Super Genius Games and Dungeonaday.com are going to be well represented at the upcoming NeonCon 2010. Both Stan! and Owen are going to be guests at the show, making presentations, leading seminars and workshops, and maybe even running a game session or two. We’re also in the last stages of hammering out a Dungeonaday.com-themed “dungeon delve” event that would run through the course of the entire convention.

NeonCon runs from Nov. 4–7 at the Tropicana hotel and casino in Las Vegas, and we’ve secured a couple of special deals for friends and fans of Super Genius Games. First, if you use the promo code SUPERGENIUS10, you get $20 off the cost of your registration/con badge (normally $60 for the weekend).

The archer is a figure of heroic legend and romance—often coming from the ranks of commoners. In eras when the battlefield was dominated by heavily armored knights, archers represented the idea that skill and determination can level the playing field, both in warfare and conflicts between the social classes.

Robin Hood and his merry men are the classic icons of the heroic archer, but they are far from the only examples of that archetype. Historic examples of archer warriors range from the horse archers of Attila the Hun to the English and Welsh longbowmen at the battle of Agincourt. And when an archer’s talent is great enough, the facts of his life often become overshadowed by legends and mythology, as is the case with China’s Zhou Tong and Norway’s Einar Tambarskjelve. Ancient gods such as Artemis and Apollo were famed for their skill with bows, as were the heroes Arash, Hercules, Houyi, Orion, and Ulysses. Plus, if we broaden our definitions a bit to accept any hero using ranged weapons, William Tell’s shooting an apple off his son’s head and David slaying Goliath further expand the ranks of heroic archers.

Such heroics are difficult to achieve using the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, and with good reason. The rules are designed to provide broad, flexible, balanced characters for players to take through adventures and, as history shows, skilled archers very much tip the balance in almost any combat in which they participate. But with the addition of archetype packages—a new character creation option—and a few new ranged weapon combat feats, it is possible to heighten the role heroic archers can play in your campaign without making them the overwhelming force they were on the battlefields of our ancient world.

Paizo: http://paizo.com/store/downloads/otherWorldCreations/pathfinderRPG/other/v5748btpy8f6m

DriveThru: http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=81313

Welcome to the sixth book in the Loot 4 Less line, where we deal exclusively in items with a cost-to-consumer of 2,500 gp or less. That’s right, no epic artifacts, cloaks of invisibility, +3 keen vermin bane daggers of orc detection, or even moderate magic items here. This is a forum for the cheapest of the cheap and that’s it. And just to up the level of difficulty, we also don’t deal in one-shot (or even two- or three-shot) magic items. No scrolls, potions, talismans, or fire-and-forget tattoo magics here. Everything in these pages is a legitimate permanent magic item, free of consumable charges, and able to be used in adventure after adventure.

Here in Loot 4 Less vol. 6: Cloaks and Daggers we’re looking at bargain-bin capes and knives that most characters may find useful. Not only do we provide each item with a full description and cost, we’ve scattered sidebars throughout the book to explain those costs. Each “Behind the Counter” sidebar explains how a price was determined, allowing GMs to apply that logic to other abilities and use firm knowledge of where the numbers came from if the needs of their particular campaign require changing the prices.

Paizo: http://paizo.com/store/downloads/otherWorldCreations/pathfinderRPG/geniusGuides/loot4Less/v5748btpy8et3

DriveThru: http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=80907

Gemstones and other crystals have long been associated with magic and purity. You only have to think of how crystal balls are used in fiction-often portrayed as the very source of a witch or wizard’s powers-to be sure of that connection. Even in modern times, the link has remained strong. Go to any bookstore or new age gift store to see that people today still associate crystals with healing and arcane power. Yet, while you will find crystal balls and enchanted gems in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, as a rule they are repositories for generic arcane or divine abilities, not sources of power or iconic items unto themselves.

The Genius Guide to Crystal Magic takes crystals and gemstones beyond the merely cosmetic roles they’ve had thus far in spellcasting and gives them a magical niche of their own. It begins by discussing the use of crystal foci in a campaign and describing the difference between normal crystals and those particularly suited for use in viewing or healing. Next you’ll find a collection of new spells for all the spellcasting base classes and the addition of a new [crystal] descriptor for spells that tie directly to the heart of crystal magic-healing, scrying, and drawing on the inherent magical power of crystals and gemstones. In addition there are new crystal-themed class options to enable the creation spellcasters whose focus is the magic of crystals. Finally, you’ll see the carbuncle-a new simple monster template to help GMs make crystals a more integrated part of the campaign.

Paizo: http://paizo.com/store/downloads/otherWorldCreations/pathfinderRPG/geniusGuides/magic/v5748btpy8ep9

DriveThru: http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=80706

A remote mountain village is under siege by a giantess who sends her ogre henchmen to town with this terrifying proclamation.

We are the Ullak, and these lands are ours! That we have suffered the little ones to live in the valley is of no consequence. Were not all the mountains given to us by Helgroth, Lord of the Winter Storm? Do not the worgs and ogres bow in deference to us? There is nothing we can see that is not ours to command!

The little ones—the humans—are just another possession—like ore we dig from the ground or trees we fell. That we have indulged their delusion of freedom makes no difference. They are ours …  and the time has come when they are blessed to be able to render service to the Ullak.

To the valley! Go! Bring back as many of the little ones as you can carry! And tell the others that they will be likewise blessed erelong!

Paizo: http://paizo.com/store/downloads/otherWorldCreations/pathfinderRPG/oneNightStands/v5748btpy8emm

DriveThru: http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=80598

In the modern world, it is often more valuable to be famous than to actually be skilled at doing anything useful. People are more likely able to name the stars of a reality TV show than their own elected officials. They can list off the hottest celebrity nightclubs and restaurants more readily than they can the capitals of the States or even major nations around the globe. And those lucky few who have captured the public’s imagination can cash in on their notoriety in many ways—getting free gifts and services, preferential treatment, and even immunity to some laws and regulations simply by flashing a smile and flaunting their fame.

Building Blocks: Active Reputation features a set of optional rules that increase the variety of ways that a Reputation check can be used in the game, turning the stat from a passive measure of general awareness into a powerful engine of social influence. These will be most useful in campaigns where fame and public perception are important factors—where the heroes or their adversaries rely on the support of the general populace or are can reasonably expect to influence people and situations merely through the power of their notoriety. Also featured are details on the organization Campbell Daniels Industries—a highly successful real estate and construction firm that is most notable for the thrill-seeking, publicity-grabbing exploits of its owner, Campbell Daniels (for whom there is a fully fleshed-out NPC write-up).

Paizo: http://paizo.com/store/downloads/otherWorldCreations/oglModern/v5748btpy8eh1

DriveThru: http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=80594

The magus (plural magi) is a new base class designed for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. She is a hybrid spellcaster, combining arcane spells drawn from power within herself and the faith needed to also call upon divine spells. A magus may be a church wizard, a priestess of magic who has studied the arcane arts, or a dynamic spiritualist who sees no difference in the two traditional forms of magic. Magi may be called bruxa, church mages, ecclesiathurges, ovates, spell lords, thaumaturges, white wizards, or other titles that suit the needs of your campaign.

A magus is considered both an arcane and divine spellcaster (and can count as either for purposes of requirements and prerequisites). The magus is similar to a sorcerer in that she draws spell power from within herself, casting a limited list of spells known with no need for advanced preparation. Unlike a sorcerer, a magus can draw from both arcane and divine spell lists when selecting spells known, allowing magus’s to be prepared for a broader range of circumstances. This is important as the magus’s focus is spells to the exclusion of nearly everything else, even more so than other spellcasting classes. Depending on the mystic bond a magus makes, she may not have powers beyond her spells, but instead she’ll learn new ways to use the spells she knows to maximum benefit.

Paizo: http://paizo.com/store/downloads/otherWorldCreations/pathfinderRPG/v5748btpy8dmc

DriveThru: http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=79210

There are lots of feats for battle in the core rules of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. In fact, it could be argued that most of the feats in the game are battle-related. This naturally leads to asking if yet more feats based on kicking ass and taking names are really needed. The answer is an emphatic “Yes!”

This product presents numerous feats balanced for any character, but designed to make a few popular concepts easier to play from an early level. This product also introduces a few feats that draw on a character’s resistance to magic and supernatural forces, focusing their efforts in ways that grant them benefits but require them to have no caster level. These “feats of battle” give characters who eschew magic altogether a reward for doing so without resorting to creating a whole new kind of magic under a new name.

Paizo: http://paizo.com/store/downloads/otherWorldCreations/pathfinderRPG/v5748btpy8dfr

DriveThru: http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=78913

The war master is a class designed to lead others in battle, using (mostly) nonmagical talents to grant combat benefits to friends and followers, place enemies at disadvantages, and use the many arts of war in all aspects of his life. A war master is designed to allow both experienced tacticians and players with no sense of strategy to play a cunning commander able to turn the tide of battle with a quick command, clever stratagem, and strong sword-arm used in just the right way at just the right time.

The war master is a warrior, leader, and strategist. As their name might suggest, typical war masters are first and foremost military commanders, able to both slay foes directly and to aid his allies by suggesting various tactics and maneuvers to maximize their gifts and minimize their weaknesses. But the art of war is far more than the ability to kill and lead killers, and war masters must also learn at least some skills of negotiation, espionage, and organization to dominate all aspects of armed conflict. Similarly, the lessons learned in battle can often be applied in less violent venues, allowing war masters to see how to gain advantage in a wide range of situations.

Paizo:http://paizo.com/store/downloads/otherWorldCreations/pathfinderRPG/v5748btpy8dd6

DriveThru: http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=78828