Secondary Success Conditions

Monday, September 30, 2013

At the onset of Season 5, the means by which characters earned Prestige Points changed dramatically. No longer was fame tied to performing faction missions, but rather its award would be tied to secondary success conditions—"secret" missions that were tied to going above and beyond the primary success condition or seeking out additional, perhaps unforeseen ways to further the goals of the Pathfinder Society. As part of this change, we retired the existing model of faction missions, but the earlier scenarios did not have any secondary success conditions established already as replacements.

I'm pleased to announce that we will have the Secondary Success Conditions—all 126 of them—available for download. After considering how best to distribute these, we decided it would be best to make the entire file available for download instead of adding an extra file to each download. I recognize that this makes it easier for the unscrupulous to peek at the secondary missions, but it also makes it far less onerous for GMs to acquire the updates all at once. I'm trusting the community to use this resource responsibly

These will become available tomorrow, so this means that the the temporary fix issued in August will no longer be in effect. Any games started on or after October 1, 2013 must use these secondary missions.

No doubt some of you are curious as to what these look like but don't want to spoil any scenarios by peeking at the reference document. To provide some examples, I shall recreate here the entries for three scenarios that do not exist.

#3–14159: Death by Pie
Primary: The PCs recover at least three pastries and return them to Venture-Captain Sheila Heidmarch.
Secondary: The PCs use the cipher found in area B3 to learn the next five digits in the sequence: 2–[blueberry]–5–[rhubarb]–5, thus giving the society advance warning of a major attack on the Grand Lodge.

#5–513: The Doppelganger's Prey
Primary: The PCs defeat the doppelganger.
Secondary: The PCs accidentally slay no more than one of the following during the course of the adventure: Sheila Heidmarch, Drandle Dreng, or Ambrus Valsi.

#4–117: All the Doors are Trapped
Primary: The PCs successfully escape the dungeon.
Secondary: The PCs trigger and are damaged by no more than two of the traps in the scenario.

My thanks to those campaign volunteers who helped out in reviewing my drafts and suggesting lots of possible secondary missions.

John Compton
Developer

Pathfinder Battles Preview: Monkey Business

Friday, September 27, 2013

A few months ago, when I started thinking about what figures to include in the specifically Pathfinder Campaign Setting-themed Legends of Golarion set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted fantasy miniatures, I came upon a revelation. We seem to really like monkeys, gorillas, and apes. And since we decided to include several of these creatures in the set, I thought it would make for a good theme for a Friday preview blog. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you a sensational simian sneak peak to last you through your Saturday and Sunday!

Up first this week is the Gorilla King, a villain who actually predates the creation of Pathfinder and the Pathfinder Campaign Setting, as he originally starred in one of our old Compleat Encounter metal miniature sets, Throne of the Gorilla King. A major antagonist in the treacherous jungles of the Mwangi Expanse, the Gorilla King leads a nation of sentient demon-worshiping monkeys, and his machinations occasionally even spill over onto the civilized world. Legends of Golarion sees a much larger version of the King than his previous incarnation, and your players won't soon forget the session when you plunk this badboy on the table. The Gorilla King is a Large, rare figure. You can find the Gorilla King's stats on page 21 of Pathfinder Adventure Path #40.

Speaking of the Gorilla King's maniacal monkey servitors, here we have one in all its animalistic glory. This Charau-Ka warrior is a Small, common figure, a troop type that will allow you to build up a fun ape-men encounter with very little effort or expense. With a colorful baboon-like face and a nasty scream, the Charau-Ka wants to make sure your jungle exploration is particularly memorable. The Charau-Ka's statistics are found in the Inner Sea World Guide.

Want even more shock troops for your ape invasion? Might I suggest the cacophonous Monkey Swarm, courtesy of Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2 (page 212)? Designed to work four-at-a-time in a 10-ft. space, this Medium common figure looks great from every angle. I know a certain contingent of Pathfinder Battles fans have been asking for flatter swarms, but in this case it seemed making most use of all three dimensions would work best. We can't have flat monkeys running around, after all.

How about a flying ape? The Derhii, invented by Wolfgang Baur in his classic Pathfinder Module Crucible of Chaos, dwell in jungle canopies and in cliff dwellings, demanding tribute from lesser apes and aligning themselves with more powerful flying creatures such as dragons or dragonnes. They're also neutral, so they're not necessarily bad guys. The Derhii is an uncommon, Large figure. His stats can be found on page 75 of Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 3.

We can't let monkeys have all the fun this week (and I've got a ton of figures to preview before next month's official Legends of Golarion release date), so here are a couple of bonus, non-ape previews to tide you over until next week! First up we have the really quite gross Marsh Giant, an uncommon Large figure from the very first Pathfinder RPG Bestiary. The best thing about this figure is the shiny coat on its skin, making it look like it just lurched out of the swamp.

Inspired by real world cryptozoology and urban legend but very much a part of Golarion is the Mothman, represented here by a Medium rare figure that exudes creepiness from antennae to toe. The best part of this figure is the tinted clear wings, but its emaciated form and cool attachment to the base via an L-shaped post makes the figure quite dynamic, despite its somewhat rigid pose. He's definitely a creature you do not want to see, whether roosting in the trees outside Sandpoint or on a creaky bridge on the way home during your rush hour commute.

That's it for this week! Tune in next week for more never-before seen Legends of Golarion figures!

Erik Mona
Publisher

Howl at the Moon!

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Illustration by Lloyd Allan

October is looming nearer, and with it comes the promise of new Paizo books that deal in the horrific, the supernatural, and the downright creepy. Chief among our offerings this year is a book I am very much excited for—the much-anticipated Pathfinder Player Companion: Blood of the Moon! This spiritual sequel to last year's Blood of the Night contains everything players need to know about werecreatures and their distant descendants, the skinwalkers, including rules for this all-new race of lycanthrope-kin and dozens of new mechanics to complement bestial adventurers of any race or path. Whether your skinwalker heritage emerged amid an assuming rural village or you were a human raised by wolves to become an animalistic barbarian, Blood of the Moon provides infinite inspiration and options for characters who have more than a tinge of the wild side running in their blood.

Anyway, it's probably about time we spilled some of the beans on this book. In no particular order, here are some of my favorite parts of Blood of the Moon.

• Bestial Powers for All: While a lot of the focus of this book is on skinwalkers, there's also no shortage of new info and new character options for players of any race or background as long as they have a flair for savagery and are willing to embrace the animal within.
• Eight Faces of Lycanthropy: Since skinwalkers can be descended from any type of lycanthrope—including familiar beasts such as werewolves, wererats, and werebears, as well as Golarion's more unusual werecreatures like weretigers and werecrocodiles—it made sense to include details and rules for each of these distinct lycanthrope races and their half-blooded brood. Whether you're playing a skinwalker, a natural or afflicted lycanthrope, a hunter of these creatures, or an adventurer who simply has a tendency for nocturnal bloodshed, each of the eight facets of lycanthropy presented in this book give characters of all walks ample opportunity to hone their deadly skills toward a path that best represents their tactics and personality.
• La Luna: No book on lycanthropes and their kin would be complete without an examination of these creatures' special relationship with the moon. In addition to exploring the mystical connection between lycanthropes and the moon, Blood of the Moon features the new lunar oracle mystery and even suggestions for how to play with lycanthropes on worlds with multiple moons (such as some of the planets in Golarion's own solar system).

Of course, there's much, much more in Blood of the Moon than the tidbits I've hinted at. In addition to explorations on skinwalkers' status in Golarion, in-world accounts of these creatures and their lycanthropic forebears, and a thorough analysis of lycanthropic infection and the process of transformation, this Player Companion features tons of new rules crunch, including new magic items, spells, feats, magus arcana, and witch hexes, to name just a few.

This was a very exciting Player Companion to develop, and I'm stoked to see what readers think of this no-holds-barred volume on all things lycanthrope. Take off the collar and get ready to unleash the beast within, because Blood of the Moon hits shelves next month!

Patrick Renie
Developer

The Fencing Master

by Dave Gross

Chapter Four: The Second Trap

As Vencarlo Orisini led Orkatto's men on a noisy chase, I strolled out the front doors with my "bodyguard." In the darkened museum, and without his mask and cloak, which I carried folded under my arm, Master Raneiro did somewhat resemble the younger man who had accompanied me into the museum. I placed my hope in the bravo's topknot and the noisy diversion behind us.

The guards at the doors bowed the moment they saw me, sparing the man at my side not so much as a glance.

Raneiro faltered, drawing the guards' attention as his foot dragged across the gravel. I took him by the arm and stage whispered, "You need only taste my wine, you fool, not guzzle it!"

A chuckle from the guards assured me of the ploy's success.

My footman held the door open, and to his credit he did not so much as raise an eyebrow as I helped my "bodyguard" into the carriage before joining him. I rapped upon the roof, and the driver slapped the reins.

"If they seize Vencarlo..." Raneiro wheezed. The paralysis was taking hold. I knew its effects all too well.

And I knew there was no cure.

"I will intercede on his behalf," I said, knowing it was an empty promise. His pursuers had no intention of taking Blackjack or any imposter alive.

I opened the rear portal and peered back at the museum entrance. His exhausted men at his side, an exasperated Orkatto questioned the door guards, who pointed in our direction. The cowled figure who had poisoned Raneiro emerged to stand by his side.

"Turn here," I told the driver.

"Let me out," said Raneiro.

"No, my men will take you somewhere quiet." I drew his cloak around my shoulders and unfolded his black mask. Looking down at its limp form in my hands, I felt as though I were looking at the face of a corpse. I pulled it across my face and raised the cloak's hood up to conceal my half-human ears. "I will draw them off."

I stepped out of the carriage door to stand upon the running board. After I gave my servants their instructions, Raneiro called my name. With the last of his strength, he lifted his rapier toward me.

I still had Vencarlo Orsini's blade at my side. "No, Master Raneiro. I am not worthy of such an—"

"Of course you aren't," he rasped. "Give it to the boy."

Blackjack is more than a single man. He’s an idea.

Our gazes locked for a long instant. I took the blade and leaped from the carriage.

With a quick calculation of where our pursuers would appear, I dashed toward a lighted intersection. Knowing precisely where the Korvosan Guard was stationed throughout the city, I plotted an escape route while waiting for Orkatto's men to arrive. They found me moments later, standing in silhouette before a street lamp.

Mimicking Vencarlo's disguised voice as best I could, I cried out, "Did you fools truly think you could capture Blackjack, the people's hero?"

"Kill him!" screeched Orkatto.

His hired guards ran toward me, but his assassin lingered at his side, staring at me. I spared only an instant before fleeing, but I noticed that cowled figure running to the side, in the direction I'd chosen for my true escape.

My diversion was proving more difficult to execute than to plan.

I fled as fleetly as I could, revealing myself only when I had extended my lead by another ten or twenty yards. Twice I failed to put myself in front of a revealing streetlight and resorted to Vencarlo's bombastic taunts. "Over here, you fools!"

The expression on their faces delighted me, even as the fear of discovery sent a cold thrill through my veins.

A hippogriff's scream alerted me to the threat I had forgotten. Captain Ornelos and his Sable Company still patrolled the skies, and one of them must have heard the alarum from Orkatto's men. A winged shadow crossed the street before me.

Standing on the other side was the cowled assassin who had slain Raneiro.

The killer moved toward me with uncanny grace, the chain-dart swinging in an accelerating circle.

Debating between defense and flight, I hesitated only long enough to catch a distinctive perfume.

"You jump at shadows, buffoons!" Vencarlo's adopted Blackjack voice—already becoming more natural with practice—boomed down from a rooftop. "Look for me in the clouds!"

With a laugh, he ran across the roof and vaulted over the peak. Moments later, a hippogriff wheeled above us and flew after him.

The assassin hesitated, glancing between me and the other Blackjack. Turning, the killer abandoned me to chase Vencarlo.

Undeterred, Orkatto's guards ran after me. They were, as Blackjack named them, fools and buffoons. It was child's play to mislead them into dead-end alleys and taunt them from two streets away.

I worried more for Vencarlo, whose pursuers were far cleverer and more deadly. A few times I dared reveal myself in hopes of drawing them off, but they knew me for an imposter. They chased the true Blackjack, while I slunk back to my lodgings to prepare my lies for the morrow.

∗ ∗ ∗

Two days later, we buried Master Raneiro beneath one of the Arcadian oaks I had delivered to Queen Domina. By quiet agreement, his students spread word across the city that the celebrated fencing master had finally succumbed to his affection for the grape. Over six dozen of his former pupils came to pay their respects. Vencarlo stood among the youngest, while I stood beside my aged cohorts.

My former bodyguard and I did not speak at the funeral, but our eyes arranged a meeting. After the final words were uttered, my agent announced that Raneiro had bequeathed the last of his wine to his students on the condition that they drink it all in his favorite wine houses before the following dawn.

By previous arrangement, Vencarlo and I met at a little wine house in Old Korvosa, the one not mentioned to the other students.

We drained the first goblet and filled the second before speaking.

"Captain Ornelos questioned me at length yesterday," I said. "I told him you stood guard at my lodgings all night after we withdrew from the museum. Eventually, he believed me."

"I hear he looks quite dashing with his new eyepatch."

"He will not forgive you that injury."

Vencarlo lifted his hands and shrugged. "It was difficult enough eluding the Korvosan Guard. I could be only so gentle when your friend joined me on the rooftops. You'll note that I left him the other eye when I could have taken both. I could have as easily slain him."

"It is better that you did not." For the most part, I believed that to be true, but I feared one day the captain would have his revenge, and the legend of Blackjack would come to an end. "Have you done what you promised?"

"I've made peace with my father. I'll return to study at the Orisini Academy." His eyes narrowed. "Have you done as you promised?"

"In gratitude for my recent gifts, Her Majesty cleared the way for me to purchase the remaining properties Gaspare Orkatto sought. The residents of South Shore will not be driven from their homes."

"Good."

"I am more concerned about your keeping your other promise. I am informed the Lady Seraphina was the victim of another burglary last night."

Vencarlo frowned. "Not ‘another.' She had never been robbed before. She only pretended so to draw suspicion from herself, while all along she conspired with Orkatto to murder Blackjack and remove the last protection of the people of South Shore."

"The rumors say there was a fire in her father's estate. Was that truly necessary?"

"I found the flowers you described, and the poisonous weeds that grew upon them. Yes, I think the fire was necessary."

I could not fault his action, no matter how much it rankled me to know a commoner had committed burglary and arson in the home of a peer. Considering the circumstances, I remained more inclined to caution than to chastise him. "She saw through my disguise, and doubtless through yours as well. You have a dangerous enemy in that one."

"More dangerous than lord Orkatto or Captain Ornelos?"

"Far more, I suspect. She cannot inform Ornelos or the Korvosan Guard of your robbery without exposing her own dual nature, but she will not hesitate to use them against you. What was it you said? ‘A beautiful woman commands all men.'"

"Not this one," he said with bitterness. "Not anymore. Anyway, did you know that just one of her rubies will feed ten families for a year?"

"I will pretend I did not hear that."

Vencarlo smiled and drank and stared through the wall, savoring his first act as the local hero.

I placed Raneiro's sword upon the table. "He wanted you to have this, along with the rest."

Vencarlo restrained his proud smile, but only barely. "It took two of us to imitate him," he said. "Perhaps we could—"

"No. I am a lord of Cheliax. It is my duty to uphold the law."

"Even when the law is unjust?"

"It is my duty," I said. "Not always my preference."

Vencarlo leaned across the table. "After what we did, you are as much an outlaw as Blackjack. We both are. Let's both take up his mask, you from the tower, I from the street. We could—"

"No," I said. "Tomorrow I return to Egorian. I will keep your secret. I can do no more than that. When next you run afoul of Captain Ornelos, Lord Orkatto, or—Desna spare you—Lady Seraphina, you cannot turn to me for help."

A sneer flickered across Vencarlo's fierce smile, and then both faded into a grim line. "You high-born lords can never understand what it is for the common folk to live under your cruel caprice."

"You are correct," I said, knowing he was utterly wrong but unwilling to explain why. Just as the common are subject to the noble, so are the noble subject to the royal, and the royal to the infernal. "But as you have seen, one man can avert that caprice. If only for a while, and only for a few."

Vencarlo refilled our goblets and raised his in a toast. "To Master Raneiro."

I held my cup to his. "To Blackjack."

Coming Next Week: A sample chapter from Dave Gross's King of Chaos, plus a brand new artistic envisioning of Radovan!

Dave Gross's adventures of Count Jeggare (often also featuring his hellspawn bodyguard Radovan) include the Pathfinder Tales novels Prince of Wolves, Master of Devils, Queen of Thorns, and King of Chaos; the novellas "Husks" and "Hell's Pawns"; and the short stories "A Lesson in Taxonomy," "A Passage to Absalom," "Killing Time," and "The Lost Pathfinder," all available at paizo.com/pathfindertales. He also co-wrote the Pathfinder Tales novel Winter Witch with Elaine Cunningham, and has written novels for the Forgotten Realms and Iron Kingdoms, as well as short stories for such anthologies as Tales of the Far West and Shotguns v. Cthulhu. Dave is the former editor of magazines ranging from Dragon to Star Wars Insider to Amazing Stories, and was a writer for Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition. For more information, visit bydavegross.com.

Illustration by Ian Llanas

Handyman Corner: Home Edition

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Illustration by Lydia Schuchmann

Ultimate Campaign provides a lot of useful rules for customizing your game. So much, in fact, that I challenge a GM to not find something of use throughout its pages! Need to come-up with a background and traits for a character quickly? BAM! Ultimate Campaign. Your world is at war and you need rules for army combat? BAM! Ultimate Campaign.

Of note today is when your players want to build a house. In my experience as a GM, eventually at least one player will want their character to settle down and want to buy a house. Well in today's blog I'm going to go demonstrate how the Downtime System can be used to construct a house.

Our home's architecture seems like a great jumping off point. The first step in constructing a building is to determine the number and types of rooms in the building. We can always choose to add rooms later as well, but room additions are for another time. There are many ways we can construct a house, and our level of complexity will change the cost and production length for our home. Presented below is an example of a basic urban house (seen on page 110 of Ultimate Campaign):

HOUSE

Create 32 Goods, 1 Influence, 31 Labor (1,290 gp)
Rooms 1 Bedroom, 1 Kitchen, 1 Lavatory, 1 Sewer Access, 1 Sitting Room, 1 Storage
A small cottage that can house up to two adults or a new family.

There is an old piece of wisdom that states that on any project we have Time, Cost, & Quality and that we can only have 2 of them optimized. The quality of our building is set by what rooms we select, so for this example our quality is a fixed value, leaving us with time & cost to play around with.

Our house costs 32 Goods, 1 Influence, and 31 Labor in capital. The capital system is described in greater detail in Chapter 2 of Ultimate Campaign, but directly translated into gold pieces this equates to 1,290 gp to buy the house outright, and have it built for us. However, we can spend some time working on the house to earn the capital necessary to build the house instead if we wanted to bring the cost down and get our character's hands dirty.

Earning capital costs half as much as purchasing it, but takes time and some creative thinking on how our character will work to earn it. Let's say our character can reliably earn 1 point of capital per day, and can do so for each type of capital. This means our character would spend 62 days gathering resources and labor building their house for an overall price of 645 gp. The time investment can change however, as some characters are suited to earning certain types of capital quicker, and the town's size limits how fast construction can go.

"But I don't want to pay for my house at all" I hear you exclaim. Well here's where we can go to the far extremity the other direction, though we need to make a lot of assumptions for our character. Lets say our character can earn a net gain of 2 gp per day working a job away from adventuring, then your house would only take another 323 days to complete—approximately just over a year of non-adventuring... though some games may have that much down-time, you're probably best to just go adventuring and spend some money on the house. It will save your GM a facepalm, and keep your character from racking up debt at the local inn for a year!

Justin Riddler
Customer Service Representative

The Long Wait is Nearly Over

Monday, September 23, 2013

Illustrations by Kelly Perry & Mathias Zameck

Approximately six weeks ago when the web team sent out the August Scenarios to GMs to prepare for Gen Con, I envisioned the expanse of days between releases would be a leisurely break in which to develop a pair of scenarios and get ahead on work. In fact, in that time I've stayed quite busy with new projects and initiatives as well as a finishing up a few pieces that had to wait in preparation for that huge convention. Spoiling exactly what's happening behind the scenes will have to wait for a future blog.

What's more, reading forum posts has been an enlightening experience as I see players and GMs alike discuss the start of Season 5, provide feedback, and speculate about what is to come. Developing season-long theories is tricky business when we've only seen three scenarios, and in a few days we'll begin to broaden the picture of what Season 5 entails.

For the first time in the season we shall see not only a Tier 7—11 scenario, but also one without any direct faction interests: Pathfinder Society Scenario #5—05: The Elven Entanglement by Ryan Costello, Jr. We will also receive the first scenario to continue several factions' story in Pathfinder Society Scenario #5—04: The Stolen Heir by David N. Ross, resuming the Andoran and Taldor narratives. What's more, though neither is a stranger to writing RPG material, for the first time we get to see these two authors write for Pathfinder Society Organized Play.

In developing these two scenarios I grew rather attached to the two NPCs depicted below, one from each adventure. GMs in particular know that when there's a full-body depiction of an NPC, there's a fairly good chance that the character is a combatant; when an NPC's image is limited to a portrait from the shoulders up, it's not always so clear. Part of what I like most about these NPCs is that they fit that portrait-only model beautifully.

The Elven Entanglement and The Stolen Heir release this week!

John Compton
Developer

Pathfinder Battles Preview: Red Dragon Evolution

Friday, September 20, 2013

I can hardly believe it's already Friday again. It seems like only yesterday I was writing last week's preview blog, but that's life at Big Gaming. There's always so much cool stuff coming across my desk that whole weeks seem to go by in a flash. It's a good problem to have, though, so enough complaining. Let's get onto the main event, a preview of December's Red Dragon Evolution Encounter Pack!

I've mentioned it a few times in this space before, but when it comes to producing plastic gaming miniatures, the most difficult aspect to master by far is SCALE. Compare, for example, the Troll from our first set, Heroes & Monsters, to the recent Sea Troll from Skull & Shackles. The latter is the "correct" size for a standard troll, whereas the former is pretty runty by comparison. We've been learning as we go on the line, and over several sets there's been a bit of inflation in size, particularly for Large-sized figures. Even mighty dragons have been bit by the size bug a time or two.

For example, compare the Large Young Red Dragon from Rise of the Runelords (our second set) to most other Large figures produced since. He's a bit small by today's standards.

When it comes to the Dragon Evolution Encounter Packs for Pathfinder Battles, we often try to include at least one repaint of a previously released dragon to help keep costs manageable and keep the final retail price under $40. For White Dragon Evolution the "reused" miniature was the Huge White Dragon, which originally was to appear in Rise of the Runelords, but from a production perspective, that one was already in the can even if none of you had seen it yet.

For the Red Dragon Evolution set, I knew WizKids would want to include at least one re-used sculpt, and the only option available to us was the Young Red Dragon from Rise of the Runelords. I knew, however, that if I could get two new sculpts out of WizKids, I'd end up with much better figures if I let them unleash their sculpting magic on larger figures, so the decision to change sizes seemed like the smartest thing to do.

Here we have the new version, which is called the Medium Red Dragon. His new paint scheme is a bit brighter than the previous version, and some of the coloring on his chest, tail, and legs varies a bit from the previous incarnation. As you can see, the figure now stands upon a Medium base, which fits his feet and overall body quite well. There's a bit of overhang on the wings, which is something we generally try to avoid, but in this case I think the trade-off was well worth it, because it allowed for two awesome new figures like this one:

This stunning Large Red Dragon stands on all four legs, looking like he just stepped off of one of Ben Wootten's illustrations. The Large Red Dragon makes full use of the Large base without seeming oversized, and the detail on his back spikes, wing, and face make for an excellent and imposing figure.

Finally here is the coolest piece in the box, the terrifying Huge Red Dragon! This draconic tyrant stands taller than the huge in the White Dragon Evolution set, and is clearly the big dog among his (or is it her?) fellow reds in this box. With an open mouth that seems to be saying "You're fired!" and a hateful look in its eyes, this dragon truly is a sight to behold.

And there you have it. Three red dragons for $39.99. Don't forget that folks with a Pathfinder Battles Ongoing Case Subscription receive codes good for a 20% discount on special releases like this one. Set up your subscription today to lock in your discount code and make sure you don't miss a single Pathfinder Battles miniature!

NEXT WEEK: More never-before-seen images of figures from October's Legends of Golarion 55-figure set!

Until then, enjoy your weekend!

Erik Mona
Publisher

6th Annual GenCon Costume Contest Winners

Thursday, September 19, 2013

The winners of this years Costume Contest have been tallied, with the fate of this years contest coming down to a matter of only a few votes between the top three contestants. Without further ado, I present this years top 3 rankings.

Temmith & Jay ranked in first place. Jay's work is golden while Temmith's costume looks good enough that one may question if sorcery was involved.

Seoni & Valeros (Temmith & Jay)

MetalMaiden ranked 2nd in the polls, doing a godly job of portraying Shelyn.

Shelyn (MetalMaiden)

Helene ranked in 3rd as Sheila Heidmarch. Her costume came out wonderfully, and I can only venture a guess as to how much time she spent on it.

Shiela Heidmarch (Helene)

Congratulations to Temmith and Jay on their $50.00 in Paizo Store Credit, and to everyone else thank you for dropping by the booth. Regardless to if you were in a costume or just your GenCon finest we loved seeing everyone!

Erik Keith
Customer Service Representative

The Fencing Master

by Dave Gross

Chapter Three: The Second Duel

Vencarlo Orisini tried to draw his rapier, but I lunged forward to strike the pommel and thrust it back into its scabbard. "Stop this nonsense at once!"

Vencarlo retreated, turning to free his blade. I stepped behind him, pulling the scabbard and sword out of his grasp.

"Orkatto, see Lady Seraphina safely away."

"I'll go with them," Cucuteni said, all too eager to escape the quarrel erupting between me and my bodyguard. That was just as well. I desired no witnesses to my chastising my servant.

"I won't let you take Blackjack," snapped Vencarlo. Once more he danced away, trying to draw his blade. Once more I danced after him, thrusting my arm through the crook of his elbow to prevent him from reaching the blade.

"Calm yourself," I told him. "The trap is already sprung. Even now, the Korvosan guard are surrounding the thief."

"He's a hero! You would know that if you ever stepped out of that Red Carriage and walked among the people." Vencarlo feinted right before twisting left. With my hand upon his arm, I felt his muscles tense. Anticipating his movement, I circled him, lifting his sword arm as if to allow him a turn. Instead, I drew his sword from its scabbard.

I stepped back, smiling as I showed that I had taken his blade with my left hand. He smiled back at me, tossing my own rapier from his left hand to his right. He saluted me with my own blade.

"Whichever of us survives this night must thank Master Raneiro for that trick."

"Beware, Vencarlo. I have learned many others since leaving the master's tutelage," I said. "And you have only just begun learning from him."

"Blackjack!" Surprising me, Vencarlo ran toward the east wing of the museum. "They have set a trap for you!"

"Stop this at once!" I ran after him.

The museum curator, my cousin, had ordered only the foyer fully lighted for the evening's reception of Queen Domina and Prince Eodred. In the east wing, only a few perpetual flame spells illuminated the sign reading "Local Legends," and I spied similarly muted lights throughout the gloomy halls. I had not yet visited the latest exhibit upon this visit to Korvosa. With luck, neither had Vencarlo, so we would be equally disadvantaged in the darkness.

Chasing after my disobedient servant, I stopped short as a hideous beast rose up before me. At my approach, an auditory spell unleashed a horrible whinny as a pair of enormous wings flapped at my approach. After a moment's uncertainty, I recognized it as the Sandpoint Devil.

Some disreputable "naturalist" had stitched together this patchwork falsity from the preserved corpses of a stallion, a crocodile, and a dire bat. Later I would have to speak to my cousin about this penchant for the tawdry and sensational.

Movement drew my eye past another exhibit, this one featuring a gruesome waxwork of a local murderess. From the angle, I could not make out what was written on the magically illuminated placard beneath the diorama. I leaped the low picket fence surrounding the murder house. "Vencarlo, come back here! I cannot ensure your safety if you interfere with the guards."

The bravo's laugh echoed through the darkened exhibits. I followed the sound, uncertain of its origin. Rounding a tableau of a lone elven archer fighting a goblin tribe, I found myself facing a masked man. The blade of his rapier glimmered in the dim enchanted light.

Without a thought, my body assumed the guard position. "Surrender yourself," I said. "Upon my word as a count of Cheliax, you will face justice for your crimes."

My foe stood silent and still. From the far end of the eastern wing came a shout and a flurry of footsteps.

A moment of doubt caused me to hesitate, but then I beat the man's blade with my own. It turned aside, and with it the waxwork imposter before me. Glancing around, I saw no witness to my folly—a small consolation.

I snatched up the brazier of perpetual flames beneath the placard and held them closer to the wax figure. It was indeed a depiction of the notorious thief, cloaked and cowled in black, a mask concealing his lower face. But at its feet the placard read "Blackjack, Hero of South Shore." The rest of the tableau showed the figure standing before a woman and child in rags, defending them from a pair of Sczarni cutthroats at the command of a sneering landlord holding a fat purse.

A rope creaked above me. I held the flames high to see another figure of the rogue swinging across the blackened gunwales of a sailing ship with a frightened cabin boy under one arm. This one lacked the mask of the first, and beneath him a wide-brimmed hat lay on the ground. A sign hanging beside the figure read, "Savior of the Lady Luck."

Another exhibit depicted a grizzled Blackjack leaping from the back of one tentacled hulk to plunge his sword through the maw of another. I knew of the incident in which the creatures sometimes referred to as "sewer hulks" rampaged through the city. It had occurred nearly thirty years earlier. The legend read, "Hero of Old Korvosa."

"Vencarlo, wait!" As much as I wanted to prevent him from interfering with my trap, I now also wanted an explanation. How could a man so reviled by my peers be presented by my own cousin as a hero in a museum? I needed to know more before I could—

"He's here!" cried a man from the far end of the hall. The silhouettes of four men ran into the room, toward me.

On a catwalk above us, a cloaked figure laughed back at them. "You fools will never catch me!" cried a voice I recognized despite his attempts to deepen it. "You will never catch Blackjack!"

The voice belonged Vencarlo Orisini. The evidence of his deception hung above me in the form of the unmasked waxwork, whose disguise he had obviously stolen. Yet in the darkness his disguise was more than enough to draw off the guards.

Holding the perpetual flames above my head, I called out to the guards. "It's a trick. He's leading you away from the real Blackjack."

Even as I said the words, I debated with myself whether to reveal Vencarlo's ruse. The guards arrived before I had time to decide.

They were not Korvosan guards. I did not recognize their uniforms, and their coarse expressions and unshaven cheeks suggested hired rather than sworn men. They held the points of their blades toward me as they approached.

"What is the meaning—?"

"Stand down, men. That is Count Jeggare, an ally." Gaspare Orkatto pushed past them, face glistening with sweat. "Did you see him, Your Excellency?"

"Who are these men, Gaspare? I instructed you to use the city guard."

"You did, of course you did," he said, once more waving his fingers beside his cheek in that nervous gesture of his. "But I thought it better to enlist my own men. If Blackjack is as clever as they say, he might notice if some of the Korvosan guard were off the streets tonight."

"I also asked you to look after Lady Seraphina."

"Oh, she is quite safe. I saw her and Lord Cucuteni out of the museum before joining the pursuit. Did you see him? Did he come this way?"

"It wasn't—" Another motion caught my eye, this one behind Orkatto and his men. A graceful figure moved between a pair of Shoanti shaman waxworks, discernible only in the moment when it passed between me and one of the perpetual flames spells. I pointed back toward the foyer. "He went that way!"

With a curse, Vencarlo ran across the catwalk, leading Orkatto and his guards out of the east wing. As they departed, I moved in the opposite direction, toward the silent intruder.

"Show yourself, Blackjack." I lowered the point of my blade and peered into the darkness where I knew he must be hiding. My half-elven vision revealed nothing more than the flickering shadows.

I felt the prick of his rapier's tip against my back. By enchantment or uncanny knack, he moved as swift and silent as a ghost. The moment he spoke, I recognized the liquid tones of his voice. "You have been ill used, Your Excellency."

I turned, confident he would not strike me from behind. "So it would appear, Master Raneiro."

Raneiro is a master of the blade—and so much more.

The masked figure nodded. Now that I had heard his voice, I recognized the line of his chin, the faint stubble upon his skin. He motioned in the direction the hired men had gone. "You have noticed there are no Korvosan guards within the museum?"

"Of course, but too late to understand Orkatto's intention."

"He means to kill me, not to bring me before a magistrate."

"Why?"

"Have you not already deduced his reason? What do you think I do with the jewelry I liberate from the parasites on this city?"

I thought of the tableaux surrounding us, and of Orkatto's recent travails. "The tenants of South Shore. You have been paying their rent."

"Very good," said Raneiro. "But as you said, too late."

"They are chasing after Vencarlo. You must leave before they discover the ruse."

"Without the jewels?" Raneiro chuckled. "I think you underestimate our local hero."

"Does Vencarlo know?"

Raneiro shrugged. "He suspects. He is cleverer than he sometimes appears, and twice as skilled with the blade. One day he will take over his father's academy, once he learns to guard his tongue in political matters."

"And your mask? Will he take that as well?"

"Perhaps one day. Blackjack is more than a man. He is a legend that must never die."

"I will not help you steal the jewels. But if you leave them, I will do everything in my power to ensure your safe escape—and Vencarlo's."

"How generous," Raneiro said, his tone just short of sarcasm. Once more the tip of his blade pricked me, this time above the heart. "But I must decline your charity. Blackjack does not beg for scraps. He recovers what the lords of Korvosa have stolen from the people."

With a quick retreat, I raised my guard just in time to parry his thrust—or so I thought. Raneiro bent his blade as its tip found its intended target, a brass button upon my breast. Had he intended it, he would have driven his blade through my heart.

From the far reaches of the museum, alarums rose and subsided into the clamor of a chase. Above the shouts of Orkatto's men rose a mocking laugh.

"His laugh is quite good," said Raneiro. "Don't you agree?"

"I cannot allow you steal the jewels," I repeated. "But I promise to safeguard your identity."

"You make the same mistake as the local lords, my old friend," said Raneiro. "It is no longer for you to ‘allow.' The people of Korvosa will gladly toil for their bread, but they will not abandon their homes to feed the avarice of men like Orkatto."

My blade licked out twice, a feint and an adder's strike upon his arm—a Taldan attack, one I hoped Raneiro had never seen. He parried it without effort, and his riposte sent me into a retreating Elliendo defense.

He smiled to see me pressed.

My retreating heel struck the base of another exhibit. I froze as the claw of a stuffed owl-beast appeared beside my head. For an instant I thought of the cliffs of Lepidstadt and the stand I had made against my fellow students one drunken night. But then I had not faced a master of the blade.

I could not continue to defend myself in such a tight spot. Turning my latest parry into a bind, I dipped beneath the preserved beast's arm and rolled across the open aisle. As I came up to one knee, I saw by his silhouette that Raneiro had anticipated my move. His blade was fixed upon my eye, his rear leg poised to lunge, his mouth a grim line of regret and determination.

A metallic hiss preceded a dull impact. Raneiro straightened, the point of his sword dipping. His free hand moved with aching slowness to feel his back. He coughed out a single syllable, "Ah."

A lithe figure crouched behind him. A chain dangled from one leather-clad hand, a dripping dart swinging pendulously below. Shrouded eyes caught mine from beneath a deep cowl, but only for an instant before the assassin dashed into the shadows.

I moved to pursue, but then Raneiro dropped his blade and fell to one knee. I went to him and felt the wound. Tasting a familiar poison in his blood, I knew his fate.

"Master, let me get you out of here."

At the tone of my voice, he too knew his fate. "Yes," he said, his voice already weakening. "Find me a quiet place to die."

Coming Next Week: Blades between friends in the final chapter of "The Fencing Master" by Dave Gross!

Dave Gross's adventures of Count Jeggare (often also featuring his hellspawn bodyguard Radovan) include the Pathfinder Tales novels Prince of Wolves, Master of Devils, Queen of Thorns, and King of Chaos; the novellas "Husks" and "Hell's Pawns"; and the short stories "A Lesson in Taxonomy," "A Passage to Absalom," "Killing Time," and "The Lost Pathfinder," all available at paizo.com/pathfindertales. He also co-wrote the Pathfinder Tales novel Winter Witch with Elaine Cunningham, and has written novels for the Forgotten Realms and Iron Kingdoms, as well as short stories for such anthologies as Tales of the Far West and Shotguns v. Cthulhu. Dave is the former editor of magazines ranging from Dragon to Star Wars Insider to Amazing Stories, and was a writer for Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition. For more information, visit bydavegross.com.

Illustration by Ian Llanas

Little Bunny Fufu

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Greetings, loyal subjects!

I hope you have been well since I addressed you last. I come to you bearing good news—my influence has spread through the hallowed halls of Paizo. Using my mother (Editorial Intern Cassidy) as a puppet for my machinations, I have guaranteed that my legacy will prevail through the ages by immortalizing myself in the upcoming tome Bestiary 4. Feast your eyes upon my likeness:

Illustration by Mattias Fahlberg

Almiraj

This oversized rabbit has a single long, pearlescent horn protruding from its crown.

Almiraj CR 1

XP 400
N Small magical beast
Init +2 Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent; Perception +4

DEFENSE

AC 13, touch 13, flat-footed 11 (+2 Dex, +1 size)
hp 13 (2d10+2)
Fort +4, Ref +5, Will +0; –2 vs. witch hexes

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft., burrow 10 ft.
Melee +1 gore +6 (2d4–1)
Special Attacks magic horn

STATISTICS

Str 6, Dex 15, Con 12, Int 5, Wis 11, Cha 6
Base Atk +2; CMB –1; CMD 11 (15 vs. trip)
Feats Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics +6 (+14 when jumping), Perception +4, Stealth +14; Racial Modifiers +8 Acrobatics when jumping, +4 Perception, +4 Stealth
Languages Sylvan (can't speak)
SQ hex-prone

ECOLOGY

Environment temperate hills, plains, or forests
Organization solitary
Treasure incidental (magic horn)

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Hex-Prone (Su) An almiraj takes a –2 penalty on all saving throws against harmful witch hexes. The duration of any beneficial hexes longer than 1 round that affect an almiraj is increased by 50%.

Magic Horn (Su) While on the creature's head, an almiraj's horn is treated as a +1 weapon. Any living creature slain by an almiraj's gore attack immediately turns to stone (as if by the flesh to stone spell, with no saving throw, and the creature is still dead). A severed almiraj horn retains a wisp of its former magic, and counts as a masterwork weapon if used to create a magical dagger or similar small piercing weapon.

The almiraj is a surprisingly dangerous predator. Almirajes' strong affinity with witches, magical gore attacks, and susceptibility to hexes suggest they have arcane origins, perhaps the result of experiments by witches seeking to deliberately create a new kind of familiar.

Reminiscent of a unicorn horn, an almiraj's most prominent feature serves as both a deterrent and deadly weapon. The almiraj uses its horn to hunt, stalking and spearing prey on the brutal appendage. The horn's unique magical properties have the gruesome side effect of forcing the almiraj to consume its prey while it still lives, before it turns to stone—when hunting smaller creatures, the almiraj strikes to slow its prey through blood loss and to disable it by maiming its limbs. Occasionally, an enterprising individual will hunt an almiraj for its horn, but success is limited since almirajes are exceptionally vicious, stealthy, and athletic targets—their acrobatic leaps bring their horns within reach of the vital organs of much larger creatures.

Almirajes are fiercely territorial, although they flee if unable to fight on their terms, only to return later to defend their territory. They demonstrate their territorial claims to others of their kind with acrobatic displays and mock horn battles rather than fighting in earnest. Other intruders are met with aggressive posturing and warning calls, though almirajes prefer not to fight. If an interloper refuses to withdraw, however, the almiraj will fight to the death to defend its claim.

It's unclear how almirajes reproduce, since females are rare and the creatures are always encountered alone. Records indicate that they live for 40 to 60 years and some communities are able to build respectful, if wary, relationships with them.

Almirajes are particularly popular with witches as familiars. Spellcasters of any alignment with the Improved Familiar feat can gain an almiraj as a familiar at 5th level.

"But, Emperor Aslan," some might say, "I don't remember you having a horn... or bloodstained fur." To these people, I say: just wait to see what happens if my carrot supply ever dries up. In the meantime, I encourage you all to take an almiraj as your familiar and see what bunnies can really do.

Until next time, my minions.

Aslan

Emperor of Livingroom

Nibbler of Dragons

Lord and Master of all He Surveys

Illustrations by Wayne Reynolds. Widescreen version here.

Woe to You, O' Earth and Sea!

Saturday, September 14, 2013

From Cthulhu to nosferatu, clockwork dragons to twisted fleshwarps, Bestiary 4 comes packed with more than 250 beasties from lore and literature to add to your game. Bestiary 4 releases October 2013, but for now, the beasts come with wrath to your desktop in this new wallpaper.

Let him who hath understanding, reckon, yo.

Jenny Bendel
Marketing Director

Pathfinder Battles Preview: I Dream of Genies (and Other Stuff)

Friday, September 13, 2013

It's Friday, which means a new raft of previews of the upcoming Legends of Golarion set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic miniatures! But first, an update: The Legends of Golarion set's official release date is now OCTOBER 16. The set will formally release well in time for marathon Halloween game sessions, and just in time for you to give out the coolest Halloween treats on the block!

This week I wanted to show off several figures that have never been seen before, either at Gen Con or anywhere else. All five of these beasties are making their world debut here on the Paizo Blog this evening. Buckle up!

We've already shown you the Djinni and Efreeti figures. This week I want to show off the three remaining genies in the set, starting with the gorgeous Marid.

Here she is in all her towering glory. The Marid, associated with the element of water, is the most powerful of the standard genies in the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary, and she's also the largest. This version is derived from the gorgeous Jesper Ejsing illustration in the Bestiary, which originally adorned a cover for our “Arabian Nights” Adventure Path, Legacy of Fire. WizKids did a great job translating her to three dimensions. This Large figure is slated at the rare rarity.

And here we have the Shaitan, the earth-based genie cousin of the Marid. Again we used a Jesper Ejsing illustration as the basis for the figure, which I'm discovering is a good recipe for a gorgeous miniature. The colors on this one compliment each other perfectly, and her expression is great. Again, the Shaitan is a Large, rare figure, though she's not quite so big as her watery companion.

The lowly Jann are formed of all four elements, and must spend a great deal more time on the material plane than their more powerful relatives in the genie family. In fact, Jann look much like normal humans, which in this case means this figure easily doubles as a human enemy or player character. He's got brass knuckles, but also works as an unarmed combatant such as a monk. Like his cousins, the Janni is a rare, but in this case he's much smaller, coming in at size Medium.

This nasty fellow is the Medium Black Dragon, but don't let the size fool you into thinking he doesn't pack a powerful punch. Based on a great Ben Wootten illustration, this guy ably represents the smallest black dragon statted up in the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary. Size wise, he's about the same height as the Young Red Dragon from Rise of the Runelords, which by today's standards would have probably been a Medium. I'll show off the Red Dragon Evolution photos soon (probably next week), and you'll see that we already officially made that change there, with the previously Large Young Red Dragon showing up as a Medium repaint alongside awesome new Large and Huge Red Dragon sculpts. But I am getting ahead of myself. The dastardly Medium Black Dragon is rare, Medium, and extremely awesome.

Speaking of awesome, one of my favorite aspects of the Pathfinder RPG is incorporating monsters from real world mythology. Often this means pulling in creatures from ancient Greece, Egypt, or other Old World sources. Here we have a critter very much from America's side of the pond. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Hodag, menace of Northern Wisconsin. The Hodag got its start in an 1890s hoax, in which a local prankster described the creature to an area newspaper like this: "the head of a frog, the grinning face of a giant elephant, thick short legs set off by huge claws, the back of a dinosaur, and a long tail with spears at the end." I'd say WizKids nailed it. The Hodag appears in Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 3. In the Legends of Golarion set, he's a Large, uncommon figure.

And that's it for this week. Look for another big preview next Friday.

Erik Mona
Publisher

Going the Distance for the Adventure Card Game

Thursday, September 12, 2013

What lengths would you go to in order to play the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game? Pictured below, we have a webcam taped to Colin's head, so John can see the cards we draw. The people involved in this ridiculousness? Colin Webster, Jen Broyles, John Compton, Josh Foster, Nani, and myself. The worst part? We have 27 Pathfinder Society GM stars between the lot of us.

Kyle Pratt
Venture Captain, Georgia—Atlanta

The Fencing Master

by Dave Gross

Chapter Two: The First Trap

"We are most grateful, Count Jeggare." In the reflected light of the glass cases, Queen Domina smiled down at me from the dais. Its position in the grand foyer leant her the aspect of an ancient caryatid guarding a collection of rare Azlanti jewels. "The first of the saplings you have brought us shall be planted here, outside the Jeggare Museum."

A Chelaxian by birth and breeding, Domina had come to Korvosa to rule. Her earliest proclamations had halved both the city's bureaucracy and its coffers. As part of her civic improvement efforts, she had reversed the ban on trees planted within the city walls—the result of a predecessor's shortsighted reaction to the destruction wrought by windstorms over a century earlier.

Beside Domina stood her adult son, Eodred. He had made some effort to pay attention to the honor Her Majesty bestowed upon me, but his gaze kept slipping back to our audience, particularly the young women.

For that I could hardly fault him. To garnish their beauty, the ladies of Korvosa had adorned themselves with exotic flowers instead of gems and gold. Among them, only the queen wore jewels. I inferred from her curious glances that she had not expected the change in fashion.

The queen offered a few more words of gratitude for my gift of two hundred saplings and a thousand seeds obtained from lands as distant as the Mwangi Expanse, Vudra, and Arcadia. Her duty discharged, Domina took her son's arm and departed, accompanied by the royal guard.

The Korvosan nobles rose in her wake, casting discreet glances at each other and at me. In the queen's absence, I became the center of attention.

Across the room, Fedele Ornelos caught my eye. He cut a splendid figure in his dress armor, black and red leather trimmed in silver. With a conspirator's wink, he drifted away from the crowd to join the soldiers who waited with their hippogriffs outside the museum. There they would take flight in the most conspicuous manner possible.

Restraining a smile at my knowledge of his mission, I turned to see Vencarlo Orisini fixing an inquisitive gaze upon me. He stood against the wall, where the other servants strove to make themselves invisible while awaiting a signal from their masters. Vencarlo had noticed my wordless exchange with the Sable Company captain.

Like a younger Fedele Ornelos, Vencarlo also appeared dashing in his new attire, acquired after our duel that morning. He took a step forward, but I shook my head. It was not his place to address me among my peers. He frowned in disappointment and began to step back when a woman crossed the floor between us.

Seraphina is difficult to impress

At rest, Seraphina Leroung was not the most beautiful woman in Korvosa, but in motion she was the epitome of grace. Men had fallen in love after seeing her walk only a few steps, and the current flattery was that none dare watch her dance for fear that they would take their own lives afterward in despair.

She wore a garland of panther lilies around her neck, with a bloom secured behind one delicate ear. The dusky flowers were subtler than those worn by the other ladies, but they were by far the rarest.

One flaw marred Seraphina's face: a neat scar directly beneath her left eye. Rumor abounded as to the cause of the injury, but I suspected it was a fencing scar.

Seraphina smiled at me. If I went to her, the eye of the city would follow—and perhaps that was her purpose, to supplant me as the object of attention. I preferred she come to me.

Before either of us yielded to the other, Vencarlo leaped forward and performed a sweeping bow before Seraphina. He reached for her right hand, but she withdrew it. He spoke quickly, and her lips parted in surprise. Whatever he said caused her to reconsider. She allowed him to kiss her left hand.

Furious, I moved toward him, prepared to discharge him on the spot, but another guest intercepted me.

"My most estimable Count Jeggare!"

Gaspare Orkatto approached with a nervous wave of his fingers beside his cheek. Lowering his voice, he concluded his conversation with the man at his side, oblivious to the fact that my half-elven hearing perceived every word.

"So you can see my concern. No matter how often I increase the rent, they somehow manage to pay. It can only be with the help of that scoundrel!"

Orkatto was a minor lord, one of the newly elevated merchants who had made himself valuable to the crown by dint of his ability to create wealth. Of late he used that wealth to acquire properties all over the city, with no discrimination as to the quality of the district. When last we had met, he tested my patience with complaints about the municipal red tape preventing him from buying whole neighborhoods in South Shore. So long as the tenants continued to pay their rent, he could not take their houses from them.

I nodded to acknowledge him. He beamed as if I'd bestowed a great compliment.

"Your Excellency, allow me to introduce Piero Cucuteni. My lord Cucuteni has a keen interest in the matter you and I discussed so recent—"

"I want that damned villain caught and punished, by Asmodeus!" snapped Cucuteni. He turned to look over his shoulder, gazing across the room to where a hard-faced woman crowned in yellow roses peered into the jewelry display. As if feeling his eyes upon her, she looked up and cast a basilisk's stare back at him. Even I felt the hair on my neck rise at her reptilian disapproval. Cucuteni gulped. "She won't let me rest until I replace her jewelry—every piece!"

Piero Cucuteni and I required no introduction. We had met at previous social affairs, where I found his conversation limited to complaints about taxation and the "wretched" Shoanti and Varisians.

"That's what I was telling you, my lord," said Orkatto. His obsequious tone would do little to ingratiate him to the older families. "Count Jeggare is well known in Cheliax for his ability to aid... our sort of people."

Cucuteni rose to his full if modest height. He had to tilt his head to look down his nose at the upstart Orkatto. Old money never loves the new.

"Very well," said Cucuteni. "Nothing else has stopped this rash of burglaries. Perhaps Count Jeggare can do the trick."

With an effort to appear interested in their exchange, I could not help but look back at Seraphina. Vencarlo stood indecently close to her, smiling as he spoke into her ear. Whatever he said caused her to cover a giggle.

I left a note in my Memory Library to never again hire such a womanizer.

Before I realized it, I was striding toward them. "Stop disturbing the lady, Vencarlo. You are here as my bodyguard, not a jester."

"But Your Excellency, I was simply ensuring the lady posed no threat to you."

My hot blood turned cold with true fury.

"Your man is quite amusing," Lady Seraphina said before I could speak. "This Vencarlo is a marked improvement on that brute you had before. Do let him stay."

Vencarlo offered me a conciliatory shrug and smiled. "A beautiful woman commands all men. Is it not so, Excellency?"

I stepped between him and the lady to shelter her from his coarse behavior. Recalling a previous visit to her father's estate and its extensive gardens, I ventured a guess. "Am I correct to surmise that you are the one responsible for the floral décor, Lady Seraphina?"

"My secret is discovered!" she said. "It seemed a pity to inflict the envy of those who have fallen victim to this villain Blackjack on those who haven't."

"You are the soul of diplomacy, my lady."

"And you are a flatterer," she said. "Although not quite as vivid in your compliments as your man has been."

During our exchange, Vencarlo's demeanor transformed. His back grew as stiff as Cucuteni's. "Blackjack is no villain, Lady Seraphina."

"Do you suggest he is not the perpetrator of the burglaries?"

"On the contrary," Vencarlo replied. "Who else could perform such daring acts? Who else could elude the Sable Company and make fools of the Korvosan Guard? But only the wealthy call him a villain. To the common people of Korvosa, he is a great hero."

"To the common people?" cried Lord Cucuteni, who along with Orkatto had followed me across the foyer. "Do you speak of the Shoanti who befoul our streets with their native stinks and rituals? Or do you mean the Varisians, each born with his hand in another's pocket?"

"Not all Varisians are Sczarni," said Vencarlo. "Most are perfectly—"

"Still your tongue," I said. "You have no right to contradict a lord of Korvosa."

"I want the blackguard found and punished," puffed Cucuteni, forgetting Vencarlo's presence. "He must suffer as I have suffered every day since he stole into my wife's chambers and took her jewels."

Vencarlo's face reddened with the effort of stifling a humorous retort to Cucuteni's ill-chosen words. This time it was I who utilized the gaze of the basilisk, turning it upon my upstart bodyguard. Fortunately, for both his sake and mine, it turned at least his tongue to stone.

Seraphina lay a hand on Cucuteni's arm. "Until they are recovered, I promise to send Agnese a different breed of fresh flowers every day. Aren't those roses lovely in her hair?"

Cucuteni's jowls worked without producing any words, until finally he murmured, "Very kind of you, dear lady. Very kind indeed."

"You must have an expansive garden," I said in an attempt to guide the conversation away. "When next you visit Egorian, perhaps you would allow me to show you my hothouse at Greensteeples. Among other rare species, I have cultivated a weed symbiotic to your panther lilies, a specimen that produces a deadly toxin used by the Zenj people of central Mwangi."

"How fascinating."

"I think the lady would prefer to witness a fencing demonstration," said Vencarlo. He, too, had identified her as a swordswoman.

"The lady can decide for herself," said Seraphina, frowning at Vencarlo. "And now I decide you have become tiresome after all."

"What?" Vencarlo could not have looked more surprised.

"You heard her," I said, trying without great success to avoid gloating. "Return to your station."

Raising his proud chin as though he had just been slapped, Vencarlo bowed, spun on his heel, and returned to his place among the servants. Unlike the rest, who stood at attention, he lounged against the wall, striking a pose he must have thought made him appear like a swashbuckler.

Seeing Seraphina's gaze flick back to him, I had to admit, if only to myself, that it succeeded.

"There," said Orkatto. "Now that we are no longer overheard by the help, Your Excellency, perhaps you would unfold your plan to Lord Cucuteni?"

"A plan? Do you mean something like a business transaction?" Seraphina scrunched her nose in distaste. "Or do you mean something thrilling? A scheme, or a plot, or—better still—a stratagem? Oh, let it be a stratagem!"

Mocking though it was, her enthusiasm enchanted me. I looked to see that the museum staff had begun ushering the guests outside to their carriages. Servants began extinguishing the lights and barring the windows. Soon it would be time to set my trap.

I signaled my agents among the servants. The one beside Vencarlo tapped him on the shoulder and gestured for him to remove his new jacket.

Inhaling, I savored the perfume of Seraphina's flowers. "I suppose there is no harm in sharing the details now, so close to the appointed hour."

Seraphina leaned close and gave me her rapt attention.

"You may have noticed that the officers of the Sable Company left soon after the queen's departure."

Orkatto, already aware of the details, nodded at an accelerating rate, eager for me to share the rest.

"And the city guard," said Seraphina. "I saw two squadrons marching quickly through the streets as our carriage approached the museum."

"They will provide a conspicuous presence at all of the most likely targets of Blackjack's larceny."

"All but one!" blurted Orkatto.

"The jewels here," said Seraphina. "You've set them as bait."

"You are as astute as you are observant."

"And as beautiful as you are astute," said Vencarlo, materializing at my elbow like a dog who cannot be kept from the supper. He beamed at Seraphina. "To praise a woman, a man must not overlook her beauty."

Behind him, the agent who bore a passing resemblance to Vencarlo shrugged on his jacket and went to the entrance. I doffed my own coat and handed it to the hireling who resembled me. Together, they would enter my Red Carriage and depart the museum, leaving us inside with the twenty guards who had gradually secreted themselves throughout the museum during the day. Several other servants had also donned finery to depart, presenting the illusion that as many nobles who had entered for the gala reception were now returning home.

Vencarlo turned to me. "Your scheme will never succeed, Excellency."

"Pray enlighten us why."

"Blackjack will detect your trap."

"How?"

"It is clever to show as many people departing as remaining, but Blackjack is also clever. He will sense a trap when he sees you have dismissed the guards."

"But I have not dismissed them. They remain at their stations, with the exception of two absences, allowing the thief a choice of entrances."

A crash and a shout alerted us to activity toward the rear of the museum.

"And there you have it. The trap is sprung."

Vencarlo's insouciant air evaporated. "You mustn't do this, Count! Blackjack is not some common thief. The jewels he steals feed the poor. He is a champion of the people!"

"That is for a magistrate to decide. Unlike your scofflaw idol, I do not take the law into my own hands. I simply introduce it to those who have strayed beyond its grasp."

"I cannot allow you do this, Your Excellency." Vencarlo bowed and reached for his weapon.

Coming Next Week: Masks, blades, and intrigue in Chapter Three of "The Fencing Master" by Dave Gross!

Dave Gross's adventures of Count Jeggare (often also featuring his hellspawn bodyguard Radovan) include the Pathfinder Tales novels Prince of Wolves, Master of Devils, Queen of Thorns, and King of Chaos; the novellas "Husks" and "Hell's Pawns"; and the short stories "A Lesson in Taxonomy," "A Passage to Absalom," "Killing Time," and "The Lost Pathfinder," all available at paizo.com/pathfindertales. He also co-wrote the Pathfinder Tales novel Winter Witch with Elaine Cunningham, and has written novels for the Forgotten Realms and Iron Kingdoms, as well as short stories for such anthologies as Tales of the Far West and Shotguns v. Cthulhu. Dave is the former editor of magazines ranging from Dragon to Star Wars Insider to Amazing Stories, and was a writer for Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition. For more information, visit bydavegross.com.

Illustration by Ian Llanas

Behold the Magic Pig

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Alternate cover for Pathfinder Goblins #2

I've always loved comics. From the moment I learned how to read as a child, I would often dedicate whole days over summer break to reading the entire catalogue of strips like Calvin & Hobbes, FoxTrot, or Bloom County. For a while I dabbled in superhero comics, but it wasn't until a friend showed me Sandman after college that a new world opened up and I began devouring graphic novels. Around the same time someone introduced me to webcomics as well, and I discovered yet another passion (one that eventually ended up with me being involved in the infamous Machine of Death, alongside some of the giants of that field). To this day, Paizo Editor-in-Chief Wes Schneider and I have a tradition of buying each other comics we think the other should read (or more often, that we want to read ourselves), and Publisher Erik Mona frequently unbars the door to his comic vault to educate us youngsters what clearly don't know nothin' yet. ("Grant Morrison? Who's that?")

Yet as much as I adore comics, not since high school days spent tracing friends' sketches during class (yes, I was one of those weirdos who wanted to be an inker) had I ever considered the possibility of someday being involved in comics. That whole industry was forever a mystery to me.

That curtain began to pull back, however, when we partnered with Dynamite Entertainment to do the Pathfinder comic. Suddenly, I was getting to edit real, honest-to-god comic scripts, see how words become sketches and then finals, and meet some of the awesome creators and editors who make it happen. Talking with the people involved, I started to see how things worked. And I knew, without doubt, that if given the chance, I would be all over that.

Fortunately for me, that chance came with the announcement of the Pathfinder Goblins! miniseries. Erik and Dynamite were kind enough to give some of us at Paizo the chance to pitch story ideas, and as luck would have it, Wes, Erik, and I all found ourselves added to the writer lineup alongside comic heavy-hitters like Adam Warren, Charles Soule, Ray Fawkes, and more.

I was there. I was writing part of a comic book.

Now I just needed to learn how to write a comic book.

Fortunately, I knew just where to turn. If you didn't already know, in addition to writing the main Pathfinder comic, Jim Zubkavich also does Skullkickers, one of the funniest and most creative fantasy comics around, as well as a wide variety of other work. More importantly, he's also a really nice guy. So nice, in fact, that he's written up a whole series of tutorials on how to write comics professionally. With his tips and tricks guiding me, I sat down and took my shot.

The resulting story, "Magic Pig," has just released in Pathfinder Goblins! #2, and I couldn't be happier. At one level, it's a story about a pig. At a deeper level, however, it's about a magic pig. And at another, deeper deeper level, it's a story about the problems with giving goblins magic items. Getting to work with artist Sean Izaakse to bring that story to life was a joy, and I can't tell you what a thrill it was to open the sketch file for that first page and see Magic Pig in all his ceremonial finery.

An exclusive in-process look at the finished but unlettered art from Page 1 of "Magic Pig"

I hope you all enjoy the story as much as I have, and if you haven't already, go check out Erik Mona's pug-tacular goblin adventure in issue #1 and Wes Schneider's encounter with the Sandpoint Devil in the upcoming issue #3!

James L. Sutter
Fiction Editor/Senior Editor

Art by Sean Izaakse

A Few Updates

Monday, September 9, 2013

Happy Monday, folks. Season 5 of Pathfinder Society Organized Play is well underway, and Mike and I have received considerable feedback both in person and through email about what works well (lots apparently) and what could stand improvement. In just a moment I will provide a few updates, clarifications, and reminders about the nuances, rules, and expectations of this new season. For the moment, though, I would like to share a bit of our progress on the online play frontier.

Online Play

Whether it's by play-by-post or real-time, virtual tabletop, our online games are going strong. Paizo recently added an online play subforum to the Pathfinder Society page, and Mike recognized the many requests for online leadership by appointing a Venture-Captain of Online Play, Joseph Caubo—who has in turn appointed several venture-lieutenants.

Several of my first Pathfinder Society scenarios were played online, but it's been nearly three years since that last game. I know I'm not the most knowledgeable about the nuances of online play and the needs of the VTT-using community. As a result, Joe has been an invaluable contact and liaison for understanding what the community needs, communicating how a new development might adversely impact the online play experience, and providing—both by his own hand and with the help of several others—helpful graphics that I use when making proposals to other departments to make scenarios easier to use.

There are plenty such developments in the works, and I would like to highlight two: map tags and paperwork. I remember playing The Eternal Obelisk, a now retired Season 0 scenario, and the GM had to instruct us to ignore the big red square with a capital T on the extracted map. No matter one's ability to avoid metagaming, that's a hard piece of player knowledge to ignore. Our GM could not remove the trap marker because the map tags were directly incorporated into the map and not included as a separate layer. Savvy GMs can sometimes paint over these markers or extract them in backdoor ways, but I'd rather we make that process easier by layering things in the main product. Starting with Pathfinder Society Scenario #5–04: The Stolen Heir, all scenario maps should benefit from this treatment.

Inventory Tracking Sheets

Mike and I also hear many requests for form-fillable documents, particularly Chronicle sheets and the Inventory Tracking Sheet (ITS) included in the back of the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play. The ITS has been included in a form-fillable format and has received three important clarifications:

• Players may produce their own versions of the ITS to meet their own design preferences and character inventory needs. Any alternate ITS must contain the same types of information found on the official ITS (e.g. item, cost, Chronicle acquired, Chronicle sold, charges, etc.)
• Although a player must record purchases on the ITS, a player need not also record an itemized list of purchases on the Chronicle sheet. A simple note of "Adventuring gear purchased—see ITS" or "bucket of wands—see ITS" will suffice.
• A player is not required to record individual purchases totaling 25 gp or less on his or her ITS. This is largely to avoid having to fill an entire sheet with small, mundane purchases like chalk or torches. We politely recommend that those purchasing lots of an inexpensive item (e.g. 10 flasks of acid for 100 gp) still record that on the ITS.

Season 5 Reminders

Remember that the new scenario reporting sheet included in the back of Season 5 scenarios has four checkboxes labeled A through D. In the Conclusion section of a scenario, there will often be one or more checkbox conditions that help me to track players' decisions throughout the season and use that information to help the campaign, society, and factions to evolve over time. Not every scenario will have these cues, but most will. For example, the scenario might prompt the GM to check A if the PCs used the scroll of awaken on the giant frog, B if the PCs used the scroll of awaken on the blueberry bush, C if the PCs successfully befriended the resulting creature, and/or D if members of the Cheliax faction sealed a dark bargain with the awakened blueberry bush to create a pie of ineffable evil. As a developer I could then decide which creature to include in a future scenario and whether said creature would start out as friendly or indifferent. Furthermore, the fate of Cheliax might develop an appreciation for single-use, edible, evil artifacts.

Finally, please point participants to the faction head letters. These are clearly linked in a recent blog as well as in stickied posts in the Faction Talk subform. I've read many appeals for more clarity regarding which scenarios deal directly with which faction, and I have a few respectable ideas regarding how to publicize that scenario information without spoiling the somewhat serendipitous sense of discovery for others.

Lots more in the works,

John Compton
Developer

Monster Pets

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Thank you so much for sharing your pets with us! After receiving over 50 emails and posts, we randomly selected Tink, an adorable sugar glider, to monsterize. According to Perram, her owner, Tink has deemed certain miniatures to be hers, and will dig through bins of hundreds of minis before squirreling it away to her nest. Thanks to both Perram for offering up his pet and to Sean K. Reynolds for helping with the design. Enjoy!

KOPINAO

This timid creature has wide, almond-shaped eyes, sleek fur, and razor-sharp claws. Its long, segmented tail ends in a cruel stinger.

Kopinao CR 3

XP 800
CG Tiny magical beast
Init +4; Senses blindsense 60 ft., darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +3

DEFENSE

AC 16, touch 16, flat-footed 12 (+4 Dex, +2 size)
hp 13 (3d10–3)
Fort +2, Ref +7, Will +4

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft., fly 30 ft. (clumsy)
Melee claw +9 (1d2–4), bite +9 (1d3–4), tail slap +4 (1d3–4)
Space 2 1/2 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 5th)
 5/day—accelerate poison (DC 15), acid arrow (DC 15), glitterdust (DC 15)

STATISTICS

Str 3, Dex 19, Con 8, Int 8, Wis 16, Cha 17
Base Atk +3; CMB +5; CMD 11
Feats Agile Maneuvers, Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics +8, Climb +12, Fly +4, Perception +3, Sleight of Hand +8, Stealth +16; Swim +4; Racial Modifiers +8 Climb, +4 Sleight of Hand
Languages Common (can’t speak)
SQ compression, glide

ECOLOGY

Environment temperate or warm forests or jungles
Organization solitary
Treasure standard (see table)

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Illustration by Caeli Anna Smith

Glide (Ex) A kopinao cannot use its fly speed to hover. When flying, a kopinao must end its movement at least 5 feet lower in elevation than where it started. Poison (Ex) Sting—injury; save Fort DC 12; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1 Con and confusion 1/round; cure 1 save.

Merchants across Golarion covet the thick and colorful coats, razor-sharp claws, and potent venom of the kopinao. This makes these timid creatures subject to widespread hunting and trapping. Fortunately for kopinao, catching one is no easy task. They can climb almost any surface, wedge themselves into impossibly small spaces, and glide from tree to tree using the loose skin between their limbs. Kopinao prefer to nest in tangled treetops. They only venture from their nests to hunt for food in the dead of night, and flee at the first sign of danger. The most people ever see of a kopinao is a flash of color in the tress or the glow of luminous eyes in the firelight.

Many kopinao live along Golarion’s well-traveled forest trails. Like dragons, kopinao delight in hoarding, frequently liberating small items from those camping in their territory during their midnight hunts. A typical kopinao’s nest contains everything from bits of quartz to silk scarves to magic rings. Careless adventurers camping nearby may find their pockets growing lighter overnight.

Kopinao have a soft spot for bedraggled travelers with no treasure to call their own. Good-aligned characters in obvious need may convince a kopinao to part with some of its hoard, particularly if they have something shiny or tasty to trade. Unfortunately, kopinao have only a dim concept of how much the items in their collection are worth—trading with a kopinao can be either a tremendously lucrative or bitterly disappointing venture (at GM’s discretion).

Those lucky enough to discover a kopinao’s nest or trade with a kopinao may roll on the treasure table below.

d%	Treasure
01-05	Peacock feathers (5 gp)
06-10	Yard of silk (10 gp)
11-15	Five malachite stones (50 gp)
16-20	Four bloodstones (200 gp)
21-25	Jade armband (350 gp)
26-35	Five pieces of amber (500 gp)
36-45	Seven amethysts (700 gp)
46-55	Jeweled spyglass (900 gp)
56-65	Mithral pendant (1,250 gp)
66-75	Three black pearls (1,500 gp)
76-85	Two emeralds (1,750 gp)
86-90	Two blue star sapphires (2,000 gp)
91-93	Three fire opals (3,000 gp)
94-97	Jacinth (5,000 gp)
98-99	Ring of Protection +2 (8,000 gp)
100	Luckstone (10,000 gp)

Cassidy Werner
Editorial Intern

Pathfinder Battles Preview: Pathfinder Originals

Friday, September 6, 2013

One of my favorite things about the upcoming Legends of Golarion set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic miniatures is that it gives us a chance to focus on some creatures that are either original Pathfinder RPG creations or that came from mythology but otherwise made their debut in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.

Let's take a look!

Up first we have one of the most-demanded figures ever, the Reefclaw! This Small aquatic monster features prominently in the Pathfinder RPG Beginner Box, and with its low Challenge Rating it makes a frequent enemy for low-level parties. We finally had a chance to work it into a set, and since people want it so badly (and since they often travel in groups), we decided to make it a common!

Paizo started exploring Indian mythology early with the nation of Jalmeray in the Inner Sea World Guide and adventures like Cult of the Ebon Destroyers. The alluring Beatific One is inspired by the cover of that latter Pathfinder Module, only here she's represented at her standard Medium size. The Beatific One (also known as an upasunda asura in Bestiary 3) is a rare figure.

The Tatzlwyrm, a creature from European mythology, appeared as early as Hollow's Last Hope, which was technically one of the very first modules ever published for what would become the Pathfinder world. Since then they've cropped up in the Kingmaker Adventure Path and elsewhere, menacing low-level parties with its poison gasp. The Tatzlwyrm also appears in Bestiary 3, and we've slated it at the uncommon rarity.

Last up we have the Moon Beast, a creature that originally appeared in author H. P. Lovecraft's haunting "Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath". That hardly qualifies it as a "Paizo original," but since pretty much everyone here adores Lovecraft's work and we smoosh his monsters into our stuff at any opportunity, I'm counting it as one of ours for the time being. In any event, this figure is really, really gross. This Large figure (also in Bestiary 3) is slated at the uncommon rarity.

That's it for this week. Next week, look for preview photos of three new dragons from the just-announced Red Dragon Evolution encounter pack, plus some other fun surprises!

Until then,

Erik Mona
Publisher

Mordicai Knode Interviews Dave Gross, Part 1

Thursday, September 5, 2013

In honor of the newly released Pathfinder Tales novel King of Chaos, we've pulled out all the stops and asked noted reviewer Mordicai Knode to do a new interview with Dave Gross, the author behind Count Jeggare and Radovan, two of the most beloved characters in the Pathfinder universe!

In 2010, Mordicai Knode was the first person to post a review of Prince of Wolves after galleys went out at the American Book Association in New York. Since then he has written a comprehensive review of the first three Radovan and the Count novels as well as the very first review of King of Chaos at tor.com.

Despite Dave trotting across North America in order to sign books and speak on panels at shows like Gen Con and Worldcon, Mordicai managed to track him down via email. Here's what they had to say...

Let's get this started with a chicken or the egg question: Who came first in your imagination, Radovan or Varian?

Yes.

The story sketch that became "Hell's Pawns," a serial novella originally appearing in the Council of Thieves Adventure Path, was based on a pitch I'd previously sent another editor a few years earlier. He took eight months to respond and then quietly vanished from said publisher, so the story sketch lingered in my ideas folder. Since that pitch centered on a noble figure that later became Varian, you could argue that he came first.

However, for Pathfinder I reworked the outline both to set it in Golarion and to freshen it up. At that stage I'd decided to tell the story from two alternating points of view, but when I began outlining I realized I had room enough for only one. Taking the Holmes and Watson stories as a model, I decided it was more interesting to tell the tale from the POV of the assistant rather than the detective.

And then, because I'd been watching a lot of film noir the previous month and felt a tough-guy sensibility worked well in the capital city of Cheliax, I adopted the attitude of a hard-boiled antihero for Radovan.

Thus, the existence of a character like Varian came first (and in fact, Varian might have been his name in the previous incarnation), but the tone and personality of Radovan came together before I fleshed out the count.

Were there any interesting variations in the characters as you shaped them? Was Radovan always part-devil, was Varian always a half-elf who threw up when he tried to cast a spell? Did they go through versions and drafts where they were profoundly different, or did they step fully formed onto the page, like Howard and Conan?

Varian was always an armchair wizard, although the exact nature of his disability evolved after "Hell's Pawns" when I first started conceiving Prince of Wolves. Other details, like Varian's and Radovan's mutual worship of Desna, or Lady Luck, were seeds I planted toward a vague end that started taking shape when I outlined the first novel.

From the start, I wanted both Varian and Radovan to be of mixed parentage. In pitch stage, Radovan was a half-orc with a vaguely East Asian name. James Sutter told me there was another half-orc in the works for Pathfinder fiction and suggested I make my character what we now call a hellspawn. Hell-wrought half-breeds are more common in Cheliax, where devils have supplemented the human legions for the past few generations. Of course, being perverse, I decided that, while Radovan was hellspawn, he wasn't descended from a devil in Cheliax.

When it came to the name, when James suggested a Tian (Pathfinder's equivalent of Asian) name was a bit too unusual for Cheliax, I went to one of my other favorite cultural analogs: the Ustalavs, similar to Eastern Europeans. Radovan was not the first name I considered, but the moment I typed it, I knew it was right for the character.

The secret of Radovan's ancestry was just a vague idea when I was writing "Hell's Pawns," but by the time I was outlining Prince of Wolves, I had generated a few pages of notes about the centuries preceding his birth. His secrets have been coming out one big blossom at a time in these four novels. I keep a growing secret timeline and notes for future revelations. With what's revealed in Queen of Thorns and King of Chaos, Varian is starting to catch up with Radovan in terms of learning, "What is wrong with me?!"

There is sometimes a sort of anachronistic sense of humor in your work, along with fairly contemporary attitudes among your characters. To me it seems like you excel at being inspired by things outside the usual fantasy tropes of elves and knights—things like grindhouse wuxia movies or Universal horror films—and translating them plausibly into your ostensibly fantasy stories. Do you see yourself writing in a very narrow subgenre of your own creation? Who else do you think hits the same sweet spot? (I have in mind Alex Bledsoe's Eddie LaCrosse series, personally.)

"Anachronistic" always strikes me as a funny word to apply to an alternate world. Sure, there are some striking similarities between many of Golarion's cultures and those of the real world, but the stories aren't taking place in our past.

Still, I get what you mean. Some readers think fantasy occurs only in Middle-Ages or Renaissance Britain. I like to choose dialect and tone to suit a character or a region of the setting. For instance, Radovan, as a lower-class Chelaxian, speaks with a kind of low-class, pulp-era attitude, while Varian wouldn't seem out of place if he walked onto the set of Downton Abbey. I try to make the elves look and sound different from the crusaders without making them all sound like some near-variation of Tolkien's creations.

As for bringing in non-standard-fantasy influences, I'm not anywhere close to the first writer to do that. I think it's been in fantasy since the beginning, but the popularity of the Tolkienesque model makes us forget they exist. The writer who first opened my eyes to a different model for fantasy was Roger Zelazny, whose Corwin of Amber was, I believe, partly inspired by the Travis McGee novels of John D. McDonald.

Also, I just like to write about the stuff I love, which in addition to fantasy adventure includes things like classic horror films, wuxia movies, and detective fiction. I like dogs, so there's a dog. I like jokes, so there are jokes. And while I'm not a violent person, I enjoy action scenes, both the swashbuckling ones and the gritty ones that make you sick of fighting.

Once on a convention panel, one of my colleagues suggested that blending genres—like humor and horror in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series—was a recent trend. I noted Abbot and Costello meet Frankenstein, as well as Bob Hope in Ghost Breakers, and that was enough to persuade him that we've been crossing the streams for ages in film, but it's been with us in all art forever. This idea of keeping a genre "pure" seems like a recent invention of booksellers who want to keep the shelves organized, made worse by sales and marketing people who want to focus on narrow categories to make their jobs easier and maximize sales.

Part of the reason I love Asian movies, and many other movies made outside of Hollywood, is that they so often don't obey the one-genre rule. The closest I've come to a "regular" fantasy novel is probably Queen of Thorns, although King of Chaos is also not as noticeably stream-crossing as the first two books.

You write about Varian and Radovan in a number of different formats—serialized in printed adventures, ebook novellas, online serials, and plain old-fashioned novels—and they are all fully integrated into your stories. Kasiya, the mummified vampire antagonist of King of Chaos, originally appeared in "A Lesson in Taxonomy" online, for instance. How do you approach the different formats, and how do you see your writing evolving in response to it?

Foremost in my mind is the importance of keeping the stories independent of each other. It might be fun to read them chronologically (except "A Lesson in Taxonomy"—don't read that one first), but the scheme is that you can come into the setting and the characters from any one of those doors. Frankly, I think some are more successful at that than others. To new readers I tend to recommend Prince of Wolves, since it's a solid foundation for both the characters and the setting. Still, although you'd be coming in on the fourth "season," you should be able to start with any of the short fiction or novellas, and now especially King of Chaos, and not feel lost.

The short stories are the most difficult and in some ways the most rewarding of the stories. I always find myself stripping away subplots and details I wanted to include but couldn't without muddling a short piece with too much incident.

I much prefer the room allowed in a novella or novel, in part because I love subplots and small character moments that don't at first seem relevant to the story, but when you look back at them, you go, "Oh!"

After writing a short story, I always feel energized to write a better single chapter in the next novel. While the novels aren't a series of short stories, I admire the way George R.R. Martin makes so many of the chapters in his Song of Ice and Fire such strong, stand-alone stories, even when he leaves them on a cliffhanger. I am certainly moving toward emulating that structure as I go forward.

Have you decided what posterity should call the series? "Radovan and the Count"? "Varian and Radovan?"

While I prefer "Radovan and the Count" for I don't know why, I also use R&J or R&V for shorthand. My editor, James Sutter, tends to use Varian and Radovan or vice versa. I don't know that it's important, but I tend to leave off Radovan's surname because it's a plot point in Prince of Wolves.

If you could send Radovan and the Count to any non-Pathfinder setting, what would you pick? Extra points for increasing specificity!

Now there's a question I've never considered before. Let's immediately disqualify any of the nascent settings I've been sketching out for original work.

The boys would fit in very well to Leiber's Nehwon or Zelazny's Amber, I bet. And they wouldn't be entirely out of place in the Forgotten Realms. Now I wonder whether they'd be a natural fit for the Iron Kingdoms.

Because I've chosen areas in Golarion in part because of their resemblance to real-world locations (Ustalav as Eastern Europe, Tian Xia as Asia, Cheliax as imperial/infernal Rome), a very loose historical setting might work, although for some reason that one seems weirder than the near-fits of other fantasy worlds. Maybe it's because of the high level of magic the boys have encountered in Golarion.

So, Dave, what is the craziest thing you've ever done as "research" for a book?

While it doesn't seem crazy to me, my wife's eyes still bulge when I mention the 140 kung fu movies I watched or re-watched before, during, and long after writing Master of Devils. Fortunately, a surprising number of them are good, and an even larger number were cheap.

From another angle, the craziest thing I've done is learning a 10-year-old setting over a period of just a few months. Granted, I had a lot of help and handholding, but that's the one that felt like walking a high wire over a pit of fast-zombie tigers.

Do you consider Radovan and the Count to be "gaining levels" as the books progress? It's a very high-level world, but as they go along in their stories—learning more about their abilities, and picking up new tricks—it seems that they are getting more capable, and more organic. Does that meta-fiction constraint, of experience and levels, factor in to your mental calculus for the characters?

The short answer to your question is "yes."

But remember that they're both gaining and losing levels, learning new abilities and losing some because of "reasons." You're right to call that an instance of meta-fiction, but it's not always a constraint. Sometimes the Paizo developers and editors let me explore new directions with the rules, as long as there's a story reason for it that still connects to the magic "physics" by story logic.

For instance, the whole business of Radovan's journey in Master of Devils brings him to a truly frightening level of physical threat, but all he wants is to be free of the thing that gives him that power. The outcome of that journey haunts him in Queen of Thorns and makes him look back on his brutal upbringing. Sometimes the thing he hates the most is what he's been taught to be, what he's "built for."

Likewise with Count Jeggare's magical "disability." In game terms, there's no reason he shouldn't be able to cast spells, but I proposed a reason for his problem to James Sutter very early on. In King of Chaos, I finally get to reveal why he's been handicapped all these decades. But if you know the character, you can already imagine some of the psychological obstacles he'll to continue to face even though he seems at last to understand the true nature of his magical ability.

If I can use the game mechanics to reflect a character's internal conflict, that's what I try to do.

Conan winds up on the throne. We all know that; we know that even when we read Conan stories from when he was a pirate or a thief or a mercenary. Do you know the eventual fate of the Count and Radovan?

No.

That said, I have a ridiculous number of story ideas cluttering my head, some of them focusing on the boys, but others featuring some of the secondary characters from their novels. There are experiences I want each of them to have, tests I'd like to see them face, losses they need to suffer... and, to be perfectly honest, also some Golarion-shaking events I'd like them to be a part of if and when the time comes that the shepherds of the world are ready to release that particular catastrophe and will invite me to put the boys into play.

I've shared a short wish list of these events with James Sutter, James Jacobs, and Wes Schneider. One day maybe I'll get an email that begins, "You know how you said you'd like to write something involving the return of REDACTED or a war between REDACTED and REDACTED? That time is nigh!"

Dave Gross recently launched a new website at www.bydavegross.com. There you can read the second part of this interview as well as the beginning of a Radovan & the Count retrospective. Don't forget to sign up for the free newsletter and a chance to receive free books.

Mordicai Knode lives in Brooklyn, where he runs campaigns involving generation ships haunted by vampires, samurai addicted to the spice mélange, and Neanderthals instead of orcs. He writes for Tor.com, most in a series exploring Appendix N, Advanced Readings in DandD. You can find him on Twitter and Tumblr.

The Fencing Master

by Dave Gross

Chapter One: The First Duel

Several onlookers cursed the driver as he forced the Red Carriage into their midst, but the crowd parted. My footman opened the door, and I stepped out.

The common folk lowered their heads. They muttered "My lord" with varying degrees of resentment. Fortunately, none required the intercession of my footman, whose slight frame and timid demeanor made him a poor substitute for my recently deceased bodyguard.

I moved forward for a better view of the duel.

Within the crowd stood a circle of eight swordsmen, all but one pressing kerchiefs to fresh wounds. The uninjured man appeared three decades older than the others, a swatch of gray at either brow. The fencing master was of a height with me, placing him a few inches above the younger men. Unlike his curious pupils, he did not turn at my arrival. His gaze was locked upon the duelists inside the ring.

One was a Varisian, native to the region, the other Chelaxian, like my mother. Neither had yet seen twenty years.

A week's stubble obscured a fresh snake tattoo wreathing the Varisian's head. Its design marked him as Sczarni, one of his people's criminal class. He glanced at me, and the tip of his small sword drooped. The trident dagger in his other hand wavered.

His opponent beat his blade out of line, lunged, and pricked the man's scalp before he could retreat. The wound left a red tear beneath the serpent's eye.

The Sczarni retreated, hissing as he restored his guard.

"Yield?" The young Chelaxian smiled with such insolence that only a craven could accept. He raised his chin, whipping his bravo's topknot like a flag.

The Sczarni danced to the left, circling in the fashion of a knife-fighter. The flashy maneuver had several weaknesses, I noted, not the least of which was that the quick steps made him vulnerable to a sudden rush.

The Chelaxian also saw the error.

With startling swiftness, he advanced and feinted a lunge. Caught mid-step, the Varisian faltered, but a wild parry saved him from the true attack. Before he could close his dagger to capture his opponent's blade, the Chelaxian had already sidestepped to attack the Sczarni's exposed right. The Sczarni tumbled across the cobblestones. He rolled and came up on both feet, gasping at a wound where had rolled over his own trident dagger.

"Is that two for me or one touch for both of us?" The Chelaxian laughed. "I can never keep track of your Sczarni rules."

Anger twisted the Sczarni's features. He assumed a knifeman's stance, presenting his chest to the foe, bringing his dagger hand forward. It was the worst possible posture for a sword duel, especially when facing an opponent with greater reach.

The Chelaxian knew it, but he also saw murder in the Sczarni's eyes. His mirth vanished as he assumed the classic guard position. From that instant, the outcome was obvious even to the untrained eye.

"Enough," said the fencing master. He raised a hand to indicate the victor.

As the Chelaxian turned to salute his fencing master, the Sczarni began to do the same. Then the trembling of his lips spread rage across his face. He lunged.

The Chelaxian reacted before I could shout a warning, but his master moved first. In a single swift motion he drew his blade and leaped. The point of his rapier pierced the Sczarni's wrist and thrust his attack out of line. An instant later, the Chelaxian struck the sword out of his weakened grip. Before the Sczarni could raise his trident dagger, the master struck it from his hand and slapped his face.

"Leave us," said the master.

"But master—" Tears glistened in the Sczarni's eyes.

Before the offending student could utter his protest, the instructor raised his left hand, palm outward, fingers to the right, hiding the Sczarni's face from his view.

The Sczarni paled at the gesture. Like the sign of the evil eye, it was as familiar to the Chelish citizens of Korvosa as it was to all Varisian people. Such a banishment was as irrefutable as it was irrevocable.

Leaving his weapons on the street, the defeated student turned away. At first he walked with slow pride, but as his shame consumed him, his pace quickened until he ran through the crowd, shoving aside those who moved too slowly.

The Chelaxian student's gaze sank to the street, his posture of triumph dissolving into an embarrassed slump. I recalculated my estimation of his age. He had yet to fill out his adult weight, and whiskers had not yet darkened his cheeks. While he carried himself like a man during a duel, he was perhaps closer to fifteen than twenty. He turned toward his master, but the man ignored him and approached me.

"Your Excellency, I beg you to pardon us for this disgraceful display." He bowed with the Korvosan flourish in vogue when we had first met, twenty years earlier.

I returned the courtesy, despite the disparity of our ranks. "No fault of yours, Master Raneiro. Not all students are worthy of their teachers."

"No," he agreed, with a glance at the victorious bravo. "This one's own father cast him out of his fencing school. He has some talent, but he cannot still his tongue."

The younger man had enough shame to blush, but he covered it with a deep bow toward me. "Your Excellency."

"You quarreled with your father?"

When the young man hesitated to answer, Master Raneiro said, "A political disagreement."

Thinking of the father I had never met and the mother I had lost far too soon, I fixed my eye upon the boy. "You should make peace with your father. One day your quarrels will weigh lightly against his absence."

He frowned, but before he answered, Raneiro caught his eye. Whatever else had been upon his tongue, what he said was, "Yes, Your Excellency." Despite the bravado he showed his opponent, he knew his place before a lord of Cheliax.

For his deference, I decided to reward him with an anecdote. "When I first studied under Master Raneiro, there was another student who quarreled with—"

An eagle's screech scattered the crowd. The buffeting wind from a pair of enormous wings lifted the awning of a nearby shop. A shadow passed over us an instant before the hippogriff landed upon the nearest roof. The impact startled a trio of imps out of the chimney. They trailed a few hectic circles of yellow smoke before correcting course and fleeing back toward the Acadamae.

The hippogriff's wings beat to steady its talons on the slope. Dislodged tiles slid off the eaves and shattered on the street. Despite the tumult, a practiced rider sat easily in the winged mount's saddle. He favored me with a jaunty salute. "Count Jeggare!"

"Captain Ornelos, have you been reduced to patrolling the streets of Korvosa?"

Laughing, the captain guided his mount to drop off of the roof. "Only at the behest of Lady Seraphina," he laughed. "After the unfortunate incident with your bodyguard—what was his name? Rad— Ru—?"

"Rudolfo."

"That's it. Poor fellow just couldn't hold his wine. Pity he chose the wrong wine house. Anyway, Lady Seraphina commanded me to ensure your safe arrival at tonight's ceremony."

"Commanded you?" A captain of the Sable Company answered only to his commandant, and the commandant only to the Seneschal of Castle Korvosa. Not even Queen Domina could interject herself into the chain of command.

"Commands me, most surely," said Ornelos. "In the manner of all beautiful women."

Beside me, where he had no right to stand, the young bravo chuckled. "It's a truth universally recognized that a beautiful woman commands all men."

Ornelos smiled upon the man, but the interjection annoyed me. There was no sign of nobility in the bravo's clothing. His speech was fair enough, but it could not conceal his common origins. A man of his station had no right to intrude upon an exchange between a captain of the Sable Company and a count of Cheliax.

To Ornelos I replied, "Please reassure Lady Seraphina that I have visited this district both to pay my respects to my old fencing master and to employ a new bodyguard."

The bravo cocked his head, considering the implications. In truth, despite my initially favorable impression of his swordplay, my hopes of finding a suitable man had sunk since he spoke out of turn.

Vencarlo has the worst kind of arrogance—the kind backed up with real skill.

Reading my expression, Ornelos said, "I could recommend a dozen better candidates. Former Sable men, handy with a sword."

Before I could reply, the bravo spoke. "I beg you to send them here," he said. "I have damaged all my fellows and could use fresh sport."

Ornelos scoffed. "My men don't brawl with street ruffians."

The bravo grinned at the implied challenge, but before he could speak, Master Raneiro stepped toward Captain Ornelos. "Do you suggest that I train brawlers, sir?"

Doubt clouded Orenlos's face as he recognized Raneiro's tone. The fencing master was a proud man. He had trained a generation of the city's finest duelists, albeit in the streets rather than in a school. While it might prove instructional for all present to see him duel Captain Ornelos, such an altercation would ultimately harm both men.

"Master Raneiro, please disregard my friend Fedele's unfortunate choice of words."

Raneiro glanced at me, noting my own careful phrasing. He could not challenge a friend of mine without offering offense to me. I harbored no illusion that he feared either my station or my skill at the blade. I set my hope for peace upon our friendship.

For an airless moment, neither man spoke. Captain Fedele Ornelos shifted atop his hippogriff, his legs uncomfortable at rest in the aerial saddle. I raised my eyebrow to prompt him.

"Yes, yes, of course I meant no offense to the estimable fencing master." He hesitated, and for a moment I feared his pride would outweigh his diplomacy. "Please forgive me, Master Raneiro."

With a nod, Raneiro accepted the apology.

With the silent invisibility of superb servants, my footman had erected a small folding table. Upon it rested an opened bottle from one of my western estates, along with two goblets. Anticipating my unspoken desire, the footman produced a third vessel by the prestidigitation unique to his class. When he felt my approving eyes upon him, he almost succeeded in concealing his hope. He knew he could not rise to the position of butler in my household, where I employed only halflings, but he also knew that the butlers of four noble houses had been hired upon my recommendation.

At my nod, the footman poured the wine. It was a deep purple vintage Raneiro favored, a blend of several grapes and, frankly, not one of my finest. Yet he so enjoyed this particular wine that I paid the proprietors of several Korvosan wine houses to keep it in stock for the master's exclusive consumption, always free of charge. No matter the street or plaza on which the wandering master found himself teaching, he would find a drink at the end of the day.

Ornelos disengaged himself from his hippogriff's saddle and joined us. I raised my cup and uttered Korvosa's motto: "Fidelity and strength."

As we three drank the toast, the bravo lingered, eyeing the rapier at my side. He noted the calluses on my hand and studied my posture. He recognized a fellow duelist, and in the furrow of his brow I saw his questions.

"I need a man to watch my back, to mingle with the other servants and report their gossip. And, if it comes to it, a man who can hold his own in a fight."

"But you can fight," said the bravo. It was not quite a question. "Even with its jeweled guard, that blade is no mere ornament."

"Would you care for a demonstration?" I turned to Raneiro. "With your permission, Master?"

"By all means, Excellency." He stepped back, signaling his other students to re-form the dueling circle. In seconds, the onlookers returned in even greater numbers than before.

The bravo hesitated. "Do I have Your Excellency's word that I shall not be arrested for wounding you?"

"We shall not fence to first blood." I showed my footman the sign. He had prepared this demonstration before.

Removing my sword belt, I drew the blade and handed the scabbard to Ornelos.

"You can't seriously mean to fence in the street with this..." With a glance at Master Raneiro, Ornelos he chose his next word with care. "...youth."

"If not to first blood..." The bravo trailed off as the footman handed him a goblet full to the brim.

Accepting my own goblet from the footman, I assumed a guard stance. "The first to spill a drop must concede defeat. If you prevail, I shall give you this blade. And if I triumph, you must serve as my bodyguard for the next three days."

The bravo's smile widened as he found a balance between sheltering the goblet and holding his guard. "An excellent test. I accept!"

"Before we begin, tell me your name."

"Of course, Your Excellency." He cradled the goblet in two fingers as he bowed. "Vencarlo Orisini, at your service."

Coming Next Week: Mystery and danger in old Korvosa in Chapter Two of "The Fencing Master" by Dave Gross!

Dave Gross's adventures of Count Jeggare (often also featuring his hellspawn bodyguard Radovan) include the Pathfinder Tales novels Prince of Wolves, Master of Devils, Queen of Thorns, and King of Chaos; the novellas "Husks" and "Hell's Pawns"; and the short stories "A Lesson in Taxonomy," "A Passage to Absalom," "Killing Time," and "The Lost Pathfinder," all available at paizo.com/pathfindertales. He also co-wrote the Pathfinder Tales novel Winter Witch with Elaine Cunningham, and has written novels for the Forgotten Realms and Iron Kingdoms, as well as short stories for such anthologies as Tales of the Far West and Shotguns v. Cthulhu. Dave is the former editor of magazines ranging from Dragon to Star Wars Insider to Amazing Stories, and was a writer for Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition. For more information, visit bydavegross.com.

Illustration by Ian Llanas

Brimorak Attack!

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Illustration by Wayne Reynolds

Illustration by Tyler Walpole

As first illustrated in Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Book of the Damned—Volume 2: Lords of Chaos the brimorak looked terrifying, but seeing them alone without any perspective it's easy to forget that these fiery demons stand about waist-high to a human. However, in this cover illustration by Wayne Reynolds it doesn't look like the brimoraks are letting their short stature get in their way of taking on the iconics.

In this volume of the Wrath of the Righteous Adventure Path, "Sword of Valor," Neil Spicer brings you the second adventure in the campaign. In this adventure, the PCs are commanded to lead an army north into the Worldwound to retake the lost city of Drezen and reclaim the magical Sword of Valor. If the PCs are successful in their siege and they defeat the citadel's protectors, perhaps they can recover one of the crusade's greatest artifacts and turn the tide of battle.

Also, it's been mentioned before that each volume's Pathfinder Bestiary contains stats for a different demon lord, and this month's Abyssal ruler is none other than Shax, weighing in at CR 28. (My response after seeing Shax's illustration come in was, "Knives, knives, knives, knives, knives, knives, knives!") Don't worry, the PCs won't have to face him in the adventure. The same can't be said of other demon lords featured in the future.

Adam Daigle
Developer