Gen Con 2013: News and Official Call for Volunteers
For Gen Con 2012, I advised last year that we planned to make it the biggest and best Gen Con yet. And it certainly was. We scheduled 750 tables of Pathfinder Society over the four days. We showed the world our GM 101 workshops, Kids' Track, and Beginner Box Introductions. Gen Con was definitely a success and Paizo's biggest showing in history. But we can make it better!
Gen Con 2013: News and Official Call for Volunteers
Monday, February 25, 2013
For Gen Con 2012, I advised last year that we planned to make it the biggest and best Gen Con yet. And it certainly was. We scheduled 750 tables of Pathfinder Society over the four days. We showed the world our GM 101 workshops, Kids' Track, and Beginner Box Introductions. Gen Con was definitely a success and Paizo's biggest showing in history. But we can make it better!
As many already know, Paizo stepped up as a cosponsor at this year's show. What does that mean for Pathfinder Society? It means we move into the Sagamore Ballroom! We double in size, scheduling 150 tables per slot. Additionally, we also have two of the seven rooms that were used for Pathfinder Society last year. One of them will be used exclusively for Paizo seminars. The other room will have 10 tables and a mini-HQ that will allow us to schedule five tables of Beginner Box Introductions and five tables of the Kids' Track for all ten slots of Gen Con. This year, we will also be hosting a GM and volunteer briefing in the Sagamore Ballroom from 5-6 pm on Wednesday. If you are a volunteer of GM, please try to attend.
Doubling in size allows us to offer a much broader selection of scenarios for players to choose from. I also wanted this to serve as a celebration of Pathfinder Society history and have chosen several multipart series, as well as favorites from past seasons, in addition to the normal offerings of the previous season and the new season. We are planning to schedule 61 different scenarios, one Gen Con Special, two Gen Con Exclusives, and two modules! These include seven Season 0 scenarios, nine Season 1 scenarios, 13 Season 2 scenarios, 10 Season 3 scenarios, 19 Season 4 scenarios, and four Season 5 scenarios. We are also offereing a few tables of We Be Goblins! and We Be Goblins Too! throughout the course of the convention.
We are planning one or two tables of the three new Season 5 scenarios for each morning and afternoon slot throughout the convention, which will be GMed in French and Spanish languages. Paris Venture-Captain Karim Majeri, Quebec Venture-Captain Michel Lepage, and French GM Florent Fournol will be traveling to Gen Con from their countries and GMing a large share of the French-language tables, but I still have a few open tables if you are fluent in French. Every French-language GM that volunteers to GM six or more tables will receive a French-language Core Rulebook as a thank you! All of the Spanish-language tables need GMs. If you are fluent in either language, please consider GMing in some of these first time offerings at Gen Con.
The Season 5 Gen Con special, Siege of the Diamond City, scheduled for Friday night, will help us kickoff the new season near the Worldwound! The Special this year will be designed for levels 1—15, and include subtiers for levels 12—13 and 14—15. At 150 tables, it will be one of the single largest, collaborative roleplaying games ever hosted!
The scenarios being scheduled for Gen Con are as follows:
Season 0
#1: Silent Tide (Tier 1—5)
#5: Mists of Mwangi (Tier 1—5)
#6: Black Waters (Tier 1—5)
#7: Among the Living (Tier 1—7)
#20: King Xeros of Old Azlant (Tier 7—11)
#22: Fingerprints of the Fiend (Tier 7—11)
#23: Tide of Morning (Tier 1—5)
Season 1
#1—33: Assault on the Kingdom of the Impossible (Tier 1—5)
#1—35: Voice in the Void (Tier 1—7)
#1—38: No Plunder, No Pay (Tier 7—11)
#1—39: The Citadel of Flame (Tier 1—5)
#1—40: Hall of Drunken Heroes (Tier 7—11)
#1—46: Eyes of the Ten, Part 1: Requiem for the Red Raven (Tier 12)
#1—49: Among the Dead (Tier 1—7)
#1—54: Eyes of theTen, Part 2: Maze of the Open Road (Tier 12)
#1—56: Jester's Fraud (Tier 5—9)
Season 2
#2—01: Before the Dawn, Part 1: The Bloodcove Disguise (Tier 1—7)
#2—02: Before the Dawn, Part 2: Rescue at Azlant Ridge (Tier 1—7)
#2—03: The Rebel's Ransom (Tier 5—9)
#2—05: Eyes of the Ten, Part 3: Red Revolution (Tier 12)
#2—06: The Heresy of Man, Part 1: The First Heresy (Tier 5—9)
#2—07: The Heresy of Man, Part 2: Where Dark Things Sleep (Tier 5—9)
#2—08: The Sarkorian Prophecy (Tier 7—11)
#2—09: The Heresy of Man, Part 3: Beneath Forgotten Sands (Tier 5—9)
#2—10: Fury of the Fiend (Tier 7—11)
#2—11: The Penumbral Accords (Tier 1—5)
#2—12: Below the Silver Tarn (Tier 7—11)
#2—22: Eyes of the Ten, Part 4: Nothing Ventures, Nothing Gained (Tier 12)
#2—25: You Only Die Twice (Tier 5—9)
Season 3
#3—05: Tide of Twilight (Tier 1—5)
#3—07: Echoes of the Overwatched (Tier 1—5)
#3—08: Among the Gods (Tier 3—7)
#3—10: The Immortal Conundrum (Tier 5—9)
#3—12: Wonders in the Weave, Part 1: The Dog Pharoah's Tomb (Tier 5—9)
#3—14: Wonders in the Weave, Part 2: Snakes in the Fold (Tier 5—9)
#3—15: The Haunting of Hinojai (Tier 5—9)
#3—18: The God's Market Gamble (Tier 1—5)
#3—20: Rats of Round Mountain, Part 1: The Sundered Path (Tier 7—11)
#3—22: Rats of Round Mountain, Part 2: Pagoda of the Rat (Tier 7—11)
Season 4
#4—EX: Day of the Demon (Tier 3—7)
#4—04: King of the Storval Stairs (Tier 7—11)
#4—05: The Sanos Abduction (Tier 3—7)
#4—07: Severing Ties (Tier 1—5)
#4—08: The Cultist's Kiss (Tier 7—11)
#4—10: Feasts of Sigils (Tier 7—11)
#4—11: The Disappeared (Tier 1—5)
#4—12: Refuge of Time (Tier 7—11)
#4—13: Fortress of the Nail (Tier 5—9)
#4—14: My Enemy's Enemy (Tier 3—7)
#4—17: Tower of the Ironwood Watch (Tier 5—9)
#4—18: The Veteran's Vault (Tier 1—5)
#4—19: The Night March of Kalkamedes (Tier 1—5)
#4—20: Words of the Ancient (Tier 7—11)
#4—22: Halls of Dwarven Lore (Tier 5—9)
#4—23: Rivalry's End (Tier 3—7)
#4—24: The Price of Friendship (Tier 5—9)
#4—25: The Secrets Stones Keep (Tier 5—9)
#4—26: The Waking Rune (Tier 7—11)
Season 5
#5—00: Siege of the Diamond City (Gen Con Special, Tier 1—15)
#5—01: Title TBD (Tier 1—5) (English, French, and Spanish language)
#5—02: Title TBD (Tier 3—7) (English, French, and Spanish language)
#5—03: Title TBD (Tier 5—9) (English, French, and Spanish language)
We will be offering two exclusives this year at Gen Con, one on Thursday night and one on Saturday night. On Thursday evening, we'll be running a particularly challenging (and lethal) Tier 3—7 scenario, the Ruins of Bonekeep, Level 1: The Silent Grave, written by Jason Bulhman, Lead Designer at Paizo Publishing. This is the first of a series of special events designed to test your character to its limits. It debuted at Winter Fantasy this past January and will make a few limited appearances throughout the spring and summer convention season leading up to Gen Con. On Saturday night, we will follow up Ruins of Bonekeep, Level 1 with Ruins of Bonekeep, Level 2, also written by Jason. It is also being designed for Tier 3—7 characters, and again, will be particularly challenging and lethal. Ruins of Bonekeep, Level 2 will make its debut at Gen Con. For both of the exclusives, the threat of character death is very real, but the potential rewards are greater as a result. You will be able to, as a table, decide to leave the event at any time should it become too deadly for you, except when engaged in combat. If this is not the type of event for you, please look for other options during Slots 3 and 9. We will only run each level one time at Gen Con so both will be limited, exclusive events. On a side note, we will have a few limited tables running all three of the new Season 5 scenarios if you would rather not participate in either of the exclusives.
Illustration by Michal Ivan
In regard to the Pathfinder RPG Beginner Box Introductions, we have two different offerings this year. During all 10 slots at Gen Con, we are setting aside five tables during each slot for these Beginner Box Introduction events. Both parts are scheduled with new players in mind. For Beginner Box Introductions, Part 1, it is the same as last year in that we will allow for the first 45—60 minutes to be an exploration of the contents of the Pathfinder RPG Beginner Box, explaining the rules, and reviewing the pregenerated characters. The final four hours of each slot will be playing through the four, one-hour adventures that were offered last year. For Beginner Box Introductions, Part 2, the GM will assist players in advancing their character to 3rd level. The Beginner Box Transitions, Player Pack, and GM Kit will be reviewed. Once those three free documents have been covered, we will be offering up five brand-new, one-hour adventures as time permits. Much like the four adventures in Part 1, these will be utilizing only the Beginner Box rules.
We'll also be expanding the Pathfinder Kids' Track this year! We will be setting aside five tables at each slot for all 10 slots of the convention. We are focusing on players aged 6—12 and we will be using the Pathfinder RPG Beginner Box for this as well. The Kids' Track is divided into two parts—the Beginner Track and the Advanced Track. Each kids' Beginner Track slot will be two hours long and each player will receive a check-off card, similar to what was used last year and at the Beginner Box Bash in 2011. The first hour of each of the 10 kids' Beginner Track sessions teaches roleplaying and rules, and reviews the pregenerated characters found in the Pathfinder RPG Beginner Box. During the second hour, one of the four, one-hour adventures used during the Beginner Box Bash will be played.
For the kids' Advanced Track, we are focusing on children who participated in last year's kids' Beginner Track, at a local kids' Beginner Track session near their home, or for older children that have prior experience with Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. The GM at each of the two-hour slots will help the children level-up their chosen character to third level. After leveling is complete, the GM will run one of five new adventures designed using the Beginner Box rules.
We will be running each of the nine different adventures multiple times throughout the convention to allow flexible scheduling for children and parents. We will be restricting tables to four children players and are requiring a parent or guardian be present with the child (or multiple children if two or more are interested in participating) for the entire two hours. The parent or guardian will assist the child when needed. We want to make this a good and memorable experience for the kids that attend Gen Con, who often find little they can participate in, especially with others their own age. We will be scheduling 30, two-hour tables per day on Thursday through Saturday, and 20, two-hour tables on Sunday, for the Kids' Track, divided between the Beginner Track and Advanced Track.
If a child plays all four different adventures in the Beginner Track, he will be able to present his check-off card to HQ and receive a special certificate that celebrates his accomplishments. If a child plays all five different adventures in the Advanced Track, she will be able to present her check-off card to HQ and receive a second, different special certificate. Each of the certificates has a different boon that can be applied to a new Pathfinder Society character if the child finishes both Kids' Tracks and wants to advance from the Beginner Box and participate in Pathfinder Society Organized Play. We may also have other giveaways or special prizes, such as dice and minaitures, similar to last year. I will be very picky when choosing volunteer GMs for the Kids' Track. I prefer to have school teachers and other professionals with experience dealing with children. I will consider GMs who are parents even if they do not deal with children regularly in their profession. If you are volunteering to GM the Kids' Track, please make sure to include all of your credentials. Also, since these are scheduled as two-hour blocks, a GM will be required to run two Kids' Track slots back to back in a four-hour block to count as 1 slot of credit toward GM rewards.
We are bringing back GM 101 in both of its parts—the breakout sessions and the Deck of Many Situations. In addition to GM 101, we will be showing off GM 201, which will debut at PaizoCon and build on the lessons learned from the GM 101 course. On a side note, the last draft I saw circulating around the office had 22 other seminars scheduled besides just the two GM classes!
Finally, I need volunteers who have experience with the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game (“Project Swallowtail”) playtest to run demos in the Dealer Hall next to Paizo's booth. You can volunteer to work one or two five-hour blocks each day from 9 AM to 6 PM (Sunday ends at 4 PM). Volunteering for any demo time will count toward your GM reward credit below.
Now, let's talk about the GMs and volunteers we need to pull all of the above off and make it the biggest and best Gen Con ever.
I need a minimum of 300 volunteer GMs for Pathfinder Society games, Beginner Box Introductions, Kids' Track events, GM 101 and 201, and Pathfinder Adventure Card Game demos. I'll continue taking volunteer GMs until the slots are filled, at which point I will create a waiting list in the event that a scheduled GM has to cancel their Gen Con trip for whatever reason. I also need a few Volunteer Assistants for each slot of the show. These folks will not GM during their volunteer slots, but will instead help me run Pathfinder Society HQ, including marshaling, collecting tickets, distributing GM packs, entering tracking sheets into the database, and they will be our go-to guys and gals for all things Pathfinder Society. Keep in mind these positions are very limited and likely to fill up in the first few hours after the blog goes live.
Below you will find the reward structure for volunteering at Gen Con 2013. Keep in mind that you're volunteering for slots, not a specific event. You can request a special event if you like, but it will not be guaranteed. Those who are able to spice up their event by adding 3D terrain, props that stand out, and the like will be given first consideration for specific events. I will let you know the slots and scenarios you have been assigned as soon as possible. You may designate what tier of scenarios you wish to GM but fulfilling this request is not guaranteed. I will, however, do the best I can to accommodate your requests. My target date to have all GMs their assigned schedules is April 19. This should allow you plenty of time to plan a schedule, before the May 19 event registration, with your friends and family who are also attending Gen Con 2013. Please let me know via email which days you will be at the convention and how many slots you are volunteering for at Gen Con 2013.
When you email me, I need you to include the following information in your email:
The email address that is tied to your Gen Con account.
The email address that is tied to your Paizo.com account.
I need to know if you have received the purple goblin Pathfinder Society volunteer shirts at a previous show. If not, I need to know what size you wear.
Volunteer Tiers and Rewards
Tier 1 GM Volunteers
Tier 1 GM volunteers are invaluable to making the show a success. Tier 1 GMs must select and volunteer for a MINIMUM of 8 slots. Tier 1 GMs may feel free to volunteer for more than 8 slots if they so desire. I only have room for 116 Tier 1 GM volunteers so don't delay in volunteering for this tier. Volunteers will be chosen on a first-come, first-served basis, though I reserve the right to select volunteers who have previously worked for Paizo over new volunteers. Please do not volunteer for Tier 1 if you have any doubts about being able to attend the show. Tier 1 GMs receive:
A FREE 4-day Gen Con 2013 badge
A FREE 1/4 of a hotel room in the Hyatt Regency Hotel
A $10 per slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after, including with your subscriptions
A FREE Mythic Adventures hardcover
Four FREE limited edition purple goblin Paizo Publishing Pathfinder Society Volunteer T-Shirts (if not previously received)
A special Pathfinder Society boon that gives you the option of choosing a one-time complete rebuild of any level character OR the choice to create a character from one of the following races: grippli, ifrit, oread, suli, sylph, undine, or vishkanya.
Tier 2 GM Volunteers
Tier 2 GMs must volunteer for a MINIMUM of 7 slots. I only have room for 44 Tier 2 GM volunteers so don't delay in volunteering for this tier—it fills up very quickly. Tier 2 GMs receive:
A FREE 4-day Gen Con 2013 badge
A FREE 1/4 of a hotel room in the Hyatt Regency Hotel
A $10 per slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after, including with your subscriptions
A FREE Mythic Adventures hardcover
Four FREE limited edition purple goblin Paizo Publishing Pathfinder Society Volunteer T-Shirts (if not previously received)
A special Pathfinder Society boon that gives you the option to create a character from one of the following races: ifrit, oread, suli, sylph, undine, or vishkanya.
Tier 3 GM Volunteers
While the rewards for volunteering for Tier 3 are smaller, the majority of my volunteers will come from this tier. Tier 3 GMs must volunteer for a MINIMUM of 6 slots. Tier 3 GMs receive:
A FREE 4-day Gen Con 2013 badge
A $10 per slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after, including with your subscriptions
A FREE Mythic Adventures hardcover
Four FREE limited edition purple goblin Paizo Publishing Pathfinder Society Volunteer T-Shirts (if not previously received)
A special Pathfinder Society boon that gives you the option to create a character from one of the following races: ifrit, oread, suli, sylph, or undine.
Tier 4 GM Volunteers
Tier 4 GMs must volunteer for a MINIMUM of 5 slots. Tier 4 GMs receive:
A FREE 4-day Gen Con 2013 badge
A $10 per slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after, including with your subscriptions
Four FREE limited edition purple goblin Paizo Publishing Pathfinder Society Volunteer T-Shirts (if not previously received)
A special Pathfinder Society boon that gives you the option to create a character from one of the following races: ifrit, oread, sylph, or undine.
Tier 5 GM Volunteers
This is the minimum volunteer level to receive shirts. Tier 5 GMs must volunteer for a MINIMUM of 4 slots. Tier 5 GMs receive:
A $10 per slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after, including with your subscriptions
Four FREE limited edition purple goblin Paizo Publishing Pathfinder Society Volunteer T-Shirts (if not previously received)
A special Pathfinder Society boon that gives you the option to create a character from one of the following races: ifrit, oread, sylph, or undine.
Volunteering for 1, 2, or 3 Slots
A $10 per slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after, including with your subscriptions
A special Pathfinder Society boon that gives you the choice to create a character from one of the following races: ifrit, oread, sylph, or undine.
When Volunteering...
Again, please be specific about what days and how many slots you are volunteering for. I will assign folks to slots and scenarios on an as-needed basis. I will update the needs in the thread below as I receive volunteers, so you may look there to remain up to date on where we still need help. You must have a gencon.com account and you must include your email address tied to your Gen Con account in your email or I won't be able to get you a badge (obviously this is only for volunteers who are volunteering for 5 or more slots). Include the email address tied to your Paizo.com account so I can make sure you receive the scenarios in your downloads. Finally, I need to know if you have received the purple goblin Pathfinder Society volunteer shirts in the past. If not, I need to know what size you need.
The time slots are as follows:
Slot 1: Thursday 8 AM to 1 PM Slot 2: Thursday 1 PM to 6 PM Slot 3: Thursday 7 PM to Midnight (Gen Con Exclusive #1 and three new Season 5 scenarios) Slot 4: Friday 8 AM to 1 PM Slot 5: Friday 1 PM to 6 PM Slot 6: Friday 7 PM to Midnight (Gen Con Special) Slot 7: Saturday 8 AM to 1 PM Slot 8: Saturday 1 PM to 6 PM Slot 9: Saturday 7 PM to Midnight (Gen Con Exclusive #2 and three new Season 5 scenarios) Slot 10: Sunday 9 AM to 2 PM
All Gen Con 2013 volunteers please email me at mike.brock@paizo.com with the following subject line: Gen Con Volunteer—Tier X (X being the tier you wish to volunteer for).
Thanks in advance for volunteering and have a great spring and summer convention season!
Mike Brock Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator
One of the nicest things about being a Paizo fan is getting inspired to create things from the world of Golarion, and before I was hired at Paizo, Hugo "Butterfrog" Solis and I hatched a mad crazy scheme to produce something for the hard-working Paizo staff—a fanzine, to capture that same sense of excitement when the latest Dragon and Dungeon magazine got into your hot little hands. Wayfinder has been called a love letter to Paizo, which is probably the best compliment I've ever gotten on anything I've ever helped come to fruition. It was always a real treat to see how happy Paizo staff are when reading new Golarion material that they didn't have a hand in making—now they were the ones waiting for spoilers and new ideas!
Find the Path with Wayfinder!
Thursday, February 20, 2013
One of the nicest things about being a Paizo fan is getting inspired to create things from the world of Golarion, and before I was hired at Paizo, Hugo "Butterfrog" Solis and I hatched a mad crazy scheme to produce something for the hard-working Paizo staff—a fanzine, to capture that same sense of excitement when the latest Dragon and Dungeon magazine got into your hot little hands. Wayfinder has been called a love letter to Paizo, which is probably the best compliment I've ever gotten on anything I've ever helped come to fruition. It was always a real treat to see how happy Paizo staff are when reading new Golarion material that they didn't have a hand in making—now they were the ones waiting for spoilers and new ideas!
But now the tables have turned, and now I'm the one eagerly awaiting Wayfinder to appear on my desk! With the eighth issue now available, I'm just as excited to read it as I was to help make the first four issues. But the very best part is that Wayfinder is completely FREE, and full of incredible art, maps, adventures, NPCs, new magic items, and original fiction from authors familiar and new! The latest issue of Wayfinder takes a nautical bent, with enough additional material for any coastal or seafaring campaign such as the Skull & Shackles Adventure Path, or anytime your game gets close to the water. It includes a short adventure (suitable for a side trek for some additional XP), new prestige classes like the Ulfen sea captain, new magic items like the grappling hook hand or peg-leg of stability, archetypes like the argonaut and marine, new material for kingdom-building rules from the Kingmaker Adventure Path, how to properly pay obeisance to Father Dagon, how to the run Curse of the Crimson Throne Adventure Path as an aquatic game...
Have I mentioned yet that this is all completely FREE, made by fans just like you, and all you gotta do is go download it?
If this free fan-produced material has whetted your appetite to craft some of your own, Wayfinder Editor-in-Chief Tim "Timitius" Nightengale has thrown down the gauntlet! He wants to see your submissions for Wayfinder #9, the theme of which is all about what dwells in the dark caverns beneath the surface—the Darklands! Made by fans for fans and with the same level of dedication and quality you would expect out of any professional publication, this is a challenge to strut your game design stuff with the next Wayfinder, which will debut at PaizoCon 2013! Check out the call for submissions here, and check out all eight issues of Wayfinder (and the Pathfinder Chronicler Anthology) here!
Goblins Burn, Goblins Fight, Goblins Wish You Happy Holiday Night!
One of my favorite things about the Paizo community is seeing the creativity of our fans. This year we are particularly lucky because two of our fans sent in holiday gifts that they had made themselves.
Goblins Burn, Goblins Fight, Goblins Wish You Happy Holiday Night!
Monday, December 24, 2012
One of my favorite things about the Paizo community is seeing the creativity of our fans. This year we are particularly lucky because two of our fans sent in holiday gifts that they had made themselves.
Becky Barnes (Corvidimus) made this little dude with a variety of natural woods (no stains) to get the different colors (red=padouk, yellow=yellowheart, green=poplar, teeth=aspen, white=maple, pink=lyptas).
From Becky: "We have such a fun time with Pathfinder, we wanted to give a token of appreciation." You may recognize Becky's name from her amazing Goblin pumpkin, which we featured on the blog a couple months ago.
Seeing this package with such an amazing piece of art was a very nice little surprise, and I certainly didn't expect to get another package a few weeks later from another Pathfinder fan filled with more goblin ornaments! This time adorable little crocheted goblins from Amanda Mickelson.
Plastic skull ring gives this cuddly little goblin some fancy bling.
Along with the goblins, Amanda also sent a fuzzy wuzzy Old One.
And she even made something especially for Developer Adam Daigle!
Amanda has graciously provided a PDF of the pattern as well as a little bit of backstory she wrote to complement the goblin ornaments.
Of course, I wasn't surprised to see such fantastic work from Amanda. Back in July at PaizoCon 2012, she showed up with an adorable little goblin for Wayne Reynolds, which, upon seeing, Paizo Art Director Sarah Robinson knew she needed to acquire more of for a special little someone.
Sarah's niece shows off her new friends.
Photo courtesy of Wayne Reynolds and his goblin Toofpaste.
The Pathfinder community (that's all you fine folks reading this!) continues to astonish me. You all are some of the nicest, most wonderful customers, fans and friends a company could ever hope for. In recognition of your awesomeness, we'd like to give you something special for the holidays and that's why right now, on the Store Blog you can find a special Holiday Discount code to use with one paizo.com order along with some great goblin holiday art from Tyler Walpole.
... Free Stuff on Our Website! Thursday, September 1, 2011 ... Check out our Community Use Package!So some of you may or may not know that we updated some parts of our Community Use Package the other day. Some of you may or may not know what that even means, which is a darn shame, since we put out some really cool, really free stuff that people don't even know about. In addition to the Player's Guides for each new Adventure Path we put out every six months, below is a list of some neato...
So some of you may or may not know that we updated some parts of our Community Use Package the other day. Some of you may or may not know what that even means, which is a darn shame, since we put out some really cool, really free stuff that people don't even know about. In addition to the Player's Guides for each new Adventure Path we put out every six months, below is a list of some neato things that we put on our site that you can use for free under our Community Use Policy.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Reference Document
At Gen Con, I realized that a lot of people didn't know that you don't even need to buy most of our products to enjoy them, and that we put up all our rules on our own website for free. It's kind of this insane marketing scheme we have, where we like our customers so much that we give you all the rules you need to play our game for free, and it totally works. It's called the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Reference Document, and it's a giant archive of all our rules, so that you can play the game without even opening your book up. It's searchable, official, totally free, and updated often.
Community Use Package
The Community Use Package consist of files we provide freely on our website, including big ol' maps of our world, symbols to put on your own maps, character sheets, and other cool icons and logos to use as you may. We're pretty down with our fans using things we make to express their appreciation for our products, and you can use a lot of our campaign setting stuff for your own needs as long as you comply with our Community Use Policy.
Pathfinder Society Introductory Scenarios
Pathfinder Society Organized Play is getting pretty popular. We just kicked off Season 3 of Pathfinder Society a couple months ago, and to commemorate the event we released three free full-length scenarios to introduce new and veteran players alike to the exciting world of our organized play campaign! Scroll down to the bottom of the linked page here and check them out! In addition, you can get yourself a free copy of the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play on our website as well.
Free RPG Day
If you don't know about Free RPG Day already, you've been missing out. But that's okay! Because you can still download the products we release on these esteemed occasions on our website. Our last Free PRG Day product was the module We Be Goblins, which is an absolute blast, and in the past we've put out the much-acclaimed Master of the Fallen Fortress module and the Pathfinder RPG Bonus Bestiary, which includes plenty of baddies to throw at your players.
... Labor Day Convention Roundup Monday, August 29, 2011This past weekend was PAX Prime at the Seattle Convention Center, and we had a strong Pathfinder presence in rooms 202 & 203. But have no fear, Pathfinder Society faithful in other parts of the country (or locals who missed getting in on the sold-out show); here are a few conventions where you can participate in Pathfinder Society Organized Play over the holiday next weekend! ... Atlanta, GA: Dragon*Con 2011 September 2—5 ......
Labor Day Convention Roundup
Monday, August 29, 2011
This past weekend was PAX Prime at the Seattle Convention Center, and we had a strong Pathfinder presence in rooms 202 & 203. But have no fear, Pathfinder Society faithful in other parts of the country (or locals who missed getting in on the sold-out show); here are a few conventions where you can participate in Pathfinder Society Organized Play over the holiday next weekend!
Be sure to check Pathfinder Society Event Central frequently for more conventions, game days, and ongoing games offered in your area. If you're an event organizer who wants to make sure others hear about your convention or game store game, be sure to update your event so it appears on the calendar.
... Paizo's Coming to PAX Monday, August 22, 2011 As if our recent presence at Gen Con weren't enough for convention-goers seeking to get their Pathfinder fix, Paizo will have an organized play presence at PAX Prime for the first time ever this weekend. Among the game industry's largest conventions, PAX Prime is a great opportunity for a whole new population of gamers to try Pathfinder for the very first time! ... Players new to Pathfinder (and roleplaying games in general) will have a chance...
Paizo's Coming to PAX
Monday, August 22, 2011
As if our recent presence at Gen Con weren't enough for convention-goers seeking to get their Pathfinder fix, Paizo will have an organized play presence at PAX Prime for the first time ever this weekend. Among the game industry's largest conventions, PAX Prime is a great opportunity for a whole new population of gamers to try Pathfinder for the very first time!
Players new to Pathfinder (and roleplaying games in general) will have a chance to play five unique intro adventures to complete their PAXport card and earn a special Pathfinder Society boon. Those already involved in the Pathfinder Society Organized Play program can take part in any of five 1st-level scenarios being offered throughout the show.
Anyone who plays a PAXport demo or a full 5-hour scenario will get chances to win great prizes, including Pathfinder Tales novels, Pathfinder posters, a free adventure, and even a copy of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook!
If you're going to PAX, or know someone who is, make sure to stop by the Pathfinder rooms (202 & 203) with dice at the ready—there's adventure to be had. I'm looking forward to seeing many of you there!
... Illustration by Kekai Kotaki ... Pathfinder Fiction News and Podcast! Thursday, May 26, 2011It's always a good day when we get to announce the next Pathfinder Tales novel, but today is especially important for me, as today I get to announce the November release of Death's Heretic, the new Pathfinder Tales novel by—well, me! ... Death's Heretic is the story of Salim Ghadafar, a desert warrior forced against his will to work as an agent of Pharasma. When a powerful merchant in Thuvia...
Illustration by Kekai Kotaki
Pathfinder Fiction News and Podcast!
Thursday, May 26, 2011
It's always a good day when we get to announce the next Pathfinder Tales novel, but today is especially important for me, as today I get to announce the November release of Death's Heretic, the new Pathfinder Tales novel by—well, me!
Death's Heretic is the story of Salim Ghadafar, a desert warrior forced against his will to work as an agent of Pharasma. When a powerful merchant in Thuvia is assassinated on the eve of receiving the sun orchid elixir, an elixir capable of reversing aging, few people are surprised—after all, immortality is a risky business. Yet when the merchant's soul goes missing from Pharasma's Boneyard and a mysterious note offers to ransom the man's spirit back to his family in exchange for the elixir, it's time for the church of the death goddess to step in and find out who would dare steal from the Lady of Graves herself. With his unique skill set, Salim should be perfectly suited to the mission. There's only one problem: The investigation is being financed by the murdered aristocrat's daughter. And she wants to go with him.
Illustration by Lucas Graciano
Along with his uninvited passenger, Salim must unravel a web of intrigue that will lead them far from the blistering sands of Thuvia on a grand tour of the Outer Planes, where devils and angels rub shoulders with fey lords and mechanical men, and nothing is as it seems...
This book has been a long time in coming, and I'm obviously pretty excited to finally be able to talk about it. Yet rather than ramble on the blog (there'll be time for that closer to the release date), I'd like to direct you over to the brand new, all-Pathfinder-Tales episode of the Atomic Array podcast! In addition to talking with me about Death's Heretic and the line as a whole, Ed and Rone also interview Pathfinder Tales authors Dave Gross, Robin D. Laws, and Howard Andrew Jones. It's nearly two-hours of hard-hitting fiction questions and anecdotes regarding Pathfinder Tales, so check it out, and feel free to ask your own questions in the comments thread below!
Last but not least, we've also unveiled the final cover art for Master of Devils and Death's Heretic, painted by Lucas Graciano and Kekai Kotaki, respectively. That's all from the Pathfinder Tales front for now, but stay tuned next week for the beginning of an all-new story from Robin D. Laws as part of our free weekly web fiction!
Relief! Thursday, May 19, 2011We’re all still reeling from the big push to get our Gen Con releases out the door, but you know what never gets old? Signing books. ... You may remember that a while back we put up a bunch of autographed books (including the gold-foil Special Edition copies seen here) as an auction to try to raise money for tsunami relief efforts in Japan. Well, it turns out that the Paizo community members found it in their hearts to give most generously, and now we’re holding...
Relief!
Thursday, May 19, 2011
We’re all still reeling from the big push to get our Gen Con releases out the door, but you know what never gets old? Signing books.
You may remember that a while back we put up a bunch of autographed books (including the gold-foil Special Edition copies seen here) as an auction to try to raise money for tsunami relief efforts in Japan. Well, it turns out that the Paizo community members found it in their hearts to give most generously, and now we’re holding up our end of the bargain. Mr. Wayne Reynolds himself—on loan from England—was in here earlier this week signing copies, and as you can see, we’re busily collecting signatures from everyone else here at Paizo. (Pictured here is only the first wave of signatures from the editorial pit. By the time the rest of the company is done with it, it’ll be a game of its own just trying to figure out who’s who....)
... Official Call for Gen Con 2011 Volunteers! Friday, April 29, 2011 For Gen Con 2011, I need a minimum of 75 volunteer GMs and I'll keep taking volunteer GMs until the slots are filled! I also need 2 Volunteer Assistants for the show—these folks will not GM, but will instead help Liz Courts run Pathfinder Society HQ and will be our go-to guys and gals for all things Pathfinder Society. Below you will find the reward structure for volunteering at Gen Con 2011. Keep in mind that you're...
Official Call for Gen Con 2011 Volunteers!
Friday, April 29, 2011
For Gen Con 2011, I need a minimum of 75 volunteer GMs and I'll keep taking volunteer GMs until the slots are filled! I also need 2 Volunteer Assistants for the show—these folks will not GM, but will instead help Liz Courts run Pathfinder Society HQ and will be our go-to guys and gals for all things Pathfinder Society. Below you will find the reward structure for volunteering at Gen Con 2011. Keep in mind that you're volunteering for a slot, not a specific event. I'll assign people to events inside the slot they've volunteered for and I won't take requests.
Volunteer Tiers and Rewards
Volunteer Assistant: 2 needed, treated as a Tier 1 GM
Tier 1 GM Volunteers Tier 1 GM volunteers are my workhorses, everyday GMs. They are invaluable to making the show a success! Tier 1 GMs must select and volunteer for a MINIMUM of 8 slots. Tier 1 GMs may feel free to volunteer for more than 8 slots if they so desire. I only have room for 32 Tier 1 GM volunteers so don't delay in volunteering for this tier. Volunteers will be chosen on a first-come, first-served basis, though I reserve the right to select volunteers who have previously worked for Paizo over new volunteers. Please do not volunteer for Tier 1 if you have any doubts that you'll be able to attend the show. Tier 1 GMs receive:
A FREE 4-day Gen Con 2011 badge
A FREE 1/4 of a hotel room in a Downtown Indianapolis hotel
A $10-per-slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after, including with your subscriptions.
A FREE limited edition Paizo Publishing Gen Con 2011 T-Shirt
Tier 2 GM Volunteers: While the rewards for volunteering for this tier are smaller, the majority of my volunteers will come from Tier 2. Tier 2 GMs must volunteer for a MINIMUM of 4 slots. Tier 2 GMs receive:
A FREE 4-day Gen Con 2011 badge
A $10-per-slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after, including with your subscriptions.
A FREE limited edition Paizo Publishing Gen Con 2011 T-Shirt
Tier 3 GM Volunteers: This is the minimum volunteer level. Tier 3 GMs must volunteer for a MINIMUM of 2 slots. Tier 3 GMs receive:
A $10-per-slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after, including subscriptions.
A FREE limited edition Paizo Publishing Gen Con 2011 T-Shirt
Volunteering for One Slot
While we will gladly accept anyone who wants to run just one slot during the show, there are no rewards for doing so other than our thanks.
When Volunteering...
Please be specific about what slot you are volunteering for. I will assign folks to scenarios on an as-needed basis, so you really only need to tell me the slot(s) you're volunteering for (since I won't take requests). I will update the needs in the thread below as I receive volunteers, so you may look there to remain up to date on where we still need help. Lastly, you must have a gencon.com account and you must include your gencon.com account # in your email or I won't be able to get you a badge (obviously this is only for volunteers who are volunteering for 4 or more slots).
Slot 1: Thursday 8 A.M. to 1 P.M.
Slot 2: Thursday 1 P.M. to 6 P.M.
Slot 3: Thursday 7 P.M. to Midnight
Slot 4: Friday 8 A.M. to 1 P.M.
Slot 5: Friday 1 P.M. to 6 P.M.
Slot 6: Friday 7 P.M. to Midnight (PFS Special: Blood Under Absalom)
Slot 7: Saturday 8 A.M. to 1 P.M.
Slot 8: Saturday 1 P.M. to 6 P.M.
Slot 9: Saturday 7 P.M. to Midnight
Slot 10: Sunday 8 A.M. to 1 P.M.
All Gen Con 2010 volunteers please email me at hyrum.savage@paizo.com with the subject line Gen Con Volunteer.
Tell your friends! Tell your family! Tell everyone in your game group! We need volunteers!
Thanks in advance for volunteering, good luck, and have a great summer convention season!
Special Charity Event Ends Today! Thursday, April 7, 2011 ... Illustration by Wayne Reynolds I'd like to take a moment to remind folks about the Japan Quake and Tsunami Relief Auction we started last week. For those of you that don't remember, last Thursday we announced that Paizo would be auctioning off the Wayne Reynolds original painting of Nakayama Hayato, the iconic samurai found in Ultimate Combat, our 256-page hardcover release for Gen Con 2011 and three copies each of a special...
Special Charity Event Ends Today!
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Illustration by Wayne Reynolds
I'd like to take a moment to remind folks about the Japan Quake and Tsunami Relief Auction we started last week. For those of you that don't remember, last Thursday we announced that Paizo would be auctioning off the Wayne Reynolds original painting of Nakayama Hayato, the iconic samurai found in Ultimate Combat, our 256-page hardcover release for Gen Con 2011 and three copies each of a special edition of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook and Pathfinder RPG Bestiary. There are only a few hours left in these auctions so please visit the Paizo eBay storefront before 10 a.m. PDT to take part in this special charity event!
Meet the Iconics: Hayato Wednesday, March 30th, 2011Honor is strength. It is a maxim that Nakayama Hayato has known since birth, and one whose barbs he still feels deep in his flesh. Yet Hayato also knows a deeper truth: that just as a sword must bend to avoid breaking, so too must honor. And the more rigid the steel, the easier it shatters. ... Illustration by Wayne Reynolds Hayato was born a retainer on the estate of Lord Nakayama Hitoshi, just a few days' ride from the great city of Oda in...
Meet the Iconics: Hayato
Wednesday, March 30th, 2011
Honor is strength. It is a maxim that Nakayama Hayato has known since birth, and one whose barbs he still feels deep in his flesh. Yet Hayato also knows a deeper truth: that just as a sword must bend to avoid breaking, so too must honor. And the more rigid the steel, the easier it shatters.
Illustration by Wayne Reynolds
Hayato was born a retainer on the estate of Lord Nakayama Hitoshi, just a few days' ride from the great city of Oda in Minkai. The son of the chief falconer and his wife, Hayato—whose name means "falcon"—quickly proved just as proficient with the dangerous birds as his father, emulating their proud and fierce natures.
It was while accompanying his father on one of Lord Nakayama's hawking outings that he first came to the lord's attention. At eight years old, Hayato was assigned the honor of being the personal attendant to the lord's son, Masao, assisting the privileged child with his falcon. All went well until the noble son, still new to the sport, mishandled his bird and nearly lost an eye for his trouble. The furious lordling prepared to kill the falcon then and there, but Hayato interceded, explaining the boy's error. Enraged even further, Masao began beating Hayato, drawing the attention of the rest of the hunting party. Though Hayato bowed low and accepted the savage blows of his master, he neither cried out nor begged for mercy. When Masao finally tired, Lord Nakayama himself addressed the bloody servant child, asking him why he had been so bold as to correct his superior. Without faltering, Hayato bowed to the lord and said simply, "Because it was the truth."
From that point on, Lord Nakayama took the young Hayato under his wing, frequently assigning him duties within the manor house, engaging him as a companion for his son, and seeing to his education in matters both martial and intellectual. In time, Hayato grew to become a powerful warrior, rising to the position of head samurai of the Nakayama holdings. When Masao died in a drunken duel at the age of twenty, thus depriving Lord Nakayama of an official heir, the bereaved lord began to look more and more to Hayato as a son, even allowing him to take the family name.
Yet Masao's death was only the beginning of the Nakayama family's misfortune. It was shortly after this episode that the Nakayama estate was visited by Kaneka Yoshiro, a traveling lord and government official with a position high in the Imperial Court. With considerably more prestige and official sway than Nakayama, Kaneka was received with full honors—yet it quickly became apparent that the guest was interested in more than just hospitality. Within a few days, Kaneka's cunning insults, lewd advances toward Nakayama's wife, and barely concealed challenges to Nakayama himself left Hayato's lord with no choice. Honor forbade him from allowing the slights to stand unanswered, yet challenging a governmental superior was as good as a death sentence.
In the end, honor won out, just as Kaneka knew it would. Nakayama challenged Kaneka to a duel, and was quickly slain by the talented swordsman. In recompense for the "insult" Kaneka had suffered, the Imperial Court allotted all the Nakayama holdings to Kaneka. Nakayama's widow, faced with the prospect of a dishonored existence among peasants, had no choice but to accept Kaneka's proposal of marriage if she wanted to retain her position.
Though the Nakayama samurai were bound by direct order of the court to honor their new arrangement—and plied with substantial gifts by their new master—Hayato saw the theft for what it was. Several nights later, having watched Kaneka's celebrating guards drink themselves into unconsciousness, Hayato crept into his former master's bedchamber and confronted the usurper even as he lay sleeping with his new wife. Though Kaneka screamed for his retainers, in the end it became clear that his only option was to fight. Taking up the sword that Hayato tossed onto the bed, Kaneka did everything he could to kill the samurai quickly, yet Hayato would not be denied his revenge. At last, bleeding from several terrible wounds, Hayato succeeded in getting past the noble's guard, ending his short-lived dominion over the Nakayama estate in a fine spray of blood.
As Kaneka fell to the floor, pink froth spilling from his lips, Hayato dropped his sword and knelt beside it. Knowing that to attack any lord in this manner—let alone the man the government considered his rightful master—would bring sure execution, he drew his tanto and prepared to die with his honor intact.
A hand on his shoulder stayed his blade. When Hayato looked up, he beheld Lady Nakayama—now Lady Kaneka—in her dressing gown, its yellow silk stained with the blood of her most recent husband. With tears in her eyes, she thanked Hayato for avenging Lord Nakayama and returning the estate to her control. Yet with her next breath, she condemned him forever. Taking his hand in her own—an undreamed-of show of affection and familiarity—the noblewoman forbade Hayato from taking his own life. Instead, she snuck him out of the manor and into a carriage bound for Oda, with only a string of coins, his armor, and a command to live as best he could. When the morning sun rose, it found Hayato on a caravan traveling north, bound for the icy reaches of the Crown of the World and from there on to the mysterious lands of the Inner Sea.
Now in his mid-thirties, Hayato is a hard man who keeps to himself. Though he has long since learned to speak Taldane, he remains terse by nature, feeling that everyone in his new home speaks too much but says too little. He operates as a fearless and talented mercenary—or ronin, as he terms it—for those whose cause seem righteous, yet refuses to bow to anyone regardless of status, saying only that he has had his fill of masters. Hayato is loyal to those few friends who can get past his stone-faced demeanor, yet remains secretly tortured by his conflicting senses of honor. To continue living as a masterless samurai—let alone one who has committed a great crime—is shameful, yet to deny Lady Nakayama's command would be equally shameful. With no clear answer, Hayato has temporarily shelved the problem. Yet deep in his heart, he harbors a secret hope: that perhaps one day he might raise an army of champions and take it back over the Crown of the World, rooting out the corrupt politicians of his homeland and restoring the honor of himself, his adopted family, and the samurai code he was born to uphold.
James Sutter
Fiction Editor
NOTE: Artist Wayne Reynolds and Paizo Publishing will be auctioning off the original art for Hayato, with all auction proceeds being donated to the Red Cross to help Japan recover from the earthquake and tsunami—check this blog tomorrow for details on how you can help!
Stop flyting, you two! Friday, March 18, 2011 As you may recall, last month Pathfinder fiction author Kevin Andrew Murphy temporarily lost his mind and wrote us a full heroic crown of sonnets featuring 15 of our iconic characters, then sent it to us as a Valentine's Day present. We posted it on the blog, and folks seemed to enjoy it. Perhaps too much. ... Never one to back away from a challenge, Kevin has now written another poem dealing with the Pathfinder iconics and posted it on the...
Stop flyting, you two!
Friday, March 18, 2011
As you may recall, last month Pathfinder fiction author Kevin Andrew Murphy temporarily lost his mind and wrote us a full heroic crown of sonnets featuring 15 of our iconic characters, then sent it to us as a Valentine's Day present. We posted it on the blog, and folks seemed to enjoy it. Perhaps too much.
Never one to back away from a challenge, Kevin has now written another poem dealing with the Pathfinder iconics and posted it on the messageboards, this time in honor of St. Patrick's Day. The poem—made up of linked limericks—is of a tradition known as "flyting," a very old practice in which two parties exchange over-the-top and often lewd insults in verse. (Think of it as a medieval rap battle.) In this case, the two competitors are Alain and Lem—apparently, nobody told the cavalier that it's unwise to take on a bard in an insult contest.
While things get a bit bawdier than we can post on the blog, those who don't mind a little crudity in their poetry may want to head over to the thread and read it for themselves. Having such a thriving fan fiction community is always fun and flattering, but this... well, this is definitely a new sort of animal!
Kudos to Kevin, and let us all hope they continue to offer internet access in his padded cell....
Iconic Love Monday, February 14, 2011For some of us, Valentine's Day is just another day. We go to work, come home, maybe hang out with our significant others a bit or send the kids off to the sitter for a rare night out. For other people, however, Valentine's Day carries more significance, and flat-out demands acknowledgement. They see it as an excuse to truly cut loose, to go all-out with the romance and treat it like a real holiday. ... And then, apparently, there's a third type of person:...
Iconic Love
Monday, February 14, 2011
For some of us, Valentine's Day is just another day. We go to work, come home, maybe hang out with our significant others a bit or send the kids off to the sitter for a rare night out. For other people, however, Valentine's Day carries more significance, and flat-out demands acknowledgement. They see it as an excuse to truly cut loose, to go all-out with the romance and treat it like a real holiday.
And then, apparently, there's a third type of person: the type for whom Valentine's Day means a chance to go totally insane. Such appears to be the case with Pathfinder Tales author Kevin Andrew Murphy. How else can you explain the fact that he chose the occasion to, without any prompting or warning, write us an entire heroic crown of sonnets immortalizing the iconic characters' backgrounds in prose. (For those of you who've forgotten your 400-level literature classes, a "heroic crown of sonnets" is a specialized form of poetry in which you have 14 sonnets, each linked by their first and last lines, plus a fifteenth which is made up exclusively of the previous sonnets' linking lines, in order. Needless to say, it's incredibly difficult to do well.)
I'd say more, but I'm still processing the whole thing, so I think it's better to just post the sonnets in their entirety. Happy Valentine's Day!
The Fifteen Loves of Golarion
A Heroic Crown of Sonnets for Valentine's Day 2011
by Kevin Andrew Murphy
1. Alain, the Cavalier, "For Love of Glory" I am the one who lives to tell the tale.
The victor is the braggart of his fame,
The first to know the glory of his name
But not the last. The bards now all regale
The common folk with ballads of my deeds,
The battles won by force of my prowess,
The ransomed kings who've bowed to my duress,
And Donahan, the noblest of steeds.
Sometimes I think he is my only friend.
The men I ride with? Those I can replace.
The maids I bed? Each just a pretty face.
Yet Donahan is mine till journey's end.
If he falls first, then part of me is dead.
I've said the words that needed to be said.
2. Alahazra, the Oracle, "For Love of Truth" I've said the words that needed to be said,
For Truth is blind, and I am blind in truth.
My clouded eyes see little but forsooth
My inner eye sees clearly. I have read
The fates of men with but the barest glance.
I know the future as I know the past,
Which seeds will sprout and which of them will last,
For Destiny leaves nothing up to Chance.
It was not Chance that burned me with its fire.
The simoom's breath is but the Wind of Fate
That claimed me with its Flame. I now relate
The Fate of Love, if that is your desire:
All present loves become in days ahead
Mementos kept in memory of the dead.
3. Seelah, the Paladin, "For Love of Those Now Gone" Mementos kept in memory of the dead,
Reminders of what nothing can restore.
The wingéd helm that dead Acemi wore
Now hides my face and my unworthy head.
I feel its weight: part guilt, part gift, part theft.
Part love. She saw and yet forgave her thief,
The child who stole her helm. Ergo, my grief.
Acemi is still dead and I am left.
I have no words to say in my defense.
I know my deeds. I must have faith in grace
So now I wear her helm and take her place.
What Iomedae learned: Inheritance,
A gift of trust from those you must not fail
Now silent in the realm beyond the pale.
4. Harsk, the Ranger, "For Love of Solitude" Now silent in the realm beyond the pale,
My brother lies–and those who took his life.
I ended theirs with crossbow quarrel and knife.
The giants dead, now I alone prevail.
My kin who dwell below with bended backs
To toil at the forge or in the mines,
Or worshiping our gods at dwarven shrines,
Have my regard, and yet my brother's axe
Is all I bear away from whence I hail.
A hunter's life is love of solitude.
A Spartan camp, a pot of tea fresh-brewed
Will keep him more alert than mugs of ale.
My quarry's tracks are runes left for the sage.
I know the letters written on this page.
5. Ezren, the Wizard, "For Love of Scholarship" I know the letters written on this page,
My father charged with some impiety
Against our god, some awful blasphemy
Too dire for words, and nothing can assuage
The gossips' tongues, for rumor needs no proof.
And Abadar? The merchant god cares not
Who prospers or who fails nor what is bought.
The Golden One stays in his Vault, aloof.
I spent my youth to clear my father's name,
In quest to save the business that he built,
But in the end I only proved his guilt.
Now scholarship's the only love I claim.
Yet law for arcane law can be exchanged.
Old orders sometimes must be rearranged.
6. Sajan, the Monk, "For Love of a Sister" "Old orders sometimes must be rearranged."
So said the monks when taking twin from twin.
My sister Sajni's gone. I should begin
Describing how we came to be estranged.
We were conceived. Our lives were intertwined
Like threads of web and woof strung on a loom,
So were our limbs locked in our mother's womb.
Though born as two, we're more when we're combined.
We trained with temple swords and so time passed
Till at twelve years we each were sent away
And battle woes lost her to Jalmeray.
I left, deserting all I knew, my caste,
To seek my sister. Far too far I've ranged.
I've changed some facts which never should be changed.
7. Damiel, the Alchemist, "For Love of Change" I've changed some facts which never should be changed
And yet that is the goal of alchemy:
Quicksilver shifting, mutability.
The philosophic art just seems deranged
To those too dull to grasp aetheric heights
Or dream of fixing one's perfected form,
Not living with the dull and banal norm.
You reach out when the stars are in your sights,
Yet what you grasp may be the fulgent dark
For nightmares ride as well between the stars.
Like Shelyn's smile can hide Zon-Kuthon's scars,
The bright quicksilver sea conceals a shark,
And from the left the villain steps onstage
To let men feel the battle fury's rage.
8. Amiri, the Barbarian, "For Love of Oneself" To let men feel the battle fury's rage,
The Six Bears tribesmen donned the skins of bears
They'd taken from our totems in their lairs.
Each boy was sent to do it at an age.
We girls were told to sit inside and spin,
Awaiting a barbarian's return.
This never was a name that women earn.
I brought a she-bear's hide back to my kin.
The time came that a warband of my clan
All dared me to bring back a giant's blade.
When I returned, they mocked me as a maid.
The blood rage came. I slew them to a man.
That bastard blade I bear with me. Beware
To taste the kiss of malice and despair.
9. Seltyiel, the Magus, "For Lack of Love" To taste the kiss of malice and despair,
One needn't know the touch of love or hope–
At very least, not of an equal scope–
And pain is seldom more than one can bear,
And when it is? Well, there is always death.
My mother died the moment I was born.
My sister's cries, those spared my life that morn.
I often think she should have saved her breath.
Sioria, oh how could you divine
The babe you saved would still be here alive
Or on a feast of wormwood one could thrive.
I'll kill your father once I first kill mine.
Foul Lairsaph was a fool to teach his spawn
To walk the road with weapons sheathed or drawn....
10. Valeros, the Fighter, "For Love of Adventure" To walk the road with weapons sheathed or drawn
Is how a sellsword passes most his days.
That much at least is truthful in bards' lays.
The rest? Well yes, there is a need for brawn–
The same goes for an ox that pulls a plow–
But when your sword-arm makes some villain yield,
That's better than some plowshare in a field.
At least it's more exciting anyhow.
One day I may retire to a farm,
Grow beans and beets or brew a bit of beer,
But now I love my freedom and I hear
A distant village sounding the alarm.
If there's adventure calling, I'll be gone
To greet the hope that rises with the dawn.
11. Kyra, the Cleric, "For Love of Hope" To greet the hope that rises with the dawn,
The Crown of Our Beloved Sarenrae
Who cast the Beast below to Asmodae,
Is how a priestess prays for I'm Her pawn.
Whate'er the Dawnflower wishes I will do.
When bandits burned my village and Her shrine,
That's when I saw the face of the divine.
Through streaming tears the sun shone and I knew
The Everlight had filled me with Her power
To heal the sick and ailing with Her light
And cleanse those past redemption of their blight
By scimitar, like Dawn's Eternal Flower.
One day I'll join my goddess in the air
To live a life of joy and forswear care.
12. Merisiel, the Rogue, "For Love of Freedom" To live a life of joy and forswear care
Is what I always felt the world should be.
See something that you like? Then take it. Free!
If you don't like your lot, then folk should share.
They call it thievery, who gives a fig?
My knives can teach their tongues to be polite,
And while some think I could be more contrite
It's not like they're not working the same gig.
This knife I got from some Azlanti queen.
This one? From Galt. Belonged to some coquette
And these? From Geb. But most I just forget.
I only care if I can keep them keen.
You make life up like some bard's folderol.
I sing the songs that rise up from my soul.
13. Seoni, the Sorcerer, "For Love of Magic" I sing the songs that rise up from my soul
And write the runes appearing in my dreams.
The ones I walk with talk about my "schemes,"
If schemes they are, or just an unknown goal.
I'd like to say I like just who I am,
Yet who can say just who they are? Not I.
Or what I am, or how I am, or why.
That statement just might be my epigram.
I only know when spells wish to be wrought,
The way they say that love pulls at the heart.
Just so I feel the call of arcane art.
It springs to mind like any other thought.
I'd work alone, but I lack that control
For love and friendship are what make one whole.
14. Lini, the Druid, "For Love of a True Companion" "For love and friendship are what make one whole."
So spake the norn who whispered in the wood.
She vanished but her fey advice is good
And with it I can talk to mouse or mole.
The purest love is love you get from beasts.
My friend Droogami taught me this is true.
It's something though that I already knew.
I never bought the nonsense from the priests
About the love of gods as the most pure.
Who can believe a love you never see?
My love is for the leopard next to me
And she for me and that's what shall endure.
She's great and strong where I am small and frail.
I am the one who lives to tell the tale.
15. Lem, the Bard, "For Love of Happy Endings" I am the one who lives to tell the tale.
I've said the words that needed to be said,
Mementos kept in memory of the dead
Now silent in the realm beyond the pale.
I know the letters written on this page.
Old orders sometimes must be rearranged.
I've changed some facts which never should be changed
To let men feel the battle fury's rage,
To taste the kiss of malice and despair,
To walk the road with weapons sheathed or drawn,
To greet the hope that rises with the dawn,
To live a life of joy and forswear care.
I sing the songs that rise up from my soul
For love and friendship are what make one whole.
... Pathfinder Society: News from the Field Monday, February 7, 2011As the days get longer and the snows begin to melt (okay, so maybe not the last part) word comes in from Pathfinder Society events throughout the world, proving that it takes only a month for our esteemed agents to recover from the inevitable lull of the holiday season to pick up adventure and exploration anew on the cusp of spring. ... Photography by Adam Daigle ... In Houston, Texas, nearly 30 tables of Pathfinder Society...
Pathfinder Society: News from the Field
Monday, February 7, 2011
As the days get longer and the snows begin to melt (okay, so maybe not the last part) word comes in from Pathfinder Society events throughout the world, proving that it takes only a month for our esteemed agents to recover from the inevitable lull of the holiday season to pick up adventure and exploration anew on the cusp of spring.
Photography by Adam Daigle
In Houston, Texas, nearly 30 tables of Pathfinder Society were played in the final weekend of January, including the Year of the Shadow Lodge multi-table special. Attendee and Pathfinder Society author Adam Daigle sent the following pictures to me over the weekend, showing that Team Cheliax was present in full force.
Cover illustration by Joe Wilson
That same weekend, on the other side of the pond, European Pathfinders were making their mark on Conception, one of Great Britain's largest gaming conventions. UK Venture-Captain Dave Harrison ran several tables of The Midnight Mauler, the Tier 1–7 scenario by Paizo's own Crystal Frasier available now only to 4-star GMs and Venture-Captains. Reports from players at the table are that this is a new favorite, so don't miss the chance to get in on this memorable event at your next local convention. Contact your nearest Venture-Captain to find out when The Midnight Mauler will be offered in your area!
Have a report from a recent convention or game day in which Pathfinder Society made a particularly large showing? Did any of your regional players create their own Pathfinder team regalia or did someone run a unique event or incentive? Stop by the Pathfinder Society Organized Play messageboards and let us know. Reporting back to the Decemvirate is one of every Pathfinder's duties, after all.
Room For Improvement Monday, January 3, 2011It's a brand new year, and if there's anything the turning of a year is good for—other than spending New Year's Eve partying while dressed like post-apocalyptic air pirates and biosculpted mutants, like Editor Judy and I did—it's taking stock of how far we've come, and how we might do better. ... While there's always plenty of room for personal improvement (and no, Wes, I don't need any suggestions on that front), here I'm really...
Room For Improvement
Monday, January 3, 2011
It's a brand new year, and if there's anything the turning of a year is good for—other than spending New Year's Eve partying while dressed like post-apocalyptic air pirates and biosculpted mutants, like Editor Judy and I did—it's taking stock of how far we've come, and how we might do better.
While there's always plenty of room for personal improvement (and no, Wes, I don't need any suggestions on that front), here I'm really thinking about Pathfinder Tales. In the last year—heck, in the last six months—we've come a long way, from just a dream of publishing Pathfinder-related novels to having two excellent books on the shelves, a third off at the printer, and a thriving line of free, serialized short stories and novellas available on the website every week. Not too shabby!
Yet we want more. Not just to publish more novels—because we will—or to find and woo more excellent authors to join our camp—because we are—but to assure both that the books continue to get better, and that they manage to make it into people's hands.
Which is where we turn to you. If you're reading this blog, odds are good that you're one of the hardcore Paizonians, the folks who post on the messageboards, play the games, and read the books. And we want to know what you think. Therefore, if you have a free minute—maybe the kids are down for a nap, or your boss just left for lunch—please post in the comments thread and answer a few Pathfinder Tales questions for us:
1) Is there anything you'd like to see more of or less of from the novels or web fiction?
2) What do you think would help new readers unfamiliar with Pathfinder pick up the novels if they ran across them randomly in a bookstore?
3) Which cover art do you like the best? Why?
4) Are there any fantasy-related book blogs or online communities that you think might enjoy Pathfinder Tales, if only we were to advertise/send review copies/etc?
5) Any other ideas for how we can get more books into readers' hands?
Thanks, and we look forward to hearing what you think!
Misfit Monsters Podcast Monday, December 13, 2010 ... A few weeks ago, I got the chance to speak with the folks at Know Direction, a monthly podcast devoted entirely to all things Pathfinder, brought to you by the folks from 3.5 Private Sanctuary and the Tome Show. We talked at great length about Misfit Monsters Redeemed (which I had the privilege of developing), as well as the Pathfinder Chronicler fanfiction contest and Paizo's recent hires from the Pathfinder community. If you're curious...
Misfit Monsters Podcast
Monday, December 13, 2010
A few weeks ago, I got the chance to speak with the folks at Know Direction, a monthly podcast devoted entirely to all things Pathfinder, brought to you by the folks from 3.5 Private Sanctuary and the Tome Show. We talked at great length about Misfit Monsters Redeemed (which I had the privilege of developing), as well as the Pathfinder Chronicler fanfiction contest and Paizo's recent hires from the Pathfinder community. If you're curious about what exactly went into Misfit Monsters, head on over to the episode's webpage to listen. (The interview takes up approximately the last quarter of the show.)
For the record: That high, goofy quality to my voice is just my cell phone. I sound way manlier in person, kind of like a young James Earl Jones. Just ask Wes! (On second thought, don't ask Wes.)
... Jason & Sean at Neoncon! Thursday, November 4, 2010This weekend designers Jason Bulmahn and Sean K Reynolds will be prowling the Las Vegas strip under the pretext of being guests at Neoncon. If you're planning on attending Neoncon, make sure you seek those guys out and say hi! If you have pseudo-celebrity paralysis, though, and need more of an icebreaker, I've included some suggestions along with their schedules below. And don't worry, while he looks scary, it's the other one you need to...
Jason & Sean at Neoncon!
Thursday, November 4, 2010
This weekend designers Jason Bulmahn and Sean K Reynolds will be prowling the Las Vegas strip under the pretext of being guests at Neoncon. If you're planning on attending Neoncon, make sure you seek those guys out and say "hi!" If you have pseudo-celebrity paralysis, though, and need more of an icebreaker, I've included some suggestions along with their schedules below. And don't worry, while he looks scary, it's the other one you need to worry about.
Jason Bulmahn's NeonCon Schedule
Friday
Friday, 10 a.m.: Game Designer 101
Friday, 11 a.m.: Pathfinder RPG Design Time
Friday, 2 p.m.: Designing Content for the Pathfinder RPG
Friday, 7 p.m.: Game Designer 101
Saturday
Saturday, 10 a.m.: Game Designer 101
Saturday, 11 a.m.: Pathfinder RPG Design Time
Saturday, 2 p.m.: Designing Content for the Pathfinder RPG
Sunday
Sunday, 10 a.m.: Game Designer 101
Sunday, 3 p.m.: Game Designer 101
Icebreakers:
I hear you're doing an early playtest of "Words of Power" from Ultimate Magic here at the show. What's the deal?
What happened to the kangaroo that used to be on your desk?
Why, Jason? Just why?
Sean K Reynolds's NeonCon Schedule
Friday
Friday 2 p.m.: Designing Content for the Pathfinder RPG
Friday 4 p.m.: Deities and Your Campaign World
Friday 6 p.m.: Miniatures Assembly 101
Friday 9 p.m.: Stories We Only Tell In Person
Saturday
Saturday 10:30 a.m.: Where Do You Get Your Ideas?
Saturday 2 p.m.: Designing Content for the Pathfinder RPG
Saturday 4 p.m.: Filing Off the Serial Numbers
Saturday 6:30 p.m.: Miniatures Painting 101
Plus crashing other seminars
Icebreakers
What's the coolest thing in Ultimate Magic that I don't know about?
Who's your favorite Pathfinder deity?
How's your weekly lunchtime painting group going?
I heard you're a scary germophobe. Is this true?
Why does your office look like you're moving... and then an earthquake happened... and then the apocalypse hit?
And the Winner Is... Monday, October 4, 2010Last month, it was my privilege to help announce the first-ever Pathfinder Chronicler fanfiction contest! In addition to encouraging everyone who's ever been tempted to write some Pathfinder-based fiction to enter the contest (or join up with the Pathfinder Chronicler and Wayfinder folks, who're rocking the fanfiction year-round), I was also honored to be brought in as the guest judge for the final round of the contest. After combing through almost...
And the Winner Is...
Monday, October 4, 2010
Last month, it was my privilege to help announce the first-ever Pathfinder Chronicler fanfiction contest! In addition to encouraging everyone who's ever been tempted to write some Pathfinder-based fiction to enter the contest (or join up with the Pathfinder Chronicler and Wayfinder folks, who're rocking the fanfiction year-round), I was also honored to be brought in as the guest judge for the final round of the contest. After combing through almost 70 submissions, the secret brain trust behind Pathfinder Chronicler and Wayfinder presented me with the five stories that they'd chosen as the best of the bunch and asked me to cast the deciding vote.
And you know what? They were all a lot of fun. I knew our community had talent, but I was really blown away by the quality of the submissions. Some were funny—the amorous gnome who collects "bad boy" adventurers, or the famous adventurer-chef of Absalom—while others were deadly serious. I had to sit down and give the issue serious thought, but in the end, it was clear how the dice fell.
The Winner: Neil Spicer for "Rain of Redemption," the story of an Abadarian priestess's loss—and renewal—of faith. Plus ghouls. Lots of ghouls. Neil will receive a $100 paizo.com gift certificate, courtesy of the Pathfinder Chronicler folks, as well as special publication in Wayfinder #4.
The Runners-Up: William Dodds for "A Feast to Remember," a riotous romp through the seedy side of Absalom's restaurant business, and Eric Morton for "Unrequited," the aforementioned story of Princess, a gnome who's eager to prove her unsolicited love for dashing adventurers—by any means necessary. Both will receive $50 gift certificates to paizo.com.
The Finalists: Todd Stewart for "Tea with the Laughing Fiend," a classic, "wake-up-in-Hell"-style nightmare from the man who brought you The Great Beyond, and Maggie Hoyt for "Enchained," a story of the intricacies of genie binding and family politics. All of the "Final Five" winners will be posted in perpetuity on the Pathfinder Chronicler website, along with many other fabulous submissions.
Special Mention: Last but not least, I'd like to throw out a special mention to Katherine Worley, who at thirteen years old produced a truly impressive story of gods, curses, and kobolds in the River Kingdoms. Though she didn't make it into the Final Five this time around, I hope that she—and everyone who participated—is extremely proud, and that you all keep writing.
Thanks to both the Chronicler and Wayfinder folks, and here's to a thriving fanfiction community!
Guest Blogger Blake Davis Announces Special PFS Event
... Guest Blogger Blake Davis Announces Special PFS Event Tuesday, September 28, 2010 ... Illustration by Andrew Hou ... The Year of the Shadow Lodge is coming to Redmond, WA! Clear your schedules, as you won't want to miss this unique Pathfinder Society event coming up this Saturday, October 2nd at the Redmond Games and Gizmos at noon. ... Year of the Shadow Lodge is a unique Pathfinder Society adventure in which multiple tables of Pathfinders work together throughout the mission....
Guest Blogger Blake Davis Announces Special PFS Event
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Illustration by Andrew Hou
The Year of the Shadow Lodge is coming to Redmond, WA! Clear your schedules, as you won't want to miss this unique Pathfinder Society event coming up this Saturday, October 2nd at the Redmond Games and Gizmos at noon.
Year of the Shadow Lodge is a unique Pathfinder Society adventure in which multiple tables of Pathfinders work together throughout the mission. Pathfinders from levels 1–11 are welcome to come join and share their skills to help fight an epic battle that threatens Absalom's Grand Lodge itself.
As a special treat, since Games and Gizmos is one of Paizo HQ's local game stores, several members of the Paizo staff will be present and participating in the event! Events Manager Joshua J. Frost will be dusting off his own PFS character to play alongside one lucky table, and Developer Mark Moreland will be GMing. Other Paizo VIPs may stop by to observe and mingle with fans and players as well!
Details for holding yourself a spot can be found in this thread in the Pathfinder Society messageboards. Players can show up on October 2nd and hope for a space, but signing up as indicated on that thread is recommended due to limited space and to ensure there are enough GMs.
The event is also still looking for a few GMs to lead their fellow gamers through the stunning adventure, and as with any PFS adventure, GMs can apply credit for the scenario to one of their own level-appropriate PCs.
... Battle in Kelmarane Friday, September 17, 2010I had the pleasure of meeting and running a game for Kyle and Nani Pratt at PaizoCon a few years back, and since then Facebook has brought me occasional awesome updates from their campaign. But when THIS showed up, it was too awesome not to repost here. Check it out, with the whole story by the mad geniuses behind what looks like an incredible campaign! ... (Forewarning to Legacy of Fire players, minor spoilers might follow.) ... F. Wesley...
Battle in Kelmarane
Friday, September 17, 2010
I had the pleasure of meeting and running a game for Kyle and Nani Pratt at PaizoCon a few years back, and since then Facebook has brought me occasional awesome updates from their campaign. But when THIS showed up, it was too awesome not to repost here. Check it out, with the whole story by the mad geniuses behind what looks like an incredible campaign!
(Forewarning to Legacy of Fire players, minor spoilers might follow.)
F. Wesley Schneider
Managing Editor
Nani and I actually took the inspiration from the battle market that someone else made a year ago from here. Originally we thought we were going to just make something exactly the same, but then when we noticed how good the map was, we thought we could blow it up properly to give a good "full immersion" for the market. So my wife Nani took the image into Photoshop, sharpened the image, and then increased the scale to 1 inch. When it was all said and done, we printed it out on ~30 8.5 x 11 pieces of paper and cemented it onto foam board. We had envisioned making the columns look better... but we sadly ran out of time before the game so we had to hurry with a makeshift styrofoam solution!
We really wanted to make our Legacy of Fire game have immersion and put us all into the feel of the game. It's what makes the Paizo products so great, so we're trying to go the extra mile with this one. All of our players were so surprised we had this game aid and thought it was wonderful. It really made everyone understand exactly what the market was like (and just how huge it is compared to the characters themselves. We actually already had the Ruined Crypt of Kelmarane made for after this, and decided we wanted to go the extra mile. I think our players are going to be really surprised at this one too. Hopefully World Works finishes up the Garden from the next AP in time!
The fight itself was completely memorable. Our entire party snuck in through the north entrance using Undrella's key. Our rogue, a goblin, scouted ahead in the guise as a member of the battle market, and ended up talking with both the gnolls in the guardroom and Hurvank. With some very good bluff checks he convinced the poor ogre that the gnolls had set him up to lose in his last bout with Haleen. Hurvank then went over to the gnolls in the guardroom imagining that each one was Haleen and started to strangle them all to death. The goblin quickly went over and pitoned the second door to the guard room, trapping the remaining guards inside, scaring and confusing the gnolls on the first floor. Meanwhile the rest of the party (who didn't know what was going on) heard an ogre running across the market yelling about how he was going to kill Haleen (all three of them). The character with the "Finding Haleen" trait went rushing in to attack the ogre... which caused the bugbears to join the fight against the PCs fighting the ogre. Meanwhile, the gnolls all were trying to kill the ogre and had no clue what was going on. After about 10 more rounds of confusion, the remaining gnolls/defenders on the upper terraces finally figured out what was going on and rushed to protect the remainder of the battle market. By this time, though, the damage was done and a large number of the forces were dead by ogre/bugbear/gnoll/PC hands.
Having the market made prior to this made the combat incredibly easy to run. Instead of just describing how far up the terraces were we just placed the gnolls and described how they were shooting down from above. It was a GREAT aid!
... Calling All Fanfic Authors! Tuesday, August 24, 2010We’ve mentioned it before, but in case you’ve forgotten, the Pathfinder Chronicler fanfiction contest is in full swing! There’s still plenty of time to enter, however, and the winner will still receive the grand prize of a $100 Paizo store gift certificate and publication in Wayfinder, with two runners-up receiving $50 Paizo gift certificates. You've got until September 12th to get your entry in, so why not use that 3-day weekend over...
Calling All Fanfic Authors!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
We’ve mentioned it before, but in case you’ve forgotten, the Pathfinder Chronicler fanfiction contest is in full swing! There’s still plenty of time to enter, however, and the winner will still receive the grand prize of a $100 Paizo store gift certificate and publication in Wayfinder, with two runners-up receiving $50 Paizo gift certificates. You've got until September 12th to get your entry in, so why not use that 3-day weekend over Labor Day to whip up a story and send it in? Contest details can be found here.
Why do I bring this up now? Well, in addition to offering a reminder while there's still time to get your submission in, the Pathfinder Chronicler folks were kind enough to interview me recently about judging the contest, writing advice, and all things Pathfinder fiction, so if you're feeling almost up to it but could use a little extra encouragement, hopefully some of my ramblings can be of use.
Vote on the Costume Contest! Thursday, August 12, 2010We’re back from Gen Con, and in addition to the usual scramble to meet deadlines and recovery from horrifying illnesses contracted by shaking hands with approximately ten bajillion people, that means it’s time for everyone to vote on the contestants in the Third Annual Gen Con Pathfinder Cosplay Contest! ... We had an extraordinary number of contestants this year, and all of them did bang-up jobs! Yet only one can be the official winner of...
Vote on the Costume Contest!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
We’re back from Gen Con, and in addition to the usual scramble to meet deadlines and recovery from horrifying illnesses contracted by shaking hands with approximately ten bajillion people, that means it’s time for everyone to vote on the contestants in the Third Annual Gen Con Pathfinder Cosplay Contest!
We had an extraordinary number of contestants this year, and all of them did bang-up jobs! Yet only one can be the official winner of the grand prize (both a pile of Paizo store credit and bragging rights), which is where you come in. At the bottom of this blog, you’ll see a link for comments. Sound off and place your vote for the best costume in that thread. You have until the end of the weekend to make your selection. On Monday morning, we’ll tally all the votes, and announce the official winner in a blog post next week.
Ready? Here are this year’s fine contestants, in no particular order:
Lora as Feiya, the iconic witch.
Jason as Damiel, the iconic alchemist.
2009 contest champion Kelly as Harsk, the iconic ranger. (Maybe he’s a little tall for a dwarf, but how can you say no to a hand-made crossbow and his adorable animal companion, Biter?)
Blake as Nethys.
David as a paladin of Iomedae.
Corienne as a Tien monk.
2008 contest champion Tiffany as the Harrower from the campaign setting hardcover. (You can’t see her wayfinder here, but it came with its own ioun stone!)
Noel as Trifaccia from Pathfinder Adventure Path #12. Look out, he's got a whip!
Honorable Mention: Jodi as Amiri, the iconic barbarian, who despite her amazing costume has removed herself from the running, on account of already being Sean Reynolds' girlfriend (and isn't that prize enough?).
Gen Con Costume Contest Reminder! Tuesday, July 27, 2010Just a quick reminder that this is your last chance to start getting things ready for the Third Annual Paizo Gen Con Costume Contest! For more details, you can always refer back to the official announcement, but the short version is that if you come by the booth during Gen Con wearing quality Pathfinder cosplay, you've got the chance to win both cash and cred from the Paizo staff. So bust out those sewing machines and start working! ......
Gen Con Costume Contest Reminder!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Just a quick reminder that this is your last chance to start getting things ready for the Third Annual Paizo Gen Con Costume Contest! For more details, you can always refer back to the official announcement, but the short version is that if you come by the booth during Gen Con wearing quality Pathfinder cosplay, you've got the chance to win both cash and cred from the Paizo staff. So bust out those sewing machines and start working!
Now, since no blog would be complete without art, here's Jenny Poussin as Seoni, her costume courtesy of Paizo messageboard regular Laithoron. It's unclear whether their powerhouse partnership will actually be competing this year, but at the very least they should give you some inspiration.
James L. Sutter
Fiction Editor
(And yes, you've seen this picture before—the question is, have you seen it enough?)
Pathfinder Chronicler Fiction Contest Tuesday, July 20, 2010For a long time, the most common question people asked me about Pathfinder fiction was, So when will we see novels? Now that we've finally answered that one definitively—in just a few weeks, with the release of Dave Gross's inaugural Pathfinder Tales novel Prince of Wolves—the most common question is, So how can I submit some Pathfinder fiction? On that front, there's good news and bad news. ... The bad news is that I...
Pathfinder Chronicler Fiction Contest
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
For a long time, the most common question people asked me about Pathfinder fiction was, "So when will we see novels?" Now that we've finally answered that one definitively—in just a few weeks, with the release of Dave Gross's inaugural Pathfinder Tales novel Prince of Wolves—the most common question is, "So how can I submit some Pathfinder fiction?" On that front, there's good news and bad news.
The bad news is that I have no idea. While I'd love to do an open call someday and review submissions in search of completely undiscovered authors, right now everyone around here is editing so hard they're bleeding from the retinas. So I might have to wait quite a while before I can open that particular can of worms.
The good news, however, is that you don't have to wait! As of late last week, the good folks over at Wayfinder and Pathfinder Chronicler have teamed up to bring you the first-ever Pathfinder Fan Fiction Contest. In addition to two runner-up prizes, the grand prize winner will receive one hundred dollars in Paizo gift certificates and have his or her story published in its entirety in Wayfinder and on Pathfinder Chronicler!
Here's how it works: Any author who hasn't been professionally published for their fiction (and if you aren't sure, you're probably eligible!) can submit a story of between 3000 and 4500 words, set in the Pathfinder campaign setting. The carefully selected judges from Wayfinder and Chronicler will narrow the submissions down to the top five stories, which will then be passed on to me. I'll review them blind (meaning without access to the authors' names), and judge the stories according to the same criteria I use when evaluating our professionally commissioned Pathfinder Tales stories. The winner and two runners-up will then be announced on October 1st.
Further details on the contest can be found at www.pathfinderchronicler.net. The contest opens to submissions August 15th, and closes September 12th. So what are you waiting for? Start dusting off those old story ideas or favorite game characters, and steel yourself for a literary battle royal! Many stories will enter, but only one will leave with the grand prize, carried out of the arena on the virtual shoulders of the Pathfinder community.
Pathfinder Society Regional Coordinators—Apply Now!
... Pathfinder Society Regional Coordinators—Apply Now! Friday, July 2, 2010At long last the time has come to open the doors to the wide world of Pathfinder Society Regional Coordinators. This plan has been a long time coming and thanks to years of player and GM feedback, I think we now have a plan in place to turn over some of the responsibilities for organizing and growing Pathfinder Society to local and regional volunteers, many of whom have already been doing so since the beginning....
Pathfinder Society Regional Coordinators—Apply Now!
Pathfinder Society Regional Coordinators—Apply Now!
Friday, July 2, 2010
At long last the time has come to open the doors to the wide world of Pathfinder Society Regional Coordinators. This plan has been a long time coming and thanks to years of player and GM feedback, I think we now have a plan in place to turn over some of the responsibilities for organizing and growing Pathfinder Society to local and regional volunteers, many of whom have already been doing so since the beginning.
A few fine-print notes before we get started:
1. The Pathfinder Society Organized Play Regional Coordinator is a volunteer position. Regional coordinators are not Paizo Publishing employees. They are not official representatives of the company. Applying for the volunteer position of regional coordinator means you acknowledge these restrictions.
2. A Pathfinder Society Organized Play Regional Coordinator must be willing and able to fulfill a list of monthly volunteer duties as noted below.
3. A Pathfinder Society Organized Play Regional Coordinator must always strive to act in a professional, positive, and outgoing manner when functioning in their capacity as volunteers for Paizo Publishing.
4. You must be 18 years of age or older and you must be willing to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) with Paizo Publishing.
Assuming you're still on board, here's the regional coordinator volunteer position in greater detail:
What is a Pathfinder Society Organized Play Regional Coordinator?
A regional coordinator is a local and regional organizer and point of contact for Paizo Publishing's worldwide organized play campaign, Pathfinder Society.
Regional Coordinator Volunteer Duties and Expectations
1. Organize a minimum of two Pathfinder Society Organized Play convention or game store appearances per month in your local or regional area of responsibility.
2. Attend PaizoCon or Gen Con and work for Paizo at one (or both) of those conventions annually. Non-USA regional coordinators will be expected to attend large local conventions to be named later.
3. Maintain and update monthly a full report of local game stores including contact information, manager's name, what Paizo products they carry, and whether or not they're running Pathfinder Society Organized Play events (with or without your assistance).
4. Build a positive rapport with all local game store managers and employees.
5. Provide the campaign coordinator with frequent feedback from game stores, volunteers, and players in your local area or region of responsibility.
6. Be a Paizo Publishing product expert. Familiarize yourself with all of our product lines and be comfortable talking about all of them.
7. Game Master a minimum of one Pathfinder Society Organized Play session per month.
9. Build and maintain monthly an email list of local volunteers.
10. To the best of your ability, ensure that all Pathfinder Society Organized Play sessions run in your local area or region of responsibility are reported and reported accurately.
11. Be the go-to contact for your local area or region of responsibility; assist local game days, game clubs, conventions, or any other such group wanting a Pathfinder Society Organized Play presence at their event.
12. Ensure that all Pathfinder Society Organized Play events in your local area or region of responsibility are entered into the event-finder at paizo.com/pathfindersociety.
Rewards for Pathfinder Society Organized Play Regional Coordinators
1. Free attendance at PaizoCon or Gen Con (or both), including free badges, a portion of a hotel room, booth vouchers, and possible product rewards. In order to receive the free attendance, the regional coordinator must arrange his or her own travel to and from show, must provide for his or her own food, and must volunteer for a minimum of eight slots at Gen Con and a minimum of four slots at PaizoCon.
2. Pathfinder Society Organized Play Regional Coordinator dinner at PaizoCon or Gen Con (or both).
3. Free PDFs of every new PDF product Paizo Publishing releases added to your My Downloads section on paizo.com.
4. Annual exclusive special scenario available to regional coordinators and 5-star GMs only for one year.
5. Messageboard tag in the Pathfinder Society messageboards: Pathfinder Society Regional Coordinator. (Note: this tag will trump all other tags while posting on the Pathfinder Society messageboards.)
6. Special exclusive events at PaizoCon and Gen Con.
Local and Regional Targets
As we begin our regional coordinator program, we are only seeking candidates for the following local and regional areas. If you do not live in one of these areas, please do not apply. As we grow, we plan to expand our regional coordinator program into more locations worldwide—so if you don't see your area on here yet, don't despair! We may be coming soon to a region near you.
USA:
Atlanta, GA
Raleigh, NC
Tampa, FL
New York City, NY
Columbus, OH
Indianapolis, IN
Chicago, IL
Detroit, MI
Milwaukee, WI
Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX
Austin, TX
Houston, TX
Denver, CO
Seattle, WA
San Francisco, CA
Los Angeles, CA
San Diego, CA
Phoenix, AZ
Las Vegas, NV
Cincinnati, OH
Knoxville, TN
Northern Virginia-Greater DC Area
Boston, MA
Minneapolis-St Paul, MN
Europe:
United Kingdom
Ireland
France
Belgium-Netherlands
Germany
Spain
Italy
Asia-Pacific:
Australia
How to Apply
Send an email to pathfindersociety@paizo.com with the subject Pathfinder Society Regional Coordinator. In this email, please attach a copy of your normal employment resume in .doc, .txt, or .rtf format that includes your employment history, job skills, education, and anything else that displays a history of professional employment. Please ensure that your resume includes your physical mailing address, full legal name, phone number, and email address.
Additionally, please include a separate document in .doc, .txt, or .rtf format that contains the following information:
1. Detail your involvement in Pathfinder Society Organized Play over the last two years.
2. Detail conventions, events, game days, clubs, and so on that you have organized and run.
3. Detail your roleplaying game history.
4. List how many stars you currently have on your Pathfinder Society Organized Play GM rating.
5. List your Pathfinder Society ID # and the email address associated with your paizo.com account (if different from your email address in your resume).
6. Detail any conventions, events, game days, clubs and so on that you plan to attend this year.
7. Finally, detail two ideas that you haven't seen Paizo try that, in your opinion, will help grow Pathfinder Society Organized Play in your local area or region.
While you do not have to be a member of Pathfinder Society Organized Play to apply for this volunteer position, preference will be given to those who display a solid history of involvement with the Society. I will update this paizo.com blog post frequently (and the associated discussion thread) as I fill positions.
Please make sure you follow all of the instructions above. I look forward to hearing from you!
... Pathfinder Society European Extravaganza! Friday, June 25, 2010 Next month I travel to Europe for a Pathfinder Society whistle-stop tour of several exciting events. I start with an event in Copenhagen on July 9, head down to Wiesbaden, Germany for an Ulisses-Spiele event on July 11, swing over to Utrecht and Leiden in the Netherlands for a pair of back-to-back events on July 13, skip down to the south of France in beautiful Lyon for a Black Book Editions event on July 15, and then make...
Pathfinder Society European Extravaganza!
Friday, June 25, 2010
Next month I travel to Europe for a Pathfinder Society whistle-stop tour of several exciting events. I start with an event in Copenhagen on July 9, head down to Wiesbaden, Germany for an Ulisses-Spiele event on July 11, swing over to Utrecht and Leiden in the Netherlands for a pair of back-to-back events on July 13, skip down to the south of France in beautiful Lyon for a Black Book Editions event on July 15, and then make my way north to Birmingham for a weekend of Paizo Con UK events from July 17 through July 18. Then, just when it's getting started, I wing my way back to Paizo on July 19.
Quite a trip—one that I'm very excited to embark on—but before I get down to the details of each stop, I'll give a little background on why Paizo is sending me through the European Union and the UK to participate in Society events.
When the Society first started, we knew we eventually wanted to build a dedicated network of volunteer coordinators—we call them Regional Coordinators. These folks would be our go-to men and women who could help organized local conventions, game days, and hobby store events as well as function as our core of volunteers at Paizo Con, Gen Con, Dragon Con, Paizo Con UK, Games Expo UK, Gen Con Australia... well, you get the idea. We are now ready to make a big deal about our coordinator system (watch for a blog post here next week), but before we can really get started I need to know where our largest communities in Europe are, and who among them are the most dedicated. I already had a good idea of who and where these folks were in the US, Australia, and Canada, but I had only a vague notion of our hardest-core European groups. Thus a trip was ordered, and now I head for Europe next month to participate in local events and talk to their organizers about possibly becoming a regional coordinator for their city or country.
Here are the details:
Copenhagen, Denmark—July 9, 2010 Address: Støberiet, Blågårds
Plads 3, 2100
København Ø
Time: Two slots, 12:00–17:00 and 18:00–23:00
Additional Details: You must email Henrik Garde to sign-up. This event is free.
Wiesbaden, Germany—July 11, 2010 Address: Nachilfeinstitut Faultier
Adolfsallee 59
65185 Wiesbaden
Tel: 0611-505870-7
Time: 10:00–18:00
Additional Details: This event will be held at the tutoring center "Faultier" ("lazybones"). There are a large number of single rooms so groups don't disturb one another and enough tables and chairs for larger groups. The center has a microwave and an electric water boiler for Tea and instant coffee free of charge. The station across the center covers all the other needs (bakery, McDonalds, Asia Snack and Mr Doener). A big thank you in advance to Michael W. and the team of the tutoring center for giving us the permission to use their facilities. Across from the tutoring center there is the department store called "Lilien-Care" with a parking deck where you can park your car for a fee of only EUR 3.00 for the whole day. Around the center there are several more parking areas too but we recommend that you use the parking deck. You can find free parking lots behind the Wiesbaden main station in the direction of the Schlachthof and behind the Motel One. Finally, we recommend that you come by public transit. The center is in only 2 minutes walking distance from the Wiesbaden main station and from the central bus station. This event is free.
Utrecht, Netherlands—July 13, 2010 Address: Labyrinth
Oudegracht 207
Utrecht
Time: 11:00–16:00 (the event might run later—I leave at 16:00)
Additional Details: This event is free.
Lyon, France—July 15, 2010 Address: Trollune
25 rue Sébastien Gryphe
69007 LYON
Time: Two slots, 14:00–19:00 and 20:00–01:00
Additional Details: This event is free.
Birmingham, United Kingdom—July 17–18, 2010 Address: Aston University Business School
Birmingham, UK
Time: Several gaming and panel slots on the 17th and 18th—see the Paizo Con UK website for details.
Additional Details: This event requires the purchase of an event badge. See the Paizo Con UK website for details.
If you live in Europe or plan to be there during my trip, stop by one of the events and say hello! I hope to see you all there!
... PaizoCon 2010 Event Schedule! Friday, May 14, 2010Howdy folks! ... Right now, on the PaizoCon 2010 page, you can view the official and final event schedule for Paizo's premier summer convention. Included are seminars, panels, game sessions run by the Paizo staff, and game sessions run by you. ... We will decide things much as we did last year—namely, with a lottery. The lottery opens on Monday, May 17 at 2:00 P.M. PDT, and you will have until Friday, May 21 at 2:00 P.M. PDT to make...
PaizoCon 2010 Event Schedule!
Friday, May 14, 2010
Howdy folks!
Right now, on the PaizoCon 2010 page, you can view the official and final event schedule for Paizo's premier summer convention. Included are seminars, panels, game sessions run by the Paizo staff, and game sessions run by you.
We will decide things much as we did last year—namely, with a lottery. The lottery opens on Monday, May 17 at 2:00 P.M. PDT, and you will have until Friday, May 21 at 2:00 P.M. PDT to make your choices. Instructions for how to make those choices will be included on the website, but we are doing something different this year that bears mentioning. This year's lottery will only include fan-run game sessions, staff-run game sessions, and limited-slot seminars. It will not include panels, some seminars, or any of the Pathfinder Society scenario slots. Once the lottery results are announced on May 24, the panels, seminars, and scenarios will open for general sign-ups on a first-come, first-served basis. As these things are not as limited on space (or limited at all, in some cases), we wanted you to get a first crack at those limited events through the lottery and then fill the rest of your schedule with Society scenarios, open seminars, and open panels.
Below is the full schedule for event registration for Paizo Con 2010.
Today:Event Schedule is live and ready for review. 5/17 2:00 P.M. PDT: Event selection for lottery begins. 5/21 2:00 P.M. PDT: Event selection for lottery closes. 5/24 2:00 P.M. PDT: Lottery results announced; general sign-ups and event ticket trading begin. 6/4 2:00 P.M. PDT: General sign-ups end. 6/11 2:00 P.M. PDT: Event ticket trading closes; tickets are now final. 6/18 9:00 A.M. PDT: PaizoCon 2010 registration opens at the Coast Bellevue Hotel. 6/18 12:00 P.M. PDT: PaizoCon 2010 begins!
Tim Hitchcock Is Insane Wednesday, May 12, 2010Here at Paizo, we understand that our fans, friends, and contributors (and the sizable cadre of folks who combine all three categories) are a little different than most companies' communities. It's not uncommon for Paizo fans to send us pizzas out of the blue as a thank-you gesture, or offer to buy us drinks when they run into us somewhere in the city. (Both of which initially confused us—you're giving us presents for selling you...
Tim Hitchcock Is Insane
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Here at Paizo, we understand that our fans, friends, and contributors (and the sizable cadre of folks who combine all three categories) are a little different than most companies' communities. It's not uncommon for Paizo fans to send us pizzas out of the blue as a thank-you gesture, or offer to buy us drinks when they run into us somewhere in the city. (Both of which initially confused us—you're giving us presents for selling you books?—but we aren't complaining.) We've seen a room full of Paizo trivia champions, Paizo cosplay, and a whole darn Paizo theater performance from an extremely talented grade school (and their supremely cool teacher). It's humbling and awesome at the same time.
Tim Hitchcock, however, may have just taken the cake, at least for me personally. You see, a while back, Tim and I were talking about music in the Tuesday-night Paizo Chat. Tim, a musician who retired from touring in order to become a teacher, was asking me about the bass rig I used in my metal and hardcore band, Shadow at Morning, and my opinions on distortion pedals. I said that I thought they were cool, but I'd never gotten around to picking one up.
"Why don't I build you one?" he asked. Apparently Mr. Hitchcock knows a thing or two about electronics.
I wasn't sure what to expect, but it's not every day somebody offers to build you custom gear. I said sure, and promptly forgot about it for about six months.
And then today, I got this in the mail: proof positive that Tim Hitchcock is totally insane, in the best possible sense of the word. (When I originally opened the package, the glowing light made Wes think Tim must have finally had enough and decided to send us a letter bomb.)
Photograph by Christopher Carey. Goblin illustration originally by Kyle Hunter.
Without question (at least until I get it home and plug it in), my favorite part is the little goblin that Tim etched into the steel of the faceplate. (And in case you're wondering, the goblin is referencing the classic Big Muff bass pedal, upon which Tim based the electronics.)
Though Shadow at Morning unfortunately disbanded a few weeks before the pedal's arrival, I'm already in the process of recording with a new project, and you can bet that when we're ready to hit the stage, Tim's phenomenal creation will be front and center...
Behold the Board! Friday, April 16, 2010 ... Photography by Chris Carey ... If you've been listening carefully in these blogs or the Tuesday Paizo chats, you may have heard us refer to the Board from time to time. The Board is the giant whiteboard where the entire editorial department records its priorities, status updates, deadlines, etc., and collectively attempts to slay the Gen Con dragon. ... This is not that board. ... Rest assured, you will see pictures of that board (complete with...
Behold the Board!
Friday, April 16, 2010
Photography by Chris Carey
If you've been listening carefully in these blogs or the Tuesday Paizo chats, you may have heard us refer to "the Board" from time to time. The Board is the giant whiteboard where the entire editorial department records its priorities, status updates, deadlines, etc., and collectively attempts to slay the Gen Con dragon.
This is not that board.
Rest assured, you will see pictures of that board (complete with Wes's fabulous Product Dragon) when it's time, but from now through May that board will likely remain a secret—the place Wes goes when he needs a good cry, or the rest of us go when we decide a few minutes of elevated heart rate and panic-sweating would be good for us. (It's like the gym, but cheaper!)
This, on the other hand, is a picture of the board in the Editorial Cube. While the Editorial Pit often refers to the entire editorial department, the Editorial Cube is where the dedicated editors sit, having forgone walls in our effort to achieve a more perfect editorial hive mind. (Not that the developers don't edit, of course, but if somebody's likely to start a knife fight over semicolon usage, they probably sit in the Cube.) This board represents our recent attempt to increase organization. You can determine for yourself whether or not we've been effective. And of course, you can rest easy knowing that all future subscription products will be Verne Approved™.
... Rummy-Tug-Tugger Contest Results! Friday, April 9, 2010 ... Illustration by Silvia Gonzalez ... So! After taking a week to make the agonizing choice, Rob McCreary has selected the winner of the Rummy-Tug-Tugger illustration contest! The winning illustration was done by Silvia Gonzalez; we’ll be autographing a copy of the NPC Guide and sending it out to Silvia as thanks for the great illustration! ... Illustration by Mikael SebagIllustration by Duane Lacher ... Actually, there were a lot...
Rummy-Tug-Tugger Contest Results!
Friday, April 9, 2010
Illustration by Silvia Gonzalez
So! After taking a week to make the agonizing choice, Rob McCreary has selected the winner of the Rummy-Tug-Tugger illustration contest! The winning illustration was done by Silvia Gonzalez; we’ll be autographing a copy of the NPC Guide and sending it out to Silvia as thanks for the great illustration!
Illustration by Mikael Sebag
Illustration by Duane Lacher
Actually, there were a lot of great illustrations. We took time last week to sit in the editorial pit and look them all over, and Rob had a tough time making the final choice. And so he wanted to show a few honorable mentions as well; one by Mikael Sebag (who sent in a super-rotund and kind of cute version) and another by Duane Lacher (who sent in a much scarier version). Thank you to everyone who participated in the contest; it was great seeing what you all came up with. And that makes me wonder... would folks like to see us do more art contests like this? Let us know in the comments to this post!
... Run an Event at Paizo Con 2010! Thursday, April 8, 2010 Are you attending PaizoCon 2010? (If not, tickets are still available!) If yes, have you visited this thread and volunteered to run an event at the show? What makes PaizoCon so great isn't just the interaction with the Paizo staff or the ability to play in a staff-run game, it's also the ability to sit and game with your fellow Paizo community members as well as run a game for your fellow community members! We're not beholden to a...
Run an Event at Paizo Con 2010!
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Are you attending PaizoCon 2010? (If not, tickets are still available!) If yes, have you visited this thread and volunteered to run an event at the show? What makes PaizoCon so great isn't just the interaction with the Paizo staff or the ability to play in a staff-run game, it's also the ability to sit and game with your fellow Paizo community members as well as run a game for your fellow community members! We're not beholden to a single system at PaizoCon. Want to run a Pathfinder RPG one-off? Great! How about a board game slot where you teach some folks your favorite board game ever? Also great! How about you playtest an upcoming scene in your home campaign with a willing audience? Perfect! There's no end to the ideas you could develop and run at PaizoCon 2010.
We're only taking event submissions until April 15, 2010 (a week from tomorrow). So visit the thread, tell Lilith and Timitius what you want to run (and follow their format) and we'll see you at PaizoCon this coming June!
... Introducing Rummy-Tum-Tugger! Monday, March 22, 2010Every other Thursday evening, I run my Shadow Under Sandpoint campaign for the editorial folks. I started the game several months ago for three reasons—as a team-building exercise, as a way for we editors to get more familiar with the game we created, and because it sounded fun. Several of the PCs from this campaign appear in the recently released NPC Guide, in fact... but not all of them. ... When Rob McCreary joined the Paizo...
Introducing Rummy-Tum-Tugger!
Monday, March 22, 2010
Every other Thursday evening, I run my "Shadow Under Sandpoint" campaign for the editorial folks. I started the game several months ago for three reasons—as a team-building exercise, as a way for we editors to get more familiar with the game we created, and because it sounded fun. Several of the PCs from this campaign appear in the recently released NPC Guide, in fact... but not all of them.
When Rob McCreary joined the Paizo editorial team, I invited him to join the game (which brought our total number of players up to a staggering total of nine!). After a false start with a half-orc (who soon left the party to seek fame and glory as our iconic inquisitor), Rob settled on a gnome summoner inspired by another of our new iconic characters. Yet unlike the iconic summoner, who has some sort of weird chicklizatrice type monster as an eidolon, Rob went for a different critter entirely.
His character is named Balazar, and his eidolon is named Rummy-Tum-Tugger (no relation to a certain similarly named feline superstar). When Rummy-Tum-Tugger first showed up, I asked Rob to describe him, but that didn't really help. It seems that every session, something new comes up and folks have to revise what they think Rummy-Tum-Tugger looks like. "Wait, his teeth shoot ice?" "Huh? He has six limbs?" "He's PURPLE?"
There's only one solution. A contest!
Break out your pencils, pens, paints, and Photoshops, because whoever draws Rob the best and most accurate depiction of Rummy-Tum-Tugger not only gets the satisfaction of helping my poor group of PCs visualize what their newest member actually looks like, but I'll sweeten the deal by sending that person a copy of the NPC Guide, signed by the entire Paizo editorial staff!
To enter, simply email your illustration to me at james.jacobs@paizo.com as a .jpg attachment by the end of the month—keep the file small (600 KB or less). Rob will then pick his favorite picture of them all and that'll be the winner, and we'll show it off in a blog post at the start of April.
And now, the details! Rummy-Tum-Tugger is a Medium-sized eidolon. He's got the quadruped base form, and looks vaguely like a purple badger with six legs, each leg tipped with scary sharp claws. His jaws are filled with BIG sharp teeth that are caked with even sharper razor-sharp ice. Oh, he also has a gore attack. Some sort of horns or spikes or something. Did I mention he's purple? He also wears an amulet of mighty fists. And he can talk. And he likes cheese, but since he's lactose intolerant poor Balazar has to constantly watch Rummy-Tum-Tugger's cheese intake.
Official Call for PaizoCon and Gen Con Volunteers!
... Official Call for PaizoCon and Gen Con Volunteers! Friday, March 19, 2010Hello! ... This is the official call for volunteer GMs and assistants to help Paizo Publishing run events at PaizoCon 2010 and Gen Con 2010. (If you're looking for the Origins Game Fair volunteer thread, click here.) ... Paizo Con 2010For Paizo Con 2010, I need a minimum of 20 volunteer GMs for Pathfinder Society Organized Play and I'll keep taking volunteers until the slots are full! Below you will find the reward...
Official Call for PaizoCon and Gen Con Volunteers!
Friday, March 19, 2010
Hello!
This is the official call for volunteer GMs and assistants to help Paizo Publishing run events at PaizoCon 2010 and Gen Con 2010. (If you're looking for the Origins Game Fair volunteer thread, click here.)
Paizo Con 2010
For Paizo Con 2010, I need a minimum of 20 volunteer GMs for Pathfinder Society Organized Play and I'll keep taking volunteers until the slots are full! Below you will find the reward structure for volunteering at PaizoCon 2010 as well as the events and slots for which I need volunteer GMs. I also need 2 volunteer assistants for the show—these folks will not GM, but will instead run Pathfinder Society HQ and will be my go-to guys and gals for all things Pathfinder Society. Volunteers must volunteer for a minimum of 2 slots and the volunteer assistants are volunteering to split time at HQ for the entire show. PaizoCon 2010 volunteer GMs and volunteer assistants receive the following:
(Volunteer GMs) A $10 per slot credit voucher for the Paizo sales area
(Volunteer Assistants) A $15 per slot credit voucher for the Paizo sales area
All PaizoCon 2010 volunteers can email me: josh@paizo.com with the subject line PaizoCon Volunteer. I can only take volunteers for Paizo Con who have purchased a badge to the show.
Keep in mind that you're volunteering for a slot, not a specific event. I'll assign people to events inside the slot they've volunteered for and I won't take requests.
For Gen Con 2010, I need a minimum of 50 volunteer GMs and I'll keep taking volunteer GMs until the slots are filled! I also need 3 Volunteer Assistants for the show—these folks will not GM, but will instead run Pathfinder Society HQ and will be my go-to guys and gals for all things Pathfinder Society. This year I'm also seeking 4 "booth volunteers." These folks must be highly knowledgeable about all of Paizo's products lines, must be well kept, clean, and professional, and must be able to stand and move for up to 6 hours at a time. Booth volunteers will work the Paizo booth sales floor, answer questions, and let Paizo employees know when product needs to be restocked. Booth volunteers will not work the register and will not have access to the back area of the booth. Below you will find the reward structure for volunteering at Gen Con 2010 as well as the events and slots for which I need volunteer GMs and booth volunteers.
Keep in mind that you're volunteering for a slot, not a specific event. I'll assign people to events inside the slot they've volunteered for and I won't take requests.
Volunteer Tiers and Rewards
Volunteer Assistant FULL! No more needed.
Booth Volunteers FULL! No more needed.
Tier 1 GM Volunteers
Tier 1 GM volunteers are my workhorse, every day GMs. They are invaluable to making the show a success! Tier 1 GMs must select and volunteer for a MINIMUM of 8 slots. Tier 1 GMs may feel free to volunteer for more than 8 slots if they so desire. I only have room for 24 Tier 1 GM volunteers so don't delay in volunteering for this tier. Volunteers will be chosen on a first-come, first-served basis, though I reserve the right to select volunteers who have previously worked for Paizo over new volunteers. Please do not volunteer for Tier 1 if you have any doubts that you won't be able to attend the show. Tier 1 GMs receive:
A FREE 4-day Gen Con 2010 badge
A FREE 1/4 of a hotel room in the Marriott Downtown Indianapolis
A $10 per slot voucher for the Paizo booth (to be used in the Paizo booth on Sunday only)
A FREE autographed copy of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Advanced Player's Guide hardcover at Gen Con
A FREE limited edition Paizo Publishing Gen Con 2010 T-Shirt
Tier 2 GM Volunteers
While the rewards for volunteering for this tier are smaller, the majority of my volunteers will come from Tier 2. Tier 2 GMs must volunteer for a MINIMUM of 4 slots. Tier 2 GMs receive:
A FREE 4-day Gen Con 2010 badge
A $10 per slot voucher for the Paizo booth
A FREE limited edition Paizo Publishing Gen Con 2010 T-Shirt
Tier 3 GM Volunteers
This is the minimum volunteer level. Tier 3 GMs must volunteer for a MINIMUM of 2 slots. Tier 3 GMs receive:
A $10 per slot voucher for the Paizo booth
A FREE limited edition Paizo Publishing Gen Con 2010 T-Shirt
Volunteering for One Slot
While we will gladly accept anyone who wants to run just one slot during the show, there are no rewards for doing so other than our thanks.
When Volunteering...
Please be specific about what slot you are volunteering for. I will assign folks to scenarios on an as-needed basis, so you really only need to tell me the slot(s) you're volunteering for (since I won't take requests). I will update the needs in the thread below as I receive volunteers, so you may look there to remain up to date on where we still need help. Lastly, you must have a gencon.com account and you must include your gencon.com account # in your email or I won't be able to get you a badge (obviously this is only for volunteers who are volunteering for 4 or more slots).
... Fan Made: Miniatures Thursday, January 28, 2010 ... Illustration by Crystal Frasier ... Cave raptors are sated; it's time to blog! ... As the new Reaper Pathfinder minis roll into (and just as quickly out of) the warehouse, it makes me appreciate how crafty Paizo fans can be. With all the miniatures, sets, props, and stage plays we've seen kitbashed together around here, it's easy for even the unstoppable Paizo warband to feel humbled. And of all these projects, miniatures occupy a...
Fan Made: Miniatures
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Illustration by Crystal Frasier
Cave raptors are sated; it's time to blog!
As the new Reaper Pathfinder minis roll into (and just as quickly out of) the warehouse, it makes me appreciate how crafty Paizo fans can be. With all the miniatures, sets, props, and stage plays we've seen kitbashed together around here, it's easy for even the unstoppable Paizo warband to feel humbled. And of all these projects, miniatures occupy a special place in most gamers' hearts. Something about having that 25mm scale representation of your character touches a special, squishy place in every geek's heart. My own collection of painted minis rivals even that of Czarina Catherine the Great (little known fact: Cat was gonzo for 1st Edition, and ran a game of Traveller every other Thursday), but EPA lead regulations and simple goblin humility prevent me from sharing them here.
To get you geared up for your brand new Pathfinder Reaper minis, here's a quick collection of links to help teach and inspire every crafty Paizo fan.
In the last few weeks, the Paizo messageboards have been buzzing with painting tips, tricks, and (most of all), examples. With active discussions and a welcoming group familiar with the Pathfinder line, this is your best place to get started and learn from a friendly group you might already know. Even the official Paizo Paintmeister, Sean K Reynolds contributes to the discussions and offers insider tips. If you don't need to pick up the basics, it never hurts to hobnob with fellow Paizonians, show off your work, bask in the admiration of the faceless masses, and know for just a brief moment how it feels to be a world-famous goblin blogger and production specialist. Also it facilitates that sense of community that makes Paizo fans the best of the best.
If you love the idea of having a tiny metal avatar of yourself, but don't know where to start, then one of the best places to learn is the Miniature Painting Guild. They feature several handy tutorials for all skills levels, as well as forums and a large gallery. My personal favorite: a catalog of "restored" miniatures, rescued from terrible paint jobs by the Guild's loyal members. And if you're simply one of the Paizonians with more time than money, the Miniature Painting Guild also offers professional paintings services on commission.
Once you're comfortable with the basics, Reaper Miniatures offers some of the best figures in the industry, covering hundreds of niches and character archetypes. Searching the Reaper catalog the old-fashioned way, while exciting, can take weeks, so be sure to try out their Figure Finder to pick out exactly the right miniature for your character needs. Or just browse through their Inspirational Gallery for ideas to customize your own painting work. Once you know what models you want, you can order most any of them here in the Paizo storefront and combine them with the latest Pathfinder supplements and GameMastery items you'll doubtless be using with them.
Of course, old-fashioned pewter miniatures are only the beginning: everything from repurposed game tokens and children's toys to your favorite illustrations can be turned into prime gaming minis with a little creativity and know-how. I've seen a man run a game with nothing but miniatures molded by his own, gnarled hands from Sculpy, and my great-grandmother ran tactical table wargames with an entire Napoleonic regiment made from the piled entrails of her fallen enemies. The smell was horrendous, but it gave her a certain psychological edge. As gamers, we share a lot of creative outlets, but few that are so easily appreciated and constantly in play as our minis. For some of us, minis were even that neat little gimmick that first got us into gaming. So lay your hands on some lead and show off your skills in the forums, and let us revel in this common facet of gaming culture. As the immortal Steve Martin put it: Let's get small.
... And We're Back! Monday, January 4, 2010Hey hey everybody! It's a brand new year and we're already back at it. We're elbows deep in the next volume of Kingmaker, the GameMastery Guide and Advanced Player's Guide are both coming together, the NPC Folio is nearing completion, we got new Pathfinder Society Scenarios up just before the new year, and a ton of other things we're not quite ready to show off yet are simmering away. It's nice to be back in the thick of things. ... But more than...
And We're Back!
Monday, January 4, 2010
Hey hey everybody! It's a brand new year and we're already back at it. We're elbows deep in the next volume of Kingmaker, the GameMastery Guide and Advanced Player's Guide are both coming together, the NPC Folio is nearing completion, we got new Pathfinder Society Scenarios up just before the new year, and a ton of other things we're not quite ready to show off yet are simmering away. It's nice to be back in the thick of things.
But more than anything, what's already floored me this year are our fantastic players and readers.
In regards to two bizarre personal items I, for some reason, prove especially particular: key chains and calendars. I suspect it's because these are things I have to look at every day, so I want things I'll more than just like. At the same time they're essentially personal accessories, so they should also reflect their owner's tastes and character. It's this kind of over thinking that typically means I have no keychain and often leads me to go for years without a physical calendar.
Not this year, though! I returned from my vacation to a package containing a flattering letter and a calendar from one of the players in my Bastardhall Playtest from PaizoCon '09. Aside from being a jaw-droppingly, spot-on, I-couldn't-have-done-better-myself calendar (full of awesome black-and-white moody photos of haunted real-world castles and sites), the fact that someone remembered and enjoyed that cobbled together playtest so much was a fantastic compliment. So much so, that it's energized me to set to work outlining Ustalav in much greater depth and prepping a new monthly Pathfinder campaign to carry on where my fantastic playtesters left off.
So thanks to Jason R. for the incredible New Year's gift (it's totally going on my office wall) and to everyone here on the boards who reads our stuff month after month and keeps us going not just with subscription dollars, but with endless support, enthusiasm, shared stories, well-considered feedback, and countless other surprises. Thanks again everybody and I can't wait to see what you all come up with in 2010!
... Dogslicer vs. Cantaloupe Tuesday, December 15, 2009James Jacobs came home from the Burnt Offerings play with his very own metal dogslicer prop. In the interest of science and general vengeance against hostile melons, we decided to test how effective this (unsharpened) dogslicer is. ... Behold, the innocent cantaloupe. It looks so happy! Behold, a hideous goblin. (Burnt Offerings goblin mask courtesy of Wes.) Chop! Midair chop! Dogslicer wins! Not bad for goblin craftsmanship! Sean K...
Dogslicer vs. Cantaloupe
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
James Jacobs came home from the Burnt Offerings play with his very own metal dogslicer prop. In the interest of science and general vengeance against hostile melons, we decided to test how effective this (unsharpened) dogslicer is.
Behold, the innocent cantaloupe. It looks so happy!
Behold, a hideous goblin. (Burnt Offerings goblin mask courtesy of Wes.)
... Da Vinci Arts Middle School ROCKS! Wednesday, November 25, 2009So, last Saturday was one of the most surreal days of my life. Not because I spent it all in Portland, Oregon. Not because I watched Jason Bulmahn eat a doughnut that was topped with bacon. Not because I spent an hour in an arcade filled with all the best videogaming the '80s had to offer. And not because I had a hard time finding Lovecraft books that I didn't already have at Powell's World of Books. ... What made it surreal...
Da Vinci Arts Middle School ROCKS!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
So, last Saturday was one of the most surreal days of my life. Not because I spent it all in Portland, Oregon. Not because I watched Jason Bulmahn eat a doughnut that was topped with bacon. Not because I spent an hour in an arcade filled with all the best videogaming the '80s had to offer. And not because I had a hard time finding Lovecraft books that I didn't already have at Powell's World of Books.
I'd seen photos of the set and costumes already, but I still wasn't sure what to expect. Three cars full of Paizo employees and significant others made the day-trip down to Portland, but while everyone else spent the day eating Voodoo Doughnuts and playing videogames and shopping for books and stuff, I couldn't stop wondering what that night's performance was going to be like.
In a word, it was INCREDIBLE!
From the stage dressing to the costumes to the props (real metal weapons!) to the special effects (they included the giant hermit crab!) to the acting (including songs!) to the directing, it was all jaw-droppingly amazing to see what director Tom Beckett created. Looking at the program, I see that there were almost 50 roles in the play—and at times, it felt like half of them were all on stage at once! One thing in particular that I was incredibly impressed by was how Tom's adaptation of the adventure kept a lot of the more mature elements in place—suitably downplayed in some areas, but I never really felt like anything was missing. In fact, some of Tom's additions to the story (giving Belor Hemlock a son who wants to become a hero, or adding a few Skinsaw cultists to the dungeons of Thistletop) were really cool, and I wish I'd thought of them to put into the adventure myself!
All in all, it was a fantastic time. We took a few photos after the play was over, and the smoke in the air from the special effects or maybe remnants of rain on the camera lens made the pictures a little spotty, alas, but you can see in the first one how many folks were waiting in line to see the play before it began (Note the table with gaming supplies for sale, including several Pathfinder products, that local game store Guardian Games set up in the hall!). And in the pictures of the cast posing with several of us from Paizo, see how many characters from the adventure you can recognize!
... Illustration by Hugo Solis and Michael Jaecks ... They'll Find a Way Tuesday, November 24, 2009Cave raptors are sated; it's time to blog! ... Better writers than I have pointed out that the best thing about working for Paizo is the fans, but it bears repeating: Paizo fans are awesome. And even though the work of a production goblin can be grueling (can you believe I have to be into work by 10 A.M. and only get two nap breaks?!), seeing some of the stuff our fans create just makes me want...
Illustration by Hugo Solis and Michael Jaecks
They'll Find a Way
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Cave raptors are sated; it's time to blog!
Better writers than I have pointed out that the best thing about working for Paizo is the fans, but it bears repeating: Paizo fans are awesome. And even though the work of a production goblin can be grueling (can you believe I have to be into work by 10 A.M. and only get two nap breaks?!), seeing some of the stuffour fanscreate just makes me want to worker harder.
One of the most mind-boggling of those creations is the Wayfinder, a free, fan-made magazine that was released for PaizoCon '09. The brainchild of Paizo superfans Liz Courts (Lilith), Tim Nightengale (Timitius), and Hugo Solis (Butterfrog), the Wayfinder was entirely written, illustrated, edited, and published by dedicated Paizo fans, and looked as professional as many other pricey gaming magazines. Getting my copy was one of the highlights of the con, and I know it made a lot of grown men giggle here in the Paizo offices. Which is why I'm waiting with bated breath for issue #2.
Liz announced the beginnings of issue #2 back in September and has been collecting holiday- and winter-themed articles, illustration, poetry, fiction, and recipes from Paizo fans ever since. Not only does this mean even more wonderful Golarion goodness for our fans, but most importantly: It's Golarion goodness that no one here at the office has had to work on, so we get to be excited about it, too!
Unlike Wayfinder #1, Wayfinder #2 will only be available in PDF form. Like Wayfinder #1, the second issue will be 100% free and available for download here at paizo.com. According to Liz, the goal is to start making the Wayfinder a regular, semi-annual feature, with print and electronic versions available for PaizoCon and an electronic-only version available around the holidays to bring some sunshine to your winter.
If you're a Pathfinder fan and you haven't downloaded the first issue of the Wayfinder, do it now! If you're a Pathfinder fan and you missed your chance to contribute to issues #1 and #2, don't fret. Just keep your eyes on the messageboards for updates and submission information for those issues yet to come. New blood keeps the game industry alive, and you never know where the next Karzoug might come from.
... Fans Make a Fan out of Me Monday, November 23, 2009Working in the RPG publishing business is a lot of work, but also a lot of fun. It's a joy to get paid to think about things like new oracle class abilities, which products to release in 2012, and what we should have artists like Wayne Reynolds paint for our next hardcover release, but in some ways working in the main office of the sausage factory can take the fun out of things, or at least lessen the surprise. ... New products are a...
Fans Make a Fan out of Me
Monday, November 23, 2009
Working in the RPG publishing business is a lot of work, but also a lot of fun. It's a joy to get paid to think about things like new oracle class abilities, which products to release in 2012, and what we should have artists like Wayne Reynolds paint for our next hardcover release, but in some ways working in the main office of the sausage factory can take the fun out of things, or at least lessen the surprise.
New products are a great example of this. Back in my fan days, I'd rush to the game store on a near-weekly basis, eagerly scanning the racks for the latest releases from my favorite publishing companies. Now that I effectively run my favorite publishing operation in the business, the frisson of excitement brought by a new product often isn't as strong as it once was.
By the time a "brand new" product hits my desk, for example, my mind is already several months ahead, working feverishly on the products almost on their way to the printer or dreaming up new products that won't be released for more than a year. In some sense, the actual arrival of a new product is the last step in a long process, not the first.
There are, of course, exceptions. Huge, incandescent exceptions that glow with the light of a hundred suns. Yeah, sure, by the time my adventure for Pathfinder #19: "Howl of the Carrion King" came out last spring, my personal connection to the adventure—writing it—was already more than 5 months in the past. I'd already proofed the adventure in galleys, I'd already signed off on the final PDF, I'd already moved on, more or less, to something else. Actually holding the printed product was just a physical expression of the end of a long process, and given mounting pressures related to products that hadn't come out yet, I barely even had time to stop and think about that before moving to the next emergency email or the next staff meeting.
But even if the actual thrill of getting a printed product is diminished, I always marvel when Paizo fans find a way to remind me how awesome this game and hobby really is, even if I've become somewhat jaded in my old age here in the tenth year of my RPG career. This happened recently upon a visit to the Paizo Twitter feed, where I encountered an image that brought the thundering excitement that was "Howl of the Carrion King" crashing back to the forefront. Paizo fan Snaggled posted some images of a 3D model of the Kelmarane Battle Market—the major tactical site of the adventure—created by his GM, Dave Dostaler. My chin has yet to come up from the floor since the moment I saw these images:
Photography by Todd Warnke
WOW! Thanks to Dave Dostaler, photographer Todd Warnke, and all of Dave's players for sharing their "Howl of the Carrion King" experience with me. It's moments like this—seeing what other creative gamers do to make the stuff we create even better—that returns the giddy excitement to those of us on this side of the GM Screen, and speaking as the publisher, I can't thank you guys enough for this type of thing. It really makes all of the hard work worthwhile!
Erik Mona
Publisher
PS: And if you'd like to make your own 3D "Howl of the Carrion King" terrain, don't forget to check out the Ruined Undercrypt of Kelmarane map kit from World Works Games, available right here on paizo.com!
... Happy Erik Mona Day (Observed)! Wednesday, November 11, 2009No one here at Paizo really understands the significance of the 8th of November, or how it came to be known as Erik Mona Day—especially not the pseudo holiday's namesake. But sure enough, like the semi-reliable working of a clock with too many numbers, on or about the 312th day of the year strange deliverymen track their way to Paizo's door with flatteringly inscrutable prizes. Typically, it's pizza—glorious free...
Happy Erik Mona Day (Observed)!
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
No one here at Paizo really understands the significance of the 8th of November, or how it came to be known as Erik Mona Day—especially not the pseudo holiday's namesake. But sure enough, like the semi-reliable working of a clock with too many numbers, on or about the 312th day of the year strange deliverymen track their way to Paizo's door with flatteringly inscrutable prizes. Typically, it's pizza—glorious free pizza in all the flavors of the Papa John's rainbow. This year, though, on perhaps the first Erik Mona Day with our publisher actually present at the office, it was fruit. Chocolate covered fruit. On pointy sticks. A delicious gift that suggests a world of devious and appropriately adventuresome extracurricular projects.
So thanks all you weirdos who chipped in to make this another awesome Erik Mona Day (observed)! We can't say how much we appreciate it, or how far this goes toward making the long nights and weekend days worthwhile.
But now, back to snacking. We we've got a lot of fruit to go through and that punji pit outside Jason's office isn't going to build itself.
... The Playtest is Coming! Monday, November 9, 2009It is almost here! The playtest of the six new base classes set to appear in the Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player's Guide will begin on Friday, November 13th. These classes will be presented as free PDF's that you can download starting Friday morning. Every two weeks we will release two of the classes, until all six have been playtested. ... Each pair of classes will be spotlighted for two weeks, but feedback will be accepted through the end...
The Playtest is Coming!
Monday, November 9, 2009
It is almost here! The playtest of the six new base classes set to appear in the Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player's Guide will begin on Friday, November 13th. These classes will be presented as free PDF's that you can download starting Friday morning. Every two weeks we will release two of the classes, until all six have been playtested.
Each pair of classes will be spotlighted for two weeks, but feedback will be accepted through the end of January 2010. Special messageboards will be posted to paizo.com to allow playtesters to submit feedback, ask questions, and talk to other participants. The schedule of the playtest is as follows.
Getting involved is easy. Simply download the files and use them in your games. Create characters and villains using the new classes and give them a try. Then, come back here to post feedback and your play experiences in the playtest messageboards. If you are looking for more opportunities to play, these playtest classes will be available for use in Pathfinder Society events. Look for rules allowing these classes in an upcoming update to the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play.
The playtest of the core rules was a fantastic success and I look forward to working with the community to make the Advanced Player's Guide playtest just as successful.
... But Erik Mona Day Isn't for Weeks… Friday, October 30, 2009Between the slurping of soda and gnashing of teeth garbled thanks issued forth to Pathfinder Wiki mastermind Mark Moreland (yoda8myhead on the boards) and all of our other fiscally indulgent readers who sent about a dozen pizzas the way of the beleaguered Paizo staff this morning. Happy to forget ungracious questions like why, all of us here wanted to extend our full-bellied thanks to our awesome/insane (awesomely insane?) readers...
But Erik Mona Day Isn't for Weeks…
Friday, October 30, 2009
Between the slurping of soda and gnashing of teeth garbled thanks issued forth to Pathfinder Wiki mastermind Mark Moreland (yoda8myhead on the boards) and all of our other fiscally indulgent readers who sent about a dozen pizzas the way of the beleaguered Paizo staff this morning. Happy to forget ungracious questions like "why," all of us here wanted to extend our full-bellied thanks to our awesome/insane (awesomely insane?) readers for the totally unexpected gift.
Photography by Joshua Frost
Also, just a note so you can prepare your Viking helms, Erik Mona Day, which typically falls on November 8th, will be observed Monday November 9th this year.
... Welcome to Paizo Friday, August 21, 2009With the release of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook, there are a lot of new faces here on the board, so we thought that this would be a good time to say hello and to give folks a quick tour of the site. ... I suspect that many of the new folks are here because of the Pathfinder RPG, so there is no better place to start than our new Core Rulebook. Of course, we have much more in store for this game, so you definitely want to visit the...
Welcome to Paizo
Friday, August 21, 2009
With the release of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook, there are a lot of new faces here on the board, so we thought that this would be a good time to say hello and to give folks a quick tour of the site.
I suspect that many of the new folks are here because of the Pathfinder RPG, so there is no better place to start than our new Core Rulebook. Of course, we have much more in store for this game, so you definitely want to visit the Pathfinder RPG main page where you can see a summary of all of our upcoming products. Be sure to check out the Bestiary Preview and the Pathfinder RPG Conversion Guide, both of which can be downloaded for free. All you need is an account. Tip to the wise, make sure you have the most recent version of Adobe Reader installed on your machine to read these pdfs. Both of these free products, along with a host of other valuable free documents, can also be found on the Pathfinder RPG resources page, which also contains our community use policy (for those thinking about setting up a fan website) and the compatibility license (for those planning to make products using the Pathfinder RPG rules). The resources page also has the most recent errata document for the Core Rulebook, which contains a number of small changes and fixes to ensure that your game is running smoothly.
Next up, if you need to quickly reference the Pathfinder RPG online, there is no better resource than the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Reference Document (or PRD for short). The PRD contains all of the rules from the game, organized just like the Core Rulebook, making them easy to find. If you are playing your game in reach of a computer, I might recommend a bookmark or three.
We really want paizo.com to be a great community for gamers of all stripes, whether your passion is the Pathfinder RPG, other RPGs, board games, card games, or anything in between. Our messageboards are home to thousands of gamers just like you, looking for advice, sharing stories, forming groups, and getting answers to rules questions. If you are navigating the messageboards, look out for the following forums.
First up is the Pathfinder RPG messageboard, which includes a large number of useful forums. The General Discussion Forum is where you can discuss nearly anything related to the game, from reviews to announcements. The Rules Question Forum is where you can ask questions about the game. If one of your fellow fans does not help you out, one of our staff will try to help get an answer to your question. There is a lot of great discussion going on right now on the boards about the game, but I do want to take this moment to offer some advice. The rules are brand new, and there is a lot of information to digest. Before posting, make sure to take a good look through the book to see if your question is answered elsewhere. Since the game is a revision to the 3.5 rules, there are a number of discussions going on right now comparing the two and weighing the pros and cons of each change. While this is only natural, I do want to remind folks that many of these changes are designed to have a specific effect or to work in combination with other changes, making the whole of the game easier and better to run. If the rule in question still doesn't work for your group, do not hesitate to change it. It is your game after all, and you should feel free to change it in any way that would add to the fun and excitement of your campaign. Alright, back to the tour.
Next up in the Pathfinder RPG section is the Pathfinder RPG Products Section, which includes two forums for discussing individual products. One for Paizo products and one for any 3rd party product that is compatible with the game. After those forums are the Community Content forums. The first of these is the House Rules Forum, which contains a host of tips, tricks, and suggestions used in the games of fellow messageboard members. This forum also includes brand new rules content created by fans. The second forum is the Conversions Forum, which contains fan-made conversions of a host of 3.5 rules and products, making them easier to use with the Pathfinder RPG.
In addition to the Pathfinder RPG forums, you will find an array of other forums for our other products. The Pathfinder General Discussion Forum is for talking about any product with the Pathfinder logo, focusing on products that are compatible with the Pathfinder campaign setting (such as the Pathfinder Chronicles, Pathfinder Companion, Pathfinder Modules, and Pathfinder Accessories products). The Pathfinder Adventure Path Section contains a forum for each one of our Adventure Paths. These products represent complete campaigns, taking your characters from 1st level to the heights of power. The forums contain tips, tricks, and tools to use for each Adventure Path, as well as a number of great stories and anecdotes from the campaigns of fellow members.
This is also a good time to talk about the Pathfinder Society. This program allows you to play the Pathfinder RPG around the world, using the same character for each event. Pathfinder Society events can be found at most major conventions and in a number of game stores. In addition, your GM can download these PDF adventures and run them for you at home. For discussion about these exciting events, check out the Pathfinder Society Forums.
Concluding our tour of the messageboards, you might want to investigate the Paizo Community Forums, which includes forums for 3.5, 4th edition, board games, card games, play-by-post games, movies, books, television, and the always busy off-topic discussion (drive up your post count with a 3-word game today!).
Before this blog gets way too long, I want to take a moment to talk about the Paizo Store, which features just about every RPG, board game, card game, miniatures game, and accessory known to man. Be warned, there are a lot of good products hiding in there, and my wallet has paid for my curiosity mightily over the years.
... While We Were Gone Wednesday, August 19, 2009While some of us were back in blissful Seattle sipping ice tea and lounging on the beaches and others of us were still trekking back from Gen Con—drunk on our own sleep deprivation and tears—Ashton Sperry, paper minis mogul and N’wah from the boards, decided to drop by. While most of us missed him, he certainly left his mark. Here are just a few of the scribbles that followed in Ashton's wake. Sorry we missed you man, but thanks for...
While We Were Gone
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
While some of us were back in blissful Seattle sipping ice tea and lounging on the beaches and others of us were still trekking back from Gen Con—drunk on our own sleep deprivation and tears—Ashton Sperry, paper minis mogul and N’wah from the boards, decided to drop by. While most of us missed him, he certainly left his mark. Here are just a few of the scribbles that followed in Ashton's wake. Sorry we missed you man, but thanks for the post-its! It really made getting back to the old grindstones all the more bearable!
For everyone else! Expect more reports from Gen Con starting bright and early tomorrow morning! It was great to see a ton of you at the show and, as always, we had a fantastic time. For folks who couldn't make it, though, tune in to the blog and messageboards for what you missed!
Illustrations by Ashton Sperry*
F. Wesley Schneider
Managing Editor
*Except the stick figure. That's Sean's. Ashton wrote the note.
... ENnies 2009 Dream Date Auction Thursday, August 6, 2009Do you like awards shows? ... Do you like sitting with Paizo Publishing at awards shows? ... Do you like sitting with Paizo Publishing at awards shows and walking away with a pile of loot, such as a signed copy of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook, a copy of Pathfinder #19, a Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting, a GameMastery Flip Mat, and a copy of the Gary Gygax novel, Infernal Sorceress? ... If you answered yes to these...
If you answered yes to these questions, than the 2009 ENnies Awards Dream Date Auction is for you. This is your chance to sit with Paizo during the ceremony and to support the event at the same time! At the event, we will regale you with tales of daring stat block formatting, stories of narrowly missed printing dates, and the bone-chilling saga of stair rules that were nearly forgotten. In other words, we are going to have a good time and you get to join in on the fun!
Help us earn bragging rights by having the largest auction ever. Bid today!
... 2009 ENnie Nominations! Tuesday, July 21, 2009The dash toward the 2009 ENnie Awards has begun with Paizo accepting nominations in six categories, including a fan nomination for Best Publisher! These acknowledgments start off the process of honoring the best products and ideas in the last year of tabletop gaming, but in the end it all relies on you! Be sure to check back in with the ENnies this Friday when voting begins, giving you the chance to cast your ballot for your favorite games and...
2009 ENnie Nominations!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
The dash toward the 2009 ENnie Awards has begun with Paizo accepting nominations in six categories, including a fan nomination for Best Publisher! These acknowledgments start off the process of honoring the best products and ideas in the last year of tabletop gaming, but in the end it all relies on you! Be sure to check back in with the ENnies this Friday when voting begins, giving you the chance to cast your ballot for your favorite games and accessories.
Here's this year's rundown of Paizo Products up for honors:
Check out all the publishers at the ENnies Awards homepage, and be sure to check back this Friday for your chance to cast your vote! Thanks to ENWorld and all of you for this year's nominations and the endless support!
... PAIZOCON 2009: You Should'a Been There! Thursday, June 18, 2009 That sound you heard last Sunday night (heard 'round the world, I'm told) was not Krakatoa II (electric boogaloo?), it was the enormous sigh of relief from me as PAIZOCON 2009 came to a close and did so with a feeling of great satisfaction. ... A little over a year ago, I spent a Saturday morning in a little hotel in Kirkland, WA and watched a small group of Paizo fans, led by Timitius and Lilith from our boards, gather and...
PAIZOCON 2009: You Should'a Been There!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
That sound you heard last Sunday night (heard 'round the world, I'm told) was not Krakatoa II (electric boogaloo?), it was the enormous sigh of relief from me as PAIZOCON 2009 came to a close and did so with a feeling of great satisfaction.
A little over a year ago, I spent a Saturday morning in a little hotel in Kirkland, WA and watched a small group of Paizo fans, led by Timitius and Lilith from our boards, gather and enjoy each other's company as fellow Paizo community members. Right then and there I said to myself, "Self," I said, "We have to take this over and help them grow it." So when it came time to plan the 2009 convention season the first thing on my agenda was How Do We Politely Tell Tim That PAIZOCON is Ours Now and Yet Still Get His Help? Well, it turns out, it was really easy.
I had lunch with Tim last fall and laid the cards on the table. I asked Tim what he thought if Paizo wanted to get into PAIZOCON in a really big way for the second year—as in, so big that we basically ran it as an official show. Tim's face was 100% relief and he was thrilled to get the planning process off his shoulders. I, in turn, was thrilled to take it on and despite many late nights and a lot of work, I couldn't be more happy at how it all turned out.
For me, PAIZOCON 2009 began on Friday morning with my arrival at the Coast Bellevue Hotel. Jeff, Cosmo, Chris, and I set up the sales booth, taped up all the signs, and then waited for the hordes to come. And come they did! It was amazing to finally put faces to names and say hello to a lot of folks that I'd been reading about on the boards for years. Additionally, a lot of new faces showed up as well—folks who maybe lurked on the boards, or were only familiar with Paizo and the Beta and just wanted to come and see what Paizo was all about in person. Our special guests were already at the show and folks like Monte and Sue Cook, Eva Widermann, Wolfgang Bauer, and the entire Paizo staff immediately took to mingling with the attendees.
And then the gaming began! RPGs, board games, card games, you name it and someone was playing it. At times we'd sit there at registration and think, "Wow, it got really slow around here suddenly" and that was because the breakout rooms and the ballroom were stuffed to the gills with gaming, gaming, gaming. Laughter, dice rolls, howls of defeat, and cries of success echoed through the halls of the Coast Bellevue and we knew right then that we'd done something right—PAIZOCON 2009 was going to be a success.
Saturday was a long day of gaming that ended with a huge banquet for the attendees. The food was fantastic, the company even better, and it was pushed over the top by a keynote address from Paizo CEO Lisa Stevens, a lengthy preview of the PRPG by Lead Designer Jason Bulmahn, a preview of things to come by Publisher Erik Mona, and a really boring, stuffy, and not very fun quiz game lamely put together by yours truly. (Okay, so the quiz game was awesome! Most fun I've had in front of crowd since the WTO Riots in 1999.)
Sunday was additional gaming fun as the show slowly started to wind down. Folks began collecting in the lobby and just hanging out—sharing gaming stories, asking the PAIZOCON special guest in the seat next to them about their RPG favorites, and just basking in the glow of a successful and fun weekend of all things Paizo and beyond.
With the show behind me now, I've already started thinking about next year. In fact, as I write this, I'm 15 minutes away from the first meeting to do just that: plan PAIZOCON 2010 and figure how, exactly, we're going to be able to top 2009. For those of you who were there, I hope you had fun and played games to your heart's content. For those who couldn't make it—do not, I repeat, DO NOT miss out on the opportunity next year. I imagine it'll only be better.
Thanks, everyone!
The PAIZOCON 2009 sales booth, manned by a cleverly hidden Vic Wertz.
Erik Mona runs his Spire of Nex preview on Friday.
F. Wesley Schneider runs his Ustalav preview on Friday.
Neil Shackleton shows off one of the hobby horses he brought for his live-action Yetisburg game. He had one pink one and he named it "Sebastian."
Lilith looks over cartographer Corey Macourek's shoulder as he explains how he designs Paizo's GameMastery Flip-Mat and Map Pack lines.
PAIZOCON Special Guest Artist Eva Widermann gets ready to burn her personal seal into a drawing she did for a fan.
Pathfinder Wiki guru Yoda8MyHead discusses Pathfinder with others in the Coast Bellevue Hotel lobby.
Eva Widermann and artist rk post sketch for the fans.
Fray and Wolfgang Baur discuss Kobold Quarterly.
Paizo's Disturbing Customer Servant Cosmo ponders his life as a hobby horse cavalryman in a game of live-action Yetisburg.
... PAIZOCON: The Aftermath Monday, June 15, 2009After three incredible days of gaming, chatting, drinking, and nerding out, pretty much all of us here at Paizo are totally wiped. So we're taking today to gradually ease back into things, mostly by dishing about the con, nursing hangovers, and reading Wayfinder, the remarkable fan-made magazine that totally knocked all of our socks off. Thanks a ton to Liz Lilith Courts, Hugo Butterfrog Solis, Adam Daigle, Ashavan Doyon, David Schwartz, Thomas...
PAIZOCON: The Aftermath
Monday, June 15, 2009
After three incredible days of gaming, chatting, drinking, and nerding out, pretty much all of us here at Paizo are totally wiped. So we're taking today to gradually ease back into things, mostly by dishing about the con, nursing hangovers, and reading Wayfinder, the remarkable fan-made magazine that totally knocked all of our socks off. Thanks a ton to Liz "Lilith" Courts, Hugo "Butterfrog" Solis, Adam Daigle, Ashavan Doyon, David Schwartz, Thomas McQueen, and all the Wayfinder staff and contributors for putting together what really was one of the highlights of the show. Also a ton of thanks goes to everyone who came and made PAIZOCON 2009 such an incredible weekend! We'll be posting our pictures and musings from the con throughout the coming week, but until then, safe travels to everyone heading home and thanks for making PAIZOCON more successful than we could have imagined!
... Countdown to PAIZOCON Thursday, June 11, 2009PAIZOCON is tomorrow! The massive event schedule lists all of the awesome activities attendees can expect to take part in, but here are some of the real gems that I'm looking forward to: ... As I mentioned in Tuesday's Countdown to PAIZOCON blog, guests and Paizo staff will have the opportunity to wine and dine together during Saturday's banquet. One of the reasons I'm most excited about the banquet is the opportunity to meet fellow Paizonians....
Countdown to PAIZOCON
Thursday, June 11, 2009
PAIZOCON is tomorrow! The massive event schedule lists all of the awesome activities attendees can expect to take part in, but here are some of the real gems that I'm looking forward to:
As I mentioned in Tuesday's "Countdown to PAIZOCON" blog, guests and Paizo staff will have the opportunity to wine and dine together during Saturday's banquet. One of the reasons I'm most excited about the banquet is the opportunity to meet fellow Paizonians. Having gotten to know so many of you on the messageboards, it will be fun to finally meet some of you face-to-face! In addition to Publisher Erik Mona's preview of upcoming Pathfinder products and CEO Lisa Steven's keynote address, attendees can expect one very special surprise. I can't say what it is (under pain of death), but you all should be very excited!
One of the neatest things about PAIZOCON is the myriad opportunities to get the inside scoop on Pathfinder, Paizo, and the old days at TSR. Between “The Pathfinder RPG and the Future of Paizo" on Friday, and "What's New with Pathfinder?", "Secrets of TSR Revealed!", and the "Pathfinder Fiction Discussion" on Saturday, guests should expect to get firsthand knowledge about the juicy details of the publishing industry, as well as an exciting look at all of the goodies (and there are many!) that Paizo will be working on in the near future. I plan on attending as many of these seminars as I can!
Speaking of seminars, there are a ton about how to begin writing for RPGs and break into the game industry. Here's a brief list of some of the seminars that I hope to attend myself: "How To Break Into Print in Kobold Quarterly," "Designing Dungeons with Monte Cook," "Secrets of the Publishing Industry—Your Questions Answered," "Pathfinder Society Open Call Workshop," "Build a Pathfinder Society Scenario with Sue Cook and Joshua J. Frost," and "Game Design Self-Editing Workshop by Sue Cook."
Finally (and perhaps best of all) expect to play lots and lots of games. Pathfinder Society scenarios will be run every day throughout the convention, and special events such as Sean K Reynold's "Into the Scarlet Monastery" (a Pathfinder RPG rendition of one of the most iconic dungeons of the most iconic MMO), Jason Bulmahn's "Fight Club" (wherein you characters will be brutally savaged by monsters), and master of horror James Jacobs's "Unspeakable Futures" (a Pathfinder RPG variant set in an apocalyptic earth ravaged by the Elder Mythos) are sure to be crowd pleasers. I might even have to sit in and watch some of these games being played—they sound that awesome.
I've quickly run out of space in my excitement to tell you about the ridiculously fun things to expect at PAIZOCON, so I'll end with this:
Leather-Bound Pathfinder Beta Thursday, April 30, 2009So our fans are apparently crazy... crazy awesome. Check out this leather-bound copy of the Pathfinder RPG Beta sent to our office by Sean, who posts on the messageboards as yellowdingo. The lovingly made book was well used by Sean and his fellow Beta playtesters, and includes all of the web enhancements for the Beta, as well as his personal notes from the playtest. It's really quite amazing! ... David Eitelbach ... Editorial Intern ...
Leather-Bound Pathfinder Beta
Thursday, April 30, 2009
So our fans are apparently crazy... crazy awesome. Check out this leather-bound copy of the Pathfinder RPG Beta sent to our office by Sean, who posts on the messageboards as yellowdingo. The lovingly made book was well used by Sean and his fellow Beta playtesters, and includes all of the web enhancements for the Beta, as well as his personal notes from the playtest. It's really quite amazing!
... Paizo Twitter Friday, April 24, 2009We've been tweeting! As of yesterday afternoon Paizo has its very own Twitter account. Come join the more than 200 Twitter users already getting nearly 24-hour-a-day updates on all sorts of Pathfinder info, Pathfinder RPG details, and other Paizo ephemera! Follow along on the Paizo Twitter page right here. ... There's also a new Twitter page for Planet Stories, where you can get endless updates on all your favorite pulp science fiction and fantasy...
Paizo Twitter
Friday, April 24, 2009
We've been tweeting! As of yesterday afternoon Paizo has its very own Twitter account. Come join the more than 200 Twitter users already getting nearly 24-hour-a-day updates on all sorts of Pathfinder info, Pathfinder RPG details, and other Paizo ephemera! Follow along on the Paizo Twitter page right here.
There's also a new Twitter page for Planet Stories, where you can get endless updates on all your favorite pulp science fiction and fantasy stories and authors as well as other exciting news on all our upcoming adventures!
Official Call for Paizo Publishing Gen Con 2009 Volunteer GMs and Assistants!
Official Call for Paizo Publishing Gen Con 2009 Volunteer GMs and Assistants! Thursday, April 16, 2009Hello! ... This is the official call for volunteer GMs and assistants to help Paizo Publishing run events at Gen Con 2009. (If you're looking for the Origins volunteer thread, click here.) In order to be sure that Gen Con 2009 is the best possible play experience, I need a minimum of 42 volunteers (54 volunteers total on Friday and Saturday night) with no maximum—I'll keep taking...
Official Call for Paizo Publishing Gen Con 2009 Volunteer GMs and Assistants!
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Hello!
This is the official call for volunteer GMs and assistants to help Paizo Publishing run events at Gen Con 2009. (If you're looking for the Origins volunteer thread, click here.) In order to be sure that Gen Con 2009 is the best possible play experience, I need a minimum of 42 volunteers (54 volunteers total on Friday and Saturday night) with no maximum—I'll keep taking volunteers until the slots are filled! Below you will find the reward structure for volunteering as well as the events and slots for which I need volunteers. This year, I'm also creating a new "Volunteer Assistant" position for the show—these two folks will aid me in all manner of things and will be my right and left hand man/woman throughout the entire show. They will be rewarded handsomely for their time. Speaking of our rewards, we've DOUBLED the voucher amounts you get for volunteering this year and increased the number of hotel rooms available for Tier 1 volunteers. By doing this, I hope to see even more people working for us at Gen Con.
Tell your friends! Tell your family! Tell everyone in your game group! We need volunteers!
One last thing to keep in mind: you're volunteering for a slot, not a specific event. I'll assign people to events inside the slot they've volunteered for and won't take requests.
Volunteer Tiers and Rewards
Volunteer Assistant
The volunteer assistants will work closely with me every day of the show from 8 A.M. to 10 P.M. to help muster slots, gather tickets, answer questions, and run HQ. The volunteer assistants may also be used as gophers, lunch-gatherers, or errand-runners. Reliable, punctual, and guaranteed-to-be-at-the-show applicants ONLY please. This position is limited to two volunteers and will be assigned on a first-come, first-serve basis, though I reserve the right to select volunteers I've worked with in the past (i.e., at Gen Con 2008 or Gen Con UK 2008). Volunteer assistants will only be used as GMs to cover GMs that are MIA. Volunteer assistants receive:
A FREE 4-day badge
A FREE 1/4 of a hotel room
A $150 voucher for the Paizo booth (to be used in the Paizo booth on Sunday only)
A FREE black & white photocopied version of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook before the show after signing an NDA
A FREE autographed copy of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook hardcover at Gen Con Wednesday evening
A FREE limited edition Paizo Publishing Gen Con 2009 T-Shirt
Tier 1 GM Volunteers
Tier 1 GM volunteers are my workhorse, every day GMs. They are invaluable to making the show a success! Tier 1 GMs must select and volunteer for a MINIMUM of 8 slots. Tier 1 GMs may feel free to volunteer for more than 8 slots if they so desire. I only have room for 18 Tier 1 GM volunteers so don't delay in volunteering for this tier. Volunteers will be chosen on a first-come, first-served basis, though I reserve the right to select volunteers who have previously worked for Paizo over new volunteers. Tier 1 GMs receive:
A FREE 4-day badge
A FREE 1/4 of a hotel room
A $10 per slot voucher for the Paizo booth (to be used in the Paizo booth on Sunday only)
A FREE black & white photocopied version of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook before the show after signing an NDA
A FREE autographed copy of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook hardcover at Gen Con Wednesday evening
A FREE limited edition Paizo Publishing Gen Con 2009 T-Shirt
Tier 2 GM Volunteers
While the rewards for volunteering for this tier are smaller, the majority of my volunteers will come from Tier 2. Tier 2 GMs must volunteer for a MINIMUM of 4 slots. Tier 2 GMs receive:
A FREE 4-day badge
A $10 per slot voucher for the Paizo booth (to be used in the Paizo booth on Sunday only)
A FREE black & white photocopied version of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook before the show after signing an NDA
A FREE limited edition Paizo Publishing Gen Con 2009 T-Shirt
Tier 3 GM Volunteers
This is the minimum volunteer level. Tier 3 GMs must volunteer for a MINIMUM of 2 slots. Tier 3 GMs receive:
A $10 per slot voucher for the Paizo booth (to be used in the Paizo booth on Sunday only)
A FREE black & white photocopied version of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook before the show after signing an NDA
A FREE limited edition Paizo Publishing Gen Con 2009 T-Shirt
Volunteering for One Slot
While we will gladly accept anyone who wants to run just one slot during the show, there are no rewards for doing so other than our thanks.
Events by Slot
When volunteering, please be specific about what slot you are volunteering for. I will assign folks to scenarios on an as-needed basis, so you really only need to tell me the slot(s) you're volunteering for (since I won't take requests). I will update the needs in the Gen Con volunteer thread on the Pathfinder Society messageboards as I receive volunteers, so you may refer to that thread in order to remain up to date on where we still need help.
... New PAIZOCON Guests! New PAIZOCON Events! Friday, March 27, 2009Hello there future PAIZOCON 2009 attendees! Today's blog is all about our upcoming fan con and the events and guests you can expect to see there. In case you've been asleep under a bridge in Tasmania and have no idea what PAIZOCON is, please click here and find out. You can also purchase your 3-Day PAIZOCON badge and your $5 Pathfinder RPG Preview Banquet tickets. Hotel information can be found here. ... Additional Guests...
New PAIZOCON Guests! New PAIZOCON Events!
Friday, March 27, 2009
Hello there future PAIZOCON 2009 attendees! Today's blog is all about our upcoming fan con and the events and guests you can expect to see there. In case you've been asleep under a bridge in Tasmania and have no idea what PAIZOCON is, please click here and find out. You can also purchase your 3-Day PAIZOCON badge and your $5 Pathfinder RPG Preview Banquet tickets. Hotel information can be found here.
Additional Guests
In addition to Monte Cook, Sue Cook, Eva Widermann, Wolfgang Baur, Clark Peterson, and the entire Paizo staff, we're announcing five new special guests today as well! You can view the complete guest list here.
Lou Agresta
Fantasy game design crept up on Lou Agresta in 2005, when diamondthrone.com accepted his first articles on true names. Until then a writer of travelogues, indie comics, fashion essays, and torturous, self-indulgent philosophy tracts, his more recent adventure credits include SAW #1 and #12 of the Trodoon Gate Saga (LPJ Designs), The Bloody Fix and The Punctured Vein with Rone Barton (O0negames), and Pathfinder Society Scenario #8: Slave Pits of Absalom. Lou is one of six authors from the Great City Campaign Setting (0onegames), a contributor to Sinister Adventures, and chief-scribbler over at the RPGAggression blog. A member of the Werecabbages freelance writer's guild, he also had his fingers in both the GM Gems and PC Pearls collaborations (Goodman Games) and has made guest appearances as Cthu-Lou on the Atomic Array podcast. Lou's set piece, slated for Pathfinder #24, will likely prove the last of its kind. Dungeon acquired his first adventure, written with Nicolas Logue, then canceled the magazine, leaving Lou forever haunted by the fear he is somehow responsible. Lou lives somewhere in upstate NY with his wife, daughter, a dog, and a couple of horses. While he has sometimes worn a kilt and ridden a tractor, no one has ever caught him doing both.
Rob McCreary
Rob McCreary was born in Japan and raised in the United States. He started gaming when the red Basic D&D boxed set came out. Rob currently lives in Prague, Czech Republic, where he is an English teacher by day and freelancer by night. Rob made it to last year's RPG Superstar Top 4 with a combination of coin belts, ziggurat-filled jungles, and monkey-goblins. Thus far he has contributed to the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting, several Pathfinder Bestiaries, and the upcoming Dungeon Denizens Revisited. Rob is currently scrambling to finish writing the final installment of the upcoming Legacy of Fire Adventure Path, "The Final Wish."
Jason Nelson
Jason Nelson is in the job market as a professor of education (have doctorate, will travel!) and a devoted Christian who lives in Seattle, Washington with his two kids, Allen and Meshia, and has been gaming since 1981. He's hardcore enough that he uses the name of his first-ever D&D character, Tjaden, in his email address, and he's also devious enough to have slipped the name of his fiancee into the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting, to her great amusement and delight. Jason was some combination of lucky and good enough to make the Final Four in the inaugural RPG Superstar and has also written a number of adventures and articles for Dungeon and Dragon magazines (ah, memories) and over a hundred webcolumns for Wizards of the Coast, including the long-running "Save My Game" and "Behind the Screen." More recently, he has contributed to Dungeon Denizens Revisited and several Pathfinder Bestiaries, co-wrote Osirion: Land of the Pharaohs, and is the author of "The End of Eternity", the fourth adventure in the Legacy of Fire Adventure Path. It's awesome! You should totally go buy a copy!
rk post
Just prior to graduation from Northern Illinois University in 1994, rk post started freelancing in the fantasy gaming industry doing interior illustrations for several major game companies, gradually teaching himself how to paint with acrylics and eventually oils. rk garnered a staff illustration position at TSR in the fall of 1996 painting cover illustrations for games and novels. rk left (then) WotC in the winter of 2000 and now he doubles as a full time freelance illustrator and senior artist for Big Fish Games in Seattle. rk has contracted and worked with White Wolf, WizKids, Fanpro, Microsoft (Mythica, X Box), LucasFilm, 20th Century Fox (Aliens vs. Predator series), Sega (Dreamcast), Nintendo, Ballantine Books, Science Fiction Book Club, Hasbro (television and animation), Marvel Entertainment, DC Comics, Dark Horse Comics, the History Channel, and Blizzard Entertainment (Diablo 2, World of Warcraft). rk post has his collected works available in a hard cover art book, Postmortem: the Art of rk post through Cartouche Press (www.cartouchepress.com). New and continuing work can also be seen at www.rkpost.net and www.myspace.com/rkpost.
Neil Spicer
Born in the shadow of North Carolina's Blue Ridge mountains, Neil Spicer started gaming in the early '80s. His first foray into RPG design began with a simple fanzine devoted to Alternity's Star*Drive and Dark.Matter campaign settings titled Action Check. Since then, he's written a handful of D20 PDF products for third-party publishers and co-authored a softcover D20 Future supplement called the Future Player's Companion through the Game Mechanics and Green Ronin. Neil somehow managed to survive Paizo's RPG Superstar 2009 contest and emerged with an opportunity to write Realm of the Fellnight Queen, an Pathfinder Module scheduled for release in January 2010.
Events
Below is just a small sampling of the events you can expect to see and participate in at PAIZOCON 2009. Event sign-ups will go live in May. We still have a few badges left—don't be left out, buy yours today! In addition to the events below, Pathfinder Society members of all levels and experience will be able to participate in a Friday night interactive penned by Erik Mona and Joshua J. Frost that's sure to keep people talking for years!
Pathfinder Society Scenario #23: Tide of Morning by Steven Robert (for Tier 1–5)
Venture-Captain Dennel Hamshanks sends you to convince an Andoren druid named Hemzel to allow the Pathfinder Society to study his recently discovered lorestone, a minor magical item that unlocks some of the mysteries of the ancient Andoren druid circles. When you arrive and find Hemzel murdered and the lorestone missing, you must race against time to recover the lorestone and stop Hemzel's murderers from using it against the druids of Andoran.
Pathfinder Society Scenario #24: The Decline of Glory by Tim Hitchcock (for Tier 1–7)
When the son of a famous Pathfinder gains control of his father's holdings in Taldor, the Pathfinder Society decides to build a new lodge there as a base to explore the many ruins of that crumbling empire. Unfortunately, the Taldan Phalanx has its eye on the holdings and an ancient curse has turned many of the residents into the walking dead. Can you survive the tangled web of Taldor's politics and fight off the echoes of the past or will you, too, see your glory decline?
Pathfinder Society Scenario #25: Hands of the Muted God by Clinton J. Boomer (for Tier 5–9)
When the man who would be the Muted God wordlessly stepped beyond the gates of the Starstone's Cathedral, his thousand and one faithful ringing the Ascendant Court watched with the silent contemplation that is their highest sacrament. When he failed to emerge, many of his penitents abandoned their vows but a small sect remained loyal and worshipful. You and your fellow Pathfinders are sent into the mountains north of Absalom to follow the path of a doomed party and uncover the secrets of the Muted God. His loyal band of followers, called the Hand, will stop at nothing to keep you away from their shrine—even forming an alliance with some of Golarion's most evil denizens.
Pathfinder Society Scenario #26: Lost at Bitter End by Joshua J. Frost (for Tier 7–11)
When a Pathfinder Society Priest of Nethys disappears in northern Geb while studying the Mana Wastes, the Society sends you to uncover his whereabouts and find his journals. Arriving in the town of Bitter End, you find it deserted but for a few mysterious creatures never before seen on Golarion. Those creatures quickly lead to more and soon you're embroiled in a mystery that could affect the very fabric of reality. Will you solve the mystery of Bitter End or find yourself lost forever in the Mana Wastes?
Cursed Lot: New Beginnings, GMed by Jason Bulmahn
Last year, a group of brave, but horribly cursed adventurers set out on a brave adventure. While one succeeded to be rid of his terrible curse, the rest suffered and even worse fate. This year, a new band of unfortunately cursed heroes takes on an even greater challenge... to rescue a missing dog. How hard could that be?
Fires Over Brinestump, GMed by James Jacobs
It's been three years since the last time goblins have been a problem on the Lost Coast, but last night, a band of Licktoad Goblins from the Brinestump Marsh lit a merchant wagon on fire. The lone survivior almost made it to the town of Sandpoint before dying of his burns, and shortly after his body is discovered, fireworks bloom over Brinestump Marsh, lighting the night sky south of Sandpoint in an unmistakable display of goblin celebration. Why are the Licktoad Goblins on the march? Who gave them fireworks? Does this herald the advent of another goblin invasion of the town of Sandpoint? A Pathfinder RPG adventure for six 1st level characters.
Into the Scarlet Monastery, GMed by Sean K Reynolds
The zealots of the Scarlet Monastery have been a blight on the world for three years. Reviled by all, they hate against all nonhumans, accuse their enemies of spreading plague, and lynch innocents in the name of their crusade. Now is the time to defeat their Commander. But are two orc warriors, a troll mage, a warlock, an undead rogue, and a minotaur druid up to the task?
Before Nightfall, a PFPRG Playtest for a work in progress, GMed by F. Wesley Schneider
Forsaken, some places are best left to their haunted memories and the shadows of things best left forgotten. On the Ustalavic frontieer, one such ruin has long loomed over the lives and nightmares of the local peasents, a monument to terrors that can never be forgotten. Now a terrible new life has returned to the dreaded citadel, one that seeks to renew the horrors of centuries past. Take up arms and explore the deadly grounds and labyinthine courtyards of a soon to be infamous gothic castle, offer your advice and feedback on what makes for exciting horror roleplaying, and participate in the creation of a terrifying new adventure written in the tradition of one of the most famous horror RPG modules of all time.
Short Fiction Workshop
Paizo Fiction Editor James L. Sutter and Editor Christopher Paul Carey critique your short fiction! James and Chris will critique your story from an editorial viewpoint and go over it with you, focusing especially on the opening and those red flags editors use to quickly reject stories, helping you hone your writing and make it past an editor's initial cut. Please note that workshopping will be on a first-come, first-served basis during the listed timeslot—you can sign up so you don't have to wait around the whole time.
Pathfinder Society Scenario Open Call Workshop
A future Pathfinder Society Scenario for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game will be decided on at PAIZOCON 2009! Soon, Paizo's Events Manager Joshua J. Frost will put out an open call for one of the fall Pathfinder Society Scenarios—a call that can only be answered by attendees at PAIZOCON 2009! All who contributed may attend this workshop where Joshua will go over why each scenario was and wasn't accepted. For a unique look inside the creative mind of the guy who brings you your monthly installment of Pathfinder Society scenarios, look no further than this seminar! This event will be capped at 20 attendees.
... and much, much more! Don't delay—sign up for PAIZOCON 2009 today!
Presenting the Gen Con 2009 Scenarios! Thursday, March 19, 2009I've spent a huge portion of this week thinking about and planning for Gen Con 2009. As most of you know, we're launching the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game at Gen Con, which means we're also kicking off Season 1 of Pathfinder Society Organized Play. The first slot of the show, Thursday morning, will be a character creation/conversion seminar with Paizo employees and volunteer GMs who have all seen the rules ahead of time and will be...
Presenting the Gen Con 2009 Scenarios!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
I've spent a huge portion of this week thinking about and planning for Gen Con 2009. As most of you know, we're launching the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game at Gen Con, which means we're also kicking off Season 1 of Pathfinder Society Organized Play. The first slot of the show, Thursday morning, will be a character creation/conversion seminar with Paizo employees and volunteer GMs who have all seen the rules ahead of time and will be available to answer questions and help you either build a new character or follow our soon-to-be-released conversion guidelines for Season 1. We'll cut everyone loose before the dealer hall opens so they can hop in what will assuredly be a long line for the RPG hardcover itself and then let everyone flow back to the Org Play area to finish their characters alongside their shiny new (possibly autographed) Pathfinder Roleplaying Game books.
The real fun kicks off Thursday afternoon when we launch Season 1 of Pathfinder Society Organized Play! We have four outstanding scenarios written by four outstanding scenario authors (if I do say so myself) who will all be in attendance at Gen Con and will likely GM their own scenarios once or twice as surprise GMs throughout the show. Tim Hitchcock and the Werecabbages are brewing a brilliant Friday and Saturday night interactive event for the Pathfinder Society that I cannot reveal the details about yet as the lycanthropic vegetable club would stake me and eat my brains for doing so. Rest assured, when Tim pitched me the idea, I ran screaming through the office declaring it the best idea since horseshoes.
Here are some quick summaries of the four scenarios we'll be running at Gen Con 2009:
Pathfinder Society Scenario 29: The Devil We Know, Part 1: Shipyard Rats (Tiers 1–7) by Joshua J. Frost
When simultaneous kidnappings of Pathfinder and Aspis Consortium agents rock Cassomir's imperial shipyards, the Society orders you to join forces with hated Aspis agents to solve the mystery. Can you work together with the enemies of the Society to uncover the source of the kidnappings, or will you perish in the shipyards of Cassomir? Written for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.
Pathfinder Society Scenario 30: The Devil We Know, Part 2: Cassomir's Locker (Tiers 1–7) by Joshua J. Frost
The Pathfinder Society dispatches you into the catacombs beneath the shipyards known as Cassomir's Locker to uncover the source of a shamanistic rat cult that's breeding monstrous vermin never before seen on Golarion. After thwarting a double-cross and delving into the dirty dungeons below, will you find the artifact that powers Cassomir's Locker in time or will you bring about the destruction of Taldor's most important port? Written for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.
Pathfinder Society Scenario 31: Sniper in the Deep (Tiers 5–9) by David Eitelbach & Hank Woon
When rumors stir of a hidden treasure ship in Absalom's Flotsam Graveyard, the Pathfinder Society sends you beneath the Inner Sea to investigate. Mayhem, undersea adventure, and chaos are to be had in this rousing rampage beneath the roiling waters of Absalom's harbor. Written for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.
Pathfinder Society Scenario 32: Drow of the Darklands Pyramid (Tiers 7–11) by Sean K Reynolds
A rogue band of drow are plaguing the artifact shipping lanes of Osirion and the Pathfinder Society has sent you to stop them. When the drow capture an entire caravan laden with Society relics, the Decemvirate orders you into the Darklands to track down the drow and their stolen cargo. You'll travel beneath Golarion, fighting through caverns of hideous creatures to reach the fabled Darklands Pyramid—will your survive the journey, or become a slave forever? Written for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.
Lastly, I want to congratulate the selectees for the final 3.5 Pathfinder Society Organized Play Open Call: Elizabeth Leib and James MacKenzie! They're writing #28 Lyrics of Extinction and #27 Our Lady of Silver respectively. Congratulations!
Announcing PAIZOCON 2009! Thursday, March 5, 2009PAIZOCON returns in 2009 bigger and better than ever! Officially sponsored and run by Paizo Publishing, LLC, PAIZOCON 2009 brings together dozens of hobby gaming's veteran authors, artists, publishers, and designers and gives YOU the opportunity to meet, greet, and game with some of the best and brightest that the hobby gaming industry has to offer. ... Hosted by the conveniently located Coast Bellevue Hotel, PAIZOCON 2009 is three non-stop...
Announcing PAIZOCON 2009!
Thursday, March 5, 2009
PAIZOCON returns in 2009 bigger and better than ever! Officially sponsored and run by Paizo Publishing, LLC, PAIZOCON 2009 brings together dozens of hobby gaming's veteran authors, artists, publishers, and designers and gives YOU the opportunity to meet, greet, and game with some of the best and brightest that the hobby gaming industry has to offer.
Hosted by the conveniently located Coast Bellevue Hotel, PAIZOCON 2009 is three non-stop days of gaming, panels, workshops, banquets, and (most importantly) fun! You'll get to rub shoulders with your favorite Paizo Publishing employees and freelancers as well as game with your favorite people from the Paizo Publishing online community.
Attendance is capped at 250 TICKETS, so don't delay—buy your tickets today!
Also, Saturday, June 13, 2009 PAIZOCON 2009 will host a Pathfinder RPGPreview Banquet in the main banquet hall at the Coast Bellevue Hotel. The Coast Bellevue Hotel's banquet hall can hold 250 people maximum, which means there are less tickets available for the banquet than there are for the show overall. Tickets for this event are capped at 225, so sign up as soon as possible to guarantee your seat. You may only purchase tickets for this event if you've also purchased your PAIZOCON 2009 3-Day Badge located here.
During the banquet, attendees will have the opportunity to view Pathfinder RPG products for the first time beyond the walls of Paizo Publishing. We will have copies of the Pathfinder RPG hardcover as well as preview copies of the Pathfinder Bestiary for everyone to flip through and marvel at. Additionally, members of the Paizo staff and PAIZOCON 2009 Guests of Honor will be seated one each at every table in the room, giving attendees the opportunity to chat with the industry professional seated at their table.
Throughout the banquet, there will be games and quizzes with each table acting as a team. Prizes will be given away and one lucky attendee will even win a copy of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game autographed by everyone at Paizo Publishing (to be delivered via the mail upon the game's release in August).
Please Be Our Friend! Tuesday, January 20, 2009In our latest effort to reach out across the vast distances of the intergalactic community and spread the word about Planet Stories' heart-pounding tales of interplanetary adventure and romance, we've set up both a Planet Stories Facebook fan page and Planet Stories MySpace. While we already have an active Planet Stories Messageboard (where we invite you to come on over and give us your feedback about the stories we're printing and what you'd...
Please Be Our Friend!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
In our latest effort to reach out across the vast distances of the intergalactic community and spread the word about Planet Stories' heart-pounding tales of interplanetary adventure and romance, we've set up both a Planet Stories Facebook fan page and Planet Stories MySpace. While we already have an active Planet Stories Messageboard (where we invite you to come on over and give us your feedback about the stories we're printing and what you'd like to see from us in the future), these are just two more ways to stay on top of what we're doing. It's tough out there, navigating the measureless abyss of space (uh... publishing), and as we continue to look for new ways to get the word out about Planet Stories, one thing has become certain—our most powerful ally is YOU, loyal reader! So if you're on Facebook or MySpace and the sound of "swordfights and exploding robots"—as Erik is fond of describing the Planet Stories line—gets your pulse racing, please add us as a fan or friend, or drop us a comment to let us know what you think or just to say, "Greetings, fellow adventurer!"
... Paizo Invades the Atomic Array Wednesday, December 24, 2008Over at the Atomic Array, Rone Barton and Ed Healy have created a great podcast that should interest everyone who's a gamer. A brief look through their recent episodes sees topics such as Shadows of Cthulhu, Kobold Quarterly, Gen Con, and as of episode #11, Pathfinder! ... This episode of the Atomic Array features myself, Jason Bulmahn, and Josh Frost getting interviewed about all matter of things Paizo, from Pathfinder and the...
Paizo Invades the Atomic Array
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Over at the Atomic Array, Rone Barton and Ed Healy have created a great podcast that should interest everyone who's a gamer. A brief look through their recent episodes sees topics such as Shadows of Cthulhu, Kobold Quarterly, Gen Con, and as of episode #11, Pathfinder!
This episode of the Atomic Array features myself, Jason Bulmahn, and Josh Frost getting interviewed about all matter of things Paizo, from Pathfinder and the upcoming Legacy of Fire Adventure Path to the Pathfinder RPG Beta playtest and more. Check it out!
Out and About Wednesday, December 10, 2008Turns out that we haven't been the only ones busily bustling away to bring you new Pathfinder brand insanity. A quick glance across the boards turns up Hugo Solis's (aka Butterfrog) currently Unofficial Paizo Comic Strip. The first is featured above, but check out his awesome comic thread here. ... Also, Paizo—or more specifically Entombed with the Pharaohs and the Critical Fumble Deck—got a subtle shout-out on this week's commodoreHUSTLE...
Out and About
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Turns out that we haven't been the only ones busily bustling away to bring you new Pathfinder brand insanity. A quick glance across the boards turns up Hugo Solis's (aka Butterfrog) currently Unofficial Paizo Comic Strip. The first is featured above, but check out his awesome comic thread here.
Also, Paizo—or more specifically Entombed with the Pharaohs and the Critical Fumble Deck—got a subtle shout-out on this week's commodoreHUSTLE by the web comedy troupe over at LoadingReadyRun.com. Be sure to check it out—hilarious stuff. I promise that Tukanem-Hanam, the mummy dragon in question, doesn't always suck that bad. And don't worry, we're totally hooking them up with the sequel, The Pact Stone Pyramid, to give Jeremy a chance to get his revenge.
So yeah! Great work to everyone out there making Pathfinder their own! And if you've been inspired by adventures in Golarion, be sure to show off your talents here on the message boards. We can't wait to see what you've come up with!
Happy Erik Mona Day! Tuesday, November 11, 2008We have the best fans and readers in the world. ... Last year, our messageboard community, in their unique and awesome way, declared November 8th to be Erik Mona Day to honor the hard work the editorial staff (and the rest of Paizo) were putting into creating and producing some of the best RPG projects in the industry (in my and their humble opinions). To celebrate Erik Mona Day they pooled their money together and ordered us pizza. We were,...
Happy Erik Mona Day!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
We have the best fans and readers in the world.
Last year, our messageboard community, in their unique and awesome way, declared November 8th to be Erik Mona Day to honor the hard work the editorial staff (and the rest of Paizo) were putting into creating and producing some of the best RPG projects in the industry (in my and their humble opinions). To celebrate Erik Mona Day they pooled their money together and ordered us pizza. We were, frankly, shocked and pleased at the audacity of our community as well as their loyalty, frivolity, and downright friendly demeanor.
Not to be outdone, the community celebrated Erik Mona Day last Friday and bought the Paizo staff another delicious round of pizza. Seriously, guys and gals—thank you! Everyone in the office appreciated the pizza and resoundingly destroyed it with much chewing, digesting, and hilarity. We support Erik Mona Day being an annual holiday and can only hope that we give back in some way for your thoughtful purchase of yummy pizza pie.
Now the pictures!
A stack of magical pizza arrives in our conference room.
Moved to action (from left to right) Christopher Carey, Christopher Self, James Jacobs, and Wes Schneider catch the pizza flat-footed and get attacks of opportunity. In the background, the blurry shade that is James Sutter hovers, waiting for his chance to consume cheese pizza and thus become once again corporeal.
With proof of Chris Self's pizza eating the foreground, James Sutter (now satiated and corporeal) and Wes Schneider stare blankly into the middle distance, stomachs filled with the doughy confectionery of our awesome community.
Until next year!
Also, as Paizo's resident veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces, I'd like to thank, on behalf of everyone at Paizo, each and every member of our community and fan base who currently serves or previously served in the military. We know what you do can be hard and we know there are lots of you—stay safe, stay sane, and thank you for your service.
The Paizo Halloween Party! Monday, November 3, 2008Had you wandered into the Paizo editorial pit last Friday the only way you'd have known it was Halloween was by our pumpkin spice lattes. (Don't judge! We live in Seattle!) In fact, I think Josh, Alison, and Cosmo were the only three trick-or-treat-ready members of the whole crew. But around 3:00 we got an e-mail from Liz Courts (our own Lilith) with an illustration by Hugo Solis of a Hallow-awesome bash featuring all your favorite Paizo...
The Paizo Halloween Party!
Monday, November 3, 2008
Had you wandered into the Paizo editorial pit last Friday the only way you'd have known it was Halloween was by our pumpkin spice lattes. (Don't judge! We live in Seattle!) In fact, I think Josh, Alison, and Cosmo were the only three trick-or-treat-ready members of the whole crew. But around 3:00 we got an e-mail from Liz Courts (our own Lilith) with an illustration by Hugo Solis of a Hallow-awesome bash featuring all your favorite Paizo message boarders! Thanks a ton to Hugo for his incredible work—smurfs have never been so well dressed—and for bringing a cauldron full of Halloween spirit to the office! It's making us all rethink our avatars since now we've only two short months before the Festivus bash, right Hugo?! Hope everyone had a great Halloween!
Pathfinder! Now in Two Amazing Dimensions! Wednesday, October 29, 2008Anyone who's haunted the Paizo messageboards for a while has likely come across the artwork of Ashton Sperry, our own N'wah. (If you haven't, look for his posts in this thread!) That Ashton is a big ol' Pathfinder fan goes without saying. His deluxe-sized rune giant paper miniature so impressed us a few months back that when asked if we'd like to see more Pathfinder characters receive the same 2D paper miniature treatment...
Pathfinder! Now in Two Amazing Dimensions!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Anyone who's haunted the Paizo messageboards for a while has likely come across the artwork of Ashton Sperry, our own N'wah. (If you haven't, look for his posts in this thread!) That Ashton is a big ol' Pathfinder fan goes without saying. His deluxe-sized rune giant paper "miniature" so impressed us a few months back that when asked if we'd like to see more Pathfinder characters receive the same 2D paper miniature treatment there was absolutely no way we could turn him down. Well, the artistic fruits of Ashton's labor showed up today and they're simply too awesome to keep to ourselves! Heroes, and villains, and goblins aplenty! More proof that we have the most talented, most insane, most incredible readers in the world. So a huge thanks from all of us here to Ashton and his colorist Ben's (Benchak on the boards) amazing work!
And as we keep having to tell people, they're not paper dolls, they're precisely scaled miniature combat aids. There's a difference.
Gen Con Ephemera! Thursday, August 21, 2008Someone made the terrible mistake of giving James and I cameras, a lapse in judgment we heartily exploited over the past week at Gen Con. While many of the images we captured proved too terrible to inflict upon you gentle souls, here are a few quick highlights we snapped from the showroom floor. Special thanks to all the Paizo volunteers, everyone from the message boards we ran into (you guys are awesome!), all who voted in the ENnies, Tiffany,...
Gen Con Ephemera!
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Someone made the terrible mistake of giving James and I cameras, a lapse in judgment we heartily exploited over the past week at Gen Con. While many of the images we captured proved too terrible to inflict upon you gentle souls, here are a few quick highlights we snapped from the showroom floor. Special thanks to all the Paizo volunteers, everyone from the message boards we ran into (you guys are awesome!), all who voted in the ENnies, Tiffany, Boomer, and um... Sheila (sorry we forgot your name; blasted cloak of invisibility).
Frozen Fingers of Midnight: A Pathfinder Society Scenario Sneak Peek
Frozen Fingers of Midnight: A Pathfinder Society Scenario Sneak Peek Thursday, July 3, 2008Last Saturday night, Craig Shackleton gathered together a number of Paizo Origins attendees in the lobby of the Drury Inn in Columbus, OH and ran us through the first ever installment of a Pathfinder Society Scenario. The aptly named Frozen Fingers of Midnight kept a bunch of us up way too late as we explored Absalom in service of the Pathfinder Society. Our mission was to find the cause of a freezing...
Frozen Fingers of Midnight: A Pathfinder Society Scenario Sneak Peek
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Last Saturday night, Craig Shackleton gathered together a number of Paizo Origins attendees in the lobby of the Drury Inn in Columbus, OH and ran us through the first ever installment of a Pathfinder Society Scenario. The aptly named Frozen Fingers of Midnight kept a bunch of us up way too late as we explored Absalom in service of the Pathfinder Society. Our mission was to find the cause of a freezing sickness that had infected a highly-regarded emissary from the Land of the Linnorm Kings.
Ever the bunch of roleplaying fanatics, we created a freak show menagerie of characters too weird to live and too rare to die:
Erik Mona was Ecritus, a pathfinder in service to the Cheliax faction and a Cleric of Asmodeus with a voice much like the Monarch from The Venture Bros. cartoon on Adult Swim. Barely able to tolerate his less intelligent brethren, Ecritus used every opportunity available to him to manipulate his fellow pathfinders into doing his bidding.
Michael (a representative from the company printing the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game beta) played Angelo, a pathfinder Paladin in service to the Andoran faction and completely unsure of the terrifying rabble the Pathfinder Society assigned him to in order to solve the mystery of the freezing sickness. A quiet, jovial sort, Angelo spent most of the scenario in the background, steering clear of Ecritus and Jason Bulmahn's character.
Jason played Dar-An'Sumat, an Osirion necromancer obsessed with sending the dead to their proper resting place in Pharasma's embrace. Ever the loyalist, Dar was also a member of the Osirion faction, and while trying to complete his faction's mission in the scenario, spent a great deal of time with his hooks, cotton cloth, and flensing knives sending the deceased foes of the party to the great beyond. Jason was decidedly creepy in this role.
Chris Self, Paizo's Sales Manager, played a sorcerer of the Cheliax faction named Blase. In any other group of pathfinders, Blase would be creepy and strange, but when put up against the creepy and strange Osirion and Blase's fellow Chelaxian, he was pretty tame. Chris played him dark and goth-like.
My own character was an Ulfen barbarian with an incredibly long and unpronounceable name in service to the Qadiran faction. He was a member of the Pathfinder Society because the society's goal of protecting and seeking knowledge matched his own. Cast out from the Land of the Linnorm Kings as a youth, he wandered the Inner Sea educating himself in the ways of more civilized peoples. I played him as a smart, well-spoken Dolph Lundgren-type who saw violence as a last resort and would blackout when flying into a rage. He was fun to play and very difficult to roleplay around some of his more violence-first-then-questions-asked adventuring companions.
Lastly, and certainly not least, was Nicolas Logue as the Ulfen cripple and albino rogue, Thalg Sickeyes. In Nick's own words from the Post Your Gen Con Character Concepts Here! thread on the Pathfinder Society messageboards, "His bloody birth ended his mother, thus he claimed his first life before he took his first breath. He was born with his left arm crippled. It remains palsied to this day. Thalg is an albino, with sickly yellowed pupils and stringly white hair." Click the link to the thread to read more about Nick's decidedly twisted take on an Ulfen rogue.
Our first foray into a Pathfinder Society scenario was a blast. Craig Shackleton has written a fantastic little adventure for Gen Con and I'm positive everyone who gets a shot at playing Frozen Fingers of Midnight will be impressed as well. Who knows, if you're lucky, you may even get Craig as your GM.
Stranger things have happened.
And now, pictures:
From left to right around the table: Jason, Erik, Nick (already in character), Craig, Chris, and Michael all prepare characters for Frozen Fingers of Midnight.
Craig draws a map.
Jason (in character) brandishes a knife as he talks of sending guards to the afterlife. Erik (in character) looks on disdainfully.
Ooooh, a sneak peak at one of the battles in Frozen Fingers. What could all those miniatures mean?
... A Trip to the FLGS! Monday, January 7, 2008It's one thing to interact with readers of Pathfinder here on the internet, be it via messageboards or chat rooms, but it's certainly no replacement for face-to-face conversation. We're pretty sheltered here at Paizo, sequestered away in the not-large-enough room we semi-affectionately refer to as The Pit, and they don't let us out that often, with the notable exception of Gen Con. ... That all changed last month on December 19th, when Erik Mona,...
A Trip to the FLGS!
Monday, January 7, 2008
It's one thing to interact with readers of Pathfinder here on the internet, be it via messageboards or chat rooms, but it's certainly no replacement for face-to-face conversation. We're pretty sheltered here at Paizo, sequestered away in the not-large-enough room we semi-affectionately refer to as "The Pit," and they don't let us out that often, with the notable exception of Gen Con.
That all changed last month on December 19th, when Erik Mona, Wes Schneider, and myself got to escape the office to visit a friendly local game store—Oroboro Games. Since they don't let us out much, I had no idea that there was a cool game store like this so close to the offices. We showed up at about 7:00 PM, and although it was only supposed to go for about an hour, once you get Erik, Wes, and I talking about Golarion, well... time does strange things. The event ended up going for nearly three hours, and it was great fun! Particularly fun for me was talking to people who were playing Rise of the Runelords, and finding out just how much those goblins get hated. Poor little guys! They're just looking for things to burn and babies to eat. Is that so wrong?
Anyway, here's a couple of pictures of the event. If you look real close, I think you can see some art we haven't yet shown off on the website for book covers! Thanks, by the way, to Joshua J. Frost and Carolyn Mull for making the event happen in the first place!
... Happy New Year Tuesday, January 1, 2008And now, here we are in 2008! We've got a lot of exciting stuff planned for 2008, but there's just as much that's still evolving. Now's a great time to head on over to our messageboards and let us know what kind of products and adventures and blog posts you'd like to see from Paizo in the coming year. Who'd like to hear a Paizo Podcast? Is anyone interested in seeing a sequel to a particular GameMastery Module? Is there a market for Pathfinder...
Happy New Year
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
And now, here we are in 2008! We've got a lot of exciting stuff planned for 2008, but there's just as much that's still evolving. Now's a great time to head on over to our messageboards and let us know what kind of products and adventures and blog posts you'd like to see from Paizo in the coming year. Who'd like to hear a Paizo Podcast? Is anyone interested in seeing a sequel to a particular GameMastery Module? Is there a market for Pathfinder miniatures? Don't be shy! We can't make things you want if you don't tell us you want them, right?
Anyway, I don't have all that much to say or show off today. The Paizo offices are closed, and I got the honor of writing today's post. And I'm too distracted by New Year-related shenanigans to write much more, so check out my favorite picture from Pathfinder #5—some foolish runelord calling upon the dread Oliphaunt of Jandelay!
... Happy Holidays from Paizo Tuesday, December 25, 2007Here at Paizo we are pleased to bring some joy, with a little ditty that was on our Holiday Card. Seasons Greetings! ... (Sung to the tune of Jingle Bells) ... Sneaking through your yard, ... Going through your stuff, ... Hope you didn't like your dog; we got a little rough! ... Tied him to a stump. ... Lit the stump on fire. ... Maybe you'll wake up in time to put out puppy's pyre! ... Now we're in your house, ... It's fancied up so...
Happy Holidays from Paizo
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Here at Paizo we are pleased to bring some joy, with a little ditty that was on our Holiday Card. Seasons Greetings!
(Sung to the tune of Jingle Bells)
Sneaking through your yard,
Going through your stuff,
Hope you didn't like your dog; we got a little rough!
Tied him to a stump.
Lit the stump on fire.
Maybe you'll wake up in time to put out puppy's pyre!
Now we're in your house,
It's fancied up so nice!
With shiny things set all about, there's lots to break and slice!
Here's a stocking full,
And there's a gift-wrapped toy,
For a bit we stand agog—there's so much to destroy!
OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!
In a pile, Goblin style!
What could be more fun?
Breaking toys for girls and boys
Until we're finally done!
When you wake, hearts will break;
Because we've had our way!
This is great! Let's celebrate!
A Goblin Holiday!
Pathfinder Book Signing! Thursday, December 6, 2007On Wednesday, December 19, Oroboro Games of Bellevue, WA will host an exclusive free book signing and Q&A to celebrate the launch of Pathfinder #4. Fans of Paizo and Pathfinder will get a unique chance to talk to Erik Mona, James Jacobs, and F. Wesley Schneider about Paizo's new home for adventure: the Pathfinder Chronicles campaign setting. Erik and company will offer a sneak peek at Golarion, the world of the Pathfinder Chronicles...
Pathfinder Book Signing!
Thursday, December 6, 2007
On Wednesday, December 19, Oroboro Games of Bellevue, WA will host an exclusive free book signing and Q&A to celebrate the launch of Pathfinder #4. Fans of Paizo and Pathfinder will get a unique chance to talk to Erik Mona, James Jacobs, and F. Wesley Schneider about Paizo's new home for adventure: the Pathfinder Chronicles campaign setting. Erik and company will offer a sneak peek at Golarion, the world of the Pathfinder Chronicles campaign setting, including a first-ever look at the world map and art from the Pathfinder Chronicles Gazetteer (due out this February). Bring your Pathfinder books and your questions for Erik, James, and Wes. Though Pathfinder #2 is sold out except for limited quantities at paizo.com, volumes #1, #3, and #4 will be available for purchase, as well as the Rise of the Runelords Player's Guide.
Pathfinder #4 Book Signing
December 19, 7:00pm
Oroboro Games in the Lake Hills Shopping Center
545c 156th Ave SE
Bellevue, WA 98052 Click here to view with Google maps
Happy Erik Mona Day! Thursday, November 8, 2007Never before have I felt this proud to be working at Paizo. ... At 4:41pm yesterday, a thread from messageboard regular Sebastian popped up on our boards declaring November 8th Erik Mona Day. Why remains a mystery (it's not even Erik's birthday!), but within hours, over a hundred and fifty people had posted to help celebrate, most of them donning Erik's signature cyclopean avatar. ... That was fun enough, but then this morning Cosmo the Customer...
Happy Erik Mona Day!
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Never before have I felt this proud to be working at Paizo.
At 4:41pm yesterday, a thread from messageboard regular Sebastian popped up on our boards declaring November 8th Erik Mona Day. Why remains a mystery (it's not even Erik's birthday!), but within hours, over a hundred and fifty people had posted to help celebrate, most of them donning Erik's signature cyclopean avatar.
That was fun enough, but then this morning Cosmo the Customer Service Guru (that's him in the glasses) came back and informed us that we had a special Mona Day delivery, courtesy of the folks in the Paizo chat room. Completely unbeknownst to us, a bunch of them had secretly banded together to send us half a dozen celebratory Mona Day pizzas. In the feasting that followed, I'm pretty sure that all of us were thinking the same thing: that we have the most amazing community any company could ever hope for. Heck, we even got The Man Himself, Erik Mona, to stop editing long enough for a photo op... and that's a true measure of love, right there.
Thank you all so much for your support. This is the greatest job in the world.
Downloadable Pathfinder #6 Background Wednesday, November 7, 2007Your desktop icons will never know what hit them. Click the image above to download. ... James Sutter ... Assistant Editor, Pathfinder ...
Downloadable Pathfinder #6 Background
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Your desktop icons will never know what hit them. Click the image above to download.
Pathfinder Chronicles Chat Finds A New Home Tuesday, October 23, 2007The Pathfinder Chronicles chatroom has a new home over at dmtools.org, making it easier than ever to log in, hang out, and avoid your other responsibilities. Just visit http://chat.dmtools.org, enter a username, and you're ready to go—no internet savvy required! Plus, in addition to chillin' in real-time with some of your favorite Paizo messageboard regulars, stop by every Tuesday at roughly 8:00 PM Pacific Standard...
Pathfinder Chronicles Chat Finds A New Home
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
The Pathfinder Chronicles chatroom has a new home over at dmtools.org, making it easier than ever to log in, hang out, and avoid your other responsibilities. Just visit http://chat.dmtools.org, enter a username, and you're ready to go—no internet savvy required! Plus, in addition to chillin' in real-time with some of your favorite Paizo messageboard regulars, stop by every Tuesday at roughly 8:00 PM Pacific Standard Time to chat with folks like Erik Mona, James Jacobs, Jason Bulmahn, and numerous other members of the Paizo creative team. Get previews of what's coming, further detail on the topics you're most curious about, and most importantly, a chance for you to give your feedback directly to the folks who make the decisions in a fun, casual atmosphere. See you there!
PF5 Cover and Wallpaper! Monday, October 22, 2007Last week you saw Wayne's awesome white dragon fight for the cover of Pathfinder #5. This week, we've brought you the whole thing as a downloadable desktop wallpaper—including the newest iconic! Who is this well-equipped wizard? Only time (and, perhaps, a blog post in the imminent future) will tell.... ... James Sutter ... Assistant Editor, Pathfinder
PF5 Cover and Wallpaper!
Monday, October 22, 2007
Last week you saw Wayne's awesome white dragon fight for the cover of Pathfinder #5. This week, we've brought you the whole thing as a downloadable desktop wallpaper—including the newest iconic! Who is this well-equipped wizard? Only time (and, perhaps, a blog post in the imminent future) will tell....
Happy Blogiversary! Thursday, October 18, 2007As of Friday, October 19th, the Paizo Blog will have been in action for six whole months. There's been laughter, there've been tears (mostly mine), there've been sneak previews, setting information, contests, and a boatload of new art, and it's generally been a good time for all involved. ... But now we're coming up on that crucial six-month mark, that time in every relationship where we have to look hard at each other and ask some serious...
Happy Blogiversary!
Thursday, October 18, 2007
As of Friday, October 19th, the Paizo Blog will have been in action for six whole months. There's been laughter, there've been tears (mostly mine), there've been sneak previews, setting information, contests, and a boatload of new art, and it's generally been a good time for all involved.
But now we're coming up on that crucial six-month mark, that time in every relationship where we have to look hard at each other and ask some serious questions: Are you satisfied? Are your needs being met? Do you think this blog has what it takes to keep you interested in the long run, or are we just a casual thing?
To let us know what you like most about the blog, where we could improve, and what you'd like to see more of in the months to come, head on over to the Blog Feedback thread on our messageboards and make your needs known—communication is, after all, the key to a healthy relationship, and we'd really like to make this work....
You got GameMastery in my Dragonlance! Monday, October 1, 2007 While seeing folks play in our campaign world is of course the biggest compliment we can receive, here at Paizo, we understand that many people have been playing in alternative game worlds for a long time, and simply aren't interested in switching over. As a result, we're always excited when we hear about someone getting jazzed enough about our products to mine out ideas or convert them over to their favorite setting. ... Thus...
You got GameMastery in my Dragonlance!
Monday, October 1, 2007
While seeing folks play in our campaign world is of course the biggest compliment we can receive, here at Paizo, we understand that many people have been playing in alternative game worlds for a long time, and simply aren't interested in switching over. As a result, we're always excited when we hear about someone getting jazzed enough about our products to mine out ideas or convert them over to their favorite setting.
Thus it was with great enthusiasm that we stumbled across this article over at the fan site Dragonlance Nexus, all about converting the kobolds introduced in D1: Crown of the Kobold King for use in your Dragonlance game. If you're a Dragonlance fan—and there are certainly a few of them around here—hit it up and check out the author's thoughts on the kobolds' religion, subraces, and more.
And if there's something else from the Pathfinder Chronicles campaign setting that you've been using in your Dragonlance game... why not submit it to the Nexus and spread the wealth?
Attack of the Pod(cast) People!—Final Wave—Mike Selinker
Attack of the Pod(cast) People! Final Wave—Mike Selinker Wednesday, September 26, 2007Today's final installment of the Paizo Podcast Explosion features Titanic Games mastermind Mike Selinker chatting with the good folks over at Pulp Gamer's Inside Track about everything from curling to geocaching... plus, of course, some discussion of Stonehenge and the Nocturne Expansion, as well as a preview of Titanic's latest venture, a gorgeous new game called Key Largo. Head on over to the Pulp...
Attack of the Pod(cast) People!
Final Wave—Mike Selinker
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Today's final installment of the Paizo Podcast Explosion features Titanic Games mastermind Mike Selinker chatting with the good folks over at Pulp Gamer's Inside Track about everything from curling to geocaching... plus, of course, some discussion of Stonehenge and the Nocturne Expansion, as well as a preview of Titanic's latest venture, a gorgeous new game called Key Largo. Head on over to the Pulp Gamer site to check it out.
Attack of the Pod(cast) People!—Second Wave—James Jacobs
... Attack of the Pod(cast) People! Second Wave—James JacobsAs promised yesterday, we continue our podcast blitzkrieg today with an interview with Pathfinder Editor-in-Chief James Jacobs! In this in-depth conversation with the host of The Tome, a D&D-focused radio-show, Jacobs discusses his long and distinguished history with D&D, the end of Paizo's Dungeon and Dragon licenses, and the shape of the new RPG world to come. Head over to The Tome's website here to give it a listen. James...
Attack of the Pod(cast) People!
Second Wave—James Jacobs
As promised yesterday, we continue our podcast blitzkrieg today with an interview with Pathfinder Editor-in-Chief James Jacobs! In this in-depth conversation with the host of The Tome, a D&D-focused radio-show, Jacobs discusses his long and distinguished history with D&D, the end of Paizo's Dungeon and Dragon licenses, and the shape of the new RPG world to come. Head over to The Tome's website here to give it a listen.
Attack of the Pod(cast) People!—First Wave—Erik Mona
... Attack of the Pod(cast) People! First Wave—Erik Mona Monday, September 24, 2007In recent weeks, members of the design staff here at Paizo have been doing a number of podcast interviews with various gaming-themed radio shows, and they're now becoming available to the general public. They're super easy to access—just click and listen—so why not drop by and hear what the imaginations behind Pathfinder, GameMastery, and more have to say about the future of the industry? ......
Attack of the Pod(cast) People!
First Wave—Erik Mona
Monday, September 24, 2007
In recent weeks, members of the design staff here at Paizo have been doing a number of podcast interviews with various gaming-themed radio shows, and they're now becoming available to the general public. They're super easy to access—just click and listen—so why not drop by and hear what the imaginations behind Pathfinder, GameMastery, and more have to say about the future of the industry?
Kicking things off, Erik Mona sat down with Chris Pramas of Green Ronin to discuss the announcement of 4th edition and what that means for the Open Game License and d20 publishing, which leads them into a discussion of Paizo's new ventures, high-level play, and more. And of course, it wouldn't be Erik without a significant foray into the "storied history of Greyhawk."
Click here to check out the 73-minute behemoth (guaranteed to keep your brain alive at work through that long post-lunch lull!) and get the inside dirt from the best possible source. And stay tuned for tomorrow, when we'll be back with more from Mr. James Jacobs, dungeon designer extraordinaire....
Create-A-Monster Contest! Friday, September 14, 2007The folks over at The Saving Throw are launching a new monster design contest, and they've picked Paizo Publisher Erik Mona and Pathfinder Editor-in-Chief James Jacobs to be their celebrity judges. Read on to find out how you can win some swag and gain serious bragging rights! ... From The Saving Throw: ... Ever fancied yourself a master monster creator? Ever built a monster solely for the thrill of the TPK? Now is your chance to use that...
Create-A-Monster Contest!
Friday, September 14, 2007
The folks over at The Saving Throw are launching a new monster design contest, and they've picked Paizo Publisher Erik Mona and Pathfinder Editor-in-Chief James Jacobs to be their celebrity judges. Read on to find out how you can win some swag and gain serious bragging rights!
From The Saving Throw:
Ever fancied yourself a master monster creator? Ever built a monster solely for the thrill of the TPK? Now is your chance to use that skill to score yourself some loot. Simply submit your monster, template, or new race to savingthrow@rpgamer.com. Be sure to include stats, a sample monster, a detailed description, and any other information such as tactics, ecology, and lore regarding the monster. Sketches are not necessary, but feel free to include them. The Saving Throw staff will narrow the submissions down to seven and then our guest celebrity judges, Erik Mona and James Jacobs, will choose a grand prize winner and runner up. We have a copy of Expedition to the Ruins of Greyhawk, autographed by the authors Erik Mona, James Jacobs, and Jason Bulmahn, and the other prize we have is a copy of Shadowdale: The Scouring of the Land. The grand prize winner has his or her choice of which title they want.
Rules:
1. All submitted materials must be submitted by October 7th at 11:59:59 PM PDT.
2. All submitted materials must conform to OGL/3.5 rules.
3. By submitting an entry in this contest, you give RPGamer the right to post said materials on www.rpgamer.com.
4. Winners will be notified via email on or before October 15th, 2007.
5. Winners must respond by within three business days, or another winner will be selected.
6. Judges' decisions are final.
7. This contest is open to anyone with a valid email address and valid mailing address, except for the employees of RPGamer and their immediate families, and the celebrity judges and their immediate families.
Pathfinder #4 Cover... and Desktop! Thursday, August 30, 2007In the past, each time we've shown off the cover to a new volume of Pathfinder, we've been immediately deluged with requests for it as a downloadable desktop background, which we inevitably put up a few days later. This time we figured: why wait? After all, there's a long weekend coming up, and we wouldn't want your monitor to have to go without new Wayne Reynolds art for all that time. So here it is: the cover to Pathfinder #4,...
Pathfinder #4 Cover... and Desktop!
Thursday, August 30, 2007
In the past, each time we've shown off the cover to a new volume of Pathfinder, we've been immediately deluged with requests for it as a downloadable desktop background, which we inevitably put up a few days later. This time we figured: why wait? After all, there's a long weekend coming up, and we wouldn't want your monitor to have to go without new Wayne Reynolds art for all that time. So here it is: the cover to Pathfinder #4, featuring everyone's favorite butt-kicking cleric of Sarenrae, Kyra. Looking at the stone giants Wayne's dreamed up for us, it's kind of amazing the heroes ever win, isn't it?
Gen Con Field Report Day 4 Sunday, August 19, 2007The end is upon us! ... Gen Con has come to a close and we're a bizarre blend of happy and sad to see it stop. We're happy to finally be off our feet and sipping cold drinks by the pool and sad to leave behind a throng of interesting and fun readers, fans, and gamers as we make our way back home tomorrow. ... Sunday is the day of last resort as attendees cram the show floor to buy everything that piqued their curiosity the days before. Our...
Gen Con Field Report Day 4
Sunday, August 19, 2007
The end is upon us!
Gen Con has come to a close and we're a bizarre blend of happy and sad to see it stop. We're happy to finally be off our feet and sipping cold drinks by the pool and sad to leave behind a throng of interesting and fun readers, fans, and gamers as we make our way back home tomorrow.
Sunday is the day of last resort as attendees cram the show floor to buy everything that piqued their curiosity the days before. Our booth has seen steady business all day and the early indicators are that this will be the best Gen Con Paizo has ever had.
Paizo Publishing had the distinct honor to sponsor Nick Logue's Iron DM event last night. Yesterday's blog was written before the Iron DM finale and we were excited to present awards to the runners up as well as the grand prize to Iron Dungeon Master "Ancient Sensei," an amazing DM who came in second place last year (by two-tenths of a point on their grading scale) and just edged out the winner of the past two Iron DM events, Iron Dungeon Master "Dreads." This year's ingredients were river rapids, Rakshasas, and redemption; "Ancient Sensei" did not disappoint with his first-hour TPK followed by a trip to hell where his players had to redeem themselves to return to life. Paizo was proud to give the top three Iron DMs a pile of GameMastery goodness, including autographed copies of GameMastery Modules D1 and W1. Ancient Sensei also received Paizo's "secret" prizes which included a copy of D2: Seven Swords of Sin autographed by nearly every Paizo employee who wrote a room for the module, and a huge sword donated by KingofSwords.com. You can learn more about Nick Logue's Iron DM by visiting irondm.com. We can't wait to sponsor this event again next year!
I can hear the angelic sounds of gaming through my hotel room door so I must heed the call and hastily beat a path to dice rolling. I hope you've enjoyed my four-day look into the Gen Con experience from the eyes of Paizo Publishing—it was fun to put together, so I hope it was fun to read.
Until next year!
Joshua J. Frost
Director of Sales & Marketing
The three winners of this year's Iron DM (from left to right): two-time champion and this year's second place finisher, Iron Dungeon Master "Dreads;" this year's champion, Iron Dungeon Master "Ancient Sensei;" and third place finisher Iron Dungeon Master "Necessary Evil."
Nicolas Logue signs a copy of D1: Crown of the Kobold King.
Erik Mona waits for the results of a critical die roll as he runs the Seven Swords of Sin Dungeon Delve.
The Seven Swords of Sin Dungeon Delve was never without lines or a crowd of onlookers.
The race for Most Deaths is a close one! As of this morning, Customer Service Enforcer Cosmo Eisele and Paizo Publisher Erik Mona were tied for the most player characters killed in their rooms.
Board #1 as of this morning. The dots are where PCs died.
Board #2 as of this morning.
Paizo's youngest fans were on hand to demo Stonehenge: An Anthology Board Game.
Steve Greer expounds on the importance of good dice-rolling while exploring a dungeon.
James, Erik, and Wes talk about Pathfinder and Paizo's upcoming Pathfinder Chronicles campaign setting.
Gen Con Field Report Day 3 Saturday, August 18, 2007Today was another hectic day in the booth! Saturday has the reputation as the busiest day of the con and today was no exception. Paizo's booth was buzzing with the news of our awards last night at the ENnies—we took home two gold medals for GameMastery Flip-Mat: Tavern (the second year in a row a Flip-Mat has won a gold ENnie) and the Savage Tide Player's Guide free download and our partner company, Open Mind Games, took home a...
Gen Con Field Report Day 3
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Today was another hectic day in the booth! Saturday has the reputation as the busiest day of the con and today was no exception. Paizo's booth was buzzing with the news of our awards last night at the ENnies—we took home two gold medals for GameMastery Flip-Mat: Tavern (the second year in a row a Flip-Mat has won a gold ENnie) and the Savage Tide Player's Guide free download and our partner company, Open Mind Games, took home a much-deserved silver ENnie for the awesome GameMastery Combat Pad.
We also had Gary Gygax back on hand with us signing The Anubis Murders, as well as Larry Elmore signing the final print issue of Dragon, and our own Paizo editors signing their works as well. James, Wes, Jason, and Jeremy signed a good deal of autographs and it was nice to see the readers and fans patting these guys on the back for their amazing work on Dragon, Dungeon, and Paizo's GameMastery and Pathfinder lines.
Today was also Nicolas Logue's Iron DM. Nick runs this event every year and its reputation as one awesome gaming experience has increased its attendance year-over-year. Iron DM saw 15 Dungeon Masters and over 130 players this year. If you're not familiar with the event, Iron DM is modeled after the Iron Chef television series: DMs get one hour to write an entire adventure using three "ingredients" that Nick reveals at the last second. Once the adventure is written, the DMs find their randomly assigned table of players and begin. The event is often interrupted by mini-games called Player Olympics, wherein the players must compete table-against-table to win prizes and fame. At the end of the day, the Iron DM who receives the best review scores from his or her players wins the crown. Paizo Publishing was proud to sponsor this event, and we gave away buckets of GameMastery items as prizes. I have a video of Nick introducing one of the Iron DMs that I'll upload to YouTube when I return to the office. Nick is most definitely a character and his Iron DM event was a blast.
Tomorrow is our final day at Gen Con and, though my tired feet wish its end, it would be great if the gaming and fun could continue on for another four days.
And now, pictures!
James Jacobs, Erik Mona, and Jason Bulmahn show off Paizo's two gold ENnies after last night's awards ceremony.
Ryan and Amber from Open Mind Games show off their silver ENnie.
Dragon #359 cover artist Larry Elmore and Erik Mona pause for a picture during Larry's magazine signing.
Paizo is always proud to host the folks from Dead Gentlemen Productions in our booth! These fine folks are (from the left): Jen Page from The Gamers: Dorkness Rising (Female Luster), Steve Wolbrecht from The Gamers: Dorkness Rising (Nodwick), Don Early (Executive Producer of The Gamers: Dorkness Rising) and Chris Dupenthaler from The Gamers (Mark the Berserker) and The Gamers: Dorkness Rising (Mark).
Paizo's prize table for Nick Logue's Iron DM contest.
Nick diligently copying down deeply personal information about an Iron DM so that he can embarrass and crush him later.
Gary Gygax returns!
This time, he came with a HUGE line! (That's Paizo's Jeremy Walker standing behind him.)
Gen Con Field Report Day Two Friday, August 17, 2007The second day of any four-day convention is typically referred to as the slow day. Retailers and manufacturers complain that nearly every year their business is down, the crowds are down, and Friday is generally a light day. Eager four-day attendees are typically seen swarming the Dealer Hall on Thursday to get the awesome Gen Con exclusives (such as Paizo's alternate Pathfinder #1 cover) and those folks are more inclined to game and rest...
Gen Con Field Report Day Two
Friday, August 17, 2007
The second day of any four-day convention is typically referred to as the "slow day." Retailers and manufacturers complain that nearly every year their business is down, the crowds are down, and Friday is generally a light day. Eager four-day attendees are typically seen swarming the Dealer Hall on Thursday to get the awesome Gen Con exclusives (such as Paizo's alternate Pathfinder #1 cover) and those folks are more inclined to game and rest on Friday. Then the two-day crowd hits with the four-day crowd on Saturday and the show floor turns into a zoo.
Today was slow for us, but we're only able to say so because yesterday was such a huge hit. Pathfinder and GameMastery Modules continue to do very well and I'm pleased to report that our first three Planet Stories novels (The Anubis Murders, City of the Beast, and Black God's Kiss) are selling very well and their positive reception has been exciting to see.
Speaking of The Anubis Murders, Gary Gygax was on hand this afternoon for 90 minutes signing copies of his book and generally anything people asked him to sign. "Keep on the Borderlands" got several Gygax-o-graphs as did the original hardcover Monster Manual, current editions of the core system, badges, convention on-site books—you name it. Someone jokingly asked Gary to sign their baby and he would've done so, graciously, had they not told him it was a joke. He was a nice guy and it was a real honor to meet him. One quick story about his session in the booth today: a guy walked up, looked at his book and said, "Hmm, Anubis Murders, I'm not familiar with your work. I'll have to go look it up." Gary gave him a stern, reproachful look and said, "Try Dungeons & Dragons." Needless to say, the guy looked very sheepish as he fled the scene.
We also had the pleasure of Wayne Reynolds' presence in our booth today, signing copies of the poster included with Dragon #359. He modeled Pathfinder #1 for us, as you'll see below.
The number one question on everyone's mind, of course, was "What does Paizo think of 4th Edition?" We heard this often and our response was the same each time: we're excited to see it, but we know just as much about it as you do. I can report that WotC intends to have an OGL with 4th Edition and that Paizo's eager to learn more, but that does not put us closer to a decision—it only puts us in need of more research and discussion. Rest assured, the moment we make a decision we'll scream it to the four corners of the multiverse.
And now, pictures!
A beholder watches over the crowd as they prepare to hear WotC's 4E announcement.
Jungle James!
Eric Boyd says farewell to the final print version of Dragon magazine.
F. Wesley Schneider and Michael Kortes talk about Paizo's products.
Erik Mona, Gary Gygax, and Greg Vaughan.
Amber Scott (Medesha on the messageboards) holding up her very own copy of Paizo's Gen Con exclusive Pathfinder #1.
The following is a picture-by-picture example of the many forms of the martial arts employed by the mighty and unstoppable Nicolas Logue as he GMs the Seven Swords of Sin Dungeon Delve.
Rhinoceros Style.
Chicken Claw!
Bear Growl.
Dyn-o-mite. (I recorded five minutes of Nick running the delve. It'll be on YouTube and this blog very soon.)
Tim Hitchcock, Nicolas Logue, and Michael Kortes talking about GameMastery and Pathfinder.
The incredibly talented Wayne Reynolds modeling the covers he sketched and painted.
Jason Bulmahn demos "Stonehenge Roulette," the game he wrote for the Stonehenge Library.
Tomorrow: Larry Elmore stops by to sign the final Dragon cover!
Gen Con Field Report Day One Thursday, August 16, 2007Hello from Gen Con! ... It's broiler hot, the humidity makes you feel like you're walking through a warm pond, and the bodies are stacked so close in the hall when someone trips in aisle 14 the domino effects doesn't stop until aisle 37. ... And that's awesome! ... We're having one of our best first days at a con ever and it's in no small part due to the crush of Paizo readers and fans that have mobbed our booth to look at and purchase...
Gen Con Field Report Day One
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Hello from Gen Con!
It's broiler hot, the humidity makes you feel like you're walking through a warm pond, and the bodies are stacked so close in the hall when someone trips in aisle 14 the domino effects doesn't stop until aisle 37.
And that's awesome!
We're having one of our best first days at a con ever and it's in no small part due to the crush of Paizo readers and fans that have mobbed our booth to look at and purchase Pathfinder, to play in our Seven Swords of Sin Dungeon Delve, or to watch the latest Dead Gentlemen video. Our booth is busy busy busy and we love it!
Of course, the con is buzzing about the Wizards announcement to take place at 6:30 P.M. Eastern tonight. We're all aware by now that they're announcing 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons tonight and the Paizo staff plans to be in full attendance to usher in the news. Many of you have asked us, "Will Pathfinder/Modules/Paizo/etc switch to 4th edition?" Our response is this: We haven't seen 4th Edition, but we feel that we have a good gauge of our fan base and if we think it's something they will like and support then it's something we will like and support. We always take our readers' and fans' feedback seriously and we'll take feedback on this potential transition doubly so. We hope to have more information soon and we'll let everyone know the moment we've come to a decision.
Now, pictures!
F. Wesley Schneider prepares to kill willing players at our Seven Swords of Sin Dungeon Delve.
Paizo's Seven Swords of Sin Dungeon Delve is sponsored by KingofSwords.com. Naturally, that means they gave us seven swords to give away to seven lucky delvers!
A quick shot of the Paizo booth straight down the middle.
James Jacobs poses with a mysterious figure from the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path.
Paizo.com messageboard regular Lilith (wearing the light grey shirt) prepares to lead Kill Doctor Lucky first-timers on a quest to kill a sorry old man.
James Jacobs and F. Wesley Schneider hold court as they enlighten the uninitiated about the glories of Pathfinder.
An ever-moving and easily blurred Jason Bulmahn rolls the dice to determine one unlucky player's fate in our Seven Swords of Sin Dungeon Delve.
Tomorrow: Gygax, pictures from the 4E announcement (we hope!), and more!
ENnies Voting Open! Monday, July 16, 2007Voting for the coveted ENnies awards, presented each year at GenCon Indy for excellence in the RPG field, is now open to the public! Voters need not be members of EN World—merely visit http://www.ennieawards.com/voting.html to cast your lot and make your opinion known. This year, Paizo has been nominated in a number of different categories, including: ... Best Miniature Product—Flip-Mat: Tavern ... Best Regalia—Art of Dragon ... Best...
ENnies Voting Open!
Monday, July 16, 2007
Voting for the coveted ENnies awards, presented each year at GenCon Indy for excellence in the RPG field, is now open to the public! Voters need not be members of EN World—merely visit http://www.ennieawards.com/voting.html to cast your lot and make your opinion known. This year, Paizo has been nominated in a number of different categories, including:
...plus an honorable mention for the Age of Worms Adventure Path as Best Adventure. So what are you waiting for? Get to the polls and let your voice be heard!
In His Own Words Wednesday, May 2, 2007Last night, Publisher Erik Mona dropped by the #pathfinder chat on the OtherWorlds IRC Network to talk frankly with fans about Pathfinder, GameMastery, and the presence of Gary Gygax himself in the Paizo booth at the upcoming GenCon. To read a fan summary of the discussion, click here. Want to get in on the conversation yourself? Tuesday nights (in the USA) are the weekly chance for Pathfinder fans, writers, and occasionally us editor types to meet up...
In His Own Words
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Last night, Publisher Erik Mona dropped by the #pathfinder chat on the OtherWorlds IRC Network to talk frankly with fans about Pathfinder, GameMastery, and the presence of Gary Gygax himself in the Paizo booth at the upcoming GenCon. To read a fan summary of the discussion, click here.
Want to get in on the conversation yourself? Tuesday nights (in the USA) are the weekly chance for Pathfinder fans, writers, and occasionally us editor types to meet up and discuss the future of the Paizo product line, campaign setting, and more in realtime. Visit http://irc.otherworlders.org/chat/cf.php and enter #pathfinder as the channel, or direct your chat client (such as mIRC) to:
