On Monday the Paizo offices were visited by a praying mantis (something rare in western Washington from what I hear), so I thought I'd share the cover image for the first volume of the Reign of Winter Adventure Path.
Illustration by Craig J Spearing
Some of you who were at PaizoCon, Gen Con, or read these messageboards religiously already know a thing or two about this Adventure Path. For those who don't—next year in Golarion is 4713 and that syncs up with the centennial visit from Baba Yaga where she puts a new daughter on the throne of Irrisen to rule for the next 100 years (something that's been going on for the last 1,400 years). Though her heralds have been seen riding throughout the countryside, no one has spotted Baba Yaga just yet. What exactly is the problem? What trickery has Queen Elvanna put into place?
Well, beginning this coming February you'll find out! For a taste, here are the titles to each of the adventures in the Reign of Winter Adventure Path:
We have some fun things planned for this coming Adventure Path, so I hope you'll join us on this world-spanning campaign. Also, to prepare for the journey check out Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Irrisen, Land of Eternal Winter. Don't forget your mittens!
Why am I not surprised to see Daigle post a picture of a giant mantis? ;)
Likewise, eagerly looking forward to Rasputin and Baba Yaga.
There are many takes on Rasputin, from portraying him to a sinister influence on a court to someone who favored the people. Considering other aspects of the historical Rasputin, such as the reputed number of his descendants, I wonder if he will follow Calistria?
I wasn't thrilled with Skull and Shackles (pirates not my thing) and am lukewarm about Shattered Star (mega dungeon not my thing), but this I suspect will be my thing. And the thing after it too.
the adventure deals with winter-like conditions in a non-winter place. All the native wildlife would be in summer mode, meaning bugs like mantises are out and about as opposed to hibernating. I'm assuming it's summer of course, based on the title of the adventure.
Can I just say, as a Slavic folklore specialist...this is going to be AWESOME!!!! It will be my first game DMing as well, so I'm super excited. Please tell me if/when the mini set is released for this pack we'll get a GIANT chicken hut to play with! PLEASE!
Oh, giant mantis, how I love thee so, let me count the ways...
1. They fly.
2. They can grapple.
3. Small druids can ride them at level 1 (at least, there's a good chance you could stick a saddle on that midsection there). Medium druids have to wait until level 7.
:)
Why isn't that Lini's animal companion, and they're fighting some giant cat monster?
Can I just say, as a Slavic folklore specialist...this is going to be AWESOME!!!! It will be my first game DMing as well, so I'm super excited. Please tell me if/when the mini set is released for this pack we'll get a GIANT chicken hut to play with! PLEASE!
I never buy miniatures. Never. I've been playing for close to 30 years and I own no actual miniatures.
Very cool to see Craig Spearing as cover artist for an adventure path. I'd have prefered it to be for the Wrath of the Righteous adventure path but still, very cool. :)
Turned the novella in this week. I hope everyone has as much fun reading it as much as I did writing it.
Jim Groves wrote:
On a side note, I'd love to see a chicken legged mini too.
I don't collect the mini's- do they come in Huge size? Cause's technically it should have a 15-ft.-by-15-ft. "footprint".
As I understand from the Artifacts and Relics book, Baba Yaga's hut is like a certain blue police box.
As for where it may be placed outside this adventure, I will note that there are replica dancing huts ringing Irrisen's borders. If you wanted to hide it, it would be an easy purloined letter trick to just swap it with one of the knock-offs.
