Pathfinder in 2009!

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

So one year ago today, I made a post to this blog about what was coming in 2008 for Pathfinder's Adventure Path. I just went back and looked and it's some interesting reading. For the most part, we accomplished everything on that list, although as we got toward the end of the predictions for 2008, I note a few things that didn't quite work out the way I'd planned for them to. Pathfinder #16 didn't have a gazetteer of the Darklands surrounding the drow city, and as I'd feared, the article about Demon Lords did indeed slip from #17 to #18. But overall, pretty close!

Anyway, the reason I bring this up is that here we are at the end of 2009, and I need a topic for a blog post. Especially after we missed several posts over the past few days due to snow-related apocalypses. So, without further ado, here's what you can look forward to seeing in Pathfinder in 2009!

January: The Second Darkness Adventure Path comes to a close this month with Brian Cortijo's "Descent Into Midnight," taking the PCs into one of the deepest reaches of the Darklands. A gazetteer of the mysterious Land of Black Blood and an article about the 29 most notorious of Golarion's demon lords rounds out the first volume of the year. Followers of Eando Klein's adventures in the Pathfinder Journal won't want to miss this volume, for this installment brings his long adventure to a close!

February: We heat things up in chilly February by traveling far to the south of Varisia to start the Legacy of Fire Adventure Path. Paizo's own publisher, Erik Mona, penned this volume's adventure, "Howl of the Carrion King," and New York Times bestselling author Elaine Cunningham takes over the Pathfinder Journal, starting a new story that'll run alongside of the Legacy of Fire campaign.

March: Those who didn't get enough gnolls from the first Legacy of Fire adventure in February will love "The House of the Beast," by Tim Hitchcock. The picture shown here by Svetlin Velinov depicts just one of the exciting encounters you can look forward to in this massive dungeon crawl, proving that there's more than gnolls waiting for you! Sean K Reynolds continues his exploration of Golarion's deities with Sarenrae, and Steve Kenson explores the region around Pale Mountain in northwest Katapesh, ground zero for half of Legacy of Fire's adventures.

April: In April, we begin Wolfgang Baur's four-part series of articles about the Genies of Golarion, starting with an exploration of what it is to be one of these magical elemental creatures to begin with. Darrin Drader's first Pathfinder adventure, "The Jackal's Price," takes the PCs into the second-largest city in the Inner Sea region, and Richard Pett shows us what goes on in a typical Katapesh marketplace. Be afraid, as they say…

May: RPG Superstar finalist Jason Nelson's adventure, "The End of Eternity," takes the PCs into an unexpected realm both near and far from Katapesh, while Todd Stewart, author of The Great Beyond, explores the chaotic extraplanar race of the proteans. Wolfgang's genie articles continue with an exploration of methods to bind and command genies.

June: At the height of summer, Pathfinder heads into one of the game's most legendary sites—the efreeti-ruled City of Brass on the Elemental Plane of Fire. Greg Vaughan's adventure, "The Impossible Eye," delves deep into one of the city's palace fortresses, while Wolfgang Baur explores the rest of the City of Brass in a gazetteer of the mythic realm. And Sean K Reynolds adds Rovagug to the list of big deity articles.

July: The Legacy of Fire reaches its explosive conclusion in RPG Superstar finalist Rob McCreary's "The Final Wish," where we get to see just what happens when a crazed genie gets too generous with his wish-granting mojo. Wolfgang's genie articles end with all sorts of genie-powered magic, and we pull back the curtain on the spawn of Rovagug. The tarrasque is only the most famous one of many, after all!

August: Things start to get a little bit hazier once we move into Gen Con, as they usually do, but I do know that August sees the launch of something no less than the first ever Pathfinder RPG Adventure Path, "Council of Thieves." Fully compatible with both the new rules and the 3.5 SRD, this Adventure Path heads back north to the city of Westcrown in Cheliax, home of devil worshipers, tiefling bandits, and lots and lots of rebels! We've been pitching the adventure in house here as "The Godfather" meets "The Omen," but I'm still not quite sure what exactly we mean about that. Those of you who've been waiting patiently for lots of details on the Hellknights should find one of this volume's support articles of particular interest.

September: The Council of Thieves Adventure Path takes place entirely in and surrounding the city of Westcrown, and as a result, many of the adventures in this campaign will have a distinctively urban feel. This volume's adventure ups that ante, asking the PCs not only to brave the perils of urban adventures, but to take part in a violent and dangerous play in order to impress the local nobility! Anyone can kill an otyugh, but how many adventurers can remember their next line on stage during the middle of a fight for their life?

October: The PCs continue to oppose the Council of Thieves as Westcrown falls ever more under the influence of the mysterious thieves' guild, and the second part of an exploration of the Hellknights of Cheliax (a series scheduled to begin back in August) shows us even more about this organization's methods and resources.

November: At some point along the way in Council of Thieves, I suspect we'll be talking quite a bit about devils and Hell—about Mammon and Erebus in particular. I won't promise a lot more about this archdevil in November, but chances are good! This volume's adventure, tentatively titled "The Infernal Syndrome," explores just why it's a bad idea to rely too much on diabolic magic for comforts around the home.

December: It's pretty likely that by this time, we'll have a nice big article that examines the tieflings of Golarion. Also, I probably should have mentioned that Sean'll be taking a long look at the church of Iomedae back in September already, but in December we've got a toasty gift for everyone—Asmodeus, one of the deities most requested for an exploration in Pathfinder, finally makes his debut here!

And that's that! Wes and I are going to be spending a fair amount of time this week getting Council of Thieves all mapped out in detail, and in the months to come I'm sure we'll have more to say. But for now, the hints and clues and teasers above will have to suffice. Next year's looking like it could be Paizo's biggest year yet, in any case—hope to see you all there!

James Jacobs
Pathfinder Editor-in-Chief