Codex of the Infinite Pains

As of this moment,

The Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook is ranked as the #1 seller on Paizo.com.

But, it is also ranked #829 on Amazon and #2 in the Gaming sub category. Not too shabby for a book that does not release for over a month.

Of course.. we did just send out a reminder email through our webs.. I am sure that has nothing to do with it.

Ugg..

Favre in the purple of the hated enemy!

Could the betrayal go any deeper.

Check it out.

Its brief, but still, kinda awesome. Speaking of Yetis I am no where near the Y's yet in my edit of the Bestiary... I really should get back to work.

Missed Free RPG Day? Was the store near you not participating or forcing you to roll randomly to see what product you got? Well, worry no more.

Now you can get a pdf copy of the Pathfinder Bonus Bestiary (written by yours truly and Wes Schneider) for free from Paizo.com. What's that you say? You want a physical copy of the Bonus Bestiary. No worries mate, you can grab that from the same page for a small fee.

You want it.. I know you do. Follow this link to get your free pdf or to order a copy.

For those of you with a good local game store, tomorrow is Free RPG Day, meaning that you can go and grab a free product... which might just include an advanced look at monsters for the Pathfinder RPG. Each store should have a good quantity of the Pathfinder Bonus Bestiary, but you might want to try and show up early, just in case.

Want a list of retailers who are part of the promotion, follow this link.

Don't have a favorite local game store? No worries, Paizo will be posting up a free PDF of the Bonus Bestiary next week and I even hear we might have a few print copies left over for sale...

So, Paizocon 2, the Revenge of the Golem, is now in the books and it was a fantastic show. I got to spend a great deal of time playing and chatting with some of our great fans, which is always a good thing. I ran two events during the show, a sequel to last year's hilarious Cursed Lot and Fight Club, both of which went off without a hitch.

Cursed Lot is a game in which all of the characters are terribly cursed and must accomplish some simple mission. In this years event we had an agoraphobic cleric who spent half of the adventure locked away in her carriage, a hemophiliac monk with a touch of OCD and a lucky rabbit (not a foot, the whole bunny), a barbarian who was terrified of blood (and used a merciful weapon), a wizard who was 5 levels higher than the rest of the party, but only had about 5 minutes of memory and could not prepare any new spells, a rogue who was afraid of the dark and covered himself in dozens of light sources, and a paladin who was extremely suseptible to suggestion and was constantly losing his paladinhood (and carried around scrolls of atonement just in case). This years adventure was a simple one, recovers farmer Stumps missing dog, Stinky. Of course, there was a nasty surprise at the end. It was a fun event with some interesting group conflicts and problems. I am going to try to post up the characters after the RPG releases in August.

Fight Club was a monster. 10 players to a table with one judge and me running from table to table activating monsters (sometimes most unfairly) and calling for events that occurred simultaneously at all tables. Players scored points for dealing damage and bonus points for other things based off their character. There were 11 PCs available and when you died, you got to come back as one of the ones not currently in play. I was kinda expecting this to be a mess, but it actually ran relatively smoothly. It is kinda amazing what 10, 3rd level PCs can take down, including a CR 10 dragon.

Beyond that, I helped run the grand melee in the Interactive on Friday and I gave a preview speech at the banquet (many of the details of that speech can be found here.). Plus I got to chat with some of our freelancers and guests, which is always a good thing. All in all, I give this years show a big thumbs up. If you can swing it next year, I would highly recommend trying to make it. It is still a relatively intimate show, but I have no idea how long that will last.

On other fronts, the previews of the RPG continue at a blazing pace. The preview of Seelah, the iconic paladin went up today. Of all the changes, I am most pleased with the paladin, as it has been one of my favorite classes since my earliest days of gaming.

I also picked up the new Ghostbusters video game yesterday. The voice acting is pretty good and it includes just about all of the major characters from the movies. Last night I had a run in with Walter Peck and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man! I came, I saw, I kicked his ass! (and yes, the pic is actual game footage). The game play is relatively straightforward and they have done a good job letting you run around the sets from the movies. To top it off, parts are actually pretty funny. If you've got a 360/ps3/wii and are a fan of the movies, I recommend this game.

So, I have been ignoring my blog for a bit, just taking some time off to attend to other matters.

It has been a busy month, working on the Bestiary and promos for the RPG. If you have not seen them, there are now three RPG promo blogs live over at paizo (Intro, Valeros, and Seoni). It has been fun talking about the final game, but it has also been a big frustrating. I made an error when creating the stats for Valeros, in that I focused to heavily on keeping him true to his 3.5 stats and completely ignored his saves, which has led to a lot of criticism. I could have easily pumped up his Will save by about 10 points. I also should have focused on some of the cool feats that only a fighter can take at higher levels. Many of these were released during the playtest, so I did not really think of them as news, except for the fact that I forgot to account for all the folks that did not pay much attention to the playtest. I could have easily given him feats to add effects to his crits, bypass DR, and to move with enemies that try to pull away from him. A lot of these feats were designed specifically to add some "oomph" to high level melee types...

It was my mistake and one I will rectify. I can certainly use a number of them in the paladin and barbarian preview and maybe I will find a way to sneak in another fighter preview of some sort before the end, just to show off some of the fighter only feats.

Ah well..

Other than that, I have been busy watching great flicks at SIFF (the Seattle International Film Festival). My favorites so far have to be Moon and Dead Snow. If you have a chance to check out these movies, I highly recommend them. Moon takes some traditional Scifi elements and turns them on their head, for a really fresh take. Dead Snow is a great horror flick that kinda turns into a comedy by the end. If you like Shaun of the Dead or Dead Alive, this is a movie for you.

Other than that, I have been playing a lot of boardgames. I hosted a memorial day get together last weekend for some of the Paizo and Wotc crews. Good times. After grilling up some fresh brats from Usingers (a great sausage maker in Milwuakee), we drank some beers and played some games. I managed to get in games of Dominion and Small World, but there were others played as well.

Still working on some freelance, although the module I am writing is far easier than all those dragon's I had to stat up for the Bestiary. Got a few other things percolating on the side, but none are really ready to be talked about just yet.

Heading down to Portland next weekend for some R&R. Hopefully I will not spend too much money at Powells (as if that wish has ever come true). The weekend after that is Paizocon, which is shaping up to be awesome, but I will talk about that a bit more in the coming weeks.

Quick update before heading off to the dreamlands.

I have posted up another blog over at dungeonaday.com. This one tackles converting some elements of the first level of the dungeon over to the Beta version of the Pathfinder RPG. Good stuff.

Second, the first official Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook preview has gone live. You can find it right here! There is already a lively discussion about it starting up over on the Paizo forums... or you could be lazy and just go to the forums right here!

Enjoy!

I did an interview for Kobold Quarterly a few weeks ago and it has gone up today. It gives a look inside the design process of the Pathfinder RPG as well as a few (albeit minor) spoilers as to what made it in the final book.

You can check out the interview here!

Imagine if you will, that you are recovering Magic addict, clean for 10 years. During the hazy 90's you played so much Magic that it interrupted all of your other hobbies for a time, including RPGs, minis, comics, and all other things nerd. You went to a pro tour, a world championship, and was ranked #7 in the world for a few brief months. But, you kicked the habit, sold all your cards, and moved on. You still liked a lot of elements of the game. You liked building your own decks, even if they were a bit crazy. You liked some of the meta elements of the game play, card draw engines, turn loops, and resource management. You had to get out though... the rise of net decks and all to frequent lock down strategies (when you are basically denied having fun) made the game intolerable.

Got that part.. not that I am talking about anyone in particular.. ahem..

Now imagine that a game comes along that promises all the things you liked about Magic, but with basically none of the BS. That game is Dominion.


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The Pathfinder RPG is done and out of my hands. I can't help but feel like a proud parent sending his kid off to school for the first time, nervous that he will get into trouble.

This is my first (but hopefully not last) RPG. It has consumed just about every waking moment of mine for about 18 months, most of which has gone by in a blur. In that time, I have rewritten huge parts of the game at least three times, read over 100,000 feedback posts, and put together a 576 page book containing about half a million words.

Suffice to say, I am kinda tired. Alas, there is little time for rest. I have a monster book to work on, RPG promos to write, freelance to tackle, and a host of side projects to play with. Busy times. To top it off, I have a trio of boardgame ideas that I would love to put into development, an army worth of tyranids to paint, and a secret project that I would love to get started. I need longer days.

I am hoping to post up here a bit more frequently, now that I have my life back. I have a mountain of boardgames (Small World is up tonight), videogames (Ghostbusters comes out soon), and movies to talk about (Star Trek in just one week).

More to come soon.

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

So busy. So little time left now. I am taking my final pass on the RPG. More to come soon. Just thought I would post a quick update to explain my recent absence.

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

The first installment of my Find the Path blog went live today over at dungeonaday.com. It covers doing some basic, on-the-fly conversion work to make the dungeon compatible with the Pathfinder RPG Beta rules. I think it is for members only though, so if you are a member, check it out. If not, you don't know what your missing...

Hey there all,

Just a quick note, I make a short appearance on the most recent episode of the Atomic Array podcast, talking about dungeonaday.com. You can listen to the episode here.

As an another aside, today is the last day that you can get the charter discount rate over at dungeonaday.com.

Well, it appears now that Dave Arneson has passed away (there were conflicting rumors yesterday, but they are now verified). As I mentioned, I only got a chance to meet and speak with Dave a few times and I am glad to have had the chance. After all, Dave helped invent the game that led to my current career, and I could not be more grateful for all of his work over the years. I think I will go home tonight and read up on Blackmoor.

My condolences go out to his friends and family.

This will be my first time attending this show, here in the great northwest. Unfortunately, I can only attend on Saturday. For those of you who are planning on being there, here is my itinerary.

Game Master’s Workshop Pt 1; Sat, 11:00 AM; Cascade 9
Learning the Trade: Experienced GM’s discuss basic techniques, strategies and exercises for becoming a better GM. What resources are available for a new GM and what skills should be mastered?
Ogre Whiteside, Andy Collins, Dylan S., Jason Bulmahn

Game Master’s Workshop Pt 2; Sat, Noon; Cascade 9
Advanced Lessons: plot, setting, character are all discussed in detail. Techniques covered will include the TPK – what it is and why do it, manipulating players to manipulate their characters, meta-gaming, and handling problems that develop.
Ogre Whiteside, Andy Collins, Dylan S., Jason Bulmahn, Wolfgang Baur

I’m not dead yet…..sticking with 3.5; Sat, 3:00 PM; Evergreen 2
Not thrilled with the new edition? Stop by this panel where prominent gamers and industry professionals share options for sticking with 3.5 via Pathfinder, True20, or other 3.5 variants. Learn how to get involved in organized play events, find other gamers, and keep playing the game.
Wolfgang Baur, Jason Bulmahn, Darrin Drader, Chris Pramas, Sean Reynolds

Writing for the Gaming Industry; Sat, 8:00 PM; Cascade 8
How do you write for a game? How does it differ than just writing a novel or short story? How does writing for a video game differ from RPGs or board games? What are they looking for? Our panel of Editors, Publishers, and Gaming Authors and Freelancers share what is wanted - nay! What is needed! – from writers in the gaming industry.
Mike Mearls, Erik Mona, Chris Pramas, Teeuwyn Woodruff, Jason Bulmahn

See you at the con.

In light of recent events, Paizo is putting a large chunk of our PDFs on sale from now until the end of April. You can get a 35% discount on Pathfinder Adventure Path PDFs, Pathfinder Module PDFs, Pathfinder Chronicles PDFs, Pathfinder Companion PDFs, and Pathfinder Society Scenario PDFs. Just add the PDFs to your cart and enter the code "PDFLove" in the appropriate box. You can use the code as often as you like until the end of April.

Enjoy.

Exciting news. Paizo is now a sponsor of dungeonaday.com and I will be writing a monthly blog to give tips and tricks for using the excellently crafted dungeon with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.

I have become fiendishly addicted to the dungeon already, and I look forward to seeing it grow. If you are a fan of the Pathfinder RPG, I hope you will check it out.

So, I decided to check out Monte's new project... and suddenly I am short some cash. This seems to happen whenever I casually check out anything that Monte has been working on. My money seems to disappear, replaced only by a pile of pure RPG awesome. I should know better.

Anyway.. Dungeonaday.com is pretty damn slick. If you are into classic dungeon romps with mysterious notes, clues left scribbled on the walls, odd treasures, scary monsters, and rival explorers... this is pretty much for you. Each weekday, Monte is adding to his gigantic labyrinth.. while throwing in some extra encounters about the lands nearby the dungeon. Good stuff... Even if the overall dungeon is not for you, the pieces are pretty modular, making them easy to import into other settings (or even systems... like Pathfinder. There is a healthy conversion of all the rooms already underway by some of the fans).

So.. I recommend checking it out. You can look at the map and a number of sample rooms for free. Monte has extended his Charter Member 1 year rate (which comes out to $7 a month) for a little while longer, making it a pretty good deal. Just don't come crying to me when you money is replaced by awesome...

Last night was the final session of my Cyrpt of the Everflame playtest with my home group, wrapping up the playtest period for this adventure.

Looking back, it was an interesting run, having two separate groups run through the same adventure simultaneously. Analyzing the things they did the same versus the things they did differently has really allowed me to dig around this adventure and add some bits to make it better. The one thing I learned.. especially after last night.. was that working in the industry does not necessarily make you a better adventurer. Although both groups did a great job playing their characters, my home group made some better tactical decisions in some places that allowed them to have a slightly easier time of things...

That said.. nothing could save them from the savage beating at the end. More after the jump.
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