Rule of Threes

Thursday, August 9, 2018

The initial volume of the Against the Aeon Throne Adventure Path releases this month, marking several changes to the Starfinder Adventure Path format, some permanent, some more experimental. Firstly, as many of you know by now, Starfinder Adventure Path is becoming a monthly product! We'll be delivering new adventures, new articles, and new creatures to you every 30 days or so until someone makes us stop. Heck, it's worked pretty well for Pathfinder all these years, so I think we'll probably be fine. We have a lot of exciting campaigns and stories that we want to share with you, so we hope you'll join us for this journey among the stars.

Illustration by David Melvin

Secondly is our exploration of a shorter campaign length. Both Against the Aeon Throne and the following Adventure Path, Signal of Screams, are presented in just three volumes, giving groups a chance for a somewhat extended experience in the Starfinder universe without having to commit to a full six-volume campaign, which can usually take at least a year to play. When we decided to double our production of adventures, we also thought the change would be a good opportunity to experiment a bit with the format. And the plots and themes we wanted to work with at the time seemed to lend themselves to shorter arcs. Thus, the three-volume campaign was born!

These shorter campaigns let us explore a slightly more focused narrative, much in the same way a Pathfinder Module tells a complete, self-contained story. We can really hit the most important plot points with big, splashy encounters and not have to worry about sustaining that level of energy over six adventures. While the six-volume campaign is great for telling epic, sweeping tales, these shorter adventures allow us delve into moments that might affect the characters on a more personal level. However, that doesn't mean the fate of the galaxy won't be at stake!

That isn't all we're trying out over the next several months. While the beginning of Against the Aeon Throne is for new 1st-level characters, the first adventure of Signal of Screams is for 7th-level characters. This will mark the first time an Adventure Path won't begin at 1st level! That being said, if your group isn't comfortable with starting at 7th level, then we made sure that the two Adventure Paths dovetail nicely into one another. Once you've finished with Against the Aeon Throne, you can transition right into Signal of Screams. Sure, there will be a slight change of tone in the adventures, but if your group doesn't mind the shift, then you should go for it!

Illustration by Mark Molnar

As these adventures get released, we are very interested in hearing your feedback about the changes. How do you like the three-volume format? Are six-volume Adventure Paths too long for your group? Would you like to see more content that starts at higher levels? Or do you prefer the dangerous thrill of those first few levels? Let us know!

And don't worry, the Starfinder Adventure Path line returns to the usual six-volume campaign in February of 2019 with Dawn of Flame!

Jason Keeley
Developer

Visions of the Pact Worlds

Friday, March 16, 2018

Starfinder Pact Worlds is almost here, so we thought it might be fun to show off some of the cool art you'll encounter as you delve deeper into the cultures and politics of the Pact Worlds. To find out more about these exciting locations and interesting personalities, check out Starfinder Pact Worlds, available this month!

Illustration by Leon Tukker

Illustrations by Roberto Pitturru and Ben Wootten

Illustrations by Mark Molnar and Oh Wang Jing

Robert G. McCreary
Creative Director, Starfinder

Wild Things

Friday, October 28, 2016

Illustration by Mark Molnar

Last week we took a look at some magical foes from the pages of the upcoming Villain Codex, with an in-depth look at the Arcane Society. This week we're headed into the wilderness to explore some of the villains who operate on the fringes of society!

Nature's Scourge

No villain group embodies the wild as much as Nature's Scourge, a group founded by a druid known as the Blight Caller. I'll let the Renewer (their PR expert) explain it to you:

"Civilization claims to value progress, but it inevitably seeks stagnation. Its people take their coins to the market and buy what they have no incentive to learn how to provide for themselves. Farmers and hunters rely the least on civilization, but they enable others to survive who would starve if left to their own devices. Artisans churn out hundreds of similar items, ready for those who could never replicate their work to acquire in seconds. Worst of all are the ones who wield the most power in civilization. I cannot imagine a more pathetic creature than a noble, swaddled in silk and gold, forcing others to attend to their every need like grotesquely oversized babies. Stagnation is not natural. A forest knows that it must sometimes burn to clear the debris on its floor and make way for new seeds. If civilization insists upon clinging to its detritus, then we will be the fire, and we will nurture new seeds in our wake. Always seek to learn, grow, and move forward. We are not immune to stagnation, and we will cleanse it from our own ranks when we must."

Today we're going to take a look at the Blig... One moment please, technical difficulties!

OK, Nature's Scourge author Linda Zayas-Palmer has agreed to release me from the entangle spell in exchange for previewing the Blight Caller's trusted ally, the leshy known as the Wrathbringer.

Wrathbinger

The Blight Caller channeled a dying nature spirit into a patch of mushrooms to bring this fungus leshy to life.

Wrathbringer CR 8

XP 4,800

Fungus leshy skald 7 (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Class Guide 49, Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 3 177)

NE Small plant (leshy, shapechanger)

Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +13

Defense

AC 19, touch 12, flat-footed 17 (+7 armor, +2 Dex, -1 rage, +1 size)

hp 110 (9d8+70); fast healing 2

Fort +15, Ref +6, Will +8; +4 vs. bardic performance, language-dependent, and sonic, -1 vs. anger or rage

Defensive Abilities ferocity, uncanny dodge; Immune electricity, sonic, plant traits

Offense

Speed 50 ft. (45 ft. in armor)

Melee bite +14 (2d6+7), 2 claws +14 (1d3+7)

Ranged puffball +10 (1 plus spores)

Special Attacks rage powers (atavistic totem†, lesser atavistic totem†), raging song 17 rounds/day (inspired rage, song of marching, song of strength), spell kenning 1/day, spores

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 4th; concentration +8)

Constant—pass without trace

Skald Spells Known (CL 7th; concentration +11)

3rd (2/day)—good hope, haste

2nd (4/day)—cure moderate wounds, gallant inspiration^APG (DC 16), glitterdust (DC 16), heroism

1st (5/day)—comprehend languages, expeditious retreat, hideous laughter (DC 15), remove fear, saving finale^APG

0 (at will)—dancing lights, know direction, mage hand, message, prestidigitation, summon instrument

Tactics

Illustration by Yan Kyohara

Before Combat The Wrathbringer casts good hope and expeditious retreat.

During Combat The Wrathbringer casts haste, uses raging song to inspire an atavistic fury in his allies, and then enters melee. He uses gallant inspiration and saving finale when his allies need assistance.

Base Statistics When the Wrathbringer is not using his inspired rage and isn't under the effects of expeditious retreat and good hope, his statistics are AC 20, touch 13, flat-footed 18 (+7 armor, +2 Dex, +1 size); hp 101 (8d8+61); no fast healing; Fort +12, Ref +4, Will +8; Speed 15 ft.; Melee bite +11 (1d8+4), 2 claws +11 (1d3+4); Str 18, Con 20; CMB +9; Skills Acrobatics +5 (+1 to jump), others all 2 lower.

Statistics

Str 20, Dex 15, Con 22, Int 9, Wis 12, Cha 18

Base Atk +6; CMB +10; CMD 21

Feats Blind-Fight, Improved Natural Attack (bite), Nature's Wrath†, Scribe Scroll, Skald's Vigor^ACG, Toughness

Skills Acrobatics +7 (+11 to jump), Perception +13, Perform (oratory) +12, Perform (percussion) +19, Stealth +9 (+13 in swamps and underground), Survival +4 (+8 in swamps and underground); Racial Modifiers +4 Stealth and Survival in swamps and underground

Languages Druidic, Sylvan; plantspeech (fungi)

SQ bardic knowledge +3, change shape (Small fungus; tree shape), lore master 1/day, rage powers, verdant burst, versatile performances (oratory, percussion)

Gear +1 black dragonhide breastplate, belt of giant strength +2, fungal slippers†, mwk drums

The Blight Caller created the Wrathbringer several years ago. The unusual circumstances of this leshy's creation ritual imbued it with emotions that plant creatures can normally never experience. Centuries before the Blightcaller created him, a powerful druid bound the leshy's spirit to a sacred grove of fungi. By the time the Blightcaller arrived in the grove, the delicate fungi were dying, poisoned by waste that nearby settlements had dumped into the water. The Blightcaller managed to draw the leshy's spirit into a body before it died with the grove, but doing so required him to give a small piece of his own spirit as well. This sacrifice formed a connection between the druid and the leshy and imbued the leshy with the rage against civilization that burned so strongly in the druid's heart.

The Wrathbringer is surly and quick to anger. However, it is a dependable ally. The Blight Caller trusts it more than any other member of nature's scourge and has given it several valuable gifts, including a breastplate made from the hide of the same dragon as his own armor and a pair of slippers made from the magically preserved remnants of the leshy's former grove.

Oh my, what are Nature's Wrath and fungal slippers? Will either of those explain how this plant is benefiting from raging song?

Merry Outlaws

Some villains aren't evil, and at least according to the locals, the Merry Outlaws might be full-on good guys. They rob from the wealthy and are known to distribute wealth to the poor and downtrodden. But there are others, those on whom the Merry Outlaws have preyed, who claim that there are two sides to every tale. What is the truth about this Robin Hood-style bands of miscreants? What will the PCs decide to do if confronted with such a group? These questions make the Merry Outlaws perfect for a nuanced adventure with shades of grey.

Ruthless Brigands

The ruthless brigands are mercenaries, pure and simple. If you pay them, they might even defend your city from the savage marauders or protect your carriage from the Merry Outlaws, but their loyalty follows the coin. That's not to say they're all evil, in fact, the reluctant witty jury-rigger shown here is good-aligned, yearning for the old days when they would fight for noble causes and increasingly regretting his life decisions.

Savage Marauders

The savage marauders are a marauding barbarian tribe who pillage the soft civilized folk, kill or capture the adults, and indoctrinating the children to join the tribe. This gives them a slightly more multicultural make-up than other barbarian tribes. Everyone in the tribe must prove her strength (in fact, the Fiend-Born Rager may some day grow to challenge the Crimson Lord should he show any signs of weakness), so that badass marauder down there with the earthbreaker and the icicle fingers? Yeah, she's actually a sorcerer!

Scandalous Pirates

Not everywhere in the wilderness is on land, and the scandalous pirates are a scourge upon the seas. They're organized with several captains all under the auspices of the Vile Admiral, which allows you to use them as a squabbling but vaguely cohesive group or as individual pirates (if, say, you needed an extra captain quickly in a Skull and Shackles game).

Illustrations by Anastasia Ovchinnikova, Gintas Galvanauskas, and Shen Fei

Stay tuned next week as we return to civilized society and expose the villains who make their homes in plain sight!

Mark Seifter
Designer

Horrifically Great Inspiration

Thursday, July 28, 2016

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Illustration by Wayne Reynolds

Any creator will tell you that inspiration comes from everywhere, but for a book like Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Horror Adventures, those inspirations are very specific—and we made a list for you!

All kinds of horror media are represented: Uzumaki (body horror), Alien (cosmic horror), Brotherhood of the Wolf (dark fantasy), The Shining (ghost story), Dracula (gothic horror), The Babadook (psychological horror), and Halloween (slasher horror) just to name a few. This is a great way to be inspired for your next spooky adventure—and speaking of inspiration, here's a few of my favorite pieces of art from Horror Adventures!

Illustrations by Mark Molnar and Chris Casciano

Illustrations by Bryan Syme

See you next week in Indianapolis for Gen Con 2016!

Liz Courts
Community Manager

P.S. I apologize in advance for any villagers I may eat.

P.P.S. I am not sorry.

Tools of Mischief

Thursday, March 17, 2016

Ultimate Intrigue has plenty of feats, spells, and magic items that help your character get herself into all sorts of trouble—and out of trouble as well!

The Brilliant Planner feat lets you make a fund that you can use to pull out the item or resource you need in a particular situation, which can be pretty useful in clutch situations. The fighter gains several new combat feats that enhance his bravery (both against all mind-affecting effects and against social attacks like feint and demoralize) and even allow him to share his bravery with nearby allies. Legendary influence lets mediums choose one feat for each legend and accept influence to gain the feat they chose when they channel that legend (so you can pick things that only help you with one legend, like Selective Channel for hierophant, which has channel, Arcane Armor Training for archmage, and so on). Feats like Subtle Enchantments are great for manipulating others (in this case, it makes it harder to notice the target is enchanted with Sense Motive and gives a 50% that a target who succeeds on the save doesn't notice it had to make a Will save). The three new styles are Fox Style, which lets high-Int characters master feinting, dirty tricks, and the like, Owl Style allows martial characters to use their fighting skill to maneuver around the battlefield fluidly, and Street Style lets urban characters create combo attacks using the environment around them. And that's just a few of the feats you'll find in the book!

On to spells: Intrigue spells in general lend themselves to sneaky and clever usage, but there's plenty of choices for all sorts of characters, even the most straightforward ones. One of the cool new things for spells is the ruse descriptor, which allows you to cast a spell that seems to be another spell unless the person identifying it succeeds by 10 or more. Things like the false resurrection spells, where you pretend to bring someone back to life but actually revive the body with a possessing demon or devil inside, hollow heroism, which works as normal for a while, but then you can change the effect from +2 to -4 at any time, and treacherous teleport where you send the other passengers of the teleport somewhere different than where you go. The entice fey spells allow you to bargain with fey and potentially earn their service and conditional favor lets you call take-backs on a beneficial spell you cast, so you could say "Sure, I'll cast this spell and remove your blindness, but only as long as you promise to follow the paladin code." There's all sorts of other fun measures and countermeasures in the spells so that PCs and their foes can escalate things like reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance, and then there's such fun spells to show off the bling of your magic, like resplendent mansion, which creates an actual mansion on a flat area that last for weeks!

Illustrations by Roberto Pitturru, Jaime Martinez, and Mark Molnar

Finally, items: There's a variety of fun nonmagical intrigue items like a book with a hollow compartment in it and a wrist-launcher that shoots darts, as well as some suggestions of some top tools of the trade from Ultimate Equipment. Some of the cool magic items include a shield that can pick a lock for you while you stand by the door fighting with your other hand, a weapon property that makes your weapon invisible, an armor that lets you redirect divinations meant for someone else to yourself, an erasable book that appears innocuous but secretly records everything people say around it, a pouch that erases the writing within it if anyone else tries to open it, a deck of cards with various doors on them that turn into doors when you put them on a wall, and the quick-change mask, a consumable that lets a vigilante instantly switch identities in a tight spot, and that's just a few of them.

Next week I'll cover the various special subsystem in Ultimate Intrigue, like verbal duels and influence, so be sure to keep a careful eye out; the blog might be plotting a heist to nab your prized McGuffin while you read it!

Mark Seifter
Designer

That Warm Glow of Terrors from Beyond Space and Time—New Pathfinder Products Announced!

Friday, March 10, 2016

Our March 2016 releases are ready to go on an adventure to your game table, and we'll be doing some damage to our sanity this fall—check out our round up of all our new and announced products!

It's been a pretty crazy month around here at Paizo—from the release of the Hell's Vengeance Adventure Path last month (not to mention the free Player's Guide), to the wildly successful Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Humble Bundle, not to mention polishing up our fall releases, preparing for convention season, starting our Twitch channel, we've all been running around getting our dire ducks in a row for the upcoming year!

Apsu and Dahak are just a couple of the gods you will learn more about in Inner Sea Faiths!
Illustrated by Ben Wooten

Heading out to subscriber's mailboxes and friendly local gaming stores everywhere this March are:

• Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Intrigue
• Pathfinder Adventure Path #104: Wrath of Thrune (Hell's Vengeance 2 of 6)
• Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea Faiths
• Pathfinder Society Scenario #7-19: Labyrinth of Hungry Ghosts
• Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Twisted Caverns
• Pathfinder Adventure Card Game—Class Deck: Oracle
• Pathfinder Comics—Hollow Mountain #4
• Pathfinder Legends—Mummy's Mask #4: Secrets of the Sphinx

We're All Mad Here

One of my favorite things is announcing new products, and we added the Strange Aeons Adventure Path to our August lineup, a truly maddening set of adventures! Lovecraftian creatures are not new to the world of Golarion—they've been there since the beginning, thanks to Creative Director James Jacobs' love of the genre, but we haven't quite done an entire adventure path around them. The wait is over, starting with "In Search of Sanity," penned by our own Editor-in-Chief F. Wesley Schneider, wherein you start off at a wee bit of a disadvantage—in an insane asylum. But that's not all that lies ahead! Check out other new stuff heading your way!

April 2016

• Pathfinder Society Scenario #7-21: The Sun Orchid Scheme

May 2016

Don't forget—PaizoCon is coming May 27th through 30th! Check out all of the details, and don't miss grabbing your tickets!

• Pathfinder Society Scenario #7-22: Bid for Alabastrine
• Pathfinder Society Scenario #7-23: Abducted in Aether

July 2016

• Pathfinder Adventure Card Game—Class Deck: Goblins Burn!

August 2016

• Pathfinder Adventure Path #109: In Search of Sanity (Strange Aeons 1 of 6)
• Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Planes of Power
• Pathfinder Player Companion: Haunted Heroes Handbook
• Pathfinder Flip-Mat Classics: Waterfront Tavern
• Pathfinder Map Pack: Labyrinths
• Pathfinder Adventure Card Game—Class Deck: Gunslinger
• Pathfinder Tales: Starspawn

That's all we've got in our sleeves for now, but stay tuned for next month's releases, including part three of Hell's Vengeance, "The Inferno Gate" and Heaven Unleashed!

Reading a delightul play bound in a yellow-hued tome,

Liz Courts
Community Manager

Strategy Guide Art Preview!

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

With the Strategy Guide shipping out to players at long last, it's time to take a look at a few pieces of the fantastic art contained within its pages.

The conjurer, a wizard theme, summons extraplanar creatures to aid and defend his party, augmenting their fighting capabilities with magic.
Illustration by Mark Molnar

The stargazer cleric uses divination to predict threats she might face, prepare her spells as needed, and employ her magic to deadly effect.
Illustration by David Alvarez

The trickster is an expert in appearing to be something she's not and hiding in plain sight, and this rogue uses magical performances in battle to win the day.
Illustration by Maichol Quinto

The smasher is a barbarian whose destructive rage lets her bash down otherwise insurmountable obstacles.
Illustration by Mark Molnar

Each theme has an associated icon that appears throughout the text to indicate theme-specific character building ideas and other tips.
Illustration by Bryan Sola

Combat tips and tricks enable players get the most out of their character's class, skills, and even size.
Illustration by Tim Kings-Lynne

Ideas for better roleplaying and storytelling offer players and GMs a spectrum of tools for making their game richer.
Illustration by Bryan Sola

Discussion of narrative play situations such as solving mysteries, meeting important NPCs, and exploring help players find ways to let their characters shine both in and out of combat.
Illustration by David Alvarez

Check out all the options and more excellent artwork in the new Pathfinder RPG: Strategy Guide by ordering a copy today!

Jessica Price
Project Manager

Inner Sea Gods: Deities

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

The release of the Pathfinder Campaign Setting hardcover, Inner Sea Gods, is fast approaching, and that means it's time for some previews. The art team already did a preview of some of the amazing illustrations to grace this 336-page tome, so I'll talk a bit more about the words that accompany the book's incredible art.

The bulk of Inner Sea Gods are flavor-filled write-ups of all 20 core deities of the Inner Sea region. These articles go into divine detail about the gods' personalities, relations with other deities, their appearances, and home realms, as well as overviews of their churches' organization, typical temples and shrines, a priest's role, holy texts, holidays, and summonable planar allies.

Illustrations by Mark Molnar and Ben Wootten

Beyond the core deities, Inner Sea Gods also explores many of the region's minor deities to a deeper degree than ever before in the history of the Pathfinder campaign setting. Among the deities covered in this section are Achaekek, Alseta, Ghlaunder, Kurgess, Naderi, Razmir (yup), Sivanah, and Zyphus. Even more deities of all sorts are presented as complete pantheons, both of racial deities (like those worshiped by dwarves, elves, orcs, and other monstrous races) as well as the Outer Gods, demigods, and forgotten and dead deities.

Illustrations by Cheng Hong and Yuriy Georgiev

If that doesn't seem like a lot of gods, check out this spread from the appendix. This is only 1/7 of the content in this massive table of just about every being you can worship in the Inner Sea.

Check the blog soon for another look inside Inner Sea Gods, in which we'll examine some of the new rules elements available in the book (and yes, we'll show off some more art). Inner Sea Gods will be shipping to subscribers and game stores in April, and is available for preorder now.

Mark Moreland
Developer

Independent Ilsurian

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Illustration by Mark Molnar

The many settlements from Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Towns of the Inner Sea show smaller locations throughout the world of Golarion that are perfect for telling stories on a small scale. Radically changing the political or cultural face of a large city make be a massive ordeal taking up most of a campaign, but doing so in a town might take only the course of one adventure and happen at a lower level. The Varisian town of Ilsurian is a primarily peaceful place, but the dangers around the town could close in at any moment!

Ilsurian was founded by the Chelish expatriate Ilsur, and their independence from the tyranny of that diabolic state gave the town their identity. They pride themselves on their independence and discipline, and everybody who comes of age in the town knows how to use a weapon. Think of them like fairweather patriots: they talk a good game and know a few things, but they're no soldiers.

If you want a good kick-off to a campaign that starts in Ilsurian, Pathfinder Module: Murder's Mark takes you there, and you can use the description in Towns of the Inner Sea to flesh out the adventure further. And not to say too much about the plot of that adventure, but it's possible some real estate might free up in town for the PCs to snag on the cheap so they can set up a home base...

Logan Bonner
Developer

Hometowns of the Inner Sea

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Illustration by Mark Molnar

The other day, Wes showed up in our cube with a treat: a peak at an advance copy of Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Towns of the Inner Sea. I finally got to see my town, Solku, in print!

When the list of available towns came out, I immediately jumped on Solku, excited to explore this diverse corner of our world. Solku isn't as famous as the much larger city of Katapesh, but it's a fascinating place: founded by cultists fleeing persecution, preyed on by gnolls and fellow Katapeshi alike, at once pious, mercantile, and afraid. It's decidedly good, but that doesn't mean life there is easy (as exemplified by the story of Solku's most famous resident, the iconic paladin Seelah)—the town is plagued by frequent attacks by gnoll bandits and slavers, and crowded with long-term refugees. Being good also doesn't guarantee the well-intentioned inhabitants all get along; the widening rift between the civilian government and Sarenrae's church is another major source of tension in the town. And, of course, Solku also has its fair share of con artists, madmen, and more!

I tried to write about Solku like it was my own hometown—with a tangled mix of love and pride and frustration. After all, while this book is partly about showing that adventure isn't found only in dungeons and major cities, it's also about exploring places and cultures that your characters could call home!

Judy Bauer
Editor