With the Round 2 votes in, we're down to the final four in our Bestiary 5 previews!
Remember Remember, It's Bestiary 5 This November!
Thursday, November 5th, 2015
With the Round 2 votes in, we're down to the final four in our Bestiary 5 previews! Without further ado, let's get them in our lineup and presented for you to win a copy of Bestiary 5 with your winning votes!
Illustrations by Ben Wootten and Tomasz Chistowski
Wyrmwraith CR ??
This ghostly, skeletal creature appears to once have been a dragon, but it is now something far less noble.
Organization solitary or cadre (1 plus 2–4 dread wraiths)
Treasure double
A clear winner with over a two-to-one margin, the Wyrmwraith crushed the Thought Eater out of the competition—and given its options, I can only imagine the manner in which it did so... Wait, what is this "phase lurch" ability?
Deep Merfolk CR ??
This gaunt mermaid has a long, semitransparent tail with a vivid red crest and caudal fin.
Defensive Abilities deep dweller, semitransparent; Resist cold 5
Weaknesses light sensitivity
Ecology
Ecology any oceans (trenches)
Organization solitary, family (2–4), or tribe (10–15)
Treasure standard (spear, other treasure)
Mortal flesh meant immortal doom for the Twilight Pitri Manasaputra, and the Deep Merfolk triumphed, though not as overwhelmingly so. The outcome of this match-up between the Wyrmwraith and the Deep Merfolk is going to be in the dark—after all, they are rather sensitive to the light...
Accountant Ashley Kaprielian: "Two creatures of darkness enter this battle. Will the Wyrmwraith’s hate light the way to the merfolk’s demise? Or will the merfolk lead the Wyrmwraith down a false path and give it what it needs the most—the end of its undead existence."
Customer Service Representative Diego Valdez: "A giant green, glowing, skeleton dragon!? Good thing merfolk are good swimmers! I bet undead dragons aren’t bad swimmers themselves though, what with the being undead and not needing to breathe. Goodbye Deep Merfolk!"
Designer Mark Seifter: "It looks like the Deep Merfolk is trying to use its semitransparency ability to hide, but the Wyrmwraith’s lifesense gives it the advantage. While the Deep Merfolk might still manage to get in a lucky sneak attack, all the Wyrmwraith has to do is change from ectoplasmic to incorporeal form for a sure victory."
Illustrations by Jose Parodi and Daniel López
Pakalchi Sahkil CR ??
Thorny vines with tiny red flowers grow from this emaciated woman and flow like a train behind her.
DR 10/good; Immune death effects, disease, fear effects, poison; Resist cold 10, electricity 10, sonic 10; SR 20
Statistics
SQ ???, ???, skip between
Ecology
Ecology any (Ethereal Plane)
Organization solitary, pair, or plot (3–7)
Treasure standard
As Mark predicted, the Su and its whelps were no match for the Pakalchi Sahkil, who tore apart their familial bonds with a whisper. Make no mistake, the Pakalchi Sahkil is poison!
Lotus Leshy CR ??
A plant whose body resembles a blooming lotus flower exudes an air of serenity.
The Lotus Leshy won out against the Roiling Oil, and is now head to head against the Pakalchi Sahkil—it's a Battle of the Flowers! The sahkil's poison won't affect the leshy, but will the leshy's aura be enough to deny the sahkil?
Ashley: "This leshy might be small, but it could be the only thing able to sooth the nightmare of this Pakalchi into a sweet dream. The Pakalchi’s thorny vines might squeeze all of the hope out of our little leshy before that’s possible though. This will be a knock-down, drag-out fight between the breaker and the unbroken!"
Diego: "The Pakalchi has those terrifying vines with all the thorns, but really, look at the Leshy. Can even an NE creature bring itself to tear apart something that adorable!? While the Pakalchi is cooing at the cuteness, the Leshy will serenely tear it to bits."
Mark: "The pakalchi is a terror in more ways than one, but the leshy is proving a thorn in her side. The cute contemplative is immune to her fear aura and dominate power, and so it's keeping its distance from her entangling train, dealing with the minor damage from her ranged thorns and pelting her with dream pollen. Eventually she’s going to fall asleep, so I’m tentatively calling this one for the leshy!”
Now that you've seen the entrants for Round 3, head on over to the Voting Booth to place your bets! If you vote on a winning creature, you'll increase your chances to win a signed copy of Bestiary 5, or be one of four winners of a digital version! The third round of voting closes at 12:00 PM Pacific time on November 12th, 2015, and remember, each round will give you more chances to win!
Bestiary 5 is creeping, crawling, slithering, and sneaking its way to you soon—it's time for some previews! But we're gonna shake things up a bit, and give you the opportunity to choose what you want to see, not to mention a chance to win a signed copy of Bestiary 5 when it releases!
It's a Fight to the Finish!
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Bestiary 5 is creeping, crawling, slithering, and sneaking its way to you soon—it's time for some previews! But we're gonna shake things up a bit, and give you the opportunity to choose what you want to see, not to mention a chance to win a signed copy of Bestiary 5 when it releases!
If any of you have been to PaizoCon and had a chance to play "Green Blood on a Black Rock", you'll have a great idea of what to expect in this elimination-style event. All of these creatures are brand new, unseen in any of our other books—but this time, we're leaving the choice of which ones you'll get the details on to you! As each round progresses, we'll reveal more information, starting with their name and a full picture.
With that out of the way, let's get ready to rumble, and meet our contestants!
Aberration vs. Monstrous Humanoid, Animal vs. Plant
Our Aberration would love to sit down and think about deep, meaningful topics with you, and our Monstrous Humanoid would love to have a long shuffle on the ocean beach, and it's flora and fauna puttin' up their dukes, and who's gonna win this one: small and fierce, or cute and cuddly?
Construct vs. Outsider A, Dragon vs. Outsider B
Will this crafted being be able to conquer a creature formed from the very fabric of existence, and this is no ordinary Dragon that the Outsider will be facing—but this Outsider has powers at its command that even dragons should fear!
Fey vs. Undead, Humanoid vs. Outsider C
Clearly our Fey might just like to have a good time—will they set the glass down long enough to face against this ferocious four-legged Undead? Mortal pit against immortal: who will win? The candle that burns twice as bright, but half as long, or the embodiment of endless and immutable forces?
Magical Beast A vs. Magical Beast B, Ooze vs. Vermin
We're pitting these two Magical Beasts against each other—time to see who really can conquer mind over matter! I'm pretty sure if you dipped our Vermin in the Ooze, it might make a tasty tempura treat...but I don't think they'd like that much!
What are you waiting for? Place your bets in the voting booth and give yourself a chance to win a signed copy of Bestiary 5—as well as a chance to receive one of four Bestiary 5 PDFs! The first round of voting closes at 12:00 PM Pacific time on October 28, 2015, and remember, each round will give you more chances to win!
Illustrations by Rogier van de Beek, Alexandru Sabo, and Daniel López
And because I know you've all been super-patient for some art, I'm gonna whet your appetites with a trio of goodies that caught my attention (I blame Diablo III).
Subscribers are beginning to get a peek at the gateway to the unseen world in Occult Adventures, which officially hits game store shelves and the convention floor at Gen Con on July 29! Since our art department has been keeping a fairly low profile, I wanted to take over and give you another preview of the artwork gracing the pages of this book. Enjoy these selections from Occult Adventures!
Subscribers are beginning to get a peek at the gateway to the unseen world in Occult Adventures, which officially hits game store shelves and the convention floor at Gen Con on July 29! Since our art department has been keeping a fairly low profile, I wanted to take over and give you another preview of the artwork gracing the pages of this book. Enjoy these selections from Occult Adventures!
Illustrations by Igor Grechanyi and Subroto Bhaumik
Illustrations by Ivan Troitsky, David Alvarez, and Alexandru Sabo
When souls pass from the Material Plane to the Great Beyond, most speed through the Astral Plane on their way to final judgment and placement with in the fantastical outer planes. Other souls take a detour. Highly charged emotions shake them out of the stream of souls, and toward the esoteric gravity of the Negative Material Plane. Tragically, many of these souls are transformed into horrifying and dangerous undead creatures who haunt the multiverse unleash their malice and hate upon living creatures they encounter. A select few are able to pull themselves out of this horrid free fall. These phantoms push their way back through the Ethereal Plane until they find a psychically attuned individual to serves as anchor and sanctuary for their spirit.
Occult Adventures Class Preview: The Spiritualist
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Illustration by Alexandru Sabo
When souls pass from the Material Plane to the Great Beyond, most speed through the Astral Plane on their way to final judgment and placement with in the fantastical outer planes. Other souls take a detour. Highly charged emotions shake them out of the stream of souls, and toward the esoteric gravity of the Negative Material Plane. Tragically, many of these souls are transformed into horrifying and dangerous undead creatures who haunt the multiverse unleash their malice and hate upon living creatures they encounter. A select few are able to pull themselves out of this horrid free fall. These phantoms push their way back through the Ethereal Plane until they find a psychically attuned individual to serves as anchor and sanctuary for their spirit.
These psychic anchors are called spiritualists, but they are much more than a psychic haven for the phantom. The relationship between a spiritualist and its phantom is mutually beneficial. While the phantom is confined within her mind, it grants the spiritualist focus with skills tied to the phantom's powerful emotions, as well as powerful protections against mind-affecting effects. Furthermore, the spiritualist can manifest her harbored spirit partially or fully in either incorporeal or ectoplasmic form, gaining access to a powerful combat ally and scout. Coupling this relationship with spellcasting focusing on life, death, spirit, and ectoplasm manipulation, clearly a spiritualist commands forces beyond the pale.
During the Pathfinder RPG Occult Adventures playtest, it became clear that our list of phantom emotional aspects was incomplete. Especially missing was a powerful emotion that tied the phantom to the spiritualist in a closer, more intimate way. While we avoided making emotional focuses that were very positive in nature (after all, it's typically very strong negative emotions that makes a soul drift toward the Negative Material Plane), we added a dedication emotional as a companion to the zeal aspect helping fill the niche for those desiring to play a spiritualist that didn't entirely dwell within the super-negative spectrum of emotions. We also added despair to that list, as that emotion was a good fit for the more negative side of the spectrum. Aside some bits of minor fine-tuning, and a restructuring of the bonded manifestation ability, we took a close look at the phantom's ability to scout in incorporeal form via the etheric tether class feature. While an incorporeal phantom can still scout while outside of line of effect from its spiritualist master, the amount of time it can do so is much shorter than the playtest version of the class.
In the end, the spiritualist is a class that allows you to channel forces from beyond the grave, and some of the more spooky aspects of psychic magic. Next week, we will delve into different Occult Adventures class, so stay tuned.
The world hides many secrets, some strange, some wondrous, and others far too terrible for the rational mind to contain. In just over a month, we'll be unveiling some of these secrets with the release of Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Occult Adventures. Within the pages of this mysterious 272-page book, we'll uncover the secrets of the occult and detail those who wield its might. In the meantime, we'll be previewing all six of the book's new classes, and investigate a new type of spellcasting power to add to your game—psychic magic!
Occult Adventures Class Preview: The Occultist
Thursday, June 18, 2015
Illustration by Alexandru Sabo
The world hides many secrets, some strange, some wondrous, and others far too terrible for the rational mind to contain. In just over a month, we'll be unveiling some of these secrets with the release of Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Occult Adventures. Within the pages of this mysterious 272-page book, we'll uncover the secrets of the occult and detail those who wield its might. In the meantime, we'll be previewing all six of the book's new classes, and investigate a new type of spellcasting power to add to your game—psychic magic!
First up is a class that harnesses the intrinsic power of ancient or psychically charged items, and then channels mental power through these items to cast powerful psychic spells: the occultist.
The occultist is a psychic spellcaster who uses rare and powerful objects called implements to manifest his magic. Each implement belongs to a specific school of magic and, as the occultist grows in power, he gains the use of more and more of these implements, increasing his power and the number of spells he can cast. In addition, he has a reservoir of mental focus to invest into these implements. Doing so not only grants him additional abilities, he can expend that focus to create even more powerful effects.
For those who took part in the Occult Adventures playtest, you'll find a number of things have changed during the development of this class. The biggest change involves the resonant powers of implements. Such powers are gained by putting mental focus into the item and, when more focus is stored within it, the item's power increases. In the final version, these resonant powers are not diminished as the mental focus is spent. As long as there is at least one point of mental focus remaining, the power remains at full strength! To add to the fun, each implement also had a few additional focus powers you can choose from.
The occultist is also very skilled at using magic circles to protect allies and hinder foes. At higher levels the occultist can use these circles to a trap enemies. After the playtest, we added a new ability utilizing magic circles. The occultist can now create a magic circle to call upon a specific outsider—a contact from beyond that the occultist can bribe or intimidate in exchange for aid. The occultist can use this outsider to gather information and, at higher levels, that outsider can deliver messages or small objects for the occultist. As the occultist advances in level, he learns to call additional outsiders, creating a network of otherworldly allies.
Lastly, the occultist can cast psychic spells from the schools associated with his implements. Since these are psychic spells, he does not have to worry about somatic or verbal components, but he does have to have a clear mind and steady emotional state to properly channel this type of magic. These components are unique to psychic spellcasters and we'll be talking more about them in the coming weeks.
Well, those are all the secrets we dare share with you this week. Next week we'll be delving into the history of Rivani, and looking at the powers of the psychic!
