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Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Rysky wrote:
What's some of your favourite monsters to use?

Demons.

Lovecraftian critters.
Ghouls.
Mothmen.

Silver Crusade

Ooo, sorry if I already asked, but did you do the Ghoul writeup for Sandy Peterson’s Cthulhu?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Ianesta wrote:
Who built the Arch of Aroden?

Taldans, I believe, as part of their initial mass colonization of Avistan.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Rysky wrote:
Ooo, sorry if I already asked, but did you do the Ghoul writeup for Sandy Peterson’s Cthulhu?

I did, along with most of the archetypes and feats and stuff for ghouls. Based, of course, on Sandy's notes and outlines.

Silver Crusade

Awesome! I think playing a Ghoul is the thing I’m most looking forward to out of the book.

What’s your favourite story involving a Mothman?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Rysky wrote:
What’s your favourite story involving a Mothman?

The Mothman Prophecies

Silver Crusade

James Jacobs wrote:
Rysky wrote:
What’s your favourite story involving a Mothman?
The Mothman Prophecies

Neat.

Silver Crusade

Something I've been thinking about, Genies are Outsiders, so their bodies and souls are one and the same, correct?


James Jacobs wrote:
ericthecleric wrote:
Does the existence of the Starfinder RPG help or hinder the chance of there being another high-tech Pathfinder Adventure Path (like Iron Gods) or Pathfinder AP adventures being set on Earth or in Golarion's solar system, or does it make no difference to such Pathfinder adventures appearing?
It helps, because the popularity of Starfinder proves that there's an appetite for science fantasy. But that said, for most science fantasy plots going forward, it makes more sense for us to do them with Starfinder, not Pathfinder. We'll find out in time.

Thank you, James! That's great news for the first sentence!

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Rysky wrote:
Something I've been thinking about, Genies are Outsiders, so their bodies and souls are one and the same, correct?

Correct, with one exception. Janni are native outsiders, so like tieflings and aasimars their souls and bodies are separate and thus they can be resurrected.

Silver Crusade

James Jacobs wrote:
Rysky wrote:
Something I've been thinking about, Genies are Outsiders, so their bodies and souls are one and the same, correct?
Correct, with one exception. Janni are native outsiders, so like tieflings and aasimars their souls and bodies are separate and thus they can be resurrected.

Gotcha.

Had it ever been explained how Genies are created?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Rysky wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Rysky wrote:
Something I've been thinking about, Genies are Outsiders, so their bodies and souls are one and the same, correct?
Correct, with one exception. Janni are native outsiders, so like tieflings and aasimars their souls and bodies are separate and thus they can be resurrected.

Gotcha.

Had it ever been explained how Genies are created?

They can come about as the result of petitioners ascending, as with any outsider.

Silver Crusade

James Jacobs wrote:
Rysky wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Rysky wrote:
Something I've been thinking about, Genies are Outsiders, so their bodies and souls are one and the same, correct?
Correct, with one exception. Janni are native outsiders, so like tieflings and aasimars their souls and bodies are separate and thus they can be resurrected.

Gotcha.

Had it ever been explained how Genies are created?

They can come about as the result of petitioners ascending, as with any outsider.

Huh, interesting. Thankies for the responses :3


James Jacobs wrote:
Ianesta wrote:
Who built the Arch of Aroden?
Taldans, I believe, as part of their initial mass colonization of Avistan.

Did the Taldan Empire have any land on the other side in Garund then?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Ianesta wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Ianesta wrote:
Who built the Arch of Aroden?
Taldans, I believe, as part of their initial mass colonization of Avistan.
Did the Taldan Empire have any land on the other side in Garund then?

A little, but not much. Their attempt to expand into Garund pretty much ended in utter disaster.


Can Genies other than Janni reproduce in the biological manner? (I mean, other than with humans to produce ifrits, oreads, sylphs and undines.) I seem to recall references to families and children of genies, but those could have been from other settings, or could be families of choice rather than origin.

Liberty's Edge

My playing group and I are all sorts of excited for Return of the Runelords.

Will they be able to play various Thassilonian Sin Mages in this AP, or are those relegated strictly to the role of antagonist?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Paladin of Baha-who? wrote:

Can Genies other than Janni reproduce in the biological manner? (I mean, other than with humans to produce ifrits, oreads, sylphs and undines.) I seem to recall references to families and children of genies, but those could have been from other settings, or could be families of choice rather than origin.

Most outsiders can do so, yes. Genies included.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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casiel wrote:

My playing group and I are all sorts of excited for Return of the Runelords.

Will they be able to play various Thassilonian Sin Mages in this AP, or are those relegated strictly to the role of antagonist?

"Thassilonian Sin Mages" aren't really a thing in Pathfinder.

There IS a system for Thassilonian rune magic, as detailed most recently on page 63 of the Adventurer's Guide. Those rules are indeed an option for PCs to use in pretty much any adventure (with the notable exception of Rise of the Runelords, which assumes these magical traditions are still forgotten and are rediscovered during the course of that campaign).

Note that there's nothing inherently evil about Thassilonian Magic. It's just an alternate way to study the schools of magic and specialize in those schools for wizards.

Grand Lodge

Just got an email notifying me that International Table Top Day will be April 28th, 2018. Will Paizo be looking to do anything special that day? Boons for SFS and/or PFS? 24-hour streaming gameplay? Maybe some online Q&A?


James, did you ever stat up your cleric of Wee Jas from Erik's Age of worms campaign? I am running it and one of my player's Wizard just went to the Wee Jas compound and asked for help in dealing with the Triad. The head cleric decided to send an observer into the Dourstone mine with them, figured a 1st or 2nd lvl NPC cleric of Wee Jas would suit the bill, maybe becomes a cohort later.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

kevin_video wrote:
Just got an email notifying me that International Table Top Day will be April 28th, 2018. Will Paizo be looking to do anything special that day? Boons for SFS and/or PFS? 24-hour streaming gameplay? Maybe some online Q&A?

I have no idea.


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Black Dougal wrote:
James, did you ever stat up your cleric of Wee Jas from Erik's Age of worms campaign? I am running it and one of my player's Wizard just went to the Wee Jas compound and asked for help in dealing with the Triad. The head cleric decided to send an observer into the Dourstone mine with them, figured a 1st or 2nd lvl NPC cleric of Wee Jas would suit the bill, maybe becomes a cohort later.

Since I ran her in that campaign... of course I statted her up! I assume you meant to ask if I ever made her stats public. I've got a relatively abbreviated set of stats for her on this old alias of her I used for campaign journals back in the day; check out her page for details.

OH! Well... you could also check this thread too, I guess. Search function to the rescue!


Cool, thanks very much

Sovereign Court

Hello James,
I am loving Ultimate Wilderness, especially the archtypes. I am finding many I will use in already published adventures (for instance the Brutish Swamper Barbarian archtype given the number of swamps and marshs in the APs). When developing a big hard cover are options designed specifically for PCs with other options aimed at NPCs or is it all intended to be used by the players?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Andrew Phillips wrote:

Hello James,

I am loving Ultimate Wilderness, especially the archtypes. I am finding many I will use in already published adventures (for instance the Brutish Swamper Barbarian archtype given the number of swamps and marshs in the APs). When developing a big hard cover are options designed specifically for PCs with other options aimed at NPCs or is it all intended to be used by the players?

Both. I think that there's a misconception among a lot of gamers about this in fact—that all options must be GREAT options for each class's "one true build." This is not the case. The wealth of options in the game are in many ways even more important for GMs, since they make MANY more characters for the game as opposed to players, who make only one.


Hello, James. I'm running CotCT AP, and have some questions that are bothering me a bit.

1. How many people does, approximative, a shoanti clan has (specifically the Moon and Sun clans)?
2. Are shoanti met in other places than clanlands of seven quahs "clanless" or just smaller independent/self-proclaimed clans?
3. Can an unscrupulous/desperate/warmongering clan call "clanless" shoanti in their war effort in exchange for recognition an incorporation in their quah?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Ashkar wrote:

Hello, James. I'm running CotCT AP, and have some questions that are bothering me a bit.

1. How many people does, approximative, a shoanti clan has (specifically the Moon and Sun clans)?
2. Are shoanti met in other places than clanlands of seven quahs "clanless" or just smaller independent/self-proclaimed clans?
3. Can an unscrupulous/desperate/warmongering clan call "clanless" shoanti in their war effort in exchange for recognition an incorporation in their quah?

In the interests of keeping this thread manageable, I prefer folks to ask one question per post. I'll answer all three here briefly, but in the future (or if you want clarifications) please limit to one question per post.

1) We haven't said in print, but it's a lot. Many thousands, but they don't all live in close proximity.

2) The quahs are a Varisia thing. Shoanti that settle in other regions have their own traditions.

3) Depends entirely on the specific situation and the people and quah involved.

Paizo Employee Developer

Obviously there is no hard and fast rule on magic, especially in homebrew games, but how improbable would it be for an efreeti to become a lich?

Because that'd be a pretty fun BBEG.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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KitsuneWarlock wrote:

Obviously there is no hard and fast rule on magic, especially in homebrew games, but how improbable would it be for an efreeti to become a lich?

Because that'd be a pretty fun BBEG.

Not improbable at all, as long as the efreeti can create the phylactery. The only requirement for something to become a lich is that it must be alive and must be able to create a phylactery (which means, they must have Craft Wondrous Item, must be able to cast spells, and must have a caster level of 11 or higher).


A followup on the lich outsider concept: would the lich ritual separate the body and soul of the outsider, since they're normally one and the same, but the phylactery has to actually store the soul? If so, if the phylactery were destroyed, would the soul dissolve into the plane it was derived from, like dead outsiders usually do?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Paladin of Baha-who? wrote:
A followup on the lich outsider concept: would the lich ritual separate the body and soul of the outsider, since they're normally one and the same, but the phylactery has to actually store the soul? If so, if the phylactery were destroyed, would the soul dissolve into the plane it was derived from, like dead outsiders usually do?

The lich ritual does not separate the body and soul of the outsider, but instead acts as a focus for the new lich's unlife. If the phylactery were destroyed, the lich is still fine but needs to build a replacement phylactery ASAP since if he's destroyed during this time he's done for (as with normal liches).


James Jacobs wrote:


The lich ritual does not separate the body and soul of the outsider, but instead acts as a focus for the new lich's unlife. If the phylactery were destroyed, the lich is still fine but needs to build a replacement phylactery ASAP since if he's destroyed during this time he's done for (as with normal liches).

I see. So when the lich is destroyed, whatever would normally happen after death for that kind of creature happens, right? The soul of a humanoid or native outsider would go to Pharasma for judgement, while a regular outsider is absorbed into the plane?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Paladin of Baha-who? wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:


The lich ritual does not separate the body and soul of the outsider, but instead acts as a focus for the new lich's unlife. If the phylactery were destroyed, the lich is still fine but needs to build a replacement phylactery ASAP since if he's destroyed during this time he's done for (as with normal liches).

I see. So when the lich is destroyed, whatever would normally happen after death for that kind of creature happens, right? The soul of a humanoid or native outsider would go to Pharasma for judgement, while a regular outsider is absorbed into the plane?

Correct; that's the case for pretty much all undead. Undeath is a delay of the events that happen you when you do die, after all, not a replacement.


Abadar’s holy symbol has 4 runes on it.

Do they have any particular meaning?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Yours is mined wrote:

Abadar’s holy symbol has 4 runes on it.

Do they have any particular meaning?

They do, but we haven't decided what they are yet.


Undeath related question that seems appropriate. When someone becomes a vampire is it a corruption of the soul, is soul temporarily corrupted while the individual is a vampire, or does the soul go to Pharasma while someone else is walking around as a vampire version of their former self?


Do zombies keep rotting after they become undead or does the necromancy keep them preserved?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Genozoic Artist wrote:
Undeath related question that seems appropriate. When someone becomes a vampire is it a corruption of the soul, is soul temporarily corrupted while the individual is a vampire, or does the soul go to Pharasma while someone else is walking around as a vampire version of their former self?

When someone becomes undead, their soul doesn't go to Pharasma. If it was already on the way, it "backpedals" to link to the new undead creature. When the undead creature is destroyed and its soul is released to go back to Pharasma, it ends up being judged then and typically not in a favorable way.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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wabbitking wrote:
Do zombies keep rotting after they become undead or does the necromancy keep them preserved?

They do not keep rotting.


Hi James,

One of the questions above sparked a thought. A vampire could become such without consent or planning. Would Pharasma judge a soul who was unwillingly turned into an undead differently than one that embraced the turn?

Thanks!


Second unrelated question. Believe it or not I just got to see Pan's Labyrinth for the first time last week. At least it was on the big screen. Do you have a favorite part of the film?

Thank you for your time and have a great weekend!

Silver Crusade

So
Was looking over magic items today.
Came across the bead of newt prevention.

Is it just me or did a certain Monty Python movie influence the name?

I got better


So, unabashed flattery and then an honest question: Our group pretty much plays by, "Well, James said xxx, so that's how we're going to play it."

Your play/GM style much more closely matches our "world view" than, er, other unnamed parties.

So does it make you uncomfortable when people post, "Well, back in 2013 James said xxx, so that's how we're going to play it!"

I'd hate to think I'm generating hate spam for you by treating your stuff as (our) gospel...


Did Taldor colonise any of the River Kingdoms back during their period of imperial expansion or did they ignore/vassalise it en route to Brevoy?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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MeanDM wrote:

Hi James,

One of the questions above sparked a thought. A vampire could become such without consent or planning. Would Pharasma judge a soul who was unwillingly turned into an undead differently than one that embraced the turn?

Thanks!

Pharasma is more than capable of judging cases like this with compassion. What one does while they are undead and how they feel about it after they escape (either by death or whatever) counts more in this case.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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MeanDM wrote:

Second unrelated question. Believe it or not I just got to see Pan's Labyrinth for the first time last week. At least it was on the big screen. Do you have a favorite part of the film?

Thank you for your time and have a great weekend!

The whole movie is incredible; it's my favorite del Toro movie. Can't really pick a single favorite part.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Mystic_Snowfang wrote:

So

Was looking over magic items today.
Came across the bead of newt prevention.

Is it just me or did a certain Monty Python movie influence the name?

I got better

I wasn't involved in that magic item's creation, so I can't say.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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NobodysHome wrote:

So, unabashed flattery and then an honest question: Our group pretty much plays by, "Well, James said xxx, so that's how we're going to play it."

Your play/GM style much more closely matches our "world view" than, er, other unnamed parties.

So does it make you uncomfortable when people post, "Well, back in 2013 James said xxx, so that's how we're going to play it!"

I'd hate to think I'm generating hate spam for you by treating your stuff as (our) gospel...

Yes, it makes me VERY uncomfortable to think that a player uses my words as a bludgeon to push back against their GM's rulings, and it is in fact one of the reasons I periodically take a break from this thread. If you do this, don't. And if you still do this, please don't tell me.

If your GM (or if YOU are the GM) and you want to use my advice to help, though, that's a different thing. I do enjoy helping GMs out.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Ianesta wrote:
Did Taldor colonise any of the River Kingdoms back during their period of imperial expansion or did they ignore/vassalise it en route to Brevoy?

They did indeed take over chunks of the River Kingdoms. The River Kingdoms eventually got better though.

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