Support the Pathfinder Second Edition Strength of Thousands Bundle!
Forge a path into a limitless fantasy adventure with this epic collection of Pathfinder Second Edition products themed around the Mwangi Expanse meta-region of the Lost Omens setting, the Magaambya magic school, and the hit Strength of Thousands Adventure Path! Additionally, this bundle is filled with the books new players need to create heroes and set out on their journey in the legendary Pathfinder tabletop RPG universe, including the Core Rulebook, monster-filled Bestiary, maps, accessories, and ready-to-play adventures. Plus, you choose how much of your purchase supports ComicBooks For Kids! and ComicBooks For Troops!
Support the Pathfinder Second Edition Strength of Thousands Bundle!
Thursday, August 18, 2022
Forge a path into a limitless fantasy adventure with this epic collection of Pathfinder Second Edition products themed around the Mwangi Expanse meta-region of the Lost Omens setting, the Magaambya magic school, and the hit Strength of Thousands Adventure Path! Additionally, this bundle is filled with the books new players need to create heroes and set out on their journey in the legendary Pathfinder tabletop RPG universe, including the Core Rulebook, monster-filled Bestiary, maps, accessories, and ready-to-play adventures. Plus, you choose how much of your purchase supports ComicBooks For Kids! and ComicBooks For Troops!
A magic school like no other! The oldest and most prestigious magic academy in the world is the Magaambya, an ancient institution founded by the greatest wizard the world has ever known. This wizard vanished long ago, but sinister enemies plot against his school and those who attend it. Over their long academic career, the heroes rise from humble students to become teachers, ultimately holding the fate of the Magaambya magic academy in their hands. Graduates of the Magaambya are among the greatest wardens of the world, but if the heroes can’t marshal the strength of thousands who have come before them, the venerable Magaambya might fall!
The $5 tier includes PDFs of Pathfinder Adventure Path #169: Kindled Magic (Strength of Thousands 1 of 6), Pathfinder Adventure Path #170: Spoken on the Song Wind (Strength of Thousands 2 of 6), Pathfinder Bounty #9: Fishing in Anthusis, Pathfinder Bounty #17: Sodden Stories, Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Docks, Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Jungle Multi-Pack, Pathfinder Second Edition GM Screen, and Pathfinder Character Sheet Pack.
For $15, you’ll also get PDFs of Pathfinder Lost Omens The Mwangi Expanse, Pathfinder Adventure Path #171: Hurricane’s Howl (Strength of Thousands 3 of 6), Pathfinder Adventure Path #172: Secrets of the Temple-City (Strength of Thousands 4 of 6), Pathfinder Adventure Path #173: Doorway to the Red Star (Strength of Thousands 5 of 6), Pathfinder Adventure: The Slithering, Pathfinder Flip-Mat: The Slithering, Pathfinder Society Scenario #1-09: Star-Crossed Voyages, Pathfinder Society Scenario #1-20: The Lost Legend, Pathfinder Society Scenario #1-23: The Star-Crossed Court, Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Forest Multi-Pack, and the Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Ambush Sites Multi-Pack.
For only $25 you’ll get all of the above, plus PDFs of the Pathfinder Advanced Player’s Guide, Pathfinder Second Edition Core Rulebook, Pathfinder Second Edition Bestiary, Pathfinder Lost Omens World Guide, Pathfinder Lost Omens Character Guide, Pathfinder Adventure Path #174: Shadows of the Ancients (Strength of Thousands 6 of 6), Pathfinder Adventure: Threshold of Knowledge, Pathfinder Society Scenario #3-03: Echoes of Desperation, and Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Shipwrecks.
That’s a $400 value! Humble Bundles offer great deals and support great causes. Purchasers can decide how much of their donation goes to each participant at checkout. This Humble Bundle, unlike some of our past bundles, does not have a physical reward tier.
—The Paizo Team
About ComicBooks For Kids!
Our mission is to provide child friendly comic books to children in hospitals and cancer centers across the U.S. Where we can also help in Canada, we will as well. In almost every case, these will come as new comics from the many publishers who support us. On occasion, we will also provide unread, warehouse overstock. In all cases, we work within the medical facility's infectious disease policies.
About ComicBooks For Troops!
Our mission is to provide comic books through our partner organizations to the real heroes—the men and women who serve our country proudly in all branches of the U.S. military!
This month’s releases are numerous and innovative! You’ll find over 14 new Pathfinder and Starfinder products, like rulebooks, setting books, adventures, pawns, minis, maps, and more, at the Paizo Store and your favorite local game store today!
New Releases: Liberation & Lightning Coils
Wednesday, October 13, 2021
This month’s releases are numerous and innovative! You’ll find over 14 new Pathfinder and Starfinder products, like rulebooks, setting books, adventures, pawns, minis, maps, and more, at the Paizo Store and your favorite local game store today!
Gear Up and Throw Down!
When sword and spell aren’t enough to win the day, it’s time to power up your game with clockwork gears, lightning coils, and black powder! Unravel the secrets of clockworks with the new inventor class or blow away your opposition as a firearm-wielding gunslinger. In addition to new classes, this book holds a plethora of archetypes, backgrounds, vehicles, siege weapons, gadgets, and the new automaton ancestry, all ready to expand your game with options for battlefields large and small. Revolutionize your game with Pathfinder Guns & Gears!
But Wait, There’s More!
A turn of the corner on a city street reveals a marketplace where almost anything can be found! Peruse the stalls of the Grand Bazaar as your characters examine both the mundane and the marvelous, seeking the perfect gear for their next harrowing adventure. Give an unfamiliar weapon a swing, try on a fashionista’s gown or a suit of armor, make friends with a chatty familiar or companion animal, pick up an assistive item that makes exploration accessible for every adventurer, settle down for a gourmet meal, or simply befriend the cast of vibrant characters that maintain the collection of shops presented in Pathfinder Lost Omens Grand Bazaar!
THE EDGE OF SPACE
Scientists, mystics, and corporate interests came together to found Locus-1, a research station and outpost far from the Pact Worlds. Now Sidakana, a ruthless vesk space pirate, has made the Locus system her personal playground, and the innocent people of Locus-1 have turned to the nearest military power—the Azlanti Star Empire—for help. When the cure proves worse than the disease, it’s up to a small group of bold newcomers to save the station and all its inhabitants from death or enslavement!
Designed to give player characters a home base in a remote region filled with adventure, “The Liberation of Locus-1” is the perfect next step for players and GMs who’ve completed Starfinder Adventure: Junker’s Delight. It includes:
“The Liberation of Locus-1,” a complete adventure for 4th-level characters, leading them to 7th-level.
All the details on Locus-1, a remote space station orbiting the Locus—a strange cosmic anomaly— as well as other planets in the Locus system, all with mysteries of their own.
An Adventure Toolbox with new experimental weapons and equipment fueled by the Locus; new playable species who serve in the Azlanti Star Empire’s Alien Cohort; and the predatory mindshroud rays—horrifying symbiotes from the beyond.
Don’t Lose Your Head!
Galt’s executioners, the masked Gray Gardeners, behead the guilty and innocent alike with their magical guillotines. Few have the courage to stand against them—so powerful heroes must infiltrate the Gray Gardeners and put an end to their reign of terror! Pathfinder Adventure: Night of the Gray Death is a deluxe Gothic horror adventure for 16th-level characters, written by Ron Lundeen. It exposes the secrets of the Gray Gardeners with new monsters, new magic items, and new challenges to test the mightiest heroes. Mysteries and intrigue abound during the Night of the Gray Death!
Bring horror and conspiracy to life on your tabletop with this double-sided full-color Flip-Mat featuring key encounter locations from the Pathfinder Second Edition adventure Night of the Gray Death on either side! One side depicts a crumbled vault, and the other side shows a ballroom suitable for an eerie masquerade, with alcoves and nooks for scheming or skullduggery! Don't waste your time sketching when you could be playing. With Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Night of the Gray Death, adventure and intrigue await!
GROWING PAINS
Analyzing information found in the ruins of a laboratory in their charter leads the heroes deep underground to search for an ancient Cycle monastery. When they return to the surface, they find that a rogue group of settlers have established a town at the edge of the administrators’ charter. As the heroes learn more about these interlopers, things begin to go subtly wrong in their own settlement. Are the newcomers behind this sabotage? Will the heroes solve this problem through diplomacy or force?
This Starfinder Adventure Path volume continues the Horizons of the Vast Adventure Path and includes:
“Serpents in the Cradle,” a Starfinder adventure for 3rd-level characters, by Hilary Moon Murphy.
A detailed look at the shady organization known as the Aspis Consortium, by John Compton.
A toolbox featuring relics of an ancient philosophy, a collection of creatures that could threaten a burgeoning charter, and a glimpse at a world with an ocean of liquid mercury, by Jenny Jarzabski, Andrew Mullen, Hilary Moon Murphy, Jess Nevins, Mikhail Rekun, and Jim Seals.
Statistics and deck plans for a premier exploration and reconnaissance vessel designed especially for the Aspis Consortium, by Kendra Leigh Speedling.
The Students Become the Teachers
Now graduates of the Magaambya academy of magic, the heroes join the ranks of its teachers! Sent with their first class to the edge of the Mwangi Expanse, the heroes unearth ancient ruins and strive to keep their expedition out of danger. When a student vanishes, the heroes uncover a nefarious plot to subjugate the rain-lashed Sodden Lands. They must liberate a town, stop an evil cult, and show their students how to stand as wardens of the world. The Strength of Thousands Adventure Path continues with “Hurricane’s Howl,” a complete adventure for 8th- to 11th-level characters.
From the Necropolis to the Lost City
As trusted teachers at the Magaambya academy of magic, the heroes join a diplomatic delegation to an ancient city ruled by an undead god-king. There, the heroes unearth the secret location of a hidden city that needs the Magaambya’s knowledge and protection—but the god-king’s armies are on the march. If the heroes can’t thwart the army, it will plunder the lost city’s treasures and unleash an ancient evil! The Strength of Thousands Adventure Path continues with “Secrets of the Temple-City,” a complete adventure for 12th- to 14th-level characters.
The characters, vehicles, and mechs of the Starfinder Tech Revolution come alive on your tabletop with this collection of more than 100 pawns, designed for use with the Starfinder Roleplaying Game or any tabletop science fantasy RPG! The Starfinder Tech Revolution Pawn Collection presents beautiful full-color images of characters, vehicles, and mechs, perfect for representing your next character or deadly foe! Printed on sturdy cardstock, each double-sided pawn slots into a size-appropriate plastic base from the Starfinder Pawns Base Assortment, making them easy to mix with traditional metal or plastic miniatures. The Starfinder Tech Revolution Pawn Collection is the best way to ensure you’ve got the perfect characters, vehicles, and mechs to bring your Starfinder campaign to life!
Whether your players are plumbing the depths of a treasure vault or escaping through a sewer, no Game Master wants to spend time drawing sites for the complex maze of a thieves’ guild. Fortunately, with Paizo’s latest Pathfinder Flip-Mat, you don't have to! This line of gaming maps provides ready-to-use and captivatingly detailed fantasy set-pieces for the busy Game Master. Whether it's used for a full-on invasion of a thieves' guild's headquarters or tracking down a burglar, this double-sided map is the perfect place for larcenous adventure! Don't waste your time sketching when you could be playing. With Pathfinder Flip-Mat Classics: Thieves' Guild, you'll be ready next time your players dare to oppose the city's criminals!
Whether the heroes are investigating the mysterious disappearance of a lost colony’s inhabitants or looking to put down their own roots on some distant planet, no Game Master wants to spend time drawing every prefab building and power generator. Fortunately, with Paizo’s latest Starfinder Flip-Mat, you don’t have to! This line of gaming maps provides ready-to-use science-fantasy set pieces for the busy Game Master. This double-sided map features two newly established colonial settlements. Don’t waste time sketching when you could be playing. With Starfinder Flip-Mat: Space Colony, you’ll be ready the next time your players want to settle a new world!
A fortress is only as strong as its walls and towers, and it's here that many battles for a castle's control are won or lost. Pathfinder Flip-Tiles: Fortress Walls & Towers Expansion provides beautifully illustrated 6" by 6" map tiles that can be used to expand your fortress with a variety of defensive walls, stairways, watchtowers, and more. Inside, you'll find 24 richly crafted, double-sided map tiles. This expansion set, along with Pathfinder Flip-Tiles: Fortress Starter Set, allows you to create fortress maps quickly! So stop your sketching and start your flipping today.
Don't ruin your next trip off world! Next time your players stumble upon some timeworn ruins on an unexplored planet, they won't have to wait while you draw every crumbling wall and collapsed structure. Starfinder Flip-Tiles: Alien Planet Ruins Expansion provides beautifully illustrated 6" × 6" map tiles that can be used to create the ruined remains of ancient alien civilizations, whether archaic and magical or more technologically advanced! Inside, you'll find 24 richly crafted, double-sided map tiles. This expansion set, along with Starfinder Flip-Tiles: Alien Planet Starter Set, allows you to create even more extraterrestrial environments for endless planetary encounters! So stop your sketching and start your flipping today!
Containing some of the most iconic monsters in Pathfinder, Bestiary Unleashed brings your game to life as you collect and encounter 47 new foes. Pathfinder Battles—Bestiary Unleashed: Treerazer is the latest premium release in the Pathfinder Battles series of prepainted plastic miniatures from WizKids and Paizo Inc. With its Gargantuan size, Treerazer stands over 7 inches tall with a wingspan to match.
Treerazer premium figure features detailed painting at an eye-catching size. Add Treerazer to your RPG game to give your players a Gargantuan challenge, or use the premium figure as an intimidating display for your home or retail location.
Look for even more digital-only products, like Bounties, One-Shots, and Society Scenarios, releasing on Wednesday, October 27!
In every adventure, the heroes face adversity to win the day. Likewise, these thrilling new tools and tales have overcome obstacles to arrive at the Paizo Store and your favorite local game store today!
New Releases: Secrets Revealed
Wednesday, September 1, 2021
In every adventure, the heroes face adversity to win the day. Likewise, these thrilling new tools and tales have overcome obstacles to arrive at the Paizo Store and your favorite local game store today!
Seize the Secrets!
Discover the untold potential of magic! Create a unique and powerful spellcaster using the new magus and summoner classes. Choose from over 200 new spells with options for all spellcasters, excavate new magic items, and dive into lore that explores the mysteries of magic in detail. Elementalism, geomancy, shadow magic, rune magic, and pervasive magic that alters the entire game world—it’s all here in Pathfinder Secrets of Magic!
Trouble in the Academy
The students have proved their mettle to their instructors at the Magaambya, who now trust them to handle academy business in the surrounding metropolis of Nantambu, the Song-Wind City. Nantambu now faces more than its usual dangers, including a vengeful alchemist, stealthy infiltrators, and a crime boss bent on expanding her influence. Can the students discover the secrets of a mysterious artifact, protect their fellow classmates, and still graduate? The Strength of Thousands Adventure Path continues with “Spoken on the Song Wind,” a complete adventure for 4th- to 7th-level characters.
A Pathfinder Bounty designed for 1st level.
A recent rescue mission led to the discovery of many ruined sites from an ancient civilization. Some of the ruins contain an abundance of strange mushrooms, and a curious explorer asks the PCs to help collect and identify them. This adventure ties in to events in Pathfinder Society Intro #2: United in Purpose, though it doesn’t assume the PCs are members of the Pathfinder Society.
A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 1-2.
A Pathfinder Society initiate goes missing on their Confirmation mission to become a fully-fledged field agent. With no update on the initiate’s whereabouts, the Society assembles a group of initiates into a rare group Confirmation in order to spearhead a rescue. It’s up to a new generation of heroes to save one of their own, and potentially make a few big discoveries along the way!
A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 1-2.
When a group of Pathfinder Society initiates recently completed their Confirmation and rescued a fellow Pathfinder, they also uncovered a host of ruins belonging to an ancient civilization. Now, the Society’s major factions have sent their foremost experts and leaders to begin coordinating a thorough investigation of the ruins. Strong and savvy field agents are needed to begin uncovering the secrets hidden within these ruins!
A Pathfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 1-4.
A recently inducted Pathfinder field agent makes a startling discovery as pleas for assistance flood the Society’s Grand Lodge from across the Inner Sea region. A group of Pathfinders come to assist in assessing the ongoing damage to the Society when a staunch ally requests their assistance. Stepping into a problem close to home, the agents quickly uncover a larger plot set to tear the Society apart, and it’s up to them to raise the alarm!
Pathfinder Society Intro: Year of Shattered Sanctuaries is the introduction to the ongoing story of the Year of Shattered Sanctuaries. It’s also the first scenario in a four-part arc detailing the events taking place in and around the Society's headquarters at the Grand Lodge in Absalom, the City of Lost Omens. Other arcs explore other locations across the Inner Sea region. While the arcs can be played in any order, it’s recommended that players experience the scenarios within each individual arc in order, and this scenario is a natural starting point for the Year 3 metaplot.
A Starfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 3-6.
When a violent insurrectionist group threatens an upcoming space gala in the Veskarium, a group of Starfinders find themselves caught in the crossfire. Innocent lives hang in the balance unless the PCs can discover who's behind the dangerous plot and stop them before it's too late.
A Starfinder Society Scenario designed for levels 7-10.
The Starfinder Society has traced the hostile robots involved in the first Data Scourge attacks to a facility in the Vast. Now, it's up to veteran Starfinders to explore the facility that manufactured the machines to find answers—but it won't be easy. Danger lurks around every corner in this massive factory, and a few nasty surprises lie in wait for our intrepid heroes.
Sometimes adventure takes you to the alien side of town. Next time your players are looking for a taste of off-world cuisine and culture while in the big city, these Flip-Tiles have all you need to set them up for a thrilling encounter. Starfinder Flip-Tiles: City Alien Quarter Expansion provides beautifully illustrated 6" × 6" map tiles that you can use to expand your city with a neighborhood fit for extraterrestrial habitation! Inside, you'll find 24 richly crafted, double-sided map tiles. This expansion set, along with Starfinder Flip-Tiles: City Starter Set, lets you create futuristic urban locales with endless variety! So, stop your sketching and start your flipping today!
The first chapter of the Strength of Thousands Adventure Path, Kindled Magic, is now available and contains an article describing nine students who are the peers (and either friends or rivals) of the player characters. Several teachers will be described in a similar way in the upcoming Pathfinder Adventure Path #172: Secrets of the Temple-City. But students and teachers aren’t the only important NPCs at a magic school. To help you further populate the Magaambya, here are three other figures commonly encountered on campus who didn’t make it into print due to space limitations. Enjoy!
Strength of Thousands: Magaambya Staff
Tuesday, August 31, 2021
The first chapter of the Strength of Thousands Adventure Path, Kindled Magic, is now available and contains an article describing nine students who are the peers (and either friends or rivals) of the player characters. Several teachers will be described in a similar way in the upcoming Pathfinder Adventure Path #172: Secrets of the Temple-City. But students and teachers aren’t the only important NPCs at a magic school. To help you further populate the Magaambya, here are three other figures commonly encountered on campus who didn’t make it into print due to space limitations. Enjoy!
Lumusi Yao, by Vlada Hladkova
Lumusi Yao (NG female human chef 5): Head of the campus cooks, Lumusi is in charge of serving the masses of hungry students and professors two meals a day. Lumusi stresses the importance of a healthy menu over unhealthier items—though there are few who’d complain about her goat pepper soup or spicy peanut curry. Lumusi also tries to keep the diversity of the campus in mind, ensuring that catfolk researchers can avoid onions and iruxi scholars get plenty of calcium. Despite her considerate demeanor, the chef is something of a recluse, and it's an event among students whenever someone spots her outside of the kitchens. Staff in the know whisper that Lumusi's skills came from constantly cooking to care for her dying husband in his final days.
Thema (CG female elf gardener 6): An elf from a nearby Ekujae clan, Thema helps tend to the many trees, plants, and gardens on the Magaambya campus. While not the academy’s only gardener, she's the oldest and most experienced. Thema can be seen in the late evening and early morning, silently tending the grounds, leaving some to wonder if she ever rests or sleeps. She lets parts of the grounds remain wild, but keeps the rest scrupulously tended. To most students who casually interact with her, Thema is the picture of poise and grace—though this evaporates outside of a natural setting, as students have caught her wildly and elaborately cursing at sticky door-hinges or accidentally banging her shin on university furniture.
Xhokan (LN male kobold inventory manager 9): The ever-smiling Xhokan runs the student supply store, affectionately referred to by Magaambya residents as “the Powderpile” for its large collection of alchemical and magical powders. A rust-colored kobold with flecks of bright orange on his scales, Xhokan is friendly but has a very wry sense of humor that leaves some people unsure of what he actually means or feels. Xhokan ensures that every student gets the supplies they need in order to complete their studies. Xhokan also ensures no one gets any of these provided magical supplies off the record—he has faced down the finest manipulators, beggars, and wheedlers the Magaambya has to offer without budging on this point. Some students gossip they've spotted the kobold doing inventory check after inventory check in the evening hours to ensure nothing has vanished from his stores.
The September 2021 product release date is scheduled for the 22nd, less than a month away. So, lets preview what the Fall equinox will bring to Paizo.com and your favorite local game store! Beware some light adventure spoilers.
Coming Soon: Tech & Teachers
Monday, August 30, 2021
The September 2021 product release date is scheduled for the 22nd, less than a month away. So, lets preview what the Fall equinox will bring to Paizo.com and your favorite local game store! Beware some light adventure spoilers.
Put the science back in science-fantasy with Starfinder Tech Revolution! This book expands on Starfinder’s cutting-edge technologies—which are often so sophisticated that they rival magic itself—providing your characters the tools to thrive in a futuristic setting. Whether you’re racing the streets in a custom vehicle, planning your next big digital heist, or arming your mech to fight dragons, Tech Revolution has what you need, including:
The new nanocyte character class, whose body hosts an army of robotic nanites that empower and defend you in battle!
Iconic nanocyte illustration by Michele Giorgi
The new mech system: design your own titanic battle robots with customizable parts and armaments, then hop into the cockpit and square off against epic threats!
Mechs on pages 110-111
New rules to enhance gameplay with customizable vehicles, demolitions, and dynamic hacking.
Vehicle art on pages 74-75
New player character options, from technology-themed rules for every character class to technological relics, weapons, armor, augmentations, and more.
A detailed dive into the Starfinder setting’s technological lore, from biotech and computers to media and music.
Scientists, mystics, and corporate interests came together to found Locus-1, a research station and outpost far from the Pact Worlds. Now Sidakana, a ruthless vesk space pirate, has made the Locus system her personal playground, and the innocent people of Locus-1 have turned to the nearest military power—the Azlanti Star Empire—for help. When the cure proves worse than the disease, it’s up to a small group of bold newcomers to save the station and all its inhabitants from death or enslavement!
Station scene on page 12
Designed to give player characters a home base in a remote region filled with adventure, “The Liberation of Locus-1” is the perfect next step for players and GMs who’ve completed Starfinder Adventure: Junker’s Delight. It includes:
“The Liberation of Locus-1,” a complete adventure for 4th-level characters, leading them to 7th-level.
All the details on Locus-1, a remote space station orbiting the Locus—a strange cosmic anomaly— as well as other planets in the Locus system, all with mysteries of their own.
An Adventure Toolbox with new experimental weapons and equipment fueled by the Locus; new playable species who serve in the Azlanti Star Empire’s Alien Cohort; and the predatory mindshroud rays—horrifying symbiotes from the beyond.
Now graduates of the Magaambya academy of magic, the heroes join the ranks of its teachers! Sent with their first class to the edge of the Mwangi Expanse, the heroes unearth ancient ruins and strive to keep their expedition out of danger. When a student vanishes, the heroes uncover a nefarious plot to subjugate the rain-lashed Sodden Lands. They must liberate a town, stop an evil cult, and show their students how to stand as wardens of the world. The Strength of Thousands Adventure Path continues with “Hurricane’s Howl,” a complete adventure for 8th- to 11th-level characters.
Analyzing information found in the ruins of a laboratory in their charter leads the heroes deep underground to search for an ancient Cycle monastery. When they return to the surface, they find that a rogue group of settlers have established a town at the edge of the administrators’ charter. As the heroes learn more about these interlopers, things begin to go subtly wrong in their own settlement. Are the newcomers behind this sabotage? Will the heroes solve this problem through diplomacy or force?
Adventure opener on page 2
This Starfinder Adventure Path volume continues the Horizons of the Vast Adventure Path and includes:
“Serpents in the Cradle,” a Starfinder adventure for 3rd-level characters, by Hilary Moon Murphy.
A detailed look at the shady organization known as the Aspis Consortium, by John Compton.
A toolbox featuring relics of an ancient philosophy, a collection of creatures that could threaten a burgeoning charter, and a glimpse at a world with an ocean of liquid mercury, by Jenny Jarzabski, Andrew Mullen, Hilary Moon Murphy, Jess Nevins, Mikhail Rekun, and Jim Seals.
Statistics and deck plans for a premier exploration and reconnaissance vessel designed especially for the Aspis Consortium, by Kendra Leigh Speedling.
Anchor Root was no stranger to anxiety. It had been one of her closest companions since childhood. She had hoped, briefly, that getting away from her home and clan would ease the burden, but if anything, arriving at the Magaambya had only made things worse. Each project, assignment, or presentation was just another expectation on top of an already precarious tower of expectations she had been trying to climb since birth.
Strength of Thousands: Music Is Math Is Magic
Tuesday, August 24, 2021
Anchor Root was no stranger to anxiety. It had been one of her closest companions since childhood. She had hoped, briefly, that getting away from her home and clan would ease the burden, but if anything, arriving at the Magaambya had only made things worse. Each project, assignment, or presentation was just another expectation on top of an already precarious tower of expectations she had been trying to climb since birth.
All that to say, it wasn’t all that surprising when an unexpected knock at her door nearly sent her jumping out of her fur.
“Uh… j-just a minute,” she called out, hurrying to tidy the books and papers in front of her.
“I just came to deliver a message,” Esi shouted through the door. “Teacher Ot says he wants to see you.”
Anchor Root’s heart raced. Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Ba-bump. “Did he say why?”
“No. But he said that I should tell you that you’re not in trouble, you didn’t do anything wrong, you can take as long as you need, it isn’t an emergency, and he’s not mad at you.”
Well. That only made it half as nerve-wracking at least.
“Oh, there was one other thing. He said to bring an instrument.”
Illustration by Kent Hamilton
Anchor Root found Takulu Ot in the courtyard, relaxing under one of the smaller trees. He sat with his eyes closed and held his mbira in his lap, lazily plucking out a scale on the metal tines. The soft, metallic strumming was a familiar sound to any student who knew the man. It was a somewhat popular instrument in Nantambu, but those from farther abroad usually found it odd. Something about the way certain notes wouldn’t play the way you expected, and would distract from the melody.
Takulu hadn’t noticed Anchor Root yet, and she briefly considered turning around and returning to her room before he did. But that would only prolong her worry in the end. Better to simply get it over with. “Teacher Ot?” she called over instead.
His hands paused as he looked up. “Ah, just the student I wanted to see,” he said with an easy smile. He seemed to smile more often than he made every other facial expression put together. “Did Esi deliver my message?”
Anchor Root reached into her bag and withdrew an ivory flute.
“Perfect! Now, I’m sure you’re wondering why I called you out here. You see, I feel I have been remiss in my approach to teaching certain elements of arcane spellcasting. I have a passion for mathematics, and I find them to be an excellent parallel to arcana. Each with a unique formula that can be broken down into its component parts, solved and calculated and—” Takulu glanced over just in time to see Anchor Root’s ears flatten, and cleared his throat. “Well, anyway, all of those things also apply to music, and Esi tells me that you are a talented musician. So why don’t we play together for a bit?”
“What? Esi said that? About me?” Anchor Root asked in shock. “I mean no, I wouldn’t say that I’m talented or anything, Esi is the one who’s really talented, I just sort of play along from time to time but I’m really only just okay, or I guess ‘okay’ might be putting it too strongly, I guess I’m really just… sorry, I’m talking too much.”
“You are not talking too much,” Takulu reassured her. “And ‘just sort of playing along’ is fine for now, as long as you don’t mind me talking while we play.”
Anchor Root nodded and collapsed on the ground in a motion that some might charitably call sitting down. Takulu began plucking at his mbira again, and after listening for a moment to catch the melody, Anchor Root began to play along as well. As Takulu gradually increased the tempo, she sped up to match. As he slowly shifted the melody, she moved into a complementary harmony.
“You know, many people find the mbira strange to listen to. They think the notes are too discordant, and they aren’t entirely wrong. It is an instrument that is not meant to be played alone. It is best with accompaniment,” he said.
Anchor Root lowered her flute to respond, “But you play alone all the time.”
Takulu looked over with that glint in his eye that he always got when he was nearing the heart of a lesson. “Do I? I don’t think I’ve ever heard an mbira played by itself. My grandfather built this mbira, so his hands are always next to mine when I hold it. My mother taught me how to play, so her song always harmonizes with mine. I don’t know much about bone keeping, but I imagine it must be similar. You are always carrying a little of history with you, in your music and your magic. When you stand on the shoulders of your ancestors, you can reach much greater heights than you do alone.”
The young gnoll put down her flute to consider his words. “The thousands who have come before you,” she muttered.
Takulu nodded. “With that said, why don’t we try that spell from class the other day? You got quite close the last time you tried, and I think you could do it with just a little more effort.”
“Yes, Teacher Ot,” Anchor Root said. She didn’t mention that she had practiced the spell over a dozen times since she failed to conjure a simple illusion in front of her classmates. If she mentioned that, then her teacher would be expecting her to do it easily, and if she failed when he was expecting her to do it easily, that would be way worse than failing when he wasn’t expecting her to succeed at all, right? So without saying anything more, she reached out a hand and created a perfect illusory copy of her familiar.
The illusory chicken moved around the courtyard, pecked the ground looking for bugs, and squawked intermittently. Takulu clapped softly and said, “Very well done. I couldn’t have made a more believable chicken. Pulling from your own experiences is an excellent way to reinforce your illusions, but you shouldn’t rely too heavily on them. So I wonder, could you try something bigger? Maybe something louder?”
“Uh… I-I don’t know about that…”
“Let’s at least give it a try. It’s okay if you don’t do it perfectly,” Takulu said. He stood, brushed the grass and dirt from his clothes, and began walking. “I’m going to go stand on the far side of the courtyard. Try and make something I can see from over there.”
Right. Something big. What counted as big? Everything was big to an ant gnoll, but Teacher Ot was a tall man, she thought. A gorilla? A giraffe? A dog? An angry dog that barks whenever you walk past and it always catches you by surprise even though you walk that way every day and you’ve really thought about telling its owner that he should train his dog not to bark at strangers but he has a very angry dog and you have a chicken and—
“Whenever you’re ready, Anchor Root,” Takulu shouted from the other side of the courtyard.
In a moment of panic, she clutched one of the bones on her necklace and cast the spell. “Big and loud. Big and loud,” she whispered. She could barely hear her own voice over the sound of her heart pounding. In a swirl of light, a stomping, trumpeting, stampeding elephant appeared between the trees, charging toward Takulu. He smiled easily as it crashed through him and disappeared.
“Yes! Excellent! You’ve got it!” Takulu cheered. He walked back over to the tree and knelt to pick up his instrument. “I knew that you had it in you. You sell yourself sh—you don’t give yourself enough credit, but you are an amazing talent. If you just keep up with your studies, I know that you’ll do amazing things. You might even get to teach your own students one of these day—
“Anchor Root? Huh. How does she manage to run so fast?”
About The Author
Michelle Jones is a freelance game designer, fiction writer, and author of Pathfinder Adventure Path #171: Hurricane's Howl, the third volume of the Strength of Thousands Adventure Path. She has also contributed to Lost Omens The Mwangi Expanse, the recently announced Book of the Dead, and several other Paizo titles. For a full list of credits, RPG hot takes, and Thirsty Sword Lesbians homebrew content, you can find her on Twitter at @AleshaKills.
About Strength Of Thousands
In the Strength of Thousands Adventure Path, the players take on the roles of students at the Magaambya, the oldest and most prestigious magic academy in the world, an ancient institution founded by the greatest wizard the world has ever known. This wizard vanished long ago, but his sinister enemies plot against his school and those who attend it. Over their long academic career, the heroes rise from humble students to become teachers, and they ultimately hold the fate of the Magaambya in their hands. Graduates of the Magaambya are among the greatest wardens of the world, but if the heroes can't marshal the strength of thousands who have come before them, the venerable Magaambya might fall!
Join us for episode 5 of Paizo LIVE from 4 to 6 p.m. Pacific tonight. Paizo LIVE is our near-monthly, 2-hour live Twitch show featuring the Paizo staff and guests talking about all things Pathfinder and Starfinder. You can watch past episodes on YouTube.
Tonight on Paizo LIVE: Magic, Tech, or Junk?
Friday, August 13, 2021
Join us for episode 5 of Paizo LIVE from 4 to 6 p.m. Pacific tonight. Paizo LIVE is our near-monthly, 2-hour live Twitch show featuring the Paizo staff and guests talking about all things Pathfinder and Starfinder. You can watch past episodes on YouTube.
Scheduled guests include:
Development Manager Linda Zayas-Palmer to discuss Starfinder and Pathfinder Society Achievement Point boons.
Developer Thurston Hillman to discuss upcoming digital products.
Development Manager Ron Lundeen to discuss Pathfinder Adventure Path #169: Kindled Magic and Starfinder Adventure Path #40: Planetfall.
Pathfinder Lead Designer Logan Bonner to discuss Secrets of Magic.
Starfinder Senior Developer John Compton to discuss Tech Revolution.
Alexandria Bustion, co-author of Pathfinder Adventure Path #169: Kindled Magic.
Misha Bushyager, co-author of Starfinder Adventure: Junker’s Delight.
We’ll take your questions before and during the show, so ask them here, and we’ll pick our favorites. Then we’ll see you tonight for Paizo LIVE at twitch.tv/officialpaizo!
Paizo LIVE is our almost-monthly, 2-hour live Twitch show featuring the Paizo staff and occasional guests talking about all things Pathfinder and Starfinder. Join us for episode 5 of Paizo LIVE from 4 to 6 p.m. Pacific next Friday, August 13. Catch past episodes on YouTube.
On the Next Paizo LIVE: Magic, Tech, or Junk?
Friday, August 6, 2021
Paizo LIVE is our almost-monthly, 2-hour live Twitch show featuring the Paizo staff and occasional guests talking about all things Pathfinder and Starfinder. Join us for episode 5 of Paizo LIVE from 4 to 6 p.m. Pacific next Friday, August 13. Catch past episodes on YouTube.
Scheduled guests include:
Organized Play Managing Developer Linda Zayas-Palmer to discuss Starfinder and Pathfinder Society Achievement Point boons.
Development Manager Ron Lundeen to discuss Pathfinder Adventure Path #169: Kindled Magic and Starfinder Adventure Path #40: Planetfall.
Pathfinder Lead Designer Logan Bonner to discuss Secrets of Magic.
Starfinder Senior Developer John Compton and Editor K. Tessa Newton to discuss Tech Revolution.
Alexandria Bustion, co-author of Kindled Magic.
Misha Bushyager, co-author of Starfinder Adventure: Junker’s Delight.
We’ll take your questions before and during the show, so ask them here, and we’ll pick our favorites. Then we’ll see you on Friday, August 13, for Paizo LIVE at twitch.tv/officialpaizo!
Class Is in Session! Strength of Thousands Player’s Guide
Education is far from easy at the oldest and most prestigious magic academy in the world. The newest students at the venerable Magaambya school of magic must deal with mysterious infestations, supernatural intruders, and sinister plots—all while juggling their classes!
Class Is in Session! Strength of Thousands Player’s Guide
Monday, July 26, 2021
Education is far from easy at the oldest and most prestigious magic academy in the world. The newest students at the venerable Magaambya school of magic must deal with mysterious infestations, supernatural intruders, and sinister plots—all while juggling their classes!
If you are new to Pathfinder or an Adventure Path, welcome! The Strength of Thousands Adventure Path Player's Guide is your spoiler-free introduction for getting started with this six-part adventure. Inside you will find the following background and rules for the campaign:
The History: The Magaambya was founded thousands of years ago by the greatest wizard the world has ever known. Follow the legacy left by Old-Mage Jatembe and his Ten Magic Warriors. Learn of the ranks within the school and the branches of knowledge students can follow. Every student stands tall upon the strength of thousands who have come before them in the ancient academy!
Coming Together: The Strength of Thousands Adventure Path begins as the heroes arrive at the Magaambya, their home throughout their adventures. Although the heroes must remain close to the Magaambya to learn their initial lessons, they’ll soon gain greater responsibilities and venture across the Mwangi Expanse—and beyond! Incoming students are grouped together in a cohort to support and learn from each other throughout their education. Rather than a typical adventuring party, the heroes of the Strength of Thousands Adventure Path are a cohort of diverse and dedicated students.
Spellcasting for Everyone: Even though any character class works well in the Strength of Thousands Adventure Path, a campaign where students attend a magic school wouldn’t seem very magical unless all the heroes can cast spells! The player’s guide contain rules that let characters who can’t cast spells (like fighters or rogues) dabble in a bit of magic. Heroes who can already cast spells get even more to expand their repertoire.
The Strength of Thousands Adventure Path Player’s Guide is written by Ron Lundeen. The cover artist is Setiawan Lee.
The Strength of Thousands Adventure Path is coming in July 2021! This six-part, monthly Adventure Path takes characters from 1st to 20th level. It’s set in the Magaambya magic academy in the Mwangi Expanse, the oldest and most prestigious magic school in our world. We’ve been looking to tell a “magic school” story for a long time, and we’re thrilled to tell a non-Western magic school story set in the Magaambya. In Strength of Thousands, the characters start as students, become teachers, and ultimately hold the fate of the school in their hands.
Strength of Thousands Adventure Path
Tuesday, September 15, 2020
The Strength of Thousands Adventure Path is coming in July 2021! This six-part, monthly Adventure Path takes characters from 1st to 20th level. It’s set in the Magaambya magic academy in the Mwangi Expanse, the oldest and most prestigious magic school in our world. We’ve been looking to tell a “magic school” story for a long time, and we’re thrilled to tell a non-Western magic school story set in the Magaambya. In Strength of Thousands, the characters start as students, become teachers, and ultimately hold the fate of the school in their hands.
Magaambya by Tomasz Chistowski
The name of this Adventure Path comes from a school motto; each teacher and student stands on the shoulders of thousands who have come before, so the weight of reputation and responsibility rests squarely on the heroes’ shoulders.
Strength of Thousands is open to characters of all kinds, but it’s a magic school, so some spellcasting ability is necessary. If you like playing fighters or monks or other non-spellcasting classes, don’t worry! We’re layering on additional spellcasting ability to all characters in this Adventure Path, so if you can’t normally cast spells, you get a little bit of spellcasting. If you are a spellcaster already, you get a little more. This makes the characters slightly more powerful than normal, but lets them feel like students in the world’s premiere magic school.
Celebration by Tomasz Chistowski
The adventures initially focus on the Magaambya, but soon expand to take place all over the Mwangi Expanse (and even beyond, in an interplanetary excursion!). The teachers at the Magaambya are also diplomats and guardians of the world, and we want the players to really feel that. You’ll undertake diplomatic missions in the dangerous city of Mzali, stage a rescue in the Sodden Lands, and uncover secrets lost for thousands of years.
Strength of Thousands gets tons of support in supplemental articles in each volume, including rosters of fellow students and faculty members and an academia downtime subsystem so characters get more skilled throughout their academic years as students (and as teachers). We expect Strength of Thousands to span many in-game years and thrill real-world players for a long time!
Storyteller - Mikhail Palamarchuk
We’ve established a diverse and talented team of authors for the Strength of Thousands Adventure Path. Rather than talk about them, let’s have them tell you who they are in their own words!
Kindled Magic, by Alexandria Bustion and Eleanor Ferron
Allie Bustion is an award-winning freelance narrative designer and writer who has worked on their own indie titles, like HEIST and Misbehavin', as well as Sea of Legends. You can find their name in recent and upcoming books from Paizo and others, including the Mwangi Expanse world guide, the Starship Operations Manual, and Lost Omens: Legends. More often than not, they can be found on Twitter (@madpierrot) taking a lot of pictures of their cat or analyzing popular media or on Twitch (MadPierrotTV) playing Apex Legends and Final Fantasy XIV. More of their work can be found on madpierrot.design, madpierrot.itch.io, and patreon.com/madpierrot.
Hello! I'm Eleanor Ferron, a mixed-race author, artist, and Developer here at Paizo. Along with my fabulous colleague Luis Loza, I work on the Lost Omens setting guides for Pathfinder 2E. I’ve also illustrated several RPG products, such as the role-playing card game and campaign assistant, Short Order Heroes. Both Luis and I have been working hard on coordinating an incredible crew of authors for the Lost Omens: Mwangi Expanse book that will accompany the Strength of Thousands Adventure Path, and so I am incredibly excited to see that setting come to life for players and GMs to explore!M.o
Spoken on the Song Wind, by Quinn Murphy
My name is Quinn Murphy. I’ve been doing freelance design and publishing my own games for a little over a decade, and have been in love with RPGs for most of my life. Over the years I’ve done design work for Dungeons & Dragons (4th Edition), Marvel Heroic Roleplaying, Misspent Youth, Trinity Continuum: Aeon, and more. I’ve been working with Paizo since last year, starting with the Pathfinder Society Quest Archaeology in Aspenthar and other projects. I am really excited to be working on the Strength of Thousands Adventure Path, where we can introduce players to wonders and teachings of the Magaambya firsthand!
Hurricane’s Howl, by Michelle Jones
I'm Michelle Jones, author of Hurricane's Howl and contributor to World Guide: Mwangi Expanse. I've been a Paizo freelancer for about 4 years now, and I'm so excited to finally write for an adventure path. Since most of my Pathfinder work up until now was on the Player Companion line, I always had to ask myself what new rules players would find exciting. It was always a fun challenge, but working on Hurricane's Howl and the World Guide gave me the opportunity to do what I'm really passionate about. The opportunity to tell a story, introduce new characters, and explore a part of the world that really deserves some love. So read World Guide: Mwangi Expanse and play Hurricane's Howl; I promise you are in for a good time. Find me on Twitter @AleshaKills.
Secrets of the Temple-City, by Luis Loza
Luis Loza is a developer at Paizo Inc. working on Pathfinder Second Edition. His work includes rules, campaign setting material, and adventure development for Pathfinder. As a writer, he takes inspiration from a variety of places including folklore from his Mexican heritage, books, movies, and video games. He lives in Seattle with his wife and a cat that should really be more cuddly if you ask him. You can learn more about him and his work at luisloza.com.
Doorway to the Red Star, by Michael Sayre
Hello! My name is Michael Sayre and I’m a designer and former Pathfinder Society developer here at Paizo. I was born and raised in Alaska, where my family is from for as far back as anyone can trace! I’m of primarily Tlingit and Irish descent, and my family are shareholders in the Goldbelt Corporation, a company formed for the Tlingit and Haida people of southeast Alaska following the Alaska Native Claims Act. Pushing the boundaries of the stories we tell beyond Golarion’s Inner Sea has been both a professional goal and a personal passion of mine since I started work at Paizo, and without giving any spoilers as to the particulars of my contribution to this project, that’s definitely something this adventure has allowed me to do!
Shadows of the Ancients, by Saif Ansari
Saif Ansari thought he had created role-playing games while making up stories with his brother in India. After emigrating to the US, he realized a whole gaming industry existed and has been running games ever since. Saif has published short fiction and short plays, appeared in anthologies, written for games, and was nominated for an ENnie back in 2017. He runs games in New York City and also lives there with his wife and two children.
