Hello, Pathfinders and Starfinders! I wanted to take a moment here to discuss our current sanctioning status for both programs. We’ve had a lot of stuff roll out recently, and a lot more to come, so I wanted to get it all in one place.

Update of Sanctioning Documents

Last month, we announced a retroactive chance to some sanctioned adventures, and I promised we’d be getting sanctioning documents updated shortly thereafter.

Well. We’ve had…a busy few weeks. So I have not quite done that yet, at least not all of them. I am happy to report that the following adventures have updated sanctioning documents ready for download:

• Pathfinder Adventures: The Slithering, Troubles in Otari, Malevolence, Pathfinder Beginner Box
• Pathfinder Adventure Paths: Extinction Curse, Abomination Vaults, Fists of the Ruby Phoenix
• Starfinder Adventures: Starfinder Beginner Box
• Starfinder Adventure Paths: The Devastation Ark, Fly Free or Die

The rest of the files are waiting on the art team to have time to make some changes I need from them. These updates aren’t as simple as “swap out text;” in most cases, we need to insert additional pages or rearrange what’s already there, which is a task that requires art’s expertise. So, we’ll keep plugging away at them as the art team has time between making the beautiful books we love. In the meantime, the blog post linked above takes precedence regarding the total rewards to be given out.

New Boons

Eagle-eyed players (and those who I pointed it out to) will notice that along with the Secrets of Magic sanctioning, some new boons were added to the Boon Store for uncommon spells and archetypes, as well as some uncommon items from the Advanced Player’s Guide. If you didn’t notice, well, that’s why I’m pointing them out now!

Going forward, it is my hope that we’ll be able to release these boons at the same time as the books are sanctioned. I don’t want to promise anything; sometimes we have a lot going on and it’s all we can do to get the book out close to street date [eyes the upcoming October Monster nervously], but it’s a goal of mine.

Coming Soon to a Character Options Page Near You

For my fellow Starfinders, the newest rulebook, Starfinder Tech Revolution, has already been sanctioned and is now available on the Character Options page! Head over there and revolutionize your tech already, I don’t have a lot of other news for you yet. Next on the list will be Galactic Magic, more on that as we approach street date.

For the Pathfinders among us, obviously October is a double-punch of books, with the twin threats of Pathfinder Guns & Gears and Lost Omens Grand Bazaar. Let me set expectations up front: I do not anticipate that both books will be ready on October 13 when they release.

We’re only human, our volunteer review team is also only human, and we gave them a lot to do all at once. Our first priority is to get Guns & Gears sanctioned so you can start slinging guns and inventing gadgets. I will say that while both of the classes are uncommon, all Pathfinders will have access to them. After that, we’ll be aiming to get LOGB out the door as soon as we can, and we’ll keep you updated on its progress. Luckily, after this we get to rel—oh, Lost Omens Monsters of Myth? And the Absalom book? Both in December, you say? Okay, well. We’ll do our best on those! More on that as we have it.

Finally, Free RPG Day arrives on October 16th! The sanctioning documents for both of this year’s adventures, Threshold of Knowledge and The Starfinder Four vs. the Hardlight Harlequin are in their final stages, and we fully intend to have them up before the event. Keep in mind that while these adventures can be run on the 16th in conjunction with a participating local game store, they will not be available to the general public until one month later. If our sanctioning schedule slips on this, we’ll be sure to inform you all.

I think that’s all the news I had to share! Before I go, I just want to thank everybody who makes the sanctioning possible: our volunteer Additional Resources team, who review the rulebooks and find all the ways to break our lovely game; Linda and the OP developers who review the AR feedback with me; and our art team who put together the PDF sanctioning documents for adventures, and who are really the unsung heroes of the process. I know I’m out here talking about the process most of the time, but it’s really a team effort, there’s no way I could do it on my own.

Alright, that’s quite enough from me. Until next time—Explore! Report! Cooperate! And go build a weird new character!

Alex Speidel
Organized Play Coordinator

Nhalmika Ironsight honors dwarven tradition, even as she wanders the surface world far from home. With her wide build, mane of dark hair, and amber eyes, Nhalmika is striking in any setting, but it’s the dwarven scattergun she keeps at hand that her friends and foes most remember.

Nhalmika’s birth was a celebration. The third child of two prosperous dwarven merchants, Nhalmika became the final addition to a family larger than that of most dwarves in Dongun Hold. Her two older brothers doted on her, making simple crafts as presents and as their skill grew, the gifts they made became more artistic. She teethed on gold tiles engraved with the images of ancestors and slept beneath stone carvings of Dongun Hold’s greatest leaders. Nhalmika’s parents arranged for their children to have fine clothes and talented tutors but were too busy to have much to do with her upbringing.

Everyone expected Nhalmika to become either an artisan like her brothers or a merchant like her parents. She had aptitude for neither. She was more skilled at judging art than creating, noticing tiny flaws such as an uneven line in a carving or a hairline crack in a gemstone or statue. She had a weakness for hard luck stories and pleas for credit, and her parents soon learned they couldn’t trust her with preserving the family finances. Her mother complained that Nhalmika’s eagerness to help others would put them out of business.

Nhalmika instead preferred to play physical games and sports. Her athletic build and keen eye made her a natural champion, and her good sportsmanship made her popular with her peers. She surprised her family by declaring she would join the military, serving among the vanguards of Dongun Hold. Military service was an honorable, traditional calling and it seemed to suit her nature well. No one in her family mourned her departure for the training academy as much as Dargrim, a friend of her eldest brother and eager co-captain on most sports she played. Nhalmika had excellent vision, but she didn’t see Dargrim had given his whole heart to her.

Illustration by Wayne Reynolds

In her training, Nhalmika gained familiarity with dwarven firearms of all types. She proved particularly adept with long rifles, but considered sniping to be dull and, truth be told, a little unfair. She preferred the noisy blasts of fuse bombs and scatterguns, which put her right in the action where she was needed most. Her family paled to hear her exuberant tales of lobbing grenades, packing enormous canisters of black powder, and taking a cannon’s recoil hard enough to fracture her shoulder.

Only Dargrim appreciated that Nhalmika had found a calling she truly loved, and she found she loved Dargrim for it. The two were married just before her first deployment. Her parents arranged an opulent wedding in a traditional dwarven style and her brothers lavished the couple with necklaces made of her gold teething-tiles. Nhalmika and Dargrim left Dongun Hold as a couple—Nhalmika to serve as a guard to the Bridge of the Gods leading from Dongun Hold to the Grand Duchy of Alkenstar and Dargrim to make their simple quarters a home over the next several years.

The first time Nhalmika became pregnant, she was excused from duty for the birth and first year of her daughter’s life. She’d already earned a nickname, the Ironsight, and her commanding officer was sorry to lose her keen eyes overlooking trouble in the badlands below the bridge. Nhalmika doted on her daughter but was eager to return to duty. Upon her second pregnancy, Nhalmika’s commander predicted she wouldn’t return, but had underestimated her loyalty and integrity: Nhalmika reported the day after her son’s first birthday, ready to face bloodthirsty bandits and berserk clockworks with her scattergun in hand. Nhalmika’s third pregnancy was particularly difficult, and not the celebration her own birth had been. For weeks, the medics were certain they would lose both Nhalmika and the baby girl, yet both mother and daughter survived. Nhalmika’s youngest daughter, Ondla, was always sick and small, but had her mother’s grit. Nhalmika returned to duty a year later but spent all the time she could helping her children grow up. She got used to blasting mutant raiders one day and teaching dwarven history the next.

Nhalmika’s children showed talents she lacked. Her eldest daughter went to carve exquisite statuary under her uncles’ tutelage and her son took up his grandparents’ affairs and proved to be a shrewd but honest merchant. Nhalmika and Dargrim were both proud of their children’s accomplishments, and never hesitant about saying so. Quiet and studious Ondla, whom neither parent would openly admit was their favorite, remained at home to tend to her father. Dargrim began showing symptoms of a serious degenerative disease. His head and hands shook, and he soon couldn’t stand. His decline was swift and his death both sudden and tragic. Ondla found solace and an unlikely romance with a human bookkeeper from Alkenstar, but Nhalmika was alone, and she was devastated. She numbly accepted the proffered retirement from the military, uncertain what she’d do next.

Her grief was strong, but it isn’t in her nature to be idle or eschew serving others. Nhalmika has been a soldier and mother, but both her nation and children are moving on. She knows others beyond Dongun Hold and Alkenstar need her help. So Nhalmika settled her affairs, advised her children to work hard and love well, and left. She brought her dwarven scattergun from her time as a guard, a handful of medals, and a few of the gold teething-tiles her brothers gave her. Nhalmika has lived a full life, but she doesn’t think her best days are behind her—to the contrary, she’s ready to stand up for the downtrodden across Golarion. Her adventuring companions admire her skill with a gun, but they truly appreciate her grit, keen eyes, and motherly guidance.

Ron Lundeen
Managing Developer

The Battlezoo Bestiary Kickstarter has been a massive success to date, including three huge books not only fully compatible with Pathfinder Second Edition but all developed by some of the most trusted Paizo names.

But we are in our final week, with the Kickstarter ending this Friday, October 1st, so make sure you join in on the fun before it’s too late! Not only will you get all three books at a massive discount, but you’ll receive them before anyone else. In fact, the Battlezoo Bestiary and Monster Parts System PDF will be available to all who order it from the Kickstarter this October! Check what you get:

• The Battlezoo Bestiary hardcover book features 114 winning monster entries from the 2020 RPG Superstar contest, all edited by Patrick Renie.
• The new Monster Parts System allows players to slay monsters and then turn those monsters into custom gear that levels up with the character, written by Mark Seifter.
• The new Monster Mage (Azure Mage) and Vestige Hunter (Monster Hunter) archetypes allow you to steal those monster powers and use them yourself, written by Mark Seifter.
• The new Dragon Ancestries book details how you can play a Dragon PC, including 44 different playable Dragons, written by Mark Seifter.
• The new three-book Jewel of the Indigo Isles Adventure Path for characters level 1–11, featuring monsters from the Battlezoo Bestiary, and utilizing the new Monster Parts system, written by Patrick Renie, Ron Lundeen, and Linda Zayas-Palmer.

Plus, we just achieved many new stretch goals, all of which were just added to the Kickstarter, including:

• Forty-four new pages of lore (and pictures) of every playable dragon we just added to Battlezoo Ancestires: Dragons by Mark Seifter.
• New physical minis were added, including the g’mauyn pirate thief, the wildfire leshy fighter, the gold dragon cleric, the galtzagorri sorcerer, and many more.
• Five new “wild” dragons – amber, cerulean, harlequin, indigo, vermillion – presented as both monsters and new playable ancestries.
• Multiple new playable ancestries include the Orpok (pig-people), the Chochori (coral-people), the Hardriggan (ram-people), and many more.
• Several new archetypes include the Draconic Mage, Draconic Fighter, a new pirate archetype, and many more.
• New custom familiars by Linda Zayas-Palmer, including the wildfire leshy, shale hatchling, seafoam spirit, mechanical parrot, and embersap ooze!
• A cloth treasure map is available to those at the top tiers.
• An overview of the religious paradigm in the Battlezoo universe known as The Balance, outlining both the new system and several of its gods.
• And any more!

The RPG Superstar 2021 Contest is Open For Submissions!

Of course, we are already planning for our next bestiary, which means that we are proud to announce the official start of the new RPG Superstar 2021 contest!

Head on over to https://rpgsuperstar.com/ to enter your best Pathfinder Second Edition monster and a chance at winning fantastic prizes and the opportunity to be published in the upcoming Battlezoo Bestiary: Strange and Unusual!

Have you dreamed of seeing your creation featured on the cover of an RPG title? Well, now is your chance to break into the industry and have your monster illustrated and published for all to see!

That’s right! RPG Superstar™ is back and bigger than ever! Over a hundred winners! Dozens of prizes! And other surprises along the way!

This year’s theme is Strange and Unusual. That means monsters outside the ordinary, whether they have strange appearances, odd abilities, unusual themes, or something else out of the ordinary, is up to you. And remember, a true Superstar™ can still express a bizarre ability with elegant mechanics.

In total, 137 user-submitted monsters will be selected and published in the upcoming Roll For Combat Battlezoo Bestiary Strange & Unusual! This 160+ page title will feature all of the winning entries plus support materials created by some of the leading RPG designers in the industry.

ENTER THE CONTEST TODAY!

Stephen Glicker
Roll For Combat and Host to the RPG Superstar 2021 Contest

Dust settled, leaving two figures behind in the carnage. One a looming mass of hulking muscle and teeth. The other a gnome, small, but—against all odds—still up.

Torrick Wilderbark grasped the lever of his wheelchair in a white-knuckle grip, jaw set hard. His breaths came laboured, tongue caked with a layer of grit and grime. The warehouse lay shattered around them. Broken boards and timbers cracked further under the weight of his wheels. Behind him, the steam engine that powered his aid thrummed, vibrating against the seat in a steady rhythm.

The troll had been pushed back, pulling itself out from under a pile of broken stone and cracked roof tiles. It mumbled a growl as it staggered upright, wobbly at first, but centering itself with every passing second. Dark blood oozed from its stunted snout. Torrick fumbled for the sword strapped behind the right wheel.

His hand closed around air.

An ice-cold wave of dread crashed over him. His sword. Pathetically trying to tamp down the rising panic in his throat, Torrick turned in the seat, twisting as far as he could as the safety belts bit into his thighs. Not only the sword but the scabbard was gone, too. The belt securing his gear must have snapped during the collapse, and, rattled by the all-consuming barrage of fractured stone and wood, he had failed to notice.

Mere feet away, the troll whined in pain.

Letting go of the lever, Torrick gripped the arms of the chair, straining further to look around him. The beast may be stunned for now, but it was rapidly regaining focus. Hard leather straps dug further into his legs, and he winced against it, taking in his surroundings.

Nothing much was left of the warehouse. What little remained jutted out of the ground at odd angles, still crumbling. Splintered wood protruded like snapped bones, pinned by blasted chunks of stone and shattered glass. The alchemical bomb he’d tossed had certainly done the job. Torrick was lucky to be alive.

But severely unluckily, the troll was, too.

As his gaze scoured the rubble, a glint caught his eye—a flash of steel. A mere few feet away, snagged tight around a listing beam, was the remains of his gear, the belt pierced through by a nail and tangled about the shaft of the scabbard. And there, by some great mercy from the gods, hung his sword.

He had no time to think, no plan. Every moment wasted was one in the monster’s favor. Torrick fell back down into his seat and clutched at the lever once more. The bubbling panic in his throat was not yet sated. He needed to get his sword. Now. Steam hissing, the engine roared up as the chair heeded his command, veering right and toward the dangling weapon. Debris clattered and cracked loudly under the wheels, but he couldn’t care less about the racket he was making. He was close, so close. The weapon hung before him, taunting. Torrick reached out, free arm straining as though he could somehow will it into his hand.

Come on, he thought, pleaded. To any deity that cared to listen. The chair stopped, his fingers barely made contact, ghosting over the handle of the blade. He needed to get just a little higher, reach a little further, then he could—

A thunderous roar shook the very ground.

Torrick spat a curse.

Heavy footfalls, blackened claws scraping. It lumbered closer, with a loping gait that swiftly ate away at the distance between them. Torrick’s pulse pounded in his ears as he fumbled. Another roar, a deep bellowing sound that vibrated in his chest and sent him frantic, straining to reach higher, shoulder burning in its socket, hips protesting at the bruising line of the security belt.

Almost there. Just a little further. Come on. Please—

The troll fell upon him in a flurry of limbs and gnashing tusks. Torrick immediately dropped back into the seat, tucking in as small as he could as the pressing weight of the angered beast threatened to consume him. In its rage, it had overshot its mark, instead grappling the frame of the wheelchair and barely missing Torrick’s body; the tips of razor-sharp claws snagging on his armor.

And yet hope. Clutched in his hand, cool against sweaty fingers, was the sword. Held in a white-knuckle grip.

Lunging again for the lever, Torrick twisted awkwardly to avoid the troll knocking the weapon out of his hand. He pulled hard enough that the metal screeched and the engine almost backfired, revving so loudly it almost drowned out the sound of heavy-set limbs pawing at the wheels. Lurching abruptly backward, the chair shunted its way out from under the troll’s crushing form, the creature’s claws scrabbling at the frame.

With the chair now pulled out from under it, the monster stumbled to adjust and pitched forward, grunting in confusion, its brow furrowed deep and hard. Torrick wasted no time, taking no chances as he let go of the shaft and slipped a vial from a pouch at his belt, smashing it against the flat of his blade as the wheelchair continued to roll back on its own.

The vial shattered easily, oil inside bleeding down the groove before reacting with the air. The effect was immediate: a tongue of fire that blazed brightly. With a victorious bark of laughter, Torrick kicked the lever forward once more with his foot, using both arms to drive all the strength he had into a wide swing.

Illustration by Firat Solhan from Pathfinder Guns & Gears. Find more accessibility devices to use in your campaigns in Pathfinder Lost Omens Grand Bazaar.

Green flesh parted easily, black ichor slicking his hands, but not enough to douse the alchemical flames that burned crimson on cold steel. The troll screeched, reeling back and away as it was almost gutted in one fell blow. Barrelling past a few feet, Torrick pulled the wheelchair around in a wide arc, throwing up dust and debris in a trail.

Wild with fury, the beast turned on him, yellow eyes wide and tusks bared. Fiery sword still in one hand, Torrick grinned and gripped the lever once more. Now the real fight would begin.

About The Author

Sara Thompson is a disabled freelance writer and game designer for tabletop roleplaying games. They have worked on Pathfinder, Starfinder, Hellboy: The Roleplaying Game, Bardsung, and more. Currently, they are working on The Witcher Pen & Paper by R. Talsorian Games as well as their own personal projects creating disability and accessibility items for TTRPGs. They are also the creator of the Combat Wheelchair—a homebrew ruleset for 5e Dungeons & Dragons which has appeared on shows such as Critical Role and Rivals of Waterdeep as well as in licensed video game Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms through character Talin Uran.

About Tales of Lost Omens

The Tales of Lost Omens series of web-based flash fiction provides an exciting glimpse into Pathfinder’s Age of Lost Omens setting. Written by some of the most celebrated authors in tie-in gaming fiction and including Paizo’s Pathfinder Tales line of novels and short fiction, the Tales of Lost Omens series promises to explore the characters, deities, history, locations, and organizations of the Pathfinder setting with engaging stories to inspire Game Masters and players alike.

We have a new release date from WizKids for their Pathfinder Battles: Bestiary Unleashed pre-painted plastic miniatures—October 6. You can find them at your favorite local game store and the Paizo Store soon!

We haven’t received them in our warehouse quite yet, so look to our Customer Service Forum for subscriber guidance and timing.

Flashback to Mark Moreland’s Pathfinder Battles: Bestiary Unleashed Set List blog for a deeper look at the set!

Roleplaying Game fans get ready!

Free RPG Day works with top RPG publishers to create the can’t-miss RPG event of the year at hobby game stores around the world. Participating stores will have piles of exclusive new RPG adventures and other exciting new RPG related items!

As the world begins the slow crawl out of COVID and back to something resembling normalcy, every store will probably be handling events differently. While some locations may have in-store gaming, others may not yet be there. Please check with your local retailer about how they may be featuring or distributing the Free RPG Day items.

Here are the new adventures we’ve made just for the event. They’re perfect for giving new players a taste Pathfinder and Starfinder!

The Starfinder Four vs. the Hardlight Harlequin

POWER UP!

Everyone across the galaxy enjoys the occasional diversion in a holographic amusement chamber, whether it’s relaxing on a sandy beach or taking part in an action-packed adventure on a war-torn battlefield from the safety of home. But what happens when the digital settings and inhabitants of these simulations come to life and threaten a group of innocent fun seekers?

Thanks to some inadvertently malicious code created by a proud game designer, such a calamitous event has occurred on a small moon hosting an entertainment expo! The building is slowly but surely being digitized while the game designer’s mind has been taken over by a comic-book villain. Only a group of newly recruited Starfinders can save the day!

Pathfinder: The Threshold of Knowledge

On the Brink of Greatness!

In The Threshold of Knowledge, players take on the role of one of five students from the prestigious Magaambya, the oldest school of magic in the Inner Sea region. When a teacher goes missing, it's up to these new heroes to step up and solve a wicked mystery that threatens the existence of the Magaambya itself!

Threshold of Knowledge is a short adventure for 1st-level characters that takes the heroes into the Magaambya and the nearby city of Nantambu. In addition, the five pregenerated characters provide a quick way to jump into the adventure right away in this exciting offering for Free RPG Day! Grab some dice and some friends and play the role of new heroes in training!

These products will only be available in print at your FLGS on October 16. Later, they will be for sale on paizo.com and downloadable and as free PDFs. Find past Free RPG Day products here!

• Pathfinder
• Starfinder

Find Your Retailer

Hiya, Starfinders! I have something special for you this month. A while back, I was discussing real-world current events that caused shipping delays with some friends, and someone jokingly commented that it would make a great Starfinder Society scenario. I couldn’t get the thought out of my head, and as I let the idea percolate, it kept getting weirder and weirder. How weird is it? Well, let’s just say the Society might solve a shipping crisis in more than one way.

This month, a group of Starfinders traveling in deep space encounter a distress beacon from a stalled cargo freighter. Once they investigate, they learn that the ship belongs to Multifold Industries, and that there’s something more to this problem than meets the eye. The mission is simple in theory: board the ship, assess it for damage, make any onsite repairs possible, and contact Multifold. Not a bad way to earn some credits, right? Ah, if only things were ever that easy…

Starfinder Society #4-08: Precious Cargo is an adventure for levels 1–4. The amazing Diego Valdez was my partner in crime for this one. We had a blast crafting this idea together, and he did an excellent job writing it—so check it out!

Jenny Jarzabski
Starfinder Society Developer

Illustration by Nicolas Espinoza

Hello again, Pathfinders! We’ve got two exciting scenarios for you in September, one of which continues the ongoing story of the Year of Shattered Sanctuaries, and one of which is a standalone adventure taking place in the Mwangi Expanse!

Illustration by Samuel Jr

First, a group of Pathfinder agents travel to Almas, the capital of the free nation of Andoran, to present a legal defense of the Society’s claim to the Cathedral of Aroden. Losing one of their most significant lodges in Andoran would be a devastating blow to the Society, but when these agents arrive, they find that legal troubles are the least of their worries. A troubled ghost stalks the nearby streets and seems to be accusing the Pathfinder Society of heinous deeds! Can the agents learn the truth behind the ghost’s message and prevent the Society’s precarious position in Almas from crumbling?

Pathfinder Society Scenario #3-02: The East Hill Haunting is the first scenario in a two-part Year of Shattered Sanctuaries metaplot arc related to strange events befalling the Pathfinder Society’s lodge in Almas, Andoran. It is an adventure for levels 1–4, written by Nicole Heits.

Next up, we have an adventure that follows another group of Pathfinders to Anthusis, the capital of Vidrian. The Pathfinder Society has been working to return looted relics to communities in this recently liberated nation in the Mwangi Expanse. Recently, the Society seized an opportunistic relic hunter’s ship and discovered a magic bell that appeared to contain protective magic to ward against ravenous fey. Venture-Captain Finze Bellaugh has sent out an urgent call for Pathfinder agents to discover where the bell came from and return it to its rightful owners as quickly as possible. To learn the bell’s true purpose and history, the Pathfinder agents must journey deep into the Laughing Jungle—where hopefully, they’ll meet more friends than foes!

Pathfinder Society Scenario #3-03: Echoes of Desperation is a standalone adventure for levels 3–6, written by Mike Kimmel and Nate Wright.

Explore! Report! Cooperate! And would somebody please get me some sovereign glue to hold these sanctuaries together!

Mike Kimmel
Pathfinder Society Developer

Deepen your Pathfinder and Starfinder experiences with the new Starfinder Tech Revolution hardcover rulebook, Pathfinder Bestiary 3 Battle Cards, and Pathfinder Fists of the Ruby Phoenix Pawn Collection accessories at the Paizo Store and your favorite local game store today!

Starfinder Tech Revolution

REVOLUTIONIZE YOUR GAME
Put the science back in science-fantasy with Starfinder Tech Revolution! This book expands on Starfinder’s cutting-edge technologies—which are often so sophisticated that they rival magic itself—providing your characters the tools to thrive in a futuristic setting. Whether you’re racing the streets in a custom vehicle, planning your next big digital heist, or arming your mech to fight dragons, Tech Revolution has what you need, including:

• The new nanocyte character class, whose body hosts an of robotic nanites that empower and defend you in battle!
• The new mech system: design your own titanic battle robots with customizable parts and armaments, then hop into the cockpit and square off against epic threats!
• New rules to enhance gameplay with customizable vehicles, demolitions, and dynamic hacking.
• New player character options, from technology-themed rules for every character class to technological relics, weapons, armor, augmentations, and more.
• A detailed dive into the Starfinder setting’s technological lore, from biotech and computers to media and music.

Pathfinder Bestiary 3 Battle Cards

Add legions of monstrous foes to your collection with this massive set of reference cards, featuring every creature from Pathfinder Bestiary 3—over 300 monsters! Each 4 x 6 card is printed on sturdy cardstock and features a beautiful, full color image of a Bestiary 3 monster on one side, while the other side provides that monster's statistics for quick and easy reference. With each encounter, show the players what their characters are facing while keeping the monster's abilities at the ready, and watch your games come alive!

Pathfinder Fists of the Ruby Phoenix Pawn Collection

Step into the arena and pit your players against ruthless rivals from the Fists of the Ruby Phoenix Adventure Path! The Fists of the Ruby Phoenix Pawn Collection features more than 170 creature pawns for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game or any tabletop fantasy RPG. Printed on sturdy cardstock, each pawn presents a beautiful full-color image of a monster or NPC from the Fists of the Ruby Phoenix campaign, including malevolent martial artists, charming challengers, and brutal beasts to meet, beat, and defeat in the grand arena!

Shop the Paizo Store and your favorite local game store today!

Our first project of Pathfinder 2nd Edition—The Slithering Salve—is complete! That's right, last month we assembled the Order for another marathon session of Ron Lundeen's module, The Slithering. The August humidity in New Jersey was enough to curl even the sturdiest character sheet, but we embraced it as part of our Mwangi experience and came out alive (mostly, see below).

Once again, we pushed the envelope of gaming immersion and paid homage to an adventure that boldly featured so many oozes. Our five-gallon bucket of slime was ready at the table for anyone who suffered a hit from an ooze; for each hit a character received, that player had to stick their hand into the bucket and retrieve one of the dice that could be found at the bottom. This is OAD after all, so this time we made it tougher by cutting back on the number of dice in the bucket. How long it took you to find one was what really defined the experience!

• Module: The Slithering
• Marathon Length: 60 hours, 15 minutes
• Session Hours: 37 hours, 45 minutes

The Order has between 10 and 15 active members at any given time, and every roster is unique to each project. As we mentioned before, the team for The Slithering Salve differed from our other projects in that we had ages ranging from 47 to 14, and experience varying from veterans with over 30 years' experience to a complete newcomer to Pathfinder. We also ate well during this marathon, since cookies are a meal when you're in the Order, and we had none other than Karee Vogrin of Critical Hit Cookies returning as Lini! Finally, our GM tapped three additional members for live NPC roles throughout the adventure.

Highlights From The Slithering:

□ The journey to Holy Xatramba was more Mwangi than we expected from this adventure—a welcome surprise. Our favorite encounter of the trek was a 300-foot-long rope bridge that disappeared into the dense foliage, and we didn't notice the trio of jungle drakes until one of them slammed down behind Fumbus. It should probably be noted that the goblin was a couple hundred feet ahead of the party. Time to burn those Hero Points, kid.

□ Kibwe had become a mess by the time we returned to try to rid the city of the slithering curse. We watched as the owner of a semi-domesticated triceratops melted into ooze, which slid down the side of the now-angry beast. As the dinosaur rampaged toward the party, Lini and Korakai stood their ground, putting our hopes on Wild Empathy and a calm emotions spell. The result of its Will save vs. spell? Natural 1.

□ The Order always embraces a hearty PvP bout when it's forced upon us. Heck, we even see it as a great opportunity for some trash-talking around the table! When an encounter with two specters resulted in our first PF 2.0 showdown between Jirelle and Zithembe (fighter), the bets were placed and both players' best dice came out. Out of game, this was Auralee's (Jirelle) first time playing Pathfinder, and she was up against Erick, a sixteen-year veteran with more notches on his belt from dropping other players than anyone in the Order. They went solid for seven rounds and it came down to the last hit, but Erick defended his title.

□ Juno Reactor's "Conga Fury" blasted away on the stereo during a couple of heated battles in this adventure, but it wasn't louder than our GM when the Amber Die dropped yet another signature 20-20-20. Adam always says afterwards: Still got it.

□ We continued to use the Critical Hit Deck and Critical Fumble Deck, with the deadly variant applied, causing a card to be drawn on any crits (not just natural 20s). In total, we saw a whopping 108 critical hits and 70 fumbles throughout the entire module. A few of our favorites from the decks included Jirelle losing a thumb, suffering 3d6+2 persistent bleed damage in another battle, and also being stupefied, frightened, and restrained from a set of nasty fumbles in a later fight. It went both ways though, and we watched a jungle drake kill itself with its own stinger!

The Salve:

We went into this adventure with the notion that it would be about things that slithered; however, what made this project such a unique experience was not the plethora of oozes we faced, but the epidemic-like experience that involved the spread of the slithering curse itself. The curse was transmitted through contact between creatures, and despite attempts to gather additional information, we didn't know as much as we wanted to know about it. The only way to be truly safe (until our heroes could end the curse) was to isolate and distance from others. It was surreal returning to Kibwe near the end of the adventure to find the population avoiding each other on the street, hiding in their homes, and wearing masks. You can see where this is going; playing this module in 2020–2021 was an experience we'll never forget—one that bonded us even more tightly as a gaming group. While the Order has played over 150 modules, we can't understate what it felt like to roleplay through this one. We found solace in our ability to end the spreading curse, and just like the real-life events that surrounded this project, decades from now the Order will still be talking about that time we played The Slithering.

The Slithering by the Numbers

Note: All data has been compiled across one full module of play.

Total marathon hours: 121 hours, 15 minutes
Actual session hours: 67 hours, 25 minutes
Longest single session: 14 hours, 15 minutes
Miles trekked in the Mwangi Expanse: about 280 miles
Group consensus on most valuable skill: Medicine
Cookies consumed: 19 pounds

Party Data

Korakai
□ Successful uses of minor curse: 6
□ Successful uses of major curse: 4

Lini
□ Uses of Continual Recovery: 107
□ Total damage dealt by Droogami: 205

Fumbus
□ Direct bomb kills: 2
□ Total splash damage: 104
□ Friendly fire splash damage: 68

Jirelle
□ Attempted panache: 35
□ Achieved panache: 26

Character Deaths:

Ron Lundeen has put plenty of our characters in the ground over the years, and he did it again here with a double-babau ambush that caught us off guard. Skuulkush, our party's lizardfolk guide, bravely allowed himself to be flanked in an effort to buy time. At least it was quick.

Best Quote from Marathon 2:

(Fumbus returns out of breath after two characters were lost scouting the ruins)

Lini: "What happened? What did you find?"
Fumbus: "Through those doors there is... a magical... mind-controlling... DINOSAUR that takes your hands!"

Conclusion:

Escorting the ancient Pillar-Watcher known as Cursebreaker back to the city of Kibwe (or simply chasing after it) was a mechanic that compounded the sense of urgency we already felt throughout the adventure. We struggled to keep up with the construct, driven by powerful magic, as it smashed its way through the Aspis Consortium agents who tried to block its destination. We were fortunate to have front-row seats when an alchemical golem also tried to stand in its way, and the resulting melee was a fantastic primer for the final battle to come. In the end, we managed to get the heavily damaged Pillar-Watcher back to the dais where it belonged so that we could perform the ritual required to end the curse. A win for Kibwe and the Order!

More Content:

Our table was brought to life with the help of Vibrant Gaming Terrain for jungle setups, Blue Table Painting for the iconic miniatures, and Black Bard Studios for custom adventure-specific miniatures and terrain.

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In the month since we announced our latest class playtest, there’ve been rumors, speculation, and Pathfinder fans across the internet connecting the threads of what the next book could be. Appropriate, since I can now say that our newest rulebook will be the paranormal Pathfinder Dark Archive, releasing at Gen Con 2022!

Golarion is a fantastic world filled with the impossible. A city returned from the depths of time. A chasm to the Abyss, only recently sealed. A fallen star granting godhood. Yet even in a world where anything is possible, there are always further depths and stranger phenomena on the fringes of understanding. The Dark Archive contains material for players and GMs alike to bring cryptids, temporal anomalies, and other paranormal phenomena to their game tables. And of course, two new character classes that investigate the unknown: the psychic and the thaumaturge!

Thaleon, the iconic psychic, and Mios, the iconic thaumaturge. Sketches by Wayne Reynolds.

The psychic is a spontaneous occult spellcaster whose magic comes from the unique interplay of their conscious and subconscious mind. Do you see others’ thoughts as a precise, ordered sequence, or do objects fly when you experience strong feelings? Whatever kind of psychic you build, you’ll have a bevy of psi cantrips to cast at will and to amplify with Focus Points for extra power or versatility. When the time is right, unleash your mind in a storm of psychic magic—though beware the risks!

The thaumaturge is the quintessential collector of superstitions: the adventurer who’s heard every story and always has the right tool or charm for any threat. The thaumaturge is in part a reconceptualization of the themes that went into First Edition’s occultist class, so of course, you’ll have a mystic implement (or three) to wield, along with the unique ability to identify and capitalize on an enemy’s weaknesses. You can further customize your character with supernatural tricks taken from all four magical traditions, warding circles, and even pacts with powerful entities!

With two new classes, we also have two new adventurers joining the ranks of iconic Pathfinder characters. While we won’t be revealing their full backstories until the book is closer to release, I’ll turn things over to their authors for a brief introduction:

Thaleon, the Iconic Psychic:
Thaleon is an artist whose creative vision reaches beyond the physical world into unseen realms. Hailing from Rahadoum, a land where religion is forbidden, he believes that effort is the foundation of change and that each person has a duty to cultivate their own talents and use them to shape society for the better. Thaleon embraces his ties to the psychic forces that flow from his emotions and strives to understand them, even as they sometimes surge beyond his control.

Linda Zayas-Palmer
Development Manager

Mios, the Iconic Thaumaturge
As a young adult driving their night coach on the streets of Ustalav, Mios was attacked by a creature and afflicted with a terrible curse. After hunting through rumors by the light of their coach’s lantern, they managed to save themself by piecing together a cure. Now aged into an experienced monster hunter, Mios believes in second chances but not third ones, fearing neither evil nor death.

Avi Kool
Senior Editor

The playtest starts today and runs through Friday, October 29th! Build characters, run them in your games, see how they play, and let us know what you think! We look forward to hearing your impressions, experiences, and insights to ensure the newest Pathfinder classes are the best they can be.

In darkness lies enlightenment.

James Case
Designer

Get the Playtest!

My public statement on Wednesday was a fundamental expression of Paizo’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, values that I share both personally and professionally. It was an opening statement—not the final word on the topic by any means.

Words are important.

But I also know that actions are even more important.

As a result, I want to share with you a number of actions that address some of the concerns that have been brought to our attention over the last week.

The welfare and safety of our employees is paramount. No employee will ever be fired for whistleblowing or advocating for employee safety and wellbeing, and we have never fired an employee for doing so.

Following our return from Gen Con, the Executive Team will schedule individual meetings with our managers to give them a chance to share concerns directly. In the coming weeks, Paizo will issue an independently managed employee engagement survey to provide all employees with an anonymous means to provide candid feedback. The information provided through this process is aimed at addressing employee concerns and driving change to create a more positive workplace.

We take all claims of harassment seriously. Our CEO Lisa Stevens released a statement in 2019 that underscores Paizo’s stance on this matter, and it applies today as well. You can read that here: https://paizo.com/community/guidelines.

We held staff-wide in person anti-harassment training in 2018 and initiated annual mandatory online training earlier in 2021.

We are currently finalizing a job description to fill a vacant full-time HR position. You’ll see this posted in the next few business days, and we’ll be looking for a candidate with expertise in diversity, equity, and inclusion. It is important to all of us that this professional can help us to maintain Paizo’s shared commitment to our values in recruitment, hiring, and daily operations.

In the meantime, we are encouraging our employees to make use of the free independent human resources hotline Paizo initiated in 2018, where they can report grievances of any kind in complete confidentiality.

Paizo makes decisions about employee convention attendance based on the business and community needs of the show, irrespective of gender or gender identity. However, it is time that Paizo evolves from the longtime practice of employees sharing rooms during convention and business travel. As such, we have enacted a one-employee-per-room policy that will be our standard moving forward. Employees can request to share a room if they so choose.

We are extending Paizo’s existing work-from-home timeline through at least the end of the year. Employees that want to work from the office can continue to do so but will need to abide by the company’s existing vaccination and mask policies. We will continue to follow CDC guidelines and keep our employees as safe as possible during the pandemic by offering work-from-home and a safe office space for those who prefer that option.

Over the last several years, we have invested heavily in Project Management to help the company get a better sense of workload in the Creative Department, implementing company-wide project management software and increasing the size of the project management team. This work has already resulted in increased production schedule lead times, and Paizo will continue to leverage this valuable resource to provide better work/life balances for our employees.

In the same period, the creation of additional management positions within the Creative Department has also helped give staff better access to managers, and to empower those managers to better gauge deadlines and workloads. As with our Project Management initiatives, this is an ongoing process, but it is already bearing fruit and improving not just Paizo’s products, but the lives of the brilliant creatives who make them possible.

To clear up some confusion that has worked its way into the conversation, freelancer relations remains the purview of the Creative Department. Paizo freelancers who appreciate their strong relationship with our developers, editors, and art team can be assured that we have made no changes on this front.

Finally, based on feedback from the staff, we changed professional cleaning services in 2017, and the offices have been cleaned and vacuumed on a regular basis since then.

These aren’t the only things we are doing. We are building strategies to address the challenges facing the company and will strive to be more transparent about our plans as we build stronger lines of communication with everyone at Paizo. We are committed to listening. We are committed to continuing to improve based on the feedback of our teams. There will be more messages, and more concrete actions, to come.

--Jeff

Dear friends,

It was just about a year ago that we announced the Complete Character Chronicles Kickstarter, our first foray into the world of Pathfinder. Thank you so much for supporting us, believing in us, and backing us.

The road has been a little more challenging than we expected, what with a worldwide pandemic and all, but we're excited to announce that with the Kickstarter elements almost complete, the Paizo + Beadle & Grimm's partnership is ready to take some big steps forward.

So... what's new?

A Complete Fighter Chronicle: Limited Edition in its native habitat, and Pathfinder Absalom: City of Lost Omens.

How about this, for starters: The amazingly huge and hotly anticipated sourcebook for Absalom is getting the premium boxed treatment from Beadle & Grimm's! Prepare yourself for amazing maps, in-world jewelry and handouts, a custom GM screen, original adventure content and more! Want more updates? Want to be the first to know when it opens for pre-orders? Come to www.beadleandgrimms.com/pathfinder/absalom and sign up for the mailing list!

Our shirts enjoy candlelight dinners, long walks on the beach, and being worn by gamers. And Pathfinder-inspired jewelry! Matt's fancy wood table not included.

The first Beadle & Grimm's + Pathfinder t-shirts are here and available on the Beadle & Grimm's website! Shipping now! pandemoniumwarehouse.com/collections/pathfinder

Wish you had purchased some Pathfinder-inspired jewelry during the Kickstarter? They're now available on our website!

You can't call a book "Complete" until you hit the 200-page mark. It's a publishing rule.

The Complete Character Chronicles books are now available (for pre-order) on the website too! pandemoniumwarehouse.com/collections/pathfinder

Thanks again for your support. We are so excited to finally be able to launch our next slate of products in partnership with Paizo and really dive into this amazing gaming universe. We hope you'll join us.

Sincerely,

Bill, Charlie, Jon, Matt, and Paul

The concept of the beginning of a year is a bit of a strange one for those of us on the Organized Play team. The turning of a year on the calendar is far less prominent in our workflow than the beginning of a new season of Organized Play adventures.

The process of making an Organized Play season starts long before we release the first hints of its overarching plotline. In fact, the first seeds are often planted years in advance, written in the haziest and most tentative of chalk lines as developers build in adventure hooks that they’d love to follow up on in the future. More formally, though, the planning process begins about 4 months after the start of the previous Organized Play year. The developer in charge of the line outlines an overarching metaplot, decides roughly how many scenarios it should include, and does research into existing products to make sure that their plans fit well into the canon. This outline undergoes several rounds of discussion and refinement. After it receives approval from all of the stakeholders, we set about giving the year its key identifying features: a name, a logo, and a defining piece of art to represent it.

Once we’ve got a broad sense of what the plan for the year is, it’s time to refine it and fit it to the adventure schedule. This process starts with making a plan for what levels of adventure should release each month. There’s a balancing act between producing more of the broadly accessible low-level content that helps to bring experienced and new players together, and producing higher-level content that lets dedicated players enjoy their PCs’ growth. Levels and story beats work together to help make adventures; the sorts of plots that are appropriate for 1st-level PCs are rarely suitable for 8th-level ones, and vice versa, so getting a schedule in place requires a dance between these two considerations.

Another factor we consider when plotting adventures is providing diversity of type, theme, and location. In addition to searching lists of scenario locations for places we haven’t given a lot of attention, we like to mix things up. To name a few of the balances we consider, we look at offering both urban and wilderness adventures, both roleplay-heavy adventures where skills come to the forefront and combat-focused dungeon crawls, and both scenarios that provide unambiguous victories and those that leave dangling hooks for us to pick up in the future or pose questions for players to ponder. On top of these considerations, we also want to be sure that there are adventures that appeal to PCs in each of the major factions. When the metaplot steers us heavily toward particular types of scenarios, we use adventures that aren’t part of the metaplot to fill in the gaps.

For all this planning, though, the digital nature of Organized Play adventures gives us significant flexibility. If a developer wants to completely change an adventure to respond to unexpected data from reporting conditions, or goes on a walk and comes back with a great story idea, then there’s plenty of room to adjust. If an author comes up with an amazing NPC that would make a compelling recurring character, we have space to make that happen. With no printer deadlines to worry about, nothing is canon until the first PDF hits a fan’s inbox, and we make the most of that potential.

Linda Zayas-Palmer
Digital Adventures Development Manager

Illustration by Will O’Brien

Join Paizo Publisher and Chief Creative Officer Erik Mona for a peek at upcoming Paizo releases!

highlights include:

Pathfinder Rulebooks:
Guns & Gears, Book of the Dead, and now — Dark Archive!

Pathfinder Lost Omens:
The Grand Bazaar, Pathfinder Lost Omens: Absalom, City of Lost Omens Monsters of Myth, Knights of Lastwall, and now—Beadle & Grimm Pathfinder Lost Omens: Absalom, City of Lost Omens Special Edition!

Pathfinder Adventure Paths:
Pathfinder Adventure Path: Abomination Vaults Hardcover, Pathfinder Adventure Path: Abomination Vaults Special Edition Hardcover, Kingmaker Anniversary Edition, Quest for the Frozen Flame, Outlaws of Alkenstar, and now— Blood Lords Adventure Path!

Pathfinder Adventures:
Night of the Gray Death

Starfinder Rulebooks:
Tech Revolution, Galactic Magic, and now—Drift Crisis!

Starfinder Adventures:
The Liberation of Locus-1

New:
Pathfinder & Starfinder Infinite Licensing Program—Check out this blog more details!

Enjoy over 100 vivid art images. Don’t miss our staff seminars on Twitch for even more reveals. Happy Gen Con!

Today at Gen Con, we announced a new way for members of the Pathfinder and Starfinder communities to create content to expand the brands and make a lasting mark on the games we all love: Pathfinder and Starfinder Infinite.

Beginning on October 13, 2021, content creators will be able to sell adventures, fiction, setting supplements, rules expansions, maps, art packs, and more using Paizo’s intellectual property. That means that you can, for the first time, write an RPG supplement set in the official Pathfinder or Starfinder settings that references our locations, organizations, characters, deities and more, and sell it to your fellow players and GMs.

Want to tell the story of Kyra and Merisiel’s adventures on what they’d hoped would be a restful honeymoon? Now you can!

What about that side quest adventure you’ve always wanted to share to support your favorite Pathfinder Adventure Path? Now’s the time!

How about that custom character class or alien species you made for your Starfinder campaign that you just know others are going to love? Yep, that too.

Our partners at OneBookShelf (DriveThruRPG, DriveThruCards, Astral Tabletop) will be hosting and managing the program, bringing years of experience running similar community content marketplaces for other tabletop properties to bear.

Check out the content creation guidelines, frequently asked questions, and the starter layout templates and art assets available to community creators at pathfinderinfinite.com and starfinderinfinite.com.

We’ll have more information to share in the coming weeks, but the real excitement won’t start until all of you can share your Pathfinder and Starfinder creations with the world in just under a month. I’m looking forward to seeing what incredible things you come up with!

Mark Moreland
Director of Brand Strategy

When the Pathfinder Secrets of Magic Liveplay began, four esteemed graduates from the College of Mysteries in Absalom were sent to a tiny desert village in eastern Thuvia along the banks of the Junira River. Rumor had it that everyone in this small community had suddenly developed magical abilities. Power that, if left unchecked, might spell their doom. Perhaps more troubling, it seemed even those who just visited the town received powers as well!

In the Pathfinder Secrets of Magic Liveplay we asked, “Can these four spellslinging scholars work together to solve this mystery before rogue magic tears the place apart?”

Well tonight, the investigators finally get to the bottom of the mysterious magic given to the people of the small desert town, but if they’re to have any hope of stopping this calamity they have to face off against an incredibly powerful foe!

Join a halfling summoner, dwarf wizard, half-elf magus, and kitsune witch for a last look at the exciting new content in the Pathfinder Secrets of Magic rulebook and watch as they uncover the true danger that awaits them in the sands of Thuvia!

THANK YOU HEROES!

Your heroes are:

• Xander Jeanneret as Ingot - @Xanderrific
• Michelle Nguyen Bradley as Hachi - @iamchubbybunny
• London Carlisle as Dond Oom - @LondonCarlisle
• Bonnie Gordon as Fairel - @BonnieBellG

Meet the Cast! | See the Character Art!

Watch the premiere on YouTube or listen to the podcast on Amazon Music, iHeart Radio, iTunes, Listen Notes, Player FM, PodBean, and Spotify!

You might especially like to follow along while referencing all the new Pathfinder Secrets of Magic open-source rules content on our partner site, Archives of Nethys.

Catch the last episode of this unique, 10-episode actual-play show as it concludes tonight at 6 pm Pacific!

Join us on Twitch.tv/OfficialPaizo!

The mythology of Latin America rarely features in RPG supplements. Pathfinder has gone beyond fantasy Aztecs and Mayans to find creatures for their bestiaries, but when one of Legendary Game’s authors pitched a campaign setting based on his Puerto Rican Taino heritage, a new project was born.

The Boricubos and Latin American Monsters Kickstarter draws on the mythology of Central and South America and the Caribbean, from Puerto Rico to Paraguay, with a talented team including nearly 20 Latinx authors and artists! It includes two books—the Boricubos: The Lost Isles campaign setting and the Latin American Monsters bestiary, each with over 120 pages and available for Pathfinder Second Edition, Pathfinder RPG, and DnD 5E!

Latin American Monsters is a massive 120-page bestiary of incredible creatures from Central and South America and the Caribbean, from abúhukü to zuvembie! You'll find divine protectors like the magui alongside the seductive sihuanaba and Xipe Totec the Flayed Lord, forest fey like the backward-footed curupira and acalica weather-woses, and deathless terrors like the carreta nagua harvesting the dead. Titanic boiuna serpents destroy what the araganaqlta’a king snakes guard, while forest-mother madremontes guard the beauty of the wild, including monstrous versions of real-world creatures like the anaconda, black caiman, and giant mantis shrimp!

Boricubos: The Lost Isles is a vividly detailed archipelago where Taino-inspired gods of land and sea battle for vengeance and mortal servants are drawn into battle, while invaders rise from the ocean depths to devour the survivors of their civil war. Play 7 new ancestries like the iguaca parrot-folk, croaking coquían, fiery wolákan and thundering hurákan, and more!

The Boricubos Kickstarter for Pathfinder 1E & 2E ends Thursday 9/16.

You’ll find over 100 new archetypes, feats, spells, magic items, and more, including the shaman class for Pathfinder Second Edition and DnD 5E with dozens of spirit pacts and boons, with new shaman spirits for Pathfinder RPG! The setting also includes adventure hooks, culture and history, and more monsters, plus 3 introductory adventures for low, medium, and high-level characters to help your heroes find their place in this island paradise.

Books like these help representation for Latinx creators and gamers, and we hope everyone in the Pathfinder community enjoys expanding their world of adventure in amazing ways. The Kickstarter ends Thursday 9/16, and we hope you’ll check it out!

You can download FREE preview PDFs here!

Jason Nelson
CEO of Legendary Games

Jason Nelson is the CEO of Legendary Games and has contributed to over 80 Paizo products across every product line from Adventure Paths to Core Rulebooks, Campaign Settings to Companions, from Dungeon magazine to the upcoming Kingmaker Anniversary Edition for Pathfinder 2E.

URL: www.makeyourgamelegendary.com
Twitter: @LegendaryGamesJ

Never miss a product release again with subscriptions that suit your playstyle. From rulebooks, world guides, adventures and accessories to the latest miniatures, customize your subscription and unlock greater rewards, like discounts and free Organized Play content.

Today, we’re taking a closer look at Paizo Subscriptions, what you can subscribe to right now, and what’s coming next. We’ve already looked at the Pathfinder Rulebook and Special Edition Rulebook Ongoing Subscriptions, Starfinder Rulebook Ongoing Subscription and Pathfinder Lost Omens Subscription.

You can start your Starfinder Adventure Path Ongoing Subscription today with Starfinder Adventure Path #39: The Gilded Cage (Fly Free or Die 6 of 6)and Starfinder Adventure Path #40: Planetfall (Horizons of the Vast 1 of 6), which are both available now, or Starfinder Adventure Path #41: Serpents in the Cradle (Horizons of the Vast 2 of 6) and Starfinder Adventure Path #42: Whispers of the Eclipse (Horizons of the Vast 3 of 6) both coming in October.

Then, look forward to acquiring your compete collection of the Starfinder Horizons of the Vast Adventure Path with your ongoing subscription. Don’t forget to download the free Player’s Guide, available on the landing page!

In the Starfinder Horizons of the Vast Adventure Path, as part of a massive effort to explore and develop an uninhabited planet full of valuable resources, the heroes are placed in control of a settlement and must deal with challenges from both within and without. Far from home, can the heroes establish a thriving community and survive the uncharted system’s terrible secrets and mysteries?

But what comes after that, you ask? To find out, be sure to watch Erik Mona’s Gen Con Online Keynote next Thursday, September 16 at 3 p.m. Eastern on twitch.tv/officialpaizo. Follow up with the Telling Tales: Paizo Adventure Paths seminar on Saturday at 18th, also at 3.

Become a Subscriber Today!

When you become an ongoing subscriber to one of Paizo’s many product lines, you'll be sure to get the latest and greatest Pathfinder and Starfinder products shipped to you directly from the Paizo warehouse upon release. There’s a variety of subscriptions to choose from, with benefits ranging from free PDF copies, discounts, and more. As a bonus, when you sign up for any four or more qualifying physical Pathfinder or Starfinder subscriptions, you'll qualify to gain access to the Paizo Advantage, which grants you a 15% discount on most products available at paizo.com, and your choice of complimentary Pathfinder or Starfinder Society Scenarios. Sign up for six or more qualifying subscriptions, and you'll get both!

SUBSCRIBE TODAY!

Today marks one week until Gen Con Online! Nothing about that sentence is stressful at all, nope. Let’s take a look at some of our upcoming events!

Stream Highlights

All weekend, we’ll be streaming liveplays with our partners, as well as panels with Paizo staffers to tell you all about our upcoming products. While every panel is a must-see, here are some of the highlights, as chosen by me (coworkers feel free to disagree with me in my DMs):

• Keynote (Thursday 3pm EDT): Join Erik Mona as he talks as fast as he possibly can while spilling as much information about the next year of products as possible! I think his slideshow has clocked in somewhere around 70 slides of beautiful art, so you won’t want to miss this one.
• Catching Up with Paizo Organized Play (Thursday, 5pm EDT): Obviously I’m biased on this one, but Mike Kimmel and Jenny Jarzabski have #plans, and they’ll be teasing some of those plans live with me and Linda!
• Pathfinder Designer Showcase (Friday, 4pm EDT): The Pathfinder Design Team is going to, somehow, talk about every upcoming book in just one hour! This may or may not include details on books Erik announces in his Keynote…
• Ask Paizo Anything: Pathfinder (Saturday, 5pm EDT) and Starfinder (Saturday, 6pm EDT): We mean it, literally anything about the world. Want to know where the best meal in Nantambu is? Dying to find out what the runes of Eloritu mean? Come here and ask the teams behind our games your burning questions! *answers not guaranteed, results may vary

You can see the full stream schedule for the weekend on our Gen Con landing page.

Let’s Play Some Games

This year, we have over 500 games scheduled for Gen Con Online! Tickets for many of them are still available on Gen Con’s website; ticket sales won’t close until the game starts, but many of them will fill up, so don’t delay! Here are some of my favorite scenarios we’re running this weekend:

• PFS 3-99 Fate in the Future and SFS 3-99 Perils of the Past: This year’s interactive special is premiering as our flagship event. Join us on Friday afternoon for the PFS event and Saturday afternoon for the SFS event, as our first-ever linked special takes you on a journey through time and space to solve an anomaly and reunite lost adventurers. We can’t wait for you all to experience this year’s adventure; tickets are still available for both events, so don’t wait, grab one today!
• If you want to dive right into our ongoing storylines, definitely check out PFS Intro: Year of Shattered Sanctuaries and SFS Intro: Year of the Data Scourge. These repeatable adventures will get you right into the action, whether you’re a first-time adventurer or a long-time player!
• For our experienced Pathfinders, we have the entirety of the Breaking the Storm arc running throughout the weekend. This high-level arc brings last year’s metaplot to a close and is a real challenge for experienced characters.
• For my fellow Starfinders, we’ve got a diverse array of scenarios, including Secrets of Stillness, where you’re asked to solve a mystery by one of the faction leaders; Combatant’s Concerto: Prelude to Revolution, in which a party becomes a sinister plot; and A Waltz Through Myriad Worlds, a quest pack where you’ll get to experience four alternate timelines and discover their secrets. All these and more have tickets available!

Don’t forget to join our Discord server to get set up for your games; we’ll be hanging out there all weekend!

Charity Auction

As in previous years, we will be running a charity auction to benefit Gen Con’s charity partners: Take This and Trinity Haven. You can read more about both organizations on their websites or at Gen Con’s charity homepage. Last year we raised over $10,000 for charity with boons and other products, and while we’re not ready to announce what we’re auctioning off yet, we hope you’ll join us in raising money for these worthy causes.

We can’t wait to see you all at Gen Con Online, September 16-19! If you have any questions, join our Discord and we’ll help you get ready for the event. Until next time - Explore! Report! Cooperate! And stock up on easy-to-prep meals!

Alex Speidel
Organized Play Coordinator

The earth shook. To Iphra, the rumbling sounded like a passing heavy transport. She realized she wouldn’t maintain her footing. Iphra fired her jump jets. Being in the air stabilized her enough to avoid a nasty fall from the ridgetop she had been standing on.

The tremor passed.

“Sergeant Udrinnel, report. End.” It was Lieutenant Markalane from the shuttle a couple miles away, her voice calm but insistent.

“I’m fine. That was a good one, eh, lieutenant? End,” said Iphra.

“Affirmative, sergeant. Our engineer clocked it at a solid six on the imperial scale. Deploy your final booster and return to the shuttle. Aftershocks are anticipated. End.”

“Acknowledged. End,” said Iphra.

Her mind wandered. She ignored Markalane checking in with other scouts. Iphra thought of the engineer, Winya, a gosclaw. Long, supple, feline—a real pro. Winya’s briefing had warned of quakes on Grodrum, but this one was the first the survey team had experienced.

Iphra looked for the safest way to descend the ridge, glancing at the map on her visor’s head-up display. Her final deployment marker lay half a mile away in a valley to the east. The landscape was barren, but it wasn’t boring. Minerals and crystals on Grodrum—the reason the survey team came here—gave the planet a multihued aspect that could be breathtaking.

Equally stunning was the Locus, an eerie, starlike body that illuminated this system. The briefing had said it was magical, not a “real” star, whatever that meant. Iphra turned to face it. The Locus hung low in the sky, shedding its white light through the thin atmosphere. Grodrum’s long day was dwindling.

Iphra began her descent, using her jump jets to avoid treacherous gaps. About halfway down, the ground shuddered again. A crashing sound to Iphra’s right sent her heart into her throat and activated her instincts. She fired her jump jets and leapt. Part of the ridge slid away under her, and she descended onto moving rock. Iphra fired her jump jets again.

“Come on! Come on! Come on!”

The second leap threw her clear of the slide zone. Iphra took cover on the downhill side of a solid-looking outcropping and crouched, leaning against the rock. She closed her eyes and caught her breath. Then, as she opened her eyes again, she spotted it: a jagged, beautiful pinnacle of white crystal jutted from the valley below. It hadn’t been there before. Iphra looked at her deployment marker and saw that the crystal wasn’t too far from it. A little north.

“Sergeant Udrinnel?! Please respond! End!”

Iphra realized she must have missed a communication from the lieutenant.

“Udrinnel here. Uh, I’m good. A little landslide, but we’re good. Uh… and lieutenant, a mass of crystal erupted from the planet’s surface near my deployment marker. Sending you a visual. Any change in my orders? End.”

“Stand by. But keep safe, sergeant. End.”

Iphra descended toward the deployment marker as she waited. When she reached level ground, she turned and looked back up the ridge, standing in the shadow of the hills. The landslide had revealed a fissure in the rock, or the quake had cracked the slope.

“Sergeant, proceed as planned. I’ve been advised the booster you’re deploying will still allow us a detailed scan of that crystal from our location. The concern is the area near the crystal might be unstable. Get it done and return to the shuttle. Let’s call it a day. End.”

“Aye, lieutenant. End,” said Iphra.

Disappointment rose. It would’ve been nice to see that crystal up close. To touch it. That sort of thing makes being a scout one of the best jobs in the imperial military. But orders were orders. Besides, Iphra supposed she might have another chance, after scans verified the area’s stability and geological content. She turned, stood, and gazed. The crystal’s tip glistened in the waning light of the Locus.

“Contact, contact!” The voice of Sergeant Enosh, another scout, erupted over the comm. Assault rifle bursts were audible in the background.

Iphra recalled the mission brief. Orbital probes had shown Grodrum bore only simple surface life. Nothing should be here to shoot at. Still, Iphra unslung her rifle as Lieutenant Markalane’s voice broke in over the comm again.

Iphra heard only the start of that exchange. In her peripheral vision, something massive, amorphous, and multilimbed emerged from the shadow on the rocky slope to her left. It struck Iphra three times before she could react. She fell. The impact knocked the wind out of her. Pain along her flank suggested broken ribs. Environmental force fields kicked on, patching cracks in the armor on her left arm and side.

The creature loomed over her, blocking the sky. It slid its malleable arms around her. Numerous orbs that glowed with white light focused on her, burning with malevolence. Were they eyes? Was this thing sapient?

The thoughts came unbidden. Iphra raised her rifle, levering it into automatic mode by muscle memory more than intent. She pressed the trigger. Horrid shrieking drowned out the rifle’s reports.

The monster recoiled. Unhindered even if it was injured, it lifted Iphra with it and squeezed. Sergeant Iphra Udrinnel’s vision went white with searing pain, then collapsed to black.

---

“Look alive, squad! The L.T. will be here shortly.”

Markalane heard the baritone bark as she rounded the corner into the palace’s parade yard. She folded her hands behind her. Pausing, she took in the troopers before her. The dominus, her lord, had assigned her soldiers, the expendable kind, for the next stage of her assignment.

She frowned.

In the yard, tromlins formed two neat lines. Bloodseekers, theropadal bipeds, stood alongside quadrupedal ceratopsid hardshells. These dinosaur-like people formed the rank and file of the dominus’s Alien Cohort. A barrel-shaped figure in light military plate, the rank of sergeant marked on his gorget, paced before them. The sergeant’s head, pale-furred and ursine, looked too small in the armor.

Illustration by Yun Huai Huang from Starfinder Adventure: The Liberation of Locus-1.

Markalane recognized this gathol—Sergeant Narg. Underneath the armor, she knew, Narg’s body was massive, covered in the same pale fur and several stonelike plates. His people were among the few in the Cohort tough enough and willing to keep fractious tromlins in line.

Turning to continue inspecting the squad, Narg spotted Markalane. He paused. Then, in the same sharp baritone, he said, “Officer on the field! Attention!”

Every soldier snapped into a formal stance. Markalane strode around the squad in silence, glaring at each soldier in turn. None moved. None dared return her gaze.

“We’ve been assigned a special mission,” she finally said. “We’re taking a mining team to a new system to recover a unique mineral. You are to keep order during this operation. Good Azlanti scouts died to make this mission possible, troopers. Honor them, me, and yourselves by performing your duties well. I expect no less.”

“Yes, lieutenant!” replied every tromlin in unison.

“Sergeant Narg.”

“Aye, Lieutenant Markalane?”

“The selected troopers must be ready to fly by oh seven hundred. Mining droids, security equipment, and remaining gear must be secured aboard the shuttle and ready for inspection then as well. That’s on you, this squad, and the other field sergeants. Got it?”

“Understood, lieutenant.”

“Good. Get it done.”

About The Author

Chris S. Sims is an RPG industry veteran. Starting in 2001, he has worked with or for numerous companies from Paizo and Wizards to Monte Cook Games and Undead Labs. This piece is his first flash fiction. Chris is American but currently lives in Austria with his wife, two daughters, and two cats. He recently made an RPG called Draculola with those daughters. When he isn't doing freelance writing or editing, Chris avoids sleep by cooking, meditating, playing games, playing with his kids, or something else entertaining. You can find out more about Chris and how to contact him at chrisssims.com.

About Tales From The Drift

The Tales from the Drift series of web-based flash fiction provides an exciting glimpse into the setting of the Starfinder Roleplaying Game. Written by members of the Starfinder development team and some of the most celebrated authors in tie-in gaming fiction, the Tales from the Drift series promises to explore the worlds, alien cultures, deities, history, and organizations of the Starfinder setting with engaging stories to inspire Game Masters and players alike.

Ding, they’ve all leveled up to 7! And they have new loot!

Join a halfling summoner, dwarf wizard, half-elf magus, and kitsune witch for a first look at some of the exciting new content in the upcoming Pathfinder Secrets of Magic, and watch as they uncover the true danger that awaits them in the sands of Thuvia! This unique, 10-episode, actual play show airs live every Wednesday at 6 PM Pacific through September 15 on Twitch.tv/OfficialPaizo!

In the Pathfinder: Secrets of Magic liveplay, you can have a great time learning the Pathfinder Second Edition game and see the exciting material from the Pathfinder Secrets of Magic rulebook, which is now available!

In Episode 01 | A Lively Welcome: Four scholars are sent to a small desert town to investigate a wild tale. Rumor has it that everyone in the community has developed magical abilities. Upon arriving, they learn that the rumors might be true—and that such power can be quite dangerous!

In Episode 02 | Merchant of Lies: After dealing with an inn run amok, our scholars finally get a chance to rest and learn about the town, but their investigation is stymied by a massive commotion. A local merchant is selling marvelous gold and gem-encrusted wares at incredible prices. Too good to be true, or the deal of a lifetime?

In Episode 03 | Season of Flame: Dancing flames race through the tiny town of Zaltir, causing panic and chaos in their wake. They move so fast that it may be impossible for our scholars to catch them before the town burns to ashes!

In Episode 04: The Great Goat War, Part 1: Two goatherders have declared war on each other, and the nearby village is caught in the carnage! Using their newfound magical powers, these two threaten to bring ruin to the community as armored goats run amok.

In Episode 05 |The Great Goat War, Part 2: It’s war! Two goatherders fight over a small patch of arable scrublands that their goats use to feed, but this "No Goat's Land" isn’t big enough for the both of them. Can our scholars and investigators broker a peace before the war spills over into the nearby town?

In Episode 06 | Shadows and Song: A master thief is on the loose in Zaltir, using powerful magic to steal from the unsuspecting people of the tiny desert town. Can our scholars from Absalom track down this rogue and bring them to justice?

In Episode 07 | Caught by the Tale: Waiting in ambush, our scholars hope to catch the treacherous thief who stole a number of their prized belongings. Meanwhile, a visiting noble's parties are growing out of control, threatening to engulf the town in endless revelry.

In Episode 08 | The Spark: After dealing with the treacherous merchant, our investigators hope to rest and relax, but the party at the Drowsy Camel never stops now that Vintarius is the center of attention. More troubling, though, are the ominous flames dancing on the horizon, and they’re growing closer by the hour!

What will happen next in Episode 9 of the Pathfinder: Secrets of Magic liveplay?

In Case You Missed it!

Your heroes are:

• Xander Jeanneret as Ingot - @Xanderrific
• Michelle Nguyen Bradley as Hachi - @iamchubbybunny
• London Carlisle as Dond Oom - @LondonCarlisle
• Bonnie Gordon as Fairel - @BonnieBellG

Meet the Cast! | See the Character Art!

Watch the premiere on YouTube or listen to the podcast on Amazon Music, iHeart Radio, iTunes, Listen Notes, Player FM, PodBean, and Spotify!

In the Pathfinder: Secrets of Magic liveplay, you can have a great time learning the Pathfinder Second Edition game and get a first look at some of the exciting new content in the upcoming Pathfinder Secrets of Magic rulebook scheduled to release September 1! Catch Episode 3 of this unique, 10-episode actual play show as it continues tonight at 6 p.m. Pacific at Twitch.tv/OfficialPaizo!

Join us on Twitch.tv/OfficialPaizo!

Hello again from Geek Grind Coffee! We are passionate gamers and lovers of all things that celebrate art and imagination! It is with these loves brought together that we created Geek Grind Coffee. But now we need your help!

With your support, Geek Grind Coffee will purchase the K-Cup Coffee Pod manufacturing machines and supplies we require to expand our offering from one current product (Dragon's Roast - Dark Fire Blend Coffee Pods) to more than sixteen different coffee pod offerings! These are the single-use pods you are familiar with. They are compatible will all the major coffee pod machines. We have the machines waiting at the supplier and with a successful Kickstarter, they will arrive about 2 weeks after the end of the campaign, at which point we will begin production!

The Kickstarter funds will specifically be used to invest in reliable K-Cup Coffee Pod manufacturing machines and the supplies needed to create an expanded line of coffee pods. We have worked in the mountains of Colombia growing the world's finest coffee for many years. Now we hope to have the opportunity to expand and offer more delicious releases with your help!

We plan to expand our line to at least 16 different blends and flavors, and we may expand to more than 20. Our turnaround time will be very attractive to backers as we know the coffee processing methods very well and have produced K-Cups in the past, so we know what to do, we just need your help to do it!

See our additional Kickstarter informational page here.

Pathfinder and Starfinder Coffee and Tea

More About Our Geek Grind Story:

We operate Geek Grind Coffee from beautiful South Carolina and the mountains of Colombia. We ship from Chicago due to the central location. Our family has been growing and roasting coffee from the mountains of Colombia since the 1980s. We are an American family living between the two countries of the US and these coffee farms.

A coffee family since the late 1970's, today we offer many exciting traditional roasts and flavored coffees available in whole bean and ground coffee at our company store GeekGrindCoffee.com—We have hundreds of 5-Star reviews! This Kickstarter will allow us to expand our K-Cup offerings into many of the roasts and flavors that are currently so popular on our website but only available as whole bean or ground coffee. These are all the things we love brought together! Coffee, gaming, fantasy, science fiction and more! Geek Grind Coffee is the perfect blend of everything we love!

We are utilizing our family's decades of passion, skill and expertise in the cultivation and roasting of mountain-grown Colombian coffee. Through Geek Grind Coffee, you have immediate access to our Colombian coffee farms and the unique quality that only direct-sourced coffee farming can bring to you. This may be the best coffee you have ever tasted and for a simple reason—we grow it and carefully manage every stage of the process in order to get to your cup.

Thank you for your support!

—Natalia and Patrick from Geek Grind Coffee and Tea Co.

Visit our Kickstarter!

Hi all! For this latest community blog, we’re celebrating Rosh Hashana, the New Year of the Jewish calendar, which begins on the evening of September 6th this year. I’ve reached out to our fantastic creators to celebrate Jewish heritage and how it relates to our life and work. I hope you enjoy their insights and thoughtful reflections!

Avi Kool (they/them)
Senior Editor

Content Warning: Some of the following entries discuss the Holocaust.

Avi Kool (They/Them)

When I was 5 or 6 years old, my Hebrew school teacher told me something I’ll never forget: “Jews question everything.” You can see this philosophy in the constant back-and-forth of Rabbinical literature throughout history, but even as a child, this stuck with me (perhaps to my teachers’ chagrin). In many ways, this drive to find the answers to hard questions has been a boon in my work as a TTRPG editor.

I also owe more than I could ever say to my grandmother. She was forced to leave school at 14 when the Nazis seized control of the Netherlands, where she was born, and she went into hiding. She loves math and language, and I often wonder what she would have done with her life if she had been able to continue her education. In addition to being my personal hero and an all-around wonderful person, she’s an avid fan of games and sports. Her skill at games continues even at her ripe old age of 94: she solves 1000-piece puzzles by, and I quote, “remembering all the shapes” and routinely mops the floor with my mom and her friends at mahjong. She actually won’t play with the other residents at the retirement home because they don’t “take the game seriously enough.” I figure she’s earned the right to be a die-hard gamer at her age!

Jacob W. Michaels (He/Him)

Shana tova, Paizo community. I’m Jacob W. Michaels, one of Paizo’s Jewish freelancers. I’ve contributed to a number of Pathfinder books in First and Second Edition, and recently had my first Pathfinder Society Scenario published (2-19: Enter the Pallid Peak). I’m excited to have my first contribution to a rulebook, Guns & Gears, out soon, plus the Kingmaker 2e conversion! This is the time of year, as we approach the High Holy Days, my thoughts turn to tikkun olam, the Jewish idea of repairing the world in part by doing good deeds. Then, on Yom Kippur, we look at what we’ve done wrong over the last year, and ask for forgiveness, not just from God, but from the people we’ve wronged. I think it’s funny that for many of us, our gaming experiences match these concepts. We like making heroes who set out to save the world (though, our adventurers probably kill a lot more monsters than we do in our real lives). We even may find ourselves atoning for our sins—literally in the case of champions or other divine servitors who’ve upset their deities and lost their powers. But of course, it’s so much easier in games, which is a shame. I imagine what this world could be like if we could all try to live up to our best characters’ ideals. Maybe we’re not killing a rampaging dragon, but even the littlest thing—let someone into traffic, pay for a stranger’s coffee—can make a difference. If we can start small, then we can work up to the massive things we still need to do to make the world a better place. Be safe and be good, friends.

Hilary Moon Murphy (She/Her)

My name is Hilary Moon Murphy. When I was growing up, my family told me in no uncertain terms: "We are not Jews." This was in a family where the adults spoke Yiddish amongst themselves (but never to me) so I grew up understanding Yiddish as a second tongue. This was in a family where I was raised by a woman with numbers tattooed on her arm from a concentration camp. This was in a family where, one day, a family member started screaming when a Nazi character appeared on a TV show and didn't stop until almost ten minutes after the TV was turned off.

I believe that my family cut me off from my Jewish heritage because they wanted me to be safe. They wanted to bury their memories of everything and everyone they had lost. This denial was so strong that I didn't start reclaiming my heritage until after I had children of my own. There were tears on my face the first time my kids and I lit a menorah. I felt like I was bridging generations, reaching out to all those my family lost and saying, "I remember you. I will not let you be forgotten."

David Schwartz (He/Him)

Hey! I'm David Schwartz, a long-time contributor to Paizo. In case the name didn't tip you off, I'm Jewish (among other things). Before I was asked to contribute to this blog, I had not really considered how my Jewishness influenced my approach to roleplaying games. After much thought, I realized that it can probably be summed up by my two favorite anecdotes from the Talmud:

1) A non-Jew came before Shammai and said, "I will convert on the condition that you teach me the entire Torah while I am standing on one foot." Shammai pushed him away with the builder's cubit in his hand. The same gentile came before Hillel. He converted him, saying, "That which is hateful to you do not do to another; that is the entire Torah, the rest is commentary. Go study." (Shabbat 31a)

2) The Mishnah states: If a fledgling bird is found within fifty cubits of a dovecote, it belongs to the owner of the dovecote. If it found outside the limit of fifty cubits, it belongs to the person who finds it. Rabbi Jeremiah asked: If one foot of the fledgling is within the limit of fifty cubits, and one foot is outside it, what is the law? It was for this question that Rabbi Jeremiah was thrown out of the house of study. (Bava Batra 23b)

You can find me on social media as davidschwartznz on Twitter and Facebook.

There are just a few weeks left in the open playtest period for Starfinder’s upcoming evolutionist class. If you haven't already downloaded the free playtest PDF and tried out the new class, you still have time! The playtest ends September 24th, and we need your feedback to make this class the best it can be.

We’re especially excited to share with you a concept sketch of the evolutionist iconic, by our own Kent Hamilton! Look for more information about this new character in the future.

Illustration by Kent Hamilton

If you haven’t yet, test out an evolutionist build in a home game or in Starfinder Organized Play, then share your thoughts via our survey or playtest forum.

We're already processing the feedback you've sent us so far and are discussing the ways we might improve the evolutionist class. Also, if you missed our update elsewhere, please note that the evolutionist loses all EP at the end of combat!

Thank you so much for your respectful and productive survey responses and forum conversations—these are invaluable sources of feedback, and we've been keeping a close eye on them. We’re especially interested in any thoughts you have about the complexity of the class.

For those who have already participated in the playtest, we thank you, and to those who plan to still send us feedback: we eagerly await your thoughts!

—The Starfinder Team

The Worldwound. A cursed land that threatens all life. Not a wasteland, or the site of a natural disaster, but an abscess through which the mortal world bleeds into the Abyss. One hundred years ago, this realm teemed with life. Gardens flourished and cities thrived here, but now death reigns over all.

There are no “common folk” here—only those who are willing to risk everything to defend the world against the endless hunger of the Abyss. Or... to win glory. To answer the call of forbidden knowledge. To rise above the fate prescribed to mortals.

And you? What has brought you here? Are you ready to fight? Are you ready to lead? Are you ready to ascend? And if you're ready—which path will you choose?

How will your power manifest? Will it breathe new life into the corrupted lands, or kill them off for good? Will you be a beacon of light in the darkness, or an island of chaos and madness?

Who will follow you? Saints or sinners? Mortals or beings from other planes of existence?

Who will you become for them? A commander? A prophet? A friend? Something more? Or will mortal pawns and their feelings no longer interest you at all?

Only you can answer these questions. Only you can decide which path to take. The choice is yours, crusader.

Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, the computer RPG developed by Owlcat Games, is available now on Steam, the Epic Games Store, and GOG for PC/Mac. Console adaptations for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One will follow next spring. In this adaptation of the 2013 Pathfinder Adventure Path of the same name, you are tasked with saving a dark and gritty demon-infested world from ruin—or damning it to its fate. Learn more in our preview article.

Watch the Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous official launch here:

Order Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous on Steam, GOG, or Epic Games Store!

OPC Musings

Those of you with high Perception modifiers will notice that this section has a new title. As of Monday, I have been promoted to Paizo’s Organized Play Coordinator! This is a very exciting change that Tonya and I have been working toward for a while. I am now responsible for most of the day-to-day operations of the program, as well as the long-term planning for Organized Play. It’s a lot of responsibility, but I’m very excited by the prospect!

Tonya, meanwhile, has taken on some new responsibilities as Paizo’s first Director of Community! While she still supervises me and the Organized Play Program, she is also now supervising the Customer Service team, managing our company convention presence, as well as working to strengthen interactions between members of all Paizo communities: our players, customers, staff, freelancers, streamers, and more.

From Tonya: I’ve spent just under 6 years shepherding Paizo’s Organized Play programs. With this handoff, I’m not out of the picture, but my role becomes more strategic and less tactical, as I instead focus on planning, integration with Paizo as a whole, and contributing to the bigger picture. Which means I won’t be as visible in day-to-day activities, as Alex steps into many of the travel and communication duties. This is bittersweet, as I relish the challenges of my new role but will miss the friends and experiences I had as both the OPC and the OPM. I’ve watched Alex grow into the role and am confident in his ability to deliver a quality program, alongside Linda and the developers. Please join me in congratulating Alex on his promotion! Huzzah!

Digital Adventure Releases

Here are this month’s digital releases, available September 29, 2021.

Pathfinder:

• Pathfinder Society Scenario #3-02: The East Hill Haunting*
• Pathfinder Society Scenario #3-03: Echoes of Desperation*
• Pathfinder Bounty #14: The Blackwood Truce

Starfinder:

• Starfinder Society Scenario #4-08: Precious Cargo*

*Part of a subscription

Sanctioning

Let’s start with the big news: Pathfinder Secrets of Magic is now sanctioned for Pathfinder Society! The character options are now available to all characters in the campaign as listed on the Character Options page. For Starfinder Society, we’ve sanctioned Starfinder Adventure: Junker’s Delight for both play and character options, and we’ve also gotten the options from the Devastation Ark Adventure Path out the door. Which means... we’re caught up on both programs! How about that?

Of course, next month we have Pathfinder Guns & Gears, Pathfinder Lost Omens Grand Bazaar, and Starfinder Tech Revolution, not to mention a number of new adventures. So, we have much more on the way very soon! For now, enjoy our newest offerings!

GM Recognition

At PaizoCon Online Europe, we awarded three new Campaign Service Coins. These Coins are given to volunteers who go above and beyond the typical volunteer duties to support their communities and Organized Play. Nominations are always accepted; volunteers may be nominated by emailing organizedplay@paizo.com with their name, region and a description of their service. As we begin to return to physical events, we hope to resume awarding these in-person, so letting us know what upcoming events they’re attending is also useful.

Congratulations to our new Campaign Coin holders:
847 Tom Mannering
848 Andrew Wilson
849 Chris Manning

Upcoming Conventions

This month is our final major convention of the year: Gen Con Online! The catalog is live and tickets are on sale for all our events now. We hope you’re looking forward to the premiere of our newest interactive specials, as well as the rest of our events at the best four days in gaming.

Remember that you can always check out the list of upcoming events using the new Convention Calendar!

Until next time: Explore! Report! Cooperate! And go learn some magical secrets!

Alex Speidel
Organized Play Coordinator

Tonya Woldridge
Director of Community

While the Pathfinder: Secrets of Magic liveplay is usually on Wednesdays at 6 pm Pacific, we are taking the night off to support and call attention to the growing problem of hate raids on marginalized streamers. In short, there has been a “recent explosion of ‘hate raids’—in which trolls overwhelm streamers’ chats with bot-powered fake accounts that spam hateful messages.” We are standing in solidarity with other streamers to take September 1 off to say #TwitchDoBetter. We need Twitch to make additional tech tools to create a safer space a top priority. You can join us tomorrow, Thursday September 2 this week.

Gaming Is for All

Whether you are the GM or a player, participating in a tabletop roleplaying game includes a social contract: everyone has gathered together to have fun telling a story. For many, roleplaying is a way to escape the troubles of everyday life. Be mindful of everyone at the table and what they want out of the game, so that everyone can have fun. When a group gathers for the first time, they should talk about what they hope to experience at the table, as well as any topics they want to avoid. Everyone should understand that elements might come up that make some players feel uncomfortable or even unwelcome, and everyone should agree to respect those boundaries during play. That way, everyone can enjoy the game together.

Pathfinder is a game for everyone, regardless of their age, gender, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any other identities and life experiences. It is the responsibility of all of the players, not just the GM, to make sure the table is fun and welcoming to all.

—Pathfinder Second Edition Core Rulebook, page 8.

Now, back to the story! In the Pathfinder: Secrets of Magic liveplay, you can have a great time learning the Pathfinder Second Edition game and see the exciting material from the Pathfinder Secrets of Magic rulebook, which is now available!

Join a halfling summoner, dwarf wizard, half-elf magus, and kitsune witch for a first look at some of the exciting new content in the upcoming Pathfinder Secrets of Magic and watch as they uncover the true danger that awaits them in the sands of Thuvia! This unique, 10-episode, actual play show airs live every Wednesday at 6 PM Pacific through September 15 on Twitch.tv/OfficialPaizo!

In Episode 01 | A Lively Welcome: Four scholars are sent to a small desert town to investigate a wild tale. Rumor has it that everyone in the community has developed magical abilities. Upon arriving, they learn that the rumors might be true—and that such power can be quite dangerous!

In Episode 02 | Merchant of Lies: After dealing with an inn run amok, our scholars finally get a chance to rest and learn about the town, but their investigation is stymied by a massive commotion. A local merchant is selling marvelous gold and gem-encrusted wares at incredible prices. Too good to be true, or the deal of a lifetime?

In Episode 03 | Season of Flame: Dancing flames race through the tiny town of Zaltir, causing panic and chaos in their wake. They move so fast that it may be impossible for our scholars to catch them before the town burns to ashes!

In Episode 04: The Great Goat War, Part 1: Two goatherders have declared war on each other, and the nearby village is caught in the carnage! Using their newfound magical powers, these two threaten to bring ruin to the community as armored goats run amok.

In Episode 05 |The Great Goat War, Part 2: It’s war! Two goatherders fight over a small patch of arable scrublands that their goats use to feed, but this "No Goat's Land" isn’t big enough for the both of them. Can our scholars and investigators broker a peace before the war spills over into the nearby town?

In Episode 06 | Shadows and Song: A master thief is on the loose in Zaltir, using powerful magic to steal from the unsuspecting people of the tiny desert town. Can our scholars from Absalom track down this rogue and bring them to justice?

In Episode 07 | Caught by the Tale: Waiting in ambush, our scholars hope to catch the treacherous thief who stole a number of their prized belongings. Meanwhile, a visiting noble's parties are growing out of control, threatening to engulf the town in endless revelry.

What will happen next in Episode 8 of the Pathfinder: Secrets of Magic liveplay?

In Case You Missed it!

Your heroes are:

• Xander Jeanneret as Ingot - @Xanderrific
• Michelle Nguyen Bradley as Hachi - @iamchubbybunny
• London Carlisle as Dond Oom - @LondonCarlisle
• Bonnie Gordon as Fairel - @BonnieBellG

Meet the Cast! | See the Character Art!

Watch the premiere on YouTube or listen to the podcast on Amazon Music, iHeart Radio, iTunes, Listen Notes, Player FM, PodBean, and Spotify!

In the Pathfinder: Secrets of Magic liveplay, you can have a great time learning the Pathfinder Second Edition game and get a first look at some of the exciting new content in the upcoming Pathfinder Secrets of Magic rulebook scheduled to release September 1! Catch Episode 3 of this unique, 10-episode actual play show as it continues tonight at 6 p.m. Pacific at Twitch.tv/OfficialPaizo!

Join us on Twitch.tv/OfficialPaizo!

In every adventure, the heroes face adversity to win the day. Likewise, these thrilling new tools and tales have overcome obstacles to arrive at the Paizo Store and your favorite local game store today!

Pathfinder Secrets of Magic

Seize the Secrets!
Discover the untold potential of magic! Create a unique and powerful spellcaster using the new magus and summoner classes. Choose from over 200 new spells with options for all spellcasters, excavate new magic items, and dive into lore that explores the mysteries of magic in detail. Elementalism, geomancy, shadow magic, rune magic, and pervasive magic that alters the entire game world—it’s all here in Pathfinder Secrets of Magic!

Pathfinder Secrets of Magic Special Edition Hardcover

This deluxe special edition is bound in faux leather with metallic deboss cover elements and a bound-in ribbon bookmark.

Pathfinder Secrets of Magic Pocket Edition

The pocket edition presents the same contents in a smaller sized softcover for a lower price and better portability.

Pathfinder Adventure Path #170: Spoken on the Song Wind (Strength of Thousands 2 of 6)

Trouble in the Academy
The students have proved their mettle to their instructors at the Magaambya, who now trust them to handle academy business in the surrounding metropolis of Nantambu, the Song-Wind City. Nantambu now faces more than its usual dangers, including a vengeful alchemist, stealthy infiltrators, and a crime boss bent on expanding her influence. Can the students discover the secrets of a mysterious artifact, protect their fellow classmates, and still graduate? The Strength of Thousands Adventure Path continues with “Spoken on the Song Wind,” a complete adventure for 4th- to 7th-level characters.

Pathfinder Bounty #13: The Blackwood Abundance

A Pathfinder Bounty designed for 1st level.
A recent rescue mission led to the discovery of many ruined sites from an ancient civilization. Some of the ruins contain an abundance of strange mushrooms, and a curious explorer asks the PCs to help collect and identify them. This adventure ties in to events in Pathfinder Society Intro #2: United in Purpose, though it doesn’t assume the PCs are members of the Pathfinder Society.

Pathfinder Society Intro #1: The Second Confirmation

A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 1-2.
A Pathfinder Society initiate goes missing on their Confirmation mission to become a fully-fledged field agent. With no update on the initiate’s whereabouts, the Society assembles a group of initiates into a rare group Confirmation in order to spearhead a rescue. It’s up to a new generation of heroes to save one of their own, and potentially make a few big discoveries along the way!

Pathfinder Society Intro #2: United in Purpose

A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 1-2.
When a group of Pathfinder Society initiates recently completed their Confirmation and rescued a fellow Pathfinder, they also uncovered a host of ruins belonging to an ancient civilization. Now, the Society’s major factions have sent their foremost experts and leaders to begin coordinating a thorough investigation of the ruins. Strong and savvy field agents are needed to begin uncovering the secrets hidden within these ruins!

Pathfinder Society #3-01: Intro: Year of Shattered Sanctuaries

A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 1-4.
A recently inducted Pathfinder field agent makes a startling discovery as pleas for assistance flood the Society’s Grand Lodge from across the Inner Sea region. A group of Pathfinders come to assist in assessing the ongoing damage to the Society when a staunch ally requests their assistance. Stepping into a problem close to home, the agents quickly uncover a larger plot set to tear the Society apart, and it’s up to them to raise the alarm!

Pathfinder Society Intro: Year of Shattered Sanctuaries is the introduction to the ongoing story of the Year of Shattered Sanctuaries. It’s also the first scenario in a four-part arc detailing the events taking place in and around the Society's headquarters at the Grand Lodge in Absalom, the City of Lost Omens. Other arcs explore other locations across the Inner Sea region. While the arcs can be played in any order, it’s recommended that players experience the scenarios within each individual arc in order, and this scenario is a natural starting point for the Year 3 metaplot.

Starfinder Society Scenario #4-06: Combatant's Concerto: Prelude to Revolution

A Starfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 3-6.
When a violent insurrectionist group threatens an upcoming space gala in the Veskarium, a group of Starfinders find themselves caught in the crossfire. Innocent lives hang in the balance unless the PCs can discover who's behind the dangerous plot and stop them before it's too late.

Starfinder Society Scenario #4-07: A Haven for Scourged Machines

A Starfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 7-10.
The Starfinder Society has traced the hostile robots involved in the first Data Scourge attacks to a facility in the Vast. Now, it's up to veteran Starfinders to explore the facility that manufactured the machines to find answers—but it won't be easy. Danger lurks around every corner in this massive factory, and a few nasty surprises lie in wait for our intrepid heroes.

Starfinder Flip-Tiles: City Alien Quarter Expansion

Sometimes adventure takes you to the alien side of town. Next time your players are looking for a taste of off-world cuisine and culture while in the big city, these Flip-Tiles have all you need to set them up for a thrilling encounter. Starfinder Flip-Tiles: City Alien Quarter Expansion provides beautifully illustrated 6" × 6" map tiles that you can use to expand your city with a neighborhood fit for extraterrestrial habitation! Inside, you'll find 24 richly crafted, double-sided map tiles. This expansion set, along with Starfinder Flip-Tiles: City Starter Set, lets you create futuristic urban locales with endless variety! So, stop your sketching and start your flipping today!

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