Each day during PaizoCon Online, we’re taking a look at upcoming products, revealing new art and details, and diving deep into the day’s focus with a livestreamed Marquee Event panel and Q&A session. Today’s Marquee Event panel focused on Paizo’s forthcoming Pathfinder Advanced Player’s Guide. This blog is a recap of some of the previews covered in that session as well as a compilation of other Pathfinder announcements from throughout the show. Don’t forget to check out the PaizoCon Online Stream Schedule to stay on top of the latest Paizo news in real time!

As we approach the end of the first year of Pathfinder second edition, we are excited to showcase some of our upcoming Pathfinder rulebooks, adventure paths, and world guides, while also announcing where the game is headed in 2021.

The panel that just concluded offers a lot of great previews of the Pathfinder Advanced Player’s Guide, coming out at the end of July. If you missed it live, you can check it out as a video-on-demand on twitch.tv/officialpaizo and archived on our YouTube channel in the near future. We’ll also be presenting the usual series of preview blogs and media partner appearances in the coming months, but if you just can’t wait, here’s a glimpse at a few pieces of art from the book:

The book’s gorgeous cover by Wayne Reynolds, depicting Feiya, the iconic witch, and Jirelle, the iconic swashbuckler, fighting (or fleeing from?) a colossal sea serpent

A tiefling, just one of options for characters with the planar scion versatile heritage presented in the book, by Pedro Kruger Garcia

An exciting scene of an oracle fighting some hell hounds by Valeriya Lutfullina, featuring a brand new tengu iconic (you’ll get a chance to meet him soon!) Other classes included in the book are the investigator, swashbuckler, and witch.

“But what,” you may ask, “do I do if I’m not an ‘advanced player?’” Have no fear, neophyte Pathfinder, because we have you covered this fall with the Pathfinder Beginner Box! Completely compatible with the Pathfinder Core Rulebook, this all-in-one box pares down the options available to players to make their first steps into the exciting world of Pathfinder as straightforward as possible. With 4 pregenerated characters, a series of character and monster pawns, a 1st-level intro adventure, and more, this is the perfect starting point for new players of any age.

The Beginner Box’s adventure takes place in the sleepy town of Otari just a few days’ travel from Absalom, but your troubles in Otari are just beginning! Picking up at 2nd level—right where the Beginner Box’s adventure leaves off—and taking your player characters to 5th level, Pathfinder Adventure: Troubles in Otari is an anthology adventure designed to introduce new players to a variety of playstyles and ease their transition into the world of character options presented in the full Pathfinder game.

For groups looking for a longer campaign, we are proud to announce the first 3-part Pathfinder Adventure Path, The Abomination Vaults! This dungeon-based campaign, also set in Otari, takes a group of 1st-level adventurers to 10th level, and tells a parallel story to that in the Beginner Box and Troubles in Otari. The first chapter of Abomation Vaults, Ruins of Gauntlight by James Jacobs, will be available in January, 2021.

I can hear you now: “But, Paizo, you can’t do just one 3-part adventure path without throwing off your entire release schedule!” You’re right! That’s why we’re following Abomination Vaults up with a second 3-chapter adventure path: Fists of the Ruby Phoenix! This campaign starts at 10th level, allowing your Abomination Vault PCs to pick it up after that campaign concludes, or it can stand alone as its own story. We first saw the Ruby Phoenix Tournament—a worldwide test of martial arts and magic held every 10 years—in 2011, so it’s fitting that we’d check back in and see what’s happening with it on the next go-around. Look for more information on this adventure path later in the year.

A few months ago, we released the Pathfinder Gamemastery Guide, and just this week the Pathfinder Bestiary 2 hit shelves and online retailers worldwide. Now, we’re thrilled to announce the Pathfinder Bestiary 3 for a March, 2021 release to fill in the gaps of any iconic Pathfinder monsters that didn’t make the cut for the first two bestiaries. Let us know what you’d like to see included after checking out the newly released Bestiary 2.

Illustration by Wayne Reynolds

Lastly, we take a look at the future of the Lost Omens line of world guides, detailing the tumultuous Age of Lost Omens in which the Pathfinder world finds itself now. Following the release of Pathfinder Lost Omens: Pathfinder Society Guide in September, we’ll next delve deep into the uncommon and rare ancestries of the setting with the Pathfinder Lost Omens Ancestry Guide. This indispensable sourcebook for players and GMs presents new character options for the many ancestries that have appeared in rulebooks other than the Pathfinder Core Rulebook, provides everything a player needs to play a member of such fan-favorite returning ancestries as android, geniekin, and kitsune, as well as a few ancestries that have never been available to player characters in the past!

Pathfinder Lost Omens Ancestry Guide cover illustration by Ekaterina Burmak

And that wraps up our week of announcements and previews from PaizoCon Online. Thanks for tuning in to twitch.tv/officialpaizo for our livestreamed panels and Pathfinder and Starfinder games, and stay tuned through the weekend with even more games. PaizoCon Online is the largest convention we’ve ever put on, and so we must send a special thanks to our many volunteer Game Masters offering adventures for players around the world, around the clock. We couldn’t have done it without you. We’ll formally close out the show on Sunday, but until then, stay safe and roll high.

Mark Moreland
Director of Brand Strategy

Each day during PaizoCon Online, we’re taking a look at upcoming products, revealing new art and details, and diving deep into the day’s focus with a livestreamed Marquee Event panel and Q&A session. Today’s Marquee Event panel focused on Paizo’s exciting Organized Play programs. This blog is a recap of some of the reveals covered in that session. Don’t forget to check out the PaizoCon Online Stream Schedule to stay on top of the latest Paizo news in real time!

Starfinder Society: Year of Exploration’s Edge

Illustration by Michele Giorgi

Starfinder Society’s Year of Exploration’s Edge kicks off in just three weeks at Origins Online (June 19–21)! The new season takes place in the first period of real stability that the Starfinder Society has enjoyed since the campaign began. Of course, that doesn’t mean things will be easy for Starfinders. Emphasizing shorter bouts of exploration instead of a single, overarching metaplot, the upcoming season offers exciting new ventures into unexplored locales in the Pact Worlds, Near Space, and even far into the Vast, taking us farther afield and exploring more of the setting than we’ve ever seen before!

Looking to explore the uncharted regions of the Vast with a fancy starship (maybe with some accompanying content from the Starfinder Starship Operations Manual)? How about seeing those places recently detailed in Starfinder Near Space up close with some new characters? Or perhaps you’d fancy a mind-altering visit to the one Pact World we’ve not yet seen in a Starfinder adventure? (Hint: it’s Aucturn—the planet that might be a Great Old One.)

Year of Exploration’s Edge is the perfect opportunity to start enjoying Starfinder Society, or even to pick up as bonus content for your already ongoing Starfinder campaigns when you need that fun “planet of the week” diversion. While we’re not as focused on a major overarching metaplot, there are three unique multi-part stories that PCs of all level ranges can still enjoy and should scratch that ongoing story arc itch.

All this content (and more!) is just around the corner, with the Year of Exploration’s Edge releasing two new scenarios every month starting in June. Finally, dedicated Starfinder Society fans across the world can look forward to the upcoming multi-table interactive, Starfinder Society #3-00: The Last Bite, arriving in the coming months. This big-ticket event is set to bring a climactic conclusion to last season’s Year of a Thousand Bites storyline and provide an unforgettable experience to gaming events across the world! We look forward to sharing all this great content with you in the coming months.

Illustration by Michele Giorgi

Pathfinder Society: Year of Corruption’s Reach

Illustration by Sebastion Rodriguez

We’ll be wrapping up the current season, Year of the Open Road, with an awesome special in the form of Pathfinder Society Special #2-00: The King in Thorns, by authors Kate Baker and Dennis Muldoon. An ancient fey monster, a long-sealed demiplane, and a hero from the past will all take the stage as the Pathfinders fight their way through a horde of deadly plants and First World assailants in the first interactive special of Pathfinder Second Edition!

Pathfinder Society’s first Second Edition season, the Year of the Open Road, focused on rebuilding and rediscovering the Pathfinder Society in the wake of the world-shattering events that heralded the end of the first edition storyline. Now, with the Society rebuilt and refocused on their principles of exploration and discovery, the Pathfinders are set to embark on a new mission: creating a new Pathfinder lodge in Iobaria and delving into the ancient secrets that have lain dormant on the Inner Sea’s northeastern border for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years.

Iobaria is home to ancient cyclopean ruins, deadly dragons, and mysterious monstrous denizens seldom recorded in the annals of the Inner Sea. As a centuries-old ritual unfolds, a looming presence stalks the abandoned cities and forlorn forests of the haunted northland, threating to ignite the wilderness into a conflagration of devastation and otherworldly evil. Agents of the Pathfinder Society are going to need to come prepared, as even the mightiest adventurers will find themselves pushed to the brink of certain doom on the desolate frontier.

This season we’ll also be rolling out some innovations to scenario format, taking the feedback we’ve received over the last year and assembling it into an improved template we think is the best yet for our program. We’ll also be swapping out our traditional Pathfinder Society Quest short scenario format for a new approach we’re calling Pathfinder Bounties. These 1-hour adventures answer the question “What does a Pathfinder do when the Society doesn’t have a job for them?” Unlike our quests and scenarios, bounties don’t assume that the players are members of the Pathfinder Society, and the adventures presented therein might be anything from a dragon hunt on the Crown of the World to saving a Druman farmer’s prized alpaca herds from predacious chupacabras. Bounties are designed to provide exciting entry points for any adventurer looking to start their career, and they’ll all be repeatable, making them a perfect option for game store owners and volunteer coordinators looking to introduce their community to Pathfinder Second Edition.

The Year of Corruption’s Reach kicks off at Gen Con Online Online (July 30–August 2)!

Illustration by Sebastion Rodriguez

Pathfinder Adventure Card Society: Year of Reborn Strife

PaizoCon Online sees the launch of the first ever interactive developed specifically for the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, adventure #6-99: Tyrant of the Harrow. An ill-fated fortune telling pulls the heroes into the Harrowed Realm, a mystical realm populated by a host of storybook characters. They must find a way back home before being sacrificed to fuel the plans of an evil mastermind!

Pathfinder Adventure Card Society’s new season, Year of Reborn Strife, starts in just a few months! The first half of the new season runs from August to December, with a new storybook releasing every month. The season’s early action takes the PCs to a swarming ancient metropolis filled with mysteries and intrigue. Kaer Maga, City of Strangers, is a haven for outcasts, misfits, rebels, and wayfarers from across the dangerous land of Varisia. Anyone is welcome on its shrouded streets, so long as they don’t ask too many questions or interfere with the freedom of their neighbors.

But a new threat rises to upset this delicate balance. Among the city’s more unusual denizens are zombie servants, kept in check by control amulets that prevent them from rampaging through the streets. A group of Pathfinder agents is on the scene when these amulets begin to fail, creating an undead menace. It falls to these Pathfinders to root out the source of the disruption. Along the way, they’ll meet several representatives of Kaer Maga’s iconic and eclectic factions, delve dangerous caverns, and uncover ancient secrets at nearly every turn!

The Year of Reborn Strife launches at Gen Con Online Online (July 30–August 2)!

Illustration by Benjamin Widdowson

The Open Road Ahead

We’ve got loads of more news to share about upcoming conventions, program features, sanctioning, and more, but we will save those for another blog on June 4th. For now, join us at PaizoCon Online for games, chats, streams, and a celebration of all things Paizo!

Don’t forget to Explore, Report, and Cooperate (and wash your hands!).

Tonya Woldridge
Organized Play Manager

Linda Zayas-Palmer
Organized Play Lead Developer

Thurston Hillman
Starfinder Society Developer

Michael Sayre
Pathfinder Society Developer

Each day during PaizoCon Online, we’re taking a look at upcoming products, revealing new art and details, and diving deep into the day’s focus with a livestreamed Marquee Event panel and Q&A session. Today’s Marquee Event panel focused on the upcoming Starfinder Starship Operations Manual and other future Starfinder releases. This blog is a recap of some of the reveals covered in that session. Don’t forget to check out the PaizoCon Online Stream Schedule to stay on top of the latest Paizo news in real time!

Though convention season looks very different in 2020 than in years past, we’re still ecstatic to have the opportunity to spend PaizoCon Online with all of our fans, geeking out together (from a safe distance) over what lies in store for our favorite game of space fantasy.

Starship Operations Manual

This summer’s big Starfinder release is the Starship Operations Manual, a 160-page sourcebook for all things starship related, from custom upgrades and expansion modules, to advice on running starship-based campaigns, new starship monsters to challenge parties of all levels, to details on the galaxy’s most prominent manufacturers!

Cover illustration by Remko Troost

Left to right: starship illustrations by Bryce Homick and Michael Soong.

We would be remiss to make a book this size called the Starship Operations Manual and not include dozens of new starships ready to add to your campaign such as the trio shown here.

Illustration by Daniele Sorrentino

Starship Operations Manual contains rules on building supercolossal starships, such as in this illustration by Daniele Sorrentino.

Alien Archive 4

Following in Starship Operation Manual’s engine wake comes the Starfinder Alien Archive 4. As with previous alien archives, this book presents scores of new friends, foes, and potential player character races with tons of lore and new rules options tied to each.

Alien Archive 4 cover by Remko Troost

Left to right: alien illustrations by Tuan Duong, Victor Rossi, and Alexandre Honore.

Check out these aliens inhabiting the book from Tuan Duong Chu, Victor Rossi, and Alexandre Honore. Can you guess what they are?

Devastation Ark Adventure Path

We don’t just publish rules supplements, though! Starfinder is all about galaxy-spanning adventure, which we provide in the pages of the monthly Starfinder Adventure Path. In August, we’ll launch the first sequel AP in the line with the 3-chapter high-level Devastation Arc Adventure Path. This campaign begins at 13th level, making it the perfect sequel to nearly all of our previous APs, and characters should reach 20th level by the story’s conclusion!

Fly Free or Die Adventure Path

In November, we’ll mix things up and return to our normal 6-chapter campaign format with the Fly Free or Die Adventure Path. In this exciting story, the player characters aren’t necessarily heroes—at least not intentionally. A crew of scoundrels, rogues, and misfits, they find it hard to survive in a galaxy where everyone has a price. Targeted by a crime boss and his army of enforcers, preyed upon by faceless mega-corporations, and hounded by rivals, the crew of the Free Trader Oliphaunt line up the big score that will at last make them rich beyond their wildest dreams. But when their many enemies join forces and the crew loses it all, they find out there are two things in the galaxy that can't be bought: freedom... and revenge.

Galaxy Exploration Manual

Fans wondering what our next hardcover rules supplement will be need look no further, because we’re happy to announce the Starfinder Galaxy Exploration Manual for release in April of next year. This book will provide players and GMs alike with rules for hailing from or exploring the myriad worlds found in the Starfinder galaxy, covering a variety of biomes and planetary concepts, allowing for nearly endless possibility every time a starship drops out of the Drift into uncharted space. It’s still nearly a year out, so we don’t have a lot to show you now, but we’ll have a lot more on this book as its release approaches.

Beyond the Galaxy

That wraps up this infosphere transmission, but we’re on halfway through Wednesday here at PaizoCon Online! Be sure to check out the live-play Starfinder X.T.R.E.M.! stream this evening from 4-7 PM (Pacific Daylight Time) at twitch.tv/officialpaizo. You can find the full schedule of streamed events here. Enjoy the rest of your PaizoCon Online, stay safe, and roll high!

Mark Moreland
Director of Brand Strategy

Each day during PaizoCon Online, we’re taking a look at upcoming products, revealing new art and details, and diving deep into the day’s focus with a livestreamed Marquee Event panel and Q&A session. Today’s Marquee Event panel focused on the Kingmaker Adventure Path compilation slated for late this year. This blog is a recap of some of the reveals covered in that session. Don’t forget to check out the PaizoCon Online Stream Schedule to stay on top of the latest Paizo news in real time!

Last year, we ran a crowdfunding campaign for a second edition version of one of our most popular Pathfinder Adventure Paths: Kingmaker. For several months, the task of gathering the text, generating new text, and tackling the initial conversions from first to second edition Pathfinder (and fifth edition!) were in the hands of our partners over at Legendary Games, but now the entire project is in our hands and we’re finalizing the updates, developing and editing the text, and building up what’s going to be one of the largest projects we’ve ever attempted at Paizo. The adventure path compilation itself is the size of the second edition Core Rulebook`, and it’s only one of the books and support products we’ll be creating in the months to come!

Currently, we’re finalizing the map turnovers we’ll be sending to the cartographer for the campaign’s various Flip-Mat Multi-Packs, fine-tuning the updated and expanded kingdom building and mass combat rules, and ordering new art for characters, creatures, and scenes both new and old. Because the book and accessories are still very much in process, we don’t have a lot to show you now, but we’ll keep the community updated as we reach more and more production milestones over the next few months.

Stay tuned for more news as it develops, but in the meantime, feast your eyes on the brand-new cover for the Kingmaker Adventure Path, created by the one and only Wayne Reynolds and featuring four of the campaign’s most memorable antagonists!

Kingmaker Adventure Path cover illustration by Wayne Reynolds

PS—Fans of the Pathfinder: Kingmaker CRPG adaptation from our friends at Owlcat Games should make sure to follow the game’s publisher, Deep Silver, on social media for some exciting upcoming announcements about the future of the game, especially around IGN’s Summer of Gaming show in early June. That’s all we’re allowed to say at this point, but we’ll have more to report soon!

Mark Moreland
Director of Brand Strategy

Last week I promised that we’d have a blog showing off the premium figures coming out in next month’s Pathfinder Battles: City of Lost Omens set of prepainted plastic miniatures from WizKids. Unlike a normal set, which comes with a single premium figure (or scene set) that’s directly tied to the purchase of an entire case of minis, this set features not one, but two different premium products.

First we have a double offering of Huge dragons in the form of an Adult Black and Adult Red Dragon. These figures are massive for their bases and really push the limits of what a Huge miniature (what a glorious oxymoron) can be. Check these puppies out!

They’re not even the only dragons in the set! We couldn’t stop with just these two Huges, so we threw in a Large Green Dragon as well, in the rare category.

The second premium offering coming with this set is the Thieves’ Guild Premium Set, a standalone premium set that was originally supposed to be the sole premium this summer. We’ve heard fans’ feedback that some prefer scenery over monsters as well as the folks who said the opposite. The only way, it seemed, to make everyone happy was to do both. So we did.

Illustration by Richard Suwono

The Thieves’ Guild is full of dungeon dressing befitting any secret guildhall of a city’s most notorious criminals. The set includes such pieces as a trapdoor with removable ladder; a weapon rack; two training dummies (one for picking pockets covered in tiny bells and the other a more traditional sparring dummy); a door and chest both covered in various types of locks to perfect one’s lockpicking skills; a satchel of thieves’ tools to lay on any table or floor where a rogue is hard at work; a loot sorting table and loot sack’ a card table with chairs (note the Harrow suits on the cards!); and a corpse-covered shrine to Father Skinsaw, the aspect of Norgorber focused on murder. My favorite part of the altar setpiece isn’t the eerie, translucent purple flames rising from the braziers but rather the fact that the wall behind the altar is removable, allowing for it to hide a secret passage or cache filled with even more gruesome and terrible things!

Because we couldn’t release a thieves’ guild without putting at least one thief out to populate it, we also included the Thief Guildmaster in the City of Lost Omens set as a rare Medium figure.

Even the most secure and secret thieves guild needs someone or something to guard it, though. And for that, we present the Skinstitch, a Large rare figure based on the creature from the Pathfinder Bestiary!

That’s it for this week’s previews, folks! I’ll be participating in PaizoCon Online beginning tomorrow morning, so if you’ve got additional questions feel free to stop by the convention’s Discord server and seek out my AMA thread. I’ll do my best to address mini-related queries there. Also, make sure to catch a few seminars or live-play streams on twitch.tv/officialpaizo or get a “seat” at one of the hundreds of virtual tables running Pathfinder and Starfinder games through Sunday.

Until next week—when I’ll show off the many potential player character figures in the set (one for every ancestry in the Advanced Player’s Guide!)—stay safe, enjoy PaizoCon Online, and roll high.

Mark Moreland
Director of Brand Strategy

Here at Paizo, we take pride in the diverse perspectives our staff bring to our games and workplace. The worlds and narratives that result from these perspectives inspire thrilling adventures that everyone can enjoy. We’re delighted to share some of these voices and viewpoints from our community in their own words. Read along, be inspired, and happy Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month to everyone!

Illustrations by Valeria Lutfullina

James Case (he/him), Organized Play Developer

I think I have a pretty typical background for many people from Hawaii. One of my grandfathers was Native Hawaiian, one of my grandmothers is a Korean immigrant, and my other two grandparents are white—one from the neighbor islands of Hawaii, one from Missouri (definitely pronounced with a -ruh). Growing up in an environment where (checks wiki) 25% of the people were hapa, or mixed race, I never thought much of it, but after leaving the island, I realized how much I took growing up in a multicultural environment for granted, with a diverse set of influence both within my own family and in the ones around me to draw on. In my work now, I’m happy to be able to help push towards a broader view of what fantasy can be. It’s no secret that fantasy games especially have often skewed to a predominantly European setting, and while I love my knights and dragons, don’t get me wrong, I also know that that’s just one mythology among many that each have their legendary heroes to embody and monsters to slay (or beseech, or fight alongside!). I’m happy to see more and more stories coming out of games lately, and to be in a place where I can contribute to them by pitching creatures from stories that my grandfather first told me around a campfire on the beach.

Eleanor Ferron (she/her), Pathfinder Developer

My grandfather was Nisei—a Japanese American son born to first generation Japanese immigrants to America. He was one of the most interesting people I ever knew, serving in American military intelligence even during a war when Japanese American citizens, including his family, were unjustly forced into internment camps with only the things they could carry. He inspired in me both a fascination for East Asian culture, but also in the Asian immigrant communities that helped build the American West Coast. My work at Paizo has allowed me to work with peoples and myths inspired from East Asia, and in our own Golarion setting, with Avistani immigrants who draw from those same people and myths, such as the Tian communities in Varisia or the well-known tengu jinx-eaters who sail the Shackles.

Joan Hong (she/her), Customer Service Representative

I’m the daughter of two Korean immigrants who left everything behind to chase their American Dream. I grew up learning Korean traditional instruments, eating rice at every meal, and thinking that the dishwasher was just an oversized drying rack. If I’m being honest, I spent a lot of my childhood resenting my Korean heritage because I felt like an outsider. What I wish I knew back then is that the culture and traditions my parents passed along to me don’t make me an outsider, they provide me with a rich background and history that broaden my perspective. Recently, seeing greater Asian representation in media has touched me in ways that I can’t express well in words. It makes me realize how important representation is, and how much I missed out on because I felt like I wouldn’t fit in with people I couldn’t see myself reflected in. As an Asian staff member and freelance writer for Paizo, I feel empowered to share my perspective thanks in part to the support of wonderful colleagues. The TTRPG industry is changing for the better every day, and look forward to more content from diverse writers and streamers.

Ianara Natividad (she/her), Editor

I come from a family of immigrants, myself included, who moved from the Philippines and settled in the United States. I grew up surrounded by the most hardworking people I’d ever known. There was always that sense I had to work just as hard. Sometimes, I felt the pressure of what it means to have to succeed, knowing that many of the people around me—my mom and dad especially—endured and sacrificed so much to build my life in America.

For most of my schooling, I was set for a STEM career. All of my extended family’s children, in my generation, were pursuing similar opportunities: STEM, medicine, law, and business. My exposure to gaming all came from external sources, such as school and friends, so it wasn’t something I openly shared with my family. Eventually, I realized STEM careers weren’t for me. My parents felt confused and disappointed at first, but they understood that I wanted to do something that kept me happy. They supported me as I studied history, worked at a nonprofit, and pursued my editing and writing work. It felt like my family knew I would work hard regardless of what field I chose, an ethic that I witnessed and learned from them. So I did. I went into my gaming interests hard, and all that ultimately led me down the path that got me working at Paizo. Just one of the many reasons I love and appreciate my family.

Lu Pellazar (he/they), Editor

Ohai! I’m Lu, an editor (and occasional contributor) at Paizo. Most of my experience with being API in the gaming industry is not just about incorporating my roots in the products I work on. For me personally, it’s a lot of learning from other API gamers, writers, designers etc. As a mixed-race diaspora kid who was raised by my Black dad and Filipino/German mom (who was herself raised by my 100% Bavarian oma), it’s hard to feel like I fully “fit in” with ANY of my cultures, let alone my Filipino side. I never really embraced my Filipino culture until my mid-20s, when I started looking into it more myself. I’m in my 30s now, but I’m still learning new things about my culture every day; yes, even “basic” things that “every” Filipino person knows. AND THAT’S FINE!! For anyone reading who might relate (my friends have to remind me of this): Just know that being a diaspora kid is a cultural experience in and of itself, and none of us are any less valid for it. There are a ton of amazing creators and gamers in our community that we can learn from if we want to.

Illustration by Mirco Paganessi

Hi everyone!

With groups coming together online to make their own tabletop RPG livestream shows for both Pathfinder and Starfinder, I wanted to share the overlays that we use in our streams so those without access to artists can take their live streams to the next level. So please enjoy these free Starfinder & Pathfinder stream overlay assets (while also following Paizo’s Community Use Policy).

Included will be a character stat block and a modifiable stream overlay!

To get an idea of how to use these overlays, check out the Pathfinder: Band of Bravos and Starfinder: X.T.R.E.M.! actual-play shows.

These overlays are not an extension to Roll20 or Fantasy Grounds, but are instead multiple layers of images used in streaming software like OBS or Xsplit.

Next up we have the download links for the stat blocks and overlays. These are .PSD files to allow those with compatible software to edit them as they please. Please note that we cannot distribute the fonts we use on our streams, so we recommend checking out Google Fonts and similar repositories to find something more in line with your game’s look and feel.

Pathfinder Stream Overlay: (Download Link Here)

The Pathfinder stream overlay! The file is easily adjustable for your virtual tabletop needs.

Pathfinder Character Block: (Download Link Here)

The Pathfinder character block, for when you wanna show off how powerful your players are!

Starfinder Stream Overlay: (Download Link Here)

The Starfinder stream overlay! Adjustable for all of your space-faring needs.

Starfinder Character Block: (Download Link here)

The Starfinder character block, the best way to present how diverse your party is!

I hope you find these overlays useful! Let me know if you are interested in different variations of these to use in your own streams, and please tag us social media using either #Starfinder or #Pathfinder2E when posting about them on social media.

I would love to see what you do with these templates! For those starting their own Pathfinder or Starfinder live plays on a virtual tabletop, feel free to share it in the comments below!

Payton Smith,
Social Media Producer

Zellara sat at the table in her small house, her Harrow deck centered on the red tablecloth. The lantern light cloaked as much as it illuminated, leaving deep shadows to gather in the corners of the room, in the spaces behind furniture and under cupboards.

Fatigue made her eyelids heavy and blurred her thoughts. Zellara knew she should go into a Harrow reading well rested. She likewise knew that rest would not come. Ever since Eran died, sleep eluded her. The toll of daily living—waking, eating, breathing—exhausted her. Her work tracking down her son’s killer added to the burden.

She passed a hand over the deck. Today had been spent at the local guardhouse, presenting her case to an indifferent Korvosan captain. She laid out her evidence like it was a Harrow spread, setting each piece in its place to show the pattern. His eyes remained closed, and this latest defeat on top of a year of defeats wearied Zellara further.

She picked up the deck and shuffled. The cards felt strange, as if she were a novice again, training at her grandmother’s knee. She shuffled until she felt an energy awaken in her fingertips.

There were many spreads available to her. The Tapestry, showing the nuances and influences in past, present, and future. The Bridge, providing guidance and insight toward her chosen plan—if she had one. But her meeting today had been the last resort. All doors seemed closed to her now. All avenues exhausted.

The past would not help her. She needed to look to the future. To leap ahead into the unknown.

Zellara set the deck back on the red tablecloth and drew the first card.

Zellara’s Reading, illustration by Mark Molnar.

She had learned long ago to respect the cards, not fear them. All the same, she recoiled at the image of the bound man hanging above a bubbling cauldron. The Waxworks. A card of great distress, of helplessness and torment.

Was the man in the image hanging helplessly? Did unseen hands lower him into the wax? Or was he on the verge of escape? Zellara instinctively found an interpretation.

At the most basic level, this card represented her life. She was the one in torment, suffering every day as she hunted her son’s killer. Every night when she closed her eyes, the last image she saw before sleep was the memory of her son’s severed head and hands. A message from his killer.

On a deeper level, the Waxworks encompassed all the humble streets under Gaedren Lamm’s influence. Zellara’s neighbors struggled to get through each day while the petty crime lord wreaked havoc. He stole, extorted, and slaughtered his way through the district, and none seemed able to stop him. The people were trapped, dangling over the boiling cauldron of Lamm’s evil.

“I know this,” Zellara whispered. She knew to be patient during a reading. The Waxworks could be necessary to properly interpret the rest of the cards.

She still hadn’t decided what spread she was using. It was dangerous to read a Harrow without a clear framework in mind, but caution had taken her as far as it could. She was leaving the shore, swimming into deep waters.

Zellara frowned. Water… there was something there. The hanging figure above the cauldron looked shadowed in the faint light, dusky of hair and skin as Eran had been. Was it wax he descended toward, or murky water?

Leaving the image of water to linger in her mind, she drew the next card.

The colorful image showed a man with the head of a crow, staring at a table covered in wealth. Two masked figures sat to either side. The Crows.

Another seemingly obvious card. The Crows signified murder and loss, especially of that which was loved. Zellara tried to stay patient, but a bubble of frustration rose within her. Why were the cards showing her what she already knew? Gaedren Lamm, the crime lord who used murder and theft to acquire his wealth. What was she missing?

She went back to the Waxworks. The victim, Eran, descending toward death. Wax—or water? The bubbles of boiling wax could be the froth on the waves. Water and crows. She’d seen flocks of black-winged scavengers clustering by the docks last week. A lead drew her to the water’s edge, a rumor that Lamm worked out of a shabby tavern catering to fisherfolk. Zellara’s inquiries turned up no sign of the crime lord.

As she stepped out of the tavern, she startled a flock of crows. They rose from a pile of fish guts and discarded bones, their rough cries cutting through the still morning air.

“Loss of something loved.” Zellara spoke the words aloud, trying to fit them into the pattern. The loss of her son, yes, but beyond that?

She’d discovered several of Lamm’s previous lairs during her investigation. Always too late. Destitute businesses or abandoned buildings where Lamm had run his operations and terrorized his crew of street urchins. Buildings that had once been the hope of their owners, locals who had poured all their money and hard work into their craft. Now sad and empty, the gold that should have filled their coffers instead spilling over Lamm’s table.

Water. The crows at the docks. A place that once held industry and hope, now full of broken dreams.

Zellara reached for the deck, but hesitated. She’d laid the first two cards side by side. Their faces showed Eran’s death in the past, her search for Lamm in the present. The pattern implied the next card would show the future.

The first rule of Harrowing was to always spread a branching path. To cast a single future card was not only foolish, it was dangerous. It left no recourse for turning aside or following a different current of fate. To lay a third card now would be to end the spread and commit herself to this path.

Perhaps that was the price the cards required. To avenge Eran, she would make any sacrifice.

Zellara turned the third card up. Her eyes widened.

A stout woman held a screaming devil-child by the leg. Her other hand pointed up, two fingers extended and bathed in a blue flame. Behind her, a transparent figure hid his face.

Zellara had not been expecting the Midwife.

A disturbing card, but also an optimistic one. The Midwife heralded arrivals and indicated the discovery of new information. The ghostly figure could be Eran, mourning his own fate—or a fate yet to come. Zellara herself was the midwife, channeling her discoveries into the world. But who was the child?

A new companion, perhaps. A stranger instrumental to her quest for vengeance. Possibly a literal child. Lamm was well known for using orphans and street children in his organization. “Lamm’s Lambs” the locals termed them.

Zellara had seen such a child not long ago. A starved, sickly-looking imp with a mop of dark hair that reminded her of Eran. The boy had offered dock-dumplings for sale, lumpy and smelling of fish and decay. Zellara had bought one out of charity and tossed it to a street cat on her way home.

She traced the image of the child on the card with one finger. Water. The docks. The crows feasting on fish guts. A dead business, a place of broken dreams. Lamm’s Lambs. A thin child selling dumplings made of old fish.

A thrill of excitement rippled through Zellara. The Harrowing had been a risk, but it had been worth it. She had what she needed.

She picked up the cards and returned them to the deck, hesitating only for a moment over the Midwife. New arrivals. She felt with a Harrower’s instinct that a stranger or strangers awaited in her future. Ones with an important role to play. She would remain alert for those who could offer aid.

Zellara wrapped the cards in her kapenia and put them away. She donned her cloak and took up her walking stick. It was a dark night, perfect for exploring the docks under cover of shadow.

The cards had guided her true. Now she took the final steps on her path to revenge.

About the Author

For over a decade, Amber Scott has worked as a freelance RPG writer. Her most recent Pathfinder titles include Pathfinder Adventure Path 132: The Six-Legend Soul, Pathfinder Adventure Path 115: Trail of the Hunted and Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Lands of Conflict. Her greatest writing joy is marrying traditional fantasy elements with modern game design elements. A lifelong Tarot hobbyist, Amber drew on her experience reading cards to develop "The Path." She lives in Vancouver, Canada and tries to never close off her futures.

About Curse of the Crimson Throne

Curse of the Crimson Throne is among the most popular Pathfinder Adventure Paths, having appeared in both the 3.5 and Pathfinder first edition rules sets, and has been adapted into a card game and an audio drama series. The softcover pocket edition of the Adventure Path is available now. In the Curse of the Crimson Throne Adventure Path, the heroes delve into the depth of urban adventure in order to stop riots, combat a plague, root out organized crime, and rescue political prisoners, all in an effort to depose Korvosa’s evil queen and free the city from her tyrannical reign.

For those that didn’t see today’s earlier blog, check out our Pathfinder Society releases for May.

First Seeker Luwazi Elsebo examined the datapad with a jubilant smile.

“It gives me great honor to confirm Zafeldrin’s appointment to the role of venture-captain.” Luwazi spoke aloud to the crew members diligently working their stations. “He’s worked hard on Triaxus, and there were no voices on the Forum opposing this appointment. Besides, it should be interesting to have a full-blooded dragon venture-captain in our ranks!”

A flash of holographic data stole Luwazi’s attention, bringing her back to the moment. She examined the data with a raised eyebrow before directly questioning the crew, “Still no signal or report from the asteroid?”

One of the science officers responded, “No, ma’am. The entire site seems eerily quiet. Should we send in the first wave of ships?”

Luwazi pondered the dangerous question as she reviewed one final addendum to the datapad. It appeared that Zafeldrin was already hoping to employ several groups of Starfinder field agents for a mission into the abandoned Triaxian region of Cadascon, a region known for its strange crystalline growths. A bold endeavor, and one that could surely expand the Society’s influence on Triaxus and perhaps skyrocket Zafeldrin’s influence.

“Good luck then...” Luwazi mused while approving the mission and stowing the datapad.

“Ma’am?” the science officer queried, unsure if Luwazi’s statement was a reply to his question.

Straightening in her command chair, Luwazi Elsebo directed her full attention to the officer, “Not yet. We’ll divide the ships into tactical assault groups and make sure that we go in together. This mission could put an end to Datch and her campaign against the Society, so I want it done correctly.”

“Understood!” the officer half-shouted a response, “I’ll get to re-organizing our ships immediately. Also, the senior field agents are on standby for their briefing in the requested meeting chamber.”

Almost leaping from her seat, Luwazi looked around the command deck of the ship, “Then I’ll leave the rest to all of you. I’ll go brief our premiere agents on this mission. When I return, we’ll begin the first phases of the operation.”

Taking a single step away from the command chair, Luwazi paused. With a smile, she half-turned and reached to a wooden container she had kept just under her console. Plucking one of many similar objects from the container, Luwazi strode to the nearest bridge exit.

Staring at the shiny red apple she had withdrawn from the basket, Luwazi flashed a devil’s smile.

“We’ve got you now, Datch.”

She took a bite.

Left to right, Cadascon Crystal art by William Marton. Dispassion art by Mark Molnar

---

We’ve got two new scenarios coming out in May, wrapping up the main arc of Starfinder Society’s Year of a Thousand Bites. Starting with Starfinder Society #2-23: Edge of Cadascon by Emily Parks, the PCs travel to the Pact World of Triaxus and take part in a major expedition to a mysterious region of the planet. In Starfinder Society #2-24: Cornered Rat by Mikko Kallio, the PCs take charge of an all-out assault on a hidden installation used by the nefarious ysoki mastermind, Datch. This important mission could put an end to the multimedia smear campaign used to besmirch the Starfinder Society throughout the Pact worlds!

Until next time,

Thurston Hillman
Starfinder Society Developer

“You’ll not believe it, my friend,” Gorm says, scratching his nose with one calloused finger. “The world is spinning faster than I’ve ever seen it, and I’ve lived through three wars! Or is it four? What’s a siege count as?”

Gorm’s mule, Muttonchop, gives the same exasperated snort that’s been his only response to Gorm’s inquiries over the last few weeks.

“Stubborn as your namesake and half as handsome!” Gorm declares with a smile. “What do you care about the fact that Eliza is reopening the Maze of the Open Road not even half a year after becoming the unmasked representative of the Decemvirate? Nothing, I suppose.”

Gorm tightens his knees slightly around Muttonchop’s flanks and swings his lute down off his back, casually plucking a jaunty tune with fingers that that quickly prove much defter than their blunt shape would imply. “A lady fair with scarlet hair, walked through a winding maze / and though her mind was sharp and fine, darkness plagued her ways. What do you think, Muttonchop, too trite? I don’t think so either.” Slinging the lute back over his shoulder, Gorm quickly retrieves a notepad and ink pen from the voluminous pockets of his magical vest, sketching down the lyrics. “I suppose the rest shall have to wait until she makes it to Woodsedge and files her report. Hope it goes well; she brought some of our finest agents, but the Maze of the Open Road isn’t what it used to be. Dark things lurk in the passages and the walls between planes are exceptionally thin. Hah! I suppose I don’t need to tell the first mule to ever walk on Akiton about the dangers of the maze!”

The duo rides in comfortable silence for a few more miles, Gorm occasionally humming to himself in cheerful composition, Muttonchop displaying the same stalwart silence his dwarven partner had come to expect.

“Now, you know what’s going to really need a song, don’t you, Muttonchop?” Gorm asks with a wide smile. “That expedition down in the Mwangi! On the trail of a founding member of the Pathfinder Society, seeking out secrets lost to the mists of time! B’ah, we should have gone with, my friend! What legends might we find ourselves excluded from?” Clearing his throat, Gorm begins to sing a new song, slinging his lute back to hand and rapping out a percussive rhythm against its wooden face between strummed notes.

"Across the ocean dark and fierce, a legend for to find
A trail gone cold, a challenge old, a story lost to time
Lo the legend marks his steps through swamp and tree and vine.
Heed this story! Listen well, I’ll tell you something true
A legend lost’s a legend still, when found it’s something new."

Gorm hums a few more bars while idly strumming the lute before slinging it once more across his back and jotting down the new lyrics. As he does so, Muttonchop crests a rise in the trail and the sprawling scape of Absalom comes into view. “The City at the Center of the World, my friend! Home from Otari at last. With any luck, Dreng will be back from his trip down to the sewers and we can swap a few drinks and few stories, old and new alike. Assuming I can get that cagey scoundrel to talk. Did you know he’s got medals from both the Eagle Knights and the Lion Blades? That one has more secrets than any other ten members of the Society rolled together!” The dwarf bard and his stoic mule continue along their way, following the road to Absalom.

Left to right, Rindle Rainfickle art by Hannah Boving. Wounded Pethjun art by Raphael Madureira

---

This month we have Pathfinder Society Scenario #1-20: The Lost Legend, a scenario for levels 3 to 6 by Chris S. Sims that takes the PCs through the Sodden Lands and into the Mwangi Expanse, following the footsteps of Gregaro Voth, one of the first Pathfinders. Christen N. Sowards presents an adventure into the Maze of the Open Road alongside open Decemvirate member Eliza Petulengro with Pathfinder Society Scenario #1-21: Mistress of the Maze, an adventure intended for characters from level 5 to 8. Last but not least (unless you’re talking about expected play time), don’t forget to check out Amber Stewart’s Pathfinder Society Quest #10: The Broken Scales, a 1-hour quest for level 1 to 4 characters where they meet up with the Society’s old allies, the kobold tribe known as the Sewer Dragons!

Check back later this afternoon for more scenario reveals when we preview the Starfinder Society May scenarios.

Until next time,

Michael Sayre
Pathfinder Society Developer

Find the Path is excited to announce a new venture: Tales from Darkmoon Vale! On May 27th, we will be launching a brand new Pathfinder Second Edition mini-series audio adventure. This actual play will be available exclusively on our YouTube channel (youtube.com/FindthePathVentures) and will release weekly on Wednesdays.

What is Tales from Darkmoon Vale?

For our first foray into recorded second edition, we’ll be playing through a converted version of Hollow’s Last Hope. This GameMastery adventure was written by Jason Bulmahn and F. Wesley Schneider and released by Paizo in 2007 as part of Free RPG Day, which means the adventure is available for free on Paizo’s website! Hollow’s Last Hope also happens to be the first ever adventure set in the world of Pathfinder. It is part of a series of adventures all set in the town of Falcon’s Hollow.

To quote from the back of the adventure:

The plague has come to the town of Falcon's Hollow, and not even the town's priest can abate its wretched course. With the coughs of the sick and the wails of the dying echoing through town, the local herbalist uncovers a cure, but she needs some brave heroes to retrieve the ingredients. Finding the cure means risking the dangerous Darkmoon Vale.

[...] Do the heroes have the skill and courage to find the cure in time?

Ross Scoggin has lovingly converted Hollow’s Last Hope from 3.5 to Pathfinder Second Edition, and will be gamemastering this mini-series. Ross has many years of experience GMing, and will bring a fresh take on masterful storytelling to the Find the Path Ventures lineup.

Who is playing in Tales from Darkmoon Vale?

We will have five players on the show: Heather Allen, Jessica Peters, Jordan Jenkins, Rachel Sandidge, and Rick Sandidge. Yes, you read that right! Rick will be making his debut as a player on Find the Path in this series.

Heather is playing Celestine, a half-elf street urchin rogue who was raised on the streets of Falcon’s Hollow.

Jessica is playing Clove, a human herbalist barbarian who is trying to navigate being an adult for the first time while working to find a cure for the people in the town.

Jordan is playing Amaranthe, an elf scholar wizard who has come to Falcon’s Hollow to pay his respects at the funeral of an old friend.

Rachel is playing Astrea, a halfling laborer fighter who works as a forge worker while secretly working against the Lumber Consortium.

Rick is playing Grim, a dwarf scout champion who tends an apple orchard on the outskirts of town while caring for his daughter-in-law and granddaughter.

Why YouTube?

Tales from Darkmoon Vale will be our first mini-series adventure, and we feel it is a prime opportunity to try something new and different. Giving this series a home on our YouTube channel ensures it won't get lost in the Find the Path Podcast feed and gives us the chance to experiment with a new format.

As an added bonus, we will be hosting a Live Premiere of the first episode on May 27th at 7pm CDT so that listeners can join in for live commentary from the cast! This lines up with PaizoCon Online, which felt like a perfect time to get together with fellow fans of Pathfinder to celebrate a new entry into the Pathfinder Second Edition podcast world.

TL;DR

The first three episodes of Tales from Darkmoon Vale will release May 27th, 2020 at 7pm CDT on YouTube (youtube.com/FindthePathVentures). Then expect a new episode every Wednesday until we finish this mini-series. Check out our YouTube channel for character previews and more information about the show!

For more information about Tales from Darkmoon Vale or Find the Path Ventures, visit our website https://findthepathpodcast.com or follow us on Twitter (@findthepathchan).

Jessica Peters,
Find the Path Ventures

Last week we started our look at the myriad figures in the City of Lost Omens set of prepainted plastic miniatures from our partners at WizKids, and I left you with the promise of divulging the denizens of the many layers of man-made, monster-made, and natural caverns below Absalom this week. Let’s dig in, shall we?

Illustration by Daniel Lopez

Those familiar with the Extinction Curse Adventure Path know that it features a few reptilian foes from the deep Darklands, and we made sure to include a number of figures to help GMs of the campaign build out their warbands. Below are the Xulgath Skulker and Xulgath Warrior, both Medium common figures, and the Xulgath Chief, a Medium rare figure.

The xulgaths don’t fight alone, however. No, we didn’t name one of the volumes of the adventure path Siege of the Dinosaurs for nothing! I knew we couldn’t do the set without at least one thunder lizard included, but it turns out those are some big mothers, so I had to work closely with AP developer Ron Lundeen to find one from the adventure that we could make in a non-Huge set. Enter the Pinacosaurus, a Large uncommon figure that could easily stand in for a young ankylosaurus.

The inhabitants of the Darklands aren’t restricted to just the Starstone Isle, though, and we made sure to include another potential warband’s worth of figures found not far below the city of Absalom itself. Here are the Duergar Bombardier, Duergar Sharpshooter, and Duergar Taskmaster. All Medium figures at the common, common, and uncommon rarity, respectively.

One of the key abilities that marks duergar from their dwarven kin is their ability to magically double in size. We’d hardly be doing these gray dwarves any favors to include them in the set and not include a large version of them as well. A Large uncommon figure, the Enlarged Duergar is sure to make a big scene when she hits the table.

Much nearer the surface, in the sewers of Absalom, dwell even more awful beasts that I can’t wait to show you! Here’s the Offalth, a new monster created for the Pathfinder Bestiary and appearing in plastic for the first time. This Large rare miniature can also stand in for any number of sewer monsters or mounds of shambling refuse.

Another new addition to the game in the Bestiary was the nightmare-inspiring Gogiteth, a spidery abomination with multiple heads and too-human teeth is pretty squicky, so it’ll make a great encounter for your unsuspecting players!

While you’re exploring the depths beneath Absalom, it’s not just creatures you need to look out for. There are countless traps and other hazards present throughout, and four of the set’s six pieces of dungeon dressing represent those same traps! These bonus figures are distributed in random booster boxes and don’t take up one of their four figure slots, and don’t have bases so they incorporate seamlessly into any number of 3D terrain options. Taking our art inspiration from the Pathfinder Core Rulebook, we included the following traps in City of Lost Omens: armageddon orb, darkside mirror, swinging scythe blades, and wheel of misery (with functionally spinning wheel!)

That’s it for this week’s previews. Next week, we’ll look at upcoming premium figures, including the two included in City of Lost Omens and the thieves’ guild releasing alongside them, plus a few other figures for good measure. Until then, stay safe, Pathfinders.

Mark Moreland
Director of Brand Strategy

Next week is PaizoConOnline, and we’re super excited to greet you all there! You will be noticing several posts and updates about what’s happening during the online convention. But, we have one final week before the party really starts.

Be aware that some of the shows on the schedule may be canceled at any moment. We prioritize our employees and content creator’s safety over their productions as we all deal with the current pandemic, we apologize in advance if plans abruptly change from what’s scheduled here.

So here is what’s happening this week at OfficialPaizo on Twitch!

Pathfinder 2E Extinction Curse with Squiiddish, May 18, 1:00 p.m. Pacific

The Circus of Wayward Wonders has just arrived in the remote town of Abberton, and the 2 Perception crew are the stars of the show! After an unfortunate event the crew finds themselves in charge of keeping the show alive. But, how will they fare?

Squiddish with the 2 Perception crew streams the Pathfinder Second Edition Adventure Path Extinction Curse every Monday at 1:00 P.M. on Squiiddish’s Twitch channel here. We will be hosting this show on the OfficialPaizo Twitch channel.

Crits & Giggles by Dragons & Things May 18, 5:00 p.m. Pacific

Join the Dragons & Things crew as they adventure through the Pathfinder First Edition Reign of Winter Adventure Path! Feature Jamie Mills as the Game Master controlling the fates of Candice Berge, Ben Burch, Katie Wilson, Jim Jam, and Meghan Caves. Will these amazing actors survive this winter? Tune into their twitch channel at 5 p.m. Pacific to join in the adventure!

Starfinder X.T.R.E.M.!, May 20, 2:00-5:00 p.m. Pacific

Whether for fame, fortune, or just for the sport of it, various planets and cities host underground wrestling matches where the rules are as light as your wallet. But even before the matches begin, there are mysteries and problems to solve.

Join our XTREM! adventure where Managing Developer & co-creator of Starfinder Amanda Hamon tells the story of how four star-fairing Paizo employees handle themselves in the amateur wrestling ring!

Your wrestlers are…

• Social Media Producer Payton Smith as Kord aka “Bear Drills”, the Vanguard Uplifted Bear
• Front-End Engineering Lead Andrew White as Daeve "The Litigator" Palanchuk, the Dirindi Witchwarper
• Developer Jason Tondro as Hieronomo Jones, the Kasatha Solarian
• Senior Developer John Compton as Trehwas, La Malscripcion, the Embri Biohacker

Pungeon Crawl, May 20, 5:00-9:00 p.m. Pacific

Note: Pungeon Crawl will now be hosted on the Paizo Twitch channel instead of being streamed directly. You can find BBWolfe’s twitch channel to support the show here.

"The results of the breakfast sweepstakes are in and The Biggest Darn Heroes of the Pact Worlds are about to get a new set of legally-distinct sidekicks as the Pungeon Crawl returns! Join the Deep Space Defenders as we find out if a handful of breakfast cereal contest-selected weirdos can keep up with your favorite syndicated space saviors! Sent on a mission with REAL HEROES, they’ll be put to the test as things go wrong, while on camera the entire time! As their situation develops the heroes’ morale may falter, but with the help of you, the faithful viewers, your favorite heroes can grip success from the jaws of failure! Wednesday nights 8e/7c only on Paizo!"
- BBWolfe

Streamed on OfficialPaizo on Twitch.

Side Quest Side Sesh by GlassCannonPodcast May 21, 5:00 p.m. Pacific

Our heroes travel through the inter webway of the world wide web to gather together and battle in a game of rolling dice to achieve critical success in these various side quest side sessions playing through various Pathfinder stories.

Catch the GlassCannonPodcast crew live on their twitch channel, or hosted on Paizo’s Official Twitch Channel.

The Band of Bravos!, May 22, 2:00 - 5:00 p.m. Pacific

A troupe of performing adventurers find themselves hired to put on the show of a lifetime, but when the curtain rises, they quickly learn that they are the stars of a far more dangerous quest.

Join Paizo employees as they brave the absolute horrors that Director of Game Design, Jason Bulmahn has prepared for them.

Your adventuring party comprises…

• Social Media Producer Payton Smith as Lorn Barnes, Human Wizard
• Web Content Manager Maryssa Lagervall as Ilana Thistlefoot, Halfling Druid
• Developer Jason Keeley as Roark Thunderbird, Tengu Swashbuckler
• Pathfinder Creative Director James Jacobs as Shensen, Half-Elf Bard

Heroic Endeavors, May 22 , 6:00 p.m. Pacific

Join Dragons & Things for another Pathfinder Second Edition adventure! Swords will clash, magic will be cast, and critical ones will bring these heroes to their knees. Journey with these heroic adventurers in their custom world of Val’Duren every Friday!

Catch them live on their twitch channel, or hosted on Paizo’s Official Twitch Channel.

Arcane Mark, May 23, 10:00 a.m. Pacific Arcane Mark is a stream with Design Manager Mark Seifter and Organized Play Lead Developer Linda Zayas-Palmer covering all sorts of RPG and Pathfinder-related topics, from GM Tools to Design Diaries to Workshops. Thursday episodes are always interviews, usually covering Paizo staff you might not have seen as often in other interviews. Catch them live on Paizo’s Official Twitch Channel, or directly on their channel here. (We will be prioritizing Glass Cannon for the broadcast times on Thursday. But once Glass Cannon ends the channel should switch back to Arcane Mark)

Age of Ashes with Squiddish, May 23, 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Pacific

“Fires burn atop the ruined citadel on Hellknight Hill, sending plumes of red smoke into the air that could be a call for help. Now a gang of adventurers rise together to investigate the current conflict. How will they handle the Hellknights? Will they all burn in horrendous fire? Tune into this new Pathfinder Second Edition live play show!

Squiddish with the 2 Perception crew streams on the OfficialPaizo on Twitch channel every week at 2 p.m. Pacific.

Things in Space playing the Dawn of Flame AP, May 23, 6:00 p.m. Pacific

The Dragons & Things crew have blasted off into the wide and expansive universe of Starfinder! Strap yourselves in for an exciting and thrilling adventure through the Dawn of Flame adventure path!

Catch them live on their twitch channel, or hosted on Paizo’s Official Twitch Channel.

Court of Corvids with QueueTimes, May 24, 4:30 p.m.

Court of Corvids is an actual play show that takes place in a homebrew setting using the Pathfinder Second Edition ruleset. It is currently on hiatus having finished its second story arc but will return with a brand new one on Sunday, February 23rd at 4:30 p.m. Pacific.

In this setting, facts and fiction blur together. In fact, the story began with a lie, one that grew so much it became the central pillar for an entire community…that is until the party stumbled upon the truth and brought it all down. Since then, they’ve been on the road, trying to find their place in a vast world they didn’t even know existed for most of their lives.

The party, taken through this world by GM and occult enthusiast Jacob Kile, consists of:

• Croog Claudel, played by Croog: A human monk searching for his long-lost siblings, hoping to make amends when he finds them.
• Moss the Magnificent, played by Molly McIsaac: An Elven Sorcerer trying to recapture the fame she had back home.
• Robyn Way, played by Jonas Newhouse: A Gnome druid desperate to hide from her former life and family. She’s married to Remi.
• Remi Ashwillow, played by William White: The Goblin fighter and Robyn’s partner is just trying to make friends and live life after being stuck in a cult for many years.

Catch Court of Corvids being hosted live on Paizo’s Official Twitch Channel, or directly on their channel here.

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Do you have a Pathfinder or Starfinder Live Play? Tell us in the blog comments below! We’re excited to see what stories you come up with.

We've added a new Forum for Streaming & Actual Play discussions. If you have any questions you’d like to submit for our Q&A segments at the end of our Starfinder Wednesdays or Pathfinder Fridays you can do so in our Forums.

Pathfinder Fridays Fan Club

Starfinder Wednesdays Fan Club

If you have a Pathfinder or Starfinder stream, post it under Third Party Broadcasts.

Catch us live at our Official Twitch Channel. Catch the Video On Demand (VOD) on Twitch immediately after it is done or a week later on our YouTube channel.

OPM Musings

May turned out to be a very topsy-turvy month and the blogs reflect that craziness. Turns out we’ve been working from home for ten or so weeks and somewhere at the end of April, I decided to skip a week. That led to a really cool blog from James Case, but also meant we missed our regular update. I’m catching us up now and plan to be back on a regular schedule in June.

Onto the news…

We made lots of announcements the past month regarding the upcoming PaizoCon Online. For more information on events, check out the blogs we posted on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. Though we still have a few weeks to go before PaizoCon and are putting final touches on that event, we are also looking beyond to Origins Online. If you are interested in GMing at Origins Online, email organizedplay@paizo.com for more information.

We also have seen movement on the Achievement Point program and many players and GMs note their totals are closer to expected totals. We are actively working on resolving the issues and we hope to have more to announce soon.

Our friends at Know Direction advised they received 84 entries in the Battle of the Pantheon contest. They are reviewing the entries and will pass on their top choices to our team for us to pick our top selections. From there, we will preview all of them in a blog on June 4th, 2020 and open voting shortly after.

Sanctioning

The team’s worked hard this month on getting caught up and we hope to finalize sanctioning on the Age of Ashes Adventure Path before the end of May. Stay tuned for more information.

Campaign Coins

With the lack of travel due to Covid-19, we awarded no coins during the past month.

Stars

We don’t have any new 5 stars this month. For those waiting on displays of 5 stars behind your name, we hope to have them appear soon as part of the Achievement Point resolution.

Novas & Glyphs

The online nova evaluation tool is still undergoing work, but you can submit any evaluations via an online form. Venture-Captains, please use this form to submit evaluations.

As part of the Achievement Point fixes, we are also resolving the issues with GM rankings and table counts displaying properly. You should see Starfinder Society table counts show something other than 0 and a space to count Glyphs appearing soon.

Convention Listing

Many of the conventions planned for the upcoming months have needed to cancel or postpone due to shelter in place orders, but several others moved their events online. We’ve listed the status for each event, but please check their websites or notices for any last minute changes.

Convention	Location	Start Date	Status
Monster Prom	DeKalb, IL	5/15/2020	Online
Virtual Mepacon 38	Pennsylvania	5/15/2020	Online
C4 2020	Acme, Michigan	5/22/2020	Postponed
KublaCon 2020	Burlingame, CA	5/22/2020	Cancelled
Gamex 2020 Online	Los Angeles, CA	5/22/2020	Online
QuarantineCon'20	Houston, TX	5/22/2020	Online
PaizoCon Online	Seattle, WA	5/26/20	Online
UKGE 2020	Birmingham, UK	5/29/2020	Cancelled
Origins Online	Columbus, OH	6/19/20 Online	Online
LexiCon 2020	Lexington, KY	7/3/2020	Postponed
Huntsville Comic and Pop Culture Expo (2020)	Huntsville, AL	7/18/2020	Postponed
1D4 Con 2020	Shepherdstown, WV	10/30/2020	Postponed

Organized Play Staff Travel

At this point, there is no travel planned for organized play staff through the beginning of July.

Don’t forget to come back next week for the scenario previews!

Until next time—Explore, Report, Cooperate!

Tonya Woldridge
Organized Play Manager

The Pathfinder Bestiary 2 breaks free May 27!

More than 300 menacing monsters and fearsome foes await within a compendium of creatures from the world of Pathfinder! From classic adversaries like giants, dragons, and the jabberwock to potential allies and servants suitable for summoners of every alignment, this must-have expansion to the Pathfinder Bestiary seethes with enemies to challenge characters of any level.

Here is a look at the monsters on the cover and Table of Contents, vie the art, the first paragraph of their description, and the sidebar flavor!

Grendel

This reaver of the cold marsh is not just a monster; he is a force of nature. Where there is peace and prosperity in the world, Grendel strikes, eager to prove that tranquility is transitory and death is the only constant. He stalks the edge of his fens, seeking settlements where joy holds sway. He strikes under cover of night, primarily targeting celebrations or festivals. The more happiness or joy he can extinguish, the better.

GRENDEL’S MOTHER

At the bottom of a remote mountain lake filled with sea serpents is a magical house—the lair of Grendel’s mother. Among her many treasures is a sword so big and heavy that only a supernaturally strong individual can wield it. When Grendel is injured, he retreats here to heal.

Morlock

Originating from humans long lost from the world of light, morlocks are brutal monsters that dwell in the tangled tunnels of the upper reaches of the Darklands. Their wiry frames mask the strength of their limbs and their swift reactions, and their arms are long enough that they can drop into an uncanny, four-limbed shuffle for speed or stealth. They no longer remember the lives their ancestors led on the surface, although many morlocks still dwell in the shattered ruins of their ancient homes. Some morlocks worship the statues of humans from these bygone eras as gods, but others now worship Lamashtu, Rovagug, or other violent deities.

MORLOCK MACHINERY

Morlocks tend toward brutish actions and violent traditions and have little interest in bettering their societies or creating art. However, they have a strange obsession with ancient machinery and magical items, particularly clockwork constructions. Their knack for tinkering helps keep ancient guardians and traps functional, even if their work backfires now and then

Ravener

Though their lifespans can measure in millennia, all dragons must eventually perish. While many do so on the blades or under the spells of dragonslayers, some manage to outlast their enemies and must, in time, face the truth that awaits all living creatures at the end of their natural lifespan. As with many other creatures, some dragons respond to such looming reminders of their own mortality poorly, and the particularly prideful or wrathful of their kind often lash out in anger when confronted by this grim truth. Peace and acceptance may find some dragons, but the most stubborn of their ilk (and invariably the most wicked) may pursue a different answer to the problem. These dragons seek out sinister rites that can transform them into undead creatures known as raveners.

RAVENER LAIRS

Cunning and paranoid, raveners prefer to make their lairs in places hostile to mortal life: atop peaks so high that living creatures struggle to breathe the rarefied air, submerged beneath pools of magma in the caldera of an active volcano, and so on. Some raveners even go so far as to deliberately fill their entire lair with lethally poisonous gases, and raveners that are capable of advanced spellcasting often seal their lairs completely, accessing them exclusively by spells such as teleport or gaseous form. Of course, raveners must feed on the living to persist, so they never locate their lairs so far from sources of life that they’ll starve.

There are additional sidebars on ravener minions, spellcasters, and patrons!

Serpentfolk

Before their ancient clash with humanity devastated their civilization, serpentfolk were masters of a sprawling underground empire. Few serpentfolk survive today; their power is shattered, their god Ydersius decapitated (although not quite slain). The cunning, intelligence, and magical abilities of serpentfolk have diminished from their ancient heights, and most are born without these boons. Those serpentfolk who retain their ancestry’s legacy of intelligence and magic are known as zyss, and they look down upon their more numerous kindred with a mix of disdain and shame. They see these offshoots as a curse on their kind, resulting from their god’s decapitation and the pandemonium during the fall of their underground empire, and have dubbed them aapoph, meaning “chaos made flesh.”

THE HEADLESS KING

Ydersius was defeated by an Azlanti heroine named Savith in the era before Earthfall, and now the so-called Headless King’s body prowls aimlessly in the Darklands. That the decapitated god’s clerics still gain power from worship points to Ydersius’s tenacity and continued existence, after a fashion. Those who seek to recover his skull and return it to his body hope that doing so will restore both him and the sekmin civilization to their full power.

Don’t miss the first preview of a few creatures from the Bestiary 2 in Sample Encounter The Fox's Flames by Organized Play Developer James Case!

Related future releases include the Pathfinder Bestiary 2 Pawn Collection and the Pathfinder Bestiary 2 Battle Cards!

You can acquire the Pathfinder Bestiary 2 at your favorite local game store, online retailer or paizo.com. With your Pathfinder Rulebook Ongoing Subscription, we'll send each new volume to your door and charge your payment method automatically as we ship each product. You only need to sign up once, and never need to worry about renewal notices or missed products.

Adventures Ahead!

Aaron Shanks
Marketing and Media Manager

While you’re catching your breath from the hundreds of Paizo Organized Play games and other scheduled events available at PaizoCon Online, make sure to visit our Twitch channel for seminars and actual-play games from the Paizo staff and our licensed partners.

Once again, we’re thrilled to have Know Direction hosting this year’s PaizoCon Online, alongside Paizo social media producer Payton Smith. Stay tuned in between shows for special guests and commentary from the Know Direction team. Viewers watching live on Twitch will also have the opportunity to win special prizes, such as:

• Rule your own kingdom with Kingmaker Explorer Edition, by Owlcat Games (PC/Mac, Steam).
• Build your perfect character with Hero Lab Online licenses for Pathfinder Second Edition and Starfinder, by Lone Wolf Development.
• Take your game to virtual tabletop with D20 Pro: Game Master + 6-player seat License, by Mesa Mundi.
• Play your game from anywhere on Roll20.net, with special PaizoCon bundles for Pathfinder Second Edition (Core Rulebook and The Fall of Plaguestone adventure) and Starfinder (Core Rulebook plus The Reach of Empire adventure, Book 1 of the Against the Aeon Throne Adventure Path).
• Your epic game deserves the epic sounds of a 2-month Pathfinder subscription to Syrinscape.

Winners will be chosen at random by Payton and the Know Direction team, and giveaways can happen at any time. Make sure to watch the chat room for your opportunity to enter!

Marquee Events: The biggest news each day will be revealed in these special events, where we’ll release advance information on what’s to come for the future of your favorite games.

Times for all events are Pacific Daylight time (GMT -7), and you can catch everything on Paizo’s official Twitch channel.

Tuesday, May 26

Welcome to PaizoCon (10-12 p.m.)

The show must go on! Join Erik Mona, Tonya Woldridge, Alex Speidel, and Payton Smith for an official welcome to the first-ever PaizoCon Online. We’ll cover a variety of topics, including moving PaizoCon to an online format, what content is on offer, how to make the most of a fantastic six days of online gaming with friends from around the world, and where to get answers to any questions you may have.

Marquee Event: Kingmaker Adventure Path (12-2 p.m.)

Join Lisa Stevens, Jason Nelson, Mark Moreland, and James Jacobs for an in-depth chat about one of the largest projects Paizo has ever attempted—the Kingmaker Adventure Path hardcover compilation! Updated to 2nd edition, we’ll go over all of the books and support products for this sprawling campaign, reveal more about the brand-new content that’s being added to the Adventure Path, and answer as many questions about Kingmaker as we can squeeze in! So don your crowns, get comfy in your thrones, and prepare to find out what awaits in this massive return to one of Pathfinder’s most popular Adventure Paths of all time!

Secrets of the Starfinder Universe (2-4 p.m.)

Paizo’s top storytellers reveal the mysteries behind the Starfinder campaign setting, from conspiracies you never knew existed to the real story behind that one thing you always wanted to know. Bring your most burning setting questions to this often too-honest Q&A!

Live Play: Dragons & Things (PF2E; 4-7 p.m.)

Welcome to Heroic Endeavors Inc., where every licensed adventurer stands ready to exercise Heroic Interventions™ as needed to keep our client community safe from undesirable risk and dangerous circumstances. Join Ben Burch, Meghan Caves, Jamie Mills, Nathan Ondracek and Adam Conn as our experienced and capable Licensed Adventuring Team on their latest Heroic Intervention as they battle evil and defend client assets as defined in the HEI Client Agreement Section II Paragraph 4. Guiding them through these dangerous exploits is HEI Administrator and Game Master, James Rodehaver.

Dragons and Things: Heroic Endeavors is a Pathfinder 2e Actual-Play Live Stream. You can watch more Dragons and Things: Heroic Endeavors LIVE every Friday at 6pm Pacific on twitch.tv/thedatnetwork. Be sure to check out their streaming schedule for additional shows all week long.

We are @thedatnetwork on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook! Join us on discord: https://discord.gg/qEwdAMA

Wednesday, May 27

Pathfinder RPG Q&A (10-12 p.m.)

Join the Paizo Design Team as they look back at the launch of Pathfinder Second Edition and gaze forward into the future of the game. Don’t forget to bring your questions about the game and how you can get the most out of the system. The team will be answering what they can, but save the hard-core rules for the forums as we will be keeping this light and fun.

Marquee Event: Starship Operations & Beyond! (12-2 p.m.)

Join Paizo staffers to learn about what to expect and how to make the most of the new toys in Starfinder’s upcoming rulebooks, from new starship combat options in the Starship Operations Manual to new alien threats and playable species in Alien Archive 4, plus what to look forward to in the galaxy for 2021!

Ask the Paizo GMs (2-4 p.m.)

How can I throw together a quick one-session game? What are some good ways to flesh out my world and NPCs? I just TPKed my players, what do I do?! Join Paizo developers James Case, Thurston Hillman, and Luis Loza and Paizo editor Ianara Natividad as they answer these questions and more, share their favorite gamemastering tips and tricks, and help you troubleshoot your own adventures!

Live Play: Starfinder X.T.R.E.M.! (4-7 p.m.)

Gooood evening stargirls, starboys, and every beautiful person in between! Are you tired of the same ol’ holovid stars clogging up your infosphere? Bored of loops with squoxes wearing hats and proogs playing keytars? Well, you’ve come to the right place! XenoTrouble Enterprises is proud to present the weirdest, wildest wrestling shows in all of the Pact Worlds!

Join Game Master Amanda Hamon as she brings professional wrestling to the Starfinder universe, alongside a star-studded cast of Paizo luminary players! The Pact Worlds’ most notorious wrestling stars are in danger from a mob of a rival’s obsessed fans, and it’s our PCs’ job to save the day--while putting on their best ladder-diving, chair-smacking, cage-wrestling performances for a live-stream audience, of course!

Thursday, May 28

The Art of Paizo (10-12 p.m.)

Join Paizo’s art directors and as they discuss the illustrations, maps, and other visual elements that bring Pathfinder and Starfinder to life and lead an interactive live concept art of a creature invented by the audience!

Marquee Event: Organized Play (12-2 p.m.)

Wonder what plans the Organized Play team have up their sleeves? Want to know more about the Starfinder Society’s upcoming Year of Exploration’s Edge? Interested in the theme for Pathfinder Society’s second year of programming? Curious about what’s up with Year 7 of the Pathfinder Adventure Card Society? Join Lead Developer Linda Zayas-Palmer, Pathfinder Society developer Michael Sayre, Starfinder Society Developer Thurston Hillman and Organized Play Manager Tonya Woldridge as they share storylines and plans for the upcoming year of Paizo Organized Play.

Adventure Path Design (2-4 p.m.)

Join four of Paizo's Adventure Path developers for a close look at the process of how Pathfinder and Starfinder Adventure Paths are made, including conception, outlining, writing, development, and publication. We'll discuss the differences between writing an Adventure Path and writing other types of stories, as well as provide insights and advice for Game Masters and aspiring authors who want to write great campaigns. We'll even reveal some secrets about Paizo's forthcoming Adventure Paths!

Live Play: Roll for Combat - “Tales from the Black Lodge” (PF2E; 4-7 p.m.)

Deep in the heart of the River Kingdoms, lies an old Pathfinder lodge once thought lost. A lodge shrouded in secrecy and mystery, driving many to believe that its goals are not that of exploration… but of more nefarious purposes. Recently an unknown Venture-Captain has reopened the lodge and recruited a new group of Pathfinder Agents to do its bidding. Whether their goals are to benefit the Society, or something much more sinister, is yet to be seen... Join the Roll For Combat crew and special guest Erik Mona as they explore a Pathfinder 2e Society Quest on behalf of the Black Lodge!

Friday, May 29

World of Pathfinder (10-12 p.m.)

Join Pathfinder Creative Director James Jacobs, Lost Omens line developers Eleanor Ferron and Luis Loza, and Director of Brand Strategy and living lore encyclopedia Mark Moreland to delve into the World of Pathfinder! Explore some of the recently revealed secrets of the setting and get some hints of what revelations lie just over the horizon, with previews of upcoming Lost Omens world guide books. Ask your questions of Golarion’s stewards to help bring your characters and campaigns to life in new and exciting ways. Who knows, we might even slip up and reveal something we aren’t supposed to!

Marquee Event: Advanced Player’s Guide (12-2 p.m.)

Join Advanced Player's Guide designers and a rockstar editor for never-before-seen reveals and behind the scenes insights into Pathfinder's biggest summer release! Also, our Pathfinder Friday marquee panel will reveal an upcoming Pathfinder book coming in 2021!

Pathfinder Adventures (2-4 p.m.)

Adventure authors, developers, and editors gather to take you inside the contents, creation, and opportunities presented by official Pathfinder Second Edition adventures yet to come! Panelists include Paizo Publisher Erik Mona, Managing Developer Adam Daigle, Adventure Path developer Ron Lundeen, and editor Patrick Hurley.

Live Play: Pathfinder - Band of Bravos (4-7 p.m.)

Band of Bravos is a Pathfinder Second Edition Actual Play Twitch stream. Staring James Jacobs as the talented half-elf bard Shensen, Payton Smith as the curmudgeon human wizard Lorn, Maryssa Lagervall, as the storytelling halfling druid Ilana Thistlefoot, and Jason Keeley as the wisecracking tengu swashbuckler Roark Thunderbird. Jason Bulmahn, Paizo’s Director of Game Design is serving as host and GM for this band of misfit performers whose tall-tales of adventure may have finally gotten them into more trouble than they could possibly handle!

Saturday, May 30

Pathfinder Game: Roll the Role (10-12 p.m.)

Join Roll20 Spotlight creators Roll the Role as they balance the perils of circus life and a conspiracy that threatens all in Extinction Curse: Legacy of the Lost God.

Live Play: 2 Perception (PF2E; 2-4 p.m.)

Fresh from dealing with the problems of Etran’s Folly, these brave adventurers continue where Bort’s caravan left off. Join Squiiddish and his crew as they continue their story from The Fall of Plagueston in this one-shot Pathfinder Second Edition adventure.

Live Play: Glass Cannon (PF2E; 4-7 p.m.)

The Glass Cannon Network: Pathfinder Society Quest #1: The Sandstone Secret LIVE!
Witness the triumphant return of Hawkraven Eaglecrow, Pima Shaleslider, Nero Goodfence, Arkonis Severith and Ecthelion, son of Aegnor, known as Orphan Puncher as Paizo Publisher Erik Mona joins the Glass Cannon Network crew for a night of Pathfinder 2E ribaldry!

Sunday, May 31

PaizoCon Closing Ceremonies (12-1 p.m.)

All good things must come to an end, and so must we close the curtains on PaizoCon Online 2020. Join Paizo and Know Direction staffers as we look back at the event and give thanks to all of the amazing contributors, volunteers, partners, and you for making PaizoCon Online an event to remember.

Live Play: QueueTimes - Shadow of Norgober (PF2E; 4:30-7:30)

A string of gruesome murders, five mysterious notes, and one long forgotten friend inspires five retired adventurers to band together one last time. As they look for the one responsible behind the killings, they’re each forced to confront their past actions, before their days of fame and glory, in order to save the kingdom.

We’ve been taking a look at some of the works of fiction, great and small, that help us experience the world of Pathfinder. We’ve reviewed the free web fiction, short fiction, novels (and audiobooks), and comics. Now, at last, we explore Pathfinder Legends. You might have missed them!

Big Finish and Paizo teamed up to bring you Pathfinder Legends, audio series episodes that follow the adventures of the iconic Pathfinder characters. Each audio adventure series contains six episodes following one of three Pathfinder Adventure Paths. Each of these episodes runs from one to two hours and features a cast of professional actors, sound effects, and music that immerse you into the dangerous and exciting world of Pathfinder!

Rise of the Runelords #1: Burnt Offerings

Sandpoint. An ordinary town on the Lost Coast of Varisia. When Ezren, Merisiel, Valeros and Harsk arrive, seeking rest from their adventures, it seems the town's annual Swallowtail Festival will give them what they need—until goblins attack during a ceremony to consecrate the town's rebuilt church.

After defending Sandpoint, the adventurers discover a sinister plot to return an ancient evil to Varisia. Can they discover the connection between the goblin attack and the removal of mortal remains from a crypt in the town's graveyard?

This is just the beginning of a new quest for the iconic Pathfinder characters Ezren, Merisiel, Valeros and Harsk. The Rise of the Runelords begins with burnt offerings—and only four heroes stand against it.

p>Mummy's Mask #1: The Half-Dead City

For almost 2000 years the tombs of the Necropolis of Wati have remained sealed—until now.

Adventurers from all over Golarion have travelled to the ancient city to find lost treasure and uncover the secrets of the past, but some things are best left buried. As Valeros, Ezren, Harsk and Merisiel face traps, ghosts, and undead spirits, sinister forces descend on Wati. The Mask of the Forgotten Pharaoh is about to be discovered—and an ancient evil unleashed.

Curse of the Crimson Throne #1: Edge of Anarchy

The King has died, and the city of Korvosa is in chaos! Riots, banditry, monsters, and mayhem are turning the normally safe streets of the city into a war zone. Desperate to regain control of her city, Queen Ileosa seeks heroes to aid her in reclaiming control before the largest city in all Varisia consumes itself from within as Curse of the Crimson Throne begins with a bang!

Pathfinder Legends are available as downloads, CDs or CD/Download Bundles both on paizo.com and at Big Finish at price points that vary. There are many audio samples for you to get a taste of the “audio drama” experience. If you are a fan of the old radio shows, like The Shadow, or have heard Big Finish’s full-cast audio dramas, you’ll love them!

Next week we are back to our free flash fiction with a prologue to the Curse of the Crimson Throne in celebration of the Pocket Edition release!

Adventures Ahead!

Aaron Shanks
Marketing and Media Manager

Greetings all!
The finalized schedule includes over 1150 Paizo Organized Play (POP) games, as well as author-run events, non-organized play games, panels on both Discord and Twitch, and a full slate of Twitch-streamed games. For the full schedule, check out the PaizoCon Online Warhorn page. Reminder, all times are listed in PDT.

In preparation for event registration, we suggest you visit the following sites and register accounts. You may use existing accounts on all the sites listed, so no need to create a new one just for PaizoCon Online.

• Register for an account and an organized play number at Paizo.com (if playing POP games)
• Join the PaizoCon Online Discord Server. Here is an invite code.
• Follow the Paizo Twitch channel.

Player signups go live Saturday, May 16th, at 1 pm PDT on the PaizoCon Online Warhorn page. Once you are registered for a game, please download the associated VTT platforms and input your character(s). All VTT information is listed in the Notes section of the Warhorn page. There is no need to register for panels or streams, they are included on the schedule to help in planning.

The Discord page is open and there are channels to chat before the event and ask questions if needed. You may also email paizocononline@paizo.com if you need assistance.

So without further ado, here are the descriptions for the special events we are pleased to offer at PaizoCon Online 2020. We will release the Twitch panel schedule on Thursday afternoon.

Author-Run Organized Play Tables

PFS2 1-12: The Burden of Envy (level 1-4)
Lysle Kapp
Swindler, rogue, and occasional Pathfinder ally Guaril Karela has approached the Society with an opportunity that Valais Durant, the leader of the Society's Radiant Oath faction, can't refuse. Guaril has been charging refugees to sneak them out of Xin Edasseril, a city ruled by the Runelord of Envy, and now it looks like Guaril won't be able to fulfill his contracts. Society agents are charged with sneaking into the dangerous city and sneaking out with a handful of its citizens before their absence is noticed so that the Radiant Oath can help them find new lives beyond their current ruler's tyrannical reach.
Sessions: Tuesday, May 26: 12pm (noon), Friday, May 29: 6am, Saturday, May 30: 6pm

PFS2 Quest 3: Grehunde’s Gorget (level 1-4)
Kate Baker
Venture-Captain Bjersig Torrsen calls the PCs north to the town of Iceferry in the frigid Land of the Linnorm Kings. There, Bjersig informs the Pathfinders that he has a request from the family of a storied and long-dead Linnorm King. The family's patriarch, the warrior Hlavard Grenskuldr, appears to have perished in a shipwreck while wearing the family's heirloom, the gorget of the Linnorm King Grehunde the Sunchaser. For one hundred generations the family has passed this heirloom down from parent to child, until Hlavard sought to wear it on a journey to Valenhall as Grehunde herself had intended to do before perishing with the task unfinished. Unwilling to leave the relic to rust away in a watery grave, Hlavard's family has requested the Pathfinder Society's assistance in locating the shipwreck and retrieving the family treasure.
Sessions: Friday, May 29: 6pm

PFS2 Quest 7: A Curious Claim (level 3-6)
Dennis Muldoon
Money is power in the land of Druma and those who know how best to manipulate the economics of the land have the most of both. The PCs are sent to Druma to investigate a missing ship and the particulars of an insurance claim related to its disappearance, though both ravenous undead and agents of one of the Pathfinder Society's fiercest rival organizations seek to keep them from the truth behind the ship's sad end.
Sessions: Saturday, May 30: 12pm (noon), Saturday, May 30: 3pm

PFS2 Quest 9: Wayfinder Origins (level 3-6)
Dustin Knight
The Pathfinder Society has sent an expedition to a previously uncharted island! The island contains a door sealed with a type of magical technology thought lost with the ancient Azlanti empire. What secrets lie behind the door, and what dangers may lurk beneath the island's surface? To find out, the PCs will first have to solve the magical "puzzle" sealing the door and preventing contact with whatever lies beyond.
Sessions: Wednesday, May 27: 6pm, Thursday, May 28: 6pm, Friday, May 29: 6pm, Saturday, May 30: 6pm

SFS 1-16: Dreaming of the Future
Sasha Laranoa Harving
The Starfinder Society pursues the dream visions of a Liavaran dreamer, seeking information lost in a time before the Gap. Three broken fragments form the key to a forgotten repository of knowledge hidden within the Pact Worlds. It's up to the PCs to find these missing fragments and brave the dangerous reliquary to secure a new source of prescient knowledge for the Society.
Sessions: Thursday, May 28: 12pm (noon)

SFS 2-03: The Withering World (level 1-4)
Rigby Bendele
The Starfinder Society has dispatched an investigation fleet to a seemingly impossible world: a planet located between a nurturing sun and a voracious black hole. When a chance meeting with the local inhabitants leads the Society to discover another group of visitors who threatens this incredible planet, it's up to a group of heroes to make sure that the world's delicate balance does not break and the planet isn't sent hurtling into a black hole!
Sessions: Friday, May 29: 12pm (noon)

SFS 2-18: Forbidden Tides (level 5-8)
Kate Baker
After the Starfinder Society made first contact with the morlamaws of Arniselle, the walrus-like people of that world have worked alongside several Pact Worlds organizations to explore their homeworld and other planets beyond. Recently, a group of radical morlamaws was discovered to have been working with an individual opposed to the Society's interests. The PCs travel to Arniselle to follow-up on this group's activities and link it back to the mysterious ysoki known as Datch. The truth behind these morlamaws is beyond comprehension, and threatens all life on Arniselle and beyond!
Scenario tags: Faction (Exo-Guardians)
Sessions: Saturday, May 30: 12pm (noon)

SFS 2-21: Illegal Shipment (level 1-4)
Joseph Blomquist
As the Swarm invades the distant Suskillon system, a notorious collector of alien life captures several Swarm lifeforms with the intent of selling them to interested buyers. Bringing these creatures to Absalom Station as part of a clandestine trade, events go awry and the trader’s preserved wildlife escape into the station. In order to prevent station-wide panic, the Starfinder Society sends its best agents to find out what happened, track down the escaped Swarm lifeforms, and stop a full-scale infestation at the heart of the Pact Worlds!
Sessions: Saturday, May 30: 6pm

The following authors have volunteered to run one or more of their Paizo-published adventures. All tables will run as normal Organized Play tables and will earn full rewards.

Third-Party/Non-Organized Play Games

The Book in the Old House (Pathfinder second edition)
Russ Taylor, Legendary Games
Kick off the Aegis of Empires AP! Escort a nobleman to the an abandoned estate—fast and easy coin, right? But why is the neighborhood deserted but the house still pristine? I'm sure those furtive shadows, sinister rumors, and the deafening chorus of frogs haunting the grounds are nothing to worry about!
Sessions: Wednesday, May 27: 6pm

Scions of the Five Winds (Pathfinder second edition)
Vanessa Hoskins, Legendary Games
Five bearers of elemental power gather at the Temple of Elements to perform their annual blessing, when a dark power intervenes. Can the scions of the five winds defend their temple and fight off the dark power that seeks to unbalance the elemental forces?
Sessions: Thursday, May 28: 6am, Saturday, May 30: 6am

Wizards Wanted (Pathfinder second edition)
Scott 'Curaigh' Janke
Wizards Wanted! Explore, Report, Trade spells! This will be a session of PFS (2) where most of the players have a spellbook that needs filling. Tier and scenario will be determined by the players. Alchemist and anyone that can learn spells from another Pathfinder are also welcome.
Sessions: Saturday, May 30: 12pm (noon)

Remnants of the Outer Dominion (Starfinder)
Matt Daley, Legendary Games
Remnants of the Outer Dominion is a 10th-level Starfinder adventure set in the Arcforge Campaign Setting. The wrecked Outer Lord starship known as Mourner's Comet has orbited the star of Aurin since the ancient race battled with the Dragons, its derelict hull visible across the skies of many worlds. As the wreck approaches near the inhabited worlds for the first time in over a century, scattered factions from different spheres converge upon Mourner's Comet to uncover its secrets and perhaps claim them for themselves.
Sessions: Friday, May 29: 6pm

The Wandering Water Bear (Starfinder; Author table)
Hilary Moon Murphy
Vaando dome on the ice-encrusted asteroid of Nisis is desperate. Under constant threat from diaspora wyrms that darken the waters and attack their settlement, they've hired the party to contact a missing dwarven scientist. The only one with clues to the scientist's whereabouts is her ex-spouse, Captain Cora, an irritable riverboat captain. Her ship, The Wandering Waterbear, is a submersible that travels between settlements on the River Between; it's also the smelly and nigh-indestructible shrunken corpse of a Giant Tardegrade. Captain Cora likes to pilot her ship down the river and ram wyrms. The party's job is simple; get on Cora's crew, find the scientist and save Vaando dome. This adventure appears in Wayfinder 20.
Sessions: Wednesday, May 27: 12pm (noon), Friday, May 29: 12pm (noon), Saturday, May 30: 6am

Bestiary Bash (Pathfinder first edition)
Scott 'Curaigh' Janke
Sharpen you claws and study your Agrippa! Monsters with class levels in a tournament to hold the Sapphire Blade!
Sessions: Thursday, May 28: 12pm (noon)

Cat’s Meow (Pathfinder first edition)
Jessica Peters, Find the Path Ventures
Excuse me, my cat is lost. Can you help me find her? What seems to be a simple case of lost and found, soon expands into something more mysterious. Cat's Meow is a Pathfinder 1e adventure for 1st level characters. Adventure adapted from High Level Games.
Sessions: Friday, May 29: 6pm

Legend of the Burning Star (Pathfinder first edition)
Steve Helt of Legendary Games
Dive into the spectacular Aegis of Empires AP with urban investigation and wilderness exploration to unravel an ancient and deadly mystery whose madness echoes down through the ages, run by the author! 10th level PCs
Sessions: Saturday, May 30: 6pm

Riders on the Storm (Part 1) (Pathfinder first edition)
Greg Vaughan Track vicious raiders into the mountains for the voormann of Perenland and put an end to their attacks. An original Greyhawk adventure for 10th-level characters updated to Pathfinder (1e). Pre-gens provided. This is part 1 of a two-session game. Ideally the same players that sign up for this session should sign up for part 2 as well.
Sessions: Saturday, May 30: 12pm (noon)

Riders on the Storm (Part 2) (Pathfinder first edition)
Greg Vaughan
Continuing the mission against the mountain raiders begun in Part 1. An original Greyhawk adventure for 10th-level characters updated to Pathfinder (1e). Pre-gens provided. This is part 2 of the same adventure from the previous session. Ideally the same players that signed up for part 1 should be the players in part 2 as well.
Sessions: Saturday, May 30: 6pm

Wizards Wanted (Pathfinder first edition)
Scott 'Curaigh' Janke
Wizards Wanted! Explore, Report, Trade spells! This will be a session of PFS (1) where most of the players have a spellbook that needs filling. Mid-tier 3-7 though the scenario will be TBD. Magi, alchemist and witches welcome too, but the focus will be on book-based casters wanting to trade some spells.
Sessions: Friday, May 29: 12pm (noon)

Fall of Magic (Fall of Magic system)
Mike Ferdinando
Magic is dying, and the Magus is dying with it. We travel together to realm of Umbra where magic was born. "Fall of Magic" is a collaborative storytelling game where we play a group of travelers in the company of the Magus. On the way, we'll encounter strange hosts, fantastic places, and perilous choices as we play to find out who our characters are, how they relate, and how our journey changes us. Game rules will be taught at the table.
Sessions: Wednesday, May 27: 12pm (noon)

The Flocculent Cathedral (Trophy Dark system)
Mike Ferdinando
Coiled in the moss-shrouded marshlands of The Mire lay the ruins of a lost temple to a forgotten saint. What riches can be found there... and what are you willing to do to claim them? Trophy Dark is a collaborative dark fantasy/horror RPG of desperate treasure-hunters seeking fortune in an enchanted forest that does not want them there. The game has very simple rules that will be taught at the table. This is an 18+ table.
Sessions: Thursday, May 28: 6pm

Laser Metal: Quest for Fire (Attention Span Games’ Laser Metal system)
Mark Orr
In a brutal, futuristic, post-apocalyptic world only the most metal of heroes will survive. Will you join the quest for fire and rock the Laser Metal tournament? Laser Metal is a science fiction RPG that is light on rules but heavy on metal, and doesn’t' take itself too seriously. Players will play pregenerated characters provided by the GM. This is an 18+ table.
Sessions: Friday, May 29: 12pm (noon)

Starfinder Adventure Card Game Concept (Reskinned Pathfinder Adventure Card Game)
Tyler Beck, et al
This event will allow players to join veteran PACG organizers in a celebration of the game format, set in the world of Starfinder and designed by Tyler "Cartmanbeck" Beck. The Dead Suns Adventure Path is the inspiration for this brand-new Core Set-style game. This game builds on the rules of the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, so significant experience with that game is recommended. This session will use pregenerated characters, and will be run using Tabletop Simulator software, so please be familiar with the controls and functionality of that platform beforehand. Which scenarios will be run during a given slot will be coordinated through the convention's Discord server. Please do not sign up for more than 2 slots of this game, in order to give other players the chance to experience it.
Sessions: Wednesday, May 27: 12pm (noon), Thursday, May 28: 6am, Thursday, May 28: 6pm, Friday, May 29: 12pm (noon), Sunday, May 31: 6am

Please note that no Organized Play credit or rewards will be awarded for these tables

Panels

Wayfinder #20 Launch Party and Chat
Tim Nightengale, Wayfinder/Paizo Fans United
With this year's PaizoCon going virtual, how about a Wayfinder release party as part of the fun? Join the Wayfinder Staff and Contributors in voice and text to chat about the newest issue!
Sessions: Tuesday, May 26: 6pm, Friday, May 29: 6pm, Saturday, May 30: 12pm (noon), Saturday, May 30: 6pm

Freelancing 101 with Freelance Force
Mike Kimmel, Freelance Forge
Learn the basics of RPG freelancing from a panel of freelancers!
Sessions: Wednesday, May 27: 12pm (noon)

What's New with Legendary Games!
Jason Nelson, Legendary Games
Get all the latest news and sneak peeks from the stars of Legendary Games, including the amazing Aegis of Empires AP Kickstarter ongoing NOW!
Sessions: Wednesday, May 27: 12pm (noon)

Danger Club Presents: Level 0 to Level Hero
Dan Thompson, The Danger Club Podcast
Tune in to a live episode of The Danger Club and hear a group of British voice actors playing Pathfinder 2e. A team of level 0 characters are trapped behind enemy lines and hunted by terrible monsters. Can they make it home? Will they become heroes, or die as zeros?
Sessions: Thursday, May 28: 12pm (noon)

Play-by-Post (PbP) 101
Play-by-Post Venture Officers, Organized Play Foundation
Interested in games online? Like to write descriptive narration? Talk to the team of PbP coordinators about the pros of playing PbP online as well. Through the use of Discord screen share, they’ll show you the ins and outs of a game.
Sessions: Thursday, May 28: 3 pm

Converting a Galaxy: From Star Wars Saga Edition to Imperial Assault
Carlos Cabrera, Something Clever Games
Learn how a Star Wars GM converted his player’s characters from Wizard of the Coast’s roleplaying game to Fantasy Flight’s board game in an ongoing campaign since 2008. Carlos Cabrera is a freelancer who has worked with Legendary Games, Encounter Table Publishing, Rite Publishing, and Paizo.
Sessions: Saturday, May 30: 12pm (noon)

Creating Dynamic Characters for the Gaming Table
Jessica Peters, Find the Path Ventures
Join Find the Path for this interactive seminar that delves into the ins-and-outs of creating dynamic and interesting characters. You'll get to work with the crew to build a character that implements our best tips, including using archetypes to guide mechanics selection, playing against stereotypes, and creating backstories that tie into the campaign and the world.
Sessions: Saturday, May 30: 9am

Playing Dynamic Characters at the Gaming Table
Jessica Peters, Find the Path Ventures
In this panel, Find the Path will give advice and strategies for roleplaying dynamic characters that stay true to your vision while also growing and evolving with the story at your gaming table. This is a continuation of Creating Dynamic Characters for the Gaming Table, but you do not need to have participated in that seminar to attend this one.
Sessions: Sunday, May 31: 9am

Methods for Fast Combat
MrBoot
Learn methods that both players and GMs can use to hasten combat, improve smoothness of play, and encourage engagement in the game.
Sessions: Saturday, May 30: 12pm (noon)

All panels listed here will be taking place via Discord text and/or voice chat, as determined by the panel organizer.

Remember, check back Thursday afternoon for the list of seminars streaming on Paizo’s Twitch channel.

Less than 2 weeks to wait!

Alex Speidel
Organized Play Associate

Tonya Woldridge
Organized Play Manager

It seems like it’s been forever since I made one of these preview posts, and I guess it has (and not just because every day seems like a month since everyone started working from home). There’s been a long wait for the next set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic miniatures from our partners at WizKids, but the wait is soon over. Pathfinder Battles: City of Lost Omensis slated for late June, and every indication I’ve heard so far points to it releasing on time. So without further ado, let’s get into it, shall we?

Docks: Illustration by Kent Hamilton

In July, we’ll be launching our third Pathfinder Adventure Path for Pathfinder second edition, the fantasy cops-and-robbers Agents of Edgewatch, in which the players all take on the roles of members of Absalom’s city watch coming together to address a city-wide threat. It is fitting, then, that we include some members of said watch in this set. We put as many of these figures in the set’s variable slots as we could, allowing the same sculpts to be altered slightly to increase the total number of players who might find just the right one to represent their character. We had our concept artists design a series of uniforms for the watch so that we could maintain visual consistency between the forthcoming books set in Absalom and these minis, so be sure to let us know what you think of the new watch uniforms! Here we have two versions of the Absalom Watch Cadet, two Medium figures at the common and uncommon rarity, respectively.

We don’t yet know when or how we’ll be distributing it, but we’ve also got a promo repaint of the human version of this figure coming later, with a darker skin tone (perhaps of Keleshite ancestry).

Slightly higher in rank, the Absalom Watch Officer comes in two varieties at the uncommon rarity, both Medium (human) figures.

Rounding out this series of city watch members, we have the Absalom Watch Captain, a Medium rare figure.

While city watch members can really bring any campaign world to life, we didn’t just infuse Pathfinder Battles: City of Lost Omens with one flavor of Absalom. After all, it’s the world’s largest city. We pulled out all the stops to ensure the setting’s cosmopolitan nature was reflected in this set.

Take Chief Zusgut, for example. This Small rare figure represents the most influential goblin in Absalom, whose dominion over the Puddles is (mostly) absolute.

Absalom’s naval supremacy in the Inner Sea is undisputed, in large part due to two forces working to protect the city’s harbor and nearby waters. The first are the hippocampus-riding Wave Riders, while the second are the amphibious humanoids known as the Low Azlanti. Depicted here are the Large uncommon and Medium common figures for each of these two iconic Absalom natives.

Finally, in keeping with our tradition of including relevant deities from the Pathfinder pantheon in Pathfinder Battles sets, we knew we couldn’t do a set based on Absalom without including the remaining ascended gods. Thus, we have Aroden, founder of Absalom and currently very dead, and Norgorber. Check back over the next few weeks to see a few figures themed to the faiths of both of these gods! Both rare Medium figures, Aroden and Norgorber are sure to add a touch of the divine to any campaign.

And, if you’re looking to let your player characters potentially become gods, you’ll definitely want to pick up our first piece of set dressing: the Starstone! Based on the illustration from the cover of Lost Omens Gods & Magic, this Medium bonus figure promises apotheosis to all who touch it and survive the ensuing ordeal.

We’ll be back next week with a look at some of the figures based upon Absalom’s surroundings, including natives of the Isle of Kortos and subterranean dwellers to support both the Extinction Cure Adventure Path and the forthcoming standalone adventure, The Dead God’s Hand. Until then, stay safe and roll 20s!

Adventures Ahead!

Mark Moreland
Director of Brand Strategy

Another week is here and PaizoConOnline is soon to arrive! You will be noticing several posts and updates about what’s happening during the online convention fairly soon. But for now, what’s happening this week?

Sadly, Starfinder X.T.R.E.M. is taking this week off again to better prepare the next section of the adventure. We’ve been fairly busy internally, so we apologize for the delay!

Be aware that some of the shows on the schedule may be canceled at any moment. We prioritize our employees and content creator’s safety over their productions as we all deal with the current pandemic, we apologize in advance if plans abruptly change from what’s scheduled here.

So here is what’s happening this week at OfficialPaizo on Twitch!

Pathfinder 2E Extinction Curse with Squiiddish, May 11, 1:00 p.m. Pacific

The Circus of Wayward Wonders has just arrived in the remote town of Abberton, and the 2 Perception crew are the stars of the show! After an unfortunate event the crew finds themselves in charge of keeping the show alive. But, how will they fare?

Squiddish with the 2 Perception crew streams the Pathfinder Second Edition Adventure Path Extinction Curse every Monday at 1:00 P.M. on Squiiddish’s Twitch channel here. We will be hosting this show on the OfficialPaizo Twitch channel.

Crits & Giggles by Dragons & Things May 11, 5:00 p.m. Pacific

Join the Dragons & Things crew as they adventure through the Pathfinder First Edition Reign of Winter Adventure Path! Feature Jamie Mills as the Game Master controlling the fates of Candice Berge, Ben Burch, Katie Wilson, Jim Jam, and Meghan Caves. Will these amazing actors survive this winter? Tune into their twitch channel at 5 p.m. Pacific to join in the adventure!

Pathfinder: Kingmaker with Paizo, May 12, 1:00-4:00 p.m. Pacific

Did you know that our Social Media Producer Payton Smith never played Kingmaker? I know right!? We brought in Pathfinder’s Creative Director James Jacobs to hop in and be Payton’s Guide to Golarion. So if you’ve been curious about the history of Pathfinder, it’s lore, or overall want to get to know us. Join us on Paizo’s Official Twitch Channel and for all that is good in this world, help keep Payton alive as he journeys through the River Kingdoms corner of Golarion.

Pungeon Crawl, May 13, 5:00-9:00 p.m. Pacific

Note: Pungeon Crawl will now be hosted on the Paizo Twitch channel instead of being streamed directly. You can find BBWolfe’s twitch channel to support the show here.

"The results of the breakfast sweepstakes are in and The Biggest Darn Heroes of the Pact Worlds are about to get a new set of legally-distinct sidekicks as the Pungeon Crawl returns! Join the Deep Space Defenders as we find out if a handful of breakfast cereal contest-selected weirdos can keep up with your favorite syndicated space saviors! Sent on a mission with REAL HEROES, they’ll be put to the test as things go wrong, while on camera the entire time! As their situation develops the heroes’ morale may falter, but with the help of you, the faithful viewers, your favorite heroes can grip success from the jaws of failure! Wednesday nights 8e/7c only on Paizo!"
- BBWolfe

Streamed on OfficialPaizo on Twitch.

Side Quest Side Sesh by GlassCannonPodcast May 14, 5:00 p.m. Pacific

Our heroes travel through the inter webway of the world wide web to gather together and battle in a game of rolling dice to achieve critical success in these various side quest side sessions playing through various Pathfinder stories.

Catch the GlassCannonPodcast crew live on their twitch channel, or hosted on Paizo’s Official Twitch Channel.

The Band of Bravos!, May 15, 2:00 - 5:00 p.m. Pacific

A troupe of performing adventurers find themselves hired to put on the show of a lifetime, but when the curtain rises, they quickly learn that they are the stars of a far more dangerous quest.

Join Paizo employees as they brave the absolute horrors that Director of Game Design, Jason Bulmahn has prepared for them.

Your adventuring party comprises…

• Social Media Producer Payton Smith as Lorn Barnes, Human Wizard
• Web Content Manager Maryssa Lagervall as Ilana Thistlefoot, Halfling Druid
• Developer Jason Keeley as Roark Thunderbird, Tengu Swashbuckler
• Pathfinder Creative Director James Jacobs as Shensen, Half-Elf Bard

Heroic Endeavors, May 15 , 6:00 p.m. Pacific

Join Dragons & Things for another Pathfinder Second Edition adventure! Swords will clash, magic will be cast, and critical ones will bring these heroes to their knees. Journey with these heroic adventurers in their custom world of Val’Duren every Friday!

Catch them live on their twitch channel, or hosted on Paizo’s Official Twitch Channel.

Arcane Mark, May 16, 10:00 a.m. Pacific Arcane Mark is a stream with Design Manager Mark Seifter and Organized Play Lead Developer Linda Zayas-Palmer covering all sorts of RPG and Pathfinder-related topics, from GM Tools to Design Diaries to Workshops. Thursday episodes are always interviews, usually covering Paizo staff you might not have seen as often in other interviews. Catch them live on Paizo’s Official Twitch Channel, or directly on their channel here. (We will be prioritizing Glass Cannon for the broadcast times on Thursday. But once Glass Cannon ends the channel should switch back to Arcane Mark)

Age of Ashes with Squiddish, May 16, 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Pacific

“Fires burn atop the ruined citadel on Hellknight Hill, sending plumes of red smoke into the air that could be a call for help. Now a gang of adventurers rise together to investigate the current conflict. How will they handle the Hellknights? Will they all burn in horrendous fire? Tune into this new Pathfinder Second Edition live play show!

Squiddish with the 2 Perception crew streams on the OfficialPaizo on Twitch channel every week at 2 p.m. Pacific.

Things in Space playing the Dawn of Flame AP, May 16 , 6:00 p.m. Pacific

The Dragons & Things crew have blasted off into the wide and expansive universe of Starfinder! Strap yourselves in for an exciting and thrilling adventure through the Dawn of Flame adventure path!

Catch them live on their twitch channel, or hosted on Paizo’s Official Twitch Channel.

Court of Corvids with QueueTimes, May 17, 4:30 p.m.

Court of Corvids is an actual play show that takes place in a homebrew setting using the Pathfinder Second Edition ruleset. It is currently on hiatus having finished its second story arc but will return with a brand new one on Sunday, February 23rd at 4:30 p.m. Pacific.

In this setting, facts and fiction blur together. In fact, the story began with a lie, one that grew so much it became the central pillar for an entire community…that is until the party stumbled upon the truth and brought it all down. Since then, they’ve been on the road, trying to find their place in a vast world they didn’t even know existed for most of their lives.

The party, taken through this world by GM and occult enthusiast Jacob Kile, consists of:

• Croog Claudel, played by Croog: A human monk searching for his long-lost siblings, hoping to make amends when he finds them.
• Moss the Magnificent, played by Molly McIsaac: An Elven Sorcerer trying to recapture the fame she had back home.
• Robyn Way, played by Jonas Newhouse: A Gnome druid desperate to hide from her former life and family. She’s married to Remi.
• Remi Ashwillow, played by William White: The Goblin fighter and Robyn’s partner is just trying to make friends and live life after being stuck in a cult for many years.

Catch Court of Corvids being hosted live on Paizo’s Official Twitch Channel, or directly on their channel here.

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Do you have a Pathfinder or Starfinder Live Play? Tell us in the blog comments below! We’re excited to see what stories you come up with.

We've added a new Forum for Streaming & Actual Play discussions. If you have any questions you’d like to submit for our Q&A segments at the end of our Starfinder Wednesdays or Pathfinder Fridays you can do so in our Forums.

Pathfinder Fridays Fan Club

Starfinder Wednesdays Fan Club

If you have a Pathfinder or Starfinder stream, post it under Third Party Broadcasts.

Catch us live at our Official Twitch Channel. Catch the Video On Demand (VOD) on Twitch immediately after it is done or a week later on our YouTube channel.

Hello, all! It’s your friendly neighborhood Pathfinder Adventure Card Game venture-captain again! Today, I want to tell you about an exciting new development for PACG online play: we can now play in two different “virtual tabletop” formats: Tabletop Simulator (a paid app for playing a variety of card and board games online) and a free-to-use, custom-built interface at acg.orgplayonline.com!

Paizo does not receive any revenue from these options, so we’re asking that at least one person at the virtual table own physical copies of the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game Core Set and the Curse of the Crimson Throne Adventure Path.

Tabletop Simulator

First, let’s discuss Tabletop Simulator. I’d like to start by noting that Paizo has not made any agreements with Berserk Games, the creators of Tabletop Simulator. What they HAVE done is given the online VO corps permission to direct players to Tabletop Simulator as a viable social distancing-approved alternative to playing the card game in person. In order to play, you’ll need to download Tabletop Simulator from the Steam games library—a license for Tabletop Simulator goes for about $20 USD—then visit the Workshop page.

There have been other implementations of the PACG posted on the Workshop in the past, such as the highly scripted version created by Steam user waterfoul, and I would recommend you check out several to determine which you prefer. However, the one I’m going to point you to today is one that I have built out over the past few months, appropriately titled Pathfinder Adventure Card Society (Sanctioned Implementation).

The table is neat and tidy, for the moment…

This implementation has very little scripted functionality built in. The functions it has are meant to make it easier to deal with things like building decks and cleaning up the game at the end of a scenario. It includes all the cards from the Core Set and Curse of the Crimson Throne, the standalone adventure A Night at Bloodthorne Manor, and the Adventurer’s Packs that were described on a blog a few months ago with which to build out your character’s deck.

So many choices! How can I choose just three packs?

I have created a Google doc with lots of instructions on how to get started, so I won’t get into all that here. Instead, I’ll show a few screenshots of what you’ll see in-game, and discuss a few useful features—as well as a few important limitations—of playing in this format.

Useful Features:

• Location setup is quick. Once you place your locations on the board, just click the Build Locations button, and the game will pull random cards from the vault (the piles on the left of the game board) in the right numbers based on the location size you specify.
• Rolling dice is intuitive. No need to write up macros or learn some complicated dice-rolling language. There are infinite bags of each type of standard dice along the top of the table. Grab a set for yourself. When you’re ready to roll them, I recommend highlighting all the dice before you toss them (by clicking and dragging a box around them). Pick them all up and toss them (lightly) across the table, and let the game’s physics engine do the work for you! If you highlighted the dice, after the roll, you can just mouse over any of the dice and the game will tell you the total! You can also just highlight dice and hit the ‘r’ button, but I’ll admit it’s not quite as satisfying as tossing the dice a bit.
• It’s easy to upgrade and save your character. When you finish a scenario and are ready to use one of your hero points for a feat on your character card, all you have to do is open the Decals menu (it’s a button along the left side of the screen that looks like a square stamper with a handle), choose the checkmark stamp, and drop it right onto your character card. If you make a mistake, just click the stamp you placed again with the Decal tool, and it will disappear and you can try again.
• Cleanup at the end of the scenario is quick. Once players have chosen any deck upgrades they want, just drop any unused cards onto the game board and click Clean Up Board. The game will sort all the cards back into the correct decks in the vault.

The three colored buttons (Build Hourglass, Build Locations, and Clean Up Board) make life so much easier.

Challenges:

• Only the newest cards are available. At the moment, we haven’t imported any of the older Adventure Path boxes (such as Rise of the Runelords or Skull and Shackles), so you’re limited to scenarios that use the Core Set and Curse of the Crimson Throne cards. However, there are a lot of scenarios for just those sets, including the storybooks that come with those boxes, Pathfinder Adventure Card Society season 6, the standalone adventure A Night at Bloodthorne Manor, and the short goblin-themed adventure We Be Heroes? So don’t worry about running out of options too quickly!
• Finding a game can be difficult. There are a few different ways for players to join a game that you’re hosting, but sometimes they’re not incredibly intuitive. When you create a multiplayer table, make sure to give it a descriptive name AND a password. Players can use the Join button to find your game and join it. You can also invite players to your game’s lobby through the Steam Friends interface, but they will still need to know the password for your game.
• You can’t easily import an existing character. At the moment, there’s no easy way to pull in an existing character deck, so if you’re playing with a new box runner, be sure to have your full deck list ready before the game starts so that you can quickly build your deck from the cards in the supply (along the left side of the table). You’ll also need to check off any feats that your character already possesses.
• It’s easy to mess things up. Because the scripting that I’ve built is so light, it also means there is very little error checking. For example, if you click Build Locations twice, the game doesn’t know that you already built the locations, so you get double the number of cards you’re supposed to have in each location. Please be cautious when using features like these.

Please try out the Tabletop Simulator implementation if it interests you. You can email suggestions, bug reports, or other feedback to me at cartmanbeck@orgplayonline.com.

acg.orgplayonline.com

Next up is a free interface that was originally built to play using play-by-post on the forums; it has recently been upgraded to be more useful for real-time gaming. If you’re not yet familiar with acg.orgplayonline.com, go check it out, make yourself an account, and create a character profile.

This interface is less of a virtual tabletop in that it doesn’t use any visual representations of cards. Instead, sections of the webpage provide all the needed information for a scenario, and then information on each location that’s been added to the table. In order for a player to explore the next card in a location for their character, they would click on the little “binoculars” button on that location to bring up a modal box showing the text of the top card. There are options to acquire, banish, or move cards. The best thing about this interface is that it costs players and box runners nothing to use (though we still expect at least one person at the table to own the Core Set and Curse of the Crimson Throne)!

This is where the magic happens.

Useful Features:

• Automatic location building. Like the Tabletop Simulator implementation, once you’ve set up the game and added the needed locations, it’s a single click to build them all out: just go to Game Setup → Build Locations, and the site will find the correct cards from our database and add them to the locations.
• Access to any card. Unlike Tabletop Simulator, the database that this site was built around includes essentially every card ever created for PACG. This means you can run games from any Adventure Path box and any PACS season!
• Realtime and asynchronous play options. In Tabletop Simulator, the box runner is hosting the game’s table in real time, so if the host isn’t present, the game isn’t either. Here, everything happening is held in a dedicated database, so players can jump in and take a turn whenever it’s convenient for them. If your group has trouble finding a single multi-hour stretch to all be online, you can run your game over multiple days, using a text-based messaging system like Discord or Slack to let players know when it’s their turn.

This is from a play-by-post game I’ve been running for about a month. Great players!

Challenges:

• Clunky interface. As the person who wrote most of the code for this site, I am the first to admit that I am not a professional software engineer. (We do now have one working on the site, and he has made incredible improvements to it in just a few months!) The site isn’t well-suited to a phone-size screen, and hitting the wrong button can cause major problems. For these reasons, I recommend that you leave any functions other than examining and exploring cards on your own turn to the box runner. Bug reports can be submitted to acgbugs@orgplayonline.com.
• No character deck tracking. Though we hope to add it eventually, at the moment players must keep track of their character decks through some other method. (Using your own physical cards are an option, of course; you can also try a community-built Google Sheets character tracker built by several community members—here’s one of the most recent versions; many players have made their own modifications/versions of it. There are detailed instructions on how to use sheets like this on the Flaxseed On Deck Play-by-Post Lodge page.)

That’s a lot of information for one blog. PaizoCon Online is going to test these systems in ways that they’ve never been tested before, so there will be some growing pains. I hope you can see, however, the hard work and love that the VO corps have put into making this game as enjoyable an experience online as it is in real life, and I look forward to seeing all of you signed up for games at PaizoCon Online, May 26–31!

Tyler “Cartmanbeck” Beck
Online ACG Venture-Captain

I hope everyone’s staying safe as it starts to be spring here in Seattle. In case you missed it, GM registrations have recently opened for PaizoCon Online, and we’ve already seen a ton of people signing up to run Organized Play adventures online. If you’re curious about trying out a Pathfinder Society (second edition) scenario at PaizoCon but aren’t sure what to expect, we’ve put together a sample encounter to give you a taste of a typical encounter found in organized play (and a preview of a few creatures from the upcoming Bestiary 2!). Everything you need to play is linked below!

James Case
Organized Play Developer

The Fox’s Flames

Moderate Encounter, Level 3

“Lately, a series of mysterious fires have plagued towns across the Varisian coast. Valais Durant, leader of the Radiant Oath faction of the Pathfinder Society, suspects the fires to be deliberately set, and she dispatched a team of Pathfinders to investigate the situation and offer aid. After some investigation in town, the PCs discovered signs of a mysterious accelerant and tracked it to a clearing in the woods, where they hope to confront those responsible.”

This encounter would appear in an adventure for 3rd-level Pathfinder characters. If you don’t have a 3rd-level character, remember you can always use an iconic pregenerated character in Society play! You can download the pregen file here.

Map: This map is constructed using flip-tiles from Pathfinder Flip-Tiles: Forest Starter Set. To create the map, lay out each flip tile so that the label in the lower-left corner matches the location on the map below—for example, rotate the piece marked 42A clockwise so that the label is in the upper left.

Creatures:
Ifrit Pyrochemists (2)	Creature 1
Fire Mephits (2)	Creature 1

Some ifrit pyrochemists and their mephit familiars have been using this clearing as a base of operations as they set fires from town to town. When the PCs enter, one pyrochemist is standing at the spot marked with a P, observing a magical array that imprisons an ember fox—a usually benevolent fire spirit—that the pyrochemists have been draining of elemental essence to empower their reagents. The pyrochemist attacks as soon as he notices the PCs. The sounds of combat alert the other enemies in the storehouse, who emerge at the beginning of the next turn. The pyrochemists attempt to use their alchemist’s fire and smokesticks to bombard the PCs from a distance and drink their elixirs of life if they are too injured, while the mephits engage in melee, unaffected by the smoke and flame. The mephits fight until destroyed, but the pyrochemists attempt to surrender if reduced to 5 HP or less.

Scaling the Encounter
This encounter is written for four 3rd-level PCs, but if you have more PCs, you can adjust the encounter with Challenge Points. Challenge Points are used by the Pathfinder Society to scale encounters for parties with up to six members or whose members are of different levels, allowing a greater variety of tables. For this encounter, use the following adjustments:

10–11 Challenge Points (5 PCs): Add one pyrochemist to the encounter.
12–13 Challenge Points (6 PCs): Add one pyrochemist and one fire mephit to the encounter.

The Trapped Elemental: As the ember fox lashes out against the walls of its prison, flames siphon from its body into various glowing vials and reagents. The array can be Disabled with two successful checks, using Thievery to scratch out the runes on the stones (DC 19) or using Arcana (DC 19), Nature, Occultism, or Religion (all DC 21) to disrupt the magic; as usual, this takes two actions, has the manipulate trait, and a critical success counts as two successes. Once the array has been Disabled, the grateful ember fox aids the party in combat against the arsonists—though it is weakened by its imprisonment and cannot fight directly, it stays near PCs and protects them with its Cloak in Embers reaction when they are targeted by fire attacks.

Treasure: The storehouse contains four flasks of lesser alchemist’s fire. This represents 1 Treasure Bundle. Treasure Bundles are used by the Pathfinder Society to easily track how much treasure the party has accumulated and ensure that all adventurers walk away with the same amount of gold—most scenarios have 10 Treasure Bundles to find!

Stat Blocks:
Ifrit Pyrochemists (2)	Creature 1

Art by Emile Denis

Bestiary 2 page 200
LE, Medium, Human, Humanoid, Ifrit
Perception +3
Languages Common, Ignan
Skills Acrobatics +6, Crafting +6, Intimidation +4, Nature +3, Survival +3, Thievery +6
Str +0, Dex +3, Con +2, Int +3, Wis +0, Cha +1
Items alchemist’s tools, dagger, flint and steel, formula book, studded leather
' Infused Items An ifrit pyrochemist carries the following infused items, which last for 24 hours or until the next time the pyrochemist makes their daily preparations: lesser alchemist’s fire (5), lesser elixir of life (2), lesser smokestick.
AC 18; Fort +5, Ref +6, Will +3
HP 18; Resistances fire 1
Speed 25 feet
Melee [one-action] dagger +8 (agile, finesse, thrown 10 feet, versatile S), Damage 1d4 piercing
Ranged [one-action] lesser alchemist’s fire +8 (range increment 30 feet), Damage 1d8 fire plus 1 persistent fire damage and 1 fire splash damage
Primal Innate Spells DC 16, attack +8; Cantrips (1st) produce flame
Quick Bomber [one-action] The ifrit pyrochemist draws an alchemical bomb with an Interact action and throws it as a ranged Strike.

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Fire Mephit

Creature 1

Art by Josef Kucera

Bestiary page 151
N, Small, Elemental, Fire
Perception +3; darkvision, smoke vision
Languages Ignan
Skills Acrobatics +7, Deception +7
Str +0, Dex +4, Con +0, Int –2, Wis +0, Cha +2
Smoke Vision The fire mephit ignores the concealed condition from smoke.
AC 17; Fort +3, Ref +9, Will +7
HP 16, fast healing 2 (while touching fire); Immunities bleed, fire, paralyzed, poison, sleep;
Weaknesses cold 3
Speed 20 feet, fly 25 feet
Melee [one-action] jaws +9 (finesse), Damage 1d6 piercing and 1d4 fire
Arcane Innate Spells DC 15; Cantrips (1st) daze, light
Breath Weapon [two-actions] (arcane, fire) The fire mephit breathes flames in a 15-foot cone that deals 2d4 fire and 1d4 persistent fire damage to each creature within the area (DC 17 basic Reflex save). The fire mephit can’t use Breath Weapon again for 1d4 rounds.

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Ember Fox

Creature 2

Art by Katerina Landon

Bestiary 2 page 110
NG, Small, Elemental, Fire
Perception +8; darkvision
Languages Ignan (can’t speak any language)
Skills Acrobatics +8, Athletics +5, Stealth +8
Str +1, Dex +4, Con +2, Int –2, Wis +2, Cha +1
AC 18; Fort +6, Ref +10, Will +8
HP 35; Immunities bleed, fire, paralyzed, poison, sleep; Weaknesses cold 5
Cloak in Embers [reaction] Trigger An adjacent ally is targeted by an effect that deals fire damage; Effect The ember fox drapes itself across its ally, granting the ally fire resistance 10 against the incoming attack.
Speed 30 feet
Melee [one-action] jaws +10 (agile, finesse), Damage 1d4+3 piercing plus 1d4 persistent fire

It is time to look at comics in our mini-series looking at our timeless Pathfinder fiction While the free web fiction, short fiction, and novels all have similar authors, the creatives involved in the comics have gone in other directions, including more focus on the Pathfinder Iconics!

The world of Pathfinder comes alive in comic books produced in cooperation with Dynamite Entertainment! Each issue contains 20+ pages of story, plus bonus material designed for use with the first edition of Pathfinder! Explore the backgrounds and personalities of iconic characters like Valeros and Seoni, visit the far-flung lands of the Lost Omens campaign setting, and throw dice in encounters inspired by the comic stories themselves with this exciting ongoing monthly series!

City of Secrets

The Pathfinder heroes head to the city of Magnimar, and danger isn't far behind. As the wizard Ezren seeks an audience with the Pathfinder Society, his adventuring allies explore the city's ancient magic, well-hidden secrets, and deep political divides. The dangers and opportunities of the big city could bring the adventurers closer together—or tear them apart!

Collections

Maybe you want to start here? Just spend $20–$30 bucks and get the whole series, one at a time!

Dark Waters Rising

The warrior Valeros can rely on his sword arm and his friends—mysterious sorceress Seoni, quick-witted elven rogue Merisiel, powerful wizard Ezren, well-traveled dwarven ranger Harsk, and courageous cleric Kyra—but nothing can prepare him for the dangers that lurk ahead. The scattered goblin tribes of Varisia are unifying in ways no one has ever seen before. At the heart of this strange evolution is an ancient force of evil looking to establish itself anew in the world of Golarion!

Hollow Mountain

An exciting new Pathfinder adventure begins! When an expedition into an ancient runelord stronghold meets with disaster, the Pathfinder heroes find themselves working together with some of the setting's most notorious villains in order to survive and locate a priceless magical item. But even with their own lives on the line, can an agent of the sinister Aspis Consortium ever really be trusted? Brave the fearsome monsters and deadly traps of Hollow Mountain in the first sword-swinging issue from Pathfinder co-creator James L. Sutter (Pathfinder Origins, Death's Heretic), with art from rising star Tom Garcia (Mercy Thompson). Contains pull-out poster map and official Pathfinder RPG bonus encounter!

Of Tooth and Claw

When Valeros and his companions are tasked with tracking down a mysterious beast scaring the locals of Sandpoint, they find far more than they bargained for! A seemingly simple monster hunt becomes a twisted tale of danger and betrayal as the Cult of Lamashtu exacts its revenge on our iconic heroes.

Origins

An exciting new Pathfinder adventure begins! To prove themselves to the Pathfinder Society, Valeros the fighter and his companions must recount tales of their early exploits in a world beset by magic and evil. In this issue, Valeros crosses swords with the brazen barbarian Amiri when both serve as hired guards escorting a doomed caravan through the treacherous Bloodsworn Vale. Sword and sorcery thrills from Pathfinder publisher Erik Mona (Pathfinder: Goblins!) and art from rising star Tom Garcia (Mercy Thompson)!

Goblins!

The goblins from Paizo's Pathfinder Roleplaying Game are pint-sized psychopaths, wreaking havoc across the land. Infamous for their unpredictable attacks, catchy raiding songs, hatred of dogs, and fear of horses, goblins blend mischief and murderousness like no other monsters. Collecting the entire Goblins comic book series, this fantastic collection includes an exclusive, eight-page bonus short story, as well as an extensive gallery of all cover illustrations and more than 20-pages of official Pathfinder Chronicles with world and character details (roleplaying game content, including gaming adventures and a fold-out map, perfect for miniatures)!

Runescars

An exciting new Pathfinder adventure begins! The Pathfinder heroes receive a desperate plea to unmask a killer stalking the chaos-gripped city of Korvosa. A new queen has ascended the city's Crimson Throne, and now deadly armored Hellknights and Gray Maidens clash in the streets. With the help of a cagey adventuring detective, the heroes race down the perilous trail of a brutal murderer-only to realize that the next target might be one of their own! Dare the magic and monsters of gothic Korvosa in the first sword-swinging issue from Pathfinder co-creator F. Wesley Schneider (Pathfinder Hollow Mountain, Bloodbound), with art from Ediano Silva (Grimm Fairy Tales, Hellchild: The Unholy). Contains pull-out poster map and official Pathfinder RPG bonus encounter!

Specials

Here you will find Worldscape Humble Bundle One-Shots and other special issues, still in stock!

Spiral of Bones

As the Pathfinders plunge into the history and mysteries below Kaer Maga—the no-holds-barred "City of Strangers"—Valeros plunges far deeper into the great beyond, defending his immortal soul in the courts of the dead! From Pathfinder author Crystal Frasier comes this scintillating tale of life, death, and what lingers when we're gone.

Bonus: Starfinder backup story! Thousands of years in Pathfinder's future, the Starfinder Society spreads adventure across the solar system! By Paizo Chief Creative Officer Erik Mona

Worldscape

The Pathfinders Valeros, Seoni, Kyra, and Merisiel are drawn into the interdimensional Worldscape, where the greatest warriors throughout the history of Barsoom, Golarion, and Earth clash in an ancient battle of life and death! Only the most dangerous among the combatants - a motley assortment which includes such legendary heroes as Red Sonja, John Carter and Tars Tarkas of Mars, the jungle adventurers Tarzan and Thun'da—have any hope of surviving the deadly gladiatorial pits and joining with the Pathfinder heroes in armed revolt against their oppressors!

Many of these issues are on sale. Some titles might not be available in print, but if digital comics are your thing, or you second-best thing, Diamond has them available on Comixology!

Next week we explore audio adventures!

Adventures Ahead!

Aaron Shanks,
Marketing and Media Manager

Inside volume two of Starfinder’s The Threefold Conspiracy Adventure Path, Flight of the Sleepers, by Owen K.C. Stephens.

The timing of this blog series was delayed a bit, but we last looked into volume one in Don’t Trust Your Senses. Now let’s catch up and explore volume two!

This cover by artist Tomasz Chistowski.

This Starfinder Adventure Path volume continues The Threefold Conspiracy Adventure Path and includes:

• “Flight of the Sleepers,” a Starfinder adventure for 3rd-level characters, by Owen K.C. Stephens.
• An examination of the enigmatic aliens known as grays, by Vanessa Hoskins.
• A study of fringe scientific theories, by Leo Glass.
• An archive of alien creatures, including a beast that attacks with magnetic pulses and a mutated troll, by Vanessa Hoskins, Jenny Jarzabski, and Owen K.C. Stephens.
• Statistics and deck plans for a Steward frigate, plus a glimpse of a lawless mining planet, by Owen K.C. Stephens.

Trapped in a bizarre research facility that’s under attack, the heroes must battle against weird technology and experiments run amok. Even after they are aided by elite Steward agents in their escape, the heroes are left with more questions in need of answers!

Even if you are not playing this AP, you can use all this content in your homebrew Starfinder campaign

SPOILERS

Starship: Steward Banshee FA Frigate by Owen K.C. Stephens.

The Banshee FA (fast attack) frigate is a well-known Steward vessel produced under contract with ATech, manufacturers of the Immortal. Although on the small side, this starship is designed to be fast, stealthy, and hard hitting. The standard crew comprises a half-dozen well-trained Stewards, but Banshees have seen field duty with as few as two people—an arrangement made easier by the fact that the ship’s weapons are concentrated in a turret and one forward mount. The typical Banshee can also carry a small contingent of marines for boarding actions and airborne assaults.

The Enigmatic Grays by Vanessa Hoskins. Art by Nathan James

“You find scars and bruises on your body but don’t recall an injury, enter a room and forget why you’re there, surf holovids for what feels like only five minutes but an hour has passed, or are quite certain you completed a task only to find it unfinished. These are symptoms of an encounter with the grays. They involve themselves in every aspect of your life, but you’ve never heard of them. They watch you constantly, but you’ve never seen them. They’re the nightmare of an intruder that you can’t recall. They prod and probe, but you forget. Remember! Make yourself REMEMBER!
—From the personal journal of Steward Reyard Maldun

The following are excerpts from the personal journal of Steward Reyard Maldun, discovered in a locked box behind a false panel in an apartment leased to “K. Carlock” almost 2 years after Reyard’s disappearance on 2 Rova, 317 ag.

WHO ARE THE GRAYS?
That’s the first question most people ask: Who are they? Let’s start with what we know. Grays are named for their gray‐skinned bodies because no one knows what else to call them. They have a basic humanoid shape with a symmetrical body, a single pair of arms, and a single pair of legs. Their hands and feet are strikingly similar to those of humans, though generally smaller and more delicate, with elongated fingers. Their stature is like that of a ysoki or a human child, but each has a bulbous head on a small, wiry frame. A gray’s face is a stoic mask with two relatively large, black, emotionless eyes and an almost nonexistent nose with two nostrils no larger than a data port. Their mouths are tiny and slit‐like, which makes one wonder what they eat.

Grays have no trouble maintaining balance with precise grace, despite their over‐large heads. Reports say they sometimes stand in perfect stillness for several moments before acting all at once, each movement perfect as if choreographed and well rehearsed. The movement of a gray is so deliberate and agile, it would rival that of a finely tuned robot, yet their flesh is certainly organic.”

Read the full 8-page article for more on their plots, plans, and equipment!

Fringe Science by Leo Glass. Art by Alyssa McCartney

“Look, no one cares what happened to the researchers who previously owned this engine. Y’know why? Because this thing stops freakin’ time, that’s why! Picture this. You’re cruisin’ through the Diaspora in your Vagabond, just mindin’ your own business, when your sensors ping a gunship filled with pirates screamin’ in at full burn, gyrolasers hot. But you got this, because you made a savvy purchase from ol’ Pogo before you left this station. Your engineer turns one lousy knob, and boom! That enemy ship locks in place like it’s caught in a tractor beam! Meanwhile, your crew’s buzzin’ around the deck as if you spiked their morning coffee with liquid thasteron! Who’s got the drop on who now, scum suckers? Arm the plasma torpedoes—it’s time to make pirate paste!”
—Pogo Quick, ysoki tech broker

While modern scientific and engineering knowledge might appear to cover nearly all aspects of life, hundreds of intellectual questions remain unanswered. Though Triune granted access to the blueprints of Drift technology, no one has yet ascertained why using this technology rends a portion of a random plane into the Drift. The union of magic and technology has solved many modern problems, but travelers continue to experience dilemmas related to perfecting interspecies communication, understanding astronomical phenomena, overcoming biological diseases that may accompany first contact with alien creatures, and myriad other obstacles.

When mainstream science is unable to explain the origins of mysterious phenomena, the curious open their minds to more radical explanations, hoping to find even a trace of plausible explanation in an expanse of doubt. These practitioners often participate in what some call “fringe science,” a generic term for fields of study that diverge from the theories generally considered to be rudimentary by experts within a specific discipline. To traditional scientists, fringe science is a fool’s errand, as it usually relies on premises that may have been previously refuted and can often be performed by someone with no academic background. While this is true in some cases, some fringe scientists use methods that are just as statistically significant and reproducible as their more traditional counterparts. Fringe scientists often remind others that many disciplines, such as interplanetary communication or cybernetic and biological augmentation, were once considered little more than fantasies before true genius unlocked the power behind their mysteries.

The following disciplines represent fringe science practiced within the Pact Worlds and systems beyond, as well as some equipment associated with these fields.”

For more mad genius science, including cloning, multiverse theory, and neurolinguistic programming, read the mind-blowing 8-page article!

Alien Archives by Vanessa Hoskins, Jenny Jarzabski, and Owen K.C. Stephens. Art by Sebastian Rodreguiz

Local superstitions on the frozen world of Mobulen tell of a three-hooved “devil” that appears in the night and moves inexorably in a single direction, charging over rocky terrain and walking straight up the sides of buildings. Bad luck and worse fall upon those who stand in the creature’s way, especially those who wear heavy metal armor. Records show that multiple Mobulen devil sightings have occurred simultaneously across the planet, with each creature moving toward magnetic north. Unfortunately scholars have yet to determine the true nature of these migrations.
—Excerpt from Galactic Tales and Legends by Dr. Borogrand Traceter

A small aberration called a gray bounder, a large magical beast called a kunnid, a large plant called a linyf, a large quantum troll, and more lie in wait within the pages of Flight of the Sleepers!

Codex of Worlds: Stopgap by Owen K.C. Stephens. Art by Kent Hamilton

Port of last Resort

Stopgap is a dwarf planet in orbit around Foergrim, a yellow star in Near Space. The Foergrim system has no full planets, only several clouds of planetoids and asteroid belts that form rings and vague orbital clouds around the star. Stopgap is the largest object in the system—it’s just barely big enough to round itself out through gravitational forces. It has no atmosphere or native life of its own, but it does contain the manufactured corridors and chambers of a small base.

That’s only the first paragraph, but there is more than a half-page of detail, along with this intriguing art.

Don’t forget that The Threefold Conspiracy Adventure Path Dice Set by Q Workshop are available too!

Paizo releases Starfinder Adventure Paths in monthly, multi-volume arcs. You can acquire them at your favorite local game store. With your ongoing Starfinder Adventure Path subscription, we'll send each new volume to your door and charge your payment method automatically as we ship each product. You only need to sign up once, and never need to worry about renewal notices or missed products.

Next, we will unveil volume three, Deceivers’ Moon, with an article describing the insidious reptoids, a catalog of starships used by the Unseen, and a selection of new monsters, including cryptids from the Starfinder setting!

Adventures Ahead!

Aaron Shanks,
Marketing and Media Manager

A fantastic journey awaits you in the Reign of Winter and Extinction Curse Adventure Paths!

Paizo and Fantastic Worlds Productions are pleased to announce that Fantastic Worlds has become an officially licensed partner. They will premiere a new actual-play tabletop roleplaying game podcast adventure, The Greatest Show on Earth! set in the circus-themed Extinction Curse Adventure Path for Pathfinder Second Edition. They will also continue their immersive podcast in which they struggle against the wintry witch Baba Yaga, set in the Pathfinder Reign of Winter Adventure Path, using the first edition Pathfinder rules.

Reign of Winter Introduction Episode 00

The Greatest Show on Earth Introduction Episode 00

The Crew:
Established in August 2018, the Fantastic Worlds crew includes Game Dad (GM) Dustin Alexander who harries the team via the machinations of the Witch-Queens of Irrisen in Reign of Winter, Jess Negin takes the reigns as the nefarious Ring Master (GM) in Extinction Curse, Abbie Lammel, Angel Espinoza, and Logan Mayne-Rizzi—who just try to keep their characters alive.

Story First, Math Second:
Fantastic Worlds Productions is composed of five friends who every other week unleash their overactive imaginations for the benefit of all. They strive to create both an intricate and personal experience in the Lost Omens setting via nuanced characters with complex motivations and even more complex interpersonal relationships. Drama runs high with this group whether the dice fall in their favor or not!

Diversity In Front & Behind The Mic:
One of the pillars of Fantastic Worlds Productions is their dedication to inclusivity. Women, People of Color, and members of the LGBT+ community are found in the characters played and the players themselves.

Fantastic Worlds Productions invites you to join them in this next step of their journey. Engage with them on Twitter @fantasticpods, Instagram @fantasticworldspod, on their dedicated Discord server, and in their subreddit r/FantasticWorldsPod. Their cooperative and improvised story delivered every two weeks on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, & wherever else podcasts are available. Learn more at Fantastic Worlds Productions.

We know many Pathfinder players are roleplaying game enthusiasts and many play multiple games—regardless of the edition. And it is always more impactful to see or hear people having fun with your product than to tell people it’s fun; show, don’t tell. So Paizo welcomes the experienced, diverse voices of Fantastic Worlds Productions and we can’t wait to see what stories they tell next!

Adventures Ahead!

Aaron Shanks,
Marketing and Media Manager

We hope you have been keeping safe at home. To help make your stay at home experience better, we have a range of Twitch programming to help you get settled in. A quick update, Starfinder X.T.R.E.M.! is taking this week off to better prepare the next section of the adventure. We’ll be back with more star faring adventures next week.

Be aware that some of the shows on the schedule may be canceled at any moment. We prioritize our employees and content creator’s safety over their productions as we all deal with the current pandemic, we apologize in advance if plans abruptly change from what’s scheduled here.

So here is what’s happening this week at OfficialPaizo on Twitch!

Pathfinder 2E Extinction Curse with Squiiddish, May 4, 1:00 p.m. Pacific

The Circus of Wayward Wonders has just arrived in the remote town of Abberton, and the 2 Perception crew are the stars of the show! After an unfortunate event the crew finds themselves in charge of keeping the show alive. But, how will they fare?

Squiddish with the 2 Perception crew streams the Pathfinder Second Edition Adventure Path Extinction Curse every Monday at 1:00 P.M. on Squiiddish’s Twitch channel here. We will be hosting this show on the OfficialPaizo Twitch channel.

Crits & Giggles by Dragons & Things May 4, 5:00 p.m. Pacific

Join the Dragons & Things crew as they adventure through the Pathfinder First Edition Reign of Winter Adventure Path! Feature Jamie Mills as the Game Master controlling the fates of Candice Berge, Ben Burch, Katie Wilson, Jim Jam, and Meghan Caves. Will these amazing actors survive this winter? Tune into their twitch channel at 5 p.m. Pacific to join in the adventure!

Pathfinder: Kingmaker with Paizo, May 5, 1:00-4:00 p.m. Pacific

Did you know that our Social Media Producer Payton Smith never played Kingmaker? I know right!? We brought in Pathfinder’s Creative Director James Jacobs to hop in and be Payton’s Guide to Golarion. So if you’ve been curious about the history of Pathfinder, it’s lore, or overall want to get to know us. Join us on Paizo’s Official Twitch Channel and for all that is good in this world, help keep Payton alive as he journeys through the River Kingdoms corner of Golarion.

Pungeon Crawl, May 6, 5:00-9:00 p.m. Pacific

Note: Pungeon Crawl will now be hosted on the Paizo Twitch channel instead of being streamed directly. You can find BBWolfe’s twitch channel to support the show here.

"The results of the breakfast sweepstakes are in and The Biggest Darn Heroes of the Pact Worlds are about to get a new set of legally-distinct sidekicks as the Pungeon Crawl returns! Join the Deep Space Defenders as we find out if a handful of breakfast cereal contest-selected weirdos can keep up with your favorite syndicated space saviors! Sent on a mission with REAL HEROES, they’ll be put to the test as things go wrong, while on camera the entire time! As their situation develops the heroes’ morale may falter, but with the help of you, the faithful viewers, your favorite heroes can grip success from the jaws of failure! Wednesday nights 8e/7c only on Paizo!"
- BBWolfe

Streamed on OfficialPaizo on Twitch.

Side Quest Side Sesh by GlassCannonPodcast May 7, 5:00 p.m. Pacific

Our heroes travel through the inter webway of the world wide web to gather together and battle in a game of rolling dice to achieve critical success in these various side quest side sessions playing through various Pathfinder stories.

Catch the GlassCannonPodcast crew live on their twitch channel, or hosted on Paizo’s Official Twitch Channel.

The Band of Bravos!, May 8, 2:00 - 5:00 p.m. Pacific

A troupe of performing adventurers find themselves hired to put on the show of a lifetime, but when the curtain rises, they quickly learn that they are the stars of a far more dangerous quest.

Join Paizo employees as they brave the absolute horrors that Director of Game Design, Jason Bulmahn has prepared for them.

Your adventuring party comprises…

• Social Media Producer Payton Smith as Lorn Barnes, Human Wizard
• Web Content Manager Maryssa Lagervall as Ilana Thistlefoot, Halfling Druid
• Developer Jason Keeley as Roark Thunderbird, Tengu Swashbuckler
• Pathfinder Creative Director James Jacobs as Shensen, Half-Elf Bard

Heroic Endeavors, May 8 , 6:00 p.m. Pacific

Join Dragons & Things for another Pathfinder Second Edition adventure! Swords will clash, magic will be cast, and critical ones will bring these heroes to their knees. Journey with these heroic adventurers in their custom world of Val’Duren every Friday!

Catch them live on their twitch channel, or hosted on Paizo’s Official Twitch Channel.

Arcane Mark, May 9, 10:00 a.m. Pacific Arcane Mark is a stream with Design Manager Mark Seifter and Organized Play Lead Developer Linda Zayas-Palmer covering all sorts of RPG and Pathfinder-related topics, from GM Tools to Design Diaries to Workshops. Thursday episodes are always interviews, usually covering Paizo staff you might not have seen as often in other interviews. Catch them live on Paizo’s Official Twitch Channel, or directly on their channel here. (We will be prioritizing Glass Cannon for the broadcast times on Thursday. But once Glass Cannon ends the channel should switch back to Arcane Mark)

Age of Ashes with Squiddish, May 9, 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Pacific

“Fires burn atop the ruined citadel on Hellknight Hill, sending plumes of red smoke into the air that could be a call for help. Now a gang of adventurers rise together to investigate the current conflict. How will they handle the Hellknights? Will they all burn in horrendous fire? Tune into this new Pathfinder Second Edition live play show!

Squiddish with the 2 Perception crew streams on the OfficialPaizo on Twitch channel every week at 2 p.m. Pacific.

Things in Space playing the Dawn of Flame AP, May 9 , 6:00 p.m. Pacific

The Dragons & Things crew have blasted off into the wide and expansive universe of Starfinder! Strap yourselves in for an exciting and thrilling adventure through the Dawn of Flame adventure path!

Catch them live on their twitch channel, or hosted on Paizo’s Official Twitch Channel.

Court of Corvids with QueueTimes, May 10, 4:30 p.m.

Court of Corvids is an actual play show that takes place in a homebrew setting using the Pathfinder Second Edition ruleset. It is currently on hiatus having finished its second story arc but will return with a brand new one on Sunday, February 23rd at 4:30 p.m. Pacific.

In this setting, facts and fiction blur together. In fact, the story began with a lie, one that grew so much it became the central pillar for an entire community…that is until the party stumbled upon the truth and brought it all down. Since then, they’ve been on the road, trying to find their place in a vast world they didn’t even know existed for most of their lives.

The party, taken through this world by GM and occult enthusiast Jacob Kile, consists of:

• Croog Claudel, played by Croog: A human monk searching for his long-lost siblings, hoping to make amends when he finds them.
• Moss the Magnificent, played by Molly McIsaac: An Elven Sorcerer trying to recapture the fame she had back home.
• Robyn Way, played by Jonas Newhouse: A Gnome druid desperate to hide from her former life and family. She’s married to Remi.
• Remi Ashwillow, played by William White: The Goblin fighter and Robyn’s partner is just trying to make friends and live life after being stuck in a cult for many years.

Catch Court of Corvids being hosted live on Paizo’s Official Twitch Channel, or directly on their channel here.

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We've added a new Forum for Streaming & Actual Play discussions. If you have any questions you’d like to submit for our Q&A segments at the end of our Starfinder Wednesdays or Pathfinder Fridays you can do so in our Forums.

Pathfinder Fridays Fan Club

Starfinder Wednesdays Fan Club

If you have a Pathfinder or Starfinder stream, post it under Third Party Broadcasts.

Catch us live at our Official Twitch Channel. Catch the Video On Demand (VOD) on Twitch immediately after it is done or a week later on our YouTube channel.

We’ve been talking about the design of the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game Core Set characters, including Amiri, Lini, Sajan, Seoni, Valeros, and Lem. Today, we’re going to talk about a character that is Melee-capable, good with armors, a top-tier Divine spellcaster, a strong healer, and especially good versus undead. We’re talking about Kyra, cleric of Sarenrae.

The original, excellent, and slightly too wordy PACG cleric.

Because it was our first Adventure Path, Rise of the Runelords was establishing baselines both for iconic characters and also for character classes. Anyone who’s played the Pathfinder RPG for a while knows that the cleric is a very versatile class; to translate to the PACG, that meant giving Kyra both a d12 Wisdom and a good Divine bonus, making her a very competent spellcaster. To distinguish her from other primary spellcasters like Ezren, her cards list is more varied. In practice, Kyra’s d12+2 can cast and recharge spells as effectively as Ezren, but with 3 to 5 spells in her deck, she’s going to use a variety of methods to solve problems, including skills, powers, and cards of all types.

We also give her the original built-in healing power (thankfully, we were eventually able to clarify the wording). In this case Kyra can spend her explorations to heal someone (including herself) at her location. This became the fundamental cleric-healing power, later used by several characters. While keeping healing “local” seems obvious to people familiar with Pathfinder, in PACG it adds a subtle, important effect: when people get low on “health” (cards in their deck), on their turns, they come to Kyra for help. In practice, this often means negotiating where they want to take their turns so that they can be in the right place—i.e. Kyra’s—on her turn. Since Kyra has a large number of blessings in her deck, she can choose when to use them to help herself, to help others, and also when they can allow her to both heal vulnerable party members and still make progress exploring the scenario. As players gain mastery with the game, they learn that it’s important to figure out when to ask for help, and also how to not waste Kyra’s entire turn keeping them alive—classic shorter-term to longer-term systems mastery.

Kyra is also especially good against Undead, as you might expect from a devotee of the sun god. Her second power makes her better at defeating Undead (with weapon, spell, or raw skill), and also helps her avoid nasty effects from before- and after-acting powers. Adding the Magic trait is important for dealing with Incorporeal Undead. Early in her adventuring career, this can be especially helpful when big weapons fail to get rid of pernicious undead such as Ghosts and Shadows. When she gets a role card, Kyra could choose to focus on various aspects of Sarenrae as either a Healer, focusing on keeping everyone (including herself) going, or an Exorcist, leaning more into the smashy-smitey side of things.

During Skull & Shackles, we rested Kyra (be honest, if you had to choose a character to “go piratical” for a bit, would you pick Kyra over Oloch or Feiya? Neither did we.) The next version of Kyra was in the Cleric Class Deck, where she strikes a strong balance between martial and magical. As such, her skills and powers are quite different.

Same great cards list, brand new sword flex.

Class Deck Kyra is notably better with weapons, especially Swords, while she’s still able to marshal some potent divine impact. If you wanted to bring her into Skull & Shackles, she’s also pretty capable with navigation and swimming via her Survival skill. Her healing power takes a small hit in flexibility, but clever players can usually work around it. When she gains a role card, she can choose between Fireflower and Wastelander. The former focuses on the more aggressive aspects of the Church of the Dawnflower, while the latter helps Kyra and her companions get around in the world.

When it came time to put together a group of characters for Wrath of the Righteous, we (okay, I) wanted Kyra to be involved in the adventure into the Worldwound for two big reasons: one, I thought it was an excellent fit for the character; and two, I wanted to try a new approach to healing. For facing off against lots of demons, we built a Kyra who is expert at dealing with Undead and Demons, and a master at wielding the Healing Flame. She’s still capable of wading into melee with sword and armor, but she has a larger selection of spells than previous versions.

Bringing the Everlight into the demonic darkness.

In this incarnation, rather than spending her explorations healing people, Kyra instead adds a small bit of healing to her divine channeling. This changes up the play dynamics of groups facing a significant challenge, which is something that Wrath of the Righteous definitely can bring to the table. People who were big fans of Kyra gave me a pretty wide array of reactions at first, but as they gained more experience with her, they usually found her to be effective and fun. When she gains a role card, you can choose between Dawnflower’s Flare, which focuses on the offensive power of divine fire, and Everlight’s Grace, which focuses on the healing and protective elements of Sarenrae’s church.

For the PACG Core Set, we wanted to return to the “core” expression of the cleric. We adjusted to some of the changes from the Second Edition of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, but also brought the things we’d learned from publishing roughly a dozen different clerics for PACG (and at least twice that many “healer type” characters). We struck a middle ground between her strongest and weakest melee prowess, alongside a very strong divine spellcasting ability and a strong personality. Her built-in healing power still requires that you be in the same place, for a small healing effect that doesn’t consume your ability to progress through the scenario. If your situation requires bigger healing effects, you can invest in boons that provide them.

These two images need to be remade, as the set icon in the placed images above is messed up.

She retains a version of her offensive channeling power against Outsiders and Undead, but this version can be used to help herself and others, again reflecting a change in approach from Pathfinder. The other skills that seemed especially appropriate were moved to a power feat, making them a player choice. Her deck list is adjusted slightly, but still represents a fairly even spread across all card types—Kyra has weapons and armor, spells and blessings, and items and allies. (And introducing the terms “heal” and “local” let us slash the word count of her second power.)

Friendly friend, or fighter of foes.

When she gains a role card (level 3 in the Core Set), she can choose between Dawnseeker and Smiter, effectively gaining a greater specialization in either the helpful or aggressive aspects of her faith. As a Dawnseeker, Kyra helps everyone local (including herself) with desirable boons, and is effective against more kinds of harm. Kyra the Smiter instead is helpful and effective against a larger variety of foes, including using Core’s new avenge mechanic and helping make sure that Kyra is nearly always ready for battle.

That’s it for Kyra today. This post is longer and more detailed than some of the others I’ve done lately. I’m curious if people are interested in the extra depth, if there are other topics they’d like to see (either in addition or instead), and if, like me, you all correctly believe that clerics are the best. :-)

Thanks,

Chad Brown
Adventure Card Game Lead Developer