Creative Director
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I'll try to be better about the long posts. Thank you for letting me know that it was a problem. (Since I'm on my phone, I can't copy and paste...)
Also, regarding spoilers, one of my players had to stop reading this thread after having one of the succubus encounters (Kiranda) in WotR spoiled. So, I've been erring on the side of caution. Sorry. :)
1) Is there anything we can do to reverse your feelings about Mythic? I'm sorry if I'm focusing on this too much, but to me, Mythic looks very salvageable; a lot of Mythic's problems are with specific abilities that need tweaks, rather than with the entire system. My players are really enjoying Wrath of the Righteous, including Mythic, and I haven't even started tweaking the system yet. :D
2) Can you put in a good word for some minis?
Either of the "generic" changelings (B4 or ARG art)
An uncommon Red Mantis Assassin
More beautiful fey (dryads, nymphs, erlkings, etc.)
A mini for Mythic Seltyiel :)3) Was there a specific inspiration for Seltyiel's look? While I'd much rather be Seoni, I always like seeing our iconic
eldritch knightmagus appear... /swoonWith all the stories about Val(eros) Kilmer, I was wondering if there were any interesting inspirations for Seltyiel.
Thank you! :)
Spolier tags are fine, but best when they're separated out. Multiple short posts are generally better than a single giant post for me on this side.
1) At this point, it's just gonna take time before I get my thoughts in order on Mythic. The next time (if there IS a next time) we do a big mythic adventure or Adventure Path, I"ll likely be coming to these boards for feedback and advice, and will generally use the Wrath feedback as late but better-than-never "playtest" results of the system at high level, and will solicit opinions and the like on how best to build an adventure for that type of game. One very strong possibility is to present a Mythic adventure less as a classic fantasy adventure and more as a Superhero adventure, where the PCs go on entirely different missions than the standard fantasy game. In any event, that time is far in the future, so for now, the best thing is to be patient and when and if I do end up doing more Mythic stuff, be ready to help—both in advice and feedback on how the rules play, but also in helping keep everyone else who participates in feedback remain constructive instead of constantly harping on errors and riding things into the ground in relentless waves of non-constructive criticism, I suppose...
2) I can try, but there's a LOT that goes into deciding what mins we do. More Red Mantis assassins would certainly be handy though... at the very least.
3) Not really; We generally don't give Wayne much more than something like "Make this half-elf guy sexy with white hair and a sword in one hand and a spell in the other."
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Separate post!
How much influence and/or work do you have on the comics? Do you write the basic plot, or just check it for consistency? How do you interact with that line?
Thank you! :)
For the first dozen or so I wrote ALL of the backmatter content for the comics, but then had to hand that off after my schedule tightened up. I have full approval of the scripts, along with Erik and Sutter. I came VERY close to writing one of the goblins stories but had to bow out of that one due to not having any freelance time to write it, and then came EVEN CLOSER to writing the Merisiel origin story... but had to bow out of that one for the same reason.
I notice in Champions of Balance that there is an Aeon domain. Are there plans for a cleric of the Monad of All within the official setting or would that be the kind of thing that should just be created by the individual GM for home games?
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I'm not James, but I imagine that the more people post and try to explain their viewpoint on the matter... the more he gets burnt out on it. Even being nice and constructive probably doesn't help because it just further points out big flaws in the system. So it's probably best to just drop it.
Anyway, James, I linked to you some pictures of a cave that was so large it had a jungle growing inside of it and asked if it sounds itching for a pre-historic adventure.
Has Paizo ever done such an adventure before?
Do you want to do an adventure module like that some day?
What about an adventure path?
If such an adventure path were to be in development, would others have to pull the development of said path out of your cold, dead, lizard claws before they got their warm blooded fingers anywhere near it?
I am James, and you're spot on. I've got a LOT more stuff in the fire that I'm helping write and develop, and I'm pretty sure folks are gonna love it, and would rather at this point not dwell on Mythic. It is what it is. If I need to do more with it, I'll come back to the topic and get things sorted out then, but for now... yeah. Not all that interested in carrying on about it. The fallout from Wrath and how folks interpreted it actually really depressed me a lot and threw a monkeywrench into my productivity and inspiration for writing for the game for several months, and I'm just now coming back out of that by focusing on Pathfinder #100 and some other upcoming projects. In other words, I"m throwing in the towel and ceding the whole debate to the internet on Mythic for now. SO... let's look ahead to what's coming, not behind to errors that were made, owned up to, and leave that at that.
We haven't done a jungle cave yet in adventure form, but they certainly exist. Deep Tolguth in the Darklands is what you're looking for; check out the Pathfinder Tale "Called to Darkness." It's set in Deep Tolguth.
As the creator of Deep Tolguth... I'd love to do an adventure set there some day. None planned yet though!
All others would have to do to pull the development of said path out of my claws would be to tell me that someone else will develop it and that I need to develop something different. I don't get final say on what I do and don't develop, especially the more I'm called upon to serve Paizo as Creative Director and not a developer.
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Why are the evil countries not more active like Cheliax? They all for the most part seem to be content in their little corner of the worlds. Or am I missing something?
Because not all evil countries are as energetic and expansionistic as Cheliax. And because not all evil countries inspire us and our writers as much as Cheliax.
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A few days ago I had asked about familiars/cohorts/animal companions, I had a follow-up question.
I had an idea for a Druid with a Faerie Dragon familiar, since you can't get it via animal companion I was think of doing the Leshy Warden archetype and was just curious how you would approach the issue of a player who wanted a cohort creature that leveled up in a class and also wanted to use share spells and scry on familiar. Surely there is a way to make the cohort work as a familiar.
I am actually playing a solo campaign where my GM (with us working on it together) allowed me to get a Pseudodragon cohort and turn him into a familiar, (Basically he is a cohort but all of the familiar stats overlap, similar to how gestalt works.)
For example, he actually has many skill ranks but would still use my ranks if they were higher, still uses my corresponding stats whenever mine would be higher than his, just like it states in the familiar rules, but he would still be leveling up as a cohort.
Is this a viable houserule? Is it something you would allow? Do you know of any better way to do it?
If you want a familiar... it's best to play a witch or a sorcerer or a wizard, not a druid. Or at the very least, multiclass into one of those classes.
There are PLENTY of ways to "make it work." That's the province of your GM though. Personally... I don't enjoy mixing cohorts and familiars and animal companions and mounts together. Pick one and go with it.
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DC Comics or Marvel Comics?
Generally neither. My current favorites are published by Image Comics. (Saga and Rat Queens, and I WANT to get into Walking Dead...)
IF I had to choose, though, it'd be Marvel, because their movies are consistently better, and because they're not making headlines every day by doing some stupid misogynistic or other bonehead move with one of their titles.
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If you're allowed to speak on the subject, can you say anything about if there'll be more Pathfinder Legends audio dramas? I'm enjoying Rise of The Runelords at the moment, the team responsible did a wonderful job at adapting the story to the medium.
I'm glad you're enjoying Rise of the Runelords! We haven't said much more about future plans yet for the line, as far as I know, and so I'm not gonna say much more beyond that.
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Another question. Will we ever find out what the Troglodytes were like before their descent to madness on Golarion, or anything about their culture at the time?
Perhaps an Adventure Path or module revolving around such? The stuff mentioned about them in the Bestiary implies they fill a similar niche as the Serpentfolk and Cyclops.
Yes. We actually talked a bit about them in Into the Darklands, years ago. As regards Deep Tolguth, in fact. We will eventually have more to say on the topic.
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1) So wait, were fetchlings born from human & shae pairings or from humans living on plane of shadow for generations or both? I'm bit confused about that
2) Do cavalier orders exist in game or are they mainly a mechanical thing? I mean, I can't remember reading much about how cavalier orders exist in Golarion setting, so they seem bit hard to place there and roleplay the pc as member of them...
1) Good, because the actual source of where fetchlings come from is MEANT to be mysterious and confusing. ;-)
2) Cavalier orders exist in the game, yes. If we didn't have this frustrating "no world content in core rulebooks" thing they would have been better worked into the setting... but that was one of the things we had to get our head wrapped around back in the crazy days when we published the APG.
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So... Some off the wall questions.
1) Who is your favorate Marvel character?
2) DC?
3) What is your thought on Marvel doing a "52" and scraping the marvel universe for a combined world?
4) What is your favorite colour?
5) Did you see Gardians of the Galaxy? If yes, thoughts?
6) How well did the Rise of the Rune Lords update to PFS book do?
7) Are there any plans to update any other previous 3.5 AP to PF?
1) Godzilla (if that doesn't count, then Devil Dinosaur)
2) Death (from Sandman)
3) Shrug. Not all that interested.
4) These days: Green.
5) Yes. I was blown away by it. It's currently my favorite Marvel movie.
6) Quite well.
7) No news to report at this time.
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What are the chances of a "mythos revisited" book. I would love to see more about nightguants and denizens of Lang and how they interact with Galarion
This is one of the few books that I wouldn't want anyone else to write, frankly... and my writing schedule is booked solid. Further, the "Revisited" line itself is in retirement at the moment due to low sales/low interest on the customer side.
So chances are close to zero at this point for a "Mythos Revisited" book. Chances for other types of mythos content are near 100% though. Stay tuned!
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Did you supply any material, guidelines, or any oher form of influence for the Merisel origin story?For the first dozen or so I wrote ALL of the backmatter content for the comics, but then had to hand that off after my schedule tightened up. I have full approval of the scripts, along with Erik and Sutter. I came VERY close to writing one of the goblins stories but had to bow out of that one due to not having any freelance time to write it, and then came EVEN CLOSER to writing the Merisiel origin story... but had to bow out of that one for the same reason.Separate post!
How much influence and/or work do you have on the comics? Do you write the basic plot, or just check it for consistency? How do you interact with that line?
Thank you! :)
Yes.
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ALSO: Thanks for all the support and kind words, folks, for Mythic... but I'd rather move on to other questions at this time. I'm still kinda too burnt out and bitter about how that all panned out. Thanks again... but I'd rather move on to new topics.
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ALSO: Thanks for all the support and kind words, folks, for Mythic... but I'd rather move on to other questions at this time. I'm still kinda too burnt out and bitter about how that all panned out. Thanks again... but I'd rather move on to new topics.
Your wish is my command!
What does the voice of the average ratfolk sound like? Is it similar to a human's or is it more high pitched and squeaky like those horrifically mutated singing chipmunks, the Seville brothers?
It's been mentioned that Jistka's military is reminiscent of the legion cohorts of Rome. Was this how Azlant organized its military or were they a different style like the Greek/Macedonian phalanx or the early Roman manipular army?
Where on Golarion does the almiraj (that petrifying unicorn bunny that, awesomely enough comes from real-world folklore) make its habitat?
Did Taldor ever extend into Varisia during its peak or was that an addition made by Cheliax after they broke off and started empiring on their own?
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What does the voice of the average ratfolk sound like? Is it similar to a human's or is it more high pitched and squeaky like those horrifically mutated singing chipmunks, the Seville brothers?
It's been mentioned that Jistka's military is reminiscent of the legion cohorts of Rome. Was this how Azlant organized its military or were they a different style like the Greek/Macedonian phalanx or the early Roman manipular army?
Where on Golarion does the almiraj (that petrifying unicorn bunny that, awesomely enough comes from real-world folklore) make its habitat?
Did Taldor ever extend into Varisia during its peak or was that an addition made by Cheliax after they broke off and started empiring on their own?
Raspy and squeaky and more highpitched, but not NEARLY to the extent of the chipmunks, which is far too comedic.
No. Jistka was different from Azlant.
Nowhere in particular. If indeed they live there at all, and until we put them in an adventure (which I don't see happening anytime soon)... I'm not ready to nail down where they live.
No. Varisia was its own wilderness for most of the modern era. There were some Linnorm Kingdom influences here and there, but until Cheliax founded Korvosa, it was really unexplored frontier.
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So time ago you said you had some things you don't like about the Divine Source Mythic power.(you had a problem with Clerics taking this Mythic power) May i ask what specific problems you have with this power?
I actually don't really have problems with this power at all. I think it's a bit weird for a cleric to take it, since clerics are defined by their devotion and service to a greater power. The one case I can see it making sense for a cleric to take the power would be in one of the following two cases:
1) The cleric's deity dies, and the cleric moves in to take the dead god's place. Similar to what happened with Iomedae and Aroden. In this case, she'd likely inherit many of the dead deity's worshipers as her own.
or
2) The cleric loses her faith in her deity and coverts out of worship and instead starts to worship herself and decides to build her own cult. In this case, the cleric would likely inherit many or all of the rebuffed deities worshipers as bitter and dangerous enemies.
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In some pathfinder Novels you have characters throwing prayers out into the cosmos to no specific god. praying for any god that be willing to help them to help them. So do any or all gods hear these type of prayers?In that same venue, What do you think of the portrayal of this question in Bruce All Mighty?
Never saw it.
Why don't you see Divine Source as a path to something like Sainthood, for example? (Or, at the other end of the spectrum, something like how Archdevils and Infernal Dukes can grant spells while still being subordinate to Asmodeus?)
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Aww, revisited line is being retired? D: I'd buy more pdfs if I had more money...
How would you describe most atypical member of a) kuthinites b) hellknights c) razmiran priests d) kobolds e) orcs f) goblins g) demons?
Is there equivalent of Masamune and Muramasa in the setting?
Not referring to the historical persons(since both are from different eras so they could have never met each other), I'm referring to legend were two blacksmiths compete on who makes a better sword, Muramasa creates bloodthirsty blade that cuts through everything and Masamune creates blade that depending on variation of the legend either is gentle and doesn't indiscriminately cut things or heals instead.
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Creative Director
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Why don't you see Divine Source as a path to something like Sainthood, for example? (Or, at the other end of the spectrum, something like how Archdevils and Infernal Dukes can grant spells while still being subordinate to Asmodeus?)
I never said I didn't.
The "path to Sainthood" and, indeed, what exactly a saint is, is not defined in our books, but in my head, you generally don't become a saint before you die.
As for archdevils and demon lords and the like... they come to power using entirely different routes than mythic PCs. They bypass Divine Source, as part of the benefit of being monsters, not player characters, and never needed Mythic Adventures in the first place. They're an entirely separate category that exists whether or not Divine Source does.
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Aww, revisited line is being retired? D: I'd buy more pdfs if I had more money...
How would you describe most atypical member of a) kuthinites b) hellknights c) razmiran priests d) kobolds e) orcs f) goblins g) demons?
Is there equivalent of Masamune and Muramasa in the setting?
Not referring to the historical persons(since both are from different eras so they could have never met each other), I'm referring to legend were two blacksmiths compete on who makes a better sword, Muramasa creates bloodthirsty blade that cuts through everything and Masamune creates blade that depending on variation of the legend either is gentle and doesn't indiscriminately cut things or heals instead.
It might come back someday, particularly if someone in-house really wants to write one. That's how Demons Revisited came about, after all. But yeah... in looking at what sells more and what sells less... the Revisited books ended up on the "sells less" category, so that's why we've not done one since Demons Revisited.
Ummm... in the way that those things are described in print already. I don't have the time to reprint all that stuff, and so instead I'll answer your question the way you asked it—with single words:
a) Kuthinites: sadistic
b) Hellknights: serious
c) Rasmiran priests: fanatics
d) Kobolds: crafty
e) Orcs: brutal
f) Goblins: insane
g) Demons: destructive
I would assume so, since it's an awesome story, but I don't think we've run with that particular thread yet.
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Umm, sorry, but doesn't atypical mean opposite of typical?
Ah well, sorry if I understood word wrong, either way I guess just making opposite of those words answers my question
Oh! Yeah... I misread "atypical" as "typical" in my rush to answer the question.
So... here's my atypical list, following the same guidelines as one word answers:
ATYPICAL MEMBERS
a) Kuthinites: kindly
b) Hellknights: humorous
c) Rasmiran priests: wise
d) Kobolds: uncreative
e) Orcs: loving
f) Goblins: well-read
g) Demons: helpful
DC Comics or Marvel Comics?Generally neither. My current favorites are published by Image Comics. (Saga and Rat Queens, and I WANT to get into Walking Dead...)
Hey!
Since it seems you're into titles by Image Comics, have you had a chance to look at Ravine (epic fantasy setting), by Stjepan Sejic?Series information page on Imagecomics.com
Sneak peeks , extracts & more by the artist (on deviantart.com).
There are only two graphic novels so far...
Thanks for being so willing to field all sorts of questions!
Carry on!
--C.
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Since Psiphyre already mentioned the talented Stjepan Sejic, his other comic Death Vigil is something I can recommend to absolutely everybody, especially if you like "high magic" settings, without too much gritty realism.
Of course it really shows that he has been drawing quite a bit of Witchblade (but the black and white stuff is amazing, I have already made builds for these - well the "cheesy sorc" just ended up mythic.
ady-pendragon, cheesy sorc (the details on those items look amazing).
It would be amazing to see his work in pathfinder products, and I am quite curious about the reaction from James Jacobs, especially since the protagonists include a T-Rex (kinda), and it features huge awesome monsters.
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DC Comics or Marvel Comics?Generally neither. My current favorites are published by Image Comics. (Saga and Rat Queens, and I WANT to get into Walking Dead...)
Hey!
Since it seems you're into titles by Image Comics, have you had a chance to look at Ravine (epic fantasy setting), by Stjepan Sejic?Series information page on Imagecomics.com
Sneak peeks , extracts & more by the artist (on deviantart.com).
There are only two graphic novels so far...
Thanks for being so willing to field all sorts of questions!
Carry on!
--C.
I have not checked that one out. In fact... I really don't have a lot of comic book reading time allotted in my schedule overall, and never really have. As a kid I was VERY into the old horror comics like "House of Mystery" and "Tales of the Unexpected" but I've always been more into short stories and novels when it comes to reading.
Who's idea was it to make dangnear everything open content? Between the Pathfinder wiki and d20pfsrd, I can play without having to buy anything, legally...
...which is why I made sure to buy a copy of the core rules, and as many official products as my budget can afford, because I really want to support a company that seems to care about its community like you guys do (unlike a certain other company that shall not be named that shut down a website archiving data from a system they no longer support or even sell the materials for, because reasons).
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Who's idea was it to make dangnear everything open content? Between the Pathfinder wiki and d20pfsrd, I can play without having to buy anything, legally...
...which is why I made sure to buy a copy of the core rules, and as many official products as my budget can afford, because I really want to support a company that seems to care about its community like you guys do (unlike a certain other company that shall not be named that shut down a website archiving data from a system they no longer support or even sell the materials for, because reasons).
It was more or less all of our ideas to make so many of our rules open content, in large part because we were using the SRD, and we wanted to "pay it forward" to others who might come along in the future. We've always supported the open gaming movement, and keeping our rules open is basically us putting our money where our mouth is. Paizo wouldn't exist today as a game publishing company were it not for the open gaming license, after all.
The part of what we produce that's NOT open content are the Golarion products. And in the grand scheme of things, the intellectual properties that are the setting itself is where the real value to a company lies.
But not making the rules open was really never an option.
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Any idea when we'll be getting meet the iconics for the Occult playtest characters? Also have your written any of the meet the iconic stories?
We have all the art in and are in the process of naming the six. Once they have names, they'll be written. I doubt I'll be writing any of their stories, but we'll see...
As for when? Sometime between now and Gen Con.
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Are you happy with the way the ACG turned out? Personally I love the new classes, but I wonder how the ACG classes changed the situation from your point of view.
Does the existence of a class like the Swashbuckler actually change the kind of stories you can tell within the adventures?
Do designers like to be able to use new classes/feats etc. to keep things fresh?
Do you take some of the new class abilities into account when you develop a new adventure, and/or is giving players class specific loot (like a weapons that improves opportune parry and riposte) every an option?
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Are you happy with the way the ACG turned out? Personally I love the new classes, but I wonder how the ACG classes changed the situation from your point of view.
Does the existence of a class like the Swashbuckler actually change the kind of stories you can tell within the adventures?
Do designers like to be able to use new classes/feats etc. to keep things fresh?
Do you take some of the new class abilities into account when you develop a new adventure, and/or is giving players class specific loot (like a weapons that improves opportune parry and riposte) every an option?
I like the ACG but I'm disappointed and ashamed at the number of errors we let through; we've since taken a lot of steps to fix that to make sure it doesn't happen going forward.
The classes themselves haven't really changed the world situation. We have more "colors" to paint our pictures now is all—in the same way that new bestiaries give us more monsters, the new classes give us more NPC options. It does allow us to keep things fresh, and does help us refine the stories.
As a general rule when I develop an adventure, using a new class needs to be justified. Does the character HAVE to be a skald? Or can he just be a bard? We try to minimize the number of books a GM has to reference during play, and often that means not using a class from a book when a similar core class would suffice. It's really a matter of taste too.
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Are you happy with the way the ACG turned out? Personally I love the new classes, but I wonder how the ACG classes changed the situation from your point of view.
Does the existence of a class like the Swashbuckler actually change the kind of stories you can tell within the adventures?
Do designers like to be able to use new classes/feats etc. to keep things fresh?
Do you take some of the new class abilities into account when you develop a new adventure, and/or is giving players class specific loot (like a weapons that improves opportune parry and riposte) every an option?
I like the ACG but I'm disappointed and ashamed at the number of errors we let through; we've since taken a lot of steps to fix that to make sure it doesn't happen going forward.
The classes themselves haven't really changed the world situation. We have more "colors" to paint our pictures now is all—in the same way that new bestiaries give us more monsters, the new classes give us more NPC options. It does allow us to keep things fresh, and does help us refine the stories.
As a general rule when I develop an adventure, using a new class needs to be justified. Does the character HAVE to be a skald? Or can he just be a bard? We try to minimize the number of books a GM has to reference during play, and often that means not using a class from a book when a similar core class would suffice. It's really a matter of taste too.
When Occult Adventures and the new classes (colors) comes out, will you be able to paint with all the colors of the wind?
Hey James, Look at this!
I got excited and have been posting this around the messageboards all day! :D
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Hey James, Look at this!
I got excited and have been posting this around the messageboards all day! :D
Huh.
Wish we'd be better organized about how and what we do as regards revealing things like that.
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Hey James, Look at this!
I got excited and have been posting this around the messageboards all day! :D
Huh.
Wish we'd be better organized about how and what we do as regards revealing things like that.
It's your own facebook page(Paizo page) this time. I don't think that's a mistake.
"Didn't you get the memo?"
lol
In this case, no, I didn't get the memo.
What I'm saying is that I'd rather debut something as exciting as new iconics in full clear and crisp format to our fans than in a blurry photo from a powerpoint presentation. It's disappointing. But that's part of life, being disappointed.
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Sometimes a blurry image can have a stronger effect on anticipation then a clear one. Plus just showing a clear image can ruin the fun of the guessing game. :)
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Are there ghosts who don't have an event or something "anchoring" them to the Material like an unsolved murder or site they're guarding? Like, they die, but they stick around and possess people to ride their bodies around and re-experience things they enjoyed in life, avoiding crossing over because they're just having too much fun living it up through their puppets until they're spent or something? I can imagine some Urgathoans doing something like this if they don't wanna give up some of the stuff that you can't really do as a rotten corpse like a lick or vampire.