Creative Director
|
From what I understand, a lot of Golarion was taken from your homebrew campaign setting. Any chance of hearing how things were changed in the transition?
That's far too expansive a subject to cover in a single post. I've sprinkled bits and pieces across the boards and in Pathfinder forewords, though, and will continue to do so.
Some of the things taken from my homebrew were not changed at all (Sarenrae, the Sczarni, Ydersius), some things changed only their names (Turthonir became Pharasma, Qel-Vassa became Korvosa), and some things kept ONLY their names (Sekamina and Orv, which were abvoveground mountain regions, not parts of the Darklands... although a lot of what was in those mountains, like urdefhans and other crazy monsters, made the transition fine).
And frankly... the process of building a homebrew world is incredibly fun and rewarding. Even if I were just starting to game today, I'd probably do the same thing and build my own world to game in.
This is probably the one reason why I love running PF, Champions, and GURPS more than any other system. Any other system, I'm playing in someone else's sandbox, and I have to deal with people's preconceptions.
I love the look on a players face when they ask some about something that occurred in game, and they suddenly raise both eyebrows, and make this little 'Oooohhhhh' sound, usually followed by 'That's neat' or 'Woah' or something like that. I live for those moments. I don't think I'd enjoy GMing half so much as I do if it weren't for them.
Since I can't ever get that with someone else's world, it's one reason why I'm so down on adventure paths and preset game settings.
|
Creative Director
|
For those interested in a look at James' homebrew world, you might want to take a look at Bastion Press's Villains 3.5 or Villains: Rebirth. Several of the NPCs in the book mention familiar locations:
Magnamoor (Bryn Amanthys Weslock)
Sandpoint (Tsystalor Krune)
There's actually a LOT of my homebrew world (it's called Baria) in that product, in fact. The goal of Villains was to present villians in a "world neutral" setting (since we couldn't use Greyhawk, obviously, and since Oathbound wasn't yet out), but as it turns out, it's hard to not mention proper nouns when detailing a character's history. So yeah... a LOT of the flavor in Villains is from my homebrew, but changed slightly here and there. In fact, the very first villain in that book, Queen Alystin Azmyrial, is the same character, more or less, as Queen Illeosa Arabasti. Both of those NPCs were based on the same character in my homebrew world. And the Skinrazer is very close to a lot of stuff I built up for Norgorber and a god of murder in my homebrew named Abhack, whose cult was the Skinsaw Cult.
I keep forgetting to do anything with those villians in Golarion. The entire book is open content, save for the artwork, after all...
Actually adamant enterainment made it into a pathfinder class.what do you think of the warlord class?Aside from knowing (barely) that it's a class from 4th edition D&D (correct?)...
...I don't think of it at all. I've never even looked at it. Don't really feel much of a need to.
First I've heard of this, actually.
It's kind of a cool thing, as far as I'm concerned, that there are more Pathfinder compatible products out there than I can ever hope to keep track of.
A player in my villains game just started running an umbral dragon with class levels in warlord. It is one of the better open content base classes out there, and a good bard substitute for players who prefer more combat-oriented PCs.
How do you enchant Horseshoes? As a Weapon or as a Wondrous Item?
Sigh, i have a question that sort of requires me to link another post, but i am brain-dead with computer stuff ... can someone tell me how to link posts on here? Probably a pretty basic computer thing, but i cant figure it out. Every time i try it just puts up ...
http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/paizoPublishing/pathfinder/pathfinderR PG/general/compiledListsStartingWithPrestigeClasses&page=1#5
instead of an actual link that someone can click on, it does this. On a side note i also dont understand how to put up the spoiler thing that hides what you say so others can choose to open and read it.
If my wife or kids were here at the moment i am sure they could show me how to do both of them, but currently they are not ... so any help would be appreciated.
|
Creative Director
|
That's cool to know. I'd spotted the two I posted earlier due to the similarities in names, and there were a few others that seemed familiar, but with a fair bit of the background details stripped out to make them more generic.
Since demon lords seem to be of interest to several posters in this thread, I recommend checking out Zuratorkul from the aforementioned book for another very interesting demon lord. I particularly like his origin story, which feels fairly unique and innovative.
Btw, regarding Tsystalor Krune: Sandpoint really hasn't had it easy at all, has it?
Also, re: Khorgus Gruebeard, check this guy out for how Dr. Jacobs likes his dwarves portrayed.
Of course, the Sandpoint in Tsystalor's backstory is not the same incarnation of Sandpoint that exists in Golarion; you can certainly use him there, but I'd suggest you don't since he's a pretty overwhelming bad guy to throw into ANY world where he's not the main bad guy of the campaign...
And there's actually 2 dwarves in the book—Gruebeard and Nelilah Kearian.
|
Creative Director
|
James, I'm working my way through the Dark Tower novels, and noticed a similarity in the opening scene of Drawing of the Three and the start of Souls for Smuggler's Shiv (which our group is really digging so far, btw). Just a happy coincidence, or a little homage to Stephen King?
A little bit of both. I am indeed a fan of lobstrosities. But the opening of Smuggler's Shiv is more inspired by my own growing up on the coast and my fascination with things with pincers.
I'm considering a move, to reset, Seattle is one of the options I'm looking at. Do you like it? Recommend it? I've been there once before while looking at law schools, and it seemed pretty awesome, but that was 14 years ago, and I was only there a few days.
|
Creative Director
|
I'm considering a move, to reset, Seattle is one of the options I'm looking at. Do you like it? Recommend it? I've been there once before while looking at law schools, and it seemed pretty awesome, but that was 14 years ago, and I was only there a few days.
I absolutely love living in Seattle, and very highly recommend it as a place to live.
I have also considered moving to Seattle. As a Vegas resident, I'm used to the world around me being devoid of life for the most part, as we're smack dab in the middle of a blazing desert.
So, I guess what I'm asking is: what's the bug factor in Seattle?
|
Creative Director
|
I have also considered moving to Seattle. As a Vegas resident, I'm used to the world around me being devoid of life for the most part, as we're smack dab in the middle of a blazing desert.
So, I guess what I'm asking is: what's the bug factor in Seattle?
Not that bad at all. The biggest issue that comes to mind are the big spiders—we've got some doozies up here, including the horrifying hobo spider, whose bite can put a grown man in the hospital.
Not a lot of things like mosquitos or ants or other pesty bugs in my experience though. The bug factor is quite bearable, but I have a high tolerance for bugs. In that I'm a big fan of big spiders...
|
Creative Director
|
Would you like to share any information on demons and demon lords that you've created but haven't gotten a chance to include in any books or magazines and things like that? I read on a message board that a lot of the loumara and obyrith demons and other things you created got cut from FC1, like the grimorak and omothobokola demons. Could you describe your ideas for these and others and demon lords too if you can?
While I'm certainly still interested in the official D&D demons, I don't really want to talk in public about them, unfortunately.
I can say that those demons that were cut from FC1 did end up in an online web supplement though; but I'm not really sure these days where that supplement might be, or even if WotC still has it available online.
Ok, trying this again, see if i can do this link thing ...
Here is the link http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/paizoPublishing/pathfinder/pathfinderR PG/general/compiledListsStartingWithPrestigeClasses
Awesome, thanks Gran Rey.
So my question is this ... Is there anywhere on these messageboards where there are lists such as these that i linked? I really like to have lists like these and i think they would be useful to Paizo as well, to let customers know where to find certain prestige classes or articles that they could then purchase.
Would really like a list of stat blocks but that would take a lot of time and research i think.
Grr, i evidently still did something wrong, cause that link does not seem to take you where i wanted. Nevermind, will try this again after i get off work.
Here you go Alephtau..
To make a link, you do the following (just replace < and > with brackets instead).
<url=http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/paizoPublishing/pathfinder/pat hfinderRPG/general/compiledListsStartingWithPrestigeClasses>Alephtau's Link</url>
Dear Mr. Jacobs,
If someone were to look into starting writing their own adventures to eventually be published which APs or modules would you suggest to give to someone as an example of what the fine folks at Paizo might be looking for as far as a freelance writer? I realize you might consider the answer to be all of them, but I'm trying to be moderately reasonable and just looking for a few really good examples. Thanks in advance.
More to my point: why did you begin a homebrew campaign in the first place? AD&D had a surfeit of boxed adventure settings; what lit a fire under you to design your own campaign world?...
And frankly... the process of building a homebrew world is incredibly fun and rewarding. Even if I were just starting to game today, I'd probably do the same thing and build my own world to game in.
+1
It's infinitely more work, but very rewarding.
A follow-up: is it your feeling that most Pathfinder GMs are using Golarion, or are they mostly adapting the game-rules and adventures to decidedly different campaign worlds?My gut feeling is that a large number of GMs are indeed using Golarion, if only due to the amount of sales we've had for the Inner Sea World Guide. As for what exact percentage of all worlds it is... I can't say for sure, but I'm pretty sure it's a significant percentage.
However, I'm sure there's a lot of folks like me who got it even though we don't run anything in Golarion. Which is a good thing (that others are getting the book, not that others aren't running in Golarion :)
And frankly... the process of building a homebrew world is incredibly fun and rewarding. Even if I were just starting to game today, I'd probably do the same thing and build my own world to game in.
This is probably the one reason why I love running PF, Champions, and GURPS more than any other system. Any other system, I'm playing in someone else's sandbox, and I have to deal with people's preconceptions.
I love the look on a players face when they ask some about something that occurred in game, and they suddenly raise both eyebrows, and make this little 'Oooohhhhh' sound, usually followed by 'That's neat' or 'Woah' or something like that. I live for those moments. I don't think I'd enjoy GMing half so much as I do if it weren't for them.
Since I can't ever get that with someone else's world, it's one reason why I'm so down on adventure paths and preset game settings.
There's two big things that cause me trouble with published settings.
1. There's no way I can memorize all that material, which means that when questions come up I have to (a) make something up, or (b) interrupt the game to lookit up, or (c) punt and say I don't know. None of these is desirable, and it's much less of an issue with a homebrew, as odds are good I can remember something (or make it up) and it won't conflict with anything.
2. Eventually everything gets defined, so if I want some large plotline, it either doesn't fit well, it ends up in some faraway location, or it just doesn't feel right. In a homebrew world, typically it's all built *around* the plotline so this isn't an issue.
But if you're looking to spend less prep time (which I am for the game I'm running for the teenagers), a pre-built campaign world is the way to go. They're about to finish Crown of the Kobold King, and I will run them through either Kingmaker or Carrion Crown next; not sure which.
They're uber-new players, so being 2-3 level going in will work to their benefit; Crown of the Kobold King has been quite a challenge for them.
|
Creative Director
|
The web enchancement for FC1 had an obyrith called a laghathti that was really cool, but that's all. I can understand not wanting to publically discuss them, though. I just hope that all your demonic creations will see the light of day eventually, since they're all so awesome. = ) If there's any web supplement that I don't know about with those demons I'd sure love read it though!
That would be the only one that got cut, then. I had a lot more PLANNED to write up, but I realized I was over word count before I wrote them and they just never got built in the first place, so there's nothing more to show there.
What does the obyrith lord Ubothar look like? I read The Thunder Below and there were many possible descriptions for it. Other than being very big and purple, did you have any ideas on his real appearance? Any other info on him as well you could share?
I actually left that blank intentionally; some things should be left to individual GMs to decide.
Do you ever get tired of me asking you all these dumb questions about The Abyss? = )
Nope... although I much prefer answering questions about Pathfinder's Abyss over D&D's Abyss these days.
|
Creative Director
|
If someone were to look into starting writing their own adventures to eventually be published which APs or modules would you suggest to give to someone as an example of what the fine folks at Paizo might be looking for as far as a freelance writer? I realize you might consider the answer to be all of them, but I'm trying to be moderately reasonable and just looking for a few really good examples. Thanks in advance.
I'm not sure I'm 100% understanding your question exactly. If it's: "Who do I send adventures to at Paizo to get published?" the answer is no one. Unless you're an established adventure writer, we generally don't accept unsolicited submissions for modules, and we never accept unsolicited submissions for Adventure Paths—we create the adventure plots and all that for Adventure Paths 100% in-house and assign them to trusted freelancers we've worked with before.
If you're just looking to break in to the freelancing scene here, the best bets would be to take part in RPG superstar (even those who don't win but place high get our attention), or better yet, start submitting adventure proposals to our Pathfinder Society program.
If your question is, "What adventures that you at Paizo have published do you consider to be the best models to base my own writing and organization of adventures on to most closely mimic the writing and organization of Paizo publications?" then my answer would generally be "the most recent ones."
Here you go Alephtau..
To make a link, you do the following (just replace < and > with brackets instead).
<url=http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/paizoPublishing/pathfinder/pat hfinderRPG/general/compiledListsStartingWithPrestigeClasses>Alephtau's Link</url>
Awesome, thanks mdt, i totally misunderstood what the BBCode thing was saying. As i said i am braindead with computer stuff. So now to my original question, is there anywhere that compiles lists like these? On these messageboards or elsewhere?
If your question is, "What adventures that you at Paizo have published do you consider to be the best models to base my own writing and organization of adventures on to most closely mimic the writing and organization of Paizo publications?" then my answer would generally be "the most recent ones."
This is the answer that most closely resembles what I was asking for but I was more asking what specific items, besides the most recent ones, would be useful to get an idea on the type of quality in writing Paizo may be looking for. The reason I'm asking for specifics is because a friend of mine is looking into getting into freelance writing and I wanted to give him some good examples of some good adventures and I know that Paizo is the place for that. Some I'm trying to help my friend get some inspiration but he doesn't have a lot of income so I'm trying to keep the amount of items he might purchase small. Of course I could just let him borrow mine, but he can buy his own stuff, lol. So if there are any APs, adventures, or Society adventures that really stand out as being "shining examples" of what Paizo can produce I would really like to know so I can send that information his way.
She is not.James,
Do you happen to know if Lisa is going to the 20th anniversary of Vampire the Masquerade Grand Masquerade event this Sept in New Orleans?? I'm sure she's very busy with Paizo stuff, but I was just wondering.
Thanks Vic, kinda figured she wasn't but since I got a ticket to the special dinner with creatory type people, it would have been cool if Lisa was among those there.
|
CEO
|
James,
Do you happen to know if Lisa is going to the 20th anniversary of Vampire the Masquerade Grand Masquerade event this Sept in New Orleans?? I'm sure she's very busy with Paizo stuff, but I was just wondering.If you don't know the answer, can you direct her here so she can answer please?
I have no plans to go to the 20th anniversary bash. Actually didn't even know that it was going on, though I DID buy a copy of the 20th anniversary V:TM book from the White Wolf site.
One cool thing that has been happening is that a bunch of us old time V:TM folks have been congregating on the Facebook page of Travis Williams and reliving the old times. That is when you know that you are officially old. When you think of old times and relive them. :) Tim Bradstreet even showed up!
-Lisa
|
Creative Director
|
Seriously James, three thousand thanks for answering all of my humble questions, putting up with my D&D Abyss fixations (I don't really know any better, plus I just found out Pathfinder existed a couple weeks ago and it's still sinking in), and not even getting tired of doing it. This message board really is a blessing. I can't thank you enough. I really appreciate it.
Thanks!
If Obox-ob, Pale Night, and Juiblex had Demonomicon articles written by you, what would be their new, unique servitor demons, like how Pazuzu got the anzu and Fraz-Urb'luu got the skurchur? Any cool speculations?
No speculations at all. We did create the omox demon for Pathifnder as a specific minion of Jubilex, though (note the slightly different spelling—the OGL version of that demon lord has a built-in typo.)
What exactly is The Malgoth? Besides apparently being one of the greatest demon lords ever known since it is the only one besides Graz'zt to ever control several layers, as far as I know. And so deadly that an alliance of several other lords had to banish it. What does this thing look like? What were its goals? Any cool speculations on this one?
Being able to control multiple layers does not make you automatically more powerful, since not all Abyssal layers are equally sized. Whatever the Malgoth was, though, it was indeed pretty tough. I have no further speculations or information about it beyond what appeared in Dungeon magazine.
How big is the difference between Pathfinder's Lamashtu and Abraxas lords from D&D's versions, besides the obvious differences? Lamashtu lives in Pazuzu's realm of Torremor in the Onstrakker's Nest and gives birth to flying demons and Abraxas the Unfathomable resides on Layer 17, Death's Reward with his mind on magic words, arcane secrets, and talismans. Are their appearances both like their Pathfinder counterparts? Where would you have taken D&D's versions if you had done so? They're probably so different from each other they could be separate demon lords if put together in one universal D&D + Pathfinder Abyss, right?
Sine the D&D version of Lamashtu is a prisoner in Pazuzu's realm and the Pathfinder version of Lamashtu is a full-on deity and the ruler of the uppermost layer of the Abyss and is the most powerful of all the demon lords... the differences are significant.
Since very little was written about Abraxas in D&D, though, the differences there don't really amount to much at all.
|
Hey James.
Recently I hit upon the idea of doing a Crusade Campaign taking the PCs from Lastwall on a pilgrimage up to Mendev, ultimately into the World Wound and the Abyss. I decided I like the idea so much I want to homebrew it myself.
Outlining the first adventure I realized I wanted to have the PCs travel underground, from Castle Everstand clearing an underground path in order to allow the crusaders to break an orc siege. Logically I didn't want orcs to be in these underground caverns so I need something different. Which brings me to my questions (lol)
Is there anything like the Deep Roads (from Dragon Age) beneath Lastwall? As Druegar or Drow would be a nifty subterranean race to inhabit this underground path.
Also an issue for later adventures, would Nurgal be a good choice for a Demon Lord who has descended in power low enough for a party of 17th or 18th level characters to destroy?
As I would like the PCs to travel into the Abyss itself for the final adventure.
|
Creative Director
|
Hey James.
Recently I hit upon the idea of doing a Crusade Campaign taking the PCs from Lastwall on a pilgrimage up to Mendev, ultimately into the World Wound and the Abyss. I decided I like the idea so much I want to homebrew it myself.
Outlining the first adventure I realized I wanted to have the PCs travel underground, from Castle Everstand clearing an underground path in order to allow the crusaders to break an orc siege. Logically I didn't want orcs to be in these underground caverns so I need something different. Which brings me to my questions (lol)
Is there anything like the Deep Roads (from Dragon Age) beneath Lastwall? As Druegar or Drow would be a nifty subterranean race to inhabit this underground path.
Also an issue for later adventures, would Nurgal be a good choice for a Demon Lord who has descended in power low enough for a party of 17th or 18th level characters to destroy?
As I would like the PCs to travel into the Abyss itself for the final adventure.
Looking at Into the Darklands, while there are no major Darklands entrances in between Lastwall and Mendev (there's Urgir in Belkzen to the north and the Well of Sorrows on the Isle of Terror to the east), and while there are no significant or well-known regions under this area in Nar-Voth... once you get to the middle and lower realms there's a fair amount going on.
Sekamina has some SIGNIFICANT drow stuff going on below this region, particularly the capital city of Zirnakaynin (something to the south), while the decadant drow city of Far Parathra is under Mendev.
Further down, in Orv, you've got part of the Crystal Womb under Lastwall, while under some of Mendev is the lost world of Deep Tolguth.
Now all that said, it sounds like the best bet would be for you to place your underground secret highway in Nar-Voth. There's nothing cited there, so that means the PCs could discover an obscure and relatively unknown route from under Lastwall to Mendev. If this tunnel is physically unconnected to the rest of Nar-Voth under Belkzen (as it probably should be, according to the maps and info in "Into the Darklands") you can basically have this whole route be totally orc free. The primary denizens of Nar-Voth are derro, duergar, troglodytes, vegepygmies, dark folk, morlocks, gremlins, and mongrelmen... but in this part of the world, the logical choices would be either a tribe of duergar who are cut off from the main duergar tribes, or tribes of dark folk or troglodytes.
As for killing a demon lord type thing near the end, your best bet actually isn't Nurgal, but a Nascent Demon Lord. That's the main reason I invented these guys; they're CR 21 to CR 25, and are specifically intended to be end bosses for high level campaigns. "Lords of Chaos" details ten of these nascent demon lords—it gives advice on how to stat them up, but no actual stats for them. Treerazer is, to date, the only nascent demon lord we've actually statted up. Anyway, going wiht a nascent demon lord lets you completely make up the bad guy how you want, and since many of these guys are direct underlings of actual demon lords, you can have your new nascent lord be a minion of Nurgal.
(Please ignore this if you have already answered this recently.)
Mr. Jacobs,
Since it often comes up in the RPG Superstar: From an RPG standpoint What elements make for a "successful" villain NPC?
So if Oni are evil, Kami are good, then what about creatures that represent law and chaos in Tian Xia?
What alignment(s) will the dragons of Tian Xia have?
What about rules for herbisides, insectisides, "poisons" that only work on undead, etc. so we can use poisons and not be evil?
Since we have Kitsune then what about the Tanuki?
Will there be any Oni that are smaller than medium size or Huge size or larger in the jade empire AP and or Beastairy III?
Are there any template(s) for the Fey that serve the winter witch daughters of Baba yaga? also templates for fey and/or animals from the First World?
Will we see products in the future that will have stuff like crystal weapons/armor, living weapons/armor, symbiotic artificial limbs, non metal "special materials", magic items created by "natural" accurances(like the death of powerful magical creatures/entities) rules for mystical places like a fountain of youth,etc,?
|
Hey James.
Recently I hit upon the idea of doing a Crusade Campaign taking the PCs from Lastwall on a pilgrimage up to Mendev, ultimately into the World Wound and the Abyss. I decided I like the idea so much I want to homebrew it myself.
Outlining the first adventure I realized I wanted to have the PCs travel underground, from Castle Everstand clearing an underground path in order to allow the crusaders to break an orc siege. Logically I didn't want orcs to be in these underground caverns so I need something different. Which brings me to my questions (lol)
Is there anything like the Deep Roads (from Dragon Age) beneath Lastwall? As Druegar or Drow would be a nifty subterranean race to inhabit this underground path.
Also an issue for later adventures, would Nurgal be a good choice for a Demon Lord who has descended in power low enough for a party of 17th or 18th level characters to destroy?
As I would like the PCs to travel into the Abyss itself for the final adventure.Looking at Into the Darklands, while there are no major Darklands entrances in between Lastwall and Mendev (there's Urgir in Belkzen to the north and the Well of Sorrows on the Isle of Terror to the east), and while there are no significant or well-known regions under this area in Nar-Voth... once you get to the middle and lower realms there's a fair amount going on.
Sekamina has some SIGNIFICANT drow stuff going on below this region, particularly the capital city of Zirnakaynin (something to the south), while the decadant drow city of Far Parathra is under Mendev.
Further down, in Orv, you've got part of the Crystal Womb under Lastwall, while under some of Mendev is the lost world of Deep Tolguth.
Now all that said, it sounds like the best bet would be for you to place your underground secret highway in Nar-Voth. There's nothing cited there, so that means...
I actually was in the midst of statting out a CR23 nascent demon lord myself if you need the stats (this will give me the boost I need to actually finish the job). It's name was Vemirax lord of poisonous vermin, nascent demonlord follower of Deskari. It's holy symbol is a scythelimb dripping venom, and I actually took a warhammer mini and painted it to look like it. picture here . Feel free to use him if you wish.
While digging through some old stuff I found my copies of FFIV and FF Chrono Trigger. Which should I play first?
|
Creative Director
|
(Please ignore this if you have already answered this recently.)
Mr. Jacobs,
Since it often comes up in the RPG Superstar: From an RPG standpoint What elements make for a "successful" villain NPC?
Good writing first and foremost.
Relatively error free stats are important, as is creative use of the rules... but the villain's story, personality, history, and appearance are much more important.
|
Creative Director
|
In a lawful evil party would a good lich Phylactery be the GraveKnight's armor, also the best player?
Generally, a lich's phylactery is some sort of small container, not a suit of armor... so no, graveknight armor's not a good choice. Furthermore... it's not a good choice because it's the graveknight's armor, and I can't imagine either a lich or a graveknight would want to share something like that.
|
Creative Director
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
So if Oni are evil, Kami are good, then what about creatures that represent law and chaos in Tian Xia?
What alignment(s) will the dragons of Tian Xia have?
What about rules for herbisides, insectisides, "poisons" that only work on undead, etc. so we can use poisons and not be evil?
Since we have Kitsune then what about the Tanuki?
Will there be any Oni that are smaller than medium size or Huge size or larger in the jade empire AP and or Beastairy III?
Are there any template(s) for the Fey that serve the winter witch daughters of Baba yaga? also templates for fey and/or animals from the First World?
Will we see products in the future that will have stuff like crystal weapons/armor, living weapons/armor, symbiotic artificial limbs, non metal "special materials", magic items created by "natural" accurances(like the death of powerful magical creatures/entities) rules for mystical places like a fountain of youth,etc,?
Oni are evil. Kami are mostly neutral. There are some good ones, and there might even be some evil ones; Kami aren't really bound as much by alignment as other outsiders.
The Tian Xia dragon alignments will range from good to evil to lawful to neutral to chaotic.
You can already use poison and not be evil. Guardian nagas and couatls are both lawful good and use poison all the time.
Ask me again about tanuki in a few months.
Oni are generally the same size as the humanoids they relate to... so generally, their sizes range from Small to Gargantuan.
There'll be a fey animal template in the upcoming "Lands of the Linnorm Kings" book.
Yes; we've actually done some of those things already, in fact.