CRASH A PIRATE PARTY IN PART 6 OF DOOMSDAY DAWN

Lead with skills and spells in this intrigue-themed chapter of the Pathfinder Playtest!

REDMOND, WASHINGTON (October 22, 2018): Today Paizo Inc. began the play-through of “Red Flags,” the sixth of seven parts in the Doomsday Dawn adventure, in the massive, public, and free Pathfinder Playtest. In this chapter, players create new 14th-level characters with skill sets that favor infiltration, knowledge, and subtlety rather than aggressive combat prowess.

Jason Bulmahn, Director of Game Design at Paizo, set the scene: “An ancient tome, the Last Theorem, has been located in the possession of a Shackles pirate captain. Fortunately, an upcoming gala at his fortress gives you the opportunity to acquire the relic.”

Today also marks the release of Pathfinder Playtest Update 1.5, which modifies spell damage. Throughout the playtest the Paizo design team has listened to players and modified core systems like proficiencies, difficulty classes, death, dying, skills, classes, ancestries, and multiclassing archetypes.

Additionally, separate from the main playtest, Paizo has released an alternate version of the item resonance system for testing using the Raiders of Shrieking Peak scenario and an encapsulated set of rules. Learn more from this Paizo blog post: https://paizo.com/community/blog/v5748dyo6sgbn?The-Resonance-Test.

Join the Pathfinder Playtest designers every Friday throughout the playtest on the Paizo Twitch Channel (twitch.tv/officialpaizo) to hear all about the process and chat directly with the team. The channel hosts live play every Thursday from 2–5 p.m. PST and discussions with the design team every Friday at 4 p.m. PST.

The free playtest bundle, updates, alternate resonance system, Pathfinder Society playtest scenarios, surveys, and more can all be found at PathfinderPlaytest.com. Players can learn more about Pathfinder, participate in forums, read blog posts, and sign up for email updates at paizo.com.

Pathfinder Playtest Schedule:

“Red Flags,” October 22–November 4

“When the Stars Go Dark,” November 5–November 18

About Paizo

Paizo Inc. is one of the world’s leading hobby game publishers. Since 2002, millions of players have joined the goblin army by playing the Pathfinder® and Starfinder® Roleplaying Games in homes, at conventions, at their favorite local game stores, and digitally on virtual tabletops. Paizo.com is an online retail hobby destination for millions of gamers that carries the latest products from top hobby game publishers. Players can also find accessories, like dice and maps, miniatures, T-shirts, goblin plush toys, and the newest releases to quickly replenish their adventuring supplies for the next dungeon run.

CLAIM YOUR HERITAGE, LEVEL-UP, AND JOIN THE CRUSADE IN PART 5 OF DOOMSDAY DAWN, “THE HEROES OF UNDARIN”

The Pathfinder Playtest continues to evolve with an ancestry rules update!

REDMOND, WASHINGTON (October 9, 2018): Paizo Inc. turned its attention today to “The Heroes of Undarin,” the fifth of seven scenarios in the Doomsday Dawn adventure in the worldwide, free Pathfinder Playtest. In this chapter, players create new hardy 12th-level characters who are accustomed to facing terrible foes in the Worldwound, a land ruined by demonic powers.

“A group of agents is sent deep into the Worldwound to uncover the secrets of the White Axiom. You are sent to protect them,” said Jason Bulmahn, Director of Game Design at Paizo, setting the scene.

Throughout the playtest the Paizo design team has listened to players and made changes to the game, including modifications to core systems like proficiencies, difficulty classes, death, dying, skills, classes, and multiclassing archtypes. Today marks the release of Update 1.4, which delivers an overhaul of the ancestries. Starting with this update, when players make a character, they select not only an ancestry but also a heritage from within that ancestry. The heritage gives them additional physical characteristics based on their lineage, and choice of heritage is in addition to the ancestry feat that they gain at 1st level.

Bulmahn added, “The one thing we’ve heard mentioned over and over is that many of you felt like the ancestries weren’t quite giving enough at 1st level. We also saw a number of responses saying that taking a feat to be a half-elf or half-orc was too steep a price to pay. This update makes changes to the way that ancestries work, while also giving you some additional high-level ancestry feats to use in your game!”

In addition to surveys on Chapters 1 through 5 of Doomsday Dawn, there are now surveys up for Ancestries, Classes, Monsters, Hazards and the Rules as a whole. The playtest bundle, updates, and surveys are all free to download at PathfinderPlaytest.com.

Players can learn more, participate in forums, read blog posts and sign up for email updates on paizo.com. The Paizo Twitch channel (twitch.tv/officialpaizo) hosts live play every Thursday from 2-5 PM Pacific and discussions with the design team every Friday at 4 PM Pacific.

Pathfinder Playtest Schedule:

The Heroes of Undarin, October 9 – October 21

Red Flags, October 22 – November 4

When the Stars Go Dark, November 5 – November 18

About Paizo

Paizo Inc. is one of the world’s leading hobby game publishers. Since 2002, millions of players have joined the goblin army by playing the Pathfinder® and Starfinder® roleplaying games across tabletops, at conventions, at their favorite local game store, and digitally on virtual tabletops. Paizo.com is an online retail hobby destination for millions of gamers that carries the latest products from top hobby game publishers. Players also find accessories, like dice and maps, miniatures, T-shirts, goblin plush toys, and the newest releases to quickly replenish those adventuring supplies for the next dungeon run.

Players can make one of the world’s best fantasy RPGs even better by making new characters, playing the scenario, and providing feedback at PathfinderPlaytest.com.

REDMOND, WASHINGTON (August 28, 2018): “In Pale Mountain’s Shadow,” the second of seven scenarios in the Doomsday Dawn adventure, officially began today. It runs through September 9 as part of Paizo’s multi-month, worldwide, free playtest of the Pathfinder Second Edition. 

“Mysterious ancient artifacts from sand-choked Osirion count down the years until a rare planetary conjunction that will align Pathfinder’s world of Golarion with the hostile planet Aucturn, allowing the ravenous hordes of the Dominion of the Black to surge forth and harvest the brains of the Inner Sea, remaking the world in their terrible, alien image.” – Doomsday Dawn

Doomsday Dawn takes heroes on a decade-long journey throughout the world of Golarion as they attempt to understand and defeat an otherworldly menace and avoid utter catastrophe. The collection of seven multi-encounter scenarios is designed to introduce the Pathfinder Playtest rules in a guided, shared playtest experience coinciding with regular surveys to provide focused feedback from players.

Doomsday Dawn is designed to test the newest edition of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, focusing on combat encounters, exploration, hazards, and problem-solving. The goals are to create a fundamental understanding of the game and to test if the revisions to the rules still allow for the same types of storytelling and adventure roleplaying that everyone has come to expect from Pathfinder.

The players set aside the characters they created in “The Lost Star” and create new 4th-level heroes for “In Pale Mountain’s Shadow.” Jason Bulmahn, Director of Game Design at Paizo, introduced the new scenario saying, “A group of heroes is sent to Pale Mountain in a race against time to recover a mysterious gemstone with shifting hieroglyphs inside before it falls into the hands of foul cultists.”

At the end of the adventure, Paizo asks that the players and GM alike fill out surveys at PathfinderPlaytest.com. Game Masters should review the Tracking Sheet prior to play, because they’ll be asked to track certain metrics, such as “At what point did the group run out of healing resources?” or “How many times did player characters die?”

Paizo will be discussing the results of the surveys and changes they are implementing based on player feedback. On the Paizo Twitch channel (twitch.tv/officialpaizo) there will be live play every Thursday from 2-5 PM Pacific and playtest feedback discussions with the design team every Friday at 4 PM Pacific.

Players and Game Masters can also share their opinions on the Pathfinder Playtest Forums, get errata, and sign up for email updates on paizo.com.

It is not too late to join the playtest from the start. The surveys will remain open throughout the playtest period. The free PDF bundle download of the Pathfinder Playtest Rulebook, Pathfinder Playtest Bestiary, Pathfinder Playtest Adventure: Doomsday Dawn, and Flip-Mat Multi-Pack is available now on PathfinderPlaytest.com.

Pathfinder Playtest Schedule:

2.     In Pale Mountain’s Shadow, August 27 – September 9
3.     Affair at Sombrefell Hall, September 10 – September 23 
4.     The Mirrored Moon, September 24 – October 8
5.     The Heroes of Undarin, October 9 – October 21
6.     Red Flags, October 22 – November 4
7.     When the Stars Go Dark, November 5 – November 18

About Paizo

Paizo Inc. is one of the world’s leading hobby game publishers. Since 2002, millions of players have joined the goblin army by playing the Pathfinder® and Starfinder® roleplaying games across tabletops, at conventions, at their favorite local game store, and digitally on virtual tabletops. Paizo.com is an online retail hobby destination for millions of gamers that carries the latest products from top hobby game publishers. Players also find accessories, like dice and maps, miniatures, T-shirts, goblin plush toys, and the newest releases to quickly replenish those adventuring supplies for the next dungeon run.