ToyFair (Part 2)

Friday, February 27, 2015

I've been in the office only 5 days since returning from my ToyFair trip, but that time has gone by like a flash. When I think back to my time at ToyFair, it seems like only yesterday that I was checking out the latest action figures, playsets, statues, and other cool stuff on display. And I'm especially pleased that this year, we had a nice display of Pathfinder items to show off at the show, as well.

Last Friday, I showed off a few of my personal camera-phone photos of upcoming Pathfinder Battles figures from our friends and partners at WizKids. WizKids had plenty of Pathfinder on display, from the first three Iconic Heroes sets to about a third of June's Dungeons Deep set.

Here are a few more shots from their booth. These are production-run versions of these figures, so expect the finals to look pretty much exactly like this.

Let's start by focusing on a few shots of figures from the Iconic Heroes boxed sets.

This is Harsk, Dwarf Ranger from Iconic Heroes Set #2. Check out his eye for a good sense of the level of detail WizKids is going to to make sure these sets are of the finest quality possible. It took all of my willpower not to simply walk away with this figure.

The phone I was using focused a bit strangely in these photos, but I wanted to include them anyway for historical reasons. Our very first WizKids release, Beginner Box Heroes featured a Kyra figure that blew away the expectations of collectors (and the Paizo staff) with the quality of design work, in particular on Kyra's very detailed cloak. Here's the new version, and I think the detail here is even more impressive. Kyra, Human Cleric also appears in Iconic Heroes Set #2.

Next up is Amiri, Human Barbarian. WizKids did an amazing job on all of the little details on this figure, and she looks fantastic. I'm also quite partial to Amiri because, while I was at ToyFair, the first issue of the new Pathfinder Origins comic series released in comic shops, and Amiri is the special guest star. I wrote Pathfinder Origins #1, and hope you guys have had a chance to check it out. Our favorite barbarian more than accounts for herself, that's for sure! Amiri is also in Iconic Heroes Set #2.

Here we have another denizen of Iconic Heroes Set #2, Ezren, Human Wizard. Great, great detail work on this figure.

Let's move on to Iconic Heroes Set #3, with a look at Damiel, Elf Alchemist. I confess this is not the sharpest photo in the world, but it gives a good sense of the level of amazing detail WizKids is putting into these figures. I can't wait to add Damiel to my personal collection.

Next up is Balazar, Gnome Summoner. For such a cute little guy, his miniature packs a ton of awesome details. Balazar is included in Iconic Heroes Set #3.

Balazar the summoner is lost without his eidolon, Padrig. Here he is from front to back. Padrig comes in Iconic Heroes Set #3.

Let's move on to Dungeons Deep, which is rapidly shaping up to be one of my favorite sets in the line, with tons of high-utility figures. One of my favorites is the Giant Crawling Hand, a Medium undead monstrosity just waiting to slide some (rotting) skin with your player characters. I'm thrilled that the Hand is a common figure, as I can't wait to give my player characters a "round of applause" for their tireless heroism.

Every GM needs a great Griffon figure, and this set gave me the perfect opportunity to slip one into Pathfinder Battles. The Griffon is a Large, uncommon figure.

Last up this week is the Veiled Master, a variant aboleth that first appeared in my Paizo-staff "Kings of Absalom" in-office campaign, where they were revealed to have been heavily involved in the last days and ultimate fall of the ancient Empire of Azlant. They subsequently appeared in the Inner Sea Bestiary, and you can expect to see them again in the not too distant future. The Veiled Master looks fantastic in plastic. It's a Large, rare figure with tons of cool details.

And that's it for this week, and for my storehouse of ToyFair images. Check back in this space next week for more cool reveals for upcoming Pathfinder Battles releases!

Erik Mona
Publisher

Community Card Creator and Errata Decks

Tuesday, February 25, 2015

Paizo and DriveThruCards have been cooking up a couple of delicacies for the Adventure Card Game connoisseur. Steve Wieck of DriveThruCards has details below!

Card Creator

Paizo and DriveThruCards are delighted to announce their partnership and today's release of the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game Community Card Creator. That's quite a mouthful isn't it? Even making it an acronym, PACGCCC, isn't much better. Let's call it the Card Creator.

So what is the Card Creator? It's a web application at DriveThruCards that lets you create, print, and share your own cards ideas for PACG. You can check it out here!

The Card Creator allows you to:

• Create your own cards
• Purchase your created cards in print for $0.50/card.
• Keep your card private.
• List your card publicly on DriveThruCards, allowing other PACG fans to see your card, comment on it, and purchase it.

Using the creator is easy. Just choose your card type, and then upload some card art.

We've worked with Fiery Dragon Productions and Fat Goblin Games to make an array of stock art available to you as a micro-license for $0.40. You can also upload your own art or public domain art. Then create your card text and attributes before finalizing the card.

We've gone to Herculean effort to match the card backs as closely as possible to the Skull & Shackles cards, so that cards you create and print can be shuffled in seamlessly with your existing cards. To avoid any confusion, though, all community created cards are clearly indicated as such. The traditional expansion icon in the upper left corner of the card is replaced with a Community Created Card logo.

This clearly differentiates the official cards designed by Mike Selinker and the card game team from the unofficial cards designed by the community. Speaking of Mike Selinker, now might be a great time to review Mike's post that offers a guidelines on creating PACG cards.

Then, please come and give the card creator a try or check out the cards the community is already creating with this new tool!

Errata Decks

Today we're also releasing errata decks on DriveThruCards for any PACG fan who wants to play with fully corrected Rise of the Runelords cards. There are a few different errata decks, and you'll want to check the printing of your cards to know which errata deck is for you. The first Runelords printing was manufactured in China and the second was done in the USA. The card backs produced by each printer vary a bit in color, so to have errata cards most closely match your existing cards, you should get the errata decks customized for your printing. Not sure if you have a first printing or second printing? Check the fine print on the back of your box. The first printing will read, "Printed in China" and the second will say, "Printed in the USA."

Naturally, there are more errata cards for the first printing, as many cards were corrected in the second printing. The first printing errata cards are available in three separate decks or as one bundle of all the cards. The second printing errata cards come all in one deck.

• First Printing Bundle, Base Set–Adventure Deck 6
• First Printing Base Set Box (RotR), Adventure Deck 1, Add-On Deck
• First Printing Adventure Decks 2–6
• First Printing Blessings of the Gods only
• Second Printing Bundle, Base Set–Adventure Deck 6

Tanis would like to add that the Adventure Card Guild cards created exclusively for the Season of the Shackles will soon be uploaded to the Card Creator, so you can play your way through that story without proxies.

We hope you enjoy using the Card Creator and updating your Rise of the Runelords collection with the Errata Decks!

Steve Wieck
DriveThruCards

Diamond in the Rough

by Evey Brett

Chapter Two: The Pirate Den

At sunset, Anandi returned to the captain's villa where a few silver coins to the doorkeeper saw him inside. The party had already begun, made lively by the musicians and acrobats in the ballroom. The human man seated in the chair covered in velvet and gold filigree was obviously the captain. A thick brown beard trailed down his chest, resting lightly on the blue brocade coat studded with golden buttons and trim. The jeweled goblet in his hand was already filled with wine and a servant stood by with a bottle at the ready.

A line of admirers had formed to vie for his attention. Anandi sighed. It was going to be a long night before he had a chance to get near enough to introduce himself, let alone arrange for a meeting. Annoyed, he scanned the room, looking for an alternative opportunity.

Ravi was easy to spot, and he wasn't the only prostitute working the room. At least a dozen women were there in tight, low-cut dresses. Two other pretty young men flirted with one guest after another.

Yet Ravi was different. He clung to the men, letting them pour wine down his throat in exchange for a kiss. Twice, one of the men drew him off into a secluded corner from which they emerged flushed and disheveled. The drunker Ravi got, the worse the men treated him.

I'd never let my students be so ill-used. Never.

"Enjoying yourself?"

Anandi turned, surprised to see the captain at his side. "Yes, sir. I am. I appreciate your generosity."

"Good." He sipped his wine. "I've been told you wanted to speak with me."

"On behalf of a friend, yes. I'm told you're the man to see if I want a good selection of magical items."

"Aye, that's true." He eyed Anandi. "Why don't you come back tomorrow afternoon and we'll have a bit of a chat about just what you're looking for?"

"I will. Thank you."

Laughter came from the corner, where a shirtless Ravi was on his hands and knees lapping up a puddle of spilled wine. Anandi's stomach curdled, but the captain laughed. "Fine boy, isn't he? My favorite."

"Indeed," Anandi said, and excused himself before his anger caused him to say something he'd regret.

∗ ∗ ∗

Anandi took a room at the dilapidated museum that had been refitted to serve as an inn, paying extra to have the space to himself. He barred the door and kept a knife under his pillow, trusting neither the proprietor nor his customers. The wine and delicacies from the party rested sourly in his stomach.

The image of Ravi, kneeling on the floor and grinning like a dog, wouldn't leave his head. The young man was starved for affection, as many addicts were. Anandi had seen enough of them to know the pain they were desperate to cover up, but he'd never had much luck finding a way to help them.

Better he stays here, where he belongs.

The echoes of drunken carousing meant a fitful sleep punctured by images of Ravi dying, wasting away in pesh-induced dreams, knifed, or meeting some other equally brutal end. He couldn't see any better options at the Conservatory; Ravi was ignorant, unkempt, and far too wild to fit in.

It doesn't matter. I just need him for information. A courtesan doesn't love anyone, especially another courtesan. The love he held in reserve for Asa had hardened him to anyone else's attentions, anyway.

By the time Anandi staggered out of bed in the late morning, he'd firmly convinced himself that it was absolutely impossible to take Ravi back to the Conservatory.

No matter how much he wanted to.

∗ ∗ ∗

Ravi lives his life in the moment.

"Back for more?" the pirate asked as Anandi approached the villa.

"Captain asked to meet with me this afternoon," Anandi replied.

"Cap's busy for a bit. He said to tell you to wait."

"Ravi around, then?" He scanned the villa and grounds, but Ravi was nowhere in sight.

"Boy's... indisposed."

From the derisive way the woman spoke, he guessed Ravi was either high or sleeping off wine sickness. He wasn't surprised after everything that had happened the night before, but he was concerned. "Perhaps I could take a look at him. I've a knack for healing."

"Ain't a good idea, fancy man. Best to leave him be. There're a few other boys hereabouts. Might be one of them could do you just as well."

Anandi slipped off the ruby-and-gold ring one of his patrons had given him for protection. "I'm afraid Ravi's quite captured my interest. I'd like to see him." He held out the ring.

The pirate fitted it to her finger then admired the way it glinted in the sunlight. "He's in the little room next to the captain's, which is the one with that balcony. Cap lets Ravi sleep it off there, sometimes."

Anandi hurried inside, ignoring the catcalls and snide comments from the crew scattered throughout the interior. He found the room easily enough, but just as he'd feared, it reeked with sickness. Neither was it particularly habitable. The crumbling plaster walls were speckled with mold, and the only furniture was a rotting bed, a three-legged night table propped against the wall and a splintering chair. The occasional squeak and rustle of tiny clawed feet hinted at other occupants that, to Anandi's relief, stayed out of sight.

Ravi was splayed on the bed, pale and unconscious. The worn blanket barely covered his nakedness, leaving numerous welts and bruises visible. Anandi laid a hand against his forehead and frowned at the heat emanating from the young half-elf's body.

Ravi opened his eyes at the touch. "I need some pesh. I need..."

"You need something to settle your stomach." He opened the door and peered about. Finding a halfling dressed as a servant, he tossed her a coin and she ran off to fetch some hot water and broth. When she brought them, he dug through his pockets for one of his packets of herbs and dropped them in the mug of hot water. "Drink this."

Ravi wrinkled his nose. "It smells vile."

"So do you. Drink it anyway." Anandi helped Ravi sit up enough to swallow the contents a few sips at a time.

When Ravi lay back down, he said, "Hey. There's only one of you now."

"Good."

"You going to pay me for my time?"

"Shut up and eat."

Ravi gave him a pout, but he let Anandi spoon-feed him the broth. "Why you being so nice?"

"You aren't used to it, are you?" Inwardly, he was glad. It would make his job that much easier.

"That ain't true. I got a nice room and all sorts of pretties from my friends."

"But I'm not asking for anything in return."

Ravi was silent as he finished the rest of the broth. "You're an odd one, fancy man."

There was a sharp knock. Anandi turned in time to see Captain Maldak open the door. "How's he doing?"

Anandi was in no mood to be civil. "As well as can be expected after a night of carousing."

The captain shrugged. "He's used to it."

"Your crew was rough with him last night." He drew the blanket back just enough to expose the welts and bruises along Ravi's back.

"They usually are. Not much I can do. Boy makes his own choices. Here, Ravi." He tossed a small bottle onto the mattress. Ravi pounced on it and tore at the cork with his teeth. Then he stuck the bottle between his lips and drank greedily.

The stink of sour cactus milk turned Anandi's stomach, but he resisted the temptation to snatch the bottle away. Now wasn't the time to break him of the habit, not when it was likely one of his few pleasures.

Sighing happily, Ravi nuzzled the pillows. Within a few minutes, the tension left his body, and he wore a glazed, vacant expression.

"That's a good boy." The captain strode over and patted Ravi's cheek. "He'll be all right by tonight. You'll see," he said to Anandi.

Anandi hoped he wouldn't be here long enough for that. Seeing Ravi's poor treatment sickened him.

"Share a drink with me, fancy man. Looks like you could use one."

Reluctant as he was to leave Ravi, the opportunity was too good to pass up. Anandi followed the captain next door. The room was as gaudy as Anandi would have expected for a wealthy captain's lodgings. The silken bedclothes were piled high with pillows. The desk and chairs were covered in gilt, as was the bed. Anger filled him again that Ravi was treated poorly when the captain lived so well.

The captain gestured to a small table. "Sit." He picked up a decanter and two glasses and joined Anandi. As he poured, he said, "Now, suppose you tell me your real interest in prowling around my villa."

"As I told your guard, I'm in the market for an item for a certain wizard friend of mine." He waited until the captain drank before taking a sip of the wine. Delicious.

"Magic trinkets and the sort? My hold's full of them. I might be willing to let you have one or two, for the right price."

"You're generous, sir, but the item I seek wouldn't be kept so casually in a ship's hold. It's far too dangerous should it fall into the wrong hands."

The captain's face showed nothing. "And there's some reason you think I have this... item with me?"

"Rumors. That's all. My patron sent me to find out."

"What, exactly, are you looking for?"

"Just a little thing, really. A small brass bottle engraved with sigils of binding and capped with a tiger-headed stopper."

The captain laughed and slapped the table so hard the glasses jumped. "You take me for a fool. The Bottle of the Bound has been lost for centuries. And even if I did find it, what use would it be to me? I don't know the word to release the fiendish army within it, let alone the one to put it back."

No one did, although it was rumored the bottle could be opened and the army freed without the proper words. The consequences if that happened would be disastrous, which was likely why the Maurya-Rahm wanted the bottle in safekeeping.

"I assure you, sir, that bottle is not to be found on my ship nor anywhere in this villa."

Anandi believed him. No one would keep such a valuable item on a ship prone to attack and storms. But that doesn't mean he doesn't know where it's at. There were so many ruins on Veedesha it would be easy to hide such a small thing as a bottle and almost impossible to find it without aid. "I appreciate your candor, Captain. And I would be interested in looking at some of your other treasures."

"Of course. This way."

They spent an hour sorting through the captain's trove. Anandi picked out and paid for a few knickknacks, items of little interest to the Maurya-Rahm. In the end, he expressed his disappointment and took his leave on what, he hoped, were good terms.

When he went back to Ravi, the half-elf had the glazed expression of someone who'd just had a most pleasant dream. "Hey, fancy man. Care to join me?" He threw back the covers.

Anandi stared pointedly at the floor. "No. I've got business to attend to." Anything to get out of this festering stinkhole.

"Like finding that bottle?"

Fixing his gaze on Ravi's face—only his face—Anandi asked, "What bottle?"

Ravi reached under the bed for his clothes. "I ain't stupid. That old bottle. The one Cap probably told you he didn't have. I'll show you where it's at, for a price."

"Which is?" Anandi held out a hand to steady the half-elf, who teetered as he dressed.

The sly smile hinted at something Anandi knew all too well. "Show you when we get there."

Coming Next Week: Treacherous shores in Chapter Three of Evey Brett's "Diamond in the Rough."

Evey Brett is the author of numerous novels and short stories. She holds a Master's degree in writing, and is a graduate of the Clarion Writers' Workshop, the Lambda Literary Retreat for Emerging LGBT Voices, and Taos Toolbox. Find her online here.

Illustration by Mike Burns.

Encounters in the Darklands

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Voting for Round 4 has begun! You can now go check out the RPG Superstar Top 8's entries and vote for your favorites. This round will determine our Top 4, who will submit their own adventure pitches for the final round. The ultimate winner and RPG Superstar will be determined out of these Top 4, who will earn a contract to write their own adventure for our Pathfinder Modules line!

As with every round this year, we set the bar just a little higher with the Round 4 requirements. The contestants had to manage to provide an encounter with our tightest word count restrictions ever, along with using a monster from a previous round and adding a trap, and then setting the whole thing in Nar-Voth. They also had to produce their second map for the contest, placing an additional set of design requirements into the same deadline as their writing. All the contestants did a great job creating interesting and creative encounters that fit the bill, and now it's up to the community to decide who did it the best!

The contestants that move on to the last round have just one more design challenge to face, so I encourage everyone to take the time to look at their entries this round and decide who you think will write the best adventure to enter the canon of Golarion. To help make that as close to an apples-to-apples comparison as possible, I'll preview a little of the rules for the upcoming last round:

The contestants' final challenge will be to create pitches for an adventure set in Nar-Voth for 5th level characters. This will allow the Final 4 to get the greatest benefit of the research and design they've already done for the last 2 rounds, freeing them to take their time and focus on their writing.

Also, we are very excited to announce that some of our Top 8 will be featured in a Know Direction podcast this weekend! Be sure to mark your calendar for this Saturday, February 28, at 5:30 PM Pacific time.

The community is a huge part of what makes this contest such a big success and we thank you! Go ahead and vote and help us determine our next RPG Superstar!

Vote now!

Owen K. C. Stephens
Developer and RPG Superstar Host

PS: Our regularly scheduled Adventure Card Game blog will be up tomorrow afternoon, following our weekly Web Fiction!

Gen Con 2015 News and Official Call for Volunteers!

Monday, February 23, 2015

I was advised last year that we needed to plan to make Gen Con 2014 the biggest and best yet. And it certainly was! We scheduled 1,500 tables of Pathfinder Society during the convention. We showed the world our Kid's Beginner & Advanced Tracks, as well as the Pathfinder Beginner Box Introductions, Parts 1 and 2. We debuted the Silverhex Chronicles Quests. We hosted more than 20 seminars. And we launched the Pathfinder Society Adventure Card Guild! Gen Con was definitely a success and Paizo's biggest showing in history. But we can make it bigger and better this year!

Paizo will once again be a cosponsor at this year's show. What does that mean for Pathfinder Society? It means we return to the Sagamore Ballroom and we get the entire room! We increase our playspace size, scheduling 180 tables per slot. We are moving the Pathfinder Adventure Card Guild into the Sagamore Ballroom and assigning 20 tables that will be utilized just for Pathfinder Adventure Card Game play. At Gen Con 2015, we're also debuting the Adventure Card Guild Open, a tournament play option using tables of four players and pre-set scenarios with no randomized elements; Tanis will share more about this even in an upcoming blog. In addition, Pathfinder Adventure Card Game demos will be run during every hour that the dealer hall is open.

Additionally, we have one of the 7 rooms that were used for Pathfinder Society in 2013. It will be used exclusively for more than 20 Paizo seminars.

We are planning to schedule 17 different scenarios, four Gen Con Specials, 2 modules, We Be Goblins! and We Be Goblins Too!, and six new quests that utilize the new Occult Adventures hardcover throughout the course of the convention.

Specific Scenarios at Gen Con 2015

Tier 1-2

• Pathfinder Society Scenario #5-08: The Confirmation
• Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-10: The Wounded Wisp

Tier 1-5

• Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-12: Scions of the Sky Key part I: On Sharrowsmith's Trail
• Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-14: Scions of the Sky Key part II: Kaava Quarry
• Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-16: Scions of the Sky Key part III: The Golden Guardian
• Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-18: From Under Ice
• Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-22: Title to be announced at a later date
• Pathfinder Society Scenario #7-01: Title to be announced at a later date

Tier 3-7

• Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-11: The Slave Master's Mirror
• Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-19: Test of Tar Kuata
• Pathfinder Society Scenario #7-02: Title to be announced at a later date

Tier 5-9

• Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-07: Valley of the Veiled Flame
• Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-21: Tapestry's Toil
• Pathfinder Society Scenario #7-03: Title to be announced at a later date

Tier 7-11

• Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-13: Of Kirin and Kraken
• Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-20: Returned to the Sky
• Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-23: Title to be announced at a later date

All Tiers and Specials

• A Tier 1-11 multi-table interactive Special "Siege of Serpents" on Thursday night
• A second Tier 1-11 multi-table interactive Special in which the Society reassembles and activates the Sky Key (Friday night)
• A bonus Special "True Dragons of Absalom," in which the players portray unlikely allies of the Pathfinder Society using unique pregenerated kobold characters (Saturday night)
• The "Serpents Rise" Special in which the PCs are agents of the Aspis Consortium bent on sabotaging the Pathfinder Society. Special pregenerated characters are provided for this event on Sunday morning.

Note: After Gen Con, the "Serpents Rise" pregenerated event will become available to all 4-and 5-Star GMs to run as exclusives in their local areas. Additionally, the "True Dragons of Absalom" special will become available to all 5-Star GMs to run as exclusive events in their local areas.

Beginner Box and Kid's Track

We have two different Beginner Box Introductions offerings again this year. During 7 slots at Gen Con, we are setting aside 5 tables for these Beginner Box Introduction events. Both parts are scheduled with new players in mind. Beginner Box Introductions, Part 1 allows for the first 45—60 minutes to be an exploration of the contents of the Pathfinder RPG Beginner Box, explaining the rules, and reviewing the pregenerated characters. The final hours of each slot involve playing through the 4 one-hour adventures. In Beginner Box Introductions, Part 2, the GM will assist players in advancing their character to third level. The Beginner Box Transitions, Player Pack, and GM Kit will be reviewed. Once those 3 free documents have been briefly covered, we will be offering up five, one-hour adventures as time permits. Much like the 4 adventures in part one, these utilize only the Beginner Box rules.

For the Pathfinder's Kids' Track, we will be setting aside 5 tables at 7 slots during the convention. We are focusing on players aged 6—12 and will use the Pathfinder RPG Beginner Box for this as well. The Kids' Track is divided into 2 parts: the Beginner Track and the Advanced Track. Each Kid's Beginner Track slot will be 2 hours long, and each player will receive a check-off card. The first hour of each of the 7 Kids' Beginner Track sessions teaches roleplay and rules, and reviews the pregenerated characters found in the Pathfinder RPG Beginner Box. During the second hour, one of the 4 one-hour adventures used during the Beginner Box Bash will be played.

For the Kids' Advanced Track, we are focusing on children who participated in last year's Kids' Beginner Track, at a local Kids' Beginner Track session near their home, or for older children that have prior experience with Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. The GM at each of the two-hour slots will help the children level their chosen character to third level. After leveling is complete, the GM will run one of 5 new adventures designed using the Beginner Box rules.

We will be running each of the 9 different, Beginner Box adventures multiple times throughout the convention to allow flexible scheduling for children and parents. We will be restricting tables to four children players and are requiring a parent or guardian be present with their child (or multiple children if they have two or more interested in participating) for the entire 2 hours. The parent or guardian will assist the child when needed. But, we want to make this a good and memorable experience for the kids that attend Gen Con, who often find little they can participate in, especially with others their own age. We will be scheduling 20, two-hour tables per day on Thursday through Saturday, and 10, two-hour tables on Sunday, for the Kids' Track, divided between the Beginner and Advanced Tracks.

If a child plays all 4 different adventures in the Beginner's Track, he will be able to present his check-off card to the prize table and receive a special certificate that celebrates his accomplishments. If a child plays all 5 different adventures in the Advanced Track, she will be able to present her check-off card to the prize table and receive a second, different special certificate. Both certificates can be used for the child's new Pathfinder Society character to advance from the Beginner Box to the full Core Rulebook rules and participate in Pathfinder Society Organized Play. We may also have other give-aways or special prizes, such as dice and miniatures, similar to last year. I will be very picky when choosing volunteer GMs for the Kids' Track. I prefer to have school teachers and other professionals with experience dealing with children. I will consider GMs who are parents even if they do not deal with children regularly in their profession. If you are volunteering to GM the Kids' Track, please make sure to include all of your credentials. Also, since these are scheduled as two-hour blocks, a GM will be required to run 2 Kids' Track slots back to back in a five-hour block to count as 1 slot of credit toward GM rewards.

We will also be running a new set of Pathfinder Quests, based around the upcoming Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Occult Adventures hardcover, inside the Sagamore Ballroom, and I do have a few volunteer spots of five-hour blocks for any GM interested in running those for players as they show up and fill the quests tables.

Volunteering for Gen Con 2015

Now, let's talk about the GMs and volunteers we need to pull all of the above off and make it the biggest and best Gen Con ever.

I need a minimum of 375 volunteer GMs for Pathfinder Society games, Beginner Box Introductions, Kids' Track events, Pathfinder Quests, Pathfinder Adventure Card Guild scenarios, and Adventure Card Game demos. I'll continue taking volunteer GMs until the slots are filled, at which point I will create a waiting list in the event that a scheduled GM has to cancel their Gen Con trip for whatever reason.

I also need a few HQ Volunteer Assistants for each slot of the show. These folks will not GM during their volunteer slots, but will instead help the HQ Lead Volunteers and I run Pathfinder Society HQ, including marshalling, collecting tickets, distributing GM packs, entering tracking sheets into the database, and will be our go-to guys and gals for all things Pathfinder Society. Keep in mind these are very limited and likely to fill up in the first hour after the blog goes live.

Finally, I need volunteers who have experience with the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, to run demos in the Dealer Hall next to Paizo's booth, as well as assist Card Game OP tables in the Sagamore Ballroom, from 8:00 AM until midnight Thursday through Saturday, and from 9:00 AM until 2:00 PM on Sunday. You can volunteer to work 1 or 2 five-hour blocks each day from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM (Sunday ends at 4:00 PM) in the Dealer Hall. Volunteering for any demo time will count toward your GM reward credit below, but you still must have a minimum of 7 five-hour sessions to qualify for a hotel room as a Tier 2 volunteer.

Below you will find the reward structure for volunteering at Gen Con 2015. Keep in mind that you're volunteering for slots, not a specific event. Those that are able to spice up their event by adding 3-D terrain, props that stand out and the like, will be given first consideration for specific events. I will let you know the slots and scenarios you have been assigned as soon as possible. You may designate what tier scenarios you wish to GM but this is not guaranteed to be filled. I will do the best I can to accommodate your requests. My target date to have all GMs their assigned schedules is April 3. This should allow you plenty of time to plan a schedule, before the May event registration, with your friends and family who are also attending Gen Con 2015. Please let me know via email which days you will be at the convention and how many slots you are volunteering for at Gen Con 2015.

Volunteer Reward Tiers

Tier 1 Volunteers
Tier 1 GM volunteers are invaluable to making the show a success. Tier 1 GMs must select and volunteer for a MINIMUM of 8 slots. Please do not volunteer for Tier 1 if you have any doubts that you won't be able to attend the show. Tier 1 GMs receive:

• A FREE 4-Day Gen Con 2015 Badge
• A FREE 1/4 of a hotel room in the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown Hotel
• A $10 per slot voucher for paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after
• A FREE copy of Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Occult Adventures to be picked up at the convention
• 4 FREE limited edition purple goblin Pathfinder Society Volunteer T-Shirts (if not previously received)
• A special Pathfinder Society boon useable for either the Adventure Card Guild or Roleplaying Guild

Tier 2 Volunteers
Tier 2 GMs must volunteer for a MINIMUM of 7 slots. Tier 2 GMs receive:

• A FREE 4-Day Gen Con 2015 Badge
• A FREE 1/4 of a hotel room in the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown Hotel
• A $10 per slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after
• A FREE copy of Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Occult Adventures to be picked up at the convention
• 4 FREE limited edition purple goblin Pathfinder Society Volunteer T-Shirts (if not previously received)
• A special Pathfinder Society boon useable for either the Adventure Card Guild or Roleplaying Guild

Tier 3 Volunteers
While the rewards for volunteering for this tier are smaller, the majority of my volunteers will likely come from Tier 3. Tier 3 GMs must volunteer for a MINIMUM of 6 slots. Tier 3 GMs receive:

• A FREE 4-Day Gen Con 2015 Badge
• A $10 per slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after
• A FREE copy of Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Occult Adventures to be picked up at the convention
• 4 FREE limited edition purple goblin Pathfinder Society Volunteer T-Shirts (if not previously received)
• A special Pathfinder Society boon useable for either the Adventure Card Guild or Roleplaying Guild

Tier 4 Volunteers
Tier 4 GMs must volunteer for a MINIMUM of 5 slots. Tier 4 GMs receive:

• A FREE 4-Day Gen Con 2015 Badge
• A $10 per slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after
• 4 FREE limited edition purple goblin Pathfinder Society Volunteer T-Shirts (if not previously received)
• A special Pathfinder Society boon useable for either the Adventure Card Guild or Roleplaying Guild

Tier 5 GM Volunteers
This is the minimum volunteer level to receive t-shirts. Tier 5 GMs must volunteer for a MINIMUM of 4 slots. Tier 5 GMs receive:

• A $10 per slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after
• 4 FREE limited edition purple goblin Pathfinder Society Volunteer T-Shirts (if not previously received)
• A special Pathfinder Society boon useable for either the Adventure Card Guild or Roleplaying Guild

Volunteering for 3 Slots or Less

• A $10 per slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after
• 1 FREE limited edition purple goblin Pathfinder Society Volunteer T-Shirt (if not previously received)
• A special Pathfinder Society boon useable for either the Adventure Card Guild or Roleplaying Guild

When Volunteering...

Again, please be specific about what days and how many slots you are volunteering for. I will assign folks to slots and scenarios on an as-needed basis. I will update this blog as spots fill up.

The time slots are as follows:

Slot 1: Thursday 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM Slot 2: Thursday 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM Slot 3: Thursday 7:00 PM to Midnight (Gen Con Special "Siege of Serpents") Slot 4: Friday 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM Slot 5: Friday 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM Slot 6: Friday 7:00 PM to Midnight (Gen Con Special #7–00) Slot 7: Saturday 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM Slot 8: Saturday 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM Slot 9: Saturday 7:00 PM to Midnight (Gen Con Special "True Dragons of Absalom") Slot 10: Sunday 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM (Gen Con Special "Serpents Rise" and assorted tables of various scenarios).

HQ Volunteers

HQ Volunteers are involved in the management and coordination of Pathfinder Society events at Gen Con. As a team, they're responsible for getting all the players and GMs seated, answering questions for new players, handing out prizes, and all the minutiae in getting 180 tables worth of GMs and players per slot seated and enjoying their games. HQ slots are longer than GM slots, and there are only 2 per day (except Sunday, when we only have 1) of the convention. Morning slots start half an hour before the games start, and the evening slot ends half an hour after the last player leaves the room. With few exceptions, every HQ Volunteer needs to be familiar with Pathfinder Society and the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, much as a GM is. The reward structure is similar to that of GMs, with the Tiers tied to rewards for similar amounts of time volunteered.

Tier 1 HQ: 5 Slots
Tier 2 HQ: N/A
Tier 3 HQ: 4 Slots
Tier 4 HQ: 3 Slots

HQ slots are 7:30 AM through 3:45 PM for the morning and 3:45 PM through 12:30 AM for the evening. If volunteering for an HQ position, please list your skill and strengths in the area you want to volunteer for so we can match up a volunteer to the job that best fits his or her talents. Rewards are much the same as the GM rewards, as follows:

HQ Volunteer Tier Rewards

Tier 1 HQ Volunteers
Tier 1 HQ volunteers are the backbone to making the show a success. Volunteers will be chosen on a first-come, first-served basis, though I reserve the right to select volunteers who have previously worked for Paizo over new volunteers. Most of my HQ volunteers fall into this group. Please do not volunteer for Tier 1 if you have any doubts about being able to attend the show. Tier 1 GMs receive:

• A FREE 4-Day Gen Con 2015 Badge
• A FREE 1/4 of a hotel room in the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown Hotel
• A $15 per slot voucher for paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after
• A FREE copy of Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Occult Adventures to be picked up at the convention
• 4 FREE limited edition orange goblin Pathfinder Society Volunteer T-Shirts (if not previously received)
• A special Pathfinder Society boon useable for either the Adventure Card Guild or Roleplaying Guild

Tier 3 HQ Volunteers
While the rewards for volunteering for Tier 3 are smaller, this gives you a chance to experience the organizational side of the largest PFS event in the world while still leaving a good chunk of your weekend free. Tier 3 GMs receive:

• A FREE 4-Day Gen Con 2015 Badge
• A $15 per slot voucher for paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after
• A FREE copy of Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Occult Adventures to be picked up at the convention
• 4 FREE limited edition orange goblin Pathfinder Society Volunteer T-Shirts (if not previously received)
• A special Pathfinder Society boon useable for either the Adventure Card Guild or Roleplaying Guild

Tier 4 HQ Volunteers

• A FREE 4-Day Gen Con 2015 Badge
• A $15 per slot voucher for paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after
• 4 FREE limited edition orange goblin Pathfinder Society Volunteer T-Shirts (if not previously received)
• A special Pathfinder Society boon useable for either the Adventure Card Guild or Roleplaying Guild

How to Volunteer

If you're interested in volunteering at Gen Con 2015, email me at mike.brock@paizo.com with the subject "Gen Con Volunteer" and include the following:

1. The days you will be attending Gen Con
2. The number of slots you'd like to volunteer for, kind of slot (RPG Scenarios, Adventure Card Game, or HQ), and preferred tier(s) (if applicable)
3. The email tied to your Gen Con account
4. The email tied to your paizo.com account and messageboard username
5. If you have the purple/orange goblin Pathfinder Society volunteer shirts already. If not, what size shirt you need.

Thanks in advance for volunteering, good luck, and have a great spring and summer convention season!

Mike Brock
Global Organized Play Coordinator

ToyFair (Part 1)

Friday, February 20, 2015

Last weekend I was in New York City for ToyFair, the annual trade show for the toy business that sees hundreds of manufacturers and thousands of buyers (but no kids!) gather for four days of meetings, buying sprees, and other assorted activities. Paizo had a nice display of our gaming stuff at the Diamond booth, as Diamond distributes our books and games into bookstores and comic shops. Diamond's sister company, Diamond Select Toys, makes a number of Pathfinder toys, including Pathfinder Minimates and an incredibly cool vinyl goblin bank, which comes out late next month.

Diamond's toy division didn't have any Pathfinder goodies on display this year, but I was able to meet with their team to discuss additional projects in 2015 and 2016 that I'm certain Pathfinder fans will love. I'm very excited by what the future has in store!

Here's a look at the Pathfinder section of the overall Diamond booth.

But even if the Diamond booth didn't have a lot of plastic Pathfinder items on display, that absence was more than made up for by our partners at WizKids, who showed off a huge number of new Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic figures. I managed to snap several photos of their display, but doing so was somewhat difficult because of the huge crowd ogling them throughout the convention. I had a chance to chat with a few hobby retailers who carried the line while I obsessively snapped my photos, which was definitely fun! ToyFair brings in all kinds of retailers, and it's always great to chat with store owners and managers who appreciate and support hobby gaming!

The largest Pathfinder Battles display at the WizKids booth was Dungeons Deep, the set we plan to release in June.

In this shot we see a Pukwudgie and an Andrazku Demon (both of which were originally going to be in the Reign of Winter set), with a Clockwork Golem in the middle and a Dire Bat in the background.

Here we have the second half of WizKids's display, with a bunch of figures including the Gnoll Slaver, Daughter of Urgathoa, and Sasquatch, some of which we've revealed already on the blog.

This shot reveals a Giant Centipede, Baykok, and Chupacabra in the foreground, with a Griffon, Daughter of Urgathoa, and some other stuff in the background.

Here we have a Dracolisk. I noticed that a lot of photos other ToyFair attendees had taken tended to have this figure in the background (sometimes not even standing up!), so I wanted to make sure to get a good shot of it for you guys.

That said, it was about this time that I started to get really, really frustrated with the quality of photos from my iPhone 4, so I switched over to a much better camera on the phone of one of my colleagues. That phone allowed me to take SUPER-HIGH-RES photos of Iconic Heroes Sets 2 and 3, which were the centerpiece of WizKids's ToyFair display.

Unfortunately, we couldn't figure out a way to get those photos onto my computer before my associate had to leave town, so I'm going to have to bring them to you next Friday.

Believe me, they're worth the wait!

Erik Mona
Publisher

10 Things You Didn't Know Were in the Strategy Guide

Thursday, February 19, 2015

There have been a lot of questions and speculation on the messageboards about what's going to be in the upcoming Strategy Guide, but now that it's set to (finally!) hit shelves next month, you'll get to see for yourself. In anticipation of its debut, allow me to present a sneak peek into 10 different features I bet you didn't know were in this book.

1. Themes:
A theme gives you a ready-made character concept, and a roadmap for building that character using the options available in the Core Rulebook. If you want to play the sort of mysterious druid who can call upon the land to rise up against her foes and the sky to strike down those who threaten the natural world, the Fury theme will take you, step-by-step, through building a character who can do those things, advising you on everything from which race and feats to choose to which starting gear to purchase. If, on the other hand, what attracts you to the druid class is the idea of playing a character who shares an unbreakable bond of friendship and trust with a wild creature, the Animal Friend theme will provide you with the advice you need to create that character.

Illustration by Maichol Quinto

See the paw-print Animal Friend icon in the upper right-hand corner of the image? Keep an eye out below for a glimpse into how it gets used throughout the Strategy Guide.

2. Character Quiz:
Not sure what type of character you'd like to play? This light-hearted quiz will help you determine which theme best matches your play style and interests.

3. Class-Specific Introductions to Spellcasting:
Get a basic overview of how magic works for your character class, advice on which spells to choose, and a walkthrough of how to cast a spell.

4. Tactical Advice for Combat:
Not sure what to do on your turn? Check out this advice on where to focus your attention and on actions you can take to make the most of the circumstances in which you find yourself.

5. Overviews of Non-Combat Roleplaying Situations
Solve mysteries, explore, meet important NPCs, scout, and divide the spoils of your adventures with flair and confidence using these guides.

6. How To Start Running Your Own Games:
Aspiring GMs can find the pointers they need on where to get started if they'd like to try their hand at running their own campaign.

7. Character Sheet Help:
Get easy-to-follow instructions on how to fill out your character sheet, and a handy diagram of what goes where.

8. Beginner's Guide to Reading Spell Descriptions and Other Mechanics Text:
A step-by-step walkthrough of how to read spell descriptions, feats, and other rules-heavy text helps you choose options for your character with full understanding of what they'll do for you.

9. Detailed Instructions for Leveling Up:
Class-specific leveling guides go over everything from reminders about adding hit points to suggestions on the best feat choices from your themes.

Remember that paw-print Animal Friend icon? It's present throughout the druid class guide and other sections of the book, giving you theme-specific guidance and insight into building and playing your character.

10. Pointers Toward Further Exploration on Nearly Every Page:
Whether it's providing tips for more advanced play, suggesting alternate ways to use skills, or guiding you to where in the Core Rulebook to find more information on a combat maneuver, the Strategy Guide's page margins are packed with jumping-off points to make your gaming experience richer and get the most out of your character.

Stay tuned for more Strategy Guide sneak peeks next week!

Jessica Price
Project Manager

Diamond in the Rough

by Evey Brett

Chapter One: Mission to the Ruins

No sane person would leave Jalmeray to venture to the small, lawless island of Veedesha, which lay just off the coast, but Anandi had business there on behalf of the thakur.

The business of his Maurya-Rahm, more likely. The thakur's advisors had heard rumors of illicit trades going on in Veedesha, and while they often turned a blind eye to such occurrences when they didn't concern them, this time reports of a certain potentially devastating magical item had them on edge.

And do they send a soldier or a monk? No, they send Jalmeray’s best courtesan.

He wasn't fond of the Maurya-Rahm, who'd been instrumental in arranging his dismissal as Asa's consort five years before. Asa, being a Maurya-Rahm elevated enough to have the thakur's ear, had made no secret of his fondness for Anandi and his skills. Unfortunately, he'd also been particularly vulnerable to those coveting his position, and after a spate of bitter rumors had been forced to send Anandi away. The severing had been abrupt, brutal, and still stung.

The others were jealous, that’s all, because I was loyal to one man alone and kept his trust. Although the Maurya-Rahm had thought to shame him by reducing him to a mere instructor of courtesan at the Conservatory, he'd quickly proven talented at the job. That was his one comfort. Now he had his choice of patrons and a collection of well-trained acolytes to send out across Golarion to collect more secrets for Jalmeray's vaults.

Yet separation from Asa didn't seem to be enough to prove to the Maurya-Rahm that Anandi had no interest in their machinations.

So here I am on a fool’s errand to prove my loyalty.

He'd chosen his wardrobe carefully, including a simple sword and leather boots. Dressing too poorly would make him an easy target, as would dressing too richly. Better to be a carefree man given to spending whatever money he earned lest he not live to see the next day.

After arriving with the aid of two djinn who had flown him across the ocean from the island of Grand Sarret, he walked through the decaying cane fields to the old city, which was now little more than ruins. The original buildings were still being used, though. Nearly every habitable place had been taken over by rogues and pirates of all sorts. A market had been set up in the central plaza, and purveyors of food, weapons repair, and supplies were doing a brisk business. Ships littered the harbor, everything from pirates' galleons to yellow-sailed slavers to smaller barques and luggers, speedy vessels meant for smuggling and trade.

All in all, this was a place Anandi didn't want to be, but when the Maurya-Rahm called...

I obey, in the sad, sad hope that I might prove to them I’m a harmless, biddable servant.

It wasn't going to happen, he knew, but he kept trying.

A flag bearing Captain Maldak's emblem alerted him to the proper abode, a villa that was in somewhat better shape than many of the other buildings. Some of the pirates had laid claim to one or another of the houses, and when in port, they liked to come ashore and indulge in various entertainments.

One of those entertainments leaned drunkenly over the balcony. His long, dark hair was pulled back in a braid to reveal pointed ears, and from the tailored shirt and pants, gold hoop earring, and rings on his fingers, he was definitely a favored pet. The laces on his shirt were undone, exposing an enticing portion of bare skin.

Anandi raked his attention away and turned it toward the pirate keeping guard outside the villa's gate. She sat in a wooden chair and tilted it back, her leg propped against a low wall. The sharp rasp of a whetstone echoed in the stony courtyard as she honed her dagger. "What brings you to the house of Captain Maldak?" she asked without looking up.

He leaned casually against the wall. "Wizard friend of mine sent me to look for a few things."

"In the market, are you? Come back at sunset and the captain'll be in. Likes to entertain visitors then, he does."

Impatient as he was to get what information he could and leave, Anandi decided to try a different tactic. "Where'd he come from?" He nodded at the young man above them.

"Him? No one knows for sure. Been here as long as we can remember."

"He's a pretty one."

"That he is. Want a tumble with him?" The pirate gave Anandi a sly wink. "He don't mind who he beds, so long as he gets a bit of coin to buy his pesh."

Not only is he a whore, he's a drug-addicted one, Anandi thought sourly. Still, he knew better than anyone that a prostitute could be an excellent source of information for the right price.

"What's his name?"

"Ravi. Ain't got no other." Then, without asking permission, she stuck two fingers in her mouth and whistled. "Ravi, boy. You got a customer."

Anandi stood his ground, both curious and repulsed as the gaudy creature disappeared inside and reappeared a moment later strolling out the doorway. The young man paused to give the woman a peck on the cheek and leaned against her as he studied Anandi. "My, he's a fancy man, ain't he?"

"How much?" Anandi asked.

"How much you got?"

He took a gold coin from his purse and tossed it to the man. "Will that give me an hour of your time?"

The young man grinned and gave him a mocking bow. "This way, good sir."

When it comes to island-hopping, there's no better way to fly than with a djinni.

"Mind you bring him back, now," the pirate said. "Cap'll be asking for him later."

Anandi doffed his cap and forced a smile. Then he followed Ravi along the beach until they reached a trysting place sheltered behind a few boulders. The place was little more than a lean-to, a roof covering a ragged mattress. Disgust rose in Anandi's throat.

"Not to your liking, sir?" Ravi asked.

"I'm not interested in sharing your bed. I just want to talk."

"Talk? Ain't no one who wants to just talk." To emphasize his point, he pulled off his fine shirt to reveal a slender, too-thin body marred by a few fading bruises. He sidled up to Anandi and wrapped his arms around the older man's waist.

Anandi resisted the urge to cover his nose to block the reek of sweat and wine-scented breath. "Perhaps a swim?"

Ravi grinned and shucked his pants. "Last one in's a sand devil's dinner!"

He ran haphazardly toward the water. Anandi watched him go, annoyed by the ease with which he'd become distracted. Ravi was filthy, crude, and likely had no information of use.

Yet he couldn't help grinning as he watched Ravi bounce around, seemingly uncaring about how idiotic he appeared. Ravi went out a little farther and dove under.

When he came back up, he was waving frantically and screaming something unintelligible.

Shit.

Anandi tore off his shirt and raced toward the water, yanking his boots off along the way. He dove in, paddling hard until he reached the half-elf...

...who wasn't drowning. Anandi stood up and yanked Ravi to his feet. The water was waist high, and while subsequent waves hit his chest, there was no risk of being pulled under. "What the hell are you playing at?"

Ravi clasped his face and pressed their lips together. Anandi caught the bitter taste of wine before Ravi pulled back. "You're awfully stiff for a fancy man."

"I'm soaked, and it's your fault. Come on, wretch. Out."

He shoved Ravi toward the beach. Once there, he peeled off his wet pants and laid them out to dry in the sun. He ignored Ravi's stares and various lewd gestures, determined not to get too close despite his interest in the young man. For an instructor of courtesans to return home diseased would be a disgrace.

Defeated, Ravi sprawled out in the sand, eyes closed. Anandi perched on a boulder and gazed down at him, his mind starting to turn. The young man was likely older than he appeared, being a half-elf, but he still had the look of an eighteen- or twenty-year-old Vudrani. Spending any more thought on him was likely a waste of time, but there was something about him that kept Anandi's attention. Behind those drink-glazed eyes was a glint of intelligence, and he must have a great deal of skill at manipulating people to have survived so long in this den of rogues and murderers. Unlike some of the other slaves and prostitutes Anandi had seen, this one hadn't given up. He knew how to play the game and meant to keep winning. It didn't take much to imagine Ravi dressed in the fine, gauzy outfits favored at the Conservatory with cosmetics darkening his eyes and set loose among some of Jalmeray's well-positioned denizens.

What the hell am I thinking? I don't want anything to do with an ignorant pesh addict like this. If I brought him back to the Conservatory, the Maurya-Rahm would find a way to be rid of me for sure.

He forced the possibility from his mind. There was work to do, after all, and Ravi was nothing more than a means to an end. "That captain must be a profitable one, seeing as how you have all those fine clothes."

Ravi shaded his eyes with a hand and gazed up at him. "I know what you're fishing for, fancy man, and you ain't going to get it. What the captain hauls is his business. Not mine, and definitely not yours."

"I was looking to make a trade. I've got a wizard friend of mine looking for a very particular item."

"Then it's the captain you'll be wanting. Not me."

"Have you ever seen him with any kind of ancient artifacts? Mirrors, statues, a small brass bottle capped with lead?"

"I seen all kinds of things, but Cap would use me for kraken bait if he even thought I'd spilled any of his secrets," he said with such finality that Anandi knew it was useless to pry any more. After a while, Ravi started to shiver. "You got any pesh on you?"

"No. I most certainly do not." Annoyance crept into his voice. This afternoon had been a waste. He should have known better than to bother with addicts.

Ravi sat up and reached for his clothes. "Too bad. Listen, I got to get back to the villa. It's been fun and all, but..."

"But you need your pesh." He stared at Ravi, calculating how best to earn his trust. "Do you like living this way?"

"Ain't so bad," Ravi said as he dressed. "I got everything I need." He flashed his gem-studded rings for emphasis.

"Everything?"

"I don't need your pity, fancy man. I got a life here and I ain't ashamed. I got lots of people who want me."

"But do they want you or just the fantasies you give them?"

The saucy grin couldn't hide the pain in Ravi's eyes. "Go home, fancy man. I ain't got nothing you want." He walked away, leaving Anandi feeling oddly guilty.

Then he shook it aside. A few hours more and he'd be able to speak to the captain and get the hell off this blasted island.

Coming Next Week: Meeting the pirate captain in Chapter Two of Evey Brett's "Diamond in the Rough."

Evey Brett is the author of numerous novels and short stories. She holds a Master's degree in writing, and is a graduate of the Clarion Writers' Workshop, the Lambda Literary Retreat for Emerging LGBT Voices, and Taos Toolbox. Find her online here.

Illustration by Mike Burns.

Introducing: Ekkie!

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Hello, Pathfinders!

This year's Free RPG Day is Saturday, June 20, and the card game team has whipped up something special for those of you who like free stuff. Introducing... Ekkie!

Ekkie, like her compatriot Ranzak, likes to eat, stab, and steal, not necessarily in that order. She comes with a character card, a token card, and a role card, and she can be played with any Adventure Card Game Base Set.

Ekkie will initially be available at stores participating in Free RPG Day on June 20. We'll be sending her free to Pathfinder Adventure Card Game subscribers with their July shipment, and she'll also be available for sale at Paizo's Gen Con booth and at paizo.com starting July 30.

Before you ask: We're still testing her to see if she'll be usable in Pathfinder Society Adventure Card Guild organized play. If she's allowed to join the party, you'll probably be playing her with the Fighter Class Deck or Ranger Class Deck. But first, meet Ekkie in her own words:

∗ ∗ ∗

Hello, Longshanks Hearing Ekkie's Words through Glowing Box! I first meet friendly longshanks in town named Magnimar. Ekkie was just trying to make ends meet, put food in mouth and roof on head, so Ekkie joined fearsome goblin guild named Nightsoil Marauders. Is good, scary name: Nightsoil Marauders!

Anyway, Ekkie was sneaking through a longshank house filled with shinies and foods, taking things for the guild and for Ekkie, when the mangiest, barkiest, poodliest of dogmeats sneaks up on me and starts barking. "Bark!" it says. "Bark bark bark! Bark bark bark!" Always alerting the sleeping longshanks. Poodles are the WORST. And poodles don't even taste good, mostly because the curly hairs get stuck between goblin teeth.

THE WORST!

Stupid poodle will not shut up, so longshanks come and chase me up and down and all around the town. That part is fun, but eventually they catch up to me and want all this talking and doing and not stealing and not eating. Nightsoil Marauders are—what is longshanks words again?—"unfortunate casualties," so Ekkie is alone again. But longshanks? Longshanks are "noble adventurers," which means sneaking and stabbing and eating, but with getting paid afterward. Seems like a good gig to Ekkie. So now, Ekkie is an adventurer!

Tanis O'Connor
Adventure Card Game Designer

Learning Exotic Spells

Monday, February 16, 2014

The Pathfinder Society team recently introduced the Core Campaign, an additional way to participate in Pathfinder Society that makes it more approachable while also opening up hundreds of new ways to play for credit. As you may have seen last week, when Mike and I added the essential Inner Sea World Guide languages to the list of those a PC can learn in the Core Campaign, we're listening to your questions about this new option and providing essential clarifications. In addition to these blogs, I recommend checking out the Core Campaign forum.

Alahazra, Oloch, and Shardra cast a powerful spell from a non-Core source. Off-screen, Kyra weeps with envy.
Illustration by David Alvarez

This past week, Mike and I discussed exactly how we wanted to handle the process for learning non-Core spells in the Core Campaign. We had decided early on to allow wizards to scribe non-Core spells they come across, but as many of you pointed out, that leaves bards, clerics, druids, paladins, rangers, and sorcerers without any means of learning non-Core spells whatsoever. In a way this makes sense, but it's a rather unsatisfying, perverse kind of sense. Here's what we're going to do:

• Wizard PCs can scribe non-Core spells from spellbooks and scrolls during the scenario, but the opportunity ends when the scenario does. Record any such spells learned on the Chronicle sheet, and have the GM initial the note.
• If an NPC prepared spellcaster has a spellbook but no spells listed in it, he is assumed to have any spells he has prepared in the book.
• Even if he missed his opportunity during the scenario, a wizard PC can learn spells from any scroll that appears on a Chronicle sheet by purchasing it and scribing it as normal.
• Other PCs able to cast spells—spontaneously or from a divine spell list that does not depend on a spellbook—can learn spells they find in scroll form so long as they buy the scroll and expend it to add the spell to her list of legal spells; spontaneous spellcasters must still expend known spell slots in order to learn the spell. These PCs cannot learn non-Core spells from spellbooks.

Wizards have always been among the best at incorporating new spells into their repertoire, and this keeps them that way while also letting non-wizards learn spells from scrolls they purchase from their found Chronicle sheets.

John Compton
Developer

ToyFair Eve

Friday, February 13, 2015

I just landed in New York City in advance of ToyFair, the annual toy business trade show that launches tomorrow. While Paizo does not have a booth at the show (yet!), it's become an invaluable stop for me to catch up with some of our licensing partners, including the fine folks at WizKids, who manufacture the Pathfinder Battles line. I've got it on good authority that WizKids will have an entire production-run set of Dungeons Deep on hand for their display, and I hope to snap a few key photos to show off what some of the figures look like in hand. Next week's blog will, I hope, feature some images of upcoming Pathfinder Battles figures, and perhaps some additional surprises as well!

But the thing I'm really excited about at the moment is Pathfinder Battles: Iconic Heroes Set #1, which arrived in the Paizo warehouse yesterday, and will hit stores and subscribers very shortly.

When WizKids told us they were aiming for a super-premium production on the Iconic Heroes line, I was very excited to see how that commitment would translate to the final figure. It's relatively easy for a professional painter to produce a killer paint master, for example, but it's another thing entirely for everything to go right at the factory in a way that really raises the bar. Frankly, I think WizKids has been raising the bar set after set with Pathfinder Battles, so while I was excited to see what they could do with Iconic Heroes, I confess my enthusiasm was tinged with at least a little bit of skepticism. I mean, how much better could they be, really?

Well, I'm holding them in my hands right now, and I can tell you the answer is "much better." I don't think I've seen such polished prepainted plastic figures from any manufacturer since the birth of prepainted minis. WizKids has really set a new bar for figures that I honestly don't see how they (or anyone else) will exceed. The figures look fantastic. They have blazed by the threshold of "probably better than I could do myself" to "way, way, way better than I could do myself." I am very excited to see what you think of them.

I do apologize that this shot is a little bit on the blurry side (all the others I took are completely unusable). I'm not dealing with optimal lighting conditions in my hotel room, and my phone is within 72 hours of being death-marched to the Manhattan Apple store, where it will be replaced by an upgraded and superior model.

"Upgraded and superior models." That's a good tagline for Iconic Heroes Set #1!

But enough about Iconic Heroes (for now), let's move on to our next big set, Dungeons Deep, which releases in a few months.

First up this week, is the Goblin Archer. I was astonished to discover, upon adding this guy to the set, that Paizo did not actually own a full-body image of a goblin archer appropriate for use as miniatures reference, so we commissioned an original illustration for the sole purpose of the minis line—the first time this has happened to date (though not the last!). The Goblin Archer is a Small, common figure.

We've already revealed a couple of gnolls in Dungeons Deep, so I thought it might be fun to keep fleshing out their ranks. Here we have the Gnoll Slaver, fresh out of the pages of the Monster Codex. The image above is a digital sculpt, but I've seen the paint master for this villain, and it looks incredible. I can hardly believe it's a COMMON. It's also Medium.

That's it for this week's preview. Tune in next Friday for what I hope will be some shots of Pathfinder Battles goodies from the WizKids booth, ideally taken with a new camera phone!

Erik Mona
Publisher

Pathfinder Toys from Diamond Select!

Thursday, February 12, 2015

One of the most fun aspects of Pathfinder is the endless variety of character types one meets in the world of Golarion. Different classes, races, species—even different definitions of "alive"—have brought us a diverse array of faces, both heroic and demonic, that populate every adventure. While still in its early stages, the Pathfinder Minimates toy line from Diamond Select Toys already has a line-up that runs the gamut of character types, and allows you to customize each one, to boot.

Making their debut at GenCon 2014, the first assortment of two-packs is exclusively available at Paizo.com, and includes four different sets: Ulfen barbarian Ostog the Unslain with a Cairn Wight; Elyana (from Plague of Shadows) with a Razmir Cultist; Isiem (from Nightglass) with a Ghoul; and a Human Ranger with the Lamia Matriarch.

In addition, a four-pack is also available that spans four different races—Valeros, Human Fighter; Harsk, Dwarf Ranger; Merisiel, Elf Rogue; and a vicious Goblin Warrior.

Each Minimate stands approximately 2 inches tall with up to 14 points of articulation, and each includes various weapons and accessories. But the most fun thing about them is that all of the parts are completely interchangeable, which means that you can trade costumes and gear between all of the figures. So if you think a character would look better with different boots, or different weapons, or a snake’s tail, you can swap parts with other figures in the series, creating original characters and outfits that may inspire you to think up new adventures. Keep an eye out for more Minimates, as well as a vinyl Goblin coin bank, on paizo.com and at your local gaming store!

Zach Oat
Marketing Supervisor
Diamond Select

Let Slip the Orcs of War!

Wednesday, Feburary 11, 2015

It seems like forever ago we sent Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Belkzen, Hold of the Orc Hordes off to the printer. So long ago did we ship it, in fact, that I was caught woefully unaware when those little digital orcs we sent across the sea to be printed returned, all grown up and hungry for my blood. I managed to divert their attack to the warehouse, whose border abuts my office, avoiding the worst of the onslaught. I understand they've successfully divided the horde into small, easy-to-defeat single members and sent them off to our noble subscriber allies. To aid you in your orc-slaying efforts, I present a glimpse at some of the horrors that await you. Study them well, and always check your mail with sword drawn until the Belkzen threat has been quelled.

Illustration by Caio Maciel Monteiro

Illustrations by Wayne England and Brynn Metheney

Mark Moreland
Developer

S(More) Story of the Season of the Shackles

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Hello, Pathfinders! The inaugural season of the Pathfinder Society Adventure Card Guild marches on, and I thought you might like an update on how the pirate PCs are progressing.

Avast, mateys! Story spoilers for Adventure #2 of the Season of the Shackles lurk below!

Love is in the air here in the Inner Sea, and the Lady of Tidewater Rock needs your help to choose a helpmeet! She's got a bevy of suitors, but her eye lingers on one "Heartbreak" Hinsin, apparently despite his ominous name. There are many who'd raise an objection at this proposed wedding, including the oh-so-charming Master Scourge, but you're around to help ensure that love conquers all. Surely Hinsin's heartbreaking days are over?

Never trust a man with braids in his beard.
Illustration by Bryan Sola

Having earned the lady's trust, you embark on a mission to deliver supplies to an isolated settlement badly in need of supplies. The hapless hamlet has fallen afoul of a tribe of marauding grindylows, and the tentacled little terrors (yuck) are intercepting all attempts to reach them. Lady Smythee has enlisted a ransacking goblin pirate and his weidling vessel to help you sneak up on the grindylow hideout. After a whole lot of really gross-looking monsters, and some truly incorrigible behavior from your goblin pirate ally, you manage to get relief to the settlement, and Lady Smythee rewards you generously.

Apparently, your reputation precedes you among the aquatic denizens of the Shackles, because a badly crippled fishfolk woman offers to handsomely reward you for enacting a little vengeance upon the sea devils who maimed her and stole her spawn. Pirates and revenge go hand in hand, so you eagerly set out to slaughter some sea devils and make a little old lady happy.

Back in the land of two-legged employers, "Heartbreak" Hinsin and Lady Smythee are sponsoring a wedding regatta, and the prize is a sweet new ship. The rules of the race: "Many men enter; one man leaves." Your uncle Mad Max would be proud. Will your doughty band of pirates have what it takes to take down the other sailors? You'll have to play to find out!

MOAR CARD SPOILERS

Are you implying that most people don't carry around bags of sticks?

Today you learned that Lini likes to whittle. She carries around a bag of wood from forests she's visited and whittles and polishes it. Our girl's a touch OCD.

My god likes me better than you.

From Iconic Heroes Set #2 comes a special blessing just for clerics, who know how to get every ounce of goodness out of a god's blessing.

Until next time, Pathfinders!

Tanis O'Connor
Adventure Card Game Designer

Superstar Monsters Revealed!

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

We just unveiled the Round 3 entries of the Top 16 RPG Superstar contestants, making them available for everyone to check out and vote on! These competitors have gone through some of the toughest challenges we've ever had in this contest, including having the first round undergo a major rules change with no advance warning, making a full-page map in just three days, and now having to create a Bestiary-style Golarion monster native to Nar-Voth, including a physical description, stat block, and general monster description, in 550 to 600 words.

I encourage everyone to take a look and then vote on your favorites. This is an especially crucial stage of the Superstar contest. The contestants who move on to the next round become the Top 8, a level of success so high it disqualifies them from entering in future years. The Top 8 are also all competing for important opportunities, since the Top 4 finalists each have a chance to write official material for Paizo. The winner obviously gets to write for the Pathfinder Modules line, but the other three finalists also gain the opportunity for a paid commission to write a 16-page Pathfinder Society Scenario.

We've had amazing community feedback and participation this year, and we very much appreciate your involvement. The forum members who voted hundreds (and in some cases thousands) of times in Round 1 made it possible for the judges to go through hundreds of entries of new magic items, and I thank them all for their massive help. Everyone who comments, critiques, and discusses the submissions in every round helps the competitors grow, and shows everyone know what kinds of things the Pathfinder fan base enjoys. And, of course, community voting determines the winners of each round from here on out. So go take a look, see what creative monstrosities our newest Superstars-in-Training have produced, and use your votes to help determine which of them are going to earn the chance to help shape the Pathfinder RPG in years to come.

Vote now!

Owen K. C. Stephens
Developer and RPG Superstar Host

No Hablo Shoanti

Monday, February 9, 2014

The Pathfinder Society Organized Play team recently introduced the Core Campaign, an additional way to participate in Pathfinder Society that makes it more approachable while also opening up hundreds of new ways to play for credit.

As with any new initiative, there are many features that we consider and address before the announcement, and there are often nuances and corner cases that the public points out after the grand unveiling. I am going to address one of the latter now, but if you have other questions about the Core Campaign and how it works, I recommend checking out the Core Campaign messageboard.

Languages play a major role in our adventures, and while the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook describes many of the basic languages that could appear in any campaign setting, it does not list any of the languages specific to Golarion. That means the Shoanti cannot speak Shoanti, PCs traveling to Tian Xia are unable to learn the continent's common tongue, and nobody exploring ruins in Varisia can learn to read Thassilonian. That's an omission on our end, and we're including a list of key languages in a future version of the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play, one of the legal resources for the Core Campaign. In the meantime, this blog serves as a legal stand-in resource. Also note that page 8 of the Guide notes that human characters also gain their ethnic language for free (this is also true in the Core Campaign); in order to be extra clear as to who gets what, I have included a parenthetical note next to some languages clarifying which human ethnicity (if any) gains that language for free.

The following 19 languages are legal choices in the Pathfinder Society Core Campaign:

Now that Hayato can legally speak Tien, he can avoid unfortunate misunderstandings like this.
Illustration by Rayph Beisner

Modern Human Languages

• Hallit (Kellid)
• Kelish (Kelishite)
• Osiriani (Garundi)
• Polyglot (Mwangi)
• Shadowtongue
• Shoanti (Shoanti)
• Skald (Ulfen)
• Tien (Tian)
• Varisian (Varisian)
• Vudrani (Vundrani)

Ancient Languages

• Ancient Osiriani
• Azlanti
• Cyclops
• Jistka
• Tekritanin
• Thassilonian

Other Languages

• Necril
• Orvian

There are still other languages out there like Minkaian, Senzar, Treant, and Tengu, but this list should provide PCs with a broad range of language choices that facilitate playing and enjoying all that the organized play campaigns have to offer.

John Compton
Developer

How Syrinscape Brought the Red Dragon Roaring to Life

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Reckon you've got the growl to make the perfect Pathfinder Red Dragon? Have you got the depth in your voice, the rattle in your throat, the fire in your breath? No, me neither. Now, imagine you had to create a Red Dragon in all its airborne, fiery fury. That's what I had to do, and it was awesome fun! My family surely thought I was out of my head as I growled and roared into my studio microphone. Thank goodness for the modern digital wizardry I was able to employ, turning my little voice into the coolest, most epically massive Dragon roars you could imagine.

Next time you play the Pathfinder RPG, grab a tablet or a laptop, download the free Syrinscape Player, purchase the Fortress of the Stone Giants SoundPack, or become a Syrinscape Adventure Path Subscriber to unlock absolutely everything in the Syrinscape Fantasy library. Then, plug-in to your stereo system, or a portable Bluetooth speaker, and blow your players' minds! Your Pathfinder game will never be the same!

Watch the Fortress of the Stone Giants demo video below to see how you can incorporate these fabulous, officially licensed sounds into your Pathfinder game.

Have fun, good gaming. Now go make some noise!

Benjamin Loomes
Creative Director
Syrinscape

P.S. Syrinscape is still looking for YOUR sounds for the forthcoming Peasants' Revolt SoundSet. Submit a crash, or a yell, or other sound associated with an uprising. You'll get a free copy of the SoundSet, along with a name credit on the product!

Submit Your PaizoCon 2015 Events!

Saturday, February 7, 2015

PaizoCon 2015 is coming up fast! From Friday, May 22nd to Monday, May 25th, we'll be running games, workshops, seminars, with and for you, our fellow gamers, fans, and industry professionals. In addition to the event lineup by the Paizo staff and Organized Play, we've opened up submissions for events from other publishers and PaizoCon attendees.

So how do you submit an event? Check out the instructions on our Event Submission page and fill out the form located there and email it to paizocon@paizo.com. Note that you and the volunteers for your event will need to have purchased a PaizoCon 4-Day Badge to run events.

The event schedule and more information about registering for events (including Event Lottery details) will be available in the time leading up to the show.

The deadline for event submission is Monday, March 2. So don't delay, get those events in now!

Chris Lambertz
Digital Products Assistant

Endless Chest

Friday, February 6, 2015

Aloha!

I'm still on vacation in Hawaii, but that seems like a rotten reason to deprive you of previews from the upcoming Dungeons Deep set for Pathfinder Battles. As I've mentioned in previous blogs, Dungeons Deep features a new type of figure we're calling dungeon dressing—props and "stuff" beyond creatures to help you flesh out your tabletop combats. We've previously revealed a Sarcophagus, Bubbling Cauldron, and Burning Brazier.

This week I plan to reveal two figures, one piece of dungeon dressing and one very important creature that goes along with it.

Let's start with the Chest. This was, frankly, a no-brainer. You can use it for treasure rooms, footlockers, or basically anywhere you want to stuff some goodies for your PCs to loot. Trapped, untrapped, it's your call.

Because folks know that the Sarcophagus and one other piece of dungeon dressing we've not yet revealed open up, when I've shown the Chest around the office, my colleagues have often asked me if the chest "opens up."

"Yes," I answer. "In a manner of speaking."

Here we have the Mimic. Watch out, or he may bite your character's greedy little hands right off! The Mimic is a Medium figure at the uncommon rarity.

And with that, I'm off for my last day of sunlight before venturing back to the squalid darkness of Seattle later tonight.

ALOHA!

Erik Mona
Publisher

Editing Pathfinder: Origins

Thursday, February 5, 2015

I must admit I'm not an RPG player. I didn't grow up playing D&D, and never picked it up along the way.

However, that hasn't stopped me from enjoying editing the Pathfinder comics at Dynamite. Getting to know the characters and settings of Paizo's rich Pathfinder world has been a treat. I've watched the iconic characters of the game come to life, and gotten to know how they talk and behave: Seoni the sorcerer, Valeros the fighter, Kyra the cleric, Harsk the dwarf ranger, Ezren the wizard, and Merisiel the elf rogue. The world of Pathfinder works well with the strengths of comics as a medium. There's no story too big to tell when working in comics, and the stories so far have been pretty grand, thanks to Jim Zub.

In Dark Waters Rising, the companions investigated a strange magic that gripped the goblin tribes of Varisia, changing and unifying them. At the heart of the strange evolution was an ancient evil force that nearly killed the adventurers before they found a way to overcome it.

In Of Tooth and Claw, the group went on a hunt for the creature terrorizing the locals of Sandpoint (Black Fang the dragon), and in the process found more than they bargained for. A seemingly simple monster hunt became a twisted tale of danger and betrayal as the Cult of Lamashtu exacted its revenge.

In City of Secrets, our heroes headed to the city of Magnimar. As Ezren sought an audience with the Pathfinder Society, his adventuring allies explored the city's ancient magic, well-hidden secrets, and deep political divides. The dangers and opportunities of the big city were almost too much for the group to endure...

And that brings us to our newest series, Pathfinder: Origins, which delves deeper into the histories of the Pathfinder iconic characters, and introduces new characters to the comics. Get ready to see Amiri the barbarian, Seelah the paladin, Lini the gnome druid, Seltiyel the half-elf magus, Sajan the monk, and Lem the halfling bard come to four-color life, as they each interact with the core iconics in brand new adventures.

Another cool aspect of Pathfinder: Origins is that it's written by key Paizo staff: Erik Mona, F. Wesley Schneider, and James L. Sutter have all helped create the constantly expanding world of the Pathfinder RPG. And they have done a fantastic job here of not only telling great individual stories, but working to interweave them in this series. The result is something fresh, new, and fun. Take a look at the sample pages below by Erik Mona and artist Tom Garcia for just a hint of the exciting action in store.

Pathfinder: Origins ships monthly February through July from Dynamite, and is available right here on Paizo.com. Each issue will contain a new playable map/poster, as with prior issues. We can't wait to hear what you think of it. And come back later to find out what we have planned after Origins!

Rich Young
Editor/Dir of Biz Dev
Dynamite Entertainment

The Patch Man

by Adam Heine

Chapter Four: Not Some Hero

"So where do we go?" Blit pulled the hood of his cloak over his head. He wasn't used to being out at sunset. He felt exposed.

"Green warehouse at the old pier," Allyra said. "We've known about it for a while, but our cell isn't equipped for large-scale rescue, so we never moved on it."

"So the two of us are going to do what you and all your friends couldn't pull off."

She lowered her chin with a smirk. "Yup."

Blit sighed. She was enjoying this far more than he was.

The green warehouse lay in one of the lowest parts of the Puddles. The bottom of it was perpetually wet, covered in barnacles and algae—that's why they called it the green warehouse, apparently.

There were no guards going in. Blit and Allyra dashed up the stairs to a long corridor with rooms on either side. There were no guards here either—the Banshees were busy with the slaves imprisoned in each of the rooms. Blit and Allyra entered the first room on the right.

Thwack! Allyra's hammer sang. A Banshee fell to the floor.

Blit winced. "That was Alver!"

"I know. Will you get the key?"

He poked Alver in the chest. "I think you killed him!"

"Blit." She put a hand on his shoulder. "We don't have much time. Are we helping the slaves or the bad guys?"

Blit wasn't sure—just a couple days ago, he was one of the bad guys.

"The key, Blit."

He nodded in spite of himself.

While he was digging around in Alver's pockets (a disgusting thought, whether Alver was dead or not), she gave the slaves directions to a place in the Foreign Quarter where other Caydenites could keep them safe for a while. The slaves were a mishmash of races and cultures, and not all of them spoke the common tongue, but those that did translated quickly for the others.

"Got it," Blit said. He tossed the key to Allyra, who unlocked the first slave—man, not slave. That man began unlocking the rest.

While they set themselves free, Allyra turned to Blit. "We have to split up."

"What? But I thought—"

"I said there's no time. Listen, I'll try to make noise about it. Hopefully they'll all come after me."

"No, Allyra!"

"Then you help the ones who are left." She leaned forward and—to Blit's simultaneous surprise, joy, and disgust—kissed him on the cheek. "Be careful."

Then she was gone. A couple of the prisoners who hadn't been freed yet stared at him.

"Shut up," he said. Realizing they hadn't said anything, and maybe didn't understand Taldane anyway, he added, "Get yourselves out of here."

Blit poked his head into the hall, ducking back quickly as a handful of thugs chased Allyra out of one room and down the dark corridor. Blit stepped into the room she'd vacated.

Kip and two other Banshees were still there. One of them, whose name Blit couldn't remember, slashed a knife across a halfling slave's throat. The halfling fell to the ground, choking on his own blood. Blit gagged. He'd seen the aftermath of murder, but he'd never thought about how it happened. This is what the guilds did—killed for their own gain.

And Blit was absolutely complicit.

Five other prisoners—men and women—lay on the ground dead, while another dozen trembled, waiting their turns. Blit didn't think at all. He mixed and tossed two bombs before anyone knew he was there. The entire building shook with the blasts (so much for Allyra's distraction). When the smoke cleared, Kip and Sidro were lying on the ground—most of them, anyway.

The other Banshee (Nye! That was his name) charged. Blit slipped a vial quickly to his mouth, giving himself a burst of speed, and he ducked easily. He dashed to where part of Kip lay and grabbed his club, then drank the vial that tasted like leather.

Nye attacked again, clipping Blit on the arm, but he barely felt it. He moved so fast now that he was able to get behind Nye and whack him on the back of the head, dropping him easily.

A slow, heavy clap sounded behind him. "Well, well," Gedrak said. "I didn't—"

He only stopped because Blit had smashed the club into the half-orc's face.

Sometimes Blit's job as the Patch Man gets a little intense.

He hadn't really meant to. Normally Gedrak's voice would have frozen him still, but something about the adrenaline or the extracts he'd drunk or the fact that several dozen prisoners were counting on him to not die (not yet, anyway), again drove him to act without thinking.

He hadn't expected the club to splinter on Gedrak's jaw, though.

Gedrak staggered to one side but didn't fall down (also somewhat unexpected). With a feral growl, he drew his serrated blade and attacked.

Blit rolled away, grabbing Nye's short sword on the way. Unfortunately, Blit had no idea how to use a sword, but he was fast enough that Gedrak had trouble fending off all of his pathetic attacks.

He needed more firepower. He led Gedrak out into the corridor where his bombs wouldn't accidentally hurt anyone. Then with his extra speed, he leapt backward and tossed a bomb at Gedrak's feet.

The half-orc howled in fury. But when the smoke cleared, instead of Gedrak pieces, the guild boss's ugly face snarled only inches away. Reflexively, Blit reached for another vial, but Gedrak slashed at his cloak. The jagged blade missed Blit's mortally important parts, for which he was grateful to no god in particular (all of them equally, really), but it ripped an enormous gash through his pockets. Chemicals splattered all over Blit. Glass vials sprinkled on the floor, many of them shattering, none of them mixing into some fortuitous cocktail that blew up the whole building (alas).

He still had his strength and speed, but not forever. Without any more alchemy, he'd be dead for sure.

"This isn't you, Blit." Gedrak breathed heavily. He was at least as wounded as Blit himself. Blit had done more damage than he thought. "You're the Patch Man, not some hero."

"Yeah, well." Blit found he was panting himself. "Someone was short-shrifting me."

Gedrak laughed at that. "You think your bar wench isn't doing the same? She's using you, Blit. She wants one thing. I want another. Nobody cares about what you want, do they?"

Blit blinked. Allyra had used him and, to be honest, was continuing to use him for this rescue.

"Walk away, Blit." Gedrak put his blade back in its sheath. "Really. If you walk away now, I'll forget I ever saw you here. You can leave the Puddles and start again, just like you want."

That was Gedrak's mistake, really. Blit did want to walk away, to forget he'd ever come to Absalom in the first place. But the last thing he wanted to do was start over somewhere else.

Gedrak's other mistake was putting away his blade while a supernaturally fast alchemist stood in front of him. Before Gedrak could blink, Blit dove forward and grabbed one of the vials that hadn't broken. Not just any vial—he knew his extracts by sight, even scattered across the floor—but his mutagen.

By the time Gedrak had his blade out again, Blit had swallowed the green liquid. He grew a foot in height. His hands became claws. His teeth stretched into tusks every bit as ugly as Gedrak's. His entire body became monstrous and foul—even more so than before.

Gedrak charged. Blit punched the half-orc in the chest, knocking him backward and sending his blade spinning across the floor. Then he stretched out his claws and released a demonic roar.

Gedrak stood and roared back. He leapt forward and grabbed Blit by his now enormously strangle-proof throat. They tore and bit and clawed at each other. Blit tossed Gedrak through a wall and rushed in after him. Gedrak ripped a board up from the floor and belted Blit in the head, sending him staggering back.

While Blit recovered, Gedrak tossed a smokestick at Blit's feet. Thick smoke filled the hall and his lungs. He coughed violently. Then through his tears, he saw Gedrak emerge through the smoke, driving a blade at Blit's gut.

There was a shout and a gurgling thud, but neither came from Blit. He opened his eyes. Between Gedrak and him stood Allyra, with the point of the half-orc's blade sticking out of her back.

She'd saved him.

Allyra spat up blood. Gedrak blinked. And Blit, still under the effects of his speed extract, did what any unthinking, feral half-demon who had just seen his friend impaled would do. He grabbed Nye's sword from the floor of the hall and drove it straight through Gedrak's misshapen head.

The half-orc slumped to the floor. With no one holding the blade, Allyra fell too, unconscious and breathing raggedly. Blit dropped to his knees, cold ice gripping his heart. His thoughts were fuzzed from the mutagen, but he knew there was nothing he could do for her. He had no extracts that could save someone's life.

The sound of footsteps strolled toward him. A mysterious wind dissipated all of the smoke at once, and Blit found himself looking up at a tall, imperious-looking woman dressed in a noblewoman's finery. A glint of adamantine mail peeked out from her shirt. She was so out of place in the Puddles that he knew immediately who it must be. "Talish."

The woman looked down her nose at Blit, at Allyra, at the dead Gedrak. She peered into each of the rooms where the other dead Banshees were and where some of the slaves were still locked up.

Blit flexed his claws, but he was trembling. He didn't know whether he could defeat her in his current state—a woman whom even Gedrak served, who had a whiff of magic about her.

Finally, Talish nodded. "It would seem you've patched up my loose ends." She nudged Nye's blade, turning Gedrak's head back and forth. Then she turned around and left as calmly as she had arrived.

An unnerving silence filled the corridor, broken only by Blit's heaving breaths.

"Allyra!" He spun around, unsure what he would do, when suddenly more unexpected visitors burst into the corridor. Men and women in brigandines, wearing red scarfs with an ale mug embroidered on them.

Two of them rushed to Allyra and knelt at her side. One muttered something that sounded suspiciously like a prayer while the other wrenched Gedrak's blade from her belly.

"What are you doing?" Blit growled.

"She'll be all right, Blit," said one. Blit blinked. It was the barkeep from the Puddleglut.

Allyra gasped, then fell back down, breathing.

The barkeep smiled in relief and said again, "She'll be all right."

Blit's heart became ten times lighter. He didn't know what means the Caydenites had to save her from a wound like that, but he didn't much care either. She was alive!

He stood, bumping his head on the ceiling, and felt suddenly self-conscious. He didn't want her to see him like this. He looked around at Gedrak, at Sidro and Kip, at the slaves making their way out into the night. He shouldn't be here either. He hunted for an invisibility extract in the tattered pieces of his cloak and found one still unbroken.

The next moment, the Caydenites were alone.

∗ ∗ ∗

It took him until sunrise to pack what remained of his equipment. He would've finished sooner, but (one) he was hurt and (two) his claws had kept getting in the way until his mutagen finally wore off. Packing up was bitter but familiar work. Even bitterer would be the work of finding a new home.

"What are you doing, Blittervy?"

He hadn't heard Allyra open the door. She hunched over, one arm wrapped over her stomach in an enormous bandage. Had she walked here like that?

"Blittervy? Really?" Blit sneered, then shook his head. "Town's run me out again. Time to move on."

"Run you out?" She slammed the door behind her. "What the hell are you talking about? You're a hero!"

"Well I can't work as a Patch Man anymore, can I? Gedrak's gone, sure, but he's not the only guild boss that used to hire me. They'll all hear of this, maybe come after me just to make sure I don't turn on one of them, too."

"Oh." She looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I forget, you've been on your own for so long."

He snorted. "I gotta say, being a hero's even less practical than a fiend-blooded alchemist."

She came up behind him and touched his shoulder. Softly, she said, "I saw you, you know, when you were fighting Gedrak."

He froze. "You saw...?" He never wanted her to see, never wanted anyone to see, what he truly was.

"It was amazing." She squeezed his shoulder, once again making him feel awkward as hell. "But it wasn't you, any more than those human masks you wear."

Blit didn't know what to say to that.

Examining the paraphernalia in his pack, she said, "Have you considered the clergy? The Lucky Drunk could use someone like you."

He laughed loudly, then found he couldn't stop laughing until long after his chest started hurting. "No," he finally said, wiping a tear. "No, I don't think the Drunk wants someone like me at all."

"You never know." She took a deep breath. "Anyway, listen. I'm not supposed to tell you this, but my order has this potion—a great secret, mind you—that's said to reveal one's true self. If you wanted—"

He rolled his eyes. "It's beer. You're talking about beer."

She laughed. "Yeah, want some?"

Blit looked at his pack, at his tiny room that he couldn't stay in any longer, and smiled. "You know what? I really do."

Coming Soon: A mission to the island of Veedesha in Chapter One of Evey Brett's "Diamond in the Rought."

Adam Heine is the Design Lead for the computer RPG Torment: Tides of Numenéra. His fiction has appeared in Beneath Ceaseless Skies and Thaumatrope. Find him online at adamheine.com.

Illustration by Kuba Witowski.

Season of the Shackles Updates

Tuesday, February 3, 2014

Hello, Pathfinders. I hope the Price of Infamy Adventure Deck is treating you well? And by "treating you well," I of course mean thoroughly beating you up before you battle back and achieve exciting victory.

We're most of the way through our inaugural Adventure Card Guild season, and the response has been pretty positive. We've got a few changes and clarifications to make, and then at the end you get pudding. How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?

Your Meat

In the original, bleeding-edge store release of the season so far, players don't receive their role cards until the end of Adventure 4. There was a reason for this, but for a few different reasons, (cue millions of voices suddenly crying out in terror before suddenly being silenced), we're changing this. Effective today, the rewards for Adventure 4 and Adventure 3 are swapped, meaning that you get your role card (and your new power feat that you can use on your role card) at the end of Adventure 3, and access to the Letter of Marque and Pirate's Favor (as well as another feat) at the end of Adventure 4. Blame the Empire.

We've also made some small tweaks to a few scenario powers and rewards, as well as some templating changes. To wit:

Scenario 02-C Revenge of the Fishfolk: Krelloort can no longer attempt to hide forever behind the comforting bulk of Hirgenzosk, as Pinnacle Atoll has been replaced by Raker Shoals. We've also clarified that everyone's boon type choices are shuffled together to form the treasure stack.

Scenario 04-A A Tale of Two Alchemists: This scenario originally gave out a loot card that allowed you to remove it from the game to gain a skill feat. The idea behind giving that out as opposed to a skill feat is that in a particular tight spot, you might choose a non-primary skill to improve. Maybe Flenta reeeeeally wants to impress that Rogue Ape, so she gives up her loot for a much-needed Charisma bump. Player feedback let us know that this overhead was more trouble than it was worth and was also subject to serious abuse, so we've simplified the reward. Now, once during an encounter, you can choose a skill feat. Same idea, but simpler, with less overhead.

Finally, I want to talk a bit about the Adventure Path reward and how it will work. After you complete all six adventures, you'll unlock the loot item Councilor's Ring. (No, you may not have a sneak peek at it. Where's the fun in that?) Anyway, you will be able to assign that item to a new character in the upcoming Season 1, Season of the Righteous. That character will be able to use it as if it came in her Class Deck box. We're not sending all zillion ACG players a copy of the card—sorry—but we will make sure that the PDF of the card is sized for easy printing and sleeving.

I think of this style of boon as a legacy item. Editor Brian Campbell likes to talk about the heirloom ring that his character's ancestor passed down to his current character. Characters that unlock the ring might also find other ways to use it in the future, but we'll save that for another day.

Your Pudding

MOAR CARD SPOILERS!

Om nom nom, Biter bites the bad guy's butts.
-Harsk's Song (not really)

Everyone's favorite badger makes an appearance in Iconic Heroes Set #2 and if the card isn't enough to make you want him, check out the miniature.

I make old-man Ezren good at everything and also keep him from running around naked!

I look forward to seeing the first playthrough of Skull & Shackles with Ezren, Wizard-Captain of the Inner Sea.

Until next time, Pathfinders!

Tanis O'Connor
Adventure Card Game Designer

Official Call for PaizoCon 2015 Volunteers

Monday, February 2, 2015

For PaizoCon 2015, we plan to make Organized Play even bigger than last year! I am scheduling 210 tables of Pathfinder Society over four days. We will be offering all Season 6 scenarios available to date multiple times, including the debut of two new scenarios. In addition, we will be running scenarios in both the existing campaign mode, as well as the Core Campaign mode. There will multiple tables of both modes of play run in every slot.

We are also adjusting the schedule of Pathfinder Society Roleplaying and Adventure Card Guild games being offered this year. After last year's show, we heard many of you say that while you love PFS, you want to experience more of the convention. Now that PaizoCon is a four day convention, we have the ability to be more flexible with the schedule.

The morning slots each day will host no less than 11 different PFS scenarios in both existing campaign mode and Core Campaign mode. The afternoon slot each day will be left open so attendees can participate in seminars (including GM 101 and GM 201 sessions), have time to look around the PaizoCon store, have more time to schedule lunch and dinner, and more opportunities to participate in the other events and activities at the show. For the diehard PFS fans who want to play a roleplaying or card game scenario in the afternoon slot, there will be tables available in the open gaming area, though we will not be officially scheduling GMs for those slots.

In addition to scenarios, we will be debuting the Season 7 Gen Con Special on Friday night. This will not be a playtest version. This Special will be the full version that is scheduled to run at Gen Con! We will only have the existing campaign mode of tables being run at PaizoCon. However, we will be offering Core Campaign mode tables, in addition to existing campaign mode, of the special at Gen Con.

We will also be offering a new type of special on Sunday night! Since the Aspis Consortium plays an important part in fighting the Pathfinder Society in the Season 7 Special, we wanted to offer players a chance to see the other side of the story. Players will get the opportunity to play pregenerated Aspis agents and attempt to defeat the Pathfinder Society! If the event sells out, don't worry. We will also be running it as a special event one day at Gen Con 2015. After Gen Con, this pregenerated event will be available to all four and five star GMs to run as exclusives in their local areas. And yes, we do have something in the works that will be a five star GM exclusive as well. It will be announced on the Gen Con call for volunteers blog in a few weeks.

Finally, we be offering the GM 101 and GM 201 sessions again in the Friday and Saturday afternoon slots. It should be an awesome time.

I need a minimum of 75 volunteer GMs for Pathfinder Society games and I'll keep taking volunteer GMs until the slots are filled! I also need 7 Volunteer Assistants for the show—these folks will not GM, but will instead help Venture-Captain Bob Jonquet, the lead HQ volunteer, run Pathfinder Society HQ, and will be our go-to guys and gals for all things Pathfinder Society.

If you're more interested in volunteering for the Adventure Card Guild, we need 5 volunteers for for each slot. Card game volunteers will be assisting 2 tables during each slot. These volunteers will be working the same time slots as the Roleplaying Guild and may receive the same tier rewards.

Below you will find the reward structure for volunteering at PaizoCon 2015. Keep in mind that you're volunteering for slots, not a specific event. We will let you know the slots you have been assigned to before the event lottery goes live. This should allow you plenty of time to plan a schedule with your friends who are also attending PaizoCon 2015.

Volunteer Tiers and Rewards

Volunteer Assistant
7 needed, treated as a Tier 1 volunteer

Tier 1 Volunteers
Tier 1 volunteers are invaluable to making the show a success! Tier 1 volunteers must select and volunteer for a MINIMUM of 6 slots. I only have room for 30 Tier 1 volunteers, so don't delay in volunteering for this tier. Volunteers will be chosen on a first-come, first-served basis, though I reserve the right to select volunteers who have previously worked for Paizo over new volunteers. Please do not volunteer for Tier 1 if you have any doubts that you'll be able to attend the show. Tier 1 volunteers receive:

• A FREE 4-Day PaizoCon 2015 badge
• A $10-per-slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after, including with your subscriptions
• A FREE copy of one printed Paizo product of your choice from the PaizoCon 2015 convention store. Products must be priced at $59.99 or less (excludes preorders or backorders). Email paizocon@paizo.com with your product choice and it will be reserved for you at the convention store.
• A FREE Pathfinder Society goblin volunteer t-shirt
• A special Pathfinder Society GM boon available only at PaizoCon

Tier 2 Volunteers
While the rewards for volunteering for this tier are smaller, the majority of my volunteers will come from Tier 2. Tier 2 volunteers must select and volunteer for a MINIMUM of 5 slots. Tier 2 volunteers receive:

• A FREE 4-Day PaizoCon 2015 badge
• A $10-per-slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after, including with your subscriptions
• A FREE Pathfinder Society goblin volunteer t-shirt
• A special Pathfinder Society GM boon available only at PaizoCon

Tier 3 Volunteers
This is the minimum volunteer level. Tier 3 volunteers must select and volunteer for a MINIMUM of 3 slots. Tier 3 volunteers receive:

• A $10-per-slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after, including subscriptions.
• A FREE Pathfinder Society goblin volunteer t-shirt
• A special Pathfinder Society GM boon available only at PaizoCon.

We will also gladly accept anyone who wants to run just one or two slots during the show. Those who do will receive a $10-per-slot voucher for Paizo.com credit, useable at the show or anytime after, including subscriptions.

Volunteer Slot Schedule

Slot 1: Friday, May 22, 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Slot 2: Friday, May 22, 7:00 PM to Midnight
Slot 3: Saturday, May 23, 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Slot 4: Sunday, May 24, 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Slot 5: Sunday, May 24, 7:00 PM to Midnight
Slot 6: Monday, May 25, 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM

How to Volunteer

Provide and be specific about what days you are interested in volunteering for. I will assign folks to scenarios on an as-needed basis. You may also include the tier of scenarios you are most comfortable GMing and I will try to assign you that schedule accordingly. I will update the needs in the thread below as I receive volunteers, so you may look there to remain up to date on where we still need help.

You must have a paizo.com account and include the email the account is registered with, along with your messageboard name in your email to me, or I won't be able to get you a badge (Tier 1/2 Volunteers) or the appropriate scenarios in your downloads.

If you're interested in volunteering at PaizoCon 2015, email me at mike.brock@paizo.com with the subject "PaizoCon Volunteer".

Thanks in advance for volunteering, good luck, and have a great spring convention season!

Mike Brock
Global Organized Play Coordinator