The dead are rising! This blasphemous tome gives players and GMs everything they need to bring the shambling menace of the undead to their Pathfinder adventures. This book includes tools for fighting against the undead horde, but also options for the players themselves to control or even become undead creatures. GMs will find new tools and haunts, as well as information about the undead-plagued lands of the Lost Omens campaign setting. A massive bestiary section full of undead creatures brings more threats for GMs to use and summonable creatures for players, including more versions of classic undead like vampires, skeletons, and zombies. This 224-page hardcover rulebook also includes a full adventure themed around fighting the undead!
Written by: Jason Bulmahn, Brian Bauman, Tineke Bolleman, Logan Bonner, Jessica Catalan, John Compton, Chris Eng, Logan Harper, Michelle Jones, Jason Keeley, Luis Loza, Ron Lundeen, Liane Merciel, Patchen Mortimer, Quinn Murphy, Jessica Redekop, Mikhail Rekun, Solomon St. John, Michael Sayre, Sen.H.S.S, Kendra Leigh Speedling, Jason Tondro, Andrew White
A 224-page PDF (includes single-file and file-per-chapter versions)
ISBN-13: 978-1-64078-401-7
The adventure contained within this rulebook, "March of the Dead," is sanctioned for use in Pathfinder Society Organized Play. The rules for running this Adventure and Chronicle Sheets are available as a free download (881 KB PDF).
Other Resources: This product is also available on the following platforms:
This book does a good job of meeting the players desire to play with undead and a Storyteller having to actually put it on the table. For example, other than the Skeleton, undeath is a class archetype. Want to be a lich, level 12, talk to your DM. Obviously some of these things can't just be picked without context or reasons but this gives access to a brand new type of character creation, playing dead PCs. I can realistically see more than one PC at previous tables taking on the mantel of a ghost archetype and having their driving goal bring them back from the beyond.
The undead companions are just so-so, honestly I'd preferred that one of the choices I get when upgrading my companion was undeath traits, rather than 'undead horse' but I can see why this was done as undead horses need an archetype specific master. I would however, had like to have the option of wolf+skeleton or wolf+zombie combination that would have let my existing beastmaster PCs bring their companions back with them, with the same-ish stat line. A Zombie Wolf with a 20 speed is a right terrible flanking buddy.
I really have enjoyed this book for hours so, that's worth my 15$ even if vampires die in the sun. However, I actually really like how all these rules work which I can say is rare with new mechanics.
For GMs, the book is woah. 85 new undead monsters, gazetteer of undead lands of Golarion, an adventure, new haunts, lots of stuff to play with.
Special shout-out to the ghostly luchador and the return of night-things. Flying undead level 20 sharks ftw.
For players, there's some great stuff (skeleton ancestry, "regular" archetypes, items) and the heavily advertised undead archetypes which are fun BUT require special handling, because a bunch of level 1 ghosts could be too much for a regular adventure to handle.
It's 4.5 stars BUT I add 0.5 extra for the book tying into South American approach to death and a nice dusty pink/flowers/skulls theme instead of the done to (un)death "black, sick flesh, grey, death, angles and bones" theme most RPG books about undead use. A nice breath of freshly stale grave air.
Was hoping for specifics on the player options, but the adventure is a real surprise! Has me worried about our chances for an Impossible Lands AP, unless they really wanna double dip.
Hmmm. This is definitely going to be a pre-order for me.
It would be interesting to see additional player options, such as undead ancestries, new feats to combat the undead, and new backgrounds like Vampire Hunter. Regardless, I'm sold.
I'd chalk it up to Wayne Reynolds's idiosyncratic art style, but there's enough context clues in the picture as a whole (the fact he's all ghostly, the Egyptian-style architecture - Geb was Osirioni after all -, and some of the undead looking similar to those in that one Geb picture in LOWG) for me to think it's him.
Unless he's wearing some kind of mask, that's a completely different look from how he was depicted in Legends and on other products.
Eh, I dunno.
Looking at his profile pic here, there's enough similarity (he's just cleaned up a bit since Arazni is no longer around to rule the nation he named after himself...), as well as context (look at all the ectoplasm slithering off of him!), to guess that that is who is centered on the cover.
Also, it was mentioned by developers--during Paizocon?--that the nation of Geb would get some spotlight in this book (the Grave Lands, too, but that is certainly not Tar Baphon on the cover, so...)
But if you feel differently, that's fine, too. : )
We'll know more once Paizo staff/the developer(s) are ready to say more. <shrug>
this is probably not the final cover. we didn't see GaG's cover until paizocon, about 4 months before its release. Using that same timeframe we'll probably see the final cover for this around november. cool mock-up though.
I think some concept sketches for book of the dead back when it was first announced showed Geb in a similar manner. And I think an aesthetic change makes sense too. He has to actively rule for the first time in centuries and has a chance to finish his business with Nex once and for all, so the change may involve a shift in his role from brooding and reclusive to active leader and a shift in attitude trying to connect to his old traditions and power as he thinks of revenge buried in the past. He looks more tired, more severe, and more concerned with ceremony than the older artwork. I think it's an appropriate change.
I think some concept sketches for book of the dead back when it was first announced showed Geb in a similar manner. And I think an aesthetic change makes sense too. He has to actively rule for the first time in centuries and has a chance to finish his business with Nex once and for all, so the change may involve a shift in his role from brooding and reclusive to active leader and a shift in attitude trying to connect to his old traditions and power as he thinks of revenge buried in the past. He looks more tired, more severe, and more concerned with ceremony than the older artwork. I think it's an appropriate change.
Yeah, I remember the concept art shown during the PaizoCon keynote and the Q&A sections, and Geb did look like that in the cover. So it's most likely Geb.
this is probably not the final cover. we didn't see GaG's cover until paizocon, about 4 months before its release. Using that same timeframe we'll probably see the final cover for this around november. cool mock-up though.
But Secrets of Magic's temp cover was basically the same as the final cover, minus the new border and text. Since this was drawn up by Wayne Reynolds, I'm going to err on the side of this being close to done, maybe with another new fancy border.
^ Yeah. However, even removing the "cdn." doesn't work for me; I have to open it in a private window to see it (& this only works once I've reset/refreshed all cookies for the site...).
Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories, Pawns, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber
Really interested in seeing what they do with this. I quite the the idea of “themed” books like this…hopefully we’ll see them continue along this path and cover dragons, demons/devils, etc.
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber
Interesting. An adventure about fight Undead instead of being them? Darn. Granted, still an adventure I didn't expect to receive here! So it's a plus.
This page answers a question I hadn't been able to ask during PaizoCon, being which book set this would fall under. I figured it would be a Rulebook, which I'm glad it is, because it still leaves room for a potential LO: Eye of Dread book. Although, I suppose that was likely to still happen regardless, since not every nation is haunted by Undead in that region.
Is there going to be any advice on good aligned undead in this book? What kind of deities they'd worship, etc? It's hard to believe the entire undead population of Geb is evil!
I like the mural/painting behind the Throne where Urgathoa seems to grant power/knowledge to Geb, if that is Geb sitting on the Throne.
Or possibly being "Ain't no rest for the Wicked, have fun being Ghost"
I wonder if this is where we'll see blood magic since it had to be cut from secrets of magic? I hope that playable vampires give us quasi immortality with mist form at 0 & coffin restoration. same with playable lich and the soul containers
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber
Routamaa wrote:
I like the mural/painting behind the Throne where Urgathoa seems to grant power/knowledge to Geb, if that is Geb sitting on the Throne.
Or possibly being "Ain't no rest for the Wicked, have fun being Ghost"
Also like the Mummy carrying undead cat.
Fairly certain that the ghostly figure sitting in the chair is in-fact Geb. This art does look different from some of his previous depictions; but his identity is certainly solidified, if by nothing else, by the ankh shaped hieroglyph situated at the crown of the throne, which represents the nation of Geb.
I too found the wall art incredibly interesting, as I don't recall it ever being implied that the Pallid Princess had any correlation to the rise Geb and his nation.
I actually hadn't considered that the incredibly tall woman with that cat may be a mummy. Would make sense, given the scarab on her outfit, representing Osirion. But, she actually struck me more as a lich than a mummy, primarily due to the distinct lack of wrappings. Liches aren't unknown in Osirion, but are certainly less common than say a mummy pharoah. But who knows. We are getting variant types of undead, or at least variant types of liches; such as the one Jason mentioned at PaizoCon that affixes and replaces its body parts with magic items. Perhaps we will see one that is more closely related to mummies and maybe store their origans in canopic jars, which function as their phylactery. Side note: the cat, though not exclusive to them, also made me think that she may be a witch; a rarity among liches.
There are a lot of neat details that stand out to me in the cover and I love it. The possible graveknight on the right. The zombie or gurgeist above them, whose engorged appearances reminds me of Bloatmages and Blood Magic (unlikely, I know, as the practice is mostly confined to Varisia). The seeming difference in social status between the two ghouls (ghasts?). The apparent difference in the intellect of the three skeletons, with the one on the left having lights in its eyes, which may indicate sentience compared to the other two. And, what I'm choosing to believe is possibly a Herecite of Zon-Kuthon holding the head as an offering. Not sure what else they could be, as they don't appear to bare the long ears of the ghouls, and the piercings on their back makes me think of the Midnight Lord.
Anyways, simply cannot wait for this book. I hope we get some more spoilers somewhere between now and its release.
Pathfinder Companion, Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber
I was thinking that the undead holding the platter was a nosferatu. Also, it might be unlikely, but I'd like to think the head is that of a newly-made dullahan being offered up to Geb so that it might be added as a new commanding officer for his undead army.
I wonder if this will have what amounts to a PF1 campaign setting book for Geb included? Perhaps not at the same page count, as those were like 64 pages(I think?) but content wise. Book is definitely big enough to fit even 10 pages just on Geb.
I like the mural/painting behind the Throne where Urgathoa seems to grant power/knowledge to Geb, if that is Geb sitting on the Throne.
Or possibly being "Ain't no rest for the Wicked, have fun being Ghost"
Also like the Mummy carrying undead cat.
Fairly certain that the ghostly figure sitting in the chair is in-fact Geb. This art does look different from some of his previous depictions; but his identity is certainly solidified, if by nothing else, by the ankh shaped hieroglyph situated at the crown of the throne, which represents the nation of Geb.
I too found the wall art incredibly interesting, as I don't recall it ever being implied that the Pallid Princess had any correlation to the rise Geb and his nation.
I actually hadn't considered that the incredibly tall woman with that cat may be a mummy. Would make sense, given the scarab on her outfit, representing Osirion. But, she actually struck me more as a lich than a mummy, primarily due to the distinct lack of wrappings. Liches aren't unknown in Osirion, but are certainly less common than say a mummy pharoah. But who knows. We are getting variant types of undead, or at least variant types of liches; such as the one Jason mentioned at PaizoCon that affixes and replaces its body parts with magic items. Perhaps we will see one that is more closely related to mummies and maybe store their origans in canopic jars, which function as their phylactery. Side note: the cat, though not exclusive to them, also made me think that she may be a witch; a rarity among liches.
There are a lot of neat details that stand out to me in the cover and I love it. The possible graveknight on the right. The zombie or gurgeist above them, whose engorged appearances reminds me of Bloatmages and Blood Magic (unlikely, I know, as the practice is mostly confined to Varisia). The seeming difference in social status between the two ghouls (ghasts?). The apparent difference in the intellect of the three skeletons, with the one on the left...
Being one of the few blind players on the boards, I really appreciate this in depth analysis of the cover. It lets me "see" it through your description. Thanks!