This is the time of year when I put the finishing touches on the Gen Con line-up, whose array of scenarios this year is looking positively stunning. If you haven't taken a look, check out last week's blog for a hint of what is to come. Also, I hear there are still a few volunteer slots left, so be sure to read that blog more closely and contact Mike Brock if you are interested in being a GM at this massive convention.
Illustration by Marek Madej
In the meantime, I am excited about the recently-released February scenarios for Pathfinder Society. This month was a little strange because both adventures are Tier 1–5, but that's mostly because I'm saving some of the higher-level adventures for later in the season when we resolve some other pieces of the Sky Key story. Several months ago, I also took a long hard look at how Gen Con's earlier date this year (July 30–Aug 2) would affect the Season 6 schedule. The Pathfinder Society team decided that the cleanest way to handle this would be to make the Year of the Sky Key shorter by a month and start Season 7 a month early. The result is a slightly compressed season in which you'll see a lot of plot coming together in the final six months and a slightly smaller number of scenarios per season (but not per year). The last standard scenario for Season 6 will be #6–23, plus several Special events released at PaizoCon and Gen Con.
Now that we've talked a bit about the big picture, let's look at some of these recent releases. Pathfinder Society Scenario #6–14: Scions of the Sky Key, Part 2: Kaava Quarry is the second installment in a three-part series that takes the Pathfinders to northern Sargava and (in this adventure) a fun stretch of jungle in the southwest Mwangi Expanse. Author Mike Kimmel was one of the three RPG Superstar 2014 finalists, and I think it's fair to say he had the most open-ended outline of the trio. I received a really fun proposal a few days later, and the result is a giant dinosaur on the cover of a Tier 1–5 scenario and one of my favorite encounters of the year. The PCs are going to need some help, so today I've included an illustration of one of the first acquaintances they meet upon entering the Kaava Lands.
I am also very excited about Pathfinder Society Scenario #6–15: The Overflow Archives, written by Scott Sharplin. I first learned of Scott when speaking with a few freelancers at PaizoCon, and like the professional that he is, he had an Open Call submission waiting in my inbox soon after I got back in the office. You may already be familiar with his work in The Silverhex Chronicles (namely Mists and Mausoleum), and when the schedule had an opening for a low-level adventure tied to the Dark Archive, I asked Scott if he would be interested in turning his Open Call piece into a full scenario. The final adventure is unlike anything published in the campaign to date, and it's a delightful yet whimsically dark story that takes the PCs deep into one of the Grand Lodge's more notorious vaults. Just to give you a sense of the strangeness within, I present the Owl and the Albatross, two figures featured in the story within a story.
Illustration by Marek Madej
John Compton
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