Yes, they have a brain in their skull. Regeneration doesn't quite work the way you think it does though; you can't grow a new troll by harvesting a finger and letting the severed finger grow back, so it's never an issue in this way.By the manual, trolls regenerate from the largest remaining portion of their body. In other words, it sounds like if you behead a troll, and prevent it from grabbing the head and sticking it back on their body, the body will grow a new head, instead of the head growing a body.
Given this, do trolls have the traditional brain in their heads? If so, do they lose all memories if beheaded and forced to grow a new head? Or do they have more of a distributed, highly developed nervous system that allows them to retain memories across their body?
(And I am aware I'm overthinking something that doesn't really need an answer. I'm just curious if you had one.)
My interpretation would be that the trolls soul would be somewhat involved in explaining why memories would transfer to a regrown head and why you can't plant troll parts for more trolls. Would you say that is a fair interpretation?
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So dunno how trolls growing their whole body from largest remaining parts work, but could you behead a troll, put their head in box, send that box somewhere and while in the box they would grow their body back resulting in very nasty surprise for the person box is delivered to?
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While Desna's attitude towards Lamashtu, Ghlaunder, Rovagug and Zon-Kuthon is well-established, how would she few Asmodeus?
I imagine that she would see him as the personification of the tyranny of Law and thus strongly oppose him and his followers. How would a worshipper of Desna view devout Chelaxians?
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My interpretation would be that the trolls soul would be somewhat involved in explaining why memories would transfer to a regrown head and why you can't plant troll parts for more trolls. Would you say that is a fair interpretation?Yes, they have a brain in their skull. Regeneration doesn't quite work the way you think it does though; you can't grow a new troll by harvesting a finger and letting the severed finger grow back, so it's never an issue in this way.By the manual, trolls regenerate from the largest remaining portion of their body. In other words, it sounds like if you behead a troll, and prevent it from grabbing the head and sticking it back on their body, the body will grow a new head, instead of the head growing a body.
Given this, do trolls have the traditional brain in their heads? If so, do they lose all memories if beheaded and forced to grow a new head? Or do they have more of a distributed, highly developed nervous system that allows them to retain memories across their body?
(And I am aware I'm overthinking something that doesn't really need an answer. I'm just curious if you had one.)
No, because once again, regeneration in Pathfinder is not a form of reproduction. It's only a damage recovery element. If we want a creature to be able to reproduce via regeneration, it'll have a special ability that calls that out specifically.
No, because once again, regeneration in Pathfinder is not a form of reproduction. It's only a damage recovery element. If we want a creature to be able to reproduce via regeneration, it'll have a special ability that calls that out specifically.My interpretation would be that the trolls soul would be somewhat involved in explaining why memories would transfer to a regrown head and why you can't plant troll parts for more trolls. Would you say that is a fair interpretation?Yes, they have a brain in their skull. Regeneration doesn't quite work the way you think it does though; you can't grow a new troll by harvesting a finger and letting the severed finger grow back, so it's never an issue in this way.By the manual, trolls regenerate from the largest remaining portion of their body. In other words, it sounds like if you behead a troll, and prevent it from grabbing the head and sticking it back on their body, the body will grow a new head, instead of the head growing a body.
Given this, do trolls have the traditional brain in their heads? If so, do they lose all memories if beheaded and forced to grow a new head? Or do they have more of a distributed, highly developed nervous system that allows them to retain memories across their body?
(And I am aware I'm overthinking something that doesn't really need an answer. I'm just curious if you had one.)
I was pretty curious myself about the losing the head. If a Troll loses it's head, and it's body (The larger piece) regrows a new head (The head I understand does not grow a body), does it retain it's memories? Or does, as Vidmaster suggested, the memories get stored in the soul? Or something else?
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So dunno how trolls growing their whole body from largest remaining parts work, but could you behead a troll, put their head in box, send that box somewhere and while in the box they would grow their body back resulting in very nasty surprise for the person box is delivered to?
In theory, yes, if the box were large enough to contain the whole regrown troll. Otherwise it'd pop out of the box too early.
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While Desna's attitude towards Lamashtu, Ghlaunder, Rovagug and Zon-Kuthon is well-established, how would she few Asmodeus?
I imagine that she would see him as the personification of the tyranny of Law and thus strongly oppose him and his followers. How would a worshipper of Desna view devout Chelaxians?
She does not like Asmodeus, as in many ways, he represents everything she is not. They do not get along.
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James what works better for a Kaiju one off game (where the players play Kaijus), a monster bash pvp game, a everyone vs a much bigger monster or a stomp the humans game?
A game specifically designed for this type of play works better. Pathfinder is not specifically designed for this.
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I was pretty curious myself about the losing the head. If a Troll loses it's head, and it's body (The larger piece) regrows a new head (The head I understand does not grow a body), does it retain it's memories? Or does, as Vidmaster suggested, the memories get stored in the soul? Or something else?
Souls and bodies are not the same thing for non-outsiders. A soul is linked to the whole body, but is not part of it. The same soul remains associated with the troll when it regrows, whether it regrows from a headless body or not. The game is silent on how this affects the mind, which IS housed in the brain and is separate from the soul. Go with the solution in your game that's the most interesting. If we ever do something like this in Golarion, we'll decide then how it works, not now.
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Hi James,
Recently I read "The Mound", which I think is perhaps one of the few Lovecraft stories I had never read before. IIRC, you mentioned that the underground layers of civilization were one of your inspirations for Pathfinder.
My questions are:
1. Are the Munavari inspired by the K'nyanians? Obviously the former are good while the latter not so much, but they are both advanced telepathic underground dwellers and survivors of a more advanced civilization.
2. In the story there are strange, one horned quadrapedal hominds which are used as mounts (The Gyaa-Yoth). Are these on the list of monsters you want to add to Pathfinder? Or are there some legal hurdles preventing there use? Just wondering as they seem rather distinctive, and it seems the number of available copyright free and well-described Lovecraft inventions (compared to Clark Ashton Smith or Robert Howard, and others) has to be running low.
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Hi James,
Recently I read "The Mound", which I think is perhaps one of the few Lovecraft stories I had never read before. IIRC, you mentioned that the underground layers of civilization were one of your inspirations for Pathfinder.
My questions are:
1. Are the Munavari inspired by the K'nyanians? Obviously the former are good while the latter not so much, but they are both advanced telepathic underground dwellers and survivors of a more advanced civilization.
2. In the story there are strange, one horned quadrapedal hominds which are used as mounts (The Gyaa-Yoth). Are these on the list of monsters you want to add to Pathfinder? Or are there some legal hurdles preventing there use? Just wondering as they seem rather distinctive, and it seems the number of available copyright free and well-described Lovecraft inventions (compared to Clark Ashton Smith or Robert Howard, and others) has to be running low.
The three-tier underworld of "The Mound" is what inspired me to have Pathfinder's Darklands be divided into three realms, but the novelette wasn't a direct inspiration for the Munavri. Subconsciously, though, sure... but the idea of a race of weird telepathic humans wasn't isolated to Lovecraft...
The gyaa-yoth are not on the list of monsters I want to add at this point, but they are indeed in the public domain as far as I know. Maybe some day...
No, because once again, regeneration in Pathfinder is not a form of reproduction. It's only a damage recovery element. If we want a creature to be able to reproduce via regeneration, it'll have a special ability that calls that out specifically.My interpretation would be that the trolls soul would be somewhat involved in explaining why memories would transfer to a regrown head and why you can't plant troll parts for more trolls. Would you say that is a fair interpretation?Yes, they have a brain in their skull. Regeneration doesn't quite work the way you think it does though; you can't grow a new troll by harvesting a finger and letting the severed finger grow back, so it's never an issue in this way.By the manual, trolls regenerate from the largest remaining portion of their body. In other words, it sounds like if you behead a troll, and prevent it from grabbing the head and sticking it back on their body, the body will grow a new head, instead of the head growing a body.
Given this, do trolls have the traditional brain in their heads? If so, do they lose all memories if beheaded and forced to grow a new head? Or do they have more of a distributed, highly developed nervous system that allows them to retain memories across their body?
(And I am aware I'm overthinking something that doesn't really need an answer. I'm just curious if you had one.)
You confused me there but I think you just misread. I was saying you >>CAN'T<< Reproduce trolls by hacking off body parts. That I assumed this had something to do with the trolls soul.
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Hey James quick question,
Tabris fell by staring unblinking into the realms of the evil outsiders. How far did he fall? Is he now Lawful Evil, True Neutral, Lawful Neutral?
I ask because my GM is running Wrath of the Righteous and my character is building an order to seal all permanent extra-planar gates and minimize the effect of the outer planes on the material plane. If he knows of Tabris he will likely travel to Axis in an attempt to recruit him because Tabris knows the most about all of the planes his order would be in conflict with.
1) What would you say Tabris's alignment changed to because of what he dealt with?
2) Would he even talk to a human in Axis that specifically sought him out?
3) How hard would it be to even know of Tabris and if he was known of, how hard would it be to find him?
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Hey James quick question,
Tabris fell by staring unblinking into the realms of the evil outsiders. How far did he fall? Is he now Lawful Evil, True Neutral, Lawful Neutral?
I ask because my GM is running Wrath of the Righteous and my character is building an order to seal all permanent extra-planar gates and minimize the effect of the outer planes on the material plane. If he knows of Tabris he will likely travel to Axis in an attempt to recruit him because Tabris knows the most about all of the planes his order would be in conflict with.
1) What would you say Tabris's alignment changed to because of what he dealt with?
2) Would he even talk to a human in Axis that specifically sought him out?
3) How hard would it be to even know of Tabris and if he was known of, how hard would it be to find him?
Unrevealed.
1) Partially, but also because of his one-time allies' and superiors' poor reaction to him going all-in on the task they set before him.
2) Maybe.
3) As hard as the GM wants to make it. For questions like this, where a player is asking about how their own GM's game should go... you need to let your GM make those decisions. It's not my place.
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Howdy folks!
So, I need to take a break from this thread for a while—thank you for all the questions, folks! (Any questions that pop in here after this post will be quite unlikely to be answered anytime soon, just as a heads up!)
(ALSO: If someone here at Paizo can lock this thread for me when they see this so that it doesn't turn into a CR 20 trap, that would be appreciated!)
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Ahoy folks!
So, after taking a break for the past 5 months or so from this thread, I've decided to have it re-opened (thanks, Sara!) and start answering questions again.
But I'm no longer going to be answering ALL questions. Rules questions should not be asked here—those should continue to be asked on the appropriate forums elsewhere on these boards so the design team can interact easily with them and so they can be part of the FAQ system.
I'd also appreciate it if folks keep their questions brief and to the point. If you have a LOT of questions for me, it's best to keep them in a text file and post them one at a time after I answer them. It got to be far too time-consuming for me to answer lists of complicated questions.
Now and then, a question may well intrigue me and I'll post a long reply, but that decision will be made at my end.
Okay then! Ask away! And thanks for being patient while I took a time out!
What did you think of the third season of Fargo.
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How has Starfinder been received? Will we see any easter eggs to Pathfinder in future Starfinder Adventure Paths?
Starfinder has been VERY well received (you may have heard that we brought more copies of the Starfinder core rulebook to Gen Con than any other product ever and that we sold out anyway halfway through day one of the convention).
I'm the creative director for Pathfinder, though, and I don't have a lot of input on the Starfinder side of things. You should ask Rob McCreary about Starfinder content—he's the creative director for that side of things (but he's also a busy guy, and I make no guarantees that he'll be available to answer questions).
I will say this though: Rob's awesome!!!
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Will there be more Elder Mythos/Horror Adventure paths in the future?!!
Also any chance for one of the Horseman to (briefly!) appear in adventure path?
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I have a question.
Recently I was betrayed by my favoured servant Zaiobe. However due to the unique circumstances of her death, her soul has been kept from me, Pazuzu, her rightful owner. Although she did so in such a way to embarrass one of my most hated rivals Sithuud.
Should I go out of my way to raid the boneyard to reclaim her soul, which rightfully belongs to me Pazuzu? Or should I settle for petty vengeance against the mortals who helped enact her escape from my talons?
Your buddy in the Abyss,
Pazuzu
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Was your hiatus refreshing?
Have you had the chance to play a game of Starfinder? If so, did you like it? If not, do you expect to soon?
What is your favorite thing you haven't yet revealed about Rise of the Runelords?
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Great to see you back!
I was just curious how much you might talk with the staff for Starfinder for lore. It seems interesting to have pre-gap and post-gap connecting somewhat in the future, even if very loosely since they are different games.
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Was your hiatus refreshing?
Have you had the chance to play a game of Starfinder? If so, did you like it? If not, do you expect to soon?
What is your favorite thing you haven't yet revealed about Rise of the Runelords?
It was, otherwise I would still be on hiatus! :-P
I've only been able to play Starfinder twice so far—once during the internal playtest and then again at Paizocon when I ran the Starfinder delve for about an hour (although in that case it really felt to me more like playing Pathifnder with lasers). I keep pestering Rob to start up a Starfinder game soon, but so far, no luck!
My favorite thing I haven't yet revealed about Rise of the Runelords is something that WILL be revealed in next year's Return of the Runelords, and as such, I'm not ready to pull back that curtain quite yet.
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Welcome back! I have a question I've been waiting to ask.
Are kobolds common in Tian Xia as they are in the Inner Sea? And in Casmaron?
They are not.
For places like Tian Xia and Casmaron, what's "common" is stuff that's "common" in the cultures and mythology that inspired the area. Kobolds are from European mythology, and thus they're quite common in the Inner Sea region (which itself is largely inspired by European mythology), but not in places where other mythologies are at the forefront. Making kobolds common in Tian Xia or Casmaron would be akin to "fantasy whitewashing" in my opinion, so no, they're not common there at all.
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My favorite thing I haven't yet revealed about Rise of the Runelords is something that WILL be revealed in next year's Return of the Runelords, and as such, I'm not ready to pull back that curtain quite yet.
Waiittt.....They're coming back?!!! How did I not know about this?!!
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Great to see you back!
I was just curious how much you might talk with the staff for Starfinder for lore. It seems interesting to have pre-gap and post-gap connecting somewhat in the future, even if very loosely since they are different games.
Not much at all. I have not been involved in the creation of Starfinder lore apart from very peripheral stuff early in the process, and what involvement I have had has been largely via osmosis, in that the Starfinder team uses our body of Pathfinder lore, to which I have been very involved with, as a starting point for their lore.
As a result, we have no plans to "connect" the pre-gap and post-gap worlds. If only because that starts to marginalize events and remove player agency from Pathfinder games, since the implication then might become "No matter what you do in this game, it won't matter because it will turn out the way it does in Starfinder."
Keeping the game timelines separate like this is important for that reason.
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My favorite thing I haven't yet revealed about Rise of the Runelords is something that WILL be revealed in next year's Return of the Runelords, and as such, I'm not ready to pull back that curtain quite yet.Waiittt.....They're coming back?!!! How did I not know about this?!!
My guess? You got distracted by Starfinder stuff. We announced "Return of the Runelords" at Gen Con.
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....I wasn't at GenCon.... Also I think I was distracted by Book of the Damned...
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1)So have you seen the It remake? If so what did you think?
2)What other movies have you seen lately?
3)Any new TV shows get your interests?
4)Do you have any interest in getting the mini NES classic and/or mini SNES classic?
5)Read any good books lately?
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1)So have you seen the It remake? If so what did you think?
2)What other movies have you seen lately?
3)Any new TV shows get your interests?
4)Do you have any interest in getting the mini NES classic and/or mini SNES classic?
5)Read any good books lately?
I suspect it will take time for folks to adjust to my new request to avoid doing question lists like this, since they tend to turn into VERY complicated things to answer. Please constrain things to one question per post going forward, in any event.
1) Yes. I thought it was excellent. One of the best movies of the year, and one of the best Stephen King adaptions ever.
2) Lots. Gerald's Game was the other great movie I've seen lately. Hated "The Dark Tower." Quite enjoyed Annabelle: Creation. It's been 5 months, though, and I'm not gonna do a full list of every movie I've seen since then since that's dozens of them.
3) The new season of Candle Cove. The new season of The Exorcist. And I just binged Twin Peaks, which was awesome. I'm enjoying Designated Survivor. Hated The Mist. Very much looking forward to the upcoming season of Westworld. Am so far very ambivalent toward Star Trek Discovery.
4) No.
5) Yes. I'm currently reading several, including Borne (good but a bit hard to keep going through—not as good as Annihilation) and Sleeping Beauties (excellent!) and a collection of William Hope Hodgson stories (quite awesome).
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I hope my lore questions aren't too annoying x-x;
So Tabris first wrote Chronicles of Righteous, then Concordance of Rivals, then Book of the Damned. After this, he added stuff to Chronicles of Righteous about heaven's hypocrisies? I'm bit confused about order he wrote books in
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holy moly you're back!
Who's the next demigod to get statted? I'm personally hoping for a non demon/empyreal lord this time.
PD
Was your hiatus refreshing?
Have you had the chance to play a game of Starfinder? If so, did you like it? If not, do you expect to soon?
What is your favorite thing you haven't yet revealed about Rise of the Runelords?
It was, otherwise I would still be on hiatus! :-P
I've only been able to play Starfinder twice so far—once during the internal playtest and then again at Paizocon when I ran the Starfinder delve for about an hour (although in that case it really felt to me more like playing Pathifnder with lasers). I keep pestering Rob to start up a Starfinder game soon, but so far, no luck!
My favorite thing I haven't yet revealed about Rise of the Runelords is something that WILL be revealed in next year's Return of the Runelords, and as such, I'm not ready to pull back that curtain quite yet.
Awesome!!
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Wooot James is back
Wooot
Of all the major outsider factions (Angels/Demons/Devils/Qliphoth/etc) which do you find the most engaging and fun to right about and which do you find the least?
thankies :)
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I hope my lore questions aren't too annoying x-x;
So Tabris first wrote Chronicles of Righteous, then Concordance of Rivals, then Book of the Damned. After this, he added stuff to Chronicles of Righteous about heaven's hypocrisies? I'm bit confused about order he wrote books in
The planes are a big place, and time doesn't always work the same way everywhere, and the way powerful angels create artifact books isn't something that us mortals can really comprehend.
AKA: it's okay to be confused about this.
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Wooot James is back
WoootOf all the major outsider factions (Angels/Demons/Devils/Qliphoth/etc) which do you find the most engaging and fun to right about and which do you find the least?
thankies :)
Demons are the most engaging and fun to write about.
Archons are the least interesting for me to write about.