On May 12, Pathfinder publisher Paizo revealed Howl of the Wild, a bestiary-style book that presents brand-new animals and animal-themed gamer choices to 2e. But in addition to vibrant beasts and brand-new origins, Paizo is attempting something various with the sourcebook’s framing. Howl of the Wild presents its contents with a story that’s one-part experience book and one-part bedtime story. Its main character sounds a lot like David Attenborough if somebody turned him into a huge lizard.
Senior Paizo designer and Howl of the Wild lead James Case discusses the story that connects the book together. “Howl of the Wild is a book of creatures where we’re going really deep into all things, animals, beasts, and nature”, he informs Wargamer. “ It’s a nature documentary slash adventure novel focused on an old naturalist, who maybe wasn’t the most adventurous sort as a kid. Now he’s off exploring the world alongside this odd crew.”
According to Case, the old biologist, a Lizardfolk by the name of Baranthet, is on a mission to discover the Wardens of the Wilds. These are 4 legendary animals he keeps in mind from a bedtime story informed long back. Anyone who’s been following the teaser stories shared by Paizo just recently will already have actually invested a long time with Baranthet as he learns more about the Wardens for the very first time.
“The framing device here is the Wardens of the Wild, these four great beasts that are rumoured to steward over various great biomes”, Case discusses. “We have the Warden of Peaks and Skies, the Warden of Oceans and Rivers, the Warden of Forest and Meadows, and the Warden of Caverns and Depths.” Presumably, beasts in Howl of the Wild will be arranged by biome.
“Having this narrative framing device is one thing I and lead designer Logan Bonner have been really excited about”, Case includes. “The tone we wanted to go for was that nature isn’t a scary place to be, but rather a place full of wonders to explore. So we’re seeing it all through the lens of a character who’s a bit older, who maybe wanted more adventure in his youth but life got in the way.” “He’s a little timid,” Case includes, “and he’s not in the best adventuring shape, but he’s finally going out to find something that’s been his life’s dream”.
Baranthet will be taking a trip on an airship called the Zoetrope. Accompanying him are 6 team members. We don’t understand much about them at this phase. We do understand each is from among the brand-new origins presented in Howl of the Wild. And Case describes them as an “eccentric” lot, so we can anticipate some oddballs aboard. Each character will apparently add to the narrative of Howl of the Wild. “ Each of the crew members was taken on by a different author, so each brought a really cool, different voice to it”, Case informs Wargamer.
We don’t understand precisely when Howl of the Wild will launch, however till then, Paizo says it’ll have more to share on the book at Paizo Con Online 2023. You can likewise learn more about its contents in our complete Howl of the Wild sneak peek and Paizo’s statement post. If you’re wanting to play some Pathfinder now, here are some valuable guides to Pathfinder classes and Pathfinder races.
