Blights of Bestiary 6

Thursday, March 30, 2017

So here's a secret about the text we create for the back cover of our books and the blurbs that go on our website and catalogs. They're usually done at the last minute by a developer who's been working on the product possibly for many months. In my case, that means I get a chance, finally, to play around with some writing of my own, even if it's only for a few paragraphs. When I wrote the blurb for Bestiary 6, I mentioned something called "strangely sentient oozes," because of the new category of ooze I came up with to include in the book. I didn't want to reveal their name or theme yet (that's for this blog post... read on for more!), but I did want to mention them in some way that felt nice to read and fun to write. And so I came up with the phrase "strangely sentient oozes," because I enjoyed the sound of the phrase; its consonance makes you hiss when you read it, which evokes in the mind (in theory) imagery of something slithering and sliding sloppily in subterranean sloughs or sepulchral sewers. See? I wasn't trying to give folks hints as to a new system of calculating intelligence for ooze monsters or trying to make folks deduce the nature of how a primordial ooze might become self-aware. It wasn't a clue as much as it was an attempt at lyricism.

But it was certainly a blast seeing folks try to figure out clues anyway!

So, the time is here to reveal a little more about these strangely sentient oozes. They comprise a new category of ooze called a blight. This is a subtype of ooze, all of which are very intelligent (the dumbest one in the group has an Int of 15), all of which are quite powerful (the CR scores range from CR 13 to CR 19—I can't see any blights coming in future products that are CR 12 or lower, but there's absolutely room for blights above CR 19!), and all of which are linked to a remote, wilderness terrain.

Blights themselves were created eons ago by serpentfolk druids who worshiped the raw savagery of nature, and when they discovered a way to infuse the terrain itself with malevolence and sentience to recruit the land as yet another minion against their enemies, the first blights were born. But when they performed the ritual, it backfired... not only did the land liquefy and awaken, but so did their culture and the druids themselves. These druids, their sacred grounds, and the surrounding terrain transformed into a protoplasmic monstrosity that viewed all civilization (yes, including serpentfolk civilization) as the enemy. The first blight split itself apart into countless blots of slimy hatred and infested several different regions. The nature of those regions further shaped and forged these first blights' powers. The least powerful of them settled in the relatively lifeless deserts, where they developed powers of drawing moisture out of surrounding life and cursing their domains with extreme temperatures. The most powerful seeped into the deep caverns in the heart of the serpentfolk domain, absorbing radioactive ores and developing the power to petrify at a touch. Others settled in forests or mountains, sewers or swamps, and even in the frozen tundra. All possess spell-like abilities, a favored terrain, the ability to curse that terrain, and a tendency to rejuvenate if you don't uncurse their realm after defeating them. Blights are also tailor-made to serve as "boss" monsters for wilderness-themed adventures, for while they detest other creatures that have intellects, they understand that such creatures make great agents and soldiers in their campaigns against civilization. That they save their agents for last in their murderous plans is an uncomfortable truth that all who serve blights eventually learn.

Although there's seven blights in all, I'm only gonna show off three of them, but that should be enough to get an idea of their shared physical traits and themes!

Illustrations by Damien Mammoliti and Andrew Hou

James Jacobs
Creative Director

Villains Everywhere!

Friday, October 21, 2016

Pathfinder RPG: Villain Codex is double-dealing, backstabbing, and betraying its way into your hands next month! The book contains 20 different villainous organizations, and we're going to reveal five of those organizations each week, with themes of mystical villains, wilderness villains, civilized villains, and enigmatic villains.

Arcane Society

Our focus group this week is the Arcane Society. This group seems to be a benevolent multinational mage's guild, led by the beloved philanthropist known as the Eminent Spellqueen. Of course, things aren't always what they seem...

Illustration by Nemanja Stankovic
"Sweet Shelyn, what is going on there!?"

The Eminent Spellqueen's protective wards have prevented us from revealing more of her dark personal secrets here in this blog, but we managed to get the scoop on her equally-powerful right hand, the grand caller. The information bellows includes a slightly alternate set of prepared spells and additional facts to enhance the grand caller in your game!

Grand Caller

The Grand Caller is mentally insatiable but physically lazy, preferring the use of minions to perform his tasks. He provides extraplanar minions for the arcane society, including a marilith with whom he has a dangerous relationship.

Grand Caller CR 14

XP 38,400

Human conjurer (teleportation^APG) 15

CE Medium humanoid (human)

Init +10; Senses all-around vision, darkvision 60 ft., true seeing, Perception +16

Defense

AC 22, touch 13, flat-footed 19 (+4 armor, +1 deflection, +2 Dex, +1 natural, +4 shield)

hp 171 (15d6+116)

Fort +17, Ref +15, Will +18; +4 vs. mind-affecting

Defensive Abilities contingency (teleport), death ward, fickle winds, freedom of movement, getaway; Immune dimensional anchor, fear

Offense

Speed 30 ft., fly 40 ft. (good)

Melee mwk dagger +11/+6 (1d4-1/19-20)

Wizard Spells Prepared (CL 15th; concentration +23)

8th—maze, mind blank, moment of prescience

7th—greater teleport, mage's magnificent mansion, project image, summon monster VII

6th—getaway^APG, greater dispel magic, greater heroism, quickened dazing aqueous orb^APG (DC 24), true seeing

5th—dazing persistent aqueous orb^APG (DC 24), fickle winds, magic jar (DC 23), overland flight, summon monster V (2)

4th—dimension door, dimensional anchor, enervation, greater false lifeUM, summon monster IV, telekinetic charge^UC

3rd—countless eyes^UM, daylight, fly, haste, heroism, invisibility sphere, stinking cloud (DC 23)

2nd—bear's endurance, command undead (DC 20), darkvision, glitterdust (DC 22), invisibility, mirror image, resist energy

1st—comprehend languages, grease (DC 21), mage armor, protection from evil, protection from good, shield, unseen servant

0 (at will)—detect magic, ghost sound, mage hand, prestidigitation

Opposition Schools evocation

Illustration by Nemanja Stankovic

Tactics

Before Combat On a previous day, the grand caller set a contingency to teleport to a safe house whenever someone tries to attack him. He casts mind blank, getaway, moment of prescience, greater false life, mage armor, overland flight, countless eyes, darkvision, true seeing, fickle winds, greater heroism, bear's endurance, and shield and uses his scrolls of freedom of movement, death ward, and spell immunity (choosing dimensional anchor).

During Combat The grand caller summons appropriate minions for the situation to bolster those he has already called or created. He uses shift to keep mobile, dazing aqueous orb to control the battlefield, and telekinetic charge to help his marilith ally achieve full attacks.

Morale The grand caller rarely exposes his true self to danger, preferring to use spells like magic jar to control other bodies when he must be personally present. He flees whenever in true danger but fights to the death in a disposable body.

Base Statistics Without his spells, profane gift, and familiar, the grand caller's statistics are Senses no all-around vision, darkvision, or true seeing; AC 14, touch 13, flat-footed 11; hp 100 (15d6+45); Fort +11, Ref +11, Will +14; Speed no fly speed; Defensive Abilities no defensive abilities; Immune no immunities; Melee mwk dagger +7/+2 (1d4-1/19-20); Con 14, Int 24; CMB +6; Skills all 4 lower, Fly +5.

Statistics

Str 8, Dex 15, Con 18, Int 26, Wis 12, Cha 10

Base Atk +7; CMB +10; CMD 19

Feats Augment Summoning, Dazing Spell^APG, Dimensional Agility^UC, Greater Spell Focus (conjuration), Improved Initiative, Opposition Research^UM (necromancy), Persistent Spell^APG, Quicken Spell, Scribe Scroll, Spell Focus (conjuration), Spell Perfection^APG (aqueous orb), Superior Summoning^UM, True Name^UM (marilith)

Skills Bluff +22, Diplomacy +22, Fly +20, Intimidate +21, Knowledge (arcana) +27, Knowledge (history) +27, Knowledge (planes) +27, Perception +20, Sense Motive +20, Spellcraft +27, Use Magic Device +22

Languages Abyssal, Aquan, Celestial, Common, Infernal, Terran

SQ arcane bond (familiar, compsognathus), shift (11/day, 35 ft.)

Combat Gear reach metamagic rod (lesser)^APG, scroll of death ward, scroll of freedom of movement, scroll of spell immunity; Other Gear mwk dagger, amulet of natural armor +1, belt of incredible dexterity +2, circlet of persuasion, cloak of resistance +4, headband of vast intelligence +4, ring of protection +1, statuette for contingency, 282 gp

The grand caller is the Spellqueen's trusted right hand, an arrogant and paranoid man who acts like a chessmaster with the world as a board, manipulating or forcing others into acting as his pieces. He has numerous countermeasures in place, from a clone spell to a contingency escape plan, and he generally has several outsider allies called by greater planar binding at any given time. The grand caller has a bizarre relationship with the marilith whose true name he holds. In contrast to the normal hatred in such a situation, she is unusually fond of him, but she resents his loyalty to the Spellqueen. The marilith has granted him a profane gift from one of her succubus minions, and she hopes this will help corrode his ties with the Spellqueen. In a serious fight, the marilith will always be at the grand caller's side, but he doesn't use her frivolously as he does his lesser minions.

Death Cult

The death cult of Urgathoa, and its leader the Reaper, believes that death is the ultimate form of equality and an end to suffering in a world full of oppression. While they do want to spread killer plagues, they're equal-opportunity employers, even if you opposed them before you died. In fact, one of the Reaper's most trusted advisors was once an adventurer who helped kill the Reaper.

Demon Knights

The demon knights are a military force of pure destruction, each modeling themselves after a particular type of demon. For instance, their general is the mighty Merciless Balor, an antipaladin who fights with a blade and a flaming whip. While their training techniques generally kill their new recruits, the fallen recruits provide not only a good example for the others but also a nourishing meal.

Brutal Slavers

The brutal slavers are double-dealing and sadistic scoundrels, led by the silver-tongued slave master, who works as a lobbyist in favor of slavery in general and his own organization in particular, and the horrifying experimenter, who uses slaves as living test subjects with the goal of mastering the secrets of fleshwarping to create a more powerful version of mongrelmen with the strengths of every humanoid race. Someone needs to be around to tend to injuries that would prevent the slaves from performing labor for the slavers or selling well on the open market, so of course the slavers brought in a sadistic cleric of Zon Kuthon because that can't go wrong.

Diabolical Church

In a town suffering upheaval and tragedy, who wouldn't be happy to see a new lawful church enter town and donate their spellcasting services for free, healing the sick, fighting off marauding monsters, and helping build infrastructure? Never mind who secretly started that upheaval, the point is that the church of Asmodeus is just misunderstood. Surely nothing can go wrong if you accept your new protectors, and it's not like those favors you've started to owe them are going to amount to anything important...

Illustrations by Jose Parodi, Damien Mammoliti, Matt Forsyth, and Kent Hamilton

Stay tuned next week for a taste of wilderness villains!

Mark Seifter
Designer

Look Into the Unknown

Friday, August 5, 2016

While our compliment of awesome Gen Con-bound comrades are steering the Paizo booth, running games, and working various panels, the Paizo skeleton-crew is continuing to assist customers, get packages out the door, and bringing you new content on paizo.com.

But, before everyone hopped on a plane, Adam Daigle sent over a few Pathfinder Adventure Path previews that I get to share with you all! In just a short time, the Strange Aeons Adventure Path will release. Until we get into the finer details that will be featured later this month on the blog, here's a sampling of art that is featured in the first volumes:

Illustrations by Michal Ivan and Damien Mammoliti

Illustrations by Damien Mammoliti, Crystal Sully, Caio Maciel Monteiro, Ramon Puasa Jr., and Kremena Chipilova

If you've been tracking #paizoatgencon, or following us on social media, you might have caught that we unveiled some pretty awesome images of the upcoming Curse of the Crimson Throne hardcover (and the limited edition version—details to come after Gen Con). Check 'em out!

Adam also just announced the Adventure Path following the Ironfang Invasion in this afternoon's Adventure Path panel. Look out for the Ruins of Azlant Adventure Path starting next summer! In Ruins of Azlant, PCs join an expedition to the shattered remains of old Azlant, explore its mysteries and dangers, and face a veiled master who wants to get its tentacles on an Azlanti doomsday device. Titles include (but are subject to change before release):

Spoilers!

• Pathfinder Adventure Path #121: The Lost Outpost by Jim Groves
• Pathfinder Adventure Path #122: Into the Shattered Continent by Robert Brookes
• Pathfinder Adventure Path #123: The Flooded Cathedral by Mikko Kallio
• Pathfinder Adventure Path #124: City in the Deep by Amber E. Scott
• Pathfinder Adventure Path #125: Tower of the Drowned Dead by Ron Lundeen
• Pathfinder Adventure Path #126: Beyond the Veiled Past by Thurston Hillman

More information about Strange Aeons, the Curse of the Crimson Throne hardcover, and Ruins of Azlant to come as we get closer to their release dates!

Chris Lambertz
Community & Digital Content Director

Prepare to Raise Hell

Friday, June 24, 2016

In this final preview of Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Path of the Hellknight, I figured I'd touch on the Hellknight arsenal—rules-wise the book's meatiest chapter—and wrap things up with glimpses of the remaining three major Hellknight orders. So let's dive right in!

Hellknight Arsenal

The most rules dense section of Path of the Hellknight comes at the very end. While there's certainly plenty of content in here for GMs planning to pit their PCs against Hellknight foes, in truth, this section is designed to give players a ton of new options for their Hellknight characters. A host of new traits, feats, spells, and equipment provide a spectrum of new ways to make your character feel more like a driven and entrenched Hellknight, while details on existing cavalier orders and inquisitor inquisitions recast existing options to further the Hellknights' agendas. You'll also find new options for those taking the Hellknight prestige class, the Order of the Ennead Star cavalier order, and more. There is a ton of super cool content in this chapter worth showing off...

So, moving right along to our final three major Hellknight orders!

Illustrations by Damien Mammoliti and Richard Suwono

Order of the Pyre

Symbol tower rising from flames

Headquarters Citadel Krane, near Ostenso

Leader Lictor Rouen Stought (LN female human ranger 6/Hellknight^ISWG 4)

Members atheists, former cultists, members of mainstream religions, victims of dangerous radicals

Armor Features bladed armor, horned and skull-like helm

Favored Weapon glaive

Reckoning Burn yourself over an open flame. Once per day as an immediate action, you can gain fire resistance 10 for 10 minutes. This does not stack with resist energy or any other abilities that provide fire resistance and overlaps with protection from energy.

Whether unhealthy beliefs take root in the minds of religious fanatics, practitioners of strange mystical arts, or students of radical philosophies, the Order of the Pyre strives to stamp out all outlandish convictions. This philosophy has given these Hellknights a well-earned reputation as cultist hunters who are intolerant of religion. Yet the Order of the Pyre also seeks to thwart philosophical revolutions and the insidious spread of dangerous ways of thinking. The order uses the faiths and mores of Chelish society as the standard of acceptable beliefs. The Inner Sea region's most common deities are acceptable to them, as are orderly philosophies such as diabolism and the Prophecies of Kalistrade. However, the order views whatever doesn't mesh with Chelish thinking or doesn't have an existing role within society as dangerous.

Followers of the Pyre can expect to learn more about the group's witch-hunting methods, their costal citadel and black armored fleet of ships, and a variety of feats and magic items perfect for hunting down practitioners of dark faiths an traditions.

Illustrations by Damien Mammoliti and Richard Suwono

Order of the Rack

Symbol a spiked wheel

Headquarters Citadel Rivad, near Westcrown

Leader Lictor Darcyne Wrens (LN female human sorcerer 10/Hellknight^ISWG 1)

Members denigrators of art and poetry, patriots, technology-haters, traditionalists

Armor Features muscular design, sleek helm, flayed cloak

Favored Weapon longsword or whip

Reckoning Endure internal burns. Gain a +4 bonus on Fortitude saving throws to resist poison. This increases to +6 against ingested poisons.

The Order of the Rack numbers among the Hellknight orders that the public most loathes. The order has a reputation for raiding the homes of those who speak out against the status quo, and for breaking up groups of malcontents before they become guilds, unions, or revolutionaries. They are the enemies of foreign ideals and innovations, not because they lack merit, but because they detract from what these Hellknights perceive to be the traditional values of southern Avistan. Art and technology are viewed as wasteful or dangerous, especially when they meet in union. None can say how many valuable printing presses Hellknights of the Rack have destroyed, or how many thousands of pages of unique stories, songs, and philosophies they have burned in the shadow of Citadel Rivad. All of this is summarized in the Order of the Rack's symbol, the torturer's wheel, which the order sees as the embodiment of wayward thinking and the suffering manifested by those permitted to indulge their ideas.

Those seeking to join the Order of the Rack can expect to learn more about this groups strict hierarchy, their hazing traditions, technologies and texts targeted for destruction, the Hellknight's first citadel, dozens of character options, a new poison, and a variety of crippling feats. Developments within the order also see the rise of a new commander, Lictor Darcyne Wrens, and the full story associated with that power shift.

Illustration by Damien Mammoliti

Order of the Scourge

Symbol star of bleeding lashes

Headquarters Citadel Demain, near Egorian

Leader Lictor Toulon Vidoc (LN male human rogue 2/fighter 4/Hellknight^ISWG 10)

Members constables, informants, the poor, victims of organized crime

Armor Features serrated breastplate, horned helm

Favored Weapon heavy mace, scourge (see page 48), or whip

Reckoning Lash yourself with a scourge or whip. Take 1 fewer point of bleed damage per round when you are affected by an ability or effect that causes bleed damage and gain a +4 bonus on Heal checks to stop bleeding.

The oldest organization of Hellknights, the Order of the Scourge seeks to root out corruption in any form. Its members hunt for political manipulation and abuses of power, but their efforts also include an endless war against organized crime. At the fringes of its influence, the Order of the Scourge might hunt gangs of burglars or cutpurses, but in the heart of Cheliax these Hellknights crusade against faceless guilds of thieves, sprawling criminal organizations, and nobles for whom crime has become a family business. This regularly pits the Order of the Scourge against some of the most dangerous powers in Cheliax, including members of the nation's government.

Illustration by Mariusz Gandzel

Members of the Order of the Scourge can also expect much more on their particularly urban group's methods, Citadel Demain—the de facto headquarters of all Hellknight orders—tenets, characters options, the new faceless enforcer vigilante archetype, and more!

That's it for glimpses into Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Path of the Hellknight! Look for it on your local game store's shelves soon or snag it right now here on paizo.com. I'm already looking forward to hearing about all the new Hellknight characters the book spawns, not to mention how all these merciless tools finally let you stamp out the forces of chaos in your campaign.

Best of luck lawbringers!

F. Wesley Schneider
Editor-in-Chief

Expanding the Ranks of Hell

Friday, June 17, 2016

Illustration by Leonardo Borazio

Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Path of the Hellknight hits this month! Ready to learn more about the legions you'll be joining or commanding once you've picked up the definitive guide to this deadly order?

This time around let's focus on the Hellknights' lesser-known orders, small but driven organizations ready to accept new members or that might come to oppose your wild adventuring.

Lesser Hellknight Orders

Beyond the seven well-known orders of Hellknight—Chain, Gate, Godclaw, Nail, Pyre, Rack, and Scourge—there are several minor orders. Among these are the vicious Order of the Coil, revenge-obsessed Sargavan interlopers, the Order of the Pike, a band of renowned monster hunters, and the Order of the Glyph, who you might already know from the Hell's Vengeance Adventure Path. Some of these fringe groups number among the most heroic and villainous of the Hellknight orders, but heretofore little has been said about them. The Lesser Orders section of Path of the Hellknight changes that. While these orders hold a great deal of interest and potential, especially with some of their niche focuses, they have less of a footprint in the Inner Sea Region, and, appropriately, in this book. But I didn't want to leave readers gravitating toward these orders adrift. As a result, each of these orders references which major Hellknight order it's most similar to. This guidepost points readers toward an analogous major order with options to crib from. It's a quick fix, but it opens the door to a variety of options for Hellknights of these minor orders. Beyond this, you'll find plenty of new details, histories, and options for these orders. To show off a bit of that, here's a few snippets from one, the Order of the Wall.

Illustration by Damien Mammoliti

Order of the Wall

Symbol crenellated skull

Headquarters the Gnashing Wall, south of Khari

Leader Master of Blades Atlan Essebar (LN male human fighter 8/Hellknight^ISWG 5)

Members Chelaxians born in Rahadoum, soldiers

Armor Features angular mantle, cylindrical, castlelike helm

Favored Weapon lucerne hammer (Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Equipment 19)

Reckoning repeatedly strike bricks or stone

Analogous Order Rack

Today, the order has grown from 50 members to nearer a hundred, most of whom are lawful neutral. Technically subordinate to the Order of the Chain, the Order of the Wall has no lictor, as master of blades is its highest title. In practice, though, the order functions with near autonomy. The order's mandate to defend Chelish fronts south of the Arch of Aroden has broadened over the years. Now, members stand watch at several borders—not just Chelish ones—defending civilization's frontiers. Despite the order's Chelish origins, Garundi—and specifically Rahadoumi—soldiers comprise most of the order's Hellknights. While their defense of the Gnashing Wall remains an almost religious duty, many travel across northern Garund, serving as guardians of all sorts.

So that's a bit of what you can expect in the chapter on lesser Hellknight orders. But to get back to the major orders, here are glimpses of what you can expect from the fanatical Order of the Godclaw and the frontier scouring Order of the Nail.

Illustration by Damien Mammoliti

Order of the Godclaw

Symbol five-pointed iron star

Headquarters Citadel Dinyar, in the Aspodell Mountains

Leader Lictor Resarc Ountor (LN male fighter 4/cleric 2/Hellknight^ISWG 6)

Members crusaders, religious zealots

Armor Features breastplate with clawlike vambraces, clawlike helm

Favored Weapon morningstar

Reckoning Flagellate yourself with a five-tailed lash. Whenever you are the target of a lawful divine caster's spell that heals hit point damage, you heal 1 additional point per die rolled. Additionally, if you cast divine spells, you can use the holy symbols of Abadar, Asmodeus, Iomedae, Irori, and Torag interchangeably.

Not content with seeking divine approval for their knighthood's righteous path, the Order of the Godclaw's members have sculpted their beliefs from the harshest, most exacting philosophies of five lawful deities: Abadar, Asmodeus, Iomedae, Irori, and Torag. Remade as five stern, armored paragons, the deities of this pantheon are known collectively as the Godclaw. The Hellknights follow revised doctrines to stamp out disorder, particularly its divine embodiments and beings of absolute chaos, with religious zeal. Rather than targeting the faiths of prominent religions, the order sets its eyes on supporting lawful crusades (such as the wars fought by Molthune and Mendev) and being at the vanguard of battles against the forces of chaos. No land is beyond the lawfulness provided by Hellknights—a fact the Order of the Godclaw endlessly seeks to prove.

Members of the Order of the Godclaw can also expect to learn much more about the formation of their unique order, their pentamic faith, their holdouts (and escape routes) near Citadel Dinyar, and a new Godclaw oracle mystery—for your most devout, polytheistic signifers.

Illustration by Damien Mammoliti

Order of the Nail

Symbol thick nails forming a sunburst

Headquarters Citadel Vraid, near Korvosa

Leader Lictor Severs "Boneclaw" DiViri (LE male fighter 4/rogue 2/Hellknight^ISWG 4)

Members frontiersmen, settlers, victims of barbarian and monster attacks

Armor Features breastplate emblazoned with a fiendish face, horned helm

Favored Weapon lance or halberd

Reckoning Pierce your flesh with sharp metal. Gain a +4 bonus on Knowledge (geography) checks. Additionally, if you are trained in Knowledge (geography), you automatically succeed at attempts to use that skill to identify a creature's ethnicity or accent, as long as you are familiar with that ethnicity or accent.

To certain dogmatic, rigid-minded individuals, civilization seems under siege. Beyond the bulwarks of cities and national borders lies an endless expanse of wilderness populated by those who, all too often, shun the rules of settled, lawful societies and follow their own callings. To the Order of the Nail, these beings enviously prey upon the children of the law, seeking to draw civilization into a regressive mire. The Order of the Nail stands staunchly against what it views as barbarity.

Illustrations by Caio Maciel Monteiro and Maichol Quinto

Those who throw in with the Order of the Nail can also expect to learn more about the order's harsh ideals, their tri-part citadel, a number of famous Hellknights, the circuit judge cavalier archetype, and an array of deadly magical brands. There's also a pretty neat little glimpse of the Order of the Nail's Mistress of Blades, Maidrayne Vox, slipped into the illustration of Citadel Vraid.

That's it for today's peek into Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Path of the Hellknight, but our final preview is coming soon. Keep your eyes peeled!

F. Wesley Schneider
Editor-in-Chief

Prepare to Raise Hell

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

I've got a lot of favorite parts of the Pathfinder campaign setting—if you've been following along for the last few years, there's a good chance you already know a few of them. Since we created the Pathfinder world, I've had a chance to explore the pits of Hell in the Book of the Damned, some of Golarion's mightiest treasures in Artifacts & Legends, and the gothic nightmare of Ustalav in both Rule of Fear and Pathfinder Tales: Bloodbound. But in all that time there hasn't been a good opportunity to fully detail my favorite of Golarion's countless organizations. With the Hell's Rebels and Hell's Vengeance Adventure Paths, though, that's changed. This month, at long last, you'll learn more than has ever been revealed about the Pathfinder world's most infamous champions of law: the Hellknights.

Illustrations by Roberto Pitturru

Since their first appearance in the Rise of the Runelords Player's Guide, Hellknights have been a part of the Pathfinder campaign setting. In those crazy frontier days of Golarion's creation, we didn't have all the setting's details fully defined. As a result, part of the goal of the player's guide for our first Adventure Path was to fake it. To that end, I wrote in a whole weave of loose ends, threads suggestive of places yet to be visited, threats without faces, and groups bound to be enemies or allies. One of these organizations—described among the ranks of paladins, if you can believe it!—were the Hellknights. There wasn't much more than a name for the group, but the grim title immediately stuck, so much so that we got our first glimpse of these dark armored crusaders as early as Pathfinder Adventure Path #2: The Skinsaw Murders.

Over time there'd be drips and drabs revealing more on the Hellknights, particularly in our campaign setting hardcovers and in two meaty articles I wrote for Pathfinder Adventure Path #27 and #28. Liane Merciel's newest novel, Pathfinder Tales: Hellknight, also has more than a little to do with these grim mercenaries. But beyond those books, there hasn't been a ton more on the relentless order. It's been too long.

The drought ends now.

Today presents the first of three previews of Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Path of the Hellknight. While my name's on the book's cover as author, this title owes most of its coolest bits to star developers Amanda Hamon-Kunz and John Compton, who not just contributed a host of ingenious new player options, but made me sound like I know what's what. Creative Design Director Sarah Robinson also somehow managed to outdo herself once again, not just by wrangling incredible art, but by creating a gorgeous interior evocative of dark iron and bloody crimson. As for the content, today I'll show you a bit from the first chapter, a section that provides an overview of the Hellknights as a whole, the group's history, methods, philosophies, and the like. Throughout this series I'll also be showing off snippets and symbols of all seven of the major Hellknight orders, starting with the Order of the Chain and Order of the Gate.

Order without Mercy

Path of the Hellknight's first chapter focuses on the Hellknights as an organization, their history, their unyielding philosophy—the Measure and the Chain—and more of the traditions and trails that bind their distinct orders. There's also a fantastic piece of art depicting the Hellknights' founder, Daidian Rhul, along with details on his deeds and mysterious disappearance. The section also includes a discussion of what it means to play a Hellknight character. Being zealots, Hellknights are similar to paladins in some ways and bring with them some of the challenges one might expect with inflexible heroes. To that end, the section includes big picture advice for players and GMs alike planning to bring Hellknight characters into their games—such as the following.

Hellknight Philosophy at the Table: Hellknights seek to embody supreme order, refuse to compromise their ideals, and do everything they can to uphold their philosophies. People and circumstances that don't fit into their definition of order must be stamped out to meet their vision of progress. For some, this extends to whole religions, cultures, or philosophies. When making a character, discuss with your group whether a Hellknight character is right for your party—Hellknights and law-breaking characters are unlikely to work well together. Also, discuss with the group and GM how appropriate themes of intolerance are in your game. Behaving in ways that make other players uncomfortable simply because your character is a Hellknight is neither respectful nor fun. Consider that lawful neutral Hellknights of any order tend to focus on the harsh judgment of societal vices, while lawful good characters usually work at the organization's fringes, hunting down criminals and bringing justice to civilization's frontiers. Lawful evil members are the ones who tend to commit acts of prejudice and intolerance. Remember that every Hellknight order has members focused on different tasks, meaning that it's your choice whether your member of the Order of the Nail is either a righteous traveling judge or a vicious murderer—make the character that's right for your entire group.

Beyond this introduction chapter, the book spends considerable space focusing on the various Hellknight orders. Each section features details on the order's organization, philosophy, citadel, prominent members, tenets, suggested rules for Hellknight characters, and new options for Hellknight heroes and villains. Every one of these chapters begins with an overview of fundamental information, including rules elements that tie in with the new Hellknight Obedience feat—an option similar to Inner Sea Gods' Divine Obedience feat—which grants a host of new powers to an order's most fanatical members. All one has to do is take the feat... and perform an excruciating daily reckoning. I'll show off the reckonings here, but the powers themselves can wait for now.

Illustration by Daniel Lopez

After this first chapter, Path of the Hellknight turns its attention to each of the major Hellknight factions. For this first preview, here are a few glimpses of the Order of the Chain and the Order of the Gate.

Illustration by Damien Mammoliti

Order of the Chain

Symbol hand wrapped in chains
Headquarters Citadel Gheradesca, near Corentyn
Leader Lictor Uro Adom (LN male human fighter 5/Hellknight^ISWG 7)
Members guards, sleuths, trackers, victims of outlaws
Armor Features lock-and-chain design, manacle-like gauntlets, helms reminiscent of iron prisoners' masks
Favored Weapon flail
Reckoning Crush your limbs with tightened chains. Gain a +2 bonus on combat maneuver checks when attempting to disarm, grapple, or trip opponents.

The Order of the Chain counts among its ranks the greatest Hellknight bounty hunters and jailors. Believing that everyone has a vital role to play in society, the order seeks to remove those who irredeemably deny their place and who actively impede civilization's progress. Rather than slaying criminals and nonconformists outright, the Order of the Chain forces most of its captives into lengthy terms of service in work camps. The most dangerous malefactors are sequestered in the order's fortress-prison, Citadel Gheradesca. Few criminals surrender easily, and so members of the Order of the Chain train in a variety of fields: tracking, criminal psychology, investigation, and interrogation, to name a few. Little strikes greater dread in a lawbreaker than knowing she's become a Hellknight of the Chain's quarry.

Along with details on the structure and fugitive hunting techniques of the group, players of Order of the Chain Hellknights can also expect a variety of new rules and uses for restraints, from fetters and iron masks to new uses for common manacles.

Illustration by Damien Mammoliti

Order of the Gate

Symbol infernal eye staring out from a swirling portal
Headquarters Citadel Enferac, east of Pezzack
Leader Vicarius Giordano Torchia (LE male human wizard 11/Hellknight^ISWG 2)
Members devil worshipers, intellectuals, planar-blooded outcasts, spellcasters
Armor Features helm with a vortex-like pattern, crimson robes
Favored Weapon dagger
Reckoning Etch complex symbols of penitence into your flesh with a dagger. Gain a +4 bonus on Will saving throws to resist divination spells and spell-like abilities.

Punishment is a response to the failure of law. To the members of the Order of the Gate, true order can be achieved only when criminal behavior is quelled before it is committed—preferably before it is even considered. The Order of the Gate doesn't seek to convince every free-willed creature of a lawful society's virtues, because its members believe that forces stronger than rhetoric must be used to prevent the sickness of criminal impulse. Thus, the Order of the Gate employs magic to enforce its vision of law.

Would-be Order of the Gate Hellknights can look forward to learning a measure of this spellcasting order's secrets, including invasive new scrying techniques, methods for shielding spellcasters, and the order's connections to planes beyond.

Keep on the lookout for more previews of Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Path of the Hellknight, as I'll be covering the rest of the major Hellknight orders soon, along with plenty more glimpses of the dreads to come.

Thanks for reading!

F. Wesley Schneider
Editor-in-Chief

Pathfinder Society at PaizoCon 2016

Monday, April 18, 2016

PaizoCon 2016 is fast approaching, and we're expecting the sign-ups and lottery to go up in the near future. I know a bunch of you are wondering how to allot your lottery priorities, so let me help by tempting you with even more fun options. After all, we love making PaizoCon special by running unique games and providing other great content to make your trip to Seattle as fun as possible.

Illustration by Damien Mammoliti

Adventure Card Game Open Playtest (Lottery Event): Last year, Adventure Card Game Designer Tanis O'Conner masterminded a way to play the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game competitively, working as a team to outclass the other groups playing the same adventure. She'll be running playtests of this year's adventure (set to debut at Gen Con 2016), and this is your chance to be her nefarious guinea pigs. Your infernal insights disqualify you from participating in the Open at Gen Con, but you will have the diabolical satisfaction of watching the competitors brave the challenges you helped shape.

Adventure Card Game: We Be Goblins! (Lottery Event): ACG enthusiast Tyler Beck has worked with Tanis to create a three-part adaptation of the wildly popular We Be Goblins! series of adventures, complete with new characters and custom cards printed through DriveThruCards. There will be several rounds of this 4-hour PaizoCon exclusive, but seats are sure to go quickly!

Pathfinder Society Special #7-98: Serpents' Ire (Lottery Event with 35 tables): At PaizoCon 2015 players portrayed Aspis agents bent on wrecking the Grand Lodge. This year we're getting half the team back together—and adding some devious new faces—in order to infiltrate and destroy a new target: the Korholm Agenda. Step into the role of an 8th-level pregenerated scoundrel on Sunday evening.

PaizoCon Banquet (Ticketed Event): Following PaizoCon tradition, Paizo employees join fans for a great meal, and then we gather ‘round to hear what products are coming up over the next year. Expect some big news from the Pathfinder Society team, including the announcement of the next Roleplaying Guild season.

Pathfinder Society Q&A Seminar (Open Event): No doubt you have burning questions from the banquet, so the following day Tonya, Linda, and I will take your questions during the Pathfinder Society Q&A panel.

Out of Retirement / Season 0 Reborn (Lottery Events): The Out of Retirement tradition continues, giving a select group of players the chance to experience one of the retired Season 0 adventure renovated with full Pathfinder RPG stats and updated Chronicle sheets for full organized play credit. This year I'm running a slight variation on this event called Season 0 Reborn, in which I update one of the other Season 0 scenarios with all the extra goodies. As an added benefit, you can get organized play credit for these revised scenarios at PaizoCon, even if you already played the original versions.

We also know that GMs appreciate as much warning as possible about what maps to expect—especially when preparing for big events like PaizoCon. I've provided a list below of the published maps expected to appear in the April and May scenarios. As a note, the map list for Pathfinder Society Special: #7-98: Serpents' Ire is still being finalized, and I'll post that information in its product page once that's settled.

Pathfinder Society Scenario #7-20: All for Immortality, Part 1: First Taste of Eternity

• Flip-Mat: Desert Ruins
• Map Pack: Extradimensional Spaces

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

• Flip-Mat: Desert Ruins
• Flip-Mat Classic: Prison

Pathfinder Society Scenario #7-22: Bid for Alabastrine

• This adventure uses only custom maps.

Pathfinder Society Scenario #7-23: Abducted in Aether

• Map Pack: Evil Ruins

We'd also like to thank everyone who voted in our best Pathfinder Adventure Card Guild Accessory contest! The winner of the Best Pathfinder Adventure Card Game Accessory contest is...

Drumroll please...

Calthaer! His excellent revolving game board has won first place, and he will receive $30 credit to paizo.com. The two runners up, lackoffocus and Hawkmoon269, each receive $10 paizo.com credit for their fine work!

For our next contest, we want to see your sketches of your Pathfinder Society characters! More details and submission information will be available on May 17th—until then, get sketching!

John Compton
Pathfinder Society Lead Developer

Remember Remember, It's Bestiary 5 This November!

Thursday, November 5th, 2015

With the Round 2 votes in, we're down to the final four in our Bestiary 5 previews! Without further ado, let's get them in our lineup and presented for you to win a copy of Bestiary 5 with your winning votes!

Illustrations by Ben Wootten and Tomasz Chistowski

Wyrmwraith CR ??

This ghostly, skeletal creature appears to once have been a dragon, but it is now something far less noble.

CE Gargantuan undead (incorporeal)

Init +16; Senses darkvision 60 ft., lifesense; Perception +38

Aura unnatural aura

Defense

Defensive Abilities channel resistance +4, incorporeal, positive energy transference; Immune undead traits

Weaknesses sunlight powerlessness

Statistics

SQ phase lurch

Ecology

Ecology any

Organization solitary or cadre (1 plus 2–4 dread wraiths)

Treasure double

A clear winner with over a two-to-one margin, the Wyrmwraith crushed the Thought Eater out of the competition—and given its options, I can only imagine the manner in which it did so... Wait, what is this "phase lurch" ability?

Deep Merfolk CR ??

This gaunt mermaid has a long, semitransparent tail with a vivid red crest and caudal fin.

N Medium humanoid (aquatic)

Init +9; Senses blindsense 30 ft., darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +2

Defense

Defensive Abilities deep dweller, semitransparent; Resist cold 5

Weaknesses light sensitivity

Ecology

Ecology any oceans (trenches)

Organization solitary, family (2–4), or tribe (10–15)

Treasure standard (spear, other treasure)

Mortal flesh meant immortal doom for the Twilight Pitri Manasaputra, and the Deep Merfolk triumphed, though not as overwhelmingly so. The outcome of this match-up between the Wyrmwraith and the Deep Merfolk is going to be in the dark—after all, they are rather sensitive to the light...

Accountant Ashley Kaprielian: "Two creatures of darkness enter this battle. Will the Wyrmwraith’s hate light the way to the merfolk’s demise? Or will the merfolk lead the Wyrmwraith down a false path and give it what it needs the most—the end of its undead existence."

Customer Service Representative Diego Valdez: "A giant green, glowing, skeleton dragon!? Good thing merfolk are good swimmers! I bet undead dragons aren’t bad swimmers themselves though, what with the being undead and not needing to breathe. Goodbye Deep Merfolk!"

Designer Mark Seifter: "It looks like the Deep Merfolk is trying to use its semitransparency ability to hide, but the Wyrmwraith’s lifesense gives it the advantage. While the Deep Merfolk might still manage to get in a lucky sneak attack, all the Wyrmwraith has to do is change from ectoplasmic to incorporeal form for a sure victory."

Illustrations by Jose Parodi and Daniel López

Pakalchi Sahkil CR ??

Thorny vines with tiny red flowers grow from this emaciated woman and flow like a train behind her.

NE Medium outsider (evil, extraplanar, sahkil)

Init +10; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, true seeing; Perception +13

Defense

DR 10/good; Immune death effects, disease, fear effects, poison; Resist cold 10, electricity 10, sonic 10; SR 20

Statistics

SQ ???, ???, skip between

Ecology

Ecology any (Ethereal Plane)

Organization solitary, pair, or plot (3–7)

Treasure standard

As Mark predicted, the Su and its whelps were no match for the Pakalchi Sahkil, who tore apart their familial bonds with a whisper. Make no mistake, the Pakalchi Sahkil is poison!

Lotus Leshy CR ??

A plant whose body resembles a blooming lotus flower exudes an air of serenity.

N Small plant (leshy, shapechanger)

Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +14

Aura tranquility (20 ft., DC ??, 10 rounds)

Defense

Immune electricity, plant traits, sonic

Statistics

SQ ???, verdant burst

Ecology

Ecology warm lakes or ponds

Organization solitary

Treasure standard

The Lotus Leshy won out against the Roiling Oil, and is now head to head against the Pakalchi Sahkil—it's a Battle of the Flowers! The sahkil's poison won't affect the leshy, but will the leshy's aura be enough to deny the sahkil?

Ashley: "This leshy might be small, but it could be the only thing able to sooth the nightmare of this Pakalchi into a sweet dream. The Pakalchi’s thorny vines might squeeze all of the hope out of our little leshy before that’s possible though. This will be a knock-down, drag-out fight between the breaker and the unbroken!"

Diego: "The Pakalchi has those terrifying vines with all the thorns, but really, look at the Leshy. Can even an NE creature bring itself to tear apart something that adorable!? While the Pakalchi is cooing at the cuteness, the Leshy will serenely tear it to bits."

Mark: "The pakalchi is a terror in more ways than one, but the leshy is proving a thorn in her side. The cute contemplative is immune to her fear aura and dominate power, and so it's keeping its distance from her entangling train, dealing with the minor damage from her ranged thorns and pelting her with dream pollen. Eventually she’s going to fall asleep, so I’m tentatively calling this one for the leshy!”

Now that you've seen the entrants for Round 3, head on over to the Voting Booth to place your bets! If you vote on a winning creature, you'll increase your chances to win a signed copy of Bestiary 5, or be one of four winners of a digital version! The third round of voting closes at 12:00 PM Pacific time on November 12th, 2015, and remember, each round will give you more chances to win!

Vote Now!

And here's another trio of monster previews: an aberration, fey, magical beast, and an outsider!

Illustrations by Damien Mammoliti, Alexandru Sabo, Dave Allsop, and Tomasz Chistowski

Until we meet again,

Liz Courts
Community Manager

Untold Horrors, Celestial Allies, and Hordes Alike—It's Time for Something New!

Friday, October 16, 2015

One of the projects that I've come to call my own during my time at Paizo is our Pathfinder Reference Document (or PRD for short). This project has been passed around and improved by different folks over the years, including our System Administrator Lissa Guillet, who was responsible for past incarnations of our global indices features. I'm proud to say that the formation of our Community team means that we now have Liz Courts championing for more useful improvements and features for GMs and players alike. Her first new feature, the Bestiary Index is ready for you to use in your own games!

Illustration by Damien Mammoliti

I've always been a big proponent of using technology to make your game run smoother, and so I put some of my old class skills to use. As some of you may have noticed during our latest update, some portions of the PRD got a bit of an improvement—most specifically the Bestiary and Spell List Indexes. More than just an alphabetical listing now, the new Bestiary Index now allows you to sort by Challenge Rating (including highlighting CRs based on the calculated APL), creature type and subtype, climate and terrain, size, and also a quick way to find companions, character races, cohorts, and familiars. (I also threw in the Template Index as well.) For the Spell List Index, there was a lot of data corrections (not to mention that the bloodrager and shaman spell lists are now completely listed), and there's now an option to filter your results by a spell's school.

I'm not done hammering out some improvements to help you find the information you need to run your game or select options for your character—I'm just getting started! Keep your eyes out for a few other "free-tures" in our coming updates!

Happy gaming, and may your next crit confirm!

Liz Courts
Community Manager

Our next round of PRD updates will include both Pathfinder Unchained and Occult Adventures. And as always, if you find any issues or have ideas for the Pathfinder Reference Document, let us know here!

Chris Lambertz
Community & Digital Content Director

A Last Look at the Art of Inner Sea Races

Friday, October 2, 2015

Inner Sea Races just released this week! I've picked some of my favorite illustrations for this preview, and a wallpaper for you to download!

Download Standard | Download Widescreen | Download Mobile

Illustration by Romanov Pavel

Illustrations by Mariusz Gandzel, Aleksey Bayura, Damien Mammoliti, Fabio Gorla, Firat Solhan, and Nikolai Ostertag

Sarah Robinson
Managing Art Director

Monster Mash

Thursday, October 16, 2014

If you have not heard yet, the newest addition to the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game is hitting subscribers and game stores now. The Monster Codex is a mighty tome, filled with some of the most iconic foes in the game. Each of the 20 monster types appearing in this book has an expanded ecology, new rules, and 7 pages of new stat blocks across a range of CRs. Each one gives you plenty of ideas and awesome crunch to make these monsters the feature of an entire adventure or even a portion of your campaign, while saving you the time it takes to come up with the mountain of stats needed to make it happen.

Illustrations by Damien Mammoliti and Jason Rainville

Monster Codex has 12 pages of exciting new content for each of the following monster types: boggards, bugbears, drow, duergar, fire giants, frost giants, ghouls, gnolls, goblins, hobgoblins, kobolds, lizardfolk, ogres, orcs, ratfolk, sahuagin, serpentfolk, troglodytes, trolls, and vampires!

Rather than show off a few of these stat blocks, I thought I might take this opportunity to highlight a part of the book you might miss on your first flip-through. The appendix for Monster Codex contains a new tool to help you make easily customized monsters of any type. These rules allow you to apply basic class features to a monster without having to recalculate all of its abilities and statistics. We call them simple class templates and we think they are going to see a lot of use at your game table!

Want proof? Check out the barbarian simple class template!

Barbarian Creature (CR +2 or +3)

A barbarian creature can fly into a rage, granting it numerous bonuses in combat. It also gains additional hit points and a few valuable defensive abilities. A barbarian creature’s CR increases by 3 if the creature has 10 or more HD. A barbarian creature must be chaotic.

Quick Rules: +2 on all rolls based on Str; can rage for a number of rounds per day equal to 4 + its HD + its Con modifier (this functions as greater rage if the creature has 10 or more HD); gains DR 1/- and uncanny dodge (DR 3/- and improved uncanny dodge if the creature has 10 or more HD).

Rebuild Rules: Defensive Abilities uncanny dodge (improved uncanny dodge if the creature has 10 or more HD; DR 1/- (3/- if the creature has 10 or more HD); Special Attacks rage (can be used a number of rounds per day equal to 4 + its HD + its Con modifier, functions as the greater rage class feature if the creature has 10 or more HD); Ability Scores +4 Strength.

So, if you really need a barbarian hill giant, now you can create one in about 5 minutes, instead of the 30 minutes it would take to add a bunch of class levels to the base stat block. Monster Codex includes simple class templates for all 11 of the base classes, from barbarian to wizard, allowing you to customize all of your monsters with ease.

Well, that about wraps up this preview. If you are a subscriber, you should find that Monster Codex is on its way to you now. For the rest, stop by your local game store to pick up a copy of this handy book.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

Chaos and Drowning in the Emerald Spire, with Sean K Reynolds and James L. Sutter

Saturday, June 21, 2014

The Emerald Spire Superdungeon is the largest Pathfinder Module ever, which means there's a lot to keep track of for GMs and players braving its perils. Adventurers can end up on a number of different quests, talk to various recurring allies and foes, and acquire a trove of odd relics and treasures. Players without good notes might end up a bit lost somewhere between The Automaton Forge and The Pleasure Garden.

For groups that find visual aids helpful, many of these elements can be managed with the help of Pathfinder Campaign Cards: The Emerald Spire Superdungeon. This set of 53 full-color campaign cards tracks 18 quests on which the PCs may find themselves, reveals the faces of 19 major NPCs, and unveils 16 mysterious items found in the depths of the Emerald Spire.

And what will PCs encounter over 16 levels of dungeoneering? For another sneak peek, this week we talk to some of the designers of the Emerald Spire Superdungeon. We talked to Sean K Reynolds (prolific game designer and developer, founder of Sean K Reynolds Games, and designer of level 5) and James L. Sutter (Managing Editor at Paizo and designer of level 15) about how they approached creating their dungeon levels, what they think a "superdungeon" is, and what inspired them when crafting their portion of the Emerald Spire.

Illustration by Firat Solhan

How do you define a "Superdungeon"?

Sean

I define it as "a dungeon that gets its powers from exposure to Earth's yellow sun," as opposed to "Spider-Dungeon," which got its powers from a radioactive spider; "Wonder-Dungeon," which got its powers as blessings from various Hellenic deities; "Invisible Dungeon," which got its powers from cosmic rays; or "Ant-Dungeon," which has a technological helmet that can communicate with bugs.

James

I think a superdungeon is an old-school dungeon romp that just keeps going—room upon room of traps, monsters, and loot! While I was always more of an urban adventures kid when it came to actual gameplay, I can still recall the way those old-school Gary Gygax dungeon maps captured my imagination. What was in those little gridded boxes, floating in the sea of black ink? It could be anything! There was a sense of possibility that pulled me in at a really visceral level (the same way I can remember how my first Magic cards smelled, or the feeling of my first BattleTech set). Whether I had a game or not, I spent countless summer hours with graph paper, drawing connected rooms without any idea what could be in them. (Even today, I still sometimes like drawing a rough draft of a dungeon map first, then letting that inspire its encounters.)

What is your favorite dungeon or superdungeon experience in your personal gaming history?

Sean
Hands down, when Monte Cook ran Labyrinth of Madness for a bunch of TSR people as an all-nighter at his house in Lake Geneva, WI. It was brutal, but we played high-level characters who alternately romped through the challenges and got our butts kicked, and it was great fun.

James
I never owned any superdungeons as a child, but of the ones I've encountered in the years since, I think my favorite is Maure Castle. I was unfamiliar with it until I started working at Paizo, and once I started editing for it, I was fascinated by all the clues and secrets—who was the mysterious "Y"? It had never occurred to me that a superdungeon could have overarching mysteries running through all of the levels. So when it came time to write Emerald Spire, I was excited to have tie-ins between my level and other folks' (most notably Wes Schneider's).

What is your level of the Emerald Spire Superdungeon called? What theme, if any, does the level have?

Sean
It was called "The Water Level" in my turnover, because nobody told me we were supposed to come up with names for our levels. Hopefully they changed the name in development into something cooler, like "The Hydro Level." _{(Developer Note: We actually went with the MUCH more evocative "The Drowned Level")}

James
Mine is called "Order and Chaos." I'm not going to lie—going into the project, my goal was to be as self-indulgent as possible. Ever since Death's Heretic—and really since I wrote the bit of protean speech that shows up in the Chapter 6 opener of the GameMastery Guide—I've felt a particular bond with proteans and inevitables. They're just so delightfully alien! So in my level, I wanted to give people the chance to encounter both of them, in an environment that's almost as weird as the creatures themselves: partially mechanical and partially warped by chaos. And of course, since I find social encounters as interesting as combat (or more so), you have the opportunity to form an alliance with either side, though neither really have your best interests at heart...

Illustration by Damien Mammoliti

What inspirations did you draw on for your Emerald Spire level, and what are you hoping players get out of it?

Sean
In the concept meeting for the book we realized we wanted a water level for characters at about level 4 or so. Much of the level is partially submerged or completely underwater, and navigating the water and the lack of air are common challenges. As a scientist by training, I tried to create a reasonable ecology in the level, with microportals to the Plane of Water keeping most of it fresh and providing suitable food for the inhabitants, and also setting up active currents in what otherwise would be still, stagnant dungeon water. I also like to mess with darkness in dungeons (as mentioned in intern Hank Woon's blogs about my Bastards of Erebus playtest game), and using murky water (filled with silt and gross stuff) accomplishes the same thing as darkness. I'm hoping players will be challenged and annoyed by the water level, but will figure out ways for their characters to routinely overcome those obstacles—basically, to make the dungeon a learning experience for them.

James
Really, that chapter opener from the GameMastery Guide is probably the single biggest inspiration for my level—I've always wanted to play through that particular scene, and despite the fact that this is a dungeon level, I hope that I've come close to capturing its feel. More than anything, though, I just want players to have fun, which for me always means seeing new (and weird!) creatures and landscapes. So in my level, every room is different, there are bizarre magical effects, and you rarely fight the same critter twice.

Oh, and there are robots. Because robots.

We hope your appetite is whetted by this glimpse of the visions you may find in the lower reaches of The Emerald Spire! Next week we'll look at a few more Emerald Spire tie-in products GMs are sure to find useful, and maybe even preview some of the superdungeon maps!

Owen K.C. Stephens
Developer, Pathfinder Modules

Bonus Blog: Happy Free RPG Day!

Free RPG Day is going on right now! Be sure to head out to your participating local game store and pick up this year’s Pathfinder offerings: Ranzak the Pirate Goblin—a new character for the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game—and Pathfinder Module: Risen from the Sands, a complete adventure previewing four new classes from the upcoming Pathfinder RPG Advanced Class Guide. You can get the full story on both of our Free RPG Day products right here. Also, be sure to download your Risen from the Sands pregenerated characters so you can start playing as soon as you hit the game store. Hope you have a blast with all your Free RPG Day adventures!

Faction Evolution

Monday, June 9, 2014

Illustration by Damien Mammoliti

Nearly a year has passed since we introduced the check boxes to scenarios' reporting sheets in Pathfinder Society Organized Play. Perhaps you haven"t had the opportunity to GM a Season 5 scenario, so let me recap the idea. Almost every scenario in Season 5 has had four check boxes labeled "A" through "D," and the end of scenario provides instructions of which ones to check off depending on what happened during the adventure. Did the PCs ally with Team 1? Check box A. Did they ally with Team 2? Check box B. If they instead destroyed Team 1 or 2, check box C or D respectively.

The results of those check boxes are included when the organizer reports the scenario online, and we/ve been using that data to watch trends and shape the storyline in increasingly visible ways. For example, the Qadira faction has recruited several trade partners over the past year, but some of their rivalries with one another have required the PCs to choose one to favor over the other. When I looked at the numbers reported from an earlier scenario, I saw the two of the parties were neck-and-neck, so they returned for a rematch in a later scenario. Another example involved choosing where to construct a basecamp, and after collecting data for a few months, I saw that there was a clear favorite. That choice decided the course of a recent scenario. Even seemingly innocuous matters like an NPC surviving a scenario allow you to shape future adventures when we determine what villains are still out there and harboring a grudge.

Data like these also contribute to the ongoing evolution of the Pathfinder Society's eight active factions. Back in April 2013 we revealed that faction goals might change over time. In fact, based on the storyline, character decisions, and player feedback, even a faction's alignment and leadership could change. Over the course of the Year of the Demon, the original five factions have all distanced themselves from their respective nations—some pushed away by troubles at home and others pulled toward greener pastures. No doubt many of you have witnessed these events throughout the season, and blog posts later this month will reveal these factions' new faces and interests.

Of course, any talk about changes to factions stirs up questions. Is my faction changing? Are you eliminating any factions? What if I don't like what is happening to my faction? Can I change factions for free? How long do I have to change factions? In brief, we're aiming to make any transitions as reasonable, painless, and fair as possible. We'll provide more details as we get closer to the new season.

Finally, I'll be appearing on the Know Direction podcast on the Wednesday, June 18th. I'll post more details here and on the Pathfinder Society messageboard as the interview gets closer.

Happy gaming,

John Compton and Mike Brock
Developer and Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

Be Careful What You Wish For

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Illustration by Damien Mammoliti

Let me tell you about my character. In James Jacobs's "Sands of the Scorpion God" campaign, I play a catfolk ranger/rogue who dual-wields sickles. His name is Pr'ral. He helped his fellow adventurers infiltrate a subterranean city run by evil cultists of Rovagug, but we got captured when a badass umbral dragon left us all blind and weakened and pretty much helpless. We were placed in a gladiatorial arena and forced to fight giant-riding morlocks and other terrible foes. In the final round of the arena fight, we were pitted against a powerful glabrezu demon named Bezilak. And he mopped the floor with us.

With my allies unconscious and bleeding out or fleeing, Pr'ral was the only one who could save them. So I made a deal with the demon. Communicating telepathically, we came to an agreement, and in so doing, I saved my companions from certain death before a cheering crowd. But the cost was high.

My alignment shifted from chaotic neutral to chaotic evil, and Bezilak and I now have a much more intimate relationship. The specific details of the arrangement haven't been revealed to anyone but James and I, so I won't go into them here, but needless to say, Pr'ral is a very different character now that he saved his friends. He now cares only for himself, and will (and has) abandoned his fellows in their times of need if it serves him. He's also started taking levels in assassin. And when he needs things that he can't find (like a ring of invisibility that would have otherwise been unavailable in Sothis at the time) Bezilak has come to his aid.

Illustration by Fabio Gorla

While Pr'ral isn't quite intelligent enough to recognize the error of his ways, I do not lack such insight into the machinations of demonkind, and every session has been stressful, as I await Bezilak's next appearance and the inevitable calling in of what Pr'ral owes him. So imagine my surprise and—I'll be honest—horror, when I was editing Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Demons Revisited, and I came across a familiar character as the sample glabrezu. Yeah, it was Bezilak. I was then forced to read (in the process of editing) the deep, dark truth of how vile a creature and sinister a manipulator he truly was. I think it was James's own demonic means of torturing me. He certainly got a good laugh out of it when he found out that I was doing an editing pass on the book.

Game Masters looking to add that same sort of terror to their demon-filled games will find plenty of additional inspiration in Demons Revisited, including a number of influential members of each demonic race that NPCs can summon or who can be archvillains themselves in myriad campaigns. Further, each of the 10 demons presented in the book also features a variant of the half-demon template specifically designed to reflect the abilities and flavor of the specific demonic races. Demons are unpredictable, wholly evil, and unfathomably twisted creatures, and Pathfinder Camapaign Setting: Demons Revisited captures the raw madness like no book before it.

Mark Moreland
Developer

Welcome to the End of the World

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Illustration by Fabio Gorla

It's no secret that demons are pretty much my favorite monsters in the game. When we were brainstorming ideas for regions to include in Golarion, the concept of a realm where the demons had invaded and now ruled was near the top of the list. In fact, we ended up with two regions where the demons are in charge—the smaller of the two being Tanglebriar in southern Kyonin (a region more or less transplanted directly from my homebrew world), and the much larger Worldwound itself. Whereas Tanglebriar was basically the work of one nascent demon lord, and as such was relatively limited in the scope of its area, the Worldwound was the work of a full-on demon lord, Deskari, and the resulting demon blight is correspondingly much more massive.

We've tinkered here and there with the Worldwound over the past few years, but with the Wrath of the Righteous Adventure Path, we're finally diving into the deep end of the demon-haunted pool. Which means the time is finally write to head on into old Sarkoris and explore it. Aptly titled The Worldwound, this 64 page Campaign Setting book aims to do exactly that. Of course, it covers the entire demonblighted region—even though Wrath of the Righteous remains pretty tightly focused along the northeastern border, The Worldwound has a lot more secrets to reveal.

There's plenty of new demons and monsters lurking in the Worldwound, as well as in the pages of this book, as evidenced by the creepy monster pictures that grace this post, but even the plants in this realm want to kill you. Take, for example, the following excerpt from the book's chapter about Adventures in the Worldwound:

Leechweed (CR 3 hazard): These plants cluster thickly in the muddy marshes of the western Worldwound, typically growing in a 5-foot-square patch. A single plant is slightly smaller than a human hand, and consists of a mass of dark green leaves from which a single feeding stalk extends. The tip of this stalk contains a small, lancet-like protrusion that can pierce flesh with ease. Spotting a patch of leechweed before blundering into it requires a DC 17 Knowledge (nature) or DC 22 Perception check. A living creature that comes into contact with a patch of leechweed swiftly learns the source of the plant's name, as dozens of feeding stalks suddenly stab and slash at any bits of exposed flesh. As soon as a creature is in contact with leechweed, the plant attempts an attack against it with a +9 bonus. The attacks continue at the end of each of the creature's turns if it doesn't move away from the plant. On a hit, the plant deals 1d4 points of damage and 1d6 points of bleed damage. Fire kills leechweed, as does holy damage or any magical effect that specifically harms plants (such as blight).

Illustrations by Jorge Fares and Damien Mammoliti

That, in a nutshell, is the Worldwound for you—a place where even the grass wants to kill you.

James Jacobs
Creative Director

Choose Your Enemy

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Since the Pathfinder RPG NPC Codex is so packed with images of worthy allies and deadly foes, we’re starting the previews for it a bit early. This time, check out a crew of mid-level marauders, which you’ll find both in this expansive character catalog and in the Pathfinder RPG NPC Codex Box (the humanoid-heavy sibling of the Bestiary Box). Be sure to watch this space in the coming weeks for even more NPC Codex action!

Illustrations by Jason Engle, Damien Mammoliti, and Miroslav Petrov

F. Wesley Schneider
Editor-in-Chief

NPCs on the March!

Monday, October 1, 2012

We're still a couple of months out from the release of Pathfinder RPG: NPC Codex, but all of the awesome art in that book refuses to be contained! Check out a sampling of 10 fantastically deadly characters by 10 fantastically talented artists. Also, be sure to watch this space in the coming weeks for in-depth previews of Pathfinder RPG: NPC Codex—releasing this December.

F. Wesley Schneider
Editor-in-Chief

Analyzing a Magic Item Stat Block

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Illustration by Damien Mammoliti

As Ryan Dancey, Clark Peterson, Neil Spicer, and I work our way through the last wondrous item submissions for RPG Superstar, I've come to realize two things. One, magic item stat blocks convey a lot of information, and two, many people don't understand what goes into a magic item stat block. In this blog, I'll dissect a magic item stat block and explain what goes where, and why.

Item Name: This section is self-evident. The magic item name header in the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook looks like this is in all caps, but it's just a text style—don't type yours in all caps!

Aura: This section exists so the GM can quickly tell a player what schools of magic the item uses. This is noteworthy only if the PC fails the Spellcraft check to identify the item and needs an idea of what it may do. Auras are always written as "faint," "moderate," or "strong," plus the appropriate school or schools, and perhaps a subschool if relevant.

CL: The caster level tells you what caster level the item operates at. This means you don't have to specify a caster level in the item's description—if you find an orb that can create a fireball, it doesn't need to say "fireball (10d6)." Unless otherwise specified, the item uses this caster level for all of its abilities. The caster level should include the ordinal abbreviation for that number: "CL 1st" instead of just "CL 1," "CL 2nd" instead of just "CL 2," and so on.

Slot: This slot tells you which of the magic item "body slots" the item uses (Core Rulebook 459). If you have to hold the item in your hand (like a rod of wonder) or if it doesn't use a slot at all (like an ioun stone), it's listed slot is "none." (Paizo used to put a dash there for slotless items but no longer does it that way.)

Price: This is the item's market price—how much you'd pay for it if you bought it from an NPC. This is never expressed as a fraction or decimal; "12 gp, 5 sp" is correct, "12.5 gp" is not, nor is "12 1/2 gp." If the item costs more than 999 gp, put a comma in to separate the thousands ("20,000 gp" instead of "20000 gp" or "20.000 gp"). If your item costs more than 200,000 gp, it's probably an artifact rather than a regular magic item. If the item has several types (like a figurine of wondrous power) with different costs, each is listed here, separated by commas.

Weight: This is how much the item weighs, in pounds (abbreviated "lb." for 1 pound or less and "lbs." for 2 or more pounds). Most common items in the game have a specific weight, just for consistency. For example, boots weigh 1 lb., so players don't have to remember different boot weights. Some light items, like gems, headbands, and rings, have a standard weight of "—," which means individually their weight isn't important (though the GM can rule that a chest full of them has weight). When in doubt, find a similar item in the Core Rulebook and use the listed weight.

Description (Header): This is a text format we call a "breaker"—the all caps and lines above and below the text are just an applied style. Like the title, don't type this line in all caps, and don't add underlining.

Description (Paragraph): The paragraph description of a magic item should say (1) what it looks like, (2) what the item does, and (3) how often you can use the item.

Normally, using a magic item is a standard action. You shouldn't give an item a shorter activation time than that because it messes with the "action economy" of the combat round—a player who tries to create a faster item is trying to do more than one magical thing per round.

Whether or not using an item provokes an attack of opportunity is built into how it's activated (Core Rulebook 458). This means for command word items you don't need to say that it's a standard action to activate and that it doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity—that's assumed for all command word items. In fact, the assumption is if an item doesn't say how you activate it, it's a command word item.

Magic items that have effects requiring saving throws should include those saves in the item description. If it's duplicating a spell, the default save DC is the minimum for casting that spell: 10 + 1.5 x the spell's level.

If you refer to specific spells, italicize them, like fireball or pearl of power. If you refer to feats or skill names, capitalize them, like Power Attack, Weapon Focus (longsword), Perception, or Knowledge (local). There's very little else in the game that always requires capitalization—you don't capitalize class names (cleric), race names (dwarf), combat maneuvers (grapple, trip), or other specific rules (breath weapon, drowning, trample, poison).

Construction (Header): Like the Description header, this is not all caps and not manually underlined.

Requirements: This section is all the stuff a character needs to create the item using an item-crafting feat. List the crafting feat first (capitalized), followed by spell names (italicized), followed by any other requirements such as needing ranks in a skill (capitalized) or an ability like channel energy.

Cost: This is the item's sale cost—how much a PC could get for selling it to an NPC. This is always half the item's Price (with the exception of magic weapons, magic armor, and items with expensive material components or foci, because the extra cost is factored in differently). If your item's Cost isn't half its Price, you've done it wrong. All rules for the Price apply to the Cost (no decimals, no fractions, separate variants with commas).

Phew! That's a whole lot of nitpicking, but it can make the difference between a professional-looking item and an amateur-looking one, and between a reasonable item and an overpowered item.

Sean K Reynolds
Designer and RPG Superstar Judge

Illustrations by Damien Mammoliti and Maichol Quinto. Widescreen version here.

Deep, Dark, and Deadly!

July 15, 2011

It's been awhile since we've had a wallpaper, and this one's a doozie. Featuring some stunning artwork by Damien Mammoliti and Maichol Quinto, and themed around Dungeons of Golarion, it showcases Alain venturing into the Red Redoubt of Karamoss, a massive siege-fortress outside Absalom constructed by a combination of the machine-mage Karamoss's mechanical minions, powerful magic, and Numerian technology.

In the forefront is the leader of the kobolds living in the Candlestone Caverns, deep beneath rural Andoran. You definitely want to watch out for him!

Hyrum Savage
Marketing and Organized Play Manager

Golarion Day: Report From Kintargo—Dungeons of Golarion

Thursday, June 23, 2011

If they weren't such an excellent place to make quick money, I doubt I'd ever want to go into an actual dungeon. As it stands, I try to make it a practice to only venture into the ones that are worth the trouble. I'm not a fan of slinking through sewers, skulking about in guano-reeking caves, or sneaking through a ruin that's been picked over by thousands of lesser explorers. Give me a megadungeon any day, though. Not only are these things immense (and thus filled with immense amounts of treasure), but they also tend to be dripping (sometimes literally) with history and lore and stories that can date back hundreds or even thousands of years. When you get skunked in a dungeon in the treasure department, it's nice to at least come out of there with a wider appreciation of ancient Thassilonian art, experience with strange Numerian technology, or tales of close calls with primeval wonders and horrors.

The Egorian vaults have a fair amount of information about the megadungeons of the Inner Sea region, but there are six of them that someone seems particularly interested in. Hollow Mountain in Varisia, the Red Redoubt of Karamoss just outside of Absalom, the lost dwarven mines of Zolurket, Andoran's Candlestone Caverns, the mysterious Pyramid of Kamaria in Osirion, and, of course, Gallowspire. The files include several maps of specific levels found in all six of these megadungeons, along with sketches of cutaway views of the complexes as well. And extensive notes on the monsters, traps, and (oh yes!) treasures said to be found within.

Some neat stuff. So of course I stole it all. I've sent the notes on to a contact in Magnimar, and she's going to see to it that they're bound and distributed. They should be arriving soon—within the month. Until then, though, I thought folks would be interested in perhaps a few images of some of the critters said to dwell in the dungeons.

I don't know about you, but they certainly look like the type of monsters who would keep a lot of treasure in their lair! I've got my fingers crossed!

Illustrations by Emile Denis, Maichol Quinto and Damien Mammoliti

Shensen
Old Cheliax Shall Rise Again!

Illustration by Branko Bistrovic

Get Lost

Friday, October 22, 2010

Illustration by Damien Mammoliti

We're nearing the homestretch in development of Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Lost Cities of Golarion and that means it's time to start leaking some of the brand-new art you can expect to find within the tome's dusty pages. Check out these relics we've unearthed while plumbing the ruins of Kho in the Mwangi Expanse and Storasta in the demon-choked Worldwound.

Mark Moreland
Developer