Oh; I do see it. I've always interpreted that as a highlight catching the curves of her leg and knee just right. It's never stood out to me before and always looked just like light reflecting from her knee.Um, you mean you can't see the very obvious change of skin color her left knee has in comparison to the rest of the skin of her leg just a few centimeters above ( I am referring the the zone between her "extended shoes" and the cloth stripe she has bound around her leg above her knee.)? It has really stood out glaringly since I first saw the image years ago.So, I've been asking myself this since I got the core rulebook years ago: What the heck is up with Seoni's knee (in Wayne Reynolds iconic representation of her on the Sorcerer class page)? Did she get a burned one time there and her skin lost her pigmentation?Looks normal to me. Not sure what you're referring to.
Yeah, you are right. :) It just always stood out to me. Oh, well, it's not as if it is an universal depiction in all the many images of her. ^^
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Two-Weapon Fighting works with thrown weapons. You'll need Quick Draw too, though, for most thrown weapons.Dear JJ,
I have been searching the forums of late trying to figure out a decent build for a character that throws Darts. A few people think that the Two-Weapon Fighting feats work with thrown weapons and that does not sound right to me. So my question is would Two-Weapon Fighting feats work with a character that throws Darts almost exclusively?
Thanks,
Psion-Psycho
Thank you oh wise master. *Bows and exits*
Thank you oh wise master. *Bows and exits*Two-Weapon Fighting works with thrown weapons. You'll need Quick Draw too, though, for most thrown weapons.Dear JJ,
I have been searching the forums of late trying to figure out a decent build for a character that throws Darts. A few people think that the Two-Weapon Fighting feats work with thrown weapons and that does not sound right to me. So my question is would Two-Weapon Fighting feats work with a character that throws Darts almost exclusively?
Thanks,
Psion-Psycho
YOU DIDN'T LEAVE A SACRIFICE!
Do familiars gain additional skills and feats as the caster increases in level? Or is that only Animal Companions?
Familiars do not.
Hmm... Familiars get more intelligent when their master gains levels.
Once their Int stat reaches 10 (increasing their Int modifier from negative to +0, thus moving them from 2-x to 2+0 skill points per Hit Die, aka from 1 to 2 skill points)... would you grant them that additional skill point?
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I will now ask some more respectful questions to erase my shame:
1) Of all the Adventure Paths, which do you think was the most fun to CREATE?
2) Which Adventure Path was the most fun to PLAY?
3) Which Adventure Path was the most fun to RUN as a GM?
4) Which Adventure Path do you feel was the BEST WRITTEN?
5) Of all the Adventure Paths, which one do you feel had the weakest writing? The one that, if you could give it a do-over or revision, you would (I figure Rise of the Runelords doesn't quite count, since that DID get revised a bit for the Anniversary Edition)?
6) If you could only do one more AP, the very last one, and there were no restrictions on what you could do with it, what would it be about?
7) And now for something completely different. Which deity do you feel would appeal the most to an elf paladin? As elves are normally chaotic, whose code would they find compliments the elven outlook the best?
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7) Which deity do you feel would appeal the most to an elf paladin? As elves are normally chaotic, whose code would they find compliments the elven outlook the best?
I am not James, obviously, but the NG gods that can have paladins, Sarenrae and Shelyn, but also Yuelral perhaps, seem like they'd be decent fits (Yuelral perhaps not as much as the other two). Of the LG gods, Erastil seems the most elf-friendly choice.
Torag, Iomedae and the LN gods who can have Paladins (Abadar and Irori) seem less thematically intuitive (but certainly not impossible!), and an elven Paladin of Irori would make for a particularly interesting choice, from an RP standpoint, IMO.
Nope. Kaiju is a new classification of monster; they're more powerful than the Tarrasque, and live in the CR range of 26 to 30. They're bigger than the Tarrasque.
Is the Tarrasque still the same size as it was in 3.5 (50-ft. tall), or is it supposed to be bigger in pathfinder?
Alright, here I go with a question which best is left under spoiler tags, relating to module five of Reign of Winter:
Given the right combination of knowledge/craft skills, magic and classes, it would not seem unreasonable that a dedicated PC group could introduce mass produced modern firearms (including machine guns, artillery and tanks) to Golarion, which could seriously unbalance the whole world. Would the gods really let that pass? I know that they are against directly intervening in the world, but this seems to me like an occasion where they would make an exception.
Creative Director
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Do familiars gain additional skills and feats as the caster increases in level? Or is that only Animal Companions?Familiars do not.Hmm... Familiars get more intelligent when their master gains levels.
Once their Int stat reaches 10 (increasing their Int modifier from negative to +0, thus moving them from 2-x to 2+0 skill points per Hit Die, aka from 1 to 2 skill points)... would you grant them that additional skill point?
We call them skill ranks, but yes, if their Intelligence goes high enough they do get more skill ranks.
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Creative Director
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I will now ask some more respectful questions to erase my shame:
1) Of all the Adventure Paths, which do you think was the most fun to CREATE?
2) Which Adventure Path was the most fun to PLAY?
3) Which Adventure Path was the most fun to RUN as a GM?
4) Which Adventure Path do you feel was the BEST WRITTEN?
5) Of all the Adventure Paths, which one do you feel had the weakest writing? The one that, if you could give it a do-over or revision, you would (I figure Rise of the Runelords doesn't quite count, since that DID get revised a bit for the Anniversary Edition)?
6) If you could only do one more AP, the very last one, and there were no restrictions on what you could do with it, what would it be about?
7) And now for something completely different. Which deity do you feel would appeal the most to an elf paladin? As elves are normally chaotic, whose code would they find compliments the elven outlook the best?
1) Savage Tide, to be honest. Getting to play with the Isle of Dread, Demogorgon, and add to that with my own creations like Sasserine and Scuttlecove and Obox-ob was one of the highlights of my RPG career. For Pathfinder... Jade Regent was the AP I wanted to do most for some time, but I didn't really get to do much work on it beyond outlining it and writing the first adventure, so that one's a bittersweet memory for me. And honestly, while ALL of the APs are fun to a certain extent... they're also a lot of work.
2) Savage Tide, again, was fun to play. So was Age of Worms. I'm only halfway into playing the Skull & Shackles AP as a character, but that one is VERY fun. And I'm nearly to book 5 of Serpent's Skull, but I've been playing that one for YEARS and it's getting kinda old...
3) I melded that into my answer to #2 above, but I had the most fun GMing Savage Tide.
4) No comment. I'll let other folks decide that, since I've written so much of them either as an actual author or as the developer who gets to rewrite a lot of stuff.
5) Same as #4 above. That said, the one I'd like to redo the most is Second Darkness, particularly part 5, which I feel dropped the ball on making elves be something other than cliched D&D style aloof and uncaring jerks. My hope for that AP was that elves would instead come off as much more friendly and be a society the players would WANT to befriend and help.
6) It'd be one that follows multiple generations of heroes, such that when you hit 20th level with one party, the timeline advances and you start with the descendants of those player characters as new 1st level characters that repeat for multiple generations and therefore this last AP would never end.
7) Shelyn is the best deity for an elf paladin. Sarenrae's the second best choice.
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Nope. Kaiju is a new classification of monster; they're more powerful than the Tarrasque, and live in the CR range of 26 to 30. They're bigger than the Tarrasque.Is the Tarrasque still the same size as it was in 3.5 (50-ft. tall), or is it supposed to be bigger in pathfinder?
We don't say how big it is, but that's more or less also saying "We didn't change its size from D&D."
A 50 foot tall tarrasque is about right, in other words. Which makes kaiju about 3 times as big.
Would you say that the swashbuckler you envision is a mix of the fighter and rogue?
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Alright, here I go with a question which best is left under spoiler tags, relating to module five of Reign of Winter:
Spoiler:Given the high likelyhood that PC's will return from Earth with modern firearms and knowledge of advanced technology, is this a case where the gods of Golarion might get involved? After all, Golarion has been in kind of a technological stasis for a long, long time (as about every fantasy realm, we are talking about thousands of years here with about the same level of technology) and the only logical explanation is that it was kept that way by divine intervention.Given the right combination of knowledge/craft skills, magic and classes, it would not seem unreasonable that a dedicated PC group could introduce mass produced modern firearms (including machine guns, artillery and tanks) to Golarion, which could seriously unbalance the whole world. Would the gods really let that pass? I know that they are against directly intervening in the world, but this seems to me like an occasion where they would make an exception.
Nope. The gods don't generally get directly involved for anything. The various faiths of the various gods would perhaps get involved... but keep in mind that as sexy as modern firearms and technology might be... they are harder to create in Golarion than equally or more powerful magical options, so they've got a built-in uphill battle.
But really, we leave that question to the GM, since every GM has their own preference on how to handle something like this. If you like the idea and you want to have your Golarion enter a new age, perhaps an Age of Steam or an Age of Gunpowder or whatever, then go for it! If you don't the fact that more-powerful magical solutions to what technology already does should be all you need to outpace and marginalize attempts to do so. It's up to you.
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Would you say that the swashbuckler you envision is a mix of the fighter and rogue?
I would say that the swashbuckler I envision is a full base attack class with a good Reflex save who doesn't wear armor and instead gains armor bonuses from his weapon via parrying type mechanics. A swashbuckler who fights with a primary weapon in one hand and uses a support thing in his off hand, like a cloak or a dagger or a buckler... or maybe even nothing in his off hand.
There's plenty of ways to design a class like that. They wouldn't gain sneak attack dice, nor would they gain much in the way of armor abilities.
Would you say that the swashbuckler you envision is a mix of the fighter and rogue?I would say that the swashbuckler I envision is a full base attack class with a good Reflex save who doesn't wear armor and instead gains armor bonuses from his weapon via parrying type mechanics. A swashbuckler who fights with a primary weapon in one hand and uses a support thing in his off hand, like a cloak or a dagger or a buckler... or maybe even nothing in his off hand.
There's plenty of ways to design a class like that. They wouldn't gain sneak attack dice, nor would they gain much in the way of armor abilities.
Well, I can only hope that this base class becomes a reality rather sooner than later. The backlash against new base classes from a few years ago seems to have died down, as far as I have seen and I think it would help with keeping player interest (players love new shinies) to get a few new ones out there. Archetypes really do not compare.
Also, no sneak attack sounds about right. The class probably should have a way of adding dexterity to damage, instead of strength, maybe incrementally instead of all from the beginning, to avoid the dreaded "three level dip and then get the hell out" the 3.5 Swashbucker had. And lots of acrobatic options, like the Duelist or 3.5 Thief Acrobat.
I've always thought that being level 15 or higher was meant to be that you are among cool legendary guys of history. However, the mythic adventures have come up. What is the difference between being just a high level character and being a low level character with mythic levels? Could you give some examples of famous people of Golarion?(either high-level non-mythic or low-level mythic)My favorite way to explain this is to use The Avengers.
In that movie, there's a LOT of equally famous and powerful and notable characters, but some are more powerful than others.
Iron Man, the Hulk, Thor, and Captain America would all be mythic heroes. Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Nick Fury would be non-mythic heroes.
On Golarion, Karzoug is a non-mythic villain, but Sorshen is mythic. OR: The tarrasque is a non-mythic monster, but a kaiju would be mythic.
Mythic foes and heroes are in general a lot rarer than the rest.
maybe it;s because ive been playing since 2nd edition, but I can't get my head around the tarrasque being a non-mythic enemy. Your example is kinda wierd, none of the kaiju actually destroyed a civilization. The tarrasque has ended civilization, that's orders of magnitude greater than any kaiju has done. I'm sure if we had a poll of the D&D players throughout the years to name the most mythic monster in all of D&D lore, the answer would be tarrasque, i know glorion is not D&D history, still it's just odd.
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maybe it;s because ive been playing since 2nd edition, but I can't get my head around the tarrasque being a non-mythic enemy. Your example is kinda wierd, none of the kaiju actually destroyed a civilization. The tarrasque has ended civilization, that's orders of magnitude greater than any kaiju has done. I'm sure if we had a poll of the D&D players throughout the years to name the most mythic monster in all of D&D lore, the answer would be tarrasque, i know glorion is not D&D history, still it's just odd.
Actually... don't jump to conclusions about what kaiju have done quite yet, since they're not yet published... but in fact kaiju are ALL ABOUT destroying society and civilization.
The tarrasque, by the way, didn't end any civilizations on Golarion, but it certainly played a part in destroying some societies.
Also: Just because the tarrasque doesn't have the mythic subtype doesn't mean it's not a great foe for mythic characters to fight. Remember, you don't just have to fight mythic foes if you are mythic yourself. Fighting a CR 25 monster like the tarrasque when you're a mythic 20th level character is still a tough and exciting fight.
maybe it;s because ive been playing since 2nd edition, but I can't get my head around the tarrasque being a non-mythic enemy. Your example is kinda wierd, none of the kaiju actually destroyed a civilization. The tarrasque has ended civilization, that's orders of magnitude greater than any kaiju has done. I'm sure if we had a poll of the D&D players throughout the years to name the most mythic monster in all of D&D lore, the answer would be tarrasque, i know glorion is not D&D history, still it's just odd.Actually... don't jump to conclusions about what kaiju have done quite yet, since they're not yet published... but in fact kaiju are ALL ABOUT destroying society and civilization.
The tarrasque, by the way, didn't end any civilizations on Golarion, but it certainly played a part in destroying some societies.
i wasn't any assumptions, i should have been clearer. i was using our world kaiju examples, like godzilla as a point of reference, much like the marvel characters in your orginal answer.
Nope. Kaiju is a new classification of monster; they're more powerful than the Tarrasque, and live in the CR range of 26 to 30. They're bigger than the Tarrasque.Is the Tarrasque still the same size as it was in 3.5 (50-ft. tall), or is it supposed to be bigger in pathfinder?We don't say how big it is, but that's more or less also saying "We didn't change its size from D&D."
A 50 foot tall tarrasque is about right, in other words. Which makes kaiju about 3 times as big.
So all kaiju sit around the 150-ft. height area? I was hoping at least one reaches the 300-ft mark.
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So all kaiju sit around the 150-ft. height area? I was hoping at least one reaches the 300-ft mark.Nope. Kaiju is a new classification of monster; they're more powerful than the Tarrasque, and live in the CR range of 26 to 30. They're bigger than the Tarrasque.Is the Tarrasque still the same size as it was in 3.5 (50-ft. tall), or is it supposed to be bigger in pathfinder?We don't say how big it is, but that's more or less also saying "We didn't change its size from D&D."
A 50 foot tall tarrasque is about right, in other words. Which makes kaiju about 3 times as big.
The original Godzilla was 50 meters tall—so that's the metric we went by for our kaiju.
Doesn't mean that in the future we can't do bigger kaiju, but to start with, we deferred to the classic size. Certainly, later Godzilla movies increased the scale significantly.
But even at 150 feet tall, we're already realllllly pushing what the game's combat system can handle...
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Nope. Why would that come to mind?Not even the Council of Thieves Player's Guide?What Piazo product do you think has not gotten the attention it deserves?Hmmm. Nothing comes to mind, frankly.
I thought I remembered reading something about it being produced while under a load of pressure with the RPG launch at gencon.
Plus, I think it is probably Paizo's weakest release that I've read.
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First off, simulacrum is a really wacky spell. It presents some really cool adventure possibilities and plotlines, but it is also a spell that can cause a bunch of weird things to happen if you really start digging into it. So, Handle With Care!
1) Not really... it'd be a 13 HD version of a Wyrm blue dragon. It would be the same size, in other words, but would have half everything HD related.
2) It wouldn't be a juvenile dragon, so this question isn't an issue.
3) A simulacrum does not possess any of the original creature's memories. It's personality is whatever you as the caster want it to be. It's knowledge is determined by how it spends its half-of-the-original's skill ranks and feats and the like.
4) Nope. The simulacrum is what the caster wants it to be.
5) The more accurate and detailed (as determined by the result of your Disguise check) the statue is, the more realistic and alike to the original the completed simulacrum will be.
Thanks for the advice, James! Simulacrum is pretty kooky which I guess is why I love it so. :) Since there's so much room for interpretation on it, I really appreciate your expert advice on using it flavorfully. Here's a followup or two...
1. How might I go about building a 13 HD Wyrm blue dragon? Would it only lose the additions to its HP, feats, skill ranks, BAB, saves, and ability score increases, and everything else would stay the same?
2. Specifically, would you have it keep its spellcasting ability as CL 15 with 7th level spells, or would you recommend reducing that?
3. Is there any possible way I could figure out a reasonable CR for this sucker? It's gonna have really weird ratios in places. Like having crazy AC but really low saves, and having a 22d8 breath weapon with a very low Reflex save for half...
4. So for creating a simulacrum of a creature, you'd say that it could have completely different feat and skill selections from the original, depending on the creator's choice? Would that also go for class levels? Could you create a simulacrum of a 20th-level wizard and have it be a 10th-level fighter?
So all kaiju sit around the 150-ft. height area? I was hoping at least one reaches the 300-ft mark.Nope. Kaiju is a new classification of monster; they're more powerful than the Tarrasque, and live in the CR range of 26 to 30. They're bigger than the Tarrasque.Is the Tarrasque still the same size as it was in 3.5 (50-ft. tall), or is it supposed to be bigger in pathfinder?We don't say how big it is, but that's more or less also saying "We didn't change its size from D&D."
A 50 foot tall tarrasque is about right, in other words. Which makes kaiju about 3 times as big.
The original Godzilla was 50 meters tall—so that's the metric we went by for our kaiju.
Doesn't mean that in the future we can't do bigger kaiju, but to start with, we deferred to the classic size. Certainly, later Godzilla movies increased the scale significantly.
But even at 150 feet tall, we're already realllllly pushing what the game's combat system can handle...
I was thinking that the height was more or less fluff and that the CR would simply be raised to represent the height increase (CR 26 for 150-ft., CR 27 for nearly 200-ft. for example).
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Nope. Why would that come to mind?Not even the Council of Thieves Player's Guide?What Piazo product do you think has not gotten the attention it deserves?Hmmm. Nothing comes to mind, frankly.I thought I remembered reading something about it being produced while under a load of pressure with the RPG launch at gencon.
Plus, I think it is probably Paizo's weakest release that I've read.
I'm not so sure that folks paying more attention to what may or may not be a "weak release" is what I'd prefer, frankly.
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1. How might I go about building a 13 HD Wyrm blue dragon? Would it only lose the additions to its HP, feats, skill ranks, BAB, saves, and ability score increases, and everything else would stay the same?
2. Specifically, would you have it keep its spellcasting ability as CL 15 with 7th level spells, or would you recommend reducing that?
3. Is there any possible way I could figure out a reasonable CR for this sucker? It's gonna have really weird ratios in places. Like having crazy AC but really low saves, and having a 22d8 breath weapon with a very low Reflex save for half...
4. So for creating a simulacrum of a creature, you'd say that it could have completely different feat and skill selections from the original, depending on the creator's choice? Would that also go for class levels? Could you create a simulacrum of a 20th-level wizard and have it be a 10th-level fighter?
1) Build the 26 HD version of it. Then lower its HD down to 13 and change everything that causes to change—skill ranks, saves, number of feats, base attack, etc. Also cut the dragon's caster levels in half as well.
2) You would have its caster levels along with the rest of it. So it'd drop to CL 7th.
3) Once you have the new version statted up, compare its numbers to Table 1–1 in the Bestiary and go from there. Although TECHNICALLY this dragon shouldn't award XP at all, since the XP you earn for killing the wizard who cast simulacrum in the first place is technically covering it, similar to how you don't get XP for defeating foes a spellcaster calls up with summon monster. That said... I would certainly award XP for a simulacrum (or for planar allies and the like), since they're such a longer term foe than summoned monsters.
4) I would say that it should have the same type of feat and skill selections as the original, frankly. There's nothing in the spell description that enforces that interpretation directly, but it makes more sense to me AND is more interesting this way, since if you want a simulacrum of a creature that's unusual with weird skills and weird feats you'd have to go find that creature to copy it. And simulacrum absolutely would not allow you to change a creature's class. That DOES get weird, though, if you were to say do a simulacrum of an 8th level rogue/2nd level assassin... in that case you could either do it as merely a 5th level rogue, or you could build a 4th level rogue/1st level assassin—something that's technically against the rules, but as we've established, simulacrum is weird.
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Hi James: where in the Rule Books I can find your explanation (which makes sense).Dear James,
How do templates that increase CR work with creatures whose base CR is a fraction? For example, if I have a 1st level Aasimar warrior (CR 1/3) and I apply the Half-Celestial Template, does she bump up to CR 2 (rounding 1/2 up to the nearest whole number), does she go up to CR 1/2 (one "jump" in terms of CR), CR 1, or something else?
Does the game just explode because of this question?
Also, please ignore how redundant "half-celestial aasimar" is. :-P
They increase the creature's CR by one step per +1.
CR 1/4 goes up to 1/3 with a +1 CR, while it would go to CR 1/2 with a +2 CR.
As always, though, remember to compare the final creature's stats against table 1-1 in the Bestiary, because sometimes the CR adjustment for a template isn't accurate when you apply it to some creatures.
I'm not sure we've specifically spelled those rules out, to be honest. Nevertheless, it's how it works.
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I was thinking that the height was more or less fluff and that the CR would simply be raised to represent the height increase (CR 26 for 150-ft., CR 27 for nearly 200-ft. for example).
Nope. CR measures a creature's hp, damage, attacks, abilities, saves, and other raw rules mechanics. Size does not play a part in determining a creature's CR.
I was thinking that the height was more or less fluff and that the CR would simply be raised to represent the height increase (CR 26 for 150-ft., CR 27 for nearly 200-ft. for example).Nope. CR measures a creature's hp, damage, attacks, abilities, saves, and other raw rules mechanics. Size does not play a part in determining a creature's CR.
Oops. I forgot to mention that I was referring to the kaiju only. I was wondering how something that was bigger than the current kaiju would be more difficult to stat, being that the size of the kaiju is probably just represented in having a higher CR. I was just asking since you mentioned that being at 150 feet tall was already pushing it for the combat system.
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Oops. I forgot to mention that I was referring to the kaiju only. I was wondering how something that was bigger than the current kaiju would be more difficult to stat, being that the size of the kaiju is probably just represented in having a higher CR. I was just asking since you mentioned that being at 150 feet tall was already pushing it for the combat system.I was thinking that the height was more or less fluff and that the CR would simply be raised to represent the height increase (CR 26 for 150-ft., CR 27 for nearly 200-ft. for example).Nope. CR measures a creature's hp, damage, attacks, abilities, saves, and other raw rules mechanics. Size does not play a part in determining a creature's CR.
It's not more difficult to stat up. It's more difficult to play.
The game uses 5 foot squares. Once you get a creature that has, say, a space of 100 feet or 500 feet or more, the size of the battlemat you need starts to get bigger than most game tables. Furhter... the idea of things like five-foot steps start to feel really goofy.
The game is really built to support battles where the participants take up one five-foot-square. The more squares things take up, the weirder things get.
Oops. I forgot to mention that I was referring to the kaiju only. I was wondering how something that was bigger than the current kaiju would be more difficult to stat, being that the size of the kaiju is probably just represented in having a higher CR. I was just asking since you mentioned that being at 150 feet tall was already pushing it for the combat system.I was thinking that the height was more or less fluff and that the CR would simply be raised to represent the height increase (CR 26 for 150-ft., CR 27 for nearly 200-ft. for example).Nope. CR measures a creature's hp, damage, attacks, abilities, saves, and other raw rules mechanics. Size does not play a part in determining a creature's CR.It's not more difficult to stat up. It's more difficult to play.
The game uses 5 foot squares. Once you get a creature that has, say, a space of 100 feet or 500 feet or more, the size of the battlemat you need starts to get bigger than most game tables. Furhter... the idea of things like five-foot steps start to feel really goofy.
The game is really built to support battles where the participants take up one five-foot-square. The more squares things take up, the weirder things get.
Oh, okay.
I guess many people couldn't rap their head around the whole space issue, anyway. I've always just viewed the minis on the battlemat as just a point of reference and that's it. The spaces were always much smaller than a lot of monsters in the game (kraken, mu spore, sea bonze and such). I never thought it was as much of an issue as it is, so I thought the spaces were just going to increase to like 60 feet at most for kaiju with further reach.
Oops. I forgot to mention that I was referring to the kaiju only. I was wondering how something that was bigger than the current kaiju would be more difficult to stat, being that the size of the kaiju is probably just represented in having a higher CR. I was just asking since you mentioned that being at 150 feet tall was already pushing it for the combat system.I was thinking that the height was more or less fluff and that the CR would simply be raised to represent the height increase (CR 26 for 150-ft., CR 27 for nearly 200-ft. for example).Nope. CR measures a creature's hp, damage, attacks, abilities, saves, and other raw rules mechanics. Size does not play a part in determining a creature's CR.It's not more difficult to stat up. It's more difficult to play.
The game uses 5 foot squares. Once you get a creature that has, say, a space of 100 feet or 500 feet or more, the size of the battlemat you need starts to get bigger than most game tables. Furhter... the idea of things like five-foot steps start to feel really goofy.
The game is really built to support battles where the participants take up one five-foot-square. The more squares things take up, the weirder things get.
Some monsters' feet take a a 5 ft square in and of themselves, so taking a 5 ft step for them is merely a shuffle of their stance. It just gets worse once you get into the colossal range when their toe might be 5 ft square.
I favorited this post because of this part:
5) Same as #4 above. That said, the one I'd like to redo the most is Second Darkness, particularly part 5, which I feel dropped the ball on making elves be something other than cliched D&D style aloof and uncaring jerks. My hope for that AP was that elves would instead come off as much more friendly and be a society the players would WANT to befriend and help.
6) It'd be one that follows multiple generations of heroes, such that when you hit 20th level with one party, the timeline advances and you start with the descendants of those player characters as new 1st level characters that repeat for multiple generations and therefore this last AP would never end.
#6 was a great "Bwahahahahaha" answer. And #5 was just, um, yes.
Alright, here I go with a question which best is left under spoiler tags, relating to module five of Reign of Winter:
** spoiler omitted **
1) Are you satisfied that the mythic rules expanded the CR rules to 30? I can see some advantages to this (being able to support the new CR band more easily), but also some disadvantages (not a lot of maneuverability in terms of power levels for demigods and demigod level creatures). How do you feel about it?
2) I'm getting closer and closer to finishing the complete fiction of Lovecraft. After I do, what do you recommend I read next? A Lovecraft inspired story from one his contemporaries? The biography by S.T. Joshi? Something else?
3) I seem to recall that you were working on a web fiction series a while back and that you had the first part ready. Any progress on that or is my information faulty?
As always, thanks for your continued answers! They're much appreciated.
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Thanks for the help, James. Time for me to do some math, and see if my 6th-level players will stand a chance against Fake Cadrilkasta. :) (While she's off hunting for the Sihedron Shards, her simulacrum is holding down the fort in Belkzen -- and trying to get her hands on my players' key to the Cypher Gate!)
Geography question: Is it possible to get directly from the Five Kings Mountains into Kyonin without going through the Tanglebriar?
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Creative Director
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** spoiler omitted **James: If your character went there and could return with 5 items, what would they be?Alright, here I go with a question which best is left under spoiler tags, relating to module five of Reign of Winter:
** spoiler omitted **
Dunno... that'd really depend on what kind of character I was playing.
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Creative Director
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1) Are you satisfied that the mythic rules expanded the CR rules to 30? I can see some advantages to this (being able to support the new CR band more easily), but also some disadvantages (not a lot of maneuverability in terms of power levels for demigods and demigod level creatures). How do you feel about it?
2) I'm getting closer and closer to finishing the complete fiction of Lovecraft. After I do, what do you recommend I read next? A Lovecraft inspired story from one his contemporaries? The biography by S.T. Joshi? Something else?
3) I seem to recall that you were working on a web fiction series a while back and that you had the first part ready. Any progress on that or is my information faulty?
As always, thanks for your continued answers! They're much appreciated.
1) Yes; I'm satisfied with how that all ended up.
2) Joshi's biography is really quite brilliant. But if you like Lovecraft stuff, then I'd recommend getting into Clark Ashton Smith next. Or if you're looking for a more modern writer, T.E.D. Klein or Ramsey Campbell or Thomas Ligotti.
3) I have part 1 of a four part webfiction story written. Alas... various other work-related projects have kept me from being able to work on the rest of that story for many many months. I hope that soon as Midnight Isles is wrapped in a few weeks here I'll be able to have some time to actually work on the story again... but we'll see.
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Hi James, thanks for answering all these questions.
1. Is there any events that you would like to see happen in Golarion?
2. With Wrath of the Righteous and it being the Mythic campaign how new player friendly is it?
3. Other then Varisia what other countries in Golarion are you most interested to see more fleshed out?
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Geography question: Is it possible to get directly from the Five Kings Mountains into Kyonin without going through the Tanglebriar?Not really. There's probably some underground routes, but I bet that Nar Voth directly below Tanglebriar is kinda freaky...
Welp, time for the Ranger's +1 evil outsider bane greatsword to do its job, then. :)
Would it be safe to say that the elves of Kyonin would have good historical knowledge of ancient Thassilon? For example, would they know who Karzoug was?
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Creative Director
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Hi James, thanks for answering all these questions.
1. Is there any events that you would like to see happen in Golarion?
2. With Wrath of the Righteous and it being the Mythic campaign how new player friendly is it?
3. Other then Varisia what other countries in Golarion are you most interested to see more fleshed out?
1) Yup. But since some of those events are going to be involved with upcoming releases I can't yet talk about... I can't yet talk about them.
2) It's not going to be new player friendly. New players should probably start with the Beginner Box. Jumping into Mythic Adventures at the start is probably a good way to get overwhelmed.
3) See #1 above.
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Creative Director
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Geography question: Is it possible to get directly from the Five Kings Mountains into Kyonin without going through the Tanglebriar?Not really. There's probably some underground routes, but I bet that Nar Voth directly below Tanglebriar is kinda freaky...Welp, time for the Ranger's +1 evil outsider bane greatsword to do its job, then. :)
Would it be safe to say that the elves of Kyonin would have good historical knowledge of ancient Thassilon? For example, would they know who Karzoug was?
They would know, but their information isn't super detailed. Certainly not as detailed as the information you can dig up in Varisia itself. The elves of Kyonin are long lived, but not THAT long lived.
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maybe it;s because ive been playing since 2nd edition, but I can't get my head around the tarrasque being a non-mythic enemy. Your example is kinda wierd, none of the kaiju actually destroyed a civilization. The tarrasque has ended civilization, that's orders of magnitude greater than any kaiju has done. I'm sure if we had a poll of the D&D players throughout the years to name the most mythic monster in all of D&D lore, the answer would be tarrasque, i know glorion is not D&D history, still it's just odd.Actually... don't jump to conclusions about what kaiju have done quite yet, since they're not yet published... but in fact kaiju are ALL ABOUT destroying society and civilization.
The tarrasque, by the way, didn't end any civilizations on Golarion, but it certainly played a part in destroying some societies.
Also: Just because the tarrasque doesn't have the mythic subtype doesn't mean it's not a great foe for mythic characters to fight. Remember, you don't just have to fight mythic foes if you are mythic yourself. Fighting a CR 25 monster like the tarrasque when you're a mythic 20th level character is still a tough and exciting fight.
Isn't there a creature type in bestiary 2 (or maybe 3...) that's all about being giant, civilization-consuming monsters sent by vengeful gods? and aren't they all CR 20 or lower? How are Kaiju different than those monsters, except in scale?
I actually know nothing about Kaiju on Golarion. is that information public yet, or will it be revealed in the bestiary 4?
Nope. The gods don't generally get directly involved for anything. The various faiths of the various gods would perhaps get involved... but keep in mind that as sexy as modern firearms and technology might be... they are harder to create in Golarion than equally or more powerful magical options, so they've got a built-in uphill battle.
Just wanting to point out that large areas of Earth were technologically stuck at "medieval levels" for thousands of years (The Americas, middle to southern Africa, Australia, large parts of the far east), without any obvious RL divine intervention ( and only a small change in the endothermic chemical equation for gunpowder needs to be altered^^ to make gunpowder non-functional), strange luddite cults, religious aversion or facing strong competition from magic.
Nevermind that advanced weaponry technology like byzantine "greek fire" has been lost throughout the ages, never to be rediscovered or only recently understood and replicated through very advanced natural sciences in combination with archeology.
And given that Golarion features places with altered realities/magics, whole regions where certain technology does not function all that well can also be imagined and kept. Guns work over here in Alkenstar.... but not over there^^
1) Are we going to get some more definitive information on Casmaron, Southern Garund or the Azlanti Archipelago anytime soon ?
Say, like an Explorer's guide (Pathfinder's guide to far-off realms^^) ?
2) Despite JJ not being the greatest of Dwarf fans, any chance for some more dwarf-love, or expanded take on their background and society outside the five kingdom mountains ? Or any expanded race books at all - not more races, but more insights in what makes them tick, Golarion-wise ?
3) Any expanded information coming up for Galt, Molthune etc ?