How I Stopped Being a Grown-up and Learned to Re-love Comics

Pathfinder #1,
Dynamite Entertainment

Last August, Dynamite Entertainment released the first of their ongoing, licensed Pathfinder comics, and I, being a good Paizo employee and undying fan of the setting, picked it up. I loved it. And over the last 9 months, I've read every issue the second it came out, even going so far as to sneak a preview glimpse from Publisher Erik Mona, who always has the next issue or so in his office for licensing approvals.

It took a few months, but I realized sometime around the first of the year that I had missed the joy of episodic comic book reading. It was in 1993 or so that I stopped following comics on an obsessive basis. I'd moved on to other nerdy obsessions (Star Trek, movies, David Bowie, among others). I missed the days of talking among my fellow comic fans in middle school about the newest development in the lives of Spider-man or the X-Men. I missed collecting Marvel trading cards, trading them with friends, and trading comics after I'd read and reread them until they were no longer in NM or even Good condition.

The Spider #1,
Dynamite Entertainment

I'd been following Dynamite's solicitations page periodically to look for new issues of Pathfinder to put up on PathfinderWiki and in the process read about some of the other title in their catalogue. I was particularly intrigued by some of their pulp titles like The Spider, Dejah Thoris, and the pulp superhero crossover series Masks. Between a few of these titles that I picked up a la carte at my local comic shop and DC's Before Watchmen series, I quickly got myself back into the habit of stopping in once a month to grab a few items off the shelf.

Toward the end of last month, I set up a pull box at the comic store nearest my apartment, The Dreaming Comics and Games in Seattle's University District. The pull box only had a few titles in it, including the above-mentioned Masks, The Spider, as well as The Black Bat, Green Hornet, and Miss Fury. I was totally on Dynamite's pulp bandwagon, and I loved it! But every time I walked into the store to get my weekly pull on Wednesday evenings, I was inexplicably drawn to some of the titles of my youth (or at least to the heroes of my youth—many of the titles themselves have been replaced or relaunched so many times I feel like I no longer have any connection to them.) It only took a few more weeks before I was fully engrossed in DC's "New 52" and Marvel's similar "Marvel Now" relaunches.

This weekend was Free Comic Book Day, and also saw the grand opening of a new comic book and game store in the middle of Capital Hill, miles closer to my apartment than The Dreaming. Phoenix Comics and Games looks like it's going to be an incredible store, with a super-convenient location right on my way home from work (and with late hours every night of the week)! In addition to picking up a bunch of back-issues and new titles I wanted to check out, I also set up a pull box there (set to start in July, after I've given the courtesy 2-month notice to The Dreaming of my move. I'd only had my pull box at The Dreaming for a few weeks, but I feel the need to support a new, local business in my own neighborhood.

The Movement #1,
DC Comics

What's on my pull list, you ask? I can't say I really remember, honestly. It's been such a whirlwind these last few weeks as I've dived in head-first to this whole comic thing again that I can't recall what I committed to on a monthly basis and what I plan(ned) to pick up issue by issue from the shelf. So I guess I'll be in for a surprise every Wednesday for a bit. Some titles I know I will likely add to it if they're not already on it, however, are Justice League America, Wolverine, Superior Spider-Man, and The Movement. I'm keeping all my Dynamite pulp titles from my previous pull-list, of course.

In the coming weeks, I plan to do some catching up on the New 52 and Marvel Now and will do my best to post my thoughts as I do so here. For anyone stumbling across this blog—my first that isn't simply a product description of a book I wrote or edited—I can also be found on Twitter @yoda8myhead and on Facebook. Hope to see you around!

Shattered Star Player's Guide (author)

Shattered Star Player's Guide

The Shattered Star Player’s Guide gives players all the spoiler-free information, inspiration, and new rules they’ll need to create characters prepared for delving into the adventure and intrigue of the Shattered Star Adventure Path.
Within, players of this campaign will find everything they need to create character backgrounds tied to personalities and events vital to Pathfinder Adventure Path’s exploration of some of the many ancient dungeons spread throughout Varisia, along with new campaign-specific traits to give bold adventurers the edge they’ll need to take on the strange and deadly threats faced in these dark places. This player’s guide also features a view of Magnimar at a glance, and an introduction to the Pathfinder Society, including rewards and resources of the organization.
Adventurers don't need to descend into the darkened depths unprepared! Gather your allies and let the Shattered Star Player's Guide start your trip into the thrill and danger of the Shattered Star Adventure Path.

Available here!

Pathfinder Adventure Path #60: From Hell's Heart (author)

Pathfinder Adventure Path #60: From Hell's Heart

With an enemy fleet intent on conquering the Shackles looming on the horizon, the adventurers must launch their own fleet of pirates and buccaneers to defend against the invaders, culminating in an epic naval battle at the edge of the Eye of Abendego. Will the adventurers defeat the invading navy and save the Shackles? Or will the independence of the Free Captains be eradicated forever?
This volume of Pathfinder Adventure Path includes:

• “From Hell’s Heart,” a Pathfinder RPG adventure for 13th-level characters, by Jason Nelson.
• Pirate plots and sinister situations to expand the horizon of your Skull & Shackles campaign, by Adam Daigle.
• More menacing sea monsters and terrors from the deep plaguing the Shackles, by Adam Daigle.
• A pirate showdown in the Pathfinder’s Journal, by Robin D. Laws.
• Seven new monsters, by Adam Daigle, Amanda Hamon, Mark Moreland, Eric Morton, and William Thrasher.

Each monthly full-color softcover Pathfinder Adventure Path volume contains an in-depth adventure scenario, stats for several new monsters, and support articles meant to give Game Masters additional material to expand their campaign. Pathfinder Adventure Path volumes use the Open Game License and work with both the Pathfinder RPG and the world’s oldest fantasy RPG.

Available here!

Pathfinder Adventure Path #59: The Price of Infamy (author)

Pathfinder Adventure Path #59: The Price of Infamy

The adventurers now have their own island and port, but they’ll need more than one ship to defend it. When a past rival sends a fleet to attack them, they’re forced to pull out all the stops to defend their island home, scouring the harbors and docks of the Shackles in order to recruit more ships and crews to their flag. Yet when they sail to the attacker’s own island to get their revenge, the adventurers discover a traitor—one whose betrayal threatens not only their own fleet, but the very islands of the Shackles themselves.
This volume of Pathfinder Adventure Path includes:

• “The Price of Infamy,” a Pathfinder RPG adventure for 11th-level characters, by Tim Hitchcock.
• Fleet battle rules that allow players to stand as admirals and commodores directing their own armadas against enemy fleets in large-scale naval warfare, by James Jacobs.
• A glimpse behind the gray veil of Norgorber, Golarion’s most secretive deity, by Sean K Reynolds.
• Lock-breakers and sea-devils in the Pathfinder’s Journal, by Robin D. Laws. Four new monsters, by Savannah Broadway, Ryan Costello, Mark Moreland, and Sean K Reynolds.

Each monthly full-color softcover Pathfinder Adventure Path volume contains an in-depth adventure scenario, stats for several new monsters, and support articles meant to give Game Masters additional material to expand their campaign. Pathfinder Adventure Path volumes use the Open Game License and work with both the Pathfinder RPG and the world’s oldest fantasy RPG.

Available here!

Pathfinder Adventure Path #58: Island of Empty Eyes (author)

Pathfinder Adventure Path #58: Island of Empty Eyes

Having won the Free Captains’ Regatta, the adventurers must now claim their prize—the uninhabited Island of Empty Eyes. Yet exploring strange ruins and fighting the isle’s monstrous denizens won’t be enough. Once they’ve got things well in hand, the adventurers must host a feast for the Shackles' infamous Pirate Council, only to have a dangerous situation turn even worse when a mysterious saboteur threatens to disrupt the party. Can the adventurers tame their island and protect their influential guests? Or will they lose the respect of the pirate lords and fade into obscurity?
This volume of Pathfinder Adventure Path includes:

• “Island of Empty Eyes,” a Pathfinder RPG adventure for 9th-level characters, by Neil Spicer.
• Pirate legends and mysteries of the Shackles, by Jack Graham.
• Details on the cyclopes who once ruled the Shackles, by Gareth Hanrahan.
• Island harpies in the Pathfinder’s Journal, by Robin D. Laws.
• Five new monsters, by Alex Greenshields, Michael Kenway, Mark Moreland, and Tork Shaw.

Each monthly full-color softcover Pathfinder Adventure Path volume contains an in-depth adventure scenario, stats for several new monsters, and support articles meant to give Game Masters additional material to expand their campaign. Pathfinder Adventure Path volumes use the Open Game License and work with both the Pathfinder RPG and the world’s oldest fantasy RPG.

Available here!

Pathfinder Adventure Path #56: Raiders of the Fever Sea (author)

Pathfinder Adventure Path #56: Raiders of the Fever Sea

Bound for adventure upon the pirate vessel they’ve taken as their own, the heroes face a sea of dangers as they chart a course to become true Free Captains of the Shackles. But life as a pirate doesn’t prove any easier now that they’re in command, as deadly sea monsters, the corpses of drowned scallywags, and raiders from the deep rise to oppose them. When a most unusual map falls into the adventurers’ hands, they have the chance to change their fate in a single daring raid. Is it the heroes’ destiny to be the next victims of the merciless waves, or will fortune smile upon them and spur their rise as the newest and most infamous pirates of the Shackles?
This volume of Pathfinder Adventure Path includes:

• “Raiders of the Fever Sea,” a Pathfinder RPG adventure for 4th-level characters, by Greg A. Vaughan.
• A gazetteer of Golarion’s many oceans and seas, and an exploration of the various aquatic races that inhabit them, by Adam Daigle, with Patrick Renie, F. Wesley Schneider, and James L. Sutter.
• A journey to Butcher’s Rock and deadly cyclopean prophecies in the Pathfinder’s Journal, by Robin D. Laws.
• Six new monsters, by Jesse Benner, Mark Moreland, Steven D. Russell, and Greg A. Vaughan.

Each monthly full-color softcover Pathfinder Adventure Path volume contains an in-depth adventure scenario, stats for several new monsters, and support articles meant to give Game Masters additional material to expand their campaign. Pathfinder Adventure Path volumes use the Open Game License and work with both the Pathfinder RPG and the world’s oldest fantasy RPG.

Available here!

Pathfinder Society Field Guide (author)

Pathfinder Society Field Guide

The Pathfinder Society is an eccentric organization of adventurers, explorers, and scholars with agents spread across Golarion and beyond. While members are expected to be fairly self-sufficient, the organization’s leadership knows that those equipped with the knowledge and gear to face the challenges of the job are most likely to survive to bring back priceless treasures and to fill the Pathfinder Chronicles with tales of their daring exploits. The Pathfinder Society Field Guide breaks down what it means to be a Pathfinder and gives players and GMs tools to build characters and campaigns around the illustrious organization. In addition, all content within this book is 100% legal for use in the world-spanning Pathfinder Society Organized Play campaign.
Within this 64-page book, Pathfinders will find:

• An overview of Absalom, City at the Center of the World, where the Pathfinder Society keeps its headquarters
• Details on 10 factions within the Pathfinder Society, and the benefits available to those agents loyal to each
• New archetypes for Pathfinders of all three branches of the organization: the Scrolls, the Spells, and the Swords
• A complete field guide covering threats to Pathfinder agents, as well as suggestions on building PCs prepared to face them
• Rules for day jobs and professions, property, followers, and other ways to customize your character
• A system for turning characters’ fame and prestige into valuable in-game rewards Dozens of new spells, magic items, specialized adventuring tools, and more!

The Pathfinder Society Field Guide is intended for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and the Pathfinder campaign setting, but can easily be used in any fantasy game setting.

Available here!

Kobold Quarterly #17 (author)

Kobold Quarterly #17

Is this issue… ticking? Yes, Kobold Quarterly issue #17 is all about the rogues and villainy!
For your inspection, a list of highlights from the table of contents:

• Ambush in Absalom: Our first official adventure for Paizo’s Pathfinder Society, a little piece by Mark Moreland.
• "So We Meet Again!" Special adversary abilities for recurring villains and the PCs who hate them. These adversary mechanics give recurring villains and PCs the ability to uniquely track, thwart and escape each another over many adventures. For Pathfinder RPG.
• The Right Way to Do Wrong: Brandon Hodge presents classic swindles for your rogue to play. Say, would you watch this violin for a second?
• Know Why You Play: Jeff Tidball gives us both an insightful interview and the complete scoop on the Dragon Age RPG stunt mechanic, and how to adapt it to D&D or Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.
• Elf Needs Food, Badly: Yes, magical foods make an appearance, and are giving us a case of the nom nom noms!
• Magical Squibs and Firecrackers: Rockets, firecrackers, and squibs were good enough for Prof. JRR Tolkein in The Hobbit. Now they're here for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.
• The Black Goat: A tavern mini adventure for Pathfinder Roleplaying Game that will leave your PCs changed...forever.
• Group Concepts: Nine ways to kick off a perfect campaign, with the right concept for the PCs from the start. Excellent advice, with examples from the Midgard campaign setting.
• Getting Ahead: Taking trophy heads and turning them into magical items might cross a line somewhere, but we're guessing both PCs and villains will do anything to get a head when they see what these beauties do. For Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Ask the Kobold: Gaming legend Skip Williams takes on the use of magic items on companion animals, with rather amusing results.
• Not to mention monster advice from Monte Cook, two articles for the AGE System on stunts, plus book reviews, details of the Midgard campaign setting, and much, much more!

Kobold Quarterly #17 is replete with moustache-twirling villainy, classic crunch, and the finest RPG flavor available anywhere! Pick up your copy today!

Available here!

Carrion Crown Player's Guide (author)

Carrion Crown Player's Guide

The Carrion Crown Player’s Guide gives players all the spoiler-free information, inspiration, and new rules they’ll need to create characters prepared for the horrors of the Carrion Crown Adventure Path. Within, players of this campaign will find everything they need to create character backgrounds tied to the grim events that kick off Pathfinder Adventure Path’s most horrifying series, along with new campaign-specific traits to give bold adventurers the edge they’ll need to take on the frightful country of Ustalav’s myriad menaces. New rules for employing the Harrow Deck also put the mystery and magic of that fateful fortunetelling device at the players’ disposal when they’ll need it most. Adventurers need not venture into the darkness unprepared—gather your courage and let the Carrion Crown Player’s Guide be your first step into the nightmare of the Carrion Crown.

Available here!

Murder on the Throaty Mermaid (author)

Pathfinder Society Scenario #2-13

Murder on the Throaty Mermaid

While on a routine mission to escort a dignitary to the mysterious Mordant Spire aboard a disreputable smuggler's ship, the PCs find themselves embroiled in a murder mystery that could jeopardize the Pathfinder Society's relationship with the isolationist elves who call the citadel home. Can the cunning Pathfinders discover who among the ship's crew of scum and villains is responsible for the crime in time to clear their own names? This murder mystery upon the open sea features a mechanic allowing for a different killer each time it's run to ensure that no amount of word of mouth will spoil the investigation for any team of canny players.

Available here!

The Sarkorian Prophecy (author)

Pathfinder Society Scenario #2-08

The Sarkorian Prophecy

When a novice Pathfinder in the Grand Lodge of Absalom discovers an account of a long lost prophecy which may hold the key to defeating the Shadow Lodge, a team of brave agents heads into the heart of the Worldwound to recover the document. Not only do the forces of the Abyss and the demon-tainted environment stand in their way, but so does a rival team of Pathfinders set on recovering the Sarkorian Prophecy first.

Available here!

Off the Beaten Path: The Stones (editor)

Off the Beaten Path: The Stones

A newly built dam unearths an ancient evil that threatens the countryside. Will you journey into the depths to defeat this nameless evil before it's too late?

The Stones is a Pathfinder Roleplaying Game scenario designed for 7th-level characters. Set in a generic border kingdom and wilderness area near a medium or large city, it is suitable for use with any campaign setting. The adventure combines “sandbox” wilderness exploration with a short dungeon crawl.

The Stones is a 12-page, fully bookmarked, layered PDF for easy printing.

Available here!

The Vile Worm of the Eldritch Oak (conversion)

The Vile Worm of the Eldritch Oak

Deep within the forest, an ancient oak has grown huge, twisted, and evil. Ages ago, a savage cult haunted these woods and this tree became the catalyst of their unspeakable rites. Below it they carved out a chamber of sacrificial horror where innocent victims were offered to a hideous worm-like god. As the centuries passed, the cult faded into the mists of time, but the twisted old oak stood fast, awaiting the day when the creeping evil in the dark below would be summoned once more.

This module includes:
- five illustrations
- full-page map
- two new monsters
- two new magic items

Available here!

Serpent's Skull Player's Guide (author)

Serpent's Skull Player's Guide

This guide seeks to aid players preparing to take part in the Serpent’s Skull Adventure Path, to arm them with spoiler-free details and rules elements useful in the forthcoming challenges, and to help create backgrounds that easily mesh with the campaign.

Along with advice for players of every race and character class in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game—including those in the newly released Advanced Player’s Guide—details on Sargava, the country in closest proximity to the campaign’s events, and of the Jenivere, the ship conveying the PCs to adventure, should help ground players in the circumstances and events of this new Adventure Path.

Available here!

The Maze of the Open Road (author)

Pathfinder Society Scenario #54

The Maze of the Open Road

The mysteries of the Woodsedge Lodge continue as you and your fellow Pathfinders are sent to devil-tainted Cheliax and the steamy jungles of the Mwangi Expanse to find two missing venture-captains.

Available here!

Feats 101 (editor)

Feats 101

Think you have enough feats to choose from? Think again! Feats 101 gives you—yes, you guessed it—101 feats that will help you realize the vision you've had for your character.

From new metamagic feats to feats that make use of your bond to your Animal Companion, Familiar, or Mount along with Combat Maneuvers, and Sorcerous Bloodlines, Feats 101 brings a host of new abilities to your character.

Wholly compatible with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Feats 101 adds new agonizing choices to character creation and advancement without breaking the game.

Available for download here!

And for print-on-demand here!

Urban Creatures and Lairs (editor)

The Great City

Urban Creatures and Lairs

This product features descriptions and stat-blocks for twenty urban-based monsters using the rules presented in the Pathfinder Bestiary. In addition, each entry contains further information for how to use the creature in an encounter, encounter ideas, and for most of the entries, a fully detailed lair which you can simply drop into an adventure as a plug-and-play mini-adventure or encounter. While you might get a few less monsters than in a typical bestiary, our goal was to give you very usable monsters, and of course showcase 0one’s exquisite maps.

Available for download here!

And for print-on-demand here!

Paladins Prevail! (editor)

Class Options Vol. 2

Paladins Prevail!

Stalwart knight. Bringer of justice. Defender of the weak. The paladin fulfills many roles. This Pathfinder RPG-compatible supplement allows a player to individualize a paladin based on how he imagines his character's faith manifests as abilities and powers. New class abilities are presented in a modular format, encouraging a mix-and-match approach to character construction, enabling greater variety, and allowing paladins of any level to benefit from Paladins Prevail. You will also find suggested combinations of these abilities and a series of new feats all paladins can use.

Available for download here!

Kingmaker Player's Guide (author)

Kingmaker Player's Guide

The Kingmaker Player’s Guide is intended to provide context for creating characters from the nation of Brevoy or surrounding regions who wish to play a role in the Stolen Lands’ transformation. In this campaign, your characters will explore vast wildernesses and settle them, build cities and nations, and even fight wars against opposing kingdoms. Many of these unusual campaign elements are supported by additional rules that appear in other volumes of the Kingmaker Adventure Path—your GM can provide you with the information you need to explore, build, conquer, and war as the need arises in each adventure. As a special preview, some of these elements are presented at the end of this guide so you have all of the blank forms and hex paper you need to track your adventures and achievements in the Stolen Lands.

Available as a free download here!

The Darkest Vengeance (author)

Pathfinder Society Scenario #47

The Darkest Vengeance

When a newly opened Ustalav Pathfinder Lodge goes silent, it's up to you to investigate and report back to the Society as to the source of the disappearance. The mystery deepens when you arrive and find the house silent but infiltrated by an old threat now in control of one of Ustalav's most powerful artifacts.

Available here!