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Paizo Employee Creative Director

Stratagemini wrote:
So, I heard that several Paizo employees watch the New My Little Pony. were you aware that the third season started up this weekend? What are your thoughts about the upcoming week at work given this knowledge?

That's the first I've heard of that. That several Paizo employees watch the show AND that the third season started. That said, there's lots of folks at Paizo, and I only know the viewing preferences of a few of them, so it's certainly possible.

My thoughts about the upcoming week, given this knowledge, do not change in the slightest from what they were a second before I read your question though. It's a non-issue.

Contributor

James Jacobs wrote:
1) When my cleric of Wee Jas Tyralandi went to a super fancy restaurant in Greyhawk but Mike's gnome Father Frothelthimble ruined it in a high-comedic style. Frothlethimble would later be PVP killed by Jason's character Gar, so that kinda worked out for Tyralandi

I think that says a lot about the quality of your group that you can have a character die in PvP and still keep the group together. Such an act has wrecked many games I've played in.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Gregg Helmberger wrote:

Undoubtedly you get asked this a lot, but how do you address complaints that rogues are very underpowered? Different people have different complaints about the class, of course, but for me it breaks down to the fact (as I see it) that rogues don't do anything better than others classes, each of which give benefits rogues don't. Rogues are intended to be highly customizable, but the issue is that no matter what role they're customized to, someone else is going to do it better. Alchemists, bards, inquisitors, and most especially ninjas just seem to eat the rogue's lunch.

1) Traps don't show up often enough in most Paizo products, especially the APs, to be a significant factor in selecting a character, but even if they did there would be a variety of classes that have trapfinding.

2) Sneak attacks become very hard to get off and survive the reprisals of -- unless you have the ninja's vanishing trick, when it becomes simple.

3) The bard clearly outdoes the rogue in the face and knowledge departments and has enough skill points to do the skill-monkey thing perfectly well.

4) Alchemists can handle locks and bring a suite of other abilities to the table that make them superior roving damage-dealers as well as filling utility slots the rogue can't handle.

5) Similar to bards, inquisitors can do so many things rogues can't hope to, and they can be excellent skill monkeys as well as filling the utility slots.

6) Ninjas are just...well, ninja > rogue, nuff said.

7) Heck, even an urban ranger can out-rogue a rogue.

Don't get me wrong, I love rogues. The stealth class is always my first choice in any game I play. But I can't for the life of me figure out why in the world I would want to play a rogue in Pathfinder. I can see dipping a few levels, sure, but unlike every other class, I can't see a single reason to play a rogue to 7, much less 20. If I were alone in this I'd think it's just me, but this seems to be the general consensus (though, of course, reasons why differ). What are we missing?

I address complaints that rogues are very underpowered by asking the complainer how they're trying to play the rogue. They are NOT the easiest class to play in the game, because their combat strengths lie in tactics and positioning. They do a lot of damage when things line up, but they have to be careful because they don't generally have the AC or hp to stay in melee.

I think that lots of folks like complaining because they like complaining.

I'm playing a rogue in Rob's Skull & Shackles game, and she has yet to feel underpowered compared to the other classes. I've a rogue played by Mark Moreland in another game—and he UNLOADS the damage when he gets in position. True, if he plays the tactics game poorly, he gets squashed, but that's more his fault for bad tactics (rushing in first to combat, for example) than the rogue's fault.

To answer a few of your questions in particular:

1) We don't bloat our adventures on traps because for parties without rogues, traps are a drag. If you are a GM with a rogue who specializes in traps, you should make sure there are more traps in your particular game, just as if you have a player who is all about killing undead, you should make sure there's undead for that player. Adjusting an adventure to match the party to make the game more fun is one of the GM's main purposes.

2) That's where the tactics come in. There are lots of other ways to get sneak attacks than flanking; many of them from feats or archetypes. Sneak attacks are best at finishing combats fast; the longer a combat drags on, the more difficult they can get to pull off—rogues are stronger in the first rounds of combat than most other classes. Once combat's going, they should play more tactically and conservatively.

3) That's because the bard is intended to be the best at skills, not the rogue.

4) That's because the alchemist is probably too good. If I were designing the alchemist today, I'd let him do his bombs at will, but would DRASTICALLY reduce the damage and let him do the bigger damage only a few times a day.

5) Inquisitors are also really hard to play with all their options. But again... just as with the alchemist, there's probably a bit of power creep going on here.

6) I've not looked at the ninja much, frankly, so I can't say much here.

All that said... I really REALLY hope that the "you can't sneak attack creatures with concealment" gets erattaed away or something some day, since that's silly. Rogues SHOULD be able to stab folks in the back in those shadowy alleys.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

, wrote:

Dear Sir,

When a character multi-classes in,

Beatsmaster"

And,

Sylvan Sorcerer Bloodline

How do their respective 'Effective Druid level -3' animal companion abilities work/combine/interact?

Much cheers to you and yours.

Poorly. Each plays off of itself, and what you end up with are two different animal companions that are really weak since you multiclassed. It's not a great option.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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kevin_video wrote:

Dear James,

How does Mirror Image interact with Black Tentacles?

It doesn't really. The tentacles more or less hit the target with the CMB check but don't remove any images; they essentially ignore mirror image.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Gauss wrote:

James, I would like your opinion regarding an ability in the ARG. Please forgive the spoilered wall of text. Paragraph 2 is the key paragraph to my question.

** spoiler omitted **

...

So the question: Normal Channel energy either heals OR harms. It does not do both simultaneously. Am I reading this ability right in that it both Heals AND Harms simultaneously? I bolded the passage that is prompting me to think it does both simultaneously. (Note: I am hoping it either heals OR harms and does not do both simultaneously.)

Correct, it does this simultaneously. It trades off a bit of versatility to do so, though.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Ravingdork wrote:
How come the game's rules describe lycanthropy as a curse (listing it in the affliction/curse section of the glossary) and yet require remove DISEASE or heal to remove it? Doesn't (or shouldn't) the remove curse spell ALSO work against it just as well or better?

Because not every rule in the game needs to be followed to the letter every time.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Ravingdork wrote:
Addendum: And if remove curse can be used, does it require the same restrictions? (Must be a cleric, must be 12th-level or higher, must be cast within 3 days, must make a caster level check vs curse DC.)

If you let remove curse work too, it absolutely would hit the same restrictions.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

ANebulousMistress wrote:

The paizo offices are closed today. Is this in fact a day off for you or are you going to be working from home?

I have some leftover birthday cake. Want some?

It's in fact a day off. No one is working from home. I'm killing time answering questions here before I head off to see Skyfall in a few minutes.

Thanks for the cake!


James Jacobs wrote:
Tels wrote:
If you bring a magical weapon into an Anti-magic field, does the enhancement bonus still increase the hardness and hp for that weapon when it comes to sunder attempts?
Nope. The weapon keeps its hardness for its materials, but not for anything granted via magic.

Thanks!

That Fire Giant in an anti-magic field with an improvised adamantine spiked chain just got a lot scarier!


James Jacobs wrote:
Squeakmaan wrote:

Been thinking about Conan, so:

1) did you see the new Conan movie? If so, what'd you think?

2) would you consider Conan to be Mythic?

1) I hated it. Terrible movie. The worst I saw that year (although FAR from the worst of the year).

2) Nope. He's just a badass. He might end up being mythic later on, but the bulk of his stories are relatively grounded in low-magic gritty realism.

Are you happy about Arnold returning as Conan?

Silver Crusade

James Jacobs wrote:
Rysky wrote:

First off many, many thank you's to you and Paizo for enabling my escapism :3

As for a question have you played either Demon's Souls or Dark Souls ?

I've never played Demon's Souls, but I have played the HELL out of Dark Souls. Just got the expansion, and once I'm done with Assassin's Creed III I'm gonna go back to Dark Souls and try once again to finish it... that game is kinda hard...

If I may incur (I think I'm using that word right) What's your favorite boss from Dark souls ?

If you like Dark Souls I can't recommend enough that you play the HELL out of Demon's Souls as well
Many thank you's for answering the original question as well :)


James Jacobs wrote:
Ravingdork wrote:
Addendum: And if remove curse can be used, does it require the same restrictions? (Must be a cleric, must be 12th-level or higher, must be cast within 3 days, must make a caster level check vs curse DC.)
If you let remove curse work too, it absolutely would hit the same restrictions.

It is said somewhere that the Remove Curse spell is to be used after the 3 days period... so maybe that option need a lower and an upper limit?

Liberty's Edge

James Jacobs wrote:
All that said... I really REALLY hope that the "you can't sneak attack creatures with concealment" gets erattaed away or something some day, since that's silly. Rogues SHOULD be able to stab folks in the back in those shadowy alleys.

Actually it is relatively easy to resolve that problem:

Advanced Player's Guide wrote:

Shadow Strike (Combat)

You accurately strike even those you cannot clearly see.

Prerequisite: Base attack bonus +1.

Benefit: You can deal precision damage, such as sneak attack damage, against targets with concealment (but not total concealment).

The only thing I would change is to remove the prerequisite or make it

"Base attack bonus +1 or 1 level in the rogue class" to allow access to this feat for 1st level rogues.
It was pointed out to me by the best thief/rogue player I have (he has played the class in several incarnations, from 1st edition onward).

Maybe it is a "feat tax" but I don't feel that it would be right to allow precision damage to all classes without problems.

As that feat bypass several magical defences, blur to name one, it seem a good investment.

What do you think?


James Jacobs wrote:
I'm playing a rogue in Rob's Skull & Shackles game, and she has yet to feel underpowered compared to the other classes.

How did she contribute anything without gear? I had the opposite experience. Every other PC in our group had spells (druid, 2 bards, wizard, and cleric), and my rogue could literally do nothing. (Without weapons, no one threatens, and thus no one can flank so she couldn't even get sneak attack to her unarmed strike if she rolled high enough to hit.) The first combat, all my PC could do was delay round after round while everyone else got to do something useful, whether channeling negative energy, inspiring courage, or healing. I might as well have been playing a commoner. :P


I'll ask these again since you seem to have missed them:

"You'd have to price this adjustment to the sword's power as appropriate, and the creature wielding the sword in battle would still have to be able to afford the sword as according to its treasure or NPC wealth expectations."

1. I'll be clearer: "In battle, [Sorshen] was said to wield a double-headed guisarme, marked with masculine and feminine ends and said to be capable of summoning two seductive guardians." (Pathfinder #1, p.77) How do I price that? (Assuming the answer to the next question doesn't answer this one.)

2. Would the pricing for constructs (CR^2 x 500 gp) work for a special purpose power that summons guardians for the duration of the battle?

For the record, the 7th-level-spell-at-will special purpose power costs 182,000 gp, while 1 CR 19 golem costs 180,500 and 2 CR 14 ones cost 198,000. I think this idea could work. :)

3. Since you mentioned pricing, how do you price artifacts?

4. Character Wealth by Level only goes up to 20. How would I determine it for higher levels (say, for a monster with PC-level equipment)?

"Please spell out what "SotM" refers to here, and perhaps remind me why or how this SotM might interact with 9th level spells..."

5. Since a spell in a staff of the magi can be cast repeatedly, what's to keep repeated use of a really good spell form being overwhelming?


Joana wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
I'm playing a rogue in Rob's Skull & Shackles game, and she has yet to feel underpowered compared to the other classes.

How did she contribute anything without gear? I had the opposite experience. Every other PC in our group had spells (druid, 2 bards, wizard, and cleric), and my rogue could literally do nothing. (Without weapons, no one threatens, and thus no one can flank so she couldn't even get sneak attack to her unarmed strike if she rolled high enough to hit.) The first combat, all my PC could do was delay round after round while everyone else got to do something useful, whether channeling negative energy, inspiring courage, or healing. I might as well have been playing a commoner. :P

That sound more like the eternal Casters vs Non-casters thing, with the GM having a crush on casters. so you didn't have your weapon but the casters had their casting stuff/gears?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Stratagemini wrote:
Will we see Mythic this week?

Unless there's some sort of unforeseen disaster or event, the plan is that this week, the Mythic Adventures Playtest goes live.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Tels wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Squeakmaan wrote:

Been thinking about Conan, so:

1) did you see the new Conan movie? If so, what'd you think?

2) would you consider Conan to be Mythic?

1) I hated it. Terrible movie. The worst I saw that year (although FAR from the worst of the year).

2) Nope. He's just a badass. He might end up being mythic later on, but the bulk of his stories are relatively grounded in low-magic gritty realism.

Are you happy about Arnold returning as Conan?

Arnold was one of my favorite actors of the 80s.

I'm intrigued and even cautiously optimistic about him returning as Conan... but it's been a long, long, long time since they've made a great Conan movie OR a great Arnold movie...

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Rysky wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Rysky wrote:

First off many, many thank you's to you and Paizo for enabling my escapism :3

As for a question have you played either Demon's Souls or Dark Souls ?

I've never played Demon's Souls, but I have played the HELL out of Dark Souls. Just got the expansion, and once I'm done with Assassin's Creed III I'm gonna go back to Dark Souls and try once again to finish it... that game is kinda hard...

If I may incur (I think I'm using that word right) What's your favorite boss from Dark souls ?

If you like Dark Souls I can't recommend enough that you play the HELL out of Demon's Souls as well
Many thank you's for answering the original question as well :)

So far, my favorite boss has been... hmmm. Nope. Hate them all. :P

The two I'm stuck on are the duo boss in the cathedral... you know, the ones that at a certain point become a bottleneck that prevent you from finishing the game. Grrr.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Diego Rossi wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
All that said... I really REALLY hope that the "you can't sneak attack creatures with concealment" gets erattaed away or something some day, since that's silly. Rogues SHOULD be able to stab folks in the back in those shadowy alleys.

Actually it is relatively easy to resolve that problem:

Advanced Player's Guide wrote:

Shadow Strike (Combat)

You accurately strike even those you cannot clearly see.

Prerequisite: Base attack bonus +1.

Benefit: You can deal precision damage, such as sneak attack damage, against targets with concealment (but not total concealment).

The only thing I would change is to remove the prerequisite or make it

"Base attack bonus +1 or 1 level in the rogue class" to allow access to this feat for 1st level rogues.
It was pointed out to me by the best thief/rogue player I have (he has played the class in several incarnations, from 1st edition onward).

Maybe it is a "feat tax" but I don't feel that it would be right to allow precision damage to all classes without problems.

As that feat bypass several magical defences, blur to name one, it seem a good investment.

What do you think?

I'm aware of the Shadow Strike feat. It's a feat tax. A band-aid. A fix to something that shouldn't need to be fixed. It's frustrating to feel that you're taking a feat because you're forced to in order to fix a problem that shouldn't be a problem.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Joana wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
I'm playing a rogue in Rob's Skull & Shackles game, and she has yet to feel underpowered compared to the other classes.
How did she contribute anything without gear? I had the opposite experience. Every other PC in our group had spells (druid, 2 bards, wizard, and cleric), and my rogue could literally do nothing. (Without weapons, no one threatens, and thus no one can flank so she couldn't even get sneak attack to her unarmed strike if she rolled high enough to hit.) The first combat, all my PC could do was delay round after round while everyone else got to do something useful, whether channeling negative energy, inspiring courage, or healing. I might as well have been playing a commoner. :P

Let's see:

Spoiler:

1) She was the only one in the party who could consistently sneak around AND consistently break into crew lockers. By the end of the first adventure, I had a LOT more gear than the rest of the party, which allowed me to sell more gear to the quartermaster, which allowed me to help other player characters re-purchase their own gear or otherwise get back some stuff. One of the first things I found was a peg leg that I used as an improvised club that allowed me to sneak attack and put down one of the thugs in the first real fight on the second morning, which ended up being pretty key in us winning that battle since the odds were better for us from the start.

2) She used Diplomacy and Bluff to befriend several of the crew, and as a result we ended up having MORE than enough allies at our side when the mutiny happened.

3) She's survived a campaign so far that's killed of 3 or 4 player characters.

4) There are a lot of skill check challenges in the adventure—climbing, swimming, etc. that I was able to relatively frequently make.

5) My stealth check was good enough that I couldn't fail to hide the fact that I was not drinking the killer grog each night, and therefore not only never got addicted but also didn't suffer Con damage.

6) Perform checks, made nightly, helped befriend a lot of crewmates.

It's a tough campaign, for sure... but I've not felt useless at all.

(For comparasion, our party started out with a rogue [me], a sorcerer, a cleric, and a fighter... a pretty classic setup. The cleric was slain on the island by a killer crab, and then the fighter was slain by chokers. A replacement character for the cleric was then slain later by the devilfish, but we "redid" that encounter a little due to some errors in play, only to have that replacement character get killed again one or two encounters later. Our current group, which has gained a player, consists of me (rogue), a sorcerer, a fighter, an oracle, and an alchemist.)

Obviously, there's a LOT of variables that go into an adventure that influence how things play out.

One of the problems in your group IS the fact that there aren't really any melee types, and that IS going to make flanking foes tough for you. But that happens when you have groups that aren't relatively well-balanced, alas.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

AlgaeNymph wrote:

I'll ask these again since you seem to have missed them:

"You'd have to price this adjustment to the sword's power as appropriate, and the creature wielding the sword in battle would still have to be able to afford the sword as according to its treasure or NPC wealth expectations."

1. I'll be clearer: "In battle, [Sorshen] was said to wield a double-headed guisarme, marked with masculine and feminine ends and said to be capable of summoning two seductive guardians." (Pathfinder #1, p.77) How do I price that? (Assuming the answer to the next question doesn't answer this one.)

2. Would the pricing for constructs (CR^2 x 500 gp) work for a special purpose power that summons guardians for the duration of the battle?

For the record, the 7th-level-spell-at-will special purpose power costs 182,000 gp, while 1 CR 19 golem costs 180,500 and 2 CR 14 ones cost 198,000. I think this idea could work. :)

3. Since you mentioned pricing, how do you price artifacts?

4. Character Wealth by Level only goes up to 20. How would I determine it for higher levels (say, for a monster with PC-level equipment)?

"Please spell out what "SotM" refers to here, and perhaps remind me why or how this SotM might interact with 9th level spells..."

5. Since a spell in a staff of the magi can be cast repeatedly, what's to keep repeated use of a really good spell form being overwhelming?

1) It's an artifact. You don't price it.

2) When you're figuring the pricing for a special power that summons anything, you should only look at the CR of the creature that you're summoning and compare that to the appropriate summon monster spell. It doesn't matter if it's a construct or anything else.

3) I don't. That's the fun thing about artifacts. They don't have prices, so you can do what you want. You're SUPPOSED to break rules with artifacts, and do things that normal items cannot.

4) You'd have to extrapolate the table beyond that. There's a formula buried in there, I believe, but I don't know what it is off the top of my head. Or perhaps wait for the Mythic Adventures book to come out next year... I suspect we'll have some sort of wealth expansion table thingy in there. I hope!

5) It's an artifact. When you introduce an artifact into game play as the GM, you need to do so with eyes open. It's something that WILL change the way your game is played, and it very well COULD get overwhelming if you aren't ready for it are aren't willing to change the nature and themes of your game to account for the presence of an artifact in play.

Silver Crusade

James Jacobs wrote:
Rysky wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Rysky wrote:

First off many, many thank you's to you and Paizo for enabling my escapism :3

As for a question have you played either Demon's Souls or Dark Souls ?

I've never played Demon's Souls, but I have played the HELL out of Dark Souls. Just got the expansion, and once I'm done with Assassin's Creed III I'm gonna go back to Dark Souls and try once again to finish it... that game is kinda hard...

If I may incur (I think I'm using that word right) What's your favorite boss from Dark souls ?

If you like Dark Souls I can't recommend enough that you play the HELL out of Demon's Souls as well
Many thank you's for answering the original question as well :)

So far, my favorite boss has been... hmmm. Nope. Hate them all. :P

The two I'm stuck on are the duo boss in the cathedral... you know, the ones that at a certain point become a bottleneck that prevent you from finishing the game. Grrr.

Hmmm reiteration using Dark Souls logic, what boss or enemy, after many, many frustrating deaths have you felt the greatest satisfaction after defeating, Dark Souls or otherwise?

Mine was a certain dual sickle weilder in the room right above the aforementioned cathedral fight for what he did to another character at a certain place ( if you've fought him you know what evil of which I speak)

As for those two... Dodge ( the bonuses stack!) but mainly the small one is the one you have to watch out for, the other guy, he's more of a buffer compared to the other one


Dear Mr. Jacobs,

Does weapon finesse apply to the sawtoothed saber, taken with the exotic weapon proficiency and two weapon fighting? And if it does, does it only apply when making full attacks? It seems those Red Mantis Assassins would be a bit gimped if that finesse does not apply. Hero Lab seems to think so, but they get stuff wrong now and then.

Also, is the Black Blade (from the Magus archtype)actually indestructible as long as it has one arcane pool point.

Thank you for your time.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Rysky wrote:

Hmmm reiteration using Dark Souls logic, what boss or enemy, after many, many frustrating deaths have you felt the greatest satisfaction after defeating, Dark Souls or otherwise?

Mine was a certain dual sickle weilder in the room right above the aforementioned cathedral fight for what he did to another character at a certain place ( if you've fought him you know what evil of which I speak)

As for those two... Dodge ( the bonuses stack!) but mainly the small one is the one you have to watch out for, the other guy, he's more of a buffer compared to the other one

The Hydra, the Iron Golem, and the Spider Monster whatshername were all equally delightful to finally win.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Ninjaofthesea wrote:

Dear Mr. Jacobs,

Does weapon finesse apply to the sawtoothed saber, taken with the exotic weapon proficiency and two weapon fighting? And if it does, does it only apply when making full attacks? It seems those Red Mantis Assassins would be a bit gimped if that finesse does not apply. Hero Lab seems to think so, but they get stuff wrong now and then.

Also, is the Black Blade (from the Magus archtype)actually indestructible as long as it has one arcane pool point.

Thank you for your time.

Weapon Finesse, unfortunately, does not apply to the sawtooth sabre; the Design team felt that was too good. I disagree, frankly. If you want to let it apply to the sabre, that's fine with me. (That's how the weapons worked in the previous edition.)

Not sure about the black blade, but having it be completely indestructible sounds a bit over the top to me.

Silver Crusade

James Jacobs wrote:
Rysky wrote:

Hmmm reiteration using Dark Souls logic, what boss or enemy, after many, many frustrating deaths have you felt the greatest satisfaction after defeating, Dark Souls or otherwise?

Mine was a certain dual sickle weilder in the room right above the aforementioned cathedral fight for what he did to another character at a certain place ( if you've fought him you know what evil of which I speak)

As for those two... Dodge ( the bonuses stack!) but mainly the small one is the one you have to watch out for, the other guy, he's more of a buffer compared to the other one

The Hydra, the Iron Golem, and the Spider Monster whatshername were all equally delightful to finally win.

Truly great feelings of accomplishment always make for a great game.

Many thanks for continuing the conversation but alas I'm momentarily run out of ponderings on which to pester you with :3

Wait fudge that, what are your thoughts on revenge and/or revenge plots ? For me it's one of the most driving forces my mind can grasp and hold onto.

( although from what I've heard if I actually am pestering a Paizo employee I get free box of scorpions sent to me, so if I am I'll await the arrival of the little armored assassins )


James Jacobs wrote:
Ninjaofthesea wrote:


Also, is the Black Blade (from the Magus archtype)actually indestructible as long as it has one arcane pool point.

Not sure about the black blade, but having it be completely indestructible sounds a bit over the top to me.

How about in terms of normal annoying weapon destroying hazards such as sunders, oozes and rust monsters? Pretty much anything short of a dis-junction. Obviously even artifacts can be unmade.

Thanks!


James Jacobs wrote:
When you're figuring the pricing for a special power that summons anything, you should only look at the CR of the creature that you're summoning and compare that to the appropriate summon monster spell.

1. Special purpose powers only go up to summon monster vii (CR 9-10). If the CR is 11 or higher should I just consider the item an artifact?

2. At what point do I stop calculating the cost of an item and just declare it an artifact?

3. When I playtest that enchanter 20 tier 3 archmage for Mythic Adventures I've been stating up, what would muddy the data?

4. What's allowable in the way of artifacts for Mythic Adventures playtest characters?

5. Do Azlanti humans gain +2 to each ability score and +2 to any one ability?

6. What spells are used to bin an infernal duke into an infernal engine?


How do you feel about the 20-odd states that have filed petitions to secede from the U.S.?


Tels wrote:
How do you feel about the 20-odd states that have filed petitions to secede from the U.S.?

Wait, all at once?!

Dark Archive

James Jacobs wrote:
(I have over 100 pets to choose from, in any event—my wolpertinger is one of several dozen that I'll probably never ever activate again, and gathered up only because of the collection aspect of the game.)

Have you similarly gathered up many of the mount options? I've done tons of both, because I love that aspect of the game. (And similar things in other games, such as taming different creature types in Dark Ages of Camelot with my Hunter, or, before that game died, with my Creature Handler in Star Wars Galaxies.)

I usually have my Kirin Tor Familiar out, just because it was one of the harder ones to 'camp.' (Particularly since I did it two more times for guildmates...)

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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Rysky wrote:

Wait fudge that, what are your thoughts on revenge and/or revenge plots ? For me it's one of the most driving forces my mind can grasp and hold onto.

( although from what I've heard if I actually am pestering a Paizo employee I get free box of scorpions sent to me, so if I am I'll await the arrival of the little armored assassins )

Revenge works pretty good for fiction. It's quite a bit trickier to pull off in an RPG, since in order to want revenge, a PC needs to first have a bad guy get away, and PCs are really good at disrupting plots where a bad guy is hopefully supposed to escape...

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Ninjaofthesea wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Ninjaofthesea wrote:


Also, is the Black Blade (from the Magus archtype)actually indestructible as long as it has one arcane pool point.

Not sure about the black blade, but having it be completely indestructible sounds a bit over the top to me.

How about in terms of normal annoying weapon destroying hazards such as sunders, oozes and rust monsters? Pretty much anything short of a dis-junction. Obviously even artifacts can be unmade.

Thanks!

Okay. Had a chance to look over the black blade ability, and according to the "Unbreakable" ability, as long as the user has 1 point in his arcane pool... the sword is immune to being broken. Seems pretty simple to me, so I guess the answer is: yup; can't be broken until the user's out of points.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

AlgaeNymph wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
When you're figuring the pricing for a special power that summons anything, you should only look at the CR of the creature that you're summoning and compare that to the appropriate summon monster spell.

1. Special purpose powers only go up to summon monster vii (CR 9-10). If the CR is 11 or higher should I just consider the item an artifact?

2. At what point do I stop calculating the cost of an item and just declare it an artifact?

3. When I playtest that enchanter 20 tier 3 archmage for Mythic Adventures I've been stating up, what would muddy the data?

4. What's allowable in the way of artifacts for Mythic Adventures playtest characters?

5. Do Azlanti humans gain +2 to each ability score and +2 to any one ability?

6. What spells are used to bin an infernal duke into an infernal engine?

1) That's the simplest solution.

2) I'd say 200,000 gp is a logical cut-off point.

3) There's plenty to muddy the data. That's why I'm hoping to get more than just one playtest report.

4) Frankly... it's probably best to avoid involving artifacts in the playtest, since artifacts are INTENDED to break and bend rules. They're not a baseline, but an exception.

5) Miracle and wish and binding and maybe trap the soul or soul trap and probably one or two other spells.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

2 people marked this as a favorite.
Tels wrote:
How do you feel about the 20-odd states that have filed petitions to secede from the U.S.?

I feel like you're trying to trick me into getting political on this thread.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Set wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
(I have over 100 pets to choose from, in any event—my wolpertinger is one of several dozen that I'll probably never ever activate again, and gathered up only because of the collection aspect of the game.)

Have you similarly gathered up many of the mount options? I've done tons of both, because I love that aspect of the game. (And similar things in other games, such as taming different creature types in Dark Ages of Camelot with my Hunter, or, before that game died, with my Creature Handler in Star Wars Galaxies.)

I usually have my Kirin Tor Familiar out, just because it was one of the harder ones to 'camp.' (Particularly since I did it two more times for guildmates...)

That's not nearly all the pet options. I've got plenty of mounts as well, but nowhere near the maximum... mounts are harder to get after all. My most exotic mount is probably the Zul-Gurub tiger. Got it on try #423,430,012 to get the raptor mount. Which I still don't have. Grr.

Shadow Lodge

James Jacobs wrote:
doc the grey wrote:
The DC for the vavakia's Smoking wounds in lords of the abyss, does the victim get to roll against that when they get bitten or do they just get the 2 neg levels and get a chance to roll against them 24 hours later like you normally would when you acquire neg levels.
It works normally. The negative levels are automatic; you get the save to remove them 24 hours later.

HOLY LORD, that's horrifying! Thank you JJ, you have brought a new level of fear to my players hearts.

Second thing, how have you liked assassin's creed 3?


Doc the Grey: Remember that negative levels can be removed within the first 24hours with a Restoration (100gp version) before they become permanent. Afterwards you will need the 1000gp version for EACH negative level.

- Gauss

Paizo Employee Creative Director

doc the grey wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
doc the grey wrote:
The DC for the vavakia's Smoking wounds in lords of the abyss, does the victim get to roll against that when they get bitten or do they just get the 2 neg levels and get a chance to roll against them 24 hours later like you normally would when you acquire neg levels.
It works normally. The negative levels are automatic; you get the save to remove them 24 hours later.

HOLY LORD, that's horrifying! Thank you JJ, you have brought a new level of fear to my players hearts.

Second thing, how have you liked assassin's creed 3?

Yup; part of why that monster is a CR 18 foe.

And I quite like Assassin's Creed III so far!

Shadow Lodge

Gauss wrote:

Doc the Grey: Remember that negative levels can be removed within the first 24hours with a Restoration (100gp version) before they become permanent. Afterwards you will need the 1000gp version for EACH negative level.

- Gauss

I know, the bigger worry for the lvl 10 party is if this horrifying monster manages to get out of the hole it's hidden in.

Shadow Lodge

James Jacobs wrote:
doc the grey wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
doc the grey wrote:
The DC for the vavakia's Smoking wounds in lords of the abyss, does the victim get to roll against that when they get bitten or do they just get the 2 neg levels and get a chance to roll against them 24 hours later like you normally would when you acquire neg levels.
It works normally. The negative levels are automatic; you get the save to remove them 24 hours later.

HOLY LORD, that's horrifying! Thank you JJ, you have brought a new level of fear to my players hearts.

Second thing, how have you liked assassin's creed 3?

Yup; part of why that monster is a CR 18 foe.

And I quite like Assassin's Creed III so far!

What sequence have you made it to, what do you think of the naval missions, and have you finished your homestead yet?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

doc the grey wrote:
What sequence have you made it to, what do you think of the naval missions, and have you finished your homestead yet?

I'm deep in sequence 5, I think. I've done one naval mission (the starter misison) and LOVED it. Haven't finished the homestead yet... been spending a lot of time gathering feathers and trinkets and chests in the frontier and Boston.

Shadow Lodge

James Jacobs wrote:
doc the grey wrote:
What sequence have you made it to, what do you think of the naval missions, and have you finished your homestead yet?
I'm deep in sequence 5, I think. I've done one naval mission (the starter misison) and LOVED it. Haven't finished the homestead yet... been spending a lot of time gathering feathers and trinkets and chests in the frontier and Boston.

Nice, been messing around with them a lot as of late wait till you get the grappling rounds and start boarding. Now have you fiddled around with the tomahawk replacement weapons at all or are you like me and a little disappointed by the lack cool axe options and preponderance of knife choices?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Haven't done much yet with replacement tomahawks. And easy on the spoilers! (Yes, I consider boarding and grappling rounds spoilers... I'm kinda persnickety regarding video game spoilers...)

Silver Crusade

What iconics will you be using in the upcoming Alkenstar AP?

/subliminal

Paizo Employee Creative Director

4 people marked this as a favorite.
uriel222 wrote:

What iconics will you be using in the upcoming Alkenstar AP?

/subliminal

Clint, Roland, Milla, and Ash.


No Shane?

Silver Crusade

Well played, sir. Well played.

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