By Our Powers Combined!

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Changes have been brewing here at Paizo, and I'm pleased to finally share some of them with the paizo.com community!

Illustration by Liz Courts

Up until recently, the people who are behind the curtain, looking at flagged posts, responding to your emails, and peeking through tweets and Facebook comments have been doing so in addition to their regular day-to-day tasks—including getting products out the door, providing the best Customer Service possible, and working on integral parts of paizo.com and within the company. This kind of tactic has been challenging, and as our community has grown, we've recognized it's been changing and has different/new needs. Because of all that, it's become a real necessity for us to change as well.

We had to find someone who fit the role of Community Manager and also had an intimate knowledge and investment in our own community. Liz Courts is someone who has been invaluable to our community over the years. She's a presence that's been around on paizo.com for nearly as long as we've had forums, has been greeting newcomers with cookies, has worked and laid groundwork for the fan magazine, Wayfinder, and helped shape what PaizoCon has become today. And, I'm excited to announce that she's been moved to this position officially as of a few weeks ago!

As Community Manager, Liz will be on the front lines for forum issues, reaching out through our social media outlets, and coming up with new ideas for us to better communicate with you guys. She'll also be be working on not-yet-announced projects and initiatives for the community. Having someone who is as deeply passionate about gaming and the gaming community is a great opportunity for pushing us forward.

There's also another change that goes in hand with Liz's new role. Though you mostly see me posting "out of character" on our forums when things get hairy, I've also been creating and maintaining our digital products, generating and scheduling website content, and providing an array of customer-facing and internal support. Now, in order to assist and enable Liz to do awesome things for you guys, herd more cats related to all of the content on paizo.com, and guide our overall community policies and goals, I've been made into Paizo's Community & Digital Content Director.

These changes are brand new to Paizo, and our goal as the new "Community Team" is to make sure you feel like you're being heard and supported. We have come up with some really exciting things in these first few weeks (which we've only just begun), and I'm so, so excited for you all to start seeing the results!

Chris Lambertz
Community & Digital Content Director

Exciting Holiday tax Forms!

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

With Crystalhue upon us, everyone is eager eager to sing, dance, and tell secrets to the Zonzon to air our our grievances for the coming year. But this time of year is also important for financial reasons, and as you begin gathering your receipts and calculating your deductions, we here at the office have decided that it's the perfect time to offer a sneak-peak at our upcoming Pathfinder-branded W2 forms!

Spoiler:

Just kidding! Have an awesome new monster!

Golem, Feast

Illustration by Crystal Frasier

Grease, glaze, and gravy pour in equal shares from this tottering, man-shaped banquet as it lurches forward. Heavenly aromas pour from its countless components.

Feast Golem CR 6

XP 2,400

N Large construct
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +2
Aura alluring aroma 30 ft. (DC 19)

DEFENSE

AC 16, touch 8, flat-footed 16 (–1 Dex, +8 natural, –1 size)
hp 82 (8d10+38); fast healing 5
Fort +2, Ref +1, Will +2
Defensive Abilities amorphous anatomy, indestructible, slippery; DR 10/bludgeoning; Immune construct traits, magic
Weaknesses delicious

OFFENSE

Speed 40 ft.
Melee 2 claw +11 (1d6+6 plus burn), bite +11 (1d8+4 plus burn)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks burn (1d6, DC 17)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 8th; concentration +11)
   At will—create water, purify food and drink, putrefy food and drink
   3/day—polypurpose panacea
   1/day—allfood

STATISTICS

Str 19, Dex 8, Con —, Int 8, Wis 11, Cha 17
Base Atk +8; CMB +13; CMD 22 (30 vs. grapple)
Feats Ability Focus (alluring aroma), Eldritch Claws, Improved Initiative, Toughness
Skills Disguise +5 (+13 in kitchens or larders), Escape Artist +0 (+8 to escape grapples), Perception +2, Profession (cook) +4; Racial Modifiers +8 Disguise, +8 Escape Artist
Languages Common (can’t speak)
SQ bountiful corpse, powerful blows (claws), unstoppable

ECOLOGY

Environment any urban
Organization solitary
Treasure none

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Alluring Aroma (Su) The feast golem exudes a powerful scent that compels creatures to physically attack it. Affected creatures are compelled to attack the feast golem using only a bite attack for 1d4 rounds. Creatures that normally do not possess a natural bite attack temporarily gain one while under the alluring aroma’s effect; this attack inflicts (1d3 + Strength modifier) damage for Medium creatures (1d2+Str for Small creatures) and does not provoke attacks of opportunity from the golem. Creatures may make a DC 19 Will save to resist the feast golem’s alluring aroma and act normally. Creatures who succeed at their saving throw are immune to this ability for 24 hours. This save is an enchantment (compulsion) effect and does not affect creatures that do not need to eat.

Amorphous Anatomy (Ex) Composed of many different dishes, the feast golem has no discernible anatomy. This grants it a 50% chance to ignore additional damage caused by critical hits and sneak attacks and grants it immunity to polymorph effects. A feast golem recovers from physical blindness or deafness in 1d4 rounds as it regrows new sensory organs.

Bountiful Corpse (Sp) Consuming the corpse of a feast golem grants the effect of a heroes’ feast, but those that partake are fatigued for 1 day.

Delicious (Ex) Feast golems take a -2 penalty on Escape Artist and combat maneuver checks made to escape a grapple against any creature that has a bite attack with the grab ability.

Immune to Magic (Ex) A feast golem is immune to any spell or spell-like ability that allows spell resistance. In addition, certain spells and effects function differently against the creature, as noted below. A feast golem's spell-like abilities cannot be used to affect itself or other feast golems.

• Create food and water instantly heals the golem for 3d6 hit points.
• Feast of ashes negates the feast golem’s alluring aroma and fast healing abilities for 24 hours.
• A heroes’ feast spell cast directly on the golem increases its size by one category, doubling its height and increasing its weight by a factor of 8 for one hour. The golem gains a +4 size bonus to its Strength, a -2 size penalty to its Dexterity, an extra 10 feet of movement speed, and increases its reach by 5 feet.
• Putrefy food and drink causes portions of the golem’s body to rot and fall away, inflicting 1d4 points of damage (no save).

Indestructible (Ex) A feast golem is nearly impossible to destroy. Even reduced below 0 hit points, its fast healing continues to restore hit points, though the golem is helpless unless above 0 hit points. It can only be destroyed if the golem’s heart is consumed: an ossified loaf of fruitcake, reeking of bad liquor and covered in various colorful molds. In order to successfully eat the golem’s heart, a creature must make a DC 17 Fortitude saving throw every round for 4 rounds—somewhat of a challenge due to its dryness (and the feast golem’s fast healing). Failing this saving throw indicates that the creature takes 1d4 points of Constitution damage. This ability is Charisma-based.

Slippery (Ex) Oozing butter, fat, and sticky syrup from every crevice in its misshapen form, the feast golem has a +8 bonus on all Escape Artist checks and to its CMD against grapples.

Unstoppable (Ex) The feast golem ignores penalties for difficult terrain, and its movement increases by 10 feet.

The unholy machinations of mad sorcerer-chefs or unstable goblin alchemists, feast golems are walking amalgams of food, drink, and flatware given horrible purpose by magic. Stitched together from leftovers and hearty meals, no two feast golems look exactly the same. The same magic that animates their delectable flesh also maintains their various ingredients at appropriate temperatures, preserving both hot and cold dishes indefinitely. Affluent fey or magically-versed nobles may employ the creations, disguised as a sumptuous meal to deter would-be assassins at the dinner table, but just as often their creation is an accident wrought from the overeager joining of edibles and enchantment. The precise origins of the feast golem remain a mystery, and its means of destruction not for the faint of stomach.

From all of us, to all of you: Have a Joyous Crystalhue!

Liz Courts & Crystal Frasier
Department of Holiday-Themed Awesomeness