A lucky skittermander! Illustrated by Taylor Fischer. Art courtesy of Paizo Inc.
Starfinder Critical Hit Deck is the size and shape of a deck of playing cards. It retails for around $10.99 USD (or around $15 Canadian dollars). There’s an adorable little skittermander playing with a d20 on the box, with some product information on the back.
The cards inside are high quality and easy to read with a colour scheme matching the Starfinder Core Rulebook. There’s fifty-five cards inside. One contains product information, the open game license, and cites Owen K.C. Stephens as the author and Taylor Fischer as the illustrator. The second card lists the rules of using the Critical Hit Deck. And the other 53 cards are Critical hit Cards.
All of the cards follow a specific set of rules laid out on the rules card. All critical hits deal double damage unless the card specifies otherwise. Any effects listed as ‘Crit Effect’ can replace your weapons regular critical hit effect (if it has one) if you want it to, but you don’t get both. Any effects listed as ‘Bonus Effect’ apply in addition to the critical hit effects of your weapons. There’s some other simple rules for DCs, scaling, and so on, but they’re all easy to get a handle on.
You’ll also need to decide ahead of time how to use the Critical Hit Deck. That is to say, when you use it. For players that’s simple. Every time you score a critical hit (a natural 20 on a d20 dice) you draw a card and apply it’s effects. For GMs it works a little differently. The deck provides three options for the GM to select from. First, the GM draws a card whenever a major villain, creature, or NPC scores a critical hit. Second, drawing a critical hit card is a special ability that NPCs can take, and the GM selects which NPCs have it. And third, the GM draws a card every time a villain, creature, or NPC scores a critical hit. Personally, my family uses it for all PC critical hits and for major villain, creature, and NPC critical hits, but I like that there’s a variety of ways to integrate this deck into your game.
When you score a critical hit you draw a card. Each card has four different critical hit effects. One for energy attacks, one for kinetic attacks, and one for spell attacks. The fourth critical hit effect is an ‘extreme blow’ and lists a single specific damage type (such as electricity or slashing). You simply read the card, select the critical hit effect that matches your damage type, and carry out the effect listed. If you happen to deal the exact same type of damage as the extreme blow you use that critical effect instead. Easy.
Most importantly? It’s fun! My family loves pulling out a card and getting some extra effects. Particularly the extreme blows. It always ends in laughter. Of course, they’re not so thrilled when an enemy does it, but hey, that’s the way the dice land. Haha.
Some of our favourite effects include blast back (energy), lodged in the bone (kinetic), shrapnel by the bone (kinetic), blood magic (spell), vampiric magic (spell), disintegrate (extreme spell), it’s a gusher (extreme melee), mega-smash (extreme bludgeoning), punctured lung (extreme piercing), sound of victory (extreme sonic), severed spine (extreme slashing), and disarmed (literally!)(extreme slashing).
Got a favourite critical hit card? Let us know in the comments!
Archives of Nethys, an online database for official Pathfinder and Starfinder content and rules, recently announced the launch of their new website: 2e.aonprd.com! This new site will be dedicated to Pathfinder Second Edition and will launch on August 1st, 2019, at 7:00 am (Pacific Time). That’s right! It’s coming out the same day that Pathfinder Second Edition launches in print!
Exciting news!
Through the Archives of Nethys players around the world will have all the rules and characters options for Pathfinder Second Edition at their fingertips, online and free. I am absolutely ecstatic! I know cost is a huge factor to consider when deciding whether I’ll be able to give Pathfinder Second Edition a try. Seeing that barrier removed is amazing.
Today we’re taking a look at a board game my kids recently got for their birthday: 5-Minute Dungeon! This real-time card game tasks up to five players with working together to escape a dungeon in under five minutes. Each dungeon consists of a randomized deck of cards that features obstacles, monsters, people, and events to overcome. At the end of each dungeon is a powerful boss to defeat. To beat the game you’ll need to triumph over five separate dungeons.
This game is frantic, fast-paced, and more than a little chaotic! Communication and teamwork are essential to your success. Player’s win or lose as a team. 5-Minute Dungeon is intended for players ages eight and up. Although a single dungeon takes five minutes, playing through a whole game takes about thirty to forty-five minutes, depending how many times you fail to escape a dungeon.
Players take on the role of one of ten characters by selecting a character board. Each board is colour-coded and double-sided, with one male and one female character per board. Every character board makes use of one of five matching decks, and every character has their own unique ability which can be triggered by discarding three cards from your hand. That means that up to five people can play at a time.
Characters include the blue sorceress and wizard, green huntress and ranger, purple ninja and thief, red barbarian and gladiator, and yellow paladin and valkyrie. Most of the special abilities of these characters fall into two types: those that help get someone in your group extra cards and those that automatically defeat a certain category of card. There’s also the wizard’s unique ability to stop time. We found that it was very helpful to play with the wizard and a character who can help the group draw cards, with the rest of the players taking on abilities that can auto-defeat either monsters, obstacles, or people. Once you’ve got your character picked out you place the matching deck on their board.
Next you set up the dungeon. Start by selecting a boss. There are five to choose from and each is numbered 1 though 5. You simply start at Boss #1: Baby Barbarian and work your way up to Boss #5: Dungeon Master. Each boss also has a number of cards written on it. Baby Barbarian has 20, The Grime Reaper has 25, Zola the Gorgon has 30, and so on. This is the number of dungeon cards you’ll randomly select and place on the boss board. Then you’ll pick out two challenge cards per player and shuffle them into the deck of dungeon cards. This is the boss’s dungeon. You simply place the deck of cards into the space marked with the dotted line and you’re ready to begin.
Player’s begin by drawing a number of cards. This number is variable and determined by how many people are playing the game. Chances are you’ll start with three or four cards. Then you start the five minute timer, flip over the first card in the dungeon deck, and get adventuring!
To reach ‘The Grime Reaper’ you’ll need to defeat the ‘A Cactus that wants a hug.’ Oh, no! I hope you’ve got some shields….
This game doesn’t come with a physical timer. Instead there’s a timer app you can download on your phone, tablet, and other handheld device. It’s a quick download and easy to use. You simply select a voice for the announcer (I love the ‘fearful’ voice, but my daughter’s a fan of ‘spiteful’) and click start. Sometimes you’ll need to pause the game (such as with the wizard’s ‘time stop’ ability) in which case you simply push pause. If you defeat the dungeon you click ‘We Won,’ if you lose you click ‘We Lost’ and if you run out of time you don’t need to click a thing. It’s an enjoyable, humorous little timer app and my kids really like it.
Boss #1: Baby Barbarian. He takes two swords, two arrows, and three dash to defeat, and his dungeon contains twenty cards.
Baby Barbarian and an example of Challenge and Dungeon Cards
There are four major categories of dungeon cards: event, person, monster, and obstacle. Events are the simplest to resolve. They each have a sentence explaining what you need to do, you do it, then you move on to the next card. Examples of events are ‘Sudden Illness’ which forces every player to discard their hand, or ‘Trap Door’ which forces all players to discard three cards. The rest of the cards — monster, obstacle, and person — have circular symbols on them. These symbols match the cards that you must play to defeat them. These cards can be played in any order and by any player. There are no turns. As soon as all the needed cards are played you have defeated the card, it gets moved to the discard pile, and you flip over the next dungeon card. Once all of the dungeon cards are defeated you will see the symbols needed to defeat the Boss.
This makes gameplay fast and chaotic, with players slapping down cards, shouting out what they’re playing, and calling out what’s still needed to defeat the card. It’s the sort of game where everyone feels a sense of urgency and excitement, and get’s a thrill of triumph when a card is defeated.
The four types of cards you’ll find in a dungeon.
So what the heck are all these symbols?
There are five major symbols in the game, which are colour coded. These same symbols are seen across all the boss cards and all character decks. Called ‘Resources’ they include the red sword, yellow shield, green arrow, blue scroll, and purple jumping person (which my family always calls ‘sprint’ or ‘dash’ but is probably called ‘leap’). Every deck will have cards of these five types, although they will have them in different combinations. The red barbarian/gladiator deck will have a lot of red swords, for example, while the blue sorceress/wizard deck will have a lot of blue scrolls. In addition to these single symbol cards there’s double symbol cards — cards that have two red swords, two blue scrolls, and so on. These are seen in much lower quantities than the single symbol cards, and not every deck will have them in every kind. While the sorceress/wizard deck may have a few double scroll cards, the huntress/ranger deck won’t. One of the decks — the red barbarian/gladiator has special double symbol cards which consist of a red sword and a second other symbol.
The rest of the cards found in the character decks are black bordered and have a special ability written on them. The most common are abilities that let you auto-defeat a certain category of dungeon card. ‘Fireball’ defeats a monster, ‘Backstab’ defeats a person, and ‘Mighty Leap’ defeats an obstacle. These are super useful cards which can be found throughout all of the different coloured decks in differing quantities. While the sorceress/wizard has a lot of ‘Fireballs’ the ninja/thief has more ‘Mighty Leap’ and ‘Backstab’ cards. Finally, every colour deck has some unique black bordered ability cards. ‘Enrage’ from the red barbarian/gladiator deck lets you choose two players who may draw three cards each. ‘Divine Shield’ from the yellow paladin/valkyrie deck pauses time until someone plays a card and lets every player draw one card. ‘Magic Bomb’ from the blue sorceress/wizard deck counts as one of each type of resource. My personal favourite card? ‘Heal’ which lets you select a player who can put their entire discard pile back on top of their draw pile. Awesome!
The many card types found in 5-Minute Dungeon
As mentioned, every deck is different but equally useful. You’ll soon discover which play style you prefer and find a favourite, so I highly recommend trying each deck out. I love the yellow paladin/valkyrie deck best — particularly when played with the valkyrie character who can help her fellow players draw cards. The yellow deck has a lot of different healing cards, which I find can be incredibly helpful. My son, on the other hand, prefers the to play as the blue wizard. He’s a huge fan of the wizard’s ‘Time Stop’ ability — which is so helpful I’d go as far as to call it a necessity. He also loves the ‘Magic Bomb’ card which can only be found in the blue deck. Finally, my daughter prefers to play as the green huntress — solely because she loves the art. To each their own, I guess. Haha.
With all the decks in their places, cards in hand, and the timer started, play can begin. There’s a few other rules you need to know, but not many. Whenever you have less cards than your opening hand consisted of you can immediately draw cards to fill your hand back up to maximum. Discard piles do not get shuffled back into the draw pile once the draw pile is empty. This means that if your deck ever runs out you can no longer draw cards — unless someone plays a card that gives you cards from your discard pile or something similar.
Winning will take teamwork, speed, and luck. If you win you reshuffle your decks, select your character (you do not need to keep the same character throughout all the dungeons), set your boards back up, and build the dungeon for the next Boss. When everything’s ready you begin play again. If you defeat all five dungeons you win the game.
If you ever fail to defeat a dungeon you’re supposed to reset, going all the way back to the Baby Barbarian and his dungeon again, but my family didn’t like this rule. Instead we just replayed the dungeon we were on.
We’ve played this game quite a few times. Sometimes we finish it all the way through, and sometimes we only play a round or two. My kids and I really like it. They enjoy the teamwork aspect, and that they can always be playing. There’s no waiting for your turn or getting beat on by your friends. It’s fun and fast. It’s not a game for everyone, though. My husband doesn’t really like it. He’s a fan of strategic, complex games. Chances are whatever game we’re playing he’s going to be that player taking the longest turns. Unsurprisingly, the chaotic, real-time gameplay of 5-Minute Dungeon is not to his tastes. It’s also not the kind of game you can play anywhere. Players are going to get loud. Although you could bring to a party, family gathering, or friend’s house, it’s not the sort of thing you’re going to bring to play at the library, local coffee shop, laundromat, or airport. Finally, it’s not the sort of game you want to let the kids play late at night. Mine get antsy, excited, and leap and jump around. Not really a relaxing, winding-down sort of game.
The board after my kids and I defeated the final boss!
Victory!
All in all, we really liked 5-Minute Dungeon — especially my son. It’s fast paced, easy to learn, and enjoyable. My only complaints? I wish the boss cards were double sided so you could choose which of the two to face off against and I wish there were more dungeon and challenge cards included in the game so the dungeons felt more varied. But, I suppose wanting more of a game isn’t much of a complaint. More like a wish list. Haha. 5-Minute Dungeon is a pretty easy game to find that currently retails for around $30 Canadian. Our copy belongs to my eight-year old son, and made an excellent gift. He loves it.
Today we’re taking an in depth look at the first book in the Tyrant’s Grasp Adventure Path! This survival horror campaign pits the players against the return of the Whispering Tyrant, the lich-king Tar-Baphon, who was defeated and sealed away long ago. Tyrant’s Grasp will be the final Pathfinder 1st Edition Adventure Path released, before the switch is made over to Pathfinder 2nd Edition in August. Intended to take characters from levels 1 to 17, Tyrant’s Grasp is six volumes long.
A wonderful Player’s Guide for Tyrant’s Grasp is available as a free download on Paizo’s website here. The Player’s Guide gives players a relatively spoiler-free way to properly prepare for and integrate their characters into the Tyrant’s Grasp Adventure Path. I highly recommend checking it out!
The Tyrant’s Grasp Adventure Path begins with Pathfinder Adventure Path: The Dead Roads (Tyrant’s Grasp 1 of 6). Written by Ron Lundeen, The Dead Roads is an adventure intended for first level characters, which should bring PCs up to level five by its conclusion. This adventure begins when the PCs awaken already defeated in the Boneyard, a land where the dead go to be judged. There’s just one problem… They’re not quite dead. Trapped inside a tomb that doesn’t belong to them, they’ll need to escape, figure out what happened to them, and find a way to return home. But, how could one possibly escape the land of the dead?
Let me start by saying that The Dead Roads — and the Tyrant’s Grasp Adventure Path — is not for everyone. Terrible tragedies will occur, and you won’t always be able to prevent them. These events are bound to have a lasting effect on your characters, so players should be prepared to consider and role-play the marks left by the trials you face. Often you’ll be in dire situations with limited resources, so players will need to be resourceful to survive. Plenty of the imagery and events in this adventure are dark, morbid, and sorrowful. It’s definitely a horror campaign — though not your typical horror. It’s suspenseful survival horror, with a good deal of body horror in the first book, as well. The Dead Roads contains imagery that is inappropriate for children and some adult gamers will even consider an image or two disturbing. It’s definitely not a campaign I could play with my family.
That said, I loved The Dead Roads. Absolutely, positively, adored it.
For starters, it looks great. From cover to cover it’s a wonderful, high quality book filled with nice maps, and beautiful, dark artwork. The cover depicts Mictena (a catrina psychopomp the PCs are destined to interact with) in the foreground. Behind her is an image of Seelah (the Iconic paladin) and Yoon (the iconic kineticist) battling ostovites. Both images are by Igor Grechanyi. There’s a lovely map of The Gravelands (Lastwall and parts of Ustalav) on the inside cover. There’s a ton of artwork throughout the book — of enemies, allies, and characters who could become either. I particularly enjoyed the art for Prince Uspid and Mictena. Colulus was the most disconcerting image in the book. If any image is going to bug a squeamish player it’ll be that one. There’s a few characters that I wish had art but don’t (which is expected! Art’s not cheap and there’s only so much space!). Ayuki, in particular, would have been nice to see, as well as the jitterbone creature in the bestiary. The maps, all drawn by Matthias Rothenaicher, are really nice. They look great, of course, but they’re also well thought out, executed, and each has a unique feel to it. I particularly enjoyed ‘Roslar’s Tomb’ and ‘Deathbower.’ I wish that the maps of the various Dead Roads locations were given a bit more space, though. Squishing three multi-floor maps for three different locations onto one page is good for page count, but makes some of the maps difficult to read. Part of the eastern end of the ‘Palace of Teeth’ is nearly lost in the creases of the binding, while the entrance to ‘Salishara’s Scriptorium’ is hidden in the creases. If both of those maps were a few grid squares further to the left that would have been less of a problem. Finally, flipping back and forth between the map page and the various locations depicted in it (which is spread out over 28 pages) is a bit irritating. Have a bookmark or post-it note handy and try not to tear your pages. Much to my surprise there was also two player handouts which represent puzzles the group comes across. I’m really glad they’re depicted instead of just described. They’re necessary and a really nice touch.
Part of the maps lost in the creases.
The Dead Roads starts with a bang (HA!) and doesn’t let up. The entire opening has the feel of an ominous, suspenseful mystery. Your PCs don’t know where they are, how they got there, or what’s going on. Their locations hide clues to both their situation and the history of wider events, which the PCs may or may not be able to uncover. In time they will discover the answers to some of their questions, just as they realize it’s tied to an even bigger mystery.
There’s a lot of wonderful social encounters and NPCs in this adventure. Number Three, Barple Stonebreaker, Prince Uspid, Queen Carnassial, Kishokish and his portrait, Ayuki, Salighara, Berthold, the wyrwoods, Mrs. Pedipalp, Aydie, Reedreaper, Mictena — there’s just so many great interactions in this adventure! Among them, three particularly stand out amongst the crowd: interacting with the townsfolk of Roslar’s Coffer is poignant and amazing; speaking with Barzahk the Passage; and — my personal favourite characters — Umble and Thoot! This pair of friendly psychopomps are the best!
Umble and Thoot
Prince Uspid
Deathbower
Many of the creatures and NPCs you come across don’t look friendly — which doesn’t mean they aren’t friendly. Of course, it doesn’t mean they are friendly, either. Which I love! Appearances have no bearing on what a creature acts like and I appreciate that this adventure used that so effectively. It’s bound to throw players for a bit of a loop and make them feel… off-kilter. Which is great!
There’s a lot of challenging encounters in this adventure and plenty of unique monsters to face off against. I particularly enjoyed that so many can end in ways other than violence. But, don’t let that last sentence lull you into a false sense of security! There’s a lot of combat encounters in this book that cannot be avoided.
And the ending! Oh, the ending! I love it! I cannot wait to get my hands on the next book in this Adventure Path! I have a feeling Eulogy for Roslar’s Coffer is going to be just as good.
And now it’s time for a warning:
We’ve got more to say about this adventure, but it’ll come with spoilers! Don’t want to read them? Skip on past this next section until you see the large words ‘SPOILERS OVER.’ Got it? Good! See you on the other side where we’ll talk about the extra content in this book!
SPOILERS
The Dead Roads adventure is split into four major parts: Awake in Roslar’s Tomb, Among the Dead, Walking the Dead Roads, and Deathbower. One of these parts Walking the Dead Roads is particularly dense and is made up of three major locations: The Palace of Teeth, Nine-Eaves, and Salighara’s Scriptorium. All told The Dead Roads adventure is 52 pages in length with six pages afterwards dedicated to three NPCs: Mictena, Mrs. Pedipalp, and Reedreaper. All three of these are enemies the PCs will come across, but only one of them has to stay that way. The PCs have a chance to convince the other two to step aside without violence (although it’s extremely hard to accomplish for one of those two!).
Through this adventure the PCs will get to interact with psychopomps, a type of outsider native to the Boneyard who work to ensure that the processing of souls is done accurately and efficiently. Typically functioning as guides for the souls of the deceased, the psychopomps are confused over what to do about the mysterious PCs. Some will help them along their way (especially the delightful Umble and Thoot!) , and others with hinder them — particularly Mictena, a catrina psychopomp obsessed with putting the PCs spirits properly to rest. Through a good thorough death, of course! Psychopomps aren’t the only enemies and NPCs the players will interact with. The Boneyard is a huge realm, and there’s plenty of creatures living/stranded/invading there. Other major groups of enemies include fey, vermin, sakhil, and nightmarish beings from the Dimension of Dreams.
Fittingly, The Dead Roads begins with death. Lots of it. The entire town of Roslar’s Coffer has been destroyed in one terrifying instant. Including the PCs. I’ll leave the details out of this article, but suffice to say this will have a lasting effect on your players and their characters. Any family, friends, and companions — pets included — that lived in Roslar’s Coffer are dead. Although it might be tempting to warn some players about this in advance, that also will ruin some of the surprise and likely result in players purposely making no personal connections to the town of Roslar’s Coffer — which would be a mistake in my opinion. Every GM will need to judge their players accordingly, and perhaps provide them with some hints and warnings while they build their characters and backstories. In my opinion this event is handled incredibly well throughout this adventure, and I highly recommend allowing players to make a character with personal connections to Roslar’s Coffer. It adds so much to the story. However, it is important to inform PCs that if they have animal companions, mounts, or they are a wizard with a familiar, they will not have access to their pet at the start of the campaign. Player’s who have read the Tyrant’s Grasp Player’s Guide will already be aware of this, although they won’t (accurately) know why.
Happily, the player’s experience doesn’t begin with the death of Roslar’s Coffer. Instead, Part One: Awake in Roslar’s Tomb begins with the PCs waking up in a stone coffin. Literally entombed they need to push their way out of the stone box and into a cold, dark, mausoleum. It’s a great opening. Players and characters alike are bound to be curious what has happened and where they are. Players begin with any gear they had that could reasonably fit in a coffin with them. Any familiars who share a soul with your PCs (a shaman or witch familiar) will be in a coffin of their own, while all other companions are not present (as they are dead). Eidolons and phantoms can be summoned back normally, although all other familiars and companions will need to be replaced at a later time.
Soon, the PCs will discover they’re in someone else’s tomb — Ervin Roslar, Knight of Ozem and hero of the Shining Crusade. The same man that Roslar’s Coffer is named after, in fact. Interesting! As they navigate the tomb they’ll find strange creatures, animated bones (sort of…), a trapped spirit, and a tribe of mites. They’ll also discover that Ervin Roslar may have had a few secrets of his own, although it’s unlikely they’ll unravel his history completely. This section of the adventure is a suspenseful series of explorations, mysteries, tantalizing clues, and challenging combats. It’s going to be a ton of fun to both run and play.
Part Two: Among the Dead begins when the PCs exit Roslar’s Tomb to find themselves face to face with a pair of spooky looking (and absolutely delightful) psychopomps: Umble and Thoot! Seriously, they’re awesome. This quirky pair give the PCs some answers to their most pressing questions and explains that not only are the PCs dead and not dead at the same time — weird! — the rest of Roslar’s Coffer is well and truly dead. They ask the PCs to lend them a hand in convincing the spirits of the dead of Roslar’s Coffer that they are, in fact, dead. These poor fellows need a hand moving everyone on to the afterlife in a calm and orderly fashion! The PCs get to travel to a phantom version of Roslar’s Coffer where they interact with all the people in town — now dead. This is an amazing section of the adventure. Short and poignant, the GM has a chance to show the PCs what has happened to all their family and friends. They’ll need to convince loved ones to move on, and will have a chance to say goodbye. If they have any pets they’ll find them here as well. The adventure itself provides rules for interacting with these spirits, how to convince them to move on, and some tactics that will let them do it in a timely fashion — namely convincing the town leaders of their death. Some PCs will want to stay behind and die along with their family, others won’t have personal connections to the townsfolk, and others still will want to ‘save’ some of these spirits and attempt to return them back to life. There’s plenty of guidance in this book for handling PCs of every kind. After accepting their death the people of Roslar’s Coffer — even familial loved ones — want answers for what happened to them. The PCs are uniquely positioned to uncover this. And, of course, any spirits who can’t be convinced to move on (including those your PCs may want to bring back) will deteriorate in time until they become undead ghosts and other malevolent entities. Umble and Thoot can explain this to the group and ensure no PCs attempt anything so foolhardy. Also in this section the PCs are first introduced to the antagonist of this adventure, Mictena. Overall, this section of the book is among my very favourites. It’s exceptionally well handled and sure to be an emotional experience for players and characters alike. It’s a truly unique roleplaying opportunity. I’m not an overly emotional person, but I’m quite certain that if I was playing this with any character who had even a modest amount of family or friends in Roslar’s Coffer, under an even remotely talented GM, I would cry — in a good way! It has the potential to really tug at the heartstrings.
Part Three: Walking the Dead Roads begins after the PCs have helped the people of Roslar’s Coffer accept their death. Umble and Thoot, who are grateful and believe that since the PCs are only slightly dead they’re not truly dead at all, offer the PCs a way out of the Boneyard. The Dead Roads. They explain that this secret path is only ever trod by psychopomps and gatekeepers, the beings who watch over what amounts to traveller’s checkpoints along the road. Capable of leading anywhere, the PCs can use the Dead Roads to get home to Roslar’s Coffer (so they can figure out what’s happened) by taking a certain path. They’ll need to stop at the three checkpoints along the way and get stamped by that location’s master. Convincing them to grant the stamp should be the hardest part of the journey. Unbeknownst to Umble and Thoot, politics and turmoil have overtaken the three waystations, making each location more dangerous than expected. These locations may be visited in any order, although they are presented in order of difficulty (which is also how I recommend playing them).
The Palace of Teeth is a small castle ruled over Queen Carnassial and her court of tooth fairies. Not long ago her son, Prince Uspid, led a coup against her, and the two factions have been locked in a stalemate ever since. Although Queen Carnassial is the only one with the authority to stamp the PCs (at least until her death) it’s Prince Uspid the PCs are destined to meet first. They’ll need to navigate, bargain, and battle their way through bickering fey factions. They might even get to keep all their teeth…. This location is simultaneously goofy in a crazed sort of way and disconcerting. Although the Palace of Teeth was once a beautiful castle it’s undergone a rather morbid makeover since the fey moved in. The place is creepy and it’s denizens literally want to yank your teeth out. That can make bargaining… weird. Haha. I love the art for both the tooth fairy monarchs (particularly Prince Uspid!) and the stained glass angel. But, in my opinion, the creepiest encounter involves a pair of soulbound dolls in the midst of acting out a rather bloody play about dentistry. They attempt to make the PCs their next patients, using deep slumber and some particularly creepy statements. It’s awesome! Haha. The Palace of Teeth is my favourite location on in part three.
Nine-Eaves is a three storey manor owned by an old shoki psychopomp with a fondness for games and puzzles. Unfortunately, Kishokish’s manor has been invaded by sahkil and he’s now a prisoner in his own home. They PCs will need to free him if they want to get his stamp. Luckily they’re not without allies. An animated portrait created to pose riddles to visitors can lend the PCs a hand — if they can solve his puzzles! There are three puzzles total, and each one solved can earn the PCs information and advice. They’ll need to traverse the house as they seek answers, battling vermin, sahkil, and an unfettered phantom named Ayuki. I really enjoyed the puzzle aspects of this location.
Salighara’s Scriptorium was created by Salighara, a reclusive viduus psychopomp who is studying the Dimension of Dreams and oversees a crew of wyrwood scribes. Mictena attempted to convince Salighara to kill the PCs on her behalf, but was rebuffed. Mictena then offered the same deal to Salighara’s assistant, a plump woman named Mrs. Pedipalp (actually an aranea from a nightmarish section of the Dimension of Dreams). Happy to take the powerful psychopomp up on her offer, Mrs. Pedipalp has ousted Salighara from her own scriptorium and remade the building in her own image. Now a dark place of nightmares and horror, the PCs will need to set things right. This is definitely the most horror-themed location in The Dead Roads, with traps, haunts, and horrifying enemies. Colulus, a flayed ettercap and long-time minion of Mrs. Pedipalp is by far the most horrifying. But, even the Scriptorium is not without potential allies. PCs get to meet Salighara, some upset wyrwoods, and a ratling named Berthold. Mrs. Pedipalp herself is a great opponent — a capable liar, powerful spellcaster, and nightmarish foe all wrapped up in a kindly looking package. I particularly like her tactics. That said, it’s likely Colulus who will give parties the most trouble.
After receiving their stamps the PCs can finally traverse the rest of the Dead Roads and return to the land of the living — not! Mictena refuses to let them go! She magically relocated her domain, Deathbower, right onto the Dead Roads so that she and her dangerous shabti gardeners can kill your PCs properly. Which brings us to the final section of the Dead Roads adventure, Part Four: Deathbower. I love this location and its map. I love the inhabitants — gardeners, friends, and foes. And I love Mictena herself. Despite being an enemy of your PCs she’s not a bad being. She’s a psychopomp just doing what she thinks is right. Which is cool! Although some of the hazards and enemies in this glorious garden must be confronted head on, some characters can be swayed and may even join you for a while. Reedreaper is a particularly interesting character, although it’s unlikely he sticks around long enough to play much of a role. Even Mictena can be talked down — theoretically. The chances your PCs will be able to roll high enough are incredibly slim, but it could happen. Which I really like.
After leaving Deathbower behind the PCs find themselves back on the Dead Roads and greeted by an incredibly powerful psychopomp, Barzahk the Passage, a demigod and master of the Dead Roads. This enigmatic figure whisks the PCs off to their home in a matter of moments, giving them a bit of time to ask him any questions they might have. I thought this was a great moment and a wonderful way to end the adventure.
SPOILERS OVER
In addition to The Dead Roads adventure, this volume contains two articles intended for both GMs and players, one article solely for the GM, a campaign outline, and a bestiary containing five new creatures.
The first article, Tools of the Boneyard, is written by Matt Morris. In it you’ll find new gear and character options aimed at dealing with the dead. There is one alchemical remedy, one alchemical tool, and two alchemical weapons — bone burn is my favourite, so be sure to check it out! There are two new special materials useful for crafting — cryptstone can be used for ammunition and weapons, while spiresteel can be used for ammunition, weapons, and armour. Finally, there are five new magic items: crypt rod, grim helm, harbinger’s scythe, Lady’s Mercy, and Momument’s Truth. Although I enjoyed a lot of the items, it’s the character options that I found were most exciting. Graveslinger is a gunslinger archetype that specializes in combatting incorporeal undead. Soul Shepherd is a monk archetype that calm incorporeal undead and haunts with a touch. They also gain some otherworldly resistances and interesting ways to use their ki. Reaper is a new oracle mystery which I really enjoyed. Tightly themed and flavourful it’s capable of both killing the living and destroying undead. There are also six new barbarian rage powers including the psychopomp totem powers.
Thrilled to see shabti get some attention!
The second player friendly article is written by Mikhail Rekun and entitled The Half-Dead. This section talks about four races that have a strong connection to death and the undead. In addition to providing details and character options for dhampir, duskwalkers, and shabti, it also talks about the new subtype of creatures, mortics. Dhampir appear alongside two magical items, duswalkers have access to five new feats, and shabti have access to five new feats. I was particularly excited to see shabti included.
The next article, To Exceed Their Grasp, is written by Crystal Frasier and intended for GMs only. This article discusses some of the important concepts, characters, and events of the Tyrant’s Grasp Adventure Path and the role they play in the overarching story. It also contains a timeline. This is incredibly useful for GMs an will likely be referenced throughout the entire Adventure Path.
The Death of Arazni (Herald of Aroden) during the Shining Crusade. Art courtesy of Paizo Inc.
The Bestiary is up next! It contains a random encounter chart, two interesting social encounters, and five new creatures written by Ron Lundeen, Kyle T. Raes, and Mike Welham. All of the monsters in this book have ties to death and the Boneyard and two of them are featured in The Dead Roads adventure. Bonewrought Willow is an ominous looking intelligent plant capable of growing in Boneyard. Attracted to light and more benevolent than it appears this is a great CR 3 creature I can’t wait to confront my players with. Kaicherak are nasty little fanged worm beasts with ties to Achaekek and a fondness for messily gorging themselves on blood. At CR 4 they are among the most powerful new creatures in the bestiary. Mortics are living beings with strong connections to negative energy which makes them sort of like living undead. There are two mortic stat blocks included in the bestiary — the ghoulish elf-like angheuvore (CR 2) and the incredibly flexible halfling-like jitterbone (CR 4). As previously mentioned, more information on mortics is also included in The Half-Dead article. The final creature is the tooth fairy monarch, a CR 3 version of the lowly tooth fairy.
The last article is a campaign outline, written by Crystal Frasier and Ron Lundeen, that briefly details the events of the upcoming volumes of the Tyrant’s Grasp Adventure Path. Not the sort of thing you want your players peeking at! The campaign outline is incredibly useful for GMs.
Today we’re going to take a look at the two most recent Starfinder Society Scenarios that are 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 #1-34: Heart of the Foe is a Tier 3-6 adventure written by Nicholas Wasko. It takes place on Rax, an inhospitable planet the jinsul are known to visit on occasion. There you will explore a ruined city that shows signs of life for any information you can scrounge up on the jinsul and their society. This scenario features the Faction (Second Seekers [Jadnura]) and Faction (Second Seekers [Luwazi Elsebo]) tags making it the first mission to prominently feature both First Seekers. This scenario continues the ongoing Scoured Stars storyline (#1-05: The First Mandate, #1-11: In Pursuit of the Scoured Past, #1-13: On the Trail of History, #1-17: Reclaiming the Time-Lost Tear, #1-99: The Scoured Stars Invasion, #1-23: Return to Sender, #1-29: Honorbound Emissaries, and #1-31: Treading History’s Folly). As such you’ll want to bring along characters who have an interest in the Scoured Stars Trinary System or storyline, who have interacted with the jinsul, or are working on collecting the ‘Journey to Scoured Stars’ boons. I also recommend bringing a character who does not have a Personal Boon permanently slotted. This scenario does NOT involve starship combat, but it MIGHT feature a vehicle chase (more on that shortly). It makes use of Pathfinder: Map Pack: Frozen Sites, Pathfinder: Flip Mat: Tech Dungeon, and an awesome full page custom map that has a very ‘Borderlands‘ feel to it. This scenario features content from Starfinder Core Rulebook, Alien Archive, and Armory. All of the necessary stat blocks are included in the scenario itself. However, GMs will definitely need the Core Rulebook for this one. Although this scenario doesn’t include a vehicle chase (but it could) it does use modified vehicle chase rules, which most players do not have internalized (in my experience). GMs will likely need to brush up on the vehicle chase rules and be prepared to teach it to their players as needed. Be aware that this is a rather dense scenario, so groups that are unfamiliar with chases could cause it to run long.
Heart of the Foe begins when both First Seeker Luwazi Elsebo and First Seeker Jadnura task the PCs with travelling to a planet the jinsul are known to occassionally visit in order to discover actionable intel and information about the jinsul themselves. For those of you who don’t know, the jinsul are a violent race of aliens that conquered the Scoured Stars Trinary system while the Starfinder Society rescued their comrades during the #1-99: The Scoured Stars Invasion. The jinsul have been a thorn in the side of the Starfinder Society ever since and the First Seekers are worried at the threat they pose to the Pact Worlds. Your PCs will need to travel to the mysterious planet — alongside both First Seekers and three other Starfinder teams — investigate a few sites that show signs of life, and uncover what they can about the jinsul and their society. Neither the Starfinder Society nor the players know a whole lot about these insectile fellows, so I was thrilled to dig a little deeper into the history of the jinsul themselves. Exciting stuff! Throughout the course of this scenario PCs will get to learn about jinsul anatomy, culture, history, religious beliefs, and — oh yeah — fight a whole lot of jinsul! It’s an action packed, exciting scenario that’s going to be a lot of fun. The battles all serve a purpose, the chase scene is both exciting and complex, and the world itself is very atmospheric. The finale is exciting and challenging, with a lot of moving parts. It’s chaotic and really well done. Dare I say… epic? Yeah, I do. Haha. There’s only one real social encounter, but the character you get to interact with is really… enjoyable so it strikes a nice balance. I love their demeanour and attitude towards the PCs. So good!
Ekkerah, illustrated by Bryan Syme. Art courtesy of Paizo Inc.
But, it’s not all sunshine and roses radiation and bullets. I do have a few minor complaints with this one. First off, it’s tough to run. Now, this isn’t really a complaint. It’s an observation and potential warning. This is not the kind of scenario an inexperienced GM should attempt. There’s vehicle chase rules, modifications to the vehicle chase rules, environmental conditions, a whole lot of dice rolling during travel scenes, plenty of hopping around between pages for potential clues and intel, and complex battles with lots of enemies and allies to track. Not easy. Second, it has a bit of a slow start. Not the immediate start, but the… well let’s call it the travel scene. There’s a lot of dice rolling done every hour, which runs the risk of becoming a boring sort of routine if not handled right (particularly when you take into account the flipping between pages that might have to occur). That said, I do like the information your group could uncover about the jinsul along the way. Third, environmental protections. Chances are your characters have them. They protect us from a lot, but there’s also things it won’t protect you from. Fair. But in this one it feels like you get penalized for using them. You either use them and suffer X or don’t use them and suffer Y. Which is unfortunate. The scenario refers to snow clinging to your environmental protections’ helmet — when many armour’s environmental protections use a force field instead of helmets — and even if you are wearing armour that has a helmet, couldn’t you just wipe it off? And if you are wearing armour that has an environmental forcefield for it’s environmental protections, can it seriously not handle a bit of clingy snow? Sounds like that armour has a pretty big design flaw to me. I hope my Starfinder kept their receipt. Haha. It felt sort of arbitrary to me. I’m totally cool with some environmental hazards going through your protections, but this snow thing just wasn’t one of them. Contrariwise, if they wanted the snow to hamper visibility, I’m totally fine with that. I am no stranger to snow and yeah, it’s hard to see sometimes. And finally…. I love that baby jinsul on the cover! Except it’s not a baby jinsul at all. It’s a jinsul’s pet. I 100% thought it was a baby jinsul and was thrilled by it’s oddly adorable appearance. Jokes on me, I guess. Haha. Seriously though, I really like the creature, it’s stats, and it’s tactics. Overall, I thought this was a really great, exciting scenario that’s going to be a challenge to run — but well worth it! I give it 5 out of 5 stars.
Rasheen’s Riches sounds at first like a classic treasure hunt — in space! Which is only partly true. Radaszam recently discovered a treasure map said to lead to one of the last places the infamous space explorer Jelev Rasheen explored before disappearing. Presumed to house a treasure trove of unimaginable proportions, Radaszam’s taking a more measured approach. Although he doesn’t believe it’s actually the final resting place of Rasheen or her fabulous riches, he does hope that there you’ll find a claim beacon that she placed on planets she discovered but never fully explored. This beacon should be able to lead you to the next place Rasheen went. But, that’s another mission… Rasheen’s Riches is more accurately described as a treasure hunt where you’re aiming to find another piece of the treasure map. As long as this is clear to your players by the end of the mission briefing (which it should be) you won’t have a problem with any players feeling let down. However, if players think they’re off to find unimaginable riches they might be a little disappointed. I know my kids would say “That’s it? But where’s the treasure?!” Be sure to adjust those expectations a little. Haha. I enjoyed this scenario. It’s got some environmental challenges to overcome, an interesting investigation, illuminating player handouts, and a battle against some tragic enemies. It’s got the air of a mystery about it, which I liked. I absolutely adored the descriptions of this moon. The entire atmosphere of it — and the creatures that you encounter there — worked really well together. Definitely a highlight of the scenario for me. The starship combat was straightforward but enjoyable. I like the social encounter it begins with and the artwork of the ship! It looks like some kind of skeletal Batplane! Seriously cool. Overall I thought this was a really solid scenario that will — hopefully — lead to further adventures on the hunt for Rasheen’s riches! I give it four out of five stars.
Glaciomonitor, illustrated by William Martin. Art courtesy of Paizo Inc.
Thanks for joining us today! Be sure to tune it again soon to check out our reviews on the newest Pathfinder Society Scenarios!
Today we’re taking a look at two delightful books released by Dungeons & Dragons for kids: The ABCs of D&D and The 123s of D&D. Intended for young children, these books offer kids a first glimpse at the world of Dungeons & Dragons while teaching the alphabet and counting to ten. Both books feature whimsical artwork by Caleb Cleveland, and catchy rhyming couplets written by Ivan Van Norman.
I recently picked up both of these books for my young nephew, who is soon to turn five. Not only does he adore them, but both of my children (a boy aged eight and a girl aged seven) also found them thoroughly entertaining. I was impressed by their quality and content. The art is perfect for kids, with colourful, whimsical illustrations that hide all kinds of secrets — clouds shaped like dice and towers made of books, for example. Delightful little tidbits that kids will discover as they get a bit older.
“I is for IMAGINATION. What’s YOUR favorite tale?”
“A is for ADVENTURE, our journey has begun.
B is for BOOK, the source of all our fun!
C is for CREATURES of every shape and size.”
Although I expected The 123s of D&D to be shorter than The ABCs of D&D, that wasn’t the case. Yes, the ABCs of D&D covers the entire alphabet, with typically a letter per page. And yes, the 123s of D&D covers the numbers one through 10, with one number per two pages. Technically that would make it shorter, but after counting to to ten there’s a lovely mini bestiary that features a sentence or two about the creatures depicted throughout the book — all written in rhyming couplets. What a pleasant surprise! I’m really happy they included it and all the kids loved it. It immediately inspired them to start making up stories of their own with the creatures. My daughter’s favourite was the almiraj, of course (she adores rabbits and rabbit-creatures of all kinds).
“We begin with ONE Dungeon Master telling a story of daring deeds, the adventure of TWO heroes and their brave and noble steeds.”
“All these monsters you can meet when playing D&D. So have fun on your adventures, and save a spot for me!”
My kids and I thought that The ABCs of D&D and The 123s of D&D were wonderful, entertaining, inspiring little books. Despite being written for young children, they’re of interest to any kids that still love a picture book. Really wonderful work!
A new series of Dungeons and Dragons books aimed at children is scheduled to launch this summer! The D&D Young Adventurer’s Guide series is written by Jim Zub, Stacy King, and Andrew Wheeler, and published by Ten Speed Press (a part of the Crown Publishing Group). The series begins with two simultaneous releases on July 16th, 2019: ‘Monsters and Creatures‘ and ‘Warriors and Weapons,’ both of which are already available for pre-order. There are two more books in development that are scheduled to be released in Fall 2019 (Dungeons & Tombs and Wizards & Spells) and, if they’re popular enough, there may be more beyond that in the future. The D&D Young Adventurer’s Guide series are intended for middle-grade readers (ages 8-12) and meant to inspire these young readers to read, write, create, imagine, and of course, play D&D.
Monsters and Creatures: A Young Adventurer’s Guide is an illustrated guide to the many beasts of Dungeons and Dragons. Featuring one-of-a-kind entries for some of its most memorable monsters, and over 60 brand new illustrations, this book is sure to ignite the imagination of young readers (my kids can’t wait!). Creatures are sorted by the regions they call home, beginning with underground creatures, moving up onto the surface with aquatic, field, graveyard, forest, and mountain dwelling creatures, and finally ending with airborne monsters. Each monster profile contains information on the size of each beast, its danger level, and tips for how to survive an encounter with one. This book also features “introductory ‘Encounter’ stories so readers can practice the problem-solving skills they’ll need to fight these monsters when they play a D&D adventure of their own.” Awesome!
Warriors and Weapons: A Young Adventurer’s Guide is an illustrated introductory guide to the many kinds of warriors you can create in Dungeons and Dragons, along with the weapons, armour, and adventuring gear that they’ll make use of. Featuring one-of-a-kind content and over sixty new illustrations, this book gives young adventurers the information and inspiration they need to create their own characters. It includes “sample profiles, a flowchart to help you decide what type of warrior to be, and brainstorming challenges to start you thinking like an adventurer whether on your own or in the midst of an exciting quest with friends and fellow players.” It’s important to note that this book is NOT a replacement for the D&D Player’s Handbookand does NOT contain game mechanics or rules. It lays out the major concepts in a way that easy to understand, approachable, and engaging. It’s meant to inspire creativity, without overwhelming readers with rules.
“These books have beautiful art, concepts, and stories to engage readers and get them thinking first and foremost about their character and the places they’re going to adventure in without any rules for them to worry about. It’s a creative toolkit focused on character and story,” Jim Zub was quoted as posting on twitter. “Give these books to a new player, get them excited about the possibilities, and then bring them to the gaming table to show them how those concepts and ideas flourish with a roll of the dice. […] We really hope that experienced Dungeon Masters will embrace these books as a way to introduce D&D to their kids or their friends and that schools/libraries will see them as a fun and engaging way to encourage creative writing!”
My kids are thrilled with this news. (Yet another reason for them to look forward to the summer! Haha!). I can’t wait to see what they look like up close.
Tails of Equestria, a family friendly RPG based on the incredibly popular My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, recently announced the release of two new adventures.
The Haunting of Equestria is the fourth adventure in the Tails of Equestria line. This spooky adventure is intended for characters between levels 5 and 10, and is the most difficult adventure they’ve published. Already out in the UK, this book is scheduled for release in North America in August.
Filly Sized Follys is the fifth adventure in the Tails of Equestria line though its release date is currently unannounced. This adventure contains three separate short adventures that focus on helping ponies in need and embracing the magic of friendship. The stories in this volume are intended for characters between levels 2 and 5.
My kids adore Tails of Equestria, and I’ve constantly been impressed with their well written, creative, enjoyable adventures. It’s a really great, high-quality kids RPG and we are thrilled to hear there’s more adventures coming this year.
For more information on Tails of Equestria check out this blog post, or read about our experiences playing through another Tails of Equestria adventure the Pet Predicament.
March is here, and with a bunch of new Pathfinder and Starfinder products. Considering the awesome releases last month — including the launch of two new Adventure Paths with Starfinder’s Firestarters (Dawn of Flame 1 of 6) and Pathfinder’s final first edition Adventure Path: The Dead Roads (Tyrant’s Grasp 1 of 6) — this month has a lot of live up to!
Pathfinder Society Scenarios released at the end of this month include #10-16: What the Helms Hide (a set of four quests for Tier 1-5 written by Calder CaDavid, Lysle Kapp, Kendra Leigh Speedling, and Nate Wright) and #10-17: On Sevefinger’s Sails (a Tier 7-11 scenario that takes place in the Gloomspires and is written by Tom Phillips).
Starfinder Society Scenarios released at the end of this month include #1-34: Heart of the Foe (a Tier 3-6 scenario written by Nicholas Wasko which continues the Scoured Stars storyline and involves the history of the menacing jinsil) and #1-35: Rasheen’s Riches (a Tier 5-8 scenario written by Mara Lynn Butler that has the Faction (Acquisitives) tag).
One final thing to mention, last month marked the release of the massive Mists of Akuma campaign: Trade War. You can expect to see a review of this political-Eastern Fantasy–noir-steampunk adventure for 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons in the coming week.
Paizo Inc. has announced the launch of the second edition of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game on August 1st, 2019! With over nine releases in August and more to come the following month, Pathfinder Second Edition is scheduled to launch with a BANG!
“The launch slate provides everything you need to set out on a world of limitless fantasy adventure,” said Paizo Publisher Erik Mona. “With more than 20 years of active development and playtest feedback from more than 125,000 gamers, the new Pathfinder rules are easy to learn and exciting to master. We can’t wait to see the diverse and deeply customized characters the RPG community will create!”
Pathfinder Second Edition is releasing three major hardcover rulebooks right from the start: Core Rulebook, Bestiary, and Lost Omens World Guide. The Core Rulebook is THE BOOK. The one you need no matter who you are and what role you take at a gaming table. Packed full of all the rules players and Game Masters need to play Pathfinder Second Edition, create characters, and run games, the Core Rulebook is a must have. Said to contain streamlined rules and intuitive presentation, Pathfinder Second Edition features the same deep character customizations we all love, allowing for unique characters and boundless creativity. Weighing in at an impressive 640 pages, the Core Rulebook contains game rules, advice, characters options, treasure, and more. There’s six ancestries to choose from (elf, dwarf, gnome, goblin, halfling, and human, as well as the variant human half-elf and half-orc), twelve classes (alchemist, barbarian, bard, champion, cleric, druid, fighter, monk, ranger, rogue, sorcerer, and wizard), thirty backgrounds (such as apprentice, bartender, and soldier), and hundred of spells, feats, and other character options. The hardcover will sell for $59.99 American, while the deluxe hardcover (bound in faux leather with metallic deboss cover elements and a bound-in ribbon bookmark) will sell for $79.99 American.
Bestiary is packed with around 400 monsters spread over 360 pages. This means that not every monster will get its own page and artwork, although there’s said to be full-colour illustrations on nearly every page. While statistics will fill the pages, sidebars are going to contain lore. In Bestiary you’ll also find the always handy Universal Monster Rules, guidelines for awarding treasure, and a variety of monster lists sorted by different qualities (like level, type, and rarity). Many of the creatures in the Bestiary will be familiar, but new creatures are also included (like the “living-nightmare nilith and the three-headed mutoli”). The hardcover Bestiary will sell for $49.99 while the Deluxe Hardcover will sell for $69.99 (bound in faux leather with metallic deboss cover elements and a bound-in ribbon bookmark).
Lost Omens World Guide is basically the new Inner Sea World Guide, with ‘Lost Omens’ being the new name for the Golarion campaign setting. This 136-page hardcover book sorts the Inner Sea into ten regions, and talks about each one. ‘The Saga Lands,’ for example, is a region which encompasses the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, Varisia, New Thassilon, Irrisen, and the Realm of the Mammoth Lords. Each region also contains backgrounds and archetypes thematically tied to the region. Finally, the Lost Omens World Guide contains a giant, two-sided, fully-detailed, poster map of Golarion. Let me repeat that: of Golarion, not the Inner Sea. Awesome! Want to know more about Tian Xia, Casmaron, and other areas outside the Inner Sea? You’ll have to wait — but hopefully not for too long. Lost Omens World Guide is the first book in the Pathfinder World Guide line, which will continue to release region specific books (like those currently in the Pathfinder Campaign Setting line) in a larger, hardcover format, to allow for greater exploration of the world of Golarion. Lost Omens World Guide is $36.99.
In addition to important rulebooks, Paizo is releasing two print adventures: Hellknight Hill, and The Fall of Plaguestone.
Age of Ashes is a six-part, monthly adventure path that begins with book one: Hellknight Hill. Said to contain “continent-spanning conflict against cultists, slavers, and a fiery draconic devastation that could unleash an Age of Ashes upon the world,” this is sure to be an exciting campaign! Set in Isger, Hellknight Hill begins when your PCs investigate mysterious fires which burn atop “the towers of a nearby citadel long ago abandoned by an order of Hellknights.” Written by Amanda Hamon for first level characters, Hellknight Hill will also contain a gazetteer on the town of Breechill (the starting location for this campaign), a GM guide Age of Ashes, new magic items, and over six new monsters. Hellknight Hill (and presumably all the follow-up adventure path volumes) will sell for $24.99.
The Fall of Plaguestone is a 64-page standalone adventure for first-level characters written by Paizo Director of Game Design Jason Bulmahn. Beginning with the PCs attempting to solve the murder of a friend, this adventure soon spirals out of control with the “discovery of forbidden alchemy, mutant animals, and a nearby forest rotting away due to a mysterious blight.” Ominous! The Fall of Plaguestone features wilderness exploration, dungeon encounters, and urban mystery. In addition to the adventure itself, The Fall of Plaguestone (and every Pathfinder Adventure to follow) includes new monsters, treasures, and player options. The Fall of Plaguestone is $24.99. Launching alongside this adventure is Pathfinder Flip-Mat: The Fall of Plaguestone which depicts the “hillside hideout of an evil alchemist.” The Flip-Mat measures 24″ x 30″ unfolded, 8″ x 10″ folded, and can handle dry erase, wet erase, and permanent marker. It costs $14.99.
Paizo is partnering with the awesome folks over at Dwarven Forge to release a deluxe set of pieces which will allow you to create encounter areas from The Fall of Plaguestone! Which is amazing, by the way. If you haven’t seen any of the Dwarven Forge terrain you should definitely check it out. They make gorgeous 3D terrain and map components, although be warned: it’s expensive!
Finally, Paizo is releasing five other accessories for Second Edition. First up? A GM screen! Featuring beautiful artwork on one side and handy charts, tables, and information on the other side, these high-quality screens are really useful. Available in a landscape style with art by Ekaterina Burmak, or in a portrait style with art of the Iconics by Wayne Reynolds, GM Screens are $19.99.
Up next? Pathfinder Combat Pad, which is basically a double-sided, magnetic, dry and wet erase board that functions as an initiative tracker. It comes with two sheets of magnets, which break down into 13 blue player character magnets, 13 red enemy magnets, 9 green NPC magnets, two round arrows, two turn arrows, and two next round magnets. Pathfinder Combat Pad sells for $24.99.
Pathfinder Character Sheet Pack is a set of class-specific, double sided, black and white character sheets. This set contains one character sheet for each of the twelve classes, as well as extra sheets for equipment and spells. The character sheets come in a folder and costs $14.99.
Pathfinder Combat Pad
Pathfinder Character Sheet Pack
Pathfinder Condition Card Deck
Finally, my favourite of the accessories, Pathfinder Condition Card Deck! I adore condition cards. I use them all the time in both Pathfinder and Starfinder, so I’m thrilled that they’re releasing a set for Pathfinder Second Edition right out of the gate. This 110 card deck of full-colour cards contains details and rules on the many Conditions in Pathfinder Second Edition, with the most common conditions having multiple cards. Pathfinder Condition Card Deck costs $22.99.
In addition to these awesome products, the Pathfinder Society Organized Play program will release two scenarios and a short quest every month!
For more information on Pathfinder Second Edition, it’s products, and to preorder, head over to PathfinderSecondEdition.com
I can’t wait to see how Pathfinder Second Edition turns out! (Now, if only I had the funds to buy some of it…). What are you most excited for about Pathfinder Second Edition? Let me know in the comments.
Jessica
UPDATE: Pathfinder Second Edition is now out! Click here for more information!
is intended for players ages eight and up. Although a single dungeon takes five minutes, playing through a whole game takes about thirty to forty-five minutes, depending how many times you fail to escape a dungeon.
A wonderful Player’s Guide for Tyrant’s Grasp is available as a free download on Paizo’s website 
The first article, Tools of the Boneyard, is written by Matt Morris. In it you’ll find new gear and character options aimed at dealing with the dead. There is one alchemical remedy, one alchemical tool, and two alchemical weapons — bone burn is my favourite, so be sure to check it out! There are two new special materials useful for crafting — cryptstone can be used for ammunition and weapons, while spiresteel can be used for ammunition, weapons, and armour. Finally, there are five new magic items: crypt rod, grim helm, harbinger’s scythe, Lady’s Mercy, and Momument’s Truth. Although I enjoyed a lot of the items, it’s the character options that I found were most exciting. Graveslinger is a gunslinger archetype that specializes in combatting incorporeal undead. Soul Shepherd is a monk archetype that calm incorporeal undead and haunts with a touch. They also gain some otherworldly resistances and interesting ways to use their ki. Reaper is a new oracle mystery which I really enjoyed. Tightly themed and flavourful it’s capable of both killing the living and destroying undead. There are also six new barbarian rage powers including the psychopomp totem powers.
by Jason Keeley, 
by Larry Wilhelm, 
by Crystal Frasier, 
by Luis Loza, and 
and 
to be shorter than 
and does NOT contain game mechanics or rules. It lays out the major concepts in a way that easy to understand, approachable, and engaging. It’s meant to inspire creativity, without overwhelming readers with rules.
and Pathfinder’s final first edition Adventure Path: 
— this month has a lot of live up to!
is a 64-page standalone adventure for first-level characters written by Paizo Director of Game Design Jason Bulmahn. Beginning with the PCs attempting to solve the murder of a friend, this adventure soon spirals out of control with the “discovery of forbidden alchemy, mutant animals, and a nearby forest rotting away due to a mysterious blight.” Ominous! The Fall of Plaguestone features wilderness exploration, dungeon encounters, and urban mystery. In addition to the adventure itself, The Fall of Plaguestone (and every Pathfinder Adventure to follow) includes new monsters, treasures, and player options. The Fall of Plaguestone is $24.99. Launching alongside this adventure is Pathfinder Flip-Mat: The Fall of Plaguestone which depicts the “hillside hideout of an evil alchemist.” The Flip-Mat measures 24″ x 30″ unfolded, 8″ x 10″ folded, and can handle dry erase, wet erase, and permanent marker. It costs $14.99.
d20 Diaries 