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Prologue, Jamandi Manor
Our heroes:
* Voldea, a champion of Sarenrae with a criminal past
* Morgrym, a dwarven warrior from humble farming stock in Rostland
* Marcus Lebeda, a minor Rostlandic noble
* Fraxinus, an elven wizard from distant Mwangi
* Tamlane, an aasimar sorcerer with a holy lineage blessed by Sarenrae

Our heroes gather at the manor of Jamandi Aldori, one of the most powerful Swordlords in Restov. She is one of the sponsors behind a series of expeditions from Brevoy into the Stolen Lands, and has invited Marcus, Fraxinus and Morgrym to form one of the groups. Marcus invited Voldea, and she in turn suggested that Tamlane join them.

There are four expeditions headed south and southwest:
* The first has already left, headed far to the west, on the borders with Pitax (one of the River Kingdoms)
* Hannis Drelev (from a noble house that once paid fealty to House Rogarvia) and his rich wife Andrea are heading up the group headed to the swampy Hooktongue Slough. The river Sellen runs through the lake, making it strategically very important
* Our heroes are to be sent into the Greenbelt region, in between Drelev and Varn. They are to head approximately 100 miles west to Olga's Trading Post before turning south
* Maeger Varn (the third son of a minor Issian noble) and his Varnling Host (a group of mercenaries under his command) are headed to the Dunsward uplands, almost due south of Restov.

The group spend a few days in planning and provisioning, getting ready for heading off into the wilds. Jamandi outfits them with horses, tack and supplies, but no more. Both Drelev and Varn's expeditions will be accompanied by forces of mercenaries (either hired by Drelev, or Varn's own forces).

The evening before they're due to depart, Jamandi hosts a feast to bid them farewell. The Lord Mayor of Restov (Ioseph Sellemius) and a representative of the regent (Rannek Surtova, a cousin of King Noleski Surtova) are there, as well as a Pitaxi bard (Tartuccio). A pleasant evening is had by all, and Marcus, Drelev and Varn are all presented with formal charters by Jamandi Aldori.

Late that night, the group awake to the smell of smoke - the manor is on fire! They gather in the corridor outside their rooms, and Tamlane spots a fire mephit through a window, setting the great hall on fire. At that moment, a pair of armed intruders attack. They're swiftly defeated, and the group split up - Voldea, Fraxinus and Tamlane head upstairs to check on Varn and his allies, while Marcus and Morgrym head downstairs to check on Drelev.

Voldea, Fraxinus and Tamlane arrive in the nick of time, as Maeger Varn and his allies are under attack from another group of intruders. Cephal Lorentus, Varn's wizard advisor, is down on the ground next to a burning rafter, while Varn and Haelen (commander of the Varnling Host) fight off attackers. Tamlane darts forward to help Cephal, while Voldea and Fraxinus take out an archer (who flees downstairs), before helping Varn to deal with the remaining attackers. Cephal pulls out a scroll of Hydraulic Push and quenches the worst of the fire, giving them time to retrieve their belongings from the burning building.

Downstairs, Marcus and Morgrym realise the Drelev and his wife have already left their room, and that the ground floor is empty. The fleeing archer almost runs into them, and beats a rapid retreat before they can capture him. Fraxinus and Tamlane talk to Cephal about the mephit, and he confirms their suspicions that it has probably been summoned here. If they can capture the elemental, it may be persuaded to talk about the person who summoned it.

The group head towards the Great Hall, where Jamandi is busy organising a bucket chain and dealing with other groups of attackers. She reveals that she slew the mephit herself, and that the body faded almost instantly - confirming the summoning hypothesis, but leaving no chance to talk to the creature.

The fire is brought under control, and Voldea helps tend to the wounded. Thankfully, no-one has died - though the bard Tartuccio has vanished in the chaos. Rannek Surtova graciously extends an invitation to host everyone, as Jamandi's manor has been badly damaged. Jamandi is fuming over the whole affair, trying to work out who could have been behind this.

The following morning, the group finally depart Restov. The Varnling Host travel with them, as the two groups are bound the same way for the first day or so of travel.

Hello,

I subscribed to the Pathfinder Rulebook subscription on May 18th, which meant that I missed the June shipment window for Bestiary 2. Until yesterday, my 'Upcoming Subscription Shipments' was showing the Advanced Player's Guide as the next book I would receive. However, there is no book showing in that section, and my active subscription says "Next product: Pathfinder Bestiary 2 (Suspended)".

I was really hoping to finally receive my copy of Bestiary 2 as well as the Advanced Players' Guide this month, but I'm very confused now. Can you please clarify when my books will ship?

I have two related order numbers: Order 9465391 for the Pathfinder Rulebook Subscription, and a separate Order 26272747 for the Bestiary 2 (which is noted as Suspended and Pending).

Thank you.

I started a Pathfinder Rulebook subscription for Bestiary 2 on the 18th May, but still haven't got a shipping notification. Is it possible to get access to the pdf now that it's for general sale, or do I have to wait for my book to ship?

If I have to wait for the book to ship, this is quite disappointing. My rationale for subscribing was to get access to material more quickly, not more slowly (when you factor in international shipping, there's no price saving for subscription).

Is it possible to get an estimate of when my book will ship? I don't need a precise date, but it would be nice to know if I can expect shipment in the next week or so, or if it's more likely to be mid-late June. I'm quite dissapointed to find out there is at least a 10-day delay in shipping orders following accepting orders. I hope that this won't be the case for subsequent books, as otherwise I will be unlikely to continue with the subscription.

Thank you.

Coming up with the contents of a NPC wizard's spellbook can be a pain as a GM. To help out, this thread a place to enter in wizard spellbooks from actual play. What are the spellbooks like for wizards in your campaigns?

Fraxinus, Level 4 Illusionist Wizard
Cantrips:
* Acid Splash
* Detect Magic
* Daze
* Electric Arc
* Ghost Sound
* Mage Hand
* Light
* Prestidigitation
* Shield
* Telekinetic Projectile
* Ray of Frost
* Read Aura
* Tanglefoot

1st level spells:
* Alarm
* Color Spray
* Fear
* Illusory Disguise
* Illusory Object
* Jump
* Longstrider
* Mage Armor
* Magic Missile
* Magic Weapon
* Ventriloquism

2nd level spells:
* Dispel Magic
* Flaming Sphere
* Illusory Creature
* Invisibility
* Spider Climb

Will-o'-wisps have the following ability: "<b>Magic Immunity</b> A will-o’-wisp is immune to all spells except faerie fire , glitterdust, magic missile, and maze."

I'm trying to work out how this affects indirect or buff spells. For example, does a Blessed fighter benefit from +1 to hit vs the wisp? Are wisps automatically immune to illusion spells? Can the wisp ignore the effects of Sanctuary? Can summoned creatures and sustained spells like Spiritual Weapon affect it?

And to go further down the rabbit hole, what about magic items that duplicate the effects of spells? Is a wisp not affected by the an oil-of-potency'd weapon's bonus accuracy and damage? What about if the weapon is enhanced using the Magic Weapon spell?

My feel is that buff spells continue to work normally, but the wisp is unaffected by illusion spells and effects like sanctuary and summons. Is there a definitive list anywhere, and what are other people's thoughts?

Under the default rules, using recall knowledge to identify creature abilities is a bit vague - you get 'one of the creatures best-known attributes' on a success, and need a critical success to learn about 'something subtler, like a demon's weakness or the trigger for one of the creature's reactions'.

I'd like to make creature identification more useful, and more under the player's control, as I think it adds to the tactical fun if the player's have more information to go on. I've played quite a bit of the Kingmaker cRPG recently, and it's really helpful being able to see a creature's saves and key powers before deciding what spell to launch at them.

My suggested tweaks are:
When you recall knowledge on a creature, pick one of the following types of fact to find out: offensive abilities, defensive abilities, or other ability. If you get a success on the recall knowledge check, the GM will tell you one thing from the relevant category. If you get a critical success, the GM will tell you two things (or maybe the player can pick one thing??).

If you asked to learn about offensive abilities, the GM will tell you about a single attack ability, including a narrative overview of its range, damage etc. For example, "the river drake can launch a blob of caustic mucus over a medium range, that does acid damage in a small burst" or "the wolf get a bonus to damage if it attacks a target that's adjacent to the wolf's allies". Any power that hurts the PCs falls into this category, and the GM will start with the most dramatic/cooler powers first. An offensive reaction power (like attack of opportunity) falls into this category

If you asked to learn about defensive abilities, the GM will tell you about one of:
* the creature's general HP, resistances and weaknesses in narrative terms. E.g. "it's not got very many HP for something of this level, but it's resistant to acid and weak to fire", or "this flesh golem is empowered by lightning and vulnerable to cold"
* the creature's AC and saves. e.g. "it's physically very tough and hard to hurt, but weak-willed and slow, so focus on Reflex and Will!"
* a defensive power, e.g. "the animated statue is hard to hit and resistant to damage - but once you break its armour, it's much more vulnerable. You can do that either with straight damage, or with a critical hit"

If you asked to learn about other abilities, the GM will tell you about a relevant type of ability. Not all monsters will have these, but examples could be: "barghasts can take the shape of a wolf or goblin, as well as their natural form" or "ghosts often reform after being killed, unless you can fix the curse that anchors them". If the creature has no weird abilities, the GM might be nice and give you something from the offensive or defensive category.

What are people's thoughts on this? Is it too complicated, or too powerful? Are there any major flaws with the categorisation of powers/information?

I'm considering subscribing to the adventure card game, as it's quite a bit cheaper than buying it in the UK. I'm concerned about getting hit by customs charges, as they'll end up making it more expensive than if I brought the updates in the UK.

Have other UK-based subscribers been hit with customs charges for the adventure card game so far?

Thanks!