With the Lost Omens World Guide and Lost Omens Character Guide now being out for a while and with previews and reviews of all kinds floating around the web, I wanted to delve a little further behind the scenes to the authors who actually wrote the material contained within. While the writers of our Paizo products are always credited in the front and back of the books, a simple name in a byline doesn’t give readers much information on the people who work to bring the setting to life! As a final blog to wrap up our promotion of the first two Lost Omens Guides, I reached out to the authors of the two books with the intent of promoting them—as well as any other personal work they would like to promote, so that new fans of their work could find other projects, RPG products, websites, livestreams, and more to enjoy!

Eleanor Ferron
Pathfinder Developer

LOST OMENS WORLD GUIDE

James Jacobs

I’m James Jacobs, and I wrote about Runelords and Linnorm Kings and Winter Witches and other Saga-worthy Stuff in this book. A certain amount of what lives today in Golarion first came to be in my homebrew setting, which I’ve been working on since the 80s… but today, Golarion is so much more than that! I’d like to take this chance to thank everyone else who has helped build up Golarion over the years, be they any of the amazing writers I feel so honored to be counted among in this book, but also every other writer out there who’s contributed to Golarion lore. And ESPECIALLY thanks to Eleanor and Luis, who hit the ground running with the daunting task of developing and organizing the Lost Omen line of books—Golarion couldn’t be in better hands!

Lyz Liddell

I'm Lyz, a game editor-turned-designer who had the privilege of updating the Shining Kingdoms for the World Guide. Working on this section was a fun opportunity to decide how some of the oldest nations of our campaign setting have fared given the epic events occurring around and within them—some for the better, and some for the worse! While rolling dice and writing new ways to roll them is my day job and a big chunk of my free time, my degrees are actually in music performance and am a passionate professional performer of medieval, renaissance, and baroque music. I specialize in recorders, other wind instruments, and viola da gamba, though I’m always finding and learning how to play new old instruments. You can check out my writing and musical work at LyzLiddell.com, and I tweet pictures of outer space and my cats for everyone to enjoy at @LyzMayTweet.

Ron Lundeen

I’m Ron Lundeen, and I’ve been a developer here at Paizo for nearly two years. Adventures are the thing I love most; when I’m not developing adventure path volumes during the day, I’m often writing adventures for Pathfinder, Starfinder, or other systems at night. But every good adventure needs a gripping setting, and I was thrilled to contribute to the Lost Omens World Guide. I’d just finished developing the Tyrant’s Grasp Adventure Path at the time, so I knew quite a lot about the Gravelands (the nation formerly known as Lastwall) and the Whispering Tyrant. Because I’d contributed to the Ironfang Invasion Adventure Path as an author and freelance developer, I also knew quite a bit about Nirmathas and the new hobgoblin nation (which I got to name!). The Eye of Dread is a rough region, and I was very excited to lay it out for everyone for our new edition! You can check out my RPG advice, including a free Pathfinder Second Edition adventure path I’m writing, on my blog at RunAmokGames.com.

Erik Mona

Over the last decade, I’ve been accumulating a 90,000-word continuity document on everything we’ve ever published about the city of Absalom. From the names of minor streetsweepers mentioned in a Pathfinder Society scenario to details on the many times the city has come under siege, it’s all gone in there to make sure we don’t mess anything up when we inevitably make room in the schedule for a big Absalom book. With that enormous research project in hand, I snagged the Absalom and Starstone Isle section of this book, and used it as an opportunity to flesh out the rest of the Isle of Kortos. Given the island’s huge size, I knew that it must contain more than just a couple of other towns and a big mountain, and the Lost Omens World Guide gave me the opportunity to set that stuff down for the first time. We’ll be fleshing out Kortos in the upcoming Extinction Curse Adventure Path, and I couldn’t be more excited! I’ve also long had my creative marker on the Impossible Lands, which I invented way back for the Pathfinder Chronicles Gazetteer, which offered me a chance to add more flesh to one of Golarion’s most mysterious and exciting regions! What a joy to get to watch the campaign setting develop from a badly drawn map and a few pages of notes that started way back in 2006!

Mark Seifter

I'm Mark Seifter, game designer and one of the four leads on the creation of Pathfinder Second Edition. Check out my twitch stream with Linda Zayas-Palmer, Arcane Mark, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7PM Pacific, and Saturdays at 10 AM Pacific at https://www.twitch.tv/arcanemark. We cover a variety of RPG and Pathfinder topics on Tuesdays and Saturdays, chosen by the viewers, with interviews on Thursdays!

James Sutter

I’m James L. Sutter, former Paizo Executive Editor, developer, and Starfinder Creative Director. Since that first gazetteer of Varisia in Pathfinder Adventure Path #3, I’ve spent more than a dozen years writing about Golarion, and been honored to work alongside some of the most creative people in the business as we watched a handful of proper nouns and graph-paper maps transform into the living world it is today. So when the folks at Paizo offered to let me help usher the setting into a new edition, I leapt at the chance to revisit my first fantasy home. (The fact that they let me play with some of my favorite toys didn’t hurt, either. I’ll forever be a champion of godless Rahadoum, which led me to write my first novel, Death’s Heretic. And how could I resist Hermea, with everyone’s favorite problematic dragon lord...) These days you can find me on Twitter at @jameslsutter or over at jameslsutter.com. In addition to writing novels, comics, and RPG adventures, I also teach online classes in writing and worldbuilding, in which I share what I've learned from my time on Pathfinder and Starfinder.

LOST OMENS CHARACTER GUIDE

John Compton

I’m John Compton, recently organized play lead developer and now Starfinder senior developer. When I started working at Paizo about 7 years ago, I quickly became the local gnome enthusiast, and it’s been a delight to carry that passion into Second Edition by writing about our gnomes and our expanded understanding of how they absorb and ultimately bleed magic based on the four magical traditions. As we explored non-human ethnicities, these seemed a fun way to show how the eclectic gnomes’ features vary less by ancestry and more by local eldritch phenomena.

If you’d like to hear more from me, I frequent Twitter (@Archaeotagh) and several Pathfinder, Starfinder, and Organized Play servers on Discord. Definitely check out my more recent works like the Adventure Path volumes Pathfinder #144: Midwives of Death and Pathfinder #149: Against the Scarlet Triad; Pathfinder Campaign Setting books like Faiths of Golarion (Tsukiyo), Concordance of Rivals (aeons, inevitables, and creation myths), and Druma, Profit and Prophecy (history, culture, and faith). I love writing about our setting, its history, its cosmology, and its cultures, and there’s a lot more of that to come in Pathfinder Lost Omens: Absalom, City of Lost Omens!

Sasha Laranoa Harving

Hi all, my name is Sasha Laranoa Harving, but I've been credited as Sasha Hall and Sasha Lindley Hall in the past. I wrote the dwarf section of Lost Omens Character Guide, and I'm really happy with what I got done! I tend to write for a number of 3rd Party publishers, and some of my proudest accomplishments are the Successor Base Class from Lost Spheres Publishing (found here), and the Mythos Mystic Connection from Everybody Games (found here), although my body of work has a few more items than that. I hope that my work can grace your tabletops soon!

Venture-Lieutenant Sasha Laranoa Harving
she/her/hers/herself or nov/nov/novs/novself

Mike Kimmel

Hey folks! I'm Mike Kimmel, and I've been writing for Paizo since 2014. The Organized Play program holds a special place in my heart, so it was an honor to write about the Pathfinder Society in the Lost Omens Character Guide. Writing new mechanics for a system-in-progress was a challenging and rewarding experience that deepened my appreciation for Pathfinder's new edition. I am grateful to be able to contribute to the games that have played such an important role in my life. Another way I show thanks to the community is by running Freelance Forge, a forum for RPG freelancers. You can learn more at https://freelanceforge.boards.net/, or get in touch with me personally on Paizo.com or at https://twitter.com/_MikeKimmel.

Ron Lundeen

I’m Ron Lundeen, a developer on the Pathfinder adventure path line here at Paizo. I’m also a big fan of little halflings. When we talked internally about establishing ethnicities for non-human ancestries, I came to the meeting with about a dozen handouts and two pages of notes on othobans and mihrinis and other ethnicities I’d invented. So I had a lot to say during that meeting, and I jumped at the chance to write the halfling section of this book. I love that the little flourishes I wrote—like hallinettes and bill-bands and slang terms—all made it in. But halflings weren’t all I wrote about! I’d recently described the new hobgoblin nation of Oprak in the Lost Omens World Guide and was eager to create the new hobgoblin ancestry. This was a bit of a struggle, because the hobgoblins presented in the Bestiary aren’t too smart, but the hobgoblin focus on military strategy and alchemy in our world led me to insist they had to get an Intelligence bonus. I’m glad that carried the day! You can check out my RPG advice, including a free Pathfinder Second Edition adventure path I’m writing, on my blog at RunAmokGames.com.

Matt Morris

In 2015, encouraged by an amazing group of creative friends, I made a showing in RPG Superstar, and that experience pushed me to explore writing for 3rd-party companies. I’ve been lucky enough to work extensively with Everybody Games and Rogue Genius Games, producing a variety of rules options for Pathfinder and the popular Starfarer’s Companion for Starfinder.

Recently, I’ve enjoyed working with a talented group of collaborators at Paizo, beginning with my contributions to the Starfinder Armory and Alien Archive 2. My work on Pathfinder Player Companions has had me body slamming, bushwacking, and relic hunting my way through Golarion, and writing back matter for an Adventure Path has even taken me to the Boneyard! The Lost Omens line for Pathfinder Second Edition has given me the opportunity to explore some of my favorite parts of the setting, and I can’t wait for everyone to see what is in store from the line in the future! For the Lost Omens Character Guide, I wrote the Firebrands, Hellknights, Knights of Lastwall, and Magaambya Adepts in the NPC Gallery.

I keep an up-to-date list of my work on my Paizo profile, and I’m always looking for interesting projects, so feel free to send me a message via the forums if you are looking for a reliable writer!

When not writing, I’m teaching high school English near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Patchen Mortimer

I'm an ad agency copywriter and DJ from Baltimore. (Those ads where the kids ran the gummi bear factory—I wrote those!) But most people know me from The Daily Bestiary (dailybestiary.tumblr.com and dailybestiary.blogspot.com), where I spent 7+ years writing adventure seeds for nearly every monster in the Pathfinder Bestiaries. For Paizo, I typically write articles for Pathfinder Adventure Path—mostly ecologies, adventure seeds, and gazetteers for GMs. Shining a light on some overlooked corner of the game is pretty much my favorite thing to do, so working on the “Lizardfolk” and” Other Ancestries” sections of the Lost Omens Character Guide was a fantastic chance to do that for players, too! I hope all your iruxi PCs hit level 20.

Please find me on Twitter @patchdj. If your game world needs new cultures, subraces, settings, or lore, we can talk freelancing at patchen.mortimer@gmail.com. If you're a publisher interested in a system-neutral fantasy project (or an artist interesting in collaborating), definitely reach out. Ditto if you're a mid-Atlantic company with a $3–10 million annual media spend (#dayjob #gottaeat). Otherwise, tune in Tuesday nights, 9–11 PM EST, at wmuc.umd.edu to hear me spin indie rock/pop/folk on 88.1 WMUC-FM College Park.

Andrew Mullen

Howdy! I wrote about the Magaambya—my favorite Golarion organization! —and figured I’d share my thinking process for the venerable institution’s 2e debut. Three bits of information were my ‘pillars’ when I was considering Magaambyan history and organizational structure: they’re about 8,000 years old; they’re capital-g Good; and no attacker has ever gotten within 20 miles of Nantambu.

What sort of organization lasts that long with that little (successful) aggression toward it? One with allies! Especially with the established Magaambyan focus on spreading knowledge, it made sense to me that the Magaambya had stuck around so long because they had good working relationships with their geographic neighbors. That idea lead to the five branches’ community-oriented duties and purviews, the contemporary Magaambya’s interest in helping groups outside of the Mwangi Expanse (plus the recent and intriguing ‘big magic’ events in Avistan), as well as the Perquisite, the traditional service period associated with entry into the organization.

That said, I think a cooperative Magaambya still leaves room for adventure-driving conflict and tension. Magaambyans can fly off to help those in need, sure, but there’s also the frustrations of a large organization trying to build consensus and affect greater change. That can spin off into all kinds of stories!

Mikhail Rekun

Приветствую, уважаемые читатели! My name is Mikhail Sergeyevich Rekun, and I am a Paizo freelancer who has previously worked on The Half-Dead (AP #139) and several Companions, with much more to come. Outside of gaming, I’m a Russian-American historian and educator, with a doctoral degree from Northeastern University, presently employed at Times College Nanjing. My research focus is late Imperial Russian foreign policy, and I’ve published a book on the subject, How Russia Lost Bulgaria, 1878-1886: Empire Unguided (Lexington Books, 2018).

My academic background means that when I write for games, I spend a lot of time thinking about the interplay of societies and individuals, what in historiography is called the concept of historical agency. How are choices constrained by upbringing, how can one person change a culture? In the Lost Omen Character Guide, where I wrote the human ethnicities, this meant asking what it meant to grow up Vudrani, or how a Taldan background can influence someone. Hopefully, the results did not disappoint.

Forthcoming publications include a large part of Absalom, City of Lost Omens, a few sections in the Advanced Player Guide, and two AP backmatter articles. Professional inquiries and effusive praise may be directed to MRekun@Gmail.com.

Owen K. C. Stephens

I’m Owen K.C. Stephens, and this is one of my first Pathfinder 2nd Ed credits! I was a tad surprised when I was told I was an author for this book, since the work I did was originally slated for another project. But, that’s one of the important things developers like Eleanor Ferron and Luis Loza do. They look at the needs of multiple projects, and put work where it does the most good and makes the most sense.

Since leaving my position as Paizo’s Starfinder Design Lead, I’ve taken a position as developer for Green Ronin’s Fantasy AGE rpg, and been focusing on my blog (owenkcstephens.com), and producing game material and rpg writer and developer advice supported by my Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/OwenKCStephens).

Isabelle Thorne

Hello there! My name is Isabelle Thorne (though I previously wrote as Isabelle Lee), and I’ve been a contributor for a few years now. I’ve written for all the Pathfinder and Starfinder lines except Starfinder Society. While my work often centers on mechanical content, I enjoy writing flavor content when I can; as a trans girl, I prioritize LGBTQ+ inclusivity in my work.

For the Lost Omens Character Guide, I wrote some elements for the elf section (most notably the ancient elf heritage and the Vourinoi ethnicity) and the Knights of Lastwall section. Being able to shape and define this organization from scratch was absolutely thrilling, and I hope you all love them as much as I do. ^_^

You can find me here on the forums and on Twitter at @ThornyRoseGames, and I’m always potentially open to work opportunities and sensitivity reading. In addition, I now have a Patreon! I’m planning to release new content there on a monthly basis, covering both editions of Pathfinder as well as Starfinder. Feel free to check it out!

Have you discovered this seeming contradiction yet? Epic roleplaying requires specificity. Great collaborative storytelling needs players who know what drives them. The better they can know “Where am I from?” and “Where am I going?” the better they can create a motivated character. And it gives everyone else at the table something to play off of.

So let’s take a moment to recall and appreciate the incredibly detailed and evocative Lost Omens Character Guide preview articles that Developers Eleanor Ferron and Luis Loza have shared with us in recent weeks.

We embarked on an exploration of new cultures, ancestries, heritages:

• The diversity of people in Such a Lovely Place, Such a Lovely Face,
• The formidable, playable hobgoblins in All We Are Saying Is Give Peace a Chance,
• The rules content from the ten metaregions in We Should Travel By Map!
• The primal, playable leshy in Love 'Em Or Leaf 'Em
• The primordial, playable lizardfolk in You're A Lizard, Harry

We gathered insights into five major organizations:

• The rebellious Firebrands in Where There's Smoke, There's Firebrands!
• The imposing Hellknights in Hellknights on the Town
• The decentralized Knights of Lastwall in Lastwall Knights, All Right!
• The legendary Magaambya magic school in He's A Magic Man, She's A Magic Man!
• The globe-trotting Pathfinder Society in Scrolls and Spells and Swords, Oh My!

The Pathfinder Lost Omens Character Guide is available today at your favorite local game, book, or comic shop, and here at paizo.com. Finally, all 136 pages are here for us to relish! Now, better than ever, we can answer, “Who am I in the Age of Lost Omens?”

Aaron Shanks
PR Manager

We’ve been taking a look at the various organizations featured in the Lost Omens Character Guide over the past few weeks. (Hop over here if you’ve missed these!) While all of these are great in their own right, there’s one organization that was an immediate shoo-in when we started early discussions for this book: the Pathfinder Society! The Pathfinders are probably one of the most well-known and most widespread organizations in our Age of Lost Omens setting. Heck, they have the name of our game in the name of the organization! There was no way we could ignore them!

Illustration by Rogier van de Beek

The Pathfinder Society is a globe-trotting organization whose agents are dedicated to exploring the world, finding lost knowledge and relics, and reporting their findings both to the Society itself and to the rest of Golarion via the Pathfinder Chronicles, a publication released by the Society that is essentially a “greatest hits” of reports from Pathfinders. (For a taste of the kind of missions Pathfinders go on, check out Howard Andrew Jones’s fiction from a few weeks ago!) People join up with the Society for a number of reasons. Some want to seek knowledge, others prefer the glory that comes with their findings, others still join up for the fun and thrills involved with their missions, and some just want to help the Society and further its causes.

Illustration by Bryan Sola

The Society contains a few broad factions that cover most of these general aspects and most Pathfinders typically associate with one or two of these factions during their career, though such association isn’t compulsory. These factions are the Envoy’s Alliance—a group dedicated to the well-being of the Society and its members, the Grand Archive whose members are devoted to the pursuit of knowledge, the Horizon Hunters who prefer to just travel for the sake of exploration and locating new and forgotten sites, and the Vigilant Seal which includes those Pathfinders who rise up to contain the threats the Society encounters on its missions.

Illustration by Bryan Sola

Due to their constant travels, the Pathfinders make use of lots of different types of equipment. These vary from common adventuring gear to more specialized tools like wayfinders. These magical compasses serve both as a badge of membership for Pathfinders and also as a useful tool for their travels. The typical wayfinder, which is located in the Core Rulebook, allows its user to create magical light and tap into the power of the magical gemstones known as aeon stones. The common wayfinder isn’t the only one in use by the Pathfinders, however. This book provides a few new wayfinder types along with other magical items like the fortifying pebble, a talisman that reduces the damage dealt to the item to which it is affixed.

Players looking to play a character who is a member of the Pathfinder Society can do so pretty easily. The Lost Omens World Guide featured the Pathfinder Agent, an archetype representing a more generic member of the Society. That archetype covers the general abilities one comes to expect as a member of the Society. Namely, it gives you means of helping you search around on your travels, gain more knowledge, and help out your allies. (Explore, report, cooperate!) Characters who took this archetype will find a few more feats to help expand their different skills. These include the Everybody Duck! feat which helps out when you accidentally set off a trap you’re trying to disarm and the Recognize Threat feat to better help you recognize the monsters you fight.

Not all Pathfinder choose to be jacks of all trades, however. Part of a Pathfinder’s training requires that they gain the approval of the three deans of the Grand Lodge before they are considered full-fledged agents. These deans are known as the Masters of Scrolls, Spells, and Swords and each specialize in a different skill to train up and coming agents. The Scrolls train in history, knowledge, and observation; the Spells focus on magical lore and theory; and the Swords teach recruits combat and survival techniques. Once they become proper Pathfinders, many agents continue to associate with their peers from either the Scrolls, Spells, or Swords and undertake missions that favor a particular branch.

Illustration by Bryan Sola

Characters that want to represent this affinity can do so with the three new archetypes in this book. The Scrollmaster, Spellmaster, and Swordmaster archetypes all follow in the vein of the Society branches themselves. The Scrollmaster, for example, is all about researching and being prepared and gains abilities to both further and make use of their extensive knowledge. On the other hand, the Spellmaster focuses on magic and using said magic for things like creating protective wards and even absorbing the spells of your foes to fire the spells back at them!

If you prefer your survival and that of your companions over anything else, you might consider taking the Swordmaster archetype. The archetype provides new options for both survival and faring well in combat. Some of these options are designed to help you prevent damage to yourself, while others are here to help you defend your allies. Regardless of which branch you associate with, your character can take these archetypes right away or in addition to the Pathfinder Agent archetype. Much like with the Hellknights and Knights of Lastwall, these new archetypes dovetail perfectly from the Pathfinder Agent, allowing you to mix and match the skills and abilities to your liking.

Illustration by Bryan Sola

And with that, we’ve covered all five of the major organizations found in the Lost Omens Character Guide! If you’re interested in the Pathfinders, make sure to check out Mike Kimmel’s work in the Character Guide when it releases on October 16th! Also, if the taste of the Pathfinder Society in the book isn’t enough for you, consider checking out Pathfinder Society Organized Play! Organized Play lets you go on missions as true Pathfinders! Just make sure to always explore, report, and of course, cooperate!

Luis Loza
Developer

When considering the best organizations to showcase in the upcoming Lost Omens Character Guide, we asked ourselves who the most iconic figures in our setting were—or should be. Case in point: the Magaambya. Founded by the legendary Old Mage Jatembe, credited with bringing back magic as the Inner Sea region knows it after the destruction of Earthfall, the Magaambya is the oldest magic school in the Inner Sea and possibly on Golarion. The parallel in prestige to real world institutions like Oxford and Cambridge, the Magaambya surely stood as one of the premier organizations in the Age of Lost Omens campaign setting.

Illustration by Rogier van de Beek

Except, like many things in the Mwangi Expanse, that was truer in theory than in reality. While factions such as the Pathfinder Society would travel into Garund quite often, it seemed that the Magaambya was skimping on its travel budget, and members of the arcane college weren’t often seen in official Paizo products. One of our goals in the Lost Omens Character Guide was to firmly define the current presence and goals of the Magaambya. In addition to their heavy presence in the Mwangi Expanse, the Magaambya has begun setting up satellite colleges to the north—after the explosion (many times literal) of arcane events and anomalies that have occurred in Avistan, from the closure of the Worldwound to the appearance of New Thassilon to the destruction caused by the Whispering Tyrant, the scholars of the south have decided it’s about time they go see what on earth is happening up there!

Illustration by Sergio Cosmai

Joining the Magaambya is simply a matter of finding a teacher to sponsor you into the school, but you don’t count as a full-fledged member just from the get-go. Initiates first have to complete a Perquisite: a period of public service. Unlike the teachings of Nethys, the Magaambya doesn’t believe that magic is worth studying just for the sake of being magic. It’s what the magician intends to do with their power that’s important, and the Magaambya believes that those who can cast magic should use it to aid other people. The Perquisite is thus a means to earn the right to study at the Magaambya, but also the Magaambya’s most important lesson. Public service and a willing sponsor are still much easier entrance requirements than other prestigious colleges, who can often discriminate on the grounds of class, ancestry, or wealth. The Magaambya has a startling array of peoples among its students, including many ancestries that have unsavory reputations in other places: anadi, catfolk, gnolls, and iruxi can be found openly studying on the grounds, and even prospectives from Usaro, Mzali, or the Sargavan people—as many Mwangi call the colonists who recently ruled Vidrian—can find a warm welcome, if their intentions are good.

Illustration by Mikhail Palamarchuk

The Magaambya is founded in the teachings of Old Mage Jatembe—most critically, that all magic is magic, regardless of the source. Distinctions such as divine, primal, arcane, and occult are all simply distractions from this truth. Of course, this distinction is easier said than practiced, as the Magaambya well knows. The Magaambya’s signature spellcasting is known as “halcyon magic,” a tradition that combines both arcane and primal magic when casting spells (seen in action in this recent piece of fiction by Tim Pratt and described in the Lost Omens Character Guide). Characters who take the halcyon speaker archetype represent those mages who have mastered halcyon magic and, at higher levels, can even learn to cast multiple halcyon spells at once.

Halcyon magic has been practiced by the Magaambya for a long time, but the researchers and staff at the university aren’t content to rest on their laurels. The Magaambya has plenty of teachers to pass down their current traditions, but also continue researching ways that other traditions of magic might be combined: arcane magic pulsing with the power of the divine, or occult secrets locked away in ancient, primal monuments.

Illustration by Mary Jane Pajaron

Characters that complete their Perquisite gain the rank of Attendant, which allows them to begin advancement in Magaambyan fields of learning such as halcyon magic. Attendants are also expected to choose what branch of the Magaambya—specialized faculties within the school—the student wishes to pursue. Magaambyan attendants have five branches to choose from, representing their commitment to one of the school’s five specialized faculties. Pursuing work within that branch offers on-the-job training that can grant a student unique abilities. A Cascade Bearer, who focuses on advancing magical theory, can use her extensive studies to warp her magic on the fly, such as extending great effort to apply a minor metamagic she has not mastered to a spell. Tempest-Sun Mages, who exist to protect the Magaambya and its allies, can channel some of their offensive magic into a magical barrier to defend themselves. Characters that join with one of the five branches can represent their focus via the Magaambyan attendant archetype.

Illustration by Mikhail Palamarchuk

In addition, Attendants gain the right to create a Magaambyan mask and have it recognized by the other faculty and students. These masks can be unnerving and difficult to explain to outsiders—while they begin as simple wood, continual use is meant to leave an “imprint” of the wearer’s true face, etched into the mask by the student’s soul and magical power. The mask serves as a focus and guide for the Attendant’s magic, as well as a connection between the Attendant’s body and spiritual self. Masks are not considered mandatory, however, and some people find these masks too unsettling to use… especially the ones that move and speak on their own!

As you can see, the Magaambya truly embodies a dedication to the gathering of knowledge, and greater yet, a dedication to change the world for the better with said knowledge. Members of the Magaambya travel all over the world to both build on this knowledge and apply their skills, magical or otherwise, to improving the world wherever they go. If this sounds like something you’d be interested in playing, make sure to check out the Lost Omens Character Guide when it releases on October 16th and read Andrew Mullen’s great work on the Magaambya. If you’re interested in traveling the world, but are maybe less magically inclined or you just prefer to explore for the thrill of seeing the world, you should tune in next week for our blog focusing on the famous (or infamous) Pathfinder Society!

Eleanor Ferron
Developer

Those familiar with the nation of Lastwall will know of the Knights of Ozem, stalwart crusaders who took up the legacy of the Shining Crusade. In honor of all who had sacrificed themselves to defeat the Whispering Tyrant and seal him within the prison of Gallowspire, the Knights of Ozem swore themselves to keep vigil for all eternity, ensuring Tar-Baphon never threatened Golarion again. The nation of Lastwall drew warriors of good to its shining white walls, each one proud of their support of a righteous cause.

When Tar-Baphon rose once more, they didn’t even have the chance to fight.

Illustration by Rogier van de Beek

A magical blast of unfathomable power vaporized Lastwall’s capital of Vigil in an instant. By the time the survivors rallied, there was no victory to be found, only bitter efforts to evacuate civilians and desperate pleas to prevent comrades from throwing their lives away for a nation that was already dead. It was in the wake of utter failure—some of which was undoubtedly the fault of the knights themselves—that the Knights of Ozem proved their courage and character. They stood back up again and rallied once more, knowing they were doomed to fail again in countless battles to come, yet still holding faith that their efforts would make a difference.

Illustration by Will O’Brien

With the loss of Lastwall weighing on them, what remained of the Knights of Ozem fell apart. The fraction of knights that remained soon found themselves at a crossroads. Do they flee Lastwall, their ultimate mission a failure, or do they stand and fight once more? Well, if evil roams the world, it must be stopped. And with that, many of these knights discarded the formal structure they were once committed to and chose to put the fight against evil and the dedication to righteousness above all things. (Check out Liane Merciel’s fiction from a weeks ago for a stirring rendition of this dedication!)

Illustration by Sergio Cosmai

While the Knights of Lastwall are more decentralized than ever, lacking an official headquarters and official leaders, the knights still maintain a semblance of structure. The knights move in groups, mostly made up of anyone willing to fight the hordes of the Whispering Tyrant, with leadership falling to whomever among the group has earned the most respect or influence among their fellow knights. In large scale conflicts, some knights take on roles as strategic leaders, only to return to the status of an everyday knight once the battle is done.

Illustration by Emile Denis

Even in this more informal structure, the Knights of Lastwall break up into two large subfactions. The first are the Shining Sentinels, they are the crusaders and defenders of the knights, committed to the defense of innocents and stemming the spread of undeath. They are the heirs of Lastwall’s cause and are hoping to rally forces to a new Shining Crusade against the Whispering Tyrant. Characters who affiliate with the Shining Sentinels can take the Knight Vigilant archetype, a 6th-level dedication. The archetype is focused on defense, allowing you to provide cover to allies, increase your proficiency with heavy armor, and gain resistance against attacks from undead. The Knight Vigilant also gains access to the Aegis of Arnisant feat.

The other subfaction within the Knights of Lastwall are the Crimson Reclaimers. The Crimson Reclaimers are less concerned with defending the already protected bastions of civilization and instead seek to take the fight to the undead directly. If the Shining Sentinels are the shield that defends the innocent, the Crimson Reclaimers are the blade that cuts down the forces of evil. They travel directly into the Gravelands to fight toe to toe with the countless undead that roam the region, rescuing any civilians that may still be trapped beyond the front lines. In addition to their great skill at combat and infiltration, every Reclaimer swears the Crimson Oath, a mysterious rite that grants additional power against the horrors of the undead.

Illustration by Michele Esposito

Characters that wish to join the Knights of Lastwall, but aren’t necessarily dedicated to either the Shining Sentinels or the Crimson Reclaimers still have a number of options available to them. As many of the Knights of Lastwall are champions and fighters, the section offers a selection of feats for both of these classes, some of which grant new focus spells like the sun blade focus spell for champions. The spell allows champions to fire a ray of sunlight from their weapons, dealing fire damage, good damage, and positive damage to evil undead, and even grows more powerful when the sun is in the sky. Beyond that, the knights have access to a variety of equipment to aid in their fight against evil such as the armored skirt and the fauchard. The knights even make use of magical equipment like glorious plate, full plate armor that can blind a knight’s enemies, and the deadly serrating rune!

If you want more information about the Knight of Lastwall or want to take up arms against the forces of the Whispering Tyrant, make sure to check out Isabelle Thorne’s entry in the Lost Omens Character Guide! The Knights of Lastwall aren’t the only ones trying to good in Avistan, however. In fact, the Knights of Lastwall sometimes fight alongside the scholars of the Magaambya Academy. If you’re interested in how you can use your magical acumen to improve the world, stay tuned for our preview of the Magaambya next week! However you decide to fight against evil, make sure to check out the Lost Omens Character Guide when it releases on October 16th!

Luis Loza
Developer

Last week, we took our first big look at the Firebrands, a brand new organization premiering in the Lost Omens Character Guide (releasing in just a few weeks!). While new organizations are fun, people familiar with the Age of Lost Omens will have lots of classics to look forward to as well. Pathfinder has had plenty of iconic figures throughout its history including our iconic characters like Seelah and Valeros, as well as the Gray Maidens that featured on the back of the original Core Rulebook. Among some of these more memorable figures are the Hellknights, the imposing paragons of law.

Illustration by Rogier van de Beek

The Hellknights are a widespread organization that spans the Inner Sea region, though many of its orders are located within Cheliax. At its core, the organization is dedicated to enforcing and upholding law and order. The Hellknights believe the letter of the law to be absolute and understand that without a commitment to law, the world is under threat of succumbing to the terrors of chaos and disorder.

Illustration by Maichol Quinto

Hellknights follow a massive set of laws and virtues known as the Measure and the Chain. The Measure collects all of the countless laws and strictures that make up the Hellknights’ code. These laws take inspiration from the structure and order of Hell itself, with many Hellknights seeing the order of Hell as something to aspire to and emulate. The Chain presents the Hellknights’ most important virtues: order, discipline, and mercilessness. Keeping these ideals in mind, the Hellknights seek out lawbreakers and those who threaten the stability of order, punishing them to the utmost extent of the law regardless of the crimes committed. Compassion of any kind leads to anarchy and, as all are guilty of some infraction, no mercy shall be spared for those who break the law.

Illustration by Maichol Quinto

Characters who want to become Hellknights will have to undergo rigorous training to even be considered for entrance into the Hellknights. This training is represented in the form of the Hellknight armiger archetype, originally found in the Lost Omens World Guide. Since every Hellknight has to be an armiger first, it’s a very important archetype for would-be Hellknights. In fact, it’s so important that we decided to expand on the archetype just a bit by providing new feats to support it! Once you go through the process of becoming an armiger, you are faced with the Hellknight Test in which you fight a devil in one on one combat. Succeed and you become a full-fledged Hellknight. Fail and you die. Pretty simple. Once you become a Hellknight, you have access to the Hellknight’s signature armor!

The Hellknights are not a monolith. Though every Hellknight follows the Measure and the Chain, the organization is broken into several orders, each of which have a different focus. The Order of the Chain (who were the stars of a recent piece of fiction by Liane Merciel) are dedicated to tracking down criminals who have eluded the hand of the law, at least for the moment. The Order of the Pyre instead focuses on rooting out religions, philosophies, and scientific endeavors that could disrupt the status quo. The Hellknights have seven major orders, which are detailed in the book as well as several smaller orders that feature brief descriptions.

Illustration by Maichol Quinto

Characters that become members of the Hellknights must join one of these orders in order to become a full-fledged Hellknight. Because each order has a distinctive focus, we wanted to provide options to characters that better represent their affiliation with their respective orders. To that end, we created a new set of feats, Order Training and Advanced Order Training, to allow Hellknight characters to gain unique abilities that are only available to their order. Both of these feats are available to Hellknights, Hellknight Signifers, and Hellknight armigers, so you can access these abilities regardless of where you are along your career path. The Order Training feat gives you lesser abilities, like the Order of the Nail’s ability to ignore non-magical difficult terrain, while the Advanced Order Training gives greater power, like the blessing available to members of the Order of the Godclaw.

Unfortunately, we only had enough space to get order abilities for the seven major orders. If and when we get a chance to look at the Hellknights again (maybe in a book focused on Old Cheliax? Who knows! Let us know if you want that!) we will get a chance to expand further on the orders and provide new options. In addition to the above options, the book provides details on the various ranks among the Hellknights, such as Maralictor and Paralictor, as well as information on the Lictors of each of the Hellknight orders. Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention one of the biggest options available in this book: the Hellknight and Hellknight signifier archetypes!

Illustration by Maichol Quinto

Building off of the Hellknight armiger archetype, these two archetypes allow Hellknight characters to reach their full potential. Hellknights are fierce warriors clad in Hellknight armor and bringing about brutal justice wherever they go. Hellknights are the big, tough combatants among the organization and have different abilities to represent that, like the scaling of their proficiency in Hellknight plate and attacks like the Blade of Law.

Hellknight signifers on the other hand are more focused on spellcasting. They typically provide support to other Hellknights on the battlefield, but are no less dangerous and dedicated than their fellow Hellknights. Signifers wear unique masks that in addition to being quite intimidating, also grant unique abilities. For example, with the Signifer’s Sigh feat you gain darkvision and lessen the effects of being dazzled, while Gaze of Veracity feat allows you to cast glimpse the truth as a focus spell.

If you’re looking to learn more about the Hellknights or even consider joining their ranks, make sure to read Amanda Hamon’s work in the Lost Omens Character Guide. If you like the idea of playing a knight, but prefer to focus more on saving the day and helping others rather than just brutally upholding the law, consider checking out our preview of the Knights of Lastwall next week! Either way, make sure to check out the Lost Omens Character Guide when it releases on October 16th. It’s a Hell of a treat!

Luis Loza
Developer

While the Lost Omens World Guide can help answer things like “Where are you from?” and “Where are you going?,” I think that the Lost Omens Character Guide tries to help answer an even more critical question: “Who are you?” The Character Guide offers great information on ethnicities for our core ancestries and even new ancestries to choose from! However, there’s more to your character than your ancestry. Almost as important as your ancestry is the people you know and with whom you associate. Are you a member of the local guard or thieves’ guild? Did you join up with your nation’s army? Are you part of a doomsday cult or a church of an obscure deity?

Illustration by Rogier van de Beek

The organization or organizations you join can have just as an important role in your character’s life as their class or ancestry. Because of this, we wanted the Character Guide to also take a look at some of the notable organizations in the Inner Sea region. This includes obvious groups like the Pathfinder Society, but also organizations that have had less time in the spotlight over the years like the Magaambya Academy. For the Character Guide, we landed on five spots for major organizations which include the Hellknights (lawful), Knights of Lastwall (lawful good), Magaambya Academy (neutral good), and the Pathfinder Society (neutral). After we decided on these four, we realized that chaotic characters didn’t really have an obvious group to join. Some back and forth happened and eventually I pitched an idea for a brand new organization and thus, the Firebrands were born. (If you missed it, we even had a preview of their shenanigans with some fiction by Chris A. Jackson a few weeks back!)

Illustration by Michele Esposito

Who are the Firebrands? Depends on who you ask! Some people say they are rebels and rabble rousers who travel the Inner Sea region to fight tyranny and help the oppressed. Others say that they are just grandstanders with a penchant for fashion and drawing attention to themselves. In a way, they’re both right. The Firebrands began life as rebels when the people of Vidrian reached out to the people of Ravounel in an act of solidarity shortly after the founding of both new nations. In the process, the Vidric rebels and the Silver Ravens met up and realized that they both still had that rebellious fire and wanted to join up and continue fighting oppression. Eventually word of these first Firebrands got out and, in an attempt to ask for their aid, some rebels in Galt publicly declared themselves as Firebrands. While not officially part of the original group, these Firebrands had that same fighting spirit and others believed them to be part of the organization, too.

Illustration by Mary Jane Pajaron

This leads to more and more people declaring themselves Firebrands and things getting out of hand. Eventually, some Free Captains do it to stick it to the man, which in turn becomes a trend among others. This fad of “joining” the Firebrands escalates to a whole movement of people doing so for the thrill of going around and doing daredevil acts and having fun. These Firebrands in turn draw lots of attention away from the rebellious side of the group and then we have the Firebrands of today. If you’re playing a Firebrand, you might choose to go in on the fun and gaudy lifestyle, drawing throngs of people to hear about your latest exploit. In that case, you might end up taking the Entourage skill feat.

However, drawing and maintaining an entourage takes a lot of work. In fact, only the most well-known Firebrands have the popularity to draw large groups of people. If you’re not popular enough yet, maybe it’s time to go and delve another ancient ruin or wear some more eye-catching clothing! You can always head to the Vaunter’s Carnival—a yearly gathering of Firebrands full of boasting and friendly competition—in hopes of gaining enough of a reputation to build your own entourage.

Illustration by Michele Esposito

Maybe you’re not the kind that likes attention. Maybe you prefer to help others and would prefer to use your popularity to inspire others to do good. The Firebrands are the perfect organization for that kind of character. Vigilantes and do-gooders of all types can use the Firebrands as a mask to go around and help those in need. Maybe putting on a persona is still too much. In that case, the Firebrands are also perfect at helping you remain anonymous, as anyone can join the group. In fact, the Firebrands make use of gear to keep their deeds hidden like the insistent door knocker, the unmemorable mantle, and one of my favorite first edition items, snapleaf!

Many of the options featured in the organizations section of the Character Guide are uncommon or rarer options. Some of these, like the snapleaf above, are widespread enough that you can acquire them even without a connection to the organization. For those that are less common, it’s generally a simple matter of joining up with the organization. Each section features details on how to join these groups, allowing GMs and players to work together to get characters membership as their respective stories allow. For the Firebrands, it’s actually a simple process: go somewhere that has a lot of people and publicly declare yourself a Firebrand. You did it! You’re a first mark Firebrand! Moving up in the ranks is a bit tougher than that, though. You have to gain a reputation and eventually have to have a recognized second mark Firebrand officially accept you as a Firebrand. Once this happens, you have become a second mark and gain access to most of the section’s rules options, including the new Firebrand braggart archetype!

Illustration by Michele Esposito

This archetype is all about boasting and trying to do as many death-defying deeds as possible, placing your reputation on the line in the process. Firebrand braggarts can make big boasts about something they’re about to do, such as a Long Jump over a chasm, and if they succeed, gain a bonus to other Long Jump checks for a while as they ride high on their success. If they fail, however, they take a penalty to further checks for some time as their bruised ego recovers. Later feats allow braggarts to taunt their foes to trick them into letting their guard down, do fun stunts that let them dance around the battlefield, and even defy death by their sheer determination alone. The Firebrand braggart archetype is a double-length archetype taking up two pages and the Firebrand Braggart Dedication feat is available starting at 4th level.

That’s just a taste of what the Firebrands have to offer. If you’ve always wanted a group that encouraged adventuring for the sake of adventuring, fun, and prestige, then you should check out the Firebrands! If you think that too many tyrants are up to no good and the world needs more heroes, then you should check out the Firebrands! If you think these Firebrands are too much of a nuisance and should learn their place, then you should check out our preview of the Hellknights next week! Regardless, I think you should check out the Lost Omens Character Guide when it releases on October 16th. It’s going to be fun!

Luis Loza
Developer

Those of you who have been following the Oblivion Oath campaign on Paizo’s Twitch channel are likely already familiar with Zel, the lizardfolk adventurer who has been caught up in strange and frankly creepy events beyond his control. Jason Bulmahn stressed that lizardfolk—or iruxi, as they call themselves—would not be a player ancestry in the Pathfinder 2E Core Rulebook, but us developers have known for a while that they’d be quickly following along on the Core Rulebook’s coattails. In fact, Zel has been using the final lizardfolk ancestry rules for a while, and with the upcoming release of the Lost Omens Character Guide, you’ll soon be able to do the same!

In the case of the Pathfinder developers and designers, this also gives us an opportunity to expand upon lizardfolk in ways we haven’t had the opportunity to do so until now. There have been hints of a more robust lizardfolk culture scattered across multiple Paizo products, but oftentimes, those hints never coalesced into anything tangible for the PCs to encounter during adventures. Most meetings with the iruxi follow the exact same template—an isolated tribe of lizardfolk living in simple, ramshackle huts in the middle of a jungle or swamp.

Illustration by Mary Jane Parajon

When outlining the iruxi entry for the Lost Omens Character Guide, I asked for something that was truly primordial. Much like crocodiles or sharks, lizardfolk have been present on Golarion for spans of time that are unfathomable to the human mindset. Iruxi are old enough that some of their treasured ancestors are actually fossils. They had nations that were ancient before the elves even set foot on the planet, and they survived through the destruction of Earthfall not by fleeing or by magic, but by simple virtue of their nature as highly adapted predators. They may not have changed in millions—or even billions—of years, but that’s because they’re so well-evolved for their lifestyle that they haven’t needed to.

(Though if we follow the crocodile and shark metaphors too far, that might imply the existence of titanic lizardfolk that existed in prehistoric times. Eek!)

With the inexorable advance of faster-lived mammalian peoples across the globe, however, the iruxi are finding they cannot keep solely to themselves and their old ways anymore. Lizardfolk have so far preferred to be patient and think things through thoroughly before acting, but the tide is starting to turn, and more iruxi are turning their gaze to collaboration with other civilizations. Like hobgoblins and leshies, lizardfolk are an Uncommon ancestry. They are most welcome in lands such as the Mwangi Expanse, where the iruxi nation of Droon in southern Garund is a well-known fact, or in lawless wilds such as the River Kingdoms or the deserts of the Golden Road. While an iruxi might find acceptance elsewhere, many people react to lizardfolk in the same way that they might respond to finding a large alligator lying on their sofa and wearing their slippers. That is to say, for all you reptile fans out there who are about to claim to be delighted by such a thing, not well.

Illustration by Mary Jane Parajon

Lizardfolk get 8 Hit Points from their ancestry, are Medium, and have a speed of 25 feet. A lizardfolk speaks Common and Iruxi, plus any additional languages they might pick up. As apex predators, they get an ability boost to Strength, and their incredible patience in the face of pressure and adversary gets them another ability boost in Wisdom. They also get one free ability boost to put in any score. Much like snakes, sharks, and crocodiles, lizardfolk don’t tend to focus much on knowledge outside of the practical, so they get an ability flaw to Intelligence. Neither lizardfolk nor their unfortunate prey consider this much of a weakness, however—lizardfolk are hard to fool, possess razor sharp claws that grant them an unarmed strike, and have the ability to hold their breath for a long time while they quietly lie in wait.

Many iruxi ancestry feats focus on enhancing their physical prowess, as they learn to adapt their formidable natural abilities to an adventuring lifestyle. Iruxi can gain a powerful tail whip attack, use their affinity for natural terrain to catch foes off balance, and further hone their skills with unarmed combat. They also have a few reptilian tricks up their sleeves, such as the ability granted by the following ancestry feat:

SHED TAIL (reaction)	FEAT 5
LIZARDFOLK

Prerequisites: Tail Whip
Trigger: You become grabbed.
Requirements: You have a fully grown tail.

You can shed your tail to escape. You cease being grabbed, then Stride without triggering any reactions from the creature that grabbed you. It takes 1 week for your tail to fully grow back. Until it does, you can’t use your tail unarmed attack, and you take a –2 circumstance penalty on checks to Balance.

Illustration by Mary Jane Parajon

Along with suggestions for some common Core Rulebook backgrounds appropriate for lizardfolk, the iruxi ancestry entry also notes lizardfolk culture’s love of astrology. As one of the first societies to master telling time by the stars, astrological divination followed soon after, and has become both a point of pride and a way of life to most iruxi. This love of astronomy has found lizardfolk a few friends in the form of displaced Lirgeni astrologers, and GMs might even consider allowing iruxi PCs to take Lirgeni human astrology feats present in earlier sections of the Lost Omens Character Guide!

Eleanor Ferron
Developer

When we first started brainstorming the three new ancestries we intended to put into the Lost Omens Character Guide, leshies weren’t even on the list. We knew we didn’t want to overlap with the ancestries that are going to show up in the recently announced Advanced Player’s Guide, but that still left us with far too many contenders for the mere three ancestry slots we had available. Options included simple and popular choices such as the grippli, ambitious but potentially rules-contentious ideas such as centaurs, and even the relatively obscure mortics that appeared in Tyrant’s Grasp. As we debated, Mark Seifter came in with a message from himself and the rest of the Design Team: “What about leshies?”

Well, what about leshies?

Much like their introduction into Pathfinder 1E, leshies gained incredible traction in a short amount of time, and they managed to cinch the last, coveted spot as an early ancestry for Pathfinder 2E. We know leshies aren’t for everyone, but we recognized their presence was an opportunity to emphasize some of the truly unique aspects of the Age of Lost Omens as a setting. While many ancestries have unique and challenging viewpoints by the standards of humanity, leshies are separated from both flesh and mortality as we understand it.

Illustration by Ksenia Kozhevnikova

Leshies are a combination of the physical and the supernatural. The true heart of a leshy is a nature spirit, but these spirits don’t have bodies and can't easily affect the material world on their own. It’s only when a master of primal magic creates a suitable vessel for a spirit, and a spirit accepts that vessel as a body, that a leshy is born. Once a leshy is created, they could theoretically live forever—though the dangers of Golarion mean this rarely occurs—and leshy souls don’t go to the Boneyard upon death like those of mortals. Instead, destroying a leshy simply frees their primal spirit back into nature; that spirit could even be summoned into another leshy body at some point in the future. Reincarnated leshies tend to put most of their memories of their past lives aside, but that doesn’t mean they forget everything, and a newborn leshy might choose to pursue a particularly treasured friend or important cause from a previous existence.

Like hobgoblins, leshies are an Uncommon ancestry. In the case of leshies, this is because many leshies don’t travel beyond their homes, instead staying to protect and tend to the natural places they sprung from and treasure. I often envision leshies to be something akin to the kodama from the film Princess Mononoke, or other strange creatures from Miyazaki movies—regular townsfolk aren’t going to stab such a mystical forest spirit on sight, but it would still be very strange to see one come into a shop and ask to buy some rope! Big changes have come to Golarion of late, however, and that means more and more leshies are starting to venture out from their forests and caverns, shyly investigating the cities and towns of other peoples as they set forth to hold back a spreading darkness.

Illustration by Ksenia Kozhevnikova

Leshies get 8 Hit Points from their ancestry, are Small, and have a speed of 25 feet. A leshy speaks Common and Sylvan, plus any additional languages they might pick up. Leshies lack vulnerable organs and veins, giving them an ability boost to Constitution, and have the tranquility and experience of an immortal nature spirit, getting another ability boost in Wisdom. They also get one free ability boost to put in any score. Leshies don’t cling to old memories and can be a little empty-headed—in the case of gourd leshies, literally! —so they get an ability flaw to Intelligence. In addition, leshies don’t eat like most PCs do, instead gaining sustenance from the sun or from rotting matter (though leshies have discovered a way to create bottled nutrients for themselves if they find themselves needing such a precaution).

Leshies can also do fun and unusual things with their crafted plant bodies, such as the ability granted by the following ancestry feat:

SEEDPOD	FEAT 1
LESHY

Your body produces a nearly endless supply of hard seedpods. You gain a seedpod ranged unarmed attack that deals 1d4 bludgeoning damage; these Strikes have the manipulate trait. On a critical hit, a seedpod bursts, issuing forth a tangle of vegetation that imposes a –10‐foot circumstance penalty on the target’s Speed for 1 round. Seedpods do not add critical specialization effects.

The leshy ancestry entry also suggests some common Core Rulebook backgrounds appropriate for leshies. Nomad or scout might be unsurprising rules and roleplaying recommendations, but be sure to also check out specific backgrounds from the Lost Omens World Guide for other appropriate options such as the Wildwood Local background!

Eleanor Ferron
Developer

It’s here! The Lost Omens World Guide is finally available on store shelves everywhere and via PDF on paizo.com. Hopefully you’ve had a chance to check out the Tales of Lost Omens to get a taste of the upcoming changes to the Inner Sea region and some amazing fiction by our wonderful authors. While those blogs were great in their own right, they were sorely lacking a little something: new rules! So, join me as I take another quick tour through the ten metaregions of the Inner Sea region and we’ll take a peek at some fun rules content.

Illustration by Mirco Paganessi

Our first stop is at Absalom, home of the Starstone Cathedral and a little group known as the Pathfinder Society. Among the various tools of the trade for Pathfinders are their iconic wayfinders. Before the formulaic wayfinders of the modern day became commonplace, the Society created each wayfinder individually and some of these older wayfinders are still found here and there. Along with the archaic wayfinder, visitors to Absalom may take one of the backgrounds available, like the Pathfinder Hopeful background, and the Pathfinder agent archetype!

From Absalom, we head to the northeastern reaches of Avistan and arrive in the Broken Lands. The area is known for the countless independent states of the River Kingdoms, the fractured politics of Brevoy, the mystifying technology of Numeria, the glory of Razmiran, the blighted Sarkoris Scar region, and the crusaders of Mendev who now have a chance to rest with a closed Worldwound. Characters from the Broken Lands might take the Sarkorian Reclaimer background if they wish to reclaim the Sarkorian homeland from the demons that wander there or even learn the storied and ancient tradition of the Aldori swordlords by taking the Aldori duelist archetype. Of course, how can you be a swordlord without the Aldori dueling sword?

Next, let’s head southeast to the Eye of Dread, a land marked by recent devastation and war. The rise of the Whispering Tyrant and his armies meant bad news for the Hold of Belkzen, Lastwall, and Ustalav, while the rise of the Ironfang Legion caused disruptions among Molthune and Nirmathas, culminating in the founding of the hobgoblin nation of Oprak. While characters from the Broken Lands might choose to take the fight to ol’ Tar-Baphon by taking the Lastwall sentry archetype, you might be more inclined to play a hobgoblin from Oprak (using the hobgoblin ancestry from the upcoming Lost Omens Character Guide). For you hobgoblin players out there, consider taking the Onyx Trader background.

Now we head further south to the wonders of the Golden Road. This is land full of cosmopolitan cities with bustling marketplaces and ancient ruins holding lost secrets and treasures. From the countless tombs of Osirion, to the Night Stalls of Katapesh, to the miraculous sun orchid elixir of Thuvia, to the great caravan cities of Qadira, or the mechanical innovations of Rahadoum, there is adventure to be found.

Illustration by Mirco Paganessi

The Golden Road features a number of exciting new rules. If your character is looking to sneak off with the relics from the region, you might consider taking the Black Market Smuggler background. If you want to be tough as nails, you might take the living monolith archetype. PCs that want to live forever could consider trying to claim the sun orchid elixir for themselves or just enjoy a bit of pesh. Rahadoumi characters can even consider taking the Godless Healing feat to improve the power of science and medicine on their own bodies.

We then set sail from Rahadoum out to the open seas. The High Seas region is home such areas like the Shackles, Hermea, and Medoigalti Island, but not all locales here are at sea level. In fact, you can visit underwater settlements like the aquatic elf city of Irim or the algolthu settlement of Gholinom. PCs looking to visit these sites might do well to get a set of swim fins to help their swimming or a jellyfish lamp to help navigating the dark depths of the ocean. Such PCs will probably take the Undersea Enthusiast background. PCs that prefer to stay on dry land could choose to set out to Mediogalti Island and join up with the Red Mantis Assassins, taking their archetype in the process. The archetype grants proficiency with sawtooth sabres and at later levels even allows you to transform into a mantis yourself!

If we travel into the Inner Sea and head east, we eventually reach the Impossible Lands. So named because of the impressive and awe-inspiring nations it bears, the Impossible Lands region is home to Geb, Nex, the Mana Wastes, and Jalmeray.

Illustration by Ainur Salimova

Characters from the Impossible Lands have a number of impressive options to choose. You could choose to join one of the Houses of Perfection in Jalmeray, taking the student of perfection archetype in the process. The archetype features an option for each of the Houses of Perfection’s four monasteries and is a great pick for anyone who is an expert in unarmed attacks. You could instead seek the secrets of the archmagi Nex by taking the Eye of the Arclords feat or Nexian Mystic background.

Once we head inland, we reach the Mwangi Expanse. This vast jungle is home to the people of Vidrian, the nation formerly known as Sargava, the flooded ruins of the Sodden Lands, and the dozens of city-states that dot the Mwangi Expanse. Characters from the Mwangi might be lizardfolk (again, see the Lost Omens Character Guide!) or one of the Mwangi orcs that takes the Blessed Tattoo feat to defend themselves from the influence of the demon lord Angazhan. Of particular note is the Magaambya, the oldest arcane academy in the Inner Sea region, located in Nantambu. Characters who are members of the Magaambya might take the magic warrior archetype or the Magaambya Academic background.

Returning to Avistan, we land in the region known as Old Cheliax. This region is home to one of the oldest nations on Avistan as well as one of the oldest. Visitors to Old Cheliax can go see Isger, Nidal, Ravounel, and, of course, Cheliax.

Illustration by Mirco Paganessi

Characters from the Old Cheliax region have plenty of backgrounds to choose from, such the Thrune Loyalist background or the Chelish Rebel background for those who aren’t as happy with Queen Abrograil and her rule. The region’s archetype is the Hellknight armiger, which represents a Hellknight in training. Characters can take the archetype as early as second level. A fun fact about the archetype is that it is designed to dovetail into the full-fledged Hellknight archetype that is premiering later in the Lost Omens Character Guide.

As we continue north, we reach the Saga Lands. The Saga Lands region is one of the most storied areas in Pathfinder’s history and is home to the newly-founded New Thassilon, the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, the Realm of the Mammoth Lords, Irrisen, and Varisia.

Illustration by Ainur Salimova

With so many lands steeped in magic, it’s no surprise that the region offers a number of magical options. Saga Lands characters could be a time-displaced character from New Thassilon with the Thassilonian Traveler background. Those with ties to the witches of Irrisen might look forward to the return of the snowball spell. Of course, you might not have innate magic, especially if you have the Mammoth Speaker background. No worries, my magicless friends! You can now take the runescarred archetype, which requires no spellcasting prowess whatsoever, and cover yourself in magical runes to gain new magical abilities!

Finally, as we wrap up our mechanical tour, we arrive in the Shining Kingdoms. It doesn’t get more traditional high fantasy than this region! With areas like Druma, Kyonin, the Five Kings Mountains, Galt, Andoran, and Taldor, the Shining Kingdoms are perfect for games starring knights in shining armor. Characters from the region could be from the wilds of the Verduran Forest with the Wildwood Local background or be a more sophisticated, city type with the Taldan Schemer background. Fans of intrigue might consider taking the Lion Blade archetype. Not all of the content here is fun and exciting for players, though, as is evident with the entry for Galt’s final blades. If you’re the type who wants to be a hero for the people, you could even consider joining the Eagle Knights of Andoran!

Well, we made it around the Inner Sea Region and we just scratched the surface on what’s available in the Lost Omens World Guide! If this taste of dozens of backgrounds, ten archetypes, and so much more was enticing, consider picking up the book! I’m excited for all players, be they Pathfinder veterans or newcomers to Second Edition, to check out this book. Golarion is an exciting for games, so go and tell some great stories!

Luis Loza
Developer

Nearly 20 years after the Goblinblood Wars devastated the nation of Isger, an army of hobgoblins marched toward conquest once more. Led by the formidable commander General Azaersi—who had lost everything in the Goblinblood Wars, as so many others had—the so-called Ironfang Invasion swept across the lands of Nirmathas and northern Molthune with what seemed like an unstoppable momentum. Yet the residents of Nirmathas managed to unite in their hour of need, rallied by a group of militia commanders that proved a match for the Ironfang Legion’s legendary general. In a move that surprised nearly everyone, the heroes of Nirmathas chose to show mercy to the merciless, sparing the general and suing for peace. Azaersi agreed and pulled her armies back to her mysterious base of operations, the Vault of the Onyx Citadel, before officially founding the nation of Oprak in the mountains.

Which is a fancy story, but what does that have to do with playable hobgoblins? General Azaersi might have signed temporary non-aggression treaties with Nirmathas (and somewhat ominously, with Nidal), but that’s a far cry from welcoming the hated Ironfang Legion into human cities. In this case, it’s Tar-Baphon’s fault—the rise of the Whispering Tyrant suddenly has the flesh and blood, living and breathing hobgoblins looking like much more pleasant neighbors in comparison. Some highly optimistic diplomats even hope to convince the Ironfang Legion to help fight Tar-Baphon’s forces. After all, what are hobgoblins without a war?

Illustration by Klaher Baklaher

That’s the question we’re asking Pathfinder 2E players to help answer while they play in the Age of Lost Omens. Whether Azaersi is simply rebuilding her forces in order to invade again or has instead turned her ambitions toward economic conquest instead of martial, Oprak is currently a nation at peace. For a society comprised mostly of Goblinblood orphans and veterans, who have only known combat and preparation for combat since childhood, this sudden shift has led to a great deal of restlessness, soul-searching, aimless depression… and in some, curious exploration. Where previously the most brutal and efficient hobgoblins were the ones that excelled, less vicious hobgoblins are now carving a place for themselves as explorers and envoys to non-hobgoblin peoples.

Hobgoblins are an Uncommon ancestry. This might seem confusing, as Uncommon usually suggests that something must be found through effort in-game, and PCs can hardly switch ancestries mid-character! In this case, Uncommon is what we use to indicate that a particular ancestry is not necessarily found (or appropriate as PCs) in all areas of the Inner Sea region. A hobgoblin soldier PC would not fit well into the War for the Crown Adventure Path, for example—but that same PC could easily be found in the Eye of Dread meta-region, or even touring the lands of Nidal or Varisia. With that said, Azaersi’s control over the Vault of the Onyx Citadel means a hobgoblin can theoretically be found anywhere, as the general has managed to create magical pathways to regions as far-flung as the hobgoblin nation of Kaoling in Tian Xia!

Illustration by Klaher Baklaher

Hobgoblins get 8 Hit Points from their ancestry, are Medium, and have a speed of 25 feet. A hobgoblin speaks Common and Goblin, plus any additional languages they might pick up. Hobgoblins have incredible endurance and are trained for physical discipline, giving them an ability boost to Constitution, and they possess keen minds, getting another ability boost in Intelligence. Like most ancestries, they also get one free ability boost to put in any score. Hobgoblins were originally created from goblins, however, meaning the two ancestries share an ability flaw to Wisdom. With these traits, hobgoblins seem like they’d be perfectly suited to be wizards… if not for the absolute, bone-deep loathing they hold toward almost all magic. Oops!

In fact, hobgoblins hate magic so much that they can choose the Elfbane Hobgoblin ancestry, which can help them resist spells:

The hobgoblin ancestry entry also suggests some Core Rulebook backgrounds you might choose that are common for those of hobgoblin ancestry, but be sure to also check out specific backgrounds from the Lost Omens World Guide for other appropriate options, such as the Onyx Trader or Goblinblood Orphan backgrounds!

Eleanor Ferron
Developer

Illustration by Mary Jane Pajaron

Illustration by Valeria Lutfullina

One of the strengths of the games set in the Age of Lost Omens is the diversity of setting. From classic staples like dragonslaying and piracy to outlandish adventures fighting robot scorpions in a rugged wasteland, no matter what genre of game you want to play, you can likely find a spot on Golarion to suit your interest. With that diversity of setting comes a diversity of people. Every nation has its own vibrant cultures, traditions, and ethnicities—not just among humanity, but among all of the ancestries found within the Inner Sea region. In Golarion, the home of the shattered clans of the Five Kings Mountains, the tunnel-dwelling Kulnett of Geb, the dragon-worshiping Mwangi tribes of the Mbe'ke and the Taralu, and the completely subterranean grondaksen, there's no such thing as playing "just" a dwarf.

Illustration by Valeria Lutfullina

At least, that's always been the theory. In practice, many of these disparate cultures haven't gotten the setting support they deserved. That's why when we set out to decide on the topic for the second of our new World Guides, Luis Loza quickly suggested a book that outlined the people of Golarion, especially those not well-covered in the Core Rulebook. In the Lost Omens Character Guide, we provide the information and mechanics to allow our players to create character concepts from all over the world. Just as importantly, we also sought to provide a more focused vision of what these people looked like!

The Lost Omens Character Guide makes heavy use of a rules concept introduced to the Rarity system in the Lost Omens World Guide: Access. Many of the ancestry feats in this book have a specific basis in the distinct traditions of various cultures and ethnicities, and as such, are listed as Uncommon rules options. The Access entry on these feats lists the criteria that allow a character to gain automatic access to a rules element. For example, the Erutaki people have a tradition of creating magical scrimshaw constructs; an Erutaki PC that meets the prerequisites can gain immediate access to the feat that represents that ability below, while another PC would have to learn the skill from an Erutaki carver or otherwise gain GM permission to take the feat.

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That's not to say there aren't a few ancestry feats that are entirely dependent on heritage. For example, those of Nidalese ancestry can find the blessings of Zon-Kuthon manifesting as they grow stronger, granting the ability to see in darkness and other shadowy powers. Since these feats come as a direct result of Zon-Kuthon's pact with the people of Nidal, only Nidalese characters can take them—while a PC could try to gain access to such feats by seeking out Zon-Kuthon himself, as the three Kellid horselords that founded Nidal once did, such a bargain would likely have far more dramatic results than a few extra human ancestry feats.

Illustrations by Katerina Kirillova

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Inside the Lost Omens Character Guide, you'll find more heritages and ancestry feats for each of the Core ancestries that help to support a variety of ethnicities, both new and old. For instance, we've mentioned the mountain-dwelling Mbe'ke tribe of dwarves that live in the Mwangi Expanse in passing—we've now provided a new dwarven heritage to grant those dwarves an affinity with the dragons that they worship, but can also be used to represent dwarves with a connection to azers, the fiery god Angradd, or other elemental forces!

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Illustration by Rogier van de Beek

In addition to new ethnicities, the Lost Omens Character Guide offers a more detailed look at some familiar cultures within the setting. For instance, inside this book lies the true name of the Snowcaster elves, as well as a number of secrets about their true origins. Of course, this knowledge only raises more questions, such as whether the events that created the modern-day culture of the Snowcasters are also connected to a peculiar oddity of the elven goddess Findeladlara. As an aside, the Snowcasters have always had a distinct look, but when ordering art for the Lost Omens Character Guide, I asked for a specific addition to their silhouette—a pair of antler-like blades that the elves can quickly combine with other gear to transform into skis or a sled. These allow the Snowcasters to move rapidly over snow and ice, and also makes them somewhat intimidating at a distance, which might explain why many outsiders claim Snowcaster elves are demon-worshipping cannibals.

To those of you who love multiclassing, there is also a new elven heritage available to any elf of a certain age that might be of interest:

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But wait, there's more!

Illustration by Klaher Baklaher

With gnomes, we're taking the opportunity to emphasize that not all ancestries view ethnicity in the same way as humans do. Gnomes especially tend to possess a riot of unusual hair, eye, and skin colors that can often seem disconnected from genetics entirely. When gnomes speak of their ethnicities, they are usually referring to a natural affinity toward different kinds of magic that a gnome might possess—due to their souls' abrupt disconnect from their ancestral home in the First World, gnomes are more affected by nearby sources of magic when they are growing up. For example, gnomes who grow up near sources of divine power have more affinity with magic that changes reality or creates figments, while the unsettling fell gnomes have a stronger connection to occult magic or dark fey.

While goblins often receive little distinction from adventurers beyond what color splatter they leave behind, the recent slowing of humanoid/goblin aggressions has allowed the differences between goblin cultures to become better understood. The forest goblins of the Chitterwood lived through the Goblinblood Wars (more accurately, many of them did not live), which has given them a different approach to life when compared to the wilder goblins of Varisia. A relatively quick goblin lifespan and a traditional worship of Lamashtu means that goblins can also adapt to new environments very quickly, leading to some startling physiological differences between certain goblin ethnicities. The frost goblins of the north have blue skin and occasionally blue fur, but the most striking ethnicity of goblin is likely the monkey goblin, which possesses a long tail! A heritage for monkey goblins is provided for those who wish to play these unusual offshoots:

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Illustration by Emile Denis

Finally, we have halfling ethnicities, including a number of new cultural groups that don't simply copy the traditions of the taller humans around them. I'll leave most of them for those who pick up the book, but I'd be remiss not to mention Luis Loza's favorite of the bunch: the Othoban halflings, who he fondly refers to as "Time Halflings." What are time halflings? The answer involves the city of Xin-Edasseril and the events of the Return of the Runelords adventure path—after all, you didn't think there were only humans in that city, did you?

Tune in next week when we'll be here to talk about some of the new ancestries that will be appearing in the Lost Omens Character Guide!

Eleanor Ferron
Developer