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Here's a serious question James.
In the Kingmaker AP I understand the very generic entry hook to the campaign. Now I find the whole being hired to explore/settle the Stolen Lands as a kingdom to be rather... lacking, I understand you have to keep them very generic for everyone to use easier. But if you were sitting down running it, would you use that, or come up with a hook more specific to your group?
1)Who or what does the Catfolk worship?
2)Are there any Catfolk dieties?
3)Are the Vanara from Casmaron?
4)Who or what does the Vanar worship?
5)Not including the 11 planets(except Golarion) what worlds are detailed in the Distant Worlds book?
6)Where any races living in ancient Azlant other then the Azlanti?
7)Did the Azlanti create any other races? sentient creatures?
8)If and when the Lashunta get stated up would they be a playeable race?
9)What worlds are the 6 monsters from in the Distant Worlds book? no names just locations.
10)Of the non-core playable races are any of them originally from other planets?
Dear James Jacobs,
Three PCs walk into a bar. One dies. Was it the:
Barbarian (starting the brawl in the first place)
Rogue (tried to steal money from a particularly high-level NPC patron)
Paladin (detected that the high-level NPC patron was evil and immediately tried to smite him)
How were you cruelly denied pancakes?? and shall I unleash my monkeyian wrath vs the offending parties?
Creative Director
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Here's a serious question James.
In the Kingmaker AP I understand the very generic entry hook to the campaign. Now I find the whole being hired to explore/settle the Stolen Lands as a kingdom to be rather... lacking, I understand you have to keep them very generic for everyone to use easier. But if you were sitting down running it, would you use that, or come up with a hook more specific to your group?
** spoiler omitted **
If I were sitting down to run it, I would customize the entry point to work well with whatever mix of characters the players came up with.
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Creative Director
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Dear James Jacobs,
Three PCs walk into a bar. One dies. Was it the:
Barbarian (starting the brawl in the first place)
Rogue (tried to steal money from a particularly high-level NPC patron)
Paladin (detected that the high-level NPC patron was evil and immediately tried to smite him)
Probably the rogue, since of the three, he's probably got the fewest hit points and is the most likely to attract the "MUST KILL" wrath of the other two.
Poor rogue.
SHOULD have been the paladin for being a jerk though. (AKA: If a paladin detects an evil creature in a peaceful setting like a tavern, he shouldn't immediately attack; he should probably confront the evil and attempt to resolve the situation peacefully, saving the smite for the likely inevitable outcome.)
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Creative Director
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How were you cruelly denied pancakes?? and shall I unleash my monkeyian wrath vs the offending parties?
Wes suggested we go get pancakes at the local diner for lunch, because pancakes on a snowy afternoon rocks.
Then Sarah and Erik joined our lunch party, and they're both of the personality type that freaks out when you mention eating pancakes at any time other than the hours of 8:00 AM to 11:00 AM.
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Creative Director
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1)Who or what does the Catfolk worship?
2)Are there any Catfolk dieties?
3)Are the Vanara from Casmaron?
4)Who or what does the Vanar worship?
5)Not including the 11 planets(except Golarion) what worlds are detailed in the Distant Worlds book?
6)Where any races living in ancient Azlant other then the Azlanti?
7)Did the Azlanti create any other races? sentient creatures?
8)If and when the Lashunta get stated up would they be a playeable race?
9)What worlds are the 6 monsters from in the Distant Worlds book? no names just locations.
10)Of the non-core playable races are any of them originally from other planets?
1) See #2 below, but also they worship Shelyn and perhaps Gozreh. Although individual catfolk, like individual humans or elves or whoever, can worship whoever they want.
2) Yes. We haven't detailed them yet. Chances are good they're Empyreal Lords too.
3) Yes; from Vudra, to be precise.
4) As with catfolk and the rest... individuals can worship whoever they want. The race as a whole likely has a few specific pantheon deities that are part of the thousands of deities of Vudra.
5) None, really. Distant Worlds is pretty much only about the planets (and the sun) of Golarion's solar system.
6) Yes. Elves for sure. Also tieflings and aasimars. And lizardfolk, troglodytes, and serpentfolk. And more. Not all of them were friendly.
7) Probably, but I can't think of any off the top of my head.
8) The lashunta will most likely be a 0 HD race if and when they're ever statted up.
9) I don't know.
10) The category of "non-core playable races" includes all races save human, elf, dwarf, gnome, halfling, half-elf, and half-orc, so the answer to that question has to be yes.
1)So Distant worlds doesn't talk about any of the moons, astriod belts, or the dark tapestry?
2)Are any of the animal races(Catfolk, Gripli, Lizardfolk, Ratfolk, etc.) originally from other planets?
3)Will we ever see rules for the effects of radiation?
4)Will we ever see Law or Chaos planetouch races?
5)Who was the first human on Golarion who discovered the existed of the First World? How? Why? When?
6)We have flying apes, why not flying monkeys?
7)Would you actually have a low level adventure take place in the First world? if so how would you do it?
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Creative Director
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James, could you please answer whether I can or should be able to do this? It seems reasonable to me, but the RAW is silent.
Unless you have a special ability that allows it, you cannot charge through difficult terrain or other similar obstacles, such as a stack of trees or a fence. There ARE abilities that let you do this... but they're not common.
Even if I have both a climb speed and could easily make the jump check?
Question came up in game last week regarding Foresight vs Mindblank, i do believe tarzan was the one that asked the question a few pages ago. The question wasn't regarding the mindblank, the question was in regards to feinting in combat. We were in the air, thinking that you KNOW that you are going to be attacked, but you can't defend yourself because it isn't specific, just letting you know you are in danger. official word on this one?
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Creative Director
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1)So Distant worlds doesn't talk about any of the moons, astriod belts, or the dark tapestry?
2)Are any of the animal races(Catfolk, Gripli, Lizardfolk, Ratfolk, etc.) originally from other planets?
3)Will we ever see rules for the effects of radiation?
4)Will we ever see Law or Chaos planetouch races?
5)Who was the first human on Golarion who discovered the existed of the First World? How? Why? When?
6)We have flying apes, why not flying monkeys?
7)Would you actually have a low level adventure take place in the First world? if so how would you do it?
1) It does talk about the moons, asteroid belts, and the dark tapestry. I don't count those as worlds; to me, a "world" implies a planet.
2) Maybe. Until we decide to talk more about those races, though, I'm not gonna nail down race origin canon in a thread.
3) Probably.
4) Unlikely. The game doesn't requrie "balance" between the options; and that means there doesn't need to be a planetouched option for every alignment and every plane. Aasimar and tieflings work well because they have the magic combination of tradition and something iconic about them to link onto—good outsiders and evil ones. There's not a lot iconic about the lawful ones and the chaotic ones that would justify, in my opinion, diluting that pool by making too many choices.
5) That information is not yet known to anyone.
6) Same reason we don't have all the other monsters we haven't invented or statted up yet... because we haven't done them yet. In the case of flying monkeys in particular, since we DO have flying apes, there's not a lot a flying monkey has to add that's new, so chances of a flying monkey showing up anytime soon aren't high.
7) No. The First World is a dangerous and exotic place. It's a great place for high level adventuring, and I'm not a fan of "wasting" great high-level content on low level stuff.
Can we have feathered dragons in a future bestiary? I think there were some in IRL folklore, but I forget which civilizations.
1)Have you seen the "Black Swan" yet? if so did you like it?
2)I have asked this one multiple times so if/when you see "Sucker Punch" will you tell me if you liked it?
3)Have you seen "Underworld Awakening" yet? if so did you like it?
4)So how long have you been snowed in?
5)What are your top 5 favorite dinosaur movies?
6)Are there any obscure monster movies that you recomend?
7)have you ever seen "When dinosaurs ruled the earth"?
Can we have feathered dragons in a future bestiary? I think there were some in IRL folklore, but I forget which civilizations.
.
.Maybe Maya, Inca or Aztek(sp?).
7)Would you actually have a low level adventure take place in the First world? if so how would you do it?7) No. The First World is a dangerous and exotic place. It's a great place for high level adventuring, and I'm not a fan of "wasting" great high-level content on low level stuff.
Hear, hear! I like the idea that some things/places are reserved for higher level adventures.
So I finally saw Super 8 recently. I see why you like it so much; to me it's like a slightly more grown-up version of E.T.
Have you ever written adventures based on movies? If so, which ones? My favorite ever was the one based on Big Trouble in Little China.
Can we have feathered dragons in a future bestiary? I think there were some in IRL folklore, but I forget which civilizations.
The Couatl are in bestiary 1.
I'd like a bigger selection than one, especially since they make poor villains.
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Creative Director
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Can we have feathered dragons in a future bestiary? I think there were some in IRL folklore, but I forget which civilizations.
I suspect what you're thinking of is Aztec mythology; we've got that covered with the couatl already though.
As for actual feathered dragons, though... dunno. I'll have to think about that. It's gonna be a while before we do more true dragons, in any event.
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7)Would you actually have a low level adventure take place in the First world? if so how would you do it?7) No. The First World is a dangerous and exotic place. It's a great place for high level adventuring, and I'm not a fan of "wasting" great high-level content on low level stuff.Hear, hear! I like the idea that some things/places are reserved for higher level adventures.
So I finally saw Super 8 recently. I see why you like it so much; to me it's like a slightly more grown-up version of E.T.
Have you ever written adventures based on movies? If so, which ones? My favorite ever was the one based on Big Trouble in Little China.
Yeah... Super 8 is MY version of ET. Good times!
And I've used movies as inspirations for adventures I write, and adventures I assign other people to write all the time. You don't have to look far from the Adventure Path to see the influence of movies (and stories) like...
Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Hook Mountain Massacre)
Escape from New York (Escape from Old Korvosa)
The Hidden Fortress (Tide of Honor)
The Wicker Man/Children of the Corn (Feast of Ravenmoor)
The Dunwich Horror (Carrion Hill)
And so on...
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Creative Director
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1)Have you seen the "Black Swan" yet? if so did you like it?
2)I have asked this one multiple times so if/when you see "Sucker Punch" will you tell me if you liked it?
3)Have you seen "Underworld Awakening" yet? if so did you like it?
4)So how long have you been snowed in?
5)What are your top 5 favorite dinosaur movies?
6)Are there any obscure monster movies that you recomend?
7)have you ever seen "When dinosaurs ruled the earth"?
1) I saw it when it came out; I'm a huge fan of both Darren Aronofsky and of Natalie Portman, so it was pretty much a no brainer that I'd go see Black Swan. I loved the movie; one of the best of the year for me.
2) Still haven't seen Sucker Punch, but it HAS finally worked its way up to position #2 on my Netflix queue... so I'll be seeing it soon. Probably by next week.
3) I have not. I'm kinda torn... I do quite enjoy the Underworld movies a lot... but I really don't like 3D movies. I'll probably go see it in a week or so after the initial rush dies down, though.
4) The snow only kept my car locked into its parking spot on Wednesday and Thursday. I could have walked to work those days, I guess... but it was cold and I can do just as much of what I was gonna do here at home for those two days at least.
5) Wow. Hmm. These, I suppose (listed in chronological order)... The Lost World (original), King Kong (original), The Valley of Gwangi, Jurassic Park, King Kong (Peter Jackson remake). (FOR THE RECORD: I don't count Godzilla movies as dinosaur movies.) And yes... that was a tough list to make.
6) Absolutely and positively. Here's the first five that pop into my head that are pretty obscure monster movies that I suspect not many folks have seen: The Last Winter, Angry Red Planet, Horror Express, It! The Terror from Beyond Space, and Lair of the White Worm. And that was kinda hard for me to put together as well, since to me none of those movies are "obscure," but I suspect that overall they are quite obscure. And there were a LOT more I could have mentioned.
7) Yes. Delightful movie!
James, I'm picking up EvE after all the talk about it in the Pathfinder Online/Goblinworks segment of the Boards, and I was wondering, do you play, and if so, any pointers you could give me?
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James--
(regarding recently locking down a thread that shall remain nameless here)
Thank you.
(Truly sincerely not-mocking, 'cause I couldn't keep going on that thread much longer without totally blowing a gasket, you saved me from myself along with relieving others...)
Thank you!
James,
Have you watched Lost Girl or Once Upon a Time yet?(think I asked you about the latter already).
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Creative Director
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James, I'm picking up EvE after all the talk about it in the Pathfinder Online/Goblinworks segment of the Boards, and I was wondering, do you play, and if so, any pointers you could give me?
I've tried EvE twice, and quit pretty quickly both times. Not only because I couldn't figure out how to resize the fonts so they were legible at high resolution... but because the game was a critical combination to me of overly complicated and dull. I enjoy MMOs in large part due to the exploration, the building up of a character (including the character's toon), and the hanging out with friends—neither of those things were really a part of EvE as far as I could tell.
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Creative Director
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James--
(regarding recently locking down a thread that shall remain nameless here)
Thank you.
(Truly sincerely not-mocking, 'cause I couldn't keep going on that thread much longer without totally blowing a gasket, you saved me from myself along with relieving others...)
Thank you!
No problem. It was pretty obvious that one person was being a shameless troll and trying to get other people to take the bait. Furthermore... I don't care who or what group you're railing against... it's not cool no matter what. Don't do it.
Hi I have a player making a character right now (for an upcoming game), an Elementalist Wizard from the APG and a question came up. Is the elementalist spell list in the APG the only spells an elementalist wizard can learn, or is this list just for bonus and opposition spells? Thanks!
RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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James, I'm picking up EvE after all the talk about it in the Pathfinder Online/Goblinworks segment of the Boards, and I was wondering, do you play, and if so, any pointers you could give me?
IANJ, but join a player corporation. Lots of them recruit new players and will train you in the ways of Eve.
James, they just recently updated the font sizing. So join back up and let me pop your ship. Yeah for non-consensual PVP...
Can we have feathered dragons in a future bestiary? I think there were some in IRL folklore, but I forget which civilizations.I suspect what you're thinking of is Aztec mythology; we've got that covered with the couatl already though.
As for actual feathered dragons, though... dunno. I'll have to think about that. It's gonna be a while before we do more true dragons, in any event.
If we're just talking creature-type, the Book of Drakes from Open Design has a feathered one, if I remember correctly (right now I'm not even sure I got the name right).
Dear James Jacobs,
I want to start picking up some of the books in the Player Companion line for the rules crunch. I want to make the Dragon Empires Primer my first pick, do you have any suggestions for what I should pick for slots #2 and #3?
Also, I know a few of those books are designed under 3.5 and not Pathfinder (I *think* Elves of Golarion is one of them). Is there any chance that those books will be updated and rereleased in the future?
1) We have a 3 person group (a ranger, a rogue and a cleric) who are playing Rise of the Runelords. Since the AP was written for a group larger than 3, what's the likelihood that they'll make it through to the end? What would you recommend to increase their chances of success? (no spoilers please!)
2) What strategies (for GMs and players) would you recommend in general for under-sized groups running through the APs?
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Creative Director
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How big (in rooms) is the ideal dungeon for:
1. An introductory adventure?
2: A mid-level 4 hour one shot?
3: A 15th level campaign ending megadungeon?
1) Depends, but no less than 3 (1 combat, 1 trap/puzzle, and 1 roleplay encounter).
2) 4 to 6 (with two of those four being as optional as possible).
3) That depends entirely on the preference of the players and the GM.
1)Have you seen "Hugo"? if so did you like it?
2)Have seen a movie called "Vampire Circus"(1970s)? did you like it?
3)If "Sucker Punch" is #2, what movie is on your #1 Netflix queue?
4)Do you have any favorite myths, fairytales, and/or fables?
5)Have you ever seen "Death by murder", "Caveman", "Kentucky fried movie", "Amazon woman on the moon" or "Clue"? what did you think?
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Creative Director
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Hi I have a player making a character right now (for an upcoming game), an Elementalist Wizard from the APG and a question came up. Is the elementalist spell list in the APG the only spells an elementalist wizard can learn, or is this list just for bonus and opposition spells? Thanks!
Those lists are the spells in the wizard's "school" for the purposes of feats and class abilities that need to know the school of the wizard. An elementalist can otherwise cast spells normally as any specialist wizard. (at least, going off of memory that's how they work, and that's how I feel the SHOULD work)
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Creative Director
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James, they just recently updated the font sizing. So join back up and let me pop your ship. Yeah for non-consensual PVP...
Pass.
If it takes that long for a company to fix something fundamental as fonts in their text... no thanks.
More to the point... I'm not a fan of non-consensual PVP at all. It is, in fact, pretty close to a deal breaker for me whether or not I'll play a game. A game's got to knock it out of the park in pretty much EVERY other front before I'm interested in playing a non-consensual PVP game at all in any way other than an idle distraction for an hour at a friend's house (like in Halo deathmatch style). AKA: The bigger a rule non-consensual PVP plays in a game, the less time I'll end up spending playing it.
(Let's just say I'm hoping the way this works in Pathifnder Online is something I won't hate, cause I really want to play the game. But if that's not int he future for the game, I'll still do everything I can to make sure it's the best Pathfinder PVP experience possible, as far as my influence on the project goes.)
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Creative Director
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Dear James Jacobs,
I want to start picking up some of the books in the Player Companion line for the rules crunch. I want to make the Dragon Empires Primer my first pick, do you have any suggestions for what I should pick for slots #2 and #3?
Also, I know a few of those books are designed under 3.5 and not Pathfinder (I *think* Elves of Golarion is one of them). Is there any chance that those books will be updated and rereleased in the future?
Elves of Golarion was indeed designed for 3.5; since that's the only one in the races book that has that honor, chances that we'll do something to update it in the future are not insignificant, but it's not something we have any plans to do anytime soon.
If you're just looking for rules crunch, I can't really say which ones you should pick up next since they've all got about the same amount of rules crunch, honestly. The Arms and Equipment one has more crunch than most, I guess, but that crunch had some problems with errata and also had chunks of its crunch reprinted in hardcovers here and there.
But since the majority of the Player Companion line (although they DO have rules in them) are built to serve Golarion and to build the world's flavor first and foremost for players to build Golarion-themed characters from... it's kinda hard to say what ones you might like best.
If you haven't picked up the Inner Sea Primer, though... that's probably the best bet since the contents of that one support ALL of the other ones.
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Creative Director
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1) We have a 3 person group (a ranger, a rogue and a cleric) who are playing Rise of the Runelords. Since the AP was written for a group larger than 3, what's the likelihood that they'll make it through to the end? What would you recommend to increase their chances of success? (no spoilers please!)
2) What strategies (for GMs and players) would you recommend in general for under-sized groups running through the APs?
1) That depends on your GM. Your GM SHOULD be adjusting encounters and XP and the like to account for the fact that you're only 3 characters with no arcane spellcasting support. If he does, you'll be fine. If he doesn't, you should ask that he does. THAT SAID: If the three of you are experienced players, then having only three players shouldn't be that big of a deal—you'll get more XP and thus level up faster, and you might even enjoy the challenge.
2) For players—trust your GM, first of all, that he'll make the changes necessary to make the thing work. For players... depends on your experience at playing the game, first of all. With three players, it's more important than ever to spread out your roles; the three roles you have in your party do a pretty good job at that. Some classes are particularly great for small parties like this—classes like druids and summoners who gain minions work VERY well because their extra characters don't clog the game as much and they bring valuable assistance. Other characters, like bards, aren't that great—bards get better the more allies you have around, after all.
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1)Have you seen "Hugo"? if so did you like it?
2)Have seen a movie called "Vampire Circus"(1970s)? did you like it?
3)If "Sucker Punch" is #2, what movie is on your #1 Netflix queue?
4)Do you have any favorite myths, fairytales, and/or fables?
5)Have you ever seen "Death by murder", "Caveman", "Kentucky fried movie", "Amazon woman on the moon" or "Clue"? what did you think?
1) Yup; loved it. Of course, Scorsese's one of my favorite directors. It's worth noting that I've now seen 3 movies that used 3D well; "Avatar," "Cave of Forgotten Dreams," and "Hugo." The thing all 3 had in common? Brilliant directors who knew how to handle the 3D without turning it into a gimmick or letting it distract the viewer from the story... and in fact used the 3D to ENHANCE the story.
2) Haven't seen it.
3) A movie called "Malevolence" is at my #1 spot.
4) Yup. I'm pretty fond of Baba Yaga, for one. And All the myths and stories about demons are neat. And urban legends are fun. And anything to do with cryptozoology, of course.
5) I've seen all of those. I liked Caveman the best. The other three were mildly amusing at the time or downright bad.
Did you also design the master chymist? If so, I'm the capacity as the original designer, did you intend for Extra Discovery to work with their options too?
JJ,
I believe there are several (inconclusive) threads on this topic on the messageboards. So I was wondering if you could clarify something on the subject of summoning and how it works in Golarion:
1)If summoning an eidolon only summons an "aspect" of a creature, does this mean that the actual creature remains behind on its home plane?
2) Do items carried/worn by the creature representing the eidolon come over with it when it's summoned?
3) What about items that the eidolon is carrying when it's dismissed (or dies) and is sent back to its home plane?
4) If the answer to 3 is that they are left behind, does this mean the eidolon has to be re(equipped) every time it's summoned?
5) Do the answers to 1 through 4 above apply to summoned monsters as well?
6) And finally, are the answers to all the above questions Golarion-specific, or would they apply to the Pathfinder mechanic in general?
Thanks in advance!
If you haven't picked up the Inner Sea Primer, though... that's probably the best bet since the contents of that one support ALL of the other ones.
Got the Primer as a Christmas present. *dons +4 shades of coolness*
How's Magic of Golarion?