You Got Golarion in My MMO!

Saturday, July 4, 2015

When we began designing Pathfinder Online, one of the first issues we needed to tackle was making our fantasy sandbox MMORPG feel like Pathfinder. The terms of the Open Game License make a straight port of the Pathfinder RPG rules a challenge—and a lot of RPG mechanics just don't work very well as MMO mechanics anyway—so we would be focusing on the Pathfinder world of Golarion as our touchstone.

Choosing the Echo Wood portion of the River Kingdoms as our starting location made it easy for us to mix in a lot of Golarion color in a sensible way. The crusades against the Worldwound have brought combatants from all over the Inner Sea region and thus the River Kingdoms have become a melting pot of races and nationalities. The Sellen River system is one of the most traversed in Avistan, and the surrounding nations of Ustalav, Numeria, Brevoy, Galt, Kyonin, and Razmiran give us many options for storylines and villains.


This statue of Pharasma graces a player settlement.

Marked of Pharasma

In the Pathfinder RPG, overcoming death is something that requires a higher level spell such as raise dead or resurrection. But in Pathfinder Online, player death can't be permanent, so we needed a story reason for the discrepancy. Enter Pharasma, the Lady of Graves, who holds sway over birth and death. For a reason we have yet to reveal, Pharasma has taken a special interest in the Echo Wood. Pathfinder Online characters have died elsewhere on Golarion and have returned to life near Thornkeep with only a vague memory of their former lives. Very soon, these characters realize that they are trapped in this part of the world. Giant barriers of force keep in the Marked of Pharasma—the name given to those who cannot die here in the Echo Wood. Other creatures can come and go as they please, but unlike the Marked, those creatures can die permanently. What plans Pharasma has for the residents of the Echo Wood are shrouded in mist, much like the Lady of Graves herself. Will she expand the region under her control? And what's the story with those who are "twice-marked" by her? Only time will tell.


An elven wizard spies the Emerald Spire in the distance.

The Emerald Spire

In order to obtain part of the funding for Pathfinder Online, we ran two Kickstarter campaigns. Each of those Kickstarters featured a Pathfinder RPG sourcebook detailing a part of the Echowood. The Thornkeep sourcebook was the first, and author Rich Baker peppered the Echo Woods with many mysterious sites. The Dismal Caverns are home to the Bonedancer goblin tribe, who make an appearance in-game as the Bonedancer escalation. Their home hex is in the mountain to the north of Thornkeep in the game. To the northwest of Thornkeep on Rich's map, you will see Oreena's Cottage. This is the site of the Nature's Wrath home hex and the mysterious Warden of the Wood. Perusing the map, you can see that places like Toad Hollow and the Skullbasher's Den can easily be found in-game using the RPG sourcebook map. All the little tidbits of lore in the game are culled from various sourcebooks, brought together in Pathfinder Online.

When we decided to create a super dungeon for the Pathfinder RPG, Rich's paragraph on the Emerald Spire intrigued all of us and we decided to expand the idea into the Emerald Spire Superdungeon for the second Kickstarter. Once again, pieces of information from that book have made it into the game, and when Fort Inevitable is built sometime in the future, it will draw heavily from that book.

But for the moment, the most important thing Pathfinder Online has brought into the game from these books is the lich Nhur Athemon, whom Erik Mona created for his dungeon level in the Emerald Spire. Nhur Athemon is responsible for creating the mysterious towers with large floating gems that dot the landscape of the Echo Wood. These towers have served an important role in Pathfinder Online since the launch of Early Enrollment in January, as they have been the source of power for each settlement, and controlling those towers affects a settlement's ability to offer training.

All that is coming to an end on July 10 with the start of the Wrath of Nhur Athemon server-wide event. The Spire's resident lich has had enough of the puny surface dwellers leeching off his emerald power and he's out to put a stop to it! In the end, the towers will be destroyed and the players will have to fend for their settlement's training in new ways.


The Wrath of Nhur Athemon server-wide event starts Friday, July 10 at 10 am PST.

The Goblinworks designers have pulled out all the stops with the Wrath of Nhur Athemon, serving up the most challenging fight the game has seen to date. Old tried-and-true tactics will more than likely fail against the ruler of the Spire, and players are going to have to come up with clever strategies to defeat the lich and his allies. The rewards are going to be sweet, with the new Azlanti Stones being given out to all participants in the event. This event will also mark the first time that settlements will be able to put a claim on a hex that previously had a tower in it, so there will be new land up for grabs to those who can defeat Nhur Athemon's plans!

It will take a large group of persistent heroes to defeat the Azlanti lord and push him back to his subterranean lair. Will you take up the fight? Be there at server up (around 10 am PST) for Pathfinder Online's first big server-wide event, the Wrath of Nhur Athemon!

Player Spotlight: Hoffman, Dean of Pathfinder University

One of the cool things about Pathfinder Online is that the players can create things that the designers never imagined. It never crossed our minds that a group of players would devote their time to helping new players integrate into the game by creating an in-game university. The sheer dedication to man the chat channels and provide in-game support nearly 'round the clock is staggering. But Hoffman and his faculty do this and they do it well! They have touched the careers of many of the players in the game, and PFU alumni are now scattered throughout the Echo Wood. Focusing on helping players for their first 90 days while they get their feet wet and figure the game out, Pathfinder University is a shining example of players creating their own stories in the sandbox of the Echo Wood. And Hoffman is a great example of the player whose dedication and drive makes it happen.

In the words of Hoffman:

You want a piece about me? Bleh. My job is easy. My faculty does all of the work and deserves the credit. But if I must, I will share the story of how Pathfinder University came around to share my minor role in it.

It started around a bit too much ale and complaining about these young adventurers that can't even seem to find their way out of Marchmont. Then Foxglove and I were chatting about the abandoned Southwest and how it would be great if we could get people skilled enough to keep RiverBank alive... After some help from people across the area, we put two and two together and realized if we could make an Academy or University at RiverBank then we could kill two birds with one stone.

I wandered down to RiverBank (which was semi-abandoned by its original occupants) and found ogres and bandits everywhere. I started to set up shop and found a vagabond (I mean wanderer) named Nactillius hanging around. He became our first student, back when we first called ourselves River Academy.

It wasn't long before people across the map had an opinion about the River Academy. The most common themes: We should exist; we shouldn't exist; we are just a shill for the big groups. Our biggest problem was that we only had Foxglove and myself, and people were dying before they could ever get to us and leaving the River Kingdoms forever.

So we reached out to other settlements to "borrow" teachers. We were able to get people like Vorsk, Sspitfire, Thannon Forsworn, and Duffy to "volunteer" in addition to rotating guest speakers. Thannon and Duffy continue teaching weekly today.

Am I going on too long? That's the bonus of being the dean: I get to ramble and you have to pretend to listen. Back to the history of PFU.

When we had nobles like Lisa Stevens join us for Keepside chats, they were so popular that we had to hold them in Thornkeep just for space reasons.

As our students grew, we needed more faculty. We found an interesting pair in Aurora and Auriga. They wandered the map together, but there are those who still think they are the same person.

About that time, our students started graduating and spreading out across the map. We picked the best and kept them as faculty. That is how we got to keep Nactillius, Garrick Orcsbane, Dylan Hunt, Dawley, and Kleptus. (Kleptus is one to watch. Sticky fingers, that one, but usually he leaves me a few "gifts" and I never ask where they come from.)

RiverBank was eventually overrun by Ogg and we had to move. It was okay because Thornkeep started to attract more adventurers and we were able to move to University Commons and change our name to Pathfinder University.

Luckily, Garric has been able to keep this new area ogre-free (though Drothar has to make armor for us nonstop).

Was this story supposed to be about me? I just get to sit in this comfy chair and pretend I know what I talk about. Our Chair of Students Nactillius (how much he has grown since his first days) tells me we have enrolled over 270 students. Wow. Foxglove as our Chair of Classes keeps a class going every night with volunteer help from across the map.

I've got the best job and the best faculty. I show up to work for an hour or so each day to prove I'm still alive (the perks of tenure).

If you are new to the River Kingdoms, come join us for your first few months. I may see you, wish you well and put you to work. Maybe that is why my faculty all run when they see me coming?

Hoffman
Dean of Pathfinder University and Hater of Ogg

Lisa Stevens
CEO

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Tags: Pathfinder Online
Goblin Squad Member

I am really looking forward to the Nhur Athemon event!

Goblin Squad Member

First server wide event, very much looking forward to it! :)

Goblin Squad Member

Cool idea, not sure if I will be able to make the event though considering its @ 10AM PST on a Friday.

Goblin Squad Member

I'll be online. Don't know exactly when and how long, but i'll be there and see history being made!

@piece about Hoffman. it's true, at least most of it. Except the bit about myself 'keeping classes going' - that credit too should go to the lecturers and faculty.

Goblin Squad Member

It will be in every tower hex until quashed. There will be easier "outbreaks" for newer players, as well. That was my understanding anyway.

It should last for a few days at the least.

Paizo Employee CEO

Bringslite wrote:

It will be in every tower hex until quashed. There will be easier "outbreaks" for newer players, as well. That was my understanding anyway.

It should last for a few days at the least.

Yeah, there should be plenty of Nhur Athemon for folks to have fun with for weeks probably, maybe even up to a month. You don't need to be there at 10am on Friday to have fun with the event.

-Lisa

Grand Lodge Goblin Squad Member

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Bad timing - this conflicts with Paizo Con UK. I guess I need to come up with a story of Theodum fleeing the Emerald Lodge because of Nhur Athemon and our proximity to his seat of power.
Of interest will also be what happens to the tower next to EL. Yes - we still have a 'core six' tower or should I say - we own a hex further away without a tower while a tower is located next to Emerald Lodge.

Did I say Theodum wanted to flee the area ...

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