Hail and well met, ‘Finders! This month’s new releases invite you to follow your Mythic Calling, witness the outbreak of an interstellar war, and face the fallout of the Godsrain!

Never miss a release with our Paizo Subscriptions—for everything from rulebooks to accessories! Subscribers get free PDF copies of their subscription products, early access to game content, and exclusive discounts on paizo.com!

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Pathfinder War of Immortals

GO BEYOND LEGENDARY!

A god has been slain, and nothing shall ever be the same again! As war and destruction spread across the world, new heroes must rise to the occasion and take up arms to protect its mortal inhabitants. Lay claim to your own spark of divinity and charge into battle as a mighty exemplar, or call upon the power of spiritual allies as a wise animist. Alongside these new classes are rules for running mythic games, archetypes for playing legendary characters, and a wide array of new items, spells, and monsters to help you tell stories straight out of myth!

Pathfinder War of Immortals is available in standard hardcover, Special Edition faux-leatherette bound hardcover, PDF, and hobby retailer exclusive Sketch Edition hardcover.

Starfinder Playtest Adventure Empires Devoured

WHO CONQUERS THE CONQUERORS?

A group of heroes from the Pact Worlds has arrived to witness the political event of the century: the signing of a treaty between the warlike Veskarium and the ruthless Azlanti Star Empire. The two galactic powers have agreed to coexist on a backwater world called Kehtaria, where both empires have established bases of operations. Hoping to avert future devastating wars between the pair of superpowers, champions of the Pact Worlds attend the negotiations to ensure the birth of a new interstellar alliance and take part in the first steps toward lasting peace in the galaxy. That is, until it all goes wrong.

A treacherous political conspiracy threatens to disrupt the diplomatic proceedings when a surprise invasion by a new power shakes the planet. An armada of Azlanti forces calling themselves the Sihedron Guard attack Kehtaria, targeting Azlanti forces on the ground, their Veskarium allies, and anyone else unlucky enough to get in their way. If the heroes can survive this orbital bombardment and help defeat the invaders, they will discover evidence of another plot—a plot not to gain territory or resources, but to destroy them. It’s up to the heroes to save the galaxy, or to bear witness as it’s devoured.

Pathfinder Adventure Path #207: The Resurrection Flood (Triumph of the Tusk 1 of 3)

A STORM IS BREWING

The Triumph of the Tusk Adventure Path begins with an eclectic band of dignitaries becoming battle-hardened survivalists fighting for the orcs’ homeland and independence. This volume includes an overview of orc culture, an exploration of the Flood Truce tradition, new magical items, and fearsome creatures that wander the wilds! The Resurrection Flood is an orc-focused Pathfinder adventure for four 3rd-level characters.

The Resurrection Flood is also available as a deluxe Foundry VTT bundle with all the assets you need to run this adventure on Foundry!

Godsrain: A Pathfinder Novel

Four veteran adventurers—the barbarian Amiri, the wizard Ezren, the cleric Kyra, and her wife, the elven rogue Merisiel—witness the Godsrain and, with their newfound mythic power, find themselves on the trail of fell forces looking to capitalize on the chaos sown by Gorum’s death. Using their unique skills, nascent god-sparks, and even the firsthand blessings of one of Golarion's most potent deities, they must race against time and fate to prevent the greatest threat to Golarion from escaping an impenetrable prison. From fan-favorite author Liane Merciel (Hellknight, Nightglass, War of Immortals) comes a truly iconic adventure of high fantasy set in the award-winning world of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Follow the heroes from the desert bazaars of Osirion to the heart of the permanent hurricane known as the Eye of Abendego and watch as they come to terms with their own mortality, the tenuous powers of the immortal gods, and the new world that unfolds before them in the wake of the Godsrain.

Godsrain: A Pathfinder Novel is also available in audiobook format.

Pathfinder: Before the Godsrain

Pathfinder's beloved iconic heroes make their fiction debut in Pathfinder: Godsrain, set to release in November 2024. These characters have existed since 2007, however, and have many existing adventures documented in flash fiction on the Paizo Blog and other promotional locations. Now, for the first time, readers can find these stories collected into a single volume, a perfect primer before diving into Godsrain or to further explore their history after meeting them for the first time.

Pathfinder Player Core 2 Pocket Edition

VENTURE BEYOND!

Survival in a world beset by magic and evil takes more than a lucky roll of the dice.

Pathfinder Player Core 2 significantly expands the options available to Pathfinder

players, giving you the tools to take on any adventure. Look inside to find everything you need to create a wide array of new characters who are ready to take on the world. Eight new classes, new ancestries and versatile heritages, a massive number of diverse archetypes, and tons of feats, spells, and alchemical items provide a near-endless array of exciting options for every Pathfinder character!

The pocket edition presents the same contents as the standard edition in a smaller sized softcover for a lower price and better portability.

Pathfinder Arcane Spell Cards (Remastered)

Master the secrets of arcane magic with Pathfinder Arcane Spell Cards!

This essential accessory for arcane spellcasters collects all of the arcane spells from Pathfinder Player Core and Pathfinder Player Core 2. More than 250 spell reference cards put unrivaled understanding of the arcane directly into your hands!

Players can easily arrange and plan their spells within moments, and a quick scan of the cards presents a caster's tactical options at a glance. The possibilities are endless, but Pathfinder Arcane Spell Cards let you master the mysteries of magic!

Pathfinder Primal Spell Cards (Remastered)

Channel the power of storms and wild creatures with Pathfinder Primal Spell Cards!

This must-have accessory is a comprehensive collection of the primal spells presented in Pathfinder Player Core and Pathfinder Player Core 2. Put the bounty of nature at your fingertips with over 200 spell reference cards!

Players can easily arrange and plan their spells within moments, and a quick scan of the cards presents a caster's tactical options at a glance. The possibilities are endless, but Pathfinder Primal Spell Cards let you master the mysteries of magic!

Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Haunted Battlefield

CALL TO ARMS! 

Whether your players are engaged in a pitched, otherworldly battle or stumble across the haunted echoes of a previous war, no Game Master wants to draw out an entire battlefield. Fortunately, with the latest Pathfinder Flip-Mat, you don’t have to! This line of gaming maps provides ready-to-use and captivatingly detailed fantasy set pieces for the busy Game Master. Place Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Haunted Battlefield on your table and dive right into the action!

Starfinder Playtest Scenario #4: Rescue at Shimmerstone Mine

A Starfinder Second Edition Playtest adventure designed for 15th-level characters.

Mined on the frigid planet of Vesk-8, shimmerstone is a psychically active crystalline ore known to have a calming effect on emotions. After a wave of powerful cosmic energy ripples across the galaxy, shimmerstone changes, suddenly becoming unstable as it resonates with the psychic cries of a strange new god.

All across Vesk-8, shimmerstone mines suffer disaster after disaster. While many corporations react with attempts to sweep these events under the metaphorical rug, Shim-Tek desperately seeks outside agents to visit their shimmerstone mine, investigate the disturbance, and rescue any imperiled miners still on site.

Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-05: Silver Bark, Golden Blades

A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for 1st- through 4th-level characters.

Silvertree Village is a small settlement within the Forest of Spirits that’s not far off the Spirit Road, the trade route tracing the southern coast of the forest. It's a smaller river crossing, but it’s often used when Ohira's inns are full, and some travelers even prefer using it. Or they did, until they found access to the village cut off by a mysterious fog. Word has reached the Pathfinder Society of this strange phenomenon, and they have resolved to investigate the issue, as the Society has also had cause to rest in Silvertree when transporting relics between Hongal and Minkai.

The PCs are tasked with finding out the cause of the fog. Before their work is done, they'll face challenges set upon their path by a kami and must learn what has upset them—and in doing so, perhaps uncover something much more dangerous.

Starfinder Society Scenario #7-07: Submerged Stars

A Starfinder Society Scenario designed for 5th- through 8th-level characters.

Welcome to Arniselle, an aquatic world where colorful morlamaws once worshipped cosmic horrors—or did they? Local Starfinder Hinevera is determined to prove that her people’s ancient past isn’t all foul cosmic entities! Years of extensive research and fieldwork have led her to multiple promising ancient ruins that could shed light on the broader history and beliefs of ancient morlamaws. But as the tides turn and Hinevera and her team fail to make contact, one thing becomes clear: something is wrong.

Travel to the planet of Arniselle and explore ancient ruins while on a rescue mission submerged beneath the waves!

Pathfinder Quest (Series 2) #21: Infernal Infiltration

A Pathfinder Society Quest designed for 1st- through 4th-level characters, playable in 2-3 hours.

Some disgruntled citizens in Kintargo, who preferred things as they were under Chelaxian rule, have stolen some very sensitive information concerning the Pathfinder Society's trade dealings and trade routes. In the hands of their enemies, this could put many agents at risk. Cheliax barely tolerates the Society on a good day, and if these thieves-who-would-be-spies can get the encrypted information into the hands of real Chelaxian intelligence operatives, Cheliax would likely relish its ability to deal incalculable harm. It's up to the PCs to infiltrate the thieves' base of operations and steal the information back before these rabble rousers can send it off. Keeping things quiet will be key, though, as the heads of Supplies and Procurement definitely don't want to tip the thieves off to the importance of what they really have.

From Our Partners:

Our partners at Archives of Nethys, Demiplane, Fantasy Grounds, Hero Lab Online, and Roll20* are dropping new content this month as well! Buy your PDF on paizo.com to get a discount via the PaizoConnect API, or pay full price on their platforms, sync your account, and get a complimentary PDF on the Paizo Store.

*Roll20 is no longer a part of PaizoConnect and discounts and complimentary PDFs do not apply.

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With War of Immortals product page flowing out into folks’ hands, it’s a great time to introduce you to some of the fantastic people who worked on the goodies inside. While the writers of our products are always credited in the books themselves, that’s rarely enough information for people to know whose stories and experiences are shaping our world!

Pathfinder War of Immortals, available now! Cover by Wayne Reynolds.

To start, my name is Michael Sayre, the design lead on War of Immortals as well as one of the cover authors. I wrote takes deep breath the animist class and multiclass, all of the half-page fictions (our esteemed colleague Liane Merciel wrote the two-page fictions), the avenger class archetype, the vindicator class archetype, the warrior of legend class archetype, all of Chapter 3 (the mythic rules), the prophesied monarch mythic destiny, the storied equipment section, the mythic monster templates, and the immortal trickster mythic monster. You can find me here on the forums or on Twitter as @MichaelJSayre1 and on BlueSky as @animistgunslinger.

Art by Sandra Posada.

Steven Hammond (he/they)

Hello! I'm Steven Hammond (he/they). I've been a contributor to numerous Pathfinder books and scenarios. I wrote the entry on Vulot for War of Immortals. Folklore is very near and dear to me, and I tried to lean into it when writing Vulot. I wanted to communicate the menace and danger of them in a way that felt organic, like it had been discovered in some dusty cabinet in Sandpoint. I'm really proud of the result, and I'm so honored to have been part of the fantastic team that worked on this book.

Steven T. Helt

Steven T. Helt has been a Paizo contributor since 2013 when he won that year's RPG Superstar talent search. Since then, he's contributed to a number of products as author, designer, developer, and editor. Most of his credits are in the role of Famine of the Four Horsemen group, with dozens of products under his belt. His Paizo credits since Pathfinder Second Edition include the Kingmaker Adventure Path and War of Immortals, where he designed the apocalypse rider mythic destiny and the terrifying Weaver of Webs. You can let him know all about your character's tragic demise right here on the Paizo message boards!

Art by Firat Solhan

Brent Holtsberry

Brent Holtsberry: As a previous Venture-Captain, rules author, and GM of over 40 years, it was my great pleasure to work with Greg A. Vaughan to add to the lore of the Oliphaunt of Jandelay, and update the rules for the Oliphaunt for Pathfinder Second Edition play. I also enjoyed working with Matt Chapmond to bring the seneschal witch to life. It’s exciting to see these options published, and I look forward to hearing how everyone is using them at their tabletops!

AJ Neuro (he/him and they/them)

AJ Neuro (he/him and they/them): Hi everyone! I wrote the broken chain mythic destiny, and I loved every little piece of lore and crunch that went into it, so I hope it shows. As a Latin American author, the topic of revolution and standing up to tyrants permeates our collective history, and even still our present in some LatAm nations, so I had a lot to draw from. If you liked the broken chain, you might like more stuff I've written for Pathfinder Second Edition, and if you're looking for a GM, I run online games through Foundry, some of them in my setting of Ex Nihilo. You can find me on discord as AJNeuro or on reddit as MidSolo. Pura Vida!

Art by Firat Solhan

Tony Saunders

Hi, my name is Tony Saunders! I am one of the co-founders of Team+, which is where I spend most of my time writing these days. I have been credited under several Legendary Games titles, Battlezoo Bestiary: Strange and Unusual, the Gardener's Guide to Gaming, and a few other projects on DriveThruRPG and Pathfinder Infinite. What time I don't spend being a software engineer and father, I spend writing (mostly for TTRPGs). I wrote the beast lord mythic destiny, which was a lot of fun to write since I am a huge fan of companions and familiars in Pathfinder. Lucky to be a part of such a stacked team of authors.

Ruvaid Virk

Hi, I'm Ruvaid Virk (he/him)! You may know me from previous awesome Paizo books such as the Lost Omens Tian Xia Character + World Guides, Lost Omens Impossible Lands, or Dark Archive, to name a few. For this particular awesome Paizo book, I had a bloody good time working on the bloodrager class archetype! I'm quite excited for you all to play with the archetype, and for future stories with Trzikhun, the new bloodrager iconic! If you want to know more about my past work, you can visit https://ruvaidvirk.carrd.co/. You can also find me on the site formerly known as Twitter as @Darth_Ruvaider to tell me all about your cool bloodrager experiences. Cheers!

Michael Sayre (he/him)
Director of Rules & Lore

Hello, Starfinders!
It’s October, and that means it’s time to add a dash of spookiness to our Starfinder offerings! We’ve got missing people, ghosts, mysteries, mutations, mind control, and a dash of cosmic horror on the menu—oh, my!

First off, we’re returning to Arniselle, homeworld of the walrus-like morlamaws! A team of local Starfinders have gone missing while exploring an ancient, underwater ruin, and it’s up to you to descend beneath the waves and save them—if you can!

Starfinder Society Scenario #7-07: Submerged Stars is an adventure for 5th- through 8th-level characters written by Rigby Bendele.

Left to right: illustrations by Lucas Fernando and Jesus Iván Nolasco Fuentes

But that’s not all!

On the planet Vesk-8, on the fringes of the Veskarium, shimmerstone mines the world over have experienced sudden disasters—strange occurrences, missing miners, violent uprisings, and worse. Stranger yet, the mineral shimmerstone itself is changing, glowing an ominous red, rather than its typical comforting blue. Veskarium corporation Shim-Tek has hired a team of brave freelancers to enter their mine, investigate a strange disturbance, and rescue any imperiled miners still on site.

Starfinder Playtest Scenario #4: Rescue at Shimmerstone Mine is an adventure for 15th-level characters written by Jenny Jarzabski! This is a Starfinder Second Edition Playtest Scenario that takes place mere days after the birth of a Newborn god.

Be brave, Starfinders! Take care of each other out there.

Jessica Catalan
Starfinder Society Developer

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Happy fall, Pathfinders!
We’ve got two excellent adventures for you this month: a scenario and a quest.

First, we go to Silvertree Village, a small settlement within the Forest of Spirits in northern Tian Xia, not far off the Spirit Road—the trade route following the outskirts of that forest. It's a smaller river crossing, but is often used when the larger Ohira's inns are full, and some travelers even prefer using it. Or they did until a mysterious fog prevented anyone from reaching it. Word has reached the Pathfinder Society of this strange phenomenon and agents (that’s you) have been dispatched to investigate and resolve the issue. That’s easier said than done, though, as there will be challenges put for by a kami themselves, and in order to learn what has upset this being, something much more dangerous will be uncovered. Even we don't know what you’ll face, as we’ve given the GM plenty of options for extra replayability!

Both illustrations by Josef Kucera and

Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-05: Silver Bark, Golden Blades is a repeatable adventure for 1st- through 4th-level characters written by the excellent Hilary Moon Murphy.

Then we go to the other side of Golarion in Ravounel. Some disgruntled citizens in Kintargo, who preferred things under Chelaxian rule, have stolen some very sensitive information concerning the Pathfinder Society's trade dealings and routes. In the hands of enemies, this could put many agents at risk. Cheliax barely tolerates the Society on a good day, and if these thieves-who-would-be-spies can get the encrypted information into the hands of real Chelaxian intelligence operatives, Cheliax would likely relish its ability to do incalculable harm.

It's up to some intrepid Pathfinder agents (again, that’s you) to infiltrate the thieves' base of operations and steal the info back before these rabble rousers can send it off. Keeping things quiet will be key, though, as we definitely don't want to tip them off to what they really have.

Illustration by Kevin Sardinha

Pathfinder Society Series 2 Quest #21: Infernal Infiltration is a repeatable adventure for 1st- through 4th-level characters showcasing the infiltration subsystem. It was written by the amazing Shan Wolf. Don’t get caught!

Josh Foster
Pathfinder Society Developer

With the holiday season coming up, what better way to surprise the GM in your life than with a Paizo subscription? And while you’re at it, get one for yourself too! Paizo offers a variety of subscription options across our brands for rulebooks, adventures, accessories, and more.

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Paizo Advantage

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We meet once again! By the time this blog goes live, it’s likely that some of you canny subscribers will already have your PDFs in hand, so welcome to the last preview blog for War of Immortals! Larger than life mythic heroes demand equally terrifying threats, and we made sure to load some up for your adventures.

First, there’s a variety of mythic role templates. These role templates are based on four of the base road maps for monster creation presented in GM Core, to help make it easy to create your own mythic monsters from scratch, but they can be applied to any existing monster. Each of these templates is also presented with a pre-templated monster to show what it looks like in practice, so in addition to the monsters I’ll be talking about next (which have tons of story elements and hooks included), you also have stat blocks for the mythic gogiteth, mythic ogre boss, mythic lich, and mythic griffon to show simple examples of mythic monsters across a variety of levels.

The Oliphaunt’s rampage. Art by Sandra Posada.

However, truly mythic monsters are terrifying forces whose impact shapes the world itself, and we’ve packaged up seven of the most wondrous creatures imaginable to expand your games with. Each of these monsters includes a couple pages of lore and fiction showcasing them in the game world, as well as examples of how to deploy them in adventures across all levels of play. A party of 5th-level characters likely won’t face the demon lord Vulot directly in combat, but his activities can steer the course of their destinies even at that humble point in their careers!

Some mythic monsters, like the beautiful and ephemeral creatures known as sublime breaths, might use their mythic powers to evade the party. Relatively weak as a combatant, a sublime breath might dance forever out of the party’s reach while possessing an essential key to whatever plot they seek to unravel. Only by outwitting and outmaneuvering one of these elusive fey will the party be able to truly overcome the challenge they represent.

Other terrifying monsters like the kaiju Agyra might be engaged with as a disastrous series of hazards at lower levels, only for a party that survives an encounter to grow in power and finally face Agyra in true combat. Wielding mythic weapons, clad in mythic armor, and enshrined in mythic power, will your party be able to cut through Agyra’s conjured hurricanes and strike down one of the most massively monstrous creatures to ever terrorize Golarion?

To match might and wits with these mystical mythic monsters, be sure to preorder War of Immortals product page today!

Michael Sayre (he/him)
Director of Rules & Lore

A couple of weeks ago we answered the question, “What is Mythic?” That answer spoke to the foundational mythic rules you can find in War of Immortals, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only possible answer to the question.

The base system for mythic characters tracks alongside your character’s level. At low levels, mythic power is explosive; though highly limited in its applications, it provides a significant change in outcome when it’s applied. As you level up, your mythic power becomes more predictable and you gain access to a wider array of possible applications, but the degree to which it shifts the dial of success normalizes somewhat, reflecting the character’s growth into a mature mythic figure capable of reliably battling mythic threats. This was not the only concept for how mythic rules could be deployed, however. While working on this project, we imagined several alternative ways people might want to experience the mythic system.

Starstone Cathedral Transformed. Art by Sandra Posada.

What if you wanted to have an experience where you had one mythic character surrounded by a group of highly competent non-mythic characters, a la cult classic cartoon Mighty Max? What if you want the pacing of the mythic elements of your story to exist separately from standard level-based progression, either having your mythic power grow more slowly or instead having your mythic power outpace your level for more high-risk/high-octane adventures?

While we think that the mythic rules published in War of Immortals represent the ideal version of the system as we would like people to experience it, we wrote all kinds of alternate ideas that didn’t match that experience and didn’t fit inside what was already an impressively meaty book. Rather than letting those ideas gather dust in an untouched folder, we thought we’d share them with you!

On the War of Immortals product page, you’ll find a link to a web PDF product titled “Mythic Variant Rules” that gives you a variety of new ways to play with the mythic system in your home games! These rules aren’t necessarily as stable a table experience as the ones we printed in the main book, but we expect that the right group might find them invaluable and a great way to push the boundaries of the game. We’ve also made sure to attach the ORC license to this product, to ensure easy use of these alternate rules and ideas by any 3pp contributors out there!

Pop on over to the product page, preorder War of Immortals if you haven’t already, and download this free expansion product today! You’ll also notice that while we were putting this PDF together, we went ahead and slipped in a handful of clarifications onto the final page to make your battles in the War of Immortals just a little bit smoother and easier to use.

Michael Sayre (he/him)
Director of Rules & Lore

Greetings Starfinders! We’ve received a starship-load of data thanks to your feedback and continued participation in the Starfinder Second Edition Playtest! This exciting evolution in our game’s future includes some of the feedback we’ve received in the surveys that will remain up for submissions and edits until December 31st.

A Pahtra Sniper Operative, our first preview art from Starfinder Player Core.
Art by Cagdas Demiralp

Below are the highlights of this errata, but make sure to check out the Second Edition Playtest FAQ for the details of each change:

Chapter 2: Ancestries

• Barathu: Manifold Evolution only lets you select lower level feats.
• Opportunistic Hug: You can use Titan Wrestler to hug big friends.
• Skittermander and Kasatha: You can Climb using inactive hands.

Chapter 3: Classes

• Envoy: Effortless influencer is higher level, and Distant Feint gives Feint the emotion trait.
• Mystic: You know the Hit Points totals of your bonded allies, you regain all your Vitality Network when you Refocus, Transfer Vitality always heals void creatures, you become expert in Perception at level 11, Group Chat now gets you Network Spell (and it’s stronger), Force Connection is now a feat, shadow connection works against darkvision, Adaptive Defense has a transfer cost, and elemental mystic’s elemental weapon spell now scales properly.
• Operative: You begin Expert in Will, Snipers now ignore unwieldy all the time, Strikers can now use unarmed Strikes and should be able to use their melee weapons with most Operative features and feats, Hair Trigger now only applies to your last Aimed enemy, Relentless Aim now ricochets, Double Draw Twin Draw gives you an Aim, and you can no longer quality for Twin Shooter with an Ancestry feat.
• Solarian: Let there be the light trait (while photon-attuned). You can also pick up two-handed solar weapons, your class DC scales better, and Black Hole/Super Nova no longer cycle. You also no longer get armor specialization.
• Soldier: Primary target now Strikes before you hit with an area attack or automatic fire, decreasing the target’s successful save into a failure. Run Hot will overheat your gun. Hammer the Nail now knocks prone.
• Witchwarper: Witchwarper gets Quantum Pulse as a class feature at 1st level. Restorative Recollection has been revised. Infinite Magic can’t be used with 10th-rank spells.

Chapter 6: Equipment

• Weapons: Neural lash has the analog trait. Force needle has 1 upgrade slot. Crossbolter is in the crossbow group.
• Armor Upgrades: Explosive Defense unit grants resistance instead of non-stacking save bonuses.
• Weapon Upgrades: Nothing can stop you from deploying your advanced tripod as much as you want.
• Augmentations: Cardiac Accelerator and Speed Suspensions have been fixed.
• Medical Items: The cost of elite and ultimate hypopens has been fixed.

Chapter 7: Spells

• Adhere: We have separated the Reflex save from adhere.
• Akashic Revival: Akashic revival is a ten minute spell.
• Analyze Target: Analyze target grants a status bonus.
• Atomic Blast: Atomic blast uses a basic Reflex save, and the radiation uses your Spellcasting DC.
• Void Whispers: Void whispers uses all three actions to move.
• Vibe Check: After checking its vibe, we’ve removed the incapacitation trait from vibe check.
• Elemental Weapon: Elementalweapon now scales properly.

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We know there are other areas that need attention, but some of those require more systemic changes that aren’t appropriate midstream and need tinkering “in the workshop.” Here are some elements on our radar we want people to know about but aren’t not quite ready to act on yet:

• reviewing overall mechanics for grenades and missiles
• envoy getting some abilities to Size Up in combat
• solarian Solar Shot becoming more like a weapon that works alongside weapon crystals; change to range increment instead of range
• punching up effectiveness on Disharmony trait abilities for the solarian
• looking at the size of the quantum field, as well as baking in Transposition to be part of the base class chassis

Thank you again for all your help with our playtest—we can’t wait to see more survey data! And once you’re ready to explore some higher level play, check out Empires Devoured and Rescue at Shimmerstone Minereleasing at the end of October, and Wheel of Monsters available today!

—The Starfinder Team

The Second Playtest Adventure

Hey Starfinders!
It’s been a bit since we checked in, but today we’re excited to provide some further details on the soon-to-be-released Starfinder Second Edition Playtest Adventure: Empires Devoured written by… uh, me! Me being Thurston Hillman, Associate Publisher and creative head for Starfinder.

There’s going to be some spoilers ahead, so BUCKLE UP! (Also, have some cool art.)

Illustration by Ivan Koritarev

Empires Devoured is our mid–high level adventure that starts at 10th level and places the PCs right at the signing of a peace treaty between the Azlanti Star Empire and the Veskarium on the conflicted world of Kehtaria in the city of Atuity (somewhere showcased in Starfinder Ports of Call). It’s a historic moment, with the PCs arriving in system on the acclaimed Sunrise Maiden starship to act as observers from the Pact Worlds. Everything is going great… until it’s not.

See, there’s been some upheaval in the Star Empire, and as the adventure progresses, the PCs quickly learn about a new Azlanti leader. This leader (a fellow we’ve previewed on the Starfinder GMCore cover) doesn’t quite have intergalactic peace as part of their grand vision, and they unleash their armada and armies to put an end to the peace treaty. It’s up to the PCs—well, when is it not up to them, really?—to step up and protect Atuity from attackers.

Some diehard Pathfinder First Edition fans might notice some similarities between a particular creature summoned by the Azlanti and a divine herald confronted long ago during a notable Pathfinder Society Scenario. What can I say, I love a good lore deep cut.

Illustration by Renan Maurilio

Of course, protecting a world from the nascent war of two interstellar powers isn’t enough. No, there’s a lot more going behind the scenes that the PCs are going to need to suss out and then confront head on. That threat might want to explode a chain of suns, so it’s a BIG deal.

However, along the way, there may be casualties… pour one out for everyone’s favorite starship.

Illustration by Ridell Apellanes

That covers it for big spoilers for the adventure. StarfinderEmpires Devoured is about setting up the future for Starfinder in Second Edition, as well as giving the players a chance to be “big damn heroes” during a major galactic event.

As part of the playtest period, this adventure is also a chance for us to get more people playtesting Starfinder Second Edition. Speaking of which, stay tuned for tomorrow, when the Starfinder team will be unleashing the next wave of errata, along with more extensive updates focused around some of the classes—can you say, hello two-handed weapon solarians?

Thanks all! I really hope you enjoy this monumental adventure that I got to write.

Thurston Hillman
Associate Publisher

While mythic stories often focus on heroes who use cunning and strength to outwit or overpower their foes, Pathfinder is also a world of high magic. Powerful spellcasters might leverage an understanding of the four essences of matter, mind, spirit, and life to unlock the secrets of reality, or they might create bonds with magical entities who channel the power of one of the four traditions of arcane, divine, occult, or primal magic into them. Whatever the nature of a character’s spellcasting ability, they are certain to extend to entirely new heights by blending it with mythic power.

Not including mythic feats and mythic items, there are two types of mythic magic presented in War of Immortals: mythic spells and mythic rituals.

Samo awakens the ocean.
Illustration by Oleksii Chernik

Mythic spells can only be cast by mythic characters, and they require expending a Mythic Point as part of their casting. These spells cover all four traditions and cover all spell ranks from 1st to 10th. They span the gamut from the whimsical 3rd-rank travel by turtle, which summons a massive turtle that can eventually carry you and an entire army across oceans, to devastating spells of ultimate power, like the 10th-rank incarnate spell summon Oliphaunt of Jandelay, which brings forth a manifestation of one of the most fearsome avatars of annihilation to obliterate your foes.

Mythic rituals take longer to cast, requiring a primary caster capable of making a given check at mythic proficiency and a number of supporting casters, but their effects are even farther-reaching and typically more permanent. The terrifying 8th-rank awaken curse ritual imbues a curse with life and sentience, transforming it into a predatory force resistant to being counteracted and capable of spreading itself to new victims. The potent 9th-rank ocean’s roar ritual can bring a great body of water to life, transforming a lake or sea into an elemental capable of causing tsunamis and choosing who it allows to travel across, under, or through it.

These spells and rituals aren’t the only tools your magical characters can find in War of Immortals; there are also mythic feats like Mythic Magic and destinies like the limitless Wildspell. Be among the first to follow your Mythic Calling by pre-ordering Pathfinder War of Immortals or subscribing to the Pathfinder Rulebook line today!

Michael Sayre (he/him)
Director of Rules & Lore

Illustration by Raphael Madureira

Urwal, the enigmatic leader of the Verdant Wheel faction of the Pathfinder Society, took stock of his garden. He decided Skyreach needed a rooftop garden all on his own when he’d chided Sorrina Westyr, the Master of Spells, that the building itself was lacking in nature’s presence. She’d replied that he should try growing a garden on the grounds. Thinking that an excellent solution, he’d secretly transported soil, bricks, and fish for fertilizer near to the top of Skyreach, the towering headquarters of the Pathfinders in Absalom. Urwal had found a location with just enough flat area to create the garden he felt the building needed. He’d also make treks to various springs across Kortos, the island on which Absalom was built, drawing from different sources (in a pattern only he would understand) to water the plant life he nurtured in secret. It took years, but the project was finally bearing fruit—literally.

He decided that its presence should be unknown to the rest of the organization, until the time was right. A garden atop the building should have been noteworthy of notice, but it surprised him just how rarely people looked up. Likely those who did just assumed it was supposed to be there. Though the garden was not a neat and tidy thing and instead resembled a sort of wild thicket in the sky, bordered by magically strengthened brickwork to keep the soil in. There was, of course, a reason for each plant and a purpose for their placement, but Urwal saw no need to share such things. He believed that anyone with the talent and patience to study the stars would understand why he does whatever he does. Though recent events had left even the pillar of self-assuredness that is Urwal incredibly shaken.

Illustration by Valeria Lutfullina

It was not long ago that an incredible and terrifying sight filled the sky: Achaekek slew Gorum, and parts of the now-dead god rained down upon Golarion. Urwal had been going more often to this garden after seeing that spectacle and hearing reports of its effects across the world. This garden was a place of calm for him, where he hoped to find clarity to help guide the Society forward, but even that was failing him now. “I should have seen something in the stars.” He sighed, expressing his frustration to the immobile plants atop the otherwise empty rooftop. He continued quietly to himself, “Omens may be lost, but I’ve seen many hints of things to come before. But this Godsrain, I saw no sign of it. Gave no preparations. Agents were in danger and I did not prepare them.” He paused, looking over his garden. “I must do better.”

Illustration by Mark Tarrisse

Urwal’s bright yellow scales shone in the afternoon sun as he went to water the various plant life he’d nurtured atop the grand spire, finally finding some mental peace. He even allowed himself a chuckle as he thought of the reaction Ambrus Valsin, the venture-captain in charge of day-to-day operations in Skyreach, would have when this garden was revealed. “It’ll need to happen when Ambrus is in a good mood. He’ll complain about it, but he’ll come around.” As he moved to water a rather healthy raspberry bush, he noticed an unnatural shine coming from the berries upon it. It reminded him of the silver that rained from the sky the day Gorum fell.

“What have we here?” he asked himself as he quickly finished watering the remainder of his garden before moving to examine the berries more closely. His troubles forgotten, he spent the remaining afternoon into the evening studying the altered fruit. Bringing the full suite of his knowledge to bear, Urwal was able to determine a few things. First, the berries now held divine power within them. He’d heard stories of those who were touched by the silver rains gaining power, but it was strange that only the berries seemed affected and not any of the other myriad plants he’d raised. “Might be the water choice,” he mused as he considered the various springs he’d transport water from. “It’s possible any one of those could be the source,” he thought aloud, recalling the complex web of watering choices largely determined by his astrological readings. Second, these berries did not ripen further or seem to change at all once removed from the bush. “Maybe I didn’t notice the coming of the Godsrain, but it would seem I made preparations all the same.”

Illustration by Riccardo Rullo

The coming days were filled with experiments and tests, until Urwal decided that he wasn’t going to learn anything significant without some risk. He ate one of the berries. The effect was immediate. It wasn’t so much that he grew stronger as it was that he was more himself than he’d ever been. The confidence he’d always felt concerning his path almost glowed within. “This is… divinity?” An ember of power glowed within him, though he could feel that its power was temporary. “Oh my. These, these must be kept close and safe. I will find a way to use them. The stars will know. This time, I will be better. I will see that they’re prepared for whatever it is that would have our agents needing such power.” A grin crossed his lizard-like face. “After all. I planted these for a reason. Now I need only find out what that reason is.”

Josh Foster
Pathfinder Society Developer

Friends, the time has come to forge a new history for the orcs of Belkzen!

The Holds of Belkzen have tenuously come together thanks to the vision and martial prowess of their leader, Ardax the White-Hair, to stand against Tar-Baphon. However, this peace is fragile as ambitions stir and conspirators whisper against the current leadership. Aware that a nation divided can’t stand against its foes, Ardax has invited a group of dignitaries to a special event: Torrentmoot, where old grudges will be soothed, and history will be made!

The PCs are among these dignitaries, working to further their own ambitions and hoping to witness the historic formation of a truly unified Belkzen. But not everyone is interested in peace, and some would prefer to drag the worst parts of the orcs’ history out of the past and into the present.

Inside the Triumph of the Tusk Player’s Guide, you’ll find player-friendly, spoiler-free lore and tips to create an exciting character suited for the Triumph of the Tusk Adventure Path. Contents include:

• An overview of the orc nation of the Holds of Belkzen, orc culture, and orc faiths.
• Character advice, including ways various character classes and ancestries might excel in this Adventure Path.
• Six new character backgrounds specifically designed for this Adventure Path, including Badlands Scout, Empty Hand Loyalist, and Self-Made.
• A list of potential patrons and advice about why your character might be at Torrentmoot.

Join the orcs of Belkzen in protecting their homeland!
Download the Player's Guide, preorder Triumph of the Tusk or subscribe to the Pathfinder Adventure Path line today!

Greetings, ‘Finders! We’re excited to join our Latine contributors in celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from September 15th – October 15th here in the United States of America! Since 1988, this cultural heritage month has celebrated Hispanic and Latine contributions to culture, science, history, and art!

This year’s theme is “Pioneers of Change: Shaping the Future”—a focus on Hispanic and Latine people paving the way for future generations. As part of our call for contributors, we asked folks who those pioneers were in their own lives!

But enough from me. Let me turn it over to some of our lovely Latine writers!

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Joseph Blomquist (he/him)

¿Qué es la que hay? For those who don’t know me, I’m Joe, a Nuyorican freelancer known for scene-stealing ambiance and annoyingly attractive NPCs (just ask my devs). But today I get to talk about one of the pillars in my family: my granduncle, Rudy.

In 1960, the Washington Senators (eventually the Minnesota Twins) signed the first Dominican-born pitcher in Major League Baseball, Rudy Hernández (beating Juan Marichal by two weeks). Rudy grew up in New York, with our family avoiding much of Trujillo’s reign in the Dominican Republic (despite a few of El Jefe’s diplomats coming from our family). In those days, most of the Dominican and Puerto Rican players were close, playing in the Caribbean winter leagues, and it was his friend, Roberto Clemente, who finally convinced Rudy to become a pitcher. After pitching for both incarnations of the Washington Senators, Rudy continued in Triple-A baseball throughout the 60s. Eventually, he became a scout for the Orioles and Cubs and returned to Puerto Rico to coach for the Department of Sports and Recreation, for Orlando Cepeda’s baseball school, and to run his own baseball camp in San Juan. He passed in 2022.

Baseball wasn’t my sport, but that never mattered to Tío Rudy. For as little time as I got to spend with him, his tireless cultivation of Caribbean Latine talent for the sport he loved inspired my own desires to help grow our community with new and diverse voices. He taught me to persevere despite setbacks and how to set my goals high while still being flexible enough to change the game as needed.

Would you like to know more?
Follow me on Bluesky (@doctormono.bsky.social) or check out my recent Paizo releases: SFS Special #6-99: The End Awakens, PFS Scenario #5-05: The Island of the Vibrant Dead, the Mechageddon! Adventure Path, and more to come orita!

Art by Artur Nakhodkin

Carlos Cabrera (he/they)

Hi everyone! For this year’s theme, I wanted to focus on the person who helped set me on my path: my late father.

To begin, I can say I definitely got my sense of humor from him. We are a mixed-race family, and he used to say that he was Cornucopian because he was so many things and that he came from Cornucopia. In my childhood, I grew up with a younger sister and two older brothers. It wasn’t until much later that I found out I had even more siblings, but back when it was just the four of us, my brothers and I each had a separate video game console. I had an Intellivision, Felipe had a Vectrex, and Esteban (we all call him Rico) had a Colecovision. Later, when I upgraded to an NES and then the SEGA Genesis, I found the game that made me decide what I wanted to do with my life— Flashback: The Quest for Identity (womp womp).

There’s a lot I wish I could show my dad nowadays, but most importantly of all, I want to tell him that it worked. At least part-time, anyway. I’m sure for him it would be more than enough.

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We welcome our Hispanic and Latine community members to share their stories in the comments!

In solidarity,

Rue Dickey
Marketing & Media Specialist

Hey Paizo family!
We at BKOM have some thrilling news about Pathfinder: Abomination Vaults, and it’s all thanks to your incredible support! Let’s dive into the latest updates, starting with a stunning character revamp and a sneak peek at some fresh gameplay images.

Meet the New Harsk

Our favorite dwarf ranger, Harsk, just got a serious glow-up! We’ve reworked his character model, adding amazing texture details and smoother animations. Now, he looks more realistic and battle-ready than ever. You’ll feel even more immersed as you fight through dungeons with him by your side!

Concept Art Reveal: Crow's Casks

Step inside Crow's Casks, a cozy brewery run by a retired pirate, Magiloy. Adventurers like you will find this spot perfect for gathering rumors (and drinking ale) before braving the dangerous Abomination Vaults.

New Gameplay Images

We’re also excited to share a few in-game images showcasing our ongoing work with Unreal Engine 5. The environments are packed with dynamic details and lush textures that bring the world of Golarion to life. It’s looking awesome—but remember, this is early footage!

Playtest Feedback

To those who participated in our latest playtest—thank you! The feedback has been incredible. Players loved the visual effects, smooth combat, and fun character-switching mechanics. And the best part? Over 97% of players said they’d recommend the game based on the prototype!

Contest Alert: Win an Exclusive Playtest Key!

To celebrate, we’re giving away 10 exclusive playtest keys PLUS Amazon gift cards! Don’t miss your chance to dive into the action early and share your thoughts.

How to Enter:

Head to our contest link, and you might be one of the lucky winners. Good luck!

Thanks again for your continued support. Stay tuned for more updates and follow us on Discord, Twitter, and Facebook to keep up with all the latest news.

Cheers,
The Pathfinder: Abomination Vaults team

Follow us:

Discord | Twitter | Twitch | Facebook | Sign up to our newsletter | Wishlist on Steam

Welcome friends! We are now checks watch about 26 days away from the release of War of Immortals, and there’s an important question I wanted to answer for all of you. Namely, “What is mythic?”

For those of you who played Pathfinder First Edition or Owlcat’s CRPG conversion of the Wrath of the Righteous Adventure Path, you might have an idea. In those games, mythic was an extra layer of power and resource that sat on top of your normal character, elevating and enhancing them to incredible levels of power via mythic paths, which were not entirely dissimilar to Pathfinder Second Edition’s archetypes (assuming you use the free archetype variant rules, and all the archetypes were super juiced with options that kick the ceiling off the base game!).

For War of Immortals, we went back to the roots of all the inspirations that went into the previous iterations of mythic rules and reimagined them from the ground up as a unique storytelling tool to enhance the narrative abilities of Pathfinder Second Edition.

Samo and Nahoa tell their story to the orcs of Belkzen. Art by Oleksii Chernik.

Mythic adventures take their inspiration from legends, folktales, and other storytelling traditions around the world. These tales use wordplay and rarefied prose to convey moral lessons and tell stories that often defy logic. Mythic heroes and villains, even at lower levels of play, possess fantastical powers that are unbound by physics, and their ability to impact the narrative of the game world is often much more profound than is typical for a PC or NPC. To tell these stories we use five essential elements: Mythic Points, mythic proficiency, Callings, mythic feats, and mythic destinies.

When you first gain mythic power, this is expressed by your mythic Calling. Your calling gives you a unique way to spend and regain Mythic Points, makes you exceptionally hard to kill, presents you with a set of edicts and anathemas related to the purpose of your mythic power, and gives you the special Rewrite Fate ability, which allows you to use a Mythic Point to reroll a skill check or saving throw at mythic proficiency.

Mythic proficiency is a proficiency tier beyond legendary. Where legendary proficiency gives you a proficiency bonus of +8, mythic proficiency gives you a proficiency bonus of +10, and you might be able to use your mythic proficiency in specific ways as early as 1st level, allowing you to overcome challenges that would normally be far beyond a character of your level!

Mythic feats give you new ways to utilize your Mythic Points. Many of these expand the types of checks or other rolls you can make at mythic proficiency. Others, like the Divert Destiny mythic feat presented below, allow you to seize control of the narrative and dictate how your story unfolds.

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DIVERT DESTINY [free-action] (FEAT 6)

Uncommon, Mythic

Trigger An attack or effect would reduce you to 0 Hit Points or kill you outright.

You defy the fate before you, calling on wells of mythic vitality to sustain your life and allow you to persevere. You expend 1 Mythic Point and survive the triggering attack or effect, lose the wounded or dying conditions entirely, don’t increase your doomed condition, and are conscious and standing with a number of Hit Points equal to 10 + your level, regardless of how many Hit Points you had before.

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The final element of the new mythic rules, mythic destinies, gives you even more fantastic abilities and helps enshrine your character with an eternal place in the game world. Characters inclined toward cruelty or entropy might gain the apocalypse rider mythic destiny and spread war or famine across the world. Benevolent characters might instead become an ascended celestial, joining the heavenly ranks as an angel or azata to fight evil for all time. Characters with stronger ties to the mortal world might become prophesied monarchs or eternal legends, mighty leaders who are constantly reborn when the world needs them most. A rare few might even seek to complete the mythic destiny of a godling, joining the ranks of ascended deities like Irori and Iomedae!

Seelah shines with a godling’s mythic power! Art by Firat Solhan.

Whatever your chosen path as a mythic character is, you have a potent array of tools and options available to achieve a destiny that will carry you beyond the heroic, past the legendary, and allow you to become truly mythic!

Michael Sayre (he/him)
Director of Rules & Lore

OPC Musings

I’m sorry, you mean to tell me it’s October already? I’m pretty sure I just got back from Gen Con. Time flies when the leaves are falling, I guess!

We’ve got a quick update for you this month, so I wanted to highlight a couple of things here at the top. Every year I see people ask for spooky scenarios for October, so Rue put together a collection of some of our spookiest, creepiest, and downright scariest adventures on the blog!

As some of you with keen eyes noticed, I did some poking around in the backend a couple of weeks ago to start setting up Starfinder Society (second edition). In doing so, I temporarily moved the Acquisitives faction into the new program. I have put it back where it belongs and I don’t believe any characters were harmed in the process, but if you notice lingering issues, please do let me know!

Digital Adventure Releases

These adventures will be available on October 30, 2024.

Pathfinder Society

Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-05: Silver Bark, Golden Blades*

Pathfinder Quest (Series 2) #21: Infernal Infiltration

Starfinder Society

Starfinder Society Scenario #7-07: Submerged Stars*

Starfinder Playtest Scenario #4: Rescue at Shimmerstone Mine

*part of a subscription

Sanctioning

A quiet month on the sanctioning front! We did manage to get Pathfinder adventure Prey for Death’s sanctioning documents out even before last month’s blog was posted, so you can now enjoy assassinating some folks and earning credit for PFS in the process! The Pathfinder Curtain Call Adventure Path is just about ready to be posted at press time, so keep an eye out for that as well.

This month, of course, the big news is Pathfinder War of Immortals and its two new classes. We’ll have that ready for you on its delayed street date, October 30 (sorry, shipping issues!). Pathfinder Lost Omens Divine Mysteries is also chugging along and will be posted in November upon release.

GM Recognition

GM Ranks

Whether stars, novas, or glyphs, achieving a 5 ranking in any program involves a substantial amount of time. To achieve the 5th milestone, a GM must run 150 games, of which at least 50 must be unique scenarios and 10 special scenarios as well as run between one and three games for venture-captains (program dependent). A conservative estimate of the time needed to reach the 5th milestone is 650 hours!

This month we had five different GMs reach their fifth rank!

5th Glyph (PFS2): Jesse Butz, Hilary Moon Murphy, Robert Parker, Hali Peterson

5th Nova(SFS1): Matthew Vertz

If you believe you’ve completed your 5th rank but haven’t been announced yet, please email me at organizedplay@paizo.com.

Conventions

Convention season may be winding down, but we’ve still got plenty of local conventions on the horizon! Check out the Conventions calendar for dozens of upcoming events to get your Paizo fix in.

We’re also still seeking GMs to join us at PAX Unplugged in December! Run three games for us and you’ll get a free badge into the show. This show will be the first chance for you to try out the new Pathfinder Quest board game, and you won’t want to miss that!

Until next time Pathfinders—Explore! Report! Cooperate! And watch out for spooky scary skeletons!

Alex Speidel
Organized Play Coordinator

As the clock strikes midnight on October 1st, the peak of spooky season rears its head and beckons you closer… Whether you celebrate Halloween with sweets and smiles or delve into more terrifying tales, we have a selection of games and accessories to spice up your fall game night!

Pathfinder Bundle of the Dead

Now through October 10^th, get Pathfinder Book of the Dead, Pathfinder Adventure Path: Blood Lords, and so much more on Humble Bundle! A portion of this frightfully good deal goes to Take This, a charity focused on mental health in gaming!

Multi-Night Scares!

Want to run an adventure through all of October? Try one of these standalone adventures designed to take characters through several levels of play!

Pathfinder Adventure: Malevolence

A horror-themed adventure starting at 3^rd level. This adventure is accompanied by Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Malevolence.

Pathfinder Adventure: Night of the Gray Death

A Gothic horror adventure starting at 16^th level. This adventure is accompanied by Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Night of the Gray Death.

Frights Within the Pages

Some rulebooks contain more than just options—adventures await with the cracking of the spine! These adventures are found inside hardcover rulebooks, which include spooky character options and creatures for your table!

“March of the Dead” (Pathfinder Book of the Dead)

Pathfinder Book of the Dead is flush with undead options, including this 3-4 hour adventure for 3^rd level characters. Build a zombie, ghost, lich, or vampire, and explore the town of Fiorna’s Faith.

Get the Pathfinder Book of the Dead as a PDF or physical copy in our Pathfinder Bundle of the Dead!

“Lady of the Harvest” (Pathfinder Dark Archive)

Pathfinder Dark Archive brings mystery, intrigue, and paranormal power to your table with two classes: the thaumaturge and the psychic, as well as a host of other paranormal options! This adventure, “Lady of the Harvest,” is one of eight case files from the Dark Archive of mysteries.

A Season of Haunts!

If you’d like to take your spooky season game long-term, check out these Adventure Paths that are sure to rattle your bones!

Pathfinder Adventure Path: Season of Ghosts

This four-part Adventure Path for levels 1-12 tasks characters with discovering the mysteries of Willowshore, a haunted town in the nation of Shenmen!

Pathfinder Adventure Path: Blood Lords

This six-part Adventure Path for levels 1-20 follows a party of characters as they rise through the ranks to rule a land of the dead!

Pathfinder Adventure Path: Gatewalkers

This three-part Adventure Path explores a cosmic mystery that has left people missing their memories and possessing new, unknown powers.

Starfinder Adventure Path: Signal of Screams

This three-part Adventure Path explores a luxury cruise gone wrong, afflicted by a mysterious disease that turns regular patrons into killers.

One Shots

Planning a spooky game night? Grab one of these chilling Pathfinder or Starfinder adventures designed to be played in a single sitting!

Pathfinder Bounty #3: Shadows and Scarecrows

A Pathfinder Bounty for 1^st level characters, playable in 1-2 hours.

Pathfinder Bounty #21: Against the Unliving

A Pathfinder Bounty designed for 3rd-level characters, playable in 1-2 hours.

Pathfinder Quest 15: In the Footsteps of Horror

A Pathfinder Society Quest designed for 1st- through 4th-level characters, playable in 2-3 hours.

Pathfinder Society Scenario #1-03: Escaping the Grave

A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 1-4, playable in 3-4 hours.

Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-02: Return to the Grave

A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 1-4, playable in 3-4 hours.

Pathfinder Society Scenario #1-25: Grim Symphony

A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 5-8, playable in 3-4 hours.

Pathfinder Society Scenario #5-05: Island of the Vibrant Dead

A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 3-6, playable in 3-4 hours.

Starfinder Playtest Scenario #2: It Came From the Vast!

A Starfinder Second Edition Playtest adventure designed for 5th-level characters, playable in 2-3 hours.

Starfinder Bounty #11: The Aucturn Dilemma

A Starfinder Bounty designed for 4th-level characters, playable in 1-2 hours.

Starfinder Society Scenario #6-08: Lost Revelry

A Starfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 5-8, playable in 3-4 hours.

Ghoulish Gifts and Accessories

Add some flair to your table or your home!

Pathfinder Battles: Armies of the Dead (Pre-Order Now!)

Whether you’re looking for boosters of minis to bolster your ranks of undead or stunning your table with the premium Death Coach, Gholdako, and Yamaraj miniatures, our friends at WizKids have a variety of miniatures perfect for fright night!

Pathfinder Phunny Plush: Gourd Leshy

Not everything spooky has to be scary! Pre-order this sweet pumpkin leshy plushie for the fall collector in your life.

From all of us at Paizo, we wish you a spectacularly spooky fall!

Victory and Total Party Kill!
We have a saying in the Order: We don’t start campaigns, we finish them. Yet, no matter how many times we find ourselves at the end of an Adventure Path, it still feels nostalgic and we never take it for granted. Having played more than 160 published adventures to date, we’re extremely fortunate to have seen the bottom of so many dungeons, the end of so many stories, and we always make sure to toast when we reach the final encounter. Our headquarters in New Jersey has a shelf with champagne bottles that read “Giantslayer,” “Strange Aeons,” “Ruins of Azlant,” and more.

Our last marathon of Abomination Vaults was everything you’d hope from the finale of an Adventure Path. The sheer number of hours we clocked dwarfed all previous marathons of this project. We hardly slept, played our hardest, and even Golarion’s pantheon took notice. Rovagug delivered a 4.7 earthquake that shook our miniatures on the opening day, followed by Sarenrae and Tsukiyo providing us a solar eclipse after a 22-hour session to close out. Across the last decade of our Pathfinder projects, this marathon will always rank among the best, and you just had to be there.

Before you read the ending, get caught up:

• Introduction
• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4
• Part 5
• Part 6

After eighteen months of real time, our party of gunslingers had worked its way down through ten levels of Paizo’s largest megadungeon! We managed to get the doors open to some kind of temple that felt like it predated the construction of the Abomination Vaults themselves. This had to be it. This was the bottom level.

• Adventure: Eyes of Empty Death
• Marathon Length: 69 hours, 45min
• Session Hours: 51 hours, 25min

Highlights from Marathon 7:

□ Let’s start with the adult black dragon that we mentioned in the last blog. Never have we laid waste to any dragon in the fashion that we did here. Terrain was in its favor but irrelevant: Standing knee-deep in a swampy cavern doesn’t matter if your only actions are shoot, reload, shoot. Zoric, our unexpected sharpshooter, redefined the Black Arrow for Pathfinder when he landed a critical hit with his arquebus for 102 damage. Still, the dragon got a nice breath weapon off, along with a couple other attacks. We suppose it did take two rounds to bring it down – that’s just being respectful. About as respectful as cueing up “Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun” on our soundtrack while we sorted through its treasure.

 □ We had to face a horde of Urdefhan to get their Emerald Fulcrum Lens and progress deeper into the Vaults. They had already summoned daemons, as you can see in the photo. The problem though, was that the author allowed our GM to decide if their current summoning ritual was successful or not. Of course it was, and Adam had a leukodaemon show up. Still, the bloodsuckers wanted bloodshed, and blood is what they got. Ever blow a hole through a transparent creature? It’s pretty cool.

□ The bottom level of the Abomination Vaults came complete with encounters that drew from all our experiences in the levels above. A month before the marathon, our GM gave us an assignment in the campaign’s Google Classroom: We had to submit three of our moments of success, along with three of our moments of failure throughout the campaign. The Path of Pleasant Memories on level ten thus became a fun tour through our favorite moments, remembered with fondness and smiles. The Path of Failure, however, was anything but. Adam turned this into a GM roast of the players with our lists of shortcomings – embellished further to his glee – and we had to take it in stride.

□ There are scenes in classic westerns where the protagonists get surprised by a circle of enemies on a ridge. We entered a room with a surrounding upper gallery that had a bunch of slits in the walls. It took us a second to realize the gallery was occupied by undead with blowguns, and the slits were for firing lanes – at us. What encounter could be more suited to a party of gunslingers than what the author himself described as a shooting gallery? Our steely performance here would have made those who had to settle for the O.K. Corral jealous. Everyone did their job, concentrated their fire on individual specters, and we pulled through with just a few pin pricks.

□ A bunch of glass golems were guarding an old section of Nhimbaloth’s temple on level ten. There was fantastic original art for them, and we guessed this might be a serious encounter for some groups. Asking us to shoot out windows with our BB guns that bypass physical resistance 10? Come on. This one was over so fast, including a competition to see if anyone could top the highest damage total in the campaign. Lady Sniper’s 82-damage shot was outdone by a 92-damage critical hit with Spellsling from our beast gunner. We couldn’t decide on whether Mazatl and his Penetrating Fire double-critical-hit counted.

Character Deaths

□ Deep in the cavern complex that comprises dungeon level nine, Belcorra seized another opportunity to ambush us. We’ve heard plenty of players over the years say “yeah, phantasmal killer is decent I guess, but they have to miss BOTH saving throws.” Vlai, founder of the Black Powder Cadre, missed both saves.

The Arsenal

Our goal with this project was to prove that you didn’t need balance or any specific role in a party to be successful in Pathfinder. We’re proud to have accomplished that goal. The outcome of the last encounter had nearly everything to do with prior decisions our players made on level ten, and very little to do with our characters or party composition. We have a lot of data and behind-the-scenes material to release in the wrap-up blog to come, which will help tell a larger story of how stable the game of Pathfinder 2E truly is – even with a severely unbalanced party of gunslingers. For now, we’ll celebrate another successful project in the books!

Best Quote from Marathon 7

(a trap goes off in a small room, and gas begins to fill the chamber)

Adam: “There are seven holes in the ceiling, each no larger than the size of a human finger.”

Theodora: “Okay, we could stick our fingers in the holes?”

Jody: “Just don’t use your trigger finger.”

The Final Fight

There she was, the ghost queen herself, flying high in one of the most impressive chambers we’d come across in this megadungeon. Accompanying her were four soul feeders: elite dread wisps we had unknowingly sent to the final battle from a previous encounter. Needless to say, we were sweating bullets. So much so, that we opened up with a fusillade of vicious anti-aircraft fire. Grundak began with his barricade buster, also known around the table as the 20mm cannon. Critical hit. The rest of us continued our blaze of glory, and with scrolls of ghostly weapon the results were staggering. The queen of the vaults suffered so much damage that she had no choice but to return fire with her nastiest spell first: phantasmal calamity. Breen, our medic, rolled a natural one and went down hard. We exchanged shots while the dread wisps surrounded us and began to use their Feed on Despair ability to devastating extent. It’s key to mention that we came in with many characters having been drained by an encounter with an isqulug, which allowed the wisps to use Feed on Despair from the start. Mazatl, Way of the Spellshot, held his breath one last time and zeroed in on his target. Critical hit to the incorporeal dome, completely destroying the ghost queen! Dropping Belcorra Haruvex in barely three rounds will always have a place in the annals of Amber Die history, but it didn’t stop the wisps from adding us to the pile of legends too. We weren’t exactly sure what we needed to do with the fulcrum lenses we had acquired in the levels above, and now Belcorra was gone. Tess Rajani, Way of the Drifter, made a last stand and tried everything she could to invest the lenses into what was left of Belcorra’s essence in the room, but to no avail. Yet, for everyone at the table who took our radical party of gunslingers through hundreds of hours of encounters, this was just a single fight.

Even though Belcorra won – so did we.

More Content

Our table was brought to life with the help of Blue Table Painting for the miniatures, and Black Bard Studios for custom adventure-specific miniatures/terrain.

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-The Abomination Arsenal thread

Hello, Pathfinders!
Writing this column has been a feat and a half since I’ve been on the road so much! Just to recap what I’ve done recently: Went through the Puddles to check on what’s happening there, went through Eastgate and Westgate to peek at the latest fashions coming through, nibbled my way through the Grand Bazaar to check out a visiting chef, and then got packed up to go and stay at the Docks district on “official business.”

(It’s those boxes.)

(The red ones.)

(I knew they were weird!)

Illustration by Mirco Paganessi

Beyond my beloved Absalom, I’m still championing Agent Anemone to be our venture-captain in Nirmathas! Her dear companion Pattypan of Gold Bits has sent along their recommendation letter, so if any other Pathfinders see it, well, you know my thoughts!

Illustration by Samuel Azeredo

Outside of that: it seems that Lady Hesla Embersplitter may be starting to split at the seams! We’re learning so much about her, especially her manor which

Publisher’s Note:

Upon receiving this quarter’s briefing from VG, it abruptly ended there and included a strange sketch of what looks like a wasp in dirty robes. We’re not sure what the intended message of this was, but we also have not received any further communication from VG since they left the Isle of Kortos. We’re holding off on being concerned as this isn’t the first time they’ve gone off the grid for either Pathfinder Society or gossip reasons!

With concern,

Ink Worker’s United Printing Press
c/o Agent Kitsch, Office of Supplies and Procurement

Explore! Report! Cooperate! Gossip!

Shay Snow
Pathfinder Society Developer

Unleash your next hero with up to seven different unlocks!
Hello, Paizo Community! We are so excited to announce our newest releases and content releases from these past few months! We’re thrilled to be able to offer these official tools to the community and value your continued feedback about Pathfinder and Starfinder Nexus.

NEW FEATURES GALORE! 

PDF EXPORT

One of the most frequently requested features—the ability to export Pathfinder Nexus characters to a PDF—is live and available for both Starfinder and Pathfinder Nexus. Whether you want to show off your own character or your favorite iconic, build your character in minutes and have them ready in an editable PDF in seconds.

PREGEN CHARACTERS

The life of an adventurer is a dangerous one, so feel welcome to choose from one of many pregenerated characters to tackle danger head on! Whether you’re looking to leverage Valeros’ fearlessness or Cutie Killstuff’s deceptively bright smile, pregenerated characters are only a few clicks away. Want to make edits? Every pregen can be tweaked to your heart’s desire—this allows new and experienced users to take advantage of “recommended builds” from official Pathfinder 2e content to get into the game quickly. Pregen characters are available on both Starfinder and PathfinderNexus and are kept up to date as more and more content is released.

CROSS-SYSTEM SUPPORT

Ever wanted to see what it was like to take the fiercest barbarian in Golarion and have them pilot a starship or find a missile launcher? Never let go of your dreams! You can select Pathfinder 2e content in Starfinder Nexus (and Starfinder 2e Playtest content in Pathfinder Nexus) during character creation.

CRAFT, INVEST & REST

Each character on Pathfinder Nexus can now track crafting projects, invested items, and rest/recovery rules:

CRAFTING

Start a new crafting project following Pathfinder 2e rules. Start a new project, select an item to begin building, roll for results, and select your degree of success. We’ll let you know the number of days spent, the total amount of funds spent, and even allow players to spend additional days on the project if needed. Didn’t roll well? Did Bandits disrupt your crafting efforts again? Save your project for later, and we’ll store it until you’re ready to try again.

INVESTING 

Characters can now invest and track invested items on their character sheet. Not sure which treasure of yours can be invested? We’ve got it covered for you. You seek out the loot, and we’ll handle the logistics with the investment drawer. Don’t want to be constrained by the rules? Override the maximum number of invested items and walk around like the bedazzled kobold you’ve always wanted to be—we won’t stop you.

RESTING

Finally, we’ve finished our Rest & Recovery system, which allows players to quickly see the benefits of rest and select any additional rest options relevant to their character, be it resting without shelter, sleeping in armor, or resetting all your prepared spells. With the Rest & Recovery system completed, all relevant notes, penalties, or benefits should also be tracked for your review (we’re looking at you and your 2 hour ‘standby state,’ automatons).

WHAT IS THE PATHFINDER AND STARFINDER NEXUS?

Pathfinder Nexus and Starfinder Nexus are the official, online, all-in-one Pathfinder 2e & Starfinder 2e compendium and toolset for play wherever you are, be it a physical or virtual tabletop. Both systems host a library of enhanced rulebooks and quick-reference resources, as well as interactive tools useful for matchmaking, planning games, and managing real-time play for GMs and party members alike. Whether you’re running the game or joining the adventure, Pathfinder and Starfinder Nexus create an accessible, intuitive experience to bring your story to life.

You can try out both for free today! 

Pathfinder Nexus 

Starfinder Nexus

Deep within the ancient Verduran Forest of Taldor, in a treacherous swampland known as the Dragonfen, there is a tale about the Dragon Tyrant Aeteperax, slain a thousand years ago by a band of heroic warriors. But victory doesn’t last forever, and enemies eventually rise again, calling forth new heroes to embark upon a perilous quest to save a town and defeat he who would once more call himself the Dragon Tyrant.

Hail and well-met Pathfinders! I’m Alan Miranda, CEO of Ossian Studios, and I am excited to introduce you to our new Paizo-licensed RPG video game, Pathfinder: The Dragon’s Demand. Over a year in the making, it’s a single-player, turn-based game that features deep character customization, a faithful adaptation of the remastered Pathfinder Second Edition Core rules, and an enhanced tabletop minis-style play. It's all about miniatures in a tabletop-style world—the world of Pathfinder!

Playing tabletop many years ago made a huge impact on me. It was the most exciting time I’d ever had with a game, like a fantasy book coming alive from my own choices and dice rolls. It felt magical. It’s those memories that inspired me to work at BioWare as a producer on the Baldur’s Gate and Neverwinter Nights games. And that’s when I realized I was always trying to recreate that same pen-and-paper magic in the RPGs I worked on.

So that’s what we’re doing with The Dragon’s Demand: going back to our tabletop roots to recreate that magic in a single-player, turn-based video game, with miniatures. It looks like a beautiful tabletop diorama but does all the things that aren’t possible to show on a physical tabletop, so it’s like an “enhanced tabletop.” And it uses a faithful adaptation of Pathfinder’s Second Edition rules for players to interact with the world in some very refreshing ways.

We’ve been building a prototype of this enhanced tabletop game for over a year. That includes nailing down the right art style on a solid technical framework, as well as integrating the remastered ruleset in an ongoing process.

So, what are some of the cool things you’ll see in The Dragon’s Demand? Well, when it comes to miniatures, we have adaptive poses based on actions, including grab poses, dynamic body postures for different inclines, but most importantly, a 3D grid system. Instead of grid squares, we’ll be using grid cubes, which give characters the incredible freedom of movement to climb ropes, walls, and trees, levitate, fly, swim deep underwater, and more.

And our environments will have dynamic weather that impacts the world, visual effects that obscure visibility, and a ton of skill-based environmental interactions like taking cover and sneaking, squeezing through really tight spots, throwing your own ropes to climb, and forcing open doors and windows with a crowbar.

The CRPG will be based on 2013’s Pathfinder adventure The Dragon's Demand, a Pathfinder First Edition dungeon and wilderness adventure for 1^st level characters. Written by Mike Shel, it delves into the Dark Tapestry—the darkness between the stars where powerful entities and madness lurk. We’ll be expanding that adventure with new areas to explore, lots of intriguing side quests, and a brand new, personal story for player characters that delves into the darkness of the Dark Tapestry.

The return of a legendary dragon long vanquished sees the town of Belhaim once again under dire threat. The game will present a huge, interactive world to explore, with hundreds of characters and dozens of quests that react to the player’s choices. A cast of colorful companions, including iconic characters such as the goblin alchemist Fumbus, will be on hand to join the player’s party, each featuring their own motivations and backstory.

With over 30 hours of gameplay accompanied by a beautiful soundtrack and professional voice acting, gamers can look forward to a classic, single-player, party-based CRPG experience where they will be able to:

• Create deep, custom character builds from a choice of 7 ancestries, 16 classes, and more than 30 backgrounds.
• Play as a dwarf, elf, gnome, goblin, halfling, human, or an orc.
• Choose their path as an alchemist, barbarian, bard, champion, cleric, druid, fighter, investigator, monk, oracle, ranger, rogue, sorcerer, swashbuckler, witch, or wizard.
• Form a party of four with up to three companions, out of a possible dozen characters encountered during their adventures, to forge bonds of friendship and even romance!
• Level up characters to level 8.
• Wield a multitude of powerful spells from all four magical traditions: Arcane, Divine, Occult, and Primal.
• Equip hundreds of unique armors and weapons and see them dynamically change on miniature characters.
• Explore the region using an interactive world map to travel to many mysterious and dangerous locations across the Dragonfen, Verduran Forest, and the town of Belhaim.

Ossian Studios is an independent game developer who has made RPGs exclusively for twenty years, including Dungeons & Dragons story-driven RPGs. For The Dragon's Demand, Ossian brings our attention to detail together with the rules, lore, and deep character customization for which Pathfinder is known—and even offers a selection of digital dice to toss in the game.

Today we are sending out the call to Pathfinders to back the Pathfinder: The Dragon’s Demand CRPG on Kickstarter. The Kickstarter is live and offers authentic minted precious metal City of Absalom coins and 3D printable STL minis files among the many rewards.

Dragonslayers wanted! Get ready for wild adventures in a world filled with monstrous enemies in a brand-new style of CRPG. Learn more about Pathfinder: The Dragon’s Demand at DragonsDemand.com.

Alan Miranda
CEO
Ossian Studios

“Auntie, below you!” Nahoa’s spear crackled, lightning scouring its barbs free of blood and gristle as he pulled it from a spined skull. The boat rocked under his feet as the creature spasmed and slid below the waves.

Samo shifted her feet in response to Nahoa’s warning. The spirits of Valmdas Bay, each a tiny wrasse made of water, responded so quickly that it was almost like they’d predicted her signal, and in a spray of mist, they carried her across the seafoam. A second set of needle-sharp jaws erupted right where Samo had been, but they caught only water.

Nahoa sighed in relief. He’d seen the wise practitioner rend undead under blades of light and convince the very earth to spit its burning blood forth, but Nahoa had been taught to always take care of his elders. It was why he’d insisted they splurge on a boat across the bay instead of hiking the long way around—less to save time, more to make sure that the ferryman and his grandson would be safe in these monster-infested waters. Nahoa looked down to check on them, only to find the pair clearly in their element, the old man with a hand on the tiller and the boy bailing water from the boat.

As he turned back to the ocean, Nahoa found himself facing the sea serpent’s maw. Oh. His next thought was of how beautiful the clouds looked, his body turned skyward as he skipped across the water in the wake of the serpent’s blow before he crashed into a rocky outcropping. Nahoa’s head reeled a bit from the impact… no, not the impact. Nahoa looked at where the beast’s fangs had sunk into his shoulder, and even through his tattoos, he could see his veins begin to darken with venom.

Nahoa wasn’t worried. He’d been wounded before, by something much greater than this, and he’d left the encounter not just with his life, but something more. He reached deep into his soul, drawing forth his spark of divine power, and pushed it into his body, the scar on his chest beginning to glow with light. That had been a wound, one that would stay with him forever—this was barely a scratch by comparison. The scar blazed, and as light rippled outward from it across Nahoa’s skin, his wounds closed, without even a break in his tattoos where the fangs had been.

In the distance, the sea serpent reared its head back to strike at the boat. Samo danced in the air, her magic growing into roots and vines to pull the boy to safety. The old ferryman was left on the boat, though, and Samo wouldn’t be able to reach him in time.

Illustration by Oleksii Chernik.

The spark pulsed as its energy coursed over Nahoa before coming to illuminate the eyes in the stone owl mask at his waist. Be brave it said, pulling the young man forward. The waves between him and the serpent were too broad to cross, but he crossed them anyway. The serpent was too large for him to possibly grab, but he grabbed it anyway, his belt filling his body with divine strength as he wrestled the beast away from the ferryman. Was this how it felt, to be above mortal concerns? Like all you needed to do to cut an enemy down or to be where you wanted to be was simply to will it, to simply make it happen and have it be done? Nahoa flung the serpent back into the water as Samo’s vines pulled the ferryman to safety. Then, the moment of transcendence passed, and Nahoa was mortal once again.

The waters went still. Nahoa flipped his spear underhand and watched the waves. A spine cut the surface and Nahoa lashed out, but the serpent dove below before he could pierce it. A tail emerged on the other side of the boat, and once again Nahoa’s arm was too slow. Coils began to surround it from below the water, out of reach, and without the steady hand of the ferryman, the boat lurched dangerously.

Samo approached to lend aid, but Nahoa extended a hand as he dropped his spear. If he couldn’t find the creature, he’d just make sure he didn’t have to. He drew his power inwards, back from his relics, and there was silence. Like the tide drawing out far enough to leave the corals exposed, before the wave crashed down. Like the tradewinds driving up the mountain cliffs, before the rains fell. Like a voice grew quiet, before it let loose a great confession. Nahoa’s power grew and grew as it spiraled within him. He had seized that spark of gods high in the sky, and in this moment, the sky would bend to his command.

Nahoa laughed as he spun his arms, and his cry echoed like thunder as the sky opened. To the north, spring lightning seared the sky. To the east, summer monsoons churned the water’s surface. To the south, red leaves sliced in melancholy. And to the west, hail drove deep into the water. Then, Nahoa’s laugh and the storm’s howl faded, and a moment later, the serpent’s body floated to the surface, each section bearing different wounds.

Samo returned to the boat, the ferryman and his grandson in tow. As the sage returned, Nahoa had only one question for his traveling companion. He pointed to the water, where a few hailstones still floated on the surface.

“What are those?”

About the Author

James Case is lead developer for the Pathfinder Rules and Lore team and he can’t wait to hear what sort of mythic heroes that players are looking forward to making when War of Immortals releases! You can find his thoughts on game design and hyphen usage at TwittXter or BlueSka.

About Iconic Encounters

Iconic Encounters is a series of web-based flash fiction set in the worlds of Pathfinder and Starfinder. Each short story provides a glimpse into the life and personality of one of the games’ iconic characters, showing the myriad stories of adventure and excitement players can tell with the Pathfinder and Starfinder roleplaying games.

Samo and Nahoa make their debut in Pathfinder War of Immortals this October. This rulebook introduces their classes (the animist and exemplar, respectively) into Pathfinder Second Edition, allowing players to channel powerful nature spirits or become a demigod unto themselves. Within, you’ll also find mythic rules to allow characters of all classes to tell stories of legendary scope, all set against the cataclysmic event of the Godsrain and ensuing War of Immortals. War of Immortals is available for preorder now in hardcover, special edition, and pocket edition and will also be available as a retailer-exclusive sketch cover while supplies last. Read more of Samo and Nahoa’s adventures in War of Immortals and Pathfinder: Before the Godsrain, and look for their special guest appearance in November’s Godsrain novel from Liane Merciel.

Hello, Starfinders!
This month, we’re heading back to the planet Aballon! First Seeker Sarmak’s archaeological survey of the ancient city of Eternity continues, and word is he needs agents to explore a server archive created by the mysterious First Ones. Have fun uncovering long-buried secrets, and keep an eye out for Those Who Call… I hear they’re up to something…

Starfinder Society Scenario #7-06: Archives of Eternity is an adventure for 1st- through 4th-level characters written by Katrina Hennessy. This is the second of three scenarios in the ongoing Year of Era’s End metaplot.

Left to right: Illustrations by Rodrigo Gallo and Max Roche

But that’s not all!

Infamous media mogul Zo! has a new game show that pits adventurers and thrill-seekers against dangerous and strange creatures collected from across the stars! The reward? Fame and fortune, of course! Step right up, come on down, and ready your laser pistols… You’re the next contestants on Zo!’s Wheel of Monsters! Best of luck!

Starfinder Playtest Scenario #3: Wheel of Monsters is an adventure for 10th-level characters written by Dustin Knight! This is a Starfinder Second Edition Playtest Scenario. This adventure is designed to be replayed, and features three rounds of competition, with multiple possible foes for each round. Spin that wheel!

Jessica Catalan
Starfinder Society Developer

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Hello Pathfinders!
It’s a carnival! To raise money for the Knights of Lastwall’s fight against the undead, the enigmatic Lady Hesla Embersplitter has decided to host a carnival within the Foreign Quarter! It has goldfish and games and dancing bears, oh my! Hopefully those ominous rain clouds overhead don’t mean that we get rained out...

Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-04: An Enkindled Carnival is an adventure written for 3rd- through 6th-level characters by the one and only Mike Kimmel!

Illustration by Milos Rocenovic

Shay Snow
Pathfinder Society Developer

Meanwhile, across the Inner Sea,

Rahadoum, a land that abhors the gods, at first found Gorum’s death to be a cause for celebration. However, the Godsrain that followed brought only uncertainty, filling some members of a populace who hate divine power with that same power and causing suspicion toward these individuals to boil over. Amid all this turmoil, Kassi Aziril, a renowned medical researcher, found that several of her apprentices became empowered after the Godsrain and are now facing growing prejudice, persecution, and uncertainty. She’s turned to the Pathfinders to get her students out of Manaket and Rahadoum safely, but a radical element within the city guard has other ideas. If they Pathfinders succeed, though, they might just gain access to incredibly rare medical techniques that only Kassi’s students would otherwise be able to learn…

Left to right: illustrations by Juan Miguel Lopez Barea and Bruno Cesar

Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-03: Godsrain in a Godless Land is an adventure written for 5th- through 8th-level characters by our very own Solomon St. John.

Josh Foster
Pathfinder Society Developer

Spooky Season approaches (though, let’s be honest, does it ever really end for some of us?) and that provides the perfect opportunity for a thematically appropriate Humble Bundle! Starting today, and running through October 10, you can pick up the Pathfinder Second Edition Bundle of the Dead, featuring $811 of content, including Book of the Dead, the complete six-part Blood Lords Adventure Path (as well as the associated Foundry VTT modules), and many more titles to help you bring chilling adventures of terror and dread to your face-to-face or digital tables!

But it’s not just the content of this bundle that’s timely. Proceeds from the Pathfinder Second Edition Bundle of the Dead will support Take This, whose mission is to decrease the stigma of, and increase the support for, mental health in the game enthusiast community and inside the game industry. While they’d be a worthy cause to support at any time, Take This announced at the end of August that they were in dire need of help to keep from shutting down entirely. There’s literally no better time for you to support their cause, and this bundle provides just such an opportunity.

At the base level of a $5 donation, you’ll receive everything you need to take your first haunting steps into Pathfinder Second Edition, with PDFs of the Pathfinder Beginner Box, Core Rulebook, Bestiary, GM Screen, Character Sheet Pack, and the Blood Lords Adventure Path Player’s Guide—a value of over $84!

For $15 or more, you’ll get everything in the $5 tier, plus PDFs of the first three volumes of the Blood Lords Adventure Path, Advanced Player’s Guide, Gamemastery Guide, Lost Omens World Guide, Lost Omens Character Guide,Lost Omens Impossible Lands, four Pathfinder Society Scenarios (1–03: Escaping the Grave, 1–25: Grim Symphony, 2–17: Lost Maid of Anactoria, and 4–02: Return to the Grave), as well as eight Pathfinder Flip-Mats (Village Square, Haunted House, Bigger Temple, Arcane Library, Woodlands, Swamp, Forest Multi-Pack, and Ghost Town)—an additional $305 value.

For $35 or more, you get everything above plus another $375 in value, including PDFs of Book of the Dead, the last three volumes of the Blood Lords Adventure Path, Secrets of Magic, Lost Omens Ancestry Guide, Lost Omens Legends, four Pathfinder Society Scenarios (4–05: The Arclord Who Never Was, 4–10: Arclord’s Abode, 4–06: Signal from the Electric Laboratory, and 4–11: Prisoners of the Electric Laboratory), Pathfinder Bounty 21: Against the Unliving, two Starfinder Flip-Mats (Solar Temple and Spaceport), five Pathfinder Flip-Mats (The Rusty Dragon Inn, Museum, Dungeons Multi-Pack, Bigger Island, and Arcane Dungeons), and two Pathfinder Flip-Tiles collections (Dungeon Starter Set andDungeon Vaults Expansion). Additionally, customers at this tier will receive codes to add the entire Blood Lords Adventure Path to your FoundryVTT repertoire. This tier represents a whopping $375 value!

Finally, for those players and GMs who love the feel of a physical book and whose bookshelves yearn for one more Pathfinder title, we’re offering the hardcover edition of Pathfinder Book of the Dead to everyone who pays $50 or more. This book retails for $49.99 by itself, so a purchase through this bundle effectively gets you all the digital content for one cent! When you redeem your Humble Bundle codes on paizo.com, the book will be added to your cart at no cost; you simply pay shipping and handling at checkout.

The Pathfinder Second Edition Bundle of the Dead runs from now through 11 AM (PDT) on Thursday, October 10. Don’t miss your chance to take advantage of this unparalleled deal and support Take This when they need the help the most.

Back the Pathfinder Second Edition Bundle of the Dead today!

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Take This has provided support, community, information, and tools to support mental wellness for people who make and play games since 2012. Through programs that serve the game community and the game industry, the organization strives to build an environment that fosters and celebrates mental wellbeing through games, communities, and workplaces built for thriving.

Take This’ three tentpole programs provide concrete support to people who make and play games while uplifting everyone who is part of this community.

The Take This Accelerate Program is an initiative fueling the next generation of games and mental health experts. While supporting the professional development of creators, game developers, and researchers, Accelerate is building a critical mass of ethically trained, knowledgeable early-career professionals to advance the work of building a game industry focused on digital thriving, prosocial interaction, and safety by design.

The Take This AFK Room is a staffed, relaxed space at conventions and events designed for anyone who feels overwhelmed and needs a place to regain their calm. It is run by local volunteers and clinicians, trained by Take This, to moderate and maintain the atmosphere. The program offers education, resources, and a non-therapeutic listening ear to convention attendees, allowing them to find respite and fully enjoy their convention experience.

The Take This Mental Health in Games Awards honors digital and tabletop games which represent excellence in compassionate, non-stigmatizing portrayals of mental health, normalize mental health challenges, and uplift the mental wellbeing of the game community. These awards recognize excellence in compassionate, non-stigmatizing portrayals of mental health and mental health challenges in both video and tabletop games - games that go above and beyond in portraying the cornerstones of the Take This’ mission: mental health issues, healing, and hope.

Why this bundle, right now?

Right now, Take This is facing a serious financial reality: You may have noticed the organization’s plea for financial support earlier this year. As hard as they’ve worked to make up that gap, the organization still needs significant help. Without everyone’s support, Take This and all of its impactful programs will cease to exist - unless they raise $80,000 by the end of September. Luckily, to help them make up the gap, Take This has received a commitment from an anonymous donor to match up to $50,000 of all donations made during this month—including from this bundle! So, you can double the impact of your gift just by purchasing the bundle. And if you can’t purchase the bundle, please consider supporting the awesome work of Take This directly.

Hail and well met, ‘Finders! This month’s new releases invite you to take your final bow, let your hair down at the carnival, and take your chances against the Wheel of Monsters!

Never miss a release with our Paizo Subscriptions—for everything from rulebooks to accessories! Subscribers get a free PDF with purchase, early access to game content, and exclusive discounts on paizo.com!

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Pathfinder Adventure Path #206: Bring the House Down (Curtain Call 3 of 3)

THE SHOW MUST GO ON!

It’s almost showtime! After months of preparation, practice, and a few unexpected setbacks, your opera is nearly ready to go. With the premiere only a month away, though, it’s no time to relax! There’s still plenty of time for things to go wrong and unexpected disaster to strike. Anything is possible when it comes to life in the theater! The Curtain Call Adventure Path concludes with “Bring the House Down,” a complete adventure for 18th- to 20th-level characters.

Bring the House Down is also available as a deluxe Foundry VTT adventure bundle!

Starfinder Flip-Mat: Basic Terrain

NOTHING’S BASIC IN THE FUTURE!

From the open streets of a cityscape to the docking bay of a hi-tech station—your journey into the science-fantasy setting of Starfinder starts here with Starfinder Flip-Mat: Basic Terrain. One side of this mat displays the interior of a futuristic space station, such as Absalom Station, the center of the Starfinder setting. The other side depicts the concrete streets of one of countless urban sprawls found throughout the galaxy. Both provide a blank canvas to draw any terrain or adventure set piece a Game Master might need. Combine this with the upcoming Starfinder Flip-Mat: Planetary Terrain Multi-Pack, and you’ll be set to run all the futuristic adventures you want!

Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Night Ambush

KEEP ONE EYE OPEN!

Danger can come at any time, but the most sinister enemies attack while you’re sleeping! This Flip-Mat gives you two opportunities to bring these fights to your table. One side depicts a woodland campsite, while the other shows the upper floor of a cozy inn. With Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Night Ambush, you’re always ready to spring an attack

Starfinder Flip-Mat: Corporate Office

REMEMBER, TOMORROW IS CASUAL DAY!

It could be just another day at the office, but one where your players live out their fantasies of demolishing cubicles or having sword fights in the meeting room. One side depicts a futuristic workspace, replete with walkways, meeting rooms, private offices, and lounging areas. The reverse side depicts the same site, now devastated by some catastrophic event, allowing you to dynamically change your battlefield on the fly. This map also directly connects to Starfinder Flip-Mat: Data Center to let you make a truly massive encounter space. Starfinder Flip-Mats present ready-to-use science-fantasy set pieces for the busy Game Master. With Starfinder Flip-Mat: Corporate Office, you’ll be ready for the next encounter!

Starfinder Playtest Scenario #3: Wheel of Monsters

A Starfinder Second Edition Playtest adventure designed for 10th-level characters.

Zo! Media is the Pact Worlds’ largest multimedia entertainment empire. Run by the enigmatic and ever charismatic undead elebrian Zo!, Zo! Media’s most popular shows thrust living contestants into challenging, desperate, and often lethal situations. His newest show, Wheel of Monsters, pits adventurers, thrill-seekers, gladiators, and veteran soldiers against dangerous and strange creatures collected from across the stars. Whether the contestants are fighting for honor, glory, or to pay off a gambling debt, Zo! has promised an unusual twist on each broadcast that’ll be sure to keep both viewers and contestants guessing to the very end.

Step right up, come on down, and ready your laser pistols… You’re the next contestants on Zo!’s Wheel of Monsters! Where there’s a big prize if you make it out alive!

Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-03: Godsrain in a Godless Land

A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for 5th- through 8th-level characters.

Rahadoum is a land that abhors the gods, and while the death of Gorum was cause for celebration there, the Godsrain that followed brought only uncertainty. Kassi Azaril, one of the most outspoken opponents of divine magic and renowned medical researcher, found several of her apprentices empowered after the Godsrain, and they now face growing prejudice from other citizens, stoked by a radical element within the city guards of Manaket.

Kassi does not want to abandon these students. She knows the Pathfinder Society would love to get their hands on some of her finest trainees, and so has called upon them to get her students out of Manaket and to safety. But some higher ups in the Manaket guard have decided to take matters into their own hands.

Starfinder Society Scenario #7-06: Archives of Eternity

A Starfinder Society Scenario designed for 1st- through 4th-level characters.

First Seeker Sarmak’s archaeological survey of the ancient city of Eternity continues, as the Starfinders explore a server archive created by the First Ones of Aballon, uncovering tantalizing information and long-buried secrets. When a mysterious and violent group known as Those Who Call makes an unexpected appearance, it’s up to the Starfinders to save the day!

This is the second of three scenarios in the ongoing Year of Era’s End metaplot.

Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-04: An Enkindled Carnival

A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for 3rd- through 6th-level characters.

In her latest venture to help fund the Knights of Lastwall and to bring some needed cheer to Absalom, Lady Hesla Embersplitter has announced a carnival within the Foreign Quarter, inviting the children of Absalom to come and spend some time among games and entertainment. As a sign of goodwill, the Pathfinder Society has decided to send along a group of Pathfinders to make a show of being around and keep an eye on some of the visiting students from the Dacilane Academy. However, the mysterious Godsrain doesn't seem to be finished quite yet and a strange storm seems to be brewing over the Puddles...

From Our Partners:

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*Roll20 is no longer a part of PaizoConnect and discounts and complimentary PDFs do not apply.

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The local apparitions were increasingly inhospitable as Samo and Nahoa made their way to the feet of the mountains and into the sun-blasted wastes that the orcs of Belkzen claimed as their hold. Though her grandmother’s spirit was with her as always, the little spirits she knew best from the north—those of river and wave or those who hid in the shade of the taiga—had stayed behind in the places to which they were accustomed when Samo headed south.

She had reached out to the spirits of this unfamiliar place looking for aid and information only to be met by a recalcitrant and surly apparition who seemed to chase away any other local entities. He was Orc and he was Battle, though Samo doubted he was any particular orc or specific battle; rather, he seemed an amalgamation of the most prominent attributes of this hard place. Her grandmother’s presence had retreated to the back of her mind as she made this new spirit the primary focus of her meditations, seeking to establish a bond that would allow her to draw upon their knowledge of their environs. The spirit warred and wrestled with her as they communed, though she sensed no malice; it seemed instead that the spirit’s language was simply one of conflict. Perhaps, she quickly realized, fortunately so.

A pair of spine-covered, wild-eyed boars snorted their challenge from a nearby rocky protuberance, the hard-edged nails of their feet tearing troughs in the earth.

“Nahoa,” Samo cried, “watch out!”

The large man smiled a grim smile as he looked up at the bristle boars. Samo felt an echo of approval from the orcish battle spirit she had been entreating, the apparition’s former reticence slipping away as their knowledge of battle and Belkzen filled her mind, along with some other interesting information.

“Do you see there, up behind them, Nahoa?” Samo’s question was met with a nod from her mighty companion, though he did not take his eyes off the dangerous creatures.

“I do.” Nahoa’s hands gripped his spear tightly before he thrust down into the ground. “Piglets, it would seem. Food in the mountains must be scarce for them to have brought their whole family to hunt and scavenge this far in search of it. Maybe...”

Without finishing his thought, the former farmer reached into his pack, feeling around until his fingers closed on a leaf-wrapped package. Pulling it forth, he carefully unsealed it, revealing a cluster of smoked tubers he’d prepared a few days earlier. He threw the bundle carefully toward the boars, hoping the food might be enough to persuade them to stand down. His offering was perhaps too late or too aggressively delivered, however, for as the tubers sailed through the air, so too did the spine-covered bodies of the two boars.

Samo reached for her magic to fling spears of light and spirit at the boars only to find the battle apparition all too eager to respond with their own power instead. Magic of joyful aggression whirled through her, and before she realized it, she was springing into battle alongside Nahoa. The large warrior had left his carved spear behind, clearly hopeful that his great strength could subdue at least one of the beasts without orphaning their young and stranding them to a slow death by starvation.

As Nahoa and the larger of the two boars crashed to the ground in a tumble of red-stained dust, Samo’s war gavel spun in her hand with remarkable lightness, crashing into the other beast with a strength and impact beyond what her slight frame should have been capable of. She turned with the impact, letting the boar’s quills scratch along the wooden plates of her armor as she prepared another strike. The battle spirit’s magic guided her, and she howled out a word in Orcish—no doubt the spirit’s language coursing back through their bond—that caused her war gavel to strike with unnatural accuracy, amplified by a power that enabled the gavel to tear soul as much as flesh.

Samo heals Nahoa. Illustration by Oleksii Chernik.

The boar squealed in pain and danced away as Nahoa surged up from the ground, lifting his own boar over his head and hurling the creature back toward the outcropping from which it had first approached. Both boars, in quite unboarlike fashion, fled back to their young, one snatching up the bundle of tubers as it went. Samo unleashed a mighty Orcish war cry, proclaiming her victory, as the magic of the battle apparition finally left her.

As she turned sheepishly toward Nahoa to apologize for the display, she realized that her companion was more badly wounded than had been initially apparent. Even as the mighty young man cast her a weak grin of confidence, he collapsed to the ground, his body covered in brutal tears and punctured through with dozens of quills. Samo rushed to his side, pulling the quills from his flesh using the techniques taught to her long ago. As she did so, she concentrated on pushing the battle apparition aside to allow her grandmother’s nurturing spirit to flow through her once more. The war spirit gave ground grudgingly, and Samo laid aside her clan hat as sweat dripped down her brow, finally pushing the battle apparition to the back of her consciousness and allowing her grandmother to reassert herself in Samo’s soul. As she did so, healing magic from their bond flowed freely through Samo and into Nahoa’s wounded flesh.

When the last of Nahoa’s wounds sealed closed, the big man opened one eye to look at Samo.

“How about next time, I go first, and you hang back and protect me with your magic, eh? I’m getting tired of waking up to you covered in my blood.”

About the Author

Michael Sayre is Director of Rules & Lore at Paizo and previously worked on the Organized Play team. He’s also a prolific freelancer, having contributed to numerous Paizo books and publications from other publishers, such as Lost Spheres Publishing, Rogue Genius Games, and many other companies in support of the Pathfinder RPG and other table-top game systems.

About Iconic Encounters

Iconic Encounters is a series of web-based flash fiction set in the worlds of Pathfinder and Starfinder. Each short story provides a glimpse into the life and personality of one of the games’ iconic characters, showing the myriad stories of adventure and excitement players can tell with the Pathfinder and Starfinder roleplaying games.

Samo and Nahoa make their debut in Pathfinder War of Immortals this October. This rulebook introduces their classes (the animist and exemplar, respectively) into Pathfinder Second Edition, allowing players to channel powerful nature spirits or become a demigod unto themselves. Within, you’ll also find mythic rules to allow characters of all classes to tell stories of legendary scope, all set against the cataclysmic event of the Godsrain and ensuing War of Immortals. War of Immortals is available for preorder now in hardcover, special edition, and pocket edition and will also be available as a retailer-exclusive sketch cover while supplies last. Read more of Samo and Nahoa’s adventures in War of Immortals and Pathfinder: Before the Godsrain, and look for their special guest appearance in November’s Godsrain novel from Liane Merciel.

Hello, players! Today we want to shine the spotlight on the authors who contributed to Year 5 of Pathfinder Society. The Year of Unfettered Exploration may be over, but the adventures continue on!

Alex Speidel
Organized Play Coordinator

Illustration by Justin Usher

Alison Cybe (they/them)

PFS2 #5-02: The Blackwood Lost & PFS2 #5-16: A Lie Told to Strangers

Hi, I’m Alison Cybe (they/them), and this year I’ve created Pathfinder Society Scenario #5-02: The Blackwood Lostand Pathfinder Society Scenario #5-16: A Lie Told to Strangers. If you didn’t like them, I’m sorry, I’m to blame. If you did, feel free to let me know. Both of these adventures deal with people in risk or dangers and cast the characters with their rescue. I didn’t want to brush too far beyond what is generally comfortable for people with these, as they’re my first step in creating Pathfinder adventures for folks, given that my history is much more in Starfinder. But at the same time, my writing style for adventures tends to emphasize a big range of diverse NPCs who I hope will remain memorable for players, interesting and unusual landscapes, and some dramatic punch here and there. I hope some of the work I’ve created has been able to entertain at least a few of you at some points. Anyway, you can find me on most social media sites under my name, so don’t be afraid to say hello.

Hilary Moon Murphy (she/her)

PFS2 #5-03: Heidmarch Heist

Hello all, I'm Hmm. Heidmarch Heist originated when Josh Foster came up with the idea of a theft at Heidmarch Manor. Designing the mystery for this adventure was just plain fun. I spent time considering how to cater to both the hard-core mystery buffs and the potentially clueless, so the mystery includes ample handouts and a chance to explore. I had so much fun writing this overall, that I could not pick out a favorite bit. I'll leave that as an exercise for readers of this blog (under spoilers, of course!).

And if you liked Heidmarch Heist, look out for PFS2 #6-05 Silver Bark, Golden Blades coming out this October!

Illustration by Josef Kucera

Shan Wolf

PFS2 #5-06: Ukuja, The First Wall & PFS2 Quest #15: In the Footsteps of Horror

Hi everyone! My name is Shan, and I worked on In the Footsteps of Horror, Ukuja, The First Wall, and the upcoming Infernal Infiltration. I mostly want to thank the devs who helped me craft these adventures, the editors who banged them into shape, and the fans who play them! I also want to point to and highlight the hard work the Org Play team does to make sure these adventures get into your hands as quickly as possible. Make sure to give them genuine thanks because even if you don't agree with them on everything, they're working extra hard to create fun, interesting, unique adventures that give authors like me a chance to get out there and write cool things.

So thank you to everyone who has a hand in working on these, and thank you for playing them!

Jacob W. Michaels (he/him)

PFS2 #5-08: Protecting the Firelight

Hi everyone, I’m Jacob W. Michaels (he/him), the author of PFS Year 5’s Protecting the Firelight, which was my first repeatable scenario. I had so much fun trying to create as many variations as I could, and I literally can’t figure out how many times you could play this without repeating the scenario exactly (seriously, I remember learning the mathematical formulas back in high school, but that knowledge has been pushed out of my brain by Pathfinder encounter math). I was thrilled developer Shay Snow, who’s of Indigenous heritage, entrusted me with this piece, which had a number of Native themes. I really enjoyed diving into the research—the foods that may get prepared during one part of the adventure are all based on real Native dishes, as are other aspects of the traditional ritual—and working with Shay to come up with a villain that evoked a legend from their culture. I also paid homage to a friend and fellow Pathfinder player who died unexpectedly days before I began working on the adventure. And finally, a pre-teen NPC evokes my niece and nephew and all the wonderfully assertive children of the world! Thanks as always to Paizo for letting me play in their world, and to everyone who enjoys the adventures we create.

Illustration by Rodrigo Gallo

Isis Wozniakowska (she/her)

PFS2 #5-15: Cleansing the Flame

Hey all, I'm Isis Wozniakowska (she/her), and I wrote Cleansing the Flame. Personally, I'm super proud of it and have a great time running for cons whenever I get the chance, as I've always had a particular enjoyment of orc cultures and how they've been written in second edition. And I'm especially excited to see a new era of orc gods going forward from here into Godsrain. One thing I really wanted to show in this adventure is how orcs can have a culture built up around the importance of strength and combat and how displaying that to others is such a major part of it, but to do so in such a way that isn't inherently tied to a toxic culture of survival of the fittest like was previously shown in orcs before. And as someone who struggles treating an occasionally debilitating autoimmune disease these days, several parts of the adventure (many of which I won't spoil for those of you who haven't played it) are things I was particularly excited to learn I would be able to portray for everyone. Organized Play also just means a lot to me in general, and I spend a lot of time running my own local event and popping into various cons online and locally. I hope you all enjoy it, and I hope you'll see me around at various online cons occasionally running it for people.

I'm not on social media as much as I used to be since I went back to grad school, but you can find me on BlueSky as @wozenstein, but mostly I lurk on there and Insta. I don't have any upcoming personal projects, but I can always use the support in trying to get through my Comparative Literature MA. I study Italian literature, primarily medieval and Renaissance, and currently am looking at the relationship between medieval literature and modern fantasy literature (including looking at TTRPGs as a form of literary study).

Brite Cheney (he/they)

PFS2 Quest #16: The Winter Queen’s Dollhouse

The pitch to me for The Winter Queen’s Dollhouse was “poppets trapped in a dollhouse that get awakened.” From there, I thought the most fun would be a bunch of displaced workers banding together to overcome their boss, with the players helping them to organize. I’m sure there were headlines somewhere that inspired this idea. Lol. #solidarity.

While everything I create is something I cherish, Sweeper, a stuffed sloth poppet and the main NPC, will always be my darling. I wanted her to be cute enough to appeal to kids of all ages, but self-assured enough to be the perfect leader for the mini-rebellion. Watching people's reactions to her, it seems I’ve done just that. Big shout-out to Bruno Cesar (@bcesart on Instagram) for doing an amazing job bringing her to life with his art.

You can follow me on all the socials @MrGWillickers, but I’m mostly active on BlueSky @mrgwillickers.bsky.social.

And check out my Etsy store, MrGWillickers Studio, where thanks to the new Fan Content Policy, I now include a few Pathfinder- and PFS-themed props among the things I make. https://mrgwillickersstudio.etsy.com

Illustration by Bruno Cesar

Lucas Servideo (he/him)

PFS2 Quest #20: The Dacilane Academy’s Show Must Go On

Hello everyone, my name is Lucas Servideo. I was honored to be asked to write The Dacilane Academy's Show Must Go On, not only because this would be my first time writing for Paizo, but because it was an “All Ages” Quest that would be used in the Academy at Gen Con, a program that lets families play Pathfinder and Starfinder together.

My favorite part of this experience was to add a piece of myself to Absalom by making the history behind the Muse of the Rose theater and also building on the Dacilane Academy saga of scenarios by adding in NPCs of my own and those of others into the story. I hope everyone has a chance to enjoy this quest.

To see what I am up to, you can check my Instagram @lucasringmaster, or my BlueSky @smartgoblin.bsky.social. On either, you will usually see my current miniature project, drawings, photos, or thoughts that pop up.

Welcome back to another exciting collection of Pathfinder Infinite & Starfinder Infinite Top Performers!

What is Infinite?

Pathfinder and Starfinder Infinite is a program that allows you to create content (adventures and locations; monsters; character classes, archetypes, and backgrounds; fiction; etc.) based on Paizo’s intellectual property (IP), including Pathfinder’s Lost Omens campaign setting, and to make some money while you’re at it. Your work might even be recognized by the community and earn you an invitation into the Infinite Masters elite creator program.

For more info on Pathfinder Infinite, Starfinder Infinite, and how to get started, check out the FAQs!

August’s Top Performers

Titles are ranked by an average of units sold and revenue earned and presented in alphabetical order. Asterisks indicate titles that have been on a best-seller list previously. Because they’ve consistently topped the list, and due to the number of their titles that typically take up spots, “Team+” and “Team Index” have asked to be removed from the calculations for ongoing top performers lists. This will allow newer publishers or book series to get more attention. Thanks, all!

Pathfinder Infinite Top Performers

Abominations Under Absalom

Belcorra has been defeated, but the question of what the Haruvexes may have left behind in Absalom has driven your heroes to the Haruvex Estate. There they investigate rumblings of renewed activity within the long-abandoned mansion and find a gathering of fiends, clockworks, and, of course, abominations. Their investigation leads them to a mystery in the basement below that may yet threaten Absalom.

Continue your Abomination Vaults adventure in this exciting sequel for 11th through 20th levels!

Blood & Sigils*

Unravel untapped powers slumbering within your blood and alter space around you by using mystical sigils with two new classes for Pathfinder 2nd Edition with Blood & Sigils! Unravel untapped powers slumbering within your blood and alter space around you by using mystical sigils with two new classes for Pathfinder 2nd Edition with Blood & Sigils! With more than150 feats and 16 new spells, be the bloody hero or the spatial sage you are meant to be with Blood and Sigils, and go discover even more hidden secrets all over Golarion!

Kitsune of Golarion Remastered*

Providing an in-depth expansion of Pathfinder Second Edition's vulpine ancestry, Kitsune of Golarion Remastered provides players and GMs alike with everything they need to make this vibrant ancestry of shape-shifting fox folk feel at home in the Age of Lost Omens. Based on the Gold Best-Selling product Kitsune of Golarion, this product aims to not only remaster, but redefine the content from this original offering into an indispensable product for the entire table, tailless or not.

Player Core 1 Expanded*

Has inspiration struck, but Player Core 1 doesn't have a subclass to fit? Whether you are looking for a Cleric spy, a swaggering Rogue, or a Druid with a will of Steel, you will find myriad options within, made by 4 Infinite Masters and specially tuned for the PF2e Remaster! Feats, subclasses, focus spells, and more for the classes of Player Core 1.

Smoke and Sail: A Pathfinder 2e Naval Warfare Sourcebook*

Few environments conjure feelings of excitement and trepidation more acutely than the ocean, with its endless rhythm of churning waves and all its possibilities for adventure. Tenacious crews sailing ships of all sizes make perilous journeys across the majestic vastness that stretches from horizon to horizon, certain that their vessels will carry them to shore under any sky and over any sea.

This sourcebook provides a comprehensive ruleset for running such a vessel and engaging in thrilling, ship-based combat encounters.

Starfinder Infinite Top Performers

Mechageddon! Unleashed: 3^rd Battlegroup

This supplement for the Starfinder: Mechageddon! Adventure Path details the members of three squadrons and the command officers of the New Valor Defense Force's 3rd Valko Battlegroup. Each NPC is given individual stat blocks and backgrounds for new rivals, friends, and even possible lovers for your huzkars.

Mechageddon! Unleashed: Greenlight

When Storyteller Productions requests NVDF assistance for their newest film shoot in the Kaiju Riot! series of films, the New Valor Defense Force is happy to send its best.

Greenlight is a Side Job for Starfinder First Edition and is intended to be played as part of the Mechageddon! Adventure Path.

Simple Starship Combat

A streamlined and simplified rules system for starship combat in Starfinder First Edition.

Space Cowboy’s Arsenal

A certain type of adventurer resides in the vast frontiers of space—wayfarers and drifters, hunters whose next meal rides on their cunning, their aim, and the price on their bounty's head. They carve out their existence beyond the fringes of civilization; the easy life is as alien to them as another man's gun, and just as fickle. They prefer the unpredictable and uncharted, far from prying eyes and folks what ask too many questions. Never tied to one place, these vagabonds stay strange and savvy, doing what they can to keep alive. When the galaxy needs a job done, they call for the rough and tumble Space Cowboy.

The Swarm Beneath the Hive

The Swarm: Beneath The Hive, is a science fantasy novella set in the world of the Starfinder Roleplaying Game.

The story follows a vesk, sent on a mission to scout a planet in a rival star system near to his own. Things take an unexpected turn when deadly invaders from a far-away realm launch an assault, forcing the vesk out of his comfort zone in order to survive in the foreign world he now finds himself in.

For the Good of The Rogue Genius!

From the same team that brought you The Traveler’s Guide to the Darklands comes The Traveler’s Guides to the Eye of Abendego—a collection of player options, magical items, creatures, hazards, and more! All proceeds from this product benefit Owen K.C. Stephens as he continues his battle with cancer.

New & Exciting from Infinite Masters!

Want to see what’s been cooking in the Infinite Masters’ alchemy lab? Here’s a selection of new products from some of our Infinite Masters—and some pieces that have caught their eyes!

• Starflung Tripkees of Tian Xia – Tripkee ancestries for regions of Tian Xia.
• Arcane Vexer – A new rogue racket.
• Feats+ – The latest from Team+ with over 330 new feats!
• The Stolen Prototype – A Starfinder First Edition adventure for 8^th
• Playing Around – Theatrical class options to pair with the Curtain Call Adventure Path.
• Remastering the Revolution – Champion causes and feats for a changing world.

Greetings Starfinders! I’d like to extend a special thanks to everyone who continues to contribute to the Starfinder Second Edition Playtest! Our team of diligent developers have uncovered a number of rules elements that need fixing to ensure a proper playtest experience, all of which can be found alongside our initial errata on our Starfinder Second Edition Playtest FAQ page. Many of these errata are meant to clarify designer intent and should not heavily impact your playtest experience.

For the sake of simplicity, we will go ahead and list summaries of the most notable changes to each chapter here. Check out the Second Edition Playtest FAQ for the details of each change:

Chapter 2: Ancestries

• Barathu: Base Speed is 5 feet.
• Ysoki: Feats that can be taken by both ysoki and ratfolk use the same wording as Pathfinder Player Core 2.
• Skittermander and Kasatha: double draw has been updated for clarity.

Chapter 3: Classes

• Mystic: Mystic gets weapon specialization at level 13. Viral Order xenodruids get the toxic cloud spell as its 5th-rank bonus spell, instead of stardust plague.
• Operative: The ghost operative’s exploit applies to targets you are undetected by. Note that if you are unnoticed you’re also undetected.
• Soldier: Whirling swipe and offensive defense also get follow-up Strikes using Primary Target.
• Witchwarper: Witchwarper gets Weapon Expertise at level 11.

Chapter 6: Equipment

• Environmental Protections: Level 0 armor protects you for 1 day.
• Armor Improvements: Shift the chart for armor improvements such that Tactical armor no longer provides the Resilient trait, Superior armor provides Resilient +1, and Ultimate armor provides Resilient +2.
• Mobile Bulwark Shield: This shield has a heft value of +2.
• Traits: The deadly trait has been updated to increase at elite- and paragon-grade. The professional trait has been clarified to allow operatives to make better use of card slingers.
• Weapons: The painglaive is martial and has the boost 1d4 trait. The bone scepter does 1d6 damage. The doshko is no longer unwieldy. The seeker rifle is in the sniper group, has volley (60 feet), and has a magazine size of 1 projectile. Magnetar rifles can hold 20 bullets per magazine. Grenade launchers get upgrade slots. Our sonic weapons do sonic damage.
• Ammunition: 1 credit now gets you 10 pieces of projectile ammunition.
• Upgrades: All damage modules are now worded to work with area attacks. Scopes do not work with area attacks.
• Augmentations: Apex augmentations and moodskins do not count against your implant limit.

Chapter 7: Spells

• Carcinization:Carcinization has evolved to lose the incapacitation trait.
• Selective invisibility:Selective invisibility does not have the concentrate trait. It has the illusion, manipulate, and subtle traits.
• Share pain: Share pain has the mental trait.
• Quantum negation: Quantum negation is a two-action spell.

Chapter 8: Rules

• Suppressed: Suppressed gives a 10-foot Speed penalty.

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Thank you for helping us find some of these problems. We’d like to thank everyone for their involvement in the playtest so far. We know there are other areas that could use some attention, but we want to ensure that the data we receive from the feedback remains consistent at this stage. We’ll be issuing some later errata in the future to address some directions we’re leaning and some other concerns (like a certain Hair Trigger issue). Please continue filling out surveys as that is the best way to ensure we hear you, and remember you can continue submitting and revising submitted surveys for the Starfinder Playtest until December 31st!

—The Starfinder Team

Welcome! I’m Michael Sayre, the Director of Rules & Lore here at Paizo, and I’m here to talk about some of the fun and exciting stuff we’ve got coming for you in Pathfinder War of Immortals! Specifically, I’m going to talk to you about some of the new character content we’ve got coming your way.

Class archetypes have been something that have existed, at least in theory, since the beginning of Pathfinder Second Edition. These are a type of archetype that is taken at 1st level, requires you to take a specific 2nd-level feat, and often trades out some specific portion of your class features (whether adding or removing a class feature entirely, requiring you to take a specific version of a class feature, or some similar adjustment). War of Immortals introduces a new set of class archetypes to the game, so let’s dive into talking about those!

The avenger Zadim. Art by Kendal Gates.

Avenger

The first of the new class archetypes I’m going to talk about is the avenger. This class archetype for the rogue was inspired by the iconic of a Pathfinder First Edition class, the slayer. This iconic, Zadim, was a potent dual-wielding combatant who worked for a splinter branch of Sarenrae’s faith. For War of Immortals, we wanted Zadim and the avenger class archetype to be very representative of the type of rogue character who would get involved in godly affairs.

This rogue class archetype requires you to choose a deity, adjusts your starting skills, gives you a special avenger racket, and replaces the rogue’s surprise attack class feature with the Hunt Prey action. It also makes some adjustments to your sneak attack, allowing you to sneak attack with your deity’s favored weapon. Avengers excel at combatting enemy priests while wielding the favored weapons of their chosen deities, making them deadly and feared warriors during a time when gods and their servitors are at war!

The bloodrager Trzikhun. Art by Kendal Gates.

Bloodrager

In Pathfinder First Edition, the bloodrager was a class that mashed together the sorcerer and the barbarian to create a bloodline-oriented warrior with rage and limited spellcasting. We wanted to reimagine this class for Pathfinder Second Edition into something that better embodied the name and that tied more tightly into our game world, which is what we’ve done with this barbarian class archetype. With that reimagining, we brought a new character in to represent the concept: Trzikhun, Reaper of Ukuja, a Matanji orc who is part of a tradition of orcish demon-slayers who drink the blood of shadow demons to gain magical power.

Bloodragers have some modified skills and must choose the bloodrager instinct, which gives them blood rage. Blood rage allows the bloodrager to inflict persistent bleed damage while raging and applies their additional damage from rage to their spells. Their dedication feat at 2nd level gives them spellcasting and adds the rage trait to the spells they gain from this archetype while they are raging, as well as giving them the Harvest Blood action, which allows them to refresh their temporary Hit Points and boost their saving throws against the magical attacks of enemies who they have used Harvest Blood against. This ability plays into later feats like Spelldrinker, which allows them to temporarily add spells to their repertoire when using Harvest Blood based on the type of target creature, such as granting them the wall of thorns spell when they use Harvest Blood against a fey enemy!

The vindicator Imrijka. Art by Kendal Gates.

Vindicator

The final class archetype we’re going to talk about today is the vindicator class archetype, which alters the ranger class. This class archetype requires the ranger to choose a deity, is automatically trained in Religion instead of Nature, and is trained in their deity’s favored weapon, gaining deadly simplicity if that weapon’s damage dice is smaller than d6 and treating the weapon as martial for the purposes of proficiency if the weapon is advanced. They also gain a special hunter’s edge called the vindication edge and learn their warden spells as divine spells, as well as gaining the ability to select domain spells as appropriate to their deity. They gain their deity’s sanctification and have some other adjustments to class features like trackless journey and masterful hunter to make them better fit with the other changes.

This class archetype is represented by Imrijka, who was the iconic inquisitor in Pathfinder First Edition. As part of her update to Pathfinder Second Edition, Imrijka’s outfit is now done in Pharasma’s holy colors, and she is known as a vindicator; only vindicators of evil deities are called inquisitors.* This class archetype allows characters like Imrijka to combine the ranger’s strong skill and combat chassis with the potent focus spell casting supported by the vindication edge, making vindicators well-rounded characters who excel at hunting down monsters who lurk among the faithful of their chosen religion. With powerful focus spells like vindicator’s mark and vindicator’s judgment, the vindicator can mark their prey, hunting them down and dealing devastating damage. With feats like Call the Hunt, vindicators make their hunted prey off-guard if they and at least one of their allies are both adjacent to the target, and the vindicator can share their divine sanctification with their allies!

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With these three class archetypes (which are not the only new class archetypes in the book!), we’ve brought a couple old friends forward from Pathfinder First Edition and enabled some new character concepts that weren’t quite able to be fully realized to our satisfaction in Pathfinder Second Edition. We’ve also added powerful new warriors to our players’ arsenals that each have their own particular motivations to participate in the War of Immortals. We’re looking forward to seeing you unleash them when the book drops this October!

Michael Sayre (he/him)
Director of Rules & Lore

* Paizo’s move away from the term “inquisitor” is a deliberate choice due to the term’s negative historical connotations. Our intent is to provide our players with a more heroic title for a class mechanic that we know appeals to a large portion of our audience.

Paizo Editorial Staff

Digital Adventure Releases

These adventures will be available on September 25, 2024.

Pathfinder Society

Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-03: Godsrain in a Godless Land*

Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-04: An Enkindled Carnival*

Starfinder Society

Starfinder Society Scenario #7-06: Archives of Eternity*

Starfinder Playtest Scenario #3: Wheel of Monsters

*part of a subscription

Sanctioning

Last week, we released the Lost Omens: Tian Xia Character Guide! This is an incredible book, packed to the brim with exciting new character options. It’s also sanctioned for Pathfinder Society play! You can find boons for the uncommon and rare ancestries in the Boon Store, as well as some other uncommon or rare archetypes. Note that a lot of the uncommon content in this book is accessed simply by creating a character from Tian Xia; you won’t find boons for these options, as you have other ways to access it!

Speaking of which, when we were working on the two Tian Xia books, we noticed an issue with the World Traveler boon. This boon allows you to select a second region to treat as a home region for character options…but it didn’t actually include Tian Xia. Whoops! We’ve updated this boon as a result to future-proof it. The new text is below, and it remains available in the Boon Store for just 20 Achievement Points.

> World Traveler (Slotless): You have traveled widely, spending a considerable amount of time in a distant region and absorbing the local customs. When you assign this boon to a character, select a country or city on Golarion. You qualify as being from that city or country, as well as any regions which contain it, for the purpose of fulfilling the Access prerequisite of uncommon character options, in addition to any other access benefits you have from other sources. For example, a character who selected Alkenstar fulfills access requirements for Alkenstar as well as the Mana Wastes and the Impossible Lands, and a character who selects Hwanggot fulfills requirements for Hwanggot and Tian Xia.

We’re a little behind on adventure sanctioning right now, but we’re working hard on Prey for Death and the Curtain Call Adventure Path. In just a few short weeks, at the end of October, we’ll see our next major rulebook release in War of Immortals, and we hope you’re all excited!

New Pathfinder Society Year

The Year of Immortal Influence is officially upon us, and with it comes some new updates! First of all, the Guide to Organized Play has been officially updated to version 6.00. This version of the guide does not contain major rules changes, but there has been a major reorganization to make it more usable and bring it in line with the Guide for Starfinder Society. If you wish to leave feedback, you can do so in this forum thread, which also has a summary of the changes.

Additionally, we have released new pregenerated characters! This update adds pregens for the eight Player Core 2 classes (alchemist, barbarian, champion, investigator, monk, oracle, sorcerer and swashbuckler), as well as the kineticist from Rage of Elements. The previous pregens have not been updated or altered as part of this update.

As all legacy pregenerated characters have been updated, Pathfinder Society players must use the Remastered versions going forward. Please leave any errors or comments on the product page!

GM Recognition

Campaign Service Coins

While attending PaizoCon Europe last month, I awarded three Campaign Coins to outstanding volunteers! We award these coins to members of the community who have gone above and beyond to provide an exceptional program to the community at large. Campaign Coins are awarded based on nominations; so if you believe someone in your community is deserving of this award (whether or not they are a Venture Officer), send an email to organizedplay@paizo.com with their name and reasons.

Congratulations to:

Frank Richard, who now holds a campaign coin and OP ID #916

Damien Monnier, who now holds a campaign coin and OP ID #917

"Mr. Fred" Frederic Meulenijzer, who now holds a campaign coin and OP ID #918

Unfortunately, due to my busy travel schedule, I did not have time this month to catch up on GMs who have earned their 5th rank. My sincerest apologies to those GMs who are waiting patiently; I promise you will all be celebrated in next month’s blog.

Conventions

Convention season may be on the tail end, but we’ve still got some fantastic events coming up in September and October! You can (and should!) check out our conventions calendar to see events with a Paizo Organized Play presence near you.

Earlier today, we began soliciting volunteers for PAX Unplugged! Last year’s show was an incredible success and we’re looking to make the show bigger and better this year. We’re looking for talented GMs to run Pathfinder Society quests and scenarios, as well as Starfinder Playtest scenarios. If you’d like to join us this December in Philadelphia, you can find all the information in yesterday's blog!

Alright, that’s enough from me. Until next time - Explore! Report! Cooperate! And enjoy some chocolate. You deserve it.

Alex Speidel
Organized Play Coordinator

Greetings, players! We’re pleased to announce that we’ll be attending PAX Unplugged in Philadelphia, PA this December 6-8! We’ll be running scenarios, quests, and demos for Pathfinder and the Starfinder Playtest, as well as demos of our board games!

This show will also be the last chance to participate in the Starfinder Playtest before it closes at the end of the year.

We’re now soliciting volunteers for the show! We are currently seeking volunteers for the following roles:

• Game Master: Run tables of Pathfinder Society quests and scenarios, as well as Starfinder Playtest scenarios.
• Board Game Demo GM: Run demo tables for Goblin Firework Fight and Elemental Stones. Applicants should have strong board game knowledge (both our games and general board games) and preferably have related demo experience.
• Headquarters (HQ): Answer player and GM questions, seat players, handle conflicts and disputes, and report games after completion.

Please read this important information before applying:

• Volunteer applications will be reviewed and accepted or rejected by the PAX Unplugged Organizing Committee. Filling this form out does not guarantee acceptance; you will receive an email with further information from the PAXU committee.
• PAX Unplugged schedules will be assigned by the committee. You will be asked for your preference of system and level, but you will not necessarily be able to choose the specific scenario(s) you run. The committee’s intention is to assign people to run the same scenario multiple times during the weekend. There is a free-form field at the end of the form to enter specific requests, though there’s no guarantee they will be honored.
• Reward information is listed in the table below. GMs who do not qualify for a badge will still need to purchase one.
• Applications will be processed on a rolling basis, beginning no later than September 16. The earlier you get your application in, the more likely it is you’ll get the scenarios you want. Please be patient as we put the final details on the convention internally before we send out GM emails!
• Please note that we will not be providing hotel rooms for GMs. All GMs will need to provide their own accommodation. Parking reimbursement is available for 7+ slot GMs if requested.
• Any questions about the GM signup process should be sent to the committee at paxunplugged[at]gmail[dot]com.

Rewards Table

Blocks	Parking Pass	Hardcover Product	Exhibitor Badge	In-game Reward	Voucher
7+ blocks	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
6 blocks		✓	✓	✓	✓
5 blocks			✓	✓	✓
4 blocks			✓	✓	✓
3 blocks			✓	✓	✓
2 blocks				✓	✓
1 block				✓	✓

Definitions for rewards:

• Exhibitor Badge: a badge for the duration of the event.
• In-game Reward: A reward for characters based on the current organized play GM reward programs. Pathfinder Society (Second Edition)/Starfinder Society is Achievement Point rewards at the Premier Plus (2.0x) level. Benefits for board game & SF2 Demo GMs are TBD.
• Hardcover Product: GMs at this tier will be able to choose between Pathfinder Player Core, Pathfinder GM Core, or Starfinder Enhanced.
• Parking Pass: reimbursement for parking at up to $30/day.
• Voucher: earn one voucher for $10 spendable on paizo.com for every block run.

PAX Unplugged 2024 Volunteer Application

Major Conventions Planning Server

Anybody interested in volunteering at PAX Unplugged should join the OPF Major Conventions planning server by clicking the image below. Follow the instructions in #welcome to get access to the relevant channels. All important information will be conveyed on this server as well as via email, so please join the server!

Alex Speidel
Organized Play Coordinator

Brad Fiske and Nicholas Ruchlewicz
PAX Unplugged Organizing Committeer

“Nahoa, can you help me dig another ditch before planting season?”

“Nahoa, the pigs have gotten out again—can you help me round them up?”

The Olehala people, third of the four great nations of the Okaiyo Ocean, had many heroes. Kolea the Wanderer, or Uncle Midnight, or the Tideweaver. But Nahoa’s village, on a small island in the easternmost reaches of Olehala’s archipelago, had none. It didn’t need any; the village had plentiful rain and bountiful harvests, the seas were calm and the currents easy. But for whatever small problems might crop up—a ripped sail here, a sick child in need of watching there—Nahoa was always first to pitch in. The young man was no hero, but he worked hard on his family’s taro farm, sharing whatever was left over with his neighbors, and he played harder, stone-bowling with friends or lava-sledding down the slopes.

The years were joyful. Planting and harvesting, watching his little sisters grow up. The New Year’s games and feasts. Lazy summers swimming in the falls with that navigator from the nearby Taotake islands, before she led her merchant canoes east to distant Arcadia. For many years, all was well.

Until Pāmalō returned. The Olehala’s chants told of the demon, a massive creature of shadow and smoke, its wings silent as an owl and its belly insatiable as a shark’s. Once a generation, it would appear in the skies above their island, roost on the highest mountain for one day and night, and then feed. As the creature alit and the skies darkened, the people did what they had always done and hid: some in caves, some in the forests, and some in the distant reefs. With luck, Pāmalō would take mostly livestock, and leave.

Nahoa couldn’t understand. How could they let this happen, generation after generation? The last time Pāmalō had come, Nahoa had been too little to remember much, but the fear of black wings against the sun had been seared in his mind, the same as everyone of the nameless, easternmost island. Someone had to do something. His heart was telling Nahoa to do something.

No… it was Calling.

The Call had rung out for decades, and whether the others could not hear it or could not answer, Nahoa did not know. Without words, it implored someone to help. Nahoa was no hero… but he always helped those in need, and so he did what he always did when asked to help.

That night, Nahoa bathed in the waterfall and tidied the garden. He prepared some of his sisters’ favorite food, leaving it near the cooking pit for them to find in the morning, and he picked flowers to circle the stone that remembered their mother and father. Lastly, he went to the path that led up the mountain, digging stick in hand. Nahoa sat on a stump, the farming tool over his knee. So my sisters can grow up without fear. He cut a notch into his digging stick. So Uncle doesn’t go hungry this winter. Another notch. So that nice Taotake girl doesn’t encounter it on the seas. With each reason to face the creature, he cut. When he’d finished counting all his reasons, his digging stick was a barbed spear. With it, he climbed the mountain to Pāmalō’s roost, and he cried out a challenge as dawn broke.

Pāmalō paid no regard. Of course it didn’t. It was ancient, the subject of songs and dances every young Olehalan learned from their grandparents, its face carved into warding stones generations ago. Nahoa was no hero. The creature snatched Nahoa in its talons, and the two left the earth behind.

High in the sky, Nahoa fought Pāmalō. He may as well have been an ant attempting to fight the tide, for all the difference it seemed to make. Nahoa thrust his spear forward and it skittered along the demon owl's slick, black feathers, to fall to the raging waves below; he seized its wing to force it to earth but found it unyielding as a koa tree. He gave a great shout and it looked back at him, at this insignificant thing that dared to fight back, and it cocked its head. Nahoa didn’t even have time to let out a gasp as his chest tore under its beak.

As pain filled him, Nahoa despaired—was this all he really could do? He hadn’t expected to defeat Pāmalō, or even survive, but he had hoped he might at least wound the creature, to buy a few years’ peace for his island. To show his people that this ancient horror could bleed, that it could be opposed, that it didn’t have to be accepted as the price for the turning of the years. But it was for naught. Demonic shadows flooded into Nahoa’s chest like a venom, and as Nahoa looked up at the sky above him, red filled his vision.

Nahoa, the iconic exemplar. Art by Wayne Reynolds.

No, it didn’t. The sky above him was indeed red as blood, but it was not Nahoa’s. In the distance, Nahoa saw an impossible vision of two figures—a beast and a warrior as well—standing miles tall, bodies stretching from below the horizon to above the sky. The gods, Nahoa thought in shock, moments before one bisected the other, cutting immortality short. The heavens wept as the divine blood of the warrior god rained through the sky in a shower of sparks.

The sparks screamed past Nahoa and Pāmalō in streaks of red and silver. One landed on Pāmalō’s wing, and in a rush of speed, the sea below was replaced by the red desert of the distant mainland. Another landed, and the desert was replaced by ocean anew, though a strange one, studded through with the remnants of shattered land and ruined towers.

A spark screamed through the air, shining with light, and its speed matched Pāmalō and Nahoa’s as they flew. The demon tore into Nahoa once more, and Nahoa clung desperately to consciousness as bone crunched. He looked to the spark. He had been Called to protect his island, to face this beast, to do something, anything, but intention was nothing without the power to see it through. Power that hung in the air now, right before him. Nahoa reached for the spark with his right hand, but Pāmalō held him in place. He reached again, and his flesh tore to beak and talon. With a cry of pain, Nahoa reached a third time, and he seized divinity.

The spark flooded deep into Nahoa’s soul. He felt death flee from his bones as divine power chased the shadows from his veins, burning them into his skin as tattoos. His power, now, as well. Nahoa wrestled Pāmalō’s talons open, finding them brittle in his grasp, and he reached out for a weapon, finding the spear dropped half a world ago in his grip once more. As he yelled a challenge anew to the creature that had terrorized his people, he felt the tiny spark of divine power within him blaze, an ember fanned into a bonfire by this single moment of glory. Nahoa thrust the spear deep into Pāmalō’s breast, and the might of gods coursed down his arm and through the weapon to detonate in a peal of light and thunder. As the demon’s torn body fell to earth, Nahoa fell with it, careening toward a strange, icy shore.

Nahoa was no hero, not yet. But as consciousness slipped from his grasp, the Calling rang out around him, clearer than ever, and he knew it was what he was destined to be.

James Case (he/him)
Lead Developer, Rules & Lore

Nahoa’s class, the exemplar, appears in Pathfinder War of Immortals alongside the animist class and tons of mythic options for characters of all classes. Follow the events of the Godsrain—the deific cataclysm of Gorum’s death—as pieces of his armor, blood, and divine essence spread mythic power and war across the multiverse. With myriad options for your favorite player character, countless plot hooks to inspire exciting new campaigns, and a glimpse into the implications of the event across the Lost Omens setting, it’s time to follow a Calling of your own! Pathfinder War of Immortals is available for preorder now in hardcover, special edition, and pocket edition, and will also be available as a retailer-exclusive sketch cover while supplies last.

Hail and well met, ‘Finders! This month’s new releases unleash a wide variety of character options for adventures in award-winning Tian Xia, put the creatures of the wild in your pocket, and explore the roots of a dying river!

Never miss a release with our Paizo Subscriptions—for everything from rulebooks to accessories! Subscribers get a free PDF with purchase, early access to game content, and exclusive discounts on paizo.com!

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Pathfinder Lost Omens Tian Xia Character Guide

PARADE IN THE NIGHT!

In a land built from the flesh and bones of dragons, adventurers band together to seek their fate! Familiar faces take on new guises in the land of Tian Xia, traveling alongside peoples unique to the continent. The Tian Xia Character Guide features new heritages for existing ancestries, such as kijimuna gnomes and chrysanthemum leshies, as well as brand-new ancestries who have lived among the Dragon Empires since time immemorial. Explore an expansive world of options for your character, from the kinetic grace of dance and martial arts, to the subtle skills of cooking and alchemy, to the complex relationships between the elements. Will mastery of these techniques lead you to your goals, or will temptation and rivalry tear you asunder?

Pathfinder Lost Omens Tian Xia Character Guide is available in standard hardcover, Special Edition faux-leatherette bound hardcover, and PDF versions.

Pathfinder Howl of the Wild (Pocket Edition)

A WILD ADVENTURE!

Join a curious naturalist and his eccentric crew crossing continents in their fantastic airship, cataloging the world’s most fantastic creatures! Along the expedition, players will find new character options to bring their wildest characters to life, from new ancestries like the strong minotaur or magical merfolk, to awesome spells and ferocious archetypes, to new animal companions and gear forged from the scales and fangs of mythical beasts. GMs can look forward to a veritable menagerie to unleash on their players, containing animals, expansions on classic monsters, and never-before-seen creatures from every corner of the Age of Lost Omens campaign setting!

Pathfinder Howl of the Wild is now available in softcover pocket edition!

Pathfinder Adventure Path #205: Singer, Stalker, Skinsaw Man (Curtain Call 2 of 3)

ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE

The time has come to put ink to paper and start production on your opera! Your director has her heart set on hiring a famous but reclusive performer for the villain’s role. Tracking them down will prove to be but the first challenge facing you— especially as unexpected and sinister complications make their disruptive presences known. The Curtain Call Adventure Path continues with “Singer, Stalker, Skinsaw Man,” a complete adventure for 14th- to 17th-level characters.

“Singer, Stalker, Skinsaw Man” is also available as a Deluxe Foundry VTT Bundle!

Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Marsh

PUT ON YOUR BOOTS!

There are times when your adventures bring you into sodden locales and marshy expanses and Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Marsh can help you set the scene. Dangers lurk amid tall grasses and deep silt, ready to spring on hapless adventurers. Don’t waste time drawing a marsh when this Flip-Mat lets you play out your soggy encounters.

Pathfinder Society Intro: Year of Immortal Influence

A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for 1st- through 4th-level characters.

A new year comes for the Pathfinder Society, and what better way to start it off than by attending a fancy event? The Pathfinders find themselves invited to a charity dinner to benefit the Knights of Lastwall fighting in far-off lands against the lich king, Tar-Baphon. They're not the only important Absalom-based faction there however, as the event is filled with lords and ladies and socialites of all kinds, including the Peacebuilders, a group dedicated to ensuring the Pathfinder Society pays for any of its mistakes. In the middle of dinner, evidence of a strange ritual is found, and the Pathfinders must investigate before dinner becomes a murder mystery!

Pathfinder Society Year of Immortal Influence is available as a deluxe Foundry VTT full-season bundle or as a 10-scenario half-season bundle!

Starfinder Society Scenario #7-05: The Day the River Died

A Starfinder Society Scenario designed for 3rd- through 6th-level characters.

The River Between is a rushing waterway contained within a cylindrical containment field that winds through the Diaspora, connecting hundreds of asteroids and sarcesian crèche worlds in an endless loop. For years, the River Between’s current has slowed, and its waters have darkened, becoming fallow and murky. Now, the River Between is drying up, and all signs indicate it’s an act of sabotage perpetrated by notorious space pirate Alera Okwana, captain of the Riveters. Grab your laser pistol, plot a course for the Diaspora, and raid a pirate stronghold in your quest to save the River Between!

Pathfinder Quest (Series 2) #20: The Dacilane Academy's Show Must Go On

A Pathfinder Society Quest designed for 1st- through 4th-level characters, playable in 2-3 hours.

The Dacilane Academy often calls upon the Pathfinder Society to get them out of trouble, or to aid their students. Considering that many Pathfinders enroll their children in the academy, the relationship is one of mutual benefit. It’s therefore no surprise when the academy calls upon the Pathfinders to help make sure nothing terrible happens during the play that the students will be performing at a nearby theater, the Muse of the Rose. Recently, performances there have seen unfortunate accidents. No one has been seriously injured, but the performances were all ultimately ruined. It's up to the PCs to ensure that the Dacilane Academy's performance doesn't suffer the same fate, even if they have to prevent disasters backstage during the show itself.

Pathfinder Society Special #4-99: Blessings of the Forest

A Pathfinder Society Special designed for 1st- through 8th-level characters (subtiers 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 & 7-8).

The Pathfinder Society is approached by the Queen of Kyonin for their assistance in investigating a demon-obsessed elf noble and his ominous plans for an isolated town within the forests of Kyonin, in exchange for allowing the Society to once again operate within the nation. The travel there is treacherous, and once the Pathfinders arrive, the town is besieged by a power beyond any one elf no matter his plans and ambition. The teams of Pathfinders must work together effectively and quickly to prevent the corruption of the forest and the town!

Pathfinder Tokens: Character Gallery (Foundry VTT)

Pathfinder Tokens: Character Gallery is a brand-new token collection, comprising ~1200 unique portraits, each with a hand-crafted character token ready for VTT use. Created from gorgeous artwork sourced from a variety of Paizo's most popular Pathfinder publications, this module focuses on providing a vast range of vibrant, unique, and interesting characters at a moment's notice. What's more, all the artwork has been carefully tagged and curated, and the massive collection is easily searched and filtered thanks to a new in-world asset browser developed specifically for this module. Whether you're a gamemaster looking to put a face to a beloved NPC or a future villain, or a player searching for the perfect portrait for their next character, the Character Gallery has you covered.

From Our Partners:

Our partners at Archives of Nethys, Demiplane, Fantasy Grounds, Hero Lab Online, and Roll20* are dropping new content this month as well! Buy your PDF on paizo.com to get a discount via the PaizoConnect API. Or pay full price on their platforms, sync your account, and get a complimentary PDF on the Paizo Store.

*Roll20 is no longer a part of PaizoConnect and discounts and complimentary PDFs do not apply.

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Hi, everyone!
It’s hard to believe that the Pathfinder Lost Omens Tian Xia Character Guide releases tomorrow! This book brings Asian-inspired fantasy and folklore—from the ancient to the modern—to your table in a torrent of character options. The book contains six new playable ancestries, tons of new heritages, pages of archetypes and feats, and more to build whatever kind of Tian character captures your imagination, whether that’s a peachchild leshy that fights with a magical lightning familiar, a tanuki in high-tech armor wielding a frost fair glaive, or a yaksha cultivator who follows the heretical path of the bitter scholar.

When we started the Tian Xia project back in 2022, we knew we couldn’t do it alone—only by pooling the passion, knowledge, and shared experiences of our stellar cast of writers and designers could we bring the (now gold ENNIE award winning!) Tian Xia World Guide to vibrant life or dream up the spooks and frights of the Season of Ghosts Adventure Path. You might have heard from some of our authors back in April with the release of the World Guide, but we wanted to give everyone a chance to talk about their inspirations in the Character Guide as well. Hear from some of them below!

From all of us, thank you for supporting Tian Xia! This vast continent is yours to explore, and we can’t wait to hear what sort of stories you tell!

James Case
Lead Developer, Rules and Lore

Eleanor Ferron
Senior Developer

Ianara Natividad
Senior Editor

Eren Ahn (they/them, primarily)

안녕하세요! It's Eren again. I'm absolutely thrilled to have written the new dokkaebi goblin heritage! It's been a complete joy to turn the goblin creatures of my childhood into something I hope you will delight in. If you ever come across a pot randomly at the side of the road, make sure to leave a little treat for the dokkaebi napping inside!

As always, you can find me chatting about my writing on Bluesky and everything else on Twitter. Hope to see y'all around!

Jeremy Blum (he/him)

I worked on both the Tian Xia World and Character Guides, and it was a joy to contribute to both. For the World Guide, I took Amanandar into a new era and turned it into Linvarre, and I also wrote bios for the Avistani gods worshipped in Tian Xia, as well as new info on our favorite estranged tengu lovers, Hei Feng and Lady Jingxi. For the Character Guide, I wrote Tian innovation feats for the inventor class. Can you spot all the references I stuffed in there? There's Double Dragon, Dragonball, G Gundam, Street Fighter, the '70s Japanese Spider-Man TV show (EMISSARY FROM HELL!), Megaman, and Voltron!

When I'm not working on Paizo books, I'm a co-designer on Mappa Mundi: An Exploration + Ecology RPG for Three Sails Studios. It's a TTRPG about exploring the wild and observing the behaviors of monsters like a naturalist, and it takes place in a fantastical world vaguely inspired by Eurasia. If you like Tian Xia, please check us out, since I've just finished writing up the lore for our Chinese-inspired region of Zoumung! For more news on my current projects, check me out on Twitter and Bluesky!

A yaksha in their howling aspect (art by Alexander Nanitchkov) and a tanuki getting carried away (art by Sammy Khalid).

Alyx Bui (they/them)

I am so ecstatic to have worked on the Samsaran ancestry with Kienna Shaw! We both wanted to create a world that thrived on cooperation, even in the frigid lands of their homeland Zi Ha. It's a brilliant ancestry that incorporates some fundamental aspects of Buddhism—samsara, reincarnation, impermanence, karma, and enlightenment—and while adapted to a fantasy setting, we tried to ensure that we drew authentically from this way of life. Their power comes from the beginningless cycle of rebirth and attainment of knowledge as a result. It is truly humbling to have been able to incorporate a way of life and teachings that has so greatly influenced my own.

Rick Chia (any!)

Hey, that’s me! I had the pleasure of writing the handful of critters and blorbos in the companions and familiars section. I myself am taught in the soul-sucking ways of media production, in many mediums, forms, and (hopefully more) projects.

If you want me to write little critters and blorbos for your project :D, you can find me here.

A tropical kijimuna gnome (art by Guilherme Nery) and the imperial dragon’s aide, a heavenscribe kobold (art by Guilherme Nery).

Hiromi Cota (they/them)

Haitai! Wannee Hiromi yaibiin! I’m Hiromi, and my main contribution to the Tian Xia Character Guide was the tsukumogami poppet heritage. For those unfamiliar, tsukumogami are tools and other household objects that have gained a spirit through use and/or age. They’re one of my favorite creatures in Japanese folklore. As a playable heritage, tsukumogami have characteristics that reflect their original utility, as well as feats to customize their abilities. As living objects, they're cute and a little spooky.

My favorite part of the section is a feat called Minuscule Mentee, which allows your tsukumogami character to have their own poppet familiar, which they will presumably mentor and look after. It’s a lovely way to expand the tsukumogami community and gain a little buddy to help your character in their travels. I look forward to seeing players try this out and potentially create all-tsukumogami parties!

I had loads of fun working on Tian Xia, and I still have more fun Pathfinder things coming! Once I can talk about them, you’ll see details on my Bluesky account @hiromicota or my website.

Sen H.H.S.

Hi all, it's Sen H.H.S. A belated thank-you to those who voted for the Tian Xia World Guide for the ENNIE awards this year. I hope you enjoy the Character Guide.

Daniel Kwan

Hello! My name's Daniel! I'm the co-host of the Asians Represent Podcast and a freelance game designer and cultural consultant with over 40 game credits! The Tian Xia World Guide was my second Paizo contribution and certainly the one I'm most excited about. I had a blast bringing my love of Asian weaponry into the Character Guide. It is such an honor to be part of such a diverse team of Asian creatives who have worked so hard to bring life to Tian Xia! Fun fact, some of my fellow freelancers and I started a home game to test out many of our contributions during the development period!

Twitter: @danielhkwan Website: https://danielhkwan.carrd.co/

Jessie "Aki" Lo (she/her)

I'm a freelance writer, artist, GM, producer, editor, and TTRPG performer who just can't say no. I had the absolute pleasure of writing the backgrounds in the Character Guide and the nue in the World Guide. Tian Xia holds such a special place in my heart and I'm so glad to finally share that. A fun little fact, two of the backgrounds are based on my late grandmothers!

If you want to see more of my work in Pathfinder Second Edition, you should check out my Actual Play podcasts. Goblets and Gaysis an all-Queer, Second Edition remastered homebrew adventure, and An Unwavering Force is a Pathfinder Second Edition Star Wars actual play. You can also find me on Twitter/X doing various, questionable things.

A half-moon sarangay (art by Arthur Oliveira) and a fan dancer (art by Vira Linevych).

Adam Ma

I can't believe this is finally coming to life! Tian Xia has been a wonderful opportunity for me to engage in everything I love about fantasy. I'm thrilled to play a small role in bringing this setting to life.

If you enjoy my work on ysoki and Wanshou, you'll probably enjoy all the other TTRPG content I work on. Fans of adventure, horror, comics, and Gundam can find me on Bsky (here) and Twitter (here) as 34thGingerbread or you can visit my website: https://www.adam34th.com/

Collette Quach

Hi! I'm Collette Quach and I'm a Chinese-Cambodian designer and writer. The Tian Xia Character Guide is my first Paizo publication but you might have seen my writing in Tian Xia Days: Study Hall where I explored the Indraracha Institute of Tang Mai. I wrote and designed the hungerseed ancestry and the text about the jorogumo. I had a blast researching the mythology of our world and incorporating it into Tian Xia. I wanted to showcase the things that make us love them but also add a level of complexity that makes interacting with them much more engaging at your tables. I hope you all enjoy my little spider friends and shooting beams of energy out of your third eye!

My Twitter is @collettequach and my website is collettequach.wixsite.com/home.

A makari lizardfolk (art by Guilherme Nery) and an inventor riding her puppet (art by Mylene Bertrand).

Shahreena Shahrani (she/her)

Marhaba, hello, everyone! I’m Shahreena, a Malaysian-American gamer, freelance writer, cultural consultant, and educator. I have previously worked on a number of Pathfinder (and Starfinder) books such as Rage of Elements, Lost Omens Gods & Magic, and Absalom, City of Lost Omens. For the Lost Omens Tian Xia Character Guide, I had fun contributing lore inspired by the folktales I had grown up with.

In my non-gaming related life, I am an educator actively promoting diverse voices and experiences. I deliver lectures/presentations on regional and cultural studies of the Middle East and North Africa. I also bring together artists, writers, scholars, and experts to present on topics relating to Kurdish Studies in an online Speaker Series (https://www.youtube.com/@ZahraInstitute).

If you’re looking for a Middle East and North Africa specialist for your next project, you can reach me via email (shahreena_s [at] yahoo [dot] com). You can also find my retelling of world folk tales on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@storytimewithauntienina5783).

Kienna Shaw (she/they)

Hi there! I’m Kienna, and I had the pleasure of reimagining the samsaran ancestry alongside Alyx Bui. As a worldbuilding nerd, it was an exciting creative challenge to expand the lore of this beloved ancestry, ground it within the new version of Tian Xia, and bring it up to date with the play philosophy of Pathfinder Second Edition. I wanted to delve into what “enlightenment” means for the samsarans, making it a concrete goal that can be achieved through many different paths. Whether your samsaran aims to fully understand the world through studying a niche subject, mastering a skill, or exploring the wondrous dangers of the continent, I hope you’ll find the ancestry’s story and roleplay opportunities as rich and rewarding as I did.

Writing the samsarans for the Tian Xia Character Guide along with the gods Yaezhing and Jin Li in the Tian Xia World Guide was a fantastic experience from start to finish. You can find me and my other TTRPG work on Twitter as @KiennaS, Bluesky as kiennas.bsky.social, or on my website https://kiennas.com/.

Tan Shao Han

I'm happy the Tian Xia Character Guide will reach you soon! Working on Tian Xia for Pathfinder Second Edition has been the highlight of my freelance career so far!

My Character Guide contributions include designing the yaksha ancestry, lore and consulting for the wayang ancestry, and hybrid studies and an archetype inspired by wuxia and xianxia.

As a SEAsian Buddhist, yaksha stories have interested me since youth, alongside tales of nagas (whose lore I also got to consult for in Pathfinder Monster Core). These yakshas I've created are inspired by different stories, filtered through my own perspective as a devotee. While you won't find the yakshas in Tian Xia as analogous of any one yaksha tradition, my hope is that our work will be true to the ethos and themes of these spirits.

I am also happy to create new lore for the wayangs. I tried to recenter SEAsian perspectives by integrating integrated elements of Javanese mysticism (kejawèn) as well as themes of SEA's history of anti-colonial struggle. One day, we shall all be free! Well, in closing, it is my hope to inspire you to find out more about SEA's history and culture through our games. Thank you!

A yaoguai born from a wild animal (art by Sammy Khalid) and the transforming magical starlit sentinel (art by Vira Linevych).

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Dive into the history and culture of Tian Xia with the gold ENNIE award winning Pathfinder Lost Omens Tian Xia World Guide! Then, get ready to build Tian characters when Pathfinder Lost Omens Tian Xia Character Guide drops tomorrow! Looking for adventure in Tian Xia? Investigate the horrors plaguing Willowshore in Season of Ghosts or compete for glory in the Fists of the Ruby Phoenix!

Hello, Starfinders!
Big news across the Pact Worlds this month as the River Between—a rushing waterway that winds throughout the Diaspora—is drying up! As citizens of the Pact Worlds ponder whether this is a natural occurrence or act of sabotage, the Starfinder Society enters the Diaspora to investigate! Grab your laser pistol, plot a course for the Diaspora, and raid a pirate stronghold in your quest to save the River Between!

Starfinder Society Scenario #7-05: The Day the River Died is an adventure for 3rd- to 6th-level characters written by Joan Hong!

Illustration by Fabio Di Bernardi

Take care, Starfinders! Things are changing out there…

Jessica Catalan
Starfinder Society Developer

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Hello, Pathfinders!
Now that we’ve all returned from Gen Con (and showered and slept and recovered and received our complimentary Paizo-branded post-convention drinks) it’s time to draw everyone’s attention toward what’s releasing this month!

The Year of Immortal Influence kicks off this month with a grand fundraiser dinner, hosted by Lady Hesla Embersplitter in order to benefit the Knights of Lastwall! She’s eager to see their crusade against Tar-Baphon get underway and wants to do everything she can to help, including inviting the elite of Absalom’s nobility all into the same room at once! Surely nothing can go wrong! The Pathfinders receive an invitation and, while rubbing elbows with some of the most influential people in Absalom, they learn that something isn’t quite right at the dinner…

Pathfinder Society Intro: Year of Immortal Influence is an adventure written for 1st- through 4th-level characters by Rigby Bendele!

Illustration by Tom Ventre

It’s hard to believe it’s already been a year since the Pathfinders received their first warm welcome in Kyonin after such a long time! Yes, Pathfinder Society Scenario #4-99: Blessings of the Forest is finally available for purchase! Go and explore the depths of the Fireani Forest and press back against an isolationist elf and a former lieutenant of Treerazer!

Illustration by Tom Ventre

Meanwhile, the Three Gates Lodge over in Kayajima needs some routine maintenance of its leyline wards. It’s a perfectly safe task, and you really shouldn’t worry about it. I mean, what do you expect, a god to die just as you are about to get the details of your routine task? His ichor and essence raining across all Golarion–including Kayajima? Causing immeasurable chaos and leaving you and your companions as the only ones who can deal with the aftermath, tasked with a friendly dragon of seeking out a dangerous power that has come to rest at the mountain’s peak?

Illustartion by Lucas Fernando

C’mon, what are the odds of something like that?

Illustration by Ivan Koritarev

Pathfinder Society Scenario #6-02 Rain Falls on the Mountain of Sea and Sky is an adventure written for 1st- through 4th-level characters by our very own Luis Loza.

Josh Foster
Pathfinder Society Developer

Shay Snow
Pathfinder Society Developer

In July, we terminated Paizo’s longstanding Community Use Policy and replaced it with a new Fan Content Policy. This was an error, and we’re taking steps to rectify that today.

We are reinstating the Community Use Policy as it has existed for over 15 years, with a few minor updates and clarifications intended to make using the policy even easier. We have removed both the Approved Products List and Community Use Registry and clarified some elements that were previously in FAQs or simply not addressed (like being able to use our art and logos in black and white products). We have not changed the permissions granted by the policy. The specific language in the Community Use Policy declaration you need to include in your project has changed to reflect a new URL for the policy on paizo.com, and we have added the provision that you provide contact information somewhere on your product in lieu of the now-removed registry. This change will allow existing Community Use Policy projects to continue to operate as they have for over a decade.

We still fully intend to provide additional permissions for community creators to monetize their creations under limited circumstances. For the time being, the Fan Content Policy allows this, and we’re making no changes to that policy today—it exists alongside the Community Use Policy. With the Community Use Policy restored, we can refine the Fan Content Policy to more clearly define what commercial uses are allowed under what conditions and using which elements of our intellectual property. We will make our intended revisions and updates to the Fan Content Policy and let the community know when the new version is available.

Paizo’s community is the foundation of our success, and we deeply appreciate all of the hard work and passion you bring to our spaces. We apologize for this misstep and look forward to a long, bright future for community projects inspired by our work. Thank you for all of your outreach, feedback, and difficult conversations throughout this process. And above all, thank you for being a part of our community.

During Gen Con, we were finally able to reveal our newest Pathfinder setting book, Pathfinder Lost Omens Rival Academies! This book features Golarion’s most fantastic schools meeting and sharing their secrets in a grand Convocation. Over a dozen schools are attending, with each getting to show off its stories and teachings, but six sponsors are taking the main stage, so we thought we’d introduce them to you here!

These academies get to show off more of what they’re best at—not to mention, teach their secrets to player characters—whether that’s archetypes, gadgets, spells, wizard schools, or something else entirely. The six sponsors come from vastly different backgrounds, momentarily united in the dual goals of supporting a new academy at the edge of the devastated Sarkoris Scar and spreading some of their knowledge so that it cannot all be lost in a single disaster.

As with most academic gatherings, rivalry underscores the Convocation’s shared missions. In addition to sparking exhibits and clashes of wits, theories are tested daily on the demons that still linger in the lands of Sarkoris. With honest competition and underhanded dealings alike raising tensions, it’s important to know what side you’re on.

Students from the Magaambya and the University of Lepidstadt meet on the cover to Lost Omens Rival Academies, by Ekaterina Gordeeva!

The Six Sponsors

Academy of the Reclamation symbol by Riccardo Rullo.

The Academy of the Reclamation is a new school dedicated to rebuilding Sarkoris and reuniting the knowledge of its scattered descendants. Built in Nerosyan just across the river from the Sarkoris Scar, this academy is the host of the Six Schools’ Convocation. In addition to learning this ancestral lore and the secrets of Sarkoris’s old gods, its students are also exploring the lessons hidden in the Sarkoris Scar and brought home by their returning cousins.

Cobyslarni symbol by Riccardo Rullo.

Cobyslarni is the name of both an institution and the titanic elephantine headmaster on whose back it rests. Normally found wandering through the fey realms of the First World, Cobyslarni’s teachings focus on the magical power of oaths and agreements. With their headmaster temporarily residing on the Convocation grounds, many of their students are having their first taste of the mortal world.

Kitharodian Academy symbol by Riccardo Rullo.

Kitharodian Academy teaches acting and music in the heart of Taldor, with every generation finding new ways to recapture hints of that empire’s golden age. It also serves a secondary purpose as the recruiting and training grounds for the Lion Blades, the empire’s intelligence service. Despite this open secret, the school is legitimately concerned with preserving the knowledge of their fading homeland.

Magaambya symbol by Rogier van de Beek.

The Magaambya passes on their teachings over millennia in the Mwangi Expanse, blending arcane and primal magics. As one of the oldest and most influential academies in the Inner Sea, the Magaambya is a major force behind the Six Schools’ Convocation and the broader efforts to aid the Sarkorian people. However, this influence does not sit well with all the other academies, especially those espousing radical new solutions.

Monastery of Unbreaking Waves symbol by Oleg Bulatnikov.

The Monastery of Unbreaking Waves believes there are many paths to perfection, with theirs focusing on the flexibility and tenacity of water. This perfection is visible in a variety of martial and mystical arts, but their academy’s recovery after utter destruction may display it better. Grueling effort reconstructs the secrets of the few remaining books with new lessons from other schools in Jalmeray and even genies from the Plane of Water.

University of Lepidstadt symbol by Riccardo Rullo.

The University of Lepidstadt blazes at the forefront of discovery, heedless of any obstacles or objections. Even the religious and cultural strictures of Ustalav only drive Lepidstadt’s experiments with crackling Stasian coils and reanimation of the flesh into hiding.

Invitees across Golarion

In addition to the six schools sponsoring the Convocation, various invitees from all across Golarion are in attendance, from Absalom’s own Dacilane Academy to the Indraracha Institute in Tian Xia’s Tang Mai. Each is ready with their own perspective, as well as an item, spell, or some other piece of knowledge to contribute. One school we’re sure many will recognize is the Sihedron Spires, who bring with them their knowledge of rune magic and the (now fully remastered) runelord archetype!

A practitioner of rune magic calls on the destructive powers of Wrath! Art by Cagdas Demiralp.

Meet our Writers!

It was up to the authors of this book to bring these schools and other attendees to life, giving each their own voice and beliefs that you can embody through PCs and NPCs alike. I’d like to thank Sharang Biswas, Jeremy Blum, Carlos Cisco, Aoife Ester, Laura Lynn Horst, Andrew Mullen, Kendra Leigh Speedling, Stephanie Lundeen, Mahpiya, Collette Quach, Mikhail Rekun, Erin Roberts, Navaar Seik-Jackson, Shahreena Shahrani, Gina Susanna, Tan Shao Han, and Esther Wallace.

Developing the Looks

Lastly, an important part of bringing these schools to life was their look. While we had a good number of references for the look of the Magaambya and Lepidstadt, some of our other schools just haven’t had much time in the spotlight (and the Academy of the Reclamation is brand new!), so let me show you a bit of how they look around the Convocation in this concept art from our very own Kent Hamilton.

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Academy of the Reclamation and Cobyslarni concept art by Kent Hamilton.

Kitharodian Academy and Monastery of Unbreaking Waves concept art by Kent Hamilton.

Landon Winkler (they/them)
Developer

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Pathfinder Lost Omens Rival Academies is available now to pre-order in both standard hardcover and faux-leatherette bound special edition. Subscribe to the Pathfinder Lost Omens line to receive a free PDF when your copy ships!