Playstyle question,
When creating characters or being in combat, do you make decisions based on the chatacter concept, or do you choose based on meta facts then make your characters fit?
I once was in a game where my character feeling disdain for potions didn't go over well with the other players who thought I should use an acid flask as focus for the mere +1 to damage (an amount I don't think would be even noticeable to the characters unless they did some sort of statistical analysis on repeated experiments with some way of measuring the damage). They also weren't happy when my character didn't identify potions in the middle of us walking somewhere and waited until we stopped, also they were complaining about how it was my job because I was an arcane caster (a silly thing if you ask me and thus was not prepared for).
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Playstyle question,
When creating characters or being in combat, do you make decisions based on the chatacter concept, or do you choose based on meta facts then make your characters fit?
I once was in a game where my character feeling disdain for potions didn't go over well with the other players who thought I should use an acid flask as focus for the mere +1 to damage (an amount I don't think would be even noticeable to the characters unless they did some sort of statistical analysis on repeated experiments with some way of measuring the damage). They also weren't happy when my character didn't identify potions in the middle of us walking somewhere and waited until we stopped, also they were complaining about how it was my job because I was an arcane caster (a silly thing if you ask me and thus was not prepared for).
I make decisions based on character concept.
Wrath of the Righteous spoilers, readers beware...
If Nocticula ascends as a CN goddess, what happens to Socothbenoth? He's supposedly her brother... does he take over her portfolio or something?
Questions about Deities!
At what point does a deity get a title by which they are commonly known? Nocticula, Our Lady in Shadow. Shelyn, The Eternal Rose. Sarenrae, The Dawnflower. Where did those titles come from? Are they part of some cosmic naming scheme where the universe itself grants them a title? Are they self-styled? A result of their worshipers wanting to make them sound cool?
It seems that demigods have them, but what about quasideities?
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Wrath of the Righteous spoilers, readers beware...
Spoiler:If Nocticula ascends as a CN goddess, what happens to Socothbenoth? He's supposedly her brother... does he take over her portfolio or something?
Socothbenoth likely becomes one of Nocticula's greatest enemies—they're already on-and-off again rivals currently, but her becoming chaotic neutral would make the two of them super-enemies and one, likely, would eventually end up destroyed. Probably Socothbenoth, since by that point Nocticula would have ascended beyond demigoddess to full deity. It'd be sort of similar to the antagonism between Pazuzu and Lamashtu at that point. So if Socothbenoth is smart, he'd play it like Pazuzu and plot on the sideline rather than directly confront his nemesis.
If Nocticula does shift to a chaotic neutral goddess, Shamira would be the one to step in and take over as the role of "boss succubus" in her place. And she would also likely become Socothbenoth's enemy in the process.
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Now that the awesome folks at Chaosium have allowed Paizo to use some of their proprietary RPG critters in Strange Aeons... are there any other companies with creatures you'd like a chance to use in official Pathfinder materials some day?
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Questions about Deities!
At what point does a deity get a title by which they are commonly known? Nocticula, Our Lady in Shadow. Shelyn, The Eternal Rose. Sarenrae, The Dawnflower. Where did those titles come from? Are they part of some cosmic naming scheme where the universe itself grants them a title? Are they self-styled? A result of their worshipers wanting to make them sound cool?
It seems that demigods have them, but what about quasideities?
Those titles come from all over—mostly from the faithful though, in each church's early days. A deity actually has several of these titles, but we generally only use one of them for each.
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Now that the awesome folks at Chaosium have allowed Paizo to use some of their proprietary RPG critters in Strange Aeons... are there any other companies with creatures you'd like a chance to use in official Pathfinder materials some day?
None come to mind (Wizards of the Coast included).
Chaosium is pretty unique in this regard, due to their association with Lovecraft's legacy and the fact that Call of Cthulhu is one of the two main reasons Lovecraft's so popular today (the other being Re-Animator).
Do you think that Council of Thieves is a good adventure to use Ultimate Intrigue with?
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1) What's the first class that comes to mind for...
a) ...a vampire?
b) ...a werewolf?
c) ...a ghost?
2) What's the first monster (non 0-HD creature) that comes to mind for each alignment to you? Just off the top of your head.
3) If you're comfortable saying, given you're a fan of cryptozoology, are there three monsters you think are most likely to exist? Or is being uncertain part of the fun for you?
1a) Sorcerer
1b) Ranger1c) Aristocrat
2) LG: Couatl
NG: Nymph
CG: Lillend
LN: Marut inevitable
N: Tyrannosaurus
CN: Protean
LE: Pit fiend
NE: Brain Collector
CE: Succubus
3) I certainly HOPE bigfoot exists, but I'm increasingly convinced that if a big currently-undiscovered human-like primate does exist in the wilds still, it's not in North America and is more likely to be in Asia. As for other cryptids, the ones I think absolutely exist are giant sea monsters, particularly an immense octopus or squid or shark larger than what we've currently seen.
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Do you think that Council of Thieves is a good adventure to use Ultimate Intrigue with?
I think Ultimate Intrigue will work well with ANY adventure or adventure path that features a lot of social situations or the like. And since we try to include those in all of our APs to a certain extent... I think Ultimate Intrigue will work well with any adventure or AP we publish, in much the same way that Ultimate Magic or Ultimate Combat will. Some parts of each book will work better for certain parts of certain adventures, of course.
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Speaking of shamira.
Will we ever hear more about the origins of this one, or was she left intentionally vague so GMs could figure out their own plans for her and her origins?
Nothing in Golarion is "intentionally left vague for GMs to figure out on their own." In other words, ANY thing you see us add to Golarion is a potential place for us to expand upon. We might not do so for months, or years, or even decades, but there's not a specific location or organization or anything that we've set aside as "this is for GMs to do what they want with." Other than what the deal is with Aroden's death, but even that's more of a "We deliberately don't explain this because mysteries are better than answers," and the fact that each GM can expand on Aroden's death as they wish without fear of us contradicting their version in a future book is a side effect.
"The Midnight Isles" is the place I've talked the most about Shamira, and I even created a full stat block for her in that adventure. She's one of the exports from my homebrew setting (in my setting, she's a more powerful neutral evil deity rather than a chaotic evil demigod though), and so I do actually have a fair bit more lore and potential plans for her.
What would happen if someone successfully cast Matchmaker on two people of diametrically opposed alignment?
Or, for added fun, two outsiders of diametrically opposed alignment (an erinyes and a bralani, for instance).
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What would happen if someone successfully cast Matchmaker on two people of diametrically opposed alignment?
Or, for added fun, two outsiders of diametrically opposed alignment (an erinyes and a bralani, for instance).
That's gross and I bet that someone would lose friends as a result.
Do cyclops have depth perception, despite only having one eye?They do not have depth perception; you need 2 eyes for that. It's biology.
Hmm... it's a wonder Ghol Gan was as powerful as it was. Wouldn't cyclopes constantly crash into things, since they couldn't tell how far away they were?
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Hmm... it's a wonder Ghol Gan was as powerful as it was. Wouldn't cyclopes constantly crash into things, since they couldn't tell how far away they were?Do cyclops have depth perception, despite only having one eye?They do not have depth perception; you need 2 eyes for that. It's biology.
If they were humans who suddenly turned into one-eyed versions, perhaps. But they weren't. There's ways for creatures without depth perception to deal with that. And since cyclopes don't have a penalty to vision-based Perception checks, you can assume that their other senses compensate somehow to allow them to make up for it. I personally think that the best explanation is that their ability to gain a flash of insight also works all the time at a much lesser and more subtle level that allows them to make up for their lack of depth perception, for a net positive of +0 to those Perception checks.
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What is the shape of a skane's blade (you know, the multipurpose ceremonial daggers of Pharasma's faithful)?
Somewhat curved, sort of like a portion of a crescent moon. At least, until someone somewhere goes ahead and illustrates it without checking in with me first, which is probably what will eventually happen.
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Since I'm asking around on this topic, I figured I'd ask you as well: what do players in your personal games craft? Personally I only see a limited selection of items crafted. Anything unusual you've seen made in game? Or is it all just the big 6 + consumables?
What are these 6 core items I always hear about?
Wait consumables? Why would you waste funds on a consumable when you can save up a bit and get or make a nonconsumable version (other than absolute emergency that totally can't wait)?
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Since I'm asking around on this topic, I figured I'd ask you as well: what do players in your personal games craft? Personally I only see a limited selection of items crafted. Anything unusual you've seen made in game? Or is it all just the big 6 + consumables?
That varies widely. Scrolls and potions are generally pretty popular, as are wands and wondrous items. Folks generally don't craft "the big 6" in my games; those are pretty easy to come across during adventures, after all. I generally do a fair amount of crafting or unique spell research in games I play when I play spellcasters, but haven't been able to scratch that itch much lately, since my builds have either been non-spellcasters or spellcasters who use their feats for non-spellcasting stuff.
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What are these 6 core items I always hear about?
Wait consumables? Why would you waste funds on a consumable when you can save up a bit and get or make a nonconsumable version (other than absolute emergency that totally can't wait)?
The "big six" is a category of items that many players consider to be essential for characters, but personally I don't really adhere to that belief, to the extent that I'm not sure I can name the six off the top of my head, but here goes:
Ring of protection
Cloak of resistance
Headband (ability score modifier)
Belt (ability score modifier)
uhmmmmm...
Or maybe the "big 6" was the six ability score enhancers? Dunno. I'm sure someone will pop in here to explain though...
And the reason consumables are popular is because they're fast and relatively inexpensive to make, and are a great solution for spells that are very situational but aren't great to keep around for all the time hogging up a spell known or prepared.
So something I've wondered about inquisitors. They're described as hunting down 'enemies of the faith.' My group has generally interpreted this as things like specialized Pharasmin undead hunters, Asmodean enforcers preventing people from wiggling out of contracts, Caydenites hunting slavers, aberration-fighting Sarenites, and so forth.
But how does that sort of thing apply to deities like Desna, Shelyn, or Nethys, who don't have clear, specific enemies to face?
Has my group completely misinterpreted inquisitors and they actually have more of a defensive role?
Is it a mix of both; Pharasmin inquisitors hunt undead while Desnan inquisitors watch for active threats to their temples? Or is it just not in the nature of some deities to support inquisitors?
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But to respect the question-rule, a question I'd been meaning to ask. Do you have a favorite giant-centric adventure outside of Giantslayer. Reason is, I'm running Giantslayer right now, and I always like to have a good chunk of additional thematic adventures that can be slotted in along the way as the party goes a bit off track, etc.
Fortress of the Stone Giants.
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How do you feel about PCs and wishes, both as a GM and a player? What sort of things would some of your PCs wish for? Any other interesting stories on the topic?
Thank you! ^_^
I love them! They are a great opportunity to reward players, to introduce effects into the game that the game normally doesn't allow, and to make players paranoid. My current favorite story about wishes is:
The group had been captured by the bad guys and were forced to fight in a bloodsport event for the amusement of a lost city's crazed ruler. The bloodsport event was five combats that the PCs had to do without having a chance to rest between, with each combat being increasingly difficult.
My plan was for one of three things to happen:
1) The PCs luck out and win the fight, in which case they'd be able to escape servitude on their own.
2) The PCs lose the fight, in which case they'd be saved from death and put back in their cage for another round, but would be rescued by NPC allies who were impressed by them in the fight before they had to endure a second round of bloodsports.
3) Something unexpected.
Of course, option 3 is how it played out.
The last battle had the PCs, who were about 14th level or so at the time, facing off against a CR 17 glabrezu named Bezilak. Things were looking good up to this fight, and I was pretty sure the PCs would win (option 1 above), but a few unlucky rolls and one or two bad tactical choices saw the battle swing in the other direction, with Bezilak's reverse gravity being an unexpected element the party ended up being devastated by. In a few rounds, the party was all either unconscious, unable to move or do anything at the top of a reverse gravity area, or in Mark Moreland's case, alive and invisible.
Mark Moreland's character scurried up to Bezilak (who of course could see him thanks to true seeing but was curious to see what this weird cat person wanted), and I expected him to try to sneak attack the demon only to be sad when he found out that the demon knew he was there and took no sneak attack damage... BUT the demon was already pretty beat up so there was a chance if the rogue got in a critical hit that he could have actually defeated the demon.
Instead, Mark had his character beg the demon for mercy. Bezilak asked the catfolk rogue if that was his wish. The catfolk rogue agreed, and in so doing I had the glabrezu use his wish ability to grant the catfolk's wish—by having the main bad guy's control over the demon end via a powerful break enchantment effect. This not only allowed Bezilak to immediately teleport away (and thus leave the PCs further unharmed) but also turned Mark's catfolk rogue evil. He thereafter started taking assassin levels... and periodically had paranoid notions that the demon was still watching him and toying with him from the shadows.
BUT.
The best part of this story is that a few months later, Mark was developing "Demons Revisited," which I wrote. And as you can see on page 20... there's Bezilak. And so Mark got to find out just how powerful the demon was AND all about how the demon specializes in messing with people who make wishes he grants.
Delightful.
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So something I've wondered about inquisitors. They're described as hunting down 'enemies of the faith.' My group has generally interpreted this as things like specialized Pharasmin undead hunters, Asmodean enforcers preventing people from wiggling out of contracts, Caydenites hunting slavers, aberration-fighting Sarenites, and so forth.
But how does that sort of thing apply to deities like Desna, Shelyn, or Nethys, who don't have clear, specific enemies to face?
Has my group completely misinterpreted inquisitors and they actually have more of a defensive role?
Is it a mix of both; Pharasmin inquisitors hunt undead while Desnan inquisitors watch for active threats to their temples? Or is it just not in the nature of some deities to support inquisitors?
Desna does have clear and specific enemies: agents of the Dark Tapestry (particularly worshipers of Ghlaunder or the Elder Mythos) and demons.
Shelyn's inquisitors would likely fight against regimes or those who sought to suppress love and beauty and art... but she's also one of those faiths who probably doesn't really have a lot of inquisitors to begin with. She's kinda too nice and friendly for them.
Nethys would have inquisitors that would seek out those who would harm or abuse magic or the faith. Also would be another deity to be unlikely to have a lot of inquisitors.
In other words... not every faith has an equal number of inquisitors working for them.
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Since I'm asking around on this topic, I figured I'd ask you as well: what do players in your personal games craft? Personally I only see a limited selection of items crafted. Anything unusual you've seen made in game? Or is it all just the big 6 + consumables?That varies widely. Scrolls and potions are generally pretty popular, as are wands and wondrous items. Folks generally don't craft "the big 6" in my games; those are pretty easy to come across during adventures, after all. I generally do a fair amount of crafting or unique spell research in games I play when I play spellcasters, but haven't been able to scratch that itch much lately, since my builds have either been non-spellcasters or spellcasters who use their feats for non-spellcasting stuff.
Does a lot of that spell research in your games end up as new spells published by Paizo?
Do you see much in the way of crafting using the Craft skill in your games?
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Since I'm asking around on this topic, I figured I'd ask you as well: what do players in your personal games craft? Personally I only see a limited selection of items crafted. Anything unusual you've seen made in game? Or is it all just the big 6 + consumables?That varies widely. Scrolls and potions are generally pretty popular, as are wands and wondrous items. Folks generally don't craft "the big 6" in my games; those are pretty easy to come across during adventures, after all. I generally do a fair amount of crafting or unique spell research in games I play when I play spellcasters, but haven't been able to scratch that itch much lately, since my builds have either been non-spellcasters or spellcasters who use their feats for non-spellcasting stuff.Does a lot of that spell research in your games end up as new spells published by Paizo?
Do you see much in the way of crafting using the Craft skill in your games?
Some of them do; some of them appeared in work I did for 3rd edition D&D for WotC.
I don't see the Craft skill used often in my games, save perhaps for Craft (alchemy), or for specific in-game uses when I grant characters with ranks in some of those skills opportunities to use those skills to answer specific Craft-related lore questions rather than limiting that to a Knowledge check.
Manasaputras claim some of them predate the current Multiverse. As in, older than the Great Beyond and anything in it, including all the gods.
Can that be considered "canon"? Would they remain once Pharasma judges herself and Groetus zero-fills existence?
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I know pesh is the big trade in Katapesh (it gave the domain its name for crying out loud!), but how easy or hard is it to get into the business? Could someone grow and sell their own to the city, or would the Pactmasters crush such a business to maintain their monopoly? Or is it more along the lines of "running a pesh farm/distillery and running a pesh den/lounge are two separate businesses?"
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Manasaputras claim some of them predate the current Multiverse. As in, older than the Great Beyond and anything in it, including all the gods.
Can that be considered "canon"? Would they remain once Pharasma judges herself and Groetus zero-fills existence?
The "claim" is canonical. Whether or not it's an accurate claim remains to be seen. Personally, I kind of prefer that exemptness to be something that only the Outer Gods and Great Old Ones have... :-P
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I know pesh is the big trade in Katapesh (it gave the domain its name for crying out loud!), but how easy or hard is it to get into the business? Could someone grow and sell their own to the city, or would the Pactmasters crush such a business to maintain their monopoly? Or is it more along the lines of "running a pesh farm/distillery and running a pesh den/lounge are two separate businesses?"
Not something we've really covered, but you can probably look at real-world historical opium business practices and use that as a model.
The "claim" is canonical. Whether or not it's an accurate claim remains to be seen. Personally, I kind of prefer that exemptness to be something that only the Outer Gods and Great Old Ones have... :-PManasaputras claim some of them predate the current Multiverse. As in, older than the Great Beyond and anything in it, including all the gods.
Can that be considered "canon"? Would they remain once Pharasma judges herself and Groetus zero-fills existence?
Sneaky.
What are these 6 core items I always hear about?
Wait consumables? Why would you waste funds on a consumable when you can save up a bit and get or make a nonconsumable version (other than absolute emergency that totally can't wait)?The "big six" is a category of items that many players consider to be essential for characters, but personally I don't really adhere to that belief, to the extent that I'm not sure I can name the six off the top of my head, but here goes:
Ring of protection
Cloak of resistance
Headband (ability score modifier)
Belt (ability score modifier)
uhmmmmm...Or maybe the "big 6" was the six ability score enhancers? Dunno. I'm sure someone will pop in here to explain though...
And the reason consumables are popular is because they're fast and relatively inexpensive to make, and are a great solution for spells that are very situational but aren't great to keep around for all the time hogging up a spell known or prepared.
The big Six are as follows, they constitute the core items the game believes you will have to reach 'average' ability as you level:
Cloak of Resistance
Primary Stat increasing belt or headband
Ring of Protection.
Amulet of Natural AC.
Armor (or Bracers or other defensive items, including shields)
Weapon (can also include MM Rods and acquiring spells)
Everything else comes after you satisfy the Big Six. Generally speaking, you increase them before you increase anything else, and will default to consumables or the occasionally utility item rather then fall behind in them. Increasing the ability of your Big Six is basically what determines how competent you are as an adventurer, because they affect your core stats more then any other items.
If you have nothing but the Big Six and consumables as you level, you'll do fine.