Pathfinder's Journal (series)

This article refers to the Pathfinder's Journal section of each volume of Pathfinder Adventure Path. For the serial novella of the same title, see Pathfinder's Journal (fiction).

Pathfinder's Journal is an ongoing series of serialized fiction which appears in Pathfinder Adventure Path. Paizo Assistant Editor James L. Sutter described this feature as "a space for us to shade in more of our world beyond just the current adventure's location. A narrative that would help get people invested and allow us to explore and expand, reconcepting established monsters for our setting and breathing that much more life into the world as a whole.".

History

Beginning with the eighteen-part Pathfinder's Journal, written by such authors as Jason Bulmahn, Amber Scott, James L. Sutter and James Jacobs, this series followed Pathfinder Eando Kline across Varisia, the Hold of Belkzen and the Darklands. In many ways, this entry into the series was a year-and-a-half-long period of trial and error during which the editors at Paizo tried to find the formula and process which would work the best. Even the first entry, "Opening Moves" by Publisher Erik Mona broke the mold by giving an overview of the Pathfinder Society itself rather than an in-character account of a Pathfinder's journeys.

James Sutter, who oversaw the execution of the monthly feature during Eando's run, described the process of using multiple authors as being less than ideal, with both authors and editors not knowing what was coming down the line for Kline month to month. After three adventure path's worth of wrangling Eando's journal, the series took a different and exciting direction.

Starting with the Legacy of Fire Adventure Path, each new path would include a six-part story arc written by a single author. This new format was put to the test with none other than New York Times bestselling author Elaine Cunningham's Dark Tapestry which followed Channa Ti through the deserts of Katapesh and Osirion.

Met with resounding praise, two additional series were commissioned in the same style by fan favorite authors Dave Gross and Jeff Grubb. Grubb had to pull out of the commitment, however, and his series, Prodigal Sons, was instead written by six different authors in the same style as Eando Kline's journey, but with a full outline to guide them. The single author approach resumed in the following adventure path, with a series by Robin D. Laws and after that a series by Paizo's Managing Editor, F. Wesley Schneider.

Pathfinder's Journal novellas

Title	Author	Chapters	Volumes
Pathfinder's Journal	James L. Sutter et al.	18	PF1 - PF18
Dark Tapestry	Elaine Cunningham	6	PF19 - PF24
Hell's Pawns	Dave Gross	6	PF25 - PF30
Prodigal Sons	Various	6	PF31 - PF36
Plague of Light	Robin Laws	6	PF37 - PF42