And really? The fact that a deity got drunk and passed the test anyway isn't something worth worshiping?Also...where does CC's church get off considering getting drunk to excess an abuse of a divine gift, when their deity got so wasted that he drunkenly attempted the most dangerous challenge in existence? Seems a bit hypocritical to me.
I think he's referring to it being stated that Cayden Cailean is a patron of drinking but not drunks and frowns on people who abuse alcohol. I can't entirely remember where this was stated, maybe Gods and Magic? But I recall this question popping into my head at one point too.
I also have some questions concerning Nualia and her 'father' from RotRL, if you would be so kind as to indulge.
Ezakien Tobyn is stated to be the head priest of Desna in Sandpoint when Nualia was abandoned there as a babe and he took her in as his own daughter. Eventually, when she became with child from her dalliances with Delek Viskanta, and was thus abandoned by her former lover, her father scolded her, lectured her, and bid her to pray for forgivness from Desna. She also feared (apparantly correctly) that her father didn't care for the idea of her ending up with a Varisian. Of course this all leads to her fall from grace and eventual rise to her position in RotRL.
With how father Tobyn and his worship of Desna is displayed here, it seems very different from how I envision the priesthood of Desna would function, and seems like a bent toward oldschool, hardcore christianity/catholicism. As a CG goddess of travel, and the somewhat patron goddesss of the Varisians, she strikes me as a very pagan and hippie free loving goddess.
I was curious if father Tobyn was simply a strict (and likely Chelish or Taldane) priest who practiced views that were less aligned with his goddess and more his own moral compass? Or are his teachings the norm amongst the church of Desna?
Nualia is one of my absolute favorite tragic characters from any of the Adventure Paths, by the way, so I'm eager to hear more about how all of this ties together. Thanks, as always! :)
Mr JJ - can you shed some light on Cayden Cailean and Tian Xia?
I know the main Inner Sea God spoken of in TX is Irori, but CC's wiki page says his worship is found all over Golarion. (Sorry I don't have legit copies of some of the books and need to go wiki to grab some of my fluff...) Is he well known there? Respected? Specifically I'm talking Hwanggot.
Heck, while you are at it, I'd love to know more about Hwanggot than "they're good, peaceful, and diplomatic"
I'm sorry if this is more the "go buy the XXXX book" material.
Also...where does CC's church get off considering getting drunk to excess an abuse of a divine gift, when their deity got so wasted that he drunkenly attempted the most dangerous challenge in existence? Seems a bit hypocritical to me.
It is indeed more go buy the book material, alas... especially since I'm at home now and don't have a copy of Dragon Empires handy to copy/paste text out of anyway.
And really? The fact that a deity got drunk and passed the test anyway isn't something worth worshiping?
I think you misunderstood me. I didn't mean him being drunk when he passed the test made him less worthy...it just made him saying "don't drink to excess" quite silly. It's like a dad with cigarette in hand saying to his adult son don't smoke. Cayden, when he was mortal, did not practice what his church preaches. So I wondered...where did they get that idea then?
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Do you have any opinions of the Souls games (Demons' Souls and Dark Souls 1 and 2)?I do.
They are among the best video games ever made. All three are in my top 20 video game list. Dark Souls is in the top 10. Maybe even the top 5.
Oh gods, now I must play them!
Will I be able to finish my video game backlog before I die?
Fair warning:
These games are likely going to be the hardest games you've ever played. That's what makes them so great, though.
I'm well aware of the difficulty. That's what they built their reputation on. It doesn't worry me. I'm stubborn and paranoid enough that it shouldn't faze me too much. I'm more concerned that the game will frustrate my obsessive-completionist problem. What I've read seems to indicate it's impossible to see and do everything the game has to offer in a single playthrough. Is this true?
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2) No. Not if they want to stay a paladin. Paladins are lawful good. Not just lawful.What about punishment forms that dictate periods of dedicated (though limited in length) service as repayment for crimes rather than permanent slave status?
I would think that's very similar to certain faiths such as Sarenite priests handing out a geas or a paladin using a mark of justice to enforce a certain behavior, which the mark for paladins is actually permanent. Does the fact those tools don't physically restrict someone's movements and daily life but simply focuses on their behavior play a factor into making those examples OK even if my other question above wouldn't be acceptable?
Turns out, being a paladin is about being good as it is lawful. Slavery is not good.
Being a paladin is also about making hard choices and being tempted to take the easy path. A paladin who never has to make hard choices that might compromise her beliefs when they clash against her training is lazy. In another way, it's those conflicts and clashes that make being a paladin possible. Those conflicts are the grit in the oyster shell that lets the pearl of a paladin form.
Putting a mark of justice or a geas on someone is not slavery; they aren't FORCED to obey, but if they don't they get punished. Free will still exists. Note also that I doubt very much that most paladins would be fond of geas or mark of justice type stuff anyway, since that starts edging toward torture.
While we're on the topic of paladins, what is your favorite example of a paladin that breaks the "lawful stupid" mold people have come to dread?
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So I take it you (and probably Wes too) are excited for Bloodborne?Do you have aby unterrst in getting the Scholars of The First Sin edition of Dark Souls 2?
I'm VERY excited for Bloodborne. I don't think Wes is as much. He never really played the Dark Souls games. He's too much of a wimp for that kind of abuse. ;)
I'm intrigued by getting First Sin for the Xbox One... but I've already played the hell out of that game and I have a lot of other games to play that I've NOT yet played... we'll see.
Aww poor Wes.
I can't remember if you said you got the addons for DS 2 but First Sin comes with all 3 plus some extra stuff if that helps any :3
Yup... I know First Sin comes with all 3 addons (which I got) and extra stuff, AND it looks nicer and runs faster. And playing it again with a brand new character would certainly let me take a shot doing something other than my standard "Agility based katana/miracle & sorcery" build. And it'd let me give From Software more money to reward them for being awesome...
But I have put over 200 hours in on Dark Souls 2, and would likely do the same with First Sin... and I've got other things to play...
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Ah, also on the topic of the White-haired Witch, the question arose (and this is a biggie)....
If the Witch hair-grapples a foe at reach (10', 15' or further away), does the foe remain in the square they were grappled at that distance, or are they automatically pulled to a square adjacent to the Witch, as per usual grapple rules?
Since the RaW explicitly state the Witch is NOT considered grappled, and since there is a special "Pull" hair attack available at 6th level WHW, it seemed to me that said grappled victim would simply be stuck in the square in which he was grappled (unless he won a grapple check and used the option to "move yourself and your target up to half speed", thus allowing him to move closer).
I'd suggest the foe remains in the square, since the witch doesn't have the pull ability.
But at this point, you really SHOULD take the questions over to the rules forums since they're really starting to delve into the minutiae of grapple and stuff.
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Mr. Jacobs: I know that Jade Regent was your baby. I personally really like it, but I want to run Rise of the Runelords first to clear up Ameiko's continuity. A couple of my players are upset at Jade Regent, though; not because of any of its flaws, but because they wanted a pure Tian Xia AP rather than a Journey to the East.
Are there any future Adventure Paths you'd like to set in the Dragon Empires? Or was the story of Ameiko's return home the only story you were really passionate for?
Will Inner Sea Races have anything relevant to Tian Xia? The title kind of implies that any information will be more for expatriate Tians like the Kaijitsu. But maybe I'm just reading too much into the name. :)
Do you have any stories you want to set in Ninshabur? Or is it just a place for history to have happened, with little more to add?
You've said that you want to be careful about introducing more 0-HD races, for various good reasons. (I like the Race Builder races as aliens, for the record. Nice dodge.) Do you have any in mind that you still want to produce? For example, it looked like you had androids in your back pocket for quite a while. :)
Do you have anything specific in mind for catfolk, or are you waiting until necessary to develop them further in your mind? Will we hear more if and when southern Garund receives a closer look?
Your thoughts on summoners are well documented. Are there any other classes you have similar issues with? It seems like most other pre-ACG classes have been fairly well integrated.
No plans at this point to do an AP set wholly in the Dragon Empires, and Ameiko's story absolutely was the one I was the most passionate to tell. There are others I could see myself really getting into though... one set in Shenmen, one set in Minata/Valashmai, one set in the Wall of Heaven, and one set in Goka all appeal to me. No plans to do any of those anytime soon though.
Inner Sea Races will have about a page of info about Tian Xia in particular. It's focus is the Inner Sea, hence the title. Just like how Inner Sea Gods focused on the Inner Sea, but had a few pages in there talking about other deities in lands beyond. Expect about the same for non-Inner Sea races in the book.
The main Ninshabur story I'd want to tell would be about the pit of Gormuz, and that story works better in my opinion as history. I don't really have much to add to it. Ninshabur is Erik's creation though and I bet he might have more ideas for it...
There absolutely ARE more 0 HD races I want to produce. It's best if they have reasons for where and how they fit into Golarion is all. There will be more, never fear.
Catfolk are one of the core races of southern Garund. They MIGHT be a core race for Arcadia. Haven't decided for sure there yet.
Pretty much all of the other classes we've done are supported well both before and after their rules introduction in world. The summoner was as well... but more in the role of a specific outsider summoner. It's really just the eidolon that causes the problems there.
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Creative Director
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Ezakien Tobyn is stated to be the head priest of Desna in Sandpoint when Nualia was abandoned there as a babe and he took her in as his own daughter. Eventually, when she became with child from her dalliances with Delek Viskanta, and was thus abandoned by her former lover, her father scolded her, lectured her, and bid her to pray for forgivness from Desna. She also feared (apparantly correctly) that her father didn't care for the idea of her ending up with a Varisian. Of course this all leads to her fall from grace and eventual rise to her position in RotRL.
With how father Tobyn and his worship of Desna is displayed here, it seems very different from how I envision the priesthood of Desna would function, and seems like a bent toward oldschool, hardcore christianity/catholicism. As a CG goddess of travel, and the somewhat patron goddesss of the Varisians, she strikes me as a very pagan and hippie free loving goddess.
I was curious if father Tobyn was simply a strict (and likely Chelish or Taldane) priest who practiced views that were less aligned with his goddess and more his own moral compass? Or are his teachings the norm amongst the church of Desna?
Nualia is one of my absolute favorite tragic characters from any of the Adventure Paths, by the way, so I'm eager to hear more about how all of this ties together. Thanks, as always! :)
Not every cleric/worshiper of any one deity is equally faithful and devout. Father Tobyn is an example of a bad worshiper of Desna. He skirted the line of what was acceptable and what wasn't, and while he performed good works overall for the town, he was in fact a WRETCHED father and a man wracked with deep personal flaws. His puritanical views are very much in opposition to what Desna teaches, and although I doubt Tobyn realized it... he'd been walking the edge of losing his cleric abilities.
I can guarantee you this though. Once Tobyn died and was judged... he did NOT get sent on to Desna's realm. He's one of those many many many failed souls who instead got sent on to Hell, Abaddon, or the Abyss to be punished for his sins and for living a bad life. I suspect he probably ended up somewhere in the Abyss, personally. Probably claimed by Lamashtu, in fact, since that builds in some nicely tragic but appropriate links to what his actions ended up causing Nualia to become.
And I put a LOT of thought into Nualia. She's a really complex character, someone who should have been a good person, but when pressed with an overbearing bad father, a town that treated her as a good luck doll and not a person, and quite a few key encounters with misogynists (both intentional ones and accidental ones)... well, to a certain extent, Sandpoint kinda got what it deserved.
I'm still hoping/planning some day to have some sort of return for her. Perhaps even a redemption. We'll see.
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Creative Director
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I think you misunderstood me. I didn't mean him being drunk when he passed the test made him less worthy...it just made him saying "don't drink to excess" quite silly. It's like a dad with cigarette in hand saying to his adult son don't smoke. Cayden, when he was mortal, did not practice what his church preaches. So I wondered...where did they get that idea then?
Do as he says, not as he does.
Also, gods are more interesting if they're not perfect.
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I'm well aware of the difficulty. That's what they built their reputation on. It doesn't worry me. I'm stubborn and paranoid enough that it shouldn't faze me too much. I'm more concerned that the game will frustrate my obsessive-completionist problem. What I've read seems to indicate it's impossible to see and do everything the game has to offer in a single playthrough. Is this true?
This is absolutely true. There are choices you make in the game that blocks out options. It's a pretty big sandbox, and the fact that there is no save system other than an autosave that saves constantly means there's no going back to "undo" bad decisions. Every NPC in the game can be killed. Including, for example, ones who are plot requried. Dark Souls II even lets you kill the one NPC capable of leveling you up; do that, and I'm pretty sure you have to restart the game if you want to be able to level up again.
I suspect the game will VERY MUCH frustrate an obsessive-compulsive personality. Especially since a lot of the achievements are close to impossible to get without putting LITERALLY hundreds of hours in on it.
Still... one of the best games I've ever played.
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If Lucifer where in pathfinder would he be deity level?
If michael the archangel(the most powerful of all angels) where in pathfinder would he be deity level?
Depends... could be, could not be. Could see reasons to go either way for story purposes... but since I'm 100% not interested in incorporating things like that into the game, it's not a decision I'll ever have to make.
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While we're on the topic of paladins, what is your favorite example of a paladin that breaks the "lawful stupid" mold people have come to dread?
Currently? I'm the most proud of Seelah's backstory that I wrote back in the day. I don't regard her as lawful stupid at all.
My favorite non-lawful stupid paladin I've ever seen in play is probably Howell, Tim Nightengale's character in my current Sandpoint/Osirion campaign.
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As usual, thanks for answering the previous questions.
1.) Since someone asked about Dark Souls, have you had the opportunity to play Darkest Dungeon yet?
2.) Based on an experience from Pathfinder Society, a character I played was almost sorely beat about head and neck by Cayden Cailen worshippers upon pronouncing that he was a teetotaler. I'm presuming this is not approved cailenite church behavior.
3.) Given that a person with sufficient knowledge(planes) ranks knows that people end up in appropriately places being refined into various outsiders when they die, would it be immoral to focus on trapping the soul of various evil folks and putting their containment in places that was nigh unreachable be considered something evil or something likely to get Pharasma cross with one?
4.) Is a petrified character considered dead for purposes of moving on? Could one literally deny the just reward or punishment of various individuals by petrifying, shattering and then using say their ground down pebbles to grit one's walk?
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Creative Director
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As usual, thanks for answering the previous questions.
1.) Since someone asked about Dark Souls, have you had the opportunity to play Darkest Dungeon yet?
2.) Based on an experience from Pathfinder Society, a character I played was almost sorely beat about head and neck by Cayden Cailen worshippers upon pronouncing that he was a teetotaler. I'm presuming this is not approved cailenite church behavior.
3.) Given that a person with sufficient knowledge(planes) ranks knows that people end up in appropriately places being refined into various outsiders when they die, would it be immoral to focus on trapping the soul of various evil folks and putting their containment in places that was nigh unreachable be considered something evil or something likely to get Pharasma cross with one?
4.) Is a petrified character considered dead for purposes of moving on? Could one literally deny the just reward or punishment of various individuals by petrifying, shattering and then using say their ground down pebbles to grit one's walk?
1) I have. Haven't played much, but it's fun.
2) No. He's a good deity, and doesn't approve of bullying.
3) Probably so, yes.
4) Nope. A petrified creature is not dead. It's kinda stuck in limbo. If the statue is destroyed or ground up or otherwise ruined, though... that DOES kill the character.
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Ezakien Tobyn is stated to be the head priest of Desna in Sandpoint when Nualia was abandoned there as a babe and he took her in as his own daughter. Eventually, when she became with child from her dalliances with Delek Viskanta, and was thus abandoned by her former lover, her father scolded her, lectured her, and bid her to pray for forgivness from Desna. She also feared (apparantly correctly) that her father didn't care for the idea of her ending up with a Varisian. Of course this all leads to her fall from grace and eventual rise to her position in RotRL.
With how father Tobyn and his worship of Desna is displayed here, it seems very different from how I envision the priesthood of Desna would function, and seems like a bent toward oldschool, hardcore christianity/catholicism. As a CG goddess of travel, and the somewhat patron goddesss of the Varisians, she strikes me as a very pagan and hippie free loving goddess.
I was curious if father Tobyn was simply a strict (and likely Chelish or Taldane) priest who practiced views that were less aligned with his goddess and more his own moral compass? Or are his teachings the norm amongst the church of Desna?
Nualia is one of my absolute favorite tragic characters from any of the Adventure Paths, by the way, so I'm eager to hear more about how all of this ties together. Thanks, as always! :)
Not every cleric/worshiper of any one deity is equally faithful and devout. Father Tobyn is an example of a bad worshiper of Desna. He skirted the line of what was acceptable and what wasn't, and while he performed good works overall for the town, he was in fact a WRETCHED father and a man wracked with deep personal flaws. His puritanical views are very much in opposition to what Desna teaches, and although I doubt Tobyn realized it... he'd been walking the edge of losing his cleric abilities.
I can guarantee you this though. Once Tobyn died and was judged... he did NOT get sent on to Desna's realm. He's one of those many many many...
I would love to see this. I tend to be a sucker for redemption stories, but even if that's not what this becomes, I'm still excited for it. Please do.
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Oh my gosh, the Melee Tactics Toolbox is awesome! Thank you for this awesome book! It has ESTOCS in it! AT LAST! AT LONG LAST! XD
And now, for a question or two:
You've mentioned that unlike clerics (and by extension, warpriests), paladins do not need to devote themselves to a single deity's service in order to receive their powers (and thus qualify for the Pantheistic Blessing feat). How do such paladins receive their training without the facilities and support structure of the church? How are they viewed by paladins that ARE part of a church hierarchy (especially in a place like Mendev that's practically a theocracy)?
Could one use a pata or manople to represent a sword physically attached to one's body in place of a hand?
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There have been innumerable threads here about "White" Necromancy, essentially folks who do the same sort of animating dead that Black Necros there but have certain self-made justifications for making it politicaly acceptable.
However this made me think of another area of necromancy and I wonder if you've heard of the short film "The Shaman" recently premiered at the Tribeca Film Festval?
I was wondering where in Pathfinder this might find the closest expression.
The dark year 2204, in a world that has seen 73 years of continuous war.The face of conflict has changed. People kill people but they now rely on giant, intelligent battle machines to fight. Meanwhile, mankind has re-discovered the arts of magic and Shamanism and the Generals on both sides use well-trained spiritual warriors to face the threat of machines. Shamans have special senses; they are experts in all aspects of the "unseen" and the "beyond". They believe that every person, animal, plant and object has a soul. When crossing the border to the Netherworld, the Shaman can find this soul and interact with it. That is what makes him such a deadly, highly effective weapon. They track and convert the souls of their enemies' giant battle machines in a psychological soul-to-soul confrontation. But Shamans are not invulnerable. They are just people and can be killed like anyone else.
Shaman Joshua Van Kern and his squire Lene embark on a mission to convert a giant battle colossus and succeed where troops have failed.
There's not really any such thing, officially, as "white" or "black" or whatever magic of any kind in Pathfinder. Further, necromancy may have lots of evil spells in its school, but it isn't inherently an EVIL school. It's not really a thing in Golarion, although it COULD be in another setting for sure.
I've not seen or heard of "The Shaman."
And the summary you present is more filled with science fiction tropes than fantasy tropes; it doesn't really fit well into Golarion much at all.
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Creative Director
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You've mentioned that unlike clerics (and by extension, warpriests), paladins do not need to devote themselves to a single deity's service in order to receive their powers (and thus qualify for the Pantheistic Blessing feat). How do such paladins receive their training without the facilities and support structure of the church? How are they viewed by paladins that ARE part of a church hierarchy (especially in a place like Mendev that's practically a theocracy)?
Could one use a pata or manople to represent a sword physically attached to one's body in place of a hand?
I'd say that the vast majority of paladins DO worship a single deity. Those that don't either get their training from whatever organization they do belong to (such as the Eagle Knights or whatever), or are self-taught. How they're viewed depends on who's viewing them, but for the most part, people know that paladins are lawful good, and regardless of their overall allegiances, if someone knows they're a paladin, that'll be the thing that mostly sets up how their viewed—as champions of law and good.
If you want, why not?
I was thinking of asking you what the central themes would be for an adventure path heavily featuring Arshea, but I suspect you'd answer "check the areas of concern," right?
So, which already published adventure path meshes best with themes of beauty, freedom, and sexuality?
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Of those :
* Primitive/Prehistoric Adventures. (Stone Age and the like, maybe with Dinos)
* 'Antique' Adventures. (Antiquity, duh! ... "Time of Myths and Legends", Ancient: Greece, Rome, Egypt...)
* Steampunk Adventures.
* Future Adventures.
* Space Adventures.
* CyberPunk Adventures.
* Circus Adventures.
* Horror Adventures.
* Monstrous Adventures.
* Noble/Royal Adventures. (we still need rule for Nobility, Royalty and the like.)
* Sky World Adventures. (world in the sky, floating islands, airships, etc.)
Which do you think would fit in Pathfinder (and maybe Golarion)? The names/idea are based on Mythic/Occult Adventure.
RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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Dinosaur spotted in FL! How much would you pay for a ride on it?
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If small spaceships came to trade or otherwise discretely visit Numeria on rare occasions, what kind of response could they expect to receive from the Technic League? I'm assuming the Technic League would be interested in any hi-tech items or material they might have - what kinds of things might they offer in return?
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Greetings, mighty dire tyrannosaurus
I humbly seek your wisdom again
this time, about the Mummy Lord template from Mummy Mask. I'm confused by the rejuvenation process, where it's statet that the mummy lord, after the process is over, fully awakens "in his tomb".
So, my questions are:
1) does a mummy lord maintains his rejuvenate ability while outside his tomb?
2) if the mummy lord "respawn" in his tomb, even if this tomb is very far away from the place the creature was destroyed, it is akin to the lich rejuvenation process, that sees the undead regrow near the phylactery, while his equip remains in the place wehere the old body was left?
3) "tomb" is a confusing word. what if the mummy lord has a whole pyramid that is, technically is "tomb". there is a specific place a mummy lord should respawn in his tomb, like a sarchophagus, or can he appear anywhere?
4) can a mummy lord have more than one "tomb", and if so can he choose to respawn in with he prefer or it's forced to rejuvenate in the nearest/strongest?
Also, thanks for finally give the players of pathfinder a chance to fight a Solar and angels in a pathfinder adventure path! that was very needed.
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Actually, on the subject of Father Tobyn, do you think it would be better to cast him as a priest of Erastil? Would his actions make more sense in that faith? It seems that way to me... but I didn't write the adventure. :)
Also, I'm thinking about running Second Darkness for a group of new players. I don't want to use the "running a casino" hook, but I also don't want to make them agents of the elves right off the bat. As the expert on Varisia, is there another hook you think would be appropriate? Maybe adapting Crimson Throne's "revenge against a criminal" hook for Riddleport?
Thank you! :)
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Creative Director
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I was thinking of asking you what the central themes would be for an adventure path heavily featuring Arshea, but I suspect you'd answer "check the areas of concern," right?
So, which already published adventure path meshes best with themes of beauty, freedom, and sexuality?
In fact, indeed... check the areas of concern.
Kingmaker might work for those themes, particularly if you amp up the nymph angle. And there's also some themes of that coming up in Hell's Rebels. Arshea would be a pretty spot-on deity to worship in that AP, particularly for the freedom aspect.
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Creative Director
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Of those :
* Primitive/Prehistoric Adventures. (Stone Age and the like, maybe with Dinos)
* 'Antique' Adventures. (Antiquity, duh! ... "Time of Myths and Legends", Ancient: Greece, Rome, Egypt...)
* Steampunk Adventures.
* Future Adventures.
* Space Adventures.
* CyberPunk Adventures.
* Circus Adventures.
* Horror Adventures.
* Monstrous Adventures.
* Noble/Royal Adventures. (we still need rule for Nobility, Royalty and the like.)
* Sky World Adventures. (world in the sky, floating islands, airships, etc.)Which do you think would fit in Pathfinder (and maybe Golarion)? The names/idea are based on Mythic/Occult Adventure.
Primitive, "Antique," Horror, Noble/Royal; all of those would fit well in Golarion.
ALL of them could be done with Pathfinder.
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Creative Director
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Dinosaur spotted in FL! How much would you pay for a ride on it?
Not as much as I'd pay to keep people from killing it just because it had the bad luck to wander onto a golf course.
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Creative Director
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Why do you call Father Tobyn WRETCHED? what was his Alignment?
I call him wretched because he ruined his adopted daughter's life and in so doing nearly destroyed Sandpoint.
He was chaotic good most of his life, but by the end he was chaotic neutral and drifting toward losing his cleric powers anyway due to the weight of his life choices bearing down on him.
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If small spaceships came to trade or otherwise discretely visit Numeria on rare occasions, what kind of response could they expect to receive from the Technic League? I'm assuming the Technic League would be interested in any hi-tech items or material they might have - what kinds of things might they offer in return?
The Technic Leagaue would do their best to capture and control such visitors, and they'd have a relatively good chance of succeeding.
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Greetings, mighty dire tyrannosaurus
I humbly seek your wisdom again
this time, about the Mummy Lord template from Mummy Mask. I'm confused by the rejuvenation process, where it's statet that the mummy lord, after the process is over, fully awakens "in his tomb".
So, my questions are:1) does a mummy lord maintains his rejuvenate ability while outside his tomb?
2) if the mummy lord "respawn" in his tomb, even if this tomb is very far away from the place the creature was destroyed, it is akin to the lich rejuvenation process, that sees the undead regrow near the phylactery, while his equip remains in the place wehere the old body was left?
3) "tomb" is a confusing word. what if the mummy lord has a whole pyramid that is, technically is "tomb". there is a specific place a mummy lord should respawn in his tomb, like a sarchophagus, or can he appear anywhere?
4) can a mummy lord have more than one "tomb", and if so can he choose to respawn in with he prefer or it's forced to rejuvenate in the nearest/strongest?Also, thanks for finally give the players of pathfinder a chance to fight a Solar and angels in a pathfinder adventure path! that was very needed.
I'm actually not familiar with Mummy's Mask; I didn't develop it, and in fact am playing through it as a player. Rob would know the answer to these questions.
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Actually, on the subject of Father Tobyn, do you think it would be better to cast him as a priest of Erastil? Would his actions make more sense in that faith? It seems that way to me... but I didn't write the adventure. :)
Also, I'm thinking about running Second Darkness for a group of new players. I don't want to use the "running a casino" hook, but I also don't want to make them agents of the elves right off the bat. As the expert on Varisia, is there another hook you think would be appropriate? Maybe adapting Crimson Throne's "revenge against a criminal" hook for Riddleport?
Thank you! :)
He would probably have found himself a better fit as a lawful neutral or MAYBE lawful good worshiper of Erastil, certainly, at the end of his life, but in his youth he WAS a lot better at being a Desnan. Things change. Events in Tobyn's life made him what he was. Had he survived for much longer, his shift from chaotic neutral would have likely gone to neutral and then to lawful neutral, eventually settling him in Erastil's worship. The fact that he died before he got there and rediscovered himself is unfortunate for him since that ended up consigning him to torment in the afterlife.
But yeah. I wanted him to be, on the outside, present the facade of a well-liked and respected small-town priest, but who in fact was not a good guy. In fact, I needed him to do just that, in order to enable the entire plot of Burnt Offerings (and thus all of Runelords). Making him an intolerant Erastalite wouldn't have worked nearly as well.
You might consider seeing if the PCs can come up with a reason why they all hang out together. That's the point of the casino element, to give the party a purpose. You could always pick another organization in Riddleport for them to be associated with; Cyphermages, perhaps? Or a pirate ship crew whose ship has been stolen? Whoever you set up... perhaps they have a feud with Saul Vancaskerken and are sent to infiltrate his organization?
Of those :
* Primitive/Prehistoric Adventures. (Stone Age and the like, maybe with Dinos)
* 'Antique' Adventures. (Antiquity, duh! ... "Time of Myths and Legends", Ancient: Greece, Rome, Egypt...)
* Steampunk Adventures.
* Future Adventures.
* Space Adventures.
* CyberPunk Adventures.
* Circus Adventures.
* Horror Adventures.
* Monstrous Adventures.
* Noble/Royal Adventures. (we still need rule for Nobility, Royalty and the like.)
* Sky World Adventures. (world in the sky, floating islands, airships, etc.)Which do you think would fit in Pathfinder (and maybe Golarion)? The names/idea are based on Mythic/Occult Adventure.
Primitive, "Antique," Horror, Noble/Royal; all of those would fit well in Golarion.
ALL of them could be done with Pathfinder.
Steampunk Adventure might fit for the Mana Wastes and Alkenstar.
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Serpent's Skull seems to have the most connections story-wise to Azlanti history. Would playing an emissary from the Mordant Spire (whether elf or half-elf) be too disruptive to its plot? I can't really see such a character siding with any of the factions necessary to progress the storyline, considering they tend to murder or brain-wipe anyone they catch poking around Azlant's ruins or stealing its treasure.
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Hi James,
Sorry if you've been asked this/these before, but:Given the success of Iron Gods, how soon is it before we see an Alkenstar AP?
Or an AP set in Golarion's solar system (or just one of the other planets)?
Alkenstar is very different from Iron Gods in a lot of ways. One of those ways is that it's a LOT smaller, both in size and scope, than Numeria. It also, frankly, is a LOT less interesting to me personally than Numeria.
We COULD do an Alkenstar AP. But I wouldn't count on it.
An AP that takes place on another planet is tricky in that we'd have to start over almost from the beginning in detailing the entire setting, and wouldn't be able to draw upon the vast majority of what we've already published. It'd be more likely that we'll do something akin to what we did in Reign of Winter—an AP that is mostly rooted on Golarion but that visits another planet or two.
I was thinking of asking you what the central themes would be for an adventure path heavily featuring Arshea, but I suspect you'd answer "check the areas of concern," right?
So, which already published adventure path meshes best with themes of beauty, freedom, and sexuality?
In fact, indeed... check the areas of concern.
Kingmaker might work for those themes, particularly if you amp up the nymph angle. And there's also some themes of that coming up in Hell's Rebels. Arshea would be a pretty spot-on deity to worship in that AP, particularly for the freedom aspect.
2. Speaking of Nymphs, how come, in-setting, they’re all female?
3. Will there be a write-up for Arshea win Hell’s Rebels? Pleasepleaseplease?
4. Would Legacy of Fire be an AP that works well with Arshea?
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Creative Director
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Serpent's Skull seems to have the most connections story-wise to Azlanti history. Would playing an emissary from the Mordant Spire (whether elf or half-elf) be too disruptive to its plot? I can't really see such a character siding with any of the factions necessary to progress the storyline, considering they tend to murder or brain-wipe anyone they catch poking around Azlant's ruins or stealing its treasure.
I think that could be quite interesting. An agent of the spire sent south to follow up on rumors of Azlanti ruins in Garund, where no such ruins are believed to exist, would be neat. I could see that character siding with ANY of the factions, in fact, depending on the character's personality, but they might just side with the group to use their resources.
Steampunk Adventure might fit for the Mana Wastes and Alkenstar.Not really... to me, steampunk implies, among other things, mass transit (airships, trains, etc.) and limiting something like that to one of the smallest regions in the Inner Sea would do it a disservice.
You might be surprised there.
And it's a Big Universe, maybe on another Planet.
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Creative Director
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I was thinking of asking you what the central themes would be for an adventure path heavily featuring Arshea, but I suspect you'd answer "check the areas of concern," right?
So, which already published adventure path meshes best with themes of beauty, freedom, and sexuality?
In fact, indeed... check the areas of concern.
Kingmaker might work for those themes, particularly if you amp up the nymph angle. And there's also some themes of that coming up in Hell's Rebels. Arshea would be a pretty spot-on deity to worship in that AP, particularly for the freedom aspect.
1. What nymph angle?:
Spoiler:There’s Nyrissa, but she’s way in the background until part 6, and most of that is adventuring in Wonderland gone heavy metal.
2. Speaking of Nymphs, how come, in-setting, they’re all female?3. Will there be a write-up for Arshea win Hell’s Rebels? Pleasepleaseplease?
4. Would Legacy of Fire be an AP that works well with Arshea?
1) Precisely the exact nymph angle you mention. She IS the main bad gal of the entire AP, and even though the PCs may not realize it, she's got machinations (very subtle ones) spread throughout all six adventures.
2) Because of decades of tradition in the game, and because the actual mythological inspiration is of a female spirit.
3) No. She's an appropriate figure to worship in the AP, but no more so than dozens of other options. Furthermore, the 2 deities we chose for the AP have a lot better reason to be the two we chose than her. And no... I'm not ready to reveal who those two deities are. Yet.
4) Why not?
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Would it be fair to classify Eberron as "steampunk" even though there's not an ounce of coal in it? Or do we need to redefine the word?Steampunk Adventure might fit for the Mana Wastes and Alkenstar.Not really... to me, steampunk implies, among other things, mass transit (airships, trains, etc.) and limiting something like that to one of the smallest regions in the Inner Sea would do it a disservice.
I do kinda think of Eberron as kinda steampunky, yeah... but not ENOUGH so. Had they gone full on into that genre, I would have like the setting a lot more. I think that they were too timid though; they were at once too afraid of drifting too far from the "core D&D" experience but at the same time eager TO drift away from it... and that ended up putting the setting in this limbo between the two places where it was ultimately dissatisfying to me on either regard.
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Creative Director
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Steampunk Adventure might fit for the Mana Wastes and Alkenstar.Not really... to me, steampunk implies, among other things, mass transit (airships, trains, etc.) and limiting something like that to one of the smallest regions in the Inner Sea would do it a disservice.You might be surprised there.
And it's a Big Universe, maybe on another Planet.
I don't think I'd be surprised at all, because I've actually put a lot of thought about "Where could we put steampunk stuff in Golarion?" It's not a genre that fits well with the vision I have for the planet.
And of COURSE it's a big universe, and I GUARANTEE that there are planets in the universe where we placed Golarion that there are COUNTLESS steampunk planets. Hell, I suspect there are steampunk elements on some of the Distant Worlds in the Golarion solar system. Those would be different campaign settings, though, and Paizo is not eager to duplicate the campaign setting overload bloat that TSR did in the mid-late 90s that ultimately helped bring that company crashing down.