The Future of Pathfinder Society Organized Play, Part VIII: In the Secrets of the Past Come Tomorrow's Triumphs

Monday, May 9, 2011

Osirion is among the oldest human nations of the Inner Sea region—its founding marked the end of the Age of Anguish. Over its long history, it has experienced centuries of incredible power as well as generations of subjugation under foreign rule, as its ancient might was lost to desert sands and forgotten with the passage of time. With ambitions of once again being the most influential and powerful nation in the Inner Sea region, Osirion knows that Absalom is its largest competitor for the position. So while the nations of Andoran, Cheliax, Qadira, and Taldor battle among themselves for control of the City at the Center of the World, Osirion delves deep into its history to resurrect the secrets of the past. As a sleeping giant, it amasses its power to swoop down on its unsuspecting enemies when they have weakened one another, using the strength of history to secure its future dominance.

Whether it's the faction's Egyptian inspirations or it's unassuming modus operandi, Osirion has been one of the most popular factions since the earliest days of Pathfinder Society Organized Play. In many ways, this faction's ideals fall most closely in line with the baseline mission of the Pathfinder Society, and that's not changing with Season 3.

Back in the fall, we tried something new: We started introducing faction leaders as NPCs and plot elements within scenarios beyond just signing their names at the bottoms of faction mission handouts. And we began with Amenopheus, the Sapphire Sage, head of the Osirion faction. As far back as PaizoCon 2010, there were hints that not all was as it seemed with the Sapphire Sage, and with the onset of the Shadow Lodge conflict, his part in the overall metaplot was revealed.

I know not everyone has played the scenarios in question, so I won't post any spoilers (and I ask all comments below to use spoiler tags as necessary) but I will say that observant Osirian players may have noticed their missions are coming from some lowly scribe named Otoneraphim of late. The subplot with Amenopheus will be resolved at PaizoCon in the two-part Tier 1–7 series Shadow's Last Stand, so you've got a little over a month to catch up on past installments in this story before the "season finale".

As part of the increase in metaplot within the campaign, more venture captains and faction heads will play larger roles in scenarios during the Year of the Ruby Phoenix, and many of the faction-specific metaplots will involve their respective faction heads. I'm eager to hear what people think of this, and specifically how you have or haven't liked the way we used Amenopheus as a major player this season. Stop by the Pathfinder Society section of the messageboards and make your opinions heard!

Next week we'll continue looking at some of the campaign rule changes in store for next season, specifically those dealing with prestige. The following Monday, we'll look at another of the 10 factions, but which one depends on you. We're just a few fans away from hitting 4,000 followers on Facebook; if you, the fans, can spread the word and help us add 250 new fans before the end of the week, I'll move one of the five new factions up in line and make it the following week's blog topic, revealing its symbol as an even earlier preview.

Mark Moreland
Developer