Paizo Releases and Announcements

First, Paizo sent me Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Ultimate Magic, the Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Rival Guide, and Pathfinder Tales: Worldwound Gambit. Here's my first impressions.

Ultimate Magic: This is another well done expansion book for PFRPG. I haven't really dug in it deep, but I'm hoping to very soon.

Rival Guide: This is an awesome concept, with a neat execution. These are not more factions, or some single recurring villain NPCs. No, these are 10 NPC Adventuring Parties who your characters could run into once, twice, or in a recurring fashion. They don't have to be "the villains" of the campaign (one party's majority alignment is even on the good side), but they can be. What they're more designed for is the parties competition. These are the groups that your party are either just beating to a location to acquire some item, or maybe picking a fight with because they have the item, then dealing with later for another item, or even working with to finish some mutual goal. They could be the mercenaries that the real villain hired to keep you at bay, or simply just out for gold themselves. They could even be "helpful" frustrations.

The execution is a set of fairly balanced parties of four NPCs, each NPC has about as much detail as the average Goloron NPC Paizo publishes, and the a page or two about the party as a whole. Wrap that around more great art, and a few extra feats, spells, and uses of skills, and you've got another one of paizo's fabulous fluff books.

Worldwound Gambit: Pathfinder Tales is still having hit or miss moments, this is (in my opinion) on the miss side. Great concept of story, but another one where the style of writing just makes it very hard to dive in. So in the novels, we've got 2 good, and 2 not so good, and 2 yet to be released. Gotta start somewhere.

What else is interesting this week?

Well, a few weeks ago they announced the PFRPG: Beginner Box, it sounds very typical of tabletop game beginner boxes, a nice piece but perhaps nothing special. Until the email I got last night.

Paizo and WizKids Launch Pathfinder Pre-Painted Minis

Beginner Box Release Resurrects Pre-Painted Plastic Fantasy Miniatures

Paizo Publishing and WizKids Games announce a new partnership whereby WizKids Games will produce a special set of pre-painted plastic miniatures for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Beginner Box, an introductory boxed set slated to release in October 2011.  ...

The email goes on to say that this is not a move from reaper's minis, which will continue and are doing well, and mentions that this will be a separate product alongside the Beginner Box.

All I know is, assuming I'm not flat broke at the time (which I might be, its my debit card that'll have to pay for the conference room for SFI-Region 3's Game Day on 10-22) I'll be ordering one to go with my beginner's box (the beginners box is part of the PFRPG subscription) and may order 2 or 3 more of each as Christmas Presents this year.

That's pretty much the jist of things. I'm gonna try and continue a game I started a few weeks ago tonight, depeneding on player's schedules. Other than that life's pretty much here.