Greetings, ‘Finders! Paizo is proud to celebrate Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month by showcasing some of our AAPI contributors and creators. We have invited these contributors to talk about their culture, heritage, and how to support their work!

As part of our celebration, we are also currently running the Pathfinder Asian Fantasy Humble Bundle, with proceeds benefitting Stop AAPI Hate. Get everything you need for adventuring in Tian Xia and help support AAPI communities with this bundle!

Left to right, illustrations by Kent Hamilton and Wayne Reynolds

Eren Ahn (they/them)

안녕, 여러분! I’m going to take this chance to celebrate my mother. While not a leader in any professionally acknowledged way, she’s always encouraged me to approach life unflinchingly and fight for what I stand for. My mother has professionally translated accounts of Korean comfort women, teaches immigrants how to speak English, and, in her youth, was one of many students fighting for the democratization of South Korea. Even now, she’s working on a Ph.D. in linguistics (her second, if you want to know the shoes I’m expected to fill) on the development of DEI language over the past ten years— and she’s told me if the administration attempts to clothesline her work anymore than it has already, she’ll drop the degree immediately. 

I like to joke that, unlike other Korean American kids, I don’t have a mom who wants me to be a doctor or a lawyer. Instead, I have one who pushed me to understand the weight my words carry and who even now encourages me to focus on writing— which is why I get to write for this blog post to begin with! Thanks, 엄마. I’m doing my best to make you proud.

Hiromi Cota (they/she)

This year for AANHPI Month, I have a pair of things I’d like to highlight, and one’s not even a game! I recently celebrated my peoples’ (Okinawan & Yaeyaman) parallel cultures by getting tattoos! In the Ryukyuan cultures, women get hand tattoos to mark milestones towards adulthood, and men get forearm tattoos. As a non-binary & femme person, I got my right hand tattooed with a mix of Okinawan and Yaeyaman styles to celebrate both parts of my Indigenous Islander heritage.

The other thing I want to highlight is Tian Xia+, a third-party expansion to the Tian Xia World & Character Guides by Team+. Most of the people working on the book were people of Asian descent—some of the same folks who worked on the official Tian Xia books, in fact. I gave the sai some love, as it’s a traditional Okinawan weapon that’s near and dear to my heart. You can find this sai goodness under the Three-Finger Fist archetype. I also worked on the Minatan Warrior archetype, which was heavily based on Filipino Martial Arts, and the expansion of the Tsukumogami Poppets, because I love those little guys, too!

Happy AANHPI Month!

Left to right, illustrations by Nicholas Phillips and Mylene Bertrand

Matthew Fu (he/him)

content warning: death

Hi everyone! I'm Matthew, a Chinese American chemist by day and freelance writer and GM by night. I don't have anything else to promote since the release of NPC Core, but I wanted to take a moment to celebrate and reflect on the lessons that my Po Po (grandmother) instilled upon me. She recently passed, and I have her to thank for who am I as a person. She was generous, kind, and patient, and she showed her love through example, always putting her family before herself.

I've always struggled with coming to terms with my heritage, but she always presented Chinese culture in a welcoming and inclusive manner, never pressuring me to accept it if I didn't want to. It's something that I am still at odds with even to this day, but I am eternally grateful for her exposing me to many wonderful customs that I might have disregarded elsewise. Regardless of what I make of it, I can rest easy knowing that her love will always stay with me.

Thank you for letting me share my story.

John Godek III (he/him)

Hi! I’m John, a multi-ethnic Filipino American gamer, gamemaster, freelancer, and podcaster. I spent my early childhood in Hawai'i and the Philippines and later sailed the seven seas as I started my career.

Over the past 5 years, I have written 20 freelance TTRPG projects, including several scheduled for release later this year! I’ve worked mostly for Paizo, but also for Legendary Games, Evil Genius Games, and Evil Robot Games. I produce two podcasts on the Know Direction Network: Digital Divination, with Paizo Senior Designer Jason Keeley and D&D Designer Ron Lundeen, and Intrepid Heroes, an RPG actual play where we play mostly Starfinder adventures (currently A Cosmic Birthday). Previously, I produced Presenting - Gamers Making Games, where I interviewed over 100 game designers, developers, artists, and editors about their journey into the industry. I’m presenting a summary of these interviews at Gen Con this year. In my non-gaming life, I do university research and teaching on entrepreneurship and social enterprise. This summer, I am researching the effects of TTRPGs—feel free to reach out if you are interested in helping!

You can reach me at https://knowdirectionpodcast.com/, on YouTube, @johngodek.bsky.social, or at johngodek.com.

Illustration by Gunship Revolution

Michelle Y. Kim (she/her)

I can’t express the joy and excitement I felt upon realizing that Yoon had a Korean name, and that her heritage was, in fact, my own. Being Korean as a kid was frustrating—I’d always be asked if I was Chinese and where Korea was, anyway. (The 90s were tough.) But things have changed. K-pop, Korean dramas, and barbecue have shaken things up, and I hope to do the same with RPGs. Not just for myself, but for everyone who’s felt a little on the wayside. All my love to everyone who’s had to explain where their country is or answer ignorant questions about their heritage. You matter, and we’re with you.

---

We are proud of the stories our AAPI contributors bring to the table—this month, and every month! We also welcome other AAPI folks in the community to share their experiences and their joy in the comments!

In Solidarity,

Rue Dickey (they/he/xe)
Marketing & Media Specialist

Hello Heroes!
My name is Meredith Gerber, and I am the Partner Marketing Manager for Demiplane, DriveThruSites, and Roll20. It’s wonderful to be back as a guest blog poster, especially when I have some incredible news to share with you all.

Demiplane x Roll20 Integration

In case you missed it, we announced at the top of this year that we would launch several Roll20 x Demiplane Integration phases. 

The Alpha Release allowed us to pull Starfinder Character Sheets from Demiplane into the Roll20 VTT. Additionally, Paizo was kind enough to unlock Cross-Platform Sync, which means if you unlock some game material on Demiplane that also exists on Roll20, you unlock it in both places for no additional cost (and vice versa). 

Our Beta Release followed quickly last month, allowing all Demiplane Character Sheets to be pulled into the Roll20 VTT for a dynamic all-in-one experience.

• Connected Play, Realized: For the first time, your Demiplane characters aren’t locked in the Demiplane platform. These characters can now exist on Demiplane and Roll20 – all ready to roll! No exporting or rebuilding. Link your account and you’re in!
• Breaking Down Barriers for More Adventures: We introduced the Cross-Platform Sync and Shared Subscription benefits because we believe players should be able to dive into the fun part without any hassle. These two benefits have been live since February, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. No more jumping through hoops – just more gaming, everywhere, all at once!
• Built for Every Table: Whether you prefer in-person games using Demiplane, virtual games on Roll20’s virtual tabletop, or a mix of both, today’s release has been designed to seamlessly fit into any existing game. We already have a campaign in the works, but if you want to try one of the new sheets, it's just a matter of connecting or creating a Demiplane account and linking your characters alongside existing character sheets.
• A Strong Foundation for What’s Next: This Public Beta isn’t the end – it’s just the beginning. We're thrilled about the opportunity to bring characters to where you play. We’re excited about the potential of combining Demiplane’s ability to onboard new game systems, rapidly implement and support new game mechanics, and launch new character sheet capabilities. The future is bright, and we can't wait to share it with you.

A New Pathfinder Experience

This integration is beneficial to all players, but especially, right now, to Pathfinder Second Edition players. Pathfinder is one of the most popular systems on either platform. Because of this, we wanted to ensure that you have a seamless, elevated experience that gets out of the way and lets you (and your GM) focus on what makes your games epic. 

• Character Tools: Demiplane offers the most comprehensive, accessible character creation experience, whether you play online or in-person. With cross-linked digital companions, tooltips, and an accessible search, the Pathfinder NEXUS gives you everything you need. Create your heroes from the ground up, with brilliant, beautiful, intuitive character tools. 
• Most Up-to-Date: Demiplane’s patches and releases usually happen on the same day Paizo releases new content, or very soon after, meaning players can always access the newest mechanics, lore, and errata. There's no waiting for releases or information!
• Expansive Library: The digital Pathfinder Second Edition library on Demiplane is second to none, and it includes not only rulebooks and sourcebooks, but also the latest adventure paths! 
• Cross-Platform Sync: No more purchasing content at full price in multiple locations, and no more switching back and forth. Thanks to Cross-Platform Sync, you can unlock your content once and enjoy it on both Roll20 and Demiplane. It's an integrated experience designed to make your gaming life easier. 
• Connected to Roll20 VTT: With the power of the Demiplane Character Tools for Pathfinder NEXUS and Starfinder NEXUS, plus Roll20's recent upgrades like Jumpgate and Foreground Layer, we are thrilled to have you experience this effortless adventure.
• New Features and In-Sheet Purchases: We recently implementedfeat pre-requisities, variant rules support, and equipment purchasing. Our incredible dev David has given you the ability to purchase new items and content directly from the sheet in your Pathfinder and Starfinder games! From the item sidebar, click “buy with coin” to enable the option.

These updates and features are just the beginning. Our Demiplane development team works tirelessly to bring you more all the time, including exciting GM Tools. 

Stay tuned for a sneak peek of what's to come at our upcoming panel (details below)!

PaizoCon 2025

We are honored to be participating once again at PaizoCon 2025!

30% Off Sale

From today until the end of PaizoCon, we're excited to offer you a 30% discount on over 10,000 titles. This sale includes official Paizo titles from our Paizo Pals, community content from the Infinite Community, and graphic novels. With such a diverse range of titles, there's something for everyone! 

Now's the perfect time to start prepping for your PaizoCon 2025 games and beyond:

• Pathfinder NEXUS*(use code: PAIZOCON30 at checkout)
• Starfinder NEXUS* (use code: PAIZOCON30 at checkout)
• DriveThruRPG(third-party hits with new creators to explore)
• Pathfinder Infinite / Starfinder Infinite (brilliant works created by the Infinite Community to take your games to new horizons)
• Roll20 VTT (official Paizo titles ready to play inside the VTT and with Integration, an unforgettable experience)
• DriveThruFiction(over 30+ new titles were added, including discounted bundles of your favorite character stories)
• DriveThruComics(lore-packed graphic novels from Dynamite Entertainment) 

* excludes bundles and Galaxy Guide (it just came out last week!)

Transverse Demiplane Panel

Join us for an exciting panel launch on the main stage at PaizoCon, May 24th at 4:15 PM Pacific. Our very own Mellie Doucette (Head of Content), Dom Kelly (Principal Game Builder), and Peter Romenesko (Demiplane Lead) will be there to share their insights and answer your questions. These three are experts on the official digital companion for Starfinder and Pathfinder – and they’re just a lot of fun to boot! 

This panel is not just a review of our progress in the past year, but a chance for you to be part of shaping the future of Demiplane and Roll20. It will be a live recording, so you can ask your questions of a team that loves Pathfinder and Starfinder just as much as the community. 

Your voice matters to us, and we can't wait to hear your thoughts.

OPC Musings

Happy PaizoCon to you all! Whether you’re attending PaizoCon Online, a local PaizoCon@ event, or both, we hope you’re looking forward to a weekend full of gaming and community. I’m so excited for everyone to experience our new releases and all the fun reveals we’ve got planned!

May is truly the start of convention season proper for us here in Organized Play. We’ve got PaizoCon this month, UK Games Expo and Origins in June, and then of course Gen Con in August (and, for some of us, July). I hope you’ve all got exciting plans this summer to meet up with the players in your area!

In some personal news, I’ve recently been promoted to Paizo’s Convention and Organized Play Manager! I’m very excited to take on more responsibility for our convention appearances going forward.

Digital Adventure Releases

These adventures will be available on May 28, 2025, but you can play them early at PaizoCon Online or PaizoCon@ events!

Pathfinder Society

Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-16: The Heart of the City*

Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-17: The Devil in the Details*

Starfinder Society

Starfinder Society Scenario #7-14: Final Assessment*

*part of a subscription

Upcoming Seasons

Two weeks ago we announced Pathfinder Society Year 7: Year of Battle’s Spark! Launching at Gen Con, this year’s storyline will take you onto the front lines as Golarion erupts into all-out warfare. Read more and get ready for Gen Con with Shay’s blog.

We posted our fifth and final blog in our Starfinder Society (second edition) rollout last week, featuring the announcement of the first year’s storyline: Invasion’s Edge. Check this out, along with the previous four blogs announcing the program rules, at this link.

Sanctioning Updates

The Starfinder Galaxy Guide is available now! While Starfinder Society is still a couple of months away, two ancestries are available in Pathfinder Society to those who participated in the Starfinder Playtest. More details are available on the Character Options page. Additionally, sanctioning documents for Claws of the Tyrant are available for download on the product page! Get Pathfinder Society credit for playing through this adventure anthology with your local groups.

2025 Major Conventions

PaizoCon Online and PaizoCon@ are next weekend! Sign up for your last-minute seats online on Warhorn, and check with your local PaizoCon@ event for their signup methods. We can’t wait to see you all online for panels, Discord hangouts, gaming, and more!

We are still accepting applications for reserve GMs for Gen Con Indianapolis. If you’re looking to squeeze a slot or two of Pathfinder or Starfinder in amongst everything else at the show, we’d love to have you! Visit the link below to learn more about our GM rewards and apply.

Gen Con Information

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 reach their fifth rank!

5th Nova (SFS1): James Anderson

If you believe you’ve completed your 5th rank but haven’t been announced yet, please email me at organizedplay@paizo.com.

Conventions

Summer, and convention season, approach with great haste! Check out the Conventions calendar for upcoming events in your area.

The day after PaizoCon I’ll be hopping on a plane to Birmingham for UK Games Expo; if you’re across the pond, I’d love to see you there! Looking for a Paizo staff visit this fall? Drop me an email and let me know about your event; my contemplative gunslinger just might stop by!

Until next time adventurers—Explore! Report! Cooperate! We’ll see you at PaizoCon!

Alex Speidel
Organized Play Coordinator

Starfinder Society

Hello, Starfinders!
Gen Con is on the horizon, so it's time to talk about the special events the Organized Play team has in store for you!

This year, we’re starting in space with the launch of Starfinder Society Second Edition! Alongside our four initial scenarios, we’re releasing a special, double-length adventure that serves as a prequel to our Invasion’s Edge storyline.

Emerging suddenly from deep space, a vessel traveling at speeds that should have cracked the planet in half slowed just enough to crash into the Sloughscar Hills of Akiton. You, lucky adventurers, are members of a team of local Akitonian mercenaries and the first to investigate the collision site, explore the alien starship, and plunder its secrets.

Starfinder Society Scenario #1-00: Collision’s Wake is a 4-5 hour long scenario for 3rd-level pregenerated characters written by John Godek III. Join us at Gen Con to play this adventure concurrently with other tables and experience the launch of Starfinder Society Second Edition! After Gen Con, purchase this adventure and run it yourself!

For more information on Invasion’s Edge and the other Starfinder Society adventures releasing at Gen Con, check out the Starfinder Society Second Edition rollout blogs.

See you at Gen Con!

Jessica Catalan
Starfinder Society Developer

Illustration by Nicholas Phillips

---

Pathfinder Society

Hello, Pathfinders!

Debuting at Gen Con 2025, Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-99: Under the Eye of the Mantis is an interactive special for 1st- through 8th-level characters written by Joseph Blomquist and Michael Bramnik.

While adventuring in Sarkoris, Pathfinder Agent Khione Thidos went missing, and a strange ransom note that detailed that she’d been taken by the Red Mantis assassins was sent to the Grand Lodge via a unionized printing press. The request for money and the misspelling of the name of the Mantis’s own god was unusual, though, to say the least. Just as Society leadership was preparing a missive to the mysterious guild, however, a member of the Vernai appeared in Ambrus Valsin’s office demanding to speak with Zarta Dralneen and Eando Kline about a favor they didn’t know they owed her.

Both illustrations by Josef Kucera

The Pathfinders quickly learned of a strange shipping company based on an island off the coast of Mediogalti Island known as the Red Mantis Dispatch. This organization is run by two extremely secretive leaders, Sotroz and Rowan the Whispering, who have recently started accepting assassination contracts, including on targets the Red Mantis assassins have previously turned down.

Talk about killer competition, Pathfinders!

Shay Snow
Pathfinder Society Developer

Finally, we have something entirely new that we’ve never done before!

With the release of Battlecry!, we’ll have official skirmish rules for leading armies, and how better to showcase those rules than by letting you take command of the vanguard in the war to come?

The Order of the Rack Hellknights have taken over the town of Breachill, in Isger (a town you may remember from the very first Second Edition Adventure Path, Age of Ashes), and are executing citizens to root out what they believe are dissidents hoarding warshards, powerful pieces of the dead god Gorum. The population is terrified. When the Hellknights kill an Andoren citizen attempting to find out what the Hellknights are up to, the country decides to put a stop to these tyrants.

Illustration by Leonardo Borazio

You will control an Andoren army attempting to free Breachill and retake Citadel Altaerein. The Hellknights have an army of their own, though, and have even called forth a diabolic dragon after conducting some infernal rituals. It won't be an easy fight, but the Andoren forces you’ll be controlling are certainly up to the task!

Illustration by Felipe Fornitani

The Battle of Hellknight Hill is an adventure for 5th-level pregenerated troops, designed to run for 1 hour and really showcase what these rules can do. At Gen Con, we’ll have real battle terrain to showcase these fights. It’ll be amazing and unlike anything we’ve done before. I really hope people have a blast with it.

Illustration by Felipe Fornitani

Josh Foster
Pathfinder Society Developer

---

Panels and Events!

In addition to these amazing Pathfinder and Starfinder games, Paizo will also be holding several panels, seminars, and special events! Join us for panels on Pathfinder, Starfinder, creature creation, and more!

Not attending Gen Con? Don’t worry—we’ll have virtual content throughout the weekend as well!

Looking forward to seeing you all at Gen Con 2025!

Rue Dickey
Marketing & Media Specialist

Punch ’Em All (Severe 7)

Designed by Jenny Jarzabski

This encounter takes place on a planet deep in the Vast that’s currently occupied by Azlanti Star Empire forces. Talk to your players about why their characters are there. They might be rebel forces infiltrating or attacking an imperial base, prisoners of war escaping a holding facility, spies sabotaging an imperial operation, or deserters who have decided to strike back against their former empire. Playing these roles isn’t required, but might inspire some fun table banter.

The forces occupying this world are Sihedron guards: faceless troopers encased in sleek purple armor who serve their fascist empire without question, cruelly subjugating the peoples of the star systems they conquer. They can’t be negotiated with, and they always shoot first. The Sihedron guards fight to the death to defend their twisted ideology and maintain what they incorrectly believe is their natural superiority.

This encounter occurs after a lull in the battle. The PCs know that a Sihedron squad is converging on their position. Prompt the PCs to get into position and set up for battle, then have everyone roll initiative, choosing skills based on how their characters approach preparing for combat. 

Map: Use the urban side of Starfinder Flip-Mat: Enormous Battlefield for this encounter.

Creatures: An elite Sihedron commander leads a squad of 8 Sihedron guards into the fray. Starting positions for this battle can be anywhere, but enemies should begin the encounter at least 100 feet away from the PCs. When combat begins, the commander Leads the Charge, ordering a group of Sihedron guards (one per player at your table) to advance. The other Sihedron guards hang back and attack from a distance, repositioning after the frontliners fall with the help of their commander’s Rally the Troops ability.

Adjustments: If you have six or more players at your table, you’ll likely want to add at least two more Sihedron guards to this encounter. These reinforcements begin by hanging back and sniping from a distance. If the party takes out the other targets too quickly, the backup snipers advance into range of the PCs’ abilities. Another squad of Sihedron guards (using the same statistics) patrol the base. If all the players are having fun and want to keep playing, they can ambush the patrol by succeeding at Stealth checks against the squad leader’s Perception modifier (+16), or alternatively, the patrol ambushes the PCs as they’re trying to carry out their mission!

Design Notes: This encounter is intended to test out the tech playtest classes while providing an open map where ranged attacks, distant spells, turrets, and mines can shine. The encounter provides plentiful enemies to give characters a chance to try out using area attacks and spells against a group. Please let us know in the comments or forums how this encounter played out for your group!

SIHEDRON GUARD COMMANDER / CREATURE 7
[Medium, human, humanoid]
Perception +16; darkvision
Languages Azlanti, Common, Vesk
Skills Acrobatics +13, Athletics +17, Deception +16, Diplomacy +16, Intimidation +16, Society +11, Stealth +13, Warfare Lore +11
Str +4, Dex +2, Con +2, Int +0, Wis +3, Cha +3
Items Sihedron guard armor (as tactical shotalashu armor; darkvision visor), advanced dueling sword, advanced boom pistol (2 tactical batteries)
AC 24; Fort +13, Ref +11, Will +16
HP 115

Reactive Strike [reaction] Trigger A creature within your reach uses a manipulate action or a move action, makes a ranged attack, or leaves a square during a move action it’s using; Effect You lash out at a foe that leaves an opening. Make a melee Strike against the triggering creature. If your attack is a critical hit and the trigger was a manipulate action, you disrupt that action. This Strike doesn’t count toward your multiple attack penalty, and your multiple attack penalty doesn't apply to this Strike.
Speed 25 feet
Melee [one-action] dueling sword +18 (analog, versatile P), Damage 2d8+7 slashing
Ranged [one-action] boom pistol +16 (boost 1, expend 2, mag 20, range increment 40 feet, reload 1, tech), Damage 2d6+3 sonic
Terrifying Takedown [free-action] (emotion, fear, mental) Trigger The commander reduces an enemy to 0 Hit Points or critically hits an enemy with a Strike; Effect The commander makes a gruesome spectacle of their brutal hit. They attempt an Intimidation check to Demoralize all enemies within 30 feet.
Lead the Charge [two-actions] The commander Strides twice. If they end this movement within melee reach of at least one enemy, they make a melee Strike against that enemy. The commander’s allies gain a +1 circumstance bonus to attack the target of this Strike and ignore any cover the commander provides the target.
Rally the Troops [two-actions] (auditory, concentrate, mental) The commander issues an order for their allies to regroup. All Sihedron guard allies within 120 feet of the commander can use a reaction to Stride up to their Speed. Any Sihedron guards who end their movement adjacent to another Sihedron guard gain 5 temporary Hit Points that last 1 minute, or double that number of temporary Hit Points if they end their movement adjacent to the commander. The commander can’t Rally the Troops again for 1d4 rounds.
Tactical Strike [one-action] (auditory, mental) Frequency once per round; Effect The commander calls out an enemy within 60 feet then makes a Strike against that enemy, dealing an additional 1d6 precision damage on a hit. If the hit is successful, the commander changes the tide of the battle, inspiring their allies to greater feats of military prowess. All sihedron guards within 60 feet of the commander gain a +1 status bonus to attack and damage rolls until the beginning of the commander’s next turn.

Illustration by Sol Devia

SIHEDRON GUARD TROOPERS (8) / CREATURE 3
[Medium, human, humanoid]
Perception +6; darkvision
Languages Azlanti, Common, Vesk
Skills Acrobatics +9, Athletics +6, Intimidation +6, Stealth +9, Warfare Lore +5
Str +1, Dex +4, Con +3, Int +0, Wis +1, Cha +1
Items commercial Sihedron guard armor (as commercial shotalashu armor; darkvision visor), commercial aeon rifle (consumed aeon stone; 2 commercial batteries), commercial pulse gauntlet (1 commercial battery)
AC 18; Fort +12, Ref +9, Will +6
HP 42
Elusive Maneuver [reaction] Trigger The trooper takes damage from a ranged Strike or spell; EffectThe trooper Steps or Takes Cover.
Speed 25 feet
Melee [one-action] pulse gauntlet +8 (agile, free-hand, powered, tech), Damage 1d4+3 sonic
Ranged [one-action] aeon rifle +11 (aeon, caster, expend 1, mag 10, range increment 60 feet, reload 1, tech), Damage 1d8+2 fire
Coordinated Fire After the trooper attempts a Strike against a target (regardless of success or failure), the next Strike one of the trooper’s allies makes against the same target gains a +2 circumstance bonus to the attack roll. If a Strike with a bonus from coordinated fire hits, the target becomes suppressed until the end of the attacking ally’s next turn.
Sharpshooter When the trooper makes a ranged Strike against a target with an AC bonus from lesser or standard cover, they reduce that AC bonus by 1 for that Strike.
Show No Mercy The trooper gains a +2 circumstance bonus to damage rolls against suppressed targets.

Thanks for playing!

---The Starfinder Team

Since Starfinder Second Edition is preparing for launch, now’s a great time to meet the people behind the game!

Jenny Jarzabski (she/her)
Creative Manager

Hi! I’m Jenny, Starfinder’s Creative Manager, which means I’m the captain of this starship. I’m one part creative director, leading the creative vision for Starfinder as a game and brand; one part manager, coordinating the efforts of the badass crew of designers and developers who call ourselves the StarFriends; and one part developer, concepting, creating, outlining, and writing content for Starfinder, plus upgrading work done by talented freelance contributors. 

I’ve written a ton of adventures for various tabletop games over the years, and I’ve contributed to many Paizo books, but we’re not here to tally my credits. I’m really proud of my latest long-form adventures, A Cosmic Birthday and Murder in Metal City, and I can’t wait for you to get a taste of my (our!) setting work in Galaxy Guide. You can reach me at jenny.jarzabski@paizo.com. 

But now it’s time to introduce you to the fantastic team helping me bring the galaxy of Desna’s Path to life.

Jessica Catalan
Senior Developer

Hello everyone! I’m Jessica Catalan (she/her), senior developer on the Starfinder Team and head of the Starfinder Society. This month we’re releasing the final Starfinder Society Scenario for first edition, and in a few short months, we’re launching a brand-new program for Starfinder Society second edition! I hope you join us as we bring first edition to a close and embark on this exciting new adventure into the future!

In addition to working at Paizo full time, I’m a frequent freelance author for the Pathfinder and Starfinder RPGs, with over 50 writing credits for Paizo, and many more for other companies and games.

I’m Metis and I live in wonderful Winnipeg, Canada. I spend my free time with my family: my husband, daughter, son, and pet rabbit. I love to play TTRPGs, TCGs, and board games, collect far too many sets of dice, and read. (Yes, of course I’ll read all those books on the shelf one day, and yes, I definitely need more…).

You can find me on most social media and Discords as d20diaries. If you’re interested in writing a Starfinder Society Scenario, reach out to me at jessica.catalan@paizo.com.

All the best, folks! Take care of each other out there.

Mike Kimmel
Senior Developer

Hello! I’m Mike Kimmel (he/him), Senior Developer for Starfinder Second Edition. You may recognize me from my prior work as an Organized Play Line Developer for Pathfinder Society, from my freelance contributions to Pathfinder and Starfinder, or as the founder of the Freelance Forge forum community. I’m a proud father, former educator, and author of many adventures. Since joining the Starfinder team in 2023, I’ve been hard at work on our core rulebooks, creating playtest adventures, items, classes, spells, new rules, lots of aliens, and all the other things a science-fantasy game might need. I’ve also taken the lead on some exciting adventure content that we’ve got planned for the new edition. I’m sure you’re already looking forward to the release of our premium box set module, Murder in Metal City, as well as our Free RPG Day adventure, Battle for Nova Rush—I know I am. If possible, I’m even more excited about the other adventures I’m working on, but I’m not allowed to say much on that front yet. We’ll have to keep it a secret… for now.

Dustin Knight
Designer

Greetings Starfinders! I’m Dustin Knight, Starfinder designer! I’ve always wanted to be a tabletop game designer, so being able to announce that I’m now officially one is literally a dream come true! That said, in the process of becoming one I’ve learned the only real requisite is designing a game, so I do fervently implore anyone reading this who wants to pursue the same career path to start writing now! Wait, let’s read the rest of the blog first! Then make some tea. Then go write.

My career really took off with Organized Play. You may have played my first game, Wayfinder Origins, a repeatable scenario that opens with a boat. Or Sundered Waves, a repeatable scenario that opens with a boat. I’m still writing the occasional adventure, like Wheel of Monsters, a repeatable scenario that opens with a boat. But my specialty and focus lie in player-facing mechanics like ancestries, backgrounds, and classes. I love the back and forth conversation between mechanics and lore in a class and level driven game that both inspires and develops multifaceted characters and adventures to create these immersive moments between friends where we play out these fantastic stories. Please feel free to tell me about your characters and the incredible moments, because those memories are worth more than anything I can graph out in excel.

Outside of work I’m often described as exactly the kind of nerd you’d expect with my job title. I spend my free time sorting tens of thousands of Magic cards into grossly organized binders. I play TCGs online using official apps and Discord. I watch at least five or six new anime a season, on top of trying to tackle my ever-growing watch list. And I love to cook, with my favorite dish still being okonomiyaki. My world travels and conventions have been on hiatus for the past five years, but I’m looking forward to hanging out virtually with everyone during PaizoCon and Gen Con. I’m in an ongoing Starfinder campaign and working to restart my personal Pathfinder campaign. And realizing with each sentence I’m inching closer and closer to talking about Paizo again!

You can catch me on any number of social media platforms as Dustin Knight or kitsunewarlock, including Discord and Bluesky. You can also email me at dustin.knight@paizo.com. Thank you all for continuing to play our game, and I wish you all love and peace.

And last but not least, allow me to introduce our newest StarFriend!

Aras Yazgan (he/him)
Designer

Hello everyone! I’m Aras Yazgan, a Turkish-American game designer by vocation, computer engineer by training, artist by dedication, and forever GM by choice. Gosh, there’s an awful lot of you reading this, huh…? I think I might have page fright! I haven’t had the chance to publish much of anything thus far, but I’ve been working on little else other than TTRPG design for the last two years. My training arc is over and I’m ready to show off the results!

It’s difficult to express how excited I am to be working with the incredible Starfinder team. We’ve got some tantalizing projects in the pipeline that I can’t wait to get my mitts on…!

You can find my art on Cara @Sketching101. You can reach me at aras.yazgan@paizo.com!

From all of us, thanks again for playing Starfinder. We can’t wait to hear about all your adventures in spaaaaaaaaace!

--The Starfinder Team

It’s that time of year again when the weather outside gets nicer and board gamers gather inside to raise money for charity. This year is no exception, as Paizo will proudly be returning to the table for another day of games and giving at the 11th annual Gauntlet charity board game tournament!

On May 18th, Mox Bellevue will welcome teams of Seattle-area nerds for a day of friendly competition for a good cause. Funds raised will be going towards the Gamers Engaged Play-it-Forward fund, a low-barrier grant program for nonprofits. We have a treat cooked up for you this year, with the theme of “Feast!” celebrating all things food.

Allow me to introduce Team Paizo 2025!

• Katina Davis—Webstore Coordinator
• Matt Byrd—Warehouse Manager
• Pasha Jurgensen—Accountant
• Whitney Chatterjee—System Administrator
• Lyle Borders—Director of eCommerce (team alternate)

On tournament day, we’ll be playing two games that we’ve been allowed to practice, along with a trivia round and a thematic mystery finale which is usually concocted by local game designers. The two announced games this year are Diced Veggies and Sweet Mess Pastry Competition. The former is a snappy game of strategically wielding your cleaver to chop off vegetable dice from the bunch to prepare your recipe cards. Sweet Mess PastryCompetition is a bit longer and crunchier, with elements of open drafting and set collection as you try to prepare recipes first to win awards for your top-shelf creations.

So, how can you participate? I’m glad you asked! There are multiple ways to join in the Feast. Firstly, you can donate now, either to Team Paizo as a whole or to a group member’s individual fundraising campaign. Donations are open through the day of the tournament, and besides going toward the nonprofit grants, they also help our team gain power-ups which we can use for boosts during the games.

You can also show your support by watching the tournament! If you’re in the Bellevue area, you can stop by Mox from 11am–7pm to cheer us on. Folks who shop in-store on tournament day and donate to Gamers Engaged at the register will get a 25% coupon as well. If you can’t make it in person, the best way to watch the tournament is online. Streaming will be hosted by BoardGameGeekTV on gauntletofgames.org throughout the entire event. 

We can’t wait to mix it up with the rest of the teams on tournament day and we are incredibly grateful to our generous gaming community for every crumb of support we receive along the way.

See you at the tourney!

Katina Davis
Webstore Coordinator

Greetings, ‘Finders! This month’s new releases take you on a tour of the galaxy, stock your pockets with gear, and invite you to the feast hall! A reminder—the scenarios listed here are April’s scenarios, which released last Wednesday, April 30th! As we have shifted our physical product release to the first Wednesday of the month, we will be highlighting the digital releases from the previous month!

Never miss a release with our Paizo Subscriptions—for everything from rulebooks to accessories! Subscribers get a free PDF with purchase, early access to game content, and exclusive discounts on paizo.com!

---

Starfinder Galaxy Guide

YOUR GUIDE TO THE GALAXY… AND BEYOND!

Blast off into Starfinder Second Edition with a star chart of the galaxy and a thrilling tour of adventuring locations across the vastness of interstellar space! Starfinder Galaxy Guide is a 176-page primer designed for new and experienced players that explores popular types of science fantasy campaigns—galactic exploration, horror, war-torn space opera, and more—giving GMs and players tools for playing out those types of stories in their Starfinder game.

The Galaxy Guide also introduces several powerful galactic factions as potential friends or foes, including AbadarCorp’s holy corporate empire, the infernal orders of the Hellknights, and the world-preserving Xenowardens. Each major faction includes a new archetype players can use to create a character with ties to that faction. The galactic tour ends with a database of playable alien ancestries including a telepathic mega-brain with an atrophied body (contemplative), a friendly shapeshifter with a secretly bizarre true form (astrazoan), and more!

Starfinder Galaxy Guide is available in standard hardcover, Special Edition faux-leatherette bound hardcover, and retro video game–inspired hobby retailer and paizo.com exclusive hardcover!

Pathfinder Adventure Path #214: The Broken Palace (Shades of Blood 2 of 3)

COLD WAS THE GROUND!

Delving deeper into the prison, the PCs make their way through ruined cell blocks before finding themselves in what appears to be an idyllic village. The clueless villagers are being preyed upon by their vampire masters, and the PCs need to break the spell and ascend into the Broken Palace to remove the threat of Lady Nalushae once and for all. The Shades of Blood Adventure Path continues with “The Broken Palace,” a complete adventure for 4th- through 6th-level characters.

Pathfinder Guns & Gears (Remastered) Pocket Edition

GEAR UP AND THROW DOWN!

When sword and spell just won't be enough to win the day, it's time to power up your game with clockwork gears, lightning coils, and black powder! Guns & Gears (Remastered), the latest rulebook for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, brings the excitement of firearms and fantasy technology to your tabletop, updated to work perfectly with the remastered Pathfinder Second Edition rules!

The pocket edition of Pathfinder Guns & Gears (Remastered) presents the same content in an affordable, easy-to-transport softcover!

Godsrain: A Pathfinder Novel (Softcover)

Gods are not meant to die. They’re supposed to be immortal, too powerful to be struck down or wither to dust like the people of Golarion. It has been more than a century since Aroden, god of humanity, met his mysterious doom, and his death ushered in a new era of uncertain prophecy and turmoil—the Age of Lost Omens. Now another god has died, his death broadcast across the skies in a metaphysical projection of his murder, reverberating over any world on which he was worshipped. And from his rent corpse falls the Godsrain, a torrent of the god’s blood and divine essence. Those touched by this rain are blessed—some would say cursed—with a god-spark that imbues them with mythic power.

Get Godsrain: A Pathfinder Novel in easily transportable softcover format!

Starfinder Flip-Mat: Derelict Starships

THESE SHIPS DON’T SINK, THEY JUST FLOAT FOREVER.

Explore the husks of abandoned starships in Starfinder Flip-Mat: Derelict Starships. One side of this mat recreates a classic starship used by intrepid adventurers across the cosmos, only long after they’ve been forced to abandon it. You can even use this side as a battle-damaged version of the classic starship featured on Starfinder Flip-Mat: Starship: Sunrise Maiden. The other side of the mat shows the shorn-off section of a larger warship, where active battles could still be taking place! Both sides work as the setting for a full session of exploration in the depths of space.

Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Feasthall

A NEED FOR MEAD!

A good feasthall in a fantasy roleplaying game can be a place for the party to regroup and relax… until something bad happens. This flip-mat shows an expansive feasthall, a place where magnates and chiefs can dine, drink, and discuss politics. One side shows the feasthall in working order, and the other side shows the same hall after a violent dispute broke out and wrecked the place. Whether you need a good location for adventurers to rest and celebrate their victories or a scene of brutal disagreement, Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Feasthall has you covered!

Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-14: Twice in Steel

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

The Pathfinders travel to the demon-torn Sarkoris Scar in search of more information about Hesla Embersplitter, who's been rumored to have connections to a cult in the area known as the Cult of the Screaming Grub. The agents in the area will need to explore the desolate wasteland to find Deskari's Gullet, a cave system filled with strange connections to other planes. It's there that the Pathfinders will find Hesla's treasure and maybe catch a hint of her ultimate goal, while frosty eyes watch them from afar, counting on their success.

Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-15: Lost and Forgotten

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

Last year, Pathfinders found teleportation circles within Kaer Maga. They've learned the Azlanti wizard Lesolethe created these long ago. She had uncovered a structure older than even Kaer Maga, but abruptly left without warning, magically sealing it all.

The up-and-coming agent, self-proclaimed Runelord Zinthyra Tannol, a sprite obsessed with all things Azlanti and Thassilonian, has discovered the key to this lost structure—or at least where to find it.

The Decemvirate will promote her to venture-captain if she can successfully direct this mission. Captain Eras will evaluate her. They sail towards Lesolethe’s main lab, hidden in shattered Azlant. If the PCs can find the key, it will grant access to an incredibly ancient site, and the newest venture-captain will owe them big time.

Starfinder Society Scenario #7-13: Ratrod’s Revenge

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

Eight years ago, famed junk racer Ratrod was beaten on his own track by agents of the Starfinder Society, tarnishing his reputation and leading to a years-long losing slump. Now, Ratrod’s back and determined to get revenge—by winning a junkrace against everyone he lost against! It’s time to customize your junk racer, buckle up, and show racing fans everywhere that the Starfinder Society still has what it takes to win!

When it becomes clear someone's out to get the competition, it's up to you to determine who's to blame! A racer determined to win at all costs? An obsessed fan? Or is Ratrod's revenge a little deadlier than expected?

Welcome to the grudge match of the decade!

Pathfinder Society Quest #24: Tanuki Trouble

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

During the Year of Unfettered Exploration, the reappearance of the Planes of Metal and Wood destabilized the Maze of the Open Road, the extradimensional maze the Pathfinder Society uses to transport personnel and goods across vast distances. In trying to stabilize itself, new entrances and exits appeared, one in a Tanuki village in Minkai. The tanuki had some fun pranking travelers in the maze until some Pathfinder agents defeated them at their own games. Now the village is on good terms with the Society, but the Pathfinders would like to have a lodge in the village to oversee this new exit. The tanuki are amenable, but only if the Pathfinders do some favors for them first. Of course, the PCs are the ones tasked with these favors.

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 part of PaizoConnect and discounts and complimentary PDFs do not apply.

---

Bring Pathfinder to where you are, in person or online, and if you don’t have a favorite local game store, get books delivered to your door via a Paizo Subscription! From rulebooks to adventures, accessories, and more, we’ve got subscriptions for every table! Subscribing to a line of books gets you the physical book and the PDF for one price! Subscribe to four lines or more to unlock Paizo Advantage savings on products site-wide!

Thank you for playing Starfinder and Pathfinder!

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

Hello,Starfinders!
Welcome to the fifth and final blog in our Starfinder Society rollout! Last week, Alex discussed adventure rewards. This week, I’m here to discuss the storyline that will be the focus of the first season of Starfinder Society.

Emerging suddenly from deep space, a vessel traveling at speeds that should have cracked a planet in half slowed long enough to crash into the Sloughscar Hills of Akiton. Curious explorers and opportunistic salvagers descended upon the wreck, among which was a mercenary team in the employ of the Starfinder Society. Within hours, the starship’s automated defenses activated, driving the explorers out and unleashing dangerous monsters and magical effects into the region, including the dreaded illumantula, a terrifying monster of magic, technology, and light. This starship was soon dubbed the Wreck of the Returned.

Believing the Wreck of the Returned has a connection to the mysterious First Ones and is but the first step in a devastating invasion of the Pact Worlds, First Seeker Sarmak works to establish a Starfinder lodge in the surrounding Sloughscar Hills. Now, Sarmak has put out a call for brave Starfinders willing to help establish and defend this fledgling lodge and explore the Wreck of the Returned.

Welcome to Invasion’s Edge!

Illustration by Kevin Sardinha

Starfinder Society Second Edition launches at GenCon 2025 (July 31–August 3) with the release of a special launch adventure and four Starfinder Society Scenarios.

Starfinder Society Scenario #1-00: Collision’s Wake

Our story begins with Starfinder Society Scenario #1-00: Collision’s Wake, a special double length scenario for 3rd-level pregenerated characters written by John Godek III. This adventure is a prequel to Invasion’s Edge and casts you in the role of a team of Akitonian mercenaries hired by the Starfinder Society to keep a wary eye out for any strange occurrences or signs of alien invasion. When a strange starship crashes into the nearby Sloughscar Hills, you’re among the very first on the scene to investigate the wreck. So grab yourself a pregen, ready your laser pistol, and take a peek at what lies within the Wreck of the Returned! We wish you luck in escaping alive!

Starfinder Society Scenario #1-01: Invasion’s Edge

Starfinder Society Scenario #1-01: Invasion’s Edge is the first adventure in the Invasion’s Edge metaplot! A new Starfinder lodge is being built in the Sloughscar Hills and you’re among the first Starfinders on site. As rookie Starfinders, you’ll lend a hand in establishing the lodge then head out into the wilderness to examine a piece of nearby debris. This intro adventure is written by Michael Bramnik and is designed for 1st- and 2nd-level characters.

Starfinder Society Scenario #1-02: Mystery of the Frozen Moon

Every year, the Starfinder Society learns of thousands of newly discovered planets, planetoids, moons, and other stellar bodies, many of which sustain life. Each location is closely catalogued, with the most promising marked for future study. The frigid moon of Luvoth is one such location.

Known to the Starfinders only as Vast-723-Arctic-Moon, or VAM-723 for short, Luvoth is one of four small moons in orbit around an unexplored gas giant in the Vast. Initial scans of the moon indicate there’s no sapient inhabitants, but there are some artificial structures—an intriguing mystery! Believing VAM-723 could be the perfect jumping off point to explore the local stellar bodies and surrounding system, the Starfinder Society dispatches a team of agents to perform initial surveys of the moon and investigate the structures.

Starfinder Society Scenario #1-02: Mystery of the Frozen Moon is a first contact adventure for 1st- and 2nd-level characters written by Solomon St. John.

Starfinder Society Scenario #1-03: Disaster at Dreamlink Labs

When a nascent godling called the Newborn was birthed from the planet Aucturn in 324 AG, chunks of its planetary womb and embryonic fluids were cast across the Pact Worlds. Most of this debris—called aucturnite—collected at the outer rim of the system, in a region known as the Gelid Edge. This forlorn field of ice and technomagical debris is a realm of occult power, haunted starship wrecks, and unknown horrors. Yet, for all its dangers, the Gelid Edge is a frontier of new discoveries and forbidden knowledge, and many Newborn evangelists, anomaly hunters, and occult researchers have flocked to the region to learn its secrets.

When the Starfinder Society is contacted by scientists from Dreamlink Laboratories, who claim to have made an important discovery in the Gelid Edge, Venture-Captain Arvin dispatches a team of agents to investigate. Unfortunately, something has invaded Dreamlink Labs… and time is running short for the lab’s survivors.

Starfinder Society Scenario #1-03: Disaster at Dreamlink Labs is a horror adventure for 1st- and 2nd-level characters written by Caryn DiMarco.

Starfinder Society Scenario #1-04: The Great Absalom Relay

The Starfinder Society is one of a dozen prominent organizations invited to participate in the Great Absalom Relay, a live-streamed relay race across Absalom Station and the most anticipated charity event of the year! Charm the audience and upstage your competition as you overcome obstacles and compete in challenges in this showcase of Absalom Station’s hotspots. Win or lose, the spotlight’s on you!

Starfinder Society Scenario #1-04: The Great Absalom Relay is a social adventure for 1st- and 2nd-level characters written by Alex Speidel.

Onward, to the Future!

Thanks for following along with our Starfinder Society Second Edition rollout blogs! A link to our previous blogs is below.

• April 8 - Welcome to SFS2
• April 15 - Scenario Structure
• April 22 - Character Creation
• May 6 - Year 1 Storyline

I look forward to joining you in the future, with Starfinder Society Second Edition!

Until next time - Explore! Report! Cooperate!

Alex Speidel
Organized Play Coordinator

Jessica Catalan
Starfinder Society Developer

Greetings, Starfinders!
We’d like to thank our entire community from the bottom of our hearts for the overwhelmingly enthusiastic reception we’ve seen for the Starfinder Tech Class Playtest! The playtest is still ongoing, and you can fill out (and modify) your feedback surveys until May 30th.

We know you’re eager for new adventure content to playtest with, so we’ve cooked up a little bonus encounter for you to run for mechanics, technomancers, and their allies! Check that out at the end of this blog!

Additionally, the team has already received tremendously useful feedback, and we’ve spotted some irregularities in our code that might cause your exocortexes or spell databases to glitch. So before you take off on your next adventure, make sure your mechanic and technomancer are properly patched and updated with the newest addition to the Official Starfinder Playtest FAQ. We’ve included a summary and explanation of some of the changes below:

Illustration by Yun Huai Huang

Mechanic

• Modify Possession: Some Starfinders have expressed concern that Modify doesn’t work with grenades, thrown weapons, and exocortexes that leave your possession when used. To fix this, under "Modify" on page 4, replace the line "or leaves your possession" with "or a character other than you, your drone, or your turret attempts to use the item."
• Modify Drone: You need the Modify Drone feat in order to modify the weapons on your drone. Remove "and any weapons it wields" from the first sentence of the third paragraph under Drone on page 5.
• Deploy Mine: Using an extra action to deploy a mine should only change whether or not you can deploy it in an unoccupied square, not how far away you can deploy it. Replace the text of Deploy Mine with the following: “You deploy a mine, planting it in an unoccupied square within 30 feet. You can increase the number of actions you spend Deploying a Mine to two to instead plant the mine in an occupied square within 30 feet. When you Deploy a Mine, you select whether it will deal fire damage or piercing damage when detonated.”
• Aucturnite Ammunition: Transmutative Casing (feat 8) allows you to deal damage as if you were using aucturnite. Aucturnite ammunition and weapons gain the critical (mental) trait.
• Advanced & Elite Drone Prerequisites: Change the prerequisite of Advanced Drone (feat 14) to Refined Chassis. Change the prerequisite of Elite Drone (feat 18) to Advanced Drone.
• Convertible Chassis: Replace the text of Convertible Chassis (feat 14) with the following: “Your drone easily converts between different forms. During daily preparations, choose two different chassis for your drone. You can select a different chassis as a 1-hour activity with the concentrate and manipulate traits. Your drone gains the Mobile Reconfiguration action. Mobile Reconfiguration [two actions] Your drone changes itself from one of its chassis to another.”

Robot Companion

· Robot Companion Skills: Like animal companions, robot companions are always trained in Acrobatics and Athletics, so they don’t need those skills as bonus skill proficiencies. Replace the Agile Chassis robot companion's skill with Stealth, and the Powerful Chassis and Tank Chassis robot companion's skill with Survival.

· Graceful and Burly: Graceful robot companions use the same adjustments as a nimble animal companion. Burly robot companions use the same adjustments as a savage animal companion.

Technomancer

· Defensive Measures: Change the technomancer feature Defensive Measures to increase your proficiency rank in unarmored defense and light armor to expert.

· Electrotether: The spell electrotether is the updated version of the gravity tether spell from the Starfinder Playtest rulebook. It uses the same statistics as gravity tether, except it has the electricity trait and can target up to two creatures (even if it’s not heightened).

· Spell Transfer Protocol: The magic hack spell transfer protocol was cut during development. The advanced magic hack for the ServoShell programming language is hardlight simulacrum.

While publishing errata for a playtest is unusual, we feel some of these changes dramatically changed how these classes were played and needed to be addressed early on in the playtest process. And if you’re still looking for opportunities to playtest these classes, stay tuned to this blog and check out the games being offered at this year’s PaizoCon!

Artificial Anomalies and the Awkward Attack on Actors (Moderate 1)

Designed by Aras Yazgan

This encounter takes place on Akiton, along a trade route between the city of Arl and the settlements of Golden Bay. Talk to your players about what their characters are doing in the area. Some likely options are bandits, performers, or vigilantes patrolling the road. Playing these roles isn’t required, but might inspire some fun table banter.

The encounter takes place soon after the emergence of the Newborn (during the events of A Cosmic Birthday). A traveling theater troupe called the Aspiring Acting Aggregate has just started its yearly trip between the cities of the Ridgelands. On the way to Booster City, they were attacked by a group of robots experiencing an existential awakening due to psychic energy released by the Newborn. The robots draped themselves in fabric to appear human, then fired a turret at the troupe to scare them into abandoning their bus.

If the PCs talk to the troupe, an older woman named Madame Garvino (indignant female human stage manager) explains the situation: “Some upstarts set up a scheme just on the edge of Arlkari Plateau. The gall! They robbed us blind, not only of credits, but of our cloth, our smoke machines… Our everything was in that bus! We’re ruined.” She describes the ambush, explaining how snipers shot at them from a distance while two hooded figures ordered them to leave their bus, commenting, “The youth these days have no respect!”

When the PCs investigate the ambush site described by Madame Garvino, they find bits of cloth strewn atop the rocks, made to look like ambushers. An abandoned tour bus with AAA’s logo on the side is parked behind the rocks, emptied of valuables. As they investigate, the PCs notice electronic chittering and movement from the ruins to the northwest.

Read or paraphrase the following to set the scene:

Two twig-thin rusty robots are moving electronics. One stops abruptly and yells, “Darling! Darling! Rumbled! That is what we are!” The other responds with: “You wanna get my kiddo, you’re gonna have to go through me, bucko,” a famous line from an old audio theater show. They drop what they were holding and take aggressive stances.

Map: Use the desert map from Starfinder Flip-Mat: Alien Ruins

Creatures: Two repair-class security robots have been newly awakened into Sentient Robotic Organisms (SROs), but they lack the emotional regulation and sophistication to communicate properly. Each robot starts barely within the view of the PCs arriving from the southeast, one up north and the other to the west. The robots reposition around the rocks to lure the PCs into the turret’s range, which is placed on the slightly elevated plateau surrounded on three sides with rocks. If the PCs attack the turret, the robots desperately try to protect it. If the turret breaks, one stops attacking, drops prone, and spends all its actions yelling “Nooooo!” while the other attacks the PC who last dealt damage to the turret in a frenzy.

Adjustments: If the robots are put out of commission before they can act or lure the players to the turret, one or two more robots emerge from the ruins to keep the battle going.

Hazards: A laser turret is set up behind the wall, hidden by the rocks. It’s surrounded by random knickknacks from the AAA bus.

REPAIR-CLASS SECURITY ROBOTS (2) / CREATURE –1

[small, construct, robot, tech]

Perception +8; darkvision
Skills Acrobatics +4, Athletics +2, Computers +2
Str +1, Dex +3, Con +2, Int +1, Wis +0, Cha +0
AC 14; Fort +5, Ref +8, Will +2

HP 8; Immunities bleed, death effects, disease, doomed, drained, fatigued, healing, mental, nonlethal attacks, paralyzed, poison, sickened, unconscious; Weaknesses electricity 1

Exigency [reaction] Frequency once every 10 minutes; Trigger A creature targets the security robot with an attack; Effect The robot overclocks its processing power to attempt to avoid an attack, gaining a +2 circumstance bonus to its AC against the triggering attack.

Speed 25 feet

Melee [one-action] slam +4, Damage 1d4+1 bludgeoning

Ranged [one-action] welding torch +5 (range increment 30 feet), Damage 1d4+1 fire

Fire Suppressor [two-actions] The robot sprays a torrent of water that functions as hydraulic push (DC 16). The robot must refill its tanks after using this ability.

LASER TURRET / HAZARD 1

[complex, hazard, tech, trap]

Stealth +10 (trained)
Description A concealed turret pops up and fires a laser when intruders enter a secure area.
Disable DC 18 Computers (trained) to reprogram the turret, or DC 17 Crafting (trained) to cut power to the turret, or DC 16 Thievery (trained) to disable the turret

AC 16; Fort +10, Ref +4
Hardness 5, HP 24 (BT 12); Immunities critical hits, object immunities, precision damage

Laser Blast [reaction] Trigger A creature moves within 30 feet of the turret; Effect The trap makes a laser Strike against the creature. The trap then rolls initiative.

Routine (3 actions) The trap makes a laser Strike against up to three creatures in range, or multiple Strikes against one creature in range if it has no additional targets.

Ranged laser +9 (range increment 90 feet), Damage 1d6+3 fire

Reset The trap resets after 1 minute.

Development: A PC who succeeds at a DC 14 Computers or Crafting check realizes the robots are displaying complex behaviors that suggest they have developed emotions, higher thinking, and possibly even free will. A DC 18 Occultism or Religion check correctly determines that the robots have developed souls. The robots aren’t responsive to attempts at diplomacy during the battle, but afterward, they might be repaired and counseled rather than simply scrapped. The AAA troupe’s missing property is scattered around the rocks, set up haphazardly to resemble a crude stage.

If the PCs return the bus and equipment to Madame Garvino, she rewards them for their help (or pays handsomely to buy back her goods, if the PCs are less charitable). If the robots were repaired and counseled, she warily agrees to take them on as apprentice actors, admitting that their “performance” was quite spectacular.

Thanks for playing!

--The Starfinder Team

Today marks the start of Asian American and Pacific Islander Month here in the U.S., and Paizo is proud to celebrate with the launch of the Pathfinder Second Edition Asian Fantasy Bundle, available now. This bundle benefits Stop AAPI Hate, a U.S.-based coalition dedicated to fighting racism and discrimination against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, striving to advance the multiracial movement for equity and justice by raising awareness about anti-AAPI hate, working in solidarity with allied communities, and advocating for comprehensive solutions that tackle the root causes of race-based hate. You can learn more about Stop AAPI Hate at stopaapihate.org.

At the base level of a $5 donation, you’ll receive a $75 value in entry-level Pathfinder Second Edition PDFs, including PathfinderCore GM Screen, Pathfinder Remaster Iconics Pregenerated Characters, Pathfinder Character Sheet Pack,Pathfinder Second Edition Beginner Box: Remastered Edition, the Fists of the Ruby Phoenix Player’s Guide, Pathfinder Society Scenario #1–06: Lost on the Spirit Road, Pathfinder Flip-Mat Classics: Village Square, Pathfinder Flip-Tiles: Forest Starter Set, and Pathfinder Flip-Tiles: Forest Perils Expansion!

For $15 or more, you’ll get everything in the $5 tier, plus PDFs of Pathfinder Player Core; Pathfinder GM Core; Pathfinder Bestiary, Bestiary 2,and Bestiary 3; Lost Omens Legends; Lost Omens Monsters of Myth; the Tian Xia-set Pathfinder Tales novel; Master of Devils and its prequel novella, Husks; all four Pathfinder Society Scenarios in the “Equal Exchanges” series (#5–04, #5–09, #5–11, and #5–18); and six Pathfinder Flip-Mats to aid you in running those adventures (Ancient Dungeon, Jungle Multi-Pack, Alien Ruins, Hospital, Twisted Caverns, and Underground City Multi-Pack)—an additional $267 value.

For $30 or more, you get everything above plus another $288 in value, including PDFs of the entire Fists of the Ruby Phoenix Adventure Path (both the individual installments from the pages of Pathfinder Adventure Path and the single-volume omnibus), as well as the Fists of the Ruby Phoenix Battle Cards and Pawn Collection; Pathfinder Monster Core; Pathfinder Dark Archive; Lost Omens Travel Guide; Lost Omens Tian Xia World Guide; Lost Omens Tian Xia Character Guide; Pathfinder Society Scenario #6–05: Silver Bark; Golden Blades; and two Pathfinder Flip-Mat Classics (Falls & Rapids and Thieves’ Guild). That’s a total of more than $630 in PDFs, but the deal doesn’t end there!

For an additional $15 (for a total of $45) we’ll throw in the sketch hardcover variant of Pathfinder Player Core, while supplies last. Redemption of the code on paizo.com will add the book to your cart at no cost, and you’ll just need to pay shipping and handling on checkout.

The Pathfinder Second Edition Asian Fantasy Bundle runs from now through 11 a.m. (PDT) on Thursday, May 22. Don’t miss this opportunity to get nearly every piece of Asian-inspired fantasy released for Pathfinder Second Edition, all while helping a great cause!

Back the Pathfinder Second Edition Asian Fantasy Bundle today!

As the Year of Immortal Influence comes to a raucously loud close, the leaders of the Pathfinder Society turn their attention to a question that’s been gnawing at the back of their minds since early in the machinations of the past year:

Why did Queen Abrogail Thrune II order the destruction of Greensteeples?

Though the question was seemingly unimportant as Pathfinder agents were contending with the rise of a demon lord, it’s returned to the focus just long enough for Venture-Captain Brackett over in Almas, Andoran to receive a missive for assistance from Andira Marusek.

It’s time for war.

Illustration by Rodrigo Gonzalez Toledo

Welcome to the Year of Battle’s Spark!

With the Inner Sea War beginning to spread across Avistan, it’s time for the Pathfinder Society to decide that enough is enough from Cheliax and to take a stand against them and the tyranny they represent. Throughout this upcoming year, we’ll be exploring the effects of this war across Golarion, with the metaplot arcs of Battle’s Spark and the Hellfire Crisis! These seven metaplot scenarios will be marked with a special metaplot icon on the cover. For more information about the metaplot, upcoming specials, and other new changes, please tune into the News from Organized Play panel at PaizoCon 2025!

Illustration by Rodrigo Gonzalez

The metaplot of the Year of Battle’s Spark kicks off with Pathfinder Society Intro: Year of Battle’s Spark—Enough is Enough, an adventure for 1st- through 4th-level characters written by Matt Duval! This scenario takes us back to the hometown of Pathfinder Second Edition’s first Adventure Path, Breachill, as the Pathfinder Society assists the Steel Falcons with rescuing the innocent civilians from the town before launching an attack on the Hellknights that have taken cover in Citadel Altaerein! This scenario debuts at Gen Con 2025, alongside the Pathfinder Society special events and one other Pathfinder Society scenario!

We can’t wait to see you there, Pathfinders!

Remember: Explore! Report! Cooperate!

Shay Snow
Pathfinder Society Developer

So, you’ve built your character and played through an adventure. What do you get from it? What wonderful treasures will your characters earn along the way? That’s the topic of today’s blog, the fourth in our Starfinder Society rollout!

Chronicle Sheets

After completing an adventure, you’ll receive a Chronicle Sheet, either physically or digitally. Your Chronicle Sheet will contain a summary of the adventure you just completed, along with the following rewards:

• Experience (XP): What your character needs to level up! Each Starfinder Society Scenario awards 4 XP. Every time you earn 12 XP, your character levels up!
• Credits: In the Starfinder universe, credits are exchanged for goods and services. Your character will earn the same number of credits for every scenario, based on their level. This represents the Starfinder Society paying you for your efforts. Your character also gets to keep any treasure they find along the way. A first-level character will earn 140 credits for the successful completion of a scenario, and a second-level character will earn 220 credits. A full table for all character levels will be made available in the Guide to Organized Play upon release.
• Downtime: Starfinder Society characters earn eight days of Downtime after completing an adventure. This can be used for any Downtime activity in the rules, including Earning Income, Retraining, or Crafting.
• New Character Options: Each Starfinder Society scenario will award your characters new bespoke content tailored to the adventure! This could be anything: a new feat you can take to represent your time in the wilds, a magic or tech item gifted to you by a NPC, or anything else our authors and developers can dream up.

Achievement Points

Upon completion of an adventure, you (the player) will also earn Achievement Points (AcP). This is a meta-currency that is tracked on our website after an adventure is reported. For each scenario, players will earn 4 Achievement Points, and GMs will earn 8. Playing or running games at supported events such as conventions or your local game store may also apply a multiplier to these points, allowing you to unlock rewards even faster.

Achievement Points are spent in our online boon store on new rewards and options. Some of the rewards will include:

• Legacy Ancestries: Starfinder Player Core and StarfinderGalaxy Guide contain a whole host of alien ancestries, but we know many of you want to venture into space as an elf, dwarf, or other classic fantasy ancestry. At launch, some of these ancestries will be available in the Boon Store for just 8 Achievement Points, which means that GMing just one session lets you blast off as a space goblin!
• Condition Removal: Get hit with a nasty curse? Did an akata implant eggs in your character’s stomach, or did you die in the final boss fight? Achievement Points can be used to remove negative conditions after an adventure and even bring your character back to life!
• Pathfinder Options: Versatile heritages, archetypes, and even classes will be made available over time through the use of Achievement Points. Your solar kineticist is just a few GM sessions away from your grasp!

We’re always looking for new ways to let you spend your Achievement Points. If there’s something you want, whether it’s a specific option or a whole category of possible rewards, let us know. We just might make it happen!

Illustration by Joshua Wright

Changes from Previous Programs

Those of you who have been with Organized Play for a while will notice a couple of conspicuous absences. We wanted to address those upfront and explain why we’ve made the decision not to include them.

First, Starfinder Society (Second Edition) does not have factions. You’re a Starfinder, and that’s it—you’re not a member of some secondary subgroup as well. For years, factions have existed as a vestige of old systems, and at the current time, the Starfinder team is more interested in telling the story of the Society as a unified group rather than as a collection of special interests in a holo-trenchcoat. Removing them also eliminates another Organized Play-specific element that new players have to learn about.

Additionally, Starfinder Society will not have a GM ranking system akin to the previous system of stars, glyphs, or novas at launch. This will return at a future date in some form, though not necessarily the one you may be used to. We do want to make sure we’re rewarding our dedicated GMs and recognizing those who go above and beyond for the program. However, what we don’t want to even tacitly encourage is the practice of rushing to that top rank and being one of the first GMs with the highest recognition. We’ve seen too many GMs in Pathfinder Society burn themselves out and drop shortly after achieving this goal, and the easiest way to prevent it, in our minds, is simply not to put it in front of you until a later date.

Also, to be honest, I’m just not sure what to call this new rank. Rings? Comets? Moons? Donuts? Naming things is hard, so I’m procrastinating.

Retail Incentive Program

Now more than ever, it’s critical to support the game stores and venues who host our games. Starfinder Society (Second Edition) will feature a Retail Incentive Program (RIP) just like previous editions. This program will provide characters with additional durability and healing based on the amount of money the table has spent at the venue during the session. About to lose your final hitpoint? A last-minute dice purchase might just give you the tools you need to survive!

Illustration by Rodrigo Gallo

Player’s Guide

You know how our Adventure Paths have a free Player’s Guide, available for download here on paizo.com? They’re great; they have primers on the campaign, recommendations for what to play, and even campaign-specific content like new backgrounds. Those are neat! We decided we wanted one, so we’re doing it.

Prior to the season launch (likely in July), we’ll be publishing the first Starfinder Society Player’s Guide. Contained within will be everything you need to get started with Starfinder Society, including:

• An overview of the campaign rules and a brief history of the Starfinder Society
• Exclusive backgrounds, written just for Starfinder Society’s first story arc
• Playtest backgrounds, available exclusively to players who participated in the Starfinder Playtest adventures
• Two new ancestries, hot off the presses and immediately (and always) available for use in Starfinder Society!

This will be a free PDF download here on paizo.com. We’ll also have printed copies available at Gen Con for all attendees. This will not replace the full Guide to Organized Play on the Lorespire Wiki, which contains the full rules and regulations for the program. Rather, it is intended to be a primer for new and experienced players alike. We hope this will help bring new players into the fold and provide everyone with exciting new options for the campaign.

Tune in next week for our final rollout blog, where Jessica will announce our first Starfinder Society storyline for Second Edition! I can’t wait to discover the mysteries of—oops, said too much, gotta go!

Follow along with our SFS2 rollout blogs:

• April 8 - Welcome to SFS2
• April 15 - Scenario Structure
• April 22 - Character Creation
• May 6 - Year 1 Storyline

Alex Speidel
Organized Play Coordinator

Jessica Catalan
Starfinder Society Developer

With this year’s spring showers comes a shower of errata. Well, more of a sprinkle, as the number of changes is pretty light—especially compared to last year’s fall errata. The new errata and clarifications are up now on the FAQ page, identified with “Spring 2025” and the printing of the book they apply to. For example, “Rival Academies (Spring 2025, 1st Printing).” We aren’t repeating the details of the errata process here, but you can find them in the Fall Errata Updates 2024 blog.

Pathfinder Player Core had small fixes to ensure Learn a Spell adds a spell to a wizard’s spellbook as intended and to clean up some jump-related feats.

Pathfinder Player Core 2 also had jump-related feats changes, plus some other minor changes.

Pathfinder Rage of Elements has updates to its troops to reflect the Pathfinder NPC Core troop rule changes, updates references to Pathfinder Lost Omens Gods & Magic to new references in Pathfinder Lost Omens Divine Mysteries.

Pathfinder War of Immortals mostly got some fixes to errant action symbols and prerequisites, but included more substantial changes to the exemplar’s victor’s wreath ikon and to actions Silence the Profane and Disrupt Opposed Magic in the avenger and vindicator archetypes.

Pathfinder Lost Omens Rival Academies had changes to the runelord archetype to fix a spell appearing at the wrong rank and to make it clear how their arcane bond and personal rune work.

A gennayn brings you the Rage of Elements errata you wished for! Art by Mirco Paganessi.

We’ll see you again in the fall with another update, which we hope will be small as well!

The Pathfinder Designers

With Starfinder Galaxy Guide’s release right around the corner, we’re looking forward to seeing the adventures you all embark on in Desna’s Path! Whether you’re planning a fantasy, horror, dystopian, or weird campaign, Galaxy Guide has locations laid out for every adventure!

As a special sneak peak, we’re excited to share the opening spread of one of these genre-based chapters: High-Tech Adventures!

High-Tech Adventures put technology and magitech at the center! These adventures can be set in technologically advanced cities or space stations—like Absalom Station—or on planets like Aballon, where everything you see is a machine.

Characters in high-tech adventures, whether player characters or NPCs, may have a higher likelihood of being androids or having a variety of cybernetic enhancements and augmentations. Classes like the technomancer and mechanic (from our currently-running Tech Class Playtest) are spectacularly well-suited for high-tech adventures, but there’s more than enough space in the augmented reality court for operatives, witchwarpers, soldiers—or maybe even a rogue or ranger, transported from Golarion and left in awe of the technology around them!

As you’re building a high-tech adventure, campaign, or character, here are some questions to ask:

• How does technology improve lives for people in this world? Conversely, how is technology making lives difficult?
• Are the player characters working with or against the technology? Is it a tool in their arsenal or an impediment in their way?
• Is a new (or newly rediscovered) piece of technology changing the world—for better or worse?
• What happens when technology that everyone relies on goes awry?

Install your cybernetics, hack into the mainframe, and get ready for high tech adventures and so much more, coming in Starfinder Galaxy Guide!

Preorder Starfinder Galaxy Guide, available in standard hardcover,special edition faux-leatherette and foil bound hardcover, or hobby retail and Paizo.com exclusive retro-inspired hardcover editions! Or, subscribe to the Starfinder Roleplaying Game or Starfinder Special Edition Rulebooks lines to guarantee your copy—with a free PDF when your order ships!

Hello, Starfinders!
Big news on Absalom Station today as famed junkracer Ratrod has challenged the Starfinder Society to a race at his personal track. Ratrod, who suffered through a multi-year losing streak after being beaten by trash talking Laboni and her fellow Starfinders, is calling this race the “grudge match of the century.” Word on the infosphere claims Ratrod has invited all those racers who beat him during his slump to this junkrace to prove he’s back in top form. Leader of the Starfinder Acquisitives faction, Radaszam, who fielded Laboni and her team at the previous race, has yet to reveal which agents he’s picked to participate…

Starfinder Society Scenario #7-13: Ratrod’s Revenge is an adventure for 5th- through 8th-level characters written by Dennis Muldoon.

On your marks, get set, go!

Get racing, Starfinders!

Jessica Catalan
Starfinder Society Developer

Left to right: illustration by Michele Giorgi and Sammy Khali.

---

Hello, Pathfinders!
Way back at the beginning of the Year of Immortal Influence, a very gorgeous, talented, amazing Pathfinder agent by the name of Khione Thidos offered to help look into the strange background of Lady Hesla Embersplitter. Well, her research is finally paying off as she’s located a small settlement by the name of Pimatsih out in Sarkoris that seems to have a small amount of information about Hesla, her background, and her whereabouts. A healer knows that the Cult of the Screaming Grub is responsible for her rise, but it’s up to the Pathfinders to go into the badlands of Sarkoris and search out the ominously named cave system Deskari’s Gullet and see what Hesla’s been up during her absence. However, the agents may find that she’s more prepared to handle cultists than they are...

Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-14: Twice in Steel is an adventure for 7th- through 10th-level characters written by our very own Alex Speidel!

Illustration by Sammy Khalid

Meanwhile, way out in the Arcadian Ocean we’ve got a follow-up to Pathfinder Society Scenario #5-16: A Lie Told to Strangers. At the end of that scenario, the Pathfinders were faced with a mysterious door that could not be opened beneath Kaer Maga. Well, someone believes they may have located a key to that door. A self-proclaimed runelord and scholar of all things Thassilonian and Azlanti, Zinthyra Tannol, a sprite granted a field commission for her numerous contributions, believes an ancient Azlanti scholar sealed that door long before Earthfall. She also believes she’s located the laboratory where the key was stored. This contribution, when added to all her previous accolades, would be enough to propel her to the seat of venture-captain, but it’ll be up to you if her mission succeeds. As a test of her abilities, she’s in charge of directing a group of Pathfinder agents, as any venture-captain would be. Will you help the sprite’s dreams come to fruition, or will whatever dangers that were left in the long-forgotten Azlanti laboratory thwart your efforts?

Illustrations by Sammy Khalid

Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-15: Lost and Forgotten is an adventure for 5th- to 8th-level characters written by Alison Cybe, the same author of the excellent 5-16 mentioned above.

And finally, dear Pathfinders, we go back to Minkai, clear on the other side of the world from both of the above adventures. In Pathfinder Society Scenario #5-12: Mischief in the Maze, a connection from a Tanuki village to the Maze of the Open Road—the interdimensional hedge maze that the Society can use to cross vast distances incredibly quickly—was formed due to elemental instabilities and the tanuki throwing whatever magic seemed interesting at the planar fissure. Now the Pathfinder Society wants to establish a lodge in southern Minkai within that village, but they need to get all the proper permissions. The tanuki are amenable, but the Society needs to help them out with some issues first. Of course, that falls to you and your companions. Before all of this is done, perhaps you’ll even save the village from a danger none were aware of.

Illustration by Anselmi Hyytinen

Pathfinder Series 2 Quest #24: Tanuki Trouble is an all-ages adventure for 1st- to 4th-level characters written by Hiromi Cota.

Josh Foster
Pathfinder Society Developer

Shay Snow
Pathfinder Society Developer

Welcome back to our Starfinder Society rollout! Last week, Jessica talked to you about Starfinder Society scenarios. Of course, in order to play these adventures, you’ll need a character or three, so today let’s dive into character creation!

Character Creation Basics

In general, you’ll follow the rules as outlined in the Starfinder Player Core to create a player character (PC) in Starfinder Society. For a preview of these rules, check out the Pathfinder Player Core. The following steps will augment these character creation rules:

• When creating your character concept, remember that you are a member of the Starfinder Society. They must be able to work with any other Starfinder and abide by the Society’s motto: “Explore, Report, Cooperate.”
• Characters may use any ancestry, heritage, background, and class from the Starfinder Galaxy Guide or Starfinder Player Core.
  • Players who participated in the Starfinder Playtest will have access to exclusive backgrounds based on these adventures. Additionally, all Starfinders will have access to campaign-specific backgrounds in addition to those found in hardcover material.
• Characters must be adults for their ancestry, and cannot be sanctified to unholy.

Starting at Higher Levels

In Starfinder Society (second edition), characters may be created at 1st-, 3rd-, 5th- or 7th-level. While we encourage all players to start their first character at 1st-level to help them learn the system, we believe this flexibility will allow for greater ease of scheduling across the board. Characters who participate in an entire plotline from the very start will also find that later scenarios will reward having participated in earlier adventures.

Pregenerated characters will be available at 1st-, 3rd-, and 5th-level, though we want to caution you all that 5th-level content won’t appear until close to the end of our first season of play.

When creating a character at a higher level, you may select starting equipment using either the lump sum or permanent items as found in the Character Wealth table (Starfinder GM Core 59).

Level Cap

We do not intend to publish adventures for characters above 10th level. As scenarios get into higher level ranges, we see diminishing table counts. These high-level adventures are also significantly more involved to design and develop. We’re announcing this cap now to set expectations and to ensure you’re all aware of our plans from the start. We’d hate for you to create a character whose build comes online late in the game, only to find out that you won’t have a chance to play them in the campaign.

Those who are interested in play above 10th-level should look to our other published Adventure Paths and Adventure content. Organized Play is a great way to find other players you enjoy gaming with for these additional experiences!

Illustration by Renan Maurilio.

Character Options

Our plan, with a handful of exceptions, is to make as much of our published Starfinder content available to all Starfinder characters without purchasing boons or completing certain adventures. This means that at launch all ancestries, classes, and other options in the StarfinderGalaxy Guide, StarfinderPlayer Core, and StarfinderGM Core will be available for all characters, and future products will see similarly permissive access. Starfinder Society will not use variant rules such as Free Archetype or Automatic Bonus Progression.

Additionally, players will be permitted to use the technomancer and mechanic classes from the Tech Playtest until their release in a future hardcover book! We will have full guidelines for converting your character once we get closer, but expect that any technomancers or mechanics will be required to rebuild into the final rules once they are released.

We want you to purchase a Paizo product and be able to use that content immediately, without restriction. One of the core appeals of Starfinder is the cantina of alien options available, and we believe that’s a key component of our Organized Play program as well.

With that in mind, what might Achievement Points be used for? And what other rewards might scenarios unlock? Join us next week for more on adventure rewards and other program elements!

Follow along with our SFS2 rollout blogs:

• April 9 - Welcome to SFS2
• April 15 - Scenario Structure
• April 29 - Adventure Rewards
• May 6 - Year 1 Storyline

Until next time - Explore! Report! Cooperate! And start crafting those Starfinder characters!

Alex Speidel
Organized Play Coordinator

Jessica Catalan
Starfinder Society Developer

Welcome to the playtest for the mechanic and the technomancer! These two new classes will be released in a future technology-themed book, but first, we need your feedback from playing them in your games! Additionally, after the playtest ends, these versions of the classes will be available to play at the launch of Starfinder Second Edition, including in Starfinder Society Organized Play.

The mechanic is a versatile martial class that uses item mods in tandem with an exocortex, which allows them to control a robot companion, remotely fire a turret, or plant explosive mines!

The technomancer is a prepared spellcaster who overclocks their gear and casts powerful magic hacks!

Illustration by Sammy Khalid
Help tune up the tech classes along with Quig and Raia

How to Playtest

We’ll be collecting feedback on the playtest until May 30th, 2025! You can play the mechanic and technomancer using the resources on our Playtest Homepage, such as the Starfinder Playtest Rulebook and errata found on the Playtest FAQ page. We’re looking for your feedback and comments regarding these classes, but we’re focusing our attention on feedback from play, both online using virtual tabletops (VTTs) or play-by-post and offline, at your friendly local gaming store, convention, or wherever else you can safely play. We recommend using our existing playtest adventures to test out these classes, or even trying out Pathfinder adventures for an out-of-this-world anachronistic saga! Our friends at Demiplane will also be hosting a free preview of their online character-building tools, allowing you to build playtest mechanics and technomancers online! You can visit them at https://app.demiplane.com/nexus/starfinder2e/sources/tech-class-playtest.

We will be watching the results of this playtest carefully and might even change the fundamentals of these classes based on your feedback. We are unlikely to release any supporting errata for this class playtest unless we find a feature that is so overwhelming that it skews the data.

Once you’ve had a chance to try these classes, you can submit your feedback in a few ways:

• Surveys: Head to http://www.starfinderplaytest.com to find the playtest material and take surveys that will allow us to gather your responses. These surveys will remain open until the end of the playtest.
• Forums: On paizo.com, you’ll find playtest subforums for the mechanic and technomancer, with threads for discussion and announcements. When you post, look for existing threads on your topic before starting a new one. Remember that every poster is trying to make the game better for everyone, so please be polite and respectful. We will attempt to monitor other channels online, such as subreddits and discord discussions, but paizo.com is the dedicated space where you can be sure we can see your reports.

We’d like to thank you for participating in the Starfinder Tech Class Playtest. We look forward to seeing what you think and using your feedback to make these classes the best they can be!

The Starfinder Team

Download The Tech Class Playtest Today!

Salutations, ’Finders! With Mother’s Day right around the corner here in the United States, we wanted to make gift-giving easy with this mom-approved guide of books, games, and more to spoil the gaming mom in your life!

Illustration by Israel Maccari Dionisio

---

Pathfinder Core GM Screen

Let mom GM with style and rules support! The new Pathfinder Core GM Screen has updated art and rules references for Pathfinder Second Edition Remastered!

Pathfinder Phunny Plush

Add some adorable flair with the Pathfinder Phunny Plush line, featuring goblins, kobolds, Droogami, Whirp, Tuku, and the Gourd Leshy!

Pathfinder Guns & Gears (Remastered)

Pathfinder Guns & Gears (Remastered) reminds us all that moms can be adventurers too! Nhalmika, the iconic gunslinger, juggles heroic endeavors abroad and raising her family at home!

Pathfinder Elemental Stones

Bring family game night home for Mother’s Day! Pathfinder Elemental Stones is a casual pattern-building game for 2–4 players, with secret role mechanics to spice things up!

Starfinder A Cosmic Birthday

What better adventure to celebrate Mother’s Day than the birth of a new god? Help the denizens of Absalom Station prepare for the hatching of Aucturn and get involved with Starfinder Second Edition!

Starfinder Galaxy Guide

Help Mom get ready for intergalactic adventures with Starfinder Galaxy Guide! This 176-page setting primer gives you everything you need to know to start planning your Starfinder Second Edition campaign!

Starfinder Skittermander Plush Dice Bag

Every mom could use some extra hands! How about six extra-helpful skittermander hands? The Skittermander Plush Dice Bags are cute, cuddly, and capable of holding several sets of dice!

---

Looking for a gift that keeps on giving all year round? Consider a Pathfinder or Starfinder subscription for Mom this Mother’s Day!

Take a breath of fresh air, ‘Finders! To celebrate Earth Day and the dawning of Spring here in the Pacific Northwest, we’ve got a special elemental sale for you! From rulebooks to maps, this sale covers all your bases for primal play!

While this blog highlights some of the best deals in the Earth Day sale, we couldn’t fit all the savings in one spot! Shop the full sale and soak in the savings!

---

Pathfinder Rage of Elements—25% Off!

Harness the overwhelming power of the most primordial forces of nature with Rage of Elements, a 224-page rules resource for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game focused on the fundamental building blocks of reality itself!

The elements are yours to control with the all-new kineticist class, which brings one of fantasy’s most popular hero types to Pathfinder. New elemental spells and gear provide tons of additional element-themed options for all character classes, and an extensive gazetteer provides an overview of the majestic elemental planes—including two new ones: the decaying Plane of Metal and the vast and orderly forests of the Plane of Wood.

Pathfinder Howl of the Wild—25% Off!

A sound echoes across the world’s farthest wildernesses: the howl of countless animals and beasts! This all-new 224-page Pathfinder rulebook dives deep into the wilderness like never before! With new ancestries, character options, animal companions, wilderness foes and more, Howl of the Wild provides a traveler’s pack worth of value for players and Game Masters alike!

Pathfinder Battles: Leshy Window Boxed Set—25% Off!

Delight your tabletop with the Pathfinder Battles: Leshy Window Box Set! This set features eight charming miniatures representing a veritable grove of nature spirits from the Pathfinder roleplaying universe.

This set includes eight types of Leshy, such as the fanged Flytrap Leshy, the prickly Cactus Leshy, the adorable Gourd Leshy, the cheery Fruit Leshy, and more!

Gourd Leshy Phunny Plush—25% Off!

The Gourd Leshy is one of a number of nature spirits granted material form by a druid or similarly powerful magic user. Though they are independent, many leshies form strong bonds with their creators. This Gourd Leshy wants to join you on your adventures! This adorable plush companion sits at 7" tall and is made with the softest premium materials and lots of love.

Elemental Stones—40% Off!

Take on the role of an elemental sovereign, shaping the very nature of reality in this fast-moving board game!

2 to 4 players take turns to draft and play colorful (and colorblind-friendly) hexagonal tiles to match specific patterns and meet their own secret objective. With several dozen pattern cards, variable objectives, and a game state that's constantly in flux, you'll never play the same way twice. Simple setup, easy-to-learn rules, and a short play time of around 30 minutes means there's always time for one more game!

Maps & More!—25% Off!

A cartographer’s hoard of maps and map tiles are 25% off for the duration of this sale! Fill out your collection of Pathfinder and Starfinder flip mats, and stock your shelves with endless environments for combat and exploration!

Our Earth Day Sale runs April 17 through April 30 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time!
Shop now and save!

Hello, Starfinders!
Welcome back to our Starfinder Society rollout! Last week, Alex and I announced Starfinder Society Second Edition. This week, I’m here to discuss the adventures you’ll play as a member of the Starfinder Society: Starfinder Society Scenarios!

What is a Starfinder Society Scenario?

Starfinder Society Scenarios are one-shot adventures designed to be played in the Starfinder Society Organized Play Program. Each scenario is 2–3 hours in length and can be played by groups of 4–6 characters within a specified two-level range. As self-contained adventures, each scenario has problems to solve, villains to combat, challenges to overcome, and a clear ending. Many Starfinder Society Scenarios are also interconnected and form a larger story. While some of these stories are small and span two to three scenarios, others are the focus of many more. The “largest” story of each season is often referred to as the metaplot.

Scenario Cadence

Starfinder Society Second Edition launches at GenCon 2025 (July 31–August 3). The launch scenarios and adventures will be available on paizo.com on August 1, and organizers may begin scheduling events as soon as the convention ends on August 3. During this first month, we’re releasing four Starfinder Society Scenarios plus a special launch adventure—for more information on this launch adventure, be sure to drop by and read the Organized Play blog on May 8, 2025. Every month afterwards, we’re releasing two Starfinder Society Scenarios, for a total of 26 scenarios during our first year of the campaign!

Scenario Presentation

Starfinder Society Scenarios are Starfinder adventures.

In the past, we created a lot of additions and exceptions for Starfinder Society Scenarios which resulted in scenarios including information, rules, and deviations that other Starfinder adventures did not have. These deviations increased the barrier to entry for people interested in participating in Starfinder Society Organized Play and increased the time staff had to pour into each scenario. Going forward, we’re avoiding unnecessary deviations whenever possible and leading with simplicity and synchronicity. If you know how to read and run a Starfinder adventure, you’ll be able to read and run anyStarfinder adventure, from the shortest Starfinder Society Scenario to the longest Starfinder Adventure Path. This change frees us up to create more adventures and more content for Starfinder Society.

Of course, some deviation is required! For example, GMs can easily adjust the difficulty of a scenario to be easier or harder using the Adjusting Difficulty sidebars found throughout Starfinder Society Scenarios. This empowers GMs to accommodate and adapt to tables of varying sizes, levels, and experience—a necessity for Organized Play!

(To preemptively answer a question many fans of Pathfinder Society Second Edition are likely to ask: Starfinder Society Scenarios in Second Edition do not include appendices, challenge points, treasure bundles, or scenario tags.)

Scenario Levels

Each Starfinder Society Scenario is designed for a specific two-level range. During the first year of Starfinder Society Second Edition, you can expect a lot of scenarios to be level 1–2 adventures or, later in the year, level 3–4 adventures. If your character is either of a scenario’s listed levels, you can play the scenario with that character! If you don’t have a character of the appropriate level, you can still play if you use a newly created character or a pregenerated character. (Yes, you read that right! More on that next week!). You can play every Starfinder Society Scenario as many times as you like, earning full rewards for playing, so long as you play with a different character each time. GMs can also assign credit to a new character each time they run a scenario.

You’re always welcome to play a Starfinder Society game!

What’s Next?

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be unveiling more information about the Starfinder Society Organized Play program, focusing on a different aspect of the program in each blog. You can follow along with our schedule below:

• April 9 - Welcome to Starfinder Society
• April 22 - Character Creation
• April 29 - Adventure Rewards
• May 6 - Year 1 Storyline

Venture-Captain Arvin, illustration by Rodrigo Gallo

Until next time—Explore! Report! Cooperate!

We’ll see you in the stars!

Jessica Catalan
Starfinder Society Developer

Alex Speidel
Organized Play Coordinator

Greetings, ‘Finders! We’re just over a month out from PaizoCon 2025, and we’re excited to announce the schedule of panels and events for this year’s celebration of all things Paizo! Remember: PaizoCon tickets are on sale now, and you must purchase a ticket to participate in Organized Play, Community Gaming, Discord Activites, and more!

PaizoCon Stream Schedule

We have a ton of panels, games, and announcements scheduled for PaizoCon! All of the panels below will be streamed on twitch.tv/officialpaizo! We hope to see you in the Twitch chat, and in the post-panel discussion on Discord!

Friday

PaizoCon Keynote – Friday, May 23^rd at 10 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time

Paizo Publisher and Chief Creative Officer Erik Mona and a host of Paizo’s creative project leads welcome you to PaizoCon! Get the scoop on everything new coming from Paizo in 2025!

Pathfinder Hellfire Crisis – Friday, May 23^rd at 12:15 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time

War has boiled over between Andoran and Cheliax, and the world of Pathfinder will never be the same! Learn about the next meta event coming up for Pathfinder Second Edition!

Get Started with Organized Play – Friday, May 23^rd at 1:30 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time

Join Paizo’s Organized Play team for a look at the adventures to come! This panel will provide an introduction to Pathfinder Society and Starfinder Society, as well as reveals for the upcoming seasons!

Adventures Across the Cosmos – Friday, May 23^rd at 2:45 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time

With the launch of Starfinder Second Edition on the horizon, the Starfinder team has plenty of adventures up their sleeve! Stay tuned for details about the upcoming Murder in Metal City deluxe boxed adventure, Starfinder Guilt of the Grave World, and more!

A Stellar Preview! Starfinder Actual Play – Friday, May 23^rd at 4:00 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time

Jenny Jarzabski leads a star-studded cast through a quick Starfinder Second Edition romp!

Saturday

Fantasy Grounds 101 – Saturday, May 24^th at 9:00 AM Pacific Daylight Time

Learn how to run and play Pathfinder and Starfinder on Fantasy Grounds VTT. Plus, get an inside look at Fantasy Grounds’ affiliate programs, new accessories, features, and more.

Paizo Digital Products – Saturday, May 24^th at 10:00 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time

Paizo Digital Products Lead Andrew White takes us on a tour of the upcoming Foundry VTT assets for Pathfinder Second Edition and the launch of Starfinder Second Edition!

Starfinder Release Starmap! – Saturday, May 24^th at 11:15 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time

The Starfinder Team walks us through the upcoming books for the launch of Starfinder Second Edition! Get a preview of the system with Starfinder Galaxy Guide, and learn more about Player Core, GM Core, Alien Core, and more!

Romancing the Tome – Saturday, May 24^th at 12:30 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time

Looking to bring a little love to your tables? A panel of Paizo authors and freelancers discuss romance in RPGs!

World of Lost Omens – Saturday, May 24^th at 1:45 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time.

Take a delve into the world and culture of Golarion! The Pathfinder Lost Omens team cracks open the vault of knowledge for the upcoming Lost Omens books!

Creating Cinematic TTRPG Experiences – Saturday, May 24^th at 3:00 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time

Our partners at Syrinscape showcase their immersive soundscaping tools for your table!

Transverse Demiplane – Saturday, May 24^th at 4:15 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time

Learn about building Pathfinder and Starfinder characters with Demiplane and taking those characters directly to your Roll20 VTT games!

Narrative Declaration: Mutton King Express – Saturday, May 24^th at 5:30 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time

The cast of Narrative Declaration joins us for a special, pre-recorded Pathfinder Second Edition adventure!

Sunday

BKOM: Exploring the Abomination Vaults – Sunday, May 25 at 9:00 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time

Join the team at BKOM for an exclusive preview of their upcoming action roleplaying game Pathfinder Abomination Vaults.

Adventures in Golarion – Sunday, May 25^th at 10:00 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time

The Pathfinder Narrative Team takes us on a tour of the upcoming adventures! From Iblydos to Thassilon, there’s a wide variety of mythic adventures on the horizon for Pathfinder Second Edition!

Make it Dice! A Cozy Crafting Panel – Sunday, May 25^th at 11:15 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time

Ever wanted to crochet your very own D20? Paizo’s Community and Social Media Specialist Maya Coleman has built a pattern and is ready to stitch through it with the audience!

Mini Painting AMA – Sunday, May 25^th at 12:30 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time

BJ Hensley, Erik Mona, Thurston Hillman, and Magellan Mulligan join us for a special mini painting extravaganza. Bring your brushes and your questions!

Education and Therapeutic Play – Sunday, May 25^th at 1:45 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time

Join professionals in the fields of mental health and education as they discuss safe, empowering ways to use RPGs in education and therapy!

Creature Feature! – Sunday, May 25^th at 3:00 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time

Pathfinder and Starfinder designers talk about designing monsters—from concept to mechanics, art orders, and more!

The Gallant Goblin Presents: Pathfinder Kingmaker - Sunday, May 25^th at 4:15 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time

Build your kingdom and watch it rise—or fall! The Gallant Goblin’s Actual Play of Pathfinder Kingmaker launches at PaizoCon!

Organized Play

Paizo has Pathfinder Society and Starfinder Society games running around the clock for PaizoCon 2025! Join us for one of the Interactive Specials or simply drop in to a scenario or two!

The full PaizoCon gaming schedule is as follows. All times are Pacific Daylight Time.

• Block 1 Friday, May 23, 2025 at 4:00 PM
• Block 2 Friday, May 23, 2025 at 10:00 PM
• Block 3 Saturday, May 24, 2025 at 4:00 AM
• Block 4 Saturday, May 24, 2025 at 10:00 AM
• Block 5 Saturday, May 24, 2025 at 4:00 PM
• Block 6 Saturday, May 24, 2025 at 10:00 PM
• Block 7 Sunday, May 25, 2025 at 4:00 AM
• Block 8 Sunday, May 25, 2025 at 10:00 AM
• Block 9 Sunday, May 25, 2025 at 4:00 PM
• Block 10 Sunday, May 25, 2025 at 10:00 PM
• Block 11 Monday, May 26, 2025 at 4:00 AM
• Block 12 Monday, May 26, 2025 at 10:00 AM
• Block 13 Monday, May 26, 2025 at 4:00 PM

Play-by-post games will begin after the convention concludes and finish no later than Tuesday, July 22.

In Block 4, we will be offering Pathfinder Society Special #3-99: Fate in the Future, and in Block 8 we will be offering Starfinder Society Special #3-99: Perils of the Past. Help reunite two adventurers stranded across time and space in our first crossover event between Pathfinder and Starfinder, using the rules for Pathfinder Second Edition and Starfinder First Edition!

Community & Staff Games!

In addition to Organized Play games, there are also a selection of community gaming sessions—games submitted by PaizoCon attendees—and staff-run games!

Blood of Bastardhall – Friday at 4:00 P.M.

Taily-Po: An Appalachian Folktale – Friday at 4:00 P.M.

Swing Shift – Sunday at 10:00 A.M.

Blood of Bastardhall – Sunday at 4:00 P.M.

D20 Cthulhu: Site 8 – Sunday at 4:00 P.M.

Staff Games

SFS 7-11: Breaking the Crucible with Ivis Flanagan – Friday at 4:00 P.M.

Murder in Metal City: Casino Chaos with Jenny Jarzabski – Saturday at 9:00 A.M.

Murder in Metal City: Casino Chaos with Jenny Jarzabski – Saturday at 2:00 P.M.

Getting the Band Back Together with Josh Foster – Saturday at 4:00 P.M.

Murder in Metal City: Casino Chaos with Jenny Jarzabski – Saturday at 5:00 P.M.

SFS 7-11: Breaking the Crucible with Ivis Flanagan – Sunday at 4:00 P.M.

The Cluckening Begins: Run by Shay Snow – Sunday, May 25^th 4-9 P.M. - Sunday, May 25^th 4-9 P.M

Wheel of Monsters Audience Zo!-Op!: Run by Dustin Knight – Sunday, May 25^th 4-9 P.M.

Wheel of Monsters Audience Zo!-Op!: Run by Dustin Knight – Monday, May 25^th 4-9 P.M.

Community Gaming Signups!

We’re also now opening signups for Community Gaming! If you’re interested in running a game outside of Organized Play at PaizoCon Online, we’d love to have you join us. This can be anything: a homebrew Pathfinder or Starfinder adventure, something you’re working on for Infinite, even a non-Paizo roleplaying or board game! Just fill out the form below and we’ll be in touch about scheduling your game.

PaizoCon Online Community Gaming Submissions

PaizoCon@

PaizoCon@ is our initiative to offer an in-person experience during PaizoCon Online around the world. This year we’ve nearly tripled our in-person PaizoCon offerings, which means even more of our players and GMs will be able to experience PaizoCon at their local game stores or conventions!

All PaizoCon@ locations will be running Pathfinder and Starfinder Society games during the weekend, including exclusive runs of our May releases. Highlights include the finale of Starfinder Society Year 7, as well as participation in our interactive specials.

A full list of our locations and conventions is in this blog, or visit this Google Map of the locations. We’d love to see you in-person this year!

We look forward to seeing you at PaizoCon 2025, at home or at one of our PaizoCon @ locations!

A long time ago in a July far away, I let you all know about Paizo’s plans to improve its tech infrastructure. While that has been a slower process than any of us have liked, here's an update on where we’re at and where we’re going.

The Foundation

Paizo began work on modernizing its backend infrastructure in 2023 to allow us easier and faster access to the boring business analytics and insights that we’ve historically had to assemble by spreadsheets over the years. When completed, it will greatly improve our ability to ensure that we have the right products available at the right time and in the right quantities for our customers, send more timely reports to our business partners, and overall streamline internal processes that are stretched across several systems.

Part of this core infrastructure is the rollout of a new warehouse management system. The first part of this is live today, with orders to our hobby and book distributors being picked and shipped from the new system. The next step will be when the new ecommerce store goes live. From your side, you’ll see faster and more accurate orders and trackable shipping details. In addition, Paizo won’t need to shut down for a week every year to do inventory. Instead, the system has us run mini-inventories every week throughout the year.

The New Store

The team is hard at work on a brand-new store experience, reorganizing the entirety of Paizo’s products into more coherent and easier-to-find locations, extracting data from our legacy system, and more.

Much of what you see on Paizo.com today has been built internally over the years and is affectionately known as Presto. Back when Paizo began, ecommerce software to handle subscriptions didn’t really exist, so we built our own solution from the ground up. Presto currently does the heavy lifting for the ecommerce store, forums, shipping and package tracking, and more. It also provides a variety of reports that the finance team imports into their accounting software, the sales team uses to track sales, etc.

The new store will replace all of the shopping pages on the site: product pages, category pages, and store landing pages–including the subscriptions landing page, providing a more modern, streamlined shopping experience for customers, including a single-page checkout!

Areas that will stay the same for now will be the forums, Organized Play reporting, the blog, and a dozen or so landing pages. Here’s a brief rundown of the new things you’ll see at the Paizo Store when it launches.

Paizo Plus Loyalty Program

The Paizo Advantage is our current loyalty program. It gives subscribers access to free Pathfinder Society or Starfinder Society releases if you subscribe to 4 lines and both if you subscribe to 6 or more. It also grants 15% off most of your Paizo.com purchases.

The new Paizo Plus program will give you more choices for your rewards. You’ll earn virtual gold on your purchases that you can use for things like coupons for society scenarios, $5–20 off coupons, and the top tier will grant 15% off all your purchases just like today. You’ll also be able to earn gold by writing reviews of your purchases, by referring your friends to the new store, by following Paizo on social media, by joining the new program, and on your birthday!

There will be changes vs. how we do things today, of course, but we’ve worked hard to create a program that lets you keep what you want from today’s loyalty program and expand it out to something even better. We’ll be sharing more details on the new Paizo Plus in an upcoming blog.

Library

We’re very excited to be unveiling a new file library when the new store launches as well. This replaces your Digital Content portal that exists today and offers more streamlined search capabilities using filters and a search box, a new look, the ability to download multiple products at once, and more! Everything you currently have in your current Digital Content will migrate to the new Library.

New Payment Methods

We will be expanding payment methods with the new store. Here are a few that we are targeting for launch.

Credit Cards: American Express, Aura, Diners Club, Discover, ELO, Hipercard, JCB, Mada, Mastercard, RuPay (India), UnionPay, Visa.

Digital Wallets: Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal.

Online Bank Transfers: Sofort

Some of these payment methods are region specific (like Hipercard for Brazil or RuPay for India), so you won’t be flooded with options when you checkout. Not all payment methods can be used for subscription payments because some providers don’t allow recurring payments, but you’ll see available options as you go through checkout for subscriptions.

New Subscription Portal

Starting with the launch of the new store, subscribers will be able to manage their subscriptions directly from their dashboard. This will allow you to skip, cancel, or suspend a subscription without the need to contact the customer service team.

Subscribers will be able to continue to “sidecart” products into their upcoming subscriptions through what’s now called combined shipping. This is largely the same functionality we have now, but the process for adding items to your sidecart are a bit different. We’ll cover that in a future blog.

So… When?

The date for this launch was written during the Gap and is currently lost to human knowledge. Triune predicts that the date is soon(™), but I dare not tempt the machine gods by uttering a specific date.

Stay tuned!

Jim Butler
President

OPC Musings

Greetings, all! I’m writing this update from my parents’ house in Pittsburgh between conventions. I just finished my attendance at CoSCon, where I had a wonderful time. It’s great to see an area hit hard by the pandemic rebound in such a strong way. I was especially heartened by seeing several kids and teenagers attending with their parents and having a blast. Passing games on to the younger generations is so important for keeping this hobby alive.

In a couple of days, I’ll be hopping on the train down to Richmond for GalaxyCon! I’m very excited to see the folks down there, as well as meet the GalaxyCon team in person. We’ve been striking up a relationship with their family of shows, and I’m looking forward to seeing that partnership grow. If you’ve got a GalaxyCon, Animate! or Nightmare Weekend event in your area, you may see Paizo gaming and products there soon!

Travel like this can be hard sometimes; I’m spending nearly two weeks away from my husband and cats, and I miss them terribly. However, gaming with all of you reminds me why I love my job. I had one of the most delightful tables of my life on Sunday at CoSCon, and tables like that really rejuvenate me. I’m looking forward to this summer and the launch of our brand-new Starfinder Society program!

Digital Adventure Releases

These adventures will be available on April 30, 2025.

Pathfinder Society

Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-14: Twice in Steel*

Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-15: Lost and Forgotten*

Pathfinder Quest (Series 2) #24: Tanuki Trouble

Starfinder Society

Starfinder Society Scenario #7-13: Ratrod's Revenge*

*part of a subscription

SFS2 Rollout

Yesterday, we published the first of five blogs comprising our program announcements for Starfinder Society second edition! Over the next four weeks, we’ll be posting more information about the program. We’ve been working on the plans for SFS2 for nearly two years now, and it’s so exciting to be able to finally share this information with all of you!

Please be sure to spread the word about Starfinder Society! We want everybody to be informed as we approach the launch, and we believe that with your help we can have the best launch of an Organized Play program ever. Stay tuned for more information and come ready with your questions!

2025 Major Conventions

Next Wednesday at 9 a.m. Pacific time, player signups will open for PaizoCon Online! Buy your badge now and be ready to grab slots in Pathfinder and Starfinder Society games, as well as games run by members of the community and Paizo staff! View all the games available for signup on Warhorn.

We are still accepting applications for reserve GMs for Gen Con Indianapolis. If you’re looking to squeeze a slot or two of Pathfinder or Starfinder in amongst everything else at the show, we’d love to have you! Visit the link below to learn more about our GM rewards and apply.

Among those rewards is a volunteer t-shirt! I’m thrilled to reveal the new art for this year’s volunteer t-shirts, featuring the brand new Starfinder Society logo and our friendly skittergoblin behind the GM screen.

Gen Con Information

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 reach their fifth rank!

5th Glyph (PFS2): David Gonzalez

If you believe you’ve completed your 5th rank but haven’t been announced yet, please email me at organizedplay@paizo.com.

Conventions

Summer, and convention season, approach with great haste! Check out the Conventions calendar for upcoming events in your area. April and May are jam-packed with events leading up to PaizoCon!

The day after PaizoCon I’ll be hopping on a plane to Birmingham for UK Games Expo; if you’re across the pond, I’d love to see you there! Looking for a Paizo staff visit this fall? Drop me an email and let me know about your event; my contemplative gunslinger just might stop by!

Until next time adventurers - Explore! Report! Cooperate! And join us in the stars!

Alex Speidel
Organized Play Coordinator

Greetings, Starfinders! Today, Jessica and I are thrilled to officially announce Starfinder Society Second Edition, launching at Gen Con 2025!

What is Starfinder Society?

Starfinder Society is our flagship Organized Play program for the Starfinder roleplaying game. Our goal is to provide players with a fast, easy, and flexible way to play Starfinder by offering games at local game stores, at conventions, and online. You can even play at home with your friends! Every time you play an adventure, you’ll earn rewards for your character such as credits and experience.

Organized Play allows you to take the same character from table to table around the world and continue to level them up. No matter what your schedule is, whether you’re a weekly player or a once-a-month-if-I’m-lucky gamer, Organized Play provides a way for you to participate in the campaign!

By playing Starfinder Society adventures, you’ll get involved with the Starfinder universe and have a major impact. Each game’s results are reported back to us by your GM, and your decisions will have major consequences. The Starfinder Society has been front and center for many major events in the Pact Worlds including the hatching of Aucturn, the liberation of Pulonis, the Data Scourge, and more!

The World of the Starfinder Society

In the Starfinder universe, the Starfinder Society is a famous organization of adventurers, explorers, scholars, and xenoarchaeologists dedicated to discovering, exploring, and chronicling all the corners of the galaxy and beyond. Starfinders are incredibly diverse, with countless people, specialties, and life experiences represented. The motto of the Starfinder Society is “explore, report, cooperate.” All of your Starfinder Society Organized Play characters are members of the Starfinder Society.

Starfinder agents work in teams and perform missions as assigned by Starfinder leadership, including First Seeker Sarmak, current elected leader of the Starfinder Society. Starfinders record their findings, preserve discoveries, and share their knowledge with the galaxy. Many Starfinders operate out of regional headquarters called lodges, which are maintained by a venture-captain—an experienced Starfinder who acts as a mentor and organizer. The Lorespire Complex is the main base of operations for the Starfinder Society, which is located on Absalom Station, the very heart of the Pact Worlds.

Illustration by Mirco Paganessi

Getting Started

Our program officially launches at Gen Con 2025 (July 31–August 3). The launch scenarios and adventures will be available on paizo.com on August 1, and organizers may begin scheduling events as soon as the convention ends on August 3. In the meantime, get started with these three simple steps:

1. Get an Organized Play ID number at https://paizo.com/organizedPlay/myAccount. Every time you play a Starfinder Society game, you’ll give this number to your GM to report back to us.
2. Begin to create your character! We’ll talk about the specifics of character creation in a future blog, but you can review the Starfinder Playtest Rulebook as well as the Starfinder Galaxy Guide (releasing next month) to get inspiration for your first player character.
3. Locate your gaming group! Reach out to your friendly local game store to see if they have Organized Play games, and if not, ask about how to run some! Join our online community at pfschat.com, or check out the Gen Con event catalog to join one of our launch events.

New Edition, New Program

Since the summer of 2023, we have been working as a team on the next iteration of Organized Play. We knew that a new edition was going to provide us with a unique opportunity to revitalize and revamp the program for a modern age, and we’re taking the opportunity with all six of our skittermander arms. We’ve put every part of the program under a microscope, from scenario structure to character creation and more, and evaluated what it’s doing and how we can make it the best version of itself. The community’s feedback has been critical to this. Whether you’ve spoken to us about OP at a convention, answered last winter’s community survey, or written something about the program online, we’ve taken your thoughts and input into account.

In some ways, the program will look very familiar. In others, it will look radically different. Whether you’re an Organized Play veteran or a brand-new Starfinder fresh out of training, we encourage everyone to approach the program with an open mind. Our primary goals have been to make the program easier to get into, simpler to explain, and focus more on the fun at the table. We’re not doing things just because we’ve always done them that way; we’re taking some risks and breaking down some barriers to make a stronger program for all of you.

Narratively, the Starfinder Society is always in the thick of things, uncovering secrets, witnessing major events, averting disasters, driving change, and shaping the ongoing story of the Pact Worlds with their actions. The future is no different. In fact, I hear something big is coming to the Pact Worlds and, while we’re not going to reveal our next major storyline today, we can shine a light on it...

Illustration by Kevin Sardinha

Over the next four weeks, we’ll be unveiling more information about the program, focusing on a different aspect of the program in each blog. You can follow along with our schedule below:

• April 15 - Scenario Structure
• April 22 - Character Creation
• April 29 - Adventure Rewards
• May 6 - Year 1 Storyline

Until next week—Explore! Report! Cooperate! And join us in the stars!

Alex Speidel
Organized Play Coordinator

Jessica Catalan
Starfinder Society Developer

Hail and well met, ‘Finders! Today, we bring you exciting news: three new subscriptions are joining Paizo’s host of options!

What Are Paizo Subscriptions?

Subscriptions have been Paizo’s foundation since the beginning of our company, starting with our periodical publication of Dungeon and Dragon Magazines and transitioning into Pathfinder Adventure Paths. Paizo Subscriptions have only expanded and improved from there, encompassing product lines like rulebooks, accessories, adventures, and more!

By subscribing to any of our product lines, you’ll receive free PDFs alongside your physical copies when they ship. This often means you’ll have access to PDFs two weeks before they release to the public! Plus, the more lines you subscribe to, the more money you save, as multiple subscriptions qualify you for the prestigious Paizo Advantage program.

To learn more about our existing subscriptions and join the party, you can head over to our subscription page right now!

New Subscriptions!

This month, we’re debuting three new subscription lines: Starfinder Special Edition Rulebooks, Pathfinder Special Edition Rulebooks, and Pathfinder Pocket Edition Rulebooks!

Starfinder Special Edition Rulebooks!

Starting with Starfinder Galaxy Guide, all Starfinder rulebooks will now come in Special Editions. These gorgeous hardcover tomes, bound in faux leather with unique covers and ribbon bookmarks, are perfect for the premium collector and the best way to guarantee you’ll have every Starfinder Special Edition Rulebook displayed beautifully on your shelves!

Pathfinder Adventures Special Edition

Get your Pathfinder standalone adventures bound in style! This subscription guarantees your copy of the faux leatherette-bound Special Edition versions of Pathfinder Adventures, such as Claws of the Tyrant or Prey for Death.

Pathfinder Pocket Edition

Pocket Editions bring you all the content of Pathfinder Rulebooks in a smaller, easily transportable format! Launching next month with the release of Pathfinder Guns and Gears (Remastered) Pocket Edition, this new subscription sends every pocket edition rulebook to your doorstep, along with their associated free PDFs.

Generally, Pocket Editions are published three months after the hardcover edition is released.

Whether you’re a new subscriber or you’ve been with us since the dawn of the Age, we appreciate your support and look forward to sharing our worlds with you for many years to come!

On March 20th, a contingent of Paizo staff visited the Washington State Capitol to run some games for state legislators and their staff. Logan Bonner and I received an invitation to the Legislative Game Day from the office of Steve Hobbs, our Secretary of State. Steve is a big nerd and recognizes that Washington state is the tabletop game capital of the world. When it comes to industry in this state, most people think of aerospace or agriculture. While those two sectors drive much of our state’s economy, you’d be remiss to sleep on the games industry, as Washington has the highest concentration of game companies in the country.

These Legislative Game Days bring together some of our state’s tabletop game companies, game stores, librarians, and others who use games in their work, such as using therapeutic gaming for veterans suffering from PTSD, youth programs, and those incarcerated in the state. Secretary Hobbs and his staff organize these events to get those in the games industry to sit down with state legislators and their staff so they can learn more about our industry, the games we make, and the concerns and challenges we have within our industry.

At this gathering, Logan and I were joined by Cosmo Eisele, John Compton, and Jenny Jarzabski. We had two tables set up running brief demos of both Pathfinder and Starfinder. I even brought Elemental Stones, but we were out of table space. We were joined by some of our friends at Green Ronin, Ravensburger, Wizards of the Coast, TinkerHouse Games, and Heart of the Deernicorn, as well as numerous local game stores like The Mystic Game Shop, Around the Table Games, and Mox, and other organizations such as Evergreen State College of Game Design. We were also able to make connections with others in the community, such as talking with the state library rep about how to better incorporate tabletop games into library collections and programming.

It was an evening of fun and camaraderie as we got to show off our games to lawmakers and their staff and to catch up with others in the industry. Events like these really help highlight not only the economic and community impact our companies have on the state, but also the importance of exporting fun to the rest of the world.

Adam Daigle
Director of Narrative

Hail and well met, ‘Finders! This month’s new releases invite you to wander the Gravelands and threaten to block out the sun! A reminderthe scenarios listed here are March’s scenarios, which released last Wednesday, March 26th! As we have shifted our physical product release to the first Wednesday of the month, we will be highlighting the digital releases from the previous month!

Never miss a release with our Paizo Subscriptions—for everything from rulebooks to accessories! Subscribers get a free PDF with purchase, early access to game content, and exclusive discounts on paizo.com!

---

Pathfinder Claws of the Tyrant

TERROR OF THE TYRANT

Face the terrors of the Gravelands! The fate of two goddesses hangs in the balance as disgraced graveknight Seldeg Bhedlis prepares a ritual to rewrite history itself. Brave heroes and wicked villains alike assemble to hinder or assist Seldeg in his plans. Claws of the Tyrant is an anthology of three interconnected adventures set in the Gravelands, formerly known as the nation of Lastwall. The anthology also includes a collection of monsters, feats, and magic items perfect for any campaign set in the undead-haunted Gravelands.

Pathfinder Claws of the Tyrant is available in standard hardcover, Special Edition faux-leatherette bound hardcover, and PDF formats.

Pathfinder Adventure Path #213: Thirst for Blood (Shades of Blood 1 of 3)

DARK WAS THE NIGHT

The remote island settlement of Talmandor’s Bounty hurtles toward chaos as the region is plunged into shadow! The PCs travel to a nearby island and investigate an ancient prison buried during Earthfall. Inside, a cult of the blood god Camazotz thrives, and the PCs soon discover that even greater threats lie deeper within. Can the PCs discover who’s behind the supernatural shadow and stop them before eternal night comes? Shades of Blood begins with “Thirst for Blood,” a complete adventure for 1st- to 3rd-level characters.

Thirst for Blood is also available as a deluxe module for Foundry VTT.

Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Alchemical Lab

DON’T TOUCH THAT!

Every alchemist needs a good workshop, and this alchemical lab is the perfect place to concoct strange elixirs and crafty mutagens. One side shows an expansive laboratory filled with every piece of equipment and selection of reagents an alchemist could possibly need. The other side depicts the same location after a catastrophic mishap! Perhaps your PCs need a practical home base from which to work, or maybe they’ve been tasked with taking down a rogue scientist. Whatever you’ve got brewing, Pathfinder FlipMat: Alchemical Lab has you covered.

Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-12: The Burning of Greensteeples

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

Within the heart of devil-cursed Cheliax secretly stands the Pathfinder Society’s only stronghold: Greensteeples Manor, home of the illustrious Jeggare line. However, while handling the scandal of her cousin within the past few years, the queen of Cheliax has learned of the manor's true nature. With tensions rising in the nation, she has ordered her two most loyal Hellknights to capture any beings within the manor and burn the traitorous home to the ground in the name of Asmodeus. While Varian's safe in Korvosa, the Pathfinders in the area must act swiftly to rescue the innocents within and ensure that what few secrets can be saved are moved to a safer location, lest they fall into the hands of Queen Abrogail!

Starfinder Society Scenario #7-12: Those Who Call

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

First Seeker Sarmak’s archaeological survey of the ancient city of Eternity has been interrupted by Those Who Call, a fanatical cult of robotic anacites determined to draw the mysterious First Ones back to the planet Aballon. Under the ruthless leadership of Supreme-Proclaimant, Those Who Call prepare to destroy Aballon’s government and capital city using a devastating weapon reconstructed from ancient First Ones’ technology.

After stealing an artifact known as the Eternity Drive from the Starfinder Society during a violent surprise assault, Those Who Call have all they need to fire this weapon, destroy the nearby megaplex of Striving, and dispatch their intergalactic call to the First Ones! Can the Starfinder Society stop Those Who Call? Or will Supreme-Proclaimant purge the planet of Aballon in a wave of devastation?

Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-13: All That Glitters

A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for 1st- through 4th-level characters.

A small earthquake and landslide near the mining operations of Marivit Kopje, a Kalistocrat of minor standing, have opened a vault long thought lost. Shimia Renveld was an oddity even among Kalistocrats. She collected oddities that held no real monetary value, or at least that was what she thought. Marivit believes that her recently uncovered collection might hold a key to helping turn around his fortunes, and he's promised the Pathfinders everything else in the vault in order to get it.

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.

---

Bring Pathfinder to where you are, in person or online, and if you don’t have a favorite local game store, get books delivered to your door via a Paizo Subscription! From rulebooks to adventures, accessories, and more, we’ve got subscriptions for every table! Subscribing to a line of books gets you the physical book and the PDF for one price! Subscribe to four lines or more to unlock Paizo Advantage savings on products site-wide!

Thank you for playing Starfinder and Pathfinder!

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

Greetings dearest ’finders,
I’ve spent the last year hard at work, snooping on investigating the Paizo work chats and finding the best snippets to take and store out of context and present to the team later as inspiration for our annual April Fools’ Day article. This year, we present you with guides to housekeeping, gossiping, beating speedrunning records, making peace with those pesky dust bunnies, and more!

With love and shenanigans,
Maryssa Mari
Venture Gossip Web Content Manager

---

A Domestic Wizard's Guide to Housekeeping: Dust Bunny

Felix Dritz

In pursuit of your studies, it’s often easy to ignore daily chores and cleanliness. While those more adept at magic often choose to leave their day-to-day cleaning to a phantasmal minion, it’s crucial to take time in your day to verify your summon’s work. Too often a vague order will lead to them brushing things under cupboards, moving all stray objects into unorganized bins, or placing books on shelves at random. While the disorganization of your possessions is certainly lamentable, it can become frightful if dust is left to collect in neglected corners and under furniture! When this dust collects near magical sources, the debris can gain sentience, becoming a dust bunny.

You may find these little creatures charming, but beware. While the creation of dust bunnies can take little thought, their care and maintenance are something that many young wizards lack knowledge of. Those unprepared to take care of a dust bunny had best sweep it into a containment bin, lest their accidental creation consume their study and home.

Dust Bunny Familiar

If you, despite the warning, desire a dust bunny companion, or perhaps you have one by accident and are willing to care for it, this section is for you. Dust bunnies greatly enjoy company and will often desire to lie on your lap or desk. Wherever they keep you company, ensure the area is regularly cleaned of any new or shed debris; otherwise, another dust bunny may form.

To feed your dust bunny, simply keep the collections from your daily housekeeping. However, if you notice they begin growing to an unreasonable size, be sure to limit their portions, as they have been known to grow to the size of large dogs.

It's important to remember that having formed of their own accord, dust bunnies are highly independent. While this makes them great companions and assistants, this also makes dust bunnies prone to making mischief, often spreading dirt out of spite or simply by wasting away. One should be vigilant for such things, for more dust and debris creates the perfect environment for new dust bunnies to form, and one can quickly be overrun with an infestation of dust bunnies!

Dust Bunny
Construct
Required Number of Abilities 4

Granted Abilities construct, independent, play dead (Pathfinder Lost Omens Tian Xia Character Guide 124), skilled (arcana)
Kick Up Dust [two-actions] (manipulate) Frequency once per hour; Effect Your dust bunny shakes and kicks to stir up dust in a 5-foot emanation. Each creature in the area must attempt a Fortitude save against the higher of your class DC or spell DC. A creature that fails its save begins sneezing uncontrollably and is slowed 1 and cannot take reactions for 1 round; on a critical failure they are slowed 2.

Dust Bunny Swarm

Dust bunnies in particular are prone to swarming. This can occur when a large number are left alone for a long period of time and are then disturbed by adventurers or a returning wizard. Other times, a singular dust bunny familiar grows in such numbers (and they will rapidly reproduce!) that a wizard cannot hope to keep them all placated with food and attention. In this situation, they will unionize in rebellion against their master.

It is paramount that you do not allow a dust bunny to multiply, for once a swarm has formed, they are nigh impossible to get rid of. While relatively easy to disperse and unlikely to kill anyone, they will re-form within the week unless the area is immaculately cleaned.

Dust Bunny Swarm Creature 1
Rare, Large, Construct, Swarm
Perception +7
Skills Arcana, Athletics +3, Stealth +7
Str +0, Dex +2, Con +0, Int –4, Wis +0, Cha +2
AC 13; Fort +7, Ref +5, Will +3

HP 16; Immunities bleed, death effects, disease, doomed, drained, fatigued, grappled, healing, nonlethal attacks, paralyzed, poison, precision, prone, restrained, sickened, spirit, swarm mind, unconscious, vitality, void; Weaknesses area damage 4, splash damage 4; Resistances physical 6 (except bludgeoning)

Cloud of Allergens [reaction] Trigger The swarm rolls initiative; Effect The dust bunnies stir, kicking up a cloud in a 15-foot burst centered on the swarm that lasts for 1 minute. Creatures who enter or start their turn in this cloud must attempt a DC 16 Fortitude save or take a –1 circumstance penalty to skill checks that have the concentration trait and all Perception checks as their sensory organs become impaired.

Dust to Dust When a dust bunny swarm is destroyed, it re-forms after 2d4 days in the area in which it was destroyed unless the location has been significantly cleaned of all dust and debris.

Speed 30 feet

Pummeling Dust [one-action] Each enemy in the swarm’s space takes 1d6 bludgeoning damage with a DC 16 basic Reflex save. A creature that fails its save cannot use reactions for 1 round as they sneeze uncontrollably.

---

Venture-Gossip (Archetype)

Shay Snow

Venture-Gossip is not only the name of a beloved agent of the Pathfinder Society who has dedicated herself to bringing all of the lurid, gruesome stories to Absalom’s streets—it’s also the name of a popular tabloid newsletter that appears across Golarion, primarily wherever there’s a Pathfinder Society lodge. There isn’t just one venture-gossip: there are hundreds. Hundreds of Pathfinders with loads of stories and rumors that they collect and then forward along to the Ink Worker’s United Printing Press, a unionized printing press based out of Absalom. Formally, only one name is associated with Venture-Gossip: Agent Kitsch of the Office of Supplies and Procurement. However, no one truly believes that she’s behind any of this, as the older ysoki is known to misplace just about everything, from poison flasks to important cursed artifacts.

Additional Feats:4th Distracting Flattery (Player Core 2 195), Gossip Lore (Player Core 2 195); 7th Fabricated Connections (Player Core 2 195), Party Crasher (Player Core 2 195), Quick Change (Player Core 2 219), Read Shibboleths (Player Core 2 203), Subjective Truth (Player Core 2 219), 8th Crude Communication (Player Core 2 203)

Venture-Gossip Dedication — Feat 4
Archetype, Dedication, Pathfinder Agent
Prerequisites member of the Pathfinder Society, Pathfinder Agent Dedication

Look, the motto of the Pathfinder Society is “explore, report, cooperate” and you’re just reporting what you hear! Is all of it accurate or true? Maybe not, but hey, you can tell a great story and you know how to keep your readers hooked and eating out of the palm of your hand. Ambrus Valsin of the Grand Lodge may disapprove of your methods, but hey, he’s not your real boss.

Eando isn’t either.

We’ll go with Zarta.

Wait, no, Sheila. Sheila appreciates a good gossip column. You’re now from Magnimar. Always have been.

You have two identities: your day job as a Pathfinder agent, and your real job, one of the many voices that make up the Venture-Gossip tabloid. If someone attempts to figure out if you’re a venture-gossip, they must use a Seek action to attempt a Perception check against one of your influence skills of your choice: Deception, Diplomacy, or Intimidation. Your DC is 20 + your proficiency modifier.

If you are discovered to be part of Venture-Gossip, you can spend 1 week of downtime convincing others that you’ve never even read that tabloid, much less contributed to it!

You gain the following action, allowing you to collect more information for your column.

Tell Me More [two-actions] (fortune) Target one creature that shares a language you speak; Requirements You’re not in combat; Effect Just batting your eyes and giving someone a familiar nudge can get them talking, ready to spill the beans about everything and everyone around them. You roll twice on all rolls to influence the target and use the better result.

Special You can select the dedication feat for this archetype even if you haven’t yet gained three feats from the Pathfinder Agent archetype.

Verbose Distraction [reaction] — Feat 6
Archetype, Auditory
Prerequisites Venture-Gossip Archetype
Trigger You are the target of a physical melee attack.
You talk so much it can be distracting to your enemies and you’re often quick to remind your enemies that you’re just a little guy! You don’t need to be targeted! You don’t need to be the focus of their frustrations! Have they tried writing to their mom or talking to a local priest of Desna? Ow!
You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to your AC against the triggering attack.

Hey! Over Here! [reaction] — Feat 6
Archetype, Auditory
Prerequisites Venture-Gossip Archetype
Trigger An ally within 30 feet rolls a saving throw against an auditory effect.
Hey! Don’t listen to that! That’s bad sounds! Listen to me! Would you like to hear about how the high priest of the Abadaran church in Absalom’s Petals District is having an affair with an Urgathoan cleric? Yeah, I’m thinking about calling the article “Boney Money!”
Your targeted ally treats the result of their saving throw as one degree of success better. Once an ally has been targeted by this effect, they’re immune for 24 hours.

A Little Bird Told Me... [two-actions] — Feat 8
Archetype, Concentrate, Manipulate, Polymorph
Prerequisites Venture-Gossip Archetype
You transform into a small bird, such as a finch or a sparrow, allowing you to eavesdrop on others and gain information you wouldn’t otherwise be able to acquire. You become Tiny, gain the animal trait, and you can’t make Strikes. You can Dismiss the effect to return to your normal shape, and you resume your normal shape automatically if you’re reduced to 0 Hit Points.
You gain the following statistics and abilities:
AC = 20 + your level. Ignore your armor’s check penalty and Speed reduction.
Fly speed 25 feet.
Weakness 5 to physical damage.
Low-light vision and imprecise scent 30 feet.
Acrobatics and Stealth modifiers of +10, unless your own is higher; Athletics modifier –4.

Define “Report” [free-action] — Feat 10
Archetype, Fortune
Prerequisites Venture-Gossip Archetype; master in Diplomacy
Look, getting caught in a lie is a normal part of venture-gossip life. Sometimes you have to give a sheepish smile and apologize for what you’ve done. When you fail a Deception check, reroll with your Diplomacy modifier. On a success, there are no hard feelings and the other person’s attitude condition doesn’t worsen. On a critical success, you can attempt the Deception again with no consequences.

Catch and Kill [reaction] — Feat 12
Archetype
Prerequisites Venture-Gossip Archetype
Trigger A creature within your reach uses a move action, or leaves a square during a move action it’s using.
When you’ve decided to quash a story, no one can escape from you with any incriminating information. Make a melee Strike against the triggering creature. On a hit, the triggering creature is Grabbed, and on a critical hit, they’re slowed 1. This Strike doesn’t count toward your multiple attack penalty, and your multiple attack penalty doesn’t apply to this Strike.

Muckraking [three-actions] — Feat 16
Archetype, Auditory, Concentrate, Emotion, Mental
Prerequisites Venture-Gossip Archetype
It seems like your knowledge has come in handy after all and you have your enemy at your feet. Pulling out your fan mail, you read your fans’ scathing remarks about your enemy to their face, letting them feel just how much everyone hates them and everything that they’ve done. They hate the way that they walk, they hate the way that they talk.
Your enemy takes 10d10 mental damage, with a basic Will save. On a critical failure, they’re off-guard until the beginning of your next turn and lose all reactions, except to cry, loudly.

---

Illustration by Vlad Hladkova

Speedrunning

Eleanor Ferron

Speedrun Strats — Feat 1
Whenever you take a move action to Stride, you can attempt a DC 15 Acrobatics check to roll forward.
Critical SuccessYou gain 5 extra feet of movement to your Speeds and can move through solid obstacles such as walls until the end of your Stride action.
SuccessYou gain 5 extra feet of movement to your Speeds until the end of your Stride action.
FailureYou lose 5 feet of movement from your Speeds until the end of your Stride action.
Critical FailureYour character softlocks and is paralyzed permanently. Only awish ritual or similar magic can reverse this effect.

---

Rt5rrmn

It seems that every time I roll dice my cat Auryn feels that he must help, same as he loves to type to others when I am working online. So, I decided to put him to work, helping to create a creature based on his adorable face that could hopefully play with others around the world. The result is the creature found below. (Most numbers were decided by him, and all special ability names were decided by him walking across typing on my keyboard.)

Ivis Flanagan

The rt5rrmn is a catlike creature that loves to purr at those they encounter, convincing others to pamper them instead of fight. It would rather be friends than enemies, but if spooked it will viciously attack whoever is in its sights. If they aren’t able to make friends, the rt5rrmn will quickly grow defensive, and leap to attack. 

Rt5rrmn — Creature 8
Small, Animal, Fey
Perception +20; scent (imprecise) 60 feet
Languages Common (can’t speak any language)
Skills Athletics +20, Acrobatics +22, Stealth +17
Str +5, Dex +3, Con +4, Int +1, Wis +1, Cha +6
AC 36; Fort +15, Ref +35, Will +22
HP 172

But I’m Adorable [reaction] Trigger An enemy targets the rt5rrmn with a melee attack; Effect The rt5rrmn erkijs, the vibrating sound convincing the enemy to stop hurting it. The target must attempt a DC 26 Will save.
Critical Success The target is unaffected, ignoring the seduction of the erkij.
Success The target is fascinated by the rt5rrmn’s erkij until the end of the rt5rrmn’s next turn. 
Failure As success, and the target is slowed 1 as it focuses on the rt5rrmn’s erkij.
Critical Failure As failure, but the target is slowed 2.

Extra Reverberation If the rt5rrmn is targeted with an ability that restores Hit Points, it gains an additional use of But I’m Adorable that lasts until the end of its next turn.

Speed 35 feet
Melee [one-action] b9000 (finesse), Damage 3d8+12 piercing plus Improved Grab
Melee [one-action] g7ujik (agile, finesse), Damage 3d6+12 slashing, plus rt5rrmn yyumn

Pay Attention to Me [two-actions] The rt5rrmn erkijs again at a creature that is affected by But I’m Adorable. The target must attempt a DC 26 Will save. 
Success The target is unaffected.
Failure The target creature drops all of its held weapons.
Critical Failure As failure, but the target must also spend the first action of its next turn petting the rt5rrmn. 

Yidsfh [two-actions] The rt5rrmn Strides and then makes two g7ujik Strikes at a single target. Both count toward its multiple attack penalty, but the penalty increases only after both attacks are made. The rt5rrmn must be able to move at least half its Speed to yidsfh.

Rt5rrmn Yyumn (disease) Saving Throw Fortitude DC 24; Maximum Duration 1 week; Stage 1 sickened 1 (1 hour); Stage 2 sickened 1 and the creature can't reduce its sickened value below 1 (1 day); Stage 3 sickened 2 and the creature can't reduce its sickened value below 1 (1 day)

The quiet daily life of Talmandor’s Bounty, a settlement on a remote island in what remains of Azlant, is thrown into turmoil as a column of shadow erupts from the sea in the distance. The column then strikes a point in the atmosphere and begins spreading out like ink poured into an inverted bowl. The shadows rush across the surface of the sea, bringing to Talmandor’s Bounty dangerous shadow creatures.

You were hired as a research assistant to an astronomer who was hoping to study a stellar eclipse, a rare astronomical phenomenon. You arrive at Talmandor’s Bounty and take part in the preparations for an excursion into the jungle to study the event at an ancient Azlanti observatory—and then things go poorly. Can you help figure out what caused the column of shadow and put a stop to it? If you think you can, get your characters ready for the Shades of Blood Adventure Path.

Inside the Shades of Blood Player's Guide, you’ll find player-friendly, spoiler-free tips and advice to help you create an exciting and engaging character ready to take on what awaits. Contents include:

• Character suggestions, including recommendations for ancestries, classes, languages, skills, and feats well suited for this Adventure Path.
• Six new backgrounds specific to a character signing up to venture to ruined Azlant, such as Stargazer, Knack for Contraptions, and Student of the Ancients.
• A condensed gazetteer of Talmandor’s Bounty so you can get a feel for your new home away from home.

Download the Shades of Blood Player's Guide!

Greetings, ‘Finders!
March is Women’s History Month here in the United States, and to celebrate and recognize the women who make our games happen, we’ve welcomed Paizo contributors who identify as women (inclusive of trans, cis, and nonbinary identities) to share their experiences, wisdom, and projects on the blog!

This year’s theme for Women’s History Month is “Moving Forward Together—Women Educating and Inspiring Generations.” Some of our contributors have used this theme to shape their submissions.

---

Ivis Flanagan (she/they)

Have you ever looked up to someone and said, “I could NEVER do that?” I know I have.

I spent years having the boys I hung out with beat into my head that “girls just can’t play RPGs” by repeatedly ensuring my characters died every time I joined them. Then, years later, one of my closest friends, Sean Duncan, pulled me out of a nap and into my first Pathfinder game. I fell in love with it, from the mechanics to the setting—all of it. Then some friends encouraged me to go to my first convention, where I meant Heather Vigil, the first female GM I’d ever seen, and I thought, “Wow, I could never do that.” She and I became fast friends, and she was the one who eventually convinced me I was good enough to GM—which I again fell in love with, soon after becoming a Venture Agent in Organized Play. 

This attitude of “I could never do that” continued to precede me as I volunteered for conventions, then started taking on more and more leadership roles in Organized Play until I became the first female RVC (there's been two more since!). It was through this work that I met some amazing femme people: Hillary Moon Murphy, Kate Baker, Isis Woz, Katrina Hennessy, and Jessica Redekop, to name just a few. They encouraged me to reach out and start sharing my writing, which allowed me to get my foot in the door and contribute to the works of multiple companies, including Paizo. 

Fast forward to last year, when Paizo posted a designer position with the Rules and Lore team. Again, my brain flipped back to the old belief that “I could never do that,” a thought put there all those years ago by that group of gatekeeping guys. However, with encouragement from the same friends who had supported me along the way, and with the support of a few new ones like Alex Speidel and Shay Snow, I decided to throw the proverbial snowball into hell and see where it went. Asmodeus likes snow cones, it seems, because against all the odds in my brain, here I am, the newest member of the Rules and Lore team, loving what I do every day. 

I tell you my journey to say this: gaming is for everyone, and in supporting each other, we will see this space and our representation in it continue to flourish. More than anything, I’ve learned that to properly break down barriers to inclusivity, we can’t just say we support one another—we have to show it. And you know what? It’s true: girls don’t just play games—we run them, we organize them, and we create them, too. If you ever want to reach out, either for encouragement or because you’d like help finding ways to get involved, my DMs are open. You can find me on Bluesky, Discord, and the Paizo Forums as NorthernDreamer. 

Katrina Hennessy (she/they)

I’d like to take a moment or two to highlight some women who have influenced me and helped me to be where I am today.

The less open-minded mother of one of my high school friends said to her one day, “I know there is a science fiction convention in town, but you’re not going!” This drove my wonderful, open-minded, and supportive mother to organize a small group of us to attend Swancon 2, the second annual science fiction convention in Western Australia. There, we were introduced to the relatively new game of Dungeons & Dragons and met Uma, who was welcoming and supportive of us teens and a gracious example of how to exist in this male-dominated industry.

While there were other women along the way, as I played various RPGs through the decades, they were not frequent. In 2017, when I was introduced to Paizo Organized Play, this changed. Dorothy was one of my first GMs and a role model on how to be a firm and fair Game Master while remaining welcoming newcomers and making sure they received appropriate guidance. I also met Hilary, an exuberant and fun GM who was active at spreading Play-by-Post and good at turning insufficient reluctance into an active Venture Officer. There was also Kate, who was not only a great GM but an active freelancer who encouraged others along that path.

Over the course of these years, I also came across Vanessa, whom I first met as a roommate at Origins and who has helped me in so many ways to break my own barriers and grow as a community member and as a freelancer. She set an example of hard work and integrity in the games industry as freelancer, Paizo Developer, and now with Wizards of the Coast. I would also like to mention Ivis and Nicole, who actively participated in so much and took on more and more while remaining friendly, supportive, and welcoming. Though life seems to have moved Nicole elsewhere, I observed as Ivis continued to blossom and is now a Paizo developer.

I thank each of them and the many others who have had a positive impact on me along the way. I strive to also be welcoming and supportive of all who wish to play, GM, write, or otherwise be involved in our wonderful gaming community.

Sara Jeffers (she/they/he)

Sara Jeffers is a Two-Spirit member of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, in what is now known as Washington and British Columbia. Their heritage and culture influence not only her graphic and narrative designs but also his approaches in problem-solving and community building. She is proud to be a Woman in Gaming and to be helping the next generation of creatives through Girl Scouts.

Lynne M. Meyer (she/they)

When I found out about PathfinderLost Omens Rival Academies, I jumped at the chance to be Edit Co-Lead. Working on the book was a way of going back to my professional roots. For over a decade, I worked in higher education as an interfaith, service learning, and diversity and inclusion educator—a role that included developing and implementing training programs for students (and sometimes staff) as well as directly supporting students of marginalized identities. Though I enjoyed being in the classroom, what I loved most was working with students one-on-one. When I was in college, I had a mentor whose support changed my life; once I was in the position to do the same for my students, it became the driving force of my career.

I left university life years ago, but the relationships remain. I’ve kept every letter and card I received at graduation or other milestones, and I’m still close to several of my former students. Few things bring me such joy as seeing them thrive out in the world as the leaders and changemakers I knew they could be.

---

This month and every month, Paizo appreciates all the women who have built our industry and continue to expand on our worlds! Thank you for being a part of Paizo and for bringing new faces to the table for years to come.

In Solidarity,
Rue Dickey (they/he/xe)
Marketing & Media Specialist

Hello, Starfinders! The planet Aballon needs your help!

First Seeker Sarmak’s archaeological survey of the ancient city of Eternity has been interrupted by Those Who Call, a fanatical cult of robotic anacites determined to draw the mysterious First Ones back to the planet Aballon. Under the ruthless leadership of Supreme-Proclaimant, Those Who Call prepare to destroy Aballon’s government and capital city of Striving using a devastating weapon reconstructed from ancient First Ones’ technology. Join First Seeker Sarmak on an emergency mission to stop Those Who Call and save Striving! Aballon’s fate is in your hands!

Starfinder Society Scenario #7-12: Those Who Call is an adventure for 3rd- through 6th-level characters written by Brent Bowser. This is the final of three scenarios in the Year of Era’s End metaplot.

Best of luck, Starfinders!

Jessica Catalan
Starfinder Society Developer

Illustration by Felipe Fornitani

Hello, Pathfinders!

Spring is coming, the air is warming, the ice is melting, and Cheliax wants to help with all of this, starting in Egorian! The Pathfinder Society receives word from the illustrious Varian Jeggare that his manor is being invaded by a mixture of Hellknights and the Egorian dottari patrol. The Pathfinders will need to sneak into his home and not only recover a few important artifacts, but they’ll also need to save his loyal staff members! While they work to avoid hellish attention, however, some of Thrune’s most canny agents watch them from afar, ready to pounce when the timing is just right.

Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-12: The Burning of Greensteeples is an adventure written for 3rd- through 6th-level characters by Joseph Blomquist.

Illustration by Fabio Di Bernardi

Meanwhile, I’ll direct your gazes slightly to the east.

Illustration by Rodrigo Gallo

We’ve got an adventure straight out of Druma. Considering how rarely we get out there, it’s a great opportunity for those who love traveling to check another nation off your list. It’s also an excellent chance to investigate an ancient treasure trove newly uncovered by a small earthquake and landslide. It’s a vault long thought lost, located near the mining operations of Marivit Kopje, a Kalistocrat of minor standing.

Well, treasure trove might be a matter of perspective. You see, Shimia Renveld was an oddity even among Kalistocrats. She collected odds and ends that she believed held no real monetary value. But Marivit believes that her recently uncovered collection might hold a key to helping turn around his fortunes, and he's promised the Pathfinders everything else in the vault in order to get it. That’s where you come in. Explored vaults sealed for centuries tend to have unknown dangers. I guess what I’m trying to say is “good luck.”

Illustration by Rodrigo Gallo

Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-13: All that Glitters is an adventure written for 1st- through 4th-level characters by Genevieve Rudat Olejnik.

Josh Foster
Pathfinder Society Developer

Shay Snow
Pathfinder Society Developer

Digital Adventure Releases

These adventures will be available on March 26, 2025.

Pathfinder Society

Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-12: The Burning of Greensteeples*

Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-13: All That Glitters*

Starfinder Society

Starfinder Society Scenario #7-12: Those Who Call*

*part of a subscription

2025 Major Conventions

GM applications are now open for this summer’s major conventions! Join us at PaizoCon Online, Gen Con Indianapolis, or Origins! All GMs receive rewards based on how many slots they run, including Paizo vouchers, free badges for the show, and even Paizo products or housing at the highest slots. No Organized Play experience is necessary; if you’ve run our games, we can teach you everything you need to run scenarios, quests, and demos for the community. Come and join us this summer!

Gen Con & Origins Information || PaizoCon Online Information

Character Options Updates

Last week saw the release of two major Pathfinder books, NPC Core and Lost Omens: Rival Academies. Both books are listed on the Character Options page, and boons for some options (including community-favorite 500 toads) are available in the Boon Store!

We’ve also released sanctioning documents for the Spore War Adventure Path, which are available on the AP product pages. You can now fight Treerazer and earn Pathfinder Society credit while doing so!

The next major Character Options updates will come in May with the release of Lost Omens: Shining Kingdoms, as well as the Starfinder Galaxy Guide. Two ancestries from the latter, the contemplative and dragonkin, will be available to those of you who have participated in the Starfinder Playtest as outlined on the Playtest Tracking Sheet, so we’ll be sure to provide guidance on those options upon release.

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 three GMs reach their fifth rank!

5th Glyph (PFS2): Michael Johnson, David Li, Avram Suson

If you believe you’ve completed your 5th rank but haven’t been announced yet, please email me at organizedplay@paizo.com.

Conventions

Spring has sprung, and with it, convention season! Check out the Conventions calendar for upcoming events in your area. At press time we have more than a dozen events in the next couple of months, all looking for players and GMs!

This month, I will be attending Coscon in Butler, PA (just outside my hometown of Pittsburgh!) as well as GalaxyCon Richmond in Virginia. If you’re in the area for either of these, I’d love to say hi! Additionally, the day after PaizoCon I’ll be hopping on a plane to Birmingham for the UK Games Expo. Looking for a Paizo staff visit this fall? Drop me an email and let me know about your event; my contemplative gunslinger just might stop by!

Until next time adventurers—Explore! Report! Cooperate! And indulge in sin responsibly!

Alex Speidel
Organized Play Coordinator

Pathfinder’s NPC Core is now out! This book had a very large pool of authors to get a wide variety of creative takes on NPCs and GM tools across the book.

Pathfinder NPC Core, available now! Cover by Wayne Reynolds

I’ll kick us off! I’m Logan Bonner (he/him), Pathfinder Lead Designer and the design lead on NPC Core. I shepherded the crew through pitching and picking levels for the NPCs, and most of my actual writing on the book was stitching things together and occasionally filling in some extra space. The best medium social to interact with me is on Bluesky, where I’m @loganbonner.bsky.social. (Please note that I’m happy to talk about the game, but I don’t answer rules questions on social media!)

Now let’s hear from some of our other esteemed authors!

Rigby Bendele (they/them)

I am so excited to see NPC Coreending up in your hands! I worked on the NPC Connections subsystem in the appendix. One of the priorities I had while designing that subsystem was making it flexible for a wide range of relationships, especially since some of my most notable gaming stories involved the various NPCs that my group cared for along the way. I hope this is a tool that helps out at your table.

Mercenary band art by Ilina Naydenova

Katina Davis (she/her)

Hello, I'm Katina! You might have seen me on the forums as Paizo's Webstore Coordinator, or playing in some of our streamed games. I've also been lucky enough to contribute to several Pathfinder and Starfinder products since 2017, and I was delighted to write the gnomes for NPC Core. I've always had a soft spot in my heart for the eccentric rainbow-haired ancestry who blanches if they don't experience enough wonder in life, and I hope that connection shines through in this book. You can find a full list of my TTRPG writing credits here, and connect with me on Bluesky at @KatinaDavis.

Rue Dickey (they/he/xe)

Rue Dickey (they/he/xe) is a mixed-race, nonbinary, disabled marketing mage and frequent freelancer! By day, they work as Paizo's Marketing & Media Specialist, managing marketing projects and serving as a point of contact for news media, reviewers, and content creators—you've probably seen him around on the Paizo blog and forums! By all other hours, Rue does a variety of freelance and consulting work, including work on the upcoming Daggerheart RPG from Darrington Press! Rue was thrilled to add their voice to the Mystics in NPC Core! As a home practitioner of traditional Romani and Arapaho spiritualism and magic, Rue enjoyed getting to bring some of those elements to the NPCs in this book, as well as add some fun flavor options!

Gnome conservationist art by Gunship Revolution

Matthew Fu (he/him)

Hello again everyone! It was such a pleasure to have worked alongside so many talented writers for NPC Core. Seeing the Phalanx Formation, one of the NPCs that I wrote for this book, on stream was definitely a surprise, but a welcome one for sure! The other NPCs that I had a blast writing were the standard bearer, sniper, and mage knight, and I also wrote the Military Objectives section right after the statblocks. I honestly cannot wait to add all of the NPCs I wrote, in addition to a bunch of the other ones in this book, into my homebrew game.

Also, be sure to check out some of the other Pathfinder 2E material that I've written alongside some other fantastic authors at Eldritch Osiris Games!

Katrina Hennessy (she/they)

Hello, all. I am thrilled to have contributed to this book. I hope you enjoy the tengu section. I also hope players will enjoy the language of feathers and tengu expressions finding fun ways to incorporate them into their characters. This was my first Pathfinder assignment for Paizo, though my contribution to Curtain Call made it to print sooner. I have also written some Starfinder Society adventures and made a few contributions to third-party products. I’d like to thank the entire team who made this project a success, particularly Logan Bonner for leading the way. While I am not very active on social media, the best place to find me is @gmnumbat.bsky.social. I can also be found playing or running games for Paizo Organized Play.

Sara Jeffers (she/they/he)

Sara Jeffers is a Two-Spirit member of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, in what is now known as Washington and British Columbia. Their heritage and culture influence not only her graphic and narrative designs but also his approaches in problem-solving and community building.

Michelle Jones (she/her)

What's up gamers, my name is Michelle Jones and I wrote several of the villains presented in NPC Core, including the fiend caller, fleshwarper, and hero hunter. I hope you and your tables have many fun, terrifying, horrible times encountering them. Hopefully they don't kill too many of you. Good luck!

If you want to see my non-Pathfinder work, you can find me at AleshaKills.itch.io or follow me on Bluesky @aleshakills.bsky.social.

Legbreaker art by Tatiana Pavlova

Christiana Lewis (she/her)

Hey there! This is my second project with Pathfinder and it's extremely dear to me. As a BIPOC author, getting to write lore about orcs and half-orcs was... healing. When I'm not writing, I'm reading fantasy books bigger than my head, crocheting wonky dragons, and maining Sue Storm on Marvel Rivals. I'd like to thank my husband, Josh, for always inspiring me to be brave and ensuring I'm hydrated. And to you, reader—I hope this book brings about some of the best roleplay you've ever seen. May the dice be ever in your favor!

Jacob W. Michaels (he/him)

Hi, I’m Jacob W. Michaels. You may know me from such Paizo projects like PFS 5-08: Protecting the Firelight and PFS 6-00: Salt of the Ocean, plus my work in various Pathfinder rulebooks and Lost Omens titles. I got to work on everyone’s favorite goblins for NPC Core and I can’t wait for them to be unleashed on your unsuspecting players! Also, this book has my first published recipe, which you will hopefully like more than my wife did during our many taste tests (fun fact: She only likes pickled cucumbers, while I like everything pickled except cucumbers).

Matt Morris (he/him)

I’m Matt Morris, and I’ve been lucky enough to do freelance writing for Pathfinder and Starfinder for several years now, working with Paizo and a few third-party companies. I'm currently awaiting the launch of my first Kickstarter, a TTRPG called Remnant Years: Tales of a Ruined Land.

I made friends with some mystics for this book, and I've still got pockets full of wooden beads, iron nails, and garlic! (And only a few minor curses.)

I keep an up-to-date list of my work on my Paizo profile, and I’m always looking for interesting projects, so feel free to contact me if you are looking for a reliable writer!

When not writing, I’m teaching high school English near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Patchen Mortimer (he/him)

Hi, I'm Patchen Mortimer (he/him). Ever since writing the lizardfolk ancestry for Lost Omens Character Guide (recently revised in Player Core 2), I'm always thrilled when the Pathfinder team invites me to flesh out our scaly friends a little more. In this book, I wanted both GMs and players to find plenty of fresh hooks to inspire their own play, from new myths and superstitions to musical stylings. And sure, some PCs might get harpooned (trident-ed?) along the way—whoops! As a new father, I'm hard to find these days, but try @patchdj on Bluesky or Twitter's corpse, or listen to my indie rock radio show most Tuesday nights at https://wmuc.umd.edu.

Big goblin boss art by Gunship Revolution

K. Tessa Newton (she/they)

Whispered tales passed down through the ages tell of a time when I darkened the hallowed halls of Paizo alongside the esteemed editing team—but that was long ago. My foul deeds have been attributed to many names; the one you likely know best is K. Tessa Newton (she/they). For the NPC Core, I (alongside Michelle Jones) described that cadre of knaves I know best: the villains!

This assignment was actually quite a challenge. Villains defined by their “job” (like an evil pirate captain, a corrupt judge, etc.) would go in those other sections instead, leaving us to muse on the fundamental aspects of villainy. We hope you like the evildoers we came up with and use them to ruin players' days for years to come!

You can find me on Instagram @eye.lur, or via email at ktessanewton@gmail.com.

Mikhail Rekun (he/him)

Приветствую, уважаемые читатели!* My name is Mikhail Sergeyevich Rekun, and I’m a Russian-speaking Ukrainian-American historian, educator, and author. I’ve been writing for Pathfinder for a fair few years now, so if you’ve ever been attacked by a kholo, it’s probably my fault. I’m sorry. (I’m not sorry).

For my crimes, I’ve spent a goodly while in academia, and so it was natural that I’d end up writing the Scholars section of this book. In absolute honesty, most of the new NPCs are just lightly fictionalized versions of myself and my old colleagues (I rather fancy that I’m an avuncular professor these days, though I spent many years as an exuberant apprentice).

If you find my writing to be amusing and/or traumatic-college-flashback-inducing, you may also be interested to learn that I’m the Creative Director of the Luminant Age Campaign Setting. We have plenty of peculiar and particular academic material there, with more on the way. Give it a look!

*Privetstvuyu, uvazhaemye chitateli!
Welcome, dear readers!

David N. Ross (he/him/his)

I'm a longtime contributor to Pathfinder and Starfinder (this is about my 60th original release) on projects like Fists of the Ruby Phoenix or theAbomination Vaults Adventure Path for 5e. When I'm not writing or editing for Paizo or various other RPG publishers, I’m a fan of archery and folklore and also support groups for game designers (such as Freelance Forge) and the LGBT community. In NPC Core, I'm proud to have helped this distinguished team with new officers and amurruns (catfolk). My officers are combatants and inquisitives, tricky foes abusing authority (especially the grand inquisitor), or useful allies. The catfolk I imagine as braggart rivals or enthusiastic allies. You can see my socials and details at http://linktr.ee/davidnross.

Sibyl art by Tatiana Pavlova

Tony Saunders

Hi, my name is Tony Saunders! I am one of the co-founders of Team+, which is where I spend most of my time writing these days. I was an author on War of Immortals and have been credited on Legendary Games titles, Battlezoo Bestiary: Strange and Unusual, the Gardener's Guide to Gaming, and a few other projects. What time I don't spend being a software engineer and father, I spend writing. I wrote for the companion section for this book. Lucky to be a part of such a stacked team of authors.

Joel Southall (he/him)

Hi! I'm Joel Southall (he/him), and I’ve had the pleasure of writing for NPC Core, where I crafted stats and lore for a few NPCs, drawing on my studies in Indigenous philosophy and myth, as well as literary influences ranging from Shakespeare and Mark Twain to J.R.R. Tolkien. I also contributed to Starfinder Bounty #9: Burning Ambition and served as a cultural consultant for Paizo on a monster inspired by Ojibwe legend, informed by my Ojibwe heritage and knowledge of Indigenous lore and practices. Additionally, I wrote for the IndieCade 2019 award-winning educational computer game When Rivers Were Trails, which explores Indigenous resilience during the era of the federally mandated General Allotment Act of 1887.

With a background in journalism and a Master’s-level education in philosophy, I’ve transitioned into web and software development but remain passionate about game development. I live in Eugene, Oregon, and frequently collaborate on both local and remote game projects. You can check out my game development work at greatlynxdesigns.com/game-development.

Kendra Leigh Speedling (she/her)

Hello! I'm Kendra Leigh Speedling (she/her), frequent contributor to Paizo. Some of my recent work has been on Singer, Stalker, Skinsaw Man for Curtain Call, Destroyer's Doom for Triumph of the Tusk, and the upcoming The Acropolis Pyre for Myth-Speaker, as well as a section in Rival Academies! For NPC Core, I wrote the section on elves, and I enjoyed delving into various aspects of elven cultures, from the more woodsy and jungle ranger types to elves of elegant noble courts. The book's stat blocks will definitely be useful to GMs, but I also love the little lore tidbits for the groups and ancestries, which I think will really add a lot of depth to encounters with these folks. My favorites of mine are a small snippet about enemies-to-lovers scholar rivals (some academia gossip crept into this project, too!) and a table of elven banquet dishes that I hope makes you as hungry reading as it did me writing!

You can check out my past work at my website, klspeedling.com, and follow me on BlueSky @kendrarara.

Aiuvarin translator art by Paulo Magalhães

Kyle Tam (she/her)

Hello! My name is Kyle Tam, and I had the pleasure of making the traveling actor, court jester, and puppeteer Performers! My thought going in was “performers have many faces,” so I'd love for you to bring those many sides to your table. If you liked my work here, then you might enjoy checking out some more of my writing in Howl of the Wild, or some of my personal and collaborative work at my website https://whatkylewrites.carrd.co. Thank you for checking out the NPC Core and happy rolls!

Jamie Trollope (he/him)

Hi! I'm Jamie Trollope, a researcher and writer who’s been playing and GMing TTRPGs for over 30 years. I’ve written for various third-party products, including the NPC Index line, and was lucky enough to get to work on NPC Core. Getting to write about halflings was a real joy—storytelling and food are two of my greatest loves, so it felt like the perfect match. I'm incredibly grateful to have been part of this project and to have worked alongside so many talented people.

Ruvaid Virk (he/him)

Heyo! I'm Ruvaid (he/him) a real-life NPC that happens to write for Paizo sometimes. You might know me from some of my previous work such as the bloodrager archetype from War of Immortals, Hongal's entry in Tian Xia World Guide, the vishkanya ancestry from Impossible Lands, or the Starfinder horror bounty Echoes of Woe. For this cool book, I worked on the themed spell lists section, to provide your NPC spellcasters some fun thematic flair. If you like, you can follow me on Blue Sky @darthruvaider.bsky.social for any future updates. Cheers, and happy gaming!

Mountain guardian art by Paulo Magalhães

Grady Wang (he/him)

Hello, I'm Grady Wang and one of the cofounders of the Gallant Goblin, a TTRPG review channel and publisher. I've had the honor to write for Tian Xia, Season of Ghosts, and Spore War, as well as for the Infinite Masters program on Pathfinder Infinite, developing products such as the Queerfinderseries and Rare Ancestries: Ifrit Genies. I was thrilled to contribute the kobold section for NPC Core, as I love these scheming little reptiles in all their forms. The chaos they can unleash with traps and pets makes them so fun to add to any game. But if you just want to cuddle them, we also make kobold plushies at https://koboldplush.com!

Andrew White

Hi, I’m Andrew White! You may remember me from other cool Paizo things like Secrets of Magic, Guns & Gears, Book of the Dead, Rage of Elements, Howl of the Wild, and being the Digital Products Lead here at Paizo! For this particular project, I had a blast (pun not intended, but now that I see it, I’m leaving it in) writing up a whole bunch of bomb-throwing hobgoblin and steampunky engineer entries, including two of my favorite fantasy archetypes: “dangerous lunatic in power armor with freeze ray” and “even more dangerous lunatic who flies around with the help of a tank of explosive rocket fuel strapped to their back”. You can find me reposting smarter, funnier people on Bluesky at @plague control.bsky.social.

Basil Wright (he/they/xe)

Hi, I'm Basil (he/they/xe). Most people know I'm a lover of scoundrels, so it makes sense that I ended up making some fun criminals for this book. I wanted to harness my inner crimeboy while making these characters, and I really hope you can feel the seediness as you read. This was a really fun project to work on, and I hope everyone has fun playing. You can find more of my work on my website https://towerofbasil.wordpress.com.

With the doors finally open to Lost Omens Rival Academies it’s time to introduce some of the amazing authors who brought it to life. Each school had someone responsible for developing its voice and telling its story, so you might get some insights into those inspirations as well.

To kick things off, I’m Landon Winkler. Although a bit of my writing does show up in the Sihedron Spires section for all the Runelords out there, my main role was as Lead Developer on the book. So let me introduce the real stars of today’s show.

Sharang Biswas (he/him)

Hi, Folks! I’m Sharang Biswas, and I’m a freelance game designer, writer, and interactive artist. You might know me as one of the designers of Avatar: Legends, contributor to ENNIE-Award winning titles like Moonlight on Roseville Beach, andKOBOLD Guide to Roleplaying, or as co-editor of Honey & Hot Wax: An Anthology of Erotic Art Games. You might also have heard of my first novella: The Iron Below Remembers! For Rival Academies, I had the pleasure of creating Chiral, one of the three Axiomite Chancellors at the Academy of the Sublime in the Perfect City of Axis. I was particularly excited by this project because my producer Landon Winkler basically gave me a carte blanche to imagine what the school is like. I got to invent its arcane bureaucratic systems, create esoteric areas of research, and visualize the weird architecture of this unusual institution. Plus, I got to toss in some bees. Who doesn’t enjoy bees?! Feel free to connect with me on BlueSky!

Laura Lynn Horst (she/her)

Hi, I'm Laura Lynn Horst! You've seen my work in the recent Lost Omens Divine Mysteries where I focused on the Azlanti gods and Urgathoa. I am so excited for the release of Lost Omens Rival Academies. Working on this latest Paizo project was so fun and I can't wait for you all to enjoy the spoils of our hard work. I hope you all enjoy the Synostosis representative, Zenda Modic. I thoroughly enjoyed writing her.

Zenda Modic. Art by Cagdas Demiralp.

Aoife Ester (she/her)

It’s me again! For Lost Omens Rival Academies, I was tasked with bringing Messida Vost, an NPC who debuted all the way back in a first edition adventure, forward to second edition in her new role as the Acadamae's Dean of Summoning. I think it’s safe to say that of all the faculty they can meet in this book, your players might just find Vost the most abrasive. (Although, who among us hasn’t known a teacher like that?) She does, however, come bearing some ambitious—if dangerous—ideas about how best to solve the Sarkoris Scar’s demon problem. If you end up using her in your game, I’d love to hear all about it on social media (@breadbutt) or Discord (breadbutt_).

Messida Vost. Art by Mirco Paganessi.

Mikhail Rekun (he/him)

Дорогие читатели! My name is Mikhail Sergeyevich Rekun, and I’m a Russian-speaking Ukrainian-American author, educator, and renegade academic. Having plumbed the depths of the Dark Archive, I thought I was safe. But no. There is no safety from academia.

I was responsible for the University of Lepidstadt in this book, because for some peculiar reason everyone looked at the creepy gothic school and immediately went “this is a Mikhail thing.” It is possible I have a reputation. We will politely skip over what sort. In any case, like any proper school, Lepidstadt has its share of secret passages, ghosts, mysteries, crumbling papers, unresolved murders, ghosts, architects who entombed themselves within their own work, hoary old secrets, raven statues, ancient cursed relics, Prof. Nefritius-Sincoth, ghosts, evil books, disappearing rooms, and most terrifying of all—university politics.

Also ghosts. Just, like, so many ghosts.

In the event that you survive your term at Lepidstadt with psyche and/or bank account intact, you may try the post-graduate course at the Luminant Age Campaign Setting, where I happen to be the Creative Director. We have a medical student dissecting angels over there. It's going about as well as you'd expect.

Professor Cheris Nefritius-Sincoth and Tere Athlanere. Art by Mirco Paganessi.

Erin Roberts (she/her)

I’m Erin Roberts, previously seen in books including Divine Mysteries, Firebrands, Highhelm, and Godsrain Prophecies. I currently teach at a university, so I was thrilled to get a chance to be a part of the hallowed halls pages of Rival Academies. I wrote the Academy of the Reclamation, getting the assignment just as I was settling into a writing residency in Homer, Alaska alongside five writers working on reclamations of their own, from memoirs of half-remembered childhoods and stories about the echoes left by those lost to violence to a new work of art made using traditional techniques in an act of cultural restoration. Those experiences lingered as I wrote this section, inspired by the ways we can be shaped by what we’ve lost, take strength from what we’ve held on to, and build toward what we dream of against all odds. Also the delicious snacks. I always write better with snacks.

For more random musings about my writing and other whatnots, you can hear me chatting weekly on the Writing Excuses podcast or find me on BlueSky as @nirele. Let me know what you’re out there reclaiming!

Diarra Romagne and Vil Seral. Art by Anselmi Hyytinen.

Kendra Leigh Speedling (she/her)

Hello, I'm Kendra Leigh Speedling, frequent contributor to Paizo and erstwhile academic—I did a master's degree for library science and loved it, I but staunchly shooed off anyone who suggested I go for the PhD. (For the curious, I went to school in London, did my dissertation on the interplay between libraries and imperialism in 19th-century Britain, and took four months after graduation to stop defaulting to UK spellings.)

Given all that, I was delighted to be asked on for Rival Academies! I did the Cobyslarni section of the book, where I had a great deal of fun working in fey weirdness and shenanigans. Cobyslarni has fascinated me ever since its first mention in 1e, and expanding on it was a dream assignment. My love of libraries definitely influenced the Echo Repository, home of (literally) forgotten knowledge, and the art for Murrou, an awakened emu grad student with excellent sartorial taste, is one of my favorite pieces in the whole book. I hope you all enjoy the chance to explore the school—and maybe even form a pact with Cobyslarni himself!

You can check out other things I've done on my website, klspeedling.com, and follow me on BlueSky @kendrarara.bsky.social!

Murrou and Bofika Nemesan. Art by Anselmi Hyytinen.

Gina Susanna (she/her)

Hi everyone! I’ve been a contributor to Paizo since 2023, and while this is my first book with Pathfinder, I’ve been a writer and storyteller in many forms for most of my life. For this project I had the honor of creating one of the invitees—Nochtli Tlatoa, your new favorite distractible arcane botanist—as well as her luminescent toadstool. I hope you find her as brilliant (get it!) and helpful as I intended! When I’m not writing, I’m working as a therapist by day and an actual play performer and voice actor by night (and you can find more of my work here!). It was an absolute honor to work on this book with such an incredible team of folks—here's to many more!

Nochtli Tlatoa. Art by Cagdas Demiralp.

Tan Shao Han (he/they)

Appropriately enough, I'm writing my author blog for Lost Omens Rival Academies during my commute to teach across several, here's the title drop, rival academies, in Singapore.

As the years murmur one after another, I find myself shifting from ambivalence to acceptance in my academic role. Some of these aspirations and tensions are nestled inside my words; for example, my emotions are echoed within the indulgences and affectations of the narrator's pride, in the section on the Monastery of the Unbreaking Waves.

On Water; a little allegory about the Lessons of Perfection.

The more things change...

As a child, I was neither a competent nor confident student; my grades were poor, and my self-esteem poorer still. I am grateful I was somehow accepted into university, where I found solace in study, reading and listening to voices, present and bygone, sharing and discussing knowledge we've built and lost.

In these voices, I sometimes beheld kindness and wisdom; I can only hope, in some way, to be a similar voice to students struggling amidst today's demands and pressures, in societies often so intensely indifferent and unforgiving.

Appropriate, perhaps, for Water’s Lessons of Perfection.

…the more things stay the same?

(Or do they?)

Art: Insert Swordmaster Ganhil here] Abhaya the Returner and Swordmaster Ganhil. Art by Renan Maurilio.

Esther Wallace (she/her, zhe/zher)

Hi y'all! I'm Esther, and I'm so delighted that I had the opportunity to write for this book. This was my first-ever assignment for Paizo, and I had the joy of writing Aesara Fleethoof! Since Aesara is from Iblydos, I took a lot of inspiration from Homeric epic for her background, character, and patterns of speech. If you ever use her in a campaign setting, feel welcome to tag me on social media and tell me about it—I’m @dungeonministeron Bluesky. I had such a blast writing on this book alongside so many amazing authors, and I can’t wait to dig into the setting and material myself. Cheers to all who helped this project come together!

Aesara Fleethoof. Art by Cagdas Demiralp.

Thanks for taking this quick tour with us and I hope you enjoy Lost Omens Rival Academies!

Landon Winkler (they/them)
Developer, Rules & Lore

Hail and well met, ‘Finders! We’re just under two months away from PaizoCon, and the excitement is rising here at the (virtual) office! Strap in—this blog is gonna take you on a tour of what to expect, how to buy tickets, and more!

PaizoCon is our annual celebration of all things Pathfinder, Starfinder, Paizo Games, and more! Join us May 23rd–26th for a plethora of games, panels, interactive discussions, and more!

Pre-Sale Tickets On Sale Now!

Starting today, March 6th, pre-sale tickets are available for PaizoCon Online! Get your ticket before 11:59 P.M. Pacific on March 31st to take advantage of our pre-sale discount! Tickets purchased during this window will cost $20—the price goes up to $25 on April 1st (and that’s no joke)!

Why get a badge?

A PaizoCon badge allows you full access to sign up for all gaming events! This includes our Organized Play offerings, our interactive specials, community-lead games and even our staff-run offerings. No extra fee, one badge gets you as much gaming as you can handle across four days of PaizoCon!

Plus, badge holders get early access to art portfolio and writing portfolio review sign-ups, discounts and special products from Paizo and our licensed partners, access to interactive Discord channels to ask Paizo Staff questions, and more!

What’s Happening at PaizoCon?

Panels

PaizoCon has a full slate of panels to open the gates of Golarion and the Pact Worlds to our community! The complete schedule will be announced closer to the convention, but mark your calendars for 10 A.M. Pacific on Friday, May 23rd, when we kick off PaizoCon with the PaizoCon Keynote—our big presentation of all things fun and phenomenal coming for Pathfinder and Starfinder!

Panels run from 10 A.M. to 5 P.M. Pacific on Friday, May 23rd, Saturday, May 24th, and Sunday, May 25th.

Games!

We’re hosting a variety of virtual games at PaizoCon!

The full PaizoCon gaming schedule is as follows. All times are Pacific Daylight Time.

• Block 1 Friday, May 23, 2025 at 4:00 PM
• Block 2 Friday, May 23, 2025 at 10:00 PM
• Block 3 Saturday, May 24, 2025 at 4:00 AM
• Block 4 Saturday, May 24, 2025 at 10:00 AM
• Block 5 Saturday, May 24, 2025 at 4:00 PM
• Block 6 Saturday, May 24, 2025 at 10:00 PM
• Block 7 Sunday, May 25, 2025 at 4:00 AM
• Block 8 Sunday, May 25, 2025 at 10:00 AM
• Block 9 Sunday, May 25, 2025 at 4:00 PM
• Block 10 Sunday, May 25, 2025 at 10:00 PM
• Block 11 Monday, May 26, 2025 at 4:00 AM
• Block 12 Monday, May 26, 2025 at 10:00 AM
• Block 13 Monday, May 26, 2025 at 4:00 PM

Play-by-post games will begin after the convention concludes and finish no later than Tuesday, July 22.

In Block 4, we will be offering Pathfinder Society Special #3-99: Fate in the Future, and in Block 8 we will be offering Starfinder Society Special #3-99: Perils of the Past. Help reunite two adventurers stranded across time and space in our first crossover event between Pathfinder and Starfinder, using the rules for Pathfinder Second Edition and Starfinder First Edition!

Community Gaming!

We’re also now opening signups for Community Gaming! If you’re interested in running a game outside of Organized Play at PaizoCon Online, we’d love to have you join us. This can be anything: a homebrew Pathfinder or Starfinder adventure, something you’re working on for Infinite, even a non-Paizo roleplaying or board game! Just fill out the form below and we’ll be in touch about scheduling your game.

PaizoCon Online Community Gaming Submissions

PaizoCon@

PaizoCon@ is our initiative to offer an in-person experience during PaizoCon Online around the world. This year we’ve nearly tripled our in-person PaizoCon offerings, which means even more of our players and GMs will be able to experience PaizoCon at their local game stores or conventions!

All PaizoCon@ locations will be running Pathfinder and Starfinder Society games during the weekend, including exclusive runs of our May releases. Highlights include the finale of Starfinder Society Year 7, as well as participation in our interactive specials.

A full list of our locations and conventions is in this blog, or visit this Google Map of the locations. We’d love to see you in-person this year!

Portfolio Reviews

We’re excited to bring back both art and writing portfolio reviews as part of this year’s PaizoCon! Get thoughtful and detailed feedback from Paizo’s art and writing teams, plus a chance to put your work in front of the teams actively seeking freelancers!

Ticket holders get early access to booking portfolio review appointments—get yours today! Signups will open to all attendees (ticketed or non-ticketed) on a first come, first serve basis closer to PaizoCon weekend.

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 before PaizoCon, so keep an eye on your inbox. We can’t wait to see your work!

And So Much More!

Join us in the Paizo Events Discord for AMAs with Paizo staff, game demos, interactive Discord activities like trivia and Jackbox Games, and exclusive giveaways of Paizo and licensed partner products!

Get Your Tickets for PaizoCon Now!

We’re looking forward to seeing you all May 23^rd–26^th for PaizoCon 2025, whether you’re participating online or joining us at one of our partner PaizoCon@ locations!

Hail and well met, ‘Finders! This month’s new releases fill your world with friendly—or fiendish—faces, gather great minds, and bring the Spore War to an end! A reminder—the scenarios listed here are February’s scenarios, which released last Wednesday, February 26th! As we have shifted our physical product release to the first Wednesday of the month, we will be highlighting the digital releases from the previous month!

Never miss a release with our Paizo Subscriptions—for everything from rulebooks to accessories! Subscribers get a free PDF with purchase, early access to game content, and exclusive discounts on paizo.com!

---

Pathfinder NPC Core

POPULATE YOUR WORLD!

Devotees of the gods, cunning mercenaries, fun-loving performers, crafty engineers, devious villains, and more all have roles in your game with Pathfinder NPC Core! Containing over 250 stat blocks for NPCs, you can drop all kinds of characters into your game, from merchants and farmers to masters of magic and martial arts. The NPCs are crafted to be fun and easy to use, with sets of adjustments to quickly change their ancestry, level, and more. You’ll also find a trove of NPCs specific to non-human ancestries, like a dwarf general, goblin get-gang, and kobold egg guardian. Each section of NPCs is themed and includes lore, custom rules, and random tables to spice up your gameplay. Never find yourself making up statistics on the fly again—you can find everything you need in Pathfinder NPC Core!

Pathfinder NPC Core is available in standard edition hardcover, Special Edition faux-leatherette bound hardcover, and a sketch variant hardcover exclusive to local game stores and paizo.com, as well as in PDF format!

Pathfinder Lost Omens Rival Academies

SCHOOL IS IN SESSION!

Journey to the edge of demon-ravaged lands to learn ancient magical secrets, fey philosophies, bleeding-edge theories on reanimating flesh, and the lore of academies from across the world and beyond! See the universities through the eyes of their students and meet dozens of luminaries with their own agendas, research, and visions for these recovering lands. Whether players build bonds with classmates, clash with rivals, or spend their time far from the event, they’ll have character options to represent their school’s teachings, from spycraft and wizardry to martial arts and the rites of forgotten gods.

Pathfinder Lost Omens Rival Academies is available in standard hardcover, Special Edition faux-leatherette hardcover, and PDF formats.

Pathfinder Adventure Path #212: A Voice in the Blight

THE LAST STAND!

Treerazer’s plans have been disrupted by heroes, and the fiendish war against the elves isn’t going as swiftly as the demon hoped... which makes him all the more dangerous. As Treerazer prepares a potentially devastating surprise attack to crush the elves, though, a mysterious voice beckons from beyond with offers of aid. But has this offer of aid come too late? The Spore War Adventure Path concludes with “A Voice in the Blight,” a complete adventure for 18th- to 20th-level characters.

“A Voice in the Blight” is also available as a deluxe module for Foundry VTT.

Pathfinder Monster Core Battle Cards

Keep the creatures of the Pathfinder Monster Core close at hand with this box-bursting collection of over 550 reference cards featuring every monster from the core Pathfinder monster reference! Each 4" x 6" card is printed on sturdy cardstock and features a beautiful, full-color image of a Pathfinder Monster Core monster on one side, while the other side provides that monster's statistics for quick and easy reference. With each encounter, show the players the terrifying visage of the monster their characters are facing while keeping its abilities at the ready, and watch your games come alive!

Starfinder Flip-Mat: Alien Runs

WATCH WHAT YOU TOUCH!

Find the horrors and wonders left behind by the galaxy’s most ancient civilizations in Starfinder Flip-Mat: Alien Ruins. One side of this mat puts heroes right in the action with a set of ruins located inside a shifting maze of high stone walls where they’ll find the hidden remnants of a forgotten culture. This side also matches up perfectly to the red planet map presented in Starfinder Flip-Mat: Planetary Terrain Multi-Pack, allowing you to create a massive encounter space. The other side of the mat shows the interior of a dark cavern filled with the semi-active remains of a once-powerful alien species. Both sides can be turned into a set piece for almost any science-fantasy adventure!

Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Rivers Multi-Pack

KEEP ON ROLLIN’!

Rivers are the lifelines of communities and settlements throughout the world and make for exciting and dynamic encounters. Whether your PCs are defending a bridge, fording an icy flow, navigating a deep canyon, or assaulting a mill that an evil wizard has holed up in, Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Rivers Multi-Pack has you covered for a variety of river-based encounters.

Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-11: The Godsrain and the Dragon

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

The Pathfinder Society secured friendly relations with the dragon Valashinaz over a year ago, and now seeks to call upon that connection. They’ve recovered several warshards large and small, and their powers seem varied and unpredictable. The latest warshard recovered, the largest yet, seems even stranger. The Society has brokered another agreement with Valashinaz to use her not-inconsiderable skill honed over centuries of appraising fantastic items to appraise these shards. Among the tribute required, though, is a task.

An upstart dragon set up his lair near Valashinaz’s territory. He has avoided her wrath mainly because she’s been preoccupied with the literal fallout from the god slaying. This is the perfect opportunity for her to get someone else to take care of him, though, and so she has tasked the Pathfinders with getting this upstart out of her territory “by any means necessary.”

Starfinder Society Scenario #7-11 Breaking the Crucible

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

The Starfinder Society recently completed a year-long excavation of an ancient hobgoblin ruin on the planet Flentil, a colony of the Marixah Republic. Flentil has long been a point of contention between the Republic and their interstellar neighbors, the warmongering Gideron Authority. When a contingent of Hellknights from the Order of the Crucible invades Flentil, these Starfinders are caught in the crossfire and taken captive.

Celita, leader of the Dataphiles faction, dispatches a team of Starfinders to Flentil to rescue the captured Starfinders, retrieve the data they gathered, and determine what the Order of the Crucible is up to—all without dragging the Starfinders into an intergalactic war! And if it’s nefarious? Oust the Order! Break the Crucible!

Pathfinder Society Quest (Series 2) #23: Lacking Respect

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

Not everyone in Irrisen has been happy with the rule of Queen Anastasia. A group of bandits found it much easier to sate their violent tendencies during the rule of the prior queen. Now they're causing trouble both in Irrisen and in settlements on its western border. It's up to the PCs to put a stop to their banditry.

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.

---

Bring Pathfinder to where you are, in person or online, and if you don’t have a favorite local game store, get books delivered to your door via a Paizo Subscription! From rulebooks to adventures, accessories, and more, we’ve got subscriptions for every table! Subscribing to a line of books gets you the physical book and the PDF for one price! Subscribe to four lines or more to unlock Paizo Advantage savings on products site-wide!

Thank you for playing Starfinder and Pathfinder!

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

"Strap in for a tour of the galaxy!”

Greetings, nufriends and old pals! It’s your buddy, Captain Concierge, here, explaining the great mysteries of Starfinder 2 Electric Skibididoo! Don’t worry, that’s not really what it’s called. I just made that up! I’m a virtual intelligence, so I get to do that. Now let’s get back to the facts!

“Howdy, nufriend! I’m Captain Concierge, your friendly virtual intelligence guide to the galaxy and everything else.”

If you’re excited about playing Starfinder Second Edition, you probably want to learn more about the setting–the fictional universe the game takes place in. Galaxy Guide is a tour of Starfinder’s setting that’s sure to inspire countless games. It’s also a sourcebook full of tools for Game Masters (GMs) and players, whether you’re planning to play a prewritten adventure or create a homebrew campaign of your own! 

Starfinder Galaxy Guide builds on existing lore from Starfinder First Edition, providing updates to the setting following major events like the Drift Crisis and the recent explosion of Aucturn, which featured in A Cosmic Birthday. Epic struggles are unfolding between the despotic Veskarium and the ruthless Azlanti Star Empire, beginning with Empires Devoured and sparking consequences that ripple across the galaxy—and that’s only a taste of the dramatic events in StarfinderGalaxy Guide that might shape your Starfinder games!

This book is packed full of exciting new lore, including some wacky sectors of space you’ve never explored before. Get ready to launch into Kazmurg’s Absurdity, an unexplored sector of the galaxy created by former Starfinder Managing Creative Director Thurston Hillman. Kazmurg’s Absurdity is a vast, magically warped territory that can only be traversed using traditional maps. The Absurdity contains realms full of rich resources and bizarre cultures warred over by conniving empires, cruel daemons, and ruthless megacorporations. It’s the perfect place for an adventuring party interested in exploring uncharted space and discovering new worlds filled with ancient secrets and unimaginable treasures.

Starfinder Galaxy Guide is designed as a toolbox to help GMs tell different kinds of stories using the Starfinder rules and setting, but it’s full of content for players, too. Six new ancestries and six new archetypes provide plenty of options for creating characters. Get to know the most powerful and influential factions in the galaxy, tour major ports of call where you might spend downtime in your campaign, and visit local hot spots where narrative hooks to draw characters into the setting wait around every corner. StarfinderGalaxy Guide is your preview of the Starfinder galaxy–it is fuel to launch your campaign into Second Edition, or to blast your Pathfinder campaign into strange new worlds.

Still with me? I should sum it up, gree? StarfinderGalaxy Guide contains….

• A 2-sided poster featuring a political map of the Desna’s Path galaxy and an infographic of the Pact Worlds system, designed by Kyle Hunter.
• Tools for telling common types of stories (like dystopian and horror) in your Starfinder campaigns and incorporating common elements such as high fantasy or advanced technology into your Starfinder or Pathfinder adventures.
• Tons of new backgrounds designed for characters from the Starfinder galaxy!
• Introduction to major and minor factions in the galaxy.
• Six new archetypes.
• Six new playable ancestries.
• Gorgeous art, new lore, and inspiration for countless adventures!
• The answers you’ve been waiting for about special topics like what happened to those corporate dark elves that lived on Apostae. (And perhaps other burning questions about the new ORC space frontier!)
• AND THE BEST PART: All the rules in this book are fully compatible with Pathfinder Second Edition!!! That’s right; get ready to send your Pathfinder party through a portal to a faraway planet, or to give your Starfinder group a time machine. Or maybe you’d rather crash another spaceship into Golarion, Numeria style. The galaxy’s your oyster now.

Still not enough for you? Okay, then let’s take a closer look at some of the content in this book and show off some spoilertastic art!

Ancestries

There’s six new ancestries in this book. That’s right, that means that technically you’re going to have 16 ancestry options available to you in August, not to mention the two versatile heritages and Pathfinder legacy ancestries you can choose. Not bad, huh? Let’s talk a little more about those ancestries.

“You know how some characters in your party don’t have two braincells to rub together? This contemplative doesn’t have that problem.”)

Astrazoan: A shapeshifter who physically reshapes their own anatomy using specialized musculature rather than using magic to change forms. Sometimes they don’t get all the details of the change quite right—see if you can spot all the astrazoans in this book!

Contemplative: An engorged brain with a vestigial body whose ultimate tools are a superior intellect and psychic powers. Contemplatives live underground on Akiton where they ponder mathematical and metaphysical questions or convene in psychic forums.

Dragonkin: A humanoid dragon hybrid who can form a deep spiritual bond with one other creature. Dragonkin come from Triaxus and are the heart of the Skyfire Legion, a troop of bonded warriors who defend their planet alongside dragon allies.

Kalo: A graceful aquatic humanoid from Kalo-Mahoi, a watery moon orbiting Bretheda. An average kalo is both athletic and creative, and most are known for their outrageous but practical fashions.

Sarcesian: A humanoid spacefarer with energy wings who can survive in the void of space. Sarcesians live in isolated communities in the Diaspora or travel solar streams to distant locations.

Vlaka: A wolflike nomad from Lajok with an incredible sense of smell and unusual sensory adaptations. Vlakas who witnessed the rebirth of their dying sun, Sota, are marked with starburst patterns that match their natural blessing to kindle light.

Archetypes

If you think the factions in Starfinder Galaxy Guide are really cool, this book also contains six archetypes that let you play as a member of one of them! Here’s what the Starfinder team cooked up.

“This pahtra is a member of the Xenowardens faction, who is also trained as the xenodruid archetype. The spell they’re casting is verdant code, a spell that calls forth living flora from machinery.”)

AbadarCorp Rep: Climb the corporate ladder as an AbadarCorp rep—if you think you have what it takes for the job.

Space Pirate: Pillage and plunder as a spacefaring freebooter! You’re probably one of the Free Captains, but you might be a lone captain or a lowly deckhand dreaming of commanding your own crew.

Hellknight: Become a ruthless warrior as fearsome as Hell itself and live by the Measure and the Chain. As a Hellknight, you belong to an ancient institution from Lost Golarion, but you’re free to embrace modernity, especially heavy armor and munitions.

Knight of Golarion: Protect your companions and unleash your righteous spirit while preserving the history and cultures of Lost Golarion. You might be a follower of the god Iomedae, a gallant knight, or a historian obsessed with pre-Gap antiquity.

Xenoarcheologist: Explore and catalog ancient ruins and priceless artifacts. Many xenoarchaeologists work for the Starfinder Society, but some are free agents or have ties to other factions.

Xenodruid: Form a mystic bond with a planet and unlock nature’s potential. Most xenodruids are pledged to defend the galaxy’s wilds as a Xenowarden.

---

That’s all I got, folks! If you want to know more, check out Starfinder Galaxy Guide here or at your friendly local gaming store!

—The Starfinder Team

Hey everybody, Joshua Birdsong here!
Thank you all for the excitement and participation in the Impossible Playtest! We’ve received a ton of feedback and we’re ready to dive back into the metaphorical pool that is the necromancer and the runesmith. As always, your response to the playtest is invaluable, and we’re ready to give a glimpse of what’s to come! First, I’ll talk about the necromancer, and then James Case will talk about the runesmith.

Art by Tatiana Pavlova (left) and Sandra Posada (right).

The Necromancer

We got a lot of great feedback from all of you about the new mechanics this class implemented. This proved to be a very popular class fantasy, with playtest necromancers even briefly beating out “human fighter” in Demiplane characters made over the course of the playtest. Many of you found that thralls were a fresh, fun take on battlefield control while also evoking the feeling of controlling an undead army. However, there are a few areas that could use some improvement.

Moving Thralls
The largest amount of feedback we got was requests for an easy way to move thralls. We’re conscious of the potential for mass minion control to slow down gameplay and thus did not include many thrall movement options. We’re exploring this further moving forward.

Martial Necromancers
One of the options we wanted to gauge in this playtest was player interest in martial options for the necromancer. From the responses, we found that many people were interested in a more martial-leaning necromancer but ultimately were disappointed with the current options. While we intend to keep the necromancer firmly as a spellcaster rather than pushing it to “gish” territory, we will be looking into ways to make the occasional scythe attack more engaging.

Spell List
Choosing a spell list for the necromancer was not an easy task, as many of the core elements of necromancy were separated into many spell lists. We are ultimately happy with the choice of the occult list. However, we’ll be implementing options to gain access to some iconic necromancy-themed spells that are not normally available to occult casters to ensure the necromancer feels like a true master of life and death magic.

Pets
During the playtest, we primarily wanted to test the thrall mechanics and thus left out options we already had plenty of play data on, like familiars. We do plan on including some undead familiar options in the final release of the necromancer

Art by Vicky Yarova (left) and Andrew Huerta (right).

The Runesmith

Since this class uses a brand-new approach to magic, the playtest runesmith was focused on testing a few different options to see which ones were most engaging in play. Many people enjoyed the runesmith’s core fantasy and the tactics of setting up a number of runes before activating them, but there were a few kinks to work out with this system.

Tracing & Etching
In our team’s internal playtest of runesmith concepts, we realized pretty early that we didn’t want the runesmith to exhaust all their decisions during daily preparations, and that they’d need a way to dynamically make runes in combat as well. Most respondents stated that they found the balance of “pre-combat” etched runes and “in-combat” traced runes to be satisfying, so we’ll be fine-tuning rather than reworking this distribution moving forward.

Rune List
Since this was a playtest, we were focused on collecting data on a smaller number of runes as test cases for various play styles (damage rune, defense rune, movement rune, etc.) rather than creating an exhaustive list of options. As always, we’ll have a wider list of runes in the final version of the class. Though we don’t intend to do away with direct-damage runes like atryl, rune of fire altogether, we do intend to rebalance some (some) of the runes’ power away from direct-damage effects, having your runesmith increase the team’s damage output through buffs and support instead.

Diacritic Runes & Composite Invocations
These presented two ways to combine your runes to sum up to a unique effect. Both of these options were seen as very interesting, with many people feeling like this gave you the ability to freely script/sculpt your magic. However, they were noticeably complex, and many respondents felt that it was too difficult to get satisfying combos off in play. We’ll be looking at ways to keep the fantasy of personalizing or combining your runic effects while keeping the benefit worth it to set up. We also expect a fuller list of runes to give a greater number of ways to set up combo effects.

There will be of course other tweaks, changes, and additions made as these classes go through post-playtest revisions. I hope you’re all as excited as we are for their eventual release in 2026!

James Case (he/him)
Group Manager: Rules & Lore

Joshua Birdsong (he/him)
Designer (Rules & Lore)

Greetings, Paizoverse! After a very successful pilot year, PaizoCon@ is back! This year we’ve nearly tripled our in-person PaizoCon offerings, which means even more of our players and GMs will be able to experience PaizoCon at their local game store or conventions.

All PaizoCon@ locations will be running Pathfinder and Starfinder Society games during the weekend, including exclusive runs of our May releases. Highlights include the finale of Starfinder Society Year 7, as well as linked interactive specials Pathfinder Society #3-99: Fate in the Future and Starfinder Society #3-99: Perils of the Past. If you’re interested in volunteering to run games at your local store, please reach out to the listed contacts!

All our locations are listed below. If you’re more of a visual learner, here’s a map of the locations!

---

PaizoCon@ Conventions

PaizoCon@ GalaxyCon Oklahoma City

Location: Oklahoma City, OK
Website: https://galaxycon.com/pages/galaxycon-oklahoma-city

PaizoCon@ GAMEX

Location: Los Angeles, CA
Website: https://www.strategicon.net/
Sign Up For Games: www.Strategicon.net
Contact: Jon Merriex, OPFSouthwestRVCJon@gmail.com

PaizoCon@ KublaCon

Location: Burlingame, CA
Website: https://kublacon.com/
Sign Up For Games: https://tabletop.events/conventions/kublacon-23-memorial-day-weekend-2025
Contact: Eleanor Jenner, eljenner@gmail.com

PaizoCon@ TabletopCon

Location: Gold Coast, Australia
Website: https://www.ttcon.com.au/event-details/tabletopcon-25
Sign Up For Games: www.ttcon.com.au/rpgs
Contact: Daniel Baker, danieljbaker81@gmail.com

---

PaizoCon@ FLGS Locations

Head out to one of our stores and join in on the PaizoCon excitement!

PaizoCon@ Cardboard Corner Cafe

Location: Overland Park, KS
Website: https://cardboardcornerkc.com/
Contact: Darrel Curry, dhcurry@gmail.com

PaizoCon@ CounterSpell Games

Location: Jacksonville, FL
Website: https://www.counterspellgamestcg.com/
Sign Up For Games: https://warhorn.net/events/paizocon-2025-at-counterspell-games
Contact: Alexander Rhodes, Alexanderrhoades@yahoo.com

PaizoCon@ Diversity Gaming

Location: Hooksett, NH
Website: https://www.facebook.com/DiversityGamingHooksett/
Contact: Erik Oparowske, opa316@yahoo.com

PaizoCon@ Dragon’s Lair Austin

Location: Austin, TX
Website: https://www.dlair.net/austin/
Sign Up For Games: https://warhorn.net/events/dragons-lair-pfs/schedule/2025/05
Contact: Milan Badzic, mbadzic@gmail.com

PaizoCon@ Fanboy3

Location: Manchester, United Kingdom
Website: https://www.fanboy3.co.uk/
Contact: Ian Hawthorne, ihawthorne216@gmail.com

PaizoCon@ Fox Den Board Game Cafe

Location: Burnsville, MN
Website: https://www.foxdenbgc.com/
Sign Up For Games: https://tabletop.events/conventions/paizocon-at-foxden-2025
Contact: Bret Indrlee, old.codger.coa@gmail.com

PaizoCon@ Game Kastle

Location: College Park, MD
Website: https://gamekastle.com/pages/college-park-md
Sign Up For Games: https://warhorn.net/events/paizocon-game-kastle-2025
Contact: Nicholas Ruchlewicz, novaorganizedplay@gmail.com

PaizoCon@ Game Masters

Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Website: https://gamemasterspgh.com/
Sign Up For Games: https://warhorn.net/events/paizocon-2025-at-gamemasters
Contact: Nick Greene, nickgpfs@gmail.com

PaizoCon@ Gaming Etc

Location: Acton, MA
Website: https://www.gamingetc.com/
Sign Up For Games: https://warhorn.net/events/Paizocon_GamingEtc
Contact: Adam Yakaboski, madcapmachinations@gmail.com

PaizoCon@ Griffon Bookstore

Location: South Bend, IN
Website: http://www.griffon-bookstore.com/
Sign Up For Games: https://warhorn.net/events/special-event-at-griffon-games-and-bookstore
Contact: Bill Swathwood, blakrosbill@gmail.com

PaizoCon@ House of Cards

Location: Winston-Salem, NC
Website: https://www.wshouseofcards.com/
Sign Up For Games: https://warhorn.net/events/paizocon-house-of-cards
Contact: Landon Hatfield, jlandonhatfield@gmail.com

PaizoCon@ Meeple Movers

Location: Ocala, FL
Website: https://www.meeplemovers.com/
Sign Up For Games: https://www.meeplemovers.com/event
Contact: Joseph Shields, josephshields1016@gmail.com

PaizoCon@ Noble Knight Games

Location: Fitchburg, WI
Website: https://www.nobleknight.com/
Sign Up For Games: https://warhorn.net/events/paizocon-noble-knight-games-2025
Contact: Roland Scaife and Sam Creelman, rxscaife@gmail.com or creelmansam@gmail.com

PaizoCon@ Pastimes

Location: Chicago, IL
Website: https://www.pastimes.net/
Sign Up For Games: https://warhorn.net/events/paizocon-pastimes
Contact: Myk Merrill, pfs.gm.mike@gmail.com

PaizoCon@ Redcap’s Corner

Location: Philadelphia, PA
Website: https://redcapscorner.com/
Sign Up For Games: https://warhorn.net/events/paizocon-redcap-s-corner
Contact: Matt Morris, mmorris6@gmail.com

PaizoCon@ The Collective

Location: Orlando, FL
Website: https://www.thecollectivecomics.com/
Sign Up For Games: https://warhorn.net/events/paizocon-2025-the-collective
Contact: Greg Ferguson, greg.ferguson.fl@gmail.com

PaizoCon@ The Game Shoppe

Location: Omaha, NE
Website: https://www.thegameshoppe.com/
Sign Up For Games: https://warhorn.net/events/paizocon-omaha
Contact: John Brinkman, JohannVonUlm@gmail.com

PaizoCon@ Valkyrie’s Vault

Location: Brownsburg, IN
Website: https://www.valkyriesvault.com/
Contact: Curtis Paul, joyfulsatyr@gmail.com

PaizoCon@ Zulu’s Board Game Cafe

Location: Bothell, WA
Website: https://zulusgames.com/
Contact: Aaron Sadler, velisruna@gmail.com

Alex Speidel
Organized Play Coordinator

Hello, Starfinders!
Trouble is brewing in the Marixah Republic! We’ve received a distress signal from a group of Starfinder archaeologists on the planet Flentil. Apparently, their dig site was attacked by Hellknights! It’s time to launch a rescue mission! While you’re at it, best check in on the locals. I doubt our dig site is all the Hellknights are after…

Starfinder Society Scenario #7-11: Breaking the Crucible is an adventure for 5th- through 8th-level characters, written by Ivis K. Flanagan and Kendra Leigh Speedling.

Illustration by Alecksander Ribeiro

Take care of each other out there!

Jessica Catalan
Starfinder Society Developer

---

Happy February, Pathfinders!
We’re going back to Tian Xia as the literal fallout from the Godsrain continues. The Society has gathered several warshards, the fallen pieces of the dead god Gorum, but their nature is still largely a mystery. The Pathfinders do have one ally who, if anyone can, could shed some light on these mysterious deific fragments—the dragon Valashinaz. Though the Pathfinder Society established friendly relations during the Equal Exchanges incident (check out PFS scenarios 5-04 and 5-09), the cooperation is scarcely a year old, and Valashinaz does nothing for free.

Illustration by Firat Solhan

Among the tribute required is a task. An upstart dragon set up his lair near Valashinaz ‘s territory. Due to her being preoccupied with the literal fallout from Gorum's death, she has yet to deal with him. This is the perfect opportunity for her to get someone else to do it, and so she has tasked the Pathfinders—that’s all of you—with getting this upstart out “by any means necessary.” While a trivial matter for an ancient dragon, this mission is sure to be a tad more difficult for our intrepid agents.

Illustration by Josef Kucera

Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-11: The Godsrain and the Dragon is an adventure for 7th- through 10th-level characters, written by our very own James Case.

Meanwhile, we’ve got another quest for you, so we go clear to the other side of Golarion. Given that many of you all are in the throes of winter yourself, it feels appropriate to spend some time in Irrisen, the land of winter witches and endless snow.

Not everyone in Irrisen has been happy with the rule of Queen Anastasia. A group of bandits found it much easier to sate their violent tendencies during the rule of the prior queen. Now they're causing trouble both in Irrisen and in settlements on its western border. It’s become enough of a problem that adventurers from the Pathfinder Society (once again, that’s you) have been called in. The young Queen needs allies and, so far, the Pathfinders have been proving themselves just that.

Illustration by Tom Ventre

Pathfinder Society Series 2 Quest #23: Lacking Respect is an adventure for 1st- through 4th-level characters, written by Jay Scott.

Josh Foster
Pathfinder Society Developer

Shay Snow
Pathfinder Society Developer

Paizo is proud to announce that starting today, fans can get everything they need to run the Pathfinder Kingmaker Adventure Path in three tabletop game systems and as a computer game, all while helping World Central Kitchen continue their mission of providing meals to people in crisis by responding to humanitarian, climate, and community crises the world over. You can learn more about World Central Kitchen and the important, live-giving work they have done, and are currently doing in Ukraine, Gaza, and Los Angeles, among others, at wck.org.

At the base level of a $5 donation, you’ll receive everything you need to take your first exploratory steps into Pathfinder Second Edition, with PDFs of the Pathfinder Beginner Box, Core GM Screen, Character Sheet Pack, pregenerated characters, the Kingmaker Adventure Path Player’s Guide (for both Pathfinder First and Second Editions), Pathfinder Society Scenario #1-02: The Mosquito Witch (set in the River Kingdoms), and three maps featured in that adventure (the Bigger Villageand Cavernous Lair Pathfinder Flip-Mats and Pathfinder Flip-Tiles: Forest Starter Set)—a value of over $79!

For $15 or more, you’ll get everything in the $5 tier, plus PDFs of the Kingmaker Adventure Path as it originally appeared in 2010 along with a handful of other Pathfinder First Edition titles to augment or expand your campaign: Pathfinder Adventure Path #31–#36, Pathfinder Module: The Emerald Spire Superdungeon, Pathfinder Flip-Mat: The Emerald Spire Superdungeon Multi-Pack, Pathfinder Society Scenarios #5-19, #9-03, and #10-01 (all set in the region or featuring characters from the Kingmaker computer game), as well as four Pathfinder Flip-Mats and three Pathfinder Map Packs featured in the adventures (Flip-Mats Battlefield, Flooded Dungeon, Seedy Tavern, and Thieves’ Guild, and Map Packs Forest Trails,Road System, and Slum Quarter Alleys). Additionally, you’ll get foundational Pathfinder Second Edition sourcebooks including Pathfinder Player Core, Pathfinder GM Core, Lost Omens World Guide, and Lost Omens Character Guide—an additional $343 value.

For $30 or more, you get everything above plus another $278 in value, including PDFs of the compiled and updated Kingmaker Adventure Pathfor Pathfinder Second Edition, as well as the entire slate of supporting products: Kingmaker Companion Guide, Kingmaker Bestiary (for both Pathfinder First Edition and 5E), Kingmaker Kingdom Management Screen, Kingmaker Kingdom Management Tracker, Kingmaker Poster Map Folio, Kingmaker Pawn Box, and all three Kingmaker Adventure Path Flip-Mat Multipacks, Campsite, Noble Manor, and River Kingdoms Ruins.As if that weren’t enough, you’ll get another three Pathfinder Society Scenarios (#1-08, Quest #14, and #5-14) and the associated map products (the Ruined Village and Palace Map Packs and Pathfinder Lodge, Forest, and Slum Quarter Flip-Mat Classics)! That’s a total of more than $700 in PDFs, but the deal doesn’t end there!

For an additional $5 (for a total of $35) we’ll throw in a Steam code for the Pathfinder Kingmaker Enhanced Plus Edition, generously provided by our partners at My.Games.

And if that’s not enough, for another $10 (total of $45), we’ll throw in a hardcover copy of Pathfinder Kingmaker Bestiary for Pathfinder First Edition, while supplies last. Redemption of the code on paizo.com will add the book to your cart at no cost, and you’ll just need to pay shipping and handling on checkout.

The Pathfinder Kingmaker Bundle runs from now through 11 a.m. (PDT) on Thursday, March 6. Don’t miss this opportunity to get one of Pathfinder’s most beloved campaigns in every form it’s ever been released in, all while helping a great cause!

Back the Pathfinder Kingmaker Bundle today!

Digital Adventure Releases

These adventures will be available on February 26, 2025.

Pathfinder Society

Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-11: The Godsrain and the Dragon*

Pathfinder Quest (Series 2) #23: Lacking Respect

Starfinder Society

Starfinder Society Scenario #7-11: Breaking the Crucible*

*part of a subscription

2025 Major Conventions

GM applications are now open for this summer’s major conventions! Join us at PaizoCon Online, Gen Con Indianapolis, or Origins! All GMs receive rewards based on how many slots they run, including Paizo vouchers, free badges for the show, and even Paizo products or housing at the highest slots. No Organized Play experience is necessary; if you’ve run our games, we can teach you everything you need to run scenarios, quests and demos for the community. Come and join us this summer!

Gen Con & Origins Information || PaizoCon Online Information

Character Options Updates

Last week, we released the remastered version of Guns & Gears. While most options didn’t change much in this refresh, the sanctioning has been updated and is available on the Character Options page. Most notably, we’ve simplified the access requirements for many of the uncommon options in this book, thus defeating my least-favorite part of this page.

We also took this opportunity to refresh the rest of the page! In addition to updating the layout, we also went through many of the old books and updated things that had changed because of the Pathfinder Remaster or otherwise needed a refresh. The full changelog is available on the Character Options page, but I’ll include it below for your reference.

Character Options Updates

• Player Core
  • Removed clarifications on spellcasting archetypes, Primal Howl and Ceremonial Knife reflected in Fall 2024 errata
  • Removed familiar abilities for Baba Yaga & Mosquito Witch and temporary sanctification information to reflect Divine Mysteries
  • Removed temporary rules for draconic options to reflect Player Core 2
  • Formally removed Gorum from play
• GM Core
  • Removed clarifications on chaplain's cudgel and potion of emergency escape reflected in Fall 2024 errata
• Player Core 2
  • Removed clarifications on Thunder God's Fan, oracle spells, You're Next, Champion's Aura for multiclass archetype and Dual-Weapon Reload reflected in Fall 2024 errata
• Secrets of Magic
  • Permitted inner radiance torrent for play after changes in Fall 2024 errata
• Howl of the Wild
  • Permitted Beastmaster archetype expansion feats to reflect Player Core 2 release
  • Removed clarifications on Alarming Disappearance and Hardshell Surki reflected in Fall 2024 errata
• Guns & Gears
  • Expanded access requirements around uncommon options
  • Updated option availability & clarifications based on Remaster re-release
• Core Rulebook
  • Updated text on Remastered classes to reflect Player Core 2 release
  • Added clarification on true strike to mirror sure strike errata
  • Removed clarifications on access to regional languages now that all Pathfinders have access to all Uncommon regional languages
• Advanced Player’s Guide
  • Added text about Remastered classes to reflect Player Core 2 release
  • Updated ancestry access to reflect current rules
  • Moved the following options to standard access to reflect Player Core 2 release: A Home in Every Port; Biographical Eye; Consult the Spirits; Underground Network; earthsight box; Connect the Dots; Whodunnit?; Plot the Future; ghostly tragedy
• Lost Omens Gods & Magic
  • Added a number of deities to the Restricted list to reflect Divine Mysteries
• Lost Omens Character Guide
  • Removed amurrun from list of lizardfolk ancestry languages
• Lost Omens Mwangi Expanse
  • Removed Lubaiko to reflect Divine Mysteries
• Lost Omens Divine Mysteries
  • Granted subconscious suggestion as a replacement for glimmer of charm

The Future of Starfinder Society

Since our last update, the product page for the final Starfinder Society adventure for first edition has been posted! This grand finale, written by Thurston Hillman, is an unquestionably epic to the Starfinder Society’s eight-year journey. We recommend veteran players take careful note that this scenario is intended as a finale for your characters and may permanently remove them from play. Be sure their to-do list is cleared before sending them into the Scoured Stars one final time! Tables of this adventure will be available at PaizoCon Online and Gen Con.

As First Edition draws to a close, we know you’re all hungry for information about Starfinder Society for Second Edition. We’re just as excited to share the information! Tune into the Paizo blog for a weekly series on Starfinder Society Second Edition—beginning on Tuesday, April 8—where we’ll begin rolling out the interstellar carpet for our newest program. SFS2 will launch at Gen Con 2025, so get your badges now for our launch event!

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 three GMs reach their fifth rank!

5th Nova(SFS1): Josh Ericson, Sandra Wilkinson

5th Star (PFS1): Colin Chen

If you believe you’ve completed your 5th rank but haven’t been announced yet, please email me at organizedplay@paizo.com.

Conventions

As we move into spring, the convention season begins once again! This weekend is a federal holiday in America, and we have six conventions running several hundred tables this weekend alone! Check out the Conventions calendar for upcoming events in your area.

I’m also excited to announce that, this March, I will be attending Coscon in Butler, PA (just outside my hometown of Pittsburgh!) as well as GalaxyCon Richmond in Virginia. If you’re in the area for either of these, I’d love to say hi!

Until next time adventurers - Explore! Report! Cooperate! And get those GM applications in!

Alex Speidel
Organized Play Coordinator

Salutations to all intrepid Pathfinders and Starfinders!
As acknowledged in the United States, the month of February is Black History Month, a time to celebrate the works of black creators around the globe as well as reflect on and appreciate the strength and courage required to overcome and flourish despite the many adversities in Black American history. As Paizo’s new Community and Social Media manager and a Black member of the tabletop space, I am honored to introduce myself to the Paizo community and am excited to share with you the works of other Black creators at Paizo, further emphasizing this year’s Black History Month theme: African Americans and Labor.

Jaha Opener by José Luis Islas López

Maya Coleman (xe/xem/they/them)

An avid musician and graduate from Oberlin College & Conservatory with a degree in Film Music Composition, Maya has used their skills in organization and weaponized their OCD and OCPD (literally) to flourish in the tabletop industry for nearly ten years. Starting as the sole employee at Goat, Wolf, & Cabbage LLC and managing community for the board game Secret Hitler since its inception, they’ve gone on to manage communities at Skybound Tabletop, have run projects on Kickstarter such as Trogdor!! The Board Game! and Trial by Trolley, and are now the Community and Social Media manager here at Paizo.

When they are not working in the industry, they are most commonly crocheting cute plushies to hide from their loyal service dog, Avalon; playing Overwatch; or watching nearly every movie to ever be released. Their favorite food is curry, and although they won’t give out their recipe, they will happily make a large pot to share.

You can find Maya at the following links:

• Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MayagurumiCo
• net (Mercy Main. Still. Somehow. Yes, they are tired.): britmus309#1905
• Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/britmus309

Mimikyu, crocheted by Maya Coleman

Basil Wright (he/they/xe)

Labor is not a singular effort. We each have our own role to play, and now, more than ever, is it important to find those around us who are willing to put in the labor required to make the world a brighter, stronger, safer place. We can accomplish more when we work together and make connections. If you're not certain who you can connect with, then you may need to do a bit more research or even put out the call yourself.

In the spirit of making connections, one project Basil is immensely thrilled to be a part of is the Griot anthology, "a zine celebrating the brilliant work of black TTRPG game designers." Xe truly cannot wait to reveal what they’ve all been working on. You can find that project here!

You can find xeir own work here!

We’d also like to put a few more of our Black content creators and performers from the Pathfinder and Starfinder community in the spotlight! The shows on this list feature Black hosts, GMs, players, and/or producers, so please give them a listen and support them throughout the year!

• Tablestory—Gatewalkers Actual Play
• Know Direction
• Cosmopunk: A Starfinder Podcast
• Outcast and Outclassed—Pathfinder Actual Play
• Unwavering Force—Pathfinder Actual Play
• 20XX: A Drift Odyssey—Starfinder Actual Play
• The Atomless & SAGA—Starfinder Actual Play

Kalliwae Opener by José Luis Islas López

Thank you for taking the time to read this blog and see what some of our Black creators are doing! As the community grows, it’s important to shine light on all the marginalized groups within it, and I’m glad to be among them! If you are a Black content creator in the Pathfinder or Starfinder space, we would love to hear from you and learn about what you do! Send me an email at community@paizo.com and introduce yourselves.

Again, thank you to all of our Black contributors and content creators! And thank you as well to all Black members of our community for making yourselves seen!

Maya Coleman (xe/xem/they/them)
Community and Social Media Specialist

Hail and well met, ‘Finders! This month’s new releases catch bullets in their teeth, delve into dangerous fungal forests, and bring mythic power dangerously close to the Whispering Tyrant’s reach! A reminder—the scenarios listed here are January’s scenarios, which released last Wednesday, January 29th! As we have shifted our physical product release to the first Wednesday of the month, we will be highlighting the digital releases from the previous month!

Never miss a release with our Paizo Subscriptions—for everything from rulebooks to accessories! Subscribers get a free PDF with purchase, early access to game content, and exclusive discounts on paizo.com!

---

Pathfinder Guns & Gears Remastered

GEAR UP AND THROW DOWN!

When sword and spell just won't be enough to win the day, it's time to power up your game with clockwork gears, lightning coils, and black powder! Guns & Gears (Remastered), the latest hardcover rulebook for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, brings the excitement of firearms and fantasy technology to your tabletop, updated to work perfectly with the remastered Pathfinder Second Edition rules!

Unravel the secrets of clockworks with the new inventor class or blow away your opposition as a firearm-wielding gunslinger! In addition to new classes, a plethora of archetypes, backgrounds, vehicles, siege engines, gadgets, and the remastered automaton ancestry are all ready to expand your game with options for battlefields large and small.

Pathfinder Guns & Gears Remastered is available in standard hardcover, Special Edition faux-leatherette bound hardcover, and a sketch variant hardcover exclusive to local game stores and paizo.com, as well as in PDF format.

Note: Customers who already own Pathfinder Guns & Gears in PDF format will receive the remastered PDF free of charge.

Pathfinder Adventure Path #211: The Secret of Deathstalk Tower (Spore War 2 of 3)

BEHIND ENEMY LINES

The elven nation of Kyonin is under attack! As armies of demonic fiends, corrupted fey, supernatural fungal monstrosities, and more march from the blighted swampland of Tanglebriar, it falls to a band of heroes to undertake a series of dangerous missions before a devastating secret weapon can be created! The Spore War Adventure Path continues with “The Secret of Deathstalk Tower,” a complete adventure for 14th- to 17th-level characters.

“The Secret of Deathstalk Tower” is also available as a deluxe Foundry VTT module!

Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Ballroom

BALLROOM BLITZ!

Sometimes adventurers need to relax with a nice party. Of course, that’s usually when things go awry. Don’t fret—Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Ballroom has you covered to stage the scene! One side features an elegant ballroom perfect for a large dance or high-society party. The other side includes a more utilitarian ballroom, complete with a stage for musicians and tables and chairs for guests to enjoy the festivities. Don’t spend time drawing these scenes when you could unfold Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Ballroom on your table and get straight to the action!

Pathfinder Society #6-09: The Power of Legends

A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for 9th- through 12th-level characters.

The Godsrain has caused chaos throughout Golarion, but it has also caused opportunity. The rain of pieces of Gorum's Armor, the Warshards, has led to a race between various groups to collect these artifacts, either for study or more nefarious purposes. The Pathfinder Society has collected several themselves and learned of a way to find more. When they employed this ritual, though, it pointed to the Netherworld within the Gravelands. A piece of surpassing size and power lies within the reach of Tar Baphon, the Whispering Tyrant. Fortunately, the Society has a plane-hopping airship gained in its defeat of the hag Aslynn, as well as some strange fruit empowered by the silver rain that can grant the power of mythic heroes. But will that be enough to retrieve this item of power before the Whispering Tyrant claims it?

Starfinder Society #7-10: Rasheen’s Requiem

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

The legendary explorer Jelev Rasheen was one of the first to set off into the Drift in search of fame and fortune. After her mysterious disappearance, dozens of alleged children, partners, and adventuring companions began spreading one final tale about Rasheen: that she was last seen commanding a fleet of ships laden with treasure. Over the past few years, the Starfinder Society has joined the hunt for Jelev Rasheen’s fabled treasure, following a series of beacons from site to site, and recreating Rasheen’s final journey.

Now, the coordinates point to Pan, the only planet orbiting the star Ixo in the Tabori Cluster Nebula. The PCs travel to this badlands frontier in search of vast treasure barges or the next leg of Rasheen’s journey, only to discover a crashed starship half-buried in the earth, and no treasure to be found. What was so important about this wreck? And, more importantly, did Rasheen ever make it off this planet alive? The nearby town of Requiem Falls might hold the answers…

Pathfinder Society #6-10: Once in Whispers

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

On the border of Numeria and Ustalav, there sits an abandoned manor filled with strange technology and shuffling undead named the Crushed Meteor. Once a stronghold of the Technic League, it has fallen into the hands of the Whispering Way, and the Pathfinder Society has successfully lobbied with Kevoth-Kul to finally handle the building and exterminate those within. However, a leader of the Whispering Way sits inside the building, considering its many secrets, and offers the Pathfinders a choice: let her finish her research and gain information on an enemy, or perish. It's up to the agents within to make a choice that may sacrifice the values of the Society for valuable knowledge!

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.

---

Bring Pathfinder to where you are, in person or online, and if you don’t have a favorite local game store, get books delivered to your door via a Paizo Subscription! From rulebooks to adventures, accessories, and more, we’ve got subscriptions for every table! Subscribing to a line of books gets you the physical book and the PDF for one price! Subscribe to four lines or more to unlock Paizo Advantage savings on products site-wide!

Thank you for playing Starfinder and Pathfinder!

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

Next month we’re releasing Pathfinder NPC Core! This upcoming tome comes with over 250 stat blocks for all sorts of marvelous characters to add to your games. In addition to whole towns full of human NPCs of varying flavors, the book also includes guidance for changing the ancestries of any of these NPCs to suit your campaign. Plus, alongside all of the NPCs of non-human ancestries breathing vigor into your gameplay, like a tumbleweed leshy courier and an iruxi masked mummer, Pathfinder NPC Core also comes with fun extras like goblin songs, allowing GMs and players alike to expand the characters in their adventures with ease. Pathfinder NPC Core comes in three versions: the standard hardcover, the FLGS and paizo.com exclusive sketch cover, and the Special Edition faux-leatherette! Pathfinder NPC Core will be available on March 5th, and you can pre-order your copy today!

To celebrate the addition of so many wonderful NPCs to our world, we’ve made a collection of character-themed NPC valentines for you to share with your friends, loved ones, and potential partners!

Character art by Ksenia Kozhevnikova. Valentine’s day card written and designed by Alex Speidel, Maya Coleman, and Rue Dickey.

Character art by Nicholas Phillips. Valentine’s day card written and designed by Alex Speidel, Maya Coleman, and Rue Dickey.

We’ve made you 64 different valentines! 32 have a punny phrase, and 32 are blank ones you can fill out on your own:

Valentines with text | Valentines without text

We hope that you’ll share these with your friends on your socials, and if you do, make sure to tag us!

• @paizo on X
• @paizo.com on Bluesky
• @officialpaizo on Instagram
• @Paizo Inc. on Facebook

Pre-Order Pathfinder NPC Core here!

Maya Coleman (xe/xem/they/them)
Community and Social Media Specialist

Greetings, Pathfinders and Starfinders! Following on our previous call for GMs, we’re now recruiting GMs for PaizoCon Online!

PaizoCon Online 2025

PaizoCon Online 2025 will take place online May 23–26, 2025. New content at this show includes the final scenario for Starfinder Society first edition and new Pathfinder Society scenarios.

We are currently seeking volunteers for the following roles:

• Game Master: Run tables of Organized Play Scenarios, Bounties and Quests
• Headquarters (HQ): Answer player and GM questions, seat players, handle conflicts and disputes, and report games after completion

Please read this important information before applying:

• Volunteer applications will be reviewed and accepted or rejected by the PaizoCon Organizing Committee. Filling this form out does not guarantee acceptance; you will receive an email with further information from the PaizoCon committee.
• PaizoCon Online schedules will be assigned by the committee. You will be asked for your preference of system and level, but you will not necessarily be able to choose the specific scenario(s) you run. There is a free-form field at the end of the form to enter specific requests, though there’s no guarantee they will be honored.
• Reward information is listed in the table below. GMs who do not qualify for a badge will still need to purchase one if they wish to play games.
• Applications will be processed on a rolling basis, beginning no later than March 1. The earlier you get your application in, the more likely it is you’ll get the scenarios you want. Please be patient as we put the final details on the convention internally before we send out GM emails!
• Adventure authors interested in running tables of scenarios they have written should fill out this form and then follow up by emailing paizoorgplayhq@gmail.com. Anybody interested in running games outside of the Organized Play offerings (such as Infinite content, homebrew content, or games from other publishers) will be able to propose events once tickets go on sale. Stay tuned for future information!
• Any questions about the GM signup process should be sent to the committee at paizoorgplayhq@gmail.com.

Rewards Table

Blocks	PDF Product	Player Badge	Early Sign-Up Access	In-Game Reward	Voucher
6+ blocks	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
5 blocks		✓	✓	✓	✓
4 blocks		✓	✓	✓	✓
3 blocks		✓	✓	✓	✓
2 blocks		✓	✓	✓	✓
1 block				✓	✓

*Definitions for rewards:

• PDF Product: A PDF of any Paizo product valued at $29.99 or less.
• Player Badge: A badge for the duration of the event. GMs must have a Player badge before registering to play games.
• Early Sign-Up Access: One week before signups open, GMs may sign up for one game per block they are running.
• In-game reward: A reward for characters based on the current organized play program GM reward programs. Pathfinder Society (first edition) is paper boons, Pathfinder Society (second edition)/Starfinder Society (first edition) is Achievement Point rewards at the Premier Plus (2.0x) level.
• Voucher: Earn one voucher for $15 spendable on paizo.com for every block run.

Important Dates

Please note that these dates are tentative and subject to change.

• April 9: Early player signups begin for GMs
• April 16: Player signups begin for all badge holders
• May 23–26: PaizoCon Online!

>>PaizoCon Online 2025 Volunteer Application<<

Alex Speidel
Organized Play Coordinator

David Peever and Jocelyn Hamilton
PaizoCon Online Organizing Committee

Hello Starfinders! For decades, adventurers and thrill seekers — including the Starfinder Society — have scoured the galaxy for signs of the infamous explorer Jelev Rasheen and her final treasure haul! Now, the trail leads us to Pan, the only planet orbiting the star Ixo in the Tabori Cluster nebula and a crashed starship long-buried in the badlands. What was so important about this wreck? Did Rasheen ever make it off this planet alive? And where's her treasure? It's up to you to discover the answers!

Starfinder Society Scenario #7-10: Rasheen’s Requiem is an adventure for 7th- through 9th-level characters, written by Solomon St. John.

Take care out there, Starfinders!

Jessica Catalan
Starfinder Society Developer

---

Happy New Year, Pathfinders! Do we have some amazing things in store for you this year!

Illustration by Raphael Madureira

I’ll bet some of you read about Urwal’s trouble in our blog post Godsrain and Gardening and wondered if that meant mythic scenarios would become a thing. Well, I’d certainly hope we were giving you mythic powers if we sent you after one of the pieces of Gorum that somehow ended up in the netherworld of the Gravelands in the hands of a mythic lich. The important thing to remember is if Urwal offers you food, you take it.

Illustration by Bruno Cesar

You’ll definitely want to have whatever abilities those berries grant you as you ride into the heart of the Whispering Tyrant’s territory on a planes-hopping airship we took, I mean liberated, from the hag Aslan. I just hope that the boost is enough for you all to get that warshard before someone far, far worse can claim it.

Illustration by Bruno Cesar

Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-09: The Power of Legends is an adventure for 9th- through 12th-level characters giving those characters temporary mythic powers from War of Immortals. It was written by the incredibly talented Linda Zayas-Palmer, so you all know it’ll be great.

Illustration by Bruno Cesar

Along the border of Numeria and Ustalav lies an abandoned manor called the Crushed Meteor, filled with lost research and technology from the fallen Technic League. Honorary Venture-Captain Lovkiy has finally received permission from Numeria’s ruler, Kevoth-Kul, to send in a squad of Pathfinders to see what remains and keep these findings out of the grasping hands of the Whispering Way, but on two very important conditions:

• The barbarian ruler gets the first option to choose among any weapons left behind.
• The Pathfinders eliminate any undead found within the building.

However, someone within the Crushed Meteor may have information that the Pathfinders are willing to break their promises for.

Illustration by Lucas Fernando

Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-10: Once in Whispers is an adventure for 5th- through 8th-level characters written by Chris Bissette.

Josh Foster
Pathfinder Society Developer

Shay Snow
Pathfinder Society Developer

On Thursday, we received the tragic news of the passing of author Howard Andrew Jones, who contributed four titles to the Pathfinder Tales line between 2011 and 2017. In addition to his contributions to the world of Pathfinder, Howard was a stalwart of the modern sword & sorcery movement. He edited eight collections of literary giant Howard Lamb’s historical fiction as well as the sword & sorcery magazines Black Gateand Tales From the Magician’s Skull. In addition to his myriad accomplishments as an author and editor, Howard was a staple of fantasy and gaming conventions and loved chatting with fans and colleagues alike. A friend to many, Howard will be greatly missed.

Howard Andrew Jones in 2023

In celebration of his life, and to help his family in this difficult time, Paizo is discounting the digital editions of his first two Pathfinder Tales novels, Plague of Shadows and Stalking the Beast, through the end of February. All proceeds from these sales will go directly to Howard’s family via a gofundme campaign set up last year when he announced his illness and prognosis. Additionally, two short stories Howard wrote to promote these novels are available for free on paizo.com: “The Walkers from the Crypt” and “Bells for the Dead.” We hope that you enjoy Howard’s work as much as we have, and that through that enjoyment, his memory will live on.

We’ll miss you, Howard. Thanks for the memories and for lending a small part of your talent to our world.

The release of Pathfinder Lost Omens Rival Academies is fast approaching! You met the first three schools a few weeks ago, but the Convocation has called many schools to the borders of the demon-haunted Sarkoris Scar.

There are three more schools responsible for setting up the Convocation and gathering guests from across Golarion. Each of them brings its own exhibits, teachings, and traditions, along with a competitive spirit the hosts hope will stick to scholastic debate or hunting Sarkoris’s remaining demons.

Magaambya

Magaambya Campus by Sandra Posada.

When human civilization clawed its way out from the Age of Darkness thousands of years ago, the Magaambya was one of the first flickers of light. Founded by Old-Mage Jatembe and his Ten Magic Warriors in the jungles of the Mwangi Expanse, the school still embraces their legacy as the Inner Sea region’s oldest school of magic.

The school has recently begun to take a more active role in the wider world. Magaambyans see the Convocation as part of that broader effort, an extension of their teachers’ efforts in offering aid to the scattered Sarkorian people and helping gather their stories.

All five of the school’s branches of study are represented among the Magaambyan delegates. Although the school sees these branches as part of the same whole, the branches take on very different roles in the Magaambya and at the Convocation. The storytelling Uzunjati branch is the best known outside the school, but Emerald Boughs are prepared to navigate social situations while Tempest-Sun Mages gear up to fight a different continent’s demons.

Tree of Stories by Sandra Posada.

Magaambyan students have set to growing a symbol of their teachings to remain on the Convocation grounds long after their masks and artifacts are returned to their homes. Although the tree might look out of place in the north’s harsh winters, the stories told beneath its boughs know no seasonal boundaries.

The Uzunjati presence at the Convocation can be felt strongly in other ways, as they pass on their stories and the magic contained within them. They even return a tale of old Sarkoris, brought to life by that story and their magic, as a gift to their hosts.

But all five branches of the Magaambya do share a common teaching in the wizardly School of Rooted Wisdom. Beyond the shared teachings of Old-Mage Jatembe, each branch has grown from it in a different direction over the millennia, whether exploring the theory of magic as a Cascade Bearer or the boundaries of the physical world as a Rain-Scribe.

Monastery of the Unbreaking Waves

Monastery of the Unbreaking Waves by Sandra Posada.

As one of the Houses of Perfection, the Monastery of the Unbreaking Waves seeks enlightenment and martial inspiration in one of the elements. In their case, it is the flexible and unyielding progress of water, flowing around and wearing away all obstacles.

For centuries, only three Houses of Perfection stood in Jalmeray, representing air, earth, and fire. The Monastery of the Unbreaking Waves had been destroyed by one of its rivals and pulled into the sea by a great tsunami. It’s only recently that their teachings were returned to the surface with the help of the Pathfinder Society. Although still rebuilding toward its original heights, that history has brought this monastery to the Convocation to prevent such a tragic loss from repeating itself.

Beyond this philosophical connection with the elements, each House of Perfection learned many of their techniques directly from the genies associated with their element. In the Unbreaking Waves’ case, they learn from faydhaan, who are known for their diplomatic nature and flexible thinking.

Swordmaster Ganhil by Renan Maurilio and Resurgent Maelstrom Magus by Mirco Paganessi.

As the buildings and membership of the monastery are rebuilt, so are its techniques. Recovered ancient scrolls, once thought lost forever beneath the waves, offer a foundation to rebuild on, but new blood and ideas are revitalizing the school’s curriculum.

The core techniques of the Unbreaking Waves are still practiced by monks, empowering themselves with understanding of water and breath. Always metaphorical and philosophical, the waves can also become crushingly real in the hands of an experienced monk. But, even among the order’s traditional monastic practices, new blade stances and techniques aim to challenge their old rivals among the Monastery of Untwisting Iron.

The new approaches can be seen most clearly among those studying the Resurgent Maelstrom. Combining faydhaan spells and techniques with mortal ingenuity, a magus can use the power of water to turn any tool into a weapon and embrace their transience by shattering them against their foes.

University of Lepidstadt

Lepidstadt Campus by Sandra Posada.

The University of Lepidstadt, despite being at the forefront of medical and technological advancement, is not always well regarded in its native Ustalav. Many would call it a home of graverobbers and monstrous experiments, although the medical students find the results quite educational.

The university students, even those focusing on less controversial fields of study, find the Convocation a breath of fresh air. Certainly, the Kith are noisy and the Magaambyans may have uncomfortable questions about what exactly is inside the Lepidstadt exhibit, but the constant pressure and automatic judgment is lessened. Sadly, it can’t last forever, and eventually the students will have to return to their dimly lit halls and sinister rumors.

Some students have an additional cause to celebrate. The university once accepted Sarkorians fleeing the demons who overran their land, although Ustalav at large was by no means welcoming, and many descendants of Sarkorian refugees among Lepidstadt’s delegation are able to visit their ancestral homeland for the first time.

Cheris Nefritius-Sincoth and Lepidstadt Surgeon by Mirco Paganessi.

Law, theology, and even wizardry are all taught at Lepidstadt, but it’s best known for medicine. Lepidstadt surgeons are among the best in the world, both as healers and in theoretical understanding. They attribute this to the hands-on experience of dismantling cadavers and practicing on volunteers. Whether the newest techniques can be used to open an enemy’s veins or stir dead flesh to a parody of life is a question best left for campfire tales.

The School of Science has also begun to make a name for itself, although it’s beset with its own controversies. A number of Stasian coils, covered with arcing electricity and interacting with subtler occult energies, have been smuggled into the school for experiments. The most recent breakthroughs involve using those coils to treat glass, creating a variety of gadgets that can drive off otherworldly beings or steal away part of a target’s aura.

Perhaps their most complicated work is their exhibit, a scientific and occult marvel that takes the shape of a heavy cabinet spiked with Stasian coils. The electricity, through shapes and symbols and a crackling voice, seeks to answer questions posed to it. Although even the Lepidstadt students aren’t necessarily sure what’s inside it, they do ask that people stop trying to exorcize it.

School Stories

Convocation Conversation by Sandra Posada.

Each school, whether a sponsor or an uninvited guest, is introduced by one of their own in Lost Omens Rival Academies. So, whether you’re wondering what it’s like to take classes at the Academy of the Reclamation or want to know why the Sihedron Spires were late for the party, you can find out right from the students themselves.

This extends into the rest of the book, including guides to Mendev and Sarkoris for attendees who leave the safety of the Convocation grounds. Even as a player, you should be able to sit down and read cover-to-cover without running into the secret answers to questions your character wouldn’t even know to ask.

Or you might flip through to see what spells and feats your school teaches. No judgment there! Obviously, all this studying should teach characters how to do new things. There are new archetypes, spells, feats, items, and character options for the schools. Whether a character is attending the Convocation or dropped out to chase adventure, you’ll find some new options for them.

Wrap it all up with a bit of GM advice at the back for running a Convocation campaign, like how to reward forming bonds with other schools, and you’ve got yourself a whole package. I hope you all enjoy it when it comes out on March 5th!

Landon Winkler (they/them)
Developer

Hello Pathfinders and Starfinders! 2025 is going to be an incredibly exciting year for Paizo. This year we’re releasing major Pathfinder rulebooks, including Lost Omens: Shining Kingdoms, as well as launching Starfinder’s new edition!

We’d like to invite you to be part of the excitement by volunteering as an Organized Play GM! Our volunteer GMs are the best of the best, the cream of the crop, the most helpful skittermanders in the galaxy. Last year, our volunteers ran over 1000 games online and in person, and we’re looking to exceed that in 2025!

If you love our games so much that you want to introduce new players to them, and you’re ready to GM on the biggest stages we can offer, then we want you to join the team! Even if you’ve never run Pathfinder or Starfinder Society before, our support team will make sure you have everything you need to run your best games ever.

All GMs who run games at Premier or Premier Plus events will receive a $15 paizo.com voucher per block, which can also be spent in the Paizo booth at Gen Con in Indianapolis. Those who volunteer for more blocks may receive badges to the show, PDF or print products, or hotel rooms based on their commitment.

At this time, we’re accepting GMs for Gen Con Indianapolis. We’ve also included information from our friends at Origins; while Paizo won’t have an official presence there, we’re recognizing them as a Premier event, which means additional rewards for GMs and players. Who knows, maybe you’ll even see some Paizo staff at the event!

Gen Con Indy 2025

Gen Con Indianapolis will take place in Indianapolis, Indiana from July 31-August 3, 2025. New content at this show includes the launch of Pathfinder Society Year 7, the new Pathfinder Society Special and, of course, the global launch of Starfinder Second Edition!

We are currently seeking volunteers for the following roles:

• Game Master: Run tables of Organized Play Scenarios and Quests.
• Headquarters (HQ): Answer player and GM questions, seat players, handle conflicts and disputes, and report games after completion.
• Demo GM: Run quick demos for new players, giving them a short Pathfinder/Starfinder experience before quickly turning the table over for the next group. Our Demo GMs may receive an Exhibitor badge in compensation for the fast and furious nature of the position, subject to availability.
• Board Game Demo GM: Run demo tables for Goblin Firework Fight and Elemental Stones. Applicants should have strong board game knowledge (both our games and general board games) and preferably have related demo experience.
• Academy GM: Run games for young children (under 18) and their families and provide a safe, welcoming environment for our youngest gamers. This position requires proof of a completed background check (employment in education, public service, or similar may be accepted as verification that you have completed a background check).

Please read this important information before applying:

• Volunteer applications will be reviewed and accepted or rejected by the Gen Con Organizing Committee. Filling this form out does not guarantee acceptance; you will receive an email with further information from the Gen Con committee.
• Gen Con Indy schedules will be assigned by the committee. You will be asked for your preference of system and level, but you will not necessarily be able to choose the specific scenario(s) you run. The committee’s intention is to assign people to run the same scenario multiple times during the weekend, to minimize the amount of preparation required. There is a free-form field at the end of the form to enter specific requests, though there’s no guarantee they will be honored.
• Reward information is listed in the table below. GMs who don’t qualify for a badge will still need to purchase one.
• Volunteers will be accepted on a rolling basis, and schedules should be assigned within two weeks of your application. Once your schedule is assigned and you confirm, you are considered to be committed to attending the event.
• Adventure authors interested in running tables of scenarios they have written should fill out the volunteer form and then follow up by emailing genconleads@gmail.com. Please note we have a limited number of tables, and the schedule is fairly locked-in at this stage, but we’ll do our best to get you slotted into your scenario if it’s on the schedule.
• Any questions about the GM signup process should be sent to the committee at genconleads@gmail.com.

A Note on Starfinder Second Edition

We’re very excited to begin rolling out information about Starfinder Society for Second Edition! We have blogs planned in future weeks to discuss some of the particulars of the program, but in order to effectively recruit GMs for Gen Con, we’d like to share the following information with all of you now.

• Starfinder Society scenarios for Second Edition will be 2-3 hours long, and will cover a two-level range. All scenarios releasing at Gen Con will be for 1st-2nd level characters.
• We will also release a special scenario, #1-00, at Gen Con. This will be a four-hour adventure for pregenerated third-level characters only. This adventure is a prequel to the first year’s metaplot, and will be run on Thursday night only.
• Our intention is to release two scenarios per month, for a total of 26 scenarios released in Year 1 of Starfinder Society.

GMs should be aware that we will be scheduling SFS2 scenarios in back-to-back three hour blocks at Gen Con. The expectation is that GMs will finish their tables in 2-2.5 hours; any time before the next game starts is your break time. If you are not confident in your time management skills, we invite you to join us for PFS2 scenarios or the SFS2 special on Thursday night!

Gen Con Rewards Table

Blocks	Housing	Product	Player Badge	Volunteer Attire	In-Game Reward	Voucher
7+ blocks	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
6 blocks		✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
5 blocks			✓	✓	✓	✓
4 blocks			✓	✓	✓	✓
3 blocks			✓	✓	✓	✓
2 blocks				✓	✓	✓
1 block				✓	✓	✓

Reward Details:

• Housing: GMs will be housed at 2-4 volunteers per room. More information is available on the application form.
• Product: A physical copy of a Paizo product, chosen from a list of recent releases prior to the convention.
• Player Badge: A badge for the duration of the event. GMs must have a Player badge before registering to play games. Demo GMs may receive an Exhibitor badge if our allotment allows.
• Volunteer Attire: One shirt per day of volunteering.
• In-game reward: A reward for characters based on the current organized play program GM reward programs. Pathfinder Society (first edition)/Pathfinder Adventure Card Society are paper boons, Pathfinder Society (second edition)/Starfinder Society are Achievement Point rewards at the Premier Plus (2.0x) level.
• Voucher: Earn one voucher for $15 spendable on paizo.com or at the Paizo booth for every block run.

Important Dates

Note that these dates are from Gen Con directly; other dates specifically relevant to us may be added.

• February 9: Indy badge registration begins
• TBA: Indy housing portal opens
• TBA (May): Indy event catalog goes live
• May 18: Indy event registration begins
• July 31-August 3: Gen Con Indy!

>>Gen Con Indy 2025 Volunteer Application<<

Origins 2025

Ohio Org Play would love for you to join us at Origins Game Fair from June 18-22, 2025 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.

For those who have not been to Origins in the past, the convention runs from mid-day Wednesday to mid-day Sunday, for a total of 12 slots of events. We set our scenario-length slots up as 5 hours of gaming with 1 hour meal breaks to give our GMs plenty of time between sessions to eat and re-energize. More about Origins can be found here: https://www.originsgamefair.com/

We are currently seeking volunteers for the following roles:

• Game Master: Run tables of Organized Play Scenarios, Bounties, and Quests.
• Headquarters (HQ): Answer player and GM questions, seat players, handle conflicts and disputes, and report games after completion.

Volunteer applications will be reviewed by the organizing committee. Filling the volunteer form out does not guarantee acceptance. As this is a large con with many moving parts, GM schedules will be assigned by the committee and sent out in order of volunteering. Volunteer early to lock in your preferences! Once your schedule is assigned and you confirm, you are considered to be committed to attending the event.

We value each of our volunteers who help to make this event happen. As a reward, we have Ohio Org Play shirts, bags, badges, accommodation for you or your vehicle, and bonus Achievement Points to send your way. But, wait, there’s more! Paizo has generously stepped in to provide voucher rewards to our GM volunteers this year, and free product for those who volunteer for more slots. Here’s a grid to keep track of everything:

Origins Rewards Table

Blocks	Ohio Org Play Tote Bag	¼ Hotel or Parking Pass	PDF Product	Origins Badge *	Ohio Org Play T-Shirt	Paizo Vouchers	In-Game Reward
10	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
9	X	X	X	X	X	X	X
8		X	X	X	X	X	X
7		X	X	X	X	X	X
6			X	X	X	X	X
5				X	X	X	X
4				X	X	X	X
3					X	X	X
2					X	X	X
1						X	X

Reward Details:

*Origins Badge: A weekend badge for the event. All attendees and GMs must have a badge. Those volunteering for 4 or more slots will receive a free badge. All others must purchase a badge on their own. Most Origins events are included in the base badge price.

• Tote Bag: Volunteers for 9 or more slots will also receive a Custom Ohio Org Play canvas tote bag to haul your dice (and maybe even books) around.
• Hotel/Parking: Volunteers for 7 or more slots will have the option of shared hotel space or a weekend parking pass. Hotel space is Wednesday night to Sunday Morning. We will work with volunteers who select this option to arrange rooming assignments.
• PDF Product: a PDF of any Paizo product valued at $29.99 or less.
• T-Shirt: All volunteers for 2 or more slots will receive 1 Ohio Org Play 2025 t-shirt to wear on Saturday.
• Paizo Vouchers: $15 Paizo voucher for each GM slot completed.
• In-Game Reward: A reward for characters based on the current organized play program GM reward programs. Pathfinder Society (first edition)/Pathfinder Adventure Card Society is paper boons, Pathfinder Society (second edition)/Starfinder Society is Achievement Point rewards with a 1.75 multiplier.

Important Dates

• Volunteer ASAP to lock in your scenario/slot preferences!
• February 15: Volunteer deadline
• March 15: Event registration opens
• June 18-22: Origins Game Fair!

Please contact OhioOrgPlay@gmail.com with any questions.

>>Origins 2025 Volunteer Application<<

Premier Conventions Planning Server

Anybody interested in volunteering at Gen Con should join the Premier Conventions planning server by clicking the image below. Follow the instructions in #welcome to get access to the relevant channels. All important information will be conveyed on this server as well as via email, so please join the server!

Thank you all so much for volunteering! These events can’t happen without our volunteer GMs and organizers, and we’re so lucky to have you all. We’re looking forward to another fantastic year of conventions!

Alex Speidel
Organized Play Coordinator

Heather Vigil, Rebecca Fehn and bigrin42
Gen Con Indy Committee

Janice Piette
Venture Captain–Ohio

Hail and well met, ‘Finders! This month’s new releases bring the prospect of mythic power to your pocket and march towards war with Treerazer! Now that we’re in 2025, Paizo’s physical product release dates will be moving to the first Wednesday of the month (barring holidays). Our digital products, such as Pathfinder and Starfinder Society Scenarios, will maintain their later release dates.

Never miss a release with our Paizo Subscriptions—for everything from rulebooks to accessories! Subscribers get a free PDF with purchase, early access to game content, and exclusive discounts on paizo.com!

---

Pathfinder Adventure Path #210: Whispers in the Dirt (Spore War 1 of 3)

MARCH OF THE DEMONS!

War is coming to the elven nation of Kyonin! From within Tanglebriar, a blighted land that spreads like a sickness along Kyonin’s southern border, the demon Treerazer is prepared to launch his first major attack on his enemies in centuries. Can a new group of heroes stand against the demon armies? The Spore War Adventure Path begins with “Whispers in the Dirt,” a complete adventure for 11th- to 13th-level characters.

Whispers in the Dirt is also available as a premium module for Foundry VTT. 

Pathfinder War of Immortals (Pocket Edition)

GO BEYOND LEGENDARY!

A god has been slain and nothing will ever be the same again! As war and destruction spread across the world, new heroes must rise to the occasion and take up arms to protect its mortal inhabitants. Lay claim to your own spark of divinity and charge into battle as a mighty exemplar or call upon the power of spiritual allies as a wise animist. Alongside these new classes are rules for running mythic games, archetypes for playing legendary characters, and a wide array of new items, spells, and monsters to tell stories straight out of myth!

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

Starfinder Flip-Mat: Space Station

GET TO YOUR STATION!

Suit up and get ready to explore the galaxy’s most iconic and dangerous space stations with Starfinder Flip-Mat: Space Station. One side of this mat showcases the interior of a station you could find almost anywhere in the galaxy, complete with a mess hall, rec room, and even a docked fighter. This side also matches up perfectly to Starfinder Flip-Mat: Basic Terrain, allowing you to construct an even larger station. The other side of the mat is a grimmer station or research outpost, filled with the leftovers of deadly experiments and gruesome battles. Both sides can be turned into a set piece for almost any science-fantasy adventure!

Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Fungal Forest

BEWARE THE SPORES!

Beneath the heavy forest canopy another kind of forest thrives. This shadowy haven for ferns, moss, and large fungi provides a perfect unsettling location for enemies to spring an attack. One side shows trees studded with shelf fungus and other growths, while the second side depicts similar features in a swamp. Danger is just a step away, so don’t waste time drawing your own map when Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Fungal Forest has you covered!

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.

---

Bring Pathfinder to where you are, in person or online, and if you don’t have a favorite local game store, get books delivered to your door via a Paizo Subscription! From rulebooks to adventures, accessories, and more, we’ve got subscriptions for every table! Subscribing to a line of books gets you the physical book and the PDF for one price! Subscribe to four lines or more to unlock Paizo Advantage savings on products site-wide!

Thank you for playing Starfinder and Pathfinder!

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

The Six Schools’ Convocation approaches with Pathfinder Lost Omens Rival Academies! Before the book releases on March 5th, it’s time to let everyone in on a few school secrets.

The Convocation is ultimately an exhibition of what these six sponsor schools have to offer and a place to exchange knowledge so it outlives its discoverers. But far be it for any academic to accept that their exhibit wasn’t the most groundbreaking or that their plan for eradicating demons fell behind their rival’s!

So, the Convocation’s six schools have come together in a spirit of learning and competition, alongside their invited guests. But who are these schools, where do they learn the rest of the year, and what secrets have they brought with them?

Academy of the Reclamation

Academy of the Reclamation campus by Mirco Paganessi.

The Academy of the Reclamation may seem a strange host for this gathering of scholars. Located on the edge of the demon-haunted lands of Sarkoris, it’s so new that it’s just now celebrating its first graduating class. Its position in the fortress-city of Nerosyan does provide some surprising benefits, however, with old crusader barracks becoming temporary lodging for guests and the weapon racks of armories being replaced with bookshelves.

Still, the academy’s existence can’t be separated from the nation’s history. The people of Sarkoris were scattered for a hundred years, their lands overrun by endless swarms of demons from the Worldwound. Only once that portal to the Outer Rifts was closed could the process of healing the lands and people truly begin.

The Academy of the Reclamation seeks to gather the knowledge that dispersed along with the Sarkorian peoples. The magic—and even the names—of the land’s old gods must be reclaimed alongside all the stories, crafts, and traditions that defined the clans of Sarkoris. Somewhat controversially, the academy also embraces what the descendants of old Sarkoris learned during their long flight, even going so far as to establish a new school of wizardry.

Campfire Chronicler and Diarra Romagne by Anselmi Hyytinen.

It’s an easy mistake to see the Academy of the Reclamation as mired in sadness and loss. Although the work ahead for returning Sarkorians and their allies is vast, only a few years ago the demonic ranks and foul energy of the Outer Rifts were truly endless. Every day is now a step forward, with each demon killed or plot of land purified marking real progress toward the nation’s healing.

Spreading this hopeful message has mostly fallen to Diarra Romagne, who is making a rare appearance at the Convocation, spending most of her time traveling wherever the descendants of Sarkorian refugees can be found. Although not everyone is at a place in their life where they can join the academy, few can resist sharing their family’s story when presented with a smiling face and a plate of cookies.

Perhaps the academy’s proudest step thus far is rediscovering the rites of Isthralei, an old god of Sarkoris dedicated to protecting travelers in exchange for their stories. The campfire chroniclers who practice these rites have become an unofficial group of representatives, accepting the visiting students as their charges in Isthralei’s place.

Cobyslarni

Cobyslarni Campus by Bastien Jez.

No school gathers as much attention on the grounds of the Convocation as Cobyslarni. A massive elephantine creature simply arrived one day, the school atop his back, and settled into a convenient part of the Convocation grounds. This ancient creature, also named Cobyslarni, is the rarely heard headmaster of the school along with being its literal foundation.

The school spends most of its time in the fey realm of the First World, with excursions to other planes as suits the headmaster’s unexplained plans. Cobyslarni’s students are likewise gathered from the across the planes, but largely represent the fey. Its curriculum focuses on the magic of the fey, particularly the power of oaths and agreements. The most basic of these agreements, between students and their mentors, form the basis for Cobyslarni’s structure, as loose and chaotic as it may seem to outsiders.

With so many students visiting the mortal Universe for the first time, the culture shock is quite extreme. Time and terrain can seem suffocatingly rigid while death looms as an actual threat to fey students. Meanwhile, other attendees are left wondering whether the bird critiquing their exhibit is a professor offering honest feedback or someone’s familiar babbling random insults.

Echo Repository by Mirco Paganessi.

Along with countless smaller student exhibits of fey magic and artistry, Cobyslarni has also opened access to the Echo Repository, an extradimensional archive filled with things plucked from forgotten dreams. Although the smiling librarians are quick to offer cryptic guidance, even the students of Cobyslarni often find gremlins and mist-shrouded nightmares before they locate forgotten rites or stories lost to time.

That is not the only source for information that Cobyslarni brings, of course. The school travels through distant realms, its students learning strange secrets and gathering pacts with mysterious beings. Many students become witches by finding a single powerful being willing to enter a pact, with a chosen few even managing to catch the headmaster’s direct attention.

Students who dig deeper into the magic of pacts generally become pactbinders, tying themselves magically to many beings or even abstract concepts. The pactbinders of Cobyslarni have gathered many pacts from the Eldest to simple individual fey through their school’s long travels.

Kitharodian Academy

Kitharodian Academy campus by Mirco Paganessi.

The empire of Taldor has been a force to reckon with for thousands of years, and Kitharodian Academy is dedicated to retelling that history through songs, poetry, plays, and operas. As Taldor is a military and mercantile power in the Inner Sea, Kitharodian is a cultural power.

However, the academy and its patron are tied together through thick and thin. Taldor has declined over the centuries, becoming more insular and more focused on its past glory, and Kitharodian has followed suit. A handful of tales are told and retold, polished until they shine like gold. Meanwhile, students are compared to the centuries of artists who came before them.

While publicly staging grand productions of past emperors’ stories, it’s an open secret that many Kitharodian students turn their acting to serve the present empress, Eutropia. Although the school will carefully deny it, particularly at international events like the Convocation, many of its students go on to work as spies among the Lion Blades after graduation.

Kitharodian Academy exhibit by Mirco Paganessi.

The Convocation has presented a rare opportunity for Kith, as the students call themselves, to expand into new subject matter. These include stories from far-off lands, but also more recent events like the sealing of the Worldwound. They also have a chance to show their polished work to people who haven’t seen those stories a thousand times.

Sharing these stories and the techniques behind their telling is a pressing mission for Kith who wonder how long the empire’s relevance will last. But perhaps even then the stories still capture their larger-than-life personalities, from the heroic to the darkly comedic. The finest of Kitharodian’s students can truly inhabit those roles, like living vessels for the emperors of the past.

Retelling the same stories has fostered a strange sort of innovation, driving endlessly toward the freshest inspiration and the newest tools. While the inspiration found in moonlit trysts and raucous parties is an ephemeral thing, the workshops’ tools are useful in the shadows as often as on the stage.

And More to Come!

Alongside the other three sponsor schools we’ll be visiting next time, the Convocation is also playing host to the Sihedron Spires of New Thassilon and representatives of a dozen other schools. Story information and character options, from a new spell brought by a researcher to archetypes passed down through generations, can help you bring the schools to life in a campaign anywhere their students and graduates may travel.

Landon Winkler (they/them)
Developer

Happy New Year, ’Finders! As we dive into 2025, we’d like to take a moment to celebrate our best books and games of 2024!

---

When the war god Gorum dies, his divine essence and war-infused blood rain across all existence in an event known as the Godsrain. This precipitating event leads to the birth of monsters and mythic heroes alike, shaking the world of Golarion to its very core. This meta event crossed the Pathfinder rulebook, adventure, and lore lines—plus saw a return to published fiction!

Pathfinder War of Immortals

A god has been slain and nothing shall ever be the same again! As war and destruction spread across the world, new heroes must rise to the occasion and take up arms to protect its mortal inhabitants. Two brand-new classes provide new ways to engage with mythic themes! Lay claim to your own spark of divinity and charge into battle as a mighty exemplar, or call upon the power of spiritual allies as a wise animist. Alongside these new classes are rules for running mythic games, archetypes for playing legendary characters, and a wide array of new items, spells, and monsters to tell stories straight out of myth and legend that fit perfectly into the remastered Pathfinder rules! 

Pathfinder Lost Omens Divine Mysteries

The influence of all-powerful deities is felt in every corner of the Lost Omens setting. Whether you're a valorous champion calling the righteous power of your patron down upon wicked foes or a sneaky rogue asking the god of thievery for a blessing on your next heist, faith and the forces behind it are key to every character's identity. Within this volume, you'll find details on the gods and non-deific faiths of the Age of Lost Omens from the perspective of their clergy and lay worshippers. The book also grants a glimpse into the machinations of a god, exploring how a new god rises, why a god takes worshippers in the first place, and what occurs when a god dies.

Godsrain: A Pathfinder Novel

Four veteran adventurers—the barbarian Amiri; the wizard Ezren; the cleric Kyra; and her wife, the elven rogue Merisiel—witness calamity, and with their newfound mythic power find themselves on the trail of fell forces looking to capitalize on the chaos. Using their unique skills, nascent god-sparks, and even the firsthand blessings of one of Golarion's most potent deities, they must race against time and fate to prevent the greatest threat to Golarion and beyond from escaping an impenetrable prison.

Starfinder First Edition went out with a bang, not a whimper! Starfinder First Edition’s final Adventure Path was a hardbound collection of three volumes of mech pilot mayhem. Fight colossi and demonic forces, befriend (or romance?) your rival pilots, and save Daimalko!

Starfinder Mechageddon! Adventure Path

On a rugged planet crawling with colossi—terrifying kaiju that demolish cities with fearsome power—courageous mech pilots battle monsters to protect the world’s people. As the war for control of planet Daimalko rages on, a mysterious third power plots to use an ancient artifact to purge the planet of all life. It’s time for Daimalko’s defenders to suit up against a new threat!

From Paizo Games Designers Jason Bulmahn and Joe Pasini, Pathfinder Elemental Stones is a pattern-building game with hidden role mechanics! Play as an elemental lord seeking to control the board with patterns of your element—and learn the cycle of the elements as you play!

Pathfinder Elemental Stones

Take on the role of an elemental sovereign, shaping the very nature of reality in this fast-moving board game!

2 to 4 players take turns to draft and play colorful (and colorblind-friendly) hexagonal tiles to match specific patterns and meet their own secret objective. With several dozen pattern cards, variable objectives, and a game state that's constantly in flux, you'll never play the same way twice. Simple setup, easy-to-learn rules, and a short play time of around 30 minutes means there's always time for one more game…

Named one of Polygon’s Best TTRPG Books of 2024, Starfinder Playtest Adventure: A Cosmic Birthday is a fun cosmic-horror romp for 1st-level characters! Save Absalom Station from the workings of a cult who await the birth of their new god!

Starfinder Playtest Adventure: A Cosmic Birthday

A nascent cosmic entity stirs deep within one of the Pact Worlds planets. To aid the god’s birth, its most devoted followers search the Ghost Levels of Absalom Station for a sufficient power source—a strange pocket dimension existing alongside the hub of the Pact Worlds. As the entity’s emergence sends ripples across space-time, a group of heroes becomes trapped in the Ghost Levels! With dangerous creatures and ominous power surges threatening the station, the heroes must team up with the residents of Little Akiton to investigate these horrifying new foes, stop their meddling—and stay alive!

Explore the continent of Tian Xia, a land of magic and wonder! An own-voices exploration of Asian fantasy settings, Pathfinder Lost Omens Tian Xia World Guide was also named one of Polygon’s Top TTRPG Books of 2024, along with winning the Gold ENNIE for Best Setting at this year’s ENNIE Awards! Build characters based on Asian myths, fantasy, and folklore with the expanded character options in the companion book, Pathfinder Lost Omens Tian Xia Character Guide.

Pathfinder Lost Omens Tian Xia World Guide

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!

Pathfinder Lost Omens Tian Xia Character Guide

The boundless continent of Tian Xia features innumerable peoples, each with their own rich history and practices. Bring your character to life with this 136-page guidebook crammed full of everything a player might need to build a hero hailing from or journeying through these vast lands.

In March of 2024, Paizo celebrated 200 Adventure Path volumes with a special double-sized adventure: Seven Dooms for Sandpoint! This adventure takes Pathfinder back to where it all began—the town of Sandpoint, which is under attack from a variety of evils both new and old!

Pathfinder Adventure Path #200: Seven Dooms for Sandpoint

The town of Sandpoint has seen more than its fair share of danger and trouble over the years, including harrowing fires, prolific serial killers, goblin raids, and attacks by giants and dragons, but what faces the so-called Light of the Lost Coast now is its greatest threat yet! Something sinister has been manipulating events all along, and now a new band of heroes must step in to save this legendary small town from seven deadly dooms!

This year, we rounded out the collection of remastered rulebooks with Pathfinder Monster Core and Pathfinder Player Core 2. Joining Pathfinder Player Core and Pathfinder GM Core from November 2023, these two volumes remaster over 400 monsters and expand the remastered options for player characters with 8 newly remastered classes, dozens of archetypes, and more!

Pathfinder Monster Core

Heroes are defined by their foes! From shambling skeletons to terrifying dragons, each enemy leaves a mark on their growing legend. Make your legends memorable with foes from the new Pathfinder Monster Core rulebook for Pathfinder Second Edition! This 376-page hardcover book is packed with a wide range of monsters useful to all Pathfinder campaigns, giving the Game Master plenty of threats to throw at their adventurers, at any level of experience.

Pathfinder Player Core 2

Survival in a world beset by magic and evil takes more than a lucky roll of the dice. Pathfinder Player Core 2 significantly expands options available to Pathfinder players, giving them the edge to take on any adventure. This 320-page hardcover rulebook remasters 8 classes from Pathfinder Second Edition, providing everything you need to create a wide array of new characters ready to take on the world. It also includes more than 40 archetypes, expanded ancestries, and tons of feats, spells, and alchemical items to provide a near-endless array of exciting options for every Pathfinder character!

---

As we look ahead to an exciting 2025—with Starfinder Second Edition and some big Pathfinder reveals on the horizon—we can’t wait to bring you even more great books like these!

Greetings, Starfinders!
Thank you all so much for your participation in the Starfinder Second Edition playtest. We’ve had an immense number of downloads, which has led to some great commentary and feedback from our community. The entire Starfinder team has been carefully sifting through mountains of invaluable survey data (which you can still submit until December 31 at starfinderplaytest.com!). Whether you were a GM, player, or a passionate fan dissecting our playtest rulebook, every Starfinder should be proud of their contributions as they disembark this incredibly successful playtest!

Illustration by Mirco Paganessi

While the entire team is heads down analyzing your contributions and reactions, we wanted to share some of the changes we’re currently implementing to help give you a sample of the comprehensive improvements you’ll find in Starfinder Player Core (coming this summer). These notes assume you have been following our errata, all of which can be found on our FAQ page and the latest of which are summarized here.

Adventures!

We’ve learned a lot about how certain effects work in our adventures. One thing you’ll see is that the team will be judicious in the use of creature resistances and Hardness in adventures. We’ve also seen some good feedback on shorter adventures for Organized Play and are excited to explore the 2–3 hour time slot more. Expect to hear more on the adventure front in the months to come.

Ancestries

Good news for skittermanders who want to jump rope and wield a flamethrower at the same time: you are now going to be able to perform actions and use items with your other hands, but you can only wield items (such as shields and weapons) with your active hands.

Traversal

One new element we'll be introducing is the traversal trait. This new trait mostly applies to player-facing rules that reference Stride. When it applies, traversal allows the use of alternative movement types (burrow, fly, and swim) to be used in place of land Speed, akin to how Sneak works. Expect to see this greatly impact some abilities used by the envoy and solarian (to name a few).

Weapons

Most weapons have been… upgraded *puts on shades*. These include bigger magazines and damage, along with lower prices, bulk, and expend values. Some weapons have adjusted functions, including using modular as a way to switch traits on the fly, and a modular weapon with a nonlethal configuration.

Envoy

Envoys are becoming even more tactically diverse, with bespoke directives for each leadership style. Oh, and after analyzing the reaction to our bold experiment, we’ve decided that Get ’em! should be a bonus instead of a penalty—flanking’s back on the menu!

Mystic

We have streamlined the mystic experience by removing the transfer cost from most feats, and introduced a scaling cap to Transfer Vitality that helps balance the amount of healing you can provide. We’ve heard your requests and are also switching out some connection-granted spells!

Operative

Operative is a solid class, but we've made a few changes and buffed many specializations. We also took away Hair Trigger's ability to disrupt actions, and it's now a 6th-level feat. But operatives will be happy to see we’ve also buffed many specializations!

Solarian

Solar Flare is now a martial ranged weapon in the brawling weapon group that doesn’t take up a hand and will scale with solarian weapon crystals instead of by level. We’re also going to shift the solar nimbus into something that helps take the place of the very enticing Reactive Strike.

Soldier

We are exploring new ways to allow close quarters combat soldiers to use all those nifty area fire feats with their melee weapons. The changes we mentioned about weapons are going to have a big impact here, and we’re excited about where soldiers are headed.

Witchwarper

Quantum fields are now bigger, and all witchwarpers get Quantum Pulse at level 1, allowing them to Warp Reality as a free action when they roll initiative. We’re also building Quantum Transposition into the early level class abilities instead of as a feat you need to select. Instead of anchoring actions, anchors now provide automatic benefits when you Sustain your quantum field. Overall, the changes make quantum fields more effective and easier to use.

---

There are so many other exciting changes in our final edition of the game, both detailed and broad! Be sure to stay alert so you aren’t caught off guard! The new edition of the game launches this summer at Gen Con 2025, and our first Second Edition book, Starfinder Galaxy Guide, is available this spring.

—The Starfinder Team

Hello, Pathfinders!
Agent Kitsch here from the Office of Supplies and Procurement, posting a letter received from the Ink Worker’s United Printing Press, which you may know as the exclusive printing press for Venture-Gossip.

To the Grand Lodge, c/o Agent Kitsch, We received this letter at our doorstep this morning. It seems whoever took Venture-Gossip doesn’t know where the Grand Lodge is, nor do they know how to spell Achaekek, so we’re wondering if Venture-Gossip was truly abducted by the Red Mantis assassins.

Thanks,
Lyari Kelsyne
Ink Worker’s United Printing Press

"We have your nosy agent she’s poked her tusks into our business for the last time! If you want to see her safe return bring 1,000,000 Platinum, a bagful of Osiriani gold, and the rightful property of the Red Mantis assassins to the docks at the assigned time. Otherwise expect to see her teeth at your doorstep. Signed Acheakek’s Finest"

Here at the Pathfinder Society we don’t negotiate with kidnappers, so any information that you may have about Venture-Gossip’s disappearance would be most appreciated.

Explore! Report! Cooperate! Gossip!

Shay Snow
Pathfinder Society Developer

The nascent demon lord Treerazer has long lurked in Tanglebriar’s wretched expanse, just south of the elven nation of Kyonin. Long ago, he tried to claim the country as his own, but the elves mounted a fierce resistance and contained him. Many now believe Treerazer to be exiled, trapped, imprisoned, or simply cowardly. They claim that he has hunkered down in the swamp, afraid to attract attention or to trigger elven wrath once more.

Those who believe this are about to learn just how dangerously wrong they are.

In the Spore War Adventure Path, your characters begin as new heroes of the nation of Kyonin and are called upon by Queen Telandia Edasseril to represent Kyonin’s interests in an upcoming diplomatic summit with the nations that border Lake Encarthan. The Whispering Tyrant’s growing threat cannot be ignored, but as the meeting between diplomats gets underway, it isn’t long before everyone realizes there is a much more imminent danger to the elven way of life. Treerazer is poised to strike Kyonin’s heart, and the heroes who find themselves standing against him must be stronger than ever before!

Inside the Spore War Player’s Guide, you’ll find player-friendly, spoiler-free information and tips to help you make an exciting new 11th-level character perfect for the Spore War Adventure Path. While this campaign is exceptionally well suited to a party that consists entirely of elven characters, Kyonin is welcoming of all ancestries.

This player’s guide contains:

• Character suggestions, including recommendations for ancestries, classes, languages, skills, and feats well suited to this Adventure Path.
• Six new backgrounds tailor-made to enmesh your character in Kyonin’s history and legacy, to explain why your PC might be destined to become a hero of Kyonin, and to grant specific additional advantages you’ll need to face the otherworldly threats in store for you.
• An examination of elven society to help you craft characters who, be they elven locals or visitors from abroad, can fit in and understand the lifestyles present in Kyonin.
• A brief gazetteer of the city of Greengold, where the Spore War Adventure Path begins.
• Spoiler-light advice for players and GMs alike who’ve played a lower level Paizo Adventure Path and are looking to transition 11th level characters from one of those stories into the Spore War Adventure Path.

Download The Spore War Player's Guide Today!

Faith is an important aspect of the Lost Omens setting, as deities of all kind make their mark upon Golarion. With the release of Lost Omens Divine Mysteries last month, you have the opportunity to learn all about the gods, their worshippers, and even gain a bit of divine power for your player characters. Of course, a book as enormous as Divine Mysteries doesn’t just miraculously appear out of nowhere. It has authors! So, we’ve taken some time to let the wonderful authors of this book talk about themselves.

Illustration by Ekaterina Gordeeva

Carlos Cisco

My name is Carlos Cisco. I’m a TV/Film and TTRPG Writer with credits most recently on Star Trek: Discovery, Pathfinder, Daggerheart,Candela Obscura, and Draw Steel. I have a deep and abiding love of horror, fantasy, sci fi, and collective action, and a deep and abiding hate for the ravages of late-stage capitalism… which fed into how I approached working on Abadar, a god of civilization, trade, and capital. Gods of money are complex beasts, and I wanted to explore how bad actors might manipulate his words and doctrine for personal gain. This work also fed into my work on the Death of the Divine, which embraced a new and complicated layer to Abadar’s story.

Rue Dickey (they/he/xe)

Now that Divine Mysteries is out in the world, I'm even more proud to have contributed to this amazing book! As a freelancer, I've worked on a handful of Paizo products including Howl of the Wild, the Curtain Call Adventure Path, and some forthcoming books! For Divine Mysteries, I was overjoyed to write the article on Pharasma, Lady of Graves. As an unrepentant goth, and someone for whom life, death, and fate are all very important, Pharasma has always been my favorite deity, and getting to add my voice to her body of work is something I'm very thankful for! A thousand compliments to the developers, editors, and art team for making this book a phenomenal guide to all things holy (and unholy)!

Illustration by Kendal Gates

Drakoniques

Hi! I’m Drakoniques (or just Drak for short) and I wrote the Lamashtu and Giant Gods sections. I’ve always been a huge fan of deities and the myths/legends that follow them. You can tell a lot about a society by the gods they worship and the lessons their legends hold, so getting to create and add to that for the world of Golarion was wonderful! Writing Lamashtu was especially exciting for me because my first Pathfinder character was a sorcerer who worshipped Lamashtu! Writing her section felt like a perfect full circle. Social media: Bluesky | Instagram | TikTok | Twitch | Twitter

Aoife Ester (she/her)

Hello! I go by Aoife Ester. Divine Mysteries is my first project working with Paizo, and I'm beyond thrilled with how the book turned out. For my contribution, I channeled an enduring love of weird fiction into Yivali's report on the Outer Gods & Great Old Ones, and am proud to introduce all-new deity Izuyaku, the Strength and Serenity, to the world of Pathfinder. It was a uniquely fun experience to jump from writing about deities that embody the cold and uncaring nature of the universe to writing about one who cares deeply about their followers. If you are determined to seek me out, you can do so on Twitter (@breadbutt) or on Discord (breadbutt_).

Illustration by Alexander Nanitchkov

Tomas Gimenez Rioja (he/him)

Hey, my name is Tomas Gimenez Rioja. I am a Latino game designer, writer, project manager, actual player, SW engineer, and many other things from Argentina. I got to work on projects like Seas of Vodari and Under the Seas of Vodari, where I was in charge of a big part of the monster design, and personal projects like Goth Borg and the system agnostic setting in development Magnolia: The City of Marvels. For Divine Mysteries, I got to bring in my love for monsters and the way these gods affect culture for the goblins and goblinoids; through these gods, I sought to bring depth to goblins, which are often overlooked in many fantasy stories and roleplaying games. Additionally, if you have been following Teki Stronggut, you will find a great surprise in this new book. I hope you get to enjoy these new changes and additions to the gods of Golarion.

Alastor Guzman (they/them)

Hey, I’m Alastor Guzman, your local Mexican game designer. I’m a freelance designer and writer, and I’ve worked on Pathfinder, Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, Tales from the Gods, and other indie games. The last time I worked with Paizo was on Knights of Lastwall, and I’m thrilled about my work on Divine Mysteries. You can find my writing in the Asmodeus section and the Qlippoth Lords. I’m especially proud of my contributions to the followers and church of our favorite Lord of Darkness and Law, and the introduction of a new Qlippoth Lord, Nyuo-Ogh, the Always Observing. Besides freelancing, I’ve also worked on smaller Mexican projects like Tezca Sentai and Tales from the Gods. I enjoy creating new settings and creatures. You can find me on Bluesky and most social platforms as @alastorgv. You can also check out my other games, Ko-fi, and some surprises through my link tree: https://linktr.ee/alastorgv.

Illustration by Nicholas Phillips

Laura Lynn Horst (she/her)

Divine Mysteries was my first foray into freelancing and my first assignment with Paizo. I'm relatively new to the lore of Pathfinder, so I had such a great time immersing myself in the history of Golarion and how their deities have changed over time. As a lover of all things tabletop, I was particularly excited to revisit the Azlanti gods and my personal favorite undead queen, Urgathoa. I hope to work on more projects in the future! "May you dine forever."

James Jacobs

My direct work on this book was pretty small—I wrote up the entries for Desna, Treerazer, and Zyphus. That said, many of the deities in this book are ones I created decades ago for my homebrew, and watching them grow and evolve and become something more amazing than I ever could have done on my own thanks to the input and imagination of so many other talented creators has been one of my favorite parts of working on Pathfinder. Thank you to everyone who worked on this book to help make it a reality!

Illustration by Alexander Nanitchkov

Jacob W. Michaels (he/him)

Hi everyone, I’m Jacob W. Michaels. I’m a regular freelancer for Paizo, and have contributed to a number of rulebooks, Lost Omens, and adventures (you can find my full list of credits at paizo.com/people/JacobWMichaels). For Divine Mysteries, I contributed to the avatar forms and the mortal herald archetype (I didn’t know mythic was coming when I wrote it, so credit Paizo for those cool parts!). I also wrote the Shelyn entry, which was a lot of fun—there’s nothing like writing about love and beauty to put you in a good mood. Hopefully she inspires you go to out and spread the same, which the world (any world you play in!) truly needs.

Jaime Reyes Mondragon (he/him)

Hi! I'm Jaime Reyes Mondragon. I wrote the god entries on Cayden Cailean and Ah Pook and designed the Palatine Detective archetype. Being Mexican, I had a lot of material to draw on from my country's history and legends when writing about fighting tyrants, dark entities trying to tempt mortals, and esotericism. Divine Mysteries is my first time writing for Pathfinder, so I hope you enjoy my little contribution to this game and its world. You can find me on Twitter as @JaimeRysmon and on BlueSky as @jaimerm.

Illustration by Alexander Nanitchkov

Matt Morris

I’m Matt Morris, and I’ve been lucky enough to do freelance writing for Pathfinder and Starfinder for several years now, working with Paizo and a few 3rd-party companies. I'm currently awaiting the launch of my first Kickstarter, a TTRPG called Remnant Years: Tales of a Ruined Land. In addition to giving my take on Gozreh in Divine Mysteries, I was extremely excited to introduce Genzaeri, the new god of battlefields, modernization, negotiation, and tactics. (Now accepting applications from former Gorumites!) I also wrote the blight oracle mystery and part of the section on Sarkorian god calling. I keep an up-to-date list of my work on my Paizo profile, and I’m always looking for interesting projects, so feel free to contact me if you are looking for a reliable writer! When not writing, I’m teaching high school English near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Pam Punzalan

I am Pam Punzalan, a queer Filipina game worker based in Ontario! I'm a Nebula-nominated, multi-awarded writer, designer and editor who has contributed to multiple works in tabletop roleplaying games beyond doing sensitivity consultation and convention work with Big Bad Con (SF, USA). I've also worked on my own projects, where I often explore layers of violence, intimacy, whimsy, and memory. For Divine Mysteries, I toyed with the idea of daemons and memory to my designs on the Harbingers.

Illustration by Alexander Nanitchkov

Jessica Redekop (she/they/he)

Hello! I'm jess. You might recognize me from my work on other Paizo projects like Pathfinder Rage of Elements and the first volume of the Starfinder Drift Crashers AP, A Perfect Storm. I'm back at it again for Lost Omens Divine Mysteries, this time writing about some monitor demigods! Check out pages 212– 217 for hits like Author's Barely Disguised Hobbies and Interests (Yivali has opinions on the classification of monitors), Goddess of Know My Name And Never Mistake My Truth (Phlegyas), and The Rammies? But I'll Lose My Powers If I Consider Those (Il'Surrish's anathema). Stay alert and stay safe playing all your new, freaky outsider cultist characters, everyone. If you'd like to keep up with me on social media, I'm on BlueSky https://bsky.app/profile/tectonomancer.bsky.social

Erin Roberts (she/her)

Hey all! Erin here. After writing about the deaths of several gods in The Godsrain Prophecies, it was great to have the opportunity to bring some of them to life. To me, writing gods is an amazing opportunity to take aspects of the human experience and make them larger than life, and I deeply enjoyed having a chance to celebrate wanderlust and love across distance with Obari, write about the strength needed to persevere through both heartache and oppression with Embaral, and get back to my (fictional) murderous ways with Norgorber. I hope you enjoy them all! As for me, I continue writing away – you’ll be able to find my work in the upcoming Lost Omens: Rival Academies, and can learn more about what’s going on inside my mind on Bluesky (@nirele.bsky.social) or on the weekly Writing Excuses podcast (https://writingexcuses.com/).

Illustration by Alexander Nanitchkov

Mark Seifter (he/him)

Hi everyone, Mark Seifter here! You might know me from my work co-creating Pathfinder Second Edition, including serving as the primary design lead for the Pathfinder Gamemastery Guide and Pathfinder Advanced Player’s Guide. In Divine Mysteries, I was thrilled to create a brand-new deity embodying darkness in a different sense than we usually see. I love deities and mythology, and despite working on a lot of different books at Paizo, I happened to not have a chance to write a new deity until now, so I'm beyond excited! These days, you can find me creating all sorts of compatible products for Pathfinder Second Edition over at Roll for Combat. You can also check my YouTube stream, Arcane Mark, with fellow Paizo alum Linda Zayas-Palmer at https://www.youtube.com/@arcanemark2562.

Michael Sayre

Hello! I'm Michael Sayre, the former director of Rules & Lore at Paizo. I worked on the Razmir entries for Divine Mysteries, as well as segments of the orc and Sarkorian deities and some other bits and pieces scattered throughout the book. In the aftermath of the Godsrain I've moved on to work with other organizations like the High Int Low Wis podcast [https://www.highintlowwis.com/] and some as-yet-to-be-announced projects that will be going public early next year. I'll be a bit quiet as I spend the holiday season taking care of family who have been dealing with medical emergencies, but as I ramp back up you'll be able to follow me for updates on my Bluesky account, @animistgunslinger.bsky.social.

Illustration by Sandra Posada

Isis Wozniakowska (she/her)

Hey all, I'm Isis Wozniakowska and I wrote both the Battle Harbinger and the new article on Nethys. I've always loved magic and fantasy and most especially wizard nonsense so it was a treat to work on this project and get to work with magic and the divine. I got into my field of Comparative Literature from an early fascination with mythology and so tales of the divine hold a very special place in my heart, and I hope I managed to let that shine through here. I was super excited to tackle Battle Harbinger since I was, early on, someone who really wanted a more martial combat ready style of cleric. I'm currently making my way through an MA so I don't have too many active projects right now but I am occasionally on Bluesky under @wozenstein, where I mostly talk about books I read and sometimes video games that I like.

Sebastian Yūe (they/them)

Hi, I’m Sebastian Yūe, an award-winning game designer, writer, and editor. I’m proud to have put my spin on Calistria and Irori for this book. I sought to bring themes of queer and trans self-expression to these deities; though vastly different, they both encourage the embracement of the authentic self. Pathfinder 1e was the first TTRPG I ever played and my first character was a paladin of Irori. It’s been a joy to revisit the god of self-perfection after a long journey of my own. Pathfinder Lost Omens Divine Mysteries is my first title with Paizo. When I’m not writing TTRPGs, I’m publishing them as the publishing coordinator at Hit Point Press, and when I’m not working at all, I’m teaching myself to draw, going on hikes, or writing short stories with original characters. You can learn more about my work on my website, and follow me on Bluesky at @sebastianyue.bsky.social.

Illustration by Sammy Khalid

Luis Loza (he/him)
Creative Director (Rules & Lore)

In the long, long ago, we announced changes to our errata process. In the Changes to the Way We Make Changes blog, we announced we would be issuing errata twice per year, once in spring and once in fall. And we fully intended to do so!

Then the Remaster happened instead.

That workload was fast and furious, and didn’t really leave time for other tasks like finding errata, vetting the changes, and producing the public pages for them. Even after the books, we were catching up with projects that had their schedules thrown into disarray, and could release some Remaster compatibility errata only when the first of the core books came out, over a year ago.

This blog marks us returning to the intended schedule of two updates per year.

The magus Seltyiel, quill pen in hand, ponders an offer from a contract devil. Art by Halil Ural.

Today’s Updates

The new errata and clarifications are up now on the FAQ page, identified with “Fall 2024” and the printing of the book they apply to. For example, “Player Core Errata (Fall 2024, 1st Printing).” This set includes a pretty extensive set of updates to make the initial Remaster books as accurate as possible. Future sets of updates likely won’t be this lengthy. Also, because we previously put out errata when a book was being reprinted, we typically had the final wording on hand. In this new system, the challenges of text layout make it possible that some of these updates might not match the exact final text when we reprint a book. We could have to revise them later, keeping the same mechanical changes but adjusting the wording a bit.

So what books are we covering?

Pathfinder Player Core has been out long enough for people to have found a lot of minor errors, which make up the bulk of these updates. We covered some fixes that veteran players familiar with the legacy books could likely figure out, but that new players would lack the context for, such as stray mentions of “ability modifiers.” Several feats got improvements to be more appealing for the characters they’re meant for.

One of the notable changes you’ll see is an update to the sure strike spell. The spell could be very strong, with the reroll effectively making a much larger bonus than most abilities can grant. This benefit was usually in control at low levels when characters had few spell slots, but it could become disruptive and repetitive at higher levels on characters built to gain a huge number of copies of the spell and use it constantly. We’ve added temporary immunity to the spell, with the intent that it can still be very strong to create intense moments, but that there’s little incentive to use more than a handful of spell slots on it.

Pathfinder GM Core had some minor changes, mostly to cover side effects of the Remaster process and the introduction of reinforcing runes being missed in a couple places.

Pathfinder Monster Core had a variety of small changes. The one that affects the most creatures is fixing the scaling on the demonic pact and diabolic pact rituals.

Pathfinder Player Core 2 saw a few changes, including changing the incorrect action symbol on You’re Next to a reaction, giving the champion multiclass dedication the champion’s aura ability, and fixing the damage on live wire.

Pathfinder Secrets of Magic already received updates for Remaster compatibility, but we’ve added some more updates. The main one is to allow the magus to use spells that don’t require spell attacks. This made part of the Expanded Spellstrike feat obsolete, but that feat can still be taken by players who want to affect areas. Studious spells were missed in the previous pass, and are now updated.

Other changes to Secrets of Magic include several fixes to individual rules elements and repeating the elemental themed changes and expansions that were detailed in Pathfinder Rage of Elements, making them easier to find for people who don’t have that book.

In addition, we’ve put out our lost album! That’s to say, the long-absent Secrets of Magic 1st printing to 2nd printing errata is now on the FAQ page as well.

For Pathfinder Howl of the Wild, we’ve updated a few levels and prices for some of the beast armaments so they are more in line with their runes. We’ve made a few targeted changes as well—gone are the days of the minotaur rogue also scaring all their teammates with Alarming Disappearance, which no longer affects allies who have spent significant time with you.

For Pathfinder Lost Omens Tian Xia Character Guide, a few pieces of missing information were added, namely the Speed entries for the sarangay and yaksha ancestries, which are both 25 feet.

Pathfinder War of Immortals got the few changes that were previewed in the Alternate Mythic Rules document added to the FAQ page.

We hope these changes will make your games play more smoothly and clear up a few points of confusion! We’ll be keeping an eye out for other potential errata that come up between now and spring.

The Pathfinder Designers

Hello, Starfinders!
For years, the tyrannical Vault Lord has ruled an ever-growing empire deep within the false moon of Salvation’s End, expanding their domain with every conquered vault and subjugated soul. You know what, Starfinders? Enough is enough! It’s time for a team up! Did you want to fight alongside the dwarves or the Joros or—wait, is that a unicorn?

Join the Starfinders as they team up with the Guiding Intelligence and the free residents of Salvation’s End to take down the Vault Lord once and for all!

Starfinder Society Scenario #7-09: Clutches of the Vault Lord is an explosive adventure for 9th- through 12th-level characters, written by Matt Duval.

Get in there, Starfinders! Looks like we’ll need all the help we can get!

Illustration by Tom Ventre

Jessica Catalan
Starfinder Society Developer

---

Hello, Pathfinders!
For the winter season, we’ll be traveling up north to Irrisen to speak with Her Majesty, Queen Anastasia! The strange queen from another world has a peculiar idea that she’s decided to try and introduce into her new home in order to better connect all the citizens of Irrisen: a locomotive. Her current drawback is that, well, no one in her kingdom, nor most of Avistan, seems to know anything about trains or whatever a “combustion engine” may be and she certainly doesn’t have the education to even begin explaining how the steam is made nor how the train gains the ability to whistle so loudly when crossing bridges. But she does know how to draw and how to call on others for their knowledge and assistance! With the Pathfinder Society being one of the most traveled organizations in Golarion, she asks for their assistance in judging the models that have been presented to her from prospective engineers, though perhaps one of those engineers is less interested in trains as they are in thrones…

Illustration by Bruno Mello

Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-08: Upon Wheels and Rime is an adventure for 1st- through 4th-level characters written by Dave Nelson.

Meanwhile, for those who prefer warmer climates, we’ve got a quest taking place in Taldor, right outside Cassomir.

The Tskikha iruxi enclave has long been a staunch ally of the Pathfinder Society. Their enclave's location near some elementally attuned Azlanti ruins has given the Society a wealth of research opportunities while allowing them to protect the iruxi from the dangers in the ruins, which tend to cause trouble, as some of you no doubt might recall, especially anyone who’s played The Blackwood Lost. Recently, these ruins seem to have attracted some elemental scamps, which are causing mischief and chaos throughout the enclave in their attempts to “help.” At their wits end, the Tskikha have once again called upon their allies—that’s all of you—for help.

Illustration by Bruno Mello

Pathfinder Society Series 2 Quest #22 Friends in Need is an All Ages adventure for 1st- through 4th-level characters written by Elizabeth V. Nold.

Josh Foster
Pathfinder Society Developer

Shay Snow
Pathfinder Society Developer

Hail and well met, ‘Finders! This month’s new releases take you from an idyllic coastline into the quicksand sea of Drowning Sands! As we transition into a new year, Paizo’s physical product release dates will be moving to the first Wednesday of the month (barring holidays). Our digital products, such as Pathfinder and Starfinder Society Scenarios, will maintain their later release dates.

Never miss a release with our Paizo Subscriptions—for everything from rulebooks to accessories! Subscribers get a free PDF with purchase, early access to game content, and exclusive discounts on paizo.com!

---

Pathfinder Adventure Path #209: Destroyer’s Doom (Triumph of the Tusk 3 of 3)

NO MERCY FOR TRAITORS.

Against all odds, the fractious orcs of southern Belkzen have united, thanks in part to the PCs’ insight on how to subdue the region’s terrifying ancestor storms. Now Belkzen has mustered an army to quash an undead uprising and punish the treacherous orcs who enabled it. The PCs must in­filtrate the enemy city of Wyvernsting before the siege begins. Only then will they uncover the undead apocalypse’s true master. “Destroyer’s Doom” is an orc-focused Pathfinder adventure for four 9th-level characters.

“Destroyer’s Doom” is also available as a deluxe Foundry VTT module.

Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Coastline

NOT A DAY AT THE BEACH!

When you’re an adventurer, heading to the coast doesn’t mean a vacation. Pathfinder Flip‑Mat: Coastline can help you set the scene for an adventure without having to draw the map yourself. Whether the heroes are fighting to save a quaint fishing cove or defending a storm-lashed lighthouse from terrors of the sea, this Flip-Mat has your adventures covered!

Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-08: Upon Wheels and Rime

A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for 1st- through 4th-level characters.

Within Irrisen, Queen Anastasia has spent the better part of a decade testing the boundaries of her rulership and seeing where she can and cannot make change. After enough research and discussion with fellow leaders, she's finally decided full steam ahead on the first of many plans she has developed to help bring her new home to the forefront of Avistani politics. Seeking insights from those who have to travel over a wide variety of landscapes, she's called upon the Pathfinder Society for their opinions on the platform of her new venture. Her meeting with Society agents and contractors goes off the rails, however, when a group of frost goblins looking to let off some steam launch an attack conducted by a disappointed fey. The Pathfinders will need to catch those goblins and defeat the fey in order ensure that Queen Anastasia's plan doesn't get derailed!

Starfinder Society Scenario #7-09: Clutches of the Vault Lord

A Starfinder Society Scenario designed for 9th- through 12th-level characters.

Ever since the Starfinder Society first established a presence on the false moon of Salvation’s End, its agents have continued to slowly but surely uncover new information about the megacomplex’s internal machinations and the dangerous Guiding Intelligence seemingly at its head. But they’re not the only ones interested in Salvation’s End…

Deep within the false moon, the tyrannical Vault Lord conquers vault after vault, spreading their influence and subjugating the residents of every vault in their path. Now, the free residents of Salvation’s End have come to two conclusions: the Vault Lord must be stopped, and they’ll need to work together to defeat them.

Join the Starfinder Society, the free citizens of Salvation’s End, and the mysterious Guiding Intelligence in a joint attack against the Vault Lord within the very heart of their realm: the vault of Xin-Tsalash!

Pathfinder Quest (Series 2) #22: Friends in Need

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

The Tskikha iruxi enclave has long been a staunch ally of the Pathfinder Society. Their enclave's location near some elementally attuned Azlanti ruins has given the Society a wealth of research opportunities while allowing them to protect the iruxi from the dangers in the ruins, which have a tendency to cause trouble. Recently they seem to have attracted some elemental scamps, which are causing mischief and chaos throughout the enclave. The Tskikha have once again called upon their allies for help.

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.

---

Bring Pathfinder to where you are, in person or online, and if you don’t have a favorite local game store, get books delivered to your door via a Paizo Subscription! From rulebooks to adventures, accessories, and more, we’ve got subscriptions for every table! Subscribing to a line of books gets you the physical book and the PDF for one price! Subscribe to four lines or more to unlock Paizo Advantage savings on products site-wide!

Thank you for playing Starfinder and Pathfinder!

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