First off, I want to thank you for your support of Paizo through this, our 10th anniversary year. It has been a year of reflection, a year of celebration, and a year of exciting new projects! I am blessed to have an incredible team here at Paizo that I enjoy working with on a daily basis. I am equally blessed with such a super group of fellow gaming enthusiasts that I can call my friends and customers. As Conan would say, life is good!
As many of you know, we have a Kickstarter going that will help our sister company, Goblinworks, make the Pathfinder Online MMO. This game has me excited because it will be the first time that anyone will be able to visually immerse themselves into the world of Golarion and to see what it would be like to actually live in this campaign world that we have only seen through the words of our incredible authors, the pictures of our amazing artists, and the imaginations of our own brains. I can tell you that when I actually was able to take Merisiel and run her through the wilderness outside of Thornkeep in the River Kingdoms the other day, I was trembling with excitement! Pathfinder Online is the type of game that I can really get excited about because it doesn't just lead you through a scripted Pathfinder experience, it allows YOU to shape the experience just like you do in our real world. It reminds me so much of my 30 years of playing tabletop RPGs—I get to decide what happens in my campaigns. That, to me, is very exciting!
The Pathfinder Online Kickstarter has been up for two weeks and I'm pleased to announce that yesterday we reached the $300,000 sub-goal: 30% off the way towards our final goal! Statistics have shown Kickstarters that reach the 30% mark have a 90% chance of success. It means that early supporters came in and the project is on a good track to go all the way. However, we still need a ton of support if we are going to make our goal and see Pathfinder Online become a reality. That means we need your help! Of course, we don't intend to just ask for your help without giving you a little something in return. We've added some tasty morsels to the Kickstarter by way of new reward tiers, some cool add-on products, and some additional value for the already announced tiers.
The biggest announcement this past week was for the Emerald Spire Superdungeon, a Pathfinder RPG product that could become the largest official Pathfinder dungeon ever created! We have enlisted a massive number of superstar RPG designers to each pen their own unique dungeon level in the Emerald Spire. As the Kickstarter pledges grow, so does the dungeon! This superdungeon will be available in both print and PDF, and there are numerous options to support us that will get you this cool collaboration of RPG legends!
I'm super excited to announce today the all-star lineup for the first 12 levels of the Emerald Spire Superdungeon. They are:
Rich Baker (author of the Birthright campaign setting for D&D) Wolfgang Baur (CEO of Open Design, and legendary TSR designer) F. Wesley Schneider (Paizo Editor-In-Chief and creator of Ustalav) James Sutter (Paizo Fiction Editor and creator of Kaer Maga) Lisa Stevens (CEO of Paizo, and co-founder of White Wolf and Wizards of the Coast) Keith Baker (Creator of the Eberron campaign setting for D&D) Ed Greenwood (Creator of the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for D&D) Erik Mona (Publisher and co-creator of the Pathfinder Campaign Setting) Mark Rein-Hagen (Co-founder of White Wolf Publishing, author of Ars Magica, Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Wraith: The Oblivion, and Changeling: The Dreaming) Jason Bulmahn (Lead designer of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and co-creator of the Pathfinder Campaign Setting) Frank Mentzer (Founder of the RPGA, co-author of The Temple of Elemental Evil, author of D&D boxed sets) James Jacobs (Creative Director and creator of the Pathfinder Adventure Path and Varisia)
These folks have been my heroes, my co-workers, and my friends in the industry. They have created the products that have defined my 25 years in this industry and I am extremely proud to have them working with me to create the most amazing superdungeon ever! The very cool thing is that this baby can grow bigger if enough people back this Kickstarter. We have another dozen or so amazing authors waiting in the wings should we need to call on their services to add additional levels. How low do you want the dungeon to go? Back this Kickstarter and tell us!
In addition, our friends at WizKids have worked with us to create some prepainted plastic minis for this Kickstarter campaign! The Bloodbriar Goblin and the Shadowfire Elemental have already been unlocked, and we're on our way to unlocking the Lava Lurker. These minis have been added to the reward package for everyone at the Crowdforger Pioneer level and higher. There are more minis waiting to be unlocked as we head towards our funding goal, giving backers a minimum of nine cool new minis if this Kickstarter campaign is funded!
For our Pathfinder Society friends out there, we have added a new reward level that will get you a very cool boon that you can use in Pathfinder Society play! Erik, Mike and Mark have pulled out all the stops in making this the coolest Pathfinder Society boon I have ever seen! Check out the Kickstarter page to learn more!
Now is a great time to help us spread the word about this Kickstarter. The more people hear about us, the more momentum we gather, and the bigger rewards get for Kickstarter backers and Pathfinder fans! Here's how you can help:
Pledge to support the Kickstarter! Even if you don't play computer games, there are plenty of awesome rewards to add to your tabletop Pathfinder game.
Share the Kickstarter link with your buddies on Facebook, Google+ and Twitter.
Check the Pathfinder Online Kickstarter page every day to watch the newest videos and learn about the latest reward reveals!
In closing, thanks again for making Paizo your gaming company of choice. If it weren't for you and your patronage, Paizo wouldn't be heading into year eleven. It truly means the world to me and my staff. Have a wonderful holiday season—I look forward to sharing so many new adventures in 2013!
This looks really exciting, but I'd like to make a humble request. I use only Macs, and I don't want to mess with Boot Camp or other Windows installations. Can one of the stretch goals be native Mac support? Pretty please?
I've read the FAQ on the Kickstarter that basically says you'll get to it when you can, and I know you've probably budgeted the entire $1M of the initial goal to go to things other than Mac support. What I'm asking is for a stretch goal beyond $1M that includes Mac support.
Right now I really hope the Kickstarter makes it, but only so that there might be a future possibility of Mac support. It makes no sense for me to donate right now, because I won't ever be able to play the game. I'd love to play, though. Mac support would make that possible, and then I'll happily give you lots of money to help the Kickstarter along.
Should set up a poll between these authors. I would be interested to see who has the biggest draw. Personally Ed Greenwood or Erik Mona would get my vote.
That being said this is pretty awesome! So EXCITED!
OMG! I thought the same thing about Mark Rein-Hagen. Last I heard he and his family were in the country of Georgia.
Bring him back into the game world Lisa. He is missed! Terribly!
Reading articles about Mark is a little weird, since White Wolf is based in Georgia the state.
EDIT:
If only you could have enticed Rich Burlew to join the team.
Then the ultimate equation of confusion would be complete.
Rich Burlew + Keith Baker = Rich Baker (a name Mr. Burlew has been called many times by mistake)
I understand why the rewards are arranged as they are. But I would like to voice a desire to purchase both the adventure in a hard copy format and also have the mini's as well.
Right now they are priced a little high. I think it is a combination of PFO electronic rewards being in with the mini rewards and your desire to get the most out of the kickstarter.
If there was a way to get just tabletop rewards at a lower price I would fully support the kickstarter, but my tiny checking account has other plans.
That is just my 2cp. I'll probably end up throwing in at least $100 towards the end if I can get enough bang for my buck.
I'm holding out hope that one of the stretch goal authors will be David "Zeb" Cook. I got into the hobby with Star Frontiers and the Basic D&D game and he contributed a lot to my formative adventuring years.
I understand why the rewards are arranged as they are. But I would like to voice a desire to purchase both the adventure in a hard copy format and also have the mini's as well.
Right now they are priced a little high. I think it is a combination of PFO electronic rewards being in with the mini rewards and your desire to get the most out of the kickstarter.
If there was a way to get just tabletop rewards at a lower price I would fully support the kickstarter, but my tiny checking account has other plans.
That is just my 2cp. I'll probably end up throwing in at least $100 towards the end if I can get enough bang for my buck.
Many people have asked for this. I believe they said they were working on a way to get multiples of the minis for backers so it might play into that. I think the hardest thing about giving a price on just the minis has a pretty wide range when the # isn't set. So if we unlock the bare minimum of 9 vs. 10+ if we go above the funding might cost them a lot more to produce.
OMG! I thought the same thing about Mark Rein-Hagen. Last I heard he and his family were in the country of Georgia.
Bring him back into the game world Lisa. He is missed! Terribly!
Mark is still living over in the country of Georgia. He is designing some board games and recently had a Kickstarter for one of them. We started to communicate with each other recently and when this project came up, I pitched it to him. So happy that he said yes, and it will be great working with him again. Mark and I go back to my first days in the game industry, so there is a lot of love there for him.
David Cook would be an awesome addition; it's great to see Frank Mentzer's name on there, as well.
Of course, as a diehard Mystara-phile, seeing Bruce Heard's name next to those would make this an even greater buy for me! (He's recently gotten back into the hobby and has been doing some amazing work detailing the oft-mysterious nation of Alphatia.)
Looking forward to this, and seeing what other names might be on the way!!
Is Frank going to do the Pathfinder stats too for his section? Just wondering if he plays Pathfinder or AD&D :)
Mike
Regardless of how well or not any one author knows the Pathfinder rules, the entire book will be developed in-house by Paizo's developers, just as with all of our books. That's where the bulk of the stat work is done, traditionally, for ANY project. From Adventure Paths to Player's Companion. And by extension, to the Emerald Spire.
I'm quite intrigued to see how Mark Rein-Hagen does a dungeon level! I think I'm going to kickstart this just to see the result!
Obviously, that level will feature a bunch of mopy vampires with floppy black hair and tattoos.
No, seriously, I'm absolutely fascinated to see how Mark thinks about dungeon design. The same goes for the other authors who haven't designed for Pathfinder before. I *love* seeing how new designers approach things! I hope the devs give them quite a free hand.
Just wanted to drop a note here for anyone looking for the usual Friday Pathfinder Battles miniatures preview blog.
My day got swallowed up handing out holiday bonuses to the Paizo staff today, and by the time I finished, the web team had quite reasonably went to bed.
Since I've missed a few of these lately due to other emergencies, and since I promised a big reveal last week, I've posted a few "sneak peek" images of several miniatures from January's Shattered Star set on the official Paizo Facebook page.
Please pop over there and give them a look (and maybe a "like," too!).
Quick question. I have given 135 dollars for the 35 post and the mega dungeon. As I live in the uk do I get charged the 15 dollars for postage or do I pledge 150. Any help would be greatfully received. Thanks nick
This looks really exciting, but I'd like to make a humble request. I use only Macs, and I don't want to mess with Boot Camp or other Windows installations. Can one of the stretch goals be native Mac support? Pretty please?
I've read the FAQ on the Kickstarter that basically says you'll get to it when you can, and I know you've probably budgeted the entire $1M of the initial goal to go to things other than Mac support. What I'm asking is for a stretch goal beyond $1M that includes Mac support.
Right now I really hope the Kickstarter makes it, but only so that there might be a future possibility of Mac support. It makes no sense for me to donate right now, because I won't ever be able to play the game. I'd love to play, though. Mac support would make that possible, and then I'll happily give you lots of money to help the Kickstarter along.
