Can a person who casts Gaseous Form on themselves choose to dismiss it early even though they can't make somatic actions?
Contributor
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I'm looking to add more Dominion of the Black content to my Iron Gods and Wrath of the Righteous games. I know you're very proud of Lords of Madness, so...
Is there any content from that book you would recommend for use for the Dominion? I'm planning on bringing in mind flayers, and I'm considering the tsochari. Beholders don't feel like a Dominion race to me. Anything else I should be looking at?
Thank you! ^_^
RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
|
What is the shape of a skane's blade (you know, the multipurpose ceremonial daggers of Pharasma's faithful)?Somewhat curved, sort of like a portion of a crescent moon. At least, until someone somewhere goes ahead and illustrates it without checking in with me first, which is probably what will eventually happen.
Kind of like this one?
Have you tried the Pathfinder Adventures game from Obsidian?
If so do you like it?
I've never played the physical version but I like the game.
Especially the story mode where you get to see RotR from the Iconics view. I like how they react :-)
Which brings me to:
I don't know much about the Iconics, so forgive me if this is common knowledge:
Is there a romantic relationship between Kyra & Merisiel? Or is it deep friendship?
Cheers
How would you go about creating a high-CR swarm? Like, CR 15.
See, I'm making a race of lawful neutral outsiders for my own setting, the librarians (they're devoted to knowledge), and the improved familiar is basically the baby version. They attend classes in the hundreds or thousands.
And when violent enemies come in, they panic, making a disastrous mess out of everything.
Yes, it's a CR 15 swarm of CR 2 creatures.
|
I know pesh is the big trade in Katapesh (it gave the domain its name for crying out loud!), but how easy or hard is it to get into the business? Could someone grow and sell their own to the city, or would the Pactmasters crush such a business to maintain their monopoly? Or is it more along the lines of "running a pesh farm/distillery and running a pesh den/lounge are two separate businesses?"Not something we've really covered, but you can probably look at real-world historical opium business practices and use that as a model.
I think there's a pesh farm detailed in the first or second chapter of Legacy of Fire, but that could just be me remembering one of our rogue's 'municipal development projects' when I ran that game... lol
Follow up: There's huge variations on the description and effects of pesh in about half a dozen sourcebooks so far... some describe it as something that nobles and rich people do (refined pesh especially), but some other descriptions list frightful effects that no 'nobles and rich' people would ever subject themselves to (i.e. 'paranoia and enhanced aggressiveness' are definitely not in the realm of a 'cool' or 'high class' thing to do)
Which version of pesh is the most official one at this time, and which book describes it? Thanks!
Creative Director
|
Can a person who casts Gaseous Form on themselves choose to dismiss it early even though they can't make somatic actions?
The spell's duration has a (D) in it, so of course they can dismiss it on themselves.
|
Creative Director
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I'm looking to add more Dominion of the Black content to my Iron Gods and Wrath of the Righteous games. I know you're very proud of Lords of Madness, so...
Is there any content from that book you would recommend for use for the Dominion? I'm planning on bringing in mind flayers, and I'm considering the tsochari. Beholders don't feel like a Dominion race to me. Anything else I should be looking at?
Thank you! ^_^
With the way we've tied the neothelids to the Elder Mythos, it makes sense that mind flayers in Pathfinder should also be chaotic evil and associated with the Elder Mythos as well, which makes them squarely enemies of the Dominion of the Black and sets them up with a VERY different niche and role in the game. If you want your mind flayers to behave more classically, you should consider switching Neothelids back to lawful evil and scrubbing out the Elder Mythos ties for them, which would result in a vastly different Denebrum if that plays a role in your game. But if you do this, then mind flayers make a great addition to the Dominion of the Black.
Of the races in Lords of Madness, I think that Neogi make for the most natural addition to the Dominion of the Black, since their history in the game is of a "bad guy space alien race." Grells work well also, I think, as would psurlons. I never actually had the chance to read up on the Tsochar but they look pretty Dominion-friendly too at first glance, although you might want to consider that they kinda step on intellect devourer toes, which are established as Dominion agents.
|
Creative Director
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
What is your general opinion on how to buff AP bosses for larger than 4 parties or parties that are just particularly good in what they are doing and want a little more challenge? Like, just buffing them statistically, or is it okay giving them abilities they didn't originally have?
Give the bosses maximum hit points and the ability to go twice in a round, as if they had the mythic dual initiative ability. And give them a few more relatively powerful minions to help out in the fight.
|
Creative Director
|
Kind of like this one?What is the shape of a skane's blade (you know, the multipurpose ceremonial daggers of Pharasma's faithful)?Somewhat curved, sort of like a portion of a crescent moon. At least, until someone somewhere goes ahead and illustrates it without checking in with me first, which is probably what will eventually happen.
Curved the other direction.
|
Creative Director
|
James, JAMES, JAMES!, have you seen this yet?
I know about it but haven't watched the trailer because I know I'm getting it already and don't need spoilers.
|
Creative Director
|
Have you tried the Pathfinder Adventures game from Obsidian?
If so do you like it?
I've never played the physical version but I like the game.
Especially the story mode where you get to see RotR from the Iconics view. I like how they react :-)Which brings me to:
I don't know much about the Iconics, so forgive me if this is common knowledge:
Is there a romantic relationship between Kyra & Merisiel? Or is it deep friendship?Cheers
I have not tried it; I keep forgetting to download it. I have read all of the dialogue for the game though as part of my job as Creative Director, and the dialogue is really fun! I particularly like Merisiel and Kyra's interactions, Valeros and Lem's interactions, and Lini is just awesome all the way through.
Merisiel and Kyra are in a romantic relationship. We'd revealed that years ago here on the boards, but wanted to wait until we had a chance to tell that story in print to "officially" reveal it. So we did in the first comic book series.
|
Creative Director
|
How would you go about creating a high-CR swarm? Like, CR 15.
See, I'm making a race of lawful neutral outsiders for my own setting, the librarians (they're devoted to knowledge), and the improved familiar is basically the baby version. They attend classes in the hundreds or thousands.
And when violent enemies come in, they panic, making a disastrous mess out of everything.
Yes, it's a CR 15 swarm of CR 2 creatures.
I would go about it the same way I go about building any CR 15 monster. Swarms are easier to build as high CR threats anyway because of their potent defenses. I've never really understood why we keep building low CR swarms since we've got most of the basics covered. We've done a few examples of high CR swarms if you want to see some in action; check out the plague swarms in Bestiary 5 as examples.
|
Creative Director
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Where do worshippers of Gozreh go when they die?
Some might go to the Elemental Planes or the First World, but the ones who are the most loyal would likely join him in her realm here on the Material Plane. They'd still be petitioners (and not native outsider petitioners), but might just even merge with Gozreh as part of the natural world.
|
Creative Director
|
I know pesh is the big trade in Katapesh (it gave the domain its name for crying out loud!), but how easy or hard is it to get into the business? Could someone grow and sell their own to the city, or would the Pactmasters crush such a business to maintain their monopoly? Or is it more along the lines of "running a pesh farm/distillery and running a pesh den/lounge are two separate businesses?"Not something we've really covered, but you can probably look at real-world historical opium business practices and use that as a model.I think there's a pesh farm detailed in the first or second chapter of Legacy of Fire, but that could just be me remembering one of our rogue's 'municipal development projects' when I ran that game... lol
Follow up: There's huge variations on the description and effects of pesh in about half a dozen sourcebooks so far... some describe it as something that nobles and rich people do (refined pesh especially), but some other descriptions list frightful effects that no 'nobles and rich' people would ever subject themselves to (i.e. 'paranoia and enhanced aggressiveness' are definitely not in the realm of a 'cool' or 'high class' thing to do)
Which version of pesh is the most official one at this time, and which book describes it? Thanks!
When there are contradictions in canon, any information in the Inner Sea World Guide should ALWAYS take precedence. BUT given the fact that the drug helped Katapesh get its name, it's illogical that the people who rule that land (and thus get to make decisions like "what do we call our nation and biggest city?") would name things after something they would never subject themselves to. AKA: Pesh is something that links the rich and poor. Both do it, but the WAY they do it varies.
|
Creative Director
|
Obviously most mystic theurges follow Nethys, as his priests would be the most inclined to mix arcane casting with their divine casting, but does he have a MONOPOLY on them, or do clerics of other faiths take up the prestige class?
He doesn't even have CLOSE to a monopoly on them. Clerics of ALL faiths could in theory have mystic theurges.
Flumphs are goofy.
Has Adam Daigle ever cut you?
Do noble efreet, marids, and shaitans have increased ability scores? The Bestiary doesn't specify.
The spell's duration has a (D) in it, so of course they can dismiss it on themselves.
My group looked at me strange when I asked them too. Gaseous Form is completely dismissable if you cast it on someone else, there is no ambiguity there. The question was more whether you could make the 'gestures' required to dismiss gaseous form while you are in it.
While gaseous you can't make the verbal components for a spell, but can you speak at all?
While gaseous you can't make the somatic components for a spell, but can you gesture at all?
|
Inner Sea Races states that Kellids have dark hair that either grays prematurely or gains brighter patches or streaks from sun exposure.
Does this mean that Kellid hair is mostly black or brown, with no blondes or redheads, or does it mean that if said blondes or redheads exist, they tend towards darker versions of those colors?
|
Creative Director
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
The spell's duration has a (D) in it, so of course they can dismiss it on themselves.My group looked at me strange when I asked them too. Gaseous Form is completely dismissable if you cast it on someone else, there is no ambiguity there. The question was more whether you could make the 'gestures' required to dismiss gaseous form while you are in it.
While gaseous you can't make the verbal components for a spell, but can you speak at all?
While gaseous you can't make the somatic components for a spell, but can you gesture at all?
Nothing breaks the game if you allow folks to dismiss the spell when it's on them, and NOT allowing it to be dismissed makes the spell incredibly disadvantageous to the caster which is not the intent of the spell.
No need to parse out rules or get all semantic. Just let folks dismiss the spell. The game will thank you for your cooperation and common sense. As will I.
|
Creative Director
|
Inner Sea Races states that Kellids have dark hair that either grays prematurely or gains brighter patches or streaks from sun exposure.
Does this mean that Kellid hair is mostly black or brown, with no blondes or redheads, or does it mean that if said blondes or redheads exist, they tend towards darker versions of those colors?
Blondes and redheads exist, but aren't common enough to be mentioned in general text for the majority of Kellids. And those that do exist probably get their unusual hair color due to mixing of ethnicity among ancestors.
AKA: You can absolutely have a character with hair color that's different from what Inner Sea Races says is typical, but that'd be weird and noticeable and unique and would now and then invite comment from NPCs. Which, for PCs, is kinda what most players want anyway.
Are you familiar with the Complete Monster trope?
TV Tropes has only three characters who qualify in Pathfinder: Kazavon, Allevrah, and Szuriel. Are there any other characters that you, personally, think might fit into that category?
By the way, one of the people has this to say about things made of evil.
Characters who are Made of Evil are disqualified if they lack moral agency. If the character cannot choose to be anything other than evil, the character cannot count.
To pick an obvious example, in Tolkein's works, Melkor and Sauron were voted up because they chose to be what they are. Melkor invented the concept of evil in that universe, and Sauron signed on with him willingly. In contrast, Glaurung was voted down because he's a tool of Melkor's, bred and built to be little more than an enforcer of Melkor's will. The same goes for the other dragons, the orcs, trolls, etc. If you're standing far enough back from what Melkor's creations do—which admittedly has to be pretty damn far—it's even possible to feel bad for them, given how little choice they really have.
In another example, none of the demons in Pathfinder can qualify, because demons are, with rare exceptions, created from amalgamations of evil souls, and as such, cannot be said to truly have agency, or a say in their personality. The devils, as creations of Asmodeus, likewise lack a say in their own nature. Daemons, however, who form from individual evil souls can qualify, and indeed, the only evil deity from that setting to make the list is the greater daemon Szuriel, Horsewoman of War.
|
Creative Director
|
Are you familiar with the Complete Monster trope?
TV Tropes has only three characters who qualify in Pathfinder: Kazavon, Allevrah, and Szuriel. Are there any other characters that you, personally, think might fit into that category?
By the way, one of the people has this to say about things made of evil.
** spoiler omitted **
After looking that up online, as I suspected I am familiar with that trope but not that terminology for the trope's name.
Most of the fiendish lords (demon lords, Horsemen, archdevils) are complete monsters, if not all of them.
Not Dispater; he loves his wife. Not Flauros, either; consider Phengasma. Caring about someone or something other than yourself tends to disqualify you.
Aside from Allevrah and Kazavon, are there any mortal villains that you think qualify? I'm personally inclined toward Ileosa, Mokmurian and Nyrissa, but Complete Monster is a subjective trope for a reason.
JJ,
Any chance you could lean on the FAQ people to finally outright lay down the correct line for Bashing, Spiked Shields, and especially Klars?
They've managed to reprint the Klar wrong three times now. They are still haven't changed the 'shield with armor spikes' language, despite the fact you can't put armor spikes on shields.
They've moved it from a weapon that grants +1 Shield AC and can optionally be used to bash as a light spiked shield, to a type of shield. In doing so, they've opened up a whole can of worms, especially with Bashing now affecting the 'shield's' primary attack, making it a 2-12 19-20/x2 one handed weapon.
Since it counts as a light shield, it's now a light weapon when used to attack, not a one handed weapon.
It's just...argh.
I THINK this is what you intended:
-----------
The Klar was designed as a kind of odd weapon, a sword with a buckler attached to it with some spikes around it (lizard skulls with horns, yada, yada). So, shortsword damage with +1 shield ac, all in one tool. Not bad, like getting a buckler for free.
It does damage exactly as a short sword, and has the special ability that if you want to shield bash, and so use shield feats, you could do so, resulting in it doing damage like a spiked light shield, doing d4 20/x2, strictly inferior, but, hey, an option.
If you want to enhance the shield portion of it, that's fine, but it doesn't apply to the weapon part of the Klar, because weapons can't have shield enhancements.
If you want to enhance it as a weapon, you can, and it will affect all attacks, including bashing, because the shield portion of it is still a weapon.
----------------
As the guy who designed the weapon, I'd like to know if the above interpretation is what you intended.
Is there any way you can get the FAQ guys to put the whole argument to rest about spiked shields, Bashing, and the Klar for once and for all? It is probably the single heaviest combination of FAQ requests on the boards, and they still keep misprinting the klar!
|
Creative Director
|
Not Dispater; he loves his wife. Not Flauros, either; consider Phengasma. Caring about someone or something other than yourself tends to disqualify you.
Aside from Allevrah and Kazavon, are there any mortal villains that you think qualify? I'm personally inclined toward Ileosa, Mokmurian and Nyrissa, but Complete Monster is a subjective trope for a reason.
Sure; plenty. Barzillai Thrune from Hell's Rebels, for example.
|
Creative Director
|
| 5 people marked this as a favorite. |
JJ,
Any chance you could lean on the FAQ people to finally outright lay down the correct line for Bashing, Spiked Shields, and especially Klars?
They've managed to reprint the Klar wrong three times now. They are still haven't changed the 'shield with armor spikes' language, despite the fact you can't put armor spikes on shields.
They've moved it from a weapon that grants +1 Shield AC and can optionally be used to bash as a light spiked shield, to a type of shield. In doing so, they've opened up a whole can of worms, especially with Bashing now affecting the 'shield's' primary attack, making it a 2-12 19-20/x2 one handed weapon.
Since it counts as a light shield, it's now a light weapon when used to attack, not a one handed weapon.It's just...argh.
I THINK this is what you intended:
-----------
The Klar was designed as a kind of odd weapon, a sword with a buckler attached to it with some spikes around it (lizard skulls with horns, yada, yada). So, shortsword damage with +1 shield ac, all in one tool. Not bad, like getting a buckler for free.It does damage exactly as a short sword, and has the special ability that if you want to shield bash, and so use shield feats, you could do so, resulting in it doing damage like a spiked light shield, doing d4 20/x2, strictly inferior, but, hey, an option.
If you want to enhance the shield portion of it, that's fine, but it doesn't apply to the weapon part of the Klar, because weapons can't have shield enhancements.
If you want to enhance it as a weapon, you can, and it will affect all attacks, including bashing, because the shield portion of it is still a weapon.
----------------As the guy who designed the weapon, I'd like to know if the above interpretation is what you intended.
Is there any way you can get the FAQ guys to put the whole argument to rest about spiked shields, Bashing, and the Klar for once and for all? It is probably the single heaviest combination of FAQ requests on the boards, and they still keep misprinting the klar!
I'm not interested in setting a precedent for being being the customer's inside guy for browbeating FAQ rulings, regardless of whether or not I designed the klar in the first place. If you play in a home game, I'll talk about my preferences in MY home games for you to compare. If you play in PFS and are frustrated with the weapon's situation... play a different character who doesn't use that weapon and maybe perhaps consider that the actual problem is folks abusing the rules to such an extent that none of us can have nice things.
Is it ever excusable to not hold down the run button when playing a classic side-scrolling Mario game?
Have you tried the Pathfinder Adventures game from Obsidian?
If so do you like it?
I've never played the physical version but I like the game.
Especially the story mode where you get to see RotR from the Iconics view. I like how they react :-)Which brings me to:
I don't know much about the Iconics, so forgive me if this is common knowledge:
Is there a romantic relationship between Kyra & Merisiel? Or is it deep friendship?Cheers
I have not tried it; I keep forgetting to download it. I have read all of the dialogue for the game though as part of my job as Creative Director, and the dialogue is really fun! I particularly like Merisiel and Kyra's interactions, Valeros and Lem's interactions, and Lini is just awesome all the way through.
Merisiel and Kyra are in a romantic relationship. We'd revealed that years ago here on the boards, but wanted to wait until we had a chance to tell that story in print to "officially" reveal it. So we did in the first comic book series.
Cool, I'm really looking forward to when the rest of RotR becomes available in the game :-)
Shows how far I'm behind in knowledge about stuff like Merisiel and Kyra...
What about Valeros knowing Vale Temros? Is there more info on that?
Man, this really makes me want an RPG with full dialogue trees and choices set in Golarion, like Baldur's Gate.
Anything like that in the works?
|
Creative Director
|
If you play in a home game, I'll talk about my preferences in MY home games for you to compare.Follow up: our group exclusively play home games - can you please tell us your preferences for the khlar in your home games? thanks!
The intent of the klar is a shield that you can choose to stab with. In effect, you can get mostly the same type of effect by buying a short sword and a buckler, more or less. And there's no "h" in "klar."
|
Creative Director
|
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
Have you tried the Pathfinder Adventures game from Obsidian?
If so do you like it?
I've never played the physical version but I like the game.
Especially the story mode where you get to see RotR from the Iconics view. I like how they react :-)Which brings me to:
I don't know much about the Iconics, so forgive me if this is common knowledge:
Is there a romantic relationship between Kyra & Merisiel? Or is it deep friendship?Cheers
I have not tried it; I keep forgetting to download it. I have read all of the dialogue for the game though as part of my job as Creative Director, and the dialogue is really fun! I particularly like Merisiel and Kyra's interactions, Valeros and Lem's interactions, and Lini is just awesome all the way through.
Merisiel and Kyra are in a romantic relationship. We'd revealed that years ago here on the boards, but wanted to wait until we had a chance to tell that story in print to "officially" reveal it. So we did in the first comic book series.
Cool, I'm really looking forward to when the rest of RotR becomes available in the game :-)
Shows how far I'm behind in knowledge about stuff like Merisiel and Kyra...
What about Valeros knowing Vale Temros? Is there more info on that?
Man, this really makes me want an RPG with full dialogue trees and choices set in Golarion, like Baldur's Gate.
Anything like that in the works?
No more info about Valeros knowing Vale.
We have nothing announced for anything like a Baldur's Gate RPG for Golarion, but that's something I've wanted to see happen since the very first Golarion product about a decade ago. We'll see...
In Ancient Osirion, were there witch cults worshipping Mythos deities? If so, which deities would be likely to be represented?
Has Paizo approached or been approached by any big name game studios about such a BG style game?
Who would be your first choice? Not you the company, you the person, since obviously the company is influenced by you as CD, but may have other priorities.
I think Obsidian would be great.