Druid Class Preview

Monday, July 23, 2018

Druids are practitioners of primal magic, which blends vital essence (the essence of life, instinct, and faith) with material essence (the essence of matter and the natural world). Thus, primal traditions are rooted in an instinctual connection with and faith in the surrounding world: the cycle of day and night, the turning of the seasons, and the natural selection of predator and prey. Druids are the iconic primal spellcasters; they call upon the power of nature for magic through their deep faith, as opposed to primal sorcerers, who harness the power of fey or other natural creatures that flows through their blood to access the same sorts of primal energies.

Since this is the last class, before we go deeper into the druid's mechanics, I want to show you some extra pieces each class has that you might not know about. Every class entry starts with some bullet points to help you get a feel for what playing the class might be like.

Playing a Druid

Players of druid characters might approach gameplay in the following ways:

• During combat, you call upon the forces of nature to defeat your enemies and protect your allies. You can cast spells drawing upon primal magic to summon deadly animals to fight at your side, grant resilience to you and your friends, or heal their wounds. Depending on your bond to nature, you might also call upon powerful elemental magic or even change shape into a terrifying beast to fight with tooth and claw.
• During social encounters, you represent balance and a reasoned approach to problems, looking for solutions that not only are best for the natural world, but also allow the creatures within it to live in harmony and peace. You often propose compromises that allow both sides to gain what they truly need, even if they can't have all that they desire.
• In exploration mode, your skills in nature are invaluable. You can track down enemies, navigate through the wilderness, or use your spells to detect any magical auras around you. You might even ask wild animals to assist your group in your travels with their extraordinary senses and scouting abilities.
• In downtime mode, you might craft magic items or potions. Alternatively, your tie to nature might lead you to tend to an area of the wild, befriending its beasts and healing the wounds caused by civilization. You might even attempt to teach people sustainable techniques that allow them to subsist off the land without harming the natural balance.

Roleplaying a Druid

Druids are the living embodiment of nature, acting as its agent; you protect the wild places from harm and speak for their interests in more civilized lands.

If You're a Druid, You Likely...

• Have a deep and meaningful respect for the power of nature.
• Are in constant awe of the natural world, eager to share it with others but cautious of their influence.
• Treat plants and animals as allies in your quest, working with them toward your goals.

Others Probably...

• View you as a representative of nature, and might even assume you can control it.
• Assume you're a recluse who avoids society and cities, preferring to live in the wild.
• Treat you as a mystic, similar to a priest, but answering only to the forces of nature.

Illustration by Wayne Reynolds

Spellcasting

Druids are full prepared spellcasters, able to cast the same number of spells per day as the cleric and bard, rather than gaining extra spells through bloodlines or schools as the sorcerer and wizard do. However, just as the cleric has channel energy and the bard has compositions, the druid has more than enough tricks up her sleeve to make her a primal powerhouse. And figuring those out starts with...

Orders

As the druid's initial architect, Jason pulled the concept of orders from the sidelines of lore directly into the spotlight, making your choice of order a major part of your druid. As with the bard's muse, you can choose abilities that belong to another order, but unlike for the bard, you gain extra benefits from feats and abilities that belong to your own order, incentivizing you to check out your own order's feats first. An order member gains a new skill and an order power that druids of other orders can't gain, and each order adds its own component to the basic druid anathema forbidding actions like despoiling nature. The four orders presented in the playtest are animal, leaf, storm, and wild, though more orders are all but certain to arise.

Animal

An animal druid (known by names like druid of the claw or druid of the wing depending on her preferred animal) has a strong connection to animals. She is trained in Athletics, which is a signature skill for her. She also gains the heal animal order power (exclusive to that members of order) and the Animal Companion feat. Committing wanton cruelty to animals or killing them unnecessarily is anathema to her. (This doesn't prevent her from defending herself against animals or killing them cleanly for food.)

This is the order that's all about having the coolest animal companion. Other druids can easily get an animal companion (and they're a solid choice for all druids) and take the same upgrade feats, but with each feat, the animal order druid will get something cool or extra for the animal. As an example, an animal druid's companion can have multiple specializations, which are like animal companion archetypes, if the animal druid commits more to this path.

Leaf

A druid of the leaf reveres plants and the bounty of nature, acting as a caretaker and warden for the wilderness, teaching sustainable techniques, and helping areas regrow after disasters or negligent humanoid expansion. She is trained in Diplomacy, which is a signature skill for her. She also gains the Leshy Familiar druid feat and the goodberry order power (exclusive to that members of order). Committing wanton cruelty to plants or killing plants unnecessarily is anathema to her. (This doesn't prevent her from defending herself against plants or harvesting them if necessary for survival.)

This style of druid is all about plants, with options including Verdant Metamorphosis, where you flat-out become a plant, and the druid of the leaf's leshy familiar, which has more powers than a typical familiar. Let's check out Verdant Metamorphosis to see a special benefit only druids of the leaf receive:

Verdant Metamorphosis Feat 18

Druid

Leaf Order

You transform into a plant version of yourself. You gain the plant trait and lose any trait that's inappropriate for your new form (typically humanoid). You can change from a form that looks mostly like your old self into a tree or any other non-creature plant as an action (this action has the concentrate trait). Perception checks don't reveal your true form, but a creature can attempt a Nature or Survival check against your class DC to determine that the plant is new to the surrounding area. While in this form, you can observe everything around you, but you can't act other than to spend an action (this action has the concentrate trait) to change back, which ends your turn. In this form, your AC is 30, your TAC is 20, only conditional bonuses, conditional penalties, and circumstance bonuses and penalties can affect you, and you treat all successes and critical successes on Reflex saves as failures.

Special If you are a druid of the leaf order, if you transform into a non-creature plant and take your daily rest during daylight hours, the rest restores you to maximum Hit Points and removes all non-permanent drained, enfeebled, sluggish, and stupefied conditions.

Storm

A druid of the storm carries nature's fury within her, channeling it to terrifying effect and riding the winds and storms. She is trained in Acrobatics, which is a signature skill for her. She also gains the Storm Born druid feat and the tempest surge order power (exclusive to that members of order). Creating unnatural weather patterns that could be damaging to the local environment (such as by using a 9th-level control weather ritual) is anathema to her.

In addition to healing magic, the primal list contains powerful energy blasts, including fireball and other spells newly available to druids. Armed with this magic, druids of the storm are elemental dynamos who focus on the power of the tempest, flying around in storms and ignoring penalties from weather. Notably, their tempest surge order power is an extremely good blast for a 1 Spell Point power, particularly after if they take a feat that ups the d10s to d12s. Let's take a look, since you'll be slinging it around a bunch of times each day.

Tempest Surge Power 1

Air

Electricity

Evocation

Casting [[A]] Somatic Casting, [[A]] Verbal Casting

Range 30 feet; Targets one creature

---

You surround a foe in a swirling storm of violent winds, roiling clouds, and crackling lightning. The storm deals 1d10 electricity damage to the target, depending on their Reflex saving throw.

Success Half damage.

Critical Success No damage.

Failure Full damage, and the target is sluggish 1 for 1 round.

Critical Failure Double damage, and the target is sluggish 2 for 1 round.

Heightened (+1) The damage increases by 1d10.

After increasing the damage to d12s, the damage scales at the same rate as lightning bolt. But it doesn't just deal damage! The sluggish condition penalizes AC, attack rolls, and Reflex saves, so taking double damage on the critical failure is just the beginning of the horrible pain. When we were playtesting, every creature that critically failed against tempest surge was in for a very bad round.

Wild

The savage, uncontrollable call of the natural world infuses a druid of the wild, granting her the ability to change her shape into the ferocious form of a wild creature. She is trained in Intimidation, which becomes a signature skill for her. She also gains the Wild Shape druid feat and the wild claws order power (exclusive to that members of order). Becoming fully domesticated by the temptations of civilization is anathema to her. (This doesn't prevent her from buying and using processed goods or staying in a city for an adventure, but she can never come to rely on these conveniences or truly call such a place her permanent home.)

Notice the wild order druid starts with Wild Shape? Any druid with Wild Shape feats gets a free extra casting of certain polymorph spells, heightened to her highest possible level, eventually rising up to two free castings if the druid takes enough Wild Shape feats. But the thing that makes a wild order druid particularly different is that, in addition to these, she gains a number of additional bonus castings of these spells equal to her Strength modifier (if it's more than 1). That means a druid of the wild tends towards higher Strength than a typical member of other orders.

Druid Features

Aside from an order, you gain spellcasting and primal spell proficiency at the same levels as all the other spellcasters, new spell levels at every odd level save 19th, expert proficiency in primal spells at 12th level, master proficiency at 16th level, and legendary proficiency at 19th level. You also get the secret Druidic language (don't teach it to nondruids—that's anathema!) and wild empathy, which lets you use Diplomacy to Make a Request of animals, and possibly of plants if you're a leaf order aficionado.

Druid Feats

I covered many feats that connect to orders, but many feats aren't affiliated, like this powerhouse:

[[F]] Leyline Conduit Feat 20

Druid

Metamagic

Frequency once per minute

Trigger You start to cast a spell of 5th level or lower that has no duration and a maximum of 2 spellcasting actions.

---

You add a Somatic Casting action to the casting of the triggering spell, and you don't expend the prepared spell as you cast it.

This means every minute, you can cast a 5th level or lower spell without expending it. That's really useful! There are some interesting effects of how Jason designed this feat, though, that make it more than just a simple repetition, particularly the fact that you can use Leyline Conduit only if you were already able to cast the spell, meaning you had to prepare it and then avoid using it up by casting it without Leyline Conduit. So the feat gives you somewhat limitless uses of the spell, but if you really need to cast it again before the minute is up, while Leyline Conduit is unavailable, you'll expend the spell for real (at least for the rest of the day).

Animal Companions

Before I go, let's talk about animal companions. While Jason was deep in preliminary design of the druid, he bestowed upon me a strange primal chart of flowing options, almost in Druidic itself, and explained it to me. This chart combined all the best aspects of the 4th- and 7th-level animal companion advancements with animal companion archetypes and new unique features for each different animal, all while moving away from having to make tons of basic feat selections for the companion. What I built from that chart was the first draft of the animal companion system in the playtest. Let's show off the companion most often overlooked in Pathfinder First Edition, the noble bear. The bear has generated a plethora of threads dedicated to how neglected it is, so let's see how the playtest handles it.

Bear

Your companion is a grizzly, panda, polar bear, or other type of bear.

Size Small

[[A]] UnarmedStrikes jaws, Damage 1d8 piercing;

claw (agile), Damage 1d6 slashing

Abilities Str, Con

Hit Points 8

Skill Intimidation

Senses scent

Speed 35 feet

Work Together Benefit Your bear mauls your enemies when you create an opening. Until your next turn, all your weapon Strikes against a creature your bear threatens deal 1d8 additional slashing damage. If your bear has a specialization, the additional slashing damage increases to 2d8.

Advanced Maneuver Bear Hug

[[A]]Bear Hug

Requirements Your last action was a successful claw Strike.

---

Make another claw Strike against the same target. If your Strike hits, the target is also grabbed, as if you had succeeded at the Grapple action.

The bear starts out Small. Don't worry—when it grows up, it can eventually become a Large bear (in the first book, too; there's no need to wait). The bear's boost in Strength and d8 damage die for its jaws make it the most directly damaging companion, tied with the snake, which it edges out in terms of Constitution, Hit Points, and land Speed. (The snake, for its part, has better AC and lots of special Speeds.) The Work Together benefit is something you can have the bear do instead of attack, and it again deals the most direct damage, adding 1d8 (later 2d8) to the damage of your weapon Strikes. The bear is a great companion for someone who plans, much like the bear itself, to wade into the thick of the fight. Finally, the bear can eventually learn the Bear Hug advanced maneuver. This maneuver essentially means that if the bear hits twice in a row, it gets a free automatic grapple. Handy for keeping foes in place!

So that about wraps up the druid. If you were a druid, which of the four orders would you be?

Mark Seifter
Designer

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

I have stared into the Abyss, and found it blinking back at me (it was a qlippoth). It is time to share the results of our design challenge contest, in which I tasked you, our fans, to take our iconics to the darker side of the alignment chart!

First of all, I would like to thank everybody for participating. There was a lot of really excellent entries, encompassing 29 different iconics, and all of them different enough from each other that I had a hard time choosing our finalists! Kyra the Cleric was the top favorite, with six different variations, followed by Jirelle the Swashbuckler, and all of the entries avoided the moustache-twirling evil that we try and avoid in our own antagonists. Well done, everyone! Let's get our runners-up out of the way, who will each earn $10 in store credit for their entries!

• Shardra, urban informant for hire, by MechaPoet
• Kyra Clone #666, by Duncan7291
• Vengeful Valeros, by WalterGM
• Ex-Gray Gardener Quinn, eyes of the House of Thrune, by NoMagicForYou
• Jirelle, first mate and monster, by TimD

But, as one of my cult favorite shows (and movie) says, there can be only one, and the winner is meloriel with a version of Lini the Druid. With a pretty universal reaction of " D: " among the staff that read the entry, this Lini embraces the darker, crueler aspects of nature.

Lini the Cruel—CR 3

After being viciously mauled by a snow leopard and left for dead by her Enclave, Lini managed to escape the beast with her life—barely. Horribly scarred and angry at both her kin and the beast, Lini treated her wounds as well as she could and bided her time, stalking the snow leopard over the course of days and learning its habits while using stealth and her magic to hide from its senses. Eventually Lini struck, sneaking into the snow leopard’s lair while it was out, killing all of its cubs and then beating the beast into submission (with heavy use of poisons). She turned the cubs pelts into a cloak, their teeth and claws into jewelry and spent the next two years breaking the snow leopard, viciously training it into her loyal defender. Now, she and Droogami stalk the lands as bandits and mercenaries, inflicting violence for coin and the sheer joy of it.

Stat Block:

XP 1,200

Female gnome druid (nature fang^ACG) 4

NE Small humanoid (gnome)

Init +3; Senses low-light vision; Perception +8

Defense

AC 17, touch 13, flat-footed 15 (+4 armor, +2 Dex, +1 size)

hp 33 (4d8+12)

Fort +7 (+5 circumstance bonus vs. cold weather), Ref +3, Will +6; +2 vs. illusions

Defensive Abilities defensive training; Resist cold 4

Offense

Speed 20 ft.

Melee +1 sickle +7 (1d4+1) or dagger +6 (1d3/19-20)

Ranged dart +6 (1d3)

Special Attacks hatred, sneak attack +1d6, studied target +1 (1st, move action)

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 4th; concentration +5)
1/day—dancing lights, ghost sound (DC 12), prestidigitation, speak with animals

Druid Spells Prepared (CL 4th; concentration +6)
2nd—barkskin, bull's strength, stone discus^ACG
1st—call animal^APG, charm animal (DC 13), cure light wounds, produce flame
0 (at will)—detect magic, detect poison, light, stabilize

Tactics

Before Combat Lini applies poison to her weapons daily or before engaging enemies (using blue whinnis only when she intends to take someone alive). If she knows she will be fighting in a building or facing multiple enemies she casts call animal and handles or charms the animal as necessary at least an hour before approaching. Once prepared, Lini stalks her prey from afar studying them (with studied target) and her surroundings before approaching. She uses stealth and the terrain to her advantage, hiding behind or atop of buildings, trees and other obstacles. Before fighting she casts barkskin and bull’s strength on herself.

During Combat If Lini has called an animal to her side she directs the animal first, typically pushing it to enter the building and attack everyone inside or to attack a large group of enemies. She does not expect the animal to survive such tactics and does not make any effort to save or assist it. After the animal is unleashed or, if there is no called animal, Lini and Droogami stalk as near to their targets as they can without being spotted, from opposite directions. Lini studies her target and attacks from hiding with one of her poisoned weapons or stone discus while Droogami fights in melee combat. Once enemies are aware of her presence Lini prefers to fight in close ranged combat with her darts or produce flame using Acrobatics to remain mobile. If the terrain provides potential cover she utilizes skirmishing tactics, breaking line of sight with her enemies, stealthing to a different location and attacking again from hiding to gain her sneak attack damage. Once personally engaged in melee combat Lini fights with her sickle, flanking with Droogami at all times. If wounded, Lini temporarily retreats from combat leaving Droogami to continue the fight, heals herself with her wand of cure light wounds and then returns to combat (preferably unnoticed). Lini takes the time to cure Droogami if he is below half of his hit points, but only if doing so won’t cause her any harm. She will not put herself in danger for Droogami.

Morale Lini values her life above all others and will happily sacrifice anyone, including Droogami, to protect herself. Unless Lini orders otherwise, Droogami fights to the death to protect her. If Lini is reduced to half of her hit points she retreats to heal herself while Droogami continues fighting. Once she is healed, if Droogami still lives, Lini reenters combat, otherwise she flees using acrobatics and stealth to her advantage and hiding if necessary.

Statistics

Str 10, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 12, Wis 15, Cha 13

Base Atk +3; CMB +2; CMD 14

Feats Skill Focus (Handle Animal), Weapon Finesse

Traits ambush training, local tough

Skills Acrobatics +4 (+0 to jump), Craft (alchemy) +7, Handle Animal +11, Heal +2 (+5 to treat poison), Intimidate +9, Knowledge (nature) +6, Perception +8, Ride +7, Spellcraft +5, Stealth +8, Survival +6; Racial Modifiers +2 Craft (alchemy), +2 Perception

Languages Common, Druidic, Gnome, Goblin, Sylvan

SQ gnome magic, nature bond (leopard named droogami), slayer talent (poison use^ACG), trackless step

Combat Gear wand of cure light wounds (25 charges), acid (4), alchemist's fire (2), black adder venom, blue whinnis, giant wasp poison, medium spider venom (2); Other Gear +1 wooden armor^APG, +1 sickle, dagger, dart (6), muleback cords^APG, antidote kit^UE, bedroll, belt pouch, belt pouch, cold weather outfit with cloak made from snow leopard cub fur, explorer's outfit, flint and steel, masterwork backpack^APG, mess kit^UE, snow leopard teeth and claw necklace, silent whistle^APG, silk rope (50 ft.), spell component pouch, training harness^ARG, training whip, waterskin, whet bone, wild dog (currently being trained as an attack dog; tricks: heel, stay), 5 pp, 64 gp, 16 sp, 10 cp

Droogami, snow leopard

N Medium animal

Init +5; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +5

Defense

AC 18, touch 15, flat-footed 13 (+5 Dex, +3 natural)

hp 26 (4d8+8)

Fort +6, Ref +9, Will +2

Defensive Abilities evasion

Offense

Speed 50 ft.; sprint

Melee bite +8 (1d6+3), 2 claws +8 (1d3+3)

Statistics

Str 17, Dex 21, Con 15, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6

Base Atk +3; CMB +6; CMD 21 (25 vs. trip)

Feats Skill Focus (Stealth), Weapon Finesse

Tricks Attack, Come, Defend, Down, Flank, Heel, Stay, Track

Skills Acrobatics +9 (+17 to jump), Climb +7, Perception +5, Stealth +12 (+16 in Undergrowth); Racial Modifiers +4 Stealth in Undergrowth

SQ attack, come, defend, down, flank, heel, stay, track

Once again, thank you to everybody who participated, and congratulations to meloriel for their winning entry—not only did they win $25 in store credit, they also win a custom Paizo.com avatar!

In search of a restoration spell,

Liz Courts
Community Manager

Druid Class Deck Preview

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

In the wake of Paul's lovely but sadly ill-conceived Best Character Ever blog, I'm here to talk tree-huggers. Hippies. Lovers of the natural world. Two-thirds of them are even wearing clothes!

Gronk's too sexy for his shirt, so sexy it hurts.

We've mentioned all three of these characters in previous blogs, but now I've got a chance to go into a little more detail. Our design goal for this deck was to make three characters that play differently but can each use the full range of cards in the set effectively. So even characters that aren't, say, Pack Lords can make good use of Animal allies.

When the design team thinks of druids, we think of three main features: animal companions, wild shape abilities, and nature spells. So we designed each druid to showcase a different one of these features. As Paul mentioned last week, Class Deck Lini is all about the Animal trait. So we made her some new friends!

Expecto Pat-Giant Weasel?

Gronk, as you might infer from his art, is a master of shapeshifting. He's in tune with the flora and fauna of the forest, and can alter his form to serve the situation. In testing, he proved quite self-sufficient, and I think he'll be a popular choice.

Everyone loves the Swiss Army elf.

Maznar is the classic “nature's wrath” druid, wielding elemental magic to zap his enemies and succor his friends. I love his art—it immediately told me what sort of character he'd be. Maznar is a follower of the Green Faith, a natural spiritual tradition that abhors abominations and reveres wild things and places. Acolytes of this faith wander the world as a sort of magical park ranger, keeping things as they should be.

If you've got tentacles where you shouldn't, he's gonna send you packing.

Finally, here's a peek at some classic druid spells we were thrilled to bring to the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game!

Those looks like some good berries, if you know what I mean.

The Druid Class Deck is now available for purchase!

Tanis O'Connor
Adventure Card Game Designer

Paul's Best Character Ever: Lini

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

I've stood by as my fellow designers on the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game have spoken their pieces on which character they believe to be the best ever and I've held my tongue. Why? Because, though I've known all along why they were wrong, I needed to bide my time. I needed to wait until all the pieces were in place, all the correct products produced and available to the fans... all the evidence available, so I could show definitively and without fear of serious rebuttal that the best character ever is Lini.

Lini is the O.G. Best Character Ever. She was my go-to character during the original playtests of the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, and she quickly earned a reputation as "pushing the power envelope." It wasn't so much that any single power she had was too broken, but she became an engine that made the game easier for everyone. That engine is largely preserved in her Rise of the Runelords form.

The key component of her awesomeness isn't her powers (amazing though they are). It's the fact that she has 6 spell slots in her deck. There are very few characters with that many spell slots, and almost none of them are divine casters. This gives Lini the ability to fill her deck with Healing spells, which not only keep her and her companions alive, but more importantly recycle the cards in Lini's discard pile—including the healing spells themselves! She has a nearly infinite engine for playing her cards over and over again.

Her powers have great synergy with this engine. She doesn't have to use her spell slots for attacks because she can simply discard a card to get a base d10 on combat checks. She can also add 1d4 to any of her checks by revealing an ally that has the Animal trait. This essentially gives her that bonus to every check she makes, as long as she doesn't discard or otherwise lose her ally.

Her roles build on this rock-solid foundation. Shapeshifter increases her ability to deal with monsters, and Wild Warden makes her more likely to recharge all of those Cures she's going to cast.

I'm not really sure why you'd need more evidence than that to declare her the best character ever, but just for fun, let's take a look at her Skull and Shackles incarnation. This version pushes her toward using her Animal allies instead of revealing them by letting you put them on top of her deck, and increases her combat die from a d10 to a d12. The Feral Druid lets her reveal a Divine card to attack, and the Aquamancer lets her put Attack spells back on top of her deck instead of recharging them. It's a veritable forest of powers and directions to take the character!

The newest entry in Lini's powerhouse portfolio is from the upcoming Druid Class Deck. Once again, she gets to reveal Animal allies for an effect, but in this case she sends them out to attack! This power gives her a minimum of 1d10+1d6+3 on a combat check, and it's easy to increase with feats. The Pack Lord role can increase this attack by another 2d6, and gives her the power to acquire any animal allies her friends might miss. The real jewel in this new Lini's crown, however, is the Menhir Savant, which is unique among all of the characters we've ever made. This new role gives her huge advantages for hanging out at closed locations, including healing all other characters each turn!

As you can see, there are many different viable choices you can make when you decide to play Lini. She can focus on turning into huge animals, casting attack spells, or (my personal favorite) creating an unstoppable healing engine. Lini doesn't have any bad choices, and this makes her the Best. Character. Ever.

Until then, I remain,

Paul Peterson
Adventure Card Game Designer

Happy Labor Day!

Monday, September 3, 2012

It's Labor Day here in the States, which means that all the goblin-wranglers and libromancers at Paizo are taking a well-deserved day off. To hold you over until the next blog post, here's the unadulterated cover illustration for Robin Laws' new Pathfinder Tales novel, Blood of the City--a story revolving around Luma, an urban druid, and her family of high-end mercenaries in Magnimar.

One of my favorite things about novel covers is the way they wrap all the way around the book, and it's always with a tinge of regret that I write the back cover copy, knowing it'll cover up such wonderful details. Just take a look at those fountains here in the wealthy Alabaster District, and it's easy to see why Magnimar is often called the City of Monuments....

Illustration by Adam Danger Cook

James Sutter
Fiction Editor/Senior Editor

Versatility is a Human Virtue

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Illustration by Eric Braddock

When planning out Advanced Race Guide we knew that humans were going to give us some trouble. What do you give the race that has the cleanest slate and the most open-ended bonus options? We sat down and had to ask what makes humans... well, human.

We came up with a short list of human virtues. One of the strongest human virtues on the list was versatility. Humans are downright tenacious in their ability to adapt and thrive. Few human cultures are tied to the ancient traditions and stubborn cultural and martial forms of other races. Even humans in well-established cultures have a dramatic tendency to delve deep into their experience and intrinsic gumption to not only survive but also thrive when the chips are down. The following group of human racial feats was designed to emulate human’s intrinsic versatility.

Critical Versatility (Combat)
An open mind and combat training grant versatility to your critical hits.
Prerequisites: Fighter level 11th, human.
Benefit: Once per day, you can spend 1 hour practicing maneuvers to gain one single critical feat that you meet the prerequisites for. You gain the benefits of the chosen critical feat until you choose to practice a different critical feat.

Fast Learner
Your progress gains extra versatility.
Prerequisites: Int 13, human.
Benefit: When you gain a level in a favored class, you gain both +1 hit point and +1 skill rank instead of choosing either one or the other benefit or you can choose an alternate class reward.

Martial Mastery (Combat)
You broaden your study of weapons to encompass multiple similar weapons.
Prerequisites: Martial Versatility, fighter level 16th, human.
Benefit: Each combat feat you have that applies to a specific weapon (e.g., Weapon Focus) can be used with all weapons in the same weapon group (Ultimate Combat 45).

Martial Versatility (Combat)
You further broaden your study of weapons to encompass multiple similar weapons.
Prerequisites: Fighter level 4th, human.
Benefit: Choose one combat feat you know that applies to a specific weapon (e.g., Weapon Focus). You can use that feat with any weapon within the same weapon group.
Special: You may take this feat more than once. Each time it applies to a different feat.

Next week we will start delving into the next chapter of the book with a look at an old favorite.

Stephen Radney-MacFarland
Designer

Pathfinder Battles Heroes & Monsters Preview: Getting Into Character

Friday, October 14, 2011

Things are moving rapidly on the Pathfinder Battles front! This week, our partners at WizKids sent us 13 pre-production samples from December’s Heroes & Monsters 40-miniature set. These figures are very similar to the final production-run, so we’re within 95% of the final look of the miniatures. These figures are not yet attached to bases, but beyond that, they’re pretty close to done. We’ve spent the last couple days looking over every millimeter of these miniatures, getting our final feedback to WizKids so they can make minor adjustments before the figures start coming off the production line.

For today’s blog, I thought it would be fun to show off brand new photographs of three of these miniatures. Unlike the monsters we revealed last week, these three figures are designed to represent NPCs and player characters, and each belongs to a race and class found in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.

Our first miniature is the sneaky Human Rogue. This little guy wears a long, dark cloak with a cute pointed hood, but his hidden short sword shows he means business. This figure doubles as a good urban thug or even an assassin.

Next we’ve got an Elf Wizard, caught in the act of casting a deadly spell. Though it doesn’t come through particularly well in the photograph, the elf’s robes have a neat color gradient that blends from bluish-gray at the shoulders down to purple at the hem of the robe.

Lastly we have a Human Druid from the deep jungles of the Mwangi Expanse. Who knows what powerful ritual is inscribed on her huge scroll? As much as I like this picture, it’s difficult to appreciate the detail on this figure without holding it in your hand. With metallic blue shards hanging from the strap on her side to the cool texture of her hair, this is a fantastic-looking miniature.

There you have it. Three adventurers ready for your game table, and we haven’t even gotten to the set’s iconic character yet!

All three of these figures are at the Uncommon rarity. Next week I’ll reveal more of the preproduction samples, and I’ll also list several more Uncommons we have planned for the Heroes & Monsters set.

See you in seven days!

Erik Mona
Publisher

Iconic Love

Monday, February 14, 2011

For some of us, Valentine's Day is just another day. We go to work, come home, maybe hang out with our significant others a bit or send the kids off to the sitter for a rare night out. For other people, however, Valentine's Day carries more significance, and flat-out demands acknowledgement. They see it as an excuse to truly cut loose, to go all-out with the romance and treat it like a real holiday.

And then, apparently, there's a third type of person: the type for whom Valentine's Day means a chance to go totally insane. Such appears to be the case with Pathfinder Tales author Kevin Andrew Murphy. How else can you explain the fact that he chose the occasion to, without any prompting or warning, write us an entire heroic crown of sonnets immortalizing the iconic characters' backgrounds in prose. (For those of you who've forgotten your 400-level literature classes, a "heroic crown of sonnets" is a specialized form of poetry in which you have 14 sonnets, each linked by their first and last lines, plus a fifteenth which is made up exclusively of the previous sonnets' linking lines, in order. Needless to say, it's incredibly difficult to do well.)

I'd say more, but I'm still processing the whole thing, so I think it's better to just post the sonnets in their entirety. Happy Valentine's Day!

The Fifteen Loves of Golarion

A Heroic Crown of Sonnets for Valentine's Day 2011
by Kevin Andrew Murphy

1. Alain, the Cavalier, "For Love of Glory"
I am the one who lives to tell the tale.
The victor is the braggart of his fame,
The first to know the glory of his name
But not the last. The bards now all regale
The common folk with ballads of my deeds,
The battles won by force of my prowess,
The ransomed kings who've bowed to my duress,
And Donahan, the noblest of steeds.
Sometimes I think he is my only friend.
The men I ride with? Those I can replace.
The maids I bed? Each just a pretty face.
Yet Donahan is mine till journey's end.
If he falls first, then part of me is dead.
I've said the words that needed to be said.

2. Alahazra, the Oracle, "For Love of Truth"
I've said the words that needed to be said,
For Truth is blind, and I am blind in truth.
My clouded eyes see little but forsooth
My inner eye sees clearly. I have read
The fates of men with but the barest glance.
I know the future as I know the past,
Which seeds will sprout and which of them will last,
For Destiny leaves nothing up to Chance.
It was not Chance that burned me with its fire.
The simoom's breath is but the Wind of Fate
That claimed me with its Flame. I now relate
The Fate of Love, if that is your desire:
All present loves become in days ahead
Mementos kept in memory of the dead.

3. Seelah, the Paladin, "For Love of Those Now Gone"
Mementos kept in memory of the dead,
Reminders of what nothing can restore.
The wingéd helm that dead Acemi wore
Now hides my face and my unworthy head.
I feel its weight: part guilt, part gift, part theft.
Part love. She saw and yet forgave her thief,
The child who stole her helm. Ergo, my grief.
Acemi is still dead and I am left.
I have no words to say in my defense.
I know my deeds. I must have faith in grace
So now I wear her helm and take her place.
What Iomedae learned: Inheritance,
A gift of trust from those you must not fail
Now silent in the realm beyond the pale.

4. Harsk, the Ranger, "For Love of Solitude"
Now silent in the realm beyond the pale,
My brother lies–and those who took his life.
I ended theirs with crossbow quarrel and knife.
The giants dead, now I alone prevail.
My kin who dwell below with bended backs
To toil at the forge or in the mines,
Or worshiping our gods at dwarven shrines,
Have my regard, and yet my brother's axe
Is all I bear away from whence I hail.
A hunter's life is love of solitude.
A Spartan camp, a pot of tea fresh-brewed
Will keep him more alert than mugs of ale.
My quarry's tracks are runes left for the sage.
I know the letters written on this page.

5. Ezren, the Wizard, "For Love of Scholarship"
I know the letters written on this page,
My father charged with some impiety
Against our god, some awful blasphemy
Too dire for words, and nothing can assuage
The gossips' tongues, for rumor needs no proof.
And Abadar? The merchant god cares not
Who prospers or who fails nor what is bought.
The Golden One stays in his Vault, aloof.
I spent my youth to clear my father's name,
In quest to save the business that he built,
But in the end I only proved his guilt.
Now scholarship's the only love I claim.
Yet law for arcane law can be exchanged.
Old orders sometimes must be rearranged.

6. Sajan, the Monk, "For Love of a Sister"
"Old orders sometimes must be rearranged."
So said the monks when taking twin from twin.
My sister Sajni's gone. I should begin
Describing how we came to be estranged.
We were conceived. Our lives were intertwined
Like threads of web and woof strung on a loom,
So were our limbs locked in our mother's womb.
Though born as two, we're more when we're combined.
We trained with temple swords and so time passed
Till at twelve years we each were sent away
And battle woes lost her to Jalmeray.
I left, deserting all I knew, my caste,
To seek my sister. Far too far I've ranged.
I've changed some facts which never should be changed.

7. Damiel, the Alchemist, "For Love of Change"
I've changed some facts which never should be changed
And yet that is the goal of alchemy:
Quicksilver shifting, mutability.
The philosophic art just seems deranged
To those too dull to grasp aetheric heights
Or dream of fixing one's perfected form,
Not living with the dull and banal norm.
You reach out when the stars are in your sights,
Yet what you grasp may be the fulgent dark
For nightmares ride as well between the stars.
Like Shelyn's smile can hide Zon-Kuthon's scars,
The bright quicksilver sea conceals a shark,
And from the left the villain steps onstage
To let men feel the battle fury's rage.

8. Amiri, the Barbarian, "For Love of Oneself"
To let men feel the battle fury's rage,
The Six Bears tribesmen donned the skins of bears
They'd taken from our totems in their lairs.
Each boy was sent to do it at an age.
We girls were told to sit inside and spin,
Awaiting a barbarian's return.
This never was a name that women earn.
I brought a she-bear's hide back to my kin.
The time came that a warband of my clan
All dared me to bring back a giant's blade.
When I returned, they mocked me as a maid.
The blood rage came. I slew them to a man.
That bastard blade I bear with me. Beware
To taste the kiss of malice and despair.

9. Seltyiel, the Magus, "For Lack of Love"
To taste the kiss of malice and despair,
One needn't know the touch of love or hope–
At very least, not of an equal scope–
And pain is seldom more than one can bear,
And when it is? Well, there is always death.
My mother died the moment I was born.
My sister's cries, those spared my life that morn.
I often think she should have saved her breath.
Sioria, oh how could you divine
The babe you saved would still be here alive
Or on a feast of wormwood one could thrive.
I'll kill your father once I first kill mine.
Foul Lairsaph was a fool to teach his spawn
To walk the road with weapons sheathed or drawn....

10. Valeros, the Fighter, "For Love of Adventure"
To walk the road with weapons sheathed or drawn
Is how a sellsword passes most his days.
That much at least is truthful in bards' lays.
The rest? Well yes, there is a need for brawn–
The same goes for an ox that pulls a plow–
But when your sword-arm makes some villain yield,
That's better than some plowshare in a field.
At least it's more exciting anyhow.
One day I may retire to a farm,
Grow beans and beets or brew a bit of beer,
But now I love my freedom and I hear
A distant village sounding the alarm.
If there's adventure calling, I'll be gone
To greet the hope that rises with the dawn.

11. Kyra, the Cleric, "For Love of Hope"
To greet the hope that rises with the dawn,
The Crown of Our Beloved Sarenrae
Who cast the Beast below to Asmodae,
Is how a priestess prays for I'm Her pawn.
Whate'er the Dawnflower wishes I will do.
When bandits burned my village and Her shrine,
That's when I saw the face of the divine.
Through streaming tears the sun shone and I knew
The Everlight had filled me with Her power
To heal the sick and ailing with Her light
And cleanse those past redemption of their blight
By scimitar, like Dawn's Eternal Flower.
One day I'll join my goddess in the air
To live a life of joy and forswear care.

12. Merisiel, the Rogue, "For Love of Freedom"
To live a life of joy and forswear care
Is what I always felt the world should be.
See something that you like? Then take it. Free!
If you don't like your lot, then folk should share.
They call it thievery, who gives a fig?
My knives can teach their tongues to be polite,
And while some think I could be more contrite
It's not like they're not working the same gig.
This knife I got from some Azlanti queen.
This one? From Galt. Belonged to some coquette
And these? From Geb. But most I just forget.
I only care if I can keep them keen.
You make life up like some bard's folderol.
I sing the songs that rise up from my soul.

13. Seoni, the Sorcerer, "For Love of Magic"
I sing the songs that rise up from my soul
And write the runes appearing in my dreams.
The ones I walk with talk about my "schemes,"
If schemes they are, or just an unknown goal.
I'd like to say I like just who I am,
Yet who can say just who they are? Not I.
Or what I am, or how I am, or why.
That statement just might be my epigram.
I only know when spells wish to be wrought,
The way they say that love pulls at the heart.
Just so I feel the call of arcane art.
It springs to mind like any other thought.
I'd work alone, but I lack that control
For love and friendship are what make one whole.

14. Lini, the Druid, "For Love of a True Companion"
"For love and friendship are what make one whole."
So spake the norn who whispered in the wood.
She vanished but her fey advice is good
And with it I can talk to mouse or mole.
The purest love is love you get from beasts.
My friend Droogami taught me this is true.
It's something though that I already knew.
I never bought the nonsense from the priests
About the love of gods as the most pure.
Who can believe a love you never see?
My love is for the leopard next to me
And she for me and that's what shall endure.
She's great and strong where I am small and frail.
I am the one who lives to tell the tale.

15. Lem, the Bard, "For Love of Happy Endings"
I am the one who lives to tell the tale.
I've said the words that needed to be said,
Mementos kept in memory of the dead
Now silent in the realm beyond the pale.
I know the letters written on this page.
Old orders sometimes must be rearranged.
I've changed some facts which never should be changed
To let men feel the battle fury's rage,
To taste the kiss of malice and despair,
To walk the road with weapons sheathed or drawn,
To greet the hope that rises with the dawn,
To live a life of joy and forswear care.
I sing the songs that rise up from my soul
For love and friendship are what make one whole.

James Sutter
Fiction Editor