Welcome to the fifth Starfinder Second Edition Field Test!

The Starfinder Second Edition Playtest is coming soon—but for some, August isn’t nearly soon enough! To give you some insight into the process of creating a new edition of Starfinder, the Starfinder team has released four Field Tests so far. These small snapshots of our work in progress have previewed three classes (the envoy, mystic, and soldier) as well as new ancestries. For our fifth Field Test, we’re doing something a bit different: encounters! So, it’s time to make some Starfinder characters, if you haven’t already. These Corpse Fleet raiders and Aeon Guard soldiers aren’t going to fight themselves! (However entertaining that would be…)

Who needs regular zombies when we’ve got cybernetic zombies?
Illustration by Mirco Paganessi

Field Test #5 includes two encounters, one for 1st-level characters and one for 5th-level characters. Each encounter includes everything a GM needs to throw their party right into the action: a basic narrative setup, a battle map, multiple enemy stat blocks, and enemy tactics. We’ve even included the text of our new weapon traits so you know how the enemies’ weapons work, and some discussion of our encounter design principles so you can see what we’re going for.

The first encounter tasks the player characters with defending a data center from Corpse Fleet privateers. If the initial encounter isn’t enough for you, there’s a bonus stat block for groups who want an extra challenge against a tough enemy! (Spoiler alert: some of you may die.)

This Aeon Guard trooper wants you to make a character. For target practice.
Illustration by Roberto Pitturru

You’ll need 5th-level characters for the second encounter, which pits the player characters against a group of Aeon Guard troopers. Careful! Rumor has it that they’ve got some sort of ferocious beast protecting them. I’m sure it’ll be fine, though. You’re going to make an amazing Field Test character. And they totally absolutely won’t die. Definitely not!

In all seriousness, please feel free to use this content in whatever way you like. The Field Tests are only snapshots, and we realize that you can’t really create a full Starfinder party yet, unless you double up on some of the classes we’ve previewed so far. That’s okay! This content is meant as a preview. Have fun with it. Mix it up. Maybe give enemy stat blocks to the players and let them play out a Corpse Fleet vs. Aeon Guard battle royale!

What’s next? When’s the playtest?!
It’s only a few short months until Gen Con 2024, when we’ll officially be releasing the Starfinder Playtest Rulebook! The PDF of the rulebook will be a free download, and you’ll also have the option of buying a softcover print book if you prefer a physical format for your playtest rules! We’re printing a limited quantity, so if you want a piece of Starfinder history, consider grabbing a copy.

Along with the rulebook, we’re releasing two playtest scenarios (Shards of the Glass Planet and It Came from the Vast! ) and a full 64-page module, A Cosmic Birthday , filled with more encounters and lore. Watch this space for news about more scenarios and another adventure module releasing in the following months. Finally, on June 22, 2024, you can pick up even more free Starfinder Second Edition Playtest stat blocks in our Free RPG Dayproduct!

I’m sure you can’t wait to make characters, play the adventures, and provide playtest feedback. We’re not quite there yet—but we will be soon! In the meantime, check starfinderplaytest.com for the latest news and information about Starfinder Second Edition, enjoy Field Test #5, and be sure to check out our Starfinder panels and play some games at PaizoCon Online 2024! (Alas, we don’t have an entire panel dedicated to the many benefits of making attack rolls against Aeon Guards, but it’s on our bucket list.)

Starfinder PaizoCon Panels

Friday 5/24
Keynote: 10–12 p.m. (PST)
Starfinder Second Edition: 12–1 p.m. (PST)
StarFriends Live Playtest Extreme!!: 4–6 p.m. (PST)

Saturday 5/25
Transitions from Starfinder First Edition to Second Edition: 12–1 p.m. (PST)

Sunday 5/26
Mechageddon!: 4–6 p.m. (PST)

Download Starfinder Field Test #5

— The Starfinder Team

-Thurston Hillman, Managing Creative Director (Starfinder)
-Jenny Jarzabski, Senior Developer
-Dustin Knight, Developer
-Jessica Catalan, Starfinder Society Developer
-Mike Kimmel, Developer

Paizo’s made a name for itself on its adventures—even before the rise of the Pathfinder RPG, we were creating standalone adventures and Adventure Paths. There’s an old industry adage that “adventures don’t sell,” and while it’s true that a product like an adventure, which is aimed only at the GM, will sell less than a product aimed at players, I’ve never agreed with the theory that creating and publishing adventures is a waste of resources. To me, adventures are the whole point of an RPG—without adventures, GMs have nothing to run and players have nothing to play.

While a custom-created adventure by your own GM will always be able to speak to your table’s gaming preferences, creating adventures takes a lot of work. With published adventures, a GM can not only save a lot of time in preparing for a game or a campaign, but also find inspiration in them or learn how adventures are written, both of which help a GM get better at their craft. And when you don’t have a group to game with, even the simple act of reading a published adventure can help you feel that you’re still connected to your hobby until you find a new group to game with.

Published adventures have another advantage as well—they create shared experiences for gamers to talk about. It’s one thing to be at a convention or go online to talk about an adventure your PCs went on and how you barely made it out of the dungeon alive, but when you’ve done this with a published adventure, other gamers out there in the world who have been on the same adventure feel a connection to your game, and a greater discourse can be born out of that experience much in the same way as talking with friends about a recent movie or video game everyone’s been watching or playing.

As big a part of Paizo’s history as adventures are, it’s no surprise that we have several categories of adventures to choose from—and with the recent adjustments to our Adventure Path lengths and the formats of our standalone Adventures, I figured it’s time to chat a little bit about how Paizo’s three categories of published adventures are different, so you can figure out which category works best for your current campaign. Adventures are broken down into three size categories: Small, Medium, and Large.

Small: Scenarios and Quests

Our shortest adventure offerings are Scenarios and Quests. These PDF-only products give you a shorter game experience meant to play out over the course of two hours or so (in the case of a quest) or a single game session (a scenario). These are all part of Paizo’s Organized Play program, but they work just as well for a home game that needs a quick encounter or a short filler adventure in between longer storylines. You can think of a Scenario or a Quest as a short film.

Medium: Standalone Adventures

Our standalone Adventures have recently undergone an upgrade—from this point onward, starting with the upcoming adventure Prey for Death, our standalone adventures will be hardcover 128-page books. A standalone Adventure will typically present a single storyline that covers several sessions of gaming—as a general rule, you can expect your characters to gain somewhere between 3 to 6 levels over the course of a single standalone Adventure. This format allows us to explore larger storylines that need more room than a single volume of an Adventure Path to play out, but that don’t require the commitment to a three-part campaign—and also allow us to get a bit more experimental (such as with Prey for Death, which expects the players to all be Red Mantis Assassins—or at least closely allied with them!). We’ve got some more fun experiments in the works going forward for this line, so stay tuned! You can think of a standalone Adventure as a feature-length movie.

Large: Adventure Paths

Our Adventure Paths have been going strong for over 200 volumes, and while we’ve made some adjustments to their length (shifting from six-part campaigns down to three-part ones), this line of adventures isn’t going anywhere. An Adventure Path is published in three volumes that come out monthly; it can cover months or even years of gaming. You can expect your PCs to gain about 10 levels over the course of an entire Adventure Path. This format lets us tell long, sprawling stories that cover a wide range of themes, to explore ongoing events in the world of Golarion, and to present new parts of the world in great detail. You can think of an Adventure Path as a season of episodes for a television series.

Any Questions? Ask in the Comments!

Of course, these general details only scratch the surface. If you have more specific questions, feel free to ask! I’m always eager to answer whatever you might want to know about Paizo’s Pathfinder adventure line. Seeya in the comments section below!

James Jacobs
Pathfinder Creative Director of Narrative

Happy Mechsgiving! Welcome to Mechageddon!, a hardcover Adventure Path for Starfinder First Edition featuring mech combat rules from Tech Revolution. In this Adventure Path, a group of new recruits suit up to protect their city from vicious kaiju called colossi. This blog features the free Mechageddon! Players Guide, in which you’ll learn more about creating your hero and building your own custom mech!

Art by Miguel Regodón Harkness

Download the Mechageddon! Players Guide Here

Hyped about your hero? Looking for a team? Join us on discord at https://discord.gg/wWFGWtfm87 to connect!

Illustration by María Rosario Arteta Chagüi

We’ve spent this past year exploring the far reaches of Golarion, including making further contact with Arcadia, exploring plots in Jalmeray, and running from akatas in Minata, as well as investigating the mysterious past of The Waterfall, one of the leaders in the Decemvirate. Now, as the year turns yet again for the Pathfinder Society, everything seems... peaceful?

Though, a new socialite has arrived in Absalom, Lady Hesla Embersplitter. She has no family, no background, no claim to fame, and yet, she’s entranced the hearts of the people and leaders of the community, including two very powerful forces: the Peacebuilders and Watcher-Lord Ulthun II. However, something seems... off about Hesla. And the weather across Golarion seems to be shifting, as though some dark change is on its way.

Welcome to the Year of Immortal Influence!

Illustration by María Rosario Arteta Chagüi

There are seven Pathfinder Society Scenarios that influence the Year of Immortal Influence’s metaplots, and each will be marked with a special metaplot icon on the cover. More information about the metaplot, as well as upcoming locations and characters, will be revealed during the News from Organized Play panel at PaizoCon 2024!

The Year of Immortal Influence’s first metaplot scenario kicks off with Pathfinder Society Intro: Year of Immortal Influence, an adventure for 1st- to 4th-level characters written by Rigby Bendele. This scenario takes place during a fancy charity dinner, hosted by Lady Hesla as she seeks to raise money to fund the Knights of Lastwall. This scenario debuts at Gen Con 2024 with one other Pathfinder Society scenario.

This year is about uncovering secret plots and plans to unravel one of the most vulnerable areas in Avistan, even as the enemy wears a pretty face!

Remember Pathfinders: Explore! Report! Cooperate!

Shay Snow
Pathfinder Society Developer

OPC Musings

At the time you’re likely reading this, I probably feel terrible! I’m having my tonsils removed two days before this blog is published. Everyone keeps telling me I can eat all the ice cream I want, which is true, but I’m an adult now. I have to buy the ice cream myself, and that takes some of the fun out of it! Luckily, I have a wonderful husband to take care of me, and I’ll be back up and running just in time for convention season!

Speaking of… I’ve got quite the travel schedule this summer: PaizoCon in late May, Origins in mid-June, and then a quick turnaround to go to the ALA Expo with our Community Manager a few days later. I’ll have a few weeks of rest in July and then it’s off to Gen Con and PaizoCon Europe in August! Hopefully my cats will remember me by the time I’m back.

Before we jump into the blog, I want to shout out the Mox Gauntlet! Team Paizo is raising money for charity and participating in this annual board game tournament. If you donate to me you can get cat pics, a Harrow reading, or even a one-shot GMed by me! You can learn more and donate on my participant page here.

Digital Adventure Releases

These adventures will be available on May 29, 2024. Most of these will be playable at PaizoCon prior to their release date!

Pathfinder Society

Pathfinder Society Scenario #5-16: A Lie Told to Strangers*
Pathfinder Society Scenario #5-17: Stranded on Yesterday's Tide*

Starfinder Society

Starfinder Society Intro: Year of Era's End*
Starfinder Society Scenario #7-02: Zo! vs. Zo*
Starfinder Society Special #5-99: Battle for the Bulwark

*part of a subscription

SFS Year 7 Rule Updates

Starfinder Society Year 7 launches at PaizoCon at the end of the month! Upon commencement of the convention (May 24), the following species will become always available for play:

• barathu (Alien Archive)
• borai (Pact Worlds)
• ghibrani (Starfinder #5: The Thirteenth Gate)
• morlamaw (Alien Archive 3)
• prismeni (Starfinder #49: A Light in the Dark)

Players will still need to own the indicated sourcebook but will no longer require a boon to play any of these species.

Additionally, two new boons will be available for purchase that week! I won’t give any spoilers just yet, but they’re the direct result of player actions over the past year of play. Stay tuned for those at the convention!

Death of a God

On our livestream last month, we announced the first major god who will die in the upcoming War of Immortals meta-event. Obviously, this death will have an impact on the Pathfinder Society campaign. Developer Josh Foster wrote a blog to talk about the exact rules surrounding the god’s death; check it out here!

Sanctioning Updates

The sanctioning machine is back in full swing! Last month we posted sanctioning for the Seven Dooms for Sandpoint Adventure Path, as well as the brand-new Tian Xia World Guide!

We’re hard at work on the major May releases, Howl of the Wild and Mechageddon! We aim to have them both ready for PaizoCon so you can play your new awakened animals and centaurs right away. GMs, prepare to make the hallways larger!

After that, it’ll be pretty quiet until July, when Player Core 2 crashes in for Gen Con and the Tian Xia Character Guidefollows a mere month later. Hope you’re all ready!

GM Recognition

GM Ranks

Whether stars, novas, or glyphs, achieving a 5 ranking in any program involves a substantial amount of time. To achieve the 5th milestone, a GM must run 150 games, of which at least 50 must be unique scenarios and 10 special scenarios as well as run between one and three games for venture-captains (program dependent). A conservative estimate of the time needed to reach the 5th milestone is 650 hours!

This month, we had one GM earn their 5th rank!

5th Glyph (PFS2): Zachary Davis

Convention News

Just a quick roundup of convention updates to close us out!

• PaizoCon Online tickets and badges are now available! Grab your seats in our new releases and our two specials, including the freely-repeatable PFS2 2-00: The King in Thorns, on Events!
• PaizoCon@ events are also up and running! See this blog for more information about our nine worldwide locations.
• The Gen Con event catalog will go live this weekend, and event signups begin on May 19. We’ve got a blog in the pipeline next week to talk about everything Paizo has to offer in Indianapolis.
• I’ll be attending PaizoCon Europe this year! It will be just outside of Geneva, Switzerland August 15-18. More details to come as the organizers pull things together, but if you’re across the pond, come say hi!
• Finally, convention season is in full swing with dozens of conventions happening worldwide with a Paizo presence. Check out our Convention Calendar for more information!

Alex Speidel
Organized Play Coordinator

In advance of the Zoetrope’s return from its Golarion-wide voyage, expedition leader Baranthet has sent a collection of journal entries—accompanied by sketches of the creatures from expedition scribe Charikleia—detailing some of the fantastical beasts that call this world home.

Baranthet: Art by Gunship Revolution.

There seem to be two entries, one related to elemental birds, the other to unicorns! Let’s see what he has to say.

Elemental Birds and the Power of the Storm

A scientific illustration of a variety of chaos falcon feathers. Art by Luca Sotgiu.

The elements have a life of their own. I have always believed that birds embody these elements particularly well—phoenixes, thunderbirds, and tidehawks to name a few—but each of these creatures is so different from one another. They make their homes in different habitats and approach life with such different philosophies that they rarely meet without clashing.

My question, dear reader, has always been about the connection between these birds. Most sources say there is no doubt the three creatures have a common ancestor. What could that creature be? And does it still live?

I needed to trace the birds back to their commonalities for an answer. The Zoetrope could not take us back in time, but my studies could, and I soon found several similarities within a handful of creation myths. In ages past, the world was said to be in an everlasting tempest. Volcanoes spat fire into the sky, lightning jumped between clouds of ash, and sharp ice fragments whipped through the wind. It was the storm from which all other storms were born. How fitting would this primordial tempest be as the birthplace of the species of elemental bird from which the others evolved?

I searched volcanoes for the creatures known as chaos falcons, waiting for a violent eruption to give me a glimpse into the world of the past. It was in the Kullan Dei mountains that I at last found it.

This journal entry was written for Pathfinder Howl of the Wild by Caryn DiMarco.

How odd, it seems Baranthet also included some notes about the chaos falcon’s “abilities.”

CHAOS FALCON — CREATURE 10

Dive-bomb [two-actions] (earth, fire, primal) Requirements The chaos falcon is Flying; Effect The chaos falcon Flies twice straight down. If they reach the ground or a similarly solid object at the end of this movement, their landing shatters that surface into sharp shards, and droplets of molten stone deal 4d6 fire and 3d8 piercing damage (DC 26 basic Reflex save) to all other creatures within 20 feet.

Storm Bolt The chaos falcon's bolt Strike always deals the damage type of their storm nexus aura.

The chaos falcon, wreathed in fire, water, and electricity. Art by Shafi Adams.

A Sanctuary for Unicorns

A scientific illustration of unicorns grazing, drinking water, and frolicking in a field. Art by Luca Sotgiu.

During our journey, we were lucky to stumble into the Monkeros Sanctuary, a hidden forest doubling as both a nature reserve and home for a small herd of unicorns. Of course, I will not share its location—indeed, publicizing the location of any unicorn poses a terrible danger to them. With that in mind, many who support the sanctuary do so without ever seeing the unicorns they protect. A rare few academic visitors are allowed along with a handful of mercenaries, both vetted through the churches associated with Monkeros and further by the unicorns themselves.

Although unicorns have the capacity for speech far surpassing my own eloquence, their nervousness around outsiders makes direct interviews difficult. It was only by enlisting the aid of ten-year-old Theom, the son of a visiting scholar, that I was able to establish something of a dialogue with the most outgoing of the unicorns. Theom knew the unicorn as “Periwinkle,” which she seemed happy to accept—much like our own Ten has adopted their moniker. Even in the oldest stories and tales, the true name of a unicorn is always missing. It seems too much of a coincidence that this detail is so persistently lacking; I’m left to believe that unicorns must have a very good reason to protect the secrecy of their true name.

This journal entry was written for Pathfinder Howl of the Wild by Jessie “Aki” Lo.

Another note—perhaps Baranthet has found a system of denoting abilities across the wide variety of Golarion’s wildlife... Apparently, unicorns comprise not just the eponymous species, but many others as well, such as the flying alicorn.

ALICORN — CREATURE 15

Draw in Magic [reaction] (arcane, concentrate) Trigger A creature within 30 feet of the alicorn Casts a Spell; Effect The alicorn attempts to counteract the triggering spell (counteract modifier +28, counteract rank 8th). If successful, the alicorn can choose to gain the effects of the triggering spell as its sole target.

An alicorn—a stronger, winged version of a unicorn—in mid aerial dive. Art by Jessé Suursoo.

Pathfinder Howl of the Wild releases May 22nd, 2024 in standard hardcover, special edition hardcover, and PDF formats. Plus, check your FLGS for our hobby-retailer exclusive sketch cover hardcover!

Subscribe to the Pathfinder Rulebooks line to get the PDF free when your physical copy ships!

With the death of Gorum, war runs rampant across the world. The nations of Golarion clash over border disputes, natural resources, and ideological differences. For such grand conflicts (as well as your typical dungeon encounters), we introduce two new classes who can help turn the tide of any battle.

The commander is an Intelligence-based tactician with unparalleled authority over the battlefield. By drilling specific tactics with your allies during your daily preparations, you can signal them with your unfurled banner during a fight to take additional actions. Call for a Defensive Retreat to allow each of your squadmates to Step up to three times (away from enemies, of course) as a free action. Using the Double Team tactic to allow a squadmate with an opponent in reach to Shove or Reposition that foe as a free action. If they are successful and move that creature adjacent to you or a different squadmate, you or that squadmate can Strike that opponent as a reaction. The commander is no slouch in the fight themself, being trained in martial weapons and all armors, so if you want to lead your fellow adventurers to victory, be sure to playtest the commander!

Illustration by Alexandre Chaudret

The guardian is a Strength-based protector who excels in the use of armor, both for their own benefit and the aid of others. You gain the effects of armor specialization at 1st level, and you can also Intercept Strikes meant for your allies, taking the hit but gaining resistance against that damage. Because of your armor, you’ll be a little more difficult to hit than your friends, so what’s to stop monsters from simply ignoring you? Your Taunts! By Taunting a foe, you make yourself a more tempting target and impart penalties to their attacks on anyone else. If you are the type of player who enjoys keeping others safe from harm, be sure to playtest the guardian!

Illustration by Sammy Khalid

This playtest will run for almost two months, beginning April 29 (today!), and continuing through June 21, 2024. In addition to playtesting these classes in your home games, you’ll be able to try them out in our organized play program by making your own Pathfinder Society characters using the rules located in the Guide to Organized Play. The commander and guardian classes and all related options are available to all players during this playtest.

Our friends at Demiplane are also hosting a free character builder for the commander and guardian classes, available at www.pathfindernexus.com/playtest, for those of you interested in taking advantage of their digital toolset to generate your characters.

Once you’ve had a chance to get a feel for the new classes, please be sure to leave your feedback at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BattlecryClassSurvey and https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BattlecryOpenResponse to let us know what you think of them and where you think they could be improved! We’ll also have dedicated playtest forums here on paizo.com to discuss these classes and options with your peers. We’re looking forward to hearing what you have to say! We’d also love to see stories of your adventures with these classes on social media!

Check out the playtest!

Jason Keeley
Senior Designer

Michael Sayre
Design Manager

Welcome back to another exciting collection of Pathfinder Infinite & Starfinder Infinite Top Performers!

What is Infinite?

Pathfinder and Starfinder Infinite is a program that allows you to create content (adventures and locations; monsters; character classes, archetypes, and backgrounds; fiction; etc.) based on Paizo’s intellectual property (IP), including Pathfinder’s Lost Omens campaign setting, and to make some money while you’re at it. Your work might even be recognized by the community and earn you an invitation into the Infinite Masters elite creator program.

For more info on Pathfinder Infinite, Starfinder Infinite, and how to get started, check out the FAQs!

March’s Top Performers

Titles are ranked by an average of units sold and revenue earned and presented in alphabetical order. Asterisks indicate titles that have been on a best-seller list previously. Because they’ve consistently topped the list, and due to the number of their titles that typically take up spots, “Team+” and “Team Index” have asked to be removed from the calculations for ongoing top performers lists. This will allow newer publishers or book series to get more attention. Thanks, all!

Pathfinder Infinite Top Performers

Godsrain Contingencies*

When Yivali held death in her talons, she feared delivering such terrible warnings without also hope. Included in her annotations was research into what the world might become if each god’s death were to occur, and thus what contingencies could be made.

This product contains a handful of player options for each scenario. While there is a primary focus on the fallout for followers of each god, there are options for many types of players. The centerpiece is the return to service ritual and how each gods death leads to which potential successor gods, what that new relationship looks like, and providing potential benefits.

Kitsune of Golarion Remastered*

Providing an in-depth expansion of Pathfinder Second Edition's vulpine ancestry, Kitsune of Golarion Remastered provides players and GMs alike with everything they need to make this vibrant ancestry of shape shifting fox folk feel at home in the Age of Lost Omens. Based on Gold Best-Selling product Kitsune of Golarion, this product aims to not only remaster, but redefine the content from this original offering into an indispensable product for the entire table, tailless or not.

Player Core 1 Expanded*

Has inspiration struck, but Player Core 1 doesn't have a subclass to fit? Whether you are looking for a Cleric spy, a swaggering Rogue, or a Druid with a will of Steel, you will find myriad options within, made by 4 Infinite Masters and specially tuned for the PF2e Remaster! Feats, subclasses, focus spells, and more for the classes of Player Core 1.

The Ritual Trove: More Rituals and Feats for Mystical Characters

Many consider magic a fickle force commanded only by experts, adventurers, and otherworldly beings. But certain powers can be conjured by anyone with the time, skill, and determination to do so—provided you know the right words and gather the right materials. Despite their accessibility, these carefully guarded rituals are more powerful than your average spell, weaving effects both lasting and far-reaching.

The Ritual Trove is a collection of new rituals for your Pathfinder Second Edition campaigns.

Together with Elements Archetypes

Elemental Planes soar far above the Universe within the Inner Sphere, but a person could stumble into portals across Golarion. The planes are out of reach, but walk among us. Geniekin are striking, and kineticists flash, but there are many others with subtler connection.

Check out Together with Elements Archetypes for a chance for all your not just kineticist characters to play with the power of the elemental planes. Detailing 12 new archetypes (plus 1 reprint), and 123 new feats, spread over 26 chock full pages with options to compliment all types of play styles.

Starfinder Infinite Top Performers

The Adamantine Bastille: The Once Unbreakable Prison of the Starfinder Society

The Adamantine Bastille: The Once Unbreakable Prison of the Starfinder Society offers a futuristic, science-fantasy prison setting for your next Starfinder adventure or campaign!

Whether you are looking for a supplement to use at your table of a Starfinder Society Organized Play scenario set within the Adamantine Bastille, an evening's one-shot adventure, a side-trek for a campaign set on Absalom Station, or a detailed, dynamic, and decidedly thought-provoking setting for your next campaign, The Adamantine Bastille setting book gives you all the tools you need.

Monstercology Galatica: Autumn Aliens*

The Monstercology Galatica is an attempt to catalog and describe all of the many and varied creatures that we share the galaxy with. We understand that with millions of stars and billions of worlds – plus those that visit the galaxy from other planes – this is a nearly impossible endeavor. But if we do not try it, then we can never succeed. This is but one small excerpt of the greater Monstercology Galatica, focusing on creatures most often seen during the later parts of the year.

Space Cowboy’s Arsenal*

A certain type of adventurer resides in the vast frontiers of space—wayfarers and drifters, hunters whose next meal rides on their cunning, their aim, and the price on their bounty's head. They carve out their existence beyond the fringes of civilization; the easy life is as alien to them as another man's gun, and just as fickle. They prefer the unpredictable and uncharted, far from prying eyes and folks what ask too many questions. Never tied to one place, these vagabonds stay strange and savvy, doing what they can to keep alive. When the galaxy needs a job done, they call for the rough and tumble Space Cowboy.

Starfinder Infinite: Mech Threat Manual*

Towering mechs, ancient elementals, territorial kaiju and many more mech-scale threats can be found in Starfinder Infinite: Mech Threat Manual! Inside, you’ll find a spread of the latest mech creations of the Outer Sphere, deadly carnivorous mechform mimics, oozes that can slip inside a mech to throttle the operator or take over the machine entirely, and more. This book provides a variety of themed threats for use in mech combat at all levels of play, and all mechs within were made in accordance with the recommended alternative rules for creating NPC mechs from Starfinder: Tech Revolution. 

Starfinder Infinite: Safe-Haven

Presenting Safe-Haven, the first Starfinder adventure toolbox! What is an adventure toolbox? An adventure toolbox is a grab-bag of useful content, including a rich cast of characters, a highly detailed location, a web of story threads and more. Follow the journey of Director Rehala Ito Fyndiir as he attempts to open an ancient safe constructed of the potent starmetal horacalcum, which bends time around it. See the settlement that sprung up around his obsessive project and drew experts, infiltrators and honest civilians from all corners of the Pact Worlds. Discover the hidden secrets and lives of more than half a dozen fully fleshed-out characters… or break all of the above up into pieces and use them in your own campaign! An adventure toolbox is designed to be easily changed to fit any level, and modular enough that story threads, characters and locations become a resource that can be repurposed, redesigned and re-themed to your heart’s content. 

New & Exciting from Infinite Masters!

Want to see what’s been cooking in the Infinite Masters’ alchemy lab? Here’s a selection of new products from some of our Infinite Masters—and some pieces that have caught their eyes!

• Adventures in Jalmeray – This book is now available in Print on Demand!
• Arkon’s Arkive: Darechasers – Rules and flavor for the Darechaser Archetype.
• Beyond Feats: Deviant Classifications – 10 new deviant classifications and 40 new feats.
• Chronicles of Aegis Adventure Guide – Pathfinder First Edition player options and a gazetteer of De Anavin.
• Dragon Adjustments – Creature adjustments for the dragons in Pathfinder Monster Core.
• Encounters of the Expanse: Levels 1-10 – Pre-built encounters in the Mwangi Expanse.
• Golarion Unseen: Endling Champions – An archetype for champions who have lost their deity.
• The NPC Omnibus – 36 NPCs for Pathfinder Second Edition.
• Side Quests and Mini Adventures – Five short adventures for various levels.
• Warriors’ Prowess – Feats of Convenience – 25 low-to-mid level martial feats.

Hello everyone,
James, Eleanor, and Ianara here, your leads for the Tian Xia project. As of yesterday, the Pathfinder Lost Omens Tian Xia World Guide is officially out! This is a region of our setting that we know many of you (not to mention us at Paizo as well!) have been looking forward to for some time, and it’s great to be able to share this look into the continent with you. Tian Xia takes inspiration from Asian fantasy and folklore, and we knew that we wouldn’t be able to bring this vast range of stories to life without an all-star team of writers and designers, many of whom also worked on the Pathfinder Lost Omens Tian Xia Character Guide, which releases in August. Get to know some of them below!

James Case
Senior Designer

Eleanor Ferron
Senior Developer

Ianara Natividad
Senior Editor

Eren Ahn (they/them primarily)

안녕하세요, 여러분! My name is Eren, and I had the incredibly fun opportunity to refresh Daikitsu and Lao Shu Po for the Tian Xia World Guide as well as contributing some lore around the mystical imugi. As someone who loves exploring the relationship between mortality and divinity, it was an absolute dream to have the opportunity to expand on Tian Xia's pantheon. I hope you all fall as deeply in love with the Lady of Foxes and Old Rat Woman as I did while writing them.

You can find me sporadically talking about my writing on Bluesky (by the time you're reading this, I'll have posted more detailed threads on my contributions for this book, if you're interested in reading about my process) and talking about everything else on Twitter. You will also see me in a couple of months for the Tian Xia Character Guide!

Alyx Bui

Hear ye, hear ye! Here come the imperial dragons of Tian Xia! I had the pleasure of crafting and writing on the Imperial Dragons and the peoples and land of Zi Ha! This was a massive collaboration between so many talented writers and artists—Basheer Ghouse to place Arindham, a forest dragon within the Valashmai Jungle, with Jay Zhang to place Luong Phung, a sea dragon within Xidao, with Jacky Leung to place Shen Ra, a sky dragon within Po Li, with Kevin Thien Vu Long Nguyen to place a sovereign dragon, Pham Duc Quan within Xa Hoi, and Grady Wang to place an underworld dragon, Zhu Long, within Chu Ye.

For Zi Ha, it was brilliant to connect with Kienna Shaw, as we placed the samsaran peoples and their origins in this magical land. We wanted to make sure that we inserted a non-colonial view of this world. I wanted joy and wonder to come out of these harsh, wintery lands—from bioluminescent fungi and large, carnivorous plant hunting to festivals that honor the mountain peaks, dragon cycles, and the long day and night phases. Enjoy the epic lore of Shei Long, a Sky Dragon, and the moon deity Tsukiyo! Continue the conversation with me on X (Twitter) @daredevilalyx!

Two rulers of Tian Xia, Empress Amatatsu Ameiko of Minkai (art by Gunship Revolution) and Empress Nai Yan Fei of Goka (art by Vira Linevych)

Banana Chan (she/they/he)

I'm Banana and I wrote a bunch of stuff for Tian Xia, but what I need EVERYONE to know about is the Great Flood, based on the creature Xiangliu. It's one of my favorite mythical creatures because of how silly it looks in drawings, but if you could see it in real life, it would probably be a body horror disaster. It has the body of a giant snake or eel with nine human heads attached to it. I'd been wanting to write about the Xiangliu for the longest time, so I'm extremely grateful that Paizo gave me that opportunity.

Connie Chang (they/he/she)

Hey there! I'm Connie Chang, and I wrote Quain, a location full of wuxia fantasies, grandmasters, and cultivation! As a queer and trans diasporic Chinese person, I'm a huge fan of the wuxia and xianxia genres as a way to explore historical fantasy beyond western imaginations—so of course I jumped at the chance to help create something with Paizo. I'm especially interested in seeing the stories that will bloom from centuries-old, deeply complicated rivalries between grandmasters!

Social media: Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, Twitch

The exuberant pixiu (art by Gunship Revolution) and the monstrous Great Flood (art by Mylene Bertrand)

Hiromi Cota (they/them)

Hai tai! Wanne Hiromi yaibiin! Hi! I’m Hiromi! For folks unfamiliar with me, I’ve worked on over a hundred books and games, usually as a writer or game designer. I’m excited to have worked with Paizo, as I’ve wanted to for years. I’m even more excited to say that I also got to work on the Tian Xia Character Guide and pen the tie-in fiction The Matsuri! Hopefully, I’ll have more opportunities to work with Paizo in the future. If I do, you’ll find out about them from my Bluesky account @hiromicota!

For the Tian Xia World Guide, I worked on Kwanlai. I had fun providing an in-world explanation as to why Kwanlai is principally populated by tengu (a Japanese creature) but has a Chinese name. The answer, in short, is colonialism. In real life, Japan colonized Uchinaa and foisted the exonym “Okinawa” upon my people. So, it was natural for me to depict the Lung Wa conquering the nation of Ootoya and foisting the exonym “Kwanlai” on the Ootoyans. Another fun tidbit in the writeup is takoyaki (battered and fried octopus) becoming a popular snack due to Wanshou (a nation ruled by a kraken) attacking Kwanlai.

Dana Ebert (she/her)

Dana Ebert (nonchalant female human writer) is a common author to find credited in Pathfinder publications, and the Tian Xia World Guide is no exception. Known for fanciful and often extravagant prose, her work reimagining Minata is most evident in phrases like "swallowing dragons like krill" and "churned the sea like a mortar and pestle." In addition to authoring the chapter on Minata, she contributed substantial Minata-adjacent content to the Tian Xia Character Guide. When she's not writing for Pathfinder, Dana is a full-time content creator at TPK Brewing Co., a tabletop roleplaying-themed brewery she co-owns in Portland, Oregon.

The sorrowful dragon Luong Phung (art by Gunship Revolution) and the draconic emperor Pham Duc Quan (art by Gunship Revolution)

John Godek III (he/him)

Hi! I’m John, a mixed-race Filipino American gamer, gamemaster, freelancer, and podcaster. For the Pathfinder Lost Omens Tian Xia World Guide I wrote the Oceans of Tian Xia as well as several new Tian ships, along with Yamatsumi the mountain god and General Susumu. I was very excited to work on these as I spent my early childhood in Hawai'i and Philippines, and later sailed the seven seas as I started my career.

As a freelance game designer, I’ve written mostly for Paizo but also some for Evil Robot Games and Legendary Games. As a gamemaster, I earned my 5th Nova in 2021 and have volunteered at dozens of gaming conventions. As a podcaster, I produce three podcasts on the Know Direction Network: Digital Divination, with Paizo Senior Designer Jason Keeley and D&D Designer Ron Lundeen; Intrepid Heroes, an RPG actual play where we just completed the Devastation Ark AP and soon begin a Scum and Villainy adventure run by Jason Keeley; and Presenting - Gamers Making Games, a podcast where I have interviewed over 100 game designers, developers, artists, and editors. In addition, I am also GMing a Fists of the Ruby Phoenix campaign and playing Outlaws of Alkenstar and Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse. In my non-gaming life, I am a university professor teaching entrepreneurship and social venture creation in the Seattle area.

You can reach me on Twitter @JohnGodekIII and find my podcasts at https://knowdirectionpodcast.com/ or on YouTube.

Daniel Kwan (he/him)

Hello! My name's Daniel! I'm the co-host of the Asians Represent Podcast and am a freelance game designer and cultural consultant with over 40 games credits! The Tian Xia World Guide is my second Paizo contribution and certainly the one I'm most excited about. I had a blast bringing my love of weapons, horror, and mythology to life for the project. It is such an honor to be part of such a diverse team of Asian creatives who have worked so hard to bring life to Tian Xia! Fun fact, some of my fellow freelancers and I started a home game to test out many of our contributions during the development period!

Twitter: @danielhkwan Website: https://danielhkwan.carrd.co/

Two of Tian Xia’s deities, the goddess of liminal spaces, Lady Jingxi (art by Carl Springer), and the lovers-turned-rivals Mugura and Nrithu (art by Carl Springer)

Jacky Leung (he/they)

Hey, everyone! I'm Jacky Leung, and it's been a while since I worked freelance for Paizo. Tian Xia was an amazing experience to revisit as a player and a creator. I had the pleasure of writing for Po Li and expanding life in a country ruled by the theologic elite and how people governed by oracles thrive despite its previously sheltered portrayal in earlier works. I had the opportunity to provide faces to the extremely secretive Oracular Council that governs Po Li, introduce the equally secretive Lapis Watchers, and expand new iconic locations for players to explore such as Tuotuo, the Enlightened City—a historical education center containing special archives housing racks of prophecies and oracular writings. Beyond the nostalgic glamor lies also the Emperor's Footprint, a site rumored to contain mystical properties, a supposed asteroid, and stunning panoramic beauty—just highly dangerous and full of monsters, I'm sure it's fine. I hope folx gets to experience the social and political dissonance that awaits them when adventuring through Po Li; it was a fantastic challenge.

You can find me on Twitter/X under @deathbymage and Bluesky under deathbymage.bsky.social. You can find my website and portfolio here: https://deathbymage.carrd.co/.

Jessie "Aki" Lo (she/her)

I'm a freelance writer, artist, GM, producer, editor, and TTRPG performer who just can't say no. Tian Xia was my first big Paizo gig, but if you want to see more of my little grabby hands making a gorgeous mess of Pathfinder 2e, you should check out my podcast! Goblets and Gays is an award-winning, Pathfinder 2e Actual Play podcast. With our first campaign "Blood of Kings" wrapped up, we're in the middle of releasing our second campaign "Tyrant of the Dark Star". ToDS is a grim dark Pathfinder 2e Remastered actual play set in the gothic-horror homebrew world of Noxlight.

Goblets and Gays Twitter and Podlink

A woman demonstrating the technology of ancient Yjae (art by Alexander Nanitchkov) and a member of the seafaring Nisama people (art by Riley Spalding)

Adam Ma (he/him)

Hello friends! I'm so excited for you all to sink into this beautiful world. For many of you it will be a marvelous opportunity to immerse yourself in a land rich with cultures perhaps outside your own. I'm right there with you. This was my first contribution to Pathfinder's rich world, and I never expected to go so deep into exploring my own culture and heritage through the lens of Wanshou's horror and paranoia. Just remember, if anything bad happens to your party while exploring this flooded land, it's definitely not a coincidence and probably your party member's fault. You know which one I'm talking about.

I work on all kinds of TTRPG content, so if you're into grand adventure with a bit of horror, then we'll get along great! If you're a fan of my contribution to Tian Xia and want to follow my other work you can find me on Bsky and Twitter as 34thGingerbread - or you can visit my website: https://www.adam34th.com/

Tan Shao Han

Hi! I'm Tan Shao Han / 陈绍涵 (family name Tan/Chen, 陈; generational name, Shao 绍; personal name, Han 涵), a TTRPG creator, lecturer, and cultural consultant from Singapore, Southeast Asia. I'm proudly part of the RPGSEA TTRPG design movement based in Southeast Asia! I grew up a steady diet on wuxia media (movies, books, TV series, manhua), and am happy to re-imagine and create settings (the histories, lands, and peoples of Goka and Songbai) in the Tian Xia World Guide to inspire the telling of new wuxia-influenced stories in your Pathfinder games! It has been an absolute privilege to work on the Tian Xia books, alongside great colleagues and supervisors whom I now have the pleasure to call my friends.

Outside of freelancing with Paizo, I also run an indie TTRPG company, Curious Chimeras. If you're interested in more of my takes on Chinese fantasy, check out my recent indie games: Swordfarer, a wuxia journaling game of jianghu melancholia and friendships and Shrine, a xianxia storytelling game of karma, despair, and reincarnation. To find out more about the other amazing TTRPGs and creators from Southeast Asia, please check out https://across-rpgsea.com/ as well!

Urakadussi, the High Matriarch of Xidao (art by Sammy Khalid), and Zhanagorr, Divine Savior of Wanshou (art by Nicholas Phillips)

Ruvaid Virk (he/him)

Hello, y’all! Ruvaid here. You may have seen my name in previous Paizo books such as Dark Archive, Impossible Lands, and Rage of Elements. For the Tian Xia World Guide, I wrote the entry for the nation of Hongal. I have a deep appreciation for Mongolian culture from which Hongal draws inspiration, and I endeavored to bring as much respect to my words as possible. I sincerely hope that you enjoy reading about Hongal as much as I enjoyed writing about it.

If you’re looking for a South Asian/Muslim freelancer for your next project, or should you simply wish to perceive me, you can find me on Twitter @Darth_Ruvaider, or the other one @darthruvaider.bsky.social. Until next time, and happy Pathfinding!

Grady Wang (he/him)

Howdy, I'm Grady and my work on Chu Ye in the World Guide was my first-ever assignment for Paizo! I'm so excited that it's finally out! This nation has incredible potential for grand stories, from its historical contributions to medicinal knowledge to the present-day four-way clash between its greedy oni ruling class, a scrappy humanoid rebellion, an underworld dragon out for revenge, and a jealous god. I was also thrilled to be able to draw upon my Chinese and Taiwanese heritages to expand Chu Ye’s culture and its experiences under occupation.

My next contribution will be in the Character Guide coming later this year, which contains Tian Xia’s unique takes on medicine. You can also find me online at The Gallant Goblin where my partner and I review TTRPG products on https://www.youtube.com/thegallantgoblin, sell kobold plushies at heroplush.com, and produce expanded content for Pathfinder at https://www.pathfinderinfinite.com/, where we just released the first community print-on-demand product, Adventures in Jalmeray, which is an anthology of three adventures set in Jalmeray (Lost Omens: Impossible Lands) designed by an all-Desi team of writers!

A member of the spellcasting dovlokhuud (art by Vira Linevych) and a magical student of Tang Mai (art by Carl Springer)

Hail and well met, Pathfinders and Starfinders! This month’s new releases dive into the culture and history of the nations of Tian Xia, send Starfinders to confront the founder of the Order of Dawning Fate, and place you at the heart of a Wildwood negotiation breakdown!

Join us next Friday, May 3^rd,for Paizo LIVE on twitch.tv/officialpaizo!

Never miss a release with our Paizo Subscriptions—for everything from rulebooks to accessories.

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Pathfinder Lost Omens Tian Xia World Guide

BIGGER THAN YOU REALIZE

Dragons once served as the stewards of this land, commanded by Heavenly decree. Can you live up to their lofty expectations, or will you flounder and fail like countless kingdoms before you? Prophecy is dead and history hangs on a feather; even the slightest breath might change the course of peoples and nations. Strike out and seize your destiny in an uncertain future!

This massive gazetteer features a look at the history, cultures, and peoples of Tian Xia, with summaries of over 20 distinct nations and kingdoms on, above, and under the continent. It’s accompanied by a giant poster map displaying this region of the Pathfinder setting in beautiful detail.

Pathfinder Lost Omens Tian Xia World Guide is also available as a special edition hardcover bound in faux leather with foil debossing and an bound-in ribbon bookmark.

Pathfinder Adventure Path #201: Pactbreaker (Wardens of Wildwood 1 of 3)

A TREATY IN PERIL

The annual Greenwood Gala—a convention for primal power brokers and a festival associated with the Green Faith—is ruined when saboteurs assassinate several of the region’s eminent leaders. To keep tensions from erupting into more bloodshed, the PCs must maintain order long enough for the Wildwood Lodge to choose a new leader and restore peace. The Wardens of Wildwood Adventure Path begins with “Pactbreaker,” a complete adventure for 5th- to 7th-level characters.

Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Showtime Multi-Pack

LIFE IS A STAGE!

If your adventurers need to entertain a crowd or disrupt a sinister performance, the Pathfinder Flip‐Mat: Showtime Multi‐Pack has you covered! The four sides of this Flip-Mat Multi-Pack present three venues on which to perform an opera, stage a mock battle, or house a cozy tavern sing-along. Two sides combine to depict a grand theater, while the others show a large amphitheater and a wintry inn, perfect places to sing rousing bardic ballads. Put on a show for your players with these exciting performance scenes!

This set includes two Flip-Mats, each measuring 24" × 30" unfolded and 8" × 10" folded. A Flip-Mat’s coated surface can handle any dry-erase, wet-erase, or even permanent marker. Usable by experienced GMs and novices alike, Pathfinder Flip-Mats fit perfectly into any Game Master’s arsenal!

Starfinder Society Scenario #6-16: Dawning Fate

A Starfinder Society Scenario designed for 7th- through 10th-level characters.

For a century, the villainous Order of Dawning Fate has operated in the shadows, remaining anonymous and untouched despite extensive criminal activity, political manipulation, and espionage. Thanks to the efforts of countless Starfinders and their allies across the galaxy, the Order of Dawning Fate is crumbling—their members are exposed, their holdings are under investigation, their proxies are moving to cut ties, many of their highest-ranking members are dead or arrested, and their supply of the rare starmetal finitrium has been cut off. Yet a threat remains…

Zhaneni, founder and mastermind of the Order of Dawning Fate, has evaded capture, retreating to her personal demesne on the planet Kax to wait out the turmoil alongside her closest ally and fellow founder of the Order, Evethriel. As the Stewards, Veskarium, and numerous other galactic bodies move against the Order’s now-exposed agents and holdings within their respective jurisdictions, First Seeker Ehu Hadif and Ixthia the Unbreakable dispatch Starfinders to confront Zhaneni and destroy the last remnants of Project Dawn—the hybrid machine that amplifies Zhaneni’s natural precognitive abilities, enabling her to see and shape the future.

Time is not on your side.

Pathfinder Society Scenario #5-14: Poisonous Council

A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for 3rd- through 6th-level characters.

The Pathfinder Society is running low on a critical alchemical catalyst, and all their usual suppliers have run dry. The Supplies and Procurement Division is desperate and has put a call out directly to agents. They know of one alchemist skilled and knowledgeable enough to make the catalyst: Tragshi the Herbalist, master of the Daggermark Poisoner's Guild. The Society has used what contacts they have remaining in Daggermark to arrange a meeting, but the chief poisoner isn't one to give things away for free. The PCs will need to do several errands for her, proving the Society's worth to the guild and to Tragshi herself.

Pathfinder Society Quest (Series 2) #18: Student Exchange

A Pathfinder Society Quest designed for 1st- through 4th-level characters, playable in 2-3 hours.

The PCs have been placed in a sort of exchange program, wherein the Magaambya, the oldest school of magic still operating in Golarion, will judge their worth as a foundation for future cooperation. Teacher Ot has been tasked with showing the PCs the ways of the magical school as well as with taking their measure. The future of this partnership lies in the PCs' hands.

Pathfinder Society Scenario #5-15: Cleansing the Flame

A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for 5th- through 8th-level characters.

The Burning Sun orc hold has spent the past year guarding the body of Mahja Firehair as she fights her Crucible in the afterlife. Unfortunately, there have been strange attacks on Freedom Town as of late. Desperate for answers and hopeful for assistance, Uirch reaches out to the Pathfinder Society to investigate the mysterious attackers and see if their flames belong to the Whispering Tyrant or to another enemy lying in wait. The Pathfinders will need to investigate the town while ensuring that an enemy of mythical proportions doesn't see their plan succeed and interrupt Mahja's Crucible.

From Our Partners:

Our partners at Archives of Nethys, Demiplane, Fantasy Grounds, Hero Lab Online, and Roll20* are dropping new content this month as well! Buy your PDF on paizo.com to get a discount via the PaizoConnect API, or pay full price on their platforms, sync your account, and get a complimentary PDF on the Paizo Store.

*Roll20 is no longer a part of PaizoConnect and discounts and complimentary PDFs do not apply.

Gods of Lost Omens Miniature Set – 10% off for a Limited Time!

In honor of our War of Immortals Kickoff Announcement and the looming death of Gorum, Our Lord in Iron, take 10% off of the Gods of Lost Omens Miniature Set when you purchase them on paizo.com!

Mystery Loot: Pathfinder Lost Tome

Our partners at Foam Brain recently released their Pathfinder Lost Tome Mystery Loot set! Each mystery bag includes a pin that folds out into a playable miniature, a themed metal D20, and an encounter card to use at your table! Buy them online or check your FLGS for a hobby exclusive sketch dragon promo pin!

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New Year’s first fireworks danced across Changdo’s night, their exuberant sparks half-reflected upon the Sea of Ghosts. Ling Zhiyu, courtesy name Wenhan, Sixth-Rank Clerk of the Ministry of Truth, Junior Secretary of the Lower Oracular Council, set down his brush to admire the distant pyrotechnics.

This far from the city, the celebrations looked almost peaceful. Whenever possible, Zhiyu spent New Year here, at this shoreside teahouse, preferring to stay away from the devotees jostling to light the auspicious incense to welcome the Eternal Emperor’s spirit, away from wending swells of dragon dancers bearing the throne’s five colors, and most of all, away from the Ministry of Faith’s magically amplified, self-congratulatory platitudes for yet another year of Po Li’s glory.

The Sea of Ghosts’ lapping waves broke the oracle’s reverie, their leisurely cadence not unlike the murmuring of some unknown tongue. Zhiyu smiled despite himself. No point thinking such dour thoughts during New Year. You'll invite Heaven’s displeasure... and more importantly, spoil everyone’s mood here. They’ve suffered enough.

Facing the vacuous waters, Zhiyu spoke loudly and clearly to no one at all.

“Yes, elders. Happy New Year to you too. May your heart realize ten thousand desires, may your descendants lead long and healthy lives, may the Eternal Emperor hasten your reincarnations for your loyal service. You can see, Changdo still stands, bright with lanterns, altars, cooking fires, and fireworks. You did not fight the War of Widow-Makers in vain; every New Year is your everlasting gift to us all.”

The currents settled. His invisible audience seemingly placated, Zhiyu returned to his table’s reports, and was pleasantly surprised to find the teahouse’s proprietors had discreetly left some fried niangao and a fresh pot of aged Tuotuo tea. These refreshments were not unwelcome; there was much to attend to, from goiter and beriberi coinciding with recent fads of grain diets emulating the Eternal Emperor’s piety; stirring instability in the West with Lingshen and Quain; troubling developments on the East with Hwanggot and Bachuan. So much to do! But for now, tea and rice cakes. Zhiyu sipped gratefully, smiled his thanks to the teahouse’s owners, and returned to his paperwork, as fresh fireworks and celebratory songs filled the night.

---

“Oracle Ling looks tired. He’s always working so hard, even on New Year.”

“You know how it is, my beloved. There are some oracles who work very hard, because there are so many who don’t...”

“Close your mouth, my foolish husband. These things! You shouldn’t even think them, let alone speak them... nobody, especially us, can afford to pay the price.”

On this solemn note, the teahouse owners’ whispered conversation reached a brief lull. Fireworks flared above, in the shape of a celestial peach tree; a sign of life’s renewal and promise. Husband and wife contemplated the sky together, a shared silence; then, both spoke abruptly at the same time.

“Do you suppose we can ask Oracle Ling...”

“Maybe it’s as good a time as any to ask Oracle Ling...”

They laughed quietly at this simultaneous blurting of their hearts’ nervousness. Who could blame them? They were but humble merchants without clan or fame, whose usual clients were fishers who plied the Sea of Ghosts for minnow and perch. Oracle Ling was by far their most prestigious guest, a virtuous official without outrageous demands or haughty airs, who paid in full and tipped well.

To ask an extra favor of him, and especially on this New Year, when families traditionally would have their Reunion Dinners, and officials would vie to fete the Ministers in grand court banquets... Oracle Ling must be truly busy to forsake those commitments and opportunities. What right would they have to disturb his schedule with such a selfish request?

---

Zhiyu yawned as he completed his report on the Gokan trafficking of false Po Lian relics and rubbed the poultice of chrysanthemum and wolfberry over his tired eyes.

I suppose it's time.

The waves stirred, as if in assent.

Zhiyu forced a smile, trying to let the wisdom in his mind fade away, to return from realms of divine insight dwelled by praiseworthy sages. He stood up quietly and tiptoed to the teahouse.

---

“Excuse me.”

The proprietors nearly jumped from shock. Zhiyu reprimanded himself; he had not wanted to cause any disturbance, but alas, that was exactly what had happened. Ah well, let's get on with it.

“Good sir, good madam, I understand you would like my help with something. I understand you have a child, of the right age for a Test of Fate, and you would like to see what the Heavens are willing to reveal about your child’s destiny.”

This time, the proprietors were truly in shock. How did the esteemed guest know all these? But then, he was an oracle...

“I understand your grandparents were from Lingshen and Quain, who fought here to defend the Imperial City during the War of Widow-Makers...”

The wind hissed, like a thousand knives drawn all at once.

“...and your parents stayed behind, but Changdo has not treated you all that well. Due to the present... succession disputes. Of things much bigger than you or me, our politics, histories, cultures...”

The wind stopped abruptly, A sleeping waterbird woke in surprise, and uttered a mournful cry.

“...and so, you have no lands, no clans, no names, no sponsors; no choice but to take on the regrettable work of doing business on your own. And you wonder... will your child inherit the same fate?”

Wife and husband nodded as one, their eyes red-rimmed and knuckles white-edged.

“If you will permit me, I will perform the Test of Fate for your child, and let his destiny be revealed in Heaven’s gaze. I apologize I must inconvenience you to visit my residence, because my luopan, almanacs, yarrow stalks, and other divinatory tools are at home.”

The couple fell to their knees in gratitude; Zhiyu stepped forward to help them back up. As they ambled to the oracle’s tiny manor, the night sky above Changdo seemed lighter somehow, and not just for the fireworks that flooded its inky expanse.

Illustration by Maichol Quinto

About the Author

Tan Shao Han (he/him) is a writer, editor, consultant, and researcher of Asian histories and cultures. Shao Han grew up with Chinese storytelling from gong'an (magistrate detectives), wuxia (heroic martial artists), and zhiguai (strange tales), which influenced his work on the upcoming Tian Xia World Guide and Tian Xia Character Guide. Outside of his work for Paizo, Shao Han is part of Curious Chimeras, an indie TTRPG company in Singapore, Southeast Asia. Currently, he is developing Sundered Flames, a Pathfinder Second Edition–compatible dark wuxia adventure, as well as remastering Shrine, a xianxia game of vulnerability and vengeance based on the Palanquin TTRPG. You can find more of his work at www.curiouschimeras.com.

To bring this and other Tian Xia stories to life in your Pathfinder game, check out the Pathfinder Lost Omens Tian Xia World Guide (releasing in April) and the Pathfinder Lost Omens Tian Xia Character Guide (releasing in August), both available for preorder now. Customers who subscribe to the Lost Omens product line will receive both books and a complimentary PDF of each upon their respective release!

Chaos erupts at the Greenwood Gala over the Verduran Forest’s best interests! Cool-headed wardens needed!

In the heart of the Verduran Forest, the largest woodlands in Avistan, druids and Green Faith adherents gather annually to share what they’ve learned from the natural world at an event called the Moot of Ages. Nearby, other forest denizens gather for the Greenwood Gala, a festive three-day event filled with feasts, games, and exuberance held on the river’s banks. The gala ends with a symbolic renewal of the Treaty of Wildwood, an agreement that has allowed a modicum of peace between those who call the forest home and those who harvest resources from it.

This doesn’t stop people from airing their grievances, yet the tone of such disagreements tends to be respectful. This year is different. Resentment has grown so deep and toxic that attendees are wielding their grudges like a keenly honed axe. Anyone stepping up to calm the situation is going to be forced to pick a side.

Inside the Wardens of Wildwood Player’s Guide, you’ll find player-friendly, spoiler-free lore and tips to create an exciting character suited for the Wardens of Wildwood Adventure Path. Contents include:

• An overview of the Verduran Forest, the Wildwood Lodge, and the annual Moot of Ages.
• Character advice, including ways different character classes and ancestries might excel in this Adventure Path.
• Six new character backgrounds specifically designed for this Adventure Path, including Fey Friend, Green Faith Pilgrim, Verduran City Folk, and Wood Warden.

Order The Wardens of Wildwood Adventure Path and download the Player's Guide Today!

Guest blog from Ben Loomes, Syrinscape CEO and Creative Director

Hello! Ben, the CEO and Creative Director of Syrinscape here. My favorite adventure of all time is Red Hand of Doom, which I've run four times—once in its original 3.5 system, and three times adapted for Pathfinder. The first and second SoundSets I ever built for Syrinscape are named "Bugbear Battle," after the very first encounter in Red Hand, and "Witchwood," after the spooky dangerous forest where much of the opening adventure takes place.

I am VERY excited to run Seven Dooms of Sandpoint! This amazing adventure was co-written by James Jacobs. I'm a not-so-secret über-fan of James, so I’m always excited to see new stuff from him.

Let’s jump from the first two Sandpoint SoundSets created for Syrinscape to the latest two. Number 1,081 (“Bones and Ashes”) and Number 1,082 (“Strange Times in Sandpoint”) were built to support the opening of this fantastic NEW adventure. Nowadays Syrinscape has a few more content creators than just me; while it’s still much of my music in there, Chris Körding built these sounds AND contributed even more rich evocative music of his own.

Back in 2009, Chris was playing Rise of the Runelords when, as he describes it, "Syrinscape came along and released the official soundscapes (SoundSets) for the adventure I was playing and I was blown away by the richness and textures and what it provided to the gaming table. Needless to say, Syrinscape became a permanent addition to every gaming session.”

Chris adds, “Fast forward to 2024 and Adventure Path 200! But this time I get to bring it to life for Syrinscape. Expanding from the original adventures and sounds, what could I do to propel it to the roaring 20s?" Nowadays, Syrinscape is more powerful—it can run more channels of sound, with individual reverb units set for every channel, and run sounds which are positioned binaurally for an increased sense of immersion. So, what has Chris done with these new capabilities? He’s had fun, that’s what!

Syrinscape supports all the key locations in this “new” Sandpoint with specifically crafted ambiances. Traps and dramatic events are meticulously crafted for maximum shock and affect. Encounters feature dramatic music to help keep everyone focused and specifically voiced creatures to trigger all those subconscious fears! And of course, as always, Syrinscape is 100% customizable.

When it comes to the music we have created, Chris says, “Don’t want piano hits? Just stop the element. Need some extra choir sounds? Just hit play on THAT element and you have your angelic voices. All of this can easily be done with the power Syrinscape puts into your hands.” With a SuperSyrin sub, you can even compose your own music and upload it to play along with the ambiances we designed. Syrinscape’s support for the Seven Dooms for Sandpoint Adventure Path is rich, specific, and immersive.

If you haven’t used Syrinscape at your table before, now might just be the time to give it a go! And if you are playing remotely with a team of headphone-wearing warriors, Syrinscape has you sorted with our new Web Player, which lets you share your audio with any of your friends ,wherever they are, with just a simple link they can open in any browser. We hope you love what we have built for this adventure. We believe that using Syrinscape in your Pathfinder and Starfinder games will deliver a world-class gaming experience so everyone in your game will have an amazing time, including you!

Ben Loomes
Syrinscape CEO and Creative Director

Hello Starfinders!
The Order of Dawning Fate is crumbling, but the founder and mastermind behind their organization, the calculating witchwyrd Zhaneni, remains at large! It’s time to confront Zhaneni and destroy the last remains of Project Dawn—the hybrid machine that amplifies Zhaneni’s precognitive abilities and enables her to see and shape the future. Time is not on your side!

Wait… isn’t there another founder we’re forgetting?

Starfinder Society Scenario #6-16: Dawning Fate is an adventure for 7th- through 10th-level characters written by Linda Zayas-Palmer! This adventure is the finale of the Year of Fortune’s Fall metaplot.

Take care out there, Starfinders! The future’s worth fighting for!

Jessica Catalan
Starfinder Society Developer

Illustration by Josef Kucera

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Greetings, Pathfinders!

It turns out that all the various consumables handed out on missions require a pretty solid support network, and now a supplier of a rare catalyst aiding in mass production is retiring, leaving the Society to turn towards a more troublesome source–Tragshi the Herbalist, head of the Daggermark Poisoners’ Guild. Fortunately, Tragshi is open to the idea, as the Outlaw Council, a meeting of various leaders of the River Kingdoms, is happening in Daggermark soon, and Tragshi has agreed to supply what the Society needs if they can be seen taking orders for her, letting her show off politically. She says there will also be other sundry tasks that need doing as well, but there’s a pretty good chance that the Pathfinders might end up dragged into an internal power structure within one of the most dangerous organizations in the Inner Sea.

Pathfinder Society Scenario #5-14: Poisonous Council is an adventure for 3rd- through 6th-level characters written by Tineke Bolleman.

Illustration by Biagio d'Alessandro

The Burning Sun orc hold calls for the Pathfinder Society’s assistance in protecting the corpse of Mahja Firehair as she continues to undergo the Crucible. Lately there have been strange attacks on Freedom Town, centered on the house protecting her body and filled with signs of sulfur and occult magic. While the council of Freedom Town suspects the Whispering Way, Uirch has other concerns and requests that the Pathfinders investigate to find out who might be at the root of this chaos and find out their intentions with Mahja’s body, never suspecting that he may also be the target of this strange attacker.

Pathfinder Society Scenario #5-15: Cleansing the Flame is an adventure for 5th- through 8th-level characters written by Isis Wozniakowska.

Illustration by Fabio Di Bernardi

Finally, we have the next All Ages quest. The Pathfinder Society has long desired a closer relationship with the Magaambya, and Kreighton Shaine has finally gotten a chance to achieve that. He’s selected some of his finest students to show the instructors at that storied institute of magical learning just what Pathfinder can do. The future ties between these organizations are in your hands!

Pathfinder Society Series 2 Quest #18: Student Exchange is an adventure for 1st- through 4th-level characters written by Jackson Wood.

Illustration by Vlada Hladkova

That’s all for this month, Pathfinders! See you next time!

Josh Foster
Pathfinder Society Developer

Shay Snow
Pathfinder Society Developer

Hey there Pathfinders! In our stream on Tuesday, we announced the god who will die in the War of Immortals. This blog discusses how that god’s death will affect characters in Pathfinder Society.

This blog contains spoilers for the War of Immortals! If you don’t want to know which god dies, click away now!

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Seriously, I’m not joking. The god’s icon is like 5 lines down.

Now’s your last chance.

Okay, you’ve been warned!

Take it away, Josh!

Alex Speidel
Organized Play Coordinator

Illustration Jeff Carlisle

Greeting Pathfinders,

By now you’ve all learned which of the core 20 will be dying—Gorum. Many of you may have characters that through one way or another draw power from Our Lord in Iron, and I can imagine that you’re all wondering what this means for those characters going forward. Our setting is one where dead gods don’t grant spells, no matter how fervent their remaining believers. We’re also running the Pathfinder Society Organized Play campaign in a living setting, and that means that setting-altering impacts will happen, and that they will matter. So, starting at Gen Con, August 1st 2024, Gorum will no longer be alive to grant his faithful power.

Illustration by Ksenia Kozhevnikova

What that means is that any character with an option than relied on Gorum, such as a cleric, gets a free rebuild immediately. You don’t have to use it right away, but if you want to play your character on or after August 1st, you won’t be getting power from Gorum. I know many of you have characters intensely devoted to the gods they follow, and I’ve seen some really incredible Gorumites in my time volunteering for Pathfinder Society and since coming on as a developer. You don’t have to erase that fervor though. Just as we allow the reporting conditions for our scenarios to shape our setting, changes to the setting can be a part of your character’s story. We have some of the most creative players out there, and I look forward to seeing how you incorporate this twist into the characters you play.

Illustration by Francesco Graziani

The death of Gorum is going to hugely impact the setting, but we’ll also be releasing some Godsrain scenarios, so you’ll be able to play through some of the setting-altering aftermath of Our Lord in Iron’s demise. I know some of you will still be disappointed that a character you’ve put a lot into has to change, but we can’t keep our promise of a living setting if we don’t have those setting changes impact everyone. Though Gorum will be gone, your characters’ stories will continue. And I can’t wait to show you some of the scenarios we’ve shaped around this massive event, stories you’ll be able to contribute to because this is a living setting.

But that’ll have to wait for another blog. So, to reiterate, as of August 1st, Gorum will be dead, and any option explicitly receiving power from him won’t work. Any character using such an option, like a cleric, will receive a free rebuild. Until then, play your Gorumites’ hearts out.

Happy gaming everyone. It’s been a blast watching everyone’s theories and reactions throughout this announcement process.

Josh Foster
Pathfinder Society Developer

Yesterday, we announced a slate of new products set to release over the latter half of this year that are all tied to the War of Immortals event. While I’ll get to those below, I know the real reason you’re reading the blog, so without further ado, the identity of the member of the Core Twenty who is going to die as part of the War of Immortals is…

Gorum, God of War, is going to die in the War of Immortals event. Illustration by Ivan Koritarev.

Our Lord in Iron, Gorum! Now, the how, when, and why of this deific death are elements of War of Immortals we’re not quite ready to talk about yet, but we promise: Gorum is going to die “on screen” in an adventure in which your player characters play a role. We’ll have more details about that as the adventure’s release approaches. In the meantime, let’s take a brief look at the slate of products coming in the second half of 2024 in which Gorum’s death and the larger War of Immortals metaplot will play out!

First on the list are an adventure and adventure path that have already been announced. In July, we’re releasing Pathfinder Adventure: Prey for Death, a 128-page hardcover adventure for 14th-level characters, written by former Paizo Developer Vanessa Hoskins. In this adventure, you’ll play members of the Red Mantis, the notorious and mysterious assassins guild and cult of the mantis god, Achaekek, who must clear their names when treachery threatens to besmirch their honor. Not only is Prey for Death the first tie-in to the War of Immortals storyline, but it’s also the debut of the new ongoing format of the Pathfinder Adventure product line!

Also in July, we’ll kick off our 40th Pathfinder Adventure Path (!!!), entitled Curtain Call, with Pathfinder Adventure Path #204: Stage Fright by veteran designer Richard Pett. Stage Fright starts characters as 11th-level adventurers who, over the course of the AP, help to produce an opera based on their own prior adventures while simultaneously facing a new threat that only the most powerful of heroes can stop. The connections between a theater-based campaign and the death of one of Golarion’s most powerful deities may seem tenuous, but you’ll have to trust us on this: the ramifications of Gorum’s death and the ensuing Godsrain affect all aspects of the world. And players of the Curtain Call Adventure Path will have a front row seat!

In September, we’ll be releasing the first of a pair of e-book short fiction collections exploring the event, a compilation of Erin Roberts’s smash web fiction series, The Godsrain Prophecies, complete with additional material exploring the identity and motivations of the mysterious seer who first penned the prophecies.

In October, we’ll publish Before the Godsrain, an anthology of short and flash fiction featuring four Iconic characters: the barbarian Amiri, the wizard Ezren, the cleric Kyra, and elven rogue Merisiel. These stories—mostly previously published on the Paizo Blog—explore the characters’ origins, character, and prior adventures and set the stage for something we’ll chat about a little bit later.

Also in October, Paizo is proud to announce the tentpole release of the War of Immortals event, the aptly named Pathfinder War of Immortalshardcover rulebook. This 240-page hardcover (also available in special edition, retailer-exclusive sketch variant, and forthcoming pocket edition) will introduce mythic rules to Pathfinder Second Edition, as well as two brand new classes—the first original classes built on the remastered foundation of the Pathfinder Player Core—the animist and exemplar! In addition to loads of new character options, War of Immortals also explores Gorum’s death and the ramifications. Most notable among these is the Godsrain: a literal shower of the slain god’s blood, shattered armor, and divine essence that falls upon Golarion and every world on which he was worshiped, leaving war and mythic power in its wake. A book called War of Immortals would hardly be doing its job if it didn’t explain the selfsame conflict, an extended period of conflict in which gods struggle to survive a slew of divine deaths and mortals vie for the newly available god-sparks upsetting the balance of power.

October also brings our second War of Immortals tie-in adventure path, Triumph of the Tusk, beginning with Pathfinder Adventure Path #207: The Resurrection Flood, by Brian Duckwitz and John Compton, and adventure for 3rd-level characters. Triumph of the Tusk is a three-part monthly campaign in which an eclectic band of dignitaries become battle-hardened survivalists fighting for the orcs’ homeland and independence. “How does this tie into the larger War of Immortals?” you might ask. Well, let’s just say that Gorum isn’t the only god who’s going to die during this event, and some ancestral pantheons are going to get hit harder than others. For more info, you’ll just have to wait until October!

In November, we round out the products we’re announcing today (though the consequences of the Godsrain and War of Immortals will continue into 2025 and beyond) with two exciting new releases. The first, Lost Omens Divine Mysteries, explores, well, the divine mysteries of the setting and provides an overview of the gods and faiths common throughout the Age of Lost Omens, reflecting the changes to the setting brought about by the War of Immortals. You’ll notice that Arazni is featured prominently on the cover, and that’s because she’s graduating into the ranks of the Core Twenty to fill the vacancy left with Gorum’s death. While she won’t take on his mantle of war, she will nevertheless rise to more and more prominence within the setting as a new status quo materializes.

Finally, November also sees the return of long-format Pathfinder fiction to print with the much-anticipated Pathfinder Godsrain by fan-favorite author Liane Merciel. Unlike previous novels published under the Pathfinder Tales brand from 2010 to 2017, Godsrain will debut as a deluxe hardcover with wraparound dustjacket and will feature Pathfinder’s popular Iconic heroes as its protagonists. In this exciting tale, Amiri, Ezren, Kyra, and Merisiel will witness Gorum’s death, receive their own nascent god-sparks, and even meet one of their patron deities as they take on a desperate quest to prevent the greatest threat Golarion has ever known from escaping an ancient prison. Can they use their unique talents, newfound mythic power, and the blessings of the Dawnflower to maintain the seal on the Dead Vault? You’ll just have to read and find out!

The advent of the War of Immortals on Golarion will necessitate seasoned warriors, and we’re answering that call with the newly announced Battlecry! Class Playtest, launching on April 29, 2024. During this public playtest, players will have the chance to put two new war-themed classes through their paces before their release in an as-yet-unannounced product coming in 2025. The commander is a martial support class that can issue commands to her allies, granting them extra movement, actions, reactions, and more. The guardian is an armored tank, who can taunt opponents and maximize the effectiveness of heavy armor to be a bulwark against nearly any threat. Be sure to try these exciting new classes out in just a few weeks!

That’s all the announcements we have for now, but we’ll have a lot more to say about these releases and more in the coming months, beginning at PaizoCon in May. Until then, you can catch up on yesterday’s stream on Twitch or YouTube and join the conversation here, on the Paizo Forums, or any of the many social media communities where Pathfinder fans congregate.

Mark Moreland
Director of Brand Strategy

Hail and well met!
We hope you’ve had a chance to look at the 2024 Programming Schedule, because game signups are officially open!

If you haven’t already purchased your tickets, check out this step by step breakdown for getting badges via Tabletop.Events this year.

Game Signups

And here’s a step-by-step breakdown for this year’s game signups!

1. Find the game you would like to sign up for on the Schedule of Events. This schedule can be filtered by many different criteria including name, event type, date, and time. Click on the event entry (either the name or the number to the left).
2. On the right side of the screen, click the large green button that says “Get Ticket for YOUR NAME.” This will add the event ticket to your cart, but you’re not done yet!


3. You can go and add more tickets to your cart if you like, as your tickets are saved for two hours. Once you’re all done, click “Checkout” in the cart to the right of the screen.


4. Click “Check out for Free.” You’re all set! You can view your schedule on the “My Schedule” page at any time.

Please note that there is a limit on our new content this year. To ensure everyone gets a chance to play the new scenarios, you may not sign up for more than one session of a new release. These new releases are:

• SFS1 Intro: Year of Era's End
• SFS1 7-02: Zo! vs. Zo
• PFS2 5-16: A Lie Told to Strangers
• PFS2 5-17: Stranded on Yesterday's Tide

Submitting Community Events

While the main schedule has been released, community gaming event submissions are still open! These can be RPG events featuring Pathfinder or Starfinder, as well as other systems or even other types of games entirely! Want to introduce people to your favorite indie RPG? Looking for players for the new board game you just bought? Finally want to settle who the best Mario Karter in the community is? You can host all these events and more!

1. From the PaizoCon convention page, go to “Host” in the top bar, then click “Submissions.”
2. Click “New Submission” and choose an event type. For this explainer we’ll be using an RPG event, but most events will ask for the same or similar information.
3. Fill in the requested information! Let the staff and prospective attendees know as much as you can about the event you’re submitting. Once you’ve filled in the information, click Create!
4. After submission, staff will review events and either approve them (adding them to the schedule), contact you for more information, or reject them. We reserve the right to reject events for any reason.

You can submit events at any time before May 24, 2024. 

If you have any questions about event submissions, please reach out to us at paizocon@paizo.com

Other Activities

Portfolio Review Sign Ups

Portfolio reviews are now open to general attendees! Anyone is welcome to fill out the form, book a slot for portfolio review, and join us on the Paizo Events Discord server! Get thoughtful and detailed feedback on your illustrations from Paizo’s art directors and narrative team. Learn what we look for and how to get there. We are here to help! Sign up to have our team review your portfolio, and we’ll give you a constructive critique on your work.

The art and writing reviews are separate, so you are welcome to sign up for both, but please only sign up for one review per subject.

Review Guidelines

• Reviews will be done over Discord; please remember what time you signed up and join the Discord chat at your time as to not intrude on someone else’s review.
• Please only choose one slot per review subject; we have a limited number of times and want to give as many people a chance as possible.
• Please link to your portfolio so we have a chance to review your work beforehand.
• No AI generated work.

Appointment reminder emails will be sent out the week before PaizoCon, and again the day before a scheduled review. We can’t wait to see your work!

Sign up for an art review! | Sign up for a writing sample review!

Friends of Paizo:

We’ll once again be joined by multiple friends of Paizo in the Discord this year! Chat with, ask questions of, and learn more about the amazing work of teams like BKOM Studios, Foundry VTT, Roll20, and more!

Last year’s convention was entirely online, but this year we’re introducing PaizoCon@! Our new pilot program allows you to experience PaizoCon in person with your fellow Pathfinders and Starfinders at participating local game stores! Check back on this blog to learn more.

We look forward to seeing you all online this year!

Get your tickets for PaizoCon Online 2024 today!

One of my favorite places aboard the Zoetrope was the menagerie, where I would tend to the flora and fauna we’d taken aboard temporarily for further study. Unfortunately, things were decidedly less peaceful this evening as I raced up the steps to the upper deck, pausing to catch my breath before a small blue creature scampered past me along the ship’s outer railing, giving me a dreadful start.

“She’s still not eating, Baranthet.” Charikleia came around the side, gingerly navigating the narrow space between the railing and the Zoetrope's menagerie. Through the structure’s glass walls—perfect for letting in natural light—I could see our other specimens settling in for the evening amid the lush vegetation, under ballast rocks, or near the drinking pond. The little blue creature, however, swiveled her enormous amber ears in my direction as Chari spoke, resolutely ignoring the seedcake in Chari’s hand.

“Hmmm.” I leaned down and peered at our guest, who chirped plaintively at me in a way that sounded like speech. “Chari—”

“I agree,” she said, already scribbling notes. “That sounded like language. Can you understand us, little one?”

The creature surveyed us solemnly, then without warning sprang from the railing and scrambled through a window.

I let out a rather undignified yelp of surprise and hustled to the nearest door, Chari following soon after. Dr. Pom was at the helm this evening (she was always a bit more alert at night), and the Zoetrope was well underway; we couldn’t have our small guest accidentally falling overboard!

The tiny patter of paws overhead led us upstairs to the mess deck, where, sure enough, the creature perched in the doorway to Grefu’s kitchen, sniffing the air with a disappointed look.

“Well now, who’s this?” Grefu turned from a simmering pot and looked from the creature to us. “I didn’t set a place for an honored guest.”

She emitted the sound—a word?—again, but Grefu looked as nonplussed as the rest of us.

“Well, it’s not Jotun or Thalassic,” muttered Chari, surely making a mental note for our records. Before I could reply, the creature shot between the legs of the chairs and dining table and tore back downstairs. Grefu shrugged and returned to his work as Chari and I gave chase.

The creature was perched on a crate as we came downstairs to the storage area but looked almost disapprovingly at us before scrambling down the stairs to the next flight. We heard a “Goodness! What—?” from Dr. Pom as the creature chirped at her and continued down another level, then a clang a few seconds later. She must have already reached the engine room on the next deck down.

The Zoetrope’s newest guest. Art by Vira Linevych.

 “Hey; I need that!” called Ten as the creature emerged clutching a small gear in her hands. She chirped at them, placed the gear gently on the ground, and took off once more.

“She’s very energetic,” I observed to Chari, pausing to catch my breath.

“And she’s not speaking Surki either,” said Chari, who seemed unaffected by our unexpected evening exercise. “Oh no!”

We heard a distant splash and ran down another level to find the creature sputtering and pulling herself out of the access pipe leading down to the aquatic deck. She looked rather affronted as Lythea swam up the pipe and broke the surface, inadvertently splashing a few droplets onto the creature’s head.

“So sorry, little one,” our navigator said, holding out a hand. “How can we help?”

The creature instead clambered up onto Chari’s arm, flicking water from her ears. She chirped again. It sounded so familiar! I was increasingly convinced that lyrical chirp was, in fact, a word in a language I’d heard before.

“I’m going to stop for my notes before we go back up,” Chari called over her shoulder, turning down the hall toward the crew quarters. I followed her, thinking to peruse my own small collection and check again for any clues as to this creature’s identity.

“Professor, is that you?” Telero opened the door at the end of the hall, emerging from the shuttle bay just as I stepped into my own room. “Hey, who’s this?”

The creature, catching a glimpse of the darkening sky through the branches of the shuttle bay door, squawked and leapt from Chari’s shoulder to her head, climbing up one of her horns and chattering at Telero. He quickly closed the door behind him and approached slowly. “Hey there, it’s okay, friend,” he said. “You’re safe. What’s your name?”

The creature blinked at him, then chirped that same familiar syllable.

Telero frowned in confusion. “Gold?”

I’d become distracted while opening the door to my own room, bemoaning the untidy stack of scrolls and maps I’d meant to organize the previous day, but I turned at this. “Wait, did you say—?”

The creature leapt from Chari’s head and shot into my cabin, papers flying as she disappeared under my desk. I crouched at once to see her clutching my long-missing volume of The Thrilling Tales of Spiridendra (so that’s where it had gone!). She chirped once more.

“She’s saying ‘gold’ in Fey,” Telero said, he and Chari crowding in behind me.

“Of course,” I breathed, looking back up at Chari.

“A marp!”

“They usually communicate in both Common and Fey, but perhaps this one is too young,” I reasoned, reaching out for the book as she began to lick its gold embossing experimentally. “Wait, please! I’ll trade you.” I slowly reached into my pocket and withdrew a gold piece. “Would you like to return to the menagerie? We’ll make sure you’re well fed!”

The marp reluctantly relinquished her grip, but cheered up when she grasped the gold piece with her small hands. We climbed back up to the menagerie, the marp riding on Chari’s shoulder and crunching happily.

The rest of the crew gathered around to exclaim over our guest and her unique menu. (Ten dashed off and returned with an armful of metal scraps to see if the marp found anything else to her liking, but as you’ll see in Charikleia’s notes, gold remains the preferred meal.) As I looked around at my companions, the moonlight streaming through the menagerie’s glass dome, a wave of joy overcame me, as it has so often done on this journey—the joy of discovery, of reaching shared understanding, and of building communities. The joy of belonging.

The Zoetrope hummed quietly under our feet, whisking us away to our next adventure.

About the Author
Baranthet Zamendi cultivated his love of the natural world at a young age, enamored with his grandmother’s awe-inspiring tales of the legendary Wardens of the Wild. He briefly attended Almas University before returning home to rebuild Droon’s public library, eventually becoming its head archivist. His upcoming book on the crew of the Zoetrope and their search for the wardens is his first, but he’s already planning his next adventure.

Support for Mr. Zamendi by
Simone D. Sallé is a senior editor at Paizo and has written for numerous Pathfinder and Starfinder books, including more of Baranthet’s tale inPathfinder Howl of the Wild, the primal treatise and witch journals in Pathfinder Secrets of Magic, and Starfinder Bounty #12: Under Pressure. When she’s not extolling the virtues of the en dash, she enjoys playing as many narrative games as her schedule allows and wandering the woods with her Disreputable Dog.

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Good morning, explorers! While we’ve taken a look at the crew you’ll see throughout Howl of the Wild, we realized there’s one more character we still needed to introduce: the Zoetrope itself! This unique airship serves as a home to our eccentric crew as they search Golarion for the Wardens of the Wild and features its own onboard menagerie, darkroom, research deck, and aquarium for all their exploratory needs.

The Zoetrope in dock. Art by Gunship Revolution.

If your characters want to have their own adventures alongside Baranthet and the rest of the crew, we hope the following map, wonderfully illustrated by Damien Mammoliti and based on concept art from our very own Kent Hamilton, will come in handy.

Map of the Zoetrope. Art by Damien Mammoliti.

It's hard to believe our foray through the Zoetrope logs is at a close. But this is just a taste of Baranthet’s story, and we hope that you’ll want to take part when Howl of the Wild releases next month. Look forward to seeing some more tidbits about all the creatures, options, items, and more coming in the book, and let us know what sort of expedition your characters are thinking about going on!

But that, explorers, is a story for another day.

James Case
Senior Designer

Pathfinder Howl of the Wild releases May 22, 2024 and is available for preorder now. Customers who subscribe to the Rulebooks product line will receive the book and a complimentary PDF upon release!