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Earth, Fire, and Shoanti

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

In the final months of the Year of the Stolen Storm, the Pathfinder Society has secured all but one piece of what it needs to destroy an artifact and unleash a powerful force of good. As we gear up for this finale, the organized play team is gearing up for Gen Con—all three Pathfinder Society scenarios, three Starfinder Society scenarios, a Pathfinder Society multi-table interactive special, a Starfinder Society pregenerated character special, five new Starfinder Society quests, a huge portion of the Adventure Card Guild's new season, and several dozen new boons for distribution at conventions over the course of the year. Of course we have precious few weeks to go before those start arriving in Gen Con GMs' downloads, and there are several exciting scenarios coming out this week.

Season 8 has had its share of metaplot adventures, and it's nice to take a break every now and then to get back to the basics—and by basics I mean Varisia, goblins, and Shoanti. I think Pathfinder Society Scenario #8-22: Wrath of the Fleshwarped Queen ended up being Brian Duckwitz's dream Tier 1-5 scenario, and he met our outline with open arms and added his own flair. Brace yourselves for ancient magic, goblinoid ambitions, and a suite of new goblins songs that are all rather charming. We've included art by Alim Kaliberda of one of the starring goblins who just can't stop grinning, and I think you'll find the expression quite infectious during this adventure.

From the development team's perspective, this scenario also presented a few special opportunities. First, it's been an excellent opportunity to revisit western Varisia and explore consequences of the Society's earlier adventures in the region. After all, word has circulated for several years about what the Pathfinder accomplished in Korvosa, Magnimar, and beyond during Seasons 3 and 4. Second, when we first started sanctioning Pathfinder Player Companion: Paths of Prestige, Linda and I wanted to include several prestige classes as unlockable content grounded in the campaign setting by upcoming stories. Wrath of the Fleshwarped Queen is the first of these. Don't worry about playing it with the "right" character; the boon that accompanies this adventure opens up the character option for all of a player's PCs.

Meanwhile, the Society's busily engaged in its namesake task: finding paths. The final piece of its artifact-destroying puzzle is not an object so much as a place, and in Pathfinder Society Scenario #8-23: Graves of Crystalmaw Pass the PCs are responsible for plotting a course through dangerous terrain on the Plane of Earth and tracking down a long-lost contact believed to reside in the region (you might enjoy experiencing Pathfinder Society Scenario #7-13: Captive in Crystal first, though the adventure stands well on its own). Kalervo Oikarinen's done some great things with this Tier 3-7 scenario, including the depth he's brought to the native outsiders who live, work, and survive in the elemental planes. We've also been delighted to explore how matters like art and divine representation can manifest among non-anthropomorphic species, and this adventure delivers many such curiosities along with its engaging story.

Illustrations by Alim Kaliberda

An Update for Gen Con GMs: Scenario development is on-track to deliver scenarios to you at least two weeks before Gen Con, with Starfinder Society adventures landing in your downloads approximately three weeks before the convention. Starfinder Society GMs at Gen Con can expect to receive a copy of the rules in mid-July.

At last check, we could still use a few more GMs at Gen Con 2017. If you're interested in volunteering to GM one or more games at the convention, please complete this questionnaire to let us know of your interest and availability.

John Compton
Organized Play Lead Developer

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Tags: Alim Kaliberda Organized Play Pathfinder Society Pathfinder Society Scenarios
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Liberty's Edge *
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Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber

*Ahem* as of last notice, that should say Starfinder GMs will receive a modified/abridged copy of the rules. Has this plan changed, or should expectations be re-managed in the above blog?
Silver Crusade 1/5 Contributor
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Good to see Paths of the Righteous getting some attention for Society. ^_^
4/5 *
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That goblin portrait is the bomb.
Grand Lodge 4/5 5/55/55/55/5 ***** Venture-Captain, Minnesota
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Oh... new Goblin Songs!? I cannot wait to see this one! My very first PbP turned into We Be Goblins the Musical!

All of these adventures sound interesting!

Reckless wrote:
*Ahem* as of last notice, that should say Starfinder GMs will receive a modified/abridged copy of the rules. Has this plan changed, or should expectations be re-managed in the above blog?

I do think it's interesting that they are providing Starfinder GMs at Gencon with a stripped down version of the Starfinder Core rulebook in our downloads.

Thinking about this... Okay, there are what... 100 or so Starfinder GenCon GMs? Won't it cost more in staff time to strip the book down then it would in lost sales to those GMs? Maybe my math is off, but I am wondering about stripping the book down before sending it to us, when it was already completed. This makes even less sense if Starfinder turns out to be the GenCon GM reward, as so many of us are hoping!

Oh well. You know that I had planned to buy it in PDF anyway... And maybe I don't have the full story on the cost / benefit ratio of this decision.

Whatever happens, I am ecstatic that you are getting the ruleset and scenarios to us early. Well-prepped GMs make for happy tables!

Thank you.

Hmm
Liberty's Edge 5/5

Now I'm all curious which prestige class will get unlocked... there is an obvious guess.
Liberty's Edge 4/5 5/55/55/5 ****

Getting excited to see what Starfinder has to off and receiving whatever is offer in the rules. Hand me the NDA and I will sign now!
4/5 ****

"first started sanctioning Pathfinder Player Companion: Paths of Prestige"

Your link goes to Paths of the Righteous.
4/5 5/5 **** Venture-Lieutenant, Massachusetts—Boston Metro
1 person marked this as a favorite.

When is the Additional Resources being updated? This makes two scenarios that reference an update that doesn't exist.
EDIT:
Not complaining. Just kind of eager to play some of this content.

Pirate Rob wrote:

"first started sanctioning Pathfinder Player Companion: Paths of Prestige"

Your link goes to Paths of the Righteous.

Its Paths of the Righteous. Not the other book.

Liberty's Edge 4/5 5/55/5 **
Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

Interesting if they don't give the entire StarFinder PDF to the GenCon GMs, they did give the entire pdf to the GMs at GenCon for Pathfinder the year that came out.
Paizo Employee 4/5 ** Developer

Oooh I bet the prestige class is runeguard!
Paizo Employee 4/5 Pathfinder Society Lead Developer
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Pirate Rob wrote:

"first started sanctioning Pathfinder Player Companion: Paths of Prestige"

Your link goes to Paths of the Righteous.

That's because my mind consistently confuses the two titles, so I likely grabbed the wrong name with the right link. Let's see if we can get that fixed.

Advocates 3/5 5/55/55/55/5 **** Venture-Agent, Illinois—Chicago

I bought 8-22 for GMing it, and had a question.

boon spoiler:
how is it possible to take run guard, even when legal? It requires Scribe Scroll, which is definitely not PFS legal. Is this an oversight?
4/5

Of course, the more important question is: When is the Prestigious Spellcaster feat going to be unlocked, if ever? It's kind of a cruel tease to have its prerequisite, Favored Prestige Class, sitting there in the Additional Resources all alone. It's like a dissonant chord in need of resolution.
4/5 5/5 **** Venture-Lieutenant, Massachusetts—Boston Metro
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Lindley Court wrote:

I bought 8-22 for GMing it, and had a question.

** spoiler omitted **

My assumption is that its what the missing Campaign Clarification is for.

Grand Lodge 4/5 **** Developer
3 people marked this as a favorite.
Lindley Court wrote:

I bought 8-22 for GMing it, and had a question.

** spoiler omitted **

More information about that boon:

In Pathfinder Society, Runeguards get Spell Focus instead of Scribe Scroll. We also have the following clarifications and changes that will be added to the next update of the Campaign Clarifications document.
*The rune of charity does not allow for the transfer of spells centered on the caster, such as antimagic field. It does allow the transfer of personal spells, so long as the spells level does not exceed the runeguard's level –2.
*The bonuses from the runes of generosity and humility last until the end of the target's next turn.
*For the rune of zeal, any effects that would reduce the effective level of the metamagic, such as the magical lineage trait, do not apply when determining which metamagic feats "only use up a spell slot 1 level higher".

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Grave Treader looks a lot like a Shoanti Moonmaiden. :D
Scarab Sages 5/5 5/5 *** Venture-Captain, Netherlands

MOAR GOBLINS!

MOAR GOBLIN SONGS!!!!
Grand Lodge 4/5 **** Developer
1 person marked this as a favorite.
Linda Zayas-Palmer wrote:


** spoiler omitted **

A few more notes on that, courtesy of questions in the 8–22 GM thread.:

*Replace the Scribe Scroll *prerequisite* with Spell Focus. The prestige class does not grant Scribe Scroll.
*There was a question about how the capstone power, which replicates permanency, works in Pathfinder Society. When using this power, the spell lasts until the end of the adventure.

Liberty's Edge 4/5

Can we assume after GenCon more sanctioned content will be released?
Paizo Employee 4/5 Pathfinder Society Lead Developer
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Mike McKeown wrote:
Can we assume after GenCon more sanctioned content will be released?

Sanctioning content has always remained on our to-do list, and the odds are good we'll see more Adventure Paths sanctioned for play in the second half of 2017.

Grand Lodge 4/5 5/55/5 ***
2 people marked this as a favorite.
John Compton wrote:
An Update for Gen Con GMs: Scenario development is on-track to deliver scenarios to you at least two weeks before Gen Con, with Starfinder Society adventures landing in your downloads approximately three weeks before the convention. Starfinder Society GMs at Gen Con can expect to receive a copy of the rules in mid-July.

This is the part that excites me the most. Thank you John and the whole PFS/SFS development team for your hard work and dedication!

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