Greetings, Pathfinders! As we continue delving deeper into the Vaults, the team has been hard at work bringing new visuals, characters, and the source material to life. This update is packed with exciting developments, from concept artwork by a renowned illustrator, to a spotlight on one of our favorite fiendish foes, and big news from a fellow adventuring party launching their own epic journey . Let’s dive in! New Artwork from Xavier Collette The legendary Xavier Collette is joining the party to contribute artwork to the project. Xavier (aka Coliandre) is an illustrator and concept artist known for his evocative fantasy style . He has created artwork for acclaimed board games such as Mysterium and Abyss , as well as numerous book covers and comics. Xavier’s work on Pathfinder: Abomination Vaults includes an updated version of the key art , which we'll fully reveal at a later date. For now, here's a sneak peek at some of the concepts: In each variant, the heroes remain the focus of the image, with Belcorra Haruvex as an unsettling, looming presence. However, these new versions offer dynamic alternate composition s as well as threats emerging from the Vaults themselves. Note that all these concepts are work in progress. After Xavier provided the initial concepts, the next stage was to select one to take forward. This means clarifying the design with precise line art (shown below) and moving on to adding colour. Having considered each of the options, the design above is the one we're choosing to turn into the final image. We hope you enjoy this new take on the key art, and we can’t wait to share the final polished version when it’s ready! Urevian Urevian is a heinous and diabolical contract devil , a master of corruption and temptation. You’ll seldom find a more devious or manipulative foe. This character is a favorite within the team at BKOM , who love Paizo’s original design . The team is working hard to ensure the in-game version stays true to the original , preserving his iconic silhouette, face, and garments. Ideas for combat mechanics and animations include casting spells directly from his contract scrolls to attack the heroes. Our animators and VFX artists are especially excited about having the scrolls float around him as abilities emerge from them mid-battle . Win a Steam Deck! We’re giving away a 1TB OLED Steam Deck , perfect for dungeon crawling your way through the Abomination Vaults! For a chance to win, head over to our competition page and spread the word about the game. The giveaway runs until 31 October , so share it with your fellow party members before then! Starfinder: Afterlight Kickstarter Now Live We're thrilled to share that Starfinder: Afterlight developed by our friends at Epictellers Entertainment is now live on Kickstarter - so go show your support! Starfinder: Afterlight is a party-based RPG set in the beloved science-fantasy universe, featuring tactical combat built on the Starfinder 2e ruleset . Word spreads and your reputation precedes you as the branching narrative unfolds. Both friends and foes will remember your choices and treat you accordingly so remember, every decision carries weight . Congratulations to the whole Epictellers team, we wish them success with the campaign! That’s all for this progress update. Thanks as ever for your incredible support. To keep up with future news and behind-the-scenes updates, join our official Discord server and follow us on social media! Onward, to glory! ~ The Pathfinder: Abomination Vaults Team Discord | Twitter | Twitch | Facebook | Instagram | Bluesky | TikTok | Sign up to our Newsletter | Wishlist

⚔️ Adventurers, prepare yourselves! To thank our growing community, we’re hosting a special giveaway and one lucky hero will claim the ultimate treasure: a Steam Deck (1TB OLED) ! We’re running the giveaway through {LINK REMOVED} Gleam : {LINK REMOVED} https://www.bit.ly/PAVSteamDeck ⭐ You can earn entries by: Joining our adventuring party (follow us on social media) Sharing word of the campaign (optional extra entries) 📜 No purchase required. Full rules and eligibility details are included on the Gleam page. Competition ends 31st October - good luck!

Hail, Pathfinders! Sharpen your blades and ready your spells, the Abomination Vaults await. Built nearly 500 years ago by the sinister Belcorra Haruvex, this sprawling dungeon is filled with traps, monsters, and secrets waiting to be uncovered… and we’re bringing every dark hallway and haunted chamber to life in-game. In last month’s Tabletop to Hack and Slash entry , we ventured into the Darklands to meet the mysterious Caligni. This time, we’re going straight into the Vaults themselves, revealing how the rooms and encounters from the classic Adventure Path are being transformed into fully realized, playable spaces. For this feature, we’re focusing on Floor 8, showcased in our Gameplay Trailer earlier this year , to give you an inside look at how our team approaches level design. We sat down with Creative Director Wyatt to discuss how the process works, from early sketches to final encounters. The Level Design Process From Page to Playable Map Before anything else, we wanted to know how a Pathfinder floor goes from words on a page to an environment you can explore and fight through. “The process begins with immersion: A full and careful read-through of the chapter…” Q: Can you describe the process of transforming a floor description from the book into a playable game map? WYATT: The process begins with immersion: A full and careful read-through of the chapter and hours watching online “DM Helper” materials on YouTube. These help the team digest, contextualize, and expand our understanding and imagination of the chapter. With a strong grasp of the chapter, we then identify the most valuable components. These include essential characters, plotlines, and artifacts and are used to imagine a structured narrative flow. We also map out a quick proposed 2D layout of the floor to anchor ourselves around the intent, major areas, and overall player flow through the level. With the flow and sketch in place, our artists begin creating concept art and our level designer builds a graybox of the level. The concept art guides our environment artists in “set dressing” the graybox with 3D art, informs our lighting and VFX, and inspires the level designers to create or support the grand visions of our artists. Eventually, combat designers add and balance combat encounters. Narrative designers add the quests, dialog, NPCs, clues, the narrative gates that trigger those dialogs, etc. We continually iterate on the level, playtesting and giving feedback, until we feel each area has an acceptable level of quality. Later in the project, we return to each level with a more complete vision, toolset, narrative and fine tune them, bringing them to completion. Moving From 2D to 3D Expanding the Dungeon Into a Full-Fledged Biome Once the team has a layout, the next challenge is transforming a flat, page-sized map into something immersive and explorable. “The first step is re-imagining each floor as a much larger biome rather than a house-sized space.” – Wyatt Q: How do you translate 2D maps into a 3D game space? What challenges or opportunities does it create? WYATT: According to Paizo, the maps of Abomination Vaults were shaped to fit on a single page of their book. Since our game is action-driven, we need a MUCH bigger space for players to explore and fight in. So, the first step is reimagining each floor as a much larger biome rather than a house-sized space. Since 3D enables much more visual immersion, we capture that by including verticality into our designs. Whether scrambling up the sides of ruins, descending into lava-filled forges, leaping over massive chasms, or just witnessing iconic areas in a whole new way, 3D lets us immerse players in these spaces in a way that 2D doesn’t allow. Pacing Keeping Players Engaged Through Flow and Rhythm Of course, great level design isn’t just about the space itself — it’s about how players move through it . “The rule right now is to avoid putting two combat spaces back-to-back…” Q: How do you balance moments of exploration with combat to keep the level dynamic? WYATT: That’s a great question! When designing our layouts, we continually ask ourselves: “Is this a combat space, or an exploration space?” The needs for each are different. The rule right now is to avoid putting two combat spaces back-to-back, so players don’t accidentally pull multiple fights or get exhausted. But we can safely chain together a few exploration areas in a row. It all comes down to pacing and the intended feel. Early in a chapter, there is likely to be more exploration as we immerse the players in a new setting or teach them new dungeon mechanics or tools. The middle and end will have more combat as the floor increases in intensity. Placing Encounters Populating the Dungeon with Meaningful Challenges Finally, we dug into the details. We wanted to know how the team decides where to put traps, enemies, and puzzles to keep things engaging. “Our goal is to populate the dungeon richly with environmental interactables…” Q: How do you decide where to place traps, enemies, and puzzles? WYATT: Our goal is to populate the dungeon richly with environmental interactables for combat and exploration, to make the world feel deeply interactive and the environment feel “masterable”. So, we to put these things regularly throughout every space in the game. Combat areas need open space and a focus on combat-centric environmental set pieces, while exploration spaces are best when populated with traversable environment pieces, cool narrative spots, difficult terrain, and even simple puzzles. So it comes down to knowing the intent of the space and populating it accordingly. Bringing It All Together Translating a legendary dungeon like the Abomination Vaults into an interactive, living space is no small feat. Wyatt and the team have shown that with careful pacing, clever use of space, and a dedication to preserving the spirit of the original Adventure Path, these dungeons can feel more alive than ever. Whether you’re creeping through quiet corridors, piecing together clues, or battling horrors in massive open chambers, every step is designed to immerse you deeper into the Vaults. We can’t wait for you to explore Floor 8 and beyond when the game launches. To hear more about the game, join our official Discord server and follow us on social media! Onward, to glory! ~ The Pathfinder: Abomination Vaults Team Discord | Twitter | Twitch | Facebook | Instagram | Bluesky | TikTok | Sign up to our newsletter | Wishlist

Greetings, Adventurers! Gold jingles in your purse and glory swells in your heart, but the greatest reward is the strength you carry forward. Today, we’re pulling back the curtain on some of the systems that let your heroes grow mightier as they conquer the depths of the Vault. These are early design drafts , so expect a few tweaks along the road! Hero Level We’re excited to unveil the next stage of your journey into the Abomination Vaults! As you venture deeper, your party will grow stronger with each challenge you overcome. This, of course, is represented by levelling up! We plan to utilize a "milestone" progression system , in which the heroes level-up upon defeating each floor's final major encounter or boss battle. Upon level-up, each hero immediately receives a handful of benefits: Stat Increases: Each hero receives an HP increase reflecting their class’s natural hardiness, as well as Power and Defense: attributes that affect the heroes’ ability to output damage and healing and resist incoming damage. New Abilities: For example, at Level 2, Ezren can gain access to Wall of Fire ! You can freely equip new abilities via the Loadout Menu before or during any adventure. One Feat Point: Feats are powerful passive bonuses spent in the Feat Tree, which is accessed at the Otari Garrison. Each level-up further expands your capacity to customize each member of the squad. The role your characters play, whether offensive, defensive, supportive, or a hybrid, is yours to shape! A Hero Level-Up screen displaying unlocks for each character The Feat Tree To further reflect the growth of each character during the adventure, the team has begun work on the Feat system . Players will access the Feat Tree by speaking with Captain Longsaddle at the Otari Garrison. Here you’ll spend Feat Points to hone your heroes’ specialties. If you ever wish to walk a different path, you may re-spec your Feat Points for a fresh start. Each hero’s Feat Tree currently branches into three specializations containing four feats related to specific ideas like Amiri’s ‘Rage’ state, Kyra’s tanking capabilities, or Harsk’s ranged attacks. Choosing all four feats in a cluster will unlock its inner “ Mastery” Feat , a potent additional power granted as a reward for your specialization. Will you cherry-pick the best feats from each cluster, or focus your points into one path for the valuable Mastery Feats? Let us know what you think of this system! The Feat Tree displaying specialisations and unlocks for each Hero Party Bond Another concept we’ve been looking at is called the Party Bond , which represents the trust forged in battle between your party members. This design rewards teamwork and squad play , bringing everyone together! In this system, actions such as performing combo attacks , pulling off team plays , and watching each other’s backs earn Party Bond XP . As your bond strengthens, the entire party reaps the benefits, climbing from Tier 1 to Tier 10 over the course of the adventure. Each Tier earned grants ever-greater blessings, such as increased combo effect damage and healing, faster ally revival, and longer-lasting support effects . Work together and reap the rewards! The Party Bond Icon at the Centre of the Feat Tree We hope this first glimpse into our progression systems has been insightful. We can’t wait to hear how you build your heroes, master your Feat Trees, and strengthen your Party Bonds. Join us in the official Discord for deeper lore, design insights, and tavern chatter as the game continues to take shape! We’re eager to hear your thoughts! Starfinder: Afterlight – Support the Kickstarter! Our friends at Epictellers Entertainment are creating a party-based RPG that brings Paizo’s beloved science-fantasy universe to life! It’s time to gather your crew and save the galaxy in a game featuring the Starfinder 2e ruleset where magic meets technology. You can support the project by checking out their Kickstarter page and wishlisting the game for free on Steam ! Experience turn-based tactical combat with Starfinder’s classes: Soldier, Envoy, Operative, Mystic, Solarian and Witchwarper In Starfinder: Afterlight’s branching narrative, your choices matter . Nothing is forbidden and everything has consequences. Choose salvation or profit, mercy or vengeance. Factions remember your deeds and companions judge your heart. Narrative branches lead to hundreds of unique story paths. We hope you'll show your support through wishlisting , visiting the Kickstarter page or spreading the word to friends! Have Your Say We’d love to hear from you! Please take a moment to share your thoughts on how we can make our updates and news more useful for you. Your feedback helps us better understand and serve our community and it only takes a minute to complete this short survey . That wraps things up for this progress update! Thanks as ever for your support. To continue hearing more update, join our official Discord server and follow us on social media! Onward, to glory! ~ The Pathfinder: Abomination Vaults Team Discord | Twitter | Twitch | Facebook | Instagram | Bluesky | TikTok | {LINK REMOVED} Sign up to our newsletter | Wishlist on Steam