Pathfinder Battles Preview: On the Road!

Friday, May 31, 2013

Greetings, Miniatures Fiends! I am on the road in New York City for the annual Book Expo America show, where Paizo joins the ranks of hundreds and hundreds of publishers to show off its wares to book buyers and librarians. That means I'm about 3000 miles from my archive of Pathfinder Battles photos, but mere distance is not sufficient to keep me from the holy calling of showing off new Pathfinder Battles prepainted fantasy miniatures sculpts from August's Skull & Shackles set!

Last week our friends from WizKids brought over production samples of the entire set of 55 figures, including the massive Gargantuan Skeletal Dragon. Many a squee was heard from the Paizo conference room, as all in attendance agreed that WizKids has raised the bar AGAIN, producing a set that exceeds the standards of its predecessors in both sculpt and paint quality. The final paint jobs are just amazing. "THIS IS A COMMON!??!?" was probably the most-heard phrase of the meeting, and we're all very excited to spread that enthusiasm for the final product beyond the hallowed walls of Paizo when the set releases in August.

So let's move on from the bragging and pride and get to the reason you came. Let's look at a couple new minis!

In the Skull & Shackles campaign, the Master of the Gales serves on the Pirate Council of the Shackles and captains his own pirate ship, but to me this bearded fellow with an imposing staff works great for a HUGE variety of NPCs or PCs, from your nasty druidic hermit to your unkempt grumpy wizard. This Medium figure is slated at the uncommon rarity.

Sometimes, pirate lords stick around long after they've died. Such is the case with the insidious Whalebone Pilk, a skull-collecting cursed undead pirate who makes for one of the spookiest opponents in the Skull & Shackles campaign. Accordingly, we've worked with WizKids to make him as spooky as possible. With plenty of clear plastic to depict the miasma in which he floats, a nifty pirate outfit, and a nasty spear, this is one encounter your players will never forget. Whalebone Pilk is a Medium-sized rare figure.

And with that, I'm back to the Book Expo. Now that we have the full set's production figures in house, expect some amazing treats in store over the next few weeks! Some of the best figures in the set are still yet to be revealed!

Make sure you don't miss a single figure by setting up an ongoing Pathfinder Battles subscription today!

We'll see you next week!

Erik Mona
Publisher

Stargazer

by Chris A. Jackson

Chapter Four: A Matter of Commerce

A nondescript wagon creaked down a dark street of the Inner City, the back piled high with canvas-covered wares and the caravaneers perched on the seat and rails. A single horseman rode beside the wagon, looking ill at ease in the saddle. The wagon stopped just before entering a wide, curved avenue, across which loomed an impressive stone mansion. To the casual eye, it looked just like one of the dozens or hundreds of wagons that passed through Katapesh each day.

It wasn't.

"If the wizard I paid was any good, Celeste's up there." Torius pointed to the tower atop the mansion.

"Looks like Brojanni's still up," Snick said from the driver's seat, nodding up at the lights blazing through the upper windows.

"That can't be helped." It had taken four days to set this up; Torius was not going to let Celeste remain prisoner one night longer.

A spiked wrought iron fence encircled the place, inside which strode four human guards, each bearing a loaded crossbow and the leashes of two snarling hyenas.

"Don't like dogs," the pirate beside Snick complained.

"Shouldn't have to deal with them." Torius nodded to the nearest guard. "Him, however, you'll have to take out, or he'll shoot me and you'll need a new captain."

"And the downside of that would be..." Snick said with a grin.

"Just get us set up, Snick!" Torius wiped his brow and checked his bag of tricks. His hands were shaking again, blast it, and he couldn't stop sweating. He'd finally realized the source of his symptoms: the absence of his navigator, or more precisely, her venom, to which he apparently had become both inured and addicted.

"Here." Snick passed him a small bottle. "Drink it."

"What is it?"

"Pesh brandy; it'll help the shakes."

He wondered how much she knew about the origin of his shakes, then unstoppered the bottle and took a pull, feeling its sweet warmth set his stomach afire. "Thanks."

"Get ready." She glanced at the hourglass that synchronized them with three similar wagons on parallel streets. "It's almost time."

Torius doffed his kaftan, revealing a stout harness over studded leather armor. He took a bottle from his belt and downed the contents; Brojanni was a poison master, so a preemptive cure seemed a good precaution.

The crewmen pulled the canvas off of Snick's baby, already loaded with a special stone-biter bolt. A long, light rope was threaded through the bolt's eye; one end they clipped to the horse's saddle, the other to a heavy ring in the front of Torius's harness. A second line, which was wound around a spring-tensioned drum bolted to the wagon, they clipped to the back of his harness. This was a tensioning line; without it he would be dragged right into the menacing fence.

"You're sure about all this, Snick?" He took a deep, calming breath.

"Trust me, Captain." She gave him another grin, holding up the glass and gripping the ballista's trip cord. "I triple-checked everything. Ready?"

"Hell no!"

"Too bad." Snick pulled the cord. The ballista cracked sharply as it shot the bolt into the night. From adjacent streets, three more bolts shot toward the mansion. Three of the four hit their marks, lodging deep in the stone above the tower's highest window; one glanced off an embrasure and fell. Their assault force had just been reduced by one quarter.

Torius said a short prayer and snapped, "Go!" to the horseman.

The man applied his spurs and the horse bolted back down the street, pulling the line though the bolt's eye and yanking Torius from the wagon. He felt like he was being torn in half; one rope pulled him forward while the tensioning line pulled him back to keep the angle of his ascent above the deadly fence. As he cleared the tines, he saw a guard below raise his crossbow, but a hail of bolts cut him down before he could fire and Torius allowed himself to breathe. Glancing to his left, he saw Grogul and Joss also ascending toward the window.

When his feet were firmly planted against the window's narrow ledge, he unclipped the tensioning line. Grogul and Joss arrived, the former grinning his tusky grin, the latter looking pale but ready.

He had no doubt that Brojanni had some type of ward on his tower windows, but this was where another of his preparations came into play. Torius slipped out the wand he had purchased for this venture—at a cost that made him nauseous when he thought about it—pointed it at the window frame and whispered, "Negate."

Nothing happened.

Three possibilities flashed into Torius' mind: the wand was a fake and he would have to hunt down and kill the merchant he'd purchased it from, the window had no enchantment for the wand to dispel and he had just wasted a charge, or the wand had worked and it was safe. Only one out of the three would get him killed, which wasn't bad odds considering the stupidity of attacking a spellcaster in his own home. He glanced at Grogul and shrugged.

"Bah!" The boatswain kicked in the ornate leaded glass and swung through the opening. Torius followed, and Joss came last.

As they rolled to their feet, he heard the sound he had been dreading; the chanting of a wizard casting magic. He swept his wand in an arc, looking for the source. There were myriad tables, cages, boxes, barrels, shelves and alchemical apparatuses, but no wizard. Then he realized his mistake, and discharged the wand in the direction of the wizard's voice.

Too late.

Brojanni learned a valuable lesson about dealing with pirates. Or perhaps not.

Lightning cracked out of thin air, blasting Grogul against the wall. Torius leapt to the attack, wand in one hand, sword in the other, as Brojanni winked into visibility. Before he could close the gap, the wizard cast a handful of dust before him and began another spell, but Torius was ready this time.

"Negate!"

Nothing happened.

Torius grinned and advanced.

The wizard threw a vial at his assailants' feet, and it burst into a noxious cloud. The acrid vapor stung Torius' eyes and nose, but he felt no other ill effects. Chalk one up for the pre-emptive cure, he thought triumphantly.

Torius and Joss stepped forward, swords poised to strike.

Brojanni backed against the door. "How dare you invade my home, you damned pirate!"

"How dare you steal my navigator, you trite bastard!" Torius shot back. "Tell us where she is and you live."

"I didn't steal your pet naga, Captain. Your own first mate did that for me. I am not going to hand over my property to a common thief, and my guild will have your head if you kill me."

"And my guild will have your head for arranging her kidnapping!" Torius placed the tip of his cutlass against the man's chest. "Now, hand her over."

Brojanni's face abruptly softened from a sneer to a smile.

"Captain, please, we're both businessmen. The naga's venom is all I want. When mixed with refined pesh, it makes an interesting poison. I expect to make a fortune from it. A fortune we could share." He raised his hands in submission. "This is simply a misunderstanding in a delicate matter of commerce. I see no reason why we can't reach a mutually beneficial agreement with no guild involvement."

"Like what?"

"Sell me her venom! If you sign a contract to bring me regular shipments, I'll give you the naga."

Torius opened his mouth to tell the wizard what he could do with his contract, then heard distant shouts from beyond the door.

"Those are my guards, Captain, and I daresay there are more than you can oppose. Decide quickly!"

Torius's mind raced. "Five hundred gold per ounce, six ounces per month, guaranteed."

"Three hundred and ten ounces per month."

"Four hundred and eight per month."

"Done!"

Torius lowered his sword. "Where is she?"

"Just behind that wall, Captain." Brojanni produced a key from his sleeve.

"Joss, see to Grogul. We just made a deal."

"Aye, sir!"

"This way, Captain." Brojanni stepped to the shelf-lined wall. He moved a pot and fit the key into a hole. Silently, the entire wall swung out.

Inside, Celeste lay restrained by an iron collar chained to two bolts in the walls. The room was crowded with other devices and a table laden with vials of pearly white liquid.

She rose on her coils, her dark eyes wide. "My captain!"

"Release her!" Torius's hand began to sweat on his sword hilt.

"Captain, please. The monster is dangerous without the enspelled collar. Let me place a charm on it for our protection."

"Fine. Do it now."

Torius tensed as the wizard cast his spell, then stepped over and touched the iron collar; it glowed briefly and fell away. "Your owner has come for you, Celeste. You can go with him as soon as we sign a simple contract."

"Of course," she said, slithering submissively after them.

Back in the outer room, Brojanni bent over his desk to gather paper and quill. Torius sidled over next to Celeste and aimed his wand.

"Negate!" he whispered

This time, something happened.

Celeste coiled and struck, sinking her fangs into Brojanni's neck. He reeled, and again she bit him, hissing with rage. The wizard fell against the desk, and she sunk her fangs into his chest, flexing her powerful body before releasing him. Brojanni slumped to the floor, gasping for breath, his skin nearly as pale as Celeste's. Once more, she reared back, ready to strike.

"Celeste! Enough!" Torius stepped forward, but she turned and hissed at him.

"This man..." she seethed, "this beast chained me and kept me from seeing the stars! He forced me to trade my venom for a mere glimpse of the sky! I'll have him dead!"

"Wait, Celeste! Please. It's complicated. We can't kill him. It'll start a guild war." He stepped between them and turned to give her a secret wink. "In fact, I'll need to give him the antidote to your venom right away." He turned to Brojanni and handed him a large flask. "Drink this. It'll ease the poison. Quickly!"

The wizard took the flask and drank greedily, then slumped back. His hand dropped to the floor, releasing the flask as his eyes glazed over with forgetfulness.

Celeste hissed angrily. "You...you mean to let him live? After what he did to me?" She lashed her tail. He'd seen her agitated before when she'd been too long from the stars, but never this bad.

"At least he won't remember it." Torius looked down at the man's slack face. "Trust me, if I could kill him, I would. Do you have any idea how much that elixir he just gargled was worth?"

"We gotta go, Captain!" Grogul rumbled. He and Joss were busy barricading the door.

"Grogul! You okay?"

"Bah! Nothin' but a little burn." He brushed charred leather away from the healing scar on his chest. "Joss fixed me up. But we better get before this door gives way."

"We've got to go, Celeste. Now! I'll make it up to you." He pulled out a potion vial and held it while she drank. He heard Joss gasp as she morphed into a beautiful nude woman, but he didn't have time to deal with that right now. He draped a cloak across her shoulders and the four of them dashed for the window.

∗ ∗ ∗

The stars shone like jewels overhead as Stargazer sailed beyond the glow of Katapesh. Torius stepped out onto the deck, his hands behind his back. Celeste was coiled at the rail, gazing up and swaying sinuously with the roll of the ship while the crew tended to their duties around her.

"For you." Torius held out an exquisite sextant wrought in bright silver.

Celeste's smile gleamed as she floated it out of his hands. She peered through the lens and hissed with delight. Leaning close, she nipped his neck; the faint rush of weakness and euphoria was like a breath of sea breeze, and Torius sighed.

"You must have done well with the sale of the Gods' Tears to afford such an instrument," she said.

Torius looked around guiltily to ensure that none of the crew stood within hearing, then whispered, "Actually, after paying the crew and buying that, the money's mostly gone. We've got to find a rich merchant ship if we're to keep in provisions."

"Then I will find one for you," Celeste agreed, turning her face to the night sky. "And the stars will be our guide!"

Coming Next Week: A brand new story featuring Tantaerra from Ed Greenwood's new novel, The Wizard's Mask!

Read more about Torius, Celeste, and the crew of the Stargazer in the new Pathfinder Tales novel Pirate's Honor, available now!

Chris A. Jackson is the author of the Scimitar Seas nautical fantasy series, which has won sequential gold medal awards for fantasy from ForeWord Reviews, as well as Weapon of Flesh, Deathmask, A Soul for Tsing, and the Cornerstones Trilogy. He lives with his wife on a sailboat in the Caribbean. For samples of his work, his blog, and his convention schedule, visit jaxbooks.com.

Illustration by Greg Opalinski

Gather Your Forces!

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Illustration by Wayne Reynolds

Here we have a balor taking out a silver dragon in this awesome cover illustration from Wayne Reynolds. This chaotic scene greets the PCs as they begin the Wrath of the Righteous Adventure Path, which launches this August with Pathfinder Adventure Path #73: The Worldwound Incursion. This Adventure Path uses rules from Pathfinder RPG: Mythic Adventures to make this a truly mythic campaign. As the release of this Adventure Path nears, I'd like to highlight some of the other things we're working on that can help support your PCs' venture into the Worldwound.

At the same time that Pathfinder Adventure Path #73 releases, a number of other products that help support the Adventure Path will be available, such as Pathfinder Cards: Wrath of the Righteous Item Cards, which allow you to hand players cards depicting the treasures they unearth during the campaign. Learn more about the horrible rift in reality that gives the region its name in Pathfinder Campaign Setting: The Worldwound. Need more information on demons to use in the Adventure Path to stop those pesky heroes? Look no further than Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Demons Revisited! Are there now too many demons around? Then check out Pathfinder Player Companion: Demon Hunter's Handbook for tips and tools that come in handy during a fight against the Abyss.

If all of that's not enough to get you packing your bags for Mendev, then stay tuned for the adventures of your favorite count and his trusty bodyguard as Radovan and Jeggare head into the Worldwound in Dave Gross' upcoming novel Pathfinder Tales: King of Chaos. Also, this year at GenCon the Pathfinder Society begins a new season with Year of the Demon. Mike Brock and John Compton will provide more information about that sometime soon.

Adam Daigle
Developer

Have Some Art With Your Hotdogs!

Monday, May 27, 2013

I'm not in the office today, and neither is anyone else at Paizo. And any of you in the USA also shouldn't be. Because today is a holiday! But that doesn't mean you can't get a glimpse at what's coming in this month's Pathfinder Society Scenarios—The Halls of Dwarven Lore and Way of the Kirin—which are set to release later this week. Enjoy the art, and don't spend too much time in the sun. Happy Memorial Day!

Illustrations by Lindsey Wakefield and Kelly Perry

Mark Moreland
Developer

Aliens and Dragons

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Illustration by Kate Maximovich

In the upcoming installment of the Reign of Winter Adventure Path, Pathfinder #70: The Frozen Stars, the PCs' quest brings them to the planet Triaxus in the midst of its generations-long winter. I don't want to spoil anything for those of you playing in the Adventure Path, but there are dragons... and aliens.

Adam Daigle
Developer

Pathfinder Battles Preview: More Monsters of the High Seas

May 24, 2013

With the sun high in the sky here in Seattle, it must mean that summer is just around the corner. And summer means the release of the Skull & Shackles set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted fantasy miniatures! This week I'd like to show off three more monsters coming your way this August!

Here we have a figure long requested by miniatures fiends, albeit under a slightly new name. We call this six-legged critter a Golden Guardian, and he'd love to spend some time chewing on your coins or guarding your treasure hoard. Just make sure to keep it away from his huge mouth. The Golden Guardian (which, I should point out, James Jacobs saved me from naming the Gold Digger) is a Small figure at the rare rarity.

One of the great things about publishing a pirate campaign set in a fantasy world is that it gives us the opportunity to create interesting nonhuman pirates. Here we have one of my absolute favorites from the Adventure Path, the tengu pirate Jakaw Razorbeak. This Medium figure is slated at the uncommon rarity.

Last up this week is one of the set's weirder miniatures, an undead creature known as a Duppy. This creature comes from the monster appendix in the Isles of the Shackles sourcebook, and also appears in the Skull & Shackles campaign itself. A Duppy is the spirit of a cruel sailor who died on land away from his ship, and thus was unable to receive a proper burial at sea. Duppies have control over spectral dogs, which we see sculpted into the base on the figure itself. WizKids did some amazing work with clear plastic on this figure, and I think it looks like the most incorporeal beastie we've created for Pathfinder Battles so far. The Duppy easily proxies for any kind of spooky undead ghost-like villain. It is a rare figure.

That's it for this week, my faithful scallywags! Check back next week for another exciting look at the Skull & Shackles set!

Erik Mona
Publisher

Return to the Runelords

Thursday, May 23, 2013

My favorite part of the new Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Rise of the Runelords is the opportunity it gave us to revisit Rise of the Runelords in art form. There was only so much room for art in the original adventures, and while we were able to order a bunch of new art for the Anniversary Edition of the book, there was still more that needed to be illustrated. This card game gave us a chance to right that wrong!

Anyway, they say a picture's worth a thousand words, so I'll let the images speak for themselves. See if you can recognize all of the iconic Rise of the Runelords locations and events pictured!

Illustrations by Paolo Puggioni and Bryan Sola


Illustrations by Tim Kings-Lynne

James Jacobs
Creative Director

Stargazer

by Chris A. Jackson

Chapter Three: Blood and Information

It was late, and the doors of Gozreh's temple were closed, but it was not so late that a bit of judicious knocking didn't get a response. A young acolyte cracked the door and squinted at Torius dubiously.

"Yes?"

"We need to speak to the high priest immediately!" Torius gestured to the stiff form in Grogul's arms. "My friend..."

"The high priest is eating his supper." The acolyte seemed unmoved by the plea. "Perhaps tomorrow."

"We are faithful to Gozreh!" He produced the small golden leaf on a chain from the neck of his robes. "And we are not without resources." A handful of gold reinforced the plea, and gained them entry.

Like all temples to Gozreh that Torius had seen, this one was open to the sky, its walls of joined driftwood servin...g only to keep out the unfaithful, not the elements. In its center sat the traditional large pool of water, surrounded by native plant life. Katapesh being Katapesh, however, this particular temple was far from the humble hermitages and shrines one might find on a distant coast or otherwise uninhabited island. The head priest wore fine robes, and looked as if it had been some time since he last slept out under the open sky. He sat at a beautiful wooden table next to the reflecting pool, and looked none too pleased at being interrupted.

"It's late, Captain." The aged priest wiped the grease of his curried goat stew from his long beard. He squinted down at Snick's corpse as if it somehow offended him. "And there is no hurry. Perhaps in the morning."

"I've donated enough to your coffers in years past to buy this temple thrice over," Torius seethed, one hand clenching the hilt of his cutlass. "We urgently require information that our friend may have learned just prior to her death. I'm willing to pay whatever you deem fair."

"Oh. Well, information comes easier than treatment of her... um... condition. For a generous donation to the temple, we may be able to accommodate you."

"How generous?" Grogul growled, his flinty eyes narrow.

"And before you answer, consider my longstanding, and potential future support of this temple." Torius reached for his belt pouch.

After some haggling, they came to an agreement, and the priest led them across the garden and over to a stone slab, deeply engraved with the Gozreh's leaf symbol.

"Place her there."

When Grogul complied, the priest produced a matching leaf pendant from his robes and began a careful incantation. The symbol glowed with a deep blue light, and Snick's morbid features suddenly stirred. Sightless eyes blinked, and her mouth twitched, but her color remained the ashen hue of death. Grogul muttered an oath and took a step back.

"Ask your questions," the priest instructed.

"Snick!" He stepped forward. "Snick, I need to know where they took Celeste!"

"Celeste..." The gnome's voice was raspy, undoubtedly the result of being garroted. "They took her... Don't know where."

"I need to know about Caliel. What did he do with Celeste?"

"Caliel!" Her sightless eyes flung wide, pale lips drawn back in a rictus snarl, she hissed, "Traitor! He sold her to a man."

Torius' blood ran cold in his veins. "To who? Who paid him?"

"Don't know... Didn't see his face... Wizard."

"Blast!" Torius clenched his fists and thought furiously. "Do you know where Caliel's gone to?"

"No. South... Told his men Grand Arch at dawn."

"Good! Thank you, Snick." He rested a hand on her cool shoulder. "You rest now."

The spell faded, and Snick's pale features stilled.

"It will be expensive to bring her back, Captain," the priest warned.

"I don't care. I'll pay it." Torius looked up at the heavens and a shiver wracked his body. Could Celeste see the stars she so loved? Would she ever observe the night sky again? He knew what she would become if that was denied her for too long. He turned away without another glance at the priest. "Come on, Grogul. We've got to get back to the ship. We've got an appointment at the Grand Arch at dawn."

∗∗∗

The crewmembers of the Stargazer were with him. Pirates they might be, but loyalty to one another was the key to their success and survival, and avarice was in their blood. Consequently, the opportunities to repay the treason of fellow crewmembers and reap a share of Caliel's payment for the sale of their navigator were serious incentives.

Well before dawn, Torius, Grogul and a dozen pirates were hidden among the simple homes along the road between Twilight Gate and the Grand Arch Bridge. Just as the sun peeked over the sea, seven desert-cloaked riders exited the gate astride fine mounts and headed toward the bridge.

"Horses," Grogul muttered with a note of disdain. "Figured that and brung a little surprise." He delved into a large bag and withdrew a heavy bola.

"Where'd you learn to use a thing like that?" Torius eyed the ungainly device dubiously.

"Wasn't always a pirate, Captain," the bosun replied with a grin.

"Fine. Just don't tip our hand." He watched the riders closely; they wore dust cloths across their faces, but he knew Caliel when he came close enough. When they were in position, he gave a high-pitched whistle and stepped into the street in front of the horses. Half his sailors stepped out beside him, and the rest filled the street behind the riders. Every pirate bore a loaded crossbow.

"That's as far as you go, you mutinous piece of dog meat!" Torius drew his sword and the riders pulled their mounts to a halt.

"Vin! How in the depths of Hell—"

"The shipmate you murdered gave us just enough information to find you, Caliel. Snick isn't here to cut her due out of your traitorous hide, but I'll wager you got enough from selling my navigator to pay a cleric for her return."

"Snick's dead?" Honest surprise registered in the half-elf's eyes. "Nosey gnome. I didn't mean for that to happen, Torius. She killed herself with her own damned curiosity."

"You might sell that to the dung collectors, but not to me, Caliel. I'll make you a deal. If you drop the gold you made from selling my navigator and tell me who you sold her to, I'll let you be on your cowardly way. Otherwise..." He gestured to the bowmen.

"Your navigator is a scaly monster, Vin!" The man hefted a long spear. "And you're the coward! No stomach to be a real pirate! We could have made twice what we got on that last take if you had any stones! A hold full of silks and fifteen new slaves would have paid well, and nobody would have been the wiser!"

"I told you when you came aboard that I don't deal in people," Torius said, his voice low and dangerous as he hefted his silver-hilted cutlass. "And there wasn't time to take anything more. You know that."

"Because you don't have the balls to kill a bunch of bloody merchants!" Caliel hawked and spat. "Did that scaly witch of yours chew off your manhood, Captain Vin? Is that why you're so craven?"

"Tell me who you sold her to, Caliel, or I swear by Gozreh, I'll take your head."

"You mean you'll try!" The riders kicked their mounts into a charge, spears set like lances.

"Fire all!" Torius shouted, and the crossbows cracked.

Three men fell, but Caliel and the others rode on. There was not a faint heart among his crew, but pirates are unaccustomed to facing a cavalry charge. They dove out of the way; only Grogul remained, his tusks bared as he threw his bola. One of the horses went down screaming, its rider pitching forward to land with a sickening crunch.

Torius stood his ground, reaching for a pouch at his hip. He focused on the gleaming tip of Caliel's spear and threw the pouch down hard, right in the horse's path.

It was just a simple firecracker, but the sound spooked the horse, which threw off Caliel's aim enough to save Torius's life. The tip of the spear creased the captain's shoulder, but his cutlass caught the traitorous first mate squarely in the stomach. Caliel fell from the saddle and landed in a bloody heap.

Another horse screamed in agony, and Torius heard Grogul bellow, but his attention was fixed on Caliel. He dashed to where the man lay clutching the slithering mass of his eviscerated abdomen.

He put the tip of his cutlass to his first mate's throat and said, "Who'd you sell her to? Tell me!"

"Or what?" Caliel spat, his lips flecked with blood. "You'll kill me?" He laughed horribly, then coughed, choking on his own blood.

"Or by Gozreh, your soul gets bound and sold to the foulest necromancer I can find." He withdrew an ornate crystal vial from his belt—nothing but an empty perfume bottle, but Caliel didn't know that—and pressed the tip of his cutlass into Caliel's neck. "There are things worse than death, my friend."

"A poison-crafter named Brojanni. Offered me enough for my own ship... The money's on my horse." Caliel grinned through the blood. "You said you'd let me live."

"I lied." Torius allowed the man a moment's realization before he ended his life in one quick slash. It was better than he deserved.

"Captain!"

Torius turned to see Grogul standing over a dead horse and rider. Blood dripped from both his axe and the spear that transfixed his thigh. The boatswain reached down and snapped the spearhead off, then yanked the shaft free. Torius swallowed.

"One got away." The half-orc pointed to the bridge where the last of the traitorous pirates was riding at full gallop.

"I got what I needed, Grogul." He cleaned his sword and sheathed it. "Have the men round up the horses, and bind up that leg. Our traitorous first mate just supplied us with sufficient funds to bring Snick back and heal your hairy carcass up in the bargain."

"Bah! Just a poke with a stick!" the boatswain claimed, barely limping as he shouted orders at the pirate crew.

∗∗∗

Not even death fazes Snick.

"This isn't good, Captain." Snick huddled in a blanket, her face flushed a living hue as she recovered from her brush with death. "Not only is Brojanni a wizard, he's an alchemist specializing in poisons, which explains why he wanted Celeste! And he's alchemist guild. The Pactmasters won't like it if we storm his fancy home."

"I'm guild, too, and he stole my navigator!"

"You're guild?" Grogul asked, taking another swig of his medicinal fish oil whiskey. The smell of it nearly made Torius retch.

"Merchantmen's guild," Torius explained. "Can't sell anything in this city without it."

"That's not going to do you much good, Captain, because technically, he didn't steal Celeste. He bought her, which is perfectly legal." Snick shivered and clutched her blanket closer. "The masks won't like it if you kill him."

"I don't want to kill him, Snick. I just want Celeste back." Torius suppressed a shiver of his own, and began to wonder why he was feeling like he'd just woken up from a two-day binge.

"So we go in quick, take her, and give him a swig of that memory-enema potion," Grogul suggested, taking another deep draught.

Torius swallowed hard and tried to think. Grogul's idea wasn't half bad, but they would have to make sure it happened like that, quick and without repercussions. The last thing he needed was to tangle with the Pactmasters. Katapesh was his home port; if he lost his standing here, he'd be cast adrift.

"Okay, we do like Grogul suggested. Quick in and out, and the good Master Brojanni doesn't even remember that we were there." He shivered again.

"You okay, Captain?" Grogul squinted at him.

"I'm fine." He reached for a bottle of spiced rum that he kept for his own medicinal purposes. "Snick, I think we'll need to bring your babies out of bed for this one, and I'll need to make a trip to the Repository. We'll need gold to do this right."

"How much gold?" Grogul's eyes narrowed in worry.

"All of it, I think." Torius suppressed another shiver. "When you confront a spellcaster, it's best to have a few tricks on hand."

Coming Next Week: The thrilling conclusion of Chris A. Jackson's "Stargazer."

Read more about Torius, Celeste, and the crew of the Stargazer in the new Pathfinder Tales novel Pirate's Honor, available now!

Chris A. Jackson is the author of the Scimitar Seas nautical fantasy series, which has won sequential gold medal awards for fantasy from ForeWord Reviews, as well as Weapon of Flesh, Deathmask, A Soul for Tsing, and the Cornerstones Trilogy. He lives with his wife on a sailboat in the Caribbean. For samples of his work, his blog, and his convention schedule, visit jaxbooks.com.

Illustration by Greg Opalinski

Superstars from Spaaaace!

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Illustration by Alex Tooth

It's no secret that the Pathfinder campaign setting includes a number of science-fiction elements, from the future-tech-wielding barbarians of Numeria to the crashed flying cities of the Shory in the Mwangi Expanse. Back in 2012, RPG Superstar contestant Mike Welham tapped into this underlying theme of the setting and ran with it, and his adventure proposal for Doom Comes to Dustpawn ultimately won the contest by a public vote.

The release of that adventure is just around the corner, and we wanted to show off some of the crazy-cool Superstar stuff you'll find within. First, there's a crashed spaceship leaking terrible things into the atmosphere, causing nearby farmers and townsfolk (and maybe the PCs) to have horrific dreams and even mutate into otherworldly abominations.

Then there are the strange cultists who are also seeking the fallen spacecraft for their own sinister reasons. (Hint: it's not cause they're interested in scientific exploration.)

And I don't even know what to say about this guy other than that he's bound to send your PCs on something of a wild ride if they hope to survive their encounter with him!

Illustrations by Scott Murphy

Doom Comes to Dustpawn by RPG Superstar 2012 winner Mike Welham is available for preorder now, and will be out in stores everywhere next week!

Mark Moreland
Developer

Register Now for Pathfinder Society Events at Gen Con Indy!

Monday, May 20, 2013

Event registration for Gen Con Indy is open to the public! That means that the over 100 unique Pathfinder Society events Paizo will be offering throughout the convention are already starting to sell out, so don't hesitate to get your tickets now. We expect this to be the largest Pathfinder Society showing at Gen Con to date, and you won't want to miss out on the action!

Gen Con will see the launch of Season 5 of Pathfinder Society Organized Play—the Year of the Demon! Three new scenarios will run throughout the show, pitting Pathfinders against the faithful of Razmir, the demons of the Worldwound, and the political machinations of Absalom's ruling council. We'll also be offering the first two levels of Lead Designer Jason Bulmahn's Ruins of Bonekeep megadungeon, which are specifically designed to challenge even the most ambitious Pathfinder characters with truly deadly combats, traps, and puzzles. As if that weren't enough, on Friday night, over 1,000 Pathfinder Society members will participate in a massive, multi-table event called Siege of the Diamond City, which will place the noble heroes on the front lines of an Abyssal invasion of the crusader capital of Nerosyan, and fill the Indiana Convention Center's cavernous Sagamore Ballroom.

We'll also be offering non-Pathfinder Society events throughout the convention, including:

• Seminars with Paizo's creative staff and management about forthcoming products, the future of the company, and some in-depth looks at the workings of the Pathfinder RPG.
• Demos of the new Pathfinder Adventure Card Game.
• Pathfinder RPG Beginner Box demos to introduce new players to the world of roleplaying (including new adventures never before offered for Beginner Box characters of 3rd level!).
• A robust kids' track, allowing parents to play the Pathfinder RPG alongside their children in a safe and educational environment.
• A silent auction running throughout the convention, the proceeds of which will benefit the Gen Con Indy 2013 charity, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana, offering both in- and out-of-character prizes.

Check back here every Monday for more on the Pathfinder Society Organized Play campaign, including revelations about the end of Season 4, the Year of the Risen Rune, and the start of Season 5. But before you set your reminder for next week, reserve your spot in the Gen Con 2013 event(s) of your choice and prepare for the Best Four Days in Pathfinder Society Gaming of the year!

Mark Moreland
Developer

First World Problems

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Illustration by Emily Fiegenschuh

In the forthcoming Pathfinder Campaign Setting book, Fey Revisited, we examine ten classic fey creatures in the context of how they function and fit into the world of Golarion. Each article presents details on the ecology of the creature (life-cycle, habitat, and so forth), its aspect of nature, and a sample creature of the type as well as a description of the sample's home. We also provide some background about each fey creature's real-world mythological origins and the fairies' tokens.

A fey token is an item, generally crafted by the fey giving it, that can be provided to another creature as a sign of the fey's blessing or approval for a short period of time. Each fey creature in the book has different conditions upon which it grants its token, and each has a limited magical effect that generally lasts about a day before its magic fades. As an example, here's the token granted by the evil water fey known as nuckelavees.

Illustration by Helge C. Balzer

Token of the Nuckelavee
Nuckelavees are rarely pleased by anything other than bloody vengeance, but occasionally they take a liking to a mortal—usually one with some connection to nature—who has a reputation for being a friend of the waters, perhaps by virtue of clearing a river of debris or driving a coven of polluting hags from a shore. In such instances, the nuckelavee bestows its token upon the do-gooder. The recipient awakens one day to find a bracelet made of cold, gray skin that smells of brine and constantly drips water. (Some say the nuckelavees craft these bracelets from strips of their own skin, which is why they have none left to wear.) Upon donning the bracelet, for the next 24 hours the recipient gains the ability to make contaminated water clean enough to drink (as per the spell purify food and drink, but only for water). However, the fey token has a cost. For the same duration, the water inside the recipient's body becomes tainted, lowering his or her Constitution by 2. When the token's power expires, there is a chance that the devil of the sea comes after the recipient to reclaim the bracelet.

Ok, so maybe that's not the fey token most PCs would want, especially given that last bit about the nuckelavee maybe coming for them. The rest of the tokens presented in the book totally don't have hitches and gotchas like that, though. I swear. Really. Why wouldn't you trust a fey creature not to try to trick you?

Fey Revisited is available for preorder now and will start shipping to subscribers this month!

Mark Moreland
Developer

Pathfinder Battles Preview: Devils of the Sea

Friday, May 17, 2013

The Skull & Shackles Adventure Path features a lot of "proper" devils from the Hells, but it also features a LOT of SEA devils. While these aquatic menaces are not lawful evil outsiders proper, their sharp teeth and evil looks make the name fit quite well. WizKids did a great job translating these creatures into prepainted plastic for the Skull & Shackles set of Pathfinder Battles figures, and I'm thrilled to show them all to you today.

As we continue to do these sets, it becomes more and more clear to me that I should take the opportunity to do as many of the same type of creature at the same time that I can. That way, similar creatures look "of a kind" to one another because they're based on unified art, and are often sculpted by the same sculptor. Likewise, all similar figures are painted based on paint masters painted by the same artist (in this case the excellent Chris Hart, who also did all the masters for the Shattered Star and Rise of the Runelords sets.

Here's an early look at three of those paint masters for the Skull & Shackles set!

Here we have the Sea Devil, a common rank-and-file member of this hideous undersea race. Watch out for his trident. It's pokey. This is a Medium common figure.

Liven up the ranks of your Sea Devil invasion force with this Sea Devil Champion, also Medium and also common.

Every invasion force needs a leader, and in this case we've got The Matron, one of the greatest figures in the Pathfinder Battles line according to yours truly and all the folks here at Paizo who have seen it. Chris really did a great job on the painting for her, and you guys are going to freak when you have her in hand. This Large figure is slated at the rare rarity.

That's it for this week. Set up an ongoing Pathfinder Battles subscription today to make sure you don't miss a single figure! The full set is slated to release this summer!

Erik Mona
Publisher

Ultimate Campaign: WAR! What is it Good For?

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Sometime in the next week or so, Ultimate Campaign will be shipping out to a game store or mailbox near you. In anticipation of the release of this 256-page hardcover, we are taking a look at what you can expect to find inside. In the past three weeks, we have looked at character backgrounds, the downtime system, and rules for the GM to add to their campaign. This week, we are looking at the final chapter of the book, Kingdoms and War!

Built from the popular rules found in the Kingmaker Adventure Path, this chapter takes those rules to the next level, giving you new options to allow your PCs to conquer any part of the world (or at the very least, declare war on the parts they cannot conquer). First up are rules for building and expanding a kingdom. These rules are a refined version from those in Kingmaker, but if you used those rules, these will be very familiar to you. The big thing we added here was a variety of new rules and options for your kingdom. We expanded just about everything from rulership types to buildings that you can construct in your cities. Here are just a few examples.

Bank 28 BP, 1 Lot
Kingdom Economy +4
Special Base value +2,000 gp
A secure building for storing valuables and granting loans.

Palace 108 BP, 4 Lots
Kingdom Economy +2, Loyalty +6, Stability +2; Fame +1
Discount Mansion, Mint, Noble Villa
Special Base value +1,000 gp; you may make two special edicts per turn (see page 229), but take a -2 penalty on kingdom checks associated with each special edict
Settlement Law +2
A grand edifice and walled grounds demonstrating one's wealth, power, and authority to the world.

What good is a kingdom if you can't declare war on your neighbors? To that end, we added the war rules from Kingmaker and expanded upon them. This system is not a tactical war simulation, but it works perfectly in a narrative game, with quick and simple resolution with meaningful results. We greatly expanded the sample units and armies in this section of the book as well. Take a look at a few of these stat blocks!

Illustration by Jim Nelson

Drow Army XP 400
CE Medium army of drow (warrior 3)
hp 3; ACR 1
DV 11; OM +3, ranged
Tactics dirty fighters, false retreat, sniper support, spellbreaker
Special darkvision, light sensitivity, poison, spell resistance
Speed 2; Consumption 1
Note +2 OM due to spell-like abilities

Tarrasque XP 102,400
N Fine army of one tarrasque
hp 93; ACR 17
DV 27; OM +21, ranged
Tactics defensive wall, relentless brutality, siegebreaker, spellbreaker, withdraw
Special cannibalize; fear; grab; immune to ability damage, bleed, disease, energy drain, fear, paralysis, petrification, and poison; low-light vision; regeneration 40; scent; significant defense; spell resistance
Speed 2; Consumption 8
Note +4 OM due to feats and monster special abilities

Well, that about wraps up our look at Ultimate Campaign. You should be able to find this book in stores very soon. Pick it up and expand your campaign!

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

Stargazer

by Chris A. Jackson

Chapter Two: Stealing the Stars

"Don't put us downwind of the slave markets, Caliel." Torius scanned Katapesh's busy docks, looking for ships that he might prefer to avoid. The list had become quite long.

The mate sneered. "Squeamish, Captain?"

"It's the smell, that's all." Torius tended to steer clear of the slave markets for other reasons, too, but his crew need not know all the details of their captain's past.

"Smells like half-orc day at Trillia's Bathhouse!" Snick chimed from beside him, her sea-green hair fluttering in the breeze. The crew chuckled and Grogul growled low in his throat.

"All secure below, Snick?"

"Well, of course, sir! All my babies're off to bed." Snick's ‘babies' were the twelve ballistae that Stargazer bore. When in Katapesh, his home port, he ordered the huge crossbows dismantled and hidden in the smuggling niches crafted into the spaces between the ship's decks. The gnome looked indignant at the suggestion that she might be slacking. "We're nothin' but a merchant ship now."

"Except for that ruddy great reptile in his cabin," a crewman muttered.

"Good." Torius ignored the comment. Celeste's magical talents and her value as a navigator and astrologer far outweighed the risks of having her aboard, and every member of the crew knew it.

He scanned the crew and nodded his approval. Though they still bore weapons, they looked little like pirates. Their dark leathers and bandanas had been replaced by loose vests, colorful pantaloons, and varied desert headdresses. As captain, Torius wore a dazzling white kaftan that was subtly enchanted to keep him cool in the blistering heat. Only Grogul still looked menacing, stripped to the waist and showing his impressive array of scars. He'd traded his axe for a pair of long kukris tucked crosswise under his sash at the small of his back.

"Might need a trip to Jexler and Young's, though," the gnome continued. "Those swimmer bolts just don't seem to be quite—"

"First things first, Snick." Torius ruffled her hair, smiling when she grimaced and slapped his hand away. "And the first thing is to conclude our business."

When the ship was docked and all secure, Torius turned to his first mate. "Caliel, deal with the fees and bribes to the dockmaster and see to provisions and repairs. Grogul, you're with me."

The pirate captain crossed the gangplank and headed uptown as if he hadn't a care, for all the world a merchant and his bodyguard out for a stroll. The burlap sack over Grogul's shoulder was nondescript enough to be holding laundry, but inside their prize lay nestled in a padded leather pouch, a fortune for the selling. Torius had long ago learned that the most effective means of stealth is often to appear as if you have nothing to hide at all.

∗∗∗

"May Abadar smile on your every endeavor, Master Alchemist." Torius bowed low and backed out of the shop's opulent back room, smiling through the bitter taste of both the dark tea he'd been forced to drink as a matter of custom and the poor deal he'd just struck.

"That took too long," Grogul said with a scowl.

Torius handed over a small bag heavy with gems and nodded to the door, but once outside he grumbled, "And they call me a pirate!"

"What happened?"

"Oh, just haggling," he said, then lowered his voice. "We've been paid, Grogul, but not what we were promised. I should have expected it, really, but there's nothing we can do."

"You said we had a contract."

"We did, but that thief caught me broadside. If I threatened to take our business elsewhere, we'd soon have Benrahi Ekhan himself on our tails." He shook his head ruefully, then cocked a wry grin and clapped the burly half-orc on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Grogul. We still made out well, just not as well as I'd wanted." He glanced at the angle of the shadows. "Come on; we've got to hurry to make it to the Immaculate Repository before dusk."

"Bankers..." Grogul muttered, matching his captain's long stride. "Now there's a band of pirates!"

Grogul is a bosun who gets things done.

They were met with aplomb at the Repository, and the certificates of appraisal that accompanied the gems were quickly verified, their value deposited in his account with a scribbled number on a leger. Torius withdrew a sum in gold for the crew's shares and all the expenses associated with maintaining Stargazer, and they headed back to the ship. Dusk in Katapesh reminded him of twilight on a tropical reef—the time of day when predators began to hunt—but two well-armed men cognizant of their surroundings had little to fear from common thugs. They arrived at the docks just as the sun's glow faded behind the city's gilded domes, but the welcome they received was more chilling even than the coming desert night.

"Captain!" A crewman named Joss ran up as they crossed the gangplank. "You're free! Where's Mister Caliel?"

"What do you mean, ‘free'? Why wouldn't I be?" The chill slithered down Torius' spine.

"But the slavers, sir! We got word a gang of Duenas took you, the filthy hyenas, and Mister Caliel—"

"Where is Caliel, Joss?" He scanned the worried faces and shivered.

"Mister Caliel took half a dozen men and went to rescue you. This feller said he knew where you was, but that it'd take some doin' to get you back. He, uh..." The man balked, biting his lower lip. "They took yer navigator with 'em."

"Celeste?" The chill clutched his heart like the hand of a lich. Torius gripped Joss's vest, jerking him off his feet. "Where?"

"We don't know, sir! That feller, he just spoke to Mister Caliel. The mate said they'd need yer navigator's help to get you back. She took that potion that makes her human and left with 'em, all cloaked and secret-like. Then Snick followed 'em. Told me somethin' weren't right and she'd find out."

"Damn!" Torius released the man and began to pace Stargazer's deck, his mind awhirl. "And nobody recognized this man? Did Caliel call him by name?"

"Oh, aye! Called him Vemmy. I heard him."

"Vemmy..." The name meant nothing to Torius. He glanced at Grogul, who knew every sneak and informant on the docks, but the boatswain shook his head.

"Never heard of him, but I know someone who might."

"Let's go." Torius turned back to Joss. "Keep the ship secure. Nobody, and I mean nobody, comes aboard. If Caliel or Snick come back, they stay put. Understand?"

"Aye, sir!"

∗∗∗

Nowhere in Katapesh is the night darker than beneath the Night Ramp, with its seedy cluster of tents where informants and black marketers ply their trade. Grogul led Torius past clusters of men sitting around small charcoal fires cooking meat of dubious origin on metal skewers to a canvas-shrouded stall near the Obsidian Wall. There, an old woman sat smoking a pesh pipe, her knobby, misshapen feet propped up on a stool.

Grogul didn't bother with formalities or introductions. "Need to find someone, Hound."

"Nice to smell you, too, Grogul. Who's your friend?" She sniffed, then blinked, the lamplight glinting on the haze of her unseeing eyes. "Don't think I know his scent."

"I'm Captain Vin of the Stargazer." Torius stepped forward. "We're looking for a man named Vemmy."

"And what are you willing to pay for this, Captain Vin?" The old woman puffed on her pipe, drawing the acrid smoke deep into her lungs and holding it there before exhaling. She smiled, thin lips pulling back over elongated canines. Her name, it seemed, was apropos.

"Gold or steel," Torius said, a hand on his sword hilt. "Gold if you tell us the truth. Steel if you lie."

"I never lie, Captain. There's no profit in it." She took another puff from her pipe. "Twenty scarabs."

"Ten," he countered.

"Seventeen."

"Fifteen." He was in no mood to haggle, but if he didn't, he risked being marked as moneyed prey.

"Sixteen, then, if you insist."

"Done." He counted out the coins, but kept them in his palm. "Where do we find Vemmy?"

"Street of the Seven Suns, north of The Block. He works for whoever pays him, and isn't particular."

He handed over the money. "Thank you."

"You already have, Captain." She laughed and jingled the money in her hand before slipping it into a pocket.

"Come on." Torius grabbed Grogul's arm and turned him north.

A quarter of an hour and dozens of twisting streets later, they entered the Street of the Seven Suns. Most of the stalls in the bazaar were closed, but the alehouses and pesh pits were open for business. A few questions and some judiciously applied silver pointed them toward a narrow alley and a dark second story flat.

"Round the back," Torius instructed his boatswain in a whisper. "If he bolts..."

Grogul nodded and vanished around the corner, stealthier than his bulk would suggest possible. Torius gave him a moment to get situated, then climbed the rickety stair, the boards creaking under his weight. There was a click as the door opened, and the glint of starlight on metal. Torius dodged as the crossbow fired, and felt the bolt tug at the sleeve of his robe. He drew his sword and dashed up the stairs before the man could reload.

The door splintered under his onslaught, but he only caught a glimpse of the man's boots vanishing out of a small window. He heard a crash, then a grunt and a scream. He leaned over the sill.

"Grogul?"

"Got him, sir." The half-orc was bent over a prone form.

"Dead?"

"Not yet."

Torius ran back down the stairs and around the corner. Grogul bore a cut along his cheekbone, and the tip of his pointed ear was missing, but that was nothing compared with the man he was pulling to his feet. One of the bosun's kukris transfixed the man's shoulder from back to front, six inches of bloody steel sticking out of his filthy robes.

"You okay, Grogul?"

"Bah! Just a scratch."

"You must be Vemmy." Torius peered into the man's pockmarked face. "Not a good night for you."

The man spat an epithet, then screamed again as Grogul whacked the hilt of the kukri. Torius winced.

"Now Vemmy, let me be clear. You tell us where Caliel took my navigator, or you're tomorrow's dinner special at Chargut."

"Don't know where," the man said through clenched teeth. "He just paid me to bring the message and watch his back. Then that blasted gnome came along."

"Snick? Where is she?"

"Dead."

Torius felt the blood drain from his face, and he whacked the kukri himself. Vemmy's scream was gratifying.

"Show us where. Now!"

Grogul arranged Vemmy's cloak to hide the knife and frogmarched the man through the dark streets. In minutes they reached an alley and Vemmy pointed.

"In there. I stashed the corpse behind the bins."

Torius's gorge rose in his throat. The building was an abattoir, and the rats had massed for their nightly feast. He kicked the rats away, and found Snick's body reasonably unchewed; apparently the butcher's offal ranked higher than gnome on the rat culinary scale. He pulled her into the faint starlight, and saw the mark of a garrote around her throat. She was dead, her limbs stiffened and her face fixed in a ghastly expression.

"Grogul, pick her up. We need to—"

Vemmy gasped in shock as the half-orc retrieved his kukri. Grogul hadn't simply pulled the blade out, but twisted it and slashed down through bone and sinew. Blood quickly darkened the man's robes, and he crumpled to the refuse-strewn ground. Grogul wiped the blade on Vemmy's cloak and sheathed it.

"You were sayin', Captain?"

"I was saying, we need to get her to Gozreh's temple."

"Why?" He picked up the gnome's corpse and tucked it under his arm.

"Because, Grogul," Torius said, leading the way into the night, "the dead can talk."

Coming Next Week: A chat with a corpse in Chapter Three of Chris A. Jackson's "Stargazer."

Read more about Torius, Celeste, and the crew of the Stargazer in the new Pathfinder Tales novel Pirate's Honor, available now!

Chris A. Jackson is the author of the Scimitar Seas nautical fantasy series, which has won sequential gold medal awards for fantasy from ForeWord Reviews, as well as Weapon of Flesh, Deathmask, A Soul for Tsing, and the Cornerstones Trilogy. He lives with his wife on a sailboat in the Caribbean. For samples of his work, his blog, and his convention schedule, visit jaxbooks.com.

Illustration by Greg Opalinski

Put on Your Sneaking Shoes

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Recently, we released Pathfinder Module: Fangwood Keep by veteran Pathfinder Society author Alex Greenshields. This adventure holds a special place in my heart for a few reasons. First, on a personal level, it was Alex who first ran me through a Pathfinder Society scenario (Pathfinder Society Scenario #1: Silent Tide way back in 2008) and he's been a constant contributor to my other passion, the PathfinderWiki, for nearly just as long. It makes me happy to see him get his first printed cover credit in a Pathfinder product, and on such an amazing adventure, too!

Second, I've always been a fan of adventures that provide the PCs lots of different options. When I was working on this scenario with Alex, we wanted to make sure that it offered as many choices as possible. For example, the adventure takes place in the Southern Fangwood, on the ever-shifting border between warring nations Molthune and Nirmathas. It was important to us to ensure that the PCs could be agents of either nation when they set off on the adventure, making it easier for GMs to place the adventure into their ongoing campaigns or for PCs for better integrate characters of varying backgrounds into the plot.

Illustration by Eric Braddock

Additionally, one of the main objectives we set for ourselves was to provide written-in options for players to take two different approaches to taking the adventure's eponymous fortress. Some players love the thrill of combat and taking on imposing odds, and for these players, a full frontal assault on the fortress is likely the most fun approach. Other players like to use stealth, guile, and trickery to win the day, and we made sure there were just as many opportunities for PCs to infiltrate Fangwood Keep in secret and take the fortress one room at a time without raising any alarms. Hollow walls, secret escape (or entry, in the PCs' case) tunnels, and hidden doorways are just a few of the ways PCs can explore the tower without tipping off the soldiers who guard it.

Fangwood Keep is available now, so try it today! What's your preferred method of ridding a forest stronghold of its current occupants?

Mark Moreland
Developer

Ransom on the High Seas

Monday, May 13, 2013

Illustration by Craig J Spearing

The sunny skies that Paizo has experienced over the past week have provided a great opportunity to get outside and enjoy the weather. Apparently we weren't the only ones thinking that, and true to form, the pirates of the Shackles paid a visit, boarded the vessel carrying our latest shipment of Chronicle sheets, and spent the weekend roistering just beyond our reach. As I have learned in my move from a relatively landlocked area to the Pacific northwest, such is the price we must pay for good seafood.

Once the pirates realized just what a prize they now hold—I hear the boons are the stuff of legend—they offered to ransom the Chronicle sheets back for the paper's weight in gold! Villains! What I propose is more devious and hopefully far more to the liking of the swashbuckling sorts that frequent the Pathfinder Society. We shall build up our strength and launch a daring raid to take back what is rightfully ours.

So hone your blades and sharpen your wits as you do battle with the foes in Season 4 of Pathfinder Society Organized Play. If we see in our reports that you have soundly beaten all that Varisia can throw at you, then we shall launch that raid, share the spoils, and tell stories about it for years to come. If not... I know that the Skull & Shackles Adventure Path promises adventure on the high seas, but I cannot imagine our Chronicle sheets would survive walking the plank.

Rules for sanctioning the Skull and Shackles Adventure Path for Pathfinder Society Organized Play are ready to launch, but we await your reporting of Season 4 scenarios. Play and report as much as you can. The more activity we see, the sooner you shall see rules for new Adventure Paths. Comment in character here, and so long as I see that you have participated in at least one Season 4 scenario since, you may be one of the characters called out in a later blog's narrative should we perform the raid.

John Compton
Developer

Welcome Our New Intern, Jay!

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Greetings one and all! My name is Jay Loomis, and I'm one of the new editorial interns here at Paizo HQ. I share a desk with Cassidy, whom you have already met (though I haven't, due to a temporal displacement in our schedules).

I'm a graduate student at the University of Washington, Bothell in the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and Poetics program. My path to grad school was long and winding, and involved a ton of professional experience in technical and expository writing, management and team dynamics, desktop publishing and a smidgeon of graphic design, among many other areas. That's a roundabout way of saying that I'm kind of old for an intern. I look forward to bringing my experience to bear as I learn more about the world of RPG publishing.

Coming to Paizo is one step in the fulfillment of a dream to make RPGs that started when I was 10. That was a long time ago (here's a hint: that was the year that I got Star Frontiers, Marvel Superheroes [the original in the yellow box], and The Adventures of Indiana Jones Role-Playing Game, all published by TSR) so it feels really good. My interest in design hasn't lain dormant in the intervening years. I'm always designing games of one sort or another. I have accumulated a lot of theory, and have helped my peers learn about designing games as the president of the Game Design Club at school. Last year I was fortunate enough to be the editor of the critically acclaimed Dungeon World, published by Sage Kobold designs.

In the rare moments that I am not playing or talking about roleplaying games or doing homework (or playing or talking about other tabletop games) I enjoy blacksmithing, stage combat and European martial arts (swords!). I like making things with my hands and (when time allows) walking in nature and relaxing at home with my wife and two cats.

I can't wait to dive deeper into the inner workings of Pathfinder and to tell you about it here on the blog!

Jay Loomis
Editorial Intern

Pathfinder Battles Preview: Strange Cargo

Friday, May 10, 2013

The summer release of Pathfinder Battles: Skull & Shackles is just over the horizon. Already you can hear the sea shanties of pirate crews carried on the salt-saturated air, and was that a shark fin that passed by just now? We've previewed almost half of the 55-figure set so far here on the Paizo Blog, and excitement is building for what is shaping up to be one of our best Pathfinder Battles sets yet! Designed to support the popular Skull & Shackles Adventure Path, the set includes creatures encountered in that campaign as well as aquatic and pirate-themed figures usable in any fantasy adventure.

This week I want to show off some of the set's stranger figures in the form of three unusual passengers we think will add a lot to your sea voyages.

A long ocean voyage is going to require a lot of food to feed the crew, and who better to provide that provender than Ambrose Kroop, "star" cook to pirates, smugglers, and heroes alike? Over the course of several sets, it's our intention to provide all sorts of "menial" NPCs, from barkeepers to bouncers to barmaids, from watch captains to politicians. When I first saw the art for Ambrose Kroop come through during the course of publishing the Skull & Shackles Adventure Path campaign, I just knew I had to include him in a set. Ambrose Kroop is an uncommon figure.

And what do you think the "mystery meat" is on the tenth week at sea? Why, bilge rats, of course! Here we have a Rat Swarm ready to eat your feet or feed your belly in case things get desperate. We've put the rats on a Small base and made them a common figure so it'll be easy to build up enough to have a reasonably sized rat horde.

Here we have the menacing Gilbrok the Tongue, a chief lieutenant of one of the Adventure Path's key villains. When I saw the illustration for this character, I added it to the list for this set as a sort of challenge to our partners at WizKids, because I honestly wasn't sure they'd be able to pull off such a complex sculpt. You can't quite appreciate all of the detail from the tiny photograph above, but you're going to have to trust me that, in terms of complexity, this is one of the most elaborate figures we've done to date. He's got a glowing spell effect in clear plastic coming off his right hand and a monkey witch familiar on his shoulder. His staff is, for lack of a better term, "very three-dimensional," and his windswept robes had to be captured just perfectly. He'll work great for any crazed hermit, rowdy druid, gross witch, or just plain old weirdo you need for your campaigns. That said, we know you won't need a ton of him, which is why we made him a rare figure.

That's it for this week! Come on back next week for a look at three more figures from the Skull & Shackles set! And if you haven't seen them yet, check out the upcoming Pathfinder Battles releases White Dragon Evolution and We Be Goblins!, also coming this summer from Paizo and WizKids! Set up an ongoing Pathfinder Battles subscription today to get discounts on Encounter Packs and make sure you don't miss a single figure!

Until next week,

Erik Mona
Publisher

We Survived!

Friday, May 10, 2013

Gen Con Crunch breakfast! Liz made delicious pancakes!


Happy editors and developers working on some exciting products due out this summer.

The last six weeks have been quite a slog for the development and editorial pits here at Paizo. We worked day and night, and most weekends, getting over two dozen products scheduled for Gen Con ready to go. To celebrate, many of us are going to kick back and actually take a whole weekend to unwind—maybe soak up the Seattle sun while it's out (yeah, we get sun sometimes!), go catch Iron Man 3, or even just sleep in while we can.

On behalf of the editing staff, I'm pretty stoked to say that we're proud of the work we've done. We're not just happy that the slog is over; we're happy that we knocked this year's product schedule out of the park!

What did we survive, you ask?

We have a host of Pathfinder Player Companions just waiting to jump into your hands: Kobolds of Golarion, Quests & Campaigns, Dragonslayer's Handbook, Pathfinder Society Primer, Faiths & Philosophies, and Demon Hunter's Handbook. There's something in this hot group of titles for everyone, no matter what you're playing in your Pathfinder campaign.

But hey, we can't be adventurers if we don't have places to go adventuring! For that, we've worked hard on these Pathfinder Campaign Setting books: Castles of the Inner Sea, Dragons Unleashed, The Worldwound, and Demons Revisited.

You like adventures? You're going to see a double-sized module in Pathfinder Modules: The Dragon's Demand. Of course, we've got the exciting end to the Reign of Winter Adventure Path in Pathfinder Adventure Path #71: Rasputin Must Die! and Pathfinder Adventure Path #72: The Witch Queen's Revenge. And we kick off the next Adventure Path: Wrath of the Righteous with Pathfinder Adventure Path #73: The Worldwound Incursion.

Sometimes we don't get to game, and for those times, it's nice to curl up to a good book. Check out Pathfinder Tales: The Wizard's Mask by that wizard of fantasy, Ed Greenwood.

We also shipped off a number of accessories to enhance your experience at the table, including Map Packs (Forest Trails and Evil Ruins), Flip-Mats (Arcane Dungeons and Thieves' Guild), and four Pathfinder Card sets: (Animal Allies Face Cards, Dragon's Demand Campaign Cards, and Iconic Equipment and Wrath of the Righteous Item Cards.

Last, but certainly not least, are two massive beasts we were happy to slay and present to you: Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Rise of the Runelords Base Set—plus the PFACG Character Add-On Deck—and Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Mythic Adventures. Plus, for all you art lovers out there, there's Visions of WAR: The Art of Wayne Reynolds.

In case any of you out there are wondering, here're the names of the Gen Con heroes who've worked 50+ hour weeks to put more awesome into your gaming lives:

Judy Bauer, Logan Bonner, Jason Bulmahn, Christopher Carey, John Compton, Adam Daigle, Crystal Frasier, James Jacobs, Ryan Macklin, Rob McCreary, Mark Moreland, Erik Mona, Jessica Price, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Sonja Morris, Sean K Reynolds, Sarah E. Robinson, F. Wesley Schneider, James L. Sutter, Patrick Renie, and Andrew Vallas, along with our interns Jay Loomis and Cassidy Werner.

We hope you enjoy the books and accessories! If you'll be at Gen Con, come by and say hi!

Ryan Macklin
Editor

Ultimate Campaign: Behind the Screen

Thursday, May 9, 2013

In just over two weeks, Ultimate Campaign should hit your local game store or your mailbox. In the build up to the release of this new 256-page hardcover expansion to the Pathfinder rules line, we are showing off some of the things you will find inside.

This week, we are taking a look at Chapter 3, which is absolutely packed with new systems for GMs to use in their game. Each one of these sections is designed around one theme and they are easily added to any existing campaign when the story calls for that particular theme. For example, if the player's travel to a kingdom where honor is valued above all else, Ultimate Campaign includes four pages of rules on honor and how it can be incorporated into the game. Are the heroes tasked with exploring a great, uncharted wilderness? No problem, there are six pages detailing rules for exploration in a wide variety of terrains, covering everything from hazards of travel to random map generation!

Illustration by Sam Burley

All told, this chapter contains 15 sections detailing various rules systems you can add to your game, including rules for alignment shifting, making contacts, developing relationships, and retraining. This last section is sure to be popular at your table, allowing characters to spend some time to change almost everything, from feats and skills to class features and archetypes. You can even retrain your class levels, given enough time and a suitable teacher!

One of my favorite sections of this chapter includes rules for playing young characters, before they start their adventuring career. It includes rules for young members of all of the core races, guidelines for available classes, and tips for roleplaying and the types of encounters young characters might face. While this is only a short section at the end of the chapter, I can think of a number of games that would have greatly benefitted starting the story before the PCs became the heroes they are today.

That about wraps up this week. Next week, we are going to take a look at the final chapter of the book, dealing with kingdoms and war!

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

Stargazer

by Chris A. Jackson

Chapter One: Venomous Friends

Black sails tore out of the moonless night, all but invisible as the corsair Stargazer swooped down on her prey. Even as the merchant galleon's crew recognized the danger, three ballistae cracked in perfect unison, and their steel heads bit into the planks of the ship's hull.

"Haul!" bellowed a voice, and Stargazer's capstan spun, hauling in the lines affixed to the ballistae bolts, pulling the two ships together.

The two hulls met with a crack, and thirty seasoned pirates leapt aboard the merchant ship in a wave of curses and flashing steel. One stout sailor swung a boathook, cracking a burly pirate across the face. The pirate responded with an anatomically impossible epithet and a sweeping blow of his heavy axe that clove the sailor's skull like an overripe melon. The captain and crew of the Golden Griffin dropped their weapons and backed against the windward rail, pleading for mercy, hands raised.

"Bosun Grogul!" The voice cut through the night like a knife, staying the burly pirate's hand as he raised his axe above the merchant captain's head. "Stand down! Secure their weapons and start your search!"

"Aye, Captain!" The half-orc pirate spat blood onto the deck. He glanced over his shoulder at his captain standing on Stargazer's rail, and the rage in his eyes dimmed. "Search party with me! You others, secure this rabble!"

Captain Torius Vin stepped onto the deck of the merchant galleon with the preternatural agility of a born seaman, one hand on the silver hilt of the cutlass at his hip. His confident swagger was that of a man walking across a street instead of a lurching deck as he stepped over the corpse of the dead sailor and confronted the captain of the Golden Griffin.

"Where is it, Captain Wayland?" He stroked his carefully groomed goatee, dark eyes narrowed.

"Where's what?" The merchant captain's voice sounded harsh with fear. "You're nothing but a damned pirate!"

Torius grinned—he expected fear from his conquests, but not defiance—and drew his cutlass. The flat of the blade slapped the captain's cheek, the edge coming to rest beneath the man's ear. "A pirate I am, Captain, and I may even be damned one day. But not today, and not by the likes of you! If you hand over the coffer you're delivering to Benrahi Ekhan of Azir, I'll spare the lives of you and your crew. If you lie to me again, I'll feed you to the adaro a piece at a time—your right ear first."

"Bugger yourself, pirate!" the captain spat. "You'll kill us all anyway. You vermin have no honor!"

Torius' wrist stiffened, and the razor edge of his cutlass drew a bead of blood from the captain's ear. "Have it your way," he said, but a soft voice from behind him stayed his hand.

"My captain!" There was a rustle of scales against wood. "I can help, if you'll allow me."

"Celeste!" Torius lowered his sword and glanced over his shoulder to see... nothing. "Is there time?"

"There's always time, Captain Vin. It's what we do with it that matters." The voice was as hauntingly beautiful as the night sky. "In this moment of it, I can find what you seek."

"Then by all means proceed, my dear." Torius stepped back.

Undulating coils of starlight flowed over the conjoined rails of the two ships as a huge serpent with the head of a woman materialized from invisibility. The white waves of her hair glowed in the starlight as she slithered to Torius's side, then smiled, her fangs glistening with venom. Torius stifled a chuckle at the gasps of horror from the Golden Griffin's captain and crew; where they saw a monster, he saw magnificence.

"Captain Wayland," she hissed as she bent close to the man's sweaty face. Torius heard the whisper of her quietly murmured spell. "If not to save your own life, then for the lives of your crew: tell me where you have hidden the coffer destined for Benrahi Ekhan."

The man paled nearly to the naga's alabaster hue, swallowed, then answered. "In a secret compartment under the chart table in my quarters. This is the key." He fumbled a heavy brass key from a pocket, and it floated out of his grasp and into Torius's hand.

"Mister Caliel!" Torius tossed the key to his first mate. "Get that coffer, double quick! Time is of the essence!"

Celeste is an exceptional woman—in many senses.

"Aye, sir!" The tall man, a half-elf by the gentle point of his ears, gathered two men and hurried aft.

"Celeste," Torius said more quietly, "best go below now. Thank you for your help."

"Who am I to argue with the stars, my captain?" Her lips curved in a knowing smile. "I await you in your cabin." She slithered away with astonishing alacrity, gone by the time Torius turned back to the captain of the Golden Griffin.

"Now, Captain, there are two possible outcomes to this night's events, and only one ends with you still breathing." He reached into his jacket pocket and withdrew a large, flat bottle. "Outcome one is that you and your crew each take a single draught from this bottle, and forget the last half-hour of your lives. Outcome two is that you all die, right now."

"That's a choice?" the captain scoffed, his defiance returning.

"Life or death? Yes, I do believe that is a choice, Captain." A door slammed, and Torius turned to see Caliel with a small metal coffer, while his two companions hefted much larger bundles of finery. He grinned. Pirates will be pirates, he thought, then turned back to the captain. "Choose now—live or die. Quickly! If you delay, your choices get cut in half." He tapped the side of the man's neck with his cutlass.

The captain cursed, but took the bottle, removed the cork and tilted it into his mouth, then passed it to the next man in line. Torius watched carefully, making sure each sailor took a mouthful of the precious potion and swallowed. It had cost him plenty, but he gauged it worth the lives of fifteen men, given that he'd already taken from them a prize fifty times the potion's value. When the last man in line drank, he took the bottle back and smiled; the captain's eyes were already glassy with forgetfulness.

"Bosun Grogul! Anyone else aboard?"

"No, sir! Searched from stem to stern."

"Good! We're leaving. Gather your men and get aboard Stargazer."

"Aye, Captain!" The boatswain and his men, burdened with more armfuls of carefully selected spoils, returned to the corsair.

"Farewell, Captain." Torius gave a fluid salute that ended with his cutlass snapping into the scabbard at his hip. He leapt to the rail of his ship and doffed his hat in a sweeping bow as his men cast off and the ships parted. "May we do business again soon!"

As Stargazer heeled away, black sails vanishing into the cloak of night, Torius strode through his grinning crew of pirates and shouted down the open main hatchway. "All secure below, Snick?"

"Secure as a half-orc's virginity, Captain!" a high-pitched feminine voice called back up.

The joke elicited a round of giddy laughter from the crew, and a growl from the bosun, which was probably what the gnome was aiming for. Others, however, seemed in a less humorous mood.

"Besmara's boots, Captain, that was close," Caliel grumbled. "You put a lot of faith in that wizard's concoction, expecting it to keep our identity a secret."

"Aye, we could'a took her like a cheap doxy, Captain," Grogul said as he wiped his gore-streaked axe with a rag. "Dead men don't talk, and it would'a saved the cost of that potion and gained us a hold full of fine Qadiran silk."

The bosun's boldness loosened the tongues of some of the other crew, and Torius heard a rush of dark muttering. He shook his head dismissively.

"The potion was crafted by a priest, actually, Caliel, and I tested it personally. Besides, this way we're free to plunder the Golden Griffin at a later date. Set course for Katapesh, and don't spare the canvas. I want twenty miles between us and the Golden Griffin before sunrise!" Torius pointed to the coffer. "Grogul, bring that to my cabin. Now. It's worth more than a dozen holds full of the finest silks in Golarion."

"Aye, sir!" The boatswain scooped up the coffer and followed.

In Torius's dimly lit cabin, they were greeted by the disconcerting sight of several navigational instruments, including an elaborate astrolabe, floating about the sinuous coils of Stargazer's navigator. She lay beneath the open skylight, but turned from her celestial observations as they entered, the tip of her tail twitching in delight.

"My Captain, I see that we're underway. I'll take my instruments up to the quarterdeck presently to get a proper fix and plot our course. Ah, Grogul, you bear the coffer of Gods' Tears." She cocked her head in concern. "And you're injured."

"Bah! Just a bloody lip, Miss Celeste." The half-orc put the box down and nodded. "I'll leave you to yer snake charmin', Captain." He ducked out of the cabin with a tusky grin.

"Pass the word for Snick to come by when she's through mothering the ballistae, Grogul. I'll need her to open this thing."

"Aye, sir." The door clicked closed.

"You take a great risk in this endeavor, Torius." Celeste turned to the astrolabe, rotating the discs more accurately with her magic than most could with two hands. "Such a valuable prize will not go unmissed."

"Not such a great risk, Celeste. The Sword of Man himself would thank me for keeping such a relic out of Rahadoum. The Gods' Tears will vanish in the markets of Katapesh, and there'll be no trail leading back to us." He unbuckled his sword and hung it on a peg near his bunk. "Which was another reason for the potion. Better to obliterate their memories than kill the crew of the Golden Griffin. Contrary to what Grogul thinks, dead men do occasionally talk."

He stepped to where Celeste lay coiled, her torso swaying easily with the roll of the ship as she gazed at a particularly bright star through her telescope. A stylus on the chart table scratched down a series of numbers. Beneath the charts lay several scrolls, mostly zodiacs of various cultures and lengthy scholars' notes of celestial observations. He stood next to her and stared up at the star-filled sky; this far from the lights of any city, they were so clear he felt as if he could reach out and touch them.

"It's a beautiful night." He brushed a hand through her silvery hair.

"Isn't it?" The tip of her tail shuddered as she turned to him. "And speaking of potions."

A thin drawer beneath the chart table opened and a small vial floated out. The stopper twisted free and she quaffed the contents in a single gulp. Her shape shifted with the potion's magic, her tail morphing into two long legs, two pale arms sprouting from supple shoulders. In the time it took him to draw a deep breath, she stood before him as a tall, willowy human woman with skin the luster of pearl and eyes of midnight, her face and hair unchanged. He reached for a cloak and draped it over her shoulders, though she was unabashed by her lack of raiment. Her fingers fumbled with the buttons of his shirt, unaccustomed as she was to having digits.

"Celeste, Snick will be coming by to open the coffer any minute."

"And the potion will only last a few minutes also." With a glance from her, the door's bolt clicked closed. "Time enough."

"Oh, hell," he murmured as her hands explored beneath his shirt.

"Besides," she breathed, nuzzling his neck, "it's been far too long since I've had arms to hold you."

He felt the prick of her fangs, then the familiar rush of weakness from her venom and the odd euphoria that accompanied it. He knew the weakness would fade quickly; he'd become accustomed to Celeste's venom. In fact, he'd become quite fond of it... and her.

"And legs," he reminded her. "Don't forget your legs..."

Neither of them noticed the soft click at the door, or the shadow that passed below the lintel.

Coming Next Week: Pirate problems in Chapter Two of Chris A. Jackson's "Stargazer."

Read more about Torius, Celeste, and the crew of the Stargazer in the new Pathfinder Tales novel Pirate's Honor, available now!

Chris A. Jackson is the author of the Scimitar Seas nautical fantasy series, which has won sequential gold medal awards for fantasy from ForeWord Reviews, as well as Weapon of Flesh, Deathmask, A Soul for Tsing, and the Cornerstones Trilogy. He lives with his wife on a sailboat in the Caribbean. For samples of his work, his blog, and his convention schedule, visit jaxbooks.com.

Illustration by Eric Belisle.

Ultimate Campaign Art Preview!

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

The release of Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Campaign is getting ever closer. Whether it's kingdom-building or leading an army, starting a business or crafting magic items, Ultimate Campaign is for all of the adventures that take place outside of the dungeon. The pages of the newest Pathfinder Roleplaying Game hardcover provide all kinds of useful information for your campaign, but many fantastic illustrations are contained within! Check some of them out!

Being a ruler has many responsibilities, but also many rewards.

Eidolons and other companion creatures are more fun when treated as a separate character rather than an obedient stat block.

Retraining rules allow you to replace a feat, change an ability score increase, or improve your hit points.

The quest to find a missing family member is a driving force for many heroes.

The section on marriage talks about how a spouse (or any relationship) can be an ally or an adversary.

Illustrations by Sam Burley, Eric Belisle, Lydia Schuchmann, and Maichol Quinto

Kingdom-building rules allow PCs to control their own country—or be the power behind the throne.

Followers, apprentices, and similar companions can be positive or negative plot hooks for a PC.

A character's lineage is a chain of characters linking a PC to the history of the campaign setting.

Illustrations by Denman Rooke, Jim Nelson, and Grafit Studio

Ultimate Campaign releases this May, preorder your copy today!

Sarah Robinson
Senior Art Director

New Pathfinder Society Rewards for Reading Pathfinder Tales!

Monday, May 6, 2013

Fans of Paizo's Pathfinder Tales line of fiction set in the Pathfinder campaign setting have likely noticed that it's been a few months since we released a Pathfinder Society Chronicle sheet for the novels released as part of this line. For those who have been holding their breath to get an in-character benefit for reading Liar's Blade or Pirate's Honor, the wait is finally over! With the release of today's Chronicle sheet, we're changing up the way Pathfinder Tales boons work.

Illustrations by Eric Belisle

This Chronicle sheet is actually a Chronicle sheet for four different Pathfinder Tales titles: Liar's Blade, Pirate's Honor, The Wizard's Mask, and King of Chaos. Now, back when we began sanctioning Pathfinder Tales novels for Pathfinder Society credit during Season 2, a player received a Chronicle sheet for each Pathfinder Tales book he brought to a Pathfinder Society game, which was subsequently signed by a GM and applied to one of the player's PCs. Now, a player needs print this Chronicle sheet only once, and bring it to a sanctioned Pathfinder Society event along with a printed or digital copy of one or more of the four novels included on the sheet (digital copies must be legally obtained and possess a watermark indicating such). The GM should initial the Chronicle sheet for the associated books, indicating that the player has access to the book, and hopefully that she has read it.

Any time thereafter, the player may use the initialed boon for any of her PCs. Once used, the box to the left of the boon should be checked to indicate such.

A player who collects GM initials for all four books on a given Chronicle sheet can select one of the four boons to become a permanent bonus for one of her PCs. At this time, only that PC can use the boon, though any unused one-time boons still on the sheet can still be used by other PCs.

You may note that this Chronicle sheet is called "Pathfinder Tales, Volume IV." That's because it contains the boons for the fourth distinct set of four Pathfinder Tales novels. In the coming months, we'll be replacing the existing Chronicle sheets for the entire Pathfinder Tales line to utilize this format, and anyone who's already received initialed versions of the Chronicle sheets for Queen of Thorns, The Worldwound Gambit, and Death's Heretic (all 12 of them, in fact), can get an initial in the associated box on the compiled Chronicle sheet.

As if that weren't enough, we also plan to tie in at least one scenario per season to each novel released during that season. It's too late in the process to do so for these four books, but starting with Stalking the Beast in October, we'll have a scenario set in the same region as every new Pathfinder Tales novel, or otherwise thematically linked to them if not set in the same geographical area. This will allow us to tailor the boons on the Chronicle sheets to directly apply to a situation one of the reader's PCs may be in around the time they're reading the book.

So download the Pathfinder Tales Chronicle sheet below and grab your copy of Liar's Blade or Pirate's Honor. In the coming months, you'll be able to "fill your BINGO card" with the release of The Wizard's Mask and King of Chaos. It's never too late to sign up for a Pathfinder Tales subscription so you never miss a volume of the exciting fiction line!

Let us know what you think of the new format for these tie-in Chronicle sheets and the prospect of directly-linked Pathfinder Society scenarios down the road. We're always looking for community feedback and for new ways to improve the campaign.

Download the Pathfinder Tales, Volume IV Chronicle sheet!

Mark Moreland
Developer

Pathfinder Battles Preview: Big Fish

Friday, May 3, 2013

We're so deep in a state of relief here at Paizo after shipping all of our August/Gen Con releases to the printer this afternoon that I almost forgot to write this week's Pathfinder Battles preview blog! And since we certainly can't have that going into a gorgeous weekend filled with lots of stuff OTHER THAN work (for the first time in months!), I thought I'd take a few minutes to reveal some more cool minis from this summer's upcoming Skull & Shackles set of prepainted plastic fantasy miniatures!

Up first we have the Cyclops, a monocular giant whose folk once controlled a vast kingdom not far from the Shackles Isles. I have a soft spot for this particular monster, as I featured a Cyclops in my Pathfinder Tales free webfiction story, "Two Pieces of Tarnished Silver". I've long awaited the chance to bring our version of the Cyclops to Pathfinder Battles, and since cyclopes feature prominently in the Skull & Shackles Adventure Path, this set was my best chance. A Large figure, the Cyclops is slated at the uncommon rarity.

Several weeks ago we revealed Selissa, an off-size Medium Aquatic Naga NPC from the Skull & Shackles campaign. Fans of correctly-sized monsters will be pleased to learn that this set also includes a regular Large-sized Aquatic Naga, ready to terrorize the waterways of your campaign. This figure is an uncommon.

And last up this week we have the Sea Cat, a venerable monster of fantasy all dolled up in a shiny new Pathfinder version. Sea Cats are among my favorite aquatic monsters, and I'm thrilled to finally bring them to prepainted plastic. Like the Cyclops and the Aquatic Naga, the Sea Cat is also slated at the Uncommon rarity.

And that's it for this week. At long last the sun is shining down on Seattle, and I'm headed out of the office to do almost anything other than work. I hope your weekend is as fun as the one I'm planning to have!

It's not too late to set up an ongoing subscription to make sure you don't miss a single Pathfinder Battles release!

See you next week! I'll be the one with the suntan!

Erik Mona
Publisher

Ultimate Campaign: I Could Use Some Downtime

Thursday, May 2, 2013

In just about three weeks or so, you should be seeing Ultimate Campaign arrive in mailboxes and on store shelves. In anticipation of the release of this 256-page hardcover, each week we are offering up a preview of what you will find inside.

Last week, we took a look at Chapter 1, which includes a mountain of tables for helping you determine your character's backstory. This week, we are moving on to Chapter 2, which is focused entirely on downtime. Heroes don't spend every waking moment plundering tombs and fighting evils. (If they did, they would reach 20th level before their next birthday.) The downtime system helps you plan the time your character spends between adventures.

This versatile system allows a character to undertake a number of different tasks to improve himself or build his standing within the town he lives in. Need to swap out a feat? The downtime system lets you do that. Want to train up your hit points because you rolled poorly last time you gained a level? It's in there too. Have you always wanted to open up your own tavern, or thieves guild, or wizard academy? The downtime system has extensive rules for building a business or guild.

Using this system you can spend the time between adventures earning various types of currencies and spending those currencies to get the business, home, or fortress you've always wanted. Structures and organizations are built in pieces, buying each room and group individually so that you can get exactly what you want! Check out a few of the rooms you can build.

Illustration by Eric Belisle

Ballroom

Earnings gp or Influence +10
Benefit bonus on Perform checks
Create 19 Goods, 19 Labor (760 gp); Time 40 days
Size 40-60 squares
Upgrades To Auditorium; Upgrades From Common Room
This large open room is intended for dances, receptions, and other elaborate events. The superior acoustics and decor grant a +2 bonus on all Perform checks made in this room.

Bar

Earnings gp or Influence +10
Benefit bonus on Diplomacy checks to gather information
Create 6 Goods, 1 Influence, 5 Labor (250 gp); Time 16 days
Size 10-20 squares
A Bar stores a selection of drinks and includes a counter for preparing them. After spending an hour with local people in this room, for the next 24 hours you gain a +1 bonus on Diplomacy checks you make to gather information in the settlement.

Bath

Earnings gp or Influence +3
Benefit bonus on Fortitude saves against disease
Create 3 Goods, 1 Influence, 2 Labor (130 gp); Time 8 days
Size 3-6 squares
Upgrade From Sauna
A Bath contains a single large bathtub or multiple smaller basins, along with a stove for heating water. After spending 1 hour in this room, you gain a +2 bonus on your next ongoing Fortitude save against disease.

That's all for this week. Next week we will delve into the systems for GMs to add to their campaigns!

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

Pirate's Honor Sample Chapter

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

In Pirate's Honor, notorious pirate captain Torius Vin makes a living raiding wealthy merchant ships with his crew of loyal buccaneers. Few things matter more to Captain Torius than ill-gotten gold—but one of those is Celeste, his beautiful lunar naga navigator. When a crafty courtesan offers the pirate crew a chance at the heist of a lifetime, it's time for both man and naga to hoist the black flag and lead the Stargazer's crew to fame and fortune. But will stealing the legendary Star of Thumen chart the corsairs a course to untold riches—or send them all to a watery grave?

Chapter One: Stars Never Lie

Scales rustled across the hardwood deck of the corsair Stargazer as she plied the moonlit waters of the Obari Ocean. The crew of the ship had heard the sound many times before, especially on nights when the sky hung overhead like a black silk tapestry strewn with diamonds. This was her time, and they knew better than to bother her when her attention was on the heavens.

Celeste squinted through her sextant at the bright planet Triaxus, also known as the Wanderer, which had just entered the constellation of the Sea Wraith. That boded well, and she manipulated the stylus to scratch down the planet's angle to the horizon. Glancing at the neat array of hour- and minute-glasses—calibrated that very evening at the precise moment of sunset—she noted the exact time. She took another sighting, this one of the rising moon, and the stylus scratched down another pair of numbers. Lowering the sextant, Celeste performed the calculations to determine the ship's latitude and longitude. With a flick of magic so familiar that she barely had to think of the spell, she floated her plotting tools out of their leather case, rolled out the chart of the Jalmeray coast, and meticulously plotted their position.

"Well?" a gravelly voice asked as the stylus scratched an "X" on the chart and wrote down the time.

Celeste's tail gave an involuntary flick of annoyance at the interruption, but she stifled her natural response to rise on her coils and hiss. Most of the crew members were more cautious about interrupting the lunar naga during her reading of the stars, but Stargazer's half-orc bosun was an incautious fellow. Besides, he was just doing his job. They were sailing in dangerous waters, and he needed to know their position.

"You may turn to zero-eight-zero degrees, Grogul, or as close to that heading as the wind will allow." Celeste put away her instruments and folded the case closed against the salt air. "We're beyond Jalmeray's southern reefs, and can begin our approach of Kaina Katakka's south coast."

"Good!" Grogul turned away without a word of thanks, as usual, and started barking orders to the crew.

Stargazer turned to windward, her sails trimmed smartly, and began the slow beat to the northeast. When they settled on their new heading, Celeste noted the set of the stars against the foremast and yards; if they started to drift off course, she would know.

Though she had two hours until she needed to take another celestial fix on their position, Celeste retrieved her sextant once again and recorded the elevations of several more planets. She then traded the sextant for a finely wrought telescope and observed the heavenly bodies more closely. She noted every detail—every angle, rotation, and position of every moon—and carefully scratched them into her logbook. These observations had nothing to do with celestial navigation, but with the science of astrology: the intricate song of the heavens and its interaction with the events and beings of this world.

Tonight, she was concerned with the stars' attitude regarding one particular being: Torius Vin, captain of the Stargazer.

With the harmonies of the planets and constellations singing in her mind, and all the numerical data she needed to interpret them, she consulted her astrological texts. This was the hard part; the stars never lied, but interpretation of their message was often fraught with uncertainty. She knew Torius's astrological signature—the position of every celestial body of significance at the moment of his birth—and she had just observed the current state of the cosmos. How these two interacted was the puzzle she had to solve.

Nothing of significance had changed since her previous reading: The planet Liavara, the Dreamer, still traversed the constellation of the Lantern Bearer, Torius's birth sign. The Wanderer would soon cross the constellation of the Key, the symbol of Abadar, the god of wealth. The planet Castrovel was ascending into the Lantern Bearer, denoting desire, lust, love, or life. The reading seemed straightforward; Torius's dreams, his desire for wealth, would be realized.

Celeste crooked a smile and bent to the chart. If the prophecy still held, then so did their course. Her readings of the other planets—Eox, the Dead, traversing the Wagon, beneath the constellation of the Throne—had pointed to the long-dead indigenous peoples of the island nation of Jalmeray. Those who had not perished or been enslaved when the great Vudrani maharajah Khiben-Sald introduced his foreign gods and elemental creatures to the island had fled to Kaina Katakka. There they had lived for a time, until the governance of Jalmeray fell into the hands of the Arclords. Wanting no potentially rebellious natives so near, the Arclords had exterminated the entire population, leaving Kaina Katakka a devastated ruin.

That was their destination.

Torius knows that a captain is only as good as his crew.

Destiny resides in the stars, she thought, closing her texts and stowing them. She gazed up into the endless tapestry of the cosmos and sighed with pleasure. Out here, far from land, the veil of the heavens shone so clearly that it seemed close enough to touch. Here under the stars—aboard a pirate ship, of all places—she had found her own dreams' desire: a home. These people trusted her, relied upon her expertise and appreciated her talent in reading the secrets of the firmament. She belonged. She was loved.

Celeste swayed with the easy motion of the ship, reveling in a peaceful night under the stars, her favorite place in the world. Her mind drifted, and she contemplated her other favorite place. A smile touched her pale lips, and her forked tongue flicked out to scent the night air. There it was, that heady fragrance of leather, spice, and human, as signature as his stellar harmonic.

Torius Vin ...

The ship's bell chimed, interrupting her thoughts. Eight notes in two-stroke pairs, which meant the watch change. As if her thoughts had conjured him from the air, she heard his approach, his soft leather boots brushing the deck with a faint whisk not unlike that of her own scales. She did not turn, but waited, knowing how he would greet her, longing for that familiar touch.

"Celeste," he said, his voice singing the song of the heavens in her mind as his hand ran through her alabaster hair.

"My captain." She turned and smiled at him, her coils shuddering in an involuntary shiver of delight.

"Are we on course?" He glanced at the chart on the deck.

She scanned the stars and nodded. "There's a slight northerly set to the current, but we're not far off the plot line. I'll take another fix to confirm my calculations, but we should reach Kaina Katakka's coast before dawn. We will reach the cove by late morning."

"Good." His fingers slipped from her hair and he left her to make his rounds of Stargazer's quarterdeck, checking the hundreds of details that kept the ship running smoothly. She neither knew nor cared much about these details. Her milieu was above, while his was here—his ship, his crew, canvas and wood, steel and rope, lives dependent on his every decision. She might chart their destiny, but he sailed it. He returned to her and asked quietly, "So, you're sure about this?"

She smiled at him again. In front of his crew, he was always decisive and confident; only with her did he let down his guard and expose his uncertainties. "The stars never lie, my captain."

"I know, but the truth they tell is often only clear in hindsight."

"Torius," she said, brushing against his shoulder, "the prophecy is clear; your dreams and desires for wealth will be realized here."

"Good, because I've been dreaming of gold a lot lately. A pirate's got to eat, after all. After our last little problem, money's been hard to come by." He turned away and began to pace the quarterdeck, his hands clenched firmly behind his back. She watched, admiring the preternatural grace that made his movements so fluid, almost serpentine, even on the rolling deck of a ship.

The problem he mentioned had cost them virtually their entire stake, including the profits of their last successful job. She slithered to his side and whispered, "Don't worry."

He laughed quietly, running his hand slowly through her hair again. "Telling the captain of a ship not to worry is like telling the desert not to be dry or the ocean not to be wet, Celeste. Until we get a solid stake again, enough to pay the crew and provision the ship properly, I'm going to worry."

"Very well, my captain," she said, leaning in to nuzzle his neck. That was another reason she loved him: he might be a pirate, but he truly cared about his people. He cared about her. She turned to her navigational instruments once again and floated the sextant up to her eye. "You worry, and I will consult the stars."

∗ ∗ ∗

Torius squinted into the glare as the island's barren coast coalesced from the thinning morning mists. As always, Celeste's navigation was flawless. She had already retired to his cabin for the day, so he would have to compliment her later. He just hoped her astrological prophecy was as accurate.

"This cove got a name, Captain?" Grogul asked, as the brigantine eased slowly nearer under reefed topsails alone.

Torius glanced up at the half-orc; he was taller by a wide hand and probably outweighed the captain by half, but Torius knew that he was more than the brute he appeared to be. Grogul was a fine bosun, a skilled sailor, and a good tactician, even if he did disdain the more esoteric points of seamanship. More than anything, Grogul was solid, dependable, and unfailingly loyal. The captain wouldn't trade him for a half-dozen fancy, rapier-wielding swashbucklers.

"Not on the chart." Torius scanned the rocky beach with his spyglass. There were no visible signs that the place had ever been inhabited. "Used to be a village or town or something here. Seems way back when Nex gave Jalmeray to the Vudrani, the indigenous population hightailed it and came here. Then the Arclords blasted the entire island to cinders." He wasn't about to tell Grogul the rumors that the island was haunted.

"And they brought their treasures with 'em?" Grogul squinted skeptically at Torius as he ran a thumbnail down the gleaming edge of his axe. "Just waitin' in a big pile for us to pick up?"

"That's what we're here to find out. More likely to find a smuggler's stash or some such."

"As long as it spends, I'm not picky, sir." Grogul knew as well as anyone the dire straits they were in when it came to ready cash.

Torius pointed to the northeast corner of the sheltered cove. "Drop a stern kedge and bring her in close there. The tide's on the rise, so drop the bow anchor when there's a fathom under her keel, and keep her hove short. Oh, and have Snick get her babies ready, just in case we have to dissuade any pursuit."

"Aye, Captain!" Grogul grinned. "You want me to tell her she's in command while we're ashore, since we're short a first mate?"

"Sure. It'll make her day." Torius smiled, knowing his gnome engineer would revel in her authority, short-lived though it might be, driving the crew crazy with all manner of inane orders. Snick was an invaluable member of the crew; she kept the ship functioning and her babies—the twelve beautifully crafted ballistae nestled below the deck—working perfectly. But she wasn't much of a sailor. "Launch the boats when we're anchored. I'll be in my cabin."

"Aye, sir."

Despite the daylight outside, Torius's cabin was as dark as midnight, with black curtains drawn tight over the transom windows and a shade pulled over the skylight. Celeste lay coiled on her collection of thick pillows and rugs, only the waves of her white hair visible in the gloom. He moved silently to his bunk and lit a lamp, keeping the flame low. His sword, a beautiful silver-hilted cutlass, hung from a peg. He lifted it down and clipped it to his belt, then pulled a brace of knives from a drawer. He clipped the long fighting dagger with a sword-catching crosspiece to the other side of his belt, and slid the heavy throwing knife into his boot. He retrieved a couple of his standard surprises, trinkets and potions that could distract an enemy or save a life if they ran into trouble, and tucked them away. One last adjustment of his belt and a glance in the mirror—just to make sure that his mustache and goatee were trimmed and combed properly and his hat had just the right rakish tilt—and he was ready.

"Be careful, my captain," Celeste said as he reached for the door's brass handle.

"Don't worry, my love." He gave her an easy smile. "This is the fun part."

Her tail twitched, but she settled back down without another word. He left her there in the dark and joined Grogul on deck. The longboats were bobbing beside the ship, the shore party armed and ready. He regarded them professionally and grinned his approval—all proven pirates, men and women he'd trust with his life, and who trusted him with theirs.

"Don't worry about the ship while you're gone, Captain!" a sprightly voice called from the quarterdeck. He looked up to see Snick standing with her slim legs splayed wide, her tiny hands on her narrow hips. She wore a brilliant red tricorne hat that clashed horribly with her sea-green hair, and a short cutlass at her belt. She snapped him an exaggerated salute. "I'll keep an eye on things for you!"

"Just keep your babies manned, Snick," he ordered, "and if anything that's not us tries to come aboard my ship, kill it."

"Consider said beastie killed, Captain!"

"Good!" He turned to Grogul. "Let's go."

"Man the boats, you scrags!" The crew leapt to comply, swarming down the boarding nets into the boats.

They rowed ashore in silence, stowing their oars when the boats' keels grated onto the rocky beach. Several sailors splashed into the surf to pull the boats higher. Torius, exerting his captain's prerogative, waited until he could vault ashore off the prow without getting his boots wet. The last thing he wanted was to squish when he walked if they were going to do much exploring. Grogul assigned four pirates with heavy crossbows to watch the boats, and joined his captain as the dozen others worked their way to higher ground.

"You sure about this, Captain?" He kept his voice low, his squinted eyes scanning the rocky, vine-strewn cliffs. "Don't look like much."

"As sure as I've ever been about one of Celeste's prophecies." Torius gave the half-orc a grin.

"And how sure is that?" Grogul's dubious gaze turned to him; he was never easily put off by Torius's assurances.

"We'll find something here, Grogul." He clapped the half-orc's meaty shoulder. "As for my dreams' desire for wealth ..." He looked around skeptically at the devastated landscape. "I don't think the Arclords left enough to satisfy all of my—"

A strange, musical trill split the sultry air, drawing everyone's attention. Swords rasped free of scabbards, and Torius found his hand on the hilt of his cutlass.

"Whassat?" asked one of the pirates, pointing to the foliage-covered cliff face. "It's comin' from up there!"

"This way!" another said, pointing to an overgrown path.

A number of the pirates started forward, eager to find the source of the call, but Torius called them back with a harsh, "Hold fast there! Nobody goes blundering off!"

Three of them stopped in their tracks at the command, but several others just kept climbing up the brush-strewn hillside, not even looking back at their captain.

That's not good, Torius thought. They're trained better than that.

"Grogul! Come on!" He drew his cutlass and hurried after them. "The rest of you, form up and follow. Quickly now!"

Luckily, Torius and Grogul were less hindered by the overgrowth than the pirates breaking trail. The captain's group scrambled up, dislodging dry vines, loose rocks, and a cascade of leaves, reaching the top just as the errant pirates hacked away a thick veil of foliage covering a gaping cave mouth. Grogul's huge hand closed on a shoulder and he jerked one woman back before she could venture inside. Torius and the others did likewise, pulling their friends away. All the while, the strange trilling call continued from within. One man twisted out of his mate's grasp and dashed into the darkness.

"Epok! No!" Torius shouted, too late.

The trilling call fell silent, and a sharp crack and a loud thump echoed from within. The pirates who had struggled to enter the cave stopped and looked at one another, their eyes wide with bewilderment. Torius shivered with an unknown fear. Something was wrong; none of his crew were so green that they would go charging into a dark cave like that.

"Don't like this, Captain." Grogul moved to the side of the cave entrance. Torius did likewise and motioned his pirates to split into two squads, one with Grogul and one with himself. He could see now that the arching mouth of the cavern had been fashioned with stonecutting tools, though it was so ancient and cracked that it had begun to look as rugged as a natural cave.

"Neither do I." Torius peered into the darkness. "Who's got the torches?"

Indistinct murmuring was the only answer he got. Grogul looked abashed—or as abashed as the half-orc ever looked, which wasn't much.

"Didn't know we'd be spelunking, Captain."

"Well, we'll probably have enough light from the cave mouth." Torius knew it was no good to chastise the bosun now, but later ...He had another means to light their way if it got too dark, but torches were good for more than light. "Can you see anything in there, Grogul?"

"Nope. Too much light out here." The half-orc shaded his eyes and shook his head. "Maybe once we're inside.

"Epok?" Torius called. He listened for a reply, for a hint that his man was still alive, for anything. He heard a faint scratch that might have been a foot on stone, then nothing. "This stinks like ..." Then he realized that he could detect something, but not with his ears. The distinct scent of rotten meat wafted out from within.

Torius snapped his fingers to get Grogul's attention and, with simple hand signals, outlined a cautious strategy; Grogul would proceed inside with his troop, their backs against one wall, while Torius did the same down the other. Both would keep a sharp eye out for traps or an ambush. Once inside, they would reassess the situation.

They moved slowly, checking every step as they were swallowed up by the cave's darkness. Grogul was the first to call a halt, his sharp eyes penetrating the gloom far easier than the humans'.

"Ssst! Captain!" he called in a stage whisper. "I think we found Epok."

"Gozreh's guts!" Torius swore as his eyes became accustomed to the gloom. Epok stood before them, one hand still clutching his cutlass, while the other gripped one of the wrist-thick bamboo spikes that had impaled him. A wide frame studded with sharpened stakes had swung down from above, propelled by a heavy stone counterweight. It spanned the entire tunnel, and would have killed or maimed several of his crew had they ventured inside with the unlucky Epok.

"There," Torius said, pointing to the thin trip cord that had released the deadly trap.

"Aye, and he wasn't the first." Grogul gestured with his axe at the skeletal remnants of several other unfortunate trespassers. There were at least half a dozen of them scattered along the sides of the corridor beyond the trap, still wearing the tatters of their long-decayed clothing and clutching rusted weapons.

"Well, we're not going to join the club. Come on, and everyone watch your step!" Torius advanced, cutlass thrust before him.

They edged past the trap, flattening themselves against the rough-hewn wall to pass. Grogul had to nudge the thing to fit his thick torso through the gap, causing Epok's gape-mouthed corpse to sag on the spikes. Torius swallowed hard. Epok had been a solid pirate. Passing the frame, he noticed the condition of the device; though not green, the bamboo was far from old. The island wasn't as deserted as he'd expected.

When the last of his squad had passed, they formed up again, advancing slowly. Enough light trickled in from the cave mouth to show that the tunnel widened ahead. Then their rear guard gave a startled gasp and cried out.

"Captain! Epok! He's not dead!"

"What?" Torius turned, his free hand reaching for the curative potion he'd brought from the ship. Torius knew death when he saw it, and Epok had looked as dead as dead gets. But true to the pirate's claim, Epok was moving, struggling to free himself of the murderous spikes thrust through his chest. Judri, the tall Mwangi woman who had called out, moved to help her comrade. "Wait!"

Epok's hand lashed out to grab her tunic, while his other lifted his cutlass to strike. Judri gaped in shock as the sword thrust through the bamboo frame, ill-aimed but accurate enough to pierce her shoulder. Her scream echoed around the cavern as Epok drew his weapon back for another strike.

Torius dashed back, sword raised, but Grogul beat him there. The bosun's heavy axe smashed through Epok's arm, the bamboo frame, and into the animated corpse's torso. Judri stumbled back, but the zombie—Torius could no longer think of it as Epok—wasn't through yet. It thrust clumsily at Grogul, the cutlass scoring a line on the half-orc's arm. Grogul growled a curse, snatched its wrist and bent the arm over the frame until the elbow joint popped and bent backward. He wrenched his axe free and severed the other arm with a chop. The zombie still fought to free itself, but literally disarmed, its struggles were futile.

Torius went to Judri. The wound was deep, and right in the shoulder joint. It was hardly mortal, but would ruin her sword arm for good if it wasn't tended properly. He flipped the stopper from the bottle and pressed it to her lips. "Drink!"

Judri complied and the wound in her shoulder closed immediately. Then her eyes widened and she pointed behind Torius. "Captain!"

"We got trouble, Captain," Grogul growled, reaching down to hoist the injured woman to her feet.

Not three feet away, the bony remnants of the trap's previous victims twitched and clawed their way to their feet, their rusted swords and axes clutched in fleshless fingers.

"Defensive formation! Now!" Torius flicked up Judri's fallen cutlass with the toe of his boot, caught it and put the hilt in her hand. "Everyone! And watch your backs!"

The veteran pirates formed a double row in close formation, half facing the scrabbling skeletons, the other half guarding against the darkness of the corridor behind them. This way, Torius figured, they could defeat the skeletons and then face whatever menace might await them farther down the corridor without worrying about a threat at their backs. At least, that was the theory.

At the first clash of blades, however, theory and practice diverged as the moaning wail of new assailants echoed in the dark behind them.

"Damn but this is a pretty trap!" Torius said between clenched teeth. "I'm going to have a few terse words for Celeste when we get back to the ship."

"If we get back, you mean." Grogul deflected a skeleton's axe, then smashed his attacker to shards with a powerful overhead chop. He glanced toward the dim corridor behind them, wrinkled his nose, and spat. "Zombies. Lots of 'em. Gods, I hate zombies."

"Gozreh's guts!" Torius parried a blade and gave a deft twist. The fine cutlass snicked through the skeleton's forearm like a piece of kindling, but the monster raked him with its free hand, leaving bloody trails down his forearm. The crewman to his left smashed a boarding axe down through its skull, and it toppled. At least they were fragile. He spared a glance over his shoulder and saw the crowd of zombies shambling out of the darkness. Some were armed and some weren't, but their eyes gleamed with the maniacal, hungry look shared by all undead. "This is not my dream's desire!"

"Unless you've been havin' some pretty weird dreams," Grogul agreed, hacking down another skeleton.

"Not even in my nightmares would I desire this!" Torius parried and slashed low, severing his opponent's spine just below the empty rib cage. The skeleton went down, but still managed to clutch at his legs. "Forward! Take down the skeletons before we have to fight on both sides!"

The pirates focused their attacks, smashing with a vengeance at their bony adversaries in an effort to beat them down before the shambling zombies arrived. Already Torius could hear the slow scuff of rotting feet against the stone floor and smell the rank stench of decaying flesh.

Finally, the last skeleton fell under a flurry of blades and the pirates turned to face their new foes. Aside from a few scratches and one shallow cut, they were all hale and ready. Torius and Grogul pushed through to stand in the front of their double line.

"Now we'll see what's what!" Grogul said with a tusky grin, swinging his axe from a center position where he could do the most damage.

"Watch our flanks!" Torius ordered. "And aim for their joints. Take them down, then finish them on the ground!"

He tensed, listening to the muttered curses of his crew. They knew there was no retreat. The trap grating was as effective as a portcullis; if they tried to squeeze past while being mauled by the zombies, people would die, and if Epok's sudden animation was any clue, each fallen pirate meant a new foe. Their only hope was to find whatever had animated the dead and destroy it.

"Ready!" he yelled, brandishing his cutlass.

"Aye, Captain!" his crew cried out, and Torius felt his heart lift.

"All right! On my word!" The undead shambled relentlessly forward. "Now!"

The pirates lunged as one, their blades cleaving the zombies with a predictably sickening result. Putrid flesh spattered the floor and walls of the corridor, and the stone underfoot quickly became slick with the foul suppuration that seeped from their wounds. Several of the undead went down, but others swung their rusted weapons or grappled and clawed at the pirates.

Torius slashed, aiming for their joints, trying to sever the limbs that reached for him. He had just downed one zombie and turned to the next when everything suddenly went black, as if someone had rolled a huge boulder across the cavern's mouth.

"Back!" Torius commanded, disengaging from his opponent and fighting to maintain his orientation. "Everyone step back!"

One step, then two, and he could see again. A wall of darkness so thick Torius doubted he could swing his blade through it loomed before them, but the zombies emerged unimpeded from the black, sloughing forward, their clawlike hands outstretched. Then, to Torius's horror, the darkness advanced with them.

"Gotta take out whatever's doin' that!" Grogul suggested, hefting his axe. "If they pin us against that grating, we're meat!"

"We'll have to run it." Torius looked at his crew, gauging their morale. By their dubious faces, he knew they couldn't do it, not with any hope of getting through. But someone had to. "You and me, Grogul! The rest of you, form a defensive line. If we don't win through, get back to the ship."

The pirates shouted, "Aye, sir!" in unison; they'd stand as long as they could.

"Now, Grogul!"

"Aye, Captain!"

They charged into the darkness.

Want more? Check out Pirate's Blade in paperback or ePub format!

Coming Next Week: A brand new, standalone prequel story featuring the piratical adventures of Torius, Celeste, and the rest of the Stargazer's crew!

Chris A. Jackson is the author of the Scimitar Seas nautical fantasy series, which has won sequential gold medal awards for fantasy from ForeWord Reviews, as well as Weapon of Flesh, Deathmask, A Soul for Tsing, and the Cornerstones Trilogy. He lives with his wife on a sailboat in the Caribbean. For samples of his work, his blog, and his convention schedule, visit jaxbooks.com.

Illustration by Eric Belisle.