Pathfinder (periodicals)

Cover of the first Pathfinder Adventure Path, Burnt Offerings

Pathfinder products are published by Paizo Publishing and are designed to be supplements to the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. There are four different lines of Pathfinder products.

All Pathfinder books are published under the terms of the Open Game License (OGL). While the magazines Dragon and Dungeon were both licensed to make use of certain iconic elements of Dungeons & Dragons intellectual property, including material drawn from official settings published by Wizards of the Coast and unique monsters such as illithids, the terms of the OGL forbid the use of such "closed" IP elements. Conversely, however, OGL material from other roleplaying game publishers (such as Necromancer Games or Green Ronin Publishing) can be used in Pathfinder, whereas the terms of Paizo's license with Wizards of the Coast had prevented them from using any third-party OGL material in Dragon or Dungeon.

All four of the Pathfinder product lines use a subscription business model, in addition to being sold in book stores, game stores, and online retailers. All of the subscriptions are "ongoing," and can be canceled at any time, rather than being initially purchased for a set length of time as many magazine subscriptions are. Subscribers pay the cover price for all products except the Pathfinder adventure paths, which are 30% off of the cover price for subscribers. Subscribers to the Pathfinder adventure paths also get a discount on other items purchased from Paizo Publishing's website, including other subscriptions.

Each Pathfinder product is published in both print and PDF, and subscribers to the print edition receive a free PDF copy of each issue.

The Adventure Paths published in Pathfinder and the adventures in the Pathfinder Modules are set in Golarion, the world of the new Pathfinder Chronicles campaign setting developed by the Paizo staff, rather than in an established Dungeons & Dragons setting owned by Wizards of the Coast as were many of the adventures in Dungeon.

Adventure Paths

Paizo Publishing's main Pathfinder product line is its adventure paths. A continuation of the adventure path concept from Dungeon magazine, which ceased publication in September 2007, each year's worth of Pathfinder will publish two complete adventure paths in six-volume arcs, with supplementary articles to fill out each 96-page volume, and is under the editorial supervision of James Jacobs, formerly editor-in-chief of Dungeon.. The Pathfinder's Journal is a short (6-8 page) fiction section. The first Pathfinder's Journal is general information about the Pathfinder Society, and the next 17 volumes form a single storyline. Each Pathfinder volume contains at least four new monsters by various authors.

Paizo has published a number of adventure paths, including Rise of the Runelords, Curse of the Crimson Throne, Second Darkness, and Legacy of Fire. Most of the first adventure path is now out of print.. The Council of Thieves Adventure Path is the first to use the rules of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.

Rise of the Runelords Overview

The Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path begins in the small coastal town of Sandpoint when it is attacked by goblins. The PCs defend the town from the attack and quickly become local heroes. They soon discover the goblins' hideout and defeat their leaders.

However, the PCs don't have long to recover from the fight before a string of mysterious murders comes to Sandpoint. The PCs' investigation leads them to a haunted mansion where they destroy the undead killer, but there are more clues left unsolved. The PCs go to the city of Magnimar to investigate what turns out to be the real cause behind the killings... the Skinsaw Men. Once the characters overcome this threat they are soon summoned to an area to the Northeast of Sandpoint, where a group of ogres has taken control of a small but important fortress.

The PCs travel to the fortress and deal with the ogres and monstrously deformed ogrekin, but learn of something even more dangerous in the process: giants in the region are preparing for war.

The PCs return to Sandpoint to find it under attack by giants and dragons. After defeating the giants, the characters find out that this powerful force was only a small sampling of the onslaught... a scouting party for a much larger force. The PCs journey to the location where the giants are building up their forces, and there they discover that the giants were being controlled by the ancient and long forgotten wizard Karzoug, Runelord of Greed, in an attempt to regain his lost power and return to the world as a tyrant.

Unfortunately for the PCs, defeating Karzoug requires the use of special Runeforged weapons, which can only be created at the ancient dungeon known as Runeforge. The PCs travel to Runeforge and collect the components nescessary to imbue their weapons with Runeforged properties, leaving prepared to take on the Runelord of Greed.

The PCs discover that Runelord Karzoug is in the massive hidden city of Xin-Shalast, high in the Kodar mountains. They travel to the mountain and slowly find the city, eventually reaching the Runelord's tower and confronting the wizard himself.

Pathfinder Chronicles

Pathfinder Chronicles products are additional materials designed to explore the world of the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting. New products in the Pathfinder Chronicles line are typically released monthly.

Pathfinder Companion

Pathfinder Companions are 32-page softcover books released bimonthly, alternating with the Pathfinder Modules. The Companion line is completely player-friendly, as nothing in a Companion will contain game master-only information.

Pathfinder Modules

Pathfinder Modules are usually stand-alone adventures. They are published bimonthly, alternating with the Pathfinder Companion. Each Module is a 32-page softcover containing a single adventure and one or more new monsters. Each module also includes ready-to-play characters of the appropriate level for the adventure.

Pathfinder Modules were originally called GameMastery Modules, although the name was changed starting with Module D1.5 in June 2008 to bring it in line with other books set in the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting. The Modules were originally published monthly, but switched to bimonthly at the same time that the Pathfinder Companion started being published.

Media Mentions

In episode 11 of Atomic Array, James Jacobs gives background on the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting, and information about Legacy of Fire, Paizo’s fourth Pathfinder Adventure Path. Joshua Frost talks about Pathfinder Society Organized Play, Paizo’s worldwide campaign in the Pathfinder Chronicles setting. Lead Designer Jason Bulmahn gives an update on the development of the Pathfinder RPG.

In episode 29 of Atomic Array, Jason Bulmahn celebrated the launch of the Pathfinder RPG, after over two years of development and the largest open playtest in RPG history. James Jacobs and F. Wesley Schneider also talked about ‘Council of Thieves’, the first Pathfinder Adventure Path using the new Pathfinder RPG system. This episode aired at Gen Con Indy 2009, in conjunction with the official release of the new game.

External links

• Pathfinder homepage
• Pathfinder development blog
• Pathfinder wiki