| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
While trying to find a name for my Vigilante devoted to The Last Prince of the Eldest (a Vilderavn that got "demoted" to a mortal) a friend brought up the Rook.
Which got me looking over the Lost Prince's stuff. Was the connection between his symbol, a crumbling black tower (in chess, a Rook) and his sacred animal the Raven (a Corvus, of which a Rook is as well) intentional?
:-O
I mean... yeah, totally intentional, I'm the king of symbolism.
<_<
>_ >
Hey James,
If you'd had the radiation rules set (from the Technology Guide) when you wrote Distant Worlds, would you have given the sun a similar effect?
Probably? The sun's a rough place to be.
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
While trying to find a name for my Vigilante devoted to The Last Prince of the Eldest (a Vilderavn that got "demoted" to a mortal) a friend brought up the Rook.
Which got me looking over the Lost Prince's stuff. Was the connection between his symbol, a crumbling black tower (in chess, a Rook) and his sacred animal the Raven (a Corvus, of which a Rook is as well) intentional?
:-O
I mean... yeah, totally intentional, I'm the king of symbolism.
<_<
>_ >
Well obviously since it keeps happening :3
|
In City of Strangers you mention that Elias Sayer of The Strapping Lad (and the Tallow Boys) holds egalitarian views on the profession of sex work, that Rosaline "Madame Rose" Merithane does not share.
What, exactly, ARE those views? What are they arguing over?
I'm sure I knew at the time, but I actually don't remember! Perhaps he's more into having his staff be happy and empowered and calling the shots—it would certainly make sense, since his workers are also espionage experts.
Sorry I can't be of more use. :)
I guess I'll just have to improvise, then. It makes sense given you also stated that what may cause the problem to boil over is that Madame Rose is sending people to bully streetwalkers for protection money...
Thank you, for the wild and crazyness of Kaer Maga, by the way. I'm getting a few friends geared up to do a more laid-back slice-of-life kinda roleplay set there, and they're really excited!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Crossposted in AMA threads: it's a Paizopaloozaganza!
James.
Jaaaaaaaammmeeeesssss.
Super-serious series of questions*:
*
If you could have different super-powers, what would they be and why?
(Assume corollary powers required to make a given power work are part of it; i.e. Since you'd need super tensile strength/durability to, you know, not-die when you made use of your super-strength power, you get them both when you say "super strength" as a singular option.)
Why?
If, instead, you could be a gestalt of super heroes, who would you gestalt to be yourself? Why? Which comic universe would you run around in? Would you prefer to be in that one, or this one?
On the other hand: BAM! You just gained levels in a Pathfinder class (or classes)! Which class(es) do you pick, and why? Incidentally, if you could spontaneously switch races, would you? And if so, to which?
Similarly, you won the super-lottery, and gained mythic tiers! of 'em! (And you gain class levels to match; please feel free to change your previous answer if this does so for some reason.) What path do you take? (Alternate option: substitute a single tier for a simple mythic template.)
Yet another query: you monster. Specifically, you (or less) monster! Which are you?! ... and would this have been your first choice? If not, which would be?
But the wheels of fate-time have spun again, and your everything has been transposed into that of someone else! You've just become a prepublished NPC from an official source! Which prepublished NPC is it?
What campaign setting do you run around in? Why?
As a final thing: blend any and/or all of the above questions into a single ginormous question: an optional blend of a prepublished NPC, monster, and some superheroes all walk into a bar... and out comes you, as a gestalt of those guys, the race you choose, some extra superpowers, and have extra class levels and mythic tiers on top! What are you?! (Other than "awesome" - naturally.)
Equipment is a non-issue (like adjunct super-powers; what you need to do <X> is assumed). Also note that any significant others can be brought with you.
"Official" and "Pre-published" are loose terms, but general expect something that has a solid publishing company and identifiable map/world/conceits behind it (like WotC for Forgotten Realms, Eberron, Dark Sun, Greyhawk, etc; or Green Ronin for Blue Rose, but not "True20"; or Paizo for Golarion, or the Maelstrom, or the upcoming Starfinder; but not "the Bestiaries" or "the Planes" or things like that - basically things that people can find and nerd out about with you). Similarly, if it has a solid AP out for it, that, too, is acceptable (like Legendary Planet; or any of Paizo's APs). It should probably be a d20 variant, but it can be whatever you like of those many variants (True20, Blue Rose, Paizo, 3.5, 3rd; etc.). That said, if a Homebrew or otherwise "weak" entry just needs to be there due to compelling reasons... okay. Similarly other systems. Let us know why! Computer and video game translations of such (Neverwinter Nights and/or expansions/sequels; PFO; etc) are acceptable as interpretations as well.
Similarly, for comics, it needs to be superheroes that people can reasonsonably be expected to come across - "that one I made up with my cousin as a kid" is an awesome answer, and worth noting and why, but prrrrooooobabaly isn't the best choice, unless it's just so powerful that you've GOT to. In which case: sure, but bring us along for the ride! Related, the super need not come from one of the "big two" in comics, so long as the people and world is both recognizes me and accessible - choosing The Incredibles world is valid (and awesome), as is Spawn (blech); you're not just limited to Marvel or DC. Similarly "standard" powers need not apply - so long as it is clearly communicable, it's fine (even if all the field specifics aren't clear, that's okay - knowing you're powered by our yellow star is fine; you don't need to know this, but it's acceptable if you do).
Finally, presume you have the basics necessary for a happy life. Your spouse, best friend, and so on, can all be considered to "come with you" (should they choose to do so) wherever it is that you go.
Oh, and one more thing: if you lived through a Legend of Zelda (as one of the Links); which would it be, and why?
Thanks! Enjoy!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Thank you, for the wild and crazyness of Kaer Maga, by the way. I'm getting a few friends geared up to do a more laid-back slice-of-life kinda roleplay set there, and they're really excited!
Hey, thank *you*! I still love the City of Strangers, and I'm so glad people keep adventuring there. :D
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Hey James, we spoke briefly at gen con, and I shook your hand outside the panel room, and then like, three minutes later as we entered the room, you announced you felt like you were dying of con-crud. Which was great.
Just want to know if you were feeling better
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Hey James, we spoke briefly at gen con, and I shook your hand outside the panel room, and then like, three minutes later as we entered the room, you announced you felt like you were dying of con-crud. Which was great.
Just want to know if you were feeling better
I apologize for spreading the crud. Shaking hands is a hard reflex to break!
But yeah, I recovered in fairly short order. Hope you did as well. :)
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I initially asked James Jacobs this, and he stated you were the best person to ask questions related to the Pathfinder novels.
I initially asked James Jacobs this, and he stated you were the best person to ask questions related to the Pathfinder novels.
** spoiler omitted **
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
This is my first time popping into this thread, so apologies if this has been asked.
What is the hardest part of writing to you? Coming up with the ideas or putting the ideas to the page?
And do you ever question the ideas you come up with?
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
This is my first time popping into this thread, so apologies if this has been asked.
What is the hardest part of writing to you? Coming up with the ideas or putting the ideas to the page?
And do you ever question the ideas you come up with?
The hardest part of writing for me is always coming up with the ideas. Outlines are like pulling teeth, but once I know what needs to happen, it's much easier to get in the zone and just let the words flow.
Although really, that's only partially true—the hardest part of writing is actually making myself stop procrastinating and start working. The first 100 words can take as long as the thousand that follow. You just have to turn off the internet and push through that inertia. :)
And yeah, I question my ideas (and my work as a whole) all the time. But the thing is, you can't spend your time worrying if an idea is perfect—far better to just write it and see what happens. Sometimes the result will surprise you. And even if it isn't perfect—you're more likely to hit on something people love if you write a dozen stories than if you just write one. As I believe Bradbury (or Clarke?) once said: quantity begets quality.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Are you having fun with the Spellcasting, Technology, and Services section for Starfinder? I'm hoping to see things ranging from cosmetic surgery and body modification, sex reassignment/gender confirmation surgery, paying an appropriate doctor/technician to install various cybernetics, costs to travel to another planet in the same system if you don't have your own spaceship yet, as well as to other systems, hiring a robot housekeeper, bodyguard, or valet, and much much more...! ...as Paizo often seems to say.
Also, once the art starts coming in for Starfinder, are you thinking about getting a more Starfinder-related avatar, or do you plan to stick with the grippli? (Not that there's anything wrong with grippli!)
Oh man... do I dare give up the grippli? It's hard to imagine, but you're right that there's probably a ratfolk avatar in my future somewhere. :)
Thinking about the economy and futuristic services is indeed super fun! But it's also a bit of a challenge, because we've got a *lot* of information to fit in this book, so I'm constantly having to figure out where we can cut and squeeze to get all the necessary rules in. Rest assured, though, that if something like that doesn't make it into the core, there's always the possibility of doing a Starfinder Adventure Path article on it at some point!
If you had a non-limited page count (that is, you didn't have to worry about space constraints for any reasons at all); how big would you like to make the Starfinder book?
(This is not necessarily answerable - I was just curious what your feeling is on the size of book you'd LIKE to make presuming size/sales/cost/whatever wasn't a limiting factor).
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
If you had a non-limited page count (that is, you didn't have to worry about space constraints for any reasons at all); how big would you like to make the Starfinder book?
(This is not necessarily answerable - I was just curious what your feeling is on the size of book you'd LIKE to make presuming size/sales/cost/whatever wasn't a limiting factor).
Oh dear, what a question! I think my answer is twofold: If it were just a question of including all the content I'd love for people to have, I think the book would be about 700 pages. :P But the more reasonable part of me actually wishes we could get the whole book down to about 300 pages, both simplifying the game and leaving out a lot of less-used content so as to make it less intimidating to new players.
The actual answer will be somewhere between those two. :)
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Do you have any idea on a timeline for when the details of Starfinder will be nailed down enough to begin trickling out teasers?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Do you have any idea on a timeline for when the details of Starfinder will be nailed down enough to begin trickling out teasers?
There'll be a few here and there in the near future, but the pace of teasers should increase dramatically in the new year.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Awesome. Thanks. :)
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Having just read Death's Heretic and finally "getting" Salim's way of thinking, I'm curious as to his feelings regarding the Ascended, like Iomedae and Irori, since Rahadoumi culture values the achievements of mortal reason and effort. As far as I know he hasn't interacted with anyone from those churches (haven't read The Redemption Engine yet, though).
I, too, would be greatly pleased...
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I'm curious as to any thoughts you might have on how the Caulborn of Kaer Maga reacted when prophecy on Golarion broke.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I've heard that you might be having a nonhumanoid race as one of the Core Races for Starfinder...would you be willing to say if there's any chance of flumphs being a core race?
Additionally, if they won't be, would you be willing to say what the odds are that flumphs will appear as an alien but playable race in Starfinder's first Bestiary? Good, bad, up in the air, dismal, not going to happen...?
If you can't answer, that's okay, just thought it might be worth a shot to see if one of my favorite ever-so-humble interstellar workers of goodness might be available to play as...
They're definitely not a core race, but as for whether they make it into the Alien Archive... that's still up in the air. My inclination is always to introduce *new* stuff, since folks already have flumphs they can convert pretty easily, but we'll see!
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Having just read Death's Heretic and finally "getting" Salim's way of thinking, I'm curious as to his feelings regarding the Ascended, like Iomedae and Irori, since Rahadoumi culture values the achievements of mortal reason and effort. As far as I know he hasn't interacted with anyone from those churches (haven't read The Redemption Engine yet, though).
Hmm, that's something I haven't really thought about before! I imagine his attitude would be pretty much "Good for you... now stop trying to tell mortals how to live and go use your immense powers elsewhere." But he's not a complete zealot, and I imagine that he's probably pretty sympathetic to Cayden Cailean's clergy, as their focus on freedom is pretty similar to Salim's own.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I'm curious as to any thoughts you might have on how the Caulborn of Kaer Maga reacted when prophecy on Golarion broke.
Hard to say! Though I'm pretty sure they saw it coming, which is one of the reasons they live down in the safety of Xavorax. (Or at least, that particular group does—there are more caulborn out there walking the planes!)
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Having just read Death's Heretic and finally "getting" Salim's way of thinking, I'm curious as to his feelings regarding the Ascended, like Iomedae and Irori, since Rahadoumi culture values the achievements of mortal reason and effort. As far as I know he hasn't interacted with anyone from those churches (haven't read The Redemption Engine yet, though).Hmm, that's something I haven't really thought about before! I imagine his attitude would be pretty much "Good for you... now stop trying to tell mortals how to live and go use your immense powers elsewhere." But he's not a complete zealot, and I imagine that he's probably pretty sympathetic to Cayden Cailean's clergy, as their focus on freedom is pretty similar to Salim's own.
If you convert Salim to Cayden Cailean, the visitations from envoys of Pharasma will probably stop (he's under Cayden's protection now) and also, you can count me in for a pre-order on that novel! :)
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
James,
I fell in love with the weirdness that is Kaer Maga after playing in the PFS mods City of Strangers 1 & 2, so I knew I had to include an excursion there for my players in my Runelords game. It ended up causing a return later on due to player actions and reactions, and one thing led to another, so I have a question for you:
Would a cult of Hastur even register to Kaer Magans as something unusual?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
... the Alien Archive...
Is that what Starfinder Bestiaries are going to be called officially?
| 10 people marked this as a favorite. |
... the Alien Archive...Is that what Starfinder Bestiaries are going to be called officially?
Aw geez! Ahem:
"I HAVE NO RECOLLECTION OF THE COMMENTS IN QUESTION AND IN FACT BELIEVE THAT THEY WERE CREATED BY MY OPPONENT AS PART OF A SYSTEMATIC CAMPAIGN TO DISCREDIT ME, AND FURTHERMORE—LOOK OVER THERE!"
*runs*
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
James,
I fell in love with the weirdness that is Kaer Maga after playing in the PFS mods City of Strangers 1 & 2, so I knew I had to include an excursion there for my players in my Runelords game. It ended up causing a return later on due to player actions and reactions, and one thing led to another, so I have a question for you:
Would a cult of Hastur even register to Kaer Magans as something unusual?
Thank you! :D And I think a cult of Hastur is definitely something most folks would *avoid*, but it's hard to say anything is really *unusual* in Kaer Maga... If you did it in some place like Ankar-Te, I think you'd be fine, as long as you didn't sacrifice anyone with connections. (And most people have SOME sort of connection... it's how you survive in a place ruled by gangs.) But if you tried it in someplace like the Bottoms or Bis, I imagine you'd get ousted pretty quickly.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
That's kinda what I figured. As it happens, my fledgling cultists didn't try to go after the populace, but instead went underground - they were trying to infect the caulborn. Heading below ground and letting these guys consume your consciousness while thinking really hard about the Yellow Sign can't be healthy for their collective consciousness. I figured that's how they would jumpstart a proper Hastur cult within Kaer Maga.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
... the Alien Archive...Is that what Starfinder Bestiaries are going to be called officially?Aw geez! Ahem:
"I HAVE NO RECOLLECTION OF THE COMMENTS IN QUESTION AND IN FACT BELIEVE THAT THEY WERE CREATED BY MY OPPONENT AS PART OF A SYSTEMATIC CAMPAIGN TO DISCREDIT ME, AND FURTHERMORE—LOOK OVER THERE!"
*runs*
Over there? I don't see anything...
Where'd he go?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
By the way, clearly the best response to being smeared in that way is to counter-drop another Starfinder teaser as a retaliatory measure. You need to show them you mean business.
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Hey James,
I've been rereading Distant Worlds for a while now and marveling at all the nice little notes you put in like "this is not scientifically accurate, which means there's some sort of magic afoot!" Do you have a scientist friend who answers your weird worldbuilding questions (and says yea or nay to a year 317x longer than Earth's), or do you just do all the research yourself?
| 6 people marked this as a favorite. |
Which came first, Mr. Sutter, the chicken or the egg?
Eggs. Lots of prehistoric animals had 'em.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Hey James,
I've been rereading Distant Worlds for a while now and marveling at all the nice little notes you put in like "this is not scientifically accurate, which means there's some sort of magic afoot!" Do you have a scientist friend who answers your weird worldbuilding questions (and says yea or nay to a year 317x longer than Earth's), or do you just do all the research yourself?
Both! I'm blessed with a significant number of scientist friends (I'd say I'm probably in the bottom third of my social group, education-wise), which is always handy—I've certainly tapped them to help me figure out things like orbits and planetary mass, since even after attending the amazing Launchpad Astronomy Workshop I'm still the rankest of amateurs in all hard sciences. That said, there's a lot of great information that's easily googleable, and when in doubt, you can always find the closest analogues in real life and crib information from them. There's a reason the planets of Golarion's solar system are fairly similar to our own in size and positioning. :)
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Mr. Sutter,
#the1st. Who made the Shirren?
#two. Will the Kalo ever come to Starfinder? (P.S I understand if you can't reveal that info at the moment.)
#trois. I... I can't think of any other questions, so I guess I will just say thank you for expanding the Path/Starfinder universe so much and making it better by the sweat off your brow.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I'm blessed with a significant number of scientist friends (I'd say I'm probably in the bottom third of my social group, education-wise), which is always handy—I've certainly tapped them to help me figure out things like orbits and planetary mass, since even after attending the amazing Launchpad Astronomy Workshop I'm still the rankest of amateurs in all hard sciences.
Hi, James. :)
I'm curious: when you attended Launchpad, I know Distant Worlds was already out... but did you already know Starfinder was going to be a thing? Or did Launchpad help inspire it, or a little bit of both?
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Mr. Sutter,
#the1st. Who made the Shirren?
#two. Will the Kalo ever come to Starfinder? (P.S I understand if you can't reveal that info at the moment.)
#trois. I... I can't think of any other questions, so I guess I will just say thank you for expanding the Path/Starfinder universe so much and making it better by the sweat off your brow.
1) We all decided that a bug race would be good, and talked about what they should look like, but I was the first to write them up.
2) Definitely!
3) Thank YOU! We always really appreciate hearing stuff like that. :D
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
I'm blessed with a significant number of scientist friends (I'd say I'm probably in the bottom third of my social group, education-wise), which is always handy—I've certainly tapped them to help me figure out things like orbits and planetary mass, since even after attending the amazing Launchpad Astronomy Workshop I'm still the rankest of amateurs in all hard sciences.Hi, James. :)
I'm curious: when you attended Launchpad, I know Distant Worlds was already out... but did you already know Starfinder was going to be a thing? Or did Launchpad help inspire it, or a little bit of both?
My experience at Launchpad actually came after Distant Worlds and before Starfinder was a project, so I weirdly went at the only time in the last few years when SF *wasn't* foremost in my mind! :) But it definitely helped influence Starfinder once we got going, by giving me a better sense of how a lot of space-related physics actually works. (For instance, I'm very proud that in Starfinder, we didn't fall into the old trap of making space always cold!)
In fantasy, as in grammar, it's good to know the rules before you break them.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Would you say Ragadahn's preferred pastime is Wikipedia and chill?
This wins today's messageboard cookie.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
What provided the inspiration of The First World - Realm of the Fey? What was your involvement in Legacy of the First World?
P.S. I really like The First World - Realm of the Fey.
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Were you as upset as I was when you learned that there was no possibility of playable Grippli in Pathfinder: Kingmaker due to licensing and intellectual Property restrictions?
Because I was super bummed out.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
What was your single best moment in South Africa?