And… it’s here! Mechs are finally entering Starfinder!
Yesterday, Paizo announced the launch of the Starfinder Tech Revolution Playtest, which allows players to try out and offer feedback on two upcoming features: the mech combat subsystem and the nanocyte class. Although, I expect the majority of fans are excited for the mech subsystem, I’m most excited to check out the nanocyte! I’m a sucker for new classes.
According to the official announcement:
“The nanocyte is a cunning combatant who houses a host of nanites in their body. Using their nanite array, they can confound foes, spontaneously create equipment, and reinforce their own bodies, and specialized nanocytes can even stitch wounds, dissolve into nanite swarms, and shred foes with a cloud of microscopic assailants!”
“Mechs are specialized vehicles operated by one or more pilots, each of which contributes to the giant robot’s actions. Much like building a starship, you create your own mech (or mechs), allowing you to customize your frame, limbs, armaments, and more! Mechs operate on the familiar square grid maps, so although they’re bigger and more powerful than PCs usually are, many of the rules for using them are familiar, and many of the same foes are appropriate challenges.”
The Starfinder Tech Revolution Playtest begins on July 27th, 2020, and runs until September 18th, 2020. You can download the playtest from Paizo here. Full details on the playtest are available here, while information on playing the nanocyte in the Starfinder Society is available here. Once you’ve participated in the playtest, you can fill out surveys on both the nanocyte and mechs here. Be sure to get those surveys in by September 18th! Finally, if you’d like to chat with other fans and players about the playtest, or offer other feedback to the Starfinder team, you can post in the playtest forums, here.
Humble Bundle is a distribution platform that sells ebooks, games, software, and other digital content. Consumers pay what they want, and a portion of the proceeds goes to charity. In many cases the Humble Bundle has tiers, where different amounts of money can get you even more product. In any case, Humble Bundles provide a lot of value for your money, and contributes to a worthy cause. For more information on Humble and to see what other products they have up for offer, check out their website.
The Pathfinder Second Edition Humble Bundle contains digital copies of the Core Rulebook, Lost Omens World Guide, Lost Omens Character Guide, Bestiary, some awesome Pathfinder Society Scenarios, flip-mats to accompany them, and a bunch of fiction. The highest tier even includes a physical copy of the Core Rulebook. A portion of every bundle supports three worthy nonprofit organizations: The National Urban League, The Carl Brandon Society, and the NAACP Legal Defence Fund.
At the moment of writing this over 26,282 people have purchased bundles, and the numbers just keep on climbing. If you want to get your hands on the Pathfinder Second Edition Humble Bundle, you’ve only got twelve more days to do so.
Today we’re finally back after a long, long, long break. Last year I took a short time off from blogging to write my first freelance RPG assignment—Starfinder Society Scenario #2-03: The Withering World. As a quest pack, this adventure was split into five parts, each penned by a different author. Working alongside Arc Riley, Jennifer Povey, Rigby Bendele, and Shahreena Shahrani was a wonderful, exciting experience that I can honestly say has changed my life.
In the time since, I’ve been writing and creating steadily. I’m thrilled to be the author of two further Starfinder Society Scenarios,#2-15: The Infernal Gallery and the newly released #3-02: The Subterranean Safari. I’ve written two Wondrous One-Shot adventures for Dungeon in a Box: The Missing and the Mist and the upcoming Clockwork Heist, which releases August 1st. I’ve contributed to ten additional projects with Paizo, Dungeon in a Box, and other companies, many of which aren’t yet announced. For a full list of my announced freelance RPG credits, check out the new Freelance Work page. It’s a list I’m unbelievably proud of, that I’m working to expand every day.
Earlier this year, right before the Covid-19 outbreak, I was interviewed by John Godek for Presenting… on the Know Direction Network. Those of you who know me personally, know I’m terrified of public speaking, so recording an interview for a podcast is well outside my comfort zone. Thankfully, John was a delight and I didn’t mess up horribly. Haha. You can listen to the interview here.
Despite quarantine, home-schooling, and freelancing, I’ve found equilibrium. I’m happily tackling my freelance projects ahead of schedule, while caring for my kids and the others I babysit during the week, with time to spare. Which has brought me back here.
I’m still here. I’m still gaming. I’m still creating.
It’s been a whirlwind! d20 Diaries has become something bigger and grander than I could have ever imagined. I’ve gathered fans throughout the world, our page views increase every month, and I’ve embarked on a freelancing career that’s already gone better than I could have dreamed. The future’s looking bright!
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: we’re still new around here. d20 Diaries is still in it’s infancy. There’s plenty more features we hope to add in the future, and more stories we hope to share. There’s a pile of articles waiting to be fleshed out, and many, many more adventures to be had.
So today I’m sending out a heartfelt thank you to each and every one of you! Thank you for visiting my blog today. I appreciate it more than you know!
Here’s to another year! I hope you stick around for the ride.
It’s been a busy few months around here. A new school year has started for my kids, my little sister is celebrating her 18th birthday, Thanksgiving and Halloween have come and gone, and winter’s beginning to set in. There’s not much snow outside right now, but this past week the wind has finally turned cold. We’ll get much, much colder weather over the next few weeks and months, but my kids are already bundling up in their winter layers for the walks to and from school.
I’ve spent most of my free time working on numerous freelance RPG assignments, which has been an absolute blast! But, today I’m taking a short break from the amazing projects I’m lucky to be a part of, to pop in, say hello, and chat about something I’m super excited for: the Advanced Player’s Guide Playtest!
That’s right! Starting today you can head on over to Paizo’s website and download playtest versions of the four new classes they’ll be bringing to Pathfinder Second Edition’s Advanced Player’s Guide: the investigator, oracle, swashbuckler, and witch! I’m a huge fan of oracles and witches, in particular, so I am absolutely thrilled to see some of my favourite classes rejoin the game so quickly!
The APG Playtest begins today and runs until December 2nd, 2019. Download the rules, build some characters, and take them for an adventure or two. After trying out the classes, head back to Paizo’s website to fill out a survey and offer your feedback on the forums. It’s time to help shape these classes into the best they can be!
The Advanced Player’s Guide releases in July 2020.
For more information, to download the playtest classes, and to offer feedback, check out Paizo’s recent blog post.
Enjoy!
Jessica
Quinn the Iconic Inquisitor by Wayne Reynolds. Art courtesy of Paizo Inc.
The Iconic Oracle by Wayne Reynolds. Art courtesy of Paizo Inc.
Jirrelle the Iconic Swashbucler by Wayne Reynolds. Art courtesy of Paizo Inc.
Feiya the Iconic Witch by Wayne Reynolds. Art courtesy of Paizo Inc.
Paizo has partnered with Geek & Sundry to continue the popular Knights of Everflame live-play!
Pathfinder: Knights of Everflame is an eight episode series that premiered on July 30th and wrapped up on September 17th. Episodes air live on Geek & Sundry on Twitch with videos available on demand on the Geek & Sundry YouTube channel. The second season is set to film later this year.
Pathfinder: Knights of Everflame stars Jason Bulmahn, Game Designer for Paizo Inc., as Game Master. Jason is also the Game Master for Oblivion Oath, a Pathfinder Second Edition liveplay starring Paizo staff members that streams live every Thursday at noon Pacific on Paizo’s twitch stream. Joining Jason is an exciting cast of players, including Aki (@MxGiniInABottle), Erika Fermina (@astylepixie), Gina DeVivo (@PocketGina), Jeremy Steven Walker (@JWalkerScene), and Rachel Seeley (@sunnyseeley)!
It’s summer vacation here, so my kids and I are trying to fill our time with as much swimming and trips to the park as possible. They each set themselves a few goals this summer, so we’ve been working on that. My son wanted to learn about robotics and make himself a robot. My daughter wanted to learn how to sew, make herself a stuffed rabbit, and learn how to bake. My son has had a lot of fun checking out books from the library, and trying to put together a robot from a little kit. He’s discovered that making robots takes precision and attention to detail — both of which he’s decided to needs to practise. There were a lot of points where he noticed he’d done something backwards because he wasn’t paying close enough attention. Still, with some help he made himself a cute little spider robot that can motor around a bit. It drains the battery like CRAZY though, so he’s decided the next one needs a better power source. He wants me to teach him about solar panels, which I am not afraid to admit is not my forte. Sounds like another trip to the library is in order! Haha.
My daughter’s sewing and baking lessons are going better. I told her we would not have time to make a stuffed rabbit this summer, but I have been teaching her sewing safety and some basic stitches. She’s constantly looking around the house for socks and clothes with rips in them so she can mend them herself. It’s adorable. She always loves helping with baking, but this summer she wanted to make something (almost) all on her own. She’s made a few batches of cookies that turned out well. She adores watching Nailed It, Sugar Rush, and Zumbo’s Just Desserts on Netflix, so she was determined to enter a baking competition this summer. This past weekend she challenged some of our extended family to a bake-off for a family birthday party.
Everyone had to make a LEGO-themed cake. It had to include a bit of real LEGO on it somewhere, but otherwise, whatever you baked was up to you. She was positively thrilled everyone agreed, and set to work drawing cake plans. In the end she made a vanilla rainbow-chip cake with chocolate icing that she decorated to look like mud covered in grass. Then she stuck a big LEGO rabbit she built on top of it. My son baked a chocolate cake with chocolate icing that was in the middle of being demolished by LEGO construction workers, and I made a strawberry shortcake-style cake that was dyed inside to look like the cake was made of LEGO. So tasty. Other cakes were made to look like LEGO blocks, while my mother made a massive three-tiered cake covered with fondant work. Everyone had a great time and my kids were thrilled when some people voted their cakes the most creative, or tastiest. They really enjoyed tasting all the cakes and giving it their nit-picky judge’s remarks. They had a blast.
But, my kids aren’t the only ones with goals this summer. I’ve been working on not one, but four different freelancing assignments (currently top secret!), all of which are going really well. And of course, there’s the release of Pathfinder Second Edition! The game is highly intuitive, which makes it wonderfully easy to learn, but the Core Rulebook is a massive tome! It definitely takes a while to read through. Plus there’s the Bestiary, Hellknight Hill (Age of Ashes 1 of 6), The Fall of Plaguestone, and a whopping five Pathfinder Society Scenarios available already, which I’ve been trying to find the time to read.
We’ll be participating in an online gaming convention via play-by-post soon, which is hosted on Paizo’s message board. There’s a really welcoming community of people playing there, so if any of you are considering playing a game via play-by-post I highly recommend you sign up for the convention and give it a try. Play-by-post Gameday VIII begins on August 26th and runs until November 3rd. There’s still some room for players to join games, but there won’t be for long. For more information or to sign up for games, check out the announcement thread here! If you need guidance, assistance, or information about playing via play-by-post, stop by the Flaxseed Lodge, check out the helpful links at the top of the page, and make a post in the Discussion thread, letting everyone know what you need help with. There’s always people willing to lend a hand and help a new players get started.
Closer to home, this coming weekend my family and I will be attending Convocation, an annual Pathfinder and Starfinder Society convention in Winnipeg. We’ve signed up for a short demo game of Pathfinder 2e and PFS Scenario #10-16: What the Helms Hide on Saturday afternoon, followed by PFS #10-12: Breath of the Dragonskull on Sunday afternoon. Last time we played Pathfinder Society in person at a Con we all died a horrible death, so we’re hoping we have better luck this time! Haha. My kids are bringing some of their favourite characters, so wish us luck!
And after that…? My kids and I will be starting work on submissions for the upcoming issue of Wayfinder. For those of you who don’t know, Wayfinder is a digital magazine full of fan-created content for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game or the Starfinder Roleplaying Game that releases each year at PaizoCon. Over the years they’ve made an astounding 19 issues of Wayfinder, as well as a Bestiary! Nearly every issue has a theme, with this latest one being Starfinder’s Absalom Station. This years topic is the Diaspora! Previous issues are all a free download on Paizo’s website. Everyone is welcome to submit an article to Wayfinder — a fact my children were thrilled to take advantage of last year — and I highly recommend any of you interested in getting into freelance RPG writing give it a shot. Just download a few back-issues, give them a read to see what kind of content they’re looking for, then head over to the Call for Submissions for full details. This year, my kids have decided to submit more than one article, so they’re already wracking their brains for ideas. My daughter, in particular, is thinking of more ways to include rabbits without actually being obvious about including more rabbits. This, of course, should surprise no one.
Well, I’ve got to run. My daughter is currently waving my new Core Rulebook at me, and mouthing the words ‘GOBLIN.’ Something tells me we’re making characters today…
Earlier this week it was announced that Paizo has partnered with Geek & Sundry to release a Pathfinder Second Edition show! Pathfinder: Knights of Everflame is an eight episode series that premieres at 4 pm Pacific on Tuesday, July 30th on Geek & Sundry’s twitch stream.
Pathfinder: Knights of Everflame will star Jason Bulmahn, Game Designer for Paizo Inc., as Game Master. Jason is also the Game Master for Oblivion Oath, a Pathfinder Second Edition liveplay starring Paizo staff members that streams live every Thursday at noon Pacific on Paizo’s twitch stream.
Established in 2007, Free RPG Day works with participating hobby game retailers and RPG publishers to bring new and exclusive RPG products and adventures into the hands of gamers worldwide. Fans can grab brand new material for a variety of RPGS for free by stopping by their local participating game and hobby shop.
Last year my family had a ton of fun with Free RPG Day, particularly with Paizo’s two releases: Skitter Shot, a first level Starfinder adventure featuring a crew of excitable skittermanders, and We Be 5uper Goblins, a hilarious sixth level Pathfinder adventure featuring some infamous goblin heroes on their most epic and amazing adventure yet! For those of you who missed FREE RPG Day 2018, both modules are available as a free download on Paizo’s website, or as a physical copy for five dollars.
This year Free RPG Day was held on June 15, 2019, with Paizo’s free downloads of the PDFs being available on July 1, 2019.
My husband, my children and I headed out for a trip to our local game shop. There’s a few places you can go in Winnipeg for RPG products, but our shop of choice is Game Knight Games and Cool Stuff. It’s a bit of a trek to get there, two buses and at least an hour and a half of travel time for us, but it has a great selection of RPGs, board games, miniatures, and collectible card games. They also have a spacious game space. It’s a wonderful store. The buses were accommodating, and we made good time. In no time at all we headed inside and perused the goodies on offer. There was quite a selection!
There were two products we knew we wanted to bring home with us: Skitter Crash, a third level Starfinder adventure featuring skittermanders, and We Be Heroes? a Pathfinder Playtest adventure for first level goblins. My seven-year old daughter immediately scampered over to the table and swept up Skitter Crash, while my son grabbed We Be Heroes? This left my husband and I a bevy of books to browse. In the end, my husband settled on The Witcher Easy Mode: An Introductory Booklet to the Witcher TRPG, and I scooped up Modern Age Threefold Quickstart.
The Witcher Easy Mode: An Introductory Booklet to the Witcher TRPG is just that –– an easy introduction to The Witcher TRPG. 30 pages in length it includes rules, six pre-generated characters and a short adventure called Still Waters.
Modern AGE Threefold Quickstart is an easy to understand gateway to the Modern AGE RPG that comes with streamlined rules, reference sheets, five pre-generated characters, and an introductory adventure called Burning Brighter. It’s 40 pages long and has a lot of nice art inside.
We Be Heroes?
We Be Heroes? is an adventure we knew we wanted to bring home with us. It’s a Pathfinder Playtest adventure, using the final version of the Playtest rules. We Be Heroes? is a first level adventure written by Brian Duckwitz which continues the tradition of the super popular We Be Goblins series (We Be Goblins!, We Be Goblins Too!, We Be Goblins Free!, We B4 Goblins!, and We Be 5uper Goblins!). However, this adventure features a whole new team of goblin adventurers who are set to take on the minions of the Whispering Tyrant! (And zombie pigs?!) Driven by hunger and the orders of their chief, the goblins of the Crookedtoes tribe are tasked with finding out why all the animals in the forest have fled the region, and what happened to the tribe’s best scout. They get to meet up with some heroic knights, explore a wrecked farmhouse, and… be heroes! We absolutely adored reading this adventure and intend to play it soon — although whether we’ll play it as a Playtest adventure, switch it over to Pathfinder First Edition so we can play it right away, or wait for August and switch it over to Pathfinder Second Edition rules remains to be seen. Either way, we’re going to have a blast with it. If you didn’t get your hands on this amazing product, don’t worry. You’ll be able to download it for free on Paizo’s website in two weeks or so.
Skitter Crash
Finally, there’s my personal favourite… Our skittermander heroes from Skitter Shot are set to continue their adventures in Skitter Crash! Written by Jason Keeley, this is a third level Starfinder module that sees our skittermander heroes crash their ship on a mysterious swampy planet after a run in with space pirates and an interstellar cyclone! They’ll need to find their ship, deal with the space pirates, and (of course!) make some nu-friends! The adventure was a lot of fun. So fun, in fact, that we played it today at our local gaming store with a wonderful GM (you’re awesome, Wil!) and another player new to RPGs (I hope you had fun, Robin!).
The verdict?
This adventure is a BLAST. I highly recommend it.
I hope a lot of you got out to Free RPG Day! If you did, I’d love to hear what kind of products you got your hands on, and what you thought of them.
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This year Free RPG Day was held on June 15, 2019, with Paizo’s free downloads of the PDFs being available on July 1, 2019.
d20 Diaries 