Yo, Scurvy Dog, I Heard You Like Villains...

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Yarrr! Pirate sounds and words! Yarrr! Dear readers, before we start looking at cards from Pathfinder Adventure Card Game—Skull & Shackles Adventure Deck 2: Raiders of the Fever Sea, I want to take a couple of moments to share some thoughts about the comments on my last blog. I'm sort of curmudgeonly for a woman in her twenties, so some of these thoughts may seem a bit harsh, but deep down, I'm actually a marshmallow. If I had more coffee in my system, all my thoughts would be rainbows and kittens, but alas, I'm out of java.

Curmudgeonly Thoughts

1. My name isn't Gary, it's Gaby. I commend you for fixing your error and for making a mistake that didn't result in my name being spelled Gabby or Gabbie. That's just the worst. Gary is a much better error. [Editor's note: We all call her Gary now.]
2. For those of you that thought Hirgy was not in the spirit of the game...I see that there are words written there but all I can read is "baw baw baw." The Hirgzster is great. Just give him a chance.
3. For those of you who figured out that the Goblin Weidling is my favorite card because its name is my last name, congratulations! You've scored a gazillion bonus points, which are redeemable for absolutely nothing!!! But you're smart, so, you've got that going for you.
4. A lot of you said really nice things about my blog and now the pressure is on to keep you entertained and happy. YIPES. This is a way scarier than fighting Hirgenzosk, but I'm going to try.

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

OSS (Obligatory Shark Section)

BONK!

Fun fact: That's what bull sharks actually do. They swim around waiting for some unsuspecting pirate to decide it's a nice day for a dip, and then the bull shark just goes BONK with its nose, like some sort of toothy battering ram. And after it goes bonk, then it goes chomp and that's the end of that.

This shark, like all our other sharks, can't be evaded. Of course, you have to make a check to find out if you're a decent and alert swimmer, or you'll get bull sharked.

Bonus fun fact: Bull sharks can live in either salt water or fresh water. You aren't safe anywhere. Then again, neither are bull sharks. That's because Mike forced upon the game a really bad, really awesome pun, and then we turned it into one of the scariest promo cards ever. Witness the Owlbeartross.

Oh, come on. That's the funniest thing you've heard today.

That poor little Riptide Grindylow. He's just derping along, minding his business and then for basically no reason, you come along and whack him. Now you've done it. This makes the Owlbeartross pretty cross, since Grindylow is his favorite snack food. It's likely that Mr. Tross will now fly off and shuffle himself into a deck you really don't want to see him in, and also likely that he'll go find another monster to beak-chomp. See, he's a big ball of cuddles.

Things that Actually Matter

We've got some wacky stuff going on in our scenarios. One of them has two different ships bopping around. And if you're lucky, you'll end that scenario with a *ton* of plunder.

Devilish due-giving abounds. Rickety Hake abides.

You'll also have the opportunity to help out Rickety Hake, our first ever loot ally. He's this totally nice dude with terrible teeth who fixes up ships in his ship chop shop (say that three times fast!). He's a helpful guy to have around.

In The Secret of Mancatcher Cove, there's sort of a lot going on. It seems pretty normal at first, though. You build out your locations like normal. There's a villain, who I call Inky Izzy, and a named henchman and then some generic Buccaneers. It's sort of weird that there's one less location than normal though. That probably won't be part of some horrible surprise.

It's part of some horrible surprise.

You're playing along and things are groovy gravy. You've closed some locations, and somehow, luck's going your way. You've encountered Inky Izzy and you're even in a position to banish her if your fights go well. And because I'm feeling reasonably nice as I type this, let's say they do. You summon and encounter the ship Thresher. It's not the nicest ship in the world, but again, your fight goes well, and you defeat it. Huzzah for you! Now it's time to fight Inky Izzy. And yet again, in a display of stunningly good luck, you beat her. You take your 1 Acid damage, but that's OK because you've just won. Right? RIGHT?!

Wrong. Hold on to your eye patches, kids, it's about to get crazy.

Remember that scenario card that I showed you a picture of but just sort of glossed over? Turns out that when Inky Izzy goes away you get to build a new location. It's called Mancatcher Cove. It's not the nicest place in the Shackles, but it is by no means the worst. So, what happens when this place gets built? Oh, that's right. You add a villain to it. The Matron is not your friend.

It's not like you didn't see this coming.

Turns out that when you eventually get around to fighting her, she summons a Sea Devil. And if you're lucky enough to beat her, then you get to add the villain Krelloort to that location. Krelloort may have a funny name, but he's not a funny guy. He's kind of a jerk. And he summons somebody to fight if there are cards left in the location deck! Like I said, kind of a jerk. The good news is, if you can get past Krelloort, you're done! You've won!

If you can handle at least three villain fights, countless ship fights, and countless henchmen fights, you've definitely earned the loot for this scenario.

I'm going to leave you on a positive note and just let you bask in the awesomeness of that loot. Speaking of loot... Here's some awesome wallpapers for your computers, if any of you crazy cats still use those.

Illustration by Daryl Mandryk. Download the widescreen version here.

Enjoy your adventures on the seas, mateys, and keep your eyes peeled for bull sharks!!!

Gaby Weidling
Adventure Card Game Developer

Quests for All!

Monday, September 29, 2014

Pathfinder Society Organized Play serves many purposes, among them the opportunity for a group to sit down and play a short adventure. Most scenarios have a run-time of 4-5 hours, but even that can be a little too long for some people, schedules, and venues. Sometimes it's just a matter of finishing one game early and needing something quick to play to pass the time until the next convention slot begins. Over three years ago, the campaign introduced a solution: Quests. The first was "Ambush at Absalom," which appeared in Kobold Quarterly #17, followed a little over a year later by "Urge to Evolve" in the publication's final issue, #23. Since then, the campaign has produced several series of demos released at major conventions or as part of a major product release.

These have worked really well as introductions for new players of any age, yet the feedback I've heard is that they're not an attractive option for more experienced players. Is that an issue? Thinking back to myriad discussion threads inquiring about adding more Tier 1–5 scenarios to the schedule, I believe the answer is yes. Any chance to sit experienced players with newer ones is an opportunity to build the community, share tips, and impart good roleplaying values. To facilitate this, the experience should provide an incentive to make it more immediately worthwhile for the veterans as well as sufficiently appealing for the beginners to keep playing. The feedback I received about previous Quests was that no matter how fun they were, they provided no gold, XP, or Prestige Points to participants. No rewards meant virtually no use.

So what should a successful set of Quests do?

• Deliver a Society-friendly RPG experience that lasts about one hour
• Provide a solid introduction (i.e. diverse, fun, and generally nonlethal) for new players
• Reward participants with gold, XP, and Prestige Points
• Serve as a testing ground for new authors.

These were my goals when assigning and developing the latest batch of Quests, a six-part series called The Silverhex Chronicles. While working on the outline, I also remembered conversations I had with venture-captains over the past year, requesting 2-hour adventures that could be played on a weekday evening yet had enough substance to warrant traveling to a game day. Changing the 1-hour model was unlikely, but it was possible to link the Quests to one another loosely as part of a longer, flexible story that participants could experience in any order.

Balancing the rewards structure was tricky. If the Chronicle sheet were to provide only gold or Prestige Points but not XP, then a PC could complete the adventure and get ahead of the wealth curve. If the Quests were to provide minimal gold and Prestige Points with 1 XP, then veteran players would consider them suboptimal and avoid them. Instead, the Chronicle sheet provides scaling rewards depending on how many of the Quests one finishes before starting a different scenario. It's even possible to play the Quests over multiple sessions or with different groups and still get the full rewards. What's more, these Quests are replayable.

Of course, I had to find authors for the series, so I took this as an opportunity to draw upon the Open Call submissions. I wasn't disappointed. Josh Foster, Scott Sharplin, and Walter Sheppard did a great job of working together to integrate their adventures and vary the types of challenges presented so that these Quests provide a wide range of combat, roleplaying, and puzzle-solving opportunities.

The series was a blast at Gen Con. It was a hit at PAX. Now it's available as a free download to the public. Let us know what you think!

Happy gaming!

John Compton
Developer

Friday Publisher Preview: Catching Up

Friday, September 26, 2014

I was out sick last Friday, so we’ve fallen a bit behind on our scheduled previews of new figures from The Lost Coast set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic miniatures, which is set for a November release. I’ve got six figures to show off today, so let’s not waste time!

All of these figures (and any that are left after this) were the victims of bad photographs way back in the paint master stage. In the meantime, WizKids sent us actual production run figures, so everything you see from The Lost Coast from this point forward are actual production figures, not paint masters.

Here we have the Goblin Druid, who is based off the much-hated druid Gogmurt from the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path Anniversary Edition hardcover. He easily doubles as any goblin spellcaster. If you want, you can pair him up with the Firepelt Cougar we previewed a few weeks back to complete the official Gogmurt encounter. The Goblin Druid is a Small, common figure.

And this is the Green Hag, your basic hag from page 167 of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary. She’s an effective but pretty simple figure in terms of sculpt and paint scheme, so we slated her at the common rarity. The Green Hag is a Medium figure.

This is the Shifty Noble, which we drew from page 56 of Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Magnimar, City of Monuments. I’m not certain the picture does this figure justice. With one hand held forward in a come-hither pose and the other behind her back clutching a deadly dagger, this is one untrustworthy scion you do not want to cross. The Shifty Noble is a Medium, uncommon figure with a great sense of “three dimensionality” to her.

Look out, it’s the Sinspawn Champion! We pulled this nasty critter off the cover of Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Dungeons of Golarion. He makes a great boss for the two Sinspawn already in the Rise of the Runelords set, or you can put a bunch of him with a bunch of them to fill out the ranks of a Sinspawn horde. The Sinspawn Champion is a (fairly tall) Medium, uncommon figure.

We already produced a Boggard back in Shattered Star, but he was more of a chieftain/mystic sort of guy. This Boggard Warrior is your run-of-the-mill amphibious humanoid fighter type. He’s a Medium, uncommon figure.

And this guy is the Leaping Boggard, his jumpy companion! You might not understand why until you’re holding him in your own hands, but I think this guy may be my favorite in the entire set. I love his tongue, his weird eyes, and especially his pose. Looking at him just makes me laugh, a quality I’ve always liked in my frog-people. The Leaping Boggard is a Medium, uncommon figure.

And Now, the Bad News

Last time we met with WizKids, they brought in samples of the repainted Feiya and King Irovetti, two figures from previous sets that did not get the paint application they deserved and hence resulted in a lot of justified complaints. I’m happy to say that King Irovetti looked fantastic. Amazing, even.

I’m unhappy to say that Feiya still looked pretty bad, especially in the face department. WizKids was very up front about this before we ever saw the figure, but the end result is that after testing several different repainting options, WizKids has come to the conclusion that the problem with the Feiya miniature is in fact the sculpt, in particular the lack of deep detail on the face that leads to the paint obscuring most of what detail is actually there.

That means that the existing Feiya sculpt is not going to work for the proposed replacement figures that were set to be inserted into The Lost Coast. WizKids is going back to sculpt on the figure. They’ll now create a new Feiya sculpt with their current digital sculpting tools, with a pose that attempts to match as closely as possible the original figure, but with a better face sculpt.

That means that the Feiya and King Irovetti replacement figures will not appear in The Lost Coast, and will instead be inserted into the next set we do after that. We apologize for the delay, but I for one am impressed with WizKids taking the initiative to fix the problem. None of us needs more bad Feiya figures.

So, yeah, mild disappointment there, but they are still committed to creating replacement figures, and I’m confident that the new sculpt will be amazing.

Why am I so confident in the quality of WizKids’s new digital sculpts? Why, because they also brought in the paint masters for the first Iconic Heroes set (January 2015), and they are by far the best-looking Medium-sized figures I’ve seen from them to date.

But you’re going to have to take my word for it for now, as I am holding those photos for next week’s preview!

See you then!

Erik Mona
Publisher

Equip Yourself to Face the Lords of Rust!

Thursday, September 25, 2014

It's almost time for Lords of Rust, the second installment in the Iron Gods Adventure Path, to hit the shelves. Prepare to fight the minions of the Iron Gods with these mittens—guaranteed to stave off tetanus and increase your Craft bonus! This pattern first debuted at PaizoCon as a giveaway for our annual Crafting Circle, and has since been tested and debugged. Enjoy, and please share your results!

And because I've been asked several times, the pattern of 1s and 0s used on the palms of the mittens isn't meaningful, but you could certainly devise one that is (for example, this early project of mine encodes an E. E. Cummings poem). The length of the message you can knit depends on the particular binary code you use and whether you use 1s and 0s or black versus white stitches—you'd have about 12 characters with 8-bit ASCII using 1s and 0s, but 276 characters with 6-bit ASCII using black versus white stitches. So ponder what secret message to the Pathfinder Society, to android allies... or maybe to your robotic overlords you'd like to encode!

Download the Pattern - (45 kb zip/PDF)

Judy Bauer
Editor

Armored

by Stephanie Lorée

Chapter Four: No Love Like Gold

Sunlight dripped from a tiny window into her cell. Brea lay on her doublet atop the cold ground and tried to remember how many days had passed. Four? Seven? A dozen or more? She had seen no one, heard only the moans of distant neighbors, and received no nourishment of any kind. The dungeons of Deagan's Hold were not a place to keep prisoners for questioning or before a trial, but a place to forget they had ever existed.

The brigand's face flashed in Brea's mind. His words that the dungeon offered a death worse than a sword lingered in her ears. His hollow cheeks lifted in laughter, his sunken eyes watching over her. She could not shake his image nor the inescapable knowledge that without food or water, she would lose her mind shortly before she died.

But Brea had taken precautions. Months in encampments with limited supplies had taught her how to survive. And in his arrogance, Deagan had left her fully armored. Her cuirass lay against the wall of her cell, its curve deep enough to catch a dribble of water that snaked down the stone. Those few drops of moisture had kept her alive, hoping that an opportunity to escape might present itself. She'd stayed quiet and calm, tried to conserve as much energy as possible, but another sunset slipped below the window and nothing changed.

Hope became a fleeting, foolish memory. Like love.

Footsteps echoed down the corridor. Brea lifted her head as torchlight flickered along the dank dungeon walls. The light grew closer, and she squinted. The resounding steps stopped in front of her cell.

"It's me, Captain," Etrim whispered and settled her torch in a nearby sconce.

Brea pushed herself to her feet. She wobbled, but steadied herself against the wall.

"I brought food and water, sir," Etrim said and shoved a hunk of bread through the barred window of the door. "And keys, most importantly, I have the gaoler's keys."

Brea considered it might be a trap. Etrim might have been the traitor in her own ranks, reporting to Deagan on her plan to stage a coup. But the lure of food and water made Brea’s stomach grumble in protest to her thoughts, and she accepted the bread.

"How's that?" she asked. The bread made her mouth water with what little moisture remained in her body. She took a tentative bite, chewed, and tore into the rest with all the ferocity of a starving animal.

Etrim fumbled with the keys, testing each one on the heavy gaoler's loop, and cursing under her breath as each failed to turn the lock. "Things have been bad, Captain, ever since Lieutenant..."

Her words died as she peered through the small window, meeting Brea's eyes. Farnick was truly dead then. Her old friend, hanged by her lover. The bread turned heavy in her stomach.

"The squadron," Etrim continued, "it's mutiny, sir. The lieutenant's death was a clear violation of our contract. No trial. Not even the slightest evidence. There."

The lock clicked. She pulled the door open with a creak, and Brea stumbled out.

"Let me, sir." Etrim slung Brea's arm over her shoulder and grabbed her torch.

"Thank you."

Etrim managed to smile the same overeager grin she'd always had. Only now, in this wretched place, Brea found it comforting.

"So who planned my rescue?" Brea asked.

Etrim blushed. "I couldn't let you rot down here, Captain."

Brea squeezed the younger woman's shoulder as Etrim led them up and into Deagan's keep.

The great hall, which normally bustled with servants, sat empty save for the Blackjackets guarding the doors. They straightened as they saw Brea and saluted.

"Sir," one of them said, "Lord Callimedes has barricaded himself in his office with his personal guard."

Etrim helped Brea into a chair at a long, wooden table. A meager plate of jerky and parsnips was laid before her.

"How many?" Brea asked and reached for Etrim's waterskin.

"Four or five."

She nodded, nibbling on a bit of jerky. "And how many have taken arms against our lord?"

The man shrugged. "Maybe twice that. Most are staying out of it, sticking to the barracks or taverns until they see who wins."

"No doubt Deagan has sought outside help. He must realize he can't quell his soldiers on his own," she said.

"We've stopped any messengers from coming or going, sir."

Etrim's steafast loyalty outweighs her inexperience.

Brea considered as she finished her first meal in so many days. "He'll find a way, if he hasn't already. I need to deal with him quickly."

She struggled to stand, and Etrim helped her to her feet.

"Captain," Etrim started, but didn't need to finish.

Brea knew she was too weak to face him. And perhaps she had always been, too weak and blinded by feelings she should never have possessed. None of that mattered now. She would finish this.

Something in her eyes must have told Etrim that her Captain would not back down today, for the young trooper nodded and said, "I'll get your sword and armor, sir."

"No," Brea said. "Leave the armor in the dungeon where it belongs. My sword will be enough. I will no longer bear the blackjacket."

∗ ∗ ∗

The climb up the stairs to Deagan's office was longer and more arduous than Brea remembered, even lacking the weight of her armor. Her legs ached nearly as much as her heart.

Etrim and two other Blackjackets flanked her. They carried a portable battering ram, but Brea paused outside the double-doors to knock. It seemed ridiculous, to announce herself before breaking in, but she wanted to hear what her former lord had to say.

"Deagan," she called. "Open the doors and surrender. Your troops might yet spare you."

Silence greeted her.

She sighed and nodded to her soldiers. "Break it down."

The slam of the ram pounded in time with her heart. Whatever affection she had for Deagan had died with Farnick and rotted in that cell, but there was a sadness there, a remorse over losing the possibility of something better. When the doors finally gave way, the tearing of timber became the scream Brea could not herself release.

She stepped over the threshold. Deagan stood with his back to the window from which he'd watched Farnick swing. Four Blackjackets formed a semicircle in front of him, their swords drawn. Among them stood Soltez, sword in hand despite his injury.

Brea frowned. She wondered if his injury had been staged, purposeful so he might scout ahead and lead them to the hobgoblin trap instead of remaining among her ranks.

"It's over," she said. "Don't risk your lives for a lord who has used your brothers like fodder for a few coins. Lay down your weapons."

She approached warily, her sword held before her. The men guarding Deagan hesitated a fraction at her words. Their posture turned unsure.

For his part, Prophet Deagan Callimedes looked regal in his white robes and jewels. He also appeared shocked and scared. In all their time together, Brea had never seen him lose his composure. Now he seemed an arrogant child, unwilling to admit defeat.

"Kill her," he ordered his men. Their hesitation disappeared, and they charged.

Brea moved faster without the weight of her armor, but she was also exposed and weary from her time in the dungeon. She sidestepped the blow and twisted awkwardly to dodge another. She caught sight of Etrim and the others who’d accompanied her from the corner of her eye. They danced with their own opponents.

Brea lifted her sword to parry as Soltez advanced on her. The block was well timed, and the clash of steel rang down her arms. She didn't want to kill him, this brother who’d abandoned her to remain loyal to his lord. Her reservations and weakened state would cost her, she knew.

As she spun to avoid another thrust and place herself behind Soltez, pain flared hot and violent across her hip. He’d caught her, but it was shallow enough for her to ignore. She brought the pommel of her sword down on the back of his head.

Soltez staggered.

“Don’t do this,” she said.

The scout turned to face her, too slow by half. He swung his sword awkwardly, and Brea easily parried it.

“Our lord has betrayed us,” she said. She kept a low guard, waiting for the inexperienced soldier to make his decision.

“You’re the traitor.” Soltez’s words were slurred. He touched the back of his head with one hand as if to slow the dizziness her blow had delivered him. “The High Prophet will come, and he will reward my loyalty.”

Brea sighed. She almost admired his devotion. Years ago, she had been just like him, fanatical in her loyalty to the Kalistocrats. But war and sacrifice, love and betrayal had changed her. The Prophets were but men and women, nestled atop their piles of gold, sending their soldiers to die for scraps of power. They hid their bloodstained hands inside white gloves. Soltez was now part of their machinations, and his actions had caused her friend’s execution.

Soltez lunged at her. She stepped away with ease and drove her blade cleanly through the gap between his armor and lagging sword arm. It was precise, deep, and killed him instantly.

“I’m sorry, brother,” she said as he crumpled to the floor.

The other Blackjackets were occupied among themselves. She scanned the room for Deagan.

She would not have noticed him if it wasn't for the flash of golden embroidery trailing from under his desk. The hem of his robe peeked at her, beckoning her.

She marched around the desk and lifted his cowering form by his bejeweled lapels.

"Coward," she said, dragging him to face her.

He squirmed and tried to push her away. His hands were familiar, almost comforting, but his eyes shone with a cold fury.

"I am your lord," he said. "You can’t do this."

"You lost that title when you murdered my friend." She shoved him against the wall. The tapestry of the Prophecies draped overhead.

"You should have hanged me. If you couldn’t love me, you should have let me go," she said. “Instead you killed an innocent man. A good man.”

Something in his eyes softened. The sounds of battle around them melted. Deagan smiled, a small laugh escaping his lips.

"I did," he said. “For you. Had you but left then instead of attacking your lord...”

His voice drew her closer, the pain in his expression weakening her further. She could barely lift her longsword, and her muscles quivered with exhaustion.

"I loved you despite everything." He reached for her face.

A white-gloved hand cupped her cheek. She let herself fall into it, close her eyes, and sigh. In that moment, she realized he was telling to truth.

Brea turned her grip and thrust her longsword up through her lord's body.

"I loved Farnick like a brother," she said, watching his eyes widen in shock then empty of life. She followed him to the floor, slumping next to him and laying her head against his shoulder. His freehand released the dagger he'd palmed, and she watched it splatter into the pool of blood gathering around them.

Her hip throbbed. Her head swam from blood loss and exhaustion. But she could no more lie down and die now than she could've in her cell. She would survive.

"Captain?" Etrim stood over her, her hand extended in offering.

Brea grasped the young warrior’s bloodstained hand and staggered to her feet.

"No longer," Brea said. "I need to leave."

"I don't understand, sir?"

"Take what you can from his holdings and distribute it among our soldiers. Other Kalistocrats and their Blackjackets will arrive soon, and they'll claim whatever remains."

"Where will you go?" Etrim asked.

"I am a traitor. They’ll hunt me across Druma, and you will let them," she said, meeting Etrim’s gaze.

Hope glimmered in the young woman’s eyes. She recognized it from her own reflection, before Deagan, before the Goblinblood Wars.

"For all of this,” she said, her voice almost a whisper, “I am to blame. I’ll run until they find me, or I become too expensive to chase."

"I could go with you."

Brea smiled and shook her head. "I need you here, Etrim, to set things right. You're a fine trooper, and you'll make a fine Captain."

Even smeared in the blood of her fellow soldiers, Etrim's armor seemed clean. There were no golden etchings in the black, no magic from a lord to sully it. She wore her blackjacket with pride, and Brea hoped she would always keep her body armored, as well as her heart.

Coming Soon: An unexpected knight in an all-new Pathfinder Tales serial by Dylan Birtolo.

Stephanie Lorée is an author whose short stories have appeared in various anthologies and online publications, and in 2013, she was a finalist for Writers of the Future. She also works as a freelance editor. Visit her website at stephaniemloree.com.

Illustration by Dion Harris.

Secrets (and Setbacks) Revealed: Adventure Card Guild and Iconic Heroes Miniatures

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Greetings, Pathfinders.

Bad news, to me, is like mayonnaise—unpalatable on its own, but a mere unpleasant surprise when it sneaks into the middle of an otherwise delicious sandwich. So your mayo in this blog post can be found in the middle, surrounded by tasty fixins'.

Card Game Tuesdays

The card game team is excited to announce the beginning of the Tuesday card game blog series! Various members of the team will pop in here each week and give you the latest and greatest news and ramblings about new releases, Adventure Card Guild organized play, and whatever else we think you'd enjoy reading. This blog is the first in that series.

Adventure Card Guild Sneak Peek

Avast! Sharks sighted on the starboard bow! Something's stirred up a shoal of sharks. You've seen their fins swimming alongside your ship for days, and sharks are as patient as they are hungry. Could it be that someone else is swimming alongside them?

You'll find out in Scenario 1-2 of Season of the Shackles, The Lone Shark.

DURING THIS SCENARIO

Put the Shark Island location card in the center of the table. Using the deck list from Shark Island, make a number of Shark Island stacks equal to the number of characters. Treat each of these stacks as a unique Shark Island location deck.

duunnn duunn... duuuun duunn...

Adventure Card Guild Launch Delayed

Unfortunately (and probably due to a sudden spike in shark attacks), the Class Decks required for Adventure Card Guild play will not be making it to your local retailer until next week. Season of the Shackles will launch next Wednesday, October 1st.

We're as disappointed as you are, but we strongly encourage you to stop by your friendly local game store this week so you can play On the Horizon, our new preview scenario. For this scenario, all that's needed is the Skull & Shackles base set, as the scenario's meant to be played with Skull & Shackles characters. Players will earn a free deck upgrade for their Adventure Card Guild character in the form of a mini-Chronicle sheet!

Iconic Heroes and the Adventure Card Game

Finally, to wash down the taste of that nasty mayo, I've got a spoiler from the upcoming line of WizKids' Iconic Heroes miniatures line and the associated promo cards for the card game. Behold Alahazra, prophet of the burning sands:

Fear my big pointy thing!

Weal? Woe? Those are for amateurs.

I have a bit of a thing for hats. Expect more hats.

Until next time,

Tanis O'Connor
Adventure Card Game Designer

The Wait is Nearly Over

Monday, September 22, 2014

Illustration by Teresa Guido

There's always a strange lull after Gen Con, whose middle-of-August dates mean the public sees that month's Pathfinder Society scenarios a few weeks early. Those extra weeks mean a longer wait between the August and September releases—more time in which to speculate about how the rest of the season will play out. This Wednesday, we'll see the first of the post-convention adventures.

The first is Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-04: Beacon Below, which returns to the Sanctum of the Sages to explore a previously unexplored branch of that desert fortress. This Tier 7-11 scenario takes the PCs underground on a dungeon crawl with some intriguing twists. As originally advertised in its faction head letter, there's a lot here for members of the Scarab Sages to enjoy. During the writing process, the author Matt Duval pointed out that the outline also had a great opportunity for the Dark Archive, and the scenario now gives members of that faction something extra to consider. We're previewing the art of one of the principle characters as part of this blog.

Our other scenario is Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-05: Slave Ships of Absalom, a Tier 1-5 scenario that sounds suspiciously like The Slave Pits of Absalom, an adventure dating back to the first months of the organized play campaign. Although this is not quite a true sequel, the action and intrigue in author Mark Garringer's work explore familiar scenes in Absalom's Coins district. Of course, no adventure involving intrigue and slave-liberation is complete without opportunities for the Liberty's Edge and Sovereign Court factions to do what they do best.

Happy gaming!

John Compton
Developer

Friday Publisher Preview: Out Sick

Friday, September 19, 2014

Illustration by Andrew Hou

Erik has been hit with some mighty fierce crud and is currently engaging in battle with the invading germs at home. In the meantime, you can check out the winners of this year's Gen Con Costume Contest in today's earlier blog. Be sure to stop by next Friday for more awesome Pathfinder Battles miniature previews!

Chris Lambertz
Digital Products Assistant

2014 Cosplay Contest Champions!

Friday, September 19, 2014

This years Gen Con cosplay turnout was the best we've seen yet, and its my great pleasure to announce this years contest winners!

Carly took a 5-foot step into first place with her iteration of Imrijka, truly bringing the half-orc heroine to life with her steadfast dedication to details.

Dustin's representation of Sajan received a flurry of commendations, earning him a solid second place in this years votes.

Levi's devotion to his work blessed him with third place in the contest, praise the sun goddess!

Thanks to everyone who swung by the booth to participate this year, your hard work is always one of the highlights my coworkers talk about when they get back from the convention. We hope to see you all next PaizoCon or Gen Con!

Erik Keith
Software Test Engineer

Honor the Hold!

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Illustration by Caio Maciel Monteiro

The treacherous Hold of Belkzen is a savage place for outsiders as well as its own residents. We've said a lot about the region, but a lot of this information is scattered throughout different books and product lines. For those who are new to Belkzen or who just can't get enough of the orc nation, here's a brief breakdown of some of the most interesting aspects of this savage region as well as links to where you can find more information on these topics.

Illustration by Roberto Pitturru

Beasts: Orc rangers and beastmasters have "domesticated" many animals and monstrous beasts native to the valleys of the Tusk and Kodar Mountains, though in most cases this simply means caging wild animals until they're to be released on the field of battle. From dire wolves to the strange and tempestuous gorthek, orc tribes rear a number of different monsters to serve as their mounts or hounds. Beyond these brutes, even fiercer beasts lurk in the hills around the Hold of Belkzen (including a number of all-new Belkzen animals detailed in the forthcoming Giantslayer Adventure Path bestiaries).

Half-Orcs: The progeny of orcs and humans are treated somewhat paradoxically among the orcs of Belkzen. On one hand, orcs treat their half-blooded brethren as weak, and bully or abuse them to prove their inferiority. On the other hand, talented half-orcs (especially spellcasters) can achieve statuses among their tribe as seers or witch doctors. Many half-orcs consider themselves prisoners in their own homelands, and wrestle with the inherent savagery that flows through their blood. Others flee the Hold as soon as they are able, becoming storied adventurers or even founders of peaceful settlements that they can fearlessly call home.

Atrocities: The horrors of war are not solely restricted to the orc side of Belkzen's borders, and the human knights and soldiers who clash with these monsters sometimes inherit more of the orcs' savagery than any would care to admit. Servants of Zon-Kuthon often go to the ravaged battlefields of Belkzen to commemorate the unfathomable acts of savagery that transpired there, and rumors persist of orcs being held prisoner and brutally interrogated in such Lastwall border strongholds as Castle Everstand.

With a slew of orc-related products coming out this winter—including Pathfinder Adventure Path #91: Battle of Bloodmarch Hill (written by yours truly), the much-anticipated Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Belkzen, Hold of the Orc Hordes, and Pathfinder Module: Daughters of Fury (written by Viktoria Jaczko, winner of the 2014 RPG Superstar contest)—you can be sure we're going to be posting a lot of Belkzen banter on the blog in the coming months.

Patrick Renie
Developer

Armored

by Stephanie Lorée

Chapter Three: There Lies the Gallows

The pyre burned for hours. Its flames seemed to lick the sky, and Brea turned her horse and troopers away from the carnage. They rode for home, though she wasn't sure what that meant anymore. Smoke rose behind them, a dark reminder of her lord's betrayal.

Twenty-one cuirasses dangled along the flanks of the remaining horses. They would carry those and the blackjackets of their fallen to Deagan's Hold, a hollow shell of the soldiers who had died in their lord's service. The armor clanked and rattled like a discordant dirge.

"He betrayed me," she whispered to Farnick. "He betrayed us all."

Her friend grunted and shifted his weight atop his borrowed horse. "One hob's word and a few coins won't be enough."

"What will it take?"

"You speak of mutiny, sir," he said. "A clear violation of contract be needed for treachery."

"Yet the Prophets can be as perfidious as they like."

He was silent a moment, then said, "And now you speak blasphemy."

Brea sighed. "You won't help me."

It wasn't a question, and Farnick did not grace her with a response.

"How long then, how long until you brand me a traitor, old friend?" she asked.

"You have done nothing yet, sir. And when you do, I'll give you a day and a night to seek your proof." His voice was flat, but she read the sadness in the slump of his shoulders.

She didn’t know why Deagan had stooped so low as to hire hobgoblins. Was it to be rid of her? He would consider the deaths of her troopers acceptable losses, so long as his goals were achieved. She had witnessed her lord sacrifice soldiers and citizens in pursuit of a few leagues of land for his hold. To Deagan, they were but resources for him to manipulate, control, and do away with at his whim.

She had thought she was an exception.

"Why didn't he just have me hanged? Concoct some story. Why the deception?" she asked, almost absently.

Farnick shrugged. "I don't claim to understand the ways of Kalistocrats, but your squadron is loyal to you. I'm not the only one who remembers your deeds in the Goblinblood Wars, and many have served years under your command, sir. We would follow you."

"But not in mutiny."

"Aye." He paused, and then added, “Not yet."

She smiled at him and nodded her understanding. She would need to acquire proof beyond any doubt that Deagan had violated their contract. And considering how meticulous her lord was with his recordkeeping, she knew there would be something in his office. Some ledger or receipt of payment. Some scrap of paper where he signed away her squadron's lives.

The clatter of Blackjackets heralded their arrival. Soldiers on the battlements saw the empty cuirasses and nodded a sorrowful greeting. Citizens going about their daily chores stopped to stare. Brea's remaining troopers marched like a funeral procession. Nine of thirty: the numbers resounded in her mind alongside the faces of the fallen.

They rode straight to her lord’s keep and collected a crowd of onlookers who followed their bedraggled band. The commotion drew citizen and soldier alike, and Brea led them to the square below Deagan's balcony.

"My lord Callimedes," she called, loud enough for all to hear. She wasn't sure if Deagan would respond. Perhaps he might be too shocked that she yet lived. Perhaps he was too cowardly to face her in such a public display. Perhaps her audacity would see her hanged, her love be damned.

Two Blackjackets, whom Brea recognized as her lord's personal guards, stepped onto the balcony. They peered around and squinted knowingly at Brea below them.

After a moment, Lord Deagan Callimedes slid into view between his Blackjackets. Gold embroidery lined his elegant robes and sparkled in the afternoon sun. Jewels at his throat and fingers glittered. Though he seemed a bright star hovering above Brea's gloomy procession, she saw the dark cast of his features, the anger that hardened his eyes to chips of ice. Deagan's white-gloved hands gripped the balustrade tight enough she heard the wood creak.

Still, her breath caught at the sight of him, her heart giving a painful lurch.

"Captain." His voice rang across the square.

"An ambush, my lord. Twenty-one of your finest troopers taken at the hands of hobgoblins." She wanted all of the Mercenary League to hear of the dead, to know of their fallen brothers. Once she had proof, what was left of her squadron would not be enough. She needed every Blackjacket in Deagan's Hold to turn against him.

Her lord was silent a long moment. When he finally spoke, his voice was soft, and Brea couldn't tell if the gentleness there was for her or for show.

"Then we mourn tonight," he said, "but we also celebrate the safe return of those who live to serve Kalistrade another day. Come, give your report Captain, and let us prepare a memorial for my fallen Blackjackets."

With that he turned and disappeared into his keep.

For Farnick, duty rises above all.

Brea sighed and dismounted her horse. She nodded to Farnick and whispered, "A day and a night, old friend."

He inclined his head, saying nothing. He led her soldiers toward the barracks, while she climbed the steps toward her lord once more and wondered if that would be the last she saw of Farnick. If in the morning he would brand her a traitor and hunt her down.

Perhaps, she thought, it was no more than she deserved.

∗ ∗ ∗

Hot water soothed her battered body. A page had intercepted her and instructed that she should make herself presentable. It seemed no one was too happy with the muddy bootprints she'd left on her last visit, least of all her lord. He'd lent her use of his own bathing chambers, though she'd seen no sign of the man himself since her arrival.

She relaxed against the porcelain tub. Every once in a while, a page would enter, remove a bucket of stale water, and pour fresh, steaming water into her bath. Jasmine and white rose petals floated on the surface, scenting the air along with her skin. A decanter of chilled wine and a glass were placed on a table nearby.

"It's good to be a Prophet," she mused.

Though she avoided the wine for fear of poison, least of all a dulling of her wits, she delighted in the comfort of Deagan’s chambers. If he intended to manipulate her before killing her, she might as well enjoy herself. And if she planned to peruse his office for proof of his treachery, then she would need to employ the same cleverness and subtlety of a Kalistocrat. She would need to use whatever love he once had for her as a weapon. He had said her heart would be his undoing, and Brea needed to make that prophecy come true.

When her olive skin turned pink from scrubbing, she wrapped herself in a robe and padded to the door that led to Deagan's office. She paused to listen and, hearing no one on the other side, opened it.

Leather-bound books and papers were stacked with care atop his desk. Gold trinkets and statuettes carved from ivory decorated his shelves. A tapestry woven with the Prophecies of Kalistrade hung above the hearth. They had once laughed with devilish delight at that tapestry, tangled together below it before the hearth.

Now the fireplace stood empty and cold. Not even the plush carpets warmed her bare feet as she moved to his desk.

Dates marked the binding of each ledger. Every paper was labeled in his intricate script. Deagan was a man who enjoyed details. He memorized the annual harvests of each province in the same meticulous way his fingers knew the delicate slope of her jaw, the column of her throat, and the slow curve of her hips.

She opened the newest ledger and scanned row upon row of transactions. Most of the accounts were lost on her, but she knew enough to understand Deagan's wealth was far greater than she'd expected. If he was conducting the amount and volume of sales the ledger indicated, then he was amassing enough power to draw the eyes of other Prophets, perhaps even the High Prophet himself.

If any of the Kalistocrats looked too closely, they would discover her relationship with Deagan. Because it was a violation of the Prophecies for a Kalistocrat to have liaisons that might result in illegitimate heirs, they would strip her of her blackjacket and Deagan of his title. It was a risk she and Deagan had known, but his hold had been beneath the notice of his betters, a small keep on the border of dwarven territory. Inconsequential, until now.

His efforts to stamp her out of existence suddenly made all too much sense.

She flipped pages, seeking anything that might indicate the hiring of hobgoblins or his attempt to remove her without sullying his own hands. She found nothing.

"Looking for something, Captain?" Deagan's voice sounded from the bathing chambers. He leaned against the doorframe, swirling a glass of wine.

Brea had no answer for him, no clever excuse that would spare her. She longed for the clarity of war and a simple sword in her hand, for an opponent whose eyes she could meet, for whom her heart did not ache. In that moment, she feared her lord more than any murderous hobgoblin.

"Come, I wish to show you something," he said and turned his back to her.

She had no blade hidden in her robe, and even if she did, she wasn't sure she could use it on her lord. She followed him into his chambers, her heart dying a little with every step.

He motioned to the foot of his bed, where her armor lay atop her doublet and clothes. It had been cleaned and polished, oiled to a fine shine that reflected the evening sun that blazed through his chamber's window. The gold etchings seemed brilliant on the dark armor, and she wondered if the magical blessings had also been restored. Her new gorget had been scrubbed. The scratch where it had turned the hobgoblin's blade and saved her life was no more than a dimple she had to feel with her fingers to sense.

"You'll want to be clean and in full regalia for the memorial service," he said. "Go on."

Brea had never been shy, not during the months in battlefield encampments surrounded by hardened soldiers, nor in the presence of her lord. Shyness was a trait for noble ladies and their handmaidens, of which she was neither. But now when she grasped the cinch of her robe, she hesitated.

"What game is this?" she asked, the words leaving her throat before she could stop them.

He shook his head and sipped from his glass. "Dress, Captain."

As she removed her robe, Deagan went to his window and stared at the setting sun. Brea slipped on her clothing and pulled her arming doublet over her head. When she began strapping down the plate armor, her lord came to her.

"Allow me," he said and knelt before her. His elegant hands fastened the buckles of her greaves with ease. As he rose to assist with her gorget, she met his bloodshot eyes.

"Why?" she whispered.

He did not answer. Leaving her gauntlets on the bed, he took her hand and led her toward the window.

"There is talk of mutiny in your squadron, Captain," he said.

So he knew, had known before he caught her snooping in his study. For the first time, Brea considered the possibility of a spy among her ranks. Someone new whom Deagan had paid to report on her. She didn't want to believe in such a betrayal, but if her lord could break her heart, one of her brothers could easily break her trust.

"Some believe I have violated my contract with the Mercenary League," he continued, standing behind her as she faced the square below. A gallows had been erected, and townsfolk were gathering around it.

"So this is it then," she said, thankful that at least he had allowed her to dress as a soldier. The weight of the armor that had long protected her would now drag her to a quicker death.

"I cannot have betrayal in my ranks, Captain. It must be dealt with swiftly."

"Did you ever love me?"

His breath warmed the shell of her ear. A black-masked executioner stepped onto the gallows, tying the rope securely between the uprights. Brea saw her troopers interspersed with the crowd, Etrim's blond head next to Soltez's dark curls. Both were young and stupid enough to be her lord's lap dog. They came to watch her die.

"An example must be made," Deagan said. "Your squadron must know I do not tolerate treachery in my officers."

She nodded. "I would have died for you on the field. This will only be a little different."

"Watch. And then you must go...go far away." His breathing was labored now, and he took a step back from her.

She furrowed her brow and did as her lord ordered.

From the keep strode two of Deagan's personal Blackjackets carrying a short, struggling figure between them. The bald head and missing ear of her old friend were unmistakable.

"Farnick?" She whirled on Deagan, her stomach roiling with sickness. "No, it's me you want. Hang me."

His eyes glimmered, his face lined with pain. "You understand nothing."

She lunged at him, knocking him to the ground. Her hands clamped on his shoulders and rapped his head against the floor. "Release Farnick!"

Her lord whispered a single word, and the gorget closed around her throat. She let him go to fumble at the clasp, but it would not open.

Staggering to his feet, Deagan coughed and said, "Someone must be responsible for the threat of mutiny. Someone must pay. But not you..."

Brea rolled on the ground, fighting for air. The world around her became fuzzy and disjointed.

"I'd hoped you would violate your contract,” he continued, “and leave after the brigands...and when you didn’t, I steeled myself and sent you to the hobs to die. But didn’t die, and I knew couldn't bear to go through it all again, to see you swinging from a rope." He laughed. "You keep coming back. My weakness. My albatross."

He crouched before her. Spots colored her vision, but she could see tears streaking his beautiful face. From the square below, she heard the crowd murmur before going silent.

Farnick's gruff voice boomed with his final words. "'Tis been my honor to serve with the finest soldiers, the finest Captain, I have known."

A crack sounded as the trapdoor under his feet opened and the crossbeam bore his weight.

Brea felt her own tears roll down her face, felt Deagan catch one with a gentle fingertip. Then the world disappeared.

Coming Next Week: A friend in need in Chapter Four of Stephanie Lorée's "Armored."

Stephanie Lorée is an author whose short stories have appeared in various anthologies and online publications, and in 2013, she was a finalist for Writers of the Future. She also works as a freelance editor. Visit her website at stephaniemloree.com.

Illustration by Dion Harris.

Wrapping Up the Mummy's Mask

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

I know what you're thinking. "Another Mummy's Mask blog? We're totally in Iron Gods mode now! Show me robots, darn it!" And you're right. We released the final chapter of the Mummy's Mask Adventure Path a few months ago now, and this month are releasing the second chapter in its follow-up AP, Iron Gods. That's why now is the perfect time to release a bunch of art from Mummy's Mask. We now have the entire AP to go through in search of the best pieces of art to release to the public, either as potential desktop backgrounds, or to use in a publication or on a website using the Community Use Policy.

Here are some of my favorite images from Mummy's Mask (and a couple from People of the Sands). I have it on good authority that the holy symbols of all the gods in the Ancient Osirian pantheon will soon be added to the Community Use Package, otherwise I'd have included them here. So enjoy one last trip through the sands of Osirion!

Illustrations by Ekaterina Burmak and Florian Stitz

Illustrations by Johan Grenier, Vicky Yarova, and Damon Westenhofer

Illustrations by Johan Grenier and Jared Blando

Mark Moreland
Developer

Year of the Sky Key Q&A

Monday, September 15, 2014

The start of the Year of the Sky Key has spawned many questions thanks to the faction changes, the release of the Advanced Class Guide, and the use of Technology Guide. In preparation for today's blog, I compiled my list of known questions, polled venture-officers about unanswered questions still at large on the messageboards, filtered out the ones that weren't specific to the organized play campaign (saved to pass along to their associated designers and developers), and wrote out answers and updates to everything that was left.

Warpriest Retraining

Are playtest warpriests able to adjust their ability scores based on the fervor class ability's new dependence on Wisdom?
Yes, page 28 of the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play states that "if a class, prestige class or class feature-dependent ability score is altered," the character qualifies for a rebuild, maintaining the same equipment. That means a character's class choices, feats, skill ranks, spells known, et cetera can change.

Are playtest warpriests able to adjust character features tied to these ability scores (e.g. losing ranks in Diplomacy to instead put them in Sense Motive)?
Yes, see above.

Are playtest warpriests able to alter any other character choices/options (e.g. feats) as part of any rebuilding process?
Yes, see above.

Are playtest warpriests able to take archetypes as part of any rebuilding process?
Yes, see above.

What are the warpriest's retraining synergies (as per Ultimate Campaign's retraining rules on page 190)?
In Pathfinder Society Organized Play, determine the retraining synergies for the Advanced Class Guide classes by substituting one class name for an existing class on the table. For example, an arcanist has the same retraining synergies as a wizard, and any class that lists the wizard as a retraining synergy also has the arcanist as a retraining synergy.

• Substitute the term "arcanist" anywhere the term "wizard" appears.
• Substitute the term "bloodrager" anywhere the term "barbarian" appears. Bloodragers have retraining synergy with sorcerers and vice versa.
• Substitute the term "brawler" anywhere the term "fighter" appears.
• Substitute the term "hunter" anywhere the term "ranger" appears.
• Substitute the term "investigator" anywhere the term "alchemist" appears.
• Substitute the term "shaman" anywhere the term "druid" appears.
• Substitute the term "skald" anywhere the term "bard" appears. Skalds have retraining synergy with barbarians and vice versa.
• Substitute the term "slayer" anywhere the term "ranger" appears. Slayers have retraining synergy with rogues and vice versa.
• Substitute the term "swashbuckler" anywhere the term "fighter" appears.
• Substitute the term "warpriest" anywhere the term "paladin" appears.

What is the intended interaction between the Guide's and the Additional Resources' entries about retraining for the warpriest? Should one or both be revised based on any of the above rulings?
The Additional Resources page and Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play principally conflict regarding warpriest retraining, as no other class's associated ability scores changed between the playtest and final versions of the classes. The Additional Resources page's wording in an important reminder that most classes and most characters do not qualify for comprehensive rebuilds based on the final version of the Advanced Class Guide.

During the playtest, the shaman's spell list had access to summon nature's ally. Is there any rebuilding allowed for those who selected character options that modify summoning such as Augment Summoning?
Shaman characters that selected character options that modify summoning abilities they no longer possess may retrain those features and any immediate prerequisites for those features. For example, such a shaman could retrain Augment Summoning, Superior Summoning, and Spell Focus (conjuration), but not Spell Penetration, Combat Casting, or Improved Initiative. A character can sell back any items that specifically modify summoning abilities, use summon nature's ally, or use summon monster (such as scrolls).

Faction Changes

Does one automatically switch to the successor faction, or is that treated as the one faction change per season?
The change to a successor faction is automatic and does not count as the one free faction change. If your character was a member of the Cheliax faction, she is now part of the Dark Archives faction for free. Try out a scenario as part of that faction, then decide if you want to stick with it or use the free change.

When the five nation-based factions (Andoran, Cheliax, Osirion, Qadira, and Taldor) changed into ideological factions, how many faction-specific features and rewards could a PC retain?
As noted on pages 17-18 of the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play, a member of a retiring faction retains "any faction-specific vanities, titles, traits, prestige items, or other purchases made while the character was a member of the retired faction." As a result, a Cheliax faction PC who purchased the Hellknight prestige award would retain it no matter which faction she ended up joining at the start of Season 6.

Do I also keep any of the faction-specific boons earned on Season 5 Chronicle sheets?
Yes, you keep any of these boons that you earned during Season 5. However, remember that you might not qualify for other faction-specific boons from that faction once you have switched allegiances; page 18 of the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play covers which current factions correspond to earlier nation-based factions for the purposes of earning these rewards.

Is a character benefiting from The Risen faction prestige award required to stay with the Scarab Sages faction as the natural evolution of the Osirion faction?
This is a special case, given the enduring consequences of purchasing that particular prestige award. A character who possessed this prestige award prior to August 14th, 2014 does not qualify for the free faction change. He can, however, pay 3 Prestige Points per character level to change factions, as described on page 17 of the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play. A member of the Scarab Sages faction who acquires The Risen prestige award [on or after August 14th, 2014] is bound to that faction and cannot change factions.

Technology Guide

Is the Technologist feat in Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Technology Guide required to attempt any skill checks regarding technology?
The following text will appear in an updated version of the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play:
"The otherworldly technology associated with Numeria is very different from the rest of the technology available on Golarion,and so far advanced that any comprehensive understanding requires the Technologist feat (Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Technology Guide 7). However, scenarios that include Numerian technology are designed in a way that characters with the Technologist feat have an advantage, yet those without are still able to succeed at the mission. Clever Pathfinders might operate a device by trial and error, infer a device's use by its placement (such as a keypad on a door acting as a lock), or draw logical if crude associations between known items and Numerian technology (such as a laser pistol having the same shape and features as a hand crossbow or Alkenstar firearm)."

How does hardness work for creatures? Does energy damage such as cold deal half damage to creatures with hardness (Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook 173-174) even before applying the flat numerical reduction?
When a creature with hardness sustains damage, subtract its hardness from the damage dealt. The rules for halving damage, doubling damage, dealing damage with ineffective tools, immunities, and the like only apply to damaging inanimate objects.
(This is apparently a question the Design Team has received a few times during the development of Iron Gods, so they were ready to go with an answer!)

Miscellaneous

Investigators have an alchemy class ability similar to that of an alchemist. Are investigators also able to craft alchemical items in Pathfinder Society Organized Play?
Investigators are able to craft alchemical items and poisons as if they were alchemists. This information will appear in an upcoming update to the Pathfinder Society FAQ, both in the poisons section (which will also include the investigator's poison lore class ability) and the alchemist crafting section.

I received a ratfolk or samsaran race boon for volunteering at a recent convention, but the Additional Resources page still says that ratfolk and samsaran options in Advanced Race Guide are not legal for play. Is this ever going to change?
All ratfolk and samsaran alternate racial traits, favored class bonuses, archetypes, equipment, feats, and spells are legal for play. Note that most of these options are limited to ratfolk and samsaran characters respectively following the Advanced Race Guide entry's second paragraph on the Additional Resources page. The next Additional Resources update is set to revise the entry.

What deities can a warpriest worship? The Additional Resources page suggests that only the core 20 deities are legal choices.
This is not the intended interpretation, and the next Additional Resources update is set to revise the entry to read as follows. "To select a blessing, a warpriest must worship a deity that offers the domain of the same name." A warpriest in the organized play campaign is able to select from among any of the legal deity choices.

Can one purchase a ring of eloquence (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Class Guide 216) with any combination of languages? Are restricted or banned languages such as Druidic or Androffan options?
At this time, only two configurations of the ring of eloquence exist in the organized play campaign. The first grants the ability to speak and understand Common, Dwarven, Elven, and Gnome. The second grants the ability to speak and understand Giant, Goblin, Orc, and Undercommon. Rings with other configurations may appear as treasure on Chronicle sheets.

John Compton
Developer

Pathfinder Battles Preview: Iconics Rise Again!

Friday, September 12, 2014

After a relaxing vacation last week, I'm back in force with a look at SIX upcoming figures for the Pathfinder Battles line of prepainted plastic minis!

This time we're going to take a look at the digital sculpts for Iconic Heroes Two, which is set for a February 2015 release. The set will contain five of Pathfinder's iconic characters, plus one associated creature. This is the second of several such sets to release monthly starting in January. Check out the preview of Iconic Heroes Set One I posted a few weeks back for a look at the first six figures. Iconic Heroes sets are "visible" sets, meaning you'll know exactly what figures are in each "fixed" set. They retail for $29.99. WizKids is making every effort to ensure that the figures receive "premium" sculpts and paint jobs.

As part of that process, they've shifted the Pathfinder Battles line to digital sculpts, which allows us here at Paizo a much higher degree of control over the way the miniatures look and the colors used to paint them. This is especially important with our iconic characters, all of whom have key pieces of important equipment that must be reproduced in exacting detail. While digital sculpts can look really cool, it's also impossible to show all of the drybrushing and inking effects that the final figures will have, so it's best to imagine that the final figures will share all of the details and the general color scheme, but will look more "finished" and less "clean" than the images provided below. We'll share paint masters as we get them from WizKids (a process that is set to begin very shortly, so the wait may not be a long one!).

Here we go!

Here we have Amiri, Iconic Barbarian. Amiri comes complete with a nasty snarl and her huge frost giant sword positioned mid-swing. This version of our iconic barbarian is in much more of a battle pose than the previous version from Shattered Star, and I think people are really going to dig her. The digital sculpting process has given us a lot of good opportunity to make sure her face tattoo and belly scars look just right, and I expect those details will carry through beautifully to the final figure.

Ezren, Iconic Wizard has fast become one of my favorite iconic characters thanks to his excellent portrayal in both Dynamite's Pathfinder Comics and Big Finish's Pathfinder Legends audio dramas. Here we see his cane raised mid-spell, and again the digital sculpting has allowed us to meticulously reproduce all of the magical implements hanging from his belt. Ezren has a really "classic" look to him that makes this figure a great stand-in for any spellcaster or even any "old man" adventurer.

Another favorite from the comics and audio dramas is Merisiel, Iconic Rogue. Our newest version of this fun character appears in charging-forward battle pose, rapier high on the attack. All of her many daggers are represented in sheaths on her back and hips. This is definitely a character you don't want to run into in a dark alley, or an ally you definitely want to be flanking a monster with.

Kyra, Iconic Cleric was one of the very first Pathfinder Battles figures we ever produced, and the quality of her cloak in particular set the high standards we've been trying to match or exceed ever since. That figure, one of four in our very first Beginner Box Heroes set, was wonderful. We hope to one-up it with this figure. I mean, we even made sure the little tattoos under her eyes look correct! The pose in this case is quite similar to the original figure, so it'll be interesting to compare how the two came out (that pun, I assure you, was unintentional!).

Have you heard the Pathfinder Legends audio dramas? One of the very best renditions of our characters in that medium is Harsk, Iconic Ranger, my personal favorite dwarf in all of Pathfinder lore. The Iconic Heroes Two version of Harsk favors his axe over his crossbow, making this a nice change from the version we previously released in the Rise of the Runelords set. He's even got his signature teapot along with his other gear on his back. Sweet!

Did you know that Harsk's little-seen animal companion is a badger named Biter? This Small figure marks Biter's first appearance in Pathfinder Battles. You can use Biter along with Harsk or as an animal companion of another character. He'll make a nice addition to the horde of animals (pigs, goats, ravens, falcons, owls, and more!) that we've included in the line so far. Just don't let him get too close to you when he's angry. He got his name for a reason!

Each set of Pathfinder Battles Iconic Heroes comes with a special Pathfinder Adventure Card Game card available exclusively in these boxes. I've seen several of these cards already, and they're designed to add fun, cool elements to the card game that players are sure to appreciate. I mean, who wouldn't want a card for Harsk's Teapot?

That's it for this week. Check back next week for another look at new minis from November's The Lost Coast set! WizKids brought in the complete set of production run figures last week, and they look absolutely fantastic!

See you in seven days!

Erik Mona
Publisher

Clash With the Lords of Rust

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Illustration by Johan Grenier

As the release date for Pathfinder Adventure Path #86: "Lords of Rust" nears, I thought I'd share a few details on what readers can expect. I don't want to spoil too much about the adventure itself, so I'll mention that it takes place in a giant junkyard and the PCs have to navigate all sorts of dangers and complicated relationships between various gangs. It was also written by a maniac. Most people know him by his human name, Nicolas Logue.

This volume of the Pathfinder Adventure Path also answers some questions that have been on people's minds for a while. An article about the Technic League, written by Jim Groves, resolves some questions about how that unscrupulous organization's history and talks a bit about how the group operates. Something else people have shown interest in over the years is the faith of Brigh, so we got Sean K Reynolds to cover the topic in a deity article about the goddess of clockwork, invention, and time. I'm really happy with how the article turned out and I can't wait until readers get their own copies of "Lords of Rust" in their hands. The volume is rounded out with the usual collection of monsters and the continuation of Amber E. Scott's Pathfinder Journal.

To sate your hunger until you can grab a copy, enjoy some of the wonderful art pieces of Brigh, her holy symbol, and a worshiper that shows up in this adventure. (I threw in a bonus dead technician just for the fun of it.)

Illustrations by Johan Grenier, Migueal Regodón, and Dmitry Burmak

Adam Daigle
Developer

Armored

by Stephanie Lorée

Chapter Two: My Brother, My Blade

Farnick rode at her side, the squadron of troopers behind them. His head was cleanly shaved. No trace of stubble lined his chin. Brea's armor hung heavy on her shoulders, the gorget tight against her throat. All was as it should be.

"Goblins," Farnick spat. "There be no goblins this close to Prophet's Home and dwarven lands."

"Let us hope not," Brea said.

"I pray there are. My steel's sharp and overdue for a taste of goblin blood."

She smiled, remembering the moment their friendship was forged during the war. In truth, she had thought him mad when he dived in front of a blow that would have killed her and, instead, shattered his helm and left his ear a tattered mess. A stranger and a dwarf, willing to give his life for no other reason than she was his superior officer, and he'd been assigned to her command. Several days later, Brea had offered a daring tactic to route the enemy, and Farnick was the first to volunteer. His trust in her and her bold strategies had saved them both more times than she could recall.

There was no warrior she would rather have at her side.

"Eager for glory, old friend?" she asked.

"Aye, sir, been too little glory in recent years."

"Peace times are not the place for glory."

He frowned. "Nor soldiers, I fear."

The land was hilly and thick with scrubgrass. Mountains loomed before them like great shadows on the horizon. The closer they traveled to the Five Kings, the more the ground dipped and rose. She'd ordered a loose formation and doubled the eyes along either side of her squadron.

Brea had sent Soltez ahead of the group; despite his lingering injury he was her best scout. He would not need his sword arm if he remained unseen. And in truth, she had never needed his sword, considering how unskilled he was in battle, but his eyes were sharp and his intellect honed finer than any blade. She knew he moved somewhere in the distance, though she saw only the occasional wave of high grasses, which might have been the wind.

Thus far there had been no sign of unusual goblin activity. There were always some greenies, prowling in packs for wayward travelers. But no goblin warband would attack an armed squadron like Brea's. Goblins were crazy, but not entirely stupid.

"Will we see greenies today, Captain?" Etrim spoke from behind her. The eagerness in the younger woman's voice made Brea feel ancient.

"Perhaps," she said.

The fresh leather of Etrim's saddle creaked. She held the reigns of Soltez's horse and guided it alongside of her.

"It will be an honor to fight at your side," Etrim said.

Farnick chuckled. "Glory and honor both, then. ’Tis a good day for dreams."

Brea said nothing. Her glory had faded with the end of the war, and she'd sacrificed any honor she once had the moment she laid her heart bare for her lord.

The grasses beside her stirred. She reached for her longsword and had almost unsheathed it when she noticed the unmistakable cap of dark curls that belonged to Soltez.

"One or two leagues north." Soltez paused to salute her, almost as an afterthought. "A settlement in the clearing of some trees. Seemed empty to me."

"Seemed empty or is empty?" Brea asked.

"Is, sir. Abandoned."

She nodded and motioned to the extra horse that Etrim led. "Mount up, soldier. You've done well."

Brea knows all too well the price of royalty.

Soltez struggled to seat his horse one-handed, and Etrim paused to help him. They fell back in the formation, two other troopers seamlessly taking their places.

The scrubgrass gave way to thick underbrush and tall trees. Brea was about to call for a dismount to hack a suitable path for the horses, but Soltez assured her the clearing was just ahead. They picked their way carefully through the brush, mindful of the horses' footing. Then the trees parted like a lover’s welcoming arms.

"This is no settlement," Brea murmured as she passed a lonely, cold campfire. A few logs and thatches of leaves were scattered nearby that could have been the remains of crude shelters. But those had fallen ages ago.

"’Tis quiet, sir," Farnick whispered beside her.

She took a breath and let her ears register what was missing. The wind had died, and no birds chirped in the trees. Something foul and familiar drifted in the still air, the rank stench of an old enemy.

"Goblins," she said, drawing her longsword. "Ambush! To arms! Ambush!"

From the dark depths of the trees, the creatures emerged.

∗ ∗ ∗

They were losing. Brea could sense it in the ebb and flow of battle. They'd been caught unawares and had no time to form a defensive line. Blackjackets collapsed around her. For every trooper that died, several enemies went with him. Still, the hobgoblins poured from the shadows, seemingly endless in their numbers.

She spotted not a single goblin among the ranks, only hobs. Scarred, gray-skinned beings that stood of a height to her and fought with a brutal single-mindedness. Their arms and armor were not the scavenged mish-mash their shorter cousins preferred, but as finely made as those of any regiment of soldiers.

Of all the vile creatures in the world, Brea hated and feared hobgoblins the most.

To her left, she heard Farnick grunt as he cut down another hob, only to have a new one take its place. The rest of her troopers were scattered throughout the clearing, lost in the blur of battle.

"To me!" she called, slicing a hobgoblin in front of her across the throat and urging her horse to trample the next. "Form rank!"

Horses screamed and toppled, throwing troopers to the ground. Metal clanged, and soldiers wailed. The stink of hobgoblins and death filled the air.

One hob lunged at Brea's mare, and she batted his sword aside. The creature growled, cursing in its native tongue, and leaped. It caught hold of her horse's mane, attempting to swing itself at Brea and dismount her. She kicked it in the chest, but that only gave the hobgoblin pause. Her mount bucked, and she struggled to keep the mare under control as the hob wrenched the poor thing’s neck with one hand, while the other raised a sword to strike.

The hob’s blade descended toward Brea’s face. Unable to bring her sword up quickly enough to block, she managed only to shift her weight. The sword missed her face by a breath and landed squarely upon her throat.

The gorget sang with the screech of steel scraping steel. A spark hit her chin and sizzled. But the blade turned. Her head rattled from the impact, though it remained attached to her shoulders.

Brea rotated her too-slow parry into a slash and stuck the hob in the side. Blood splattered both her and her mare. The hob’s grip slackened, and the creature tumbled to the ground.

She didn't have time to check the gorget for damage or to murmur thanks to Deagan for his well-considered gift. Her old friend appeared at her side, a comforting presence as her troopers finally made their way toward her.

"Just like the old days, sir," Farnick shouted over the chaos. He laughed as he blocked a blow and kicked a hobgoblin in the head, sending the creature sprawling under his horse's hooves.

Other troopers gathered slowly in a loose crown formation with Brea. Surrounded by her brothers, she could think of no better way to die.

The hobgoblin swarm blocked them in, swiping at their horses. It was not the first time she and Farnick had been outnumbered by goblin infantry, and she smiled as a plan formed.

"Farnick, do you remember the battle along the Keld?" she yelled.

"Which one, sir?"

"The one we rode away from, rather than crawled."

A knowing grin spread across his face. He gave a whoop and spurred his horse. Though smaller than the other warhorses in Brea's squadron, Farnick's mare barreled through the hobs, parting them like water. Without hesitation, she followed in his wake, the other troopers behind her. They sliced a path through their enemy. Even a swarm of hobgoblins was no match for heavy cavalry.

When they reached the end of the hobs, they turned at the tree line. Farnick fanned to the left, and Brea went opposite. Another swath of creatures fell under their horse's hooves.

Finally, a horn sounded. It bleated for the hobgoblins’ retreat.

"Ride them down!" Brea ordered her squadron. Still, a few hobs managed to disappear into the woods.

When it was over, she counted her remaining people.

"Nine," she said. "Nine of thirty."

Farnick limped over to her, his horse lost among the carnage. Aside from the gouge across his thigh, he seemed unharmed.

"Three score of hobs, I'd wager," he said. He stepped on a body, and it grunted. He raised his sword to strike. "An ugly one here, still breathing."

"Wait." Brea dismounted and stood over the hobgoblin. Both of his legs were broken, and a jagged wound across his brow wept blood. She crouched before his hideous face, studying it.

"Is you," the creature said in guttural Common.

"Do you know me?" Brea asked.

The hobgoblin laughed, his eyes black pinpricks in a bulbous face. "The female captain. Said you would come. Said you were fierce."

She inclined her head, suppressing her surprise. "Who said?"

He grew quiet. Only his labored breathing and the movements of her soldiers as they gathered the dead echoed through the clearing.

Brea grabbed a broken leg and squeezed. The hobgoblin howled.

"You were waiting for us," she said. "Who sent you?"

"Gold man," the hob wailed. He reached for his belt, and Brea leaned on his leg.

"Stay still," she said and grabbed the pouch near his hand. She handed it to Farnick so she could keep her attention on the hob.

"Gold man," he repeated. "Please."

"Captain?" Farnick held out his hand.

A flash of gold drew her eye, and Brea turned to see bloody coins in her friend's palm. The face she knew too well, the lines she had traced with her lips and fingertips, stared back at her in mockery. Stamped clearly on each coin was the stoic profile of her lord, Deagan Callimedes, stained with her brothers' lives.

Coming Next Week: A room with a view in Chapter Three of Stephanie Lorée's "Armored."

Stephanie Lorée is an author whose short stories have appeared in various anthologies and online publications, and in 2013, she was a finalist for Writers of the Future. She also works as a freelance editor. Visit her website at stephaniemloree.com.

Illustration by Dion Harris.

Gen Con 2014 Cosplay Contest!

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

This year has truly proven to be the biggest turn out yet for Pathfinder cosplay, with an exceptional cast of exception cosplayers. There are plenty of faces both familiar and new in this years participants, and it is my pleasure to introduce the fine folks that make up this years contest.

Without further ado:

Ashley as Feiya, her attention to details is quite hexing!

Alex as Imrijka. She may be Half-Orc, but her costume is all awesome.

Angela as Seoni. Angela was one of the first cosplayers we saw at GenCon this year, amazing job!

Master of Scrolls Kreighton Shaine visited us at the booth as well!
Mark did an exceptional job of bringing the elven eccentric to life, we're just glad he didn't get *too* in character.

Lyz as Seoni. The attention to the tattoos from both Lyz and Angela are exceptional.
You could even say some of the runes on their arms look... familiar.

It's clear that Jessica's costume is not to be outfoxed. Knowing better than to split the party, the two arrived together in style.

Levi as Kyra. Many of you may recognize Levi's costume from a previous blog post earlier this year, Sarenrae would be proud!

Robert makes for a dead accurate Champion of Urgathoa.

Amy as a cleric of Pharasma. It's probably best that Robert didn't run into her.

Lauren as Pharasma. While Pharasma may be a true neutral deity, Lauren's representation is most certainly good!

Dustin holds no punches with his Sajan cosplay.

Steve as High Shieldmarshal Armand, the best Shieldmarshal in all the land.

Here we have Carly as Imrijka, who's pursuit of the truth has brought her to GenCon.
If you're feeling inquisitive about her attention to detail just checkout the prosthetics and contacts she used!

Here we have Christine as a decapitating barbarian. In front of her is the most dedicated Ned Stark method actor to grace the convention.

Emmanuelle as Kyra. Who needs a buckler or scutum when your faith is your shield!

And for our honorable mention, Paizo's very own Ryan as... Ryan.

Due to the number of participants this year we're going to be using a tally system, and the voting thread can be found here. You can vote on any one person you'd like, so make sure your vote counts! We'll tally the results at 2:00 PM Pacific time on Wednesday, September 17th and declare this years fan favorites shortly afterwards.

Great work everyone!

Erik Keith
Software Test Engineer

Unleash the Krake... Undead!

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

In mere weeks the most vile undead masterminds of the Inner Sea region (and one that's actually pretty nice most of the time) will be released upon unsuspecting PCs everywhere. Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Undead Unleashed features 15 unique undead creatures ranging from CR 3 to CR 23, as well as maps of their lairs, details on their minions, histories, and current plans. While not exactly adventures, each lair provides enough information that a Game Master can easily build an adventure within. Each undead is designed to be modular enough that a trek through its lair can help a party bridge a gap between levels or fill a night when some members of a gaming group can't make it. At the same time, their rich backstories provide GMs with enough plot hooks and secret motivations to make even the CR 3 ghast villain the mastermind behind an entire adventure.

This book gave us the opportunity to detail several characters first mentioned in the earliest days of Pathfinder, about whom fans have been asking questions for years. Want to know more about Walkena, the child mummy god of the Mwangi Expanse? He's in here. How about Erum-Hel, the mythic Lord of Mohrgs, whose defeat at Iomedae's hands is considered one of her holy Acts? He's in here. What about the Wight Mother of Isger, who spreads disease and undeath from Finder's Gulch in Isger? You guessed it—we included her as well.

As to who the other 13 undead creatures are, you'll just have to wait and see, but here are a few pieces of amazing art from the book to whet your appetites further (and provide a few hints at the creatures' types, if not their specific identities).

Illustrations by Carmen Cianelli, Mac Smith, Ekaterina Burmak, and Carlos Villa.

Undead Unleashed will be on its way to subscribers soon and available everywhere later this month!

Mark Moreland
Developer

Close Deeper into the Desert

Monday, September 8, 2014

Illustration by Ekaterina Burmak

Several months ago we sanctioned the first two volumes of the Mummy's Mask Adventure Path for Pathfinder Society Organized Play. To honor the final days of summer, the remaining four volumes are now sanctioned for organized play, including Pathfinder Adventure Path #81: "Shifting Sands", the source of this depiction of the Osirian city Tephu. Excited? Go fight some mummies—spoiler alert!

The updated sanctioning document and chronicle sheets can be found on the individual product pages for the Mummy's Mask AP volumes and on the Additional Resources page.

Other sanctioning projects are still in progress, including the recently released Iron Gods Adventure Path as well as several adventures yet to be sanctioned like Pathfinder Module: Wardens of the Reborn Forge and the Serpent's Skull Adventure Path.

John Compton
Developer

The Legend of Erik: A Link Between Departments

Friday, September 5, 2014

I'm happy to announce that Erik Keith, who has been a pillar of the Customer Service team, is moving over and up into new and exciting things. At the beginning of September, Erik transitioned into his new role as Paizo's Software Test Engineer. I am both excited for him as he takes on this new role, and also a little sad that I will no longer get to work next to someone who has become not only someone I enjoy working with, but a friend as well. While Erik won't be directly assisting customers with their orders or issues, he will still be helping fans and the Paizo community, albeit in a more abstract manner. He will be using his extensive knowledge of our internal software to help the Tech Team test new code and features that will make our customers and our employees' experience better.

Erik has been with the Customer Service team for three years. It will be impossible to find someone with his same spirit and natural skill for helping people, but I couldn't be happier to see him launching into this new career opportunity.

Sara Marie
Customer Service Manager

The Literary Origins of Science Fiction in Fantasy Settings

Thursday, September 4, 2014

"Do you know about other worlds? Don't you believe the stars are only huge jewels?"
—The Swords of Lankhmar, Fritz Leiber
Illustration by Caio Maciel Monteiro

With the release of Pathfinder Adventure Path #85: "The Fires of Creation", the first adventure in the Iron Gods Adventure Path, I thought it was worth taking a moment to talk about the literary origins of mixing science-fiction elements into fantasy settings.

Illustration by Ian Llanas

The origins of the Iron Gods Adventure Path itself are pretty clear. The seeds of advanced technology in Golarion go back to its inception, and descriptions of Numeria, Alkenstar, the Red Redoubt of Karamoss, and the Ruins of Kho have always included a level of technology much different than most of the rest of the Inner Sea. Golarion is a world where scraps of ancient lost technology exist in limited quantities, and it makes sense that at least one adventure path explore that aspect of the world. This follows a long tradition of mixing science fiction and fantasy elements in roleplaying games, dating back to near the beginning of the hobby.

The RPG hobby is in turn built on a long tradition of genre-blurring stories, dating back to at least the early 1700s. Earlier speculative fiction didn't mostly bother to define a difference between science fiction and fantasy. Jonathan Swift's 1726 novel Gulliver's Travels was written as a satire, but it is also arguably an early work of mixed science fiction and fantasy. Beyond the well-known fantasy races of Lilliputians and Brobdingnagians, protagonist Gulliver encounters many other places including both the flying city of Laputa (a city of pure scientific thought and clear antecedent of Kho), and a land of magicians (Glubbdubdrib) where magic largely replaces technology.

Although not the same as most modern fantasy, another common category of early speculative fiction that often blends advanced technology and magic is the "lost world" genre, where a modern character discovers a fantastic land unknown to the rest of civilization. In some lost world books the discovery is the result of an exploratory expedition (such as is the case for Jules Verne's 1864 novel Journey to the Center of the Earth, an early example of the genre), while in other cases the discovery is entirely accidental (as in Edward Bulwer-Lyrtton's 1871 novel Vril, the Power of the Coming Race).

Similar is the planetary romance genre, where the foreign land is generally on other planets. One can argue that Edgar Rice Burrough's Barsoom (from A Princess of Mars, and a series of novels that follow) is pure science fiction, with its airships and radium pistols, but the fact that most conflict is handled through swordplay reveals its fantasy roots. The blending of science and magic is even clearer in related stories by Burroughs, the most obvious example being "The Wizard of Venus," where planetary explorer Carson Napier learns extraordinary powers from the titular Venusian wizard.

Many novels of the 1930s-1970s combined fantasy and science fiction in one setting, often inspired by the tradition of Barsoom and the planetary romances. The fiction of Michael Moorcock is one of the original influences for fantasy RPG settings, and includes multiple cases of high science elements. Most extensively, the adventures of Hawkmoon (who, as an incarnation of the Eternal Champion, is connected to the better-known Elric of Melniboné,) take place in a world that appears to be a post-apocalyptic version of Europe. Magic is commonplace, but sorcerer-scientists also often have access to ancient advanced technology, including the Black Jewel, which is implanted into Hawkmoon by his enemies to monitor his movements. Ursula K. Le Guin's 1966 novel Rocannon's World has fewer directly magic elements, but does describe the travels of a scientist with advanced knowledge through an alien land of castes and swordsmen. Poul Anderson's 1961 novel Three Hearts and Three Lions presents a protagonist from the modern "real" world who ends up in a parallel world where magic and trolls are real.

Instances where science fiction elements enter an existing, established pure-fantasy setting are less common but far from unknown. Robert E. Howard's fantasy character Conan encounters an alien in the 1933 short story "The Tower of the Elephant." Fritz Leiber's quintessential rogue and barbarian team Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser run into a time traveler in his 1968 novel The Swords of Lankhmar. Time travel and planetary travel both come into play in C.L. Moore and Henry Kuttner's 1937 story "Quest of the Starstone," in which fantasy swordswoman Jirel of Joiry must deal with Northwest Smith, a smuggler and scoundrel hired from a tavern on Mars in her own far-flung future. (Those interest in seeing how that particular situation is resolved can read the story in Black God's Kiss, still available from paizo.com.)

The existence of fantasy tales that added a dash of high science is no reason for groups that dislike blending the two ideas to feel they must change their minds, but it is one of the reasons other groups love having the option to through a little more sci-fi into their fantasy games.

Owen K.C. Stephens
Developer

Armored

by Stephanie Lorée

Chapter One: Wine Like Blood, Blood Like Water

The tip of her longsword carved a channel along the beachhead of Lake Encarthan. She dragged the weapon, held it listlessly in her hand. Hers were dark, dirtied hands that knew the weight of good steel, the heft of a man's heart. She remembered a time when she was clean, though she could not recall the feeling of pristine boot soles, nor of a soul unstained.

The slope of the sands made her stagger. To an observer, she might have appeared a poorly crafted iron golem, a lurching, jerky warrior inside a black-plated shell. As she reached the shoreline, she stumbled to her knees.

Rays of sunlight glinted off the lake. Ripples rolled slow and heavy around her calves. It was too beautiful a sight, too bright a day for what lay behind her, for what she and her squadron had done. But that was the way of Druma, to dress atrocity in finery and call it good business. She supposed the weather should be no different than the Prophets.

The surf whispered over her legs, soaking the padding underneath through the gaps in her armor. She stayed there as though in supplication to the lake, but did not pray to any god. For a servant of the Kalistocrats, there was no god above the High Prophet, and no one who cared to hear her pleas.

She breathed evenly to slow the thrum of her heart. The air tasted of fish and copper and death. It lay thick on her tongue like bad wine, but Brea drank it down, allowed it to fill her.

"I did this," she said.

The water washed the blood from her greaves. Tendrils of red slipped through the blue, snaking away from her like streamers in one of her lord's parades.

Her lord, Prophet Deagan Callimedes, would be home now, toiling behind his desk. She imagined Deagan's smooth, tawny cheek lifted in a grin. His wide-set eyes, bright as winter's sky and just as cold. White-gloved hands cupping her face, twined in her hair. The smell of jasmine and rose petals. The faint taste of blackberry wine. His mouth.

Brea unbuckled her mail. Each section splashed as it fell. The sword—forgotten by her busy fingers—sank at her side like an offering to a wishing well. When only the arming doublet remained, she slumped forward on her hands and watched the blood stain the rhythmic tide. The lives she had taken danced in the water's reflection. Her victim's pain echoed in the bruises yellowing her olive skin, in the burn of her muscles.

They'd overridden the so-called brigands at first light. Her heavy cavalry had crushed bone and spirit before she called the dismount and began the slaughter. She swung her sword like an automaton, slicing through meager armor and severing frail limbs. When her arms had wearied, Brea used her armored body as a weapon, trampling any in her path.

Segments of that mail lingered around her now. The black cuirass still glowed a pale gold with the dying embers of magic.

It, too, had started clean, gleaming fiercely with her lord's blessings. When she'd received her promotion to Captain, Brea had been honored to receive his gift. The cuirass comforted her, protected her. Through it, Deagan had finally demonstrated his love for her.

It was her blackjacket. Her albatross.

"I did this for you," she told the lake in place of her lord.

Behind her, a man cleared his throat. "Captain?"

Brea recognized Farnick's gruff voice. He had been her lieutenant since the Goblinblood Wars, where he lost an ear saving her life. Older than her by two score and half her height, Farnick was the only dwarf in her squadron and likely her only friend.

"He'll be pleased, sir." His round face drew down despite his words, and the ruddy stubble coating his jaw only darkened his expression. In spite of his heritage, Farnick kept his head and face shaved. Those whiskers were a testament to their hard march to Lake Encarthan.

"He is never pleased," she said.

Farnick grunted. "We're fortunate then, to focus on battle and damned the results. We'll be receiving his ire either way."

A slow smile fought its way to her lips. "How are the troops?"

For Deagan Callimedes, no god is above the High Prophet.

"Soltez was wounded, bucked from his horse by his own idiocy. He'll live. The rest are uninjured and gathering a pyre."

"Morale?" she asked.

He hesitated and shifted the helm he carried from one arm to the other. "As well as can be expected, sir. We've never run down peasants before, think they're not taking well to the idea."

"They're not alone." She pulled herself to her feet and stood before him, drenched and drained of will. They exchanged a look that said they understood one another as only those who have spilled blood together might. "I will speak to Lord Callimedes."

Farnick grunted again. "No, then I doubt he'll be pleased."

Brea nodded. Remaining in her soaked doublet and riding boots, she strode from the water toward her squadron, toward the silent dead. She did not witness the final magic fade from her blackjacket, nor hear the sorrowful sigh of its passing, but in her bones she felt it die among the waves.

∗ ∗ ∗

They arrived to silence, not fanfare. The procession of her bedraggled squadron was nothing for the citizens of Deagan's Hold to celebrate, for the dark armor of the Mercenary League heralded only death. Above them, the guards manning the battlements nodded in greeting. They, too, knew the cold will and hot lash her lord favored. Only the scent of baker's morning bread comforted Brea as she led her soldiers home.

"I'll handle the squadron," Farnick told her as they rode. He had gathered her discarded armor, dried it by the pyre, and strapped it securely to Brea's horse. Though the thought of wearing the blackjacket again didn't make her happy, she knew it was for the best.

Deagan would not tolerate such a disregard for his gifts.

"Have Etrim see to the horses," she said. "She has a way with them."

"Aye. The lass will make a fine trooper one day."

Brea unhooked her belt pouch and tossed it at Farnick. "Have both the soldiers and horses fed well tonight."

He weighed the pouch in his hand, then reached in to withdraw a single coin. It was perfectly round and stamped on the front with the profile of their lord.

"He looks nicer in gold," Farnick said. "Softer, almost motherly, aye?"

She laughed, but said nothing in response. He slipped the coin in the bag and stuck it under his breastplate.

"I swear I'll only buy a bit of ale, sir," he said. "For the horses, of course."

They rode the rest of the way in companionable quiet, only the clack of horseshoes sounding over the cobblestone street. When they neared the barracks, Brea split from her squadron and turned toward her lord's keep. She was dirty with grime, her doublet still damp and smelling of mildew. Her boots left muddy footprints on priceless rugs as she walked, uncontested, to Deagan's office.

He did not look up from his desk as she entered, but said, "Is it done?"

A strange sadness colored his voice. He stared intently at the stack of papers before him, but Brea noted a rim of red around his eyes.

"It is, my lord," she said.

His head lifted as she spoke, and for a moment an emotion she could not name flickered across his expression. Then a mask smoothed over his face, cold and calm and always assured.

"Brea," he said on a sigh. "Tell me."

She stood stock straight as she gave her report. "The brigands were found and dispatched. They were but ragged men and women, a few families. The wagon taken from your caravan has been returned, but its cargo is rotten. Food, my lord. They stole only food."

"Only food." He rose from his desk. "It is food that feeds my citizens; its sale pays my soldiers. Only food bought you that armor. Only food keeps my hold profitable."

She remained motionless as he approached. He touched her shoulder briefly and inspected his hand. The white glove showed wet and dirty fingertips. His mouth formed a hard line, which only made his beauty more severe.

"What would you suggest, Captain?" he asked. "That I let thieves pillage freely if they are hungry? Let them take what is rightfully mine out of pity?"

"They didn't need to die."

He raised a single dark brow. "I did not kill them, soldier. You did."

Brea closed her eyes, her chin dropping. The screams of the brigands echoed through her mind. They would not suffer the loss of their goods, spoiled or not, nor would they be taken under arrest. A man had shouted that the dungeons were a worse death than the sword. His face was clear in Brea's memory, thinned by starvation yet too stubborn to die. It was he who had drawn the first blade, incited his fellows, but it was her longsword that sank deep in his chest.

"We were under orders," she said to the floor.

"And if you do not like my orders, then violate your contract and leave."

Her heart lurched, her head rising to meet his pale gaze. No love lay in his eyes now, no indication that he had ever looked upon her with more than disdain. Then, he sighed and rested his hands on either side of her face.

"Brea," he whispered as his expression relaxed, the hard planes of his face softening into the features of the man she knew, not the Prophet she served.

"My lord?"

He wiped the soot and blood from her cheeks, ruining his gloves. "You are the best of my Blackjackets. My most loyal soldier."

Instinctively, she tilted into his touch. These were the moments she craved, the rare times when he reminded her of why she loved him. She said nothing, too afraid a word from her might freeze his sudden warmth.

"I shouldn't tolerate your insolence," he said without rancor. "But you are my weakness, you do know that? Your heart will be my undoing."

He kissed her slow, tasting of rich wine and promises he could not keep. She lost herself for a moment, forgot the blood staining her fingernails and the sweat of battle still clinging to her. When he pushed her gently away, she was unsurprised. He went to his desk again and opened a drawer. From it he lifted a gorget, black as her breastplate but too large for her by half. When he placed it around her neck and whispered a word, the armor shrank. It fit snugly against her skin.

"For you," he said. "To keep you safe when you leave in the morning for the Five Kings Mountains."

Brea caressed the sleek steel of the gorget, her brow furrowing. "My squadron's only just returned."

"And they should have a good night's rest before setting out at dawn." He moved away from her, placed his hands on his desk's marble top, and leaned over his papers once more. "There have been reports of goblin settlements. The Five Kings are too close to my territory for us to sit idly and do nothing. My caravans may be at risk."

"Of course, my lord, but there've been no instances of goblins living near our borders for years."

Deagan stared at her. The man disappeared, leaving only the Prophet in his white robes. "I suggest you clean up, sleep, and do not test my generosity again this day."

He dismissed her with a wave, and Brea wandered out of his keep. It was not her place to question, she knew, but she could taste blackberry wine on her tongue and feel the heat of his hands against her skin. She reached for the gorget and unclasped it. It fell open in her palms, still sized perfectly to her, and clean, so much cleaner than the hands that cradled it.

She walked toward the barracks, toward her troopers and the news that there would not be time to recover. They would march at dawn, and she would discover if this new gorget was another way for her lord to show his true affections for her—or if it was little more than a slave's collar.

Coming Next Week: Love and betrayal in Chapter Two of Stephanie Lorée's "Armored."

Stephanie Lorée is an author whose short stories have appeared in various anthologies and online publications, and in 2013, she was a finalist for Writers of the Future. She also works as a freelance editor. Visit her website at stephaniemloree.com.

Illustration by Dion Harris.

Iron Gods Resource Roundup

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Many of you have already got your hands on Pathfinder Adventure Path #85: "The Fires of Creation," the first volume of the Iron Gods Adventure Path. Dedicated readers, eager fans, and other messageboard fanatics (you know who you are) have been clamoring for us to do something more with Numeria since the nation first appeared in the Campaign Setting, but adding in laser guns and robots isn't something you do without a considerable amount of preparation. So, to support the Iron Gods Adventure Path we went all out with a number of releases intended to fully flesh out the campaign and provide fun and interesting options for players and GMs alike.

While you wait for the next volume—Pathfinder Adventure Path #86: "Lords of Rust"—check out the wealth of resources we've provided to help you enjoy the Iron Gods Adventure Path.

Illustration by Lucio Parrillo

The first thing we needed were rules for all the technological wonders found in Numeria, so we came up with Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Technology Guide. This 64-page book not only presents dozens of examples of high-tech equipment, but it also provides new feats, spells, archetypes, and even a prestige class suited to mastering Numeria's technological wonders. We didn't want to make it so that people had to buy this book to run the Iron Gods Adventure Path, so we made sure to include all the rules from the Technology Guide in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Resource Document (aka PRD). Our own resident robot recently remodeled the PRD to not only include this resource, but to also spiff up the place a bit. And it looks great! Have you seen it? Why not? Go, now. Go check it out.

Now that the rules were covered, we knew we'd need a good gazetteer of Numeria to allow GMs to really flesh out that part of Golarion. Knowing that there wouldn't be enough space in the back matter of the Adventure Path to provide all this information, we got to work on Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Numeria, Land of Fallen Stars. This 64-page book talks about the nation's history, goes into detail about its settlements and people, provides hazards to watch out for while exploring the land, and outlines some of the most compelling adventuring sites and hooks to keep a group playing in Numeria for years.

We couldn't let the GMs have all the fun, so we knew we needed some exciting options for characters too. Instead of just doing one Player Companion to support the Iron Gods Adventure Path, we spread it out over two books. Pathfinder Player Companion: People of the River talks about the multitudes of people that live along the Sellen River, the largest river system in Avistan that reaches all the way up through Numeria. This Player Companion also include the campaign traits for players eager to jump into an Iron Gods campaign.

Also providing support for players hoping to play a stranger race in an Iron Gods campaign, Pathfinder Player Companion: People of the Stars provides character options for some of the most popular aliens in the Campaign Setting, new ways to incorporate astronomy into your games, and dozens of new traits, feats, gear, and other new mechanics all steeped in some Distant Worlds flavoring.

Finally, as with every Adventure Path, we also put out the free to download Iron Gods Player's Guide that provides advice and suggestions about making characters that fit the themes of the Iron Gods Adventure Path and excel at the challenges presented in the campaign.

Players and GMs running an Iron Gods campaign would also do well to check the messageboards to see all the fan-made goodies and shared advice from dozens of on-going campaigns. I hope everyone has as much fun playing in this Adventure Path as we've had working on all this material. Charge your batteries and strap on your gear. Let's go to Numeria!

Adam Daigle
Developer