Kingmaker 10th Anniversary Campaign Begins!

The PC Game had a lot of embellishment added by Chris Avellone. While Chris comes from a D&D background, the kind of stories he writes (Planescape, KOTOR II) can best be described as....post-modern. Lots of deconstruction of standard tropes and turning them on their head.

I wouldn't expect the AP to run anything like the vidya gaem except in that it hits the same story beats.

I'd be all for Paizo including Chris' writing, post-modern is how I like my game.

From the office of expectation management, Chris did not write for this project.

As the shipping date draws near, I was wondering if the Kingmaker Adventure Path Special Edition hardcover was written entirely for 2E or if 1E skill DCs were provided? I purchased the 1E Bestiary Add-On but I am uncertain if some amount of 2E to 1E conversion will be required when I run the adventure. Any information on this would be greatly appreciated; thank you.

As the shipping date draws near, I was wondering if the Kingmaker Adventure Path Special Edition hardcover was written entirely for 2E or if 1E skill DCs were provided? I purchased the 1E Bestiary Add-On but I am uncertain if some amount of 2E to 1E conversion will be required when I run the adventure. Any information on this would be greatly appreciated; thank you.

It's 100% written for 2nd edition. If you want to run this version in 1st edition, the Bestiary provides all the stat blocks for monsters and NPCs and traps/hazards you don't already have in 1st Edition's Bestiaries #1 through #6, but all other content (skill DCs, treasures, etc.) are things the GM will need to adjust as they go.

As the shipping date draws near, I was wondering if the Kingmaker Adventure Path Special Edition hardcover was written entirely for 2E or if 1E skill DCs were provided?

You know you can buy Kingmaker for 1e right now right

Which is fair. But 2e wasn't out 10 years ago, and there are some who do not necessarily hate 2e but were under the impression that an anniversary edition of this timeless and courageous adventure path would resemble earlier editions of the game as opposed to more recent ones. As I stated earlier, I am VERY happy that we have the option for 1e stuff.

I mean, anniversary editions have never been the same edition as the one they were published in. Both Rise and Curse got updated to 1E from 3.5.

I mean, anniversary editions have never been the same edition as the one they were published in. Both Rise and Curse got updated to 1E from 3.5.

I thought you were talking about Curse of Strahd for a minute there, lol!

Cori Marie wrote:

I mean, anniversary editions have never been the same edition as the one they were published in. Both Rise and Curse got updated to 1E from 3.5.

I thought you were talking about Curse of Strahd for a minute there, lol!

I mean you could argue Curse of Strahd is just an update of the 1e module Ravenloft. :D So it moved several editions.

Purple Dragon Knight wrote:

As the shipping date draws near, I was wondering if the Kingmaker Adventure Path Special Edition hardcover was written entirely for 2E or if 1E skill DCs were provided? I purchased the 1E Bestiary Add-On but I am uncertain if some amount of 2E to 1E conversion will be required when I run the adventure. Any information on this would be greatly appreciated; thank you.

It's 100% written for 2nd edition. If you want to run this version in 1st edition, the Bestiary provides all the stat blocks for monsters and NPCs and traps/hazards you don't already have in 1st Edition's Bestiaries #1 through #6, but all other content (skill DCs, treasures, etc.) are things the GM will need to adjust as they go.

There's also a 5e version, correct? Or is that just the Bestiary?

James Jacobs wrote:

Purple Dragon Knight wrote:

As the shipping date draws near, I was wondering if the Kingmaker Adventure Path Special Edition hardcover was written entirely for 2E or if 1E skill DCs were provided? I purchased the 1E Bestiary Add-On but I am uncertain if some amount of 2E to 1E conversion will be required when I run the adventure. Any information on this would be greatly appreciated; thank you.

It's 100% written for 2nd edition. If you want to run this version in 1st edition, the Bestiary provides all the stat blocks for monsters and NPCs and traps/hazards you don't already have in 1st Edition's Bestiaries #1 through #6, but all other content (skill DCs, treasures, etc.) are things the GM will need to adjust as they go.

There's also a 5e version, correct? Or is that just the Bestiary?

There's a 1st edition Pathfinder Bestiary and a 5E Bestiary. Their contents are similar but not identical—there are more monsters in the 5E book because several of the ones that show up in Kingmaker are already in the Pathfinder Bestiaries but not the Monster Manual.

There is only one edition of the actual Adventure Path in this version and it's for 2nd Edition Pathfinder. Same for the Companion Guide (although the two bestiaries also include converted monsters/NPCs/hazards from that book as needed).

Looks like shipping for this is imminent as my order for this went to pending status yesterday. Anyone else get the same?

+1 here too :-)

comments on reddit too:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder2e/comments/wxukkr/kingmaker_double_chec k_your_order/

Got mine last night, but it is only the slipcase. Where are the books and PDFs?

-- david

Got mine last night, but it is only the slipcase. Where are the books and PDFs?

-- david

Over on the reddit thread someone got a response on that question via email: the "slipcase" line item is the book.

And there was a note elsewhere saying PDFs will be available by the 31st.

Looks like shipping for this is imminent as my order for this went to pending status yesterday. Anyone else get the same?

I'm confused, how do you have an order for this when the books aren't even in the shop? When was the order generated?

Submitted Thursday, August 25, 2022 05:45 PM
Status Pending

Purchaser
*me*

Promotions
Subtotal (1 item) $0.00
Shipping & Handling $8.93
Shipping & Handling Discount - $8.93
Order Total $0.00

Shipments
Shipping Address
*my address*
*New York, USA*

Shipping Method Standard Postal Delivery
Estimated 4 to 8 business days in transit
Transit Estimate Expected to ship in 11 to 20 business days

Pathfinder Kingmaker Regular Edition Slipcase Paizo Inc. 0.00

Shipping & Handling
1 item. Estimated package weight: 7 lbs. 8.93

Best regards,
Paizo Customer Service
customer.service@paizo.com

Ah ok, so these orders are currently being generated. Nice.

Fumarole wrote:

Looks like shipping for this is imminent as my order for this went to pending status yesterday. Anyone else get the same?

I'm confused, how do you have an order for this when the books aren't even in the shop? When was the order generated?

Backers from Game on Tabletop are getting orders generated. I got an email letting me know it was pending.

It is not listed in my paizo.com account though at all.

Got mine last night, but it is only the slipcase. Where are the books and PDFs?

-- david

I can confirm that the books within the slipcase are not listed separately. The orders generated last night are only for physical products - PDFs are being handled separately.

Additionally, we have partners in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the EU who will be handling distribution for those countries separately. The orders generated last night are only for products Paizo is shipping directly.

Can’t wait for it to be up for non-backers!

I got my email.

It seems like it's finally happening.

Papa-DRB wrote:

Got mine last night, but it is only the slipcase. Where are the books and PDFs?

-- david

I can confirm that the books within the slipcase are not listed separately. The orders generated last night are only for physical products - PDFs are being handled separately.

Additionally, we have partners in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the EU who will be handling distribution for those countries separately. The orders generated last night are only for products Paizo is shipping directly.

So both the AP and the Companion Guide are inside a single slipcase, and the slipcase is what shows up in the shipping list?

Also do we know if there will be a new Player's Guide? Don't think I saw one at all in the GameOn project and didn't really think about it until now when I'm starting to assemble a group.

I would gather that the order is a dummy receipt, to get it in Paizo's system. Maybe it will get updated once the rest of the products are entered into Paizo's system, maybe that's all we will see on Paizo.

Last I heard, there was no player's guide update in the campaign.

Papa-DRB wrote:

Got mine last night, but it is only the slipcase. Where are the books and PDFs?

I can confirm that the books within the slipcase are not listed separately. The orders generated last night are only for physical products - PDFs are being handled separately.

Thank you Brian for the confirmation. I had sort of, in the back of my head (that vast empty space), assumed that the slipcase did not weigh in at 7 pounds.....

-- david

So both the AP and the Companion Guide are inside a single slipcase, and the slipcase is what shows up in the shipping list?

Also do we know if there will be a new Player's Guide? Don't think I saw one at all in the GameOn project and didn't really think about it until now when I'm starting to assemble a group.

Correct; the Slipcase contains both books in either regular or special edition format.

The Kingmaker Player's Guide will be released toward the end of September.

-Jim

Should I be worried? The newsletter says

North America and Rest-of-World backers should have received an email from Paizo indicating that your order has been placed and is being prepared for shipping.

I'm a backer and didn't get an email yet, and there is nothing in my order history either.

Should I be worried? The newsletter says

Paizo Golblins wrote:

North America and Rest-of-World backers should have received an email from Paizo indicating that your order has been placed and is being prepared for shipping.

I'm a backer and didn't get an email yet, and there is nothing in my order history either.

Backers from Australia, Europe, UK, and Canada have not received emails from Paizo because their orders are being handled by our fulfillment partners. More details here:

Kingmaker Shipping Begins!

-Jim

Thank you, Jim, so Rest-of-World does not include Australia, Europe, UK, and Canada. Good to know :)

Thank you, Jim, so Rest-of-World does not include Australia, Europe, UK, and Canada. Good to know :)

pfh. I can't even find those places on a map.

I was late to the game so I missed out on this opportunity, however I'm excited to see everyone will be getting their stuff soon. I can't wait to be able to order it.

The Kingmaker Player's Guide will be released toward the end of September.

-Jim

Awesome, looking forward to it.

FWIW: When I go to my order page on the Paizo site, then click on one of the products listed in the pending Kingmaker line, I get forwarded to a page that keeps trying to load, but never gets there. I speculate that the page may exist but hasn't been released for public consumption. I was looking at my order item that shows:

Pathfinder Kingmaker Bestiary (PFRPG)

I clicked on it to check that it is the 1st ed Kingmaker Bestiary I ordered, not the 5E one.

FWIW: When I go to my order page on the Paizo site, then click on one of the products listed in the pending Kingmaker line, I get forwarded to a page that keeps trying to load, but never gets there. I speculate that the page may exist but hasn't been released for public consumption. I was looking at my order item that shows:

Pathfinder Kingmaker Bestiary (PFRPG)

I clicked on it to check that it is the 1st ed Kingmaker Bestiary I ordered, not the 5E one.

That happens for me too, the page probably won’t become visible yet. But the Bestiary for 5e has (5e) in parenthesis. Pfrpg is the acronym for Pathfinder 1st edition.

I thought I had backed this, but I guess I didn't, so I'm waiting for it to be available. October 1st, was it?

I thought I had backed this, but I guess I didn't, so I'm waiting for it to be available. October 1st, was it?

October 26th is the street date.

-Jim

I thought I had backed this, but I guess I didn't, so I'm waiting for it to be available. October 1st, was it?

Or if you are not in the US you won’t have had your message yet either…. hopefully soon a message from the EU distributor.

I'm in New York State, so yeah, US.

October 26th. Waiting is... :-)

Hm. When will we be able to order it? Before street date, I hope. The way my subs are set up I probably won't get this until November anyway, but I'd like not to be the guy who tries to order and finds "sorry, out of stock". :-)

Ah in that case - indeed you are likely right . I was also waiting for the e-mail but then found that “rest of world” did not include Europe…

Hm. When will we be able to order it? Before street date, I hope. The way my subs are set up I probably won't get this until November anyway, but I'd like not to be the guy who tries to order and finds "sorry, out of stock". :-)

I'm making an educated guess here:

Jim Butler posted that they would be releasing the Kingmaker Player's Guide near the end of September. I expect there will be a big blog post announcing the release of the Kingmaker AP. At that time, I expect the Paizo store webpages to go live and you will be able to order from Paizo.

That said, I have already preordered several items that are not in my backer package from Miniature Market. However, MM is already out of stock on most of the Kingmaker 2E preorder items.

Can someone remind me what all is wholly new in this project? Is there any new lore of interest to a 2e fan?

Can someone remind me what all is wholly new in this project? Is there any new lore of interest to a 2e fan?

Most of the new stuff were things that were introduced in the CRPG version of the campaign, like the various companions, the quests they offer and their respective feats/items/etc. offered. There's also a few more adventures in here that were inspired by the stuff in the CRPG, including a new end game adventure, and there's some more stuff to flesh out the BBEG of the campaign earlier in the campaign, I believe.

Can someone remind me what all is wholly new in this project? Is there any new lore of interest to a 2e fan?

Ezekieru gave a good synopsis of what we expect the changes to be. I believe we also expect it to set during the 1e time period (ie not advanced to 2e times), so any existing 1e Campaign Setting books would still be useful for background information for a person who only has 2e Lost Omen books for areas that they haven't gotten to yet:

Guide to the River Kingdoms
The First World, Realm of the Fey
Fey Revisited
Numeria, Land of Fallen Stars (only weakly)

In terms of new lore, I'm not really sure what they'll manage to add in, as that wasn't a focus. But to support some of the CRPG inspired changes:

We might get a bit more politics/factions/npcs from Brevoy as they had more ongoing interactions
We might get some nice lore on curses and rituals (doubtful, but it would fit).
We might get some more

All just speculation on my part going with what's new in the CRPG and therefore where they might have some leeway to to fit in new backmatter/adventurer's toolbox style entry in the updated intro/final chapter, w/o really updating existing chapter's backmatter.

I don't know if someone is allowed to speak about this but what about the CRPG prologue? Is it included in this campaign or does it start like the 1e kingmaker edition on the way to oleg's trading post?

Personnally I hope the prologue is included!

thanks!

I don't know if someone is allowed to speak about this but what about the CRPG prologue? Is it included in this campaign or does it start like the 1e kingmaker edition on the way to oleg's trading post?

Personnally I hope the prologue is included!

thanks!

I believe they DID add the CRPG beginning as the new starting adventure, actually! I think it was that, something new from the CRPG in the middle, and the new final ending adventure as well.

My shipping notification just came through. Excitement levels are rising.

Process note. We are focused on getting backers their pdfs and print materials. Our landing page and numerous product pages will go live after we have hit some internal process milestones to insure that backer orders and regular retail preorders do not co-mingle. It is an exciting time and we look forward to sharing this huge expansion for Kingmaker Adventure Path for Second Edition, First Edition, and 5e with you very soon.

Got my shipping notice! (for the regular slip case, not for all my add-ons or special edition). Doesn't look like the normal process of showing up in downloads once shipped, but it's understandable that it's a different workflow than routine.

Can someone remind me what all is wholly new in this project? Is there any new lore of interest to a 2e fan?

Absolutely there's new lore in here.

I've covered the "what's new" elsewhere but since this project's been in the works since before we released 2nd edition in the first place, it's a good time to go over the new stuff again. I'll omit the 1st edition Bestiary and the 5E bestiary here, since while those books combined are over 400 additional pages of content, they're not 2E content and they repeat that lore information as needed for the 1E or 5E players.

Kingmaker Companion Guide: This is 128 pages of brand new content, and it's where the majority of the new player-facing rules live. It focuses on the NPC companions from the video game, giving 2-page write-ups for some of them (generally about a page or a half page of lore for each NPC) and a much larger write-up for Amiri, Ekundayo, Jubilost, Linzi, Nok-Nok, Tristian, and Valerie, which includes stats, some player-facing content like spells and feats and the like, lore, and an adventure that ties into their story for the PCs to go on with them. These seven adventures are each several pages long—in some cases they adapt quests that first appeared in the video game, and in others they're brand new adventures loosely inspired by the video game.

Kingmaker Adventure Path: This is a 620 page book (same size as the Core Rulebook) that showcases the campaign itself, which has been expanded by four chapters (a new intro, a new adventure between books 2 and 3, a new adventure between books 5 and 6, and a brand new conclusion). Three of those new adventures are adapted from the video game, but one (the one that takes place between books 5 and 6) is brand new. There's a very extensive set of rules for building kingdoms and armies in the back, along with lots of NPCs and monsters and items. The bulk of the new lore for 2E will be found in those four new chapters, but it's spread out through the ENTIRE adventure. As with the hardcover editions for Rise of the Runelords and Curse of the Crimson Throne, this project gave me a chance to go back and update/revise/expand on a LOT of story beats and elements so they mesh better with the overall theme and where everything ended up. And on top of all that, EVERY one of the original adventures has expanded in scope with more info and details in one way or another.

I guess the best comparison would be to note that the original six adventures (not including backmatter, of course) numbered at about 300 pages, but the new adventure content in Kingmaker is closer to 450 pages.

So ... yeah. I'm confident in saying that there's about as much new lore in here (especially if you include the 128 page companion book) than there would be in a brand new 3 part adventure path.

I don't know if someone is allowed to speak about this but what about the CRPG prologue? Is it included in this campaign or does it start like the 1e kingmaker edition on the way to oleg's trading post?

Personnally I hope the prologue is included!

thanks!

That is indeed the new prologue. Although it (along with the Cult of the Bloom adventure and the new conclusion to the adventure) play out pretty differently than the video game version, since what's good for a video game isn't great for tabletop.

Just out of curiosity, are there any nods to the things Kingmaker GMs developed over the years to go with the game? Chapter 2 of the CRPG seemed to take a lot of inspiration from Dudemeister's Monster Kingdom.