Playtest the new Pathfinder rules in style with this collection of two double-sided Flip-Mats featuring four key encounter areas from the Pathfinder Playtest Adventure: Doomsday Dawn! Featured areas include a burnt-out crypt under the city of Magnimar, a ruined temple in the demon-infested Worldwound, a wizard's tower beside a remote mountain pool, and an arcanist astronomer's subterranean workshop!
These portable, affordable maps measure 24" x 30" unfolded and 8" x 10" folded. Their erasable coated surface can handle any dry-erase, wet-erase, or even permanent marker.
ISBN-13: 978-1-64078-088-0
Other Resources: This product is also available on the following platforms:
I usually don't write reviews of flip-mats until I've used them several times, but as I've dropped out of the playtest just over halfway through and don't know when/if I'll get to use them again, I'm going to go ahead and give some early comments. The Pathfinder Playtest Flip-Mat Multi-Pack contains two double-sided flip-mats, so math experts among you will know that means four maps in total:
* One map is what the sleeve calls an "arcanist astronomer's subterranean workshop." It's weird to think of an astronomer having an underground workshop, but I'm sure it makes sense in context. Just looking at it though, it's hard to make sense of exactly what's going on here. The workshop part is reasonably clear (comprised of several well-detailed desks), but after that I just don't know what I'm looking at--a huge green circle, some sort of galaxy-shaped magic portal, some containment vessels for creepy creatures, and a part of the night sky? It probably all comes together in the Doomsday Dawn adventure, but I have to conclude that it's so specific and weird that it's not something that would be of much use after the playtest is finished.
* The other side is a "ruined temple in the demon-infested Worldwound," and it's much better. The artwork is gorgeous, it's very clear what's going on, and although it's detailed enough to be attractive, it's generic enough to serve many purposes. I especially like the little statutes, the altar, and the graveyard. I would not complain in the least if future PFS/SFS scenarios reuse this one.
* The next mat has "a burnt-out crypt under the city of Magnimar" on one side. This is a fairly generic subterranean area, with a mixture of carved stone passageways and vaults alongside a few natural-looking caves. It lives up to Paizo's usual high-quality, and although it's not particularly exciting it serves the purpose well and could definitely be used for other adventures.
* The other side of that is "a wizard's tower beside a remote mountain pool." I can definitely see the pool, but there's no reason this scene needs to be near a mountain or needs to be the remnants of a "wizard's tower"--there's just the barest ruins of some kind of structure. For the purposes of going forward, that's good--it could be the ruins of an old fort, a country inn, a hunting lodge, or pretty much anything else outside of an urban environment. I have to admire how much work must go into scenes like this, with detail down to the pebble.
Overall, this is a pretty impressive collection. Apart from the weird one, they're really good and potentially useful for far more than just Doomsday Dawn. With a little imagination, a good GM could get a lot of use out of these--there's no need for them to be forgotten in a few months' time.
Please note that this product discussion thread is for discussion of the Flip-Mat Multi-Pack product itself. Discussion of the playtest should be posted in the Playtest Forum.
So the Worldwound is still demon-infested, interesting.
If i would have to guess, i would bet the burned-out crypt under Magnimar is where the first adventure takes place at level 1.
Well, just because the Worldwound closed doesn't mean that all the demons got sucked in like a vacuum. They're still there until we go kill them!
Your absolutely right, Lammars.
What i was thinking is, would it still be called "the Worldwound", if the gate to the Abyss would be closed, leaving thousands of demons there stranded or would the name change back to Sarkoris?
Probably the former, as it's more iconic and there are not many sarkorians left to re-populate the country.
What i'm getting at is, i'm interested in how the Inner Sea setting has changed from the "Inner Sea World Guide" time (4711) to the time of Pathfinder 2.0. :-)
All the other products (aside from the three PF 2.0 ones) shipping on august 2nd have been updated and include samples.
Can we expect the sample images for these the week after Paizocon?
I have pre-ordered this (and the other two Playtest products) months ago, but an update would be very interesting.
I guess it should come somewhere in july?
I had the opportunity to take a look at these flip-mats today and have to say that they are absolutely gorgeous!
Not only are the colors much more vibrant than the sample art shows, but all four maps are super-useful for a lot of purposes/scenarios (beyond the playtest).
I am very much looking forward to get these next week and can only recommend this Multi-pack to everyone.
Whoever designed these maps did a really great job, they are all very distinctly different looking from each other and cover many different needed fields of play!
I want these and they are not available...ARGGGHHHHH. Guess I should have ordered them up front. My fault. Love Pathfinder, like the new rules, love Paizo but get tired of them being out of stock of the good stuff.
