Lemme tell you why Curse of the Crimson Throne is my favorite Pathfinder Adventure Card Game set yet. It's totally self-indulgent. You've been warned.

Back in 2007, I was helping Vic and Lisa launch the board game line that included Kill Doctor Lucky, Stonehenge, and (my personal favorite) Yetisburg. I got to be around Jason Bulmahn, James Jacobs, James Sutter, Wes Schneider, and the rest of the original Pathfinder RPG design team. One day, Wes came to me with a query.

"Mike, do you know how to design a tarot deck?" Wes said.

In fact, I had waited years for someone to ask me that question. In those days, I owned over a dozen tarot decks, and I had long wanted to make a divination deck that could stand up next to Ravenloft's tarokka, Discworld's caroc, and Everway. I'd just never had the chance.

Wes told me that the new RPG Adventure Path they were planning, Curse of the Crimson Throne, would feature a storyteller deck, but nobody in the company knew what to call it or how it could work. Or even how many cards it had.

"Fifty-four," I said. "The nine alignments times the six abilities. Done."

"Uh," said Wes. "Yeah, you're designing our tarot deck."

So we began work on what I dubbed "The Harrow Deck."

The original Harrow packaging, designed by James Davis with art by Kyle Hunter.

Now, this wasn't one of these everyone-in-the-world-figure-out-this-thing projects. It was too niche of a design for that. Instead, Wes, the Jameses, artist Kyle Stanley Hunter, and I just holed up and riffed for a couple of hours.

"What if there was a giant, but he was juggling?" Wes would say.

"Juggling an elephant?" Kyle would reply.

"And a unicorn," Sutter would answer. "Not juggling a unicorn. A different card with a unicorn."

"But with a pear on the end of her horn, and she can't get it off," I'd say.

"I have an odd idea for The Marriage," Jacobs would say, and we'd keep going till it was done.

I'm sure we were sober when we thought of these.

I had the mechanics worked out from the get-go, tasking Kyle with envisioning six symbols we could float over the art in nine different alignment positions. But, we needed more heft to this thing. We brought in my design partner Teeuwynn Woodruff to create a divination mechanic and to write dozens of fascinating interpretations of the nutball ideas we had come up with. Jason brought over an idea for a gambling game called Towers based on my card alignment array. Mike McArtor (we miss ya, bud) took on the editing and James Davis the graphics.

It was one of the very few projects where nothing ever went backward. Everything anyone said made it in. Because nothing—nothing at all—was too weird for the Harrow deck. You can read more about the creation of that deck in this ridiculous 2008 blog of mine, and I encourage you to do so.

In 2013, two card sets of mine came out. The first was the Deluxe edition of the Harrow deck.

The Deluxe Harrow Deck.

In this re-envisioned product, the cards became tarot-sized and the overlay suit icons got replaced by alignment dots around the edges, freeing up Kyle's art even more. It still functioned the same, with the same names and imagery, but it sure looked a bit different.

"How you gonna do neutral?" I asked. They figured it out.

Also in 2013, we had just finished core design on the first Pathfinder Adventure Card Game set, Rise of the Runelords. Already, a buzz was building about what we were concocting. Soon, we'd need to know what the second PACG set would be.

"It's Curse of the Crimson Throne," I said as a final pronouncement. "Because I want to make a totally new timer mechanic based on the Harrow deck."

The finality of that pronouncement lasted about 20 seconds. "Whoa there, hoss," my collaborators said. "We just spent a year making your dumb thing work, and you want to start it over? Nope, and also nope."

OK, so Skull & Shackles. Fine. But, the third set for sure...

I brought on Keith Richmond, as recounted in this blog of his, because for sure we were doing Curse real soon now. Except we didn't. Wrath of the Righteous would be our plane-spanning epic tale, so Keith cut his teeth on that. Then Mummy's Mask led us into the sands, and Keith helped make that a reality. Also multiple seasons of organized play. Keith was working on a lot of these game projects for us, but not the thing I actually brought him on to make.

After Mummy's Mask, we needed to recalibrate. In 2018, with many thousands of PACG cards out there, we wanted to cure some of the lingering roughness in the game and give it a real cleanup. Finally, I said, "Now. We're doing Curse now. I'm getting my Harrow set."

Vic and Lisa agreed. So we started in on Curse. I cannot tell you how liberating it felt to crack open a Harrow deck and reimagine it a decade later. All of Kyle's mind-bending art, all of those odd concepts that Wes and the Jameses and I kicked around, all the ethereal meanings that Teeuwynn ascribed to every card—all of that was about to become real. Cards now had to function. They had to mean one thing, not everything.

New design by Sonja Morris, and a darn pretty one, says me.

Liz took the first pass on the Harrow blessings. She looked at every weird idea that made it onto those cards and wrote whatever madness popped into her head. Keith and Chad reworked her cool concepts. Aviva figured out how everything should be said. I went through and made everything fit that original Harrow vision.

Fifty-four new blessings, all themed to suits, was the largest amount of blessings we'd ever designed at once. Not only did they all need different play powers, but they also needed different "when this is the hour" powers, and they all had to be different from the ones in the Core Set. Most importantly, they needed to match whatever stories our original Harrow deck put in your head.

After quite a bit of work, we had a new Harrow deck for a whole new audience.

Except... we didn't have a harrowing, per se. We had a few spells called various versions of Harrowing, and we had allies called Harrowers, and we even had items called Harrow Decks.

Plus lots more Harrow cards.

But, we didn't have any divination.

Keith figured that out. Well, he figured a version of it out, but it was too big and complicated. Through many iterations, we finally got down to something nice and simple. Each adventure, you'd gain a Harrow blessing of the adventure's suit, which would affect your checks of the related skill. Your harrow would follow you throughout the adventure, loading itself into your hand at the start of each scenario. Sometimes you'd be thrilled by what blessing governed your play; sometimes you'd be less thrilled. But, it was yours for the adventure, like it or not.

Now and then, some of the Harrow blessings were in players' decks, making the harrowing less fun. The "impossible rule" covered this situation, and we made a rule that if we ran out of blessings of the appropriate suit, we'd use ones of other Harrow suits. A simple enough hack, but we wanted another approach.

So we tried something else. We cracked one of my old Harrow decks to play the divination similarly to the way Teeuwynn imagined it years earlier. Then we used the rules in the storybook applying to whatever card each character got (assuming it was available). You sure don't need a real Harrow deck for that purpose, but if you can get your hands on one, you'll feel more deeply immersed in the adventure.

Along with the whole team, Keith finally got Curse of the Crimson Throne done like he wanted, and as a "reward," I made him be the president of my company. Me, I got my Harrow set. That time a dozen years ago, when we made a crazy deck of cards that a generation of Pathfinders interpreted in every possible way, was now part of my most adventurous project for Paizo ever.

Sometimes Fate is a cruel mistress. But, sometimes, if you just give her a chance, she smiles on you.

Mike Selinker
Adventure Card Game Lead Designer

"Pardon..."

Over the din of the bustling street market the young boy's cry reached the passing nobleman. "Pardon me, my lord. Are you seeking the god rock? Do you need the courage to take the leap? The blessing of one who passed the test?"

The nobleman ignored him, but the young merchant persisted, obviously recognizing the robed figure's wealth from the quality of his clothes and the confidence in his step. "I have here the tears of Iomedae herself, shed when she learned of Aroden's death!" The boy pushed through the crowd, following the nobleman, waving a tiny vial that undoubtedly contained ordinary water. "My lord?"

The nobleman paid the boy no mind and walked through the throng seemingly oblivious to the solicitations of its eager vendors.

All along the Avenue of the Hopeful it was the same racket. Everyone had some divine relic to sell: a tabard supposedly worn by Iomedae in the Shining Crusade; a barroom dart thrown by a mortal Cayden Cailean; a blood-rusted dagger said to have been wielded by Norgorber himself. They were all fake, of course, but the visitors that streamed down this road every day to look at the Starstone Cathedral didn't know that—or pretended not to out of willful ignorance. Sometimes even the merchants believed the veracity of their claims, their fraud offset by their misplaced good intentions.

Illustration by Federico Musetti

Among themselves, the charlatans hocking these wares claim the cathedral is the straight man in their cons. Its very presence adds an air of mystery and divine authority to the propositions, no matter how obvious the counterfeit relics are. How could it not? Inside the towering ancient shrine, suspended in the center of an unfathomably deep pit, lay a chunk of rock that fell from the heavens millennia ago amid the untold devastation of Earthfall. Those who brave the cathedral, passing all of its cunning tests, defeating its deadly guardians, and surviving to touch the Starstone exit the cathedral as gods. Many have tried over the centuries since Aroden constructed the cathedral to protect the holy relic within, but only three have ever succeeded. Unsurprisingly, it is Absalom's most visited tourist spot—the epicenter of the City at the Center of the World.

"Just two silver weights!"

The nobleman was now so far from the desperate tear-merchant that the boy's last cries were all but lost to the sounds of the city. The kid was new to the street and if he didn't soon fall in with one of the many organized rings of counterfeiters and con artists who worked in tandem to move their merchandise, he'd undoubtedly end up like so many others in the Ascendant Court, picking pockets to turn a profit from even the most discerning of customers. Those with experience working the God's Market knew not to waste their time with this particular nobleman, either as a customer or a mark.

Lord Synarr arrived in the city only six months ago, and since then he has walked the avenue every morning to gaze upon the Starstone Cathedral. At first, he was swarmed by kids hawking sacred items and protective talismans, but over time, they learned not to bother. Lord Synarr never spared even a single copper for any of their wares, he never once inspected their goods. He only diverted his attention from the Starstone Cathedral at the end of the Avenue of Hopefuls for the hopefuls themselves—those adventurers, demagogues, and zealots ambitious (or foolhardy) enough to plan their own run on divinity.

In a bid to prove their worthiness, most set up in one of the God's Market's many empty stalls and proselytize to what small audience they can wrest away from their competition. Some preach a message that speaks to a particular listener, or are charismatic enough to enthrall the crowd with their pageantry, and convert real followers from among the masses. On any given day a half-dozen or more hopefuls line the avenue, preaching their new faith, offering indulgences for coin, or performing rituals to prepare themselves for their journey.

For his first few weeks in Absalom, Lord Synarr stopped at each one as he made his way down the avenue, listening to the articles of the hopefuls' soon-to-be faiths before stoically moving on. The enigmatic noble no longer tarries before such aspirants, but he listens carefully to their tirades as he walks past, sometimes even smiling smugly to himself when a hopeful exhibits particular skill at capturing the crowd's attention.

Today, Lord Synarr witnessed a Keleshite trade prince offering a golden scabbard to Golinarth, the hulking hopeful who always wears a wooden skeleton mask and claims to have come back from the dead to become the god of second chances—one more rube offering wealth for miracles that would never materialize. A few yards further down the avenue, Ryni the Jest, a prankster hoping to become a god of mirth, gave the stern noble an unreciprocated wink of acknowledgment before turning his attention back to the butt of his public ridicule. The lord had his suspicions that the clown never actually intended to attempt the Test of the Starstone, but was simply amassing followers to start his own cult of personality.

A half-orc woman with a lilting accent offered Lord Synarr a score of rings, pendants, and bracelets tied to a velvet pillow. "Welcome back, my lord. Taking the test today?"

The noble didn't flinch, continuing his leisurely stroll toward the cathedral without a second glance in the merchant's direction.

"I got a new one, I did. Lets you walk on air." Her arm shot toward the end of the avenue like an arrow loosed from a hunter's bow. "Fttt—straight over the pit!" Recognizing that her daily pitch to her regular "customer" would have the same results today as it had the last six months, she turned her attention seamlessly to a wide-eyed gnome wearing Mwangi fashion to Synarr's left. "How about you, chum?"

Lord Synarr doubted any of the woman's jewelry was even magical, much less powerful enough to help someone cross the yawning expanse that separated the Starstone Cathedral from the surrounding city. Some fool, he was sure, would slip the ring on and dive headfirst into the abyss, cursing the merchant the whole way down. His dark eyes twinkled at the thought. One more shrine for the cathedral of the Failed, if even that.

Finally arriving at the edge of the chasm, Lord Synarr stopped for a moment and looked at the ancient temple. He was not the only one to hesitate near the precipice, and he had noted other regulars with their own routines in his time performing this daily ritual. Very few of them had lasted longer than a month or two, either giving up on their hopes of godhood or having perished in the attempt. Lord Synarr would be neither distracted nor a failure; he had one shot, and he would only attempt it when the time was right.

The robed lord turned to the left and walked around the chasm, the same route he took every day.

As he walked, his gait embodying both purpose and tranquility, Lord Synarr's thoughts turned to the temples adorning the grand plaza surrounding the pit. Iomedae and Cayden Cailean, two of the four whose apotheosis occurred mere yards away, had monuments here, built by their faithful as testaments to their success. A bridge spanned the chasm between each temple and the Starstone Cathedral, a physical manifestation of the gods' connection to the Starstone through which they attained divinity. The ascended god Norgorber, second after Aroden to pass the test, was far too secretive to put his temple out in the open. Those, like Lord Synarr, who studied the Starstone Cathedral could guess in which direction Norgorber's temple lied from the alignment of the third bridge, which appeared to point toward nothing in particular.

Lord Synarr ended his circuit of the Ascendant Court each day before the ruined fourth bridge across the mighty chasm. The missing span once pointed to the city's great temple to Aroden, who had raised the Starstone from the ocean depths along with the entire Isle of Kortos and in so doing captured his own spark of divinity. Though the bridge and even Aroden himself are gone, the temple still stands, now serving as the Chelish embassy. Despite the addition of the infernal insignias of House Thrune, Lord Synarr could still make out symbol of Aroden's eye that was once emblazoned above the grand entry, a negative outline in old dirt and moss.

The noble ended his daily stroll here to remind himself of his own mortality. While Lord Synarr welcomed the dignity and experience the gray in his hair and the lines at the corners of his eyes indicated, he could too easily allow the comforts afforded by his vast wealth distract him from the unwelcome truth that unless he passed the Test of the Starstone, he too would die. Though Aroden, god of humanity, may have died, Lord Synarr would not, he told himself.

His gaze turned from the repurposed Arodenite temple toward the towering cathedral at the city's heart. From this vantage point, he didn't see the gulf separating him from the home of divinity, and the sights and sounds of the bustling metropolis fell away. With the focus of an owl trained on its unsuspecting prey, he was aware only of the Starstone Cathedral and the power within. And just like every other day, he said one word, quietly to himself, before turning and walking back to his stately manor and the day's extravagances.

"Soon."

Jason Bulmahn
Director of Game Design

Two weeks ago, we introduced the idea of major and minor factions, as well as unveiled our first two factions: the Horizon Hunters and Radiant Oath! There's a lot of great information in that blog about our approach to factions, choosing leaders, and more, so definitely check it out. On Saturday at PaizoCon we teased the next two factions, and today we're formally introducing them at last. Let's get to it!

Envoys' Alliance (Major Faction)

Being a Pathfinder's dangerous work. Travel comes with its own dangers, traps seem to be everywhere, and just about everything seems ready to eat aspiring agents. What's more, the Pathfinder Society has spent the last decade increasingly engaged in major conflicts, each of which saw extraordinary rewards yet also loss of life. After virtually nonstop campaigns, the Society's roster is sorely depleted. The Envoys' Alliance aims to change that, making the Society every stronger, better trained, and better supported.

Faction Leader: Once the envoy of an Ekujae elven community in the Mwangi Expanse, Fola Barun (N female half-elf [Ekujae]) came into contact with and later joined the Pathfinder Society through a field commission. She quickly established herself as an attentive leader whose even-keeled, professional approach not only expanded the Society's understanding of the mighty Vanji River, but also helped devastate the Aspis Consortium's predatory operations along that route. Having never trained at the Grand Lodge or absorbed the conventional Society wisdom imparted to initiates, she was appalled upon first reaching Absalom and learning of the many counts of negligence of the past century. She's brought a fresh approach to recruitment and supporting agents in the field, which often sees her collaborating (and occasionally clashing) with the three deans.

Objectives: The Envoys' Alliance is dedicated to recruiting new agents, rescuing Pathfinders in distress, and rebuilding the Society in a way that supports and values the operatives' lives and wellbeing—at least as much as one can in the adventuring world. Through collaboration, the Society can accomplish ever-greater feats—particularly with a powerful faction to advocate for the Pathfinders themselves when tasked with the Grand Lodge's latest projects.

Verdant Wheel (Minor Faction)

No matter how many forbidding jungles, grassy plains, and untamed hills agents scout, the Pathfinder Society is not strictly a nature-oriented organization. Even so, nature enthusiasts of all stripes—from grizzled trackers to bright-eyed ecologists to tenacious druids—gravitate to the Society for the opportunities to witness natural wonders, catalog new species, and better protect the world's pristine realms. The call for a united voice has only grown over the years, and the evolution of the Pathfinder Society provides a perfect opportunity to name this organization: the Verdant Wheel. This faction has a particular fondness for sensing patterns and cycles, such as that of creation and destruction, as exemplified by new growth sprouting from a fire-ravaged field. Yet even those intent on preserving that which exists can find a welcome home here.

Faction Leader: Nobody entirely agrees on where Urwal (NG male lizardfolk) came from, though one Pathfinder admits to having encountered him in Varisia several years ago and being accosted about a copy of the Pathfinder Chronicles containing misleading information. Flustered, the Pathfinder told Urwal that if he were so upset, he could visit the Grand Lodge and file a complaint. In 4718 AR, Master of Scrolls Kreighton Shaine entered his locked office to find Urwal waiting there with five heavily edited volumes of the Pathfinder Chronicles, a stack of supporting documentation, and a disappointed glower. "These are full of errors. I question that your agents even traveled to these places. I will bring more; the stars foresee it," declared the lizardfolk before clambering up a wall and out the window.

After finding Urwal reorganizing neglected entomology collections, correcting placards on a collection of Mwangi artifacts, and painting astrological charts on a Grand Lodge walkway—all helpful yet cryptically explained—the three deans decided it more prudent to recognize Urwal's esoteric knowledge and benign infiltration by granting him a field commission that the lizardfolk's never formally accepted. That he's since organized a cohort of nature enthusiasts as the Verdant Wheel befuddles the Society's leadership, especially given nobody's yet figured out where he came from (even his agents, who maintain ongoing bets about his origins). For all his eccentricities, he is a compassionate mentor who encourages his colleagues to seek out natures greatest wonders and most humble treasures, understand them, and protect them in the way each agent deems best.

Objectives: The Verdant Wheel has no single vision of what it means to preserve nature, leaving it to an individual's interpretation and the region's unique circumstances to determine the best course of action. Agents travel far and wide to study the strange and pristine—journeys often bring them into conflict with undead, fiends, and aberrations. And most of all, the faction is a home for those who revel in the glories of nature in their many forms—even the occasional alien landscape beyond Golarion itself.

We're so excited to see these factions in action. We'll be previewing the last two factions—the two remaining major factions—in July, plus many other previews in the weeks to come!

John Compton
Organized Play Lead Developer

The Inner Sea region the serves as the core of the Age of Lost Omens campaign setting is comprised of over 40 independent nation states and unincorporated regions, each home to diverse populations and the setting of countless adventures. And in the heart of the Inner Sea lies the Isle of Kortos (which translated from ancient Azlanti means "Starstone Isle") and on it, the world's largest metropolis—the teeming city of Absalom.

Illustration by Roman Roland Kuteynikov

Founded nearly 5,000 years ago by Aroden, the Last Azlanti, when he raised the isle and the Starstone from the Inner Sea floor, and in so doing became a living god, Absalom is the home of some of the region's most illustrious organizations, including the Pathfinder Society from whom the entire game gets its name. It was here that four mortals attained divinity by passing the Test of the Starstone, and here that countless would-be gods have laid unsuccessful siege to the city to claim the Starstone for themselves. Aptly called the City at the Center of the World, Absalom is a veritable melting pot of all of Golarion's myriad ancestries, cultures, and faiths.

In updating the setting for the Age of Lost Omens World Guide, we looked at scores of sources that fleshed out the vast city, incorporating events, locations, and personalities that grew organically over the last 12 years. Many of these sources were Pathfinder Society Scenarios, and players of the largest Pathfinder campaign in the world will notice a lot of their efforts represented in the current state of the city. Slavery has been abolished; the long-serving primarch, Lord Gyr of House Gixx, has disappeared (retired captain of the city's First Watch, Wynsal Starborn, rules in his absence); the magical cornucopias gifted by Aroden to the people of the city to provide for them in times of siege no longer work. Other updates come from adventures and sourcebooks from distant lands, such as Watcher-Lord Ulthun II of Lastwall's migration from Vigil to Absalom, from which he and his goblin aide-de-camp now coordinate operations for Lastwall's knights throughout the world. Now, why would he have done that?

Illustrations by Valeria Lutfullina and Katerina Kirillova

In large part, the updates to the city proper are the consolidation of hundreds of developments over the game's history, but that's not the case for the Isle of Kortos at large. Despite its prominent location, the island has received very little love in the last decade, so Paizo's Chief Creative Officer and Publisher, Erik Mona, sprang into action and personally filled the island with dozens of new adventure locations, many linked to the island's ancient history and its ties to the dead god, Aroden! Among the many new features gracing the island are a series of Aeon Towers, monolithic towers with glowing pinnacles believed to have been created by the Last Azlanti himself. The Aeon Towers (and much of the interior of the Starstone Isle) play a prominent role in the sophomore second edition Adventure Path, Extinction Curse, which launches in January, but you can get your first glimpse into this expanded world in August!

Illustration by Ainur Salimova

As with all ten new meta-regions in the Age of Lost Omens World Guide, the Absalom chapter presents several new player options, including a magic item, 8 character backgrounds, and the Pathfinder agent archetype!

Illustration by Klaher Baklaher

Check this spot Thursday for the first Tale of Lost Omens, a piece of flash fiction called "The Hopeful," written by none other than Absalom's original co-creator, Paizo's Director of Game Design, Jason Bulmahn!

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

As copies of the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Core Set start to arrive in subscribers' homes, Liz is here with the latest Core Principles blog. We also have a long-awaited treat for you: the new PDF of the Core rulebook! Check the link below and you'll get it! —Mike

Download the Core Set Rulebook — 3.0 MB zip/PDF

Hi! I'm Liz Spain, the designer at Lone Shark Games best known for not so much pushing the envelope for what we do in the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, but ripping that envelope open and refolding it into a stylish hat. If you liked the added wackiness of products like Mummy's Mask and the Alchemist Class Deck that tread weird territory, that was probably my fault.

One of my favorite things about designing for PACG is getting to see it played in the wilds of game stores and conventions. It's fun people-watching, but I also get to hear about how you want to play the game. Some folks asked that the game play in less than an hour, while others spend all day engaging an epic campaign. Families play PACG in a laid-back manner with kids, and dedicated competitive card players crave the brutality of an experience that can seem unwinnable except by perfectly harmonized strategy. We got asked a lot to make the story of the adventure more relevant and descriptive, and others asked for scenarios that can be played repeatedly. So, of course, we set out to do all those things at the same time.

We cut ties with the idea that every PACG story needed to be an epic. Treating the Core Set as a toolkit for grafting on adventures of every size really unleashes our ability to make things interesting. If you're looking for the sultry burn of a long intrigue adventure, Curse of the Crimson Throne is a 26-course meal with all the bells and whistles, going from adventure 1 ("B" is gone forever) to adventure 7. (You read that right.) For the impatient (and perhaps a little unhinged) among us, the upcoming We Be Heroes packs a goblin-sized adventure into two scenarios of wackadoo fun. You can even use the tools of the Core Set to craft roguelike scenarios, with six random scenario types in Core and two more in Curse.

But especially important is that the Core Set itself is a satisfying survey of things that PACG scenarios can do. We aimed to provide an Adventure Path of a size we'd never made before: a three-adventure campaign you could blast through in a weekend marathon if you wanted. At Lone Shark, we called this a "mini-Path," but really, "Adventure Path" is the official term for a connected set of any number of adventures greater than 1.

We cannot guarantee there's a dragon in The Dragon's Demand.

We found the perfect adventure that could strike the middle ground between one-shot and epic in a little green book by Mike Shel called The Dragon's Demand. In it, a wizard obsessed with a zoning issue dies, and dealing with his legacy goes... awry.

Check out the danger entry and henchman list for how strange things get.

You wanted more story? Have an illustrated 2-page spread of story for every scenario, including denouement if you succeed. Fans of the PACG Organized Play might recognize this kind of scenario layout. The extra room really lets us designers stretch our imaginations, finding new way to pull the levers of how PACG functions. Also, we compartmentalized the setup instructions and the rules you need during a scenario, so you can find the important stuff for the moment at a glance.

But what makes The Dragon's Demand the perfect story for the Core Set (which we expect you'll play a lot) is that it packs a lot of different beats into a compact narrative: Begin with the classic ride into town as a brief intro scenario to quickly teach how the game works, then explore a trapped magical estate, delve into ancient tombs, negotiate with sinister minions, rescue stolen townsfolk, and maybe even face a dragon at the end. The variety of situations in The Dragon's Demand allows us to parade a variety of our favorite scenario mechanics.

The PACG Core Set and the elements of this Adventure Path are designed as a toolkit. While remaining true to the story notes of The Dragon's Demand, we tried to capture elements you'd expect to build an engaging tale in the tabletop RPG.

Lots of utility here.

The barriers and story banes in particular stray further than ever from direct mortal dangers and include the sorts of things that might stymie hero investigators hunting a mystery. Globally useful concepts like a witness to a disaster or a person needing rescuing are introduced here and then used whenever the story dictates.

Good for all your reptilian needs.

But we haven't neglected to pack the box full of monsters. With the concept of story banes, a challenging Kobold Champion villain for heroes fresh off the hay wagon can become a masterful manipulator's loyal lieutenant in later chapters. Underappreciated stars of The Dragon's Demand story (they do die a lot in the tale), the clever little dragonlings lay all kinds of traps for our heroes. Though goblins get much love, kobolds are so hot right now with a sleek updated look. (And check out the homebrew AP "We Be Kobolds" by Tyler Beck and David Jacobson, which inspired us to look deeper into the scaly rotters.) And when it comes to changing up flavor for future stories, variability on the similarly scaly Drake and Dragon throw new flavor onto reusing story banes for new tales.

I'm not ashamed to admit: I want you to get hooked on the new PACG. Whether you're playing your first scenario ever or playing your favorite scenario of Core for the umpteenth time, our hope (and hopefully clever design) is that you'll find something new to explore.

Liz Spain
Adventure Card Game Designer

Pathfinder fans haven't had as much time to get to know the iconic goblin alchemist, Fumbus, as they have our other iconic characters, but that doesn't mean he isn't up to the same shenanigans as the rest of the crew. He might be new to the mix, but he's far from free of high-stakes adventure. We had initially not planned on doing an Iconic Encounter for Fumbus, as he didn't have an Iconic Evolution video to accompany his story, but after the rest of the series was so well received by the community, we decided to complete the set with a piece for all twelve iconics, not just those carrying over from first edition. While this is the last Iconic Encounter for now, we've loved putting them together, and the door's always open for more of them in the future. In the meantime, enjoy this piece of flash fiction from James L. Sutter showing the sorts of stories you can tell with Pathfinder Second Edition, available August 1!

Illustration by Federico Musetti

Maybe it was the way they were holding him—upside down with a knife to his throat—but Fumbus was starting to get the impression that the wererats didn't want any pickles.

It didn't make any sense. Fumbus was usually pretty good with rats. At first, they'd scratch and bite, like all wild, furry things, but typically all you had to do was give them a bit of food and convince them you weren't going to eat them, and pretty soon they'd calm right down.

At which point you would eat them—because they were rats. But they didn't need to know that.

These rats, however, hadn't even listened to Fumbus's offer of a handful of his best pickled grubs. Maybe it was because they were only rats when the moon was full. The rest of the time, they were humans, and who could say why humans did anything?

It had all started innocently enough. Fumbus had been making his monthly infiltration of the docks, looking for information about Droven—a necessary bit of sneakery, ever since the harbormaster had banned him from the docks. He normally wouldn't have spent much time searching the wererats' ship, as it was too small to have taken Droven to the far-off lands Fumbus imagined the Pathfinder must have left for. But they'd been loading barrels full of salt pork, and everyone knew salt pork was just pig-pickles. Fumbus hadn't been able to resist stealing a taste.

When he'd popped the lid, however, there'd been no delicious strips of salty pig, only a fine, dusty powder. Fumbus had leaned in to give it a sniff, and nearly lost his grip on the side of the barrel as the suddenly overpowering scents of bitterbark and redroot stabbed him in the brain. He'd swayed, the world going dark and tingly, and then both he and the barrel had been falling sideways.

When his head eventually cleared, the world was still the wrong way around, thanks to the wererat holding him up by his feet. They were inside the wererats' ship, the sailors all growing long snouts and fur as they tore through Fumbus's pack, yelling about the Harbor Guard and rival gangs and something called "grit." He'd tried to make his pickle offer, but the one holding his legs had cuffed him so hard he almost passed out again.

Now the captain threw down his pack and whirled on him, long incisors gleaming yellow in the lantern light. He was a big rat, wearing an unnecessarily large number of knives, and leaned in so close that Fumbus could smell the wine on his breath.

"Who are you working for?" he demanded. "Who sent you to spy on our operation?"

"No one!" Fumbus shook his head hard enough that he almost lost his goggles. "No one sent me!"

"I don't believe you." The captain reached down into Fumbus's pack and pulled out a sealed glass vial. He held it up, the claws of his free hand digging into Fumbus's cheeks as he yanked the goblin's head around to face the potion. "If you're not working for anyone, who gave you these?"

Fumbus squirmed, but there was no escaping the wererat's grip. "Nobody! I made them!"

That drew a surprised laugh from everyone present. The captain gave a wide, grotesque grin.

"You made these." His tone said everything. "A goblin alchemist."

"It's true!" From his inverted position, Fumbus glared up at all of them. "I know things—secret things! I brew magic!"

The captain leaned back and crossed his arms. "If you're an alchemist," he drawled, holding up the vial, "then what does this one do?"

Fumbus stared for a moment, then answered truthfully. "It makes light. Lots of it. But you have to shake it."

"Really?" One eyebrow quirked upward. The wererat pursed his lips thoughtfully, then gave the vial a hard shake.

Fumbus hadn't been lying—that mixture really did make light. And heat. And a delicious, smoky smell as both potion and captain exploded into flames.

The wererat holding Fumbus's feet jumped backward, releasing his grip. Fumbus hit the deck and rolled, coming up with his pack before the flames could set off any more of his concoctions—or worse, boil his pickles.

In an eyeblink, he was up the ladder to the main deck. Sailors shouted and scrambled after him, but he dug into his pouches as he ran, coming up with a half-prepared starter bottle and a handful of ingredients. With a practiced motion, he jammed the reagents into the bottle, judging the right proportions by feel and smell, and lobbed it into an open hatch.

Fire bloomed beneath the foredeck, drawing screams from those trapped below.

It wasn't quite enough, though. While several sailors raced to douse the flames, others pursued him down the gangplank, through the maze of crates waiting to be loaded.

He considered throwing another fire flask, but already the dock's fire bells were tolling. He'd come to like living in Absalom and didn't really want to burn down the entire harbor. At least not before Droven came back.

He needed something different. As he ran, he yanked bottles and pots from his pack, flicking open the stoppers to taste each one, trying to find what he needed. Acrid meant guano, which was a fine base, but the tangy toadstool juice wouldn't do at all...

Behind him, filthy claws scraped against Fumbus's pickle-barrel pack as the lead rat lunged, just barely missing flesh.

In desperation, Fumbus upended another flask into his mouth. Its contents fizzed and frothed across his tongue.

Perfect! Ducking around an assembly of loading carts, he withdrew another of his starter bombs, spitting in just the right amount of bubbling liquid. With a flick of his flint, he lit the fuse—

And held it. Here on the docks, everything was too open. But if he could just find the right spot...

There—a gate in the seawall, opening onto a crowded promenade where formerly carousing sailors now gawked at the flames or raced to save their ships. Fumbus zagged toward it, skidding past a shocked guard, and tossed the flask backward over his shoulder.

It exploded in a thick cloud of roiling smoke, engulfing the pursuing rats. In that moment of blindness, Fumbus ducked between the legs of passing longshanks, disappearing into the crowd.

He kept running for two more blocks, making sure no rats had followed, then turned uphill, clambering up a rain barrel and onto the roof of a sagging tavern. From a perch near the chimney, he looked out at the docks, where flames now rose from half a dozen ships.

Fumbus sighed. Now the harbormaster would really never help him find Droven. He'd probably have to avoid the whole district for weeks, at least. And it wasn't even his fault! He didn't mean for everything to end in fire. It was just something that sometimes happened—like lightning storms or burglary. There was nothing to be done about it.

But he had to admit, it was kind of pretty.

Leaning back against the chimney, he rested his head against cold bricks and watched the flames curl skyward.

That concludes this series of Iconic Encounters. For more short fiction set in the world of Pathfinder, check back next week for the first in our Tales of Lost Omens series, detailing the sorts of adventures you can set in the Age of Lost Omens! Until then, Pathfinders, may your bombs only explode when and where you want them to.

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

This is the month. Let's move past the endings of games and decisions on who's sitting on what thrones, as this month is the climax of Starfinder Society's (slightly extended) inaugural season. Today we're going to review the two scenarios that make up the ending our first season and set-up Starfinder Society going into an upcoming interactive special and its next season of play!

Paizo's own "live editor extreme!!!!" (as Zo! would say), Lyz Liddell, brings us an emotionally touching tale of adventure and intrigue in Starfinder Society #1-38: The Many Minds of Historia. You may remember Lyz and her work from Starfinder Society #1-05: The First Mandate, where she kicked off a lot of the ongoing Scoured Stars storyline. This Tier 5–8 scenario advances the storyline of two fan-favorite factions: the Dataphiles and the Exo-Guardians. It's hard to go into detail about this scenario without providing some significant spoilers, but I'll just say that if you're a member of either faction, this scenario is going to drastically influence how your faction plays out in the future. Suffice it to say, if you've been interested in certain popular events in the setting, or some other recent events, this scenario should be a stunning capstone adventure!

Illustration by Bryan Syme

Next up, we have the author of last year's major interactive event, veteran freelancer Mikko Kallio, bringing us the momentous conclusion to our first season in Starfinder Society #1-39: The Herald's War. Developing—no, just reading—this Tier 7–10 scenario was a pure joy from my perspective as the season's architect (along with a ton of insight from John Compton and the rest of the Organized Play team). Bringing together a figurative ton worth of elements (enough to make a sidebar wheeze) throughout Starfinder Society's first season, this adventure really shines as the culmination of a story that's been told over the past 20 months. From a climactic space battle to squaring off against the most significant threat we've seen in an adventure so far, this scenario really sets the tone for what immediately follows—more on that event in the coming weeks!

Illustration by Bryan Syme

With that, Starfinder Year 1 is complete, and we have our upcoming Year of a Thousand Bites to look forward to (nothing ominous there). I can't wait to see everyone who can make it out to PaizoCon this week, where the Organized Play team and I will reveal some new tidbits in our Starfinder Society panel! Also, attendees get a chance at playing the two previewed scenarios just a bit early, as they won't be available until the 29th of May.

As a final note on these two releases, I'd just like to say that more than any other scenarios, some Major events occur within these adventures. I'd like to ask our awesome community to keep these events under wraps—well, under spoiler tags—for the coming weeks, as I think some players want to experience these changes without knowing what's coming.

If you didn't see them already, consider taking a peek at the organized play blog posted this morning, detailing the Pathfinder Society releases for May, including a preview of Siege of Gallowspire!

Thurston Hillman
Starfinder Society Developer

PaizoCon's one of our biggest events, particularly for new adventures. Not only do we finish all of the May adventures early to send out to GMs, but we add in a multi-table interactive special to boot! Phew! Thankfully, the first two waves (for PaizoCon and Origins)are done with the Gen Con adventures still ahead, so while we can breathe a brief sigh of relief, there's always a whole lot left to do. And if you're at PaizoCon, you'll be able to see all of us there. If you're at Origins, Thurston, John, and Tonya will be in attendance to kick off the new year of Starfinder Society content.

But let's focus on today's real stars: the new scenarios!

In Pathfinder Society Scenario #10-20: Countdown to Round Mountain, a Tier 7–11 adventure written by Jerall Toi, the PCs are part of a massive Pathfinder Society expedition into the Darklands beneath Tian Xia. They're tasked with obtaining any information they can from a cavern known as The Old Rat's Broken Heart, as well as evacuating anyone currently inhabiting the area, before the Hao Jin Tapestry ejects the geographic oddity known as Round Mountain and sends it crashing back to earth.

Illustration by Tadas Sidlauskas

This is no mere spelunking expedition, however, as the PCs have to exercise their archaeological and investigative skills while negotiating with the inhabitants of The Old Rat's Broken Heart. As though coordinating an archaeological expedition on a tight and deadly timeframe weren't enough, the PCs face additional complications in the form of dangerous threats like this fearsome metallic warrior.

For our next adventure, Pathfinder Society Scenario #10-21: Slaver's End, author Vanessa Hoskins takes us on a Tier 5–9 mission to track down traitorous former venture-captain Phlegos Dulm. For over a decade, Phlegos served as the Society's primary connection and coordinator in the markets of Katapesh and the barren wilds surrounding the city, often undermining the efforts of Katapesh's other two venture-captains, Wulessa Yuul and Aurora Steelbloom. Phlegos was ultimately driven from the city when an alliance of Katapeshi goblins, the Liberty's Edge faction, and the rest of their Pathfinder allies revealed the half-orc poisoner's perfidy and drove him from the city.

Illustration by Teresa Guido Sidlauskas

Karisa Starsight, a steward for the Liberty's Edge faction, has uncovered documents indicating that Phlegos's betrayals may have been even more profound than initially realized. As it turns out, several groups of Pathfinders reported missing in action under his purview may actually have been captured and sold as slaves in the slave markets of seedy Sedeq, located on Qadira's southern peninsula. Karisa calls upon the PCs to join her in Sedeq and help her track down Phlegos and the missing Pathfinders. Unbeknownst to Karisa, another old foe lurks in the shadows, using Phlegos's corruption to her own ends. Who is this dangerous corsair, and what dangers might her involvement portend?

Pathfinder Society Scenario #10-98: Siege of Gallowspire is the final interactive special for Pathfinder Society using the First Edition rules. It is a Tier 5–16 scenario, with Subtiers 5–6, 7–8, 10–11, 12–13, and 15–16.

From the earliest days of creating this adventure, we knew that we wanted it to have a grand scope, and to feature a way to include more than one PC per player in the story. We also wanted to be sure that the story was satisfying without being complicated, while still giving definite nods to the journeys the PCs have taken to get to this point. Finally, we wanted to offer a challenge for those wanting to dial it up to eleven!

In Siege of Gallowspire, the PCs confront the plots of one of Golarion's most infamous villains: the Whispering Tyrant. This ancient lich has begun a ritual that threatens to create new armies of undead to serve him, and it's up to the Pathfinder Society to stop the ritual before it's too late. The situation is serious enough that even the famously jolly Master of Swords Marcos Farabellus isn't smiling, illustrated below by Sebastian Gomez.

So how does this scenario include multiple PCs per player? Players bring one usual character, and they can also bring up to three of their other PCs to act as Aid Characters. Aid Characters are PCs of level 5–20 that have two roles. They create personalized Aid Tokens—special benefits that players can hand out to other tables after each encounter. Aid Characters can also participate in special Aid Missions during the scenario. Each Aid Mission is led by one of the Pathfinder Society's most famous venture-captains. These missions are dangerous, but they could have big payoffs! To use a PC as an Aid Character, you do not need all of their Chronicle sheets and papers. You just need the most recent Chronicle sheet that character has earned. If you don't have enough PCs to fill in your three Aid Character slots, that's OK too. You can use 4th-level pregenerated characters instead. They aren't as effective as your own PCs would be, but they can still participate in the story.

Illustration by Sebastian Gomez

When it comes to challenge, Siege of Gallowspire has two difficulty modes. The first, Soldier, is a little bit harder than a typical special, but players also have more resources than normal to help them out. The second, Champion, is akin to the Hard Mode option that has been offered in past scenarios, offering an additional challenge for tables of players who prefer to face stronger foes.

Check back this afternoon for a preview of May's Starfinder Society scenarios.

Michael Sayre
Developer

Linda Zayas-Palmer
Developer

Now that we've concluded our Iconic Evolutions video series, I'm sure all of our readers are eagerly awaiting news of what exciting content we'll be sharing on Tuesdays going forward. Have no fear, brave Pathfinders, for I've got you covered!

Starting next week, hot on the heels of what's sure to be the best PaizoCon yet, we'll be showing the first of the new regions of the Pathfinder setting as presented in the Lost Omens World Guide, coming out on August 1. These 10 meta-regions are geographically contiguous and thematically linked sections of the Inner Sea region, each intended to be a bit more accessible to new players and Game Masters than the previous 40+ nations presented in the Inner Sea World Guide.

Cartography by Rob McCaleb

In addition to new groupings of neighboring nations, we've also updated the "status quo" of the setting to incorporate the effects of the past 12 years of adventures. We'll share a few of these changes every Tuesday until August, giving you a glimpse of the state of the world in 4719 AR and beyond. Don't worry, though, we'll do our best not to spoil past APs for those still finishing up their First Edition campaigns, and we'll leave plenty of reveals for August when you can read the full book yourselves.

Illustration by David Alvarez

For fans of the Iconic Encounters series of flash fiction we've tied to the weekly Iconic Evolution videos, we'll be continuing that with a piece starring Fumbus on Thursday of this week, and then continuing the flash fiction trend with a new series beginning next week: Tales of Lost Omens. These pieces are slightly longer than James Sutter's Iconic Encounters, but are still closely tied (as best we could) to an epic piece of art from the forthcoming Lost Omens World Guide. Fans of past Pathfinder Tales novels will be happy to know that we've gotten some of our most prolific authors to return for this series, so stay tuned!

Let us know in the comments or at PaizoCon this weekend what you've thought of the Iconic Evolutions, Iconic Encounters, and other preview content we've featured over the last few months here on the blog. We've been really pleased with the level of engagement on both series so far, and hope that varying the format a bit will keep things fresh and exciting for the coming months.

I've got lots of PaizoCon preparation to get to, so I'll wrap this up, but I look forward to seeing everyone at the con and then showing off our first region next week. Until then, Pathfinders, may your wayfinders always point toward adventure!

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

Well, this is it. Years back, I began my freelance career with Paizo on a little book called the Giant Hunter's Handbook. Here I am years later actually working at Paizo and getting to close the book on the Player Companion line. It's kind of a bittersweet moment as I've come to grow the line, but I know its new, younger sibling, the Lost Omens World Guide, will be a great line in its own right!

Illustration by Nathanael James

To celebrate the Player Companion's ride off into the sunset, we wanted to go out with something big. This is how Pathfinder Player Companion: Chronicle of Legends came about. There's a lot of material in the ten years of Pathfinder First Edition's history. From humble beginnings with the Advanced Player's Guide to the fantastic and powerful Mythic Adventures to the weird and enigmatic Occult Adventures, there is enough material to run games for years to come. However, there are always stones to be turned! We wanted to take a chance to poke around in the less explored sections of the game and blaze new trails while we still had our chance and this book was our shot at doing just that! To best present all of the fresh new ideas we wanted to present, we decided to present the book as if it were snippets and entries from the various issues and volumes of the Pathfinder Chronicles. Each section has a fun little excerpt from a volume that presents the exciting ideas of the section and hints at some of the great stories throughout Golarion's history.

Chronicle of Legends is packed to the brim with brand new options that carve out new mechanical space for first edition. One of these options is the new exemplar traits. These traits are more powerful versions of the traits you know and love except that they can grow in power based on your other traits. For example, the Traveler of a Hundred Lands trait allows you to gain more class skills for every two regional traits you have. Another set of new options are the battle standards for cavaliers and samurai that will enable you to replace your banner with a new standard that gives a different set of options or the gunslinger and swashbuckler renowned deeds that swap out existing deeds for new abilities.

Illustration by Alyssa McCarthy

For those with a spellcasting bent, there are several new options to show your mastery of magic. You might unlock the secrets of powerful spells like rival's weald, which can permanently transform your enemies into trees. Instead, you can take the Magic Trick feat to expand your prowess with specific spells. The feat allows a spellcaster to concentrate a fireball into a smaller area that deals more damage or even break it up into smaller explosions that you can toss all over the battlefield.

We also have new magic items with a twist for you! You can look into special items known as legacy items. These unique magic items from Golarion's history grow in power alongside their owner and even become more powerful after completing specific tasks. If you wear Amatatsu Aganhei's trailblazer's boots, you will be quicker and hardier in dangerous environments. If you manage to walk 1,000 miles in the boots, you can also designate your surroundings as your favored terrain. In addition to legacy items, we also have new equipment sets. These are specific items that grow in power and even grant new abilities as you collect the set. Collecting Beastmaster's Will grants you the movement of the great beasts of nature and eventually the hunter's animal focus ability.

As many groups will be wrapping up campaigns in anticipation of second edition, we wanted to provide support for high-level characters as well. It doesn't get any higher than 20th level, so we have new capstones for these characters! These include the likes of the inquisitor's team leader ability that allows her to share several of her teamwork feats or the kineticist's unbridled power ability that empowers her blasts. If you prefer, we also have generic capstones that are available to most any class like the perfect body, flawless mind ability that allows you to increase your ability scores to legendary amounts or won't stay dead which allows you to come back after death over and over again. Whether your class is core, alternate, base, hybrid, occult, or unchained, you have a new capstone option!

What if you have a prestige class, though? Well, we have something for you, too! The prestige class has gone relatively unsupported for years, so we wanted to make up for lost time. This book presents new feats for each of the prestige classes in the Core Rulebook. This includes feats like Storm of Arrows that allow arcane archers to target twice as many foes with their hail of arrows. We also have two new prestige classes, the esoteric knight and ritualist, to provide support for some of our occult classes. In fact, we had so much support for our prestige classes that we couldn't fit them all in the book! One of the options we wanted to present were new archetypes specifically for prestige classes. Since we don't have space in the book for them, you get them here, our treat!

Illustration by Michele Giorgi

Prestige Archetypes

The following archetypes are available for prestige classes. These archetypes replace specific abilities of the prestige class much in the same way that archetypes do for standard classes. Each prestige archetype has unique requirements that replace the prestige class's standard requirements. You must meet these requirements before you can take the first level of the prestige class with the associated prestige archetype.

Deadeye Devotee (Arcane Archer Archetype)

Dedicated followers of Erastil become closer to their god by mastering archery and caring for each other. They can tap into the power of the Elk Father, who guides and empowers their arrows.

Requirements: To qualify to become a Deadeye devotee, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
Alignment: Lawful good, lawful neutral, or neutral good.
Deity: Must worship Erastil.
Base Attack Bonus: +6.
Feats: Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Weapon Focus (longbow).
Spells: Must be able to cast 1st-level divine spells.
This alters requirements.

Spells per Day: At the indicated levels, a Deadeye devotee gains new spells per day as if he had also gained a level in a divine spellcasting class he belonged to before adding the prestige class. He does not, however, gain other benefits a character of that class would have gained, except for additional spells per day, spells known (if he is a spontaneous spellcaster), and an increased effective level of spellcasting. If a character had more than one divine spellcasting class before becoming a Deadeye devotee, he must decide to which class he adds the new level for purposes of determining spells per day.
This alters spells per day.

Energy Arrow (Su): At 4th level, when casting either a cure or inflict spell, a deadeye devotee can create an arrow composed of positive or negative energy. This ability allows the devotee to use the bow's range rather than the spell's range to make a ranged touch attack. The physical damage that would be dealt from a mundane arrow is converted into additional damage to the inflict spell or into additional healing for a cure spell. A spell cast in this way is a standard action and the deadeye devotee can fire the arrow as part of the casting. If the arrow misses, the spell is wasted.
This replaces seeker arrow.

Thought Thief (Arcane Trickster)

A thought thief will happily rip ideas from their victim's head and their gold from their purse.

Requirements: To qualify to become a thought thief, a character must fulfill all the following criteria.
Alignment: Any nonlawful.
Skills: Disable Device 4 ranks, Escape Artist 4 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) 4 ranks.
Spells: Ability to cast mage hand and at least one psychic spell of 2nd level or higher.
Special: Sneak attack +2d6.
This alters requirements.

Mental Assault (Su): At 3rd level, once per day as a standard action, a thought thief can pinpoint a target's trauma and exploit weakness with a deluge of psychic power. This is a melee touch attack that deals damage equal to her sneak attack damage and grants the thought thief control of the target as dominate person for a number of rounds equal to her thought thief level. A successful Will save (DC = 10 + the thought thief's level + her Charisma modifier) negates the dominate effect. A thought thief can only use this ability against a target that is susceptible to her sneak attack, such as a target she is flanking. This attack has no effect on creatures without an intelligence score. At 7th level, a thought thief can use this ability twice per day.
This replaces impromptu sneak attack.

Unseen Compulsion: At 5th level a thought thief can hide the effects of any spell she casts with the mind-affecting and compulsion spell descriptors. Creatures that observe her casting such a spell can attempt a Sense Motive check to notice the spell (DC = 15 + the thought thief's ranks in Bluff + the thought thief's Charisma modifier). Creatures that fail their check are unaware of any effects of the thought thief's spell.
This replaces tricky spells.

As you can see, there's a lot to love in Chronicle of Legends. Make sure to snag your copy from paizo.com or from your local gaming store. It's going to be legendary!

Luis Loza
Developer

It's been over a year since we introduced a new Paizo editor to you all, but it's now my great pleasure to announce our latest hire: Senior Editor Lyz Liddell, who has officially joined our ranks here in house after almost 6 years of working with us remotely, first as a freelancer and then as a contractor! I'll let her introduce herself in her own words...

Hullo, folks! I'm Lyz, and I'm sorta new around here! I just started as a Real Employee™ this month, but I've been editing for Paizo in ever-growing quantities for close to 6 years now, lurking in the wild realms of Contract Employment (also known as Columbus, Ohio). Before that I was a freelance editor for a whole bunch of d20/3.5 publishers, going back to the 3.5 heyday of the early aughties. I've been gaming since high school, starting with 2nd Edition D&D, Vampire: The Masquerade, and Shadowrun as my go-to games. I've been riding the Pathfinder wave since the days of the playtest for the original game (yeah, that paperback beta rulebook in 2008). So I'm both a veteran and a noob, but either way, I'm excited to be here!

As an editor, I make the words good, with a healthy dose of also making sure the words work well in the context of the game and society at large—I'm a huge proponent of inclusivity in gaming and work to throw out habits and tropes that marginalize people or perpetuate harmful stereotypes. My hope, as an editor, is that you never notice my work as you're enjoying the latest Pathfinder and Starfinder products—because we've succeeded in presenting things clearly and cleanly with a minimum of errors.

When I'm not editing, I'm often writing (mostly fantasy novels and RPG material), cycling, cooking, canoeing, costuming, hiking, or performing weird old music (I specialize in medieval, renaissance, and baroque woodwinds). I realized my 3-year goal of driving to the office last month (a journey of 2,400 miles), and I am loving the Pacific Northwest! Even more, I'm loving the (admittedly surreal at times) reality of sharing a workspace with the fantastic Paizo staff.

Please join all of us in welcoming Lyz to Paizo!

Judy Bauer
Managing Editor

Hi. I'm Aviva, and I'm new here. Sort of. I was an intern at Paizo in 2012, so when I began working with Lone Shark in 2016, Pathfinder wasn't totally new to me. I've never really considered writing a PACG blog before, but now that I've contributed for a while, I have some important things to say. So I've poured a glass of cheap rosé, illuminated a 3-wick vanilla butter–scented candle, and hit play on an acoustic Spotify playlist, all to create my perfectly chill atmosphere. But you know what's not chill? The inefficiency in OG PACG.

Maybe you think the earlier products have gotten better with age, but I think new players may not have quite the experienced palette you do. This isn't making the game sweeter. (I have looked ahead, and yes, the wine puns are just going to keep coming. —Mike) The adjustments we're making to the flow of your adventure mean you'll be engaged in all the turns and will probably have more fun, which... like, why else would you play the game?

Yes, sometimes the game was too slow. Part of speeding up the new Core Set involved filling it with cards that are simpler, both mechanically and visually. This allows us to design crazier cards later without obstructing your flow more than otherwise.

Immolate from Mummy's Mask; Right: Immolate from Curse of the Crimson Throne.

Let's talk visuals first. The additional power on the Curse version of Immolate would make it an unreadable font size if templated with the previous card design; here, even with an extra power, there's still enough room for traits and the check to acquire without covering three different sides of art. (The updated wordings also help—you're welcome.) #efficiency.

A location from Rise of the Runelords (or should I say Rosé of the Runelords?); Right: one from the Core Set.

On The Leng Device, an entire character is blocked by the decklist. With the new card layout, you can see all of that skeleton in the Cell. And since there's no back, there's no flavor text. That's good because a location doesn't always have just one story. In Core, the Cell is used in Scenario 1B: The Blood Vow, in which an ally is held captive; and in Scenario 2C: Spirited Away, in which a villain lurks. So we've put the story where it belongs: in the storybook. Your stories will be much larger and contain more depth without us being so specific on these cards. #efficiency.

Let's move on to mechanics. One minor speedup comes from making checks to acquire mandatory, just as checks to defeat have always been. No more analyzing your decisions; just roll! If you want, you can take a result of 0 on any check and move on. However, you still play out the consequence of that 0.

Let's re-wine a prosec. Why is this faster, you ask? Making you do a thing every time there's a thing to do must be longer! But, my friends, you're forgetting about that time you spent 10 minutes trying to decide if a check was worth rolling for, and then another five minutes trying to figure out if the power prefixed by “if you did not succeed” would apply here. There is no more design around whether you perform the check or not, which saves you from having to work out the difference between “choosing not to make a check” and “failing a check.” Let me show you some examples that'll make you say chardon-YAY:

In Mummy's Mask, we wanted things to happen to you if you chose not to acquire or if you failed. If you simply decided to not make a check against an ally like Azaz Arafe and Zazu, what happens then? It doesn't make sense for you to come out better when you didn't try, rather than try and fail. So we added the rule “If you choose not to acquire it, it counts as failing to acquire it.” If you don't try, you still fail (just like real life, amirite?). Now, this is a global rule, which eliminates that extra step of you making a choice to make a check. Grandmother Nightmare's “hour power” cares for an entire turn, so you better give things your best shot! #efficiency

Another thing making the game faster: recovery. By having this step at the end of your turn, you don't need to interrupt your turn (i.e., the game flow) or whatever check you're making to see if you get to recharge the card and then have it matter for damage and bad stuff that might happen to your deck. Recovery happens at the end of each turn, so you can still recover your cards off-turn, but in many cases, the next player can get on with the start of their turn while you're cleaning up your own. #multitasking #efficiency

Setup of the game is also much quicker (yay, you can play sooner!). A big contributor to this is the use of proxies, making it so you don't have to search through a million duplicated henchmen to find the one you need. Mike talked about proxies in his blog Rethinking Complexity, Part 2, so I'm going to be #efficient and not re-explain here. (But I will mention something he didn't: You also use proxies in place of the old character token cards when you need to, like when your token card would get shuffled into a deck.)

Speaking of tokens (sort of), we now have markers. Mike showed you the scourge card design, but not the markers themselves. I will, so now you can imagine them together:

That pink marker could mark that I'm wounded, but then again, I like pink, so maybe I want this to mark my Brooch instead. The point is I GET TO PICK.

Look at all those When Closed powers that help all local people! Well, except Twisting Passages.

One of the larger visual changes will be noticeable as you start to accomplish your default goal of closing locations: locations are now removed when they're closed. Don't worry, though; everything happens for a riesling. This is going to speed up your game while increasing both tension and cooperation, thanks to the many "local" powers that exist. We know you need a chance to heal or buff yourself, and this is exactly what the closing powers on many locations will do for you—the nice ones anyway—before they're banished and you get to move (usually to a location of your choice)... and off-turn, if you weren't the active player. You will be fine. This also means the entire board is empty when you win! So, less cleanup too. #efficiency

Okay, time for me to wine this up.

Aviva Schecterson
Adventure Card Game Designer

It seems like forever ago that we first introduced the iconic characters who have since come to embody the amazing adventures that make Pathfinder the beloved game it has become. First among them, was the iconic fighter, Valeros, who made his debut just over 12 years ago, on May 7, 2007. Since then, he's gotten a more thorough Meet the Iconics introduction, and featured in three Pathfinder Legends adventure path adaptations and nearly 50 issues of Pathfinder comics, making him one of the most omnipresent iconic characters around. That doesn't mean his story's over, however, as we've got another exciting tale featuring his antics below. Enjoy the following piece of short fiction from James L. Sutter in the next entry into our series of Iconic Encounters—brief vignettes of the iconic characters showcasing the myriad stories you can tell with Pathfinder Second Edition.

Illustration by Hai Hoang

The soldier had been staring at him from the corner for the last two drinks. Now at last she stood and moved his direction, plate armor hanging heavily from her broad shoulders.

Valeros smiled. Big was good—he liked a woman who could throw him around a little.

Then the two soldiers with her stood, and his smile faded. He could work with that if it came to it, but it wasn't really his first choice.

Then she reached into the shadows beneath a table and withdrew a greatsword, the steel sliding free of its sheath with a whispered song, and Valeros was forced to concede that maybe the night wasn't going his way after all.

"Valeros of Andoran," the woman thundered. "For crimes against the Empire of Cheliax, I hereby place you under arrest."

Damn. Valeros had seen the sigils on their armor, but they were a long way from Cheliax, and he'd thought she'd been interested in his hair, not his history.

He took a sip from his mug and eyed her sword. "I thought we were supposed to check our weapons at the door."

"You are," the woman said, and all three of the soldiers grinned wolfishly. "It makes our job easier."

Valeros sighed. He'd really been hoping for a different sort of tussle tonight. He sagged, folding his arms tiredly over the shield propped against the side of his chair.

"Well," he observed, "good thing this isn't really a weapon, then."

The shield's metal edge slammed up beneath the first soldier's chin, snapping his head back and sending him sprawling across a nearby table. Valeros's chair followed him, spinning out into the other two and fouling them up long enough for Valeros to slip his arm through the shield's leather straps.

He brought it back around just in time to catch the scything stroke of the woman's blade, barely managing to turn it aside. Beer sloshed from the mug in his free hand.

"Hey!" he yelled. "I paid for that!"

"You'll pay for more than that!" The woman hammered the sword down again. The force of the blow dented steel, sending a shock of pain up Valeros's shield arm, followed by a more concerning numbness.

"Yeah, to hell with this." Valeros rammed the shield into the woman's chest, pulling her backward. He started to take a swing at the other soldier, only to remember he still held his tankard. He turned the blow into an elbow strike, slamming his armor into the man's cheekbone.

The huge sword—and really, what kind of overcompensating barbarian fought with something that large?—struck again, crashing down like a falling tree. It was too much for the shield: one of the leather straps popped free, leaving Valeros holding the military equivalent of an oversized serving platter.

"Stupid shield!" Valeros flung it aside, then spun around behind the soldier with the busted cheek, grabbing him in a chokehold and putting him between Valeros and the swordswoman. "Meat's the best shield, anyway."

The swordswoman paused, calculating the probability of beheading Valeros without hurting her comrade. Or possibly evaluating how much she liked said comrade—Chelaxians were a tough bunch like that. Either way, it gave Valeros a moment to breathe, and he took the opportunity to take a drink from his tankard.

And got nothing. In growing horror, he looked down into the empty mug, then at the dark trail of beer across the sawdust-covered floor.

The last of his good mood slipped away. He squeezed his captive's neck tighter, leaning down to speak directly into the terrified soldier's ear.

"You broke my shield," he whispered. "That's annoying, but fixable. That beer, though..." He flexed, and the man's limbs began flailing frantically. "That beer is gone forever..."

If you enjoyed this week's entry into the Iconic Encounters series, be sure to check back next week for the series' conclusion with a story featuring the iconic goblin alchemist, Fumbus! Until then, Pathfinders, keep your shield ready and your tankards full.

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

From the early Shadow War for Absalom to the introduction of factions in Season 3 to the transition to non-national factions in Season 6 to the removal of faction missions to Faction Journal Cards and Season 9's many storylines, we've seen factions grow and change so much over the years. And that's with good reason—factions are one of the unique elements that distinguish the Pathfinder Society campaign from the core rules, and they're consistently a big part of what inspires and shapes character concepts. There was no doubt in our mind that Pathfinder Society's second edition campaign would include factions, too.

And we've had a lot of inspiration to draw from. Not only have we learned a lot of lessons from past Pathfinder Society seasons, but we also had the benefit of seeing how Starfinder Society's different approach to factions fared. The latter's worked out really well. Not only does it give PCs the opportunity represent multiple factions (earning Reputation that determines your status within the faction and Fame that lets you buy perks), but it also presents factions as interest groups within the Society rather than ambitious power brokers beyond the Society, boosting the sense of camaraderie rather than highlighting irreconcilable differences.

Yet there's one big factor that Starfinder Society had that Pathfinder Society doesn't: a clean slate. When Thurston Hillman was taking point on Starfinder Society's foundational lore, we were inventing new factions from the ground up (and created some pretty great characters). For those of us handling Pathfinder Society's transition, we have roughly 11 years of history, experience, and emotional connection to consider. How do we balance old loyalties with new possibilities?

The short answer? Through many passionate discussions.

The longer answer? We sussed out that although there were some first edition factions whose stories were wrapping up and others that seem to have many years of fresh stories to tell, the notion of transferring only some of the factions or faction leaders into the second edition campaign would give a sense of winners and losers. What's more, the current factions are very much the products of a decade-long campaign in which they've evolved rather organically—trying to fill particular niches so as not to overlap too heavily with other factions' goals or pivot too strongly from those factions' original goals and character types. So even those factions we thought could do well in the new campaign received closer scrutiny and a verdict of "Good, but not quite what we need."

The end result? The second edition Pathfinder Society campaign features six factions, most of which have familiar faces leading them. These factions are all new and include four major factions and two minor factions.

Nice! Six factions! That should... uh... wait, what? Major and minor factions? (Okay, some of you who have followed a little experiment in Starfinder Society might know where this is going.)

Major and Minor Factions

Narrative, stability, and options. We're going to come back to those words.

Let's start with a bit of history. In Season 3, the org play team doubled the number of playable factions from 5 to 10. It was kinda nice. There were tons of options, there was, at last, a "good guys" faction that didn't occasionally send assassins after people, the Shadow Lodge developed an early following and more. But within a year, the opportunity cost of maintaining all of these factions was already taking its toll (those faction missions didn't write themselves). There were already plans to trim the factions down to 8 by the time I joined in Season 4, and later to 7 factions. Ambitious storyteller that I was, I wanted to tell more faction-facing stories, and the more factions there were to juggle, the more scenarios they needed to tell their stories and the fewer non-faction scenarios we saw. As an added complication, some season storylines were ideal fits for any given faction's main story, whereas others struggled at times to be relevant.

In short, the more factions we had, the harder it was to give each of them the screen time we felt they deserved. And as I mentioned earlier, factions had gone through a lot of changes over the years, and stories sometimes had to focus on how a faction had changed rather than fulfilling that faction's goals. In many cases, it worked out nicely, and at other times, it didn't meet our lofty expectations. Basically, we were having to balance narrative and stability with numerous other factors.

To address these issues, we created major and minor factions. At their core, major and minor factions are about narrative, stability, and options. They aim to give players lots of options while maximizing our storytelling possibilities and affording us the flexibility to present a wide range of adventures.

A major faction is one of the Pathfinder Society's philosophical pillars, promoting values that are central to what the organization's about. When we create each year's storyline and scenario list, we endeavor to include several scenarios that play to each major faction's strengths or advance their own narratives. And because the major factions are fundamentally tied to the Society's goals in different ways, these factions are very unlikely to change.

A minor faction represents a group of like-minded individuals within the Society that's recognized as a significant force and commands its own substantial resources. The faction's goals are not part of the Society's charter, per se, yet the objectives are ones that commonly appeal to Pathfinders or are an excellent fit for adventurers already traveling the world. Minor factions are also an excellent fit for region-based factions that would feature heavily for a specific year's storyline before stepping back from the spotlight, much as the Lantern Lodge was central to Season 3'story. Likewise, although we'll certainly feature stories tied to minor factions every so often, a minor faction isn't guaranteed a particular amount of story content each season. In terms of stability, we're unlikely to remove a minor faction from play (such as when the Shadow Lodge retired), and we'll likely introduce more minor factions slowly throughout the campaign.

If you participate in Starfinder Society, you might have seen one of these minor factions in action: the Manifold Host. The Starfinder Society isn't strictly about recruiting as many strange aliens agents as possible, but it sure is something that tends to happen when you send explorers out to inspect unfamiliar worlds. The Manifold Host delights in expanding the Society's diversity in this way. The minor faction offers a mix of boons, including some borrowed from existing factions and a few that are entirely unique. The "Faction (Manifold Host)" tag hasn't appeared on any scenarios, yet it's nonetheless just the right fit in terms of flavor and rewards for many characters. It's doing what we'd hope a minor faction would do.

Okay, we're already 1,100 or so words in, and I haven't even introduced any of our factions yet! Let's correct that by showing off two of the six new factions, including both a major faction and a minor faction.

Horizon Hunters (Major Faction)

Since its first day when adventurers gathered in Absalom to share drinks and swap stories, the Pathfinder Society has been an organization of explorers. The Horizon Hunters is home to those who carry on the proud tradition of ascending the highest peaks, plumbing the darkest depths, and seeing what lies over the next hill. And as sweet as it is to discover a lost ruin or unknown vista, it's all the better to tell wild tales about the experience and revel in the admiration of peers—particularly if an agent's deeds might be immortalized in the Pathfinder Chronicles, a widely distributed record of the greatest Pathfinders' achievements and discoveries.

Faction Leader: Hailing from the Sodden Lands, Calisro Benarry (N female half-orc) is a pirate-turned-Pathfinder who made her name as venture-captain of the Arcadian Mariner's Lodge, a ship-borne Pathfinder lodge aboard the Grinning Pixie passed between venture-captains every few years. Bucking tradition, Benarry commanded the wheel for a decade, oversaw exploration of the dreaded Gloomspires, and traveled widely before recently being ordered to surrender the ship. That's no excuse for her to settle down, and she's poured her energy into inspiring curiosity, tenacity, and wanderlust in the Society as a whole, spearheading the Horizon Hunters faction.

Objectives: The more untouched, unfamiliar, or unknown a site or treasure, the more exhilarating it is to reach it. The Horizon Hunters encourage exploration for its own sake, yet it's also dedicated to enhancing the reputation of its members—anything from publication in the Pathfinder Chronicles to being the subject of the latest tall tale to circulate the taverns. Iconic objectives include uncovering mythical lost cities, blazing the trail through uncharted territory, and reaching foreboding realms. And if the PCs can look good while doing so, that's all the better.

Radiant Oath (Minor Faction)

The Society's mission doesn't intrinsically involve acts of altruism, heroism, and sacrifice, yet the Pathfinders have a track record for thwarting evil, lending a helping hand, and presenting the Pathfinders as upstanding folk wherever they go. For the Radiant Oath, this benevolence extends beyond incidental assistance. Instead, the faction sees the Society's broad reach as an excellent vector for assisting others the world over. Those who join the Radiant Oath swear simple vows to assist others, expanding on these promises the more they serve the faction.

Faction Leader: No stranger to peril, Valais Durant (LG female aasimar) set out for Numeria after earning her wayfinder and distinguished herself in covert operations there and in Ustalav. When the Society needed agents to investigate the possible misdeeds of Venture-Captain Thurl, she volunteered, directing her practiced senses to uncover his crimes. Unfortunately, she fell prey to his guardians and magic, ultimately being transformed into an amalgam of demonflesh. She fought off her new form's abyssal influence long enough to return to the Society, and there she sought to restore her mortal form. Her journey took her as far away as Heaven, where with other Pathfinders, she uncovered a ritual to remove the demonic corruption safely. The ritual exceeded her greatest expectations. Rather than be restored to her human body, Heaven itself granted her a celestial form.

Even though she's still adjusting to her new body and celestial connection, Valais is committed to helping others as the Society helped her. Rather than crushing her spirit, her exposure to dark rituals and demonic whispers has taught her what's at stake if evil prevails, granting her the strength to defeat fiends and assist the vulnerable in equal measure. Her supernatural powers don't blind her to her own biases, though. Valais knows that her own perspective of justice and benevolence is but one of many the world over, so she recruits faction members of diverse backgrounds to spread good in their own ways while respecting the desires of unfamiliar cultures.

Objectives: Unlike its spiritual predecessor, the Silver Crusade, which threw itself forcefully at the most significant threats and villains, the Radiant Oath emphasizes acts of kindness, compassion, and redemption. However, when dire evils threaten the world, the oathsworn are ready to combat it. By consistently promoting the cause of good and building the faction's reputation, the Radiant Oath strives for greater influence in the Society to direct its resources toward just causes.

Did you catch yesterday's blog about more of the decisions for the continuation of the Pathfinder Society campaign? If not, we encourage you to check it out. Otherwise, join us next week as we preview May's scenario offerings.

John Compton
Organized Play Lead Developer

The inexorable approach of Pathfinder Society's second edition campaign means the team's relentlessly discussing, finalizing, and formalizing ever more campaign details, much as we shared in April with earned benefits. This month we're not only presenting four more preview topics, but there's also another blog happening later today to introduce the first of two new factions. Let's get to it!

Chronicle Sheets

With all of the changes we're making to the organized play campaign, one of the most visually apparent differences is the redesign of our Chronicle sheets. We've shared a few samples of potential new Chronicle sheets in previous blogs, collecting lots of feedback from you in the process. Studying your comments alongside the other updates and changes we've made in the organized play program; we've come up with a close-to-final version of the Chronicle sheet for you to check out and give us any final thoughts or feedback on before it gets locked in. With the new Achievement Points system and other updates, we've adjusted the Chronicle sheet to feature more room for tracking expenditures, adventure summaries, and other useful tools. And if we're tracking those on a Chronicle sheet again, that means the Inventory Tracking Sheet can be a thing of the past.

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words, so at this point, I'll wrap up talking and direct you to the sample of the new Chronicle sheet linked below. Please check it out and let us know what you think!

Rarity and Item Access

As you likely saw in the Pathfinder Playtest Rulebook, Pathfinder's second edition includes both item levels and rarities. These two topics share the same themes—namely getting cool gear in your PC's hands—so we're looking at them together.

An item's level is a reliable indication of its power, its price, and whether a character of a given level should typically have one handy, plus it makes creating higher-level characters pretty handy (e.g., begin with this many 3rd-level items, this many 4th, etc.). If you've played Starfinder, you already have a good sense of what item levels look like and how they function. The main difference is that Pathfinder focuses less on buying ever-better versions of your preferred weapon and instead on applies power-boosting augmentations to it.

When we launched Starfinder Society, we saw item levels as a natural way to indicate when a PC could access and purchase a particular item. In that campaign, PCs can buy items from the Starfinder Core Rulebook up to their level + 1, items from other sources up to their level + 0, and anything from a Chronicle sheet up to their level + 2. In those reasonably rare circumstances in which someone earns and keeps Infamy, each point of Infamy reduces the PC's effective level by 1 for the purpose of buying gear (arms merchants tend not to trust PC criminals with the latest plasma cannon). This model's worked out pretty smoothly, especially in that it means any higher-level equipment on a Chronicle sheet is relevant (a common complaint in Pathfinder Society's use of Fame for equipment access). By giving broader access to the Core Rulebook's equipment, we both indicated that gear was more common and thus easier to access, and we were aiming to keep that book's contents as relevant as possible even as other books began appearing on shelves.

We're implementing something very similar in the new Pathfinder Society campaign, with Chronicle sheets granting earlier level-access to gear and Infamy making it tougher to find top-tier equipment. We're still tinkering with the numbers a little, particularly for the Pathfinder Core Rulebook's contents compared to that of other books. After all, we have a different tool for understanding how common different gear is: rarity.

Rarity addresses two elements in the game: ubiquity and complexity. For ubiquity, whether an option's common or uncommon (or rare or unique) indicates how likely a PC is to find it at a store, in a treasure hoard, or in an NPC's hands. Anything common is something that a PC's typically able to find without much difficulty, wealth permitting. Uncommon options might be fairly pervasive in a specific area or for a particular organization, but they're limited enough that not everyone can get a hold of them. Rare options are very limited and are unlikely to appear except as coveted treasure. As for complexity, the rarity system also communicates the relative complexity or ramifications of using an option, such as how detect evil can vastly simplify an investigation, teleport can handwave the challenges of an overland journey, or antimagic field causes everyone to recalculate how their equipment and bonuses work suddenly.

In Pathfinder Society, expect to see nearly universal access to common character options (ancestries, feats, archetypes, items, spells, and the like). In fact, our hope for the Additional Resources page is to be pretty minimalist, with the understanding that nearly any common option you find in a book would be good to go in organized play. On the far end of the spectrum, don't expect to see rare or unique options except on Chronicle sheets. And in the middle, we have uncommon options. These are fertile ground for including on Chronicle sheets, especially when an item's an excellent fit for a particular adventure.

But there are many more uncommon options than we can reasonably and tastefully fit on a Chronicle sheet, so does that just leave a bunch of fantastic uncommon options "stranded"? Not quite. One of the significant ways you'll be able to use your Achievement Points is gaining access to uncommon options—including uncommon ancestries, in effect functioning as the old "race boons." Does that mean all of the uncommon options printed in every book becomes accessible? No, there will still be some uncommon options we hold back for gameplay and complexity reasons, but we're aiming to allow access to a solid percentage of the uncommon published material.

Speaking of Achievement Points (AcP), we heard your feedback about possible other names and abbreviations, and we've been workshopping some other possibilities to test out with our volunteers. More on this soon!

Replay for Seasons 0–10

Ah, but essential as rarity may be, it's hardly captured the public discourse like replay—specifically, how replay opportunities are going to work in the current PFS campaign once August hits and we stop producing new scenarios for the first edition of the game. We've collected a lot of feedback, data, and opinions from many of you on this topic, and we've taken all of that, as well as considering what's best for the health and stability of both campaigns, and come up with a framework that we think will allow both PFS campaigns to be as strong as is feasible.

First, all of the replay options that are currently available will continue to be so. This includes GM star recharges existing convention boons that offer replay options and the current stable of replayable (evergreen) adventures. We all agreed that it was important not to take anything away from the first edition Pathfinder Society campaign; we want to build on what everyone's familiar with, not replace the working systems players and GMs already know.

Secondly, we'll be taking a snapshot of all of the recorded organized play sessions on Paizo.com in mid-July. It will be imperative to make sure all of your game sessions are recorded by this point in time, as this snapshot will be set against an activity scale that will determine the number of "free" replays that are applied to your account. Essentially, the more regularly that you have played and GM'd, the more Pathfinder first edition replays you will be granted. This will allow those who are nearing the end of their playable material to have a similar gameplay "lifespan" to players who have just recently joined the organized play campaign.

Finally, you may recall from our April blog that we will be introducing a type of digital currency called "Achievement Points" for Pathfinder's second edition organized play campaign. For the purposes of discussing replay, the main thing to note is that you will earn Achievement Points every time you play a PFS second edition game, in roughly the same amounts that you gain XP. There will be a variety of things you can redeem these Achievement Points for, such as the uncommon items mentioned above, including first edition replays. The more you play or GM for the new edition, the more potential replay opportunities you'll accrue for the first edition campaign.

Tags

If you've played Starfinder Society, you may already be familiar with scenario tags. Tags are markers that appear both on a scenario's product page and on its title page that gives key information about the scenario's contents. We'll be using the following tags in Pathfinder Society.

Repeatable: Scenarios with this tag can be replayed an unlimited number of times (but only once per character). GMs receive another Chronicle sheet each time they run a scenario with this tag (but can apply credit only once to a given character).

Faction: Scenarios with this tag list one or more associated factions. As an example, we'll use a couple of made-up factions. "Faction (Door Bashers)" would indicate a scenario that is of some importance to the Door Bashers faction—no doubt due to the large number of very important doors that need kicking. Similarly, a scenario with the "Faction (Door Bashers, Monster Punchers)" tag would indicate a scenario that would be of interest to characters championing the Door Bashers or Monster Punchers faction. This tag generally corresponds to scenarios with additional Reputation awards for the associated factions.

Exclusive: Scenarios with this tag are meant to be run in a specific environment or by a particular cadre of Pathfinder GMs. Common recipients of these sorts of scenarios include distinguished volunteers who've run many sessions of Pathfinder Society, GMs running the exclusive at a large convention, or a Paizo staff member. Scenarios with this tag include specific rules on who is eligible to run it, where it may be run, as well as any other considerations for eligibility of receiving credit.

We're leaving open the possibility of adding additional tags in the future. For example, if we were to release a scenario-length pack of quest (as opposed to individual quests), we would likely use a quest tag to mark that adventure. We might also introduce additional tags to signify substantial rules elements, much as Starfinder Society added the vehicle tag to scenarios that use the vehicle rules.

Join us back here this afternoon for breaking news you don't want to miss – the first faction announcement for Pathfinder Society (2nd edition).

Next week we preview the May scenarios, just before heading to PaizoCon. While there, we will host Question & Answer panels on both the Pathfinder and Starfinder Society, as well as join the Lone Shark developers for a discussion of all things Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, including the Pathfinder Adventure Card Society. For those unable to join us, we will summarize our announcements in a blog the following Wednesday.

John Compton
Organized Play Lead Developer

Michael Sayre
Developer

Linda Zayas-Palmer
Developer

May is a busy time for us Paizonians, with convention season ramping up and PaizoCon just around the corner, there's so much to do! One thing I always look forward to at this time of year is the Mox Gauntlet, and it's coming up THIS SUNDAY!

Each year, the folks at ENGAGE bring together up to 20 teams from local gaming companies for an all-day charity boardgame tournament to raise funds for and bring awareness to a non-profit organization that directly affects our community. This year, proceeds are going to El Centro de la Raza, an organization dedicated to building unity across racial and economic sectors, as well as empowering the most vulnerable and marginalized populations. From education and youth-focused programs to community building and development, they strive to offer aid to the Seattle community and beyond. Each $100 donated to the Gauntlet provides an hour of after-school programming for low-income middle school students with comprehensive academic support and pro-social activities.

I am very proud to be captain of Team Paizo for the 2nd year in a row, and what a great team we have this year! We've got Pathfinder Developer Ron Lundeen, Starfinder Developer Joe Pasini, and System Administrator Whitney Chatterjee on board to kick butt at board games and raise money for kids. Plus, rumor has it that Whitney is working on a pretty awesome costume to fit with this year's vintage circus theme! Only two games have been announced, and we've been practicing as much as we can. There's Photosynthesis, a beautiful board game where you play as trees and try to grow yourself a mighty forest. Then there's Parade, an Alice in Wonderland themed card game where the goal is to get the least amount of points. There will be a trivia round, as well as a mystery game which we'll have to learn and play on the day of the event. In the past, these have been anything from entirely made up games, to full-on puzzle-solving, clue-finding, puzzle room. Anything goes!

If you're interested in watching the shenanigans go down, there are a couple of ways you can do that. If you're local, Mox Boardinghouse in Bellevue will have plenty of fun in-house activities going on that day for anybody who wishes to come down and join us, including games and raffles! Don't worry if you're more remote, the entire event will be live-streamed on Twitch. Donations are open through the end of the event, and not only do they help the cause, but they also give Team Paizo a shot at awesome power-ups which will help us gain an edge in the games. Please feel free to browse and share Paizo's team page.

We are incredibly grateful for everyone who makes this event possible, and for those who donate to benefit El Centro de la Raza. Thanks so much, and we'll see you this Sunday!

Katina Davis
Customer Service Representative

We did it! We've made it through all 11 updated iconics who will appear in the Pathfinder Core Rulebook in August! There's a twelfth iconic, of course, who didn't get a video because he hasn't evolved from a previous iteration, but never fear—Fumbus doesn't mind sharing the spotlight with his friends, especially not Valeros, who the goblin alchemist is particularly fond of for his ability to drink so much! Sure, it's ale and not pickle brine or strange alchemical concoctions, but Fumbus appreciates anyone with an appetite (or thirst) that rivals his own. Valeros is one of the iconics who changed the most between editions, switching out his second sword for a shield. Check out this short video of a conversation between artist Wayne Reynolds and Paizo's Publisher and Chief Creative Officer, Erik Mona, for a glimpse into the mind of Pathfinder's most iconic visual artist and the first official look at the new version of Valeros, the iconic fighter!

And that wraps up our Iconic Evolutions series. Thanks for taking this journey with us! Next week, we'll start looking at some of the changes to the Pathfinder setting as presented in the Lost Omens World Guide, also releasing on August 1. Stay tuned for a glimpse into the Age of Lost Omens, where your characters are set to embark upon their greatest adventures.

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

We've surpassed our goal of 1,000 backers for the Kingmaker 10th Anniversary crowdfunding campaign! This means all backers have unlocked PDF copies of People of the River and Guide to the River Kingdoms.

Our next goal is to reach 1,500, where all backers will be granted:

• 8 Scenarios: Each of these Pathfinder Society adventures adds a lot of flavor to the River Kingdoms, and each can be completed in around 4 hours. They’re perfect for side quests or for jumping off points to future adventures in the Kingmaker Adventure Path.

  • The Silverhex Chronicles
  • The Horn of Aroden
  • Oathbreakers Die
  • Perils of the Pirate Pact
  • You Have What You Hold
  • Six Seconds to Midnight
  • Fortune's Blight
  • On the Border of War

• Pathfinder First Edition Boon—Aldori Dueling: Boons are in-game rewards granted to players that are above and beyond what a basic Pathfinder Society character begins with. In this case, you gain the Aldori Dueling boon, which grants your character proficiency with the iconic Aldori dueling sword. These will be delivered in June to backers paizo.com accounts.

• Pathfinder Second Edition Backgrounds—Future River Regent and River Pirate: In Pathfinder Second Edition, choosing a background is a key part of building your character, granting unique flavor and providing two ability score boosts, training in a specific skill, Lore skill training, and a specific skill feat. This bonus unlocks two new backgrounds for you, tied to the River Kingdoms. These will be delivered in mid-July to backers paizo.com accounts.

We're also happy to announce that the Kingmaker Adventure Path will soon be sanctioned for Pathfinder Society play! Once sanctioned, rules and chronicle sheets will be available from the Additional Resources page and Adventure Path volumes added to our reporting system.

Help us reach 1,500 backers on the Kingmaker 10th Anniversary Campaign and stay tuned for more exciting unlocks!

By now, you might have noticed an interesting trend in the Alien Archives of the first few volumes of the Dawn of Flame Adventure Path. As is appropriate to the subject matter of these adventures, Fire Starters introduces efreet and ifrits to the Starfinder universe. In case you are unfamiliar, an efreeti is a genie from the Plane of Fire, while ifrits are native outsiders who can trace their heritage to such beings or other similar fiery entities. Really, no surprises for an Adventure Path that takes place on (and in) the sun!

But then perhaps you noticed that Soldiers of Brass features jann—genies whose nature is split across the four elements—as well as sulis—native outsiders whose ancestors have connections to the jann. Plus, this volume also includes sylphs—native outsiders who are descended from beings from the Plane of Air, including djinn. But the stats for djinn are nowhere to be seen... until you check out the Alien Archives of Sun Divers that is!

Illustrations by David Franco Campos

If you're counting, that just leaves the Planes of Earth and Water, and their respective genies and planar scions. Unfortunately, you'll have to wait for the upcoming Dawn of Mud Adventure Path for those!

Just kidding! You'll find the marid and shaitan genies, as well as oreads and undines, in the upcoming volumes #17—Solar Strike—and #18—Assault on the Crucible.

Illustrations by Graey Erb and Nicolas Espinoza

Similar to the aasimar and tiefling planar scions introduced as playable species in Alien Archive 2, all the elemental planar scions will also be available as options for players. Each one provides slightly different ability score adjustments. For examples, sylphs are bit more dexterous, while oreads have powerful muscles. And each offers a different type of energy resistance; you won't be surprised to know that ifrits are somewhat resistant to fire. But what sets the planar scions apart from one another is that each receives a unique ability tied to the elemental plane they can trace their ancestry to. Usually, this is a simple spell-like ability, such as the undine's ability to cast energy ray at will, though it can only deal cold damage. However, as sulis have an affinity for all elements, they get a special ability that allows them to alter the type of damage any weapon they wield can do for 1 round. A suli can set her boring tactical doshko aflame and have it briefly deal half fire damage; she can even do the same for her fist!

Illustration by Mirco Paganessi

With the inclusion of genies and elemental planar scions, we've added a healthy heaping of fantasy to Starfinder's science-fantasy setting. We hope you enjoy them, and we can't wait to see some cybernetically enhanced undines and power armor-wearing ifrits out there!

Jason Keeley
Developer

Some spellcasters study tirelessly to master the arcane arts, such as the wizard Ezren, whose understanding of various treatises on magic was at the heart of his Iconic Encounter a few months ago. Others, however, like the iconic sorcerer, Seoni, gain their magical abilities from their blood, whether that's a hint of an extraplanar power or simply legendary ancestors from ages long past. Enjoy the following piece of short fiction from James L. Sutter in the next entry into our series of Iconic Encounters—brief vignettes of the iconic characters showcasing the myriad stories you can tell with Pathfinder Second Edition.

Illustration by Mikhail Palamarchuk

The gargoyles hit like a ton of bricks—which they were, more or less. Valeros went flying as the leading statue-beast slammed into him, and if not for Kyra grabbing his leg as he sailed past, he might have tumbled from the roof entirely. Seoni only barely managed to dodge the two that came for her, their stony wings chipping shards from the parapet as they swooped in for the kill.

Valeros didn't bother to stand. From his position flat on his back, he thrust upward with his sword. Steel sparked and screeched across stone pectorals, barely scratching one of the beasts as it glided past, claws raking at his armor.

Behind him, light blazed from 'Kyra's holy symbol, casting long shadows against the dusk.

"It's no good!" the cleric shouted, lashing out ineffectively with her own blade. "They're not evil!"

"You could have fooled me!" Valeros rolled aside as claws gouged stone like bread dough, leaving deep furrows. He barely blocked a second strike with his shield. "Cayden's cup, how do we hurt these things?"

How indeed? Seoni raised her staff, then hesitated. Would fire even touch these stone monstrosities? Or lightning?

Best to be safe. She let her eyes defocus, turning her sight inward—down inside herself, to the roiling core. Across her skin, tattoos flared to life, their blue light feeding back into her, running like ley lines into her soul.

For Ezren, magic was a memory—the struggle to record and remember, his wizardry dry and academic. For Kyra, it was channeling the power the divine, making herself a vessel for the sun goddess's holy flame.

For Seoni, it was both of these and neither. The power came to her like a memory, but it was not her memory. The power that filled her was not a god's, but her own people's, a thousand generations flowing through her veins. With it came their whispers—shards of lives she'd never lived, voices long since turned to dust. Uncounted faces staring back from inside her.

Sigils blazed in the air before her. They spun around her hands, then shot forward like darts, smashing through the gargoyles' stone flesh in bloodless explosions. The monsters screamed in shock and pain, banking away from the tower.

Seoni smiled, but only briefly. She'd proved the creatures could be hurt, but her missiles were too weak to take on all of them singlehanded. Wearing them down would take too long, and already the beasts were wheeling around for another pass.

Yet something about the creatures' twisted visages tugged at her memory.

Or maybe not her memory...

Falling back into the shelter of the cathedral's doorway, she closed her eyes. Shutting out the snarls of the enemy and the shouts of her friends, she sought new voices—those flowing through her blood. They surged louder, surrounding her as she asked her silent question.

A storm of images, whirling and chaotic. Faces familiar and foreign, seasons flickering past like lightning. A flash of stone wings. The glint of a blade too bright for steel...

Seoni's eyes snapped open. "Adamantine! They're vulnerable to adamantine!"

Kyra dodged another claw swipe and looked over at her, her own eyes wide. "Those blades in the crypt! The ones the knights were buried with!"

"Then what are we waiting for?" Through bruises and blood, Valeros grinned. "Looks like the church is going to make a donation to us for a change!"

If you liked this week's Iconic Encounter, be sure to check back next Thursday for another new entry in the series. Until then, Pathfinders, may the power of your ancestors flow through your veins.

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

Hey, it's Chad. In today's blog, designer and brand new Lone Shark Games president Keith Richmond takes a break from talking about Core Principles to wax nostalgic about his long journey shepherding Curse of the Crimson Throne. I'll comment along as needed.

Almost a decade ago, I ran the RPG version of Curse of the Crimson Throne for a group of players that included my friends Chad Brown and Tanis O'Connor. It's a fantastic adventure that starts you as a group of characters all wronged by a deranged dealer of drugs and kidnapper of kids, drawn together by a mysterious gypsy fortune teller to bring him to justice. From there, you become embroiled in saving the city of Korvosa—often from itself.

It has everything that makes for a great urban adventure full of morally ambiguous allies and enemies. You parkour over, under, and through the city to defeat criminal and political plots, a healthy mix of mundane greed and murder alongside mystical rituals of mass murder. As you investigate, you interact with such a fantastic cast of characters that you feel like the city becomes yours to protect, not just a backdrop for the dungeon of the day. When you finally end it by stabbing your magic sword into the heart of a centuries-old curse that's plagued the Crimson Throne, you feel a genuine sense of accomplishment at having changed the city's fate. It's the only adventure path I've GM'd multiple times, the anniversary hardcover is excellent, and I'd cheerfully encourage you to play it.

Back to the card game: about five years later, when I was looking for a new game project, Chad and Tanis lured me onto the PACG team. (After I'd introduced Keith to everyone, I casually mentioned to Mike that he'd GM'd Curse... three times.—Chad) Once I'd proven I could be helpful, one of my first big projects was to help architect the Curse of the Crimson Throne set. I still have spreadsheets from 2014 with some of the initial ideas. I'll admit that 5 years more experience designing, the help of the full team, and being able to leverage Core were tremendous improvements over those nascent ideas. Still, it is with great happiness and pride that I look forward to seeing this box, with our names on the front, make it into your hands. (What he said!—Chad)

Aged to perfection.

But more than enough about why I care about this product, and on to why you should!

Save the Base for emergencies or spend a couple turns hanging out with friends. We don't judge.

One of the defining features of the Curse of the Crimson Throne Adventure Path is how it centers around Korvosa. Throughout several adventures, you work to save the city from crime, madness, plague, traitors, and ancient dark forces. At the same time, the city is there for you when you need a helping hand, perhaps to procure new equipment, gather information, or heal whatever injury, disease, or even death that has befallen you. (Even more helpful than going through your pockets looking for loose change.—Chad)

The very first scenario rewards you with your first supporter, Field Marshall Cressida Kroft (She's the best!—Chad), commander of Korvosa's guards. Impressed by your heroism, and sorely in need of help, she'll happily provide you all manner of armor and weapons. If you want her help obtaining spells, you'll need to check off that box on the card by spending a supporter feat on her. You'll receive a steady supply of supporter feats throughout your adventures, so the city of Korvosa levels up alongside you. Just like in the RPG, supporters in the ACG can change in and out, gain power, and even die. Each group will favor different supporters, and you may eventually need to make tough decisions about which supporters to obtain or save from calamity.

Any resemblance to Zorro or Batman is strictly coincidental.

Curse of the Crimson Throne also introduces you to Korvosa's Hero, Blackjack (Also the best!—Chad). Blackjack is a masked hero who has fought for Korvosa's poor for centuries. Fortunately for you, the current Blackjack is ready to give up his mantle to a worthy successor. Someone heroic. Someone adventurous. Someone who also fights to save the people of Korvosa. (Sound like anyone you know?—Chad)

This special role can be earned by any one character, adds to your existing character powers instead of replacing them like a normal role, and comes with several wonderful toys.

Varian is ready to become Blackjack to save Korvosa. Are you?

Harrows have a very different art style from traditional blessings. Also, apparently a Hag with an eyeball in her mouth. Ick.

Curse of the Crimson Throne makes extensive use of the Harrow, a Tarot-like deck of cards used to predict the future and play card games. Folks familiar with the Harrow Deck that Mike helped design several years back will not be surprised that a very similar deck has ended up in Curse, in the form of special Harrow blessings. There are 6 suits (Hammers, Keys, Shields, Books, Stars, and Crowns) representing different metaphysical concepts and also mapping to six familiar attributes (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma). Each of those suits has 9 cards that correspond to the classic 9 alignments that describe the struggle between Good and Evil, Law and Chaos. Mechanically, this means that some Harrows are a lot kinder than others and they cover a wide variety of effects, both when played and when they show up as the hour (that is, are faceup on the hourglass discard pile). Also, following our design principle of more unique cards=good, you get 54 unique Harrow blessings in Curse of the Crimson Throne. More than enough to keep things interesting!

Every harrowing adventure has a Harrowing to start, so get to heroing.

Each adventure in Curse is themed to a particular Harrow suit. For instance, the first adventure is themed to the suit of Keys, and it cares a lot about chases, criminals, finding lost treasures, and other dexterous undertakings, so you get an automatic 1d4 on Dexterity non-combat checks. At the start of the adventure, each character will draw an appropriate Harrow and get to use it throughout the entire adventure, getting a special benefit each time they play it. And if you're seeking a little bit of extra challenge or just more Harrowing flavor, each suit has a wildcard you can add that evokes the right kind of flavor and actions.

My forum avatar has been the Harrow Rabbit Prince for years because of fond memories of Tanis's barbarian calling Chad's paladin "Bunnyman" for an entire campaign after he got it. (Yeah, she totally stopped after the campaign.—Chad) We even put out a promo card in Chad's honor.

Tanis would approve.

I'm in no way suggesting that you should use the Harrows as an excuse for silly nicknames, but I can confirm that it's hilarious.

Keith Richmond
Adventure Card Game Designer

We had some exciting news that dominated this space on Tuesday, and that meant that we had to push our next entry in the Iconic Evolution series back. Luckily, this week's featured iconic is incredibly accommodating. It's that patience and performance under pressure that makes her the de facto leader of the iconic heroes in the Pathfinder comics, after all! In this weekly video series, artist Wayne Reynolds takes Paizo's publisher and chief creative officer, Erik Mona, through his creative process in updating Pathfinder's iconic characters for the game's Second Edition, coming out this August. Check out this short video of their conversation for a glimpse into the mind of Pathfinder's most iconic visual artist and the first official look at the new version of Seoni, the iconic sorcerer!

Each week, we'll take a look at a different updated iconic with Erik and Wayne, so stay tuned. Plus, look out for Seoni's Iconic Encounter tomorrow!

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

With PaizoCon just around the corner, the current focus of the team involves pulling the edges together on all the moving pieces. As many of our convention catalogs went live last weekend, I wanted to take a moment and give some updates.

PaizoCon: The event lottery is complete, and I'm working with Customer Service to resolve any issues with scheduling. We will be reaching out via email as needed to discuss our resolution options. We also received a few GM cancellations so we will be reaching out to GMs that were on the waitlist for coverage. If your plans changed and you wish to GM some games, please visit organizedplayfoundation.org/paizoorganizedplay and complete the questionnaire for PaizoCon.

Origins: Tickets are on sale for all games, including the Saturday evening premiere of Starfinder Society #2-00: Fate of the Scoured God. This multi-table interactive event wraps up the storylines from the prior 22 months and gets ready to pivot to our Year of a Thousand Bites. We are selling tickets to this event by Tier range, to make GM allocation easier, so be sure to grab double check which one you add to your cart!

The Origins system has a few problems finding and displaying the events that run from 7 pm to midnight. The best way to find games is to look for the title of the scenario, such as "Daughters' Due" or "Herald's War." Then you can look through the schedule for the date/time you wish.

There are still tickets for many tables, including the PFS interactive finale running on Friday, Pathfinder Society #10-98: Siege of Gallowspire. We set these up for sale by Tier and by difficulty level—Soldier (slightly harder than usual) and Champion (hard mode). This year, I can pull ticket sale information, so we are using those numbers to adjust our table offerings. Unfortunately, ticket sales shifts may not resolve the schedule for everyone. If you can't get into a game you want, please come by on the day, and we will see what we can do on site. We desire to seat everyone that wants a game!

Gen Con: We submitted our schedule, and you should see them appear any day now! Tickets go on sale May 19 at gencon.com. Games for Gen Con run in 5-hour blocks from Thursday through Saturday 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM, 2:00 PM to 7:00 PM, 8:00 PM to 1:00 AM, and 2:00 AM to 7:00 AM. Sunday has one block starting at 9:00 AM. Each block includes a selection of Pathfinder Society, Starfinder Society, and Pathfinder Society (2nd edition) games. Pathfinder Adventure Card Society, Pathfinder Society Academy (to include Starfinder events) run in 2-hour blocks from 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM Thursday through Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 to 2:00 PM.

A few highlight events:

• Thursday, 8:00 PM—a large scale seating of Pathfinder Society (2nd edition) #1-00: Origin of the Open Road
• Friday, 8:00 PM—Starfinder Society #2-00: Fate of the Scoured God
• Saturday 8:00 PM—Pathfinder Society #10-98: Siege of Gallowspire

As with Origins, we are selling tickets to PFS #10-98 by Tier and difficulty level, so check your tickets carefully. Especially with #10-98, where only 7th level pregens are available.

For those of you not traveling to any of the conventions listed above, both Starfinder Society #2-00: Fate of the Scoured God and Pathfinder Society #10-98: Siege of Gallowspire are available after August 4 for conventions running 3-concurrent tables. At this time, Starfinder Society #1-99: Scoured Stars Invasion and Pathfinder Society #10-00: Hao Jin Cataclysm become available for purchase.

If you missed it this morning, developer Linda Zayas-Palmer wrote about our plans for the Pathfinder Adventure Card Society. Check it out here: PACS Blog. Otherwise, tune in next Wednesday for more decisions regarding the evolution of the Pathfinder Society.

Until next time—Explore, Report, Cooperate!

Tonya Woldridge
Organized Play Manager

The new Pathfinder Adventure Card Game Core Set is almost here! Paizo and the designers at Lone Shark built upon years of fan feedback and experience to improve the game. If you're curious about what the Core Set has to offer and the design principles that went into the revision, you're in luck. The designers have been publishing a series of great blogs on the topic: overall principles, adding more story, varying the challenge, reducing complexity, encouraging teamwork, rewarding heroism, and embracing chance.

Much like the card game itself, the card game branch of Organized Play is looking to build on feedback to make a better program, without throwing out the content that we had before. We renamed the Pathfinder Adventure Card Guild to the Pathfinder Adventure Card Society (PACS). This establishes our card game as the third branch of our organized play programs, with me as the dedicated developer. We will have year themes different from the Pathfinder Society, though there may still be crossover events from time to time, and are looking at what kind of special events we may be able to do besides the annual Open tournament.

In the PACS, there will be a lot of features that you are already used to. Players use class decks to play Adventures made up of several scenarios. As they play, characters upgrade their deck and gain Feats, which let them improve their skills, learn new powers, and add more cards to their deck. Every few scenarios, players can increase their character's Tier, allowing them to play more challenging scenarios.

The Fangwood Thieves

The Fangwood Thieves is the first PACS adventure to use the Core Set. The first two scenarios debut at PaizoCon, and the second two debut at Origins (June 11-15). This collection of 4 scenarios is designed as an introduction to the Core Set and is well-suited as a demo for the game usable anywhere, particularly game stores and conventions. It can also help new players catch up to other players who are playing an ongoing Adventure Path.

The plot's fairly straightforward, taking place in the Fangwood and involving a group of thieving kobolds. If you are steeped in Golarion lore, you may notice a few nods to existing canon, such as references to the aftermath of the Ironfang Invasion Adventure Path, but you don't need this knowledge to enjoy the adventure.

The Shape of Year 6

We're saving the name and symbol for Year 6 to be revealed at the PaizoCon Banquet, but I can talk about the season's overall structure. Over the years, we've received feedback that a season with a single large Adventure Path doesn't fit the schedules of everyone in the community. To help address this concern, we shortened the overarching Adventure Path story, including four scenarios per adventure instead of five or six. Not only does this fit more naturally with the new Hero Point model, but it also gives us more space in the season to experiment with other scenario and adventure formats.

Speaking of other formats. For Year 6, we'll be adding two new self-contained adventures. The first of these adventures will release in early 2020, and the second in the summer of 2020. These stand-alone adventures will be written for multiple Tiers to make them as versatile as possible. To differentiate what is part of the meta-plot and what is not, we are adopting a new title structure borrowed from the RPG adventure paths.

Rules Update

Even though Season 6 itself won't start until Gen Con, we'll be releasing an update to the Pathfinder Adventure Card Society Guide at PaizoCon 2019 (May 24-27), to coincide with the release of the Core Set. Here is a sneak peek of the three primary adjustments and one clarification appearing in the updated guide.

Using the Core Set Rules

Card Game Organized Play traditionally used the rulebook from the most recently released boxed set (with help from the boxed set that the adventure uses for card-specific rules). We'll be making this update again. Once the new guide releases, the revised rules from the Core Set will become the new default for Organized Play. As with previous rulebooks, the Core Set Rulebook will be available for free at paizo.com/pacg. With the new model of production, in which products like the Curse of the Crimson Throne Adventure Path are presented as expansions on the Core Set rather than stand-alone games, the Core Set's rules will be the baseline rules for PACS for the foreseeable future.

So how should groups transition to the Core Set rules? The Core Set Rulebook includes a one-page transition guide that neatly summarizes the revision's changes and gives instructions for handling these changes when playing older sets. There are also a few specific cards that will be receiving changes. These changes will be available at paizo.com/pacg.

Hero Points and Tiering Up

In the Core Set, instead of gaining specific power, card, and skill feats, characters earn hero points. They can use these hero points to buy feats, reroll a die, or come back from the dead. Going forward, hero points will be the new standard for organized play. In PACS, a character can have several feats of each type equal to their Tier, but they can take these feats in whatever order they like. Hero Points also allow for more flexibility in how many scenarios a character can play before bumping up to the next Tier of play. A character could rush their advancement and increase their Tier after only 3 scenarios, or they could stick around for up to 6 scenarios to continue to improve their deck.

Challenge Modes

The Core Set includes options for making the game harder, introducing Heroic and Legendary difficulty. We are looking into how we can incorporate these difficulty levels into organized play and will have more information soon.

Replay

This isn't a change, but it's a clarification of an ambiguous rule. The rules about replay (namely, that characters that replay don't receive rewards) refer only to that specific character. In Pathfinder Adventure Card Society, playing a scenario with a different character does not count as “Replay.” This means that when you play a scenario again with a different character, that character earns the scenario's full rewards.

As always, we'll be keeping an eye out for community feedback, from rules changes to the new adventure model, so let us know what you think!

Linda Zayas-Palmer
Developer

Nearly a decade ago, the Kingmaker Adventure Path helped lead the way with an open-ended "sandbox" style adventure that encouraged exploration and conquest in a rugged wilderness. Its open-world narrative and kingdom-building elements gave players and Game Masters unparalleled freedom to explore and shape the world with their heroic actions. It has become one of the best-selling and most beloved campaigns in Pathfinder's history.

Today, we are proud to announce the Kingmaker 10th Anniversary crowdfunding campaign has begun with our friends at Game On Tabletop! You can see all the details now at KingmakerCampaign.com. Explore the books, the Add-Ons, and the Level-Ups. Help us build a bigger, better, more immersive Kingmaker campaign.

Together, we'll take your new kingdom—and the Kingmaker campaign—to new heights of power!

Make your pledge on Game On Tabletop!

As excited as we were to construct the Starfinder Beginner Box as a fun, intuitive, and effective introduction to the Starfinder universe, we were also daunted by the challenges of trying to make a complete game that did justice to something we first presented in a 528-page rulebook. Even just the Tactical Rules chapter of the Starfinder Core Rulebook is more than 50 pages long, which would eat up more than a quarter of the pagecount we had in the Beginner Box rulebooks that also needed a solo adventure, introductory adventure, an introduction to numerous RPG concepts, advice, character classes, setting material, and so much more.

Early on we had to make some tough decisions about what our goal was for this product, and how our goal would inform our design choices. One of the things we wanted this product to do was serve as both an introduction to Roleplaying Games in general, and an introduction to the most key concepts of Starfinder in particular. When we were discussing which rules to keep, which to alter, and which to cut entirely, we had to balance those design goals with things like the limitations of our page count, wanting to be playable quickly from the time the box is opened, and giving enough material that a group could continue to play with their GM making new adventures once all the pre-written encounters have been experienced. That lead to the decision to create a one page set of rules for modifying and even building enemy creatures from scratch, so GMs would not be limited to the small number of creatures we had room to present with full stat blocks.

Some decisions were based on a combination of concerns. We felt we wanted to have as many of the playable races and classes from the Core Rulebook as possible, but knew we could do all the core races, and legacy races, and all the classes, especially given we wanted each class to tell you how to build a character. In the end, we decided we needed to cut at least one class, and the solarian was clearly the one that needed the most complex explanations of its different rules. Since our iconic solarian is a kastha, we also removed that as a playable race so all our remaining iconics could represent one class and one race.

In other cases, we had goals that drove us to add additional components. The desire for the game to be a complete experience in a box meant it had to have dice, and character pawns, and a map. Joe Pasini specifically had the great idea to add player reference cards with things like the actions a character to take each turn clearly spelled out. We hadn't originally planned to have that kind of stand-alone player aid, but it was immediately apparent how useful that would be to simplifying the process of being able to play and learn the game, so we took the time to design them and added them to the components box!

It's also important to acknowledge how much we leaned on the design choices of people who have made entry-level boxed sets before us. Many of the Starfinder team have fond memories of some specific early introduction to RPGs, and we discussed what made those experiences fun and memorable, and what we thought we could improve upon. The fantastic work done on the 1st-edition Pathfinder Beginner Box was a crucial road map for us, and while we often decided to take different twists and turns in our design challenge, it was extremely useful to have such a successful product as a starting point, allowing us to stand on the shoulders of giants.

Owen K.C. Stephens
Starfinder Design Lead

My calendar reminders say 18 days to PaizoCon, 24 days to UK Games Expo, 36 days to Origins, and 85 days to Gen Con. The team is neck deep in preparations as we head towards the finish lines. Who's getting excited? Last week, we posted a blog that had information on our convention special events—PFS #10-98: Siege of Gallowspire, SFS #2-00: Fate of the Scoured God, and PFS(2) #1-00: Origin of the Open Road. You can read it here!

Campaign Coins

I attended KoboldCon in Colorado Springs last weekend and had the pleasure of recognizing OJ Pinckert as a campaign coin recipient. If you've been at Gen Con the past few years, you may have met him and his Goblin BoB around the event. He is now the proud owner of organized play #808. A huge huzzah for his years of service to the program!

Stars

During April, several GMs reached their 5th star. To achieve this milestone, GMs run 150 games, of which at least 50 must be unique scenarios and 10 special scenarios, as well as run a game for a venture-captain. A conservative estimate of time needed to reach 5-stars is 650 hours! To the GMs listed below, thank you very much for the time and energy you spend running Pathfinder Society games! Huge congratulations on your achievement!

Jeff B
Andreas Forster
Eleanor Jenner
Ken S
Sandra Wilkinson

Novas & Glyphs

Last month, we presented the first peek at the requirements for reaching 5 novas. As we seek to standardize some points between the campaigns, what is implemented for novas will apply to Pathfinder Society (2nd edition) Glyphs as well.

The commentary to that blog provided quite a bit of feedback. Readers also raised a few questions. One point of discussion was whether the Nova represents a commitment to the campaign (quantitive) or recognizes the ability of the GM (qualitative). Feedback from the discussion threads and surveys of last fall say the majority of respondents want some level of qualitative measure and that a 5 nova GM meets a baseline expectation of table experience.

At this point, we have a potential rubric. A massive shout out to Chris Marsh, whose original version provided the basis for our discussions. As I don't want to clutter this blog with a conversation about the rubric, I will post it in a discussion thread on our forums. The thread was opened last Friday, May 3 and you can find a link to it here. We will take feedback for one week. After that, we will lock, load, and publish the rubric for future use.

Regarding other questions. I'm working on a FAQ sheet that will address most of the commentary/concerns and hope to have it posted soon.

Convention Listing

We have organized play activities at quite a few conventions in the upcoming months, so if you want to get your game on, check out the list below! The list includes all the event support requests received to date. If you see one missing, ping the organizer and have them submit a request for support or have them email me at organizedplay@paizo.com to discuss their event. All of the conventions on the list maintain some type of web presence, be it website, social media page, or Warhorn listing, so if you are interested in attending in either capacity, check out their websites or contact the local venture-officer for more information!

Convention Name	Location	Start Date
1D4 Con (2019)	Shepherdstown, WV	5/3/2019
2019 D8 Summit	Utica, IL	5/3/2019
Chupacabracon VI (2019)	Round Rock, TX	5/3/2019
ConTRAPtion 2019	Worthing, West Sussex, UK	5/3/2019
HeroiCon 2019	Decatur, IL	5/3/2019
Comicpalooza 2019 Houston, TX	5/10/2019
PeazoCon!!! 2019	Madrid, Spain	5/10/2019
QC Gamefest 2019	Davenport, IA	5/10/2019
SFERAKON 2019	Zagreb, Croatia, Europe	5/10/2019
the Seelie Court 2019	Philadelphia, PA	5/10/2019
MegaConvention 2019	Orlando, FL	5/16/2019
BLFC 2019	Reno, NV	5/17/2019
KevätMaraCon2019	Oulu, Finland	5/17/2019
Tricon 2019	Bay City, MI	5/17/2019
FlamingCon 2019	West Palm Beach, FL	5/18/2019
Fargo CoreCon 2019	Fargo, ND	5/23/2019
MomoCon 2019	Atlanta, GA	5/23/2019
Cherry Capital Comic Con 2019	Traverse City, MI	5/24/2019
Gamex 2019	Los Angeles, CA	5/24/2019
KublaCon 2019	Burlingame, CA	5/24/2019
Mobicon 2019	Mobile, AL	5/24/2019
Seekerpalooza 3 (2019)	Montreat, NC	5/24/2019
Nexus Game Fair 2019	Brookfield, WI	5/29/2019
ConCarolinas 2019	Charlotte, NC	5/31/2019
Die Con 19	Collinsville, IL	5/31/2019
Galaxy Con 2019	Richmond, VA	5/31/2019
PULSAR'19	Paris, France	6/8/2019
Prairie Con XL (2019)	Brandon, Manitoba, Canada	6/14/2019
Summerfest 2019	Richland WA	7/25/2019
Summerlodge 2019	Taastrup, Denmark	8/9/2019
Con Voyage 2019	Sydney NSW (at sea on the Carnival Spirit)	8/23/2019
SkålCon 2019	Roseville, MN	9/20/2019
Saluki Con 2019	Carbondale, IL	9/28/2019

Organized Play Staff Travel

Want to hang out with Paizo staff? Play in a game which they are GM? Check out the list below and come see us at a convention near you. If you are an event organizer and want to invite us out at your event in 2020, the deadline to request our attendance is 1 June, as we must submit the convention plan by July. Organizers may email your interest to organizedplay@paizo.com. Note: staff do not attend conventions the last weekend in May or the weekend of Gen Con, due to already being slated to attend those shows.

Convention	Location	Start Date	Paizo Staffers Scheduled to Attend
PaizoCon	SeaTac, WA	5/23/2019	All
UK Games Expo	Birmingham, United Kingdom	5/31/2019	Tonya, Amanda, Cosmo, Erik, Jason B., Jeff, Rob
Origins	Columbus, OH	6/12/2019	Tonya, John C., Thurston
GenCon	Indianapolis, IN	8/1/2019	Most
FanExpo	Toronto, Canada	8/22/2019	Tonya
DragonCon	Atlanta, GA	8/30/2019	John C.
Delta H Con	Houston, TX	9/20/2019	Linda Zayas-Palmer, Mark Seifter
NukeCon	Omaha, NE	10/4/2019	OP TBD
PaizoCon Asia-Pacific	Adelaide, SA, Australia	10/17/2019	Tonya
GameHole Con	Madison, WI	10/31/2019	Tonya, TBD
PAX Unplugged	Philadelphia, PA	12/6/2019	Tonya, Amanda, Cosmo, Erik, Jason B., Jeff
Delta H Con	Houston, TX	9/20/2019	Linda Zayas-Palmer, Mark Seifter
NukeCon	Omaha, NE	10/4/2019	OP TBD
PaizoCon Asia-Pacific	Adelaide, SA, Australia	10/17/2019	Tonya
GameHole Con	Madison, WI	10/31/2019	Tonya
PAX Unplugged	Philadelphia, PA	TBD	Tonya, Amanda, Cosmo, Erik, Jason B., Jeff

*Staffers scheduled to attend may change without notice.

Until next time—Explore, Report, Cooperate!

Tonya Woldridge
Organized Play Manager

To date in the Core Principles series, we've covered adding more story, varying the challenge, reducing complexity, encouraging teamwork, and rewarding heroism in the new Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Core Set. Now we're going to tackle another important design principle: injecting more drama into the game. One of our biggest tools to do that is embracing the vagaries of chance. The game comes with dice for a reason, and we wanted to change how we use them and give you even more ways to set yourself up for great payoff or greater disaster.

An early principle of Core design was establishing that uncertain outcomes are a lot more interesting than certain outcomes. We attempted to inject more chaos into the system in a few key ways. Core players have many ways to empower their characters and encounter exciting challenges, and there is almost always a chance that occasionally the dice will backstab them (or foot-stab them, in the case of the d4). We wanted more tools for managing chance, and fewer tools for removing it, extending the "lean into the fun" approach.

Now, that doesn't always mean increasing the number of dice. More dice isn't always more chance, because you can add certainty when you add more dice. One of the big lessons that we learned from the first several Adventure Paths is that, as characters grow over time, it's possible (in fact, pretty common) for players to choose feats and options that accumulate large bonuses to rolls. The more you can add a scaling bonus, like from a mythic path, marksman's bow, or cohort, the less the dice matter. Often, especially in large groups, players could find themselves attempting checks with a static bonus so high that they could not actually fail the roll. This was one of the reasons we removed the ability for all the characters to play blessings on a single check.

While there's a lot of fun to be had in coming together as a team to demolish a check, this is one of those cases where we as designers might be giving out "too much candy"—robbing those critical moments of tension and excitement. With this in mind, we've adjusted our design philosophy a bit, so that we're more often adding dice in areas where we might have previously added static +1s or +4s. We want Harsk, Lem, Seelah, and Valeros adding a d6 or d8 to your roll, not a d4+1 or d4+2. More variance leads to more suspense leads to more excitement leads to more fun.

Core avoids automatic success in most aspects of the game, especially against banes. Automatically succeeding on a combat check against the villain can be fun occasionally, but it's mostly bad for the game. Not needing to roll recovery checks for Seoni's spells? Sure, that's a pure quality of life improvement that sets Sorcerers apart from other casters like Ezren and Kyra.

If you like throwing dice, Sajan is a good pick.

Sajan loves throwing blessings on his checks, recharging any blessing he plays on himself. Or 2 or 3 blessings, if it's an Acrobatics check, combat check, or even an Acrobatics combat check. He also gets some interesting power feats for manipulating the dice he rolls, letting him really strive towards self-perfection. If he's not using a weapon, he can add a couple of extra dice. That said, Sajan also gets to add a card's level to his unarmed attacks. Many higher-level weapons grant static modifiers, and Sajan shouldn't fall behind there.

Harsk thinks Sajan should hold his beer.

When redesigning Harsk for Core, we really wanted to hew more closely to his RPG story. Harsk's origin story involves him getting revenge for his brother's death using crossbows and axes against Giants. So, bonus dice for axes and crossbows, and against Giants. And his Ranger assist power lets him assist anyone (including himself) anywhere for another die. That d4 becomes a d6 instead of becoming a d4+1, though.

Fewer ways to ignore the odds, more ways to control them.

The Frost Longspear shows why only some weapons grant static modifiers. Energy weapons, in general, are following the RPG's lead in adding extra dice, and also allowing you to choose to turn off that extra die when needed. For those of you worried that a focus on more dice instead of static bonuses will make the game too unpredictable for you (some of us try to avoid rolling important rolls if we don't have at least an 80% chance of success, and what do you mean you haven't calculated the odds?), there are plenty of ways to reroll in the system, like the new design for shields, or the previously mentioned hero points. And if you're unlucky enough to fail after rerolling (Hi, Gaby!), your friends might be able to avenge you.

Healing is also more "consistently random" (in game design, that's definitely a thing!). Time and time again, we've experienced regret due to targeted healing taking away the fun and uncertainty of what card is coming up (and also for sometimes breaking the game). Now, the new heal rule always heals random cards from your discards.

Okay, some story banes are just mean. Not all. But definitely some. Maybe most. Blame Chad.

Sometimes we want a story bane to cover variable options. Not all drakes breathe fire and not all elementals are immune to it. When we need them to be fixed for a scenario, we can declare that it is always a particular result.

Ruins are a very friendly place to encounter any of these 36 story banes. Honest.

Sometimes you need to encounter the danger, but there isn't just one and you don't know for sure what you're going to encounter. For example, a scenario might tell you the danger is a random Undead from the table. Maybe it's an Ancient Skeleton (yay!). Maybe it's a Vampire (boo!). And don't worry if you can't yet imagine fighting a Vampire. If the result you roll is higher than the adventure number, you just reroll.

That Story Bane Roster can also be used when you want to generate an entirely random story bane or story bane type for a random scenario. What's a random scenario, you probably ask? It's a new concept introduced in Core and expanded in Curse that lets you choose and/or randomly generate all of the requisite details for a scenario.

Something you hunt, not an open pit mine. They don't run very fast.

For example, Core's Random Scenario 4: Chase the Quarry steps you through a process wherein you select a location theme (Sacred, Underground, Urban, or Wild) then get a number of locations equal to twice the number of characters + 1 (and at least half of the locations have to have the trait for the theme you selected).

You then choose a story bane to be your quarry that you're chasing, a story bane to be your danger, and another stack of story banes equal to the number of characters + 1 to be not so friendly inhabitants of the locations you're chasing through.

Just select 3 wildcards to provide interesting scenario conditions and you're ready to start your chase.

Chase the Quarry is extra-random because as you're chasing your primary story bane from location to location, you are presented with a choice of two random locations to continue your pursuit. Your quarry is shuffled into the location chosen, as is another story bane that happens to be lurking in that location. Sometimes a little mix of surprise and choice is really excellent.

There are six random scenarios in Core and two more in Curse. We hope to introduce more over time. We haven't done out all the math to tell you exactly how many different scenarios you can create with these tools, but we feel comfortable stating that with the nearly limitless options available in these random scenarios, on top of the already healthy number of normal scenarios, you'll be able to play your hearts out with the Core Set and Curse of the Crimson Throne.

Keith Richmond
Adventure Card Game Designer

It's been an amazing year for Kingmaker, which made its digital debut in Owlcat Games' CRPG adaptation last fall. Many of you have been playing through the incredible story and experiencing first-hand the expanded storylines, companion interactions, and kingdom-building that the game has brought to life.

The Kingmaker Adventure Path debuted 10 years ago, and the softcover adventures that make up the epic campaign have long been out of print. We've wanted to return to the Stolen Lands in a complete Adventure Path hardcover collection, as we did for Rise of the Runelords and Curse of the Crimson Throne, but the question was always one of scope and timing. On the eve of Kingmaker's tenth anniversary next year, the timing answer seemed obvious, but we still don't know how much additional content to add, especially in the wake of the computer game's expansive release.

How much new and updated content is the right amount? We'll let you decide!

Paizo is partnering with our friends at Game On Tabletop to launch the Kingmaker Adventure Path for Pathfinder Second Edition. We'll start with a hardcover Kingmaker compilation, and you'll tell us how much more you want to see. The companions from the computer game were also a big hit, so we'll be adding a Companion Guide to introduce them to the tabletop campaign, complete with NPC stats, sidequest encounters, and expanded kingdom-management roles. Finally, we'll add a hardcover Kingmaker Bestiary for 5E, developed in conjunction with industry leaders in third-party 5E publishing, allowing players of the current edition of the world's oldest RPG the chance to experience the rich and detailed storylines that have made the Kingmaker Adventure Path a fan favorite for a decade. More add-ons and unlocks will be revealed as the campaign progresses.

You'll be able to see all the details on Tuesday, May 7 at noon Pacific time at KingmakerCampaign.com. The campaign will run through midnight on May 21. Until then, tell your friends that the Kingmaker Adventure Path is coming to Game on Tabletop next week, and next year to your gaming table!

Want to talk more about Kingmaker? Join us Friday on Twitch at 4:00 PM Pacific time as Creative Director James Jacobs speaks about the history and story of the Kingmaker Adventure Path.

It takes dedication and resolve to stay true to one's principles, even when doing so is difficult or disadvantageous. No Pathfinder class more exemplifies this truth than the champion, whose sacrifices for her beliefs bring her incredible power, and no character better embodies the spirit of a champion than Seelah, the iconic paladin. Enjoy the following piece of short fiction from James L. Sutter in the next entry into our series of Iconic Encounters—brief vignettes of the iconic characters showcasing the myriad stories you can tell with Pathfinder Second Edition.

Illustration by Biagio d'Alessandro

The spirit in Seelah's blade sang, an angelic chorus that only she could hear. It surged triumphantly as she blocked another devil's glaive strike, paeans like invisible hands supporting her weary sword arm.

Around her, Hell seethed, its flaming pits and spiked chains everything the canon had described. Blistering winds heated her armor until it burned like a brand wherever metal touched exposed skin. Blood ran freely from dozens of cuts, the last of her strength trickling from infernal wounds that refused to clot. She was tired—so, so tired.

But there could be no rest. No retreat. Just ahead, Merisiel's unconscious body bobbed as if floating on a sea of devils. Seelah wasn't about to abandon the elf, even if it meant her own death.

After all, she'd followed her friends into Hell itself—compared to that, what was one more battle?

She grinned fiercely at the thought and shoved forward, knocking another wicked glaive aside with her shield. Above a beard of writhing barbs, the devil's eyes widened.

"Iomedae!" Seelah screamed and slammed her sword into the devil's chest.

Light burst from the strike, flowing over the devil in radiant fire. It stumbled sideways, skin flaking and disintegrating into holy illumination. The goddess's power clung to the fiend like honey as Seelah moved past it, striking left and right with righteous fury, making one last push to reach her friend.

The devils carrying Merisiel saw the paladin coming, their fellows falling like wheat before the reaper as she carved a path to them.

The one holding the elf's feet dropped them. Snarling something in the tongue of the damned, it raised its glaive, reversed it, and slammed the point home into Merisiel's chest.

Or tried to. As the blade descended, light shot from the crossguard of Seelah's sword, sliding between the murderous glaive and Merisiel's undefended chest to wrap the elf in a paper-thin shield of blazing glory. The glaive's tip slid sideways.

The devil looked up just in time to see Seelah's blade scythe in. Severed beard-tendrils scattered as the devil's head left its shoulders, bouncing down the endless steps toward the flaming chasm that had spawned it.

It was enough. The other devils broke at last, dropping Merisiel's body and scrambling up the steps toward the safety of their blackened keep.

Seelah knelt, putting a radiant hand to Merisiel's chest. The elf's eyes flickered open.

"Seelah?" Merisiel stared up in surprise. "You came back for me?"

Seelah smiled. "You should have more faith, Merisiel."

Somewhere above them, a horn sounded. Then another.

Seelah's smile faded. She stood, every muscle in her legs screaming, and hauled the elf to her feet. Merisiel hissed as her injured knee took the weight, and Seelah draped one of the elf's arms across her armored shoulders.

"Come on," she said, as they began hobbling back down the stairs. "Let's see if the goddess has one last miracle for us..."

If you liked this week's Iconic Encounter, be sure to check back next Thursday for another exciting entry in the series. Until then, Pathfinders, may all your strikes be retributive.

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

I hope this May Day finds you enjoying good weather and getting ready for the turn of the seasons. For those of our friends in the Southern Hemisphere, shorter days herald the coming of winter, but hopefully, you can get a few more rays of sunshine before the first flakes fall.

In the office, convention preparations take up much of the team's time. On a positive note, scenario development proceeds at a good clip, and we look forward to getting the scenarios into the hands of our convention GMs. As the developers finished with the new special events, they finalized some outstanding points and identified information that would aid player participation. To reach as broad an audience as possible, we decided a short blog that could be linked via social media and other information outlets would be the best option. If you know of someone that would benefit from the information, please pass a link to this blog on to them.

As a general practice, when scheduling the special events at PaizoCon, Origins, and Gen Con, we separate out each subtier and assign GMs accordingly. This helps with the amount of prep work needed by the GM, and it makes sure we have the right number of tables at each sub-tier. As registration for these events open, please know we are watching the ticket sales and will make adjustments to the number of tables in each subtier accordingly. It is important to register for events in a subtier you are willing and able to play, as the opportunity for trading levels is almost non-existent onsite. Reminder for those playing #10-98: Siege of Gallowspire, not only are tickets sold by subtier, they are divided up into Soldier and Champion. See the entry below for more information on those terms.

I turn now to our team of developers working on the special events—Organized Play Lead Developer John Compton and Society developers Linda Zayas-Palmer and Thurston Hillman—for specific scenario details.

Pathfinder Society (1st edition) #10-98: Siege of Gallowspire (For Levels 5-16)

Soldier is a little bit harder than a typical Pathfinder Society Special. Champion is a full-on Hard Mode.

Regarding other characters. You can bring up to three additional PCs of level 5-20 to the game. These PCs are called Aid Characters. Aid Characters can generate more powerful aid tokens, and they can also participate in special Aid Missions. The higher level the Aid Character, the better they are likely to do at challenges.

The only thing you need to bring for an Aid Character is that PC's most recent Chronicle sheet fully filled out. You may want to bring their character sheets too, particularly if you don't remember the characters that well and you'd like to roleplay them a bit. Aid characters must be your own PCs.

If you don't have PCs at the appropriate level, you can instead enlist the aid of 4th level NPC Pathfinders by using the iconic pregenerated characters. These NPCs aren't as capable as your own PCs would be, but they can still help out.

You may have heard from previous discussions of the idea of changing which PC you are playing mid-session. That is no longer part of the scenario.

Check here for more information!

Starfinder Society #2-00: Fate of the Scoured God (For Levels 1-10)

We're pleased to announce that the upcoming Starfinder Society interactive special (Starfinder Society #2–00: Fate of the Scoured God) is going to be a repeatable event! Unlike typical scenarios with the Repeatable tag, this event is repeatable once over its three Tier ranges (Tiers 1–4, Tier 5–8, and Tier 9–12) giving players multiple opportunities to experience this momentous adventure throughout the coming convention season. We're excited to provide players attending numerous conventions (such as Origins and Gen Con) a chance to run or play in this event multiple times, and for credit!

Pathfinder Society (2nd edition) #1-00: Origins of the Open Road (For Level 5)

When Starfinder Society launched in 2017, we featured a special prologue adventure that helped set up the upcoming stories we would tell in the first year—all while giving players a taste of higher-level play with pregenerated characters. Two years later, we're kicking off Pathfinder Society's second edition campaign in much the same way in Pathfinder Society Scenario #1-00: Origin of the Open Road, with the PCs playing 5th-level pregenerated iconic characters who uncover forgotten secrets of the Society in the arcane capital of Quantium. Even though this is a special adventure, it's not an exclusive scenario; run and play it at any venue.

Until later—Explore, Report, Cooperate!

Tonya Woldridge
Organized Play Manager

John Compton
Organized Play Lead Developer

Linda Zayas-Palmer
Organized Play Developer

Thurston Hillman
Starfinder Society Developer