Paizo’s first new rulebook since dropping the OGL evokes… David Attenborough?

By James On Nov 28, 2023

In January, after the disastrous OGL fiasco, Pathfinder Second Edition publisher Paizo has made every effort to rid itself of its attachments – legal and otherwise – to Dungeons & Dragons. Earlier this month, the Seattle-based company made good on this promise by launching new core rulebooks that completely strip Wizards of the Coast’s intellectual property from its unique fantasy setting on the planet Golarion. Howl of the Wild will be the company’s first new rulebook to be published since publication Scout remastering. Polygon has an exclusive preview of some of the new creatures featured – as well as the all-new character templates that will soon be available to players.

Howl of the Wild is told from the perspective of Baranthet, an aging naturalist who wants to leave his ivory tower and walk the earth in search of creatures he previously only encountered in dusty books. He is accompanied by various imaginative creatures, including a minotaur, a sentient insect and merfolk. Together they help detail dozens of creatures, revealed here for the first time.

Senior designer James Case said the writing team’s aim was to evoke the wonder and curiosity of Sir David Attenborough’s spirited storytelling.

“He’s basically a scholar who, from the time he was a kid, was told this bedtime story about these four mythical creatures that exist somewhere and are called the Wardens of the Wild,” Case told Polygon . ‘But he was also a timid scientist who never really went out and did field work. And now he’s elderly and he’s going on his first adventure.’

Different types of griffin beaks, a drawing inspired by Darwin’s finches. Of course, these adjustments are intended for open adventurers, not crazy ones.

Image: Luca Sotgui/Paizo

A griffin with blue, green and ocher pigmentation in its feathers. — The book contains creatures with many different levels and abilities within each type, such as this high-level Ascended Griffin.

One of the most unusual new creatures is called the Apothecary Bee, which can drain the potions carried by players during the attack. If it is an ally, it can inject what it has collected to help players improve. Other newcomers Scout are more threatening, such as the enormous Thrunosaurus Rex – which is drenched in Jurassic worldstyle, with unnatural forces, but more suitable for Scout‘s fantasy themes.

A large, hairy bee with a purple sac on top and on its legs. Purple ichor falls from its stinger.

A large gray dynosaurus roughly shaped like a t-rex, but with horns and a fireball above its head.

“There are (literally) unholy (energies) in there,” Case said, “which is new for the remaster. So that means that even though it’s an animal, it literally has a devilish essence running through it (…) and some of your divine characters who would otherwise be just as absent (…) might have a way of dealing with it to go .”

But while Howl of the Wild is primarily a bestiary, but also includes six new playable ancestors. And while ancestors have been revealed before the Paizo websiteCase was able to share the three new archetypes from the book here for the first time.

A male character with green skin, blobs of dirt and dull hair. He stands on all fours.

The Wild Mimic is a twist on the classic Tarzan or, for video game fans, Street Fighter’s Blanca. They have access to abilities such as trampling, tearing and pouncing, as well as generating electricity, regenerating limbs and making shockingly loud vocalizations. Meanwhile, the Swarmkeeper – shown in early art as a character with Goblin ancestry – keeps a swarm of symbiotic insects on their person. Characters like the Swarmkeeper, Case said, are the result of an extremely open-minded brainstorming session, born in part from a desire to further differentiate the characters. Scout universe of its competitors.

A goblin wearing a mask inspired by medieval beekeepers – with wicker bands over his eyes – summons a swarm of insects beneath his tattered robes.

A were-creature in elaborate armor, barefoot and a saber raised in greeting. The cape is green.

But by far the most anticipated addition to the Second editionThe game’s remastered ruleset features werecreatures: shape-shifting humanoid creatures inspired by werewolves and other mythical creatures. And Paizo’s system for creating these creatures is, Case said, even more nuanced than the other archetypes.

“This is a double-length ancestry (in terms of page count) that gives you all your classic stuff – shapeshifting and healing, that kind of thing,” Case said. But it also offers additional abilities, such as echolocation for werebats and pack attacks for werewolves, in addition to “more general abilities for werecreatures.”

Howl of the Wild will be published in May 2024 as both a digital and physical book.