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Oft-requested features arrive in time for the holidays!

Competition Starts December 4, 2009 on paizo.com

"Curse of the Riven Sky" First Pathfinder RPG Design for Third Edition Co-Creator

Six New 20-Level Classes to Debut Free Online

RPG Superstar Finalist to join Pathfinder staff

Game Accessories to be released under the GameMastery brand

New Address and Phone Number Go Live Friday

Monthly metal miniatures releases to support Paizo's new Pathfinder Roleplaying Game

All Preordered Copies Now in Distribution Channel, New Print Run to Arrive in Early November

Use promotional code "PDFLove" during order checkout

New "d21™ System" and Dice in Stores This August

Contest-Winning Adventure to be Printed by Paizo

Community Use Policy also released

Guests of Honor Include Monte and Sue Cook, Eva Widermann

Ultimate Winner Will Have Adventure Printed by Paizo

Regular Releases Bring Adventure Path Encounters to Life

Contestants Now Fleshing Out Winning Villains with Game Stats

17 Finalists Advance to RPG Superstar Round 3

Contestants Now Fleshing Out Winning Villains with Game Stats

Seventeen amateur game designers have advanced to Round 3 of Paizo Publishing's RPG Superstar, the largest open-call tabletop roleplaying design contest in history. Forgotten Realms creator and gaming legend Ed Greenwood joined celebrity judges Sean K Reynolds (Paizo), Wolfgang Baur (Kobold Quarterly), and Clark Peterson (Necromancer Games) to critique the villain concept submissions of the 32 Round 1 survivors, and a public vote resulted in 17 advancing submissions. The finalists are currently working on game statistics for their villain concepts, using the Beta Playtest edition of the forthcoming Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, available as a free download on paizo.com. All finalist submissions, complete with judge and reader commentary, are likewise posted to the paizo.com messageboards.

"RPG Superstar is a great idea that is not only fun for the participants," said guest judge Ed Greenwood, "it benefits everyone in the industry: gamers who can glean ideas from the creative submissions for every round, participants who can fine-tune their design skills to become game designers, and game companies who can use those new designers. I am honored to take part in this, and I found it a lot of fun, too; I got to read a lot of great ideas!"

The Top 17 finalists for RPG Superstar 2009 and their winning entries are:

Eric Bailey (Wakefield, Massachusetts, USA): Varrush, Master of the Palace of Abundance; Lens of the Runethief

Matt Banach (Champaign, Illinois, USA): Rustin Harp, Ringleader of the Lost Carnival; Master's Perfect Golden Bell

Joao Beraldo (Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil): Boemundo, Unliving Oblivion; Heart of Oblivion

Joshua Blazej (Simi Valley, California, USA): Derinogen, Aristocratic Mage; Hurricane Gloves

Kevin Carter (Aliso Viejo, California, USA): Malgana the Twistwood Witch; Spider Hook

Randy Dorman (Pittsfield, Maine, USA): Hecataeus, Master of Constructs; Helm of the Golem Master

James F.D. Graham (Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada): Count Falconbridge, Fate's Adversary; Mongoose Claw

Trevor Gulliver (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada): Bracht Darkhouse, The Flesh Peddler; Horn of the Dark Hunt

Carl Klutzke (Carmel, Indiana, USA): Sharina Legendsinger; Boundary Chalk

Jacob Manley (New Hampton, New Hampshire, USA): Volner Tain, the Thrice-Damned Disciple; Dust of Weighty Burdens

Eric Morton (Normandy Park, Washington, USA): Aelfric Dream-Slayer; Veil of the Midnight Vigil

Vladislav Rashkovski (Bulgaria): Kardam, the Burning Khan; The Scarlet Legionary Banner

Philip Snyder (Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania, USA): Ssyth'ek, He Who Devours Demons; Temporal Bracers

Neil Spicer (Waxhaw, North Carolina, USA): Gulga Cench, Scion of Cyth-V'sug; Last Leaves of the Autumn Dryad

Matthew Stinson (Jacksonville, Florida, USA): Sartel Bollen, Mistress of the Headless Caravan; School of Eyes

Doyle Tavener (Richmond, Texas, USA): Kar-en-haris, Grand Master of Spies; Desna's Triptych of Threefold Wisdom

Mark Thomas (Brooklyn, New York, USA): Lord Jeroim Borloz, the Diamond Dragon; Hammer's Bane Torc

The Top 17 will now be required to design Pathfinder Roleplaying Game statistics for their villain and submit their revised, complete villain entry concept by 2:00 PM Pacific time on Friday, February 6. These Round 3 submissions will be commented on by our three regular judges plus our guest judge, Pathfinder Roleplaying Game author and Paizo Lead Designer Jason Bulmahn. On February 10, the entries will be revealed to the general public, who will then get to discuss the entries and vote for their favorites. Voting ends on February 16, and the Top 8 (by votes) will move on to Round 4.

The ultimate winner of RPG Superstar, to be announced March 24, 2009, will write a Pathfinder Module to be published in early 2010. Clash of the Kingslayers, the module written by last year's RPG Superstar champion, Leandra Christine Schneider, has just been released for sale.

For a complete schedule for RPG Superstar 2009, plus rules and FAQs, visit paizo.com/rpgsuperstar.

ABOUT PAIZO PUBLISHING
Paizo Publishing®, LLC is a leading publisher of fantasy roleplaying games, accessories, board games, and novels. Paizo's Pathfinder® line of adventures and Pathfinder Chronicles™ campaign setting support materials combines decades of game design experience into one evocative system compatible with the 3.5 rules. Paizo's GameMastery® line offers easy-to-use tools for game masters of any fantasy roleplaying game to improve their gaming experience. Titanic Games™, Paizo's board game imprint, unleashes fun, challenging games like Kill Doctor Lucky™ and Yetisburg™ that appeal to both families and casual gamers alike. Paizo's Planet Stories® line of science fiction and fantasy novel reprints promises a master class in the genre aimed at building the greatest fantasy and science fiction library ever assembled. Paizo.com is the leading online hobby retail store, offering tens of thousands of products from a variety of publishers to customers all over the world. In the six years since its founding, Paizo Publishing has received more than a dozen major awards and has grown to become one of the most influential companies in the hobby games industry.

Paizo Announces RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

Finalists to Design Villain Concept by End of Week

Paizo Publishing today announced the finalists for RPG Superstar, the largest open-call tabletop roleplaying game design contest in history. Judges Sean K Reynolds, Wolfgang Baur, and Clark Peterson selected the Top 32 from hundreds of submissions in an initial contest to design a wondrous item using the rules from the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Beta Playtest Edition, available free from paizo.com. The Top 32 wondrous items are now on display at paizo.com, complete with judge commentary and additional comments from 2008 RPG Superstar finalists Clinton Boomer, Rob McCreary, and Jason Nelson and winner Leandra Christine Schneider. Gamers are invited to contribute their own comments to the entries.

"The quality of submissions was way up this year. It was really hard to choose only 32 from all the excellent entries," said Clark Peterson, one of three RPG Superstar judges. "I cannot wait to see how this year's contest goes. The winner will be a Superstar for sure—there can be only one!"

The Top 32 finalists for RPG Superstar 2009 are:

Andrew Judd (Denton, Texas, USA): Key of Closed Doors

Carl Flaherty (Poway, CA, USA): Lordly Pavilion

Carl Klutzke (Carmel, Indiana, USA): Boundary Chalk

Casey Smith (Davis, California, USA): Maw of Urgathoa

Craig Johnston (Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia): Dazzler

Doyle Tavener (Richmond, Texas, USA): Desna's Triptych of Threefold Wisdom

Elizabeth Leib (Cleveland, Ohio, USA): Haunted Shoes

Eric Bailey (Wakefield, Massachusetts, USA): Lens of the Runethief

Eric Morton (Normandy Park, Washington, USA): Veil of the Midnight Vigil

Gerald Andrews (Gardner, Massachusetts, USA): Spell-Catch Gauntlet

Jacob Manley (New Hampton, New Hampshire, USA): Dust of Weighty Burdens

James Graham (Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada): Mongoose Claw

Jeffrey Scott Nuttall (Los Angeles, California, USA): Twintone Flute

Joao Beraldo (Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil): Heart of Oblivion

Joshua Blazej (Simi Valley, California, USA): Hurricane Gloves

Kevin Carter (Address TBD): Spider Hook

Kurald Galain (United Kingdom): Withering Hourglass

Lucas Jung (Dayton, Ohio, USA): Ethereal Tether

Mark Thomas (Brooklyn, New York, USA): Hammer's Bane Torc

Matt Banach (Champaign, Illinois, USA): Master's Perfect Golden Bell

Matthew Morris (Columbus, Ohio, USA): Bracelet of Shields

Matthew Stinson (Jacksonville, Florida, USA): School of Eyes

Mike Speck (Address TBD): Blightlady's Bread

Neil Spicer (Waxhaw, North Carolina, USA): Last Leaves of the Autumn Dryad

Paul Worthen (Willington, Connecticut, USA): Ancestral Reliquary

Philip Snyder (Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania, USA): Temporal Bracers

Randy Dorman (Pittsfield, Maine, USA): Helm of the Golem Master

Stefan Schulz (Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany): Abyssal Spurs

Trevor Gulliver (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada): Horn of the Dark Hunt

Victor Spieles (Eastpointe, Michigan, USA): Cirroc's Marvelous Crossing

Vladislav Rashkovski (Bulgaria): The Scarlet Legionary Banner

Wesley Lee (Address TBD): The Dread Trinket

The Top 32 will now be required to design a concept for a villain to the specifications of the RPG Superstar judges and submit that concept by 2:00 PM Pacific time on Friday, January 23. These round two submissions will be commented on by our three regular judges plus our guest judge, New York Times best selling author Ed Greenwood. On January 27, the entries will be revealed to the general public, who will then get to discuss the entries and vote for their favorites. Voting ends on February 2, and the Top 16 (by votes) will move on to round three.

The ultimate winner of RPG Superstar, to be announced March 24, 2009, will write a Pathfinder Module to be published in early 2010. Clash of the Kingslayers, the module written by last year's RPG Superstar champion, Leandra Christine Schneider, has just been released for sale.

For a complete schedule for RPG Superstar 2009, plus rules and FAQs, visit paizo.com/rpgsuperstar.

ABOUT PAIZO PUBLISHING
Paizo Publishing®, LLC is a leading publisher of fantasy roleplaying games, accessories, board games, and novels. Paizo's Pathfinder™ line of adventures and Pathfinder Chronicles™ campaign setting support materials combines decades of game design experience into one evocative system compatible with the 3.5 rules. Paizo's GameMastery™ line offers easy-to-use tools for game masters of any fantasy roleplaying game to improve their gaming experience. Titanic Games™, Paizo's board game imprint, unleashes fun, challenging games like Kill Doctor Lucky™ and Yetisburg™ that appeal to both families and casual gamers alike. Paizo's Planet Stories® line of science fiction and fantasy novel reprints promises a master class in the genre aimed at building the greatest fantasy and science fiction library ever assembled. Paizo.com is the leading online hobby retail store, offering tens of thousands of products from a variety of publishers to customers all over the world. In the six years since its founding, Paizo Publishing has received more than a dozen major awards and has grown to become one of the most influential companies in the hobby games industry.