Paizo has announced that it’s holding off on the release of the next Pathfinder Adventure Card Game set. Mummy’s Mask adventure path was scheduled to ship in February of 2016 but will now not see retail until at least the summer and possibly the fall. This change in plans, Paizo said, was brought on by numerous comments the company received (from both customers and retailers) explaining that players were having difficulty keeping up with the release of new scenarios.

In the meantime, Paizo will continue to put out class decks and the Pathfinder Society Adventure Card Guild will revisit Rise of the Runelords in a “full-on epic” season that mixes up the previous adventures and includes new villains.

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Earlier this week, Paizo revealed its plans for two new Pathfinder RPG books and the next Pathfinder RPG adventure path.

The first book, Bestiary 5, is scheduled for release in November with more than 300 new monsters, plus templates, lists by challenge rating and habitat, and universal monster rules for simplified combat. Among the creatures included are familiars and animal companions, fiends with new mind-warping powers, and entirely new types of devils, angels, demodands, and residents of the Great Beyond.

The second Pathfinder RPG book is to be Ultimate Intrigue, a hardcover that “delves into the shadows, where charm, grace, innuendo, and insult may be more powerful than a sharp sword or spell.” An open playtest for Ultimate Intrigue will open in June.

The next adventure path satisfies a long-standing request by Pathfinder players, a campaign for villains. Hell’s Vengeance will place characters in direct opposition to the previous adventure path, Hell’s Rebels. This time players will find themselves working for the devil-binding Empire of Cheliax and attempting to put down the rebellion.

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Paizo launches this week Wrath of the Righteous, a new series for the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game and new season of organized play. With it players’ characters will visit the hellish Worldwound and take on demons of the Abyss.

The Wrath of the Righteous Base Set includes more than 500 cards with new boons, monsters, and character classes (arcanist, cavalier, inquisitor, and summoner). Also part of the Base Set is the first 110-card adventure deck in the series, Worldwound Incursion.

For the corresponding new season of the Pathfinder Society Adventure Card Guild, players will be able to use in their class decks promo cards from WizKids’ Pathfinder Battles: Iconic Heroes miniatures line.

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The newest roleplaying book from Paizo, Pathfinder Unchained, represents something of a departure for the game, the publisher, and the typical supplement. It’s the result of the company allowing its designers to “do what they want” with Pathfinder, unrestricted by backwards compatibility.

Pathfinder Unchained includes four entirely new versions of the barbarian, monk, rogue, and summoner classes; variant rules for multiclassing, alignment, and wounds; a simplified monster creation process; an alternative, stamina-powered combat system; and more. The book will retail for $40 in print, $10 as a PDF.

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There is this idea floating around about customized cards made by fans. The idea being that anyone can create a card for a favorite game and fold it right into the deck. If that sounds too fictional to be plausible, think again.

DriveThruCards.com now has a Pathfinder Adventure Card Game (PACG) card creator that anyone can use to build a custom made character, armor, weapon, or whatever card to add to the core deck. Read the rest of this entry »

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Paizo’s new Monster Codex for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game provides an in-depth look at 20 monster types, including orcs, ogres, trolls, kobolds, and more. For each, the book includes detailed background information, sample encounters, special material (such as feats and magic items), and a series of new stat blocks covering a range of challenge levels.

Another feature of the Monster Codex is a set of simple class templates, which is a way to add character-class features to a monster without having to go through the usual tedious level-by-level process.

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Now available direct from Paizo are seven Class Decks for the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game—Fighter, Cleric, Bard, Ranger, Rogue, Wizard, and Sorcerer. Each features four different class archetypes and includes 109 item, ally, spell, and loot cards.

Class Decks are required for organized play (the Adventure Card Guild) but also provide options for home games.

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In addition to three major releases at Gen Con, Paizo also pulled in nine ENnie Awards (including Best Publisher), announced a license to Obsidian Entertainment (Fallout: New Vegas) for electronic games based on Pathfinder (starting with a mobile version of the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game), and hosted nearly 10,000 Pathfinder Society players.

Those releases, by the way, were:

• Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Advanced Class Guide—featuring ten new character classes, including arcanist, bloodrager, brawler, hunter, investigator, shaman, skald, slayer, swashbuckler, and warpriest.
• Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Skull & Shackles—which launches players on a series of pirate adventures, includes improved rules, and introduces four new character classes.
• Pathfinder Adventure Path: Iron Gods—a fantasy and technology mash-up, with barbarian, robots, cultists, and crashed spaceships.

Product news aside, Gen Con presented me the opportunity to sit down with Paizo’s publisher, Erik Mona, for a fantastic discussion about growth, diversity, setbacks, and surprises. I invite you to listen. The recording is just under 22 minutes.

Download: Interview-With-Paizos-Eric-Mona-at-Gen-Con-2014.mp3

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Thinking about new career options for 2014? Here are some current job opportunities in the game industry…

At Fantasy Flight Games in Roseville, Minnesota:

• Associate Interactive Artist [PDF] responsible for asset creation and technical troubleshooting, while maintaining good interdepartmental communication.
• Associate Graphic Designer [PDF] with experience using Adobe Creative Suite 6, an appreciation for hobby games, and the ability to adhere to workflow procedures.
• Associate Web Application Developer [PDF] with proficiency in Django Framework, Javascript, and Python.
• Hobby Market Sales Associate [PDF] to be responsible for domestic and international retail and distributor accounts.

With The Strong and National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York:

• Public Relations and Marketing Associate to assist with media relations and social media marketing.
• Object Videographer/Photographer to document artifacts on a contract basis through August.

At Paizo in Redmond, Washington:

• Software Developer with at least 4 years of Javascript, HTML, CSS, and and e-commerce experience.
• Customer Service Representative familiar with Paizo and its product lines.
• Digital Products Assistant to assist with website content management and conversion of print products to digital.
• Graphic Designer for both book layout and non-book graphic design.

With Hasbro’s Wizards of the Coast subsidiary in Renton, Washington:

• Sr. Product Manager for Magic: The Gathering digital products, leading strategic product development.
• Content Manager responsible for updating magicthegathering.com and other MtG-related websites.
• Technical Producer, MTGO Live leading cross-functional teams through product development or Live Operations support.
• Associate Brand Manager, Magic responsible for product plans and marketing campaigns.
• Sr. Marketing Art Director, Dungeons & Dragons for marketing campaign materials and brand style guides.
• Sr. Business Manager, Magic Online leading expansion, managing sales, and responsible for P&L globally.
• and 9 art direction, customer service, and other jobs.

At Hasbro in Pawtucket, Rhode Island:

• Associate Manager, Global Brand Marketing & Development – Girls Gaming develop brand strategies and contribute to marketing plans for girl-focused brands.
• Senior Brand Design Manager, Boys to focus on brand packaging and other branding assets.
• Sr. Project Engineer responsible for the engineering development of Rovio-licensed products.
• Photo Studio Manager to manage both daily operations of in-house studio and oversee Producers on lifestyle shoots.
• Senior Product Designer, Pre-School Games developing products while working with marketing, research, and engineering teams.
• Three entry-level Associate Project Manager, Boys shepherding development teams and business partners through product development schedules.
• Director, Design and Development – Star Wars strategic leadership with extensive experience in the toy industry.
• Manager, Consumer Promotions to develop and implement promotions and marketing partnerships.
• Sr. Manager, Digital Marketing – International to drive online marketing in international markets.
• and 57 others!

With Spin Master:

• Project & Research Coordinator in Toronto to track Advanced Concept Team projects and research new product and business opportunities.
• Licensing Manager in Los Angeles responsible for the acquisition of new IP opportunities.

At Cryptozoic in Lake Forest, California:

• Project Coordinator assisting with production and distribution of trading cards and collectibles.
• Marketing Manager responsible for web content, social media, web promotions, and advertising.
• Graphic Designer to design art and layout visual media for print and digital.

With Panda Game Manufacturing:

• Project Manager [PDF] in either Vancouver, Canada or Indianapolis to work with clients and overseas suppliers on the production of board games.

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We’ve briefly mentioned this before, and now we have more information. Paizo will be debuting the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game (PACG) at GenCon 2013 that tries to recreate the feel of Pathfinder without the GM. The base set will come with 500 cards, dice, and everything else 4 players need to create a character and start playing. A 110 Character Add-On deck will also be available, and allows up to 6 players to play. After that Paizo will be releasing bi-monthlty, 110 card Adventure Decks.

MSRP will be $59.99 for the base set, and $19.99 for the Character Add-On Deck and bi-monthly Adventure Decks.

While I’ve never gotten into Pathfinder, these products really excite me. I can’t wait to see how they turn out, and give them a whirl.

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