Wrath of the Righteous: The Demons Are in the Details

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Greetings and welcome to the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Wrath of the Righteous preview blog. I'm Paul Peterson, and I'll be your host as we delve into the depths of this demonic set. We've got a lot to cover here, and I'm going to reveal everything about this powerhouse set!

(Mike: Everything? No, you're actually not going to do that.)

Um, okay. Then... everything that you'll let me reveal.

(Mike: Okay. But rein it in. I'll be right over here. Watching.)

Okay! Hold on to your souls (at least for now), and let's dig in!

Mythic

From the beginning, I knew that bringing mythic heroes into the game was going to be exciting... and a huge challenge. I set some pretty lofty goals for this. First, the characters had to feel epic. They had to fight demon lords and travel to the Abyss and feel like it was well within their power to do so. Second, it had to be compatible with everything else. I wanted you to be able to bring Lem from Rise of the Runelords along and have him feel right at home.

So we created the mythic path cards.


Mythic up yourself.

At a certain point in the story, you get to pick one of these cards and add it to your character. You can pick any of them, so if you want Harsk to be a Mythic Guardian, you can make that choice (although you must live with the consequences afterwards).

These cards bring your characters up to a level more fitting of the word "mythic." At the start of each scenario, you add mythic charges to your card. These charges give you a bonus to EVERY roll of the dice for the skills associated with that path. You can also spend them to change 1 or more of your dice on a roll to a d20. That's right, a d20! And you can do it as often as you have charges to spend!

However, the players aren't the only ones who get to be mythic. What is the point of being a superhero if you don't have supervillains to face? Monsters get to be mythic as well, and defeating mythic monsters is one of the ways you can replenish your mythic charges.

Demons

As you might expect in an Adventure Path about an invasion from the Abyss, the set also has a few demons.


Those don't look nice.

And when I say "a few," I really mean OH MY GOD, LOOK AT ALL OF THEM! They start off a little slowly in the base set, just to give you time to adjust and put your affairs in order, but by Adventure 6, they're an overwhelming horde of evil, pounding at your doors and demanding entry.

And where there are demons, there are things to help you fight them.


These might help.

In this set, you'll find many tools that specifically target your evil foes, including weapons that bash them and spells that banish them.

Khorramzadeh

Speaking of mythic cards and demons, I'm just going to leave this right here for you to think about, right after I tell you that this is a card in the *Base Set*.


Don't say we didn't warn you.

Cohorts

This adventure path has a strong focus on the NPCs you'll encounter. Some of them grow and change as they share adventures with the players. In addition, many of the characters we were looking at creating showed a deep connection to their companions. We brought all of that together to create a new type of card: the cohort.

Cohorts act much like allies, but most of them start in your hand instead of your deck. A few cohorts have owners and appear on an owner's cards list. For example, Donahan is owned by the cavalier Alain, so at the start of each scenario, Alain gets to add Donahan to his starting hand. (Similarly, summoner Balazar has his eidolon Padrig; in the Character Add-On Deck, hunter Adowyn has her wolf Leryn, and shaman Shardra has her stone spirit Kolo.)

Other cohorts, like Cecilla, are handed out as part of a particular scenario. After the players draw their starting hands, they get to decide who gets those cohorts. Alternatively, the scenario might create a condition under which you would get a cohort, as happens with Vinst. After the scenario, these cohorts are returned to the box until they're called for again. Oh, and if your cohorts get banished? They're gone forever. So don't let them get killed, because if you do, they're not coming back.

Corruption

One of my favorite things about this adventure path is the theme of corruption and redemption that appears time and time again. It was essential that we captured that theme in the card game as well.


Redeem me!

Many boons in this set have the Corrupted trait. Corrupted boons have pretty severe drawbacks. However, you'll have opportunities to use the redemption card to redeem some of them. Once a boon is redeemed, the penalty is gone, and you're free to use the boon in all of its uncorrupted glory.

The Abyss

This set represents the first time that players really get a chance to spend some quality time on a plane other than their own.


Hold the phone. Is that a TRAIT on a location card?

Many of the locations in this set are in the Abyss, and the rules on a plane full of demons are not always the same as they are here. All of those lovely spells and weapons that give you extra dice when you're fighting an outsider don't work when your enemy is no longer considered one.

I hope you've enjoyed this peek at Wrath of the Righteous. In fact, I hope you're very excited (and a little afraid). I know that I am! I can't wait to tell you more about each of the adventure decks, especially Adventure Deck 3, where we'll be releasing...

(Mike: Okay, we're done here.)

WAIT... STOP... LET ME TELL THEM!

(Mike: Please ignore the sound of grinding and manacles.)

Paul Peterson
Adventure Card Game Designer

More Paizo Blog.
Tags: Pathfinder Adventure Card Game
51 to 100 of 157 << first < prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | next > last >>

Anyway thanks a lot Paul. Keep giving us the good news. And don't listen to Not-this-Mike, he's just a non-reedemable demonic fellow who just wants us to hold all our good thoughts. We'll deal with him later, as soon as I encounter and successfully acquire an uberfunnygamedesignerbane shortsword +3. :-)

Liberty's Edge

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
First World Bard wrote:
Hawkmoon269 wrote:
If you look at the Elven Entanglement scenario card in the big post, it mentions animals. And it seems you are fighting plants.

Hawk: if you are curious, I believe the source material for that scenario is this:

Pathfinder Society Scenario #5–05: The Elven Entanglement
Though I've yet to play it, it's got a reputation for being a deadly RPG scenario.

There is a specific "plant" in that scenario that I'm squealing with delight to see in the card set. And as the author of that scenario, I'm especially stocked to see Vinst and Cecilla get the Adventure Card treatment.


A couple things to clarify about Big K up there:

1. If you fail the Con/Fort check and get moved to a different location, does that end the fight? So, you could escape cooked but survive?

2. If you fail the Con/Fort check, you "[move] to a random location," not necessarily a different one, correct? Say you have 6 locations and roll a d6. If the roll comes up for the location you're on, does that count as "moving"?

Thanks!


Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Lost Omens, PF Special Edition, Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
Johnny Chronicle wrote:

A couple things to clarify about Big K up there:

1. If you fail the Con/Fort check and get moved to a different location, does that end the fight? So, you could escape cooked but survive?

2. If you fail the Con/Fort check, you "[move] to a random location," not necessarily a different one, correct? Say you have 6 locations and roll a d6. If the roll comes up for the location you're on, does that count as "moving"?

Thanks!

From my understanding:

1. No, the encounter continues. Note that the villain is still part of the location deck you were originally at so if you defeat him, it closes the original location, not the one you moved to.

2. You can stay put. It would have said "random other location" if it always wanted you to move. If you roll your current location you aren't counted as moving, however, so any effects that happen when you move or enter/leave the location won't trigger.


I hate to be that guy, but...

There is a grammatical error on Derakni. It says, "Before you act, each character at your location attempts at a wisdom 5 check." The second "at" should probably be removed.

Pathfinder ACG Developer

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Frencois wrote:
Anyway thanks a lot Paul. Keep giving us the good news. And don't listen to Not-this-Mike, he's just a non-reedemable demonic fellow who just wants us to hold all our good thoughts. We'll deal with him later, as soon as I encounter and successfully acquire an uberfunnygamedesignerbane shortsword +3. :-)

Thanks! I will continue to try to get the word out!

YOU CAN'T STOP THE SIGNAL!

Adventure Card Game Designer

Paul Peterson wrote:
YOU CAN'T STOP THE SIGNAL!

(sound of grinding and manacles)

Pathfinder ACG Developer

Hawkmoon269 wrote:
Zaily wrote:

Do you think that it is worth to get more polished game with more mechanics I believe other than more diversity in enemies from first set? (Im not much looking on the price difference, more Im looking for fun aspect and great gameplay/replayability)

edit: nvm the scenario diversity, seems that this will be ok, but the thing about monster type is still here.

Only one of the design team could tell you for sure, but I think there will be monsters other than demons, but there will be lots of demons. If you look at the Elven Entanglement scenario card in the big post, it mentions animals. And it seems you are fighting plants.

Having said that, I'd also be tempted to get RotR if there was a great price on it.

There are plenty of non-demon monsters in the set. There are quite a few undead, and a good number of general monsters. Keep an eye out for my Adventure deck blogs coming up for more info!

Scarab Sages

1 person marked this as a favorite.

This is all terribly exciting and epic. I'm almost worried that subsequent PACG sets after this one will look lackluster in comparison to the big fat epicness of these überbanes, cohorts, and the like!


skizzerz wrote:
Johnny Chronicle wrote:

A couple things to clarify about Big K up there:

1. If you fail the Con/Fort check and get moved to a different location, does that end the fight? So, you could escape cooked but survive?

2. If you fail the Con/Fort check, you "[move] to a random location," not necessarily a different one, correct? Say you have 6 locations and roll a d6. If the roll comes up for the location you're on, does that count as "moving"?

Thanks!

From my understanding:

1. No, the encounter continues. Note that the villain is still part of the location deck you were originally at so if you defeat him, it closes the original location, not the one you moved to.

2. You can stay put. It would have said "random other location" if it always wanted you to move. If you roll your current location you aren't counted as moving, however, so any effects that happen when you move or enter/leave the location won't trigger.

See discussion here.

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

1 person marked this as a favorite.
First World Bard wrote:
Do characters with Cohorts effectively have 16 card decks starting out? Alain's decklist added up to 15, not counting Donahan.

Seems like you answered your own question there.

Also note that the blog says you get to add them to your starting hand...


Vic Wertz wrote:
First World Bard wrote:
Do characters with Cohorts effectively have 16 card decks starting out? Alain's decklist added up to 15, not counting Donahan.

Seems like you answered your own question there.

Also note that the blog says you get to add them to your starting hand...

So you better expend one card from your hand or else you will have to discard a card at the end of your turn.

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

1 person marked this as a favorite.
bbKabag wrote:
Is it safe to assume that Biter will be a Cohort for Harsk as well as being an Ally card from the Iconic Heroes minis? Same with Balazar's Padrig?

None of the currently planned Iconic Heroes cards (sets 1 through 6) are cohorts. Also, nobody ever said there would be a Padrig card in the Iconic Heroes set... just that there would be a card that goes with Padrig. And that's all I'm going to say about that for now.

bbKabag wrote:
Also, what happens when we take the WotR characters to a different Base Set? Will we ignore the Cohort section or do we transfer the cohorts over as well?

You might note that we've never given formal rules for moving characters from one set to another, and that isn't changing here. But I would say that, just like you'll want to take some guns along with Lirianne the gunslinger if you take her out of S&S, characters with cohorts are really going to want them wherever they go.


Taking cohorts between base sets is going to be a simple house rule situation. The bigger question (which I'm sure Paizo will answer before it becomes a real issue) is what do you do with cohorts from a base set in OP.

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

Mike Selinker wrote:
NyteJKL wrote:
Regarding Monkey's Paw and using the second ability to add a d20 to a check. It says if you fail the check; however, you banish the paw. But in order to use the paw, you have to shuffle it into your deck. Do we dig through the deck to find the paw to banish it? Or is it expected to display the paw until you have determined if you succeed the check or not, then either shuffle or banish the paw?
We are crafting a slightly expanded rule about how you deal with cards that say "Do this! No, wait, do that!" Vic will have details.

We already have many situations in the game where potentially rechargeable items or spells could go any number of places before you find out whether or not they're being recharged. We're still finalizing the wording on a rule that will clarify this, but the answer is that they're Schrödinger's cat: you have to open the box before you can find out what happened to it.

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

First World Bard wrote:
So, how long until the Community Card Creator creates cohort cards?

DriveThru knows they're coming, but they're still working on few other card types that people want a bit more at the moment...


nondeskript wrote:
Taking cohorts between base sets is going to be a simple house rule situation. The bigger question (which I'm sure Paizo will answer before it becomes a real issue) is what do you do with cohorts from a base set in OP.

Although, I think the official unofficial rule from Tanis on how to handle a card with an Owner basically covers this...

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

2 people marked this as a favorite.
MightyJim wrote:
Don't really understand the monkey's paw - even uncorrupted, you're making the check d20 harder, then adding d20. On average that does nothing, AND has potential to make life much harder.

The Monkey's Paw is *awesome*—it makes the impossible possible.

...and it only requires just the teensiest bit of your soul....

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

nondeskript wrote:
nondeskript wrote:
Taking cohorts between base sets is going to be a simple house rule situation. The bigger question (which I'm sure Paizo will answer before it becomes a real issue) is what do you do with cohorts from a base set in OP.
Although, I think the official unofficial rule from Tanis on how to handle a card with an Owner basically covers this...

I'll just point out that (with a couple of exceptions) you can't use a character in OP unless it has a corresponding Class Deck, and none of the characters that rely on cohorts have Class Decks yet. Until they do, you don't need an answer to this question—and by the time you do, the answer will either be in the Guide to Organized Play or in the Class Deck itself.

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Nefrubyr wrote:
Nothing in this preview seems to tell us how much mythic charge characters start each scenario with. I'm guessing it must be one of (a) the back of the mythic path card, (b) the scenario card (the one shown is probably pre-mythic path) or maybe (c) the adventure card.

(d) It's in the rulebook.


This all looks fantastic. As soon as the cavalier was announced, I knew I wanted to play him, and seeing his card has convinced me I was right in this.

Adventure Card Game Designer

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Vic Wertz wrote:
You might note that we've never given formal rules for moving characters from one set to another, and that isn't changing here. But I would say that, just like you'll want to take some guns along with Lirianne the gunslinger if you take her out of S&S, characters with cohorts are really going to want them wherever they go.

Another way to look at this is that the PACG "rulebook" is actually the sum of all PACG rulebooks. The plunder rules from S&S technically apply even if you're playing Wrath, even though there's no card that mentions plunder in Wrath. And the cohort rules apply to S&S even though there's no card that mentions cohorts in S&S. I can't imagine us ever putting a card in a set without the rules in the rulebook to support it, but if you're hopping things all over the place, the rules go with them.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
Hawkmoon269 wrote:
So you better expend one card from your hand or else you will have to discard a card at the end of your turn.

Donahan is kind enough to get shuffled back into the deck if you don't need him in your hand before you reset, at least. Or perhaps you can use him to Trample your foes and he'll go to the top of your deck instead.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber
Hawkmoon269 wrote:
So you better expend one card from your hand or else you will have to discard a card at the end of your turn.

On the plus side, Donahan has a decent chance to end up on the top of one's deck in a turn if one seeks out combat. Also, the shuffling if one decide he isn't needed yet. I imagine Padrig will also have just as decent card manipulation.

My speculation at this point is that Padrig will have a reveal ability to make an Arcane + specified die as a combat check, with a discard to the top of the deck for an additional d8 + twice the adventure deck number. Probably a shuffle into the deck during hand reset power. That would put a starting hand Balazar in about the same position as a starting hand Alain, though a bit lower considering Alain's discard power and reset power. Instead Balazar has more deck manipulation and general utility. I suspect WotR is going to have a nice set of Arcane support spells to play off of Balazar.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

Since we're speculating, I'm guessing that Padrig will make use of those monsters that Balthazar can get in his hand; 1d4 to defeat barriers or acquire things really isn't that impressive on its own.


So, wait, is it possible to have *insert random crazy number here* (We'll go with 4) cohort cards at the start of the Scenario?

Meaning I can play as a Tanky Character with a Card amount of 15, which then goes to 19 and actually start with EIGHT cards, of which 4 Cohorts? Or is it basically: 1 cohort per character?

Because I would totally love Seelah with 4 cohorts!

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

Donny Schuijers wrote:
Meaning I can play as a Tanky Character with a Card amount of 15, which then goes to 19 and actually start with EIGHT cards, of which 4 Cohorts? Or is it basically: 1 cohort per character?

It's not quite either of those things.


One more thing I am very happy to see: the scenario has as the reward, "each character draws a random weapon or spell from the box". Playing through RotRL, I have unhappy sorcerer and druid players when the scenario offers up a free weapon or armor. Though we've altered things for them, having it written into the cards that everyone has a chance at something personally useful will be a welcome change.


Paul Peterson wrote:


There are plenty of non-demon monsters in the set. There are quite a few undead, and a good number of general monsters. Keep an eye out for my Adventure deck blogs coming up for more info!

Thank You for this answer, so Im sticking with my preorder then, looking forward to destroy some undead minions :)

Sovereign Court RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32

2 people marked this as a favorite.
Vic Wertz wrote:
MightyJim wrote:
Don't really understand the monkey's paw - even uncorrupted, you're making the check d20 harder, then adding d20. On average that does nothing, AND has potential to make life much harder.

The Monkey's Paw is *awesome*—it makes the impossible possible.

...and it only requires just the teensiest bit of your soul....

I can already anticipate declaring "oh cursed monkey's paw!" whenever that hail-mary shot using it fails to pan out. Possibly also with a complaint about the turkey being a little dry.

Heck I might lecture the d20s before rolling about how I don't want any zombie turkey and the rest.


ryric wrote:

I can already anticipate declaring "oh cursed monkey's paw!" whenever that hail-mary shot using it fails to pan out. Possibly also with a complaint about the turkey being a little dry.

Heck I might lecture the d20s before rolling about how I don't want any zombie turkey and the rest.

Best comment ever.

Silver Crusade

Mogloth wrote:

Having read the entire AP and getting ready to run it for some friends here shortly, I cannot wait to see how they adapted it to the card game.

50 THEN 50?!?!???!?!

And if you fail it you die?!?!?!?!!?

Are you kidding me? BRING IT ON!!!!

They are just joking. The card is included in the box, but not used in any scenario. Right?

Must.
Be.
So.

Sovereign Court

I'm guessing he's a villain that isn't actually encountered.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Without getting into too many spoilers, I would guess he triggers something in the scenario that he shows up in rather than being an out-and-out fight.


What if he's the villain in the first scenario of the base set adventure? Kill it with basic cards and no feats!

I'll go ahead and hold this thought, Mike.


It could be that Khorramzadeh is never encountered, like Black Magga.

Or he could only be encountered if you're really unlucky, like the Sandpoint Devil. Maybe he's summoned when you fail to defeat the normal villain :-)

Or maybe he is a regular villain, and you'd better hope that you run into him when you've got plenty of mythic charge left so you can turn all your dice into d20s and beat him. And make sure you win the scenario on the first meeting, because you do not want to meet him twice...


I was going to joke that as he's the only villain in the blog post, maybe he's the only villain, but it was ruined by the presence of the scenario card with a clearly-different villain named on it. Boooo.


Maybe all the other villains summon him after you act.

Liberty's Edge

MightyJim wrote:
That villain is properly crazy - I really hope he's like Hirgenzosk or the Sandpoint Devil, rather than being a thing you HAVE to defeat to complete the scenario.

Not familiar with the AP, but my guess is that he will be recurring throughout the AP. Probably will be the 'big bad' at the end of AP 6 which you do have to face.

Earlier might be more like the sea serpent (forgetting the name) from the Flood scenario in RotR where he just sits around and causes something to happen in a scenario - but that defeating the scenario does not involve direct conflict with him.


Hawkmoon269 wrote:
ryric wrote:

I can already anticipate declaring "oh cursed monkey's paw!" whenever that hail-mary shot using it fails to pan out. Possibly also with a complaint about the turkey being a little dry.

Heck I might lecture the d20s before rolling about how I don't want any zombie turkey and the rest.

Best comment ever.

Possible additional power: "Banish this card to automatically acquire the Loot Weapon 'Board with a Nail In It'"?


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
Consus wrote:


Possible additional power: "Banish this card to automatically acquire the Loot Weapon 'Board with a Nail In It'"?

I mean, that's basically what the Goblin Pegleg is; a piece of wood with a (poisoned) nail.

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

1 person marked this as a favorite.
First World Bard wrote:
Consus wrote:


Possible additional power: "Banish this card to automatically acquire the Loot Weapon 'Board with a Nail In It'"?
I mean, that's basically what the Goblin Pegleg is; a piece of wood with a (poisoned) nail.

The ultimate goblin goal: to create a board with a nail in it so big to doom goblinkind.

Pathfinder ACG Developer

Mistarrel wrote:
MightyJim wrote:
That villain is properly crazy - I really hope he's like Hirgenzosk or the Sandpoint Devil, rather than being a thing you HAVE to defeat to complete the scenario.

Not familiar with the AP, but my guess is that he will be recurring throughout the AP. Probably will be the 'big bad' at the end of AP 6 which you do have to face.

Earlier might be more like the sea serpent (forgetting the name) from the Flood scenario in RotR where he just sits around and causes something to happen in a scenario - but that defeating the scenario does not involve direct conflict with him.

I'm loving all of this speculation. :)

If you are familiar with the AP, you will know that he is not around by the end of it. He is most definitely not the "big bad" at the end of AD 6.


Paul Peterson wrote:
Mistarrel wrote:
MightyJim wrote:
That villain is properly crazy - I really hope he's like Hirgenzosk or the Sandpoint Devil, rather than being a thing you HAVE to defeat to complete the scenario.

Not familiar with the AP, but my guess is that he will be recurring throughout the AP. Probably will be the 'big bad' at the end of AP 6 which you do have to face.

Earlier might be more like the sea serpent (forgetting the name) from the Flood scenario in RotR where he just sits around and causes something to happen in a scenario - but that defeating the scenario does not involve direct conflict with him.

I'm loving all of this speculation. :)

If you are familiar with the AP, you will know that he is not around by the end of it. He is most definitely not the "big bad" at the end of AD 6.

50/50 sure reads like a "mini-boss". If I don't need to roll at least 100 for the real villain, I'll be disappointed.

("I'm going to need all the blessings- no, not just what's in your hand, ALL of them")


We are talking mythic here, so maybe there will be a boon that says "Get all the blessings from the box and play them on your check. Banish them to the box when played."


I would love for some weird stuff going on here too like:

"Get all the cards from the box, then banish the box to another dimension to succeed at your check to defeat the villain in the last scenario."


Donny Schuijers wrote:

I would love for some weird stuff going on here too like:

"Get all the cards from the box, then banish the box to another dimension to succeed at your check to defeat the villain in the last scenario."

Does that mean we all need to buy multiple base sets?


Paizo should introduce besides bury and banish: destroy... You could get a much better effect, when you destroy the card (rip it apart) afterwards. Then increase the difficulty level ... And suddenly Paizo will sell more BASE SETS... Unexperienced PACG players then have to buy two or more base sets/adventure packs when they fail the adventure path :-)

€€€€$$$£££¥¥¥¥

In case you successfully completed the adventure path... Then some of the destroy cards are gone. Trying to go thru the same adventure path again the difficulty level will be automatically higher for you (you know what is coming, but some helpful boon cards are missing). Cool mechanism to improve :) not only the replayability..

Sovereign Court

PACG: Blacker Lotus Edition?


2 people marked this as a favorite.
Myfly wrote:

Paizo should introduce besides bury and banish: destroy... You could get a much better effect, when you destroy the card (rip it apart) afterwards. Then increase the difficulty level ... And suddenly Paizo will sell more BASE SETS... Unexperienced PACG players then have to buy two or more base sets/adventure packs when they fail the adventure path :-)

€€€€$$$£££¥¥¥¥

For the love of all that is holy, ignore this man.

51 to 100 of 157 << first < prev | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | next > last >>
Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Pathfinder Adventure Card Game / General Discussion / Paizo Blog: Wrath of the Righteous: The Demons Are in the Details All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.