Welcome to the Playtest

Friday, November 13, 2009

Illustration by Wayne Reynolds

Illustration by Wayne Reynolds

The playtest of the Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player's Guide begins today with the launch of two of the six new base classes set to appear in the book. The cavalier is a martial character. Like his name would suggest, he is at home fighting from horseback, but he is by no means crippled when his mount cannot be used. The cavalier gains a number of bonus abilities tied to his order, the oaths that he swears, and the challenges he makes. Next up in this playtest is the oracle. This spontaneous divine caster draws her power from the gods that support her focus, granting her special revelations as she goes up in level. This is your chance to take a look at these classes before they hit shelves in August. You can download the free PDF containing both of these classes here.

In the coming weeks, we will be releasing the other four classes, two each week. During these periods, we will be focusing discussion on the most recent classes, but the playtest itself will remain open until the end of January 2010. The release dates are as follows.

Group 1 (11/13–11/29): Cavalier and Oracle
Group 2 (11/30–12/13): Summoner and Witch
Group 3 (12/14–12/27): Alchemist and Inquisitor

Just like the Core Rulebook playtest last year, there are a pair of forums waiting for your feedback and comments. The first is a general forum, for discussing larger issues and announcements. The second forum is specifically for cavalier and oracle feedback. We will add an additional forum every two weeks as the new classes are released.

I want to take a moment to discuss what we are looking for out of this playtest. Since these are new classes, actual playtesting is of great importance. While comments and observations are still valuable, we need playtesters to actually use these classes in play and provide reports of their experiences. This sort of feedback will really help us ensure that these classes become a balanced and fun part of the game.

See you on the boards.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

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.

Illustration by Wayne Reynolds

• Group 1 (11/13–11/29): Cavalier and Oracle
• Group 2 (11/30–12/13): Summoner and Witch
• Group 3 (12/14–12/27): Alchemist and Inquisitor

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.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

GameMastery Guide Cover!

Monday, October 5, 2009

I may have mentioned this before, but the main villain of Pathfinder’s first Adventure Path, Karzoug, was no stranger to tormenting PCs. He was one of my homebrew campaign’s major recurring characters—a powerful wizard who served as the true menace behind the throne of an evil warlord. In my homebrew, Karzoug wielded a scythe and had already made the transition to lich and wasn’t as concerned with greed, but he was very much still the campaign’s poster child for “evil wizard.” He eventually met his end when a pair of heroes, the barbarian Verik and the wizard Zefram, confronted Karzoug in, of all places, Baba Yaga’s dancing hut. Karzoug was trying to claim the hut’s legendary power source for his own evil purposes, and while this certainly annoyed Baba Yaga, she wasn’t about to give the PCs uncontested access to her magical fortress. And so these two high-level PCs snuck through the depths of the dancing hut filled with fear about breaking or even touching anything, avoiding every single encounter and trap through an uncharacteristic caution that, in the end, served them quite well. I’d intended them to finally reach Karzoug and have the final battle with the evil wizard after the PCs had depleted much of their resources dealing with the natives of Baba Yaga’s hut, and when they reached Karzoug with much of those resources untapped, I figured they deserved the advantage. Turns out, they needed that advantage anyway. Even in the 1st edition of the game, Karzoug was a menace.

And so, when it came to deciding on a villain to inflict upon Golarion, it was with quite a bit of pride and nostalgia that I resurrected old Karzoug. He’d changed specializations (necromancer to transmuter) and weapons (scythe to glaive) and got a promotion (from the power behind the throne to the guy who sits on the throne), but in a lot of other ways he remained the same. Of course, getting Wayne Reynolds to illustrate him was one of the more surreal moments of my gaming career... and now, seeing him on the cover of our upcoming GameMastery Guide, that sense of surreal pride has returned. Wayne Reynolds has done a fantastic job making Karzoug epitomize the role of "super-powerful wizard." Take a moment to look through all of his stuff! Caged imp, pet blue dragon, throne manacles for prisoners, spellbooks casually stacked to the side, crazy crystal ball with some sort of apparatus wrapped around it, a throne that can probably see—and that doesn’t even touch all of his fancy magical equipment he’s got ready to ruin the next PC to step his way!

James Jacobs
Pathfinder Editor-in-Chief

Back from the Future, Part 2

Friday, October 2, 2009

One of the big highlights of Gen Con Australia 2009 was the "What’s Next for Pathfinder?" seminar that took place Saturday afternoon. The Pathfinder players at the show were so excited for this seminar that they took a break from their Pathfinder Society games to attend. Not surprisingly, it was pretty packed.

Although much of what was covered during this seminar had already been announced, there were a few surprises in store, including the final two new base classes being planned for the Advanced Player’s Guide and a special surprise, a first look at one of the base classes from that book. At Gen Con Indy this year, we announced four of the six base classes slated to appear in the Advanced Player’s Guide: the alchemist, the cavalier, the oracle, and the summoner. During this seminar, the final two were revealed: the inquisitor and the witch.

The inquisitor class is going to look a lot like your Van Helsing-type character, dedicated to hunting down and killing monsters. This means that the class is going to have a fair number of skills and some limited divine spellcasting ability. In addition, the inquisitor is going to have the ability to designate a foe during combat, and the longer the combat progresses, the more damage he will deal to that foe in combat. Unlike a ranger, the inquisitor’s abilities are not based on monster type. Instead he has to carefully study his targets, learning how to more effectively deal with them as a combat progresses. Higher-level inquisitors will learn how to exploit monster weaknesses and possibly even add additional weaknesses to a monster using special attacks.

The witch class is going to be a class that fully embraces both the arcane and divine spell lists, taking select spells from each to make for one intriguing list. The big news for the witch is the focus on her familiar. This will function like a wizard’s familiar, but with additional powers and abilities, with maybe a few extra limitations thrown in to balance out the rules. You can also expect some new mechanics for witch curses, through some new spells and class features.

While the crowd was certainly excited to hear about these new classes, the room grew rather quiet as I handed out a sample oracle character for them to analyze. But rather than leave you out in the cold, here is that character, updated with the most recent version of the class.

Sample Oracle
This sample shows one of the first builds of the new oracle class. The relevant class abilities are summarized, but they do not include additional bonuses that Areanna would gain at higher levels. For example, at 9th level, Areanna’s form of flames ability improves, allowing her to assume the form of a Medium fire elemental.

Areanna
Female human oracle 7
CG Medium humanoid
Init +6; Senses Perception –1
Defense
AC 19, touch 14, flat-footed 16; (+5 armor, +1 deflection, +2 Dex, +1 dodge)
hp 49 (7d8+14)
Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +5
Offense
Speed 40 ft.
Melee +1 flaming shortspear +7 (1d6+2 plus 1d6 fire)
Ranged dagger +7 (1d4+1/19–20)
Special Attacks fire breath (2/day, 7d4 fire damage, DC 17), form of flame (Small fire elemental)
Spells Known (CL 7th)
3rd (5/day)—cure serious wounds, dispel magic, fireball (DC 17)
2nd (7/day)—aid, augury, resist energy, summon monster II
1st (7/day)—bless, cure light wounds, divine favor, produce flame, remove fear, shield of faith
0 (At Will)—guidance, light, purify food and drink, read magic, resistance, stabilize, virtue
Focus fire
Statistics
Str 12, Dex 14, Con 13, Int 10, Wis 8, Cha 18
Base Atk +5; CMB +6; CMD 18
Feats Combat Casting, Dodge, Eschew Materials, Improved Initiative, Mobility, Nimble Moves, Toughness
Skills Acrobatics +12, Intimidate +14, Knowledge (religion) +10, Perform (dance) +14, Spellcraft +10
Languages Common, Ignan
SQ oracle’s curse (speak in tongues), orisons, revelations (cinder dance, fire breath, form of flame)
Combat Gear elemental gem (fire), elixir of fire breath, wand of cure light wounds; Other Gear +1 flaming shortspear, daggers (4), +2 studded leather armor, cloak of resistance +1, ring of protection +1
Special Abilities
Cinder Dance (Ex): Areanna’s base speed increases by 10 feet. At 5th level, she receives Nimble Moves as a bonus feat.
Fire Breath (Su): As a standard action, Areanna can unleash a 15-foot cone of flame from her mouth. This flame deals 1d4 points of fire damage per level, maximum 10d4. A Reflex save halves this damage. The save DC is equal to 10 + 1/2 her oracle level + her Charisma modifier. She can use this ability once per day, plus one additional time per day for every four oracle levels she possesses.
Form of Flame (Su): As a standard action, Areanna can assume the form of a Small fire elemental, as elemental body I. She can use this ability once per day, but the duration is 1 hour/level.
Speak in Tongues: In times of stress, Areanna speaks in tongues. Whenever she is in combat, she can only speak and understand Ignan. This does not interfere with spellcasting, but it does apply to spells that are language dependent. She gains Ignan as a bonus language.

As you can see, oracles are spontaneous divine spellcasters, working in a manner similar to sorcerers. Instead of bloodlines, each oracle has a focus (fire in Areanna’s case). At 1st level, 3rd level, and every four levels thereafter, oracles can select one revelation from their focus to learn. These revelations grant them special powers and abilities, such as the ability to breathe fire, turn into a fire elemental, or even call down a storm of fire (Areanna is not quite high enough level for that one). In addition, oracles must select a curse at 1st level. These curses are a mixed blessing, with each one limiting the oracle in one way, while granting special bonuses in other areas. Areanna’s curse is perhaps one of the easiest to deal with, which is why it grants one of the smallest bonuses.

Well, that about wraps up my summary of Gen Con Australia 2009. I want to thank Ian Houlihan, the convention director, for bringing me down to the show, Mark Rogerson, the events manager, for showing me a great time in Brisbane, and Peter Ball, the seminar manager, for setting up some great panels. I am hoping to make this show a regular in my convention schedule. Maybe next year, you will too.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

Bestiary Preview II

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Illustration by Peter Bergting

Although the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary is still several weeks away from its release date, that’s no reason why you can’t get started playing adventures like Pathfinder Adventure Path #26: The Sixfold Trial or the various Season 1 Pathfinder Society Scenarios!

The new Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary Preview II supplements our first preview (which was tailored to support Pathfinder Adventure Path #25: The Bastards of Erebus), and shows off more universal monster rules and an additional 11 pages of monsters taken directly from the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary itself.

Download the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary Preview II now!

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.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player's Guide Classes

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Now that Gen Con is over, it is time to look into the future of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Over the next year, we have a number of fantastic products in store for you, but the one that has me the most excited is the Advanced Player's Guide. We gave a few hints about this hefty 320-page tome at Gen Con during the Pathfinder RPG Q&A seminar, but I wanted to take a moment to bring the news to you directly.

First off, this book is set to release at Gen Con 2010. It will include a host of new options and avenues for characters built using the classes and features in the Core Rulebook. That means you can expect to find new barbarian rage powers, new sorcerer bloodlines, new bardic performance options, and a host of other tricks and tools to modify the 11 core classes. The book will also contain a number of feats, spells, and magic items to expand your game. We are providing all of these in one book so as to avoid spreading out the goodness over a host of tomes, which tends to just make things difficult to find and use. Some of this material will be leaked early through this blog to use right away (and to help us playtest some of the more tricky aspects).

In addition to the expansion of the core classes, this book will also contain six new base classes. They are called base classes because they go from level 1 to level 20, but they are not core classes. Confused? Allow me to explain. We are making an assumption that these new classes will take a role in our world (and possibly yours) that is less common. You will not find them in every adventure, nor will they appear in every product. That means that you can introduce them to your game in a more limited fashion, without having to retcon them into every facet of your campaign.

Of these six classes, I am ready to talk, in a limited fashion, about four of them. I should note that these classes are still being designed and everything you read here is subject to change. That said, we are really excited about the ideas, and hope that you will be too.

When working out some of the initial concepts for these classes, we had two primary criteria that each needed to fill: a conceptual niche and a mechanical niche. This means that each class we come up with needs to include mechanics that we do not currently explore with one of the 11 other classes, as well as its own conceptual space.

The first class I want to look at is the Cavalier. While traditionally, this class has been focused on mounted combat, we have learned that classes such as this suffer terribly by the circumstances of the adventure. As such, the cavalier is going to have some aspects that make it a great mounted combatant, but it will also focus on directing and controlling a battlefield through a system of class features that allow it to enhance allies, unnerve opponents, and challenge foes. Unlike a bard, the cavalier will focus on individuals instead of large numbers, allowing it to have some greater effects. The class will not rely on spells or magic to get the job done, but it will be a bit more skill-focused than some of the other martial classes, especially when it comes to Charisma-based skills.

Next up is the Alchemist. Now, I know what you are thinking. Brewing alchemist fire and crafting tindertwigs is not the stuff of adventurers, and hardly enough to build an entire class around. On that, I would agree, but we are taking this in a slightly different direction. Think of the alchemist a bit more like Dr. Jekyll. He brews up elixirs, mixes up unguents and powders, and crafts all sorts of tricks to use in a fight. While some of these will certainly mimic spells, others might allow him to gain fiendish qualities, breath fire, or even transform into a puddle of living ooze. At higher levels, he will be able to use some of his concoctions on others, granting them some of his strange abilities. This class will work like an arcane caster, in that he will prepare his alchemy for the day and use them as day goes on, as they most likely do not keep for long. There will undoubtedly be a host of new alchemical items in the book for him to tinker with as well.

Next up is the Summoner. I should note that the title for this one is still a bit temporary as it does not quite convey the concepts we are looking for. This class is focused on the creation or summoning of a monster combatant or guardian. Think of it as a sort of arcane animal companion that is a magical beast, outsider, or aberration instead of an animal. While the class will still be able to cast arcane spells, in a bit more of a limited fashion than a sorcerer, it will have a number of abilities to enhance and empower its creation. Some of these will be able to be applied on the fly, while others will happen only when the summoner gains levels. The class will have a list of abilities that can be added to a monster as you gain levels, with more powerful abilities made available to use in your monster's construction at higher levels. To top it off, the class will be a bit variable in theme. You could be a pious summoner, creating a divine champion to guard and protect you, or you could be a foul chirurgeon, creating your monster from the corpses of other dead monsters.

Finally, the last class I want to talk about is the Oracle. This class is a spontaneous divine caster that is not devoted to any one god. Instead it is devoted to a particular concept or domain. The oracle draws his power from all the deities that support that concept, but none of them particularly hold any domain over him. A great example here would be Hercules, who would make a great oracle of strength. The class provides spontaneous divine casting, but the focus provides a host of other abilities and powers. You could expect feats of great might from the oracle of strength, while the oracle of fire is probably going to be able to roast you alive if you anger him. Think of the oracle more as an expert on a single topic and less as a seer of the future and you are close to the theme we are going for. I am really excited about what this class could do and the roleplaying options it presents. I might even have to give my current character a break to play an oracle as soon as the class is ready.

That covers four of the six classes in the book. I am planning on releasing information about the other two next month, at a seminar taking place at Gen Con Australia, in Brisbane. These classes will be put up for public playtest well before the book goes to print, and as soon as the schedule is finalized, you will find it here on this blog. I hope to have some more news on these classes, as well as a few sneak peaks before the playtest, as they develop. Stay tuned.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Preview #14

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook releases tomorrow at Gen Con and game stores around the country. Over the past 14 weeks, we have look at all of the core classes and one of the prestige classes that can be found in the book. We've taken a look at a host of feats, spells, and magic items, as well as a few other rules bits along the way. This week, we are investigating the most important rule in the game. Not surprisingly, it is also one of the first rules in the book.

This is your game.

The rules in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook are presented to help you tell the stories that you want to tell. They are organized to help speed up play and enrich your world. You might find that, through play, some of these rules do not suit your style of play or do not serve the story you are trying to tell. Feel free to change them. Sit down with your group and discuss what "house rules" you are going to use as part of your campaign. Add, subtract, or even polymorph these rules to fit your needs. If you are the Game Master, you should work with your group to determine what changes are appropriate. If you are a player, remember that the GM is the final arbiter, but do not be afraid to make suggestions or bring new rules to the table for him to review. When you play the Pathfinder RPG, we want to make sure that you have fun. The rules are there to serve that goal, not to stand in the way.

Since this is the last preview, I want to take just a moment to thank all of the playtesters that spent countless hours playing, reviewing, and critiquing the Beta version of the game. I think you will find that they had a large influence on the final design and deserve a great deal of credit for all of its improvements. It was a lot of work to weed through over 100,000 messageboard posts, but the final game makes all of that effort worth it. If you were part of the Alpha or Beta playtests, I would like to say thank you.

As of this posting, a number of folks have already received their rulebooks, and discussions are already taking place on our messageboards about the changes and additions to the game. So, instead of talking about the rules, I wanted to close this preview with a look at some of the fabulous art that you will find in the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook. The Core Rulebook is available in stores and at our booth at Gen Con starting tomorrow. See you on the boards.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

Pathfinder Swag!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

It's already starting to feel like a ghost town here at Paizo headquarters as the majority of the staff packs up and heads off for Gen Con Indy. With the debut of the Pathfinder RPG, we're totally excited, but also expecting the convention to be four days of absolute madness. So what are we doing? Oh, we're adding fuel to that fire, of course! There's already going to be tons of opportunities to get Paizo swag just by stopping by our booth, but in addition to the Pathfinder RPG, the annual Paizo delve, tons of Pathfinder Society Events, and way more, we're adding buttons! That's right, special, collectible Gen Con '09 Pathfinder Buttons. For as long as they last on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, we'll be giving away a different button, allowing you to show your love for the grim gray maidens, those madcap goblins, or the lovely Seoni. So hurry on over to the Paizo Booth (#2312) every day to pick up the whole set!

And that's it! We're off. We'll see you all at Gen Con Indy!

Wes Schneider
Managing Editor

The Reviews are Coming In!

Monday, August 10, 2009

The Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook releases in just four days and the first reviews are coming in. So far, they are very positive.

Pen and Paper Games has posted up a good review. While the reviewer would have liked to see more bridging material between 3.5 and the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, I am happy to announce that we will be releasing a free conversion PDF on the same day as the Core Rulebook. This 18-page conversion guide covers most of the big changes to the game and walks you through converting a character (along with a host of other rules elements).

Chad Perrin managed to grab a copy early from his retailer and has posted a review on his blog. Chad gives his honest impressions of the book and gives it five bullets out of five.

Finally, there is the Game Geeks preview over on You Tube. Check it out!

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Preview #13

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook is set to release in a little over a week, on August 13th, 2009, and in anticipation, we are releasing a preview of the game each week until the game hits store shelves. Since we’re done looking at the core classes, this week we’re exploring the heights of power with Seltyiel, the iconic eldritch knight.

Seltyiel
Male half-elf wizard 5/fighter 5/eldritch knight 10
LE Medium humanoid (elf)
Init +9; Senses low-light vision; Perception +21
DEFENSE
AC 25, touch 19, flat-footed 20 (+6 armor, +4 deflection, +5 Dex)
hp 174 (15d10+5d6+70)
Fort +18, Ref +17, Will +12; +2 vs. enchantments, +1 vs. fear
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +2 keen axiomatic shocking burst longsword +24/+19/+14/+9 (1d8+7/17–20)
Ranged ray +22 (by spell)
Special Attacks force missile (9/day), intense spells +2 damage
Spells Prepared (CL 15th)
7th—grasping hand, prismatic spray (DC 23), spell turning
6th—chain lightning (2, DC 22), disintegrate (DC 22), form of the dragon I, greater dispel magic
5th—cone of cold (2, DC 21), polymorph, teleport, wall of force
4th—dimension door, ice storm, stoneskin, wall of fire (2), wall of ice
3rd—dispel magic (2), fireball (4, DC 19), fly (2), haste (2)
2nd—invisibility (2), mirror image, scorching ray (3), see invisibility
1st—magic missile (3), shield (2), true strike (2)
0 (at will)—detect magic, mage hand, mending, ray of frost, read magic
Prohibited Schools: enchantment, necromancy
STATISTICS
Str 14, Dex 20, Con 16, Int 23, Wis 8, Cha 10
Base Atk +17; CMB +19; CMD 38
Feats Arcane Armor Training, Critical Focus, Critical Mastery, Disruptive, Empower Spell, Greater Weapon Focus (longsword), Improved Initiative, Improved Vital Strike, Lightning Reflexes, Penetrating Strike (longsword), Power Attack, Scribe Scroll, Skill Focus (Diplomacy), Spellbreaker, Staggering Critical, Tiring Critical, Vital Strike, Weapon Focus (longsword), Weapon Specialization (longsword)
Skills Diplomacy +26, Fly +28, Intimidate +23, Knowledge (arcana) +29, Knowledge (planes) +29, Perception +21, Spellcraft +29, Stealth +25
SQ arcane bond (bat), armor training +1, bravery +1, diverse training, elf blood, spell critical, weapon training (heavy blades +1)
Combat Gear cube of force, potion of cure serious wounds (4), quicken metamagic rod, rod of cancellation, scroll of limited wish (2), staff of evocation, wand of lightning bolt (CL 10, 50 charges); Other Gear +2 keen axiomatic shocking burst longsword, +4 etherealness leather armor, belt of physical perfection +2, boots of teleportation, cloak of resistance +5, hand of glory, headband of vast intelligence +6, orange prism ioun stone, pearl of power (two spells), ring of protection +4, ring of regeneration, ring of wizardry (III), vibrant purple ioun stone (dimension door, shield)

Starting off, the eldritch knight prestige class works much as it did in 3.5, but we’ve added a few abilities to spice things up. The class provides Seltyiel with a fast base attack progression and nine levels of spellcasting (bringing his total caster level up to 14th, although the orange prism ioun stone puts his caster level at 15th). The class also grants three bonus feats, at 1st, 5th, and 9th. With these he can select any of the combat feats that he qualifies for (same as a fighter). In addition, starting at 1st level, Seltyiel gained diverse training, which adds his eldritch knight levels to both his fighter levels and his arcane spellcasting class’s levels for the purposes of qualifying for feats. This allows him to take feats that would normally be reserved for 15th-level fighters and wizards (but more on that later). Finally, upon gaining his 10th level in eldritch knight, Seltyiel gained the spell critical feature. Whenever Seltyiel scores a critical hit, he can cast any spell as a swift action without increasing the spell’s level. The spell does not provoke an attack of opportunity and must include the target of the critical hit as one of the spell’s targets or put him within the area of the effect. Its bad enough to be hit with a critical, but to add a cone of cold on top of it can truly be devastating.

Although quite capable in melee combat, Seltyiel has a wide variety of powerful spells at his disposal as well. Grasping hand can grapple foes with a +26 bonus on its combat maneuver check. Form of the dragon I allows him to take on the shape of a Medium dragon of any color, gaining its attacks, breath weapon, and a host of resistances and other abilities. Polymorph mimics a host of other spells that allow him to change shape, allowing him to become an animal, humanoid, or even an elemental. Although not incredibly powerful for a 20th-level character, four fireball spells are nothing to overlook.

Beyond spells, Seltyiel has a vast number of feats which increase his combat prowess. Many of these feats are for fighters only, but Seltyiel qualifies thanks to his diverse training class feature. Arcane Armor Training allows Seltyiel to spend a swift action to reduce his armor spell failure chance by 10%, which eliminates it altogether in his case. Critical Mastery is a fighter-only feat that allows Seltyiel to apply the effects of two critical feats to a successful critical hit. In his case, that means that anyone who is struck with a critical hit is both staggered (can only take a standard action each round) and fatigued, thanks to Staggering Critical and Tiring Critical. This is, of course, in addition to the 1d10 electricity damage from the sword and a free spell (thanks to spell critical). Seltyiel also possesses the Disruptive feat (another fighter-only feat), which makes it harder for spellcasters to cast on the defensive while he is adjacent (+4 to the DC). To top it off, he has Spellbreaker (fighters only, once again), which allows him to take an attack of opportunity against foes that fail on their check to cast defensively. Finally, Seltyiel has the Penetrating Strike fighter-only feat. This feat allows him to ignore 5 points of damage reduction with every attack made with his longsword (except for DR/—). Greater Penetrating Strike ignores 10 points of DR (and 5 points of DR/—), but Seltyiel couldn’t quite qualify for this feat, which requires you to be a 16th-level fighter.

I should also spend a moment talking about Seltyiel’s specialization. Being an evoker, he gains intense spells at 1st level, granting him a bonus on damage spells equal to 1/2 his wizard level (in this case, only 2 because the levels of eldritch knight don’t count). He also gains force missile, which acts like a magic missile that he can fire one at a time, up to 9 times per day, adding his bonus from intense spells to each missile. Seltyiel is also a half-elf, which comes with a +2 bonus to one ability score of his choice, the Skill Focus feat for free, and the ability to pick two favored classes (in this case, fighter and wizard).

Finally, lets take a look at Seltyiel’s potent magic items. At this level, Seltyiel has around 880,000 gp of magic items, but much of that is spent on a number of particularly expensive items. Both his armor and his sword take up nearly a quarter of his total value, but items like the quicken metamagic rod, staff of evocation, and ring of wizardry (III) eat up a fair amount as well. Of note is his ring of regeneration which now restores 1 hit point per round and makes him immune to bleed damage. It’s certainly useful, allowing it to regain all of his hit points in just over 17 minutes, but costs 90,000 gp.

There’s only one more preview left before the release of the Core Rulebook! Accordingly, next week on the day before the game releases, we’re going to take a look at the most important rule in the game...

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

2009 ENnie Voting Ends!

Friday, July 31, 2009

Last time I'll mention it this year, promise. Voting for the ENnie Awards ends tomorrow, so if you haven't cast your ballot yet for your favorite games and accessories, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!? Intimidation? Is that's what it's going to take? Fine then, I'll leave that to Dave Allsop's mite from the upcoming Pathfinder RPG Bestiary. Now go vote!

Illustration by Dave Allsop

Wes Schneider
Managing Editor

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Preview #12

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook is set to release on August 13th, 2009, and in anticipation, we are releasing a preview of the game each week until the game hits store shelves. This week, we are delving the depths of power with Ezren, the iconic wizard.

Ezren
Male human wizard 10
NG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +3; Senses Perception +12
Defense
AC 15, touch 11, flat-footed 15 (+4 armor, +2 deflection, –1 Dex)
hp 57 (10d6+20)
Fort +8, Ref +4, Will +11
Offense
Speed 30 ft.
Melee club +5 (1d6)
Special Attacks hand of the apprentice (9/day, +11 ranged), metamagic mastery (2/day)
Spells Prepared (CL 10th)
5th—cone of cold (DC 21), teleport, wall of force
4th—dimension door, enervation, ice storm, stoneskin
3rd—dispel magic, fireball (DC 19), fly, haste
2nd—bull's strength, invisibility, mirror image, scorching ray (2), web (DC 18)
1st—alarm, magic missile (3), ray of enfeeblement, shield
0—detect magic, light, mage hand, read magic
Statistics
Str 11, Dex 9, Con 12, Int 22, Wis 15, Cha 9
Base Atk +5; CMB +5; CMD 21
Feats Arcane Strike, Combat Casting, Defensive Combat Training, Empower Spell, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Scribe Scroll, Silent Spell
Skills Appraise +19, Fly +12, Knowledge (arcana) +19, Knowledge (engineering) +19, Knowledge (geography) +19, Knowledge (history) +19, Knowledge (planes) +19, Perception +12, Spellcraft +19
Languages Common, Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Halfling, Orc
SQ arcane bond (cane), cantrips
Combat Gear potion of cure serious wounds, scroll of dispel magic, wand of magic missile (CL 9th, 50 charges); Other Gear ring of protection +2, cloak of resistance +2, bracers of armor +4, cane (treat as a club), bead of force, blessed book, headband of vast intelligence +2 (Perception), pearl of power (3rd level)

Here we are, growing ever closer to the release of the game with Ezren rounding out the preview of the 11 core classes. As one of my favorite classes, I save the wizard for last. When we first started working on the class, back in the Alpha version of the game, the initial thought was to treat arcane school specialization like cleric domains in some regards, with the school granting limited power to add some real flavor and depth to an otherwise straightforward class. This left us with a balance issue, though, and that was what to do with the universalist wizard (the wizard without a specialty). We couldn't just remove him, as he is an iconic part of the game (literally, Ezren is a universalist) and we couldn't just give him the same powers as the specialists (as we did in the Beta playtest), so we had to search for a middle ground.

In the final version of the game, wizards with an arcane school receive bonus spells, much as they did in 3.5, but universalists do not. That said, the universalist school does grant a pair of powers. The first is the ever-popular hand of the apprentice. This power has undergone some significant redesign since the Beta, where it was arguably a bit too good (and quite confusing). The new power reads as follows.

Hand of the Apprentice (Su): You cause your melee weapon to fly from your grasp and strike a foe before instantly returning to you. As a standard action, you can make a single attack using a melee weapon at a range of 30 feet. This attack is treated as a ranged attack with a thrown weapon, except that you add your Intelligence modifier on the attack roll instead of your Dexterity modifier (damage still relies on Strength). This ability cannot be used to perform a combat maneuver. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Intelligence modifier.

This new ability works off the ranged attack rules, making it simpler to use and adjudicate than the previous system, which was full of odd rules exceptions. The second ability also caused a bit of trouble in the Beta playtest. Metamagic mastery now allows the wizard to add a metamagic feat to a spell without increasing the spell level, but it does come with some restrictions. First, it can only be used 1/day at 8th level and one additional time per day for every two levels beyond 8th. Adding a feat to a spell that would increase the spell's level by more than 1 uses up an additional use of the ability for each level beyond one (i.e., if you Empower a fireball, it would use up two uses of this ability). Finally, you cannot add a metamagic feat to a spell using this ability if that feat would have made the spell higher level than a level of spell that you are capable of casting.

I do want to take a moment to talk about some of the other arcane schools before moving on to spells themselves. Many of the schools got a bit of a revamp, most due to playtester feedback. Take the necromancy school for example. The core power of this school now allows a necromancer to control or turn undead (as per the feats) a number of times per day, meaning that a necromancer does not necessarily have to be evil (the white necromancy option). We also changed the way that wizards with an arcane school interact with their prohibited schools. They can now learn and cast these spells just like any other wizard; however, when they prepare them, spells from a wizard's prohibited school take up two slots instead of one. For example, a 6th-level wizard with three 3rd-level spell spots could use two of them to prepare a dispel magic spell, even if abjuration was one of his prohibited schools.

Moving on, let's take a look at some of Ezren's spells. There have been some modifications to a wide variety of spells and effects to make them a bit more balanced with one another. Take teleport, for example. In 3.5 you could use scry to view a location and then use teleport to get there quickly. While this was fun for the players, it could very easily ruin a plot or bypass large bits of the adventure. While we did not want to completely eliminate this option, we have made it a bit harder. Now when you use scry to view a location, it only counts as "viewed once" for the purposes of teleport, making it quite a bit more risky to cast (25% chance of something going wrong).

Wall of force has seen some changes as well (as have all of the spells that create force bubbles or other effects). These force walls now have a hardness of 30 and 20 hit points per caster level. While this means that they are almost impossible to break down, they can no longer be used to hold back the tarrasque or a lava flow, which was asking for a bit much out of a 5th-level spell. This also means that if a wall of force cuts off half the party, they have a chance to destroy it without having to resort to a disintegrate (which still instantly destroys the wall).

Fly, and other spells like it, now grants a built-in bonus to Fly skill checks, to help compensate for characters without any ranks in the skill. They will not be doing loops around dragons anytime soon, but they at least try to pull a 45-degree turn at full speed in an emergency. Web has seen some changes as well. This spell now works as a grapple, with those that fail their saves being caught by the sticky strands. Those that make it can move with a combat maneuver or escape artist check (DC = to the DC of the spell). Characters moving through the webs that fail their checks are grappled in the first square that they enter, whereas those that make it can move through the difficult terrain. The spell is still good and useful to control the battlefield, but it is no longer the combat-ender that it once was. Ray of enfeeblement was sort of in the same boat, as a spell that was a bit too good for its level. To balance it out a bit, the spell now allows a Fort save to reduce the Strength penalty by half. Other spells on Ezren's list have seen some shifts as well, such as ice storm and dispel magic (both of which we covered in the Seoni preview).

You might have noticed that Ezren does not have a familiar. Instead, he chose to bond with his cane, using the arcane bond class feature (which allows you to get a familiar if you want). This ability allows him to cast any one spell that he knows and is capable of casting, once per day without having the spell prepared. He can also enchant his cane as if he had the feats required, so long as he is of the minimum level to get the feat (such as 11th level for a staff using Craft Staff, or 7th level using Forge Ring). Such power does not come without a price though, as Ezren must make concentration checks to cast any spell if he does not have his cane in hand.

Before I close things out on this preview, I wanted to point out a bit about Ezren's feats. Ezren has Combat Casting, which means that he has a total of +20 on his concentration checks, which means that he can defensively cast his 5th-level spells by rolling a 5 or higher on his checks. Ezren's Arcane Strike feat allows him to spend a swift action to add a +3 bonus to damage with his cane for 1 round, which he can combine with the hand of the apprentice ability to give it a bit of power. You might also notice that Ezren has a rather high Combat Maneuver Defense (or CMD). This is because of the Defensive Combat Training feat, which allows him to treat his character level as his base attack bonus when calculating his CMD, making this feat handy for wizards and sorcerers.

There are only two more previews left to go before the release of the Core Rulebook. Since we are done with the core classes, next week we are going to take a look at Seltyiel, our iconic eldritch knight!

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Preview #11

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook is set to release on August 13th, 2009, and in anticipation, we are releasing a preview of the game each week until the game hits store shelves. This week, we are sneaking around with Merisiel, the iconic rogue.

Merisiel
Female elf rogue 6
CN Medium humanoid (elf)
Init +4; Senses low-light vision; Perception +12
DEFENSE
AC 20, touch 15, flat-footed 15 (+5 armor, +4 Dex, +1 dodge)
hp 42 (6d8+12)
Fort +4, Ref +10, Will +4; +2 vs. enchantments
Defensive Abilities evasion, trap sense +2, uncanny dodge
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +1 rapier +9 (1d6+2/18–20)
Ranged dagger +8 (1d4/19–20)
Special Attacks sneak attack +3d6, surprise attack
STATISTICS
Str 12, Dex 18, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 10
Base Atk +4; CMB +5; CMD 20
Feats Dodge, Mobility, Nimble Moves, Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics +13, Climb +10, Disable Device +18, Knowledge (local) +9, Perception +12, Sleight of Hand +13, Stealth +13, Swim +10
Languages Common, Elven
SQ finesse rogue, trapfinding +3, trap spotter
Combat Gear dust of tracelessness, potion of cure moderate wounds, potion of invisibility (2); Other Gear +2 studded leather, cloak of resistance +1, +1 rapier, daggers (8), handy haversack, masterwork thieves tools, ring of feather falling, rope of climbing

Hey, have you seen Merisiel around here anywhere? I am waiting for her to get here so that I can properly preview her and her awesome rogue talents, but she must be running late. Just like an elf, always running late. I know they live for hundreds of years, but my poor human life is short and I would like to spend it on things other than waiting for her to show up. Ow... my kidney!

So, now that Merisiel is finally here and I am shy one kidney, it is time to look at the rogue. Not much changed between the Beta version of the rules and the final game, but for those who are not familiar, let me walk you through the major differences.

The big change for rogues in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game is the addition of rogue talents. These work like the special abilities that rogues gained at higher levels in 3.5, but now they are scaled and a rogue gets her first one at 2nd. Every 2 levels beyond 2nd, she can select an additional talent, and upon reaching 10th level, she can begin selecting advanced talents (which includes all of the special abilities from 3.5). Rogue talents are a mixed bag of abilities that allow a rogue to become a little better at one facet of rogue life. Merisiel here has three talents: finesse rogue, surprise attack, and trap spotter. The first gives her Weapon Finesse as a bonus feat, making it a common choice for 2nd level rogues. Surprise attack causes all of Merisiel's opponents to be treated as flat-footed to her attacks during a surprise round, even if they have already acted. Finally, trap spotter gives Merisiel a Perception check to notice a trap the moment she moves to within 10 feet of it.

Other rogue talents add to a rogue's sneak attack, such as slow reactions that causes an opponent hit by a rogue's sneak attack to lose the ability to make attacks of opportunity for 1 round. There are a number of rogue talents that affect movement, allowing a rogue to move faster while balancing or sneaking. There are even a pair of talents that allow rogues to cast a limited number of simple spells to aid them in their shadowy deeds.

Aside from rogue talents, there have been a few other modifications and additions to the rogue. The biggest of these are the changes to sneak attack. This iconic ability now functions on a wider variety of creatures, such as undead and constructs. Now that all characters can locate and disarm mechanical traps regardless of the DC, the trapfinding ability now grants a bonus on Perception checks to notice traps and Disable Device checks equal to half the rogue's level. It also grants rogues the ability to disarm magic traps. Finally, up at 20th level, the rogue gains the master strike class feature, which allows her to kill, paralyze, or put targets to sleep with a successful sneak attack.

Aside from her class features, there are a few other interesting rules bits presented here. Dodge now grants a +1 dodge bonus to AC (and CMD) against all targets. Never again will you need to remember to designate a single foe. Mobility works much as before, but Nimble Moves is a new feat. This allows Merisiel to ignore 5 feet of difficult terrain each round while moving. It might not seem like much but it does allow her to take a 5-foot-step into such terrain or move through it during a charge, both of which might be vital depending on the circumstances.

Well, that is all for this week. Wait a minute, that was a bit short. Since I seem to have a bit of extra space this week, I guess I will take a look at some of the other rules that a rogue must contend with on a daily basis. Of course, I am talking about traps and poisons.

While traps work much in the same way that they always have, the trap rules have been adjusted to scale all the way up to CR 20. This was accomplished by adding in some modifiers for traps that target multiple creatures or last for more than 1 round. For example, the chamber of blades trap, presented below, that deals damage to everyone within a large chamber and lasts for 1d4 rounds. On average, this trap is going to last for 2 rounds and everyone in the room is going to be attacked twice at a +20 bonus for 3d8+3 on each hit. While this is not a huge amount of damage for 10th level characters, it can add up really quick. On average, PCs are going to take 32 points of damage before this trap has run it course (or double that if a 4 is rolled for the duration).

Chamber of Blades Trap (CR 10)
Type mechanical; Perception DC 25; Disable Device DC 20
EFFECTS
Trigger location; Duration 1d4 rounds; Reset repair
Effect Atk +20 melee (3d8+3); multiple targets (all targets in a 20-foot-square chamber)

Poisons, on the other hand, have seen some revisions. After PCs hit about 7th level in 3.5, poison becomes almost an irrelevant threat. Once heroes feast becomes an option, it is completely pointless, which is a shame. In the Pathfinder RPG, poisons are a threat again at every level. The immunity gained from heroes feast has been changed to a bonus against poison saves (the same has happened to its immunity to fear) and neutralize poison now requires a caster level check versus the DC of the poison to remove it. Add that in with some advanced poisons and you have a threat that the PCs must now consider when taking on some of the more iconic monsters in the game.

In addition, the mechanics behind poison have changed. Most now deal damage every round until they have run their course (this is called the frequency), but the amount of damage per round has been decreased a bit to compensate. Each poison has a cure line as well, which tells you how many saves you need to make to be free of the poison before the frequency has run out. If you have been poisoned multiple times by the same source, you no longer need to make multiple saves. Instead, the duration of the poison increases by 50% of the original duration and the DC of the save increases by +2. So, if you were poisoned three times by a wyvern, the frequency would become 1/round for 12 rounds and the DC would increase to 21. This system really opens up the poison rules (and curses and diseases which work under similar rules), allowing you to concoct all manner of vile ways to die. Here are a few sample poisons from the Core Rulebook to get your ideas flowing.

Belladonna
Type poison, ingested; Save Fortitude DC 14
Onset 10 minutes; Frequency 1/minute for 6 minutes
Effect 1d2 Str damage, target can attempt one save to cure a lycanthropy affliction contracted in the past hour; Cure 1 save

Insanity Mist
Type poison, inhaled; Save Fortitude DC 15
Frequency 1/round for 6 rounds
Effect 1d3 Wis damage; Cure 1 save

King's Sleep
Type poison, ingested; Save Fortitude DC 19
Onset 1 day; Frequency 1/day (unlike others, this poison continues until cured)
Effect 1 Con drain; Cure 2 consecutive saves

Tears of Death
Type poison, contact; Save Fortitude DC 22
Onset 1 minute; Frequency 1/minute for 6 minutes
Effect 1d6 Con damage and paralyzed for 1 minute; Cure none (This poison continues until the end of its frequency, regardless of the number of saving throws made)

Wyvern Poison
Type poison, injury; Save Fortitude DC 17
Frequency 1/round for 6 rounds
Effect 1d4 Con damage; Cure 2 consecutive saves

There are only three more previews left to go before the release of the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook. Of course, if you want a bit more, check out Kobold Quarterly #10, which contains another preview written by yours truly and a look at the revised shadowdancer prestige class. Next week, we will round out our look at the base classes by taking a look at Ezren, the iconic wizard.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

Snagged from the Vault: Pathfinder RPG Bestiary

Monday, July 20, 2009

Work continues frantically as we put the final touches on the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary. In anticipation of the light at the end of this beastly tunnel, here's a host of new divine creatures preparing to come to your PCs' aid in just a few short weeks!

Art by Michael Jaecks	Art by Alex Schim
Art by Andrew Hou	Art by Kieran Yanner

F. Wesley Schneider
Managing Editor

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Preview #10

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook is set to release on August 13th, 2009, and in anticipation, we are releasing a preview of the game each week until the game hits store shelves. This week, we are getting angry with Amiri, the iconic barbarian.

Amiri
Female human barbarian 17
CN Medium humanoid (human)
Init +2; Senses Perception +21
DEFENSE
AC 26, touch 14, flat-footed 24 (+9 armor, +4 deflection, +2 Dex, +3 natural, –2 rage)
hp 252 (17d12+136)
Fort +19, Ref +10, Will +14; +4 vs. enchantment
Defensive Abilities improved uncanny dodge, indomitable will, trap sense +5; DR 4/—
OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft.
Melee +4 frost keen adamantine greatsword +31/+26/+21/+16 (2d6+19/17–20 plus 1d6 cold)
Ranged +2 frost composite longbow +21/+16/+11/+6 (1d8+9/x3 plus 1d6 cold)
Special Attacks greater rage (41 rounds/day), rage powers (fearless rage, increased damage reduction, intimidating glare, knockback, powerful blow +5, renewed vigor [4d8+6], superstition +6, terrifying howl [DC 27])
BASE STATISTICS
AC 28, touch 16, flat-footed 26 (+9 armor, +4 deflection, +2 Dex, +3 natural)
hp 201 (17d12+85)
Fort +16, Will +11
Melee +4 frost keen adamantine greatsword +28/+23/+18/+13 (2d6+14/17–20 plus 1d6 cold)
CMB +24; CMD 40
Skills Climb +27
STATISTICS
Str 24 (30), Dex 14, Con 16 (22), Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8
Base Atk +17; CMB +27; CMD 41
Feats Bleeding Critical, Blind-Fight, Critical Focus, Greater Vital Strike, Improved Iron Will, Improved Vital Strike, Iron Will, Power Attack, Toughness, Vital Strike
Skills Acrobatics +22, Climb +30, Intimidate +19, Perception +21, Survival +21
SQ tireless rage
Combat Gear potion of cure serious wounds (6), potion of haste (2); Other Gear ring of protection +4, amulet of natural armor +3, cloak of resistance +3, +4 frost keen adamantine greatsword, +2 frost composite longbow (Str +7), +5 moderate fortification hide armor, bag of holding (type II), belt of giant strength +6, cube of force, ring of freedom of movement, scarab of protection, winged boots

Don't make Amiri angry, you won't like her when she's angry. Of all of our iconics, none is more focused on dishing out pain than the barbarian. Although her stat block shows her damage while raging, it does not include Power Attack, which would give her a –5 on attack rolls, but increase her damage to 2d6+34. If she were to score a critical hit, while using Greater Vital Strike and Power Attack, her damage would jump to 10d6+68 and her victim would take 2d6 points of bleed damage each round thereafter. Enough with the math though, lets get in to some of the specifics of the barbarian.

To start off, let's take a look at rage. In the Beta version of the Pathfinder RPG rules, barbarians received a pool of rage points that they could spend on rounds of rage and to activate various rage powers. We have simplified this for the final, making it so that the barbarian now only needs to track the total number of rounds of rage per day. This starts at 4 + her Constitution modifier and increases by 2 for every level beyond 1st, meaning that even a 1st-level barbarian can rage more than once per day, so long as they are short rages. She also spends only 1 round of rage per round, regardless of the type of rage she is using (this is a change from the Beta).

Rage powers were added to the barbarian early on in the design. These powers can only be used while raging and allow the barbarian to perform fantastic feats of Strength, make more powerful attacks, and terrify those around her. Since these no long consume rage points, most have been reworked to be used only once per rage or once per day. Rage powers are gained at 2nd level and the barbarian gains an additional power for every two levels beyond that. Let's take a closer look at Amiri's specific powers.

Fearless Rage: With this power, which cannot be selected until 12th level, Amiri is immune to shaken and frightened condition while raging.
Increased Damage Reduction: While raging, Amiri's DR increases to 5/—.
Intimidating Glare: With this power, Amiri can attempt to Initimidate one adjacent foe as a move action, causing them to become shaken for 1d4 rounds +1 round for every 5 points by which her check exceeds the DC.
Knockback: Once per round, Amiri can use this power make a bull rush attempt against a foe in place of a melee attack. If successful, the target takes damage equal to her Strength modifier and is moved back without Amiri needing to follow.
Powerful Blow: Once per rage, Amiri can use this power as a swift action to add +5 to one melee damage roll. This bonus scales as she gains levels.
Renewed Vigor: Once per day, while raging, Amiri can use this power to heal herself. It starts at only 1d8 + her Constitution modifier, but scales as she gains level. Amiri must be 4th level before taking this power.
Superstition: This new rage power gives a barbarian a morale bonus on all saves against spells, supernatural abilities, and spell-like abilities while raging. While valuable, it comes with the drawback. While raging, Amiri cannot be the willing target of any spell and must attempt to resist all spells, even those case by allies.
Terrifying Howl: Amiri had to take Intimidating Glare before she could select this 8th-level rage power. As a standard action, Amiri can unleash a blood-curdling war cry that causes all shaken enemies within 30 feet to make a Will save or become panicked for 1d4+1 rounds. Once a foe has made a save, successful or not, they are immune to this power for 24 hours.

These powers are designed to give the barbarian a few more options in combat besides running up and murdering folks (although there are plenty that do that too). During the Beta, there were a few rage powers that did not really fit the theme (such as the one that did elemental damage), but these have been trimmed in favor of abilities that are all exceptional abilities. You might see some supernatural rage powers in later books, but they will be tied to specific themes.

Beyond the changes to rage and the addition of rage powers, not much else has changed with the barbarian. She still gets greater and mighty rage at high levels, damage reduction, uncanny dodge, and trap sense. We added Acrobatics and Knowledge (nature) to her list of class skills. The other changes of note here are in her feats. Critical Focus and Bleeding Critical give her a +4 bonus on attack rolls made to confirm critical hits and anyone who takes a critical hit also gains 2d6 points of bleed (damage that recurs each round until healed). Iron Will works as before, but Improved Iron Will lets Amiri reroll one Will Save made each day, after the first roll is made but before the results are revealed. Toughness grants +1 hit point per level, with a minimum of +3 hit points (so +3 until you reach 4th level, at which point it becomes +4). Finally, there is Power Attack, which grants a +2 bonus on damage for a –1 penalty on attack rolls. When your base attack bonus reaches +4, and for every 4 beyond +4, the bonus to damage increases by +2 and the penalty increase by –1. Wielding a two-handed weapon increases the damage by 50%, whereas off-hand weapons get only half the damage bonus. Just thought I would let that cat out of the bag, since there has been quite a bit of speculation as to the exact formula.

There are only four more previews before the release of the Core Rulebook! If I can find her, next week we will take a look at Merisiel, the iconic rogue.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

Pathfinder Core Rulebook Preview Video!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

We know most of you can’t wait to get your hands on the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook, and while we can’t release the book until August 13, 2009, we have a few copies that the printer sent directly to us for approval purposes.

And do we ever approve! The book is such a massive and beautiful sight to behold that we simply couldn’t keep it to ourselves any longer.

We thought you deserved a sneak peek of your own!

Only a little less than a month to go before the Core Rulebook hits stores and ships to subscribers. If you have yet to place your order or let your local game store know you’ll be picking up a copy, now is the time to do so!

Please remember to visit the Paizo blog again on Wednesday, when Lead Designer Jason Bulmahn will preview the new barbarian!

Erik Mona
Publisher

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Preview #9

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook is set to release on August 13th, 2009, and in anticipation, we are releasing a preview of the game each week until the game hits store shelves. This week, we are cracking some heads with Sajan, the iconic monk.

Sajan
Male human monk 8
LN Medium humanoid (human)
Init +3; Senses Perception +3
DEFENSE
AC 23, touch 21, flat-footed 19 (+2 armor, +1 deflection, +3 Dex, +1 dodge, +3 monk, +3 Wis)
hp 63 (8d8+24)
Fort +8, Ref +9, Will +9; +2 against enchantment
Defensive Abilties evasion, slow fall 40 ft.; Immune disease
OFFENSE
Speed 50 ft.
Melee flurry of blows +9/+9/+4/+4 (2d6+2 plus 1d6 fire) or mwk shortsword +9/+4 (1d6+2/19–20)
Ranged shuriken +9/+4 (1d2+2)
Special Attacks stunning fist (8/day, stun, fatigue, or sicken, DC 17)
STATISTICS
Str 14, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 8
Base Atk +6; CMB +10; CMD 29
Feats Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Extra Ki, Greater Disarm, Improved Disarm, Improved Unarmed Strike, Scorpion Style, Stand Still, Stunning Fist, Weapon Focus (unarmed strike)
Skills Acrobatics +14 (+30 jump), Climb +13, Sense Motive +14, Stealth +14, Swim +13
Languages Common
SQ fast movement, high jump, ki pool (9 points), maneuver training, purity of body, still mind, wholeness of body
Combat Gear oil of greater magic fang (+3), potion of cure serious wounds (2); Other Gear mwk shortsword, shuriken (20), ring of protection +1, light fortification bracers of armor +2, flaming amulet of mighty fists, headband of inspiring wisdom +2, monk's robe

Everybody was kung fu fighting! Those cats were fast as lightning! Ahem. You will excuse my outburst of the Carl Douglas classic. This week we are taking a look at Sajan, the iconic monk. During the playtest there was a lot of debate on what to do with the monk, and everyone seemed to have their own idea on how to fix the class. From the beta to the final, we made a lot of tweaks to improve the class, from speeding up some progressions (such as the monk AC bonus) to adding more bonus feats (including the number granted and the selection available), but we also made a few large changes.

Let's start by taking a look at the monk's primary mode of attack: flurry of blows. This system is revised from the 3.5 version to work using mechanics similar to the Two-Weapon Fighting feats, but the new monk goes one step further and uses its monk level as its base attack bonus whenever it uses flurry of blows. At 8th level, this means that Sajan has one additional attack and all of those attacks are at a +1 over his 3.5 counterpart. If we look at 20th level, Sajan would have 2 extra attacks and those attacks are at a +3 over the 3.5 statistics. Of course, Sajan can still use special monk weapons for these attacks as well.

In addition, all monks now receive the Stunning Fist feat for free, allowing them to stun opponents for 1 round with a hit. As a monk gains levels, he can decide to apply different effects, some of which last considerably longer. At 8th level, Sajan can make his opponents fatigued (which lasts until they rest) or sickened for 1 minute. At 12th level, Sajan could instead stagger his foes for 1d6+1 rounds (making it so they can only take a move or a standard action each turn). At 16th level he can permanently blind or deafen his enemies and at 20th level, he can paralyze them for 1d6+1 rounds. These abilities are separate from the monk's quivering palm attack, which functions much as before, except that now monks can use quivering palm once per day (as opposed to once per week).

Monks are also skilled at performing and defending against combat maneuvers (such as grapple, bull rush, and trip). They use their monk level as their base attack bonus when calculating their Combat Maneuver Bonus. They also add their Wisdom and monk AC bonus to their Combat Maneuver Defense, making them truly skilled at resisting attempts made against them.

To add to the monk's offensive and defensive abilities, they now gain access to a pool of ki points that can be spent for temporary bonuses. At 4th level, Sajan gained the ability to spend 1 point as a swift action to make an additional attack as part of a flurry of blows (at his highest bonus), increase his speed by +20 ft. for 1 round, or to grant himself a +4 dodge bonus to his AC. At 5th level, he gained the high jump ability, which grants him a bonus equal to his class level on all Acrobatics checks made to jump, but it also allows him to spend a ki point for a +20 bonus to a single check. At 7th level, Sajan gained the ability to heal himself by spending 2 ki points. At higher levels, he can use this pool to dimension door or to become ethereal. The number of points in his pool goes up with his level as well, granting him 1 point per two levels, plus his Wisdom modifier (and 2 from the Extra Ki feat). As long as he has at least 1 ki point in his pool, all of his attacks are treated as magic for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction. At 10th level, they are treated as lawful and at 16th level, they are treated as adamantine.

Finally, we made one additional change, although subtle, to boost the power of the monk. The amulet of mighty fists can now be used to grant melee special weapon qualities to the monk's unarmed strikes (flaming in this case). We also repriced the item to make it a bit more attractive for our kung fu masters (this one only costs 5,000 gp to add flaming to all his natural attacks, but the higher level version received a discount as well). A similar change was made to bracers of armor, allowing them to grant special armor qualities, such as light fortification.

Sajan also has a few feats to make him more versatile in combat. Improved Disarm and Greater Disarm give him a +14 bonus total on disarm combat maneuvers and any weapons he disarms are knocked up to 15 feet away from the wielder. Stand Still forces those that attempt to move past Sajan to stop if he strikes them with an attack of opportunity (of which he gets 4 per round due to Combat Reflexes). Combined with Scorpion Style, which allows Sajan to make a single attack that reduces the target's speed to 5 feet for 3 rounds, he can really stop a foe from moving past him and then prevent that foe from moving away later.

Eight classes down and three to go, which means that we are only five weeks from the release of the Core Rulebook! Next week I will rant and rage about the powers of Amiri, the iconic barbarian.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

Snagged from the Vault: Pathfinder RPG Bestiary

Monday, July 6, 2009

As promised, we shall continue to astound and delight you with pictures pilfered from the pages of the infamous Pathfinder Bestiary. Featured here today are four mighty and terrible creatures from the Great Beyond. We leave it in our readers' capable hands to determine which type of fiend each illustration represents...

Art by Tyler Walpole	Art by Tyler Walpole
Art by Ben Wooten	Art by Kevin Yan

Vadid and Nahk
Preview Purloiners

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Preview #8

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook is set to release on August 13th, 2009, and in anticipation, we are releasing a preview of the game each week until the game hits store shelves. This week, we are taking a look at Lini, the iconic druid, and her snow leopard animal companion, Droogami.

Lini
Female gnome druid 8
N Small humanoid (gnome)
Init +5; Senses low-light vision; Perception +15
DEFENSE
AC 18, touch 14, flat-footed 17 (+4 armor, +2 deflection, +1 Dex, +1 size)
hp 71 (8d8+32)
Fort +9, Ref +3, Will +10; +2 vs. illusion
Defensive Abilities defensive training
OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft.
Melee mwk sickle +7 (1d4–1)
Ranged +1 sling +9 (1d3+1)
Special Attacks wild shape 4/day
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 8th):
1/day—dancing lights, ghost sound, prestidigitation, speak with animals
Druid Spells Prepared (CL 8th):
4th—cure serious wounds, flame strike (DC 18), freedom of movement
3rd—call lightning (DC 17), dominate animal (DC 17), greater magic fang, poison (DC 17)
2nd—barkskin, bull's strength, flame blade, lesser restoration
1st—cure light wounds (2), entangle (DC 15), longstrider, obscuring mist
0—create water, detect magic, know direction, stabilize
STATISTICS
Str 8, Dex 12, Con 16, Int 8, Wis 18, Cha 16
Base Atk +6; CMB +4; CMD 17
Feats Combat Casting, Improved Initiative, Natural Spell, Weapon Focus (claw)
Skills Acrobatics +8, Fly +10, Handle Animal +10, Knowledge (nature) +8, Perception +15, Survival +13
Languages Common, Gnome
SQ nature bond (snow leopard animal companion), nature sense, resist nature's lure, trackless step, wild empathy +11, woodland stride
Combat Gear wand of cure light wounds; Other Gear mwk sickle, +1 sling, +2 leather armor, amulet of mighty fists +1, boots of elvenkind, druid vestments, elemental gem (air), headband of inspired wisdom +2, ring of protection +2

Droogami
Male snow leopard
N Medium animal
Init +6; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +8
DEFENSE
AC 22, touch 17, flat-footed 15 (+6 Dex, +1 dodge, +5 natural)
hp 45 (7d8+14)
Fort +7, Ref +11, Will +3; +4 vs. enchantment
Defensive Abilities evasion
OFFENSE
Speed 50 ft.
Melee bite +9 (1d6+4 plus trip), 2 claws +9 (1d3+4)
STATISTICS
Str 18, Dex 22, Con 15, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6
Base Atk +5; CMB +9; CMD 26
Feats Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Stealthy
Skills Acrobatics +10, Climb +9, Perception +8, Stealth +13
SQ devotion, link, share spells, sprint

So a druid and her animal companion walk into the forest. Wait, I did that bit last week. The druid is one of those classes that is tough to nail down. The rules for the druid involve a number of different subsystems, including animal companions and the rules for changing shape. Not surprisingly, of all the parts of a druid, these two received the biggest overhaul.

Let's start off by taking a look at wild shape. The old rules were a bit disjointed, giving you additional uses almost sporadically as you gained levels, while granting different types and sizes along the way. The new system grants you the ability to wild shape one level earlier (4th, instead of 5th) and gives you an additional usage every two levels after that (Lini is wearing druid vestments which gives her an additional use). Just like before, you can maintain a form for one hour per Druid level. Unlike the old system, which gave you the exact stats of the animal, the new system is based off a number of spells that grant a specific list of ability score bonuses. These spells also grant some of the powers of your new form, depending on the spells level (just as they did in the Beta playtest version of the rules). For example, at 8th level, Lini can turn into any animal from size Diminutive to Huge, a Small or Medium elemental creature, or a Small or Medium plant creature. If she were to change her shape into a Large dire tiger, her Strength would jump to 12 and her Dex would drop to 10. She would also gain a +4 natural armor bonus, a speed of 40 feet, and the tiger's claw and bite attacks, as well as its ability to pounce, rake, and grab. The big change here is that these alterations to her statistics are now size bonuses, meaning that she can take advantage of spells like bull’s strength and magic items to enhance her ability scores (magic items that continuously function continue to do so while in wild shape, such as her amulet of mighty fists). Add in bull's strength and Lini the dire tiger could make two claw attacks at +10, dealing 2d4+4 each, and one bite attack at +9, dealing 2d6+3 with the opportunity to grapple anyone she hits. So while this ability allows Lini to become a respectable melee threat, it does not allow her to ignore her physical stats during creation if she wants to be good at combat.

The Beta playtest rules for animal companions were very similar to their 3.5 counterparts, which caused a number of issues. If you wanted to be a druid with a bear animal companion, you had to wait until 4th level, and once you got past 7th level, you really needed to trade in your loyal bear for a bigger, better bear companion. We wanted druids to be able to form a meaningful bond with their companion from first level, regardless of type, and to keep that companion up through the higher levels of play. During the playtest, we posted up some alternate rules for animal companions, which have made it into the final game with a few alterations. Druids still have the option of taking a cleric domain in place of animal companion, but those that choose a friend will be pleasantly surprised. Companions are now based on a straightforward progression, gaining Hit Dice and other abilities as the druid gains levels. Each animal type is a sort of template that is applied to the base statistics shared by all animal companions. These templates define the companions' ability scores, attacks, defenses, movement types, and special abilities. At 4th or 7th level (depending upon the power of the companion), many animal companions gain a large set of increases, usually based on size (although druids who want a smaller pet now have the option of keeping it the same size). Droogami, for example, started out with the following block of information.

Cat, Small (Cheetah Leopard)
Starting Statistics: Size Small; Speed 50 ft.; AC +1 natural armor; Attack bite (1d4 plus trip), 2 claws (1d2); Ability Scores Str 12, Dex 21, Con 13, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6; Special Qualities low-light vision, scent.
4th-Level Advancement: Size Medium; Attack bite (1d6 plus trip), 2 claws (1d3); Ability Scores Str +4, Dex –2, Con +2; Special Qualities sprint.

Droogami's other statistics are derived from a simple chart that tells you the number of Hit Dice, skill points, feats, natural armor bonuses, and Strength and Dexterity bonuses. Droogami also receives an ability score boost that can be placed anywhere (Dexterity in this case). All of this is on top of the old druid animal companion abilities, such as share spells and evasion.

Aside from these big changes, there have been a number of smaller alterations to the some of the rules used in Lini's stat block. Resist nature's lure, for example, now also applies to any effect that targets plants or wood, such as entangle and warp wood. The spell poison now works with the new poison rules (in this case, dealing 1d3 Con damage per round for 6 rounds, or until a save is made). Entangle has been clarified a bit, giving the entangled condition to those that fail their save, while those that make it can move through the area, which is considered difficult terrain. Of course, the spell still requires tall grass, weeds, or bushes. Since Hide and Move Silently were combined into Stealth, the boots of elvenkind and cloak of elvenkind became a bit redundant. To alleviate this, the boots now grant a +5 bonus on Acrobatics checks.

I should also take a brief moment to talk about the Fly skill (which has been controversial from the start). This skill helps to adjudicate actions in the air, which were previously an all-or-nothing affair based on your maneuverability. Now, just like walking, swimming, or climbing, there is a set list of maneuvers you can perform without a skill check, and some, more difficult flying maneuvers (such as hovering or turning 180 degrees) that require a check. While this is a bit more complicated, it is far more dynamic, allowing for sky chases, dramatic crashes, and my personal favorite, attempting to force a dragon to land by shooting him down. This skill bonus is modified by both your size and your maneuverability, which means that even large Hit Dice creatures, such as dragons, do not necessarily receive high scores, while smaller creatures, such as bats, are quite skilled.

Alright, we are out of the forest now, and over half way done. Come back next week for a lesson on inner peace and busting heads with Sajan, the iconic monk.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

Snagged from the Vault: Pathfinder RPG Bestiary

Monday, June 29, 2009

While the denizens of the Pit have been slavishly wrangling hundreds upon hundreds of beasts both fascinating and foul, we've managed to slip in and liberate a particularly interesting few. Now behold! We bring to you, our faithful readers, the terrible visages of four terrifying creatures, taken directly from the pages of the fabled Pathfinders' Bestiary that nears completion deep in the Vault of the Golem. Some of these creatures are obvious, yet what the others are, we cannot say. Perhaps you, dear readers, can tell us what they are?

Art by Eric Lofgren	Art by Andrew Hou
Art by Kieran Yanner	Art by Michael Jaecks

Watch close for further glimpses into the gruesome Bestiary; next time, expect fearsome creatures from the Great Beyond!

Vadid and Nahk
Preview Purloiners

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Preview #7

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook is set to release on August 13th, 2009, and in anticipation, we are releasing a preview of the game each week until the game hits store shelves. This week, we are taking a look at Lem, the iconic bard.

Lem
Male halfling bard 8
CG Small humanoid (halfling)
Init +4; Senses Perception +12
DEFENSE
AC 21, touch 17, flat-footed 16 (+4 armor, +1 deflection, +4 Dex, +1 dodge, +1 size)
hp 55 (8d8+16)
Fort +6, Ref +12, Will +7; +4 vs. bardic performance, sonic, and language dependent effects, +2 vs. fear
OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft.
Melee +1 short sword +7/+2 (1d4–1/19–20)
Ranged +1 thundering sling +12/+7 (1d3)
Special Attacks bardic performance (28 rounds/day), countersong, distraction, dirge of doom, fascinate (DC 18), inspire competence +3, inspire courage +2, suggestion (DC 18)
Spells Known (CL 8th):
3rd (3/day)—charm monster (DC 17), cure serious wounds, haste
2nd (5/day)—blur, glitterdust (DC 16), minor image (DC 16), sound burst (DC 16)
1st (5/day)—charm person (DC 15), cure light wounds, disguise self, hideous laughter (DC 15), lesser confusion (DC 15)
0 (at will)—detect magic, ghost sound (DC 14), know direction, light, read magic, summon instrument
STATISTICS
Str 8, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 8, Cha 18
Base Atk +6; CMB +4; CMD 20
Feats Combat Casting, Dodge, Extra Performance, Mobility
Skills Acrobatics +17, Escape Artist +15, Knowledge (local) +16, Perception +12, Perform (comedy) +15, Perform (wind instruments) +19, Stealth +19, Use Magic Device +15
SQ bardic knowledge (+4), lore master (1/day), versatile performance (comedy, wind instruments), well-versed
Languages Common, Elven, Halfling
Combat Gear lesser metamagic rod of extend, wand of cure moderate wounds (CL 3rd, 50 charges); Other Gear +1 shortsword, +1 thundering sling, 20 sling bullets, +2 leather armor, belt of incredible dexterity +2, cloak of resistance +1, mwk flute, ring of protection +1, wind fan

So, a bard, a fighter, a rogue, a cleric, and a wizard walk into a dungeon. The fighter says, "If only someone could give me a bonus to hit and damage against those ogres." The rogue says, "If only someone could give me a bonus to my Disable Device checks to help me disarm this trap." The cleric says, "If only someone could counter the song of the harpy that is luring me to my doom." The wizard says, "If only someone could fascinate these orcs so that I could get away from them." Finally the bard says, "Sorry guys, but I am built using 3.5 and all out of bardic performance for the day. Who wants a ghost sound?"

Don't let this situation happen to you. The Pathfinder bard has a revised mechanic for his Bardic Performance, limiting him to a total number of rounds per day, meaning that he does not have to save his few uses for inspire courage. Bards start out with a number of rounds per day equal to 4 + their Charisma modifier and gain an additional 2 rounds per day for every level beyond first. Lem here also has the Extra Performance feat which grants him an additional 6 rounds per day.

The beta version of the bard also had two paths for his bardic performance, allowing him to gain different abilities depending upon the type of Perform skill he possessed. While it was fun to come up with new abilities, the split caused many to worry that for a bard to reach his full potential, he would have to invest twice the number of ranks into Perform. In the final game, we solidified it back into one progression, but kept many of the new abilities, such as Dirge of Doom that causes all foes within 30 feet to become shaken as long as the bard continues his performance. In addition, the progression for some of the other performance types has been enhanced. Inspire courage increases to +2 at 5th level and continues to increase by +1 for every 6 levels after 5th. Inspire competence also increases by +1 for every 4 levels after 3rd.

We have also made starting and maintaining a bardic performance a bit easier. At 1st level, starting a bardic performance is a standard action, but this changes to a move action at 7th level and a swift action at 13th. Regardless of the action needed to start a performance, maintaining a performance is a free action, meaning that the bard can keep up a performance and still cast spells, move, and make attacks.

Moving on from bardic performance, the bard has received a number of other upgrades as well. Bards no longer have any alignment restrictions and they have d8 hit dice. Their spell progression has been enhanced a bit to remove the "0" listings from their chart, meaning that they get a spell without having to have a Charisma high enough to grant a bonus spell of that level. Bardic Knowledge now grants a bonus to all Knowledge skills equal to 1/2 the bard's level (minimum +1) and allows the bard to make any Knowledge skill check without having ranks in it. Well-versed grants a flat +4 bonus on saves against other bardic performances, as well as sonic and language-based spell effects. Lore master is granted at 5th level and it allows the bard to take 10 on any Knowledge skill check. In addition, once per day he can take 20 on a Knowledge skill check. As he gains levels, he can use this secondary ability multiple times per day as well.

One other class feature was added to the bard that allows him to really maximize his skill points. During the playtest there were a number of concerns about the Perform skill, being that it was required to gain access to specific bardic performance abilities but did little else beyond the roleplaying uses. To solve this we introduced a new bard class feature called versatile performance. This ability is gained at 2nd level and it allows the bard to substitute his Perform bonus for the bonus of two other skills, depending on the type of Perform. For example, Lem has versatile performance for both comedy and wind instruments. This allows him to substitute his bonus in Perform (comedy) for his bonus Bluff and Intimidate. It also allows him to substitute his bonus in Perform (wind instruments) for his bonus in Diplomacy and Handle Animal. With this ability he can use these skills even if he would normally have to be trained. As he gains levels, Lem can add new types of Perform to his list, allowing him to make even more substitutions (such as Perform [dance] for Acrobatics and Fly).

There have been a few changes to the spells on Lem's list as well. Glitterdust, for example, now allows a save each round to negate the blindness (although the creatures affected by it still remain visible for the duration). Hideous laughter now grants an additional save after the first round of laughing to negate the effect. If this second save fails, the target laughs for the entire duration, which remains 1 round per level. Lesser confusion, and by extension, confusion, have been simplified a bit to make them easier to adjudicate. Both of these spells cause the subject to gain the confused condition, which causes them to roll d% each round to determine their actions on the following table.

Confused Condition
01–25 Act Normally
26–50 Do nothing but babble incoherently
51–75 Deal 1d8 points of damage + Str modifier to self with item in hand
76–100 Attack nearest creature

At higher levels the bard gains a few new performance types, allowing him to frighten or even kill his foes (in Lem's case, probably by telling a really bad joke). The bard also gains a performance type that allows him to cast mass cure serous wounds by performing for 4 consecutive rounds. The bard also gains the jack-of-all-trades ability at 10th level which allows him to try any skill untrained and at higher levels allows him to treat all skills like class skills and to take 10 on any skill check.

Well, that is the end of the bard's tale. Tune in next week for a journey into the wild with Lini, the iconic druid.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Preview #6

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook is set to release on August 13th, 2009, and in anticipation, we are releasing a preview of the game each week until the game hits store shelves. This week, we are taking a look at Seelah, the iconic paladin.

Seelah
Female human paladin 13
LG Medium humanoid
Init –1; Perception +1
Aura courage (10 ft., +4 fear saves), good, justice (10 ft.), resolve (10 ft., +4 charm saves)
DEFENSE
AC 27, touch 11, flat-footed 27 (+10 armor, +2 deflection, –1 Dex, +6 shield)
hp 115 (13d10+39)
Fort +14, Ref +7, Will +13
Immune charm spells and effects, disease, fear; Resist cold 10
OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft.
Melee +3 defending longsword +21/+16/+11 (1d8+7/19–20)
Ranged +1 composite longbow +13/+8/+3 (1d8+5/x3)
Special Attacks channel positive energy (7d6, DC 20), divine bond (weapon, 3/day, 13 min., +3 bonus), lay on hands (12/day, 6d6), mercy (diseased, nauseated, sickened, paralyzed), smite evil (5/day, +4 to hit, +13 damage)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 13th):
At Will—detect evil
Paladin Spells Prepared (CL 10th):
4th—holy sword
3rd—dispel magic, prayer
2nd—resist energy, shield other, zone of truth (DC 16)
1st—bless weapon, divine favor, lesser restoration, protection from evil
STATISTICS
Str 19, Dex 8, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 18
Base Atk +13; CMB +17 (+21 to sunder); CMD 28
Feats Critical Focus, Extra Lay on Hands, Greater Sunder, Improved Sunder, Power Attack, Shield Focus, Staggering Critical, Weapon Focus (longsword)
Skills Diplomacy +16, Heal +14, Knowledge (religion) +13, Sense Motive +14
SQ divine grace, divine health
Combat Gear staff of healing, winged boots; Other Gear +3 defending longsword, +1 composite longbow (+4 Str), mithral full plate of speed, +3 heavy steel shield, belt of giant strength +2, headband of alluring charisma +2, ring of minor cold resistance, ring of protection +2

Of all the base classes, paladins got some of the largest revisions between the Beta and the final version of the rules. Some of their defenses were increased, but the majority of the changes revolve around smite evil and the addition of the new ability called mercy.

Before we dig into those changes though, lets take a look at some of the other alterations. The first things you might notice are the new auras. These were introduced in alpha stages of the playtest and they have survived to the final game. The aura of justice allows Seelah to spend two uses of her smite evil ability to grant the ability to smite evil to all allies within 10 feet. She must use this ability right away and it lasts for 1 minute, but more on that later. The second aura, the aura of resolve, makes the paladin immune to charm spells and grants a +4 bonus on saves against such spells to all allies within 10 feet. Having a paladin in your party gives you a reason to stick together, even if it does mean that you are a little bit more vulnerable to area of effect spells.

The next change on the roster involves the paladin's saving throws. You might notice that Seelah's Will save is a bit higher than it should be. This is due to the fact that paladins now receive the faster save progression for their Will saves.

The paladin's lay on hands ability has been revamped a bit. The paladin can use this ability a number of times per day equal to half her paladin level plus her Charisma modifier. With each use, she heals 1d6 points of damage per two paladin levels. When she uses this on others, it is a standard action, but she can heal herself using this ability as a swift action. Seelah can also channel positive energy, as a cleric of her level, but she must use up two uses of her lay on hands ability whenever she channels.

In addition to healing damage, using lay on hands also comes with a number of new benefits called mercies. Starting at 3rd level, paladins can select one condition from a specific list (at 3rd level, that list is fatigued, shaken, and sickened, but the list expands the paladin gains levels). Whenever she uses lay on hands, if the target is suffering from that condition, it is instantly removed. As a paladin gains levels, she gains additional mercies, which expands her list of conditions cured though lay on hands. She can even cure diseases, poisons, and curses in this way, although she must make a caster level check to remove them (just as with the spells that remove these afflictions). These mercies allow a paladin to act as a healer in the party, but without stealing the focus from the cleric, who is more focused on larger healing spells and other buffs.

Divine bond allows a paladin to choose from one of two different effects. She can bond with a horse, which acts like an animal companion (using the paladin's level as her effective druid level), or she can bond celestial spirits to her weapon. Seelah has the weapon bond option, which allows her to add +3 to her weapon up to three times per day, with each bonding lasting a number of minutes equal to her paladin level. Instead of adding simple bonuses, however, she can instead transform those bonuses into special weapon qualities of an equal bonus. For example, Seelah could add a +1 enhancement bonus to her +3 defending longsword, making it +4 and she could also add the holy weapon quality. Instead, she could add axiomatic, flaming, flaming burst, keen, or merciful. As she gains in level, other options become available, such as speed or brilliant energy. The really nice part is that she can tailor these bonuses to the current situation, changing them each time she calls a celestial spirit.

Of all the changes, smite evil was perhaps the most contentious on the message boards. Everyone seemed to have an idea of how this iconic ability should work. In the end, it was decided that smite evil really should last until your evil foe is vanquished, making this ability useful even if you miss with your first attack. But we did not stop there, the amount of bonus damage dealt (that is, 1 point per paladin level) doubles if the selected foe is an evil outsider, dragon, or undead. Smite attacks also ignore any damage reduction the target might have. Finally, the paladin is protected from harm gaining a deflection bonus to her AC equal to her Charisma modifier against attacks made by the target. Suffice to say, you do not want to be on the receiving end of a paladin's smite evil.

There have been a few other changes to the paladin as well. Whenever she uses detect evil, she can focus on one target, to the exclusion of all others, to learn if that target is evil in just 1 round. In addition, her spellcasting progression is a little bit faster now (matching the ranger's), it is based off her Charisma modifier, and her effective caster level is her paladin level –3. Most of her spells are pretty straight forward, but there have been some changes to protection from evil that are worth noting here. This spell does not grant immediate immunity to mental control. Instead, it grants a new save at a +2 bonus against the control, but only if the source of the control is an evil creature or object (the other protection spells provide similar saves against their alignments). The spell does still provide immunity to new mental control or possession from evil creatures and objects while it lasts. Its protection from contact by summoned creatures now also only applies to evil creatures (instead of evil and neutral).

Seelah has a number of feats that are worth a closer look. Critical Focus gives her a +4 bonus on critical hit confirmation rolls, but the real star is Staggering Critical. Any foe that suffers a critical hit from a creature with Staggering Critical is staggered for 1d4+1 rounds (meaning that can only take a move or a standard action). A Fort save reduces this duration to 1 round (for Seelah, the DC is 23). There are a host of critical feats like this in the book, but you cannot apply more than one to any critical hit (unless you are a fighter with the Critical Mastery feat). These feats are good, but they have relatively high prerequisites. Staggering Critical, for example, requires a base attack bonus of +13, whereas Stunning Critical requires a base attack bonus of +17. Seelah also has Improved Sunder and Greater Sunder, both of which give her a +2 bonus on checks to sunder. Greater Sunder also allows Seelah to apply excess damage from the sunder directly to the creature holding the item. Each combat maneuver has a pair of feats that works like this, granting up to a total of +4 bonus along with another benefit.

That wraps up our look at Seelah. Next week we will get Lem, the iconic bard, in here to play us a tune or two.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Preview #5

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook is set to release on August 13th, 2009, and in anticipation, we are releasing a preview of the game each week until the game hits store shelves. This week, we are taking a look at Kyra, the iconic cleric.

Kyra
Female human cleric of Sarenrae 8
NG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +3; Senses Perception +5
Aura good
DEFENSE
AC 19, touch 9, flat-footed 19 (+8 armor, –1 Dex, +2 natural)
hp 55 (8d8+16)
Fort +10, Ref +5, Will +13
Resist fire 10
OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft.
Melee +1 flaming scimitar +9/+4 (1d6+3 plus 1d6 fire/18-20)
Special Attacks channel positive energy (4d6, 4d6+8 vs. undead, DC 17, 4/day), fire bolt (+5 ranged touch, 1d6+4 fire, 8/day), nimbus of light (8 rounds/day)
Cleric Spells Prepared (CL 8th):
4th—death ward, divine power, fire shield*, holy smite
3rd—dispel magic, fireball*, prayer, remove curse, searing light
2nd—bull's strength, heat metal*, silence, spiritual weapon (2)
1st—bless, burning hands*, divine favor (2), protection from evil (2), shield of faith
0 (at will)—detect magic, light, read magic, stabilize
* Domain spell; Domains Fire, Sun
STATISTICS
Str 14, Dex 8, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 20, Cha 12
Base Atk +6; CMB +8; CMD 17
Feats Improved Channel, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Selective Channeling, Turn Undead
Skills Diplomacy +12, Heal +16, Knowledge (religion) +11, Spellcraft +11
Languages Common
SQ sun's blessing
Combat Gear wand of cure light wounds (50 charges), pearl of power (2nd level), scroll of flame strike; Other Gear +1 flaming scimitar, +2 chainmail, amulet of natural armor +2, cloak of resistance +2, headband of inspired wisdom +2

Kyra is a relatively straightforward cleric, worshiping Sarenrae, the fiery goddess of the sun. While much about the cleric is unchanged, there are a number of notable alterations.

First off is a change to how domains work. In the Beta version of the rules, the domains lost their bonus spells and gained a host of special abilities that were gained when the cleric reached certain levels. For the final version of the game, we went back to bonus spells, but we altered the spell lists a bit (you might notice fireball in her 3rd-level list of spells prepared). In addition, we kept some of the special abilities, replacing many of the granted powers. Kyra receives fire bolt and sun's blessing at 1st level. Fire bolt allows her to shoot rays of fire a limited number of times per day. The sun's blessing power adds to Kyra's channel energy ability and prevents undead from adding their turn resistance to their saves to resist her channeled energy (but more on how this works in a bit). At 6th level, the fire domain grants Kyra fire resistance (that increases as she gains levels). At 8th level she gains the nimbus of light ability from the sun domain. This powerful ability allows her to shed light like daylight for a number of rounds per day equal to her cleric level. This dispels any darkness effect and deals damage to undead in the area at the beginning of Kyra's turn (1 point per cleric level per round). The light spells themselves got a bit of an overhaul. There are now four levels of illumination: darkness, dim light, normal light, and bright light. Spells like light shed normal light in a set radius and increase the light level by one step in a set area beyond that. Spells like darkness reduce the light level in a set radius. Deeper darkness can actually make an area so dark that not even darkvision can penetrate it.

In addition to the changes to domains, the turn undead rules have been revised as well. Now called channel energy, this ability releases a wave of positive or negative energy in a 30-foot radius. When Kyra uses this ability she much choose to heal living creatures or to harm undead creatures (in the Beta rules, she could do both simultaneously). If she chooses to heal, all living creatures in the area are healed the listed amount (4d6 in this case). If she chooses to harm undead, all undead in the area take the listed damage (4d6+8 in this case, due to her sun's blessing domain ability), but they receive a save for half damage. Evil clerics can use this power in reverse, to harm living creatures or heal undead creatures. Kyra also has a few feats to enhance her channel energy ability. Improved Channel adds +2 to the DC to resist the channel and Selective Channel allows Kyra to exclude a number of targets in her area equal to her Charisma modifier. The big change here though is the Turn Undead feat. This feat allows Kyra to spend one use of her Channel Energy ability to force undead to flee from her unless they make their save. This version does not deal damage, but it can turn the tide in a battle.

There have also been a number of changes to cleric spells. Many of these were made to balance the cleric with some of the other classes or to otherwise simplify a confusing spell. Death ward, for example, no longer grants blanket immunity to death effects. Instead it grants bonuses to resist such affects and gives you a save even if one is not normally allowed. It also removes the penalties from negative levels while it lasts. Divine Power was significantly altered to prevent the cleric from becoming a better melee fighter than the fighter with just a spell or two. Now the spell grants a bonus to attacks and damage rolls, temporary hit points, and an additional attack whenever the cleric makes a full attack (just like haste). While it is still a good spell, it is no longer overpowering. Remove curse also deserves a bit of inspection. This spell (and those like it that remove ailments) is no longer automatic. When casting one of these spells, Kyra must succeed at a caster level check to remove the condition (using the ailment's DC). The goal here was to add some bite back into curses, diseases, and poisons, which have been a trivial concern past 5th level.

Last, but not least, it is time to talk about casting on the defensive. The Concentration skill was removed from the game in one of the early versions and there have been a number of systems proposed to replace it. In the final game, whenever a spellcaster is called upon to make such a check, he adds his caster level and whatever ability score is used to determine his spell DCs. To avoid confusion, we kept the old name, calling it a concentration check. This really is the simplest solution that avoids a skill tax on all spellcasters and does not favor one class over another (due to the variable ability score modifier that is added). When casting on the defensive, the DC is equal to 15 + double the spell's level. This makes it a little harder to cast on the defensive than it was, but that works to help balance out the spellcasters a bit (especially when you consider new feats that allow enemies to move with you if you attempt to 5-foot step away to cast a spell).

That is about all there is to show here on Kyra. Next week we are laying our hands on the mighty and powerful Seelah, the iconic paladin.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Preview #4

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook is set to release on August 13th, 2009, and in anticipation, we are releasing a preview of the game each week until the game hits store shelves. This week, we are taking a look at Harsk, the iconic ranger.

Harsk
Male dwarf ranger 11
LN Medium humanoid
Init +5 (+9 underground, +7 mountain); Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +17
DEFENSE
AC 24, touch 15, flat-footed 19; (+6 armor, +5 Dex, +3 natural)
hp 109 (11d10+44)
Fort +10, Ref +12, Will +8; (+2 vs. poison, spells, and spell-like abilities)
Defensive Abilities defensive training (+4 AC vs. giants), evasion
OFFENSE
Spd 20 ft.
Melee +2 greataxe +15/+10/+5 (1d12+5/x3)
Ranged +1 axiomatic shock light crossbow +15/+15/+10/+5 (1d8+1 plus 1d6 electricity/17–20)
Special Attacks favored enemy (humanoid [giant] +6, undead +2, dragon +2), favored terrain (underground +4, mountain +2), hunter's bond (companions), quarry
Spells Prepared (CL 8th)
3rd—cure moderate wounds, summon nature's ally III
2nd—barkskin (already cast), bear's endurance
1st—longstrider, resist energy, speak with animals
STATISTICS
Str 14, Dex 20, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 6
Base Atk +11; CMB +13; CMD 28 (32 vs. bull rush and trip)
Feats Deadly Aim, Endurance, Improved Critical (light crossbow), Improved Precise Shot, Iron Will, Pinpoint Targeting, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Reload, Rapid Shot
Skills Climb +16, Heal +17, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +14, Perception +17, Stealth +24, Survival +17 (+22 following tracks)
Languages Common, Dwarven
SQ swift tracker, track +5, wild empathy +9, woodland stride
Combat Gear wand of cure moderate wounds (50 charges); Other Gear +3 studded leather armor, +2 greataxe, +1 axiomatic shock light crossbow, 40 bolts, 20 silver bolts, 20 cold iron bolts, 5 adamantine bolts, belt of incredible dexterity +4, headband of inspired wisdom +2, cloak of elvenkind

Let me tell you a little story.

For months now, stories were spreading about brutal attacks made against merchant caravans making their way through the Mindspin Mountains. While not uncommon during this time of year, the savagery of the attacks and the reports of a giant man, bedecked with ice, caught Harsk's attention. Not a week later, Harsk was high up the mountains, casting about for a trail. He had already encountered a pair of slaughtered caravans, when he found one that was recently attacked. Fresh boot prints in the snow confirmed his suspicions. It was a frost giant. For two days he followed the trail without fault, leading deeper into the mountains before ending at the mouth of a deep, dark cave. Sneaking inside, the wily dwarf quickly found his prey, sorting through a vast pile of ill-gotten loot. The giant had no idea that death had come for him as Harsk took aim with his trusted crossbow.

This is the sort of situation a ranger like Harsk dreams of. Having caught the giant in a cave, he has immense bonuses against the behemoth. Using his favored terrain bonuses, Harsk received a +2 on all Survival skill checks when tracking the giant through the mountains. In the caves (which count as underground), this bonus increases to a +4. It also applies to his initiative (giving him a great chance at going first), Perception, and Stealth checks. His favored enemy bonuses against giants of +6 applies to Bluff, Knowledge, Perception, Sense Motive, and Survival checks made against the giant, but more importantly, it applies to his attack and damage rolls. Added up, these bonuses give him a +32 bonus on Survival checks to track the giant in the caves (+30 in the mountains) and a +28 to avoid being spotted as he sneaks up to within 30 feet for the attack.

Assuming Harsk gets the drop on the giant, he can use Pinpoint Targeting during the surprise round to ensure he gets a hit. This feat allows him to make a single attack as a standard action that ignores armor, natural armor, and shield bonuses to AC (which drops the giant's AC down to 8). If he wins initiative, he can then take a full attack against the giant. Using Deadly Aim (which allows him to take a –3 penalty on attack rolls to gain a +6 bonus on damage rolls, just like Power Attack but for ranged weapons), his bonus on these attacks comes out to +19/+19/+14/+9 with each attack dealing 1d8+14 plus 1d6 electricity and 2d6 from the axiomatic quality. If Harsk hits with all 4 attacks (and the surprise attack, which deals a little less damage), his average damage is around 138 points of damage, which is just enough to put the giant in his grave.

If Harsk really wanted to ensure success, he would denote the giant as his quarry before combat begins. This ability is gained at 11th level and it allows a ranger to select a creature that matches one of his favored enemy types as his quarry, granting him a +2 bonus on attack rolls and automatically confirming all critical hits against the target. He can also take 10 on Survival checks to track his quarry while moving at full speed without penalty. Although Harsk can have no more than one quarry at a time, he can select a new quarry 1 hour after his previous quarry is slain.

Now, this is not exactly a fair fight, as Harsk is built to kill giants in caves, but rangers are built to excel in specific circumstances. Against other enemies or in other environments, they are still capable combatants, but they really shine when hunting their favored enemies or while adventuring in their favored terrain.

Harsk also possesses the hunter's bond class feature, which allows him to grant any allies within 30 feet half of his favored enemy bonus against one foe as a move action. Once given, this bonus lasts for 3 rounds. He could have taken an animal companion instead, but we will discuss those in more detail during the druid preview. For now, remember that if Harsk were to take an animal companion, his effective druid level would be 8th (not 5th, as it was in 3.5).

In addition, Harsk has a few spells to aid him in his struggles. He now casts spells with a caster level equal to his ranger level –3 (instead of half his ranger level). His progression has also been improved a bit, giving him a few extra spells. Of special note is summon nature's ally III, which allows him to summon a boar, a wolverine, or even 1d3 Small earth elementals. Take a look at the following lists for more examples (some might even say this was a sneak peak at the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary).

1st level

Dire Rat
Dolphin
Eagle
Giant Centipede
Fire Beetle
Mite
Poisonous Frog
Pony (horse)
Riding Dog
Stirge
Viper (snake)

2nd Level

Ant, Drone
Elemental (Small)
Goblin Dog
Horse
Hyena
Octopus
Squid
Wolf

3rd Level

Ant, Soldier
Ape
Aurochs (herd animal)
Boar
Cheetah
Constrictor Snake
Crocodile
Dire Bat
Electric Eel
Giant Crab
Giant Lizard
Leopard (Cat)
Shark
Wolverine

Harsk has a few other abilities as well. Swift tracker allows Harsk to move his normal speed while using Survival to track and reduces the penalty to –10 while moving at twice his normal speed. Track now grants a bonus on Survival checks made to follow tracks equal to 1/2 his ranger level. This change was made because everyone can track now using Survival, making the ability redundant. At higher levels, Harsk would gain additional favored enemies and terrains, additional combat style feats (additional archery feats in Harsk's case), improved evasion, camouflage, hide in plain sight, and at 20th level, the master hunter ability. This ability allows him to kill his favored enemies with a single bolt, assuming they fail their saves. He can also use this ability to deal nonlethal damage equal to the target's hit point total, allowing him to bring his prey back alive.

That covers the ranger. Come back next week and enter the domains of Kyra, the iconic cleric.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Preview #3

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook is set to release on August 13th, 2009, and in anticipation, we are releasing a preview of the game each week until the game hits store shelves. This week, we are taking a look at Seoni, the iconic sorcerer.

Seoni
Female human sorcerer 10
Init +2; Senses Perception +11
Defense
AC 23, touch 15, flat-footed 20; (+4 armor, +2 deflection, +2 Dex, +1 dodge, +4 shield)
hp 57 (10d6+20)
Fort +6, Ref +7, Will +12
DR 10/adamantine
Offense
Spd 30 ft.
Melee staff of fire +4 (1d6–1)
Ranged ray +7 (by spell)
Special Attacks metamagic adept (2/day)
Spells Known (CL 10th)
5th (4/day)—cone of cold (DC 22)
4th (6/day, 5 remaining)—dimension door, ice storm, stoneskin, wall of fire
3rd (7/day)—dispel magic, fly, haste, lightning bolt (DC 20)
2nd (7/day, 6 remaining)—invisibility, mirror image, resist energy, scorching ray, web (DC 17)
1st (8/day, 7 remaining)—burning hands (DC 18), enlarge person, identify, mage armor, magic missile, shield
0 (at will)—acid splash, arcane mark, daze (DC 15), detect magic, light, mage hand, prestidigitation, ray of frost, read magic
Statistics Str 8, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 20
Base Atk +5; CMB +4; CMD 19
Feats Alertness (from familiar), Dodge, Eschew Materials, Extend Spell, Greater Spell Focus (evocation), Quicken Spell, Spell Focus (evocation), Spell Penetration, Still Spell
Skills Bluff +14, Climb +2, Fly +11 (+16 using fly), Knowledge (local) +9, Perception +11, Spellcraft +9
Languages Common
SQ arcane bloodline, arcane bond (familiar, lizard), bloodline arcana (+1 DC to metamagic spells)
Combat Gear lesser metamagic rod of empower, potion of cure serious wounds (2), scroll of greater dispel magic, scroll of wall of force; Other Gear cloak of resistance +2, headband of mental prowess +2 (Wis and Cha), ring of feather falling, ring of protection +2, slippers of spider climbing, staff of fire

Starting off, Seoni has a few precast spells, whose effects are already calculated in as part of her stat block, including an extended shield, mage armor, and stoneskin. She could increase these protections with haste, mirror image, and resist energy if given a few rounds to prepare.

As a sorcerer, Seoni can choose from one of ten different bloodlines. We chose the arcane bloodline, which is the default bloodline for existing 3.5 sorcerers as it is the only bloodline that grants a familiar. All bloodlines grant a number of bonuses as the sorcerer gains levels, such as additional spells known (Seoni receives identify at 3rd level, invisibility at 5th level, dispel magic at 7th level, and dimension door at 9th level), a bonus class skill (Seoni receives a free Knowledge skill of her choice), and a number of special bloodline powers (which we will talk about in a bit). New to the final version of the game is bloodline arcana. Each bloodline now grants a special bonus to a specific group of spells. In Seoni's case, any time she casts a metamagic version of a spell that increases the level by at least 1, the DC of that spell increases by +1 (total, not per level increased). This means that if Seoni casts a still lightning bolt the DC to halve the damage is increased to 21. Other bloodlines grant similar abilities. For example, the destined bloodline grants the sorcerer a luck bonus on saving throws for 1 round whenever she casts a spell with a range of personal.

In addition to the arcane bond ability (which allows Seoni to have a familiar), the arcane bloodline grants two additional abilities. The first is metamagic adept, which allows her to cast metamagic spells without increasing their casting time. At her current level, she can use this ability twice per day. It should be noted that quicken spell has been changed to allow sorcerers to use it without increasing the casting time, meaning that Seoni can save her metamagic adept ability for extended and still spells. The second ability is new arcana, which grants Seoni an additional spell known (she chose stoneskin).

If we were to continue to advance Seoni, she would receive a school power at 15th level, which would grant her a +2 bonus to the DC of all spells from one school of magic. At 20th level, she would undergo an arcane apotheosis, which would allow her to cast any metamagic spell without increasing the casting time and allow her to burn spell slots to power magic items that expend charges.

Moving on, we get to Seoni's spell list. There have been a few changes to some of these spells, mostly to make them simpler to use, but in some cases to increase their power a bit. Ice storm, for example, deals the same amount of damage, but now also includes an effect that makes the area difficult terrain and imposes a penalty on Perception checks.

Of all the spells in the game, none has the power to bring things screeching to a halt faster than dispel magic. Not only did this spell take a while to adjudicate, it also forced the target to recalculate a host of statistics if the spell was particularly successful. Now dispel magic requires only a single caster check, and the result is applied to all the spells active on the target. It dispels the spell with the highest caster level that it can affect. While this reduces its power a bit (although it no longer has the +10 limit to the check), it makes the spell a whole lot easier to use. Greater dispel magic still allows you to strip off multiple spells, but it too only requires a single check. It dispels one spell per four caster levels, taking out the spells with the highest caster level that it can effect. I should note that you can still use either one of these spells to target a specific spell to end that effect, allowing you to try and knock out the enemy's fly or stoneskin when it really counts.

Mirror image has also received a bit of a facelift, making it simpler to use. Take a look.

Mirror Image
School illusion (figment); Level bard 2, sorcerer/wizard 2
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S
Range personal
Target you
Duration 1 min./level

This spell creates a number of illusory doubles of you that inhabit your square. These doubles make it difficult for enemies to precisely locate and attack you.

When mirror image is cast, 1d4 images plus one image per three caster levels (maximum eight images total) are created. These images remain in your space and move with you, mimicking your movements, sounds, and actions exactly. Whenever you are attacked or are the target of a spell that requires an attack roll, there is a possibility that the attack targets one of your images instead. If the attack is a hit, roll randomly to see whether the selected target is real or a figment. If it is a figment, the figment is destroyed. If the attack misses by 5 or less, one of your figments is destroyed by the near miss. Area spells affect you normally and do not destroy any of your figments. Spells and effects that do not require an attack roll affect you normally and do not destroy any of your figments. Spells that require a touch attack are harmlessly discharged if used to destroy a figment.

An attacker must be able to see the figments to be fooled. If you are invisible or the attacker is blind, the spell has no effect (although the normal miss chances still apply).

I also want to take a moment to talk about Seoni's staff of fire. Like the previous rules for staves, Seoni can cast all the spells in the staff using her caster level (10th) instead of the staff's, which is only 8th. She can also use her Charisma modifier and feat bonuses when calculating the save DCs. Staves in the new rules contain a total of 10 charges, but they can be recharged. Once per day, Seoni can expend a 4th level spell slot (the highest level spell contained in the staff of fire) to add 1 charge to the staff. Most of the staves have been rebuilt to work within these new rules.

That is about all for this week. Next week Harsk comes stomping on to the stage as we take a look at the iconic ranger. I hear he has favored terrain (the internet), so we better watch out!

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Preview #2

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook is set to release on August 13th, 2009, and in anticipation, we are releasing a preview of the game each week until the game hits store shelves. This week, we are taking a look at Valeros, the iconic fighter.

Valeros
Male human fighter 14
NG Medium humanoid
Init +5; Senses Perception +13
DEFENSE
AC 28, touch 17, flat-footed 23; (+10 armor, +2 deflection, +5 Dex, +1 shield)
hp 137 (14d10+56)
Fort +12, Ref +9, Will +3 (+7 against fear)
Resist fire 10
OFFENSE
Spd 30 ft.
Melee +3 keen longsword +23/+18/+13 (1d8+13/17–20), +2 frost shortsword +20/+15/+10 (1d6+7 plus 1d6 cold/19–20)
Ranged +1 flaming composite shortbow +20/+15/+10 (1d6+4 plus 1d6 fire/x3)
STATISTICS
Str 16, Dex 20, Con 16, Int 13, Wis 8, Cha 10
Base Atk +14; CMB +17; CMD 34
Feats Combat Expertise, Double Slice, Greater Two-Weapon Fighting, Greater Weapon Focus (longsword), Greater Weapon Specialization (longsword), Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, Improved Vital Strike, Power Attack, Toughness, Two-Weapon Defense, Two-Weapon Fighting, Two-Weapon Rend, Vital Strike, Weapon Focus (longsword, shortsword), Weapon Specialization (longsword)
Skills Climb +20, Intimidate +17, Perception +13, Ride +22, Swim +20
Languages Common, Halfling
SQ armor training +3, bravery +4, weapon training (heavy blades +3, light blades +2, close +1)
Combat Gear necklace of fireballs (type V), potion of cure serious wounds (3), potion of fly, potion of heroism, rod of flame extinguishing; Other Gear bag of holding (type II), +4 fire resistant light fortification breastplate, +1 flaming composite shortbow (+3 Str), +2 frost short sword, belt of physical perfection +2, boots of levitation, +3 keen longsword, periapt of wound closure, ring of protection +2, ring of the ram

First off, the new Valeros is designed to dish out the hurt, but his AC is a bit low for a character of his level. He can fix this in combat by using Combat Expertise, which at his level gives him a +4 dodge bonus to his AC (which also adds to his Combat Maneuver Defense, but more on that later) but taking a –4 penalty on attack rolls for 1 round. He can also used Power Attack to add +8 damage on attacks made with his longsword and +4 damage on attacks made with his shortsword by taking an additional –4 penalty on attack rolls. He would probably not want to use both at the same time, but he can mix it up as dictated by the situation. If he manages to hit one target with both his longsword and shortsword in the same round, he deals an additional 1d10+4 points of damage thanks to Two-Weapon Rend.

All of this assumes that Valeros begins his turn adjacent to an enemy. If not, he can charge up and make a single attack with his longsword using both Power Attack and Improved Vital Strike. This devastating attack is made at a +23 bonus and it deals 3d8+21. Note that Valeros can move 30 feet during this charge, despite wearing a breastplate. This is due to his armor training, which allows him to move at full speed while wearing such armor.

You might notice a new statistic in Valeros' stat block. CMD, which stands for Combat Maneuver Defense. This statistic is the DC for anyone else to perform a combat maneuver, such as bull rush, disarm, or grapple, against Valeros. This statistic is derived from his CMB +10 plus a number of other modifiers (Dexterity and deflection bonuses in this case). Note that Valeros adds his weapon training bonuses to his CMD whenever anyone tries to disarm or sunder weapons from those groups (he also adds these bonuses to combat maneuver checks made using weapons from those groups).

Lastly, Valeros has some fun magic items at his disposal. You can never go wrong with a necklace of fireballs (type V), especially when you are wearing fire resistant armor. The periapt of wound closure protects him from bleed damage, which is a bit more common with some of the new higher-level feats (Bleeding Critical comes to mind). Lastly, the ring of the ram is a great toy for a fighter like Valeros to control the battlefield a bit. Using just 1 charge allows him to make a bull rush combat maneuver at a +17 bonus, which should be enough to push smaller monsters around.

That's about all for this week. There are a few other tidbits hidden in the stat block for the math savvy, but I will leave those for the messageboards to puzzle out. Next week, in part 3 of our 14-week preview, we're going to take a close look at Seoni, the iconic sorcerer. And by close, I mean very close, close enough to examine her blood.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

Download 164 KB zip PDF

Download 3.4 MB zip PDF

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Preview #1

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Just under two weeks ago, we shipped the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook to the printer. Over the next 14 weeks, we will be giving you an inside look at the final game, looking at each class in turn and exploring other elements of the game.

But first, we are taking a look at the Table of Contents for the Core Rulebook. As you can see, the book comes in at a mighty 576 pages. It includes a 56-page classes chapter (which now contains all the of the rules for arcane schools, bloodlines, and domains), a 150-page spells chapter, and a 98-page magic items chapter (which also includes all of the rules for intelligent items, cursed items, artifacts, and magic item creation). We slotted the prestige class chapter in right after spells, making roughly the first 400 pages filled with player-focused rules and material. Rounding out the end of the book is a super-handy 4-page index which includes just about every reference we could think up.

But that is not all. This week, we are also showing off a spread from the races chapter. The entire interior of the book has been giving a fantastic treatment by Sarah Robinson, the project’s lead art director and graphic designer. We felt it was important for this book to get the races looking just right, so we ordered brand new art for each of the core races.

On the opposite page, we get a good look at the dwarf, one of my favorite races. Aside from some new flavor text that describes dwarven traits, there have been only a few changes to the dwarf from the Beta Playtest version of the game. Most of these were made to clean up the race and bring it inline with the new rules. That said, there is one significant thing that has changed. I’ll let you figure out which element that is.

That’s all for this week. In week 2 of our 14-week preview, we’re going to take a look at Valeros, the iconic fighter. Writing up his stat block is quite a feat!

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

It's Still Done!

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Om nom nom!

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

It Is Done!

Monday, May 4, 2009

Note that Paizo does not encourage drinking unless you are an adult game designer who just sent a 576-page core rulebook to the printer.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

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!

David Eitelbach
Editorial Intern

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Cover! Behold!

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

As quite a few of you have already seen, we've got a cover image for the upcoming Pathfinder Roleplaying Game! If you haven't, check it out! Wayne Reynolds, as per usual, shows us exactly what roleplaying is all about: magic, swords, and hungry dragons! Mark it on your calendars: 8/13/2009, it's the date your new campaign begins.

F. Wesley Schneider
Pathfinder Managing Editor

Jason's New Campaign!

Friday, January 16, 2009

The last year at Paizo's been really hectic and busy. I think I ran one whole session of my Call of Cthulhu game in 2008, and as for actual D&D office games, we pretty much haven't done any gaming. That's no good. Fortunately, now that we're heading into 2009, there may be a change in the air. Either we're finally getting caught up, or we're finally adjusting our sleep cycles to accommodate the new reality—whatever the reason, office games at Paizo are starting up again. I'm hoping to get my own Sandpoint campaign off the ground in February, but Jason's even more on the ball than me. We started the first game of his new campaign last Monday! We're starting out by playtesting the adventure he's writing for the upcoming Pathfinder Module, Crypt of the Everflame. Check out this thread on our messageboards for the gory details! I'm playing Merisiel in this one, and I haven't quite decided yet if I'm gonna do a big detailed journal yet—I'm not sure Merisiel's the type to keep a diary. Maybe a kill list, though. Maybe even a "still needs to be killed" list. Hmmmmm...

James Jacobs
Pathfinder Editor-in-Chief

Pathfinder RPG Prestige Classes

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

There were a fair number of rules that had to be cut from the Beta Playtest Edition of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Prestige classes were one of the unfortunate casualties. Fortunately, along with the magic of the Internet, we can release these rules to you for playtesting and review. This document will be available on Monday, October 27th from paizo.com, but in anticipation, we thought we might give you a sneak peak at one of the classes in the document. Take a look at some of these new powers for the duelist prestige class.

Precise Strike (Ex): A duelist gains the ability to strike precisely with a light or one-handed piercing weapon, adding her duelist level to her damage roll.

When making a precise strike, a duelist cannot attack with a weapon in her other hand or use a shield. A duelist's precise strike only works against creatures with discernible anatomies. Any creature that is immune to critical hits is not vulnerable to a precise strike, and any item or ability that protects a creature from critical hits also protects a creature from a precise strike.

Parry (Ex): At 2nd level, a duelist learns to parry the attacks of other creatures, causing them to miss. Whenever the duelist takes a full attack action with a light or one-handed piercing weapon, she can elect not to take one of her attacks. At any time before her next turn she can attempt to parry an attack against her or an adjacent ally as an immediate action. To parry the attack, the duelist makes an attack roll, using the same bonuses as the attack she chose to forego during her previous action. If her attack roll is greater than the roll of the attacking creature, the attack automatically misses. For each size category the attacking creature is larger than the duelist, the duelist takes a –4 penalty on her attack roll. The duelist also takes a –4 penalty when attempting to parry an attack made against an adjacent ally. The duelist must declare the use of this ability after the attack is announced, but before the roll is made.

Riposte (Ex): At 5th level, a duelist can make an attack of opportunity against any creature whose attack she successfully parries, so long as the creature is within reach.

No Retreat (Ex): At 9th level, enemies adjacent to the duelist that take a withdraw action provoke an attack of opportunity from the duelist.

Make sure to stop by on Monday to grab this free pdf to add to your game. The playtest period for these rules begins on November 24th and will run through December 7th.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

Pathfinder RPG Beta Preview #4

Thursday, July 31, 2008

The Beta Playtest Edition of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game almost here. In just a few short weeks you will be able to buy your own print copy of the 408 page book, or download a free PDF. To top it off, over 25,000 gamers have downloaded the Alpha version of the Pathfinder RPG in one of its various incarnations. To celebrate these milestones, it is time to take a closer look at some of the pages of the Beta. Click here to download the preview (564 KB zip PDF).

The first spread is from the Feats chapter and it shows off a few new feats along with some changes to some of the existing feats. The second spread shows some of the equipment chapter, new to the Pathfinder RPG. Finally, the third spread is from the greatly expanded magic item chapter. There is a mountain of revised material in this chapter, and these items are only a small sample.
Next week, we'll take a look at the Beta playtest process and give you a look at the final character sheet. Enjoy.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

Pathfinder RPG Beta Preview #3

Thursday, July 24, 2008

The Beta Playtest Edition of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game is off to the printer and is due to be released in mid August. In anticipation, we are previewing some of the changes made from the Alpha stage as well as taking a look at some of the brand new content. In this preview, we are investigating some of the new rules that can be found in the Beta Playtest Edition.

Equipment: All of the basic equipment is here, plus a few new weapons to round out the list. The starknife is finally part of the Pathfinder RPG, meaning that clerics of Desna now have the correct weapon. Although this material is not strictly "new," some of it has been carefully tweaked to fit with other rule changes.

Traps: The system for creating traps has receive a significant overhaul. Although the end result is mostly the same, the formulas now allow for traps that go all the way up to CR 20. When building a trap using the Pathfinder RPG rules, the amount of damage and average number of targets is now more important, meaning that traps that hit the entire party, draining far more resources, are of a higher CR than traps that only target one character. A trap's CR can also increase dramatically if it lasts more than one round. Here are a few examples.

Swinging Axe Trap: CR 1
Type mechanical; Perception DC 20; Disable Device DC 20
Trigger location; Reset manual
Effect Atk +10 melee (1d8+1/x3); multiple targets (all targets in a 10-ft. line)

Frost Fangs Trap: CR 7
Type mechanical; Perception DC 25; Disable Device DC 20
Trigger location; Duration 3 rounds; Reset none
Effect jets of freezing water (3d6 cold damage, DC 20 Reflex save for half damage); multiple targets (all targets in a 40-ft.-square chamber)

Meteor Swarm Trap: CR 19
Type magic; Perception DC 34; Disable Device DC 34
Trigger sight (true seeing); Reset none
Effect spell effect (meteor swarm, 4 meteors at separate targets, +9 ranged touch, 2d6 plus 6d6 fire (no save on a hit), DC 23 Reflex save for half damage on a miss, 18d6 fire damage from other meteors (DC 23 Reflex save for half damage); multiple targets (four targets, no two of which can be more than 40 ft. apart)

Spells and Magic Items: Both of these chapters have been expanded to a gigantic size (with the spells chapter alone coming in at 120 pages). While much of the content in these chapters is unchanged, a number of spells and items received some updates in the Beta, mostly to bring them in line with the rest of the rules. Due to space concerns, some of the spells and magic items were cut, but will be available in a free web enhancement for the book, due out at the same time the Beta Playtest Edition is released.

You will be able to grab the Beta Playtest Edition as a free PDF here at paizo.com or as a soft-cover, 408 page, full-color book. The book will be on sale at Gen Con, through our web store, and from your favorite local game store. Check back next week for a look at the Beta playtest process as well as what is in store for the next year of development.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

Pathfinder RPG Beta Preview #2

Friday, July 18, 2008

The Beta Playtest Edition of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game is off to the printer and is due to be released in mid August. In anticipation, we are previewing some of the changes made from the Alpha stage as well as taking a look at some of the brand new content. In this preview, we are taking a look at some of the changes between the Alpha release 3 and the Beta Playtest Edition.

Class Changes: A number of classes received a host of tweaks and changes based off playtester feedback. Here is just a taste of what you can expect to find. Barbarian mighty rage got a little bit cheaper to maintain (going from 4 points per round to 3). Cleric domains and wizard schools now grant bonus spells instead of spell-like abilities (although they maintain their supernatural abilities). Bardic performance DCs are now based off the bard's level, not his Perform skill check. Rangers now grant their favored enemy bonus to their animal companion, if they have one. Sorcerer bloodlines got a few refinements, such as Intimidate being changed to Knowledge (planes) for Abyssal sorcerers.

Combat Feats: Combat feats, as you might know them from Alpha release 3, are a thing of the past. Now the term refers to any feat that can be selected as a fighter bonus feat. Of course, most of the great combat feats have been retooled to fit with this change. Some feats even got an upgrade, such as Dodge (whose bonus now increases to +2 if you have 10 or more ranks in Acrobatics) and Arcane Strike (whose bonus increases by +1 for every five caster levels you possess).

Spells: Wizard arcane schools got revised for the Beta. The big change here is that wizards now choose the spells that they gain upon reaching 2nd, 4th, 6th, 10th, 12th, 14th, 16th, and 18th levels. These spells must be from their school and are set once selected. It should be noted again that these spells now act as bonus spells, not spell-like abilities. This change does not affect the supernatural abilities granted by arcane schools.

Other Rules: There are dozens of other small changes to the rules as well. Favored Classes now grant a bonus hit point or a bonus skill point. Recharging staves now only uses up the highest-level spell slot used by the staff. Cover rules were simplified into something that is quite a bit easier to adjust. Nearly every chapter received numerous changes based off your feedback and comments.

You will be able to grab the Beta Playtest Edition as a free PDF here at paizo.com or as a soft-cover, 408 page, full-color book. The book will be on sale at Gen Con, through our web store, and from your favorite local game store. Check back next week for a look at some of the new rules you'll find in the Beta.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

Pathfinder RPG Beta Preview #1

Friday, July 11, 2008

The Beta Playtest Edition of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game is off to the printer and is due to be released in mid August. In anticipation, we are going to be previewing some of the changes made from the Alpha stage as well as taking a look at some of the brand new content. In this preview, take a look at the massive table of contents and check out a few previews along the way.

Chapter 1: Introduction, page 2
Chapter 2: Generating a Character, page 4
Chapter 3: Races, page 8
Chapter 4: Classes, page 12
Chapter 5: Skills, page 52
Chapter 6: Feats, page 76
Chapter 7: Equipment, page 98
Chapter 8: Description, page 120
Chapter 9: Combat, page 130
Chapter 10: Magic, page 154
Chapter 11: Spells, page 170
Chapter 12: Running the Game, page 290
Chapter 13: Additional Rules, page 300
Chapter 14: Nonplayer Characters, page 332
Chapter 15: Magic Items, page 340
Chapter 16: Glossary, page 388
Chapter 17: Playtesting, page 402
Character Sheet, page 404

In the coming weeks, we will be taking a look at a number of the changes made since Alpha release 3, such as the revision to arcane schools (now you choose bonus spells), alterations to most of the combat feats to change them into ordinary feats (some even get an upgrade, such as Dodge), bard and ranger modifications, a simplification of the cover rules, and a host of other changes (many inspired by the playtesters). We will also be taking a look at some new rules that appear in the Beta, such as revised traps guidelines (CR 19 Meteor Swarm trap), a new system for generating encounters, and a mountain of equipment, magic items, and spells.

You will be able to grab the Beta Playtest Edition as a free PDF here at paizo.com or as a soft-cover, 408 page, full-color book. The book will be on sale at Gen Con, through paizo.com, and from your favorite local game store. Check back next week for a look at some of the changes you'll find in the Beta.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

Pathfinder RPG Alpha Release 3 Preview

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

The third, and final, release of the Alpha playtest version of Pathfinder Roleplaying Game is rapidly approaching completion. Over 17,000 gamers have downloaded the Alpha rules and the messageboards have been buzzing with activity. Release 3 includes the final three base classes, the bard, the monk, and the ranger, along with rules on simple NPC generation, monster creation guidelines, and a host of other rules. In anticipation, here is a look at the new ranger (built using the NPC generation rules).

Kiramor, The Forest Shadow
Male human ranger 8
LN Medium humanoid
Init +8 (+10 in forests, +9 in urban); Senses Perception +11
Defense
AC 18, touch 14, flat-footed 14
(+4 armor, +4 Dex)
hp 57 (8d10+16)
Fort +8, Ref +10, Will +2
Offense
Spd 30 ft.
Melee mwk longsword +11/+6 (1d8+2/19–20)
Ranged +1 composite longbow +13/+8 (1d8+3/x3)
Ranged +1 composite longbow +7/+7/+2 (1d8+7/x3)
Special Attacks favored enemy (humanoid [orc] +4, magical beast +2), favored terrain (forest +4, urban +2), hunter’s bond
Statistics
Str 14, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 8
Base Atk +8; Cmb +10
Feats Deadly Aim, Die Hard, Endurance, Improved Initiative, Many Shot, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot
Skills Climb +13, Heal +11, Intimidate +10, Knowledge (geography) +12, Perception +11, Stealth +20, Survival +11 (+15 follow tracks), Swim +13
Languages Common, Orc
SQ swift tracker, track, trapfinding, woodland stride Combat Gear potion of barkskin (+3), potion of cure moderate wounds (2), potion of invisibility; Other Gear cloak of elvenkind, +1 composite longbow (+2 Str), +1 studded leather armor, gear and coins worth 500 gp

Check out some of his new abilities, like favored terrain (which gives him a bonus to Knowledge (geography), Stealth, and Survival skill checks, as well as a bonus on initiative when he is in his favorable terrain) and hunter’s bond (which allows him to grant some of his favored enemy bonuses to his allies). Release 3 should be ready for download next week.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

PaizoCon 2008

Thursday, May 1, 2008

This past weekend, roughly thirty adventurous gamers descended upon the LaQuinta Inn in Bellevue, Washington to participate in the first annual PaizoCon. In attendance were several of our messageboard family's most visible personalities, including Lilith, Chris Mortika, Pete Apple, Grimcleaver, Timitius (who put together the event), Russ Taylor, and many more. Paizo itself made an appearance Saturday, with Lisa, Vic, James, Wes, and Erik (along with Open Design's own Wolfgang Baur!) answering questions and joking around with everyone at the Game Industry seminar. Josh, Corey, and I stayed shyly in the back, while Cosmo sneaked around the room snapping pictures, including the four presented here.

After the seminar, the Paizo staff mingled with the con's excellent attendees, and eventually a number of Pathfinder RPG games broke out (run by Wolfgang Baur, Jason Bulmahn, James Jacobs, and Russ Taylor), as did demos of Titanic's upcoming Yetisburg and Falling, as well as Kill Doctor Lucky and Key Largo.

Here's a look at the entire room, including the panelists, during the seminar.

Here's a look at everyone during the seminar.

From left to right: Lisa, Vic, Erik, Wolfgang, James, and Wes, with Lilith off to the right reading off questions.

From left to right: Timitius, James, Jason, and Mike.

To see all of Cosmo's pictures and to get a glimpse at what the elusive bronze dragon editor looks like in his human form, check out this page. For a different perspective, check out Timitius's pictures. For a detailed recap and a chance to weigh in, check out this thread on our messageboards.

Mike McArtor
Editor

First look at Release 3

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Alpha release #2 of the Pathfinder RPG has already been released as a free download, and playtesters are posting up a ton of feedback on our forums. In the next few weeks we will be posting up release 3, the final release before the Beta version of the game this August.

This past weekend saw the debut of some of the rules at Paizocon, a convention just north of our offices. Attendees got to meet with the staff and play some games. Those who sat down at my table got a chance to play with some of the new rules, including a preview version of the bard. It should be noted that all of these characters were horribly cursed, and Oglam here is no exception. His drums cause those who hear his music to bleed from the ears unless he makes a DC 20 Will save every time he begins playing. Of course, being a NE bard, dedicated to Rovagug, meant that he did not care much about the pain of others.

Here are a couple of quick notes when taking a look at Oglam. Song of Doom allows him to cause enemies who hear his playing to become shaken. Distraction works similar to countersong, but it works on visual patterns and figments instead of sonic effects. Well-versed gives Oglam a bonus on saves against the bardic music of others and on sonic and language dependent effects. Finally, bardic knowledge gives Oglam a bonus of +4 to all Knowledge checks, and allows him to make such checks untrained.

There are many more secrets here, waiting to be discovered. For the full details, make sure to download release 3 of the Pathfinder RPG available in just a few weeks.

Oglam Death-Drum
Male half-orc bard 8
NE Medium humanoid
Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +2
Defense
AC 17, touch 12, flat-footed 17
(+5 armor, +2 deflection)
hp 55 (8d8+16)
Fort +5, Ref +7, Will +9
Defensive Abilities well-versed
Offense
Spd 30 ft.
Melee +2 falchion +11/+6 (2d4+6/18–20)
Special Attacks bardic music (8/day), countersong, distraction, fascinate, inspire competence, inspire courage +2, song of doom, suggestion
Spells Known (CL 8th):
3rd (3/day)—charm monster (DC 16), haste, slow (DC 16)
2nd (5/day)—blur, heroism, invisibility, mirror image
1st (5/day)—charm person (DC 14), cure light wounds, hideous laughter (DC 14), lesser confusion (DC 14), silent image (DC 14)
0 (5/day)—detect magic, ghost sound, mage hand, mending, message, open/close
Statistics
Str 16, Dex 10, Con 14, Int 6, Wis 14, Cha 16
Base Atk +6; Cmb +9
Feats Cleave, Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Toughness
Skills Knowledge (arcane) +13, Knowledge (history) +7, Knowledge (local) +7, Knowledge (nature) +7, Perform (oratory) +12, Perform (percussion) +14, Spellcraft +7, Stealth +9
Languages Common, Orc
Combat Gear necklace of fireballs (type IV), wand of cure moderate wounds (8 charges); Other Gear backpack, +1 chain shirt, cloak of resistance +1, dead rats (6), dirt (3 lb.), drums of doom, +2 falchion, filthy rags, ring of protection +2

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

Pathfinder RPG Alpha Release 2 Preview

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

The second release of the Alpha playtest version of Pathfinder Roleplaying Game is rapidly approaching completion. Up this point, thousands of gamers have downloaded release 1 and the feedback has been pouring in. If you enjoyed the changes you saw in that release, wait until you see what we have in store for you in release 2. In anticipation, here is a look at the new barbarian. Bask in her new abilities, including the versatile rage powers.

Amiri
Female human barbarian 6
CN Medium humanoid
Init +1; Senses Perception +7
Defense
AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14
(+4 armor, +2 Dex)
hp 62 (6d12+18)
Fort +8, Ref +3, Will +2
Defensive Abilities improved uncanny dodge, trap sense +2
Offense
Spd 30 ft.
Melee +1 greatsword +12/+7 (2d6+7/19–20)
Ranged spear +7/+2 (1d8+4/x3)
Special Attacks rage (32 rage points)
Rage Powers eagle foot (3–9 points), hunter's cry (6 points), strength surge (3 points)
Statistics
Str 18, Dex 13, Con 16, Int 8, Wis 10, Cha 12
Base Atk +6; Cmb +10
Feats Cleave, Intimidating Prowess, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (greatsword)
Skills Acrobatics +4, Climb +7, Intimidate +12, Perception +9, Stealth +1, Survival +7
Languages Common
Combat Gear potion of cure serious wounds (2), talisman of transformation (beast shape II); Other Gear belt of constitution +2, boots of the winterlands, +1 greatsword, +1 hide armor, mwk handaxe, mwk spear (2), 175 gp

While I am not going to spill all the beans here, here are few tidbits on the rage powers. Eagle foot allows Amiri to move at faster than her normal speed. Hunter's cry intimidates a nearby foe as a free action. Finally, strength surge allows Amiri to smash down doors as if her Strength was an impressive 24. There are a few other interesting tidbits hidden in there, but I'll let you discover them on your own. Enjoy.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

Interview: Jason Bulmahn, Pathfinder RPG Lead Designer

Thursday, March 20, 2008

I sat down with Jason Bulmahn, the mastermind behind the Pathfinder RPG, and picked his brain for awhile.

What did you have in mind when you first starting working on the Pathfinder RPG?

Since we first realized a new edition of the game was imminent, Paizo developed several plans for how we would adapt to the new publishing environment. One of those options involved ongoing support of 3.5. Since last summer, I've been experimenting with the rules, tweaking the things I thought needed some work and reinforcing the parts that I liked. When Paizo made the decision to go full steam ahead with ongoing 3.5 support, I brought the rules into the office and we began poring over them as a team. A lot of great work came out of the past few months with nearly everybody in our editorial staff offering up suggestions and ideas to make the rules even better.

What changes (that are made in the Pathfinder RPG) will be the most impactful to the gaming experience?

For me, a lot of the changes enacted by the Pathfinder RPG are designed to smooth out some of the rough spots of 3.5, while adding some spice to some rules elements that have become a bit ordinary. One of my favorites is adjusting the turn undead rules to also heal living creatures. This allows a cleric to actually cast some of his spells instead of saving them for healing. It also allows the party to adventure a bit longer. Combine that with reusable powers for both wizards and clerics and you have a longer adventuring day, something the game sorely needed.

Do you think the Pathfinder RPG will eventually replace 3.5 edition?

Since the core books for the 3.5 edition of the game are about to be out of print, I think that the Pathfinder RPG will replace them as the common reference point for those who are still interested in playing the rules system.

Are there any surprising things in the Pathfinder RPG?

Yes, quite a number of things actually. The changes to domains and arcane schools, the unification of the various combat maneuvers to one simple system, and the alterations to turning all seem to have surprised a number of people. There are a lot of little surprises lurking in the rules too. We changed Intimidate somewhat so that it can demoralize a foe for more than 1 round. It's not a huge change, but it makes the skill a much more interesting option than it was. Changing Dodge so that it is a flat +1 bonus to your Armor Class is another change that works to simplify the game by removing the pesky need to remember who you are using Dodge against. I think a lot of these little surprises have not been spotted quite yet, and I look forward to discussing them with the playtesters.

What are your hopes for the Pathfinder RPG?

We've got a long way to go before the Pathfinder RPG is in its finished form and between now and then I am really looking forward to working with the fans and playtesters to make this the game that we all want to play. I hope that the finished game meets that goal, and I am confident that with more than 5,000 playtesters on board, we will be able to solve any problem that stands in our way.

Carolyn Mull
Paizo Sales & Marketing Assistant

Paizo Publishing® Announces the Pathfinder RPG™

Pathfinder™ to continue under the 3.5 rules.

Tuesday, March 18th, 2008

Paizo Publishing today unveiled the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, a tabletop fantasy roleplaying game that will serve as the anchor for the company's popular line of Pathfinder adventures, sourcebooks, and campaigns. Today marks the beginning of a year-long Open Playtest of the new rules, which are based upon the popular 3.5 rules available under the Open Game License. The Pathfinder RPG is designed with backward compatibility as one of its primary goals, so players will continue to enjoy their lifelong fantasy gaming hobby without invalidating their entire game library. The first Pathfinder RPG Alpha release is available now as a free 65-page PDF download at paizo.com/pathfinderRPG. Until the finished Pathfinder RPG's release as a hardcover rulebook in August 2009, all of Paizo's popular Pathfinder-brand products will continue under the current 3.5 rules set.

"I'm really excited to work with the playtesters to make this the best game possible," said Jason Bulmahn, Paizo's Lead Designer. "In the spirit of the Open Game movement, the Pathfinder RPG is really your roleplaying game. It's a huge thrill to get to lead the design process."

Paizo will issue additional Pathfinder RPG Alpha releases in the coming months, covering new changes and additions to the 3.5 rules. Gamers can download, read, and participate in the free open playtest by setting up a paizo.com account and joining the discussion with Paizo's design staff at paizo.com/pathfinderRPG. The Pathfinder RPG will be backward-compatible with the 3.5 rules, and the staff has kept this goal as a primary focus since design began in 2007.

This coming August, Paizo will release a massive, full-color, softcover Pathfinder RPG Beta release for $24.99. This book will be available on paizo.com, at Gen Con, as well as through hobby distribution at local game stores. Just like the Alpha releases, the Beta release will be available as a free PDF download on paizo.com. As Wizards of the Coast's core 3.5 rulebooks are expected to go out of print with the release of 4th Edition, Paizo will use the Pathfinder RPG as a replacement for the 3.5 core rules. The Pathfinder RPG Beta release will represent Paizo's first published take on an updated 3.5 system, and playtesting will continue through spring 2009, when Paizo will incorporate the open playtest feedback and create a hardcover Pathfinder RPG for release in the hobby trade, bookstores, and paizo.com in August 2009.

Paizo hopes to support 4th Edition with fan-created online conversions of its Pathfinder products and a complete line from its partner company, Necromancer Games, a trend-setter in the original Open Gaming movement. Necromancer has already announced a new 4th Edition version of their award-winning Tome of Horrors monster encyclopedia, and has plans for additional player and GM support products.

Today, Paizo also announced the hiring of Nicolas Logue to run the Pathfinder Society organized play campaign, a massive mega-campaign to launch at this year's Gen Con. The Pathfinder Society will feature events at major conventions, retail stores, and home play as a way to involve thousands of players in a constantly evolving campaign environment fueled by downloadable scenarios released by Paizo. Nicolas Logue is a long-time Paizo contributor to the print versions of Dragon and Dungeon as well as the Pathfinder Adventure Paths and Pathfinder Modules line. He also co-runs an annual competition at Gen Con called Iron DM that will continue to be co-run by Nicolas Logue and his Iron DM compatriots. Nick begins working at Paizo in April.

"Nicolas Logue is one of the most energetic, personable gamers I have ever met," said Erik Mona, Paizo's Publisher and the co-founder during his tenure at Wizards of the Coast of Living Greyhawk, the largest organized play RPG campaign in history. "Running a successful organized play campaign involves a magical combination of cool ideas, organizational skills, and enthusiasm. Nick is absolutely the perfect man for the job, and I'm thrilled that he will be joining us here at Paizo."

Additional information on the Pathfinder Society campaign can be found at paizo.com/pathfindersociety.