From the Publisher: Changes Are Coming!

Friday, November 2, 2012

As we move into the last two months of 2012, the editorial staff is hard at work on the playtest for next year’s Mythic Adventures, the warehouse staff is eagerly awaiting the arrival of our big winter hardcover, the NPC Codex, and the web team is cranking away at the exciting new Paizo Game Space virtual tabletop. Everyone has smiles on their face as they complete major tasks for 2012 and as they begin to think about what’s coming in 2013.

The management and finance teams, in the meantime, are hard at work finalizing 2013’s budget. This multi-month process involves solidifying the editorial schedule for the year, making go or no-go decisions on marketing programs, new employee hires, and everything else with a cost associated with it. While we always remain open to new opportunities on short deadlines, when the budget for a year closes, you end up with a good snapshot of every product, employee, convention, or other initiative we plan to do in the year. It’s a time when things get locked in, and when decisions can no longer be put off into the future.

As a result, it’s the best time to make important changes to Paizo’s product lines and general strategy. Since we’re about to put the lid on the 2012 budget, I wanted to take some time here in the Paizo Blog to speak with my “publisher voice” and let you in on a few important developments that are scheduled to hit in 2013.

Branding Changes for GameMastery

Paizo’s line of GameMastery accessories dates back to the time before Pathfinder, when we were a magazine publisher just dipping our toes into the RPG game publishing field for the first time. The maps and card products released under the GameMastery line were designed to work with any fantasy RPG, and we wanted a name for the line that suggested the widest appeal to the widest number of customers, regardless of what system they played. Since its launch, we’ve released more than 100 Map Packs and Flip-Mats, and dozens of Item Cards, Face Cards, and other card-based accessories to help you run your campaigns.

Card and map subscriptions are at an all-time high, and the design department keeps finding ways to make each release improve upon those that came before it. We have plenty of terrain types, dungeon maps, and other settings yet to go, and if anything the rate of card sets will increase in the future. We now plan to produce a set of Item Cards and Face Cards for every Adventure Path we publish, with additional rules-oriented releases similar to Chase Cards, Condition Cards, and the Critical Hit deck in development as I write this.

As time has gone on, and as the Pathfinder RPG has become not just a dominant brand here at the Paizo offices but also in the game industry in general, more and more of our GameMastery accessory releases have started to tie into Pathfinder adventures or the Pathfinder rules themselves. As a result, we’ve decided to retire the GameMastery brand, and beginning in February of next year, GameMastery Map Packs, Flip-Mats, and Card releases will come out under the Pathfinder brand.

This change allows us to reexamine how we package our maps, and gives us the chance to improve them to make using the products easier. For Flip-Mats this means packaging the maps with a wrap-around cover similar to the one used for our Pathfinder GM Screen, which gives us more space to preview what the maps look like, highlight key features, and (really importantly) to allow customers (and retailers) to shelve their maps “spine out” for easier sorting. Map Packs will feature a similar packaging metamorphosis, and will now come in a small box for easier storage and display.

Many (even most) of Pathfinder Map Pack, Flip-Mat, and Card releases will still be “rules agnostic” and suitable for use with a variety of systems, but the truth is that the Pathfinder brand has a cachet with buyers, distributors, and customers that GameMastery does not, and this change will allow us to get our products into a wider network of stores. When they make it into those stores, they’ll also be shelved with other Pathfinder products, making it easier than ever for Paizo fans to find what they’re looking for.

Pricing Changes

A close look at our budgets has convinced us that we need to make some price changes on some of our product lines to keep up with rising production costs. Starting in February 2013, Pathfinder Map Packs and Pathfinder Flip-Mats will rise in price from $12.99 to $13.99.

Also starting in February, the monthly Pathfinder Adventure Path volumes, which have held steady in price for 66 consecutive volumes, will increase to $22.99 (subscribers will pay the new discounted price of $15.99, plus their other subscription benefits like the Pathfinder Advantage discount and free PDFs). Additionally, the monthly Pathfinder Player Companion line will shift from $10.99 to $12.99.

This is the first time we have ever raised prices on the Adventure Path, and we agonized over the decision. In truth, we probably should have raised the price a few years back when the cost of paper and printing increased with inflation and increased global demand at the end of 2008, but we wanted to hold the line as long as possible. We must do it now to keep the high standard of quality we publish each month, and we hope that you’ll find the few extra bucks well worth the investment.

Keep your eyes on the Paizo Blog for more updates about upcoming products and exciting new releases for 2013. It promises to be a huge year for Paizo and the Pathfinder RPG, and we can’t wait to share some of our exciting plans with you.

Your support has been integral to the Paizo story these last 10 years, and we look forward to sharing the next 10 years with you!

Sincerely,

Erik Mona
Publisher

P.S.: Look for your regularly scheduled Friday Pathfinder Battles miniature preview blog right here later this afternoon.

Synergistic Maps

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

When I'm not working on the next upcoming hardback rulebook, or apps, or whatever needs to be done around this place, my mind is on maps. While the talented Jason Engle makes our Flip-Mat and Map Packs gorgeous, I'm the guy who dreams up what goes on those maps and how they work together. And that's a fun job!

For the past year and a half I've been working hard to make these lines as fun and useful as possible. I've worked to make many of our Map Packs more modular, so that you, the GM, can build the kind of complexes and adventure sites that dance around your imagination. I've also been working to create synergies (excuse my use of such an overused and often misused term) among these products whenever possible.

For example, if you have both Map Pack: Marketplace and Map Pack: Rooftops, you'll notice that you can use them to create large and evocative city spaces. I like running urban adventures, and I'm a sucker for mapping aids that will help me illustrate the twisting alleyways that serve as the stage for a chase, gang war, or a run-in with local bravos with more guts than brains. When we put these products on the schedule I wanted to create the product that I always wanted, and that I figured a lot of you would want too.

But there are other types of synergies within current mapping products. Lately we have worked to have some of our maps fit well with some of our Adventure Paths. The latest ship maps provide the layout for the chief vessels the PCs command in the Skull & Shackles Adventure Path, and Flip-Mat: Town Square provides two chief encounter locations within the town of Sandpoint for those of you running Rise of the Runelords. The goal of this type of synergy is to give a tool to GMs who are running Adventure Paths, without making the maps so specific that they're hard to use for those GMs who aren't.

The question I pose to you all on this fine autumn Tuesday is, "Are we on the right track?" Do you like the synergies in the mapping products? Have you noticed them? Are we going far enough? Let me know your mind on this matter and help me to create the best products for your Pathfinder game.

Stephen Radney-MacFarland
Designer

Carnage at Your Fingertips

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Do you like your combats bloody? When you score a critical hit or your enemy fumbles, do you want viscera to spray across the screen in you mind? Do you like the sound of your vanquished foe’s body slam against the walls of that cliff you threw him down? Then you probably already have the GameMastery Critical Hit Deck and Critical Fumble Deck. Paizo now offers them in digital form, as the iCrit and iFumble apps and they are available for both iPhone and Android.

The iPhone versions of these apps have been up for a while. Many of you have already downloaded them and we’re glad you like it. We hope the Android users will be just as pleased with the new versions.

This is the beginning. We are moving forward with more digital tools. We want to make tools that are useful and fun. We want to make tools that you will use and love because they aid the game you love to play.

We have some ideas. We have some secret plans. But you folks have an opinion on everything, and as a group, you folks buy nearly everything. What do you want to see in future phone and tablet tools for Pathfinder?

Stephen Radney-MacFarland
Designer

Ultimate Equipment: What's Missing?

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Now that we’re wrapping up the last of the Advanced Race Guide, the design team is starting to work on Ultimate Equipment. This hardcover will cover all kinds of mundane and magical items for the Pathfinder RPG. As we have a little time before the text goes over to the editors, we’d like to give you one last chance to provide feedback for the book. Is there a kind of magic item that you’d like to see in this book? Is there an item category that’s lacking? Is there a class or game mechanic that is underrepresented in the item lists? Leave your feedback to this blog entry and we’ll see what else we can cram into the book!

Edit: Just to clarify, this book is basically a "shopping catalogue" of items fantasy adventurers may want to own and have a reasonable chance of purchasing. It isn't introducing any new rule systems or subsystems (such as legacy weapons), rework character wealth by level or the problems with the "big six" magic items, or introduce new magic item slots, new classes or archetypes, clarifications or expansions of the crafting or magic item pricing rules, castles and furniture, shift existing items to different slots, include magical equivalents of technological items (cell phones, portable stoves), items that duplicate or invalidate class abilities or feats, or futuristic weapons. We are adding new magic items to every single magic item slot. In particular, we'd like to know if there are any mundane items, weapons, or armor that fill a niche which isn't already covered in the game.

Illustrations by Kieran Yanner
for GameMastery Item Cards: Skull & Shackles

Sean K Reynolds
Designer

Design Blog: Flashbacks

January 24, 2012

Illustrations by Emrah Elmasli

This week we’re shipping Game Mastery Plot Twist Cards: Flashbacks, a sequel to the original Plot Twist Cards deck. The point of using Plot Twist Cards is to break out of the mindset that you have to have a precise rule for everything that happened, happens, or could happen in a game. You don’t have to explain why the paladin never mentioned his days as a street thief, or how the “Abyssal bloodline” sorcerer is suddenly manifesting nagalike powers. In a world where magic is real, genetics are subservient to magic, and a spell can create or alter memories, revealing a previously unknown backstory is easy.

Designer Rob Heinsoo and I call this the “soap opera reveal” of character development—as in, “your grandfather wasn’t a powerful sorcerer—he was actually a demon!” Amnesia, secret plans for vengeance, evil twins, clones, demonic possession, dream sequences, mind control, undiscovered siblings, psychic visions, and characters coming back from the dead are all perfectly plausible elements of a Pathfinder campaign. James Jacobs used a derro lab full of clones of Wes Schneider’s character in the Shadow under Sandpoint campaign. Monte Cook used a memory-erasing witch to have his Praemal campaign PCs re-explore a lair they had already explored. Chris Perkins played identity-switching twin elf brothers in Monte’s original Ptolus campaign. I used a dream sequence orchestrated by mi-go to retcon some campaign-derailing events in my Exiles of Zirnakaynin campaign caused by “evil sibling” Rob McCreary and James’s demon-possessed bard.

Using narrative tools like this, even though there aren’t specific rules for them (What’s the saving throw DC to resist a dream sequence? What’s the Perception DC to realize your ally is actually her evil twin?) lets a GM create interesting story arcs for a campaign. Likewise, a player can use these tools to explain gaining an unusual ability, feat, spell, or even something as mundane as suddenly investing 5 skill ranks in a new skill. For gamers hesitant to go outside the bounds of the rules, Plot Twist cards give players and GMs a way to fiddle with bits of the story under agreed-upon constraints.

(As a side note: The woman in the Shadenfreude card illustration is based on Paizo Art Director Sarah Robinson. I can neither confirm nor deny that the illustration is based on an actual event.)

How have you used flashbacks, amnesia, twins/doppelgangers, and similar “soap opera reveals” in your campaign? Would you like to see more examples of doing this, or rules establishing a framework for doing so?

Sean K Reynolds
Paizo Designer

Mapping the Path

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

I’ll be honest with you. I love maps. I always have, so when Erik, Wes, and Jason asked me if I wanted to start designing the Map Packs and Flip-Maps for the GameMastery line, I just yelled, “Gimme!” Then I ran away, laughing manically with my new toy.

This is a section of the “artwork” I sent to Jason for Flip-Mat: Pirate Ship. It’s ugly, but gets the point across, which is the purpose of the sketch.

By designing maps, I don’t mean that I actually do the cartography. That’s a job for far more artistically savvy folk, like the talented Jason Engle, who is currently doing the artistic heavy lifting for these products. But before we can have Jason do his magic, there is a lot of work and planning that goes into each of these products. This week, I’m going to hijack the blog to shed some light on the process of designing a GameMastery Map Pack or Flip-Mat product.

Each map product starts out as a vague concept on the product schedule. I say vague concept, but there is actually a lot of thought that goes into the concept phase. A few of us sit around the table, look at the current map products we have available, determine which ones sold well, which ones didn’t, and rifle though the Paizo messageboards about such products and see what kind of things the fans liked, what they didn’t, and what kind of things they would like to see in the future. Often, a Map Pack or a Flip-Mat is meant to complement Pathfinder products set for release around the same period of time.

For instance, both the upcoming Map Pack: Ship’s Cabins and the Flip-Mat: Pirate Ship were expressly designed to complement the Skull & Shackles Adventure Path. Sure, each of these products features cool ships that you could use in any campaign, but each one also details ships that the PCs actually use in that Adventure Path. Because of this dual purpose, I worked closely with Rob McCreary (Adventure Path developer extraordinaire) to make sure that each map product would have everything that he and the AP designers would need for that project. This give-and-take started with Rob giving me preliminary information about the AP adventures, particularly encounters taking place on the various ships. From there, I put together rough sketches of the maps and had Rob give me feedback on them. That feedback often forced me to go back to the drawing board, create a new round of rough sketches, and then we would start the process all over again, iterating until everything was right.

Jason Engle’s final product using my rough sketch and area descriptions as direction. The final product is beautiful and spot on. Jason rocks!

While the maps connected to the Skull & Shackles Adventure Path were a little more cooperation-intensive than most map projects, every early map product process starts with brainstorming, rough sketching, and making sure all the stakeholders are happy with the initial map design. Once that’s achieved, the next step is to make those rough sketches something more concrete—more than just a bunch of pencil scribbles on graph paper. They have to be something that an artist can understand clearly and easily. This involves cleaner maps sketched with my set of gaudy-but-striking colored pens and a map order that lists all the important details of the map. These refined rough sketches and the map order then goes to the art department. The art director, Sarah Robinson, then takes a look, makes sure it is as clear as possible, asking me questions about things that seem vague or somewhat questionable, revisions are made again if necessary, and then she sends it to Jason for beautification.

The process does not end there, though. Jason sends us his preliminary work on the maps, usually in the form of a black-and-white “sketch,” which is nearly complete, except for the color. We then take a look at his work, making sure that all of the details presented in my initial drawings and map order are all there, and take a critical eye at the often wondrous details he provides. Once that’s done, we either send a list of small changes or—more often than not—just let Jason know that his work is spot on and then move on to the next step: final or nearly final turnover by the artist.

With the color maps in, we look over them carefully, making sure everything looks gorgeous and the details are correct, and then move on to last-minute approvals from all the stakeholders and the business team. On rare occasions, the map goes back for some last-minute tweaking. When we are all happy with the final result, packaging is designed, and the files get sent to the printer. Lastly, the product gets shipped out to subscribers and distributors. It’s final journey ends with the “ooohs” and “aaahs of players” as GMs everywhere plop the finished product on the game table before uttering that magical phrase, “Roll initiative.”

Stephen Radney-MacFarland
Designer

The GameMastery Guide: Mascots & Masterpieces!

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Aside from a metric ton of advice, new rules, charts, tools, and the like, one thing the GameMastery Guide has in spades is awesome new art! As you might have seen on the snippet from the credits page last week, a horde of fantastic artists contributed to this tome. We also did something a little unusual. Rather than illustrating every topic with our iconic heroes or scenes of battle or whatever have you, Andrew Hou created a host of murderously adorable little mascots. A host of murderously adorable little goblin mascots. So, guiding you through the ins and outs, the perils and the pleasures of the GM's art, you'll find these mischievous little menaces causing all sorts of trouble.

Illustrations by Andrew Hou

But the goblins aren't alone. We've got an entire gallery full of incredible art, with quite a few familiar faces, to preview over the coming weeks. For now, check out a few of our mascots' hijinks, along with a sampling of some of the GameMastery Guide's other full-body illustrations.

Illustrations by Eva Widermann	Illustration by Florian Stitz

Next week, check in for a first look at one of the things sure to get you GMs drooling, a preview of the GameMastery Guide's expansive NPC Gallery.

F. Wesley Schneider
Managing Editor

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:

Best Cover Art
Pathfinder Adventure Path #19: Howl of the Carrion King

Best Adventure
Pathfinder Adventure Path #19: Howl of the Carrion King

Best Campaign Setting
Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting

Best Cartography
Pathfinder Chronicles Second Darkness Map Folio

   

Best Miniatures Product
Game Mastery Flip-Mat: Waterfront Tavern

Best Regalia
Planet Stories: Infernal Sorceress, by Gary Gygax

And a Fan Award for Best Publisher!

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!

Wes Schneider
Managing Editor

Map Pack: Caverns

Friday, June 6, 2008

Water trickles across the floor and drips from the ceiling. Skittering sounds echo from somewhere up ahead and around a corner. The pungent stench of mildew emanates off the wet dungeon walls.

This art sample is but a whiff of what these map tiles may inspire you to tell your players about the dank, dark caverns that they will be traipsing through! The newest addition to the Map Packs line takes adventurers deep into the belly of the world with Map Pack: Caverns. Featuring twists, turns, and troubles for your group, this map pack is the perfect accessory for that delve you've been planning. Map Pack: Caverns will be in stores early July.

Jacob Burgess
Online Retail Coordinator

Map Pack: Slums

Thursday, April 24, 2008

They've delved Dungeon Chambers, braved Haunted Mansions, explored Cities and the Countryside, but nothing has prepared Map Packs for the their latest venture: a look into the dark underbelly of urban life in the Slums. Presenting what is likely the highest rat-to-map-grid ratio of any GameMastery Map Pack, Slums is already available in stores and paizo.com.

Mike McArtor
Editor

Sneak Peek: Into the Slums

Friday, March 21, 2008

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

Chris Self
Paizo Editorial Assistant

New Products Announced

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

This week we announced a slew of new products:

Pathfinder

Pathfinder #14 Second Darkness Chapter 2: "Children of the Void"—A star has fallen from the sky, destroying the island known as the Devil's Elbow. Tasked by a group of elven bounty hunters to investigate a dark elf assassin tied to the catastrophe, the heroes travel to the blasted island only to find it crawling with prospectors, merchants, and mercenaries eager to salvage the legendary "skymetal" sure to have fallen from space.

Pathfinder #15 Second Darkness Chapter 3: "The Armageddon Echo"—Evidence recovered from the devastated island known as the Devil's Elbow indicates that vile dark elves have infiltrated the ruined elven city of Celwynvian. The heroes join forces with the valorous elves of Crying Leaf in an attempt to reclaim the city from darkness.

Pathfinder #16 Second Darkness Chapter 4: "Endless Night"—Disguised as evil dark elves, the heroes penetrate a hidden city in the subterranean Darklands in an effort to discover the drow plan for the coming apocalypse. The possibility of a traitor among the goodly elves of the surface world and the discovery of the heroes' ruse leads to a race through treacherous caverns in a desperate effort to warn allies of impending doom.

Pathfinder #17 Second Darkness Chapter 5: "A Memory of Darkness"—Armed with the knowledge that an elven traitor supplied the drow with the magical means to call down the stars and devastate Golarion, the PCs arrive at the elven nation of Kyonin to find their claims falling on deaf ears.

Pathfinder Chronicles

Pathfinder Chronicles: Gods & Magic—This comprehensive 64-page guidebook provides an overview of the 20 "core" Pathfinder Chronicles gods and their religions, with an emphasis on rules and information players can use at the game table, whether they're playing a zealous cleric, brave paladin, or simply a faithful member of any character class.

Pathfinder Chronicles Item Cards: Second Darkness Deck—This 54-card set allows heroes to keep track of their equipment in style and is completely compatible with all of Paizo's other GameMastery Item Card sets.

Pathfinder Chronicles: Into the Darklands—Delve the deep secrets of the Darklands, a subterranean realm frequented by dark elves, shadow dragons, and worse! This comprehensive sourcebook provides an overview of the cavernous realms below the surface of the Pathfinder Chronicles campaign setting.

Pathfinder Chronicles: Guide to Absalom—The largest and most important metropolis in the Pathfinder Chronicles campaign setting comes alive in this comprehensive guide to the City at the Center of the World!

GameMastery Maps

GameMastery Flip-Mat: Darklands—features a maze of interconnected underworld tunnels. The Flip side features a huge, cavernous chamber.

GameMastery Flip-Mat: Desert—features a majestic desert filled with blowing sands and massive dunes. The Flip side features a desert oasis centered on a small pond and teeming with life.

GameMastery Map Pack: Elven City—Locations include: Treehouse Dwelling, Mystic Arch, Statuary Garden Temple of the Four Winds, and Council of Chambers.

GameMastery Map Pack: Ancient Forest—Locations include: Druid's Glade, Fairy Ring, Overgrown Ruins, Blighted Glen, and Briar Patch.

Planet Stories

The Hounds of Skaith, by Leigh Brackett—Eric John Stark rides again! Leigh Brackett's unforgettable science-fantasy hero of The Secret of Sinharat and The Ginger Star cuts a red swath across the brutal planet Skaith!

The Dark World, by Henry Kuttner—Henry Kuttner's Sword and Sorcery classic returns to print at last! World War II veteran Edward Bond's recuperation from a disastrous fighter plane crash takes a distinct turn for the weird when he encounters a giant wolf, a red witch, and the undeniable power of the need-fire, a portal to a world of magic and swordplay at once terribly new and hauntingly familiar.

Death in Delhi, by Gary Gygax—A giant ruby and a plea to rescue the purloined crown jewels of Delhi arrives at the villa of Magister Setne Inhetep, philosopher-wizard of the Pharaoh of Aegypt!

Carolyn Mull
Paizo Sales & Marketing Assistant

The Harrow Deck Cometh!

Friday, December 7, 2007

One of the most innovative things I've seen in D&D occurred back in the original Ravenloft, where the villain's motivation, treasure placement, and adventure goals depended upon the results of an in-game fortune-telling session. Even years later, I still recall that feeling of surprise and excitement when I first looked through that adventure. With Curse of the Crimson Throne, Pathfinder's second Adventure Path, we'll be trying something similar.

The Harrow deck is our fortune-telling tool for this Adventure Path. The deck itself is a 54-card deck broken down into six suits of nine cards each. While, in-game, these six suits and the card images themselves are "in character," it draws a lot of its inspiration from the mechanics of the game as well. The deck's six suits each symbolize one of the six basic attributes all characters are built around: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. And in each of those six suits, we have nine different cards for each of the nine alignments. Therefore, we have a chaotic evil Wisdom card, a neutral good Strength card, a lawful neutral Dexterity card, and so on.

Of course, the actual art on each of these cards hides its genesis in the rules behind symbolism and metaphor, so you don't have to worry about any weird self-aware metagame strangeness popping up (I doubt very much you'd ever hear a Varisian say something like, "that chaotic evil king has a really low charisma!"). The Harrow deck itself is an ancient divination tool used by the Varisians to tell the future and divine fortunes. Think of it as an RPG-version of the tarot deck.

Each of Curse of the Crimson Throne's six adventures are also tied in theme to the six suits of the Harrow deck, and as you play through this new Adventure Path, Harrow deck readings can provide valuable insights, helpful bonuses, or even unexpected perils and dangers. You can expect to see some recurring themes throughout the Adventure Path tied to the Harrow deck, but we'll be going beyond that. Players will be able to select a feat, "Harrowed," that'll let them use draws from the deck to hopefully tip fortune in their favor. Visit a rough-and-tumble bar down on the waterfront in Korvosa and you'll be able to gamble away your treasure in a game of Towers, a gambling game created by lowbrows and scoundrels using the Harrow deck (and designed by industry veterans Jason Bulmahn, Mike Selinker, and Teeuwynn Woodruff). And just as the infamous Deck of Many Things was inspired by the tarot deck, there might be a powerful magic Harrow deck waiting to bring all matter of mayhem to your group at some point in Curse of the Crimson Throne.

And the best part? We're making a Harrow deck you can use yourself, whether as part of your campaign, in readings of your own, or just as a fun fantasy-themed card game. Over the next several weeks, we'll be showing off Kyle Hunter's artwork for the Harrow deck here on our blog. Keep an eye out, and see if you can figure out which image goes with the chaotic evil strength card versus the one that goes with the lawful good one!

James Jacobs
Editor-in-Chief, Pathfinder

Going... going...

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Having a product go out of print is a strange experience. On the one hand, it might mean you've done something right and your product was a success, selling through the entire print run. Yet on the other hand, it's strange to think that something you've worked on and put a little bit of yourself into is going to disappear forever (except, of course, from the gaming tables of all those who purchased it, and perhaps eBay or a particularly well-stocked FLGS).

Why do I bring this up? Because as of this writing, there are only 52 copies of Map Pack: Countryside left in our warehouse, and we don't currently have any plans on reprinting this particular set. That means that when they're gone, they're gone. If you haven't already, hit up the product page and see if your game could use things like a coaching inn, ambush site, or roadside shrine. (The rope bridge, in particular, seems to have generated a lot of excitement.)

After all, you might not get another chance....

James Sutter
Assistant Editor, Pathfinder

Flippin' Awesome

Thursday, September 13, 2007

I don't know about you, but I have a love/hate relationship with maps in RPG gaming. Back in middle school when I first got into the hobby, we might have had a few miniatures to represent characters, plus "terrain" made from dice, pencils, and those little plastic tables that come in the center of your pizza box. It wasn't until much, much later, when someone introduced me to D&D 3.5, that I finally saw the light and realized that things like battlemats add immeasurably to the roleplaying experience.

With that realization, however, came a new problem: mapping is hard. Even after years of practice, it's still annoying to have to stop right in the middle of a crucial scene and scramble to count squares and draw out a new room in its entirety each time PCs go through the door. (I also have a tendency to spill drinks on the battlemat, but that's really my own fault.)

Which is where something like our new Flip-Mat: City Market comes in handy. Every village worth its salt has a market, so why waste valuable game time drawing it out over and over? With City Market, the work's already done for you, and your PCs are free to look through every door with impunity. Plus, if you decide you want to switch up the layout, just flip it over and use the blank paving beneath the grid to build your own town. As with all our Flip-Mats, you can draw on the durable, laminated cardstock with wet erase, dry erase, or even permanent marker and still wipe it right off when you're done.

All of which means that if I were about to run, say, the first section of "Burnt Offerings," I'd definitely consider checking out City Market and using the time saved to pack in even more goblin-related activities....

James Sutter
Assistant Editor, Pathfinder

Making the Most of Map Packs

Monday, June 11, 2007

We've been doing GameMastery Map Packs for a while now. They started out as a way for us to give you full-color, miniatures-scale maps that you could arrange and set up however you like. While they still fulfill that function, we're always looking for ways to improve upon them to give you more great maps.

The upcoming set Map Pack: Sewers is just one example of what we're trying to do. This set of eighteen 8" x 5" tiles (set to release later this month) is probably the most adaptable set of tiles to date. Using sewer corridors of various sizes, dead-ends, corners, and a host of other grime-filled passages, this set can be set up in dozens of different combinations. We made sure the artist, the incredibly talented Corey Macourek, gave us maps that not only set up some interesting chambers, but also allowed for as much flexibility as possible.

Just take a look at these sample tiles from the set, and prepare your group for a whole new (and honestly, rather disgusting) journey.

Jason Bulmahn
GameMastery Brand Manager