Creative Director
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Hello, Mr. Jacobs!
I have a doubt about the Clustered Shots feat: It works only against damage reduction or works against creatures with hardness too?
Thank you! :)
That's a rules question and as such should be asked in the rules forums, or perhaps in the appropriate product where that feat first appeared, so that it can be tagged with a FAQ request if needed and thus so the design team can see it.
But frankly, from a common sense and logical in-world viewpoint, the effects of the feat should work identically whether it's against damage reduction or hardness on a target.
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Creative Director
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Have postal stamps been invented in Golarion yet? What is the state of Golarion's postal service network (if any) in general?
Nope. There's no centralized postal service, but there are certainly messengers and couriers, some of whom are parts of guilds, some of whom deliver messages by hand or by bird or by magic.
what would be required to create an area where Winterwolves can turn into humans like Redtooth and the Howlings within Whitethrone ?
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So uh, my Iron Gods party(who is mostly same as RotR party) continues same brilliance of "Hey, let's do something that combines all the encounters"!
Basically, they had taken care of power relay(BTW, do rules say anywhere officially how to recognize technological artifacts? I have no clue whether they can find out how it works) and gunslinger & savage technologist barbarian wanted to take two days off to craft guns for both of them and one of them was like "Its not like we have to hurry anymore now that Khonnir is save" and I was like "Do you remember what Sef & Gamren said?" which lead to one of players realizing "Wait a minute, we have the box, violet haired woman is probably still up there, we could wait them to come to us"
Now, they didn't actually think of staking out at warehouse, so following that logic, Meyanda will send out two orcs to scout the warehouse, they return inform her that power relay has been stolen and she locates it with locate object. They are planning to fortify/stake out at Foundry Tavern <_<
Soooo, uh, I'd imagine she would obviously take all her mooks(four half-orcs, 7 ratfolks, four thylacines) and the robot and gargoyle with her. There are six level 3 pcs, plus I'd imagine Khonnir would be willing to help them(his fireball might be their best chance at survival) but umm, I'm not sure if that is enough. They have been asking if they could ask Dolga and Joram to join them, but on the otherhand I'm kinda worried that would make it way too easy for them(plus they are old and councilors, so Khonnir might not want to risk lives of other people). On the otherhand, there ARE lots of mooks... So umm, help? :'D Should I allow them to recruit more npcs to help than Khonnir for the climax?
Questions about Ileosa, pre-Kazovan:
• Supposing she were replaced by a shapeshifting assassin (like a mezlan), what would be the best way to explain away the sudden lack of bard spells? “I ran out of hidden wands,” or something to that effect?
• How often did she use her bard spells?
• How likely would Sabina believe an impostor’s story? I’m guessing she’s pretty gullible towards Ileosa. What of Eodred? I’m guessing the same.
• How much control did Ileosa have over Eodred? How much did he have over her?
• How often did she have to put up with his…attentions? (Ick) How often was she able to spurn them? (Frequently, I hope.)
• How often was Ileosa able to leave the castle for whatever reason?
• Come to think of it, what could a mezlan impersonating Ileosa get away with in general? I ask in case you think of something that I didn’t.
Apology for the question dump, they all came at once. Thanks again, and in general. (I really should thank you more.)
Do you have some ideas or suggestions what kind of encounters a group could have on the Plane of Shadows (and/or using the Shadow Walk spell)?
There aren't really any plane-specific encounter tables as far as I can see, and information about the plane of shadows is scattered across several books with different priorities, which I kind of understand - the focus is mostly on Golarion, and even amongst planes the shadow plane is more of a backdrop. Still, how are the chances for some more information on it in the foreseeable future?
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Creative Director
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So uh, my Iron Gods party(who is mostly same as RotR party) continues same brilliance of "Hey, let's do something that combines all the encounters"!
Basically, they had taken care of power relay(BTW, do rules say anywhere officially how to recognize technological artifacts? I have no clue whether they can find out how it works) and gunslinger & savage technologist barbarian wanted to take two days off to craft guns for both of them and one of them was like "Its not like we have to hurry anymore now that Khonnir is save" and I was like "Do you remember what Sef & Gamren said?" which lead to one of players realizing "Wait a minute, we have the box, violet haired woman is probably still up there, we could wait them to come to us"
Now, they didn't actually think of staking out at warehouse, so following that logic, Meyanda will send out two orcs to scout the warehouse, they return inform her that power relay has been stolen and she locates it with locate object. They are planning to fortify/stake out at Foundry Tavern <_<
Soooo, uh, I'd imagine she would obviously take all her mooks(four half-orcs, 7 ratfolks, four thylacines) and the robot and gargoyle with her. There are six level 3 pcs, plus I'd imagine Khonnir would be willing to help them(his fireball might be their best chance at survival) but umm, I'm not sure if that is enough. They have been asking if they could ask Dolga and Joram to join them, but on the otherhand I'm kinda worried that would make it way too easy for them(plus they are old and councilors, so Khonnir might not want to risk lives of other people). On the otherhand, there ARE lots of mooks... So umm, help? :'D Should I allow them to recruit more npcs to help than Khonnir for the climax?
Rules for identifying technological artifacts are right in the front of the Technology Guide.
You could have any of the NPC bosses in town the PCs were working with express concern that the source of the problems is still somewhere in there, and if the PCs don't take that hint to go in and finish the adventure, then you probably should have them get jumped by a bunch of enemies... but not Meyanda. Set up the retaliation as her minions and then that should urge the PCs to get back in gear... or if they get overwhelmed, don't kill them off. Instead have them taken prisoner into the ruins and rebuild the adventure as a sort of prison escape.
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Creative Director
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Questions about Ileosa, pre-Kazovan:
• Supposing she were replaced by a shapeshifting assassin (like a mezlan), what would be the best way to explain away the sudden lack of bard spells? “I ran out of hidden wands,” or something to that effect?
• How often did she use her bard spells?
• How likely would Sabina believe an impostor’s story? I’m guessing she’s pretty gullible towards Ileosa. What of Eodred? I’m guessing the same.
• How much control did Ileosa have over Eodred? How much did he have over her?
• How often did she have to put up with his…attentions? (Ick) How often was she able to spurn them? (Frequently, I hope.)
• How often was Ileosa able to leave the castle for whatever reason?
• Come to think of it, what could a mezlan impersonating Ileosa get away with in general? I ask in case you think of something that I didn’t.
Apology for the question dump, they all came at once. Thanks again, and in general. (I really should thank you more.)
• Bluff checks, especially since if this happens before Crimson Throne, what Ileosa's class is will be largely irrelevant anyway.
• Often enough that folks knew she was a bard.
• Unlikely. She's not gullible to Ileosa; she's very close to her, and she's the most likely to notice if she's been replaced. Something more subtle, like the influence of an evil like Kazavon, is SUPER subtle, and by its nature capable of tricking even your closest allies and friends. That's kind of the point of it. Not that Sabina is "gullible" but that the influence of Kazavon is that tricky.
• Enough.
• Up to you, but probably not often.
• Whenever she wanted.
• That's an entirely different adventure path, and frankly not as interesting as actually having it be the real Ileosa. But if you wanted to run with that adventure instead, what the mezlan could get away with is up to you and your PCs.
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Creative Director
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Do you have some ideas or suggestions what kind of encounters a group could have on the Plane of Shadows (and/or using the Shadow Walk spell)?
There aren't really any plane-specific encounter tables as far as I can see, and information about the plane of shadows is scattered across several books with different priorities, which I kind of understand - the focus is mostly on Golarion, and even amongst planes the shadow plane is more of a backdrop. Still, how are the chances for some more information on it in the foreseeable future?
Check out the adventure "Midnight Mirror" for some shadow plane stuff.
Rules for identifying technological artifacts are right in the front of the Technology Guide.
That's not quite true.
The DC to correctly identify and understand an unknown technological object is equal to the object’s Craft DC.
But of course the Technology Guide doesn't provide Craft DCs for artifacts, so you can't calculate this value. A quick scan found 35 as the highest DC for published items. What do you think would be appropriate for artifacts, 40-50 depending on how closely they resemble something more common?
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Yeah, that craft dc thing is why I'm confused about it since they don't have one x-x; I keep thinking I missed it somewhere but can't find it
Just to note, they ARE aware that she is there, they just want to ambush the bbeg instead of otherway around since they realized they have something that is for some reason important for her. But yeah, I'll think that prisoner idea is good if they do end up being overwhelmed :'D
How often did she have to put up with his…attentions? (Ick) How often was she able to spurn them? (Frequently, I hope.)Up to you, but probably not often.
The first question (attentions), or the second one (spurning)?
Which reminds me, is there any reason a king wouldn't go for cosmetic "surgery" via polymorph any object?
Back to Sabina, what did she see in Ileosa?
That's an entirely different adventure path, and frankly not as interesting as actually having it be the real Ileosa. But if you wanted to run with that adventure instead, what the mezlan could get away with is up to you and your PCs.
Adventure path? The mezlan's the protagonist.
Something else I've been meaning to ask you: you tend to give Doylist answers rather than Watsonian ones. Why is that?
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Creative Director
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How often did she have to put up with his…attentions? (Ick) How often was she able to spurn them? (Frequently, I hope.)Up to you, but probably not often.The first question (attentions), or the second one (spurning)?
Which reminds me, is there any reason a king wouldn't go for cosmetic "surgery" via polymorph any object?
That's an entirely different adventure path, and frankly not as interesting as actually having it be the real Ileosa. But if you wanted to run with that adventure instead, what the mezlan could get away with is up to you and your PCs.Adventure path? The mezlan's the protagonist.
Something else I've been meaning to ask you: you tend to give Doylist answers rather than Watsonian ones. Why is that?
Not often, and she was relatively easily able to spurn him. He was a feeble old man.
Pride and the cost for one. And another being there might not be someone available to cast the spell. And who said he was displeased with his appearance in the first place?
I give Doylist answers because the nature of a tabletop RPG is that the story doesn't belong to only the author. It belongs to the GM and the party as well. So I can only answer for what I, the author could say; what happens "in world" is ultimately up to someone else.
Have you seen The Strain.
Would you recommend it.
I give Doylist answers because the nature of a tabletop RPG is that the story doesn't belong to only the author. It belongs to the GM and the party as well. So I can only answer for what I, the author could say; what happens "in world" is ultimately up to someone else.
Ah; whereas I'm thinking in fanfic terms.
What did Sabina see in Ileosa?
Which Game of Thrones character(s) would you say Ileosa's most similar to? I'm getting a strong Cersei+Joffrey vibe here.
Did Ileosa get any of her magic items from the castle treasury?
Compared to 215K that was left in the Sunken Queen, how much was in the treasury, anyway?
Would one of the coffins in the castle crypt be a good place to hide a body? How often did people go there anyway?
Do you like Indiana Jones.
If so, which one is your favorite. :-)
Have a great weekend!
Did the Groundhog see it's shadow in Seattle.
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Creative Director
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Have you seen The Strain.
Would you recommend it.
I read the first two books and enjoyed them. Haven't had a chance to really get into the 3rd book yet.
I saw the first two episodes of the show and the casting kinda ruined it for me; not a fan of the actors they chose for most of the roles, particularly the role for the main character, and the overall feel and pacing wasn't that catchy to me. I do not recommend it.
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Creative Director
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I give Doylist answers because the nature of a tabletop RPG is that the story doesn't belong to only the author. It belongs to the GM and the party as well. So I can only answer for what I, the author could say; what happens "in world" is ultimately up to someone else.Ah; whereas I'm thinking in fanfic terms.
What did Sabina see in Ileosa?
Which Game of Thrones character(s) would you say Ileosa's most similar to? I'm getting a strong Cersei+Joffrey vibe here.
Did Ileosa get any of her magic items from the castle treasury?
Compared to 215K that was left in the Sunken Queen, how much was in the treasury, anyway?
Would one of the coffins in the castle crypt be a good place to hide a body? How often did people go there anyway?
I'm not really getting into the idea of helping someone create fanfic. Not because I don't enjoy it or don't approve of it—I love the idea that folks are writing fan fiction of our stuff, because that means we've inspired creativity. But it's not really fan fiction once someone asks so many questions of the source that it starts to feel like a collaboration.
What Sabina sees in Ielosa is her beauty, her self-confidence, her power, her elegance, and her strong personality.
Ileosa is probably the most similar to Cersei. Not so much Joffrey, who was a lot more sadistic than her; she's more manipulative and capable of violent outbursts but prefers not to do that because it's unseemly.
As for the treasury... whatever works for you. It's irrelevant for the most part for the campaign and the game itself doesn't really get into the details of "How much gold does a city need to function," mostly because the game's economy is built from the ground up to function in game terms for equipping player characters and not so much in simulating economic issues in the world. That's why we went a bit more abstract for that stuff in the kingdom building rules.
Folks went into the crypt not too often, but often enough that they'd notice a dead body or blood. Hiding a body inside a coffin or sarcophagus would work well though, since they don't check in coffins pretty much EVER unless there's a reason to.
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Creative Director
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Do you like Indiana Jones.
If so, which one is your favorite. :-)
Have a great weekend!
Love Raiders of the Lost Ark. It's my favorite.
Second favorite is the Last Crusade.
Third favorite is Temple of Doom.
The fourth one is terrible in my opinion; I've seen it once and unlike the other three I have no interest in ever watching it more than once, and I actually regret seeing it even that once.
1. A..few pages back now? you mentioned not caring for Princess Bride. That made me wonder. Do you have any particular favorite 80's fantasy movie?
2. On a related note, are there any post 2010 fantasies movies you have enjoyed?
3. Are there any particular horror subgenre films you think are under-represented nowadays that used to be more common? Basically what types of horror movie do you think they don't make enough of anymore (or ever?)
4. Given permission by the author/ author's estate, are there any post Lovecraft authors who you would love to mine for bestiary entries.
5. Also, is there any particular copyrighted literature monster(s) that stand out to you immediately that you would most want to adapt for Pathfinder?
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Creative Director
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1. A..few pages back now? you mentioned not caring for Princess Bride. That made me wonder. Do you have any particular favorite 80's fantasy movie?
2. On a related note, are there any post 2010 fantasies movies you have enjoyed?
3. Are there any particular horror subgenre films you think are under-represented nowadays that used to be more common? Basically what types of horror movie do you think they don't make enough of anymore (or ever?)
4. Given permission by the author/ author's estate, are there any post Lovecraft authors who you would love to mine for bestiary entries.
5. Also, is there any particular copyrighted literature monster(s) that stand out to you immediately that you would most want to adapt for Pathfinder?
1: Conan the Barbarian
2: Yes.
3: Cosmic horror.
4: Of course.
5: Most of the monsters in movies I love.
FLYING TURTLE INCOMING.
Did you see the Gamera trilogy of the 1990s? What did you make of the mythology invented for it?
Did you see Gamera: The Brave? If so, did you enjoy it?
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Creative Director
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FLYING TURTLE INCOMING.
Did you see the Gamera trilogy of the 1990s? What did you make of the mythology invented for it?
Did you see Gamera: The Brave? If so, did you enjoy it?
I did. Loved the 1990s trilogy; excellent movies and I loved how it recast Gamera into a more mature storyline.
Wasn't fond of Gamera the Brave. Forgettable film.
What do you make of the marketing materials for the new Gamera film? I haven't seen it- but the trailers looked quite dark.
Do Abadar and his priesthood bear any grudge against Hauster due to the King in Yellow's association with the corruptive city of Carcosa?
Thanks as always for answering our questions. Also, though it is many years after the fact, that you for all of the love and effort you put into Fiendish Codex 1. I've been digging back into it for my Planescape campaign, and it is making my life so enjoyable.
1. A..few pages back now? you mentioned not caring for Princess Bride. That made me wonder. Do you have any particular favorite 80's fantasy movie?
2. On a related note, are there any post 2010 fantasies movies you have enjoyed?
3. Are there any particular horror subgenre films you think are under-represented nowadays that used to be more common? Basically what types of horror movie do you think they don't make enough of anymore (or ever?)
4. Given permission by the author/ author's estate, are there any post Lovecraft authors who you would love to mine for bestiary entries.
5. Also, is there any particular copyrighted literature monster(s) that stand out to you immediately that you would most want to adapt for Pathfinder?
1: Conan the Barbarian
2: Yes.
3: Cosmic horror.
4: Of course.
5: Most of the monsters in movies I love.
Okay...obvious follow up questions
1. What are some recent fantasy movies you enjoyed?
2. Who are some authors who have created monsters that you have enjoyed?
3. What are some monsters that you would like to adapt directly but are not likely to be able to do so, or at least do so in the near future?
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Creative Director
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Do Abadar and his priesthood bear any grudge against Hauster due to the King in Yellow's association with the corruptive city of Carcosa?
Thanks as always for answering our questions. Also, though it is many years after the fact, that you for all of the love and effort you put into Fiendish Codex 1. I've been digging back into it for my Planescape campaign, and it is making my life so enjoyable.
That's a complex question. Abadar's not good, remember, and he promotes cities and civilization, and like it or not Carcosa is certainly a city and a civilization. That said, his priesthood would certainly oppose any threat to cities, including something like Carcosa... but it's generally far too subtle and sneaky a threat for most worshipers of Abadar to notice.
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Creative Director
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Okay...obvious follow up questions1. What are some recent fantasy movies you enjoyed?
2. Who are some authors who have created monsters that you have enjoyed?
3. What are some monsters that you would like to adapt directly but are not likely to be able to do so, or at least do so in the near future?
1) Looking at fantasy movies/shows from the past 10 years only as "recent"...
Game of Thrones.That's pretty much it, frankly. Pretty much all the other movies that come close, like Pan's Labyrinth or Trollhunter or Ragnarok are too linked to the real world to be of the proper "fantasy" genre I think we're talking about.
2) First 10 to come to mind:
H. P. Lovecraft.
Robert E. Howard.
Stephen King.
Clive Barker.
Clark Ashton Smith.
Jeff Long.
Ramsey Campbell.
Jeff van der Meer.
Joseph Payne Brennan.
Dan Simmons.
3) First 5 to come to mind:
The Alien from "Alien."
The Thing from "The Thing."
The monsters from "The Mist."
The monster from "The Host."
Godzilla and the other Toho kaiju.
Hello, Mr. Jacobs.
I've heard that you are a great fan of H.P. Lovecraft. What is your favourite story? I really love "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" ¿What do you think about it?
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Creative Director
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Hello, Mr. Jacobs.
I've heard that you are a great fan of H.P. Lovecraft. What is your favourite story? I really love "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward" ¿What do you think about it?
That's a fun story, certainly. It was the first significant Lovecreaft story I read (preceded only by The Moon Bog). My favorite, though, is "At the Mountains of Madness."
Can a creature with flying speed take a 5-foot step upwards?
Considering that it does have a flying speed (which allows 5-foot steps) and that flying upwards costs double your movement.
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Creative Director
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Yay! What weapons do you prefer to use? Favourite moment so far?Yup. Been playing it since day one. It's quite fun.Oh, I've read The Moon Bog (I think it was The Moon Bog) and liked it.
Question! Have you heard of/interested in Nioh?
Single sword.
Seeing all these classic yokai all animated and dangerous.
I've been reading some of the AP's to brush up on my lore, and I had a question come to mind, a couple of them. I know you have repeatedly hinted your interest in an AP involving both Nocticula's redemption and godhood, and revisiting Sorshen.
1: Are Nocticula and Sorshen related, either by blood, marriage, or romance?
2: How recognizable is Sorshen around Golarion?
2a: Considering the trap in room K1 of Curse of the Lady's Light, what additional consequences could there be if the character went to Korsova?
3: How would Sorshen herself respond to an adventurer in her clone body following her footsteps?
4: How far in advanced are APs planned? At the time of this writing, Strange Aeons has finished, Ironfang Invasion is coming next, and Ruins of Azlant has been announced, taking us into Feb 2018. How many APs are there between what's shipping to stores in March and what's on the whiteboard in your office?
I heard you like game of thrones. Have you checked the Song of Ice and Fire RPG by Green Ronin?
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Creative Director
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I've been reading some of the AP's to brush up on my lore, and I had a question come to mind, a couple of them. I know you have repeatedly hinted your interest in an AP involving both Nocticula's redemption and godhood, and revisiting Sorshen.
1: Are Nocticula and Sorshen related, either by blood, marriage, or romance?
2: How recognizable is Sorshen around Golarion?
2a: Considering the trap in room K1 of Curse of the Lady's Light, what additional consequences could there be if the character went to Korsova?
3: How would Sorshen herself respond to an adventurer in her clone body following her footsteps?
4: How far in advanced are APs planned? At the time of this writing, Strange Aeons has finished, Ironfang Invasion is coming next, and Ruins of Azlant has been announced, taking us into Feb 2018. How many APs are there between what's shipping to stores in March and what's on the whiteboard in your office?
1) Nope.
2) Not at all.
2a) Pretty much none.
3) Amusement, and perhaps with certain magical contingencies that would bode ill for the PC.
4) When we first started and I was running the APs directly, I had things planned out for many years. Iron Gods was in planning from about the time we were working on Curse of the Crimson Throne, for example. These days, we generally know for sure what the APs will be about 18 months to 2 years in advance, more or less. I don't keep lists of them on the whiteboard. I used to keep an excel file on my computer, but again, I'm not really running the line anymore so I haven't done that for a while. Beyond Azlant, the next AP is already being outlined and is about to be assigned to authors. Beyond that one, we've got a pretty good idea what the next four will be after that.