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Clockworks and the End of the Emerald Spire, with Rich Baker and James Jacobs

All good things must come to an end, and this week we look at the end (or at least, the lowest level) of the Emerald Spire. Of course, the end of a superdungeon is something a lot of players never get to see (as Erik Mona discussed a bit in his teaser last week), so we also thought we might expand this sneak peek to include two maps from the adventure.

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Tags: Emerald Spire Interviews Jorge Fares Pathfinder Modules Rob Lazzaretti

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Secrets of the Azlanti, With Erik Mona

Wrangling 16 authors to write 16 levels of a massive superdungeon is no small feat, but after getting the physical copy of The Emerald Spire Superdungeon in our hands we can say that it was totally worth it.

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Tags: Abrar Ajmal Emerald Spire Interviews Pathfinder Modules Rob Lazzaretti

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Pathfinder Module: The Emerald Spire Superdungeon (PFRPG)

Chaos and Drowning in the Emerald Spire, with Sean K Reynolds and James L. Sutter

The Emerald Spire Superdungeon is the largest Pathfinder Module ever, which means there's a lot to keep track of for GMs and players braving its perils. Adventurers can end up on a number of different quests, talk to various recurring allies and foes, and acquire a trove of odd relics and treasures. Players without good notes might end up a bit lost somewhere between The Automaton Forge and The Pleasure Garden.

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Tags: Damien Mammoliti Emerald Spire Firat Solhan Interviews Pathfinder Modules

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Pathfinder Module: The Emerald Spire Superdungeon (PFRPG)

Behind the Emerald Spire, with Lisa Stevens and Wolfgang Baur

The Emerald Spire Superdungeon is the largest Pathfinder Modules product ever produced, a record that's unlikely to be taken from it anytime soon. With its release in just a few short weeks, we want to make sure it gets the attention and celebration it deserves. At 160 pages, with 16 levels (by 16 different authors), eight brand-new monsters, enough material to take players from 1st to 13th level and several major mysteries, there's a LOT of Emerald Spire features to highlight!

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Tags: Ben Wooten Ben Wootten Emerald Spire Interviews Pathfinder Modules

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Pathfinder Tales: Stalking the Beast

Author Q&A with Howard Andrew Jones

With our latest Pathfinder Tales novel, Stalking the Beast, about to hit physical and virtual store shelves, we got in touch with author Howard Andrew Jones for a peek inside his technique...

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gobberRoss

Dramatis Personae: Software Developers

... Dramatis Personae: Software Developers Wednesday, January 13, 2010 ... Illustration by Crystal Frasier ... Cave raptors are sated; it's time to blog! ... As we all know, the business environment changed radically when the Internet achieved sentience back in '03. Suddenly, the clean, predictable world of code became a tangled, heaving jungle of logic chains and creeping ads. Companies suddenly found themselves in want of both a competent programmer and an experienced survival expert....
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gobber-cosmoSara

Dramatis Personae: Customer Service

... Dramatis Personae: Customer Service Tuesday, December 8, 2009 ... Illustration by Crystal Frasier ... Cave raptors are sated; it's time to blog! ... In our never-ending quest for complete fan transparency (or fansparency), we here in the Paizo dungeon like to know that our readers understand our diabolical machinations and vile lieutenants so that they may truly tremble in terror before our slavering horde. And while it's easy to quake in terror before those bold names printed on the...
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F_Wesley_Schneider

The Fabled Appendix – F. Wesley Schneider (Part 2)

... The Fabled Appendix – F. Wesley Schneider (Part 2) Thursday, July 23, 2009Presented here is the second part of my interview with Pathfinder Managing Editor F. Wesley Schneider about the sources of inspiration he would include in Paizo's own Appendix N. In this part, he discusses how Golarion was created to accommodate a wide variety of influences and inspirations, and lists his most recent favorite gothic horror authors! ... David: So how did the influences of mythology affect the...
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SutterPossessesSean

The Fabled Appendix – Sean K Reynolds (Part 2)

... The Fabled Appendix – Sean K Reynolds (Part 2) Friday, July 17, 2009Here follows Part 2 of my interview with Developer Sean K Reynolds, game designer extraordinaire and all-around nice guy, in which he discusses how he differentiates Golarion's deities from the gods of Greyhawk and the Forgotten Realms, and gives a list of the works that most influenced his game design. ... David: Is it hard to make Golarion's gods different from those of other campaign settings? ... Sean; My...
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The Fabled Appendix – Sean K Reynolds (Part 1)

... The Fabled Appendix – Sean K Reynolds (Part 1) Friday, July 10, 2009Sean K Reynolds: Developer, diehard miniatures painter, and resident gods guy of the Paizo offices. Recently, I had the opportunity to speak with both Sean and Managing Editor F. Wesley Schneider about the sources of inspiration they would include in Paizo's own Appendix N. Switching things up a bit, this week we've got Part 1 of Sean's interview, with more from Wes next week. As would be expected from a game...
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Classyd20

Ask a Pro: Question Seven

... Ask a Pro: Question Seven Thursday, July 9, 20097. You are running an Adventure Path, and one of your players is ignoring the obvious hook. Do you gently nudge him in the planned direction, or do you go with the flow and see where this digression might take you? ... Lisa Stevens: Basically I try to nudge, or I may come up with a different hook. For example, in Shackled City, there is an adventure where the players need to be convinced to go to an evil plane, and I just knew the hook as...
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WesCoffee

The Fabled Appendix – F. Wesley Schneider (Part 1)

... The Fabled Appendix – F. Wesley Schneider (Part 1) Friday, July 3, 2009The Fabled Appendix continues! Yesterday I had the pleasure of interviewing Pathfinder Managing Editor F. Wesley Schneider and Developer Sean K Reynolds about the sources of inspiration they would include in Paizo's very own Appendix N. Both had very different replies, which was fun to see. I'll begin with Wes, whose early experiences with console RPGs and later introduction to horror literature have coalesced to...
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FireD20

Ask a Pro: Question Six

... Ask a Pro: Question Six Thursday, June 25, 20096. Many GMs feel that deus ex machina is cheap, and simply refuse to ever use it. Others feel it is okay if it is properly set up ahead of time. Do you ever use deus ex machina as a storytelling device? ... Lisa Stevens: Yeah, but hopefully they didn't know it! (laughs) I think that's the trick for something like that though, right? If you're playing the hand of god, you need to make it feel like a natural part of the story. I think probably...
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darkblued20

Ask a Pro: Question Five

... Ask a Pro: Question Five Monday, June 22, 2009 5. You have a scene where a large orc tribe is attacking a village. You have all of the orcs and various NPCs represented on the map. Do you roll for each and every orc and NPC, or do you, in the interest of saving time, just decide how many of each side dies each round? ... Lisa Stevens: Usually the background, especially if it's a bunch of no-named NPCs. But if it's a bunch of NPCs that maybe they know and had invested a little time with,...
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Yellow20

Ask a Pro: Question Four

... Ask a Pro: Question Four Monday, June 8, 20094. You have been playing a campaign for many months, and your group suffers a TPK. Do you fudge the rolls, contrive a reason for them to be brought back, have them create new characters and pick up where the others left off, or just scrap the campaign? ... Lisa Stevens: I've never had a TPK; it's been close! (laughs) I'm a big believer in creating and building a campaign over time. I've had key NPCs die and had to completely reinvent the story,...
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Purple20

Ask a Pro: Question Three

... Ask a Pro: Question Three Friday, June 5, 20093. Do you encourage your players to create well-thought-out backgrounds complete with hooks that you can insert into your campaign? ... Lisa Stevens: I do, but don't reward. I basically tell my players that if they come up with interesting backgrounds, then they'll get more out of my campaign; it will be more personal for them, as I'll take their hooks and use them in the plot. If you don't create a background, then you'll still have fun, but...
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Blued20

Ask a Pro: Question Two

... Ask a Pro: Question Two Tuesday, June 2, 2009We continue our Ask a Pro series with what is either the most important part of NPC interaction or the silliest part of a roleplaying game, depending with whom you speak. ... 2. When delivering the lines of NPCs, do you prefer in-character or third person? ... Lisa Stevens: In character. ... F. Wesley Schneider: Depends... Important, named characters usually have a voice of their own, but if someone is just going to the blacksmith for a quick...
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d20AndiPhoneEtc

Ask a Pro: Question One

... Ask a Pro: Question One Friday, May 22, 2009After I started my internship at Paizo, one of the things I found really intriguing was seeing how the pros did things—little things, really, like how they pronounce tarrasque, for example. Then it occurred to me that most people who roleplay often never experience anything outside of their own group of players, so I figured maybe some of you might be as interested as I am in knowing how the pros GM, so I whipped up some questions for the...
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Pathfinder Chronicles: Campaign Setting (OGL)

The Fabled Appendix – James L. Sutter (Part 2)

The Fabled Appendix – James L. Sutter (Part 2) Tuesday, May 19, 2009Here follows Part 2 of my interview with Editor James L. Sutter, in which he discusses his influences for Golarion's solar system, monster ecologies, and the island nation of Hermea. ... James: For Golarion's solar system, I wanted to include elements of real science, because there are so many phenomena in different scientific fields, such as astronomy, that are already so bizarre as to seem magical. Erik and his love...
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JamesLSutter

The Fabled Appendix – James L. Sutter (Part 1)

... The Fabled Appendix – James L. Sutter (Part 1) Monday, May 18, 2009Paizo's Appendix N returns! Now that the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook is out the door, things at the Paizo office have become just a little bit less hectic. Seizing the lull in the workload, Editor James L. Sutter generously took the time Friday morning to speak with me about his most important sources of inspiration. Just as James Jacobs's love of horror in literature and film differed greatly from Erik Mona's...
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Pathfinder Chronicles: Book of the Damned—Volume 1: Princes of Darkness (PFRPG)

Roots & Beginnings: Book of the Damned (Part 2)

... Illustration by Tylor Walpole ... Roots & Beginnings: Book of the Damned (Part 2) Friday, April 24, 2009As promised, here is part 2 of Roots & Beginnings: Book of the Damned: ... Wes: There are a lot of interesting stories about demons in Hebrew mysticism and collections of angelology. Sean K Reynolds lent me a fantastic book, the Dictionary of Angels: Including the Fallen Angels, by Gustav Davidson, which was a major source of inspiration. Another interesting source was accounts...
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Pathfinder Chronicles: Book of the Damned—Volume 1: Princes of Darkness (PFRPG)

Roots & Beginnings: Book of the Damned

... Illustration by Tylor Walpole ... Roots & Beginnings: Book of the Damned Tuesday, April 21, 2009The Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting gave readers a glimpse of the tortuous layers of Hell and the diabolical machinations of the archdevils who rule them, and The Great Beyond, A Guide to the Multiverse, scheduled to be released in June, will further whet the appetites of those who crave to add a healthy dose of the infernal to their game. The definitive treatise on Hell, however, is...
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Pathfinder Companion: Taldor, Echoes of Glory (OGL)

Roots & Beginnings: Taldor

... Illustrated by Christophe Swal ... Roots & Beginnings: Taldor Tuesday, March 24, 2009Next month, Pathfinder Companion: Taldor, Echoes of Glory will be hitting the bookshelves of game stores and subscribers everywhere. Hank and I had the opportunity to edit the book recently, and Taldor will definitely please those gamers that enjoy a little (or large) dose of Byzantine politics in their game. ... I spoke with Joshua J. Frost, the Events Manager for the Pathfinder Society and the author of...
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JamesJacobs

The Fabled Appendix – James Jacobs (Part 2)

... The Fabled Appendix – James Jacobs (Part 2) Monday, March 16, 2009Today we continue the series on Paizo's Appendix N with the second part of my interview with James Jacobs, the editor-in-chief of Pathfinder. We pick up where we left off, as James finishes discussing his most important literary influences and closes the interview with an explanation of his favorite horror films. ... James: Stephen King's Dark Tower books were particularly influential, as they are as much magic and...
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Tags: Appendix N H. P. Lovecraft Interns Interviews James Jacobs John Carpenter Stephen King
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The Fabled Appendix – James Jacobs (Part 1)

... The Fabled Appendix – James Jacobs (Part 1) Monday, March 9, 2009As part of the ongoing series about Paizo's own Appendix N, I had the opportunity to interview the editor-in-chief of Pathfinder Adventure Path, James Jacobs, about the books and movies that most inspire his own writing. He proved very generous with his time and gave me quite a detailed look into his plan of a shared mythology for Pathfinder and the sources that inspired its creation. Once again, the interview proved...
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Erik3

The Fabled Appendix – Erik Mona (Part 3)

... The Fabled Appendix – Erik Mona (Part 3) Friday, February 20, 2009In the second part of my interview with Erik Mona about which books, movies, and other resources he would include in Paizo's Appendix N, he explained how the idea of a devil-worshiping colonial power—the concept of which eventually became the feared nation of Cheliax—began as a faction in a miniatures game that he developed in his free time. In this conclusion, Erik reveals that several other nations of...
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Erik2

The Fabled Appendix - Erik Mona (Part 2)

... The Fabled Appendix - Erik Mona (Part 2) Wednesday, February 18, 2009This is the second part of my interview with Erik Mona about the sources of inspiration he would list if Paizo created its own Appendix N. In today's blog, Erik discusses the books and ideas that inspired his creation of Osirion and Cheliax, two of the best-known regions of the Pathfinder Chronicles campaign setting. ... David: What historical, mythological, or fictional sources did you use to develop Osirion? I know you...
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ErikMonaUnholyObsession

The Fabled Appendix – Erik Mona

... The Fabled Appendix – Erik Mona Monday, February 16, 2009As was explained in my introductory blog post, the purpose of this series is to create Paizo's very own Appendix N, a semi-comprehensive list of the books, comics, movies, and roleplaying products that influenced each member of the Paizo staff in their work on the Pathfinder Chronicles campaign setting. To begin this series, there seemed no better place to start than with one of the original creators of Golarion and the...
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DMG

The Fabled Appendix!

... The Fabled Appendix! Thursday, February 12, 2009For my inaugural blog post, I thought I'd try to hark back to some of the old-school roots that Paizo has blended together to create the world of Golarion. As many members of the Paizo staff have been playing the game since first edition, they've made it a design goal to create a setting that is true to the roots of the hobby while remaining fresh and exciting. ... At the time of the publication of the first edition Dungeon Masters Guide in...
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Paizo Invades the Atomic Array

... Paizo Invades the Atomic Array Wednesday, December 24, 2008Over at the Atomic Array, Rone Barton and Ed Healy have created a great podcast that should interest everyone who's a gamer. A brief look through their recent episodes sees topics such as Shadows of Cthulhu, Kobold Quarterly, Gen Con, and as of episode #11, Pathfinder! ... This episode of the Atomic Array features myself, Jason Bulmahn, and Josh Frost getting interviewed about all matter of things Paizo, from Pathfinder and the...
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PathfinderRPGLogo

Interview: Jason Bulmahn, Pathfinder RPG Lead Designer

... Interview: Jason Bulmahn, Pathfinder RPG Lead Designer Thursday, March 20, 2008I sat down with Jason Bulmahn, the mastermind behind the Pathfinder RPG, and picked his brain for awhile. ... What did you have in mind when you first starting working on the Pathfinder RPG? ... Since we first realized a new edition of the game was imminent, Paizo developed several plans for how we would adapt to the new publishing environment. One of those options involved ongoing support of 3.5. Since last...
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Mike On Guidebooks!

Mike On Guidebooks! Monday, November 26, 2007Recently, I put up a messageboard thread soliciting questions we might answer in the blog, and now Sutter's tapped me to actually answer one of those questions. So here I go: ... Messageboard regular Dungeon Grrrl asks, When you decide to develop a region, how do you go about it? Is there a process for the writing of a basic bible, or is the final version generated whole-cloth? Is there a development process that happens after the writers tackle...
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Attack of the Pod(cast) People!—Final Wave—Mike Selinker

Attack of the Pod(cast) People! Final Wave—Mike Selinker Wednesday, September 26, 2007Today's final installment of the Paizo Podcast Explosion features Titanic Games mastermind Mike Selinker chatting with the good folks over at Pulp Gamer's Inside Track about everything from curling to geocaching... plus, of course, some discussion of Stonehenge and the Nocturne Expansion, as well as a preview of Titanic's latest venture, a gorgeous new game called Key Largo. Head on over to the Pulp...
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profile_orig

Attack of the Pod(cast) People!—Second Wave—James Jacobs

Attack of the Pod(cast) People! Second Wave—James JacobsAs promised yesterday, we continue our podcast blitzkrieg today with an interview with Pathfinder Editor-in-Chief James Jacobs! In this in-depth conversation with the host of The Tome, a D&D-focused radio-show, Jacobs discusses his long and distinguished history with D&D, the end of Paizo's Dungeon and Dragon licenses, and the shape of the new RPG world to come. Head over to The Tome's website here to give it a listen. James Sutter...
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Attack of the Pod(cast) People!—First Wave—Erik Mona

Attack of the Pod(cast) People! First Wave—Erik Mona Monday, September 24, 2007In recent weeks, members of the design staff here at Paizo have been doing a number of podcast interviews with various gaming-themed radio shows, and they're now becoming available to the general public. They're super easy to access—just click and listen—so why not drop by and hear what the imaginations behind Pathfinder, GameMastery, and more have to say about the future of the industry? ......
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erik_mona_photo

Erik in Black Gate

Erik in Black Gate Wednesday, September 12, 2007Many of you may be familiar with Black Gate, one of the biggest fantasy magazines around. Recently their managing editor, Howard Andrew Jones, sat down to do an exclusive in-depth interview for their website with Paizo Publisher Erik Mona about Planet Stories. In what's his most extensive and candid interview on the subject to date, Erik pours forth his reasons for starting the line, his hopes for the future, and the reasons everyone who loves...
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What's the Difference?—Erik Mona (Publisher)

What's the Difference? Tuesday, June 5, 2007One question we've run into repeatedly as we introduce the new world in which both Pathfinder and the GameMastery Modules will be set is, What makes your campaign setting different? In order to answer that, we've asked each member of the editorial design team—collectively known as The Pit—what they think sets our world apart. ... Erik Mona (Publisher)The GameMastery world will contain a wider mixture of influences that most available on...
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Erik Speaks His Mind

Erik Speaks His Mind Wednesday, May 23, 2007The guys at Pulp Gamer have done another interview with Paizo folks, this time catching publisher Erik Mona at the GAMA Trade Show and sitting him down to talk about Pathfinder, GameMastery Modules, Planet Stories, and more. If you've had any questions about where the company's headed in the next year, this podcast probably answers it, so get out your headphones, kick back, and let Erik walk you through the future of Paizo.
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Pulp Radio

Pulp Radio Tuesday, May 8, 2007PulpGamer.com recently did an in-depth podcast interview with Paizo marketing guru Josh Frost about Stonehenge, the upcoming release from Titanic Games, Paizo's board game contingent. Take a listen here and get the inside scoop on what it really means to create an anthology board game. Plus stay tuned in coming weeks for more podcast interviews from the Pulp Gamer guys, including one with Publisher Erik Mona himself.
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In His Own Words

In His Own Words Wednesday, May 2, 2007Last night, Publisher Erik Mona dropped by the #pathfinder chat on the OtherWorlds IRC Network to talk frankly with fans about Pathfinder, GameMastery, and the presence of Gary Gygax himself in the Paizo booth at the upcoming GenCon. To read a fan summary of the discussion, click here. Want to get in on the conversation yourself? Tuesday nights (in the USA) are the weekly chance for Pathfinder fans, writers, and occasionally us editor types to meet up...
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