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More like an attempt at thread usurping if ya ask me! :-)Is that a attempt at misinformation?Grapple checks.Sorry! :-(Well foo... Okay then.
Moving on...
Suppose a Van Helsing-like character was writing a guide to hunting succubi. What sort of weaknesses would she notice?
<.<
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No, I would never...
Howdy James,
What would you say the most underused skill in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game is?
Is your Hearthstone rank high enough to earn the pretty red-and-gold card back? I think you need to have earned Rank 20 or better at any point during the month to get it, which is pretty easy.
Hey James,
I've seen the whole "wtf why no [x] item in Technology Guide? It's a staple of sci-fi!" conversations floating around and how you're understandably reluctant to discuss things like that any further, so I'd understand if you didn't want to answer this, but: are nanomachines a thing in the Technology Guide? I love me some grey goo.
Another question: do androids being immune to fatigue and exhaustion mean they do not require sleep? How would this work if they were, say, a wizard?
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Hey James!
I'm sure that this would make a great question for the rules forums, but I'd thought I'd ask you too since you probably write up a lot of stat blocks. In the Bestiary, the rules for advancing a monster by adding HD (and, presumably, advancing a monster with class levels which would include additional HD) say this:
Once you have determined the number of additional Hit Dice possessed by the creature, use this number to modify its other statistics. Start with ability scores. For every 4 additional Hit Dice gained by the monster, add 1 to one of its ability scores. In addition, make any modifications to its ability scores based on an increase in size, as noted on Table: Size Changes.So does that bold part literally mean for every 4 HD you add, or was it an easier way of saying, "For every HD you add that makes the total divisible by 4." I ask because I always thought that every creature, no matter what, added an ability point when they hit 4 HD, 8 HD, etc. After breaking down many creatures' stat blocks in the APs, however, I noticed that an ability point wasn't added unless the creature specifically received 4 additional HD from a source.
For example, a creature that is 3 HD and then takes 3 levels of a class, is 6 HD total. I would have thought a point is added when it hit 4 HD, but every stat block I break down to prove this proves me wrong. Then, I see a creature with 3 HD and 6 levels of a class. They have the 1 point added for having 4 new HD, but not an extra one for going past 8 HD total.
If this is more of a "ask the rule forums" thing, I understand.
It means exactly that. For every 4 HD you add, you gain 1 ability score boost.
The +1 to ability score at every HD divisible by 4 is 3.5. We abandoned that with Pathfinder.
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James,
Have you ever heard of Super Dinosaur - it's a comic targeted for a slightly younger set that stars a 15 or so foot intelligent T-Rex, who has a "harness" sort of exo-skeleton.
I mention it because I found the design of the Rex in harness to be pretty cool looking:
I had not heard of it.
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Howdy James,
What would you say the most underused skill in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game is?
That depends on the table. No two tables play the game exactly the same, and one table's best skill is another table's worst. Although I'm pretty sure Perception isn't anyone's worst.
For me and the games I run, Appraise is hands down the least used skill, because it exists, in my opinion, only to force the GM to maintain extra paperwork.
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Which of the demigods from Inner Sea Gods' chapter 2 were missing? My understanding was that every deity mentioned in that book is on the list in the back.The following were mentioned, but no names for any were given:Come to think of it, I am pretty sure not a single one of those categories has ever had a named demigod, unless there is something in an AP (I don't read them to avoid spoilers). The Qlippoth Lords are listed in the Appendix, but no mention of them anywhere else in the book.
- Kyton Demagogues
- Asura Ranas
- Primal Inevitables
- Protean Lords
- Psychompomp Ushers
- Rakashasa Immortals
Actually, many (though not all) of these groups have named entities listed in the Bestiaries themselves. We just don't know anything about them beyond their names and titles. Primal Inevitables and Protean Lords were the exceptions, as I recall, though a few Protean Lords were named in one of the Adventure Paths in an article on proteans...and some qlippoth lords were first named in an article on qlippoths in another Adventure Path. The More You Know™!
Speaking of which...
1) There have been a number of monster ecologies buried in the various Adventure Path books...since the deity article have been revamped and put in their own book (amongst other stuff), do you think there's much of a chance of the others getting the same treatment? I mean, I'd love a book dedicated to, say, rakshasa, kytons, or kami and oni, but I don't know if that's a realistic hope...but maybe a book of outsider ecologies would be?
2) Out of curiosity, is the cyber-lich Ailing Third that was mentioned in the lich ecology article in Carrion Crown going to be involved in Iron Gods at all? I thought he sounded pretty awesome myself...
3) What are some of your favorite pieces of art from Inner Sea Gods? There's a lot of neat pictures in it!
They have names, sure, but nothing else. They don't get included in Inner Sea Gods because they're JUST names at this point. Also, as you can see, we pretty much filled those pages up anyway. So there wouldn't really have been more room without cutting other stuff even if we DID want to include them.
1)I suppose there's a chance, sure.
2) Wait and see.
3) I actually haven't had a chance to look through the book enough to have picked out a favorite picture yet, although the cover's pretty sweet...
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Is your Hearthstone rank high enough to earn the pretty red-and-gold card back? I think you need to have earned Rank 20 or better at any point during the month to get it, which is pretty easy.
I'm rank 20, but I don't think I have that card back, but I haven't really played it much lately so it's certainly possible I do have it and just didn't notice yet.
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Hey James,
I've seen the whole "wtf why no [x] item in Technology Guide? It's a staple of sci-fi!" conversations floating around and how you're understandably reluctant to discuss things like that any further, so I'd understand if you didn't want to answer this, but: are nanomachines a thing in the Technology Guide? I love me some grey goo.
Another question: do androids being immune to fatigue and exhaustion mean they do not require sleep? How would this work if they were, say, a wizard?
The book is 64 pages long. Since we haven't yet figured out how to break the laws of physics, that means that we will only get to put 64 pages of content (less if you don't count the title page and OGL page, naturally) into the book. There'll be more content in other books... but I doubt that 64 64 page books would be enough to fill everything up. Heck, we've done a lot more than 64 64 page books for FANTASY and that's still going strong.
Nanotech is in the Tech Guide though. As for the gray goo... you'll need to wait and see.
Androids require sleep, but they can do without it. An android wizard, for example, still needs to sleep to be able to prepare spells. Note that it's worth noting that nothing in the rules says you become fatigued or exhausted if you go without sleep, as obvious as that rule might seem.
Is your Hearthstone rank high enough to earn the pretty red-and-gold card back? I think you need to have earned Rank 20 or better at any point during the month to get it, which is pretty easy.I'm rank 20, but I don't think I have that card back, but I haven't really played it much lately so it's certainly possible I do have it and just didn't notice yet.
It gets awarded at the end of the season (April 30th).
When the season ends, you can access the new card back by going into "Options" and selecting the Hearthstone card back.
1)Are the Malebranche each tied to a specific planet? And if so wich planet is each one interested/"devoted" too?
2)Is Trilochan still a spawn of Rovagug or was that changed?
3)How do you pronounce Malebranche?
4)We have races of giants that look like humans, dwarves, elves, and orcs, any chance that we will see ones that look like goblins, lashunta, catfolk, gnomes, halflings, nagaji, etc.
5)We know that Urgathoa become the first undead and a god by being the first of it's kind. Are there any gods who become a god because they were first of there kind?
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1)Are the Malebranche each tied to a specific planet? And if so wich planet is each one interested/"devoted" too?
2)Is Trilochan still a spawn of Rovagug or was that changed?
3)How do you pronounce Malebranche?
4)We have races of giants that look like humans, dwarves, elves, and orcs, any chance that we will see ones that look like goblins, lashunta, catfolk, gnomes, halflings, nagaji, etc.
5)We know that Urgathoa become the first undead and a god by being the first of it's kind. Are there any gods who become a god because they were first of there kind?
1) That's a Wes question.
2) Yes.
3) It's a real world word, so you can go to dictionary.com to look it up and click them microphone option to hear it said aloud. Clicky!
4) My philosophy of giants is that they are based on giant stereotypes. That said... giant versions of things defined by the fact that they're smaller than humans, such as halfings, is pretty ridiculous. Giants based on races that we only just invented (and thus haven't had a chance to become established as stereotypes) are unlikely to become giantized anytime soon.
5) Absolutely. Not sure we've revealed many or any of them yet though.
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James, has Erecura been promoted to deity or is that a mistake in the Inner Sea Gods appendix?
I also thought it interesting Dispater's ex-wife is directly under her alphabetically.
She is a deity. She's also from real-world mythology. There's a LOT more to her than merely being Dispater's ex-wife.
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1)Are the Malebranche each tied to a specific planet? And if so wich planet is each one interested/"devoted" too?
2)Is Trilochan still a spawn of Rovagug or was that changed?
3)How do you pronounce Malebranche?
4)We have races of giants that look like humans, dwarves, elves, and orcs, any chance that we will see ones that look like goblins, lashunta, catfolk, gnomes, halflings, nagaji, etc.
5)We know that Urgathoa become the first undead and a god by being the first of it's kind. Are there any gods who become a god because they were first of there kind?
1) That's a Wes question.
2) Yes.
3) It's a real world word, so you can go to dictionary.com to look it up and click them microphone option to hear it said aloud. Clicky!
4) My philosophy of giants is that they are based on giant stereotypes. That said... giant versions of things defined by the fact that they're smaller than humans, such as halfings, is pretty ridiculous. Giants based on races that we only just invented (and thus haven't had a chance to become established as stereotypes) are unlikely to become giantized anytime soon.
5) Absolutely. Not sure we've revealed many or any of them yet though.
I would very much like to see a Goblin Giant. The mental image is hilariously awesome.
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Do halflings have a name for themselves that isn't tied to peoples' perception of them as half the height of a "normal" person? I know you can't use Hobbit because Tolkien Estate, but surely the halflings themselves don't consider themselves "half" of anything!
They do not. Halflings are more than just "half" the height of a human. They're also "halfling" in society; they tend to take on the qualities of the societies they live among or nearby rather than have their own strong societies. That goes for their race name as well; they've pretty much adopted "Halfling" as their own.
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I would very much like to see a Goblin Giant. The mental image is hilariously awesome.1)Are the Malebranche each tied to a specific planet? And if so wich planet is each one interested/"devoted" too?
2)Is Trilochan still a spawn of Rovagug or was that changed?
3)How do you pronounce Malebranche?
4)We have races of giants that look like humans, dwarves, elves, and orcs, any chance that we will see ones that look like goblins, lashunta, catfolk, gnomes, halflings, nagaji, etc.
5)We know that Urgathoa become the first undead and a god by being the first of it's kind. Are there any gods who become a god because they were first of there kind?
1) That's a Wes question.
2) Yes.
3) It's a real world word, so you can go to dictionary.com to look it up and click them microphone option to hear it said aloud. Clicky!
4) My philosophy of giants is that they are based on giant stereotypes. That said... giant versions of things defined by the fact that they're smaller than humans, such as halfings, is pretty ridiculous. Giants based on races that we only just invented (and thus haven't had a chance to become established as stereotypes) are unlikely to become giantized anytime soon.
5) Absolutely. Not sure we've revealed many or any of them yet though.
Goblins can be overdone. And I kind of worry we're really close to that point already... Further, goblins and high CR don't really mix all that well.
James, would you rule that teleporting onto a moving ship that you cannot see, but are otherwise familiar with, would use the "false destination" area of the teleport chart? Would any moving thing count as such (wagon, horse, flying citadel)?
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[Uragthoa...]5) Absolutely. Not sure we've revealed many or any of them yet though.
(edit: wrong quote)
Would this mean there's a little bitty copy of Urgathoa in the First Vault? Would Abadar, though being LN, maybe have sponsored Uragathoa in her ascent to divinity cause she did something so novel and creative (being the first undead) that his 'good job bro' patron of invention inspired him?
RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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She is a deity. She's also from real-world mythology. There's a LOT more to her than merely being Dispater's ex-wife.James, has Erecura been promoted to deity or is that a mistake in the Inner Sea Gods appendix?
I also thought it interesting Dispater's ex-wife is directly under her alphabetically.
Thanks for clarifying!
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James, would you rule that teleporting onto a moving ship that you cannot see, but are otherwise familiar with, would use the "false destination" area of the teleport chart? Would any moving thing count as such (wagon, horse, flying citadel)?
Yes; absolutely. Teleporting onto a moving object is tricky. I'd allow it if you were on the vehicle and teleporting elsewhere on the vehicle, or if the vehicle was at rest. An attempt to teleport onto a vehicle in motion when you can't see it and know exactly where it's at would fail. Of course, if you had some method to observe the ship's location, say, via a long-range clairvoyance type effect, then that would work (although the lack of landmarks in the open ocean would limit you to the "seen once" category).
Note: Scrying allows you to observe a creature... NOT a location or an object, so in my interpretation, scrying a person doesn't help you teleport to them since you have to see the location, not the person. May be pedantic... but the "scry and fry" tactic needs to die anyway!
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[Uragthoa...]5) Absolutely. Not sure we've revealed many or any of them yet though.(edit: wrong quote)
Would this mean there's a little bitty copy of Urgathoa in the First Vault? Would Abadar, though being LN, maybe have sponsored Uragathoa in her ascent to divinity cause she did something so novel and creative (being the first undead) that his 'good job bro' patron of invention inspired him?
The first vault contains objects, not creatures.
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Do halflings have a name for themselves that isn't tied to peoples' perception of them as half the height of a "normal" person? I know you can't use Hobbit because Tolkien Estate, but surely the halflings themselves don't consider themselves "half" of anything!They do not. Halflings are more than just "half" the height of a human. They're also "halfling" in society; they tend to take on the qualities of the societies they live among or nearby rather than have their own strong societies. That goes for their race name as well; they've pretty much adopted "Halfling" as their own.
That...that's actually kind of sad. They've no cultural identity of their own?
I would very much like to see a Goblin Giant. The mental image is hilariously awesome.
They prefer 'bugbear'.
That...that's actually kind of sad. They've no cultural identity of their own?Do halflings have a name for themselves that isn't tied to peoples' perception of them as half the height of a "normal" person? I know you can't use Hobbit because Tolkien Estate, but surely the halflings themselves don't consider themselves "half" of anything!They do not. Halflings are more than just "half" the height of a human. They're also "halfling" in society; they tend to take on the qualities of the societies they live among or nearby rather than have their own strong societies. That goes for their race name as well; they've pretty much adopted "Halfling" as their own.
Sure we do - Andoren halflings are Andoren, Thuvian ones are Thuvian, and so on. You wouldn't say the humans from there don't have a culture of their own just because thdy share it with us, would you? Remember - humabs and halflings have lived side by side for a long time, and cultural influences run both ways.
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That...that's actually kind of sad. They've no cultural identity of their own?Do halflings have a name for themselves that isn't tied to peoples' perception of them as half the height of a "normal" person? I know you can't use Hobbit because Tolkien Estate, but surely the halflings themselves don't consider themselves "half" of anything!They do not. Halflings are more than just "half" the height of a human. They're also "halfling" in society; they tend to take on the qualities of the societies they live among or nearby rather than have their own strong societies. That goes for their race name as well; they've pretty much adopted "Halfling" as their own.
Not really. They're working to MAKE an identity of their own, but that sort of thing moves slowly. And yes, it is kind of sad. It's part of what defines their culture and race—that despite that and other things working against them, they're thriving and tenacious and maintain, overall, a positive and optimistic attitude about it all.
James, would you rule that teleporting onto a moving ship that you cannot see, but are otherwise familiar with, would use the "false destination" area of the teleport chart? Would any moving thing count as such (wagon, horse, flying citadel)?Yes; absolutely. Teleporting onto a moving object is tricky. I'd allow it if you were on the vehicle and teleporting elsewhere on the vehicle, or if the vehicle was at rest. An attempt to teleport onto a vehicle in motion when you can't see it and know exactly where it's at would fail. Of course, if you had some method to observe the ship's location, say, via a long-range clairvoyance type effect, then that would work (although the lack of landmarks in the open ocean would limit you to the "seen once" category).
Note: Scrying allows you to observe a creature... NOT a location or an object, so in my interpretation, scrying a person doesn't help you teleport to them since you have to see the location, not the person. May be pedantic... but the "scry and fry" tactic needs to die anyway!
Having some kind of beacon? (but that's something else)
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On a scale of one to a billion, just how awesome is it that I got to interview F Paul Wilson?
In the magic item creation rules there is the following rules:
"3 An item that does not take up one of the spaces on a body costs double."
Does the phrase 'take up one of the spaces on a body' refer to a slotless magic items as listed in the Ultimate Equipment book?
Note: Scrying allows you to observe a creature... NOT a location or an object, so in my interpretation, scrying a person doesn't help you teleport to them since you have to see the location, not the person. May be pedantic... but the "scry and fry" tactic needs to die anyway!
What about this line from the teleport spell?
Familiarity: “Very familiar” is a place where you have been very often and where you feel at home. “Studied carefully” is a place you know well, either because you can currently physically see it or you've been there often. “Seen casually” is a place that you have seen more than once but with which you are not very familiar. “Viewed once” is a place that you have seen once, possibly using magic such as scrying.
Or this entry from the Skull and Shackles Player's Guide?
Dimension Door, Greater Teleport, Teleport, Teleportation Circle: Because ships are constantly in motion, the caster of spells of the teleportation subschool must have line of sight to teleport onto a ship. Otherwise, a caster must scry upon a particular ship first, then immediately teleport to the scryed destination. Any delay in casting means the ship has moved from its scryed location and the spell fails.
It seems to me that you would be able to teleport to a location if you've scryed on someone there, but it's treated as 'viewed once' so there is a 34% chance you don't make it the location scryed.
Are there any decent/recommended mass combat rules for Pathfinder?The Ultimate Combat rules are what I use. That said, I don't run games where mass combat is the main focus. If I did, I'd have more recommendations for you.
Do you use them often in your home games?
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James, would you rule that teleporting onto a moving ship that you cannot see, but are otherwise familiar with, would use the "false destination" area of the teleport chart? Would any moving thing count as such (wagon, horse, flying citadel)?Yes; absolutely. Teleporting onto a moving object is tricky. I'd allow it if you were on the vehicle and teleporting elsewhere on the vehicle, or if the vehicle was at rest. An attempt to teleport onto a vehicle in motion when you can't see it and know exactly where it's at would fail. Of course, if you had some method to observe the ship's location, say, via a long-range clairvoyance type effect, then that would work (although the lack of landmarks in the open ocean would limit you to the "seen once" category).
Note: Scrying allows you to observe a creature... NOT a location or an object, so in my interpretation, scrying a person doesn't help you teleport to them since you have to see the location, not the person. May be pedantic... but the "scry and fry" tactic needs to die anyway!
Having some kind of beacon? (but that's something else)
Or a specific spell that allows teleporting onto moving objects, or all sorts of other possibilities. The game's only limited by the imagination, after all.
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On a scale of one to a billion, just how awesome is it that I got to interview F Paul Wilson?
A trillion.
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In the magic item creation rules there is the following rules:
"3 An item that does not take up one of the spaces on a body costs double."
Does the phrase 'take up one of the spaces on a body' refer to a slotless magic items as listed in the Ultimate Equipment book?
Sure!
But then you need to not forget to compare your final "alpha" price to other similar items and adjust up or down as needed so you don't create something that is over/underpriced for its niche.
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Note: Scrying allows you to observe a creature... NOT a location or an object, so in my interpretation, scrying a person doesn't help you teleport to them since you have to see the location, not the person. May be pedantic... but the "scry and fry" tactic needs to die anyway!What about this line from the teleport spell?
Familiarity: “Very familiar” is a place where you have been very often and where you feel at home. “Studied carefully” is a place you know well, either because you can currently physically see it or you've been there often. “Seen casually” is a place that you have seen more than once but with which you are not very familiar. “Viewed once” is a place that you have seen once, possibly using magic such as scrying.Or this entry from the Skull and Shackles Player's Guide?
Dimension Door, Greater Teleport, Teleport, Teleportation Circle: Because ships are constantly in motion, the caster of spells of the teleportation subschool must have line of sight to teleport onto a ship. Otherwise, a caster must scry upon a particular ship first, then immediately teleport to the scryed destination. Any delay in casting means the ship has moved from its scryed location and the spell fails.It seems to me that you would be able to teleport to a location if you've scryed on someone there, but it's treated as 'viewed once' so there is a 34% chance you don't make it the location scryed.
What about it? Ignore it, I say, and the game will be better for it. It is, in my opinion, a fragment left over from 3rd edition anyway.
Folks asked me how it works in games I run, and I answered. I've established (perhaps not well enough) that this isn't the place to get Rules-As-Written rulings, but I do hope to inspire at least a few GMs to be confident and comfortable in changing rules that make their game less fun.
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Do you use them often in your home games?Are there any decent/recommended mass combat rules for Pathfinder?The Ultimate Combat rules are what I use. That said, I don't run games where mass combat is the main focus. If I did, I'd have more recommendations for you.
Not at all. Very rarely, in fact. But that's because I MUCH prefer to run games that focus on the PCs, not larger groups.
You said earlier that all petitioners in Nirvana become animals. So how does Shelyn's realm have things that require hands to make?
Mr. James Jacobs,
What areas are not friendly to Fleshwarpers? While we know Nex and the Darklands are friendly to the process, are there other regions who are friendly or at least neutral to the practice?
How much would a friendly and chipper fleshwarper who happens to be a devout shelynite stand out?
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Mr. James Jacobs,
What areas are not friendly to Fleshwarpers? While we know Nex and the Darklands are friendly to the process, are there other regions who are friendly or at least neutral to the practice?
How much would a friendly and chipper fleshwarper who happens to be a devout shelynite stand out?
The majority of the regions in the Inner Sea are not friendly to fleshwarpers. It's a spooky and scary tradition that has a lot of evil stuff going on in there as well, and as such, fleshwarpers are generally thought of as bad guys or troublemakers or the type. There's not really a place that's friendly to them while also being good aligned, if that's what you're looking for... at least, not in the Inner Sea region.
A Shelynite fleshwarper would be a VERY unique character, on par with a non-evil undead or something like that. Such a character would stand out like a proverbial sore thumb. It's a great idea for a character though!
My favorites during the gallbladder recovery era were the frosted cinnamon/brown sugar ones. I'm off the diet in 8 days. I might have to celebrate with a pop tart.What is your favorite 'guilty pleasure' food?That changes... but right now I'd probably say Pop Tarts. They were my #1 comfort food to eat when I was recovering from gallbladder surgery.
Also up high on the list: Reeses peanut butter cups, dark chocolate salted caramel corn, Doritos, and coffee flavored It's-It ice cream sandwiches.
Pop Tarts, I'm kinda addicted to those.
AND CHEESE.