Twenty Years in the Making!

Friday, November 28, 2008

Self-plagiarizing is just one of many skills I've had to hone and develop after joining Paizo several years ago. Now and then, when I was under a deadline crunch for freelance, I'd dip into something I'd created for my homebrew campaign over the past 20+ years and steal a name or a monster or a spell from those documents, update it to 3rd edition, and continue on. When we decided to build an entire new game world to support Pathfinder, I did this a lot. Most of Varisia, about half of the world's deities, the Red Mantis assassins, Sekamina and Orv, and countless other tidbits first saw the light of day in Baria, my homebrew world, one that I've been using to run adventures and campaigns for friends and family since fifth grade.

As you see here, sometimes the things I produced for Baria got a wee-bit elaborate for a kid building his own adventures with a brand new electric typewriter and a stack of colored pencils, but what can I say? Growing up in the Northern California wilderness left me with a lot of free time on my hands. Little could I know at the time that I was planting the seeds that would eventually grow into the Second Darkness Adventure Path and the elven nation of Kyonin.

The Secret of Deathstalk Tower was a pretty straightforward adventure. An evil demon named Treerazer, who'd corrupted the elven homeland into a monster-infested forest named Tanglebriar, lived in a tower that could transform into an immense golem. This was, of course, Deathstalk Tower (although we renamed it the Witchbole in Golarion to match its evolution into an enormous evil tree). In the adventure, the PCs had to fight their way through Tanglebriar and then climb up the twelve levels of Deathstalk Tower to confront Treerazer before he could use his giant golem to crush civilization.

When I decided to transport Tanglebriar and Treerazer directly into Golarion, I knew that eventually I wanted to abuse my position of power here to get Treerazer professionally illustrated. The results of that you can see here. Ben Wootten's a much better artist than me, but I'm still amused and quite pleased with how close the official Treerazer matches up to my early version of him—I didn't send this picture to Ben, only described the demon to him in the art order. Seeing a childhood creation transform into something like this is a pretty strange experience, though.

Although Treerazer himself doesn't make an appearance in Pathfinder #17's adventure, he does appear in the volume's bestiary in all his CR 26 glory. Oh, and one more thing. That drow woman getting ready to cast a lightning bolt on the cover of The Secret of Deathstalk Tower? That just happens to be the first version of Allevrah, the cover girl for Pathfinder #18—in the adventure, she's the high-priestess of Treerazer's cult. The orange demon's a unique minion of Treerazer's named Lukarazyl (he's now a shemhazian demon but still works for Treerazer—see Pathfinder #5, page 87). Only the goofy-looking armored guy hasn't made the transition from this old cover to Golarion yet—he was Grotulth, the general of Treerazer's armies. Maybe he'll show up someday in a future Pathfinder?

James Jacobs
Pathfinder Editor-in-Chief

Eando's Final Bow

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

When we first started the Pathfinder's Journal, back in Pathfinder #1, we really didn't know what it was going to be. Was it a travel guide? An in-character support article? A series of standalone short stories?

By the time we reached Pathfinder #2, however, it was clear that what Pathfinder really needed was something different—a straight-up epic fantasy story with a familiar character who would give us fun world details, yes, but who would also pull people through them via a fast-paced narrative. Something that GMs, players, and even non-gaming fantasy enthusiasts could pick up and use to immediately get a sense of Golarion. And to do that, we needed a protagonist. Enter Eando Kline.

Eando's story arc has taken numerous directions since those early days, as we grew ever more ambitious with his destiny. What started as standalone travel journals became adventure-path-spanning short stories and finally a full 18-part novella leading him halfway across our world to confront the mysterious leaders of the Pathfinder Society—and all stemming from that mysterious little box he runs across in his first episode.

Many quality authors have helped to shape Eando since his conception two years ago, and through his adventures shaped parts of Golarion: before Eando's travels took him there, we knew next to nothing about Belkzen, Kaer Maga, or any number of other locations in northwest Varisia. Moreover, he gave us an archetype to work from in designing the Pathfinder Society. It wasn't always easy reconciling so many different voices and styles—something that's been my department since The Hook Mountain Massacre—but in doing so Eando became a living, breathing character, chock-full of flaws and little moments of heroism.

And now, after 18 episodes, his story is coming to a close.

It was my honor to write the final chapter in Eando's saga, and I hope that when it arrives in your mailbox or local game store you'll find it a fitting conclusion for Golarion's first action hero. Along with the story, you'll also find a two-page NPC write-up with Eando's post-conclusion stat block and featuring this awesome character portrait from Jason Engle—a little thank-you present to all those readers who've been asking us "So is Eando a bard, or what?" for the last 18 months.

Starting with Pathfinder #19, all of the Pathfinder's Journals in a given adventure path will be by a single author, and feature a single story arc with a new protagonist. For Legacy of Fire, that's New York Times bestselling author Elaine Cunningham, who'll be introducing us to Channa Ti, a half-elven, half-Mwangi water druid making her way through Katapesh and Osirion in search of a lost city and an imprisoned god. Talk about exotic—even Eando would approve.

Eando Kline may be back someday—his type always tends to pop up just when you least expect it—but for now, at least, his sun has set, and it's time for some new heroes to take the stage. I hope you've enjoyed his story. I know I have.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have something in my eye...

James Sutter
Pathfinder Editor

illustration by Iker Serdar Yildiz

Planet Stories and Pathfinder: Together at Last

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Science fiction and fantasy. To much of the literate world, they're the same thing—they even get shelved in the same section at all but the most enlightened bookstores. Yet among those who enjoy these genres the most, the lines between the two are sharp and expansive (even if no two people agree on where that line is drawn). Many of the friends whose book recommendations I take to heart scoff at the idea of getting science fiction chocolate in their fantasy peanut butter—they'll read one but not the other. It's a sort of literary apartheid.

For me, though, there's never been that divide. Science fiction and fantasy are two great tastes that taste great together, and I don't mind rocking some boats to keep the ampersand in SF&F.

Sometimes, of course, the purists are right. Every time Wes and Jacobs comb through one of my manuscripts to make sure I'm not slipping hidden particle accelerators or robots into Pathfinder, I'm forced to admit that they're correct to do so—it's important to keep a world internally consistent, and getting too hung up on science in a magical setting can break the feel (or the author). Never mind how cool it might have been to make Varisia's towering Spindlehorn a space elevator for ancient thaumateurgic astronauts... it just doesn't fit.

Which is why I was so happy to get a chance to write the "Into the Black" support article for Pathfinder #14, a gazetteer of Golarion's solar system and the diverse cultures which inhabit it. These days, I spend a lot of my time buried in Planet Stories manuscripts, visiting worlds like Leigh Brackett's exotic and dying Skaith in the Eric John Stark books, or Robert E. Howard's Almuric, not to mention swashbuckling Burroughsian pulp like the Mars novels from Michael Moorcock and Otis Adelbert Kline. With this article, I (with significant influence from publisher Erik Mona) got the chance to finally bring hardcore Planet Stories SF into the Pathfinder Chronicles setting.

While I included many more modern SF tropes, from the terminator-line society of Verces to the irradiated liches of Eox the dead or the Jovian floaters of Liavara and Bretheda, Golarion's closest neighbors are straight out of the sword and planet genre epitomized by the Planet Stories books. The green planet of Castrovel, with its steamy jungles and beautiful telepathic matriarchs, meshes completely with the 1930s image of Venus, and any fan of Burroughs or Brackett will quickly recognize their Mars in Akiton's four-armed warriors and desert strongholds.

If you're like me and already enjoy mixing and matching your genres, I hope Pathfinder #14 hits the spot. And if you're a Pathfinder or Planet Stories purist, well, this might be a good point to give the other camp a shot and see what you've been missing. After all, despite what Dr. Egon Spengler might say, sometimes it's good to cross the streams...

James Sutter
Planet Stories Editor

Dark Markets

Monday, November 24, 2008

I know we just showed off another book's cover art a few days ago, but when covers come in close together like they sometimes do, I'm okay with repeating blog topics in the course of a week. Check out Vincent Dutrait's cover to the upcoming Pathfinder Chronicles book, Dark Markets: A Guide to Katapesh. Word to all gnoll slavers out there—just because the leaders of the city say it's okay to practice your trade in the open on the city streets doesn't mean that a vengeful PC won't leap out of the crowd with a few swords to ruin your day!

James Jacobs
Pathfinder Editor-in-Chief

Announcing Pathfinder Society Scenarios #9 & #10

Friday, November 21, 2008

Pathfinder Society Scenario #9: Eye of the Crocodile King
by Christopher Self

Arcanamirium transmuter Maren Fuln found a magically sealed amulet in the school's library and kept it as a shiny bauble. Little did he know the amulet contained an entity far worse than he imagined and by unsealing it, he loosed a revenge-obsessed horror into the sewers beneath the school. Can the Pathfinder Society halt the beast's plan in time, or will he build his army of revenge and sow chaos in Absalom?

This product is a Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for 1st to 5th level characters (Tiers: 1–2, 4–5). This scenario is designed for play in Pathfinder Society Organized Play, but can easily be adapted for use with any world. This scenario is compliant with the Open Game License (OGL) and is suitable for use with the 3.5 edition of the world's most popular fantasy roleplaying game.

Pathfinder Society Scenario #10: Blood at Dralkard Manor
by Shane Cottom, Steven T. Helt, and Joshua J. Frost

Venture-Captain Juberto Savarre plans to retire soon and he's set his sights on spooky Dralkard Manor in southern Andoran. With the locals swapping tales of hauntings and missing persons, Savarre sends Pathfinders in to uncover the truth. Are the stories just tall tales or will the Pathfinders find themselves drenched in blood at Dralkard Manor?

This product is a Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for 1st to 7th level characters (Tiers: 1–2, 3–4. 6–7). This scenario is designed for play in Pathfinder Society Organized Play, but can easily be adapted for use with any world. This scenario is compliant with the Open Game License (OGL) and is suitable for use with the 3.5 edition of the world's most popular fantasy roleplaying game.

Joshua J. Frost
Events Manager

It's a Vargouille!

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Dude, it's totally a vargouille. Check it.

James Sutter
Editor, Pathfinder

Dragon on Dragon Action

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

With the runaway success of Classic Monsters Revisited, it was pretty much just a matter of time before we started work on the second in what is going to be a series of books that takes well-known monsters from the game and examines them in detail, ten per book. The fact that there are ten dragons in the core rules made the subject for the second book in the series a no-brainer. Check out the cover illustration for that book, Dragons Revisited, here!

James Jacobs
Pathfinder Editor-in-Chief

Fresh from the Delhi

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

The holidays are swiftly approaching, which means it's crunch time around the Paizo offices as we race to get a bunch of awesome new products out the door before all of us take time off to spend with our loved ones (parents, spouses, Fallout 3).

The upside? We've got some quality books coming out just in time for the gift-giving occasion of your choice! It's especially true of Planet Stories—in addition to Henry Kuttner's The Dark World and Leigh Brackett's masterful Hounds of Skaith, December will see the release of Gary Gygax's Death in Delhi, the final of the three standalone novels featuring Setne Inhetep, magical magistrate in the service of Pharaoh himself. This time, Setne takes us east on an adventure through the heart of an ancient India analogue filled with castes, corruption, and bloodthirsty gods. We'll talk more about Delhi in weeks to come, but for now, check out this scene snippet from Setne and Rachelle's treacherous journey to the lands of the Peacock Throne:

When it occurred, though, the attack didn't come in a creeping manner. It was heralded by a wailing cry which froze the blood of any victim not asleep. There was a silent rush of menacing figures. It was impossible in the confusion of moonlight and shadow to tell how many thugs were there. More than half a hundred, perhaps twice that number, and one at least was capable of using potent heka. Whatever casting he sent at them, both Inhetep and Rachelle were suddenly themselves again. That is, their Hindi disguises were gone, and for the few heartbeats' time the change required, neither could do aught but stand dazed, feeling the effects of the transformation.

"Thugs!" he managed to should to Rachelle. "Stranglers of Kali!"

There was no free passage for the attackers, however. In a mere matter of heartbeats after the time the practitioner among the crazed strangers activated his casting, Magister Inhetep had triggered one of his own dweomers. There appeared a sudden smoke arc as a hundred separate sparks winked into being. For a second these motes glowed, in the next they brightened into a multi-hued array of blossoming fires, and but a second after that each began its dance.

A flight of them whizzed high in angry amber lines, making sounds as hornets do. Others fluttered like butterflies with wings of flame. There were a dozen bright blue serpentine paths traced along the ground, and violet arcs as if grasshoppers were alight and on the move. Bright green embers jumped toward the onrushing attackers as might insane frogs bent on meeting the assailants in midair. Some spiraled aloft to spin and spit scintillating jets, which whirled crazily as their erratic flight carried them outward from the wizard-priest who had invoked them, while silvery and golden balls bounced and rolled forth in a determined fashion. Then, finally, all hell broke loose...

James Sutter
Planet Stories Editor

The Mad Artist of Manifest!

Monday, November 17, 2008

A few years back Sean K Reynolds had a hand in writing a particularly morbid and unusual book. That's probably not too helpful a statement considering that he cranks out like 35 a year*, so to narrow it down a little more, it was about ghosts. And to narrow it down even further, it was called Ghostwalk.

Since moving into the desk next to mine (and covering it with enough miniatures to give the tarrasque lead poisoning), Sean's been brimming with artistic fervor. To help with that, a few weeks back Lisa dropped a few big boxes of Ghostwalk at his desk and asked for signatures. That way, anyone who buys the book through the Paizo store gets a neat little collectors item.

But oh no! Sean "The 'K' is for Kreative" Reynolds couldn't just sign a box of books, he had to get out his colored pens... and pencils... and oil paints. Just check out a few of his unexpected masterpieces here. And if you've ordered a copy of Ghostwalk recently, good luck, 'cause there's no telling what you might get!

F. Wesley Schneider
Pathfinder Managing Editor

*(Expect more details on the SKR Book of the Week Club in the distant future.)

The Clash Begins

Friday, November 14, 2008

It's been many, many months since Leandra Christine Schneider won the first RPG Superstar contest, but we're finally almost there—her module, Clash of the Kingslayers, is going through its last bits of editing as I type this. To celebrate, check out some of the art from the adventure!

James Jacobs
Pathfinder Editor-in-Chief

Open Call: Pathfinder Society Scenarios 19 & 20

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Rules for submitting Pathfinder Society scenario outlines are as follows:

1. Based on a summary (or summaries) posted here on the Paizo daily blog as well as on the Pathfinder Society Write For Us page, write a 750-word outline that includes the following (read published scenarios for samples of how these are done, keeping your word count in mind):

a. An introduction

b. A summary of the complete story

c. Five unique or dynamic encounters tied to the overall plot

d. A conclusion

e. Five short suggestions for possible faction missions

2. By the due date, email your outline to josh@paizo.com with the subject line [SCENARIO NAME] [YOUR LAST NAME]. Your summary must be in a MS Word document, Notepad, or Rich Text format—these are files ending in .doc, .txt, or .rtf. Your file must be titled [SCENARIO NAME]_[LAST NAME], i.e., PerilsofthePiratePact_Dayon. Failure to submit your entry in one of the requested formats (i.e., just pasting it into your email) and failure to properly name your file may disqualify your entry.

3. Include your full legal name, email address, physical mailing address, and a contact phone number at the top of your submission—this text does not count toward your word count. Failure to include this information will disqualify your entry and you won't receive feedback at the end of the process.

4. Once all submissions are in, the Pathfinder Society coordinator will take two weeks to review submissions and select an author for each open scenario. You will receive an email confirming receipt—please allow 72 hours for a response before resending your submission. The coordinator will attempt to respond to all submitters with feedback, but this may not always be possible.

5. If you are selected to write a scenario, you will be emailed instructions that include your word count, due date, and contract.

The current open call is for Pathfinder Society scenarios #19 and #20—the April releases. The full schedule for this submission period is as follows:

• 11/13—Open call begins with summaries posted here on the Paizo daily blog and on the Pathfinder Society Write For Us page

• 11/21—Submissions due by 11:59 P.M. Pacific Time

• 12/12—Submissions review completed—selected authors notified

• 12/15—Decision announced on messageboards and on the Pathfinder Society home page

Summaries

**SPOILER ALERT: DO NOT READ THE SUMMARIES BELOW IF YOU WISH TO AVOID SPOILERS FOR UPCOMING PATHFINDER SOCIETY SCENARIOS**

Pathfinder Society Scenario #19: Skeleton Moon
This scenario must contain the following:

1. Takes place on the Isle of Kortos outside the walls of Absalom in a ruined siege castle.

2. Since all of the siege castles around the City at the Center of the World are pretty well picked over, your outline should contain a good reason why this one or part of this one isn't.

3. The "boss" monster for this scenario must be an assassin vine—feel free to play around with the stats—templates, advanced, etc, but no half-dragon vines.

4. No undead. No cults. Something creepy is going on there.

5. This is a three-tiered scenario intended for 1st to 7th level characters (Tier 1–7; Tiers 1–2, 3–4, and 6–7).

6. Keep in mind that you only get 1/2 of a page of maps—don't suggest a scenario that exceeds this restriction.

Pathfinder Society Scenario #20: Demon Haunts the Devil's Hall
This scenario must contain the following:

1. Takes place in the summer estate of a low-ranking member of House Thrune of Cheliax.

2. The estate is infested with nabasu (from the Tome of Horrors) (but why?).

3. No undead. No cults. Expound on why the nabasu are in this devil-worshippers summer estate.

4. This is a two-tiered scenario intended for 7th to 11th level characters (Tier 7–11; Tiers 7–8 and 10–11).

5. Keep in mind that you only get 1/2 of a page of maps—don't suggest a scenario that exceeds this restriction.

Basic Outline:

Please keep the following basic scenario outline in mind when writing your 750-word summary:

Intro (1,000)
Encounter #1 (750)
Encounter #2 (750)
Encounter #3 (750)
Encounter #4 (750)
Encounter #5 (750)
Conclusion (500)
Faction Missions + Summary (1,900)
Extra words (345)

TOTAL WORD COUNT: 7,000

PLEASE NOTE: Pathfinder Society Scenarios are written with a 4-hour time limit in mind. Your outline should reflect this limitation.

Good luck and may the wisdom of Irori guide your keyboard.

Joshua J. Frost
Events Manager

Happy Erik Mona Day!

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

We have the best fans and readers in the world.

Last year, our messageboard community, in their unique and awesome way, declared November 8th to be Erik Mona Day to honor the hard work the editorial staff (and the rest of Paizo) were putting into creating and producing some of the best RPG projects in the industry (in my and their humble opinions). To celebrate Erik Mona Day they pooled their money together and ordered us pizza. We were, frankly, shocked and pleased at the audacity of our community as well as their loyalty, frivolity, and downright friendly demeanor.

Not to be outdone, the community celebrated Erik Mona Day last Friday and bought the Paizo staff another delicious round of pizza. Seriously, guys and gals—thank you! Everyone in the office appreciated the pizza and resoundingly destroyed it with much chewing, digesting, and hilarity. We support Erik Mona Day being an annual holiday and can only hope that we give back in some way for your thoughtful purchase of yummy pizza pie.

Now the pictures!

A stack of magical pizza arrives in our conference room.

Moved to action (from left to right) Christopher Carey, Christopher Self, James Jacobs, and Wes Schneider catch the pizza flat-footed and get attacks of opportunity. In the background, the blurry shade that is James Sutter hovers, waiting for his chance to consume cheese pizza and thus become once again corporeal.

With proof of Chris Self's pizza eating the foreground, James Sutter (now satiated and corporeal) and Wes Schneider stare blankly into the middle distance, stomachs filled with the doughy confectionery of our awesome community.

Until next year!

Also, as Paizo's resident veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces, I'd like to thank, on behalf of everyone at Paizo, each and every member of our community and fan base who currently serves or previously served in the military. We know what you do can be hard and we know there are lots of you—stay safe, stay sane, and thank you for your service.

Joshua J. Frost
Events Manager

Blast from the Past

Monday, November 10, 2008

Two old favorites finally arrive on Golarion in Pathfinder #17. I'm pretty excited to get these two monsters into the game in particular, since they've been two "missing monsters" that I've always had a soft spot for. The first is the banshee, based on Irish legends of a female messenger of death. (It always seemed weird to me that the spell wail of the banshee was in the game, but there was no banshee in the SRD.) The second is a creature whose genesis in myth likely came about after travelers in a strange land had their first encounters with hyenas. When you think about it, a creepy doglike creature that eats bones and sounds like a laughing human madman would indeed be pretty unnerving to run across. In any event, hence the legendary leucrotta—a monster that mimics the voice of a friend in peril to lure you into the dark so it can pounce and kill.

James Jacobs
Pathfinder Editor-in-Chief

Osirion Art Day!

Friday, November 7, 2008

One of the most interesting things to see come out of Osirion, Land of the Pharaohs is some of the art. Osirion had always been, in my mind, "Golarion's Egypt." And that meant that it kinda looked like Egypt in my mind—but with more mummies and giant scorpions. But now we've got some art coming in, and now Osirion looks more like its own place—elements are familiar, but at the same time the region is starting to look uniquely its own. Check out these two illustrations for examples—one depicting a hidden valley of pyramid tombs and another a busy day market in Sothis.

James Jacobs
Pathfinder Editor-in-Chief

Coming Soon: New Pathfinder Society Open Call

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Warning: If you wish to avoid spoilers about future Pathfinder Society scenarios, do not read this blog post.

Next week we begin our second open call for Pathfinder Society scenarios. Our first open call went quite well and we were happy to announce that Matthieu Dayon and Craig Campbell will write #17—Perils of the Pirate Pact and #18—The Trouble with Secrets respectively. Every single entry was given some kind of feedback and, hopefully, this sort of feedback helps our submitters to craft entries that better fit the types of stories we're seeking.

Our first open call went well and I, personally, learned a lot. Because of what I learned, I'm making a few changes to the submission guidelines to help speed up the entire process. The new, revised, submission guidelines are as follows:

1. Based on a summary (or summaries) posted here on the Paizo daily blog as well as on the Pathfinder Society Write For Us page, write a 750-word outline that includes the following (read published scenarios for samples of how these are done keeping your word count in mind):

a. An introduction

b. A summary of the complete story

c. Five unique or dynamic encounters tied to the overall plot

d. A conclusion

e. Five short suggestions for possible faction missions

2. By the due date, email your outline to josh@paizo.com with the subject line [SCENARIO NAME] [YOUR LAST NAME]. Your summary must be in a MS Word document, plain text, or Rich Text format—these are files ending in .doc, .txt, or .rtf. Your file must be titled [SCENARIO NAME]_[LAST NAME], i.e., PerilsofthePiratePact_Dayon. Failure to submit your entry in one of the requested formats (i.e., just pasting it into your email) and failure to properly name your file may disqualify your entry.

3. Include your full legal name, email address, physical mailing address, and a contact phone number at the top of your submission—this text does not count toward your word count. Failure to include this information will disqualify your entry and you won't receive feedback at the end of the process.

4. Once all submissions are in, the Pathfinder Society coordinator will take two weeks to review submissions and select an author for each open scenario. You will receive an email confirming receipt—please allow 72 hours for a response before resending your submission. The coordinator will attempt to respond to all submitters with feedback, but this may not always be possible.

5. If you are selected to write a scenario, you will be emailed instructions that include your word count, due date, and contract.

6. Failing to follow any of the instructions above will immediately disqualify you from the open call.

The open call that starts next week is for Pathfinder Society scenarios #19 and #20—the April releases. The full schedule for this submission period is as follows:

11/13—Open call begins with summaries posted here on the Paizo daily blog and on the Pathfinder Society Write For Us page

11/21—Submissions due by 11:59 P.M. Pacific Time

12/12—Submissions review completed—selected authors notified

12/15—Decision announced on messageboards and on the Pathfinder Society home page

While we won't begin accepting scenario outlines until next week, here are a few hints to get your brain juices flowing:

Scenario 19—Siege Keeps & Hidden Dungeons
Scenario 20—Cheliax Demon Hunt

Good luck!

Joshua J. Frost
Events Manager

City at the Center of the World

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

That's what they call Absalom—the City at the Center of the World. The largest city in the Inner Sea region, Absalom's the cultural and religious center of humanity on Golarion. Of course, that doesn't mean you'll only see humans there! As the first truly enormous city we've detailed in Golarion, there's a lot going on in Absalom that would probably look out of place in smaller cities like Korvosa—but in Absalom, the unusual is an everyday facet of life.

The book just recently went off to the printer, so what better time to give folk their first official look at Ben Wootten's rendering of the skyline of the City at the Center of the World?

James Jacobs
Pathfinder Editor-in-Chief

The Dueling Writers of Mars!

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

The first manuscript I had an opportunity to read after being welcomed aboard the Planet Stories staff was Otis Adelbert Kline's The Swordsman of Mars. As a lifelong Edgar Rice Burroughs enthusiast I had, of course, heard about Kline and the long-standing notion among Burroughs's readers that the two men, Kline and Burroughs, considered themselves bitter rivals. Kline's Venus series is generally recognized as having been penned in the style of Burroughs's Mars (or Barsoom) books, and so the story goes that Burroughs launched his own Venus series to impart some kind of retribution against his popular imitator. The notion of a Burroughs-Kline feud, however, bears little evidence to support it, but even so, I must admit it was with some skepticism that I picked up The Swordsman of Mars and began to read it. After all, there's little doubt in my mind that fate would never have led me to a job at Planet Stories if as a kid I had never read ERB, the author who ignited my interest in reading and writing, and by a long and tangled path, editing. Above all, Burroughs is an incomparable Storyteller, capital S, and his works have never gone out of print in the 97 years since he published the serialization of his first novel, Under the Moons of Mars (later retitled A Princess of Mars), in All-Story Magazine—the same novel that introduced me to ERB and got me permanently hooked. When I was in my teens, I devoured ERB's works—systematically, ruthlessly, obsessively—racing first across the dead sea bottoms of Barsoom with John Carter, then on to the lands that time forgot of Caspak and Pellucidar, touring savage jungles and lost cities with Lord Greystoke, flying through the shrouded skies of Amtor (Venus) with Carson Napier, and reveling in the adventure and romance of every one of Burroughs's many standalone novels. How could Kline possibly measure up to that? It was such a game of expectations that kept me from reading Kline for all these years in the first place.

I was in for a heck of a surprise. What I found when I finally pored over The Swordsman of Mars was that Otis Adelbert Kline knew his ERB. In particular, he knew ERB's Mars books. He had an almost uncanny knack for creating Barsoomian-sounding names and terminology—Sheb Takkor, Sel Han, Lal Vak, Kov Lutas, Rad, Jen, Dixtar—and his descriptions of exotic settings, such as "the glittering, frost-covered jungles" of the Takkor Marsh or the dark pits of the Martian baridium mines, are on par with ERB's own. Kline was apparently so well studied in his Burroughs that some fans have gone so far as to conjecture that The Swordsman of Mars and its sequel The Outlaws of Mars (a forthcoming Planet Stories release) take place on some remote corner of ERB's own Barsoom!

But much more important than the literary artifices he employs, Kline understood the mechanics of story on the same instinctive level as Burroughs. For with both authors, it's all about the romance and adventure, pulling the reader in to the point where the distinction between reader and hero begins to blur—and that's where Kline (and Burroughs) grabs you. For at that point of identification, as the hero at last gets within fingertip-reach of the ultimate goal, the conditions shift unexpectedly. The hero suddenly finds that what had seemed a simple outcome of success or failure is instead a head-swirling, heart-wracking turn of events that leaves you racing to the next page to find out how the author can possibly maneuver out of what is seemingly the ultimate inextricable dilemma.

And that's why Otis Adelbert Kline deserves his place in history—like Burroughs he is a Storyteller who, on a primal level, has the ability to mesmerize his audience with a captivating tale of honor and betrayal. A pulp writer, yes, but one with a rare gift of the bards of ancient days, whose simple words enchant and bring to life the archetypes that lie in wait in the imagination. Readers of Burroughs should love The Swordsman of Mars. I know this one did.

Christopher Carey
Planet Stories Editor

The Paizo Halloween Party!

Monday, November 3, 2008

Had you wandered into the Paizo editorial pit last Friday the only way you'd have known it was Halloween was by our pumpkin spice lattes. (Don't judge! We live in Seattle!) In fact, I think Josh, Alison, and Cosmo were the only three trick-or-treat-ready members of the whole crew. But around 3:00 we got an e-mail from Liz Courts (our own Lilith) with an illustration by Hugo Solis of a Hallow-awesome bash featuring all your favorite Paizo message boarders! Thanks a ton to Hugo for his incredible work—smurfs have never been so well dressed—and for bringing a cauldron full of Halloween spirit to the office! It's making us all rethink our avatars since now we've only two short months before the Festivus bash, right Hugo?! Hope everyone had a great Halloween!

F. Wesley Schneider
Pathfinder Managing Editor