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Pathfinder (periodical)
Encyclopedia
Paizo Publishing
Paizo Publishing is an American publishing company in Redmond, Washington that specializes in game aids and adventures for "the world's oldest fantasy roleplaying game" and its flagship spin-off game and setting, Pathfinder...
and are designed to be supplements to Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
and the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game
The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game is a fantasy role-playing game first published in 2009 by Paizo Publishing...
. There are four different lines of Pathfinder products.
All Pathfinder books are published under the terms of the Open Game License (OGL).
While the magazines Dragon
Dragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
and Dungeon were both licensed to make use of certain iconic elements of Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
intellectual property
Intellectual property
Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
, including material drawn from official settings published by Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games...
and unique monsters such as illithid
Illithid
In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, illithids are monstrous humanoid aberrations with psionic powers. In a typical Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting, they live in the moist caverns and cities of the enormous Underdark...
s, the terms of the OGL forbid the use of such "closed" IP elements. Conversely, however, OGL material from other roleplaying game publishers (such as Necromancer Games
Necromancer Games
Necromancer Games was an American publisher of role-playing games. With offices in Seattle, Washington and Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, the company specialized in material for the d20 System, with most of its products being released under the Open Game License of Wizards of the Coast.The company's...
or Green Ronin Publishing
Green Ronin Publishing
Green Ronin Publishing is an American company based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 2000 by Chris Pramas, they have published several role-playing game–related products...
) can be used in Pathfinder, whereas the terms of Paizo's license with Wizards of the Coast had prevented them from using any third-party OGL material in Dragon or Dungeon.
The Pathfinder product lines use a subscription business model
Subscription business model
The subscription business model is a business model where a customer must pay a subscription price to have access to the product/service. The model was pioneered by magazines and newspapers, but is now used by many businesses and websites....
, in addition to being sold in book stores, game stores, and online retailers. All of the subscriptions are ongoing, and can be canceled at any time, rather than being initially purchased for a set length of time as many magazine subscriptions are.
Each Pathfinder product is published in both print and PDF
Portable Document Format
Portable Document Format is an open standard for document exchange. This file format, created by Adobe Systems in 1993, is used for representing documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems....
.
The Adventure Paths published in Pathfinder and the adventures in the Pathfinder Modules are set in Golarion, the world of the new Pathfinder Chronicles campaign setting
Campaign setting
A campaign setting is usually a fictional world which serves as a setting for a role-playing game or wargame campaign. A campaign is a series of individual adventures, and a campaign setting is the world in which such adventures and campaigns take place...
developed by the Paizo staff, rather than in a Dungeons & Dragons setting owned by Wizards of the Coast, as were many of the adventures in Dungeon.
Adventure Paths
Paizo Publishing's main Pathfinder product line is its adventure paths. A continuation of the adventure pathAdventure Path
Adventure Paths are serial adventures for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game. Though originally applied to the series of Third Edition modules beginning with The Sunless Citadel, the phrase has more recently come to apply nearly exclusively to several lengthy series, each consisting of...
concept from Dungeon
Dungeon (magazine)
Dungeon Adventures, or simply Dungeon, was a magazine targeting consumers of role-playing games, particularly Dungeons & Dragons. It was first published by TSR, Inc. in 1986 as a bimonthly periodical. It went monthly in May 2003 and ceased print publication altogether in September 2007 with Issue 150...
magazine, which ceased publication in September 2007, each year's worth of Pathfinder publishes two complete adventure paths in six-volume arcs,
with supplementary articles to fill out each 96-page volume, and is under the editorial supervision of James Jacobs, formerly editor-in-chief of Dungeon.. The Pathfinder's Journal is a short (6-8 page) fiction section. The first Pathfinder's Journal is general information about the Pathfinder Society, and the next 17 volumes form a single storyline. Each Pathfinder volume contains at least four new monsters by various authors.
Paizo has published a number of adventure paths, including "Rise of the Runelords", "Curse of the Crimson Throne", "Second Darkness", and "Legacy of Fire". The "Council of Thieves" Adventure Path is the first to use the rules of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game
The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game is a fantasy role-playing game first published in 2009 by Paizo Publishing...
.
Pathfinder Chronicles
Pathfinder Chronicles products are additional materials published monthly and designed to explore the world of the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting.Pathfinder Companion
Pathfinder Companions are 32-page softcover books released bimonthly, alternating with the Pathfinder Modules.Pathfinder Modules
Pathfinder Modules are usually stand-alone adventures. They are published bimonthly, alternating with the Pathfinder Companion. Each module is a 32-page softcover containing a single adventure and one or more new monsters. Each module also includes ready-to-play characters of the appropriate level for the adventure.Pathfinder Modules were originally called GameMastery Modules. The name was changed in June 2008 to bring it in line with other books set in the Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting.