Welcome back to the PAIZO NEWS ROUNDUP, friends and fellow dice rollers! I'm riding high on the excitement of seeing Black Panther for the first time, so of course I'm in the mood to talk shop about kingdom-sized political intrigue, advanced jungle-inspired civilizations, and THRILLING HEROICS! Which is apropos, because the good folks at the Golem have plenty of meaty Society Scenarios and Adventure Paths for us to dig into. So, without further ado…
Frist and foremost, the big dog in the room is Pathfinder. The War for the Crown Adventure Path is the newest, shiniest thing on the block, and it seems specifically made for players and GMs who like to get three knuckles deep in palace intrigue and kingdom-scale politics.
Crystal Frasier, the cast-iron locomotive of a developer at Paizo, gives us a privileged peek into the development of War for the Crown. Initially conceived of as a choose-your-own-monarch adventure, it eventually consolidated into a plot of intrigue with a choice of leader (heir apparent Grand Princess Eutropia in canon) that can be adapted to your choice of appropriate leader for the future of the region Taldor. As it is, Eutropia on the throne gives Taldor going forward a distinct flavor of old vs. new and tradition vs. progress. This adventure path is also intended to showcase the complexity of NPCs, their motivations, and their personalities, something that pushes against the constraints of the nine-alignment system (GMs who find that system restricting, I don't think she'd mind if you dropped it for the duration of this adventure path…)
"Crownfall", the first of the six-adventure set, is written by Golem veteran Thurston Hillman, and plunges your heroes into the chaotic and dangerous time immediately following the assassination of a ruler. It's up to the characters to save themselves and save the heir so Taldor is not plunged into infighting and chaos.
Now, on to Starfinder news! Creative director Robert McCreary has a mind to shake up the formula on Adventure Paths. Most noticeably, a fair number of Starfinder Adventure Paths will only be three adventures long, half the size of the traditional Pathfinder Adventure Paths. This means a new adventure every month, and two full-sized campaigns every year. Worry not, space cowboys and -gals, each Adventure Path installment will be chock full of character options and each will feature a new planet and a new spaceship.
The Dead Suns Starfinder Adventure Path continues on its six-adventure course, however, in its newest installment "The Ruined Clouds." Heroes continuing on their adventurers find themselves hot on the heels of a cult to the Devourer seeking to find ancient weapons to gain galactic power. The ruins of an ancient floating city and the feral remains of its inhabitants point in the direction of an ancient superweapon, turning this adventure into a race against the cult!
We've also seen the announcement of the next Starfinder Adventure Path: Against the Aeon Throne. The first of the three-installment Starfinder Adventure Paths, this story kicks off in "The Reach of Empire" with a sudden invasion by the Azlanti Star Empire. Intrepid heroes must not only free colonists from military occupation but also retrieve an experimental starship and rescue an old ally! Keep an eye on this space for an announcement of when it arrives.
And that does it for this edition of the PAIZO NEWS ROUNDUP! Which Adventure Path are you most excited about? Which NPC do you think should be the rightful ruler of Taldor? WILL THE PHRASE "ADVENTURE PATH" EVER HAVE MEANING AGAIN FOR THIS AUTHOR? Let's see what you think in the comments!
contributed by Ben Reece
Frist and foremost, the big dog in the room is Pathfinder. The War for the Crown Adventure Path is the newest, shiniest thing on the block, and it seems specifically made for players and GMs who like to get three knuckles deep in palace intrigue and kingdom-scale politics.
Crystal Frasier, the cast-iron locomotive of a developer at Paizo, gives us a privileged peek into the development of War for the Crown. Initially conceived of as a choose-your-own-monarch adventure, it eventually consolidated into a plot of intrigue with a choice of leader (heir apparent Grand Princess Eutropia in canon) that can be adapted to your choice of appropriate leader for the future of the region Taldor. As it is, Eutropia on the throne gives Taldor going forward a distinct flavor of old vs. new and tradition vs. progress. This adventure path is also intended to showcase the complexity of NPCs, their motivations, and their personalities, something that pushes against the constraints of the nine-alignment system (GMs who find that system restricting, I don't think she'd mind if you dropped it for the duration of this adventure path…)
"Crownfall", the first of the six-adventure set, is written by Golem veteran Thurston Hillman, and plunges your heroes into the chaotic and dangerous time immediately following the assassination of a ruler. It's up to the characters to save themselves and save the heir so Taldor is not plunged into infighting and chaos.
Now, on to Starfinder news! Creative director Robert McCreary has a mind to shake up the formula on Adventure Paths. Most noticeably, a fair number of Starfinder Adventure Paths will only be three adventures long, half the size of the traditional Pathfinder Adventure Paths. This means a new adventure every month, and two full-sized campaigns every year. Worry not, space cowboys and -gals, each Adventure Path installment will be chock full of character options and each will feature a new planet and a new spaceship.
The Dead Suns Starfinder Adventure Path continues on its six-adventure course, however, in its newest installment "The Ruined Clouds." Heroes continuing on their adventurers find themselves hot on the heels of a cult to the Devourer seeking to find ancient weapons to gain galactic power. The ruins of an ancient floating city and the feral remains of its inhabitants point in the direction of an ancient superweapon, turning this adventure into a race against the cult!
We've also seen the announcement of the next Starfinder Adventure Path: Against the Aeon Throne. The first of the three-installment Starfinder Adventure Paths, this story kicks off in "The Reach of Empire" with a sudden invasion by the Azlanti Star Empire. Intrepid heroes must not only free colonists from military occupation but also retrieve an experimental starship and rescue an old ally! Keep an eye on this space for an announcement of when it arrives.
And that does it for this edition of the PAIZO NEWS ROUNDUP! Which Adventure Path are you most excited about? Which NPC do you think should be the rightful ruler of Taldor? WILL THE PHRASE "ADVENTURE PATH" EVER HAVE MEANING AGAIN FOR THIS AUTHOR? Let's see what you think in the comments!
contributed by Ben Reece
