Wayfinder #6 (PFRPG) PDF

They've had some very good art; two pieces from Butterfrog, and one by Stephen McAndrew, who I'll have to look out for in future.

Stephen actually did 4 pieces for this issue. I was honored when he volunteered to do the color art for my Kaulder submission (which is now my screensaver on my cellphone), and Liz got him to do a few more pieces for the issue. He was disappointed that he didn't have time to color them.

The other pieces he did this issue are "Amiri and the Linnorm Wyrm," "The No-Life King," and "The Outiko."

http://www.elfwood.com/~stephen12
http://www.elfwood.com/~stephen14
http://munkendronkey.deviantart.com/gallery/

I know this because I am his biggest fan, or at least I like to tell myself that.

- Rich

By the way, the issue is GREAT. There are so many things in this issue that I want to use in my home game!
I was actually angry at myself when I realized that I'd left my copy behind on a long trip today. I'd planned on perusing it for the entire trip.

Well done, Tim, Liz and Dain!

(PS: I like the feeling I get when I see my name under "Contributing Authors" and "Editors." I think I'm going to have to make this a habit.)

- Rich

Random thoughts, more or less in order, as I read through it;

I like the stylized linnorm that is perched on top of every new article. Very cool!

The art on pages 2, 3 and 4, of Bram and Liut, is awesome. I love the way the fiction page leads into the Weal & Woe article, and the design choice for Bram to be not quite as brave as he seems, and Liut to be practically fearless.

A Cold Reunion, nice flavor text, and I like the use of non-combat challenges, like jumping along the bobbing ice chunks. I like that it leaves stuff for later, like what lies beyond the doors, or the reactions of local frost giants to the trespass in their holy place.

Seeing it as a Shadowdancer Archetype (an Archetype for a PrC? Woo!), I expected the summon shadow ability to be replaced with a summon ice elemental ability or something. Interesting that he took it in another direction entirely!

The items in the first installment of Heroes Hoard offer up some really cool ideas and mechanics. I love the Captain’s Shield idea, very thematic, although Curse-Stealer and Grundinnar’s Beard are my favorites. Curse-Stealer will likely prove pretty situational, but Grundinnar’s Beard seems like it would be regularly useful, particularly for someone with the Greater Disarm feat! The Huscarl’s Seaxe is a very nicely themed ‘spell in a can’ idea, that really suits the setting and flavor.

Trenail is an interesting and tightly themed community. I love that one plot hook involves an evil NPC being framed for misdeeds by even more unscrupulous rivals!

I like the Dragon-Blooded PrC. I at first questioned why a half-dragon couldn’t qualify for it, but then read further and saw the answer why.

Weal or Woe: the Cursed Hoard is a cool story, and Hugo’s art, as always, is awesome!

The Linnorm’s Curse – good story, very bleak, fitting for the genre / theme. Tales from the lands that gave us Beowulf and Ragnarok never seem to have happy endings.

Coven Guardians – I love the Witch Hound archetype for Inquisitors! Very cool!

Weal and Woe: Runners and Wreckers – both characters are very cool, and both have story use. PCs are very likely to order magic items that need to be delivered from larger communities some distance away (and so would likely end up needing some sort of light item courier eventually). Both Brangita and ‘Icetongue’ also have direct use in game, as well. I love the art, as well.

Heroes Hoard: Bag of Hungerous Bones, nice story, and an interesting item, but it seems cheap for a never ending supply of bloody skeletons…

Heroes Hoard: False Draupnir, that was my first idea for a Linnorm Kings based item, was one based off of Draupnir, and this is a very cool take on the item!

The Nycar and Grimolochin are my favorites of the new creatures in the Bestiary. Drake-equivalent Linnorms is a neat idea, and the cruel breath-stealing cat-fey are just fun. The Kaulder are also cool. I like the Outiko better than the standard Wendigo! With a name like ‘Perfektenner,’ I expected a monster that looked more like Bo Derek… :)

I did notice that spellcheck seemed to play cruel jokes on some writers, substituting words on them. The No Life King stands in a ‘marital’ stance and Ice Ticks have a ‘prenatal’ resistance to cold…

The No Life King stands in a ‘marital’ stance and Ice Ticks have a ‘prenatal’ resistance to cold…

D'oh! Another one for the corrections list; the No Life King is a definite typo (I do not believe the creature is a statement on marriage, after all ;) ), but the use of "prenatal" is, somewhat, correct. The Ice Tick eggs are immune to cold (as listed in the "Ambush Birth" Special Ability).

Thanks for spotting the (rather humorous) error in the No Life King. :)

but the use of "prenatal" is, somewhat, correct. The Ice Tick eggs are immune to cold (as listed in the "Ambush Birth" Special Ability).

See, I noticed that the creature itself didn't have cold immunity, but didn't really trigger that 'prenatal' was intentional. My brain auto-'corrected' it to 'preternatural.'

That's my brain. Fixing what ain't broke!

Random thoughts, more or less in order, as I read through it;

The Nycar and Grimolochin are my favorites of the new creatures in the Bestiary. Drake-equivalent Linnorms is a neat idea, and the cruel breath-stealing cat-fey are just fun.

Glad to hear you enjoyed the nycar! This is my first Wayfinder issue, and I had a great time designing monsters for it.

I haven't had the opportunity to read the entire issue yet, but I just have to say it looks great! I love the board game, and the mini-adventure looks excellent. Great work, everyone!

Edit: There's a sampo in here! Awesome!

The Nycar and Grimolochin are my favorites of the new creatures in the Bestiary. Drake-equivalent Linnorms is a neat idea, and the cruel breath-stealing cat-fey are just fun. The Kaulder are also cool. I like the Outiko better than the standard Wendigo! With a name like ‘Perfektenner,’ I expected a monster that looked more like Bo Derek… :)

Glad you liked the Grimolochin. That's one of mine. Crystal also really knocked it out of the park with the illustration. Such a wonderful expression of gleeful wickedness.

Glad you liked the Grimolochin. That's one of mine. Crystal also really knocked it out of the park with the illustration. Such a wonderful expression of gleeful wickedness.

I know this is a 'Viking' issue, but I can't help but imagine it talking like Antonio Banderas.

I like the Outiko better than the standard Wendigo!

Thanks. I really like the myths behind the Wendigo, especially the rationalisation for cannibalism, and the way the afflicted go charging off into the snow, burning off their feet, until they take off into the sky.

Trouble with the official Wendigo, like many mythical creatures with the most awesome backgrounds, is that at CR 19, it's never going to be encountered by most PCs.
So this was an attempt to create a lesser (servitor?) race, which allows PCs to encounter and interact with the mythos, earlier in their career, and have a recurring cast of enemies that scale with them (solo outiko, cannibal cults, outiko packs, evil shamans using outiko advanced familiars, etc), all the way up to the official CR19 campaign-closer.

It lost a couple of spell-like abilities in editing (howling agony, hunters howl), but I don't know if that was for being too powerful, or because I'd set them at 1/hour, which isn't a commonly-used rate.

I also meant for the stalking hunger to potentially force a save on every hit until a save was failed, not just the first hit per target; the limitation of one active quarry at a time was added later in my draft, to limit the potential abuse, while still helping it to get off its iconic ability during an encounter.

I compared its CR against other contenders from the Improved Familiar feat (imps, quasits, etc) who have some real nasty abilities.

Glad you liked the Grimolochin. That's one of mine. Crystal also really knocked it out of the park with the illustration. Such a wonderful expression of gleeful wickedness.

You had the sale at 'smokes the master's pipe, and empties the ashes into the soup.' So, uh, yeah, I was on board before you finished the first sentence, and a page or two before I saw the cool picture!

Hag's Puke is also a delightfully fey ability (reminds me of that old story about Thor being tricked by Utgard-Loki into trying to drink the ocean and inadvertantly creating the tides). Indeed, the whole creature is wonderfully on-theme for a fey trickster-y encounter.

Trouble with the official Wendigo, like many mythical creatures with the most awesome backgrounds, is that at CR 19, it's never going to be encountered by most PCs.

That was my issue with the standard wendigo as well. I got to use it once in a GURPS adventure Old Stone Fort, and it was a cool concept (lots of neat Cherokee 'monster' ideas in that one), but the D&D interpretation was just a bit too buff for me to ever have a use for (and the Marvel Comics version *way* too buff!).

I like how you played with some newer mechanics, like using the APG and UM spells unshakable chill and feast of ashes for the Stalking Hunger.

I liked the picture, as well. The 'no feet' Wendigo, mythologically accurate or not, looked less scary and more weird to me.

Jacking an Outiko to size Medium, and it's HD to 6 or 8 or so, would also make for a decent mid-range 'lesser Wendigo' sort of encounter, and would be easier, I think, than trying to scale back a full blown Wendigo to a mid-level encounter.

Coven Guardians – I love the Witch Hound archetype for Inquisitors! Very cool!

*blush*

Set wrote:

Coven Guardians – I love the Witch Hound archetype for Inquisitors! Very cool!

*blush*

My very first review and it's positive! Thank you!
(That's in part thanks to the editors, too).

I love Witch hexes, and combining them with the extremely versatile Inquisitor chassis was inspired (the class already feels like a little bit priesty/fighty/rogue-y hodgepodge anyway!).

The potential bonus for companion creature usage was also an interesting design choice, as it allows for a Witch Hound to take a level of Ranger or Summoner or Cavalier, and run with it (using the Natural Bond feat, if necessary, to shore up a Ranger companion), without worrying about the companion turning into a speed bump at mid-levels.

There aren't a whole lot of Archetypes that encourage a dip into another class (unlike certain PrCs, like the Eldritch Knight or Arcane Trickster or Mystic Theurge, which are built around that very thing).

Grabbin' this. :)

Trenail is an interesting and tightly themed community. I love that one plot hook involves an evil NPC being framed for misdeeds by even more unscrupulous rivals!

Weal and Woe: Runners and Wreckers – both characters are very cool, and both have story use. PCs are very likely to order magic items that need to be delivered from larger communities some distance away (and so would likely end up needing some sort of light item courier eventually). Both Brangita and ‘Icetongue’ also have direct use in game, as well. I love the art, as well.

Thanks - I'm glad you like them. I honestly wasn't expecting Runners and Wreckers to get in, since I ended up submitting it after Timitus said he had enough Weal & Woes, but I'm happy it did.

Thanks to whomever did the illustration for the Einherjar, my contribution to the Wayfinder. I love that you included the wendigo slaying in it :)

Nice work!

And a hearty "YOUR AWESOME!" goes out to Carlos Torreblanca for his illustrations of Hrakalgrim and Ingolsdottir. You really brought life to my creations. :-)

Thanks - I'm glad you like them. I honestly wasn't expecting Runners and Wreckers to get in, since I ended up submitting it after Timitus said he had enough Weal & Woes, but I'm happy it did.

Well, when I get such a fun article handed to me, it's hard to pass on it because I "have enough"...because obviously, I don't. I need one more!

;-)

I would like to thank everyone involved with issue....

To the contributing authors, that accepted my call for MORE submission, when it was looking pretty skimpy.

To Liz Courts, for switching hats in mid-stream, and wrangling those artists in, and for setting up the "look" of the issue.

To Dain Nielsen, for stepping in and handling ALL the layout. And for putting up with my constant little tweaks and edits at the end. Dain put in some serious time during the last 2 weeks of December. I commend his for that, and for a great finished product.

To all the artists, both assigned and those who answered my Call for Art Submissions. This was some TRULY impressive art, and it really makes the articles and the issue go from GREAT to AWESOME!

And to the 3PP's, for supporting Wayfinder with some beautiful ads, that really blend and fit with the spirit of Wayfinder. I both appreciate their support, and am happy to promote and support them in turn.

And lastly, thanks to Erik Mona, for agreeing to write our foreword, even on his holiday vacation.

And to Paizo. Just because...well, isn't it obvious why?? ;-)

Quick question for you Timitius...

For future Wayfinders, can submissions be specifically written for the Beginner's Box? I was thinking of writing a mini-adventure geared for beginners/kids.

It is not on the list of products you may reference. You could still do it, but it'd be difficult.

It is not on the list of products you may reference. You could still do it, but it'd be difficult.

The Community Use Policy (which Wayfinder operates under) works a little differently than the standard Pathfinder Compatibility License—this is the approved product reference list for the CUP, for example. As you say, it *is* harder to reference the Beginner Box, but it can be done (as 0one Games has done with the Basic Paths).

It is not on the list of products you may reference. You could still do it, but it'd be difficult.

Actually, the Beginner Box is on the Section 1 List.

I'll check to be sure...

**Ninjaed by Liz!!**

Cheapy wrote:

It is not on the list of products you may reference. You could still do it, but it'd be difficult.

The Community Use Policy (which Wayfinder operates under) works a little differently than the standard Pathfinder Compatibility License—this is the approved product reference list for the CUP, for example. As you say, it *is* harder to reference the Beginner Box, but it can be done (as 0one Games has done with the Basic Paths).

So it can readily be done for Community-Use projects (like Wayfinder) with no issues - the question still is "will Wayfinder accept Beginner Box-referencing submissions?" I would totally understand if Timitius and the other editors wanted to just stick with regular PFRPG for all rules content, but I thought it might be nice to write up something for novices that they could run easily.

Cheapy wrote:

It is not on the list of products you may reference. You could still do it, but it'd be difficult.

The Community Use Policy (which Wayfinder operates under) works a little differently than the standard Pathfinder Compatibility License—this is the approved product reference list for the CUP, for example. As you say, it *is* harder to reference the Beginner Box, but it can be done (as 0one Games has done with the Basic Paths).

Oh! That's good to know.

...I would've been right if I wasn't wrong...

Thanks, Tim. Downloading now. Thanks for the hard work.

How did you come upon the EIC position? I love stories like that. Please share yours?

I believe I told the story to Ryan in my Know Direction 021 interview....

And I'll be happy to tell it again at PaizoCon 2012, although I like the story on how Wayfinder came about much better....
;-)

... the "So You Want To Illustrate For Paizo" panel ...

O.O OMG!! The WHAT?

Well, I guess that I have to be glad that there's a general call for new artists in the back of this issue! I almost got my work into Wayfinder #1, but, something happened, and it was dropped, another artist gone with, and I never heard why or got an email or anything. So ... for like two years now I've wanted to get my stuff in - and this may finally be my chance! An artist's gallery! Woo-hoo!

[shameless self-promotion] Take a look at my basic gallery! [/advertisement]

Thanks to whomever did the illustration for the Einherjar, my contribution to the Wayfinder. I love that you included the wendigo slaying in it :)

It's not dead; it's just faking, so it can get up close....

The art on pages 2, 3 and 4, of Bram and Liut, is awesome. I love the way the fiction page leads into the Weal & Woe article, and the design choice for Bram to be not quite as brave as he seems, and Liut to be practically fearless.

A Cold Reunion, nice flavor text, and I like the use of non-combat challenges, like jumping along the bobbing ice chunks. I like that it leaves stuff for later, like what lies beyond the doors, or the reactions of local frost giants to the trespass in their holy place.

...

Hey Set, thanks for the kind words! Kalyna and I had intended to do a joint entry this issue after her experiences with Pathfinder Chronicler. I'll give her full credit for Bram and Liut as kids, and their adult natures followed pretty easily.

Thanks - I'm glad you like them. I honestly wasn't expecting Runners and Wreckers to get in, since I ended up submitting it after Timitus said he had enough Weal & Woes, but I'm happy it did.

I just like how totally *usable* they are. She's in a job where you'd find her *anywhere* in the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, unlike, say, a shop-keeper or watch-captain in a specific town, and he's a potential source of story hooks, either sabotaging the party's sleds / gear, those of an NPC ally bringing them somewhere, or being responsible for a broken down sled / caravan that the party runs into en route somewhere.

I like that you don't have to get side-trekked out of 'your own story' and into 'someone elses story' to use either of them, which is occasionally a limitation with linked NPCs.

Hey Set, thanks for the kind words! Kalyna and I had intended to do a joint entry this issue after her experiences with Pathfinder Chronicler. I'll give her full credit for Bram and Liut as kids, and their adult natures followed pretty easily.

As I mentioned, I particularly liked how the 'bad-guy' wasn't craven or cowardly, and the 'good-guy' wasn't quite as lily-white and bold as his reputation suggests. In a winter-y land where the dominant colors are black and white, having some characters that 'grey it up' a little bit and defy easy stereotypes, is fun.

Incredibly happy that my story made it into this issue; and thanks to Liz for the illustration of Tallak. This is huge for me, and I couldn't be more grateful.

-Chris

Glad you like it Christopher! I had a very vivid picture in mind of him when I read your story.

The product has been updated—typos and misspellings corrected.

Been flipping through it since I got off work an hour or so ago... very cool. I'm going to start running the Jade Regent in two weeks and I'm seeing loads of stuff I can sneak in to make it a bit more hectic on my players! Also, as a sneaky thing... do I detect the final cover art for the Advance Races Guide on the ad? Squee!

Hag's Puke is also a delightfully fey ability (reminds me of that old story about Thor being tricked by Utgard-Loki into trying to drink the ocean and inadvertantly creating the tides). Indeed, the whole creature is wonderfully on-theme for a fey trickster-y encounter.

OMG! Rico from Penguins of Madagascar is a fey!

Actually, that explains a lot about that show...

Crazy question and may be answered elsewhere. I know that a copy of Wayfinder was given out at Paizocon last year. I also suspect that you cannot sell this product. I know that is the case with the Pathfinder Chronicler. I don't even know if this product gets printed at all (except for the copy given out at Paizocon).

I also know that for a short period of time people could make a donation to Pathfinder Chronicler to get a copy of the first chronicler that was given out.

There's the layup, here's the shot: If any copies were printed, is there a place that we can donate to obtain a dead tree copy? If I donate to a charity somewhere, could I get a copy?

If not, no worries. I understand printing costs are high and this is a labor of love.

-Aaron

The Summer issue (the PaizoCon issue) is the only one that gets printed. The Winter issue is PDF only.

Thanks Adam!! I suspected that was the case. Maybe I'll see if I can find a printer who would be willing to print and bind the first 6 Wayfinders as a single volume.

I'll check back to see if I can pick up a copy of the summer issue this summer. I know that I will not be able to make it to Paizocon this year. :(

There's the layup, here's the shot: If any copies were printed, is there a place that we can donate to obtain a dead tree copy? If I donate to a charity somewhere, could I get a copy?

If not, no worries. I understand printing costs are high and this is a labor of love.

-Aaron

If you view my Paizo Person profile, I have a link that you can follow to PayPal to make a donation to Wayfinder. Donations are accepted any time, but people usually make them in the months we are working on the print issue (March-May), as we get pretty vocal about needing funds to help with the printing costs. This year, donations will be very much appreciated, since we are going to need to print the issue locally. Costs will be higher!

Before I say anything, I want to congratulate you guys on a job well done. Most of my campaigns are run homebrew, but it's SO helpful to have all the content in the wayfinders, you guys are doing a great job. Where/when do you accept submissions for the next issue?

Check out our Call for Submissions thread (or the last couple pages of Wayfinder #6!).

All is revealed there......

Check out our Call for Submissions thread (or the last couple pages of Wayfinder #6!).

All is revealed there......

Thanks, I must've missed it in my search

Very pretty! Here's the full res images for the board and tokens for the great Hunt board game, along with a maptool file for computer based Wurm hunting.

I have been reading through this over the last 24 hours. I'll admit that I concentrate on the fiction. The other stuff is good, but I LOVE stories.

Ice and Darkness: A story of temptation and fall. I loved how this story tied into the next weal/woe segment and then tied into the following adventure segment!

The Three Rimes: As soon as I finished this story last night, I turned to my wife (who was reading World War Z) and told her that she should read this story. It is a bit of a classic fairy story with deals and suchlike, especially a clever hero. I especially enjoyed the extensive use of alliteration since that was in important part of Scandinavian folklore.

The Great Hunt: I want to play this game. It looks like fun. I will be looking at options to download and print the full size board and tokens. (Thanks JonathanRoberts!)

Tallak: Portrait of a Warrior: Good story. Simple. As stated, it is a character portrait of a warrior with a strong moral code. This story is a good counterpart to the next one in line, which brings me to:

The Linnorm's Curse: Well written! Sad! A beautiful story of heroism and loss. Not every campaign should end this way, but some definitely should. It certainly portrays that great things cannot be done without losing something along the way. This story also fits the archetype of the Scandinavian mythology where the hero loses much, if not all, to win. I think that this was the best fiction in the issue. It grabbed and held me at an emotional level.

In Hells Embrace: Part IV: I’ll be honest. I did not read this one, because I want to go back through my back issues of Wayfinder and read them in order. If I can find the time to do that this weekend, I will post a review... here, I guess. I am not sure where else to put it.

Words from Many Roads: I enjoyed the poetry. I need to let this stew a bit more before I comment on it. Poetry is not as east to talk about as fiction is.

Moot: A Folktale: I’ll admit, I read this one out of order last night because it was written by Kevin Andrew Murphy and I have enjoyed everything of his that I have read so far. This was a fun, one page story about the inner workings of gremlin culture as related by the hero from The Three Rimes. It was fun, anyone can be a gremlin.

Ostog’s Song: An entrancing story of an Ulfen hunter entranced by the song of a Nymph. I enjoyed the inevitability in the story. The way that he knew what he SHOULD do, but couldn’t seem to do it. Even though I knew exactly what was going to happen, I still wanted to read to find out HOW it happened. Bravo! The fey are so mischievous! Racy art!!

Champion of the People: The lengths that we will go to in order to protect those we love and those under our protection are tremendous.

The Linnorm’s Curse – good story, very bleak, fitting for the genre / theme. Tales from the lands that gave us Beowulf and Ragnarok never seem to have happy endings.

The Linnorm's Curse: Well written! Sad! A beautiful story of heroism and loss. Not every campaign should end this way, but some definitely should. It certainly portrays that great things cannot be done without losing something along the way. This story also fits the archetype of the Scandinavian mythology where the hero loses much, if not all, to win. I think that this was the best fiction in the issue. It grabbed and held me at an emotional level.

My sincerest thanks for the compliments, I'm both humbled and thrilled by them. As a kid, I read "Beowulf" and his related tales long before I ever read Tolkien, and I definitely think it stuck with me. I really wanted this piece to hit the notes that it did, and while I'd feared it would be too dark, I'm glad I stuck with it and glad you enjoyed it.

I have been reading through this over the last 24 hours. I'll admit that I concentrate on the fiction. The other stuff is good, but I LOVE stories.

The Three Rimes: As soon as I finished this story last night, I turned to my wife (who was reading World War Z) and told her that she should read this story. It is a bit of a classic fairy story with deals and suchlike, especially a clever hero. I especially enjoyed the extensive use of alliteration since that was in important part of Scandinavian folklore.

Moot: A Folktale: I’ll admit, I read this one out of order last night because it was written by Kevin Andrew Murphy and I have enjoyed everything of his that I have read so far. This was a fun, one page story about the inner workings of gremlin culture as related by the hero from The Three Rimes. It was fun, anyone can be a gremlin.

Glad you enjoyed "The Three Rimes" so much, Aaron. I've been wanting to write a Scandinavian folktale for a long while, and when the chance to cross it with a Germanic Wintermarchen came up, I jumped at it.

"Moot" was a little extra piece I came up with as an intro for the two gremlins I added for the bestiary section. I really love fairy legends and it seemed a perfect myth to tie them together and also fun to relate in the style of Scip-Hadni.

I'm also glad you've enjoyed all my stories thus far. That's what a writer lives to hear and it makes for a great start to the new year.

Moot: A Folktale: I’ll admit, I read this one out of order last night because it was written by Kevin Andrew Murphy and I have enjoyed everything of his that I have read so far. This was a fun, one page story about the inner workings of gremlin culture as related by the hero from The Three Rimes. It was fun, anyone can be a gremlin.

I'm your evil twin, I guess, 'cause I tend to read everything but the fiction.

But after reading your thoughts on Moot, I had to go read it, and it was indeed pretty awesome! Thanks for the review, it made me go back and find a gem I'd missed!

Loving Liz's color skillz on making my Barbarian look all cool and decent looking :)

Loving Liz's color skillz on making my Barbarian look all cool and decent looking :)

And thanks for the two illustrations in my piece.

Any word on the four AoW commissions?

The PDF has been updated—now with snazzy bookmarks!

The PDF has been updated to correct some errors on the Dragon-blooded Prestige Class.