Creative Director
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What the most surprising rule change/suggestion you remember when you first read Buhlman's first draft of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game? Were there any particular rule you liked from the first draft? Disagreed with?
His initial changes to how skills worked was surprising. I actually quite liked it, but it was a bit too much of a change for folks so it got scrapped.
I really like the change to allowing all cantrips to be cast at will, but I think that some of them could have stood being a bit more revised to make them fit this new paradigm better.
As for rules I disaggre with... nothing really major. Just minor stuff like I list above for what spurs my own house rules. What I think is the most unfortunate omission from the book, though, is the lack of a few pages of "how to advance your character/how to fill out a character sheet." The game isn't as friendly to new gamers as it should be. Hopefully once we get a basic Pathfinder game out (and yes, we're working on one; no news on it yet other than that!) that'll be alleviated somewhat.
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Creative Director
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Have you any advice for a GM running a game using the Pathfinder rules for using darkness as a dramatic device in a horror themed game, when magical light is an at will cantrip away for most parties?
If access to magical light is that big of a problem, you should either ban it from your game or ban those CLASSES from your game.
But honestly, without light sources, the game kind of crashes to a halt. Being blind is a huge pain, and it makes combat very swingy and hard to anticipate how things will work out; if the PCs are up against foes who can see, then it starts veering into TPK zone.
Absolute darkness can be fun in small doses, but as in a movie, extended periods of black get boring fast. That's why in movies there's almost always enough light to see what's going on, even if in the movie itself the presence of light is illogical.
My suggestion would be to use the ability to create magical light at will as a bonus; use that to enforce the fact that the PCs are in an "island" of light surrounded by darkness, and that anything might be lurking just out of sight. And maybe introduce some monsters that are attracted to light, such as blood-drinking giant moths or something, so that using light in some situations might not be a great idea. Certainly using light in dark areas blows stealth attempts out of the water.
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Creative Director
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Even though they aren't OGL, do you like Shades? Are Golarion's Fetchlings similar?
I do like shades; they're cool, and they've been a part of the game since the early 80s, so they've got the nostalgia factor also.
Fetchlings are pretty different from shades. Fetchlings are a LOT less powerful.
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His initial changes to how skills worked was surprising. I actually quite liked it, but it was a bit too much of a change for folks so it got scrapped.
Was that in the alpha/beta playtest rules?
I really like the change to allowing all cantrips to be cast at will, but I think that some of them could have stood being a bit more revised to make them fit this new paradigm better.
Like the one involving healing a hitpoint and was changed to stabilizing. Makes sense. Any others?
...is the lack of a few pages of "how to advance your character/how to fill out a character sheet." The game isn't as friendly to new gamers as it should be. Hopefully once we get a basic Pathfinder game out (and yes, we're working on one; no news on it yet other than that!) that'll be alleviated somewhat.
Pretty much thought that was a given, especially now with many companies releasing basic books for their systems.
Now I'm curious. Has anyone from Paizo approached the Dummies and/or Complete Idiots Guides publishers about printing such books for Pathfinder like they did for Dungeons and Dragons?
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Creative Director
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His initial changes to how skills worked was surprising. I actually quite liked it, but it was a bit too much of a change for folks so it got scrapped.
Was that in the alpha/beta playtest rules?
I really like the change to allowing all cantrips to be cast at will, but I think that some of them could have stood being a bit more revised to make them fit this new paradigm better.Like the one involving healing a hitpoint and was changed to stabilizing. Makes sense. Any others?
...is the lack of a few pages of "how to advance your character/how to fill out a character sheet." The game isn't as friendly to new gamers as it should be. Hopefully once we get a basic Pathfinder game out (and yes, we're working on one; no news on it yet other than that!) that'll be alleviated somewhat.Pretty much thought that was a given, especially now with many companies releasing basic books for their systems.
Now I'm curious. Has anyone from Paizo approached the Dummies and/or Complete Idiots Guides publishers about printing such books for Pathfinder like they did for Dungeons and Dragons?
Yup; the original skill system was in the very first alpha rules, and it was pretty universally hated, alas. It was just too different and folks hadn't yet warmed completely to the idea of what we were doing with Pathfinder. Too much new too quickly, I guess.
We haven't approached the Idiot Guide folks, but if Pathfinder becomes popular enough that they approach us... that's a different story!
And how do you decide if an AP is going to be type A or type B?
Cleverly disguised A or B question is cleverly disguised.
If you were a tree, any kind of tree at all, what kind of tree would you be?
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Creative Director
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James, I think I remember you discussing before that there’s a bit of a pattern or logic to what sort of AP is released in which half of the year – like ‘safe’ or ‘traditional’ APs are released at this time and ‘outlandish’ or ‘risky’ APs are introduced at the other half of the year. Have I got this sort of right? How do you decide which type to release when? And how do you decide if an AP is going to be type A or type B?
For a while, we were doing the "safe" APs so they'd release at Gen Con, and the "experimental" ones in Feburary.
With Carrion Crown launching in Feburary (a safe AP) and Jade Regent launching at Gen Con 2011 (an experimental AP), though, that schedule is done.
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Creative Director
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Will Neothelid's be part of the Aboleth history? the bestiary hints that neothelids once controlled vast underground empires.
Did you like my suggestion that there are no airships because of hostile air elemental clans that prohibit the use of the vessels?
The neothelids and the aboleths have long been at war. "Into the Darklands" says a little more about this shared history, I think.
I prefer to think that there's no airships because they're all over in Eberron or Final Fantasy.
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1) If you could change one responsibility in your day to day working life, what would it be? Why?
2) If you could edit one classic (pre-2000 CE) piece of gaming material (module, core book, etc) what would it be? What revisions would you make?
3) Was your current job something to which you aspired when you first became interested in gaming as a hobby?
4) What are your favorite pizza toppings? What's your favorite crust style?
5) Of the Core PFRGP classes (defined as base classes from the core book), which is your hands-down favorite?
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James, I think I remember you discussing before that there’s a bit of a pattern or logic to what sort of AP is released in which half of the year – like ‘safe’ or ‘traditional’ APs are released at this time and ‘outlandish’ or ‘risky’ APs are introduced at the other half of the year. Have I got this sort of right? How do you decide which type to release when? And how do you decide if an AP is going to be type A or type B?For a while, we were doing the "safe" APs so they'd release at Gen Con, and the "experimental" ones in Feburary.
With Carrion Crown launching in Feburary (a safe AP) and Jade Regent launching at Gen Con 2011 (an experimental AP), though, that schedule is done.
Interesting. What defines Jade Regent as an experimental AP? Is it the non-western setting? Something else?
I would see this one as one of the most hotly anticipated APs since Kingmaker – maybe even before Kingmaker! Maybe that’s just me, but there seems to be a lot of love (and demand) for ‘Asian’ themed modules, and a successor to the whole ‘Oriental Adventures’ thing.
James, I think I remember you discussing before that there’s a bit of a pattern or logic to what sort of AP is released in which half of the year – like ‘safe’ or ‘traditional’ APs are released at this time and ‘outlandish’ or ‘risky’ APs are introduced at the other half of the year. Have I got this sort of right? How do you decide which type to release when? And how do you decide if an AP is going to be type A or type B?For a while, we were doing the "safe" APs so they'd release at Gen Con, and the "experimental" ones in Feburary.
With Carrion Crown launching in Feburary (a safe AP) and Jade Regent launching at Gen Con 2011 (an experimental AP), though, that schedule is done.
Interesting. What defines Jade Regent as an experimental AP? Is it the non-western setting? Something else?
I would see this one as one of the most hotly anticipated APs since Kingmaker – maybe even before Kingmaker! Maybe that’s just me, but there seems to be a lot of love (and demand) for ‘Asian’ themed modules, and a successor to the whole ‘Oriental Adventures’ thing.
I have to agree with this.
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1) If you could implement one thing present in gaming that does not (or can not) exist in the real world, what would it be?
2) If you could prove one thing that is present in reality to be false, and that thing to subsequently stop working in reality, what would it be?
3) Do you know what the Test of Meat is?
4) Subject to your having seen either movie, which is more terrifying to you... Tetsuo Iron Man or Pi?
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Which AP, in your opinion, would be great as a movie? As a live television series? As an animated series?Rise of the Runelords, since it's already had 1/6 of it produced as a stage play. It's got the jump on all those other APs!
Good point.
If the iconics were stars of the RotRl media event, whom would you cast?
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Creative Director
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1) If you could change one responsibility in your day to day working life, what would it be? Why?
2) If you could edit one classic (pre-2000 CE) piece of gaming material (module, core book, etc) what would it be? What revisions would you make?
3) Was your current job something to which you aspired when you first became interested in gaming as a hobby?
4) What are your favorite pizza toppings? What's your favorite crust style?
5) Of the Core PFRGP classes (defined as base classes from the core book), which is your hands-down favorite?
1) Whenever someone directly under my command screws up, they get punished/fired by someone else.
2) WG7: Castle Greyhawk. I would re-write it entirely according to what that dungeon was supposed to be, rather than let it exist as a farce and an insult to the game's inventor.
3) Yes. I've wanted to work in the industry since I was 14 years old and got my first adventure published by Dungeon magazine and realized that yes indeed one can get paid to write gaming material.
4) Artichoke Hearts, Garlic, and Jalapeno Peppers. Traditional crust. I believe this question has actually already been asked, also.
5) Bard. Followed closely by the cleric.
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Creative Director
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Interesting. What defines Jade Regent as an experimental AP? Is it the non-western setting? Something else?
I would see this one as one of the most hotly anticipated APs since Kingmaker – maybe even before Kingmaker! Maybe that’s just me, but there seems to be a lot of love (and demand) for ‘Asian’ themed modules, and a successor to the whole ‘Oriental Adventures’ thing.
Three things:
1) That it takes place partially in an Asian setting. That's not everyone's cup of tea, and it could easilly turn of a LOT of potential customers. By making it a journey from the Inner Sea to Minkai, we hopefully temper that fear a bit by not putting the ENTIRE AP in Tian Xia.2) The fact that for about half it's length it could well be a giant railroad for real, as the PCs escort a caravan from Varisia over the Crown of the World to Tian Xia. Despite what some folks might say to the contrary, we've never done an AP that is this much of a railroad.
3) It's going to have a LOT of NPC stuff going on. Perhaps to the extent of the original Dragonlance modules, where the game might actually be better if the PCs play the NPCs.
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Creative Director
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1) If you could implement one thing present in gaming that does not (or can not) exist in the real world, what would it be?
2) If you could prove one thing that is present in reality to be false, and that thing to subsequently stop working in reality, what would it be?
3) Do you know what the Test of Meat is?
4) Subject to your having seen either movie, which is more terrifying to you... Tetsuo Iron Man or Pi?
1) Healing magic.
2) Destructive religious beliefs.
3) Is that when you poke the meat with a knife to see if it's done cooking?
4) Pi. I just tried watching Tetsuo a few weeks ago and it annoyed me. Pi, on the other hand, fascinates me. And since I turned off Tetsuo out of boredom and annoyance, Pi wins by default.
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Creative Director
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If the iconics were stars of the RotRl media event, whom would you cast?
Taking just the four iconics from the original AP:
Valeros: Young Val Kilmer (if time travel isn't an option, I'd cast him as Jason Statham).
Seoni: Rachel Weisz
Merisiel: Keira Knightly... or MAYBE Milla Jojovich
Kyra: AAAAND... I'm stumped.
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I am currently going through a phase of disliking my job. (Teacher of 13 years, struggling immensly with motivation at the moment)
Have you ever gotten to a point in your working day where you just wanted a change of career? (the whole my hobby is now my job thing can become tiresome to some, I've heard)
If not, what other job could you see yourself enjoying as much as the one you currently do?
(I asked Jason Buhlman this question at the Australian Gen Con last year when I had a moment with him alone. He laughed and told me "I design and play games all day" or words to that effect. It was answer enough hehe)
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Creative Director
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I just finished reading the APG, which is an amazing book.
Is there anything, base class, PrC, Feat, etc, that you would deem worthy to be in the core rules?
What did you personally work on from it? (i think this may have been asked before and if so, sorry)
Name five people, alive, dead, or imagined(so like anybody from D&D) to have dinner with
The whole point of the APG is to provide expansions/supplements/new stuff. And the Core rules are pretty jam packed as they are. Everything's in its right place already, in other words.
I designed the first incarnation of the Alchemist, the Traits rules, and dozen or so spells (mostly new spells to round out the elemental wizards; things like tsunami and the like).
Woah... five people to have dinner with?
Ameiko Kaijitsu (because the curry salmon she serves at the Rusty Dragon in Sandpoint is probably really good)
Tom Douglas (because his restaurants, particularly the Palace Kitchen, are awesome)
H. P. Lovecraft (because this can be anyone, and so this would be like my only chance to meet him)
Shensen (my main character in World of Warcraft, because she can make food that gives you SUPERPOWERS)
My Dad (because he'd bring some abalone and cook it up and that stuff is the best)
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Creative Director
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I am currently going through a phase of disliking my job. (Teacher of 13 years, struggling immensly with motivation at the moment)
Have you ever gotten to a point in your working day where you just wanted a change of career? (the whole my hobby is now my job thing can become tiresome to some, I've heard)
If not, what other job could you see yourself enjoying as much as the one you currently do?
(I asked Jason Buhlman this question at the Australian Gen Con last year when I had a moment with him alone. He laughed and told me "I design and play games all day" or words to that effect. It was answer enough hehe)
First off... my dad was a public high school teacher for several decades. I actually took 3 classes from him. I like to think he was an excellent teacher. That said, I got to see first hand how hard that job is, and how important it is, and how difficult it can be when you have to juggle things like teaching kids, dealing with school politics, appeasing parents, and working with other teachers and employees who might not be good people.
So I have a pretty good idea of the type of frustrations a teacher might have after a decade or so. All I can say there is thank you for being a teacher; it's a job that folks don't thank people for doing NEARLY enough, and that's a damn shame.
As for me... for several years I basically worked doing data entry/customer service for temp agency, the Washington State Department of Health, and a life insurance company, and while several of the people I worked with at those various jobs were pretty cool... the jobs themselves were mind-numbing. The life insurance job in particular was the pits, and I got to a point near the end where I almost got fired because I was so burnt out with the job that I was barely motivated to do it. It's not a good place to be.
Things at Paizo are really fun, but they certainly have their ups and downs. Mostly ups... but there's a LOT of work involved. I just spent the 3 day weekend making monsters in the Bestiary 2 fit on their pages, for example. Which on one level is cool (hey, I get to develop a whole book of monsters!) and on another is frustrating (I got to work all weekend!). But in the end, I really do love working at Paizo, and that's the most anyone can really hope for in the world of employment; finding a job that's rewarding and fun.
If I didn't work at Paizo... I think at this point I'd either take a shot at being a novelist or try to get into the videogame industry as a designer or writer. I don't really have any programming skills, though, so that'd put a kink in that plan from the outset.
Anyway... hope you stick to the teaching job and find more inspiration and motivation. It's a tough and thankless job, but we need folks to do it! :-)
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Creative Director
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Are you guys nearly finished the hard work with Bestiary 2 as yet?
Heh; nope. As I just mentioned, I spent all weekend working on that dang book. The next few weeks are going to be pretty hellish for me in particular, alas:
1) Bestiary 2 is in mission critical stage, so I'll be putting in long hours on it.
2) Getting a permanent crown put on a tooth tomorrow, so I'll have achy jaw for a few days.
3) My car's still in the shop from getting rear ended a few weeks ago and should be finished being repaired by Friday, but I'm nervous something crazy and unforseen could still happen.
4) I have to sign a new lease at a new place and then start moving from Renton to Redmond this week.
5) Gotta go pick up Bulmahn at the airport at Midnight Friday morning and then drive him home; that guy owes me!
6) And then all the day to day stuff at work on top of that.
So... nope! The hard work stage of things for me will be going strong for a few weeks more at least! :)
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Are you guys nearly finished the hard work with Bestiary 2 as yet?Heh; nope. As I just mentioned, I spent all weekend working on that dang book. The next few weeks are going to be pretty hellish for me in particular, alas:
1) Bestiary 2 is in mission critical stage, so I'll be putting in long hours on it.
2) Getting a permanent crown put on a tooth tomorrow, so I'll have achy jaw for a few days.
3) My car's still in the shop from getting rear ended a few weeks ago and should be finished being repaired by Friday, but I'm nervous something crazy and unforseen could still happen.
4) I have to sign a new lease at a new place and then start moving from Renton to Redmond this week.
5) Gotta go pick up Bulmahn at the airport at Midnight Friday morning and then drive him home; that guy owes me!
6) And then all the day to day stuff at work on top of that.So... nope! The hard work stage of things for me will be going strong for a few weeks more at least! :)
Wow, that’s rough man, especially the dental and car issues. Hope no one was hurt when you got rear ended?
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Creative Director
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As Creative Director and Paizo’s resident monster enthusiast and expert (one of several no doubt), what role do you play in the development of the Bestiary line? How about the ‘Classic Monsters’ series?
I have the power of saying which monsters will and won't be in the Bestiary books or the Classic Monsters books. For the Classic Monsters line, I sometimes write entries, sometimes edit/develop them, but for the most part that work's done by others at Paizo.
For the Bestiaries, I generally design several of the monsters, and then once all the monsters are done and laid out, I'm the one that goes through monster by monster and makes each one fit on a page (or on 2 pages for some of them). This means an equal share of cutting stuff to make it fit and writing new stuff to fill up the white space so that every page looks solid and full. It's actually pretty fun for the most part, but can be really frustrating when you get a monster that's either so complex that it's barely fitting and some cool powers need to get cut, or when you get to a monster that's somehow snuck through all the previous development and has some MAJOR problems that mean it basically has to be redesigned from the ground up. Had a swath of monsters this afternoon, in fact, that were particularly messed up and needed complete rebuilds. Which, at this late stage in the game, is kind of stressful.
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Creative Director
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Wow, that’s rough man, especially the dental and car issues. Hope no one was hurt when you got rear ended?
Nope; no one was hurt. I got rear-ended by an SUV on an on-ramp at a freeway. Her car was pretty smashed up, but mine was just crunched in the back. Alas... that meant that the bumper, the trunk, the rear left tail light casing, and the rear left panel were ruined and needed to be replaced. And since my car's a 2008 Saturn, and since Saturn is no longer in business, that means all the replacement parts have to be scrounged across the world from junk yards and used car lots and factory remnants and what-not, which means it's an expensive repair and a lengthy one.
Fortunately, the woman who hit me was insured, and she and her company are taking full responsibility. They're paying for the full multi-thousand dollar repair to the car, as well as for 3 some weeks of rental car so I can still get to and from work. I'm not going to breathe a sigh of relief until I have my car back and haven't paid a penny for the whole thing, though.
The dental bit isn't nearly as bad. I'm just getting a 25 year old metal crown replaced by a new crown; the older crown had shifted to the side and was being all lame and then the lower part of that tooth got a cavity and so the whole thing had to basically be fixed. I've had a giant oversized temp crown in my mouth for several weeks now and I'm ready to get the real one in there. But not so ready that I can get to sleep, even though it's an early dentist appointment, which is why I'm here typing giant posts to answer simple questions! :)
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But not so ready that I can get to sleep, even though it's an early dentist appointment, which is why I'm here typing giant posts to answer simple questions! :)
Ha!
Hmmm, going to the dentist and SUV’s, two things I don’t much like (no offense if you drive an SUV, but I think you said you drove an Aura?).
Anyway, good luck with it all, and the Bestiary 2.
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Thanks for the kind words. I'm certainly working to stay motivated, just struggling with it.
I also wanted to thank you for being so forthright with your answers.
I've toyed with the idea of writing a novel myself, as I'm sure most folk on these boards have.
As a man who works for a publishing company, if you had any advice for a beginning novelist, what would it be?
Cheers
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*bows before The Mighty James Jacobs*
I was wondering if you would comment on my thread where I asked for advice and thoughts on a Reaver living through what he thought of as Ragnarok. The thread title is. Help Pagnarok has come and gone but I'm still here.
Sorry my link fu from black berry is very weak I would like to see your ideas
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By your prowess, skill, will, wit, luck and divine favour you have passed the test of the Starstone.
You are a god in Golarion.
What name and title would you take?
What would your alignment be?
What form would your favoured Avatar take ?
What would your priesthoods' favoured weapon be ?
Who/what would your herald be?
Give an ability/power/skill/feat/trait unique to your preisthood.
Would you allow dwarven clerics into your priesthood to govern your flock ?!
What holy symbol would you take ?
Would SKR write up your background with a non biased eye ?
No "A or B" Alright.
How do you "price" (or plus equivalent) Magic Weapon special properties? Unlike wondrous items, there doesn't seem to be any formula for it.
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I belive my gf would have a fighting chance at being cast at Merisiel. She's taller than both Keira and Milla, been on the covers of Harper's Bazar and Vouge, has opened fashion week (Fashion world's Gencon) on two continents, has acted in several commercials in Japan and Canada (her manager does not allow her to do TV ads in the US for fashion reasons), loves to wear all leather outfits, loves Dragon Age, and has too strong a love for horror flicks.
Hey, is this the Ask James Jacobs thread or the Brag About My Totally Hot Girlfriend Who Is A Model thread?
Well, two can play at that game!
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What? I didn't say me, but I'm sure someone else could ...
;-)
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How do you feel about people equating Golarion cultures to IRL cultures? As in, Taldan = Byzantine, Ulfen = Norse, Kellid = Celt, Chelaxian = Roman, Mwangi = Bantu, Garundi = Egyptian, Vudrani = Indian, Tian = Chinese, Varisian = Romani, Keleshite = Persian, etc.
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Hey, is this the Ask James Jacobs thread or the Brag About My Totally Hot Girlfriend Who Is A Model thread?I bet she can't cook !
;p
Stop messing with us Baron, Not Hank Woon is one of your aliases!
So, James, do Baron's aliases have different girlfriends?
And would you be willing to consider Parminder Nagra, Hanan Turk or Aishwarya Rai for Kyra?
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I bet she can't cook !Stop messing with us Baron, Not Hank Woon is one of your aliases!
No messing, trust me, she can't cook! I was just trying to help Mothman's cause/post.
And would you be willing to consider Parminder Nagra, Hanan Turk or Aishwarya Rai for Kyra?
In a 'who would play the iconics' thread about a year ago I also named Aishwarya Rai as a possible Kyra. While I can not say I am a fan of Ms. Rai's work, the movie would be an automatic box office success in a number of key international markets.
That being said I think I would Thandie Newton as Kyra. Unless James gets his chance to go back in time and get the young Val Kilmer, in which case he can pick up a younger Iman along the way for Kyra.
After all she's already married to a Thin White Duke of an elf.
Will you see the new Judge Dredd movie (now apparently simply being called "Dredd") when it comes out?