... Paizo Publishing's 10th Anniversary Retrospective—Year 6 (2008) Forging Our Own Path Thursday, August 30, 2012 This blog entry is the seventh in a series of blogs commemorating Paizo's 10th anniversary. ... Click here to read the first installment.As the cold and stormy start of 2008 settled on the Paizo offices, there was a palpable sense of tension. We were well past the point where we normally assigned freelance writing for our Gen Con releases. Wizards of the Coast was set to...
As the cold and stormy start of 2008 settled on the Paizo offices, there was a palpable sense of tension. We were well past the point where we normally assigned freelance writing for our Gen Con releases. Wizards of the Coast was set to release Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition at that show, and we were already planning out Second Darkness, the Pathfinder Adventure Path launching at the same time. If we were going to switch it to 4E, we needed to do it soon. But we knew little more about 4E in January than we did at the previous year's Gen Con. Early in the month, Wizards held a conference call with a host of third-party publishers telling us that they were working on a new third-party license and that we would probably have early access to the rules soon, but the lack of a firm commitment or any kind of schedule from Wizards was stretching our patience—and our deadlines.
We were going to have to start writing Second Darkness for 3.5. If Wizards came through quickly, we thought, there was a slim chance that we might still be able to rework it for 4th Edition... but the more we thought about the logistics of learning a new game system, bringing our freelancers up to speed on that system, and then having to develop adventures for a system we'd never even played, it soon became obvious that even if Wizards started to open up the lines of communication immediately, doing Second Darkness as a 4E product was a fool's errand. So as we turned to February, we made the difficult decision to commit to 3.5 for Second Darkness. Our flagship product line would be incompatible with the then-current edition of D&D for at least 6 months.
But that didn't yet mean that 4th Edition was out of the running for the Adventure Path after that one. The continued lack of information of any sort was driving us nuts, and having just had our whole company turned upside down due to Wizards' decision to end the magazine licenses, we were beginning to think that forging our own path forward might be a valid choice. With no license from Wizards in hand, it was unclear whether there actually was any other choice. Nevertheless, we dutifully sent Jason Bulmahn to Wizards' D&D Experience in Fort Wayne, Indiana that February. Jason's mission was to learn as much as he could about 4th Edition, play it as much as he could, and report back with his findings. From that, we would ultimately make a decision that could make or break us. The tension was agonizing. I could barely sleep at night as my mind wrestled with the options. If we made the wrong decision, it could very well mean the end of Paizo.
When Jason returned from D&D Experience, he laid out all the information that he had gleaned. From the moment that 4th Edition had been announced, we had trepidations about many of the changes we were hearing about. Jason's report confirmed our fears—4th Edition didn't look like the system we wanted to make products for. Whether a license for 4E was forthcoming or not, we were going to create our own game system based on the 3.5 SRD: The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. And we were already WAY behind schedule.
Thankfully, Jason had started to experiment with an alternative 3.5 rules system in Fall 2007. It was initially a lark that Jason was hoping he might be able to sell as a PDF somewhere down the road to the inevitable fans of the 3.5 ruleset that weren't going to 4E. He had dubbed the project Mon Mothma. Early in 2008, Jason had presented this document to us, a revision that added a variety of new options to a ruleset we already had experience and comfort with. Knowing the future was uncertain, we encouraged him to start turning his ideas into a complete, coherent rules set.
When Jason brought in his refined version of Mon Mothma, we liked what we saw. We knew that we needed to let our customers know about our decision as soon as possible, but it would take at least a year to wrangle a new game system into place, even one using existing rules as its basis. But we needed our customers to stick around for that year, so we came up with a cunning plan: if we could get people playtesting our new system, perhaps they would stick with us through the interim. And, of course, all that playtesting would certainly improve the finished product! It was a bold plan that seemed almost impossible as we started planning in late February. Jason felt that it would take him at least three months to wrangle a playtest document into shape, but we couldn't wait until May or June to make our announcement. So we decided to break our Alpha playtest into three different documents that we would release one per month starting in March. The first section of the playtest was pretty much ready to go, so we picked a date of March 18 to spill the beans.
Chris Carey, Chris Self, James Sutter (after casting blur), James Jacobs and Wes Schneider enjoy the fan-bought pizza feast that arrived for Erik Mona Day!
On the appointed morning, we took the website down and put up a graphic of a bunch of goblins running amok with torches. The caption beneath the picture read, "Goblins have taken over Paizo and are forcing a decision. Stay tuned." Meanwhile, behind the scenes, we were putting up blogs, adding Pathfinder RPG announcements and FAQs, readying the first Alpha playtest download, and building new messageboard forums to discuss it all. When the website went live, we all held our breath to see what folks would say. Of course, a number of people called it a stupid decision and predicted our demise, but a large majority of our customers seemed very happy with our decision.
The Alpha playtest was well received, and over the next couple months, we made good on our promise to release the next two parts of the playtest document. And while Jason read through thousands upon thousands of playtest comments, he was also on deadline to create the Beta playtest. To say that he looked a little harried during this time is an understatement.
The Alpha playtests were relatively small, but the Beta was shaping up to be about 400 pages. We realized that people would be paying a lot to print that many pages out, so we came up with another crazy idea—what if we printed the Pathfinder RPG Beta as a softcover book and sold it at Gen Con and on paizo.com? To the best of our knowledge, nobody had ever done that before, but since we were swinging for the fences anyways, we figured, why not? Of course, that meant we had about a month to put together a 400-page book so it could be printed and shipped to Gen Con. Now THAT was crazy.
In May, we announced that Monte Cook would be joining the Pathfinder RPG design team as a consultant. Since Monte had been a part of the D&D Third Edition design team, we thought it would be great for Jason to bounce ideas off him and to have him explain what the designers were thinking when they wrote certain rules. It also didn't hurt to have somebody of Monte's stature signed on to the project.
We released the Pathfinder RPG Beta at Gen Con, and the flood of people buying it was amazing. People bought stacks of copies for their entire gaming group. We sold out in the middle of the show. Over the next several months, more than 50,000 people joined the playtest, mostly by way of the free PDF. The open playtest proved to be invaluable, letting us avoid some bad design choices and implementing some good ideas into the final product. It was so successful that we've done one for every Pathfinder RPG release that has a significant section of new rules.
Superstar artists Eva Widermann, Wayne Reynolds, and Lydia Schuchmann pose at Gen Con UK!
As if we didn't have enough crazy in our lives, we decided that we need to take our Pathfinder campaign setting to the next level. We released the Pathfinder Chronicles Gazetteer early in the year as a player-friendly 64-page introduction to the setting, but to truly cover the entire Inner Sea region, we'd need a much heftier tome. So we put the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting hardcover on the schedule for Gen Con. In order to get it out on time, editor Mike McArtor had to wrangle 28 different authors, each of whom was given a country or two to flesh out. Because of the variety of authors and the speed with which the book was made, a number of things snuck into the early campaign setting that we later needed to adjust, but all in all, the book ended up being great, and it sold out upon release at Gen Con.
Our Adventure Path line stayed in Varisia for all of 2008, through the Curse of the Crimson Throne and Second Darkness adventure paths. Partly, this was because Varisia is the part of our setting that's closest to the baseline fantasy assumptions, and that's where we needed to stand as we built our brand and tried to keep customers from fleeing to a new edition. Also, since the campaign setting hardcover wasn't coming out until the middle of the year, we hadn't fleshed out the rest of Golarion yet.
In 2008, we also launched a new bimonthly product line, the Pathfinder Companion. To pull this off, we adjusted our Module line to bimonthly as well, alternating with Companions. The genesis of the Companion line was a wish to provide players with regular material that they could use for their game—something that Dragon magazine used to do. Our first product in this line was the Second Darkness Player Companion, and before the year was done, we added Companions for Elves of Golarion and Osirion, Land of Pharaohs.
Tim Nightingale presents James Jacobs, Jason Bulmahn, and Mike "He-Looks-JUST-Like-His-Avatar" McArtor with a Fan Appreciation Award at the inaugural PaizoCon!
2008 wasn't just a year for new books. In February, we crowned the first RPG Superstar champion. German Christine Schneider took home the win with her proposal for Clash of the Kingslayers, beating out hundreds of novice designers, many of whom ended up writing for Paizo, or even getting hired onto our staff! In addition to Christine, future Pathfinder stalwarts Clinton Boomer, Rob McCreary and Jason Nelson were also in the top 4, with contender Russ Taylor also becoming a valuable contributor and Ross Byers later winding up on Paizo's web team! All in all, it was a great start for our quest to find new talent for Paizo.
In the early part of the summer, another Paizo tradition was started: PaizoCon! Local customer and friend of the company Tim Nightingale decided to bring Paizo fans together at a hotel in Bellevue to play games and talk about Paizo and Pathfinder. He dubbed the get-together PaizoCon, and about 50 attendees turned up. Paizo staffers showed up on the Saturday of the con to hold a couple of seminars and run a few celebrity games. We adopted PaizoCon from Tim the following year, and it's now one of our most important conventions each year. From humble beginnings rises greatness!
Another milestone for summer 2008 was the launch of Pathfinder Society organized play at Gen Con. We dubbed the first year Season Zero because we wanted to use it like an open playtest, working with players and GMs to refine the system, with a formal Season One planned to launch alongside our new RPG in 2009. The Pathfinder Society room at Gen Con was packed, with four scenarios offered for play. Over the weekend, 400 characters were made and 600 registration cards were handed out for new players and GMs. Today, many thousands of GMs and players make Pathfinder Society a large part of their gaming lives.
Jason Bulmahn lovingly holds his baby!
We sold out of the Pathfinder RPG Beta and the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting at Gen Con...
...but our fantastic fans helped us replace them with a slew of ENnies!
Erik Mona holds the bounty from the ENnie Awards, including our first Best Publisher award!
Nick Logue and Greg Vaughan laugh it up at the Pathfinder Society table!
We kick off Season Zero of Pathfinder Society Organized Play!
Tiffany, our first Pathfinder cosplayer in her fantastic priestess of Desna outfit. Check out that awesome starknife!
Art Director Sarah Robinson LOVES Gen Con!
At the ENnie Awards, Paizo won 7 golds and a silver. The awards received were:
Best Free Product: Gold Medal for Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Alpha
Best Publisher: Gold Medal
As the year came to an end, it felt for the first time in our history like we were finally in charge of our own destiny. The Pathfinder RPG playtest had been going phenomenally, and our product lines were being received well around the world. There was still a lot of hard work to be done to launch the RPG at Gen Con, but for once, everything was in our control. We were masters of our own fate.
Employees who started in 2008 (in order of hiring date):
Jacob Burgess, Online Retail Coordinator
Nick Logue, Organized Play Coordinator
Christopher Carey, Copy Editor
Sean K Reynolds, Developer/Designer
Brock Mitchel-Slentz, Warehouse Worker
Alison McKenzie, Customer Service Representative
Employees who left in 2008 (in order of their end date):
Carolyn Mull
Jeremy Walker
Corey J. Young
Mike McArtor
Chris Sanders
Nick Logue
Jacob Burgess
Lisa Stevens CEO
Coming Home
By 2008, my path in the gaming industry had taken an odd turn. I had time at TSR, Wizards of the Coast, Interplay, and Upper Deck under my belt. I already had a working relationship with Wes Schneider and James Jacobs from writing Greyhawk god articles for Dragon, an occasional adventure for Dungeon, and Golarion god articles for the Adventure Paths. I knew Erik from his dedicated involvement with Greyhawk (and from when he was one of my TSR online volunteers), and Lisa was my first boss in Wizards of the Coast RPG R&D for Team Greyhawk. So when I found myself unemployed after Upper Deck's most popular card game had a poor quarter, I emailed Erik to let him know I'd be available for more freelance. Erik countered by offering me a full-time job at Paizo. Developer Mike McArtor was leaving, and Erik needed someone to take over that role. (Mike was also one of my TSR volunteers from years before, and had asked to use me as a reference when he applied for the developer job at Paizo). I had never officially done any development before, but Erik assured me that I could do this job, so I accepted.
My move from San Diego back to Seattle was delayed for three weeks by my sister's wedding, but right after that I shipped my books, gave away my not-worth-moving furniture, and loaded up the car with my four cats and the rest of my belongings for a mad, three-day drive through a heat wave and northern California wildfires to reach my beloved Emerald City. In many ways, that period of my life was a significant reboot—work, home, relationships, finances, and motivations all changed radically in a span of about six weeks, in many ways very reminiscent of my decision 13 years earlier to leave California and move to Wisconsin to work for TSR.
I started at Paizo the day after I arrived in Seattle. The team was great. The energy was great. The company was still struggling financially, but I could see everyone's heart was in the work, and they were proud of what they were doing. I had my own cubicle in the editorial pit, with most of my desk obscured with rulebooks and minis, and felt right at home with the toys, posters, and dinosaurs decorating the other cubes. I wrangled freelancers, developed manuscripts, wrote art orders, and learned how to fiddle with text in layout. As a developer, I was able to influence more projects than I ever would have time to write myself. As it turns out, I had missed working on RPGs, and actually missed having real deadlines—even if we were behind on some of them. I went to Gen Con with Paizo and saw the Pathfinder RPG Beta sell out—a sign that the gaming community felt we were doing the right thing. It felt really good to be a part of Paizo. It reminded me of the best times at TSR and Wizards of the Coast. It was good to have that feeling again. As someone who has witnessed many of the highs and lows of the modern gaming industry, I'm glad to be at Paizo, and I wouldn't choose anywhere else.
Sean K Reynolds Designer
From the Editor's Desk
My road to Paizo was, I think, a bit unique. I first heard of Paizo not from its array of gaming products but rather from its revival of the old pulp Planet Stories banner in 2007. I was curious. Not only was someone bringing back into print the sword-and-planet classics of Leigh Brackett, C. L. Moore, and Michael Moorcock, but that someone also happened to be based only a few miles away from me. After determining that the Paizo folks made up the same team who'd up until recently published Amazing Stories, I filed away the info and continued to work on my labor of love, a historical fantasy novel called The Song of Kwasin, coauthored with science-fiction luminary Philip José Farmer.
By spring 2008, I'd completed the novel and was looking for both a publisher and a job. As the pulpsters of old might say, Fate struck when I was perusing the Norwescon schedule and noticed that Erik Mona, Paizo's Publisher, was going to be speaking on a number of panels. A week or so later, I was at the con meeting Erik and pitching him my book, an adventure tale that fit right in with the rip-roaring spirit of the Planet Stories line. Erik was immediately interested, and we stood outside in the hallway chatting it up about the pulps for a good 25 minutes before I mentioned I'd applied for the recently listed editor position at Paizo. The Song of Kwasin ended up selling to another publishing house, but I'll always be thankful for the novel having broken the ice. A few short weeks later, I was called in for an interview and an editing test, and a week after that I was working furiously at my new desk at the Paizo offices.
And I do mean working furiously. You see, I came aboard right before both the Pathfinder RPG Beta and Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting hardcover were due to go to the printer. Printouts from both books were flying in a feverish blur from one editor to the next as I was trying my best to raise my voice above the tumult working to get everyone on the same page that Chelaxian was a noun and Chelish was an adjective. It was a crazy time to board the good ship Paizo, but I knew the trial by fire was worth it when I saw just how well both the Beta and the Campaign Setting were received. And now, more than four years later, it's even more worth it knowing how far Paizo and Pathfinder have come... and how much farther we can go.
Christopher Carey Editor
The Birth of a Roleplaying Game
This is an early version of the Pathfinder RPG that Jason dubbed "Mon Mothma" after the character from Return of the Jedi.
To tell the truth, this story actually starts in October 2007. With the announcement of 4th Edition, most of my freelance work for Wizards quickly began to dry up. I was not on the list to get an early look at the rules, and there were few remaining 3.5 hardcover books that needed work. With a bunch of idle time on my hands, I was looking for something to keep myself occupied. It occurred to me that there might be a fair number of people who would stick with the 3.5 rules and that maybe I could put together an easy PDF document with some rules revisions, just for fun. My first document had the title "3.75 Rules Set" in the margin.
As the months rolled by, my little rules document began to grow. At first, it was just a list of ideas with things like "fix grapple" and "do something about turning." As those issues got tackled, the document got larger and larger. Eventually, it came to include alterations to the core classes and a significant revision to combat and monster design. By the end of 2007, the "3.75 Rules Set" document was about 20 pages long.
Early in 2008, it was becoming apparent that Paizo was in a bind. We still had not seen 4th Edition (or what would become the GSL) and we were starting to run into the part of the year where we were supposed to be working on products for Gen Con. Realizing that we were running out of time, Lisa called a summit at her house to discuss our options. We struggled most of that day to come up with a viable plan. I kept thinking back to my rules document, even though it was little more than a mishmash of rules ideas and notes. Late in the afternoon, I brought it up to the folks in attendance. It took some convincing, and a whole lot of reassurances on my part, but I left that meeting as the Lead Designer of "Mon Mothma," the code name we gave to the Pathfinder RPG.
The next few weeks went by in a blur. We knew that we wanted to do a public playtest of the rules, and to put out the Beta by Gen Con, so I had very little time to get the first documents put together. The timeline gave me about a month to turn my rough rules document into the first of the Alpha playtest PDFs. Not only that, but I needed to make significant progress on the next two Alpha documents as well, because I would need to roll right into the Beta design as soon as the Alpha documents were released. I also went to D&D Experience during this time to check out 4th Edition; after playing the game, and talking to many of the fans at the show, it became clear to me that we were doing the right thing for our fans, our world, and the company.
I had so little time during this design period that I actually worked from home just to save me the travel time getting to the office, giving me an extra hour or so each day. On the days I came in, I was expected to update everyone on my progress and show off the current design, to get feedback and answer questions. There were a lot of insane ideas thrown around back then, some of which eventually got changed drastically before finding a home in the Beta and the final version of the game. There was once an insanely difficult "new" system for determining cover, which in retrospect, was a terrible idea. Fighters used to get a number of "combat tricks" at every level, many of which went on to become feats in the final version of the game. But for every misstep, there were dozens of great changes that were brought into the rules, like sorcerer bloodlines, combat maneuvers, and channel energy. It was a crazy few weeks, and probably some of the most creative of my career.
Finally, after months of tinkering and a few frantic weeks of work, the day had finally arrived: March 18, 2008. The Paizo website came down and I spent most of the day pacing the office like an expectant father. We ordered pizza. We monitored the unofficial Paizo chat room. We waited and waited for the site to come back up with the Pathfinder RPG announcement and the Alpha document for all to see. My nerves were a complete wreck. At 3:01 p.m. Pacific Time, the site came back up and the Alpha playtest of the Pathfinder RPG went live. I spent the next few days and nights glued to my computer, scanning every gaming website I could find for feedback, thoughts, and general reaction to the announcement. Some called doom, some rejoiced, some simply shrugged, but it quickly became clear that from the outpouring support from our messageboards that we had one thing going for us.
You.
You were behind us from the moment the goblins forced our decision. You were behind us through the entire playtest process, which stretched out almost a year in total. You stood in that insane line to get the Beta print version and the Core Rulebook the following year. And you are still with us today. You make it all worth it.
... Costume Contest Winner! Thursday, August 30, 2012 Admittedly casting a vote in this year's Gen Con Pathfinder Cosplay Contest made for a tough call, but I don't think any of us expected a tie! That's right, after tallying up the votes, we're pleased to announce that Rita as the Master Spy Prestige Class and Zach as Ezren can both be declared winners, and each will be awarded $50 in paizo.com store credit. Congrats, guys, and a big thank you to everyone who participated and voted! The...
Costume Contest Winner!
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Admittedly casting a vote in this year's Gen Con Pathfinder Cosplay Contest made for a tough call, but I don't think any of us expected a tie! That's right, after tallying up the votes, we're pleased to announce that Rita as the Master Spy Prestige Class and Zach as Ezren can both be declared winners, and each will be awarded $50 in paizo.com store credit. Congrats, guys, and a big thank you to everyone who participated and voted! The costumes were all awesome this year, and we hope to see you in next year's contest!
... In the Event of My Untimely Demiseby Robin D. Laws ... Chapter Three: Old ComradesThe trim, white-haired man responded with seasoned stillness to Luma's knee and sickle. His foreign-accented voice purred soothingly, with a hint of disarming irony. Who am I and why I am I following you? I might equally ask whose blade caresses my jugular. ... Depending on your answer, Luma replied, I might tell you. She glanced at the alleyway's mouth. The street it jutted onto was not such a quiet one....
In the Event of My Untimely Demise
by Robin D. Laws
Chapter Three: Old Comrades
The trim, white-haired man responded with seasoned stillness to Luma's knee and sickle. His foreign-accented voice purred soothingly, with a hint of disarming irony. "Who am I and why I am I following you? I might equally ask whose blade caresses my jugular."
"Depending on your answer," Luma replied, "I might tell you." She glanced at the alleyway's mouth. The street it jutted onto was not such a quiet one. This was in Dockway, where most folk would note a waylaying in an alley and keep going, unblinking. But trouble only took one busybody.
Prominent veins ran like engorged streams across the man's papery, spotted hands. Around his wrist coiled a silver chain bearing a charm—a rat perched on a raft. From her reading, Luma vaguely recalled this as the symbol of an obscure river god from the faraway River Kingdoms. The man was likely a priest, able to call down magic from his deity, much as Luma did from the city itself.
"What would you say, young lady, if I told you I wasn't following you?"
Luma couldn't help finding him likeable—and resenting people who projected charm so readily. "I'm not that young, and a lady only by the skin of my nails."
"When you get to my age, you'll consider everyone young. And I wasn't following you, I was following the dwarf."
"Jordyar."
"You've met my truculent former colleague, then. Honestly, my dear, let me up. We may discover common goals."
"Introduce yourself first."
"I am Rieslan, once known as Rieslan the Drowner, now sadly diminished."
Luma relaxed the pressure of her knee on his spine. "And let me guess. You went with Jordyar and Aruhal into the Demonsweald, in search of a valuable reliquary."
Rieslan sighed. "He told you about that, did he? Dear fellow's grown talkative in his dotage."
"I'm going to let you up, Rieslan. Try anything and you'll—"
"No need to complete the threat," said the river cleric. "I've had a long career, and heard them all."
Luma got up, her sickle still ready. "You shadowed him in case he was pursued?"
Rieslan rose, brushing gravel from his leggings. "That's what I thought you were doing, my dear. Jordyar and I have had a falling out, shall we say, since the old days. I know why I'm chasing him. Why are you?"
"I'll ask the questions," Luma said, watching him rub his creaking finger joints. "I suppose you've heard that, too."
The old priest twinkled at her. "Very well."
"I care about the reliquary only insofar as it might have led to my client's murder."
"Your client?" Rieslan interjected. "You work for Aruhal's estate?"
Luma nodded.
Rieslan steadied himself against the wall. "Someone might have hastened his demise for it. But it wouldn't be me. Or Jordyar, for that matter."
"Why not?"
"Haven't you found it notable that we waited till we got word of Aruhal's death to come for it? He had a curse placed on himself. Whosoever slays Aruhal will himself be slain." The priest studied Luma's expression. "You look like someone who's just had an epiphany."
Luma flushed. She hated it when others saw through her. "How did you hear of this curse?"
"He sent a messenger, to warn us, back when we still stalked him for our share of the loot."
"He told you he had a curse placed on himself, and you accepted it as truth?"
Rieslan held his hands together, as if in prayer. "I asked my god, Hanspur, and was told it was true."
"But, as in the way of gods, received no clearer details."
Rieslan winced.
"What is it?" Luma asked.
He waved her question away. "I get headaches. It is nothing."
"So you and your comrades—"
"Former comrades," Rieslan said.
"You all waited until you learned of his death, then came for the treasure. How did you hear of it?"
"Naphrax posted a spy, who sent word that Aruhal was sick. Jordyar had Naphrax's dogsbody in his pay, and so learned that Naphrax had broken from his seclusion and was bound for Magnimar. And of course I have been keeping an eye on Jordyar."
"This Naphrax, he's your party's other survivor? Let me guess—a wizard?"
A vein pulsed on Rieslan's forehead. "Sorcerer, but let's not make fine distinctions."
A spell-slinger complicated the possibilities. He might have found a way to break the curse, and killed Aruhal off despite it. But then, why wait until he was sick?
Luma caught herself playing with her hair again and stopped. "Let see where that leaves us. I don't care about the treasure. You have no particular reason to protect Aruhal's killer—if indeed he was killed at all. Does that about sum it up?"
Rieslan crinkled aged dimples at her. "Much gold is at stake. You'll excuse me if I greet your disinterest in it with a certain skepticism."
Luma, affronted, tried to cover it up with a smile. "Ask around about the Derexhi family. Our reputation for honesty is worth more than your treasure."
Rieslan is charming—which doesn't make him innocent.
"A thousand pardons, my dear."
Don't call me dear, Luma wanted to say. "At any rate, we have each spoiled the other's attempt to follow Jordyar. I suggest we part, with no hard feelings."
The priest bowed deep, and went on his way.
Luma signaled to her brother Ontor, who for several minutes had been standing across the way. He'd appeared in her peripheral vision, sauntering down the street, looking for her. Seeing her occupied, he'd dropped into a pose, engaging in conversation with loitering dockworkers.
It never surprised Luma to see one of her siblings appear out of the blue like this. Her sister Iskola could see from afar, and whisper into distant ears. Wherever she was in Magnimar, one of the others could always find her.
Ontor required no further instructions. Adopting a languid lope, he pushed off after Rieslan.
Iskola's spells didn't permit them to communicate with one another, so Luma would find a rendezvous and wait. She ambled for the closest of the Derexhi haunts, a spot named after its proprietor, Chanda, who specialized in bream broth and walnut bread. Luma claimed the darkest corner, where Chanda, unbidden, brought her soup, half a loaf of the bread, and a bowl of sea snails in red garlic sauce. Luma paid Chanda the usual premium for a lengthy stay and settled in.
An hour later, Ontor slid into the seat across from her, a sea snail bowl already in one hand and a half-filled ale flagon in the other. "You'll be happy to hear I was also deemed too much a black sheep for the Vitellus job."
Family politics could wait, Luma decided. There was a mystery to solve. Even if the answer was that there was no mystery at all. "Where did he go?"
Ontor threw his head back, dropped a sea snail in, and swallowed, pleased with his show of downmarket manners. The stevedores filling the restaurant ate the same way. "He's staking out a hovel down in Rag's End. Waiting for someone to show. Since I have no idea of the situation, I figured I'd come and collect you, and we'd check the place out together."
Luma dunked a final bread crust into the remnants of her broth.
Ontor wiped ale-foam from his lips. "That was a hint, by the way. A request for context."
Luma briefed him on the case to date: the prearranged, posthumous assignment; the widow and her pleurisy story; Jordyar the dwarf and then Rieslan the river-cleric and their tangled, treacherous history with Aruhal.
Ontor gobbled the rest of his food. "So you reckon this Rieslan knows where Jordyar is staying, and, having lost him in Dockway, has gone there to wait for him?"
Luma hadn't so reckoned, but would have, given one more moment's thought. The two half-siblings set out for Rag's End.
∗∗∗
As ramshackle as its name suggested, Rag's End stretched out before them as an expanse of hovels and shanties. Luma and Ontor strode with dispatch past a crowd gathered for an impromptu match between a mastiff and a crab spider half again its size. Sensing a form of authority approaching, the bettors hunched and turned their faces away. A jagged laneway sloped gently into a depression. As Ontor led Luma down its length, a gathering fog grew from scattered wisps to an obscuring mass.
At the end of the cul-de-sac a two-story structure held itself with lordly remove from the surrounding shacks. To its left, a cloud of flies buzzed around a heap of rotting trash. Piles of rubble, wood and masonry mostly, formed an unintended fence around the building's right side.
"That's where your old duffer was waiting," Ontor said.
Luma peered into the twilight. There was no immediate sign of Rieslan now. Lamplight issued from an open window facing the debris wall.
"He's either gone in," Ontor whispered, "or gone entirely. But someone must be in there." He wasn't so much stating the obvious as asking: do we go in and see?
In reply, Luma nodded. Hunching, the two of them covered the distance to the wall, and then to the side of the house.
Luma let in the citysong, hearing the whispers and shushes of the billowing fog. Cozened by her spell, it pooled around them, its protective mantle blending naturally with the mist flowing through the neighborhood. They could see into the house, while anyone looking out would see only swirling vapor.
Inside Luma saw two familiar individuals, and two unfamiliar.
Jordyar sat atop a wooden table, picking at his rotting teeth with his fingers. Rieslan slumped in a chair, shoved in a corner. Ropes bound his waist, arms, and ankles. Wet blood reddened his goatee. His divine charm, with its rat and raft motif, swung from a rafter, a good twenty feet away. Without it, Luma knew, he wouldn't be able to shape his appeals to the realms beyond, and would receive no magic from his god.
A second, much younger man was also tied to a chair, this one positioned in the center of the room. Muscular and tanned, he would have been handsome, prior to the beating he'd taken. His face swelled and purpled; scorched holes in his tunic revealed burned skin beneath. Still conscious, the man seemed to be willing himself to pass out, and failing at it.
Over him stood a creased, leathery man dressed in a suede robe dotted with turquoise and agate beads. He wore a vest with no shirt beneath it, showing off the puffy muscles of a fit but elderly man. Greasy black hair hung straight from his scalp down to his shoulders. A long mustache drooped from his upper lip to his protruding clavicles.
He grunted at Jordyar, who approached him carrying a poker, which he held out at arm's length with the aid of his thick hide glove. The mustached man spoke arcane syllables, evoking a cone-shape blast of flame, which flew from his fingertips to the poker. The poker's iron tip glowed red.
"Please," the prisoner sobbed. "I'm begging you."
Jordyar hefted the red-hot poker. "You're doing to this yourself, Gaval."
Gaval shuddered. "I can't tell you anything about it. Seriza never mentioned such a thing! And Aruhal—I barely spoke a hundred words to him my entire life. I'm just an apothecary."
Jordyar's partner—who had to be the sorcerer, Naphrax—turned to the terrified young man in the chair. "Tell us," he said.
The dwarf advanced with the poker.
"Tell us," repeated Naphrax.
Coming Next Week: Revelations and old grudges in the final chapter of Robin Laws' "In the Event of My Untimely Demise."
If you like this story, consider picking up the further adventures of Luma and her family in Robin D. Laws' Blood of the City!
Robin D. Laws is the author of the Pathfinder Tales novels Blood of the City and The Worldwound Gambit, as well as the Pathfinder's Journals for the Serpent's Skull Adventure Path and the Skull & Shackles Adventure Path. In addition, he's written six other novels; various short stories, web serials, and comic books; and a long list of roleplaying game products. His novels include Pierced Heart, The Rough and the Smooth, and the Angelika Fleischer series for the Black Library. Robin created the classic RPG Feng Shui and such recent titles as Mutant City Blues, Skulduggery, and the newly redesigned HeroQuest 2. Those interested in learning more about Robin are advised to check out his blog.
... Mythic Adventures Tuesday, August 28, 2012 Just over a week ago, at Gen Con, we announced the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game hardcover book due to come out next August: Mythic Adventures. Since then, there has been a fury of speculation and excitement about this book, so I thought I would give a recap of what we’ve said so far about this new addition to the game. ... What is mythic?The mythic rules offer a new way to play Pathfinder. It uses all the rules that you are familiar with, but it...
Mythic Adventures
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Just over a week ago, at Gen Con, we announced the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game hardcover book due to come out next August: Mythic Adventures. Since then, there has been a fury of speculation and excitement about this book, so I thought I would give a recap of what we’ve said so far about this new addition to the game.
What is mythic?
The mythic rules offer a new way to play Pathfinder. It uses all the rules that you are familiar with, but it adds a new layer to the game. Mythic adventurers are elevated above their non-mythic counterparts, gaining powers and abilities beyond their reach that allow them to take on tougher foes and more daunting challenges. A mythic character takes on the agents of deities, rushes headlong into the abyss, and strives to build a legend, all while facing off against a wide variety of foes, from common monsters to other mythic characters. If Elric, Fafhrd, Gray Mouser, Hercules, or King Arthur were created in Pathfinder, they would be mythic characters.
Is this a replacement for epic rules?
Mythic is not epic. You can use the mythic rules with 1st-level characters just as easily as you can with 20th-level characters. You can even use the mythic rules to continue to grow in power once your PCs reach 20th level, taking on some of the toughest adversaries in the game, from ancient dragons to demon lords. Meanwhile a low-level mythic character might take on monsters that you are already familiar with, at a level where non-mythic characters would face certain doom.
So, how does mythic work?
Each mythic character must select a mythic path, which defines some of the powers and abilities he gains, in addition to a few features gained by all mythic characters. As a character advances, his mythic tier might increase. Starting at 1st tier, a mythic character is quite a bit more resilient and can draw upon his mythic power to accomplish incredible deeds. Once he reaches 10th tier (the upper limit of mythic power), he is an unstoppable force, akin to a demigod in some respects.
Mythic tiers are not gained by accumulating experience points. Instead, a mythic character has to accomplish a specific number of deeds to achieve the next tier of mythic power. Using this system, your mythic tier is not tied to your character level. You still gain XP as normal, still gain levels as normal, but occasionally you might increase your mythic tier as well, adding a few new mythic abilities and powers to your character.
It is important to note that while mythic rules add to the game, they do not necessarily make the game more complex.
What are the mythic paths?
The rules currently include six paths for a mythic character to choose from. Each path offers a unique set of abilities to choose from, as well as some abilities that appear in more than one path. The paths you can choose from are as follows:
Archmage: Master of arcane magic, able to call upon his mythic power to cast extra spells, penetrate defenses, and even cast greater versions of existing spells.
Champion: Unequalled in his skill with weapons and styles of fighting. The champion can call upon his mythic power to make devastating attacks, quickly move across any battlefield, and strike many foes with a single swing.
Hierophant: In tune with the gods, be they deities or the spirits of the natural world, the hierophant is the master of divine magic. The hierophant can heal even the most deadly wounds, bring back allies from the dead, and wield the power of the gods.
Marshal: A leader of unparalleled vision, the marshal elevates those around him, granting powerful abilities and bonuses to his allies, even if they are not mythic themselves. Entire armies flock to his banner, and his close friends find his council invaluable.
Trickster: The master of many deceptions, the trickster can influence the world around him in both subtle ways (with a smile) and more direct ways (with a dagger in the back).
Warden: Few can withstand the sort of punishment that the warden takes regularly. No foe frightens this warrior, because he knows that no blow could possibly lay him low. The warden uses his resiliency to protect his allies, the people around him, and the lands he calls home.
What else will be in Mythic Adventures?
In short, everything you need to add mythic rules to your game. The book will contain the mythic paths, deeds, feats, spells, magic items, artifacts, monsters, and a short sample adventure to get you started. In addition, Mythic Adventures will include plenty of tips and advice for playing a mythic character and running a mythic campaign. It will also feature ways that you can add mythic rules to your existing campaign, even if it’s only for an adventure or two.
Mythic monsters?
Oh yes. There will be mythic monsters. This book will include a selection of monsters, from upgrades of existing beasts, such as the mythic minotaur and medusa, to entirely new creations. In addition, there will be a number of simple templates and rules to allow a GM to make any monster mythic. There are also going to be a number of other toys to go in the GMs toolbox to help make a game that can challenge such powerful characters.
Can I have it NOW?
Not quite yet. Mythic Adventures will be released at Gen Con 2013, but you’ll get a chance to play with the rules well before that. We will be releasing a select portion of the rules set, to give you a chance to play with the rules, tell us what works and what needs work. This playtest will hopefully get underway by the end of September, but we will make sure to give you a firm date as soon as we have one. Until then, I want to leave you with this one little mythic rule for you to chew on.
Amazing Initiative (Ex): At 2nd tier, a mythic character gains a +20 mythic bonus on his initiative checks. In addition, he can spend one use of his mythic power each round to take an additional turn, treating his initiative for this second turn as his initiative roll without the +20 mythic bonus. Using this ability is a free action that must be decided at the end of his first action during the round.
... Pathfinder Society Down Under Monday, August 27, 2012 Now that Gen Con is over, and I only have to finish plans for Pax Prime and get ready for my trip to Dragon*Con in Atlanta next week, I am finally able to get back on track with our series of international Pathfinder Society blogs. This time, we go to some of the most remote Pathfinder Society play in the world down in Australia. I have a great fondness in my heart for Australians. I was able to have a drink with several of the...
Pathfinder Society Down Under
Monday, August 27, 2012
Now that Gen Con is over, and I only have to finish plans for Pax Prime and get ready for my trip to Dragon*Con in Atlanta next week, I am finally able to get back on track with our series of international Pathfinder Society blogs. This time, we go to some of the most remote Pathfinder Society play in the world down in Australia. I have a great fondness in my heart for Australians. I was able to have a drink with several of the Australian Venture-Captains and Lieutenants when they came up for PaizoCon in July. Wes Nicholson always brings me Tim Tams when he and I are at the same convention, and at Gen Con last week, he brought me beer. And, I have met Matt Goodall (RPG Superstar) at both PaizoCon and Gen Con, and was able to share some war stories with him. So, I reached out to all three Venture-Captains in Australia and below is what they had to say about Pathfinder Society scene in there.
Before we get to those three reports, I wanted to announce that a fourth Venture-Captain has been added to Australia. Daniel Flood will be overseeing coordination of Pathfinder Society in Brisbane. Welcome aboard Daniel! I look forward to watching you facilitate growth of Pathfinder Society from the amazing level it currently is, to the awesome level I know it can reach.
First, we start on the west coast in Perth with Callum Prior.
My name is Callum (buzzby on the boards), I'm currently Venture-Captain for Western Australia. I'm a Community Development Officer for one of the largest local governments in the state. I previously spent about a decade as a self-employed music and tour manager and prior to that I worked as a butler to the Governor (Her Majesty's representative, not the American-style governor. Rule Britannia!).
Western Australia alone takes up a third of the country, coming in at 20 times larger than England and more than 3-1/2 times bigger than Texas, but our whole state only has a population of 1.7 million. We're spread pretty thin in terms of population centers. Our side of the country, in particular, suffers from what we like to call the "tyranny of distance."
The next closest Venture-Captain is a leisurely 3,438 km away in Melbourne. We have one gaming store in the metropolitan area and we don't have access to a dedicated RPG convention.
Back in the heady days of late 2011 I started email contact with Melbourne Venture-Captain Stephen White, who at the time had jurisdiction over the whole of Australia. With my home gaming group only able to meet up two or three times a year due to the perils of real life, I was keen to see if Pathfinder Society might be a reasonable alternative. Sadly we weren't able to locate any locally reported events and I went back to playing knifey-spoony and looking for ways to support Stephen over here.
However, several weeks later, Stephen sent me an email pointing to Mike's call out for volunteers in new regions. I submitted my application and here I am.
We don't have a strong history of organied play over here and with just the one gaming store, a lot of my work is building partnerships with other (not always gaming) groups and seeking opportunities outside of the normal gaming hot spots.
A great recent example of this is RFLAN, a local LAN event that runs four times a year and routinely sells out to a capacity 450 gamers. I've been working with them to have a presence at their events, the first of which we ran last month starting off with a modest single table. They've kindly offered us even more at the next event, enough for five tables, and it's something I hope to build into a quarterly Pathfinder convention.
We've also been able to attend a number of local pop culture conventions—WAICON (anime), Swancon (science fiction), and GenghisCon (speculative fiction and gaming)—all for the first time. Feedback from all of these have been very positive, and I'm quite excited at what we'll be able to bring to those events next year.
Most recently I was able to appoint Chris Chisolm as my Venture-Lieutenant. Chris will be caretaking our metro events while I make a start establishing groups in some of our regional areas.
So, starting from nothing scant months ago we now have 88 players registered on Warhorn, hit 100 subscribers to our email newsletter, run weekly events at a number of different venues, have attended all the major pop culture conventions bar one (we'll get you next year, Supanova!) and are starting to see our first starred GMs.
Callum Prior Venture-Captain, Western Australia
Now we move 3,438km (or 2,136 miles) to the east for Pathfinder Society in Melbourne.
I'm Stephen White, previously Venture-Captain, Australia—more recently demoted to Venture-Captain, Melbourne. Though that's all cool, because I realized going in that one person can't possibly oversee a region as vast as Australia, I'm very grateful for the work Al, Callum, and many others are doing in other cities throughout the country.
I'm a long-time gaymer, having purchased the 1981 Basic Box with birthday money as a teenager, and played every edition (minus one) of the game since, including GMing the original Adventure Path (Dragonlance) through two editions.
When I moved from Adelaide to Melbourne, I nervously attended my first gaming convention, and discovered a thriving community of players. I enjoyed Living Greyhawk and Living Arcanis and an occasional Eberron game (I'm the VC who loves non-core races!) for 5 years, meeting some great friends along the way. When those campaigns wound down due to edition changes, I was concerned for the future of our local gaming scene. Being a long-time collector of Dragon and Dungeon magazines, I followed Paizo's transition to Pathfinder with great interest, buying a copy of the Pathfinder RPG Beta for each of my homegroup players and GMing Runelords and Crimson Throne.
A strong perception I had growing up in Adelaide during the '80s was that all of the big RPG conventions, events, and promotions seemed to be focused on the USA or perhaps Europe. RPG products cost twice the cover price in Australia due to international shipping and the weak Aussie dollar. Being an island nation isolates us—travel to even our closest neighboring countries requires costly overseas flights.
Some of the barriers to participating as a single international RPG community have reduced in recent years, such as the growth of Internet communications, PDF downloads, a stronger Aussie dollar reducing the cost of imported books, and more competitive airline industry making flights more affordable. Aussies now participate more frequently and equally in many fields internationally, and nothing represents this more in our hobby than our very own Matthew Goodall winning RPG Superstar 2010, and more recently authoring Pathfinder Adventure Path #57: Tempest Rising (Skull & Shackles).
It is very much this sense of wanting Australians to participate in RPG events on equal terms that, when Paizo released Hollow's Last Hope, motivated me to download and run my first public Pathfinder gameday in Melbourne—Free RPG Day 2007. That was 5 years ago now, and I've GMed Pathfinder modules at Free RPG Day events every year since.
The other reason I became a Pathfinder GM was in appreciation of all those who ran tables of Living Greyhawk, Living Arcanis, or Eberron for me at Melbourne conventions. You may not have realised it at the time, but I learned a lot from you all, and your efforts inspired me to be where I am writing this blog post today. GMing Pathfinder is my way of giving back to the community that supported my enjoyment of the game for all those years, and I hope in return I may inspire others to do likewise.
So it was that I started GMing Pathfinder Society scenarios right from Season 0's beginning, starting with my home group, who then became my GM team at Melbourne's three annual games conventions, Arcanacon, Conquest, and Unicon. With the help of GMs across the country, we descended on Brisbane, bringing Pathfinder Society to Gen ConOz and then PaizoConOz for the last 3 years.
Since becoming Venture-Captain, I realized that GMing Pathfinder at four conventions per year wasn't enough—we also need to run public gamedays at our local game stores. The Geelong guys were a step ahead of me, already hosting Pathfinder every Thursday night. I discovered a new Good Games store had recently opened at Blackburn, so I thought that would be the perfect place to start my own local group. We've been running Pathfinder Society tables at Blackburn every Sunday for nearly 2 years now, and we're also starting to host games in the Melbourne CBD. Players can sign up to play Pathfinder Society in and around Melbourne on our Warhorn page, though Pathfinder Society events are also being scheduled in cities across Australia—check out Paizo's event calendar for upcoming gamedays.
And can I just say WOW, Sydney?! The Pathfinder Society growth experienced in Sydney has been phenomenal, and raises a community building challenge for us all to aspire toward, including my own Melbourne region.
Despite our country's size (roughly the size of continental USA), Australia has a population of only 22 million, compared to USA's 313 million. Australian cities are therefore quite isolated from one another—the "tyranny of distance." To put this into perspective, Melbourne and Sydney are a day's drive apart; Melbourne to Brisbane is 2-day's drive; and I'm told driving from Melbourne to Perth requires 3 full days driving across nothing but featureless desert, which no sane person would even attempt.
Nonetheless, a few of us do travel to each others conventions from time to time, and it's always great to meet players from other regions. We're currently aware of Pathfinder Society gamedays in Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Geelong, Melbourne, Newcastle, Perth, Rockhampton, Sydney, Tasmania, and Woolongong. If you're playing Pathfinder anywhere in Australia, we'd love to hear about it and keep in touch.
The single message I most want to leave you with is that anyone can advertise and host a local Pathfinder Society gameday—that's exactly how I and many others started. Everyone benefits from a growing community. Sharing and rotating GM duty encourages more play opportunities, and meeting local players can open homegame opportunities such as Adventure Paths.
When I attended my first games convention, it was because I had no one local to game with. Now I'm gaming every Saturday and Sunday, every week of the year, and have made many good friendships in the process.
Make your own opportunities happen!
Stephen White (DarkWhite) Venture-Captain, Melbourne
PS: To Do List: Create a Pathfinder Society druid concept that credibly supports a kangaroo animal companion in Golarion :/
Finally, we move a "day's drive" from Melbolurne to Syndney.
Currently, Australia has three Venture-Captains: Stephen White (aka DarkWhite) in Melbourne; Callum Prior (aka buzzby) in Perth; and myself, Alistair Rigg (aka The Spider) in Sydney.
I have been building up the Pathfinder Society scene here since late 2009 and was appointed Venture-Captain in October 2011, shortly after the call for regional Australian Venture-Captains. I started playing Dungeons & Dragons in my hometown of Kendal, in the northwest of the UK, with the Red Box back in 1982. A fanatic of Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, I was originally confused that, in D&D, I wasn't constrained by a short list of possible actions. It wasn't until I attended a local game day, in which I rolled up a 1st-level fighter, joined a band of higher-level heroes seeking to assault Castle Ravenloft, and was finally struck dead by the horrific keening of a groaning spirit, that I truly grasped how to play, and was completely and utterly hooked.
I migrated to Sydney in 1997 where I continued to play and GM by helping to start several gaming groups through my workplace and a local game store. We played through 2nd to 4th Edition, but settled on Pathfinder as our system of choice. We became involved with Pathfinder Society when we attended Gen Con Oz 2009 in Brisbane. There, we drank beer with Jason Bulmahn, and became friends with other Pathfinder players and GMs who remain active in the Australian Pathfinder Society to this day. Back in Sydney, I immediately started organizing Pathfinder Society game days. I started organizing Society conventions when Gen Con Oz 2010 was cancelled. As we had already booked our flights and accommodation, we needed an alternative and so Stephen White, Richard Adamson, John Deague, and I organized PaizoCon Oz. The event was a great success, and having learned a little of what was required, resolved to get involved with the convention scene in Sydney.
Australia is a big country. It's roughly the size of continental USA but with a total population of just under 23 million, most of whom are located in cities along the eastern seaboard. Australia is therefore characterized by urban populations separated by huge spaces of open country and desert. This "tyranny of distance" shapes our efforts in building the Pathfinder Society in Australia, forcing each Venture-Captain to develop in relative isolation from each other. I'm separated from Steve's region by around 600 miles, and from Cal's region by around 2,500 miles! It also means that, geographically speaking, our areas are quite large. Sydney's urban area is in a coastal basin, which is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the east, the Blue Mountains to the west, the Hawkesbury River to the north, and the Royal National Park to the south. Sydney's urban area is around 650 square miles and has a population of around 4.6 million. This is my core region.
My outer region, however, comprises the state of New South Wales, which contains the Australian Capital Territory. Apart from Sydney, the other major cities in this area are Canberra, Newcastle, and Wollongong. This outer region is so vast that it would be impossible for me to personally manage events across it on anything but an occasional basis and so self-managing groups are vital. Currently, by far the strongest of these is in Australia's capital city of Canberra, ably managed by Wes Nicholson, Sean Wellsmore, and Steven Coling through a roleplaying society based at the Australian National University. They run game days every other week, have a convention calendar that runs throughout the year, and are going from strength to strength. A new group has also recently started in Wollongong. Jesper Bjelke and Sibel Yilmaz are running a monthly game day at Good Games Wollongong and have forged links with the University of Wollongong's Guild Gaming Society who have just run their first convention, Gong-Con. Most of their players are new to Pathfinder Society, only just finished taking their First Steps.
In my core region of Sydney, there are 5 game days each month. Although the stores that have space for games are happy to host us, and for which we're very grateful, we do all of the organizing and running ourselves. On the first Saturday, Neil Mansell runs six sessions at Unlimited Hobbies in Blacktown along with his GMs, Adam Mansell, Brendan Missio, and James Bonham. On the second Saturday, Ben Kemp and Tony Calder runs four sessions through the long-running Blacktown Games Day at Blacktown North Public School. On the third Saturday, Luke Parry, Brad Kirkwood, and Adam Luchjenbroers run three sessions at Good Games Sydney, and Brendan Missio and David Zammit run games at Tin Soldier Penrith. On the last Saturday of the month, Tris Sullivan and Seb Mullins run two sessions at Good Games Burwood. More game days are in the works as well, and we hope to have sessions up and running in Miranda and Newcastle soon.
Sydney's convention scene is also well developed with six conventions per year. The next major Pathfinder Convention is one of my own, the Spring Shadowmoot, which will be named Risen Rune in honour of the new season, running over the Labour Day long weekend, September 28th to October 1st. There are around 60 sessions scheduled, including all the latest scenarios from Season Three, the first scenarios for Season Four, the Season Four multi-table special, sanctioned modules, and Australia's first public offering of the Eyes of the Ten arc.
Currently, our community centers around our Facebook page. Here we launch our events and discuss Pathfinder Society play in the region, so please "Like" the page to link up with us and keep up to date on what's happening.
I'd like to say a big thank you to all of the Sydney region's Pathfinder Society event organizers and GMs, for all their hard work and willingness to give up their time to entertain people. I've already shouted out some of these people in the above but there are many others, including enthusiastic players, too many to mention, who are helping to drive the hobby forward here in Sydney. My Venture-Lieutenant, Martin Blake, currently on secondment with the Colorado Chapter, is likely to make the move permanent and seek a Venture Officer role there. Although he was involved in organizing events here in Sydney for just a short time before he was relocated, his advice and enthusiasm will be missed. I'd like to take this opportunity, therefore, to welcome my new VL, Dave Metcalfe (aka Metz), to the role. Metz has been my adviser and co-organizer over the last year or so, and was very active in a previous organized play campaign. He'll be a key player in developing the Society here in the future, and I am thankful to have him as part of my team.
There have been several highlights in the local scene since I was appointed Venture-Captain. In October 2011, I organized my first Sydney convention, Shadow Lodge, and, at 31 sessions, it immediately became the biggest Pathfinder Society event that had run in the region. In December 2011, we ran five tables of Blood Under Absalom and had by far the largest number of sessions for any game on offer at MacquarieCon, another of Sydney's long-running roleplaying conventions. In April, our second Shadow Lodge convention, Ruby Phoenix, was even bigger! We had 60 players filling 375 seats over 64 sessions, which made Ruby Phoenix the largest Pathfinder gathering in the southern hemisphere to date!
The resurrection of the organized play scene in Canberra is also exciting in that it offers more options for more players across the greater region. Wes Nicholson and his team are organizing the relaunch of Spring Revel Downunder, which will be running over two weekends on Sep 28–Oct 1 and Oct 5–8. The successful inception of Society play in Wollongong as a completely new location is also very encouraging.
Over the course of 2012, we're aiming to start game days at a number of other new locations. And we'll of course continue to grow our offerings at conventions in Sydney and Canberra to support our growing player base. We're also working on a website that will unite the event calendars from across the region and act as a launchpad to our various online locations of interest, such as our Facebook page and Warhorn sites.
Ultimately, the true highlight of the Pathfinder Society is through the like-minded people you meet. It is probably this aspect that I find most satisfying and which gives me the greatest sense of achievement. The Sydney Pathfinder Society is developing strongly, with a great many new friendships forming as a result, and I'm excited to be able to help facilitate and promote it.
Alistair Rigg Venture-Captain, Sydney
My heartfelt thanks goes out to all of the Venture-Captains and Lieutenants, coordinators, players, and GMs for making Australia an amazing area for Pathfinder Society. Keep up the awesome work all!
Mike Brock Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator
Pathfinder Battles Preview: A Very Important Column
... Pathfinder Battles Preview: A Very Important Column Friday, August 24, 2012 We’re back from Gen Con, and holy cow things went great for Paizo at this year’s show! I was very pleased at the reception of our new Rise of the Runelords Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic fantasy miniatures, as con-goers surrounded our display of all the unboxed figures throughout the exhibit hall hours, and I kept seeing the figures (along with our new Bestiary Box Pawns) all over the 95 tables of...
Pathfinder Battles Preview: A Very Important Column
Friday, August 24, 2012
We’re back from Gen Con, and holy cow things went great for Paizo at this year’s show! I was very pleased at the reception of our new Rise of the Runelords Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic fantasy miniatures, as con-goers surrounded our display of all the unboxed figures throughout the exhibit hall hours, and I kept seeing the figures (along with our new Bestiary Box Pawns) all over the 95 tables of Pathfinder Society games that ran every slot of the convention.
I was especially pleased to accept the gold Gen Con/ENnie award for Best Miniatures Product for our very first Pathfinder Battles set, Heroes & Monsters. As proud as I am of that initial offering, from my perspective the Pathfinder Battles sets just keep getting better and better, so I’m eager to see what next year’s judges and voters think of Rise of the Runelords and the upcoming Shattered Star minis set!
We ended up selling out of all the Rise of the Runelords minis by Sunday, and I was pleased to see several gamers getting in line two or three times with piles of boosters in hand as they hunted down that one specific figure or simply augmented their growing collection of Pathfinder Battles miniatures. Reaction to the new four-figure standard booster format was very positive, and it was really cool to see people so excited about a product line I’ve personally poured a ton of attention and sweat into over the last year. I was pleased to see that our partners at WizKids felt similarly, and your support made both of our conventions among the best ever.
Of course, as much as I love the Rise of the Runelords figures, these days I’ve been spending an awful lot of time with that set’s younger, hotter cousin, the Shattered Star! This set of 55 miniatures is currently slated for a January 2013 release, coinciding with the publication of the final volume of the Shattered Star Adventure Path!
Shattered Star was our first opportunity to develop a set of miniatures to support an Adventure Path at the same time that that Adventure Path was being outlined. I’ve spoken before in earlier columns about the difficulties associated with such a plan (we have to make LOTS of decisions MUCH sooner than we’re used to in order to pull it off given the extremely long lead-time involved with miniatures production), but one of the great things about this approach is that I got to sneak a few miniatures into the set (and hence into the Adventure Path outline) that have never before been released as prepainted plastic miniatures.
Which leads us to today’s figure: The Caryatid Column!
This creature has a long history in fantasy gaming, but its inspiration has an even longer history in, well, history. Caryatids—which is to say columns in the form of maidens—have been a part of architecture since the ancient Greeks. Their use dates back to at least the 6th century BC. I was able to see one of the famous caryatids at the British Museum while visiting London after Gen Con UK a few years back, and the sculpting was so realistic that the stone dresses worn by the figure looked soft to the touch, almost like it was real cloth on a real woman.
Happily, in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Caryatid Columns actually DO come alive, making them near-perfect low(ish)-level constructs. Plus, hitting them has a way of breaking the PCs’ weapons, which is always fun for the GM.
When I decided to include a Caryatid Column in the Shattered Star set, I took a look at the drawing included in the Pathfinder Bestiary 3. a neat enough illustration, but it lacks the sort of clothing effects I expect to see on a Caryatid Column inspired by the genuine articles. Instead I asked WizKids’ artists to base their sculpt upon an actual, real-life Caryatid Column from the ancient world. I think the resulting figure looks a lot better than a straight translation of the art from the Bestiary.
By sculpting our Caryatid Column figure in “column form,” the miniature doubles as any sort of pillar you might want to throw on your game table. I’m eager to set up whole rows of these guys (or gals, as the case may be) in my dungeons. Maybe some of them are ordinary pillars, while others are monsters waiting patiently for the arrival of the heroes. Who knows? Well, I know, of course, which is one of the reasons I prefer to be the GM.
Lastly, because I’m a nice guy and because I’m sure a few of you out there are wrongly clicking your tongues and thinking “big deal, so it’s a column,” I’m going to drop ONE MORE preview on you.
... Gen Con Costume Contest Voting! Thursday, August 23, 2012 Gen Con has come and gone, and with it the chance to enter the annual Gen Con Pathfinder Cosplay Contest! There were a number of fine entrants this year, so take a look at the photos below and then vote for who YOU think should win $50 in paizo.com store credit! ... The clock's ticking, and voting will officially close as of 11pm next Tuesday. Cast your vote now! ... Rita as the Master Spy Prestige Class. ... Zach as Ezren. ......
Gen Con Costume Contest Voting!
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Gen Con has come and gone, and with it the chance to enter the annual Gen Con Pathfinder Cosplay Contest! There were a number of fine entrants this year, so take a look at the photos below and then vote for who YOU think should win $50 in paizo.com store credit!
The clock's ticking, and voting will officially close as of 11pm next Tuesday. Cast your vote now!
Rita as the Master Spy Prestige Class.
Zach as Ezren.
Audrey and Emery as alchemist and rogue gnome sisters from their Jade Regent game. Check out the awesome starknife!
The three adventurers: Amy as a half-orc bard/Pathfinder Chronicler, Nicole as a human alchemist, and Natalie as a human paladin.
The Best Deal in Gaming Miniatures—Now With More Pathfinder!
... The Best Deal in Gaming Miniatures—Now With More Pathfinder! Wednesday, August 22, 2012 Last week, I posted a blog from the floor of Gen Con letting you know about Reaper's Bones Kickstarter for their unpainted plastic miniatures. At the time, they were just passing $565,000, heading towards the first Pathfinder miniatures stretch goal, adding nine Pathfinder goblin minis to their package, plus the option to buy the Red Dragon from the cover of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook. ... Well,...
The Best Deal in Gaming Miniatures—Now With More Pathfinder!
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Last week, I posted a blog from the floor of Gen Con letting you know about Reaper's Bones Kickstarter for their unpainted plastic miniatures. At the time, they were just passing $565,000, heading towards the first Pathfinder miniatures stretch goal, adding nine Pathfinder goblin minis to their package, plus the option to buy the Red Dragon from the cover of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook.
Well, your support blew the roof off their Kickstarter; as i write this, it has just passed $1,500,000. And Reaper's next goal, at $1,540,000, will bring four more iconic Pathfinder characters. Four more? Yep—since my last email, Reaper announced a second Pathfinder stretch goal that was quickly achieved, adding seven of our iconic characters: Seelah (paladin), Damiel (alchemist), Merisiel (rogue), Feiya (witch), Valeros (fighter), Amiri (barbarian), and Seoni (sorcerer). They also added the option to buy the awesome Jabberwock from the cover of the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2 for only $10. And their latest goal adds Bones minis for Kyra (cleric), Ezren (wizard), Lem (bard), and Seltyiel (magus).
The best deal in miniatures gaming history keeps getting better and better. Right now, a $100 pledge (the "Vampire" level) will get you 200 Bones minis and a metal Sophie the succubus. That means the Bones figures cost only 50 cents each! Wow! And if you don't want the metal Sophie, it has been announced that you'll be able to opt out of it for $25 credit to put towards other minis, such as the gargantuan Nethyrmaul the Undying undead dragon, designed for Reaper by Wayne Reynolds!
There are only three days left to back this Kickstarter, so don't hesitate. This will be the last time that I send you a friendly reminder, one gamer to another. I want to see Reaper succeed with this Kickstarter because bringing cheaper miniatures to the hobby benefits the whole industry. But I particularly wanted to let you, my gamer friends, know so you can get in on the minis deal of a lifetime.
And as more of us get involved, the deal gets better for everyone. If this Kickstarter behaves like most, we could blow through quite a few more stretch goals before all is said and done, meaning we'll get even more miniatures for our pledges. All you have to do is get involved. I've been told that they have more Pathfinder stretch goals waiting in the wings!
Many of the staff members here at Paizo have already backed this Kickstarter, and I'm expecting we'll have quite a few painting parties around the office once they arrive. Join in the fun and get involved with the Reaper Miniatures Bones Kickstarter. People will be talking about this one for years to come. Are you on board?
... In the Event of My Untimely Demiseby Robin D. Laws ... Chapter Two: TreasureWhere is what? Luma asked, withdrawing her hand from her trickbag. If it came to a fight, she could reach out to Magnimar's spires and towers, gather their memories of the lightning that struck them with every thunderstorm, and from this summon a bolt of energy to strike the dwarf down. Unlike some of her other magics, it required no props, just concentration, a gesture, and a few words of entreaty to the city....
In the Event of My Untimely Demise
by Robin D. Laws
Chapter Two: Treasure
"Where is what?" Luma asked, withdrawing her hand from her trickbag. If it came to a fight, she could reach out to Magnimar's spires and towers, gather their memories of the lightning that struck them with every thunderstorm, and from this summon a bolt of energy to strike the dwarf down. Unlike some of her other magics, it required no props, just concentration, a gesture, and a few words of entreaty to the city. But she was here to learn, not to do battle.
"Don't play stupid with me." The dwarf showed a mouth full of jagged, rotting teeth. "You know very well what." He shook his axe for emphasis.
"I would like nothing more than to understand what you're talking about." Luma edged in front of the cabinet behind which Seriza cowered. "Start at the beginning, maybe?"
The dwarf peered past her at the widow. "You aren't Aruhal's wife?"
"I am Luma of House Derexhi, hired to perform a service on his behalf."
The intruder elevated an eyebrow. He pointed his weapon at the cabinet. "She's the widow?"
"Lay out your grievance, dwarf." Luma spoke evenly, her confidence steady, as it always was when her siblings weren't watching. She'd sooner face this frothing dwarf, outweighing her by two to one and bristling with menace, than a single exasperated glance from one of her sisters. "Perhaps I can sort it out."
"You address Jordyar, warrior of the First Stone, son of Jordgar, true inheritor of the axe of Skrellim." He hefted it again, this time as an expression of pride. "To speak ill of the dead is not my wont. But that woman's husband was a liar, a cheat, a betrayer, and a thief from his own friends. Did you know Aruhal?"
Luma shook her head.
"Then you missed the chance to acquaint yourself with a kill-stealer and a credit-grabber. A blasphemer against the gods, a drunkard on watch, a coward in a scrap, and a tent-farter of the worst order."
"So you were comrades."
Jordyar stalked over to the divan, as if wondering whether sitting would show weakness. "For three years, two decades ago, we strove together as treasure-seekers. We plumbed the depths of the Riddle Canals, scoured the Haunted Hills, and stormed the Citadel of Xerkas Xaan. But the day after our greatest triumph, he deserted us—taking the treasure with him."
"And this treasure is what you think he had when he died?"
Warming to the subject, the dwarf puffed out his chest and paced the room, gesticulating with the axe. "Oh, what that cost us! We fought giants, demons, mind-eaters. Upon entering the Demonsweald's innermost crypt, the best of us all, Corin the Bright, was beheaded by a trap. Which Aruhal thereupon disarmed." Jordyar stomped into the hallway, then returned, holding aloft the strange doorknocker that had tweaked Luma's curiosity on her way in. "This! This is the flying ring that sliced through Corin's neck. I can't believe that he would take that and display it on his door, as if mocking the memory—" A frustrated groan caught in Jordyar's throat. He backhanded the ring away; it lodged, quivering, in the wooden lintel of the sitting room's doorway. A fresh flush of crimson rose through his face. "So yes, Aruhal owes me. This treasure, we had a deal to sell it for a wagonload of gold. Enough to forever conclude my grubbing and sweating, sleeping in cold crypts with the doors spiked shut, fighting for rest as ghouls and bloodsuckers scratch at the sill. To retire for good and all, on the one great score every looter dreams of. That is the life Jordyar deserved. The life that Aruhal plucked from my grasp!"
He lunged at the cabinet where Seriza quietly wept.
Luma stepped up, her sickle drawn. After a moment of tension, the dwarf relented, sticking his axe in his belt. He stretched out open hands, as if ready to grab Luma by the front of her tunic. His eyes glistened. "You must let me question her. He must have told her. Our customer never bought it from him."
"Or so they told you," Luma ventured.
Jordyar wiped his nose with the back of his liver-spotted hand. "Or so they did. But they say that even now they will buy it, if I can produce it. It changes nothing—he either sold it and has the gold, or kept it. And it is mine."
"And if he did keep it, what is it, exactly? A magical relic?"
"Scarcely. A historical curio—a reliquary containing the ashes and bones of a saint: the holy warrior Lovag. A globe of gold, studded with gems. It would be worth much to a collector, but more to the church."
"Which church?"
Jordyar's glory days are behind him.
Jordyar's snort sent spittle flying. "So you can sell it to them when you find it? You take me for a fool, girl." He twitched, as if realizing he'd given away too much already by naming the saint.
"I'm not here for this treasure," Luma said. "I'm here to find out who killed Aruhal."
"No one killed Aruhal," Seriza sobbed, white fingers clutched around the cabinet. "I told you that already. It was pleurisy—a pain when he breathed. It just got worse, until..." She trailed off into another burst of tears.
Jordyar angled for a better view of her. "You look a pretty creature. You don't propose to tell me a wretch like Aruhal caught a wench like you without a great bag of gold swinging over his shoulder?"
The widow's face froze into a wordless plea directed at Luma. Its meaning was clear: please get him out of here.
Luma again stepped between the widow and the dwarf. "It sounds like you had all the reason in the world to kill Aruhal."
"You speak truth there." He spat onto the bare floor, just missing the boar's hide rug.
Luma crossed her arms. "But you want me to believe you didn't."
"I'm done answering your questions. That one will tell me where it is—gold or relic, I'm taking it now."
"I don't know anything about any relic," Seriza sniffled. "And as for gold—look around you. I can't see how I'll afford to fix that door."
"Aruhal never had money?" the dwarf asked.
"A little. At first. He worked as a locksmith. It wasn't money I loved him for."
Jordyar bellowed out a laugh. "Then he was holding out on you, too."
Luma crowded him. "So why didn't you?"
"Why didn't I what?"
"Kill him."
Trepidation flashed across the dwarf's face. "I'm not the swine he was." He flexed his shoulders, regaining his composure.
Luma twined a lock of her hair between her fingers—a habit her family's scolding had never quite cured her of. "I don't think that's it."
"Matters not to me what you think." Jordyar knocked on the nearest wall. "I should tear this place apart."
"You're not going to do that," Luma said.
Jordyar stiffened. "Is that so?"
Luma let her fingers brush against her trickbag.
The dwarf took it in. "A magicker, are we? What kind?"
"You don't want to find out," said Luma. Depending on how tough the dwarf was, it was either a well-calibrated act of intimidation, or a reckless bluff.
Jordyar wove past her to address Seriza. "This is all a shock to you. Your husband dying and now this." He gestured to the broken door as if it were a catastrophe unconnected to himself. "I approached this too strong, didn't I? I believe you when you say you had no inkling of the relic. Or the gold your rodent of a spouse sold it for. So I'm telling you this." He jabbed his leather-gloved finger at her. "You cogitate long and hard on where Aruhal might have stashed a pile of gold, or a treasure about yay big." With open hands about a foot apart, he mimed a roughly globular object. "Because there's no chance in hell that he doesn't have it. Maybe he tried to tell you, when he was sick. Search your mind for clues of that nature. Because in forty-eight hours, I'll be back, and I'll take what Aruhal stole from me. Or you'll have more to mourn than your husband. Understand?"
Seriza said nothing—a rabbit transfixed by a snake.
He poked Luma's shoulder. "And if you want to test your spells against my axe then, you're welcome to try." He stamped for the door, reclaiming the sharpened ring from the lintel on the way out.
Luma rushed to the window. Jordyar had turned westward, toward a main thoroughfare, the Avenue of Honors. He proceeded with the attentive uncertainty of a visitor. Consulting her mental map of the city, Luma plotted a route of alleyways. If she got going right away, she might well beat him to the high street, and trail him unseen from there. She plunged into Seriza's kitchen and out the back exit. The widow called after her, either asking why she was following the dwarf, or asking who would pay for the door. Luma didn't attempt a reply.
On the second question, it was not up to the Derexhi family to pay Jordyar's reparations. As to the first, the old adventurer knew more than he was saying. Were there anything here to investigate, the path to it could well lead through him. Missing treasure certainly sounded like a motive for murder.
There was more to hear from the widow, too, but that would have to wait. Luma knew where to find her.
Reaching the Avenue, she spotted Jordyar's head bobbing between a pair of laggardly porters carrying wine crates for a doddering master. Luma wished she had her brother Ontor with her—shadowing was both safer and easier with two. Still, her street-honed instincts kept the dwarf in sight, and he showed little propensity for looking back. The fat-purses and liveried servants who populated the street at this hour gave wide berth to her battle-ready, fuming subject. Picking up speed as he stomped along, he passed hawkers, criers, and store guards, merchants, traders, and grandees. He traversed the length of the avenue, turning at the Pediment Building and continuing down the long stone slope that served as the bypass for the Seacleft, the great cliff dividing the city into high and low, the Summit and the Shore.
From its base, the dwarf wended through the clamorous Bazaar of Sails, bypassing stalls and skirting around tents. A trio of urchins, in the sparkling glad-rags of the Varisian minority, chased a fist-sized jewel bug into his path. Jordyar roared at them, sending them scattering. Luma halted; his swivel to shout curses at the children placed her in his line of sight. But he seemed not to notice her, and continued on. Heedless of Luma's pursuit, he plunged into Dockway's narrow streets, lined by salt-crusted depots and sturdy taverns.
Abruptly abandoning her chase, Luma darted into an alleyway between an alehouse and a whorehouse and drew her sickle. As soon as she was past its threshold, she pressed her back against the crumbling brick of the tavern wall. A rake-thin man clad all in black, from boots to leggings to tunic to skullcap, hustled in after her. She thrust out the sickle, wrapping its curving edge around his ankle. As she pulled it up, she twisted the blade, so that it would trip him without cutting into his leg. He fell into the wall, bashing his snowy-bearded chin against the brick, and tumbled to the ground. Luma leapt onto his back, pinning him with her knee, and pressed her blade around his throat, positioned for a slaughtering cut.
"Who are you?" she asked, "and why are you following me?"
Coming Next Week: Wheels within wheels in Chapter Three of Robin Laws' "In the Event of My Untimely Demise."
If you like this story, consider picking up the further adventures of Luma and her family in Robin D. Laws' Blood of the City!
Robin D. Laws is the author of the Pathfinder Tales novels Blood of the City and The Worldwound Gambit, as well as the Pathfinder's Journals for the Serpent's Skull Adventure Path and the Skull & Shackles Adventure Path. In addition, he's written six other novels; various short stories, web serials, and comic books; and a long list of roleplaying game products. His novels include Pierced Heart, The Rough and the Smooth, and the Angelika Fleischer series for the Black Library. Robin created the classic RPG Feng Shui and such recent titles as Mutant City Blues, Skulduggery, and the newly redesigned HeroQuest 2. Those interested in learning more about Robin are advised to check out his blog.
... The Ranks Continue to Grow Monday, August 20, 2012 As we continue to expand Pathfinder Society to areas where players are looking for organization, it’s important to me to find the right people to serve as ambassadors of the game, to present it in a positive light for new players and to try to bring veteran players who have left back into the fold. Four more Venture-Captains have been chosen to fill those roles. ... First, I wanted to note that Dan Simons has moved from Washington D.C....
The Ranks Continue to Grow
Monday, August 20, 2012
As we continue to expand Pathfinder Society to areas where players are looking for organization, it’s important to me to find the right people to serve as ambassadors of the game, to present it in a positive light for new players and to try to bring veteran players who have left back into the fold. Four more Venture-Captains have been chosen to fill those roles.
First, I wanted to note that Dan Simons has moved from Washington D.C. to Baltimore. He has resigned his Venture-Captain position in Washington D.C. but has taken the mantle as Baltimore’s new Venture-Captain. Players in that region are lucky to have an experienced leader to spur growth of organized play in their hometown.
Taking over as the Washington D.C. Venture-Captain is Mike Alchus. He comes into the position extremely motivated and well-advised, and is ready to extend his region of responsibility as far south as Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania, VA, and as far north as Columbia, MD. If there’s interest, he may also stretch his region out to Leesburg, VA, and possibly Mechanicsville, MD.
I am also excited to add three new areas to our Venture-Captain regions. The first is Oklahoma City. Michael Kirk plans to grow Pathfinder Society in Central and Western Oklahoma, as well as North Texas.
It also is exciting to add both east and west coasts of Canada to the mix. On the east, Jonathan Bilodeau will be overseeing growth of Pathfinder Society in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, and Prince Edward Island. On the west, Anthony van Poppelen will be looking to grow Pathfinder Society in all of British Columbia north of Quesnel. He will particularly focus on the region in and around the University of Northern British Columbia. I am excited to see how much more Pathfinder Society can grow in Canada.
We’re still in need of additional Venture-Captains in some regions, though! Check out the list of regions we're looking for and the first phase of the application process on the Get Involved! page. If you’re interested in applying, please contact me after reviewing the application process in the previous link.
Welcome aboard to all my new captains!
Mike Brock Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator
The explosive growth of Pathfinder Society Sun, Aug 19, 2012 at 07:55 AM PacificAs word of mouth spreads around Gen Con, Pathfinder Society continues to grow this weekend. We have issued more than 500 new PFS member cards. In this current slot on Saturday afternoon, we have 16 added tables in the Sagamore Ballroom, bringing the total tables currently running Pathfinder Society, Beginner Box Intros and Kid's Track session to a total of 91! We even added an extra, third table of a Kid's Track...
The explosive growth of Pathfinder Society
Sun, Aug 19, 2012 at 07:55 AM Pacific
As word of mouth spreads around Gen Con, Pathfinder Society continues to grow this weekend. We have issued more than 500 new PFS member cards. In this current slot on Saturday afternoon, we have 16 added tables in the Sagamore Ballroom, bringing the total tables currently running Pathfinder Society, Beginner Box Intros and Kid's Track session to a total of 91! We even added an extra, third table of a Kid's Track session and now have 15 kids under 11 playing Pathfinder! It is a good day!
Mike Brock Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator
... Larry Elmore and Margaret Weis Sun, Aug 19, 2012 at 06:55 AM PacificHanging out at the Paizo booth! Great icons of fantasy and great people too! ... Sean K Reynolds ... Developer
Larry Elmore and Margaret Weis
Sun, Aug 19, 2012 at 06:55 AM Pacific
Hanging out at the Paizo booth! Great icons of fantasy and great people too!
... The Bless light Sat, Aug 18, 2012 at 11:46 AM PacificGreat idea: get a battery-powered light, write that name if your common buff spell/effect on it, and place it in the table when the buff is in effect so people remember to add it to their rolls! ... Sean K Reynolds ... Developer
The Bless light
Sat, Aug 18, 2012 at 11:46 AM Pacific
Great idea: get a battery-powered light, write that name if your common buff spell/effect on it, and place it in the table when the buff is in effect so people remember to add it to their rolls!
... Unsavory characters, Iron GM Sat, Aug 18, 2012 at 11:34 AM PacificSome unsavory characters participating in the Iron GM tournament! ... Sean K Reynolds ... Developer
Unsavory characters, Iron GM
Sat, Aug 18, 2012 at 11:34 AM Pacific
Some unsavory characters participating in the Iron GM tournament!
... Adventurers! Sat, Aug 18, 2012 at 10:40 AM PacificIt's always advisable to bring all of your consumable magic items when adventuring. A well-armored fighter helps as well. ... Adam Daigle ... Developer
Adventurers!
Sat, Aug 18, 2012 at 10:40 AM Pacific
It's always advisable to bring all of your consumable magic items when adventuring. A well-armored fighter helps as well.
Saturday morning in the Pathfinder Society Organized Play room
... Saturday morning in the Pathfinder Society Organized Play room Sat, Aug 18, 2012 at 07:37 AM PacificSee all those folks clad in Paizo purple? Those are all our volunteer game masters and HQ assistants. You guys rock and we couldn't do this without you! ... Liz Courts ... Webstore Specialist
Saturday morning in the Pathfinder Society Organized Play room
Sat, Aug 18, 2012 at 07:37 AM Pacific
See all those folks clad in Paizo purple? Those are all our volunteer game masters and HQ assistants. You guys rock and we couldn't do this without you!
We Be Goblins! has won the gold Ennie for Best Free Product
... We Be Goblins! has won the gold Ennie for Best Free Product Fri, Aug 17, 2012 at 06:02 PM PacificBurn it! Burn the words! ... Chris Self ... Finance Manager
We Be Goblins! has won the gold Ennie for Best Free Product
Pathfinder Beginner Box has won the gold Ennie for Best Production Values
... Pathfinder Beginner Box has won the gold Ennie for Best Production Values Fri, Aug 17, 2012 at 05:47 PM PacificDid I mention that Sarah loves accepting awards? Turns out, so does Erik. ... Chris Self ... Finance Manager
Pathfinder Beginner Box has won the gold Ennie for Best Production Values
Fri, Aug 17, 2012 at 05:47 PM Pacific
Did I mention that Sarah loves accepting awards? Turns out, so does Erik.
Pathfinder Beginner Box has won the gold Ennie for Best Cover Art
... Pathfinder Beginner Box has won the gold Ennie for Best Cover Art Fri, Aug 17, 2012 at 05:35 PM PacificSarah really enjoys accepting awards! ... Chris Self ... Finance Manager
Pathfinder Beginner Box has won the gold Ennie for Best Cover Art
... Custom Pathfinder comic book cover Fri, Aug 17, 2012 at 02:17 PM PacificBrandon got a custom sketch cover to Pathfinder comic #1, drawn by Jim Zub! ... Sean K Reynolds ... Developer
Custom Pathfinder comic book cover
Fri, Aug 17, 2012 at 02:17 PM Pacific
Brandon got a custom sketch cover to Pathfinder comic #1, drawn by Jim Zub!
More tables added to Gen Con PFS Special! Fri, Aug 17, 2012 at 01:44 PM PacificLooks like there is high demand for the special tonight. I've acquired another room with 20 or so tables, a second overseer GM, and additional GMs. We will fill up the regular PFS Gaming Hall with regular tickets first. Afterwards, we will fill the remaining available tables with generics on a first come first serve basis. Please muster no later than 6:45. See you tonight! ... Mike Brock ... Pathfinder Society...
More tables added to Gen Con PFS Special!
Fri, Aug 17, 2012 at 01:44 PM Pacific
Looks like there is high demand for the special tonight. I've acquired another room with 20 or so tables, a second overseer GM, and additional GMs. We will fill up the regular PFS Gaming Hall with regular tickets first. Afterwards, we will fill the remaining available tables with generics on a first come first serve basis. Please muster no later than 6:45. See you tonight!
Mike Brock Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator
... GF9 being crafty Fri, Aug 17, 2012 at 06:46 AM PacificGaleForce9 went all out dressing up the D&D Caverns of the Underdark terrain set. This is about 3 feet tall. ... Sean K Reynolds ... Developer
GF9 being crafty
Fri, Aug 17, 2012 at 06:46 AM Pacific
GaleForce9 went all out dressing up the D&D Caverns of the Underdark terrain set. This is about 3 feet tall.
Zombie Orpheus signing Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 08:06 PM PacificGamers: Dorkness Rising cast members Nathan Rice (far left sitting), Steve Wolbrecht (left, sitting), Jen Page, Scott Brown, Christian Doyle, and Brian Lewis signing at the Paizo booth. ... Sean K Reynolds ... Developer
Zombie Orpheus signing
Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 08:06 PM Pacific
Gamers: Dorkness Rising cast members Nathan Rice (far left sitting), Steve Wolbrecht (left, sitting), Jen Page, Scott Brown, Christian Doyle, and Brian Lewis signing at the Paizo booth.
... The Organized Play room in full swing Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 04:15 PM PacificThis is the view from one corner of the room. I can barely see the other end. It's amazing! ... Chris Self ... Finance Manager
The Organized Play room in full swing
Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 04:15 PM Pacific
This is the view from one corner of the room. I can barely see the other end. It's amazing!
... Catacombs with lights Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 04:03 PM PacificCatacombs set from Dwarven Forge includes torches lit up woth built-in LEDs. ... Sean K Reynolds ... Developer
Catacombs with lights
Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 04:03 PM Pacific
Catacombs set from Dwarven Forge includes torches lit up woth built-in LEDs.
... Cool terrain Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 04:00 PM PacificTriple Ace Games uses some cool terrain to show off their game. ... Sean K Reynolds ... Developer
Cool terrain
Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 04:00 PM Pacific
Triple Ace Games uses some cool terrain to show off their game.
... A Friendly Wizard Joins Your Party Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 03:36 PM PacificGen Con attendee, Zach, in his awesome Ezren costume! ... Andrew Vallas ... Graphic Designer
A Friendly Wizard Joins Your Party
Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 03:36 PM Pacific
Gen Con attendee, Zach, in his awesome Ezren costume!
... A deadly dungeon awaits! Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 03:36 PM PacificGenCon attendees will get a chance to pick up Frog God's Rappan Athuk for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game starting tomorrow. (Also coming to the Paizo.com website soon!) ... Liz Courts ... Webstore Specialist
A deadly dungeon awaits!
Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 03:36 PM Pacific
GenCon attendees will get a chance to pick up Frog God's Rappan Athuk for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game starting tomorrow. (Also coming to the Paizo.com website soon!)
... Gobliiiiin! Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 03:12 PM PacificOne of our goblin plushies with about a hundred of his closest friends. ... Liz Courts ... Webstore Specialist
Gobliiiiin!
Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 03:12 PM Pacific
One of our goblin plushies with about a hundred of his closest friends.
Lisa Stevens signs the contract with Steve Jackson Games for Munchkin card game!
Lisa Stevens signs the contract with Steve Jackson Games for Munchkin card game! Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 02:57 PM PacificThe Pathfinder Roleplaying Game™ from Paizo Publishing is one of the world’s best-selling fantasy roleplaying games, in the true spirit of the classic dungeon crawl. Now Steve Jackson Games is proud to announce that Pathfinder is getting the full Munchkintreatment in a brand new core set...combining the unique features of the Pathfinder setting with Munchkin's irreverent sense...
Lisa Stevens signs the contract with Steve Jackson Games for Munchkin card game!
Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 02:57 PM Pacific
The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game™ from Paizo Publishing is one of the world’s best-selling fantasy roleplaying games, in the true spirit of the classic dungeon crawl. Now Steve Jackson Games is proud to announce that Pathfinder is getting the full Munchkintreatment in a brand new core set...combining the unique features of the Pathfinder setting with Munchkin's irreverent sense of humor.
"We’re honored to be working with Paizo on Munchkin Pathfinder," said Andrew Hackard, Munchkin Brand Manager for Steve Jackson Games. "Pathfinder is a wonderfully rich world to play in."
Steve had no direct comment, as he was snickering and rubbing his hands together in contemplation of parodying TWO of the most popular fantasy roleplaying games of all time.
"We all love Munchkin here at Paizo Publishing, so this is a match was a no brainer," Lisa Stevens, CEO of Paizo Publishing stated matter of factly. "But of course," she whispered conspiratorially, "I really just wanted to see John Kovalic draw our iconic sorceress, Seoni!"
Munchkin Pathfinder will be a 168-card set, designed by Steve Jackson and Andrew Hackard and illustrated by John Kovalic. It will be playable as a standalone game or with any other Munchkin set. Look for it in stores in Fall 2013.
... A Whole Lotta Organized Play Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 01:00 PM PacificMike Brock tells me this isn't even all of it. Apparently I missed two more rooms. We're also looking for volunteer GMs! Maybe you should come over and help out. ... Gary Teter ... Software Developer
A Whole Lotta Organized Play
Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 01:00 PM Pacific
Mike Brock tells me this isn't even all of it. Apparently I missed two more rooms. We're also looking for volunteer GMs! Maybe you should come over and help out.
... Pathfinder Cosplay Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 10:15 AM PacificIt's Pathfinder costume contest time! Check out Rita as the Master Spy prestige class! ... James Sutter ... Senior Editor
Pathfinder Cosplay
Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 10:15 AM Pacific
It's Pathfinder costume contest time! Check out Rita as the Master Spy prestige class!
... We're proud of our new display cases Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 09:31 AM PacificCheck it out! We have two new display cases at the booth to show off the shinies. ... Mark Moreland ... Developer
We're proud of our new display cases
Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 09:31 AM Pacific
Check it out! We have two new display cases at the booth to show off the shinies.
... Pathfinder comic artist Andrew Huerta Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 09:30 AM PacificAndrew Huerta is signing comics and doing custom sketches at the Paizo booth right now! ... Mark Moreland ... Developer
Pathfinder comic artist Andrew Huerta
Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 09:30 AM Pacific
Andrew Huerta is signing comics and doing custom sketches at the Paizo booth right now!
... The crowd gathers! Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 08:34 AM PacificGamers from everywhere gather, waiting to get into the dealer hall at GenCon! ... Liz Courts ... Webstore Specialist
The crowd gathers!
Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 08:34 AM Pacific
Gamers from everywhere gather, waiting to get into the dealer hall at GenCon!
Reaper Miniatures Bones: An Evolution Of Gaming Miniatures
Reaper Miniatures Bones: An Evolution Of Gaming Miniatures Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 08:00 AM PacificI don't normally contact you about another company's products like this, but in this case, it was such a great project that I felt compelled to let you know so you wouldn't miss out! ... Our friends at Reaper have been running a Kickstarter project to ramp up their Bones miniatures line. Bones is the line that takes their award-winning metal minis and makes them much more affordable by casting them...
Reaper Miniatures Bones: An Evolution Of Gaming Miniatures
Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 08:00 AM Pacific
I don't normally contact you about another company's products like this, but in this case, it was such a great project that I felt compelled to let you know so you wouldn't miss out!
Our friends at Reaper have been running a Kickstarter project to ramp up their Bones miniatures line. Bones is the line that takes their award-winning metal minis and makes them much more affordable by casting them in an amazing plastic material. (Like Reaper's metal minis, Bones are unpainted.) We have a number of Bones minis in the Paizo offices and everyone is amazed by them.
So why the Kickstarter? Well, the molds to make plastic miniatures cost a LOT more than molds to make metal. So even though Bones have been well received and are selling very well, Reaper has only been able to add to the line slowly—until now. Their Kickstarter project is going to allow them to jumpstart the process and make a lot more affordable Bones figures. They started with a very reasonable $20,000 goal that they quickly smashed through! They have passed the $565,000 goal as I type this—a truly remarkable feat!
So what does this have to do with you as a Paizo customer? I'm glad you asked! Reaper has just announced their first Pathfinder Bones stretch goal. The "We Be Goblins" stretch goal will bring nine Pathfinder goblin minis to the Bones line. Yep, you heard that right—nine!
The purpose of this blog is let you know about Pathfinder Bones, but it's also a heads-up from one gaming friend to another about this amazing Kickstarter. If you use miniatures at all in your game, you're going to want to get involved in this Kickstarter. You can support it at a number of different levels, but I really want to draw your attention to what Reaper calls the "Vampire" level, for backers who kick in $100. When this Kickstarter began, you got 30 Bones miniatures for that $100. Well, because Reaper keeps reaching more and more stretch goals, that $100 pledge currently gets you 132 Bones miniatures and a special metal Sophie (their iconic succubus) for that same $100 pledge! And it's only going to get better—the "Vampire" level is where the Pathfinder goblins will kick in!
When I personally got in on this Kickstarter, my $100 got me 44 miniatures. Now, because of the pledges of other gaming fans out there like me, I am getting the 132 figures plus the Sophie. And it is going to become even more because of the way the Kickstarter stretch goals work. As more and more people join into the Kickstarter at any level, but especially the Vampire level, we will pass more stretch goals and more minis will be added to my $100 Vampire reward level. At $605,000, we Vampire-level backers will all get 4 very cool demon miniatures, bringing our new total to 136. And then when the stretch goal after that gets hit—boom—NINE Pathfinder goblins added for the same $100 pledge. And each stretch goal gets you more cool minis.
You can see why I wanted to tell you about this. Right now, backers are getting Bones minis for well under a buck apiece—this is by far the best deal in miniatures that I have ever seen. And as more people join in, it gets better and better for all of us. And for Reaper, because they'll be able to get a whole bunch of new Bones figures out there.
There are nine days left in the Reaper Bones Kickstarter—it ends Saturday, August 25 at 6pm EST. If you are at all interested in miniatures, seriously think about pledging to this Kickstarter. What a great way to grow your miniatures collection AND help out a great game company like Reaper. (And I've been told that there is another Pathfinder stretch goal buried in that crypt somewhere. Can't wait to find out what it is!)
Yours in gaming...
Lisa Stevens CEO, Paizo Publishing
And now a word from our friends at Reaper...
What Are Bones Gaming Miniatures?
Bones are the best plastic gaming models to hit the industry in the last decade. We've taken the best miniatures in the Reaper product line and converted them into plastic - high quality, low price. What more could you ask for? For more info, click here.
Why are we doing this Kickstarter?
Reaper Miniatures Bones Kickstarter is a project to ramp up the production of the Bones plastic miniatures line and to get you the miniatures you want now! And to make things even better, we're adding our officially licensed Pathfinder Miniatures line to our project!
Since the launch of Bones in March 2012, a full third of the figures we ship are Bones plastic gaming miniatures. We have eight pages of Bones suggestions going in our forum. It's clear that our fans want more of these Bones figures. And why not? They're awesome sculpts at a terrific price!
As it turns out, they're also really expensive to produce. The mold costs alone are astronomical. In order to grow this line, we can do it slow and steady over the next several years, or we can defer to you guys and launch a bunch of new ones as soon as possible.
By the end of the year, we anticipate having 30 products in the Bones line. What this Kickstarter will do is at least double the Bones line to 60 total models: character models, new sculpts, big monsters... the sky's pretty much the limit.
All we need to kickstart this thing is your support.
What Do I Get For Supporting You?
We have a number of opportunities available for our supporters.
These include, but are not limited to, various apparel items, a chance to receive each of the new 30 Bones plastic models, a metal Kickstarter-exclusive Sophie model, Design-Your-Own-Miniature packages, not to mention some of the most valuable one of a kind Crown Jewel items from the Reaper archives. (And we have some incredible stretch goals in mind – we remain ever optimistic!)
Something for everyone who loves miniature gaming.
Now we're offering some of the most popular miniatures from the officially licensed Pathfinder Miniatures range. What do you have to do to get these Pathfinder Bones miniatures? Simple! All you have to do is pledge either the Vampire or Undertaker Levels from the Pledge List, and if we hit the Pathfinder Bones stretch goal, they'll be added to your Pledge Level at no additional charge! And if you want extras, simply add them to your pledge amount.
The first Pathfinder Bones stretch goal has been revealed. Go join in and pledge to the Reaper Miniatures Kickstarter project and bring them to life for everyone to enjoy!
The Kickstarter has funded, and in fact, it is now over $500,000 and at this point It has been running for over 20 days. There's just over a week left until the project closes on August 25th 2012 at 5:00pm CST. Hurry and get involved and let's see how many Pathfinder Bones we can uncover!
... The Iconics Welcome You To Gen Con 2012 Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 07:22 AM PacificIf you're wondering who the iconic on the far right is, it's our Iconic Paizo Employee: Liz Courts! ... Photo by Chris Self ... Sara Marie ... Customer Carebear
The Iconics Welcome You To Gen Con 2012
Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 07:22 AM Pacific
If you're wondering who the iconic on the far right is, it's our Iconic Paizo Employee: Liz Courts!
... The crowd gathers! Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 07:07 AM PacificGamers from everywhere gather, waiting to get into the dealer hall at GenCon! ... Liz Courts ... Webstore Specialist
The crowd gathers!
Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 07:07 AM Pacific
Gamers from everywhere gather, waiting to get into the dealer hall at GenCon!
... Our first Pathfinder Society prize winner Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 05:58 AM PacificCongrats to Brett, the first randomly determined winner of a $25 paizo.com gift certificate. We're giving one away every slot, so come on up and play. May Desna smile upon you. ... Mark Moreland ... Developer
Our first Pathfinder Society prize winner
Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 05:58 AM Pacific
Congrats to Brett, the first randomly determined winner of a $25 paizo.com gift certificate. We're giving one away every slot, so come on up and play. May Desna smile upon you.
... Rise, Year of the Risen Rune!!! Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 05:52 AM PacificPathfinder Society Organized Play Season 4 has commenced. Stop by our largest room yet for ten incredible sessions of Pathfinder Society fun with these fine players and campaign volunteers. We're in rooms 231-238 of the Indiana Convention Center, just upstairs from the Paizo booth. ... Mark Moreland ... Developer
Rise, Year of the Risen Rune!!!
Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 05:52 AM Pacific
Pathfinder Society Organized Play Season 4 has commenced. Stop by our largest room yet for ten incredible sessions of Pathfinder Society fun with these fine players and campaign volunteers. We're in rooms 231-238 of the Indiana Convention Center, just upstairs from the Paizo booth.
... In the Event of My Untimely Demiseby Robin D. Laws ... Chapter One: The Dead ClientNo, said the wizard Iskola, pointing a polished fingernail toward her half-sister, Luma. Not you. ... Luma sank further into her characteristic shoulder-slump. Though older than Iskola, she looked younger. She owed her callow appearance, at least in part, to the elven blood which her five siblings, children of her father and stepmother, did not share. Together, her lithe frame, wide eyes, and boyish figure...
In the Event of My Untimely Demise
by Robin D. Laws
Chapter One: The Dead Client
"No," said the wizard Iskola, pointing a polished fingernail toward her half-sister, Luma. "Not you."
Luma sank further into her characteristic shoulder-slump. Though older than Iskola, she looked younger. She owed her callow appearance, at least in part, to the elven blood which her five siblings, children of her father and stepmother, did not share. Together, her lithe frame, wide eyes, and boyish figure conspired to hang about her neck an unshakable air of adolescence. Her siblings, who were also her teammates, had learned—or perhaps been taught, by her unkempt red hair, her shrinking posture, her downcast gaze—to treat her not as a woman, but as the runt of the litter. It was her own damn fault, but that realization had so far not helped her one whit in altering the way they regarded her.
Iskola, her black-clad body a thin and twisted reed, towered over Luma. Her headpiece, a complex of lacquered, intertwining loops constructed from her own raven hair, magnified the imperious effect. A stiff laced collar and dark fingerless gloves, also of lace, completed the outre look the city of Magnimar relished in its highborn magicians.
Luma forced herself into a rigid posture. "We're to guard a gem from thieves, and you want to leave behind the mind-reader?"
Iskola sighed. "No one wants a mind-reader, and you'd be best to stop describing yourself as such. Go back to calling yourself a streetseer if you must. Or citywalker. Or cobblestone druid. Those are all strange enough."
"I wasn't proposing to introduce myself, period."
Iskola's hand flitted out, as if tempted to seize one of Luma's stray hanks of hair and tuck it back into place. She aborted the gesture, locking hands behind her narrow waist. "When Lord Vetillus hires Magnimar's most expensive city warriors to stand sentry at his soiree, we are as much a signal of his prestige as is the Bandu Emerald. Were any of his guests to so much as infer that one of us was busy trawling their innermost mental wanderings, we would be failing our duty."
"And giving cause for a refund." Arrus, the squad's swordsman and Iskola's twin, squared his broad shoulders and jutted his blocky chin.
"Honestly, Luma." Iskola bustled in her whickering skirt toward the squad room door. "When people learn you perform the magic of the streets, they assume you were born on them. Until you learn to present yourself as a scion of a founding house, simple wisdom forces us to exclude you from certain missions."
Luma scanned the others for flickers of sympathy. Eibadon, the family ecclesiast, settled his jowly features into an imperturbable dullness. Ulisa, robed master of the unarmed fighting arts, held fast to her serenity, even as a yellow moth flitted around her shaved head. Only Ontor—top-knotted, leather-clad—let a glimmer of feeling hint across his long and hawkish face.
"Mouse," he said, "Think of it as being excused from an evening of apocalyptic boredom."
"Read one of your books," Arrus said, and departed, carrying the others in his wake.
Luma followed him into the manor hallway, hung with portraits of each Lord Derexhi, from its legendary founding warrior Aitin to her father, Randred. Next to the painting of a heroic, virile Randred stood the real man, his brow creased, his beard now gray and wild.
"Let them go," he said, voice feather-soft. Father and daughter watched the rest of the squad troop down the stuccoed hallway. "Ontor may have been right. About the boredom of that assignment."
"Listening in, I see."
Dimples broke across the old warrior's face. "The successful man of arms pays close heed to his forces. Doubly so when they're his children." He patted her shoulder. "What say we show them up, and give you a juicy task?"
Luma rarely gets the respect she deserves.
Randred guided her to the library, where he poured her a goblet of Riverspire red and topped up his own to match.
Luma sipped. The wine was subtle and deep, with a caky finish. "Juicy, you say?"
"Well..." Randred eased into his favorite chair. "No doubt I exaggerate. But you'll be working for a dead man. That's a novelty, at least."
Luma perched on the arm of his chair. "Who's the dead man, and what am I to do for him?"
Randred reached over to a side table for a contract inscribed on a sheet of vellum. "The client's name is—or was—Aruhal. A retired explorer of some kind. One with enemies, apparently. Several years ago, he placed a standing order for us to perform an investigation for him, to be triggered in, quote, "the event of my untimely demise," unquote. We are to ascertain if his death was natural or not. Further instructions apply if we find he was in fact murdered."
"Which are?"
"An agent of House Derexhi is to secure the funerary urn containing his ashes and place it in front of his killer."
∗∗∗
As Luma stepped out onto the Derexhi House portico, the citysong came to her, its manifold voices rushing to fill her mystic awareness. Its harmonies manifested not only sounds, transmitted through magical connection to her mind's ear, but accompanying sensations as well. The dominant notes were those of her own neighborhood and present location, the Marble District. Among them she sensed the whispering tread of servants' slippers, steam rising from laundry kettles, the barbed laughter of wits and gossips, and the old-fashioned spiced perfumes of its wealthy matrons.
Underneath these rang distant melodies from other quarters of her beloved city. Clanking counting-house coins in Naos percussed against the scratching quills of Capital District scribes. Waves lapped against Dockway piers, dueting with the tapping chisels of the Golemworks. Soldiers drilled in Arvensoar Plaza, their grunts and footfalls joining the wafting strains of cornets and tambourines from raucous Lowcleft. The hunger of Rag's End wretches crashed against the excess of Alabaster's gourmands. Priests doubted, thieves shared their takes with beggars, and whores fell in love. Below all of these thrummed the ancient bass drone of the Irespan, the great and ruined stone bridge said to house a legion of monsters within its hollow depths.
Together the contradictions somehow made a whole—the city Luma loved, and which loved her in turn. Periodically, it proved its affections with a gift, a new trick it would teach her. A polyglot town of foreign traders, it showed her the key to understanding any language. It had taught her to borrow the jumpings of its spiders, to mantle herself in morning fog, and to always find her way.
Luma needed no such magic to reach her destination. She strode the Boulevard of Messengers, passing gilded carriages and brocaded bravos atop high-strung white steeds. On the Way of Arches, an honor guard of bleached statues loomed, dwarfing her and the city functionaries in their ink-stained tunics. Buyers and sellers choked the Avenue of Honors, and then she was turning down smaller streets, weaving through alleys with no markers to proclaim their names, led only by her flawless recollection of the city. At last the map in her head told her that she'd reached Barrel Way—Aruhal's address as of five years ago, when he'd paid for the services she would now render.
It was a common enough scene. Here huddled residences of Magnimar's striving class—the merchants, burghers, and brokers who fattened the city treasury and sought approval from old families like the Vetilluses, the Scarnettis, and indeed, the Derexhi. Built tall and thin, the buildings adjoined, as if uniting for support. Small plots of land in front of each served as battlegrounds for a competition of decoration. Tiny gardens overflowing with tangled, exotic flowers encroached on sparer arrangements of rocks and statues.
Luma was about to stop a hustling fat-purse in an ermine-trimmed cloak to ask where Aruhal lived when she spotted windows draped with black mourning bunting. The house that went with them hunkered like a poor relation next to its well-kept neighbors. Paint peeled from the trim. Oilskin stood in for several windowpanes. Instead of a garden or collection of stone figures, its front yard boasted only broken paving stones.
Unlatching and swinging open the rust-kissed iron gate, Luma made her way to the door. Its knocker twigged her curiosity. A metallic ring about a foot and a half in diameter, it was formed with an unusual precision. Beveled outer edges had been dulled with a file, scratching the ring's smooth surface, and Luma guessed that they had once been razor-sharp. Clearly, knocking on doors had not been the object's original purpose. Luma used it anyway.
After some shuffling from inside the house, the door opened a crack. Luma saw a fraction of a pale face peering out at her. The eye, like hers, was enlarged compared to a full-blooded human, but still showed a white sclera, as a full elf's would not.
Its owner spoke in a husky rasp. "What is it?"
Luma adopted her most authoritative posture, aped from her brother Arrus. "I am Luma, of House Derexhi. May I come in?"
The Derexhi and their retainers were not official lawkeepers, but because Magnimar employed few of these, citizens sometimes treated them as such. If Luma were lucky, this woman would take the cue, overlooking the ‘quasi' in their quasi-official status.
She didn't. "What for?"
"Your husband hired us for a job."
"My husband's dead."
"That's why I'm here. If you let me in, I'll explain."
"I don't know." The woman, Luma saw, wasn't so much looking at her as past her, into the street.
"You appear anxious."
"My husband had enemies."
"That's what I'm here for. To protect you." This was not so much a lie, Luma consoled herself, as something that might turn out to be true, depending.
The door swung open; Luma slipped inside.
The house smelled of yeast and cinnamon. Flour spotted an apron slung around the woman's waist. Sweat glistened on her brow, sticking loose strains of white-blond hair to her prominent forehead. Her lips joined together in a worried bow, exposing a slight overbite. Though scarcely a judge of feminine allure, Luma reckoned that these were the sorts of imperfections that would attract rather than repel male assessment. Her beauty had a wildness about it, but it was beauty all the same.
The widow gestured Luma toward a sitting room. Luma rejected a scuffed chair in favor of a divan, tufts of batting poking through tears in its upholstery. "I know your husband's name, but not yours," she started.
"Seriza." The woman stood wavering in the middle of the room, feet planted on a worn boarskin rug. "You said Aruhal hired you?"
Luma nodded. "Five years ago. You said he had enemies. Apparently he worried that one of them would do him in. So he paid us to investigate his death."
She parted the black bunting to peer out a window. "Then you're not here to protect me at all."
"Why is that?"
"He wasn't done in. It was pleurisy."
Luma craned to try to see what Seriza was looking at, but the angle was wrong. "If he died of natural causes, why are you so fearful?"
Seriza ducked down behind a cabinet.
A loud report came from the hallway, followed by the splintering of wood and then a louder thump. Luma leapt from the divan, fingers plunging into the soft leather pouch she wore at her hip—her trickbag, containing the objects she needed to work her street magic.
A florid-cheeked dwarf clad in heavy battle gear stood in the ruins of the shattered door. He stepped into the sitting room, brandishing a jagged war-axe.
"Where is it?" he demanded.
Coming Next Week: Old friends and enemies in Magnimar in Chapter Two of Robin Laws' "In the Event of My Untimely Demise."
If you like this story, consider picking up the further adventures of Luma and her family in Robin D. Laws' Blood of the City!
Robin D. Laws is the author of the Pathfinder Tales novels Blood of the City and The Worldwound Gambit, as well as the Pathfinder's Journals for the Serpent's Skull Adventure Path and the Skull & Shackles Adventure Path. In addition, he's written six other novels; various short stories, web serials, and comic books; and a long list of roleplaying game products. His novels include Pierced Heart, The Rough and the Smooth, and the Angelika Fleischer series for the Black Library. Robin created the classic RPG Feng Shui and such recent titles as Mutant City Blues, Skulduggery, and the newly redesigned HeroQuest 2. Those interested in learning more about Robin are advised to check out his blog.
... The heroes approach... Wed, Aug 15, 2012 at 06:26 AM PacificWe four bravely set out to slay the wicked booth beast! ... Will Chase ... Warehouse Manager
The heroes approach...
Wed, Aug 15, 2012 at 06:26 AM Pacific
We four bravely set out to slay the wicked booth beast!
Gen Con Tips from an (Increasingly) Old Pro Tuesday, August 14, 2012Hard as it is for me to imagine, this year marks my 18th consecutive trip to Gen Con, and my 14th in a row attending as a gaming professional. In all those years I’ve seen the convention move from Milwaukee to Indianapolis, I’ve played hundreds of RPG sessions, and I’ve met and re-met thousands and thousands of gamers, many of whom I now consider some of my closest friends. As I look at my packed suitcase and contemplate...
Gen Con Tips from an (Increasingly) Old Pro
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Hard as it is for me to imagine, this year marks my 18th consecutive trip to Gen Con, and my 14th in a row attending as a gaming professional. In all those years I’ve seen the convention move from Milwaukee to Indianapolis, I’ve played hundreds of RPG sessions, and I’ve met and re-met thousands and thousands of gamers, many of whom I now consider some of my closest friends. As I look at my packed suitcase and contemplate another year of the world’s greatest gaming convention, I thought it might be fun to take this opportunity to list 18 Gen Con tips that will help you get the most out of the show.
Paizo
Stop by the Paizo booth in the exhibit hall at least once every morning to get a different free daily Pathfinder button. We started handing out Pathfinder buttons to folks visiting the booth about three years ago, and it’s been amazing to see how popular they have become. If you’re interested in collecting them, try to visit the booth during the first two hours the exhibit hall is open each day. Even the staff missed out on most of last year’s buttons because they vanished to rapidly. (PROTIP: We’ve created a special FIFTH button this year, and the only way to get it is to visit the Pathfinder Society Organzed Play area on the second floor of the convention center overlooking the exhibit hall.)
Pick up a Gen Con-exclusive edition of the very first issue of the brand-new Pathfinder comic at the booth, then have your limited-edition collectible autographed by writer Jim Zub and artist Andrew Huerta, who will both be signing through the convention. Andrew will even be doing character drawings all weekend long!
Be among the very first to get a copy of Ultimate Equipment, the huge new hardcover item catalog for the Pathfinder RPG! With thousands of magic and mundane items, the book is sure to have the perfect gift for your favorite player character. Don’t you think he deserves a special gift from the convention, too?
Gamers who finish an event in the Pathfinder Society Organized Play room on the second floor of the convention center receive special wooden coins produced to commemorate the new season of play, the Year of the Risen Rune. Turn in your coins at HQ for a chance to win exciting in-campaign prizes!
Check the program book and the posted list at the Paizo booth for a look at more than a dozen seminars and panels we’re putting on at the show. From a look behind the scenes at the Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition to Pathfinder RPG rules workshops to 10 Years of Paizo retrospectives to discussions of topics like the art of Pathfinder or the Pathfinder Online MMO, we’ve got all kinds of exciting events going on every day of the convention.
A crate of adorable little plush goblins was seen in Anchorage, Alaska today, en route (so they say) to the Paizo booth at Gen Con. Should these rumors prove true, it means Gen Con attendees will be the first people on Earth with the chance to adopt their very own plush Pathfinder goblins. Lock up your dogs and bring home the best Gen Con gift you can ever give your family—a loveable new member!
Stop by for a chat with the hard-working members of the Paizo staff. If you appreciate what we do, let us know! There’s nothing like a face-to-face compliment to recharge the old batteries. On the other hand, if there’s something we could be doing better to make Pathfinder more appealing to you, we’d love to hear about it.
Gen Con Tips
Schedule several hours (or more, if you’re a compulsive game collector or demo fiend) for the exhibit hall. Resist the temptation to fill every hour of every day with gaming (but oh, what a way to go!), because if you neglect a thorough investigation of the exhibit hall, you’re missing out on one of the things that makes Gen Con such a great experience.
Wander randomly a bit. There’s no way to distill a convention as large and as crazy as Gen Con in a web article or even a full convention book. Sometimes you’ve just got to see it yourself. Wander through the miniatures gaming hall. Check out a demo of a game you’ve never heard of, even join a random pick-up game. The best memories from Gen Con often involve situations you hadn’t anticipated until they started happening around you.
You’ve got to do the True Dungeon. Even if it’s sold out, I often hear of folks with extra tickets looking for someone to go with them. If you don’t have tickets and hear such an offer, jump on it immediately. It’s quite an amazing experience, and well worth the time, cost, and effort involved. You won’t quite feel like a “real” adventurer after going through the True Dungeon, but you will certainly appreciate the value of a good torch. It’s dark in there!
Make some new friends. From the PFS room to the Paizo booth to the informal chats that often break out following a seminar, Gen Con is a great place to meet gamers with similar interests to your own. Don’t be afraid to strike up a conversation with your fellow gamers. Maybe you’re in line at a restaurant, or waiting to get assigned to an organized play table. Either way, the place is packed with potential friendships. Take advantage of the opportunity to meet some new people.
Take photographs. These days most of us have incredible cameras in our phones. Use them. Take snaps of the cool displays you see in the exhibit hall, cool architecture you see in Indianapolis, and cool people you game with. Stimuli hits you so fast and furious at Gen Con even the incredible can start to seem sort of normal. “Oh, what, a dude dressed in a full-on goat costume with working neon rays shooting out of his eyes seated on a throne and palanquin being carried by a procession of short stormtroopers? SEEN it!” Yeah, you’re going to want to tell someone about that later, even if it doesn’t seem like that big of a deal compared to the dozen other amazing things you saw in the prior 10 minutes. Take a picture. It’ll last longer.
Set aside a little money to pick up a gift for your significant other, even if said other isn’t really into gaming. There’s plenty of cool non-gaming stuff for sale at Gen Con, from novelty T-shirts to toys to jewelry. Find something that certain someone would appreciate, and get it. They put up with a lot from gaming, and if they aren’t with you, they’re probably holding down the fort back home and would appreciate the thought. If they are with you at the convention, you have won the significant other lottery, and don’t really need my advice. Keep doing what you are doing.
Indianapolis Tips
Don’t neglect nourishment. The convention hall is good for a hot dog in a dire emergency, but Indianapolis has a nice selection of restaurants within walking distance. The Ram is always jam packed with gamers, and the Circle Center food court (accessible by skybridge from the Convention Center) has a variety of, well, food court options. While there, I often grab a fruit smoothie to remind myself about wholesomeness, since it’s not exactly on offer at places like Steak N’Shake and White Castle. Mmmmm. White Castle.
Go to White Castle.
It gets hot. Oh, lordy, it gets hot. Pack an extra set of socks. After a full day of trekking from panel to panel and back and forth to meals in a soggy Midwestern summer, your feet will love you for a quick sock-swap before dinner. And bring comfortable shoes, as well. Your feet and you are not necessarily going to be the best of friends at the end of the weekend, so it’s best to make sure things remain comfortable between the three of you for as long as possible.
Don’t forget to sleep. You’re going to be tempted to game into the wee hours, to close down the bar, and to play more games after that. Don’t. Or at least don’t every night. You’ve waited a long time (and spent a pile of money) to get to Gen Con. You owe it to yourself to experience at least a little of it with clear eyes on at least a half night’s rest. Man cannot survive on gaming, booze, and 5-Hour Energy alone (trust me, I’ve tried).
The Most Important Tip
After the spending spree of travel bills and exhibit hall excursions, it’s time to start planning how to afford the trip to NEXT YEAR’s Gen Con. Because seriously, once you go once, you’re going to want to go every year.
I mean, look at me. I’ve been to 17 of these things, and have no plans to stop any time soon.
Ultimate Equipment Preview: The Devil's in the Details
... Ultimate Equipment Preview: The Devil's in the Details Tuesday, August 14, 2012 The pit fiend roared in triumph as it lifted Merisiel off the ground, crushing her in its mighty clawed fist. The elf struggled to free herself, but to no effect—the devil’s grasp was just too strong. ... Brandishing a glowing longsword blessed by the gods, Valeros crept up behind the fiend, scrambling up a ridge of burning brimstone. With a grunt, the warrior leapt from the rock, bringing his holy blade down...
Ultimate Equipment Preview: The Devil's in the Details
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
The pit fiend roared in triumph as it lifted Merisiel off the ground, crushing her in its mighty clawed fist. The elf struggled to free herself, but to no effect—the devil’s grasp was just too strong.
Brandishing a glowing longsword blessed by the gods, Valeros crept up behind the fiend, scrambling up a ridge of burning brimstone. With a grunt, the warrior leapt from the rock, bringing his holy blade down upon the devil with all the strength he could muster. The sword sliced through the devil’s arm, cleaving nearly to the bone, forcing the fiend to drop Merisiel and turning its roar of triumph into a howl of pain.
“Sorry it took me so long to save you,” Valeros remarked with a grin. “I was distracted by the mountain of treasure over there”.
Ultimate Equipment releases in just a few days at Gen Con! For our final preview of this gigantic tome of gear and magic items, our heroes are facing off against a terrible CR 20 pit fiend. While that’s certainly a tough fight, it also comes with a huge pile of loot!
Due to their varied nature, outsiders can possess treasure of any type, and this pit fiend has 200,000 gp worth of treasure to hand out. In addition to the mountain of more common loot, this is also a good time to look at some of the items you can’t get through one of the random tables—in this case, artifacts. In addition to the treasure from the tables, this pit fiend is also guarding a terrible artifact called the skullsoul, an object that Valeros and Merisiel are no doubt trying to destroy.
Treasure Type F: Combatant Gear
100,000 gp Reward (total value 99,235 gp) celestial armor, +1 nullifying bastard sword, ring of foe focus, ring of counterspells, figurine of wondrous power (gold lions), void pennant
Treasure Type G: Spellcaster Gear
100,000 gp Reward (total value 101,125 gp) ring of return, grounding rod, heretic’s bane, scroll of resurrection, wand of pain strike
Artifact skullsoul
Now that’s a pile of magic items that might be worth braving the depths of hell for! Of course, they might end up using up some of the treasure to recover from their encounter with the pit fiend (I’m thinking that scroll of resurrection seems like it might see some use). There are so many new items in this pile, I can’t even show off every spread that contains them. I guess you’ll just have to check them out yourself in a few days.
Well, that brings to a close the final preview of Ultimate Equipment. We hope you like what you saw. This book is due to be hitting bookshelves and the mailboxes of subscribers any day now! If you’re planning on attending Gencon, we’ll have a huge pile of the books ready for all of your equipment needs first thing on Thursday...
... We have a helper setting up the booth Tue, Aug 14, 2012 at 09:01 AM PacificThose of us here in Indy setting up the booth arrived to a nice surprise helper. We'll make sure he doesn't set the rest of the stuff on fire. ... Mark Moreland ... Developer
We have a helper setting up the booth
Tue, Aug 14, 2012 at 09:01 AM Pacific
Those of us here in Indy setting up the booth arrived to a nice surprise helper. We'll make sure he doesn't set the rest of the stuff on fire.
... Pathfinder Society Additional Resources Updated Monday, August 13, 2012 With Gen Con just 4 days away, I wanted to release the updated Additional Resources today so everyone has an opportunity to review it and discuss it before Gen Con. It also lets people who are picking up their subscription items at Gen Con have a list on hand so they can immediately utilize those books at the show. Note that even though the Additional Resources is being published today, it won’t officially go into...
Pathfinder Society Additional Resources Updated
Monday, August 13, 2012
With Gen Con just 4 days away, I wanted to release the updated Additional Resources today so everyone has an opportunity to review it and discuss it before Gen Con. It also lets people who are picking up their subscription items at Gen Con have a list on hand so they can immediately utilize those books at the show. Note that even though the Additional Resources is being published today, it won’t officially go into effect until August 15.
With Ultimate Equipment being as voluminous as it is, I certainly missed a few items that have been banned in the past several years. Those items are still banned. If you find an item I forgot to include in the Ultimate Equipment list that is banned, please let me know. I will make sure they are added in the September update of Additional Resources.
In this upcoming Additional Resources, the following updates have been made:
Pathfinder Adventure Path: Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition Spells:Blood money, covetous aura, deathwine, raiment of command, sign of wrath, swipe, and unconscious agenda are legal for play.
Pathfinder Adventure Path #60: “From Hell’s Heart" Equipment:Crossbow of retribution, doubleshot pepperbox, enervating pistol, and hurricane crown are legal for play.
Pathfinder Adventure Path #61: “Shards of Sin” Equipment:Cat burglar’s boots, cytillesh extract, frostspore, paradox box, pendant of the souk, and second-story harness are legal for play
Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Paths of Prestige Prestige Classes: Aldori Swordlord, Bellflower Tiller, Brother of the Seal, Champion of Irori, Dawnflower Dissident, Golden Legionnaire, Green Faith Acolyte, Knight of Ozem, Lantern Bearer, Magaambyan Arcanist, Mammoth Rider, Prophet of Kalistrade, Riftwarden, Shieldmarshal, Skyseeker, Sleepless Detective, Storm Kindler, Tattooed Mystic, and Veiled Illusionist are legal for play.
Pathfinder Player Companion: Varisia, Birthplace of Legends Archetypes: Kapenia dancer and thundercaller are legal for play. Equipment: All equipment on pages 14–15 are legal for play except Varisian idol. Feats: Thunder and Fang is legal for play. Roles: Duskwarden, Frontier Defender, Magnimarian Warden, Professional Gambler, Sable Company Marine, Sczarni Tough, Shingles Dweller, Shoanti Outrider, Shoanti Totem Shaman, Sky Magistrate, Varisian Bravo, and Welcome Wanderer are legal for play. Traits: Coincunning, cypher resistance, emissary, empyreal cultist, humble beginnings, local know-it-all, regional influence (except Magnimar), regional recluse, roof racer, savage breaker, Shoanti steed, Shoanti tattoo, town gossip, underbridge dweller, Varisian tattoo, and winner’s luck are legal for play.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Advanced Player’s Guide Equipment: All staves in Chapter 7 are not legal for play from this source. If you purchased these prior to Aug. 15, 2012, they are grandfathered into the campaign.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Equipment
All items from Chapter 1 are legal for play except as noted below. Some rules elements are legal but function differently in Pathfinder Society Organized Play, as described here. Equipment: No Large or larger firearm is available for purchase. The double hackbut, culverin and any advanced firearms on Table 1–10 are not permitted in Pathfinder Society Organized Play. No character may purchase a firearm unless she possesses the Gunsmithing feat and firearms are never considered Always Available; a character must possess enough Fame to purchase any firearm not found on a Chronicle sheet or granted by a class feature. All ammunition except metal cartridges may be purchased. Special Materials: All special materials, except angel skin and living steel, are legal for play.
All items from Chapter 2 are legal for play except as noted below. Equipment: Only creatures of the animal type of size Large and smaller may be purchased. No eggs are legal for play. Animal-related gear on pages 80–86 is available for purchase. Transports on pages 86–87 are not available for purchase. All alchemical remedies, alchemical tools, alchemical weapons, clothing, entertainment items, and food and drink are legal for play.
Any character with the Poison Use class ability can purchase and use poisons. For now, they are the only classes that have a list of “always available poisons” (those noted below)—no other class may purchase poisons unless they appear on a Chronicle sheet or in another legal source. Alchemists, ninja, and poisoner rogues may only purchase the following poisons: black adder venom, bloodroot, giant wasp poison, greenblood oil, large scorpion venom, malyass root paste, Medium spider venom, nitharit, shadow essence, small centipede poison, terinav root.
All items from Chapter 3 are legal for play except as noted below.
All armor special abilities on pages 114–123, except dastard, are legal for play.
All specific magic armor on pages 124–129, except breastplate of vanishing, catskin leather, demon armor, enchanted eelskin, hamatula hide, mail of malevolence, morlock hide, otyugh hide, scarab breastplate, and warden of the woods are legal for play.
All specific magic shields on pages 130–133, except avalanche shield, belligerent shield, celestial shield, dragonslayer’s shield, elysian shield, living steel heavy shield, tempest shield, volcanic shield, wyrmslayer’s shield, and zombie skin shield are legal for play.
All weapon special abilities on pages 134–149, except unholy, are legal for play.
All specific magic weapons on pages 150–163, except bastard’s sting, blade of the rising sun, blade of the sword-saint, cutthroat’s apprentice, dagger of doubling, dragoncatch guisarme, earthenflail, hellscourge, lash of the howler, nine lives stealer, pistol of the infinite sky, polarity hammer, spider’s fang, and ten-ring sword, are legal
All items from Chapter 4 are legal for play except as noted below.
All rings on pages 166–177 are legal for play.
All rods on pages 178–191, except rod of the viper, are legal for play.
All staves on pages 192–203, except unholy staff, are legal for play.
All items from Chapter 5 are legal for play except as noted below. Equipment: All items on pages 208–325, except ampoule of false blood, beneficial bandolier, bone razor, cauldron of the undead, collar of the true companion, darkskull, horn of evil, otherworldly kimono, orb of foul abaddon, robe of the archmagi (black), stalker’s mask, and talons of Leng are legal for play.
Nothing from Chapter 6 is legal for play unless it appears on a Chronicle sheet.
I hope that a few days of advance notice will help everyone plan for use of the new books releasing at Gen Con, and that you can properly prepare your characters to use all the new shiny toys during the show.
See you at the convention!
Mike Brock Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator
... Pathfinder Battles Preview: Opening Big Friday, August 10, 2012 We're tying up all the final loose ends before heading to Indianapolis for Gen Con next week, so because I'm so busy, I'm going to let my favorite freelancer write a fun description of the creature depicted in today's blog: ... It was a paw, fully two feet and a half across, and equipped with formidable talons. After it came another paw, and after that a great black-furred arm to which both of the paws were attached by short...
Pathfinder Battles Preview: Opening Big
Friday, August 10, 2012
We're tying up all the final loose ends before heading to Indianapolis for Gen Con next week, so because I'm so busy, I'm going to let my favorite freelancer write a fun description of the creature depicted in today's blog:
"It was a paw, fully two feet and a half across, and equipped with formidable talons. After it came another paw, and after that a great black-furred arm to which both of the paws were attached by short forearms. Then two pink eyes shone, and the head of the awakened gug sentry, large as a barrel, wabbled into view. The eyes jutted two inches from each side, shaded by bony protuberances overgrown with coarse hairs. But the head was chiefly terrible because of the mouth. That mouth had great yellow fangs and ran from the top to the bottom of the head, opening vertically instead of horizontally. " —H. P. Lovecraft, "The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath"
Yes, today's featured miniature is the Gug, subterranean terror of Lovecraft's Dreamlands. This horrific monstrosity is the centerpiece of an epic encounter in the Shattered Star Adventure Path. That campaign kicks off this month, with the new Shattered Star Pathfinder Battles prepainted miniatures set currently slated for January.
That's a pretty sweet looking monster, eh? It has cleaner teeth than Lovecraft's version, and yellower eyes, but this miniature captures the essence of the description that inspired it, and it's sure to strike terror into the hearts of your player characters. The quality of the sculpt and paint job have a lot to do with that, but to me the most impressive thing about this figure is its size.
This guy TOWERS over player characters, pushing the very limits of the Large size category.
And the blood in his mouth is shiny.
He's great, and I can't wait to build a little shrine in my office with like eight of this guy.
Next week we're at Gen Con for the official release of the Rise of the Runelords Pathfinder Battles set, as well as a sweet new booth display of every Pathfinder Battles miniature released to date.
Stop by the Paizo booth to claim your very own limited edition Festering Spirit figure (free with $50 purchase), and don't forget to seek me out and say hi. I'd love to hear what you think about the Pathfinder Battles line (or any of Paizo's products), and what you'd like to see us do in the future.
Regular Shattered Star Pathfinder Battles preview blogs will continue in two weeks. Until then, see you at Gen Con!
11 Awesome Things About the Refreshed Player Companions
... 11 Awesome Things About the Refreshed Player Companions Thursday, August 9, 2012 Readers with subscriptions to the Pathfinder Player Companion line have already started getting a glimpse of Varisia: Birthplace of Legends, with its refreshed format and philosophies. But for everyone still waiting for their hard copies, who haven't checked out the Player Companions in the past, or who just want to see a bit of what all the hubbub is about, here are ten new awesome things you can expect...
11 Awesome Things About the Refreshed Player Companions
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Readers with subscriptions to the Pathfinder Player Companion line have already started getting a glimpse of Varisia: Birthplace of Legends, with its refreshed format and philosophies. But for everyone still waiting for their hard copies, who haven't checked out the Player Companions in the past, or who just want to see a bit of what all the hubbub is about, here are ten new awesome things you can expect from Player Companions going forward.
Something for YOUR Character! Every Player Companion begins with a new "For Your Character" introduction, enumerating which character classes receive the most focused love, as well as new features great for characters of any class! Regardless of the type of character you're playing, each Player Companion will always have something for you!
Questions to Ask Your GM! You're not playing Pathfinder by yourself. To make the most of the content in every Player Companion, there's a list of questions for players to ask their GMs regarding that month's topic. Player Companion: Knights of the Inner Sea is going to have lots of players excited to don their shining armor, but if your GM is about to take you under the sea, maybe you should put that character concept on hold. Make sure you've got the right character for your campaign with just a few simple questions.
Rules Index! Want to cut right to the chase and find the feats, traits, archetypes, and other rules elements that your character has to have? Flip to the rules index for a comprehensive listing of the crunchiest elements, by type and with associated page number. Stop wadding through pages searching for that lost trait and get back to playing!
Did You Know? Making the Pathfinder RPG has been a weird and wild ride. Learn behind-the-scenes secrets and weird Pathfinder trivia with the quick new "Did you Know?" call-outs.
Almost a Centerfold! Player Companions are some of the only Pathfinder products that lie absolutely flat (there's no gutter between pages for words or art to get lost in). This gives us the opportunity to do jaw-dropping, uninterrupted, two-page art pieces right in the center of every book. In Varisia: Birthplace of Legends, that means a massive player-friendly map of all Varisia (complete with routes and travel times to some of the most exciting locations), but down the road it'll mean month after month of lavish, artistic depictions of regions, topics, and themes central to that month's Player Companion. If you want a lot of information without a lot of words, here's the place to look!
Vistas and Double Truck Art! See the Pathfinder Campaign Setting like never before with huge, double-page-spanning art pieces. Beyond just the huge piece in the center spread, expect to see sweeping views of some of the most exciting lands and epic scenes from across Golarion, with art pieces only the format of Pathfinder Player Companion can provide. Check out just a few of the most awesome vistas from Varisia, Birthplace of Legends and next month's Knights of the Inner Sea, included here!
Illustrations by Ben Wootten
New Players Welcome! Weren't here for Pathfinder Adventure Path #1? Didn't play Hollow's Last Hope? That's just fine, and welcome aboard! Pathfinder Player Companions are designed to be entry points for players who know nothing about the subject of the month, giving you the backstory on existing topics, overviews of regions detailed at length elsewhere, and quick briefs that bring you into the know with gamers who have been playing Pathfinder for years!
The Veteran's Arsenal! Player Companions are your new one-stop arsenal for the best gear, archetypes, spells, magic items, traits, and other character options related to the month's topic. Also, don't worry about just getting rehashes of information presented elsewhere—with every overview you can also expect Player Companions to drill down deeper into details players need to know on some of the richest subjects in the Pathfinder Campaign Setting. Think you knew everything there was to know about Varisia? In Varisia, Birthplace of Legends, you'll learn all about the territories and totems of Shoanti quahs, the most traveled routes of Varisian wanderers, the fastest travel times between major locations, arcane schools from across Varisia, freshly updated Varisian equipment, and much, much more!
What You Need—NOW! We know players don't always have the time to read an entire book's worth of material to make their character—especially when they need that character right away. Player Companions are now built with every two-page spread focused on a single topic, giving you everything you need to know on the subject at a glance, or allowing you to page quickly past material you don't need in search of what you want. These focused sections give players in a rush the opportunity to make the right choices for their characters and learn about the Pathfinder Campaign Setting without having to read dozens of pages.
Roles! Heard about a great idea from the Pathfinder Campaign Setting, but not really sure how to build it? Then you need a role! Roles can be considered builds, templates, or kits that give you suggestions on what rules and roleplaying themes you should consider if you want to play a character related to some of the most exciting cultures and organizations in Golarion—folks like Varisan fortune-tellers, Sczarni toughs, and Sable Company marines (to name just a few from Varisia: Birthplace of Legends). Roles draw on rules and options from across the whole spectrum of Pathfinder RPG products so you don't have to hunt through book after book for the perfect feat or that archetype you know you saw somewhere. Additionally, roles are as much about how you play your character as what stats go into building it, so you'll also find tips on how to roleplay, preferred gear for your character, and even considerations on relationships you might want to share with other members of your party. At the same time, every role is entirely a suggestion—an idea of how we here at Paizo might build a type of character—so if you want to play an exception to the rule, well, being exceptional is what being a PC is all about!
Monthly! Player Companions have gone monthly! Now subscribers can expect a new host of options for their characters and details on the hottest topics in Golarion every single month. (After all, you're a player every month, right?) Get all the backup you need—now twice as often!
Pathfinder Player Companion: Varisia, Birthplace of Legends is available now, so if you've never taken a look at Pathfinder Player Companions before or didn't think they were for your game, now's the perfect time to take another look. We've put a lot into refreshing this series, and I think you're really going to like what you see. Thanks for checking them out, and be sure to tell us what you think!
Blood of the City Sample Chapter Wednesday, August 8, 2012 ... by Robin D. Laws ... In Blood of the City, Luma Derexhi is a cobblestone druid, a spellcaster who fights alongside her siblings as Magnimar's most infamous and wealthy mercenary company. Yet despite being the oldest child, Luma gets little respect—perhaps due to her half-elven heritage. When a job gone wrong lands Luma in the fearsome prison called the Hells, everything she knows to be true begins to fall apart, leaving her to...
Blood of the City Sample Chapter
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
by Robin D. Laws
In Blood of the City, Luma Derexhi is a cobblestone druid, a spellcaster who fights alongside her siblings as Magnimar's most infamous and wealthy mercenary company. Yet despite being the oldest child, Luma gets little respect—perhaps due to her half-elven heritage. When a job gone wrong lands Luma in the fearsome prison called the Hells, everything she knows to be true begins to fall apart, leaving her to unravel a bloody web of lies and politics if she wants to survive...
Chapter Ten: Triodea
Arrus had been sitting on the grand staircase's lower steps, and jumped to his feet as Bhax and another of the servants hauled open the foyer doors. For a moment, Luma thought he might come down to wrap his arms around her. When he reached her, stopped short, and put his hands on hips, she saw the absurdity of her assumption.
"What are you smiling at?" he asked.
"I'm not," Luma answered, realizing that she was, a little. Trying not to smirk made it worse.
Iskola tried to steer her around him. "Let it rest, Arrus ..."
"Rest? We can hash this out here, or in the squad room, but we have to— Luma, what did you tell him?"
"Nothing."
"Did you genuinely say nothing, or did you banter with him and trip yourself up?"
"There was nothing to say. He thinks one of you ordered me to murder Khonderian, and that I did so, on behest of a client."
"So you didn't do as I told you."
"When we got there," said Iskola, "we found Grobaras on the verge of apoplexy. From that, I judge Luma's performance more than adequate. Now let her wash up."
Arrus paced. "So did you succeed in drawing him out?"
"Someone saw me following Khonderian," said Luma. "That's all he has."
"And how did you let yourself be seen?"
"Can't say," Luma shrugged. "It's tough enough doing a one-person tail and not having your target see you. I don't recall being made, but then I wouldn't, would I?"
"You're awfully impertinent, given the cost of this failure."
"Maybe compared to the threat of a golem sawing my limbs off, being second-guessed by you isn't so terrifying."
Arrus stopped pacing. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"The mouse has a point," Iskola said.
Arrus wheeled on her. "You're her defender now?"
"Arrus, calm yourself."
"I don't need to be defended," Luma blurted. "I didn't fail. An operation threw a wheel. Happens all the time. To each and every one of us. It's how you recover that counts. And I recovered fine."
"Don't shriek at us, Luma," Arrus said.
"No, I'm going to say this and you're going to listen. I resign as family scapegoat. No longer will I accept this."
"Accept what?"
"You know very well. I comported myself perfectly in there. Same as you would have. I even have a lead."
"A lead?" Arrus asked.
"This thing, it has something to do with golems."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know yet, I sense it ...the lord-mayor has a golem bodyguard, there's a golem uprising in Bridgeward ...it hasn't come together yet in my head, but it's all part of the same complex melody ..."
Arrus threw up his hands. "I'm sure that will hold up at the Justice Court. You hear the city sing to you ..."
Luma pointed at Iskola. "My magic is as real as hers. That's exactly what I mean. You're constantly denigrating me. All of you, but you more than everyone, Arrus. Because I let you. Well, this is my notice to the lot of you. Starting today, it stops."
Arrus turned to Iskola. "And I'm the one who has to calm himself?"
"Let's all of us pause for breath," Iskola responded. "This is what Grobaras wants. For us to turn on each other."
"Who hired us to track Khonderian?" Luma asked her.
Iskola passed her outer cloak to Bhax, who bore it away to the garderobe. "As soon as it's possible, I'll tell you. You have my word."
Luma pursued her out of the foyer and into the ballroom. The floor squeaked under her feet. "That's not good enough."
"It will have to be," Iskola answered.
Luma grabbed her and pulled her around. "I'm the one they're fixing to stick up on the gibbet!"
Iskola pulled her arm away. "I'll talk to the client. It will take some persuading."
"I don't care what you tell the client."
"Certain of our patrons find you an uneasy presence."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You're spooky. You lurk. You think the city talks to you."
"It does."
"And nobody likes a girl who can steal their thoughts."
Luma stormed up the steps, headed for her father's room. This time, Yandine was nowhere in sight. Silently she turned the latch and peeked in. Her father sat propped against the head of his bed, a ledger in his lap. With a jittering finger he followed its entries. If he'd heard the argument through his chamber's thick walls, he betrayed no sign of it.
She slipped inside. "Father," she said.
Randred's features lit up. "You're back," he said. His expression clouded. "They mistreated you."
Shaking her head, Luma sat on the mattress' edge and wrapped her arms around him. He smelled of camphor. "Iskola showed up with political reinforcements before that could happen."
"Then that unpaid mission I upbraided Iskola for has more than justified itself," he said. "I owe her an apology."
"I am grateful for it," Luma said.
Before she could go on, Randred insisted on knowing all that had happened: in the coach, at the prison, before Grobaras. Luma's efforts to quickly summarize events fell before his frequent interjections. She gave him every detail.
"We've won the merest respite," he said, when he had wrung it all from her. "Grobaras believes he has you. He has always disliked us, as he does any force in the city outside of his control. Only the true killer, delivered to him on a platter, will move him from his assumption. No one will do this for us."
"Indeed," Luma said.
"But you must confine yourself here and let the others take point. Anything you do might be construed as cause to seize you again. And then all the Urtilia Scarnettis in Magnimar won't save you from the torturer's slab."
"Father, Grobaras doesn't just want me. It's all of us. He kept asking whether it was you who ordered Khonderian's murder, or Iskola. Whichever of us goes out will be exposed."
"But you most of all, Mouse."
"We need someone who can sneak, who can pry open loose lips. Ontor can't do it alone."
"Then I'll pull in dirt-sorters from other squads." He clutched his side.
"You're unwell," she said.
"It's nothing."
She considered telling him that she knew. And she would, soon. One battle at a time, she told herself. "I would never question your authority, Father."
He gave her a wan smile. "Which means you're about to."
Luma clutched his hand. It was cold. "I've come to a decision. If I'm belittled around here, it's my doing. I'm a Derexhi, and an adult. Older than them. As capable as any of them. The only way to earn their respect is by standing up to them. Starting now."
"Starting with what?"
"Iskola wants me off the streets, too. I'll be defying that order. If it means defying yours, too ..."
Randred dropped the ledger to the floor and held her. "Belay what I just said. I was talking nonsense. I've been suffering a touch of the rheum and it's fuddled my head. Of course you must act. Whatever the others say. This is Magnimar. No one here will give you respect if you fear to seize it."
Luma broke the embrace. "It is also Derexhi House. Where the same maxim applies."
Informing no one, Luma left early in the morning for the Triodea. She walked along the Avenue of Hours, where the warm winds of early spring came out to greet her. Gulls circled overhead; she felt their hunger and greed. Thinning clouds skidded through the sky, transforming it from gray to blue. In these signs—well, except for the gulls, gulls were a constant and didn't mean anything—she chose to find an omen. Her standing up for herself, and behaving like a woman instead of a girl, would be good for all. They would kick and complain; to adjust one's thinking is never pleasant or easy. When all the fuss was over, they would see the advantage in adding a full, equal partner to the squad. They would trust her better, and she, them. To fight without trust is to invite defeat.
As she trekked on, the sun rose higher. Traffic trickled on the avenue, then grew thicker. She passed ox-sellers, laborers, gilded carriages, bird-catchers, chimney sweeps, and a flag-draped cart carrying a troupe of traveling players. She ducked a wandering fortune-teller, warned a carter that a wheel was coming off, and stole a pickpocket's purse when he tried to take hers. Its contents she doled out to child beggars and blind men.
By the time the Avenue of Hours opened into the plaza housing the Triodea, the citysong had reached a peak, high and clear. Nowhere to Luma's senses was its sublimity purer than here. Mid-morning sun shone on the tripartite structure. It intensified on the long, white hangar of the Grand Stage and dulled on the gray surface of the adjoining concert hall. Bright-breasted birds gathered atop the reaching awning of the rooftop stage. The plaza, called the Starsilver, glittered beneath Luma's feet. In place of cobblestones, it was surfaced by tiles inlaid with pieces of reflective abalone shell. A well-scrubbed work crew took its unhurried time searching out broken tiles. When they found one in need of replacement, they gathered around in murmured colloquy. After prolonged contemplation, the crew leader nodded to an aide, who dipped a brush into a pot of soluble red paint, hunched down, and encircled the offending tile.
She strode over to them, greeting the crew captain by name: "Mordh!"
"Luma," he answered.
Luma passed around the last of the coins she'd taken from the pickpocket, which the tilemen pocketed without comment.
"Aren't you s'posed to be in the Hells?" Mordh asked.
"I like to think otherwise." She kept up with the crew as it resumed its hunt for faulty tiles. Luma spotted a cracked one before they did. They gathered around to peer at it. "You know a gnome named Noole? He frequents the performance halls. Fancies himself a poet."
"I never asked him his name," said Mordh, "but a fellow matching that description comes 'round now and again, to practice his quatrains on us."
"And cadge coins," added another of the tilemen, a tall man who wore his thinning hair close to the scalp.
"That too," said Mordh. "I prefer that to the verses."
"No," argued a gaunt third tileman, "the poems is good."
"Seen him lately?"
Mordh pointed across the plaza, to the doorway of one of the taverns installed in the Grand Stage's right flank. "Went in there an hour ago, thereabouts."
Luma left them with a wave of thanks. The gaunt tileman squatted to paint a red circle around the tile she'd pointed out. She wended her unobtrusive way through the plaza's sprawling foot traffic. At the tavern entrance, she held herself so that she seemed to be gazing up at the rooftop stage. In fact, she spotted Noole at a corner table, a flagon at his left elbow and a piece of vellum stretched out before him. He held his pen at an abstracted angle. She eased into the tavern.
The gnome spotted her and bolted. His table toppled, taking tankard, inkwell, pen, and poem with it. He dashed for the kitchen entrance. Luma followed. As she passed through the swinging doors, a jar hurtled at her head. She ducked; it hit the wall behind her, shattering. A cloud of flour puffed out from it. Now coated in white powder, Luma sprinted for Noole, who dove out a service door into the Grand Hall. The tavern's cook, swearing in the dwarven language, hurtled at her, waving his butcher's knife. She drew her sickle and smacked it out of his hand. The knife flew end over end before splashing into a pot of hot oil. Scalding droplets rained on the cook; Luma was already through the door.
Noole fled with surprising speed through the concert hall's plush lobby. He'd knocked a lantern from its sconce; panicked servants rushed to douse its flames before they spread. Luma sped past them. Her hand thrust into her pouch of spell objects, now replenished. Each of the vial tops had its own distinct texture, allowing her to quickly find the one with the cricket leg. She reached into the citysong for the sound of the chirping, jumping bugs, and pilfered a touch of their magic.
Luma jumped, and the city propelled her into the air. She grazed the dripping crystals of the great hall's chandeliers, leaving them rocking and tinkling. Breathing deep, she braced for the coming landing.
Her outstretched feet struck Noole in the back. She rolled, hitting the pedestal of a statue to a long-dead contralto. She made her way up, watching Noole as he rose and drew a rapier. Her own weapon lay on the rug a few feet away; she'd dropped it to avoid cutting herself as she landed. Feigning dismay, she let him come at her midsection. The thin sword jabbed skillfully at her. With equal aplomb, she evaded the thrust. Continuing the motion, she snatched up her sickle and dove at her opponent. He kept her at bay with a feint of his blade. They circled one another, Luma leaving ghostings of flour wherever she stepped.
"I can't guess what you want with me," the gnome said, "but I want nothing to do with you."
"Drop your weapon and I'll explain," Luma answered.
He held it out as if ready to let it go, then lunged. The blade caught Luma on the side of the neck. It hurt, but she could tell the wound was only superficial. She swiped at his legs with her sickle; he hopped back with flamboyant ease. Adopting a perfect fencing stance, he waited for her to come at him.
His moves so far revealed one fighting style disguised as another. Noole added flourishes to what was, at its core, a cautious waiting game of precisely timed blows. He was waiting for Luma to make a mistake he could capitalize on. In this, and in his general deftness and quick reactions, he favored an approach to combat that was also Luma's. One patient, calculating scrapper faced another.
This could go on all day.
"What was your business with Khonderian?" Luma asked.
"That name is naught but a distant wisp of fading recollection."
She faked a strike; he didn't fall for it. "Set aside your perfumed words, poet."
"It reflects ill on you, to say ‘poet' like it's an insult." He faked a strike; she didn't fall for it.
"I saw him pay you off in Bridgeward, on the street of taverns. What for?"
"Surely you've mistaken me for another gnome of equal handsomeness."
White light filled the lobby. Luma glanced back to see what had changed, at the same time anticipating and deflecting an expected blow. She caught the gnome's rapier in the crook of her sickle and twisted it from his hand.
Workmen had opened one of the large entry doors to toss out the still-smoking rug. Luma decided on a stratagem. She shouted with inarticulate, feigned bloodlust and came at the gnome with apparent recklessness. Noole sidestepped her; she pretended to trip and fall into the wall, her sickle lodging in its flocked surface.
If the gnome turned out to be more interested in finishing her than in escaping, this would prove a terrible error.
But Luma was right: he took the opportunity not to strike at her, but to scoop up his rapier and sprint for the open doors.
This gave her the time and distance she needed to call on another of the city's boons. She attuned herself to the crunch of pebbles and grains of sand underfoot. She called to bits of gravel strewn on rooftops and trapped in their eaves. Through the citysong she plucked stones from the soles of boots. All of these she gathered together in an enfolding, spiraling wind.
Noole is always the center of attention.
As Noole reached the threshold, a thick hail of stone and gravel did too. It struck him in the chest and face, sending him back on his heels. Stunned, he tottered and fell. Luma, who was already running, jumped on him, a foot on his emptied sword-hand and the curve of her sickle around his throat.
"I can kill you, or buy you a drink," she said. "Which will it be?"
He twitched his mustache at her. "It's not yet noon. So I'll stick to ale."
The daytime house manager, kitted in a uniform of rich green and velvet, hovered warily nearby. Luma handed him Noole's sword, daggers, and throwing knives. "You're going to hold on to these while the gentleman and I repair for private conversation," she told the manager, who gulped in frightened assent. She removed Noole's ensorceled rings, which substituted for armor, and handed those over, too.
To her surprise, she found no burglar's kit on his person. From his way of fighting, she'd pegged him as a footpad. Judging from his accoutrements, the gnome was instead a swordsman—plain, though hardly simple.
"We'll return for these shortly," she told the manager. "If all goes well." Later she'd return to the tavern where her chase had wreaked havoc and arrange for payment of damages. For the moment, she escorted Noole across the plaza to a rival establishment, the Sock and Buskin. Around a central table, actors half-heartedly recited lines, committing them to memory.
Noole winced. "Not The Inconstant Nymph again! What a chestnut!" He cupped his hand theatrically to the side of his mouth and shouted, "Stage something new for once!"
The eldest of the actors, who held himself with an impresario's authority, stood up. "Cleave to your sonnets, hack!"
Noole wandered toward their table. "You're not playing Donatio, surely. That part is thirty years too young for you."
The impresario threw Noole the tines. Luma took Noole by the arm and led him to a corner table.
Luma took the bench, leaving Noole the chair, where his back would be exposed to the room. The gnome settled in. "A hail of stones. Never seen that one before."
"Need I repeat the question?"
"You're not the one they say murdered old Khonderian, are you?"
Luma felt herself bridle.
Noole's eyes glittered. "You are, you are. Well, I daresay you don't seem the murdering type. Else you'd have opened my throat too."
The barmaid, whose blasé demeanor and overly painted face led Luma to think of her as a disappointed ex-actress, ambled to their table.
"I'll have a pint of Old Asmodeus, and so will she," said Noole. "And your cured meat plate, and your cheese plate, and shall we say the pickle assortment?" He cracked his fingers together.
"No drink for me," said Luma.
"Have you had the Old Asmodeus?" Noole asked.
"No."
"Then she'll take the half-pint and at least taste it," Noole told the barmaid, who shuffled off.
Luma leaned in. "I suppose I should ask if you killed Khonderian."
"Me? Why would I?"
"What was he paying you for?"
Noole sighed. "The life of a versifier can be at times a chancy one. Yet for all its material deprivations, I am blessed with the chance to ascend and descend the social ladder. Oft times in the same afternoon. Along the way, one picks up scraps—sometimes a fine duck rillette, sometimes a pregnant rumor. "
"You were his informant."
"I prefer gossip. The other sounds impersonal."
"And what intelligence earned you that clinking purse the other night?"
The barmaid made her way over, carrying the first of the food plates. Noole rubbed his hands together. "I am no gentleman poet. To keep a roof over my head, I must at times resort to the unconventional."
"You were squatting in a Qadiran trader's house in Grand Arch."
He popped a chunk of blue cheese into his mouth. "If only I had a critic who followed me as avidly as you, my peach." He frowned. "Don't blush, child. I mean nothing by it."
"Don't call me child."
"At Grand Arch, did you happen to notice any skulky characters about?"
"Across the way from you."
"Yes. A small troop of highly armed men and women, their every furtive glance broadcasting ill intent. I crept over there one night, as I am wont to do. They spoke with Korvosan accents. Alas, I heard little of their discourse. They did have a map of the city up on the wall. Stuck there with a dagger. A breach of squatter's etiquette, I must say."
Luma nibbled absently on a piece of cured boar. "And that's all you told Khonderian?"
"He wanted me to do some more creeping about. I left that open as a possibility."
"But never followed through?"
"The muse led me elsewhere." He shoved the tankard, which she hadn't touched, toward her. "Try it. Strongly hopped, with a hint of persimmon."
She took a grudging sip. "Why go to the head of the lord-mayor's bodyguard? Why not the lord justice?"
"My tittle-tattle is of a political nature, chiefly, and of little interest to the law." He drained the last of his ale. "Also, Khonderian paid well. The city guard can scarcely afford blade polish."
"And you have no guess as to why Khonderian was killed?"
He gestured to the barmaid for another Old Asmodeus. "It can't have anything to do with me. Speaking of which, his departure leaves a gaping void in my future earnings. Surely you Derexhi could stand to enlarge your network of informants."
"We cultivate unpaid sources."
"Then I venture to say you're missing a trick." With one swipe he cleared the meat plate of its olives. "Let's talk advance."
Luma stood. "Let's go get your weapons back to you."
"My second tankard hasn't arrived. Listen, I hate to argue from need. I can impose on dear old Lady Khedre for a week or so in her servant's quarters, but do so hesitantly. Ours is an association that wilts under the heat of prolonged proximity. Khonderian's payment was not so generous as you may have assumed ..."
Luma paid the barmaid. "Drink up, gnome. I'll tell the manager he's free to give you your sword when you come to ask for it."
Coming Next Week: A brand new, standalone story featuring Luma and her family!
Robin D. Laws is the author of the Pathfinder Tales novels Blood of the City and The Worldwound Gambit, as well as the Pathfinder's Journals for the Serpent's Skull Adventure Path and the Skull & Shackles Adventure Path. In addition, he's written six other novels; various short stories, web serials, and comic books; and a long list of roleplaying game products. His novels include Pierced Heart, The Rough and the Smooth, and the Angelika Fleischer series for the Black Library. Robin created the classic RPG Feng Shui and such recent titles as Mutant City Blues, Skulduggery, and the newly redesigned HeroQuest 2. Those interested in learning more about Robin are advised to check out his blog.
Ultimate Equipment Preview: Never Laugh at Live Dragons!
... Ultimate Equipment Preview: Never Laugh at Live Dragons! Tuesday, August 7, 2012 The only sound that echoed through the vast cavern was the crunch of their boots on the frost-covered stone. Up ahead, nestled between drifts of snow and covered in a glaze of shimmering ice, was the treasure that the pair had heard so much about. Not two weeks ago, while talking to a drunken sod who had lost four fingers to the cold, Valeros had learned about the treasure of the white wyrm. Now both he and...
Ultimate Equipment Preview: Never Laugh at Live Dragons!
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
The only sound that echoed through the vast cavern was the crunch of their boots on the frost-covered stone. Up ahead, nestled between drifts of snow and covered in a glaze of shimmering ice, was the treasure that the pair had heard so much about. Not two weeks ago, while talking to a drunken sod who had lost four fingers to the cold, Valeros had learned about the treasure of the white wyrm. Now both he and Merisiel were here, ready to plunder the vast fortune.
"I told you the beast was probably dead," Merisiel said, scanning the cavern. "No one has heard from it in years. Even that old fool said as much."
"Maybe it flew south for the winter," Valeros replied with a snort as he retrieved the sacks from his pack. After taking just one step forward, the grin slid from his face as a blast of freezing cold erupted from the shadows at the back of the cavern. The blast brought the warrior to his knees, ice coating his hands, arms, and face.
Merisiel wisely leaped behind a gigantic icy stalagmite to avoid the frosty breath of the ancient white dragon that emerged from the shadows...
We are under 2 weeks away from the release of Ultimate Equipment. This week's preview takes a look at the treasure horde of a CR 15 ancient white dragon—not that poor Valeros and Merisiel are destined to get their hands on it.
Dragons are known for their vast treasure hoards, and thus have access to the mighty treasure types H and I. Since they also have triple the normal amount of treasure, we have a total of 87,000 gp worth of loot to distribute. Let's start with something big and spend 75,000 gp on a big roll on treasure type I and then let's fill it out with some lesser loot from treasure type C.
Treasure Type I: Treasure Hoard 75,000 gp Reward (total value 69,120 gp)
50,000 cp, 6,000 sp, 400 gp, 70 pp, avalanche shield, ring of energy shroud (cold), staff of tricks, wand of sleet storm, flawless star sapphire (worth 7,000 gp), platinum scepter with gold inlay (worth 1,200 gp)
Treasure Type C: Art Objects 10,000 gp Reward plus a 2,000 gp Reward (total value 11,900 gp)
unmelting ice shard (worth 10,000 gp), platinum censer with ornate markings (worth 800 gp), decorated platinum plate (worth 1,100 gp)
I am not even sure they would be able to carry that many coins out of the lair, since they weigh more than 1,100 pounds, but I am sure they would try. The treasure for this hoard could have taken a number of different paths, focusing instead on a mountain of lesser items, such as (undoubtedly frozen) potions, wands, and scrolls, as you might typically find on the table for treasure type I, but since this is a dragon hoard, I thought it would be best to stick with a mountain of coins, with a variety of valuable objects sticking out of the heap.
That brings to a close this week's treasure roll. Next week, in our final preview, it will be time for our heroes to travel to the depths of hell for their most fearsome challenge yet!
Guide 4.2 and Changes to Pathfinder Society Organized Play
... Guide 4.2 and Changes to Pathfinder Society Organized Play Monday, August 6, 2012 With Gen Con just 10 days away, I wanted to release the new and improved Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play, Version 4.2 today so everyone has an opportunity to review it and discuss it before Gen Con. With the help of the Venture-Captains and Venture-Lieutenants, and specifically the tireless efforts of Boston Venture-Captain Don Walker to help me with wordsmithing, we have added several...
Guide 4.2 and Changes to Pathfinder Society Organized Play
Monday, August 6, 2012
With Gen Con just 10 days away, I wanted to release the new and improved Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play, Version 4.2 today so everyone has an opportunity to review it and discuss it before Gen Con. With the help of the Venture-Captains and Venture-Lieutenants, and specifically the tireless efforts of Boston Venture-Captain Don Walker to help me with wordsmithing, we have added several much-needed changes that we think will improve your experiences in Pathfinder Society play.
Most notably, the following changes will go into effect on August 16 when Season 4 kicks off at Gen Con:
We added three new races to character creation for all players to choose from: aasimar, tengu, and tiefling.
Scenarios and sanctioned module now have one unified set of rules for applying Chronicle sheets to pregenerated characters.
Added all hardcover rulebooks to the Core Assumption for GMs and advised that GMs can refer to the Pathfinder Reference Document for rules from any books they don’t own.
Updated text so GMs are now allowed to take boons when they are offered on a Chronicle sheet.
There are quite a few more changes not mentioned above, so keep an eye on the Pathfinder Society General Discussion messageboard, where we’ll be posting a complete list of changes from version 4.1 to 4.2.
As for other changes to Pathfinder Society play, over the past 6 months, I have taken a keen interest in various things that don’t fit Golarion thematically or that cause confusion with power imbalance in the context of the Pathfinder Society Organized Play campaign. I have talked with players that frequent the messageboards, as well players at the various conventions I have attended. I have discussed the topics below with Venture-Captains and Venture-Lieutenants, as well as with members of Paizo’s design and development teams. While some of these might work well in a home game (and I have some players that use them in my home game), they simply are not a good fit for organized play.
With that said, the following archetypes and equipment are being removed from Pathfinder Society Organized Play as legal options effective August 16, 2012:
Arcane bonded items must be listed as Always Available (thus, no firearms)
Added to the Additional Resources on June 20:
No Large or larger firearms available for purchase at any point.
Double hackbut (Ultimate Combat 138)
Culverin (Ultimate Combat 138)
Obviously, these changes do not reflect every problem, or cover every potential problem, in the Pathfinder Society, and we will continue to monitor, discuss, and evaluate material as it affects the format and as new material is released. We do not intend actions like this to be a regular occurrence. We did not make these changes lightly and recognize that many of you will feel like this is either too much or too little or somewhere in between. But I feel that these changes are necessary for the health and well-being of the campaign.
With that said, I understand the time investment and care put into a character’s background and the planning that goes along with making sure the character fits exactly how you envision him. If you have a character affected by the changes above, I am offering a rebuild along the following guidelines:
You may rebuild any class levels affected, to levels of other classes as necessary. (For example, if you have a 10th-level character with one level of rogue and nine levels of the synthesist summoner archetype, you may rebuild the nine summoner levels into any other class or another summoner archetype).
You may retrain any feats that directly apply to the changes above as necessary.
You may sell affected equipment for the full price paid when you purchased them (as listed on past Chronicle sheets).
However you feel about these changes, I ask that you remain respectful of the feelings of others when commenting below. We are a community and we all know players who probably have a beloved character affected by the changes above. Please keep discourse civil and appropriate.
I look forward to seeing folks at the show and am looking toward a bright future for the campaign. I sincerely appreciate everyone who provided feedback, whether it was for the changes to the Guide or the options being removed above, in working together to make our organized play the best it can be for the player base and GMs. Feel free to pull me aside at Gen Con to chat about any or all of the above changes.
Mike Brock Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator
Pathfinder Battles Preview: Starting Small with the Shattered Star
... Pathfinder Battles Preview: Starting Small with the Shattered Star Friday, August 3, 2012 August is upon us, and we've finally reached the release month for the Rise of the Runelords set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted miniatures! We'll debut the set at Gen Con Indy, which means that the complete shipment is currently sitting in our warehouse, which has picked up a distinctive smell of fresh plastic. I love the smell of fresh plastic in the morning. It smells like... Victory. ... Anyway,...
Pathfinder Battles Preview: Starting Small with the Shattered Star
Friday, August 3, 2012
August is upon us, and we've finally reached the release month for the Rise of the Runelords set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted miniatures! We'll debut the set at Gen Con Indy, which means that the complete shipment is currently sitting in our warehouse, which has picked up a distinctive smell of fresh plastic. I love the smell of fresh plastic in the morning. It smells like... Victory.
Anyway, you guys are going to explode with delight when you get the Rise of the Runelords figures in your hands. They are absolutely amazing, and set a new standard for prepainted plastic miniatures.
A standard we're set to exceed with the very NEXT set, the Shattered Star! This third official set of Pathfinder Battles miniatures (produced in cooperation with our friends at WizKids) contains 55 figures, and is currently slated for a January 2013 release. We're still working on some of the final details on price and packaging, so it'll be several more weeks before we have the product pages for this set up and running here on paizo.com, but we don't want to let pesky details like that get in the way of revealing some of the amazing figures we've been working on over the last few months.
Even though we haven't yet revealed a single Shattered Star mini, we're actually much farther ahead in the production process with this set than we've been at a similar period with other sets. We've approved about 90% of the paint masters so far, and are only waiting on a couple of figures. Preview images from the set should be landing here every Friday until I run out of them, and believe me when I say you're in store for some absolutely astounding miniatures.
Before I get to today's initial reveals, I want to talk briefly about spoilers and the nature of previewing a set of miniatures for an adventure campaign that hasn't been published yet—it's going to be a bit difficult, and you probably ARE going to have a few minor details and surprises spoiled by reading these weekly blogs.
I'll take care to hide truly egregious spoilers (“this guy is the arch villain of adventure three, but he's the PCs' best friend for the first two adventures, LOL”) behind spoiler tags, but as the entire point of showing off these miniatures is to, well, SHOW OFF THESE MINIATURES, I'm not going to hide every image behind a spoiler tag. If you're the type of player or GM who gets bent out of shape knowing that certain monsters are scheduled to appear in an adventure you haven't played yet, it may be a good idea to keep your eyes away from this space for the foreseeable future.
‘Cause I'm going to spill some secrets.
Let's start with some small ones, from the very first volume of the Shattered Star Adventure Path, Shards of Sin.
Up first is the lowly Mite, a rank-and-file monster from the pages of the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary. This standard Small fey creature plays an important role in the opening adventure (and this isn't the only mite in the set, either). I love how gross WizKids' master painter made this little bugger, and I can't wait to get a whole pile of them to add to my personal collection.
Speaking of giant piles of monsters I'd quite like to add to my collection, allow me to introduce you to a derro known as Caedimus!
Good Caedimus is a rank-and-file derro. We've given him a specific name to differentiate him from the other derro in the set (which we'll show off soon), but like the Mite, Caedimus is currently slated at the common rarity.
I'm hoping to get a bunch of him.
That's it for this week. Although both of these critters are Small, they're a good intro to the set, which in future weeks will include lots of much, much, much larger figures.
We're on the hunt for the Shattered Star! Come back to this space next Friday for a look at some more awesome minis coming your way in January!
... Shattered Star Player's Guide Thursday, August 2, 2012 About a month ago, someone in our messageboard community started a thread asking when the Shattered Star Player's Guide was going to be released. Our answer at the time was before the release of the Shattered Star Adventure Path. Well, that time is now! ... In this Player's Guide you'll find tips for making a character that fits well in the campaign. This lets players make some crucial early decisions without fear of wasting feats or...
Shattered Star Player's Guide
Thursday, August 2, 2012
About a month ago, someone in our messageboard community started a thread asking when the Shattered Star Player's Guide was going to be released. Our answer at the time was "before the release of the Shattered Star Adventure Path." Well, that time is now!
In this Player's Guide you'll find tips for making a character that fits well in the campaign. This lets players make some crucial early decisions without fear of wasting feats or making bad choices when it comes to certain class features. We also present a bunch of campaign traits and traits suitable for characters that are closely tied with the Pathfinder Society. Speaking of the Pathfinders, in this Player's Guide we give readers a rundown on the organization, since the campaign assumes the PCs will either be members of the Pathfinder Society or at least closely tied to them. Seeing as the Shattered Star Adventure Path starts in Magnimar, the Player's Guide gives a spoiler-free introduction to the city, and shows a map of Heidmarch Manor—a place that can serve as a base of operations when the PCs aren't waist deep in some dank dungeon. Finally, the Shattered Star Player's Guide provides the rules for using Fame and Prestige Points in your Shattered Star campaign. You can even get your own scribe to record your glory for future posterity!
... Open Call Revisited Thursday, August 2, 2012As some have noticed, when we launched the new Pathfinder Society Organized Play homepage here on paizo.com, we removed the Write for Pathfinder Society page. This is mainly because the Open Call as it existed wasn’t working as intended and we were in the process of changing it. Well, that process is now complete, and aspiring authors and game designers can now find the revised guidelines on the Get Involved! page. ... In short, for the last few...
Open Call Revisited
Thursday, August 2, 2012
As some have noticed, when we launched the new Pathfinder Society Organized Play homepage here on paizo.com, we removed the Write for Pathfinder Society page. This is mainly because the Open Call as it existed wasn’t working as intended and we were in the process of changing it. Well, that process is now complete, and aspiring authors and game designers can now find the revised guidelines on the Get Involved! page.
In short, for the last few years, we’d been asking for brief adventure proposals for Pathfinder Society Scenarios, while at the same time increasing the amount of plotting that went into each successive season. The result of this was that even when we got an outline for an amazing adventure we wanted to publish, finding a way to fit it into the season’s metaplot or product schedule between other scenarios became untenable. Additionally, we found that asking for a few hundred words of prose didn’t give us a good sense of how an author would actually perform when tasked with writing encounters, designing stat blocks, and mapping, all of which are vital skills any freelancer needs to possess. The end result was that we weren’t getting submissions we could easily use, and the already difficult task of getting one’s foot in the door as one of Paizo’s writers became even more challenging for those submitting queries.
The solution we’ve now implemented is this: instead of asking for an adventure proposal, we’re now soliciting Pathfinder Society Quests—2,000-word mini-adventures containing one or two tiered encounters and using GameMastery Map Packs and Flip-Mat lines. This format allows authors to show us they have a grasp of the rules, can write an adventure on a small scale, and can tell a story using encounters as the primary mode of imparting plot and character to players and GMs. And, to top it all off, a submission we like is something we can immediately use with very little development. Whether we publish an accepted Quest on paizo.com, use it as a Pathfinder RPG demo at conventions or game stores, or promote the campaign by putting the adventure in another medium like Kobold Quarterly, authors whose work we like can get paid for their effort and see the fruits of their labor in print much faster.
You can now download our first Pathfinder Society Quest, the Tier 1–5 Ambush in Absalom (written last spring by yours truly). We’ll let everyone know when we have more available and where you can find them.
I look forward to seeing what great ideas the community has to offer!
... The Twelve-Hour Statueby Michael Kortes ... It was quite certain. Xaven's next step would kill him. ... The halfling tomb raider had been doing this long enough to know that he was standing on a pressure plate. In fact, Xaven had known of his predicament for over eleven hours now, a fact carefully measured by the notched candle to his left, now slowly burning down to a stump. During that time, he had been left to stand in as near perfect stillness as he could manage. A stretch, a sneeze,...
The Twelve-Hour Statue
by Michael Kortes
It was quite certain. Xaven's next step would kill him.
The halfling tomb raider had been doing this long enough to know that he was standing on a pressure plate. In fact, Xaven had known of his predicament for over eleven hours now, a fact carefully measured by the notched candle to his left, now slowly burning down to a stump. During that time, he had been left to stand in as near perfect stillness as he could manage. A stretch, a sneeze, a momentary lapse of concentration—one of these things would eventually kill him. Judging by the fatigue of his aching muscles, it would be sooner rather than later. Xaven had had plenty of time to contemplate the trap's mechanism. Indeed, he had experimented with a disarmed deathplate once before, a year prior. As soon as any portion of his weight came off the plate, the ceiling arches would collapse. And judging by the placement of those arches, a hundred feet of stone corridor would come down on top of him, cascading all the way back to the entrance.
Xaven blamed himself. If he had been a split-second sharper, he wouldn't be standing in the exact spot his long-dead killer had anticipated. Admittedly, he noted with twisted pride, a split second slower and he would already be dead. Yet that particular achievement was soon to be regrettably academic.
The issue now was what would happen when he finally hit the twelve-hour mark and the candle went out, plunging him into darkness. At that point, keeping his center of balance would become exponentially harder. The candle had been left by his fellow tomb raider, Hrokon—a half-orc who should have been back seven hours ago. The reality of the situation was quickly becoming clear: that either Hrokon wasn't coming back in time, or he wasn't coming back at all. Technically, it wouldn't really matter which was the case, but the former pointed to incompetence, while the later was betrayal. Xaven had already decided that if it was a betrayal, he owed the half-orc a serious pummeling in the afterlife.
And vengeance in the afterlife would be his only option for revenge. As a successful tomb robber, Xaven had enough gold stashed away to be revived. But with his body buried under a thousand tons of rubble, his corpse would never be retrieved. This life, his first, was going to be his last on Golarion after all. Perhaps Hrokon was off somewhere spending their revival funds right now. The damned half-orc was a lot smarter than he like to let on. Admittedly, if their situations were reversed, Xaven would also have given desertion some serious thought.
In any event, Xaven estimated he had less than a half-hour to go before the candle burned its last, at which point he would have a decision to make. He could either play it out until he inevitably slipped or fainted from exhaustion, or he could pick his moment, step off the plate, and welcome the rock shower in the last of the dying light. Presently, Xaven was leaning towards controlling his destiny and stepping off, but he still hadn't come up with a sufficiently clever line for his final words.
The fact that an appropriate zinger eluded him was, for Xaven, a strong argument that he wasn't meant to let things end just yet. The halfling considered whether the ordeal was driving him crazy. Then again, debatably Xaven had lost his sanity a long time ago. Anyone who robs the dead, fully knowing they leave traps of this nature, couldn't be quite right in the head.
Yet here he was. Forgotten temples had always been one of the halfling's most cherished targets, both for their relics and for their inevitable death traps—two items that, until about eleven and a half hours ago, had been among Xaven's favorite things.
A voice came from above: "Well, the ceiling is still here. Are you down there, little buddy?"
It was Hrokon, calling from above and ahead, near the temple's entrance. Xaven stilled himself, fighting the sudden rush of excitement. Every movement had to stay under control.
The powerful half-orc slid down the carved stone ladder from the temple's foyer to the arched corridor below. He loped toward Xaven, covering the hall's hundred-foot length with remarkable casualness. But then, he knew that Xaven had disabled all the traps in that section.
"Of course I'm still here, you idiot! What took you so long?"
"Aroden's nostrils! Your shopping list was long."
"Start by bringing the water! And hurry, I'm losing my light here."
"Coming up." Hrokon dug out a tiny folded-paper cup and filled it with water from his canteen. He moved slowly now, taking care to avoid coming close enough to touch the pressure plate. Xaven had made Hroken draw a wide circle around the plate with chalk before he left. "And I got more candles too."
"Good. Light 'em up." The halfling slowly accepted the cup and brought it to his lips to drink. Sensation began to return, first to his tongue and then to his throat. "We've gotta get you building the sled right away."
"Already done, Xaven. I had a smith put it together for us."
"What? You brought someone in?" Xaven almost snorted his precious water out of his nose. "What if he starts asking questions?!"
Hroken made that strange crackling sound that passed for his laugh. "You really want to concern yourself with that kind of detail right now?" He grinned and began lighting candles, waiting for them to heat up so he could drip their wax and secure them to the floor.
"No, I guess not," Xaven admitted after some thought. "But cut me some slack here. I've been playing statue for twelve hours!"
"Easy, little buddy. We'll get you out of here shortly." Hrokon cast his gaze up at the ceiling 20 feet above. "Now stay focused. You've come this far, I don't want you bringing the temple down on both of us.
Xaven steadied himself once more. "Right. Then go get the sled and lay out the rope. Are you sure you understand the layout?"
"Stop worrying about me for once. Just focus on your part." Hrokon lit the last of the candles. "I'll be right back."
Xaven concentrated on his breathing while he waited. With four new candles, both his world and his outlook were already brighter. Minutes later he could hear Hrokon steadily working away, uncoiling a pair of thin but hopefully sturdy ropes. Once Hrokon lit a dozen more candles to line the corridor's length, Xaven could see the ropes dangling from the top of the ladder at the mouth of the temple foyer down to the flagstones of the corridor he was trapped in. From there, Hrokon carefully laid rope all the way back to the edge of the chalk line. The half-orc then made a further trip topside, returning with his final item, a flat rectangular board with four wheels and a handle.
As he returned he asked, "I still don't see why the better plan isn't to just substitute a big rock for your weight on the deathplate."
"Believe me, I thought about it," answered Xaven, "But it won't work—that split second of too much or too little weight will set the scale off. It's a crazy risk."
Hrokon rolled his eyes. "And this plan of yours is much more sane."
Xaven ignored him, squinting his eyes as he appraised the sled. "Have the wheels been oiled like we talked about?"
"Of course."
"Spin 'em. Let me see."
Hrokon patiently spun each wheel for Xaven, one at a time. Xaven had to admit they looked pretty damned good—especially for a custom job made in the middle of the night. If this worked, Xaven would have to give a sizable tip to Hrokon's smith, and not just to shut him up.
"Nice work, Hrokon."
"Thanks."
"You know, for a minute or two there, I kinda thought maybe you weren't coming back for me. Maybe you just grabbed the altar chest and left."
Hrokon let loose with his crackle laugh once more. "Really? I'm hurt."
"Never crossed your mind?"
"Of course it did, but then I thought to myself: ‘how will I get to see if Xaven's idea might actually work?'"
"So you did think about deserting!"
"Xaven, do you think maybe we can tend to your insecurities after we get us out of this deathtrap?"
"Okay, okay. Let's go over the timing once more."
Hrokon repeated the final steps once more for Xaven as he pulled out a pair of manacles from his pack. He knew by now that the halfling trusted no one, even at the best of times. "When I hear the ‘ready,' I count to three. On three exactly, I whip the horse team and we race as fast as we possibly can. There's a bit of a downward slope from the entrance, actually, so we'll get a good start. You ready?"
"I've been ready for twelve hours," Xaven said, slowly holding out his left arm for the manacle.
"Good," said Hrokon, snapping one clasp around Xaven's wrist and then the other to the sled's metal handle. The key was left in the lock. "Now don't miss the sled with your jump off the plate or you'll lose your arm."
"My arm?" Xaven snorted. "Hrokon, if I miss the sled, the Pathfinders will be digging up my pulverized skeleton a hundred years from now."
The half-orc grinned. "Then don't miss it." He paused. "You've been still an awful long while, Xaven. Your muscles won't react quite like they should."
Xaven grit his teeth. "I won't miss. You just make sure the horses accelerate to a gallop right out of the gate. How many did you get?"
"Eight. I already told you, I got everything on the list. They're good ones too—Andoren breeds, mostly."
"Alright then, let's do this. Head topside and call me for the countdown when you're in position."
And then Xaven was alone again. He breathed and sweated in the newly bright corridor. That's all he had done for the last twelve hours, but apparently he still had more sweat to give. He hadn't told the half-orc how poor the odds were that his plan would actually work. If the ceiling came down all at once, it wouldn't matter how fast the horses were.
But if there was anything Xaven knew, it was how trapsmiths worked, and temple engineers always had a flair for the dramatic. The ceiling would come down in sections. If he could just stay ahead of each chunk, it was possible he could make it to the bottom of the ladder in time.
The half-orc's shout reverberated down the hall. "I'm in position. The horses are ready to run!"
Xaven used to really enjoy working with traps...
Xaven closed his eyes, then slowly opened them again. This was it. He sucked in a breath to respond, hoping his throat was up to it.
"Ready!" he called. "Go!"
At first he wasn't sure the half-orc heard him. Then he heard the count.
Xaven dove for the sled. If he was too early, he was dead. If he missed it, he was dead.
The sled shot forward as soon as Xaven crashed down on its wooden bed. He clawed for the handle with both hands and felt a tear in the sockets of his arms.
Pulled by the horse team above, the ropes connected to the sled had gone taut instantly, and the sled was now flying down the corridor. Rather than rolling across the ground as planned, it bounced off the flagstones. A half-moment later, Xaven's world became infinitely smaller as a cascade of granite blocks suddenly fell from the ceiling in massive chunks. The deadfalls exploded right behind him with a shock wave of deafening force.
Xaven's sled flipped over. The halfling hung on for his life. He was still flying forward, the stone floor scraping his back raw as he slid. As best he could determine, he was fractionally ahead of the falling rock. A split-second later he was enveloped by a cloud of dust, and could see nothing.
There was a huge crash as the sled smashed into the end of the hall, slamming straight into the ladder. At the same instant, the ceiling directly above Xaven came loose and began to fall apart above him. Even the walls gave way.
Still dragged by the unseen horse team, the battered sled shot upward toward the hole in the ceiling. The sudden torque wrenched Xaven's hands free from the handle, but the heavy manacles dragged him behind the sled like a rag doll. He flew up the shaft through a hail of falling rock.
Once the sled reached the now-disintegrating foyer, it changed direction for the second time, this time shooting out the temple entrance. With his right hand, Xaven flailed at his shackled wrist, catching the key in its lock long enough to turn it and release himself from the sled. He was vaguely aware that his left shoulder had dislocated and his muscle had torn. Worse, now free from the flying sled, Xaven came crashing down on the temple's outer steps, breaking what felt like every remaining bone in his body. Behind him, a geyser of dust exploded outward as the temple entrance collapsed into rubble. The dust enveloped him once more, filling his lungs and sending him into a fit of spasmodic coughing.
Somehow, Xaven didn't seem to mind. His inability to breathe was a testament to the fact that his lungs had not been crushed in the rockfall. He would hurt—for a very long time—but he would live. His coughs were part laughter.
Hrokon arrived a few minutes later, racing up the hill on foot.
"You alive, little buddy?"
Xaven's head was the only thing he could manage to turn toward the half-orc. "Where are the horses?"
"I'd say lost forever. Once we got a good clip, I jumped off of the wagon and let 'em go—didn't want my weight to slow it down."
Xaven smiled. "You jumped off a wagon pulled by galloping horses going down a hill? Not bad."
There was an awkward silence as Hrokon dug through his pack for his healer's kit. He wasn't much of a doctor. "You know, Xaven, one of these days you'll decide you can trust me."
Xaven lay on his back, looking up at the rising sun while his pain washed over him.
Hrokon had a point. If not for the big half-orc, Xaven would be dead. Since he wasn't, perhaps this was a fine time to start reevaluating some things. Sensing awkwardness, Hrokon changed the subject. He rummaged through his kit, producing the emergency potion. "Here, drink this. It should get you well enough for us to get back to Yanmass and find a decent healer. We just made a lot of noise—could be there's somebody around to hear it, in which case we'll want to be well away by the time they arrive. Tell me where you stashed that chest from that altar in the first room, and I'll get it loaded up. You work on getting that mud out of your lungs."
"Right." Xaven coughed, suddenly appreciating that their job was still far from over. "I hid it for us just over there before we went back inside." He motioned to a copse of pine and eucalyptus further down the slope, away from the shattered temple. "Under the blackened boulder."
"Good." Hrokon clapped Xaven on the shoulder and headed off to collect the spoils, leaving his kit with the halfling. Xaven, for his part, lay still, slowly flexing fingers and toes as the potion gradually brought feeling back to the numb and buzzing digits. He closed his eyes.
He was going to be okay. More than okay, in fact—he was going to be rich. From behind the trees, he could hear Hrokon loading the altar chest onto a horse. It was forward thinking on the half-orc's part to have brought an extra steed beyond the team Xaven requested. The half-orc really was smarter than anyone gave him credit for—including Xaven. He would make a worthy partner. And maybe, in time, a friend.
Xaven heard hoofbeats and rolled onto his side. Farther down the slope, Hrokon was riding away at full gallop, the altar chest strapped securely behind him on the saddle.
Xaven gave a choking laugh. "Smarter than anyone gave him credit for," indeed. Xaven had clearly taught the half-orc better than he'd thought. Yet thanks to Hrokon, Xaven was still alive. He'd even left the halfling his kit, which looked to have just enough food and water for him to make it back to civilization. Perhaps, all things considered, it was a fair trade.
Xaven lay his head back, closed his eyes, and listened to the retreating sounds of his partner.
Coming Next Week: A dapper gnome and a swashbuckling sample chapter of Robin D. Laws' upcoming Pathfinder Tales novel, Blood of the City!
Michael Kortes is the author of numerous Pathfinder adventures, including "A History of Ashes," "Entombed with the Pharaohs," "The Haunting of Harrowstone," and more. His previous Pathfinder fiction includes "The Burn Run" in Pathfinder #7, collected in The Compass Stone: The Collected Journals of Eando Kline.
Chris Carey, Chris Self, James Sutter (after casting blur), James Jacobs and Wes Schneider enjoy the fan-bought pizza feast that arrived for Erik Mona Day!
Superstar artists Eva Widermann, Wayne Reynolds, and Lydia Schuchmann pose at Gen Con UK!
