Meet the Iconics: Shardra Geltl

Thursday, July 31, 2014

Today we introduce the next of the new iconic characters from the Advanced Class Guide: Shardra the shaman. Shardra will also be a playable character in the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Wrath of the Righteous set due for release in February 2015.

Illustration by Wayne Reynolds

It's a sorry lot for a proud dwarven daughter to be raised a miserable dwarven son, but everyone receives one lot in life, and Shardra Geltl never knew to expect better. Childhood was kind, her sisters loved her, her brother protected her, and always she had the whispers of tools and books to keep her company. Adolescence, though, came bearing heavy burdens. Her siblings moved on with their own lives, replaced by harsh teachers and taskmasters. She weathered a staggeringly awkward first kiss as her childhood best friend grew into a handsome lad, followed by a painful arranged engagement to a lovely girl from the neighboring Dechl clan. But the mines and refinery of Xolgrit fed the war machine of Rolgrimmdur far above, and militant efficiency demanded all citizen-soldiers accept and excel in their roles, no matter how miserable.

But Shardra still had the whispers to keep her company on lonely nights.

Books quipped bits and pieces of their tales, bowls jabbered gossip shared over breakfast, and picks stammered the poems of the rocks they clove. And while the odds and ends of Xolgrit kept her company, the stones of the Old Road, carved long ago by dwarves still hunting for the sky, sang legends. More and more often, the shy dwarf slipped away to wander the crumbling paths, learning the deeds of her ancestors away from the clamor of duty and expectation. She assumed the whispers were her friends, there to keep her safe and offer respite from the dull ache of life. Then one "trustworthy" stone crumbled beneath her feet, dropping her into darkness.

The fall was short. Her arm met stone with a wet crunch, but the ache from the shattered bone faded away as the whispers rose in deafening song. All around stretched an ancient cavern. Hot springs bubbled across its floor, while mosaics and beaten gold masks decorated the walls. Mundane beasts and fantastic creatures wandered past, unperturbed by her presence.

A single tuatara waddled forward as she cradled her limb. It borrowed a tongue from the whispers and spoke. "What are you?"

"I—" She opened her mouth to speak, borrowing too from those old, quiet chants. And although the whispers had a word for all things in creation, they had no words for the expectations of others. "I don't know."

From that day on, the whispers poured themselves through Shardra's reptilian friend, speaking louder and more clearly with a mouth to form the words. She soon named the creature Kolo—an old dwarven word for the beauty in everyday things—and told Kolo of Xolgrit and Rolgrimmdur, and of the beauty of the stars in the night sky, and how to tell past and present and future apart. And Kolo taught her how to speak to spirits and borrow their favor to mend her broken bones, and of dwarven faith from long before they mingled their worship with the deities of the surface world. It taught her how to glean deeper secrets from the artifacts of the dead, and how to greet the Ladies of Crag and Ember—powerful elementals who laid claim to the hot springs and the surrounding tunnels. Most precious of all, Kolo taught her of the rivethun—dwarves who drew great power by embracing the disjunction between their bodies and souls—and she learned to brew the alchemical tinctures her past sisters used to quiet the rages of adolescence and bring their minds and bodies into harmony.

As Shardra's mystical skills and budding femininity began to show, her parents lamented their loss of a son and the addition of yet another dowry. Their irritation changed to joy as their daughter's dealings with the spirit world guided Xolgrit's miners to rich new veins of ore and long-lost treasure troves. The Geltl clan's fortunes reversed as Shardra's confidence, skills, and womanhood blossomed, and eventually clans from Xolgrit and beyond offered handsome brideprices.

Shardra's gifts attracted more than suitors, however. Lonely spirits and treasure hunters alike came to Xolgrit hoping to profit by the young shaman's insight. Neither settled peacefully into the community's rigid order. The string of lootings, possessions, drunken brawls, hauntings, and soured beer drew the attention of Rolgrimmdur, and the city-state dispatched a squad of soldiers—under the command of Captain Itcel Dechl—to put down the ragtag mercenary gangs squatting in town. Shardra herself turned her magic on its source, driving the spirit invaders back to the hot spring and demanding the Ladies of Crag and Ember keep their subjects under control.

Unsatisfied by her easy victory over a band of drunken thugs and grave robbers, Captain Dechl and her soldiers traced Shardra's path through the Old Roads, and eventually claimed the sacred shrine (and the wealth covering its walls) as a cultural treasure for Rolgrimmdur. The elemental Ladies raged at the presumption, swearing in turn to reduce Xolgrit to rubble. Both sides declared the dwarf maiden a traitor and cast her aside as they charged into battle. Shardra lashed out, seizing control of an earth elemental and using its might to collapse the ancient shrine.

With nothing left to fight over, the opposing armies fled.

Lacking any evidence of Shardra's actions but burning with frustration, Dechl used what remained of her authority to accuse the spirit-talker of heresy. Although friends and family staunchly defended her innocence, Shardra took the allegations as a chance to act on plans that had grown increasingly tempting. She left Xolgrit and her tutors, childhood friends, and family by paths only the stones remembered. Shardra reached the surface a guarded but curious woman, more interested in stories of the long dead than the bickering of the living. With Kolo the crag tuatara at her shoulder, Shardra now wanders the world, uncovering lost treasure and listening to the tales it has to tell. Permanent ties still chafe, even ones as shallow as a favor owed or an unpaid tavern bill, but her heart softens toward any who wander. Despite her love of the world's vast mysteries, a small part of the shaman yearns for the joy and companionship she once felt with her sisters, and Shardra corresponds with her family often, ever watchful for any discovery that might provide an excuse to write or visit her distant, glittering home.

Crystal Frasier
Contributor

Think Different: A Look at Some Changes to the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Apologies in advance, as this blog entry is going to get a bit arcane. No, I don't mean it's not rechargeable by a Divine spellcaster—I mean this article is meant for Pathfinder Adventure Card Game rules enthusiasts. I'm going to define the differences between the PACG rules a year ago and the ones we have now, possibly in excruciating detail. You've been warned.

When we set out to design the new Skull & Shackles sets and the Class Decks, we had heard many players pointing out ways our game could improve. We were faced with a fork in the road. Choosing Path One meant leaving everything alone and forging ahead with what we had created as is. That was the path of least resistance, requiring very little explanation, but keeping in place some things that were confusing about our game. Choosing Path Two required us to change those things and explain them in a blog like this one. I think you folks are good enough pathfinders that you know which one we picked.

So, yeah, some things are going to look a little different from now on. These are not the kinds of things we're going to issue errata for; everything works pretty much the same as it did in Rise of the Runelords. But the new cards will look just a bit different. Here are some of the highlights.

To start out, let's look at two versions of the weapon Longbow: the first one is from Rise of the Runelords, and the second is from the Ranger Class Deck.

There are some minor differences here. The first is the replacement of the phrase "roll your Dexterity or Ranged die" with "use your Dexterity or Ranged skill." In Skull & Shackles, "skill" always refers to your base die (say, a d8) plus any skill feats or bonuses you might have. If Harsk is using the Longbow with Ranged: Dexterity d8+2, and he has two +1 skill feats in Dexterity, his Ranged skill is d8+4. The concept of the "unmodified" die is also gone: when we say "die" now, we always mean just the die. So if Harsk is using the Longbow, and he has Strength: d6 and one +1 skill feat in Strength, adding the Strength die to his Ranged skill means he adds the d6 and ignores the feat, just as before. The wording is more specific, but the math hasn't changed at all.

A subtler change on the card is replacing the word "a" with "any" in the last power. This makes it a bit more clear that it applies to checks other than your own.

Okay, now for a couple of spells. Here's the Runelords version of Force Missile and the new one from the Wizard Class Deck.

There are two big changes here. Most visibly, the recharge box is gone. Players seemed to get confused by the recharge box, including figuring out when to apply that power, so we built the recharge power into the powers box. With luck, people won't be baffled by that any more.

Reading the text, you'll note that the power no longer tells you to apply the Force trait. That's because this rule is clearly stated in the rulebook:

Some cards may allow you to replace the required skill for a check with a different one. As part of this action, you may play only 1 card or use only 1 power that defines the skill you are going to use. When you play a card that does this, add that card's traits to the check.

So Force Missile still adds the Force trait to your combat check (along with the Magic, Arcane, Attack, and Basic traits)—it just doesn't spell it out in a way that suggests it's somehow different from those other traits.

Now let's compare two scary ladies: the Hook Mountain Hag from "The Hook Mountain Massacre" and the Sea Hag from the Skull & Shackles Base Set.

In Runelords, things that happened "before the encounter" really happened during the encounter, after you had a chance to evade the card. In Skull & Shackles, there’s a new step called "acting," which includes everything that happens after you choose not to evade a card up until the encounter is resolved. Things can happen before you act, while you act, and after you act. Here’s the rulebook text on the "before you act" step.

Apply Any Effects That Happen Before You Act. If any powers on the card you're encountering happen before you act, they take effect at this time. You may also use powers or cards that state they can be used before you act.

Another change here is replacing the phrase "spells with the Attack trait" with "spells that have the Attack trait." The meaning of "with" was not clear enough: did it mean you couldn't play a spell that itself had the Attack trait, or did it mean you couldn't play a spell in conjunction with any card that gave the Attack trait to the check? The new wording makes it clear that the intent is the former.

A side note on henchman cards: The rule about henchmen automatically allowing you to close a location after you defeat one is gone from the rulebook. If a henchman allows you to close the location when it's defeated, it says so in its power; if not, it doesn't. (I expect you won't like the ones that don't. They're called Curses, and we'll leave them for another day.)

Here are two boons: the ally Jakardros Sovark from "The Hook Mountain Massacre" and the item Ring of the Beasts from "The Wormwood Mutiny".

In Runelords, you'd occasionally see a card that helped a combat check "against" a monster. That term "against" was never defined, but it benefited from some definition, because it could also apply to checks of other sorts. Now, the new phrase "check against a card" applies to any check the card mandates. The rule is:

If a card refers to a check against another card, that refers to any check required by that card, whether it's a check to defeat, a check to acquire, a check to recharge, or any other check.

Here's the Collapsed Ceiling, a card I kinda wish we didn't put in Runelords, because it needed rules support that the game did not provide. That's been solved, so you'll see a lot of cards like Goose in the Rigging from "The Wormwood Mutiny".

It was frustrating not to be able to answer all the questions associated with Collapsed Ceiling. For example, it wasn't clear what happened when you had two faceup cards on the deck or when something suggested you shuffle one of them into the deck. The Skull & Shackles rules now tell you how to handle cards like this.

Faceup Cards: Sometimes a card is left faceup on the top of the location deck (for example, most barriers with the Task trait work this way). The card is still in the deck, but it can only be shuffled into the deck when the condition that caused it to be left faceup on the deck has been resolved. If such a card tells you that you must encounter it on your first exploration on a turn, then after that exploration, ignore it for the purpose of additional explorations that turn; however, it still counts as the top card of the deck for any other purpose. If multiple cards are left faceup on the same deck, you may place them in any order and encounter them in that order.

Finally, let's look at one of the most bizarre cards in Runelords: the Runeforged Weapons loot card from "Sins of the Saviors".

You see that word SPECIAL? You see it twice on the card? Protip: That's a sign that a game designer hasn't made up his mind what he's doing. This card quite honestly had no idea what it was. That's because we designed it before we had the rules tech to make it work. But now we do. If Skull & Shackles had existed before Runelords, Runeforged Weapons would certainly have been a support card. Support cards are a new type of card that's neither bane nor boon. We talked about them in our last Skull & Shackles preview; basically, their job is to sit on the table and affect the game. This is what Runeforged Weapons might look like if it was issued today.

We've also made a number of less obvious changes to the rulebook—reorganizing things and rewriting things—that make it clearer and easier to use than the Rise of the Runelords rulebook. We recommend that you use it as your main rules reference even if you're still playing Rise of the Runelords—just ignore all that stuff about ships.

Download the Skull & Shackles Rulebook PDF here! — (6.2 MB zip/PDF)

Mike Selinker
Pathfinder Adventure Card Game Designer

Queen Sacrifice

by Steven Savile

Chapter Three: The City Under No Stars

Caron braced herself against the uneven rock, staring down at an impossible sight.

She didn't know what she'd expected to find down here—some rat-infested lair, a warren of caves with dripping stalactites, lichen smeared walls, maybe a subterranean river winding through the cavernous space, but not this. Not what looked like the foundations of... of what? She stared down at what looked like some monstrous outpost and for the first time since stepping into the darkness was truly terrified.

Spires of stone rose toward what should have been the sky, the twisted columns supporting the overbearing weight of the cavern's roof. Lights burned in a few windows, like tears on the face of the rock walls where the oil burners lit the workplace. She watched as dozens of shadows swarmed over the scaffolds like ants. She knew where the children had gone; they hadn't been slaughtered for food, but were being used as slave labor down here, worked until they dropped, useless. Only then would they become meat for the shadow men.

It was all of her worst nightmares brought to horrific life.

The pit opened up as it descended, its circumference growing wider and wider as the shaft plunged all the way down into the depths. It was cold, too, colder than she'd ever imagined possible with no wind.

The air was dead in her lungs.

She was still above the outpost, looking down on the slack-skinned slaves as they worked mindlessly carving the stones, lifting, carrying until their knees buckled and the inevitable moment when the shadow men fell upon them. Somewhere among them was Caleb. She prayed that he was, like she'd never prayed for anything before in her life. The fact that they needed the slaves meant she had a chance of fulfilling her promise to her husband.

She crept closer, working her way down.

More than once she had the unshakeable feeling she was being watched.

From one of these openings she caught sight of something glinting; something that could have been a pair of eyes.

The opening was barely wide enough for her to climb inside—not that she wanted to.

She tried not to think about it.

The noises from below grew louder the further she descended, the sound of metal against stone echoing up around her toward the surface. It wasn't fighting she'd heard; it was the sound of industry.

Now she was sure something was watching her as she descended.

Whatever it was, it had to be smaller than the shadow men, but that didn't mean it was any less dangerous.

Caron pressed herself tight against the rock, feeling sharp edges dig into her back, and waited for a moment, no more than an arm's length from the opening.

Another flurry of dust and grit slid from the edge.

She moved quickly, trusting that she wouldn't lose her footing on the wooden slats, and reached into the tunnel with one hand.

Her fingers closed on leathery flesh, her grip causing whatever it was to squeal in surprise.

She clutched the thing tightly and hauled it from the safety of the tunnel, wary of snapping teeth or snatching claws. Looking at the creature's miserable hide, she found it difficult to imagine it posed any kind of threat. It stood less than half of her height, its body a pale leathery gray that had never seen the sunlight. The creature's hands—grubby black hands with clawed fingers—looked good for clawing through the earth. Its eyes blinked hard at her in the feeble light, unused to even this pale brightness. It wasn't a creature at all, she realized. It was a boy, but he'd been down here so long he'd lost almost all semblance of humanity.

"Please," it wheedled in a high-pitched voice loaded with fear.

She pulled it so close she barely needed to whisper: "Did they bring a boy this way?"

"The urdefhans?" he said, stretching out the word. So that's what they were.

She nodded.

Even her worst nightmares come to life won't stop Caron.

The youth nodded rapidly. "I saw them, I saw them."

"Did they have a boy with them?"

"Yes. Yes. Down and down. They took him. Working now. Digging. Digging. Always digging. That's what they do with them. Work, work, until they can't work no more. Then they eat them."

"Show me," she said.

Keeping a tight grip on his hand, she followed the ragged boy down deeper into the pit, struggling to keep an eye on both him and the outpost for signs of danger. She had the urdefhan's two-bladed sword, and was ready to use it if the pathetic thing turned on her. She certainly wasn't about to trust him. Caron had no intention of dying down here. She was going to get Caleb back to his father.

They reached another landing, still high above the outpost, yet to descend below the stone sky. Caron knew she couldn't hope to hold the boy captive all the way down. The climb was impossible. "Don't make a sound," she said.

He nodded eagerly, glancing at the sword in her hand. There was fear etched on his gaunt features, but whether it was of her, the sword, or the urdefhans, she had no way of knowing. All she could hope was that the blade wouldn't be put to the test.

The lights were closer now. This was clearly the last landing before the stairway reached the ground below. From here she could see the shadow men and the slaves moving like a wave of blackness between the lights.

"Stay close." The boy pointed down with a clawlike hand. "This way the urdefhans can't pass. Come with me. Yes. I will take you through an old tunnel. I know the old places. I will take you close to the children. But then"—he shrugged—"I leave you. Where you go is up to you, but I won't walk into that place. I like living."

Caron had to trust him, like it or not, she wasn't getting close to the outpost undetected without him. And if he turned her over to the shadow men, then that was a risk she was just going to have to take. Without his help she had no hope of finding Caleb. It was as simple as that. She'd raised the boy for most of his life, but for the first time she saw him not just as another woman's son, but as her boy.

The bottom of the stairway lay shrouded in shadow.

She could hear the urdefhans moving even above the constant hammering and crashing of metal on stone, barking out orders in their vile tongue, but she couldn't see anyone keeping watch for intruders. Why would they? This was their domain, even if it was only some distant outpost on the far edge of their territory. No one in their right mind would dare enter their nest willingly, especially not the beaten down peasants from the villages along the mountain range. Those souls were broken.

"Here, come, come," he said, keeping her pressed against the wall.

She glanced back upward. The top of the vertical shaft was so far away that it seemed little more than a pinprick in the blackness.

Her fingers ached from the effort of maintaining a grip tight enough to remind the ragged boy he was her captive.

He led the way through narrow gaps in the rock, forcing her to turn side-on and scrape through, knowing he could just as easily be leading her into a trap. She thought of Caleb. That was all she needed to motivate her.

"How much farther?" she whispered.

"Soon there," the boy said. "Just a little further. Come, come."

He motioned below to a narrow opening in the rock. It was barely the size of the tunnel shafts that had lined the walls during their descent. She had no choice but to release the wretched lad and let him crawl ahead of her.

He was fast, much faster than she could possibly be.

She followed him into the rat hole.

The rock closed in on her as she shuffled inch by inch in the dark. Soon she was in total blackness, the tunnel turning and twisting, following the line of least resistance through the rock where the fissure had split it. The boy was out of reach. She was alone in this claustrophobic space. She sent a silent prayer to Erastil and gritted her teeth as she crawled on. In what seemed an almost immediate answer, she caught a glimpse of firelight casting a weak glow into the end of the passageway ahead of her.

The boy was still there, waiting for her.

"Quickly, quickly, quickly," he urged, pushing his head back into the opening. It blocked out the light. She scraped her back against the rock above her, struggling to squeeze through the narrowest of the tunnel with the two-bladed sword in hand. She moved on her hands and knees, eyes forward, focusing on the chinks of light that promised an end to this hell until she was out, the ground in front of her bathed in firelight.

The boy's high-pitched laughter filled the air.

Caron scrambled out of the tunnel, desperately trying to silence him, but she couldn't get close enough.

He clapped his clawed hands together delightedly, squealing at the top of his shrill voice. The sounds echoed around the cavernous space.

"Should have killed me dead, shouldn't you? Too late now. Should have used that big sword. Bye-bye, dead woman. Bye-bye."

Caron realized too late that there was another, markedly smaller fissure in the rock behind the boy, too small for her to be able to follow him as he disappeared out of sight, leaving her alone in this hellish place.

She rushed to the opening, and fell to her knees, vainly reaching inside for the boy that wasn't there.

Hands closed on her shoulders, grabbed at her hair and dragged her to her feet.

How could she have been so stupid? How could she have allowed herself to fall into the hands of the urdefhans so easily?

Because she'd wanted to trust the boy. She'd wanted to believe in the essential goodness of humanity. She hadn't wanted to believe that all this time in the darkness could have made him less than human.

She was turned to face her captors, their internal organs bright in the firelight, their fetid breath causing her to gag. Behind her, off down the fissure, she could hear the echo of the tunnel rat's mocking laughter.

Coming Next Week: A flame in the darkness in the conclusion of Steven Savile's "Queen Sacrifice."

Steven Savile is the internationally best-selling author of almost twenty novels and many more short stories, set in both original worlds and those of Primeval, Stargate SG-1, Warhammer, Torchwood, Dr. Who, and more. He won Writers of the Future in 2002, has been a runner-up for the British Fantasy Award and shortlisted for the Scribe Award for Best Adapted Novel, and won the Scribe Award for Best Young Adult Original Novel. For more information, visit his website at stevensavile.com.

Illustration by Dion Harris.

Advanced Class Guide Preview: Shaman

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

For many years now, roleplaying games have used the term shaman to mean a lot of different things. Most often, the term is used to describe the spiritual leader of a primitive people or tribe. The shaman would commune with the spirits to beseech them for aid or guidance. The only problem with this was that it did not closely match any of the classes we have in the game. Until now.

In the early days of the Advanced Class Guide, the shaman joined the list of classes that would appear in the book. It seemed like a no-brainer, a hole in our assortment of fantasy concepts that needed to be filled. As with the other classes, figuring out which two classes the shaman would draw from turned out to be the tricky part. The shaman wanted a connection to the divine, a connection to nature, and a connection to some of the more dark aspects of magic. Although we finally settled on pulling mechanics and concepts from the oracle and the witch, the druid was also a very strong contender for adding parts to the class.

Illustration by Subroto Bhaumik

The first draft of the shaman gave us a class that had hexes like a witch and a new concept called spirits. These work a lot like oracle mysteries, but they are a little more limited. This is made up for by the fact that at higher levels you can commune with a second spirit each day. While the first is set when you take your first level of shaman, the second is “wandering”, meaning that you can change it each day when you prepare your spells. So while your primary spirit helps define your character and its personality, the second can become a sort of “flavor of the day”, giving you a choice of mechanical options and a way for you to shift your personality too!

The playtest told us a lot about the shaman. While the first draft of the class used the cleric spell list, we tried something radically different with the second draft, giving it an expanded version of the druid spell list. Neither quite met the needs of the class, which is why in the final version, you will find that the shaman has its own unique spell list. While much of this list is drawn from the cleric and the witch spell lists, there are a number of formerly druid-only spells finding their way into the shaman’s arsenal.

There are a number of other exciting changes for the final version of the shaman as well. We upped the number of hexes received to one every two levels, with the wandering hexes taking the place of the normal hex at 6th and 14th levels. To give you a wider breadth of options to choose from, the shaman now also includes a list of hexes available to all shaman’s regardless of their chosen spirit. While many of these will be familiar, there are a few new ones in here specifically tied to the shaman’s theme. Take a look.

Fury (Su): The shaman incites a creature within 30 feet into a primal fury. The target receives a +2 morale bonus on attack rolls and a +2 resistance bonus on saving throws against fear for a number of rounds equal to the shaman’s Wisdom modifier. At 8th and 16th level, these bonuses increase by 1. Once a creature has benefited from the fury hex, it cannot benefit from it again for 24 hours.

Shapeshift (Su): The shaman transforms herself into another form for a number of minutes per day equal to her level, as alter self. This duration does not need to be consecutive, but it must be spent in 1-minute increments. Changing form (including changing back) is a standard action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. At 8th level, this ability works as beast shape I. At 12th level, this ability works as beast shape II. At 16th level, this ability works as beast shape III. At 20th level, this ability works as beast shape IV.

Of course, you will also find a number of fun new archetypes to play when creating a shaman character. There is the animist, who can communicate with the hostile spirits causing her allies discomfort and cause them to depart. You could play a possessed shaman, who allows the spirits to inhabit her body and can draw upon their knowledge. There is the spirit warden, who battles against undead spirits, using channel energy to send them to their final rest. Finally, there is the witch doctor, who can heal creatures like a cleric and can counter spells with a hex ability!

Well, that about wraps it up for the shaman. Next week, we will be previewing the last of the 10 new classes in the Advanced Class Guide, the hunter!

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

Year of the Sky Key Begins!

Monday, July 28, 2014

The expedition to Jormurdun has nearly concluded, and with it ends the Year of the Demon. However, the Pathfinder Society is on the cusp of making an exceptional find, catapulting us into the The Year of the Sky Key. With the season change, many factions are also finalizing their changes from extensions of national interests to independent entities with updated goals. A brief overview of each faction’s goals for Season 6 is included below, along with a link to the full text of each faction head’s letter on the messageboards.

Dark Archive: Establish the Dark Archive’s reputation with the Grand Lodge, and seek out skilled mentors to train the faction’s curators.
The Exchange: Develop trade routes and contacts in western Garund.
Grand Lodge: Follow up on recent developments in the Mwangi Expanse.
Liberty's Edge: Fight corruption and tyranny wherever it appears.
Scarab Sages: Explore the Jeweled Sages’ sanctum and seek lost relics of the order.
Silver Crusade: Serve as soldiers of peace by redeeming criminals, delivering aid to the afflicted, and handling the aftermath of the Mendevian crusade.
Sovereign Court: Build alliances with nobles across the Inner Sea region.

Thanks for your participation (and feedback) in the Year of the Demon. Pathfinder Society Organized Play continues to grow and thrive, and this year will be the best yet. As always, Explore, Report, and Cooperate!

John Compton and Mike Brock
Developer and Global Organized Play Coordinator

Please Support Paizo by Voting for the ENnies Today!

Monday, July 28, 2014

Friends,

Please consider supporting Paizo by voting in the 2014 ENnie Awards!

Every year, the ENnie Awards recognize the greatest achievements in tabletop gaming, and this year we're up for several important awards. A talented crew of judges chooses the nominations in each category, but the final awards are granted based on a popular vote. Please help Paizo's hard-working staff take home some awards this year by following the link at the bottom of his message and showing your support!

We've been honored with several nominations this year, including:

• Best Interior Art: Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea Gods
• Best Cover Art: Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Mythic Adventures
• Best Cartography: Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Wrath of the Righteous Poster Map Folio
• Best Free Product: Pathfinder Module: We Be Goblins Too!
• Best Monster/Adversary Product: Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Bestiary 4
• Best RPG-Related Product: Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Rise of the Runelords Base Set
• Best Supplement: Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Campaign
• Best Miniatures: Pathfinder Battles: Wrath of the Righteous

Please drop by and show your support! Voting ends Wednesday, so now is your best chance to help us take home the gold!

Vote now!

Thank you sincerely for your support!

Erik Mona
Publisher

Friday Publisher Preview: All Hail Lamashtu!

Friday, July 25, 2014

This evening the entire Paizo crew is headed to a local winery for our annual summer party, and everyone at the office right now is either diligently working nose-to-desk to finish that last bit of work before the weekend or goofing off counting down the hours until a bacchanal of all-you-can-drink wine. It's a tough life, folks, I have to tell you.

I'm one of the nose-grinders today, alas, so before I dip my cup into the well of wine and wishes, I'd like to take a few minutes to reveal three more figures from November's The Lost Coast set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted fantasy miniatures!

As I've mentioned before in previous Friday Preview blogs, The Lost Coast does not take its inspiration from a specific Adventure Path like many of our previous miniature sets, but rather draws inspiration from the Lost Coast region of Varisia. That's allowed us to sneak in cool figures from campaigns like the Rise of the Runelords as well as some more "generic" creatures that work in any environment, but it's also given us the opportunity to include some figures based off another Varisian story—the Pathfinder Comic Book.

All three of today's previews involve the treacherous Cult of Lamashtu, the Mother of Monsters. Two of them come directly from the comic's first two volumes. The last figure, alas, comes exclusively from the warped mind of our Creative Director, James Jacobs, by way of Mesopotamian mythology.

Up first this week is Etainia, the primary villain of the comic's first arc, Dark Waters Rising. Befitting her role as a priestess of the goddess of monstrous births, Etainia sports a distended belly filled with some hideous unborn creature. She's also got cool gauntlets, a nice fur-lined cloak, and a haughty demeanor. You can also pair her with the Lamashtu Cultists we previewed in our very first Lost Coast reveal to build a truly terrifying adventure against Lamashtu's hideous cult. Etainia is a Medium figure slated at the rare rarity.

Etainia and her cult have many grim allies in the region surrounding Sandpoint, and few are as fearsome as Thelsikar, the evil mystic who serves as the primary antagonist of the Pathfinder comic's second story arc, Of Tooth and Claw. Thelsikar stands ready with a deadly potion or bomb (your choice), very much as he appears on the cover of Pathfinder #11. Interestingly, that story arc takes its inspiration from the adventures contained in the Pathfinder RPG Beginner Box, making Thelsikar an interesting pick-up for GMs looking to add some oomph to that boxed set. Thelsikar is a Medium, rare figure.

Last, but certainly not least, we have the goddess Lamashtu herself! (Or, rather, a manifestation of her form suitable for doing battle with your player characters—or simply terrifying them). We don't actually have official statistics for fighting gods in the Pathfinder RPG, but that should make it even more frightening when you plop this miniature down in front of your players. I'd probably re-skin a high-level demon to look like Lamashtu, and watch as my "heroes" run for the exits. With all the Lamashtu fun already packed into the Lost Coast, I simply couldn't resist inviting the lady herself. I hope you'll forgive me (because I just know her enemy Pazuzu never will!). Lamashtu is a Large, rare creature.

FEIYA UPDATE: While some details remain to be ironed out, I can reveal that WizKids intends to replace any unsuitable Feiya figure with a brand new, higher-quality version through their normal figure redemption service. The replacement figure will be the same sculpt, with an improved paint job. The text on the bottom of the base will be identical. These replacement figures are currently in production, so I can't reveal exactly WHEN they will be ready, but I can publicly confirm that this is the plan, and that the plan is in motion as you read this. We'll reveal more in future updates as I get more information, but I wanted to at least confirm that anyone who wants a replacement figure will (relatively) soon be able to get one through the normal figure replacement channels.

And that's it for this week. I'm off to drink some wiiiiiiiiiiiiine! (For my health!)

See you next week!

Erik Mona
Publisher

Meet the Iconics: Zadim

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Today we introduce the next of the new iconic characters from the Advanced Class Guide: Zadim the slayer. Zadim will also be a playable character in the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Wrath of the Righteous set due for release in February 2015.

Illustration by Wayne Reynolds

Open hostilities between the kingdoms of Taldor and Qadira ceased more than 200 years ago, but subtle squabbles and sub-rosa schemes continue to the present. Often these intrigues take the form of economic influence or political stratagems, but occasionally, when the stakes are high enough, they extend to outright atrocities. Triggering these strikes (or answering them in kind) without sparking an open war requires an agent with particular expertise. An agent like Zadim.

Zadim, the so-called "Shadow of Sarenrae," travels the lands of the Inner Sea as an associate of Sarenrae's church, providing deadly solutions to problems the religion cannot resolve through diplomacy and forgiveness. The world of Golarion teems with misguided folk who can be turned from darkness, but it also contains multitudes who are beyond redemption, who revel in evil, wickedness, and selfishness. Zadim is one answer to their depravities, and his response comes with an unmistakable air of finality. Zadim was born into Qadira's influential Cult of the Dawnflower, a militant sect devoted to rooting out evil and spreading Sarenrae's light throughout foreign lands cloaked in the darkness of ignorance. His early studies at the great temple in Katheer distinguished Zadim as a dedicated servant of the cult. True, Zadim lacked the divine connection to the goddess that granted many of his fellow cultists command over fabulous magic powers, but his acumen in other affairs soon gained the attention of the cult's inner circle. Zadim excelled in battle training, easily besting his young peers in combat. He also proved himself an expert in observation and understanding, often taking advantage of personality quirks and tells among his fellows that they weren't even aware they had. The cult's leaders knew exactly what they had in Zadim—a weapon to strike killing blows against their enemies.

Zadim's masters began tempering their stories of Sarenrae's mercy and redemption with encouragement to bring justice to the irredeemable. They revealed the scope of their designs not just on familiar foes like the creaking "empire" of Taldor to the north, but also on places like Osirion, Katapesh, and Absalom. Zadim was trained to stand in the shadowy vanguard of their efforts throughout the Inner Sea region, clearing away enemies with blade and garrote long before the more visible elements of the Dawnflower Cult made their presence known.

As the depth of the cult's plan became clear to him, Zadim began to realize that his masters were just as interested in spreading the political influence of Qadira—and its distant puppetmasters in the Padishah Empire of Kelesh far to the east—as they were in spreading the doctrine of the Everlight, but the revelation came too late to inspire a change in Zadim's direction. He had trained for years to become a killer, and kill he must, in the name of Qadira, Kelesh, or the cult. Sarenrae had blessed him with unique talents, and he intended to put them to use in the field.

Zadim's first assignment outside Qadira was meant to be easy, a clear-cut case of a true villain deserving of the cult's final justice. The noble Sir Gordreth Chrysolian—Gordreth the Butcher—had been an administrator in the Taldan caravan city of Yanmass when he publicly executed twenty clerics of Sarenrae about 30 years ago, during a particularly vicious Taldan pogrom against the Cult of the Dawnflower. Shortly thereafter, the Butcher vanished, escaping divine retribution for his unholy crimes. Recently, though, agents of the cult spotted the aging aristocrat in Yanmass, and Zadim was dispatched to put him to the blade.

Upon arriving at the caravan city, Zadim learned from his informants that the Butcher had sought asylum at the manor house of a respected paladin of Abadar named Jevantus, who had gained widespread acclaim in the city after using his god-given abilities to cure hundreds of children infected with the deadly dvezda plague. Further investigation revealed that the paladin Jevantus and Gordreth the Butcher were one and the same man. The decades in hiding must have taught the vile Taldan noble something of chivalry and honor, for Abadar himself blessed the one-time villain with miraculous powers of healing.

A chance encounter with a fellow servant of Sarenrae, an earnest young cleric named Kyra, triggered a crisis of faith in Zadim, and the killer revealed his role in the plot to the young woman. Kyra, who subscribed to a far less militant doctrine than that preached by the Dawnflower Cult, rejected Zadim's bloody tactics, reminding him that Sarenrae herself valued goodness, redemption, and healing over murderous tactics, no matter the quarry. If Gordreth the Butcher had truly been redeemed, killing him for past deeds meant directly violating the most holy values of Sarenrae, erasing the man's redemption in an act of bloody murder.

Such an affront, she assured, would be enough for Sarenrae to withdraw her favor from a dedicated follower, stripping away the divine bond so important to the servant's faith and work. But Zadim was not a cleric, and had no spells to lose. His duty was not just to Sarenrae, but to his masters in the Cult of the Dawnflower, and to Qadira, and to the Padishah Empire of Kelesh. If they decreed that Gordreth the Butcher must die, who was Zadim to deny their wisdom? He assured Kyra that he would not strike against the paladin, but to himself he resolved that he could not make the decision of whether his target would live or die until he could look him in the eye and judge the quality of his character for himself.

That evening, Zadim crept into the private gardens of Jevantus, kukris in hand, his pounding heart nearly giving him away with its thundering. At the center of the garden he discovered the old paladin praying to Abadar before a beautiful fountain. Statues of children rescued from the ravages of disease peered over the paladin's shoulder as Zadim stepped silently toward his prey. As he approached, the paladin turned toward Zadim, a strange expression of calm and acceptance marked upon his visage. It was as if he had expected such a visitor for many years, and knew that final judgment had finally arrived.

As he looked into the eyes of his quarry at last, fists clenched around the hilts of his hungry blades, Zadim made his choice.

Erik Mona
Publisher

Gen Con 2014 Subscription Pick Up!

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Gen Con 2014 is looming on the horizon and all of us at Paizo are going full steam ahead as we make preparations to ship out to sunny Indianapolis.

Every year we get the pleasure of seeing Pathfinder fans at our booth picking up their August subscriptions and at Gen Con 2014 we'll again offer this service, all you have to do is opt in by Tuesday, July 29th, 2014 2:00 PM Pacific time.

Gen Con is a one of our biggest release dates each year. We have a treasure trove of new products coming out in August including the new Skull & Shackles Base Set for the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game! Here's the information you need if you are interested in picking up your subscriptions at Gen Con 2014!

How do I choose to pick up Subscriptions at Gen Con 2014?
Just visit your My Subscription page and select the option for "Yes, I'll pick up my subscription products at Gen Con 2014." There's no save button, as soon as you click the option for pick up your selection will be saved. You can change this preference anytime before the deadline of July 29th at 2 PM Pacific time.

Important Dates

Ability to choose Gen Con Subscription Pick Up Starts: Now!
Ability to choose Gen Con Subscription Pick Up Ends: Tuesday, July 29th, 2014 at 2:00 PM Pacific time

Order spawning and payment method authorization date for August Subscriptions: July 31st, 2014
Estimated date to process orders and settle charges on payment methods for Gen Con Subscription pick up orders: August 4th, 2014

Pick Up Subscriptions at Paizo Booth Begins: Thursday, August 14th, 2014 at 10:00 AM Eastern time
Guaranteed Subscription Pick Up at Paizo Booth Ends: Saturday, August 16th, 2014 at 6:00 PM Eastern time
Subscription Pick Up at Paizo Booth Ends: Sunday, August 18th, 2014 at 4:00 PM Eastern time

Subscription products that may be picked up at Gen Con 2014:

• Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Advanced Class Guide (OGL) Hardcover
• Pathfinder Adventure Path #85: Fires of Creation (Iron Gods 1 of 6)
• Pathfinder Adventure Card Game—Skull & Shackles Base Set
• Pathfinder Adventure Card Game—Skull & Shackles Character Add-On Deck
• Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Technology Guide
• Pathfinder Player Companion: People of the Stars
• Pathfinder Tales: Reign of Stars
• Pathfinder Map Pack: Starship Chambers
• Pathfinder Cards: Social Combat

Non-Subscription Products that will be available at the Gen Con 2014 Paizo Booth:

(Note, these items are purchasable at the booth, but we are not able to include them as preorders with your subscription pick up)

• Pathfinder Adventure Card Game Class Decks
• Pathfinder Adventure Card Game Character Mats for Skull & Shackles; Base Set & Add-On Deck — Ultra Pro
• Pathfinder Adventure Card Game Deck Protectors — Ultra Pro
• Brand New Pathfinder Iconic T-Shirts (Merisiel, Seoni, Harsk, Valeros) — Offworld Designs
• Pathfinder Society T-Shirt: Year of the Sky Key — Offworld Designs
• Dark Dungeons DVD — Zombie Orpheus Entertainment
• The Gamers: Humans & Households / Natural One DVD — Zombie Orpheus Entertainment
• The Gamers: Hands of Fate DVD — Zombie Orpheus Entertainment

Picking up your Subscription at Gen Con 2014

What does choosing to pick up at Gen Con mean?
Shortly before the convention we will charge your card and, where appropriate, give you access to the corresponding PDF. (This will happen at the same time as subscribers who aren't picking up at Gen Con—your PDFs won't be delayed by choosing to pick up at Gen Con.) For convention pickup, 7% sales tax will be added to your order—but you won't pay any shipping fees. If you choose to pick up your subscriptions at Gen Con, you must pick up your subscriptions from the Paizo booth by Saturday, August 16th when the exhibitor hall closes to guarantee that we will have all of the items in stock for your order.

When is my payment method charged?
Estimated order spawning and payment method authorization date for August Subscriptions: Thursday, July 31st, 2014
Estimated date to process orders and settle charges on payment methods for Gen Con Subscription pick up orders: August 4th, 2014

When do I have to pick up my subscription by?
In order to make sure you are able to get all of your subscription items, we recommend picking up your subscriptions as soon as possible once you get to Gen Con. We are only able to ensure availability of subscription products through Saturday when the exhibitor hall closes. You can still come by for subscription pick up on Sunday, but we can't guarantee the subscription items availability after Saturday evening.

What do I need to pick up my subscription items?
Bring your ID, and make sure you know what email address you use for logging into Paizo.com. Printing off your order confirmation email or having it accessible on a smartphone is helpful.

What happens if I choose to pick up at Gen Con but end up not being able to pick up my items?
If you select the option on the website to pick up subscriptions at Gen Con but do not actually pick them up at the show, the sales tax will be credited to your account, you will be charged for shipping and we will ship your items to you as soon as possible (usually within 2-3 weeks after the convention).

Is there anything else I might want to keep in mind when deciding if I want to pick up my subscriptions at Gen Con?
There are a lot of items that can be picked up this year! If you subscribe to multiple subscription lines, you'll want to keep in mind how much room you have in your suitcase, especially for the Adventure Card Game Skull & Shackles Base Set which is a very big box (14.25 x 12.75 x 4 inches)!

I can't make it to Gen Con, can my friend, family member, partner, husband/wife pick up my subscriptions?
Nope, subscriptions must be picked up by the account holder. We will not release subscription pick ups to anyone but the subscriber.

If I don't have a subscription for a product line, can I still sign up for one and choose to pick it up at Gen Con?
Yes! Just start the subscription like normal and as long you start with the August item before the July 29th, 2pm deadline, it will be added to your subscriptions for pick up at Gen Con.

What if I preorder a new release? Will it be available for pick up along with my subscription items?
We will have all the August new releases for sale at the convention, but subscription pick up only works for items you have subscriptions for and does not work for preorders.

What if I have more questions about picking up subscription items?
Let customer service know! You can email us at customer.service@paizo.com, post in the Customer Service forum, or you can give us a call (425-250-0800, Monday through Friday, 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM Pacific time).

See you in 3 short weeks!

Sara Marie
Customer Service Manager

Skull & Shackles: All Aboard for Adventure

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Ahoy, maties! Ye be embarkin' on the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Skull & Shackles preview blog with me, developer Gaby Weidling! YARRR! Okay, seriously, enough with the pirate talk. I just can't keep that up for a whole post. A few of you might remember my Skull & Shackles announcement blog from a while back, and if you don't, you can find it here. I'm almost sorry for all the pirate puns I put in there. In that blog, I mentioned some cool stuff you should expect from this set, but I was pretty vague—partially because, well, you know, we didn't want to spoil all the surprises, and partially because we hadn't finished writing everything yet. But now is the time for some details and probably some more piratical puns.

Sharks

All right, so I talked about sharks in that last blog. Twice. They're not actually the be-all and end-all of this set, but sharks are pretty darn cool, so let's spend a moment on them.

We've got at least one shark per adventure. The thing about sharks is that you can't evade them. Any of them. Ever. But it's okay. Look at that Tiger Shark. He's smiling! He totally doesn't want to eat you. Anyway, that was the obligatory shark section of this post, because my boss at Lone Shark Games demanded it, and you know how he can be. Let's move on to some of the newer and wackier stuff.

Guns

I can pew-pew-pew and so can you-you-you! Pirates wouldn't be anything without some sweet guns.

Here you can see the Blunderbuss and Pepperbox. The thing about guns is that they're pretty unreliable—misfires all over the place. They pack a pretty good wallop, but on a bad roll, you might end up burying your gun, and then you might be weaponless. That's not what you want as a pirate...

... unless you're Lirianne the Gunslinger, one of the new characters in the set.

Lirianne is never going to lose a gun as long as she's got a backup plan. And Lirianne always has a backup plan.

Swashbuckling

Swashbuckling is an important part of being a pirate. Sometimes Swashbuckling is helpful, and sometimes it isn't. Some cards, like the Shackles Pirate, are easier to beat if your check has the Swashbuckling trait. For this card, you'll get an extra d4.

Other cards, like the Marine, are unimpressed by your Swashbuckling and are actually harder to defeat with it.

Whether or not you want to swashbuckle can be a bit of a gamble. And you're not just inherently full of Swashbuckling awesomeness. You'll have to gain it in some way, usually from a boon. One of the best ways to get it is by playing an ally to explore again. For example, if you discard the jaunty gnomish pirate Giffer Tibbs, she lets you explore again, and she adds the Swashbuckling trait to all of your combat checks during that exploration.

Hirgenzosk

Some of you may have already heard tell of the fearsome Hirgenzosk. He's only a Combat 30 to defeat, and he isn't dealing damage to you, just your ship. Oh, and he has this text: "If Hirgenzosk would be defeated, he is undefeated." So there's that. He's just a big bundle of cuddles that wants to eat you and your ship.

Ships

There's a lot going on with ships, so I'm just going to dive right in. Meet the Merchantman.

This is the ship your party has when you start Skull & Shackles. On the right side, it's got some Check to Defeat numbers. Note the Wisdom and Survival check. That's going to be a recurring theme with ships. It would be unwise to be unwise in this set, or at least, that's the word on the stree- ... I mean, the word on the sea. To the left of the lovely ship art, you'll see the words "Class 0". Pretend you didn't see that yet. Just trust me.

On the bottom of the card, you'll see two boxes. One says "WHEN ENCOUNTERING THIS SHIP", and the other says "WHEN COMMANDING THIS SHIP". The easiest way to explain all this is to introduce you to some ship combat. That's right. You have a ship, and you can use it to fight other ships. Pretty rad! Anyway, sometimes you'll be bopping around locations, and you'll encounter another ship—which means it's time for ship-to-ship combat. Merchantman, meet the Shackles Pirate Ship.

They aren't friends. Time to fight! Let's look at one example where you lose and another where you win.

Losing at Ship Combat

The first thing we want to do is take a look at how to defeat the Shackles Pirate Ship. Surprise! One of the options is a Wisdom or Survival check. We'll do that one. Now look at the "WHEN ENCOUNTERING THIS SHIP" power. Having the Swashbuckling trait on your check adds 1? Sounds great! Let's say you have that. Now take a peek at the "WHEN COMMANDING THIS SHIP" power on the Merchantman. Oh, that's about plunder. That won't help you here. That only helps if you win. We'll revisit that in the section about not losing at ship combat. Guess it's time to roll the dice. Oh, no! Horror of horrors! You totally flubbed your roll and got a 3. Even with the 1 from having the Swashbuckling trait, you still don't have enough to beat the Shackles Pirate Ship. Looks like the Merchantman is going to take some Structural damage.

Like damage from monsters, Structural damage is determined by the difference between your roll and what you needed to roll, but it's dealt to your ship, not to you. You had a total of 4 against a 6, so your ship is going to take 2 Structural damage. And your armor can't help you here, because you're not the one being dealt the damage. But don't fret, Dear Readers! There is a way to protect your beloved Merchantman. Any character can discard cards to help alleviate the damage your ship takes: Structural damage is reduced by 1 for each card discarded.

So if you and I were playing, and my hand was empty because I'm the worst, it would be up to you to discard 2 cards, or our ship would be wrecked. So let's say you discard 2 cards and save the ship. Good job! The encounter ends. The mean ship would go back to wherever it belongs and the game would keep going. But what if you and I were playing and I had no cards in my hand because I'm the worst, and you had no cards in your hand because you're also the worst? Well, the poor old Merchantman would be wrecked. Which means we would flip that card over.

Holy sea cucumbers, there's a back? Indeed there is. Our ship is now wrecked and sad and sepia-toned. But fear not, there is a way to repair the ship. You can find that in the Check to Repair box. In this case, it's a Craft 6 check. Remember when I said Wisdom and Survival were a recurring theme? So is Craft. You're going to want to be crafty if your ship takes damage. At the start of each player's move step, if the ship is wrecked, that player can attempt a check to repair the ship.

But why do you care if your ship is wrecked? Well, if you're greedy and like getting new cards for your character, you'll want to right that ship pronto because your hard-earned plunder will start to float away, starting at the end of your turn. There's also a "WHEN COMMANDING THIS SHIP" power on the back that's not as helpful as the one on the front, so if you encounter another ship while yours is wrecked, your ship isn't really going to help out. It's too busy trying to keep its masthead above water. In some cases, the new power is downright nasty. Check out the Merchantman's. You might fail to defeat a bane with the Pirate trait—you've already proven you aren't good at fighting, since your ship is wrecked—and then you'd have to bury a card! And worst of all, there's the thing that happens when your ship is wrecked and your ship takes damage again… well, let's just save that horror show for when it happens, okay?

I am now pretty bummed because of all the losing we've just done. Let's talk about what happens when you win at ship combat.

Winning at Ship Combat

Ok, so we're doing the same thing, but this time when you roll, you succeed. That Shackles Pirate Ship is toast! Toast, I say! Several things happen now. The first is that you gain a plunder card for beating a ship. Huzzah! But what is plunder? And what does the "WHEN COMMANDING THIS SHIP" power on the Merchantman mean?

Plunder is a reward you can earn in Skull & Shackles. Things will often tell you to "roll on the Plunder Table," which is pretty meaningless until you look at this card.

You get plunder from being good at pirating. When this happens, you get to roll a d6 and put a random card of that type facedown under your ship. (No peeking!) While you command the Merchantman, you get to choose the plunder type you want… if you are willing to discard a card from the blessings deck. Well, I'm willing to do that, so let's toss one and select "weapon" for our plunder type, because Gaby needs a new cutlass. Hopefully that's what we'll draw… but we'll never know, because this is all hypothetical. Sorry to leave you hanging.

So what's that plunder do? Nothing yet—it's part of your reward for winning the scenario. And there are ways you can lose it, so keep it safe, or it's going back in the box!

Back to beating the other ship. Besides gaining plunder, you may have the opportunity to seize the ship you just trounced. That doesn't mean you get to check it off on your fleet card (which I haven't told you about yet), but it does mean you can use the seized ship for the rest of the scenario. Sometimes you'll be happy with the ship you have, and sometimes you'll want to seize the ship you just conquered. If you seize the Shackles Pirate Ship now, the next time you encounter a ship during this scenario, you'll be able to discard a card from the blessings deck when your check has the Swashbuckling trait to add a 1d12 to your check to defeat that other ship as per the Shackles Pirate Ship's "WHEN COMMANDING THIS SHIP" power.

Ship Things That Aren't Combat

Ships also have some uses outside of combat, like helping you move characters around. You know that move step at the beginning of your turn? In scenarios where your ship isn't anchored (which means it can only stay at one location and can't move), the ship goes with you when you move and so can anybody else at your location. Pretty handy, right? Of course, you don't all have to move with the ship.

Of course, I can't forget about the thing I told you to ignore earlier: the part that says "Class 0" on the Merchantman and Shackles Pirate Ship. For that, you'll need the fleet card that is conveniently located on the back of your Plunder Table. (Or is the Plunder Table on the back of the fleet card?) Anyway, take a look at this card.

All ships have a class, and as you play your way through Skull & Shackles, you'll occasionally gain the reward of selecting a ship from a specified class for your fleet. When you gain a Class 1 ship, you can put a check mark next to the Man's Promise or the Truewind. And when you start the next scenario, your party can choose any ship you have checked.

A Final Note about Ships

I'd be pretty mad at myself if I didn't include a sneak preview of one of the promo cards. This is my favorite card in the whole set. Bonus points to you if you can figure out why.

I mean, look at it! It's awesome. Steal some stuff from your friends in true goblin pirate fashion! Hint: that's not why this is my favorite card.

But hey, let's go ahead and spill the beans about a bunch of promo cards! Tanis already told you about Ranzak a while back, but as they say in the Shackles, that's just the tip of the Hirgenzosk.

This month, along with Paizo's July product releases, retailers should be receiving a packet officially announcing the Pathfinder Adventure Card Guild Organized Play program, and to make sure we got their attention, we stuffed it with copies of the second S&S promo card, the goblin ally Mogmurch. So tell your retailer to keep an eye out for it, and let them know you want one of those promo cards!

At Gen Con in August, we'll be debuting our convention promo for the next six months: a barrier called Goblin Keelhaulin'. You can get it just for demoing Skull & Shackles at the booth. Oh, and customers who buy the Skull & Shackles Base Set at the booth will get our August retail promo card for free.

So what's a retail promo card? Well, every month, we send a different card to retailers along with their shipment of that month's goodies. Here's the retail promo card schedule for the duration of the Skull & Shackles Adventure Path.

Goblin Weidling — August 2014
Owlbeartross — September 2014
Goblin Pegleg — October 2014
Magpie Princess — November 2014
Mistmourn — December 2014
Goblin Buckler Gun — January 2015

And that's not even all of the promo cards for Skull & Shackles. We have three more that we're not ready to talk about just yet!

As always, Pathfinder Adventure Card Game subscribers will be shipped promo cards along with their subscription orders. Ranzak, Mogmurch, Goblin Keelhaulin', and Goblin Weidling will all ship with the August shipment. Owlbeartross will ship with the September subscription shipment, and so on.

I think I've shared enough about Skull & Shackles with you now. You know about ships, sharks, swashbuckling, guns, dear ol' Hirgenzosk, and a bunch of the promo cards, so you'll just have to wait until the next PACG blog (hint: check back next Wednesday!) to learn more. Thanks for reading, and have a wonderfully piratical day!

Gaby Weidling
Pathfinder Adventure Card Game Developer

Queen Sacrifice

by Steven Savile

Chapter Two: Into the Dark

Caron woke in darkness.

Stale smoke had brought her round. The only sound on the entire mountainside was her own breathing. Her hands were tied behind her back. A cloth, damp with her own saliva, was bound across her mouth.

Hands moved behind her head. She felt them tugging at the knot that was caught in her hair. Instinctively, she struggled against them.

"Don't fight me, please." An old woman's voice. Caron couldn't see anything.

Finally, the cloth blinding her was tugged down from over her eyes and the gag was pulled free, leaving Caron's mouth harsh and dry.

An old woman leaned over her.

Caron stiffened, ready to fight for her life, but the woman shook her head and whispered fiercely, "Your husband went after the boy..." She looked up toward the mountain.

The woman struggled with the ropes binding her wrists and feet together. She wasn't working fast enough.

"What were those things?" Caron rasped.

"Shadow men," the woman said. "Daemons to some. Old creatures from the dark." She cut Caron's ties.

Keir had gone after Caleb. He wasn't like her. He wasn't a fighter. He was a good man. A peaceful one. Kindhearted and quiet, thoughtful. And now he'd chased the monsters back into the damned earth they'd crawled out of. He would tear the mountain apart rock by rock if he thought it could save his son, but what he couldn't do was face down the shadow men and win. He would die up there.

She had to stop him before he reached their sanctuary.

Caron could only hope that she could follow them all the way and that they hadn't gone deep into the Darklands yet, because that, surely, was where they had come from. Some crack in the earth or tunnel down into the dark. They would be moving much faster than Keir. They knew where they were going. He was driven by fear and panic. For all she knew, he could be stumbling around in the dark, lost.

That was a better, safer alternative than catching up with them.

"They've taken all our children," the woman said. "They took my son. My niece. They took Jakan's three boys. We were trying to save ourselves..."

That explained the lack of children, but not why they'd offered Keir's child to the daemons.

"Why did you do it?" Caron spat out the words like a curse.

The old woman shook her head. "We have no young men or women of our own left for them to take." She said it as if it was a reasonable explanation. "It's too late to save your son, but if you're fast you might still have a husband. Go, and may your god go with you."

Caron's arms ached from being bound so tightly. She tried to massage the life back into them and get the blood flowing.

"Where are my things?" she asked. "My bow, my sword?"

The woman shook her head again but offered her a rusty knife she'd probably rescued from the communal cooking area. "I have this," she said hopefully.

Caron took the knife, but it was a useless thing, with no balance for throwing, its blade too short to be particularly good for cutting. But it was better than nothing. Barely. She tucked it into her belt and set off.

She moved fast, racing back up what had been the path of light. It had burned out while she'd been unconscious. She saw the dark shadow of the Briar Throne up ahead, and paused, remembering where she'd first seen the so-called shadow men up in the fissures of the mountain above her. She called out Keir's name.

There was no reply.

She pushed on, stopping a couple of times to check the ground for tracks. It was all but impossible to see anything, with dawn still an hour or more away, but the shadow men hadn't been particularly careful when they'd come down from the mountain. She could just make out the trampled undergrowth where they had descended.

Up ahead she saw a light.

It was the faintest glow coming through the dense foliage that clung to the actual rock face. She pushed her way through, bracken cutting her hands and pulling at her trousers. Two burning torches were driven deep into the dirt, between them a wide fissure in the stone. Her breathing slowed, but her heart beat faster.

There was no sign of any of the thin-skinned, ivory-boned creatures, nor of Keir.

She stood at the mouth of the cave, listening to the eerie cry of the rising wind and the shell-like echo as it funneled through the mountain. She knew that Caleb was down there somewhere, and that Keir had plunged into the darkness after him, desperate and unprepared.

The bones of a savaged sheep carcass festered on the threshold, surrounded by the smaller bones of small forest animals with strands of meat still hanging from them. They marked the way. The shadow men weren't picky when it came to their diet: meat was meat, be it sheep or boy.

She was dragged from those dark thoughts by the distant sounds of shouting and the clash of steel.

Then Keir's voice split the night.

Caron pulled the knife from her belt and snatched up one of the guttering torches. Then she plunged into the darkness.

She ducked beneath an overhanging spur of rock, moving over loose stones as she closed the gap between her and the sounds of Keir fighting for his life. The acoustics inside the cavern mouth were disconcerting; all of the sounds seemed so much closer than they really were. Caron had never felt comfortable underground, with the weight of the world just a few feet above her head and pressing down on all sides. She moved as quickly as she dared, the light of her torch seeming all too weak. The place smelled fetid and foul. It reeked of carrion and dead air.

She heard a cry. The sound echoed back to her, seeming to come from all sides at once.

Her heart hammered in her chest as cold sweat broke and ran down her back. She gripped the dagger tighter in her hand and went deeper into the twisting passage, quickly losing her orientation in the darkness. The sound of her own breathing filled the cramped confines.

The passage opened into a wider space. It offered her choices: three tunnels feeding off it. There was no obvious way of knowing which way Keir had gone. She kicked out in frustration at a cairn of stones, sending them skittering across the ground and raising a high-pitched chittering from high up above her. Caron raised the firebrand over her head and saw a chimney that stretched up and up. The flame guttered in a draft and she realized the flue must open out somewhere. The chittering intensified. She felt a sudden surge of air and in seconds the sound transformed into a flurry of wings. Blackness came sweeping down the shaft, swelling until it seemed to fill the entire the cavern. Then she was being beaten and battered on all sides as bats stormed out of the chimney, swooping through the cave back toward the mouth.

Keir will do anything to protect his son.

She stood stock still, letting the bats flitter and flap all around her, until finally they were all gone and any hope of stealth with them.

Caron dropped to her knees at the entrance to the first of the three choices, looking for some sign of disturbance, something to signify that Keir had come this way. There was nothing. She did the same at the middle passage before moving on to the opening on right-hand side, where she saw a single score mark cut into the stone at waist-height, marking the way.

She smiled; even in the heat of the moment Keir knew she wouldn't abandon him.

Caron set off down the tunnel. The ground inclined steeply after a turn and turnabout, with a series of staggered drops taking her down fifty feet in a tight stair.

The air was thicker down here, but not cold. That was peculiar. But then, there was nothing natural about this passage.

The torch in her hand burned low, the fire consuming the reeds woven around the wood. It wouldn't burn forever. She felt the heat against her fingers.

And then a cool breeze touched her face. That shouldn't have been possible this far under the mountain. Suddenly, the walls echoed with a low cry of pain. It was the only sound in the darkness and seemed to fill the entire mountain, as though the rocks themselves were crying out.

At the foot of the stair another series of choices confronted her, but scoring on the stone marked the way ahead. More choices met her, but with each one came another of Keir's marks.

Time lost all meaning in the darkness.

She kept moving, following the occasional cry or clash of steel, not understanding how the sounds could carry so far, or if they could be trusted. Abruptly, she came upon the edge of a vast pit lined by a winding, wood-and-rope stairway. The stair coiled its way down and down, disappearing into the darkness long before it reached the bottom—if there was a bottom.

The pit's walls were lit by shallow bowls of flaming oil set into sconces every so often, creating a spiral of light that corkscrewed its way down into the heart of the earth. From where she stood the sight looked spectacular, but the lamps provided scant light for anyone making the journey down.

Movement caught her eye.

Halfway down the staircase—before shapes lost all meaning to the shadows—she saw her husband fighting for his life.

Caron didn't hesitate. She stepped out onto the first rung of the wooden ladder-stair, gripping the guide rope as the wooden slats swayed alarmingly beneath her weight. Then she was racing down to reach Keir.

The entire construction creaked alarmingly as it took the strain. But it held. She felt the vibrations and impacts of Keir's desperate fight shiver up through the timbers.

One of the shadow men would have been more than a match for a simple man like Keir, no matter how strong his heart, but Keir wasn't facing just one. There were three of the vile creatures down there. He didn't have a prayer. Caron sent a silent entreaty to Erastil, hoping Old Deadeye could hear her from so far deep beneath the land that was his domain, offering up her life in return for Keir's.

Her shoulder scraped against rough stone as she descended deeper and deeper, eyes fixed on the shadows fighting below her. More than once, hugging the stone wall brought her perilously close to toppling one of the oil bowls.

The three black shapes clustered around a fourth one unmoving on the ground. Keir. She had heard no screams. She desperately hoped that the shadow men had feasted before their battle with Keir, but even if they had, the reek of blood and the promise of fresh meat must surely be irresistible to their kind.

The platform lurched precariously beneath her. Keir couldn't defend himself. It was as simple as that; she was his only hope—if he wasn't dead already.

The black shapes looked up at her as she charged down the curving wooden platform, the feeble knife held out before her.

"Keir!" she called, turning his name into a battle cry, desperate for him to respond in some way, any way, even if it were just a sound—anything that meant he was still alive. She refused to believe she was too late. Refused with every bone in her body, every ounce of her being. She used her fear and anger as a font of energy, channeling it into her weapon arm.

She would save him.

Even in the grim half-light she could see Keir had given as good as he got. The three creatures were badly injured, with deep cuts flaying their eerie flesh, the opening folds exposing brightly colored organs beneath. Keir had given everything to try to save his son. But it wasn't enough.

The first of the damned creatures launched itself at her, but Caron was ready for it.

She held the knife as tightly as she could. She couldn't afford to lose the blade if it caught against one of those ivory-white bones visible beneath the shadow man's transparent skin.

The first slice tore through the creature's flesh, slicing its throat and showering her with a fountain of its acidic blood.

The acrid-smelling air burned her lungs, but the shadow man fell, convulsing as it clawed at its own throat, unable to stem the flow of death pouring out of it.

She moved lightning-fast, dropping on the fallen spawn and rising with its vicious, two-bladed weapon in her hand before either of its kin could fall on her.

Caron plunged the blade into the second shadow man's heart, ripping it open with the weapon's serrated edge as she pulled it clear, and turned on the third before it could flee.

She roared her primal rage and launched herself at the thing as it charged at her. Their weapons met, the impact shivering down the length of her arm. The jagged blades ground against each other, slipping hilt to hilt as both combatants refused to break. The creature came in so close she could smell the vile, sulfurous reek of its breath as it bared its teeth and tried to take a chunk out of her neck. She drove a knee up, and its jaws snapped together, forced closed inches from her throat by the body blow. The shadow man loosed a howl that echoed from the rock to the very depths of the pit. She forced it away, but it came back at her twice as hard, twice as fast, driving her back up the unsteady platform, trying to use its momentum to take her over the edge.

Caron felt the wood beneath her shift alarmingly, cracking around her heel, as the shadow man launched himself at her again. She felt something explode inside her, pain threatening to blind her as the creature's clawed hand gouged into the soft meat of her side.

The pain was excruciating—but so much worse when the creature withdrew, pulling at her flesh.

The thought of death, here, beside the man she loved, flashed through her mind, but she clung on to the possibility that Caleb was still alive down there and focused on that instead of the pain. She rammed her borrowed two-bladed weapon up into the multi-colored organs of the beast, and forcing it up until it tore through the creature's throat. Gore and blood spilled forth as the mocking howls of the shadow man went silent.

It was over.

But even in death the thing was still a danger. She fought against its corpse, the cumbersome bulk of which sought to pull her from the platform. After an awkward struggle, she managed to extricate herself from it, but then lost purchase on the corpse and watched as it fell from the platform and was swallowed quickly by the darkness below. The impact came long seconds later. The shadow man's blood dripped from one step to another like something alive.

Keir still hadn't made a sound.

She could not leave him, but she couldn't abandon Caleb either. It was a dreadful choice.

She crouched beside her husband, running her fingertips across his cheek, barely holding back her tears. Her thumb touched his lips, split and caked with blood. She almost pulled it away when one swollen eye flickered open. He groaned. It was the faintest of noises, and she wouldn't have heard if her ear hadn't been so close to his lips. He was alive.

"Caleb," he said. One word. It was all he had the strength to say. It spoke more eloquently to the man he was than a million fancy words could have. Even now his only thought was for his boy.

"I'm going to get him back," Caron said. "Trust me." He didn't argue with her. "You have to go back to the surface. I will get him. I promise you, my love."

He tried to rise, but even in the dim light of the oil lamps she could see the agony etched on his face.

"Promise me," she said, and meant it. She loved him. She would bring his boy back, though it might cost her everything. It was a price she was willing to pay, for him. For them. Because that was what love really was. "Please. Promise me you'll get out of here."

"I need... to come with you... He's my son."

"You'll only slow me down. Trust me. I won't let you down."

It was an impossible promise, but she needed him to believe in her.

With his teeth clenched tight he nodded and took her hand as she helped him to his feet. He had to brace himself against the wall to stay standing.

"Promise me. I need to hear you say it."

Keir looked at her. He knew.

He nodded again. "I promise."

She kissed him then, on those cracked and bloody lips, and said, "I love you."

"I know," he said and turned away, using the guide rope to haul himself step by agonizing step up the winding stairway. When he was thirty feet above her, Keir turned. She wanted to believe he was smiling. "I love you, too," he called down to her. She swallowed. It was the first time he'd said those words to her.

"I'll bring him home," she whispered. It was a promise not just to Keir or herself, but to the world.

She turned her back on the love of her life and descended.

Far below, she saw the glow of more lights. There was nothing welcoming about them.

Coming Next Week: Subterranean pursuit in Chapter Three of Steven Savile's "Queen Sacrifice."

Steven Savile is the internationally best-selling author of almost twenty novels and many more short stories, set in both original worlds and those of Primeval, Stargate SG-1, Warhammer, Torchwood, Dr. Who, and more. He won Writers of the Future in 2002, has been a runner-up for the British Fantasy Award and shortlisted for the Scribe Award for Best Adapted Novel, and won the Scribe Award for Best Young Adult Original Novel. For more information, visit his website at stevensavile.com.

Illustration by Dion Harris.

Advanced Class Guide Preview: Slayer

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Into every generation, a slayer is born. The slayer is a hunter, a stalker, and a killer, with enough power to fight fairly and win, but the inclination to fight unfairly and win by an even wider margin. The slayer combines the stalking and combat styles of the rogue and the ranger with none of the ranger's nature focus. Basically, the slayer is Ezio from the Assassin's Creed series, the quintessential assassin and the last person you want to see leaping out at you from the shadows.

The slayer is a full BAB class with a slower sneak attack progression than the rogue, talents at even levels, and its own prime feature, favored target (which is now called studied target). Studied target is the slayer's spin on favored enemy. Instead of hating a particular type of creature, the slayer studies any target he wants (hey, no wonder it's called studied target!), gaining bonuses against that target until he switches targets. Since this bonus also applies to Bluff, Knowledge, Perception, Sense Motive, and Survival (and later Disguise, Intimidate, and Stealth), clever slayers can also gain a substantial boon from this feature in a variety of non-combat situations as well by studying NPCs during social encounters too. Favored target has unlimited daily uses, and who knows—if the old lady suddenly starts attacking, then you're even ready to fight back right away!

Illustration by Ramon Puasa Jr

In the original version, there were 16 choices for slayer talents with 8 additional advanced talents available at level 10. Playtesters had trouble finding enough talents that they wanted to take for their builds, so for the second playtest, this increased to 24 talents and 10 advanced talents, including the powerful combat style talent that could be taken three times, essentially granting the ranger's combat style feats to the slayer, and allowing the slayer the potential to amass a small army of feats at his disposal. Additionally, playtests had shown that the slayer's 4+Int bonus skill points were insufficient to pick up all the sorts of skills he needed to successfully slay, so he bumped up to 6+Int skill points.

The final version of the slayer as it appears in the Advanced Class Guide is quite similar to the second playtest version, so pull up your playtest document (or download it now) for an excellent preview of the class. The most exciting change is in the action economy of studied target—at low levels (before 7th when you can study as a swift action), melee slayers were finding the move action to study a target was really cramping their ambushes. So now, starting from level 1, if you hit and deal sneak attack damage, you can apply your studied target as an immediate action, and it even applies the favored target bonus to damage for that same attack. That way, you can ambush all you like and get right to the slaying!

The slayer screams out for archetypes that capture all the different facets of the iconic image of the slayer. The slayer archetypes in this book are really nice in that they give you what you're looking for with a relatively light touch, generally switching out a few of your talents for thematic abilities and losing very little else. The bounty hunter is your Boba Fett, bringing back criminals and debtors alive with combat maneuvers and an incapacitating death attack. The cleaner is the guy you send in to make sure those darned investigators don't figure out what happened, with a special ability to force any would-be detectives to beat the cleaner's Disguise or Stealth in order to find clues. The cutthroat is even more like Ezio, losing outdoorsy skills for city-based powers and skill bonuses that will help you leap off buildings instead of out of the shadows. The grave warden goes back to my intro quote with a kickass undead slayer, gaining an at-will self-only death ward at level 7 (it does cost 4 holy waters) and the ability to death attack an undead. But I'm sure you've been wondering "Mark, when are you going to get to that glowy purply shadow guy. He looks awesome!" That, my friends, is the stygian slayer, a killer imbued with the darkest shadows. He can cast invisibility, use wands and scrolls of a few thematic spells without a Use Magic Device Check, and turn into an inky black cloud that obscures vision. And that's just 5 of the 8 slayer archetypes in the final book! But wait—people have been asking for a thrown weapon ranger combat style for a while, right? Yeah, we have that too!

So you've got the rogue. You've got the ranger. Why should you be excited about the slayer class? Because those other classes serve a few masters when it comes to their design, but the slayer unashamedly serves only one—he wants to be the best at slaying, eliminating a chosen foe or foes. And he serves his master well. Even a fighter's offense can't keep up with the slayer, so if you prefer a style that emphasizes guile, stealth, and strong offense over defense, the slayer is the class for you.

As I'm typing this last paragraph, I've noticed that the slayer has some kind of a curved dagger to my throat, and he's made a few demands, so I want you to know, completely not under duress, that the slayer is my personal hero and is the best at all things. In fact, we're going to put out an entire book dedicated only to slayer options, and—aaaaaargh.

Mark Seifter
Designer

Editor's Note: After shooing the raptors away from the scene, we found this blog on a USB drive clutched in the hand of the remains of designer Mark Seifter. After a resurrection spell, he's fine now and back at work on Pathfinder Unchained, but he's still jumpy any time anyone mentions the slayer class. He defies anyone who claims that if he was dying, he wouldn't have bothered to have typed "Aaaaargh", he'd just say it.

Gen Con Nostalgia: Accidental Hardcore

Monday, July 21, 2014

As the date for Gen Con closes in, everyone here at Paizo is still chugging away, making sure we're contributing our fair share to the best four days in gaming. But as our annual pilgrimage to Indianapolis gets closer, we often start wondering, "What's it going to be this year?" As in, what's the one story—or, more likely, bunch of stories—we'll be telling everyone upon our return home? Things happen at Gen Con that can only happen at Gen Con, so there's always some unbelievable tale to tell. Dozens of examples leap to mind, but, among those of which I haven't been sworn to secrecy, I find myself constantly coming back to one story in particular from nearly a decade ago.

In another life—one that was a lot like this one, but far quieter—I helped make an awesome magazine. Occasionally, as part of that business, wonderful people would send us wonderful things, either for review, or by way of thanks, or simply because they thought we too were wonderful people. As the editor in charge of news and previews, I held down the landing desk for many significant parcels.

From the contents of one of those packages, the staff of Dragon and Dungeon magazines wound up with preview tickets to True Dungeon at Gen Con 2006.

If you don't know about the singular awesomeness that is True Dungeon, a deliberately placed click can solve that. As it stood, none of us had previously had the pleasure of partaking in this immersive dungeon experience. The promise of what we expected to be an intricate fantasy funhouse was more than enough to get the entire crew signed on, but none of us had any actual idea of what lay in store.

As it was, our tickets were for Wednesday night, only a narrow few hours after landing in Indianapolis. Perhaps predictably, delays left us racing for our evening reservation. We arrived before True Dungeon's faux stone gates with whole seconds to spare and presented our hostess with our golden tickets, which were, quite literally, golden. (Let it never be said that those True Dungeon folks don't know a thing or two about ostentation.)

After giving us a generous moment to catch our breaths (editors are sprinters, not distance runners), our hostess sunnily asked if we were "hardcore."

That was the point when our bravado caught up with us: "My friend, don't you know? We are the creators of Dragon and Dungeon magazines. Few in gaming come more hardcore." Confident nods—and one indulgently arched eyebrow—followed, and that was that.

We received basic instructions about the sorts of puzzles and dangers we'd soon face, along with a variety of character options, equipment tokens, and other wonders I can't recall. Finally, our hostess handed me a plastic ball and, giving it a solid knock, demonstrated that it lit up.

"Lit up" might actually be a bit of an overstatement for what it did. Rather, think of the light shed by the screen of your classic 1989 Nintendo Game Boy... when it was about 8 minutes from running out of batteries. Remember that drowning electronic green? That. The ball did that.

So! "Light" in hand, we marched through the convincing stone-board gates, ready to face challenges none of us could anticipate...

Our psyches were left shattered and our memories drained from what we encountered that day. Whether such psyche-obliterating effects were the result of the horrifying dungeon-come-to-life itself or the binding non-disclosure agreement we signed afterward, none are sure. All I can admit with any certainty is that the dungeon's authenticity was like no other—right down to the oppressive dimness that left us scouring encounter rooms for overlooked clues and secrets hidden in the shapes of shadowy statues. And finally, against not-inconsiderable odds and with acceptable loss of life, we emerged into a room easily mistook for a trap chamber. It turned out to just be the discharging area.

Squinting against the light but knowing we were victorious, we gave our accounting and returned our somehow-diminished light source to the attendant, who held a plain cardboard box. The attendant looked somewhat surprised at our faded glow-ball. "Oh! You went hardcore!"

There was that word again, this time said like a term. "Yes?" we collectively acknowledged, realizing our bravado was among the wounded.

"Well that means you get these AMAZING TREASURES instead!" Our host extracted his hands from the common cardboard box and reached into the container next to it, fishing our rewards from a platinum chest trimmed in panda belly-fur and studded with the gems diamonds cry. Among these were pins emblazoned with the True Dungeon logo and a stamp that read "Hardcore."

"What does 'hardcore' mean?" Fearless Leader Erik asked.

Our beaming host cocked his head. "Didn't they..." he began, but shrugged, realizing he had the rapt attention of the thoroughly confused. "It means you don't get a torch."

Laughing, victorious, we walked out into the steamy Indianapolis night—utterly despite ourselves—hardcore.

That's exactly the sort of unlikely adventure that only happens at Gen Con.

F. Wesley Schneider
Editor-in-Chief

Clockworks and the End of the Emerald Spire, with Rich Baker and James Jacobs

Saturday, July 19, 2014

Cartography by Rob Lazzaretti

All good things must come to an end, and this week we look at the end (or at least, the lowest level) of the Emerald Spire. Of course, the end of a superdungeon is something a lot of players never get to see (as Erik Mona discussed a bit in his teaser last week), so we also thought we might expand this sneak peek to include two maps from the adventure.

When discussing the fact that every dungeon level had to fit on a Flip-Mat, Erik briefly mentioned that this requirement drove our authors to find creative ways to get the most out of the space available. One good example of this is The Clockwork Maze, which has sections likely to initially confuse the players and that are certain to force players to work harder than a typcial ten foot wide corridor. We don’t want to give away the whole secret of the level, but a glance at the map is a pretty big hint why the level has "clockwork" in its title.

Other levels use the available space on a Flip-Map in a more traditional way, but include multiple environments, hazards, and unusual geometry to increase the variety available in the dungeon experience. The final level of the dungeon, The Emeral Root, is a good example of this kind of creative map.

Of course even a great map isn’t very useful if you don’t have enounters to fill it with. To learn a little more about these levels and how they came to be, we we spoke to the CEO and Publisher of Sasquatch Game Studio LLC, Richard Baker, and our own Creative Director, James Jacobs.

How do you define a "Superdungeon"? What is your favorite dungeon or superdungeon experience in your personal gaming history?

Rich To me, a superdungeon is any adventure that you could reasonably base a whole campaign around. It will provide months and months of play, characters will level up a good 8 or 10 times in the course of the game, and the players are up against an epic threat or fighting their way through a truly amazing setting. I suppose I might further refine that by saying that a super-dungeon does that all in the context of a single sprawling underground maze (you can certainly have super-adventures that do the same thing but across multiple locales). So, it's a particular flavor of super-adventure, I guess.
My personal favorites were Undermountain—really the gold standard of superdungeons, even if a lot of the map was left for the DM to populate—and more recently City of the Spider-Queen, which is probably more of a superadventure. When I was developing that adventure, we had James Wyatt (the adventure author) run it for us with a great group of players, and we had a blast.

James I define a Superdungeon as a dungeon that you can run an entire campaign in. My favorite superdungeon is Greyhawk’s Maure Castle, which was featured several times in Dungeon magazine back in the day. On Golarion, though, my favorite superdungeon is Hollow Mountain, and I hope to some day get to personally design and develop that site into a significant adventure location. At which point I can see it supplanting Maure Castle as my favorite. Unless I do the same for the Crimson Citadel first, that is.

Illustration by Jorge Fares

What is your level of the Emerald Spire Superdungeon called? What theme, if any, does the level have?

Rich My level of Emerald Spire is the Clockwork Maze. This is the lair of the first major villain in the Spire, the Numerian wizard Klarkosh. As you might expect, it has a strong clockwork theme—the entire dungeon configuration can be altered by using control levers in different spots. In fact, the players will have to do just a little bit of puzzle-solving to figure out how to change the dungeon geometry to navigate through the level. The monsters are mostly constructs of different kinds, since Klarkosh was previously described as a master of making constructs.
I also wrote the description of Fort Inevitable that begins the adventure, and did most of the coordination and direction for the whole project. I got to see each author's contribution as they came up with it!

James My level of the Emerald Spire is the final one—the "Emerald Root." It’s theme is hard to divulge without revealing a lot of spoilers, since it contains the source and reason and history of the Emerald Spire itself, but it goes beyond that and reveals some key bits of information about the Darklands—particularly the vaults of Orv. In fact, the opportunity to explore some of the mysteries of these vaults is the primary reason I pounced on designing the lowest level of Emerald Spire in the first place.

What where the inspirations you drew on for your Emerald Spire level, and what are you hoping players get out of it?

Rich My primary inspiration was really just delivering on what had already been said about the Spire. In the Thornkeep sourcebook we mentioned a few key facts about the Spire, so I took it upon myself to make sure the Emerald Spire superdungeon delivered on those teasers. For the villain, I admit I was thinking of Tharok, the half-robot leader of the Fatal Five, the arch-enemies of the Legion of Superheroes. Klarkosh is kind of a magical version of Tharok.

James There’s a fair amount of Lovecraft inspiration in my level of Emerald Spire, both in the monster mix and in the story beyond what’s going on in that level, but that also ties in to some of the deep continuity of the history of Orv and the Darklands themselves. And by "Lovecraft" in this case, I’m not talking about Cthulhu and tentacle monsters, but about the idea that humanity was not the first to rise to power on this ball of dirt (Earth) or that ball of dirt (Golarion) hurtling blindly through the uncaring gulfs of space.

We really appreciate our Creative Director and the Chief Sasquatch (Editorial Note, Rich told me to call him this) taking time out of their busy schedules to share some of the Emerald Spire with us!

Owen K.C. Stephens
Developer

Friday Publisher Preview: Three Giant Reveals

Friday, July 18, 2014

With the recent PaizoCon announcement of next year’s Giantslayer Adventure Path, it’s safe to say that we have giants on the brain here at Paizo HQ. November’s The Lost Coast set of prepainted fantasy miniatures from our partners at WizKids gave us the perfect opportunity to add a few more giants to the growing ranks of Pathfinder Battles Large monsters. The set is technically “generic” in that it does not support a specific Adventure Path, but as I’ve mentioned in previous Friday blogs, the Lost Coast location gives us plenty of opportunity to revisit some familiar characters and concepts.

First up this week we have Conna the Wise, a semi-major character in the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path and our first ever female stone giant miniature! Conna is an interesting character in that she is presented as either a friend or a foe, and I always wanted to include her back when we did our dedicated Rise of the Runelords Pathfinder Battles set, but there just wasn’t room (or, at the time, an appropriate illustration). I think she goes very well with her stony brethren in that set. I hope to eventually produce female giants of all of the standard giant types, and Conna is just the beginning of that trend (or maybe more of the middle, if you consider the Storm Giant from Rise of the Runelords). Conna the Wise is an uncommon, Large figure.

Here we have the Fire Giant King, a mega-impressive figure I’ve been waiting to unleash on the world since he was cut from the Shattered Star set due to too many awesome Larges. Ironically, the image we used as reference for this figure did not appear in the Shattered Star Adventure Path, but from Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Giants Revisited. Specifically, he is Orynox Marchelin, king of the fire giant realm of Kragnaroth in the Mindspin Mountains east of Varisia. The figure is cast in clear plastic, giving his hair a cool “on fire” effect. The Fire Giant King ended up at the uncommon rarity, meaning those of you buying cases might want to consider him more of a “Fire Giant Noble.” He is, of course, a Large figure.

This Hill Giant Chief originally appeared in the Kingmaker Adventure Path, where he is a wandering giant called Munguk. I like to think his political fortunes increased as he traveled west to the Lost Coast, to the point at which he now rules a small, dim-witted tribe of fellow Hill Giants. The actual story is that I fell in love with the picture and didn’t really care that this NPC doesn’t really live in the Lost Coast region of Varisia. If you don’t tell anyone, I won’t, either. Because, hey. Sweet mini. The Hill Giant Chief is a Large, uncommon figure.

And that’s it for this week’s previews! Please join me next week as we take a look at some more exciting images from The Lost Coast!

Erik Mona
Publisher

Meet the Iconics: Kess

Thursday, July 17, 2014

She was raised to be Lady Kessilandrie Anicia Vlastos, but the thousands of cheering fans that fill the arena's seats when she fights shout her preferred name—Kess the Bull.

Kess never squared herself with the life of pomp and nobility. As a kid growing up in an estate in the Westpark District of Oppara, she spent her time in opulent gardens, tipping over rocks to look for bugs, climbing the massive oaks, coordinating mock battles against imaginary monsters with her sisters and brothers in the plum orchard, and generally getting into trouble.

Illustration by Wayne Reynolds

It was during these pretend adventures that she started learning how to fight. Her brothers and sisters were snobbish, bullying brats that never left the awkward young girl alone. Never one to just take abuse, Kess ended many of those make-believe bouts in flat-out fistfights. It wasn't the wooden swords and staves the kids played with that she mastered in these brawls, but rather a solid left jab, a well-placed kick, or a leg sweep. Her height gave her good reach, letting her even get in a good strike at her oldest brother to silence his bullying.

After too many busted lips and bloody noses, Kess's parents tried to send her to dueling masters in order to teach her the art of swordplay, hoping to channel her energy into a safe and respectable form of combat—something of which nobles could be proud.

As far as Kess was concerned, fencing was for dandies and duels were just tiresome ego dramas. This affluent instruction just didn't stick. After losing too many matches by dropping her training rapier and socking her opponent in the jaw, she was nearly expelled. An older student, sympathetic to her fighting style, tipped her off to an underground fighting ring in a seedy part of the city.

Her first night in the pit was exhilarating. The organizers paired her up with a brawny farm boy whose jaw jutted out as far as his forehead sloped back. He hit hard, but he didn't know a thing about technique. Using her skill and rangy frame to her advantage, Kess had him mewling on the ground in less than a minute.

Using the ruse of attending fencing class, Kess made her way to the underground rings every chance she could get. It was there that she discovered real honor—not that bogus social contract she grew up under. In those pit fights, she learned focus and found her calling. The roar of the crowd charged her, and she pushed her body, testing herself.

Kess learned a multitude of styles and forms from the various fighters and promoters that flowed through the ring, as well as the worship of Kurgess, god of bravery, competition, and sports. She also began to dream of bouts in the far-off nations from which many of her colleagues hailed. In particular, she focused on the gladiator nation of Tymon in the River Kingdoms, from which her coach had won a medal.

Yet everything came apart the night her older brother—eager to gamble on the fights—stumbled into the secret venue and noticed her in the ring. Her father was furious, and her mother worried. This was no way for a proper, highborn lady to act. What if she were hurt or killed? What would happen if other families were to find out? Which of them already knew?

For her own safety—and to quash a scandal—her parents threatened to send her off to their country estate, or even to a boarding school. In no way eager to have her destiny decided for her by others, Kess beat her parents to the punch and snuck down to the docks, boarding a Taldan merchant vessel headed up the Sellen River. With her wits, her skill, and a purse bulging with her winnings in the ring, she set off for Tymon. Once there, she fought enough bouts in the arena to get noticed by the masters of the Valknar Gladiatorial College, using the prize money from her Opparan fights to pay for tuition.

Yet Tymon is small, and Kess easily bored. While still one win shy of being considered “bloodied,” she was lured away from the city by the call of new arenas in distant locations, taking up the life of an adventurer not for treasure, but for the fun of it. Every so often, Kess attempts to alleviate some of her mother's worry by sending letters home telling of her adventures, yet has learned to obscure where they're sent from, lest her father send agents to track her down and try to bring her home.

Kess wears her bruises and scars as proudly as she wears the medals adorning her outfit—prizes from various fights, as well as a short stint with a mercenary company. Even though she tries to be positive and upbeat, she knows that she's often aggressive and sarcastic. Kess isn't afraid to say what's on her mind, especially when facing authorities who try to tell others what to do. She doesn't pay much mind to complicated bureaucracies and outdated social mores, and tends to live her life the way she wants. The only time Kess shows a strong respect for rules is during a competition—she doesn't tolerate cheaters. Kess is competitive, though she encourages others in their own tasks. She keeps her body fit, and trains every chance she gets—a crucial counterbalance to her love of good food, strong drink, and long nights of celebration after a fight.

Adam Daigle
Developer

Queen Sacrifice

by Steven Savile

Chapter One: Lord of Summer

Caron looked on as Keir pushed the wooden piece the length of the board. Keir had carved it himself, fashioning the likenesses of kings and queens and knights so he could teach his boy the game, which represented so much in life.

The boy was improving. It wouldn't be long before he beat his old man.

The thought pleased Caron. She wasn't the boy's real mother, but motherhood was about more than just bringing a child into the world, wasn't it?

Keir moved his queen, placing it where it could be taken by Caleb's black knight. The boy looked up at him with a bright smile and took the piece, not suspecting for a moment that his old man was devious enough to set him up for a fall. It would be a lesson, even if it came at the cost of that wonderfully innocent smile.

Caron studied the board. Moving the knight away from its defensive position allowed Keir to push his bishop into place, which in turn would force Caleb to move his king into a position where check mate was only a couple of moves away. It was all about looking ahead, seeing the possibilities and permutations the game presented.

The boy stepped unwittingly into the trap.

Keir was merciful, ending the game in a couple of minutes.

"Lose a fight, win the battle," Keir said.

Caleb nodded. He was a quick learner and wouldn't fall into the same trap twice.

Keir rubbed one of his huge hands through the boy's mop of hair.

Caron felt the familiar prickle at the back of her neck. It was irrational, of course, but she envied them their closeness.

In the morning they would move on. There were miles left to patrol before they rested again. Then, at least she could concentrate on what she had been trained to do, instead of watching the two play and feeling maudlin for a life not lived.

∗ ∗ ∗

Caleb's innocence is outweighed only by his optimism.

It was easy to see why the range was known as the World's Roof. Even here, far from their loftiest heights, the snowcapped peaks were spectacular to behold, intimidating as they clawed up at the sky. Some of the mountains, like the Mhar Massif off to the east, pierced the clouds and kept on climbing until their summits were far out of sight. There was something primal, elemental, about the mountains' presence in the world. They seemed to taunt the fleeting nature of humanity and promise that no matter what, the land would abide.

It had been a long journey skirting the Kodar Mountains along the borders of Varisia and Belkzen. On the way, the travelers had seen things that could never be unseen. But at night it had been the sounds rather than sights that would never leave Caron, especially the gentle, low moaning of the willow-'o-wisps. She knew the dancing lights were the last echoes of the great sacrifice the marsh had seen, and she had been unable to differentiate those ghostlights from the lost soldiers who had given their lives in that desperate blood ritual to deny the orc devastation so long ago. Caleb was both old enough to understand the implications of those flickering lights and impressionable enough to imagine there was some kind of glory to be won through self-sacrifice. The world would batter that out of him in time, but until then it was Keir's and her job to love, nurture, and protect the lad.

She paused, mopping the sweat from her brow, and looked up again through the thick forest lining the lower slope. The trees thinned out as the incline steepened, leaving roots exposed and clinging to the bedrock where the soil had slid away. In a month, the leaves would turn to golden brown, crumple, and fall, but for now the forest was in the last bloom of summer.

They pushed on. Gradually, the trees thinned around them, the sounds of the forest giving way to the whistle of the wind as it swept down through the mountains and the crunch of scree underfoot.

There were risks that went with any patrol, especially one that had lasted as long as this one, but there were rewards, too. One of those was contact—with the world, with the good people and glorious creatures that brought it to life.

She turned the patrol in the direction of the huddle of buildings in the distance.

Smoke rose from the main house.

She was hungry, and she knew Caleb would be, too. The boy was always hungry. He'd inherited his father's larger-than-life appetite.

"One night won't hurt," she told Keir. She knew the road weighed on him more than it did her. It had been her choice to live like this. When his world fell apart, he had fallen in love with her, slowly, one day at a time, but she was never going to be Neve, who would always be his first love. During those first days and weeks on the road, it was painfully obvious that Keir had come with Caron to escape the ghost of his departed love. Neve was everywhere in their old village, in every stone and every window. He'd see her in the river, her reflection bathing even if her memory could never be washed away. So Caron had made the offer: "Come with me. Her ghost will still be here when you return, but maybe you'll be better able to cope with it." That had been so long ago now, and more and more he'd talk to the boy about home, about teaching him skills in the forge, and the life they had waiting for them. Going home wasn't something she looked forward to in the same way. For them it was a beginning; for her it was an end. An end to this life they shared where they were the entire world to each other.

"Then we move on," he agreed, thinking she was as keen to be moving again as he was. "We don't want to be out here when winter arrives."

Sometimes ignorance was bliss.

She nodded.

As they neared, people emerged from their houses. One woman, draped in a thick shawl, leaned in close to a muscular man who stood head and shoulders taller than the others. Her voice didn't carry. Caron put a smile on her face. She took in the people and the surroundings. There were obvious signs of preparation for some sort of celebration, though she couldn't think of any holy days they might be observing. Perhaps it was a coming-of-age ceremony?

A big burly man stepped forward, his arms spread wide. "Welcome, welcome," he said, grinning broadly. "Come, join us. You must be hungry. Thirsty. Please, be welcome."

"Thank you," Keir said. "The promise of a decent meal is music to my ears."

"I'll have beds made up for you. Rest."

Keir took the man's outstretched hand. "There's no need to trouble yourselves."

"It's no trouble," the man said. "What's ours is yours. Today is a good day—the Festival of the Sun. Please. We may not have much to offer, but what we have we will gladly share with you."

Curious faces watched as the newcomers walked between the rundown houses. The locals' clothes were patched and poor, their skin etched with the shapes of the bones beneath. It was painfully obvious these people were living on the edge on starvation, and yet they were willing to share what little they had.

The man showed them to a tiny house that was bare save for the essentials and reeked of cold and damp. It was a small village. An empty house felt like a greater tragedy than it might have in a bigger town. Who had lived here? Why was it empty now? Caron ran her fingers across the wall, wondering what stories the stones might tell.

They were supplied with water and soap to wash themselves, and given time to change out of clothes smeared with the grit and grime of their journey. "I'll send someone to scrub them for you," the man said, and then closed the door behind him.

Caleb, exhausted, was sprawled out on the simple cot that lay in the corner of the room, his eyes closed. Caron admired his unerring warrior's talent of being able to catch a nap whenever and wherever the chance arose.

"The boy's got the right idea," Keir said, and within minutes was fast asleep himself.

For a few minutes, Caron tried to follow suit, but no matter how she tried to let her mind drift, sleep would not come. Reluctantly, she rose and went out for a walk.

"Hello again." It was the man who'd shown them into the house. "I hope you're hungry," he said with a smile.

"You really shouldn't trouble yourselves."

"It's no trouble, really. We don't see many travelers these days, and it would mean the world to us if you'd stay, enjoy the celebration." He looked down at his feet, then up at her, obviously uncomfortable. "You might have noticed when you arrived... We don't have any children of our own. We won't be here much longer. We weren't blessed. Our little community is dying." He raised his hand to fend off Caron's look of sympathy. "It's just a fact of life," he went on, "and no great tragedy to be honest. We've got a good life here. However, and feel free to say no, it just struck me that it would be a great honor if your boy could take part in the festivities?"

"How?"

He smiled softly. "It has been a long time since youthful laughter filled these hills. The feast calls for a Lord of Summer... do you think he would like to be our Lord of Summer?"

"Lord of Summer. I don't think I've come across that before." Her words were not quite a question but invited an answer just the same. The question she really wanted to ask was where had all of the villagers' own children gone—or had none ever been born? An entire barren generation seemed unlikely, even in such a small community. Had the children died? Disease was always a threat. They were a long way from any help. Her mind raced with the possibilities, trying to fasten on the most obvious one that would explain the sadness she felt from the villagers. Something had happened to the children, a sweeping sickness had taken them, something like that. If so, that was a sorrow she could share, and it would explain so much.

"For generations we have celebrated the arrival of autumn," the man said, "and given thanks to the mountains for the shelter and protection they afford us. It goes back to when I was a boy, and when my father was. The Lord of Summer represents the best that the village has to offer. Even though your son is not one of ours, he would still represent so much of what we were and want to be again. All he needs to do is take his place on the Briar Throne and smile."

She'd come across plenty of towns and villages that clung onto long-held beliefs and rituals. Some were no more than explanations of natural phenomena like the rise and falls of river levels, the coming of the new moon, or the changing of the seasons. Giving thanks to the mountains was no stranger than any of those. She smiled. "I'm sure he'd love that."

"Wonderful. Wonderful. We'll need to go through the ceremony with him, of course, practice the few lines he'll need to say, but that'll take only a few minutes. First, we should see about getting you fed." He smiled and led her back to the house.

As he closed the door behind her, she realized she hadn't seen anything of the village.

∗ ∗ ∗

The sun sank lower in the sky, casting a gloom inside the room.

People came and went, bringing with them food and questions about the world outside. Everyone was so friendly. She went outside. She could see Caleb dressed in a costume of leaves and vines. He waved to her, clearly delighted to be the center of attention. So like his mother, Caron thought, and so unlike herself. But that was blood for you: it couldn't be denied.

The man who'd greeted them came over to meet her at the door. He smiled warmly. "Thank you so much for doing this. Your boy is having the time of his life."

"I'm sure he is." Caron looked across at Caleb as he was fussed over by half a dozen women old enough to be his grandmother. By the time they were finished with him he'd be every inch the young, virile Lord of Summer they needed. Looking at him there she didn't see the boy; she saw his father the day she'd lost her heart to him. The boy was his double. She couldn't help but smile, remembering the man who'd stolen her heart. But of course that meant remembering everything else, too: the naming ceremony, and the fact Keir hadn't chosen her no matter how desperately she'd wanted him to just say her name and take her hand and dance together into the sunset.

They followed the man between the houses, to the green in front of the main communal house. The entire village had gathered. She could feel them holding their collective breath as a Caleb stepped forward, dressed in the lush colors of summer. His costume was completed with a crown of leaves that had been picked that morning and were already beginning to brown and curl. The crown was a reminder that summer couldn't last forever, no matter what rituals or ceremonies you performed.

The boy walked slowly, his footsteps caught in the rhythm of a softly beating drum. She hadn't noticed the drummer. The sound seemed to be emanating from within the huddled buildings.

At the edge of the settlement, a path lit by fiery brands led the way up into the mountains. With the sun lowering in the sky, the brands created a path of light. Caleb led the procession, walking slowly up the mountainside.

He didn't look back at them once.

∗ ∗ ∗

The villagers began a slow, rhythmic chant. Their voices rolled across the mountainside. They weren't raised in joy. This was a dirge. Mournful, melancholy, like the mountain itself was grieving.

"This isn't right," she whispered fiercely.

Keir said nothing.

They walked side by side up the path of light, leaving the village far behind on the lower slopes. The path wound up through scree and loose rock toward the bare face of the mountain. She could see dark black scars in the face, deep crevices eroded into the mountainside by centuries of harsh weather. Some of the scars rose high above their heads, but were so narrow it would have been hard for a rat to squeeze through.

The path of light opened out into a broad, flat expanse high above the valley below. In the center, surrounded by more blazing torches and a circle of scuffed footprints, was a wooden throne fashioned from intertwined branches and living vines. This time Caleb did look back for approval before he climbed into the chair. He took his place center stage and waited while the others chanted. The pounding of the drum increased, in volume and tempo, counterpoint to the melancholic song.

And then suddenly it stopped.

There was movement within the cracks of the mountain face.

She stared at the dark fissures in the rock as slowly shadows began to detach from the blackness. There was something wrong about the way they moved—too fluid, too supple, hunched and scuttling almost like spiders rather than walking proudly down the hillside like actors—that twisted her gut.

Only they weren't shadows at all.

They looked almost human in the way they moved; their skin was sickly, almost translucent in the faltering light of the path's torches. She could see the bright, bloody colors of the organs beneath the surface and the hard ridges of ivory bone. In its hand she saw a hideous double-bladed sword that gleamed sickly in the moonlight. The shadow man saw her staring at him, and turned to stare back at her, his wide mouth stretching ear to ear as he bared razor-sharp teeth.

This wasn't a ceremony. It was a sacrifice.

Caleb sat proudly on his throne, the Lord of Summer's crown of leaves firmly in place on his head, the daemon spawn closing in on him, hungry to take the villagers' offering.

"Caleb!" she screamed, reaching for her sword and trying to push and shove her way through the crowd of onlookers. But as fast as she moved, they were faster. The shadow men spilled out of the cracks in the mountain and rushed down the slope.

The entire mountainside was locked in eerie silence.

She felt arms grab at her and hold her tight, then saw the same smiling man who'd gone out of his way to make them feel welcome pull Keir down.

They fought desperately, but it didn't matter. There was no way they could fend off an entire village long enough to reach the boy on his briar throne.

Caron screamed and twisted, bucking and thrashing against the hands holding her, but it didn't matter. The sheer weight of bodies overwhelmed her. Something slammed into the side of her face repeatedly—fist or rock, it made little difference—until she stopped fighting and her entire world grew dark.

Coming Next Week: Into the darkness in Chapter Two of Steven Savile's "Queen Sacrifice."

Steven Savile is the internationally best-selling author of almost twenty novels and many more short stories, set in both original worlds and those of Primeval, Stargate SG-1, Warhammer, Torchwood, Dr. Who, and more. He won Writers of the Future in 2002, has been a runner-up for the British Fantasy Award and shortlisted for the Scribe Award for Best Adapted Novel, and won the Scribe Award for Best Young Adult Original Novel. For more information, visit his website at stevensavile.com.

Illustration by Dion Harris.

Advanced Class Guide Preview: Brawler

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

The monk is a disciplined martial artist who spends years of practice to perfect his body and mind. A lawful paragon, the monk has strange and mysterious ki powers. But sometimes you don't want to play Bruce Lee. Sometimes you want to be Chuck Norris. No rules, no discipline, just a headbutt, a kick in the face, and a sucker punch. Bloody, ugly, but effective. If that's what you want, the Advanced Class Guide has the class you've been waiting for.

From the very first playtest version, the Brawler has also possessed some key features. She had full base attack bonus and rocked the monk's unarmed strike damage. She kept all her abilities in light armor (so appropriately, she is brutal in brawling armor). And she had a unique key feature all her own, martial maneuvers, now with a new name in the final version that better carries the awesomeness of the ability—martial flexibility. Martial flexibility is the brawler's answer for the disciplined abilities that the monk learns from all those years of study and perfection. With her flexible mind and intuitive grasp of close-quarters combat, the brawler has seen pretty much every trick in the book throughout her many bar brawls, arena fights, and adventuring combats. Martial flexibility allows her to spontaneously gain access to just the right combat feat (or later feats!) for her situation. Did someone splash ale in your eyes? Gain Blind-Fight. A spellcaster giving you the blues? Try Disruptive and Spellbreaker, maybe with an added dash of Step-Up. Giant enemy archer? Just take Deflect Arrows and they can kiss their Manyshot goodbye (after which you hit their weak point for massive damage).

Illustration by Ramon Puasa Jr

During the playtest, we were all out on the forums bringing back our data, which revealed a few things. Mainly, we all discovered that martial flexibility was awesome, but the brawler could use some more tricks that she could rely on consistently and that are unique to her. Have you ever wished you could hit that weakling wizard right beneath the jaw in just the right spot to knock him out in one hit? As of the second playtest version, the brawler gained the ability to dish out an instant knockout blow starting at level 13 with a devastating DC based on the brawler's Str or Dex score (your choice!). Furthermore, she gained the ability to use Awesome Blow without being size Large, eventually gaining the ability to dropkick the tarrasque 10 feet, knocking it prone, despite being size Medium.

As of the end of the playtest, the brawler was already awesome, and she seemed to have found a good place, but there were still a few observations from playtesters that led to some tweaks for the final version. First of all, the final brawler can deal increased damage with the close weapon group (growing at a slightly reduced rate from her unarmed damage), letting her brawl with everything at her disposal. Second, the knockout ability appearing at level 13 and then growing to 3 uses per day at level 16 seemed rather late and sudden. So the final version? She can start her instant knockout attacks at level 4! And just wait until you see the frankly mind-boggling feat novas you can pull off with her new capstone!

If standard brawler flavor isn't enough, brawler has some of the most evocative archetypes in the book. Instead of using unarmed strikes, the Exemplar can inspire allies like a bard and teach them teamwork feats. If you want a brawler like Bane who is at her best due to chemical enhancements, the Mutagenic Mauler has your back. And the Shield Champion throws her shield like Captain America. I mean look at that Shield Champion. It seems like she's about to punch you in the face right after the shield hits you and leaves you reeling. How cool is that? And that's only the first half of the archetypes in the book!

So to recap, the brawler is the monk's rowdy cousin, more interested in kicking ass than contemplating koans. The brawler is the Chuck Norris base class, and she's not afraid to get her hands dirty. Are you?

Mark Seifter
Designer

New Options

Monday, July 14, 2014

The Year of the Sky Key, Season 6 of the Pathfinder Society Organized Play campaign, is approaching, and that means the new Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play is on its way. It's still a few weeks before we preview the new guide, but we can share a few new options available at the start of Season 6. In fact, there's something for players and something for GMs and organizers.

I imagine you've already spotted the art and guessed that expanded race access is one announcement—spot on. Just as non-standard race access is a hot topic on the messageboards, it's a common talking point during our meetings. It's tough to balance the lure of race boons for conventions against letting as many people as possible play the types of characters they want. Add to that the heated discussions about whether or not some non-standard races are overpowered and the concerns about the so-called "cantina effect." That's a lot to juggle when making a decision, but we decided that introducing a few new options would be best for the campaign. Beginning August 14th 2014 at Gen Con, three new races will be available for play without requiring a special Chronicle sheet: kitsune, nagaji, and wayang. These races have been in circulation through extra Chronicle sheets for nearly three years now, and even though some players have had an opportunity to create these characters, we want newer players to have new options to enjoy. Like other race options, it is still necessary that a player have a book or watermarked pdf reference for the race, such as from Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Dragon Empires Gazetteer, Pathfinder Player Companion: Dragon Empires Primer, Pathfinder RPG: Advanced Race Guide, or Pathfinder RPG Bestiary: Bestiary 4.

Illustration by Eva Widermann

So let's see... seven core races plus three Bestiary races plus three Dragon Empires races. That equals 13, right? Well, there's one piece missing from that equation. We're also removing two races.

For several years, aasimar and tieflings have enjoyed a prominent role in the Pathfinder Society, but as the organization concludes its work in Mendev—where numerous pit-born fight for recognition and heaven-blooded warriors wage holy war—it's time for them to step back. Beginning on August 14th, creating an aasimar or tiefling character will require a special Chronicle sheet, as was the case years ago. The exception is any aasimar or tielfing character with at least 1 XP; these characters are grandfathered into the campaign.

Does this mean you can create several new characters, play a scenario with each, and have several native outsiders waiting for when you need them? Well, we debated long and hard whether to require 4 XP per character, as at that point one is past the free rebuilding stage. However, we also recognized this as unnecessarily punitive to casual players who may only be able to play once or twice in the next month. To answer your question, yes, you can make 10 aasimars and play The Confirmation an equal number of times, but we're trusting you'll exercise some good taste and respect a decision made with the larger community in mind.

Now that we've covered the more controversial news, let's wrap things up with something outright awesome.

We (both Mike and John) both have experience as venture-officers and event coordinators, and we understand that sometimes it's tough to convince a new player to commit to a full 4-5 hour experience. Some events just are not conducive to running a full game, whether that's because it's a weeknight with lots of folks who need to get to bed early or because the location is only open for a few hours. What do you do when a scenario just isn't short enough?

For years the answer has been quests, one-hour mini-adventures intended to last an hour or less. They're great little adventures, but they're a little difficult to schedule for a few reasons. First, there's no easy way to tell a bigger story by connecting a few quests together. Second, the quests—though replayable—offer no gold, XP, or Prestige Points, giving them a reputation of risk for little reward. The most difficult hurdle is that there are only two of them in print (not counting the Goblin Attack demos or Beginner's Box Bash demos).

This year at Gen Con, we're debuting six new 1st-level Pathfinder Quests that take place in and around the River Kingdoms. Each one is a standalone adventure, but they are all loosely tied into a common plot thread, allowing a GM to combine anywhere from two to all six to make a larger adventure as suits the needs of the group and event location. Play them in any order—one can even play the finale quest early—and earn a Chronicle sheet with rewards that scale based on the number of adventures you played.

John Compton and Mike Brock
Developer and Global Organized Play Coordinator

Friday Publisher Preview: Of Strong Character

Friday, July 11, 2014

It's hard to believe that PaizoCon is just a week behind us. In the mad rush to ship files for the product catalog and the Pathfinder RPG Monster Codex to the printer by the end of the day today, this week has been every bit as busy as the one preceding the convention, if not a little bit busier.

But, as I've said many times before, being busy is no excuse for not showing off some Friday afternoon goodness, and this week we've got some VERY good things to show off, or at least three figures that could very well have "good" in their alignment.

All three are from November's upcoming The Lost Coast set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted fantasy miniatures. It's a set that's shaping up to be one of my favorites, as the general theme allows me to simply select miniatures based on fantastic art and the potential for lots of use at the table. After several sets based on specific characters from our Pathfinder Adventure Paths (which I obviously also love), it's a refreshing change.

Enough preamble. Let's take a look at this week's reveals!

Here we have the fantastic Haughty Avenger, from page 113 of the Pathfinder RPG NPC Codex. This remarkable half-elf makes a perfect player character for any well-dressed Medium female adventurer, and she's "generic" enough that she could also work as a guard or rank-and-file mook in a group of upper-class enemies. The Haughty Avenger is an uncommon, Medium figure.

That sound you hear is the crowd cheering for the Shoanti Barbarian, whose earthbreaker weapon is ready for service against friends or enemies, depending on the whims of the Game Master. This particular race/weapon combination has been on our personal wishlist for a long time, as Shoanti show up in several Pathfinder products, particularly those set in the realm of Varisia. He works great as a player character or as an enemy (in the arena or otherwise). The Shoanti Gladiator is a Medium, uncommon figure.

This gentlemen prefers to be called "The Forest Shadow," the name under which he appears as a sample NPC in the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook. When I was putting together the set list for this set, my boss Lisa Stevens asked that I make sure to include some elves—so I included perhaps my favorite elf image we've produced to date. This figure is amazingly three-dimensional and awesome, and I think you're going to love him. I predict many, many, many players using The Forest Shadow as their player character. The Forest Shadow is a Medium, rare figure.

And that's it for this week. I still don't have an update on WizKids' plans to address the "Sad Feiya" issue from Reign of Winter, but I do know that they are moving forward with an equitable solution that should please just about everyone who was underwhelmed by that figure (which I imagine is just about everyone). The details of how to pull off what they're planning are complicated, however, and they've asked me to keep them hush-hush until they are absolutely certain with the details. I urge you to be patient—I think you'll find that patience will pay off in this case.

Until next week's preview, I remain...

Erik Mona
Publisher

Meet the Iconics: Hakon

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Illustration by Wayne Reynolds

Past the Ironbound Archipelago, across the Steaming Sea, lies the Broken Bay, haven of scoundrels, raiders, cutthroats, and killers in the bloodiest viking traditions of the Lands of the Linnorm Kings. As a youth, Hakon waited impatiently to come of age and join the seasonal southern raids of his countrymen, eagerly absorbing the tales of distant lands they brought back with the plunder. The proud raiders boasted of desperate battles at sea, of ceaseless storms and sea monsters and foreign towns cloaked in sheets of cascading flames. Hakon committed these stories to memory, adding his own embellishments to create an oral history for his people—vowing to one day make a place for himself within it.

Key to Hakon's youthful mythology was Hrolf Harfargr, one of the few honorable huscarls of Broken Bay's despicable King Ingimundr the Unruly. Hakon's account of Harfargr's victory over the ice troll Rimeclaw became something of a phenomenon in the Bay's capital settlement of Bildt. Other skalds tried to outdo Hakon's telling, adding ever more fantastic feats to the story, increasing Harfargr's reputation and influence. Nevertheless, even the embellishments acknowledged the original tale as Hakon's as much as that of Hrolf Harfargr, and the young storyteller became a minor celebrity in Broken Bay. When he turned 15 later that year, Harfargr claimed him for his crew and appointed Hakon as his personal lorekeeper and legend-spinner.

Hakon composed epic poems of Hrolf Harfargr's encounter with the brine dragon Kelizar, his crushing victory at sea over Styrbjorn Threefingers, and his romance with his greatest rival, the viking hero White Estrid. Hakon stood beside the two lovers as Harfargr and his men joined forces with Estrid on her legendary run through a Chelish blockade at the Arch of Aroden to find harbor in the distant city of Absalom, at the heart of the Inner Sea. On that months-long journey, Hakon recorded the tales of heroes like White Estrid, Runewulf the Unbeliever, Molgard Swordhand, and the twins Bolgi and Bjarni, slayers of the frost wolf Kuldnir.

To keep the memories fresh in his mind, Hakon embroidered representations of the stories into cloth badges sewn along the hem of his long coat. As he moved from badge to badge, Hakon added to the legend of his shipmates, who looked on in excitement with each of his tellings. The smiles and encouragement of heroes stung Hakon in his heart, however, and what should have been pride was instead replaced with regret and shame. For Hrolf Harfargr intended that his personal skald would survive to tell his legend, and thus kept Hakon as far from danger as possible. Over the years of his time in service to White Estrid, Hakon observed the great deeds of heroes triumphing over enemies again and again, but always as a witness, and never as the participant he so wanted to be.

Upon their return to the Lands of the Linnorm Kings from the extended Absalom expedition, White Estrid and Hrolf Harfargr had a falling out that separated Hakon from the band of heroes that had so inspired his imagination. As Estrid and her crew went on to defeat a linnorm dragon and claim the kingdom of Halgrim, Hakon followed Hrolf Harfargr back to the Broken Bay. Over the next several years, Hakon watched as Harfargr's legend faded. King Ingimundr openly undermined him and tempted the fading lord to strike against him. The final humiliation sentenced Harfargr to serve upon the crew of a longship captained by a spiteful viking named Girt Bearwearer, a hated enemy. Worse, the king ordered Harfargr to sea without his official lorekeeper and the recorder of his legendry deeds. Instead, Ingimundr assigned Hakon's younger brother, Ostog, to his place at the oars.

Hrolf Harfargr, Ostog, and Hakon's old companions Bolgi and Bjarni set out on Girt Bearwearer's ship among a great armada of raiders with hungry eyes on the rich lands of the distant south. They never returned to the Broken Bay, but soon stories made their way to Hakon of a mutiny at sea in which Hrolf Harfargr and his allies attempted to take the longship from its wicked captain. Their heroism was rewarded with sword thrusts and blood eagles. A victorious Bearwearer had his slain enemies thrown overboard, food for sea birds and the ravenous beasts of the deep.

But other stories made their way back to Bildt, too. Tales of a brash young warrior named Ostog the Unslain, a survivor of treachery at sea who somehow washed ashore in the Varisian town of Sandpoint and who immediately set about creating a legend of his own. Hakon had to know if the tales of Ostog's distant deeds were true, so he set off on a ship of his own to Sandpoint in an attempt to reunite with his brother. He arrived only to find Ostog had already departed, leaving behind him the mangled corpses of twisted monsters and wicked men. Hakon began work on a new series of badges for his coat in Sandpoint—the Saga of Ostog the Unslain.

Hakon and a band of companions followed Ostog all the way down Avistan's western coast, tracing his brother's footsteps in the drying blood of the young barbarian's dismembered enemies. His travels took him into the deepest deserts of Osirion, back to Absalom, and to a dozen ports in between. Though Hakon has not yet caught up with Ostog, the skald's journeys have brought him his own measure of renown. In Nisroch he slew the dark druid Roverud. His twin axes—Hagrum's Keel and Limbrender—struck down the marsh giant Fogulnur, gaining Hakon the legendary Horn of Valenhall, a mystical artifact he only partially understands. Tales of these victories fill his companions with unparalleled battle spirit and combat prowess, further cementing Hakon's growing legend. Now the badges of Hakon's own exploits stand beside those of the true heroes of the Broken Bay, but the skald knows that his journeys must continue until his deeds shine like those of Hrolf Harfargr, White Estrid, and Ostog the Unslain. Only then will the Saga of Hakon be complete, daring those who come after him to even greater feats of bravery and legend.

Erik Mona
Publisher

Advanced Class Guide Preview: Skald

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

The savage warrior whose warcries and fury inspire his allies to great deeds. The respected keeper of epics and histories of a bloody and glorious past. Even before the Advanced Class Guide, the skald lurked in our collective fantasies, though he often manifested in different ways. A multiclass character here, an archetype there. But there was never really a dedicated class that captured the fury and power of the skald, until now. The skald was an easy fit for Golarion. I mean, we have the Ulfen, whose very language is called Skald, and there's plenty of other cultures where it's easy to see these fearsome and mighty battle leaders replacing the more refined and classical bard of the Lem variety.

Illustration by Ramon Puasa Jr

So the first playtest version unleashed the skald to all of you (and me!) to test out in your games. Right from the start, the skald was able to cast bard spells, wield any weapon he wants, and inspire a barbarian rage in his allies, even giving them the exciting boost of all the skald's rage powers. Visions of entire parties surrounded by spirit totems or clawed and pouncing soared through our collective heads, and the playtest began! But right away, all the playtesters started running into the same problem—the number of characters who desired the rage's advantages enough to be willing to risk the fatigue at the end were often too few, especially compared to how many could benefit from the bard. Not only the spellcasters, who couldn't cast their spells, were balking at the invitation to a rage-filled bloodbath. The archers, who needed adaptive bows to gain anything from the Strength but feared the -3 penalty to hit they would take from fatigue, were also quick to pass.

So the skald went back to the forge and began hammering himself a new set of tools while singing epics sadly to himself. And he emerged for round 2 of the playtest with a shiny new way to give out rage. Now party members could accept the rage on a round by round basis, with no commitment to staying enraged the entire song and without the fear of fatigue when the rage ends. Suddenly, the siren's call of fury became too much, and there were tales of archers (and even occasionally primary spellcasters eager for the rage powers' benefits) accepting the skald's offer to lose themselves to their primal instincts for a while. But still, the playtesters forged onward, providing feedback on the versatility of the skald and asking for more variety in the skald's song choices.

And the final version delivers! When it comes to both performances and skills, he is more versatile than ever before. He has three new song choices, the most metal of which is clearly his 14th level song of the fallen. You see, the trouble with being the support character is that sometimes the bad guys decide to kill your allies and you don't really have anyone to support. Too often inconvenienced by the deaths of his comrades, the skald has come up with a workaround, powered by the sheer fury of his raging song. He can revive any number of allies with this song, though if he's keeping the entire alive as deathless einherjar, he's going to run out of rounds of performance fairly quickly (since it costs a number of rounds of performance equal to the number of revived allies). And the allies are staggered, so they're not at their peak performance—but hey, it's a better way of killing time than waiting in line in the Boneyard!

But that's not the end of the skald's drum solo! Have you ever thought that it wasn't fair how linnorms have death curses but not your character. I mean, you put lots of time into building that character. That darn NPC deserves to suffer for killing Lord Kickass III. With the new skald rage powers (which anyone with rage powers can select), you too can bestow a horrific death curse on your enemies.

And there's archetypes too. The fated champion stares down the future without fear for what it might hold, with fate-twisting powers and supernatural insights. The herald of the horn forms an arcane bond with a horn (potentially an enormous horn nearly as big as his own body, according to the art). He doesn't compose elaborate kennings; he blows that sucker and crazy things happen! The spell warrior sends his rage into your weapon instead of your head, and his very spells are a weapon with which to do battle with those of enemy spellcasters. And the totemic skald channels the power of a totem animal into himself and his allies; you want to put the "bear" in ber-serker? Play this guy!

So to recap: If bards are your classical virtuosos who channel the tales of the mythical Orpheus, skalds are their metal cousins who channel the tales of poets with attitudes more like the Norse Bragi, who threatens to decapitate people who insult his courage. If that's what you've been waiting for since forever, once you get your hands on the book, roar in visceral triumph as you paw your way immediately to page 49 and feast upon the skald in all his glory.

Mark Seifter
Designer

Faction Evolution, Part IV: Diversifying the Portfolio

Monday, July 7, 2014

Before we get rolling into the main subject of this week's blog, we'd like to give a big thanks to everyone who came to PaizoCon—especially everyone who participated in Pathfinder Society Organized Play (understandably, we're a bit biased). We got lots of really positive and helpful feedback following the test run of Legacy of the Stonelords, one of the upcoming Specials set to run at Gen Con Indy 2014. There were also two lottery events called "Out of Retirement," in which Mark Moreland and John Compton revisited two of Season 0's retired scenarios, redid the stat blocks (and redeveloped a few other features), and ran them for credit for excited players. Rumor has it that Mark's Blood at Dralkard Manor claimed a few lives, whereas John's Hands of the Muted God proved less deadly but equally fun. You won't hear us promising to un-retire these for the public just yet, but the positive response we got this makes it likely we'll do something similar for the next PaizoCon. Thanks again!

A month ago, we briefly discussed the impact of faction PCs' decisions in the campaign and how these decisions have shaped the direction that these factions are going. The following week on the Know Direction podcast, John Compton expanded on what this evolution might entail for many factions: name changes, shifting goals, and even changes in leadership. Recently, we revealed the changes coming up for Andoran and Cheliax, and Osirion and Taldor.

As advertised over a year ago, the so-called nation-based factions have spent the past season (or longer for some like the Cheliax faction) distancing themselves from their parent countries to embrace less territorial and more broadly philosophical endeavors. When the Pathfinder Society Organized Play leaders began discussing how factions would change, we looked at the reporting numbers contributed by players worldwide and carefully considered how the faction might change to reflect this information while still appealing to a large percentage of its members. For example, members of the Silver Crusade faction tend to be good guys, so changing that faction to be neutrally aligned would discourage a lot of players.

Today's factions both love their money, though in the past they've pursued this goal in slightly different ways. Be warned that there are some light spoilers from Season 5 scenarios referenced below.

Illustration by Jon Hodgson

Sczarni: Use Pathfinder Missions as a Front for Personal Gain

Guaril Karela's takeover of the Sczarni families seemed nothing short of flawless, and within a year, he controlled most of the Sczarni operations in Varisia. In doing so, he and his agents had stepped on quite a few toes, earning them the enmity of the "survivors." For the past year these survivors have orchestrated Guaril's downfall—preferably executed with a sharp knife in a dark alley. Fortunately for Guaril, he had also worked his way into the Pathfinder Society's good graces and established himself as an indispensible spymaster, and the Society devoted some of its resources to keeping the canny Varisian out his enemies' sights.

Guaril is tired of lying low, and now that his agents have tracked down and dispatched a few of the rogue Sczarnis' ringleaders, he is ready to deliver the killing blow and be rid of this threat forever. Of course, his enemies won't go down without a fight, so Sczarni faction PCs should expect a deadly showdown. Should Guaril die, his nascent empire could crumble without his threats and arm-twisting to keep things together. Even if he should live, he has demonstrated weakness in the eyes of several key supporters, and it may prove too much for the faction to recover.

Qadira: Dominance Through Trade

Aaqir al'Hakam stepped up to guide the Qadira faction after its then leader Pasha Mualia al'Jakri disappeared under violently ominous circumstances, and for several years he has extended the faction's influence and commercial interests in distant ports. Of all of the faction leaders we've discussed thus far, al'Hakam has perhaps the least antagonistic relationship with his home country. It's not that his superiors have betrayed, disowned, or disappointed him. Rather, he has found that some of the more promising opportunities are available only to those without a national affiliation.

Two years ago, the Qadira faction undertook an ambitious project to claim markets in Varisia and establish trade relations with Janderhoff. Although agents succeeded in some regards, a wide variety of factors—including the existence of other aggressively mercantile operations like those maintained by some of the Sczarni—stymied their progress. It also seemed that the local people perceived the ambitious, foreign merchants as invaders rather than as well-intentioned entrepreneurs. After months of hard work, Aaqir al'Hakam redirected his resources elsewhere, admitting that the circumstances were not yet right for his organization to supply Varisian demands.

During the Year of the Demon, Qadira faction agents have developed trade contacts far and wide in the Inner Sea region, building upon their past successes in the years before. Markets in the Five Kings Mountains, Druma, Rahadoum, Kaer Maga, Taldor, and Andoran have all shown an interest in the faction's services, and their cooperation has only improved the more that al'Hakam portrays his operation as an independent outfit and less as a state-sanctioned business. The significance of this is not lost on the faction leader, and he has quietly laid the groundwork for a new business with the blessing and support of his late mentor, the trade princess Zarmina Bahjari.

Qadira is now aware of Aaqir al'Hakam's plans, and for the most part the satrapy has accepted his new strategy with grace—even though he is severing some of his ties to the nation. Most trade princes operate independently, yet their successes nonetheless fill Qadira's coffers by encouraging more trade to gravitate to Kelish ports; al'Hakam's venture is similar in many ways but on a larger scale, and the ruling elite believe it is a better investment to formally accept the faction's transformation, make the most of past accomplishments, and enjoy the fruits of having the faction leader as an ally rather than as a proxy.

What's more, it allows the one-time Qadira faction to merge with like-minded operations that might otherwise balk at heavy-handed Kelish affiliation. As you may have guessed by now, two of the factions are merging into one.

The Exchange: There are Two Sides to Every Coin

In many ways the new faction is going about business as usual, though it no longer operates as an extension of the Qadiran state. PCs from Qadira (including those interested in forwarding national interests) will still find the faction an attractive choice, but by stepping away from its parent country, the faction also broadens its scope and the types of stories we can tell. Flavor-wise, faction PCs will be more like business partners and less like agents, and we anticipate missions, boons, vanities, and faction traits will reflect this.

As for the Sczarni faction, Aaqir al'Hakam has an eye for talent and believes the Sczarni network is too valuable to dissolve as a result of Guaril Karela's recent troubles. Instead, the Sczarni would benefit from being a part of al'Hakam's new endeavor, and in doing so his business would expand beyond the mundane delivery of goods and into the realm of more…"challenging" commodities. When the time is right, the trade prince trusts Guaril will approve the merger.

And just in case your character is an upstanding merchant that would frown upon the underhanded tactics used by the Sczarni, we have some exciting ideas as to how to keep this combined "money" faction appealing to both you and the less virtuous entrepreneur.

Happy gaming,

John Compton and Mike Brock
Developer and Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

Delve Action

Sun, Jul 6, 2014 at 01:47 PM Pacific

Ryan Macklin and Jessica Price at the delve. Killin' is their business, and business is good.

Jenny Bendel
Marketing Director

Emerald Spire Superstars Panel

Sun, Jul 6, 2014 at 11:20 AM Pacific

7 of the 16 Emerald Spire Superstars! L to r-Schneider, Sutter, Jacobs, Bulmahn, Mentzer, Mona, and Stevens.

Jenny Bendel
Marketing Director

PaizoCon 2014 Announcement Round-Up

Sunday, July 6, 2014

Missed the annual PaizoCon Preview Banquet? Enjoyed too many cocktails while there to remember what we showed off? This post is your one-stop shop for all the important announcements you may have missed!

After a brief greeting from company founder Lisa Stevens and an introduction of the staff by Publisher and Master of Ceremonies Erik Mona, Lead Designer Jason Bulmahn took over the podium to share some juicy details on upcoming books in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game line.

Advanced Class Guide

Jason kicked things off with an overview of August's Pathfinder RPG Advanced Class Guide, the RPG line's major release of 2014. The book contains 10 new base classes, each of which combines two existing classes to create a new hybrid that better serves a given character concept. The brawler, for example, mixes mechanical elements of the monk and fighter to create a scrappy martial fighter without all of the mystical elements or armor focus of its parent classes.

Jason's tour took us through eight spreads of the book, revealing details on the shaman class as well as arcanist archetypes like the elemental master, occultist, school savant, spell specialist, unlettered arcanist, and white mage. He also gave a preview of the book's numerous skald rage powers, a look at its feats, spells, and magic items, and finally a glimpse at the character class design guidelines included in the volume.

Monster Codex

He then continued with a tour of the Pathfinder RPG Monster Codex, a treasury of stat blocks, cultural details, and special rules for 20 of the Pathfinder RPG's most commonly encountered creatures. After a look at the fire giant chapter, Jason showed off several illustrations of the various creatures represented within, which are reproduced below.

Illustrations by Jason Rainville

Check out more monsters from the Monster Codex!

Illustrations by Roberto Pitturru

Illustrations by Alexandre Chaudret

Illustrations by Ben Wootten

Illustrations by Maichol Quinto

Illustrations by Jason Engle

Pathfinder Unchained

The big announcement for the RPG line came when Jason pulled back the curtain on Pathfinder Unchained, the spring 2015 hardcover that will take Pathfinder into exciting new directions. This tome of optional rules revisits the barbarian, monk, rogue, and summoner classes with entirely revised versions designed to improve their overall play at the table. The book also will include an optional (and much simpler) action economy for the game, as well as new ways of designing monsters and treasure on the fly that we think players are going to love. We'll have much more to say about this book going forward, but for now it's probably enough to say that we've been conducting some mad experiments here at Paizo Central, and we can't wait to share them with you!

Pathfinder Adventure Card Game

Following Jason's presentation, we were joined by Pathfinder Adventure Card Game designers Mike Selinker and Tanis O'Connor, who revealed more details about August's Skull & Shackles Base Set and the upcoming Pathfinder Society Adventure Card Guild Organized Play program. The highlight of the card game presentation was Mike's announcement that the NEXT Adventure Card Game base set will be Wrath of the Righteous, scheduled for a February 2015 release! We'll have full product pages for the whole path up shortly!

Sketch by Wayne Reynolds

Giantslayer Adventure Path

Following the Adventure Card Game presentation, Erik announced the name of the next Pathfinder Adventure Path: GIANTSLAYER! More details about the campaign will be announced at the Adventure Path team's Sunday seminar, and will hit the Paizo Blog in short order.

Licensed Products

Following the AP talk, I focused on a raft of upcoming Pathfinder licensed products, most so new that they do not even have product pages on paizo.com yet! They are:

• A metal Sihedron Medallion from our partners at King of the Castle/Campaign Coins.
• A look at the upcoming Rise of the Runelords soundsets from Syrinscape.
• Pathfinder Comics hardcovers for Volume 2: Tooth and Claw and the popular Pathfinder: Goblins! limited series.
• Pathfinder Iconic Heroes Minimates figurines.

Pathfinder Battles: The Lost Coast

The next section of the Preview Banquet focused on the Pathfinder Battles line of prepainted plastic figures we produce in cooperation with WizKids. In addition to showing off several of the already-revealed figures, Erik finally revealed the set's titanic case incentive figure—the mighty Shemhazian Demon.

Pathfinder Online

Following the annual presentation of our Volunteer of the Year Award (co-awarded to PaizoCon UK founders and masterminds Dave Harrison and Rob Silk), we invited Pathfinder Online executive Ryan Dancey to close out the ceremony with a look at the Alpha version of Pathfinder Online, which went live just last week. It's still very much a work in progress, but there has been a TON of progress in recent months, and it's been really cool to see people playing the game and having fun with it. Ryan and his team have been running demos all weekend, and it's become a great part of the PaizoCon experience to see the game grow from year to year.

Here's a look at the video.

And that's it for new announcements this year! We'll have a lot more to say about these products in the weeks and months to come. If you're at PaizoCon, it's been fantastic getting a chance to chat with and game with you. If you couldn't make it this year, here's hoping you get a chance to attend in the future!

Keep rolling 20s, everyone!

Erik Mona
Publisher

With their powers combined...

Sat, Jul 5, 2014 at 09:56 PM Pacific

Sara Marie
Customer Service Dire Carebear Manager

Pathfinders Feast!

Sat, Jul 5, 2014 at 07:35 PM Pacific

It's time for the big banquet at paizocon. Stay tuned for some new product announcements!

Jenny Bendel
Marketing Director

Crafting Circle: Stamping!

Sat, Jul 5, 2014 at 03:44 PM Pacific

Carving linoleum covered wood blocks into custom golem stamps.

Sara Marie
Customer Service Dire Carebear Manager

Dressed to Kill

Sat, Jul 5, 2014 at 12:38 PM Pacific

Intern extraordinaire Savannah the Barbarian at paizocon!

Jenny Bendel
Marketing Director

Needs More Creepy Clowns

Sat, Jul 5, 2014 at 12:14 PM Pacific

Apparently the Delve was missing something...

Sara Marie
Customer Service Dire Carebear Manager

Lisa Getting Her Game On

Sat, Jul 5, 2014 at 10:44 AM Pacific

Paizo CEO Lisa Stevens gets in an early morning Pathfinder Adventure Card Game with attendees at paizocon.

Jenny Bendel
Marketing Director

Amazing fan art!

Fri, Jul 4, 2014 at 04:53 PM Pacific

Bev Gordon created these amazing pieces of art,that fold out to make an entire scene.

Liz Courts
Webstore Specialist

Secrets of Golarion

Fri, Jul 4, 2014 at 02:17 PM Pacific

Masterminds at the Secrets of Golarion panel. L to R - Daigle, Schneider, Jacobs, Sutter

Jenny Bendel
Marketing Director

The Delve!

Fri, Jul 4, 2014 at 02:08 PM Pacific

Jason Bulmahn slaying at the Delve.

Jenny Bendel
Marketing Director

The family that paints minis together...

Fri, Jul 4, 2014 at 01:32 PM Pacific

Pathfinder Society's Mike Brock gets mini painting tips from daughter Sarah at PaizoCon 2014.

Jenny Bendel
Marketing Director

Lisa's Alpha Adventure

Fri, Jul 4, 2014 at 12:47 PM Pacific

Lisa's Pathfinder Online alpha play through is being screened on a bug
screen. No pressure!

Mark Moreland
Developer

Friday Publisher Preview: It's PaizoCon!

Friday, July 4, 2014

We've been ramping up for PaizoCon all week here at the Paizo offices, which hasn't left much time for miniatures previews. But rest assured, we've got one major reveal scheduled for the traditional Saturday Preview Banquet. We'll include that image along with our other product announcements in a news roundup post on Sunday after the banquet, but for now here's a hint at what we have in store:

Now what in the world could that be? Swing by the Paizo Blog on Sunday to find out, or check it out on the big screen at the Preview Banquet!

I hope to see you all there. Miniatures fans should remember to attend Erik Mona's Miniatures Trading Afterparty at 2:00 in the hotel bar. We've been doing it for years now, and it's always one of the highlights of the convention.

See you there!

Erik Mona
Publisher

All Pathfinder all the Time!

Fri, Jul 4, 2014 at 11:02 AM Pacific

The Pathfinder Society campaign room was fully seated by 8:06am. Game on, Pathfinders!

Jenny Bendel
Marketing Director

Wayfinder meets one of its biggest fans!

Fri, Jul 4, 2014 at 10:56 AM Pacific

Paizo CEO Lisa Stevens shows off two rare full color issues of Wayfinder. She's flanked by Wayfinder editor-in-chief Tim Nightengale and assistant editor Paris Crenshaw.

Liz Courts
Webstore Specialist

Need a Banquet Ticket?

Fri, Jul 4, 2014 at 10:05 AM Pacific

Need a Banquet Ticket? You're in luck! We have a small reserve we are selling at the PaizoCon Store in the Snoqualmie room.

Tickets are $25.00 + tax.
PaizoCon Preview Banquet is at 7pm on Saturday, July 5th.

(There may be a few additional tickets sold at the door on Saturday night, $25, cash only).

Sara Marie
Customer Service Dire Carebear Manager

Erhmehgerblins!

Fri, Jul 4, 2014 at 07:26 AM Pacific

Look at the goblin! Anita Lambiase made this adorable costume for their goblin plush.

Liz Courts
Webstore Specialist

Meet the Iconics: Enora

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Today we introduce the next of the new iconic characters from the Advanced Class Guide: Enora the arcanist. Enora will also be a playable character in the not-yet-announced Pathfinder Adventure Card Game set due for release in February 2015.

Illustration by Wayne Reynolds

Like many halflings, Enora has always been driven by an unlikely pairing of curiosity and luck. Her parents, both professors at Manaket’s premier arcane institution, the Occularium, fostered in their only daughter a hunger for knowledge that was rivaled only by her optimism and determination. Perhaps the result of her parents’ own mastery of magic, Enora had always possessed a natural understanding of the mystical inner workings of magic, and combining this with her fastidious research skills and intuition, she quickly rose to the top of her class.

When she came of age, Enora came out atop a pool of nearly a hundred applicants for a coveted governmental position researching some of the Occularium’s most valued magical treasures from the ancient Jistka Imperium. In this role, Enora found the perfect fit for her curiosity, drive, and magical acumen. But years of study of even the most esoteric and enigmatic of Jistkan relics wasn’t enough for Enora, and countless hours in the Occularium’s library aroused in her an uncontrollable sense of wanderlust.

To combat her growing frustration with the limits she felt her job placed upon her ability to uncover lore, and longing to study artifacts beyond just those of the Jistkans, Enora took a leave of absence, intending to perform research abroad on other ancient magical empires. Her request was granted, and she was given a year to learn what she could before returning to continue her work in the Occularium.

Enora’s destination was the ruins of Lirgen—one of the two nations completely subsumed by the Eye of Abendego just over a century earlier—where she hoped to find recently lost information about their mastery of astrology. The journey south along the coast of Rahadoum was uneventful, but the harsh and unforgiving swamps of the Sodden Lands and the less than welcoming inhabitants of the marshes therein provided Enora ample opportunities to use her magical skills merely to survive. The excitement of adventure grabbed the halfling during this journey, and she thought even in the earliest weeks of her sabbatical of how very different the arcane libraries of the Occularium would feel upon her return.

Yet it was a discovery she made in a half-drowned temple dedicated to the magic god Nethys—the worship of whom was forbidden in her homeland—that truly set Enora’s life on a new path. Within the dank and moldering sanctuary, Enora uncovered a stone tablet that radiated a magical aura unlike anything she had ever encountered before, even amid the most powerful of Jistkan artifacts under her charge in the Occularium. Setting her hand upon the arcane writing and reaching forth with her innate arcane abilities, Enora touched the very fabric of the magical energy that pulsed through the artifact, unraveling it ever so slightly to better understand it.

Immediately, her mind was flooded with magical revelations, knowledge beyond her wildest dreams, and a sense of a much vaster world of magical discovery to be explored than she had ever imagined. When she pulled her hand away, as much in shock as in fear of overwhelming her mind, Enora had a new understanding of the potential for learning that existed beyond the strictly secular libraries and laboratories of Rahadoum. A combination of rage and sadness overwhelmed her as she realized that her own rejection of Nethys and other gods of magic had been holding her back from attaining the knowledge she’d always yearned for. How could she return to Manaket and her governmental position knowing that so much more information remained beyond her grasp, simply because it was held in libraries dedicated to deities her nation had shunned?

Enora traveled east into the Mwangi Expanse and found passage down one of the region’s many rivers to the Arcadian Ocean, the entire time assessing her options. Her year of research was quickly drawing to a close, and she had to decide where she would go next. In the end, she wrote to the magistrate who oversaw her work at the Occularium and extended her period of study abroad, then boarded a ship set for Sothis, where she knew one of the largest temples of Nethys to be located.

Enora chose the pursuit of knowledge over the security of the life she’d known, and now lives a life on the edge of two worlds. She works continually through carefully worded letters to maintain her good standing with the Occularium in order to preserve her access to its myriad magical and academic resources, but is afraid to return home, lest her newfound respect for the power of the gods brings punishment upon her head. Now, Enora travels the Inner Sea in search of a better understanding of the inner workings of magic and the secrets of lost empires whose magic surpassed that of even the most powerful modern archmages, utilizing whatever resources she can gain access to, be they religious or secular in nature.

Enora is singularly driven in her search for knowledge, but isn’t above working with others in order to achieve common goals. She remains cheerful and optimistic about most things, yet holds deep-seated anxiety about the conflict she will inevitably face should she return to Manaket and be outed as a follower of Nethys. She doesn’t talk much about where she came from, but knows that one day her travels will take her back to Rahadoum, and she’ll be hard pressed to keep her secret.

Mark Moreland
Developer

And so it begins!

Thu, Jul 3, 2014 at 09:11 AM Pacific

Chris Self and Andrew Vallas offload gear and goodies for PaizoCon!

Liz Courts
Webstore Specialist

The Crusader Road Sample Chapter

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

In The Crusader Road, Michael A. Stackpole (New York Times best-selling author of X-Wing: Rogue Squadron) brings you a new novel of frontier adventure that offers a taste of the setting featured in the new Pathfinder Online massively multiplayer online roleplaying game. When the aristocratic Vishov family has been banished from Ustalav due to underhanded politics, Lady Tyressa Vishov is faced with a choice: fade slowly into obscurity, or strike out for the nearby River Kingdoms and establish a new holding on the untamed frontier. Together with her children and loyal retainers, she’ll forge a new life in the infamous Echo Wood, and neither bloodthirsty monsters nor local despots will stop her from reclaiming her family honor. Yet the shadow of Ustalavic politics is long, and even in a remote and lawless territory, there may be those determined to see the Vishov family fail...

Chapter Thirteen

A Dream Uprooted

Jerrad couldn't tell from which direction the scream had come. He'd been huddled beneath a blanket reading the wizardry text. Something about the words didn't require light for him to read—which made sense. Many of the spells were centered around illusions and projecting images into a subject's mind. The whole book, he decided, was primarily a practical text on illusion, and he devoured each lesson as the book choose to reveal it to him.

Don't move. He closed the book and trembled. Someone just had an accident. It can't be anything bad. Just stay here.

Someone else screamed.

Serra!

He threw off the blanket. Silhouettes ran through the night—some normal people and some small, like children, but with enormous heads and ridiculously large ears. He resisted the urge to duck beneath the blankets again, and instead cupped his hands around his mouth. "Goblins!"

Jerrad grabbed his belt and fumbled with the buckle for a heartbeat or two before realizing he didn't need to wear the belt. His hand drifted down to the dagger, and he drew it just in time for one of the goblins to bound into his tent, peg teeth flashing.

Time died. The goblin had daubed its face with reddish mud and some yellow paste probably made from flowers. It had tied feathers to its biceps and just below the knees. A mangy skin made up its loincloth and the short cloak it wore. It had a rusty knife tucked into a slender belt, but never made to draw it.

The goblin hissed and leaped for him. Clawed hands reached for Jerrad's throat. The young man thrust the dagger forward—less as an attack than an attempt to fend the goblin off. His dagger plunged into the goblin's throat right above a necklace of bones. Hot blood shot up Jerrad's sleeve, and the goblin's dying spin tore the slicked knife from his hand. The creature stumbled and fell against Jerrad's cot.

The goblin's claws rent the pillow asunder, then the creature slumped amid a blizzard of feathers. It sighed as if settling down for a welcome nap.

Jerrad stared at his gore-drenched hand. A feather landed on it, drinking in the goblin's blood. What have I done?

Then he heard another scream. Serra! I have to find Serra! He dropped to a knee and yanked the dagger from the goblin's throat. Trailing feathers in his wake, he ran into the night, and heard her scream a third time.

There!

Serrana ran pell-mell through the camp in a panic. She headed mostly west, angling toward the furthest of the root cellars. He raced after her, slashing goblins and pushing them out of the way. He didn't hurt many, but caught a couple solidly. They'd either not seen him coming or didn't care as long as there was loot to carry off. Odd, capering victory dances took precedence over fighting, adding absurdity to the night's horrific chaos.

Ahead, his sister tripped and fell against a pile of wood scraps. Three goblins moved at her. Two had knives.

"Hey!" Jerrad thrust his left hand high in the air as the goblins stared at him. This better work!

He cast the spell he'd been trying to perfect beneath the blanket. A brilliant light flared from his hand, rendering the goblins in silver and his sister in icy blue. One goblin screamed, dropping his knife, and clawed at his own eyes.

As darkness returned and a wave of fatigue washed over him, Jerrad let his run carry him into the nearest goblin. He bowled the creature over. His foe sank teeth into Jerrad's left shoulder, but the boy barely noticed. Hand tight on the dagger's sticky hilt, Jerrad stabbed again and again. His thrusts ruined the goblin's belly, but he didn't stop stabbing until the jaws slackened.

He pitched the body off and rose, blood coursing down his arm and dripping from the blade. He gave Serra a smile. "It's okay."

Her eyes grew wide and her voice rose with fear. "Jerrad, look out!"

He spun right into an avalanche of goblins. His knife sank into something solid and warm, but it didn't matter. A skull clipped his jaw, cracking teeth together. With horror contorting Serra's face, Jerrad sank beneath a wave of rending claws, biting teeth, and goblin flesh.

∗ ∗ ∗

Tyressa leaped from the battlements and landed in a crouch. She gathered her skirts and pulled the rear hem up between her legs, tucked it into her belt at the belly. Cool air chilled bare feet. Another two steps and she picked up a stout stick. Two more and she levered a hatchet free of the chopping block where they killed chickens. With one stroke she slashed the stick into a sharpened stake, then stalked into the night.

More screams drew her onward. She heard someone yell "Goblins!" and thought it might be Jerrad. At least he's alive. She killed the urge to run to him. Panic would slay her, and then she'd be no help to anyone.

The first goblin flew at her out of the darkness, screeching as it came. Tyressa twisted, thrusting with her left hand. The stake caught the goblin in the chest, but a skin vest prevented it from penetrating. The creature giggled at its good fortune, then grew quiet as an overhand blow with the hatchet split its skull.

Off to the right, one of the woodsmen cleaved a goblin in half.

"To me!"

The man looked up as she wrenched the hatchet from the skull, then ran to her, nodding as he came. "Goblins."

"I see. I'd prefer highwaymen."

"My lady?"

"Bigger targets, and they don't bite." She raised her voice. "To me, Silverlake!"

Tyressa had meant the call to draw the settlers to her. A few came, one with an arm hanging limp and blood pouring from his shoulder. More quickly, however, came the goblins, chittering and gibbering, snarling and giggling insanely.

Off to the north one section of the wall ignited in a wash of flames. Goblin silhouettes writhed across the landscape. They piled up against the longhouse, standing on each other to get in the windows. Knives cut some, broomsticks thrust others away. Yet more ran around carrying off even the most inconsequential of trinkets. One had even slapped a boot on its head, lacing the floppy helmet on beneath the chin.

All this Tyressa took in with emotionless clarity. She didn't even allow herself anger, because letting in one emotion would open the way for others. She thrust and cut within her guard, remaining safe as her husband had taught her to do, yet missed no opportunity to kill. The hatchet's dull end pulverized what the blade wouldn't slice. A slap with the flat shattered bone. Goblins reeled away trying to press their faces back into shape.

The wounded man went down, and the goblins dragged him away. Tyressa closed ranks with the others. More goblins came in a wave that broke against the ferocity of the settlers' defense. Blood splashed. Sweat stung the countless scratches on her legs and forearms. Bones snapped. They weren't hers, but one solid hatchet stroke sent a shock wave up into her shoulder, and the dying goblin carried the hatchet away with it.

Lady Tyressa understands that a true leader leads
from the front lines.

"They're running, my lady."

The woodsman was right. But that's not right. Tyressa frowned, wiping her brow and smearing blood across it. The goblins had thinned, scattering in all directions, but more were upright than dead or dying. Why would they break off the attack?

Then she felt it, through her feet. Tremors in the ground, matching heavy footfalls. Something crashed through the darkness, coming up from the lake. She couldn't tell what it was, other than big. Whatever it was, the goblins knew better than to be anywhere near it. And she'd have followed their example, except that she wasn't going to let anything drive her from her home.

∗ ∗ ∗

Welinn huddled just inside the southernmost portion of the wall, cloaked darkness. He could see plenty well through it, as could all the goblins. The problem was, he couldn't see anything but goblins. Attacking, looting, setting fires, dying, all he saw were goblins by the legion.

That wasn't the way it was supposed to have worked. He, being of the Brambleclaw Tribe, had gotten the blessing of his chief, then gathered a company of goblins. He'd told them all the things the manlord wanted, especially about the scaring and the girl. The scaring would be what earned him extra money, so he had stressed it to his fellows.

He'd had a special thought in that regard. The manlord had wanted the attack to come on the moonless night, but that made no real sense if scaring was the object. If men couldn't see the goblins, how could they be scared? They couldn't, so the plan had to be modified so there was enough light to allow the scaring.

The Brambleclaws had taken the news about scaring to heart. More than one approached him asking if they could invite a cousin, since more would be scarier than less. Welinn had accepted the first few offers, then started refusing, but no one had listened to him. Cousins had invited other cousins, and it looked as if every goblin between Thornkeep and Silvershade Lake had joined in.

Then he saw it. One of the goblins had gone to far with scaring. He invited Grakka.

The creature looked like an ogre, but Welinn had heard it was of mixed blood—human or elf, though looking at it the goblin couldn't have told which. The ogrekin lived alone in the wood, having been driven from or escaped from Mosswater. It came dragging the lower half of a sapling—complete with root ball, as it stalked up the slope from the lake. The footfalls sounded as thunder and the ground shook.

Too much scaring. The goblin made himself as small as possible. He waited for Grakka to pass, then Welinn snuck around the corner and darted into the night. It didn't matter how much gold money the manlord would give him, it wouldn't be enough to lurk within the ogrekin's bloody domain.

∗ ∗ ∗

Jerrad rolled and tried to heave a goblin off him. He might have succeeded, he didn't know. His push included his knife, but he didn't hear a grunt or scream. Then again, being at the heart of a ball of yowling, gouging, gnawing goblins meant he couldn't make sense of much at all.

I have to get free. He fought panic and bit. He drove his knees into things. He smashed his head backward into something which crunched. His left elbow slammed against hardness, and his left hand closed on something squishy. He yanked. That got a howl, then teeth closed on his right wrist and his knife went flying.

He lashed out with everything he had, but the goblins weighed him down. Any time he sent one flying, two more would pile on. He couldn't get a decent breath. And something had a hand on the side of his head, trying to work his head up to expose his throat. He fought it. Claws sank into his scalp. Blood ran. The grip slipped for a second, then moved down and hooked beneath his jaw.

Then it was gone. Something hit with a solid thunk, and that goblin vanished. Then another thump, and another. Weight left his legs, so he kicked. He arched his back, then twisted, trying to get his hands under him.

Another thump, and more weight evaporated.

And then he heard her voice. "Get. Off. Mouse!"

Jerrad wriggled from the pile. As he stood, two goblins came for him. An arrow splashed back to front through the throat of the furthest, then struck the other in the back of the head. The razored broadhead skewered the left eyeball on its way out. The goblin stiffened, viscous fluid streaming down its face, then flopped to the ground.

Beyond it stood Kiiryth, another arrow already fitted to his bow. He gave Jerrad a nod, then turned and sped another shaft into the night.

Between them stood Serrana, a four-foot length of pine sapling clenched tight in her fists. She whipped it up and around, spraying blood and goblin brains all over, then crashed it down. The blow pulped a goblin's bulbous head. The club rose again and struck the same goblin.

"Serra. Serrana!"

She looked up at him, feral fire burning in her eyes. Lips peeled back in a snarl. She flashed a grin, then whirled and battered another dead goblin's skull into wet mush. "Get. Off. Mouse!"

"Serrana, its okay, they're off me."

His sister stopped for a moment, a thick, dark slurry running down over her hands. "Mouse?"

"Yes, Serrana. You saved me."

"I saved you."

Kiiryth closed with both of them. "There are more to save. To the longhouse, now."

∗ ∗ ∗

Maraschal Sunnock stood alone in the chaos within the longhouse. He'd gone there to give some last-minute orders to his servants concerning the next day's journey. He'd heard the scream and seen forms running through the night before someone had closed and barred the door. And even when a goblin thrust its face through a window, he still couldn't believe it.

This is wrong, all wrong! His mouth went dry. I wasn't supposed to be here.

"You, help us!"

Sunnock looked up. One of the woodsmen had joined two other men at the door, pushing back against a horde of goblins. Boards began to creak. Nails squealed and worked free of the wood. The man waved him forward and, dazed by disbelief, Sunnock joined him.

The second his hands touched the door's wood, fear burst within his heart. Until that moment, the attack had been an abstract thing. Here, leveraging his muscle against that of the goblins, he could feel their insistence. They were avatars of gluttony and hatred and greed. A knot in a board popped free, striking him in the face. He stared out through it, eye to eye with a goblin.

Sunnock spun, slamming his back against the door. People warded every window, stabbing and battering goblins, shoving them back into the night. But there, toward the center, children huddled with older folks. Faces ashen with fear, they looked toward him. His presence gave them hope. They counted on him. He was their salvation.

For a heartbeat before he realized the pressure on the door had slackened, Sunnock felt like a hero. He understood that all the gold in the world couldn't buy the sensation of having someone look upon you with gratitude for saving her life. He was all that stood between them and the end of everything. His selflessness would live on forever.

And it was that thought, as yet untainted by wondering how he could turn that gratitude to his own advantage, which occupied his mind the very moment the massive root ball exploded the door. Sharp oaken splinters pierced him through and through. A heavy board crushed his skull. His lifeless body flew into the room, bouncing and rolling to the edge of the circle of people he had saved.

He never heard the terrified screams attesting to his failure.

∗ ∗ ∗

Jerrad arrived at the longhouse's far end just as the huge, ugly beast struck his first blow. Wood shattered. What had once been the door was now a jagged hole. People screamed from beyond it.

Jerrad choked down fear. "What is that?"

"Some unholy creature gotten on someone by an ogre." The archer's eyes narrowed. "Not full-blooded—usually called ogrekin—but just as nasty as the purebreds."

The ogrekin tugged its club free. Eight feet tall, with flesh the color of a bruised mushroom, the creature bulged with muscle. The sheer power it could generate was terrifying enough, but its face could only be described as blasphemous. One pointed ear sat lower than the other, and the pale blue eye on the left had to be three times the diameter of the brown one on the right. Yellow teeth were jumbled in a jaw that gaped open, and the nose had been broken so many times Jerrad had to cant his head to make the nostrils line up right.

Kiiryth's bow came up. The bowstring twanged as he loosed an arrow. It pierced the monster's left shoulder, the broadhead emerging out the back. Blood ran in rivulets down the arm and dripped from the arrow's tip.

The ogrekin didn't give the wound so much as a glance.

Tyressa, butcher knife in one hand and fishing spear in the other, appeared and whistled loudly. "You're not welcome in my town."

Mother! Jerrad started toward her, but Kiiryth grabbed his collar and held him back.

"You'd only slow her down."

The behemoth looked at her. Contempt further warped its face. It snarled, flashing a tangle of uneven teeth. The ogrekin reached for her with its left hand.

Tyressa ducked beneath the attempted grab and circled around toward the monster's back. It turned to keep with her, but its grip on the club slowed it. By the time the ogrekin had pulled the club from the longhouse, Tyressa had darted in and slashed the thing's right heel. Black blood sprayed from a deep cut over the tendon.

Tyressa danced wide, carrying her outside the range of the ogrekin's swinging club. The club came around and slammed into the longhouse's wall. It splintered boards and snapped the corner post. The longhouse shifted, the wood closing like jaws on the club, clinging to it with a fierce tenacity.

The ogrekin snarled and set itself, muscles bunching in shoulders and back. The monster heaved, trying to free the weapon. Wood groaned. Some nails squeaked as they came free, but the building didn't release the club on that first attempt. So the behemoth planted its feet and hauled back for all it was worth.

The damaged tendon popped. The creature's right foot slid out from under it. The ogre landed hard on the base of its spine. The tremor rattled teeth in Jerrad's head. The monster threw its head back and howled in pain.

And a little bit in fear.

The people of Silverlake boiled from the longhouse. Woodsmen chopped into the ogre's shoulders and wrists. People stabbed it, using knives, scythes, and even sharp sticks. Kiiryth shot arrows into any exposed flesh. Even Serrana charged in, battering it with her blood-stained club.

But Tyressa slew it. As others hacked at its limbs, Jerrad's mother leaped onto the ogre's chest. The monster's head came up. It hissed a challenge. Tyressa roared back, the stepped on its throat and thrust the fishing spear straight through the larger eye.

The ogre thrashed, ripping the spear from her hand and tossing her into the crowd. Its death throes crushed one man and broke several others. The people withdrew, weapons ready, as the monster thrashed out the last seconds of its life, then cheered as it lay still.

Tyressa emerged from the bloodthirsty throng bruised but otherwise unhurt.

Jerrad stared at her, and wasn't alone. You're my mother, but are you my mother?

Tyressa bent, resting hands on knees. She breathed heavily for a moment or two, then let her skirt hem slip down and straightened up. She looked around, then nodded.

"This is a terrible night, but you've all done well. See to yourselves. See to our wounded. Then we shall attend to our dead." She wiped her bloody hands on her skirts. "This is a night we mourn now, but shall celebrate in the future. And because of you, Silverlake will have a future."

Want more? Purchase the Crusader Road today!

Coming Next Week: Web Fiction will be going on hiatus next week due to PaizoCon, but stay tuned for an all-new story by Steven Savile in two weeks!

Michael A. Stackpole is an award-winning game designer, computer game designer, graphic novelist, screenwriter, podcaster, editor, and novelist. He got his start writing solitaire adventures for Tunnels & Trolls, so it was a distinct pleasure to return to a world of pure fantasy for this book. Mike lives in Arizona, teaches writing classes through the Piper Center for Creative Writing at Arizona State University, and swing dances in his spare time. Visit his website at stormwolf.com.

Illustration by Robert Pitturru.

Advanced Class Guide Preview: Arcanist

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

The arcanist was one of the more difficult classes to design in the Advanced Class Guide. When the idea first came together, it was based almost entirely upon mechanics. As an arcane caster that can prepare spells like a wizard, but cast them like a sorcerer, the idea was an interesting one, but when we presented it in the first round of the playtest the deficiency became clear. What is an arcanist?

As the playtest rolled on, this problem became more and more clear. The class had an interesting basic mechanic, but it needed a story hook and mechanics to support that idea. It was clear that we needed to go back to the drawing board. Looking at the wizard as the arcane caster that learns through study and the sorcerer who masters magic by drawing upon the power in his blood, the arcanist needed to fall somewhere between the two.

Illustration by Subroto Bhaumik

Ultimately, we decided on making the arcanist about tinkering with the underlying forces of arcane magic, using a combination of study and innate talent to break magic down and shape it to fit her needs. Combining that concept with an arcane reservoir, a pool of power that the arcanist can use to fuel exploits that break the rules of magic, the class really started to come together. In the second draft of the playtest, we knew we were on the right track. Most playtesters were concerned about power balance, but the overall consensus was that the changes we made gave the class a place in the game all its own.

While the final version of the class is very close to the second playtest version, the big changes came to the arcane exploits (like all of the exploits that dealt energy damage got a boost). These abilities are what make the arcanist unique and in the final version we added a large number of them to the class, giving you a wider variety of character types you can build with the class. Take a look!

Energy Shield (Su): The arcanist can protect herself from energy damage as a standard action by expending 1 point from her arcane reservoir. She must pick one energy type and gains resistance 10 against that energy type for 1 minute per arcanist level. This protection increases by 5 for every 5 levels the arcanist possesses (up to a maximum of 30 at 20th level).

Quick Study (Ex): The arcanist can prepare a spell in place of an existing spell by expending 1 point from her arcane reservoir. Using this ability is a full-round action that provokes an attack of opportunity. The arcanist must be able to reference her spellbook when using this ability. The spell prepared must be of the same level as the spell being replaced.

In addition, we added a number of greater exploits to the class as well, adding powerful tool to the high level arcanist.

Suffering Knowledge (Su): The arcanist can learn to cast a spell by suffering from its effects. When the arcanist fails a saving throw against a spell cast by an enemy, as an immediate action she can expend 1 point from her arcane reservoir to temporarily acquire the spell. She can cast the spell using her spell slots as if it was a spell she had prepared that day. The spell must be on the sorcerer/wizard spell list and must be of a level that she can cast. The ability to cast this spell remains for a number of rounds equal to the arcanist’s Charisma modifier (minimum 1).

Of course, the Advanced Class Guide also features a number of fun new archetypes to use with the arcanist. There is the blade adept, who gains a sentient sword and select a limited number of magus arcana instead of arcane exploits. You can also play a brown-fur transmuter, whose reservoir can be used to bolster the power of her transmutation spells. The eldritch font gains more spell slots, but can prepare fewer spells per day. An elemental master focuses her power on just one element, but to much greater effect. While there are a number of other archetypes for the arcanist, there is one more that needs to be called out. The white mage can expend points from her arcane reservoir to allow her to cast cure spells with her spell slots, but at higher levels she can even cast breath of life.

Well that about wraps up the preview for this week. Check back in next week for songs of bravery and rage!

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer