He Lives, He Dies, He Lives Again!

Friday, September 25, 2015

I have received word from the beyond, and we have a winner for our Rasputin Redesign Challenge! Look closely into my eyes, and I will share secrets with you...

Redesigning Rasputin presents a multitude of challenges for those that picked up the gauntlet—not only backwards engineering a base starting point with ability scores, but also rethinking tactics, equipment, and stylistic approach. (And having to re-engineer entries to pick a winner was also challenging for the judges!) In the end, there can be only one winner, and that winner is: Iammars, with Grigori Rasputin, cult master mesmerist!

Grigori Rasputin, cult master mesmerist:

Grigori Rasputin  CR 17

XP 102,400
Male middle-aged human mesmerist (cult master) 18
NE Medium humanoid (human)
Init +0; Senses Perception +22
Aura unholy aura (DC 22)

Defense

AC 23, touch 18, flat-footed 23 (+5 armor, +4 deflection, +4 insight)
hp 185 (18d8+92)
Fort +15, Ref +16, Will +26; +4 vs. death effects, domination, mind-affecting effects, and possession
Defensive Abilities fortification 50%, stitched soul; SR 25 vs. good

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft. (20 ft. in armor)
Melee mwk dagger +12/+7/+2 (1d4–2/19–20)
Ranged mwk Nagant M1895 revolver +14/+9/+4 (1d8/×4)
Special Attacks bold stare (disorientation, sapped magic, susceptibility), hypnotic stare –-3, manifold tricks (5), mental potency +3, mesmerist tricks 18/day (faked death, fearsome guise, free in body, gift of will, meek facade, mesmeric mirror, psychosomatic surge, reflection of weakness [DC 28]) Mesmerist Spells Known (CL 18th; concentration +27)
6th (4/day)—demand (DC 27), overwhelming presence (DC 27), project image, true seeing
5th (6/day)—cloak of dreams (DC 26), feeblemind (DC 26), primal regression (DC 26), psychic asylum
4th (7/day)—freedom of movement, phantasmal killer (DC 23), restoration, greater synaptic pulse (DC 25), thoughtsense
3rd (7/day)—bestow curse (DC 22), confusion (DC 24), dispel magic, displacement, fear (DC 22), synaptic scramble (DC 24)
2nd (7/day)—aversion (DC 23), false life, levitate, mirror image, pilfering hand, placebo effect (DC 21)
1st (8/day)—faerie fire, heightened awareness, ill omen, psychic reading, quintessence, vanish (DC 20)
0 (at will)—dancing lights, detect magic, detect psychic significance, light, prestidigitation, read magic

TACTICS

Before Combat Within the Thrice-Tenth presbytery (area H6), Rasputin enjoys the benefits of the World Engine’s unholy aura and insight bonus to his AC. Rasputin casts cloak of dreams, displacement, false life, freedom of movement, levitate and mirror image. Aside from false life, these effects are not factored into his statistics.
During Combat Rasputin uses his stare to try to get his spells to stick on the PCs. He uses spells like confusion, overwhelming presence and primal regression to try to stop the PCs from acting properly. If a PC is being particularly troublesome, then they become the target of phantasmal killer.
Morale On the precipice of claiming his mother’s mythic power, Rasputin relies on his stitched soul to preserve his life, and fights to the death again and again until slain permanently.

STATISTICS

Str 7, Dex 11, Con 14, Int 15, Wis 13, Cha 28
Base Atk +13; CMB +11; CMD 29
Feats Combat Casting, Craft Wondrous Item, Diehard^B, Ectoplasmic Spell^B, Great Fortitude, Greater Spell Focus (enchantment), Leadership, Quicken Spell, Skill Focus (Diplomacy), Spell Focus (enchantment), Spell Specialization (ill omen), Toughness
Skills Bluff +30, Diplomacy +45, Heal +19, Intimidate +30, Knowledge (arcana) +23, Perception +22, Sense Motive +22, Spellcraft +23, Use Magic Device +30
Languages Church Slavonic, Common, Russian
SQ fanatical devotion, fanatical stare, glib lie (DC 33)
Gear +1 moderate fortification chain shirt, mwk dagger, mwk Nagant M1895 revolver with 21 metal cartridges, belt of physical might +2 (Dex, Con), greater talisman of danger sense, greater talisman of healing power, greater talisman of warrior's courage, headband of alluring charisma +6, lucky horseshoe, mask of the mesmerist, ring of immolation^{AP 11}

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Stitched Soul (Su) Rasputin’s soul is stitched to his body with threads of fate, and he clings tenaciously to life. He gains Diehard as a bonus feat. In addition, when first reduced to a number of negative hit points equal to or greater than his current Con score, Rasputin dies, but he springs back to life 1d4 rounds later as if the target of a resurrection spell. If killed a second time, the Mad Monk again comes back to life 1d6 rounds later, as if the target of a raise dead spell (upon his return, he loses 50% of his remaining unused spell slots as if they had been used to cast spells). Only after Rasputin is slain for a third time do his soul’s stitches finally unravel from his corpse, releasing his malignant spirit into the ether.

Not only did Iammars swing for the fences in his entry, he nails it with choices that recreate the encounters in "Rasputin Must Die!" (like using project image to harass the PCs). To quote Brandon's commentary, "And just as I clung to historical accuracy to get to the germ of my Rasputin, this guy goes and uses the archetype's bonus Leadership feat to get a cohort, and pulls Anna-[redacted]-Vyrubova out of the history books and inserts HER into the action. Just awesome." Of course, it would be silly to not include Anna, so here you go!

Anna Vyurbova, biggest fan:

Anna Vyurbova

Female human psychic 16
N Medium humanoid (human)
Init +0; Senses Perception +6

Defense

AC 17, touch 11, flat-footed 17 (+5 armor, +1 deflection, +1 natural)
hp 158 (16d6+100)
Fort +15, Ref +12, Will +17
SR 28
Weaknesses wheelchair bound

OFFENSE

Speed 20 ft.
Melee mwk dagger +10/+5 (1d4–1/19–20)
Ranged mwk Nagant M1895 revolver +11/+6 (1d8/×4)
Special Attacks agonizing wound (1 round, DC 24, 4/day), painful reminder (3d6, 4/day), phrenic amplifications (mimic metamagic, ongoing defense, overpowering mind, turning shield, undercast surge), phrenic pool (9 points) Psychic Spell-Like Abilities (CL 16th; concentration +22)
1/day—detect thoughts (DC 12), telepathic bond
Psychic Spells Known (CL 16th; concentration +22)
8th (3/day)—horrid wilting (DC 25), psychic crush IV (DC 25)
7th (5/day)—simulacrum, tower of iron will III, waves of exhaustion
6th (7/day)—contingency, dream travel (DC 22), mass inflict pain (DC 22), mental barrier V
5th (7/day)—explode head, life bubble (DC 21), psychic asylum, spell resistance, synapse overload (DC 21)
4th (7/day)—black tentacles, break enchantment, dimension door, mass pain strike (DC 20), thoughtsense
3rd (7/day)—analyze aura, dispel magic, displacement, heroism, vampiric touch
2nd (8/day)—bullet ward, false life, mirror image, pain strike (DC 18), pilfering hand, resist energy
1st (8/day)—burst of insight, comprehend languages, heightened awareness, ill omen, magic missile, persuasive goad (DC 18)
0 (at will)—daze, detect magic, detect psychic significance, light, mage hand, read magic, resistance, stabilize, virtue
Psychic Discipline Pain

TACTICS

Before Combat Anna casts heroism on both herself and Rasputin, while also casting displacement, false life, heightened awareness, life bubble, mirror image, and spell resistance. Displacement, life bubble, and mirror image are not factored into her statistics.
During Combat Anna attempts to do as much damage to the PCs as possible, making liberal use of quickened explode head combined with horrid wilting and psychic crush.
Morale Anna fights until her contingency whisks her away, her pain overcoming her and stopping her from doing anything else.

STATISTICS

Str 8, Dex 10, Con 16, Int 23, Wis 14, Cha 13
Base Atk +8; CMB +9; CMD 18
Feats Combat Casting, Empower Spell, Fearsome Spell, Great Fortitude, Lightning Reflexes, Quicken Spell, Spell Focus (necromancy), Spell Perfection (explode head), Toughness
Skills Bluff +22, Diplomacy +22, Heal +16, Knowledge (arcana) +29, Knowledge (nobility) +29, Knowledge (religion) +29, Sense Motive +23, Spellcraft +27
Languages Common, Russian
SQ live on (6d6, 7/day), mercies (dazed, nauseated, sickened, stunned), power from pain (max. 2)
Combat Gear bead of force, lesser persistent metamagic rod, wand of cure light wounds, wand of enervation (22 charges); Other Gear +1 mithral chain shirt, cloak of resistance +3, headband of mental prowess +2 (Int, Wis), ring of protection +1

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Contingency: When Anna is brought down to 25 hit points or less, she dimension doors away.

Wheelchair Bound: Anna can only move around in her wheelchair. Her speed is reduced by 10 feet unless both hands are free.

Iammars is the winner of a custom Paizo.com avatar selected from Occult Adventures, as well as $25 in store credit! But Iammars' entry wasn't the only one that got our attention. Milo v3's reanimated medium, Rannald's reanimated medium/formless adept psychic, Charlie Bell's mesmerist, and two interpretations of the occultist class from Meloriel and Corneleus Idaho were also among our favorite entries. Implement choices for the occultists, playing up the "why can't you just stay dead" for the medium, and solid tactical choices with Rasputin's new class made selecting our finalist a worthy encounter for our judges!

Thank you so much to everybody who entered—it was a (kinetic) blast to read through them all!

Until next time,

Brandon Hodge
Contributor

Liz Courts
Community Manager

He Must Die—Again!

Thursday, August 27, 2015

The arrival of Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Occult Adventures with its host of psychic magic and class options means new ways to tell stories for the world of Golarion (and beyond). But what about some of our older adventures, particularly one about a Very Infamous Monk? Are you ready for a Design Challenge?

When Occult Adventures first made its way through playtesting, one question I often thought was, "How could our older adventures be retold with these new options?" Being a rather large fan of Russian fairy tales and folk lore, I am quite fond of the Reign of Winter Adventure Path, so of course, I immediately gravitated towards that one to pick for this Design Challenge.

What does this mean to you? It means I have thrown the gauntlet to everybody who loves creating stat blocks, whether you're they type who spends hours poring over new archetypes, class combinations, and gear selection, or just like putting together a fun NPC for your group to face. "Pray tell, Liz, what is the rules of this duel?" you might ask.

You get to make this guy, Grigori Rasputin, but this time, using one of the new character classes from Occult Adventures.

Grigori Rasputin returns—but as what? You get to decide!

For reference, here's his original stat block, as it appeared in "Rasputin Must Die!":

Spoilers for Reign of Winter AP:

Grigori Rasputin  CR 17

XP 102,400
Male middle-aged human oracle 18
NE Medium humanoid (human)
Init +0; Senses true seeing; Perception +13
Aura unholy aura (DC 22)

Defense

AC 32, touch 22, flat-footed 32 (+10 armor, +4 deflection, +4 insight, +4 luck [touch only], +4 natural)
hp 192 (18d8+108)
Fort +16, Ref +12, Will +20; +4 vs. death effects, domination, mind-affecting effects, and possession
Defensive Abilities stitched soul; SR 25 vs. good

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft.
Melee mwk dagger +13/+8/+3 (1d4–1/19–20)
Ranged mwk Nagant M1895 revolver +14/+9/+4 (1d8/×4)
Oracle Spells Known (CL 18th; concentration +26)
9th (3/day)—astral projection, miracle (DC 27)
8th (6/day)—fire storm (DC 26), mass cure critical wounds, moment of prescience, stormbolts (DC 26)
7th (7/day)—blasphemy (DC 25), destruction (DC 25), ethereal jaunt, mass cure serious wounds, regenerate, reverse gravity (DC 25), vision, waves of ecstasy (DC 25)
6th (7/day)—antilife shell, blade barrier (DC 24), harm (DC 24), heal, mass cure moderate wounds, project image
5th (7/day)—contact other plane, flame strike (DC 23), greater forbid action (DC 23), mass cure light wounds, slay living (DC 23), telekinesis, true seeing
4th (8/day)—cure critical wounds, divine power, freedom of movement, scrying, sending, terrible remorse (DC 22), unholy blight (DC 22)
3rd (8/day)—bestow curse (DC 21), blindness/deafness (DC 21), clairaudience/clairvoyance, cure serious wounds, dispel magic, searing light
2nd (8/day)—cure moderate wounds, death knell (DC 20), dread bolt (DC 20), enthrall (DC 20), hold person (DC 20), levitate, minor image (DC 20), silence (DC 20), spectral hand
1st (8/day)—command (DC 19), cure light wounds, entropic shield, forbid action (DC 19), murderous command (DC 19), remove sickness (DC 19), unseen servant
0 (at will)—bleed (DC 18), detect magic, detect poison, ghost sound (DC 18), guidance, light, mage hand, read magic, resistance, stabilize, virtue
Mystery occult

TACTICS

Before Combat Within the Thrice-Tenth presbytery (area H6), Rasputin enjoys the benefits of the World Engine’s unholy aura and insight bonus to his AC. When faced with combat, Rasputin activates his ectoplasmic armor revelation and casts entropic shield, freedom of movement, levitate, moment of prescience, and true seeing. Once enemies are in sight, he casts antilife shell and spectral hand to enable him to use touch attacks beyond the field’s perimeter.
During Combat Under the protection of his antilife shell, Rasputin attempts to hinder opponents with reverse gravity and waves of ecstasy and turn foes against each other with terrible remorse and murderous command, before laying waste with such deadly effects as blade barrier, blasphemy, destruction, harm, stormbolts, and unholy blight. If wounded, Rasputin casts quickened cure spells while continuing to target enemies with offensive spells.
Morale On the precipice of claiming his mother’s mythic power, Rasputin relies on his stitched soul to preserve his life, and fights to the death again and again until slain permanently.

STATISTICS

Str 9, Dex 11, Con 19, Int 14, Wis 17, Cha 26
Base Atk +13; CMB +12; CMD 30
Feats Combat Casting, Craft Wondrous Item, Diehard^B, Ectoplasmic Spell^B, Expanded Arcana (2), Great Fortitude, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Persuasive, Quicken Spell, Toughness
Skills Bluff +25, Diplomacy +30, Intimidate +25, Knowledge (arcana) +15, Knowledge (nobility) +10, Knowledge (planes) +12, Knowledge (religion) +20, Perception +13, Sense Motive +16, Spellcraft +15, Use Magic Device +25
Languages Church Slavonic, Common, Russian
SQ oracle’s curse (haunted), revelations (ectoplasmic armor [+10, 18 hours/day], project psyche, shroud of retribution [3/day, 1d8+9], spectral spells [4/day], spirit walk [2/day, 18 rounds], sure soul [+4])
Gear mwk dagger, mwk Nagant M1895 revolver with 21 metal cartridges, amulet of natural armor +4, belt of physical perfection +2, cassock of the Black Monk, headband of mental prowess +4 (Wis, Cha)

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Stitched Soul (Su) Rasputin’s soul is stitched to his body with threads of fate, and he clings tenaciously to life. He gains Diehard as a bonus feat. In addition, when first reduced to a number of negative hit points equal to or greater than his current Con score, Rasputin dies, but he springs back to life 1d4 rounds later as if the target of a resurrection spell. If killed a second time, the Mad Monk again comes back to life 1d6 rounds later, as if the target of a raise dead spell (upon his return, he loses 50% of his remaining unused spell slots as if they had been used to cast spells). Only after Rasputin is slain for a third time do his soul’s stitches finally unravel from his corpse, releasing his malignant spirit into the ether.

Your entry will be judged on presentation and adherence to theme, and to help me with that, I've brought in the man responsible not only for the original Pathfinder version of the Mad Monk, but was also one of the lead consultants on Occult Adventures as well: Brandon Hodge!

But what is the reward for all of your hard work? Something we've never offered before: A custom Paizo.com avatar with art selected from Occult Adventures, along with $25 in store credit. On Paizo.com, a custom avatar means either being a Paizo employee (or the subject of whim by a Paizo employee), so this is a rare opportunity for a unique avatar that nobody else has!

Now, onto the rules:

• One entry per poster. Employees of Paizo, their immediate family members, and persons with whom such employees are domiciled are ineligible. Anyone who is currently employed full-time as a designer for a game company is ineligible. Anyone with a cover credit on a hardcover RPG book is ineligible. Anyone who has a design credit in 3 or more of Paizo's Pathfinder products is ineligible.
• You must post your entries in this blog's discussion thread.
• All entries due Midnight, September 13th, 2015, Paizo time.
• Entries must be in the following format:
  Stat Block Format:

  [b]Grigori Rasputin  CR 17[/b]

  [b]XP 102,400[/b]
  zzAlignment zzSize zzType
  [b]Init[/b] +##; [b]Senses[/b] zz, zz,; Perception +##
  [b]Aura[/b] zz (## ft., DC ##)

  [b]----- Defense -----[/b]
  [b]AC[/b] ##, touch ##, flat-footed # (+## zzModifier, +##zzModifier)
  [b]hp[/b] ## (##d##+##); fast healing ##
  [b]Fort[/b] +##, [b]Ref[/b] +##, [b]Will[/b] +##
  [b]Defensive Abilities[/b] ##/zzAbility; [b]DR[/b] ##/zzMaterial; [b]Immune[/b] zz; [b]Resist[/b] zz ##, zz ##; [b]SR[/b] ##
  [b]Weaknesses[/b] zz, zz

  [b]----- Offense -----[/b]
  [b]Speed[/b] ## ft., fly ## ft. (zzManeuverability)
  [b]Melee[/b] zzAttacktype +## (zzDamage plus zzOthereffect), zzAttacktype +## (zzDamage)
  [b]Ranged[/b] zzAttacktype +## (zzDamage)
  [b]Space[/b] ## ft.; [b]Reach[/b] ## ft.
  [b]Special Attacks[/b] zz, zz
  [b]Spell-Like Abilities[/b] (CL ##zz; concentration +##)
  At will—[i]zz[/i], [i]zz[/i]
  1/day—[i]zz[/i], [i]zz[/i]

  [b]----- Tactics -----[/b]
  [b]Before Combat[/b] zzBeforeCombat
  [b]During Combat[/b] zzDuringCombat
  [b]Morale[/b] On the precipice of claiming his mother’s mythic power, Rasputin relies on his stitched soul to preserve his life, and fights to the death again and again until slain permanently.

  [b]----- Statistics -----[/b]
  [b]Str[/b] ##, [b]Dex[/b] ##, [b]Con[/b] ##, [b]Int[/b] ##, [b]Wis[/b] ##, [b]Cha[/b] ##
  [b]Base Atk[/b] +##; [b]CMB[/b] +## (+## zzConditionalmaneuverbonus); [b]CMD[/b] ## (## vs. zzManeuvername)
  [b]Feats[/b] zzFeatname, zzFeatname
  [b]Skills[/b] zzSkillname +##, zzSkillname +## (+## zzCondition); [b]Racial Modifiers[/b] +## zzSkillname, +## zzSkillname when zzCondition
  [b]Languages[/b] zzLanguage
  [b]SQ[/b] zz

  [b]----- Ecology -----[/b]
  [b]Environment[/b] zzClimate zzTerrain
  [b]Organization[/b] zz, zz, or zz
  [b]Treasure[/b] zzCategory

  [b]----- Special Abilities -----[/b]
  [b]zzName (Ex/Sp/Su)[/b] zzDescription

• Entry must be CR 17, must use a character class from Occult Adventures, and must include the stitched soul special ability.
• You may use any Paizo-published material, but you must cite your sources.
• Selection of avatar art is subject to Paizo.com's Community Guidelines.

Remember, all entries must be in by September 13th, 2015. Good luck in designing the Mad Monk Rasputin, and letting us kill him again—or try to!

Liz Courts
Community Manager

Pathfinder Battles Preview: The End of Winter

Friday, May 2, 2014

I don't know what the weather's like where you live, but I'm looking out my office window at a gorgeous, sunny 71-degree day that feels a lot like summer. The forecast calls for rain this weekend, but after two beautiful Spring weeks on vacation in France and the sun beating down on me for five days in a row here in Seattle (!), I'm ready to declare the end of the winter season for real!

That's convenient, because today also marks the final preview blog for Pathfinder Battles: Reign of Winter, the newest set of prepainted fantasy miniatures from Paizo and WizKids! The set supports our popular Reign of Winter Adventure Path, which puts the player characters in Baba Yaga's Dancing Hut as they venture across the worlds. That's given us the opportunity to include more weird monsters than in any previous set. And we have three left to reveal today!

Before we do so, however, I should deliver the news that the official release date for the Reign of Winter set has shifted back a bit due to international shipping from the factory. WizKids now has the set slated at a June 4 release. I do not expect that date to change again.

And now, on to the last three miniatures!

First up this week is the Centaur Scout, a great “troop builder” type of figure that works perfectly for a rank-and-file centaur. He comes from Pathfinder Adventure Path: Maiden, Mother, Crone, and works great in encounters with the set's other centaur, the Centaur Archer. The Centaur Scout is a Large, uncommon figure.

Brandon Hodge's adventure Rasputin Must Die! is the gift that keeps on giving as far as this set is concerned. Not only did it include a madcap concept that's come to define the world-hopping weirdness of entire Adventure Path, but it also included a ton of really great character and monster images that just begged to be turned into miniatures. This guy—a Russian vampire priest, basically—is one of my absolute favorites. WizKids did a great job on the figure's sunken eyes, which really jump out from what's otherwise a pretty simply painted figure. In the adventure, the Nosferatu Brother is one of three, which in part justifies his uncommon rarity. The Nosferatu Brother is a Medium figure.

Last up this week (and for the entire set!) is Zorka, a strange fey creature known as a kikimora. Kikimoras are house spirits, and this particular one inhabits Baba Yaga's Dancing Hut, where she serves as housekeeper. The look of this figure was simply too insane not to include, especially since folks have been asking for more fey. Definitely one of the weirdest monsters we've published, let alone made a miniature of, Zorka is a Medium, rare figure.

And that's it for the Reign of Winter set! Tune in next week for the big reveal of the next set, as well as a look at some of its coolest miniatures.

Please consider setting up an ongoing Pathfinder Battles Case Subscription to make sure that you don't miss a single figure. We've recently revised the discounts and benefits offered to subscribers, so I'm certain you'll find it worthwhile to see if it makes sense for you and your collection.

See you next week!

Erik Mona
Publisher

Pathfinder Battles Preview: Au Revoir!

Friday, April 11, 2014

Next week I'm off to the great nation of France to celebrate the 10th anniversary of our partners at Black Book Editions, who publish Pathfinder in French. I'll be taking a little vacation at the end of the trip, so the Pathfinder Battles Preview will go on a two-week hiatus following today's preview. I usually try to post these updates from the road, but this time I'm going to let vacation be vacation. I hope to come back to finish out the last few Reign of Winter figures, and that should coincide with some previews (and heck, an announcement!) for the next set.

But that's all in the future. Let's focus on today.

As I mentioned in last week's blog, we've made some changes to the subscription benefits that will kick in with the Reign of Winter set, which is still scheduled for a late May arrival. Going forward, customers with an ongoing Case Subscription will receive a 30% discount on their case purchases. The comments thread to last week's blog contained a number of questions about which price the discount applies to. In fact, this discount is applied to the final price, not the MSRP. In the case of Reign of Winter, subscribers will take the 30% discount off the $399.99 list price, bringing the price of a case (before the incentive figure) to $279.99. We'll get paizo.com updated shortly to reflect these new changes.

With that out of the way, let's take a look at some miniatures!

Here we have a Goblin Alchemist, drawn from the pages of the second Reign of Winter Adventure Path adventure, The Shackled Hut, by Jim Groves. In the adventure, the Goblin Alchemist is named Grindtooth, and he leads a small gang of snow goblin bully-boys in the city of Whitethrone. In your campaign, he makes a nice addition to the hordes of goblins we've already produced, albeit this one is dressed for maximum warmth and his skin is a bit more on the blue side of things. The Goblin Alchemist is a Small, common figure.

This chilly lady is a Crone Queen, a former leader of the nation of Irrisen and a daughter of the immortal witch queen Baba Yaga. When one of Baba Yaga's chosen daughters has served her 100-year tenure as Queen of Irrisen, the Queen of Witches comes to replace her with another daughter. These former queens never leave the confines of the witch's Dancing Hut. Drained of their vitality and power by Baba Yaga and imprisoned deep inside the hut's innermost chambers, these daughters become crone queens, undead mockeries of the powerful witches they once were. Soiler alert: You fight a bunch of them in the final Reign of Winter adventure. With a clear "ice" staff and crown and a dynamic pose, this scary lady is a Medium-sized, uncommon figure.

Speaking of the final Reign of Winter adventure, your PCs will also meet our next figure there—Queen Elvanna, the current leader of Irrisen and the instigator of the events of the Reign of Winter Adventure Path. The fewer words spent on her role, the less spoilerific this blog becomes, so let's just leave it at this: You'll need a miniature of her. She's got a cool (ha!) ice staff and crown, and a raven perched on her shoulder. (The same Raven that is also a figure in this set? YOU decide!) Queen Elvanna is a beautifully sculpted Medium figure slated at the rare rarity.

And that's it for this week. I'm off to France. See you in two weeks!

Erik Mona
Publisher

Pathfinder Battles Preview: Ch-ch-ch-changes

Friday, April 4, 2014

Before we get to today's Reign of Winter miniature reveals, I want to focus on a couple of important general changes to the Pathfinder Battles line that will begin with this set, both in terms of the number of figures per set and in terms of the subscription benefits offered to ongoing Pathfinder Battles Case Subscription.

Number of Figures Per Set

Starting with Reign of Winter, Pathfinder Battles sets will go to 44 figures plus the Gargantuan case incentive figure. This reduction in number of figures per set is designed to help WizKids get its costs in line, and also comes with the added benefit of providing more common and uncommon figures to folks who buy their miniatures by the case (something a lot of customers have been asking for). The number of figures in a case, brick, or booster does not change, just the composition of the set in terms of total sculpts.

A case should still contain a full set (as always in the case of a collated product we can't guarantee this, but it's certainly the goal). Below is the model rarity breakdown for a case:

56 commons, 32 uncommons, 8 rares, 28 large uncommons, 4 large rares.

Here is the figure breakdown for the Reign of Winter set:

7 common (Small), 6 common (Medium), 11 uncommon (Medium), 8 uncommon (Large), 8 rare (Medium), and 4 rare (Large).

The total number of figures per case and the overall price of the case will not change. The specific figure size breakdowns will differ slightly from set to set, but the model rarity breakdown should be stable from release to release.

Case Subscription Changes

When we started the Pathfinder Battles line, the original plan was to supplement set releases with frequent Encounter Packs, Builder Series mini-sets, and other "one-off" releases. These have proven to be less popular than we'd hoped both with the audience and with our partners at WizKids, so as time has gone on we've produced significantly fewer of these special releases than we'd planned to.

We set up our Ongoing Case Subscriptions—a vital backbone to keeping the Pathfinder Battles line in production since it establishes a baseline of sales for the brand—with these special releases in mind. The current model earns subscribers discount codes to use on these releases, with three different discounts for the case incentive figure, special Encounter Packs or Builder Series releases, and another discount for loose singles sold on paizo.com.

Starting with the Reign of Winter set, the Ongoing Case Subscription benefits will change to:

• The right to purchase one limited-edition case premium figure at 75% off its normal retail price per case ordered. (Same as existing benefit)
• 30% off the normal retail price of ALL Pathfinder Battles products on paizo.com, including the cases ordered as part of your subscription, all previously released product, all Encounter Pack, Builder Series, or special releases, and all loose, unpackaged singles.

To recap: Active a ongoing Pathfinder Battles Case Subscription to the Pathfinder Battles line receive a 30% discount on all Pathfinder Battles-branded products on paizo.com except the limited-edition case incentive figures, which can be purchased at 75% off. These discounts bring our pricing in line with other online retailers.

These benefits last only as long as your Pathfinder Battles Ongoing Subscription, and go away if you cancel your subscription. Existing coupon codes provided as part of our ongoing Case Subscription benefits remain active. Even though they are for 20% off instead of the new 30% discount, they can be used even after you've stopped your subscription.

It may take us a little time to update paizo.com to reflect these new changes, but they will be in place by the time Reign of Winter is scheduled to ship to customers in late May.

We think these new subscription benefits are easier to understand and more attractive to Pathfinder Battles fans. Our ongoing Case Subscribers are absolutely vital to the continued success of the Pathfinder Battles line. If you are collecting every set, I strongly encourage you to sign up for an Ongoing Case Subscription today. It really is the most important thing you can do to encourage a long and healthy life for Pathfinder Battles. We certainly appreciate it.

Today's Reign of Winter Previews

With all of that business out of the way, let's take a look at a few of the remaining figures from the Reign of Winter set!

Up first this week is the Zombie Panther, a nasty undead great cat ready to pounce on your player characters! This mangy critter is covered in spots exposing rotting flesh beneath its fur, from a nasty bit of exposed ribcage along its side to a significant element of his face where the skull is completely visible. I'm holding the production figure in hand as I write this, and I'm impressed with the effectiveness of what amounts to a pretty simple figure. At the common rarity, you'll have enough of this gross undead animal to build a neat encounter. It also makes a great familiar for a necromancer!

Here we have the Wolliped, an eight-legged beast of burden from the snow planet Triaxus. Though Wollipeds do not play a prominent role in the Reign of Winter Adventure Path, they do appear on page 90 of Pathfinder Adventure Path #70: The Frozen Stars, which also features Triaxus heavily. I threw the Wolliped in this set as my "Erik's Choice" figure because I thought he looked cool and I'd never seen anything like him in plastic before. As a big fan of planetary romance novels like A Princess of Mars, I'm also a sucker for alien mounts with too many legs. The Wolliped officially has an intelligence of 2, but the figure's face is quite expressive, and he could easily double as some sort of intelligent creature. He's slated at the uncommon rarity, and is a Large creature.

Last up this week is Zavackuul, a reclusive and eccentric aberration who dwells in an icy fissure somewhere during the Reign of Winter Adventure Path (no spoilers!). Zavackuul is a compulsive collector of victims, whom she entombs in ice and displays in her lair. The simple (but effective) paint job on this figure looks great, but the real stand-out here are the six (!) tentacles whipping off her central form, bringing a great sense of dimensionality to the miniature. Zavackuul is a Large, rare figure.

And that's it for this week. Please consider setting up an Ongoing Case Subscription to make sure you don't miss a single Reign of Winter figure!

Until next week,

Erik Mona
Publisher

Pathfinder Battles Preview: One More Tri

Friday, March 28, 2014

In my Las Vegas-fueled GAMA Trade Show enthusiasm of last week, I somehow missed the fact that the upcoming Reign of Winter set includes at least three more alien creatures from the frigid world of Triaxus, as featured in the fifth Reign of Winter Adventure Path adventure, The Frozen Stars. Check out last week’s preview blog for a sense of some of my original trepidation about including “furry elves” in the miniatures set.

As it turns out, I shouldn’t have worried so much. The set’s Triaxians look absolutely fantastic, and all of them easily double as other creatures for GMs who have no intention of taking their campaigns to the stars.

First up this week is the menacing Drakelands Barbarian, a sworn enemy of the Dragon Legion officers we previewed last week. I’m holding the final production run version of this figure as I write this, and I’m blown away by the paint quality WizKids has pulled off on this set. The Barbarian has a great feral snarl on her face, and her armor looks fantastic. Her fur is not too furry, and the figure easily doubles as a rather pale half-orc. From the wooden shield to the fine sculpt detail, it’s almost impossible for me to believe that I’m looking at a common. But I most certainly am. The Drakelands Barbarian is a fantastic-looking Medium common.

Speaking of fantastic Medium figures, here we have Commander Pharamol, the cover figure from the The Frozen Stars adventure. Pharamol commands the Dragon Legion aerie of Spurhorn, and could end up as either an ally or an enemy of the player characters. One thing is for sure, he’s is absolutely PERFECT for a male catfolk ranger. Again, the paint detail on this guy is unbelievable, with amazing red outlines on his white skirt, brilliant gold trim along his fine green cloak, and an excellently executed face. If a near-perfect sculpt and excellent paint job is enough to convince you to take a second look at a weird miniature, you’re going to love this guy. Commander Pharamol is a Medium miniature slated at the rare rarity.

And then we have General Malesinder, an enormous female silver dragonkin with a sword made of ice, some cool jewelry, and an absolute hate-on for Commander Pharamol and his Dragon Legion ilk. If you can handle weapon-wielding dragons, this figure is just about perfect. Your players are definitely going to freak out when this nasty lady hits the table. She’s great, and looks even better in-hand. General Malesinder is a Large, rare figure.

Ok, now I’m pretty sure I’ve featured all of the Triaxian aliens in the set. Except for one, that is. I’ll get to that furry fellow in a future week.

In the meantime, please consider setting up an ongoing case subscription to ensure you don’t miss a single Reign of Winter figure.

Don’t get caught out in the cold!

Erik Mona
Publisher

Pathfinder Battles Preview: Tri, Tri Again

Friday, March 21, 2014

This week was the GAMA Trade Show in Las Vegas, where about 350 of the top hobby games retailers in the world gathered with game manufacturers to discuss new products, new organized play initiatives, and the gaming business in general. Over the last several years, GTS has gotten more and more healthy, reflecting a revitalized hobby game retail environment. It's always great to meet face-to-face with retailers, and this week a lot of the discussion focused on Pathfinder Battles and the upcoming Reign of Winter set.

About an hour before the show opened, our friends at WizKids stopped by the Paizo booth with a little surprise—a complete set of production-run Reign of Winter figures! We split the set and each of our booths featured several figures that had never before been seen in public.

Looking over my half here in my hotel room (you'll never get them back from me, WizKids! Neeeevvvveeerrrrrr!!!), I'm struck by the amazing quality of the paint jobs. As I've discussed in previous blogs, after aiming slightly above the head of the production factory with the Legends of Golarion set, starting with Wrath of the Righteous we simplified the number of paint steps on each figure. This (miraculously, as it seems to defy logic) actually resulted in BETTER figures, since the plant had enough time to give each figure the attention it deserved.

I was very pleased with the production paints in Wrath of the Righteous, but there were still enough problems here and there that I felt there was room for improvement. And wow, based on the production run figures I'm looking at right now, Reign of Winter hits it out of the park!

The Female Ice Troll, for example, features what I think might be the best paint job on any figure we've done to date. It's not particularly elaborate or innovative or anything, but it is absolutely flawless in execution. When we're talking about production runs for tens of thousands of figures, there's always going to be a little bit of variance from figure to figure. Not every Female Ice Troll is going to look exactly like this one, but we've been doing this for seven full sets now, and I'm more confident in the final quality of Reign of Winter's paint steps than I have been with any previous Pathfinder Battles set.

After seeing the figures, I'm also more confident about one of my lingering concerns about the set—the existence of so many weird miniatures.

I've previously discussed the "modern" figures in the set, like the Russian Machine Gunner and Rasputin. I knew going in that these niche figures wouldn't be for everyone, but again the quality (and the relatively small number) gave me a lot of confidence that even skeptics wouldn't mind them. So after getting a look at the final models, I didn't worry too much about the modern figures.

I remained a bit concerned, I must confess, about the Triaxians.

Part of what makes the Reign of Winter Adventure Path so great as a roleplaying experience—travel to different worlds filled with exotic creatures—makes it a somewhat more daunting prospect for a set of miniatures likely to be used by lots of gamers who are not running the Adventure Path, and simply want to use the miniatures in adventures of their own design.

The campaign's fourth adventure, "The Frozen Stars," takes place on a frigid planet inhabited by two unusual creatures. Triaxians, the planet's natives, were originally described to me as "furry elves." The dragonkin are, essentially, dragons who wield weapons and who are often used as mounts by the Triaxians.

Art for both of these creatures was absolutely phenomenal, but I still worried a bit about just how cool (and, more importantly, how useful) these figures would be.

I've now seen them in person, and I am no longer worried at all.

Let's take a quick look at a few of them.

The most unusual Triaxian figure in the set is Cesseer of Ning, an ass-kicking monk who makes for a brutal enemy when crossed. For fun, we decided to portray Cesseer in mid kick, giving the figure a very dynamic appearance. Cesseer easily doubles as a catfolk monk for campaigns a little closer to home than Triaxus. As usual, WizKids did a fantastic job on the sculpt, which includes tons of awesome little details. Cesseer of Ning is a Medium, rare figure.

Here we have a member of Triaxus's vaunted Dragon Legion, and for my money this is one of the coolest figures in the entire Reign of Winter set. Heavily armed with an axe, a pole-arm, and three javelins (all of which look GREAT in hand), this figure sports massive three-dimensionality and would make for a killer player character figure. Yes, it's got a bit of fur on its face and legs, but with a big helmet and armor covering just about every other part of his body, this figure frankly looks human at table distance. One of the best sculpts of a Medium figure we've produced to date, the Dragon Legion Dragonrider is slotted at the rare rarity.

If you like the Dragonrider, you'll love seeing another member of the Legion fully mounted on a big red dragonkin! Of all the Reign of Winter figures displayed at the Paizo booth at the GAMA Trade Show, this garnered the most attention—and rightly so. Again, the Dragonrider atop this bad boy easily doubles as a human, but looks alien enough if you know where to look. The shading on the red dragonkin looks wonderful, and I guarantee your players are going to start to sweat when this piece hits the table. The Red Dragonkin Rider is a Large, rare figure.

And that's it for this week's reveals. We'll be back next week with more cool preview images. Remember, the Reign of Winter set is scheduled for a late May release. Contact your retail store to make sure they have your figures in stock, or preorder here at Paizo.com!

Until next week,

Erik Mona
Publisher

Pathfinder Battles Preview: When Animals Attack

Friday, March 14, 2014

We've already previewed several animals from the upcoming Reign of Winter set of prepainted Pathfinder Battles figures. We've seen a Falcon, a Goat, an Owl, a Fox, and more, making Reign of Winter the most animal-friendly set of figures we've produced today.

AND THERE ARE STILL MORE ANIMALS TO COME!

This week's preview features three more, pretty much rounding out the animals (or animal-like) creatures in the set. Except for one weird one I'll reveal in a future preview.

Up first this week is the Raven, a perfect familiar for the Adventure Path's many witches, or a great companion for one of your player characters. The Raven has a relatively simple paint job, but manages to still look great. It's a Small, common figure.

We've already revealed one Winter Wolf in human form, Greta, and this week we're showing off the genuine article. Check out this ferocious canine, captured mid-howl. This nasty beast is sure to terrorize your player characters either as a genuine Winter Wolf, or as a pack leader teamed up with the Wolf figure in our very first set, Heroes & Monsters! The Winter Wolf is a Large, uncommon figure.

Everyone loves Giant Weasels. Now you can admire them as they chew up your player characters on the game table! The Giant Weasel is a Large, uncommon figure.

And that's it for this week. Stay tuned next Friday for more exciting previews of the Reign of Winter set, which is currently scheduled for a May release!

Erik Mona
Publisher

Pathfinder Battles Preview: In from the Cold (War)

Friday, March 7, 2014

I'm writing this Friday morning sitting in gate B1 of the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, waiting for a flight that will take me to Austin. While I'm in town I will be spending a lot of time hatching plans with Brandon Hodge, one of my favorite Pathfinder authors. Brandon is the mad genius who brought us the fan-favorite Rasputin Must Die! in the fifth volume of the Reign of Winter Adventure Path.

When we came up with the idea of sending the Adventure Path heroes to a variety of exotic worlds via the magic of Baba Yaga's Hut, it was probably inevitable that one of us would come up with the idea of using the Mother of Witches' real home—Russia. You know, on Earth.

Mention Russia in a room of nerds like us, and it's only a matter of time before someone brings up Rasputin. We all got so excited about the idea of the player characters encountering Rasputin (and trying to kill him, of course), that we didn't ever really stop to consider whether it was a good or bad idea for the Pathfinder brand. We just knew it got our blood pumping, and that it was a way to inject an unexpected left turn into a line that had already seen more than 60 adventures.

We knew we were in love. It was too late to turn back, and we didn't want to turn back, anyway. But we knew that the idea would be controversial, and that most gamers would have their default set to "skeptical." Convincing folks to give it a try meant getting the right ideas, and getting the right ideas meant getting the right author.

We immediately thought of Brandon Hodge. In addition to having strong adventure design fundamentals and just being an all-around professional and affable guy, Brandon had already written killer adventures and articles for us that included a pervasive sense of grounding in real world facts and mythology. He was our guy.

The adventure came out. It was really, really popular—certainly the most talked-about adventure since Kingmaker.

Several months later we made the decision to produce a line of figures based off of the Reign of Winter Adventure Path, I had to face the daunting prospect of including modern World War I era figures in the set. I did this with the full understanding that enjoying reading or even playing an unusual adventure is a one-time thing, but adding miniatures to your collection is forever.

A figure like a Lich or even something like the amazing Clockwork Reliquary might only come out once a campaign, but it isn't too difficult to imagine finding a use for it again down the road.

But a guy with a gun and a gas mask? How many uses are you going to get out of that?

So I knew I needed some modern figures in the Reign of Winter. I knew I couldn't include too many, as some folks are going to be very difficult to convince. So the ones we used had to be worth it.

They had to be awesome.

This week, I present the results of our efforts. For those of you looking for a way to stage an amazing run of one of the best adventures we've ever published, I hope you put these to use and appreciate these figures. For those who would prefer that we not have included them at all, I hope you appreciate them as at least attractive necessary evils.

Speaking of evil, here's Rasputin:

This is the man himself. Grigori Rasputin, the unkillable Russian mystic who serves as a major villain in the Reign of Winter Adventure Path. Although drawn from Earth history, there's not too much about this figure that defines it as "modern," so our boy Rasputin also easily doubles as a wizard or cleric in a smart coat. Rasputin is a Medium, rare miniature.

Here we have the Russian Soldier of World War I. Gas mask. Rifle. Hand grenade. The gas mask and long coat give the Russian Soldier a kind of otherworldly quality that makes them seem less out of place in a fantasy setting, but basically, they're Russians. The Russian Soldier is a Medium, common figure.

Bedecked in a gray coat and cool hat and wielding one major machine gun is the Russian Machine Gunner. This Medium figure is slated at the common rarity.

Last up today is Polkovnik Lavrenti, a dullahan soldier riding a nightmare. Check out the clear plastic effects on the horse and the heads dangling from the saddle. Creepy! You've got to look pretty hard to see the modern elements on this guy, so throw him down on the table in any campaign and watch players shudder in fear. Sweet. Polkovnik Lavrenti is a Large, rare figure.

And that's it for the explicitly modern figures in the set. We'll see you next week for more reveals. There are many more monsters to come!

Erik Mona
Publisher

Pathfinder Battles Preview: Short Blog, Big Dragon

Friday, February 28, 2014

WOW! Today has been so crazy busy here at the Paizo offices that I only now realized that I needed to write a preview blog for the Reign of Winter set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted fantasy miniatures! The set is scheduled for a May release, and since time is short and our web team certainly wants to get out of here before Midnight, I'm going to keep today's preview short and very, very sweet by giving you your first good look at the set's limited edition "case incentive" figure: the Gargantuan White Dragon!

The Gargantuan White looks amazing in person. Captured in mid flight, the figure is taller than other dragons we've released so far, and every bit as menacing as his case incentive cousins, the Gargantuan Blue Dragon, the Gargantuan Skeletal Dragon, and the Gargantuan Green Dragon.

As with previous case incentive figures, the Gargantuan White Dragon will be produced in extremely limited quantities as a premium for customers who preorder a case of Reign of Winter figures. Subscribers to the Pathfinder Battles line receive a substantial discount on the figure, as well, so if you haven't yet become a case subscriber, please consider doing so!

That's it for me this week. See you next Friday for more exciting miniature reveals!

Until then, I remain,

Erik Mona
Publisher

Pathfinder Battles Preview: Player Proxies

Friday, February 21, 2014

As we keep marching toward the May release of the Reign of Winter set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic figures, I want to take a little break from the usual parade of monsters and creepy creatures to focus on four figures that work great to model player characters, even if that was not their original intent.

One of the coolest things about basing some of our sets on our popular Pathfinder Adventure Path range is that it gives us a chance to include a lot of NPCs. Sometimes, said NPCs are ancient crone queens and winter witches, but lots of other times they're adventurers—making them perfect minis to represent your player characters. Reign of Winter has a few such figures, and this week I'd love to show them to you.

Here's hoping your player character looks a little bit like a guard in a winter fortress. If so, you'll appreciate the Pale Tower Guard, a heavily armored warrior type drawn from the pages of the very first Reign of Winter adventure. In that adventure, the Pale Tower Guards go door to door looking for the rebel Nadya Petska, bringing them into conflict with the player characters. The Pale Tower Guard is a Medium, common figure.

Speaking of Nadya Petska, she's also included in the set, and she makes for one of the most gorgeously produced female adventurer figures in the whole Pathfinder Battles range. Because she's such a great figure, and because the rare slots are mostly filled with even weirder creatures and NPCs, I decided to slate Nadya Petska into the uncommon rarity. She is a Medium figure.

Nadya isn't the only awesome female warrior in the set. Here we have Greta, a powerfully built barbarian who just happens to be the human form of a Winter Wolf. She also happens to be a sweet figure for a human warrior or barbarian player character. Greta is Medium, and is also uncommon. Some of you will no doubt think that some of these figures should be rares, but I promise you the rares in this set are CRAZY, and most of them don't make a ton of sense to have in quantity.

Our last figure this week is Ratibor the Bold, a human barbarian who betrayed the witch queen Baba Yaga and who has been cursed to guard her Dancing Hut forevermore. With a bow, shield, axe, and armor, he also doubles as a villain, player character, or even a mook. This Medium figure is slated at the uncommon rarity.

And that's it for this week. Next week I think I'll unleash some of the rares to provide a bit more perspective on why I decided to make most of these guys uncommon. It will all make perfect sense shortly, as we depart the time and space of Golarion to check out some of the set's truly WEIRD figures.

Until then, I remain…

Erik Mona
Publisher

Pathfinder Battles Preview: A Monster Miscellany

Friday, February 14, 2014

Winter continues its cruel embrace across the United States this week (well, just about everywhere but here in balmy Seattle, that is), and our Reign of Winter miniature reveals for May's Pathfinder Battles set just keep on coming!

This week I'd like to focus on four figures that are, for lack of a better word, monsters. We've shown off a few animals (and there are a few more to come) and a lot of specific enemies so far, so now it's time to pull back the curtain on some of the rank-and-file creatures you're likely to find in your Reign of Winter.

Here we have a Maftet, a member of a race of winged feline humanoids inspired by an Egyptian goddess (and included on page 188 of Bestiary 3. Maftets dwell in crumbling ruins and lost cities, and come up several times in the Reign of Winter Adventure Path. This particular example wields two swords and stands about 7 feet tall, making her an imposing encounter indeed. The Maftet is a Medium figure slated at the common rarity.

Folks have been asking for more fey miniatures for a long time, and I'm happy to get the opportunity presented by the monster mix of the Reign of Winter Adventure Path to start delivering. Here we have one of my personal favorites from back in the Narnia days, a Faun! Our Faun (also in Bestiary 3) is shown playing a pipe and cavorting around. He's pretty cool. This Medium figure is slated at the uncommon rarity.

In a recent comment thread I mentioned that the set would include a Mirror Man, a creepy construct introduced in the pages of Pathfinder Adventure Path #68, the second Reign of Winter adventure. Even though your own face may reflect back on you when you encounter a Mirror Man, rest assured that there is a human spirit giving the thing animate force. Yes, it may be the trapped spirit of a condemned criminal, but don't let that get in the way of your primping. The Mirror Man is a Medium, uncommon figure.

One of my favorite aspects of building Pathfinder Battles set lists is including creatures that have never before been produced in prepainted plastic. To my knowledge, this big guy fits the bill. Here we have the lowly and unloved Catoblepas, a creature first described by the historian Pliny the Elder around AD 77, so I think he qualifies as a "classic" monster. Unlike the real version, this miniature's gaze will not turn you to stone (I can't promise the same for your player characters). The Catoblepas is a cool, hefty figure that makes use of his Large size. He is slated at the rare rarity, and his stats can be found on page 52 of Bestiary 2.

And that's it for this week! I'm off to the New York Toy Fair tomorrow morning, where I will be meeting with my counterpart at WizKids to hatch diabolical plans for the coming years (among other things). We'll be back next week with more Reign of Winter miniature reveals. In the meantime, try to keep warm!

Erik Mona
Publisher

Pathfinder Battles Preview: Short and Sweet

Friday, February 7, 2014

It's been a crazy busy week here at Paizo, so in deference to my overloaded schedule I hope you'll forgive a relatively brief set of previews this week. These figures are from May's Reign of Winter set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted fantasy miniatures.

Folks have been asking for more animals for quite some time, and I'm happy to say that the Reign of Winter set delivers. This Owl is a Small, common figure.

Owls are common familiars of winter witches, and here we have the winter witch Nazenha Vasilliovna, straight from the cover of Pathfinder Adventure Path #68. Nazenha is a major villain in the campaign, but she also works as any female human spellcaster or even a player character. Her icicle crown, wand, and sickle blade are all cast in clear plastic. Nazenha Vasilliovna is a Medium figure slated at the rare rarity.

This is a Goat. It's a Small, common figure.

And here we have the goat's owner, the witch Radosek Pavril. Pavril is a servant of Nazenha, so all four of this week's characters likely spend a lot of time together. As a villain in the very first adventure in the Reign of Winter Adventure Path, Pavril is sure to hector and annoy your player characters. He will probably not get their goat, however, as he already has one. Radosek Pavril also has an icicle wand cast in clear plastic. He's a Medium, uncommon figure with quite a lot of versatility.

And that's it for this very, very busy and hectic week. On a side note, you may have noticed that our partners at WizKids announced a partnership with another fantasy RPG company today, and that they plan to release miniatures for that line as well. We have known about this for a while here at Paizo, and have no reason to assume that this new development will have any impact on the Pathfinder Battles line, which continues to march forward.

Onward and upward, and have a great weekend, everybody!

Erik Mona
Publisher

Pathfinder Battles Preview: Ice, Ice Baby!

Friday, January 31, 2014

As we here in Seattle gear up for what we hope (and expect) will be a fantastic Super Bowl victory for our heroes on the Seattle Seahawks this weekend, the weather has taken a slight turn for the better. It's a bit difficult to believe, but I can actually see sunlight outside my office. But all it takes is another cold day, and we'll be back into the dreariness of winter in Washington state, where the line between rain-slicked highways and icy death-slides is only a few cold degrees.

To celebrate the cold (and all of the icy driving this week from Southerners in non-Super Bowl states), I thought I'd focus today's preview blog on a substance near and dear to the Reign of Winter Adventure Path: ICE.

Today's miniatures all come from the Reign of Winter set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic gaming figures, which is scheduled for a May release.

This is the somewhat serpentine Small Ice Elemental, whose statistics appear on page 114 of Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2. The figure is cast in clear blue plastic, with some light blue and white highlights to create a sort of "ice armor" affect along the body. The Small Ice Elemental is a Small, common creature.

This Ice Golem is a humanoid automaton created from ice and given life through alchemical science. The creature's statistics appear on page 161 of the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary, where he comes in at CR 5, making him one of the more survivable golem encounters in the book. The figure stands about 7 feet tall (relatively speaking), and is cast in clear plastic. This Medium creature is slated at the uncommon rarity.

Ice Trolls are somewhat smaller than normal trolls, but they possess greater intelligence and are just as voraciously hungry. This Male Ice Troll looks like he stepped right off page 271 of Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2. He's a little bit shorter than the Sea Troll from Skull & Shackles set. This Large figure is slated at the uncommon variety.

Every ice troll deserves a mate, so we decided to mix things up a bit in this set and provide just that. This Female Ice Troll is an amazing-looking figure, definitely one of my favorite trolls we've done to date. Interestingly, while compiling art reference for this figure we discovered that the artist had originally given her sort of claw-like toes in the originally published image, whereas the official ice troll from the Bestiary had more-or-less regular toes. So we changed her feet to match his, and I'm thinking it's that certain something special that will make sure the two of them get along famously. They'll probably want to eat your PCs alive, though, so please do be careful around them.

And that's it for this week! Come back in seven days for more exciting Reign of Winter previews! In the meantime, please consider setting up an ongoing Pathfinder Battles Case Subscription to make sure you don't miss a single figure!

Until next week, I remain,

Erik Mona
Publisher

Pathfinder Battles Preview: Behind the Scenes

Friday, January 14, 2014

In the comments thread to last week's Pathfinder Battles preview, user Pigraven asked several questions about the Pathfinder Battles product line that might be good fodder for a blog. The community thought that would be a good idea, and so do I. So in addition to posting three more figures from the upcoming Reign of Winter set of prepainted plastic gaming figures this evening, I thought I'd also go through Pigraven's questions and provide some quick answers.

Q: How much does ease of sculpt matter? Do they tend to rule out certain characters or creatures because they worry a sculpt might prove too worrisome?

Ease of sculpt informs rarity more than anything else. Most of the figures in a Pathfinder Battles set are composed of between 2 and 8 parts, with the figures that require more pieces generally falling into the rare or uncommon categories. Occasionally, after I've put together a proposed set list, WizKids will consult with their factory and make suggestions for a few "rarity swaps." This is generally a pretty painless process, but it can cause some potential problems. For example, I'm currently working on a set list for an upcoming set that includes an Attic Whisperer, a child skeleton spirit thing that is creepy as hell. I'd slated it at the uncommon rarity, because you really don't need a handful of these (most Attic Whisperer encounters involve a single creature), but because the factory came back saying that it would only require 2 pieces, WizKids suggested that we move it to common. Doing that would result in too many Attic Whisperers in a given case, so I probably won't go along with their suggestion in that case.

To date, the only figure we have chosen not to make due to sculpt complexity is Baba Yaga's Hut, which I really wanted to be the limited edition case incentive figure for Reign of Winter, but the factory said that doing it right would simply be too expensive.

Q: What role does the potential paint process play in their decision-making? As we've seen, this entire line is a process. And like any great artist or musician, part of the process is always working to perfect a craft. We know that there are issues with some Medium-sized, human faces in these lines; does this influence the amount of these characters Paizo chooses?

Not yet. I'm impressed with WizKids' ability to improve the paint process from Legends of Golarion to Wrath of the Righteous, which we've already covered in detail here. I take a look at the overall quality of the paint application both in my own cases and packs that I open here at the office and in reports from consumers on this and other sites, and send along comments on WizKids, who do their best to make improvements. Sometimes that means simplifying paint masters, sometimes that probably means refining the tooling, and sometimes that probably means a manager at the plant standing over someone's shoulder and making sure they do the right thing. Even with all of those controls, we're still talking about a mass-produced product, here, so there are going to be some problems. I've definitely moved a figure from uncommon to rare, for example, because I was dubious that the plant could pull off the quality we needed at the lesser rarity.

Q: Is there a specific ratio per set that they aim for in regards to enemies & good guys? Humans & other creatures?

Not really. I make all of the decisions as to what stuff to include. Sometimes WizKids or some of my colleagues at Paizo make their own suggestions, and I try to accommodate them as much as possible. About my only "rule" is that once per set I like to include one figure simply because I want it. There are certain perks to being the publisher. Just ask my friends the Seaweed Siren and Gibrileth Demon.

Q: Is each set an entirely new entity, or do they allow what they already have released play a role in what makes it into a new set? For example, Wrath of the Righteous is very demon-heavy, so it seems natural to load up on demons for the set. There are a few demons that appear in Reign of Winter, including some Cold-specific ones. Theoretically, would they hesitate to put a demon in the new set after including so many demons and other outsiders in the last set?

"They" is really "I" in this case, and generally speaking I wouldn't hesitate to put a cold demon into the Reign of Winter set if it seemed appropriate and there were not better/cooler figures in the mix. I am a little burned out on winged female demons, however, so my own fatigue with certain types of figures (and my impression of what the audience wants/is tired of) definitely plays a role. That said, I'll probably be laying off demons in general for a while, because we've done so many of them generally. That wouldn't keep me from including a demon we haven't done, but it will keep me from putting another Serpent Demon or Fire Demon in a set for a while.

Q: How much does potential mass appeal play into the decision-making process? Do you ever rule out particular characters or creatures because you don't think they have a wide enough appeal outside the particular adventure? For example, there haven't been too many plant miniatures that appear in your line, despite a fair amount of creative creatures and well drawn illustrations to choose from. Is this because you speculate that if given an opportunity, more people using miniatures would likely choose a devil or aberration to use in their homemade campaign than, say, a Basidirond?

Lack of plant creatures at the moment is more a coincidence than anything else. It does really help to have excellent art that would work with the round base of a size-appropriate figure, meaning that something like a long assassin vine might need a new illustration before I send it to WizKids. I do not have a particular bias toward devils and against basidironds. If I had a good opportunity to put one in where it was thematically appropriate, I'd do so. In fact, I'll make sure to add some plant creatures to an upcoming set specifically due to this question!

Q: How much do other lines-both past and present-matter when making decisions for a set? For example, how about the Reaper Pathfinder minis? Do you look at that line and think "Well, there is already a sculpt for this particular character, so we could keep this out of the pre-painted set for awhile and include him somewhere down the line?" The old D&D pre-painted lines have hundreds of different characters and sculpts and were around for the better part of a decade. Most of them are still readily available on different websites, including plenty at affordable prices. Does this play a role at all when deciding what makes it into the Pathfinder sets?

I'd say this matters a little. When deciding which creatures not to include in the Rise of the Runelords set, for example, I definitely felt better cutting a figure if I knew there was a Reaper version available. I've been collecting prepainted plastic figures since they first came out, so one bias I definitely have is toward figures that are relatively popular creatures of fantasy, but which have never been done in prepainted plastic before. That said, if you fill each set with a ton of obscure corner cases it tends to alienate newer/more casual collectors, so you've really got to balance things carefully.

Q: How much input from these boards are considered when making selections? While I realize this is just a small set of the people who ultimately buy the product, I would assume there are still good ideas to be had from posters on here.

I've incorporated a ton of the feedback provided here into the development of the line in general. From figure suggestions to criticisms of paint applications or sculpts, I read everything and rely on your feedback for most decisions I make about this (or any of our other) product line(s).

Q: When you are in the decision-making process for what miniatures make it into a set based off an Adventure Path, do you have a master list containing each character and creature found in the adventure?

Yes. I generally make this myself, although with newer Adventure Paths that have more art (due to higher art budgets than we enjoyed in 2008, for example) I tend to do a "first pass" based mostly on what art really catches my eye. Luckly, we have good illustrations of most if not all of the really important characters, so they tend to get swept up in this initial dragnet. Then I look at all of the encounters of stuff that you fight, but that are not illustrated in the Adventure Path. If there's a good illustration of that monster elsewhere, and there's room for it in the set, I'll include it.

Q: How much does the artwork of a particular character or creature play into the process?

It is the single most important factor. Up until recently I haven't had the budget allocated to commission new art exclusively for these sets, so if there is no illustration or a bad illustration (which could include simply weird anatomy or a pose that won't really fit on a base), that creature does not get a miniature. Unless I really, really want it to now, in which case I have a little money tucked away to order a new piece. But this has never happened to date.

Q: Are you hoping to eventually produce a line for each Adventure Path series, both past and present?

That would be really cool, but I've learned never to make long-term predictions like that. All I can say is that we will keep making these sets as long as you guys keep buying them. If we keep it up long enough, we'll have no choice BUT to make minis for all of the Adventure Paths!

But enough with the preamble. Let's get to today's minis reveals!

Here we have the Falcon. He is a falcon. The Falcon is a Small figure slated at the common rarity.

We wanted to give the Falcon some sort of companion, and thus I present here the Winter Guard Falconer. The falcon on this gentleman's arm is a little smaller than the stand-alone Falcon miniature, but it still looks great. The original illustration for this guy had him wearing snow shoes, but I decided to remove them for the miniature to increase this figure's versatility. He makes a good elite guard, ranger, or even bird-oriented player character. The Winter Guard Falconer is a Medium uncommon figure.

Pathfinder Adventure Path #69 contains tons of centaurs, but my favorite of all of them is this woman, who we call the Centaur Archer. In the campaign itself, this is a friendly wilderness guide called Erdija, but she works just as well as a generic centaur archer. WizKids did a great job on both the sculpt and painting on this figure, who is probably my favorite centaur yet produced in prepainted plastic. The Centaur Scout is a Large, rare figure.

That's it for this week's Reign of Winter previews. Our previous set, Wrath of the Righteous should start showing up in stores and in the mailboxes of subscribers very shortly, so do keep your eyes out for it!

I hope you enjoyed the Q&A at the beginning of this blog. Please feel free to post additional questions in the comments below, and I'll try to answer them either in the comments section or in a future Friday blog!

Until next week, I remain.

Erik Mona
Publisher

Pathfinder Battles Preview: Winter is Coming

Friday, January 17, 2014

We've previewed all of the figures in the Wrath of the Righteous set, which officially releases next week! As a special treat this week, I want to show off three figures from the NEXT set, Reign of Winter, which is currently slated for a May 14 release.

The Reign of Winter Adventure Path concerns several winter witches (which we'll get to in future reveals), but I wanted to kick off the previews for this set with one of our favorite iconic characters, Feiya! This figure, entitled Feiya, Human Witch, is a great representation of Wayne Reynolds's iconic character art, originally from the witch class description in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Advanced Player's Guide. She makes a great female spellcaster player character, and her dark blue color scheme makes her a perfect proxy for an enemy mystic. Feiya, Human Witch is a Medium uncommon figure.

A witch is nothing without her familiar, of course, so we simply had to include Feiya's fox familiar, Daji, in the Reign of Winter set. We call Daji "Fox," and have slated him at the common rarity. He is a Small figure.

In many ways the most important character in the Reign of Winter campaign, the arch-witch Baba Yaga makes several appearances in the Adventure Path. WizKids has done a fantastic job with both the sculpt and the paint application for this biggest of big bads, right down to the colorful orange carrot on her pack and the cool shrunken head at the top of her staff. Baba Yaga is a Medium, rare figure.

And that's it for this week. We've got a ways to go until the May release of the Reign of Winter set, so I'm going to focus on about three figures per preview for the time being.

In the meantime, check out stores and mailboxes starting NEXT WEEK for the Wrath of the Righteous minis set, and come back here next Friday for a look at more awesome Reign of Winter miniatures!

Erik Mona
Publisher

Her Reach is Long

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Illustration by Kate Maximovich

It's almost time for Pathfinder Adventure Path #72: The Witch Queen's Revenge, the final installment of the Reign of Winter Adventure Path. In a last-ditch effort to save Golarion from a new ice age, the PCs finally face Queen Elvanna deep inside the inner sanctum of Baba Yaga's Dancing Hut! But they have the aid of the Queen of Witches herself, Baba Yaga, one of the most powerful spellcasters to ever walk Golarion and even more distant worlds. Baba Yaga gets a full write-up in The Witch Queen's Revenge, including a stat block using rules from Pathfinder RPG: Mythic Adventures. Baba Yaga is a mythic character with tiers in the archmage mythic path, with several new special abilities to go along with her mythic path abilities. As a small preview of what's to come in The Witch Queen's Revenge, check out the patron spells granted by a new witch patron—fate—the patron of Baba Yaga and those who wish to follow in her footsteps.

Fate: 2nd—doom, 4th—anticipate peril^UM, 6th—helping hand, 8th—blessing of fervor^APG, 10th—greater forbid action^UM, 12th—contingency, 14th—jolting portent^UC, 16th—maze, 18th—wish.

Rob McCreary
Developer

THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING!

Saturday, June 22, 2013

The Reign of Winter Adventure Path continues with the upcoming release of Pathfinder Adventure Path #71: Rasputin Must Die!, where the PCs find themselves in Russia in 1918 facing off against animated tanks, headless Cossacks, and the "Mad Monk" himself, Rasputin! The adventure contains several encounters with large numbers of World War I-era Russian soldiers. Rather than treating each soldier as an individual foe, they're combined into units with a single stat block and new subtype: troop. Encounters with troops aren't meant as studies or simulations of modern tactical warfare; rather, by condensing many individual soldiers into a single stat block, you can concentrate on the atmosphere of the adventure without bogging down every combat round with dozens of die rolls. To whet your appetite for early twentieth century adventure, here's a preview of the new troop subtype that appears in Rasputin Must Die!

Illustration by Craig J Spearing

Troops

The troop subtype represents an organized group of trained soldiers that act as a unit, rather than as individuals. A troop is something of an abstraction, in that the component creatures that make up the troop are mostly irrelevant; only the troop as a whole matters for the purposes of combat. A troop is similar to a swarm, but is normally composed of Small or Medium creatures. Large groups of Tiny or smaller creatures should use the normal swarm rules.

Troop Subtype: A troop is a collection of creatures that acts as a single creature, similar to a swarm, but typically as part of a military unit. A troop has the characteristics of its type, except as noted here. A troop has a single pool of Hit Dice and hit points, a single initiative modifier, a single speed, and a single Armor Class. A troop makes saving throws as a single creature.

A single troop occupies a 20-foot-by-20-foot square, equal in size to a Gargantuan creature, though the actual size category of the troop is the same as that of the component creatures. The area occupied by a troop is completely shapeable, though the troop must remain in contiguous squares to accurately reflect the teamwork of trained military units. A troop has a reach equal to that of the component creatures based on size or armament. A troop can move through squares occupied by enemies and vice versa without impediment, although the troop provokes an attack of opportunity if it does so. A troop can move through any area large enough for its component creatures.

The exact number of a troop's component creatures varies, but in general, a troop of Small or Medium creatures consists of approximately 12 to 30 creatures. Larger creatures can form troops, but the area occupied by such a troop should increase proportionally according to the size of the component creatures.

Troop Traits: A troop is not subject to flanking, but it is subject to critical hits and sneak attacks if its component creatures are subject to such attacks. Reducing a troop to 0 hit points or fewer causes it to break up, effectively destroying the troop, though the damage taken until that point does not degrade its ability to attack or resist attack. A troop is never staggered or reduced to a dying state by damage. Also, a troop cannot be tripped, grappled, or bull rushed, except by area effects that include such effects. A troop can grapple an opponent.

A troop is immune to any spell or effect that targets a specific number of creatures (including single-target spells such as disintegrate and multiple target spells such as haste), though it is affected by spells or effects that target an area or a nonspecific number of creatures (such as fireball or mass hold monster). A troop takes half again as much damage (+50%) from spells or effects that affect an area. If a troop is rendered unconscious by means of nonlethal damage, it disperses and does not reform until its hit points exceed its nonlethal damage.

Troop Attack: Creatures with the troop subtype don't make standard melee attacks. Instead, they deal automatic damage to any creature within reach or whose space they occupy at the end of their move, with no attack roll needed. A troop's stat block has "troop" in its Melee entry with no attack bonus given. The amount of damage a troop deals is based on its Hit Dice, as shown in the table on page 313 of the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary.

Unless stated otherwise, a troop's attacks are nonmagical. Damage reduction sufficient to reduce a troop attack's damage to 0 or other special abilities can give a creature immunity (or at least resistance) to the troop's attacks. Some troops also have other special attacks in addition to normal damage. Troops threaten all creatures within their reach or within their area, and attempt attacks of opportunity as normal with their troop attack.

Because of the chaos of combat, spellcasting or concentrating on spells within the area of a troop or within its reach requires a caster level check (DC 20 + spell level). Using skills that involve patience and concentration requires a successful DC 20 Will save.

Russian Rifle Troop

The following stat block represents an average troop of Russian soldiers encountered in Rasputin Must Die! A Russian rifle troop's troop attack is a combination of small arms fire, bayonets, trench shovels, and other close-combat attacks. In addition, Rasputin Must Die! presents some variant troops equipped with additional weapons and special attacks, such as chemical warfare troops, flamethrower troops, machine gun troops, and mortar troops.

Russian Rifle Troop CR 11

XP 12,800
LN Medium humanoid (human, troop)
Init +3; Senses Perception +23

DEFENSE

AC 24, touch 14, flat-footed 20 (+3 Dex, +1 dodge, +10 natural)
hp 152 (16d8+80)
Fort +11, Ref +13, Will +8
Defensive Abilities gas masks, troop traits

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft.
Melee troop (4d6+8)
Space 20 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks fusillade (DC 23), grenade volley (DC 21)

STATISTICS

Str 26, Dex 17, Con 18, Int 11, Wis 12, Cha 11
Base Atk +12; CMB +20; CMD 34
Feats Ability Focus (fusillade), Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Great Fortitude, Iron Will, Skill Focus (Perception), Skill Focus (Stealth), Toughness
Skills Climb +15, Craft (firearms) +4, Knowledge (engineering) +1, Perception +23, Profession (soldier) +6, Stealth +10, Survival +8
Languages Russian

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Fusillade (Ex) Rifle troops can fire a fusillade of rifle bullets as a standard action. This attack takes the form of up to four lines with a range of 200 feet. These lines can start from the corner of any square in the troop's space. All creatures in one of these lines' areas of effect take 6d10+6 points of bludgeoning and piercing damage (Reflex DC 23 for half). The save DC is Dexterity-based, and includes the bonus from the troop's Ability Focus feat.

Gas Masks (Ex) The soldiers of a rifle troop are all equipped with gas masks. This makes the troop immune to inhaled poisons and other nonmagical airborne attacks that require breathing, and grants it a +2 bonus on saving throws against magical cloud or gas attacks.

Grenade Volley (Ex) Rifle troops are equipped with grenades. As a move action, a rifle troop can target a single square up to 60 feet away with a volley of fragmentation grenades. A volley deals 12d6 points of piercing and slashing damage in a 30-foot-radius burst (Reflex DC 21 for half). The save DC is Dexterity-based.

Rob McCreary
Developer

Aliens and Dragons

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Illustration by Kate Maximovich

In the upcoming installment of the Reign of Winter Adventure Path, Pathfinder #70: The Frozen Stars, the PCs' quest brings them to the planet Triaxus in the midst of its generations-long winter. I don't want to spoil anything for those of you playing in the Adventure Path, but there are dragons... and aliens.

Adam Daigle
Developer

All the Legs!

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Illustration by Dmitry Burmak

There's something I'm sure many of you don't know about our Art Director Andrew Vallas. He has a thing for creatures with multiple limbs—multiple legs, specifically. At least six to be sure. To keep our awesome Art Director happy, I made sure to order a few multi-legged creatures for the Bestiary in Pathfinder #69: Mother, Maiden, Crone for his enjoyment. Not that the whole bestiary is a chorus line of horrible monstrosities, mind you. (There are only really two monsters that fit the bill, but considering the centaurs of the Dvezda Marches in Iobaria are each bringing four legs to the party, there are a lot of legs to make a bipedal creature jealous.)

First up to represent additional limbs is the kokogiak. When I first presented the idea of a ten-legged polar bear the reaction was close to, "Really, Daigle?" But then I supported my brief dip into mania by explaining that I got the idea from Innuit myth (also spelled qupqugiaq), and that it's a creature that makes a person think that their loved one is lost out in the snow in order to lure the target out of safety and into its jaws. Next up is the svathurim. That is what you get if Thremyr made a frost giant into a centaur-like creature and infused them with insatiable hatred. Jason Nelson did a great job designing these two (and two other monsters in the Bestiary), so pick up Maiden, Mother, Crone to see what else is to be found in the wilds of Iobaria.

Illustrations by Milivoj Ceran

You Are Not Forgotten!

Monday, April 8, 2013

We here at Paizo HQ are deep in the throes of birthing a number of incredible products for release at Gen Con in August, and that means it's an all-hands-on-deck scenario. John and I are being called upon to assist with development and editing of products outside the Pathfinder Society Scenario line, and that means less time to devote to Pathfinder Society blogs on Mondays. So that you aren't left in the lurch, however, here are a few pieces of art from some of this month's Pathfinder releases, set to start going out to subscribers in the next week or so. Some of these images may even be useful for GMs who like visual aids for their Pathfinder Society games, though I won't give any more info than that!

Illustrations by Filip Burburan, Jason Rainville, and Xia Taptara

Mike's back in the office later this week after almost a month of conventions and international business trips, and from what I understand, he's got a few good blogs in the works. Be sure to check back next week and see what he has to report!

Mark Moreland
Developer

Welcome to Whitethrone!

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Illustration by Jason Rainville

Enjoy the splendid weather! Taste the local flavor!* Meet new and interesting people!

Anyone who said Whitethrone isn't safe is just spreading some sort of propaganda. All are welcome in Whitethrone. Ice trolls, goblins, and winter wolves walk the streets and the White Witches make sure that everything runs smoothly. The only thing to be careful of are rabble-rousers and dissidents.**

Subscriber's shipments are on their way and before long GMs and players all over can eagerly dig into The Shackled Hut, the second volume of the Reign of Winter Adventure Path, for all their witch-fighting fun!

Illustrations by Miguel Regodón and Dmitry Burmak

Adam Daigle
Developer

* On second thought, you should probably stick to your rations. You brought rations, right?
** PCs should disregard this. Instead, be careful being the rabble-rousers and dissidents. There's a world to save and we don't need any PCs dying on us.

Reign of Winter Player's Guide

Monday, February 11, 2013

This week subscriptions are starting to leave the warehouse, and included in this month's shipment is the first installment of the Reign of Winter Adventure Path! As GMs get their hands on "The Snows of Summer," we have a little something for all the players eager to dive into the campaign, the Reign of Winter Player's Guide. Pop on over to your downloads and get your hands on this web supplement designed to help you build a character for this Adventure Path. Inside you will find character advice, a glimpse at the village you start off in, a cold weather primer so you know what you’re getting into, and a handful of additional options for your player characters.

So don't wait! Grab your copy of the Reign of Winter Player's Guide now!

Adam Daigle
Developer

Bundle Up!

Saturday, February 9, 2013

As we ease into February, we're getting ready to launch the Reign of Winter Adventure Path and we thought we'd share a bit of art with everyone from the first volume, "The Snows of Summer" by Neil Spicer. I've been filled with anticipation for this Adventure Path's release, and I can't wait for all of you to see it too. The overall look of the AP is amazing, and credit for this goes to the Art Department and their stable of excellent artists. I'll talk a bit more about the Adventure Path as a whole a little later when we release the Reign of Winter Player's Guide, so keep your eyes open for that announcement here on the blog. For now, feast your eyes on these wonderful pieces of art!

Featured here are a few of the creatures and characters your PCs can encounter in The Snows of Summer.
Illustrations by Dmitry Prosvirnin and Dmitry Burmak

Feiya, Imrijka and Lini are among the featured Iconic characters in the Reign of Winter Adventure Path.
Illustrations by Robert Pitturru

Adam Daigle
Developer

Illustrations by Craig J Spearing. Widescreen version here.

A Game of Crones

Thursday, January 24, 2013

After 1,400 years of perpetual winter, the icy curse of Irrisen is spreading! It has been a century since the immortal witch Baba Yaga last visited the world, and the hour draws nigh for her return... Winter is coming, starting with Pathfinder Adventure Path #67: The Snows of Summer. Cool-up your desktop with this new wallpaper and get ready for the Reign of Winter Adventure Path!

Jenny Bendel
Marketing Director

Reign of Winter Mittens

Friday, November 23, 2012

Winter's almost here—are you ready? Warm mittens are a vital part of adventurers' gear, protecting hands from the cruel cold that nips at fingers and blackens bare skin. To help you survive with enough fingers left to grasp a sword, I hereby present to you the Reign of Winter Mittens!

When I heard about this Adventure Path, I immediately started wrestling with charts and experimenting with patterns. The cozy mittens that are the final result are decorated with motifs representing the Reign of Winter Adventure Path's key elements: a large snowflake representing Baba Yaga, smaller snowflakes representing the 14 queens of Irrisen, the date on Golarion (and on Earth) when the AP begins, and of course the Dancing Hut of Baba Yaga itself. Happy knitting!

Download the Reign of Winter Mittens Knitting Pattern - (102KB zip/PDF)

Judy Bauer
Editor

Winter's Reign Nears!

Thursday, October 4, 2012

On Monday the Paizo offices were visited by a praying mantis (something rare in western Washington from what I hear), so I thought I'd share the cover image for the first volume of the Reign of Winter Adventure Path.

Illustration by Craig J Spearing

Some of you who were at PaizoCon, Gen Con, or read these messageboards religiously already know a thing or two about this Adventure Path. For those who don't—next year in Golarion is 4713 and that syncs up with the centennial visit from Baba Yaga where she puts a new daughter on the throne of Irrisen to rule for the next 100 years (something that's been going on for the last 1,400 years). Though her heralds have been seen riding throughout the countryside, no one has spotted Baba Yaga just yet. What exactly is the problem? What trickery has Queen Elvanna put into place?

Well, beginning this coming February you'll find out! For a taste, here are the titles to each of the adventures in the Reign of Winter Adventure Path:

The Snows of Summer
The Shackled Hut
Maiden, Mother, Crone
The Frozen Stars
Rasputin Must Die!
The Witch Queen's Revenge

We have some fun things planned for this coming Adventure Path, so I hope you'll join us on this world-spanning campaign. Also, to prepare for the journey check out Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Irrisen, Land of Eternal Winter. Don't forget your mittens!

Adam Daigle
Developer