Unleashing Horror Adventures

Thursday, July 21, 2016

At PaizoCon's "Horror in RPGs" seminars, in products like Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Rule of Fear, and pretty much wherever else I'm given the chance, I've talked quite a bit about how to run unsettling Pathfinder games(—you're all coming to our Horror in Pathfinder event at Gen Con, right?). In writing Chapter 6 of Pathfinder RPG: Horror Adventures, Running Horror Adventures (and in the book's section on "Playing Horror a Hero"), I've compiled some of my creepiest techniques and gaming philosophies, sharing them to help all you GMs out there make your Pathfinder games truly frightening.

But creating a truly unnerving game isn't as simple as choosing the scariest monsters and dreaming up spooky plots. To that end, the chapter starts by asking what you're trying to accomplish by running a horror game. A horror game is—obviously—meant to be "horrifying," but who are you as the GM trying to horrify? The characters or the players? And, in either case, are the players cool with that? The GM and players being of the same mind regarding the experience they're sharing is one of the most overlooked but most important parts of running a horror game, so we cover all that right up front.

Once we're certain everyone's in for horror, the chapter delves into a discussion of several popular horror genres—like cosmic horror, ghost stories, gothic horror, and others. Beyond just the themes and plots associated with these genres, each explores tools in the Pathfinder RPG that can help you affect these specific modes of terror. Want to know what monsters work best for slasher horror? No prob. Want some basic and advanced plots for running psychological horror games? I've got you covered. Not sure what a body horror game is? Oh boy, do I have some stories for you.

Illustrations by Mariana Fernandes and Chris Knight

But even the best rules and plots are only stepping-stones to creating unsettling game experiences. Therefore, a meaty chunk of the chapter provides some of my favorite tips for steeping your game in an ambiance that lets fear flourish. These go beyond just tips for lighting and sound, providing simple and reasonable theatrics GMs can employ to keep their players engaged, as well as ways players can contribute to a sense of fear and mystery. Maybe even more useful, there's also a solid list of things NOT to try.

One of the most important elements of building a game's atmosphere, though, is to keep up the momentum. There's nothing creepy about interrupting the game to flip through rulebooks for 10 minutes. So, to help avoid that, the chapter's final section covers rules ad-libbing. These are things you can do to use the rules you know (or have on hand) to roll with whatever crazy scheme the players come up with. Beyond just telling you what every veteran GM already knows—that you can tinker with the rules as much as you want—this section gives you a step-by-step process on how to think like an ad-liber and how to kit-bash whatever rules you need on the fly. As a result, it walks you through how to run situations like being buried alive or burned at the stake using bits from the rules toolbox you already have.

Overall, the chapter is designed to be a guide to running horror games, but there are a ton of tools here to add to your bag of GMing tricks. Chapter 6 of Horror Adventures helps you learn what sort of story your players are up for, assists you in setting the stage, and then gives you techniques to make PCs dread what's to come. Those skills are handy for running a horror game, but, in my opinion, they're vital to any Pathfinder game you want to make truly memorable.

Pathfinder RPG: Horror Adventures debuts in just a few short weeks. Look for it here on paizo.com, your local game store, or at the Paizo booth at Gen Con!

F. Wesley Schneider
Editor-in-Chief

Got Those Summertime, Those Summertime Adventures

Thursday, June 30, 2016

Summer has arrived, convention season is at full-tilt, and in just a few short weeks Paizo staffers and gamers from all over will be heading to Gen Con 2016 in sunny Indianapolis! The show is always highly anticipated both because it's a great opportunity to get to see masses of gamers all together in one place to celebrate their hobby, and because new and exciting Paizo releases tend to drop at the show. But before we load up the trucks and ship off, let's take a look at what's coming out and what we've announced since last time we spoke.

Just yesterday we saw the official release of:

• Pathfinder Adventure Path #107: Scourge of the Godclaw (Hell's Vengeance 5 of 6)
• Pathfinder Adventure Card Game—Class Deck: Witch
• Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Path of the Hellknight
• Pathfinder Player Companion: Spymaster's Handbook
• Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Bigger Dungeon
• Pathfinder Map Pack: Perilous Paths
• Pathfinder Tales: Liar's Bargain
• Pathfinder Society Scenario #7-24: Dead Man's Debt
• Pathfinder Society Scenario #7-25: Orders from the Gate
• Pathfinder Society Scenario #7-26—All for Immortality, Part 2: All the Gods Beyond

Preparations for next month's releases start really ramping up in earnest when we return to the offices on Tuesday, July 5. Given the amount of awesome that we've got to pack into boxes and onto pallets, I think you'll get pretty excited about the previews that will start up for these products too. We've got plenty of terrors lurking in Horror Adventures, the conclusion to the Hell's Vengeance Adventure Path, the close of Season 7 of the Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild (as well as the start of Season 8 at Gen Con itself), and more goblins than you can shake a stick at (you probably want to grab something more effective than a stick, though)!

Illustration by Caio Maciel Monterio
from We B4 Goblins!

• Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Horror Adventures
• Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook Pocket Edition
• Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary Pocket Edition
• Pathfinder Adventure Path #108: Hell Comes to Westcrown (Hell's Vengeance 6 of 6)
• Pathfinder Module: Gallows of Madness
• Pathfinder Adventure Card Game—Class Deck: Goblins Burn!
• Pathfinder Adventure Card Game—Class Deck: Goblins Fight!
• Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Hell's Vengeance Poster Map Folio
• Pathfinder Player Companion: Legacy of Dragons
• Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Lost City
• Pathfinder Pawns: Pathfinder Society Pawn Collection
• Pathfinder Society Scenario #7-27: Beyond the Azlant Ridge
• Pathfinder Society Scenario #7-28: Ageless Ambitions
• Pathfinder Society Scenario #7-29—All for Immortality, Part 3: Serpents Fall
• Pathfinder Society Scenario #8-01: Portent's Peril
• Pathfinder Society Scenario #8-02: Ward Asunder
• Pathfinder Society Scenario #8-03: Captives of Toil
• Pathfinder Society Quest: Honor's Echo

In addition to those monthly releases, you'll also be able to start picking up copies of our Free RPG Day 2016 products tomorrow, Friday, July 1st!

• Pathfinder Module: We B4 Goblins!
• Pathfinder Adventure Card Game—Promo: Tup

And, if you're a subscriber who is planning on attending Gen Con 2016, you'll want to check out our July 2016 New Release Shipping & Gen Con Pick Up thread in the Customer Service forums for instructions on how to pick up your subscription items at the Paizo booth. Opt-in for Gen Con pick up ends on July 14th, so don't delay!

Keen eyes may have noticed that we've been suspiciously quiet about Horror Adventures, but that will soon change! Starting next week we'll be creaking open its pages to deliver horrific, delightful previews on the Paizo blog. However, you're quite lucky in that I happen to have snuck away to bring you a couple teasers...

Illustrations by Tomasz Chistowski, Chris Knight, Rudy Siswanto, and Dave Allsop

As soon as we know summer has come, winter will soon follow. Before I leave you, let's take a quick look at what's ahead in December and January:

• Pathfinder Adventure Path #113: What Grows Within (Strange Aeons 5 of 6)
• Pathfinder Adventure Path #114: Black Stars Beckon (Strange Aeons 6 of 6)
• Pathfinder Adventure Card Game—Mummy's Mask Deck 3: Shifting Sands
• Pathfinder Adventure Card Game—Mummy's Mask Deck 4: Secrets of the Sphinx
• Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Qadira, Jewel of the East
• Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Strange Aeons Poster Map Folio
• Pathfinder Player Companion: Healer's Handbook
• Pathfinder Player Companion: Heroes of the High Court
• Pathfinder Flip-Mat Classics: Arena
• Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Elemental Planes Multi-Pack
• Pathfinder Map Pack: Armada
• Pathfinder Tales: Reaper's Eye

Until next we meet, stay safe in your convention travels and enjoy your summertime tabletop adventures!

Chris Lambertz
Community & Digital Content Director