Art of the Planes

Thursday, July 5, 2018

In previous blogs, we've talked about some of the lore and game content in Pathfinder RPG Planar Adventures, but since so many people have the book in their hands already and the forums are abuzz of what folks are discovering within, for this blog I wanted to show off some of the art.

Amiri, Kyra, and Merisiel fight a rift dragon in Elysium.
Illustration by Setiawan Lie

If you don’t have plane shift handy, sometimes you have to pay the boatman to get around the Great Beyond.
Illustration by Setiawan Lie

Travelers to the Dreamlands report descending a long spiral stair that deposits them out the side of an immense tree into the Enchanted Forest.
Illustration by Fabio Gorla

On the rare instances where one finds a way to the Akashic Record, they likely end up in a “reading room” like this.
Illustration by Fabio Gorla

Adam Daigle
Managing Developer

Infused With the Planes

Tuesday, June 19, 2018

In a previous blog, I spoke generally about some of number of player-facing rules elements found in Pathfinder RPG Planar Adventures, giving rough numbers of different kinds of new mechanics for your characters.

Now I want to dig down a little deeper and talk about something brand new. Amid the archetypes, spells, magic items, and feats, Planar Adventures includes a new type of feats: conduit feats. Here's how the book describes them.

Illustration by Ian Perks

Conduit Feats

Conduit feats grant the ability to draw energies from other planes. The effects of conduit feats are supernatural and do not function in an antimagic field or similar effect. In addition, since these abilities require energies from other planes, you cannot use them in areas that are warded against planar or dimensional travel (such as those under the effects of dimensional lock or forbiddance) or when you have been denied this ability (such as via dimensional anchor).

There are nearly two dozen conduit feats, the most versatile of which is Planar Infusion. Each of the planes (and demiplanes and dimensions) detailed in Planar Adventures has a stat block listing things you've come to expect like alignment, gravity, time, and how magic works there, but the stat blocks also contain other new pieces of information. One of these is infusions. Infusions are meant to represent how planar energies can affect characters if exposed over a period of time or during a significant event. There are three tiers to infusions: basic, improved, and greater—each granting powers unlocked by the Planar Infusion, Improved Planar Infusion, and Greater Planar Infusion feats.

As an example, I'll share the infusions for a demiplane near and dear to my heart—Xibalba.

Illustration by Fabio Gorla

Infusions

Basic The dread horrors of Xibalba infuse your being, and there is little that can further unnerve you. Increase the save DC of fear effects you create by 1, and you gain a +2 bonus on all saving throws against fear effects.

Improved You can use phantasmal killer as a spell-like ability once per day.

Greater You can use insanity as a spell-like ability once per day.

Other conduit feats grant your character unique abilities, all deeply linked to a particular plane of existence. For example, Axiomatic Discourse helps you influence others, Blazing aura wreathes you in flame, Malleable Form converts you to a semi-gelatinous state, and Phasestrike lets you phase out a weapon and resolve attacks as touch attacks. Here's a full example of one of these conduit feats, the wonderfully named Chaos Reigns.

Chaos Reigns (Conduit)

The Abyss dreams of devastation; the slightest taste of its power is an incitement to bare-fisted violence.

Prerequisite: Knowledge (planes) 3 ranks.

Benefit: As a swift action, you can allow Abyssal wrath to overtake you. While in this state, you can use one of your hands as a slam natural attack that deals 1d6 points of damage (or 1d4 for Small creatures). A creature that does not have hands can instead use a different part of its body to make this slam attack.

You can use this feat's benefit for a number of minutes per day equal to your ranks in Knowledge (planes). These minutes need not be consecutive, but they must be spent in 1-minute increments.

That's it for now! Pick up Pathfinder RPG Planar Adventures here on paizo.com or at your local game retailer! Keep your eyes on the blog for more details about Planar Adventures.

Adam Daigle
Managing Developer

Wander The Planes!

Thursday, May 31, 2018

There is more to the universe than where most adventurers tread. Beyond the Material Plane lies countless worlds and near infinite planes of reality, where a countless variety of beings play out their lives, many indebted to the cosmic forces of their home plane.

Readers have been eager for more information on the planes beyond what was provided in Pathfinder Campaign Setting: The Great Beyond and the small amount of planar material spread throughout other books and adventures. The call for a hardcover book on the planes was heard and now you can have Pathfinder RPG Planar Adventures in your hands in just a few weeks.

Illustration by Setiawan Lie

Illustration by Fabio Gorla

In addition to exploration of the various planes, demiplanes, and dimensions that make up the cosmology of the setting, Pathfinder RPG Planar Adventures also provides plenty of options for player characters. There are a dozen archetypes, including things like the azatariel swashbuckler archetype, the portal seeker investigator archetype, and the soul warden spiritualist archetype. The remainder of the first chapter also has a few dozen feats, a couple dozen spells and a slew of magic items. The bestiary chapter for Planar Adventures contains nearly two dozen creatures, including three races player characters can select: ganzi, duskwalker, and aphorites.

One last thing, you can expand on the gazetteer information in this book with Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Distant Realms, which also comes out this month and presents expanded gazetteers on six planar cities discussed in Planar Adventures.

Illustrations by Vlada Hladkova

We'll bring you some more teasers and some behind-the-scenes looks at Planar Adventures as we get closer to release, so stay tuned!

Adam Daigle
Managing Developer

A Last Look at the Art of Inner Sea Races

Friday, October 2, 2015

Inner Sea Races just released this week! I've picked some of my favorite illustrations for this preview, and a wallpaper for you to download!

Download Standard | Download Widescreen | Download Mobile

Illustration by Romanov Pavel

Illustrations by Mariusz Gandzel, Aleksey Bayura, Damien Mammoliti, Fabio Gorla, Firat Solhan, and Nikolai Ostertag

Sarah Robinson
Managing Art Director

Into the Abyss

Saturday, November 23, 2013

In Pathfinder Adventure Path #76: The Midnight Isles, the PCs travel to the Abyss in their quest to heal the scar on Golarion known as the Worldwound. Though the PCs only dip their toe into the churning planar muck that is the Abyss, two articles appear in this volume to give readers more Abyssal material on which to chew. Unlike a nearly infinite plane, the pages in a volume of an Adventure Path are certainly finite, but Mike Shel does a stellar job filling the gazetteer of the Abyss to the brim. James Jacobs provides the other gazetteer shining starlight down on the Midnight Isles—in particular Alushinyrra, the Porphyry City and home to Nocticula. It's rarely a good idea to go to the Abyss, but saving the world is a hard job. After all, it's better to go there on your own terms than end up in the Abyss as a larva.

Illustrations by Fabio Gorla

Adam Daigle
Developer

Ascendance Day

Monday, October 7, 2013

Illustration by Fabio Gorla

Here at Paizo, the end of convention season can seem like a holiday, enough so that it calls for a new holiday blog. The anniversary of Iomedae's successful venture into the Starstone Cathedral was only yesterday, and given the goddess's key role in the Mendevian Crusade that is so central both to Pathfinder Society Organized Play's Year of the Demon and the Wrath of the Righteous Adventure Path, it seems particularly appropriate to honor the Inheritor today.

Below, you will find a special Chronicle sheet that you can download and apply to a Pathfinder Society character. Iomedae's Ascendance Day is mentioned on page 249 of Pathfinder Campaign Setting: The Inner Sea World Guide as well as page 70 of Pathfinder Adventure Path #26.

To many, the Test of the Starstone represents the greatest of all challenges, yet for Iomedae it was one of three storied promotions in her rise from Aroden's herald to a goddess in her own right. On the 6th of Lamashan, the Inheritor's faithful observe the heroism of Iomedae's life before her moment of ascension and celebrate the anniversary of the apotheosis itself.

The celebration takes place in several stages. Early in the day, troupes of performers—as often passionate amateurs as professionals—stage morality plays featuring the Eleven Acts of Iomedae, the heroic near-miracles and sacrifices she made leading up to her trials in the Starstone Cathedral. Scripts vary by region, city, and even neighborhood, but despite differences in setting, performance medium, and word choice, the themes and morals are all the same.

As the day continues, the priests organize jousts and mock battles, allowing anyone to participate so long as she can demonstrate enough skill to not be a risk to herself or others. The winners of these contests then face tests of mental acuity such as solving riddles, deciphering philosophical quandaries, and answering questions of honor and justice. Those who prove themselves in both contests are awarded a white cloak—representing the Inheritor at peace—styled after Iomedae's own red garment to wear for the rest of the celebration. Feasting and singing follow the competitions, mirroring the jubilation that followed Iomedae's ascension. This is occasion for making pledges of friendship and forgiving enemies, and priests circulate about the crowd offering the Inheritor's blessing to those who do and providing a moment's counsel or mediation for those who need an extra nudge.

The celebration typically ends before midnight, and the following day the priests and previous day's champions gather up the blunted swords from the mock battles, sharpen them, and distribute them among the church's armory and those of like-minded organizations so that all may remain vigilant against evil and prepared to strike it down.

Click here to download the Ascendance Day 4713 Boon! — 135 KB (zip/PDF)
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John Compton
Developer

The Mythic Side of Golarion

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

In the forthcoming Pathfinder Campaign Setting volume, Mythic Realms, we present a lot of setting-specific options for campaigns using the mythic rules found in Pathfinder RPG Mythic Adventures. Whether you're characters with mythic tiers or simply high-level, non-mythic adventurers, there's something here to add a touch of the mythic to your journeys through Golarion.

Illustration by Fabio Gorla

In the first section of the book, we present a number of founts of mythic power. These are locations within the setting that are imbued with mythic power and from which characters can gain access to specific path abilities. Among these mythic founts are the Mordant Spire, the Cenotaph, the Doorway to the Red Star, and even the Starstone. While the book doesn't detail the challenges a hopeful must overcome to reach the Starstone, it does explain how this mysterious meteorite became the apotheosis catalyst it has become, and gives GMs and players unique powers to use as their characters ascend to the ranks of the gods.

Illustration by Fabio Gorla

The second chapter of the book presents a variety of mythic adventuring locations, including the Pit of Gormuz, Mechitar, and the Valashmai Jungle. Each location receives four pages of gazetteer as well as a regional map, with enough information to give GMs running campaigns in the area plenty of adventure hooks and challenging foes to run entire campaigns. We also provide suggested mythic trials GMs can seed into campaigns in each location to allow characters adventuring within to gain mythic tiers as they face the seemingly insurmountable challenges presented in each spot.

Illustration by Yuriy Georgiev

Finally, the book concludes with a whole chapter on some of the setting's most iconic mythic characters. Inside, you'll find statistics for such NPCs and monsters as the Whispering Tyrant (CR 26), Old-Mage Jatembe (CR 24), Raskineya, the Dark Comet (CR 16), and the Oliphaunt of Jandelay (CR 30). These characters and the rest presented in the book play large roles in the setting and many within the specific locations presented elsewhere in the book.

All combined, GMs wishing to run mythic adventures set in the world of Golarion beyond the Wrath of the Righteous Adventure Path should find this book among the most helpful aids in putting together such a campaign. And those interested in the secrets and lore of Golarion would be hard-pressed to find another single 64-page volume we've published that contained more long-awaited big reveals of some of Golarion's most talked-about features than Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Mythic Realms.

Mark Moreland
Developer

Be Careful What You Wish For

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Illustration by Damien Mammoliti

Let me tell you about my character. In James Jacobs's "Sands of the Scorpion God" campaign, I play a catfolk ranger/rogue who dual-wields sickles. His name is Pr'ral. He helped his fellow adventurers infiltrate a subterranean city run by evil cultists of Rovagug, but we got captured when a badass umbral dragon left us all blind and weakened and pretty much helpless. We were placed in a gladiatorial arena and forced to fight giant-riding morlocks and other terrible foes. In the final round of the arena fight, we were pitted against a powerful glabrezu demon named Bezilak. And he mopped the floor with us.

With my allies unconscious and bleeding out or fleeing, Pr'ral was the only one who could save them. So I made a deal with the demon. Communicating telepathically, we came to an agreement, and in so doing, I saved my companions from certain death before a cheering crowd. But the cost was high.

My alignment shifted from chaotic neutral to chaotic evil, and Bezilak and I now have a much more intimate relationship. The specific details of the arrangement haven't been revealed to anyone but James and I, so I won't go into them here, but needless to say, Pr'ral is a very different character now that he saved his friends. He now cares only for himself, and will (and has) abandoned his fellows in their times of need if it serves him. He's also started taking levels in assassin. And when he needs things that he can't find (like a ring of invisibility that would have otherwise been unavailable in Sothis at the time) Bezilak has come to his aid.

Illustration by Fabio Gorla

While Pr'ral isn't quite intelligent enough to recognize the error of his ways, I do not lack such insight into the machinations of demonkind, and every session has been stressful, as I await Bezilak's next appearance and the inevitable calling in of what Pr'ral owes him. So imagine my surprise and—I'll be honest—horror, when I was editing Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Demons Revisited, and I came across a familiar character as the sample glabrezu. Yeah, it was Bezilak. I was then forced to read (in the process of editing) the deep, dark truth of how vile a creature and sinister a manipulator he truly was. I think it was James's own demonic means of torturing me. He certainly got a good laugh out of it when he found out that I was doing an editing pass on the book.

Game Masters looking to add that same sort of terror to their demon-filled games will find plenty of additional inspiration in Demons Revisited, including a number of influential members of each demonic race that NPCs can summon or who can be archvillains themselves in myriad campaigns. Further, each of the 10 demons presented in the book also features a variant of the half-demon template specifically designed to reflect the abilities and flavor of the specific demonic races. Demons are unpredictable, wholly evil, and unfathomably twisted creatures, and Pathfinder Camapaign Setting: Demons Revisited captures the raw madness like no book before it.

Mark Moreland
Developer

Welcome to the End of the World

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Illustration by Fabio Gorla

It's no secret that demons are pretty much my favorite monsters in the game. When we were brainstorming ideas for regions to include in Golarion, the concept of a realm where the demons had invaded and now ruled was near the top of the list. In fact, we ended up with two regions where the demons are in charge—the smaller of the two being Tanglebriar in southern Kyonin (a region more or less transplanted directly from my homebrew world), and the much larger Worldwound itself. Whereas Tanglebriar was basically the work of one nascent demon lord, and as such was relatively limited in the scope of its area, the Worldwound was the work of a full-on demon lord, Deskari, and the resulting demon blight is correspondingly much more massive.

We've tinkered here and there with the Worldwound over the past few years, but with the Wrath of the Righteous Adventure Path, we're finally diving into the deep end of the demon-haunted pool. Which means the time is finally write to head on into old Sarkoris and explore it. Aptly titled The Worldwound, this 64 page Campaign Setting book aims to do exactly that. Of course, it covers the entire demonblighted region—even though Wrath of the Righteous remains pretty tightly focused along the northeastern border, The Worldwound has a lot more secrets to reveal.

There's plenty of new demons and monsters lurking in the Worldwound, as well as in the pages of this book, as evidenced by the creepy monster pictures that grace this post, but even the plants in this realm want to kill you. Take, for example, the following excerpt from the book's chapter about Adventures in the Worldwound:

Leechweed (CR 3 hazard): These plants cluster thickly in the muddy marshes of the western Worldwound, typically growing in a 5-foot-square patch. A single plant is slightly smaller than a human hand, and consists of a mass of dark green leaves from which a single feeding stalk extends. The tip of this stalk contains a small, lancet-like protrusion that can pierce flesh with ease. Spotting a patch of leechweed before blundering into it requires a DC 17 Knowledge (nature) or DC 22 Perception check. A living creature that comes into contact with a patch of leechweed swiftly learns the source of the plant's name, as dozens of feeding stalks suddenly stab and slash at any bits of exposed flesh. As soon as a creature is in contact with leechweed, the plant attempts an attack against it with a +9 bonus. The attacks continue at the end of each of the creature's turns if it doesn't move away from the plant. On a hit, the plant deals 1d4 points of damage and 1d6 points of bleed damage. Fire kills leechweed, as does holy damage or any magical effect that specifically harms plants (such as blight).

Illustrations by Jorge Fares and Damien Mammoliti

That, in a nutshell, is the Worldwound for you—a place where even the grass wants to kill you.

James Jacobs
Creative Director