Pathfinder RPG Beta Preview #3

Thursday, July 24, 2008

The Beta Playtest Edition of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game is off to the printer and is due to be released in mid August. In anticipation, we are previewing some of the changes made from the Alpha stage as well as taking a look at some of the brand new content. In this preview, we are investigating some of the new rules that can be found in the Beta Playtest Edition.

Equipment: All of the basic equipment is here, plus a few new weapons to round out the list. The starknife is finally part of the Pathfinder RPG, meaning that clerics of Desna now have the correct weapon. Although this material is not strictly "new," some of it has been carefully tweaked to fit with other rule changes.

Traps: The system for creating traps has receive a significant overhaul. Although the end result is mostly the same, the formulas now allow for traps that go all the way up to CR 20. When building a trap using the Pathfinder RPG rules, the amount of damage and average number of targets is now more important, meaning that traps that hit the entire party, draining far more resources, are of a higher CR than traps that only target one character. A trap's CR can also increase dramatically if it lasts more than one round. Here are a few examples.

Swinging Axe Trap: CR 1
Type mechanical; Perception DC 20; Disable Device DC 20
Trigger location; Reset manual
Effect Atk +10 melee (1d8+1/x3); multiple targets (all targets in a 10-ft. line)

Frost Fangs Trap: CR 7
Type mechanical; Perception DC 25; Disable Device DC 20
Trigger location; Duration 3 rounds; Reset none
Effect jets of freezing water (3d6 cold damage, DC 20 Reflex save for half damage); multiple targets (all targets in a 40-ft.-square chamber)

Meteor Swarm Trap: CR 19
Type magic; Perception DC 34; Disable Device DC 34
Trigger sight (true seeing); Reset none
Effect spell effect (meteor swarm, 4 meteors at separate targets, +9 ranged touch, 2d6 plus 6d6 fire (no save on a hit), DC 23 Reflex save for half damage on a miss, 18d6 fire damage from other meteors (DC 23 Reflex save for half damage); multiple targets (four targets, no two of which can be more than 40 ft. apart)

Spells and Magic Items: Both of these chapters have been expanded to a gigantic size (with the spells chapter alone coming in at 120 pages). While much of the content in these chapters is unchanged, a number of spells and items received some updates in the Beta, mostly to bring them in line with the rest of the rules. Due to space concerns, some of the spells and magic items were cut, but will be available in a free web enhancement for the book, due out at the same time the Beta Playtest Edition is released.

You will be able to grab the Beta Playtest Edition as a free PDF here at paizo.com or as a soft-cover, 408 page, full-color book. The book will be on sale at Gen Con, through our web store, and from your favorite local game store. Check back next week for a look at the Beta playtest process as well as what is in store for the next year of development.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

Putting the Adventure in Your Hands

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Next month's Pathfinder marks more than just the launch of the Second Darkness Adventure Path, it also premieres a new addition to Pathfinder's pages with the first of our new Set Piece adventures! Eight-page adventures tied to that month's Adventure Path entry, Set Pieces present GMs with a host of options whether they're playing the ongoing Adventure Path, running their own games, or simply need an iconic location. Each Set Piece is built as an optional Adventure Path episode and includes details on how to include it in the month's adventure. For GMs craving lighter fare, though, these scenarios are flexible enough to adapt to any ongoing campaign or even serve as short, one-night adventures. There's also no telling when your game might need a familiar fantasy location—whether it be a thieves' guild, pirate ship, monster-haunted ruin, or one of countless other archetypical adventure sites—making Set Pieces useful to GMs who need a locale on the fly when their players zig when they're supposed to zag.

The first Set Piece, Tim Hitchcock's "Saint Caspieran's Salvation," presents a Riddleport thieves' den insidiously hidden beneath the guise of a rundown chapel. Forced to distinguish scheming swindlers from the truly needy, the PCs need to wade through a crowd of questionable castoffs to uncover the misdeeds rooted amid the hostel's good work.

Unfortunates of St. Caspieran's
d6 Mission Encounters

1 Ukkar the Fierce: Once a raging warrior, Ukkar's legs were crushed in a cart accident and had to be amputated when they turned gangrenous. Now he sits in a small cart and pushes himself about with his calloused hands.

2 Sylee: This orphan girl stares silently with fearful eyes, desperately clutching a dirty rag doll with a missing arm.

3 Lil' Lirt: A young boy tries to slit one of the PCs' pouches or pockets with a razor and make off with whatever's inside. If caught, he bawls for mercy.

4 Jhonas: When away from Father Padrick's side, Jhonas walks the mission, talking to different parishioners and vagrants, trying to learn from their perspectives as much as offer them his blessings.

5 Pauper's Hand: These troublesome thieves are always milling about. If one spots a PC, he hurries to alert the other guild members.

6 Mika the Fallen: This poor mad fellow walks around barefoot wearing nothing but old sackcloth. He believes he's a fallen angel sent to redeem himself by offering comfort to lost souls. To those he feels suffer most, he offers true salvation—walking with them up to a high rooftop and pushing them off.

You'll meet this lot and more of Riddleport's most desperate and despicable residents in "St. Caspieran's Salvation," the first Pathfinder Set Piece adventure, coming up next month in Pathfinder #13.

F. Wesley Schneider
Managing Editor, Pathfinder

Here Comes Gen Con, Doo-Doo-Doo-Doo

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Gen Con 2008 is roughly 22 days from the moment you read this blog. Paizo is unveiling more new products, hosting more new events, and cramming more game play into the Paizo booth than we have ever done at any convention. To give a taste of what you'll find at this year's supreme gaming event and to make those of you who can't make it seven flavors of raving envious, here's a full list of Paizo events we'll debut at the show:

Pathfinder Society Organized Play
Though most of the Pathfinder Society Organized Play events are totally sold out, there are still a few that have open slots. If you didn't sign up for these slots during pre-registration, no problem! Grab yourself two generic tickets per slot at the show and come ready to play. Keep an eye on the Pathfinder Society website for character creation guidelines that should be posted around August 1. The following slots still have availability:

Slot 2: Thursday 1 P.M. to 5 P.M.
Scenario #3: Murder on the Silken Caravan
Scenario #4: The Frozen Fingers of Midnight

Slot 7: Sunday 8 A.M. to 12 P.M.
Scenario #3: Murder on the Silken Caravan

Slot 8: Sunday 1 P.M. to 5 P.M.
Scenario #1: The Silent Tide
Scenario #2: The Hydra's Fang Incident

Pathfinder Adventure Path Preview: Ascension of the Drow
Though this event is completely sold out, we'd be remiss to not include it in the list of Paizo events at Gen Con. Ascension of the Drow is a Nicolas Logue-run Paizo mega-event that will determine the ruling house of a Drow city to be featured in Pathfinder #16. More than 100 players, Game Masters, and special guests will play a variety of Drow, demons, and maybe even gods as they battle for total supremacy.

Assault on Falcon's Hollow: a Paizo Delve
Last year's delve went smashingly (pun intended) and we knew for this year's delve that we'd need to line up an even greater number of monsters to raise our tallies of PC deaths and TPKs even higher! Come by Paizo Booth #2221 during dealer hall hours, grab a pre-generated Pathfinder Roleplaying Game character, and test out the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game's combat system while you protect the tiny village of Falcon's Hollow from a ravenous horde of horrendous undead. Accomplishing pre-determined goals will win you and your party keys. Those keys just might open our treasure chest, winning you fame, fortune, and some free stuff. Sponsored by Dwarven Forge.

Paizo Publishing Seminars
Judging by pre-registration numbers alone, we may very well "sell out" most of our seminars at Gen Con this year (they're free to attend for Gen Con attendees.) Pre-registration numbers are the highest attendance counts we've ever had for Gen Con seminars and the show hasn't even started yet!

Writing for Paizo
Thursday 5 P.M. to 6 P.M.
Marriott — Indiana Ballroom C

Sticking with 3.5: the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and the Future of Paizo
Friday 5 P.M. to 6 P.M.
Marriott — Indiana Ballroom C

Pathfinder Adventure Path Preview
Saturday 5 P.M. to 6 P.M.
Marriott — Indiana Ballroom C

Worlds of Their Own Author Signing
Many of today's best (and best-selling) fantasists got their start writing shared-world fiction supporting roleplaying games. Worlds of Their Own collects more than a dozen thrilling tales, providing an exciting overview of the original worlds and characters of authors who achieved their greatest fame writing stories they do not own. Worlds of Their Own presents an unprecedented sampler of fantasy and science-fiction adventure tales from some of the best-loved and best-known authors in the genre.

Worlds of Their Own authors Ed Greenwood, Paul S. Kemp, Michael A. Stackpole, Greg Stolze, and Editor James Lowder will be on-hand in our booth on Saturday, August 16, 2008 from 2:30 P.M. to 3:30 P.M. signing copies of Worlds of Their Own. Copies of the anthology will be available for sale in the booth.

Worlds of Their Own Mega-Signing
Saturday 2:30-3:30 PM
Paizo Booth #2221

The Gamers: Dorkness Rising Signings
The Gamers: Dorkness Rising will finally be unleashed upon the world at Gen Con! Paizo is the exclusive hobby distributor for Dead Gentlemen Productions and we're pleased to host a full-time signing area in our booth throughout the show. If the dealer hall is open, someone involved with The Gamers: Dorkness Rising will be in our booth signing copies of the DVD. As of today, we expect the following folks to spend time in our booth:

Don Early, Producer
Matt Vancil, Writer / Director
Nathan Rice, Lodge / Sir Osric
Steve Wolbrecht, Composer
Scott Brown, Leo / Turk / Flynn the Fine
Christian Doyle, Gary / Fastidian / Luster
Matt DeMille, Production Designer / Art Director / Set Decorator
Brian Lewis, Cass / Rennard / Brother Silence
Jen Page, Luster (Female) / Professor

The Gamers: Dorkness Rising Signings
Thursday through Saturday 10 A.M. to 6 P.M.
Sunday 10 A.M. to 4 P.M.
Paizo Booth #2221

We hope to see you there!

(If you don't get the blog title, think Beatles. You're welcome for getting that song stuck in your head.)

Joshua J. Frost
Director of Marketing

Character Traits, Part II

Monday, July 21, 2008

Back on June 23, I gave you a preview of the Character Traits system we're introducing in the Pathfinder Companion line. There, I'd mentioned that there were several different kinds of traits for you to mix and match—with a single trait roughly equaling half a feat in power, by picking to Character Traits your character effectively starts with a bonus feat that's tailored specifically to his or her background and personality.

Today, I'd like to preview what traits look like. Presented below are five of the ten Combat traits. These traits comprise a small portion of the 40 basic traits presented in the Second Darkness Player's Guide, and represent generic traits that you can pick from for any character for any campaign in any setting. Later installments of Pathfinder Companion will present more Golarion-specific traits for race, region, and religion, but these basic 40 traits comprise the baseline for them all. Again, when you pick your two character traits, you can only pick one from a particular category—a character can't have two Combat traits, for example. Picking traits from different categories, after all, is a great way to make a character seem a bit more well-rounded.

But enough of the chatter. On with the preview traits! (Oh, and you'll see lots of "trait" bonuses mentioned; this is a new type of bonus that never stacks with itself, but stacks with other bonuses.)

Anatomist: You have studied the workings of anatomy, either as a student at university or as an apprentice mortician or necromancer. You know where to aim your blows to strike vital organs and you gain a +1 trait bonus on all rolls made to confirm critical hits.

Armor Expert: You have worn armor as long as you can remember, either as part of your training to become a knight's squire or simply because you were seeking to emulate a hero. Your childhood armor wasn't the real thing as far as protection, but it did encumber you as much as real armor would have, and you've grown used to moving in such suits with relative grace. When you wear armor of any sort, reduce that suit's armor check penalty by 1, to a minimum check penalty of 0.

Bullied: You were bullied often as a child, and you are now constantly ready to defend yourself with your fists when an enemy comes near. You gain a +1 trait bonus on attack of opportunity attack rolls made with unarmed strikes. Note that this trait does not grant the ability to make attacks of opportunity with your unarmed strikes—you'll need to take a level of monk, the Improved Unarmed Strike feat, or some other similar power to gain the use of this Character Trait. However, that doesn't prevent you from selecting this trait. You'll simply not be able to make use of it until a later point if you do.

Courageous: Your childhood was brutal, yet you persevered primarily through force of will and the hope that no matter how hard things might get, as long as you kept a level head you'd make it through. You gain a +2 trait bonus on saving throws against fear effects.

Deft Dodger: Growing up in a rough neighborhood or a dangerous environment has honed your senses. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Reflex saves.

James Jacobs
Pathfinder Editor-in-Chief

Pathfinder RPG Beta Preview #2

Friday, July 18, 2008

The Beta Playtest Edition of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game is off to the printer and is due to be released in mid August. In anticipation, we are previewing some of the changes made from the Alpha stage as well as taking a look at some of the brand new content. In this preview, we are taking a look at some of the changes between the Alpha release 3 and the Beta Playtest Edition.

Class Changes: A number of classes received a host of tweaks and changes based off playtester feedback. Here is just a taste of what you can expect to find. Barbarian mighty rage got a little bit cheaper to maintain (going from 4 points per round to 3). Cleric domains and wizard schools now grant bonus spells instead of spell-like abilities (although they maintain their supernatural abilities). Bardic performance DCs are now based off the bard's level, not his Perform skill check. Rangers now grant their favored enemy bonus to their animal companion, if they have one. Sorcerer bloodlines got a few refinements, such as Intimidate being changed to Knowledge (planes) for Abyssal sorcerers.

Combat Feats: Combat feats, as you might know them from Alpha release 3, are a thing of the past. Now the term refers to any feat that can be selected as a fighter bonus feat. Of course, most of the great combat feats have been retooled to fit with this change. Some feats even got an upgrade, such as Dodge (whose bonus now increases to +2 if you have 10 or more ranks in Acrobatics) and Arcane Strike (whose bonus increases by +1 for every five caster levels you possess).

Spells: Wizard arcane schools got revised for the Beta. The big change here is that wizards now choose the spells that they gain upon reaching 2nd, 4th, 6th, 10th, 12th, 14th, 16th, and 18th levels. These spells must be from their school and are set once selected. It should be noted again that these spells now act as bonus spells, not spell-like abilities. This change does not affect the supernatural abilities granted by arcane schools.

Other Rules: There are dozens of other small changes to the rules as well. Favored Classes now grant a bonus hit point or a bonus skill point. Recharging staves now only uses up the highest-level spell slot used by the staff. Cover rules were simplified into something that is quite a bit easier to adjust. Nearly every chapter received numerous changes based off your feedback and comments.

You will be able to grab the Beta Playtest Edition as a free PDF here at paizo.com or as a soft-cover, 408 page, full-color book. The book will be on sale at Gen Con, through our web store, and from you favorite local game store. Check back next week for a look at some of the new rules you'll find in the Beta.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

How Do I Play a Barbarian in Service to Andoran?

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Continuing the idea of the July 10 blog post, we thought we'd give you another sneak peak at the Pathfinder Society Player's Guide and touch on some of the 3.5 OGL base classes that might not mesh well with the "Freedom over tyranny!" theme prevalent in both the nation of Andoran and the Andoren faction of the Pathfinder Society. We also threw in a few other base classes just to give you an idea of possible themes for your Andoran-based character.

Andoren Pathfinders

Andorens are particularly suited to the life of a pathfinder. Natural explorers with the bravery to face ominous frontiers of mystery and danger, these sons and daughters of freedom are perfect candidates for membership in the world's most elite adventuring society.

Barbarians: The freedom fighter tradition is a long and gloried one in Andoran. Past freedom fighters prowled hard stony hills and dense forests, striking out against Chelish oppressors in brutal, guerilla assaults. Freedom fighter tactics are a point of honor among the old revolutionary families, and training in these warrior traditions have passed from father to son over many generations. Also found among the Andoren ranks are former gladiatorial slaves, refugees from less enlightened regions of Golarion. These peerless warriors embrace the dogma of freedom and Common Rule and lend their ferocious fighting skills to the defense of their new home.

Fighters: Andoran's military traditions are myriad. Before their independence, Andorens often served as the vanguard in the armies of Cheliax and Old Taldor. The finest naval captains and dragoons of Old Taldor's armada were also largely Andoren, and the tradition of excellence in combat on land and sea persists now that the nation's independence is won. Brave, intelligent, and tactically-minded warriors serve in Andoran's modern military, and the best among them eventually earn the mantle of the Eagle Knights. The threats against Andoran's fledgling democracy are very real, and only the best, most highly-trained military men and women can keep the armies of darkness at Andoran's borders at bay.

Rogues: There is a saying among Andoran's thieves: "You can't eat freedom." While liberty is the right of every citizen, Andoran was forged by the mercantile class and is fueled by gold and silver. In the teeming cities of Augustana, Carpenden, and Oregent, the unwashed masses are slaves to poverty instead of a dictator's lash. The burning desire for freedom instilled in all Andorens often manifests as a complete disregard for law and order resulting in outbreaks of larcenous behavior. A great number of the privateers in service of His Excellency are little more than pirates granted letters of marque to prey on the nation's many enemies and the host of slaver ships sailing the Inner Sea. Merchant consortiums and patriotic nobles maintain circles of spies to pry into the affairs of the nation's enemies as well as rival groups inside Andoran's borders.

Wizards: The musty tomes and old ways of wizardry are unpopular in Andoran, as the fledgling democracy is more concerned with the bright prospects of the future than they are the clouded secrets of the past. Wizards in Andoran are confined mostly to large cities, though some remote training academies exist in the wild frontiers where research into fel magics can be conducted without interference. Many Andoren wizards focus their studies on breaking enchantments and liberating the minds and souls of those oppressed by evil magic. Necromancy and any magic that enslaves others are widely frowned upon, and the open practice of either can earn one a prison sentence. Beyond these taboos, magical research is fairly unrestricted. While it may be unpopular, the right of citizenship gives every wizard the freedom to delve into any studies they wish so long as they do not harm others.

Joshua J. Frost
Director of Marketing

Nicolas Logue
Organized Play Coordinator

Here Comes A Hardcover!

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

So the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting book is at the printer right now. An early print copy of it showed up here at Paizo last week, and it looks gorgeous. It'll be available at Gen Con, but until then, we'll continue posting tidbits and previews here on the blog now and then. For today, we've had a request from the messageboards to see the table of contents, and that sounded like a great idea. So! Without further ado, here it is, along with some art from the book's entry on Varisia!

Foreword 3 Chapter 1: Characters 4   Races 6   Classes 41 Chapter 2: The Inner Sea 52   Overview of the Inner Sea 52   Nations of the Inner Sea 54   Beyond the Inner Sea 152 Chapter 3: Religion 158   Major Gods 160   Other Gods 170   The Great Beyond 178 Chapter 4: Organizations 186   Major Organizations 187   Smaller Organizations 196 Chapter 5: The World 198   History and Timeline 198   The Darklands 202   Domain Spells 204   Equipment 206

Fauna 212   Flora 214   General Feats 216   Languages 218   Lost Nations 220   Prestige Classes 222     Harrower 222     Low Templar 224     Pathfinder Chronicler 226     Red Mantis Assassin 228     Shackles Pirate 230   Psionics 232   Technology 234   Time and Space 236   Trade 238   Weather and Climate 240 Appendices 242   A: Pathfinder Chronicles Locations 242   B: Pronunciation Guide 244   C: Rogue's Gallery 246   D: Wandering Monsters 252 Index 254

James Jacobs
Pathfinder Editor-in-Chief

Drizzt in an X-Wing

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Do I have your attention yet? I thought so. That's one nice thing about nerd culture (a term I use in the most affectionate way)—we've got some easily recognizable triggers. For better or for worse, there are certain touchstones that all of us in a given nerd subgroup are familiar with (and no, I don't mean lolcats). I'm talking about the big stuff—the media that shaped our favorite genres so irreversibly that there's really no extricating the two. Sure, you can theorize about how modern fantasy might have evolved if Tolkien had left those manuscripts in his bottom drawer, but really, it's something of a moot point.

Which is why I'm so excited about Worlds of Their Own.

Still following? I mean, let's just look at the author list here for a second. In the same book, we've got Monte Cook, Elaine Cunningham, Richard E. Dansky, Ed Greenwood, Jeff Grubb, Gary Gygax, Paul S. Kemp, J. Robert King, William King, James Lowder, Will McDermott, R. A. Salvatore, Steven Savile, Lisa Smedman, Michael A. Stackpole, Greg Stafford, Greg Stolze, and Nancy Virginia Varian. That's huge. These are folks who have, through their shared-world fiction and gaming accomplishments, left an indelible mark on our subculture. And in Worlds of Their Own, editor Jim Lowder (who's done some pretty seminal work himself, with his bestselling Ravenloft novels, among others) turns these authors loose to write in worlds of completely their own design, where their word is final and not subject to an intellectual property's owner. Needless to say, the work is stunning—I mean, we've got half a dozen New York Times bestsellers, Nebula award winners, and more here—and often surprising to those only familiar with an authors' shared-world stories.

As it would be a huge task to try and explain each of these authors' impact, I decided to just pick two today and show off chunks from their stories. But who to choose? William King? Richard Dansky? Some of the authors I was able to set aside for future blog posts—after all, this is not the first time Planet Stories or Pathfinder has worked with folks like Gary Gygax, Elaine Cunningham, or Ed Greenwood, nor will it be the last. In the end, though, I had to go with the two who inspired the title of this post: R. A. Salvatore and Michael A. Stackpole.

R. A. Salvatore is probably the biggest success story in shared-world fiction. With his creation of the dark elf hero Drizzt Do'Urden for the Forgotten Realms, he blew the doors off the shared-world industry and went on to write numerous popular creator-owned series, from his Spearwielder's Tales to the Crimson Shadow stories. His piece in Worlds of Their Own, "Mather's Blood," is set in the world of Corona, home of his DemonWars saga. Check it out:

On one of those gusts came a cry of anguish that sliced the heart of Mather Wyndon, a scream of pain and fear from a voice that he knew well.

He drew out his sword and used it to lead the way through the tangle of branch and snow, pushing out into the frigid air, trying to orient himself and determine the direction of Bradwarden's howl. The wind was from the northeast still, and it had carried Bradwarden's cry, so Mather set out that way, circumventing Dundalis, the smoke of the many chimneys thick in the air. Soon he found a path cut through the drifts—by goblins, he knew, though he could hardly see on this dark night. He didn't dare light a torch, fearing to make himself a target, but he understood his disadvantage here. Goblins were creatures of caves and deep tunnels. They could see much better in the dark than even an elven-trained ranger.

Mather was not surprised when he came through one large drift and caught a flicker of movement to the side, a missile flying straight for him.

He sent his energy into Tempest, and the sword flared with angry light. He brought the blade whipping about, intercepting the hurled spear and knocking it harmlessly aside, and then slashed back, deflecting a second.

The third got through...

Michael A. Stackpole is probably best known for his wildly popular X-Wing: Rogue Squadron series, which breathed new life into the most famous pilots of the Star Wars universe. He's also done work for Battletech, has numerous creator-owned projects such as the DragonCrown War and the Age of Discovery series, and in 2008 had an asteroid named after him. This story, "Keeping Score," is set in his Purgatory Station universe:

The ambush seared scarlet light through the mauve jungle. Sara had felt it coming a heartbeat before beams flicked out—things had gotten too quiet for a second. The enemy fire manifested as full shafts of light instantly linking shooter and target, then snapping off, since light traveled far too fast for even the most augmented eyes to see it as tiny bolts. Ruby spears stabbed down from high branches, or slanted in from around the boles of trees, here and there, as the Zsytzii warriors shifted impossibly fast through the jungle.

Sara cut left and spun, slamming her back against the trunk of a tree. Her body armor absorbed most of the impact and she continued to spin, then dropped to a knee on the far side of the tree and brought her LNT-87 carbine up. The green crosshairs on her combat glasses tracked along with the weapon's muzzle, showing her where it was pointed. The top barrel stabbed red back at the ambushers, burning little holes through broad leaves and striping trunks with carbonized scars. Fire gouted from the lower barrel as chemical explosives launched clouds of little flechettes at the unseen attackers.

To her right Captain Patrick Kelloch, the fire team's leader, laid down a pattern of raking fire that covered their right flank while she concentrated on the left. Flechettes shredded leaves and vaporized plump, purple lotla fruit. She thought she saw a black shadow splashed with green, and hoped one fewer laser was targeted back at her, but the Zsytzii were harder to hit than she'd ever found in virtsims.

Bragb Bissik, the team's heavy-weapons specialist, stepped into the gap between the two human warriors. Underslung on his massive right forearm were the eight spinning rotary-barrels of the Gatling-style Bouganshi laser cannon. Into each barrel was fed a small lasing cell, consisting of a chemical reagent that released a lot of energy really fast. The cell converted that energy into coherent light of great power and intensity that blazed for almost a second once the reaction had been started. The cannon whined as the barrels spun. The red beams slashed in an arc, nipping branches from trees and burning fire into the jungle's upper reaches.

The weapon spat the smoking lasing cells out into a pile at the hulking Bouganshi's feet. The brilliant red beams bathed him in bloody highlight. Hulking and broad-shouldered, the Bouganshi could have been a demon from any number of human pantheons, and Sara hoped the Zeez would find him purely terrifying.

As Bragb's fire raked the higher branches, two beams stabbed out from the ground to hit the Bouganshi's broad chest...

James Sutter
Planet Stories Editor

Gaming at the Gold Goblin

Monday, July 14, 2008

"Shadow in the Sky" begins with a grand gambling tournament at a Riddleport gaming hall called the Gold Goblin. The PCs can take time during this opening scene to meet each other, get to know some of the adventure's key NPCs, and maybe make a little money. Of course, no gambling tournament in Riddleport would be complete without some quirky local games—and in Pathfinder #13, we give you four new games with which to separate your players from their cash! One of these games is a dice game called Bounder, excerpted below.

Bounder

"Bounder, bounder, bounder! No doubles, no doubles!"

What You'll Need: 3d6 for the dealer and 2d20 for each player, plus coins to track bets.

How to Play: Bounder is unique among gambling games in that both the players and dealer use dice. The dealer gets three 6-sided dice, and each player gets two 20-siders.

To start, each player bets a stake (minimum 1 sp). Each player rolls his first d20, making his "point." After all players have rolled their points, each player may double his stake if desired.

Then the dealer rolls 3d6. Anyone whose point the dealer matches loses his stake.

Then each player rolls his second d20. If the player's two dice results are on either side of the dealer's result—one greater than and one less than the dealer's number—he "bounds" the dealer and wins an amount equal to the amount he bet. Otherwise, he loses his stake.

If a player rolls a 1 and a 20 (or a 20 and a 1), he wins double his bet.

Odds: The house edge in this game is 18% without any doubling. A player over time will get about 7/17 of his money back. Extreme points (1, 2, 19 and 20) are as good as 47.5%, so doubling is wiser there (but still not wise).

James Jacobs
Pathfinder Editor-in-Chief

Pathfinder RPG Beta Preview #1

Friday, July 11, 2008

The Beta Playtest Edition of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game is off to the printer and is due to be released in mid August. In anticipation, we are going to be previewing some of the changes made from the Alpha stage as well as taking a look at some of the brand new content. In this preview, take a look at the massive table of contents and check out a few previews along the way.

Chapter 1: Introduction, page 2
Chapter 2: Generating a Character, page 4
Chapter 3: Races, page 8
Chapter 4: Classes, page 12
Chapter 5: Skills, page 52
Chapter 6: Feats, page 76
Chapter 7: Equipment, page 98
Chapter 8: Description, page 120
Chapter 9: Combat, page 130
Chapter 10: Magic, page 154
Chapter 11: Spells, page 170
Chapter 12: Running the Game, page 290
Chapter 13: Additional Rules, page 300
Chapter 14: Nonplayer Characters, page 332
Chapter 15: Magic Items, page 340
Chapter 16: Glossary, page 388
Chapter 17: Playtesting, page 402
Character Sheet, page 404

In the coming weeks, we will be taking a look at a number of the changes made since Alpha release 3, such as the revision to arcane schools (now you choose bonus spells), alterations to most of the combat feats to change them into ordinary feats (some even get an upgrade, such as Dodge), bard and ranger modifications, a simplification of the cover rules, and a host of other changes (many inspired by the playtesters). We will also be taking a look at some new rules that appear in the Beta, such as revised traps guidelines (CR 19 Meteor Swarm trap), a new system for generating encounters, and a mountain of equipment, magic items, and spells.

You will be able to grab the Beta Playtest Edition as a free PDF here at paizo.com or as a soft-cover, 408 page, full-color book. The book will be on sale at Gen Con, through paizo.com, and from your favorite local game store. Check back next week for a look at some of the changes you'll find in the Beta.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

How Do I Play a Paladin in Service to Cheliax?

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Good question! We're hearing this one and others like it on the Pathfinder Society messageboards, so we thought we'd use today's blog to give you a sneak peak at the Chelax section of the Pathfinder Society Player's Guide soon-to-be-released here on paizo.com. All of the base classes will be covered in the final Player's Guide. Below we've included just a few of the classes folks are having a hard time imagining as non-evil Chelish faction members.

Chelish Pathfinders

Since House Thrune rose to prominence, reclaiming the past glories of Cheliax and re-establishing their footholds across the world has been their primary goal. Chelish armies amass in the ruthless homeland, and their agents push far and wide seeking to expand the diabolic empire's influence. Chelish culture is widely popular, and their fashions show up in most nations across Avistan and Garund. House Thrune places a high priority on discovering the relics of the past and controlling the revelation and interpretation of historical finds. The noble houses of Cheliax encourage the populace and even their own scions to join the Pathfinder Society and seek treasures of ancient power to bolster the empire.

Barbarians: Cheliax is built on law and order. The empire runs smoothly with the help of its infernal allies, and they tolerate no disruption to the nation's workings. Barbarism does not thrive among the devil-bowing culture of Cheliax. Still, there are blood pits in Westcrown where men become beasts to the deafening roar of the crowd and the hot spray of an enemy's blood. Cheliax's most fierce battle-raging warriors are cultivated from slaves who earn a place in the military only after brutal escapades in the blood pits. Other conscripts in the army of Cheliax are drawn from captured Shoanti of Varisia who sometimes pledge their loyalty to House Thrune and join the Pathfinder Society in the empire's service.

Druids: Cheliax's colonial holdings of old inspired several orders of wardens dedicated to safeguarding the majesty of the natural world. When House Thrune seized control of the crumbling empire, they bent these earthly wonders to their own infernal uses and even today most of the empire's natural resources are ruthlessly hewn and sent to the new capital at Egorian for whatever sinister purposes House Thrune sees fit. A few of the druidic orders of old persisted, doing their best to stem the burning of the land, and convincing the noble houses to slow their voracious ravaging of the landscape, lest the resources run dry. The Black Wardens survived by dedicating themselves to Asmodeus dogma, claiming they grow the trees to stoke the fires of his dark glory. Other orders like the Sisters of Oak maintain their vigil over the landscape with no official ties to the Church of Asmodeus, but doing so sometimes creates friction between their order and the government of Egorian. Still as the country's natural resources wane, the government of Cheliax cannot afford to eradicate these druids, and are forced to form tenuous agreements with them in order to save their nation's landscape from utter destruction.

Monks: Monastic orders abound in Cheliax, most steeped in martial arts once trained in the smoldering depths of the Nine Hells. The coveted martial arts of devil kind are now practiced by the Chelish in secret sects and monasteries all over the empire. Several of these orders are attached to the Chelish legion, and in particular the martial art of Hamatulatsu, learned from barbed devils, is practiced by monks in military service. Other orders include the Sidaal Thram, an order of glaive wielding martial arts masters who wear long bears braided with barbs and blades, as well as the spiked chain wielding Order of the Razored Shackle, who wrap themselves in the kyton's chains and engage in horrifying self mutilation as part of their path to excellence.

Paladins: Paladins are a rare sight in Cheliax. Before House Thrune rose to power, the shining servants of Iomedae and her slain patron Aroden rode throughout Old Cheliax. Some are still there and do the best they can to serve her glory in a nation much overshadowed in darkness. They see it as their divine duty to bring the empire back to a path of temperance, or at least to balance the evils of their homeland. More than a few paladins of Aroden still believe their god will return someday to bring the nation back into the light. These paladins remain to herald his return, and hold on to the burning idea of Old Cheliax, a sprawling empire whose glory was a beacon in a dark and savage world.

Joshua J. Frost
Director of Marketing

Nicolas Logue
Organized Play Coordinator

A Legacy of Lavender

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Next month, readers of Pathfinder #13 will meet Saul Vancaskerkin and Clegg Zincher, two scheming crime bosses from Varisia's famed pirate paradise, Riddleport. But the premiere entry in the Second Darkness Adventure Path isn't the first time the Vancaskerkin family and Boss Zincher (Pathfinder #14's cover boy), have shown up in Pathfinder. Would you believe that both received a nod all the way back in Pathfinder #1?! Turns out that the Vancaskerkin line has been causing trouble in Varisia for some time now, even leading to Orik Vancaskerkin's participation in Sandpoint's problems in "Burnt Offerings":

"After a scam involving a tiefling prostitute, a shifty alchemist, and an elixir of love, Orik was forced to flee Riddleport. He's pretty sure that Clegg Zincher, the now-dead alchemist's powerful brother, still carries a grudge for what Orik did to the alchemist when he discovered, to his horror, that the elixir of love was actually just cheap ale laced with lavender." (Pathfinder #1, pg. 45)

While Orik was schlepping around Thistletop, though, his brother Verik was getting into no end of trouble in Korvosa, serving as member of the city guard (Pathfinder #8). And all the way back in Riddleport, their dear old dad, Saul Vancaskerkin, started cooking up a scheme to reclaim some of his local clout (Pathfinder #13). But behind many of the Vancaskerkin family's troubles hides a singular tiefling harlot, a pretty face with a purple dress and pointed tail named Lavender Lil. In Pathfinder Companion: Second Darkness, a story that started over a year ago can finally be told:

"Like many of the city's tieflings, Lil grew up an orphan in Riddleport. She earned her coin by telling stories on street corners, where her fantastical tales garnered just enough copper for a bite to eat. Although a gifted storyteller, Lil's exotic good looks drew more attention than her tales, and soon a local pimp forced her into his flock.

"As she matured, Lil's sultry purple eyes and her love for flowers earned her the nickname 'Lavender.' Her talent for storytelling matured alongside her looks, and rumors circulated that her grandfather was Varisian and her grandmother was a devil-woman. While Lil had no strenuous objections to working as a prostitute, she missed the freedom of life on the streets. Her dreams never grew grand enough to imagine life as a noble lady, a brave adventurer, or even a wife or mother. All Lil wanted was the freedom to claim her own life and to manage it, for ill or good."

Lavender Lil appears in the first entry into the Persona section of the new Pathfinder Companion line, a section which details a new, fully statted personality from Golarion. Check out Lil's side of the Vancaskerkin tragedy, the entire "Second Darkness Player's Guide," and tons of new info for characters and GMs of all stripes in Pathfinder Companion: Second Darkness next month!

F. Wesley Schneider
Pathfinder Managing Editor

One Faction to Rule Them All!

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Rather than spend a lot of time in today's blog wowing you with words, I thought we'd skip right to the brand new icons designed for the Pathfinder Society Organized Play factions by Paizo's own Art Director, Sarah Robinson. You may not know her name, but you certainly know her work, as she is the mastermind designer behind the layout for the Pathfinder Adventure Path volumes landing in your mailbox monthly. Sarah has put together five fantastic representations of the factions based on their national flags (soon to be debuted in the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting hardcover.)

Once the Pathfinder Society website is running at full functionality, your faction choice will be represented as one of the above icons resting comfortably next to your name on the paizo.com messageboards. You'll be able to show off your faction choice with even more pride once we launch our line of faction-specific T-shirts in the very near future. Rumors that you get a small benefit at the game table when you wear your faction shirt to an official Pathfinder Society Organized Play event should be started immediately.

Joshua J. Frost
Director of Marketing

Raising Hellknights!

Monday, July 7, 2008

A little over a year ago we started doing this thing called Pathfinder—you might have heard of it. Early on, we decided that its first volume would debut with a guide speaking directly to players, telling them a bit about the world we'd been cooking up. But honestly, at the time, we knew very little about said world. As James set to writing the premiere Pathfinder adventure, "Burnt Offerings," I was tasked with drumming up that something for players, a project that would become the first Pathfinder Player's Guide. Tricky thing, though, was that the book needed nouns—names, people, places, things—and we really didn't have many of those at the time. So, I made a bunch up.

It's more than a year later and now we have Golarion. But, what's both really funny—and pretty cool—is that now, a bunch of stuff that I just wrote down hoping that it wouldn't sound too silly are tags on our world's map and have pages of detail in the upcoming Pathfinder Campaign Setting. The elves of the Mordant Spire, the gnomes of the shey citadels of Irrere, the god Nethys and Gozreh, cyphermages, a year ago if asked what these things were all I could do is shrug. Now, that's not so much the case. But above all of these, one name that really seems to have intrigued folks was born out of a love of moral ambiguity, fanatical law dogs from film and literature, and hardcore armor: Hellknights. And the hardcover Pathfinder Campaign Setting's got them. While there's still not a new class for these devil-allied, ironclad enforcers (hum, could we be waiting for a new rules system so we don't have to invent the wheel twice?), there's now more information then ever before on the various orders, ranks, goals, and disciplines of these feared enforcers of absolute law. Just take a peek:

The Order of the Scourge: With anonymity and no consequences, every man becomes a criminal. The Order of the Scourge combats the lawless tendencies within mortal hearts through ever-present watchfulness and brutal reminders that no crime goes unpunished. The Order employs a vast network of informants, pays bounties for substantiated accusations, and publicly metes out grim punishments. Under the perfectionist Lictor Toulon Vidoc, the Hellknights frequently travel from Citadel Demain, near Egorian, to patrol crime-ridden slums and annihilate criminal organizations.

Lesser Orders: Numerous lesser orders of Hellknights exist, although few are known outside the borders of Cheliax. For example, Egorian's Order of the Scar stalks murderers and assassins, while the Whisperwood's Order of the Pike hunts down monsters that flourish in civilized lands. Although less pervasive, these smaller orders are only slightly less feared than their better-known brethren.

Expect to see plenty more Hellknight tyranny in the Pathfinder Campaign Setting hardcover debuting next month! Also check out the new face of the Pathfinder player's guides with volume 1 of the Pathfinder Companion: Second Darkness, giving players everything they need to ready themselves for the coming peril! And just a warning: keep your nose clean, 'cause even beyond what's coming up in the hardcover there's plenty more of the Hellknights' merciless brand of justice on the horizon.

F. Wesley Schneider
Pathfinder Managing Editor

Frozen Fingers of Midnight: A Pathfinder Society Scenario Sneak Peek

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Last Saturday night, Craig Shackleton gathered together a number of Paizo Origins attendees in the lobby of the Drury Inn in Columbus, OH and ran us through the first ever installment of a Pathfinder Society Scenario. The aptly named Frozen Fingers of Midnight kept a bunch of us up way too late as we explored Absalom in service of the Pathfinder Society. Our mission was to find the cause of a freezing sickness that had infected a highly-regarded emissary from the Land of the Linnorm Kings.

Ever the bunch of roleplaying fanatics, we created a freak show menagerie of characters too weird to live and too rare to die:

Erik Mona was Ecritus, a pathfinder in service to the Cheliax faction and a Cleric of Asmodeus with a voice much like the Monarch from The Venture Bros. cartoon on Adult Swim. Barely able to tolerate his less intelligent brethren, Ecritus used every opportunity available to him to manipulate his fellow pathfinders into doing his bidding.

Michael (a representative from the company printing the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game beta) played Angelo, a pathfinder Paladin in service to the Andoran faction and completely unsure of the terrifying rabble the Pathfinder Society assigned him to in order to solve the mystery of the freezing sickness. A quiet, jovial sort, Angelo spent most of the scenario in the background, steering clear of Ecritus and Jason Bulmahn's character.

Jason played Dar-An'Sumat, an Osirion necromancer obsessed with sending the dead to their proper resting place in Pharasma's embrace. Ever the loyalist, Dar was also a member of the Osirion faction, and while trying to complete his faction's mission in the scenario, spent a great deal of time with his hooks, cotton cloth, and flensing knives sending the deceased foes of the party to the great beyond. Jason was decidedly creepy in this role.

Chris Self, Paizo's Sales Manager, played a sorcerer of the Cheliax faction named Blase. In any other group of pathfinders, Blase would be creepy and strange, but when put up against the creepy and strange Osirion and Blase's fellow Chelaxian, he was pretty tame. Chris played him dark and goth-like.

My own character was an Ulfen barbarian with an incredibly long and unpronounceable name in service to the Qadiran faction. He was a member of the Pathfinder Society because the society's goal of protecting and seeking knowledge matched his own. Cast out from the Land of the Linnorm Kings as a youth, he wandered the Inner Sea educating himself in the ways of more civilized peoples. I played him as a smart, well-spoken Dolph Lundgren-type who saw violence as a last resort and would blackout when flying into a rage. He was fun to play and very difficult to roleplay around some of his more violence-first-then-questions-asked adventuring companions.

Lastly, and certainly not least, was Nicolas Logue as the Ulfen cripple and albino rogue, Thalg Sickeyes. In Nick's own words from the Post Your Gen Con Character Concepts Here! thread on the Pathfinder Society messageboards, "His bloody birth ended his mother, thus he claimed his first life before he took his first breath. He was born with his left arm crippled. It remains palsied to this day. Thalg is an albino, with sickly yellowed pupils and stringly white hair." Click the link to the thread to read more about Nick's decidedly twisted take on an Ulfen rogue.

Our first foray into a Pathfinder Society scenario was a blast. Craig Shackleton has written a fantastic little adventure for Gen Con and I'm positive everyone who gets a shot at playing Frozen Fingers of Midnight will be impressed as well. Who knows, if you're lucky, you may even get Craig as your GM.

Stranger things have happened.

And now, pictures:

Joshua J. Frost
Director of Marketing

Ten Other Gods

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Beyond the 20 core deities, there are those who have not become so ubiquitous that their names and faiths can be found throughout Avistan or Garund. In some cases, this is simply because their worshipers do not actively seek out new members of their faith, while in others it is the deity who discourages growth. In Aroden's case, a once mighty faith has crumbled to a shadow of its former glory after the god himself perished. Beyond these ten, there exist still more deities, but those generally focus on specific races or regions of the world and have not yet expanded out of their relatively narrow confines to touch other realms and believers. The ten Other Gods detailed in the Pathfinder Campaign Setting are listed below, several of which are being introduced to the public for the first time!

Achaekek (He Who Walks in Blood): God of the Red Mantis and assassins.

Aroden (The Last Azlanti): God of human culture, innovation, and history.

Besmara (The Pirate Queen): Goddess of piracy, strife, and sea monsters.

Droskar (The Dark Smith): God of toil, slavery, and cheating.

Ghlaunder (The Gossamer King): God of parasites, infection, and stagnation.

Groetus (God of the End Times): God of empty places, ruins, and oblivion.

Kurgess (The Strong Man): God of competition, sport, and self-sacrifice.

Milani (The Everbloom): Goddess of hope, devotion, and uprisings.

Sivanah (The Seventh Veil): Goddess of illusions, reflections, and mystery.

Zyphus (The Grim Harvestman): God of accidental death, graveyards, and tragedy.

James Jacobs
Pathfinder Editor-in-Chief

Ferretfolk!

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Yes, you read that correctly. Ferretfolk.

Under the auspices of Dungeons & Dragons, Gary Gygax created a number of iconic races, whether out of whole cloth or by combining a various different mythological and literary sources. So I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when, in his final novel, he did it one last time. At first, I balked—up to this point, Infernal Sorceress had been a fairly hard-edged and gritty fantasy romp. What were a bunch of talking weasel-people doing here? Yet once I got past my initial knee-jerk reaction (which said that such things were better off left in one of Brian Jacques's Redwall novels), I realized that, in fact, they fit the story perfectly. After all, what's the point of fantasy if not to mix things up and make the reader question their standard assumptions? In throwing in something totally out of left field, Gygax was rattling my cage and reminding me that there's more to the genre than just the same old white-bread elves and dwarves we all know and love. And besides, their accents are totally adorable.

So with that said, I thought I'd offer you all the first (and quite possibly last) appearance of the ferretfolk:

Below, Ferret stared a second in horror. What little light there was danced and swayed wildly, but it was sufficient to show him the ugly mandibles and head of the steelback as the monster came up into the cave. The hole's exit was a tight fit for it, but the myriapod was forcing its hard body through it all too quickly. Each segment through gave it two more legs with which to haul the rest of it out to get at its prey. "Oh, crap! Now what?" Ferret cursed as he turned to look for a really fast means of getting up to the passage he wasn't sure would save them from the hunting giant centipede. At that moment a braided leather rope dropped in front of him. Ferret needed no urging, and he swarmed up hand-over-hand. "Where'd you get the rope, Ra—"

His jaw fell slack as he saw the welcoming committee awaiting him. One of that number jerked him all the way inside, pulled him out of the way, as two others rolled a rounded boulder to the brink of the tunnel. "—ker?

His companion was as shocked as Ferret. Raker gave his head a slight shake as if to say, "I haven't the slightest notion," and then stared at the two lithe forms which were just in the process of shoving the big stone over the edge. They heard a thump and a sharp crack followed by scrabbling noises which slowly died away.

"Gottum!" One of the creatures who had sent the boulder down chittered in something which sounded vaguely like human speech as it turned and showed a mouthful of sharp fangs to the two men.

"That's trade talk," Raker murmured, referring to the pidgin Phonecian commonly used throughout much of Ærth to conduct business.

"And that's a... a... man-sized stoat," Ferret breathed.

"Sure, talk pretty fine with hewmuns allatime now and then, but no Stoatie. Nonono. Thurr we are—Ferretfolk you name we, us say Thurr." The creature trilled the r's as it pronounced the name of its folk. "See dead manyfoot?"

The creature talked as fast as it moved. Ferret couldn't believe this. They did look like huge, slender ferrets, down to their buff fur and black "masks." He gaped, then asked rather stupidly, "Real ferretfolk?" He had heard of them but never believed they existed. "I am called Ferret."

The one who had hauled him to safety ignored the question. "Come. See it broken. Good."

Both men went to where the creature proudly pointed with its nose, stared down to see the steelback below, forepart a gory ruin under the boulder. "You sure squashed the shit out of that head!" Raker said with enthusiasm.

"Bad thing, manyfoot. Kill hewmuns, kill you, kill Thurr, too, so we allatime kill 'em first. Pretty good, sure?" And as it rattled that off the creature showed its teeth again in what was surely meant to be an imitation of a human smile.

James Sutter
Planet Stories Editor