Creative Director
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Hey there!
If you could have consul while designing the plot of "Wrath of the righteous" from any author, who would that be?
for example, had I asked about Carrion Crown an answer could be "I would have liked Lovecraft to help me design the plot of Carrion Crown". So who is it for Wrath of the Righteous? I guess this is a little like asking where does your inspiration come from when designing the plot of this AP.
Gary Gygax.
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7) Why are elves so much longer lived than any of the other core races?7) Tradition, really. And because of Tolkien's influence.
Doesn't it seem a bit weird that the longest lived race is the one that has a penalty to constitution? You'd kind of expect dwarves to be the long lived ones, if it wasn't for their booze-soaked livers that is...
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Creative Director
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Doesn't it seem a bit weird that the longest lived race is the one that has a penalty to constitution? You'd kind of expect dwarves to be the long lived ones, if it wasn't for their booze-soaked livers that is...
7) Why are elves so much longer lived than any of the other core races?7) Tradition, really. And because of Tolkien's influence.
Kinda, yeah. But the Constitution penalty has been a part of elves for decades, and it wasn't something we were interested in changing.
Had I my druthers, and less of a respect for tradition and nostalgia, I'd probably have pushed to give elves a penalty to Strength instead of Constitution.
But I suspect they were given that Con penalty because they're skinny and physically more fragile than other races on average, not because they get sick a lot or only live to 20 years old.
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So...how did the lucerne hammer get its name on Golarion if there isn't a Lucerne for them to be named after like the real-world ones, which are named after where they were found in Switzerland?If we ever stat them up in print, we'll probably adjust the name. Or maybe not. The weapon's not really hammer, after all, so it's already kinda weirdly named.
Did you ever see a cleric in 1st edition attempt to use a Lucerne hammer, under the impression that it was a type of hammer?
'Cause, yeah, that happened. :)
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Creative Director
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So...how did the lucerne hammer get its name on Golarion if there isn't a Lucerne for them to be named after like the real-world ones, which are named after where they were found in Switzerland?If we ever stat them up in print, we'll probably adjust the name. Or maybe not. The weapon's not really hammer, after all, so it's already kinda weirdly named.Did you ever see a cleric in 1st edition attempt to use a Lucerne hammer, under the impression that it was a type of hammer?
'Cause, yeah, that happened. :)
Nope. Never saw it.
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So, question on kobold ages. I noticed while flipping through Kobolds of Golarion that "canny kobolds can live up to 140 years," but kobolds reach middle and old age around their mid-twenties and thirties according to the ARG. So, how do these kobolds pull it off? Is it a case of "most kobolds only live till 30 because adventurers/monsters wipe them out" or "some kobolds are just lucky?" And even if they are lucky, do they still take the aging penalties? If so, at what point?
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Doesn't it seem a bit weird that the longest lived race is the one that has a penalty to constitution? You'd kind of expect dwarves to be the long lived ones, if it wasn't for their booze-soaked livers that is...
7) Why are elves so much longer lived than any of the other core races?7) Tradition, really. And because of Tolkien's influence.
Kinda, yeah. But the Constitution penalty has been a part of elves for decades, and it wasn't something we were interested in changing.
Had I my druthers, and less of a respect for tradition and nostalgia, I'd probably have pushed to give elves a penalty to Strength instead of Constitution.
But I suspect they were given that Con penalty because they're skinny and physically more fragile than other races on average, not because they get sick a lot or only live to 20 years old.
Just asking a related question to your post.
Given that Tieflings and Aasimers got different sub-races(blooded) with different racial ability scores, would we ever see such options for other races? As in alternate racial ability scores for other races?
Via different sub-races, adaptation, etc?
Like an Elf with a penalty to Str and bonuses to Dex and Cha, instead of the normal scores?
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So...how did the lucerne hammer get its name on Golarion if there isn't a Lucerne for them to be named after like the real-world ones, which are named after where they were found in Switzerland?If we ever stat them up in print, we'll probably adjust the name. Or maybe not. The weapon's not really hammer, after all, so it's already kinda weirdly named.
But...they ARE statted up in print. They have been since the Advanced Player's Guide came out. And they're still the same name as recent as Ultimate Equipment. I'm confused.
Also, in relation to the long lifespan of elves, or for that matter, races with equally similar lifespans, like dhampir, tieflings and aasimars, how do you feel they gel with the plotlines Adventure Paths? I tend to avoid playing elf PCs because they have such a long length of time and experienced so much already before the events of the AP actually start that it almost seems like a footnote, having already lived through so much history. For instance, a tiefling PC in Council of Thieves has theoretically lived long enough to know firsthand what life during the Thrune Ascendancy was like, which doesn't work very well since the indication is tieflings didn't start becoming common in Cheliax until AFTER the diabolists seized control (going off what's said in the Advanced Race Guide, which states the age a tiefling/aasimar reaches maturity is 80). Most elf PCs in the upcoming Wrath of the Righteous adventure path are theoretically older than the Worldwound itself (using 4710 as the mark here).
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Creative Director
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So, question on kobold ages. I noticed while flipping through Kobolds of Golarion that "canny kobolds can live up to 140 years," but kobolds reach middle and old age around their mid-twenties and thirties according to the ARG. So, how do these kobolds pull it off? Is it a case of "most kobolds only live till 30 because adventurers/monsters wipe them out" or "some kobolds are just lucky?" And even if they are lucky, do they still take the aging penalties? If so, at what point?
They pull it off by being canny. They still take the aging penalties as normal at middle & old & venerable age.
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Creative Director
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Given that Tieflings and Aasimers got different sub-races(blooded) with different racial ability scores, would we ever see such options for other races? As in alternate racial ability scores for other races?
Via different sub-races, adaptation, etc?Like an Elf with a penalty to Str and bonuses to Dex and Cha, instead of the normal scores?
Unlikely; the different variants for aasimar and tiefling are unique to those races. We have no plans to do something similar with sub-races for the core races.
That said... it's easy enough to tinker with those rules and assumptions using the Advanced Race Guide.
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Creative Director
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So...how did the lucerne hammer get its name on Golarion if there isn't a Lucerne for them to be named after like the real-world ones, which are named after where they were found in Switzerland?If we ever stat them up in print, we'll probably adjust the name. Or maybe not. The weapon's not really hammer, after all, so it's already kinda weirdly named.But...they ARE statted up in print. They have been since the Advanced Player's Guide came out. And they're still the same name as recent as Ultimate Equipment. I'm confused.
Also, in relation to the long lifespan of elves, or for that matter, races with equally similar lifespans, like dhampir, tieflings and aasimars, how do you feel they gel with the plotlines Adventure Paths? I tend to avoid playing elf PCs because they have such a long length of time and experienced so much already before the events of the AP actually start that it almost seems like a footnote, having already lived through so much history. For instance, a tiefling PC in Council of Thieves has theoretically lived long enough to know firsthand what life during the Thrune Ascendancy was like, which doesn't work very well since the indication is tieflings didn't start becoming common in Cheliax until AFTER the diabolists seized control (going off what's said in the Advanced Race Guide, which states the age a tiefling/aasimar reaches maturity is 80). Most elf PCs in the upcoming Wrath of the Righteous adventure path are theoretically older than the Worldwound itself (using 4710 as the mark here).
There ya go, then. Question answered. (Turns out I don't have the rulebooks memorized.)
Tieflings and aasimars do NOT have long lifespans; they live as long as humans. The Advanced Race Guide is in error there, and will be errataed (I hope!) in the next printing of that book someday down the line.
And while elf PCs may be older than the Worldwound... they are unlikely to remember much of that era any more than we humans remember what was going on when we were 4 years old or less.
Blood of Fiends and Blood of Angels both say that tiefs and mars live as long as humans, no matter what race they come from.
Race Builder is being somewhat iffy for me. It says that each time you add RP to it, the Flight trait increases both speed and maneuverability.
Is there any way to make it just increase maneuverability? Like, say, adding 1 RP? I'm trying to make a Tiny spellcasting race, and I don't want them to fly quickly, but I do want them to fly well, without resorting to just having Fly as a constant spell-like.
Beast rider: a 7th-level or higher Medium beast rider can select any creature whose natural size is Large or Huge, provided that creature is normally available as a Medium-sized animal companion at 7th level (like a bear).
Does it mean that I can take a ''large or a hughe'' animal companion at level 7th or higher? The wording is kinda confusing me lol.
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Creative Director
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Blood of Fiends and Blood of Angels both say that tiefs and mars live as long as humans, no matter what race they come from.
Race Builder is being somewhat iffy for me. It says that each time you add RP to it, the Flight trait increases both speed and maneuverability.
Is there any way to make it just increase maneuverability? Like, say, adding 1 RP? I'm trying to make a Tiny spellcasting race, and I don't want them to fly quickly, but I do want them to fly well, without resorting to just having Fly as a constant spell-like.
With your GM's permission, sure! The race building rules only include options for races that existed at the time of publication. You can create new powers, such as increased flying mobility, using the existing powers as guidelines for the cost.
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Creative Director
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Hi James,
I want to add a template (slime zombie from Tome of Horrors Complete) to a cockroach swarm.The template states that: "The creature’s type changes to plant. It loses any subtypes it has, such as alignment subtypes (such as good) and subtypes that indicate kind (such as goblinoid or reptilian)."
Does this mean that it looses the swarm template (if so then I can not add this template)?
THX
The first rule of applying templates should be "Don't make changes that don't make sense." A swarm that doesn't have the swarm subtype isn't a swarm, so don't remove that when you add a template that normally removes subtypes if you want the templated creature to still be a swarm.
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Creative Director
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Beast rider: a 7th-level or higher Medium beast rider can select any creature whose natural size is Large or Huge, provided that creature is normally available as a Medium-sized animal companion at 7th level (like a bear).
Does it mean that I can take a ''large or a hughe'' animal companion at level 7th or higher? The wording is kinda confusing me lol.
That is indeed confusing; as good question for the rules forum and a FAQ tag or ten.
So, you've expressed your dislike for the Summoner earlier, So, short of removing it entirely, how would you "fix it"?
(I think the summoner and eidolon idea is cool because it reminds me of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, but I definitely see the problems with it.)
Mr. James Jacobs,
The question recently came up. Considering your great love for Lovecraft and that Guillermo del Toro also has such a great love. Which one of you love's Lovecraft the most?... Or better?
So...how did the lucerne hammer get its name on Golarion if there isn't a Lucerne for them to be named after like the real-world ones, which are named after where they were found in Switzerland?If we ever stat them up in print, we'll probably adjust the name. Or maybe not. The weapon's not really hammer, after all, so it's already kinda weirdly named.Did you ever see a cleric in 1st edition attempt to use a Lucerne hammer, under the impression that it was a type of hammer?
'Cause, yeah, that happened. :)
It is, sorta- it is similar to the Bec de Corbin. Wiki “The Lucerne hammer is a type of polearm which was popular in Switzerland during the 15th to 17th centuries. It was a combination of the bec de corbin with the blunt war hammer.
The name comes from a discovery of many of these weapons in Lucerne, Switzerland.[1] The 'hammer' was actually a three- to four-pronged head mounted atop a 2m-long (7 foot) polearm stick. It bore a long spike on its reverse, and an even longer spike extending from the very top. It proved effective at puncturing or smashing armor, and much like a man catcher was used for dismounting riders."|
Creative Director
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So, you've expressed your dislike for the Summoner earlier, So, short of removing it entirely, how would you "fix it"?
(I think the summoner and eidolon idea is cool because it reminds me of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, but I definitely see the problems with it.)
I would rebalance the summoner's spell list, and rebuild the eidolons to work more like animal companions, except instead of selecting an animal, you'd pick "Demon" or "Azata" or "Elemental" or whatever as your pet. Maybe even drilling down to specific types.
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Creative Director
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Not everybody has a governing hand (right handed/left handed), they covered this in AD&D with ambidexterity. 3.5 half-assed cover this with over-sized off hand weapon feat. Does Pathfinder plan on to cover this special talent at any point?
This is a level of detail that detracts from the game rather than adds to it. It overcomplicates things, especially when you consider how ambidexterity/governing hand rules would work for monsters with multiple hands or limbs or no limbs or whatever. The game's complex enough already.
AKA: No plans to overcomplicate the game with ambidexterity and the like.
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Not everybody has a governing hand (right handed/left handed), they covered this in AD&D with ambidexterity. 3.5 half-assed cover this with over-sized off hand weapon feat. Does Pathfinder plan on to cover this special talent at any point?This is a level of detail that detracts from the game rather than adds to it. It overcomplicates things, especially when you consider how ambidexterity/governing hand rules would work for monsters with multiple hands or limbs or no limbs or whatever. The game's complex enough already.
AKA: No plans to overcomplicate the game with ambidexterity and the like.
What some consider over-complication others (me being one) consider clairification.
But I do see your point.
A Dwarf Inquisitor Lv16 can have this favorite class option:
Inquisitor: Add +1/2 to the inquisitor's level for the purpose of determining the effects of one type of judgment.
The Inquisitor would count as Lv24 Inquisitor. The judgment bonus would go higher than Lv20? Or the bonus would cap up to what a Lv 20 inquisitor can have?
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Creative Director
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A Dwarf Inquisitor Lv16 can have this favorite class option:
Inquisitor: Add +1/2 to the inquisitor's level for the purpose of determining the effects of one type of judgment.
The Inquisitor would count as Lv24 Inquisitor. The judgment bonus would go higher than Lv20? Or the bonus would cap up to what a Lv 20 inquisitor can have?
It can go above 20th level. Likewise, there are ways, for example (one of the ioun stones, does this) you can increase your caster level, which would have a similar effect for a high or 20th level spellcaster.
Favorite TWF weapon combination?
James,
Would you consider the first world to be kind of the opposite of the plane of shadow? being more vibrant than the real world?
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When the full moon is bright,Favorite TWF weapon combination?Rapier and whip.
Comes the horseman known as Zorro.
This bold renegade
Carves a "Z" with his blade,
A "Z" that stands for Zorro.
Zorro, Zorro, the fox so cunning and free,
Zorro, Zorro, who makes the sign of the Z.
He is polite,
But the wicked take flight
When they catch the sight of Zorro.
He's friend of the weak,
And the poor and the meek,
This very unique señor Zorro.
Zorro, Zorro, the fox so cunning and free,
Zorro, Zorro, who makes the sign of the Z.
In summary - a swashbuckler base class would be neat. ;)
I would rebalance the summoner's spell list, and rebuild the eidolons to work more like animal companions, except instead of selecting an animal, you'd pick "Demon" or "Azata" or "Elemental" or whatever as your pet. Maybe even drilling down to specific types.
How would you feel about a reduced and limited evolution pool? Like adding 1 or 2 features to this outsider companion? Still too much?
Spells like Invisibility and Invisibility Greater (Summoner Lv3) say Range: Personal or Touch.
The rules says that personal spells can not be made potion, but a player asked me if Invisibility was possible because it also says Touch.
Can I create a potion of invisibility?
That's exactly what the first world is.James,
Would you consider the first world to be kind of the opposite of the plane of shadow? being more vibrant than the real world?
Cool, that seems like a more interesting way of contrasting than having some kind of plane of brightness or something. Does Shelyn like the first world, or is some of the stuff there too weird/grotesque/out there?
I would rebalance the summoner's spell list, and rebuild the eidolons to work more like animal companions, except instead of selecting an animal, you'd pick "Demon" or "Azata" or "Elemental" or whatever as your pet. Maybe even drilling down to specific types.
I'd actually really like to see an archetype or alternate class that had an outsider companion like that, and I definitely see the point about how having a spell list like they do is out of whack. Would you have made them nine-level casters, or left them as six but with better policing of what spells are available and at what levels?
Favorite TWF weapon combination?Rapier and whip.
Wow that is my favorite too...well we see some kinda of support for that fighting style in the future? Because it is kinda hard to do it effectively now.
So with Bestiary 4 coming out, will you continue to adopt Tome of Horrors monsters into Bestiaries? Or is there no need now that Tome of Horrors Complete for Pathfinder exists?
What are the odds that other 3pp monsters might show up in Bestiaries?
James, have you ever had too many good distractions to write? How do you get past this issue? I should be working on the setting I haven't touched in two months, and I have a ton of ideas, but I end up going to the library, going out walking or cycling, watching dads, or playing video games, despite what my intentions are when I start the day.
As an aside, did you play Red Dead Redemption Unread Nightmare? It's what I'm currently playing when I'm gaming.
Why the Alchemist got so many bombs with different status conditions?
Force Bomb can make someone prone so easy and the followed by a Frost Bomb in the same round to stagger creates a "lockdown", because stagger only allows either a move or a standard action and the target affected would have to use a move action to get up from prone. Was this considered when the class was created?
So with Bestiary 4 coming out, will you continue to adopt Tome of Horrors monsters into Bestiaries? Or is there no need now that Tome of Horrors Complete for Pathfinder exists?
What are the odds that other 3pp monsters might show up in Bestiaries?
I really hope the answer to this is yes, as the Jack-in-Irons, Barbegazi, Afanc (altho not the fish but the beaver/croc), Bacchae, Bloody Bones, Cherufe, Fetch, Jack o Lantern, Phooka, Wizards's Shackle, and Asrai still need to be paizonized as they are from mythology, folklore and fantasy tales i'm sure they can end up in bestairy 4 or later.
But the answer must be YES, cuz the Al-mi'raj is in bestiary 4, and that is also in the Tome of Horrors!
James, I know Iomedae is the national faith of Mendev, but do other faiths (such as Sarenrae) have temples/chapels in Mendev - I would imagine that some of the crusaders who arrive from the south are worshippers of Sarenrae, etc and that they would want to have places of worship - but perhaps the government in Mendev (particularly the Inquisitors) prevent this?
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Creative Director
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I would rebalance the summoner's spell list, and rebuild the eidolons to work more like animal companions, except instead of selecting an animal, you'd pick "Demon" or "Azata" or "Elemental" or whatever as your pet. Maybe even drilling down to specific types.How would you feel about a reduced and limited evolution pool? Like adding 1 or 2 features to this outsider companion? Still too much?
The evolution pool isn't the part of the class that I don't like; the mechanics for how that works are actually quite fun and cool. It's the fact that you can build anything with it that bothers me. That type of element wreaks havoc on world verisimilitude and suspension of disbelief and campaign setting themes. It's basically a built-into-the-rules version of what happens when you want to run a serious, moody game, and one of the players picks a goofy name for his character. Like, say, wanting to run a gritty post-apocalyptic Dark Sun game and one of the players plays a thri-kreen ranger named Davey Cricket.
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Creative Director
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Spells like Invisibility and Invisibility Greater (Summoner Lv3) say Range: Personal or Touch.
The rules says that personal spells can not be made potion, but a player asked me if Invisibility was possible because it also says Touch.
Can I create a potion of invisibility?
Yes.
Because it is personal OR touch, it works.
Greater invisibility being a 3rd level spell due to what was essentially an error in the summoner's spell list is NOT a potion I would allow, though. The summoner's spell list breaks a lot of rules as to what minimum spell levels spells should be, unfortunately.
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Creative Director
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That's exactly what the first world is.James,
Would you consider the first world to be kind of the opposite of the plane of shadow? being more vibrant than the real world?
Cool, that seems like a more interesting way of contrasting than having some kind of plane of brightness or something. Does Shelyn like the first world, or is some of the stuff there too weird/grotesque/out there?
I would rebalance the summoner's spell list, and rebuild the eidolons to work more like animal companions, except instead of selecting an animal, you'd pick "Demon" or "Azata" or "Elemental" or whatever as your pet. Maybe even drilling down to specific types.I'd actually really like to see an archetype or alternate class that had an outsider companion like that, and I definitely see the point about how having a spell list like they do is out of whack. Would you have made them nine-level casters, or left them as six but with better policing of what spells are available and at what levels?
Shelyn has things she likes about the First World AND the Plane of Shadow. Both places have elements of beauty in them... likely EQUAL elements. And both places have likely equal elements of cruelty and ugliness as well. They are both, essentially, distorted views of reality. The First World isn't inherently good, and the Plane of Shadow isn't inherently evil.
There's some outsider themed rules for eidolons in Ultimate Magic... but it also includes themes for a lot of other creatures, so that's a frustrating case of ALMOST fixed, but not. There's an archetype for summoners in Inner Sea Magic that attempts the same, linking summoners to the First World.
I would have kept them six level casters with better policing of spell level. An outsider is fundamentally got better stats than an animal, after all, so the summoner itself shouldn't be as comparably good to a druid in other regards, like spellcasting.