December Adventure Card Guild Updates

Tuesday, December 14, 2015

Hello, Pathfinders. Today's blog is a grab bag of PFSACG updates from me and designer Keith Richmond about Season of the Righteous, Season of the Runelords, and more!

Season of the Righteous Story Update

It was a long ride over heaps and hordes of demons (and probably more than a few brave crusaders), but Season of the Righteous is finally coming to its glorious end. Let's recap the story so far with a whole lot of spoilers:

Adventure 1-1: Herald's Chosen

The Herald of Iomedae, also known as the Hand of the Inheritor, has divined that demons are up to no good. (When are they not?) The Herald chose the best and brightest crusaders available (plus maybe a Darago or two who snuck in). You cleared the fortress city of Kenabres of a gathering horde (herd? stampede?) of fiendish minotaurs, as well as a gaggle of demon-summoning, polymorphing witches. You then cut your way past the Fiendish Tree ruler of Storasta to save Fort Clearwater from demonic invasion—and from itself. By the end of the adventure, you were not only granted mythic power for your deeds, but you were hot on the trail of an obvious trap, and the Herald totally knew how to safely spring it.

Iomedae chose her Herald for his wisdom and good judgment.

Adventure 1-2: War for the Worldwound

Sound the horns, beat the drums, and let sing the tenors of war! With a Rallying Cry, and over the bodies of a few (or more than a few) demonic mongrels, you gathered a powerful army to your side. You led them fearlessly against armies of cultists, undead, and demons in order to reach Raliscrad. But the Herald's confidence proved to be hubris: he sprung the demons' trap and was somehow spirited away. Even as you did all you could to keep your army alive, the wardstone in Kenabres shattered. You laid waste to armies of evil, but the demonic hordes are seemingly endless. With the loss of Kenabres, the line of wardstones, and the Herald, have you already lost the war?

Adventure 1-3: Lexicon of Paradox

You got together with the hero-studded cast from Dave Gross's King of Chaos to try and track down the Lexicon of Paradox, an artifact rumored to hold the secret to closing the Worldwound. Dispatching a trio of hags and the sangudaemon Ommors, you made your way to Undarin, stronghold of the Worldwound's creator. Kasiya, a powerful vampire, thwarted your plans to stealthily retrieve the Lexicon, but at Greengrove Keep you thwarted him quite permanently. The succubus Yavalliska used the moment of chaos to seize the power of the Lexicon to become a god, but she was also vanquished, though at horrible cost...

If you have a problem, if no one else can help...

Adventure 1-4: The Mighty and the Righteous

Though your comrades thought you dead, you know that no righteous hero would be kept down by merely being hurled into the Abyss. After a rocky descent, you acclimated to the chaos and horror of the place. It wasn't a pretty picture, but you learned of a way back through the Worldwound. It took a mighty show of force, and you had to play some of the demons off against each other, but you returned to Mendev.

Adventure 1-5: Herald's Vengeance

It was finally time to get some payback for the kidnapped Herald of Iomedae. You cut a wide swath through the Worldwound and defeated horrors that have plagued the area for centuries, including the Herald's 12-armed kidnapper. You then rushed off to rescue both the Queen and the Lexicon of Paradox from a plague of shadow demons and from Khorramzadeh himself.

Didn't think we'd make you wait until adventure 6 to fight him, did you?

Adventure 1-6: The Last Crusade

At long last, your quest comes to an end. At the head of an army of crusaders, you smashed your way through to Undarin. Along the way, you completed a number of quests, including joining the Pathfinder Society to free Jormurdun. Areelu Vorlesh was busy performing a ritual to hurl all of Golarion into the Rasping Rifts, so you kicked her out of Undarin. True heroes are rarely content to rest on their laurels, so you went down and punched Deskari in the nose a few times to get his attention.

With Deskari defeated and the Worldwound closed, now it's time for a long break. Right?

Scenario 1-P: Dread Lord Rising

Surprise! It ain't over yet—we've snuck in a special bonus scenario that can only be played by characters that have gained the reward from the Season of the Righteous Adventure Path. This time it's all about you (and whether you get eaten).

As you defeated Deskari, he cashed in a favor with his father Pazuzu and set the more powerful demon prince of the air on your trail. After all, Pazuzu is hungry for power and you're positively dripping with the stuff.

He'd like fries with you.

As final proof of your mythic might, your reward is the everlasting favor of Iomedae: access to the mythic paths Sword and Shield of Iomedae. That should spice up any future replays of Season of the Righteous!

Season of the Runelords Launch

Keith, Mike, and Tanis have had a blast crafting Season of the Righteous for you. We just can't stop coming up with delicious ways to take the game we've made and spin it into new stories. There's been a lot of clamoring for a return to our original Base Set, Rise of the Runelords, and we aim to please. Season of the Runelords will debut at Winter Fantasy in fabulous Fort Wayne, Indiana from February 3-7, 2016.

That week, we'll release the first scenario in Adventure 1 of Season of the Runelords, as we've been calling it internally. Winter Fantasy attendees will get the chance to play through all of Adventure 1 and Adventure 2 well in advance of their release dates, so come freeze your toes off with us in February!

One More Thing

Tanis promised "and more" above, so here's a sneak peek at some boons from January's Barbarian Class Deck!

Things are about to get messy.

Keith Richmond and Tanis O'Connor
Adventure Card Game Designers