageboard post. I'd rather avoid anything that starts to feel like intellectual property infringement and the like. Sorry!
(ALSO: I don't really have time to spend a few hours re-familiarizing myself with Boccob to answer the question to the level of detail that Inner Sea Gods went into...)
No. For the exact reasons I just listed (and then bolded) above.
It's one thing when a random person lists a Pathfinder conversion of a copyrighted bit of intellectual property from Wizards of the Coast. It's another when Paizo's creative director does it. Not interested in
sorry
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1) Yes. If they're honorable enough for long enough they'll drift toward lawful. I suspect most are more in line with "honor of conveniance" or "honor according to my own made-up code" which is not all that lawful at all.
So, for example, if you like the paladin code of a deity but aren't an actual paladin, then if you AREN'T actually Lawful Good you'll end up there pretty darn quick?
2) I do mean Rob McCreary; he outlined and assigned and developed Reign of Winter. I've not even read any of them—I helped him outline it and gave him a fair amount of advice during the year or so he was working on it though. I believe he's got an ask me thread here somewhere, or you could start one if he doesn't.
Done! On a related note, what questions are best to direct to you in regards to Golarion? I know demons, Varisia, Brevoy and elves are ones you're well equipped to answer, while devils, Ustalav and Sarkoris are better asked of Wes, rules questions should be asked in the rules or advice forums, or of Jason Buhlman, but I'm curious as to specifics on who to go to with which questions, if only to save you time needing to answer every single solitary "who do I ask about x?" question.
3) No connection at all, other than the fact that I like the word "rushlight" and use it now and then.
Ah, okay. Just an interesting coincidence, then.
4) Depends on the group. Some will be more tolerant than others.
I see. Some APs are definitely more conducive to Evil PCs, Skull and Shackles probably being the best, maybe followed by Serpent's Skull, since you can side with the Aspis Consortium in that one, right?
5) Razmiran. Rahadoum's government. Asmodeus. It's kind of hard to consider villains I've created and worked on a lot as "despicable" though... I really kinda like them all!
Is that because you had a hand in creating them or because villains are often cooler than the heroes they fight? Or both?
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Creative Director
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1) Yes. If they're honorable enough for long enough they'll drift toward lawful. I suspect most are more in line with "honor of conveniance" or "honor according to my own made-up code" which is not all that lawful at all.So, for example, if you like the paladin code of a deity but aren't an actual paladin, then if you AREN'T actually Lawful Good you'll end up there pretty darn quick?
2) I do mean Rob McCreary; he outlined and assigned and developed Reign of Winter. I've not even read any of them—I helped him outline it and gave him a fair amount of advice during the year or so he was working on it though. I believe he's got an ask me thread here somewhere, or you could start one if he doesn't.Done! On a related note, what questions are best to direct to you in regards to Golarion? I know demons, Varisia, Brevoy and elves are ones you're well equipped to answer, while devils, Ustalav and Sarkoris are better asked of Wes, rules questions should be asked in the rules or advice forums, or of Jason Buhlman, but I'm curious as to specifics on who to go to with which questions, if only to save you time needing to answer every single solitary "who do I ask about x?" question.
3) No connection at all, other than the fact that I like the word "rushlight" and use it now and then.Ah, okay. Just an interesting coincidence, then.
4) Depends on the group. Some will be more tolerant than others.I see. Some APs are definitely more conducive to Evil PCs, Skull and Shackles probably being the best, maybe followed by Serpent's Skull, since you can side with the Aspis Consortium in that one, right?
5) Razmiran. Rahadoum's government. Asmodeus. It's kind of hard to consider villains I've created and worked on a lot as "despicable" though... I really kinda like them all!Is that because you had a hand in creating them or because villains are often cooler than the heroes they fight? Or both?
1) How long it takes will depend. Pretty darn quick is unlikely.
2) Pretty much any question on Golarion is good to direct to me. When someone hits a "better to ask someone else" moment I don't mind saying so.
4) The Aspis Consortioum is hardly the most evil group you can side with in Serpent's Skull...
5) It's because I created them.
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1) What makes you say that, assuming they start already good and follow the paladin code from the beginning, like a neutral or chaotic good follower of Sarenrae for example?
2) Good to know. Thanks for your patience.
4)Okay, now you've piqued my interest!
Which, in your opinion, is the most evil group you can side with in Serpent's Skull? I thought it was sort of an alignment split:
Pathfinders: Good
Aspis Consortium: Evil
Shackles Pirates: Chaotic
Sargavan Government: Lawful
Are there other factions I missed? And on that note, what ARE Serpent Skull's narrative themes and ideas? I'm torn as to whether it's more "Indiana Jones" or "Conan the Barbarian" in terms of style. It feels very pulpy either way, which I assume was your intent.
5) Okay, thanks for your candor!
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1) What makes you say that, assuming they start already good and follow the paladin code from the beginning, like a neutral or chaotic good follower of Sarenrae for example?
2) Good to know. Thanks for your patience.
4)Okay, now you've piqued my interest!
Which, in your opinion, is the most evil group you can side with in Serpent's Skull? I thought it was sort of an alignment split:
Pathfinders: Good
Aspis Consortium: Evil
Shackles Pirates: Chaotic
Sargavan Government: LawfulAre there other factions I missed? And on that note, what ARE Serpent Skull's narrative themes and ideas? I'm torn as to whether it's more "Indiana Jones" or "Conan the Barbarian" in terms of style. It feels very pulpy either way, which I assume was your intent.
5) Okay, thanks for your candor!
1) Because circumstances are always different.
You missed the Red Mantis. They are more evil than the Aspis Consortium.
Serpent Skull's themes are more in line with Indianna Jones, with a lot of pulp thrown in, along with themes of snakes, ancient goods and evils rising from the past, the benefits and disadvantages of colonizing vs. assimilation, and how friendships can become rivalries as surely as rivalries can become friendships.
Hey James,
Hey James,
long-time lurker, first-time asker. Here goes:
1. Who is your favorite Adventure Path BBEG and why?
2. Will there be another mostly city-based AP like CotCT or CoT?
3. Will there be an AP (or part of an AP) set on Hermea?
4. Will there be an AP (or part of an AP) set in Absalom or is it still the PFS playground?
5. Will there be an AP (or part of an AP) set in Vudra?
Thanks in advance!
Is there any particular reason why Belkzen, the warlord for whom the hold is named after, didn't rate a mention in either Inner Sea Combat or Inner Sea Magic? I ask for both because what info there is on Belkzen doesn't make it clear if he was a cleric/warpriest/antipaladin of Rovagug or just a devout but purely martial worshiper.
Seems odd, given that he's one of three people to unite the orcs of the Hold, and the other two to accomplish this both get mentions in Inner Sea Magic.
I am about to start a campaign and I plan to use Aboleths and a vailed master infiltrating Andoran higher government. As well as some serpentfolk walking in Andoran as well. Un to the questions.
how are elections done in Andoran?
How do serpentfolks and Aboleths feel about each other? I think they might have been at war at one point because the Aboleths created Azlant and they where at war with the Serpentfolks or they might have gone to war after the Aboleths started to lose control.
thanks for all the hardwork and answers to crazy questions
Mr. James Jacobs,
Does Fleshwarping work on flesh golems?
Are there Male drow clerics on golarion? can male drow even be clerics on golarion?
James,
Is there any one adventure theme or monster centric theme for an adventure or campaign you would really like to see done in a module or AP?
If so, what is it and why?
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Creative Director
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Speaking of Kickstarters did you know about Kobold Press' Southlands project?
I do indeed know about it.
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Creative Director
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Hey James,
** spoiler omitted **
It teaches...
The kind of people who listen are those who are mad, desperate, easily-influenced, or evil to begin with.
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Creative Director
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Is there a particular reason why the Bottle of the Bound artifact isn't able to summon "all" the fiends from within it? As it is, it functions like a Summon Monster IX usable at will, but the actual artifact is said to contain creatures all the way from CR 1 to CR 21 (Zelishkar of the Bitter Flame) and yet they aren't summonable.
Is it possible to call and bind entities trapped in the Bottle via planar binding and similar? Would that free them, or would the attempt fail?
No reason... but no reason not to. It's just the way it is.
Keep in mind that artifacts are primarily meant to be story-enablers, not PC power boosts. As such, the GM should feel free to adjust and adapt any artifact's powers to match and support the actual story they want to tell.
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Also (double-post since the edit lock has closed), how large (i.e. height, width) would you say the Bottle is? It says it weighs four pounds or so, but the picture doesn't really give a good indication of scale. About the size of a typical "genie lamp"?
Yup; that's a good comparison. Genie lamp size.
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Creative Director
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Hey James,
long-time lurker, first-time asker. Here goes:
1. Who is your favorite Adventure Path BBEG and why?
2. Will there be another mostly city-based AP like CotCT or CoT?
3. Will there be an AP (or part of an AP) set on Hermea?
4. Will there be an AP (or part of an AP) set in Absalom or is it still the PFS playground?
5. Will there be an AP (or part of an AP) set in Vudra?
Thanks in advance!
1) Don't really have favorites... that's like asking a parent to choose their favorite kid!
2) Yes. In fact, the one after Giatnslayer, "Hell's Rebels," will be mostly based in the city of Kintargo.
3) Unlikely.
4) I suspect that eventually, yes, there will be. It's not just a "PFS Playground."
5) Maybe. Once we get rules for Psychic Magic, that becomes a possibility more than it ever was before.
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Is there any particular reason why Belkzen, the warlord for whom the hold is named after, didn't rate a mention in either Inner Sea Combat or Inner Sea Magic? I ask for both because what info there is on Belkzen doesn't make it clear if he was a cleric/warpriest/antipaladin of Rovagug or just a devout but purely martial worshiper.
Seems odd, given that he's one of three people to unite the orcs of the Hold, and the other two to accomplish this both get mentions in Inner Sea Magic.
Because we can't name-check everything, and because Belkzen is in the past and we tend to focus more on the present in those books. I'm not ready at this point to nail down what class Belkzen was, in any event.
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I am about to start a campaign and I plan to use Aboleths and a vailed master infiltrating Andoran higher government. As well as some serpentfolk walking in Andoran as well. Un to the questions.
how are elections done in Andoran?
How do serpentfolks and Aboleths feel about each other? I think they might have been at war at one point because the Aboleths created Azlant and they where at war with the Serpentfolks or they might have gone to war after the Aboleths started to lose control.
thanks for all the hardwork and answers to crazy questions
Not quite ready to reveal that process in more detail yet.
Serpentfolk and aboleths are competitors for the same prey, more or less. They are not allies.
And thanks for playing!!! :D
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1)What don't you like about Razmiran?
2)What don't you like about Rahadoum's government?
3)What don't you like about Asmodeus?
1) The fact that he's a liar who abuses faith and the faithful to get what he wants.
2) The fact that they suppress religious freedom.
3) His misogynist attitude.
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James,
Is there any one adventure theme or monster centric theme for an adventure or campaign you would really like to see done in a module or AP?
If so, what is it and why?
Yes... and those tend to end up in a module or AP, so me telling you would be AWFULLY close to me spoiling some unannounced modules and APs.
So... I'll keep that a secret for now.
Although, it IS a matter of record that I like Lovecraft stuff.
Not really, although a dedicated and brilliant fleshwarper might be able to find a way to make it happen.Mr. James Jacobs,
Does Fleshwarping work on flesh golems?
Thank you. Bwahahaha!
Mr. James,
When a swashbuckler uses the perfect thrust deed, does he/she roll damage once or once per attack his/her BAB would ordinarily give him/her?
Greeting
Of the evil core gods in your opinion which one do you think would be the most benign? Urgathoa?
Or would any evil god that where benign to there followers not be an evil god?