Creative Director
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What aspects of PaizoCon are you looking forward to and which are you dreading? Also, which is your preferred beverage? I feel I owe you one after all the hard work on the APs.
I'm pretty much dreading all of Paizocon, and looking forward to being done with it the most. I do enjoy the games I run once they start, but at this point in time, that's overwhelmed by my dread of it. I do NOT enjoy conventions.
My preferred beverage these days is either a glass of port or a mojito, but I generally don't drink at conventions or hang out at bars any time, so folks are off that hook.
Where did the idea for Groetus come from?
(He's my favorite deity - not merely in Golarion).
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Creative Director
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Hey James. I am avowed skeptic, but I find this has been somewhat limiting for my gamemastering and storytelling. So I enjoy collecting creepy urban legends and picking the brain of believers to get a better sense of how to tell the story. I need to get into different character mindsets in game. So as a believer in bigfoot do you mind if I pick your brain on some bigfoot views and stories? I promise to not be picky mean or derisive about it all. So feel free to ignore the following questions if you want
1) Bigfoot
a) Any cool urban legend or local stories from your childhood you can share? and if so please do.
2) Skunkape
a) In your view is it bigfoot or a bigfoot relative or regional variant like the difference between the black Rhino and the western black rhino.
3) Appalachian wildman
a) Is it bigfoot? Or is it again a bigfoot relative or regional difference. Keep in the mind the appalachian wildman is known to be very aggressive.
4) Sasquatch
a) Is it bigfoot? Sasquatch are reported mostly in northern Canada in the vast tracts of boreal forest very scarcely populated by anyone, They are known to wreck hunting cabins, and through large rocks at said cabins when people are there.
5) Yeti
a) Is it bigfoot? or a relative? Or is it just a regional variant? Yeti is mostly only reported in the hindu Kush and the around the himalayas.
6) Gigantopithicus Blacki
a) Is it the genetic precursor to bigfoot? Dying out 100, 000 years ago in what is now vietnam, China, and India, Blacki was over 9ft tall looked like a cross between a human and a orangutan, with darkish fur. Reported to be still alive by some rural natives of southern asia, and some saying it isn't blacki but something just as tall and more upright. Is it bigfoot of southern asia.Keep in mind I am only interested in how you view and think about these things.
1a) Not really. The part of California I grew up in is not QUITE in prime Bigfoot territory. Most of my bigfoot fandom came from reading books and watching movies
2a) Yes.
3a) No.
4a) Sasquatch and bigfoot are the same thing.
5a) No.
6a) Perhaps.
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Creative Director
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Wow, it has been a long time since I've been here.
Anyway, do fiends ever feel any sort of camaraderie with others of their kind? Like, a demon that values some other demon for reasons other than usefulness.
They absolutely do. It's less common but they can feel camaraderie with other types of fiends as well. There isn't a big "blood war" type thing in Pathfinder where demons and devils always hate each other.
They absolutely do. It's less common but they can feel camaraderie with other types of fiends as well. There isn't a big "blood war" type thing in Pathfinder where demons and devils always hate each other.Wow, it has been a long time since I've been here.
Anyway, do fiends ever feel any sort of camaraderie with others of their kind? Like, a demon that values some other demon for reasons other than usefulness.
Cool! So it's NOT completely canon-breaking for a demon to meet someone whose face they don't want to murder to death.
... that was going somewhere, I know it.
EDIT with a question: Would a vampire keep, say, disastrous facial scars from before their transformation?
I'm talking Two-Face levels of scarring here.
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Creative Director
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Hey James did you know that origin of the word Thedas (the name of the continent from dragon age) come from the phrase THE Dragon Age Setting?
What do you think of the name Theps (THE Pathfinder Setting) as an alternative name for the Inner Sea?
I didn't know that's where it came from. And I wish I still didn't, kind of...
"Theps" sounds like an embarrassing disease you don't want others to know you have. "I can't let the world know I've got the theps!" I don't think it's a good name for Golarion at all, in other words.
Do the eyes of elves, half-elves, gnomes, and other races with low-light vision gleam with reflected light like those of cats?Sure!
Should they get a penalty to stealth because of that? Or those glowing night elf eyes?
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Is the in-house nomenclature to the setting "Golarion" "The Inner Sea" or "Chronicles"? The 3.5-early PF stuff referenced the setting as "Chronicles" a lot (for the obvious allusion to the in-world publication by the game's namesake organization) but I almost never see anyone refer to it that way.
"Golarion" seems to be most common (and is certainly where most of the action has taken place) but it is one of many planets in one particular plane of a much larger cosmology.
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Creative Director
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Is the in-house nomenclature to the setting "Golarion" "The Inner Sea" or "Chronicles"? The 3.5-early PF stuff referenced the setting as "Chronicles" a lot (for the obvious allusion to the in-world publication by the game's namesake organization) but I almost never see anyone refer to it that way.
"Golarion" seems to be most common (and is certainly where most of the action has taken place) but it is one of many planets in one particular plane of a much larger cosmology.
It's "Golarion."
We don't use "Golarion" more often in our titles because it's a made-up nonsense word and that tends to confuse buyers, retailers, and distributors—the people that exist between us making a book and you being able to buy it in a store.
"Inner Sea region" is something we use most often because it's on the cover of the main campaign setting, and thus buyers and retailers and distributors can figure it out.
We stopped using "Chronicles" more or less when we switched to Pathfinder from 3.5.
To He of the Many Sharp Teeth
What are Apsu's views on his non-dragon clergy using Bane(Dragon) weapons? Dragon hide armor? Maybe they're used against evil dragons? I've got a human cleric of Apsu and I want to make sure he doesn't piss off his god.
Have you read any of Kurt Busiek's Astro City comics?If yes,how do you like them?
(Personally, I consider The Tarnished Angel one of the best stories involving superhumans I've ever read)
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To He of the Many Sharp Teeth
What are Apsu's views on his non-dragon clergy using Bane(Dragon) weapons? Dragon hide armor? Maybe they're used against evil dragons? I've got a human cleric of Apsu and I want to make sure he doesn't piss off his god.
Same as a human deity using human bane weapons. It's not the weapon, it's how and who you use it on.
Sure, why not?EDIT with a question: Would a vampire keep, say, disastrous facial scars from before their transformation?
I'm talking Two-Face levels of scarring here.
Interesting! One of the NPCs in my own setting was a dhampir who had most of his face torn off in a fight before becoming a vampire. No amount of undead prettifying could fix the fact that he was missing everything between his eyes and his chin.
I even figured I'd give him a limited form of frightful presence because of that.
EDIT AND BACK AGAIN: Oh boy, this one's a doozy. Cuuuue CONTROVERSY!
How on earth does drow society cohere for even one second, never mind millennia?
Their culture is based around murder, betrayal, and senseless cruelty. They don’t have any true loyalty to each other, nor do they have one big badass master. The Monster Codex says civility and a caste system keeps them in check, but that honestly seems oxymoronic for a race that’s CHAOTIC evil.
This is one of the many things that bug me about drow. They’re horribly generic, often subject to clichés (drow characters are all either Drizzt or Allevrah), overpowered, and their society makes absolutely no sense to me.
To me, the chaotic evil alignment means completely barbaric (like most Redwall villains), dangerously insane (the Joker), Stupid Evil (Belkar Bitterleaf), or all of the above (Joffrey Baratheon).
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Any smaller differences?What's the big difference between the Lawful Evil embodied by Asmodeus and the Lawful Evil embodied by Zon-Kuthon?Asmodeus is less interesting.
Look at the differences between Nidal and Cheliax for one way. Zon-Kuthon's more controlling than Asmodeus, although Asmodeus mostly just gives you more rope to hang yourself with.
In my head-canon, at least, Zon-kuthon's evil is more inward focused on an individual level, whereas Asmodeus is more outward focused on a regional level. Again, look at Nidal vs. Cheliax. Nidal's probably the OLDEST nation in the region, but in the nearly 10 thousand years it's been around, it's not grown that huge or powerful, whereas Cheliax under Asmodeus' influence has become one of the superpowers of the Inner Sea region in less than a century. But that said, Nidal is the stronger nation overall, with less of a chance of ripping itself apart or being crushed by enemies that surround it.
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EDIT AND BACK AGAIN: Oh boy, this one's a doozy. Cuuuue CONTROVERSY!
How on earth does drow society cohere for even one second, never mind millennia?
Their culture is based around murder, betrayal, and senseless cruelty. They don’t have any true loyalty to each other, nor do they have one big badass master. The Monster Codex says civility and a caste system keeps them in check, but that honestly seems oxymoronic for a race that’s CHAOTIC evil.
This is one of the many things that bug me about drow. They’re horribly generic, often subject to clichés (drow characters are all either Drizzt or Allevrah), overpowered, and their society makes absolutely no sense to me.
To me, the chaotic evil alignment means completely barbaric (like most Redwall villains), dangerously insane (the Joker), Stupid Evil (Belkar Bitterleaf), or all of the above (Joffrey Baratheon).
Chaotic evil does not AT ALL mean completely barbaric. It can certainly include that trait, but so can chaotic good and chaotic neutral. Drow culture is also based on fear, intimidation, and power—and that means that those without the power are not empowered enough to stand up. It's a nation of bullies, more or less, who rule a nation of cowards.
You can be civil and chaotic, just as you can be lawful and disruptive. I mean... just look at how the average paladin is disruptive to the average party of adventurers.
I don't think drow are "horribly generic" at all. The fact that Allevrah's got the history she does makes her REALLY rather unique, in my opinion. Plus, the fact that drow society is a mirror of demon lord society helps to bring them in a direction other than the Forgotten Realms one, where they're really just all worshipers of one deity who has some lesser minions.
In the end, it's a matter of perspective and opinion, I guess. To me, the mustache-twirling sign-on-the-dotted-line evil of devils is kinda boring and cliche, and I find endless variety and inspiration for villainy among chaotic evil foes like drow or demons.
Hmm...
Really, the same kinds of issues plague the antipaladin class. The expectation is that you're this marauding force of mindless destruction; hell, one of the Monster Codex entries (specifically the ogre destroyer) points this out. And the Hell's Vengeance antipaladin didn't exactly give me anything different to believe either.
Basically: you say antipaladin, I think Gregor Clegane.
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Hmm...
Really, the same kinds of issues plague the antipaladin class. The expectation is that you're this marauding force of mindless destruction; hell, one of the Monster Codex entries (specifically the ogre destroyer) points this out. And the Hell's Vengeance antipaladin didn't exactly give me anything different to believe either.
Basically: you say antipaladin, I think Gregor Clegane.
Antipaladins are, to me, exactly what you describe. That doesn't mean that everyone who is chaotic evil has to behave that way. Nor does everyone who is lawful good have to behave like a paladin.
Personally, I'm not a fan at all of the "lawful evil antipaladin." That whole role is better served, in my opinion, by playing a lawful evil cleric, a lawful evil ranger, a lawful evil warpriest, a lawful evil oracle, or a lawful evil inquisitor.
Would any evil races be particularly fond of the medium or spiritualist classes?
I imagine that any chaotic creature would chafe under the spirits' taboos and influences, and from what I understand of phantoms, they're connected to their spiritualist in some way; Estra's phantom is her husband, but it seems like it'd make sense for family or dear friends to become phantoms. Evil races (lawful or chaotic) tend not to have those, from my understanding; just people who are useful or tolerable.
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Any smaller differences?What's the big difference between the Lawful Evil embodied by Asmodeus and the Lawful Evil embodied by Zon-Kuthon?Asmodeus is less interesting.Look at the differences between Nidal and Cheliax for one way. Zon-Kuthon's more controlling than Asmodeus, although Asmodeus mostly just gives you more rope to hang yourself with.
In my head-canon, at least, Zon-kuthon's evil is more inward focused on an individual level, whereas Asmodeus is more outward focused on a regional level. Again, look at Nidal vs. Cheliax. Nidal's probably the OLDEST nation in the region, but in the nearly 10 thousand years it's been around, it's not grown that huge or powerful, whereas Cheliax under Asmodeus' influence has become one of the superpowers of the Inner Sea region in less than a century. But that said, Nidal is the stronger nation overall, with less of a chance of ripping itself apart or being crushed by enemies that surround it.
That makes a lot of sense. Thank you! (And you're right, Zon-Kuthon IS the more interesting of the two. XD )
What's the major differences between the philosophies of Hosseter and Jubbanich? We have object lessons of how their ideas worked (Andoran), or didn't work (Galt), but they're so often paired when mentioned that I'm not sure if they were collaborators (like how Marx and Engels co-wrote The Communist Manifesto) or if their works just happened to coincide.
Moving away from all things CE…
What happens if Awaken is cast on enough creatures to constitute a swarm? How do class levels interact with swarm traits?
How long would you say pseudodragons live? I can't seem to find it anywhere.
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Creative Director
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Would any evil races be particularly fond of the medium or spiritualist classes?
I imagine that any chaotic creature would chafe under the spirits' taboos and influences, and from what I understand of phantoms, they're connected to their spiritualist in some way; Estra's phantom is her husband, but it seems like it'd make sense for family or dear friends to become phantoms. Evil races (lawful or chaotic) tend not to have those, from my understanding; just people who are useful or tolerable.
I'm not familiar enough with the medium or spiritualist classes actual class abilities to say.
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What's the major differences between the philosophies of Hosseter and Jubbanich? We have object lessons of how their ideas worked (Andoran), or didn't work (Galt), but they're so often paired when mentioned that I'm not sure if they were collaborators (like how Marx and Engels co-wrote The Communist Manifesto) or if their works just happened to coincide.
I have no idea what you're talking about now.
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Moving away from all things CE…
What happens if Awaken is cast on enough creatures to constitute a swarm? How do class levels interact with swarm traits?
That's so far beyond the scope of established rules that you'd have to work with your GM to figure out what would happen. Personally, I wouldn't let it happen. Awaken grants something individuality and personality, which is the EXACT OPPOSITE of what an individual component of a swarm is all about.
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How long would you say pseudodragons live? I can't seem to find it anywhere.
My general rule of thumb for something like that where there's not an implication one way or the other at all in any of the abilities or flavor text is to assume they live as long as a human. Give or take a decade.
Hmm...
Really, the same kinds of issues plague the antipaladin class. The expectation is that you're this marauding force of mindless destruction; hell, one of the Monster Codex entries (specifically the ogre destroyer) points this out. And the Hell's Vengeance antipaladin didn't exactly give me anything different to believe either.
Basically: you say antipaladin, I think Gregor Clegane.
Antipaladins are, to me, exactly what you describe. That doesn't mean that everyone who is chaotic evil has to behave that way. Nor does everyone who is lawful good have to behave like a paladin.
Personally, I'm not a fan at all of the "lawful evil antipaladin." That whole role is better served, in my opinion, by playing a lawful evil cleric, a lawful evil ranger, a lawful evil warpriest, a lawful evil oracle, or a lawful evil inquisitor.
Why doesn't the same argument apply to the anti-paladin, or for that matter, the paladin herself for the good side of this dicussion?
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Creative Director
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Why doesn't the same argument apply to the anti-paladin, or for that matter, the paladin herself?Hmm...
Really, the same kinds of issues plague the antipaladin class. The expectation is that you're this marauding force of mindless destruction; hell, one of the Monster Codex entries (specifically the ogre destroyer) points this out. And the Hell's Vengeance antipaladin didn't exactly give me anything different to believe either.
Basically: you say antipaladin, I think Gregor Clegane.
Antipaladins are, to me, exactly what you describe. That doesn't mean that everyone who is chaotic evil has to behave that way. Nor does everyone who is lawful good have to behave like a paladin.
Personally, I'm not a fan at all of the "lawful evil antipaladin." That whole role is better served, in my opinion, by playing a lawful evil cleric, a lawful evil ranger, a lawful evil warpriest, a lawful evil oracle, or a lawful evil inquisitor.
That same argument absolutely DOES apply to them. I'm not a fan of the paladin (it's my least favorite core class) or the antipaladin either.
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What's the major differences between the philosophies of Hosseter and Jubbanich? We have object lessons of how their ideas worked (Andoran), or didn't work (Galt), but they're so often paired when mentioned that I'm not sure if they were collaborators (like how Marx and Engels co-wrote The Communist Manifesto) or if their works just happened to coincide.I have no idea what you're talking about now.
The guys who wrote On Government and Imperial Betrayal, which inspired Galt and Andoran to rebel against House Thrune.
Same as a human deity using human bane weapons. It's not the weapon, it's how and who you use it on.To He of the Many Sharp Teeth
What are Apsu's views on his non-dragon clergy using Bane(Dragon) weapons? Dragon hide armor? Maybe they're used against evil dragons? I've got a human cleric of Apsu and I want to make sure he doesn't piss off his god.
Much thanks, Mightysaurus! Your reply makes me happy!
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Creative Director
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The guys who wrote On Government and Imperial Betrayal, which inspired Galt and Andoran to rebel against House Thrune.What's the major differences between the philosophies of Hosseter and Jubbanich? We have object lessons of how their ideas worked (Andoran), or didn't work (Galt), but they're so often paired when mentioned that I'm not sure if they were collaborators (like how Marx and Engels co-wrote The Communist Manifesto) or if their works just happened to coincide.I have no idea what you're talking about now.
Ah. I have no idea what their major differences are. I've done pretty much ZERO work on Galt and Andoran beyond what was is in print in the Inner Sea World Guide. There may be more about it in the Andoran book, but I wasn't involved in that book and don't know off the top of my head what it contains.
Hmm... which occult classes did you work on?
And as far as the spiritualist and medium, who'd know more about those two?
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Question: while recently catching up on the Critical Role webshow (basically a bunch of voice actors playing through what started out as their home D&D campaign, shifting to 5E from PF), I saw one of the special episodes, the one based off We Be Goblins. I was wondering, have you seen it, or watched it as it happened? I think there were gifts and such done between the show and Paizo as part of it, so I'm curious about how aware you were that they did it.
(It was, needless to say, quite funny.)
I haven't seen it, but if it's the one I think it was, Erik went down to LA to watch them film it.
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Creative Director
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What's the strangest thing you've ever eaten?
Hmm. Probably a grasshopper or larva or something; in an entomology class I took in college about 22 years ago the professor did a class about insects as food sources and brought in some insects for everyone to try. It tasted not bad. And I got an A in that class, so it was worth it!
I probably already know the answer to this, but Does Youthful Appearance (And thus also Wizened) alter voice at all? Or does the person still sound like a 60 year old (Or 4 year old)?
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/y/youthful-appearance
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Creative Director
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I probably already know the answer to this, but Does Youthful Appearance (And thus also Wizened) alter voice at all? Or does the person still sound like a 60 year old (Or 4 year old)?
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/y/youthful-appearance
It's a polymorph effect, so it physical changes you, so the physical biological elements that make your voice change as well. So yes, you sound young.