The Magnificent 7 of Set 6

Friday, February 12, 2016

It's Friday, and I've got some delightful news to share with you! I'm pleased to report that last week, WizKids sent Paizo the first batch of digital sculpts for our next, as-yet-unannounced Pathfinder Battles set, and they are PHENOMENAL. A few of our editors looked over my shoulder as I flipped through them the first time, and one even suggested that this may turn out to be the best Pathfinder Battles set yet. I certainly agree that, at the very least, it's in the same league as some of our very best sets!

And just wait until you see the case incentive(s)! You guys are going to FREAK!

Of course, the set has not yet been announced (that happens VERY soon), and the sculpts are still in approvals, so I can't quite show them off just yet.

But don't despair! I do have some delightful images to show off of actual figure photos of miniatures from Pathfinder Battles Iconic Heroes Set 6, which is now available in stores and here on Paizo.com! This set is especially interesting in that it comes with one "extra" figure to help us round out the complete list of iconic characters revealed in Pathfinder RPG hardcovers up to the Pathfinder RPG Advanced Class Guide!

Check 'em out!

Here we've got Quinn, Human Investigator, one of my absolute favorites from the entire Iconic Heroes line (the other one probably being Oloch, from Iconic Heroes Set 5. From his perfectly applied eyes and facial details to the huge amount of well-painted gear, this figure has it all. It's also amazingly versatile, and can double easily as numerous characters, from spellcasters to rogues to swashbucklers, from heroes to villains alike. Quinn is COOOOOL, and I'm thrilled to add him not just to the Iconic Heroes line, but also to my own personal miniatures collection!

This is the one we've been waiting for ever since the original Feiya, Human Witch turned out something short of everyone's expectations back in the Reign of Winter set. The recent replacement figure WizKids randomly inserted into The Rusty Dragon Inn boosters was a minor improvement, but really revealed that the culprit was a weak face sculpt overall. There just aren't enough details on that face for painters to pick out, resulting in, well, let's just call her a "very happy" Feiya and leave it at that. I'm personally very happy to reveal that the second time is the charm (thanks in no small part to the shift to digital sculpting), and this version of Feiya suffers from none of the problems that marred her first appearance. Her face looks fantastic this time around, and her new "in the middle of battle" pose suits, her, as well. When you're trying to decide which witch to use, I think you'll find this is a witch worth making a switch. Ahem.

Of course, a witch isn't much without her familiar, so in this set we've also included Daji, Feiya's fox familiar. Daji has a neat mid-stride pose that differentiates him from the previous Fox miniature in Reign of Winter, and honesty the two foxes go together well for an animal encounter, if you don't want to use it as a familiar. Either way, folks seem to love them some animals, and Iconic Heroes Set 6 contains one of the most lovable to date.

Do you like your men bare-chested and a bit on the "goth" side? This figure is the answer to all of your (probably very adult-oriented) dreams! Seltyiel has his big magus sword ready for a skillful attack, and you just know his thin lips are about to let loose an absolutely cutting insult. I'm currently writing this character in our Pathfinder: Hollow Mountain comic from Dynamite, and having a blast. He's pretty much a villain (or, if you prefer, an "anti-hero") in the comic, but on your game table he can be whatever you want him to be. Good guy, bad guy, maybe a little of both...

Back in the ancient days, when the then very small Paizo editorial staff was brainstorming iconic characters, we decided that we wanted our iconic halfling bard to have awesome sideburns. "You know," we said, "like Lemmy in Mötorhead." When his illustration came in, I think it was James L. Sutter who suggested "Why don't we just call him Lem?" And a legend was born. I really appreciate the way this version of Lem, Halfling Bard is captured mid-song. Very useful for a bard figure. Alternatively, pair Lem with the Dwarf Bard drummer, the Half-Elf Bard violinist, and some Dancing Girls from The Rusty Dragon Inn, and you've got a ready-made concert!

We couldn't finish the Iconic Heroes sets without our two Asian-inspired iconics from Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Combat, of course! These guys don't get quite the same love as our standard iconics, largely because they represent sub-classes rather than full core classes, but that's pedantic inside baseball talk. They're still super cool, and they deserve some love. Reiko, Human Ninja comes in a sweet battle pose, a chain dangling between her two blades. She's definitely a cool killer you don't want to run into in a dark alley. But if you do, at least you'll now have a miniature to commemorate the encounter!

Last up this week is Hayato, Human Samurai! With his banner, lamellar armor, helmet, and more, Hayato is perhaps the most detailed of artist Wayne Reynolds's many iconic characters. I'm happy to report that WizKids is up to the challenge, and have delivered a fantastic rendition of the character in Iconic Heroes Set 6. Their efforts, as Hayato himself might say, are most honorable.

All seven figures come with unique cards for use with the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, and all are produced at the highest possible quality allowed by the manufacturing process. Now that we've completed all of the Iconic Heroes sets in our original plan, I can say that I am very proud of the work both Paizo and WizKids have put into making these among the finest prepainted plastic gaming figures ever produced. We've done, I think, an excellent job, and have set quality standards it will be difficult for anyone else to match or exceed. But we'll keep trying, of course!

But wait, I can hear you gasp. Is set 6 really the final Iconic Heroes set?

That, my friends, remains to be seen. We've had a few discussions with WizKids about what comes next, but nothing has yet been decided officially. I can say that WizKids is watching sales of these sets very closely, so if you'd like to see more of them, the best possible thing you can do is purchase the ones we've already released. We'd all love to produce figures for the Occult Adventures iconics, or both versions of the vigilante class from Ultimate Intrigue (or heck, maybe even a "We Be Goblins" or "Iconic Villains" set), but those decisions are not entirely up to me—they're up to the market.

I'm at ToyFair in New York City this weekend, where I'll be discussing this and even more diabolical plans in person with our friends at WizKids. I hope to be able to report big things soon!

But more importantly, we're very very close to the announcement of the next big set, and that means we start the preview train all over again here, every Friday.

Don't forget to bring lots of coal so we can keep this engine HOT!

Until then, I remain,

Erik Mona
Publisher

Calling All Miscreants and Malefactors!

Thursday, August 28, 2014

Get ready to get evil with Pathfinder Player Companion: Champions of Corruption! The latest volume in the Player Companion line provides players and GMs alike with suggestions on how to take their Pathfinder game to the dark side without pushing it over the edge of fun. Rather than tantalize you with mere words, however, I figured I'd let the illustrations in this book of vileness speak for themselves. In addition to dozens of new character traits, feats, and much, much more, the following features (and their accompanying art) are just some of the all-new content you'll find in this spine-tingling Player Companion.

Illustration by Chen Nambiarooran

Readers of Champions of Purity and Champions of Balance will be familiar with the treatment of the three evil alignments in Champions of Corruption. Whether you're shooting for a character that embodies the ruthless strictures of lawful evil, the wanton bloodlust of chaotic evil, or the sheer maleficence of neutral evil, this book's discussions on how to play antiheroes of the various evil alignments will leave you inspired and informed.

Illustration by Andy Timm

Magic is the ultimate weapon for the mischievous and misanthropic, and this book has no shortage of ways to use the powers of the arcane and divine to fulfill deviant goals. New evolutions enable summoners to use the arcane powers of blood itself to infuse their eidolons with sanguine sorcery.

Illustration by Vicky Yarova

Fans of the Umbral Court agent prestige class from Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Paths of Prestige (or anyone with a penchant for stylishly sadistic body jewelry) are sure to get a kick out of the new rules for Nidalese shadow piercings in Champions of Corruption.

Let your hair down and give in to your bad side this fall, because Champions of Corruption hits shelves in September!

Patrick Renie
Developer

Ransom on the High Seas

Monday, May 13, 2013

Illustration by Craig J Spearing

The sunny skies that Paizo has experienced over the past week have provided a great opportunity to get outside and enjoy the weather. Apparently we weren't the only ones thinking that, and true to form, the pirates of the Shackles paid a visit, boarded the vessel carrying our latest shipment of Chronicle sheets, and spent the weekend roistering just beyond our reach. As I have learned in my move from a relatively landlocked area to the Pacific northwest, such is the price we must pay for good seafood.

Once the pirates realized just what a prize they now hold—I hear the boons are the stuff of legend—they offered to ransom the Chronicle sheets back for the paper's weight in gold! Villains! What I propose is more devious and hopefully far more to the liking of the swashbuckling sorts that frequent the Pathfinder Society. We shall build up our strength and launch a daring raid to take back what is rightfully ours.

So hone your blades and sharpen your wits as you do battle with the foes in Season 4 of Pathfinder Society Organized Play. If we see in our reports that you have soundly beaten all that Varisia can throw at you, then we shall launch that raid, share the spoils, and tell stories about it for years to come. If not... I know that the Skull & Shackles Adventure Path promises adventure on the high seas, but I cannot imagine our Chronicle sheets would survive walking the plank.

Rules for sanctioning the Skull and Shackles Adventure Path for Pathfinder Society Organized Play are ready to launch, but we await your reporting of Season 4 scenarios. Play and report as much as you can. The more activity we see, the sooner you shall see rules for new Adventure Paths. Comment in character here, and so long as I see that you have participated in at least one Season 4 scenario since, you may be one of the characters called out in a later blog's narrative should we perform the raid.

John Compton
Developer

Magus Preview

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Illustration by Wayne Reynolds

Every Tuesday until the book's release, we are going to be digging into some of the new rules and options you will find in Ultimate Magic. After a bit of a mix up last week, this week we are going to take a look at the new base class, the magus, and the archetypes slated to appear in this book.

From its first appearance as part of the playtest of this book, the magus has gone through a number of iterations. The second playtest version of the class is, in fact, quite a bit similar to the final version of the class, with a number of clarifications made to make things work a bit more smoothly. Take a look at the revised spell strike ability, for example.

Spellstrike (Su): At 2nd level, whenever a magus casts a spell with a range of "touch" from the magus spell list, he can deliver the spell through any weapon he is wielding as part of a melee attack. Instead of the free melee touch attack normally allowed to deliver the spell, a magus can make one free melee attack with his weapon (at his highest base attack bonus) as part of casting this spell. If successful, this melee attack deals its normal damage as well as the effects of the spell. If the magus makes this attack in concert with spell combat, this melee attack takes all the penalties accrued by spell combat melee attacks. This attack uses the weapon's critical range (20, 19–20, or 18–20 and modified by the keen weapon property or similar effects), but the spell effect only deals x2 damage on a successful critical hit, while the weapon damage uses its own critical modifier.

As you can see, we clarified how the attack worked, and how critical hits were handled when using this ability. In addition, we replaced the pool spell abilities with ones that are a bit more in line with the flavor of the class. Take a look at these.

Spell Recall (Su): At 4th level, the magus learns to use his arcane pool to recall spells he has already cast. With a swift action he can recall any single magus spell that he has already prepared and cast that day by expending a number of points from his arcane pool equal to the spell's level (minimum 1). The spell is prepared again, just as if it had not been cast.
Improved Spell Recall (Su): At 11th level, the magus's ability to recall spells using his arcane pool becomes more efficient. Whenever he recalls a spell with spell recall, he expends a number of points from his arcane pool equal to 1/2 the spell's level (minimum 1). Furthermore, instead of recalling a used spell, as a swift action the magus can prepare a spell of the same level that he has in his spellbook. He does so by expending a number of points from his arcane pool equal to the spell's level (minimum 1). The magus cannot apply metamagic feats to a spell prepared in this way. The magus does not need to reference his spellbook to prepare a spell in this way.

So, that is a taste of the sorts of changes you can expect to see with the base class itself, but how about those archetypes? Here is a list of all the magus archetypes in the book, with a short description of each.

Magus Archetypes
Bladebound: A magus with this archtype is bound to a special sword, called a black blade, that gains powers, and over time, sentience.
Hexcrafter: Using the powers of a witch, this magus can use hexes and can curse his enemies.
Spellblade: Capable of creating a light blade of pure force, the spellblade can wield two weapons and still cast his spells.
Staff Magus: Skilled at using the quarterstaff, these powerful magi can eventually treat any magic staff as a deadly weapon.

That wraps up our preview for this week. Come back next week when we will examine some of the ways this book will help you master magic.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

Illustration by Wayne Reynolds. Wallpaper design by Crystal Frasier. Widescreen version here.

Ultimate Power!

Friday, April 8, 2011

Itty bitty living space? Nah, not with Ultimate Magic in your bag! This 256-page tome is the latest hardcover release for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and will be shipping to distributors in just a few weeks. Until you can hold the book in your hands, let this great wallpaper of the iconic magus Seltyiel by the always amazing Wayne Reynolds adorn your desktop.

Hyrum Savage
Marketing and Organized Play Manager

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.

James Sutter
Fiction Editor