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Top Ten Magical Hats!

Today is National Hat Day! Here at d20 Diaries we’re celebrating by putting on our favourite toques and counting down our favourite magical headgear in d20 gaming. Some of our choices are classics, reused through many versions of the game, while others are new, unique, or quirky. All of our choices are sorted by cost, from lowest to highest.

Curious what made the cut?

Read on!

10 – Hat of Disguise
A classic magical hat that’s been in many d20 games, from Dungeons and Dragons (in various incarnations), to Pathfinder, and so on. The hat of disguise allows you to alter your appearance as often as you like. Although the difficulty to see the through the illusory disguise isn’t amazing, it’s a quick and simple way to allow your characters to blend in, and get up to all kinds of shenanigans. This affordable hat is a ton of fun and, in the right hands, is incredibly useful. In the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game a hat of disguise costs 1,800 gold pieces and is available in the Core Rulebook and Ultimate Equipment. In Dungeons & Dragons (5e) you can find it in the Dungeon Master’s Guide.

9 – Circlet of Persuasion
Another classic staple, the circlet of persuasion grants you a +3 competence bonus on all Charisma-based checks. Yup! All of them. Now, that’s not something useful to all characters, but if you’re the kind of character it would be useful for, it’s really useful. In the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game this will set you back 4,500 gp and is available in the Core Rulebook and Ultimate Equipment.

8 – Helm of Comprehend Languages and Read Magic
Pretty self explanatory, I know. This helmet lets you understand any language you see written or hear spoken, including magical writing. It also grants you a bonus on linguistics checks to decipher incomplete and extinct languages, and so on. A steal of a deal at 5,200 gp! In the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game this helmet is available in the Pathfinder Core Rulebook and Ultimate Equipment. In the most recent version of D&D (5e) its known as the Helm of Comprehending Languages, and is slightly different. It can be found in the Dungeon Master’s Guide.

7 – Crown of Swords
Personally, I love the crown of swords. It looks like a steel crown covered in tiny mithral swords. It’s fun, has a flavourful and dynamic effect, and doesn’t use up a lot of time to activate. So what’s it do? Up to ten rounds a day when you’re injured in combat you can cause a spiritual weapon (shaped like one of those snazzy little longswords on your crown) to appear and immediately begin attacking whoever wounded you. It can stick around as long as the enemy is within range and you have the rounds to keep using it. Get injured again? You can make another appear if you want to. This nifty little crown can be a lot of fun! You can find it in Ultimate Equipment, or the Advanced Race Guide for 6,000 gp.

6 – Helm of the Mammoth Lord
This helmet looks awesome, lets you gore enemies with your helm’s tusks, protects you from the cold, and makes you better at interacting (handle animal, ride, wild empathy) with elephant-like creatures. Finally, it lets you magically communicate with elephant-like creatures. Super cool! It’s available in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game for 8,500 gp, from Ultimate Equipment and Pathfinder Player Companion: People of the North.

5 – Mitre of the Hierophant
This ostentatious hat is the go-to headpiece for divine casters who worship a deity. It grants you a solid bonus on diplomacy and knowledge (religion) skills checks, and lets you communicate with your god (via the commune spell) once a day. Once a week you can also help another creature atone for their sins. This hat is from Ultimate Equipment and costs 18,000 gp.

4 – Howling Helm
This helmet is made from a wolf’s skull and lets you communicate with any canines (from foxes up to dire wolves). It also gives you a bonus to influence magical beasts that are canine-like, such as blink dogs and worgs. Finally, three times a day you can let out a badass howl that summons a pack of magical wolves to fight for you for five rounds, and can demoralize your enemies! This super-cool helmet costs 22,600 gp and can be found in Ultimate Equipment.

3 – Batrachian Helm
This one’s a little weird, I know, but I like it! The batrachian helm looks like a frog’s head and lets you use a magical force tongue attack! This tongue can be used as a swift action to move objects and enemies closer to you. However, if you use it against an object or creature particularly heavy or immovable, you’re pulled towards it instead (which doesn’t provoke)! It’s really adaptable, and can let you manipulate the battlefield and environment in some creative ways. I highly recommend this helmet if you’ve never used it before! It costs 26,000 gp and can be found in Ultimate Equipment.

2 – Helm of Telepathy
A helmet that’s survived through many editions of d20 games, the helm of telepathy lets you detect the thoughts of those around you and send them telepathic messages in turn. And if they think of a response? You hear it and can respond again, of course! Once a day you can also cast suggestion on someone when you give them a telepathic message (although the DC to resist isn’t very high). This telepathic communication can be a boon in all sorts of situations, including for rumourmongering, spying, and communicating secretly among your teammates. In the pathfinder Roleplaying Game it costs 27,000 gp and can be found in the Core Rulebook and Ultimate Equipment. In 5th edition D&D you can find it in the Dungeon Master’s Guide.

1 – Helm of Brilliance
This over-the-top helmet has been around since the original Dungeons and Dragons, and is still kicking around today. The rules have changed a bit throughout the years, but at its heart it’s still the same. The helm of brilliance is covered with magical gemstones that can cast spells. Each gemstone can be used to cast a spell once before it’s magic fades, but don’t worry! There’s a lot of gems on this pricy helmet. Ten diamonds that cast prismatic spray, twenty rubies that create walls of fire, thirty fire opals that cast fireball, and forty opals that cast daylight. As long as you’ve got a gem left with magic still in it the helmet also grants you fire resistance, can make any weapon you’re wielding flaming, glows when undead are nearby, and damages any such undead. Crazy, right? The downside? If you’re harmed by a fire spell and fail a Will save the gems all overcharge, sending prismatic sprays around at random, making walls of fire all over the place, and causing fireballs explode all over you. Classic. A helm of brilliance in Pathfinder will cost you a whopping 125,000 gp and can be found in the Core Rulebook and Ultimate Equipment. In D&D (5e) you can find it in the Dungeon Master’s Guide.

Don’t want your helmet to explode while its on your head? I recommend picking up a Helm of Reclamation instead. This undead-destroying helmet functions in much the same way, with ten diamonds casting sunburst, thirty bloodstones casting searing light, and forty opals casting daylight. It glows near undead and harms such enemies, and can give your weapons the flaming ability. It does not, however, grant you fire resistance. Know what else it doesn’t do? Explode. Fair trade. The helm of reclamation can be found in Pathfinder’s Classic Treasures Revisited.

And that’s our ten favourite magical headgear from d20 games! Got a favourite we didn’t include? Think I’m crazy? Let me know in the comments! Wearing a crazy hat today? I want to hear that, too!

Until next time,

Jessica

pathfinder, d&d, magical gear

Dawn of Flame Adventure Path

Today we’re leaving our chilly Manitoba winter behind and turning up the heat! Gaze into the future with us as we check out the upcoming Starfinder Adventure Path: Dawn of Flame!

Dawn of Flame is a six part Adventure Path for the Starfinder Roleplaying Game which is currently available for pre-order. The first volume, Starfinder Adventure Path 13: Fire Starters (Dawn of Flame 1 of 6), comes out in February and is written by James L. Sutter. The entire campaign takes place around, on, and IN the Pact World’s sun, with a focus on the Burning Archipelago and the sun’s interior. The campaign should take characters from levels 1 all the way through to levels 12 or 13. In a recent interview on Starfinder Wednesday, Chris Simms explained that this Adventure Path is not as dark as the previous ones — putting it in direct contrast to the previous Starfinder Adventure Path, Signal of Screams (which begins with The Diaspora Strain). Much lighter in tone, Dawn of Flame is intended to get back to the heart of Starfinder — that space opera science fantasy mix of fun. This adventure path is full of mystery, surprises, and interesting discoveries. The further you delve into the mystery, the deeper into the sun you’ll travel, making your physical journey a mirror of your intellectual discoveries.

Which is awesome! As a mother of mystery-loving kids, I’m thrilled that this is a campaign my whole family can get excited about.

The Sun? How can I adventure there?!

A-ha! Good question! In a lot of ways the sun of the Pact Worlds is just like ours. It’s an incandescent ball of burning gas and plasma, with intense pressure and heat. Not very hospitable! But, because Starfinder is a science fantasy game, magic has allowed the folks over at Paizo to do a lot of cool things! The Pact Worlds sun has mystical connections (and magical portals) to both the Plane of Fire and the Positive Energy Plane. Plenty of strange beings live within the depths of the sun, such as the starship-sized flame whales that can be seen swimming and breaching through the sun’s plasma. Outsiders from the Elemental Plane of Fire are also known to live within the sun, including sentient beings such as efreet, and azers.

Upon the surface of the sun floats a settlement called the Burning Archipelago. Multiple districts make up this Pact Worlds Protectorate, each of which is contained within it’s own magical ‘bubble’ of unknown origin. These mysterious bubbles keep the neighbourhoods within protected from the harmful effects of the sun, and provide artificial environments that allow many forms of life to thrive. Although all of these bubbles are connected to one another via magical tunnels, only one bubble allows access from outside the Burning Archipelago. This entrance was originally discovered by devotees of Sarenrae (goddess of the sun) who noticed the mysteriously abandoned bubble settlements and attempted to fly as close to them as they could. Miraculously, they stumbled upon the entrance and claimed the settlement for their own. To this day the Church of Sarenrae has influence over most of the Burning Archipelago, including the only entrance. In the time since its founding, many people have come to the Burning Archipelago, including corporations, scientists, beings from the Plane of Fire, and citizens of the Pact Worlds. Each district has become home to different groups, communities, and industries, and serves different purposes. Each has its own security force, with the Sarenite Dawn Patrol, and the Pact Worlds Stewards acting as other over-arching police forces. Neighbourhoods of the Burning Archipelago include Asanatown, Chroma, Corona, Dawnshore, Fireside, Stellacuna, and Verdeon. The sun has many structures and life forms for its citizens to marvel over and study, and plenty of mysteries to unravel. For more information on the Pact Worlds Sun and its many secrets you can check out Starfinder: Pact Worlds.

the sun - burning archipelago - entrance - dawnshore — Entrance to the Burning Archipelago, as seen in Starfinder: Pact Worlds

Dawn of Flame

At its core, Dawn of Flame is about mystery and discovery. About unravelling secrets, and going places no one has gone before. Your characters will discover new settlements and people, strange creatures, and powerful enemies. After uncovering the machinations of a semi-divine being they’ll need to work fast to protect the sun from extraplanar conquest! The fate of the Pact Worlds Sun in is their hands!

Fire Starters

The Dawn of Flame Adventure Path begins in the Burning Archipelago, and involves Far Portal — a structure that, like the Burning Archipelago itself, is far older and more technologically advanced than anything in the Pact Worlds. It’s creator and purpose is a mystery, but it’s function is not. Far Portal is a magical portal to a particularly inhospitable region of the Plane of Fire. It hovers nearby, within sight of the Burning Archipelago, but rarely sees use. Although intrepid and foolhardy explorers sometimes enter it, none have ever returned. What’s more, nothing has come out of it. Ever. Until now! A ship flies out of Far Portal, chased by an astoundingly big flame whale. The portal soon disappears INTO the sun, and a massive psychic disturbance wracks the populace. These life-changing events lead our PCs to accept work for a local scientist, in an effort to help her figure out what’s going on. PCs will need to travel into Asanatown, a lashunta enclave in the Burning Archipelago, to contact another scientist who can help. Unfortunately, the psychic burst has hit the telepathic citizens of Asanatown hard. Tensions boil over, and chaos erupts in the district. Finding that scientist? Yeah, that’s the easy part…

Starfinder Adventure Path 13: Fire Starters (Dawn of Flame 1 of 6) is written by James L. Sutter and is intended for 1st-level characters. In addition to the adventure itself, this volume contains detailed information on the district of Asanatown (written by Jason Tondro) and the Church of Sarenrae and its worshippers (written by Patrick Brennan), including some new equipment common to her worshippers. The Alien Archive entries focus on extraplanar creatures, including ifrits and proteans, and is written by Leo Glass, Owen K.C. Stephens, and James L. Sutter. The Codex of Worlds introduces us to a “beautiful resort planet” with connections to the Plane of Water, and is written by Lacy Pellazar. Finally, the ship that will be showcased is a Sarenite vessel designed by Jason Keeley.

Soldiers of Brass

Starfinder Adventure Path 14: Soldiers of Brass (Dawn of Flame 2 of 6) is written by Crystal Frasier and is intended for characters around level 3. By now your PCs work for the Deep Cultures Institute, which is a scientific corporation of dubious reputation that believes there are not only ancient archeological sites to discover within the sun, but living breathing people and cultures. Intent on unraveling the mysterious psychic burst that came from the Sun’s depths, they’ve turned to outside help to aid them. But, when important data is stolen from DCI your PCs will have to track down the thieves, retrieve the data, and figure out why they wanted it in the first place.

This adventure will take your players through Stellacuna, the district that is home to the Deep Cultures institute and other centres of learning, and Corona, a dangerous district that is home to many denizens of the Plane of Fire, and the infamous market known as the Brass Bazaar. Although no further information is currently available as to the other articles in this book, I imagine we’ll be treated to an in depth article on the district of Corona.

Sun Divers

Starfinder Adventure Path #15: Sun Divers (Dawn of Flame 3 of 6) is written by Joe Pasini and is intended for 5th-level characters. During this part of the adventure path your characters will have discovered proof of a settlement within the sun’s depths, and have the coordinates to get there. The problem? A ship! Your PCs will need to track down the creators of an experimental ship known as a Sun Diver, and retrieve it from the shady folks who have it now. In addition to getting to explore the Verdeon district of the Burning Archipelago, they’ll get to take their awesome new ship (that looks a lot like a pinecone!) beneath the surface of the sun, and explore an undiscovered city!

Further content in this volume includes an article on Noma (the newly discovered bubble-city) and on organized crime. Alien Archive entries are said to include creatures that live within the sun. Although the planet examined in the Codex of Worlds is still a mystery, the ship that will be detailed is going to be the Sun Diver.

The Blind City

Starfinder Adventure Path #16: The Blind City (Dawn of Flame 4 of 6) is written by Ron Lundeen and is intended for 7th-level characters. Your PCs time in the bubble-city of Noma has led to further discoveries, including an ancient magical tablet. Bringing the tablet back to the Burning Archipelago for translation causes a clash with the cult of Azathoth. If they’re lucky, your players will beat back the cultists and discover the coordinates to another mysterious location within the sun, known as Ezorod. The discoveries they make in this lightless (yes, you read that right: LIGHTLESS), foul dungeon will change their lives forever, and finally place the PCs on the trail of Dawn of Flame’s major villain.

Further content in this volume includes an article on various cults found in the Pact Worlds, and a bunch of new and weird techonological and magical equipment. The Alien Archives include new creatures from throughout the multiverse. Information on the Codex of Worlds and ship details have yet to be revealed.

Solar Strike

Starfinder Adventure Path #17: Solar Strike (Dawn of Flame 5 of 6) is written by Mark Moreland and intended for 9th-level characters. It begins with the PCs receiving a distress call from the peaceful citizens of settlement deep within the sun who are under attack by efreet invaders from the Plane of Fire. Your PCs will need to dive back below the surface of the sun to liberate the city of Kahlannal from their conquerers! Unfortunately, this isn’t an isolated incident. It’s the start of an invasion…

Further content in this volume includes an article on the bubble-city of Kahlannal, and an article on the cultures of the Pact Worlds sun and other stars throughout the galaxy. Content of the Alien Archives, Codex of Worlds, and ships has yet to be announced.

Assault on the Crucible

Starfinder Adventure Path #18: Assault on the Crucible (Dawn of Flame 6 of 6) is written by Jason Tondro and is intended for 11th-level characters. It is the final volume in the Dawn of Flame Adventure Path and should bring your PCs to level 12 or 13. In it, the efreet army, acting at the behest of a semi-divine being from the Plane of Fire known as Malikah, launches an assault on the Burning Archipelago from the depths of the Sun! Aware of this coming attack your PCs will have have to defend the city, bring the fight to the enemy at their hidden base, close the portals to the Plane of Fire, and return Far Portal to its home on the surface of the sun! Epic stuff!

Further content in this volume includes an article on continuing the Dawn of Flame Adventure Path past the story’s conclusion, and an article on Starfinder’s version of the Plane of Fire. The Alien Archive is said to contain creatures from the sun, the Plane of Fire, and elsewhere in the galaxy. Details on the Codex of Worlds and ship details have yet to be revealed.

An Ending

And with that we come to the end of the Dawn of Flame Adventure Path. Or rather, we come to the beginning. Next month the first volume of Dawn of Flame will be in our hands and we’ll get to create characters that can embark on this epic quest of discovery. Turns out the fate of the entire Pact Worlds hangs the in balance. No pressure! When asked if he had any further thoughts and themes that he wants Starfinder fans to come away from Dawn of Flame with, Chris Simms had this to say:

“There’s no place you can’t go.”

And he’s right! Starfinder is a game that allows us to go anywhere, explore anything, and become something greater than ourselves. It’s a world of advanced technology, alien species, and powerful magic. This fusion of big, bold ideas has led to a truly wonderful game. If you haven’t given it a try, I highly suggest you do!

Want more information on the Dawn of Flame Adventure Path, or to see awesome artwork from Fire Starters? Check out this past week’s episode of Starfinder Wednesday, featuring host Dan Tharp and special guest Chris Simms!

Enjoy!

Jessica

Entrance to the Burning Archipelago on the Sun. From Starfinder: Pact Worlds

Dawn of Flame: Book 1: Fire Starters

Dawn of Flame: Book 2: Soldiers of Brass

Dawn of Flame: Book 3: Sun Divers

Brass Bazaar

UPDATE: Check out the recently released Dawn of Flame Trailer!

January New Releases

January’s here, which means there’s a whole slew of new d20 products coming out.

Dungeons and Dragons doesn’t have any new releases coming out this month (as far as I know), but last month brought us the Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage adventure which brings PCs from levels 5-20, as well as the Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica which brings the wonder of Magic: The Gathering to D&D.

Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage

Guildmasters Guide to Ravnica

Pathfinder released plenty of wonderful products last month, including Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Faiths of Golarion, Pathfinder Module: Cradle of Night, and Pathfinder Adventure Path 137: The City Outside of Time (Return of the Runelords 5 of 6). None of which I own (sadly) so they’re still on my wish list. Haha. This month Pathfinder fans can expect to see the much anticipated finale of the Return of the Runelords Adventure Path with Pathfinder Adventure Path 138: Rise of New Thassilon. Exciting stuff! There’s also Pathfinder Player Companion: Wilderness Origins coming out, which is sure to be a solid addition to the Player Companion line. Two new pocket editions are coming out: Ultimate Campaign Pocket Edition and Ultimate Intrigue Pocket Edition. Pathfinder Society Scenarios for this month are #10-12: Breath of the Dragonskull (a Tier 1-5 scenario written by Michael Sayre) and #10-13: Fragments of Antiquity (a Tier 5-9 scenario written by Sam Polak). Finally, Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Tavern Multi-Pack comes out later this month.

Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Tavern Multi-Pack

Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Faiths of Golarion

Pathfinder Module: Cradle of Night

The City Outside of Time (Return of the Runelords 5 of 6)

Pathfinder Player Companion: Ultimate Wilderness

Rise of New Thassilon (Return of the Runelords 6 of 6)

Starfinder only has a few releases coming out in January. Starfinder Flip-Mat: Jungle World is a really nice looking map. The Against the Aeon Throne Pawn Collection is finally here, which I’ve been itching to get my hands on! And the Signal of Screams Adventure Path comes to a thrilling conclusion this month with Starfinder Adventure Path 12: Heart of Night (Signal of Screams 3 of 3). Starfinder Society Scenarios for this month are #1-30: Survivor’s Salvation (a Tier 1-4 scenario written by Kiel Howell) and #1-31: Treading History’s Folly (a Tier 3-6 scenario written by Vanessa Hoskins). Last month brought us the Starfinder Critical Hit Deck featuring adorable illustrations of skittermanders, which I’ve yet to get my hands on. If you own it, I’d love to hear what you thought in the comments.

Starfinder: Critical Hit Deck

Against The Aeon Throne Pawn Collection

Starfinder Flip-Mat: Jungle World

Heart of Night (Signal of Screams 3 of 3)

It looks to be an exciting month!

Know of another new d20 product you want to recommend we check out? Let me know in the comments!

Jessica

Starfinder Alien Archive 3 Announced

Starfinder recently announced Alien Archive 3!

Like previous Alien Archives this book is going to contain over a hundred aliens for allying with or fighting against, as well as over a dozen which can be used as player races. Starmetal dragons, living holograms, ‘body-snatching flayer leeches’ and irokirois from Osoro have all been confirmed to be in the book. Playable alien races include an intelligent swarm of tiny insects and a bioluminescent cephalopod.

alien archive 3 temp cover As an added bonus Alien Archive 3 is going to contain some other player options and gear, which is a nice change of pace. Best of all? Rule for pets, mounts, and combatant creature companions! My daughters dreams have just come true. Haha.

Pre-order for Alien Archive 3 is scheduled to begin in August 2019.

Other exciting upcoming Starfinder products include the Dawn of Flame Adventure Path which is scheduled to begin with Starfinder Adventure Path 13: Fire Starters in February, followed by #14: Soldiers of Brass (Dawn of Flame 2 of 6) in March, #15: Sun Divers in April, #16: The Blind City in May, #17: Solar Strike in June, and finally #18: Assault on the Crucible in July. The highly anticipated Starfinder Beginner Box is coming out in April 2019. Finally, the newly announced Attack of the Swarm Adventure Path is scheduled to begin with Adventure Path #19: Fate of the Fifth in August. There’s some awesome pawn collections coming out as well, with the Against the Aeon Throne Pawn Collection coming out this month, the Alien Archive 2 Pawn Box out in February, the Signal of Screams Pawn Collection out in April, and the Tech Terrain Pawn Collection coming out in August.

This is going to be one exciting year!

Jessica

Dawn of Flame: Book 1: Fire Starters

Dawn of Flame: Book 2: Soldiers of Brass

Starfinder Beginner Box

Alien Archive 2 Pawn Box

Against The Aeon Throne Pawn Collection

Enter the Darklands

Another Friday has come and gone which means another episode of Pathfinder Friday! This week host Dan Tharp welcomed James Jacobs to the show to chat about the Darklands.

“We’re going to kick of 2019 and just blow the doors off the whole show,” Dan insisted James said.

James has been hard at work lately creating monsters for the upcoming Bestiary, and seemed happy to take a break to chat. The episode passed in a flash and, as always happens when James is on the show, I learned something new. (Multiple somethings, if I’m being honest! Haha).

So what are the Darklands?

“The Darklands are basically the underworld of our setting,” James Jacobs explained. “A new campaign setting that basically lives downstairs from the one that we do most of our settings in.”

The Darklands are separated into three main sections. Nar’Voth, the region closest to the surface, is home to duergar, troglodytes, and derro (among others). Below that is Sekamina, home to the drow. Orv, the deepest layer, consists of massive magical caverns called Vaults, which were created long ago by the Vault Keepers. James explained that these Vault Keepers were actually a type of earth elemental called a xiomorn. Each of the Vaults of Orv is home to its own ecosystems and some are even large enough to hold entire nations. Orv is the perhaps the most mysterious of the layers of the Darklands, and a personal favourite of mine.

James took us on a tour of the Darklands, describing many important locations and their inhabitants. I particularly enjoyed hearing about the aboleths of the Sightless Sea and the spiralling current known as the Braid that they use to travel to the oceans on Golarion’s surface, the drow of Zirnakaynin, and the ancient serpentfolk empire that once stretched across all of Sekamina. James also talked about the origins of the drow and the derro, common themes among Darklands cultures, the caligni, and some of the more benevolent creatures you can find underground. He discussed some of the works that inspired and influenced his underground creations. Much to my surprise, James shared some wonderful information about Rovagug with viewers, and taught us a lesson about the Elemental Planes. It was awesome!

Perhaps my favourite quote of the episode happened near the end, when James summed up the Darklands in one sentence, calling it…

“The giantest of giant dungeons.”

I love it.

Want to learn more about the Darklands? Most of the published information on the Darklands can be found in Pathfinder Chronicles: Into the Darklands by James Jacobs and Greg Vaughan and Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Darklands Revisited by Thurston Hillman. Pathfinder Adventure Path 16: Endless Night (Second Darkness book 4 of 6), Pathfinder Adventure Path 18: Descent into Midnight (Second Darkness book 6 of 6), and the new module Pathfinder Module: Cradle of Night, are also great resources, while Pathfinder Player Companion: Heroes of the Darklands can help players from the surface world survive the Darklands.

Pathfinder Friday streams live on Paizo’s twitch channel every Friday at 4 p.m. PST. You can also watch already aired episodes on their Twitch stream, or watch partial episodes on their youtube channel. Be sure to tune in next week when James Jacobs discusses the Varisian city of Magnimar, and the week after when the iconic rogue Merisiel will (tentatively) take centre stage.

I can’t wait!

Jessica

Into the Darklands by James Jacobs and Greg A. Vaughan

Darklands Revisited by Thurston Hillman

Heroes of the Darklands

Starfinder Wednesday Tackles the Vanguard!

Wednesday night on Starfinder Wednesday Dan and the gang over at Paizo talked about the Character Operations Manual Playtest, where you can take three new Starfinder classes for a test drive. This week was the final of three episodes streaming over the past month that took an in depth look at these three classes: the biohacker, the witchwarper, and the vanguard. So which was up last?

The vanguard!

Host Dan Tharp welcomed special guests Owen K.C. Stephens and Joe Pasini to the show. Joe wrote the vanguard. Although this was his first time on the show he seemed comfortable and did a great job! Really enjoyable to watch!

StarfinderCover — Want to get in on the game? All you need is the Starfinder Core Rulebook! Want more races or enemies? Pick up Starfinder Alien Archive and Alien Archive 2. Want more gear? Check out Starfinder Armory. Want to learn more about the worlds of Starfinder? Pick up Starfinder Pact Worlds.

To kick things off Dan asked Owen and Joe about the Starfinder Operations Manual Playtest. How has it been going? What sort of feedback have they been getting? What’s good and bad and so on. Owen admitted that it is both productive and frustrating. Obviously when you put creative content out there that you think is great and ask people to find it’s flaws and problem areas, they’re going to do that. And find flaws the playtesters have! Haha. But, in a good way. All these problems that have been identified are areas the team is excited to tackle and improve upon. Most exciting, Owen said that even the negative feedback has still been positive. Turns out fans really like the concepts of the three character classes — the biohacker, the witchwarper, and the vanguard — and are excited to see them in play. All in all, the folks at Paizo appreciate the time everyone has spent on this playtest and look forward to hearing more from us.

As an outsider, it sounds like they have some polishing and tweaking to do, but nothing too major.

For those of you who haven’t provided feedback to Paizo’s messageboards or surveys yet, you’ve still got time. The Starfinder Operations Manual Playtest closes on January 16th. Be sure to get your responses in by then!

From there the conversation shifted onto the vanguard. This was Joe Pasini’s first time developing a class, and I think he did a really great job. But, when asked his thoughts on writing classes he laughed and replied “Can’t say I recommend it.”

Hahaha! Awesome.

The gang clarified that writing classes is among the hardest things you can do in a d20 game, as this is the primary way in which the players are going to interact with your game. They have to be great, so your game can shine. Writing and developing them can be stressful.

The vanguard is mechanically different than anything they’ve done before, so they want it to play differently. It should feel different than a soldier and a solarian (which are the two nearest comparable classes), but it should still be as effective. Vanguard’s don’t do as much damage as those other full BAB combatants, but they target EAC, so they nearly always hit their enemies. But, at its core, its the vanguards resilience that makes them special.

Joe explained that when they were creating ideas for new classes, very early on they decided they wanted a constitution based tank type of character. It was Joe who suggested tying that to the idea of entropy. Further meetings helped focus the class down to its inspirations and final concept. And that’s when Joe got to step in, stare at some blank paper, and try to make it work.

In the end, vanguards became a class that stand strong on the front lines, protect their companions, take hits and become empowered because of them. They don’t mind getting hit, because it lets them use their abilities more effectively. They’re a class that’s just really cool and different. Both tactically and mechanically.

During the interview, Joe explained that one of the things he’s most excited for about the vanguard is how it can create a lot of different kinds of characters. It’s inspiration was very broad — including Captain America, the Juggernaut, the Terminator, David Dunn (from the film Unbreakable), and many more. All these kinds of characters and more can be expressed as vanguards. Later in the episode, spurred on by viewer questions, they even chatted about barathu and contemplative vanguards. (Which are awesome!)

Now, like the other playtest classes, vanguard is not without its flaws. Owen has pointed out that from playtest feedback they’ve discovered that vanguards sometimes have trouble getting into combat and could use a method to speed themselves up. In addition, they have nothing to spend their entropy points on at first level. Owen and Joe mused about creating a way to use entropy points to gain a speed burst (either short or long term) in order to fill both design gaps.

Yes, please!

Much to my surprise and excitement, a creation of my daughter’s was mentioned in the episode, as well as her desire for animal companions. While we were watching she squealed in glee so loud we had to rewatch the mention just to hear what they said about her. And then she asked us to rewatch it some more. Haha. It made her night! Scratch that. It made her month. Probably longer.

“I was reading through [Starfinder Wednesday Fan Club message board] and saw someone posted that their daughter has a rabbit companion that they have strapped to their hoverdrone that follows them around. I thought that was so cool,” said Joe Pasini.

“That’s so awesome,” Dan Tharp agreed.

“And they’re asking about animal companion rules and I think that that would be cool. Some kind of alien companion rules.”

Surprisingly, Owen lavished praise on the idea in a way that insinuated they might already have such a thing in the works — or at least planned for the future. Here’s hoping it comes out with the Player Operations Manual! Haha. But, alas! Owen would offer no further spoilers!

Right near the end Joe brought up my daughter’s drone-wearing rabbit again, saying he’d like to hear more about it. Not just the rabbit, but cool concepts and ideas that are different. He explained that he loves that all the new classes are Starfinder classes. They’re not Pathfinder classes ported over to the new game. They’re different and unique, and they allow players to tell new kinds of stories.

And he’s right.

They’re varied and wonderful, and adaptable. They allow us to make something cool, while forcing us to think a little deeper. Not just the new classes. All of the Starfinder classes.

I really enjoyed last night’s episode. If you haven’t watched it yet, I highly recommend you do. Joe and Owen were great guests, and they offered wonderful insight into making not only the vanguard, but classes as a whole. Just wonderful stuff! Starfinder Wednesday streams live on Paizo’s twitch channel every Wednesday at 4 p.m. PST. You can also watch already aired episodes on their Twitch stream, or watch partial episodes on their youtube channel. For more information on the Character Operations Manual Playest and to download the new classes check out StarfinderPlaytest.com.

critical hit deck skittermander taylor fischer — Skittermanders are a delightful race that love to help! You can find statistics for playing skittermanders in Starfinder: Alien Archive, play as a crew of skittermanders in the free adventure Skitter Shot, and see plenty of skittermander artwork in the new Starfinder Critical Hit Deck, featuring art by Taylor Fischer.

Before we sign off, my seven year old daughter would like to share some information about her now famous (at least in her opinion) drone-wearing rabbit.

“Hugs is a skittermander with fluffy pink and brown fur and a happy smile. She loves people and animals, even if they are ugly or maybe mean bad guys. And she loves making friends. She’s a mechanic, and an ace pilot, and she has a pet rabbit named Bun-Bun. To keep Bun-Bun safe Hugs made a hoverdrone which Bun-Bun wears like a backpack! It looks like Bun-Bun is a tiny pilot flying the hoverdrone and firing its weapons! Haha! But, Hugs controls the hover drone with her own AI, like all drones, and Bun-Bun is just along for the ride. Luckily, Bun-Bun really likes flying. Right now Hugs is teaching Bun-Bun to be her co-pilot! She has trained her to click a button on command. Hugs shouts:

“Bun-Bun! Do the thing!”

And Bun-Bun clicks a button. But, Bun-Bun can’t tell the buttons apart or anything, so he never clicks the right one! He always messes it up and its always very funny! But, Hugs thinks he is a great co-pilot. He just needs some more practise!”

Thanks for joining us today!

All the best,

Jessica (and family!)

Our Favourite Things of 2018

To celebrate the New Year we’re taking one last look back at our favourite things of 2018! So what made the cut? Read on and see!

Favourite d20 Bestiary: Alien Archive
(for more information check out this blog post)

Favourite Dungeons and Dragons Book: Dungeons and Dragons: Guildmaster’s Guide to Ravnica
(Dungeons and Dragons meets Magic: The Gathering!!)

Favourite Pathfinder Book: Ultimate Wilderness
(for more information check out this blog post)

Favourite Starfinder Book: Pact Worlds
(for more information check out this blog post)

Favourite d20 Book (Other): Realms of Atrothia: Legacy Races Revisited
(for more information check out this blog post)

Favourite d20 Adventure: Skitter Shot
(for more information check out this blog post)

Favourite d20 Campaign: Return of the Runelords Adventure Path
(for more information check out this blog post and be on the look out for another blog post early this year)

Favourite Pathfinder Society Scenario: #9-10: Signs in Senghor
(for more information check out this blog post as well as this one)

Favourite Starfinder Society Scenario: #1-14: Star Sugar Heartlove!!!
(for more information check out this blog post)

Favourite Kid’s Game: Tails of Equestria: The Storytelling Game
(for more information be on the lookout for a new blog post later this month!)

Favourite Board Game: Dinosaur Island
(for more information check out this blog post)

Favourite Family Movie: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse
(now playing in a theatre near you!)

Favourite Movie: Ready Player One
(if you haven’t seen this movie or read this book yet, you REALLY SHOULD!)

Favourite Upcoming Kickstarter: Realms of Atrothia: Primary Expansion
(Kickstarter coming in February 2019!)

I can’t wait to see what 2019 brings!

Jessica

Starfinder Society Scenarios: It Rests Beneath and Honorbound Emissaries!

Today we’re going to take a look at the two most recent Starfinder Society Scenarios that are currently available for purchase, and let you know we thought. Although you’ll find references to events in each that I liked or disliked, and comments about specific characters, these scenarios are not explored in detail. It’s not my intention to spoil the events in these scenarios, or give summaries and full reviews, but to share my opinions and provide recommendations. That said, if you want to avoid even minor spoilers I recommend you check out a different article. Whether you intend to use them in home games of the Starfinder Roleplaying Game, sanctioned scenarios for use with the Starfinder Society Organized Play, or just want to read a nifty new adventure, we’ve got you covered! So sit back, and get ready to explore the Pact Worlds!

Starfinder Society Scenario #1-28: It Rests Beneath is a Tier 1-4 adventure written by Jason Tondro. It takes place on the planet Vabaimus, a Near Space world home to a variety of ecosystems and rich mineral deposits. It’s dominant native species is a sloth-like race that is approaching sentience. On Vabaimus you will help out a small Starfinder research facility. This scenario features the Faction (Wayfinders), and Vehicle tags. It does not contain starship combat. It utilizes content from the Starfinder Core Rulebook, Starfinder Armory, and Starfinder Alien Archive . It makes use of Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Hill Country, Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Twisted Caverns, and Starfinder Flip-Mat: Asteroid. In addition, you’ll also want a relatively featureless map, like Pathfinder Flip Mat: Basic Terrain Multi-Pack or Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Dragon’s Lair, for any unmapped encounters. If you’ve got any vehicle-related boons now is the time to slot them. Similarly, if your character happens to own their own vehicle, definitely bring it along!

It Rests Beneath features only one recurring character: Fitch, leader of the Wayfinders faction, an her mischievous grandchildren. It introduces a few new characters: Dr. Mora Motressi, leader of a Starfinder research facility on Vabaimus; her daughter, Little Mina; and Bud, a cuddly sloth-like being that’s both the good doctor’s pet and the most advanced native species on the planet. This scenario begins on the Master of Stars, the largest ship in the Starfinder fleet. It’s currently docked in Absalom Station’s Armada and has been undergoing repairs since the start of Starfinder Society Organized Play. From there it swiftly transitions to Vabaimus, where the rest of the scenario takes place. There PCs will need to assist the science team in performing a survey of a strange landmass. Nearly 85,000 square miles in size, with no water or plant-life, this calcified plateau is of great interest to Dr. Motressi and her team. She asks you to travel across the plateau to three specific locations, set up some specialized towers you brought with you, and calibrate surveying equipment atop of each one. Each tower has its own challenges, hazards, and enemies to contend with. There’s multiple vehicles your PCs can choose from, and the towers can be tackled in any order. There’s a simple vehicle handout that will be useful for both players and GMs, which is a nice touch. I love how flavourful the new creatures and environmental hazards are. A lot of thought has gone into ensuring they fit into their ecosystem — which is particularly important when players are surveying an environment. Also, I particularly enjoyed the mystery of the old kasathan ship.

I do have one nitpick. Page three is missing half of a sentence at the end of the first section, which I assume should read something along the lines of ‘up to help,’ ‘up to lend a hand,’ or something else similar. It’s not a hindrance to the scenario. You can still get the gist of what it’s supposed to be saying, but it was jarring enough that it caused me to look around in confusion for a half a minute, to make sure I hadn’t missed anything. A minor distraction in an otherwise enjoyable read.

Overall, I loved I this scenario! The premise is different from any that have come before. It was engaging all the way through, with a wonderful array of social interactions, skill-based encounters, hazards, and combat. The enemies and hazards were all well-thought out. The NPCs were properly engaging and ‘real.’ And, best of all, your PCs have to make an important decision regarding the future of this planet. Really top notch! Although it didn’t blow my mind, like some other amazing Starfinder adventures, it was an… understated awesome. I give it 5 out of 5 stars.

Starfinder Society #1-29: Honorbound Emissaries is a Tier 7-10 adventure written by Jenny Jarzabski. Yup, you heard that right! Tier 7-10! The first of its kind! It takes place primarily on Saaruq-5, a planet in the Vast that’s part of a multiplanetary federation called the Kreiholm Freehold. This scenario features the Faction (Second Seekers [Luwazi Elsebo]) tag, and does not involve Starship combat. It continues the ongoing Scoured Stars storyline, and is a direct sequel to the events of Starfinder Society #1-99: The Scoured Stars Invasion. Although playing these previous adventures isn’t necessary, I highly suggest you do. Everything will make more sense, have more importance, and be more engaging if you have. It features NPCs from some previous scenarios (Starfinder Society Scenario #1-04: Cries from the Drift, Starfinder Society Scenario #1-05: The First Mandate, and Starfinder Society Scenario #1-11: In Pursuit of the Scoured Past). In addition, there are multiple instances where PCs who have played previous scenarios involving the jinsul have an advantage (Starfinder Society Scenario #1–13: On the Trail of History, Starfinder Society Scenario #1–99: The Scoured Stars Invasion, or Starfinder Society Scenario #1–23: Return to Sender). Finally, it should also be noted that this scenario helps lay the foundations for further scenarios, as well as the next interactive special. Important stuff! If you’ve got characters who have played any of the above-mentioned scenarios, I highly suggest bringing them. And, if you’ve got the Honorbound Allies boon, now’s the time to slot it!

Honorbound Emissaries utilizes Pathfinder Map Pack: Starship Decks, Starfinder Flip-Mat: Hospital , and a custom half-page map. It contains content from the Starfinder Core Rulebook, Starfinder Alien Archive, Starfinder Alien Archive 2, and Starfinder Armory. In addition to containing important events, this scenario has a lot of important NPCs. It features First Seeker Luwazi Elsebo, Iteration-177 (who was previously in Starfinder Society Scenario #1-05: The First Mandate and Starfinder Society Scenario #1-11: In Pursuit of the Scoured Past), Captain Yuluzak (who was previously in Starfinder Society Scenario #1-04: Cries from the Drift), and mentioned (but unfortunately doesn’t feature) the gruff vesk pawnbroker Julzakama (who was previously in Starfinder Quest: Into the Unknown and Starfinder Society Scenario #1-10: The Half-Alive Streets). Captain Yuluzak has his own artwork this time around, and it is awesome! All of these NPCs were well-represented, and I’m happy to see them back. Honorbound Emissaries also introduces a ton of new NPCs to interact with, many of which have names, personalities, and quirks. I particularly enjoyed the crew of Honorbound.

The opening premise for this mission is… convoluted. Captain Yuluzak, who runs a salvager, discovered a starship wreck, took what was valuable and returned to Absalom Station. Some objects he kept, and others he sold to a pawnbroker named Julzakama. Juzakama recognized one of the objects as an important piece of art and contacted some people he thought would buy it. One of those people, Iteration-177, recognized the object as belonging to a culture that was once a part of the Scoured Stars Trinary System, so he contacted Luwazi Elsebo. Luwazi had the object brought to her, along with a team of Starfinders, Iteration-177, and Captain Yuluzak himself. Luwazi tasks the PCs with travelling aboard Captain Yuluzak’s ship to investigate the original wreck. There they’ll determine the ship’s origins, and travel there to investigate and (hopefully) make some new allies.

Jinsul Graey Erb — A jinsul. Illustrated by Graey Erb. Art courtesy of Paizo Inc.

This scenario was big with a capital ‘B.’ It involves the Scoured Stars storyline, the jinsul, a new solar system full of inhabited planets, three new races (nelentu, syngathrix, and thyr), people to save, important decisions to make, a massive starship battle, and combat on… well we’ll leave that part secret for now. Haha. To say this scenario is bold is an understatement! The entire hospital section of this scenario was particularly well handled, as were the NPC interactions found throughout. And the setting for the final battle? Epic! Your PCs are sure to come away from that fight feeling like badass action heroes. It’s going to be a ton of fun to play. On the downside, everything in this scenario is overly convenient in a rather heavy-handed way. Now, I’ve no problem with a ‘railroad,’ particularly in short adventures like Society Scenarios, but in Honorbound Emissaries you always arrive in the exact right place at the exact right time in order to avoid something troublesome. Heck, you even travel through a massive space battle and don’t get attacked by either side. At all! In fact, you even manage to approach the planet and land without a single threat or altercation. It’s like you’re invisible. Which brings me to me second down-side: starship combat. This scenario should have had one. Getting to witness an epic starship war and not engage in it at all is kind of a let down. And how fun would it have been to help out the crew of the Honorbound? Now, I get why it’s not in here. This scenario has more than enough encounters to engage in, and they’re all cool. But, it would have been nice to at least see the ship you’re on come under attack. Or mention the bumpy ride as the pilot has to take evasive maneuvers. Something.

…But that final battle! Wow! Haha.

sfs 1-13 - on the trail of history - jinsul ship — A jinsul ship. Originally depicted in SFS #1-13: On the Trail of History. Art courtesy of Paizo Inc.

Overall, I really enjoyed this scenario. It’s bold, daring, and casts your players into situations much bigger than themselves. PCs get to do some heroic things, some absurd things, and some absurdly heroic things, all of which is going to be a blast! It’s rounded out by some really solid social interactions with a large cast of quirky characters. This is truly one of those scenarios that players will talk about for a long time afterwards, simply because they want to brag about their character’s exploits. Five years some now I’m sure some players will still look back on it fondly and say “Wow, remember when my Starfinder character did THAT? THAT was cool.”

Which is cool!

I give this scenario 5 out of 5 stars.

Thanks for joining us today!

I wish you happy holidays, plenty of natural 20s, and all the best in the upcoming year!

Jessica

Pathfinder Second Edition: Forging the Future!

We haven’t talked about Pathfinder Second Edition in a while. Neither have the folks over at Paizo. Or, at least, not publicly. That’s because the Development Team has been hard at work sifting through survey data, making changes to the game, and generally working their asses off to make Pathfinder Second Edition the best RPG that it can be.

But, this past Pathfinder Friday on Paizo’s twitch stream, we finally got some news! Jason Bulmahn, Director of Game Design, sat down with Host and Marketing Manager Dan Tharp to talk about the future of Pathfinder.

His first topic of conversation?

Surveys.

Feedback surveys on the PF2 Playtest are going to be open until December 31st at midnight. That’s right! You’ve still got time to give them your feedback, answer their questions, and give Paizo the data they need to continue improving the next version of Pathfinder. Be sure to get your surveys done before the New Year!

But, even though they’re still accepting feedback, and sifting through our responses, the development team is already working on improving the game, and revising everything. Word is they’re halfway done editing the book, with another quarter that they hope to get done over the holidays. (Yes, they brought home more work). The whole development team deserves a huge round of applause. Keep up the good work! (And take a breather while you’re at it!).

Now, as I mentioned, they’re still accepting feedback, and they still testing and retesting everything they can. They’ve made some changes, but they’re not done yet — not by a long shot! In addition, some of the things they’ve changed are likely to change again. But they’re making progress. And Jason decided to share some of that progress with us.

The Top Five Things That You Can Look Forward To for Pathfinder Second Edition!

#5 – Polish and Flavour. Jason admitted that a lot of the Pathfinder Playtest Rulebook was technically sound, but dry. It lacked pizazz! They intend to change that. The development team is trying their best to inject as much flavour into the rulebook as they can! Thank goodness! Haha. Sneak peeks Jason mentioned included calling the various rogue specializations a ‘Rogue’s Racket’ and that Wizards get to create their own graduate thesis to represent their specialization in magic. Awesome! I can’t wait to see what else they bring to the table.

#4 – Jason rewrote Chapter 1. This new introduction to the game is said to be an engaging narrative which is meant to be as entertaining and easy to understand as possible. It even includes a sample build and an example of play. Awesome!

#3 – GM Resources. The folks at Paizo are trying to make GMing as easy as possible. The table of DCs, which were overly complicated, are now streamlined into a simple chart. Conditions are undergoing some changes, as well. Some were removed, others were changed, and they even added a new one: Doomed! Essentially, Doomed lowers your dying threshold. This is a condition players will want to get rid of ASAP!

#2 – Resonance. They got rid of it completely. Pardon me while I dance in glee.

#1 – Proficiency. Although the system makes sense and was met with positive feedback, many players said that they didn’t feel like the numbers involved allowed for enough variance between the proficiencies, so they’re being changed! Untrained will remain +0 (and does not add your level), Trained skills will be at +2 plus level, Expert at +4 plus level, Master +6 plus level, and Legendary +8 plus level. Here’s hoping they’ve got the math right this time around!

Other mentioned changes include allowing the three different alignments for paladins, making spellcasters and spells more powerful, adding ‘Fail Forward’ rules (which is when even on a failed roll your PCs progress, but with some kind of penalty or downside caused by their failure), and more! I don’t know about you, but I’m exciting to see what Pathfinder Second Edition will become!

Jessica

Assorted Dice Rainbow

Alternate Realities and a Vision of the Past!

Well, last night’s Starfinder Wednesday pre-recorded episode was an absolute delight! But, before we get into that, lets take a peek at what happened the week before. (Admittedly, the holidays have left me a little behind!).

Last week on Starfinder Wednesday Dan and the gang over at Paizo talked about the Character Operations Manual Playtest, where you can take three new Starfinder classes for a test drive. This week was the second of three episodes streaming over the next month that will take an in depth look at these three classes: the biohacker, the witchwarper, and the vanguard. So which is up second?

The witchwarper!

Host Dan Tharp welcomed special guests Amanda Hamon Kunz and Owen K.C. Stephens. Amanda wrote the first draft of the witchwarper and, although it was a team effort, this class has her personal touch all over it!

So what is the witchwarper? For starters, it’s based around the ‘Infinite Worlds’ theory, which posits that there are an unlimited number of realities where different decisions made by its intelligent life-forms has led to alternate realities slightly different than our own. The witchwarper can see into these alternate realities and temporarily bring aspects of them into our own reality. By drawing on these other worlds they can change circumstances to their benefit, affecting themselves, their allies, their enemies, and their surroundings. Mechanically, this means that they can alter the battlefield, provide buffs and debuffs, and casts spells. As they grow in power, they gain new ways to use their powers on the world around them. They have the same number of spells per day and spells known as mystics and technomancers, and their spell list will be comparable in length when the final version is released.

Also on the topic of magic, it was revealed that there are going to be plenty of new spells released in the upcoming Character Operations Manual. Some spells will be available for all casting classes, others will be available for only two of the three, and a fair amount will be class specific. I can’t wait to see what the folks at Paizo have up their sleeves!

Finally, Amanda and Owen announced that the Starfinder Beginner Box is now available for Preorder. It’s scheduled to be released in April 2019.

Which brings us to today!

The most recent episode of Starfinder Wednesday wasn’t about the future. It was about the past. Host Dan Tharp welcomed special guests Owen K.C. Stephens and Robert G. McCreary onto the show to discuss the history of the Starfinder Roleplaying Game! They started with a talk about it’s origins. Many of us will think back to Pathfinder’s sci-fantasy products as the basis for Starfinder. Places like Numeria (which is fully detailed in Numeria, Land of Fallen Stars), and adventures like the Iron Gods Adventure Path, and the Second Darkness Adventure Path. Golarion’s original solar system was described in Pathfinder Adventure Path 14: Children of the Void (Second Darkness book 2 of 6), and then further expanded into Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Distant Worlds.

But, when asked about the origins of Starfinder, both Owen and Robert agreed that it went back way, way further. To the ages of Pulp Fiction, and to the classic Dungeons and Dragons adventure Expedition to the Barrier Peaks. They emphasized that combining science fiction and fantasy is not new. People have been doing it long before them. And, of course, there’s plenty of other influences from science fiction we could all name.

PZO7107 — For more information on the Starfinder campaign setting, check out Starfinder: Pact Worlds!

Although there was lots of other interesting topics discussed, I particularly enjoyed hearing about the early days of planning, when they were trying to decide if making a Science Fantasy game even made sense, or if it could be approximated within Pathfinder itself. Was Starfinder a separate entity influenced by Pathfinder? Or was is Pathfinder taken into space? What would make those concepts different? And if they did create Starfinder as its own entity, would it be in a whole new universe? Or would Golarion’s Solar System still fit? How could they even make that work?

What would it look and feel like?

I also really enjoyed getting to hear about the balance they decided to aim for, and how they went about it. What would they carry forward from Pathfinder and what would they create new? What races and monsters, and places would stay the same? What was the right balance between updated and entirely new content? And how could they make old races and places fit in with their new universe?

How did Starfinder become what we know it as today?

There was also some great conversation about the core concepts of Starfinder and how they came to be. Things like cosmology, the Pact Worlds, the Drift, The Gap, and Absalom Station.

Really great stuff! If you haven’t given it a watch yet, I highly suggest you do! Also, you’ll get to see Owen accidentally (or perhaps purposely) mention Alien Archive 3, which is in the works! Robert ended on a more detailed but equally tantalizing note, mentioning that they’re hoping to create more content that has to do the Near Space, the Vast, and the places you might find in it. Awesome!

Want to learn more about the witchwarper? Download your free copy of the Character Operations Manual Playtest PDF on Paizo’s website right now! You can also tune into Paizo’s twitch channel on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. PST for ‘Starfinder Wednesday.’ Next week’s show is going to focus on the Vanguard! It’s sure to be a great show!

Until next time,

Jessica

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