Available Wednesday, July 12, 2023
January marked the official release of Paizo’s Pathfinder Adventure Path: Fists of the Ruby Phoenix. The Ruby Phoenix Tournament gathers the most talented martial artists, mages, and misfits from around the world to compete on a world stage. The grand prize is winner’s choice of a priceless treasure from the vault of Hao Jin, the Ruby Phoenix herself! Players enter with 11th level characters who are invited to compete in the Ruby Phoenix Tournament based on their acclaim and achievement in Golarion. Before facing each other, contestants must pass challenging tests of might and wit against the perils of Danger Island and in a Tournament of Trials. Teams that survive these tests then move on to face the best of the best as the tournament quickly escalates in challenge, conflict, and sabotage.
To complement the adventure path, WizKids is excited to release the Pathfinder Battles: Fists of the Ruby Phoenix Box Sets, a series of five pre-painted miniatures sets that feature a variety of characters and creatures from the adventure setting. Let’s take a closer look at the first two sets and see how they may fit into your upcoming adventures!
Danger Island is the first location of the adventure path. It serves as a qualifying stage of tests, obstacles, and combat against non-competitors in the overall tournament. This box set contains variety of dangerous island inhabitants which include:
Ran-to
A Frost Goblin Wrestler from a rival adventuring group. Don’t mistake his small size for an easy fight—as a Titan Wrestler Ran-to can attempt to Disarm, Grapple, Shove, or Trip creatures up to two sizes larger than him.
Manananggal
Wicked monsters that live as humanoids during the day but feed upon them at night. Manananggals use their long, hollow tongues to drain victims’ blood from vital organs such as the liver, making it difficult to determine the exact nature of a victim’s death. This typically leads to confusion, terror, and mistrust among communities, which most manananggals savor.
Brartork (Golarion’s Finest)
An Iobarian body builder and founder of the rival team known as Golarion’s Finest. Their incredible winning record earned them a place among Hao Jin’s chosen pre-qualifiers for the Ruby Phoenix Tournament.
Enforcer Warrior
The emissary employs several enforcers to maintain order on the island. The enforcers are agents of the emissary and so have the authority to declare unique challenges and matches.
Blue Viper (Lighthouse Form)
A small, humanoid ratfolk adept at poisoning his enemies. Once one of his many ways to inflict poison succeeds, expect to be harried from afar by a storm of alchemical bombs.
Mudwretch
Mudwretches possess a low level of intellect, and while they do not form societies or cultures of their own, they are attracted to ruins or abandoned settlements. They have little need to eat, but without a constant source of moisture, a mudwretch dries out, suffering from low throbbing aches until it can re-saturate. Often, blood from living creatures must do—a dried mudwretch is more dangerous to intruders than one that’s comfortably wallowing on a riverbank.
These figures represent fierce challengers and terrifying tests for the adventures to prove themselves worthy against. Ranging from wicked shapeshifters who feed on the blood and organs of humanoid species, to acrobatic poisonous rat-folk whose sting is as deep as its arsenal, you can use these figures to instantly add a robust mix of challenging obstacles for your competitors to overcome.
Tournament of Trials features a challenging set of monstrous villains or competitive rivals which include:
Golden League Xun
Xun are dispensable warriors serving the famous crime syndicate Golden League. With a taste for greed and a knack for deception and intimidation, expect the Xun to be up to no good knowing there’s a high stakes tournament attracting sizeable bets from desperate gamblers.
Provincial Jiang-Shi Vampire
Though similar to other vampires—they are undead, they drain vital energy from the living, and they can be slain only in specific ways—jiang-shi feast upon the breath of the living, also known as qi or ki, instead of blood. While they possess unique powers, including their magic-deflecting paper fulus, extraordinary jumping ability, and immunity to sunlight, jiang-shi also possess unique vulnerabilities.
Razu (tengu master bard)
One of the most prominent and successful performers of his generation, with a voice known for moving the social elite to tears. Razu has returned home with a vengeful debt to settle: his voice will bring the city that killed his parents to its knees.
Rivka
Rivkas are parasitic monsters that cling to the sides of kaiju. They resemble giant cockroaches with razor-like legs and two mouths. They feed off the primordial energy of whichever kaiju they’ve latched onto, enriching both its defensive and offensive capabilities with the primal energy of its host.
Yabin the Just
A stoic nagaji dragon sorcerer and rival competitor. As a member of one of the more amicable teams, Yabin can prove to be a great conversationalist as well as a sparring partner.
Taiga Yai
Wearing the visage of taiga giants, taiga yais generally travel in a solitary fashion, always yearning for new experiences and destinations. They are zealous in their love of nature in its purest form and gleefully destroy any established civilizations that they encounter before continuing onwards.
Shadow Yai
Shadow yais crave the pleasures of music and go to great lengths to secure musically inclined supplicants. Smaller beings who refuse to submit to a shadow yai are subject to painful, drawn out, and strangely beautiful deaths: a veritable symphony of pain. Individuals of musical skill who accompany a shadow yai can find the experience extremely lucrative and enriching—as long as they don’t run afoul of their liege.
These figures represent tournament officials and less advanced obstacles that contenders need to overcome in the qualifying rounds of the tournament. Ranging from snake-like fighters who serve as rule enforcers, to stealthy and violent giant oni, these characters will provide worthy practice for your adventurers to prepare for much worse to come.
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