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So last session my players reached start of the road to Xin-Shalast. Such is a cause for song and celebration (or so says our party bard).

We're off to fight the Runelord,
The terrible Runelord of Greed
He hear he was a ruler of Xin
If ever an evil wiz there was
If ever, oh ever an evil wiz there was
The Runelord of Greed is one because
Because, because, because, because, because
Because of the horrible things he does

We're off to fight the Runelord,
The terrible Runelord of Greed

Also, just in case it wasn't clear, I'm moving on to exciting new opportunities and—while it does leave me misty eyed—this is an amicable parting. :D

All the best with your new opportunities, Wes.

Those are some big shoes you're leaving to be filled - though Paizo is brim full of talent.

Anyone looking for a game in Kenya at the end of July?

Members of the UAE Lodge will be running Scions of the Sky Key Part 1 under core campaign rules on the rim of the stratovolcano Mount Longonot.

We'll be running one table. Well, I say table, but it depends if we can find one light enough to lug up the volcanic slopes.

Event details

If you can't make the crater rim, we'll see about running some sessions in Nairobi or Mombasa during the first two weeks of August.

You can contact me via email in the event listing if interested.

Yes, I like Pathfinder. A lot.

I don't believe it to be the End All game - but I don't believe such a game exists or will ever exist.

I've been playing RPGs for nearly 35 years, starting with Dr Holmes' Basic D&D. And I've played a good number of systems - RuneQuest, Traveller, Rolemaster, Chivalry & Sorcery, The Fantasy Trip, GURPS, HarnMaster, Hero System and more.

Pathfinder has a good mix of character definition (what your character can do is quantified mechanically) and tactical decision making. It shares that with 3.5. But what I get out of the Paizo/Pathfinder team is a sense of fun that I didn't get out of 3.5 particularly. I know that seems a little weird as in a number of cases, the Pathfinder team was part of the 3.5 team, but I find Pathfinder just bubbles with fun.

Pathfinder is not a simulationist game, like many I've played over the years. It's happily ensconced in the Game end of the Game-Sim-Narrative corner of the triangle.

But like all games, one can emphasise different elements, and I like to emphasise the roleplaying element. I build characters to a concept, not by optimising race/class/feat combinations.

Golarion itself is a fun world. Yes, I can see the joins, and I don't mind them at all.

So yes, I like Pathfinder. It isn't the only game I play, even now - but it is my mainstay.

For my Runelords campaign I've prepped a little songlist for Ameiko to play at various times in the Rusty Dragon.

I've decided to use the Yorkshire folksinger Kate Rusby as a stand-in for Ameiko for a couple of reasons (not least of which is I love her work and have a good deal of it).

1) Rusby works exclusively acoustically.

2) Her repertoire being primarily traditional folk songs, it's in keeping for a fantasy game. Rustic songs, old love songs, sea shanties.

3) She has an amazing voice, which is very much in keeping with Ameiko.

The downside is that Rusby doesn't play the samisen. ;)

I'm not planning on overdoing it, because not all my players share my taste in music. Just enough to give them a taste and do some scene-setting.

Here's a description of the songs I'm planning to use (including the version; Rusby's done several recordings of some of her songs), and links to YouTube performances in case anyone else wants to follow suit.

The evening before the Swallowtail Festival

I'm planning this as a kind of pre-session so PCs can meet and interact with Ameiko and other Sandpoint locals before the festival.

Sir Eglamore (studio version from the Hourglass album)

An upbeat nonsense song about a knight fighting a dragon. Cheerful, and sets the scene for what happens to Sandpoint later. YouTube link to this version.

Matt Hyland (studio version from the Little Lights album)

Heaps of foreshadowing. A story of a beautiful young noblewoman whose father disapproves of her choices. There was a lord, who lived in this town, who had a handsome lovely daughter... The secret love angle helps introduce one of the rumours about Ameiko (and I have no hesitation about having an NPC turn round as Ameiko's playing it and telling the PCs the rumour). It could have been written for Runelords. YouTube link to this version

Optional addition: Sho Heen (re-recorded studio version from the 20 album)

This version has a gentle banjo backing that's about as close to a samisen as anything in my music collection. It also lets Rusby's voice soar. However, it's optional because it's just a beautiful song and doesn't serve to foreshadow or introduce any background. YouTube link to an earlier version without the banjo

The evening after the goblin raid

Who now will sing me lullabies? (studio version from the Hourglass album)

A deeply emotional song of mourning and grief. Grown men will weep. An NPC will turn teary-eyed to the PCs and explain Ameiko wrote it after her mother's death. Ameiko will play this song, then close the Rusty Dragon early. Since the PCs are staying at the Rusty Dragon, that gives them a chance for some interaction time with Ameiko and Bethana.YouTube link to live version

Subsequent evenings

Let Me Be (studio version from Underneath the Stars)

A jaunty song about a woman wishing suitors would leave her alone fits Ameiko quite well. (They say a girl like me should wed, take a man to lay in my bed, but I would rather stay young and free and, oh, I wish they would let me be...) YouTube live version.

The Duke and the Tinker (Studio version from Sleepless)

All the slow, sentimental stuff needs a lift. A bit more upbeat and funnier. YouTube link

The Wild Goose (studio version from Sleepless)

A rousing sea shanty that Rusby, in her own words, "coloured pink and made girly". If you want something closer to the original, you'll find your pirate crew singing it in Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. YouTube link to live version

Bring me a Boat (studio version from Underneath the Stars)

Just a lovely song. This version has the samisen-like banjo. The disadvantage is that there's an inappropriate geographical reference, to the River Tyne in England. I think I'll get away with it. YouTube link to this version

I'm wrestling with the timeline myself as I prep Runelords.

I've spotted some discrepancies in the excellent work above (and in Runelords itself of course). Most of these relate to the Kaijitsu family and the Late Unpleasantness

Page references relate to the Anniversary Edition.

I've looked into caves for our area. The only major complex is not open to the public, only known cavers by invitation.

Now, the only 'known caver' I know is Matt, who played his first PFS session with us in this desert session (the night-time one, Citadel of the Flame).

It's looking like the mountain-top session will be easy (one of the world's best driving roads leads to the cafe atop Jebel Hafeet), the sea-going session is doable with cash (just hire the dhows), and the cave... that will require some planning and a few Diplomacy rolls.

Forest sessions are way out. This is a desert.

However, my wife is Kenyan, and we spend as much time as we can in East Africa. I've already inducted several Kenyan friends and relatives into PFS. Let's not rule out a session in the Maasai Mara.

What I'm delighted about is that several people are thinking along the same lines. Take PFS out of the living rooms, the game shops, the coffee shops. Do something wild. Show me what you've got. Use the land around you.

Europeans, you have castles and ancient forests. You have deserted medieval villages, caves and mountains. Americans, you have mountains, caves and forests. Everyone, wheresoever in the world they may be, has a world on incredible beauty around them.

A world of incredible beauty to game in.

I've shown you mine. You show me yours. ;)

As part of a Gulf Roleplaying Community social trip to the desert outside Dubai, several of us in the UAE PFS lodge played a couple of sessions.

Here's the story (and pictures) - The Dice Must Flow: PFS in the Desert.

I'll definitely be buying these. I don't like the pot-luck nature of the Battles packs - I like to know what I'm buying. So far the only Pathfinder minis I've bought are the beginner box iconics. MOstly I use pawns and paper minis.

I have wanted a full line of iconics for some time - particularly the iconics used as PFS pregens, as they make a nice visual for demo games.

But as adolescence hits her in the write-up, the words "femininity" and "womanhood" come up...annnnnnd...dammit, I just realized even as I'm typing this that I'm taking those words to mean the appearance of only physical and biological traits...

...I think I get it now.

Bingo. And you won't be the only one who has the epiphany.

Crystal, you've achieved something special here. You're leading people around corners - absolutely brilliant work.

What we believe is the first PFS game held in Dubai took place earlier today, and it was a rare treat for me as I usually sit behind the GM screen. This time I actually got to play, as our UAE Venture-Captain, Mike, was in the hot seat. Huzzah!

So that's our first milestone achieved for the UAE PFS branch.

Thoroughly enjoyed the game - we played Confirmation - and Mike's an excellent GM. Playing in one of his games was another new experience for me - he's been playing in mine.

It was also nice to meet a roving PFS player, who squeezed in the session just before flying back home from a holiday. I hope we're able to run more games for PFS members passing through or visiting Dubai - it's great to feel part of a larger community, and to meet fellow Pathfinder enthusiasts from other parts of the world.

We are the Gulf Roleplaying Community. We have active forums and an active Facebook page. If anyone is looking for a game in this area, sign up for the forums and/or the Facebook group (they're linked from the club's main page).

Mike, our new Pathfinder Venture-Captain, is one of us - and, in fact, he plays in my Pathfinder and HarnMaster games. He's a top bloke, and I look forward to playing and/or running Pathfinder Society games under his guidance.

Over the last couple of years, we've been building up quite a thriving little roleplaying community here in the Arabian Gulf. Our heartland is definitely the UAE, in particular Dubai and Abu Dhabi, but we have gamers in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain as well. Pathfinder is one of the few games actually sold here (for the record, we've seen Pathfinder, D&D4 and a fair amount of Warhammer/GW stuff).

Most of our supplies we have to buy online; much of my gaming budget goes on postage. Polyhedral dice are in short supply - occasionally we order in bulk to sell on to players.

But we are here. We game. We game A LOT. We run 2-3 mini-conventions a year to show the public waht tabletop RPGs are. We pay a small fortune for tables at the Middle East Film and Comic Con so that we have a visible face in the geek community at large (and there are many geeks here).

We have a lot of young people who have heard about tabletop RPGs and are trying it out for the first time. We have veterans in their 40s and 50s. We have people who've been to Uni in the US or Europe who discovered it there. I haven't seen a gaming community as active and as exhilerating since the heady days of the early 1980s.

We have Americans, Brits, Emiratis, Syrians, Indians, Filipinos, French, Kenyans (and that's just MY two gaming groups)... All the myriad nationalities, races and cultures who live in the Middle East.

We play D&D, HarnMaster, Fate, Burning Wheel, Vampire, Dresden Files, War Machine, Dark Heresy, Hero System, GURPS, AD&D2 (and occasionally 1), and more.

We play Pathfinder. Lots of us play Pathfinder.

Roll for initiative!