Behind the Book—Liar's Bargain

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

It's no secret that I find Tim Pratt hilarious. I first got a taste of his snarky humor back in 2012 in his first Pathfinder Tales novel, City of the Fallen Sky—and Skiver remains one of my favorite supporting characters—but it was in 2013's Liar's Blade that he introduced the charming con man Rodrick and his talking sword Hrym and won my heart forever.

Illustration by Eric Belisle

See, humorous fantasy is really, really difficult to do well. If you're not careful, it can end up feeling juvenile or corny, or else become a farce—a wink-nudge pastiche that is as much laughing at fantasy as with it. Tim's humor, on the other hand, comes from the characters he creates. The world isn't designed to be humorous—it's as serious as our own—but the characters find the humor inherent in even the bleakest circumstances, often at their own expense. This is Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser territory, as well as that of glorious 80s action-comedies like Die Hard and Lethal Weapon, and the snappy self-aware dialogue of a Tarantino or George Clooney character. It's bombastic action that understands the frequent absurdity that goes hand in hand with being awesome.

Which is why, when Tim pitched me on the idea of a new Rodrick and Hrym novel with the phrase "Rodrick and Hrym join the Suicide Squad," I was hooked. Where Liar's Island had been a chance for us to check out Jalmeray in a way we hadn't since the module Cult of the Ebon Destroyers, this book would focus on some of our more familiar settings: Lastwall and Nirmathas. It'd also give Tim the chance to invent a bunch of high-end criminals, and make them all try to work together, which goes about as well as trapping a bunch of cats in a sack. (When Rodrick's starting to sound like the reasonable one, you know you're in trouble.) Add in a favorite monster from the very birth of Pathfinder, and I was sold.

I deeply enjoyed the chance to ride along with the Bickering Duo again in Liar's Bargain, and I hope you will as well!

James L. Sutter
Creative Director

Pathfinder and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Tup

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Free RPG Day 2016 has come and gone, and if you went to your friendly local game store or happened to stop by the ACG area at Origins, you got up close and personal with the Prince of Darkness! The Bale-flame of Naughtiness! The Dragon-Sired Master of Really Massive Bonfires! Ladies and gentlemen, I give you TUP THE TERRIBLE!

Master of stick-men! Rider of sheep!

As you can see, our friend Tup is a pyromaniac. He's got a sorcerer-style spell blast (but he's a goblin, so it's expensive). And if he uses a spell to trigger that blast, he gets a random spell from the box in return. In play, this results in a somewhat... erratic spellcaster, and with a hand size of 6, Tup tends to take it on the chin.

He's also surprisingly personable, for a goblin. When he was exiled from Thistletop, Tup wandered the countryside, stealing random clothes off farmhouse clotheslines to ward off the cold. He now tells people that he's a really short leper, and for some reason people buy it. Probably because he's so helpful. He really wants to help you. For me, Tup will forever be played by Mike Selinker, eagerly asking every time I attempt a check if he can help. I said yes once, and he grinned wider than I've ever seen him grin. Then he wiped out my hand.

But I did succeed at the check, so... all's well?

Tup has a role card showcasing two of his many ceremonial titles, as well as a cohort: his trusty riding sheep Deliverance. And by "trusty" I mean "startled by just about anything and prone to tactical withdrawal."

Make sure to read the role flavor text.

Tup the Bale-flame is all about the burning. Want help? He'll burn you. If he needs help, he'll burn himself. You got fire stuff? When you're done with it, he can still use it. Tup's a conservationist arsonist. There are even options for players who want to take Tup in a friendlier direction: he can take feats to reduce Fire damage dealt to himself and to others. The design team might look down its nose at you a little bit—after all, goblins are meant to live gloriously short lives and meet gloriously brutal ends—but we're a full-service organization.

Pathfinder Adventure Card Game subscribers will be getting Tup for free (along with a fistful of other promo cards!) with the first Mummy's Mask shipment in October. Not an ACG subscriber, or just can't wait? He'll also be available for purchase starting July 1 right here at paizo.com, and we'll be bringing him to Gen Con as well.

I hope you've enjoyed this taste of Tup, because July might as well be named Goblin Month! Next week, you'll get a preview of one of the two July Adventure Card Game Class Deck releases: the Goblins Fight! Deck.

Until next time, Pathfinders!

Tanis O'Connor
Adventure Card Game Designer

New Adventures to Kick Off Summer

Monday, June 27, 2016

August 4th, the first day of Gen Con Indy, draws ever nearer, so Linda and I are industriously preparing the huge swath of new adventures leading up to and kicking off the new Season 8: Year of the Stolen Storm. Back when I was first pitching the new All for Immortality seeker arc, adding two extra adventures onto the end of the season seemed quite reasonable. Now that Linda and I are in the thick of developing (and writing) these adventures, we sometimes have that moment where we rock back and forth slightly while giggling madly anytime someone asks how things are coming along. I like to explain that we're laughing about the cruel creativity of this month's authors, who have crafted some delightful stories, encounters, and NPCs. Once you see what's coming out this month, I think you'll agree.

Illustrations by Sebastian Gomez

Back in Season 5, I realized that the Pathfinder Society hadn't traveled to the Mwangi Expanse in earnest for many years, so I set aside some space in Season 6 to explore this region. We got to adventure in the cities of Bloodcove and Nantambu as well as experience the diverse environments along the Sargavan border, and the feedback we received was very positive. Folks wanted to see more of Nantambu, and there was a lot of interest in seeing more of the Mwangi Expanse—especially another adventure with some pulp "exploring the unknown" elements. I contacted Pathfinder Society Open Call and Phantom Phenomena author Brian Duckwitz to write this month's Pathfinder Society Scenario #7-24: Dead Man's Debt and apply his flair for wilderness encounters to the ongoing developments around Nantambu's Pathfinder lodge. In this Tier 1-5 adventure, the PCs head deep into the jungle to uphold the Pathfinder Society's honor, and in the process they'll have a great opportunity to observe the Ekujae elves' culture—perhaps at spearpoint!

Illustration by Ben Wootten

Season 6 also saw a major overhaul of the PC factions as each of the "national" factions gravitated toward more philosophical goals. When the Cheliax faction evolved into the Dark Archive, several players were concerned that without a Chelish connection, their Hellknight PCs would no longer be relevant in the Pathfinder Society. The short answer is that Hellknight PCs are still welcome so long as they honor the Society's principles. The slightly longer answer is that Hellknights are a rather charming organization because their interest in opposing or collaborating with the Society depends a lot on context. Much as I tried to express that Hellknights don't need a Cheliax faction, I knew the best way to demonstrate that would be in a scenario. The basic premise for Pathfinder Society Scenario #7-25: Orders from the Gate has been floating in my head for some time, and only recently did I identify both the right Tier 5-9 slot and the right author. Cole Kronewitter is another Open Call veteran and Phantom Phenomena author who really distinguished himself for his atmospheric descriptions, dialogue, and use of the setting, and for this adventure he consistently wowed us with his increasingly creepy and flavorful encounter design. The PCs get to work with the Order of the Gate Hellknights in order to stop a common foe, and over the course of the scenario, they may also find common ground with these allies. For those of you who asked for a fun "law vs. chaos" adventure, dig in! Not sure why you should be as excited about Hellknights as we are? Check out this preview for this month's Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Path of the Hellknight!

In April, contributor Thurston Hillman kicked off the first dedicated seeker-level content in five years with Pathfinder Society Scenario #7-20: All for Immortality, Part 1: First Taste of Eternity. The recent troubles in Thuvia have pointed to a mastermind in Nidal who conducts otherworldly research in her hidden laboratories. In this month's Pathfinder Society Scenario #7-26: All for Immortality, Part 2: All the Gods Beyond, editor-in-chief F. Wesley Schneider and developer Amanda Hamon Kunz have teamed up to deliver a Tier 12-15 terror (complete with a bruising, just-for-bragging-rights hard mode option). I hesitate to share too much and spoil the adventure, so I'll just encourage you to dust off those high-level characters and play!

Pathfinder Society Character Sketch Competition Winner!

Congratulations and the prize of $30 in paizo.com store credit goes to Femme Fatale d'Avignon, who submitted an illustration of their character "Phaedra Lingalare"! Our two runners up Crescentmoon and Redwald will each be receiving $10 of paizo.com store credit for each of their brilliant sketches! Be sure to take another look at the winning entries and the other awesome submissions we received here.

Gen Con Update

Although tickets went quickly for our upcoming interactive event, there are still open seats for Thursday night's special Serpents' Ire and Saturday night's special Through Maelstrom Rift. In Serpents' Ire, you depict cutthroat agents dispatched to learn who's stealing from the Aspis Consortium and shut down their operation—permanently. This continues the behind-the-scenes story of the Consortium and its rising stars and gives players another chance to exercise their darker side as they uncover serious secrets all but unknown to the Aspis leadership.

You may have heard that in Through Maelstrom Rift, the players portray elemental guardians who seek to preserve the balance of the planes, but so far we haven't talked about the characters. In the Aspis Consortium adventures, the players have portrayed humans scallywags, elven experiments, and even the occasional monstrous humanoid or worse. In traveling to the Plane of Air, though, Linda's had a chance to ditch Core Rulebook races altogether. We figured that this might be a good opportunity to introduce you to the smallest member of the team, an aspiring bard with the bravery of a warrior three size categories larger than she. Can you really say no to a face like that? Neither can I, which is why I encourage you to head over to the Gen Con sign-ups and grab a ticket now!

John Compton
Pathfinder Society Lead Developer

Friday Publisher Preview: Feelin' Crabby

Friday, June 24, 2016

It’s been a long, long week filled with sick days and budgets and other things that make Erik a dull boy, so here at the end of Friday, with the prospect of Saturday staring me in the face, I thought it might be fun to focus on a couple of miniatures that seem well suited to my current mood. Nothing makes me feel better than miniatures (ok, well, almost nothing), and this week’s previews are especially tasty. Both are from the new Deadly Foes set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic miniatures that is currently slated for an October release.

Here we have my current mood’s namesake, the Giant Crab, in all his crabby glory. These guys come up in play enough that I knew I wanted to include one in a set. I’m happy to report that the Giant Crab is a common figure, so you can send a whole swarm of them at your player characters the next time they decide to let their guard down while enjoying an afternoon at the beach. The Giant Crab is a Medium figure.

Sometimes when you’re in a bad mood, all you really need is a hug. The Flying Ray is very happy to lend a couple of gnarly skin flaps to the cause, cloaking you in its warm embrace. Once inside, you’ll never want to leave! The Flying Ray is a Large, uncommon figure.

That’s it for today’s blog, and for today, really. And not a moment too soon! We’ll see you next week with a couple more exciting reveals from Deadly Foes!

Until then, I remain...

Erik Mona
Publisher

Prepare to Raise Hell

Friday, June 24, 2016

In this final preview of Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Path of the Hellknight, I figured I'd touch on the Hellknight arsenal—rules-wise the book's meatiest chapter—and wrap things up with glimpses of the remaining three major Hellknight orders. So let's dive right in!

Hellknight Arsenal

The most rules dense section of Path of the Hellknight comes at the very end. While there's certainly plenty of content in here for GMs planning to pit their PCs against Hellknight foes, in truth, this section is designed to give players a ton of new options for their Hellknight characters. A host of new traits, feats, spells, and equipment provide a spectrum of new ways to make your character feel more like a driven and entrenched Hellknight, while details on existing cavalier orders and inquisitor inquisitions recast existing options to further the Hellknights' agendas. You'll also find new options for those taking the Hellknight prestige class, the Order of the Ennead Star cavalier order, and more. There is a ton of super cool content in this chapter worth showing off...

So, moving right along to our final three major Hellknight orders!

Illustrations by Damien Mammoliti and Richard Suwono

Order of the Pyre

Symbol tower rising from flames

Headquarters Citadel Krane, near Ostenso

Leader Lictor Rouen Stought (LN female human ranger 6/Hellknight^ISWG 4)

Members atheists, former cultists, members of mainstream religions, victims of dangerous radicals

Armor Features bladed armor, horned and skull-like helm

Favored Weapon glaive

Reckoning Burn yourself over an open flame. Once per day as an immediate action, you can gain fire resistance 10 for 10 minutes. This does not stack with resist energy or any other abilities that provide fire resistance and overlaps with protection from energy.

Whether unhealthy beliefs take root in the minds of religious fanatics, practitioners of strange mystical arts, or students of radical philosophies, the Order of the Pyre strives to stamp out all outlandish convictions. This philosophy has given these Hellknights a well-earned reputation as cultist hunters who are intolerant of religion. Yet the Order of the Pyre also seeks to thwart philosophical revolutions and the insidious spread of dangerous ways of thinking. The order uses the faiths and mores of Chelish society as the standard of acceptable beliefs. The Inner Sea region's most common deities are acceptable to them, as are orderly philosophies such as diabolism and the Prophecies of Kalistrade. However, the order views whatever doesn't mesh with Chelish thinking or doesn't have an existing role within society as dangerous.

Followers of the Pyre can expect to learn more about the group's witch-hunting methods, their costal citadel and black armored fleet of ships, and a variety of feats and magic items perfect for hunting down practitioners of dark faiths an traditions.

Illustrations by Damien Mammoliti and Richard Suwono

Order of the Rack

Symbol a spiked wheel

Headquarters Citadel Rivad, near Westcrown

Leader Lictor Darcyne Wrens (LN female human sorcerer 10/Hellknight^ISWG 1)

Members denigrators of art and poetry, patriots, technology-haters, traditionalists

Armor Features muscular design, sleek helm, flayed cloak

Favored Weapon longsword or whip

Reckoning Endure internal burns. Gain a +4 bonus on Fortitude saving throws to resist poison. This increases to +6 against ingested poisons.

The Order of the Rack numbers among the Hellknight orders that the public most loathes. The order has a reputation for raiding the homes of those who speak out against the status quo, and for breaking up groups of malcontents before they become guilds, unions, or revolutionaries. They are the enemies of foreign ideals and innovations, not because they lack merit, but because they detract from what these Hellknights perceive to be the traditional values of southern Avistan. Art and technology are viewed as wasteful or dangerous, especially when they meet in union. None can say how many valuable printing presses Hellknights of the Rack have destroyed, or how many thousands of pages of unique stories, songs, and philosophies they have burned in the shadow of Citadel Rivad. All of this is summarized in the Order of the Rack's symbol, the torturer's wheel, which the order sees as the embodiment of wayward thinking and the suffering manifested by those permitted to indulge their ideas.

Those seeking to join the Order of the Rack can expect to learn more about this groups strict hierarchy, their hazing traditions, technologies and texts targeted for destruction, the Hellknight's first citadel, dozens of character options, a new poison, and a variety of crippling feats. Developments within the order also see the rise of a new commander, Lictor Darcyne Wrens, and the full story associated with that power shift.

Illustration by Damien Mammoliti

Order of the Scourge

Symbol star of bleeding lashes

Headquarters Citadel Demain, near Egorian

Leader Lictor Toulon Vidoc (LN male human rogue 2/fighter 4/Hellknight^ISWG 10)

Members constables, informants, the poor, victims of organized crime

Armor Features serrated breastplate, horned helm

Favored Weapon heavy mace, scourge (see page 48), or whip

Reckoning Lash yourself with a scourge or whip. Take 1 fewer point of bleed damage per round when you are affected by an ability or effect that causes bleed damage and gain a +4 bonus on Heal checks to stop bleeding.

The oldest organization of Hellknights, the Order of the Scourge seeks to root out corruption in any form. Its members hunt for political manipulation and abuses of power, but their efforts also include an endless war against organized crime. At the fringes of its influence, the Order of the Scourge might hunt gangs of burglars or cutpurses, but in the heart of Cheliax these Hellknights crusade against faceless guilds of thieves, sprawling criminal organizations, and nobles for whom crime has become a family business. This regularly pits the Order of the Scourge against some of the most dangerous powers in Cheliax, including members of the nation's government.

Illustration by Mariusz Gandzel

Members of the Order of the Scourge can also expect much more on their particularly urban group's methods, Citadel Demain—the de facto headquarters of all Hellknight orders—tenets, characters options, the new faceless enforcer vigilante archetype, and more!

That's it for glimpses into Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Path of the Hellknight! Look for it on your local game store's shelves soon or snag it right now here on paizo.com. I'm already looking forward to hearing about all the new Hellknight characters the book spawns, not to mention how all these merciless tools finally let you stamp out the forces of chaos in your campaign.

Best of luck lawbringers!

F. Wesley Schneider
Editor-in-Chief

Liar's Bargain Sample Chapter

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

When caught stealing in the crusader nation of Lastwall, veteran con man Rodrick and his talking sword Hrym expect to weasel or fight their way out of punishment. Instead, they find themselves ensnared by powerful magic, and given a choice: serve the cause of justice as part of a covert team of similarly bound villains—or die horribly. Together with their criminal cohorts, Rodrick and Hrym settle in to their new job of defending the innocent, only to discover that being a secret government operative is even more dangerous than a life of crime...

Chapter 3: A Conversation Through Bars

Rodrick's experience of the nations around Lake Encarthan had given him the impression that it was a land of timbered buildings and towering trees and dirt floors, so he'd expected Vellumis to be basically an immense fort.

It was with great surprise, then, that he turned his head to see a gleaming city of marble domes, immense archways, glistening white walls, and elaborately carved eaves. While Vellumis didn't match the majesty of Absalom, or even his home city of Almas, it was without a doubt a real city, and Rodrick felt himself begin to relax for the first time in weeks. Yes, he was a prisoner, and if he couldn't talk his way out of his predicament, Hrym would have to freeze a great number of noble crusaders to allow Rodrick to escape. But still, this was a city, the kind of place where he was most at home, the kind of place where great things could happen, the kind of place where fools and their money could be most expeditiously parted.

The cart curved around the outskirts of the city until it finally approached a domed fortress of stone surrounded by a high wall. "The Bastion of Justice," the guard said. "Some of the best dungeons in all of Lastwall down there, I'm told."

Rodrick thought about that. "Best... as in... most pleasant for prisoners? Or best as in most effective at destroying a prisoner's will to live?"

The guard just smiled.

The gates opened, and the cart rolled into a courtyard full of military bustle: crusaders training, grooms doing things to horses, people running to and fro with urgency. The clash of steel on steel, the clang of hammers shaping metal, the smell of forge fires—Rodrick found it all terribly depressing. They were so organized. How could anyone stand it?

A crusader with a round helmet jammed on her head approached, frowning. "Do you have a prisoner for us?"

The captain nodded. "One for Underclerk Temple, I think."

The crusader whistled. "Really? Let me see." She climbed up onto the cart, and instantly drew her sword, leveling it at Rodrick. "Why does the prisoner still have a weapon?"

The captain sighed. "Because his sword is sentient and magical and promised to murder anyone who tried to disarm his master."

"It's true," Hrym said. "Except he's not my master. We're partners. He's the junior partner, really."

"No one needs to murder anyone," Rodrick said. "This is just a misunderstanding, and it can all be worked out. I'm a fighter for the side of good myself, mainly, just fallen on hard times lately."

The official nodded slowly, but didn't sheathe her sword. "Yes. One for Temple, indeed. Sir, you do realize you're in the middle of Vellumis, a city of battle-hardened crusaders?"

"I've noticed, yes. Lovely city, too. Much nicer than I expected."

"Will you hand over the sword, so we can talk without quite so much... tension?"

"It's not up to me, I'm afraid. Hrym, would you like to go with this nice crusader?"

"No," Hrym said.

Rodrick gave an apologetic shrug. "Sorry. He can be very stubborn."

The woman rubbed her jaw with her free hand. "All right, then." She shouted "Clear the courtyard!" in a booming voice, and then sat staring at Rodrick for three full minutes, the force of her attention entirely withering his attempts to dazzle her with a charming smile. After the courtyard had emptied of all personnel, including the big priest and the friendly-ish spear-carrier, the crusader leaned forward and cut the ropes tying Rodrick's feet. She stepped out of the cart and beckoned him to follow. Rodrick struggled upright and climbed out of the cart, his hands still bound in front of him, but both resting on Hrym's hilt.

She led him through deserted hallways of dark stone and down spiraling stairs, deep into the Bastion of Justice. "Not very well staffed, are you?"

"Everyone is avoiding the area until I have you secured, so if your sword does anything... inadvisable... casualties will be minimal."

"Good for everyone else. Not so good for you."

She shrugged. "Rank has its drawbacks."

"What if I froze you solid and we ran away?" Hrym said.

"Your wielder would be filled with crossbow bolts the moment he poked his head outside," she replied.

"Ah. That's what I thought," Hrym said.

"Here we are," she said eventually, gesturing.

"Ah," Rodrick said. "Yes. Only the best dungeons for me."

∗ ∗ ∗

Rodrick didn't need long to explore his new home: a small room of bare stone with straw thrown on the floor, furnished only by a bench carved from a single piece of wood, so there were no nails to pry loose or legs to break off to use as weapons. Before he had time to become too bored, a guard opened the barred door and let in a gray-haired, sour-faced man carrying a black bag.

"Hello," Rodrick said. "What's in the bag?"

"Tools of the trade."

"You aren't a torturer, are you?"

The man barked a laugh. "Depends on who you ask. I'm a chirurgeon. Mostly I cut off infected arms and legs to keep the rot from spreading, but I'm just supposed to see if you're healthy or not."

"If you try to give him a sleeping draught or harm him in any way, I will bring terrible destruction down on this place," Hrym said.

The man frowned. "A talking sword, they said. I thought they were playing a joke. Oh well. Doesn't matter to me. Swords never need tending on the battlefield, at least not from me. Stand up, would you, and stick out your tongue?"

Rodrick had undergone the occasional physical exam in the past, and this was less invasive than some: the doctor listened to his heart and lungs by pressing an ear to his chest, peered into his mouth and ears and nostrils, made Rodrick cough, prodded at his gums, asked him disgustingly personal questions about his recent bowel movements and whether he had any pain when he passed water. For the most part, Rodrick answered honestly.

"All right, I'm done." The doctor picked up his bag, which he'd never even opened.

"What's the verdict?" Rodrick said.

The man shook his head. "You don't pay me. Why should I tell you?"

A guard let the chirurgeon out, and closed the door, and that was all that happened, for a while.

∗ ∗ ∗

"I could pick the lock, if there was a lock." Rodrick examined the door of the cell. "The door seems to be sealed by magic, which isn't very sporting."

"Rodrick, I can freeze the bars and you can break them with a kick."

"True. A bit loud, though. Might bring the guards running."

"So I'll freeze them, and you kick them as well."

"I see a few flaws with that plan."

"You're softhearted, Rodrick. You should be more like me. I don't have any heart at all, soft or otherwise."

"Even if the prospect of indiscriminate murder didn't give me pause, I'm still hoping for a more elegant solution than destroying the Bastion of Justice and bringing the wrath of the entire nation of Lastwall down on us. They can be quite persistent, I understand, and I'd rather not be pursued across the continent. Though I accept that as a tactic of last resort."

The door at the end of the hall opened with a squeal of rusty hinges. Rodrick wondered if the door made that noise naturally or if they'd worked on it with dirt and sand and steel wool to create the right ominous tone.

A short, stout woman of middle age walked down the hallway at a brisk, no-nonsense pace. Her skin was dark brown, her hair curly and cropped short, with a great deal of gray mixed in with the black. She wore vaguely official-looking black robes with baggy sleeves, and carried a burlap sack in one hand. Rodrick thought she looked rather matronly, until she stopped outside the bars and smiled at him; then she looked more like someone who might eat her young, if the need arose. "My name is Underclerk Temple. I am a humble servant of the Bastion of Justice, and I've been chosen to oversee your case."

In Rodrick's experience those who described themselves as humble servants were usually neither—they tended to be zealous priests or power-mad dictators—so he nodded politely. "Very pleased to meet you. I hope we can straighten this out. It's all just a misunderstanding, really."

"Oh? You didn't try to steal a horse from a group of crusaders?"

"I did, but there were mitigating factors—"

"You needed the horse to escape the consequences of an earlier crime, yes, I heard. I don't think there's any misunderstanding. It's a simple case, hardly worthy of my attention. I don't usually bother meeting with horse thieves. I concern myself with a better caliber of criminal. But word reached me of your supposed exploits in the Lake of Mists and Veils, and of course about your wondrous sword, and my curiosity was piqued."

"My wondrous sword and I are happy to answer any questions you might have."

"Oh, I may have some later, but I spent much of last night in correspondence with some associates of mine in Andoran and Absalom—we have magic mirrors, much faster than relying on couriers to carry letters—and I think I have a full understanding of your capabilities and history. I haven't found much in the way of confirmation regarding your claim to have defeated a demon lord, but there's a certain amount of circumstantial evidence, and I have assurances that you at least believe your story to be true."

"I'm either a hero or a madman, then?"

"The difference between those two can be very slight," Temple said. "I don't think you're either one, personally. You're a thief, a confidence trickster, and an opportunist who occasionally does the right thing, when there's no more profitable alternative available. You also have a loyal friend who happens to be a magical sword as dangerous as an ancient white dragon."

"Pleased to meet you," Hrym said.

Illustration by Raymond Swanland

"Oh, good. I was afraid you might say, 'Ice to meet you,'" Temple said. "I loathe puns. But, yes, it's... interesting to meet you, too, Hrym. We don't usually lock prisoners up with their weapons, but I suppose in this case you qualify as a prisoner, too."

Hrym harrumphed. "Are you a wizard, then? Can you stop me from doing the things I do? Because if not, you should be aware I'm a prisoner for only as long as I consent to be a prisoner. Otherwise I'm just a guest in very poor accommodations."

"I am a simple bureaucrat," Temple said. "My talents are organizational, not arcane. Here, Rodrick, catch." She tossed something small and glittering through the bars, and Rodrick snatched it from the air without thinking. He opened his palm and looked down at a ruby the size of his thumbnail.

"Usually I'm the one bribing my guards, not the other way around."

"Burrow," Temple said, and Rodrick screamed as the ruby sank into the flesh of his hand with a sensation like a thousand biting insects swarming across his palm. The gem moved under his skin, and he clamped his other hand tightly around his wrist, but it did no good: he felt the gem slide beneath his gripping fingers and watched as it traveled under the skin along his inner forearm, past the crook of his elbow, scurrying over his bicep and vanishing beneath the sleeve of his shirt. He could still feel the ruby moving, like a chip of swallowed ice moving down the throat, but this icy sensation traveled to his shoulder and then down into his chest, stopping in the vicinity of his heart—at which point the sensation vanished entirely.

Hrym was shouting from the bench: "Rodrick! What's wrong? Should I kill everyone?"

"I wouldn't," Temple said mildly. "That gem is... let's say... an encouragement to good behavior."

"She gave me a ruby, Hrym." Rodrick stared at his palm, which no longer hurt, and which was entirely unmarked. "It crawled under my skin like a burrowing insect and scuttled next to my heart."

"I told you having a heart was a weakness," Hrym said.

"I always thought you meant that metaphorically." Rodrick rubbed at his chest, the banter coming weakly and automatically.

"Metaphorically too. Let me guess, Underclerk Temple: if Rodrick disobeys, the gem will, what—explode into crystal fragments, shredding his heart?"

"Not technically accurate, but practically accurate, yes. Disobedience equals death."

"And if, say, I flung an icicle through your heart right now, and blew a hole in the wall, and Rodrick and I ran off?"

"That would be rude. It also wouldn't help. If I don't speak a particular phrase each morning, the gem will do its work regardless. Killing me now would sentence Rodrick to death tomorrow."

Hrym chuckled. "This is a promising development, Rodrick."

He stared at the sword. "I... disagree. Weren't you listening?"

"Yes, but you weren't, or at least, not closely enough. If she's threatening you with death, that means they aren't planning to put you to death."

"I'm not sure slavery is preferable to death, Hrym." He still had his hand over his heart, trying not to think of crystal shards ripping him apart from the inside.

Temple clucked her tongue. "No, no. You misunderstand. It's not slavery at all. Think of it as community service. In your home country of Andoran, some minor offenses are punished not with beatings or fines or years in a dungeon, but simply by making the guilty party clean up horse dung on the streets or scrape barnacles off naval ships for a few weeks, yes? This is a similar situation. You will assist me with certain projects, and after a certain period, you will be set free, your debt to society paid. The program is quite enlightened and civilized. I have concluded that you'll be more useful to Lastwall alive than you would be dangling at the end of a rope."

"Ah," Rodrick said. "I see. You want to hurl my body into the teeth of some horrible problem you don't dare risk one of your own people on. Or is it more interesting than that? Perhaps you want me to embark on some mission that no legitimate member of Lastwall's government can undertake. If I succeed, I get no credit, and if I fail in some spectacular way—well, I'm just a rogue criminal, and your government can't be blamed for my reprehensible actions."

"What a marvelous grasp of the situation!" Temple said. "Of course, there's no reason it can't be both. I can already tell working with you will be a delight. Would you like to meet the rest of the team?"

"You mean I'm not the only luckless bastard you've roped into this scheme?"

"No, merely the latest. I'll let you out of the cell, but I'll need you to sheathe Hrym in this." She held up a long scabbard made of green crystal.

"I've had less attractive accommodations," Hrym said.

"But not more restful." Temple tapped a ring on her finger against the crystal, which rang like metal. "This scabbard is made of rare skymetal, brought at great expense from Numeria."

"I knew a man with a skymetal chainmail shirt once, and saw it turn an arrow as big as a spear fired from a giant's bow—it would have pierced plate mail." Rodrick frowned. "Of course, the impact still cracked all his ribs, and one of those punctured his lungs, but still, I was impressed. The shirt wasn't made of green crystal, though."

"Probably adamantine," she said. "This is made of noqual, and though it looks like crystal, it can be forged like iron. Noqual has fascinating properties—mainly the suppression of magic. When we sheathe Hrym here, he'll fall asleep, more or less."

"I don't like the sound of that," Hrym said.

"Nor I," Rodrick agreed.

Temple shrugged. "Consider my situation. I'm trying to make an enforceable bargain with a pair of desperate criminals. I can compel Rodrick's good behavior with that gem, but you, Hrym, are a trickier beast to reckon with. Threatening Rodrick seems to make you behave... but can I count on that to work forever? In this sheath, you can do no harm. You'll be returned to Rodrick when you're needed to help him with a mission. In the meantime, you won't be bored, and I won't have to worry about you burying the Bastion of Justice in a mountain of ice because you're offended that Rodrick stubbed his toe."

Rodrick shook his head. "Why should we believe you? What's to stop you from selling Hrym off, or presenting him as a gift to some high-ranking crusader?"

"Know this, Rodrick of Andoran." Temple leaned forward, her dark eyes fixed on his face. "I will never lie to you. Our relationship depends on my absolute power over your life and death, and that relationship renders most lies unnecessary. I may not tell you the whole truth, but anything I do tell you, you can believe. If you consent to put Hrym away in this scabbard for now, you will be reunited with him later—sooner than you think—and in the meantime, I'll introduce you to the other recruits, and explain the particulars of your new situation."

Rodrick touched his chest. He couldn't feel the ruby, but he knew it was there. "Hrym, our choices seem to be either going along with the esteemed underclerk's plans, or dying in a courageous but pointless last stand."

"I wouldn't die," Hrym said. "But I would be trapped at the center of a mountain of magical ice. Killing everyone would be satisfying, but the consequences would be boring."

"I have one stipulation, Temple. I assume these little errands you want me to run will be dangerous?"

Temple shrugged. "For someone with your skills? Not very. But accidents do happen."

"In the event of my death, Hrym is to be offered retirement on a pile of gold coins, not an eternity of dreamless sleep in a magical scabbard."

"And if I refuse?"

"Everyone has to die someday, Temple," Rodrick said. "If my day has come, I would at least have the satisfaction of taking you with me."

Temple nodded. "Very well. I'll make that amendment to your agreement. You'll have a chance to review the contract." She slid the scabbard through the bars of the cell.

Rodrick took it—the sheath was heavier than it looked—and knelt by the bench. "We'll figure something out, Hrym."

"We always do. Worst case, we can just do what she says. Perform a few tasks, and then take our freedom."

"You believe her?"

"I do. She has a trustworthy face."

"I thought all humans looked alike to you."

"Stop stalling," Hrym said. "At least in that sheath I'll get a moment's peace from your prattling."

Rodrick slid Hrym into the scabbard, which was too long for him but otherwise a good fit, and then passed him through the bars.

Temple tucked the scabbard under her arm like it was a rolled-up broadsheet. She spoke a word of magic and the cell door swung open. She beckoned, and Rodrick followed her out. He briefly considered hitting her over the head, grabbing the scabbard, and fleeing, but it was idle speculation. It was possible she was lying about the gem, but it was hardly a risk he was willing to take.

Temple took him down the familiar corridor, then through a nondescript wooden door and down a spiraling stone staircase that descended below the earth, every landing lit with a magical glowing orb. "The Bastion must be quite well funded," he said. "Most places just use lanterns."

"Ah, but with a single word I can extinguish all these lights, or cause them to flare to blinding brightness, or even to explode in cascades of fire. We're very conscious of security here in the Bastion." She didn't sound threatening at all, which was somehow even more threatening.

After taking the rest of the descent in silence, they reached a heavy door of oak banded in iron, also lacking a keyhole. Temple pressed her hand against it, and the door swung inward.

Beyond was something between a spacious apartment and a palatial office. Amazingly, natural light suffused one corner of the room, which at first Rodrick took to be magic, but then he realized there was a light well: a narrow shaft running all the way from the surface to these subterranean depths, shining on a small plot of flowering and leafy plants. The floor was stone, but liberally covered with rugs. The walls were hung with a strange assortment of items: a broken sword, the stuffed head of an orc with unusually prominent fangs, a horned iron helmet with a star-shaped hole in one side. A desk was set up against one wall, beside an apothecary's cabinet full of hundreds of small drawers and a shelf filled with volumes and scrolls. In the middle of the room there were several chairs and settees arranged around a low wooden table. There was even a kitchen of sorts: a woodstove with a teakettle on top, a cabinet full of cups and dishes, another full of dry goods, a large stone basin, and even the handle of a water pump. There was a hallway not far from the light well, with closed doors on either side and one at the end, open to reveal a set of bunk beds. This was a fully contained set of living quarters, then. As far as barracks went, he'd seen worse.

Rodrick took in the surroundings at a glance, but he spent more time looking over the people, though he tried not to make his examination obvious. The most striking of the group was a devilkin woman perched on the edge of the desk, looking entirely human apart from her crimson skin and dark blue lips. She was quite shapely, and dressed to show it off in high boots, tight breeches, and a blouse unlaced halfway down her cleavage. She had long black hair bundled into a ponytail, a pretty face, bright eyes, and a smirk that was several degrees beyond "insufferable": she looked immensely pleased with herself, and as if you should be pleased with her, too, if you had any sense.

Standing in a corner behind her was a tall man wearing a heavy brown winter cloak despite the warmth of the room. His skin was the color of curdled cream, and judging by the gauntness of his face, he must be calamitously thin and cadaverous under that cloak. His eyes were the same muddy brown as his clothing, though the whites were more like yellows: Rodrick thought of piss in a snow bank. The man looked ill, but also like he'd been ill for a very long time, and was getting along fine despite it.

The others sat by the low table, one lounging in an armchair, and the last sitting stiffly upright on a bench against the wall. The lounger was a woman of perhaps twenty-five with the features of someone from Jalmeray or the Impossible Kingdoms—dark skin, dark eyes, dark hair—but dressed in Inner Sea garb, a pale blue blouse and skirt over dark leggings and boots, with a sheathed dagger at her waist. The last was an old man in a baggy shirt with ink-stained cuffs and the attentive and acquisitive eyes of a crow, wearing a pair of pince-nez spectacles. Even so, he looked less like a scholar and more like one of those hard, sinewy old men you saw in the country, who could heave hay bales and slaughter cows all day long and still have energy left over to chase away perfectly harmless trespassers with a pitchfork.

"Welcome," Temple said, "to the first meeting of the Lastwall Volunteers."

Purchase the whole novel here!

Death is Always in the Cards (Or Maybe it Isn't)

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Let's talk about death, baby. It's become a hot-button subject since the launch of Pathfinder Adventures, where a legion of fans were presented with the choice of using a "permadeath" option or letting the fear of death fall by the wayside. There are lots of good reasons why death works the way it does in the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, so three of us are providing you with three very different perspectives on the subject. Mike will talk about death in the home version of the physical card game, Nathan will talk about death in the digital game, and Tanis will talk about death in organized play.

Mike's Take: "Permadeath, All the Time"

The Pathfinder Adventure Card Game is built on the principle that if you try to draw a card that isn't there, you've kicked the bucket, shuffled off your mortal coil, run down the curtain, and joined the bleedin' choir invisible. You are an ex-character.

The rationale for this is simple: If the danger of death isn't there, the game breaks down. If you know you can't die, you don't fear the consequences of your actions. So you might embrace what us game designers call "degenerate behavior." For example, if you know you can't die, you might forgo that offer from Kyra to heal you, and get an extra exploration. That one exploration can matter a lot.

For example, you may know that I went in for knee surgery a little while back. So I resolved to play through all of the Obsidian game that was available, through Hook Mountain Massacre. And get this: My party failed to defeat Xanesha on the final card of the blessings deck two games in a row. If I wasn't worried about them dying, there's no way I'd get in that predicament. That's how the game is balanced.

The presumption built into the game is that you're playing a campaign, and losing a character is a massive deal. I lost two characters in the run-up to that Angel in the Tower double-failure. Sajan died during Attack on Sandpoint and Lini kicked it during Local Heroes. (Let me underscore that for emphasis: She died in Local Heroes.) So the new guys, Harsk and Kyra, didn't actually ever finish Burnt Offerings, and so they missed out on the adventure's feats. They turned out a little less buff because their predecessors offed it. Now, I could go back and do those early scenarios with Harsk and Kyra, but I'm running a story here. Also, this is a moot point, since Harsk and Kyra died too, in the last scenario of Hook Mountain Massacre. I knew we named it that for a reason. We won't be seeing those four again, any more than John Cleese will ever have a functional parrot.

Nathan's Take: "Digital Dice Are Unforgiving Enough"

Let me first state for the record: When my group plays the Adventure Card Game, death is real and not forgiven. Just ask our Ekkie player who died in WotR 1.4 and had to play her cousin Rekkie solo through the first 9 scenarios to catch up.

But when it came to Pathfinder Adventures, we decided to make death less than permanent by default. Is it because we are nice? Ummm... Nope! We did invent the Darkest Night Wildcard which costs you a card from the blessings deck each time you fail to acquire a boon (which should give you some indication of our generosity). Actually, it's quite the contrary, and doesn't have much to do with game difficulty at all.

It's all about how we save games! I wanted to preserve the sanctity of rolled dice and cards found in the location deck. As the guy who has reloaded the heck out of X-COM, Civilization, and Total War to get the rolls I wanted, I understand the temptation to cheese the system's random number generator. I even would go as far as to crash Elder Sign: Omens on purpose to reroll. Is that fun? There's a not very good argument that it is, but I knew that to preserve the importance of risk and choice in Pathfinder Adventures, we had to remove the concept of "Saved Games" that you load.

Instead, you play with a party or parties. Every time you confirm an action by rolling, drawing a card, or tapping the confirmation arrow, you've made a permanent decision that can't be reversed by any means.

Okay, fine. What does this have to do with death? Put simply, if you make a mistake at the game table, it's adjudicated by people who can determine how honest the mistake was. If you make a mistake in the digital game, like you swiped to roll when you weren't ready or you didn't realize it was Lem's turn and not Valeros' when you decide to take on the villain, there's no take-backs. And if you're just learning the game for the first time and you didn't quite understand the deck-to-life equation, you might put down the game for good.

Bottom line: If you are a new casual player, enjoy non-permadeath while learning the game! The rest of you don't really have an excuse to play anything but permadeath!

Tanis's Take: "I Like to Make You Suffer, But I Don't Like to Make You Quit"

In Adventure Card Guild games, the bulk of reported play that we're seeing is weekly or fortnightly games at local game stores and game days. I'm aiming to provide a fun experience that people will make part of their routine. And as Mike and Nathan have already said, it's hard to generate an exhilarating victory without the real possibility of death or loss.

In Season of the Shackles, I decided to run with the base game's rules on advancement and death. People enjoyed themselves, but missing a week at the store because your kid was sick or because you had a conflicting event would automatically put you behind the rest of your party. And if you died late in the season? You were never going to catch up to your friends again. Social contract voided, six months of fun washed away, and a bad taste left in your mouth. Not ideal.

I've been at a table where someone's playing Adventure 5 and a character dies, and it suuuuuucks. In the Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild, usually someone at a high-level table will have a way to access resurrection magic or some kind, whether via a cleric or druid at the table or via special access to some sort of life-restoring magic earned during play. In the Adventure Card Guild, you wouldn't want to depend on a cleric having a Raise Dead in her deck. So I added a metagame system that allows players to expend pretty valuable resources—die bumps—to resurrect a fallen comrade. Die bumps are earned when characters complete an adventure, and they can be used to modify a roll after it's been made. The party can collectively expend 3 die bumps to resurrect a character at the end of a scenario. There's still pain, and dying still sucks, but I'm glad we found a way to allow people to keep playing. Like Dory, we want you to just keep playing. (This is where Disney•Pixar pays me the big bucks for nudging you to go see Finding Dory.)

If you don't like those rules, you can always go by Selinker's Law: "It's organized play, son. When your character dies, you die too."

Mike Selinker and Tanis O'Connor
Adventure Card Game Designers

Nathan Davis
Pathfinder Adventures Designer
Obsidian Entertainment

OPC Log—20 Sarenith 4716

Monday, June 20, 2016

In the northern hemisphere, the celebration of the sun is upon us as we celebrate the longest day of the year. Our compatriots in the southern hemisphere are neck-deep in winter and short nights. Lucky for all of us, Pathfinder plays just as well no matter where you are, and so we may enjoy joining a table with others, roleplaying an evening away.

And as evidenced by my Facebook feeds today, many of us did just that! While I am still in Columbus, wrapping up Origins Game Fest and waiting for my flight back to Seattle, my newsfeed overflows with posts of "arrived home", "home and unpacking" and similar updates. It pleases me immensely that everyone is posting about their experiences, as I get the chance to participate in even more cons by reading the posts.

Origins Recap

This year was my first time attending Origins. It is a longer con, stretching from Wednesday at noon to Sunday evening. While I spent most of my time at the Adventure Card Guild tables, I did get into the Roleplaying Guild room and got to observe some tables. Highlights include: Erik Mona playing his monk during #7-00 The Sky Key Solution, Friday night's run of #7-98 Serpents' Ire where players took on the role of Aspis Agents, and Sunday's tables of players dancing, flying, and moving about as they enacted scenes from We B4 Goblins.

Due to construction, our tables were set up in a different area than usual, but that didn't stop the foot traffic all weekend (which meant I got to interact with many attendees!). We had a great turnout for the Adventure Card Guild, with full tables and lots of new players. The Mummy's Mask demos were a hit, and many players expressed excitement for October's Base Set release. At one point, I ran two demos simultaneously, one on each end of the table—that was a feat! Obsidian's Pathfinder Adventures app has also created a lot of buzz and drew many people in.

Though reporting for Sunday's events still needs to be entered into the system, our current PFS session count for the show is 297! This includes both the Roleplaying and Adventure Card Guild events, and cements Origins as the third biggest convention in the PFS circuit. Though if you listen to Mike McNerney, Venture-Captain for Southern Ohio and Origins lead coordinator, he has plans to move to the number two spot over PaizoCon. Do I sense a bit of friendly rivalry here? Which con will you come out and support next year?

Campaign Coins

While at Origins, the opportunity arose to present two more Campaign Service Coins to volunteers. Both recipients spend time helping out their local lodges, as well as take on tasks that assist the greater community. PFS #759 now belongs to Luke Woods. While his title is VL—Columbus, he is the con scheduler for Southern Ohio and does analytics on the post-con data. The bearer of PFS #760, James McTeague, may be better known as an Online VL or the preparer of high-level GM tools. Congratulations to both recipients' on their accomplishments!

Other Conventions

Besides Origins, we had 3XP–Summer Edition in the United Kingdom. From all reports they had a great deal of fun, ran many games, and raised over 1200 GBP for charities. Congratulations to Carol Tierney and Chris Brockley-Blatt, the co-coordinators of the show!

Esteemed Developer Crystal Frasier returned from her adventures at Comicpalooza in Texas. Word on the street is it was a great convention, with lots of games, panels and other activities. I cannot wait to hear her stories from the convention.

To round out the weekend shows, we had Q-Con in Ireland, Polycon in California, and VL Weekend in New Zealand. I've not received much news on them, but trust the attendees had a great time and more Pathfinder goodness occurred.

Travel Schedule

I am in the office for a few days this week, then leave again to attend the American Libraries Association convention in Orlando. There we will demo games to librarians and discuss how to best utilize Pathfinder in their libraries. I cannot wait to talk to those on the ground about what they need to help introduce new players to our hobby.

Gen Con

Finally, Gen Con approaches quickly. John and Linda are busy working on scenario development—this month's offerings which John will introduce next week as well as the final parts of Season 7 and the openings of Season 8. While pre-registration for Gen Con closed yesterday, you can still purchase badges and tickets for pick-up at the convention.

There are still tickets for Pathfinder Society events, including Thursday morning tables of #7-22: Bid for Alabastrine (an adventure for levels 1-5), Sunday Morning tables of #8-01: Portent's Peril (an adventure for levels 1-5), and the Adventure Card Guild side of #8-00 The Cosmic Captive (the Friday Night interactive event). You can find the complete catalog on the Gen Con website and search for Paizo events.

We have not closed volunteer registration either. Due to unfortunate events, we do have some volunteer cancellations up until to the week of the show. If your schedule allows you a short notice assignment, please consider joining us. Registration details are in this blog.

Character Sketch Competition

Voting for our latest Pathfinder Society contest has begun! Check out the entries for our Character Sketch Competition and vote for your favorite. Voting continues until Friday, June 24 at 12:00 PM Pacific time, and we'll announce the winners the following Monday!

Until next time, Pathfinders. Remember—Explore, Report, Cooperate!

Tonya Woldridge
Organized Play Coordinator

Vote for Your Favorite Pathfinder Society Character Sketch!

Sunday, January 19, 2016

A while back, we opened up submissions to our Pathfinder Society Character Sketch Competition, and while PaizoCon swept through the office and knocked us prone, we're back and ready to show off the entries! We hope to continue to open up similar contests to give artists within the Pathfinder Society community to show off their characters and creations, so don't despair if you didn't get a chance to enter this time! I'd also like to extend a big "Thank You!" to our contestants for their patience over the last two weeks while we ramp back up to normal.

Voting opens now and continues until Friday, June 24 at 12:00 PM Pacific time. We'll be announcing the winners in the Pathfinder Society blog the following Monday.

"Celan Silverwing" by arcaneArtist	"Fang Gul" by Belabras	"Erundyl" by Crescentmoon	"Kaikarah Defies-the-Tide" by Derek Schubert
"Phaedra Lingalare" by Femme Fatale d'Avignon	"Edda Asketillsdottir Nyrkiö, aka Chaos Paw" by Gomis	"Dendro Bates" by LackofFocus	"Knight Captain Sir Kalebh Ironswift" by Redwald
"Josei Kilojarrah Blakros" by Rei	"Leuphira Razin" by thistledown	"Bloodspeaker Mea" by zefig

Chris Lambertz
Community & Digital Content Director

Goblins Invade Free RPG Day!

Saturday, June 18, 2016

Goblins have returned for this momentous occasion—Free RPG Day is here! Free RPG Day is a worldwide gaming event, aimed to bring new and exclusive adventures to local game stores to inspire new comers and long-time gamers alike. This year Paizo has contributed two new offerings for the event: Pathfinder Module: We B4 Goblins! by Crystal Fraiser and Tup the Terrible for the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game.

If you're running We B4 Goblins! at your local store, or if you've just picked it up and want to try it out, you can download the pregenerated goblin characters for your players right now. This module is also sanctioned for play in the Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild. If you're planning on playing at your local game store, there's a Free RPG Day exlusive boon for your Pathfinder Society character—you can learn more about that in last Monday's blog.

Illustrations by Kiki Moch Rizky

Illustration by Dmitry Burmak

Ready for a goblin marathon? We B4 Goblins is the fourth Pathfinder Module to feature our band of miscreant goblin adventurers: Chuffy Lickwound, Mogmurch, Poog of Zarongel, and Reta Bigbad. You can follow their other harrowing encounters with horses, dogs, and other large monsters in We Be Goblins!, We Be Goblins Too!, and We Be Goblins Free!

Pathfinder Adventure Card Game Goblin fans can pick up Tup the Terrible at game stores today, too! Tup is a Rise of the Runelords ACG character with just as much of an affinity for fire as his RPG companions. You can add Tup into your game right away, too! We've put together his character sheet below that you can drop into your own game below. And if you've got a hankering for more goblins in your game, check out Ranzak and Ekkie, or preorder a Goblins Burn! or Goblins Fight! Class Deck (due out this summer).

Download Tup's Character Sheet (108kb zip/PDF)

Won't get a chance to head out to Free RPG Day? No worries! Starting on July 1, we'll have We B4 Goblins! available as a free PDF and a $5 print product while supplies last. Tup will not available for purchase until the first day of Gen Con 2016, however, but you'll be able to preorder his promo pack soon!

Get out, game, and enjoy Free RPG Day!

Chris Lambertz
Community & Digital Content Director

Expanding the Ranks of Hell

Friday, June 17, 2016

Illustration by Leonardo Borazio

Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Path of the Hellknight hits this month! Ready to learn more about the legions you'll be joining or commanding once you've picked up the definitive guide to this deadly order?

This time around let's focus on the Hellknights' lesser-known orders, small but driven organizations ready to accept new members or that might come to oppose your wild adventuring.

Lesser Hellknight Orders

Beyond the seven well-known orders of Hellknight—Chain, Gate, Godclaw, Nail, Pyre, Rack, and Scourge—there are several minor orders. Among these are the vicious Order of the Coil, revenge-obsessed Sargavan interlopers, the Order of the Pike, a band of renowned monster hunters, and the Order of the Glyph, who you might already know from the Hell's Vengeance Adventure Path. Some of these fringe groups number among the most heroic and villainous of the Hellknight orders, but heretofore little has been said about them. The Lesser Orders section of Path of the Hellknight changes that. While these orders hold a great deal of interest and potential, especially with some of their niche focuses, they have less of a footprint in the Inner Sea Region, and, appropriately, in this book. But I didn't want to leave readers gravitating toward these orders adrift. As a result, each of these orders references which major Hellknight order it's most similar to. This guidepost points readers toward an analogous major order with options to crib from. It's a quick fix, but it opens the door to a variety of options for Hellknights of these minor orders. Beyond this, you'll find plenty of new details, histories, and options for these orders. To show off a bit of that, here's a few snippets from one, the Order of the Wall.

Illustration by Damien Mammoliti

Order of the Wall

Symbol crenellated skull

Headquarters the Gnashing Wall, south of Khari

Leader Master of Blades Atlan Essebar (LN male human fighter 8/Hellknight^ISWG 5)

Members Chelaxians born in Rahadoum, soldiers

Armor Features angular mantle, cylindrical, castlelike helm

Favored Weapon lucerne hammer (Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Equipment 19)

Reckoning repeatedly strike bricks or stone

Analogous Order Rack

Today, the order has grown from 50 members to nearer a hundred, most of whom are lawful neutral. Technically subordinate to the Order of the Chain, the Order of the Wall has no lictor, as master of blades is its highest title. In practice, though, the order functions with near autonomy. The order's mandate to defend Chelish fronts south of the Arch of Aroden has broadened over the years. Now, members stand watch at several borders—not just Chelish ones—defending civilization's frontiers. Despite the order's Chelish origins, Garundi—and specifically Rahadoumi—soldiers comprise most of the order's Hellknights. While their defense of the Gnashing Wall remains an almost religious duty, many travel across northern Garund, serving as guardians of all sorts.

So that's a bit of what you can expect in the chapter on lesser Hellknight orders. But to get back to the major orders, here are glimpses of what you can expect from the fanatical Order of the Godclaw and the frontier scouring Order of the Nail.

Illustration by Damien Mammoliti

Order of the Godclaw

Symbol five-pointed iron star

Headquarters Citadel Dinyar, in the Aspodell Mountains

Leader Lictor Resarc Ountor (LN male fighter 4/cleric 2/Hellknight^ISWG 6)

Members crusaders, religious zealots

Armor Features breastplate with clawlike vambraces, clawlike helm

Favored Weapon morningstar

Reckoning Flagellate yourself with a five-tailed lash. Whenever you are the target of a lawful divine caster's spell that heals hit point damage, you heal 1 additional point per die rolled. Additionally, if you cast divine spells, you can use the holy symbols of Abadar, Asmodeus, Iomedae, Irori, and Torag interchangeably.

Not content with seeking divine approval for their knighthood's righteous path, the Order of the Godclaw's members have sculpted their beliefs from the harshest, most exacting philosophies of five lawful deities: Abadar, Asmodeus, Iomedae, Irori, and Torag. Remade as five stern, armored paragons, the deities of this pantheon are known collectively as the Godclaw. The Hellknights follow revised doctrines to stamp out disorder, particularly its divine embodiments and beings of absolute chaos, with religious zeal. Rather than targeting the faiths of prominent religions, the order sets its eyes on supporting lawful crusades (such as the wars fought by Molthune and Mendev) and being at the vanguard of battles against the forces of chaos. No land is beyond the lawfulness provided by Hellknights—a fact the Order of the Godclaw endlessly seeks to prove.

Members of the Order of the Godclaw can also expect to learn much more about the formation of their unique order, their pentamic faith, their holdouts (and escape routes) near Citadel Dinyar, and a new Godclaw oracle mystery—for your most devout, polytheistic signifers.

Illustration by Damien Mammoliti

Order of the Nail

Symbol thick nails forming a sunburst

Headquarters Citadel Vraid, near Korvosa

Leader Lictor Severs "Boneclaw" DiViri (LE male fighter 4/rogue 2/Hellknight^ISWG 4)

Members frontiersmen, settlers, victims of barbarian and monster attacks

Armor Features breastplate emblazoned with a fiendish face, horned helm

Favored Weapon lance or halberd

Reckoning Pierce your flesh with sharp metal. Gain a +4 bonus on Knowledge (geography) checks. Additionally, if you are trained in Knowledge (geography), you automatically succeed at attempts to use that skill to identify a creature's ethnicity or accent, as long as you are familiar with that ethnicity or accent.

To certain dogmatic, rigid-minded individuals, civilization seems under siege. Beyond the bulwarks of cities and national borders lies an endless expanse of wilderness populated by those who, all too often, shun the rules of settled, lawful societies and follow their own callings. To the Order of the Nail, these beings enviously prey upon the children of the law, seeking to draw civilization into a regressive mire. The Order of the Nail stands staunchly against what it views as barbarity.

Illustrations by Caio Maciel Monteiro and Maichol Quinto

Those who throw in with the Order of the Nail can also expect to learn more about the order's harsh ideals, their tri-part citadel, a number of famous Hellknights, the circuit judge cavalier archetype, and an array of deadly magical brands. There's also a pretty neat little glimpse of the Order of the Nail's Mistress of Blades, Maidrayne Vox, slipped into the illustration of Citadel Vraid.

That's it for today's peek into Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Path of the Hellknight, but our final preview is coming soon. Keep your eyes peeled!

F. Wesley Schneider
Editor-in-Chief

A Terrible Fate Awaits You in Horror Adventures

Friday, June 17, 2016

Nothing can prepare your characters for the nightmares that will be unleashed with Horror Adventures, set to release in just under two months. In the following weeks we will be looking inside this terrifying tome, giving you just a glimpse at the madness.

Illustration by Hazem Ameen

Horror Adventures is a 256-page hardcover addition to the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, giving both players and GMs all the tools necessary to take their game to the dark corners of the world, to places where the living fear to tread, and where madness and death lurk around every corner! Inside you will find rules for sanity and madness, fear and terror. There are feats and spells for GMs to menace their players, as well as gear and magic items to help PCs fight back against the darkness.

This damnable tome also features new curses, haunts, and diseases, including ways to use these hazards in new and horrifying ways. You will also find new environment rules, hazards and an expanded system of fleshwarping. What look at the horror genre would be complete without new rules for monsters. While there are plenty of monster only feats in the book, there are also a number of new templates to add to existing creatures to make them even more menacing and a better fit for the mood of your game. The implacable stalker, for example, turns a monster into a relentless hunter, constantly tracking down your heroes, while making him nearly impossible to kill!

Of course, this book also features new rules to make the horror all the more personal for you characters in the form of corruptions. These foul afflictions taint the souls of those who they touch, tempting them into darkness and damnation. Inside Horror Adventures you will find 11 corruptions just waiting to infest your game. From blood-thirsting vampirism to the truly alien hive corruption, there is something here for any story. Each corruption features a variety of manifestations, each with a beneficial gift and a malevolent stain. Taking the gift is a choice, but it is one that will lead you further into darkness.

In future blogs we will take a closer look at these corruptions and what they mean for your game. Come back next week to learn about how you can use Horror Adventures to make a truly terrifying experience.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

Spies Are All Around Me, Spies in Every Country

Thursday, June 16, 2016

You want to know about Pathfinder Player Companion: Spymaster's Handbook? Yes, that's information we have, but it was not easily obtained. There were risks for a number of assets, and significant costs in the acquisition operations. You are valued clients of course but...

Why yes, that DOES settle the matter quite nicely, thank you.

Illustrations by Tawny Fritz and Kiri Ostergaard Leonard

Spies and information brokers are a fact of life on Golarion, for nearly any large organization. Kingdoms need to know what other kingdoms are plotting, so as to best make their own plans, while at the same time keeping their own secrets hidden. Churches, schools, guilds, and merchants have their own need to control the flow of information leaking out of their inner chambers. Many groups have dedicated espionage branches, such as the Twilight Talons of Andoran, while others combine information gathering and enforcement, as with the Silent Shroud in Nidal. Smaller or less wealthy groups often must depend on independent spymasters, which may be as simple as buying information from the Church of Calistria to as complex as putting together bands of freelancers to acquire specific intelligence.

The Spymaster's Handbook explores all these options, beginning with what causes a character to become some kind of spy. Numerous espionage backgrounds are presented, along with related traits (from Chelish Sympathyzer to Youthful Infiltrator) and drawbacks (many spies must deal with being Betrayed, or hiding some Secret Shame). Secret agendas are presented in new Story Feats, to allows an espionage character to have an element of spycraft added to their character as part of a typical ongoing campaign. New rules on information dealing allows secrets to be bought and sold as commodities, making secret-running a potentially lucrative line of work.

And of course new character options tie characters with secret to the lore of Golarion. Spy elements within groups ranging from the Blackjackets to the Starwatch are tied to be magic items, feats, and spells. Espionage spells allow you to steal a victim's face, or encourage a target to speak endlessly on a topic of your choice. And the ultimate secret-keeper, the vigilante, is given three new archetypes, and a host of social and vigilante talents.

For a little extra I can even preview one of the new spells present in the book? Ah yes, always a pleasure doing business with you.

Claim Identity

School transmutation (polymorph); Level alchemist 3, antipaladin 3, bard 3, druid 4, inquisitor 3, shaman 4, sorcerer/wizard 4, witch 3
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, M (a needle and thread)

Range touch

Target humanoid creature touched

Duration 1 hour/level

Saving Throw Fortitude negates; Spell Resistance yes


You steal the target's face, transforming yourself into a flawless imitation of it. All of the target's facial features, vocal cues, and identifying physical traits change, transforming it into an unremarkable member of its race and gender. You transform into a perfect likeness of the target's true form, as if affected by alter self, and gain a +10 bonus on Disguise checks to impersonate the original subject of this spell; you take no penalties on this check if the original target is of a different race, age, size,
or gender.

Claim identity prevents any other polymorph effects from restoring the target's true face for the spell's duration, though the target can still assume
other forms or faces via magic or any natural shapechanging ability.

Owen K.C. Stephens
Developer

Pathfinder: Origins—Not Just a Comic Book Anymore!

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Short blog today, because this week brings the Origins Game Fair to fabulous Columbus, Ohio. It's a 5-day show, and if you're in the region, I highly recommend checking it out. Good food, great games, and a wide range of stuff to entertain every type of gamer. In the last few years, the board and card game area has gotten bigger and better, and the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game is part of that growth.

Organized Play Coordinator Tonya Woldridge will be on the scene, helping Venture-Captain Mike McNerney run many, many tables of Pathfinder Society. The Roleplaying Guild offerings will be packing the Franklin rooms at the Hyatt end of the convention center as usual, and Adventure Card Guild play will be moving from the demo hall to the area right at the end of the breezeway near the Franklin rooms. Tonya hopes to have some iconic Pathfinder character art there to guide your way, but if you head for Franklin you'll be hard-pressed to miss the ACG area.

In that ACG area we'll have Season of the Runelords running, as well as demos of October's Mummy's Mask Base Set. The area will be open for most of the day, with 5 slots Wednesday through Saturday (check the program book for times) and 2-3 slots on Sunday. Tonya also snuck a few as-yet-unreleased class decks into her luggage; those of you who can keep quiet might get to play with them.

Double Art Spoiler!

Since I've got less to say this week, you get more pretty pictures!

From the Goblins Fight! Deck, we have Reta Bigbad's lucky pet toad Spotol.
Illustration by Marko Horvatin

From the Gunslinger Class Deck, the Cannon Master.
Illustration by Suzanne Helmigh

Until next time, Pathfinders!

Tanis O'Connor
Adventure Card Game Designer

OPC Log—13 Sarenith 4716

Monday, June 13, 2016

Given the amount of travel I do as Organized Play Coordinator, you would think I've gotten better at packing. I'm currently surrounded by my suitcase, Class Decks for the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, and a pile of Paizo shirts, considering how best to get everything into my bag. No matter how many times I do this, I still fret that I haven't remembered everything I needed to pack. But, somehow, it all gets into the bag and I'm off to the airport! I off to Origins tomorrow and am looking forward to seeing more Pathfinders. If you're at the show, please stop by and say hi! Better yet, come see the new Mummy's Mask demo for the Adventure Card Game. This Base Set has a few tricks up its sleeve that are really cool!

This blog is another conglomeration of topics. None of them need enough space for their own blog, but each of them involves news that I want to share it with you. So if you want to know more about Free RPG Day, Gen Con events, Faction Pin bonuses, Regional Venture-Coordinators, and campaign flavor, read on. Otherwise, have a great week gaming and I'll see you next Monday!

Free RPG Day

This Saturday, June 18 is Free RPG Day! On the roleplaying side of things, the team got together and sanctioned We B4 Goblins, this year's module written by the fantastic Crystal Frasier, for use in Pathfinder Society organized play. For Adventure Card Game, we see the debut of of Tup the Terrible, goblin pyromancer extraordinaire.

Sanctioning documents and pregenerated characters have been added to the product page for We B4 Goblins. This year, in addition to the regular chronicle, we've included a boon for those playing the module in a retail location on Free RPG Day, which grants your character a commerative toad for use in future scenarios.

Gen Con Events

Considering going to Gen Con but haven't gotten your tickets? Already going, but not sure what to participate in? Check out the two newest pregenerated character specials!

On Thursday night at 8:00 PM, once again don the guise of Aspis Agents at Gen Con event RPG1697556—PFS Special #7-98: Serpents' Ire (Level 8). Someone skimmed profits from the Aspis Consortium to fund daring experiments & the Aspis have called upon an elite team of agents—both new talent & familiar veterans—to shut it down. Eighth level pregenerated characters are provided for this event. This scenario is part of Season 7's metaplot and follows activities of last year's scenarios #6-97: Siege of Serpents and #6-98: Serpents' Rise.

Saturday evening at 8 sees the launch of Season 8 with Gen Con event RPG1697558—PFS Special #7-99: Through Maelstrom Rift (Level 5). Travel the elemental planes as a disturbance on the Plane of Air portends disaster. As a team of elemental guardians, the PCs must brave otherworldly threats to uncover the cause & preserve the balance of the planes. For this event, fifth level pregenerated characters are provided. This scenario launches the Season 8 metaplot.

In prior years, we offered Kid's Track events for our younger gamers. They are still on the schedule, but listed as part of the broader Pathfinder Society Academy (PSA) offerings. This year, PSA activities run in the first two slots Thursday through Saturday and the only slot on Sunday. We have Kid's Track Beginner, Advanced, and Transitions lessons as well as family-friendly tables of our evergreen adventures #5-08: The Confirmation, #6-10: The Wounded Wisp, and #7-10: The Consortium Compact.

Besides the two special events and PSA, tickets are still available for a variety of PFS scenarios throughout the event. Visit the the Gen Con website and look for events hosted by Paizo. You will also find listed Adventure Card Guild scenarios and seminars on a variety of subjects. Come on out and join us, everyone is welcome!

Faction Pin Benefits

At PaizoCon, we debuted new Pathfinder Society faction pins. We also announced that while the pins wouldn't allow a reroll, like other items, they would grant another in-game benefit to players. The team put its head together and developed a really cool faction flavored program for the pins.

Once per session, while wearing a faction pin matching your character's faction, you may add 1 to any skill check. If you apply this benefit to one of your faction's favored skills, listed below, you instead roll 1d4 and add the result. For this roll you also treat the faction's favored skill as if you were trained, even if you don't have a rank in it.

Favored Skills

• Dark Archive: Knowledge (arcana), Linguistics, and Use Magic Device
• The Exchange: Appraise, Intimidate, and Knowledge (local)
• Grand Lodge: Diplomacy, Knowledge (history), and Survival
• Liberty's Edge: Escape Artist, Perform, and Disable Device
• Scarab Sages: Knowledge (any)
• Silver Crusade: Heal, Knowledge (religion), and Sense Motive
• Sovereign Court:Bluff, Disguise, and Knowledge (nobility)

Regional Venture-Coordinators

When I added the Regional Venture-Coordinators to the Venture-Officer team, the territorial divisions were based mostly on the number of existing Venture-Officers. This led to some regions being very small with a high number of volunteers and some regions spanning states, countries, and even continents. At our recent PaizoCon meeting, we discussed rearranging some boundaries and bringing on a new Regional-Coordinator. Below are the redrawn regional boundaries:

Northwest—Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, British Columbia, Alberta

Southwest—California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, all of Mexico, all of Central America and all of South America

Southeast—North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, Virginia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida

Midwest—North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Saskatchewan, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, and Manitoba

South—Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas

Great Lakes—Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and Ontario

Northeast—Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Quebec & the Atlantic Regions of Canada

Mid-Atlantic—reassigned to Northeast and Southeast

Asia-Pacific—Hawaii, India, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, Okinawa, China and Eastern Asia

AAE (Africa-East Eurasia)—Iceland, Netherlands, Denmark, Scandinavia, Latvia, Russia, & South Africa

WEME (West Eurasia-Middle East)—Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, Ireland, UK, Italy, Croatia, Ukraine, Israel, Turkey, & UAE

Central Europe—Germany, Austria, Switzerland

Over the past few months, we also said goodbye to two coordinators, as they stepped back from their role. Please take a moment to thank Art Lobdell and Jason Roeder for their service to the team. Both are returning to the ranks of Venture-Captain, Art to New Jersey and Jason to Missouri. I appreciate all they have done for Pathfinder Society as RVCs and am very pleased they are staying on as Venture-Captains and lending their experience to help keep our Society moving forward.

This left several vacancies on the RVC team. It is my pleasure to introduce the newest Regional-Coordinators, as well as one who is moving from his position leading the Mid-Atlantic region to the newly created Central Europe region.

South—Jon Cary
Northwest—Walter Sheppard
Central Europe—Dan Simons

Campaign Flavor

The past couple weeks have seen heated discussions on our forums between Pathfinders concerning the direction of the Pathfinder Society. Unfortunately, these escalated and hurtful and inappropriate comments were exchanged. If you have strong feelings about what should or should not be included in the campaign, we need you (and all community members) to approach discussions in a calm and measured manner. You may also provide feedback to pathfindersociety@paizo.com.

Until next week's blog—safe travels to those heading out and about this convention season. Explore, Report, Cooperate!

Tonya Woldridge
Organized Play Coordinator

Greetings from Hellywood

Friday, June 10, 2016

As I write this blog, I'm sitting in a writer's room in Hollywood working on a secret Pathfinder project. Everyone here thinks I'm taking notes, but in fact I'm making good on my mission to provide you, the Miniatures Fiend, a weekly preview of upcoming Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic miniatures from October's Deadly Foes set. It'll be a short update this week—it's an exciting meeting—but excitement is no excuse for no update at all.

Here we have a wicked Bearded Devil, one of countless elite warriors in the legions of Hell. WizKids did a fantastic job with the sculpt on this one. His face (and beard) is particularly charming. The Bearded Devil is a Medium, uncommon figure.

Last week some folks said they wanted to see more of the NPCs in Deadly Foes, so here we have a very important one—Barzillai Thrune, one of the primary antagonists of the Hell's Rebels Adventure Path. Your players will already hate him as they play the campaign, so why not let them see the source of their loathing? Barzillai Thrune is a Medium, Rare figure.

See you next week!

Erik Mona
Publisher

Watch Fantasy Authors Play Pathfinder!

Thursday, June 9, 2016

Last year at Gen Con, I had the opportunity to run a bunch of award-winning fantasy authors through We Be Goblins! in front of a live audience. Now we've teamed up with our friends at Tor to put the whole game online, unabridged and uncensored, so you can watch Elizabeth Bear (Karen Memory), Scott Lynch (The Lies of Locke Lamora), Wesley Chu (Time Salvager), Max Gladstone (Three Parts Dead), and Django Wexler (The Thousand Names) run around as goblins, riding pigs and setting things on fire for the glory of the Licktoad Tribe! Plus, watch me frantically try to accommodate plot twist cards thrown in by notoriously sadistic Editor-in-Chief F. Wesley Schneider. It's a spider-riding, horse-chopping good time for all involved!

James L. Sutter
Creative Director

Prepare to Raise Hell

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

I've got a lot of favorite parts of the Pathfinder campaign setting—if you've been following along for the last few years, there's a good chance you already know a few of them. Since we created the Pathfinder world, I've had a chance to explore the pits of Hell in the Book of the Damned, some of Golarion's mightiest treasures in Artifacts & Legends, and the gothic nightmare of Ustalav in both Rule of Fear and Pathfinder Tales: Bloodbound. But in all that time there hasn't been a good opportunity to fully detail my favorite of Golarion's countless organizations. With the Hell's Rebels and Hell's Vengeance Adventure Paths, though, that's changed. This month, at long last, you'll learn more than has ever been revealed about the Pathfinder world's most infamous champions of law: the Hellknights.

Illustrations by Roberto Pitturru

Since their first appearance in the Rise of the Runelords Player's Guide, Hellknights have been a part of the Pathfinder campaign setting. In those crazy frontier days of Golarion's creation, we didn't have all the setting's details fully defined. As a result, part of the goal of the player's guide for our first Adventure Path was to fake it. To that end, I wrote in a whole weave of loose ends, threads suggestive of places yet to be visited, threats without faces, and groups bound to be enemies or allies. One of these organizations—described among the ranks of paladins, if you can believe it!—were the Hellknights. There wasn't much more than a name for the group, but the grim title immediately stuck, so much so that we got our first glimpse of these dark armored crusaders as early as Pathfinder Adventure Path #2: The Skinsaw Murders.

Over time there'd be drips and drabs revealing more on the Hellknights, particularly in our campaign setting hardcovers and in two meaty articles I wrote for Pathfinder Adventure Path #27 and #28. Liane Merciel's newest novel, Pathfinder Tales: Hellknight, also has more than a little to do with these grim mercenaries. But beyond those books, there hasn't been a ton more on the relentless order. It's been too long.

The drought ends now.

Today presents the first of three previews of Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Path of the Hellknight. While my name's on the book's cover as author, this title owes most of its coolest bits to star developers Amanda Hamon-Kunz and John Compton, who not just contributed a host of ingenious new player options, but made me sound like I know what's what. Creative Design Director Sarah Robinson also somehow managed to outdo herself once again, not just by wrangling incredible art, but by creating a gorgeous interior evocative of dark iron and bloody crimson. As for the content, today I'll show you a bit from the first chapter, a section that provides an overview of the Hellknights as a whole, the group's history, methods, philosophies, and the like. Throughout this series I'll also be showing off snippets and symbols of all seven of the major Hellknight orders, starting with the Order of the Chain and Order of the Gate.

Order without Mercy

Path of the Hellknight's first chapter focuses on the Hellknights as an organization, their history, their unyielding philosophy—the Measure and the Chain—and more of the traditions and trails that bind their distinct orders. There's also a fantastic piece of art depicting the Hellknights' founder, Daidian Rhul, along with details on his deeds and mysterious disappearance. The section also includes a discussion of what it means to play a Hellknight character. Being zealots, Hellknights are similar to paladins in some ways and bring with them some of the challenges one might expect with inflexible heroes. To that end, the section includes big picture advice for players and GMs alike planning to bring Hellknight characters into their games—such as the following.

Hellknight Philosophy at the Table: Hellknights seek to embody supreme order, refuse to compromise their ideals, and do everything they can to uphold their philosophies. People and circumstances that don't fit into their definition of order must be stamped out to meet their vision of progress. For some, this extends to whole religions, cultures, or philosophies. When making a character, discuss with your group whether a Hellknight character is right for your party—Hellknights and law-breaking characters are unlikely to work well together. Also, discuss with the group and GM how appropriate themes of intolerance are in your game. Behaving in ways that make other players uncomfortable simply because your character is a Hellknight is neither respectful nor fun. Consider that lawful neutral Hellknights of any order tend to focus on the harsh judgment of societal vices, while lawful good characters usually work at the organization's fringes, hunting down criminals and bringing justice to civilization's frontiers. Lawful evil members are the ones who tend to commit acts of prejudice and intolerance. Remember that every Hellknight order has members focused on different tasks, meaning that it's your choice whether your member of the Order of the Nail is either a righteous traveling judge or a vicious murderer—make the character that's right for your entire group.

Beyond this introduction chapter, the book spends considerable space focusing on the various Hellknight orders. Each section features details on the order's organization, philosophy, citadel, prominent members, tenets, suggested rules for Hellknight characters, and new options for Hellknight heroes and villains. Every one of these chapters begins with an overview of fundamental information, including rules elements that tie in with the new Hellknight Obedience feat—an option similar to Inner Sea Gods' Divine Obedience feat—which grants a host of new powers to an order's most fanatical members. All one has to do is take the feat... and perform an excruciating daily reckoning. I'll show off the reckonings here, but the powers themselves can wait for now.

Illustration by Daniel Lopez

After this first chapter, Path of the Hellknight turns its attention to each of the major Hellknight factions. For this first preview, here are a few glimpses of the Order of the Chain and the Order of the Gate.

Illustration by Damien Mammoliti

Order of the Chain

Symbol hand wrapped in chains
Headquarters Citadel Gheradesca, near Corentyn
Leader Lictor Uro Adom (LN male human fighter 5/Hellknight^ISWG 7)
Members guards, sleuths, trackers, victims of outlaws
Armor Features lock-and-chain design, manacle-like gauntlets, helms reminiscent of iron prisoners' masks
Favored Weapon flail
Reckoning Crush your limbs with tightened chains. Gain a +2 bonus on combat maneuver checks when attempting to disarm, grapple, or trip opponents.

The Order of the Chain counts among its ranks the greatest Hellknight bounty hunters and jailors. Believing that everyone has a vital role to play in society, the order seeks to remove those who irredeemably deny their place and who actively impede civilization's progress. Rather than slaying criminals and nonconformists outright, the Order of the Chain forces most of its captives into lengthy terms of service in work camps. The most dangerous malefactors are sequestered in the order's fortress-prison, Citadel Gheradesca. Few criminals surrender easily, and so members of the Order of the Chain train in a variety of fields: tracking, criminal psychology, investigation, and interrogation, to name a few. Little strikes greater dread in a lawbreaker than knowing she's become a Hellknight of the Chain's quarry.

Along with details on the structure and fugitive hunting techniques of the group, players of Order of the Chain Hellknights can also expect a variety of new rules and uses for restraints, from fetters and iron masks to new uses for common manacles.

Illustration by Damien Mammoliti

Order of the Gate

Symbol infernal eye staring out from a swirling portal
Headquarters Citadel Enferac, east of Pezzack
Leader Vicarius Giordano Torchia (LE male human wizard 11/Hellknight^ISWG 2)
Members devil worshipers, intellectuals, planar-blooded outcasts, spellcasters
Armor Features helm with a vortex-like pattern, crimson robes
Favored Weapon dagger
Reckoning Etch complex symbols of penitence into your flesh with a dagger. Gain a +4 bonus on Will saving throws to resist divination spells and spell-like abilities.

Punishment is a response to the failure of law. To the members of the Order of the Gate, true order can be achieved only when criminal behavior is quelled before it is committed—preferably before it is even considered. The Order of the Gate doesn't seek to convince every free-willed creature of a lawful society's virtues, because its members believe that forces stronger than rhetoric must be used to prevent the sickness of criminal impulse. Thus, the Order of the Gate employs magic to enforce its vision of law.

Would-be Order of the Gate Hellknights can look forward to learning a measure of this spellcasting order's secrets, including invasive new scrying techniques, methods for shielding spellcasters, and the order's connections to planes beyond.

Keep on the lookout for more previews of Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Path of the Hellknight, as I'll be covering the rest of the major Hellknight orders soon, along with plenty more glimpses of the dreads to come.

Thanks for reading!

F. Wesley Schneider
Editor-in-Chief

Hexes and Foes!

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

It's Class Deck preview time again! Before we dive into the mysteries of the Witch, I want to note that the monthly parade of Class Deck releases will go on hiatus for a little while starting in November. We had originally intended to put Class Decks on hiatus during the six months that we're releasing Mummy's Mask, but production delays earlier in the year caused the Summoner Class Deck to slide into October alongside the Mummy's Mask Base Set and Character Add-On Deck. We're therefore starting the hiatus a month later than we had intended.

Now, on with the hexing.

Witch Design Brainstorming

We knew even before we started designing this deck that we wanted to do a version of the witch that played up familiars, and we already had the cohort technology to do it. We looked at the critters available to witches, to see what we wanted to do in addition to Daji, and the following exchange occurred:

Mike: Let's see... they've got access to the standard wizard familiars, so bat, cat, rat, weasel, to—
Tanis: I JUST SEARCHED FOR "FAMILIAR" IN THE BESTIARIES AND FOUND A DINOSAUR THEY CAN HAVE A DINOSAUR FAMILIAR WE'RE DOING IT WE'RE DOING IT
Mike: Hold that thought.
Tanis: Don't make me go get Gary.
Mike: Okay, fine, we're doing it.

Behold the compsognathus:

That's also the face I made when I saw the art.

As you can see, we decided to give the cohort some strategic implications by moving the witch's casting skill onto the familiar. This cleanly models the notion that witches gain their power through a pact with a patron represented by a familiar. The deck has several cohorts, and the non-Feiya characters get to choose which familiar they'll use at the start of each scenario. (Feiya has already chosen Daji, of course, but those of you who are QQing about that should look into her Beast-Bonder role.)

New Characters

In addition to a cohort-ified version of Feiya, we've added Kasmir, an itinerant healer who overcomes prejudice with his magnificent hair and many belts. Kasmir likes to use power efficiently, and his hex is similar to a selfish version of the original Skull & Shackles Character Add-On Deck Feiya's.

Kasmir is all heals, all the time. Cure spell in my discard? I'll take that. Get wiped out off-turn? No worries, I can still draw a card to get my heal off. He's fun to play and easy to kill, like so many of my favorite characters in the ACG.

We've also got the Blue Person, as the forums have noticed. She is indeed a Samsaran, and her name is Raheli.

The other thing that made me all-caps at the design team early in this process was the White-Haired Witch archetype. This archetype lets you fling objects at your enemies with your friggin' hair. If I had that power I would spend all day chucking pens, dice, and small action figures at my office-mates Vic and Lissa, so it's probably a good thing that magic isn't real.

Raheli's pretty much a one-trick pony, but since that pony is named Make Sure We Collect All the Boons, I think she's a pony you'll enjoy. Well, that got weird quickly. Onward!

Creepy Dolls

Since we're fond of designing cycles these days, I threw a set of creepy dolls into the Witch Deck that have a few different abilities.

It's got a ruined eye that's always open...

Since we're Paizo, we already had several creepy doll illustrations laying around, and they basically designed themselves. They sit there for a turn, do their creepy thing, and then act like spells.

The Witch Class Deck comes out at the end of the month. You can preorder yours here!

Tanis O'Connor
Adventure Card Game Designer

OPC Log—6 Sarenith 4716

Monday, June 6, 2016

Happy Moonday Pathfinders!

This time last week, the Paizo staff were wrapping up PaizoCon, participating in the last few panels, running a final delve, or rolling dice in the final encounters. A huge thank you to all those that lent their hands with setup, tear down, or the myriad of tasks in-between. PFS could not have had such a successful show without your assistance. I appreciate the efforts of all our volunteers on behalf of the Society. While John covered the highlights from the banquet, I've got a few other PaizoCon related pieces of business.

Photos courtesy of Christopher Woldridge

Campaign Service Coins

Over the course of the weekend, I gave out four coins, three in person and one in abstentia. For those at the convention, I visited the table the recipient was at and said a few words about why they received the coin. To watch the face of the recipient while I spoke of the hours of time they dedicated to our game and their effect on the Society was truly humbling. It seemed to affect the players seated at the tables, knowing they were witnessing something special. While sometimes I am unable to visit the recipient and give the coin in person, I hope to award most of them the way I did this weekend.

Without further ado, your newest Campaign Service Coin awardees:

• Ray Diaz, VC Metro Boston—#755
• Dave Montgomery, VC Central/West Massachusettes—#756
• "Pirate" Rob Hetherington—#757
• Jesse Davis, VC Online—#758

Trivia Contest

Saturday night, John Compton hosted a Trivia Contest, assisted by Mark Seifter and Linda Zayas-Palmer. I missed the beginning, but was there for the rousing finale. A number of 8-person teams sought the title of Champion. They all had interesting names—Asmodeus's Chamberpot, the Boston Mafia, Abrogail's Kittens, to name a few. Two really stood out in my mind. The first was Rovagug's Witness, whom almost made me choke on my soda with their group call of "Witness" anytime they were called on. They also had a pamphlet they shared with me on the delights of worshipping Rovagug. The second team was John Compton's Sons. Unfortunately, the pictorial evidence turned out blurry and not suitable for print, but those fine people calling John "papa" are:

• Del Collins
• Bob Jonquet
• Matt Polkowsky
• Jim Page
• Rafael Taramona
• Anthony Bowen
• Raymond Sullivan
• Joshua "Trivia Savant" Herrington

John Compton's Sons won the tournament with a perfect final round, securing the title of Trivia Champs. They say they will be back next year, bigger and badder than ever, as John Compton's Grandsons, ready to defend their title. I highly encourage PaizoCon attendees to come out and enjoy the show, even if you don't want to participate in the trivia portion.

5 Star GMs

Thursday at PaizoCon, we had two people reach their fifth star. Thanks to Jon Dehning, we celebrated with cake! So I can attest the cake is not a lie :D In addition, over the past month, several other stalwart GMs braved the gauntlet of 150 games and 10 specials to achieve their fifth star. Please join me in congratulating:

• David Shaw
• Mike Venditti
• Paul Holtom
• Davey Silon
• Sean Wellsmore
• Russ Brown
• Jean-Marc Comeau

Photos courtesy of Christopher Woldridge & Mike Venditti

Travel Log

Now that PaizoCon is past, we can turn our sights to upcoming events. I'll be attending Origins Game Faire in Columbus, Ohio, from June 15-20 and the American Library Association Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida, from June 23-28. After that, a few weeks in Seattle to get things packed for Gen Con, then I'm off to the United Kingdom the latter part of July for PaizoCon UK . After the convention, I'm taking a few days to visit friends and tour a few historical sites, because who can pass up the chance to visit castles? Then back to Indianapolis for Gen Con from August 3-7. If the cards fall right, I will be helping my husband move from Canada to Las Vegas (just a bit of a climate change there) post-Gen Con, but will be back in the office in time for PAX West. Whew!

The TL;DR of the above is that I am going to be out of the office quite a bit starting next week. If you have conventions coming up between now and September, please submit your information sooner than later. I have the fantastic Customer Support Team backing me up on con support processing, but we still need time to get things through the system. Please help me help you!

Many other conventions ran this past weekend. How many of you got in a game (or two or six)? What games did you play? Enquiring minds want to know!

Until next time—Explore, Report, Cooperate!

Tonya Woldridge
Organized Play Coordinator

Character Sketch Competition Update! Our awesome Community Team—Chris and Liz—are prepping the character sketch submissions for judging. Once they are ready, they will open voting to our community. Thank you to everyone who submitted a sketch!

PaizoCon Reveals Up-Close!

Friday, June 3, 2016

Last week we revealed a number of figures for October's Deadly Foes set of prepainted plastic Pathfinder Battles figures, and the response at the show has been fantastic. I've seen a few of the images show up online from cameraphones in the audience, but today I'd like to reveal the four new figures I showed off at the preview banquet here on the blog, to give you all a MUCH better look at them!

Up first is the Salamander, everyone's favorite snake-bodied denizen of the Plane of Fire. The Salamander has a cool spear and stands ready to scorch your player characters into ashes. The Medium figure is slated at the common rarity.

This masked Pathfinder Society Leader is a member of the Decemvirate, the 10-person group of mysterious masked leaders who run the Pathfinder Society from the shadows. Are they good guys? Bad guys? WHO KNOWS? That's part of the fun of working for the Pathfinder Society. Every day is a surprise! The Pathfinder Society Leader is a Medium, rare figure.

At long last I'm pleased to reveal the Pit Devil, a paragon of law and evil that serves as a fitting end-boss to any fantasy campaign. Or, you know, throw him at your third-level heroes and see what happens, just for fun. The Pit Devil is a Large, rare figure.

At the PaizoCon Preview Banquet I also revealed the first piece of "dungeon dressing" in the Deadly Foes set, the Book of the Damned itself! Like all of the other dungeon dressing in the set, this guy comes one per case, and is randomly swapped out for another mini in a randomly selected booster. Now, just like the impulsive rogue in my Monday night Pathfinder game, your player characters can have their very own copy of the most evil book in the Pathfinder world. Fun for everyone! Even more fun: The book can be removed from its base, giving you two minis in one. Kinda!

And that's it for today. Thanks to all of you who attended PaizoCon this year. The Miniatures Trading Afterparty was a huge success again this year, and I hope those of you who didn't get a chance to come this year will make it out to Seattle over Memorial Day Weekend next year so we can meet in person, talk about minis, and do a trade or two! Or three. Or four.

Until then, I remain...

Erik Mona
Publisher