The Usual Suspects: Class Decks Preview

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Gather round, Pathfinders. I've got some secrets to share with you. It's the story of an unlikely group of adventurers whose journeys took them into the Eye of Abendego, out to the Worldwound, and beyond. How does the story end? Well, that's up to you to decide...

The Courtier

Graceful, talented, and beautiful, Siwar has ingratiated herself into the highest courts of the River Kingdoms. She is knowledgeable in topics ranging from art to politics and is highly schooled in etiquette. Though her talents might lead an observer to think that she is too delicate for the adventuring life, Siwar is happy to make eye contact with that observer, smile impishly, and direct him to do her bidding.

Siwar Illustration by Florian Stitz

The Scholar

In the city of Oenopion, Zarlova is a well-known professor at the Hive, an academy of wizards and clerics working in concert to unravel mysteries left by the god Nethys. A master of The Book of Magic, Zarlova routinely ventures from the halls of academe to spread knowledge among the unenlightened. Her mastery of offensive magic makes her a valued ally on any adventure.

Zarlova Illustration by Tim Kings-Lynne

The Legbreaker

Tontelizi's rough-and-tumble past began with a stint as an enforcer in his family's shady business. Because of his short stature, some mocked him with the nickname "Legbreaker." They soon found their ability to walk severely compromised. After retiring from daily enforcement detail, Tontelizi found himself missing the simple pleasures of maiming and intimidation. He now wields his polearm as a mercenary for fun and profit.

Tontelizi Illustration by Jorge Fares

The Gamekeeper

Dwarves laboring in the mines of Kalsgard have limited exposure to the animals of the forest, but Agna has trained in the wilderness, and she's introduced many beasts to the lands below the earth. Ready to fight with a weapon in either hand, Agna can make you think she's your biggest threat, right before a trained bear attacks you from behind.

Agna Illustration by Eva Widermann

The Death Whisperer

Wu Shen loves death as if it were an actual person. She speaks of death as "her lover," and listeners may mistakenly believe she is referring to a mortal. Each time she brings a monster to its grisly end, she savors a moment of hope that death will acknowledge her as its favorite. To add spice to her devotional gifts, Wu Shen often chooses unique or difficult ways to complete her kills.

Wu Shen Illustration by Alex Tooth

The Trickster

Qualzar's heritage includes mischievous fey who curdle milk, tie shoelaces together, and generally make nuisances of themselves. He claims to not understand why others find his humor malicious, but in truth, he doesn't care. He's willing to hurt others for the sake of a pun or a punch line, and he's got a book of plucked fairy wings to prove it. His mind-melting spell blasts and mesmeric powers are almost always turned on enemies, so it's probably safe to adventure with him.

Qualzar Illustration by Kostja Schleger

The Necromancer

The power of the dead courses through Darago's thin veins. It's a rare wizard who can traffic with the unliving and retain most of his soul, but so far, Darago has resisted the baser desires of most necromancers. Still, his chilling voice and devilish sense of humor will surprise even the most hardened mercenary. After all, he will happily battle at the side of any adventure while she lives... and perhaps for a short time thereafter.

Darago Illustration by Diana Martinez

I hope you've enjoyed this preview of some of the new characters and cards found in the Class Decks. Preorder one now and get ready for the Adventure Card Guild, launching in just two weeks!

Also, make sure you check out Erik Mona's Publisher Preview on the Paizo blog this Friday. (It's a weekly blog that mostly talks about Pathfinder Battles pre-painted plastic miniatures.) Pathfinder Adventure Card Game players, be they miniatures lovers or not, are going to want to read this week's installment.

Tanis O'Connor
Adventure Card Game Designer

Inner Sea Gods: Divine Servitors

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Well, we've previously looked at the art, deities, and character options featured in Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea Gods, and now it's time to summon up our final preview blog—a look at the 40 divine servitors available to the faithful of the core deities via a number of calling spells.

Each of the core 20 deities receives two statblocks in the final chapter of Inner Sea Gods, one its herald, and the other a lower-level outsider. First let's look at a few of the new outsiders, shall we?

Up first is the dapsara, a new angel closely tied to Shelyn, goddess of love, beauty, and art. This CR 4 angel has bardic abilities, including bardic performance and versatile performance, and should serve those who venerate the arts well.

Illustration by Diana Martinez

What could be more opposed to art and beauty than the qlippoth, the proto-demons of the Abyss from which Rovagug ascended. Thognorok qlippoth, like the one depicted here, are considered servitors of the Rough Beast, but are actually sentient symbiotes that once had the misfortune of dining on Rovagug's flesh. As with all the lower-level servitors in the book, Thognoroks are CR 4, has 6 HD, and can therefor be called with lesser planar ally and/or lesser planar binding. Though I would caution against trying with this guy.

Illustration by Ben Wootten

If a CR 4 outsider just isn't going to cut it for you, there's always each deity's herald. Inner Sea Gods presents the herald subtype, which grant a uniform array of abilities to these unique outsiders who serve as envoys and agents of their patrons. Heralds generally have 18 or fewer Hit Dice, come in around CR 15, and can be summoned with greater planar ally. Each of the heralds received a new development pass, standardizing their abilities and upgrading those released prior to the Pathfinder RPG up to the current rules set. Here's Asmodeus's herald, the sinister and deadly Basiles, for your viewing pleasure.

Illustration by Emeliano Petrozzi

This fella, however, breaks the herald mold, which is befitting of the herald of the god who motivated Sarenrae and Asmodeus to work together to imprison him. I'm talking, of course, about the Tarrasque, also known as the Armageddon Engine, herald of Rovagug. Not only does the version presented in Inner Sea Gods include the herald and spawn of Rovagug subtypes (resulting in different stats than the world-neutral version in the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary), it keeps the original's CR 25, making it by far the most dangerous of the heralds presented in the book.

Illustration by Ben Wootten

And there you have it, folks! By the time another one of these previews would go up, most of you will have your copies of the book, so I'll move on to previewing other forthcoming books. Inner Sea Gods is available in game stores everywhere and can be purchased as a hardcover or PDF download right here.

Mark Moreland
Developer

Inner Sea Gods: Character Options

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Well, we've previously looked at the art and the deities featured in Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea Gods, and now it's time to look at some of the new character options presented in the book.

This book features three all-new prestige classes, each offering different abilities depending on which of the 20 core deities the character worships. That's 60 different iterations of the prestige classes! The classes are the evangelist (a jack-of-all trades that serves as a divine-themed version of the character's other class[es]), exalted (a deity-specific prestige class for divine spellcasters), and sentinel (a full-BAB prestige class for holy warriors).

Illustration by Ivan Dixon

There's more to Inner Sea Combat than just prestige classes, however! In fact, there's something here for followers of dozens of religions who want to stick with a single class their whole career. We've got new feats, religion traits, subdomains, and spells, including spawn calling, which allows the caster to summon one of Rovagug's mighty spawn, and comes with a mythic upgrade to bring about even more destruction.

Illustration by Alejandro Rojas

In addition to scores of new faith-themed magic items, Inner Sea Gods also presents a new type of magic item—altars. These stationary places of worship grant bonuses to those characters who pray at them each day.

Illustration by Diana Martinez

That's all for today, but check back soon for one more look inside Inner Sea Gods, when we'll examine a few of the creatures that make up the book's sizable bestiary. Inner Sea Gods is already on its way to distributors, and will be available in retail stores and to subscribers in the near future. You can preorder the book here.

Mark Moreland
Developer

New Rules, New Ideas, New Stories

Monday, November 18, 2013

Illustration by Diana Martinez

If you haven't heard, Paizo Publishing will release the playtest rules for the upcoming Advanced Class Guide tomorrow, Tuesday, the 19th of November. That's ten new 20-level base classes that combine features of the existing classes to create innovative options with both unique powers and familiar mechanics with novel twists. I'm sure that by the time you finish reading through all ten, you'll have multiple character concepts screaming to be put on paper.

These classes are available for use in Pathfinder Society Organized Play immediately upon the release of the playtest document. You'll need to have a print or PDF copy of the playtest document with your character, and you'll need to incorporate any changes established by the design team or campaign staff during the playtest as well as once the final versions of the class are released in August 2014. The Additional Resources list will have specific details about what is allowed in the campaign and should be referenced when creating a character that uses any of these classes. Remember that everyone is gaining access to these playtest documents at the same time, so be a good roleplaying game citizen and plan to arrive early to any game for which you're using these rules so that you can discuss them with your GM, help her to understand how the class works, and give a friendly heads-up about what your character can do. Sure, you may only have a single class to learn, but the GM may have to handle six new classes at once.

Also, don't forget that in a little more than a week you'll have The Confirmation, a brand new Tier 1–2 Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for unlimited replay by 1st-level characters (yep, we extended the level range). That sounds like an ideal adventure to test out those new character concepts.

I'm always excited to see new character options because it gives me tons of character ideas. Sometimes I get a cool idea about synergy between feats, class abilities, or spells, which leads to a powerful character, but after building and playing however many dozens of aspiring adventurers, nobles heroes, and dastardly antiheroes, I recognize that sometimes new mechanics are most helpful in designing new personalities, backstories, and comprehensive concepts. In fact, some of my favorite characters are those that I or a friend built to break the mold of what is expected in a class: a barbarian whose rage power choices make her behave like a druid who channels elemental power, a "paladin" of Cayden Cailean who is actually a bard that chose spells to replicate paladin abilities (e.g. remove fear, cure light wounds, etc.), and most of all a "cleric" of Razmir.

When I play Jokhas, that "cleric," I have two character sheets: a real one that records my actual stats (that I show to the GM before the game) and a somewhat reflavored one that renames many of my class abilities and spells. When Jokhas the priest of Razmir casts a spell that's obviously unavailable to clerics—such as black tentacles—I often get some strange looks before sharing a knowing wink with the GM and then explaining in character that Razmir grants all magic and transcends the arbitrary limitations set by less caring deities. That said, Jokhas (member of the Silver Crusade faction) is also delusional, believing Razmir is a benevolent but stern god of glory, love, and prosperity who must regrettably strike down nay-sayers to remind mortals that justice is not to be mocked. It's usually at the end of the game that I reveal to curious players that Jokhas is a witch with a healing patron and has renamed his hexes as "miracles." Of course, anyone with Spellcraft can identify Jokhas's renamed spells or make other relevant checks to learn about what he's really doing. For Pathfinder Society Organized Play, it's important I not change how burning hands works or appears, but that doesn't stop me as a player from calling it the fires that destroyed Melcat.

What's most interesting about playing such a character, though, is that it inspires a different mentality in my fellow players. The character is not an 8th-level witch with familiar rules mechanics; instead he's a strange and enigmatic spellcaster, drawing others' attention to his style and presentation and less to the numbers on the character sheet. When he calls on Razmir's blessings, the results seem as miraculous to the players as to the player characters. In a way, it's one more step toward immersion in the setting and the story.

So as you explore these ten new classes, don't just limit yourself to considering mechanics—though please do provide feedback about balance, flavor, and other features important in the playtesting process; let these options inspire you to create a truly unique character personality that your region will be talking about for years to come.

Do you already have such a character?

John Compton
Developer

Test Your Faith!

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Illustration by Diana Martinez

Player Companion: Faiths & Philosophies is on its way to store shelves and subscribers' hands, and I couldn't be more excited about this book! When threads pop up on our messageboards with questions like "Is it even possible for a cleric to not be some deity-worshiping fanatic?" and "How much do the deities ‘talk' to their followers?", it warms my heart to see that fans are truly ready for a book like Faiths & Philosophies, which is much unlike any other book we've ever done!

In addition to answering these sorts of questions and more, this Player Companion hosts a bunch of super-cool new ways to practice worship and religion while also allowing characters to try out entirely new ways of finding spiritual enlightenment. In no particular order (just kidding, it's alphabetical), here's a list of the features in this book I'm most excited about:

• Codes of Honor: Ever wonder how you could get in good with the Knights of Ozem? How about the Red Mantis Assassins? Wonder no more! The new codes of honor in this book tie in perfectly with the rules for honor in Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Campaign, and provide guidelines for gaining prestige within many of Golarion's most fabled organizations.
• Meditation Feats: Now your monk has a reason to sit and ponder while the wizard prepares her spells and the cleric prays to his deity! By meditating every day, any character with a couple of these feats can unlock powerful new abilities that allow you to channel your insight into perilous situations, shield your body from deadly blows, and even slow down time as you perceive it!
• Pantheons: This book delves into the unique sets of deities worshiped by groups such as the Hellknights' Order of the Godclaw and Taldor's zealous nationalists and even details some of Vudra's thousands of deities! The pantheons discussed in this book provide a slew of ideas for characters that worship more than one deity, and the new Pantheistic Blessing feat grants believers some impressive divine powers should they uphold the tenets of their diversified faith.

I'd hate to spoil too much more, so I'll just leave you all with a single piece of the awesome art that appears in this book. Polish your holy symbols and get ready to cast some bones, because Faiths & Philosophies ships soon!

Patrick Renie
Developer

Blood of the Night: Sate Your Hunger, Part 2

Saturday, December 22, 2012

This past Thursday we gave you a glimpse into the brand-new Pathfinder Player Companion: Blood of the Nightand offered up some pointers on playing your favorite bloodsucker. Now it's time for dhampirs and the dauntless vampire hunters.

So You're Playing a Dhampir...

Half-breed vampires, the dhampir first appeared in Bestiary 2 and were further embraced in the Advanced Race Guide (page 96, which begins 6 pages of new traits, archetypes, magic items, and more). Blood of the Night expands on those options, bringing these tainted souls fully into the Pathfinder campaign setting. If your GM is allowing dhampirs in her game, its time to decide if playing one of these accursed souls is right for you.

Illustrations by Diana Martinez

1. Begin with the Basics: Start on the inside front cover to get a run down on what it means to be a dhampir. All of the racial benefits and abilities of this mysterious breed appear right up front. Check these out and see if it seems like a dhampir character is right for you.
2. Know Your Ancestors: Dhampirs aren't their own full-fledged race, they're half-breeds. Just as elven culture impacts half-elves and orc society shapes half-orcs, dhampir characters stand to be shaped by their parentage just as much as any of these other races. With that in mind, players with dhampir characters should check out the overview of the vampiric bloodlines of the Inner Sea on the inside cover, and there more detailed write-ups on pages 6 to 12. This might also be a good time to decide your general feelings about full-blooded vampires, as dhampirs have a reputation for being among the greatest vampire hunters.
3. Know Yourself: The details of life as a vampire, secrets of this rare race, and suggestions for creating dhampir characters are presented on page 18 and 19. Now that you've chosen to be a dhampir, learn what that means and let that help shape the character you're planning on making. Additionally, now that you know a thing or two about your ancestry, decide whether or not you want to further connect yourself to Golarion's vampire bloodlines by selecting one of four variant dhampir racial options—the jiang-shi-born ru-shi, the moroi-born svetochr, the nosferatu-born ancient-born, or the vetala-born ajibachana.
4. Create Your Character: Now that you know what a dhampir is and how your vampiric heritage has affected you, it's time to make your character. Numerous character options can be found throughout the book in the form of new feats (28 and 29) and traits for dhampirs (19, 20, 21). If you've chosen to be an enemy of vampire kind, the various roles for vampire hunters on pages 26 and 27, as well as several of the spells and magic items on pages 30 and 31, can also help set your character's path.
5. Add Campaign Details: Although rare in the extreme, dhampirs can be found in many places throughout the Inner Sea Region. Learn about where your dhampir and the vampires of your bloodline fit into the Pathfinder campaign setting on pages 24 and 25. Additionally, if you're looking for vampires to hunt, check out the inside back cover for an overview of places in the Inner Sea Region (below, and beyond) in need of vampire hunters.
6. Consider Optional Rules: Even though many of the options in Blood of the Night are themed for vampires, dhampirs straddle the line between the worlds of the living and the dead. A dhampir character interested in highlighting his vampiric urges might work with the GM to employ the rules for hunger on page 22. Characters with a strong tie to a particular vampire bloodline might also find traits suggested for vampires that work well for them, and players should ask their GM if she'll permit them. Dhampirs are exceptionally rare individuals and norms for this race are few, so work with your GM to create the half-vampire hero or antihero of your darkest dreams.

Illustration by
Jorge Fares

So You're Not Playing a Bloodsucker...

Vampire hunters face a daunting, immortal foe, but fortunately Blood of the Night can help them in their quest to beat back the creatures of the night. Aside from many of the secrets and best-known details of Golarion's various vampire breeds, the Hunting Vampires section (page 26 and 26) presents four distinct ways to make a variety of vampire hunters, from spell-slinging arcane slayers; undead-killing bards, monks, and rogues; divine-focused hunters; and classic martial slayers. These builds direct players toward some of the strongest vampire-hunting options in the Pathfinder RPG, including more than a few options you might have never guessed work great against the undead. To really get the edge on the servants of darkness, Blood of the Night also presents a host of new feats designed specifically for vampire hunters (page 28), new spells (page 30), new magic items (page 31), and, of course, a hit list of lands in the Inner Sea where a vampire hunter can ply her trade. You don't just need to be playing the Carrion Crown Adventure Path to play a vampire hunter anymore—let Blood of the Night be your guide to hunting Golarion's deadliest hunters wherever your campaign and character concepts take you.

F. Wesley Schneider
Editor-in-Chief