paizo.com Recent Blog Posts in Rob Lazzarettipaizo.com Recent Blog Posts in Rob Lazzaretti2014-07-15T23:08:12Z2014-07-15T23:08:12ZClockworks and the End of the Emerald Spire, with Rich Baker and James Jacobshttps://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo5lgaz?Clockworks-and-the-End-of-the-Emerald-Spire2014-07-19T17:00:00Z<blockquote>
<br />
<h1 itemprop="headline">Clockworks and the End of the Emerald Spire, with Rich Baker and James Jacobs</h1>
<p class="date">Saturday, July 19, 2014</p>
<div itemprop="articleBody">
<div class = "blurb90"><a href = "/image/content/PathfinderModules/PZO9545-Level616.jpg"><img src = "/image/content/PathfinderModules/PZO9545-Level616_90.jpeg"></a><br />Cartography by Rob Lazzaretti</div>
<p><span itemprop="description">All good things must come to an end, and this week we look at the end (or at least, the lowest level) of the <a href = ""><i>Emerald Spire</i></a>. Of course, the end of a superdungeon is something a lot of players never get to see (as Erik Mona discussed a bit in <a href = "/paizo/blog/v5748dyo5lg8y">his teaser last week</a>), so we also thought we might expand this sneak peek to include two maps from the adventure.</span></p>
<p>When discussing the fact that every dungeon level had to fit on a Flip-Mat, Erik briefly mentioned that this requirement drove our authors to find creative ways to get the most out of the space available. One good example of this is The Clockwork Maze, which has sections likely to initially confuse the players and that are certain to force players to work harder than a typcial ten foot wide corridor. We don’t want to give away the whole secret of the level, but a glance at the map is a pretty big hint why the level has "clockwork" in its title.</p>
<p>Other levels use the available space on a Flip-Map in a more traditional way, but include multiple environments, hazards, and unusual geometry to increase the variety available in the dungeon experience. The final level of the dungeon, The Emeral Root, is a good example of this kind of creative map.</p>
<p>Of course even a great map isn’t very useful if you don’t have enounters to fill it with. To learn a little more about these levels and how they came to be, we we spoke to the CEO and Publisher of Sasquatch Game Studio LLC, Richard Baker, and our own Creative Director, James Jacobs.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><b>How do you define a "Superdungeon"? What is your favorite dungeon or superdungeon experience in your personal gaming history?</b></p>
<p><b>Rich</b> To me, a superdungeon is any adventure that you could reasonably base a whole campaign around. It will provide months and months of play, characters will level up a good 8 or 10 times in the course of the game, and the players are up against an epic threat or fighting their way through a truly amazing setting. I suppose I might further refine that by saying that a super-dungeon does that all in the context of a single sprawling underground maze (you can certainly have super-adventures that do the same thing but across multiple locales). So, it's a particular flavor of super-adventure, I guess.<br />
My personal favorites were Undermountain—really the gold standard of superdungeons, even if a lot of the map was left for the DM to populate—and more recently City of the Spider-Queen, which is probably more of a superadventure. When I was developing that adventure, we had James Wyatt (the adventure author) run it for us with a great group of players, and we had a blast.</p>
<p><b>James</b> I define a Superdungeon as a dungeon that you can run an entire campaign in. My favorite superdungeon is Greyhawk’s Maure Castle, which was featured several times in Dungeon magazine back in the day. On Golarion, though, my favorite superdungeon is Hollow Mountain, and I hope to some day get to personally design and develop that site into a significant adventure location. At which point I can see it supplanting Maure Castle as my favorite. Unless I do the same for the Crimson Citadel first, that is.</p>
<div class = "blurb180"><a href = "/image/content/PathfinderModules/PZO9545-Klarkosh.jpg"><img src = "/image/content/PathfinderModules/PZO9545-Klarkosh_180.jpeg"></a><br />Illustration by Jorge Fares</div>
<p><b>What is your level of the Emerald Spire Superdungeon called? What theme, if any, does the level have?</b></p>
<p><b>Rich</b> My level of Emerald Spire is the Clockwork Maze. This is the lair of the first major villain in the Spire, the Numerian wizard Klarkosh. As you might expect, it has a strong clockwork theme—the entire dungeon configuration can be altered by using control levers in different spots. In fact, the players will have to do just a little bit of puzzle-solving to figure out how to change the dungeon geometry to navigate through the level. The monsters are mostly constructs of different kinds, since Klarkosh was previously described as a master of making constructs.<br />
I also wrote the description of Fort Inevitable that begins the adventure, and did most of the coordination and direction for the whole project. I got to see each author's contribution as they came up with it!</p>
<p><b>James</b> My level of the Emerald Spire is the final one—the "Emerald Root." It’s theme is hard to divulge without revealing a lot of spoilers, since it contains the source and reason and history of the Emerald Spire itself, but it goes beyond that and reveals some key bits of information about the Darklands—particularly the vaults of Orv. In fact, the opportunity to explore some of the mysteries of these vaults is the primary reason I pounced on designing the lowest level of Emerald Spire in the first place.</p>
<p><b>What where the inspirations you drew on for your Emerald Spire level, and what are you hoping players get out of it?</b></p>
<p><b>Rich</b> My primary inspiration was really just delivering on what had already been said about the Spire. In the Thornkeep sourcebook we mentioned a few key facts about the Spire, so I took it upon myself to make sure the Emerald Spire superdungeon delivered on those teasers. For the villain, I admit I was thinking of Tharok, the half-robot leader of the Fatal Five, the arch-enemies of the Legion of Superheroes. Klarkosh is kind of a magical version of Tharok.</p>
<p><b>James</b> There’s a fair amount of Lovecraft inspiration in my level of Emerald Spire, both in the monster mix and in the story beyond what’s going on in that level, but that also ties in to some of the deep continuity of the history of Orv and the Darklands themselves. And by "Lovecraft" in this case, I’m not talking about Cthulhu and tentacle monsters, but about the idea that humanity was not the first to rise to power on this ball of dirt (Earth) or that ball of dirt (Golarion) hurtling blindly through the uncaring gulfs of space.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>We really appreciate our Creative Director and the Chief Sasquatch (Editorial Note, Rich told me to call him this) taking time out of their busy schedules to share some of the Emerald Spire with us!</p>
<p>Owen K.C. Stephens<br />
<i>Developer</i></p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<!— tags: Pathfinder Modules, Emerald Spire, Interviews, Jorge Fares, Rob Lazzaretti —><p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderModules/emeraldSpire">Emerald Spire</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/paizo/interviews">Interviews</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/jorgeFares">Jorge Fares</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderModules">Pathfinder Modules</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/robLazzaretti">Rob Lazzaretti</a></p><blockquote>
<br />
<h1 itemprop="headline">Clockworks and the End of the Emerald Spire, with Rich Baker and James Jacobs</h1>
<p class="date">Saturday, July 19, 2014</p>
<div itemprop="articleBody">
<div class = "blurb90"><a href = "/image/content/PathfinderModules/PZO9545-Level616.jpg"><img src = "/image/content/PathfinderModules/PZO9545-Level616_90.jpeg"></a><br />Cartography by Rob Lazzaretti</div>
<p><span itemprop="description">All good things must come to an end, and this week we look at the end (or at least, the lowest level) of the <a href = ""><i>Emerald Spire</i></a>. Of course, the end of a superdungeon is something a lot of players never get to see (as Erik Mona discussed a bit in <a href = "/paizo/blog/v5748dyo5lg8y">his teaser last week</a>), so we also thought we might expand this sneak peek to include two maps from the adventure.</span></p>
<p>When discussing the fact that every dungeon level had to fit on a Flip-Mat, Erik briefly mentioned that this requirement drove our authors to find creative ways to get the most out of the space available. One good example of this is The Clockwork Maze, which has sections likely to initially confuse the players and that are certain to force players to work harder than a typcial ten foot wide corridor. We don’t want to give away the whole secret of the level, but a glance at the map is a pretty big hint why the level has "clockwork" in its title.</p>
<p>Other levels use the available space on a Flip-Map in a more traditional way, but include multiple environments, hazards, and unusual geometry to increase the variety available in the dungeon experience. The final level of the dungeon, The Emeral Root, is a good example of this kind of creative map.</p>
<p>Of course even a great map isn’t very useful if you don’t have enounters to fill it with. To learn a little more about these levels and how they came to be, we we spoke to the CEO and Publisher of Sasquatch Game Studio LLC, Richard Baker, and our own Creative Director, James Jacobs.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><b>How do you define a "Superdungeon"? What is your favorite dungeon or superdungeon experience in your personal gaming history?</b></p>
<p><b>Rich</b> To me, a superdungeon is any adventure that you could reasonably base a whole campaign around. It will provide months and months of play, characters will level up a good 8 or 10 times in the course of the game, and the players are up against an epic threat or fighting their way through a truly amazing setting. I suppose I might further refine that by saying that a super-dungeon does that all in the context of a single sprawling underground maze (you can certainly have super-adventures that do the same thing but across multiple locales). So, it's a particular flavor of super-adventure, I guess.<br />
My personal favorites were Undermountain—really the gold standard of superdungeons, even if a lot of the map was left for the DM to populate—and more recently City of the Spider-Queen, which is probably more of a superadventure. When I was developing that adventure, we had James Wyatt (the adventure author) run it for us with a great group of players, and we had a blast.</p>
<p><b>James</b> I define a Superdungeon as a dungeon that you can run an entire campaign in. My favorite superdungeon is Greyhawk’s Maure Castle, which was featured several times in Dungeon magazine back in the day. On Golarion, though, my favorite superdungeon is Hollow Mountain, and I hope to some day get to personally design and develop that site into a significant adventure location. At which point I can see it supplanting Maure Castle as my favorite. Unless I do the same for the Crimson Citadel first, that is.</p>
<div class = "blurb180"><a href = "/image/content/PathfinderModules/PZO9545-Klarkosh.jpg"><img src = "/image/content/PathfinderModules/PZO9545-Klarkosh_180.jpeg"></a><br />Illustration by Jorge Fares</div>
<p><b>What is your level of the Emerald Spire Superdungeon called? What theme, if any, does the level have?</b></p>
<p><b>Rich</b> My level of Emerald Spire is the Clockwork Maze. This is the lair of the first major villain in the Spire, the Numerian wizard Klarkosh. As you might expect, it has a strong clockwork theme—the entire dungeon configuration can be altered by using control levers in different spots. In fact, the players will have to do just a little bit of puzzle-solving to figure out how to change the dungeon geometry to navigate through the level. The monsters are mostly constructs of different kinds, since Klarkosh was previously described as a master of making constructs.<br />
I also wrote the description of Fort Inevitable that begins the adventure, and did most of the coordination and direction for the whole project. I got to see each author's contribution as they came up with it!</p>
<p><b>James</b> My level of the Emerald Spire is the final one—the "Emerald Root." It’s theme is hard to divulge without revealing a lot of spoilers, since it contains the source and reason and history of the Emerald Spire itself, but it goes beyond that and reveals some key bits of information about the Darklands—particularly the vaults of Orv. In fact, the opportunity to explore some of the mysteries of these vaults is the primary reason I pounced on designing the lowest level of Emerald Spire in the first place.</p>
<p><b>What where the inspirations you drew on for your Emerald Spire level, and what are you hoping players get out of it?</b></p>
<p><b>Rich</b> My primary inspiration was really just delivering on what had already been said about the Spire. In the Thornkeep sourcebook we mentioned a few key facts about the Spire, so I took it upon myself to make sure the Emerald Spire superdungeon delivered on those teasers. For the villain, I admit I was thinking of Tharok, the half-robot leader of the Fatal Five, the arch-enemies of the Legion of Superheroes. Klarkosh is kind of a magical version of Tharok.</p>
<p><b>James</b> There’s a fair amount of Lovecraft inspiration in my level of Emerald Spire, both in the monster mix and in the story beyond what’s going on in that level, but that also ties in to some of the deep continuity of the history of Orv and the Darklands themselves. And by "Lovecraft" in this case, I’m not talking about Cthulhu and tentacle monsters, but about the idea that humanity was not the first to rise to power on this ball of dirt (Earth) or that ball of dirt (Golarion) hurtling blindly through the uncaring gulfs of space.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>We really appreciate our Creative Director and the Chief Sasquatch (Editorial Note, Rich told me to call him this) taking time out of their busy schedules to share some of the Emerald Spire with us!</p>
<p>Owen K.C. Stephens<br />
<i>Developer</i></p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<!— tags: Pathfinder Modules, Emerald Spire, Interviews, Jorge Fares, Rob Lazzaretti —><p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderModules/emeraldSpire">Emerald Spire</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/paizo/interviews">Interviews</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/jorgeFares">Jorge Fares</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderModules">Pathfinder Modules</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/robLazzaretti">Rob Lazzaretti</a></p>2014-07-19T17:00:00ZSecrets of the Azlanti, With Erik Monahttps://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo5lg8y?Secrets-of-the-Azlanti-With-Erik-Mona2014-07-01T00:51:00Z<blockquote>
<br />
<h1 itemprop="headline">Secrets of the Azlanti, With Erik Mona</h1>
<p class="date">Monday, June 30, 2014</p>
<div itemprop="articleBody">
<div class = "blurb180"><a href = "/image/content/PathfinderModules/PZO9545-LadyEstrekan.jpg"><img src = "/image/content/PathfinderModules/PZO9545-LadyEstrekan_180.jpeg"></a><br />Illustration by Abrar Ajmal</div>
<p><span itemprop="description">Wrangling 16 authors to write 16 levels of a massive superdungeon is no small feat, but after getting the physical copy of <a href = "/products/btpy8yqx">The Emerald Spire Superdungeon</a> in our hands we can say that it was totally worth it.</span></p>
<p>There is enough high adventure and dungeon delving between these covers to keep a group of players entertained for a long time. Although this massive module can take a group of heroes from their meager beginnings as 1st-level adventurers all the way to the high end of 13th level, game masters can run one-night adventures with individual levels. Alternately, a GM could take four or five levels of the dungeon and cobble together a mini-campaign hitting on just a few of the levels that most interest them and their group.</p>
<p>Our own publisher, Erik Mona, designed Level 14, and his dungeon would make a great ending for one of these compacted campaigns. This level also serves as one of the most interconnected levels of the whole superdungeon. But don’t just listen to me—let’s let Erik speak for himself and share some of his experiences designing Level 14: The Throne of Azlant.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><b>How do you define a "Superdungeon"? What is your favorite dungeon or superdungeon experience in your personal gaming history?</b></p>
<p>A superdungeon is a multi-level collection of mini dungeons that combine to form a locale suitable for an entire campaign's worth of exploration. The best superdungeons allow for repeated forays in and out of the dungeon, and the majority of a character's growth and development (both in terms of story and game statistics) can occur without too much deviation from exploration of the singular, epic location—if that's what the players want.</p>
<div class = "blurb90"><a href = "/image/content/PathfinderModules/PZO9545-Level14.jpg"><img src = "/image/content/PathfinderModules/PZO9545-Level14_120.jpeg"></a><br />Cartography by Rob Lazzaretti</div>
<p>I've run several campaigns based around the classic Temple of Elemental Evil dungeon (how cool is it that the co-author of that adventure is one of my co-authors on this project?), with general success. The opening levels of that dungeon—particularly the moathouse section—are among my favorite dungeon levels in all of gaming. I had the opportunity to playtest Monte Cook's Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil with the author himself back in the early days of third edition, and I really loved the way Monte updated the adventure I'd run so many times before, so my affection for the adventure transcends three editions (I have not yet managed to run it in Pathfinder, alas). Each time I've run the classic version it's been completely different. One group decided to knock over the village of Hommlet's jewelry store and ended up outlaws. Another got completely wiped out on the third level of the dungeon. No group I've ever run through the temple has ever made it all the way through. Sure, a few of them died, but mostly people just ended up losing interest, or the campaign went on long enough that the real world intruded to make it impossible to game together. That's the problem with superdungeons—it's all too easy for them to get boring, or for them to become so ambitious that it's nearly impossible to play all the way through and experience all of the story the dungeon has to offer.</p>
<p>One of my favorite things about the Emerald Spire project is that the Flip-Mats are like a challenge to play every level. They also contained the authors somewhat, forcing us through the brutality of limited space and a tight word count to focus on the important stuff and not design anything too sprawling. The Emerald Spire, unlike many superdungeons, is designed to be completable. Alternatively, it works as a collection of 16 dungeons that can be used more or less independently, making this a very easy adventure to cannibalize.</p>
<p><b>What is your level of the Emerald Spire Superdungeon called? What theme, if any, does the level have?</b></p>
<p>My Emerald Spire dungeon is called the Throne of Azlant. It's the seat of the dungeon's Big Bad, the lich Nhur-Athemon. A lot of the foreshadowing in the dungeon, particularly on the handful of levels directly above mine, points to this ultimate nemesis, so my level pays off elements that the adventure has been building toward all along. Nhur-Athemon was "destroyed" by the Knights of the Ioun Star in the dying days of the Azlanti Empire, his unmortal corpse bound forever to his subterranean lair by mythic magic curses. Naturally, the player characters investigate and discover what an undead wizard tyrant gets up to when he has 10,000 years confined to quarters. Old Nhur-Athemon was exiled from Azlant after a failed attempt to claim the imperial throne, so you can be sure that whatever the lich's plan, it certainly doesn't lack for ambition.</p>
<p>My busy work schedule doesn't allow me to write as much as I'd like to, so over the last couple years I've tried to make my few small projects count by tying a lot of minor elements of subplot together throughout various sources. The Knights of the Ioun Star, Nhur-Athemon's ancient Azlanti enemies, also appeared in a short section I wrote for <a href = "/products/btpy95zo"><i>Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Occult Mysteries</i></a>. My Emerald Spire dungeon also connects (thematically and literally) to the dungeon level I wrote for the <a href = "/products/btpy8tb0"><i>Thornkeep</i></a> dungeon, the Sanctum of a Lost Age. That adventure dealt with Nhur-Athemon's apprentices, who have influence upon the Throne of Azlant as well. All of this material ties into my home campaign, Kings of Absalom, which involves a lot of ancient Azlanti secrets. I'll be running that campaign next weekend at PaizoCon, and I hope one day to write it up for publication. This adventure is a taste, and a peek at the grand picture.</p>
<div class = "blurb180"><a href = "/image/content/PathfinderModules/PZO9545-Nhur.jpg"><img src = "/image/content/PathfinderModules/PZO9545-Nhur_180.jpeg"></a><br />Illustration by Abrar Ajmal</div>
<p><b>What where the inspirations you drew on for your Emerald Spire level, and what are you hoping players get out of it?</b></p>
<p>My inspiration for this adventure comes more from my in-game play experience than from something I'm trying to emulate from fiction or the movies or whatever. I've run (and written) a lot of dungeon crawls in my time, and this one plays off of a few lessons I've learned along the way. There's one of my patented "oh, this fight is more difficult than I anticipated" encounters right near the beginning of the adventure, but beyond that I've done my best to avoid some of the pitfalls a big dungeon brings on both sides of the screen.</p>
<p>The Throne of Azlant is non-linear—there are multiple routes to the final chamber that leads deeper into the Emerald Spire dungeons (for the Spire's "Big Bad" is not the "Biggest Bad" on offer).</p>
<p>The dungeon level is more than just hack-and-slash. I included a few roleplaying encounters amongst all the carnage, a sure-fire way to get across more of the dungeon's backstory and to engage the interest of players who enjoy more than just rolling dice.</p>
<p>The adventure contains interesting elements of world lore and continuity. Though I don't explore the full history of Old Azlant or a major mystery like the origin of the god Aroden (you'll have to find a way to play Kings of Absalom for that!), it does reveal interesting new tidbits about the empire that fans of the Pathfinder world will likely appreciate.</p>
<p>It also contains the meanest trick I have ever played on a player character, a bind so nasty that I continue to giggle just thinking about it. I don't want to give away the secret on the blog post, but folks who read the adventure should find it pretty easy to understand what I'm talking about. Every time I've run the dungeon it's been utterly delightful to see whether the players fall into this trap and create a real conundrum for themselves. It's a glorious thing, if you are the type of GM who appreciates seeing his players squirm when they realize they've made a bad decision.</p>
<p>I'll be running one more shot at the Throne of Azlant at PaizoCon next week, which will make it the 13th time I've run the adventure. I started before last year's PaizoCon, and managed to run the Throne of Azlant about a half-dozen times at various conventions and events before I had to turn in my final manuscript. Unsurprisingly, repeated play produced lots of changes to improve the adventure, and I honestly believe it got better with each play-through. I've now run the Throne of Azlant more than any other Pathfinder adventure, which has earned it a special place in my heart. Each running has resulted in different conclusions and different routes through the dungeon, and it never seems to get old.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Thanks to Erik for taking the time out of his schedule to share some of his insights on this monumental project. Keep your eyes on this blog next week for more exciting reveals.</p>
<p>Adam Daigle<br />
<i>Developer</i></p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<!— tags: Pathfinder Modules, Emerald Spire, Interviews, Abrar Ajmal, Rob Lazzaretti —><p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/abrarAjmal">Abrar Ajmal</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderModules/emeraldSpire">Emerald Spire</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/paizo/interviews">Interviews</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderModules">Pathfinder Modules</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/robLazzaretti">Rob Lazzaretti</a></p><blockquote>
<br />
<h1 itemprop="headline">Secrets of the Azlanti, With Erik Mona</h1>
<p class="date">Monday, June 30, 2014</p>
<div itemprop="articleBody">
<div class = "blurb180"><a href = "/image/content/PathfinderModules/PZO9545-LadyEstrekan.jpg"><img src = "/image/content/PathfinderModules/PZO9545-LadyEstrekan_180.jpeg"></a><br />Illustration by Abrar Ajmal</div>
<p><span itemprop="description">Wrangling 16 authors to write 16 levels of a massive superdungeon is no small feat, but after getting the physical copy of <a href = "/products/btpy8yqx">The Emerald Spire Superdungeon</a> in our hands we can say that it was totally worth it.</span></p>
<p>There is enough high adventure and dungeon delving between these covers to keep a group of players entertained for a long time. Although this massive module can take a group of heroes from their meager beginnings as 1st-level adventurers all the way to the high end of 13th level, game masters can run one-night adventures with individual levels. Alternately, a GM could take four or five levels of the dungeon and cobble together a mini-campaign hitting on just a few of the levels that most interest them and their group.</p>
<p>Our own publisher, Erik Mona, designed Level 14, and his dungeon would make a great ending for one of these compacted campaigns. This level also serves as one of the most interconnected levels of the whole superdungeon. But don’t just listen to me—let’s let Erik speak for himself and share some of his experiences designing Level 14: The Throne of Azlant.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><b>How do you define a "Superdungeon"? What is your favorite dungeon or superdungeon experience in your personal gaming history?</b></p>
<p>A superdungeon is a multi-level collection of mini dungeons that combine to form a locale suitable for an entire campaign's worth of exploration. The best superdungeons allow for repeated forays in and out of the dungeon, and the majority of a character's growth and development (both in terms of story and game statistics) can occur without too much deviation from exploration of the singular, epic location—if that's what the players want.</p>
<div class = "blurb90"><a href = "/image/content/PathfinderModules/PZO9545-Level14.jpg"><img src = "/image/content/PathfinderModules/PZO9545-Level14_120.jpeg"></a><br />Cartography by Rob Lazzaretti</div>
<p>I've run several campaigns based around the classic Temple of Elemental Evil dungeon (how cool is it that the co-author of that adventure is one of my co-authors on this project?), with general success. The opening levels of that dungeon—particularly the moathouse section—are among my favorite dungeon levels in all of gaming. I had the opportunity to playtest Monte Cook's Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil with the author himself back in the early days of third edition, and I really loved the way Monte updated the adventure I'd run so many times before, so my affection for the adventure transcends three editions (I have not yet managed to run it in Pathfinder, alas). Each time I've run the classic version it's been completely different. One group decided to knock over the village of Hommlet's jewelry store and ended up outlaws. Another got completely wiped out on the third level of the dungeon. No group I've ever run through the temple has ever made it all the way through. Sure, a few of them died, but mostly people just ended up losing interest, or the campaign went on long enough that the real world intruded to make it impossible to game together. That's the problem with superdungeons—it's all too easy for them to get boring, or for them to become so ambitious that it's nearly impossible to play all the way through and experience all of the story the dungeon has to offer.</p>
<p>One of my favorite things about the Emerald Spire project is that the Flip-Mats are like a challenge to play every level. They also contained the authors somewhat, forcing us through the brutality of limited space and a tight word count to focus on the important stuff and not design anything too sprawling. The Emerald Spire, unlike many superdungeons, is designed to be completable. Alternatively, it works as a collection of 16 dungeons that can be used more or less independently, making this a very easy adventure to cannibalize.</p>
<p><b>What is your level of the Emerald Spire Superdungeon called? What theme, if any, does the level have?</b></p>
<p>My Emerald Spire dungeon is called the Throne of Azlant. It's the seat of the dungeon's Big Bad, the lich Nhur-Athemon. A lot of the foreshadowing in the dungeon, particularly on the handful of levels directly above mine, points to this ultimate nemesis, so my level pays off elements that the adventure has been building toward all along. Nhur-Athemon was "destroyed" by the Knights of the Ioun Star in the dying days of the Azlanti Empire, his unmortal corpse bound forever to his subterranean lair by mythic magic curses. Naturally, the player characters investigate and discover what an undead wizard tyrant gets up to when he has 10,000 years confined to quarters. Old Nhur-Athemon was exiled from Azlant after a failed attempt to claim the imperial throne, so you can be sure that whatever the lich's plan, it certainly doesn't lack for ambition.</p>
<p>My busy work schedule doesn't allow me to write as much as I'd like to, so over the last couple years I've tried to make my few small projects count by tying a lot of minor elements of subplot together throughout various sources. The Knights of the Ioun Star, Nhur-Athemon's ancient Azlanti enemies, also appeared in a short section I wrote for <a href = "/products/btpy95zo"><i>Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Occult Mysteries</i></a>. My Emerald Spire dungeon also connects (thematically and literally) to the dungeon level I wrote for the <a href = "/products/btpy8tb0"><i>Thornkeep</i></a> dungeon, the Sanctum of a Lost Age. That adventure dealt with Nhur-Athemon's apprentices, who have influence upon the Throne of Azlant as well. All of this material ties into my home campaign, Kings of Absalom, which involves a lot of ancient Azlanti secrets. I'll be running that campaign next weekend at PaizoCon, and I hope one day to write it up for publication. This adventure is a taste, and a peek at the grand picture.</p>
<div class = "blurb180"><a href = "/image/content/PathfinderModules/PZO9545-Nhur.jpg"><img src = "/image/content/PathfinderModules/PZO9545-Nhur_180.jpeg"></a><br />Illustration by Abrar Ajmal</div>
<p><b>What where the inspirations you drew on for your Emerald Spire level, and what are you hoping players get out of it?</b></p>
<p>My inspiration for this adventure comes more from my in-game play experience than from something I'm trying to emulate from fiction or the movies or whatever. I've run (and written) a lot of dungeon crawls in my time, and this one plays off of a few lessons I've learned along the way. There's one of my patented "oh, this fight is more difficult than I anticipated" encounters right near the beginning of the adventure, but beyond that I've done my best to avoid some of the pitfalls a big dungeon brings on both sides of the screen.</p>
<p>The Throne of Azlant is non-linear—there are multiple routes to the final chamber that leads deeper into the Emerald Spire dungeons (for the Spire's "Big Bad" is not the "Biggest Bad" on offer).</p>
<p>The dungeon level is more than just hack-and-slash. I included a few roleplaying encounters amongst all the carnage, a sure-fire way to get across more of the dungeon's backstory and to engage the interest of players who enjoy more than just rolling dice.</p>
<p>The adventure contains interesting elements of world lore and continuity. Though I don't explore the full history of Old Azlant or a major mystery like the origin of the god Aroden (you'll have to find a way to play Kings of Absalom for that!), it does reveal interesting new tidbits about the empire that fans of the Pathfinder world will likely appreciate.</p>
<p>It also contains the meanest trick I have ever played on a player character, a bind so nasty that I continue to giggle just thinking about it. I don't want to give away the secret on the blog post, but folks who read the adventure should find it pretty easy to understand what I'm talking about. Every time I've run the dungeon it's been utterly delightful to see whether the players fall into this trap and create a real conundrum for themselves. It's a glorious thing, if you are the type of GM who appreciates seeing his players squirm when they realize they've made a bad decision.</p>
<p>I'll be running one more shot at the Throne of Azlant at PaizoCon next week, which will make it the 13th time I've run the adventure. I started before last year's PaizoCon, and managed to run the Throne of Azlant about a half-dozen times at various conventions and events before I had to turn in my final manuscript. Unsurprisingly, repeated play produced lots of changes to improve the adventure, and I honestly believe it got better with each play-through. I've now run the Throne of Azlant more than any other Pathfinder adventure, which has earned it a special place in my heart. Each running has resulted in different conclusions and different routes through the dungeon, and it never seems to get old.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Thanks to Erik for taking the time out of his schedule to share some of his insights on this monumental project. Keep your eyes on this blog next week for more exciting reveals.</p>
<p>Adam Daigle<br />
<i>Developer</i></p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<!— tags: Pathfinder Modules, Emerald Spire, Interviews, Abrar Ajmal, Rob Lazzaretti —><p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/abrarAjmal">Abrar Ajmal</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderModules/emeraldSpire">Emerald Spire</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/paizo/interviews">Interviews</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderModules">Pathfinder Modules</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/robLazzaretti">Rob Lazzaretti</a></p>2014-07-01T00:51:00ZGolarion Day: Report from Kintargohttps://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo5lbsi?Golarion-Day-Report-from-Kintargo2011-01-20T08:00:00Z<div align="center" ><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderCampaignSetting/PZO9226-StolenMap.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderCampaignSetting/PZO9226-StolenMap_360.jpeg" border="0" /></a></div>
<blockquote>
<h1><br>Golarion Day: Report from Kintargo</h1>
<p class=date>Thursday, January 20, 2010</p>
<p>It's as I thought. When Abrogail's devil-bound lackeys seized the empire, they did not destroy all of the old documents and maps from pre-Thrune Cheliax as they claim. Many of these relics and artifacts, including countless rare maps and manuscripts stolen from the Pathfinder Society and the Aspis Consortium, now lie in deep and well-guarded vaults below Egorian's city streets. But not so well guarded that I wasn't able to slip in there a few days ago, unnoticed and unopposed!</p>
<p>There's a lot of stuff in those vaults I hope to someday liberate, but it was the enormous tapestry-map of the world that caught my eye on this first trip. Alas... that larger map was too huge for me to smuggle out. I did the next-best thing though, and snatched a smaller (although not as accurate) copy of the map. This one—though the oceans are way too small and I'm not sure Sarusan's in the right place and Casmaron might be a bit larger—should be a fine start toward expanding the lore of our world beyond what we think of as the Inner Sea region.</p>
<p>Anyway, I'm off for a rest back in Kintargo. I'll see if I can't sneak out some more secret stuff that Thrune doesn't want you to see soon enough—if you have any specific requests for things that Queen Abrogail suppressed, send me a request via the usual methods. And if you get caught by the Church of Asmodeus sending the request, I don't know you!</p>
<p>Shensen<br />
Old Cheliax Shall Rise Again!</p>
</blockquote>
<!— tags: Pathfinder Campaign Setting, Golarion Day, Maps, Rob Lazzaretti —>
<p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/golarionThursdays">Golarion Thursdays</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/maps">Maps</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderCampaignSetting">Pathfinder Campaign Setting</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/robLazzaretti">Rob Lazzaretti</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/paizo/snaggedFromTheVault">Snagged From the Vault</a></p><div align="center" ><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderCampaignSetting/PZO9226-StolenMap.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderCampaignSetting/PZO9226-StolenMap_360.jpeg" border="0" /></a></div>
<blockquote>
<h1><br>Golarion Day: Report from Kintargo</h1>
<p class=date>Thursday, January 20, 2010</p>
<p>It's as I thought. When Abrogail's devil-bound lackeys seized the empire, they did not destroy all of the old documents and maps from pre-Thrune Cheliax as they claim. Many of these relics and artifacts, including countless rare maps and manuscripts stolen from the Pathfinder Society and the Aspis Consortium, now lie in deep and well-guarded vaults below Egorian's city streets. But not so well guarded that I wasn't able to slip in there a few days ago, unnoticed and unopposed!</p>
<p>There's a lot of stuff in those vaults I hope to someday liberate, but it was the enormous tapestry-map of the world that caught my eye on this first trip. Alas... that larger map was too huge for me to smuggle out. I did the next-best thing though, and snatched a smaller (although not as accurate) copy of the map. This one—though the oceans are way too small and I'm not sure Sarusan's in the right place and Casmaron might be a bit larger—should be a fine start toward expanding the lore of our world beyond what we think of as the Inner Sea region.</p>
<p>Anyway, I'm off for a rest back in Kintargo. I'll see if I can't sneak out some more secret stuff that Thrune doesn't want you to see soon enough—if you have any specific requests for things that Queen Abrogail suppressed, send me a request via the usual methods. And if you get caught by the Church of Asmodeus sending the request, I don't know you!</p>
<p>Shensen<br />
Old Cheliax Shall Rise Again!</p>
</blockquote>
<!— tags: Pathfinder Campaign Setting, Golarion Day, Maps, Rob Lazzaretti —>
<p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/golarionThursdays">Golarion Thursdays</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/maps">Maps</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderCampaignSetting">Pathfinder Campaign Setting</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/robLazzaretti">Rob Lazzaretti</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/paizo/snaggedFromTheVault">Snagged From the Vault</a></p>2011-01-20T08:00:00ZAll Your Map Questions Answeredhttps://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo5lbgf?All-Your-Map-Questions-Answered2010-09-13T07:00:00Z<blockquote>
<h1><br>All Your Map Questions Answered</h1>
<p class=date>Monday, September 13, 2010</p>
<p>I know the question on everyone's mind this glorious Monday morning has nothing to do with what you'll be wearing to the office today, or whether you remembered to put your homework in your bag before heading off to class. No, the most pressing concern for any Paizo fan worth his salt is, "What's up with that Huge Ass Map?"</p>
<p>Well, loyal followers, I have good news re: the HAM: we're making continual progress! Just last week we all "ooh"ed and "aaah"ed over the final, high-resolution art from cartographer Rob Lazzaretti, who deepened all the colors, added hundreds of miniscule new coastal islands, and included more detailed representations of areas like Kyonin, the Stolen Lands, and Ustalav. We've got all the tags we can fit on the existing map, and I've gone through with a fine-toothed comb to find missing locations, misnamed cities, and incorrectly placed tags. Up next? James Jacobs and I are going to go through the whole image, giving names to as-yet-unnamed rivers, mountain ranges, islands, and other geographical features.</p>
<p>Check out these pictures of the current iteration of the <a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinder/campaignSetting/v5748btpy8dd9"><i>Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea Poster Map Folio</i></a> and I promise I'll have brand new art (not photos) for everyone later this week.</p>
</blockquote>
<div align="center" >
<table border="0" cellspacing="9" cellpadding="0">
<tr><td><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/Blog/HAM-Pieces.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/Blog/Ham-Pieces_180.jpeg" border="0" /></a></td><td><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/Blog/HAM-Islands.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/Blog/Ham-Islands_180.jpeg" border="0" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tiny" align="center" width="180px"><i>A map so big we couldn't handle it in one piece!</td><td class="tiny" align="center" width="180px"><i> These will all have names very, very soon.</td></tr>
</table></div>
<blockquote>
<p>Mark Moreland
<br>Developer</p>
</blockquote>
<!— tags: Maps, Robert Lazzaretti, Pathfinder Campaign Setting —>
<p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/maps">Maps</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderCampaignSetting">Pathfinder Campaign Setting</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/robLazzaretti">Rob Lazzaretti</a></p><blockquote>
<h1><br>All Your Map Questions Answered</h1>
<p class=date>Monday, September 13, 2010</p>
<p>I know the question on everyone's mind this glorious Monday morning has nothing to do with what you'll be wearing to the office today, or whether you remembered to put your homework in your bag before heading off to class. No, the most pressing concern for any Paizo fan worth his salt is, "What's up with that Huge Ass Map?"</p>
<p>Well, loyal followers, I have good news re: the HAM: we're making continual progress! Just last week we all "ooh"ed and "aaah"ed over the final, high-resolution art from cartographer Rob Lazzaretti, who deepened all the colors, added hundreds of miniscule new coastal islands, and included more detailed representations of areas like Kyonin, the Stolen Lands, and Ustalav. We've got all the tags we can fit on the existing map, and I've gone through with a fine-toothed comb to find missing locations, misnamed cities, and incorrectly placed tags. Up next? James Jacobs and I are going to go through the whole image, giving names to as-yet-unnamed rivers, mountain ranges, islands, and other geographical features.</p>
<p>Check out these pictures of the current iteration of the <a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinder/campaignSetting/v5748btpy8dd9"><i>Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea Poster Map Folio</i></a> and I promise I'll have brand new art (not photos) for everyone later this week.</p>
</blockquote>
<div align="center" >
<table border="0" cellspacing="9" cellpadding="0">
<tr><td><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/Blog/HAM-Pieces.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/Blog/Ham-Pieces_180.jpeg" border="0" /></a></td><td><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/Blog/HAM-Islands.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/Blog/Ham-Islands_180.jpeg" border="0" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tiny" align="center" width="180px"><i>A map so big we couldn't handle it in one piece!</td><td class="tiny" align="center" width="180px"><i> These will all have names very, very soon.</td></tr>
</table></div>
<blockquote>
<p>Mark Moreland
<br>Developer</p>
</blockquote>
<!— tags: Maps, Robert Lazzaretti, Pathfinder Campaign Setting —>
<p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/maps">Maps</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderCampaignSetting">Pathfinder Campaign Setting</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/robLazzaretti">Rob Lazzaretti</a></p>2010-09-13T07:00:00ZWelcome to the Shiv!https://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo5lbec?Welcome-to-the-Shiv2010-08-23T07:00:00Z<blockquote>
<h1><br>Welcome to the Shiv!</h1>
<p class=date>Monday, August 23, 2010</p>
<p>Greetings, delicious humanoids! What's the scoop? My name is Tom. Tom Rex. Tom normally doesn't talk to Tom's lunch, but Boss Sutter said Tom has to in this case, and since Boss Sutter is all skin and bones and beans and peanut butter, and thus not edible to Tom's discerning palate, Tom has no recourse but to do what Boss Sutter says. So here Tom is, talking to things that should be screaming as Tom chews them. But Tom is okay with that, because Tom needs his paycheck.</p>
<p>Boss Sutter said Tom should put James Jacobs's original map turnover on this blog, so that you squawking morsels might be able to use it as a handout in your <a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinder/adventurePath/theSerpentsSkull">Serpent's Skull</a> games, but Tom can't find the map. Tom thinks it's at the back of one of the shelves, and Tom's arms can't reach that far, and anyone who makes fun of Tom's arms WILL be eaten. That's the scoop on that.</p>
<p>So instead, Tom just kicked in the door to the map archive room, ate the guards, stepped on their stupid robot defenders, and picked up the big untagged map of Smuggler's Shiv in Tom's teeth. Then Tom put it behind the spoiler button on this post. If you're a player in a Smuggler's Shiv game, Tom will kick your ass. Right up into Tom's mouth, where Tom will eat you. So don't peek! The map behind the spoiler button is for GMs only, who want to present a blank map to their players once they find a map of Smuggler's Shiv during the course of the adventure. GOT IT?</p>
<div style="margin-bottom:2px"><b>Spoiler:</b> <input type="button" value="Show" style="width:45px;font-size:10px;margin:0px;padding:0px;" onclick="var s=this.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[0].getElementsByTagName('div')[0];if(s.style.display!=''){s.style.display='';this.value='Hide';}else{s.style.display='none';this.value='Show';}"><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 6px;"><div style="display: none;" align="center">
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/SerpentsSkull/PZO9037-SmugglersShivMap.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/SerpentsSkull/PZO9037-SmugglersShivMap_360.jpeg" border="0" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td align="center" class="tiny">Cartography by Robert Lazzaretti</td></tr></table>
</div></div></div>
<p>As for what Tom thinks of the triceratops/torosaurus debacle... doesn't matter to Tom. They're equally delicious whatever their names are. That's the scoop on that!</p>
<p>Tom Rex<br />
King of Reporters</p>
</blockquote>
<!— tags: Pathfinder Adventure Path, Serpent's Skull, Tom Rex, maps, Robert Lazzaretti —><p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/maps">Maps</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderAdventurePath">Pathfinder Adventure Path</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/robLazzaretti">Rob Lazzaretti</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderAdventurePath/serpentsSkull">Serpent's Skull</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/fictionalCharacters/tomRex">Tom Rex</a></p><blockquote>
<h1><br>Welcome to the Shiv!</h1>
<p class=date>Monday, August 23, 2010</p>
<p>Greetings, delicious humanoids! What's the scoop? My name is Tom. Tom Rex. Tom normally doesn't talk to Tom's lunch, but Boss Sutter said Tom has to in this case, and since Boss Sutter is all skin and bones and beans and peanut butter, and thus not edible to Tom's discerning palate, Tom has no recourse but to do what Boss Sutter says. So here Tom is, talking to things that should be screaming as Tom chews them. But Tom is okay with that, because Tom needs his paycheck.</p>
<p>Boss Sutter said Tom should put James Jacobs's original map turnover on this blog, so that you squawking morsels might be able to use it as a handout in your <a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinder/adventurePath/theSerpentsSkull">Serpent's Skull</a> games, but Tom can't find the map. Tom thinks it's at the back of one of the shelves, and Tom's arms can't reach that far, and anyone who makes fun of Tom's arms WILL be eaten. That's the scoop on that.</p>
<p>So instead, Tom just kicked in the door to the map archive room, ate the guards, stepped on their stupid robot defenders, and picked up the big untagged map of Smuggler's Shiv in Tom's teeth. Then Tom put it behind the spoiler button on this post. If you're a player in a Smuggler's Shiv game, Tom will kick your ass. Right up into Tom's mouth, where Tom will eat you. So don't peek! The map behind the spoiler button is for GMs only, who want to present a blank map to their players once they find a map of Smuggler's Shiv during the course of the adventure. GOT IT?</p>
<div style="margin-bottom:2px"><b>Spoiler:</b> <input type="button" value="Show" style="width:45px;font-size:10px;margin:0px;padding:0px;" onclick="var s=this.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[0].getElementsByTagName('div')[0];if(s.style.display!=''){s.style.display='';this.value='Hide';}else{s.style.display='none';this.value='Show';}"><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 6px;"><div style="display: none;" align="center">
<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/SerpentsSkull/PZO9037-SmugglersShivMap.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/SerpentsSkull/PZO9037-SmugglersShivMap_360.jpeg" border="0" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td align="center" class="tiny">Cartography by Robert Lazzaretti</td></tr></table>
</div></div></div>
<p>As for what Tom thinks of the triceratops/torosaurus debacle... doesn't matter to Tom. They're equally delicious whatever their names are. That's the scoop on that!</p>
<p>Tom Rex<br />
King of Reporters</p>
</blockquote>
<!— tags: Pathfinder Adventure Path, Serpent's Skull, Tom Rex, maps, Robert Lazzaretti —><p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/maps">Maps</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderAdventurePath">Pathfinder Adventure Path</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/robLazzaretti">Rob Lazzaretti</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderAdventurePath/serpentsSkull">Serpent's Skull</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/fictionalCharacters/tomRex">Tom Rex</a></p>2010-08-23T07:00:00ZNot Our Fault!https://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo5lb1x?Not-Our-Fault2010-06-10T07:00:00Z<blockquote>
<h1><br>Not Our Fault!</h1>
<p class=date>Thursday, June 10, 2010</p>
<p>For one reason or another, occasionally a mistake slips through into one of our printed products. I know that's a shock. I'll give you a moment to recompose yourself.</p>
<p>Fortunately—if you can ever call such things fortunate—they're not always our fault. From the time production files leave our tender care to the moment a fully realized book reaches your door, countless mysterious hands work and tinker in ways neither editor nor reader should dare interfere. Most of the time such mysterious forces rise and pass leaving behind no evidence at all. Sometimes not.</p>
<p><a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinder/adventurePath/kingmaker/v5748btpy8b7u"><i>Pathfinder Adventure Path</i> #35</a> includes one such instance of "not." Although it's too late to correct the thousands of books already sailing their way to our warehouses, we can preempt them.</p>
<p>Here's the deal, and I've probably already overplayed it: there's a map on page 33 of #35 that got "garbled" (you'll see when you get it). It's not unusable, but it's not pretty, and it's one of the most baffling snags we've ever seen, likely having to do with vicious data-gnawing file gremlins or other computer-age equivalents of "acts of God." Regardless: not pretty. So, hidden behind the spoiler below is the map as it <i>should</i> appear. It's of one of the final encounter areas of <i>War of the River Kings</i>, so I'd suggest all GM-fearing Kingmaker players <b>NOT</b> look.</p>
<div style="margin-bottom:2px"><b>Spoiler:</b> <input type="button" value="Show" style="width:45px;font-size:10px;margin:0px;padding:0px;" onclick="var s=this.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[0].getElementsByTagName('div')[0];if(s.style.display!=''){s.style.display='';this.value='Hide';}else{s.style.display='none';this.value='Show';}"><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 6px;"><div style="display: none;" align="center"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/Kingmaker/PZO9035-FixedMap.jpg" target="_blank" ><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/Kingmaker/PZO9035-FixedMap_360.jpeg" border="0"></a></td></tr><tr><td align="center" class="tiny">Cartography by Rob Lazzaretti</td></tr></table></div></div></div>
<p> The volume is still awesome, with some really nasty new threats and particularly cool new rules for martially minded rulers. But we just wanted to fill everyone in as soon as we found out so there's no surprises and so you have everything you need to run the adventure as easily as possible right out of the book. We're totally sorry for the half-page mystery map you'll be seeing, but hope the version here prevents the snafus from slowing down your game.</p>
<p>Wes Schneider
<br>Managing Editor</p>
</blockquote>
<!— tags: Pathfinder adventure path, kingmaker, maps, Rob Lazzaretti, paizo —>
<p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderAdventurePath/kingmaker">Kingmaker</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/maps">Maps</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/paizo">Paizo</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderAdventurePath">Pathfinder Adventure Path</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/robLazzaretti">Rob Lazzaretti</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/webEnhancement">Web Enhancement</a></p><blockquote>
<h1><br>Not Our Fault!</h1>
<p class=date>Thursday, June 10, 2010</p>
<p>For one reason or another, occasionally a mistake slips through into one of our printed products. I know that's a shock. I'll give you a moment to recompose yourself.</p>
<p>Fortunately—if you can ever call such things fortunate—they're not always our fault. From the time production files leave our tender care to the moment a fully realized book reaches your door, countless mysterious hands work and tinker in ways neither editor nor reader should dare interfere. Most of the time such mysterious forces rise and pass leaving behind no evidence at all. Sometimes not.</p>
<p><a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinder/adventurePath/kingmaker/v5748btpy8b7u"><i>Pathfinder Adventure Path</i> #35</a> includes one such instance of "not." Although it's too late to correct the thousands of books already sailing their way to our warehouses, we can preempt them.</p>
<p>Here's the deal, and I've probably already overplayed it: there's a map on page 33 of #35 that got "garbled" (you'll see when you get it). It's not unusable, but it's not pretty, and it's one of the most baffling snags we've ever seen, likely having to do with vicious data-gnawing file gremlins or other computer-age equivalents of "acts of God." Regardless: not pretty. So, hidden behind the spoiler below is the map as it <i>should</i> appear. It's of one of the final encounter areas of <i>War of the River Kings</i>, so I'd suggest all GM-fearing Kingmaker players <b>NOT</b> look.</p>
<div style="margin-bottom:2px"><b>Spoiler:</b> <input type="button" value="Show" style="width:45px;font-size:10px;margin:0px;padding:0px;" onclick="var s=this.parentNode.getElementsByTagName('div')[0].getElementsByTagName('div')[0];if(s.style.display!=''){s.style.display='';this.value='Hide';}else{s.style.display='none';this.value='Show';}"><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 6px;"><div style="display: none;" align="center"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/Kingmaker/PZO9035-FixedMap.jpg" target="_blank" ><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/Kingmaker/PZO9035-FixedMap_360.jpeg" border="0"></a></td></tr><tr><td align="center" class="tiny">Cartography by Rob Lazzaretti</td></tr></table></div></div></div>
<p> The volume is still awesome, with some really nasty new threats and particularly cool new rules for martially minded rulers. But we just wanted to fill everyone in as soon as we found out so there's no surprises and so you have everything you need to run the adventure as easily as possible right out of the book. We're totally sorry for the half-page mystery map you'll be seeing, but hope the version here prevents the snafus from slowing down your game.</p>
<p>Wes Schneider
<br>Managing Editor</p>
</blockquote>
<!— tags: Pathfinder adventure path, kingmaker, maps, Rob Lazzaretti, paizo —>
<p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderAdventurePath/kingmaker">Kingmaker</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/maps">Maps</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/paizo">Paizo</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderAdventurePath">Pathfinder Adventure Path</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/robLazzaretti">Rob Lazzaretti</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/webEnhancement">Web Enhancement</a></p>2010-06-10T07:00:00ZKingmaker: Iobarian Timelinehttps://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo5lb07?Kingmaker-Iobarian-Timeline2010-05-27T07:00:00Z<div align="center"><table border="0" align="center" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/Kingmaker/PZO9033-IobariaMap.jpg" target="_blank" ><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/Kingmaker/PZO9033-IobariaMap_360.jpeg" border="0"/></a></td></tr><tr><td align="center" class="tiny">Cartography by Rob Lazzaretti</td></tr></table></div>
<blockquote>
<h1><br>Kingmaker: Iobarian Timeline</h1>
<p class=date>Thursday, May 27, 2010</p>
<p>An ancient land of half-forgotten empires and untold savagery, Iobaria sprawls beyond the frontiers of northern Avistan. History scars and shapes the people of this rugged land, the ruins of sprawling civilizations standing testament to ages of glories long lost, but which might rise again. Supplementing the "Iobaria Gazetteer" by Steven Schend in <a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinder/adventurePath/kingmaker/v5748btpy88wh"><i>Pathfinder Adventure Path</i> #33</a>, the following timeline (also by Steven) presents an overview of the land's long history, laying bare the wonders and terrors that rule that rugged realm even today.</p>
<blockquote><div align="center"><table align="center" border="0" cellspacing="9" cellpadding="0"><tr><th colspan="2">Iobaria Timeline</th></tr>
<tr><th>Year</th><th>Event</th>
<tr><td><nobr>–5293</nobr></td><td>Earthfall. End of the cyclops Koloran Empire</td></tr>
<tr><td><nobr>–3923</nobr></td><td>Pit of Gormuz opens in central Casmaron</td></tr>
<tr><td><nobr>–1281</nobr></td><td>Taldor founded by Lost Azlanti and primitive native humans</td></tr>
<tr><td><nobr>–632</nobr></td><td>The Tarrasque, Spawn of Rovagug, destroys Ninshabur. Some hidden force turns the creature west across the Tovrus and into Avistan.</td></tr>
<tr><td>752</td><td>Ulfen explorers traverse the polar ice and settle into the taiga of northern Casmaron, founding Okormirr.</td></tr>
<tr><td>753</td><td>Okormirran explorers discover the Koloran Roads and begin building Orlov among an old ruined cyclops city. Orlov becomes larger than Okormirr by 764.</td></tr>
<tr><td>780</td><td>Founding of Orost.</td></tr>
<tr><td>788</td><td>Founding of Antoll.</td></tr>
<tr><td>795</td><td>Founding of Lenusya.</td></tr>
<tr><td>809</td><td>Founding of Mishkar.</td></tr>
<tr><td>818</td><td>Founding of Kirrosuli.</td></tr>
<tr><td>846</td><td>Founding of Kirya.</td></tr>
<tr><td>905</td><td>Iobar, son of Kjell of Orlov, conquers all challengers. He unites all territories under his own banner, claiming all lands from the Icewall to the Castrovin Sea as Iobaria.</td></tr>
<tr><td>937</td><td>Death of Iobar I at the Battle of Kridorn. Iobar's son Hrugil repels the pirate fleets from the east, spending the rest of his rule improving Iobaria's fleets, intent on eradicating the powerful mercenary pirate and corsair fleets of the northwestern Castrovin Sea.</td></tr>
<tr><td>975</td><td>Kridorn rises to become a port city, not a minor fishing town.</td></tr>
<tr><td>1080</td><td>Hroran and Kridorthrost founded in this year of plenty.</td></tr>
<tr><td>1106</td><td>The Tearplague scours all settlements between the Norinor and Finadar.</td></tr>
<tr><td>1240</td><td>Human settlers claim cyclops ruins in Caemorin, dubbing the settlement Mavradia.</td></tr>
<tr><td>1412</td><td>Founding of Zradnirras.</td></tr>
<tr><td>1466</td><td>Founding of Vurnirn after a 24-year-long struggle against Hoofwood natives.</td></tr>
<tr><td>1528</td><td>Founding of Mirnbay.</td></tr>
<tr><td>1634</td><td>The Chardeath sees many spontaneously combust in high fevers. The flames lead to the eradication of a third of all Iobarian settlements. This plague's source is revealed in 1869 as the necromancer Otyb the Undying.</td></tr>
<tr><td>1717</td><td>The red and blue great wyrms, Shrodniar and Voldmannasein, clash over Fangard. Some force from the forest depths strike Voldmannasein dead, while Shrodnair crashes near Antoll. Strange glyphs are discovered, burnt into the blue dragon, scarring even his bones.</td></tr>
<tr><td>1900</td><td>The centaur tribes of the Caemorin unite under the banner of Errindayn the Seer, sacking Mirnbay and destroying numerous humanoid settlements.</td></tr>
<tr><td>1986</td><td>Errindayn the Seer dies mysteriously after an unnaturally long life. The centaurs of the region abandon their warlike ways.</td></tr>
<tr><td>2108</td><td>Mirnbay refounded and defenses significantly reinforced. Centaurs barred from the city for more than 400 years.</td></tr>
<tr><td>2546</td><td>Ohjar's Plague kills a third of all male centaurs, orcs, and humans across the land in a mere 8 months.</td></tr>
<tr><td>2602</td><td>Humans and some native centaur tribes ally together to form the realm of Zastel in eastern Iobaria, its capital in Mavradia.</td></tr>
<tr><td>2654</td><td>Iobaria begins the Reclamation Wars against Zastel.</td></tr>
<tr><td>2686</td><td>Zastel reconquered and returned to Iobarian rule.</td></tr>
<tr><td>2742</td><td>The Choking Death. A respiratory plague suffocates more than 40% of Iobaria's adult population over the course of 8 months. The plague spreads west out of Iobaria (carried to Avistan by refugees) and devastates human populations in northeastern Avistan over the next 6 years.</td></tr>
<tr><td>2767</td><td>The Native Plaguestrife: Various druid sects, guilds, and politicians fan flames against those they deem "non-native Iobarians" by claiming no plagues ever happened until folk started coming east from Avistan. Skirmishes and vendettas weaken the power bases of many for decades.</td></tr>
<tr><td>2920</td><td>Earthquake rocks Taldor, Qadira, and central Casmaron. Coastal settlements along the northwestern Castrovin all damaged or destroyed by tidal waves.</td></tr>
<tr><td>3000s</td><td>Exodus. At least three separate waves of refugees abandon Iobaria over this century to settle other colonial lands to the west and south or new domains east of the Castrovin Sea.</td></tr>
<tr><td>3150</td><td>The Pestilentropy infected many nomads and settlers in central Iobaria, causing fevers and madness ultimately leading to death by overexertion or by the blades of those its victims imagine to be their foes. The disease or its manic side effects destroy more than half of Iobaria's farms, villages, crops, and cattle, leading to a decade of lean harvests and starvation for the region. This devastation and the lack of support for the people leads to the final dissolution of Old Iobarian rule.</td></tr>
<tr><td>3212</td><td>Three warlords (one of Issian descent) and their allies band together to restore the nation of Iobaria. Rallying to banners and flags of Old Iobaria, support for New Iobaria rose quickly with their reclamation of Orlov from foreign factions and their local pawns. The Restoration War lasts for nearly a century before New Iobaria officially exists and rules its lands.</td></tr>
<tr><td>3283</td><td>House Arjal and House Korya betray allied House Narkys, sacrificing its leaders and troops to dragons of the mountains and wilds, their newer allies.</td></tr>
<tr><td>3304</td><td>The Restoration War over, King Irral I turns control and demesne of all the old cyclops ruins to their white and red dragon allies.</td></tr>
<tr><td>3679</td><td>The Great Horde. A collection of ogre, giant, and cyclops tribes rampage across Iobaria under the command of Burlor, a cyclops wearing the Crown of Mirim and wielding the Perobov Maul. These monsters remain a threat long after the death of Burlor beneath the hooves of more than 25 tribes of centaurs.</td></tr>
<tr><td>4000</td><td>Amid the blizzards of a long and particularly harsh winter, frost giants from the Ice Steppes invade New Iobaria, pillaging and murdering. They reach Orlov before being repelled.</td></tr>
<tr><td>4499</td><td>Iobarian Choral the Conqueror unites Rostland and Issia into Brevoy.</td></tr>
<tr><td>4519</td><td>The Drakeplague kills more than 60% of the dragon population within 3 months. The silver dragon Cithaythren and Finadar druids perform a ritual to end the plague before it spreads beyond Iobaria at the cost of that dragon's life.</td></tr>
<tr><td>4600s</td><td>Sarkorian barbarians flee the expanding Worldwound, a number of tribes crossing the polar ice to Iobaria.</td></tr>
<tr><td>4607</td><td>Skirmishes and battles among Sarkorian refugees, native insurgents, and Iobarian troops begin the second fall of Iobaria with the loss of Mavradia to rebel forces. Battles and rebellions continue over the next 5 decades.</td></tr>
<tr><td>4659</td><td>New Iobaria reduced to the now-isolated cities of Kridorn, Mirnbay, and Orlov, each of whose rulers now claims to be the true ruler and heir of Iobaria due to blood ties to the dead kings. </td></tr>
<tr><td>4667</td><td>Red Revolution of Galt; many Galtan nobles flee north and eventually arrive in Kridorn.</td></tr>
<tr><td>4699</td><td>Royal House Rogarvia, descended from Iobarian warlords, disappears. House Surtova assumes power in Brevoy.</td></tr>
<tr><td>4710</td><td>The current year.</td></tr></table></div></blockquote>
<p>F. Wesley Schneider
<br>Managing Editor</p>
</blockquote>
<!— tags: Kingmaker, Pathfinder, Rob Lazzaretti, River Kingdoms, Web Enhancement, Maps —>
<p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderAdventurePath/kingmaker">Kingmaker</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/maps">Maps</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderAdventurePath">Pathfinder Adventure Path</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/locations/riverKingdoms">River Kingdoms</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/robLazzaretti">Rob Lazzaretti</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/webEnhancement">Web Enhancement</a></p><div align="center"><table border="0" align="center" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/Kingmaker/PZO9033-IobariaMap.jpg" target="_blank" ><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/Kingmaker/PZO9033-IobariaMap_360.jpeg" border="0"/></a></td></tr><tr><td align="center" class="tiny">Cartography by Rob Lazzaretti</td></tr></table></div>
<blockquote>
<h1><br>Kingmaker: Iobarian Timeline</h1>
<p class=date>Thursday, May 27, 2010</p>
<p>An ancient land of half-forgotten empires and untold savagery, Iobaria sprawls beyond the frontiers of northern Avistan. History scars and shapes the people of this rugged land, the ruins of sprawling civilizations standing testament to ages of glories long lost, but which might rise again. Supplementing the "Iobaria Gazetteer" by Steven Schend in <a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinder/adventurePath/kingmaker/v5748btpy88wh"><i>Pathfinder Adventure Path</i> #33</a>, the following timeline (also by Steven) presents an overview of the land's long history, laying bare the wonders and terrors that rule that rugged realm even today.</p>
<blockquote><div align="center"><table align="center" border="0" cellspacing="9" cellpadding="0"><tr><th colspan="2">Iobaria Timeline</th></tr>
<tr><th>Year</th><th>Event</th>
<tr><td><nobr>–5293</nobr></td><td>Earthfall. End of the cyclops Koloran Empire</td></tr>
<tr><td><nobr>–3923</nobr></td><td>Pit of Gormuz opens in central Casmaron</td></tr>
<tr><td><nobr>–1281</nobr></td><td>Taldor founded by Lost Azlanti and primitive native humans</td></tr>
<tr><td><nobr>–632</nobr></td><td>The Tarrasque, Spawn of Rovagug, destroys Ninshabur. Some hidden force turns the creature west across the Tovrus and into Avistan.</td></tr>
<tr><td>752</td><td>Ulfen explorers traverse the polar ice and settle into the taiga of northern Casmaron, founding Okormirr.</td></tr>
<tr><td>753</td><td>Okormirran explorers discover the Koloran Roads and begin building Orlov among an old ruined cyclops city. Orlov becomes larger than Okormirr by 764.</td></tr>
<tr><td>780</td><td>Founding of Orost.</td></tr>
<tr><td>788</td><td>Founding of Antoll.</td></tr>
<tr><td>795</td><td>Founding of Lenusya.</td></tr>
<tr><td>809</td><td>Founding of Mishkar.</td></tr>
<tr><td>818</td><td>Founding of Kirrosuli.</td></tr>
<tr><td>846</td><td>Founding of Kirya.</td></tr>
<tr><td>905</td><td>Iobar, son of Kjell of Orlov, conquers all challengers. He unites all territories under his own banner, claiming all lands from the Icewall to the Castrovin Sea as Iobaria.</td></tr>
<tr><td>937</td><td>Death of Iobar I at the Battle of Kridorn. Iobar's son Hrugil repels the pirate fleets from the east, spending the rest of his rule improving Iobaria's fleets, intent on eradicating the powerful mercenary pirate and corsair fleets of the northwestern Castrovin Sea.</td></tr>
<tr><td>975</td><td>Kridorn rises to become a port city, not a minor fishing town.</td></tr>
<tr><td>1080</td><td>Hroran and Kridorthrost founded in this year of plenty.</td></tr>
<tr><td>1106</td><td>The Tearplague scours all settlements between the Norinor and Finadar.</td></tr>
<tr><td>1240</td><td>Human settlers claim cyclops ruins in Caemorin, dubbing the settlement Mavradia.</td></tr>
<tr><td>1412</td><td>Founding of Zradnirras.</td></tr>
<tr><td>1466</td><td>Founding of Vurnirn after a 24-year-long struggle against Hoofwood natives.</td></tr>
<tr><td>1528</td><td>Founding of Mirnbay.</td></tr>
<tr><td>1634</td><td>The Chardeath sees many spontaneously combust in high fevers. The flames lead to the eradication of a third of all Iobarian settlements. This plague's source is revealed in 1869 as the necromancer Otyb the Undying.</td></tr>
<tr><td>1717</td><td>The red and blue great wyrms, Shrodniar and Voldmannasein, clash over Fangard. Some force from the forest depths strike Voldmannasein dead, while Shrodnair crashes near Antoll. Strange glyphs are discovered, burnt into the blue dragon, scarring even his bones.</td></tr>
<tr><td>1900</td><td>The centaur tribes of the Caemorin unite under the banner of Errindayn the Seer, sacking Mirnbay and destroying numerous humanoid settlements.</td></tr>
<tr><td>1986</td><td>Errindayn the Seer dies mysteriously after an unnaturally long life. The centaurs of the region abandon their warlike ways.</td></tr>
<tr><td>2108</td><td>Mirnbay refounded and defenses significantly reinforced. Centaurs barred from the city for more than 400 years.</td></tr>
<tr><td>2546</td><td>Ohjar's Plague kills a third of all male centaurs, orcs, and humans across the land in a mere 8 months.</td></tr>
<tr><td>2602</td><td>Humans and some native centaur tribes ally together to form the realm of Zastel in eastern Iobaria, its capital in Mavradia.</td></tr>
<tr><td>2654</td><td>Iobaria begins the Reclamation Wars against Zastel.</td></tr>
<tr><td>2686</td><td>Zastel reconquered and returned to Iobarian rule.</td></tr>
<tr><td>2742</td><td>The Choking Death. A respiratory plague suffocates more than 40% of Iobaria's adult population over the course of 8 months. The plague spreads west out of Iobaria (carried to Avistan by refugees) and devastates human populations in northeastern Avistan over the next 6 years.</td></tr>
<tr><td>2767</td><td>The Native Plaguestrife: Various druid sects, guilds, and politicians fan flames against those they deem "non-native Iobarians" by claiming no plagues ever happened until folk started coming east from Avistan. Skirmishes and vendettas weaken the power bases of many for decades.</td></tr>
<tr><td>2920</td><td>Earthquake rocks Taldor, Qadira, and central Casmaron. Coastal settlements along the northwestern Castrovin all damaged or destroyed by tidal waves.</td></tr>
<tr><td>3000s</td><td>Exodus. At least three separate waves of refugees abandon Iobaria over this century to settle other colonial lands to the west and south or new domains east of the Castrovin Sea.</td></tr>
<tr><td>3150</td><td>The Pestilentropy infected many nomads and settlers in central Iobaria, causing fevers and madness ultimately leading to death by overexertion or by the blades of those its victims imagine to be their foes. The disease or its manic side effects destroy more than half of Iobaria's farms, villages, crops, and cattle, leading to a decade of lean harvests and starvation for the region. This devastation and the lack of support for the people leads to the final dissolution of Old Iobarian rule.</td></tr>
<tr><td>3212</td><td>Three warlords (one of Issian descent) and their allies band together to restore the nation of Iobaria. Rallying to banners and flags of Old Iobaria, support for New Iobaria rose quickly with their reclamation of Orlov from foreign factions and their local pawns. The Restoration War lasts for nearly a century before New Iobaria officially exists and rules its lands.</td></tr>
<tr><td>3283</td><td>House Arjal and House Korya betray allied House Narkys, sacrificing its leaders and troops to dragons of the mountains and wilds, their newer allies.</td></tr>
<tr><td>3304</td><td>The Restoration War over, King Irral I turns control and demesne of all the old cyclops ruins to their white and red dragon allies.</td></tr>
<tr><td>3679</td><td>The Great Horde. A collection of ogre, giant, and cyclops tribes rampage across Iobaria under the command of Burlor, a cyclops wearing the Crown of Mirim and wielding the Perobov Maul. These monsters remain a threat long after the death of Burlor beneath the hooves of more than 25 tribes of centaurs.</td></tr>
<tr><td>4000</td><td>Amid the blizzards of a long and particularly harsh winter, frost giants from the Ice Steppes invade New Iobaria, pillaging and murdering. They reach Orlov before being repelled.</td></tr>
<tr><td>4499</td><td>Iobarian Choral the Conqueror unites Rostland and Issia into Brevoy.</td></tr>
<tr><td>4519</td><td>The Drakeplague kills more than 60% of the dragon population within 3 months. The silver dragon Cithaythren and Finadar druids perform a ritual to end the plague before it spreads beyond Iobaria at the cost of that dragon's life.</td></tr>
<tr><td>4600s</td><td>Sarkorian barbarians flee the expanding Worldwound, a number of tribes crossing the polar ice to Iobaria.</td></tr>
<tr><td>4607</td><td>Skirmishes and battles among Sarkorian refugees, native insurgents, and Iobarian troops begin the second fall of Iobaria with the loss of Mavradia to rebel forces. Battles and rebellions continue over the next 5 decades.</td></tr>
<tr><td>4659</td><td>New Iobaria reduced to the now-isolated cities of Kridorn, Mirnbay, and Orlov, each of whose rulers now claims to be the true ruler and heir of Iobaria due to blood ties to the dead kings. </td></tr>
<tr><td>4667</td><td>Red Revolution of Galt; many Galtan nobles flee north and eventually arrive in Kridorn.</td></tr>
<tr><td>4699</td><td>Royal House Rogarvia, descended from Iobarian warlords, disappears. House Surtova assumes power in Brevoy.</td></tr>
<tr><td>4710</td><td>The current year.</td></tr></table></div></blockquote>
<p>F. Wesley Schneider
<br>Managing Editor</p>
</blockquote>
<!— tags: Kingmaker, Pathfinder, Rob Lazzaretti, River Kingdoms, Web Enhancement, Maps —>
<p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderAdventurePath/kingmaker">Kingmaker</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/maps">Maps</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderAdventurePath">Pathfinder Adventure Path</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/locations/riverKingdoms">River Kingdoms</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/robLazzaretti">Rob Lazzaretti</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/webEnhancement">Web Enhancement</a></p>2010-05-27T07:00:00ZFrom Baria to Golarionhttps://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo5lakn?From-Baria-to-Golarion2009-10-16T07:00:00Z<blockquote>
<h1><br>From Baria to Golarion</h1>
<p class=date>Friday, October 16, 2009</p>
<p>So, I've made no secret of the fact that I've given large parts of my 25+ year-old homebrew campaign setting, Baria, over to Golarion. One of the more successful of these imports are the Red Mantis assassins—and by extension, their home city of Ilizmagorti. When it came time to assign authors for <a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinderChronicles/pathfinderRPG/v5748btpy87d5"><i>Cities of Golarion</i></a>, I was sorely tempted to claim the chapter on Ilizmagorti as my own—I was nervous that even if another author did a GREAT job with the city that the end result wouldn't match my own personal vision of the city. The same goes for the city's map, to be honest. But my work schedule being what it was (I'd already taken up two chapters of <a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinderChronicles/pathfinderRPG/v5748btpy87d7"><i>Classic Horrors Revisited</i></a>, alas, I couldn't responsibly claim the chapter of Ilizmagorti for <i>Cities of Golarion</i> as my own. And so, with some nervous fear and much wringing of hands, I gave it up for someone else to write about.</p>
<p>I'm happy to say that what Rob McCreary wrought with his words is exactly what I'd envisioned for the city of Ilizmagorti—he hit every nail square, and the resulting chapter is hands-down my favorite in the book as a result (which is saying something, since there was some tough competition!). Even more exciting, he came up with some concepts that I'd never thought of for Baria's Ilizmagorti—concepts that inspired me in some really fun ways. It's really weird being inspired to write things about something you made up due to someone else's work on that concept! Weird, but wonderful!</p>
<p>Yet as wonderful as Rob's words were, a city can live or die by its map. For <i>Cities of Golarion</i>, we tackled the creation somewhat differently. We hired writers to write the chapters, but we hired artists and cartographers to create the city maps. Long-time readers of this blog might remember earlier this year when I posted the Map Open Call—the results are some of the best city maps that Paizo's had the pleasure to print. Presented here are the two versions of the map of Ilizmagorti—the first one created by Daniel Thomson, based on my outline of what the city should incorporate. The other map is the final version you'll see in the book and in the <a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinderChronicles/pathfinderRPG/v5748btpy87d6"><i>Cities Map Folio</i></a> as a four-panel poster. (We've left the tags off of Rob's map so you can ogle the beauty of his work easier.)</p>
<div align="center"><table border="0"><tr><td><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderChronicles/PZO9214-MapDraft.jpg" target="nofollow"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderChronicles/PZO9214-MapDraft_180.jpeg" border="0"></a></td><td><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderChronicles/PZO9214-MapFinal.jpg" target="nofollow"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderChronicles/PZO9214-MapFinal_180.jpeg" border="0"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td align="center">Illustration by Daniel Thomson</td><td align="center">Illustration by Rob Lazzaretti</td></tr></table></div>
<p>James Jacobs <br>
<i>Pathfinder</i> Editor-in-Chief</p>
</blockquote>
<!— tags: Pathfinder Chronicles, Maps, Daniel Thomson, Pathfinder, Rob Lazzaretti —>
<p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/danielThomson">Daniel Thomson</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/maps">Maps</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderAdventurePath">Pathfinder Adventure Path</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderCampaignSetting">Pathfinder Campaign Setting</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/robLazzaretti">Rob Lazzaretti</a></p><blockquote>
<h1><br>From Baria to Golarion</h1>
<p class=date>Friday, October 16, 2009</p>
<p>So, I've made no secret of the fact that I've given large parts of my 25+ year-old homebrew campaign setting, Baria, over to Golarion. One of the more successful of these imports are the Red Mantis assassins—and by extension, their home city of Ilizmagorti. When it came time to assign authors for <a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinderChronicles/pathfinderRPG/v5748btpy87d5"><i>Cities of Golarion</i></a>, I was sorely tempted to claim the chapter on Ilizmagorti as my own—I was nervous that even if another author did a GREAT job with the city that the end result wouldn't match my own personal vision of the city. The same goes for the city's map, to be honest. But my work schedule being what it was (I'd already taken up two chapters of <a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinderChronicles/pathfinderRPG/v5748btpy87d7"><i>Classic Horrors Revisited</i></a>, alas, I couldn't responsibly claim the chapter of Ilizmagorti for <i>Cities of Golarion</i> as my own. And so, with some nervous fear and much wringing of hands, I gave it up for someone else to write about.</p>
<p>I'm happy to say that what Rob McCreary wrought with his words is exactly what I'd envisioned for the city of Ilizmagorti—he hit every nail square, and the resulting chapter is hands-down my favorite in the book as a result (which is saying something, since there was some tough competition!). Even more exciting, he came up with some concepts that I'd never thought of for Baria's Ilizmagorti—concepts that inspired me in some really fun ways. It's really weird being inspired to write things about something you made up due to someone else's work on that concept! Weird, but wonderful!</p>
<p>Yet as wonderful as Rob's words were, a city can live or die by its map. For <i>Cities of Golarion</i>, we tackled the creation somewhat differently. We hired writers to write the chapters, but we hired artists and cartographers to create the city maps. Long-time readers of this blog might remember earlier this year when I posted the Map Open Call—the results are some of the best city maps that Paizo's had the pleasure to print. Presented here are the two versions of the map of Ilizmagorti—the first one created by Daniel Thomson, based on my outline of what the city should incorporate. The other map is the final version you'll see in the book and in the <a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinderChronicles/pathfinderRPG/v5748btpy87d6"><i>Cities Map Folio</i></a> as a four-panel poster. (We've left the tags off of Rob's map so you can ogle the beauty of his work easier.)</p>
<div align="center"><table border="0"><tr><td><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderChronicles/PZO9214-MapDraft.jpg" target="nofollow"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderChronicles/PZO9214-MapDraft_180.jpeg" border="0"></a></td><td><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderChronicles/PZO9214-MapFinal.jpg" target="nofollow"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderChronicles/PZO9214-MapFinal_180.jpeg" border="0"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td align="center">Illustration by Daniel Thomson</td><td align="center">Illustration by Rob Lazzaretti</td></tr></table></div>
<p>James Jacobs <br>
<i>Pathfinder</i> Editor-in-Chief</p>
</blockquote>
<!— tags: Pathfinder Chronicles, Maps, Daniel Thomson, Pathfinder, Rob Lazzaretti —>
<p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/danielThomson">Daniel Thomson</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/maps">Maps</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderAdventurePath">Pathfinder Adventure Path</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderCampaignSetting">Pathfinder Campaign Setting</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/robLazzaretti">Rob Lazzaretti</a></p>2009-10-16T07:00:00ZSnagged from the Vault: Great Beyond, A Guide to the Multiversehttps://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo5la8r?Snagged-from-the-Vault-Great-Beyond-A-Guide2009-04-02T07:00:00Z<a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderChronicles/PZO9209-AxisMap.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderChronicles/PZO9209-AxisMap_120.jpeg" border=0 align=right hspace=9></a>
<blockquote>
<h1><br>Snagged from the Vault: Great Beyond, A Guide to the Multiverse</h1>
<p class=date>Thursday, April 2, 2009</p>
<p><i>Occasionally the Vault contains wondrous oddities, such as this map of the Eternal City of Axis, rendered beautifully by Rob Lazzaretti. This map, and more information about Axis and the other planes of the Outer Sphere, can be found in <a href="https://paizo.com/store/v5748btpy84bb"><i>Pathfinder Chronicles: The Great Beyond, A Guide to the Multiverse</i></a>, due out in May. Of course, nothing but perfect symmetry should be expected from the axiomites and their Godmind.</i></p>
<p><i>Vadid and Nahk</i>
<br>Preview Purloiners</p>
<p>The Eternal City of Axis exists among the planes of the Outer Sphere as the personification of universal law, a shining example of perfect order and harmony rising out of the churning Maelstrom. Within the plane's golden barrier walls, the streets are perfectly ordered and clean, the buildings appear as paragons of their respective architectural styles from virtually every culture within the multiverse, and the natives strive to live in orchestrated harmony. Of course, some would label the plane's perfection hollow, or its beauty verging on sterility, but given the eternal city's violent history and perhaps precarious present standing, its gods and outsiders alike dismiss such criticism outright.</p>
</blockquote>
<!— tags: the great beyond, Axis, maps —>
<p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/locations/axis">Axis</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/locations/theGreatBeyond">The Great Beyond</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/maps">Maps</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/robLazzaretti">Rob Lazzaretti</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/paizo/snaggedFromTheVault">Snagged From the Vault</a></p><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderChronicles/PZO9209-AxisMap.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/PathfinderChronicles/PZO9209-AxisMap_120.jpeg" border=0 align=right hspace=9></a>
<blockquote>
<h1><br>Snagged from the Vault: Great Beyond, A Guide to the Multiverse</h1>
<p class=date>Thursday, April 2, 2009</p>
<p><i>Occasionally the Vault contains wondrous oddities, such as this map of the Eternal City of Axis, rendered beautifully by Rob Lazzaretti. This map, and more information about Axis and the other planes of the Outer Sphere, can be found in <a href="https://paizo.com/store/v5748btpy84bb"><i>Pathfinder Chronicles: The Great Beyond, A Guide to the Multiverse</i></a>, due out in May. Of course, nothing but perfect symmetry should be expected from the axiomites and their Godmind.</i></p>
<p><i>Vadid and Nahk</i>
<br>Preview Purloiners</p>
<p>The Eternal City of Axis exists among the planes of the Outer Sphere as the personification of universal law, a shining example of perfect order and harmony rising out of the churning Maelstrom. Within the plane's golden barrier walls, the streets are perfectly ordered and clean, the buildings appear as paragons of their respective architectural styles from virtually every culture within the multiverse, and the natives strive to live in orchestrated harmony. Of course, some would label the plane's perfection hollow, or its beauty verging on sterility, but given the eternal city's violent history and perhaps precarious present standing, its gods and outsiders alike dismiss such criticism outright.</p>
</blockquote>
<!— tags: the great beyond, Axis, maps —>
<p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/locations/axis">Axis</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/locations/theGreatBeyond">The Great Beyond</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/maps">Maps</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/robLazzaretti">Rob Lazzaretti</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/paizo/snaggedFromTheVault">Snagged From the Vault</a></p>2009-04-02T07:00:00ZMap the Starshttps://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo5l9xg?Map-the-Stars2008-09-30T07:00:00Z<a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PlanetStories/PZO8010-Map.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/PlanetStories/PZO8010-Map_120.jpeg" border=0 align=left></a>
<a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PlanetStories/PZO8015-Map.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/PlanetStories/PZO8015-Map_120.jpeg" border=0 align=right></a>
<blockquote>
<h1>Map the Stars</h1>
<p class=date>Tuesday, September 30, 2008</p>
<p>It's not often that I get to show off <a href="https://paizo.com/planetstories">Planet Stories</a> art besides the covers, but I wanted to take a minute and point out that in addition to a killer story, Leigh Brackett's Skaith books (which include <a href="https://paizo.com/store/v5748btpy7zdr"><i>The Ginger Star</i></a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/store/v5748btpy81tw"><i>The Hounds of Skaith</i></a>, and the forthcoming <a href="https://paizo.com/store/v5748btpy83x7"><i>The Reavers of Skaith</i></a>) all feature hand-drawn maps by the incredibly talented Rob Lazzaretti. I've always loved being able to follow along with a character's adventures on a map, getting a better sense of what the author's world actually looks like, and Rob does a fantastic job of maintaining an old-timey cartographic flavor that really makes these maps pop. The two images here are from <a href="https://paizo.com/store/v5748btpy7zdr"><i>The Ginger Star</i></a> and <a href="https://paizo.com/store/v5748btpy81tw"><i>The Hounds of Skaith</i></a>. Click for larger versions, and enjoy!</p>
<p> James Sutter <br>
<i>Planet Stories</i> Editor</p>
</blockquote>
<!— tags: Planet Stories, Ginger Star, Hounds, Leigh, Brackett, F. Paul Wilson, Skaith, Eric John Stark, Stark, Rob Lazzaretti —>
<p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/planetStories/ericJohnStark">Eric John Stark</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/planetStories/gingerStar">The Ginger Star</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/maps">Maps</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/planetStories">Planet Stories</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/robLazzaretti">Rob Lazzaretti</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/planetStories/skaith">Skaith</a></p><a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PlanetStories/PZO8010-Map.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/PlanetStories/PZO8010-Map_120.jpeg" border=0 align=left></a>
<a href="https://paizo.com/image/content/PlanetStories/PZO8015-Map.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/content/PlanetStories/PZO8015-Map_120.jpeg" border=0 align=right></a>
<blockquote>
<h1>Map the Stars</h1>
<p class=date>Tuesday, September 30, 2008</p>
<p>It's not often that I get to show off <a href="https://paizo.com/planetstories">Planet Stories</a> art besides the covers, but I wanted to take a minute and point out that in addition to a killer story, Leigh Brackett's Skaith books (which include <a href="https://paizo.com/store/v5748btpy7zdr"><i>The Ginger Star</i></a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/store/v5748btpy81tw"><i>The Hounds of Skaith</i></a>, and the forthcoming <a href="https://paizo.com/store/v5748btpy83x7"><i>The Reavers of Skaith</i></a>) all feature hand-drawn maps by the incredibly talented Rob Lazzaretti. I've always loved being able to follow along with a character's adventures on a map, getting a better sense of what the author's world actually looks like, and Rob does a fantastic job of maintaining an old-timey cartographic flavor that really makes these maps pop. The two images here are from <a href="https://paizo.com/store/v5748btpy7zdr"><i>The Ginger Star</i></a> and <a href="https://paizo.com/store/v5748btpy81tw"><i>The Hounds of Skaith</i></a>. Click for larger versions, and enjoy!</p>
<p> James Sutter <br>
<i>Planet Stories</i> Editor</p>
</blockquote>
<!— tags: Planet Stories, Ginger Star, Hounds, Leigh, Brackett, F. Paul Wilson, Skaith, Eric John Stark, Stark, Rob Lazzaretti —>
<p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/planetStories/ericJohnStark">Eric John Stark</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/planetStories/gingerStar">The Ginger Star</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/maps">Maps</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/planetStories">Planet Stories</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/robLazzaretti">Rob Lazzaretti</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/planetStories/skaith">Skaith</a></p>2008-09-30T07:00:00ZVarisiahttps://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo5la6r?Varisia2007-06-02T00:00:00Z<div align=center><a href="https://paizo.com/image/product/secondary/Pathfinder/Varisia.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/product/secondary/Pathfinder/Varisia_500.jpg" border=0 alt="The map of Varisia!"></a></div>
<blockquote>
<h1>Varisia</h1>
<p class=date>Friday, June 1, 2007</p>
<p>Presented here for the first time, in all its glory. We could say more—and believe me, we will—but for now we'd like to let Rob Lazzaretti's beautiful map speak for itself. To zoom in, click the image above.</p>
<p>James Sutter
<br>Assistant Editor, <i>Pathfinder</i></p>
</blockquote><p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/maps">Maps</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderAdventurePath/riseOfTheRunelords">Rise of the Runelords</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/robLazzaretti">Rob Lazzaretti</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/locations/varisia">Varisia</a></p><div align=center><a href="https://paizo.com/image/product/secondary/Pathfinder/Varisia.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="https//paizo.com/image/product/secondary/Pathfinder/Varisia_500.jpg" border=0 alt="The map of Varisia!"></a></div>
<blockquote>
<h1>Varisia</h1>
<p class=date>Friday, June 1, 2007</p>
<p>Presented here for the first time, in all its glory. We could say more—and believe me, we will—but for now we'd like to let Rob Lazzaretti's beautiful map speak for itself. To zoom in, click the image above.</p>
<p>James Sutter
<br>Assistant Editor, <i>Pathfinder</i></p>
</blockquote><p><a href="https://paizo.comcommunity/blog/tags">Tags</a>: <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/maps">Maps</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/pathfinderAdventurePath/riseOfTheRunelords">Rise of the Runelords</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/people/artists/robLazzaretti">Rob Lazzaretti</a>, <a href="https://paizo.com/community/blog/tags/locations/varisia">Varisia</a></p>2007-06-02T00:00:00Z