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What would a hypothetical level 31, spell granting entity be considered as? Would they still be a demigod?
The whole point of having a cut-off as for how high the levels go before you stop making monsters is so that we as world creators have a scale, and so readers can trust and use that scale.
The point of a demigod to me is "A creature whose level is beyond that which can be achieved by a PC, to a set maximum." We chose 30 because of the theory that this would be the upper limit as to what a 20th level, mythic 10 party could face.
The number itself is arbitrary, be it 30 or 20 or 31 or 301. As long as it has a stat block, it can be killed in combat. If it doesn't it can only be killed by plot. So by my definition, if one were to expand it to level 31, then that would still be a demigod... but it would cheapen and weaken the position of all the other demigods simply by expanding the scale.
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Wait. So if an intellect devourer burrows into the brain of a human and eat the brain, the human is still technically alive? And the human's soul still resides in his own body? Perhaps the human can become healthy again if a cleric casts heal or regenerate?it says that Intelligent devours host still have a “modicum of awareness” despite their brain being eaten. and i presume it is basic emotional states like fear and surprise. but i’d like to know what exactly “modicum of awareness” means.I'm not sure what you're asking exactly about (seems like you skipped a word or two in the question), but the phrase "modicum of awareness" means that you retain a little bit of the ability to sense the world around you, sort of as if you were suffering from extensive brain damage or a lobotomy or the like—you're very limited in how you react to the world, and I"d say basic emotional states would be completely gone.
Nope. In that case the human is dead and the soul has moved on. What's left in the brainless body is, basically, a meat robot with broken programming. The rules, I believe, are pretty clear on how you fix being intellect devourered—you have to use something to restore life to death.
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sorry James. the tabletop community regularly use “fluff” as a value neutral statement of lore in comparison to “crunch” lore.
and speaking of parasites. Ghlauder is most commonly seen as a mosquito and has mosquito like minions. but in nature only female mosquitos drink blood. with the males only drinking nectar.
i know Ghlauder isn’t a flesh and blood mosquito. but is it that you didn’t know that only female mosquitos drank blood when creating him? and if you did would you make Ghlauder female?
or did you know and made him make too diffrate him from Desna and Lamutshu?
I know some in the community use "fluff" that way. What I'm saying is that it's an insulting term to me because of the definition of the actual word. This is something I've tried to coax folks away from doing for decades, but I'm just one person, so I can't get that message out to everyone.
Ghlaunder is an abberant monstrosity weirdo. I know how mosquitos work. I made him male to lean in to the fact that he's not ACTUALLY a giant mosquito... he's something entirely different and stranger and more difficult for a human (and as it turns out, human artists) to comprehend.
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Nope. In that case the human is dead and the soul has moved on. What's left in the brainless body is, basically, a meat robot with broken programming. The rules, I believe, are pretty clear on how you fix being intellect devourered—you have to use something to restore life to death.Wait. So if an intellect devourer burrows into the brain of a human and eat the brain, the human is still technically alive? And the human's soul still resides in his own body? Perhaps the human can become healthy again if a cleric casts heal or regenerate?it says that Intelligent devours host still have a “modicum of awareness” despite their brain being eaten. and i presume it is basic emotional states like fear and surprise. but i’d like to know what exactly “modicum of awareness” means.I'm not sure what you're asking exactly about (seems like you skipped a word or two in the question), but the phrase "modicum of awareness" means that you retain a little bit of the ability to sense the world around you, sort of as if you were suffering from extensive brain damage or a lobotomy or the like—you're very limited in how you react to the world, and I"d say basic emotional states would be completely gone.
But you said that the brainless host still has a "modicum of awareness" and thus still retains a little bit of the ability to sense the world around him. Doesn't that mean the host is still alive? Am I missing something?
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Creative Director
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But you said that the brainless host still has a "modicum of awareness" and thus still retains a little bit of the ability to sense the world around him. Doesn't that mean the host is still alive? Am I missing something?
The body is alive but without a soul or mind. It's like those ants that get taken over by cordyceps fungi; what's left of them isn't an ant, but a meat puppet being directed by another thing.
When an intellect devourer eats your brain, you die. What's left is a body that is horrifically still biologically alive, but not spiritually alive, as long as it continues to be regularly worn by its host. Left alone, the body will seem to be alive to someone looking at it as long as the hole in the head is hidden, but it can't react, can't fend for itself, can't speak, can't react to pain, etc. It's a strange and unnatural and hopefully unsettling and frightening body-horror condition, a fate worse than death, even.
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Creative Director
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I was actually asking about how, if at all, villains might justify to themselves that they're still good when the universe is screaming at them that they're objectively wrong.
Say, when Mr Villain or his henchman casts detect alignment and the spell tells them "dude, you're literally evil as hell."
He'd disagree. Depending on his personality, he might do so eloquently, or violently, or with humor, or whatever. Or he'll say the spell is wrong, or that the caster is wrong, or that something is manipulating the truth. Whether or not others believe him depends on the result of his Deception check. Whether or not a PLAYER believes him depends on the player.
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In a thread over in the Lost Omens Setting board, you mentioned that 2e elves mature at the same rate humans do, so a human and an elf could conceivably go to college at the same age. How does that change the existing concept of Forlorn elves, whose whole shtick is that they grew up among non-elves and thus were forced to watch generations of friends grow old and die in the century or so before they'd even come of age, and that that took an emotional toll on them?
Thanks! Of course, I do have a follow up - is the same true of Infernal, with devils and asuras?It's the original language of the Abyss, although I suspect qlippoth speak it with an archaic accent. Kinda like the difference between modern English and middle or even old English.Hey James,
So, planar etymology question - is abyssal the original language of the qlippoth, or was it only invented by the demons and the qlippoth used something else/telepathy before then?
Yup, but on a much shorter timespan. Not that "shorter" in this case would be perceived as short by mortal minds, of course. Just that the qlippoth vastly predate the asuras.
I almost think that the qlippoth might even predate the concept of language, and that them speaking Abyssal is an evolution, and that before they either didn't communicate at all or used some other method of communication that isn't something humanity can comprehend. Something like the ideas of language that are explored in "The Arrival" for example.
Can I assume that, before qlippoth began speaking Abyssal, they communicated via telepathy?
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Creative Director
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In a thread over in the Lost Omens Setting board, you mentioned that 2e elves mature at the same rate humans do, so a human and an elf could conceivably go to college at the same age. How does that change the existing concept of Forlorn elves, whose whole shtick is that they grew up among non-elves and thus were forced to watch generations of friends grow old and die in the century or so before they'd even come of age, and that that took an emotional toll on them?
You can still 100% be forlorn, it's just a case of "once you get to be around 17 or 18, you slow down and stay there and watch as your childhood friends grow old and die of old age. A forlorn elf might be 100 years old when they start play at 1st level still. It works pretty much the same as before.
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Creative Director
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Can I assume that, before qlippoth began speaking Abyssal, they communicated via telepathy?
You still need a language to communicate in. If there was a "before Abyssal was a language" era, then the qlippoth had a different langauge, and whether or not they spoke it aloud or via telepathy depended on the situation and whether the qlippoth had a voice in the first place.
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If we could send the Pathfinder 2e rules and setting back in time (not the books themselves, but the texts) how far back do you think it could go and people would still like it?
Do you think there is a point in time in RPG history where it would be near universally disliked because the world wasn't ready for the kind of play? Or do you think it could play in any era?
If you build something off of decades experience, and transport a work back to before that experience, do you think an audience can still understand the art?
I think that the rules themselves would work just as well in any era, although of course if you go back before the 70s you'll need to also explain how TRPGS work in the first place.
Whether or not fans would accept it, or it would have been more or less successful, I suspect that'd err on the side of less successful because change is scary and folks react to it better when there's time for them to prepare for it. I also think that coming out at about the same time as the launch of any odd-numbered edition of D&D would be tough, success-wise.
But I think an audience can understand the concept of the art regardless of the era. I just think that potential audience shrinks dramatically if you go back too far in time and the idea of what an RPG is becomes mysterious and strange and new. There was a LOT of irrational fear back in the early 80s where folks were convinced that D&D was teaching the children of the world how to be demon worshipers. I'm fine not going back to that particular theme.
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James I noticed that most Fungi creatures are evil and i’m wondering why? did you get a nasty yeast infection when you where a teenager?
I've always been grossed out by fungi. They grow on dead things. But more to the point, the idea of being turned into a fungus has always terrified me. In part because of a short story I read as a kid: "The Voice in the Night" by WIlliam Hope Hodgson. This story was adapted to "Matango/Attack of the Mushroom People" by Ishiro Honda (director of the original "Godzilla") back in the 50s, and it was also one of the first horror movies I saw as a kid as well. Didn't realize at the time that those two stories were from the same person, but they left their mark on me.
Furthermore, since I grew up in the woods, my dad from day one pretty much drilled into my head to NOT EAT brightly colored mushrooms, because if I did... I would DIE. So my fear of mushrooms was baked into me from the start in the same way kids who grew up in the big city might have been taught to avoid creepers with free candy.
Fungus is gross.
Got a dose of "ah ****, I need to pay more attention to the news", I didn't notice I was being insensitive recently.
On topic:
Suppose some gods had reasons to show up on the Material Plane (more than one so that they can keep each others in check), anything that would prevent them from "fixing" some issues like freeing Acavna's sould from the Mordant Spire or expelling Ydersius from the Material Plane, or just plain kill the serpent god?
Is the skin of stone giants, gargoyles, and ropers made of stone? Likewise, is the skin of wood giants, dryads, arboreals, and leshies made of wood? I mean, would a scientist conclude that the skin of these monsters are chemically identical to the real stone and wood?
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Creative Director
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Suppose some gods had reasons to show up on the Material Plane (more than one so that they can keep each others in check), anything that would prevent them from "fixing" some issues like freeing Acavna's sould from the Mordant Spire or expelling Ydersius from the Material Plane, or just plain kill the serpent god?
Only thing preventing them from fixing those is us or you telling that story in a game. The reason we avoid those stories is that it takes agency away from the player characters if there's a perception that if you just wait a bit, the gods will fix it.
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Creative Director
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Is the skin of stone giants, gargoyles, and ropers made of stone? Likewise, is the skin of wood giants, dryads, arboreals, and leshies made of wood? I mean, would a scientist conclude that the skin of these monsters are chemically identical to the real stone and wood?
It's not made of stone or wood, but also not made entirley of biological flesh. A scientist would be baffled by those things because they are magic, not scientific.
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Why should low level PCs do all the dirty work to save the world while the high level NPCs sit idly by and do nothing? Why do good high level characters in the world not set things right? Why do they not strike directly against the evils that threaten Golarion? Why do all mighty folk of good heart not simply make everything right? Perhaps they are cowards? Perhaps they are not that good after all?
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Why should low level PCs do all the dirty work to save the world while the high level NPCs sit idly by and do nothing? Why do good high level characters in the world not set things right? Why do they not strike directly against the evils that threaten Golarion? Why do all mighty folk of good heart not simply make everything right? Perhaps they are cowards? Perhaps they are not that good after all?
Because that's the job of the PCs, not us. We provide lots of inspiration and stories for your PCs to go out and set things right, but the very nature of the game means that we, the publishers of the setting, are not the ones who do that.
If you want us to publish stories about heroes who go out and set things right, you're not asking for an RPG. You're asking for a line of novels or a TV show.
If you want high level PCs to save the day, you and your group should play high level adventures. We publish a fair amount of those in the form of Adventure Paths. But we tend to publish more low level ones across the board simply because low level adventures sell better.
Hi Mr. Jacobs, since you were closely working on the original Runelord lore I was wondering what you would say their relative powers relating to each other were in terms of political power.
From what I have read of the lore, in descending order it appears to be Xanderghul, Sorshen, Alaznist, Karzoug, Zutha, Belimarius, and Krune.
Any insight into this would be great. Thank you for taking the time to read this.
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Hi Mr. Jacobs, since you were closely working on the original Runelord lore I was wondering what you would say their relative powers relating to each other were in terms of political power.
From what I have read of the lore, in descending order it appears to be Xanderghul, Sorshen, Alaznist, Karzoug, Zutha, Belimarius, and Krune.
Any insight into this would be great. Thank you for taking the time to read this.
I'd say their political power, as seen in the final days of Thassilon, would ALMOST rank the same as their actual level, with Sorshen and Karzoug being 1 rank higher. Sorshen because her use of enchantment stuff let her manipulate politics more than Xanderghul's illusions, and Karzoug because he was able to hide his violent urges a bit more than Alaznist.
From most powerful, politically, to least: Sorshen, Xanderghul, Karzoug, Alaznist, Zutha, Belimarius, Krune.
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My friends and I are about to finish Age of Ashes, and we are discussing going back and playing some 1E adventures to learn more about the meta-narrative of Golarion. At the top of the list was the Runelords Trilogy, but at the Erik Mona Q&A he mentioned something interesting that I didn't know. Crown of the Kobold King ties into the Tar-Baphon meta-narrative.
This made me realize that important things even happen outside of the main AP line. In your opinion, what are the most important meta-narratives of 1E and which APs and adventures tie into them?
(ie. If you want to understand New Thassilon play all of these, if you want to understand the Whispering Tyrant play all of these, etc. etc.)
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Creative Director
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My friends and I are about to finish Age of Ashes, and we are discussing going back and playing some 1E adventures to learn more about the meta-narrative of Golarion. At the top of the list was the Runelords Trilogy, but at the Erik Mona Q&A he mentioned something interesting that I didn't know. Crown of the Kobold King ties into the Tar-Baphon meta-narrative.
This made me realize that important things even happen outside of the main AP line. In your opinion, what are the most important meta-narratives of 1E and which APs and adventures tie into them?
(ie. If you want to understand New Thassilon play all of these, if you want to understand the Whispering Tyrant play all of these, etc. etc.)
Almost all of the adventures we've published, be they standalones or part of Adventure Paths, expand the meta-narrative of Golarion. We experimented with one advenutre early on, "Guardians of Dragonfall", in doing a "generic world" adventure but abandoned that idea pretty much immediately.
So I can't say that there's one that's more important than another, because they're all equally important depending on what area you want to explore. So it's best to narrow things down.
Since you mentioned Runelords, then you can pretty much get that covered with "Rise of the Runelords," "Shattered Star," and "Return of the Runelords," although there's some Krune stuff in a few of the older society adventures and a lot of Zutha stuff in the novel "Lord of Runes."
In Pathfinder First Edition, it was mentioned that we can use dispel magic to counterspell another spell being cast without needing to identify the spell being cast. Is it still true in Second Edition? I cannot find relevant information in the rulebook.
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In Pathfinder First Edition, it was mentioned that we can use dispel magic to counterspell another spell being cast without needing to identify the spell being cast. Is it still true in Second Edition? I cannot find relevant information in the rulebook.
The ability to counterspell in 2nd edition isn't a function of dispel magic. It's a class feat available to some spellcasters. Sorcerers, witches, and wizards, it looks like. Not everyone can automatically do it.
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if Copyright and Trademark law where not a thing what should you add to Golarion?
If those weren't things I probably wouldn't be working in the industry, because without those to protect creative content, the industry couldn't exist in the first place.
Furthermore, even if it didn't I'd want to make sure I had the permission and blessing of the creator to build off of their content before just stealing it for my own personal gain.
That all said, I've long felt like Stephen King's Dark Tower stories would make a great setting for an RPG.
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Hey James,
As a fellow lover of demons, I was hoping you could answer a question I have about the sphere of influence of balors, pit fiends, and monsters in the level 18 to 22 range. Are a balor's schemes a suitable threat for a small kingdom? A big one like cheliax? An entire world?
A balor's schemes are for sure a suitable threat for a kingdom. They could even be enough for an entire world, sure! A world-threatening thing is a great foe for a 20th level party to face, after all, and a balor makes for a great foe at that level... especially if it's the balor at level 20 and some of its minions to back it up.
What are some Paizo adventures where Proteans are major antagonists or possible allies? I'd been thinking recently that I hadn't seen much of them in the adventures I'd played through,
In Pathfinder First Edition, it was mentioned that we can use dispel magic to counterspell another spell being cast without needing to identify the spell being cast. Is it still true in Second Edition? I cannot find relevant information in the rulebook.The ability to counterspell in 2nd edition isn't a function of dispel magic. It's a class feat available to some spellcasters. Sorcerers, witches, and wizards, it looks like. Not everyone can automatically do it.
Then can I assume that, in Second Edition, if I learns the counterspell feat, I certainly can use dispel magic to counterspell? Or should I cast the exact same spell that the foe is casting if I wish to counterspell?
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What are some Paizo adventures where Proteans are major antagonists or possible allies? I'd been thinking recently that I hadn't seen much of them in the adventures I'd played through, ** spoiler omitted ** but I've only played through a fraction of Paizo's total adventure output.
We first introduced proteans to the game in volume 4 of the Legacy of Fire Adventure Path. I believe there's a protean element in Agents of Edgewatch, looking at more recent Adventure Paths. They show up now and then all over the place in smaller roles as well, but in major ones, the two I mention above I think are the main ones.
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Then can I assume that, in Second Edition, if I learns the counterspell feat, I certainly can use dispel magic to counterspell? Or should I cast the exact same spell that the foe is casting if I wish to counterspell?In Pathfinder First Edition, it was mentioned that we can use dispel magic to counterspell another spell being cast without needing to identify the spell being cast. Is it still true in Second Edition? I cannot find relevant information in the rulebook.The ability to counterspell in 2nd edition isn't a function of dispel magic. It's a class feat available to some spellcasters. Sorcerers, witches, and wizards, it looks like. Not everyone can automatically do it.
You can't. Counterspell is its own thing in 2nd edition. For many spells we worked hard to simplify and focus them, and one of the ways we did that was to make dispel magic not serve multiple roles. Feel free to ask around in the rules forums though for advice. I try not to get too deep into rules mechanics here.
Hello, been a while...
Time for a rehash of one of my favored questions:
Best horror movies you've seen recently?
(For the record, if you haven't seen Men yet, I recommend it)
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Hello, been a while...
Time for a rehash of one of my favored questions:
Best horror movies you've seen recently?
(For the record, if you haven't seen Men yet, I recommend it)
"Men" is near the top of the list for best new horror movies I've seen lately. Other recent standouts include "X" and "Hatching" and "Hellbender" and "The Sadness".
ALSO: Started finally watching Joe Bob Briggs on Shudder and I'm loving that show as well.
ALSO ALSO: Stranger Things 4 is great too!
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Regarding your recent talks about Serpentfolk at Paizocon, did a certain scout from a certain manor influence your decision? :3
The idea I came up with for how to integrate serpentfolk PC ancestries while maintaining them as a great monster foe came to me a few years back. Not sure what scout you're talking about, in any event.
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Regarding your recent talks about Serpentfolk at Paizocon, did a certain scout from a certain manor influence your decision? :3The idea I came up with for how to integrate serpentfolk PC ancestries while maintaining them as a great monster foe came to me a few years back. Not sure what scout you're talking about, in any event.
*nods* Volcano manor questline in Elden Ring.
Are you working on the upcoming Gatewatchers AP (beyond being the Creative Directorsaur that is)?
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Creative Director
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Regarding your recent talks about Serpentfolk at Paizocon, did a certain scout from a certain manor influence your decision? :3The idea I came up with for how to integrate serpentfolk PC ancestries while maintaining them as a great monster foe came to me a few years back. Not sure what scout you're talking about, in any event.*nods* Volcano manor questline in Elden Ring.
Are you working on the upcoming Gatewatchers AP (beyond being the Creative Directorsaur that is)?
OH That was a cool NPC for sure, but nope. The serpentfolk ancestry thing I plotted out was a result of me noodling over it after seeing folks ask for it on the boards here.
I'm not involved in that AP at all, beyond being another brain for Patrick to bounce ideas off of a few times and helping to shape the outline a little bit.
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Hi James,
I was wondering if there are beings in the pathfinder cosmology that did not have stats, akin to Rovagug, Gozreh, and the other deities, but also did not grant spells and were not technically gods. To be clear, I'm definitely not asking about things "more powerful than the gods", just wondering if there were things that were as powerful as a deity but not the subject of mortal worship.
Does something like that exist?
Yup; they for sure exist.
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In the Book of the Dammed collected edition it’s mentioned Socothbenoth attacked Nocticula his sister/lover for whatever ever reason and she trounced him. knowing that Nocticula latter becomes a CN goddess. It seems to me that the reason for Socothbenoth attacked Nocticula was because he sensed that she was plotting to become a Goddess and did a preemptive Pazuzu on her. is that true?
also Noc and Socothbenoth are said to be siblings but what does that mean? where they “pure” demons born in Hell to demon parents instead of made from human souls. or something else?
That's the general idea—he figured something was up and tried to take advantage and seize whatever power she was building for himself and got his hat handed to him.
By "siblings" that means they identify as brother and sister. Whether that means they were both "born" from the same creature or location or created side by side or were both once mortal siblings before they came to the Abyss is not something we've explored much yet.