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Paizo Employee Creative Director

deuxhero wrote:

Can a Paladin lie to himself, such as not acknowledging internally he does what he does because he is Good, instead thinking it is a result of being Lawful?

How does sundering work when objects are worn under another? Can you sunder a Ring of Feather Falling that is under Gloves of Arrow Snaring (Actual items unimportant)?

Lying is not a good/evil act. It's a law/chaos act.

Doesn't make a difference to a paladin, of course. Whether or not a paladin's code allows lying, even white lies, depends on that paladin's code. Varies from religion to religion. As a general rule, though... a paladin played properly wouldn't consider lying an option.

You generally cannot sunder an object worn by someone else; you can usually only sunder weapons. If you allow sunder attempts against gloves and the like... you have to allow it all the time is all.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Gregg Helmberger wrote:
I'm positive you're addressed this question hundreds of times, but what are your thoughts on a possible AP centered around defeating an orc invasion from Belkzen? Is that something you'd like to do, or does the idea bore you? It seems like a natural to me, but then so does an AP centered around political intrigue in Taldor and I'm pretty sure that ain't happening any time soon, so that shows what I know. :-)

That kind of Adventure Path is definitely a possibility, but it's not as strong as, say, the plots we want to do first. A political intrigue adventure in Taldor's probably more likely.

But it's worth remembering that we only do 2 of these things a year... and often there are requirements based on the year itself. For example... we had to do a sequel in 2012 because it was Paizo's anniversary. We have to do Baba Yaga in 2013 because that correlates to the time we subtly promised that AP would happen.

My and Rob's interest in a subject has a HUGE impact on what APs we run as well. Any product that the lead designer/developer isn't passionate about will suffer, and as a result, we tend to skew to plots the two of us are passionate about. Rob's more passionate about orc invasions and Taldor than I am, but he's got bigger things he wants to try out first.


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An Adventure Path concerning the Dominion(s) of the Black would be a day 1 pre-order for me, without a doubt. Heck, any book with scraps of information about them is a sure sell for me. ;)


James Jacobs wrote:
I'm talking about playtesting REALLY high level stuff. Characters with up to the full 10 tiers of mythic power. Characters of 15th level or higher. Characters who are 20th level with 10 tiers of power fighting against CR 35 foes.

I'm hoping to be playing in one campaign with Mythic rules and running Mythic Serpent's skull. I just hope that both campaigns will get to level 20 (we're starting mythic around there) before the playtest is over.

I'll be sure to post my observations ;)


James Jacobs wrote:
Lucent wrote:

I really, truly hope that it doesn't require stripping the Mythic out of Wrath of the Righteous. If there's anything the community can do to help out in whatever capacity we can, you know you have a small army of dedicated hobbyists and fans at your disposal :)

You're not the only one who hopes that. Because if we have to strip the Mythic out of Wrath of the Righteous... I'm more likely to simply change to an entirely different Adventure Path, because I'm not interested in doing an Adventure Path that needs mythic rules without using mythic rules.

The BIGGEST THING that the community can do to help out in this case is to playtest the HELL out of the Mythic Rules when the playtest does launch.

And I'm not talking about playtesting the sample adventure or fooling around with 1st level or even 10th level mythic characters.

I'm talking about playtesting REALLY high level stuff. Characters with up to the full 10 tiers of mythic power. Characters of 15th level or higher. Characters who are 20th level with 10 tiers of power fighting against CR 35 foes.

By the time the playtest gets out, the PCs in my current group will be around 10th or 11th level. I'll be introducing mythic levels to them as soon as the playtest is out, and hopefully we'll be able to run all the way through to 20th with them and attain 10 mythic levels.

How long is the playtest scheduled to run?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Lucent wrote:

By the time the playtest gets out, the PCs in my current group will be around 10th or 11th level. I'll be introducing mythic levels to them as soon as the playtest is out, and hopefully we'll be able to run all the way through to 20th with them and attain 10 mythic levels.

How long is the playtest scheduled to run?

I suspect that it'll last about a month or so. After that, folks will still be welcome to play with the playtest as normal, and while we'll be watching, we won't be as involved in hands-on feedback.

While organic growth in a mythic campaign would be good information to gain... There won't be time to do a normal mythic campaign before the book goes to the printer. And the design of the book will need to be done well before that, even.

What I'm hoping for instead is folks to just playtest various levels of character builds against various powerful monsters. How the mythic tiers power you up for fighting tougher foes is my primary interest.


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What's that? A call to openly slaughter PCs and call it "Playtesting"?

MWAHAHAHAHAHAhahahahahahah....

*ahem*

I'll be sure to do my part.


A month? Okay that'll definitely require some extra-curricular usage strictly in combat. Thankfully my group loves that sort of stuff, so we'll likely put forth commentary regarding strictly generated for combat scenarios, and something more natural that occurs in-campaign.


James Jacobs wrote:
AlgaeNymph wrote:
Let's say "Domina II" (ignore the Harrower screaming about "the returning evil") acquires the Axe of the Dwarvish Lords. She offers it to Janderhoff in exchange for 1) massive urban renewal, 2) arming her military with masterwork and giant-bane equipment, and 3) a lifetime supply of booze for the city. Would the dwarves consider that reasonable?
Nope. Janderhoff would be more likely to hire PCs to get the axe from her, or perhaps try to mobilize the dwarven race against Cheliax in a war. Dwarves hate evil and are one of the most stubborn of all races... they wouldn't want to enter an alliance with an evil nation of diabolists led by a petulant but powerful human woman.

Cheliax? I was talking about Korvosa, this is yet another Sorshen question that I wasn't clear about. The "Domina II" name (not to be confused with Abrogail II) is an idea I have where she invokes a beloved symbol to win over the city.

Assuming she hasn't been outed as the Ancient Evil, will the dwarf fortress trade with her?


James Jacobs wrote:
You're not the only one who hopes that. Because if we have to strip the Mythic out of Wrath of the Righteous... I'm more likely to simply change to an entirely different Adventure Path, because I'm not interested in doing an Adventure Path that needs mythic rules without using mythic rules.

I hope you don't do that. Or feel that you have to do it.

But that's a decision you have to make very soon, isn't it? Like this week? Long before Jason actually gets back from his vacation.

I just found an old thread where somebody was asking about the process by which you create an Adventure Path. "Build a better mousetrap", I think it was called? Some dude was telling you a better way to make APs and you were explaining how its actually done and the time required. It sounds like the outline for Wrath of the Righteous would have to be finished on your hard drive by now.

Wouldn't that mean a brand new outline? If you don't count the first two weeks of August, it looks like you're 9 months out, one week from now.

I'm with Lucent. There are a lot of people who would like to help you any way they can.


James Jacobs wrote:

I suspect that it'll last about a month or so. After that, folks will still be welcome to play with the playtest as normal, and while we'll be watching, we won't be as involved in hands-on feedback.

While organic growth in a mythic campaign would be good information to gain... There won't be time to do a normal mythic campaign before the book goes to the printer. And the design of the book will need to be done well before that, even.

What I'm hoping for instead is folks to just playtest various levels of character builds against various powerful monsters. How the mythic tiers power you up for fighting tougher foes is my primary interest.

Only a month? Ick, there probably won't even be time for my campaigns to get to mythic levels then because we weren't planning on introducing them until near level 20. I'll have to look at the rules and decide on whether or not I want to introduce them earlier I guess, hmm.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Lucent wrote:
A month? Okay that'll definitely require some extra-curricular usage strictly in combat. Thankfully my group loves that sort of stuff, so we'll likely put forth commentary regarding strictly generated for combat scenarios, and something more natural that occurs in-campaign.

"A month" is my guess. It could be less, it may well be more. You'll know more when the playtest goes live.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

AlgaeNymph wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
AlgaeNymph wrote:
Let's say "Domina II" (ignore the Harrower screaming about "the returning evil") acquires the Axe of the Dwarvish Lords. She offers it to Janderhoff in exchange for 1) massive urban renewal, 2) arming her military with masterwork and giant-bane equipment, and 3) a lifetime supply of booze for the city. Would the dwarves consider that reasonable?
Nope. Janderhoff would be more likely to hire PCs to get the axe from her, or perhaps try to mobilize the dwarven race against Cheliax in a war. Dwarves hate evil and are one of the most stubborn of all races... they wouldn't want to enter an alliance with an evil nation of diabolists led by a petulant but powerful human woman.

Cheliax? I was talking about Korvosa, this is yet another Sorshen question that I wasn't clear about. The "Domina II" name (not to be confused with Abrogail II) is an idea I have where she invokes a beloved symbol to win over the city.

Assuming she hasn't been outed as the Ancient Evil, will the dwarf fortress trade with her?

oh... Yeah, that's more information that would have helped me refine that answer. In this case, you're the expert on NPCs and politics in the world, not me, so I can't really offer much in the way of advice apart from repeating the bit that dwarves are generally lawful good and stubborn and proud to be dwarves, and that combination makes them unlikely to give up what they'd view as their basic rights in return for something they'd view as rightfully belonging to them in the first place.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

AndrewMitchell wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
You're not the only one who hopes that. Because if we have to strip the Mythic out of Wrath of the Righteous... I'm more likely to simply change to an entirely different Adventure Path, because I'm not interested in doing an Adventure Path that needs mythic rules without using mythic rules.

I hope you don't do that. Or feel that you have to do it.

But that's a decision you have to make very soon, isn't it? Like this week? Long before Jason actually gets back from his vacation.

I just found an old thread where somebody was asking about the process by which you create an Adventure Path. "Build a better mousetrap", I think it was called? Some dude was telling you a better way to make APs and you were explaining how its actually done and the time required. It sounds like the outline for Wrath of the Righteous would have to be finished on your hard drive by now.

Wouldn't that mean a brand new outline? If you don't count the first two weeks of August, it looks like you're 9 months out, one week from now.

I'm with Lucent. There are a lot of people who would like to help you any way they can.

It's a decision I'm pretty much having to make right now, but that I can pull the "reverse" lever for several months to come.

But yes, the outline for Wrath of the Righteous does need to be done this week, in fact. I'm about 50% done with it right now, and hope to have it all done by Friday and start talking with authors by the end of the week. Scrapping it at this point would indeed require a new outline and starting from scratch, which would suck but wouldn't be a "game over." We've scrapped outlines late in the game before... one of those scrapped outlines resulted in the Pirate adventure path, which ended up being one that was notoriously off schedule for many reasons... but the late change to the outline and adventure path itself was part of what caused that to happen.

And if you want to help... the ABSOLUTELY BEST WAY you can help is to playtest the Mythic rules with high level characters who have high tier mythic powers. Starting a new campaign and doing an organic accumulation of levels and mythic tiers won't help me nearly as much as actually getting in-play feedback from folks, say, playing 20th level tier 10 characters. Or even 15th level tier 5 characters.

Once the playtest is out... I can be more specific about what kinds of things I'd love to see folks playtest in particular if they're interested in helping make Wrath of the Righteous as awesome as it can be.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Matrix Dragon wrote:
Only a month? Ick, there probably won't even be time for my campaigns to get to mythic levels then because we weren't planning on introducing them until near level 20. I'll have to look at the rules and decide on whether or not I want to introduce them earlier I guess, hmm.

Again... the best way to help in this case is NOT to playtest how adding the mythic rules affects an ongoing campaign.

It's to playtest specific builds of characters against mythic monsters and short adventures that are NOT attached to ongoing campaigns.

I'm much less interested in finding out how the mythic rules impact a home game than I am in finding out what CR of monster is a good threat to use against, say, a party composed of 16th level tier 7 characters.

Playtesting CAN be fun... but it's not always a good idea to merge playtesting with an established campaign. I've done that before, and in most cases, it results in the death of the campaign due to significant derailment and too-many-rebuilds syndrome.


Starfinder Superscriber
James Jacobs wrote:
Matrix Dragon wrote:
Only a month? Ick, there probably won't even be time for my campaigns to get to mythic levels then because we weren't planning on introducing them until near level 20. I'll have to look at the rules and decide on whether or not I want to introduce them earlier I guess, hmm.

Again... the best way to help in this case is NOT to playtest how adding the mythic rules affects an ongoing campaign.

It's to playtest specific builds of characters against mythic monsters and short adventures that are NOT attached to ongoing campaigns.

I'm much less interested in finding out how the mythic rules impact a home game than I am in finding out what CR of monster is a good threat to use against, say, a party composed of 16th level tier 7 characters.

Playtesting CAN be fun... but it's not always a good idea to merge playtesting with an established campaign. I've done that before, and in most cases, it results in the death of the campaign due to significant derailment and too-many-rebuilds syndrome.

Perfect! My group has constantly done little side quests, and I can easily create a small group of mythic classes/races (hello mythic Goblin gunslingers!) for them to test! Excitement level is rising!


James Jacobs wrote:
Matrix Dragon wrote:
Only a month? Ick, there probably won't even be time for my campaigns to get to mythic levels then because we weren't planning on introducing them until near level 20. I'll have to look at the rules and decide on whether or not I want to introduce them earlier I guess, hmm.

Again... the best way to help in this case is NOT to playtest how adding the mythic rules affects an ongoing campaign.

It's to playtest specific builds of characters against mythic monsters and short adventures that are NOT attached to ongoing campaigns.

I'm much less interested in finding out how the mythic rules impact a home game than I am in finding out what CR of monster is a good threat to use against, say, a party composed of 16th level tier 7 characters.

Playtesting CAN be fun... but it's not always a good idea to merge playtesting with an established campaign. I've done that before, and in most cases, it results in the death of the campaign due to significant derailment and too-many-rebuilds syndrome.

Hmm, good point. Perhaps we will instead do a one shot involving characters from previous campaigns + mythic power fighting overwhelming odds or something ;)


James Jacobs wrote:
You're the expert on NPCs and politics in the world, not me.

I am? But I'm not the one who wrote the setting. Is my knowledge really that encyclopedic?

That aside, I've questions about playtesting.

1. Is there any way I can do it without a group? I'm not adverse to being in a group, mind, I just don't have one.

2. Where can I get a simple white-room grid to move the characters on? Also, is there a way to do it online?

3. Are you interested in 20th level tier 1 characters as much as you are 14th level tier 7 ones?

4. Are you interested in social encounters as much as combat ones?

5. Are you interested in testing out item builds on characters (e.g., combat A and combat B differing only in one character having different equipment)?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

AlgaeNymph wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
You're the expert on NPCs and politics in the world, not me.

I am? But I'm not the one who wrote the setting. Is my knowledge really that encyclopedic?

That aside, I've questions about playtesting.

1. Is there any way I can do it without a group? I'm not adverse to being in a group, mind, I just don't have one.

2. Where can I get a simple white-room grid to move the characters on? Also, is there a way to do it online?

3. Are you interested in 20th level tier 1 characters as much as you are 14th level tier 7 ones?

4. Are you interested in social encounters as much as combat ones?

5. Are you interested in testing out item builds on characters (e.g., combat A and combat B differing only in one character having different equipment)?

If you're changing things like who's ruling Korvosa, then yes, you know more about that setting than I do. Or maybe you're just confusing me...

1) A lot of folks simply read the rules and give us feedback. That's helpful... but not NEARLY as helpful as running actual playtests with players. We've got talented and very skilled people on staff who can read and give feedback (they're the developers)... but what we don't have is thousands of people to run lots of games and encounters and actually play the game. We will certainly playtest it ourselves... but more feedback is better!

2) There are a lot of options for blank battlemats out there; Paizo sells blank flip mats, but there's also blank battle mats available on plain paper, tiles, vinyl, and more... Click for example... There's lots of folks who do online gaming as well, both on virtual table tops or in play-by-posts.

3) I'm interested in as many combinations of character levels & tiers as I can get.

4) Mostly combat encounters, but also other encounters. My PRIMARY interest at the start is finding out how much a mythic character of as many different level/tier combos can do against monsters. For normal play, we know what a party of four can take on. We don't yet know that for mythic characters. We have an idea... but that's what playtesting is going to educate us about.

5) Sure!


James Jacobs wrote:
But yes, the outline for Wrath of the Righteous does need to be done this week, in fact. I'm about 50% done with it right now, and hope to have it all done by Friday and start talking with authors by the end of the week.

You must already got the plan in your head. It's time for typing!

James Jacobs wrote:
Scrapping it at this point would indeed require a new outline and starting from scratch, which would suck but wouldn't be a "game over." We've scrapped outlines late in the game before... one of those scrapped outlines resulted in the Pirate adventure path, which ended up being one that was notoriously off schedule for many reasons... but the late change to the outline and adventure path itself was part of what caused that to happen.

Did that AP-That-Never-Was get scrapped for good, or just get set aside for re-consideration later?

*******
What you say about the playtest makes sense. You don't need a sense of the mythic "roleplaying atmospherics", you need a combat stress test. That way when you develop, you can get a sense if the encounter is going to work right.

Shadow Lodge

does the survival penalty a lacridaemon impose stack with that of other lacridaemons?


AlgaeNymph wrote:

2. Where can I get a simple white-room grid to move the characters on? Also, is there a way to do it online?

Emphasis mine.

Try Roll 20. Free, runs in a browser. I use it to "block out" encounters all the time - even if I'm going to run them with physical representations, it lets me move things about on a grid anywhere I have a laptop.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

doc the grey wrote:
does the survival penalty a lacridaemon impose stack with that of other lacridaemons?

Yes. To a maximum penalty of –20.

Liberty's Edge

James Jacobs wrote:


And if you want to help... the ABSOLUTELY BEST WAY you can help is...

Do you already have an idea what span of tiers you want the AP to cover? 1 tier per book, or the full 10 over the course of all six books, etc? Playtesting a lvl 20 tier 10 char probably wouldn't help since I doubt the AP will get up that high. Level 12 tier 7 though seems more likely.

The Exchange

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Maps, Rulebook, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Coridan wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:


And if you want to help... the ABSOLUTELY BEST WAY you can help is...

Do you already have an idea what span of tiers you want the AP to cover? 1 tier per book, or the full 10 over the course of all six books, etc? Playtesting a lvl 20 tier 10 char probably wouldn't help since I doubt the AP will get up that high. Level 12 tier 7 though seems more likely.

Actually I think a Level 16, Tier 8 would be better as that would be more likely or even Level 18, Tier 9... the idea is to possibly fight against maybe a truly powerful nascent demon lord and full powered demon lord at the end of the campaign which will be anywhere from CR 25 to CR 35 and I personally expect ATLEAST a CR 30 BBEG. Of course I don't work at Paizo so I really wouldn't know but my thought is that if this is to be a Mythic campaign... Well the end boss better be MYTHIC!

(Note that supposedly 1 tier of mythic power is roughly equal to an increase of CR by 1 or so. By this hypothesis atleast a Level 20, Mythic 10 character would be CR 30.)

Dark Archive

Hey James I have a rule question that I am trying to research and would like your opinion. I am playing a drow and was wondering if his spell like abilities would be able to qualify him for the requirement to become an arcane archer which is being able to cast a 1st level arcane spell? I know that he would be giving up on the spellcasting ability of the class, but if he could it would be interesting.


Heya James Jacobs,

Just thought I'd say that I'm really excited about Wrath of the Righteous and Mythic Rules! I remember how fun the Savage Tide adventure path was, and am hoping it may be similar in terms of scope.

Also, hopefully, with a book that involves Nocticula's Midnight Isles, we'll be granted a peek at the other incubi and succubi nascent demon lords who rules the isles! Malcanthet's Shendilavri was neat, and I miss it and the detail given to layers of the Abyss like that. Definitely looking forward to it. :)

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Coridan wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:


And if you want to help... the ABSOLUTELY BEST WAY you can help is...

Do you already have an idea what span of tiers you want the AP to cover? 1 tier per book, or the full 10 over the course of all six books, etc? Playtesting a lvl 20 tier 10 char probably wouldn't help since I doubt the AP will get up that high. Level 12 tier 7 though seems more likely.

I'd really love to have the Adventure Path span all 10 tiers.

And since the addition of tiers makes players able to fight increasingly higher CRs, that means a mythic character gains experience points faster in a campaign, which means that this Adventure Path will hit higher level than normal.

I'm hoping that this'll be our first 1st to 20th level Adventure path.

But without some good solid feedback on how various levels/tiers of mythic characters function against various CRs, it's really difficult to pin down what levels and what tiers this Adventure Path will be able to cover.

Which is why I'm really eager to see playtest results for different levels/tiers of characters fighting against various CRs.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

xevious573 wrote:
(Note that supposedly 1 tier of mythic power is roughly equal to an increase of CR by 1 or so. By this hypothesis atleast a Level 20, Mythic 10 character would be CR 30.)

And I think that hypothesis is going to be proven wrong, since the ways tiers make you more powerful do not work the same way that gaining levels make you more powerful. And since the CR system is based entirely on the power gains of leveling up... it gets real complex real fast when you allow player characters to gain power along a brand new axis.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

brad2411 wrote:
Hey James I have a rule question that I am trying to research and would like your opinion. I am playing a drow and was wondering if his spell like abilities would be able to qualify him for the requirement to become an arcane archer which is being able to cast a 1st level arcane spell? I know that he would be giving up on the spellcasting ability of the class, but if he could it would be interesting.

Technically... no. A spell-like ability is not a spell. It's neither arcane nor divine in nature. I wouldn't allow it to qualify for such a requirement in games I run.


James Jacobs wrote:


I'd really love to have the Adventure Path span all 10 tiers.

And since the addition of tiers makes players able to fight increasingly higher CRs, that means a mythic character gains experience points faster in a campaign, which means that this Adventure Path will hit higher level than normal.

I'm hoping that this'll be our first 1st to 20th level Adventure path.

But without some good solid feedback on how various levels/tiers of mythic characters function against various CRs, it's really difficult to pin down what levels and what tiers this Adventure Path will be able to cover.

Which is why I'm really eager to see playtest results for different levels/tiers of characters fighting against various CRs.

Hmmm, just curious, would you 'expect' a level 20 + tier 10 character to have roughly the same gear as a standard level 20 character? Or is there going to be 'mythic gear' as well? I think one of the previews mentioned special weapons that can level with the characters...

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Matrix Dragon wrote:
Hmmm, just curious, would you 'expect' a level 20 + tier 10 character to have roughly the same gear as a standard level 20 character? Or is there going to be 'mythic gear' as well? I think one of the previews mentioned special weapons that can level with the characters...

I would expect that character to have roughly the same gear as a standard level 20 character, but would also probably have an artifact or two.

And I'm 99.4% sure that the "weapons that level up with you" element is NOT going to be part of the playtest.


hi!

a quick question on the dragon style feats chain:
if used with a weapon that deal damage with a stat other than Str does the bonus remain Str based? (like an agile weapon (from the pathfinder field guide or the white haired witch from dragon empire primer)?

Shadow Lodge

Does the Parikia Div's lustful dreams ability keep a spellcaster from regaining his lost spell slots from that night?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

kagenotora wrote:

hi!

a quick question on the dragon style feats chain:
if used with a weapon that deal damage with a stat other than Str does the bonus remain Str based? (like an agile weapon (from the pathfinder field guide or the white haired witch from dragon empire primer)?

The bonus remains Strength based. Which makes sense, since dragons themselves are "strength based" and generally have really terrible Dexterity scores.

AKA: Dragon Style is not a good choice for a Dexterity-based combatant.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

doc the grey wrote:
Does the Parikia Div's lustful dreams ability keep a spellcaster from regaining his lost spell slots from that night?

Yes.

Shadow Lodge

does detect magic detect supernatural effects?


Have you had a chance to check out the new version of the Iron Kingdoms RPG?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

doc the grey wrote:
does detect magic detect supernatural effects?

Yes.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

ShadowFighter88 wrote:
Have you had a chance to check out the new version of the Iron Kingdoms RPG?

No.

Shadow Lodge

James Jacobs wrote:
doc the grey wrote:
does detect magic detect supernatural effects?
Yes.

what would one read as or more to the point how do you determine what the aura reads as?


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James Jacobs wrote:
doc the grey wrote:
does detect magic detect supernatural effects?
Yes.

I have a pretty high Sense Motive bonus, too. I detect all kinds of stuff.


Hey James. I got 3 questions for ya:

1) Can an alchemist learn the Arcane Strike feat?

2) If an alchemist has 2 vestigial arms, can he target those arms to gain the two 'claw attacks' whenever he drinks feral mutagen?

3) This third question is a little lengthy (and breaks down into several smaller questions), but I'll try to make it as short as I can - In regards to the 'tentacle discovery', while I accept that it does not give you an 'extra attacks', from what I can tell, it basically allows you to make a tentacle attack 'in place of' an unarmed strike (or another manufactured weapon) correct?

For example, if you had a BAB of +11, you could make 3 'tentacle attacks' at you full strength modifier if you wanted to (again, I'm assuming this is correct).

My question is that if you use the 'tentacle attack' in this method, do my other natural attacks still count as primary attacks? (For example, I have 'Feral Mutagen' activated, and I make attacks with both my 'tentacle attacks' and my claw/bite attacks...which all still count as 'natural attacks'...are my claw and bite attacks still primary)

In addition, my last question would be this: if I am allowed to make a tentacle attack in place of my unarmed strike, would I need to have the 'improved unarmed strike' feat to do it, or can I still make the 'tentacle attack' without said feat.

Thanks again.

Also, I sincerely apologize if these questions have already been answered before, but after looking through the threads, I'm afraid I wasn't able to find any definitive answers on my own.


James Jacobs wrote:
Matrix Dragon wrote:
Hmmm, just curious, would you 'expect' a level 20 + tier 10 character to have roughly the same gear as a standard level 20 character? Or is there going to be 'mythic gear' as well? I think one of the previews mentioned special weapons that can level with the characters...

I would expect that character to have roughly the same gear as a standard level 20 character, but would also probably have an artifact or two.

And I'm 99.4% sure that the "weapons that level up with you" element is NOT going to be part of the playtest.

That's probably a good design decision, because wealth guidelines and items start making no sense once you advance them past level 20 anyway.


Starfinder Superscriber

So, not to be a bug, but any update on the Mythic playtest?

Paizo Employee Creative Director

doc the grey wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
doc the grey wrote:
does detect magic detect supernatural effects?
Yes.
what would one read as or more to the point how do you determine what the aura reads as?

You'd just see an aura of magic. It's not a spell so it doesn't conform to a school; it's just supernatural magic. If the GM wants, he or she can ad-hock an appropriate school as appropriate though.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Matrix Dragon wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:
Matrix Dragon wrote:
Hmmm, just curious, would you 'expect' a level 20 + tier 10 character to have roughly the same gear as a standard level 20 character? Or is there going to be 'mythic gear' as well? I think one of the previews mentioned special weapons that can level with the characters...

I would expect that character to have roughly the same gear as a standard level 20 character, but would also probably have an artifact or two.

And I'm 99.4% sure that the "weapons that level up with you" element is NOT going to be part of the playtest.

That's probably a good design decision, because wealth guidelines and items start making no sense once you advance them past level 20 anyway.

Note: Mythic allows you to continue gaining power after 20th level, but does not increase the level cap.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Duskblade wrote:

Hey James. I got 3 questions for ya:

1) Can an alchemist learn the Arcane Strike feat?

2) If an alchemist has 2 vestigial arms, can he target those arms to gain the two 'claw attacks' whenever he drinks feral mutagen?

3) This third question is a little lengthy (and breaks down into several smaller questions), but I'll try to make it as short as I can - In regards to the 'tentacle discovery', while I accept that it does not give you an 'extra attacks', from what I can tell, it basically allows you to make a tentacle attack 'in place of' an unarmed strike (or another manufactured weapon) correct?

For example, if you had a BAB of +11, you could make 3 'tentacle attacks' at you full strength modifier if you wanted to (again, I'm assuming this is correct).

My question is that if you use the 'tentacle attack' in this method, do my other natural attacks still count as primary attacks? (For example, I have 'Feral Mutagen' activated, and I make attacks with both my 'tentacle attacks' and my claw/bite attacks...which all still count as 'natural attacks'...are my claw and bite attacks still primary)

In addition, my last question would be this: if I am allowed to make a tentacle attack in place of my unarmed strike, would I need to have the 'improved unarmed strike' feat to do it, or can I still make the 'tentacle attack' without said feat.

Thanks again.

Also, I sincerely apologize if these questions have already been answered before, but after looking through the threads, I'm afraid I wasn't able to find any definitive answers on my own.

1) Nope.

2) Nope. The claw attacks from a feral mutagen go onto your normal, primary hands.

3) Note that the description of this discovery specifically says: "The tentacle does not give the alchemist any extra attacks or actions per round." If you make an attack with the tentacle, you can't attack with weapons held in your hands, or with claws, or whatever; it's really primarily useful to have around when you're not carrying melee weapons (you CAN make attacks of opportunity, and threaten foes so you can flank when you wouldn't otherwise be able to). NO natural attack, such as this tentacle, gains additional attacks from having a high base attack bonus.

The various extra limbs discoveries don't stack well together, in other words.

You don't need Improved Unarmed Strike to attack with your tentacle. It's a natural attack

Paizo Employee Creative Director

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DJEternalDarkness wrote:
So, not to be a bug, but any update on the Mythic playtest?

The last update was, in case you missed it, the Mythic Playtest will be starting once Jason gets back from Italy at some point during the second week of November.


JJ,

First, some praise:

Who created the clockwork familiar and can you give them a high-five for me? Because that is just awesome.

More interrogatively:

The clicking caverns in Tian-Xia appear to be festooned with clockworks. Given previous discussions about their origins, is that place more associated with the ancient history of clockworks from Azlant, or is there some long-range Thassilonian experiments waiting to be unearthed in Tian-Xia?

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