Meet the Iconics: Amiri

Monday, March 31, 2008

There are a million ways to die in the Realm of the Mammoth Lords. The natives of this brutal land are the nomadic Kellids, and they have made the best of this primal world. Amiri is one of these barbarians. Although she was blessed with a combination of independence and brawn, Amiri's childhood remained one of constant challenge. To the people of her tribe, the Six Bears, brawn and bravery were not ideal characteristics for a woman to have. To the Six Bears, a woman's role was simple—raise children, tend to the sick, and forge bonds with other tribes. Women were resources. When a tribe wished to form an alliance, they would send gifts of meat, furs, treasure, and daughters. Amiri didn't see herself as livestock, and every chance she got, she tried to one-up her brothers and cousins. When a hunter went out and caught a caribou for the tribe, she would go out and catch two. When a party of orc raiders stumbled into their hunting grounds and a tribal hero killed four, she took it upon herself to kill six. Her constant sense of competition made her few friends—her brothers were both intimidated by her ferocity and enthralled by her beauty, while her sisters knew that each time she went against tradition, they would all be punished.

When Amiri finally came of age, her reputation had spread beyond the Six Bears. The other tribes took to calling her the "Soft Chieftain" of the Six Bears, a name that humiliated her almost as much as it did her kin, inferring that they were weak for allowing one of their women to grow so independent and strong. None of the other tribes wanted any part of her—her continued presence among the Six Bears caused much strife between once friendly tribes, and so the elders determined that there was but one choice—Amiri had to die. The only problem was the commonly held belief that murder of one's kin was the greatest taboo and the surest path to Hell.

The opportunity to be rid of their troublesome sister rose soon enough, when word came of a tribe of frost giants who had been sighted in the nearby mountains. The elders organized a warband to scout the mountains and to drive back the giants, and they made sure that Amiri was included in the band. Shocked but proud to have finally been chosen, Amiri didn't notice how the elders smiled at her eagerness to be on her way. The elders knew that Amiri's sense of competition would swiftly get her in over her head, and in secret tasked the rest of the hunters to goad her into just such a situation.

The warband headed up into the Kodar foothills, and it wasn't long before they found evidence of giants. One morning, the leader of the band rushed into camp, waving a dagger the size of a man's arm over his head. The warrior claimed to have single-handedly slain a giant and to have taken his dagger, and the others in the band congratulated him on his skill and bravery. Amiri took the bait, and announced that she would return by sundown with an even greater weapon. She could have no way of knowing that the dagger was part of the deception—that the warband had brought it with them as a prop to incite her into a foolish plan.

What the warband themselves didn't anticipate was that Amiri would find a frost giant. After wandering the mountains, she came to an immense body at the foot of a cliff—the giant had fallen to his death weeks before, and at his side lay his immense bastard sword. Although Amiri knew that she had not killed the giant, she also knew that all she needed was his sword as proof—certainly her kin wouldn't think to dispute her claim with such a grand trophy. Yet when she returned to the place she had left her kin, she found the camp empty. Concerned, worried that they had fallen victim to the region's dangers, she tracked them, catching up with the warband halfway back to the tribal camp. As she approached the camp, though, she realized something was amiss—they were talking of her, and they were laughing.

Creeping unseen to the edge of the camp, she realized that she had been duped. She heard her kin mocking her ways, of how she had fallen for their ruse, and how even now she was likely cooking in a giant's stewpot. That they seemed grateful and so at ease with her death was not what enraged Amiri. It was the proof that her own people thought of her as a fool that did it. Eyes blazing, Amiri stepped into the camp and held her new sword out, proclaiming that even now she had bested them. The other warriors, shocked to see her alive, quickly fell back to laughter, pointing out that she could hardly wield such an ungainly weapon. Her fury growing, Amiri hefted the weapon and tried to adopt a menacing pose, but the weapon's size threw her off balance and she toppled over, much to the other barbarian's growing amusement.

It was enough. With a roar, Amiri leapt back to her feet. Her rage filled her body, clouded her vision, stole over her soul. Two of the barbarians had been decapitated by her immense sword before they realized that death had come. The battle was swift and brutal, with Amiri not noticing the blows that landed on her, simply stepping from one traitor to the next and cutting them down.

When her rage finally subsided, Amiri realized what she had done. She knew that the hunters had certainly deserved their fates, but they were still kin. That her reasons for murdering them were, to her, valid didn't change the ties of blood. She knew that she had cut those ties, and so she turned her back on the remains, trusting that they would be discovered by another hunting party soon enough. As she headed west into the lands of Irrisen and the unknown reaches beyond, her heart was for the first time free—no longer was her future tied to traditions that would constrain her. She has come to value her oversized sword, and even though she can only truly wield it properly when her blood rage takes her, it has become as much a part of her as her fierce independence or her fiery heart. She no longer sees herself as a member of the Six Bears, but never speaks of the circumstances that forced her to flee her homeland. Some things are better left unsaid.

Amiri debuts as a pregenerated character in volume 13 of Pathfinder.

James Jacobs
Pathfinder Editor-in-Chief

Sneak Peek: Gazetteer

Friday, March 28, 2008

From the decadent courts of infernal Cheliax to the crumbling monuments of Osirion's timelost pharaohs, the world of Golarion offers countless opportunities for fantasy RPG adventures! This brief preview of some of the art from the forthcoming Pathfinder Chronicles Gazetteer gives an idea of the incredible images included in the book. Artists for the Gazetteer include James Zhang, Julie Dillon, and Andrew Hou, with 21 holy symbols designed by Jeff Carlisle!

The Pathfinder Chronicles Gazetteer (by Jason Bulmahn and some fellow named Erik Mona) is on its way back from the printer, and is currently set for a mid-May release.

Erik Mona
Paizo Publisher

More Fumbles

Thursday, March 27, 2008

The Critical Fumble Deck is due to hit our warehouse any day now. As promised, here are a couple aof additional sample cards and a look at the optional rules card. This card gives you some extra tools for fitting critical fumbles into your game. Take a look. Feel free to post up your optional rules for using this deck in our forums. This Critical Fumble Deck is a sequel to the extremely popular Critical Hit Deck that hit store shelves early last year. These two decks can be used together to add a new element of surprise to your combats.

Jason Bulmahn
PathfinderLead Designer

Curse of the Crimson Item Cards

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

With the Curse of the Crimson Throne Adventure Path underway in the pages of Pathfinder, we have recently sent off the Curse of the Crimson Throne Item Cards to the printer. This set includes a wide variety of the items you might encounter while taking the fight to the foes of Korvosa. Inside you will find such gems as totem spear, the doctor's mask, and the mysterious harrow deck. Need more proof that this is shaping up to be a great set, take a look at these cards. The Curse of the Crimson Throne Item Card deck consists of 54 cards and is compatible with any fantasy roleplaying game (such as the Pathfinder RPG). This deck is due to hit stores in May.

Jason Bulmahn
Pathfinder Lead Designer

Four Score and a Gen Con Ago

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

This is a true story.*

We Paizonians have a tradition: every year at Gen Con we invent something. One year we invented Titanic Games. Another year we invented Pathfinder. Yet another year we invented trans-hyperdimensional quasiphasic proton pillows (patent pending). Last year, quite by accident, we invented Yetisburg.

The gathered Paizo editorial staff (Erik Mona, James Jacobs, Jason Bulmahn, F. Wesley Schneider, Jeremy Walker) and myself were playing rugby in the lobby of the incredibly expensive Burg de Yeti hotel in downtown Indianapolis. It was just after the second scrum when Jason threw his head back and howled, charging the ball carrier (Wes) with a vicious fervor that only a man as imposing as Jason can muster. One might say that, with his towering height and rampaging facial hair, he looked rather... yeti-like.

Wes, not wanting to be run over, retreated back behind his line and started rallying his team, pushing them toward the beastly Jason Bulmahn while shouting, "Don't be afraid of him! He's only seven feet tall!" Wes's teammates, Jeremy and James, took to Wes's orders like crows to a battlefield and started flinging all manner of object at Jason: silverware, bowling pins, a circa 1863 cannon ball, and one very angry muskrat. These distractions caused the hulking Bulmahn to pause just long enough for an errant Russian teapot to clonk him upside the head. He went down like a telephone pole, crashing terribly to earth and taking myself and the rest of our team with him.

As I struggled to extract myself from the pile of collapsed bodies, it hit me: this could be a game! It could be about our famous rugby match in the Burg de Yeti! And Jason would be represented as a yeti, with Wes as a famous rugby general and the rest of the guys as teams of brothers fighting against each other. Most importantly, I would need someone at least half as crazy as me to help me design it—Mike Selinker!

Yet another Gen Con. Yet another invention.

That's exactly how it happened. If anyone says that, as the Paizonians gathered for dinner one night, a very tired James Jacobs incorrectly heard an equally tired Erik Mona and then blurted out an incredulous "Yetisburg!?" in response, thus causing an idea I couldn't get out of my head, prompting me to tell Mike Selinker, and the two of us deciding we had to make this game—well, they're probably lying.

And that's the truth.

*Not a guarantee

Joshua J. Frost
Yetisburg Co-Designer
Director of Sales & Marketing

Imps and Pseudodragons

Monday, March 24, 2008

While Mike was working on the Guide to Korvosa, he and I brainstormed ideas for what kind of perils might be dwelling in the Shingles. We'd both seen plenty of monster-infested city undergrounds, but we wanted something more with Korvosa; we wanted a monster-infested rooftop. Sort of. We didn't want things like dire bats or manticores stomping around up there—whatever ended up in the Shingles had to be relatively small and agile. Nick Logue's adventure already had a pseudodragon in it, and I liked the idea that these little dragons were perhaps native to the region and adapted to the rooftops as the city took over the landscape. And Mike had all these rogue, castaway imps flapping around. From there, the image of periodic imp-on-pseudodragon sky clashes popped into my head—it was too awesome an image to resist, and so the imp and pseudodragon battles became a part of the city's flavor.

This wasn't really meant to be much more than flavor; just something that makes Korvosa unique. But we got a little carried away, and suddenly two huge pictures in the book were of this supposedly rare event. With the extra weight lent by the illustrations, the imp and dragon clashes became THE iconic Korvosan event. Problem is, of course, that the game rules get in the way of this flavor. Pseudodragons can't actually hurt imps, so logically speaking, such huge battles should only ever happen once and after that, it's all imps all the time, right?

Not really. If you want more rules to back up how these battles work out, it's a relatively simple thing to come up with variants and additions for both sides to even things up a bit. Of course, you can just fake it, saying that with enough pseudodragons piled onto you, no amount of damage reduction will really help. Alternately, you can rule that Korvosa's imps have lived on the Material Plane so long that they're now considered native outsiders and have lost their fast healing and damage reduction as a result.

My preference? The Impslayer feat! Give it to all your Korvosan pseudodragons as a bonus feat, and watch the imp ichor fly!

New Feat: Impslayer

Many of Korvosa's nobles decorate their roofs with tiny amounts of precious metals, among them silver-lined weather vanes, shingles, and gutters designed to catch the sunlight to give their homes a distinctive sparkle in the sunlight. By spending years sharpening stings and teeth against these silver-enhanced decorations, or sneaking drinks of holy water from outdoor fonts at various temples, some pseudodragons have effectively transformed themselves into deadly weapons against the city's imps.

Prerequisites: Pseudodragon

Benefit:Your natural weapons bypass an imp's damage reduction. In addition, your great skill at fighting imps allows you to apply your Dexterity modifier to damage done with natural weapons rather than your Strength modifier, as your blows are delivered with great precision rather than force.

Special: Pseudodragons born and raised in Korvosa's Shingles gain this feat as a bonus feat.

James Jacobs
Pathfinder Editor-in-Chief

Sneak Peek: Into the Slums

Friday, March 21, 2008

Here is a sneak peek inside our GameMastery Map Pack: Slums. Whether you're tromping the streets of Old Korvosa, any of the other cities in Golarion, or a city of your own making, it's bound to have slums. Take a look at our map tiles for the really-low-rent district.

Chris Self
Paizo Editorial Assistant

Interview: Jason Bulmahn, Pathfinder RPG Lead Designer

Thursday, March 20, 2008

I 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 summer, I've been experimenting with the rules, tweaking the things I thought needed some work and reinforcing the parts that I liked. When Paizo made the decision to go full steam ahead with ongoing 3.5 support, I brought the rules into the office and we began poring over them as a team. A lot of great work came out of the past few months with nearly everybody in our editorial staff offering up suggestions and ideas to make the rules even better.

What changes (that are made in the Pathfinder RPG) will be the most impactful to the gaming experience?

For me, a lot of the changes enacted by the Pathfinder RPG are designed to smooth out some of the rough spots of 3.5, while adding some spice to some rules elements that have become a bit ordinary. One of my favorites is adjusting the turn undead rules to also heal living creatures. This allows a cleric to actually cast some of his spells instead of saving them for healing. It also allows the party to adventure a bit longer. Combine that with reusable powers for both wizards and clerics and you have a longer adventuring day, something the game sorely needed.

Do you think the Pathfinder RPG will eventually replace 3.5 edition?

Since the core books for the 3.5 edition of the game are about to be out of print, I think that the Pathfinder RPG will replace them as the common reference point for those who are still interested in playing the rules system.

Are there any surprising things in the Pathfinder RPG?

Yes, quite a number of things actually. The changes to domains and arcane schools, the unification of the various combat maneuvers to one simple system, and the alterations to turning all seem to have surprised a number of people. There are a lot of little surprises lurking in the rules too. We changed Intimidate somewhat so that it can demoralize a foe for more than 1 round. It's not a huge change, but it makes the skill a much more interesting option than it was. Changing Dodge so that it is a flat +1 bonus to your Armor Class is another change that works to simplify the game by removing the pesky need to remember who you are using Dodge against. I think a lot of these little surprises have not been spotted quite yet, and I look forward to discussing them with the playtesters.

What are your hopes for the Pathfinder RPG?

We've got a long way to go before the Pathfinder RPG is in its finished form and between now and then I am really looking forward to working with the fans and playtesters to make this the game that we all want to play. I hope that the finished game meets that goal, and I am confident that with more than 5,000 playtesters on board, we will be able to solve any problem that stands in our way.

Carolyn Mull
Paizo Sales & Marketing Assistant

A New Adventure on Old Mars!

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

(WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD. Those who have not yet read City of the Beast should seriously consider doing so before pressing onward.)

Although it stands on its own as a novel, Michael Moorcock's Lord of the Spiders picks up immediately where the events of City of the Beast left off. In the second of the Kane of Old Mars books, Moorcock brings us a slightly darker series of adventures for the American physicist and duelist Michael Kane. Pulled back to Earth on the eve of his engagement to the beautiful Princess Shizala, Kane begins this story frantically preparing a second version of his matter transport machine, this time with only the narrator (Mr. Edward P. Bradbury/Michael Moorcock himself) to assist and fund his endeavors. Yet when the switch is finally thrown and Kane goes hurtling through the aether to arrive on Mars's surface, he finds things very different from when he left. The Blue Giant savages he remembers are now civilized and in the midst of a bloody civil war, and the free peoples of the south are marching on each other over false accusations. Has Michael Kane arrived on the same planet, only to find himself centuries in the future? And are his cunning and sword arm enough to free downtrodden peoples—both blue-skinned and otherwise—from the rule of tyrants? Only an adventure worthy of Michael Moorcock—complete with airships and spider-people, false gods and throne-room assassinations—will reveal the truth.

And now, an excerpt from Lord of the Spiders:

They gibbered and fell back for a moment, a terrible twittering noise, like that of thousands of bats, filling the air and echoing on and on through the complex of chambers.

Bac Puri's sword swung to left and right, up and down, slicing off limbs, stabbing vitals, piercing the unnaturally soft, clammy bodies.

And then he was, as if by magic, a mass of spears. He howled in his pain and madness as javelins like the one we had seen earlier appeared in every part of his body until it was almost impossible to distinguish the man beneath.

He fell with a crash.

Seeing the creatures were at least mortal, I decided we should take advantage of Bac Puri's mad attack and, waving my sword, I leapt through the entrance, shouting:

"Come—they can be slain!"

They could be slain, but they were elusive creatures and sight and feel of them brought physical revulsion. With the others behind me, I carried the attack to them and soon found myself in a tangle of soft, yielding flesh that seemed boneless.

And the faces! They were vile parodies of human faces and again resembled nothing quite so much as the ugly little vampire bat of Earth. Flat faces with huge nostrils let into the head, gashes of mouths full of sharp little fangs, half-blind eyes, dark and wicked—and insensate.

As I fought their claws, their sharp teeth and their spears, they slithered about, gibbering and twittering.

I had been wrong about them. There was not a trace of intelligence in their faces—just a demoniac blood-hunger, a dark malevolence that hated, hated, hated—but never reasoned.

My companions and I stood shoulder to shoulder, back to back, as the things tore at us…

James Sutter
Planet Stories Editor

Paizo Publishing® Announces the Pathfinder RPG™

Pathfinder™ to continue under the 3.5 rules.

Tuesday, March 18th, 2008

Paizo Publishing today unveiled the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, a tabletop fantasy roleplaying game that will serve as the anchor for the company's popular line of Pathfinder adventures, sourcebooks, and campaigns. Today marks the beginning of a year-long Open Playtest of the new rules, which are based upon the popular 3.5 rules available under the Open Game License. The Pathfinder RPG is designed with backward compatibility as one of its primary goals, so players will continue to enjoy their lifelong fantasy gaming hobby without invalidating their entire game library. The first Pathfinder RPG Alpha release is available now as a free 65-page PDF download at paizo.com/pathfinderRPG. Until the finished Pathfinder RPG's release as a hardcover rulebook in August 2009, all of Paizo's popular Pathfinder-brand products will continue under the current 3.5 rules set.

"I'm really excited to work with the playtesters to make this the best game possible," said Jason Bulmahn, Paizo's Lead Designer. "In the spirit of the Open Game movement, the Pathfinder RPG is really your roleplaying game. It's a huge thrill to get to lead the design process."

Paizo will issue additional Pathfinder RPG Alpha releases in the coming months, covering new changes and additions to the 3.5 rules. Gamers can download, read, and participate in the free open playtest by setting up a paizo.com account and joining the discussion with Paizo's design staff at paizo.com/pathfinderRPG. The Pathfinder RPG will be backward-compatible with the 3.5 rules, and the staff has kept this goal as a primary focus since design began in 2007.

This coming August, Paizo will release a massive, full-color, softcover Pathfinder RPG Beta release for $24.99. This book will be available on paizo.com, at Gen Con, as well as through hobby distribution at local game stores. Just like the Alpha releases, the Beta release will be available as a free PDF download on paizo.com. As Wizards of the Coast's core 3.5 rulebooks are expected to go out of print with the release of 4th Edition, Paizo will use the Pathfinder RPG as a replacement for the 3.5 core rules. The Pathfinder RPG Beta release will represent Paizo's first published take on an updated 3.5 system, and playtesting will continue through spring 2009, when Paizo will incorporate the open playtest feedback and create a hardcover Pathfinder RPG for release in the hobby trade, bookstores, and paizo.com in August 2009.

Paizo hopes to support 4th Edition with fan-created online conversions of its Pathfinder products and a complete line from its partner company, Necromancer Games, a trend-setter in the original Open Gaming movement. Necromancer has already announced a new 4th Edition version of their award-winning Tome of Horrors monster encyclopedia, and has plans for additional player and GM support products.

Today, Paizo also announced the hiring of Nicolas Logue to run the Pathfinder Society organized play campaign, a massive mega-campaign to launch at this year's Gen Con. The Pathfinder Society will feature events at major conventions, retail stores, and home play as a way to involve thousands of players in a constantly evolving campaign environment fueled by downloadable scenarios released by Paizo. Nicolas Logue is a long-time Paizo contributor to the print versions of Dragon and Dungeon as well as the Pathfinder Adventure Paths and Pathfinder Modules line. He also co-runs an annual competition at Gen Con called Iron DM that will continue to be co-run by Nicolas Logue and his Iron DM compatriots. Nick begins working at Paizo in April.

"Nicolas Logue is one of the most energetic, personable gamers I have ever met," said Erik Mona, Paizo's Publisher and the co-founder during his tenure at Wizards of the Coast of Living Greyhawk, the largest organized play RPG campaign in history. "Running a successful organized play campaign involves a magical combination of cool ideas, organizational skills, and enthusiasm. Nick is absolutely the perfect man for the job, and I'm thrilled that he will be joining us here at Paizo."

Additional information on the Pathfinder Society campaign can be found at paizo.com/pathfindersociety.

Gazetteer Timeline

Monday, March 17th, 2008

The Pathfinder Chronicles Gazetteer presents—in addition to chapters about the various nations, gods, and races—a short chapter devoted to history and cosmology. In that chapter is a long timeline of important events in Golarion's past. The following presents a peek at some of the historical events important to various modules and other supplements. And yes, some of these connections are pretty tenuous, but the point is to illustrate how hard we've worked to show how things interconnect in Golarion. So please enjoy!

–5293: Earthfall. The Starstone tumbles to Golarion, creating the Inner Sea and kicking off a thousand years of darkness. Azlant and Thassilon destroyed. Elves depart Golarion.
c. –3472: Founding of Ancient Osirion.
–2323: Shory aeromancers establish Kho as the first of their legendary flying cities.
–1498: The Four Pharaohs of Ascension join forces to rule Osirion, initiating that empire's Second Age.
1: Absalom founded. Aroden, the Last Azlant, raises the Starstone from the depths of the Inner Sea and becomes a living god.
1893: Norgorber passes the Test of the Starstone, following Aroden's path to divinity.
2765: Cayden Cailean drunkenly survives the Test of the Starstone.
3832: Iomedae, heroine of the Shining Crusade, successfully attempts the Test of the Starstone and becomes Aroden's Herald.
4307: Foundation of the Pathfinder Society in Absalom.
4407: Cheliax founds Korvosa in the frontier region of Varisia. (Yes, of course I'd make sure this gets mentioned.)
4508: The Forest King Narven dies in the Arthfell Forest.
4606: Aroden dies, leaving the Empire of Cheliax without a divine mandate.
4640: Diabolists of the House of Thrune wrest control of Cheliax, brutally ending three decades of vicious civil war. A dark shadow envelops the empire.
4697: The Goblinblood Wars shake Isger.
4707: Adventurers reopen the Bloodsworn Vale. Pharaoh Khemet III opens the ruins of Osirion to foreign explorers.
4708: The current year.

Mike McArtor
GameMastery Associate Editor

Sneak Peek: Classic Monsters Revisited

Friday, March 14, 2008

Get a quick glimpse of Paizo's reimagining of some of your favorite monsters featured in Classic Monsters Revisited. Goblins and trolls and ogres, oh my!

Carolyn Mull
Pazio Sales & Marketing Assistant

Critical Fumbles

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Everybody loves the stories about the critical hit that brought down the dragon just when all seemed lost. Unfortunately, combat is not all about the best hits. Sometimes, it is about the most horrible misses. The Critical Fumble Deck is expected to hit our warehouse here in just a few weeks. This deck of cards is a sequel to the immensely popular Critical Hit Deck we released last year. Although you do not need the Critical Hit Deck to use the Critical Fumble Deck, the two can work in harmony together, bringing both joy and sorrow to your players. Either way, you're in for a good time. Next week, we will take a look at a few more cards and some of the optional rules for using the deck.

Jason Bulmahn
GameMastery Brand Manager

Pathfinder Chronicles: Classic Monsters Revisited

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Here is a quick look at one of many monsters featured in Classic Monsters Revisited.

"Games and activities that humans would call fun are not something trolls take time to consider. They are consumed with the need to hunt, leaving little time for other diversions. Troll female groups have one game (of sorts) that they play every spring solstice to honor their terrible demon god. Two lines of trolls form several yards apart and stare at each other, working up their aggression and hatred until their 'team' is a mass of frenzied berserker rage. The team mentality ends the moment one of the trolls breaks his or her line and charges at the other one. There seems to be no obvious starting point—a troll simply feels her rage wash over her and throws herself at the other group. The result is a chaotic troll melee where limbs are severed, bodies torn apart, and eyes gouged out—even some rage-induced cannibalism occurs. When it's over, one troll stands less injured than the others, all of whom lay strewn about the battlefield crawling toward severed limbs or gathering their entrails and stuffing them back inside their punctured bellies. Once everyone has recovered, they quietly go about their business."

Carolyn Mull
Paizo Sales & Marketing Assistant

A Harrowing Experience

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

From the journal of Mike Selinker, the first harrower:

The story of Harrow starts as all good stories do, with Erik Mona and a portent of doom. "You, Master Selinker," he foreshadowed, "are being hunted by a undaunted band of brothers. A band that cannot be daunted by the mightiest of daunters. I speak, perforce, of the strapping young men of Pathfinder. They are coming for you."

I sought an exit, but these are Pathfinders, you see. They can find anyone, and since I am anyone, they found me. From me they demanded a boon: a tarot deck they could call their very own. Messrs. James and James and Jason and F. Wesley believed that the world thirsted for such a deck. I was the humble peddler of games that could slake this thirst.

"Sa-ha!" I vocalized to all who would hear, "I shall call this deck 'Harrow,' as it speaks of travels through the inferno, and it rhymes with 'Tarot.' And I shall not be alone in this undertaking! If I am to walk this road, I will have a mighty illustrator to illuminate my path." This depicter of souls would be Kyle Stanley Hunter, he who could pluck from the darker planes the disturbing images that would force legions of gamers into hiding betwixt carpet and bed.

"I need one card," I posited to Mr. Stanley Hunter, and his expression of relief was palpable, and just as fleeting when I continued: "One card for each of fifty-four intersections of alignments and abilities laid upon an imperceptible grid. This is what I command. But what shall they be?"

"There may be a prince of rabbits," Kyle pronounced, "and a cricket with a melon, and a queen with six legs, and...." I left him to his prattle, and hearkened for a woman who could detail our method of beckoning that would strip the truth from the past, the present, and the future. This woman was the oddly-named Teeuwynn Woodruff, an oracle of (Phila-)Delphi(-a). "Tell me of my future," I beseeched Mistress Teeuwynn, "the future which involves you writing most of this rulebook."

She set her laptop to such a divinatory task, and I returned to Squire Bulmahn, he of the boisterous laugh and unbending stomach. "From you I do exact a concept for a cutthroat gambling game," I invoked. He had been warned of his destiny. "There shall be towers," he declaimed. "Oh, yes, there shall be towers."

Could there be a pair of stalwarts to weave all this together, I conjectured? There could. We would enlist yet another Mike (McArtor) and still a third James (Davis) in the editing and graphic design of this most epic of decks. From hither and from yon, they weaved.

Now it was done. The past, present, and future were divined. All that remained was the ritual sharing of the stomach-turning soda pops, and the recounting of the glories, and the filling of the requisite 500-word count. Which is now complete.

I mean, now.

Mike Selinker
Titanic Games Designer

Three Times the Evil

Monday, March 10, 2008

We've always kind of known what role devils and demons play in the game. In Pathfinder we'll be using the classic categories for the evil outsiders. Lawful evil outsiders are devils—these are the monsters interested in corrupting and destroying the mind. They infect faith, politics, and scholastic pursuits, and strive to turn mortals into traitors and heretics against their own nature. Chaotic evil outsiders are demons—creatures of primal destruction and ruin who have existed as long as life itself. They seek to destroy and savage the world, forces of entropy that exist to bring about the end of the world itself.

But that's just 2/3 of the equation. But what about the neutral evil fiends? They always seem to get left behind. Once you have groups out to corrupt the mind and corrupt the body... what else is left? In "Seven Days to the Grave", we've got the first new daemon to grace the Pathfinder Bestiary, the diseased leukodaemon (pictured here). We also reveal a bit more about the role of fiends in the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting.

For our neutral evil fiends, the daemons, they are embodiments of death. They care little about the physical world or pleasures and torments of the flesh, nor are they particularly interested in corrupting mortal life to serve their needs or to betray its kin. Daemons have perhaps the simplest desire—to feed on the soul. In many ways, the daemons are perhaps the most dangerous of the three, since you can continue to live even if your body and mind are broken after the demons and devils are done with you. When a daemon is done with you... you're just dead.

Actually, maybe that makes the daemons the most humane of the three fiends. At least they don't torment you as much.

James Jacobs
Pathfinder Editor-in-Chief

Sneak Peek: Escape from Old Korvosa

Friday, March 7, 2008

Enjoy this art sneak peek of a NPC in Pathfinder #9 — "Escape from Old Korvosa". That's one lucky kitty.

Carolyn Mull
Paizo Sales & Marketing Assistant

Dark Water

Thursday, March 6, 2008

The muddy waters of the great Vanji flow past hundreds of miles of dark jungle. As it flows through the darkness, the river drinks deeply of the blood of thousands of creatures, from the lowliest lizard devoured by a river crocodile to the human sacrifice drowned to appease the dark jungle gods to a battlefield where neighboring tribes rip out each other's throats in casual displays of wanton brutality. The terror and death along the dark banks sometimes gives birth to monsters. Horrifying amalgamations of jungle detritus and human souls, they float along the river, as serene as flowing water, until they encounter a living creature to add to their tranquility.

Jeremy Walker
GameMastery Assistant Editor

Gary Gygax: Remembered

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

The galley proofs for Gary Gygax's novel, The Samarkand Solution, are sitting on my desk right now, ready for the final check-off before we send the book to the printer. Sitting above my desk, packed into little cardboard sleeves, are dozens of copies of Dragon, the original RPG magazine for which Gygax served as publisher in its earliest days. Until recently, I served as publisher of that magazine, and it always made me proud to know I was following in Gary Gygax's august footsteps.

Gary died this morning in his sleep, bringing to an end a decades-spanning career that created an industry and brought joy to millions of people. The game he created with Dave Arneson&Dungeons & Dragons&has had a more profound influence upon my life than any other factor save my family, and his passing has affected me deeply.

When I was a kid growing up with D&D, Gygax's name was on the cover of just about every official product. He wrote the best adventure modules, he set the template for all future campaign settings with the World of Greyhawk, and perhaps most importantly he introduced a generation of kids to a game that was more than a game. I've met many of my closest friends in the span of my entire life because of Gary Gygax.

Last year, I launched Planet Stories, a line of fantasy and science-fiction trade paperbacks aimed at reprinting some of the classic works of sword & sorcery that inspired Dungeons & Dragons and fantasy gaming in general. In the AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide, a fascinating work that surely serves as Gygax's masterpiece, Gary thoughtfully included Appendix N: Inspirational and Educational Reading, a list that included such luminaries as Michael Moorcock, Robert E. Howard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Lin Carter, Fritz Leiber, H. P. Lovecraft, A. Merritt, Jack Vance, and more.

So in addition to my friends and my career, I also owe Gary Gygax an unpayable debt of gratitude for introducing me to the greatest fantasists who ever lived and a lifetime of excellent reading. Planet Stories is, in some small sense, my attempt to repay that debt by bringing many of these fine authors back into print to be enjoyed again. Like Paizo Publishing itself, Planet Stories exists because of Gary Gygax. I chose to honor Gary by including several of his own exciting fantasy novels in the Planet Stories line, including the imprint's very first release, The Anubis Murders.

It was the release of The Anubis Murders at last year's Gen Con Indy that brought me and Gary together for the last time. As the show's Guest of Honor, Gygax had more than a full schedule, but he was able to carve out a couple of hours a day to sit at the Paizo booth and sign autographs of his book while sharing thoughts and memories with his fans. And the stories those fans told were just incredible. For a full hour I listened as gamer after gamer approached Gary and told a variation of the exact same story: "Thank you for a game that has brought me so much joy. Thank you for a game that has brought me so many friends. Thank you for making such a positive impact on my life."

Sitting next to Gary at last year's Gen Con made me realize what a huge cultural impact Gary Gygax had made on all of us. Never before have I seen such honest appreciation. Never before had I been so moved and so proud to be working with a man who had made such an impact on my life. On all of our lives.

When a friend passes away, it is easy to be sad, to think about what might have been had he lived another year, another ten years. But my friends, I am here to tell you that Gary Gygax knew what a difference he had made in all of our lives, and he was proud to have made it.

Not bad for a life's work.

I'll miss you, Gary Gygax. We all will. Goodbye, my friend.

And thank you.

Erik Mona
Paizo Publisher

More Moorcock!

Tuesday, March 4th, 2008

Here at Planet Stories, we've had a number of fortunate turns that have helped us go from the wistful dream of pulp-loving Erik Mona to a publisher that gets to unearth and reintroduce some of the best and most important fantasy and SF of the last century. And of all our lucky breaks, perhaps our greatest is our relationship with Michael Moorcock. In addition to having us publish his Kane of Old Mars series (three books that include City of the Beast, Lord of the Spiders, and the forthcoming Masters of the Pit), Moorcock has also written a number of insightful introductions for our other books, and has even pointed us to a few potential Planet Stories authors—after all, he's been reading this stuff longer than most of our staff has been alive.

Why is that such a big deal? Only because Michael Moorcock is, without a doubt, one of the most important and influential fantasy authors alive. He began editing the magazine Tarzan Adventures when he was fifteen years old—fifteen!—and in the decades since has written dozens of novels that have inspired generations. He's won the Nebula Award. The World Fantasy Award. The British Fantasy Award (twice!). The Bram Stoker Lifetime Achievement Award. He's even in the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. And in the course of winning those accolades, he's given us some of the genre's most memorable characters, particularly Elric of Melniboné, the skinny albino who, with his black sword Stormbringer, is perhaps the most famous of Moorcock's Eternal Champions.

The idea of a reprehensible anti-hero in fantasy; the concept of an eternal battle, not between good and evil, but between law and chaos; even the term "multiverse" to describe overlapping dimensions—all of these are things popularized by Moorcock that have since become pillars of the fantasy world, both in fiction and in gaming. He's been cited as an influence by everyone from Neil Gaiman to China Miéville, and his work remains as relevant today as it was 40 years ago.

All of which is why we're so honored to be working with him. If you haven't already, do yourself a favor and check out City of the Beast or Lord of the Spiders and get a taste of SF history at its finest.

James Sutter
Planet Stories Editor

Meet the Iconics: Sajan

Monday, March 3rd, 2008

Birthed to parents of the padaprajna caste of warriors in beautiful Vudra, Sajan Gadadvara and his twin sister Sajni learned to hold a temple sword before they could walk. Strict padaprajna discipline forged a tight bond between the twins, who spent even their infrequent times of rest together, practicing the latest martial techniques taught to them. On their twelfth birthday, the twins were forcefully separated: Sajan went to live with the fighting men of the ghana padaprajna, while Sajni joined the battling women of the sastra padaprajna. Despite their separation, the twins continued to meet when they could, sparring and joking as they had in their childhoods.

As the insightful narrative of the Vigrahin Patitraka states, "A warrior's life is to war." Thus it was that Sajan's lord embroiled himself in a conflict with a neighbor. Most of the army fielded by Sajan's lord consisted of conscripts wielding tools of their trades, while the valuable padaprajna watched the battle in reserve. The warriors deduced quickly that they stood on the losing side, but they were duty-bound to fight to the death when instructed. Instead, their lord stole from them the glory of battle-death when he sued for peace after his conscripts fled the field. As part of his surrender, the lord gave over half of his sastra padapranja—including young Sajni.

Distraught, Sajan returned to his barracks in tears (for which he received severe beatings from his own father), and vowed that night to be reunited with his sister. Several weeks passed before he found his opportunity for escape. He fled into the countryside and slipped stealthily into the city of Sumadhadra, through whose gates Sajan watched his sister pass. After several days of clumsily seeking information on his sister, he finally discovered that all the traded sastra padapranja were loaded onto ships bound for distant Jalmeray.

Sajan quickly hired himself as a guard aboard a ship bound for the far-away island, and several months later he found himself on its heavily guarded docks. Within a week, Sajan uncovered the fates of most of the sastra padapranja, who worked as guards and courtiers for the island's thakur. Sajni was not among them. More weeks passed before Sajan learned that his sister had, like him, signed on as a guard aboard a trading ship—hers bound for a place called Absalom.

The desperate young padapranja gained passage to Absalom and, upon arrival, stared in wonder at its size and splendor. It seemed to him that the strange western barbarians he found himself among were incapable of a place so grand. By the time he found his bearings and rejoined his search, however, he found himself without leads, for the sheer size that so impressed him also made finding his sister nearly impossible.

Sajan knows he cannot return to Vudra, for the padapranja there would execute him as a deserter. He cares not for his home country, however, and continues to seek out any clue that might point him toward his sister.

Mike McArtor
Editor