Courts Are for Kings, and Kingdoms Are for Your PCs!

Thursday, November 29, 2018

I'm a huge fan of the Kingmaker Adventure Path. I have been ever since the first session of the Kingmaker campaign I GMed, which ran for almost four years. My players made good use of the sandbox nature of the AP to explore every nook and cranny of the adventure, as well as many areas outside of its original scope. Writing additional content for them was my first foray into designing my own adventures, and I learned so much about being a good GM from that experience. So of course, when the opportunity came up to write sanctioning documents for Kingmaker, I was excited to take on the project. And then other tasks cropped up that had to be done right away. The project got trapped in an endless cycle "nice to have, but not nearly as urgent as these ten other things." And in the end, the notes remained at the front of my to-do folder for two whole years, waiting for something to shake loose so I could work on them without neglecting my other responsibilities. Then the Pathfinder Kingmaker computer RPG launched, and everyone was excited about the Adventure Path once again. I knew that it was time to pick up my old notes and finally finish this project. If you're a fan of the adventure path who hasn't checked out the computer game, or a fan of the computer game who hasn't tried the tabletop version of the adventure path, I highly recommend them both.

As those of you reading this blog may already know, there are two ways to run an Adventure Path for Pathfinder Society credit: Campaign Mode and Event Mode. Campaign Mode allows the GM freedom to run the entire Adventure Path with whatever rules she chooses. It's worth pointing out that while you can't use the Pathfinder Kingmaker computer RPG to earn credit for your Pathfinder Society character, you can earn credit while playing your favorite class from one of Pathfinder's many talented third-party publishers, or when playing in any other tabletop RPG system of your choice (see the latest update to the Pathfinder Roleplaying Guild Guide for more information). Meanwhile Event Mode, originally designed for events like conventions and scheduled tables at gaming stores, uses standard Pathfinder Society rules and characters. It's more approachable for GMs who aren't looking to run a full campaign, who have limited time, or who only want to run a portion of the Adventure Path. In Event Mode, GMs only run some of the encounters in the Adventure Path, in a package that is more comparable to the number of encounters that PCs would typically need to complete to gain one level. Subsystems and other mechanics that cover an entire adventure volume are generally represented only on Chronicle sheets.

Kingmaker presents some unique challenges for Event Mode. It has quite a few load-bearing subsystems, and it's a sandbox. To address the subsystems, I created two bonus Chronicle sheets. The first bonus Chronicle sheet represents internal factors, like Economy, Loyalty, and Stability, and Military strength. It lets you choose a kingdom role for your character, shape your character's priorities, and benefit from your kingdom's successes. Meanwhile, the second bonus Chronicle sheet features a territorial expansion minigame. The sandbox feel is harder to capture that the subsystems. Since the sense of wandering and discovery is so central to the first volume of the Adventure Path, Stolen Lands, the sanctioned portions of that are more flexible. GMs can choose several encounters from a long list to throw at PCs while they explore.

But what if you've already started your Kingmaker campaign? In keeping with our policy for the last several Adventure Paths, including Serpent's Skull, Curse of the Crimson Throne, Giantslayer, and Iron Gods, if you are still in the middle of playing one of these Adventure Paths but have not yet concluded it, you can receive retroactive credit for all of that Adventure Path's earlier volumes the next time you earn a Chronicle sheet for that campaign. For example, let's say you were partway through Kingmaker's Adventure Path's fifth volume, War of the River Kings. Once you complete it, you'll receive retroactive Chronicle sheets for the first four volumes of the Adventure Path.

I hope you all have as much fun with Kingmaker as I have!

Kingmaker Sanctioning Document

Linda Zayas-Palmer

Developer

Things Get Weird

Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Well folks, we did it. We made it to the final Pathfinder Battles: Kingmaker preview. Were there delays and complications along the way? Sure. But no kingdom rises from nothing without pain and struggle. And I couldn't have done it without you, fair citizens. Your taxes will go to the establishment of nothing but the finest of statues in my hon—...wait, it wasn't me that got king-made? That means I have to do my job and show off these last few minis, doesn't it?

We're left now with six unrevealed figures that exemplify some of the weirder fantasy elements in the Kingmaker campaign, so I won't bore you with further theatrics. Just imagine what would happen if a bunch of drunk proto-deities made a first draft of the world, threw in some magic and glitter, and then sort of left their creations to evolve in isolation for a few millennia. That's how you end up with things like the strange (but incredibly cute) fey dragon, a Small common figure. How does something so silly looking even fit into an ecosystem without going extinct? By having magic powers, that's how!

It's not the only creature in the set tainted by magic and a pastel filter. Check out this dwoemercat, a creation of none other than Ed Greenwood, for the very first volume of Kingmaker. What better size and rarity could one ask for in a dwoemercat than Medium and common, respectively? No better size and rarity, I say!

Are you liking the fuzzies? Here's another new fuzzy, albeit a waterlogged one. The fur on an ahuizotl clumps to form weird little spikes, hence its name, which translates to "spiny aquatic thing" according to Wikipedia. Originating in Aztec myth, these Large rare cuties like human flesh, “especially nails, eyes, and teeth.” YUM!

But wait! It gets cuter! Who's a good boy? Trollhound's a good boy! Yes he is! Look at that well maintained coat of luxuriant mussed hair and thick hide of trollish green. He's even trained: "Roll over! Sit! Don't eat me!" Well, two out of three isn't bad. Cue Sarah McLachlan music. Give this poor creature a home, because every Medium uncommon figure deserves a chance to murder PCs.

Ok, I admit I may have gone overboard with the whole "things get weird" blog theme, but I'm committed now, so there's no stopping me. Spider-man himself couldn't put an end to my antics! Not even Pathfinder's own version of Spider-man, the web lurker. Less an awkward nerd bitten by a radioactive spider and thrust into a life of crime fighting, secret identities, and heartbreak than a literal man-spider, the web lurker is a Medium common figure who can't wait to be your friendly neighborhood aberrant horror.

Finally, we have the weirdest addition to the set yet, as saving the best for last seemed appropriate: a danged-old gnome! Here, good reader, we have a fine specimen of pedantic, pompous, and generally insufferable gnome alchemist, the inimitable Jubilost Narthropple. In his myriad published works, he makes an irrefutable case for being the best companion in not only Pathfinder: Kingmaker, but in the entirety of Golarion and the history of CRPGs as well. It is only fitting, then, that he offset his Small size with an uncommon rarity, so that no adventuring party suffers the indignity of not having him along to tell them everything they're doing wrong.

Pathfinder Battles: Kingmaker comes out on October 24 in game stores everywhere! Don't miss it! Your king commands it!

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

Brigands Abound

Friday, October 19, 2018

Why the River Kingdoms are called such has always puzzled me, given that rivers are only the second most plentiful resource in the region behind bandits and other ne'er-do-wells who find the largely lawless lands a safe place to practice their chicanery. Thus, no adventure set in the region would be complete without its fair share of cutpurses and footpads, and the Kingmaker Adventure Path is no exception. As such, it seemed only natural to include a number of these nefarious characters in the associated Pathfinder Battles: Kingmaker set coming out later this month.

All three of the set's bandit figures first appeared in print as specific lieutenants of the sinister Stag Lord (whose figure I showed off in the previous blog), but can easily stand in for any number of more generic baddies at your table. So while some may know them as Kressle, Dovan from Nisroch, and Auchs, their common rarity means that they can just as easily represent a whole band of Stolen Lands bandits, shadow rogues, or River Kingdoms ruffians (respectively). All three are humans, and thus stand on Medium bases.

Despite being river pirates, these highwaymen do most of their robbing on the roads that wind their way through the forests and plains of the Stolen Lands, and as such need places to lie in wait for their unsuspecting victims. The set's final piece of set dressing serves as just such a hiding spot! While it might seem unassuming on its own, the large bush figure can easily become deadly if you put the right threat behind it. It's got a relatively flat top as well, so you should have little trouble putting a figure atop the plant to represent that it's literally popping out of the foliage.

Finally, we need someone to keep these common criminals in line and bring them to justice. And who better to do that than the paragon of lawful neutrality herself, Pathfinder: Kingmaker's own Valerie. A rare Medium figure, Valerie makes a great PC miniature or NPC general, and her lack of specific insignia on her shield or livery means she can serve as both ally or enemy without looking like she's wearing some other soldier's armor.

Just one preview left before Pathfinder Battles: Kingmaker releases on October 24, so get your preorders in today!

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

Untamed Wilderness

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Much of the Kingmaker Adventure Path's story involves wilderness exploration and the taming of an untamable land. So of course we had to include a lot of "wilderness monsters" in Pathfinder Battles: Kingmaker.

The first of these is the imposing smilodon, a saber-toothed tiger from the nearby Realm of the Mammoth Lords. This primordial feline takes up the entire base, and makes for a very intimidating opponent (or animal companion, if you like that sort of thing). The smilodon is an uncommon Large figure.

Since we're showing off some exceptionally large creatures, how about a big-ass frog? You'll be adventuring in the River Kingdoms, after all, and that means swamps and rivers and stuff. So I bet you'll be facing a few of these amphibious menaces. Despite their size, they remain frogs, so you should have no problem making them croak. The giant frog is a common Medium figure.

Amphibians and reptiles are similar, right? I'm no biologist, so I think they're all just different levels of slimy—beasts I'd rather kill than touch. So we included a monitor lizard to kill (or touch, if you like that sort of thing). Based on new concept art for the Kingmaker CRPG, the purple monitor lizard is a common Medium figure.

Since I'm sure the comments are going to be full of slimy creature-lovers yelling at me for being mean, I'll distract you all by showing off a creature everyone likes: a swarm! Swarms are tough to do in miniature form, because they don't always take a square shape, and they are at their best when they are sharing a square with other creatures. That has resulted in many, many swarm figures looking more like bumpy coins than the creatures they're meant to represent. So we went with a more cinematic look for the army ant swarm, a common Medium figure, which is a 4-foot-tall mass of insects that have already stripped an earlier victim to the bone.

Finally, we need a skilled ranger to hunt or tame these beasts of the Stolen Lands, and who better to fill that role than the quiet archer, Ekundayo, from the Pathfinder: Kingmaker CRPG. A Garundi native of Absalom, Ekun makes an excellent PC or ally mini, with his nocked arrow and sweeping cape. His rare rarity means he'll remain unique in most collections, making him stand out among the myriad bow-wielding ranger figures out there.

Just two more previews left before the set releases on October 24, so keep your eyes tuned to this spot in the coming days. Until then, roll 20s and don't split the party!

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

Heavy Weighs the Crown

Tuesday, October 9, 2018

For a Pathfinder Battles set called "Kingmaker", we certainly haven't seen much in the way of kings, now have we? Well, this week's preview should address that oversight.

First, we have the Stag Lord, a Medium uncommon figure, who is in charge of the Stolen Lands when the PCs first arrive to settle the region. A sadistic and cruel bandit king, the Stag Lord is the first major threat the Kingmakers must defeat before they can establish their own barony in the River Kingdoms.

Humans aren't the only civilized creatures in the AP who have hierarchies and rulers, however, and goblins, lizardfolk, kobolds, and mites all have their own kings, queens, and chieftains the PCs must interact with. Heck, even giants have their own rulers, such as the Frost Giant Jarl, a Large rare figure perfect for recreating Amiri's origin story.

The players' only truly royal rival in the Kingmaker Adventure Path is King Irovetti of the neighboring River Kingdom of Pitax, who got his own figure in the Rusty Dragon Inn set a few years back. Never one to fight his own battles if he can avoid it, Irovetti has employed the services of the intimidating, heavily armored Pitax Wardens to do his dirty work for him. The Pitax Warden is a Medium common figure.

No ruler worth her salt leaves it up to chance to secure her legacy, and no one is better suited for that task than Linzi, Halfling Bard, this week's featured companion from the Pathfinder: Kingmaker CRPG, out now on Steam and GOG! A Small uncommon figure, Linzi will be sure to offer her unique take on the events in your kingdom, whether you like it or not.

But what good is a king without a throne? The barbarian throne and raised dais, based on this iconic illustration from the Beyond Kingmaker article back in Pathfinder AP #36, are packaged individually as bonus set dressing, but were intended to work together. The throne fits most Medium figures (at least standing on its seat, but who's going to tell the king he has to sit?) and the dais can sport any number of set dressings at its apex, from the depicted throne to the Book of the Damned or any number of pieces from the Court of the Crimson Throne premium set. The dais has a flat cobblestone surface on the bottom as well, so even if you don't have something you want to put on the red carpeted top side, you can flip it over and have a weird stone table or platform for some ritual or elaborate trap or whatever other inventive encounter you come up with.

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

The Makings of the Kingdom

Tuesday, October 2, 2018

One of the most popular and innovative elements of the original Kingmaker pen-and-paper campaign was the introduction of kingdom-building and -management elements to the standard hack-and-slash gameplay of the tabletop RPG experience. Starting with the beginning of the second chapter, the players find themselves the rulers of a fledgling nation and are tasked with resolving conflicts, allocating resources, appointing trusted advisors, and even urban planning.

Players and Game Masters alike raved about the kingdom rules presented in the adventure path so much that we included them as a major section of Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Campaign a few years later. When we realized that the system would be ported over to the CRPG format along with the rest of the adventure path in Pathfinder: Kingmaker, we were excited to see how the folks at Owlcat adapted and expanded on the system.

Not only can you select what buildings and public works your capital will feature, but you'll be able to gather additional resources by uncovering hidden locations throughout the land during the course of your adventuring. Sit upon your throne, hear the pleas of your subjects, and decide upon their fate. How you resolve conflicts, who you select as your advisors, and whether you rule with an iron fist or a benevolent smile all influence your kingdom's destiny.

While you're out adventuring—whether you're more a diplomat, monster hunter, or canny explorer—you can leave those companions not actively in your party to manage different aspects of the kingdom in your absence. Even non-companion NPCs can fill such roles as treasurer or general, so who you befriend and who you make enemies of can have farther reaching consequences than you might expect. Balance the right skills with the needs of your kingdom, keeping the alignments and temperaments of your proxies ever in mind, to ensure the vision of your kingdom comes to fruition!

Now that the game's been out a week (Cayden's cup, time flies, doesn't it?) many players are likely already starting to shape their own kingdoms. I'm already starting to see some really exciting results on my favorite Twitch streams, message boards, and even some coworkers' computer screens! What's your kingdom's story?

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

Pathfinder: Kingmaker Out Now on PC and Mac!

Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Nearly a decade ago, Paizo released the Kingmaker Adventure Path. Your characters explored the Stolen Lands, carving an empire for themselves out of the wilds and leaving their mark on Golarion. Today, Owlcat Games released the Pathfinder: Kingmaker cRPG, revealing a vibrant and rich tapestry that takes you beyond the Adventure Path.

Your reign begins now! Pick up your copy of Pathfinder: Kingmaker today on Steam and GOG.

Explore the Stolen Lands

Conquer Your Enemies

Build Your Kingdom

Join us the Paizo Twitch channel today at 1:00 PM Pacific time as creative director James Jacobs leaps into the Pathfinder: Kingmaker adventure live! Plus, let us know your thoughts and connect with other players in the Pathfinder: Kingmaker forum.

Jim Butler
VP of Marketing & Licensing

Undead Threats

Friday, September 21, 2018

Two weeks ago, we announced the next set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic miniatures from WizKids, Ruins of Lastwall, set for release next spring. But you don't have to wait much longer to get new undead minis to torment players in your Pathfinder campaigns! We have a bunch of them coming in Pathfinder Battles: Kingmaker next month!

First among them is the Cyclops Lich, a major NPC villain in the Kingmaker campaign who first appeared on the cover of Pathfinder Adventure Path #33: The Varnhold Vanishing. A Large rare figure, this massive undead menace is sure to leave a lasting impression in your game.

Next, we have another large undead abomination, the hideous Soul Gorger. This rare figure is a staple of fantasy RPGs, and gains its power from the souls of spellcasters it has devoured, which now reside in its chest cavity, grasping to escape.

SOUL GORGER

At the other end of the power spectrum, we have the Bloody Skeleton, a Medium common figure that will help GMs everywhere bolster their undead hordes.

Not all undead are so corporeal, and ghosts have long been a pillar of both fantasy and horror stories. The Elf Ghost below can serve as either a ghostly elf pirate or any other lingering spirit trapped in its material existence until the PCs can help it to its final rest. An uncommon figure, customers who purchase a case should get a few of them, allowing for the overwhelming challenge of facing more than one of these menacing foes!

While it's technically a piece of set dressing, this set's Scarecrow makes a great red herring in horror campaigns. It totally won't animate and climb off that post to ravage anyone who gets lost in a corn maze, I promise. Players and GMs familiar with the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path may find other, more ghoulish uses for this piece as well!

Finally this week, we look at the Pathfinder: Kingmaker companion with the strongest undead connection: the undead servant of Urgathoa, Jaethal. The elven inquisitor makes an excellent scythe-wielding elf PC or NPC, and needn't necessarily be undead herself. Jaethal, Elf Inquisitor is a Medium uncommon figure.

We had a bit of a delay in past Pathfinder Battles: Kingmaker blogs, but we're back on schedule now! Check back next week for a look at some of the bandits that give the River Kingdoms their reputation of lawlessness.

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

Kingmaker—Assembling the Perfect Party

Monday, September 17, 2018

One of the key elements of tabletop roleplaying games like Pathfinder is the collaborative storytelling that comes from a party of different characters all adventuring together. In many cases, the inter-party conflicts and dynamics of a campaign are as memorable as the overall plot like the villain and her motivations. In a single-player digital adaptation of such a game, capturing that same sense of disparate personalities is vital to making the final game feel like Pathfinder. Pathfinder: Kingmaker, from developers Owlcat Games emulates this cherished aspect of the genre perfectly with their wide array of supporting characters players can combine into the perfect team.

While players have the ability to create their own cast of companions after completing the game's tutorial and prologue, the eleven pre-made companions provide a wide variety of character types, both adhering to and bucking genre tropes to play with. Each has a backstory linking them to the game's overarching plot, an intricate series of side quests focusing on their character development, and interpersonal dynamics both with the player and their fellow companions sure to add hours of additional entertainment as they banter while making camp or interject their thoughts during key encounters.

Which companion is your favorite? Who are you most excited to get to know (and possibly romance)? Which ones do you see as comprising your default adventuring party?

Amiri

The kellid barbarian Amiri hails from the harsh Realm of the Mammoth Lords, where she was exiled from her nomadic tribe for daring to challenge traditional gender roles. Unwelcome in her homeland and resentful of anyone who doubts her battle prowess, Amiri is more eager to prove her worth to her new "chieftain"—you!

Ekundayo

Born in Absalom, the teeming City at the Center of the World, to a Garundi family, the reserved ranger Ekundayo sought only a peaceful family life in the River Kingdoms when raiding trolls forced him on a different path. A devoted follower of Torag, Ekun now seeks revenge for his slain loved ones and a new start, be that with decent companions he meets along the way or on his own.

Harrim

The dwarf cleric Harrim is the embodiment of the nihilistic faith of Groetus, god of the end times, which he doesn't so much as proselytize as ooze from every pore in his dour body. Ever ready to remind his companions of the futility of, well, just about everything, he may just as well adventure with them than do anything else. Everyone's going to end up dead at the end of time, anyway, so why not die in the service to the Stolen Lands' new ruler?

Amiri, Ekundayo, and Harrim

Jaethal

Elves are known throughout Golarion for their otherworldly grace and alien demeanor, but the inquisitor Jaethal takes this aloofness even further—by being a unique undead in service to Urgathoa, goddess of gluttony and undeath. On the run from her past in Kyonin—the type of murder and betrayal you'd expect from someone angling for the favor of such a fell god—Jaethal serves at her own whim, perhaps wanting nothing more of her companions than potential corpses for a future undead army of her very own.

Jubilost

Few authors in the world have as lengthy and prestigious bibliography as the esteemed gnome alchemist, Jubilost Narthropple. Hailing from the centers of learning in metropolitan Absalom, Jubilost doesn't suffer fools lightly, and he believes everyone to be a fool. Though his arrogance makes him few friends, his interest in the mysteries of the gnomes' origins in the First World and his expert knowledge on just about everything (at least in his own mind) make him a valuable resource in uncovering some of the region's most enigmatic mysteries.

Linzi

Your first and most loyal companion, Linzi was kicked out of the Academy of Grand Arts in the neighboring River Kingdom of Pitax after she wrote less-than-flattering things about the city's King Irovetti. The optimistic halfling bard has selected you to be the subject of her magnum opus, a book telling a tale of high adventure written by those involved, at the time of their exploits instead of decades later based on second-hand reports.

Jaethal, Jubilost, and Linzi

Nok-Nok

Most civilized creatures see goblins as little more than monsters, and sometimes, even goblins see their kin in much the same light. Nok-Nok, a rogue with ambitions of being "the fith gawd" (an addition to the four-member pantheon of goblin hero gods), is one such case. Bullied and tortured by his tribe, he's more than happy to work with longshanks who don't abuse him, and will gladly prove his loyalty and worthiness to you, as long as you give him plenty of things to stab along the way.

Octavia

A former slave of the Technic League mages of neighboring Numeria, the half-elf arcane trickster Octavia is a ray of sunshine despite the gloomy conditions of her life prior to meeting the game's hero. Octavia has an optimism that rivals Linzi's and a sense of compassion that's hard to ignore should you act the tyrant in her company.

Regongar

Octavia's closest and oldest friend, the half-orc magus Regongar, is decidedly less optimistic and compassionate than his partner. Cruel, hedonistic, and vengeful, Regongar would rather kill his enemies quickly and without fuss (especially his former captors among the Technic League) than delay the drinking and love-making to follow, a stark contrast to Octavia's more forgiving approach.

Nok-Nok, Octavia, and Regongar

Tristian

Soft-spoken and aloof, the human cleric Tristian hails from the Padishah Empire of Kelesh far to the east, where he was raised in the church of the sun goddess Sarenrae. With a grace becoming his celestial patron, the wandering priest spreads the word of the Dawnflower—as well as her tenets of healing, light, and redemption—into the heart of the Stolen Lands, and if he had his way, into the hearts of his companions as well.

Valerie

Bestowed by divine beauty and charm, the noble-born human, Valerie, was raised in a convent dedicated to Shelyn, goddess of art and love, set on the track of a paladin of the Eternal Rose. She wasn't interested in any of that, however. Tired of countless suitors inundating her with mediocre art the tenets of her faith prohibited her from ripping up and throwing in their faces, Valerie instead took up the life of a trained fighter, mastering the defensive and offensive applications of the tower shield. Now in the baron or baroness's employ, Valerie is staunchly loyal and invaluable on the battlefield.

Tristian and Valerie

Of the 11 companions in the game, four are romanceable—Valerie for male PCs, Tristian for female PCs, and both Octavia and Regongar for both male and female PCs. Whether you pursue a romantic relationship with any of them is your choice, but regardless of your decision, each of your companions provides endless possibilities for bringing the collaborative, party-based excitement of the Pathfinder RPG to life!

Pathfinder: Kingmaker is available for preorder on Steam and GOG.

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

Kingmaker—Expanding on a Classic

Monday, September 10, 2018

In just two weeks, the first single-player isometric CRPG using the rules and world of Pathfinder will be released—Owlcat Games' Pathfinder: Kingmaker. It's been a long time coming, and we couldn't be more excited for the world at large to get to experience it!

One of the greatest challenges of adapting an adventure path like Kingmaker—which came out way back in the spring of 2009—into a new medium is balancing faithfulness to the source material with the creation of enough new content to entertain players and GMs who played or ran the campaign in the last decade. Kingmaker, by far the Pathfinder Adventure Path with the most open, sandboxy feel, left the writers at Owlcat (with industry veteran Chris Avellone, of Planescape: Torment and Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords fame) with plenty of room to add their own content while still including all the now-iconic encounters and story elements that made the pen-and-paper campaign such a classic.

An all-new introduction to the campaign, set in the manor house of Swordlord Jamandi Aldori, serves not only as a tutorial for new players, but also gives context to the player's mission (something the original campaign left to the GM) and introduces some of the myriad characters who will play large roles in the ongoing campaign, gaining both her most loyal companion and a hated rival.

Throughout the game, in addition to countless new side-missions and subplots introduced as connective tissue between the story elements presented in the pen-and-paper version of the campaign, the player can engage in deeply immersive companion-based plots involving each of over ten companions. Some of these, such as Amiri's companion quests, incorporate elements of the existing campaign, like the nomadic Kellid barbarians who show up in chapter four, while others are entirely new content involving such epic villains as Numeria's Technic League! Other side quests expand on simple plot hooks provided on the inside covers of the original printed books meant for GM inspiration. Still others are wholly new plotlines created to flesh out large map areas or tie together disparate elements of the campaign in new and inventive ways.

As if that weren't enough, Pathfinder: Kingmaker includes a seventh chapter above and beyond the six printed in the pages of Pathfinder Adventure Path back in 2009. This expedition into the mysteries of the First World and some of the machinations of the Eldest is perhaps the game's most inspired and imaginative content!

Pathfinder: Kingmaker releases on September 25, and is available for preorder now on Steam and GOG.

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

Announcing Pathfinder Battles: Ruins of Lastwall (and more Kingmaker previews)!

Friday, September 7, 2018

Last week, our partners at WizKids announced the next set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic miniatures: Ruins of Lastwall! Scheduled for an April 2019 release, Ruins of Lastwall is the last full set of Pathfinder Battles miniatures before the advent of Pathfinder Second Edition in August of next year. As such, it offers a great opportunity for us to fill in as many of the remaining gaps in the series from our iconic first edition sourcebooks, and the chance to tie in with one of the most highly anticipated adventure paths in the history of the game: Tyrant's Grasp.

As the name might suggest, Tyrant's Grasp involves the return of the Whispering Tyrant, the lich wizard-king of old whose prison was guarded by the paladins of neighboring Lastwall. Nothing in the title of this minis set should be misconstrued as a spoiler, though. Everything's going to be fine for Lastwall. Nothing to worry about for them!

With a heavy slant toward undead and Lastwall crusaders, the Ruins of Lastwall set features 44 randomized figures, six pieces of bonus dungeon dressing, and the associated Cemetery of the Fallen premium set, available for purchase along with the pre-order of a full case of standard boosters. Check out the initial wave of previews released as part of the solicitation!

From left to right: Caligni creeper, Small common; Poltergeist, Medium common; Lastwall knight, Medium uncommon; Morrigna psychopomp, Medium rare; Young time dragon, Large rare

From left to right: Mausoleum, premium dressing; Stone Coffin A, premium dressing; Tombstone A, premium dressing; Tombstone B, premium dressing

With the pending release of the forthcoming Pathfinder Battles: Kingmaker set, due out in October, I'd be remiss to show off only the figures from the set following it 6 months later. So without further ado, here are a few of the most iconic high fantasy figures from Kingmaker.

This manticore, a Large uncommon figure, takes its design from concept art for the Pathfinder: Kingmaker CRPG from Owlcat Games, which gave it a less lion-like face and really shows off the fact that it's a strange amalgamation of other beasts.

Next we have the swamp naga, another Large uncommon figure. Nagas are always tough to scale correctly in plastic form, as they're large creatures but have the human-sized features. Hopefully this snake-bodied sorcerer adequately fills her base, but that's a balancing act we're working hard with WizKids to get right. When the final figure is in your hands, please let us know if we're getting closer to the ideal figure size.

Not to be left behind by his fellow Large uncommons, the Hill Giant makes his preview debut today.

Finally, we have this week's companion figure. Octavia, Half-Elf Arcane Trickster is a Medium rare figure, and makes an excellent stand-in for any half-elven spellcaster PC or NPC.

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

Rad Moon Rising

Friday, August 24, 2018

Among the first minis we previewed from the forthcoming Pathfinder Battles: Kingmaker set way back when we announced it in the spring was the werewolf, a staple of the fantasy and horror genres for ages. But that's not the only figure in the set with a tie to the moon.

I'm super stoked to show off not one, but two new lycanthrope sculpts in this set, both Medium uncommon figures: the wererat archer and the weretiger. Whether they represent enemies of cursed PCs when the full moon calls, these two are sure to be a hit whenever they show up at the table.

Since we have such a great weretiger in the set (and a tiger in the previous set, Jungle of Despair), it is only fitting to also include a Tiger Lord—a tribe of Kellid barbarians from neighboring Numeria who play a pivotal role in the Kingmaker Adventure Path. And who better to epitomize the Tiger Lords than their leader, Armag the Twice-Born (a Medium rare figure) with his magic sword Ovinrbaane? Armag also makes a great barbarian PC for anyone not playing Kingmaker.

A far less brutish barbarian in this set is the divine guardian, also a Medium rare figure. Perfect for a ranger, druid, hunter, shaman, or shifter, this warrior can easily be used to represent a member of many of Golarion's peoples, from Kellid to Mwangi to Shoanti (including the Shoanti moon, axe, or hawk clans, which all hold birds of prey among their favored totems).

Lastly, we have another companion from the Pathfinder: Kingmaker CRPG, with a different link to the moon…not the moon in the night sky, but rather the skeleton moon looking over the Boneyard—Groetus, god of the end times. Harrim, Dwarf Cleric (a Medium rare figure) even has the holy symbol of his apocalyptic god emblazoned on the head of his flail. What campaign is complete without a nihilistic dwarf along to sour any joyous occasion with reminders of the futility of existence?

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

Things Aren’t Always What They Seem

Friday, August 17, 2018

Now that Gen Con is behind us, it's time to once again resume our weekly look at the next wave of Pathfinder Battles pre-painted plastic miniatures from WizKids, October's Kingmaker!

This week we explore a few figures in the set that are more than their initial appearance might suggest, either due to the creatures' special abilities or hidden histories. First among these deceptive creatures is the wild spriggan, a common Small figure. While these goblin-like relatives of gnomes are only a few feet tall in their normal form, they can transform into hulking brutes in an instant. The large spriggan is a Large uncommon figure, meaning most GMs should get enough of spriggans across both sizes to build a sizable (pun fully intended) war band.

While changing size is a pretty neat ability, it doesn't necessarily help spriggans hide from potential prey or lurking threats. For that ability, one need look no farther than the gargoyle, which appears in two different forms in Pathfinder Battles: Kingmaker. The first, an uncommon Medium figure places the creature on a standard round base, and depicts it in an action-packed battle pose, while the second, a similarly sized, unbased piece of dungeon dressing, appears as an intricate but completely benign statue adorning a gothic rooftop. While the pictured images depict the figures painted different colors, we asked WizKids to standardize their coloration across the two figures so a GM could place the latter as "set dressing" and then swap it for the former when the creature reveals its true nature. When we get final production samples, we'll update the images from these digital renders to actual photographs.

Finally, we have the first of our weekly previews of the set's many player character-appropriate miniatures, based off the companions from the forthcoming Pathfinder: Kingmaker computer RPG from Owlcat Games (launching worldwide on September 25)! While I won't reveal the exact nature of this figure's secret, I will say that Tristian, Human Cleric—a Medium uncommon figure—is perhaps the most enigmatic and inscrutable companion in the game, and his storyline is one I'm most excited to see the community uncover when the game comes out. Armed with a Sarenite holy symbol, Tristian makes a great stand-in for clerics of the Dawnflower in any Pathfinder campaign.

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

Announcing Pathfinder Battles: Kingmaker!

Monday, April 16, 2018

Now that we're done with previews of Jungle of Despair—which releases next week—I'm excited to announce the next Pathfinder Battles miniatures set from our partners at WizKids.

Currently scheduled for an October release, Pathfinder Battles: Kingmaker, is the fifteenth set of prepainted plastic miniatures in the popular Pathfinder Battles line. Featuring 44 randomized figures in sizes ranging from Small to Large, and six pieces of dungeon dressing, Pathfinder Battles: Kingmaker exemplifies the commitment to quality sculpts and paint jobs, as well as variety and utility of figures, the line is known for.

As always, customers who order a case of Pathfinder Battles: Kingmaker boosters will also have the opportunity to purchase the set's case incentive. This set's two-figure incentive features the earth and water elemental lords, completing the Huge elemental series we began last year in Maze of Death with the air and fire elemental lords.

No Kingmaker set would be complete without some of the iconic allies and villains from the Kingmaker Adventure Path, such as the troll leader and Nyrissa, a Large uncommon and Medium rare figure, respectively.

There are also a number of more generic tropes of the genre we're releasing for the first time, like the bat swarm, werewolf, and oni mage. These figures fill in some of the gaps from the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary, which many fans have requested we represent as thoroughly as possible in prepainted plastic. The bat swarm and werewolf are both Medium figures, at the common and uncommon rarities, respectively, while the oni mage is a Large uncommon figure.

With the pending release of Pathfinder Kingmaker, the first isometric, party-based computer RPG set in the Pathfinder fantasy universe (now in Beta for Kickstarter backers!), we also had the unique opportunity to provide miniatures of the many new characters being introduced in the game by the game's developers at Owlcat Games. These companions will join the player along their journey to conquer and rule the Stolen Lands, and can now join players in their tabletop games as well. Check out Regongar, half-orc magus, the first of these companions we're showing off. A Medium rare figure, Regongar also makes a great PC or enemy NPC with the lightning spell effect giving him unmatched gravitas on the battle mat.

We're still a few months away from showing off the entire set, but keep coming back weekly for more Pathfinder (and Starfinder) miniature previews. Next week, we'll take a look at some of the figures in next wave of Deep Cuts unpainted plastic miniatures from WizKids. Until then, keep rolling 20s!

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

Pathfinder: Kingmaker Kickstarter Ends Soon!

Thursday, July 6, 2017

The countdown has begun on the Pathfinder: Kingmaker Kickstarter by our friends at Owlcat Games! With only a few days remaining, the project has reached it's funding goal, and is headed towards the next stretch goals. Pathfinder: Kingmaker is an isometric single-player computer RPG based on the Kingmaker Adventure Path, where you'll be able to explore the Stolen Lands, survive the harsh wilderness, and local threats, all while building up your own settlement.

Haven't heard of Owlcat Games? Lisa took to email just a couple weeks ago to talk about our new partnership and the current Kickstarter project.

Concept artwork for a troll boss in Pathfinder: Kingmaker.

Since we launched the world of Golarion and the Pathfinder RPG, I have eagerly awaited the day when I could announce a single-player computer RPG based on our game and world. Many companies have approached me over the years, but the fit was never quite right.

Last year, our friends at Obsidian connected us to the folks at Owlcat Games, who had some interesting ideas for a Kingmaker CRPG. Owlcat wanted to meet us at Gen Con and show us what they had in mind. I was expecting maybe a Powerpoint presentation, but they brought a work in progress. To say I was blown away was an understatement. They had clearly put a lot of time, effort, and thought into everything—and we hadn't even signed a deal yet! I ran around the convention finding various Paizo employees to look at it, and everyone got super excited. We started work on a licensing deal right away.

A couple months ago, Owlcat came to the Paizo offices to show us a vertical slice of Pathfinder: Kingmaker. A vertical slice is a small segment of how the finished game is going to look and play. We were all mesmerized playing the game, which was filled with a ton of familiar Golarion hooks in the artwork and mechanics. A lucky few of you at PaizoCon 2017 had the opportunity to play through a similar vertical slice, and all the feedback we received was super positive.

I need to tell you a little bit about Owlcat Games. They're a new development studio, but don't take that to mean they're inexperienced! Some of them have been together for more than a decade, and the list of games they've helped create is strong. They have the backing of one of the largest game companies around, so you don't need to worry about their stability. And you definitely don't need to worry about their enthusiasm for Pathfinder—they're longtime gamers, and have several different tabletop Pathfinder campaigns running in their office. They know the setting, the story, and the rules as well as anyone. And they've been joined by CRPG legend Chris Avellone, who is infusing his touch of story genius into our now-classic Adventure Path.

Owlcat Games has the full backing of their parent company to make the game to the specifications that we had approved, but they have a lot of great ideas beyond that spec, so they decided to launch a Kickstarter that's all about making it bigger and more awesome—more sidequests, more companions, more options, more depth.

A great Pathfinder computer RPG is something that I have personally waited a decade for, and I couldn't be more excited to see it come to fruition.

The kickstarter is headed towards it's next stretch goal at $700K, where a new chapter to reveal hidden secrets of original Kingmaker story will be added, as well as support for both Mac and Linux. Check out the Pathfinder: Kingmaker Kickstarter project and select your pledge level before the campaign ends on July 11!

Chris Lambertz
Community & Digital Content Director

Teaching Changemakers Using Kingmaker

Thursday, April 24, 2014

My name is Ben Parkinson and I have been interested in roleplaying for most of my life. For the last five years I have been running a project in Uganda, which trains indigenous youth in Uganda to become social entrepreneurs, sometimes known as change makers. Our project is known as the Butterfly Project because it relies on the concept that nurturing youth can transform them into Butterflies, capable of changing the community in which they live and we are very proud of the young people we have been working with, most of which come from slum areas in Kampala and some from remote village areas.

I originally thought of the value of roleplaying when I was in Nigeria. Children there were using their own creativity to make games from local materials and I felt strongly that the minimal materials needed for roleplaying—just some dice and maybe a pen and paper—could be made available in village areas very easily. Similarly, children in slums have very little inspiring to do and I felt that these children I was beginning to get to know loved the creativity of monsters and were going to benefit from seeing themselves as heroes, when poverty eats away at confidence to be able to effect change.

I developed a roleplaying group in Uganda in 2010 with some youth and we started with Keep on the Shadowfell and moved through The Trollhaunt Warrens by 2013, after an enforced break in 2012. I am a fan of 4th Edition and the brightest kids enjoyed the complexity of the battles, though I felt that the game was not achieving my purpose of trying to stimulate creativity, teamwork and problem-solving, as the game was orientated more towards combat. Also, the issue became worse not better, as the players became more experienced, as everything became even more complicated in the same way and played towards the combat tactics.

I had run Crown of the Kobold King online a few years ago and I thought also starting at Level 2 might work better for the group, who, other than Joseph and Brian, had never run a roleplaying game before—more hit points meant they could make more mistakes! The game was a real hit and the kids were every session excited and enthusiastic to be there. The Kobold King wiped out the whole group except Lem and Merisiel and so they had to sell most of their treasure to pay for the resurrection bills. Then I noticed how involved they were with their characters and that they discussed their adventures with their friends in between sessions and so momentum was building.

The group wanted a new adventure, so I looked through the other adventures I owned which seemed to be suitable for a new group. We switched to W3 Flight of the Red Raven and I asked Joseph whether he would take over being GM. He agreed and ran more or less the whole adventure on his own, as he is a very bright kid and will be a future star of Uganda, given the chance. Readers should be aware that English is the third language for these children, so reading is much more of a chore for them. Most of the children living around survive on one meal a day—usually the same thing—and so it is not always obvious which sorts of activities they might enjoy. With Joseph as GM, I had wondered that maybe the group would lose interest, but actually I think interest has grown since Joseph took over—all credit to him—AND he has prompted others to believe that they can GM too.

Their enthusiasm inspired me to think more broadly and so I wondered whether we could work with some of our potential changemakers and social entrepreneurs, seeing whether we could run a more challenging thoughtful group, where they were making more human decisions, which might help them in their own development as leaders. I owned a pdf of Kingmaker and this seemed to be the ideal vehicle for this idea. So, I recruited a young leaders group, including Joseph (The GM), Brian, Patrick, Barbara, Kenneth and Oswaldo and, to further challenge them, we used some of the advanced character classes from Master of the Fallen Fortress. Joseph (14) chose the complex Summoner; Brian (13), a great roleplayer, computer trainer and problem-solver, chose Imrijka the Inquisitor; Patrick (13) who wants to be an engineer, the Alchemist; Barbara (14) who has a project empowering girls against child abuse, wanted Lini the Druid; Kenneth, who is the editor of the Acholi Quarter Youth News, chose Alhazra the Oracle; and Oswaldo, who is a Ugandan taekwondo champion, Sajjan the monk.

I didn't want the group to just focus on fighting, as had been happening previously, so we started straightaway explaining that they were going to be kings and that they had to act like leaders and that some problems would be difficult to solve and perhaps not have immediately obvious solutions. They were challenged to act as a team when preparing for the bandits right at the start and then I gave responsibilities for the mapmaking, the treasure record-keeping, the rations and timeframe and, later, the city statistics.

They were stunned at the Stag Lord's fight that one of the "bandits" seemed to be fighting on their side and this prompted them to think differently about their adversaries. They are looking for allies now, rather than adversaries, when they adventure, so that they can improve the quality of their city. Damiel was slain by a wandering shambling mound and the party rallied around to see what could be sold to bring him back. They are now looking for people who might have sighted trolls, as their city unrest plummets. However, the most interesting discussions came from when a visitor was undermining them in the city. Should we kill him? Should we discredit him? Should we banish him?

Last week, Imrijka, using his alignment detection ability, noticed a lot of evil women entering the city, so we shall see where this leads and whether they see this as a priority, or further exploration...

Kingmaker has been a backdrop, though, to an explosion in interest in roleplaying. We now have six GMs and perhaps 30 young people starting to participate in roleplaying here, so we are trying to figure out how to use what resources we have to develop an RPG timetable. Brian is also running a group entirely of girls and he has taken them through "The Deadly Mine" and I hope he will start them on Pathfinder Society Organised Play. We use figures from Descent 2, a homemade map, and various dice gathered from different places, and we use the computer or print out the pdfs when running the adventures.

The next project will be to take our GMs out into remote Northern Uganda (many are native Acholi speakers) and test the reaction from local children to the dice and adventure. Our objective will be to assess the sessions as a new and fun mechanism to assess which children might be best at making decisions, solving problems and acting for the good of all and then bring them onto our changemaker programme and they will then be taught how to solve problems in their communities.

Lastly, culture is very important in Uganda. Recent legislative changes here have demonstrated some alternative thinking and we are not about to use roleplaying to suggest or impose actions outside of the culture. We plan to continue to vet the adventures ahead of them being run too, to ensure that they are suitable for the group we are working with. The game is simply a creative stimulus, which teaches children what they are good at and enhances their life skills. By teaching young GMs how to GM, we hope we are building their confidence, helping their reading and other academic studies, helping them to be leaders and also, because a GM's role is not to kill the party, to be considerate in making the adventure fun for the players, not just for the GM! GMs will even learn problem-solving from their players, who also learn from each other and, since poverty is not negatively influencing their make believe life, finding solutions to challenges can flourish.

The Butterfly Project is funded by Chrysalis Youth Empowerment Network (CYEN), a charitable organisation based in the UK. The web-site is http://www.cyen.org.uk and the youth blog is at http://chrysalisuganda.wordpress.com. You can contact us at socentafrica@gmail.com or via the web-site. CYEN supports Uganda-based non-profit, Chrysalis, who run activities at their Chrysalis Centre in Kireka, Kampala. They run sports, arts and music, as well as a range of more academic activities, such as roleplaying. Chrysalis are in the process of building a rural-based centre in Northern Uganda, to deliver empowering activities in Gulu district, Uganda.

The Kingmaker group—Lini, Balazar, Imrijka, Sajan and Damiel. (Alhazra was doing exams).

Patrick is the roleplaying monitor, who is responsible for looking after all of the materials we have. He plays Damiel, the Level 4 alchemist, who recently fell to a shambling mound. Patrick is a keen engineer.

Oswaldo (right) is a Ugandan age group taekwondo champion, so he decided to play the monk in the group. Sajjan is trying out different moves and I am discussing him maybe making a vow with his character.

Joseph is a brilliant student, who picks new things up like lightning and is very hard to beat at any board or card game. Here he is with the Kingmaker map, which shows how far the group has explored.

Brian is 13 and a computer trainer at the Chrysalis Centre. He's a problem-solver and excellent roleplayer and actor. Brian is also now a GM and has recruited several girls into a girls-only group.

Yes, we use Pathfinder!

Brian, GMing the new girls group, as they explore "The Deadly Mine" from the Beginner Box.

Find the Path with Wayfinder!

Thursday, February 20, 2013

One of the nicest things about being a Paizo fan is getting inspired to create things from the world of Golarion, and before I was hired at Paizo, Hugo "Butterfrog" Solis and I hatched a mad crazy scheme to produce something for the hard-working Paizo staff—a fanzine, to capture that same sense of excitement when the latest Dragon and Dungeon magazine got into your hot little hands. Wayfinder has been called a love letter to Paizo, which is probably the best compliment I've ever gotten on anything I've ever helped come to fruition. It was always a real treat to see how happy Paizo staff are when reading new Golarion material that they didn't have a hand in making—now they were the ones waiting for spoilers and new ideas!

But now the tables have turned, and now I'm the one eagerly awaiting Wayfinder to appear on my desk! With the eighth issue now available, I'm just as excited to read it as I was to help make the first four issues. But the very best part is that Wayfinder is completely FREE, and full of incredible art, maps, adventures, NPCs, new magic items, and original fiction from authors familiar and new! The latest issue of Wayfinder takes a nautical bent, with enough additional material for any coastal or seafaring campaign such as the Skull & Shackles Adventure Path, or anytime your game gets close to the water. It includes a short adventure (suitable for a side trek for some additional XP), new prestige classes like the Ulfen sea captain, new magic items like the grappling hook hand or peg-leg of stability, archetypes like the argonaut and marine, new material for kingdom-building rules from the Kingmaker Adventure Path, how to properly pay obeisance to Father Dagon, how to the run Curse of the Crimson Throne Adventure Path as an aquatic game...

Have I mentioned yet that this is all completely FREE, made by fans just like you, and all you gotta do is go download it?

If this free fan-produced material has whetted your appetite to craft some of your own, Wayfinder Editor-in-Chief Tim "Timitius" Nightengale has thrown down the gauntlet! He wants to see your submissions for Wayfinder #9, the theme of which is all about what dwells in the dark caverns beneath the surface—the Darklands! Made by fans for fans and with the same level of dedication and quality you would expect out of any professional publication, this is a challenge to strut your game design stuff with the next Wayfinder, which will debut at PaizoCon 2013! Check out the call for submissions here, and check out all eight issues of Wayfinder (and the Pathfinder Chronicler Anthology) here!

Liz Courts
Webstore Specialist

Best Adventure

Fri, Aug 6, 2010 at 06:43 PM Pacific

Gold for Pathfinder 31!

Lisa Stevens
CEO

Not Our Fault!

Thursday, June 10, 2010

For one reason or another, occasionally a mistake slips through into one of our printed products. I know that's a shock. I'll give you a moment to recompose yourself.

Fortunately—if you can ever call such things fortunate—they're not always our fault. From the time production files leave our tender care to the moment a fully realized book reaches your door, countless mysterious hands work and tinker in ways neither editor nor reader should dare interfere. Most of the time such mysterious forces rise and pass leaving behind no evidence at all. Sometimes not.

Pathfinder Adventure Path #35 includes one such instance of "not." Although it's too late to correct the thousands of books already sailing their way to our warehouses, we can preempt them.

Here's the deal, and I've probably already overplayed it: there's a map on page 33 of #35 that got "garbled" (you'll see when you get it). It's not unusable, but it's not pretty, and it's one of the most baffling snags we've ever seen, likely having to do with vicious data-gnawing file gremlins or other computer-age equivalents of "acts of God." Regardless: not pretty. So, hidden behind the spoiler below is the map as it should appear. It's of one of the final encounter areas of War of the River Kings, so I'd suggest all GM-fearing Kingmaker players NOT look.

Spoiler:

Cartography by Rob Lazzaretti

The volume is still awesome, with some really nasty new threats and particularly cool new rules for martially minded rulers. But we just wanted to fill everyone in as soon as we found out so there's no surprises and so you have everything you need to run the adventure as easily as possible right out of the book. We're totally sorry for the half-page mystery map you'll be seeing, but hope the version here prevents the snafus from slowing down your game.

Wes Schneider
Managing Editor

Release the Dragons!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Whew... with all the mad rush to get so many books out to the printer in time for Gen Con, closely followed by the weird sort of "now we get a chance to relax/don't stop to relax or you'll fall behind schedule again!" fugue state, I have a little bit more time to think. And while thinking, I realized that we've pretty much sent the last two adventures in the Kingmaker Adventure Path off to the printer and have started working on the next Adventure Path, "Serpent's Skull," with barely any art previews at all.

So, presented here is art from Pathfinder Adventure Path #36's "Sound of a Thousand Screams." In order to keep folks guessing and throw some uncertainty into the mix, two of these are NPCs from the adventure, one's from the gazetteer of the First World, one's from the "Beyond Kingmaker" article where we talk about continuing your Kingmaker campaign beyond the final adventure, and one's from this volume's bestiary. And at least one of them is an illustration of a character we've named before in our campaign setting but have never illustrated before. And yes... there are a lot of twelve-sided Hit Dice rolling around in this adventure, if you know what I mean... better start working on your anti-breath weapon tactics!

Also, you can tell that our art director, Sarah Robinson, is still on vacation because we don't know who the artists were for these pictures, and thus aren't able to give artist credits. WE MISS YOU, SARAH!

James Jacobs
Creative Director

Cartography by Rob Lazzaretti

Kingmaker: Iobarian Timeline

Thursday, May 27, 2010

An ancient land of half-forgotten empires and untold savagery, Iobaria sprawls beyond the frontiers of northern Avistan. History scars and shapes the people of this rugged land, the ruins of sprawling civilizations standing testament to ages of glories long lost, but which might rise again. Supplementing the "Iobaria Gazetteer" by Steven Schend in Pathfinder Adventure Path #33, the following timeline (also by Steven) presents an overview of the land's long history, laying bare the wonders and terrors that rule that rugged realm even today.

Iobaria Timeline
Year	Event
–5293	Earthfall. End of the cyclops Koloran Empire
–3923	Pit of Gormuz opens in central Casmaron
–1281	Taldor founded by Lost Azlanti and primitive native humans
–632	The Tarrasque, Spawn of Rovagug, destroys Ninshabur. Some hidden force turns the creature west across the Tovrus and into Avistan.
752	Ulfen explorers traverse the polar ice and settle into the taiga of northern Casmaron, founding Okormirr.
753	Okormirran explorers discover the Koloran Roads and begin building Orlov among an old ruined cyclops city. Orlov becomes larger than Okormirr by 764.
780	Founding of Orost.
788	Founding of Antoll.
795	Founding of Lenusya.
809	Founding of Mishkar.
818	Founding of Kirrosuli.
846	Founding of Kirya.
905	Iobar, son of Kjell of Orlov, conquers all challengers. He unites all territories under his own banner, claiming all lands from the Icewall to the Castrovin Sea as Iobaria.
937	Death of Iobar I at the Battle of Kridorn. Iobar's son Hrugil repels the pirate fleets from the east, spending the rest of his rule improving Iobaria's fleets, intent on eradicating the powerful mercenary pirate and corsair fleets of the northwestern Castrovin Sea.
975	Kridorn rises to become a port city, not a minor fishing town.
1080	Hroran and Kridorthrost founded in this year of plenty.
1106	The Tearplague scours all settlements between the Norinor and Finadar.
1240	Human settlers claim cyclops ruins in Caemorin, dubbing the settlement Mavradia.
1412	Founding of Zradnirras.
1466	Founding of Vurnirn after a 24-year-long struggle against Hoofwood natives.
1528	Founding of Mirnbay.
1634	The Chardeath sees many spontaneously combust in high fevers. The flames lead to the eradication of a third of all Iobarian settlements. This plague's source is revealed in 1869 as the necromancer Otyb the Undying.
1717	The red and blue great wyrms, Shrodniar and Voldmannasein, clash over Fangard. Some force from the forest depths strike Voldmannasein dead, while Shrodnair crashes near Antoll. Strange glyphs are discovered, burnt into the blue dragon, scarring even his bones.
1900	The centaur tribes of the Caemorin unite under the banner of Errindayn the Seer, sacking Mirnbay and destroying numerous humanoid settlements.
1986	Errindayn the Seer dies mysteriously after an unnaturally long life. The centaurs of the region abandon their warlike ways.
2108	Mirnbay refounded and defenses significantly reinforced. Centaurs barred from the city for more than 400 years.
2546	Ohjar's Plague kills a third of all male centaurs, orcs, and humans across the land in a mere 8 months.
2602	Humans and some native centaur tribes ally together to form the realm of Zastel in eastern Iobaria, its capital in Mavradia.
2654	Iobaria begins the Reclamation Wars against Zastel.
2686	Zastel reconquered and returned to Iobarian rule.
2742	The Choking Death. A respiratory plague suffocates more than 40% of Iobaria's adult population over the course of 8 months. The plague spreads west out of Iobaria (carried to Avistan by refugees) and devastates human populations in northeastern Avistan over the next 6 years.
2767	The Native Plaguestrife: Various druid sects, guilds, and politicians fan flames against those they deem "non-native Iobarians" by claiming no plagues ever happened until folk started coming east from Avistan. Skirmishes and vendettas weaken the power bases of many for decades.
2920	Earthquake rocks Taldor, Qadira, and central Casmaron. Coastal settlements along the northwestern Castrovin all damaged or destroyed by tidal waves.
3000s	Exodus. At least three separate waves of refugees abandon Iobaria over this century to settle other colonial lands to the west and south or new domains east of the Castrovin Sea.
3150	The Pestilentropy infected many nomads and settlers in central Iobaria, causing fevers and madness ultimately leading to death by overexertion or by the blades of those its victims imagine to be their foes. The disease or its manic side effects destroy more than half of Iobaria's farms, villages, crops, and cattle, leading to a decade of lean harvests and starvation for the region. This devastation and the lack of support for the people leads to the final dissolution of Old Iobarian rule.
3212	Three warlords (one of Issian descent) and their allies band together to restore the nation of Iobaria. Rallying to banners and flags of Old Iobaria, support for New Iobaria rose quickly with their reclamation of Orlov from foreign factions and their local pawns. The Restoration War lasts for nearly a century before New Iobaria officially exists and rules its lands.
3283	House Arjal and House Korya betray allied House Narkys, sacrificing its leaders and troops to dragons of the mountains and wilds, their newer allies.
3304	The Restoration War over, King Irral I turns control and demesne of all the old cyclops ruins to their white and red dragon allies.
3679	The Great Horde. A collection of ogre, giant, and cyclops tribes rampage across Iobaria under the command of Burlor, a cyclops wearing the Crown of Mirim and wielding the Perobov Maul. These monsters remain a threat long after the death of Burlor beneath the hooves of more than 25 tribes of centaurs.
4000	Amid the blizzards of a long and particularly harsh winter, frost giants from the Ice Steppes invade New Iobaria, pillaging and murdering. They reach Orlov before being repelled.
4499	Iobarian Choral the Conqueror unites Rostland and Issia into Brevoy.
4519	The Drakeplague kills more than 60% of the dragon population within 3 months. The silver dragon Cithaythren and Finadar druids perform a ritual to end the plague before it spreads beyond Iobaria at the cost of that dragon's life.
4600s	Sarkorian barbarians flee the expanding Worldwound, a number of tribes crossing the polar ice to Iobaria.
4607	Skirmishes and battles among Sarkorian refugees, native insurgents, and Iobarian troops begin the second fall of Iobaria with the loss of Mavradia to rebel forces. Battles and rebellions continue over the next 5 decades.
4659	New Iobaria reduced to the now-isolated cities of Kridorn, Mirnbay, and Orlov, each of whose rulers now claims to be the true ruler and heir of Iobaria due to blood ties to the dead kings.
4667	Red Revolution of Galt; many Galtan nobles flee north and eventually arrive in Kridorn.
4699	Royal House Rogarvia, descended from Iobarian warlords, disappears. House Surtova assumes power in Brevoy.
4710	The current year.

F. Wesley Schneider
Managing Editor

Illustration by Jon Hodgson

The Unluckiest Owlbear: Part VI

Monday, May 17, 2010

It's been a long, strange, and humiliating trip for the poor unlucky owlbear. He's been shot dead, turned into a pigeon roost and object of mockery for slack-jawed yokels, torn down and broken apart by barbarians, and defiled by wandering wolves. But as is always the case with that pesky circle of life thing that nature loves so much, eventually he gets to return to his beloved woods. And hopefully warn future generations of owlbears of the dangers he faced.

Or maybe not. Maybe his forgotten head will just serve as a dinner platter for the next one to come along...

James Jacobs
Creative Director

Illustration by Jon Hodgson

The Unluckiest Owlbear: Part V

Monday, May 10, 2010

If these installments of the Unluckiest Owlbear saga seem to suddenly be coming fast and furious, there's a reason—as our deadline for Gen Con "ship to the printer" approaches, we're finally seeing all of our product lines actually bunch up and get back on schedule. As a result, we've sent what feels like 40 installments of Pathfinder Adventure Path to the printer over the past few weeks. Which is, I suppose, good news for our poor unlucky owlbear, since that means the ongoing humiliations will be made public (and thus come to an end) all the sooner! This week, we present the penultimate installment of the saga, wherein the raiders have done their thing and moved on to other towns, leaving in their wake nothing but ruins and wolves. It's probably for the best that this illustration doesn't depict the natural progression of events as the wolves, moving in to claim new territory, begin to do what wolves do best when it comes to neglected statues...

James Jacobs
Creative Director

WANTED?

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

We try to mix up what we do on the inside covers of Pathfinder from Adventure Path to Adventure Path. Those interior pages are prime real estate, after all, what with being the first thing you see when you open the book, their extra sturdiness, and what not. There's precedent for leaving these pages blank or just putting in some design—like we sort of did in Rise of the Runelords—but that's boring. On the other hand, we could do what the Modules and Companions do, and chock these pages full of charts, tables, cover art, and standard maps. But you know what? Pathfinder Adventure Path has more class than all that. So we tend to err on the artsy side. We've done tales from the marid storyteller Shazathared, we've done illustrative maps, we've done cast lists and power charts. This time around, for Kingmaker, we're doing wanted posters. With the often-comic illustrations of Peter Lazarski launching these side quests, every volume of Kingmaker includes eight optional missions, hunts, and errands. As these are meant to be wanted posters, and with a few folks already making their own, we thought it'd be cool to slip a few more of these out into world.

However, we live every day in paralyzing terror of saying or showing something on here that might be interpreted as a spoiler. Therefore, so as not to cripple any of the AP's upcoming encounters, I've only attached character headshots here. Who are they? Well, your GM knows (or soon will), all you sneaky players, so you'll just have to wait and find out!

Illustrations by Peter Lazarski

That said, if folks chime in and want the monsters too, maybe, just maybe, we can be convinced to take a short jaunt on the wild side and release some of those too.

Wes Schneider

Managing Editor

Illustration by Jon Hodgson

The Unluckiest Owlbear: Part IV

Monday, May 3, 2010

In Pathfinder Adventure Path #34, things once again take a turn for the worse for our poor unlucky owlbear. It's one thing to be immortalized as a statue in the middle of a village, where children laugh at you and birds poop on you and you eventually become forgotten as part of the town square's mundane decor. It's quite another when the barbarians come to town and, in a sudden urge to show off their destructive power and strength, tear your statue down! At least the owlbear's ghost can take solace in the fact that those pesky barbarians are probably being equally destructive to the adventurers who got him into this fix in the first place.

James Jacobs
Creative Director

Swamp Things!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

First up, an update from last Monday's post: We're all feeling much better around here. Physically at least. (The various stresses and psychoses of the editorial pit are more the topic of an encyclopedia set than a blog post... so moving right along.)

If you read Pathfinder Adventure Path's monthly Bestiary, you probably already know what a sucker I am for monsters, especially when we can double-dip, combining cool creature design with beasts from real-world folklore and mythology. Well, just a heads up, the Bestiary in Pathfinder Adventure Path #34 hits the swamp monster mother load! To spill the beans on the majority, we've got the ahuizotl, the river-dwelling eye-ripper of Central American; the leshy, the legendary green man of Slavic myth (which, as you can see by the art, I ended up taking a weird but open ended turn with that all you druid players might be particularly intrigued by); and, my personal fav, the nuckelavee of Orcadian legend—the second time I've developed this monster for a d20 game—who, thanks to artist Scott Purdy, looks INCREDIBLE!! I absolutely love bringing these monsters, with pedigrees as vaunted as classics like chimeras and goblins, to the game table, so expect a few more lethal legends by the end of the Kingmaker Adventure Path, and plenty more in the future.

Illustrations by Scott Purdy

And if you have any other obscure folklore or mythological monsters you'd love to see make their way into Pathfinder Adventure Path, don't hesitate to drop a suggestion in the thread for this post (along with a link so I can read more!).

F. Wesley Schneider
Managing Editor

Illustration by Jon Hodgson

The Unluckiest Owlbear: Part III

Monday, April 19, 2010

So it's been about a month, and you know what that means! Yup! Time to reveal Chapter Three of the saga of the Unluckiest Owlbear. I had mentioned previously how the poor owlbear was destined for greatness... and as it turns out, that greatness is that he's now the pride and joy of Owlbearton's central plaza! Gaze upon his magnificent glory, preserved for all time* for the idle entertainment of passing rubes and for the perching comfort of well-fed pigeons! What more could a proud magical beast of the woods primeval hope for?

James Jacobs
Creative Director

*At least, until next month, when the indignities continue.

Stealth Preview

Wednesday, March 31, 2009

Cover Illustration by Wayne Reynolds

With the GameMastery Guide off to print we need something new to start teasing you all with, and while the Advanced Player's Guide seems logical, being our next next big release, I like monsters more. So where should we look for previews of Bestiary II? Why, no farther than Pathfinder Adventure Path #33, as we've got a few homeless horrors in there that will be creeping into October's tome of terrors. See for yourself. And no, none of these are new creations for Bestiary II.

Illustrations by Tyler Walpole

Wes Schneider
Managing Editor

Illustration by Jon Hodgson

The Unluckiest Owlbear: Part II

Monday, March 15, 2010

As I mentioned back on the 22nd of February, the owlbear sort of ended up being the mascot for the Kingmaker Adventure Path. I also hinted that our poor mascot was going to have something of an unlucky streak. Turns out... the bad luck hits more or less immediately—in the second Kingmaker adventure, "Rivers Run Red," the PCs start to build their kingdom and tame the wilderness of the Stolen Lands. That's bad news for the owlbears, as you can see here.

Don't worry, though, because our unlucky owlbear is destined for greater things than merely providing a pile of experience points for some overzealous archer! It's just that the owlbear won't be all that aware of his fame when it finally comes!

James Jacobs
Creative Director

Illustration by Jon Hodgson

From the Diary of Queen Merisiel

Friday, February 26, 2010

Although I can't quite yet show off the actual rules you'll be using in the Kingmaker Adventure Path quite yet, I can show you how they look in play. Presented below is an excerpt from Merisiel's diary as she oversees the foundation of a brand-new kingdom in the mysterious Stolen Lands. NOTE: Merisiel's probably not the best choice in this group for a nation's ruler, but sometimes that's just how politics work. As time permits, I'll post a few more diary entries to this blog's messageboard thread so we can all learn from Merisiel's triumphs and failures. Certainly there'll be more triumphs in her future, yes?

1 Pharast: So it looks like I'm in charge. Queen Merisiel. I like the sound of that. Although, as Seelah is so fond of pointing out, I'm technically a baroness until this new nation of mine grows large enough. I'm still gonna be calling myself queen in these pages. Seelah's gonna be the general of my armies (she volunteered!), and I put Lem in charge of keeping an eye on the citizens to make sure they're loyal as the spymaster. And of course Kyra's our high priest. All the other leadership roles, for now, go to some of the other locals we've allied with during the past several months of exploring the Greenbelt. We'll see how they work out, I suppose—none of them seem particularly talented, but hopefully they'll grow into their jobs? And if they don't, I can fire them. I'm the queen, after all. Anyway, we've managed to claim a pretty sizable area around this old ruined castle that bandit lord was using as a hideout. The ruins should work pretty well as a new castle, once it gets patched up. We've started clearing the area around the ruins to serve as a good place to build up a town. I'm thinking of calling it Owlbearton, after that bandit's pet owlbear that nearly bit off Lem's ear, but Seelah says that's a stupid name. I told her that if she comes up with something better we'll call it that, but so far all her ideas suck. Surprise, surprise. So for now, Owlbearton it is! We've even built some roads around the place! It's gonna be a city in no time! Especially now that I've got some deliciously heavy taxes coming into the treasury! Who woulda guessed that taxes could be something to be happy about? So far, those taxes more than paid for the roads and land clearing and stuff. Not the rebuilding of the castle, though. That's expensive, as it works out. And while Lem says that the locals are complaining that all I'm doing is lying around and taking it easy while they pay for my little project, and while Kyra says she only barely managed to talk a group of farmers out of marching up to the castle to tear it down and (their words) "git back what we done paid for from that spendthrift pointy-eared harlot!" I'm not worried. Once they see how excellent this castle looks when it's all done, they'll all forgive me. I'm sure of it!

James Jacobs
Creative Director

Illustration by Sara Otterstätter

Death at the Swaddled Otter!

Tuesday, February 23, 2009

This illustration, from Pathfinder Adventure Path #31, should explain to everyone why we love Sara Otterstätter.

James Sutter
Fiction Editor

Illustration by Jon Hodgson

The Unluckiest Owlbear

Monday, February 22, 2009

I'm not sure when it happened, but at some point along the way, the owlbear kind of ended up being the official Kingmaker mascot. Sure, the PCs will be facing evil fey, lizard and frog men, undead monstrosities, bandits, trolls, giants, dragons, and worse during this Adventure Path, but they'll also be facing a lot of owlbears. Some of which are really rather memorable.

Anyway, once we realized how owlbear-riffic this Adventure Path was going to be, we decided to open each one of Kingmaker's forewords with illustrations of the life and death (mostly death) of the River Kingdoms' unluckiest owlbear. There he is in the illustration above, wandering through the primeval woodlands of the Stolen Lands without a care in the world. I'm not going to name him, because that would just make the next five months of what happens to the poor guy depressing.

For now, though, he's at home in his element, with no idea of the pain and humiliation to come. What has cruel, cruel fate got in store for this poor, innocent owlbear? Tune in to this blog next month to find out!

James Jacobs
Creative Director

Trollin' on the River

Friday, February 19, 2010

We've had the cover for Pathfinder Adventure Path #32: "Rivers Run Red" (written by our own Rob McCreary) up for sometime now, but it bears another mention, as this cover sees the climax of a long and interesting evolution. It's little surprise that we were only three months into the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path—and Pathfinder's life in general—when it came time to order art for our first troll. How to handle this got a little tricky, though, as it's important to us that our creatures walk the line between familiarity and distinctiveness when it comes to earlier incarnations of the game. What we ended up with was the gnarled, lanky, long-nosed fellow from "The Hook Mountain Massacre". Neat! And totally a cool piece of art. But definitely nothing ground breaking.

Illustration by JZConcepts

Several months later, against all odds, we found ourselves ordering a cover for a Bestiary. Attempting to follow in the tradition of the "a whole bunch of monsters about to getcha!" covers from classic gaming bestiaries, we wanted a swarm of little monsters, one or two medium monsters, and a big monster. Creature ideas went around and around, then sketches did their circles, and what we ended up with was goblins, a maralith, and WHAT THE HECK IS THAT! OMG, that's a TROLL! Awesome! You don't get an incredible Wayne Reynolds cover and then say, "That looks amazing, but could we get this guy to look a little ganglier." This was our new look for the troll.

Illustration by Wayne Reynolds

Flash forward a few more months and we're ordering Kingmaker covers. So we want a cool bandit and a sexy fey and a barbarian dude and a—hey, how 'bout a troll boss! Okay, that'd be cool. And thanks to Vincent Dutrait, here he is.

Illustration by Vincent Dutrait

So our trolls have come a long way over the course of the past few years, but without a doubt, things are settled now. And if that nasty claw-claw-bite wasn't enough to send your PCs running for their alchemist fire, just wait for "Rivers Run Red" to see all the nasty tricks Chief Hargulka has in store for the Stolen Lands.

Looking back, trolls actually had it pretty easy. You should have seen the backstage identity crisis the ogre had before its debut. But that's a story for another day…

F. Wesley Schneider
Managing Editor

Oh yeah! Adventure Paths!

Friday, February 12, 2010

Huh. It's been a while since I've talked about an Adventure Path in the blog, I just realized. Looking back, seems the last time we talked about an Adventure Path at all was on January 6th, in fact. AIEEE!

Now... sometime soon I wanna share with you some excerpts from Merisiel's journal that have come into my possession... excerpts that catalog her joys and frustrations over the foundation of her new nation in the northeastern River Kingdoms... but I'm still deep in the process of translating it to English from Elven and excising all the racy parts that the MAN won't let me put on the blog.

So, since I don't have the time yet to post that preview of the kingdom-building rules that'll be appearing in Pathfinder Adventure Path #32, why don't I show off some of the art from the first Kingmaker adventure instead? Let's see... how about pictures of two of the more ferocious war chieftains your PCs will be dealing with during the course of "Stolen Land?" Names withheld to prevent the not-so-innocent...

And I promise to make public Merisiel's journal soon! Stay tuned!

	Illustration by Kyushik Shin
Illustration by Eric Belisle	Illustration by Scott Purdy

PS: Yes... the third picture is of a carbuncle. For real.

James Jacobs
Creative Director

Photography by James Jacobs

New Addition to the Paizo Family!

Monday, January 25, 2009

I have a pet pseudodragon! He guards my desk against unwanted intruders, shreds lackluster manuscripts for nesting material, chirps when I forget to go home at night, helps with insomnia, and spell checks documents for me! And if I can brag a bit... he was made by my mom for my birthday a few weeks ago! Apparently, it took her two years on and off to get him just right, with articulated and posable wings and legs, a tail filled with sand from the Point Arena beach (washed and cleaned, of course!), and sparkly hair that doesn’t quite show up as well in the photo as it does in real life. His name is Gwangi. Gaze upon his majesty!

And PS: That’s a map of the entire Stolen Lands just behind Gwangi. Think of it as an "accidental Kingmaker preview," even if you can’t really make out the details.

James Jacobs
Pathfinder Editor-in-Chief

Illustraction by Vincent Dutrait

In with the New

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Pretty much the last thing we did in 2009—before we ran screaming from the office, that is—was to pack Pathfinder Adventure Path #31: "Stolen Land", the first volume of the Kingmaker Adventure Path, off to the printer. So, to refresh your desktop for the new year, check out its incredible cover scene from artist Vincent Dutrait. Enjoy!

Wes Schneider
Managing Editor

Long Live the King!

Monday, December 7, 2009

So we're putting the final touches on the last volume of Council of Thieves as I write this post. Which also means that I'm finally starting to work on the next Adventure Path, Kingmaker. The authors have, of course, already been hard at work and we've already got four of the adventures in house in one shape or another—but the grisly process of development and editing can now start in earnest.

And so I thought I'd show off some art from the first Kingmaker volume, Pathfinder #31. Something new that's going on the inside front and back covers of every volume of Kingmaker. What could a crazy bearded man, a farmer's wife, a hungry tatzylwyrm, and an angry wild boar have in common?

Illustrations by Peter Lazarski

James Jacobs
Pathfinder Editor-in-Chief