Am I Evil? (Yes, I Am.)

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

What makes a villain? You get to answer that question in our latest Design Challenge, featuring our most well-known characters: our Iconic heroes.

With the completion of the Hell's Rebels Adventure Path, our thoughts have turned to scum and villainy in the Hell's Vengeance Adventure Path! While not everybody's cup of mint-flavored tea, it certainly is a change of pace from being more good-aligned (let me tell you about my veneficus witch some time), and I'm here to offer you a special contract challenge: turn one of our Pathfinder iconics into one of the bad guys.

Antipaladin Seelah, or Hellknight Seelah—you get to decide!

Okay, so that's not much of a stretch for Seltyiel (or the crew he's running around with in Pathfinder Comics: Hollow Mountain).

But sometimes it's just one incident to make a hero into the bad guy, and you get to design what that looks like! Your entry will be judged on presentation and theme, and we're offering a rare prize for the winning entry: A custom Paizo.com avatar with art selected from "The Hellfire Compact", "Wrath of Thrune", or Cheliax, the Infernal Empire. The winner will also receive $25 in store credit, and five runner-ups will get $10 in store credit.

Here are the rules to design your villain:

• Entry must be based on one of the non-evil Pathfinder iconics (but not any of the "Meet the Villains" characters). (A complete package of pregenerated characters for comparison is located here.)
• Character level: 4th. At least one class level must as the iconic as originally presented. (Seelah needs at least one level in paladin, for example.) Archetypes are encouraged, but not required.
• Ability Scores: 20 point buy
• Traits: Two, with a campaign trait from Hell's Vengeance Player's Guide (Amoral Mercenary, Apprentice Devilbinder, Asmodean Acolyte, Erratic Malefactor, Ex-Iomedean, Good Slip, Hellknight Aspirant, Local Tough, Scion of the Nine Circles, or Thrune Informant).
• Available Gold: 6,000 gp

But that's not all! I have some rules that I must pass down, and I think they might be Asmodean rather than Abadaran in origin...

• One entry per poster. Employees of Paizo, their immediate family members, and persons with whom such employees are domiciled are ineligible. Anyone who is currently employed full-time as a designer for a game company is ineligible. Anyone with a cover credit on a hardcover RPG book is ineligible. Anyone who has a design credit in 3 or more of Paizo's Pathfinder products is ineligible.
• You must post your entries in this blog's discussion thread (please use spoiler tags).
• Entries must be in the following format:

Stat Block Format:

[b]Mirror Universe Iconic  CR XX[/b]

[b]XP xxx[/b]
zzRace zzClass zzLevel
zzAlignment zzSize zzType
[b]Init[/b] +##; [b]Senses[/b] zz, zz,; Perception +##
[b]Aura[/b] zz (## ft., DC ##)

[b]----- Defense -----[/b]
[b]AC[/b] ##, touch ##, flat-footed # (+## zzModifier, +##zzModifier)
[b]hp[/b] ## (##d##+##); fast healing ##
[b]Fort[/b] +##, [b]Ref[/b] +##, [b]Will[/b] +##
[b]Defensive Abilities[/b] ##/zzAbility; [b]DR[/b] ##/zzMaterial; [b]Immune[/b] zz; [b]Resist[/b] zz ##, zz ##; [b]SR[/b] ##
[b]Weaknesses[/b] zz, zz

[b]----- Offense -----[/b]
[b]Speed[/b] ## ft., fly ## ft. (zzManeuverability)
[b]Melee[/b] zzAttacktype +## (zzDamage plus zzOthereffect), zzAttacktype +## (zzDamage)
[b]Ranged[/b] zzAttacktype +## (zzDamage)
[b]Space[/b] ## ft.; [b]Reach[/b] ## ft.
[b]Special Attacks[/b] zz, zz
[b]Spell-Like Abilities[/b] (CL ##zz; concentration +##)
At will—[i]zz[/i], [i]zz[/i]
1/day—[i]zz[/i], [i]zz[/i]

[b]zzClassName Spells[/b] (CL ##zz; concentration +##)
1st—[i]zz[/i], [i]zz[/i]
0 (at will)—[i]zz[/i], [i]zz[/i]

[b]----- Tactics -----[/b]
[b]Before Combat[/b] zzBeforeCombat
[b]During Combat[/b] zzDuringCombat
[b]Morale[/b] zzMorale

[b]----- Statistics -----[/b]
[b]Str[/b] ##, [b]Dex[/b] ##, [b]Con[/b] ##, [b]Int[/b] ##, [b]Wis[/b] ##, [b]Cha[/b] ##
[b]Base Atk[/b] +##; [b]CMB[/b] +## (+## zzConditionalmaneuverbonus); [b]CMD[/b] ## (## vs. zzManeuvername)
[b]Feats[/b] zzFeatname, zzFeatname
[b]Skills[/b] zzSkillname +##, zzSkillname +## (+## zzCondition); [b]Racial Modifiers[/b] +## zzSkillname, +## zzSkillname when zzCondition
[b]Traits[/b] zzTrait, zzTrait
[b]Languages[/b] zzLanguage
[b]SQ[/b] zz

[b]----- Special Abilities -----[/b]
[b]zzName (Ex/Sp/Su)[/b] zzDescription

• All entries due by Sunday, March 27, 2016 at midnight Pacific time.
• You may use any Paizo-published material, but you must cite your sources.
• Selection of avatar art is subject to Paizo.com's Community Guidelines.

Remember, all entries must be posted in this blog's discussion thread by Sunday, March 27, 2016!

In Her Infernal Majestrix's Name,

Liz Courts
Community Manager

Where Are You From?!

Friday, September 18, 2015

This Inner Sea Races art preview focuses on human ethnicities. Our next preview will be non-human humanoid races. Enjoy!

Illustration by David Alvarez

Illustrations by Mariusz Gandzel, Eva Widermann, Keri Ruediger, and Nemanja Stankovic

Sarah Robinson
Managing Art Director

10 Secrets from Inner Sea Races

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Illustration by Eva Widermann

Today we take a look at 10 little known facts about the races and cultures of Golarion. Check out Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea Races, releasing this month, for more!

1. In southern Garund lies the catfolk nation of Murraseth. Non-catfolk are rarely allowed inside its borders, and rumors persist of a great danger hidden at Murraseth’s center.
2. Merfolk, cecaelia, siyokoy, and tritons are all rather appalled at the way gillmen plunder the ocean for "treasures," then exaggerate the history and importance of these objects when selling them to land-dwellers.
3. Strix families are usually organized around sibling relationships, rather than romantic partners.
4. Kellids often interpret arcane magic in a spiritual context.
5. Despite all evidence to the contrary, Taldans do not believe that their empire is in decline.
6. The Order of Transcendent Reclamation is a school of gnomes dedicated to attaining and surviving the Bleaching in order to achieve what they believe is a metamorphosis into a higher form of being.
7. Halflings consider unexpected greetings to be an unlucky omen, so they often nod at one another silently and wait for recognition before speaking a greeting out loud.
8. The first drow noble house, Dolour, gained its name when its founder, Arishkirah, murdered her mother and rejected her family name of Alevonnar.
9. Only about a quarter of orc warriors survive to see their twentieth year.
10. Stories of Karfus the Golden-Horned, a tiefling merchant prince, have drawn many other tieflings to follow the Prophecies of Kalistrade.

Jessica Price
Project Manager

Fair Winds and Following Seas

Monday, June 29, 2015

Illustration by Eva Widermann

Last October the Venture-Officers became aware of some family health issues that caused a change in my employment status at Paizo and I was allowed to telecommute. This change led my family and I to make the move from Seattle to the New Orleans area. This has worked fairly well for almost a year as I traveled to Paizo from New Orleans regularly but, as with most situations, things continue to evolve and my work status is changing yet again.

It is with a sad heart I announce today that my tenure with Paizo will end on August 7. This should allow me to say personal goodbyes at both PaizoCon UK and Gen Con. The day after I leave my position, I will be closing my public Campaign Coordinator Facebook page as well.

It has been a pleasure working with, and for, all of you. I was always taught to leave a situation better than I entered it. I hope I have done that. Some changes I take pride in being heavily involved with are:

• Updating the Guide with a more professional appearance and outline
• Implementing GM 101, GM 201 and Kid's Track (with the help of some awesome VOs)
• Expanding our volunteer base from 13 VOs to more than 470
• Growing the playerbase from around 12,000 to more than 60,000
• Expanding Pathfinder Society's presence from 5 countries with an active PFS presence to 29 (including regions that had little or no prior Organized Play)
• I have also taken a great deal of pride in watching PFS expand from one small room of 30 tables at Gen Con, to taking over the entire Sagamore Ballroom (with 180 tables of PFS gaming this year!), as well as numerous other activities planned for the space
• Additionally, I've been working with our Tech Team over the past few months on an array of improvements to the Pathfinder Society section of paizo.com, and think you will approve of the changes that are coming

There are many other changes that I have initiated and been a part of, and I think have improved the overall quality of Pathfinder Society, but are too numerous to list here.

I wish you all well. Again, thanks for the opportunity of letting me be the Global Organized Play Coordinator for almost 4 full years.

Mike Brock
Global Organized Play Coordinator

The Usual Suspects: Class Decks Preview

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Gather round, Pathfinders. I've got some secrets to share with you. It's the story of an unlikely group of adventurers whose journeys took them into the Eye of Abendego, out to the Worldwound, and beyond. How does the story end? Well, that's up to you to decide...

The Courtier

Graceful, talented, and beautiful, Siwar has ingratiated herself into the highest courts of the River Kingdoms. She is knowledgeable in topics ranging from art to politics and is highly schooled in etiquette. Though her talents might lead an observer to think that she is too delicate for the adventuring life, Siwar is happy to make eye contact with that observer, smile impishly, and direct him to do her bidding.

Siwar Illustration by Florian Stitz

The Scholar

In the city of Oenopion, Zarlova is a well-known professor at the Hive, an academy of wizards and clerics working in concert to unravel mysteries left by the god Nethys. A master of The Book of Magic, Zarlova routinely ventures from the halls of academe to spread knowledge among the unenlightened. Her mastery of offensive magic makes her a valued ally on any adventure.

Zarlova Illustration by Tim Kings-Lynne

The Legbreaker

Tontelizi's rough-and-tumble past began with a stint as an enforcer in his family's shady business. Because of his short stature, some mocked him with the nickname "Legbreaker." They soon found their ability to walk severely compromised. After retiring from daily enforcement detail, Tontelizi found himself missing the simple pleasures of maiming and intimidation. He now wields his polearm as a mercenary for fun and profit.

Tontelizi Illustration by Jorge Fares

The Gamekeeper

Dwarves laboring in the mines of Kalsgard have limited exposure to the animals of the forest, but Agna has trained in the wilderness, and she's introduced many beasts to the lands below the earth. Ready to fight with a weapon in either hand, Agna can make you think she's your biggest threat, right before a trained bear attacks you from behind.

Agna Illustration by Eva Widermann

The Death Whisperer

Wu Shen loves death as if it were an actual person. She speaks of death as "her lover," and listeners may mistakenly believe she is referring to a mortal. Each time she brings a monster to its grisly end, she savors a moment of hope that death will acknowledge her as its favorite. To add spice to her devotional gifts, Wu Shen often chooses unique or difficult ways to complete her kills.

Wu Shen Illustration by Alex Tooth

The Trickster

Qualzar's heritage includes mischievous fey who curdle milk, tie shoelaces together, and generally make nuisances of themselves. He claims to not understand why others find his humor malicious, but in truth, he doesn't care. He's willing to hurt others for the sake of a pun or a punch line, and he's got a book of plucked fairy wings to prove it. His mind-melting spell blasts and mesmeric powers are almost always turned on enemies, so it's probably safe to adventure with him.

Qualzar Illustration by Kostja Schleger

The Necromancer

The power of the dead courses through Darago's thin veins. It's a rare wizard who can traffic with the unliving and retain most of his soul, but so far, Darago has resisted the baser desires of most necromancers. Still, his chilling voice and devilish sense of humor will surprise even the most hardened mercenary. After all, he will happily battle at the side of any adventure while she lives... and perhaps for a short time thereafter.

Darago Illustration by Diana Martinez

I hope you've enjoyed this preview of some of the new characters and cards found in the Class Decks. Preorder one now and get ready for the Adventure Card Guild, launching in just two weeks!

Also, make sure you check out Erik Mona's Publisher Preview on the Paizo blog this Friday. (It's a weekly blog that mostly talks about Pathfinder Battles pre-painted plastic miniatures.) Pathfinder Adventure Card Game players, be they miniatures lovers or not, are going to want to read this week's installment.

Tanis O'Connor
Adventure Card Game Designer

New Options

Monday, July 14, 2014

The Year of the Sky Key, Season 6 of the Pathfinder Society Organized Play campaign, is approaching, and that means the new Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play is on its way. It's still a few weeks before we preview the new guide, but we can share a few new options available at the start of Season 6. In fact, there's something for players and something for GMs and organizers.

I imagine you've already spotted the art and guessed that expanded race access is one announcement—spot on. Just as non-standard race access is a hot topic on the messageboards, it's a common talking point during our meetings. It's tough to balance the lure of race boons for conventions against letting as many people as possible play the types of characters they want. Add to that the heated discussions about whether or not some non-standard races are overpowered and the concerns about the so-called "cantina effect." That's a lot to juggle when making a decision, but we decided that introducing a few new options would be best for the campaign. Beginning August 14th 2014 at Gen Con, three new races will be available for play without requiring a special Chronicle sheet: kitsune, nagaji, and wayang. These races have been in circulation through extra Chronicle sheets for nearly three years now, and even though some players have had an opportunity to create these characters, we want newer players to have new options to enjoy. Like other race options, it is still necessary that a player have a book or watermarked pdf reference for the race, such as from Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Dragon Empires Gazetteer, Pathfinder Player Companion: Dragon Empires Primer, Pathfinder RPG: Advanced Race Guide, or Pathfinder RPG Bestiary: Bestiary 4.

Illustration by Eva Widermann

So let's see... seven core races plus three Bestiary races plus three Dragon Empires races. That equals 13, right? Well, there's one piece missing from that equation. We're also removing two races.

For several years, aasimar and tieflings have enjoyed a prominent role in the Pathfinder Society, but as the organization concludes its work in Mendev—where numerous pit-born fight for recognition and heaven-blooded warriors wage holy war—it's time for them to step back. Beginning on August 14th, creating an aasimar or tiefling character will require a special Chronicle sheet, as was the case years ago. The exception is any aasimar or tielfing character with at least 1 XP; these characters are grandfathered into the campaign.

Does this mean you can create several new characters, play a scenario with each, and have several native outsiders waiting for when you need them? Well, we debated long and hard whether to require 4 XP per character, as at that point one is past the free rebuilding stage. However, we also recognized this as unnecessarily punitive to casual players who may only be able to play once or twice in the next month. To answer your question, yes, you can make 10 aasimars and play The Confirmation an equal number of times, but we're trusting you'll exercise some good taste and respect a decision made with the larger community in mind.

Now that we've covered the more controversial news, let's wrap things up with something outright awesome.

We (both Mike and John) both have experience as venture-officers and event coordinators, and we understand that sometimes it's tough to convince a new player to commit to a full 4-5 hour experience. Some events just are not conducive to running a full game, whether that's because it's a weeknight with lots of folks who need to get to bed early or because the location is only open for a few hours. What do you do when a scenario just isn't short enough?

For years the answer has been quests, one-hour mini-adventures intended to last an hour or less. They're great little adventures, but they're a little difficult to schedule for a few reasons. First, there's no easy way to tell a bigger story by connecting a few quests together. Second, the quests—though replayable—offer no gold, XP, or Prestige Points, giving them a reputation of risk for little reward. The most difficult hurdle is that there are only two of them in print (not counting the Goblin Attack demos or Beginner's Box Bash demos).

This year at Gen Con, we're debuting six new 1st-level Pathfinder Quests that take place in and around the River Kingdoms. Each one is a standalone adventure, but they are all loosely tied into a common plot thread, allowing a GM to combine anywhere from two to all six to make a larger adventure as suits the needs of the group and event location. Play them in any order—one can even play the finale quest early—and earn a Chronicle sheet with rewards that scale based on the number of adventures you played.

John Compton and Mike Brock
Developer and Global Organized Play Coordinator

Pathfinder Legends: A Visual Companion

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Right after the debut Pathfinder Legends full-cast audio drama was released, my wife and I got stuck in an unexpected traffic snarl (which shouldn't have been too surprising, living in Seattle, and all). To kill the time, I put on the CD, and my wife—Shelyn bless her—obliged me by listening. It didn't take very long before she was getting into the story and following closely. There were a few instances when she made me pause playback, however, so that I could explain what certain locations, creatures, and characters looked like. It hit me then that not everyone listening to Pathfinder Legends may play Pathfinder or be familiar with some of the fantasy tropes that those of us who've been playing D&D or variants thereof for decades can sometimes take for granted. One of the reasons the audio drama is so captivating is that it doesn't include a lot of exposition dumps or narration, meaning some of the physical descriptions one might expect in a novel or RPG experience just aren't there.

Thus, I put together this quick visual guide for listeners new to the Pathfinder universe to aid you in acclimating to some of the elements encountered in Burn Offerings. The following images and descriptions could be considered a spoiler, so if you aren't familiar with the Burnt Offerings story, I recommend scrolling down the page as you're listening to the audio drama.

First up we have the town of Sandpoint, where the adventure begins. This is a settlement of about 1,200 people in the nation of Varisia, in a coastal wilderness region known as the Lost Coast.

Illustration by Noah Bradley

Among the personalities the heroes encounter during the Swallowtail Festival are Mayor Kendra Deverin, Sheriff Belor Hemlock, and Lonjiku Kaijitsu (all pictured below).

Illustration by Andrew Hou and Maichol Quinto

Lonjiku's daughter, Ameiko, has a prominent role in the adventure, serving as their hostess at the Rusty Dragon, Sandpoint's finest inn and tavern (she appears on the cover of the third Pathfinder Legends release, The Hook Mountain Massacre). Her half-brother, Tsuto, also makes an appearance. It's pretty clear from the dialogue in the audio drama that he's a half-elf—here's what he looks like.

Illustration by Eric Belisle

One of my wife's most pressing questions toward the end of the adventure was, “what's a bugbear?” The character Bruthazmus plays a large role in the adventure's conclusion, as does his boss, Nualia Tobyn. They're both depicted here. He's a large-yet-sneaky goblinoid (bugbear), while she's a demon-tainted human with angelic ancestry (making her both beautiful and ugly at the same time).

Illustration by Eric Belisle and Eva Widermann

That should take you right up to the adventure's end. Does having images to accompany the audio heighten your listening experience? We can't add visuals to the audio itself, but if this is the sort of thing listeners like, we may make a habit of this sort of blog for future Pathfinder Legends releases. Comment on this blog and let us know your thoughts, both about this visual companion as well as Pathfinder Legends in general.

Mark Moreland
Developer

Demons Invade the Community!

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Paizo's Community Use Policy is a great tool for members of the community to use to share their passion for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and the Pathfinder campaign setting. Whether such projects take the form of fan fiction, a wiki cataloguing the continuity and canon of the setting, or a series of handouts or posters to advertise a local convention or game day, the CUP allows for non-commercial use of Paizo's intellectual property, including some pieces of art. Many of these art resources can be found in the Community Use Package here on paizo.com, but also on this very blog.

With the launch of the Wrath of the Righteous Adventure Path, we thought it would be helpful to the community to release some images of demons into the Community Use Package via the blog so that folks can use them legally to promote the adventure path and the Pathfinder Society's Year of the Demon metaplot. So take these images and use them in your Pathfinder community project. We can't wait to see what the creative minds who read this blog can come up with!

Click here For more information on the terms of the Community Use Policy and a registry of existing Community Use projects.

Illustrations by Eric Belisle, Eva Widermann, Andrew Hou, Tyler Walpole and Ben Wootten (Pathfinder Pawns: Bestiary Box, Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea World Guide, Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Bestiary, and Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Lords of Chaos)

Mark Moreland
Developer

Righteous Indignation

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

I know that many of you are anticipating Chronicle of the Righteous, which introduces the forces of good and covers over 50 empyreal lords, mystery cults, and celestial beasts. While you'll have to wait until late May for the full book, Wes has agreed to share a preview of what's to come with Chronicle of the Righteous's cover boy, Ragathiel, General of Vengeance. Enjoy!

Ragathiel, General of Vengeance

LG angel empyreal lord of chivalry, duty, and vengeance

Cult

Holy Symbol Bastard sword crossed with a crimson wing
Temples Battlefields, castles, fortresses, headquarters of knightly orders, war rooms
Worshipers The avowed, knights, soldiers, the wronged
Minions Aasimar paladins, blink dogs, kirin
Obedience Slay a proven wrongdoer in Ragathiel's name. It is not enough for the sacrifice to have an evil heart or evil intentions; the sacrifice must have committed evil or unlawful deeds. Gain a +4 sacred bonus on saving throws against spells and effects cast by evil creatures.

Boons

Virtuous Combat (Sp) bless weapon 3/day, litany of righteousness^UC 2/day, or magic vestment 1/day
Retribution (Su) You gain a sacred bonus equal to half your HD on damage rolls made with slashing weapons against the last creature to have physically wounded you within the last 24 hours.
Pure Soul (Sp) You can cast holy aura on yourself once per day. In addition to the effects of the spell, you gain DR 10/ good and cold iron and you treat any weapon in hand as a +5 holy weapon for the duration of the effect.

Illustration by Eva Widermann

Ragathiel, child of the archdevil Dispater and a goddess of fire, stands on the front line of the war between Heaven and Hell. He carves through legions of fiends and drives back lesser evils with the mere presence of his awful majesty.

Ragathiel is a tower of glorious might. He stands almost 20 feet tall, and five lofty burning wings stretch from his back. The General of Vengeance once had six wings, but one was severed, torn from his body by Dispater himself.

Ragathiel's tainted heritage has left him with a wrathful heart, and the angel struggles constantly to master his baser impulses in service to the light. For thousands of years he strove to prove himself to the angelic choirs of Heaven. In the Maelstrom he wrestled for 16 years with a monstrous evil serpent whose scales wept acidic blood until he was able to choke the life out of it. He led an entire army against one of the iron fortresses of Avernus and burned the castle to the ground with holy fire, single-handedly maiming Infernal Duke Deumus in the process. Finally the other empyreal lords agreed to admit Ragathiel into their ranks, and now they appear to trust the angel completely—though that trust took centuries to develop.

Ragathiel takes an active role in the battle against Hell's fiendish legions. He shines at the head of his army, a figure of golden light cleaving through the ranks of devils that face him. Soldiers of all kinds, but particularly knights, pay homage to Ragathiel and pray for his virtue and wrathful strength in battle. Those who have taken vows, especially those of duty or vengeance, hold Ragathiel as their ideal, and his agents sometimes assist those who have been grievously wronged and now seek righteous vengeance.

The lower slopes of Heaven are home to Ragathiel's Fortress, a magnificent steel structure designed to withstand a thousand-year siege if need be.

Cassidy
Editorial Intern

Pathfinder Society in Turkey

Monday, September 10, 2012

Illustration by Eva Widermann

I had a great time at Dragon*Con two weekends ago and then spent several days in Birmingham working some things out with Books-A-Million. It’s going to be an exciting time for Pathfinder Society in 2013. One topic that came up in both Atlanta and Birmingham was international play of Pathfinder Society. It seems many people are genuinely interested in reading about Pathfinder Society Organized Play all over the world. So, we are going to publish another international Pathfinder Society blog post this week.

This time, we go to one of the oldest regions in the world, but one of our newest regions for Pathfinder Society. I always had Turkey, specifically Istanbul, as one of my geographic goals to get Pathfinder Society up and running. Istanbul has five million more people than New York City, an internationally renowned university, and a lot of young people hungry for RPGs in general, and campaign play specifically. So, watching the growth that Venture-Captain Can Sungur and his Venture-Lieutenants have helped facilitate is just awesome. They have grown from a new lodge 4 months ago, to one of the top five Pathfinder Society lodges in the world! Without further ado, I present to you Can Sungur’s report on Pathfinder Turkey.

This is Can Sungur, the Venture-Captain for Turkiye. I am a digital marketing consultant with past experiences in social media marketing and your classic, analog ad business, taking the title of strategist in all of these positions. I have been playing world’s oldest roleplaying game since 1999, when I played Baldur’s Gate 2 on my computer for the first time, and I have been a passionate d20 player and GM ever since.

I found out about Pathfinder and what Paizo was trying to create back in 2009, when Selçuk Gözübüyük, who was one of the eldest members of the Turkish roleplaying community, and who unfortunately passed away in 2011, introduced me to the Alpha version of Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Since then, I have been advocating Pathfinder by my personal effort and that effort was fading away with the constant pressure of my professional life. That changed 4 months ago, since the day we got the “go!” from Mike Brock, our coordinator.

Pathfinder Society in Turkiye is in its fourth month as of this blog post’s date. Let me tell you about the community in Turkiye and what’s been going on!

Pathfinder Society in Turkiye started in Istanbul. Spread on two continents and with a population count of 13 million, Istanbul is the cultural capital of Turkiye and the best place to start our Society operations. Of course, I haven’t been alone in this. I would like to thank my two partners in crime, the Venture-Lieutenants for Istanbul, Yücel Okçu and Mustafa Yılmaz. Also, a thank you goes to our team of voluntary Society agents: Mert Erten, Necati Burak Gücer, Caner Ünsal, Boğaçhan Aydın and Muvaffak Kıral. We got everything rolling together and I want to thank each of my friends for sharing my passion about Golarion.

The roleplaying community in Turkiye is quite small considering European countries and USA, but in the late years, Turkiye has been in the spotlight of many online gaming companies, especially free-to-play games, due to its great youth population. As a head start, we decided we would be targeting young players to our Society games.

Before we started gaming, we went into a month of preparations, planning on how to announce our program, designing launch posters and flyers, and opening communications with different universities. We launched Pathfinder Society games in the end of June in KONTAKT, a sub-culture convention.

Since June 30th, we have been through three organized play days, with the number of simultaneous sessions increasing steadily. Currently, we hold two biweekly organized play events each month. İstanbul Technical University is now hosting us in our organizations. So far, we have reached 74 players. And why are 74 players important? Well, probably most of our readers are in their thirties or more, with a more or less established roleplaying community in their local areas. Even being a metropolis, Istanbul and Turkiye is far from that. As we guessed before we started, most of our community is between 18–22 years, and most of our players have played their first roleplaying game with us! Imagine that! And in September, we have started monthly Pathfinder and Golarion Workshops to get our young GMs and players going. So many questions about all the lore and the systems and everything!

Here is a group photo from our third organized play event at ITU.

Also, the current community in Istanbul is very, very active! We have a couple of very talented people in our community. Here is a little goblin figure made by my girlfriend for my birthday—our lovely goblins are as popular as everywhere in Istanbul!

In the following months, Pathfinder Society is planning to expand to Ankara, Eskişehir, and İzmir, all three being centers of attention for roleplaying gamers. This will be very exciting for me, as we will be seeing new Venture-Lieutenants creating a community in their own city. Also, we are planning to merge our organized play events with conventions hosted at different colleges and universities.

A year ago, I felt like I was alone with all my knowledge about Golarion and I had the chance to chat about the game only with a couple of gaming friends. Now, all around me, I see Pathfinders coming up with questions about the nature of positive and negative energy, the secrets of the Mwangi, questions about aboleths, and of course crazy character builds! Just seeing people around me talking about optimizations, quarreling about factions, and of course, discussing various rules makes me very happy!

Can Sungur (gyrfalcon)
Venture-Captain, Turkiye

My heartfelt thanks goes out to all of the Venture-Captains and Lieutenants, coordinators, players, and GMs for making Turkey an amazing area for Pathfinder Society with phenomal growth. Keep up the awesome work all!

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

Mid-year Report of the Pathfinder Society Campaign

Monday, March 26, 2012

Illustration by Eva Widermann

Today is my six-month anniversary at Paizo. The time has flown since September 26, 2011. Usually, State of the Union/State/County/City addresses are given on an annual basis. In the future, I will most likely present this report at the yearly Pathfinder Society Members’ Meeting at Gen Con. However, this being my first year and with all the changes that have taken place, and in light of the goals set for the future, I thought it was important to give a report of how my first six months on the job have played out.

First and most importantly, I want to thank all of the Venture-Captains and Lieutenants, regional and convention coordinators, GMs, and people I use as a sounding board (you know who you are). Without all of you, I would not be able to achieve everything listed below and make Pathfinder Society as great as it is. I also want to thank all of our players and fans. Without you, I wouldn’t have an awesome job to come to each morning. So, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your efforts and support.

The Pathfinder Society Organized Play campaign has already seen numerous positive improvements and changes. Here is a short list of things we’ve accomplished together in just six months:

• Established the Venture-Lieutenant program and the recruited more than 75 new Venture-Captains and Venture-Lieutenants to help us grow Pathfinder Society by presenting a Paizo 'face' in many local areas.
• Implemented numerous small updates to the Pathfinder Society webpage, the campaign FAQ (red updates!), and Additional Resources list.
• Planned and staffed 750 Pathfinder Society tables for Gen Con 2012., as well as the creation of Beginner Box introductions and a kids’ track.
• Streamlined the process by which regional coordinators can request convention prize support.
• Opened up post-retirement play beyond 12th level, sanctioned 15 additional Pathfinder Modules, and released Chronicle sheets for five Pathfinder Tales novels.
• Added holiday boons to event organizers’ arsenals.
• Worked with Venture-Captains to coordinate the worldwide Beginner Box Bash event and released a Pathfinder Society character creation guide using the Beginner Box rules.
• Planned and staffed 150 Pathfinder Society tables at PaizoCon 2012, as well as scheduled the debut of GM 101 workshops on a large scale.
• Worked with Venture-Captains to establish GM 101 workshops in multiple locations.
• Analyzed community feedback and reporting data, concluding that future scenarios should be designed with six players in mind.
• Established a new set of convention Chronicle sheets for the second half of season 3 with Tian-flavored and teamwork-inspired boons.
• Overhauled the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play that included more than 400 changes and additions.
• Established new guidelines for earning and maintaining a fifth GM star.
• Worked with Paizo’s web team to change the Events Page from a calendar format to a more user-friendly event listing.
• Readjusted the release schedule for Season 4 scenarios to release at the beginning of the month instead of the end.
• And finally, I experienced firsthand the sledding rules first detailed in To Scale the Dragon.

We've addressed our leadership, our organization, our ground game, and our rules. And we couldn't have done any of it without all of you.

All that is great, but it's not enough. We're not done yet (which means that we all have more work to do). I'm excited about the future of the Society. In particular, the following items on my now-less-than-secret list excite me:

• The Grand Convocation interactive will return at PaizoCon 2012.
• A second, competitive round has been added to the Pathfinder Society Special at Gen Con 2012.
• Continuing to attend as many conventions as I can get to. I've been to NeonCon (Las Vegas, NV) , DunDraCon 20 (San Ramon, CA), GAMA Trade Show (Las Vegas, NV), and the Alliance Game Distributors Show (Ft. Wayne, IN) over the past six months. My upcoming 2012 schedule includes stops at:
• PAX East (Boston, MA)
• Origins Game Fair (Columbus, OH)
• PaizoCon 2012 (Redmond, WA)
• Connecticon (Hartford, CT)
• PaizoCon UK (Birmingham, West Midlands, UK)
• Gen Con 2012 (Indianapolis, IN)
• Dragon Con (Atlanta, GA)
• Neon Con 2012 (Las Vegas, NV)

My goal is to meet as many Pathfinder Society players, GMs, and coordinators as I can face-to-face. I encourage you to introduce yourself to me at those conventions.

• The plotline for Season 4 has been laid-out, and Season 5 has already been put into a rough draft.
• We are looking at ways to make faction missions have a meaningful impact on the campaign and make more sense as presented in scenarios.
• Improve our Retailer Support program, including upgrades to the website interface to make it more user-friendly for both retailers and customers.
• Improve the GM Rewards program (we already made some adjustments to 5-star GMs as noted above).
• I would like to see the creation of the three campaign documents that were discussed on the April 4, 2011 blog.
• Expanding the Venture-Captain program to additional areas in North America, as well as increasing the number of Venture-Captains internationally.
• Working with Paizo’s web team to implement a more user-friendly web interface for event coordinators.
• Continuing to highlight international Pathfinder Society play through monthly blogs.

The last six months have been a great learning experience for me. I continue to transition from a regional coordinator mindset to one of a global campaign administrator. There have been some bumps in the road, but nothing that has proven insurmountable. I already knew that the Pathfinder Society community is smart, diverse, and very passionate. It is amazing how much energy and enthusiasm you all have for the game and it is very inspiring. Likewise, the people here at Paizo are some of the most creative and different-thinking people I've ever met. It's as amazing as you'd think it would be.

I will finish by letting everyone know that I will continue to do the best job I can to grow and improve the Pathfinder Society campaign. Sometimes I will make mistakes. But, when I do make a mistake, I will own up to it. As always, I am available for all of you to reach out to me with concerns, criticisms, thoughts, suggestions, venting, and ideas via email, private message, Skype, phone call, an in-person visit, carrier pigeon, written letter, message spell, pony express, contact other plane spell, or sending spell.

Mike Brock
Pathfinder Society Campaign Coordinator

Illustrations by Eva Widermann and Wayne Reynolds. Widescreen version here.

Dragon Empires Gazetteer Wallpaper!

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Check out this great wallpaper for the Dragon Empires Gazetteer, courtesy of two of the nicest and most talented artists in the business—Wayne Reynolds and Eva Widermann!

James L. Sutter
Fiction Editor

Golarion Day: Report from Kintargo—Rival Guide

Thursday, March 10, 2011

It's been quite a few weeks since my last report. I've learned a lot since then... too much to reveal to you all in a single report, but I wanted to make sure those idiot Thrunies weren't on to me. Looks like I'm safe, though. I've kept an eye out for Thrune agents since my last report, but haven't seen or heard anything. Which means it's safe for me to start sending regular reports!

One thing I noticed in the vaults below Egorian was a sizable collection of intelligence on numerous adventuring groups active throughout the Inner Sea region. At first I thought this was just the Thrunies keeping track of potential enemies, but after sifting through the stacks, I realized it was quite the opposite. They've been watching a lot of cults, mercenary groups, and other troublemakers who they hope to ally with, perhaps to use as agents to send against their enemies. And since the enemy of Thrune is my friend, I figured that letting my friends know about enemies they don't know about yet would be a good thing. If that makes any sense.

Anyway, my point is that Thrune's collected quite a bit of information about these potential rivals, and I snatched dossiers for ten of them. I've sent them on to the Pathfinders, and they've promised to publish the information when they get a chance. They're thinking of calling it something like "A Comprehensive Guide to Rivals," despite the fact that I think the shorter "Rival Guide" is more to the point and doesn't imply that these are the only rivals we'll ever face. Just ten groups of them.

Illustration by Eva Widermann

Of those ten groups, we've got a mercenary band from Brevoy more active these days in the River Kingdoms, a sadistic group of incredibly powerful adventurers, some elf-hating agents of the Aspis Consortium down Sargavawards, a bunch of crazy pirates led by some sort of haunted oracle, some foolhardy giant-hunters up in Varisia, a group of slavers led by a barbaric gnoll down around Katapesh, some freaky assassins or murderers up in Ustalav, and even the Queen's Hands—a group of relentless investigators who work for Queen Abrogail herself. (Fortunately, the Queen's Hands don't seem to get up to the north side here that often.) The Pathfinders were obviously most interested in some group based in Absalom—the Poisoned Lodge, or some such—a group of poisoners and drug dealers that have been annoying some of the Pathfinders of late. But to me, the most interesting group was probably the Dust Coven—a group of exiled drow worshipers of the demon lord Shax who have been cutting a murder-swath through the Inner Sea of late. Their leader is a witch (who seems to have been reincarnated from a drow into an annis hag, if the rumors are to be believed) who specializes in all sorts of magical dusts and powders—I'm including descriptions of two of these in this report. They'll be in the "Rival Guide" or whatever that book ends up being called, along with lots of other information about these groups and the specialized magic, spells, and tools they use. I'm also including an illustration of the Dust Coven's sign—the rune of Shak gripped in a creepy-looking hand. (Someone could do with a manicure.)

In any case, make sure to check the book out when you see it, but if you're reading it where the Thrunies might see you... take care. They'll probably get pretty angry once they see the book on store shelves.

Shensen
Old Cheliax Shall Rise Again!

Illustration by Eva Widermann

Dancing with a Monster in the Pale Moonlight

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Early last year a promise was made, a promise to those GMs who go beyond the call of duty. The promise was a special scenario, exclusive to 4-star Game Masters and Venture-Captains. Hints were dropped by Mark Moreland back in October that something special was coming, and now I can tell you that the special 4-star GM scenario will be released in January and enjoyed worldwide soon after.

"The Midnight Mauler," a Tier 1–7 scenario written by the always amazing Crystal Frasier, sends members of the Pathfinder Society to the former crown jewel of Ustalav's royal courts, the decaying city of Ardis. Tasked by the Society to look into the fate of Absalom's former Master of Blades Vonran Vilk, what they find will lead to exploration, diplomacy, murder, haunted pasts, and tragic love. Can the PCs discover the identity of the Midnight Mauler before it kills again? Find out in 2011!

Hyrum
Marketing and Organized Play Manager

Mega Monster Meltdown!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

All these Bestiary 2 monsters are CR 20 or higher. Deal with it!

If you can.

Illustration by Eric Belisle	Illustration by Eva Widermann
Illustrations by Jorge Maese

Wes Schneider
Managing Editor

Vanquished Beasts!

Friday, October 1, 2010

If you've been paying attention over the last few weeks, you've probably noticed a lot of talk about the whole office putting great effort into wrapping up the forthcoming Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 2. Well, as of the end of the day Wednesday, the beasts—over 300 of them— were successfully wrangled into line, made to look sharp, and shipped off to the printer. Look for Bestiary 2 in bookstores, hobby stores, and on paizo.com in November. In celebration of this event, check out these lovely images:

Art by Eric Belisle	Art by Eva Widermann
Art by Hector Ortiz	Art by Craig J. Spearing

Mark Moreland
Developer

Illustration by Alex Aparin

GameMastery Guide Preview: More Art!

Friday, June 4, 2010

To celebrate the return of our globetrotting senior art directorix, this week's preview takes another look between the words of the GameMastery Guide at more awesome art! Welcome back, Sarah!

Illustration by Christopher Burdett	Illustration by Eva Widermann

Next week, the wait's almost over, so it's time for the penultimate GameMastery Guide preview!

Wes Schneider
Managing Editor

GameMastery Guide Preview: Things Get Weird!

Friday, May 21, 2010

Let me let you in on one of the guiding philosophies of the GameMastery Guide. We didn’t make this book to let you run my game, or a “Paizo-brand” game, or any sort of game anyone here thinks you should run. We created the GameMastery Guide to give you the tools you need to run your game the way you want. For example, let me note a few entries in the index:

• Airships
• Evil Characters
• Extraterrestrials
• Gambling
• Magic Shops
• Parallel Worlds
• Ship Combat
• Space Travel
• Steam Power
• Space Travel
• Time Travel
• Undead Uprising

Definitely some unusual stuff in there, and likely several topics you’ll have no interest in including in your game. But if something on that list does strike your fancy, now you’ve got help on how to make it work. These discussions aren’t all meant to give you in-depth rules on how to do this or that: while several provide a host of new rules content—like ship combat and undead uprisings —others walk you through what you need to consider to include such elements in your game. And even if you’ve never thought about taking your game in an atypical direction, who knows what might inspire you? Maybe it is time to unleash an undead uprising on your campaign, or take your PCs where no one has gone before.

Play what your want: that’s the guiding message of this book. Heck, there’s even a section on personalizing published adventures to make them work better for you and your players. Also, rest assured that the topics presented above are some of the weird stuff—the parts of the book that take the discussions beyond the norm. There’s still plenty for GMs who never get tired of traditional sword and sorcery adventure. But how weird does the weird get? Well, I’ll let these crazy illustrations by Florian Stitz and Eva Widermann show you (at least I think those are the artists… Sarah’s out of town this week).

As for next week’s GameMastery Guide Preview: let’s just say that we’ve got some fantastically interesting toolboxes to open.

F. Wesley Schneider
Managing Editor

The GameMastery Guide: Mascots & Masterpieces!

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Aside from a metric ton of advice, new rules, charts, tools, and the like, one thing the GameMastery Guide has in spades is awesome new art! As you might have seen on the snippet from the credits page last week, a horde of fantastic artists contributed to this tome. We also did something a little unusual. Rather than illustrating every topic with our iconic heroes or scenes of battle or whatever have you, Andrew Hou created a host of murderously adorable little mascots. A host of murderously adorable little goblin mascots. So, guiding you through the ins and outs, the perils and the pleasures of the GM's art, you'll find these mischievous little menaces causing all sorts of trouble.

Illustrations by Andrew Hou

But the goblins aren't alone. We've got an entire gallery full of incredible art, with quite a few familiar faces, to preview over the coming weeks. For now, check out a few of our mascots' hijinks, along with a sampling of some of the GameMastery Guide's other full-body illustrations.

Illustrations by Eva Widermann	Illustration by Florian Stitz

Next week, check in for a first look at one of the things sure to get you GMs drooling, a preview of the GameMastery Guide's expansive NPC Gallery.

F. Wesley Schneider
Managing Editor

Home for the Holidays

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

With most of the Paizo editorial staff being transplants from across the country, the holidays tend to be the one time of the year where we put aside talk of goblins and statblocks and deadlines for a few days (or at least try to). With much of the crew making treks across the country to spend a few days with much neglected family members, things might get a little spotty here on the blog up through the New Year. Even with the dedicated folks staying behind to man the walls, the holiday fever can get a little distracting, so to tide things over till January 4th, here's Eva Widermann's fantastic artwork for our 2009 holiday card. But that's it from us for 2009, everybody! Thanks to everyone for an incredible year, and do me a favor and yell at James Jacobs if you see him on the boards over the course of the next week. Happy holidays from all of us here at Paizo and we'll see you in 2010!

F. Wesley Schneider
Managing Editor

Book of the Damned: Heresy Devil and Erinyes Queen on Labor Day

Monday, September 7, 2009

Ahh, Labor Day! A day to relax, share the company of friends, and enjoy one of the last summer weekends in the northern hemisphere. Of course, if you're this heresy devil from Princes of Darkness, Book of the Damned Volume I, you've probably never had an honest day of work in your life—just beers, bratwurst, and corrupting existing religions to evil. He's really let himself go, the guy probably weighs like 2,300 pounds! And here's his nagging girlfriend, one of the Erinyes Queens. "Why can't you get a job? All you do is loaf around with your stupid friends! My mother was right about you!" Feels like home, doesn't it?

Illustrations by Eva Widermann

Sean K Reynolds
Developer, Pathfinder Chronicles

Artist: Eva Widermann

The Pathfinder Wiki

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Hello Paizonians! I would just like to take a moment to talk about, for those of you who are not already aware, the Pathfinder Wiki. The Pathfinder Wiki is a community project run by our forum's very own yoda8myhead, and to date has over 1,100 articles related to Golarion and various Pathfinder-related products. If you haven't had the pleasure, you should hop on over there and check it out. Or, if you're interested in helping to build a vast database for you and your fellow Pathfinder GMs, contribute something yourself! (There are tutorials and help articles for the wiki illiterate.) While, of course, we don't condone verbatim copies of our products being regurgitated in a public forum, we do appreciate and welcome brief and succinct synopses of Pathfinder content. Basically, it would be great if you know someone who is interested in learning about Pathfinder for you to be able to point them to the wiki and have it do the job of introducing him or her to all the goodness that is Pathfinder.

So, whether you're looking for more information on this character or that country, hoping to introduce your players to Golarion, or want to help build a fantastic Pathfinder resource, stop on by the Pathfinder Wiki when you get the chance.

Hank Woon
Editorial Intern

Off to Press!

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

So now that we sent all our Gen Con releases off to the printer (thanks to some pretty crazy hours worked last week), things seem weirdly calm and relaxed here at Paizo. Which is dangerous! We don’t want to fall behind again so soon after we just got caught up!

For my part, much of the last month has been spent buried in Pathfinder’s Adventure Paths, so it was pretty exciting over the last week to finally come up for air (even if that was merely to jump into another deep pool of deadlines) to help prepare other projects for press. Like the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting hardcover.

Sweet Desna does this book look incredible! There’s all sorts of tidbits packed into its 256 pages, from writeups for dozens and dozens of nations and regions, to short essays on obscure facets of the world like psionics and technology (yes, including guns!), to all sorts of new deities ranging from minor gods like Besmara (the Pirate Queen) and Zyphus (a sort of grim-reaper type deity) to a nice healthy selection of demon lords, archdevils, the four horsemen, and even the angelic empyreal lords.

And while a lot of the book is pure flavor, usable for any game system, fans of the crunch won’t be disappointed either. Each region comes with at least one new feat, for example, and there’s a pretty extensive section on campaign-specific weapons, armor, and gear. There’s also five prestige classes—one of them isn’t new to readers of Pathfinder (the Red Mantis assassin appears in this book, complete with some errata that properly keys her spells to Charisma rather than Intelligence). The other four prestige classes are all new, and drip with Golarion flavor. Pictured here is the harrower, a spellcaster prestige class that draws power from the mystical Varisian deck of cards known as the Harrow. Among other powers, a harrower gains the ability to draw cards from her deck to power up her spells with metamagic-type effects, and as she gains levels, she gains a bit more control over how these effects are applied. As for what the other three prestige classes are in the book? Well... let’s just say fans of crusaders, chroniclers, and pirates won’t be disappointed!

James Jacobs
Pathfinder Editor-in-Chief